Libertyville turns back determined Lake Zurich
For one shining moment Friday night, it looked like visiting Lake Zurich was going to make a serious run at Libertyville in North Suburban Conference wrestling action.
But after the Bears cut the Wildcats lead to 21-15 with two quick pins, Libertyville slammed the door en route to a 41-19 victory to set up a major showdown at Stevenson next week.
Starting the dual meet at 138 pounds, the Wildcats (7-7, 5-0) got on the scoreboard when junior Will Bertaud posted a 6-0 shutout over Joey Mrazek.
Then at 145, Lake Zurich (14-5, 3-4) saw junior Matt Grom drop a 3-1 decision to Peyton Sartin in a classic defensive struggle.
Senior Jack Damenti (152) was impressive on Libertyville's senior night with a pin in 2:48 before junior teammate Tyler Padilla pulled off an exciting 5-4 decision over Nick DiMaggio at 160 to boost the lead to 15-0.
The Bears got on the scoreboard when 170-pounder Josh Goldberg posted a 10-6 decision over sophomore Niko Christensen. But a pin in 3:07 by 182-pound Libertyville senior Ryan Cleary extended the Wildcats' lead to 21-3 six matches into the meet.
With the win over Lake Zurich, Libertyville is now gearing up for a showdown next Thursday against No. 10-ranked Stevenson, which is also undefeated in the NSC. The meet at Stevenson was originally scheduled for Dec. 22, but it was rescheduled for Jan. 19.
"I'm just excited. I knew we could do it, and we are running on full cylinders right now," said Cleary, who is optimistic about the showdown at Stevenson. "I think the key is preventing them from getting those extra points and keeping it close in those tougher matches we can win it."
Down by 18 points, the Bears struck quickly with 195-pound senior Billy Busse (1-0) pinning his opponent in 34 seconds to cut the lead to 21-9. Busse had missed the entire season due to a shoulder injury. Junior teammate Joey Stutzman has still not wrestled this season due to injury.
After Busse's quick pin, senior teammate and 2016 state qualifier Josh Dyer (15-4) did him one better as Dyer pinned his opponent in a mere 11 seconds to pull Lake Zurich within 21-15 with six matches left.
"I was really happy to see Busse make that pin quickly because he just made weight, and tonight it sure looked like Dyer picked it up again," said Lake Zurich coach Dan Stickler, whose team is at the Palatine mega-duals Saturday. "We had a lot of close matches that we lost, and that's to their credit. (Libertyville coach Dale Eggert) prepared their kids well and that was the difference."
Libertyville 285-pounder Charlie Schmidt pulled off a huge 5-2 decision in a triple-overtime "ultimate tiebreaker" against Mike Bertoia to give the Wildcats some breathing room with a 24-15 lead.
But Lake Zurich 106-pounder Jason Wollard responded with a 15-6 major decision to cut the gap to 24-19 with four bouts to go.
That would be the end of the road for the Bears, though, as No. 4-ranked 106-pounder Alex Mitchell earned a technical fall at 113 to start a run of 17 straight points to close out the meet for Libertyville.
Senior Drew Onufer (120) clinched the team victory with a pin in 1:40, before freshman teammate Danny Pucino added a 13-7 decision over senior Maxx Wayne at 126.
Like the 126-pound match, the 132-pound bout featured two honorable mention-ranked wrestlers with Libertyville's Michael Gunther posting a 10-3 decision over Nick Swanson to close out the meet.
"We had a number of good performances tonight that allowed us to beat a very good team," said Eggert. whose team is at the DeKalb quad on Saturday. "Stevenson is ranked No. 10 for a reason and we will give them everything we've got."