It's do, not die for Palatine pair

Many of the favorites at the Class AA Barrington sectional may have been under the impression that when moving forward, they would end up onward and upward.

But things are not quite that simple when talking about wrestling.

Take Palatine's senior duo of Dale Jarosz and Ross Grande.

Both were living in the danger zone Saturday evening, involved in dramatic state qualifying matches with opponents who wanted nothing more than to be making travel plans for Champaign.

Jarosz engineered a remarkable, stunning effort in the late stages of his match against Gus Green of Highland Park that would pull the Pirates' faithful up out of their seats -- and cheer his advancement to a third-straight state tournament appearance.

That thriller was followed a short time later by the same result for Grande.

Those victories highlighted a superb evening of competition.

Led by Mid-Suburban League champion Wheeling, which will send six to the state tournament, 13 area wrestlers advanced to the Class AA state tournament that starts Friday in Champaign.

"There was no way my senior year was going to end without a fight," said an exhausted Jarosz (35-3), some 10 minutes after defeating Green 13-12.

"Gus was a roommate of mine at the nationals in Fargo and I had grown to really gain a lot of respect for him while I was there -- maybe a little too much respect."

The 2007 state medalist went on to say that the respect likely led to an incredibly dreadful start which saw Green toss him around and build what looked like an insurmountable 7-1 lead after the first period.

Jarosz snapped out of his funk in the second period and slowly began to eat away at the big lead, scoring a take-down with six seconds left in the period to make it 8-6.

"I had to (go) for big moves and takedowns to get back into it," Jarosz said.

With Green leading 10-9 in the final minute of regulation, the Highland Park senior was docked a point for stalling to make it 10-10. The score became 11-11 before Jarosz uncorked a takedown near the edge with 22 seconds remaining to put the match away.

"Dale's heart and drive was the difference in the match," said Palatine coach Dan Collins, who admitted that his two stars took a few years off his life with their adventures on the mats.

Earlier, Jarosz fell 10-4 to Round Lake's Dillon Pousson in a controversial semifinal bout that went into overtime.

Grande (41-3) dropped a tense 6-5 match in the semifinals to eventual 152-pound champion Bobby Vagun of Stevenson that sent him into wrestle-backs for a second straight year.

"I came (here) with that loss in the qualifier still in my mind and something that I didn't want to happen again," Grande said. "Coming back (through) wrestle-backs is not the easiest way to go, but I know that when I got into the final, that all of my hard work and training would carry me through."

Grande was in control the entire match en route to a 3-1 decision over Prairie Ridge senior Brendan Barrett, using a takedown with 13 seconds remaining to seal the deal.

Not every result in Saturday's qualifiers were as spectacular, but each was as memorable to the qualifiers.

Wheeling junior David Aranda (28-8) unloaded on Lake Zurich's Anthony Pace for the third time this season to defeat the sophomore 18-7 at 145 pounds.

Teammate Danny Vargas (189) was equally destructive in a 10-0 major decision shut-out over Ricky Peisker of Crystal Lake Central to earn a trip downstate and improve his record to 38-6.

Prospect senior Jonny Brennan (32-4) will attend his third state tournament after crushing Jason Montemayor of Grant at 119 pounds.

"It's a long road (back) to the third-place match and not as much fun as staying in the championship bracket, but it's great to get back downstate and make a run at a medal along with Matt and Peter," Brennan said.

Brennan was referring to Matt Boggess (41-0) and Peter Zintak (41-1) who easily claimed their second-straight sectional crowns here -- as did Wheeling senior Max Nowry, 38-0 at 103 pounds and the favorite to win a state title.

Nowry's freshman teammate, Luke Smith (112), was superb in his three matches over the two days.

He pinned his way to a championship medal, which included a resounding fall at 42 seconds in the final over two-time state qualifier Eduardo Dominguez of Mundelein.

"Nothing could be better than going downstate as a freshman, and to be heading there with my brother Matt," said Luke Smith (38-4).

Big brother Matt's mercurial rise at 152 pounds included victories over favorites Brendan Barrett (4-1) and 2007 state qualifier and big-time thrower Ryan Unrein of Carmel by a 9-2 decision in the semifinals.

In the final, Matt Smith dropped a 3-1 overtime decision to Vagun.

Never did I ever want to get into (wrestle-backs) at this tournament," Smith said. "I figured if I could stay alive in the championship bracket, I would have a good chance of getting through."

Wheeling senior Joe Kent (38-4) joined Buffalo Grove junior Kyle Czarnecki (38-2) as champions at 145 and 160 pounds, respectively.

Fremd senior Jon LaPointe (24-2, 285) will be making his second consecutive trip to Champaign after getting by Tom Nield of Libertyville 1-0 in the third-place match.

A pair of classy seniors from the MSL just missed out on attending the big show.

Fremd's Bryan Opitz (29-9) came up on the short end of a 8-7 decision against Round Lake's Vince Nicoline at 215. Prospect's Tyler Rossdeutcher (24-1) dropped his third-place bout 7-3 against Kevin Fanta of Lake Zurich.