Barrington's Shinhoster a sectional champ

Mid-Suburban League division champions Barrington and Prospect are sending the bulk of the wrestlers from the league to the Class 3A state tournament next weekend in Champaign, but just one claimed a sectional championship before a big crowd Saturday evening in Barrington.

Barrington junior Dayven Shinhoster stunned No. 3 Cody Goodman (Deerfield, 45-4) in the 195-pound final to win his first sectional title, and earn himself a top four seed in his 16-man field at state.

"It feels good to win here but I wrestle for my teammates, the program, and really nothing else," said Shinhoster, who now has four major titles on the season after avenging a 5-3 overtime loss to Goodman, who was a state qualifier a year ago.

Shinhoster was even with Goodman (5-5) after two periods, then executed a 1-point escape with 20 seconds remaining in regulation, before holding off the Warriors' junior, who majored his first two opponents before his loss to Shinhoster.

Goodman's teammate, No. 4 Brock Emmerich (46-2), found revenge against No. 2 Luke Ramussen (Barrington, 41-3) during their 160-pound final.

Rasmussen would send the Warriors' star to his first loss of the season (8-3) early on, a loss in which Emmerich admits to having some staying power as the season went on.

"I wasn't at my best the first time I met Luke, but he was better at that time, but I felt I was ready for him tonight, after a tough start off the whistle," said Emmerich. "I still had it in my mind that I qualified for my first state tournament when Luke surprised me with a takedown but I settled down afterwards, using a gramby roll to go ahead for good," added Emmerich, who eventually won 12-6.

Broncos Brian Beers (106, 37-8), Cael Dyer (38-12) and Jack Hartman (182, 37-9) will be joining Shinhoster and Rasmussen in Champaign after solid work throughout the two days on their own mats.

The freshman Beers was terrific in the first sectional of his career, losing only to No. 3 Sawyer Nash (Warren, 39-0), 5-3.

"There was a lot of excitement for me because it was my first sectional tournament, but I really feel like I exceeded expectations with my second place finish," said Beers, who was also a MSL and regional champion.

Dyer had plenty of motivation behind his inaugural trip downstate.

"It's my senior year, and my grandmother is ill, so that's all I needed to get me ready for this weekend," said Dyer, fourth overall at 126.

There was more heartbreak for a pair of MSL stars, John Smith (42-7) of Wheeling, and Palatine junior Gio Jackson (28-3) both of whom fell short in their bid to lift championship trophies.

Smith entered his final with No. 7 Giovanni Cassioppi (Hononegah, 38-6) with plenty of momentum following a strong effort during his 1-0 defeat over No. 6 Kai Conway (36-8) of Barrington.

But a takedown near the end of the first period, followed by another at three minutes, would be the beginning of the end for Smith, who nonetheless is on his way to Champaign for a second straight year.

"That was the first time I've wrestled (Smith) but coming in, I knew he was tough on top, so it was something I had to look out for," said Cassioppi, who bumped up from 138 prior to the start of the postseason.

Jackson rolled into his final with No. 10 Trent Williams (Glenbrook North (37-4) but the Spartans' senior would dash his hopes with a 12-5 decision.

"Gio is one of those great kids, who has a great story going for him right now and I know he'll pick himself up and get ready for state this week," said Palatine coach Chris Winter.

Prospect came into the sectional with 10 hopefuls, but left with just three on their way to Champaign.

Andrew Baysingar (138, 14-3) and Jose Ramos (285, 41-3) are now two-time state qualifiers, senior Joe Caringella (41-8) joining his teammates for his first time at 170.

"Joe had a terrible start on Friday, but did a great job fighting his way back to qualify," said Prospect coach Tom Whalen.

Caringella won all three of his wrestleback bouts in style, including an exciting 7-5 decision in overtime to claim third place.

Gomez was third overall after being upset on Friday in his second round match, while Baysingar, back and looking sharp following meniscus surgery, finished third overall with two terrific performances in wrestleback action.

"It's been a roller coaster year for me with injuries and all but I feel great and now I have a chance to medal in my last year at Prospect," said Baysingar, already accepted in the engineering program at Purdue, plus Wisconsin.

Fremd senior Brian Morel came alive after his second-round loss on Friday to celebrate a well deserved third place medal at 220 pounds.

The Vikings' top man lost to the aforementioned Jackson (5-3) on the first day of play, then rebounded in fine fashion with an amazing four consecutive victories, two in overtime, the second coming when most needed to qualify.

"I was a little nervous on Friday, but I felt so much better about things at the start today, and just stayed with the game plan put together for me all the way through wrestlebacks, including that overtime win to get downstate," said Morel, who looked fit and strong despite going more than six minutes before finishing off Kaleb Etnyre (Hononegah) 6-3 to run his record to 28-14 overall.