Barrington musters up a Mudge-McMorrow triumph
A comprehensive effort from every spot in the lineup led to Barrington earning the championship on Saturday night in the 57th annual Mudge-McMorrow Invitational at Prospect.
The defending Mid-Suburban League champion scored 214 points and garnered three individual titles while capturing nine medals. The Broncos outscored second-place Libertyville (174.5), which was followed by Moline (166.5), tourney host Prospect (162) and fifth-place finishers Crete-Monee and McHenry, who both came in with 122 points.
"We were missing a few guys who are banged up a little, and a couple of others out taking the ACT test, so to win this tournament with a few first-time varsity starters (says) a lot about the overall depth we have in our program," said Barrington coach Dave Udchik, whose club finished off the pace here last year in fourth place, behind Moline, Prospect and MSL West rival Fremd.
"Each week this team gets a little better - it's because of how hard each and every guy on this team works," said senior Andrew Crook, who grabbed a first-place crown at 220 while teammates Jarit Shinhoster (132) and Markus Hartman (145) did the same in their respective weight divisions.
For Hartman, it was his second major of the season. The first coming on Thanksgiving weekend at the Moore-Prettyman.
Shinhoster outlasted Michael Gunther of Libertyville, 6-0.
Hartman was named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.
"This was a very good day for us," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. "And even though we went one-for-five in the finals, we still received terrific efforts from guys like Gunther, Brandon Murphy (113), Drew Onufer (120) and Danny Pucino (126), who fell a little short but nonetheless did well throughout the day."
Libertyville's lone title came from Jack Damenti (152) who went ahead 2-1 late in the second period, then added to his lead during a 7-3 victory over Chris Betancourt of Crete-Monee.
"I've tended to overthink too much in the past," Damenit said. "This season I feel as though I have that under control so much better, so my attitude toward competing has improved because of that."
Fremd's Cole Riemer (138) and heavyweight Zack Nemec held their seeds and earned a trip to the top of the podium inside the Jean Walker Fieldhouse.
Nemec avenged a 3-1 loss in the finals here last season with a 3-0 shutout of Dylan Ramirez of Niles North. Riemer used a superb effort in his semifinal to reach the final, where he worked hard to get the lead and then held it for a 9-4 triumph over James Moy of Crete-Monee.
Riemer stunned top seed Patrick Ryan of New Trier in the semifinals 7-6.
"Ryan was a regional champ when I was a freshman and a state qualifier last year, so he was a quality opponent, making that win a big one for me," said Riemer. "It's still early in the season, but that was a good win to get here in the early part of the season."
Sophomore Andrew Baysinger collect the lone title for Prospect. And he did it in brilliant fashion, getting three super-quick pins to earn tournament honors by using just 2:49 minutes to record all three falls. In the 113-pound final, he needed just 28 seconds.
"I feel in great shape, the best I've been in awhile," said Baysinger, who competed with a torn labrum in his shoulder in the second half of last season yet still qualified for the state tournament.
Daniel McPherson (Round Lake) finished third overall at 113 pounds, while Addison Trail's Nick Skamira (170) and Adal Sanabria (220) each collected fourth-place medals.