Glenbard North overcomes WW South
The Glenbard North wrestling team did win big over host Wheaton Warrenville South on Thursday night, 48-15. But the Tigers made the Panthers earn it.
Four WW South entries went home with wins, and Glenbard North won four matches by 8 points or less and prevailed in another by pin late in the bout.
“Overall, I did not think we wrestled that well. But take nothing away from Wheaton Warrenville South. They have some tough kids,” Panthers coach Mark Hahn said.
The meet started at 182 pounds, and the Tigers’ Evan Welsh started the evening with a victory followed by teammate and fellow senior Jason Reinhart prevailing at 195 to give WW South an early 6-0 lead.
Glenbard North then proceeded to win the next eight matches thanks to Ceasar Vega (220 pounds), Dan McHale (285), Patrick Augustyn (106), Richard Browne (113), Chris Gonzalez (120), Jared Cortez (126), Jonathan Marmolejo (132) and John Gosinski (138) to go up 40-6.
Junior Ramond King got the Tigers back on the scoreboard with a 3-1 overtime win at 145. Dan Johnson (152) and Jamique Davis (160) then won for the Panthers with WW South’s Steve Franke ending the evening with a victory by pin to up his record to 13-1.
Glenbard North went into the match after last weekend’s third-place finish at the Brandon High School Invitational in Florida.
“There was plenty of tough competition — Brandon, Camden County (Ga.). The kids got eight, nine matches in two days,” Hahn said.
The hosts won the competition with 667 points followed by Camden County (547) and the Panthers (532).
“It was a good experience,” said Cortez, the tournament’s MVP. “It showed what I have to work on to build up to February and get to that peak. I need to get better each match.”
First-year WW South coach Matt Janosek said of the four victories on the night for the Tigers, he was impressed the most by King’s.
“He got stronger as the match went on and I like to see that in the third period,” Janosek said.
Overall, he liked how his team faced the Panthers.
“Give Glenbard North credit. They are a fundamentally tough team. I thought our kids battled. We’re wrestling a lot of inexperienced guys. But I like our effort. We just need to fundamentally clean some things up,” he said.
The Tigers are next in action at 9 a.m. Saturday when they host Lakes.
The defending Class 3A champion Panthers have six wrestlers ranked 10th in the state or higher. Hahn said, however, the work the team faces has just started.
“We’re just beginning. We’re getting the team together from football and injuries and settling on a lineup,” he said.
Glenbard North hosts Hononegah, Waubonsie Valley and Prospect at 10 a.m. Saturday.