Edwardsville's boys wrestling team advances to state after clutch performance by Will Zupanci

Feb 20, 2019 5:55 AM Feb 20, 2019 2:04 PM Save

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EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville's Will Zupanci was a wrestler in the spotlight at 145 pounds Tuesday night at the IHSA Class 3A Taylorville Dual Team Sectional with his 3-2 victory that pushed the Tigers to a 30-28 win over New Lenox Lincoln-Way West.

Zupanci defeated Garrett Geigner in his match which propelled the Tigers over the edge for the win.

"I was out there trying to have fun and score fun," he said. "I knew I had to win. I didn't really feel pressure. It feels great to qualify as a team. We all work hard and they entrust us with a lot of confidence."

The Warriors jumped out to an early 19-0 lead after the first four bouts, but Edwardsville got wins from Blake Moss at 195, Josh Anderson at 220 and Lloyd Reynolds at 285 to cut the West lead to 19-9.

Grant Matarelli at 106 then scored a pin to further cut the lead to 19-15, and in a match that proved to be a turning point, Connor Surtin, who did not wrestle in the individual tournament series, got an 11-4 win in the 113-pound match to make it 19-18. A win from Dylan Gvillo at 120 and a Noah Surtin pin at 126 gave Edwardsville a 27-19 lead, but the Warriors took the next two matches to make the score 28-27 in their favor before Zupanci’s heroics.

Conor Surtin said the win was huge and the team hadn't been there in a long time to state. The Tigers had not qualified in the past seven attempts for the team wrestling state tourney.

"I knew the kid was pretty good but knew I could win it," Conor Surtin said. "My family and coaches supported me. I was a little nervous when we came back, we fight every day in the practice room and know what we can do."

The Tigers are now 27-0 in dual meets and will go against DeKalb, a 51-29 winner over Park Ridge Maine South, in the state quarterfinals Saturday morning at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington-Normal. Should Edwardsville win, they’ll meet the winner of Barrington and Lombard Montini Catholic in the semifinals at 2 p.m. The state championship meet is set for 6 p.m. that evening.

Edwardsville Head Wrestling Coach Jon Wagner said: "In the past, my teams have wrestled great. Tonight, it was going bad and we came back and won. This is another good dual meet and now our seniors have now had a chance to go to the state tournament.

"Will wrestled one of their better wrestlers. Will brought it tonight; it was a lot on the kids' back (Will Zupanci) and he came through. Connor Surtin won a big match. One of the biggest things his brother might have done is get his brother ready. No doubt not having Luke (Odom) hurt because of the concussion-like symptoms from the state individual meet. We made some mistakes early but weren't quite there early in the match, we knew we had to chance and came down had to win a couple matches."