Scouting the MSL, ESCC tournaments

By Mike Garofola

Daily Herald Correspondent

Mid-Suburban League

When: Friday at 5 p.m.; Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with finals at 3 p.m.

Where: Elk Grove

2011-12 division champions: Buffalo Grove (East); Barrington (West)

Defending MSL champion: Barrington

Storyline: Barrington (15-2-0) dominated the league during the regular season with such a ferocity, many times defeating its MSL opponents by 40 points on more en route to its second consecutive division title, to easily be anointed the favorite to capture the team trophy after doing so by nearly 90 points over its closest rivals last season. Complacent this club will not be as its superb depth, and indvidual stars won’t allow such a thing to occur.

“If there is such a thing as a good loss, our loss to Glenbard North (37-15) at the Neuqua Valley mega-duals was exactly the wake-up call this team needed before the post-season,” said Broncos first-year coach Ken Hoving with the news didn’t exactly want to hear on the eve of the tournament. “This is a great group of kids that we have, and their work ethic has been outstanding, but you have to remember that we have several guys in their first (full) year with the varsity, and although they all had a great deal of success up until our dual with Glenbard North, many of them didn’t know what it was like to compete in a high-level dual with a wrestling power like (them). They all know (now) and I believe they’ll be ready from here on out.”

When this weekend is over, the Broncos will have 12 of their 14 regulars reach 20 wins or more and two others will reach 30, as the state’s No. 7 rated team in Class 3A looks to put the competition in its rear-view mirror after the first day.

“On paper, Barrington is simply unbeatable,” begins BG coach Dave Durlacher, who led his team to the MSL East title for the first time since 2002. “If we’re healthy this weekend, I see us competing for the next (trophy) tier along with Conant, Schaumburg, Prospect and Hersey, and hopefully, earn 10 place-winners, which is what you need to do in such a strong and well-balanced conference like ours.”

Last season here, Buffalo Grove and Conant finished near the bottom of the table, only to come alive this season and make a mark on the rest of the area.

Weight watching:

160 — Hunter Rollins (Hersey, 28-3), Matt Zabrin (Buffalo Grove, 30-0), Michael Lurz (Barrington, 19-6), Matt Stephens (Schaumburg, 19-8). On a scale of 1 to 10, this group is an 11 or 12 — especially if Rolling Meadows senior Joe Caprio (31-1) decides to drop from 170 to join the party, which would, then have, four of the top 10 rated wrestlers. Since finishing second at the Berman just before the New Year, Rollins is 10-0, while Zabrin has already exceeded his win total of a year ago, while remaining undefeated as well. Lurz, who won the Moore-Prettyman and Dick Mudge, dropped a 5-2 decision to Rollins earlier.

132 — Conrad Bugay (Hersey, 25-5), Joe Abu-Bakr (Prospect, 31-5), Ronnie Hauser (Fremd, 25-3), Brian Egan (Buffalo Grove, 23-7), Alex Mertes (Elk Grove, 19-10). Recent developments in league play of late makes this a toss-up, with each in the upper level of this class all having a chance to grab the elusive championship ring. Abu-Bakr beat Bugay last week (3-1) and Egan (in OT) earlier, but lost to Hauser (3-2) at the Mudge. Mertes, who was a state qualifier last season, has lost to Abu-Bakr, Hauser and Egan, and Hauser is a returning MSL champ. Not to forget Mertes is a 2011 state qualifier who is coming on of late with a 7-1 record in his last 8 bouts.

285 — Igor Romonowski (Wheeling, 24-2), Ben Calamari (Barrington, 25-5), Shola George (Prospect, 27-6), Jordan Diaz (Rolling Meadows, 19-8). Talk about a bunch of guys who came out of nowhere this season. Terrific story on each of the top three, who each built marvelous records at the heavyweight position. Calamari was the sparring partner for 2011 state medalist (Aaron Castagna), while George did the same behind state qualifier Terry Thomas. Romonowski is a returning sectional qualifier, but the Wildcats’ senior has distinguished himself in his second year as he enters as the highest rated (No. 4) man in this field.

145 — Jordan Rathje (Buffalo Grove, 26-2), Coord Wiseman (Barrington, 24-6), Travis Sylvester (Conant, 26-6). These top three could all be involved in state qualifier matches in three weeks, because they are that good, but the first order of business is MSL hardware. Sylvester, who has won 16 straight, including the Leyden Invite title, lost a hard-fought 4-2 decision to Wiseman, who has been one of the best stories of many for the favored Broncos this winter and is the highest rated (No. 9) of the bunch. Rathje, a 2011 state qualifier, defeated the top-rated 2A 145-pounder from Sycamore (Steve Lalowski) 7-2 to validate his lofty status this season.

Must see viewing:

At 220, Schaumburg senior Josh Marchok is not only 31-0, but a defending MSL champ and reigning state champ. The Stanford-bound three-year star enters the weekend with a dazzling 141-14 career record, 25 pins on the year, and a recent selection to represent the U.S. All-Star Team in the prestigious Dapper Dan Classic in Pittsburgh in March. Oh, and by the way, he is the clear favorite to win it all in four weeks downstate.

Bonus footage:

At 113, Aaron Kohlberg (Rolling Meadows, 31-1) vs. Jared Parvinmehr (Barrington). With all due respect to the rest of the field in the division, including the talented Javier Rivera of Palatine, these are two of the elite competitors in the state at their weight class. Both have won two tournament titles, and each has lost to Jordan Laster (Montini), No. 4 at 2A this season. Kohlberg, who was a state qualifier last year for the first time, also won his first MSL title, as did Parvinmehr, to help the Broncos capture the team trophy.

East Suburban Catholic

When: 3:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Marian Catholic, Chicago Heights

2011-12 regular-season champion: Marist

Defending champion: Marist

Storyline: Reigning ESCC champ Marist fired the first salvo upon rival Notre Dame when it beat the Dons 37-20 in a recent dual to clinch its third consecutive regular-season crown and a leg up on the rest of the league as it goes for its 20th tournament title in 22 years. The Redhawks are currently the No. 2 rated team in 3A polls (Illinois Best Weekly) while Notre Dame is ranked No. 3 in 2A by the same publication.

Weight Watching:

145 — St. Viator senior Eliot Hilgert (21-8) was third at 135 in 2011, and appears to be the front-runner to win his first conference crown after Lions head coach Jeff Kramarczyk learned that both Steve Galiardo (St. Patrick, 25-2) and Tim Donnelly (Notre Dame) are about to move down to 138 in preparation of their hopeful run into the state tournament in late February. Hilgert’s lone defeats in the ESCC came at the hands of the aforementioned duo.

285 — Carmel big man Jake Cochrane (29-4) also has to be considered the favorite after defeating all challengers in the ESCC this past season. The Corsairs junior is the No. 4 rated heavyweight at 2A heading into the conference tourney, and was runner-up last season as a sophomore.

Bonus footage:

At 220, Tom Howell of Marist is fourth-ranked in 3A and Ryan Walsh of Notre Dame is sixth in 2A.

At 182, Ethan Benoit of Marist was a runnerup at the Dvorak Invite and Kevin Stahmer of Notre Dame is second in 2A. Stahmer beat Benoit last year in an ESCC 3rd-place match.