Mundelein tops Warren in battle for 2nd
The battle for second place in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division was a good one Friday night as host Mundelein took on rival squad Warren.
Not only did the meet feature two former state wrestling champions coaching against each other, but it was senior night for the host Mustangs.
Mundelein held a slim 26-19 lead after 10 matches, but the Mustangs would not let down their home crowd as they held off Warren 32-28 to capture second place in the Lake Division with a 5-1 record.
Mundelein is 18-2 overall headed into the NSC meet next Saturday at home while Warren (16-2, 4-2) settled for third in the division.
Grant (6-0) wrapped up the Prairie Division crown Friday with a victory over visiting Vernon Hills. Libertyville (5-0) can win the Lake title outright with a victory over Lake Zurich Monday night.
At 160 pounds, senior Mike Savage (25-6) got the Mustangs started on the right foot Friday with a pin in 3:42 before teammate Jake Hertel posted an 11-2 major decision at 171 to stake Mundelein to an early 10-0 lead.
The Blue Devils chipped away at the early deficit as a 13-1 major decision by Chandler Sperry at 189, a 12-6 decision by Tyreese Woodard at 215, and a 6-3 decision by Cody Hoag at 285 deadlocked the score at 10-10.
Mundelein 103-pounder Matt Ornoff (28-5) won by forfeit before 112-pound teammate Eduardo Dominguez (30-1) recorded a pin in 1:56 to make the score 22-10.
"We came out with a lot of energy because it was senior night and we have a lot of seniors on the team," said Savage. "There are a lot of good teams in our conference and we hope we can finish in the top two."
A 9-3 decision by Warren 119-pounder Connor Drew cut Mundelein's lead to 22-13, but Mundelein 125-pounder Juan Jaimes posted a 10-2 major decision to boost the lead to 26-13.
Warren 130-pounder Leon Megerdichian kept the Blue Devils' hopes alive with a pin in 2:50 to cut the gap to 26-19. But Mundelein's Jeff Thompson captured a 10-5 decision over sophomore Brandon Tyler to boost the lead to 29-19.
"A couple of our sophomores just didn't quite have it in them, but they're getting better and I thought we could almost win the meet," said Warren coach Mark Tiffany. "But Mundelein is a solid team and we hope to have (Robby ) Schultheis back for the conference meet."
Trailing 10-8, Mundelein 140-pounder Eric Arcos came back to earn a hard-fought 13-11 decision over sophomore T.J. Parker to clinch the Mustangs' win with a 32-19 advantage and two matches remaining.
Warren 145-pounder Matt Dadablo did post an 8-4 decision over Brandon Aranda before a forfeit victory by Justin Santiago at 152 closed out the dual meet.
"Warren wrestled really tough and there were some matches we had to come back to win," said Mundelein coach Tom Buenik. "This has been a real good year for us, the kids have worked hard all year, and we would like to stay in the top three at the conference meet."