Barrington takes charge on Day 1
The tried and the tested delivered for tournament favorite Barrington on Friday night at the first day of the MSL wrestling championships at Elk Grove.
The Broncos sent 11 of their 14 weights through to today’s 10:45 a.m. semifinals and left the gym Friday with 106 total points, nearly 50 more than Conant and Prospect, who are tied for second at 57 points with Schaumburg just a tick ahead of MSL East division champ Buffalo Grove 56.0-52.5.
Consolation round wrestlebacks will officially begin day No. 2 at 9:30 a.m., with a 3 p.m. scheduled start for first- through fifth-place matches.
“I really felt we could have wrestled back at a couple of spots in our lineup — but then again, it always feels good to get the first day of the tournament out of the way and to get rid of all the nervous energy before getting back to the business of getting as many as we can into the finals and winning the conference tournament,” said Broncos coach Ken Hoving.
When the Broncos did win in the quarterfinals, they won big. Barrington recorded 9 technical falls or pins in its 11 victories, earning valuable bonus points.
Hoving praised Nick and Mark Shealy for their season-long ability to keep the pressure on their opponents. That includes Friday night, as Nick (152, 22-10) and Mark (182, 27-4) registered impressive pins at 152 and 182 to help validate their No. 1 seeds.
“Both of those guys lead the team in bonus points — far and away — and they’ve really wrestled tough when they’ve had to,” said Hoving.
Nick, a senior, takes on No. 4 Leo Giordano (Wheeling, 24-7) in the semis, while Mark will be opposite another Wildcat, Sam Rosengarden (17-12). Rosengarden bumped off No. 4 seed Matt Stopka (Schaumburg, 22-6) in the quarterfinals 5-3.
At heavyweight, Wheeling’s Igor Romanowski (25-2) needed little time to dispatch Eddie Haro of Buffalo Grove, pinning the Bison senior in 1:33 to book a spot in the semis against Jordan Diaz (Rolling Meadows, 20-8). Diaz fought off a late charge by Junior Castillo (Hoffman Estates, 13-9) 16-9 to stay alive in the championship bracket.
Romanowski, rated No. 4 in the state at 285 pounds in recent state polls, was anointed the top seed in a terrific heavyweight field, including Ben Calamari (Barrington, 27-5), Shola George (Prospect, 28-6) and Diaz, who combined for 100 victories this season.
“It was my first season on the varsity last year,” said Romanowski, “and there was a period of adjustment for me almost the entire year. But I worked hard during the off-season in every facet, and I am planning on meeting my goal of climbing onto the podium in Champaign next month.”
In one of the most competitive divisions, 132 pounds, the top four seeds all made quick work of their rivals, setting up an exciting semifinal round. No. 1 Ronnie Hauser (Fremd, 26-4), to make it two MSL titles in a row, takes on No. 4 Brian Egan (Buffalo Grove, 24-7). The other side of the bracket features No. 2 Conrad Bugay (Hersey, 26-5) against No. 3 Joe Abu-Bakr (Prospect, 32-5).
“This has to be one of the groups in this tournament from top to bottom,” said Hauser, “but this is my last time here, and I’d like to go out on top.”
After spending the entire regular season at 126 pounds, Hersey senior Stephfon Scales (25-5) moved down to 120 for the postseason, and the two-time state qualifier look ready to go after his technical fall at 5:20 helped send him into the semifinals against Conant’s Zach Davis.
“I broke my arm during the off-season and got up to 143 pounds, but I’ve been cutting (weight) to get down to (20) and feel really quick and strong this weekend,” said Scales, who won last year at 119 pounds.
A quick look around the brackets saw the No. 1 rated 220-pounder Josh Marchok (Schaumburg, 32-0) cruise easily in the semifinals, as did the Barrington duo of Adrian Gonzalez (106, 28-1) and Jared Parvinmehr (113, 26-2). Others advancing without trouble included 2011 state qualifiers Aaron Kohlberg (Rolling Meadows, 32-1), Jordan Rathje (Buffalo Grove, 145, 27-2) and Hersey junior Hunter Rollins (29-3). Rollins is part of an elite group at 160 pounds which includes Matt Zabrin (Buffalo Grove, 31-0) and Michael Lurz (Barrington, 21-6).