Huntley sending five to state

Two weeks after winning its first Fox Valley Conference title in program history, and a first regional title one week ago, Huntley would follow up with yet another first by advancing five out of Saturday's Barrington sectional and into the Class 3A state tournament which begins Thursday in Champaign.

A remarkable solo effort by a remarkable freshman, David Ferrante, ended in the Red Raiders' rookie sensation lifting the 152-pound championship trophy.

Ferrante's big win would help lead a Huntley contingent downstate, including Josh Stenger's third straight appearance, as well as a second for Zach Spencer, and first-timers Sam Spencer and Juan Quiroz.

FVC rival Jacobs and brothers, Beau (120) and Jake Harrier are on the way to Champaign, but the brilliant four-year careers of David Dudych (145, 32-10) and Jacob Sabella (152, 35-11) ended just short of joining their teammates.

Dundee-Crown senior Chase Raap would rise up in overtime during his semifinal bout to earn his first trip, falling later in his final to No. 3 D.J. Penick of Highland Park.

Huntley's successful weekend began with the Ferrante win over senior Jake Cysewski (Barrington, 39-9) by a score of 4-1 in overtime.

"It feels great to come out of this sectional with a championship, but I didn't really imagine winning one when the season began," said Ferrante, now 26-2. "There was a period of adjustment to high school after competing against guys my own age but in high school, sometimes I'm wrestling opponents who are 17 or 18 years old, so that's been a big thing for me to overcome."

The No. 7 rated Ferrante isn't the highest ranked Red Raider in the Huntley starting lineup. That honor belongs to the senior Stenger (38-7), No. 5 at 120 pounds, who was looking to avenge a regional final defeat at the hands of Fabian Lopez (40-5) of DeKalb.

It wouldn't be in the cards for Stenger, fourth last season at the state tournament, whose valiant comeback nearly was enough to overtake the freshman phenom.

"If I had a do-over, I would have kept the pace up, and attacked, and tried to score off those tie-ups, but maybe I'll get the chance once again next weekend," said Stenger, who roared back from a 5-1 deficit only to lose 8-7.

The Spencer brothers fought their way back through the consolation bracket to advance from 106 (Sam) and at 126 (Zach) with the junior Zach finishing up with a dominating performance to capture a third-place medal.

"I wasn't going to let my brother have all of the fun here," said Zach (38-11), who won a regional title last weekend, and is currently No. 8 at 126.

The freshman Sam Spencer (39-10) lost a wild overtime semifinal match to Dane Durlacher (5-3) of Mundelein, and despite the heartbreaking defeat, and plenty of confusion on a series of late calls, he would come back nicely to join the party downstate.

"I don't know if either (Durlacher) or myself understood what the calls were in our match, but I regrouped, and won my state-qualifying match, and that's all that mattered," said Sam Spencer, also a third-place medalist.

Freshman Jake Harrier (36-7) booked his place in the finals at 113 but sophomore Tommy Frezza (Stevenson) had a little too much for Jacobs' young star that finished 8-3 in favor of Frezza at 113 pounds.

Harrier would defeat Manny Ramirez (Wheeling) in his semifinal in overtime, the same Manny Ramirez who recorded a fall earlier in the season.

Beau Harrier (34-13), who lost his state qualifier here a year ago, made sure it didn't happen again when he registered a 5-2 decision over Drew Onufer of Libertyville.

"I knew before this weekend that it would be a tough weight class, so I came in ready for anything, even if I went through wrestlebacks," said Harrier.

Dundee-Crown fans had plenty to cheer when its best man, Rapp, would outwork and outpace No. 4 Jordan Shahrikian (31-4) of Hononegah in a thrilling 3-2 overtime decision in the semifinals.

"Christian (Brunner, Rapp's former teammate, and 2016 state champion) has wrestled Shahrikian before, and he knew he would bring a lot of inside singles to this match so I was ready for them so when I was able to defend that, things would turn in my favor," said Raap.

The D-C star had the benefit of terrific conditioning on his side, and when the Hononegah senior chose the down position in the final overtime session, the opportunity was there for Rapp to ride him out to get the big win to put him on bus to Champaign.

"Just a great win for Chase, and so deserving," said assistant coach Jim Brunner, who watched Raap fall just short here a year ago.

Junior Juan Quiroz of Huntley would be the fifth and final Red Raider to advance when he stunned state-ranked Jaylen Shaw of Wheeling 6-5 in his 160-pound state qualifying match.

"I was feeling real confident all throughout wrestlebacks and even against a state qualifier like Shaw," said Quiroz, now 25-9.