Wrestling: No. 10 Fremd rolls over short-handed Palatine
The Palatine wrestling team knew it was going to be in for a tough challenge when the Pirates visited No. 10-ranked crosstown rival Fremd in a Mid-Suburban League dual meet Thursday night.
And that was definitely the case as short-handed Palatine had to forfeit four matches to the powerful Vikings lineup, which cost the Pirates 24 points in the MSL West battle.
Fremd (12-0, 3-0) came out firing on all cylinders to remain undefeated on the 2021-22 season as the Vikings built a commanding 39-0 lead after seven matches before easily rolling to a 65-3 victory.
Starting at 220 pounds, the Pirates (1-5, 0-4) fell behind 6-0 as Fremd's Casey Bending recorded a pin with 23 seconds left in the first period to get the fast-paced meet going.
The 285-pound bout was a real dogfight, but Fremd's Cristian Gonzalez was able to post a narrow 3-2 decision over Gustavo Gonzalez for a quick 9-0 advantage for the Vikings.
A double forfeit at 106 was followed by forfeit victories for Fremd teammates Wiley Jessup at 113, and elite freshman Evan Gosz at 120 to boost the lead to 21-0.
Then the Vikings got pins from 126-pounder Jake Crandall in 1:03, 132-pounder Maddox Khalimsky in 2:45, and 138-pounder Jovan Gongora in 3:32 to take the 39-0 lead.
"To their credit, we knew their kids were up and coming through the feeder program, and they're a good team," said Palatine coach Javier Rivera. "We're just looking to rebuild and maintain some consistency with the program."
Palatine's Joey Spizziri (10-2) broke up the shutout with a 9-3 decision over Bryce Chierico at 145, but Fremd would run the table the rest of the way.
A technical fall by University of Illinois-bound Charlie Fifield at 152 and a forfeit win by teammate Matt Meehan (160) boosted the lead to 50-3.
Then Fremd's Peter Mondus won a 6-3 decision over Damian Nestor at 170 before Fremd's A.J. Delmar won by forfeit at 170.
"I just committed (to U of I) last Wednesday, I'm very excited for it, I love the coaching staff, and I love the energy and camaraderie of the program," said Fifield, who will join former Libertyville star Danny Pucino in the Illinois program.
"The goal (this season) is to be a state champ. I just came off a couple of pretty serious injuries (torn ACLs), and I've dropped a couple of tough matches. But I'm not where I know I'm going to be at the end of the year."
A pin in just 41 seconds by Fremd's Michael Kuehn (195) accounted for the final score.
"We did what we were supposed to do tonight. We've got a veteran team, and they've got a lot of new guys over there," said Fremd coach Jeff Keske. "I'm really proud of the leaders of this group. They care a lot about the team, they're pushing each other, they're a very close-knit group and that is the biggest difference compared to last year."