Make it another three victories for Lake Zurich
It was another productive weekend for the Lake Zurich wrestling team, as the Bears picked up three more victories Saturday in the Carmel Catholic mega-dual meets.
Starting the competition at 220 pounds against Harlem, Lake Zurich (12-8) rolled to a 56-21 victory before capturing a 39-27 triumph over the host Corsairs (10-7) in the second round.
The Bears closed out the day with a 46-27 win over Grayslake North after the Knights suffered a heartbreaking 41-35 loss to Carmel in the final match of the opening round.
The Corsairs had a strong day overall, as they defeated Glenbrook South 54-24 in the third round. Grayslake North posted a 54-12 victory over Palatine's short-handed team in the second round.
Palatine also fell to Glenbrook South 48-19 in the first round and Harlem (10-7) 48-24 in the third round. Harlem lost to Glenbrook South 36-35 in the second round.
Lake Zurich's successful weekend also featured a North Suburban Conference victory over Mundelein on Friday night. On Saturday, Lake Zurich started off against Carmel with a forfeit win by 285-pounder Matt Wach, a pin by 106-pounder Vinny Pasquesi and an 11-0 major decision by 113-pounder Logan Neurauter. The three wins staked the Bears to a 16-0 lead.
The Corsairs battled back behind decisions from 120-pounder Christian Valadez (17-0), 126-pounder Anthony Schaer (22-4) and 132-pounder Jack Bartz, before a pin by undefeated No. 4-ranked 138-pounder Riley Palm (28-0) cut the gap to 16-15.
George Gritsonis responded with a key pin at 145 pounds for Lake Zurich, but that effort was answered by a pin from Carmel 152-pounder Tommy Hoy (25-4) to keep the Corsairs within striking distance at 22-21.
But the Bears' upper weights proved to be the difference. A technical fall by 160-pounder Joey Mrazek, a forfeit win by 170-pounder Marek Enters and a pin by 182-pounder Josh Goldberg (22-7) put the team victory away for Lake Zurich.
"I think that we're starting to wrestle really well here, and we're starting to wrestle as a team," Lake Zurich coach Jake Jobst said. "Everybody is getting involved, and we're doing a good job of getting bonus points when we can."
The Carmel-Grayslake North outcome went down to the final bout tied at 35-35. A pin by Carmel 195-pounder Jonathan Lopez (11-4) carried the Corsairs to a 41-35 win.
Goldberg, Wach, Pasquesi and Neurauter had 3 wins each for the Bears. Carmel 220-pounder John Ivan (8-1), Palm, Valadez, Schaer and Hoy all recorded 3 wins for Carmel.
Ivan, a team captain, had been out of action since Thanksgiving after having arthroscopic knee surgery.
"I'm getting there," Ivan said. "I just have to work on getting in shape. It feels great to be back. We're looking great, the other three team captains really work hard, and our goal for the year is to win our regional."
Carmel coach Bob Kuykendall was happy with his squad's performance.
"Overall, it was a good day. We gave Lake Zurich a good battle, but we're missing some starters," Kuykendall said. "Jack Bartz has done a super job. I'm happy with Jonathan Lopez, and the other guys are really having good seasons."
Grayslake North was led by 132-pounder Carlos Garcia, 145-pounder Adam Blonski and 170-pounder Michael Johnson with 3 wins each. Angel Flores (25-5), a 2017 state qualifier, went 2-1 for the Knights at 195.
"I thought we wrestled well," Grayslake North coach Collin McKillip said. "We put ourselves in a position to win when we got down early in some matches. "We had two forfeits so that makes it tough, but getting three wins from Johnson and Garcia was big for them."
Palatine's young team had only six wrestlers competing in the meet. The Pirates got 3 victories apiece from senior Jaime Martinez at 170, junior Danny Vega at 220 and junior Irvin Nunez at 285. Senior Jason Saravia went 2-1 for the Pirates at 120, while 160-pound senior Ray Soto also notched 3 victories.
"We have a very young team so a lot of them went to a sophomore tournament today," first-year Palatine coach Jeff Keske said. "The guys that did wrestle did well. We're getting better every week. The guys are buying into the new system, and they're learning a lot about the sport."