Coronado, Grant step forward at Barrington
There were a lot of positives for Lake County teams and individuals Saturday at the 24th Annual Moore/Prettyman Wrestling Invitational in Barrington.
Lyons Township rolled to the championship of the powerful 25-team meet with 208.5 points with Lincoln-Way Central (185) in second as the Lions showed great depth up and down their lineup.
The battle for third place was a close one, as Yorkville (159 points) held off fourth-place Prospect (157.5) and fifth-place Grant (153.5).
Stevenson put together a pretty good meet with an eighth-place score of 124 points before the Patriots headed down to Champaign to watch their football team compete in the Class 8A state championship game.
Libertyville's rebuilding squad placed 12th with 95.5 points while Lake Zurich (83.5) took 15th. Grayslake North (49) placed 21st.
Grant's effort was led by 138-pound senior Cristian Coronado (5-0), who posted an 11-6 decision over Plainfield Central's Clayton Ledbetter for the championship.
The Bulldogs also got third-place finishes from Gage Datlovsky, who posted a 3-2 decision over non-scoring teammate Christian Kanzler at 120, and Noah Drabek at 132 pounds. Grant also received fourth-place medals from Mike Kouvelis (152), and Jack Resnick (285).
"We've got a lot of things to work on, but our kids wrestled very hard so I'm proud of them," said Grant coach Ryan Geist. "He (Coronado) is looking good, he's quick and athletic and he's starting to believe in himself, which is a big positive."
Stevenson got a first-place finish from senior Tyler Harrington (5-0) at 182 and a second from senior teammate Zach Horwitz at 195.
"I'm pretty happy with how I did in this tournament to finish off with a championship," said Harrington, who reached state last year. "We've got a lot of guys back, everybody is working hard, and we're hoping to have a great season."
The Patriots also got fifth-place finishes from sophomore Brandon Zisman at 113 and senior Juwon Anderson at 170.
"That's the most placewinners here in the history of our program so to put that many kids on the podium we're happy with our start," said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. "He (Harrington) played football last year, but he's sacrificing to focus 100 percent on wrestling. He's just got to continue to work and improve in a few areas and he has a partial scholarship to wrestle at North Dakota State."
Libertyville senior Joey Gunther showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with this season as he rolled to the 160-pound crown with a 16-5 major decision over Yorkville's Bryce Shewan.
"I don't think I allowed an offensive point, and I thought I wrestled really well," said Gunther, who reached state last year. "My expectation is to win it all, but I have a tough weight class with a lot of kids I have battled over the years."
Besides Gunther, the Wildcats got sixth-place finishes from Alex Mitchell (106), and Mark Dunsing (220).
"Joey (Gunther) is putting out some effort and making those guys work," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert, whose team reached the Elite Eight last year. "I lost track of how many takedowns he had in this tournament and he was forcing the pace much more than last year."
Lake Zurich got a sixth from Tommy Clancy at 152 while Stevenson got a sixth from Evan Rodriguez at 138.
The Bears' also got seventh-place finishes from Josh Spiwak (over Stevenson's Ben Ponto) at 132, and Max Brummel at 145.
"We had a really good tournament, we're kind of a young group and it felt good to have nine guys come back today for weigh-ins," said Lake Zurich coach Dan Strickler. "We're very inexperienced, and one of them (Brummel) never wrestled before he got to high school so most of our team is pretty young with a lot of sophomores."
Grayslake North senior Cody Sawyer really shined as he posted a technical fall in 5:00 after trailing Hinsdale South's Robby Regan 2-0 early in their third-place bout at 195.
"I was happy with how we wrestled because we're a pretty young team experience-wise so we have a lot to learn," said first-year Grayslake North coach Collin McKillip. "Cody wrestled his best match in the third-place match and if he wrestles more matches like that he can reach his goals of being the first state-placer Grayslake North has ever had."
Grant's Adam Nixon added a seventh at 126 while teammate Jordan Favella placed eighth at 113. Stevenson's Michael Kordek placed seventh at 170 while Libertyville's Sal Potts (152), and Lake Zurich's Ethan Honegger (138) placed eighth.