Glenbard West takes 4th place
Adam Schaefer relived part of his past on Saturday in Glen Ellyn.
For the second consecutive year, the St. Charles East senior was named the outstanding wrestler of Glenbard West's Hilltopper Invitational tournament, after winning an individual title at 189 pounds.
Schaefer started the day with a pin, then won a semi-final decision before pinning Brian Ridge of Notre Dame for the title in improving to 26-1 on the year. Schaefer came up just shy of qualifying for last year's state tournament.
"Last year I had a terrible stance, and I was letting people take me down too much," Schaefer said. "I'm better about those things this year, and I'm quicker on my feet."
"We knew he could have a really good year," said Saints coach Steve Smerz. "He has more of an offense on his feet this year, and he's hard to take down."
Schaefer was one of six titlists for a Saints' team that earned the team crown by out pointing second-place Glenbrook North, 191-169. Alex Maynard (103), Brandon Rubino (112), Cody Crawford (125), Harry Vyhnanek (145) and heavyweight Blake Griffiths all won titles for the Saints.
Notre Dame placed third with 166 team points, just 5 team points ahead of fourth-place Glenbard West, which had six wrestlers reach the title mat. Adam Jungkutz (135) and Dave Weaver (171) earned individual titles for the Hilltoppers.
Jungkutz followed a major decision with a pin of Notre Dame's Bill Gavin for his title, while Weaver won his title via 9-4 decision over Glenbrook North's Mason West.
Weaver was up 5-4 with a minute left in his title match and played it smart before scoring late on a desperation shot by Mason.
"I stayed aggressive but just didn't work as many moves," Weaver said. "(Mason) had a good shot, but my sprawls were on target today."
Paul Stano (140), J.D. Macleary (160), James Wagner (215) and Mike Dixson earned second-place finishes, and Eric Frischkorn (119), Roy Navarro (145) were third for Hilltoppers coach Nick Posegay.
"We were knocking on the door for second place for most of the day," Posegay said. "Our champs, and even in our third-place matches today, our guys fought hard."
Addison Trail placed fifth on the day, getting titles from George Iliopoulos (119) and Juxhin Hoda (130), a second from Johnny Delmedico (103), and thirds from James Sokolnik (112) and Arber Bebo (189).
Iliopoulos followed a semifinal major decision with another major for the title, 13-2 over Glenbrook North's Rich Pugh. Hoda followed a technical fall by getting the only takedown of a 3-2 title win over the Saints' Daniel Mercadante.
"Now it's time to pick it up, because state is all that matters," Hoda said. "I've been working on my defense a lot, and I scored off of (Mercadante's) shot."
-- Gary Larsen
Girls bowling
Prospect Invitational:ŒOn adjoining lanes, no more than 10 feet apart, two of the best teams in the state competed at the Prospect Invitational.
On one lane was Schaumburg, winner of four of the five girls bowling tournaments the Saxons have competed in this season -- including the championship trophy Saturday. On the other lane was Mid-Suburban League archrival Hoffman Estates.
In the final team standings, the Saxons won the meet by 450 pins over runner-up Waubonsie Valley (5,733). The Saxons' total of 6,183 broke the tournament record by 226 pins.
Hoffman Estates placed third, 497 pins behind.
Waubonsie Valley was led by Katie Dupuis' 1,235 pins in 10th place.
"Yes and no," Waubonsie coach Amy Rymer said of her feelings about finishing second. "We have a lot of possibilities, but we'd still like to see them bowl stronger. We were hoping to do well at the end.
"Schaumburg is a very good team. We're all trying to emulate them."
-- Kathy Rudolph