Harper savors men's wrestling national championship
We sometimes wrestle with what item to lead off these Sports Notes, which were created by former Daily Herald sports editor Bob Frisk.
Well, wrestling happens to be a no-brainer for our top story this week.
We have a national champion in the area.
Harper's men's team placed first overall in the Division III nonconference National Junior College Athletic Association Wrestling Championship in Council Bluffs, IA.
And even more appropriate, the man who guided the Hawks to the elite crown is an Elk Grove High School graduate, Dan Loprieno.
Coach Loprieno's Hawks also won the Midwest district (junior college teams from Illinois, Indiana and Michigan) for the second straight year.
They had 10 national qualifiers, including Manny Ramierz (133 pounds) from Wheeling High School, Tristin Guaman (157) from Wheeling, Juan Quiroz (174) from Huntley High School and Austin Parks (197) from Crystal Lake Central High School.
"Tristin had an amazing career for us," Loprieno said of the two-time district champion and two-time national qualifier. "This year he became an All-American placing fourth at 157."
Guaman was unranked and defeated the third, fourth and sixth-ranked wrestlers during the NJCAA tournament.
"His work ethic the last two years is commendable," Loprieno said. "He simply outworked everybody."
The Hawks' Michail Foy was a national champ at 165 and voted the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.
It was the sixth Division III title for Harper, the others coming in 1994. 2001, 2006, 2010 and 2011.
The junior college tournament is split between scholarship (Division I) and non-scholarship (Division III).
"We all wrestle the same tournament, so we were ninth overall and the top non-scholarship team beating Rochester, Minnesota by 7 points," said Loprieno, who is assisted by Craig Hankins, Justin Selby and Denis Pool.
Loprieno has been the head coach since 1998 and this was his fourth national championship.
The former Grenadier wrestled for Harper from 1983-85, and he was a national qualifier for the Hawks' former hall of fame coach Norm Lovelace in 1985.
Along with his three titles, Loprieno's teams have finished second in the nation three times, third in the nation twice and finished fourth in the nation once.
Loprieno was inducted into the NJCAA Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2008. He was the NJCAA Wrestling Man of the Year in 2009 and was inducted into the NJCAA Region IV Hall of Fame in 2010.
Cacini honored
Dayton freshman Alyssa Cacini (Prospect) was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for softball as she led the Flyers with a .750 average in three wins at the weather-shortened Belmont Bruin Classic.
Cacini was 2-for-2 with 1 walk in a 3-1 win over Northern Kentucky.
In Dayton's 3-2 win over Belmont, she belted a 2-run double to tie the game at 2-2. She recorded 7 putouts, 3 assists and no errors while posting a .800 on-base percentage and a 1.000 slugging percentage.
Kmet honored
Notre Dame sophomore Cole Kmet (St. Viator) was named one of college baseball's National Players of the Week following his performance at the Swig and Swine College Classic in Charleston, S.C.
Kmet made two appearances on the mound, one out of the bullpen and one as a starter.
Kmet set Charleston Southern down in order in the ninth inning with 2 strikeouts to convert his first save of the season.
He led the Irish last season with 8 saves, which ranked ninth all-time in school history for a single season.
Against Ball State, Kmet got the start for the second time in his career. He was on top of the Cardinals from the get-go and surpassed his career high in strikeouts by the end of the fourth inning.
He also finished the afternoon with career highs in innings (7⅓) and strikeouts (11) while not walking a batter.
The 11 strikeouts were the most by an Irish pitcher since Will Hudgins fanned 12 against Pittsburgh on March 23, 2012.
Men's basketball
Colgate junior Rapolas Ivanauskas (Barrington), an all-area, all-state performer in high school, was averaging 16.3 points per game for the 21-10 Raiders heading into this past weekend.
The 6-foot-10, 225-pound forward played at Barrington for three years and led the Broncos to a Mid-Suburban League championship.
He transferred to Brewster Academy (N.H.) as a senior and then spent two injury-plagued seasons at Northwestern before arriving at Colgate.
His high games this season are 33 against Lehigh and 28 against Holy Cross, directed by former Northwestern coach Bill Carmody.
Women's basketball
Duke redshirt junior Haley Gorecki (Fremd) earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference first team accolades, marking the 10th straight year the Blue Devils have featured at least one student-athlete on the first team.
Gorecki currently ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring (17.1), third in steals (2.6), tied for 13th in rebounding (7.2), tied for 13th in assists (3.8) and second in minutes played (36.2).
She has totaled one of the best all-around individual seasons in Blue Devil history. The 6-0 guard is the only player among the Power Five conferences that is averaging over 17.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.6 steals.
"We are all thrilled for Haley," commented head coach Joanne P. McCallie. "Her work ethic, competitive drive, and team focus are most impressive. She competes every day and in every aspect of the game. A well-deserved honor for a terrific person and player. "
Gorecki owns 11 games with 20 or more points, 8 double-doubles, ranks 35th nationally in steals and is the only player in the ACC to rank in the top 15 in points, rebounds, assists and steals. She is looking to become the first Duke player in school history to lead the Blue Devils in points, rebounds and assists in a single season.
Women's track
North Central's 4-by-400-meter relay team that includes sophomore Katie Bonney (Hoffman Estates) and sophomore Kelsey McLaurin (Barrington) was the second-fastest of 12 teams at the Wartburg College NCAA qualifier. They clocked a time of 3 minutes, 52.03 seconds.
McLaurin's school-record distance of 39 feet, 7.75 inches recorded at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Indoor Championships on Feb. 22 has her ranked second among 20 qualifiers in the triple jump.
Men's volleyball
Augustana sophomore Matthew Schiferl (Wheeling) has a team-high 157 digs for the Vikings.
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