Warren stays sky-high, wins quad
Less than 12 hours after spending time in some emotional stratosphere following a memorable victory over long-time North Suburban Conference wrestling rival Libertyville in a key divisional dual, the Warren wrestling club came back to earth and landed in its home gym at the Almond Campus in Gurnee on Saturday morning to host a trio of visitors in the last quad of the regular season.
Although concerned that his athletes might have trouble finding their pace after defeating Libertyville to take control of the Lake Division race, it turns out Blue Devils coach Jim Ouimette had little to worry about. Warren cruised past Glenbrook North, Rolling Meadows and Huntley to go 3-0, bringing its overall record to a sparkling 18-2 with Zion-Benton and Stevenson standing in its way as Warren looks to secure its first Lake title since 2006.
“It was a real emotional roller-coaster last night at Libertyville, which is such a storied program — with an amazing coach with Dale (Eggert) — and on senior night in the biggest dual of the season in the conference for both of us,” said Ouimette, whose team edged the Wildcats 25-22 Friday. “The guys all battled hard on Friday night, and I wasn’t sure what we’d see today, but all in all it was a very good day. Now we begin to prepare for (Zion-Benton) which will be a tough opponent.”
The Blue Devils blew away an undermanned Glenbrook North team which returned just 4 of 8 medal winners from the Central Suburban League tournament a year ago and had several holes in its lineup on Saturday morning. That led to three lop-sided final scores as the Spartans gave each opponent 30 points with forfeits.
After making quick work of the Spartans in its opener (67-9), the Blue Devils kept the pedal down on Rolling Meadows, which one year after sharing the Mid-Suburban East crown with Hersey finds itself at 7-14 this season after a 1-2 effort Saturday.
“We knew we would have our struggles this season because we lost 10 seniors, but we’re so young and except for just a few of us (who) our seniors, we’re starting mostly guys with little or no varsity experience,” said Rolling Meadows senior Aaron Kohlberg, who is 30-1 and well on his way to a second consecutive appearance in Champaign as one of the top 113-pounders in the state.
“We’ve had our share of injuries this season, which isn’t an excuse for our record, but in some cases we’re down to (third-string) guys as the injuries pile up and really test the depth of our roster and program,” said Mustangs coach Dave Froehlich.
Senior co-captain Joe Caprio joined his Kohlberg in the 30-win circle after a trio of impressive victories, including his toughest of the day against Danny Hicks of Warren (14-5) in the Mustangs’ 53-16 loss to the Blue Devils.
“I feel really good about the upcoming MSL tournament, regardless if I go at 160 or 170, but 160 in particular is going to be very competitive with Hunter Rollins (of Hersey), Matt Zabrin (of Buffalo Grove) and (Michael) Lurz (of Barrington) are all there,” said Caprio, a state qualifier two years ago as a sophomore.
The Mustangs’ 37-30 loss to Huntley in the second-round was the best for fans to watch during the day, with the lead swinging back and forth the whole way until Kohlberg’s pin at 1:34 putting his team up one last time at 30-25. Then came a sensational 3-match run by the Red Raiders (11-6), as Jacob O’Neal, Brandon Meyer and JJ Martinez provided a big turnaround for coach BJ Bertelsman.
“Our guys at the lower weights, beginning with Zach (Stenger, at 103), along with John Walker (at 138, 23-6) have been the strength of our team thus far, and today, for the most part, they came through with some very good work to get us most of our victories,” said Bertelsman, who was without his top competitor, Josh Symbal (26-2, 20 pins); he was spending the day searching for college scholarship dollars as the state’s fifth-rated 182-pounder prepares to find a new address next fall.
O’Neil and Meyer, both approaching 20 wins on the season, pitched shutouts at 120 and 126 to give the Red Raiders a 1-point lead at 31-30 to set-up a thrilling finish with Martinez facing Richard Stubbing.
Neither wrestler disappointed, with Stubbing racing off to a 5-0 lead only to see Martinez get back even at 5-5 until each competitor traded reversals in a wild second period which ended 7-7.
Tied at 9 in OT, Martinez ended things stylishly with a pin 26 seconds into the extra session.
“Rolling Meadows is a quality program, so beating them was good for us in a lot of ways, as it helped guarantee at least a .500 record (overall) for us,” said Bertelsman. “We lost a tough one (Friday night) to Grayslake Central, and we probably drove 150-plus miles for the two days, so I think it kind of caught up with us a little in our final dual with Warren — which is a pretty impressive wrestling team, if you ask me.
“We’ve usually had nine underclassmen in our lineup, but we’ve been beating teams this year who beat us last year, so we feel that we’re coming around and the future is looking bright as well.”
The Red Raiders have state ranked McHenry on the schedule this week in its conference finale, before hosting the FVC tournament Jan. 27 and 28.
Bertelsman and his coaching partners were quick to praise Warren — and why not, after the Blue Devils won all three duals with an average 45-point scoring difference?
“This team has been pointing toward a season like we’ve had, including our big win at Libertyville, ever since summer camp,” said Warren’s Shakhiem Chapman (27-1), who recorded a pair of lopsided victories wrapped around a received forfeit in the Blue Devils’ triumph over Glenbrook North. “Everyone has been putting in the extra time and commitment that goes along with it, all in order to help put us in the position that we’re in right now.”
The senior, who advanced into the sectionals last season, has a quiet confidence about him but carries a big stick with him on the mat thanks to plenty of work in his offensive attack to help balance out what Ouimette says is a superb defensive side.
“He really didn’t have much of a shot at all last year,” said Ouimette, “and when you get further into the postseason, you cannot rely just on defense. Shakhiem became well aware of that and really went to work to improve that part of his game.”
Chapman’s lone defeat of the season is to defending state champ and nationally ranked Brad Johnson of Lockport (14-6) during the Lake Park Invite final.
“I started strong against Brad in the first period, (I) rolled him and got (2 points) and almost put him to his back, and I think I kind of surprised in doing so,” said Chapman, “but he’s a great wrestler, and he came back to get the win. But I know that I can compete on that level with the best.”
The Blue Devils captain was among several who went undefeated on the day, including Aaron Brewton (152) as well as TJ Kuhn (126) and Blake Howard, who were all part of a pin-frenzied sequence during each dual that saw the Blue Devils take command.
“I’ve got to say that TJ and Blake have each been terrific since the Berman just after the holiday break, which has really helped solidify our middle weights going forward,” said Ouimette.