Fontanetta, FVC fare well in 1st day at Barrington
The tried and the true found the cutting edge needed to stay alive when the first session of the Barrington wrestling sectional came to a close Friday night.
The state’s top-ranked 112-pounder, Nick Fontanetta of Crystal Lake South (37-0), cruised into this morning’s semifinal round, where a victory sends the Gators junior into the state tournament field next weekend in Champaign. His teammate, Kean Loupee (34-4 at 160) won a hard-fought bout over returning state qualifier Joe Caprio (35-6) of Rolling Meadows in one of the marquee quarterfinal matches before a noisy and appreciative crowd inside the Barrington fieldhouse.
The No. 6-rated Loupee burst out of the gates to record a takedown, then saw the junior from Rolling Meadows close to within 2 at 6-4 before a third-period escape put a little more distance between the two in a 7-4 decision.
Next up for Loupee is No. 1 Josh Anthony (30-2) of Harlem.
“Getting the first takedown in (any) match is so important, and usually, 85 percent of the time it leads to victory,” said Loupee, who will be joined by mates Nick Gill (119) and Tom Gerszewski (140, 36-6) in the semifinals, which are scheduled to begin following the 9 a.m. wrestlebacks which begin the final day of competition. Finals are set to start at 4 p.m.
The FVC registered a solid day of results up and down the 14 weight divisions, beginning at 103 pounds, where Jacobs freshman Austin Ryan (31-6) edged Chris Alcock (New Trier, 32-6) 2-1 to book his place opposite Barrington sophomore Matt Sheely (29-9).
Cary-Grove advanced a trio into the semifinals, beginning with sophomore Trent Atkins (26-5). He won two matches, his second an 8-3 decision over Rolling Meadows senior Zurabi Khomauli (29-11).
Atkins now has the task of meeting No. 1 Danny Sabatello (Stevenson, 36-0) who is the reigning 119-pound state champion.
Trojans senior Cory Meyer, who was sent packing early last season here, took a giant step toward reaching his goal of getting downstate after he defeated Prospect sophomore Josh Boggess (25-10) 4-2 in a well-wrestled match at 130 pounds.
“We’re both similiar in that we’re long and lanky, but I set out to just wrestle my match, and just do what I do best,” said Meyer, who now faces FVC rival Wade Lardy (McHenry) who has beaten the C-G captain twice this season.
“I like my chances in our third match of the season,” said Meyer.
Collin Hansen (35-6) continues to shine after a 5-2 decision over Sam Jones (Harlem) at 171 pounds, and will now go against Notre Dame junion Kevin Stahmer (36-8), who beat MSL champion Chris Suchmoski of Fremd 2-1 in OT.
It was a mixed bag of results for both Huntley and Dundee-Crown, with the Red Raiders keeping one of three alive in the championship bracket after Josh Symbal (33-9) scared the Huntley faithful when he came back from nearly getting pinned to turn the tables on Libertyville’s David Allen with a fall at 4:35.
“Josh is in pretty good shape as long as he doesn’t to something silly like he did in his quarterfinal,” said a relieved Huntley coach B.J. Bertelsman, who will look for both Lucas Rogers (32-4) and Matt Zeis (215) to rebound from their quarterfinal defeats and wrestle back into top-four contention.
Rogers lost to the No. 6-rated 135-pounder, Lenny Bloom (Deerfield, 38-1) after opening the day with a 7-3 decision over Mike Rice of Notre Dame.
The regional champion Chargers have just Cody Churkey (34-4, 215) still alive in the championship bracket, and nearly had Raymond Griggel there to join him at 285 pounds if not for a hard-luck 7-6 loss in his quarterfinal with Quinn Machain of Notre Dame.
Griggel thrilled the Chargers’ faithful with a 3-1 OT win over Igor Romanowski in his opening-round match that saw the D-C big man spend more time with the medical staff than on the mats with his opponent, as a cut on his face led to several long stoppages for blood.
Churkey got past a stubborn, and gritty Hersey opponent in Jason Olson (35-10) who never gave in during a 3-2 match.
“It wasn’t easy (with) Olson,” admitted Churkey, “but it felt good to get that first match out of the way and to get the win to advance.”
The No. 5-rated senior next faces No. 7 Luke Miller (31-9) from Libertyville.