SUMMARY
The Lockport wrestling team had a bit of a chip on their shoulder when they arrived at Minooka for the annual quad with Minooka, Belleville West, and Mt. Carmel. After all, the Porters came into this season ranked 20th in the nation by InterMat, and 24th by USAToday, while Mt. Carmel was unranked in these national publications. Yet when the first in-state rankings came out last week, Lockport found itself 4th in 3A, while Mt. Carmel sat atop those rankings. The Porters wanted to show that they're the top team in the state, and that's just what they did, sweeping all three duals on the day, including a big 38-20 win over Mt. Carmel.
Lockport vs. Minooka
In the first dual of the day, Lockport won 12 out of 14 weights to defeat Minooka by a final score of 64-12. Winning by fall for the Porters were James Pierandozzi (120), Baylor Fernandes (145), Zach Reese (152), Trevell Timmons (160), Nick Dado (170), Payton Fernandes (182), and Yousif Salah (195). Both Ramos brothers, Matt (106) and Brandon (138) picked up technical fall wins, while Brendan Ramsey (132) and Dan Stojsavljevic (220) picked up decision wins - Stojsavljevic's being his first of the season. Anthony Molton won by forfeit at 113 for Lockport as well. Minooka's two falls came at 126, where Dalton Dwyer had a 5-0 lead before being caught and pinned by Minooka's Dominic Ruettiger, and at 285, where Derek Wentworth pinned Lockport's Brandon Baker.
Lockport vs. Belleville West
The second dual of the day, a 57-10 victory for the Porters, looked very similar to the first. Lockport won 11 of the 14 weights en route to another big victory. Anthony Molton (113) and Yousif Salah (195) both won by forfeit, but six other Porters scored bonus point victories in the dual. James Pierandozzi (120) had the lone tech fall and Nick Dado (170) had the lone major decision, while Baylor Fernandes (145), Malik Daghash (160), Payton Fernandes (182), Dan Stojsavljevic (220), and Matt Ramos (106) each won by fall. Zach Reese (152) added a decision victory, while Dalton Dwyer (126) and Brendan Ramsey (132) each lost by decision. Brandon Baker (285) continued learning and battling, but dropped an 8-0 major decision at 285. The best matchup of the dual was the 138 pound bout between Brandon Ramos and Belleville West's Connor Bass. The match was a rematch of last year's 126 pound 3rd place bout at the IHSA Individual Sectional Tournament, which Ramos defeated Bass by a 5-3 decision. Ramos came out fast and scored early, and stopped everything Bass tried, picking up a 6-0 win over his opponent, giving the team a momentum boost they would ride through the rest of the dual.
Lockport vs. Mt. Carmel
In the most anticipated dual of the day, Lockport took on the top ranked team in the state. Both teams seemed to feel the need to prove themselves. After all, even with a 3rd-place finish last season, and being ranked 20th nationally, Lockport found itself 4th in the first team rankings of the season, while Mt. Carmel sat atop those same rankings. Mt. Carmel, meanwhile, had beaten Lockport in this same event early last season, and finished 3rd in 2A, and seemed to want to show that they belonged atop the rankings as they rejoined the ranks in 3A this season.
Mt. Carmel came out with three wins in the first three matches to go ahead 12-0. Rehan Uribe, a sophomore who transferred from Crown Point, picked up a 14-5 major decision over James Pierandozzi at 120 pounds. At 126, Mt. Carmel's former state placer Kaleb Guzior, back from last year's season-ending injury, earned a 16-0 tech fall over Dalton Dwyer. The 132 pound bout was much closer, as Brendan Ramsey found himself going into overtime with returning state qualifier David Devine, but unable to come away with the victory, falling 10-8.
In a rematch of last year's dual meet, Brandon Ramos squared off against 2A 5th-place finisher Kendall Coleman at 138. Ramos defeated Coleman, 14-12, in a an exciting match that saw Ramos gain an 8 point lead, only to find himself behind, and then come back to win. This year, Ramos came out and put himself ahead, and never gave up the lead, in spite of a scramble position that gave Coleman a takedown and two nearfall points, to the dismay of many. Ramos won this one 7-6, halving the score of last year's match.
The top match of the day featured 4th ranked Baylor Fernandes taking on 3rd ranked Yahya Thomas of Mt. Carmel at 145 pounds. Fernandes came out attacking, but was unable to score on the returning 3rd place finisher in the first period. Thomas was also unable to score on Fernandes, but due to two separate penalties on Fernandes during the process of defending a single leg, Thomas carried a 2-0 lead into the second period, where Fernandes rode Thomas out. Fernandes took bottom in the third period, still down by 2 points. After an early escape, Fernandes found himself down one, and his attacks resulted in a stalling warning on Thomas. Thomas, unable to avoid, had to engage, and the two found themselves in a scramble. Fernandes gained control and was awarded a takedown, and recognized the opportunity was there to cradle Thomas and locked it up. Fernandes earned three near-fall points, and appeared to have the fall before the time expired, but didn't get the call. He still got the win, however, by a 6-2 final score.
At 152, Zach Reese came out and picked up an early takedown on Mt. Carmel's Dillon Hoey, a returning state qualifier, but, unfortunately, it was all the points Reese would earn. Hoey would earn an escape, another later in the match, and then a takedown of his own to take a 4-2 lead that Reese could not overcome, clearly struggling through injury during the bout. #2 Trevell Timmons put the Porters back on track, coming out and picking up a controlling 8-3 win over returning 2A 3rd-place finisher, Jack Mulay in what was Timmons's second match of the season.
Lockport decided to adjust the strategy from this point forward, bumping their wrestlers up one weight, and it paid off. Malik Daghash took his first loss of the season as he was pinned in his bump to 170, but that came to 2nd ranked David Riojas, last year's 3rd place finisher. That was the last bout that Mt. Carmel would win.
Nick Dado came out at 182 and earned a hard-fought 3-2 decision victory over Dan Benoit. Payton Fernandes continued his fantastic season, picking up his 5th fall of the year as he bumped to 195. At 220, Yousif Salah's win by fall gave Lockport their first lead of the dual, 23-20. Brandon Baker took the mat to receive a forfeit at 285, and Lockport held a 9 point lead with two matches remaining. Matt Ramos came out and worked hard to get the fall at 106, but was unable to secure it, instead picking up a 12-7 decision that was not nearly as competitive as the score would indicate, but securing the team victory nonetheless. Anthony Molton put the final nail in the coffin, as he pinned Mt. Carmel's Colby Lopez in a mere 0:12, catching Lopez on an attempt to roll through a takedown and stacking him up. In the end, Lockport prevailed, 38-20.
(Both teams were deducted one team point at some point during the dual.)
BOX SCORES
-Note 1: The match results will all be correct, but the times for the falls may be a bit off. New stat software is taking a few adjustments and the times of falls are not always lining up. Bear with us.
-Note 2: Rankings are based on the most recent issues of Illinois Best Weekly. Remember to always take rankings with a grain of salt - but especially this early in the season. No Illinois Matmen rankings have yet been released.
#4 Lockport 64, Minooka 12
106: Matt Ramos LTHS tech. fall Michael Carey MIN, 16-1 / 5-0
113: Anthony Molton LTHS forfeit MIN / 11-0
120: James Pierandozzi LTHS fall Cody Hoshell MIN, 4:33 / 17-0
126: Dominic Ruettiger MIN fall Dalton Dwyer LTHS, 3:08 / 17-6
132: Brendan Ramsey LTHS dec. Zach McDowell MIN, 5-3 / 20-6
138: #5 (126) Brandon Ramos LTHS tech. fall Adam McDowell MIN, 19-2 / 25-6
145: Baylor Fernandes LTHS fall Noah Boles MIN, 3:35 / 31-6
152: Zach Reese LTHS fall Dan Debow MIN, 3:10 / 31-6
160: Trevell Timmons LTHS fall Alec Dufour MIN, 3:52 / 37-6
170: Nick Dado LTHS fall Connor Colbert MIN, 3:08 / 49-6
182: Payton Fernandes LTHS fall Dan McMillin MIN, 1:45 / 55-6
195: Yousif Salah LTHS fall Caleb Kolden MIN, 1:40 / 61-6
220: Dan Stojsavljevic LTHS dec. Connor Broley MIN, 3-2 / 64-6
285: Derek Wentworth MIN fall. Brandon Baker LTHS, 0:49 / 64-12
#4 Lockport 57, Bellville West 10
113: Anthony Molton LTHS forfeit BW / 6-0
120: James Pierandozzi LTHS tech. fall Simo Elam BW, 16-1 / 11-0
126: Mitch Millsap BW dec. Dalton Dwyer LTHS, 7-0 / 11-3
132: Justin Koderhandt BW dec. Brendan Ramsey LTHS, 10-3 / 11-6
138: #5 (126) Brandon Ramos LTHS dec. Garrett Bass BW, 6-0 / 14-6
145: #4 Baylor Fernandes LTHS fall Greg Jones BW, 0:21 / 20-6
152: Zach Reese LTHS dec. Logan Johnson BW, 7-4 / 23-6
160: Malik Daghash LTHS fall Stefan Caswell BW, 3:33 / 29-6
170: Nick Dado LTHS maj. dec. Tristan Caswell BW, 15-2 / 33-6
182: Payton Fernandes LTHS fall Kyle McCovey BW, 0:53 / 39-6
195: Yousif Salah LTHS forfeit BW / 45-6
220: Dan Stojsavljevic LTHS fall Marcus Gates BW, 1:15 / 51-6
285: Israel Griffin BW maj. dec. Brandon Baker LTHS, 8-0 / 51-10
106: Matt Ramos LTHS fall Noah Trapp BW, 0:31 / 57-10
#4 Lockport 38, #1 Mt. Carmel 20
120: Rehan Uribe MTC maj. dec. James Pierandozzi LTHS, 14-5 / 0-4
126: Kaleb Guzior MTC tech. fall Dalton Dwyer LTHS, 16-0 / 0-9
132: David Devine MTC dec. Brendan Ramsey LTHS, 8-6 OT / 0-12
138: #5 (126) Brandon Ramos LTHS dec. Kendall Coleman MTC, 7-6 / 3-12
145: #4 Baylor Fernandes LTHS dec. #3 Yahya Thomas MTC, 6-2 / 5*-12
152: Dillon Hoey MTC dec. Zach Reese LTHS, 4-2 / 5-14*
160: #2 Trevell Timmons LTHS dec. Jack Mulay MTC, 8-3 / 8-14
170: #2 David Riojas MTC fall Malik Daghash LTHS, 1:36 / 8-20
182: Nick Dado LTHS dec. Dan Benoit MTC, 3-2 / 11-20
195: Payton Fernandes LTHS fall Emmanuel Terrell MTC, 3:50 / 17-20
220: Yousif Salah LTHS fall Tim McGrath MTC, 1:10 / 23-20
285: Brandon Baker LTHS forfeit MTC / 29-20
106: Matt Ramos LTHS dec. Cole Drousias MTC, 12-7 / 32-20
113: Anthony Molton LTHS fall Colby Lopez MTC, 0:12 / 38-21
* Denotes loss of team point.
PHOTOS
Head on over to the Lockport Wrestling Section of Coach Sealy's Website to find pictures from each of these duals.