Libertyville handles Grant
A super start by visiting Libertyville took a lot of the drama out of the wrestling season opener between the Wildcats and Grant Wednesday night in Fox Lake.
Starting at 119 pounds, Libertyville (1-0) recorded 3 pins to take a quick 18-0 advantage over the Bulldogs before the Wildcats rolled to a 37-21 victory in a North Suburban Conference crossover meet between the defending Lake and Prairie Division champions.
Grant (0-1) could never really recover from its slow start as pins by Libertyville 2010 state qualifier Pat Fitzgerald in 5:48, 125-pounder Luke Gaeth in 5:30, and 130-pounder Charlie Meyer in 2:56 put the Bulldogs behind the eight ball right away.
Libertyville 135-pounder Pat Regan followed with a 6-3 decision over sophomore Nick Fanella and Grant was facing a difficult 21-0 deficit.
Senior Devon Monroy's exciting 5-3 overtime victory over Zach Michelson at 140 did get Grant's team on the scoreboard, but Libertyville 145-pounder Kevin Tavakoli responded with a 10-1 major decision to extend the lead to 25-3.
“I think the thing that won it for us was coming out with those three pins right away and that really helped,” said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. “It was a very competitive meet and both teams got a lot out of it.”
Both squads won some close bouts as Grant senior Jose Jimenez held off Tommy Ward 4-3 at 152 to cut the Wildcats' lead to 25-6.
Then Libertyville 160-pounder Sayad Banifazl posted a 5-2 decision over Tony Cashmore to set up a real showdown at 171.
Libertyville's Gibby Williams was beating Grant's Charles Williams 5-2 late in that match. But Charles Williams ultimately got a takedown with seven seconds left to pull out an exciting 8-6 decision for the Bulldogs.
Libertyville 189-pounder Richard Vachula immediately got some revenge for the Wildcats as he trailed 3-1 against Mikus Balams before Vachula recorded a pin in 3:58 to basically put the meet away with a 34-9 lead.
Libertyville 2010 state qualifier Luke Miller added a hard-fought 3-1 overtime victory against Grant junior Quinton Quarles at 215 and the Wildcats led 37-9.
“We have 10 new starters in our lineup this year and I knew a lot of them would struggle,” said Grant coach Ryan Geist. “We look forward to improving because our kids never gave up, but right now they (Libertyville) are ahead of us in technique and skill.”
Grant sophomore Dan Haeffle earned a 6-3 decision over Erik Fischer at 285 before Grant's Nick Kramer won by forfeit at 103.
Grant's Ben Soumar closed out the meet with a 10-4 decision over Kyle May to account for the final score.