Belvidere North’s Tyler Demo finishes third in state wrestling

By Bob Balgemann

REPORTER

It’s axiomatic that wrestlers don’t have to be a champion to leave a tournament without losing their final match.

Going home a winner applies to first place, of course, but also includes third place and fifth place.

Belvidere North senior Tyler Demo found himself in one of those situations at last weekend’s state tournament in the State Farm Center in Champaign. He came back to Belvidere a winner after finishing in third place at 138 pounds. He did so by defeating a neighborhood rival, Keenan Brummett (37-13) from Harvard, 11-6, in the consolation finals.

He came into the tournament having won 19 of 20 matches and, as was expected, ran into opponents who also had compiled excellent records over the season.

His closest victory came in his first match, when he edged Will Meadow (32-2) of Carbondale, 6-4. In the quarterfinals of the championship bracket, he lost to Baan Rachel (33-3) of Chicago Washington.

That put Demo in the consolation bracket, and he faced a tall order of having to win three times in order to reach the finals and a chance at third place.

First up was Austin Connolley (35-18) from Grayslake Central and the Belvidere North entry took a 6-3 decision. Match two was against a successful, seasoned wrestler in Peter McCusker of Rantoul. He was no match for Demo, who scored a major decision, 14-5.

The semi-final was next and another competitor from a nearby community – Troy Piotrowski (32-11) from Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge. Demo prevailed, 11-6. Piotrowski wound up fifth, winning over an injured Rachel who was unable to compete in that match.

That brought the finals and the Blue Thunder banner carrier won in his last match as a high school wrestler. He finished 23-2 with his only other loss a 7-5 decision in the championship match at the Sterling sectional.

Junior Sean Lock (19-6) ran into Dominick Murphy (28-14) from Chicago Brother Rice in the first round at 152 pounds and lost. Murphy lost his next match, which deprived Lock from a wrestle-back.

In addition to getting out of regional and sectional tournaments in order to qualify for state, Demo and Lock each won NIC-10 championships for North.

Demo went 2-0 in conference, winning by a 1:54 pin and a major, 11-3 decision. Lock opened with a 4-1 decision, and then registered a 1:13 pin before taking the championship, 7-1.

Blue Thunder had 10 place winners in the conference.