Barrington tops Libertyville, earns spot downstate
Barrington's wrestling team found its way to the Class 3A dual-team state quarterfinals by defeating Libertyville 44-23 on Tuesday night in the Huntley dual-team sectional.
In the other half of the doubleheader at the same site, the host Red Raiders topped Prospect 41-27 to earn the first dual-team state appearance in program history.
The fifth-ranked Broncos (25-3-0) trailed just once on Tuesday. That was when Libertyville third-place state medal-winner Danny Pucino (45-3) opened this contest with a pin (1:50) at 132 pounds. But that was it for coach Dale Eggert's team, which was outscored 38-3 in its next eight matches.
"Barrington had a little too much for us tonight - that's a very good team they have," said Eggert, whose Wildcats finish at 14-7-0 with three tournament titles this season.
The Broncos quickly tied it, even after the Pucino 6-pointer, as Kai Conway (38-12) recorded a pin of his own at 138. And then Barrington coach Dave Udchik turned things over to the heart of his lineup, which all season long has been trouble for the Broncos' opponents.
"We knew if our guys would just go out and do their job, then our big guns would do the rest and finish things off for us," said Udchik, who team will face Providence Catholic in an 11 a.m. Saturday quarterfinal at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.
Udchik bumped up Rami Sakka (152), state champion Markus Hartman (160), Jarrit Shinhoster (170) and Dan Rasmussen (182) by one weight class. And they all came through with flying colors, brining to bear a pair of pins, a tech-fall and a 7-2 decision from Rasmussen to increase the lead to 26-9. Jake Meyer (195, 47-4) increased it to 32-9 after his pin at 2:12.
"After not getting the job done at state for myself, tonight was a great way to rebound from not coming home with a state medal," said Rasmussen (39-9), a two-time state qualifier.
"There was a lot of disappointment for me when I wasn't able to get out of sectionals and go downstate with my teammates," said Sakka. "But winning tonight, and having our team go to state, makes things a whole lot better."
Barrington added to its lead, conceding a well played 6-1 decision to freshman Domenic Tarello (106) of Libertyville, and a technical fall from Matt Templeton (33-11), who ended his prep career on a high note.
Eggert and his staff will bid adieu to five seniors, including heavyweight Charlie Schmidt (36-6), who racked up a team-high 21 pins.
The Northwestern-bound Schmidt suffered 5 of his 6 defeats to two-time state champion Anthony Cassioppi and finished second on the club in wins behind Pucino.
Templeton is leaning toward attending Illinois next fall. He had a hand in these Wildcats breaking the team record for pins on a season (131), which stood since 2004.
Nine of the starters in this dual will be back next season, and many gained valuable experience in both the individual series and this dual-team sectional.
The Broncos added yet another win over a state-ranked opponent. That list includes DeKalb, Glenbard North, Lincoln-Way West, Marmion Academy and Class 2A state power Washington.
"The focus with this group has been second to none, and they showed their determination tonight by going out and having each and every guy give the type of effort we've come to expect from them," said Udchik.