Another Ledbetter day

Plainfield Central's Kyle Ledbetter (left) and Plainfield North's Joe Valenzio fight for control in the 130-pound match. Valenzio won 3-0.
(John Patsch/Herald News)

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PLAINFIELD -- Tyler Ledbetter trailed by one point in the second period of his 145-pound wrestling match against a cross-town rival.

He wasn't worried.

Ledbetter, the Plainfield Central High School sophomore, has been down so many times before drilling with his partners at practice that he's learned to fight back. He called on that experience to help pull him through in a 14-6 victory over Plainfield North's Josh Moore in a Southwest Prairie dual on Thursday night in the Tigers' gym.

Ledbetter's come-from-behind win was the third in a string of nine straight for the Wildcats (11-0, 5-0), who put a 49-9 thumping on the board. He took down Moore in the third period, turned him to his back and nearly pinned him with 1:01 left. The match was stopped at that point because Moore was dazed and Ledbetter was awarded a four-point near-fall. He tacked on a takedown at the buzzer to gain a major decision.

Ledbetter regularly drills against Central's Kyle Schomer, Joey Uccardi, Eric Oyster and Josh Toton.

"Oh, it's a huge experience, especially for me," Ledbetter said. "I get to experience every type of wrestling. It's not just one type of wrestling. With Joey (Uccardi) and Toton and all the guys, it's a learning experience for me every day. I get beat up a little bit. But I try to hold my own."

It was that mindset that served Ledbetter well against Moore.

"I just caught him in a bad position," Ledbetter said. "I knew I had to get him. I was just right there. It's like in practice. We push each other all the time. That's how it is. We push each other. We work better. And we work harder.

"Wrestling these guys -- it's just different. I'm wrestling state-ranked kids every day in my room. When I come out here, it's a whole nother thing. It's like everything is so much slower, and it's like it's easy for me because I'm practicing against the best."

North (9-4, 3-1) jumped on top when Joe Valenzio edged Ledbetter's little brother, Kyle, a freshman, 3-0 in the opening match at 130. But the Tigers' only other victory came in an uncontested match -- Clay Shelton picked up a forfeit win at 103.

"Yeah, they're very good," North coach Jason Hayes said. "They've got a lot of talent. Our program's not near where they are -- but our kids gave them too much respect and didn't go out and wrestle.

"Looking at it on paper as a coach, you think you can win certain matches. I thought we could win five or six matches. But it's us as a staff going out there. It's those kids going out there to wrestle. And that's the big key. I'm trying to get them to believe in themselves."

Schomer (135), Uccardi (140), Toton (152), Josh Ellingwood (160), Dan Deufel (171), Grant Bushby (189), Nicoli Trevino (215), Lavelle Howard (285), Tom Kokkines (112),