Lancers show improvement

DeKalb walked away with the team title, but Lake Park and host Fenton came away with some hardware from Saturday's 29th annual Steve Weiss Tournament.

The Barbs and Lancers each had three individual champions on the day, but DeKalb's success on the third-place mat keyed a 148-122 advantage over second-place Lake Park.

Joe Rovituso (103 pounds), Mike DeSario (125) and Fernando Morales (135) all won titles for the Lancers. Devon Smith (285) placed second, and six other Lancers placed in the tournament.

"Much improved over last weekend," said Lancers coach Todd Raymond. Lake Park recently went 4-6 in duals at the Maine East tournament. "It's a young group, and they came in and wrestled well. They should be proud."

DeSario's Weiss title was the third of his career, and he earned it with a pin, a major decision and a 5-0 decision for the title over Deerfield's Josh Katz.

"I know I'm solid on top and bottom, and I wanted to tire (Katz) out on his feet," DeSario said. "It was a good test."

Fenton had three wrestlers reach the title mat, including this year's outstanding wrestler award-winner Josh Castellano, who won his third Weiss title, this time at 145 pounds, in a 5-2 win over Milton's Shaun O'Neill.

"We did great in the first round. We had seven pins," Castellano said. "It feels good to get a trophy."

Fenton's Francisco Ochoa won the heavyweight crown, while Carlos Gomez placed second at 140 pounds. Estaban Vazquez placed third at 119 for Fenton.

"Overall, not too bad," said Fenton coach Brian Hastings. "One of the team's goals was to take top three here, so good for them."

Milton (Wis.) placed fourth on Saturday in Bensenville, with Wheaton North getting titles from Adrian Laskero (112) and Dominick Schmit (160) in placing fifth. Harry Myers placed second at 171 for the Falcons.

Schmit pinned his way to his title, and Laskero reached the title mat with a 3-1 overtime win against DeKalb's Tyler Larson and won his second Weiss title in a 3-2 dogfight win over Niles West's Ben Rosen.

"These were my first matches of the year, so I was pushing myself," Laskero said. "I'm strongest on my feet, but I have to work on getting out and on top more."

Schaumburg had three wrestlers reach Fenton's title mat, getting seconds from John Lombardo (135), Danny Malik (160) and Craig Cruz (215). The Saxons placed sixth in the 11-team tournament.

Joe LaManna (152) and John Marchok (189) also placed third for Schaumburg.