Loprieno, Harper quickly start to reload

Finishing second-best means little rest.

That's how it was for Harper College wrestling coach Dan Loprieno after a second consecutive runner-up finish in the NJCAA Division III national wrestling tournament last weekend in Rochester, Minn.

Loprieno made a brief stop at home Sunday and then was off to a high school tournament in Indiana.

''We'll reload and be ready to go next year,'' Loprieno said before laughing. ''I told my wife, 'I hate being second and I'm going.' She said, 'I'm tired of you whining about second, so go.' ''

Loprieno really isn't complaining -- not too much, anyway -- about taking second to Nassau (N.Y.) and having four all-America wrestlers.

Loprieno thought his crew of eight national qualifiers wrestled well. But the bar has been set high at Harper with three national titles.

''It's hard to be disappointed with second in the country,'' Loprieno said. ''We just expect to go out and win it. I keep having to tell myself it was a good year and we did well.''

Harper's top finishers were freshmen Mike Dace (165 pounds) and Darius Williams (174) in third place. Both suffered their only losses in 6 matches in semifinals to the eventual champion.

''The goal for both was to win it and to lose in the semis like that is heartbreaking,'' Loprieno said. ''To win the next two and get third to me is the hardest thing to do. Knowing you can't be the champion, it's a lot of guts for those guys to do that.''

Freshman Shea Geradot (184) also lost in the semis and went 4-2 to finish fifth. Sophomore Alex Delonis (285) rebounded from an opening loss to take seventh.

Hoffman Estates' Danny Miller just missed all-America honors while wrestling up two weight classes at 197. Miller lost his first match and won his next two in wrestlebacks before getting eliminated in overtime.

''He did an outstanding job,'' Loprieno said. ''The guys were calling him the giant killer because he was beating guys 25 pounds heavier and built. He wrestled really smart and really well.''

And Miller is among six of the eight national qualifiers -- including Dace, Williams and Geradot -- eligible to return next season for another run at the top.

''We have a great nucleus coming back,'' said Loprieno, who was inducted into the NJCAA wrestling Hall of Fame at the tourney. ''That's what keeps our program going so strong.''

Looking to hit 21: Beating Wright 90-65 on Saturday gave the Harper men's basketball team a 3-game winning streak to end the regular season and first-year coach Tony Amarino 20 victories.

Now Amarino would like to get one of the teams that got away in a 5-5 N4C finish. The third-seeded Hawks (20-9) host the NJCAA Region IV Division III tourney and face No. 2 College of DuPage at 7 p.m. Thursday.

''Obviously they're better than we are,'' Amarino said of 54-51 and 89-78 losses to COD. ''We have to find a way to get it done.''

The winner advances to Saturday's 7 p.m. title game with a berth to the national tourney in Delhi, N.Y. at stake. Top-seed Joliet, ranked eighth in the NJCAA Division III national poll, plays No. 4 Rock Valley at 5 p.m. Thursday at Harper.

Sophomores such as Fred Taylor (Conant), Bobby Rhodes (Schaumburg), Mike Silungan (Conant), Jon Winsor (Maine West) and Jorge Ramirez and freshman Andy Merklein (Prospect) may have gotten Harper back on track at the perfect time.

''The kids have played well and played with a lot of intensity and they're really getting after it,'' Amarino said. ''They're playing like they did in that really good stretch early in the year.

''They're just getting after it again . They've got that swagger back.''

COD will try to control the tempo with its matchup zone and is led by sophomore all-American guard and Maine West product Tim Niles.

''He made a little bit of a statement both games,'' Amarino said. ''You're not going to shut him down. You've got to control everywhere else because he's going to get what he's going to get.''

Hoping to surprise: The fourth-seeded Harper women (6-22) also host the NJCAA Region IV Division III tournament and face top-seed COD at 7 p.m. today.

Second-seed Rock Valley and No. 3 Joliet meet at 5 p.m., with the winners playing Saturday for the title and national tourney berth.

Harper lost to COD 66-42 and 71-40 and coach Rusty Becker hopes to cut in half the 45 points allowed on 3-pointers and free throws in the last meeting.

''If we can at least contest (their outside shots) and force them to do things they don't want to do, we've got a good shot,'' Becker said. ''If not, we're going to lose.''

The perimeter defense of Emily Vierneisel, Katy Spencer and Larissa Coldebella will be key for the Hawks. The resurgent play of Kassie Kissane inside has been a big help to Jenny Murray.

''She's playing harder and playing like the girl she can be on the floor,'' Becker said of Kissane. ''She's helped Jenny immensely.''

And Becker would like to see Harper mirror COD in one respect.

''We match up well ... but they play well together and execute and stay within themselves,'' Becker said. ''That's been the problem with us.''

Oakton starts tourney play: The Oakton College men's basketball team will try for a repeat trip to the NJCAA Division II national tourney Thursday. The second-seeded Raiders (15-13) host No. 7 Morton at 7 p.m. in a Region IV tourney opener.

If Oakton wins it would play at 2 p.m. Sunday at Triton College. The Region IV championship is March 8 at 5 p.m. at Triton.

The Oakton women's team (17-12) got the fourth seed and hosts No. 5 Prairie State at 5 p.m. Thursday in a Region IV tourney opener.