Prospect profits from prioritizing the present

In the days leading up to the Mid-Suburban League wrestling tournament, rivals of Barrington used that program's recent successes against high-profile opponents and its No. 6 state ranking as reasons to anoint the Broncos as the favorite.

On Saturday, however, Prospect was living in the moment.

The Knights generated an exhilarating finish, starting just before the lunch break and continuing through the last bout of the day, to stay in front of the field and win top honors at Rolling Meadows.

Coach Tom Whalen's team outscored Barrington 256.5-245.5, with Conant (243.5) and Wheeling (2220 close behind.

Consider Prospect headed into the next phase of the postseason, the Glenbrook South regional, with a full head of steam.

"Barrington was always the team to beat this weekend - they proved that with a great regular-season record and great lineup," said Whalen, who only allowed himself a smile after Jorge Ramos (33-4) put the finishing touches on the outcome with a heavyweight triumph. "The guys came to wrestle today. But we still have a lot of work to do before regionals next weekend. With that said, we're thrilled to come out of this with a championship trophy."

"I think all of us came here today not worried about who the favorite was," said Propsect's Andrew Baysingar, "but instead, just going out and taking care of business, and wrestling for each other."

Baysingar (34-3), a junior, dominated at 126 pounds to earn one of three first-place medals. Freshman Jack Milos (33-3) was just as impressive as his teammate at 113.

Prospect collected 13 medals from 14 positions - three more than Barrington, and just one more than both Conant and Wheeling.

Barrington and Conant both earned four championships, two of which came in head-to-head bouts against one of the top four clubs.

Conant junior Alex Giuliano (27-3) collected his first MSL crown by edging Anthony Silva (14-10) from Prospect 1-0. And the Cougars' Cormac Kane (25-1) defeated the Knights' Ryan Vedner (34-3) 3-0 in a 170-pound final which featured the state's No. 4 and No. 5 wrestlers.

"Silva was a tough opponent, but I always figured I could put him away with a takedown," said Giuliano. "But it never came - so when he started down in that third period, it was up to me to just ride him out for the win."

Kane recorded a key first takedown to grab a 1-0 lead well into the second period. Just after that, Vedner got in on Kane but was unable to finish his shot.

"The advantage to being tall is it makes it difficult sometime for your opponent to reach and finish, and that's what happened today," Kane said. "But Ryan is a great wrestler, and that's how it goes sometimes."

Junior Lester Gonzales, just 5-12 a year ago for the Cougars, also won in a 5-1 victory over Conor Prettyman (15-10) of Barrington in the 182-pound final.

Nicky Amato (22-2), who's battled an assortment of injuries during the regular season, beat Noel Pena (Hoffman Estates, 20-2) for the second time this season in his 138-pound final with a 10-5 decision.

First-year coach Jeff Keske supervised the first MSL individual title in over a decade for Palatine as Danny Vega (10-6) major-decisioned Gustavo Avila of Schaumburg in the 220-pound final. Vega had upset top seed Brian Morel (Fremd, 21-8) in the semifinals.

Vega's win was the only title earned outside of the top four teams here.

The first two of the last session came from Wheeling senior Eric Lee (106, 29-10), followed by Milos one weight class later.

The middle weights provided some of the more intriguing and anticipated finals, beginning with the 145-pound contest between John Paul Smith (Wheeling, 39-6) and Barrington senior, Rami Sakka, who in his first full season with the Broncos varsity has recorded a 33-8 record.

Sakka struck first with a takedown just 30 seconds in. Smith drew back even, then went ahead at 4-2 moments into the second period before unleashing a relentless attack in which he registered four near falls en route to a technical fall at 5:05.

"The big thing with me this year is my confidence, and when Rami got the first takedown, I didn't panic and just stayed with trying to turn him as often as I could until I finally broke him for good," said Smith.

The 152-pound division featured the No. 2 man in the state, Markus Hartman (35-0), along with No. 6 Michael Womeldorf (27-2) and honorable mention senior Rene Cortez (21-8) of Fremd.

Womeldorf topped Cortez in the semis 5-0, while Hartman needed just 23 seconds to advance into the finals.

The final featured plenty of fireworks and a first period featuring terrific chances for both. But a big third period from the 2017 state runner-up Hartman closed out Womeldorf 11-5.

"On one hand, I'm disappointed with the loss," said Womeldorf, also a state competitor last season. "But on the other, I now know I can go with the best in the state. And when I get to Champaign, the plan is to show that I'm able to do the same with the rest of the field."

The Broncos' dynamic duo of Jarrit Shinhoster (26-1) and Jake Meyer (195, 35-1) left little doubt as to who reigned supreme in their weight classes.

Shinhoster was unstoppable at 160 pounds, finishing with a brilliant 10-0 major decision over his fellow state-ranked opponent, Adam Kemp (27-6) of Fremd.

"Jarrit was dominating all throughout his day, including the final, where he beat a great opponent," said Broncos coach Dave Udchik.

Meyer never was challenged en route to his second consecutive MSL title, pinning his way to glory - and needing a grand total of just 2:56 to do so.

"The conference title is nice," Meyer said. "It would have been better if we won the overall team title, but we'll use this day as a way of getting ourselves ready for next week at regionals, and a chance to move into the dual-team sectionals later next month."

Sophomore Kai Conway (30-9) who won here a year ago (at 106 pounds), was outstanding in all three of his contests to win once again, this time at 132 pounds over 2016 state qualifier Jack Lingle (27-7) of Schaumburg.

"It took me quite a while to get comfortable with the strength of my opponents at my new weight, but recently my confidence has improved, and it's showing in my results," said Conway following his 10-5 victory.

As a group, Barrington had plenty of which to be proud. The main challenge now is to be more consistent through the weights.

"There were a lot of bright spots today, and a few not so bright," said Udchik. "But we'll get back at it and correct a few things on Monday to get ourselves ready for regionals, where I know the guys will be ready to go.

"Give Prospect credit. They came ready to wrestle and won some big matches when they needed them, and really did well at keeping all of us far enough away to win the tournament."