Big showing from Mundelein at Palatine
Mundelein's big three came up, well, big on Wednesday afternoon in Palatine.
Dane and Reese Durlacher and Logan Kvien each earned championships at the 63rd annual Berman Holiday Wrestling Classic at Palatine High School to help the Mustangs get themselves a top-five finish.
The Durlacher brothers excelled at 113 and 126 pounds. Kvien, 21-3 at 182 pounds, showed his style at 195 pounds with a late third-period pin to join his teammates atop the podium.
None in the field of 14 were close to tourney champion Minooka, which outscored nearest rival Lake Park by over 100 points (258-149.5) to capture top honors. Next came Maine South (105), Oak Forest (122) and coach Craig Stocker's team from Mundelein (119.5).
"We came here a little shorthanded with guys out of town for the holiday or out with injuries, but the good news was Dane, Reese and Logan were all very strong today, and showed why they each were state qualifiers last year," said Stocker.
Fremd, also without a handful of starters, managed to get 106 points, good for eighth place. Much of that total came from champions Cole Riemer and Adam Kemp.
Riemer (21-2 at 145 pounds) earned another prize - Outstanding Wrestler, as voted upon by the 14 tournament coaches.
"Cole looked sharp right from the very beginning today," said Fremd coach Dan Ruettiger, whose uncle Bernie Ruettiger is Minooka's coach. "He was fundamentally sound and showed just how explosive he can be with his offense."
Dane Durlacher (21-0) was nearly unstoppable en route to his title at 113, which ended with a dominant effort against Brad Ritter of St. Patrick in a technical fall at 5:26.
"I feel like I am so much further along at this point compared to last year at this time," said the Mundelein junior, who is No. 6 in the state polls and was fourth at the state tournament a year ago at 106 pounds.
His older brother Reese improved to 20-1, finishing his day with consecutive falls, including one coming with just one second remaining in the final against Zach McDowell of Minooka.
"After struggling with my shots and set-ups last year, I kind of changed my style during the off-season," said Reese Durlacher. "And now that is one of my strengths instead of a weakness."
Lake Park's runner-up finish brought a smile to the face of coach Anthony Cirrincione, who guided his club to 10 overall medals. The lone title went to senior Vince Liebich (25-1) at 152 pounds.
"Vince had an outstanding tournament, and so did the rest of the team who gave an tremendous effort - especially in the back-draw were they fought hard to get us points and medals to put us in a position to finish second behind Minooka," said Cirrincione.
Liebich has won two straight majors. His near fall toward the end of a strong six-minute bout ensured a victory against Fremd senior RJ Cortez (15-3).
"It wasn't the most exciting final of the day," said Liebich, who recently won at Glenbrook South's Erb Invite. "It was good enough to get the win, but I know I have to be better from here on out."
Fremd's Kemp (19-3) was competing at less than 100 percent due to illness but still managed to edge Jordan Chisum (17-4) of Zion-Benton in a battle of state-ranked opponents in the 160-pound finale. Together, Chisum and Kemp accounted for 70 wins last season.
"I've been dealing with swollen glands, which has really slowed me down the last couple of days, so it felt good to win a championship against a quality opponent like Chisum," said Kemp.
Leyden sophomore Daniel Uribe (13-5) fell short in his bid for an individual title when he dropped a 15-9 decision to Dominic Ruettiger (13-6) of Minooka at 132 pounds.
Uribe staged a valiant comeback after falling behind 6-2 after two minutes, drawing close on two occasions, the last time at 11-9. But Ruettiger scored the last 4 points in a span of 20 seconds.
Tournament host Palatine saw senior Jaime Martinez (12-3) enjoy the best finish of the day for the Pirates with a third-place medal at 170. Hinsdale South freshman Aiden McGivney (106) gave his club a third-place medal as well.
Plainfield North senior Matthew Hennessey (20-0), ranked No. 1 in the state at 220 pounds, won his third tournament crown of the season in spectacular fashion - with three consecutive pins, all recorded in just under three minutes.