* 11/19/2010 Fri vs. - Red and White Meet
11/23/2010 Tue vs. NAPERVILLE NORTH H.S.
11/26/2010 Fri vs. Barrington - Moore/Prettyman Mem - Moore/Prettyman Memorial Invite
11/27/2010 Sat vs. Barrington - Moore/Prettyman Mem - Moore/Prettyman Memorial Invite
12/3/2010 Fri vs. York
12/4/2010 Sat vs. RB Quad - RB Quad
12/9/2010 Thu vs. Lockport Township H.S.
12/10/2010 Fri vs. Downers Grove North
12/11/2010 Sat vs. DOWNERS GROVE SOUTH INVITE
* 12/15/2010 Wed vs. Plainfield Central H.S.
12/17/2010 Fri vs. Rex Whitlach Varsity Wrestling Tourney
12/18/2010 Sat vs. Rex Whitlach Varsity Wrestling Tourney
12/28/2010 Tue vs. BERMAN CLASSIC - BERMAN Classic
12/29/2010 Wed vs. BERMAN CLASSIC - BERMAN Classic
* 1/6/2011 Thu vs. WAUBONSIE VALLEY H.S.
1/7/2011 Fri vs. Oak Park River Forest
1/8/2011 Sat vs. Lincoln Way Central H.S.
1/13/2011 Thu vs. Hinsdale South H.S.
1/14/2011 Fri vs. Proviso West
1/15/2011 Sat vs. ST. CHAS. E/ HOMEWD FLOSS/ WILLOWBRK - Quad
1/21/2011 Fri vs. Lyons Township
1/22/2011 Sat vs. DGS TRIPLE DUAL
1/28/2011 Fri vs. Glenbard West
*Denotes Uncomfirmed Event

Go Red Devils!





NEWS

Palatine Tournament Coverage -- The Doings coverage by Bil Stone Jan 7, 2010
Allen's title at Palatine signals the heavyweight's rise

January 7, 2010By BILL STONE bstone@pioneerlocal.com
WRESTLING -- Hinsdale Central junior Jack Allen got to ring in the new year with some exciting cell phone calls.

After taking second at 215 in Class 3A in 2008, Allen has moved up to 285 pounds this season. On Dec. 30, he took another big step by winning the 285 title at Palatine's two-day Berman Classic.

Allen (21-1) captured his title with a 1-0 victory over previously undefeated Minooka senior Cody Jones (15-1), who beat graduated teammate Pat Clegg 3-1 in overtime in last year's Berman 285 semifinal.

"He beat Clegg last year and I don't think he deserved to beat Clegg," Allen said. "A couple of kids from last year said that I couldn't beat (Jones) so I get to call them up.

"I didn't have a very good day (the first day of the invite). I didn't wrestle the best. I came back and wrestled better. I wrestled smarter in the finals match. In the Whitlatch (Invite final Dec. 19), I lost because I was pretty dumb."

Hinsdale Central had six more top-eight place winners. Senior Joe Strocchia (160) finished second, losing 4-2 to Richmond-Burton's Jack Dechow in overtime. Freshman Ernest Battaglia (119), junior Terry Ward (135) and senior David Lutz (171) finished third, senior Jason Talamonti (130) was sixth and senior Sean Sullivan (215) was eighth.

The Red Devils finished fifth with 154 points, just two points shy of third-place Lincoln-Way Central, after being fourth (147 points) at their Whitlatch Invite.

"Our kids stayed a little tougher in the later rounds, which is what we're looking for, and staying tough in the later rounds, being able to win the matches to score extra team points," Hinsdale Central coach Jason Hayes said. "Learning from the Whitlatch, the kids found a way to stay a little tougher, win important, crucial matches toward the end, but we've still got a lot of work to do."

Allen feels he still has a ways to go at his new weight class. Allen said he decided to wrestle up a class as he bulks up for football, where he's already been the varsity's starting center the past two years.

"I want to get bigger in football. I don't want to be the little guy," Allen said. "Switching from 215, you could just get under the guys and you're strong enough to get them over and you can shoot under them. Now if you shoot under them, you've got 280 pounds on you. It's a little bit of a struggle."

In his strategic title match, Allen won with a third-period escape.

"He won 1-0, but he dominated the match and that's what some of those heavyweight matches are going to be like," Hayes said. "I think he's got great athletic ability where he can move a lot more than some of the other heavyweights and once he gets that go-to-shot, I think he's going to be unstoppable."

Strocchia (21-2) was stopped just short of a title for the second straight invite. He said was a bit scared when he felt his knee pop late in the third period, but wouldn't use that as an excuse. Dechow won with a takedown just before the overtime buzzer.

"I'm really upset about that (loss). It kills me," Strocchia said. "I'm sick of placing second. I'm right there, but I'm not there. That's the problem. I'm hoping I'll peak come January and February, but I've got to work harder."

Ward made huge strides, especially after wrestling one class down at 130 at the Whitlatch and going 0-3 his second day.

At the Berman, Ward went 3-0 his second day, winning four straight matches after losing 3-2 in overtime to Lockport's Chris Tragos.

Meeting Tragos again for third place, Ward led that entire match after a first-period takedown. Tragos let Ward escape in the third period but couldn't get a takedown to force overtime.

"That (third-place victory) was a big confidence booster for me. I was trying to be very aggressive in that match so it worked out," Ward said.

"It's always difficult to wrestle that many matches and come back and have to wrestle the same kid that you lost to. I felt pretty good after I was starting to win some matches, got on a roll."

Battaglia already is on pace to outdo the career-high-school victories of older brother Frank, who now is competing at Northwestern, but is currently sidelined after undergoing knee surgery.

In his third-place match, Battaglia defeated Oak Forest's Eamon Przekwas 7-4 after pinning him in the quarterfinals after losing 2-0.

"I think I should have won my semifinal match. I just did some dumb things, but I think overall it was a good tournament," Battaglia said. "I was little nervous (against Przekwas the second time) because I thought he would know what I was doing and what my moves were, but I still beat him. The first time, maybe people said he just got caught but the second time I beat him fair."





 

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