Not one, not two - but three teams dazzle at Grant

Saturday's Grant triple-dual meet was an impressive example of what really competitive wrestling is all about.

Unlike pretty much every other season when one team has walked away with a perfect 3-0 record on the day, this year three teams - the host Bulldogs, Stevenson and Barrington - had to settle for going 2-1 in this annual showdown.

Round one started with a great battle between Grant (4-1) and Stevenson - with the Bulldogs pulling out a narrow 30-25 victory over the Patriots (6-1).

Barrington (5-3) rolled past Waukegan 59-6 in the first round as did Stevenson (49-6) in the second round and Grant (67-12) in the final round.

But the head-to-head battles between the Broncos, Pats and Bulldogs were fantastic with Barrington building a commanding 24-6 lead over Grant in the second round before holding on for an exciting 33-28 non-conference victory.

Then Stevenson showed its grit and determination in the third round as the Patriots stormed out to an 18-0 lead after three bouts before posting an impressive 42-22 victory over the Broncos.

Starting the first round at 170 pounds, Stevenson also built an early 18-0 lead over Grant on decisions by Juwon Anderson (170) and Michael Kordek (182) and pins by 195-pounder Tyler Harrington (11-0) and 220-pounder Zach Horwitz (8-2).

The Bulldogs started their comeback with a pin by 285-pounder Jack Resnick and what proved to be a huge 6-4 overtime win by freshman Spencer Welter over Alec Nolan at 106. Nolan had defeated Welter last weekend at the Barrington tournament.

Welter is part of the legendary Welter wrestling family from Grant. His uncle, Steve, was a two-time state champion in 1964 and '65 after being runner-up in 1963.

Welter's uncle John (1967) and uncle Jim (1970) were both state runners-up, while his father, Pat, placed fourth for Grant in 1973. His uncles Casey and Danny also wrestled at Grant.

Stevenson's Brandon Zisman posted a 2-1 decision over Jordan Favella at 113. But the Bulldogs responded with a pin by Gage Datlovsky at 120, a decision by Christian Kanzler at 126, a decision by Noah Drabek (8-1) at 132, a decision by Cristian Coronado (9-0) at 138, and a decision by Alex Rodriguez at 145 giving them a 27-21 lead with two matches left.

A decision by Stevenson's Robert Pavlovics at 152 cut the gap to 27-25, but Grant's Mike Kouvelis (8-2) came back to defeat Nikita Nepomnyashchiy 8-7 at 160 to secure the narrow team victory.

"I thought we fought hard today and I thought we could have pulled out a win over Barrington, but we gave up a few too many pins," said Kouvelis, who reached state as a junior. "We hope to have a competitive shot at placing at state as a team and getting a lot of individuals downstate."

Starting at 182, Barrington built a 24-6 lead over Grant behind early pins from Julius Smith (182), and John DePersia (195).

Freshman Markus Hartman (12-0) picked up 3 more wins for the Broncos, while 113-pound teammate Connor Delahunt's decision gave Barrington its 24-6 lead over the Bulldogs.

Wins by Datlovsky, Kanzler, Drabek and Coronado gave Grant a 25-24 edge with four bouts left, but Barrington 145-pounder Connor Boundy got a huge 3-2 overtime win over Rodriguez at 145.

Then the Broncos' Peter Minwegen (152) and Kouvelis (160) traded decisions to make the score 30-28 Barrington with one match left.

Barrington's Travis Cysewski beat Alex Dague 4-0 in that 170-pound match to seal the 33-28 win.

"I think the kids wrestled really inspired for the Grant match and everything fell in place against them," said Broncos coach Dave Unchik. "Stevenson pretty much took it to us in this meet, they had 3 pins, and they wrestled really well. Everything fell right with the Grant meet and everybody contributed to the team effort."

Pins by Harrington, Horwitz, and a forfeit by 285-pounder Nick Grujanac gave the Pats their early 18-0 lead over the Broncos.

Hartman's pin cut the gap to 18-6, but Zisman's decision boosted the lead back to 21-6. 126-pounder Eric Carter's pin was followed by a forfeit win from Ben Ponto at 132 and a decision by Evan Rodriguez at 138 for a commanding 36-12 lead from which Barrington could not recover.

"We're encouraged today because Grant and Barrington are not only two of the toughest teams in the area, but in the state of Illinois," said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. "It's a true test of a team to be able to bounce back after a tough loss and that was an exciting win for us to be able to take a step forward."

Grant got 3 wins each from Datlovsky, Kanzler, Drabek, Coronado, Kouvelis and Resnick. Stevenson boasted 3 victories from Zisman, Kordek, Harrington and Horwitz. Barrington's triple winners were Hartman, Boundy, Minwegen and Smith.

"We knew Stevenson and Barrington were both going to be tough teams and we were pretty fortunate to get by Stevenson," said Grant coach Ryan Geist. "We got pinned three times against Barrington and we've got to do a better job fighting off our back in those situations."