Zuunbayan helps Wheeling to invite runner-up finish
It was a great day for area teams and individuals Saturday at the 30th annual Wheeling Memorial Wrestling Tournament.
Perennial power Sandburg once again rolled to the championship with 262 points, but the fight for second place went down to the final round between the host Wildcats and Stevenson.
Wheeling held a 3.5-point lead over the Patriots at the start of the final round, but the Wildcats pulled away with some great performances to capture runner-up honors over Stevenson, 176 to 161.5.
Lake Zurich had a solid showing with a fourth-place score of 133 points, as the Bears held off fifth-place Maine West with 124.5 points. Elk Grove (27) placed seventh in its first appearance in the powerful tourney.
Wheeling's road to second place was led by junior Tulga Zuunbayan, who improved his perfect record to 20-0 with a comfortable 16-8 major decision over Sandburg's Ben Schneider in the 145-pound title match.
"I just have fun and wrestle my match. It doesn't matter if you lose or you win," said Zuunbayan, who reached the state quarterfinals last year. "I feel comfortable. I would like to place in the top three (at state), at least."
"(Zuunbayan) has had a great season," Wheeling coach Neal Weiner said. "He puts a lot of effort in during the off-season, and it's really showing.
Wheeling also got a first-place medal from 285-pounder Juan Hernandez (17-2), who pulled out a 3-1 overtime decision against Stevenson's Nick Grujanac for the championship.
"(Grujanac) is very good, so to win this tournament is very good for Juan," Weiner said.
Wheeling also got second-place finishes from freshmen teammates Mason Skloot at 106 and Brian Madrigal at 113. Ricky Muro (138), Steven Montesinos (160), Alex Rybak (182) and Yony Medina (220) all finished third for the Wildcats.
"We had two freshmen in the finals and that is a big step for them to get more mature and get some experience," Weiner said.
Stevenson had two champions - sophomore Eric Carter at 120 and senior Zach Horwitz at 195. Horwitz (11-2) got a last-second escape to clinch an exciting 3-2 win.
In a battle of undefeated wrestlers at 182, Stevenson's Tyler Harrington (12-1) settled for second place, as Maine West senior Joey Vogeney (17-0) recorded a pin in 1:45. The Patriots also got second-place finishes from Ben Ponto (126) and Juwon Anderson (170).
"Having Eric (Carter) and Zach (Horwitz) take a huge step forward and finish first was exciting for us," said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. "Tyler (Harrington) lost, but he fully understands that, win or lose, this is all just preparation for the state series."
Along with Vogeney, Maine West also got a pin from senior Brendon Lowe (14-5) for the 152-pound crown. The Warriors got a second-place medal from Phil Giovanni at 220 with teammates Arsalan Afshar (113) and Amru Qutub (195) both placing third.
Vogeney's victory over Harrington avenged a 1-point loss at the Wheeling tourney last year.
"I just went out there thinking I was going to win. I went out there to wrestle my hardest and leave it all on the mat," said Vogeney, who like Harrington reached state as a junior. "I feel good about this year, I feel I can compete with anyone, and I'll just see how it goes."
Lake Zurich got runner-up showings from freshman Joey Stutzman (120), senior Josh Spiwak (132) and senior Peter Maretis (160). The Bears also got thirds from Nick Swanson (126), Max Brummel (145), Tommy Clancy (152), Pete Baldaccini (170) and Josh Dyer (285).
"This is the first tournament that Maretis has ever placed in and Stutzman is only a freshman making the finals," said Lake Zurich coach Dan Strickler. "Josh (Spiwak) is wrestling well with an injury so he's not 100 percent, but it's his senior year so he's going to tough it out."
Stevenson got third-place medals from Alec Nolan (106) and Nathan Reinsdorf (132), while Elk Grove got fourths from Sean Oldenburg (170) and Azeez Alabi (182).
"(Oldenburg and Alabi) have been showing improvement and this is a new tournament for us so they get to see some new styles," said Elk Grove coach Dan Vargas. "There's some solid competition here and there were some good teams here."
Other fourth-place finishers were Maine West's Shawn Sunny (106), Wheeling's Johny Carvajal (120), Maine West's Nik Apostolopous (126), Wheeling's Tristin Guaman (132), Lake Zurich's Ethan Honegger (138), Wheeling's Carlos Montiel (145), Stevenson's Robert Pavlovics (152), Wheeling's Andrew Lara (160) and Wheeling's Robert Torres (195).