Wrestling: Minooka Goes 1-2 in Duals at Sandburg

Trailing 2-0 after two periods to a two-time state champion on Saturday, Sandburg’s Dan Argueta pushed the pace late and saw it pay off.

Argueta’s eventual 4-2 win at 140 pounds came on an overtime takedown against Crystal Lake Central’s Trevor Jauch in a battle between top-ranked 3A Sandburg and a Tigers team ranked second in 2A.

The Eagles showed throughout their three-dual sweep in a quad in Orland Park that you’ll win a lot of close matches in wrestling if you can put the pedal to the floor when the other guy can’t.

“Conditioning was a huge factor in that match,” Sandburg coach Eric Siebert said. “Danny’s coming on late in the season, just as he did last year, and that match gave us momentum.”

After Sandburg dispatched Hoffman Estates 72-3 and beat Sycamore 46-16, the Argueta-Jauch match kicked off an eventual 37-24 Eagles’ win.

“I’d never even seen him wrestle,” Argueta said of Jauch. “He was fast in the first period, and I just had to keep it calm and wrestle my own match. Coach told me beforehand that if I win that match, we win the dual.”

The Eagles’ Nick Fishback posted a 9-1 major decision win at 145 over Jason Fugiel to put his side up 7-3, and then the Eagles’ Chris Pajack lost at 152 but did something every bit as important as the wins from Fishback and Argueta.

Pajack held Tigers’ pinning machine Joey Kielbasa to a 9-1 major decision. Kielbasa was a 2A state champion last season and is one of the best 152-pounders in the country.

“Is it fun to go out there and get your butt kicked for six minutes to a kid like Joey Kielbasa?” Siebert said. “No but it takes 14 guys to win a dual, not just the seven or eight guys who win. We asked (Pajack) to hold Kielbasa off and he did it.”

The Eagles earned a 6-5 edge in matches won against Crystal Lake Central, with three forfeits in the dual. Also winning their matches were Jim Panozzo at 112, John Pellegrino at 119, and Scott Redmond at 130.

“I don’t care how we got it done. At this time of the year, to beat a team like Crystal Lake Central–I’ll take it,” Siebert said.

The day was a struggle for Minooka as the Indians wrestled without key starters due to illness and injury. The Indians won 53-19 over New Trier to start the day, but lost head-to-head against both Crystal Lake Central and Sycamore.

No. 3  defending 3A champion Minooka lost 35-27 to the Tigers wrestling without starters Kalvin Hill, Jake DeKlerk, and Matt Layfield, but Indians coach Bernie Ruettiger didn’t want to hear it.

“That doesn’t matter. Don’t take anything away from Crystal Lake Central,” Ruettiger said. “And then you can’t go in against a good Sycamore team and come out flat, and that cost us.”