There was virtually no hope for the opposition last Friday morning at a triangular wrestling match against Riverside Brookfield. Chicago Hope literally didn’t even make it to the event, while Bremen found little hope for victory during the host Bulldogs’ 69-5 thrashing of the undermanned Braves.
Vince Vallez (125-pound weight class), Nicko Torres (130), and Matt Regnier (215) led the way with individual wins for RB, which captured all weight classes except one.
Vallez won his match on a pin at the 1:49 mark of the second period, while Torres pinned Bremen’s Joe Zambrano at 1:46 of the first period. Regnier took out Willie Dunlap at 3:34 in the third period when Dunlap lost by a fall.
At 152, the Bulldogs’ Don Johnson pinned Jimmy Moore and Ernie Principe (119) also pinned his opponent for a victory.
The Bulldogs also took five weight classes by forfeit over the Braves. Zach Moreno (140), Paul Russell (160), Joe Hnojsky (171), Josh Bergmann (189), and Andrew Biggerstaff (275) all went unchallenged at their respective weight classes.
“Chicago Hope didn’t show and Bremen is down a little bit this year,” said RB coach Neil Dughetti. “I think our guys did a nice job. For what Bremen had for us, I think our kids did well but I was expecting them to do better.”
A primary goal for RB this season is to win the Metro Suburban Conference, which kicks off competition this week. Dughetti is optimistic about his team’s chances to win the conference title provided hard work and focus remain top priorities for the RB grapplers.
“We’re almost there,” Dughetti said about the Bulldogs’ development. “We have a couple of weight classes that we need guys to step up in. In two more weeks, we will find out whether we will be conference champs.”
The Bulldogs open conference dual matches this week against Elmwood Park and Ridgewood before wrapping up a busy slate of activity Saturday at the Lisle Invitational
“Last year, we took second at Lisle,” Dughetti said. “This year, we are hoping to win it.”
With their win against Bremen, the Bulldogs improved their overall record to 8-4 on the year. RB also has performed well at tournaments, including impressive showings at the Guerin Invitational (second place) and Lyons Township Invitational (fourth place).
At the LT tournament in mid-December, the Bulldogs scored 112 points, led by Vallez and Torres, who each took second place in their respective weight classes.