Stevenson edges Warren in back-and-forth affair
The final North Suburban Conference dual meet of the season and of Warren wrestling coach Mark Tiffany's career was a wild one Friday night at Stevenson.
The NSC Lake Division finale featured an unheard of seven lead changes in the team score, but when all was said and done it was the host Patriots (14-4, 4-2) that walked away with a 30-22 victory over the Blue Devils.
With the meet starting at 160 pounds, Warren (15-4, 3-3) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead when Brenden Frank posted a 6-2 decision over Kristian Meyer.
The see-saw battle went back and forth the entire way, basically, with Stevenson 171-pounder Nate Rubenstein's 13-5 major decision giving the Pats a 4-3 lead.
Then 189-pounder Brandon Weber outlasted Warren's Mike Patterson 3-1 in overtime and Stevenson led 7-3.
At 215 pounds, Chandler Sperry responded with a 1-0 decision over Stevenson's Josh Kolman before Warren 285-pounder Josh Dust's 5-2 decision over David Woodstein gave the Blue Devils a brief 9-7 advantage.
The Patriots regained a 10-9 lead when Mark Jolcover held on for a 1-0 decision over Warren's Martin Martinez at 103.
But the Blue Devils took a 13-10 edge on 112-pounder Robby Schultheis' 17-6 major decision at 112.
Stevenson junior Danny Sabatello (20-3) recorded a technical fall to give his squad a 15-13 lead. But once again Warren bounced back when 125-pounder Colin Seebach pinned his opponent in 3:06 to give the visitors a 19-15 lead.
The Pats cut the gap to 19-18 when 130-pounder Justin Weber nipped Blake Howard 9-7 on a takedown with two seconds left in the third period.
Then came a huge pin in just 58 seconds by Stevenson 135-pounder Jordan Sherman to give the Pats a 24-19 lead with three matches left.
Warren 140-pounder Aaron Brewton kept the Blue Devils' hopes alive with a 7-2 decision to pull to within 24-22.
But in one of the numerous wild bouts of the meet, Stevenson 145-pounder Mark Futterman toppled Will Beinlich 7-4 in double overtime to boost the Pats' lead back to 27-22. The bout was tied 4-4 after three periods.
"I thought I had him (Beinlich) at first, but he really caught me towards the end," said Futterman. "In overtime I couldn't believe he gave me a point and I put all I had left in my body to win that match."
Trailing 27-22 heading into the final match, Warren 152-pounder T.J. Parker needed a pin to come away with a 28-27 victory. But Stevenson junior Alex Garvin won a 7-6 decision to carry the hosts to an 8-point win.
"I'm just really proud of the way our kids came out and wrestled and it was competitive throughout the board," said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. "We knew it was going to be competitive and 145 was the key match. We knew if we could win that match we could win the meet and Garvin carried Futterman's momentum."
Tiffany will retire at the end of the season after 27 seasons at Warren. He was honored by Stevenson before the meet and he will take 376 career wins into his final three dual meets ever on Saturday.
"They were better than us tonight and we've got to get mentally tougher," said Tiffany. "It was a good meet, and at least we were tough and we didn't embarrass ourselves."
Libertyville (6-0) won the Lake Division crown at home over Lake Forest Friday while host Grant (6-0) beat North Chicago for the Prairie Division title. The NSC meet is next Saturday at Lake Zurich.