Lake County competitors achieve at Berman
The 60th Annual Berman Holiday Wrestling Classic was a struggle for Lake County area teams, led by Warren in 24th. Yet there were some outstanding individual performances turned in Tuesday as the tournament concluded.
Mundelein senior Brae Cruz (14-2) showed he belongs with some of the best wrestlers in the state as Cruz took runner-up honors at 152 pounds.
The third-seeded Cruz pulled off a 7-2 upset decision over No.2-seeded Jake Kirkman of Lemont in the semifinals to set the stage for a showdown with top-seeded Juwan Edmond (16-2) of Hinsdale Central in the championship match.
But after falling behind the No. 2-ranked Edmond 8-3 after one period, Cruz was never able to make a comeback from the substantial deficit.
Three-time state-placewinner Edmond really showed his class and experience the rest of the way as Edmond wound up recording his third straight technical fall, this time in 5:22 to take home the individual championship over Cruz.
"That kid (Edmond) is one of the best wrestlers in the state and that shows we have some things to work on, but I give that kid all the credit in the world," said Mundelein coach Vinny Jiuditta. "He (Cruz) battled excellently, he showed a lot of fundamentals, and he is just a great kid."
Jiuditta is confident that Cruz can reach the state meet in February, but he also knows that it will be a long and difficult road to qualify for a trip to the Assembly Hall.
"He has a great shot (at state)," said Jiuditta. "He just has to work on some different techniques for guys like that (Edmond) because his fundamentals are solid."
Warren's troops were led by junior Zach Khoury, who posted a 5-3 decision over Deerfield's Christo Moran for seventh place at 195.
The Blue Devils also got an eighth place finish from senior Quinn Nonnemacher. But Nonnemacher had to bow out of the seventh-place match by default due to a shoulder injury in his previous bout.
"Zach (Khoury) wrestled well, he got put in a hard spot in the bracket and he lost a couple of close matches," said Warren coach Jim Ouimette. "It was kind of hard for him (Nonnemacher) to come back after a month (being injured) and wrestle in this tournament, he wasn't in shape for it."
Lakes also continued to have its ups and downs with its lineup at the powerful Berman tourney. But the Eagles did get a solid fifth-place finish from senior Levi Smith (15-6), who won by forfeit at 138 pounds.
After sustaining a knee injury in his previous match, Lakes senior Austin Summers (16-4) had to settle for eighth place after being forced to injury default in the seventh-place match.
The Eagles only brought seven wrestlers to the meet and they lost key 182-pound senior Alex Girona to a concussion on Monday when Girona was trying to reach the medal round. Seniors Max Hill (160) and Zach Fuller (170) were also out for Lakes due to injury while senior Sam Callahan (152) did not compete in the tourney. Lakes junior Jared Smith went 2-2 overall at 170.
"This is the highest he (Levi Smith) has ever placed in this tournament and he's definitely making strides in his senior year so that is nice to see," said Lakes coach Mark Stave. "Austin (Summers) is going to be tough for us and he's already beat two Class 3A guys who are ranked in the state so he's definitely on the right track."
Stave is hoping his team can regroup and put everything together with the goal of repeating as regional champions later this season. Stave expects his team to only forfeit one weight class if his squad is at full strength for the post-season.
Richmond-Burton's Grant Sutton (21-0) was named outstanding wrestler of the tournament after defeating two-time state champion Danny Swan of Oak Forest, 9-5 for the 132-pound championship.
A newcomer to the powerful 31-team tournament, Barrington, showed it certainly belonged in the field by taking home the title as the Broncos pulled away from runner-up Oak Forest 219-200.5. Deerfield was a distant third with 163.5 points, followed by Lincoln-Way West (149) in fourth and Metea Valley (141) in fifth.