Boys wrestling: Buffalo Grove keeps invitational first-place trophy home
Buffalo Grove wrestling has come a long way, and in a short time.
Under second-year coach George Beres, the Bison have seen their numbers increase dramatically to become a team ready to compete more than it was in recent years.
Saturday afternoon in their home gym, the Bison went back and forth with a trio of rivals until finally pulling away to lift the championship trophy at the 47th Rex Lewis Invite.
Caden Watson's pin in his finals match at 195 pounds ended the hopes of league rivals Schaumburg and Elk Grove, which fell short of the 166.5 points the Bison recorded more than Schaumburg. Third-place Elk Grove used three individual titles from Grant Madl (126, 15-1), Benny Schlosser (175, 12-3) and Mikey Milovich, who is 16-0 on the season at 285 pounds.
"We asked the guys when I came in to make a commitment to the sport, and each other, and with each day from that very beginning (they) have gotten a little bit better each, and every time we go into the room - and today they saw the reward for all of their hard work," Beres said.
"There a lot of reasons for our success today, but in my opinion, it has been the coaching staff led by coach Beres, and Mugs (Keegan Mugerditchian) who have put so much time, and effort into helping our program grow," added Watson, 10-1 overall after pinning his way to his title.
Teammate Chris Chi (9-2) defeated 2022 Class 2A qualifier Ilia Dvoriannik of Vernon Hills to win at 165.
Fourth-place Morris used three first-place medals to secure fourth place over St. Patrick, 140-136.
Schaumburg, which won it all here a year ago by 111 points, found itself at the top of the field on four occasions until falling short in the end despite championship efforts by Rocco Fontela (104) at 138, and teammate Gavin Hinkle at 150 pounds. Both fell just short of advancing to the 3A tournament a year ago.
"That loss in my state-qualifying match last year at sectionals really helped motivate me during the off-season, so I put in a lot of extra work to give me the best chance to get downstate this year," Fontela said.
Elk Grove senior Grant Madl, who has seen his last three seasons end in heartbreaking fashion at sectionals, appears ready to put that disappointment behind him after a resounding effort at 126 to win his second straight individual crown here.
"Three straight losses in the blood round at sectionals has given me the inspiration to do more work in the off-season than I ever have before, and my plan is to get on that podium at state in Champaign," said Madl (15-1), who entered this weekend as the No. 5-ranked wrestler in the state at 126.
Schlosser stunned Mason Gougis in his final after roaring back from a 10-2 deficit to pin the Romeoville senior at 5:11, while his teammate Milovich recorded three pins to overwhelm the heavyweight to earn his first tournament victory.
Junior Joe Petit (15-2), one of three from Geneva to advance downstate last season, cruised past a trio of opponents to win the 215-pound title with ease.
"I was lucky last season to have someone like John Schmidt in the room with me, and this year he's coming back from Harper, where he's wrestling, to train when he can," Petit said.
Mudge-McMorrow Invite at Prospect:
It was Libertyville that came away with the top prize over the 16-team field by outscoring runner-up Naperville Central 199.0-169.5 and tourney host Prospect with 160.5 points.
York (149.5) and Joliet Catholic Academy (139.0) rounded out the top five.
Luke Berktold (120, 13-0), Matt Kubas (175, 14-0) and Owen McGrory (215, 15-0) all won for Libertyville, while top-ranked Jaxon Penovich (14-0) claimed the 190-pound title with teammate Connor Munn (165, 14-2) winning for the second consecutive year.
Fremd junior Evan Gosz (9-0) is a second-time champ after his win at 144, while Zach Parisi (York, 132, 16-0), Erik Rodriguez (Grant, 138, 14-3) and Round Lake junior heavyweight William Cole (15-0) each garnered their first championship ring.
Mickey Marchese Invite:
Host Hoffman Estates saw Mundelein edge second-place Notre Dame 178.5-170.0 to take home the big trophy, with Homewood-Flossmoor ending in third with 159.5 overall points.
Mundelein received championship efforts from Ethan Banda (138, 12-3), Kevin Hernandez (150, 13-2) and Celso Cabrera (215) to help the cause.
Alezar Eyob (132, 14-3) and Abdulhammid Olowu (285, 16-1) thrilled the Hawks faithful with their individual titles.
Class 2A-ranked Tony Hinojosa (Carmel) ran his record to 10-1 with his win at 144, while John Rappa from Rolling Meadows improved his record to 11-1 after his victory at 175.