Warriors' punishing Pack produces
Maine West wrestler Chris Pack is most dangerous in full attack mode.
On Saturday afternoon, Pack punished everyone who stood in his way.
After recording back-to-back technical falls to book his berth in the final bout, Pack (26-3) crushed Josh Guenther of New Trier 14-1 to capture the 152-pound championship at the Central Suburban League tournament at Glenbrook North.
Pack was the Warriors' lone champion of the competition.
"It's all about staying composed and just attacking my opponent nonstop," said Pack, who finished third here last year after injuries robbed him of most of the 2007-08 wrestling season.
"What Chris does so much better than anyone else is to go after an opponent, and if he does that for six hard minutes, he is going to be very difficult to beat from here on out," said Warriors coach Lance Weber.
Teammate Danny Lowe earn a second-place medal at 145 after falling 9-2 to state-ranked Colin Baer of Maine South.
Lowe (29-5) reached the finals after a pin over Waukegan's Carlos Salgado in his opener, and he added a hard-earned 13-6 semifinal decision over Eric Ronning of Niles West.
"I was just dying out there today," admitted a tired Lowe, who had not trained all week while dealing with a cold and fever which ultimately cost him his second straight CSL title.
"Danny won't use his illness as an excuse, because he's not that type of athlete," Weber said. "Plus it wouldn't be fair to Colin (Baer), who was terrific all day in his weight class."
The Warriors received third-place medals from Peter Giannos (103), Jeff Vernola (130) and heavyweight Christian Nunez - who edged Waukegan's Rohan McKenzie 12-10 in overtime.
The Highland Park duo of Ben Schwartz (112) and Danny Fisher (130, 30-0) grabbed their second CSL crowns, as did Deerfield big men Jeremy Fahner (171, 30-0) and Andrew Rixon (30-0) at 189.
Rixon shared outstanding wrestler honors with Evanston senior Ethan James, the 160-pound champion.
The state's top-rated heavyweight, Maine South senior Chris Brassel (30-0), showed why he is deserving of such a lofty ranking by squashing a trio of opponents via falls - all of which were completed in a combined 6:02.
Next up for Maine West are the CSL crossover duals Friday at Deerfield.