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Glenbard North impresses at Grant

If there was any doubt about the performance credentials of Glenbard North, and just how postseason ready the Panthers (15-4) truly are, then all one must do is check out the results from Saturday at Grant, where Mark Hahn’s club rolled over a pair of quality wrestling programs.

Led by a turbo-charged group in the lower half of its lineup and the state’s top-rated 152-pounder in Brian Murphy, the Panthers’ long drive north Saturday morning proved worthwhile as they doubled up the host Bulldogs 42-21 before crushing 2A power Crystal Lake Central 54-9.

Burlington Central (16-5) was a late scratch and did not compete.

“This is a team which I believe enjoys having a target on its back, as one of the teams everyone always wants to beat,” said Hahn. “Each year we’ve tried to test our guys with the best possible competition outside of our conference, knowing that we’ll be prepared for whatever faces us in the postseason.

“We’re fortunate to have a great group at the lower weights, and if we can get the other guys to grind a few wins out here and there, there’s no reason that we cannot get ourselves into a position to make another run at a state championship.”

With a star-studded cast from 106 to 132, all among the top five in the recent state polls, Glenbard North gives opponents little hope of a breakthrough. Richard Browne, Chris Gonzales, Jered Cortez, Jon Marmolejo and Johnny Gosinski combined to go 10-0 for the day. They had 5 pins and a technical fall among them, with Gonzales and Marmolejo leading the way, each with a pair of falls.

“We always seem to have unbelievable talent at the lower weights, but I really feel like our guys at the upper part of our lineup will contribute when we need them to, much like they did last year on our way to our state title,” said Murphy, a junior who is No. 1 at 152 after going 45-3 last season and finishing as runner-up to Luke Smith of Wheeling at 140 pounds.

Cortez, the Panthers’ other top-rated wrestler (at 120) received a bit of a scare from Grant’s Ben Soumar (28-4) in the first bout of the day for both.

Cortez, a 2A state champ last season for Marmion, broke out of the gate fast with a quick takedown. But after that, Soumar made it a match when he rode his opponent hard throughout the second period with Cortez starting in the down position.

Soumar’s escape brought him closer during the third period, but he was unable to pry open the Panthers sophomore.

“Ben had a very good day, especially against (Cortez) where he battled hard, and almost got 2 at the edge which could have put him ahead,” said Grant coach Ryan Geist. “Ben has come a long way since last season, making great strides in all areas. Athough the 120-pound class is a very tough one, he looks to be on top of his game and ready to make a run at a place downstate.”

The Bulldogs (18-4), who saw their dual with Lakes cancelled on Friday due to the snowstorm, never got themselves going against Glenbard North, falling behind 36-0 after a major decision victory (13-4) from Murphy.

Charles Williams’ exciting 5-3 decision in OT over Jimique Davis stopped the bleeding for a moment, as did another fine performance from Tony Cashmore, who inched closer to the 30 wins after pinning David Johnson at 1:51.

Quentin Quarles and Dan Haeffle later pinned their opponents back-to-back to bring the final to a more respectable 42-21.

“When you wrestle a state power like Glenbard North, you find out what you need to work on right away, but we bounced back with a nice win over a very good Crystal Lake Central team to get ourselves a split on the day,” said Geist.

Cashmore (28-5) who saw his season last year end abruptly at regionals, looks like a new man, according to Geist. He says the 170-pounder has grown leaps and bounds from the off-season.

“I totally committed myself to wrestlng,” said Cashmore, 29-15 last year. “I made up my mind that I was going to do whatever it took to get better, both mentally and physically, and along with a lot of lifting and conditioning, I worked a lot on my shots, on my feet.

“Last year I was too defensive, and it cost me in the end, and I won’t let that happen this year. My confidence is way up, and I am feeling really good about my chances, as well as our team, which has really come around this year after winning the team championship at Glenbrook South, and finishing second at Sycamore, which is very competitive tournament.”

What looked to be the match of the day ended as quickly as it began.

The state’s best 2A 195-pounder, reigning state champion Gage Harrah of Crystal Lake Central, bumped up to take on the Quarles (27-2) at 220 pounds.

With all eyes on that end of the gym, Harrah (20-1) exploded out of the blocks after the whistle, and with his superb quickness and technique, pinned his larger opponent in 1:17.

Later, Harrah endured a frustrating six minutes with the Panthers’ Dan Eldridge, whose brilliant tactical effort kept the nation’s fifth-rated wrestler at bay in a 5-1 decision.

In the Panthers’ rout of the Tigers (9-10), Dan Johnson stunned Michael Zelasco (3-2), who is currently rated No. 4 at 132 in the 2A polls.

“After beginning the season with a rash of injuries, and recently going through all sorts of skin issues that kept a lot of guys out the lineup for awhile, we finally appear to getting at full strength, and we had hoped to wrestle Harvard last night until the storm ended that for us,” said Crystal Lake Central coach Justin Lehr. “A lot of people expect us to be beating our opponents badly, but we’ve continued to upgrade our schedule, and with so many guys in and out of the lineup for an extended period of time, we just haven’t been at the level we know we can be at.”

The Tigers were 2A runners-up last February to Montini.

The Bulldogs appears to be in the hunt along with North Suburban Lake champ Warren, Libertyville and division rivals Vernon Hills and Wauconda when the NSC tournament begins Friday in Libertyville.

“We’ve been getting very good results from our two big guys (Quarles, Haeffle) and Cashmore of course, so we’ll get in a good week of practice and see how things go for us when the tournament gets started,” said Geist.

Glenbard North will be looking for a repeat of last season, when it squashed the competition en route to another DVC crown, using a half-dozen individual championships to outscore its closest rival by 110 points.

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