Connor Bandy returned to the Homewood-Flossmoor wrestling lineup last week.
But the senior, who missed nearly a month with a torn oblique muscle, didn’t feel like himself until now.
“I tore my oblique muscle and some cartilage,” Bandy said. “This is my first week feeling 100 percent.”
That showed as Bandy opened Wednesday nights dual meet against Tinley Park with a pin in 1:02 at 145 pounds. It was one of four pins registered by H-F which went on to a 45-21 victory over the host Titans.
“That’s what I was looking for,” Bandy said. “To come out and get a pin and get my team going on [Tinley’s] mat.”
Ethan Senesac (152), Mike Johnson, (195), and Mark Lawlor, (heavyweight) all added pins for the Vikings (8-8). Alec Campos also registered a 9-2 win at 106 for H-F, which was the beneficiary of a trio of Titan forfeits.
“It’s been a rough year with injuries and I still don’t have a full lineup,” said H-F coach Brett Geijer, who was a third place finisher at 160 pounds for Tinley Park as a senior in 1991. “ A key loss has been Mike Burke, who was a two-time state qualifier the past two seasons. He tore his ACL, but was expect him back at 120 in time for the state tournament.”
For Tinley Park (10-8), a trio of sophomores registered wins. Eric Schultz led the way with a pin in 3:16 at 170 to improve to 24-1 on the season. Trevor Koepke had a 4-2 win at 120 and Ceaser Clarke registered a 10-4 win at 126. The Titans lone senior starter, David McDonald, also added a 5-3 win at 132 and Tinley Park also received a forfeit victory.
“We had two guys out sick and two guys injured,” Tinley Park coach Ryan Dolan said. “But our kids made no excuses. They said they were ready to go whether we had six guys or 14.”