Who needs practice?
There's toughness in wrestling and then there's guts, and what Glenbard North's Bill Schwartz and Jeff Jones showed against Neuqua Valley on Thursday came straight from the belly.
After playing in an extended Panthers football season and nowhere near being in wrestling shape, Schwartz and Jones both came from behind to win 1-point decisions on third-period takedowns.
The Panthers earned a 9-5 edge in matches won to beat the Wildcats 39-24 in Carol Stream, but it could have been a whole lot closer.
"You've got to give credit to Glenbard North," said Wildcats coach Mick Ruettiger. "They outwrestled us in the third periods."
"Schwartz, (Chris) VanGundy and Jones only had two days of practice," said Panthers coach Mark Hahn. "They didn't have to wrestle tonight, but they wanted to.
"Those were gutty performances by all three of those guys."
Glenbard North (3-1) started with a hard-fought 5-2 decision win by Vince Ramos over Nick Proctor at 152 pounds. Neuqua Valley (2-1) answered with a first-period pin by Jimmy Duffy over Brandon Gregrow at 160 pounds.
The Panthers defaulted at 171 to the Wildcats' Chris Spangler before Schwartz found himself down 3-2 late in the third period to the Wildcats' Alex Zozulia at 189. Schwartz managed a takedown at the edge of the mat with 10 seconds left and hung on for the 4-3 win.
The Wildcats' Patrick St. Clair led 4-2 before working to turn VanGundy for the entire third period, and Jones trailed Chinedu Mbamalu 1-0 at 285 pounds before earning a reversal with a minute left in the match for a 2-1 win.
"You've got to want it," said Panthers captain Geno Capezio. "It was good to see those guys come back like that. They're not even close to being in shape."
The Panthers' Joe Gosinski earned a pin at 103, but Andy Spangler put the Wildcats up 18-15 by earning the only two takedowns of the match at 112 against Jamie Warczynski.
The Panthers' Ray Varella won by decision at 119, the Wildcats forfeited at 125 and the Panthers' Tony Ramos won by technical fall at 130. The Wildcats' Alex Cizek showed some guts of his own in falling behind 5-0 to Collin Hartnett at 135, fighting back to a 5-5 tie, and then winning by pin.
"Andy and Patrick St. Clair wrestled two of the best matches of the night, and Cizek came back, caught his breath and made things happen for himself," Ruettiger said.
Capezio trailed the Wildcats' Matt Walters 4-2 in the second period at 140, but then earned nine takedowns to the final buzzer for a 20-11 major decision that secured the team win.
"He's going to wear out a lot of guys," Hahn said of Capezio.
Danny Monaco pinned Brian Epp at 145 to give the Panthers their final victory margin.