Bishop picks his battles

Sterling senior Trever Zinke was briefly knocked out at the Class 2A Sterling Sectional by East Peoria’s Lucas Joseph, who entered their 220-pound quarterfinal match 38-0.

Joseph led 7-0 when he knocked Zinke out cold with a move Sterling coach Charlie Bishop thought could have been called a slam. But the ref dissented, Zinke came to, and his coach pulled him from the match.

“We had to be smart,” Bishop said. “I thought it was a better plan and we’d have a better shot to rest him up, come back tomorrow and take our shot at getting through.”

Idle hands: The only Sterling or Dixon wrestler who had a bye through the first round was Golden Warrior Isaac Anderson, and the idle time was unkind to the freshman.

His season record slipped to 20-7 as he fell behind Marmion’s Anthony Bosco 5-0 early in the second period and couldn’t overcome the deficit, ultimately falling 11-3.

“I think having the first-round bye might have been some of the issue for Isaac,” Bishop said. “I was the same way when I wrestled – I hated getting that bye, because I didn’t feel myself in my first round. You’ve almost gotta get the bugs knocked loose in your system before you can go.”

Thin line: Including Sterling freshman Austin Olade’s 3-2 loss to Jake Wever of LaSalle-Peru, three of the four first-round matches in the 120-pound bracket were decided by a single point.

Olade took the first shot midway through the first round, but Weaver countered to seize a 2-0 lead. Olade earned a reversal with just 7 second left in the period.

Wever broke Olade’s grip with 10 seconds left in the second period. Olade couldn’t return the favor, as Wever maintained his grip on both Olade and the lead to grind out the win.

A bridge too far: If there were four periods in wrestling matches, Sterling’s Josh Villarreal might have wrestled twice Friday night.

The 182-pounder slipped into a 7-0 hole midway through the second period against Sycamore’s Tyler Barton. He dominated the rest of the match, but came up short in an 8-6 decision and was cast into the wrestlebacks.