Jacobs in good position to win first FVC crown

What a difference a year makes.

Last season, a less than sparkling opening day at the Fox Valley Conference wrestling tournament all but erased the hopes for Jacobs of a top four finish.

On Friday, things were different for coach Gary Conrads' club and with the Golden Eagles on the front foot from the opening bout, Jacobs finds itself heading into Saturday's final day of the conference tournament with an 8-point lead, 105-97 over host McHenry, and 23-more than division rival Cary-Grove (82.0) which enjoyed a solid first day.

Huntley (81.5) and defending champion Crystal Lake Central (79.0) round out the top five when the action resumes Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

"We had such a poor first day last year, and it just kind of went sour after that and into regionals but this year we beefed up our schedule down the stretch to get us ready for this day, and the focus from everyone is much better. We've got to come out (Saturday) and wrestle our best, and stay alive in the back draw in order to walk out of here with our first conference championship ever," said Conrad, who will lead nine of his guys into the semifinals, including senior Cody Ferencz (30-5) who will face Austin Emd (13-12) of Crystal Lake Central in his 120-pound semifinal.

Things didn't go well for a lot us last year, including myself, but we're all much better this season, and we all want to do better this weekend, and then the week after at regionals," said Ferencz, who earned the No. 2 seed behind Travis Piotrowski (Prairie Ridge, 23-0) after the clear No. 1 at this weight, Michael Cullen of Cary-Grove, bumped up to compete at 126 for the tournament.

"We had heard the rumors (Cullen) might be moving up, but only focus is my next match, and nothing else at this point," admitted Ferencz.

Should Cullen (29-1) capture the 126-pound crown, it will the fourth consecutive title, all at different weights for the three-time state medalist, who entered this weekend as the fourth-rated 120-pounder in the state.

"It's something I've been thinking about (moving up) lately, and quite honestly, to win four times, and at four weights is probably something not too many guys have done in the history of the conference," said Cullen, who will meet Adam Guiterrez (Dundee-Crown, 31-7) and likely No. 2 Lenny Peterson (28-6) who lost to Cullen last year (5-2) in the final at 120 pounds.

Cullen's brother Sean was involved in one of the more dramatic quarterfinals of the day when he met Larry Augustine (24-8, Grayslake Central), who came into the weekend at No. 11 in the state Class 2A polls at 132.

This fiercely contested bout ended when Cullen would score the game-winning takedown with 15 seconds remaining in the final extra session to escape with a 4-2 victory. Next up is the No. 1 seed, Garrett Dziedzic (21-9) of Crystal Lake South.

On the other side of this bracket, it will be No. 2, Ricky Vigil (Huntley, 25-3) versus No. 3 Chris Dranka (34-3) of Jacobs.

Cullen's teammate, Adam Pinter (14-14), stunned Grayslake Central freshman A.J. Connelly (25-12) in his quarterfinal (12-4) while the biggest surprise of the day might have come at 138 pounds, where unseeded Joe Fetherling (Crystal Lake South, 15-19) upended No. 3 Chris Gamboa of Huntley 6-5.

In a wild finish, Gamboa (26-7), who appeared to suffer a second period injury after a takedown near the edge, took a late lead (5-4), only to see Fetherling conjure up a 2-point reversal for the winner.

Sophomore Josh Stenger, Gamboa's talented teammate at 113, cruised into the semifinals after recording a fall at 2:29, and will now face division rival Beau Harrier (Jacobs, 25-5), who recently defeated the Huntley star 4-2.

"My finish here last year, and not getting downstate was all the motivation I needed coming into this tournament, not my loss to Beau a couple of weeks ago," said Stenger, who was fourth here last year at 106 pounds.

While both Hampshire and Dundee-Crown advanced just a few into the championship round, Christian Brunner (Dundee-Crown) and Anton Krocko of Hampshire each would shine during their one and only appearance on Friday.

Brunner (34-0), who is on a collision course with Andrew Marsden (Crystal Lake Central, 33-0) in a much anticipated 195-pound final, needed under two minutes to pin his opponent and book his place opposite Cody Barnes (29-3) of Woodstock North in the semifinals.

"If both Andrew and I meet in the final, it will be something I've been looking forward to, and certainly a lot of fun for me, that's for sure," said Brunner, who is No. 2 at 3A, while the Oklahoma State-bound Marsden is the top-rated 195-pounder in 2A.

Krocko (170, 30-2) along with teammate, Jake Szlenk (113, 28-3) are the lone participants for Hampshire in the semifinal round.

"Last year I had Brunner and Mike Zelasco (Crystal Lake Central) in front of me at 182 pounds, and both of them went on to win state medals. This year I was the top seed at this tournament, and I hope to follow both of them later on at the tournament," said the Whips' senior.

Szlenk will face top seed Britches Sikula (27-1) of McHenry, while Krocko has Randy Kline (22-9) of Woodstock North.

Both Grayslake Central and North had their ups and downs on Friday, with Central sending two into the semifinals: top seed Jon Makey (33-2) at 160, along with David Thiel (29-8), who went through at 170 to face the aforementioned Krocko.

The senior Makey, who was third here last season, and would later head downstate, was flawless during his lone match of the day, pinning his opponent in 49 seconds to move on.

"It was a disappointing tournament for me last year, and equally the same at the state tournament, and that was all the motivation I needed to work harder during the offseason to get me back here and erase my performance at conference before focusing on regionals and beyond," said Makey, moments after collecting his 25th pin on the season.

Grayslake North will have two in the semis as well, freshman Joe Arroyo (17-2), who needed just 58 seconds to finish off his counterpart at 106, in addition to Jake Wright, the No. 2 seed at 152.

Next up for Wright (19-8) will be Jake Orth (19-12) of Jacobs.