No easy answers at Berman Invite
The going was tough for Lake County area teams and individuals Monday at the Berman Holiday Wrestling Classic in Palatine.
State-power Lockport leads the 26-team field with 135.5 points, ahead of second-place Minooka (119) headed into the final day of competition Tuesday morning. Mundelein (76 points) is in a three-way tie for ninth place with Lemont and Lyons.
Warren struggled late in the day Monday to hold 19th place with 47 points while both Lakes and Antioch suffered some pretty major upsets in quarterfinal action.
Top-seeded Lakes senior Matt Holmes (17-1) suffered his first loss of the season with a tough 14-12 defeat to Leyden junior Kevin Lewis in the 140-pound quarterfinals. Holmes will begin his quest for at least a third-place finish when the wrestlebacks begin Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.
The third-, fifth-, and seventh-place matches are slated for 3 p.m. with championship bouts scheduled for approximately 5 p.m. on two mats.
"He (Holmes) kept playing catch-up, he just didn't wrestle the way he normally wrestles, and he wasn't in control," said Lakes coach Curt Onstad. "I hope he takes this as a learning experience on several levels, but he's wrestling at 140 and he is going to move back down to 135."
Mundelein came into the meet with 11 wrestlers and the Mustangs still have nine individuals alive headed into Tuesday's competition.
Top-seeded Mundelein senior Eduardo Dominguez (17-1) advanced to the 112-pound semifinals with a 13-5 decision over Leyden's Jesse McCabe, but the Mustangs' other six quarterfinalists all lost their matches.
"I thought I did pretty good, and I wanted to get a major or a pin in my matches," said Dominguez, who placed fifth in the state at 112 last year. "I don't know if I can win it (Tuesday), but I'm not going to give up, and I'm going to try my hardest."
Warren also saw a lot of success at the lower weights in the opening day as 103-pound junior Robby Schultheis (18-0) remained undefeated with an 11-4 decision over Minooka's Leo Ruettiger in the quarterfinals.
Schultheis will have a huge challenge in the semifinals against top-seeded junior Jake Schramm of Hinsdale South in their first meeting.
"I'm happy with my matches so far and I always take my matches one at a time and never look too far ahead," said Schultheis. "I'm sure it's going to be a close match (against Schramm) and I've just got to stay focused."
Warren 119-pound senior Connor Drew has remained focused after he posted an 8-4 decision over Mundelein's Tanis Arcos to reach the semifinals.
Other Mundelein wrestlers to lose bouts in the quarterfinals Monday were Matt Ornoff (103), Juan Jaimes (130), Eric Arcos (140), Mike Savage (160), and Freddy Martinez (285).
"He (Dominguez) looked real tough and this was the first time he has wrestled at 112 this year," said Mundelein coach Tom Buenik. "We're just trying to get ready for the end of the season and I like our odds in the (112) semifinals with a senior versus a freshman.
"The key is to come back tomorrow and keep wrestling and hopefully the guys can wrestle four times (Tuesday)."
Lakes junior Phil Cappitelli (171) dropped an 11-4 decision to Downers Grove North's Danny Balderas in his quarterfinal match. But even more surprising was second-seeded Antioch senior Tom Gerstner (11-2) losing a 7-5 decision to Lockport's Brad Johnson at 189.
"(Gerstner) was trailing 5-0 going into the second period and he had to play catch-up," said Antioch coach Wilbur Borrero. "Now he has to go for third place and we'll see what he's made of."