Area competitors battle for state berths today
While some wrestlers rolled, others found their road to the 71st state meet just got a little tougher Friday night at the Barrington Class AA individual sectional.
The semfinals begin today at 11 a.m., followed by wrestleback bouts. The finals featuring first- and third-place matches begin at 4 p.m.
The top three finishers in each class will advance to the state meet Friday in Champaign.
Grant and Libertyville both had five individuals advance to the semifinals, with numerous wrestlers still alive in wrestleback competition.
Grant 119-pounder Jason Montemayor was upset 7-5 in overtime by Lake Zurich's Cameron Shaffer.
Shaffer was awarded a controversial point for stalling to tie the score at 5-5 with five seconds left in the third period.
"I thought Jason wrestled a great match and it's unfortunate sometimes the last 20 seconds of a match are viewed differently than the first 20 seconds," said Grant coach Ryan Geist. "Dave Monroy is putting the team over his individual goals, which is the ultimate sacrifice, and that was the first time Josh (DeLuca) ever beat (Ryan) Williams at 171.
Monroy was held out with a knee injury, but Grant sophomore Lee Munster (24-0) remained undefeated with a technical fall in the quarterfinals.
At 125 pounds Grant teammate Izzy Montemayor rolled into the semifinals with an 18-7 major decision.
Grant 135-pounder Shelby Temple will have a tough assignment when he faces Libertyville's Trey Ayala (36-5) in a semifinal.
Grant 145-pounder Tyler Becker and DeLuca also reached the semifinals. DeLuca topped Carmel's Ryan Williams 9-7 to set up a semifinal match against Stevenson's Ivan Havrylyan.
Besides Ayala, Libertyville 103-pounder Matt Bystol reached the semifinals, along with teammates Kyle Manolovic (125), Joey Callen (160), Logan Miller (171), and Tom Nield (285).
"(Louis) Mazzetta lost a tough match in overtime, but I was thrilled with Miller's win over a regional champ," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. "Ayala and Bystol had nice starts with quick pins and tomorrow is the one that counts."
Jason Montemayor's loss to Shaffer really opens the door for Warren's Connor Drew (34-2) to reach state. Shaffer and Drew will square off in the semifinals at 119.
"I like (Drew's) chances and he's been wrestling well for a long time now," said Warren coach Mark Tiffany. "He keeps adding more aspects to his wrestling."
Wauconda's Scott Carlson held off Stevenson's Taras Martyniouk 3-2 to advance to the semifinals against Becker at 145.
Antioch's Bobby Wiatr posted a 9-1 major decision over Warren's Justin Santiago in the other 145-pound quarterfinal.
"Most of my matches with Becker have been pretty close, and I'm 1-2 against him this year," Carlson said. "I need to be more aggressive with Becker and I just have to go all out."
Carmel's Ryan Unrein is not about to go away at 152. Unrein pinned Glenbrook North's Brad Nardick in 38 seconds to advance to the semifinals. Unrein, like Williams is trying to make a return trip downstate.
Stevenson's Bobby Vagun (31-2) will also have a tough opponent in Palatine's Ross Grande in the other 152-pound semfinal.
"When (Nardick) stood up I caught him off guard," Unrein said. "I'm just going to go after (Matt) Smith with low shots and I have to use my speed."
Mundelein's Eduardo Dominguez is also closing in on a return trip to Champaign. Dominguez reached the 112-pound semifinals.
The Mustangs also saw 189-pounder Adam Avalos reach the semifinals.
"Adam Avalos looked really good out there and Dominguez got his win," said Mundelein coach Tom Buenik. "Our motto this week is survive and advance and tomorrow we just have to be ready to go."
Besides Shaffer, Lake Zurich's Kevin Fanta reached the semifinals with a 3-2 decision over Stevenson's David Lamberti to set up a Fanta-Manolovic semifinal opposite Izzy Montemayor.
Round Lake 130-pounder Dillon Pousson reached the semfinals, as did Lakes junior Matt Holmes (36-3) on the opposite side of the bracket.
Lake Zurich's Anthony Pace defeated Mundelein's Alex Mena 13-8 in a 140-pound quarterfinal, while Round Lake 215-pounder Vince Nicoline reached the semifinals with a pin.
Vernon Hills teammates Bob Kelly (189) and Steve Hwang (285) did not get past the quarterfinals, but Hwang could still advance out of the wrestlebacks.