Libertyville overcomes Warren
Warren’s first home dual meet of the post-Mark Tiffany coaching era looked like a potential upset Friday night against Libertyville in North Suburban Conference action.
The host Blue Devils methodically built a 15-7 lead over the Wildcats midway through the meet.
But Libertyville outscored Warren 24-3 the rest of the way behind a strong performance from the Wildcats’ middle weights en route to a 31-18 NSC Lake Division victory.
The Wildcats (2-0, 1-0) have not lost a Lake Division dual meet since falling to Warren and Lake Zurich in the 2006-07 season.
Friday’s meet started at 160 pounds, where Warren’s T.J. Parker (4-0) and then 171-pound teammate Danny Hicks recorded minor decisions for an early 6-0 advantage.
The Wildcats’ Luke Miller held off Shakiem Chapman 7-6 at 189 before 215-pound teammate Richard Vachula’s 14-6 major decision gave the Wildcats a brief 7-6 lead.
Warren 2010 state medalist Josh Dust’s 4-0 decision over Erik Fischer at 285 put the Blue Devils back ahead 9-7 before teammate Mike Malles added a 5-1 decision over Noah Strong to boost the edge to 12-7.
Then 112-pounder Martin Martinez added a 3-1 decision over Kyle May and the Blue Devils had their biggest advantage at 15-7.
Libertyville 2010 state qualifier Pat Fitzgerald started the Wildcats’ comeback with a technical fall in 5:02 to pull within 15-12.
Then Libertyville junior Charlie Meyer held a slim 2-0 lead after one period before pinning his opponent in 2:50 to really get the momentum going for the Wildcats.
“Warren’s guys are always fighters and I knew we needed to get our team going and score some bonus points,” Meyer said. “We just needed to score more points and on top I felt I had more control.”
At 130 pounds, Luke Gaeth kept the Wildcats’ momentum going with a 9-3 decision over Robert Lee. At 135, teammate Pat Regan posted a 6-2 decision over Blake Howard to make the score 24-15.
Warren 140-pounder Brandon Tyler (4-0) kept the Blue Devils’ hopes alive with a 5-2 decision over Zach Michelsen to cut the gap to 24-18 with two bouts to go.
But Kevin Tavakoli’s 10-1 major decision at 145 sealed Warren’s fate before teammate Sayad Banifazl added an 8-4 decision over Aaron Brewton at 152 to account for the final score.
“Of the six matches we lost, we did not give up any bonus points and they (Warren) have some great athletes,” said Wildcats coach Dale Eggert. “Meyer got the guy on his back and he never let him up, and Fitzgerald had a great match.”
Despite the loss, it was a pretty good home debut for first-year Warren coach Jim Ouimette against the powerful Wildcats after he served as an assistant coach for Tiffany for many years.
“We’re not quite where we need to be yet, but we have a lot of kids who are working hard and we have to close the gap a little bit,” Ouimette said. “I was happy how we wrestled, but from 119 to 140 I knew we were in trouble. Our kids wrestled hard and they’re starting to come together as a team.”