Wrestling: U-46 teams optimistic about UEC meet
With February right around the corner, this is the time of year where high school wrestling kicks into high gear.
Up first on the docket: conference tournaments, specifically Friday and Saturday's Upstate Eight Conference gathering at Geneva High School. All 16 UEC teams will compete for the team title and medals will be awarded to the five place-finishers in each weight class.
Of the five Elgin Area School District U-46 teams, Larkin sports a 3-4 in division duals.
Sophomore Hugo Barraza is 17-8 overall at 126 pounds and took third at the Buffalo Grove tournament. Junior Leo Martinez is 20-8 at 152 and also had a third-place showing at Buffalo Grove. Senior Ramon Vargas is 14-8 at 182 (third place at Buffalo Grove).
"We've really started to improve on finishing matches and being aggressive on our feet," said Royals' coach Steve Hoyt.
Barraza and Martinez are two wrestlers, in particular, who have made waves of late. "Hugo and Leo have gone out to earn extra bonus points or go up a weight class just to win a dual meet for us," said Hoyt.
In addition to Barraza, Martinez and Vargas, Hoyt also has high hopes for 220-pounder Zabdi Garcia at Geneva.
"We have been hit with some injuries so we are looking to place the guys we are bringing," he said.
Across town, Elgin went 6-10 overall in dual meets this season.
Individually, Senior Nathan Romero sports a 19-5 record at 132 pounds. He won the Wheaton-Warrenville South tournament and took third at Hoffman Estates. Senior Matt Gedritis is 16-6 at 182. He was third at Kaneland, fourth at Hoffman Estates and fifth at Wheaton-Warrenville South.
"Nathan and Matt have really stepped up the intensity level in the wrestling room," Elgin coach Jordon Bakley said. "You can tell they are excited about the upcoming tournaments and are looking to take home some hardware."
Junior Anthony Ruiz is 10-4 at 145, while senior Ariel Barraza is 10-10 at 220. Senior Dan Easter is 7-5 at 126. He took second at Wheaton-Warrenville South.
Bartlett coach John O'Brien noted junior Alex Montbriand has improved of late. He'll wrestle at 170 for conference and regionals, but saw time up at 182.
"Alex has been wrestling very well for us," said O'Brien.
Bartlett will be without junior 132-pounder Brandon Johnson who is out injured. Johnson has been out of the lineup since suffering the injury over the holidays.
"He was 11-4 for us when he went out," said O'Brien. "We're hoping to get him back in time for the regional.
"It's been a tough year for us. We've had a lot of guys hurt and we don't have a 220 or heavyweight in the room. And for some reason we don't have someone who weighs 126 pounds. We have a lot of guys at 112 and a lot of guys at 145 and 152. We've been giving up four forfeits every dual meet. Hopefully it's just a cycle."
Larkin's Hoyt feels Metea Valley is the favorite going into the meet. As a matter of fact, so does O'Brien who for many years has been making pretournament scoring prognostications based on the coaches' seeding of the tournament, which occurred earlier this week.
Based on seedings, O'Brien has Metea Valley with 97 points, St. Charles East with 81, Batavia with 65, Glenbard East with 64 and West Aurora with 58.
"That should be pretty close to it on Saturday afternoon," said O'Brien. "All those top five teams are pretty close, but if you get a couple upsets it could be a real fight."
Action at Geneva gets under way at 5 p.m. Friday with the first round of the championship bracket, the quarterfinals and the first round of the consolation bracket.
Saturday's matches start at 10 a.m. with the championship semifinals and the second and third rounds of the consolation bracket. After a 30-minute lunch break, the consolation semifinals begin, followed by the Ed Washington sportsmanship presentation, championship lineup introductions and then the first-, third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches. The awards ceremony follows and includes the presentation of the Jeff Mirabella Outstanding Wrestler Award.