More thrills to come in Barrington semis

When the ball gets rolling this morning at the Barrington sectional, the drama and tension surrounding a star-studded cast all vying for a semifinal spot and automatic to the state tournament figures to be the stuff made for some lasting memories.

Day No. 1 produced just a few surprises, while several highly anticipated quarterfinal matches failed to live up to pre-tournament expectations. Today, however, there will be plenty of heart-stopping bouts with so much more on the line, fueled by emotion down on the floor and before another packed house.

Up and down, and all along the 14 brackets, some of the elite in state wrestling will be facing off in today's semifinal matches, which are set to begin just after the completion of the 10 a.m. first-round wrestleback matches.

Choose a weight class, and there's likely a headline act.

At 103 pounds, the sensational sophomore duo of Crystal Lake South's Nick Fontanetta (35-0) meets Adrian Gonzalez (35-2) of Barrington, with Gonzalez looking to avenge an early season loss to the No. 2-rated sophomore.

Knee-deep in talent, the 112-pound division pared the class down in the championship bracket, with Josh Boggess (Prospect, 37-4) opposite 2009 state medalist Miko Villanueva (37-4) of Dundee-Crown, who defeated another state medalist, Matt Ornoff (Mundelein, 36-5) 3-2 in one of the top matches of the early evening, which never materialized into the crowd-pleaser many had hoped for.

"He didn't really come after me like I thought he might," said Villanueva, who said he stayed with the tactic of circling left in order to sweep and snap the Mustangs sophomore, who fell behind 3-0 during the early stages of the third period and never challenged the DC senior.

On the other side of the bracket, Derek Elmore (Machesney Park, 35-1) showed why he arrived here as the No. 1 rated wrestler in the state, as he recorded a major victory (14-6) over a very good Hersey sophomore in Stephfon Scales (36-10) to book his spot opposite Robby Schultheis (36-4) of Warren.

Stevenson junior Danny Sabatello (33-3) got his wish and will face Joe Schwartz (Highland Park, 37-2) in a 119-pound semifinal, a bout Sabatello has been eagerly anticipating since falling to Schwartz via pin in the Leyden Invite back in January.

Sabatello's teammate Jordan Sherman (35-6) survived an upset bid from Sam Shay (Libertyville, 24-14) during the quarterfinals, when a late escape pushed the Patriots' captain past Shay 5-4.

Next up for Sherman is No. 3 Blaise Butler (Rockford Boylan, 37-1) who dominated Cameron Schaffer (Lake Zurich, 31-2) 12-5 in another 135-pound quarterfinal.

"Right now we're looking to get both (Cameron) and Alex (Nigro, 130) through as they each are battling the flu right now," said concerned LZ coach Dan Strickler, who will guide the duo in the consolation brackets while keeping an eye on senior Anthony Pace (34-2), who dispatched a stubborn Chad Wolfgram (Hononegah) 6-2 in his quarterfinal bout.

Pace takes on Mundelein junior Pablo Mata (26-14), who was of the brightest stars for the Mustangs' which would have a disappointing first day here.

"It was tough watching my teammates' troubles in their quaterfinals matches, but we've been training and working (together) harder than any other time of the season, so I have a lot of confidence in (them) to get themselves back, and having a chance to get downstate," said Mata, who appeared more fit and conditioned than his opponent, Eric Ronning (Niles West, 35-9), in a 5-3 victory.

The North Suburban Conference had its share of woes elsewhere, including a heartbreaking OT loss by Libertyville captain Josh Ronne (160, 36-8), who fell in the fourth extra period 4-3 to No. 3 Jeff Koepke (45-5) 4-3.

"When I saw the brackets and realized that I would likely be wrestling (Ronne) for the third time this season, and I knew this would be the toughest of the three matches between us," said Koepke, who watched Ronne somehow score a takedown with hardly a tick left on the clock in the second extra period to draw even.

Koepke will face Anthony Suarez (Niles West, 32-7), while the other side of the bracket sees Mike Rust (Dundee-Crown, 31-6) going against Kean Loupee (Crystal Lake South), who recorded a fall at 4:47 over Matt Zabrin (Buffalo Grove).

"It was a long day of school, coming over here, and waiting nearly 3 hours after the start of the tournament to compete, but the wait was worth it," Loupee said with a smile.

Fellow Fox Valley Conference competitors Lucas Rogers (Huntley) and Josh Nelson (Cary-Grove) were nearly perfect as they advanced, as was Jacobs heavyweight Derek Bush (20-8), who recorded 2 pins to reach the semifinals.

"We tore up (Derek's) playbook and started all over with him, and today it got him a pair of falls. One more win and he's downstate," said his coach, Chris Taylor.

A pin by Rogers (34-7) at 4:27 over Central Suburban League champ Andrew Maksimovic (Glenbrook North) draws the junor closer to a trip downstate in his first sectional appearance.

"I've got a lot of support from my teamamtes, and we are all supporting each other here - and that could be the difference in my chances to get to Champaign," said Rogers.

Nelson, who is looking toward his second straight state appearance, is one match away from doing so if he can get past Jim Wallenberg (Notre Dame, 35-7) today.

"I am feeling the best that I have all season," said Nelson, now 26-5 at 145 pounds.

Carmel senior Frankie Swindell (29-4) got through at the bottom of the 145-pound bracket and will meet No. 3 Demetrios Mitchell (46-0) after his thrashing of Matt Yan (New Trier) via technical fall.

"I had a lot of energy right from the start, and when I saw that he wasn't moving around (much) I took advantage of it," said Swindell, an East Suburban Catholic Conference champion this season.

No. 1 Luke Smith (Wheeling) moved his record to 38-0 after the junior pounded Tom Gerszewski (Crystal Lake South) for six minutes in a 14-3 victory, and will meet CSL champ Jake Barack (Glenbrook South, 36-4) today.

Teammates Chris Johnson (189) and Mike Smith (140) are still alive, with Smith breaking loose late in his bout with Eric Arcos (Mundelein) to pin the senior at 4:31.

The same scenario occured with Johnson, who was unable to shake Zane Gilfillan (Rockford Guilford) until a fall at 5:48 put him away.

"He didn't really want to wrestle, so I had to be patient, try to wear him down, and then get a shot in to finish him off," said Johnson, who lost to Gilfillan last year.

MSL rivals Ronnie Hauser (130) and Travis LaSchiava (140) of Fremd remain in the championship bracket after impressive victories.

Hauser (20-9) will meet Rogers, while LaSchiava gets Cris Pazmino (Niles North, 30-3).

"I was a little anxious at the start, but once I was able to get in front, all I wanted to do was to go to work and add to my lead, right until the end of my match," said the Vikings senior after his 11-3 major over John Diaz of Waukegan.

Luke Miller (152, 32-7) and Dan Santoro (171, 37-4) shined in front of the home crowd as they each moved closer to a second straight visit to Champaign.

And while the Broncos' faithful will be glued to their heroes' every move, the crowd no doubt will stop to watch the 189-pound semifinal between No. 1 Lee Munster (Grant, 29-0) and No. 2 Sterling Hecox (Machesney Park, 32-1).

Jason Montemayor (37-1) is running in the express lane and looked superb in his lone bout at 130-pounds in advance of his match with Tim Schweigel (Prospect, 36-7).

Libertyville senior Matt Bystol (37-3) was in championship form himself after a wonderful effort during his quarterfinal with Leshon Mejias (Palatine) that ended with a technical fall at 5:09.

"So far I am having fun," said the affable two-time state qualifier and 2009 state medalist. "Coming in here, I know that I am going to need to wrestle hard for six minutes each time out, and that each opponent I face will likely wrestle their hardest against me."