Libertyville takes command, nails down NSC crown

Heading into the 2010 North Suburban Conference wrestling meet, people were expecting Libertyville to receive a pretty tough challenge from a number of different teams Saturday at Lake Zurich.

But with a commanding 65-point lead over Grant headed into the final round, the outcome was decided early on in the 14-team tournament as the Wildcats rolled to back-to-back NSC championships by a comfortable 251 to 181.5 margin over the runner-up Bulldogs.

Stevenson came up big Saturday to capture third place 165 to 146 over Mundelein while Warren (119.5 points) placed fifth in coach Mark Tiffany's 27th and final conference meet. The host Bears placed sixth in the powerful field with 112.5 points while Antioch (102 points) had a very solid seventh-place showing.

Libertyville's road to the title featured five individual champions including Pat Fitzgerald at 103, Matt Bystol at 125, Sayad Banifazl at 145, Nick McDowell at 160 and Josh Ronne at 171.

Despite having his finals match against Antioch's Zach Epker stopped on numerous occasions due to a cut on his forehead, Libertyville senior Nick McDowell held on to win the 160-pound crown with a narrow 3-2 decision. The Wildcats will see Grant and Mundelein at its own Class 3A regional next Saturday.

"I knew I had to just stay active and not back off on him (Epker) in the last minute so I wouldn't get called for stalling," said McDowell. "You've just got to go out and wrestle your hardest (at regionals), and you just have to wrestle like it's your last match."

Grant had two champions in the meet, including third-ranked senior Jason Montemayor (34-1) at 130, and top-ranked senior Lee Munster (24-0) at 189. Grant's Izzy Montemayor was a state-runner up in 2008, and Jason is hoping to go the distance and bring home a state crown this February in Champaign.

"I started with high goals and my goal was to be state champ, of course," Montemayor said. "We didn't wrestle to our seeds today, but next week we're going to go into regionals more aggressively and we have a lot of potential."

After upsetting Mundelein's Matt Ornoff 8-4 in the semifinals, Libertyville's Luke Gaeth dropped a 6-1 decision to Stevenson 119-pound standout Danny Sabatello (29-3) in the finals. Libertyville's Luke Miller also placed second after Warren's Chandler Sperry posted a 2-1 decision for the 215-pound title.

"All in all, everybody chipped in and we had a real good day so this should help us heading into the regionals," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert, whose team won its 14th NSC crown and sent 12 wrestlers to the semifinals. "The regional should be tighter because it won't be as big a tournament so you never know."

After a lopsided loss to Mundelein in a dual meet recently, Stevenson came up huge Saturday with second-place finishes by 135-pounder Jordan Sherman, and 285-pounder Andrew Kordek paving the way to the Patriots' third-place finish.

Sherman only trailed Lake Zurich's Cameron Shaffer (28-0) 5-4 in the finals before Shaffer pulled away for a 10-4 decision to remain undefeated on the campaign. 152-pounder Anthony Pace was also a champion for the Bears.

"If it doesn't work out the way I want it to it's a learning experience and I know what to work on next," said Shaffer, who reached state last year. "I just have to work on all the things that are pulling me down and keep my attack-them, go-after-it attitude."

Unlike many of the NSC squads, Stevenson will be competing in the rugged Class 3A Fremd regional next Saturday.

"Jordan (Sherman) has just made some incredible gains this season and it definitely could have gone either way (against Shaffer)," said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. "We're definitely pleased with where we're at right now, so to finish in the top three was a big step for our program."

Mundelein struggled overall with three starters out of its lineup, but 285-pounder Dion Livas rolled to the crown with three third-period pins. Juan Jaimes (13) and Pablo Mata (152) also took runner-up honors for the Mustangs.

"Libertyville and Grant are always the teams to beat," said Mundelein coach Tom Buenik. "We're just going to keep working to try to overcome those two very tough programs."

The Blue Devils had two champions with 112-pounder Robby Schultheis and Sperry going all the way. Other second-place finishers were Grant's Cameron Kennedy (103), Vernon Hills' Gideon Yim (125), Wauconda's Pete Kootstra (140), Vernon Hills' Dan Klema (145), Lakes' Phil Cappitelli (171), and Wauconda's Brian Kent (189).

"We thought if we wrestled really well that we had an outside chance, but Libertyville is very solid," said Grant coach Ryan Geist, whose team has won 10 straight Prairie Division titles with a perfect 56-0 record. "Anything can happen, and the guys on this team I'm not going to sell them short. But Libertyville is quite a challenge for anybody in our regional."

Round Lake's Videl Arteaga placed third at 103 with Grant's Ben Soumar placing third at 112. Ornoff came back to place third at 119 while Lakes' Grant Franson placed third at 125. Other third-place finishers were Lake Zurich's Alex Nigro (130), Lake Zurich's Zach Ullman (140), Antioch's Al Arden (145), Libertyville's Tommy Ward (152), Lake Zurich's Wilson Potts (160), Stevenson's Nate Rubenstein (171), Stevenson's Brandon Weber (189), Vernon Hills' Rory Klema (215), and Grant's Carl Williams (285).