Kaneland sends 7 to sectionals
Kaneland made the most of its opportunities in Saturday’s DeKalb Class 2A regional.
Despite leaving three weight classes empty, the Knights advanced seven wrestlers to the Sterling individual sectional, highlighted by championship performances from juniors Dan Goress at 138 and Zach Theis at 285.
Sycamore earned the coveted spot in the Sycamore dual team sectional with a winning 178.00 total, followed by DeKalb (145.50), Kaneland (119.00) and Burlington Central (109.00).
“We’ve had low numbers all year, but where we’re strong, we’re strong, and we were able to get almost everyone through that we wanted to,” said Knights assistant coach Jeremy Kenny.
After receiving a first-round bye, Goress (30-3) needed just 1:06 to pin Rockford Boylan’s Mike DeFrancisco, then dominated DeKalb’s Jacob Sommer 12-3 in the title match.
“I just looked at (Sommer) like every other opponent as an equal, and went in with the intention of knowing that I had to win it,” said Goress, who earned his second consecutive regional championship.
Goress is anxious for a return to sectionals after dropping a pair of close matches last year.
“That’s over and done with, but I’m definitely using that as motivation,” he said.
Theis (28-11) trailed 2-0 heading into the third period of his title match against Rockford East’s Michael Estergard, but his strategy of starting in the up position paid dividends as he notched a pin at 4:37.
“I have a good move on top and I just wanted to get the move in,” Theis said. “I knew it was going to be a pretty close matchup because he beat (Sycamore’s Martin) Malone and previously I had a close match with Malone.”
Kaneland senior Ben Kovalick (32-4) reached the title match at 220, but was stunned by a pin from Sycamore’s Matt Copple (13-5) just 43 seconds in.
“I just got caught, but there’s another shot next week,” Kovalick said. “I know what to expect at sectionals, so as a senior, it’s now or never.”
With only the top three wrestlers in each class advancing to sectionals, the Knights came up big by winning four of their five third-place matches.
Junior Stephen Gust (24-5) finally broke through with points in the waning seconds to claim a 2-1 decision over Belvidere’s Alex Ramirez at 106 while Connor Williams (29-10) broke a late tie for a 7-5 win at 113 over Belvidere North’s Psalm Fambro.
Competing in a loaded 126 weight class Esai Ponce (35-4) dropped a 1-0 semifinal decision to Belvidere North’s Erik Nord, but rebounded for a pin in the third place match.
Sonny Horn collected a 9-4 third-place win over Sycamore’s Zach Munro at 132 and Austin Brummel lost a hard-fought 11-8 match with Sycamore’s Ren Swick at 170.