Holmes wins at 130; Zintak, Nowry co-MVPs
To be the best, you must beat the best.
Matt Holmes did just that.
The Lakes' junior used a spectacular semifinal performance to defeat top seed and 2007 state medal winner Dale Jarosz (Palatine) in OT before delivering the knockout punch in the finals when he beat Alex Cizek of Neuqua Valley to capture the big trophy at 130 pounds.
Holmes' second-day thrill ride highlighted a terrific second session of wrestling before a huge audience at the 17th annual Moore-Prettyman Memorial tournament hosted by Barrington, which saw a late run by Neuqua Valley fall just short in its quest to overcome team champ St. Rita.
Coach Mick Ruettiger's team cut into a 15-point margin late in the day, fueled by three straight victories in the finals by Brian Epp (145), and head-to-head wins over No. 2 ranked St. Rita by Jimmy Duffy (160) and Chris Spangler (171). But St. Rita still earned the top prize by 6½ points, 235-228½.
A solid effort by Libertyville in the first session enabled the Wildcats to earn third place overall with 173 points and 8 points ahead of NSC rival Grant and Wheeling, who finished tied for fourth with 165 points.
"When we got a hold of the brackets, we saw an opportunity for Matt to go after a statement kind of a win if he would end up meeting (Jarosz) in the semis," said Lakes coach Dan Onstad of Holmes. "He's really grown up as a wrestler during the off-season, and hopefully this is the kind of win that puts him over the hump and on his way to bigger and better things if he continues to work as hard as he has been."
An entertaining and highly-skilled matched between two contrasting styled wrestlers went Holmes' way when the No. 4 seed came back from a 4-2 second-period deficit to win the semifinal with 30 seconds remaining in OT.
"Dale kind of had the advantage on my leg with his hip and I had to use good judgment before deciding when to step in and make a move," said Holmes. "Dale and I train and wrestle against each other all of the time in the off-season at the club (Overtime), and each time we do it's a real battle."
"The same is true with (Alex) Cizek. During the offseason I probably wrestled over 120 matches, and training that hard really helped me grind out the win in the final."
That's exactly what the Epp and Duffy were required to do in each of their finals, as the Neuqua Valley duo used an array of tactics to win.
Epp was methodic in a 12-4 major decision over Andrew Knoll (Lincoln-Way East) while 2007 state runner-up Duffy recorded a 7-1 win against a stubborn opponent in Taylor Osborn of St. Rita.
"I'm wrestling up in weight class, so I don't want to get into a brawl with any of those guys," said Duffy. "So I started slow and just took what (Osburn) gave me."
Epp had his eyes on a major decision, and like a true champion competed to the very end. That led to a late 2 points to give him a victory.
"I am not a flashy wrestler, but I can go out and be technically sound and just do the basics really well," said the senior.
Their teammate Spangler completed his successful run with a fall at 1:21 to garner the championship over St. Rita senior Dennis Wilson.
Prospect senior Peter Zintak (189) and Wheeling senior Max Nowry (103) shared the MVP award after they marched confidently through their competition.
All four of Zintak's victories were via fall, the last coming at 3:16 against Mike Nolen (St. Rita).
Nowry won his second consecutive championship after completing a brilliant two days of wrestling with a technical fall victory over Matt Bystol (Libertyville), who in his first appearance here won praise from coach Dale Eggert.
"Just a fantastic effort from Matt to get into the final following a hard-earned and well-deserved 1-0 win in the semifinals against (Aaron Ryan) of Jacobs," said Eggert.
Nowry was the lone champion for Wheeling, while Zintak was joined by Matt Boggess, who collected a second straight title with a 5-4 decision over John Majka of St. Rita at 135 pounds.
"I knew that I had to beat two phenomenal guys (Boggess beat Trey Ayala of Libertyville in the semifinals 7-3) to earn the championship in the same day, and that's what I am most proud of today," said Boggess.
Ayala later defeated Gus Green by major decision in the third-place match, while teammate Louis Mazzetta was runner-up at 112, and the Wildcats' Joey Callen (152) and Jake Hogan (215) both were third.
Fourth-place Grant was led by Izzy Montemayor (125), who fell in the final on a late penalty point for stalling to Fenwick's Chris Dardanes 3-2. Senior Dave Monroy was runner-up at 215.
Wheeling caught and nearly passed Grant to stand all alone in fourth with the help of seniors Joe Kent (145) and Abel Rangel (160), who each collected third-place medals.
Cary-Grove senior Paul Rands gave the Fox Valley Conference its only championship trophy of the tourney when the senior overwhelmed Monroy 7-1 to stake his claim to a first-place medal at 215.
"Paul has come a long way in one year," said Cary-Grove coach Dan Cysewski. "He is so much quicker and stronger, and he's hitting so many more solid moves so far. He knows there's still a lot of work ahead of him, but he has a terrific year ahead of him."
Prairie Ridge junior Eddie Smith worked his way through the backdraw to gather a third-place finish at 215, while teammate Brendan Barrett nearly did the same before dropping a 3-2 match to Rangel at 160 pounds.