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Libertyville takes 5th at Barrington

The 21st Annual Moore/Prettyman Memorial Wrestling Invitational was definitely a tough test for Lake County area teams and individuals Saturday at Barrington.

The two-day tournament concluded with the host Broncos rolling to the championship of the 30-team meet with 273.5 points to easily topple runner-up Plainfield Central with 164 points.

Libertyville led the way for Lake County squads with a fifth-place score of 135 points to outdistance North Suburban Conference rival Grant (130.5 points) in seventh.

Stevenson’s young team edged Lake Zurich 71-62 for 16th place while Lakes’ short-handed squad placed 22nd with 46 points. Wauconda (42 points) ended up in 26th place.

Libertyville had seven top-eight placewinners, including sophomore Steve Polakowski, who placed second at 113 pounds.

Junior Austin Pettinato added a third-place finish for the Wildcats at 145 while teammate Pat Fitzgerald posted a 5-0 shutout over Wauconda’s Devin Tortorice for fifth place at 126. Josh Hirth placed fifth for Libertyville with a 6-5 overtime win at 138.

“I actually think that fifth was a little higher than I thought we would be and everybody but one guy won two matches,” said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. “Everybody got a win so I’m happy with that. I’m very happy with the second place (by Polakowski) because it’s not easy to get to the finals in this tournament.”

Grant had five place winners with senior Ben Soumar taking runner-up honors at 120 by a 1-0 decision against Crystal Lake South’s Nick Fontanetta in the finals.

Quinton Quarles added a second-place finish at 220 for the Bulldogs while 170-pound teammate Tony Cashmore placed third. Grant’s Nick Kramer placed fourth at 106 while 285-pound teammate Dan Haeffele added a fifth place finish.

“We got a lot of good, quality matches in and it’s always a nice tournament to see where your at,” said Grant coach Ryan Geist. “It’s a great tournament and obviously Barrington has a great team. I’m pretty pleased to have two kids take second place so we’re right there.”

Stevenson’s Ned Valchev placed fourth at 182 while teammates Mark Jolcover (106) and Justin Weber (152) both placed fifth. Jolcover is back after missing all of last season due to a neck injury which required two surgeries.

“We’re a young team and we only have three seniors in the lineup,” said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. “There’s no better way to get them prepared than to be thrown into a tournament of this stature.”

Lake Zurich had five place winners, including a sixth by Ty Kapitzky at 170.

“We don’t have our football players back yet and having them back will help a lot,” said Lake Zurich coach Dan Strickler. “We’re starting to talk about acting like a team and functioning like a team and I think we’re going to be tough.”

Freshman Levi Smith led Lakes with a fifth-place finish with teammate Tyler Booth taking eighth at 152.

“We don’t have a lot of depth at all and we just have a lot of work to do,” said Lakes coach Curt Onstad, whose team only had six individuals in the meet. “We have to figure out how to get the most out of each kid.”

Wauconda sophomore Nate Magiera is off to a great start after placing third for the Bulldogs Saturday at 195.

“I’m happy I wrestled well, and I ended up losing in the semifinals to a very good wrestler from Joliet West,” Magiera said. “I’m going to focus on state, and my goal is to make it and place at state.”

Charlie Meyer added a sixth for Libertyville at 132 while Lake Zurich’s Brandon Arteaga placed eighth at 132.

Lake Zurich’s Elias Honegger got a pin over Libertyville’s Noah Strong at 106 while Jerry Nigro placed eighth for the Bears at 113.

Libertyville’s Sal Ayala posted a 7-2 decision over Lake Zurich’s Scott Hoff for seventh at 160 while Stevenson’s Ian Burns placed eighth at 170.

  Barrington’s Cameron Thomson, front, competes with Grant’s Tony Cashmore in the 170-pound semifinals of Saturday’s wrestling invitational at Barrington High School. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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