Barrington gets back downstate; D-C falls short
What was expected to be a barn-burner between Barrington and Notre Dame ended up turning into a wildfire the Dons were never able to get under control.
The Mid-Suburban League champion Broncos won the first 8 bouts and 12 of 14 total in a 39-5 thumping of Notre Dame (29-2) to win their dual-team wrestling sectional match at Dundee-Crown on Tuesday night.
The Broncos earned a spot in the Class 3A state quarterfinal this Saturday in Bloomington. Barrington (20-0) will face No. 1 Sandburg in an 11 a.m. quarterfinal match in U.S. Cellular Coliseum. It’s Barrington’s second straight trip downstate.
Machesney Park Harlem (21-0), led by 119-pound state champion Derek Elmore (46-1), rolled past the host Chargers 48-21 in the other sectional match in Carpentersville.
“We were crunching the numbers all day long, and we never expected the final result to be what it was tonight,” said Barrington coach Al Strobl, who was stunned by the 34-point differential. “Every single guy came to wrestle tonight, including a couple of injured wrestlers who somehow put all how they were feeling aside to go out there and give all that they had to help their teammates get such an important victory.”
Strobl’s team-first outlook is certainly nothing new for the this year’s team. Barrington had said goodbye to a terrific core of wrestler’s from last season’s fourth-place state finisher and knew it would need plenty of contributions from new faces this time around. The Broncos got them, which helsp account for their undefeated season and tournament championships at the Dick Mudge, the Deerfield regional, as well as a fifth-place finish at the prestigious Dvorak.
“The ferocity this team showed tonight to get this victory to send us to the state tournament is indicative of what it’s been like all-season long,” said Barrington senior Aaron Castagna (42-5) who shut out fellow heavyweight Quinn Machain (33-9) 5-0 to give the Broncos an insurmountable 25-point lead at 27-2 with just 4 matches remaining.
The Broncos won each of their first 5 matches by the narrowest of margins, including the opening bout of the night when Coord Wiseman started fast and held off Sean Hennigan (33-13) 4-3 at 130 ppunds.
“I cannot tell you enough times how huge that win by Coord was for us — just huge,” said Strobl.
From there, Steve Polasik, Joe Adreani, Dakota Wapotish and Michael Lurz each recorded 2-point decisions from 135 through 152 before Cameron Thomson (39-1) upended Dons two-time state qualifier Charlie Doyle (25-11) 8-4 at 160 pounds.
Wapotish, who many figured was done for the year after he dislocated his shoulder two weeks ago in an early round match at the Barrington sectional, provided an extra bit of inspiration for the Broncos when he stepped onto the mat against Rourke Whittington at 145 pounds and immediately recorded a takedown. Barrington fans roared their approval, and continued to do so right up until Connor Mannina ended the night with a 4-0 victory at 125 pounds.
“The doctors told me with this type of an injury, I really would need three to four weeks before I could compete again,” said Wapotish. “But I felt good enough to go tonight, and I also knew this could be my last match of my high school career. So I went out there to help the cause, and to make sure I got ahead early before fighting off my opponent the rest of the way.”
Lurz, as he did on several occasions in the postseason, came back from being down to state qualifier Joe Cortese (34-14) to defeat the Dons’ sophomore 7-5, and senior Michael Weisshappel was most impressive in his 6-0 shutout at 171 pounds.
When it came time for the bottom end of the Broncos’ lineup to compete, Adrian Gonzalez (25-6) avenged a disappointing loss at the sectional to Scott Smith (36-15) with the only fall of the match (at 3:23), and junior Jared Parvinmehr, wrapped like a mummy on his upper torso, majored Anthony McDermott 15-8 at 119 pounds.
“We know we have a big task ahead of us on Saturday with the top-rated team in the state (Sandburg) but we’ll go in there and wrestle hard and tough like we did tonight, and just see what happens,” said Strobl.
Ÿ Dundee-Crown’s long-time coach Al Zinke felt his club competed to its best ability Tuesday night, but it was obvious the visiting Huskies from Machesney Park had too much firepower for the Chargers.
“That is a very tough team with four state medalists in the lineup, but we got ourselves a couple of wins here and there before the night was over, and that was a good thing for those guys,” said Zinke, who was quick to point out a pin from Alonzo Fuller (25-11) at just 17 seconds over Kane Cunningham (24-17). At the Barrington sectional, the outcome between the same two went the other way.
Seniors Travell Rounds (119, 28-13) and Cody Churkey (215, 35-7) ended their careers at D-C on a high note with victories.
“I was real happy that both Travell and Alonzo won their final high school matches, and for me, it’s kind of hard (right) now to think this was my last night wrestling for Dundee-Crown,” began Churkey. “It was great to reach the 30-win club, and to see our team surprise everyone to win our regional title, but in reality, I really wanted to be in Champaign last weekend competing in the state tournament.”
Churkey won his match 6-2 over Robbie Hyde. Rounds pinned John Messing at 5:38 in the final bout of the Chargers’ dual with Harlem, and Gustavo Jacabo (140) and Raymond Griggel (285, 25-15) chipped in with victories as well.
Elmore and his trio of state medalist teammates didn’t disappoint. Jordan Northrup (103, 44-5) and Zak Denny (112, 42-7) and Elmore went 3-0 with a pair of falls among them.
Harlem will meet Lane Tech in the Class 3A state quarterfinals at 9 a.m. Saturday.