Rollins leads Hersey at Barrington

When former long-time Dundee-Crown head coach and current Hersey assistant Al Zinke says Hunter Rollins is one of the hardest workers he’s ever been around, well, that certainly says something.

The Huskies junior was superb over two days of competiton at the Barrington sectional, including a commanding performance in his final with conference rival Matt Zabrin (37-2) of Buffalo Grove on the way to capturing his second consecutive sectional title.

“Hunter is just a worker — he works like no other person in our room, and I’ve seen a lot, and had a lot of wrestlers in my days, and he is easily right there at the top for his work ethic,” said Zinke, who after retiring at D-C moved over to join coach Jim Wormsley’s staff at Hersey.

“I’ve been lucky to be around guys like Jeff (Koepke) and Demetrios (Mitchell),” said Rollins, “who were both two-time state medalists and famous for the way they worked, and now I have (Zinke) and Nick Blackshaw working me so hard. That’s really what it is all about for me, and I feel all of that extra work is about ready to pay off.”

Rollins defeated Zabrin for the second time in three weeks in a championship match to join state-bound teammates Steph’fon Scales (120, 36-5), Conrad Bugay (132, 33-7) and upstart Deon Rice (18-13), who worked his way back through the consolation bracket to advance out of the 195-pound division.

Rollins, Scales and Wheeling heavyweight Igor Romanowski were the lone competitors from the Mid-Suburban League to win championships. MSL and regional champion Barrington suffered through a rough afternoon session which saw most of its upper-weight stars fail to advance, and the Broncos’ Adrian Gonzalez (106) and Jared Parvinmehr (113) missed out on the titles they were chasing.

The area will still send 19 packing for Champaign this Thursday.

MSL schools dominated the brackets at 132 and 285, grabbing 3 of the 4 qualifying spots available.

Scales (36-5) was magnificent in his run to a first sectional crown, defeating talented Grant senior Ben Soumar 4-2 in the semifinals before making sure of things against Zac Denny (27-5) of Harlem in a 7-4 decision.

“Zinke and Blackshaw never let me rest, but because of (that) I am heading downstate for the third time, and with my first sectional championship,” smiled Scales, who has 155 career victories and is looking to win his first state medal after twice being one match away from placing.

It was the third of three matches against the frosh phenom from Cary-Grove, Mike Cullen (40-2), that posed problems for Gonzalez (33-3). He fell behind early 4-1, and was unable to turn the budding star in the waning moments. Cullen avenged a 4-3 defeat one week ago in the Stevenson regional final.

Gonzalez’s teammate Parvinmehr (33-3) never found his pace against Jordan Northrup, and it was all one-way traffic for the Harlem junior who recorded a 7-0 shutout.

Jordan Rathje (Buffalo Grove, 34-4), after defeating Barrington’s Coord Wiseman (34-9) 1-0 for the second straight week, was unable to stop Lenny Bloom (38-1). The Deerfield senior ended the title hopes of the Bison senior for the second straight week, this time 7-4 to capture a second postseason tournament in a row at the expense of Rathje. Rathje did earn a return to Champaign once again despite the loss at 145 pounds.

Wiseman later earned his first trip to state by winning two straight, including a third-place triumph over freshman Tyler Demoss of Hononegah.

“Obviously that wasn’t the easiest and best way to advance, but I am through, and that’s what is most important right now,” said Wiseman.

Barrington wrestlers advancing were Kevin Conrad (126, 31-10), Broncos captain Cameron Thomson (37-2) and Ben Calamari (285, 33-6). MSL and regional champ Ryan Wilt suffered an injury in his state qualifying bout with Rice and could not continue; the senior saw his individual regular season end at 29-9.

Ronnie Hauser (Fremd), Brian Egan (Buffalo Grove) and Bugay made it a tough road at 132 pounds.

Hauser (33-7) enjoyed the greatest success in the star-studded weight, which had eight wrestlers with 30 or more victories.

The Vikings senior was wonderful in his 8-1 defeat of Egan in the semifinals, and later in the final with Zion-Benton star Abel Rios (31-1). A takedown just 11 seconds into the first extra session sent Hauser to defeat, but he was still able to celebrate his second trip downstate.

“The great thing about Ronnie going to the tournament (again) is to have watched and coached him since he was 8 years old, and now turning into a great kid who did a great job during the postseason to get back downstate,” said Fremd coach Ralph Cortez.

Egan will be joining his MSL rivals (including Bugay) for the first time after coming back through wrestlebacks to earn his place in the tournament field after edging Cary-Grove junior Mike Underwood (3-2) in his qualifying bout.

“Everybody has wrestled each other in this group two to three times already this season,” said BG coach Dave Durlacher. “Brian was able to survive a really competitive weight class to get himself downstate, and he really deserved getting down there with all the hard work and improvement over the past year.”

Prospect will need an extra large van to take its three big men to Champaign, after Jon Bilancia (195, 30-15), Max Triveline (220, 36-7) and Shola George (285, 37-10) advanced to the tournament, each for the first time in their careers.

Triveline fell to No. 2-rated Artie Bess (Deerfield, 36-1) in the finals but truly deserved his place in the state field with two impressive prior victories.

“It just feels great to get downstate after falling short last year,” said the senior, who went 0-2 one year ago on these same mats.

George, who was a sparring partner for 2011 state qualifier Terry Thomas, came back through wrestlebacks to earn his place on the team bus south after his 5-1 decision over Jared Carlton of Harlem.

“One of my goals was to get downstate, and it’s kind of hard to believe it happened today,” the junior said.

Another 2011 state qualifier, senior Eddie Scanlon of Wheeling, walked the tightrope throughout his second day before finally earning his second trip to Champaign at 171 pounds.

Scanlon (34-7) found himself in early trouble in both of his wrestleback matches with Chance Shea (Lake Forest) and Mike Etchingham of Prospect, before pinning both. The second, against Etchingham, sent Scanlon into the state field; he later fell 12-8 to Thomson in the third-place match.

“It’s good getting Eddie downstate again, because once you’re there, regardless of where you finish (in the sectional), anything can happen,” said Wheeling assistant J.P. Akouri.

Romanowski (31-3) defeated Grant junior Dan Haeffle (35-12) in his final 5-3 to give the senior his second straight championship belt in as many weeks.