Mundelein's quick start too much for Warren

Warren knew it was going to be in for a tough battle Friday night when the Blue Devils hosted Mundelein in a North Suburban Lake dual wrestling meet.

And after falling behind the Mustangs 28-3 after the first eight matches, Warren never recovered as Mundelein would roll to an impressive 38-18 Lake Division victory in Gurnee.

Nick Dudzinski got Mundelein (7-1, 1-0) rolling with a 7-2 decision over Martin Martinez at 103 before teammate Jake Pickering (7-1) posted a 12-2 major decision at 112 for a 7-0 advantage.

The 119-pound bout turned out to be one of the best battles of the night as Mundelein sophomore Matt Ornoff (6-0) overcame a late 4-3 deficit against Robby Schultheis in the third period.

Ornoff got a takedown with 40 seconds left in the third period before holding on for a 5-4 decision. Ornoff placed sixth in the state last year at 119.

"I think I should have come out there a little stronger, but I'm proud of myself coming out ahead in the match," Ornoff said. "The big thing for our team was winning the close matches, getting the pins, and getting the bonus points when we needed them."

Trailing 10-0, No. 23 Warren (4-1, 1-1) got on the scoreboard when 125-pounder Colin Seebach (9-0) posted a 3-0 decision over Dan Winberg to cut the gap to 10-3.

But the Mustangs got on a roll after that point as 130-pounder Payton Cruz started the momentum change with an 8-3 decision over Robert Lee to make the score 13-3.

Mundelein put more distance on the Blue Devils in the next two matches as a pin by 135-pounder Juan Jaimes (7-0) in 33 seconds and a pin by 140-pounder Conor O'Shaughnessy in 3:51 boosted the lead to 25-3.

Then Mundelein 145-pounder Brandon Aranda (8-0) outlasted Pat Oswald 4-2 in overtime to put Warren in a 28-3 hole.

"I was very disappointed because they (Mundelein) won all of the close matches and I felt they outwrestled us," said Warren coach Mark Tiffany. "We're better than this, but I'm not taking anything away from Mundelein and we'll get better."

Warren's T.J. Parker earned a 5-2 decision over Pablo Mata at 152 before teammate Brenden Frank held off Max Infanti 6-3 to cut the Mustangs' lead to 28-9 with four bouts remaining.

But Mundelein would seal the deal with a 10-2 major decision by 171-pounder Ben Hertel and a pin in 5:17 by 189-pounder Jake Hertel extending the lead to 38-9.

The Blue Devils did finish strong as Chandler Sperry pinned his 215-pound opponent in 1:18 before 285-pound teammate Josh Dust captured a 3-1 decision over Mundelein's Dion Livas with a late takedown to account for the final score.

"We did get our wins, but I think there is a lot we need to improve on," said Mundelein coach Tom Buenik. "Schultheis came out and attacked us, but to Matt's credit he didn't get frustrated and he got the takedown in the end for the win."