Glenbard North takes express route to state quarterfinals
Right on schedule, Glenbard North is moving on to the Class 3A wrestling team dual quarterfinals.
The Panthers rolled to a 39-21 victory against Notre Dame at Tuesday’s Lake Park sectional, setting up a 9 a.m. Saturday match against Harlem in Bloomington, where they hope to reclaim the state title they last won in 2011.
Still, the Panthers (16-6) promised they took nothing for granted Tuesday.
“Take nothing away from (Notre Dame),” Glenbard North coach Mark Hahn said. “They had a couple of guys out. They’re a tough team. They’re solid all the way through, so we knew we had to wrestle tough.”
“We felt real confident coming in,” added sophomore 195-pounder Luke Greenberg, who will be going to the team state dual meet for the first time. “We knew it was going to be tough, but we had to pull through and we did.”
Notre Dame (16-5) won the opening match at 120 pounds, Jake Barzowski taking a 9-2 decision over Teddy Manko. But Glenbard North took the lead when Jon Marmolejo pinned Dino Gutierrez at 3:45, and the Panthers never trailed again.
Michigan-bound Brian Murphy, who placed second Saturday night in the individual state finals, bounced back from his weekend loss to pin Danny Thorrens in 1:29 and give the Panthers a 23-6 lead.
“Murphy bouncing back from the weekend coming in, that’s the kind of tough guy he is, coming back here, getting the pin,” Hahn said. “I can’t say enough about that kid. His best days are ahead of him. But that shows courage.”
After Greenberg pinned Brian Brand in 1:14, the Panthers led 35-9.
“I was confident,” Greenberg said. “My team was up a lot. My teammate just came off a win and I was happy about that, so I went out excited, got a pin.”
“They’re very good,” Notre Dame coach Augie Genovesi said. “We were honored to have the opportunity to be able to compete against them.”
It didn’t help the Dons’ cause that they were missing four starters for a variety of reasons and had to include four freshmen in the lineup against a perennial state powerhouse.
“That hurt. We would’ve given them a better match if we’d had those guys,” Genovesi said.
Follow Orrin on Twitter @orrin_schwarz