‘Luuuuke’ brings home the bacon for Wheeling

So how big was the Luke Smith vs. Blaise Butler Class 3A sectional final Saturday night?

Well, you should have seen how fast the jammed-packed Barrington fieldhouse emptied after it was over.

One year after Butler stunned the then-No. 1 ranked Smith here in the final at 135 pounds, the much-awaited rematch between the Nos. 1 and 2-rated 140-pounders became the showpiece match of the weekend.

When the huge crowd collectively roared “Luuuuuuuke” at the end of six minutes, it was clear who would climb to the top of the podium to collect the winner’s hardware.

Wheeling’s Smith (40-0) dominated the talented senior from Rockford Boylan just after the opening handshake, nevering allow Butler to find his pace en route to building a 4-0 second period lead and an impressive 7-2 triumph. Smith will likely be the top seed when action begins Friday morning at Assembly Hall in Champaign.

“You don’t get too many chances to avenge a loss, especially such a big win that I suffered (here) last season,” Smith said. “That (loss) was something that I had to put behind me for good, and tonight, I felt like I did just about everything I wanted to do in order to beat a very talented opponent who I have a lot of respect for — and someone who I just might see again next weekend.”

Smith’s cousin Mike Smith won an elusive first sectional title and will return downstate the third time in four seasons.

Wheeling 189-pounder Chris Johnson captured an individual crown to earn a second consecutive trip to the state tourney.

Senior Eddie Scanlon will join the Wildcats’ title trio after his third-place finish at 171 pounds.

“This is the match that all of us were hoping to have, and when today came, I have to admit that I was nervous in anticipation of (it) happening, but relieved and proud of the effort Luke gave in that match to get a big win for himself,” said Wheeling coach Neal Weiner.

With all eyes focused on these two sensational wrestlers, Smith gave them something to see when he grabbed a 2-0 lead just 20 seconds into the match — which became 4-0 near the end of the second period when he slipped free to score the deuce.

“I really got on his legs, and I don’t think I ever really gave him much to work with for the entire match,” said Smith, who seemed annoyed with himself for giving up a reversal early in the third period to make it 4-2, but quickly took charge for good with a needed inside trip to push his lead to 7-2 late.

“This is a great win for Luke, but he also knows it all begins for real next weekend,” Weiner said.

One of Smith’s longtime friends and MSL rival, senior Jeff Koepke (47-5) of Hersey, made another big statement after punishing the field at 160-pounds. That included a dominating performance against No. 2-rated Josh Anthony (Harlem) in a 4-1 victory to capture his second straight sectional title.

“This is Koepke time,” said Hersey coach Jim Wormsley.

“I was just careful of his funky style, but just stayed on him and worked him over hard with granbys and some rolls, and I really don’t feel like he was able to get anything going on me during the six minutes that we wrestled,” said Koepke, whose 3-point victory looked more like a major decision after watching the 2010 state medalist manhandle his athletic opponent.

Stevenson senior Danny Sabatello (38-0) became the area’s third No. 1 rated star to hoist the title trophy after the defending state champing went through the competition at 125 pounds — including a masterful 7-4 decision in his final over Colin Dodd (Honenegah).

“ All in all, I was very happy with my results on the weekend, especially with my work on top and on my feet, but there’s always room to improve, and I’ll be back in the room right away to get to work and getting myself ready for the week ahead,” Sabatello said. “I’ve just got to wrestle hard for the full six minutes, because those types of things don’t happen if you do.”

Mundelein’s Payton Cruz (39-4) carved out a 3-1 victory to win the title at 135 pounds, sending the senior downstate for a second consecutive time.

Cruz upended No. 6 Lenny Bloom (Deerfield, 40-2) in the semifinals to guarantee his place in Champaign, then put the finishing touches on his wonderful weekend by edging 2010 state qualifier Manny Silva (35-6) of Hononegah.

“Payton was close to coming home with a medal last season, but this year, he is so much more prepared mentally and physically to make a serious run at (one) next weekend,” said Mustangs coach Tom Buenik, who will have both Matt Ornoff (130, 33-6) and Pablo Mata (170, 24-9) along on the ride to Champaign.

North Suburban champion Libertyville will also have a trio downstate after Luke Gaeth (130, 36-11) and Luke Miller (215, 32-10) were both runners-up in their divisions. Teammate Kevin Tavakoli (35-13) came back through the consolation bracket to earn his first state trip by beating Marc Herff (Rolling Meadows) 6-5.

Gaeth pulled off a 4-2 victory over Ornoff in the semifinals to secure his state berth.

“I haven’t had much luck against (Ornoff) for a while, including a 9-4 loss for third place at the NSC tournament, but I think today, he got a little greedy in his shots, and I was able to take advantage of that to get a win, and a place in the state tournament, which I am really excited to be a part of,” said Gaeth, who fell 8-5 in the final to Corey Meyer of Cary-Grove.

Warren first-year coach Jim Ouimette celebrate his first two state qualifiers, after both T.J. Parker (160, 37-6) and Israel Santiago (112) came back through the wrestleback process to grab a final-four spot.

“It’s great for the program to have a freshmen (Santiago) and senior (Parker) get downstate, because it shows what hard work over your career can bring to you, while it helps give our younger guys the inspiration they need to continue to be dedicated in their desire to get better,” said Quimette, who took over for long-time coach Mark Tiffany this season.

Lake Zurich will book rooms for a pair of its guys after Zach Ullman (34-7) finished second at 145 pounds and teammate Alex Nigro sent 2010 state qualifier Ronnie Hauser (Fremd) packing 5-3 in his state-qualifying match at 135 pounds.

“Obviously I would have liked to win our division, but (Mike) Smith is a very tough opponent, and deserved to be the champion in our division,” said the classy Bears senior.

It was a tough day for perennial state power Grant, which failed to advance a single wrestler after sending at least one into the finals for nine consecutive seasons.

The same could be said for MSL East co-champion Rolling Meadows, which saw 2010 state qualifier Joey Caprio (160, 36-8) and his terrific junior season come to an abrupt end when Barrington junior Cameron Thomson stunned the Mustangs’ star 6-5 in the consolation round.

Mustangs’ captain Kory Jauch (35-6) departure came against Lenny Bloom 8-6, in a match in which Jauch lost in the closing moments of regulation.

Junior Aaron Kohlberg (35-5) was the lone survivor on the day at 103 pounds, coming back from a major-decision loss to eventual champion Jordan Northrup (39-4) of Harlem in the semifinals to earn third place.

Buffalo Grove junior Jordan Rathje (27-8) took the same route as Kohlberg at 130 pounds to finish fourth after dropping a 3-0 decision to Ornoff.

Hersey sophomore Hunter Rollins (152, 41-5) allow his opponents just 3 points in his 3 matches over the two days, including a 6-0 shutout over Kyle Smith (Hononegah, 31-12) to win it all in style at 152 pounds.

The much anticipated match between Stephfon Scales (Hersey, 43-3) and Derek Elmore (Harlem, 41-1) never reached the fever pitch of the later Smith-Butler bout, as the No. 1-rated Elmore beat Scales 5-0 in the final at 119 pounds.

“I watched Stephfon while we were both competing at the Dvorak in December, and found some things that I thought that I could attack and be successful with, and tonight I felt like I was able to keep him from doing what he does best,” said Elmore, a two-time state medalist.

The host Broncos’ had a rough afternoon session, watching five competitors get eliminated in wrestlebacks.

But Broncos heavyweight Aaron Castagna (38-4) won by fall at 3:55 in his final with Devon Dodds of Zion-Benton. Rookie Ryan Wilt (30-14) stunned state ranked Willie Goldberg (Highland Park, 39-7) in the semifinals to qualify, but Wilt later lost to Johnson in the finals.

“Chris was just too much for me, but it still feels great to heading downstate,” said Wilt.

Castagana closed out the two-day tournament with flair, winning his final home match

“It feels kind of fitting to have all of this happen on my final appearance here at Barrington,” Castagana said.

A state medalist last year, Adrian Gonzalez (24-6) suffered a heartbreaking loss in his wrestleback quarterfinal with Scott Smith of Notre Dame to end his season.