No champions? No problem
Few expected a team to come away with the big trophy at a 34-team wrestling tournament without even one individual championship, but Plainfied Central did just that Saturday night at the 18th Moore-Prettyman Wrestling Invite in Barrington.
The Wildcats went title-less in all 14 weight classe division but had plenty of overall firepower as they outdistanced runner-up Neuqua Valley 255.50-221 to give coach Jim Kallas' club its first title here.
Libertyville had 9 points more than MSL champ Wheeling (164-155) to capture the third-place trophy while Class A power Stillman Valley (150) surprised perennial wrestling powers Grant and Marist (tied at 134.5) to earn fourth place.
"I have to admit that I don't know exactly how to assess our team title without having any guys win an individual (title), except to say that it truly was a team effort and one that we can be proud of and build off of for the rest of the season," said Kallas.
The Wildcats, who led from start to finish, did garner four second-place finishes, including Eric Oyster's at 140 when the junior fell to Neuqua Valley's Andy Spangler 3-1 in OT at 140 pounds, Dan Deufel's at 171 to tournament MVP Lee Munster of Grant, and Grant Bushby, who dropped a well-fought decision to Wheeling senior Danny Vargas (189) 4-1.
Vargas was joined atop the podium by teammate Lucas Smith, who proved to be a dominant figure at 125 pounds all weekend long after finishing up with an impressive 5-0 win over Mid-Suburban rival Patrick Scully.
"My dad had told me before the final to relax and settle down, because in a couple of earlier matches I may have had a few (bad) shots, which could cost me in the final," said Smith, a returning state qualifier.
Smith's opponent Scully, despite this defeat, may have been involved in the day's most exciting match during the morning semifinals. The Hoffman Estates junior fell behind to Diontae Brown of Marist, then roared back and exploded to stun the top seed and eventually pin a dazed Brown at 5:21.
"At first I thought I might be in trouble in that match, but I knew if I could stay in the match that my conditioning and strength would get me through," said Scully. "As the match went on, I knew he was gassed and that it was only a matter of time before I could put him away."
Scully's teammate Mike Eisele nearly stopped the No. 1 seed and top-rated 285-pounder in the state, Chris Narel (Lincoln-Way East) in the semifinals. The Hawks senior found himself up 6-4 entering the third period only to see Narel take the lead at 7-6 with a minute to go before holding on for dear life 9-8 after a late reversal pulled Eisele this close.
Narel went on to easily win his second straight title here with a 11-0 major decision over Bob Bullington of Marist.
"I just couldn't lock (it) down and hold on," said Eisele, who later won a fourth-place medal.
Speaking of upsets, there was 103 pounds, where unseeded freshman Adrian Gonzalez of Barrington won it all.
Gonzalez led the upstart Broncos to an impressive eighth-place team finish, edging Hoffman Estates (129.5-125) and Lake Zurich, who rounded out the top 10.
"I knew (before) this tournament that Adrian was a quality kid and wrestler, but I never imagined he would have been this good in his first tournament ever with the varsity," said Barrington coach Al Strobl.
Neuqua Valley, runners-up now for the past twoyears after a three-year run of championship results, still had plenty to cheer about in addition to the Spangler result.
Nick Proctor (160), third here a year ago, won it all on Saturday. The top-seeded junior crushed Tyler Becker of Grant 13-1.
"That's the way to finish a tournament, on a high note," said Proctor, who wasn't happy with his performance from start to finish after his 5-4 semifinal victory over Mike Lyons of Waubonsie Valley.
The highlight for the Wildcats might have been junior Matt Cavallaris, who on his way to the crown at 112 upended No. 2 seed Matt Bystol of Libertyville before knocking off top seed Joe Schwartz of Highland Park 8-4 for top honors.
"What can you say about Matt, except you have to be so happy for the guy," said Neuqua coach Mick Ruettiger. "Here's a kid who has put so much time in to get better, then, when he gets his chance to get into our line-up, he has the kind of success that he enjoyed today.
"We were able to get a lot of points this weekend from some of our younger guys to help us stay in the race and finish second overall. Now we get back into the room and work on some things to get ready for the next couple of weeks that are ahead of us."