Powerhouse Libertyville picks up right where Wildcats left off

There were a lot of new faces in the lineup, but the result was familiar for the Libertyville wrestling team Friday night at Warren.

The Wildcats (1-1, 1-0) proved that despite losing five state qualifiers to graduation last season they still have some pretty good firepower in their lineup, jumping out to a commanding 27-0 lead over the Blue Devils after the first six matches of this North Suburban Conference dual meet.

Warren (3-2, 0-1) did cut the lead to 27-10, but the Wildcats came through with some crucial victories to pull away with a 43-13 NSC Lake Division victory.

Going into the season, Libertyville has really dominated its Lake Division opponents by winning 12 of the 14 divisional crowns dating back to 2001.

Senior Dan Schilling's forfeit win at 126 gave the Wildcats a 6-0 lead right away before freshman teammate Tyler Padilla posted a 7-4 decision over sophomore Grant Zamin at 132 for a 9-0 advantage.

At 138 pounds, Will Johnson kept it going for Libertyville with a 9-3 decision over Kendell Bell before 145-pound Wildcats sophomore Jack Damenti came up with a huge pin with 56 seconds left in the third period to boost the lead to 18-0.

Then 152-pound senior Sal Potts recorded a pin in 1:17 and the Wildcats' lead swelled to 24-0.

Warren senior Quinn Nonnemacher battled state-ranked Joey Gunther (6-0) tough in the 160-pound bout as Nonnemacher held a 1-0 lead early in the second period.

But Gunther ultimately took a 3-1 lead before posting a 7-2 decision to make the score 27-0. Nonnemacher sustained an injury late in the third period, but he was able finish the match.

"I thought our 106-pounder (freshman J.T. Vandevere) wrestled great, and I thought Quinn wrestled tough against Gunther," said Warren coach Jim Ouimette, whose team placed fourth in the NSC last year. "But we needed some of those close matches to go our way tonight."

Undefeated Warren sophomore Andrew Demos (5-0) continued to shine in the early stages of the 2014-15 season for the Blue Devils as he got the hosts on the scoreboard with a pin in 3:01.

Senior Rahkeem Chapman kept Warren's comeback hopes alive as he recorded a 10-2 major decision over Ben O'Donnell at 182 to cut the lead to 27-10.

But then came the wildest match of the night as Libertyville senior Jordan McInerney and Warren junior Zach Khoury went tooth-and-nail, back and forth the whole way in the 195-pound bout.

Khoury led 6-4 after two periods, but he fell behind 9-6 early in the third period. Khoury did manage to gut it out as he cut the gap to 9-8 late in the bout, but McInerney ultimately pulled out a huge 10-8 decision to give the Wildcats some breathing room with a 30-10 lead at that point.

Libertyville senior Mark Dunsing followed up that big win with a 7-3 decision over Bryan Nolan at 220 before Warren 285-pounder Sergio Sosa got those three team points back with a 3-0 decision over junior Mike Beck.

The Wildcats got another win in a back-and-forth match at 106 as sophomore Alex Mitchell outlasted Vandevere 10-6 to increase the lead to 36-13.

The sophomore class really had a great showing for Libertyville in the meet as sophomore Gabe Castillo pulled out an exciting 8-6 overtime decision over Warren sophomore Chris Presberg at 113.

Then to cap it all off, 120-pound Libertyville sophomore Drew Onufer posted a 9-1 decision over Warren sophomore Brent Tunelius as the Wildcats won the dual meet going away.

"It was nice to have Jordan McInerney back in the lineup because he was out for football being in the semifinals so it was great to see him get a great comeback win," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert, who is now ranked seventh in IHSA history with 512 career dual-meet wins. "We had four sophomores and a freshman win matches and we're going to need young guys to win matches if we're going to win some meets.

"It was nice to get a Lake Division win and we know it's going to be a challenge with how young we are."