Libertyville's Gunther guns it, reaches state final
CHAMPAIGN — Joey Gunther was a smashing success Friday.
The Libertyville senior advanced to the 160-pound state wrestling final after outlasting Trace Carello of Marmion Academy in a marathon semifinal.
The top-seeded Gunther won 3-2 when he was awarded the 1-point winner as Carello (20-4) was unable to break away from an unyielding hold.
“It's wasn't at all pretty, but as I said after my quarterfinal this morning, it's not about style points down here,” said Gunther (36-1).
Assured of a state medal, Gunther next tried to become the fourth state champ in Libertyville history. He'll meet Matthew Rundell (32-3) of Oak Park-River Forest in the title bout on Day 3 of the state tournament.
“It was classic Joey Gunther out there once again,” said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. “He continues to deliver big wins when he needs them, and today, he did just that, beginning with that 5-3 win this morning in the quarters over Micah Volle (Wheaton North) and ending with a tense one tonight.”
Eggert thought Gunther deserved at least one takedown in the first overtime period, which would have ended the match.
“Joe stayed cool and calm all throughout those extra sessions, and especially when it looked like he had enough of Carello to get a takedown,” said Libertyville assistant coach Jeff Keske. “But that's just the way he's built, and along with his great conditioning and ability to stay within himself and be smart, he was able to get himself into the state final.”
Libertyville's Mark Dunsing (37-7) may have run into the eventual 220-pound champion when the Cats senior met Josh King (44-1) of Hinsdale South in the semis. Their meeting was nearly settled in the opening frame, as King ran out to a 5-0 advantage.
“Mark is a big guy, but King is even bigger and he's an exceptional athlete as well, and when we were forced to chase 5 points after one period, it was tough to come back on a guy like that who can ride extremely hard to take away your options,” said Eggert.
Dunsing, along with Tyler Harrington of Stevenson and Patrick Schoenfelder and Michael Tortorice (34-5) of Carmel each suffered semifinal losses, sending all of them into the wrestleback brackets with chances at third-place finishes.
Harrington (37-4) opened his day by stopping Joey Vogeney (Maine West, 46-2) in his quarterfinal match 7-3 before dropping his semifinal to Nate Traxler (40-2) of Marmion Academy later on.
“Tyler had a great start to his day against a first-class opponent, but it wasn't quite enough against Traxler,” said Stevenson coach Shane Cook.
Tortorice drew into the nation's top-rated 113-pounder, Jabari Moody (Rich Central, 38-0), and put some points on the superb senior. But it wasn't enough in a major decision loss.
“He really is the best around, and I thought I had some chances when I got in on him — but I wasn't able to finish, and that's where he is so dangerous because he turns your mistakes into points,” said the Corsairs junior.
Schoenfelder (44-4) felt a little better effort may have been the difference in his 7-2 loss to Daniel Close (Ottawa, 36-2), who heads for the 145-pound title bout after finishing sixth a year ago.
“I felt I could have done things different when it he was leading at 4-2, but I guess I didn't, so now I've got to regroup and go after third-place tomorrow,” said the Antioch sophomore, who stopped Jim Brennan of Lemont in the quarterfinal with a strong six-minute effort and 7-5 victory.
Given a fresh start in wrestlebacks, several from the area are still in the medal hunt as Saturday rolls around.
Antioch's Nathan Dlugopolski (120, 40-10) took full advantage with a pin in his quarterfinal bout, much to the delight of coach Wil Borrero.
“It was great to get Nathan back in it after the guy who beat him on Friday won his first match today,” said Borrero, “and now he can go after gettting himself a medal.
“I figured for sure Jacob (Gross, 113, 42-7) had a great chance to join Nathan, but who would have thought a two-time state medalist like (Francis) Edelen would have lost his quaterfinal?”
Anthony Swindell (27-9) of Carmel is still alive at 145, as are Jake Wright (Grayslake North, 152, 28-14), Jared Smith (Lakes, 26-9, 170) and heavyweight Joe Blitstein (Vernon Hills, 39-10) who was none to happy with himself after being victimized by a pin in his morning quarterfinal with Alex Gleber (Springfield, 40-2) who later fell to No. 1 Michael Johnson of Montini.
“When you're down here, you can't come out and make mistakes because they cost you,” said Blitstein, who was victorious in his first wrestleback bout.
Grayslake North senior Cody Sawyer (195, 27-9) lost in the semis to No. 1 Andrew Marsden (5-0) and will go after a medal in wrestlebacks.
The news was much better earlier in the day, after Sawyer's winning quarterfinal against Richard Smith (Bartonville).
“It was a little tough warming up and getting ready in the tunnel before my first match,” Sawyer said. “All I could do was little short sprints. But once I got out there and into the match, I felt good to go.”
“Cody is really tough on me,” said Marsden. “He knows a lot of my moves, so he was able to defend most of what I threw at him in our semifinal.”
Sawyer is the only opponent of Marsden who has recorded a takedown on the nationally ranked defending state champion from Crystal Lake Central.
In 3A action, Christian Kantzler 126, 33-10) and Noah Drabek (44-7) of Grant find themselves one victory away from securing a state medal. Drabek, who was a state alternate after finishing fourth last weekend at the Barrington sectional, was called into action when another wrestler was unable to compete. The Bulldogs senior is hoping to make the most of his good fortune in the 132-pound division.
Grant's Mike Kouvelis (152) is still around, too, after his successful first-round win in wrestlebacks.
Those who advance from the next two rounds of wrestlebacks will compete in the medal round for third, and fifth place, which is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
The highly anticipated Grand March, which signals the start of the state finals, will get under way at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, with the finals set to begin just after this annual spectacle.