Libertyville takes rivalry matchup against Mundelein

An old wrestling rivalry was renewed as visiting Libertyville met Mundelein on senior night Thursday in North Suburban Conference action.

Starting at 113 pounds, the host Mustangs hung tough with the Wildcats early on. But Libertyville (7-9, 3-3) pulled away with pins in the final two upper weights to capture a 36-21 NSC Lake Division victory over Mundelein (11-6, 2-4).

Junior Tony Laurie got the Mustangs rolling right out of the gates with a pin in 1:58 at 113 pounds. But those 6 team points were negated by Libertyville 120-pound junior Drew Onufer's pin in 3:15 to force an early 6-6 deadlock.

Mundelein senior Alec Riportella (23-5) held on for a 2-1 decision over Libertyville freshman Michael Gunther in a classic defensive battle at 126 to give the Mustangs a brief 9-6 lead.

But the Wildcats looked great at the middle weights in this dual meet as 132-pounder Mike Hogan posted a 7-2 decision over Junior Hernandez after falling behind 2-0 early in the match.

Libertyville 138-pounder Tyler Padilla followed up that victory with an 8-1 decision over Andrew Malusky to give the Wildcats the lead for keeps at 12-9.

Will Johnson added a 9-4 decision over Alex Hendon at 145 pounds before teammate Brian Vickers posted a narrow 4-2 decision over freshman Logan Kvien in a very competitive bout at 152.

Then came one more win for Libertyville at the middle weights as 160-pounder Jack Damenti's 7-4 decision over George Konstandinidis gave the Wildcats a 21-9 advantage with six matches remaining.

Mundelein 170-pounder Kamil Olechno snapped Libertyville's streak of five straight wins with an 11-5 decision over Ryan Cleary to cut the gap to 21-12.

But once again the Wildcats responded when 182-pounder Kyle Smith pulled out a hard-fought 3-1 decision over freshman D.J. Preston to boost the lead back to 24-12.

"Hats off to Libertyville, they won every close match but one, and it just didn't go our way," said first-year Mundelein coach Mark Stewart. "There were two matches (132 and 152) that should have gone our way so I'm a little bit disappointed. But I'm proud of our kids because we were in every match but three, and we're getting better."

Mundelein 195-pounder Cesar Obispo (21-4) kept the Mustangs hopes alive as his 10-3 decision over Ben O'Donnell made the score 24-15 with three matches left. O'Donnell avoided a major decision against him with an escape in the final second.

But the Wildcats clinched the team win on a pin in 3:02 by 220-pounder Mike Beck before 285-pound teammate Charlie Schmidt added a pin in 1:47 for a 30-15 lead.

"I thought we had some great wins in the middle, and to get the pins up high (by Beck and Schmidt) it was a really good win for our team," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. "Mike Hogan had a great match after a slow start, and Will Johnson had a very solid match after losing the first takedown."

In a great matchup to close out the meet at 106, Mundelein sophomore Dane Durlacher (26-4) pinned state-ranked junior Alex Mitchell in 3:28 to account for the final tally. Mitchell beat Durlacher 3-1 in their other bout last season.

"I'm having a good year, but I should have won some matches I didn't," said Durlacher, who is currently ranked as honorable mention. "He (Mitchell) beat me last year, he's a very good wrestler, and that is a big win for me to build off of."