Stars sparkle at Moore-Prettyman
On the big tournament stage at Barrington, where the likes of Wheeling's Luke Smith, Stevenson's Danny Sabatello and Crystal Lake South's Nick Fontanetta turned in virtuoso performances before enthusiastic wrestling fans, Chris Johnson found a way to share the spotlight with this superb trio Saturday night with some terrific individual work of his own.
The Wheeling senior outworked two-time state medalist and current No. 2-ranked Jared Koch of Marian Central for six impressive minutes to capture the 189-pound championship with an 8-1 victory in the 20th annual Moore-Prettyman Memorial tournament.
Smith won his third straight title here, while Fontanetta, a junior, dominated the field at 112 pounds en route to his second consecutive crown. Gators senior Kean Loupee claimed top honors at 160 pounds to help his club finish sixth, while the defending state champion Sabatello grabbed MVP honors after a sensational two days which ended with the Stevenson senior roaring through the 125-pound competition.
East Suburban Catholic Conference power Marist held off Lyons to win the team title by 15.5 points (174.5-159) while tourney host Barrington edged Hinsdale Central by 1 point (150-149) to carry off third-place honors.
Libertvyille, Stevenson and Wheeling rounded out the top 10.
Johnson, who last year finished strong to earn a sixth-place medal at the state tournament in his first trip to Champaign, has quickly risen through the ranks despite starting in the sport at a relatively late date.
“Chris has really only wrestled since sixth grade, but he is such a quick learner and hard worker who has put in endless hours with our assistant coach J.P. Akouri and Dan Vargas to make himself into the wrestler he is today,” said Wheeling coach Neal Weiner.
“Those (two) have meant everything to me, and both were state medalists who understand what it takes, and have been there every step of the way,” said Johnson, who defended early shots from Koch, then slowly broke down before tilting the Central senior and falling one count short of grabbing a 3-point near fall.
Johnson entered the third period with a 4-1 lead and increased it to 7-1 with a takedown to all but seal his win.
“I could sense he was beginning to tire midway through the match, so I just kept moving and shooting until he wasn't able to defend me anymore.”
Smith coasted through 3 matches before defeating Terry Ward (Hinsdale Central) 11-5 at 145 pounds.
Fontanetta was flawless throughout the tournament, including a stunning 12-0 major decision over rival Adrian Gonzalez in a rematch of the 103-pound final here last season.
“I felt really good all weekend, and felt that I wrestled a near perfect match to end the tournament and to get my season started on the right foot,” said Fontanetta, who got in and finished his shot at three minutes to go up 5-0, and quickly made it 8-0 after a near-fall.
“Nick was just something else over these two days, and the effort put in by Kean to win his title at 160, and some of the other work from our guys, some (here) for the first time, was very encouraging,” said upbeat Gators coach Ross Ryan.
Loupee had too much strength and tactical genious for his opponents, including Tyler Ledbetter of Plainfield Central, who had no answer for the 2010 state qualifier during a workmanlike 7-2 victory.
“It was a very long two days of wrestling, beginning with a first-round bye which seemed to make the first day even longer than it was, but I finished with the best effort of my four matches (here) and that was the most important thing for me to do,” said Loupee.
Cary-Grove had plenty to cheer during the early afternoon session as the Trojans' faithful watched the senior duo of Corey Meyer and Collin Hansen advance into the finals, only to fall short in their bid to lift a championship trophy.
Meyer had the best chance of the two in his 130-pound bout with state ranked Sean Raddatz, falling 9-2 in a match that was much closer than the final score would suggest.
After weathering an early storm from the three-time state qualifier who was hoping to physically dominate the first period, Meyer stood firm and made the ESCC champ earn each point in the match, just missing a takedown opportunity of his own to close the gap during a well-wrestled third period.
“I stayed with (him) and got some good shots in, but just not enough,” said Meyer. “But I found out I could stay with guys like him, and that's what I'll take with me this week when I go back to work in the room beginning on Monday.”
An exciting 2-1 decison in the semifinals over TJ Sally of Hinsdale Central helped send Hansen into his 171-pound final, where he ran into Zack Patterson of Stillman Valley. The 1A star recorded the third of his 3 falls over the weekend to capture his championship belt.
The host Broncos did well to stay in the hunt despite their one second-place finish from Gonzalez. Barrington earned a pair of medals at fourth and fifth place, while grabbing important points along the way in the consolation bracket to outlast Hinsdale Central.
“Obviously it's great to finish in the top three of your own tournament, and in a field which includes so many very good teams, but with it comes the knowledge that those top teams helped expose some of our weaknesses, which we need to begin to address and fix when we get back to practice next week,” said Barrington coach Al Strobl.