Elk Grove surges to 2nd at Bohl Invite
The Bob Bohl Invitational turned out to be a battle for second place Friday night at Mundelein.
Top-ranked Lincoln-Way co-op dominated the 16-team boys gymnastics meet with 159.85 points to easily roll to the championship.
But with the host Mustangs not at full strength, Elk Grove rose to the occasion to take home runner-up honors 143.50 to 143.31 over third-place squad Highland Park-Deerfield.
Even with elite all-arounder Scott Marthinsen only competing in one event, Mundelein (142.85 points) still managed to put together an impressive fourth-place finish to nip Buffalo Grove (142.1) for fifth.
Stevenson joined that strong logjam of teams with a season-high 141.36 sixth-place score, while Schaumburg hit a season-high 134.15 for seventh place.
Elk Grove used its familiar 1-2 senior punch of all-arounders Damian Zukowski (48.95) in eighth and Nick Alcazar (48.35) in ninth to capture second place in the meet.
“We haven’t hit our best meet yet, and we’re still adding more,” said Elk Grove coach Keith Mukai. “If we can put it all together we’re going to have a heck of a team and this team has a lot of potential that we haven’t seen yet.”
Marthinsen has missed the past two weeks due to a badly sprained wrist. But teammates Colin McCarthy (50.65) in fifth, and Tim Beranek (48.1) in 10th really shined for the Mustangs in his absence. Marthinsen did post a seventh-place 8.5 on still rings.
“We’re hoping to have (Marthinsen) back at full strength next Thursday for the Stevenson meet,” said Mundelein coach Jesse Piland. “We still scored over 140 points without him, and tonight I was impressed with how Ryan Riddle and Alfredo Maldonado stepped up for us.”
Stevenson was led by its elite senior duo of Mike Wilner, who won the all-around title with 55 points, and Scott Siegel, who placed sixth with 50.46 points.
“I hit my best routines on a couple of events, but I missed my landing on high bar,” said Wilner, who is a state title contender. “As long as I get through my routines clean and I land on my feet I’m happy with that. But I’m really not focusing on scores.”
Rolling Meadows senior Marc Herff continues to put up some excellent scores for the Mustangs as he placed third overall with 53.25 points (8.71 average).
“I’m pretty happy with my season so far and I came off a pretty bad shoulder injury from wrestling which is still bothering me,” said Herff, a three-time state qualifier. “Hopefully this year I can place (top five) in the all-around and once I put all of my routines together I think I can do it.”
Led by Eugene Blackmon (12th place, 47.15 points), Buffalo Grove has had an outstanding season with a season-high 145.1 on Wednesday.
“We definitely had some problems on still rings, parallel bars, and high bar tonight,” said Buffalo Grove coach Chris Stevens. “We’re happy with where we’re at and we just want to keep building on what we have, and each kid has to pick up the person before them.”
Senior Alex Lin led Schaumburg in 13th place overall while Kyle Santiago was Hoffman Estates’ top all-arounder in 15th place.
Schaumburg coach Howard Rubin will be replaced by current assistant coach Erik Bostrom next season after Rubin completes his 28th and final year. Bostrom was a junior on the Saxons’ 1999 seventh-place Elite Eight squad.
“We’re beginning to work a full lineup now with some people back from injury,” Rubin said. “Alex Lin is getting better and better and this team is not going to reach its full potential until the end of the year.”