Wheeling in hunt at Barrington
Time will tell if Wheeling proves to be the team to beat in the Mid-Suburban League come mid-February.
But the Wildcats sent out an early warning to their conference rivals on Friday to mark the start of their campaign to repeat as MSL champs.
Despite graduation losses of state champion Max Nowry and four-year stars Matt Smith and Joe Kent, the Wildcats somehow mustered enough firepower to find themselves in the thick of the team race at the 18th annual Moore-Prettyman Wrestling Invitational at Barrington High School.
Semifinal bouts will begin today after the 10 a.m., fourth-round wrestlebacks are completed, with championship matches to start at approximately 3:30 p.m.
Plainfield Central currently stands atop the leader board with 136 points, followed closely by 2007 team champion Neuqua Valley (128.5), Libertyville (101) and Wheeling (97).
MSL West defending champion Hoffman Estates is seventh (86) and the host Broncos are a surprise entrant in the top 10 as coach Al Strobl's club is tied with Grant with 85.5 points.
"We lost some great wrestlers, but we have a pretty good group of guys back this season to build around," said Wheeling sophomore Luke Smith, who dominated the field at 125 pounds and heads into today's semifinals against David Scarano of Waubonsie Valley.
Hoffman junior Patrick Scully is on the other side of the bracket from Smith, and will face top seed Diontae Brown of Marist in his semi-final.
"We lost only one guy from last year's team, and the feeling in the room is very good this season," offered Scully, who pinned his way into today's championship rounds.
Teammates Jose Flores (215) and Mike Eisele (285) are still alive with Scully and the Hawks' big men each squashed a pair of opponents via falls to earn the right to face Wade Self (Lake Zurich) and Chris Narel (Lincoln-Way East), who was given the top seed at 285.
Luke Smith, who qualified to the Class AA state tournament last season after winning the sectional title on these same Barrington mats, will have some company from Wheeling with Mike Smith (130) meeting top seed Danny Fisher of Highland Park, David Aranda (140) to face Eric Oyster (Plainfield Central) and 189 top seed Danny Vargas, who was 3-0 with a hard-earned 5-0 decision in his quarterfinal with Tim Reichel of Fenwick.
"I have a lot more confidence in myself this season, which has allowed me to be more relaxed before each of my matches," said Vargas, who won 38 last year en route to a place in the final 24 at the state tourney.
Nearly all of the top seeds held form on this long first day before a huge post-Thanksgiving crowd, however things were not safe at the always hard-to-handicap 103 class, which is always filled with plenty of rookie wrestlers.
Nos. 1 and 2 Miah Shearer (Stillman Valley) and Tom Laskowske (Palatine) can now each be found in the back-draw after No. 7 Matt Garelli (Fenwick) bounced Shearer 8-5 in the quarter-finals and unseeded Adrian Gonzalez of Barrington stunned Laskowske (5-4) early.
"I think I kind of surprised myself," admitted Gonzalez, the brother of former Barrington star and state medal winner Josh Fiorito. "Josh always had told me to never give up and to wrestle as hard as I can for six minutes, and I think that made a difference in (that) match."
Neuqua Valley, without the injured Matt Walters (ankle), still had enough firepower to be right there with tourney leader Plainfield Central.
Matt Cavallaris (112), Adam Stine (135), Andy Spanger (140), Alex Cizek (145), Mike Zozulia (215) and top seed Nick Proctor (160) give coach Mike Ruettinger's team a strong start in its quest to chase down the big trophy.
Walters would have been one-half of a much-anticipated potential final with Prospect senior Matt Boggess if both were healthy on this day, as Boggess, the state runner-up at 135 injured his knee earlier in the week and is listed doubtful for the next day at the very least.
Mike Lyons of Waubonsie Valley will meet Proctor this morning, while Crystal Lake South freshman Nick Fontanetta (103) is the lone FVC representative.