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Senior's quick pin highlights Senior Night romp at TaborROCK FALLS, Jan 24, 2013 (Daily Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Josiah Torres is coming into his own. Torres' 31-second pin helped Rock Falls cruise to a 64-12 nonconference Senior Night dual win over Illinois Valley Central on Wednesday at Tabor Gym. The dual was a quick one, about an hour, with seven contested matches. The Rockets (20-5) won four of the seven, three by pin and one by major decision. Rock Falls is two wins away from tying the school record of 22 and has a regular season-ending double-dual with Newman and Stillman Valley tonight at Stillman Valley. Torres (23-8), a 220-pound senior, is a lot lighter and a lot better. "From my sophomore year to now I think I've progressed pretty good," he said. "As a sophomore, I had a lot of learning to do. Last year I struggled too. This year I feel like this is my breakout year. "Dropping weight has helped. I just dropped to 220 a couple weeks ago. I started the season at 250. It's a comforting feeling, because when I faced heavyweights, they were manhandling me. Now, I feel like I'm manhandling other people." On Wednesday, Torres manhandled IVC's Aaron Kirchner, getting a quick takedown and turning it into a pin just 31 seconds into the action. It was the first contested match of the night. Rock Falls' 160-pounder Matt Mammosser (19-13) nearly matched Torres in the final contested match, pinning Jake Lauber in 40 seconds. The Rockets' Carlos Gutierrez (26-4), ranked third at 113, pinned Nick Ransom in 3:42 at 126 pounds. Rock Falls' other contested match victory came from Tibs Cervantes, No. 13 at 132, who cruised to a 14-3 major decision over Kyle Cox. "I'm just recovering from an ankle injury, so I was trying to put more pressure on it to get it back where it should be," Cervantes (23-6) said. Cervantes is enjoying a banner senior season. "It's probably the best season of my high school career," he said. "I beat the No. 6-ranked kid, and then I beat the No. 10, which kind of messed up the rankings for Illinois Matmen. I like being the upsetter." Rock Falls coach Derick Cox would have liked to see more of his wrestlers in action, especially Shawn Skinner, who was awarded a forfeit at 195. "We were hoping to get the matchup with Skinner and [Jordan] Ladd for a rematch from the Princeton Tournament [final]," Cox said. Skinner is No. 3 in 1A and Ladd No. 10 in 2A. "Skinner lost that one. He wanted that one tonight, but [Ladd] wasn't in the lineup. "The guys that stepped on the mat did what they had to do. They were clean, and they were aggressive." Star of the meet: Josiah Torres, Rock Falls, 31-second pin Key performers: Matt Mammosser, Rock Falls, 40-second pin; Carlos Gutierrez, Rock Falls, pin; Tibs Cervantes, Rock Falls, major decision Up next: Rock Falls, Newman at Stillman Valley, 5:30 p.m. today ___ (c)2013 the Daily Gazette (Sterling, Ill.) Visit the Daily Gazette (Sterling, Ill.) at www.saukvalley.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |