Wrestling: Lake Forest’s Shea takes third at NSC Meet

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Lake Forest 's Chance Shea, seen here in earlier action this winter, claimed third place at 170 pounds at the NSC Meet on Saturday. | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 3, 2012 8:12AM

Never stop moving.

That was the unofficial motto for Lake Forest senior wrestler Chance Shea during the North Suburban Conference Meet on Saturday. Shea was in the backdraw, after being pinned by Grant’s Tony Cashmore on Friday.

To work his way up to third place in the 170-pound weight class, Shea knew he would have to wrestle as many as four matches.

“No easy task,” Shea said. “Lots of stretching, and hydrate before and after each match. The one thing you can’t do is lay down, because then you become tight and constricted, and it’s hard to loosen up.”

So Shea kept moving — to the tune of four consecutive victories on his way to a third-place finish.

In the consolation semifinals, Shea avenged a loss he suffered earlier in the season to Stevenson’s Ian Burns.

“That was big redemption for him to win that match,” said Scouts coach Matt Fiordirosa.

Shea doubled up Burns in points, winning 10-5.

“Better execution and better defense on my part,” Shea said. “I made sure he didn’t catch me on anything.”

In the third-place match, Shea topped Warren’s Danny Hicks 16-7.

“A lot of people didn’t give him a chance in that match,” Fiordirosa said. “The whole key was to never stop wrestling. The other kid was really tired, and Chance scored a bunch of points. Even though it was his fourth match of the day, he was in better shape.”

Added Shea: “It felt good to bounce back from the loss with four straight wins. It was very satisfying.”

Gaining experience: Sophomore Regis Durbin (160) was the only other Lake Forest wrestler to compete at the varsity level during the conference tournament, and he finished 1-2.

“He was a little nervous at first, but then he wrestled well,” Fiordirosa said. “He lost to two kids that were really tough.”

Fiordirosa said that Durbin has made a great deal of progress since the start of the season.

“He’s shown a lot of skill development,” Fiordirosa said. “It was good for him to get these experiences and prove that he can compete in big tournaments. He’s learned a lot from it. The key thing for him will be to take this (experience) and get the most he can out of the offseason.”

On the schedule: Shea, Durbin — and perhaps one or two other teammates — will compete in the Stevenson Regional on Saturday.

“All of the (wrestlers) will rally around the guys we’re sending to regionals,” Fiordirosa said.