Full lineup benefits Libertyville's rivalry win over Lake Zurich

An old rivalry was renewed when visiting Libertyville met Lake Zurich in North Suburban Conference wrestling action Friday night.

Starting the Lake Division dual meet at 138 pounds, the Bears hung tough with the Wildcats for the first nine matches, trailing 25-13.

But with three Lake Zurich forfeits in the final four bouts, Libertyville (3-4, 2-2) was able to come away with a comfortable 46-16 victory over the Bears (6-4, 3-1).

Junior Tyler Padilla got the Wildcats going with a pin at 138 before senior teammate Will Johnson captured a 3-1 decision over Derrick Juarez in a hard-fought battle at 145.

Libertyville junior Jack Damenti followed up that performance with a 13-4 major decision over Nick Dimaggio at 152 and the Wildcats had staked themselves to an early 13-0 advantage.

Despite four forfeits overall, Lake Zurich was sharp early on as 160-pound sophomore Josh Goldberg posted a narrow 4-3 decision over Brian Vickers to cut the lead to 13-3.

Then senior Pete Baldaccini pinned his opponent with 13 seconds left in the third period, and the Bears suddenly only trailed 13-9.

But Libertyville was up to the challenge as 182-pounder Pete Delismon recorded a 4-0 shutout against Nate Bass to boost the lead back to 16-9. Junior Adam Koziol's forfeit victory at 195 extended that lead to 22-9.

"I thought Johnson had a hard-fought good match, and there was a nice pin by Padilla at 138," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. "Despite there being a lot of forfeits I thought we had a good win. They (Lake Zurich) had a lot of good guys not in the lineup, sitting on the bench."

Junior Josh Dyer (11-3) kept Lake Zurich within striking range as his 12-2 major decision over Mike Beck at 220 pulled the Bears to within 22-13.

But then Libertyville 285-pounder Charlie Schmidt came through with a key 7-1 decision over Eric Brown and the Wildcats led 25-13 with five matches remaining.

Libertyville got forfeit wins by Brandon Murphy at 106 and Alex Mitchell at 113 to officially clinch the team win with a 37-13 lead at that point.

"I thought that our experienced wrestlers did well tonight, we have a very young team and we only have one senior in the lineup," said Lake Zurich coach Dan Strickler. "Libertyville is a very disciplined team - they have a gameplan and they follow it."

Libertyville junior Drew Onufer posted a 6-4 decision over Maxx Wayne in a very competitive bout at 120. That was followed by a forfeit win by Libertyville's Jackson Chartier at 126.

Lake Zurich junior Nick Swanson closed out the meet with a 7-3 decision over Mike Hogan at 132 to account for the final score.

"I thought I did pretty well, I got a lot of takedowns on him (Dimaggio)," said Damenti following the meet. "I like where we are right now, and we've been pretty competitive. In the dual meets we lost, we just lost to a better team, but I do like the way the meets have gone this year."

The Bears have been forfeiting 106 and 113 most of the season due to inexperience. But Friday they were also missing Billy Busse at 195, and Ben Baca at 126. 2015 sectional qualifier Joey Stutzman has been out the entire season for Lake Zurich due to an injury dating back to the football season.

The Wildcats were without 120-pound injured freshman standout Michael Gunther, who should return to action soon.