From down the hall, I could feel the bass from the music in the mat room. As I got closer and peered through the windows, I could see the synchronized stretching.
This looked like an army. They were all dialed into the match and completely focused.
The Huntley varsity wrestlers were on a mission.
This was the biggest match of the season. Both teams knew this match was going to decide the conference.
Huntley has won six out of the last eight conference titles and is searching for another.
“Looking at the rest of the teams in conference, this is the one to beat,” varsity coach B.J. Bertelsman said. “Tonight is going to decide who will lock up conference this year.”
This means that the Dec. 13 matchup was key.
Huntley got off to a hot start. They won early. The first came from the 106 pound with a forfeit. This was followed by the Abordo twins. Colin Abordo got the best of Central’s Jackson Marlette 1-0 at 113 pounds, and Cameron Abordo won a 5-3 decision over Peyton Ramsey to claim 120.
“This is the biggest rivalry in the conference,” senior Alex Gutierrez said. “I know some of these guys from club and they have been chirping, so I’m looking to go out there and clap back on the mat.”
And clap back he did. He won his 132 matchup. This was followed by Gavin Nitschke who won a 15-2 decision.
One of the most exciting matches of the day was going to come at 144 for Huntley’s Matt Keaty.
“My main goal is to pin this guy,” junior Keaty said. “Hopefully quick period, so I can get some points for the team.”
Keaty teched his opponent when he outscored him 17-0 after falling to the pad. This was huge for the Raiders.
This extended the lead to 22-6.
Unfortunately, there was a bit of a cooldown when Central’s Nick Zuehlke got a pin at 150.
This momentum quickly returned to Huntley when one of the most promising wrestlers, Radic Dvorak, stepped onto the mat. He won a 2-0 decision to extend the lead once again.
There was no back and forth whatsoever. Huntley notched two more with Lucas Bittman getting a win and Waylon Theobald throwing a nasty half nelson to get the pin at 175 in a competitive match against Tyler Porter.
Central closed out strong, though.
Cayden Parks, Tommy McNeil, and Logan Gough got their wins to bring Central closer.
This effort would prove not to be enough. Huntley took this one 38-26 and improved to 6-0 on the year. This was a crucial night for Fox Valley wrestling and fortunately enough, Huntley came out on top.
