Short-handed Mundelein still edges Libertyville
The Independent Conference opener between boys gymnastics rivals Mundelein and host Libertyville went down to the final rotation Monday night.
Mundelein prevailed in its first dual meet of the season, 141.6 to 140.1, as the Mustangs had just enough depth.
The battle for first place in the all-around competition was just as compelling as the team battle, as Mundelein senior Greg Godellas scored 49.9 points (8.32 average) to edge junior teammate Tyler Collins (49.5 points). Libertyville sophomore newcomer Matt Neuberger was a close third with 48.6 points.
Mundelein, which has already hit 146.4 this season, was without the services of senior all-rounder Yianni Wiechering, who missed the meet due to illness.
"Obviously not having Yianni hurts on a couple of events," said Mundelein coach Jesse Piland, whose team scored a meet-high 25.8 points on vault. "We want to get everybody healthy, and we want to be in the top five so when we submit our scores to the IHSA we want to host a sectional."
Godellas took home first place on pommel horse with a 9.3, and his 8.4 on parallel bars tied Libertyville sophomore Tyler Kukla for first place.
"We've improved from the beginning of the season, but we were missing Yianni so that was a big damper tonight," said Godellas, who placed 25th in the state all-around last spring. "Tyler (Collins) is doing big stuff this year - he's more consistent than I am - and we're trying to improve our best and top out at 152."
Collins was the individual champion on vault (9.1), floor exercise (8.7) and still rings (8.5). Piland sees Collins stepping into a bigger role this season.
"Tyler is our top all-rounder, for sure," Piland said. "He'll be our leader and he looked pretty good tonight. His all-around should lead us all year, and then it's up to us to follow his lead."
After opening the season with 133.4 points in a victory at Naperville Central on Saturday, Libertyville showed great improvement against the Mustangs.
Neuberger (8.3) nipped senior teammate A.J. Jacob (8.2) for top honors on high bar. Neuberger added second-place scores of 8.8 on vault, 8.6 on floor exercise and 8.3 on still rings.
Collins took second on pommel horse with an 8.5, while Libertyville junior Pat Tanski posted a third-place 8.5 on vault. Collins also scored third-place marks of 8.1 on parallel bars and 8.1 on high bar.
"We went up 7 points so I was very happy about that, and today they were able to shake off the nerves," said Libertyville coach Josh Cimo, whose team will be competing in the Hinsdale Central Invite on Friday night. "We were probably 3 for 6 tonight. We had some careless mistakes. It's always hard to keep them focused when it's a multilevel meet."
Godellas took third on floor with an 8.5 to edge Tanski (8.4) in fourth and Mundelein sophomore Will Ferro (8.3) in fifth. Kukla (7.5) placed third on still rings, while Neuberger (7.4) took third on pommel horse.
"(Neuberger) is a huge addition," Cimo said. "He just really came out focused today, and he was aggressive on his skills. Pat (Tanski) had a pretty good meet too. He's getting hit on deductions that he shouldn't take, and those little deductions just add up over time."