Perryville's Zac Zacerous had a sensational sophomore season last year, placing second in both the UCBAC and region tournaments and sixth at the state meet. Before his junior season, coach Thad Gough said he expected Zacerous to turn those second place finishes into firsts. The Panthers' 170-pounder placed second again at UCBACs after running into the state's top wrestler but would not be denied in Saturday's region title bout. "That was my goal for him coming into this year, was turn those twos into ones," Gough said. "And for the most part, he has. He lost to [Aberdeen's] Ethan Smith, who's a buzzsaw [in the UCBAC final. He lost to a kid from Pennsylvania who is a partner to the buzzsaw. He's had a pretty good season so far. We're looking to continue it down at states." Zacerous, who was also region runner-up as a freshman, earned his first title by dominating Harford Tech's Josh Hucke 5-1 in the championship match Saturday at Parkside High. "It feels great," Zacerous said. "I've been here since I was a freshman and after losing the first two, I'm glad I could finally get one when I'm a junior." Zacerous has defeated Hucke three straight times. "I was expecting a tough match," said Zacerous. "My first match against Hucke, I didn't know him that well. And then I won that one. The second one, I knew who he was, I got that one again. I knew going in Hucke was going to be my toughest opponent." Zacerous enters this weekend's state tournament riding a wave of optimism. "[This week], I plan on taking it," he said. "I did well as a sophomore and I think I've grown a little and I think I can take this one…Last year, I was the little sophomore in a big tournament," said Zacerous. "And now I'm a junior, I just won regionals, and I think it's going to be a good year." Zacerous (31-3) will open the state meet Friday against Mert Gulen of Middletown (15-11), the fourth place finisher in the west region. Said Gough: "He seems to be more relaxed than he was last year. With both of the Zacerous brothers, it's kind of always tough to see what's going on with them. They're pretty mellow when they're on the mat. Neither tends to get too animated at any point. So, he's definitely got more confidence, but externally, it kind of looks the same, how he talks in the room and how he's handling himself. He's much more at ease with being the guy who needs to go out there and deliver the goods." Comments are closed.
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