Harper qualifies eight wrestlers for nationals
The beat went on over the weekend for the Harper College wrestling team.
At the district championships hosted by Triton, the fifth-ranked Hawks qualified eight wrestlers for the NJCAA nationals, which begin Feb. 27 in Spokane, Wash.
Three Hawks were regional champions — P.J Starnes (157), Khari Washington (174) and Adam Chalfant (285). The Hawks also had three wrestlers finish second — Josh Ronne (165), Arber Bebo (184) and Joe Patricelli (197).
“We wrestled well,” said Hawks coach Dan Loprieno.
Harper lost the team portion of the regional by 2 points in a field loaded with ranked teams.
“(We) are bringing eight guys that I think can place,” Loprieno said of the Hawks’ eight national qualifiers.
Two teams that Loprieno is most worried about when it comes to defending the program’s national championship are Clackamas Community College (Ore.) and Rend Lake (Ill). Clackamas is the top-ranked team in the NJCAA poll, while Rend Lake is ranked third.
“I think we are a lot better then we were Jan. 6 (when the two teams met at national duels),” Loprieno said of the Hawks’ first encounter with Clackamas. Both Clackamas and Rend Lake give their wrestlers scholarships, but since Harper is an NJCAA Division III school, it cannot award scholarships.
“We do it with local kids and local talent,” Loprieno said.
He’s hoping good fortune smiles on his crew in Spokane.
“When you get out there, you need a littl bit of luck,” Loprieno said. “It will take a good team to beat us.”
Hoops finales: The Harper College men’s and women’s basketball teams will see their regular seasons come to an end this week. The Harper men beat Rock Valley on Monday, and then got some payback against Triton on Tuesday.Triton had beaten the Hawks 63-62 Jan. 22 at Triton. In that game, however, the Hawks were without 6-foot-8 Wes Wilcox (Lake Park). This time, Wilcox made all the difference as the Hawks won 71-67 in Palatine.#147;Wes had an outstanding game,#148; coach Tony Amarino said of his freshman big man. Wilcox finished with a career-high 27 points. #147;It was a really good win for us,#148; said Amarino. The Hawks travel to College of DuPage on Saturday. With pairings for the NJCAA Region IV tournament being released this week, Amarino expects his team to stay focused at the task at hand.Amarino praised the recent play of Shonnon Barfield, saying #147;Shonnon has been one of our better players the last few weeks.#148; The Hawks have faced a little adversity, though. Backup point guard Perrish Bell (Schaumburg) has missed the last two games with the flu. Kemill Long (Hoffman Estates) was up to the task in filling Bell#146;s role, according to Amarino.#147;We are on a roll at the right time,#148; Amarino said.Ÿ On Monday, the Harper women hosted the second-ranked team in the nation, Rock Valley, and fell 55-42, but the Hawks followed that up with a 63-26 victory over Triton. Sarah Kellermeyer had 17 points, Anna Kirchoff had 14 and Larissa Aguero produced a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.Triton#146;s 26 points was its lowest output of the season.The Hawks end their regular season Saturday when they travel to Glen Ellyn for a game against rival College of DuPage.