Libertyville sweeps powerhouse quad

Libertyville continues to keep fans glued to the edge of their seats, after the Wildcats were involved in yet another hair-raising adventure on the wrestling mats.

The Wildcats stood firm in the final stages of their matches against a couple of state-ranked opponents Saturday afternoon - defeating both Lyons and DeKalb to complete a three-match sweep at the Conant quad in Hoffman Estates.

In recent action, the Wildcats narrowly edged North Suburban Conference Lake Division rivals Mundelein (27-26 on Jan. 8) and Warren (26-21 Friday).

At Conant, the Wildcats (16-5) made sure all eyes stayed focused on the orange and black when Nick McDowell and Josh Ronne won the final two matches in a come-from-behind 25-24 victory over No. 15-ranked Lyons.

Later in the quad, Ryan Mertz, who had just returned to the starting lineup against Warren after missing 6 weeks with a torn ACL, came through for coach Dale Eggert's Wildcats when his fall at 1:36 sealed a 35-28 triumph over Class 2A power DeKalb.

"We've had quite a few close, tense matches this season, haven't we?" said Eggert, who watched the Wildcats fall behind to young, rebuilding Conant (7-8) before roaring back to defeat the Cougars 43-18.

"We even had to chase a deficit against Conant in our final dual today, but it turned into quite a day for us."

The marquee match of the day - between the Wildcats and Lyons - lived up to its billing. Both sides were tactically smart and stayed away from dreaded bonus points - as the final score indicated.

Neither team was ever ahead by more than 6 points. There were seven lead changes, including that final bout in which Ronne (27-6) - who bumped up from his No. 4 spot at 160 pounds in state polls - earned man-of-the-match honors after his 3-0 decision over Mike Rende at 171 pounds.

"The way we're coached is to always wrestle hard and to be prepared when the opportunity is there to be the difference-maker in a match, and that's what happened with me against Lyons," said Ronne, a 2009 state qualifier.

Ronne pushed the pace early, and in the process, picked up a point from Rende for stalling - and that was all the Wildcats captain would need.

The senior rode out Rende for a full two minutes during the second period, then closed out his opponent with a reversal at 41/2 minutes.

As the two sides traded decisions, the Wildcats gained a few extra points during this nearly 21/2 hour battle. The first came from Pat Fitzgerald and his 14-3 major decision, followed by 119-pounder Luke Gaeth's technical fall at 5:04.

Gaeth helped put his team back on top at 13-10, before Charlie Meyer and Matt Bystol added to the lead with victories.

Lyons showed its strength and power in the middle of the lineup as Jack Windmoeller, Matt Nora, Lucas Polka and RJ Dilcher exploded for 14 unanswered points to give the Lions a 24-19 edge.

But unheralded work from Sam Shay (145) and Sayad Banifazl (152) helped keep the Wildcats within striking distance.

"We were in a position to earn (bonus) points with at both those weights, and we didn't finish their guys off," said Lyons coach Griff Powell. "But credit (them) for hanging in there to stay away from giving up those extra points."

"Sam was able to keep (Polka) from a major decision, and Sayad looked to be on his way to, at the very least, and tech-fall if not worse," Eggert said. "That was great team wrestling for both of those guys."

The Wildcats received four pins - from Luke Miller, Fitzgerald, Shay and Mertz - to finally put away DeKalb after trailing 19-12.

The Wildcats broke open their tight match trailing 18-11 against Conant with a strong finish to prevail 43-18.

"There was some terrific competition out there for us today, and at times, our inexperience caused far too many tech falls and pins, which slowly took us out of each match," said Cougars coach Chad Hay.

Hay was delighted with the work of freshman Ben Clifford (23-3), who was 3-0 in the quad and 4-0 for the weekend after a victory Friday night against Palatine. Clifford posted an exciting 6-2 overtime win over the Wildcats' Fitzgerald.

The Cougars' Gino Castiglione (145) was 2-1, while Travis Sylvester (2-1) earned high praise from Hay after the sophomore lost to Bystol 7-3 in his final bout.

"Bystol is ranked No. 3 at 125 pounds in the state, and I thought Travis, who at one time was down (4-3) competed really hard against a talented opponent," Hay said.

Lyons (13-5) went 2-1 after victories over DeKalb (51-14) and Conant (48-20).