Expect better results as Libertyville reloads

The 58th season of high school boys gymnastics should see some drastic improvement from Lake County area teams and individuals this spring.

After struggling for much of last season, Libertyville returns to the gym this season with much more hope and promise as senior all-arounder Ashton Coulson and sophomore all-arounder Craig Breckenridge are expected to be huge contributors for the Wildcats.

After sitting out his first season of high school gymnastics last year training at the Buffalo Gymnastics Club, the addition of Breckenridge should make a positive difference to Libertyville's scoring in 2009.

"He is going to be a very nice contributor to our team," said Libertyville coach Curt Austin, whose team reached the Elite Eight in 2006 and 2007. "We're going to be up and down scoring-wise, but when push comes to shove and we have our full lineup I think we're going to be very successful."

Not only do the Wildcats have Breckenridge and Coulson to lead their scoring this spring, but key senior all-arounder Phil Pickar also returns to action after missing last season due to injury.

Junior all-arounder John Harder also brings solid varsity experience to the table for Libertyville with good support from senior teammates Zach Chapman, Sean Conahan, Kyle Heffern, Reo Leung, and Jason Price.

"We don't have a lot of competitive experience, but we have a very strong team physically and they learn fast," said Austin, who was a two-time state free exercise champion while attending York. "Last year these guys were beginners and a lot of them have trained in the off-season and come back even stronger."

After getting shut out of the state meet last season, the Wildcats hope to be well represented at the 2009 state meet May 15-16 at Lincoln-Way East.

Libertyville has an abundance of junior gymnasts hoping to make an impact on the varsity level, including Brent Austin, Adam Bleck, Chris Bryant, Tom Derrig, Matt Gerjol, Jamie Kadonsky, Alex Kane and Kevin Klassman.

"I'm optimistic, and if the discipline and direction continues like it is right now I think we will have a very enjoyable season," Austin said. "Because of the inexperience, I think you will see a six turn into an eight in a couple of months and I think these guys can do it. It's all going to depend on some of these specialists and how they take over because we need another score on high bar, still rings and parallel bars."

Stevenson may not have the same depth and numbers on its roster that the Wildcats have at the varsity level, but the Patriots are also looking forward to a very good season behind a couple of elite all-arounders.

Like with Libertyville, senior all-arounder Bryan Pusateri and junior all-arounder Lukasz Adamczyk give the Patriots a great nucleus to build around after Stevenson put together a solid campaign in 2008.

Pusateri reached the state meet last season in the all-around and four individual events, but Adamczyk missed the state series last year due to a scheduling conflict with the national meet.

"Bryan Pusateri is out until further notice with a concussion," said Stevenson coach Mike Farina, who competed at the University of Minnesota. "Hopefully he will be back soon."

Besides the 1-2 punch of Adamczyk and Pusateri leading the Pats' charge, senior Bryan Epstein should be another very reliable gymnast for Stevenson to turn to.

Stevenson and Libertyville will both have a major challenge to topple defending Independent Conference champion Lake Park (fifth in state in 2008) this year, but junior Dakota Heuer and sophomore Mike Wilner give the Patriots added depth to fall back on.

Mundelein will have a much bigger uphill battle to face than either the Pats or Libertyville this season as the Mustangs lost three state qualifiers to graduation last year.

Junior Mike Agosto and sophomore Scott Marthinsen both return with state meet experience for Mundelein while senior Brad Miller is a pommel horse specialist for coach Eric Liva's team.

"The good news is that we won the Hinsdale Central Invite at the sophomore level with a 114, and it was a short four years ago we were third in state," said Liva, who has also coached at Hinsdale South and Elk Grove. "So we're going to start from the ground level and try to build the program up again."

Junior Ryan Menary, sophomore Alfredo Maldonado, and freshman all-arounder Tim Beranek will help round out the Mustangs' lineup at the varsity level.

"At the varsity level we're going to take our lumps, but I think we're moving in the right direction," said Liva. "We're going to show up every day, do the best we can, and build for the future."

On the state-wide level, defending champion York and runner-up Lincoln-Way co-op are expected to be among the teams to beat again in May.