Huntley battles past Crystal Lake South
Competing against some of the top wrestling teams in the state, Huntley seems primed for success in the postseason.
The battled-tested Red Raiders, aided by 5 forfeits, cruised past Crystal Lake South 59-12 in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division action in Crystal Lake Thursday Night.
Huntley moves to 16-7 overall for the season and finishes division play 4-1. The injury-riddled Gators slip to 3-13 overall and complete Valley competition at 0-5.
"We wrestle a great schedule," said Huntley coach BJ Bertelsman. "The only teams we have lost to are teams ranked in the Top 15 in the state. We feel with a full lineup we can compete to win the (Fox Valley) conference next week. We had some good efforts tonight but we have some things to work on before the postseason starts."
Out of the 9 matches competed on the mat, the Red Raiders registered 3 pins.
Hunter Kowalski (160) pinned Shahyan Malik in 2:26, Jason Pawlak (138) pinned Tyler Gardner in 2:48 and Joey Armijo (126) pinned Doug Cain in 3:26.
"My job is to get the pin as quick as I can get it," said Kowalski. "I work on pins in practice every day. I came out really aggressive and was able to get control of the match early. I am wrestling with a lot of confidence and feel I am ready for the conference meet next week."
Huntley's Petros Mihlapolas (195) defeated Dom Bolanos by technical fall 22-7. Luke Loprieno (132) decisioned Anthony Castro 7-4 while Christian Benetiz (285) muscled his way past Buddy Gabric 3-1.
Vince Fontanetta (182) collected the Gators' only pin of the night. Fontanetta pinned Huntley's Nick Wise in 3:09. Ethan Weinandy (170) blanked Huntley's Justin Allen 9-0.
In the best match of the evening. Crystal Lake South's Frank Woods (152) scored late and nipped Huntley's Brad Zbilski 3-2.
"Because of all the forfeits we look at matches wrestled," said Crystal Lake South head coach Ross Ryan. "We wrestled in nine matches and were competitive in most of the matches. Vince wrestled great and got a quick pin. Frank wrestled great and picked up a great win against a very good Huntley wrestler. Ethan wrestled a great match but I wanted to see him get more points. He will need every point he can get in a close match."