Fremd’s Hauser stuns top seed
The combatants in the 132-pound weight class are a talented, veteran bunch, and they are at their most fascinating when they have a point to prove.
Take Fremd senior Ronnie Hauser. Two weeks ago, the two-time state qualifier lost to Brian Egan of Buffalo Grove during the Mid-Suburban League semifinals. Last week, he fell to Conrad Bugay of Hersey 4-3 in the finals of the Glenbrook South regional.
On Friday night, on the first day of the Barrington Class 3A sectionals, Hauser stunned one of the top seeds, Jake Baxter (Machesney Park Harlem, 38-4) in overtime to earn another shot at Egan (29-8) in today’s semifinals.
Bugay (32-5) takes on the superb junior from Zion-Benton, Abel Rios (29-1), in what promises to be a thrill-a-minute feature, one of many which begin today at 9:30 a.m., with a spot, not only in the finals, but in the 12-man state tournament field all at stake.
Hauser and his rivals will take the mats just after the 9 a.m. first-round wrestle-backs are completed, where its high anxiety for those forced into the consolation bracket, knowing another loss there ends the season abruptly.
State qualifier matches will begin around 1 p.m., which will be followed at 2:30 by the championship and third-place bouts.
Hauser opened his tournament with a fall at 3:11 over Julius Smith of Barrington, setting up a barn-burner with Baxter, who arrived here already with a NIC-10 and regional title.
With Baxter leading 6-3 with 90 seconds left in regulation, Hauser fired back with a 5-point explosion to go up 8-7, before it became 8-8 with an escape.
Hauser wasted little time in the extra session, putting away his opponent with a take-down, which was followed by a fist in the air from the four-year star.
“I felt him tiring in the third period, and I really feel my conditioning made the difference in that match,” Hauser said. “Now I have that rematch with Brian (Egan) that I’ve been wanting.”
Bugay edged Mike Underwood of Cary-Grove 3-2, and Egan upended another MSL star, Prospect’s Joe Abu-Bakr (37-9), 7-4 to help keep the junior in the championship bracket.
Egan’s teammate, Jordan Rathje (145, 33-3) turned in back-to-back strong efforts to set-up a second straight match with Coord Wiseman (Barrington, 32-8), whom he defeated 1-0 in the semifinals of the Stevenson regional.
Wiseman is one of seven Broncos still alive in the championship bracket, and vying for bus tickets downstate, including the 1-2 punch of Adrian Gonzalez (32-2) and Jared Parvinmehr (32-2), who each turned in commanding performances to advance.
Stephon Scales (31-5) looked unstoppable at 120 for Hersey, and will face Grant senior Ben Soumar (36-4) this morning. Junior Hunter Rollins (160, 35-3) started brightly, but then had to fight off a valiant effort from Michael Lurz (Barrington) in order to record a 11-6 win in the quarterfinals.
Rollins appears on course to meet conference rival Matt Zabrin (36-1) in the final after the Bison senior impressed with a 13-5 major decision.
Prospect’s big men continued to shine, particularly Mike Etchingham, who surprised one of the top four seeds, Sean Jones 5-4 in overtime.
Aggressive from the start, and wrestling with plenty of pace and energy, the Knights’ senior recorded the game-winner when Jones was rightly called for a stall, and one-point penalty moments into the first extra session, sending Etchingham into the semifinals against NSC champ, Danny Hicks (31-7) from Warren.
“I pushed the pace all throughout that match, and it finally paid off in the end. I’ve lost some matches that I shouldn’t have this season, but this is (one) that I felt like I deserved to win,” said Etchingham, who with this victory has 30 on the year, an impressive turnaround after his 13-win last winter.
Wheeling captain Eddie Scanlon (31-6) will be forced to wrestleback into contention for his second trip downstate after the senior was stunned with a quick fall from Grant senior Tony Cashmore (36-6) at 170 pounds.