Joliet Central coach Mack McLaughlin carried home his second South Inter- Conference Association West Division trophy Saturday. He hopes it`s his last. McLaughlin wants to keep winning conference championships, but he`d rather win them in a dual-meet format than in a tournament. In Saturday`s SICA West tournament at Bolingbrook, the defending Class AA state champion Steelmen scored 165 1/2 points to 126 1/2 for second-place Andrew. With regionals next week, McLaughlin would rather work in the wrestling room than in a tournament. ”Conference is always tough,” said McLaughlin, whose team didn`t compete in a conference tournament in the now defunct Illini Eight Conference. ”I hope next year we won`t have it. You get too many people hurt. We might have lost one (112-pound Mark Bitner, who suffered a minor concussion). It`s just too late in the season. We`ve got to go against some of the same people next week.
”You`re going to get stale either way. The thing about it is keeping healthy. Some coaches say you need the competition, but if you have a full season and three or four tournaments, you don`t need any more competition. If you have a good team, you can get competition in your own room.”
The Steelmen got championships from five wrestlers, led by unbeatens Steve Harmon at 155 and Scott Edman at 167. Harmon defeated crosstown rival and friend Mike Honiotes (24-5) of Joliet West 4-2 for his 30th victory. Edman ran his record to 29-0 with a technical fall in 4:51. Ray Palacios (98), Tim Chaplin (132) and heavyweight Brian Shaw were the other Joliet Central winners. Palacios is now 28-2, Chaplin 27-4 and Shaw 29-1.
Andrew had three champions. Freshman Kevin Noffisinger, who defeated Bitner by default, won the 112 title, freshman Joey Gilbert (33-0) won 126 and senior Neal Gaynor took 145.
Romeoville`s Derrick Crenshaw was named the meet`s outstanding wrestler. Crenshaw, who will compete at 112 in the state series, moved up to meet Andrew`s George Gilbert at 119. Gilbert handed Crenshaw his only loss in 34 matches earlier in the year. Saturday, Crenshaw was a 10-0 winner.
”I was ahead of him 4-2 with about 16 seconds left and I shot in and got caught in a reverse cradle and he pinned me,” Crenshaw said of the first match. ”He shouldn`t have beaten me before. I had to get him. Ever since then, I have been working hard, running hard to get ready. Nobody has ever beaten me twice. I knew I could do it.”
When Joliet Central was in the Illini Eight, the conference championship was determined by dual meet standings. When the Illini Eight dissolved, Central, Joliet West, Bolingbrook, Lockport and Romeoville joined the SICA, which uses a tournament to determine its champion.
McLaughlin`s two unbeaten seniors differ in opinion when it comes to the conference tournament.
`The conference meet is a grind,” said Harmon. ”It`s one of the toughest meets we have. I think it should be a team concept with duals. There are so many times when somebody comes back to beat you.”
Edman, who wrestled behind Maurice Gregory last season, likes the tournament. He doesn`t want any surprises in the regional or sectional.
”I`d rather wrestle them tough now in the conference than in the regional,” he said. ”This time, I got the feel for them. Next week, I`ll be better prepared. Next week counts.”
Central will start its defense of the state championship next week in the Joliet West regional. The competition won`t be any easier than the conference meet, with Joliet West, Romeoville, Lockport, Lincoln-Way and Bolingbrook competing there, too. The addition of Joliet Catholic and Providence won`t make things any easier.
McLaughlin, whose team lost only to Proviso East this season, doesn`t think he has seen the best of the Steelmen.
”I still think we are not wrestling up to par yet,” he said. ”We`re crusin` when we should be brusin`. This is not like last year when we had so many studs. We have to come together as a team. I hope we do it next week. If we get out of the regional, we`ll be okay.”
