Stevenson tunes up for NSC meet with lopsided win
With the North Suburban Conference wrestling meet just around the corner, host host Stevenson got in one final tune-up against Lake Zurich on Thursday night.
Libertyville has already clinched the NSC Lake Division with a 6-0 record, but the Patriots' lopsided 51-21 victory over the Bears put the Patriots (4-2) in a position to finish in a three-way tie with Mundelein and Warren for second place.
Warren (3-2) hosts Mundelein (4-1) tonight.
Grant (5-0) is a heavy favorite to win the Prairie Division outright at Vernon Hills.
The NSC meet is Saturday, Jan. 26, at Antioch.
With Lake Zurich (2-4) forfeiting five weight classes, Stevenson (14-5, 4-2) rolled.
Starting at 135 pounds, Lake Zurich's John Harkness gave the Bears a brief 3-0 lead with an 8-3 decision over Charlie Deutsch.
Stevenson 140-pounder Nathan Millman (20-7) posted a 6-3 decision over Wilson Potts to tie the score at 3-3, before Lake Zurich's Anthony Pace (30-5) posted a narrow 5-4 decision over Taras Martyniouk (22-7) at 145.
At 152, Bobby Vagun (22-2) gave the Patriots the lead for good with a pin in 3:32.
Forfeit victories by teammates Evihn Vaszily (160) and Dan Catlin (171) put Stevenson ahead 21-6.
Lake Zurich's Wade Self posted a 9-4 decision over Ivan Havrylyan at 189, but forfeit wins by David Woodstein (215), and Turron Washington (285) gave the Pats a 33-9 advantage.
"Obviously they had a lot of holes in their lineup, so they gave us a lot of points on the board, but they really challenged us in a lot of matches," said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. "Overall we were pleased with our performance, but there is still some fine tuning that needs to occur to get us ready for the final stretch."
A pin by Lake Zurich 103-pounder Alex Brend made the score 33-15 before Max Nolan (112) took a forfeit win for a 39-15 cushion.
Then the fast-moving meet saw Stevenson 119-pounder Jordan Sherman win by injury default. His 125-pound teammate David Lamberti (21-6) recorded a pin in 2:55.
Lake Zurich's Kevin Fanta won by forfeit to account for the final score.
"I think we've got a solid lineup, we've improved a lot since last year, and we're real close as a team," Lamberti said. "We're a contender for the conference championship and I think if I focus on my game the state meet is a realistic goal for me and and a couple of our guys."
At 119 pounds, Cameron Shaffer did not wrestle for the Bears, but he is expected back for the conference meet, along with elite 160-pound teammate Sam Wrobel (7-0) -- who is returning from a knee injury.
"I think we actually did quite well tonight and we gave some of our JV guys a chance to wrestle a varsity match," said Lake Zurich coach Dan Strickler. "Some of our guys moved up a weight class tonight, and Pace now has the same record as Shaffer (30-5)."