Rocky's Taylor wins 140-pound title
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By Shannon Heaton | Tuesday, February 19, 2008 |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — For three years, Reese Taylor has been part of the Illinois Class AA state wrestling tournament.
Twice before, Taylor was one and done. Throughout those years, there were whispers about his ability, not locally, but certainly on a statewide scale.
The whispering turned into anything but Saturday night. In the biggest match of Taylor’s life, he stood and delivered — even in the face of a possible disqualification for an illegal slam — in defeating Glenbard North’s Danny Monaco, 8-7, in the 140-pound championship match at the University of Illinois’ Assembly Hall.
Now he can be mentioned, not in whispers and doubts, but instead with the greats of the Illinois Quad-City area, metro wrestlers such as A.J. Lavender and Lambros Fotos, perhaps even those from earlier eras, such as the last Rocky wrestler to win a state title (Kevin Haynes, at 130 pounds in 1992).
“I don’t know if I’m as good as those guys, but I’m glad to be mentioned in the same sentence with them,” said Taylor (42-2). “My parents were ecstatic. My dad (Robert) has been a firm believer that I should have been a state champion.
“But I had to put it in my head before I could actually go get it.”
Taylor had to survive a tactical war with Wheaton North’s Eric Terrazas, winning 2-1 in double-overtime, just to reach the finals. In both matches, the west Chicago suburban wrestlers did their best to avoid Taylor’s power double.
“If I was still the Reese from a year ago, it maybe would have been (a source of frustration),” Taylor said of his opponents’ disinclination to give him room to attack. “But good wrestlers have been doing it all year long. He (Monaco) knew it was coming, I knew it was coming, I knew it would come eventually.”
Taylor took the action to Monaco all match long, even after the whistle for an illegal slam — that might not actually have been one, though it was called that way.
“He’s a guy that’s a roller,” RI coach Larry Kanke said of Monaco. “We’re taking him down, he’s rolling and he lands on his head. We didn’t know if he’d get off the mat. If he didn’t get up, we lose the match. But Monaco had enough fortitude, enough class, he did come back and continue.
“It obviously didn’t bother him. He still scored points.”
So, too, did Taylor, who got in two takedowns in the last minute. Even a Monaco reversal with 8 seconds left didn’t faze him. There was no way Taylor would be turned, and Monaco let him go at the last second. Monaco was surprised at the score at the end, turning to his coach, Mark Hahn, and saying, “I didn’t know what the score was.”
“To be honest, I was just thinking about how good it will be after everything’s all over,” said Taylor of trying to secure the win.
It made for a fitting sendoff for Kanke, who’s retiring as Rocky’s head coach, as well.
“I’m just happy for him, for his family, and for the program.”
Contact the sports desk at
(563) 383-2285 or sports@qctimes.com.
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