Fear the frosh: Anderson claims title; 5 Warriors, 4 Dukes advance

GENESEO – Isaac Anderson saw he had his work cut for him at the Class 2A Geneseo Regional wrestling meet on Saturday. Then he went to work.

The Sterling freshman, ranked 12th by Illinois Matmen at 106 pounds, was in a bracket that included the fourth- and sixth-ranked wrestlers. No matter. Anderson (20-6) pinned sixth-ranked Tyler DeHaven (34-6) in the semifinals before earning a 5-3 decision over fourth-ranked Jeronnie Steward (30-6) of United Township in the championship.

“I don’t look too much over the rankings. But if somebody is ranked above me, it puts a target on their back,” Anderson said. “Those are the people I want to face. This is a huge boost. I’ll probably be at the top of the bracket at sectionals now. I have tons of confidence right now.”

Anderson was the lone local champion at the regional, but four of his teammates also advanced to sectionals Saturday at Sterling. Four Dixon Dukes advanced as well.

Sterling’s other advancers were runners-up Austin Olalde (20-8, 120 pounds), Trever Zinke (28-8, 220) and Curtis Lilly (27-8, 285), and Josh Villareal (25-14), who took third place at 182.

Dixon’s quartet of sectional qualifiers were runners-up Austin Rhodenbaugh (26-11, 113) and Kylian Lally (21-15, 132), and third-place finishers Trent Brinkmeier (12-16, 126) and Mike Rick (19-6, 220).

Rick was probably the most unlikely local wrestler to advance, because he contracted a skin disease that had sidelined him for two weeks and had his coach, Chris Bishop, thinking he would likely be forced to miss the regional.

“I got lucky,” Rick said of being able to compete and move on. “God was on my side. I didn’t think I was going to make it. I was in the hospital the other day thinking that this is my senior year and I wouldn’t get to wrestle. It’s a miracle.

“I was able to practice Friday. That was the first time I wrestled in two weeks, so I was a little rusty in my first match today. But, I bounced back after that.”

Rick lost his first match before scoring three straight pins.

Zinke’s final had a strange conclusion. With Zinke leading 2-0 just over a minute into his championship match with Freeport’s Malique Johnson, Zinke was penalized a point for using an illegal full nelson.