Libertyville storms back to win Zion-Benton regional

The Class 3A Zion-Benton wrestling regional turned out to be quite a showcase for Libertyville on Saturday.

The Wildcats actually trailed rival Mundelein 78.5 to 78 after two rounds, but Libertyville would roll to the championship by a 216 to 165 margin over the runner-up Mustangs in a very long day of competition.

With the crown, Libertyville also advanced to its own team sectional Feb. 24 along with winners from three other individual regionals.

Carmel was impressive with a third-place score of 120.5, followed by Stevenson (110) in fourth, and Warren (107) in fifth.

The Cats had 11 wrestlers reach the final round and they were a perfect 11-for-11 with nine champions and two third-place finishers advancing to the Class 3A Barrington individual sectional next weekend.

Libertyville junior Matt Bystol (36-2) upset top-seeded Eduardo Dominguez (35-2) of Mundelein 8-7 for the 112-pound title. Teammate Ryan Mertz (189) upset top-seeded Tyreese Woodard of Warren 7-6 for the crown as Mertz scored 5 points in the last 10 seconds of the match.

"I knew eventually something good was going to happen (against Dominguez) and it did," said Bystol. "It definitely gives me a little confidence, but every match is different and I can't bank on having a 1-point lead every time."

Libertyville's Louis Mazzetta edged Warren's Connor Drew 7-5 for the 119-pound crown while teammate Kyle Manolovic nipped Mundelein's Juan Jaimes 3-2 for the 125-pound title.

Libertyville's Pat Callan defeated Stevenson's Jordan Sherman 8-4 for first at 135 before teammate Nick McDowell beat Warren's Justin Santiago 5-3 for the 152-pound crown.

Josh Ronne (160 pounds) kept the Cats' momentum with a 13-3 major decision over Carmel's LaRon Biere while teammate Pat Kenny edged Stevenson's Nate Rubenstein 7-4 for top honors at 171.

Sophomore Luke Miller was Libertyville's final champ with a 7-1 decision over Mundelein's Freddy Martinez at 215. Sam Shay (130), and Josh Bricker (140) reached sectionals for the Cats with thirds.

"It was a great day, it was a tough regional, and we won some tough matches in the final round," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. "Now that they've gone to 10-team regionals every sectional is tough with 40 guys instead of 32."

Mundelein freshman Matt Ornoff (34-5) was the 103-pound champ with an injury default win over Warren's Robby Schultheis. Junior Dion Livas (8-1) continued to shine for the Mustangs with a pin in 1:22 for the title over Carmel 285-pounder Steve Lester. Pablo Mata (152) advanced for Mundelein with a third.

"We had four fourths which is a little disappointing, but Dion (Livas) is surprising a lot of people including me," said Mundelein coach Tom Buenik. "It was kind of a rollercoaster. We started off hot, but we took a little dip in the semifinals and we didn't come through in the last round."

Carmel's Shane Siefert was the 140-pound champ with a 14-8 decision over Stevenson's Nick Pagano. The Corsairs received third-place finishes from Matt Oliva (103), J.P. Hough (119), Beau Acevedo (135), and Frankie Swindell (145).

The Patriots also got a second from Nathan Millman (145) and a third from Tom McGovern at 189.

"To get those five guys through in a competitive tournament like this we're pleased and that is the end-all goal," said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. "Unfortunately we lost some close battles in the first-place matches, but those guys will still be wrestling next week."

Leon Megerdichian (130) was a runner-up for Warren to join Woodard, Schultheis, Drew, and Santiago at Barrington.

"Woodard is a great athlete and he just kind of got in the flow of things and lost track of the situation (against Mertz)," said Warren coach Mark Tiffany. "If you don't win that first match (at sectionals) it's going to be difficult, and it will be a good test for our kids."

Round Lake teammates Erick Ramirez (125) and Corey Weber (171) advanced with thirds.

"We wrestled hard and I thought our kids competed well," said Round Lake coach John Jobst. "Anything can happen next week, and I'm really happy to see Erick (Ramirez) get through as a senior."

McHenry regional: Grant rolled to the team title with a total of 179 points, well ahead of runner-up Prairie Ridge (125.5).

The Bulldogs had champions at 125 with Chaz Alex, at 152 with Tyler Becker and at 171 with Lee Munster, who improved to 38-0 with a pin against Dan Sontoro of Barrington at 2:15 of their title bout.

Grant's other sectional qualifiers were Christian Balderas (second at 112), Roque Bustos (second at 130), Jason Montemayor (second at 135), Tyler Dempsey (second at 145) and Carl Williams (third at 285).

Lake Zurich finished third at 121 and had sectional champs in Cameron Shaffer (130), Kevin Fanta (135), Anthony Pace (145) and Wade Self (215). Other advancers were John Harkness (second at 140) and Andy Lynch (third at 152),

Barrington placed fourth and got its only title from Adrian Gonzalez at 103. Other Barrington sectional qualfiers were Conor Mannina (third at 112), Dakota Wapotish (third at 135), Luke Miller (second at 152), Sontoro and Kalvin Arqueta (third at 189).

R-B regional: Antioch finished third with 109.5 behind champion Crystal Lake Central (285) in Class 2A action.

Sequoits sectional qualifiers include were Brandon Schultz (third at 103), George Gonzalez (third at 130), Hunter Moseley (third at 140), Colin Bennett (third at 152), Kevin Knutson (third at 160), Tom Gerstner (second at 171) and Dylan McCurry (third at 189).

Other area advancers were Kyle Gibson of Lakes (third at 112), Grant Franson of Lakes (second at 119), Dylan Hay of Grayslake Central (third at 125), Matt Holmes of Lakes (champ at 135), Phil Cappitelli of Lakes (second at 160) and Mike DiVito of Lakes (third at 215).