Saturday’s LaPorte Regional was a 50-50 proposition for the Chesterton wrestling team.

“We brought 10 and we got five,” assistant coach Jason Cook said.

The top four finishers in each weight class advance to Saturday’s　Merrillville Semistate, where the Trojans will be represented by Zack Thornton (125), Chris Katsafaros (130), Brandon Garvey (152), Anthony Quiroz (160) and Frank Raudry (heavyweight).

“The five we got were not a surprise,” Cook said. “They’re great wrestlers. They’re our studs.”

Thornton, Katsafaros and Quiroz　all were runners-up with Thornton (31-4) coming the closest to a title, losing a back-and-forth　offensive scramble with Hanover Central’s John Petrov (37-1), 10-8.

“It was an amazing match,” Cook said. “Matches like that are why you’re in the sport.”

Katsafaros (27-8) was pinned at 3:07 by Crown Point’s unbeaten Jason Tsirtsis.

“Chris showed what he’s capable of the first two matches,” Cook said. “He has his own style that coach (Brian) Swallow has worked with him on and it’s pretty nasty when it works. He’s a dangerous threat for anybody that is unlucky enough to draw him. Jason Tsirtsis is one of the top two, three wrestlers in the state if not the best. Chris is not at that level at this point, but we’re going to try to get him there by the time he’s a senior. He’s not intimidated. He goes after him.”

Quiroz was slated to face Portage’s undefeated Sean McMurray for the fourth Saturday in a row, but he and the coaching staff decided to default the 160 final. Quiroz sprained a ligament in his left knee during his sectional match with McMurray.

“We wanted to be careful,” Cook said. “Our goal was to get to next week. He won his semifinal because he’s a competitor. When you’re injured, you do things that are the best to achieve your goals and our goal wasn’t to win the regional. Our goal is to win a state title. We’re not running from anybody. We’ll do the right things, hope we get some breaks as far as his health and try to make it pay off.”

Quiroz told the coaches he was willing to give it a go, but they decided against it.

“All week, I was icing and stimming. It’s starting to feel better,” Quiroz said. “We just didn’t want to risk it. It wasn’t worth it. We’ll just get it ready for (semistate).”

Garvey (27-10) downed New Prairie’s Dillan Escobedo 7-2 in a rematch of the sectional final to capture third place.

“I can’t say enough about the kid,” Cook said. “He and Tony (Sanchez) are kids who do everything you want them to do for you. It kills you to see something happen like it did to Tony (a first-round loss by pin), but it’s great for Brandon. Hopefully he can put at least two more matches together and if he does, he’ll probably be wrestling for state.”

Raudry (12-12) finished fourth at heavyweight, losing by fall in the consolations to Portage’s Mark Devyak in 33 seconds.

“A couple weeks ago, Frank started to become a wrestler,” Cook said. “He was winning matches, but it was hard to call him a wrestler. He was just an athlete wrestling. It’s fun to watch him have some success. It shows　the good things　coach Batista has done with him, getting him in the right mindset and knowing what he has to do to be successful.”

Also for Chesterton, Joe Kelly was a 3-1 loser to Kankakee Valley’s Aaron Kearney in the first round at 135, while　Will Butz fell 9-0 to C.P.’s Josh Flamme. Sevante Yates was on the short end of the same score against K.V.’s Nick Berdine at 189. Chris Copollo (145) was pinned in 24 seconds by C.P.’s undefeated Eric Roach, while Sanchez was pinned by Hanover Central’s Brandon Bisping in 1:13.

"We had some tough first-round matches,” Cook said. “Tony was one we thought we could get, but you don’t win every single match you’re supposed to. We were outmanned sometimes and didn’t pull any of those off, but it’s fun, trying to find a way to give them a chance. That’s why you compete.”

103 -- Paul Petrov (Hanover Central) tech. fall Colton Saroff (Crown Point), 29-12. 112 -- Brandon Coppinger (Portage) pin Kaleb McCallum (John Glenn), 5:32. 119 -- Danny Bradley (Knox) dec. Anthony Hawkins (CP), 6-5. 125 -- John Petrov (Hanover Central) dec. Zack Thornton (Chesterton), 10-8. 130 -- Jason Tsirtsis (Crown Point) pin Chris Katsafaros (Chesterton), 3:07. 135 -- Luis Acuna (Portage) dec. Dallas Schurg (Crown Point), 3-2. 140 -- Cameryn Brady (Lowell) dec. Josh Flamme (Crown Point), 4-2. 145 -- Eric Roach (Crown Point) pin Mike Torres (Portage), 5:18. 152 -- Dustin Schultz (Kankakee Valley) dec. Tommy Renn (Crown Point), 11-7. 160 -- Sean McMurray (Portage) injury default Anthony Quiroz (Chesterton). 171 -- Jeff Jurczak (New Prairie) dec. Brandon Bisping (Hanover Central), 8-0. 189 -- Aaron King (Portage) dec. Tyler Kral (Crown Point), 5-2. 215 -- Nate Cleveland (Lowell) pin John Hannon (Crown Point), 0:59. Hwt. -- Jay Trappani (Lowell) dec. Greg Wedow (LaPorte), 3-2.

103 -- Max Buckley (Valparaiso) dec. Tyler Kuzdas (LaPorte), 7-3. 112 -- Jimmy Marich (Kankakee Valley) pin Drew Roadruck (Lowell), 1:59. 119 -- Damien Torres (Portage) dec. Kyle Chadwick (Kankakee Valley), 9-4. 125 -- Dustin Schurg (Crown Point) pin Kyle Hernandez (Knox), 3:09. 130 -- Zeke Escobedo (Andrean) pin Zach Mroczkowski (Lowell), 2:15. 135 -- Aaron Kearney (Kankakee Valley) dec. Devann Biddle (Knox), 13-0. 140 -- Nick Santana (LaPorte) dec. John Westmoreland (Valparaiso), 7-4. 145 -- Cody Jackson (North Newton) pin AJ Ratajec (Valparaiso), 3:55. 152 -- Brandon Garvey (Chesterton) dec. Dillan Escobedo (New Prairie), 7-2. 160 -- Niles Goodman (New Prairie) dec. Dillon Cope (Crown Point), 9-7. 171 -- Jimmy Krause (Knox) dec. Zach Smith (LaPorte), 9-5. 189 -- Dustin Pape (LaPorte) dec. Nick Berdine (Kankakee Valley), 4-1. 215 -- Blake Marlatt (Kankakee Valley) pin Logan Fischer (Portage), 1:31. Hwt. -- Mark Devyak (Portage) pin Frank Raudry (Chesterton), 0:33.

Posted 2/8/2010