Barrington wins, but plenty of other surprises

On a day full of surprises, the main question still had the answer everyone was expecting: Barrington became Mid-Suburban League wrestling champion for the second time in as many years.

The Broncos outscored their nearest rival by nearly 100 points at Elk Grove, netting six individual titles and gaining momentum heading into regional competition next weekend at Stevenson.

Junior Ben Calamari (29-5) capped the day for the Broncos when he upended top seed Igor Romanowski of Wheeling in the heavyweight final. That finished a long day the same way it began, when freshman Bobby Alexander of Conant stunned top seed Adrian Gonzalez of Barrington at 106 pounds; Gonzalez entered the tourney as the top-ranked 106-pounder in the state.

The shocker from Alexander (30-6) came after a big crowd was treated to a morning of semifinals which saw top seed and two-time MSL champ Ronnie Hauser of Fremd sent to the backdraw by No. 4 seed Brian Egan of Buffalo Grove.

Another surprise: Previously unbeaten and third-ranked Cameron Thomson out of championship contention after a superb effort from Eddie Scanlon kept the noisy audience on the edge during a six-minute bout that ended in favor for the Wheeling senior.

“It was a day when most everything went well for us, and for that, I am very proud of the effort and result that we got,” said Barrington coach Ken Hoving, whose team totaled 281.5 points. “In a conference like the MSL, which is very good, things are not always going to go your way. But we proved pretty resilient, and now we get back into the room and go to work to get ourselves ready for another really tough day at Stevenson next weekend.”

Schaumburg, behind Josh Marchok’s third consecutive MSL championship, earned a second-place finish in the team race with 186 points, while MSL East champ Buffalo Grove (153.50) grabbed third overall.

Conant, with the brother act of Bobby and Mitch Alexander (145) taking titles, helped the Cougars edge Prospect 136-135 for fourth place.

“Today is more about the team than my accomplishments,” said Marchok (34-0) who spent a toal of just 3:05 on the mats as he pinned his way to the 220-pound title, making light work of a solid field while officially jump-starting his attempt at a second straight state crown. “When I look back to the first weekend of the season and a terrible finish at the Conant tournament — and where we are now — it feels great to be a part of a team that’s come so far, with so many young guys in our lineup. It says a lot about the future of Saxons wrestling and coach (Mike) Levanti.”

Marchok’s 3 pins raise his total to a dazzling 30 in his 34 matches this season.

Levanti was in the Saxons’ corner when the first major upset of the day occured as junior Ivan Gomez (24-12) stuck No. 2 seed and state ranked Aaron Kohlberg (34-2) of Rolling Meadows at 2:40 to jumble the 113-pound bracket and send Gomez into the final against Jared Parvinmehr of the Barrington.

“Once (Gomez) locked him up, I knew he wouldn’t let go,” said Levanti.

Later on, one match after watching his teammate Gonzalez fall to Bobby Alexander in the opener of the afternoon finals, Parvinmehr (28-2) controlled the proceedings from the whistle en route to a technical fall at 5:32 over Gomez.

“It was hard watching (Adrian’s) match — he’s always the guy that goes before me and kind of sets the table for me. So his loss really motivated me. I wanted to pick him up, and the team. But from here on out the work in and out of the room increases, and it’s all about getting downstate and winning it all.”

The Gomez pin of Kohlberg set the tone for closely contested weights in many classes, where the top 4-5 athletes were just a click away from one another in terms of records and skill level.

Such as 132 pounds. After No. 2 seed Conrad Bugay majored Joe Abu-Bakr, Egan (25-8) — an underdog to two-time champ and 2010 state qualfier Hauser — used a thrilling 9-7 win in OT to send the Bison junior into his first MSL final.

“We had watched a lot of tape, and I thought we came in with a good idea of how to wrestle (Hauser), so it felt real good to go out and wrestle the way I did and come away with the win,” said Egan, who fell behind 7-6 in the waning moments of regulation before an escape drew him even to set up a takedown near the edge.

In the final, it was all Bugay (28-5). He joined teammates Stephfon Scales (120, 27-5) and Hunter Rollins (160, 31-3) as Hersey conference champions.

“That’s the way (Bugay) wrestled at the Dvorak when he finished second, but he hasn’t been at that level since then,” said Hersey assistant coach Nick Blackshaw. “If he continues to compete like this from here on out, good things will happen for him in Champaign.”

If the tournament awarded an outstanding wrestler, it probably would have gone to Rollins, who marched through an excellent 16-pound field. In the championship he had a dominant performance against Buffalo Grove senior Matt Zabrin, who had a 32-match unbeaten streak come to an abrupt half when Rollins registered a fall at 4:59.

“I was hoping to wrestle (Zabrin) in our dual a couple of weeks ago, and was disappointed when he bumped up to wrestle at 182 pounds,” said Rollins, now a two-time MSL champ. “But this is the start of a long road to the state tournament, and (Nick) Blackshaw has made a big influence on me, and the way that I train and compete. I feel really ready for what’s ahead of me in the next couple of weeks.”

The 170-pound division was also a thriller. In the semifinals, Scanlon (26-5) decisioned Thomson (31-1) in the waning seconds (6-5) to help keep the fans abuzz after just watching a terrific 3-2 match between Zabrin and Michael Lurz (23-7) in the second of two 160-pound semifinals.

“I kind of sensed (Thomson) was tiring a little bit in that third period, so I tried to push the pace and get my shots (in),” said Scanlon. “But in the end, it was all about wrestling as hard as I could for six minutes.”

Scanlon’s final with Rolling Meadows senior Joe Caprio (34-1) provided more excitement. A wild third period kept even the casual observer glued to the championship mat, with the score in the final minute of regulation teetering back and forth, with Caprio finally drawing even at 11-11 with 15 seconds to go.

Just 6 seconds into OT, Caprio scored a deuce to pull out the victory and his second MSL crown.

“To win a title in a division that has so many state-ranked guys really means something to me,” said Caprio.

“I thought that 4-point (move) may have done in Joe — but he’s sometimes at his best in those types of situations,” said Meadows coach Dave Froehlich. “But I can tell you, Eddie had a great tournament, and really showed what he’s made of as well.”

Barrington’s command in the team race was not threatened. Kevin Conrad (126), Nick Shealy (152), Mark Shealy (182) and Ryan Wilt (195) all collected their championship awards before Calamari (29-5) earned a 4-2 decision over Romanowski (26-3).

Midway through, Buffalo Grove’s Jordan Rathje (29-2) edged Coord Wiseman (Barrington) 3-2 in the 145-pound final; that pairing could be a preview of next weekend’s regional final at Stevenson.

At 106, Conant’s Bobby Alexander reversed Barrington’s Gonzalez to go up 6-4. After absorbing a rough ride from Gonzalez following a reversal, Alexander’s reversal and 2-point near fall put the Conant rookie ahead for good at 11-6.

“What a great way to start the postseason for Bobby,” said Conant coach Chad Hay, who was concerned that 2 points awarded to Gonzalez at the buzzer to end the first period might come back to haunt his young star.