Plainfield C. stands tall; Luke Smith chosen MVP

For the second consecutive season, Plainfield Central was better than any other team in the field of 32 teams at the 19th annual Moore-Prettyman Wrestling Invite.

But Luke Smith was even better than the team tourney champion Saturday night.

The Wheeling junior capped a brilliant two-day run with a masterful performance in his 140-pound final against Matt Nora of Lyons to not only capture his second straight title here but also MVP honors as the outstanding wrestler on the strength of his dominant effort over a quartet of victims.

Plainfield Central used four individual championships to earn the team trophy with 210 overall points, 37 more than runner-up Neuqua Valley (174) and 401/2 ahead of third-place Libertyville, which edged Grant 1701/2-166. Lyons (150) and tourney host Barrington (132.50) rounded out the top five.

"It was a good start (to) a season which I hope brings bigger and better things later on," said Smith, who entered this tournament as the state's top-rated wrestler at 135 pounds over Oak Park's Chris Dardanes, whom he defeated inside Assembly Hall last February in the 125-pound third-place bout.

"I wasn't able to finish as strong as I started and wasn't able to get the (tech) fall or pin that I was looking for in the final," said Smith, "but it was good to get the title, and to go forward from here."

Smith opened up on Nora in the first period with a late near-fall, then had another at three minutes to increase his lead to 10-0 en route to a 15-2 major decision to give the Wildcats their lone championship and an eighth-place finish along with Prairie Ridge at 109 points.

Wildcats junior Mike Smith, who dropped a hard-fought 3-2 match against No. 1 seed Joey Uccardi in the semifinals, garnered a third-place medal at 145 pounds.

Matt Cavallaris (119), Nick Proctor (160) and senior Andy Spangler (171) all came away with championship belts in their respective divisions, but each rated their tourney performances below par despite their success.

"Good!" said Neuqua Valley coach Mick Ruettinger with a wry smile when told of the post-match statements of his three champions. "(They) shouldn't be satisfied with the way they wrestled, however they still came through when we needed them and each of them will work as hard as they can to get themselves to where they need to be when it counts later in the season."

Cavallaris came back from a scary semifinal with Johnny Anderson (St. Rita) to win it all against Ben Schwartz (Highland Park) to win his second title in two years.

"I was a little nervous in the semifinal, knowing if I was hit with another (stall) that it would cost me a penalty point and possibly the match," said the senior, who used OT to defeat Anderson 5-4 and advance.

Spangler, who says his conditioning needs to improve, defeated Barrington's Dan Santoro 7-3 in the 171-pound final when a strong second period helped the Wildcats senior extend his lead to 5-1.

"I wanted to push the pace in that opening period, and try to get a big enough lead just in case I tired later in the match," said Spangler.

"I'll have to wait and watch the film on (the) match, but (Spangler) is so strong and athletic, and I likely could have opened things up a bit in retrospect," said Santoro, who is headed to Princeton next fall.

Santoro's mates Adrian Gonzalez (103) and Luke Miller (152) supplied the Broncos' top three medals. Gonzales, a sophomore, fell in the final to Crystal Lake South sophomore Nick Fontanetta 10-1.

"Scoring first is so important in a match - it gets into your opponent's head and helps you set the pace for the rest of the match," said Fontanetta, who after a scoreless first period, broke the match open with a nice turn at three minutes to go up 4-0 and later added a pair of near-falls.

"Nick's effort in this tournament is a testiment to the extra work and effort he, and his teammates have been putting in leading up to this weekend," said Gators coach Ross Ryan, whose team finished seventh.

Junior Kean Loupee was defeated by Proctor 5-3 in his final, capping a marvelous 2009-2010 debut, while Miller, a state qualifier last season came back from a disappointing 6-5 OT loss in his semifinal with Anthony Pace (Lake Zurich) to snare a third-place medal.

"Our expectations are high this season, and rightly so, but we also have to keep this weekend and its results in perspective as we continue to work on improving everyone all throughout our lineup to prepare for the MSL regular season and after," said Barrington coach Al Strobl.

Around the area, the news was good on several fronts, including Aaron Ryan (Jacobs, second at 112), David Scavano (Waubonsie Valley, third at 130) and Geneva senior Ryan Ward, who earned a third-place finish after bumping off Alex Bolden, who in his semifinal match with Lee Munster (Grant) put 9 points on the board against the defending state champion but still ended up losing 20-9.