Landmark win for Lake power Stevenson
Friday night's North Suburban Conference dual meet was a very long time coming for the Stevenson wrestling program.
The host Patriots beat perennial power and long-time nemesis Libertyville 31-16 to lock up their first NSC Lake Division championship as the youthful Wildcats could not match the firepower and determination Stevenson displayed.
The Patriots (15-2, 5-0) still have to win at Warren next Thursday to put the finishing touches on winning the Lake Division crown outright. But the way Stevenson is wrestling this season that should definitely happen as the Blue Devils have already lost to Libertyville (7-8, 3-1) early this season.
The Wildcats had won 12 of the previous 14 Lake Division titles dating back to 2001 while Warren took first place the other two years in 2007 and 2012.
Starting the dual meet at 170 pounds, Stevenson jumped out to an early 11-0 lead over Libertyville as a 22-10 major decision by senior Juwon Anderson set the tone early on.
Stevenson's Michael Kordek followed up that performance with an 11-3 major decision over Kyle Smith at 182 before teammate Tyler Harrington (23-1) moved up to 195 and earned a 12-7 decision over Libertyville's Jordan McInerney.
The Wildcats hung tough with 220-pounder Mark Dunsing posting a hard-fought 3-1 decision over Zach Horwitz (17-4) to cut the gap to 11-3. Then Stevenson's Nick Grujanac got those three team points back with a 5-1 decision over Mike Beck at 285.
Libertyville was competitive throughout the meet that had no pins or technical falls as 106-pounder Alex Mitchell's 5-0 decision over Alec Nolan at 106 cut the gap to 14-6 with eight matches remaining.
But the Patriots really started to take control of the meet after that point with 113-pounder Brandon Zisman posting a 13-4 decision over Will Bertaud. Then 120-pounder Eric Carter posted a 4-1 decision over Drew Onufer and Stevenson led 21-6.
"They're a tough team and going down the lineup we were only favored in four matches," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert, whose team has a rescheduled meet against Lake Zurich on Jan. 26. "I thought we did as well as we could honestly - they were the better team going in and they proved it."
Senior Dan Schilling kept the Wildcats' hopes alive as his 3-1 decision over 126-pounder Ben Ponto cut the lead to 21-9 with five bouts left.
But Stevenson's middle weights came through big time with senior Nathan Reinsdorf's 8-4 decision over 132-pounder Max Michelotti getting the momentum back in the Pats' direction for a 24-9 lead.
138-pounder Evan Rodriguez followed up that big win with an 11-3 major decision over Mike Hogan, and that officially clinched the historic victory with a 28-9 advantage with three matches to go.
"I thought it was a total team effort, it was a great atmosphere, and we have a great group of guys that put in the work," said Harrington, who reached the state meet last year. "Tonight was won in the off-season, the hard work paid off, and I'm just proud of the team."
Stevenson 145-pounder Corey Weil added a 6-3 decision over Jack Damenti in one of the wildest matches of the meet to boost the lead to 31-9.
Libertyville's Sal Potts captured a 5-0 decision over Robert Pavlovics at 152 before Libertyville's Joey Gunther (17-1) posted an 18-7 major decision over 160-pounder Nikita Nepomnyashchiy to account for the final score.
Winning the Lake Division crown was a huge step for the Stevenson program and ninth-year head coach Shane Cook, who was ecstatic following the victory.
"This is a huge step forward for our program and when I came to Stevenson our No. 1 goal was to beat Libertyville because we knew to get to the next level that was a team we had to get past," said Cook, whose team will still face a huge obstacle against perennial power Grant when the NSC meet rolls around. "We're excited for our kids tonight because they won it not only for themselves, but for all of the Stevenson wrestlers who came before them."
Libertyville is coming off one of the best seasons in school history last year as the Wildcats went to the Elite Eight team tourney while sending six wrestlers to the individual state tourney. Gunther is the only returning state qualifier from that squad.
"It's been a long time coming never having beaten them (Libertyville) in the past," said Cook, who noted that the Stevenson program actually goes back some 50 years. "When you've never beaten a team in the history of the program in order to get to the next level it's necessary. And we have all the respect in the world for coach Eggert and I've learned more from him than he knows."