D-C comes up short against Harlem

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CARPENTERSVILLE – On the final match of the season, every wrestler on the Dundee-Crown team rose from his seat to cheer on a teammate.

That support paid off when Chargers senior Travel Rounds pinned Machesney Park Harlem’s Jake Messink in the 125-pound weight class. But it was not enough to save Dundee-Crown’s season as the Chargers lost, 48-21, in the IHSA Class 3A Dundee-Crown Dual Team Sectional.

Harlem advanced to the state quarterfinals in Bloomington, while the Chargers were left to reflect on a missed opportunity.

“They had a great attitude,” Chargers coach Al Zinke said. “We don’t have a lot of talent, but we knew that coming into the season. But they worked hard and put themselves in position to be here. I’m proud of their effort.”

Harlem featured four wrestlers who finished in the top four at last week’s individual state tournament, and all four of them won Tuesday. State champion Derek Elmore (119) required only 14 seconds to record one of five pins by the Huskies.

The Chargers’ bright spots included a pin by Alonzo Fuller (145) 17 seconds into the first period and hard-fought victories by Gustavo Jacobo (140), Cody Churkey (215) and Raymond Griggel (285). Rounds provided a final win when he pinned Messink with 22.6 seconds to go in the third frame.

“We knew that Harlem was a tough team, so the plan was to go out there and bring the fight to them and keep fighting hard no matter what happened,” Rounds said. “Even though we gave up some tough pins, I thought we fought pretty hard.”

Churkey beat Harlem’s Robbie Hyde, 6-2, in what turned out to be the final match of his senior season.

“All we wanted was to be a team,” Churkey said. “That was the goal from day one. We have eight seniors. We just wanted to work together and get it done.”

Although the Chargers won a regional title for the first time since 2008, Churkey said he and his teammates hoped for more.

“It was not quite where we wanted it [to end],” Churkey said. “As a team, we did OK, but it was not really successful.”

Zinke agreed.

“Our season wasn’t a success,” Zinke said. “But it was a good season.”