SYCAMORE – A win away from placing last year at the Class 2A State Championship, Sycamore junior Trevor Boryla has set out on a mission of improvement.
He hit a big milestone at the Sycamore Invitational, beating Marengo's Landen Pfeiffer in the 106-pound semifinals en route to a second place finish, a year after taking sixth at the Sycamore tournament.
"To turn that match around from last year to this year says a lot about him and gives him confidence going into regionals," Sycamore coach Nelson said. "We'll see him again and hopefully keep building from today."
Boryla was one of four medalists for Sycamore, with Justin Montani fourth at 113, Joey Beaudoin taking fourth at 285 and Matthew Hunter sixth at 220. Kaneland had two placers – Nathan Orosco was third at 120 and Calvin McDonald was second at 220.
Boryla was pinned in just 46 seconds in the 106 quarterfinals last year by Pfeiffer, who went on to finish fifth in the state.
In the rematch Saturday, Boryla won 8-2 before losing to Mundelein's Dane Durlacher, 13-2, in the finals.
"That finals match was obviously a disappointment, but my semifinals match was a good win," said Boryla, who improved to 30-5 on the year and handed Pfeiffer his third loss of the year. "My quarterfinals match was good, too."
Boryla and Pfeiffer have very likely not met for the last time, as Sycamore and Marengo are in the same regional this season.
This time around, Boryla goes in with a win.
"It's a good feeling," Boryla said of taking sixth. "Especially after taking sixth last year, losing a couple matches."
Finishing so close to placing last year has motivated Boryla this year, Nelson said.
"I think he got a taste of the state tournament last year and that he was a match away from placing," Nelson said. "Not that he didn't have the right attitude last year, he was focused, but now I think he wants to get on that podium this year. I think that's an extra little drive for him this year."
Sycamore finished in 14th place Saturday with 288 points, while Kaneland, with just six wrestlers, was 22nd in the 25-team field. Washington won for the fourth straight year (549), edging Huntley (545.5), which was second for the second straight year. Yorkvile had 510.5 to take third.
Pfeiffer took fifth in state last year by beating Orosco in the fifth-place match at 106. This year, the Kaneland junior moved up to 120 and took third in the tournament. He lost 14-5 in the semifinals to Huntley's Andrew Lira before bouncing back for a last-second pin against Grayslake North's Jake Jozwiak.
"I didn't wrestle very well," Orosco said. "I didn't really show up. I have to be more aggressive and be ready to wrestle at all times."
Kaneland coach Joe Orosco said he expects his 120-pound wrestler to learn from the loss.
"That match in the semis he lost, he wasn't happy," Joe Orosco said. "That kid outwrestled him. He's got to learn to kind of up his game, especially going into the final stretch here. But he wrestled well."
McDonald lost his match in the 200 championship match to Yorkville's Brady Fisher, 5-2, but will get a rematch Thursday when the Knights and Foxes battle in a dual.
"We would have liked to place a little higher in both of those matches," Joe Orosco said of McDonald and Nathan Orosco. "But it's a good tournament for these guys to test themselves against 3A schools, which is always good this time of year."
McDonald, a transfer from Marmion, took second in his first time at the Sycamore tourney.
"I didn't really expect much. I hadn't really wrestled in this tournament before," McDonald said. "I opened up my offense a little bit and I did really well."
Beaudoin was cruising for Sycamore into the semifinals, but he lost to Washington's Jace Punke, 7-4 in a 285 semifinal that was a rematch of the 220 championship from last year – also won by Punke, 5-3.
Beaudoin had a chance to recover in the third-place match and was winning against Mahomet-Seymour's David Griffet, but was pinned in the final 17 seconds of the match.
"We have to make sure he wrestles the match his way, instead of making mistakes, which puts him out of position, which puts him in bad spots and places people capitalize," Nelson said. "When you're in close matches you can't be giving up points like that. ... I think that kind of hurt us in the third period from a mind frame standpoint."