Preissing, Prospect press past Rolling Meadows
Alex Preissing helped Prospect get off to a flying start before teammates Tanner Strobel and Matt and Adrian Wroblewski provided the knock-out punch to send the host Knights to a convincing 43-18 wrestling victory over Rolling Meadows on Friday night at the Jean Walker Field House.
Preissing (120 pounds) gave the big crowd plenty to cheer when he recorded a fall at 3:36 to cap an impressive performance in the opening bout of this Mid-Suburban East showdown. After hard-fought victories from Chris Rivera, Alex Straczak, Frank Mazur and Stu Isteffanos helped the hosts build a comfortable 18-0 advantage, the aforementioned middle of the Knights' lineup went to work. And it sure made a big splash, with one fall and a pair of technical falls.
"It's great to have a guy like Alex to get us going at the bottom of the lineup before we work our way through the middle with Matt, Adrian and myself, then ending with someone like James (Ford) at 220," said Strobel.
Prospect's Bobby Jarosz nearly came back against 2014 state qualifier Nick DelPorte at 152 before Strobel helped lower the boom against coach John Bassler's team.
"We finally got ourselves healthy and at full strength and had been wrestling our best of late," said Bassler, "but things didn't pan out the way we had hoped they would."
Rolling Meadows won 4 of 14 bouts, including the last three, two of which came via pin - one from heavyweight Marciej Pogortelski, the other by Jack Kohlberg in just 31 seconds.
Prospect, meanwhile, is enjoying the winning mix on its roster.
"There's a real good blend of youth and experience, and our lineup has some really good seniors who lead the way each and every day," said Preissing, who was brought up from the JV just around this time last season before winning 12 varsity bouts and qualifying for the Barrington sectional at 113 pounds. "When I got up here last year, I knew I wanted to stay here. So I worked as hard as I could in order to do so."
"Alex has shown to be a real leader in the room, and as a junior mind you - and we're real happy with the way he's progressed and how much of a difference he's made in our lineup right from the start of the year," said Prospect coach Tom Whalen.
After Strobel's quick pin just 62 seconds into his bout at 160, Matt Wroblewski (170) and his brother Adrian methodically went through their paces to record tech-falls at the nearly the same time, Matt's coming at six minutes, Adrian's at 5:54 - to increase the Knights lead to 34-3.
Dema Govalla held off Manny Zervos 6-1 at 195, setting the stage for James Ford's pin at 3:02 against Mustangs talented 220-pounder Grant Palmer.
"This is a group that continually works hard each and every day in the room, and they have proven to be a great bunch to coach, and one that is totally unselfish - always looking to do what's for good for the team before themselves," said Whalen.
The Knights (12-4-0, 3-0-0), who recently won the two-day dual tournament at DeKalb, defeating Naperville North in the title match, travel to Niles North on Saturday for a quad in Skokie.
Rolling Meadows is at Maine West on Saturday; the Mustangs will face St. Charles East, DeKalb and the host Warriors.