York picks up wins against Schaumburg, Stevenson
It isn't always easy living in the shadow of wrestling state power Montini, let alone conference giants Oak Park, Leyden and Hinsdale South. Just ask York coach Terry Clarke.
But on Saturday, the Dukes went 3-0 in their annual quad, including a dramatic 29-26 win over Hinsdale South in the final dual of the day as senior John Bullock defeated Norman Frazier 2-1 in overtime.
Before the hosts won in exciting fashion, they opened the day by soundly defeating Stevenson 42-22. After that, York edged Schaumburg 39-31 in a match with a controversial fall at 103 that proved to be the turning point.
"We opened the season poorly for a number of reasons and went 2-7 in the process," said Clarke. "But since then we've been able to get just about everyone back in our lineup where they belong, and we're now 12-3 after that terrible start."
"Hopefully today's big win over Hinsdale South will help our run into the postseason."
Under first-year head coach Matt Gruszka, Schaumburg (14-7) appears to be improving, with just four seniors in its lineup, including P.J. Starnes (145, 29-2) and Sergio Gomez (125, 25-5). Both of them went 3-0 with impressive work.
"I know for me, the confidence instilled that coach Gruszka has instilled in all of us, along with the attention to detail and the technical side of things, has been one of the main reasons that we are all wrestling better this season," said Gomez, who after recording a pair of falls in his first 2 matches defeated one of Stevenson's (David Lamberti) 5-4.
"Each week the coaching staff has seen improvement and great strides made by everyone in the room," said Gruszka, "and I really feel that the guys, especially the younger ones are beginning to understand what it takes to succeed at a high level of competition.
"That doesn't mean there isn't a lot of work ahead of us, but it's great to see the progress that we've made thus far."
Gruszka did not want to take anything away from York's 8-point victory in the second match of the day, but he was still shaking his head on the quick pin which the referee issued on the Saxons' James Donovan courtesy the Dukes' Jack Cooney at 35 seconds.
"That was a 9-point swing after that call," said Gruszka, who saw his team go up 28-11 when Dan Malik registered a fall at 160.
However, the Dukes went on to win the next six matches to squelch any hopes of an upset as junior Evan Hafner (23-5) ended the dual with a 6-3 win over Sean Connell.
Hafner was one of only four Saxons who won against Hinsdale South in a 44-23 drubbing, but the 119-pounder was joined by nine others when York pounded Stevenson 42-17 to end a 0-3 day for the Patriots.
"Obviously a very disappointing day for us," said Patriots (14-8) coach Shane Cook. "We just weren't very crisp or sharp today, especially in the third period, which we had better attend to with the NSC tournament coming up this weekend and then the regionals."
Cook was pleased with Lamberti (23-7) and heaped plenty of praise on Bobby Vagun, who ran his record to 25-2 with 3 impressive performances at 152.
"Bobby was attacking aggresively all day on his feet and technically sound and appears ready for the next couple of weeks of the season," Cook said.
Lamberti hopes to have another chance to face Gomez at another date.
"I am going to work harder than ever," said Lamberti. "Running in the morning, lifting and wrestling in the afternoon to be the best I can to qualify into the sectionals (at Barrington) and hopefully face some of the guys who have beaten me, like Gomez did today."
Hinsdale South (19-2) has an upcoming date at Leyden with the West Suburban Gold title at stake.