Expect established mat rivalries to heat up
Last year was an outstanding season for Lake County wrestling, but area teams and individuals are hoping to reach even greater heights this winter.
The North Suburban Conference is expected to be a major battleground again as six-time defending NSC champion Grant is one of the favorites to battle it out with runner-up Libertyville for the title. Upstart team Warren will try to make a big push to the top after placing second in 2007.
The Bulldogs toppled the Wildcats for the NSC crown by 20 points last season, but Libertyville would get revenge by eliminating Grant in the team sectional finals before bringing home the fourth-place trophy from state for the first time in school history.
The IHSA will debut a new format this season, going from a two-class to a three-class system, but this will not affect any of the area rivalries in the NSC Lake Division or the Grant-Libertyville rivalry since they will all compete in the new Class 3A.
Antioch, Lakes, Vernon Hills, Wauconda, Grayslake Central, and Grayslake North will all compete in Class 2A this postseason.
Libertyville has already started off the new season on a high note as the Wildcats placed third at the powerful 34-team Barrington Invitational last weekend while Grant tied for sixth place.
Libertyville lost two-time state qualifier Trey Ayala and six other major contributors to graduation, but the Wildcats do have a state qualifer back in 112-pound junior Matt Bystol to help lead their squad.
Senior Louis Mazzetta (119 pounds) looks ready to have a breakout season for Libertyville along with 160-pound junior Josh Ronne, 130-pound senior Kyle Manolovic, 135-pound junior Sam Shay, 140-pound senior Pat Callan, and 189-pound junior Ryan Mertz.
"Our goals are to wrestle as close to our potential as we can and let the chips fall where they may," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert, who has 401 career wins in his 22nd season. "We're just going to focus on trying to reach our potential as much as we can."
Grant has one of the most dynamic wrestlers in the state back for two more seasons in No. 1-ranked junior Lee Munster who went from being a state champion at 119 as a freshman to being a state qualifier at 140 as a sophomore.
But unhappy with his performance at state last year, Munster has bulked all the way up to 171 pounds where he rolled to the Barrington title last weekend with 4 pins in four matches.
Like Libertyville, Grant lost some key wrestlers to graduation in three-time state qualifier Izzy Montemayor and state qualifier Josh DeLuca.
But the presence of the Northwestern-bound Munster, 160-pound senior Tyler Becker, 135-pound junior Jason Montemayor, and 152-pound senior Tyler Dempsey make the Bulldogs a very formidable opponent.
"Lee (Munster) cut 15 to 20 pounds last year to make 140 but this year he's a healthy 171 and I think it's a good weight for him," said Grant coach Ryan Geist, whose team placed third in state in 2006. "As long as we give ourselves a chance to be competitive and win I'll be happy and I think we have a chance to do that this year."
On paper, Warren is looking like a really tough team headed into the new season as the Blue Devils will turn to experienced seniors like Connor Drew (130), Justin Santiago (160), J.J. Lombardi (171), and Tyreese Woodard (189) to lead the way.
Juniors Robby Schultheis (112) and Houston Neals (215) should be ready to step up to the next level for Warren.
"When everybody gets down to the weights they can wrestle we should be pretty good and we need to continue to improve," said Warren coach Mark Tiffany, who has over 350 career wins in his 27th season. "They just have to keep working on fundamentals because they are great athletes."
The Lake Division will be loaded with talent again this season as Stevenson turns to its senior trio of David Lamberti (125), Nick Pagano (140), and Nathan Millman (145) to lead coach Shane Cook's lower weights. The Patriots did lose two state qualifiers to graduation.
After placing third in the NSC last year Mundelein has elite 119-pounder Eduardo Dominguez back for his senior year. Dominguez was the highest area finisher at state last year with a fifth-place medal at 112.
Tanis Arcos (125), Juan Jaimes (130), and Freddy Martinez (285) were all-conference performers for coach Tom Buenik's team last year.
A lack of team depth might make it tough for Lake Zurich to compete against the top squads, but the Bears hope 135-pound senior Kevin Fanta and 130-pound junior Cameron Shaffer can both make return trips to state.
Senior Wade Self (215) and junior teammate Anthony Pace (152) are also solid contenders to reach state under Lake Zurich coach Dan Strickler's guidance.
Grant is definitely the favorite in the Prairie Division, but Round Lake hopes to keep the pressure on the Bulldogs led by 103-pound senior Frank Contraras-Gomez. The Panthers lost three state qualifiers from last season.
After suffering a knee injury late last season, Antioch senior Tom Gerstner (171) returns with high hopes of reaching state this year for the Sequoits.
"We are just starting to put our full team together with all of the guys from the football team back now," said Antioch coach Wilbur Borrero, whose team is now in Class 2A. "We expected some big things out of (Gerstner) last year before he got hurt and I believe he could place downstate in whatever class we are in."
After reaching state in Class AA last year, dominant Lakes senior Matt Holmes (135) has aspirations of going very deep into the state tourney this time around. Junior Phil Cappatelli is very promising for the Eagles at 171.
"He (Holmes) has had the same goal since freshman year and he really expects to do it this year," said Lakes coach Curt Onstad. "He's wrestling tough, and he's doing what he needs to do."
Wauconda 160-pound senior Scott Carlson is also on track to make back-to-back trips to the Assembly Hall in February while teammate Mike Brown (119) has been impressive early on.
Senior Nick Capozzoli (135) is Vernon Hills's captain while 171-pound teammate Jihid Abdallah will try to bounce back strong from knee surgery.
In the Fox Valley Conference, Grayslake Central's lineup will really miss two-time state qualifier Ryan Lund while junior Danny Mendoza should be one of the standouts on Grayslake North's very young team.
The rugged East Suburban Catholic Conference will pose some major challenges for Carmel this season especially as the Corsairs go forward without long-time coach Joe Scordino on the sidelines.
After a long bout with illness, Scordino passed away last spring at age 61 after leading many individuals downstate in his 34 years as the Corsairs' coach.
Bob Kuykendall will take over for the Hall of Fame coach after serving as Scordino's assistant coach for the past 26 years. The beloved Scordino recorded 407 wins in his illustrious career.
Two-time state qualifier Ryan Williams and state qualifier Ryan Unrein will really be missed, but Carmel seniors Matt Oliva (112) and Will Robinson (130) are coming off of solid seasons.
Juniors J.P. Hough (125), Steve Lester (285), and Shane Siefert (145) will give the Corsairs some solid experience and depth.