SUMMARY
Lockport traveled to Frankfort on Thursday night to take on Lincoln-Way East in the final conference dual meet of the season. The Porters came out fast and hard, and kept the pace up throughout the dual, winning the first 12 matches in a row en route to a 64-9 victory over the Griffins. With the win, Lockport clinched the SWSC Blue Division Championship, and pushed their record on the season to a perfect 22-0.
The dual began at 106 pounds, where 7th ranked Matt Ramos won by fall as the second period drew to a close. At 113, 5th ranked Anthony Molton won by fall in 3:30, while honorable mention James Pierandozzi scored a pinfall victory right at the halfway point of the match. Matt Kronsbein kept the Porters going with a fall in the middle of the second period at 126, and Lockport found itself out to a 24-0 lead four matches into the dual.
At 132, HM Brendan Ramsey picked up the first win of the dual not by fall - a 17-1 technical fall, pushing Lockport’s lead to 29-0. Brandon Ramos, ranked 7th at 138, added an 18-3 technical fall at the 4:00 mark, and 5th ranked Baylor Fernandes racked up a 20-3 technical fall in the middle of the third period at 145, giving Lockport a 39-0 team lead.
The closest bout of the night came at 152, where Lockport’s John Pacetti held off a late comeback from his opponent, fighting off his back and getting to his feet to earn an 8-7 victory, which actually assured victory for the Porters. Lockport continued to wrestle hard, however, with top-ranked Trevell Timmons scoring a 23-8 tech fall of his own at 160, and Nick Dado doing the same at 170, his by a score of 16-1. 10th ranked Payton Fernandes received a forfeit at 182, taking away the best matchup of the night - he would have been squaring off against HM Nick Mihajlovich. Muhajlovich was on the roster sheet, but Byrd elected not to send him to the mat. Lockport earned its final win of the night at 195, when HM Yousif Salah locked up a tight cradle early to get a win by fall in just about one minute. Lockport lead 64-0 at this point.
The final two bouts of the night did not go the way of the Porters. Dan Stojsavljevic fell behind early in the bout at 220, and could not quite come from behind. Trailing 7-2 with about 15 seconds remaining, Stoj managed to pick up a takedown and transitioned right into a half-nelson, putting his opponent on his back just as time expired. Without the time, Stojsavljevic earned no back points and lost by a final score of 7-4.
At 285, the most anticipated matchup of the week for fans failed to take place. 2nd ranked Ronald Tucker was still out, recuperating from an injury that kept him out of Cheesehead last week. Freshman Brandon Baker took the start instead, faced with the task of taking on LWE's 4th ranked Sam Diehl, a senior. Baker fought off several attacks from Diehl, but was unable to score, and was unable to pull off an upset, losing by fall in 3:33.
With a final score of 64-9, Lockport officially clinched the SWSC Blue Division Championship, having gone undefeated in conference duals - and every other dual, for that matter, now owning a 22-0 dual meet record with four duals remaining in the regular season. Congratulations to the team on the title!
BOX SCORE
106: #7 Matt Ramos LTHS fall Tommy Golden LWE, 3:54 / 6-0
113: #5 Anthony Molton LTHS fall Nate Earnst LWE, 3:30 / 12-0
120: HM James Pierandozzi LTHS fall David Ackmann LWE, 3:00 / 18-0
126: Matt Kronsbein LTHS fall Chris Gromnicki LWE, 3:13 / 24-0
132: HM Brendan Ramsey LTHS tech. Ali Boumaraf, 17-1 / 29-0
138: #7 Brandon Ramos LTHS tech. Dylan Lang LWE, 18-3 / 34-0
145: #5 Baylor Fernandes LTHS tech. HM Anthony Eattinger LWE, 20-3 / 39-0
152: John Pacetti LTHS dec. Gus Christensen LWE, 8-7 / 42-0
160: #1 Trevell Timmons LTHS tech. Adam Aguirre LWE, 23-8 / 47-0
170: Nick Dado LTHS tech. Terrin Rackouski LWE, 16-1 / 52-0
182: #10 Payton Fernandes LTHS forfeit LWE / 58-0
195: HM Yousif Salah LTHS fall Chris Wilder LWE, 0:57 / 64-0
220: Jaden Hacha LWE dec. Dan Stojsavljevic LTHS, 7-4 / 64-3
285: #4 Sam Diehl LWE fall Brandon Baker LTHS, 3:33 / 64-9
PHOTOS
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