Hersey’s Bugay bears down at Berman
Conrad Bugay was just one step away from winning one of the biggest prizes of the wrestling season when he finished second at the prestigious Dvorak Invitational last week.
Fresh off his sensational effort in the 132-pound field, Bugay earned the No. 2 seed Tuesday morning as the 57th annual Berman Holiday Classic opened at Palatine High School. And after crushing his first-round opponent, the Hersey senior earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Tom Ward of Hinsdale Central to earn a spot in today’s 11 a.m. semifinals after day No. 2 begins with consolation quarterfinals at 9:30. Finals are scheduled for 3 p.m.
The Huskies’ big three of Bugay, Stephfon Scales (126) and Hunter Rollins (160) remain alive in the championship bracket. Others in championship contention include the dynamic duos of Isaih Vela and Nick Ruffino of St. Charles East, as well as Mike Gussarson and George Gonzalez from Antioch.
Hinsdale Central leads the 27-team field with 98 overall points, 6.5 points ahead of 3A power Lincoln-Way Central, with Lemont (87), St. Charles East (86) and Downers Grove North (82.5) rounding out the top five. Warren (77) and Glenbard East (70) are 9th and 10th, respectively.
“We’re really a young team this year, but things are very different in the room because of Nick (Blackshaw) and coach (Al) Zinke,” said Bugay (16-2), who faces Austin Graham (16-3) of Metea Valley Wednesday morning in his 132-pound semifinal. “Nick was a two-time state medalist and state champion, and he is just fantastic to have around because he can relate with all of us. And coach Zinke (former long-time Dundee-Crown coach) has seen it all, and that experience gives us a great advantage.”
Bugay says the biggest difference for him is his mental edge.
“Last year I did just what I needed to in order to win — but this year it’s all different for me, and I’ve now become more consistent, and a six-minute wrestler,” said Bugay, who won 36 matches year but was unable to get out of the Barrington sectional.
If successful in his semifinal, Bugay could face the top seed, Vela (18-1), who got past Oswego’s Frank Yattoni 10-7 in his quarterfinal.
Ruffino (18-3), who was second here a year ago, has his sights firmly set on the 132-pound title, and after a short visit on the mat in his quarterfinal, the Saints star booked his place in the semis against Jake McCabe (12-3) of Leyden, who defeated Class 2A state-ranked Glen Malecki of Lemont 6-3.
“I would have liked to wrestle six minutes to help me lose some weight, but my opponent (Mike Morales of Antioch) was injured and I only got about 50 seconds or so before it was called,” said Ruffino, who hopes to wrestle next fall at Nebraska, where he would join 2010 state medalist and former teammate and workout partner Brandon Rubino.
“The only way of thinking for me this year is to win it all in Champaign,” said Ruffino, who went 1-1 there last February.
“I’ve had a bunch of injuries during my career, but I am not going to let anything get in my way this year. This is my last chance, and I am going to give it everything that I have.”
Morales’ Antioch teammates, Gussarson (19-2) and Gonzalez (12-1), are both returning state qualifiers for coach Wilbur Borrero. And both were impressive in their matches, the Gussarson at 126 and Gonzalez at 145, to help keep themselves in the championship bracket.
Gussarson, who won 30 bouts last season and is ranked 8th in state polls, faces Vela this morning. Gonzalez, a senior who placed fourth at state last season, takes on Metea Valley’s Eddie Gonzalez.
“George is now certified at both 145 and 152, but we’ll see how things shake down as the season progresses before he settles in at the weight he’ll compete at in the postseason,” said Borrero. “He wrestled two very good matches, very sharp, but I am anxious to see him open things up so we see all of his wonderful talent and skills come together.”
The 1-2 punch of Lake Park’s Blake Santi (20-2) and Farai Sewera (160, 18-1) continued to shine. Especially Sewera, the top seed in his weight class, who sure looked like it in an opening-round pin at 3:02, followed by an dominant performance in an 11-0 shutout over Brendan Dichman of Lincoln-Way Central.
“Farai is such a hard worker, and after his loss to 6-4 loss to (Shaun’Qae) McMurtry (No. 1 in the state, and Dvorak champion) for the title at our Lake Park tournament, he found out he could compete with the best, and he’s wrestled like it ever since,” said Lancers coach Todd Raymond.
Santi, a senior, is part of a star-studded cast at 138 pounds, the best weight division of the tournament with the remaining semifinalists boasting a stunning 79-3 overall record. They’re led by Kyle Langenderfer (Lincoln-Way East), ranked No. 5 by Illinois Best Weekly. Santi will face Steve Gallardo, a junior from St. Patrick with a record of 22-0.
The host Pirates standout of the day was senior Javier Rivera (15-3), who outlasted Craig Mason of Warren 7-4 in OT to remain alive in the championship round this morning at 113 pounds.
“That was a big confidence-boosting win for Javier,” said Palatine coach Dan Collins. “He’s a great kid who is very coachable and capable of having a very nice run at the end of the season if he can continue to work and improve on some things.”
Collins liked the escape and takedown Rivera recorded in the third extra session to put away his opponent, but the coach would have liked to see the same thing early on when he opened the match on the attack, only to slowly see his lead disappear until Mason drew even at 4 with 30 seconds remaining in regulation.
Next up for Riviera is No. 1 seed Angelo San Juan (16-0) of Glenbard East, who made things look easy after consecutive major decision victories.
The East senior, who was runner-up here last year at 112 pounds, was one match away from placing at Champaign last February, after going 37-9 overall.