Wrestling: Scouting the Fox Valley Conference Tournament

Fox Valley Conference Tournament

Where: McHenry High School West Campus

When: Friday 4 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. with finals scheduled for 3 p.m.

2014 champion: Crystal Lake Central

Storyline: It's been all Crystal Lake Central since 2008, with the Tigers holding off a talented Dundee-Crown club coached by legendary Al Zinke, before keeping others at bay until McHenry ended their spectacular run in 2013. There's been no mention of Jacobs during this time at all, as the Golden Eagles, with a few good men scattered around their lineup, usually were found at the bottom half of the FVC table when this two-day tournament came to a close.

This year might be different. Coach Gary Conrad and his staff have assembled a quality club, with tremendous strength in the lower weights, and quality components all throughout the rest of the lineup to make the Golden Eagles a viable contender alongside division champions CL Central and McHenry.

"None of us on this coaching staff have any idea when Jacobs wrestling has had a team as good as this one - we're all thinking never," said Conrad with a wry smile.

Conrad would take control after in 2012 after a less than sparkling 8-10-0 season then slowly but surely turn things around to the point where his club began to fill the lineup card each night with plenty of quality while just missing out of a division title after dropping a two-point heartbreaker to McHenry.

Jacobs' building block has been senior Cody Ferencz, who has been a starter since stepping onto the Golden Eagles' mats, and who now leads that lower weight group of: Beau Harrier (113), David Dudych (126), Chris Dranka (132) and Jacob Sabella (138) who are about to reach 130 victories for the season.

"We'd like to think we can come in here and challenge for the top spot but we've got to come out strong from the opening whistle," Conrad said. "We didn't do that last year, and with the way this conference keeps improving, you cannot afford any early round slip-ups, because then you're chasing the leaders the rest of the weekend."

Coach Ross Ryan, who led Crystal Lake South last year to a divisional crown before a second-place trophy at this tournament, figures McHenry is the team to beat going in, but there's plenty of bumps in the road before this weekend closes.

"So many things come down to seeding in the brackets, and every team here has at least one individual that could put them in the team race, especially for the favorites: McHenry, Central and Jacobs," Ryan said. "But I still say this tournament will be won in the wrestleback matches, so it's important for your guys to understand just how important it is to their team to wrestle hard there."

Ryan has the best 145-pounder in the FVC in Eric Barone (30-1), who enters the postseason as a strong candidate to reach the state finals in Champaign. The No. 2 rated two-time conference champ lost a 3-2 decision last weekend to No. 1 Larry Early (Oak Park-River Forest), who is also the nation's No. 4 rated 145-pounder according to Intermat.com.

Hampshire head coach Terry Wilkinson likes what he sees all throughout the FVC this season, and feels McHenry is the team who could win it all.

"(McHenry) has proved it's tough against everyone in this conference, and if they come out strong, they have to be favored above the rest of us," Wilkinson said. "But in the end, it's going to be the team which can place the most second through sixth place (and) not the most individual champs."

Weight Watching106: Jake Szlenk (Hampshire, 27-3), Zach Spencer (Huntley, 28-7), Joe Arroyo (Grayslake North, 16-2), AJ Connelly (Grayslake Central, 25-11), Ian Mullen (McHenry, 25-3. The senior Mullen carries plenty of experience into the tournament, while also having a couple of victories over his rivals (Spencer and Szlenk), but a recent OT win by Spencer over Deerfield star Dylan Utterback gives the Huntley freshman a real confidence boost.

Mullin has victories over Spencer and Szlenk (majors), while the freshman from Huntley's recent OT win over Utterback gives him a boost in his confidence.

113: Josh Stenger (Huntley, 30-6), Kyle Szlenk (Hampshire, 26-5), Beau Harrier (Jacobs, 23-5), Britches Sikula (McHenry, 23-1). Perhaps not as much depth as some classes here, nonetheless there's plenty of enticing talent to keep an eye on. Szlenk won it all here last year at 103, then a couple of weeks later advanced downstate. Although Stenger lost a tough one (4-2) to Mullen earlier, the junior has improved with each week, climbing into the top 10 in the state polls. Harrier's recent 4-2 decision over Stenger shows he belongs with this fine group.

132: Garrett Dziedzic (Crystal Lake South, 20-9), Chris Dranka (Jacobs, 33-3), Ricky Vigil (Huntley, 23-2), Wylie Allen (Hampshire, 26-5), Larry Augustine (Grayslake Central, 24-7). This marvelous bunch is all state-ranked ranked (Allen and Augustine in 2A) but as the tournament nears, it's Dziedzic who is the one to beat. The 2014 state qualifier has beaten the Nos. 4, 7 and 8th ranked, plus Dranka, and comes into this weekend at No. 6 in the state polls. Vigil, a 2014 state qualifier as well, missed some time due to an injury, but still found time to defeat Augustine, who in turn upended Allen.

138: John Cullen (Cary-Grove, 21-6), Chris Gamboa (Huntley, 25-6), Jacob Sabella (Jacobs, 17-11), Matt Bybee (Hampshire, 20-8), Taborist Robinson (Dundee-Crown, 19-10), Mike Petersen (Crystal Lake Central), Carter Herber (McHenry, 24-8). Petersen is the man all are after as the No. 5 rated Tigers' junior is looking to jump-start his postseason after finishing third last year in Champaign. Cullen got a late start after his long stint with the Trojans' football team but the junior has found his form of late. Huntley's Gamboa suffered an injury just when it appeared he might be on his way to the state tournament last year, and is now gaining steam, witnessed by his recent 5-4 decision over state-ranked Brandon Peshek of Johnsburg.

Going for 4: Cary-Grove senior Michael Cullen (28-1) is after his fourth FVC crown, and the three-time state medalist, but the current No. 4 rated 120-pounder will have to deal with both the aforementioned Ferencz and 2A star Travis Piotrowski (Prairie Ridge), who are not going to make things easy for the Wisconsin-bound Cullen.

195: Christian Brunner (Dundee-Crown) vs. Andrew Marsden (Crystal Lake Central).

The match of all matches. Here is a final that would grace any stage anywhere. It would be the battle of the unbeatens, Brunner, No. 2 in 3A, versus 2A's top rated Marsden. The power and strength of the 2014 state runner-up Brunner versus the reigning state champion, the owner of a funky style and ability to spladle the best of them.

"Andrew is the best, so you always want to wrestle the best. It would be a fun match, and one that I would look forward to, if we both can advance into the final," said Brunner, who began his sensational postseason run here one year ago by defeating CLC's Mike Zelasco (4-2) in the final, who would later finish second at the 2A state tourney.