Barrington, Schaumburg continue fast starts to season
It appears from the early-season results that reigning Mid-Suburban League wrestling champion Barrington and its division rival Schaumburg might be the ones to beat in the MSL West this season.
The two clubs each went 2-0 Thursday night against Buffalo Grove and Prospect inside Barrington's cozy second floor wrestling room to keep their records spotless for the 2019-2020 campaign.
The Broncos, fresh off a thrilling victory over Lockport and 28 others last weekend at the 29th annual Moore-Prettyman Invitational went past Buffalo Grove, 48-33, then Prospect, 46-21 to remain undefeated in their first four contests.
"We obviously still have a lot of work to do, but it's always nice to start things off in our conference with two wins," said Broncos head coach Dave Udchik.
Kai Conway (160 pounds), Luke Rasmussen, (170), Jack Hartman (182) and Evan Roper would all record pins against Prospect (0-3-0) to break open a close dual (13-12) that soon would become 43-15 following the Roper pin at 220.
In between, Caleb Smith (195) would collect a hard-fought 7-1 victory for the Knights and later, freshman Will Baysingar would register a fall at 3 minutes over 2019 state qualifier Brian Beers.
"Will bumped up to 113 to go against Beers. It was a match he wanted and he did well for himself and the team," said Knights head coach Tom Whalen, who had three freshmen in his starting lineup.
"We have a long way to go at this point. We have to learn to wrestle for each other and not ourselves in order to be where we want later on."
Junior Jack Milos continues to impress at the onset of the season, following up his impressive run to the 132-pound championship at the Moore-Prettyman with a pair of pins Thursday.
Milos and company were not able to overcome Mike Levanti's Schaumburg squad in their opener, falling 37-31 in a contest that stayed close but was decided ultimately by a trio of victories from: Aaron Lilley (145), Grant Hansen (152) and Tyler Bobnick at 160.
"Tom is not at full strength right now, but anytime you can beat a quality opponent like Prospect it's a good thing, then to come back to get past Buffalo Grove, which is much better than a year ago, makes for a good night all the way around," said the Saxons' head coach.
Schaumburg (7-0-0), which is off to its best start ever, travels to MSL West rival Conant on Friday.
Buffalo Grove (6-3-0) had its chances against both Schaumburg and Barrington until giving away points on forfeits and the pinning power of both of its opponents did in coach Kurt Kutska's team.
"We wrestled with a lot of confidence, heart and desire and although we came up a little short I have to say this was a good night for us," said Kutska.
The strength of the Bison lineup this season will be at the upper weights with 2019 state qualifier Gio Jackson (220) leading the way in between Michael Goubine (170) and heavyweight Brandon Flores.
Jackson and Flores came over from Palatine and St. Viator respectively and together with Goubine and senior Alejandro Mejia form a dynamic foursome capable of big things this season.
Mejia would defeat Hansen 6-5 in a 152-pound thriller decided when Mejia broke a 4-4 deadlock with a takedown with 90 seconds remaining in regulation.
"I spent a lot of time in the offseason working on my takedowns, fitness, lifting and getting myself mentally ready for this season but there's still much to do," Mejia said.