Vikings buck young Broncos
Barrington's rebuilding project took a direct hit Friday night.
Visiting Fremd (6-6) recorded 3 falls and used an impressive effort by Bryan Opitz and his technical fall at 215 pounds to overwhelm a young Broncos wrestling club 43-14 in MSL West dual meet action.
With the Vikings already in control, Opitz posted 5 first-period takedowns against sophomore Troy Morrison en route to a tech-fall at 4:00 as the senior used a near-fall and takedown just as the buzzer sounded to end the second period.
"We're finally getting everyone together, but there's still a lot of work ahead of us, including myself in order to get ready for the conference tournament in 2 weeks, and then regionals and sectionals," said Opitz, who is hoping to return to 189 pounds as soon as teammate Ben Perna (shoulder) is back in the line-up at 215. That will give Fremd a terrific trio at the upper weights with 2007 state qualifier John Lapointe.
"We're a lot better than just before the holiday break, but by no means are we close to where we need to be to compete at a higher level down the stretch," said Vikings coach Ralph Cortez. "Tonight, for the most part, we competed extremely well at almost every weight, and all in all in was a very good night for us."
The Vikings raced ahead of their hosts 21-6 after Richie Stanton started the evening with a 12-6 decision at 130. Vince Lurie (fall at 135) and Dan Greathouse (fall at 145) were big 6-point winners with their respective pins against the Broncos (5-7).
Greathouse surprised Luke Miller at 3:07 after the talented Barrington freshman build a 5-0 first period lead with a takedown and near-fall, in which Greathouse did well to wiggle free and avoid a Miller pin.
One of the most entertaining bouts of the night came between victories from the Opitz brothers (Brett defeated Ryan McQueen 10-8 at 160) as Mike Dallas escaped with a 13-10 decision over Kalvin Arugeta at 189 in a match that could have gone either way at the final whistle.
Dallas went took a 10-4 lead with a takedown near the edge midway through the second period, but a scramble with 5 seconds left in the period saw both wrestlers grab 2 points to make it 12-6 after four minutes.
Arugeta started down, and off the whistle easily reversed Dallas before pulling within 3 (13-10) with 30 seconds remaining. But the sophomore would be unable to get any closer.
Travis LaShiava and Will Tham earned wins at 112 and 119 before freshman Dakota Wapotish ended the Broncos' night on a high note with a quality win over Fremd senior Lucas Megelo 10-4.
Connor Maninna (103), Steve Polasik (140) and Dan Santoro (171) were the other Barrington match winners.
"Tonight was a tough one for us, no doubt," said first-year Barrington coach Al Strobl. "Last night we wrestled much better against Buffalo Grove, but you can see what youth and inexperience will show at times after watching an effort like tonight.
"The dedication and hard work is evident, and everyone involved in our program knows that the future is bright because of a strong core group of kids already here and on the way."