Eureka Men and Women Top Lyon
EUREKA, IL. – On Saturday, the Eureka wrestling team hosted Lyon College inside of the Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center.
On the men's side, the Red Devils defeated Lyon 46-9. Trevor Hedges (Canton, Ill./Canton) won by technical fall in 2:00. Eureka's Nathan Berta (Channahon, Ill./Minooka) won in a similar fashion, defeating Lyon's Jacob Kehrer by technical fall in 1:20. Kaidin Osland (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln) won by forfeit. Dominic Tenayuca (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Jacobs) pinned Lyon's Clay Queen Jr. in just 30 seconds before Anthony Sartori (Channahon, Ill./Minooka) and Tyren Moore (Chicago, Ill./Quincy) picked up 6 points each, winning by forfeit. Sartori, a senior for the Red Devils, was later honored for his contributions to the wrestling program at Eureka.
Thomas Culp (Quincy, Ill. / Quincy) and Jackson Creasy (Lake of the Ozarks, Mo./Osage) closed the dual out for the Red Devils by pinning their opponents. Culp pinned Lyon's Robert Lee in 2:00 and Creasy pinned Eli Lupton in an impressive 23 seconds.
The Eureka women's team also secured an impressive victory on Saturday, defeating Lyon by a commanding score of 29-4. Gada Bryant (Westville, Ill. / Westville), Kyley Bair (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods), and Claire Schaffner (Delavan, Ill./Delavan) started the Red Devils off with a 15 point lead, all winning by forfeit. Natallie Tobuk (Nome, Alaska/Nome-Beltz) then defeated Lyon's Madisen Nash, winning by technical fall. Mckenzie Cook (Homer, Alaska) also won by technical fall, defeating Priscilla Luevano from Lyon. Then, Madison Farris (Chatsworth, Ill./Rifle) won by forfeit. And, in an extra matchup which did not impact the scoring, Audrey Driskell (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) won by decision over Lyon's Mallery Nash.
"It was great to honor Anthony Sartori. He's been a great leader in our team," Coach Biehl said. "Both teams looked focused and put what we worked on all week on display as they dominated Lyon. I tell the teams not to focus on the outcome but to win the small battles, and they did just that!" Coach Biehl added that McKenzie Cook's powerful 5 point throw in her victory over Priscilla Luevano was a major highlight of the day.
Saturday's victory improves the EC men's team to 4-1 (3-0 SLIAC) and the women to 7-5 (4-0 SLIAC). "I'm very proud that both teams finished with an overall winning record and went undefeated in conference during the first year of the SLIAC recognizing wrestling. We still have work to do before we host the conference championship in a couple of weeks if we want to bring home the titles."
The Eureka women's wrestling team is back in action on February 2nd and 3rd in Rock Island, Illinois where they will take part in a D3 invite.
