Wrestling/Scouting Fox Valley sectionals

Class 3A at Barrington

When: Friday, 4:30 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. (4 p.m. finals)

Storyline: One week before the bell rang to signal the start of the postseason, longtime Dundee-Crown head coach Al Zinke predicted his club was capable of surprising the field at the Jacobs regional. Zinke proved prophet when his Chargers stunned pretournament favorite Crystal Lake South to win it all last weekend, while sending 7 here this weekend, including 3 individual champions, Alonzo Fuller (145), Carson Tanner (189) and Cody Churkey, who is poised to run the table, and further validate his place as the No. 3 rated 215-pounder in the state by Illinois Best Weekly magazine.

“Coach has been telling us we could win it all at the regionals, and I think he got all of us believing we could,” said Churkey, who felt each one of his teammates contributed to the cause to edge South by just 4.5 points.

Must see viewing: 160- Kean Loupee (Crystal Lake South, 33-4), Chris Lamprecht (Dundee-Crown, 23-10), Jeff Koepke (Hersey, 41-2), Joe Caprio (Rolling Meadows, 34-6), TJ Parker (Warren, 34-4), Cameron Thomson (Barrington, 35-8), Josh Anthony (Harlem, 29-2), Charlie Doyle (Notre Dame, 23-8), Tyler Pohn (Deerfield, 28-11): Make sure to reserve a seat on Friday night when this superb cast takes the stage. No less than four Top 10 state guys are in the field, with No. 6 Loupee on course to meet No. 9 Caprio tonight in the quarterfinals, with the winner likely to face No. 2 Anthony Saturday morning in the semifinals. Koepke, who took over the No. 1 spot in the polls after moving down from 171 pounds (where he was No. 4) sits at the bottom of the bracket, where Lamprecht is. He faces Parker in his opener today.

135- Lucas Rogers (Huntley, 31-3), Cullen Smith (Crystal Lake South, 28-8), Garrett Glueck (Cary-Grove, 31-14), Kory Jauch (Rolling Meadows, 33-4), Payton Cruz (Mundelein, 36-4), Ronnie Hauser (Fremd, 29-7), Alex Nigro (Lake Zurich, 24-9), Lenny Bloom (Deerfield, 37-1), Manny Silva (Hononegah, 32-5): Off of last season alone, 4 in this group (Rogers, Cruz, Hauser, Silva) can make an argument for their advancement as all were state qualifiers, while both Jauch and Bloom arrive with impressive regional championship and top 10 status as well. The Hauser-Silva first-round match Friday afternoon is one of the best early bouts in this tournament, but then a Rogers-Bloom quarterfinal Friday night can’t be missed.

130- Corey Meyer (Cary-Grove, 26-8), Nick Peters (Crystal Lake South, 19-8), Josh Boggess (Prospect, 24-9), Sean Lynch (Lake Zurich, 19-4), Jordan Rathje (Buffalo Grove, 24-6), Matt Ornoff (Mundelein, 29-5), Luke Gaeth (Libertyville, 33-10), Danny Khouri (Niles North, 26-5), Tim Donnelly (Notre Dame, 33-8): There’s a little bit of everything in this weight class to make for a highly competitive battle for the top 4 spots and a ticket to Champaign. Lardy beat Meyer in the FVC semifinals, in addition to Boggess and the aforementioned Rogers during the regular season, but the Cary-Grove senior nabbed a regional title last weekend, and has a second-place finish at the Moore-Prettyman on his resume. “There isn’t a superstar like Luke Smith, or Danny Sabatello for any of us to worry about, but this is still a terrific weight class with so much depth to make for some great wrestling, and plenty of scenario’s to watch during the weekend,” says Meyer.

Bonus footage: 215- Cody Churkey (Dundee-Crown, 33-4), Matt Zeis (Huntley, 32-12), Luke Miller (Libertyville, 30-9), Jason Olson (Hersey, 34-9), Artie Bess (Deerfield, 32-4), Brandon Weber (Stevenson, 32-6): You would be hard pressed to find anyone believing that the 3-year veteran Churkey won’t be standing atop the podium Saturday night accepting his championship plaque, but the D-C senior isn’t making space for this valued prize just yet. “I’m not planning for my season to end this weekend, but I can tell you that I am not looking past any of my opponents, from the first one Friday night and all the way through,” said Churkey, who will have a dangerous quarterfinal foe in Olson, who upset the state-ranked Weber last weekend in a semifinal match at the Deerfield regional.

119- There will be plenty to watch aside from the anticipated final between No. 1 Derek Elmore (Harlem, 38-1) and No. 4 Stephfon Scales (Hersey, 41-2) with Travel Rounds (Dundee-Crown, 25-11) and Nick Gil (Crystal Lake South, 32-12) in the mix for the last two spots available.

140- More of the same here after No. 1 Luke Smith (Wheeling, 37-0) and No. 2 Blaise Butler (Boylan, 37-0) give a fired up audience all it can handle of what could be a potential preview of the state final in Champaign. Junior Tom Gerszewski (Crystal Lake South, 34-6) is poised to make a serious run at a top 4 finish, while Jacobo could meet Smith Saturday morning, then do the follow-the-winner route into the consolation bracket, and a chance to advance.

Class 3A at Downers Grove North

When: Friday 4:30 p.m.; Saturday: 9 a.m.

Storyline: In what turned out to be a thrilling race to the finish, Lake Park outscored regional host Schaumburg to earn the championship trophy, and in doing so, some highly competitive weight divisions took their toll on area clubs, eliminating 7 in their sectional qualifying bouts, including Elgin senior Nathan Andresen (112) and David Perez (Larkin, 160), both of whom made it this far last season.

Must see viewing: 160- Cory Pych (South Elgin, 36-3), Malik Taylor (Brother Rice, 23-1), Willie Anaya (DGS, 39-2), Malik Taylor, Steve Franke (Wheaton-Warrenville South, 33-3), Steve Gutka (Naperville North, 34-4), Farai Sewera (Lake Park, 25-7), Dalton Watie (DeKalb, 29-6): Wow is the best way to describe this weight class, which features the Nos. 3 Taylor and 4 Anaya in addition to two others in the top 10 (Franke and Gutka) who both stand in the way of the junior Pych, who will need to be at his best right from the start tonight when he likely meets Gutka in his quarterfinal match.

119- Sal Annoreno (Bartlett, 35-2), Alex Curtis (Streamwood, 22-10), Frankie Campos (Bolingbrook, 33-3), Brayan Gonzalez (GBNo, 38-2), Jake Jones (DeKalb, 34-4), Tom Ward (Hinsdale Central, 25-14), Alberto Tijerina (West Aurora, 24-6): Bartlett sophomore Annoreno is on the roughest side of this talented 12-man bracket with Nos. 3 and 6 (Gonzalez, Campos) close enough to touch.

“I know it’s a tough road, but I believe I’ll find a way to get downstate next weekend,” says the UEC champ, who was reversed at the end in his final at the Schaumburg regional against No. 9 Jones in a 8-6 defeat.

A victory in his opener Friday afternoon against Juan Ramirez (20-15) of Naperville North pits him against Campos (6th in state in 2010) in the quarterfinals, and one victory away from meeting the 2-time state qualifier Gonzalez.

Bonus footage: 285- Toby Schimel (Elgin, 30-7), Jacob Bergroschtje (South Elgin, 20-23), Jack Allen (Hinsdale Central, 39-0), Austin Beebe (West Aurora, 27-7), Dan Buyle (Glenbard North, 30-11), Andrew Geers (Neuqua Valley, 35-5): The Elgin senior Schimel pinned his way to a regional title at Schaumburg to earn himself a first-round bye, and a spot opposite the No. 1 rated Allen on Saturday morning, if he can get past either Brendan Gilligan (Glenbard West, 29-11) or Chris James (23-12) of Bolingbrook, who are not among the top 20 in the latest voting.

135- Nick Citta (South Elgin, 31-13), Vince Gottardo (Conant, 31-8), Blake Santi (Lake Park, 35-10), Mike Avelar (Brother Rice, 20-1), Josh Tardy (Naperville Central, 32-6), Frank McKeown (Naperville North, 32-8), Hector Cruz (East Aurora, 28-7): 110 career victories, and a 2010 third-place state medal makes Avelar the favorite to walk out of here as a 4-time state qualifier, but after that? Tardy and McKeown have had 3 memorable bouts this season, but are on the opposite side of each other, Tardy where the South Elgin junior Citta could see the Naperville Central star Saturday morning.

Class 2A at Rochelle

When: Friday 4:30 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m.

Storyline: Hampshire was dead last at the Belvidere regional one year ago, but would rebound this season to finish 6th overall at the Sycamore regional, while sending 4 through, and into this sectional, while Burlington Central, through all of its injuries this campaign, still managed to qualify 5, with two others just missing out.

Must see viewing: 135- Johnny Major (Burlington Central, 30-8), Ray Stagen (Hampshire, 20-9), Brandon Rice (Washington, 35-5), Damon Cloe (Marengo, 24-6), Zack Lehman (Dixon, 32-8): Cloe defeated Major (5-3) in the finals of the Kaneland tournament early in the season, then fell last weekend in the Sycamore finals to Lehman to place the Rockets’ junior into the top half of the bracket, and one victory away from meeting Rice, who enters this tournament rated No. 4 in the state polls.

“You just deal with where you are in the bracket, and just go from there, knowing that everyone is going to be tough, and that your going to have to beat very good wrestlers in order to advance to the state tournament,” says Major, a state qualifier in 2009.

“I was really excited and thrilled to advance into the sectionals, especially in just my second year of wrestling,” said the Hampshire junior Stagen, who was on the disabled list his freshmen year with an ankle injury, and won 15 last year for coach Terry Wilkinson.

215- Jake Turk (Burlington Central, 8-0), Austin Marsden, Crystal Lake Central, 37-0) and George Canales (Sterling, 28-2), Luke Joseph (East Peoria, 36-2): After missing nearly all of the season to an injury suffered during the football season, the sophomore Turk returned in the nick of time to win a regional title and position himself for a possible trip downstate next week.

“I went through a ton of rehab through most of the wrestling season, before finally getting out there and competing in the final couple weeks of the season,” said the sophomore, who not only overcame an MCL injury, but also moving up to 215 pounds, after winning 21 matches at 160 for the Rockets in his rookie season.

“It would mean a lot to me to reach my goal of getting downstate, but once I get there, I want into a position to place.”

Turk will meet the winner of the Angel Botzoc (Marengo, 21-4) vs. Cameron Panicucci (Geneseo, 11-11) in tonight’s quarterfinals, and could run into Joseph (No. 12 in the state) Saturday morning, but it’s likely only the BC faithful will be watching their hero compete as at the same time, all eyes will be the No. 1 Marsden vs. No. 2 Canales in their semifinal.

103- Alex Feltz (Hampshire, 36-5), B.J. McGehee (Rock Island, 34-1), Ricardo Roman (Belvidere North, 29-6), Kyle Fugiel (Crystal Lake Central, 34-4), Jacob Wever (LaSalle-Peru, 26-7), Mitch Price (Peoria Notre-Dame, 31-6): All the strength in this division is at the bottom of the bracket, and away from the Hampshire freshmen Feltz, except for the No. 1 player in the state McGehee, who last year didn’t even make it out of the sectionals but this year, has won 4 tournament titles, including the prestigious Berman Holiday classic.

Bonus footage: 125- Tyler Espino (Hampshire, 29-12), Kyle Carstens (Rock Island, 33-6), Jake Keefer (Marengo, 29-2), Ian Kurth (East Peoria, 32-11, Derek McIntosh (Washington, 28-6): Decision to bump up two weight classes proved to be a brilliant move for the junior Espino, who joined three others at this sectional.

“It’s exciting for me, and our program to go from having zero guys in the sectionals last season, to four this year,” said Espino, who says his speed and quickness helped offset the strength he encountered last weekend at the Sycamore regional.

“I know it’s going to be tough on my end of the bracket, but I feel that I am mentally prepared for whatever come my way, even if it means I have to wrestle-back to get a top 3 finish.”

Espino will open against Kurth) then face Carstens, rated No. 5 in the state, in the quarterfinals.

119- Brady Weinrich (Burlington Central, 27-16), Chris Kerwin (Sycamore, 36-1), Erik Nord (Belvidere North, 32-7), Ignace Hakizemana (Rock Island, 30-10), Chris Maier (Crystal Lake Central, 20-21), Esai Ponce (Kaneland, 25-7): The sophomore Weinrich will have a tough opener in Maier, who despite his sub-500 record, brings plenty of battle-tested experience with him from the quality of opponents one of the top teams in 2A has on its schedule. The best in this group on the state level, No. 3 Kerwin, and No. 7 Nord are on the bottom half of the bracket.

Class 1A at Plano

When: Friday 4:30 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m.

Storyline: Evan Finanne (20-11) is back for the second straight year after capturing an individual title at Walther Lutheran last weekend. The St. Edward junior figures the experience gained from his first sectional appearance last season might be the difference between a bus trip to Champaign to compete, versus being a spectator.

“Last year I went into the sectionals just being happy to be there, this year, the expectations are much higher, and I now know what to expect, and what I have to do to advance,” said Finanne, who will get a first-round bye Friday night, before taking on the winner of Trent Bowers (Plano, 17-8) vs. Doug Easter (Clifton Central, 30-13) in the quarterfinals.

“I feel fortunate to be on the bottom half of our bracket, but I also know that I won’t take any one opponent lightly, including Denzil Wilson of Prairie Central (18-13) whom I beat at the Kaneland tournament 6-1 earlier in the season, and would face in the semis on Saturday morning.”