It’s Grant, in another a thriller

The Class 3A Libertyville wrestling regional was an instant replay of the North Suburban Conference meet — but somehow with even more drama and excitement than a week ago.

After winning the NSC meet over Libertyville by 11.5 points, Grant found itself trailing the host Wildcats 174.5 to 170 with two weight classes left in Saturday’s nine-team regional tournament.

But a huge pin by fifth-ranked Quinton Quarles (33-3) at 220 gave the Bulldogs a 176-174.5 lead to set the stage for a winner-take-all match for the regional crown at 285.

Grant’s Dan Haeffele and Libertyville’s Chris McDermand had split two matches this season. Haeffele built a 3-1 lead before adding a late takedown for a 5-1 decision and a Bulldogs regional championship, with Grant prevailing 180-174.5.

The top three finishers in each weight class advance to the Class 3A Barrington individual sectional next weekend while Grant will compete in the Class 3A team sectional Feb. 21 at a site to be determined.

“I knew our team needed it and I lost to this kid last week, so this was a thing of vengeance for me too,” said Haeffele (33-11). “Those bonus points were the key today and I see our team going really far.”

Grant has a total of nine wrestlers advancing to the sectional as Nick Kramer (31-11 at 106) and fifth-ranked Ben Soumar (36-4 at 120) also brought home individual titles.

The Bulldogs received second-place finishes from Charles Williams (160), Tony Cashmore (170), and Jonathan Wells (182). Grant’s Devin Monroy (138), and Ryan Flores (195) advanced with third-place medals.

“Coming in knowing we were going to be without Noah Drabek (113) was a big blow, but the guys stepped up and we pulled it off,” said Grant coach Ryan Geist following the nerve-wracking meet. “Charles Williams made it to the finals, (Ryan) Volpe got points that we needed taking fourth, and I don’t know where we would be without Wells on the team.”

Libertyville’s heart-breaking loss saw a lot of guts and effort turned in starting with 145-pound champion Austin Pettinato (33-9), who fell behind 3-0 early only to come back with a 6-4 overtime win on an injured ankle.

“It was a great regional and our guys did well,” said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. “Pettinato’s match was great being down 3-0 and finding a way to win the match was unbelievable.”

Sophomore Steve Polakowski (30-7) continued to shine for the Wildcats with a first-place at 113 while sophomore teammate Kayne MacCallum outlasted Warren’s Aaron Brewton 2-1 in overtime for the 145-pound crown.

Sal Ayala toppled Williams 13-11 in a wild finals match at 160 to give Libertyville a 174.5 to 167 lead over Grant at that point of the meet.

Libertyville’s Pat Fitzgerald (32-10) dropped a brutal 4-2 overtime decision to Soumar at 120 while teammates Charlie Meyer (132), Kevin Barbian (220), and McDermand added third-place medals.

Austin Koziol advanced for the Wildcats with a tough 6-5 decision over Mundelein’s Javier Dominguez in the 170-pound third-place bout.

“We won three in a row from 145 to 160 to keep us in the meet,” added Eggert. “But like last week, Grant had too much in the top weights for us.”

While Grant and Libertyville dominated the meet, Warren placed fourth with 111.5 points followed by Mundelein (86 points) in sixth.

The Blue Devils had five wrestlers advance, including fourth-ranked Shakheim Chapman (35-2) with a pin at 195. Warren’s Danny Hicks (30-7) was the 170-pound champ.

Warren teammates Brewton and Israel Santiago (126) took runner-up honors while 285-pounder Justin Zybinski advanced with a third.

“We had a pretty good day and I was glad to see Shakheim (Chapman) and Danny (Hicks) both win regionals,” said Warren coach Jim Ouimette. “Shakheim is turning it on lately and today he did a really good job getting a pin in the finals.”

No. 1-ranked Mundelein senior Matt Ornoff (37-0) continued to roll through his undefeated season with a 7-0 drubbing of McHenry’s Wade Lardy in the 138-pound finals.

The Mustangs got third-place finishes from Dan Winberg (over Warren’s Blake Howard) at 132, and Jake Long (over Volpe) at 152.

“We had seven kids who were wrestling for a medal and Spencer Ward won three matches today,” said Mundelein coach Tom Buenik. “Matt (Ornoff) lost to Lardy 1-0 last year and this year he beat him 7-0 so he wrestled really well here today.”

Round Lake’s Danny Arteaga (29-7) advanced to sectionals with a third at 113.