Wrestling: Prospect makes point against MSL powers

Fans of Mid-Suburban League wrestling know that Barrington, Conant, Prospect and Wheeling have dominated the league during the past four seasons, with all but Prospect taking turns winning a conference championship.

But on Thursday, Prospect clearly made its statement of intent with victories over MSL West powers Barrington and Conant in a double-dual on opening night at host Wheeling.

The Knights fought off a late charge by the Broncos to secure a hard-fought 35-32 victory, then finished the meet with a 48-36 win against Conant to become the lone 2-0 team of the night.

"We competed pretty well and got a few very good decisions and wins, but we still have a long way to go," said Prospect coach Tom Whalen, summing up a sentiment shared by each of the coaches on this night.

Prospect and Barrington both earned 6 wins during their dual and shared a forfeit along the way.

The difference in this 3-point final was the Knights' five bonus-points victories, two of which were by falls, the others from back-to-back technical falls.

Gianna Rago (132) and Chad Vilchez (138) followed Andrew Baysinger's fall at 126 pounds just 93 seconds into his bout to kick-start a 16-0 beginning by the Knights.

They kept the advantage until Jake Meyer (195) of Barrington recorded a fall to push the Broncos ahead for the first time at 23-20.

"Credit Prospect," said Barrington coach Dave Udchik, who was without two starters. "They came out and wrestled harder than us to get their deserved win. But we came back in our second dual and won the close ones, and put much more effort into each and every match to finish strong.

"All of us have injuries and a variety of other things going on that need to be sorted out. But when we do, it should be a great conference tournament, with each of us fighting for the top spot."

Udchik credited Roberto Alvarez, replacing the injured Luke Rasmussen at 138, and his heavyweight, Tim Nichols, for providing the inspiration in the Broncos' 43-20 victory over the host Wildcats.

"Roberto got us back even early on with a tough 6-5 win," Udchik said. "And later, Nichols pinned his guy to put us out in front far enough so that Wheeling couldn't catch us."

The two clubs traded gritty close decisions in the early stages.

But it was four pins out of five matches, ending with Nichols, that helped Barrington break open a tight affair.

"The overall effort was good, but we made a lot of errors tonight, including not finishing shots or settling for 2 points when the guys could have had more to get some distance between them and their opponents," said Wheeling coach Charlie Curran, who was also without a pair of his starters. "But it's just the first full week of the season, and all of us have a lot to work on in the coming weeks.

"That first dual with Conant was a good one, even though it ended in heartbreaking fashion, but there were plenty of bright spots even in defeat."

The Wildcats looked to be on their way to an easy victory over Conant after rolling up a 24-4 advantage with Mason Skloot's pin at 160 pounds.

But Chad Hay's Conant wrestlers kept chipping away at the lead, eventually drawing back even at 30-30 when Tommy Santangelo (106) recorded a pin at 4:38.

"We showed a lot of grit and determination in our dual with Wheeling to get that 1-point (35-34) victory, but there wasn't much of that against Prospect," Hay said.

Junior Cormac Kane got the Cougars going against Wheeling with technical-fall at 182 pounds to pull his club closer at 24-18.

But it was another tech-fall, this one by 2017 state qualifier Ryan Giuliano (120), that gave the Cougars their 1-point triumph.

Prospect and Conant shared an oddity of sorts in the Knights' 12-point victory.

Each registered six-point wins all the way through the 14 weight classes: Prospect with 7 pins and Conant with 5. Each club also earned one 6-point forfeit.

"I cannot remember the last time I saw that happen," Hay said. "And I hope I don't see it again, especially the way it happened to us with us giving away pins when we were 6 to 8 points in front, and other ways that we'll need to clean up."

Prospect coach Tom Whalen felt the same afterward.

"That's not what you would call real pretty wrestling," Whalen said. "So obviously we have to adjust, give a better effort, have some of our guys wrestle up to the competition and not give in so easily."