Gritty downstate effort from Schaumburg's Gruszka
CHAMPAIGN - A must-win situation brought out the best in Logan Gruszka.
The four-year Schaumburg veteran pinned one of the best in the state at 170 pounds, Minooka's Carson Oughton, on Thursday in the Class 3A wrestling state tournament preliminaries at State Farm Arena.
In doing so, Gruszka avoided having to hope for what looked like a slim opportunity in wrestlebacks.
Gruszka's pin at 1:14 improved his record to 38-2 and brought a quick smile to his face. It won't get any easier, as Gruszka next faces Matt Rowland of Willowbrook in Friday's quarterfinals.
"I had to win," Gruszka said. "It was that simple. If I lost, I have to wait to see if Carson can beat Rowland, and to be honest, Rowland isn't the No. 1 guy for nothing," said Gruszka, who is ranked No. 3 by IllinoisMatmen.com behind Rolliann Sturkey (Oak Park-River Forest, 31-6), who defeated the Saxons senior last weekend in Conant sectional final.
"That wasn't one of my better efforts," said Gruszka, "so the plan was to come out and give it six hard minutes with Oughton - except that ended halfway through the first period."
Gruszka, a four-time Mid-Suburban League champ, was part of a handful from his conference to send their opponents packing. Winners included Gruszka's teammate Tony Vezzetti (32-6) and the Prospect trio of Bobby Jarosz (160), Matt Wroblewski (40-0) and Alex Koczwara (37-6).
Wroblewski and Vezzetti are part of a tough group at 182 which includes Nathan Traxler (Marmion Academy), Jack Jessen (Willowbrook) and Patrick Brucki (Sandburg).
The No. 4-rated Wroblewski meets No. 3 Brucki on Friday. Vezzetti takes on upstart Michael Kordek (39-4) of Stevenson, who after missing out on sectionals in 2015 came back to win it all at Barrington one week ago.
Markus Hartman (39-6) is the lone Barrington competitor still alive in the front draw after his hard-fought 7-2 victory over Jake Polka (26-8) of Marmion Academy.
Next up for Hartman is No. 1 Austin Gomez (37-1) from Glenbard North.
"Markus was a little nervous in the opening period, but once he settled down, it was back to normal for him," said Barrington coach Dave Udchik, who later watched Max Guhde (160, 39-5) get upset by Matt Hayes (7-5) of Naperville Central.
Fremd senior Alex Jacobs (220, 36-1) never lacked ambition during his 11-1 pounding of Brandon Purnell (Simeon). Next up for the No. 2-rated Viking is Central Suburban League champ Ibrahim Nasir (38-4) of Maine South.
Tulga Zuunbayan (Rolling Meadows, 31-2) crushed Austin Maher of Downers Grove North by technical fall to set up a highly anticipated quarterfinal with No. 2 Nick Foster (42-2) of Belleville East.
The Conant duo of Danny Madonia and Kyle Peisker got off to a flying start, each turning in superb efforts at 132 and 138, respectively.
Peisker (38-1) cruised during his 7-0 shutout of Dominick Ambrose (Providence Catholic, 24-14) while Madonia squashed Jake DiBenedetto (40-8) of Lincoln-Way East.
The two MSL stars from Conant came here riding a wave of momentum as they turned on the style in sweeping the competition in league, regional and sectional tournaments. They took full advantage of their resulting seeds with decisive victories.
"This is all I've been thinking about since last year ended, and now that it's finally here, I'm just amped up," says Madonia, who admits his one-and-done here last season gave him the extra incentive to turn up his off-season while settling in at 132 pounds.
"It's not an excuse, but last year I was cutting weight throughout the year to be at (120). It really took a toll on me, so much so that when I came out for my first-round match here, my legs were destroyed, and before too long it was over for me."
"Being at 132 is the perfect weight for me this season, but to be honest, that loss at state was the wake-up I needed. Since then, I've worked so hard on all parts of my game, including my conditioning, because this is my last time around."
First round wrestlebacks will begin immediately following quarterfinal action, and later, at 7 p.m. all three classes will compete in the semifinals.