Wheeling rises to Erb triumph
Could Wheeling hold on to the 22-point lead it had heading into the final round of the 52nd Annual Rus Erb Wrestling Tournament Saturday afternoon at Glenbrook South?
The answer to that question was a resounding yes for the 19th-ranked Wildcats, who held off runner-up Batavia 181 to 160.5 to take home the championship of the 18-team meet in Glenview.
Oswego was not far behind in third with 153 points followed by Metea Valley (143 points) in fourth, Marian Catholic (139) in fifth, Prairie Ridge (135) in sixth, and Grant (124) in seventh. Carmel Catholic (105) was solid in eighth place despite only having seven wrestlers for the tourney.
Wheeling's push for the team title was led by 113-pound champion Mason Skloot (15-5), and 152-pound teammate Jaylan Shaw (20-3), who pulled out a narrow 3-2 decision over top-seeded Kobe Lear of Grant for the crown.
"It's a good tournament, we've been coming here for 30 years, and I thought this year was extra competitive," said Wheeling coach Neal Weiner. "I thought Mason wrestled outstanding, and Shaw wrestled smart to beat a good kid in the finals."
The Wildcats also got second-place finishes from Yony Medina at 220, and Zach Yfantis at 285.
Grant showed a lot of class with first-place finishes from seniors Christian Kanzler (13-2) at 132, Cole Berg (16-2) at 145, and Justin Gilich (11-4) at 160. Kanzler won a wild 5-4 decision over Marian Catholic's Josh Jones in double overtime for his crown.
Lear was upset at not getting a takedown call late in his finals match while 138-pound teammate Dylan Mannes added a third-place finish for the Bulldogs.
"I just have a positive mindset the whole time and I don't have any negative thoughts," said Berg, who spent two weeks in a wheel chair while missing his entire junior season with joint disease. "Our team is doing really well, we've had some ups and downs, but we just have to push through and deal with the adversity."
Carmel 170-pound senior Nathaniel Morris dealt with a lot of hampering injuries last season as one of three Corsairs' wrestlers to reach the state meet.
Saturday, Morris remained perfect with a 17-0 record as he posted an 8-4 decision over previously undefeated Josh Torres of Oswego in the finals. Morris is ranked fifth in the state at 160 in Class 2A as he moved up to 170 for the Erb tourney.
Carmel also got seconds from freshman Riley Palm (15-1 at 106), and junior Bobby Pryhocki (12-2 at 138). Corsairs' teammates Anthony Schaer (113), and Mike Tortorice (120) placed third. Two-time state qualifier Kenny Barber did not compete for Carmel.
"I thought he (Morris) wrestled a good match, it was the perfect time to throw the headlock, and he did a good job on his feet," said Carmel coach Bob Kuykendall. "We have a lot of work to do. We're halfway through the season and we have to correct mistakes, but everybody wrestled with heart."
Buffalo Grove got a fourth-place finish from Jake Greenberg at 113 as Greenberg dropped a tough 2-1 overtime loss to Schaer in a real defensive struggle. Wauconda did not have any individuals reach the final round.
"It could have gone either way (against Schaer), but unfortunately it didn't fall our way," said Buffalo Grove coach Jeff Vlk following Greenberg's match. "We had two other kids that wrestled today, but they both got knocked out in the wrestlebacks."
Batavia was led by 220-pound champ Dylan Uzumecki (13-0), who captured a 3-0 shutout win over Medina in the finals. The Bulldogs had five fourth-place finishers and a total of 10 wrestlers finish in the top six.
"He (Uzumecki) is looking really good getting into his offense, and he knows he has been pretty dominant this year," said Batavia coach Scott Bayer. "The key is that everyone is scoring points, and in a couple rounds we got a lot of bonus points to separate ourselves from other teams."
No. 1-ranked Class 2A 126-pounder Travis Piotrowski (16-0) led Prairie Ridge's troops as Piotrowski became a four-time Erb tourney champion. The University of Illinois-bound Piotrowski was named the outstanding wrestler in the tournament after being named the outstanding wrestler at both the Barrington and Prospect tournaments earlier this season. Piotrowski is a two-time state medalist as he placed third last winter.
"He's aggressive, he chain wrestles really well, and he's always trying to be on offense," said Prairie Ridge coach Matt Lopez referring to three-time state qualifier Piotrowski. "We got seven wrestlers into place matches so I think we did pretty well."
Other third-place finishers were Prairie Ridge's Luke Silva at 132, Prairie Ridge's Drake Regenhardt at 145, Wheeling's Carlos Montiel at 160, and Prairie Ridge's Nick Fetzner at 170.