Beating Stevenson another bright spot for Mundelein

After almost upsetting Libertyville last week at home, the Mundelein wrestling team continued to shine Thursday night at Stevenson.

Starting at heavyweight, the visiting Mustangs jumped out to a huge 35-9 lead after 11 matches before cruising to a 35-24 North Suburban Conference Lake Division victory over the Patriots.

Senior Dion Livas got Mundelein (16-2, 4-1) going with a 4-1 decision over David Woodstein at 285 as Livas got a near pin late in the third period.

Mundelein 103-pound freshman Nick Dudzinski followed Livas with an 8-2 decision over Mark Jolcover before Stevenson's Jake Pickering pinned Alec Berger in 5:22 after trailing 8-6 late in the 112-pound match.

Trailing 12-0, Stevenson junior Danny Sabatello (18-3) shocked elite sophomore Matt Ornoff (23-2) with a pin in just 58 seconds to cut the lead to 12-6.

But the Patriots (10-3, 2-2) struggled after that point with Mundelein's Dan Winberg posting a 6-3 decision over Jake Weiss to get the Mustangs' back on the winning track.

Mundelein 130-pounder Payton Cruz (25-3) added an 11-0 major decision to boost the lead to 19-6 early on.

"We worked hard in practice this week and Max Infanti's match really pumped everybody up," said Cruz. "Everybody pushes each other in practice to try to get better and I have Matt Ornoff and Juan Jaimes pushing me in practice."

Stevenson's Jordan Sherman toppled Jaimes 11-7 in a wild bout at 135. But decisions by Mundelein teammates Eric Arcos (8-5 at 140), Brandon Aranda (10-2 at 145), and Pablo Mata (5-1 at 152) gave the Mustangs a comfortable 29-9 advantage.

Mundelein 160-pounder Max Infanti almost got pinned in the first period and he trailed sophomore Jed Stone 7-0 after two periods. But Infanti pulled off a real shocker with a pin in 4:47 to seal the Mustangs' team victory.

"Starting off at heavyweight we felt very comfortable and Dion (Livas) almost got a fall," said Mundelein coach Tom Buenik. "We got a real big win at 112 from Jake Pickering against a real good kid from Stevenson. But Ornoff got caught in a cradle and he paid the price. 160 was a huge pin trailing 7-0 and that clinched the dual meet for us."

Stevenson 171-pounder Nate Rubenstein outlasted Ben Hertel 2-1 in overtime before Stevenson's Brandon Weber won by forfeit at 189.

Stevenson 215-pounder Tommy McGovern recorded a pin in 1:34 to account for the final team score.

"We lost some matches that we were counting on and it's tough to dig out of a hole like that," said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. "We have to keep working, but Mundelein has done a great job this year and they put together a very strong lineup."