Warren pins loss on Mundelein
This is the season the Warren wrestling program has been building toward for a long time.
After placing second in the North Suburban Conference to three-time defending champion Libertyville last winter, the Blue Devils are hoping to reach the top of the mountain this time around, with many of their key pieces in place.
Host Warren (5-0, 2-0) started off fast with an 18-0 lead over Mundelein before holding off the Mustangs on Friday night for a 40-31 North Suburban Lake victory in Gurnee.
A quick pin in 36 seconds by 170-pounder Danny Hicks (9-1) got Warren going before forfeit victories by teammates Bryson Eppinger at 182 and 195-pounder Shakhiem Chapman (10-0) put Mundelein (4-4, 1-1) in an early 18-point hole.
The Mustangs got a pin from 220-pounder Frankie Ruiz in 5:09. But Warren’s Justin Zybinski answered back with a fall in 3:07 at 285.
Mundelein’s Ray Ceniceros (7-1) won by forfeit at 106 to make the score 24-12.
Then Warren’s Mike Malles moved up a weight class Friday to fill in for injured 113-pound teammate Craig Mason, who is due back in the lineup next week. Mason qualified for sectionals last year.
Mundelein’s Sam Riportella posted a 14-4 major decision over Malles at 113 to cut the lead to 24-16. But that was as close as the Mustangs got.
“We were giving up a couple of weights, but our kids fought hard and we knew Warren was going to be tough,” said Mundelein coach Tom Buenik. “They took it to us last year, and we’re just trying to get better each week.”
Warren’s Martin Martinez posted an 8-3 decision over Matt Hutchinson at 120 before 2011 state qualifier Israel Santiago (9-0 at 126) recorded a technical fall in 5:10 to boost the lead to 32-16 with five bouts remaining.
132-pound junior Blake Howard had a very similar match as Santiago as Howard’s technical fall in 5:14 gave the Blue Devils a commanding 37-16 advantage.
Mundelein 138-pounder Connor O’Shaughnessy added a 12-3 major decision to set the stage for teammate Matt Ornoff’s 145-pound match.
Ornoff (6-0) did not let his squad down as he got a technical fall in 4:27 to cut the lead to 37-25 and give the Mustangs a shot at a tie if they could get pins in the final two matches.
Ornoff has a 119-21 career record, which is just 5 wins shy of breaking the school record of 123 wins set by Matt Wagemann in 2004.
But there were to be no late-meet heroics by Mundelein as Warren 152-pounder Aaron Brewton (10-0) earned a hard-fought 3-1 decision over Jake Long to clinch the Blue Devils’ team victory.
“He (Long) was a tough kid and he was pretty good on his feet,” Brewton said. “Right now we work hard in the room every day and our goal for the year is to win conference.”
Mundelein 160-pounder Burke Lardner got a pin in 1:56 to account for the final score.
“Our lineup is still not where it needs to be and I thought we could have wrestled better than we did in a lot of matches,” said Warren coach Jim Ouimette. “It’s early in the year and we’re just trying to get everybody healthy and keep everybody healthy right now.”