Prospect powers past Buffalo Grove
The firepower from defending Mid-Suburban East wrestling champion Prospect proved to be too much for Buffalo Grove, which dropped a 47-19 dual to their division rivals Friday.
Despite having six new faces in the starting lineup, the Knights (2-4-0, 2-0-0) managed to pick up their victory thanks to 5 pins and another two technical falls on a night that saw new coach Kurt Kutska face his alma mater, where he'd wrestled for former coach Gary McMorrow.
"Prospect is very talented, and so well coached, so we knew coming in what we were in for," said Kutska, who after assisting Jeff Vlk the past two seasons took over the reins when Vlk became the Bison football coach. "But the guys battled and fought hard, and that's what I am most proud of.
"You can see the guys gaining more confidence, but it's going to take some time. And after many of them compete (Saturday) in a more high profile tournament, and against several other quality teams before the new year, I believe many of them will turn the corner."
The high-profile tournament Kutska spoke of is BG's own, the Rex Lewis, which will be celebrating its 40th annual. Just a few miles away, the 57th annual Mudge-McMorrow Invite at Prospect will also take place.
"We're still sorting our lineup here and there, and it might change a little bit more as we go along," said Prospect's Alex Koczwara, who recorded one of those 6 pins, his coming at 182 pounds. "But this is a talented roster we have, and if we continue to work hard and pick each other up, it will all come together in the second half of the year, just as it did last season."
Alex Palczewski was dominant in winning, and Prospect's Matt Wroblewski unleashed an offensive attack in the second period en route to a tech-fall at 4:58 against Sam Haro.
"Matt is one of the best, if not, the best in the state, so I knew what I had to deal with," said Haro. "But it didn't stop me from being aggressive and going after him with everything I have."
Tim Gerling (152) and Jack Pontarelli (170) kept the Bison (1-9-0, 0-2-0) within arm's length at 27-13 after hard-fought decisions. But the Koczwara pin started a chain reaction of sorts in Prospect's favor.
Fredy Lopez won by pin at 106 and freshman Alejandre Mejia earned bonus points for the Bison with a 13-2 major.
"Alejandre is one of many guys we have in our lineup who have never competed on the varsity level," said Kutska. "But we're seeing progress, and the 5 wins we earned tonight says a lot about these guys, who did all that they could against one of the best in the MSL."
Andrew Baysinger (113) got things going for the Knights with his pin at 0:42 seconds in the opener, which Anthony Silva followed up with a pin of his own. After Paul Domain shut out Paul Khailrallah 4-0, Gianni Rago countered with a technical fall at 3:33 to give the visitors a 17-3 advantage.
Vince Lobono (145) and David Barbosa (160) helped add to the Knights' lead with a pin and major decision.