Warren earns weight-y decision over Stevenson

Warren was “moving on up” in weight classes when the Blue Devils hosted Stevenson to celebrate senior night Thursday in North Suburban Conference wrestling action.

Four of Warren’s upper-weight wrestlers jumped up a weight division against the Patriots — with three of them winning their matches to help carry the Blue Devils to an impressive 43-18 NSC Lake Division victory.

With the triumph, Warren (14-2, 5-1) set up a potential three-way tie for first place in the Lake Division.

But for that to happen, the Blue Devils will need Zion-Benton (4-1) to upset host Libertyville (5-0) in their dual meet tonight.

Starting at 112 pounds, Stevenson (11-8, 3-3) fell behind 6-0 right away when Warren’s Martin Martinez recorded a pin in 3:34.

At 119 pounds, freshman Israel Santiago followed with a 14-0 major decision before 125-pound teammate Tyler Kuhn’s 13-4 major decision staked the Blue Devils to a quick 14-0 advantage.

Undefeated standout Danny Sabatello (27-0) got the Patriots on the scoreboard when he won by injury default at 130 to make the score 14-6.

Stevenson 135-pounder Max Nolan posted a 7-2 decision over Robert Lee to cut the gap to 14-9.

Then an 8-0 decision by Warren 140-pounder Brandon Tyler boosted the lead to 18-9.

Trailing 2-0, Stevenson sophomore Justin Weber recorded a pin in 3:34 to pull the Patriots to within 18-15.

But that was as close as the Patriots got the rest of the way — as Aaron Brewton’s 9-6 decision over Mark Futterman at 152 really got the Blue Devils rolling.

“They’re a quality team, and they have quality kids at every weight,” said Patriots coach Shane Cook.

“We’ve just got to continue to work and get better. We’re definitely a better tournament team than a dual-meet team.”

At 160 pounds, Will Beinlich’s 8-0 major decision extended the Blue Devils’ lead to 25-15.

Senior T.J. Parker was the first of the four Blue Devils to move up in weight class, and he held off Ken Waks in the final seconds of their 171-pound bout to capture a 6-4 decision and give his squad a 28-15 lead.

Sophomore Danny Hicks moved up to 189, and after pinning his opponent in 4:41, he clinched the team win by giving the Blue Devils a 34-15 lead with three matches left.

Junior Shakiem Chapman moved up to face Brandon Weber at 215, and Weber had to battle down to the wire to capture a 4-3 decision.

Then came the final Warren wrestler to move up, when Jovan DuBose faced Stevenson’s Mike Kuhn in the heavyweight bout.

The 215-pound DuBose went to double overtime against Kuhn, who weighed in at 239 pounds. DuBose was able to use his quickness and athleticism to record a 6-2 decision in a wild ending to the match.

Warren 285-pounder Josh Dust did not wrestle because of a torn labrum, but he is hoping to be back in the lineup in time for the NSC meet next weekend.

“We practiced really hard and the whole team kept pushing to get ready for this meet,” Dust said. “What we want to do is place first in the conference over Libertyville — that is what we are striving for.”

Warren 103-pounder Craig Mason recorded a pin in 5:19 to account for the final score.

“For senior night I thought they did a great job and we had to bump some kids up who did a great job,” said Blue Devils coach Jim Ouimette.

“Chapman is only 184 pounds and he was in that whole match against one of their better guys. I was very impressed that Jovan gutted out that whole match and won it in double overtime.”