Gulyk victory puts Lake Park over the top
Lake Park senior and 220-pounder Anthony Gulyk already was excited to wrestle Thursday after being sidelined more than two weeks following a concussion.
When the DuPage Valley Conference dual with visiting Naperville North was drawn to start at 106, Gulyk became even more enthusiastic.
"I knew that (220 could matter) before the match. I saw it on the board so I knew I had to try hard," Gulyk said.
Gulyk pulled off a pin, and the Lancers added the six-point forfeit from the final match at 285 to prevail 37-31 in Roselle.
Both teams are now 1-2 in conference duals. The victory personally was historic for Gulyk (8-3), who won by fall with 28.7 seconds left after leading 11-4 behind 5 takedowns.
"This is the only one to win (a team) match," Gulyk said. "I felt pretty good. I'm just focusing on getting better, hoping all of the work will show off at the end."
Other Lake Park pins came from senior Vince Liebich at 152 and junior Demarco Lee at 195. Juniors Chris Ciccia and Damian Fuglewicz and sophomore Jorge Chavez won by decision at 113, 160 and 145, senior Bosco Boyer-Silva earned a 135 major decision and senior Chris Alvarez won by forfeit.
Naperville North received pins from state-ranked senior Lucas Van Poucke and junior Aaron Summers at 126 and 132 and senior Gabe Matar at 170. Senior Ben Kruk had a major decision at 120, senior John Simmelink a decision at 182 and Evan Demari a forfeit at 106.
The Huskies led 22-3 but the Lancers closed to 22-19 before Matar was reinserted at 170 and nearly thwarted the comeback.
Chavez won 3-2 on an escape with 30 seconds. Fuglewicz won 6-4 after his takedown with 19 seconds remaining.
"We knew it would be close but that we could pull it off," Liebich said. "We knew this was a dual meet we could win and that we could come back the whole time."
So did Naperville North coach Tom Champion. While Van Poucke is a two-time returning Class 3A qualifier at 113 and Kruk and Matar are returning sectional qualifiers, the team often surrenders several pounds in the higher weight classes.
"It's the same five guys winning every dual," Champion said.
A returning sectional qualifier back at 152, Liebich is now 18-1. Lee is 8-1, Alvarez 7-2 and senior Zach Schleimer 12-3. Lee and Schleimer are returning sectional qualifiers.
"I just want to worry about competing to the best of my ability," Liebich said. "I feel like whatever that can be, the achievements will show for that."
Kruk and Matar improved to 15-1 and Van Poucke 14-2. Simmelink added an impressive 5-1 victory over Schleimer.
"It's a lot nicer not having to cut weight (for 120). I feel a lot stronger," Van Poucke said.
Last season Kruk accompanied Van Poucke to state as his warmup partner. They'd like nothing better than to be state qualifiers together.
"I feel pretty confident that I can. That's the goal," Kruk said. "Obviously, our sectional is a lot harder than some others. It's very strong, but I feel very strong right now."
"We've only wrestled each other the past four years. I haven't touched anyone else in the world more than Ben," Van Poucke said with a smile.
"He's been (at state helping me), but having him wrestle there would make it a lot more fun."
Previously forfeiting three to four classes per match, Lake Park hopes to be at full strength by the end of winter break.
"It's a marathon. Everything is a work at being our best in February," Lake Park coach Tony Cirrincione said. "We think we've got pretty tough upper weights."