Big crowds see big efforts from Prospect, Wheeling
Before a full house for the first day of the Class 3A Barrington wrestling sectional on Friday, Mid-Suburban East and regional champion Prospect along with its division rival Wheeling, took the spotlight.
The Knights rode the hot hands of Alex Preissing, Tanner Strobel, Matt Wroblewski and James Ford into Saturday's semifinals.
The middle of the Wheeling lineup supplied support to captain Ricky Muro and freshman Mason Skloot as the Wildcats put four of their own into the front draw for the second round of action. The aforementioned group will compete in the 10:30 semifinals after the first round of wrestlebacks open the proceedings at 9 a.m.
First- and third-place matches are set to being at approximately 1:30 p.m. after the top four individuals in each weight class are decided throughout the day.
Mid-Suburban West regular-season champ Barrington has three semifinalists while Hersey booked a pair in Mitch MacTavish and Tyler Cooke. Junior Alex Jacobs of Fremd faces No. 2 Christian Brunner (37-1) from Dundee-Crown in one of the several marquee matches, as it promises to be a supercharged atmosphere before another big crowd.
Skloot (30-13) got the MSL going on the right foot with a 6-4 victory over Alex Mitchell (Libertyville) at 106 pounds.
And the duo of MacTavish (32-10) and Preissing (36-5) thrilled the fans of the orange and brown as well as navy and Columbia blue.
Three-time qualifier MacTavish appeared to have one foot in the wrestleback bracket during his first match only to stun Brendan McGee in the final seconds of his first rounder. He came back with an 11-1 major decision over Alec Riportella (Mundelein, 25-4) to advance into the semifinals against No. 4 Michael Cullen (34-1) of Cary-Grove.
"I was in a bit of trouble in that first one but I never gave up the fight," admitted MacTavish, whose 5 points (takedown, near fall) with four seconds left turned a 6-5 deficit into a 10-6 triumph.
The No. 12-ranked Preissing was superb against the NSC champ, Gage Datlovsky (38-7). He never allowed the Grant senior to find his pace.
The bout ended when Preissing pinned Datlovsky at 5:47 to set up a match with Kenny Kerstein (29-13) of Deerfield.
"I knew Gage was a very good wrestler but I felt confident heading into my first match today," Preissing said.
Muro provided one of the biggest surprises of the quarterfinals.
He upended North Suburban Conference and regional champ, Cristian Coronado (Grant, 39-3) 10-9 in a wild, back-and-forth contest.
Neither side had a real foothold until the Cats senior finished off his opponent to set up his next bout with 2014 state qualifier Brad Green (34-7) of DeKalb.
"That was a lot of points to give up but I am real proud of Ricky," said Wildcats assistant coach Nick Blackshaw. "I'm so happy for our captain and true leader of this team."
A near fall midway through the second period gave Coronado a 8-4 lead but a late reversal put Muro back in the match.
Even at 8-8, Coronado went in front with an escape until Muro put the finishing touches on his victory with a deuce at five minutes.
One weight class later, sophomore Jalen Shaw, who won just 13 matches last season, recorded his 31st victory of the season.
He stopped Howie Olson (DeKalb) to stay in the front draw. Next up is the No. 3-rated 145-pounder in the state, Eric Barone (37-1) of Crystal Lake South.
Teammate Tulga Zuunbayan, fresh off his third straight regional title, was dominant against Sal Potts. Zuunbayan broke open a close match with a third-period explosion to down his Libertyville opponent 13-5.
Zuunbayan (35-1) now meets 2014 state qualifier Tanner Anthony (Harlem, 13-2), where a win in the semifinals sends him downstate for the second consecutive year.
Strobel (34-7) had too much in his tank for Spencer Jacobsen (Highland Park) during a 6-4 victory at 160 pounds. He faces No. 7 Sage Heller (Deerfield, 42-2) next.
Sophomore teammates Wroblewski (32-2) and Ford (35-2) were impressive at 170 and 220.
Wroblewski overwhelmed three-time sectional qualifier, Jake Flower (24-15) of Hononegah.
Next up for the No.-8 rated Wroblewski is No. 7 Brady Glantz (Deerfield, 38-3).
Ford, currently No. 2 in the state polls, faces Blake Zalapi (37-8) of Hononegah.
Fremd's Jacobs is looking forward to his semifinal with Brunner, a favorite to reach the finals for a second straight year.
"We wrestled before and I let a case of nerves get in the way knowing I was up against the state runner-up and No.-2 rated," admitted Jacobs, who nonetheless lost by a 8-7 decision.
"But that was then, and now my confidence is right where it needs to be. Even though we wrestle the same style, I feel like I am right where I have to be in order to have a chance at him the second time around."
On the other side of the 195-pound bracket stands Barrington senior John Depersia.
He waited his turn patiently, before enjoying a breakout season, which included his first sectional appearance and two victories on Friday.
He is now 33-11, but more importantly, one win away from heading downstate next week.
"A lot of my success is due in part to teaming up with Julius Smith during the off-season," Depersia said. "And really turning up my workout sessions, lifting, and running sometimes late at night in order to prepare myself for stepping into the starting lineup this year.
After his hard-fought 7-4 win over Jordan Shahrikian (Hononegah, 29-10), Depersia goes up against Zion-Benton star, Mark Miller 39-5) who is a four-time qualifier.
Smith (31-5) was near flawless during his 14-4 major over Andrew Demos, advancing the No.-9 rated senior against John Ciancio (29-5) of Highland Park, while heavyweight Alex Zentner (31-7) continues to amaze with yet another thrilling postseason win to stay in the front draw.
The Broncos' senior outlasted Wheeling's star big man, Juan Hernandez (32-7) with a 3-2 ultimate tiebreaker victory. It was the second time in three weeks he's beaten the Wildcats senior in OT.
Next is a rematch of a regional semifinal from a week ago with Jack Resnick (35-7) of Grant.