Scouting the MSL and ESCC tournaments
Scouting conference wrestling meets
Mid-Suburban League
When: Saturday
Host: Rolling Meadows
Defending champ: Wheeling
After a successful three-week run since the start of the New Year, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in the league to predict anyone but Barrington as the team which will lift the MSL championship trophy this weekend.
And why not? The Broncos have swept away a quartet of high-profile clubs since Jan. 1, beginning with Lincoln-Way West in the final at Downers Grove South, and continuing on through Glenbard North, Lockport and finally DeKalb last week in its regular-season finale to push its record to a flashy 24-3-0.
“The DGS tournament title was special for us because all of our seniors came through for us with big points to beat Lincoln-Way West, who's the real deal,” said Barrington coach Dave Udchik. “To meet our goal of going undefeated in our last eight duals before conference wasn't easy, but the guys responded well to the challenge.
“With that said, Prospect beat us in a dual, so they have the firepower to win it all. Conant and Wheeling have a bunch of tough kids, while Fremd and Schaumburg have some hammers as well. So it looks like our tournament has the makings of an exciting one this weekend.”
The MSL has its share of balance and talent across both divisions, making most duals hard-fought affairs which require quality efforts from an entire starting lineup in order to achieve success.
However, it's the results outside of the league which have impressed Schaumburg coach Mike Levanti, who believes Barrington will emerge on top.
“The Broncos have really been a different team of late, and their performance at Lockport made that very clear,” said Levanti, after hearing of the Broncos' victories over state powers Glenbard North and the reigning state champs from Lockport.
Tom Whalen, who coaches MSL East champion Prospect, and Chad Hay, in charge of MSL West runner-up Conant, both tab Barrington as the favorite — but not without a cautionary note.
“Barrington has been looking good since they got their injured guys back,” said Hay. “But Prospect is so tought — plus you know our guys and Wheeling will be pushing to be in the mix, so nothing is for granted.”
“We've all seen it before,” said Whalen. “Any of the top teams can win it, especially if you get those bonus-point victories and stay away from giving them up. It should make for some great matches in the semis and finals.”
Anyway you look at it, this year's conference tournament will have plenty of intrigue, including a handful of weight classes that merit special attention.
Weight watching152: Markus Hartman (Barrington, 32-0), Michael Womeldorf (Rolling Meadows, 26-1), RJ Cortez (Fremd, 21-4), Andy Madrigal (Wheeling, 23-13). Hartman is nationally ranked and appears on his way to second state final appearance. But the rest of the field would like nothing more than to disrupt an unbeaten season.
160: Jarrit Shinhoster (Barrington, 22-1), Adam Kemp (Fremd, 20-5), Mason Skloot (Wheeling, 20-4), Filippo DeFrenza (Conant, 28-5). Since returning to good health, Shinhoster has been terrific, even wrestling up to claim a win against Conant's Cormac Kane at 170 pounds. The top four in this class could all make in downstate later next month.
170: Cormac Kane (Conant, 22-1), Ryan Vedner (Prospect, 33-2), Daniel Rasmussen (Barrington, 28-6). Three potential state medalists in one weight class, each state-ranked.
285: Jose Ramos (Prospect, 31-4), Anthony Greco (Elk Grove, 20-3), Ryan Edwards (Hoffman Estates, 25-4), Tommy Konwent (Buffalo Grove, 20-10). Ramos has been ranked in the top five in the state all season long. But in this weight class, the ‘anything can happen' reputation is there for a reason.
East Suburban Catholic Conference
When: 3:30 p.m. Friday
Host: Carmel Catholic
Defending champ: Marist.
In just his second year as head coach at Marian Central Catholic, coach David Silva has taken the Hurricanes from 17 to 26 wins — and the role of favorite when the ESCC tourney begins Friday afternoon in Mundelein.
The former Dundee-Crown standout has assembled a wonderful lineup, many of which are underclassmen. The group is led by the brilliant duo of Anthony Randazzo and Luke Silva, both ranked in the top four in the state polls and likely to challenge for Class 2A state titles in late February.
Carmel Catholic and St. Viator will be trying to match the pace set by Marian Central and reigning champ Marist.
Both Carmel and St. Viator will put a premium on staying sharp and injury-free, with an eye on the upcoming bigger prize — the Antioch regional.
“I don't want to make light of our tournament, but our focus is a little different in that we want to go into regionals healthy and at full strength in to get as many as we can into sectionals, then one week later downstate,” says Carmel coach Bob Kuykendall.
“Same for us,” said St. Viator coach Jason Churak, who finally has one of his top men back in junior Elijah Black. He's back after a lengthy stay on the injury list following a torn meniscus suffered in the Lions' season finale in football.
“Two straight years I've torn my meniscus, and I never got back last year, so I'm very excited about being back and making a run at a state medal,” said Black last week following the ESCC Super-Duals in Arlington Heights.
Lions senior Jake Wolf, who won 26 matches last year and has nearly reached that number this year, is looking forward to the season's finishing stages.
“The postseason is where it's at,” said Wolf, “and while I obviously would like to repeat as conference champ, the disappointment of not making downstate last year has made me work harder than ever to get there and possibly medal.”
Churak is looking forward to postseason success on several levels.
“Jake and Elijah will be right there in the mix for a conference title,” he said. “Our 195-pounder, sophomore Ryan McGuire, will challenge for a top-three finish and automatic all-conference honor, and our guy at 220 (Nikko Weder) can surprise as well
“But again, we'll use the ESCC to get our really young lineup some experience in a conference tournament to get them ready for regionals. And if a lot of those guys come out and wrestle, they'll be moving on to sectionals the following week.”
The Corsairs will have several who will can medal in the league tournament, including 2017 state qualifiers Christian Valadez (22-3) and Anthony Schaer (28-6) as well as junior Tommy Hoy (152, 30-6).
Not to be overlooked is two-time state medalist Riley Palm (138), who in his remarkable junior season continued with another wonderful effort last weekend at the Lake County invite, picking up his third major victory of the season to run his record to 31-0 overall.
— Mike Garofola