Wrestling: Oak Park-River Forest downs Hinsdale Central

Oak Park-River Forest perennially sits among Illinois’ elite wrestling teams because even when the Huskies go up against another rock-solid program, the standard is the same.

“We expect to dominate,” Huskies senior Michael Woulfe said.

It doesn’t always work out that way, of course, but the Huskies did their share of dominating against West Suburban Silver foe Hinsdale Central, winning 39-20 Thursday.

No. 3 OPRF (9-0, 2-0 in WSS duals) posted a pin, two technical falls and a major decision in earning a 9-5 edge in matches won.

“We just came out and got it done,” Huskies senior Devonte Mahomes said. “They won the conference last year so we wanted to rise to the occasion tonight.”

Hinsdale Central (4-4, 2-1) grabbed an 8-6 lead when heavyweight Brian Allen won a hard-fought 9-4 decision over Marq Brumant, and Marco Del-Rosario won by tech fall at 106 pounds. The Red Devils also got decision wins from Jimmy Grimm (145) and Joe Tosello (182), and an injury default win at 170 by T.J. Salley.

The Huskies took control after Del-Rosario’s win, ticking off five consecutive wins. Matt Rundell (113), Johnny Gahagan (126) and Cameron Harris (132) won decisions during the run, while Darius Henry posted the night’s lone pin at 120 pounds.

The Huskies’ Jake O’Mara and the Red Devils’ Ernest Battaglia were tied 2-2 at 138 pounds when Battaglia injury defaulted, giving OPRF a 24-8 lead.

Mahomes won by major decision at 152, Woulfe won by tech fall at 160, and Sam Brooks ended the night’s wrestling with a tech fall win at 195 pounds.

“There’s always room for improvement,” Mahomes said. “I have to get better. There are still people (ranked) above me, like (Glenbard North’s) Brian Murphy and (Carl Sandburg’s) Colin Holler, so I’m chasing them right now.”

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