STREAMWOOD – St. Charles East contended for the Upstate Eight Conference River Division wrestling title last winter, but a home loss by criteria to eventual champion Batavia turned the tide.
The Saints left little doubt about their River royalty this season, completing a perfect run to the league title with Friday’s 67-3 rout of Streamwood.
“We really stressed dominating tonight to make sure that we didn’t leave anything out there,” Saints coach Jason Potter said. “We wanted to make sure we locked up conference to get some momentum going, especially for a tough weekend coming up.”
East (13-1, 6-0) is set to wrestle host Homewood-Flossmoor and Willowbrook in a triangular today, tuning up for next weekend’s UEC tournament at Batavia.
The Saints expect their share of close matches in the triangular, and actually were part of a few against the Sabres. Sophomore 120-pounder Quinn Doherty won his match, 4-2.
Peter Banks edged out a 1-0 victory at 220.
“For most of the night, we handled them pretty well,” Potter said. “We were very aggressive and it showed right away.”
Conference runner-up Batavia competed closest with East, losing, 43-24, in its only River defeat.
Elgin 36, Geneva 33: At Elgin, Geneva (3-3 UEC River) dropped a narrow dual, losing five of the nine contested bouts. Jake Boser recorded a fall at 182 pounds for the Vikings, while Mike Huck won a tight decision at 145.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Sycamore 59, Burlington Central 53: At Sycamore, BC fell behind, 14-0, early, and was unable to finish its comeback after closing within 46-44 with just over four minutes to play.
“You can’t spot anybody 14 points,” Rockets coach Brett Porto said. “The first quarter started out with way too many turnovers.”
Moter Deng scored 19 points to lead Central (6-11).
GIRLS BASKETBALL
St. Charles East 52, Larkin 32: At Elgin, conference-leading East (11-9, 6-1 UEC River) rolled to snap a two-game skid.
Amanda Hilton sparked the Saints with 13 points as coach Lori Drumtra spread the minutes on the heels of today’s game at St. Charles North.
“When it’s back-to-back like that, it’s kind of nice when you can sit your starters a little,” Drumtra said.
The Saints outscored the Royals by 51 points in two meetings this season.
• Anthony Zilis contributed to this report.
