'Everybody wants to see us go at it'

[admin]

Tonight, they'll get their wish: Two-time state champ Bybee will wrestle Cotton, third in AA, at IVC

BY JOE GENZEL
Peoria Journal Star

Donny Cotton has waited for it all year. Jeff Bybee said it's just another match.

No matter how either wrestler views tonight's clash at Illinois Valley Central, one thing is certain: This 135-pound bout is one of the most anticipated and highly touted matches of the year in the Journal Star area.

East Peoria, for which Cotton wrestles, and Bybee and IVC will face Mendota first, starting at 5 p.m. in Chillicothe, before the Raiders and Grey Ghosts go head to head.

"In the past few years, me and (Bybee) have been on friendly terms and everything," Cotton said. "We really haven't had a problem . . . but now he's at my weight, and everybody wants to see us go at it. And I have been hearing that he's saying he can beat me, and that's been kind of ticking me off. So I want to wrestle him real bad."

There are plenty of similarities between Cotton and Bybee, a two-time Class A state champion who will be moving up a weight class to wrestle the East Peoria senior.

Both are ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes by the Web site illinoismatmen.com. Each also is undefeated. Cotton, who finished third at 130 in the 2006 Class AA state finals, is 25-0, and Bybee is 19-0.

"I've beat better kids than him before," Bybee said of Cotton. "I love to wrestle big matches in front of a lot of people."

Cotton and Bybee, a junior, never have wrestled each another. They know each other and have talked to one another, but Cotton said he never saw Bybee as a threat because he wrestled at lower weights during his freshman and sophomore seasons at IVC.

"I think a lot of the pressure is on me," Cotton said. "He really has nothing to lose, because (Class AA) state champions are expected to beat (Class A) state champions. I'm tired of people talking, 'Who would win, Jeff Bybee or Donny?' After (tonight) there won't be anymore 'I wonder who will win.' "

As for Bybee, he thinks all the pressure is on Cotton, considering the IVC wrestler is younger and in a higher weight class than usual. Bybee also be wrestling at home.

"I don't feel like there is a lot of pressure," Bybee said. "It's just a normal match for me. I'm going out there to wrestle."

Bybee won last year's small-school 119-pound title, 3-1 in overtime against nationally ranked Tyler Clark of Orion.

In his freshman season, Bybee went 41-0 and won state at 112 pounds. Tonight, he will be looking for his 100th career victory.

"I don't know if he's wrestling as well as he did last year," IVC coach Mark Kosinski said of Bybee, who cut off his left-index finger at the knuckle with a saw in a shop-class accident in the fall. "But that's not to say he isn't a better wrestler. It's just hard to gauge right now."

Cotton was more of a late bloomer. He didn't win his first Mid-Illini Conference title until last year. Cotton beat Chicago St. Rita's Adam Canty 3-0 for third place at state after a loss to Belvidere's Dalton Bullard in the semifinals.

"I think I have wrestled some of the best guys in the world," said East Peoria coach Phil Johns, who won a Class AA individual state title at Canton in 1987. "Donny is an extraordinary individual, and it would take a very tough guy to beat him."

Joe Genzel can be reached at 686-3214 or jgenzel@pjstar.com.

[admin]

Cotton wins, but I've seen two different scores. "Dstate" reported 10-5 on the Illinois Matmen forums and "grey ghost" reported 10-6 on the Peoria Journal Star forums. I guess we'll have the official score tomorrow morning.

[Warrior88]

10-6 was the score. I have the match and I could probably get it onto the computer if someone tells me how....it has a connection with a USB port so....

My opinion of the match: Cotton came out extremely strong and took a lead like he always does and then gassed and Bybee started to come back. Bybee was looking like he was going to make a comeback and maybe even win and was starting to control Cotton and then there was blood time that allowed Cotton to catch his breath and he came back with a takedown. On the tape you can kind of tell how tired he is but in real life you could see clearly by the end of the second Cotton was ready to stall it out.

[Doug Buffone]

That would be great if you could get it online for everyone to see!!!