Barrington, Libertyville and Glenbard North advance

Inspired by nearly perfect results in every close match and fueled by 24 bonus points off a pair of tech-falls and pins, No. 14 Barrington (20-2) squashed No. 22 Hononegah 41-23 Tuesday night at the Fremd sectional to earn its first-ever final eight appearance this weekend in Bloomington.

NSC champion Libertyville (19-3) showed little mercy in its 68-6 romp over New Trier to join the last eight, while No. 10 Glenbard North (22-6) booked its place in the team tournament after defeating MSL champion Schaumburg 38-20.

Barrington will meet Libertyville in a 9 a.m. Saturday quarterfinal inside U.S. Cellular Coliseum, while at 11 a.m. the Panthers face Leyden, which sprung the big upset of the night in Class 3A by defeating Mt. Carmel 40-22.

"Anyone associated in this sport knows how important matchups are - winning close matches, earning bonus points, and staying away from majors, tech-falls and pins - and tonight we were outstanding in all of those areas to help us defeat a very good opponent, who looked dangerous when we saw them at our sectional two weeks ago," said Barrington coach Al Strobl.

Perhaps a sign of good sign of the eventual outcome came when Connor Manina (21-15) recorded a reversal with just 3 seconds remaining in regulation to defeat Boston Nimmer 6-5 and help get the Broncos on the fast track.

From there, Harrison Ruesch won another tight one at 130 (3-2), and after the freshmen state qualifier from Hononegah (Manny Silva) drew his club even at 6-6 with a pin at 135, it was all Barrington. The Broncos reeled off 5 straight victories, beginning with a fall from Dakota Wapotish (140) and ending with Dan Santoro's (171) tech fall at 4:50 to extend the Broncos' lead to 27-6.

"We received some terrific individual efforts from guys who haven't been in the lineup on a regular basis, and after that great start, we got ourselves on a roll and never really looked back," said Santoro, back from his fourth-place state finish last weekend in Champaign.

"It feels great to be a part of the first team ever to go downstate from our school," said Wapotish, now 29-10 after his pin in just 33 seconds.

State runner-up Luke Miller (152, 38-9) overcame flu-like conditions to bump off Chad Wolfgran (28-14) with a late turn to break open a close match and stun the Indians senior 6-4.

A late takedown from another state qualifier, Kalvin Argueta (37-14), allowed the senior to get past Tyler Zimmerman 4-3 at 215 pounds, which was followed by a fall from Aaron Castagna (285) at 3:17.

Broncos sophomore Adrian Gonzalez (42-5), who just three days ago celebrated his first state medal (fourth place), finished off the scoring for the Broncos with a tech fall at 3:55 over Thomas Hunt.

The night was also the final match in the superb career of Matt Dwyer of Hononegah, who last weekend won the state title at 215 pounds over Leyden senior Dan Kiebler. The three-time state medalist will be attending Nebraska on a wrestling scholarship.

• The Broncos will be in for a battle royale Saturday morning against Libertyville, which will be attending the final weekend of the season for the sixth time in its history after earning a fourth-place trophy in 2008.

"I read an interview with Nick (McDowell, 152-pound senior) and he said how the focus is on team effort and contributions when we compete in dual-meet competitions, and tonight it was very clear how important it is for all of us and the coaching staff," said Wildcats senior Josh Ronne (45-9), who scored his first state medal fourth last weekend at 160 pounds in his second trip downstate. "I've wrestled with a lot of the (guys) on this team since sixth grade, and going to the state tournament, and hopefully bringing home a medal would be the highlight of my career here at Libertyville."

The Wildcats (19-3) launched a furious onslaught from the very beginning, and never eased off as it built a 53-0 lead until heavyweight state qualifier Stephen Bora (33-15) registered a pin for the only points of the night for the Trevians.

"We knew on paper, and coming into this dual that we would have too much firepower for New Trier, but, with that said, we were focused at the start and came out strong, with everyone working hard to get a win and making this an easy night for us," said senior Matt Bystol (42-5) who captured his second state medal in as many seasons last weekend at 125 pounds.

Bystol and Ronne were joined by three others (Sam Shay, Kevin Takakoli and Ryan Mertz) who recorded falls during the night. The shorthanded Trevians gave away 24 points on forfeits.

• Head coach Mark Hahn will take his Glenbard North team into Bloomington for the 12th time following an 18-point victory over the Saxons.

"You got to like (our) chances for a great start when you open at 125 and you see Joey (Gosinski), then Brian Murphy step onto the mat for us," said Hahn of the 125-pound state champ (Gosinski) and third-place medalist Murphy (130, 46-9). "We knew a key for tonight would be get off and running, and to build enough of a lead as to not have the upper weight strength of Scahumburg decide the outcome."

By the time the Saxons state qualifying trio of Danny Malik (171), Jon LaManna (189) and third-place medalist Josh Marchok (215) had a turn on the mat, the Panthers were already comforatably ahead at 20-9.

Senior Pat Felde (160, 32-8) took a bite out of the Panthers' lead with a 4-1 decision over Paul Freeman. But all Malik (35-5), LaManna (34-5) and Marchok (42-3) could do was score a pair of decisions and a major (by Marchok) to pull the Saxons with 4 at 20-16.

Three consecutive falls (from Dan Boyle, Johnny Gosinski and Brayan Gonzalez) brought the Panthers' fans up and off their chairs to cheer.

"We knew starting at 125 was going to put us in hole right away, and then it came down to their studs against ours to see who would outscore the other," said Saxons coach Matt Gruszka.

"It was a disappointing result, but the season certainly wasn't," said Malik. "We accomplished a lot of (firsts) as a team, and helped establish a program that will be successful for a long time."

Joey Gosinski (49-0) picked up where he left off in Champaign, where he outdueled Bystol 2-1 in an ultimate OT tiebreaker in the semifinals before upending No. 1 Jameson Oyster (Lockport) to win his championship belt.

"I don't thing the (title) has really sunk in with me yet," said the senior, "but I can tell you that it really feels good to know that my name will be up on the wall at school with the likes of Williams, Ramos, Gomez, Chase and others, and that's what I am really proud of more than anything else."