Boundy, Smith key Barrington's Berman triumph

As the day drew closer to an end at the 60th annual Berman Holiday Classic, Barrington coach Dave Udchik still had a healthy respect for the strength and talent of Oak Forest.

But when the Broncos' Connor Boundy (145) and Julius Smith (160) both bumped off the the top seed during the semifinals, Smith's coming in a head-to-head with Oak Forest standout Patrick Kristin, things took a decided turn for the better for Barrington.

Those two victories, along with another in the semis from Travis Cysewski at 160, and the collective strength and depth of the Broncos' lineup proved more than the field could handle as Barrington carried off the championship trophy with 206 overall points, 12.5 more than Oak Forest.

Lincoln-Way West (147), Deerfield (144.5) and Metea Valley (133) rounded out the top five of this prestigious and diverse 31-team group.

"Oak Forest had so much firepower, with plenty of it still alive heading into the semifinals, so I knew even if we competed at our best it might not be enough to hold them off for the rest of the way," said Udchik, whose team held a 17.5-point advantage at the time. "But as we have had of late, the effort and contribution from the entire team was first rate, and it was the work from our guys in the consolation bracket that really came through, adding points along the way."

Udchik bemoaned the fact his club had given away a lead just a few weeks ago at the 55th Mudge-McMorrow Invite, allowing tourney host Prospect to lift the team crown by just 2.5 points over his Broncos.

"This weekend we kept on pushing, and grabbing points wherever and whenever we could, and when you look at guys like Josh Wink at 152, and Max Guhde, who wrestled (20 pounds) up and still gave us 5 wins, along with Wink, you could see why we ended up on top here."

Boundy (21-2) was the lone individual champion for the Broncos, but his focus was clearly on others after edging 12-3 Jackson Schoen of Lake Park in OT 2-1.

"Guys like Cysewski and Smith have pushed me from the very first day, and that's the great thing about our room - nobody is in this for themselves, and the success each of us might have is because of our teammates and partners who put the team first, knowing it will pay off in the end for themselves as well," said Boundy.

The 4-2 victory Boundy earned in the semis was the first loss of the season for Metea Valley's Kenan Carter.

"Connor and I train and compete against each other in club, and we know each other really well, so I am not surprised our match was so close," said Schoen, whose move down from 152 recently has provided a spark. He gave a clinic in how to cradle an opponent during his semifinal with Graham McClure (Lincoln-Way West), with Schoen winning by pin in 3:49.

Schoen's teammate Tyler Vittal (11-4) won his second Berman crown with an impressive six-minute effort over returning state qualifier and the current No. 5-ranked 195-pounder, Mark Miller (24-3) of Zion-Benton.

"A win like this shows I can compete with the top guys," said Vittal, who said he gained a little extra incentive after chipping a tooth during this bout. "I felt like a gained a lot of energy after that first takedown, and as I said earlier, my conditioning is at a high level, and I could feel as the match went on, I was getting stronger, and he was tiring out."

Vittal's 10-5 triumph came just before Hinsdale South junior Josh King (21-1) dominated Nick Graziano (Oak Forest) 5-1 in his 220-pound final, the only match of the day the Hornets big man did not win by either a pin or technical fall.

"It's nice to win a big tournament like this, and to be ranked second in the state, but what really matters is what happens in Champaign in February, and that's what my focus is on each and everyday," said King, who now owns four tournament crowns this season, after winning it all at the Whitlach just before the holiday break. "I'm feeling better each time out, but I also know

Metea Valley's Carter cheered on teammates Axl Ariza (113, 17-2), Sam Elston (170) and Dylan Ervin (182, 18-4) in the finals, but only Elston (21-2) gained a title. He struck for an early throw and pin of Smith of Barrington just 30 seconds in the bout.

"Last year at this time I already had (11) losses, but I made a huge commitment during the off-season to get better, and with the help of a great coach like coach (Claudio) Torres, I've turned things around, and hope to continue this success right through the postseason and in Champaign," said Elston, who pinned his way into the final.

"Axl, Sam and Dylan are great kids, who have all come a long way this past year," said Torres. "Axl has become so open to me and the coaching staff, Dylan's improvement came from a lot of freestyle and Greco wrestling in the off-season, plus plenty of extra lifting, and Sam has put in so much extra time, including a grueling 28 days at the J. Robinson Camp in Minnesota."

Glenbard East heavyweight, D'Andre Johnson, back for the first time this season, dropped a 7-4 OT decision to Matt Allen (20-1) of Hinsdale Central in a final between the Nos. 1- and 3-rated 285-pounders.

Oswego senior Andrew McCall (19-4) capped a marvelous two days of work with a 6-1 defeat of Alan Durham (17-2) of Oak Forest to climb atop the podium at 120 pounds.

"I weathered that opening flurry with (Durham), got that first takedown, then never let him find his rhythm - and with me pushing the pace for most of the match, he just wasn't able to get anything going against me," said McCall.

There were a handful of other highly anticipated finals between top rated wrestlers, the first coming at 106, where No. 4 Michael McGee (Plainfield East, 15-0) took on Markus Hartmann (22-1) from Barrington.

McGee got the better of the Broncos' freshman, earning the title after his 9-3 decision.

"I could have had better position and stayed away from his cradle, but I'll go back and work on a few things and get myself ready for the next time we might meet," said Hartmann, who in the semifinals defeated No. 9 Darrell Flagg (16-3) of Joilet West for the second time this season.

The Broncos lost returning state medalist Mitch Stathakis to a broken shoulder during his 120-pound consolation semifinal.

The marquee match of the final round was at 132, where No. 1 Danny Swan (Oak Forest, 18-2) and Grant Sutton (Richmond-Burton, 21-0) met.

Sutton, who was the 2A runner-up at 126 last year, quickly drew first blood against the reigning 2A state champ at 113, taking a 4-1 advantage into the second period before keeping the senior at bay all the way through in a 9-5 victory. Sutton was later honored as tournament MVP.

Yet another top-rated star, Andrew Mehrholz (23-0) of Deerfield, rolled over the competition on his way to an individual title at 138 pounds.