Gators prepare for sectional

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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:31AM

Guerin’s wrestling team finished off the regular season with some positive results last week.

The Gators were able to defeat Aurora Central Catholic and Wheaton Academy on Jan. 24, on senior night before losing to Marian Central Catholic and Marmion while earning a win by forfeit over St. Edward on Saturday. The team finished 5-2 in the Suburban Christian Conference with one more win than last year and earned the conference sportsmanship award for the third year running having won every year they’ve been in the conference.

They defeated Aurora Central Catholic 22-18 on Jan. 24 with wins coming from Frank Fini at 106 pounds. Nick Zagotta came out on top at 113 pounds while Jaime Santana earned a win at 132 pounds. Alex Acosta was a winner at 160 and Michael Altman at 170. Alex Sullivan won his bout at 182 pounds with David Connelly taking his bout at 220.

Zagotta, Acosta, Altman, Sullivan, and Connelly repeated the feat against Wheaton Academy as the Gators won that match 54-24. Nik Doherty won at 126 pounds as did Kevin Doyle at 152 with Sam Loconti earning a victory at the heavyweight position.

On Saturday night, Sullivan won against Marian Central, but he wound up losing his final regular-season match to Marmion’s eighth-ranked wrestler in Class AA Cody Snodgrass by a score of 3-2. The loss kept Sullivan at 99 wins for his career.

“He wasn’t able to cap the regular season with an undefeated record (27-1) nor reach the century mark,” said Guerin head coach Earl Danan, “but he is still the favorite to win the Walther Lutheran Class A Regional next weekend. During that time, he will reach 100 career wins and add a bunch more.”

Fellow senior captain David Connelly earned SCC All-Conference honorable mention accolades for his great season. They were honored on senior night along with Doherty, Acosta, Ken McNally, Altman, Hugo D’Acensio, and Loconti for their commitment to Guerin wrestling.

“We wish the eight graduating seniors associated with the Gator wrestling team the best as they venture into their future, be it college or securing a career in the workforce,” Danan said.

Guerin will participate in the Walther Lutheran IHSA Class A regional on Saturday evening starting at 6:30 in Melrose Park.