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A flu bug slowed Zack Thornton's progress last month. At Saturday's Duneland Athletic Conference Championships, the Chesterton junior was clearly back up to speed. Thornton rolled through the 130-pound weight class, capping his day with an 11-2 victory over Merrillville's Frankie Valdivia in the championship match. "You can't look at what Zack did and not like that," Trojans coach Chris Joll said. "He went in and basically manhandled people. He was out of school for a week and hadn't gotten a lot of mat time. He'd gotten a little bug at Mishawaka and had a hard time coming back from there. He did a great job with no conditioning in there. He really put the screws to people." Thornton improved to 25-2 with the performance, his first DAC title after a pair of third-place finishes. "I always ran into the first seed," said Thornton, the top seed this time. "It's always nice to win this meet. It's one step toward the post-season. I'm getting there. I didn't worry too much about (Valdivia). I just went out and wrestled my match. I was pleased I was able to ride him out for a while. I've never been able to do that too much. The only time he came close to a takedown, I got back on top right away." Thornton was the only winner for Chesterton, which edged Lake Central, 129.5-121, for fourth. The top three -- Crown Point (253), Merrillville (238.5) and Portage (201) -- went as expected. "We finished where we were predicted to finish," Joll said. "It was close there at the end. We were behind (L.C.) four points going into the final round and had some pretty good performances on the fifth-sixth place mat. You think, 'oh boy, fifth place,' but those guys scored some points for us. They may not be up with the really elite guys, but they keep plugging away against guys of their ability. I'm happy with them." Chesterton picked up seconds from freshman Anthony Quiroz at 152 and heavyweight Alex Boatright. Quiroz lost 14-3 to unbeaten Sean McMurray of Portage, a 2008 state champion, after avenging an earlier loss to C.P.'s Jeremy Pogorzelski. "He's learning," Joll said of Quiroz. "He's still finding his place on the high school team. I'm happy with his performance." Boatright hit a late takedown to survive his second round match en route to the finals, where he was pinned at 4:51 by unbeaten Merrillville junior James Travis. "It's nice when people ask me what Alex is doing next year," Joll said. "I tell them he's going to be wrestling for me. They think he's older." Spencer Stockwell placed third at 145, edging Portage's Tony Nuzzo 8-6. "We expected more from Spencer," Joll said. "He lost to a kid he'd beaten by a wide margin. But he did a nice job recovering. You wouldn't know looking at him how emotional of a kid he really is. He came out of that match and pinned a Crown Point kid. As good as they are, I'm proud of how he handled the adversity." Chesterton returns to action Wednesday with a dual match at Valparaiso.
Team Results 1. Crown Point, 253; 2. Merrillville, 238.5; 3. Portage, 201; 4. Chesterton, 129.5; 5. Lake Central, 121.5; 6. Michigan City, 85.5; 7. Valparaiso, 81; 8. LaPorte, 54. Championship Round 103 -- Kyle Ayersman (LC) dec. Zack Stevens (M), 5-3; 112 -- Anthony Hawkins (CP) dec. Brandon Coppinger (P), 6-3; 119 -- Josh Manes (CP) dec. Marc Escobedo, 3-2; 125 -- Jason Tsirtis (CP) dec. Luis Acuna (P), 11-0; 130 -- Zack Thornton (C) dec. Frankie Valdivia (M), 11-2; 135 -- Eric Roach (CP) pin Thomas Lusco (MC), 4:25; 140 -- Darius Richmond (M) dec. Garrett Payne (MC), 8-7; 145 -- Keon Jones (M) pin Josh Kazee (V), 2:51; 152 -- Sean McMurray (P) dec. Anthony Quiroz (C), 14-3; 160 -- Mark Meyers (CP) pin Rob Keough (LC), 1:13; 171 -- Kuortney Berry (M) dec. Jeremy Kooi (CP), 15-4; 189 -- Marcus Shrewsbury (CP) dec. Will Hoefflicker (V), 16-4; 215 -- Nathaniel Coleman (P) dec. Jimmy Bakalik (CP), 6-4; 285 -- James Travis (M) pin Alex Boatright (C), 4:51. Chesterton Results 103 – George Choucalas – lost pin Jesse Duque (P), 2:58; FFW; lost pin Cameron Halsted (CP), 2:56; lost pin Cole Stephens (MC), 3:00. 112 – Joe Kelly – lost dec. Al Padilla (M), 5-4; won pin Dan Westmoreland (V), 3:00; lost dec. Bryan Smith (LC), 2-0; won pin Frank Mancuso (L), 3:24. 119 – Justin Zosso – lost pin Josh Manes (CP), 5:06; won dec. Kenny Smith (MC), 10-6; lost tech fall Damien Torres (P), 20-5; won dec. Kenny Smith (MC), 15-5. 125 – Bill Petrocelli – lost pin Anthony Napules (M), 1:04; won pin Dalton Yeransian (MC), 3:34; lost pin Bradley Wartman (LC), 2:39; won pin Evan Cahill (V), 2:23. 130 – Zack Thornton – won fall Zach Mancuso (L), :33; won tech fall Jimmy Poplawski (MC), 16-1; won Frankie Valdivia (M), 11-2. 135 – Donovan Hamilton – lost pin Eddie Deluna (M), 4:12; lost pin AJ Ratajec (V), 2:32. 140 – Will Butz – lost dec. Josh Flamme (CP), 10-1; won pin Ryan Henke (V), 2:20; lost Nick Santana (L), 13-7; lost pin Chris Saylor (P), 3:38. 145 – Spencer Stockwell – won pin Dalton Tussey (LC), 2:18; lost dec. Keon Jones (M), 6-5; won Tommy Renn (CP), 2:23; won dec. Tony Nuzzo (P), 8-6 (ot). 152 – Anthony Quiroz – won pin Justin Barnes (MC), 1:04; won Jeremy Pogorzelski (CP), 4-2 (ot); lost dec. Sean McMurray (P), 14-2. 160 – Tony Sanches – lost Rob Keough (LC), 6-4; won dec. Cody Miranda (MC), 8-6; 171 – Ryan Thomalla – lost tech fall Aaron King, 19-3; won pin Tim Ensign (V), 2:25; lost dec. Joe Kalemba (LC), 12-4; lost dec. Ryan Thomalla (L), 9-2. 189 – Sevante Yates – lost pin Kyle Keith (P), 2:25; won dec. Conner Pahs (MC), 4-3; lost pin Jeremy Wengel (M), 3:32; FFL. 285 – Alex Boatright – FFW; won dec. Kyle Marshall (CP), 5-3; lost pin James Travis (M), 3:51.
Posted 1/19/2009
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