Glenbard North's Gomez advances at sectional
It was a fairly uneventful first day of wrestling in Hoffman Estates Friday night at Class 3A individual sectional host Conant - a few mild surprises here and there - but nothing grand to speak of at the close of Day One.
But not Saturday.
Tournament officials will be sure everything is bolted down when the fireworks are set to go off after 9:30 a.m.
That's when the 138-pound semifinal between Nos. 1 and 2, Austin Gomez of Glenbard North (40-1) and Oak Park's Jaime Hernandez (11-0) will be the headline act of the opening session.
The two-time state champion Gomez looked the part Friday after his dominating performance in his quarterfinal bout, while Hernandez showed his talent by matching the Iowa State-bound Gomez with a pin just moments into the second period.
Plenty of teammates of both Gomez and Hernandez enjoyed successful first-day results, as did Wheaton North, which two weeks ago ended the long reign of championship crowns collected by Glenbard North.
The state-ranked trio of 132-pounder Frankie Indelli, 145-pounder Duncan Nelson and 160-pounder Devin Donovan made it look easy to advance into the semifinals for Wheaton North. The Panthers duo of 145-pounder Abe Assad and 152-pounder Anthony Marre were pushed a little harder by their opponents before each safely secured their place in the front draw.
Indelli will meet St. Charles North star Kolbe O'Brien (35-2) while Nelson meets Assad.
Nelson pinned Assad recently in the DuPage Valley Conference final to help the Falcons edge Glenbard North for the top prize.
Junior Miguel Moranchel is one victory away from advancing downstate at 120 pounds after stunning Prospect's Anthony Silva in his opener 7-4 and Angelo Berardi of Chicago Taft, who took an early lead on the Glenbard North junior.
Glenbard West's Charles Faber roared back at 120 pounds after suffering his first loss of the season last weekend in his regional final with Eddie Bolivar of Oak Park with a pair of impressive victories - including a 10-1 major decision over Justin Benjamin of St. Charles East, to reach the semifinals against Matt Laygo of Lake Park.
"That loss was the best thing that could have happened to me," said Faber, No. 7 in the state heading into the weekend and a fifth-place state medalist a year ago.
Glenbard West's Catron Frazier was near flawless during his 7-1 decision over Luke Badger of Lake Park in their semifinal, as were the Wheaton North duo of Jaime Suarez and Riley Lomenick, who stayed alive in the championship bracket.
Wrestlebacks will continue Saturday morning to eventually decide who advances downstate, with first- and third-place bouts scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.