Barrington stepping up as a team
Barrington served notice that it will be a dangerous team from here on out after winning the championship in the 16-team Downers Grove South dual-team wrestling tournament Saturday afternoon.
The Broncos improved to 10-3 with a 36-33 defeat of fifth-ranked Lincoln-Way West to cap a grueling day of competition. Coach Dave Udchik's team went 5-0 for the day.
Barrington got its especially tough final win as Tucker Priola (113) and Cael Dyer (120) closed out the Warriors with a pin and a 6-5 decision, respectively.
"Our seniors really came through by having success wherever we bumped them up today," said Udchik. "But it was our other guys who were just as important, whether by getting key victories when we needed them or by staying away from getting pinned or losing by a major decision."
Having a more complete roster ready for action was all helpful.
"We're finally getting everyone back into our lineup, and when we do, we should be even better than we were today," said Barrington senior Jerit Shinhoster, who'd missed two-plus weeks after a virus in his lungs triggered an asthma attack which landed him in the emergency room.
Lincoln-Way West (9-3) roared into the final with the Broncos by outscoring its rivals 268-21, fueled by a total of 27 pins.
"This is a team that lost nine starters from our third-place state team from a year ago, and although we have a bunch of tough, hard-working guys, we found out how important it is to stay away from bonus-points losses - or finding ourselves on our back to the tune of 5 pins," said Lincoln-Way West coach Brian Glynn.
The teams went back-and-forth before Rami Sakka's 8-6 victory at 145 revved up the Broncos' attack. It found an even higher gear thanks in part to consecutive pins from Markus Hartman, Shinhoster, Dan Rasmussen and Jake Meyer to give the eventual champs a 27-11 advantage. The aforementioned quintet went undefeated for the day.
The host Mustangs, led by the state's No. 1-rated 195-pounder, Sergio Villalobos, earned third-place honors following an impressive 48-22 victory over Grant.
"It was a good day for us at a very competitive tournament," said Downers Grove South coach Sean Lovelace.
Grant (9-4), at the tail-end of a busy three days of wrestling, went undefeated in pool play with wins over Rock Island, Joliet West and Coal City. But the roof fell in on the Bulldogs went they met Lincoln-Way West in the semis before dropping the third-place matchup against the tourney hosts.
Grant had beaten Deerfield for the first time in four years on Thursday before topping Antioch on Friday in an Alumni Night dual.
"We came into that semifinal with Lincoln-Way West with so much confidence," said Grant coach Lenny Grodoski. "But when they reeled off a handful of pins on us, you could see us hang our heads a little, and it was tough for us to get that confidence back afterward."
at Hoffman Estates: In the 40th annual Mickey Marchese Memorial Tournament, Naperville Central started fast, and never looked back as it cruised to a second consecutive title.
The Redhawks outscored the 12-team field easily by finishing with 272.5 points. Next came Notre Dame (162.5), followed by Maine West (136), Hoffman Estates (105) and Bolingbrook (100).
Naperville Central earned five titles plus another five second-place finish to go with three top-six medals.
Four other teams had champions. Maine West's Arsalan Afshar (132) edged Hoffman Estates senior Reis Ginter (1-0) to run his record to 10-0.
"Wins and a undefeated record is a nice thing, but what's more important at this time of the year is your performance each time out," said Afshar, who hopes to get word of his acceptance to the University of Pennsylvania this week. "If you perform well, everything else will fall in place,"
Warriors 195-pound standout Jake Bellizzi also won, by fall in 1:27, and is now 9-0.
The host Hawks got individual titles from Noel Pena (138) and heavyweight Ryan Edwards (14-2).
The lower end of the Crystal Lake South lineup shined when Christian Olsen (14-0 at 106) and Peyton Timmons (13-2 at 113) won titles.
"The experience from qualifying into sectionals last year really helped motivate me during the off-season, and now I feel like I have a better chance of getting downstate in my sophomore year," said Timmons, who defeated 2017 state qualifier Bobby Tornabene of South Elgin 5-0 in his final.
Naperville Central junior Jackson Punzel ran into three-time state medalist and No. 1-rated Jack Jessen of Willowbrook in the 182-pound final. It was all Jessen, who won by fall at 3:31 and improved to 21-0.
"Knowing that I could meet Jessen in the final this weekend was exciting, and regardless of the result, it would be a barometer of where I stand at this time of the season," said Punzel, who was 28-8 a year ago.
Jessen, who recently committed to wrestle next fall at Northwestern, has earned two second-place state trophies, and a third, which came last season.
"Yes, it's been a little disappointing to come so close, but it's also inspired me to win it all this year," said Jessen.
The Redhawks had victories from Colin Baumgartner (120), Nick Keating (145), Derek McDaniel (152), Cam Palmer (170) and Ben Cianchetti at 220 pounds.