Wrestling: Portage spoils Lake Central senior night
By John O’Malley Post-Tribune correspondent January 18, 2012 11:10PM
Lake Central's (right) Alex Tucker takes down Portage's Exvonte Jones during the Portage at Lake Central wrestling meet held at Lake Central High School on Wednesday January 18, 2012. Jones won the match | Charles Mitchell~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 21, 2012 8:32AM
ST. JOHN — Kyle Ayersman figured senior night was something he’d always remember fondly.
Hardly.
Portage won the first four matches (138, 145, 152 and 160) — including the last two in overtime to build a 12-0 lead and beat Lake Central in a Duneland Athletic Conference match Wednesday night, 33-15.
“I’ll think of it as a failure,’’ said a disappointed Ayersman, a two-time defending state champion. I didn’t wrestle my best (in beating Julian Torres 3-0) and I know our team didn’t wrestle their best. We should have probably won three of those first five matches.
“I wanted a ‘W’ tonight. On paper, I thought we were better. I thought we were going to win this one. I look at tonight as a failure, but we’ll get over it. We’ll make up for it by coming out strong and winning the (East Chicago) Sectional.’’
Ayersman finished the regular season 35-0. He’s now 177-2 in his career and a four-time DAC champ, who placed third in the state at 103 as a freshman.
“What a great career so far,’’ LC coach Rod Wartman said. “I’ll say this about Kyle: Not only is he the best wrestler I’ve ever coached — he’s the best person I’ve ever coached. He has the best character of any kid I’ve ever coached. He reminds me of one other kid I coached (Brad Sikora at Crete-Monee) who is now the principal at Oak Forest (Ill.) High School.’’
But Portage spoiled the night for LC.
“Lake Central is a tough team,’’ Portage coach Leroy Vega said. “They’re young with a lot of great studs. We knew they were going to come out strong early, because they go hard and they wrestle hard. We knew our guys were going to have to battle to win — and they battled. That’s what it’s all about right now — battling and getting better.’’
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