Warren maintains momentum with win over Mundelein

The season is barely underway, but the Warren wrestling team just wants to prove that it belongs with some of the best teams in the North Suburban Conference.

So far so good for the host Blue Devils (4-0, 2-0) as they remained undefeated in the new campaign with a 44-22 NSC Lake Division victory over Mundelein (1-4, 0-2) Friday night.

After winning at Libertyville last weekend, Warren actually got started off on the wrong foot as Mundelein senior George Konstantinidis posted a 12-3 major decision over Kendell Bell at 152 for a quick 4-0 advantage.

But the Blue Devils really responded to the early challenge as 160-pounder Chris Love posted a hard-fought 6-3 decision over Victor Rodriguez to get Warren on the scoreboard.

Then Warren junior Andrew Demos (4-0) pinned his opponent in just 1:08 and the Blue Devils held a 9-4 lead over the rival Mustangs in this annual showdown.

Momentum was definitely on the Blue Devils' side after that pin as Warren 182-pounder Brandon Escamilla followed up Demos' pin with a pin in 5:11 to increase the lead to 15-4.

Then came what proved to be a huge and pivotal victory for the Blue Devils as senior Zach Khoury (3-0) pulled out a 3-1 victory over Cesar Obispo with a takedown just 19 seconds into overtime for an 18-4 cushion.

A pin by 220-pounder Jared Pompilus in only 33 seconds made the score 24-4 before 285-pounder Sergio Sosa's forfeit victory gave Warren a commanding 30-4 lead half way through the dual meet.

"I think we wrestled tough, and a lot of our older guys did what they needed to do and they got bonus points," said first-year Warren coach Jake Jobst, whose father John was a long-time wrestling coach at Round Lake. "Mundelein came out here to compete, and he (first-year Mundelein coach Mark Stewart) had some quality guys out there."

Despite 30 unanswered points, Mundelein did not fold as a forfeit win by 106-pound freshman Sebastian Portillo finally stopped the Warren onslaught.

Then moving up a weight class to 113 pounds, Mundelein sophomore Dane Durlacher (5-0) captured a 7-1 decision over junior Richard Howard to cut the gap to 30-13 with five matches still remaining.

But that victory would be pretty much the end of the road for the Mustangs as Warren sophomore J.T. VanderVere pinned his opponent in 1:30 to give the Blue Devils a comfortable 36-13 lead.

Mundelein won a wild match at 126 as Gus Cirillo hled off Warren's Ryan Thomas 7-5 in a bout that featured a near pin by each wrestler in the third period. But still trailing 36-16 with three matches left, Warren had sealed the team victory at that point.

Mundelein senior Alec Riportella (4-1) picked up a forfeit victory at 132 to pull to within 36-22. But that was as close as the Mustangs would get the rest of the way.

"Right now we're competitive in a lot of these matches and that is all I can ask for," said Stewart, who coached at Grayslake Central last season. "We're young, and there is not a lot of varsity experience on this team. I think Warren is a contender this year, they've got numbers, and they've got good athletes."

Warren 138-pound junior Grant Zamin recorded a technical fall in 4:19 before teammate Jariston Clarke earned a 7-6 decision over Alex Hendon in a real battle at 145 to account for the final score.

"Our goal right now is to just stay strong as a team, do the right things, and work hard in the practice room," said Khoury. "Stevenson won conference last year and they have a lot of guys back, but I think we can beat them if we do what our coaches say."

Not only will Warren have to contend with Stevenson later this season, but perennial powers Grant and Libertyville are always lurking when the NSC meet rolls around.

"I'm optimistic, we're looking to shoot for the conference championship, and Stevenson is who we're gunning for," added Jobst. "They key to our team is everybody knows their role and knows their part."