Neuqua Valley’s Geers impresses at state wrestling meet
By Dan Chamness For Sun-Times Media February 19, 2011 12:28AM
2/18/11 Champaign,IL Frank McKeown of Naperville North pushes down on Lincoln-Way East's Kyle Langenderfer in the Class 3A 135-pound lb. weight class quarterfinal bout at the IHSA State Wrestling Championships at Assembly Hall in Champaign on Feb. 18, 2011. | Rob Hart~Sun Times Media
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Updated: February 26, 2011 9:06PM
CHAMPAIGN —The Class 3A state wrestling championships could not have ended on a more impressive note Friday.
In one of the final bouts of the day, Neuqua Valley’s Andrew Geers defeated Granite City’s Casey Krohne by technical fall, 15-0. The officials stopped the 285-pound contest at the 5:50 mark.
Krohne, who was trying to stay alive, tried to take Geers off of his feet, but only smacked his nose on the floor and on Krohne’s ankle.
“His style was very familiar to me,” said Geers, only a sophomore. “I have never wrestled him, but I have wrestled quite a few guys with the same style. My goal is to place. One more win and I will place. I want to show I belong and roll with the big boys.”
With the win, Geers will move on to face Jevar Glover of Proviso West. He opened the tournament with a 7-0 decision over Jake Armellani of Rockford Boylan. Chicago DeLaSalle’s James Buss defeated Geers 5-0 in the quarterfinals.
“That kid took a shot,” said Neuqua Valley head coach Mick Ruettiger. “Andrew is so hard to beat when he stays on his feet. We tell our wrestlers to focus on wrestling their match. Not on winning and losing.”
Naperville Central’s Josh Tardy defeated Deerfield’s Lenny Bloom 8-6 in overtime. Even though he lost his quarterfinal match, Tardy returned to win a major decision over Jack Windmoeller of Lyons Township. He won by a 14-4 score. He will face a very familiar foe today, facing Frank McKeown of Naperville North.
McKeown defeated Elmhurst York’s Troy Valdez 6-4 in his consolation bracket match. He topped Rockton Hononegah’s Manny Silva to start the tournament. He won a 7-2 decision.
Naperville North sophomore Wayne Yuan lost by technical fall to Machesney Park’s Jordan Northrup. Northrup was ahead of Yuan 23-8 when the officials called the match at 5:06. Northrup has won two more matches and Yuan could continue return to wrestle if Northrup continues to win.
Luke Pigott, a Neuqua Valley junior, lost his first round match to Ricky Robertson by a 4-2 decision. The Chicago Mount Carmel wrestler was topped by Shaun’ Qae McMurtry of Lockport by pinfall at the 5:15 mark.
Naperville North sophomore Luke Roth lost his first round match to Alton’s Taylor McGiffen 9-0. After winning a major decision, McGiffen lost his next two matches and Roth has been eliminated.
