Wheeling, Carmel send four to Erb semifinals
The going was pretty tough for area wrestlers Friday night in the opening day of the 51st Annual Rus Erb Tournament at Glenbrook South.
Heading into the semifinals which begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Metea Valley has established itself as the early favorites to capture the championship of the rugged 17-team tourney. The Mustangs lead with 82 points while Oswego is in second place with 68.
Wheeling put together a good first day with four semifinalists for fourth place currently (56 points) while fifth-place Evanston (54 points) is right on the Wildcats' heels.
Carmel Catholic also had a good first day, with four wrestlers reaching the semifinals, but the Corsairs are only in eighth place right now with 46 points due to a lack of depth up and down their lineup.
After winning the Erb tourney last year, Grant is not competing at Glenbrook South this season as the Bulldogs headed north to compete in "The Clash" tournament in Rochester, Minn.
Wheeling junior Tulga Zuunbayan (22-0) continues to be an individual to watch closely as he pinned his opponent in the 152-pound quarterfinals in 2:36 to remain undefeated in the young season.
Zuunbayan will face a tough challenge in Evanston senior Malik Pratt (16-0) in the semifinals, with the winner of that match destined to face top-ranked Class 2A wrestler Jose Champagne of Marian Catholic for the championship.
The Wildcats also had 145-pound sophomore Jalen Shaw reach the semifinals, and he will face top-seeded Kenan Carter of Metea Valley in the semifinals.
Wheeling's other semifinalists were 220-pound sophomore Zach Yfantis, who will battle Oswego sophomore Kevin Alvarez, and 285-pound senior Juan Hernandez (19-2) who posted a 3-0 decision in the quarterfinals. Hernandez will take on DeLaSalle sophomore Solomon Smith in the semifinals.
"We lost some matches that we should have won so we had kind of a subpar round," said Wheeling coach Neal Weiner. "The four guys that are in the semifinals wrestled well today and we'll just come back tomorrow and compete. It's all about just getting better and improving every day."
Carmel Catholic showed some great swagger in the first day of the meet starting with 132-pound junior Kenny Barber (8-2) recording a pin (2:27) in the quarterfinals to set up a semifinal bout against DeLaSalle's Robert Zebrauskas.
At 138, Corsairs' sophomore Bobby Pryhocki (12-3) will face top-seeded Evanston senior Ben Morton in the semifinals while 145-pound senior teammate Anthony Swindell (1-0) got a pin (2:20) to meet DeLaSalle's Devin Michicich in the semifinals.
Then at 160, Carmel junior Nathaniel Morris earned a berth to the semifinals against Marian Catholic sophomore Kordell Norfleet.
The Corsairs still have high hopes for junior Mike Tortorice (9-1) at 120, and senior Brodie Palm (13-2) at 126. Barber and Swindell reached state last year while Palm went to state in 2013.
"We only brought nine guys so to get four into the semifinals is pretty good and we should have won (quarterfinal) overtime bouts at 106 and 120, but we'll learn from that," said Carmel Catholic coach Bob Kuykendall. "I'm hoping those (four) guys can get into the finals and the guys who have wrestlebacks can get back into the winning frame of mind."
Wauconda's lineup has been decimated by injuries and illness lately as the Bulldogs were forced to forfeit seven matches in a dual meet Thursday night against visiting Stevenson.
Wauconda did manage to get one wrestler into the semifinals Saturday as 160-pound senior Steve Ciolek (17-4) recorded a pin in 1:53 to advance against top-seeded Izzy Fox of Evanston in that match.
"I think he (Ciolek) went out and wrestled well and he has been able to get a lot of pins," said Wauconda assistant coach Bob Kenison. "I think we'll be stronger after Christmas break when some of our guys are able to heal up and get some practices in."
Buffalo Grove also got a wrestler into the semifinals as 195-pound sophomore Sam Haro (9-5) recorded a pin in 2:27 in the quarterfinals. Haro will challenge Loyola senior Joe Scheidt (12-3) Saturday morning.
"He (Haro) is a hard-working kid, he's been wrestling for a long time, and he has a motor that just doesn't stop," said first-year Buffalo Grove coach Jeff Vlk. "We lost a few tough matches in the first round and right now we just have to get our kids more mentally tough."