Grant wins North Suburban meet
The 2012 North Suburban Conference wrestling meet quickly became a two-team battle Saturday at Libertyville.
Heading into the final round, Grant held a 195.5 to 193 lead over the host Wildcats only to see Libertyville gain a 213 to 205.5 advantage after the first eight weight classes.
But the upper weights ultimately made the difference for the Bulldogs as they won their eighth NSC championship in 12 years, 224.5 to 213 over the Wildcats.
Antioch surprised everybody with a third-place score of 166.5 points followed by Lake Zurich (147) , Zion-Benton (134), and Stevenson (111). Warren (102.5) struggled to seventh without its full roster in place.
Grant had many heroes to lead the way starting with individual champions Nick Kramer (106), Ben Soumar (32-3 at 120), Tony Cashmore (32-5 at 170), and Quinton Quarles (32-2 at 220).
“It blows my mind for a senior, and it’s my first conference title as an individual so it feels great,” said Soumar. “The rest of the way I’ve got to keep going and the team has to keep working hard to make sure we’re good for the state series.”
In the process, Grant stopped Libertyville from winning four straight NSC crowns as this rivalry continues to heat up over the past decade.
“Our upper weights came on strong and Tony Cashmore lost to that kid (Antioch’s Zach Epker) earlier in the year,” said Grant coach Ryan Geist. “Jonathan Wells (182) didn’t even wrestle earlier in the year and our heavyweight (Dan Haeffele) stepped up and saved us today so it was a team effort.”
Libertyville junior Austin Pettinato (29-9) continued to shine with a first place at 145 while teammate Steve Polakowski won the 113-pound crown with a 3-0 decision over Grant’s Noah Drabek.
“We’re a young team and we’ve got a lot of improvement to go so we’re just going to get better from here,” said Pettinato. “I’m pretty happy with my season and I’ve come a long way since taking fifth in the conference last year.”
The Wildcats had four second-place finishes including Pat Fitzgerald, who was upset 7-4 by Antioch’s Mike Gussarson at 126. Charlie Meyer placed second for the Cats at 132, as did Kevin Barbian at 220 and Chris McDermand at 285.
“We gave them (Grant) a good run for their money and we’re real happy with our performance,” said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert, who celebrated a birthday Saturday. “We really picked it up today from where we were last night and a couple of my third-place guys really did the job.”
Besides Gussarson, Zach Freundt was also a champion for the Sequoits with a 15-4 major decision over Stevenson’s Ned Valchev at 182.
Antioch’s George Gonzalez was upset 3-1 in overtime by Stevenson’s Justin Weber while teammate Zach Epker also missed out on back-to-back NSC titles with an 8-4 loss to Cashmore at 170.
“We did alright, and we’re happy right now,” said Antioch coach Wilbur Borrero. “We had some kids who did not do as well as we thought, but other kids did better than we thought so we just have to put it all together.”
Weber has really emerged for the Patriots this winter while teammate Mark Jolcover (106) added a second-place finish.
“It was a huge win for (Weber) and he’s sacrificed a ton,” said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. “He decided not to play varsity football to focus on wrestling and the time he’s put into the sport has obviously paid off.”
Scott Hoff won the 160-pound title for Lake Zurich, but teammate Sean Lynch had to default his third-place bout at 138 due to an ankle injury.
“I’m proud of my guys,” said Lake Zurich coach Dan Strickler. “Some guys didn’t place where they were seeded and other guys placed better than they were seeded.”
One wrestler who continues to live up to his hype is Mundelein senior Matt Ornoff (32-0), who rolled to the 138-pound title with an 8-3 decision over Grant’s Devin Monroy.
“It was a nice tournament for him. He’s still undefeated, and he still has some things to work on,” said Mundelein coach Tom Buenik. “He’s been wrestling well, he’s doing his things, and nobody scored a point on him in the tournament other than escapes.”
Shakheim Chapman was Warren’s lone champion with a 3-1 decision over Wauconda’s Nate Magiera at 195.
Wauconda’s Devin Tortorice lost his bid for back-to-back titles as Soumar toppled him 3-0 at 120.
Vernon Hills 285-pounder Jeremy Brazil (35-1) was the only wrestler to record back-to-back NSC crowns with a pin over McDermand in the finals.
Grant got thirds from Wells at 182, Ryan Flores at 195, and Haeffele at 285. The Wildcats got thirds from Kyle May (120), Josh Hirth (138), Kayne MacCallum (152), and Sal Ayala (160).
Round Lake got thirds from Danny Arteaga at 113 and Adrian Real at 145 while Stevenson’s Mikey Kuhn placed third at 220. Mundelein’s Dan Winberg placed third at 132.