Stevenson nabs two Moore-Prettyman titles
The 20th Annual Moore/Prettyman Memorial Tournament was a great test for area wrestling teams and individuals Saturday at Barrington.
After taking third place in each of the past three years, Libertyville had a solid eighth-place finish in the powerful 32-team tourney with 119.5 points as the Wildcats edged North Suburban Conference rival Stevenson (116 points) in ninth place.
Grant (88 points) was the next highest finishing Lake County area squad in 14th place, followed by Lake Zurich (55 points) in 20th, and Wauconda (46 points) in 24th.
Marist was the class of the field with a winning total of 174.5 points while Lyons Township (159) toppled the host Broncos (150) for second place.
Libertyville's road to eighth place featured fourth-place finishes by Luke Gaeth at 125 and Sayad Banifazl at 160. The Wildcats also received fifth-place finishes from Luke Miller at 189 and Charlie Meyer at 130.
“Everybody won at least one match, and 11 out of the 13 guys we brought got to the second day so it was a very valuable tournament,” said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. “We come here to get prepared for the rest of the season and I like the experience our guys got.”
It is very early in the season, but Stevenson is already looking like a potential threat to the Wildcats in the NSC Lake Division as the Patriots had a very strong tourney, including two individual champions.
Defending 119-pound state champion Danny Sabatello looked like he was in midseason form as he rolled to the 125-pound title Saturday with a 12-3 major decision over Zach Synon of Prarie Ridge, who is the nephew of Grant coach Ryan Geist.
“I'm happy that I won it because this tournament meant a lot to me and this was the first time I won it,” said Sabatello, who wrestled in the tourney as a freshman and sophomore at St. Viator. “Winning (state) last year was obviously the best moment of my life and I'll never forget that. But I am going to have to try to put that out of my mind and focus on this year because anything but winning it just isn't going to be satisfying.”
Not only did Sabatello (6-0) win a crown Saturday, but senior co-captain Brandon Weber (6-0) also reached the top of the mountain after posting a 3-1 decision over Hinsdale Central's Brian Allen for the 215-pound title.
“This is a huge step for him (Weber) and this is a huge confidence boost for him,” said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. “He had a great off-season, he works extremely hard in practice, and he's one of the leaders in our program so we're looking forward to a great senior year.”
“He (Sabatello) was dominant the entire tournament, but we understand it's a long season and the competition will get more fierce, added Cook. “He fully understands this is only the beginning.”
Grant was led by 215-pounder Quinton Quarles' third-place finish as Quarles pinned Crystal Lake South's Mike Romanelli in 2:11.
103-pounder Nick Kramer added a sixth-place finish for the Bulldogs' young team.
“It was a decent showing, but we only have one returning guy with a plus .500 record,” said Grant coach Ryan Geist. “A lot of our guys got wins in quality matches and Quinton (Quarles) is coming into his own coming off a great football season.”
Wauconda sophomore Devin Tortorice exploded onto the scene this weekend with a second-place finish at 103 as Tortorice dropped a tough 3-2 decision to Marist's Mario Leveille in the finals.
Wauconda also received a fifth-place finish from Pete Kootstra at 160.
“This is a real tough tournament so having anybody place in the top eight is significant,” said Wauconda assistant coach Bob Kenison. “This is the first time Devin Tortorice has come to this tournament and he did an outstanding job.”
Lake Zurich was led by fifth-place finishes from Alex Nigro at 135 and Zach Ullman at 145.
Libertyville also had a sixth from Pat Fitzgerald at 119, a seventh from Kevin Tavakolie at 145, and an eighth from Pat Regan at 135.
Grant had seventh-place showing's by Ben Soumar (112), Devin Monroy (140), and Jose Jimenez, who pinned Wauconda's Tim Alvarado in 2:07. Stevenson 171-pounder Ken Waks also placed eighth.