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Indians facing challenge
By Matthew Hager
Daily News staff writer
Huskies could be obstacle in Hononegah's NIC-9 title run
ROCKTON - Coming off a season in which it became only the second team in NIC-9 history to place at state, the Hononegah wrestling team can made a big statement Thursday at Harlem.
The Indians travel to Machesney Park to take on the Huskies in what many see as the matchup between the conference's top two teams. Hononegah has cruised in its previous NIC-9 duals, but Harlem has loomed large on the schedule. The Huskies are viewed by most to be the only team that has a legitimate chance to knock off the Indians.
“I would give them the edge in the dual meet tomorrow,” Hononegah coach Marty Kaiser said. “They're undefeated right now and we're 10-4. Our losses were to some pretty decent teams, but they're unbeaten.”
While Hononegah's depth is well documented, Harlem has a lot of experience and talent back as well this season. The Huskies are led by state runner-up Zach Taylor. The 119-pound junior is currently ranked No. 2 in Class AA by Illinoismatmen.com after a 36-1 2004-05 season. Also state-ranked is sectional champ Andy Asbell at 215 pounds. He's ranked eighth. Add seven other seniors and Harlem is a tough team top to bottom.
“They're tougher than nails,” Kaiser said. “They've got some real quality kids. They're real tough in the upper weights.”
The Indians will need to keep up the intensity they showed last weekend when they faced some of the state's best teams. Hononegah lost a dual to Chicago St. Rita Dec. 28 at Belvidere and split a pair of duals against Naperville North and West Aurora the next night. Then on Friday the Indians took second at the Don Flavin DeKalb Invitational for the second straight year. Naperville North out-pointed the Indians 226-206.5 at the nine-team tournament. However, 13 of Hononegah's 14 wrestlers placed in the top five in their respective weight classes, highlighted by individual champ Stephen Dwyer at 160.
Kaiser said his Indians didn't match up well against Naperville North Thursday, but showed a lot of character at the tournament. Several wrestlers worked their way back to a high finish after falling out of the championship bracket.
“We had a horrible, horrible first round in the tournament, but I had six guys lose in the first round and four of them came back and finished third,” Kaiser said. “That shows they've got a lot of guts and can wrestle back. To be a true champion and to have a team that can qualify for state or qualify for sectionals, you've got to wrestle back.”
As for Thursday's match, Kaiser is viewing it as just another match. He said it's too early to put pressure on what is still a young team.
“The wrestling season is so long,” Kaiser said. “You can't put pressure on one dual meet. It's not that time of the year yet to put pressure on the kids. As much as people forget, I have a very young team.” Hononegah's usual lineup consists of six seniors, two juniors, five sophomores and one freshman.
Kaiser said he knows when to put the pressure on.
“I'll put some pressure on things when conference, regionals and sectionals roll around,” he said. “But right now, we're just trying to get better and improve.”
ROCKTON - Coming off a season in which it became only the second team in NIC-9 history to place at state, the Hononegah wrestling team can made a big statement Thursday at Harlem.
The Indians travel to Machesney Park to take on the Huskies in what many see as the matchup between the conference's top two teams. Hononegah has cruised in its previous NIC-9 duals, but Harlem has loomed large on the schedule. The Huskies are viewed by most to be the only team that has a legitimate chance to knock off the Indians.
“I would give them the edge in the dual meet tomorrow,” Hononegah coach Marty Kaiser said. “They're undefeated right now and we're 10-4. Our losses were to some pretty decent teams, but they're unbeaten.”
While Hononegah's depth is well documented, Harlem has a lot of experience and talent back as well this season. The Huskies are led by state runner-up Zach Taylor. The 119-pound junior is currently ranked No. 2 in Class AA by Illinoismatmen.com after a 36-1 2004-05 season. Also state-ranked is sectional champ Andy Asbell at 215 pounds. He's ranked eighth. Add seven other seniors and Harlem is a tough team top to bottom.
“They're tougher than nails,” Kaiser said. “They've got some real quality kids. They're real tough in the upper weights.”
The Indians will need to keep up the intensity they showed last weekend when they faced some of the state's best teams. Hononegah lost a dual to Chicago St. Rita Dec. 28 at Belvidere and split a pair of duals against Naperville North and West Aurora the next night. Then on Friday the Indians took second at the Don Flavin DeKalb Invitational for the second straight year. Naperville North out-pointed the Indians 226-206.5 at the nine-team tournament. However, 13 of Hononegah's 14 wrestlers placed in the top five in their respective weight classes, highlighted by individual champ Stephen Dwyer at 160.
Kaiser said his Indians didn't match up well against Naperville North Thursday, but showed a lot of character at the tournament. Several wrestlers worked their way back to a high finish after falling out of the championship bracket.
“We had a horrible, horrible first round in the tournament, but I had six guys lose in the first round and four of them came back and finished third,” Kaiser said. “That shows they've got a lot of guts and can wrestle back. To be a true champion and to have a team that can qualify for state or qualify for sectionals, you've got to wrestle back.”
As for Thursday's match, Kaiser is viewing it as just another match. He said it's too early to put pressure on what is still a young team.
“The wrestling season is so long,” Kaiser said. “You can't put pressure on one dual meet. It's not that time of the year yet to put pressure on the kids. As much as people forget, I have a very young team.” Hononegah's usual lineup consists of six seniors, two juniors, five sophomores and one freshman.
Kaiser said he knows when to put the pressure on.
“I'll put some pressure on things when conference, regionals and sectionals roll around,” he said. “But right now, we're just trying to get better and improve.”
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