Abe’s Rumble: Macomb, Coal City, Prairie Central, Deer Creek-Mackinaw start off 4-0

By ROB SHERRILL
Illinois Matmen

The afternoon rotation of the inaugural Abe’s Rumble was a mixed bag. No. 3 Coal City was no surprise, No. 23 Macomb and Deer Creek-Mackinaw survived and No. 22 Prairie Central emerged from the tournament’s toughest pool to post 4-0 records. Here’s a rundown of what happened in each.

Pool E: Macomb took control of the pool with a criteria win over Auburn after the two teams tied, 36-36. The Bombers won the dual with a 6-5 edge in six-point victories. Macomb also beat El Paso-Gridley, 49-24, Robinson, 75-6 and Reed-Custer, 46-31.

Macomb jumped out to a 30-0 lead, but had to hold on as Auburn won seven of the final eight matches, including pins by state placewinner Peyton Hudspeth (195), Michael Ushman (106) and Caleb Nix (113).

Kolt Lawyer (126), Christian Brewer (132) and Chris Medina (152) went 4-0 for Macomb.

Pool F: In a rematch of last year’s dual state semifinal, Coal City beat Murphysboro, 51-22 in the second round and went on to win the pool. The Coalers also beat Beardstown, 49-15, Rockridge, 50-24 and Monmouth-Roseville, 66-18.

The Red Devils scored three big wins, with Sam Dietz edging state placewinner Jake Hiles, 8-7 at 120, Ryan Chambers edging T.J. Jezik, 5-3 at 138 and Dalton Craig pinned Bryan Stopka at 182. But the victories by Dietz and Chambers were Murphysboro’s only wins in the first nine matches, with Coal City building a 42-6 lead on the strength of five pins and two forfeits. Hiles and Stopka did come up with big wins against Beardstown, however, Hiles scoring a 13-3 major decision over state qualifier Lalo Munoz at 126 and Stopka beating Chad Grimm, 8-2.

Alex Friddle (113), Ryan Wasilewski (132), Daniel Jezik (145), Danny Norton (160), Cole Garcia (170), and Brock Crawford (195-220) went 4-0 for the Coalers.

Other individual highlights: Rockridge freshman Nolan Throne (126) needed just 2:17 to record four first-period pins, including one against Munoz, and top-ranked Griffin Meeker (182) of St. Joseph-Ogden had four technical falls, two of them coming against Craig and Grimm.

Pool G: The tournament’s toughest pool saw Prairie Central follow up an opening 56-15 victory over Toledo Cumberland with victories over No. 7 Olympia, 39-34, and No. 8 Sherrard, 42-24. The Hawks finished off their 4-0 run with a 54-16 victory over Oregon.

Simon Schuler (145), Jacob Woodrey (152), Drew Hoselton (160), Cade Kerns (195) and Alex Steidinger (285) went 4-0 for Prairie Central.

Sherrard got off to an 0-2 start, falling 44-27 to Olympia in the opening round. The Tigers fell behind 17-0 after three matches, but rallied within 29-27 before the Spartans got pins from Mason Moore (195) and state placewinner Keaton Fogler (220) to clinch the match.

Prairie Central also fell behind Olympia, 22-4, before winning six straight. Pins by Matt Kerns (170) and Lukas Ashman (182) and Cade Kerns’ major decision at 195 gave the Hawks a 34-22 lead. Steidinger’s pin at 285 clinched it.

Pool H: Deer Creek-Mackinaw opened with a 39-24 victory over Litchfield, and followed that with victories over Riverdale, 39-30, Mount Carmel, 45-30 and Sterling Newman, 36-29.

McGwire Bottorff (126-132) and Joey Regnier (220) were 4-0 for Dee-Mack.