Libertyville tops Warren, stays on track for Lake title

The Libertyville wrestling team was tested again Friday night against visiting Warren - and the Wildcats pulled out another narrow victory in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division.

The Blue Devils stayed within striking distance the whole way in this dual-meet showdown, but Libertyville (13-3, 5-0) captured a 26-21 victory to get one step closer to capturing the Lake Division crown outright with a win over Lake Forest next week.

Starting at 140 pounds, the 13th-ranked Wildcats took a 3-0 lead when Kevin Tavakoli opened the meet with a 5-3 decision over Kyle Grogan.

Libertyville 145-pounder Sam Shay led his bout against sophomore Aaron Brewton, but Brewton recorded a pin in 4:36 to give Warren (12-2, 3-2) an early 6-3 lead.

"It shows that you can't afford to be losing matches that we should win because that sets the whole dual meet out of kilter," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert, whose team beat Mundelein by 1 point last week. "We won eight matches to their six, but that pin at 145 just turned everything on its end because we were winning that one late."

Sayad Banifazl at 152 pounds got the Wildcats headed in the right direction with a 5-0 decision over Will Beinlich. Then 160-pounder Nick McDowell's 6-3 decision over Warren's Brenden Frank gave the host Wildcats a 9-6 advantage.

Libertyville 171-pounder Ryan Mertz made a successful comeback from a torn ACL with a 9-5 decision over Mike Patterson before state-ranked teammate Josh Ronne (25-5) held off Shakheim Chapman 4-3 at 189.

Then a 4-0 decision by Libertyville's Luke Miller over Chandler Sperry boosted the lead to 18-6.

"I felt good after the first period and he (Patterson) was tough so I have to work on my conditioning," said Mertz, who had not wrestled since Dec. 4. "The other teams are tough, but Coach E gets us prepared well."

285-pounder Josh Dust started the Blue Devils' comeback with a 3-0 decision over Jorge Arreola, before teammate Martin Martinez posted an 8-4 decision over Kyle May at 103 to cut the lead to 18-12 with five matches remaining.

Libertyville 112-pounder Pat Fitzgerald's 6-4 decision over Kevin Buensuceso made the score 21-12, but Warren was not dead yet.

At 119 pounds, Robby Schultheis (22-4) almost recorded a first-period pin before settling for a 6-0 decision over Luke Gaeth.

Then trailing 4-3 late in the third period, Warren 125-pounder Colin Seebach pulled out a 6-4 decision over Charlie Meyer with a near pin to cut the gap to 21-18 with two bouts left.

Libertyville's Matt Bystol (24-3) sealed the Wildcats' win with a technical fall in 5:58 to make the score 26-18. A 6-2 decision by Warren 135-pounder Brandon Tyler accounted for the final score.

"Our kids showed up, they pulled together as a team, and I couldn't be prouder of them," said Warren coach Mark Tiffany, who is in his final season. "We knew it was going to be tough coming in, but you can never sell our kids short."