Schaumburg holds off Wheaton North at Fenton

Wheaton North ran out of matches as it tried to catch Schaumburg at the 30th annual Steve Weiss Tournament Saturday.

The Falcons took second place out of 12 teams and lost by a mere 2 points to Schaumburg's 157.5.

In all the Falcons had Tyler Simmons (103 pounds) and Zach Striplin (135) both take first place and Wheaton North also saw one wrestler finish second while two more finished third.

Simmons, who pinned DeKalb's Regan Mommer at the 1:38 point in the first period, got the Falcons started in the right direction. For the day Simmons went 3-0 with two pins and one win by technical fall, beating Lake Park's John Verlotta 19-4.

"Everyday I come wrestle," Simmons said. "I love it, I want to wrestle all the time. Every time I get on the mat I think and know that I am going to win."

Lake Park finished fourth with 136 points, 21.5 points behind Schaumburg.

Lake Park had the most wrestlers finish first at the tournament as Robert Babej (130), Joe Kubica (160) and Devon Smith (285) all left Fenton with first-place medals.

For Kubica Saturday was the first time that he was able to wrestle the way he wanted.

"I was getting some pretty good shots today," Kubica said. "Usually I have a problem finishing my shots, but I think I had pretty good matchups today. I usually have problems with tall and long guys, and today I didn't face anyone with that description. I am very happy with how I wrestled."

Babej, who looked like he was going to get pinned by Fenton's Ryan Joy in the championship match, reversed it and sneak out with a 4-3 decision.

"I thought I was going to get pinned for real," Babej said. "I was able to stay busy and wiggle my way out. I knew I had to wrestle tough, and it just proves if you don't quit when you are on your back, anything can happen."

Fenton finished in ninth place as Ryan Joy (130) and Alan Geneva (135) both finished in second place.