Wildcats claim NSC title

Grant had won six straight North Suburban Conference wrestling titles headed into the 2009 NSC meet Saturday at Mundelein.

But the seventh time proved to be the charm for Libertyville as the Wildcats championship marked a changing of the guard as they toppled runer-up Grant by a comfortable 250 to 201.5 margin.

The host Mustangs had a solid third-place showing with 182.5 points while Stevenson held off Lake Zurich 145-142 for fourth place. Warren (122) placed sixth to easily outdistance Wauconda (81) in seventh.

Libertyville's road to the championship featured seven wrestlers reaching the finals with four champions leading the way to the crown.

The Wildcats built an very comfortable 234-192 lead over Grant headed into the finals with 119-pounder Matt Bystol (33-2) posting a 8-6 decision over Stevenson's David Lamberti for first place.

At 125 pounds, Louis Mazzetta added a 6-1 decision over Mundelein's Juan Jaimes while teammate Pat Callan posted a 9-6 decision over Lake Zurich's John Harkness for the 140-pound title. Josh Ronne was the Wildcats' other champ with a 7-4 decision over Mundelein's Mike Savage at 160.

"It feels nice to win after Grant had won six in a row, but our focus is next week at regionals," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. "This was really a tune-up for regionals because that is the one that really counts."

Top-ranked Grant junior Lee Munster (35-0) methodically posted a 22-6 technical fall over Antioch's Tom Gerstner for the 171-pound championship.

At 152, Grant's Tyler Becker posted a 3-1 decision over Wauconda's Scott Carlson for the title. It was the 10th career meeting between Becker and Carlson with Becker now holding a 6-4 advantage.

"I was hoping obviously to win the conference tournament for the seventh year in a row, but after the second round we realized that probably wasn't going to happen," said Grant coach Ryan Geist. "Libertyville's kids wrestled well today and they wrestled with a lot of confidence, but I'm proud of my kids."

Mundelein 112-pounder Eduardo Dominguez (33-1) earned a hard-fought 7-5 decision over Libertyville's Shane Michelsen for first place while teammate Matt Ornoff posted a 5-0 decision over Libertyville's Pat Fitzgerald for the 103-pound title.

Junior Dion Livas was the Mustangs' other champion with a pin over Stevenson's Turron Washington in 1:28.

"We had three champs for the first time in a long time so it was a good showing by those individuals," said Mundelein coach Tom Buenik. "Libertyville scored at every weight class and they will be a tough team to beat next week at regionals,"

Stevenson senior Nathan Millman improved to 30-4 with a 9-4 decision over Grant's Tyler Dempsey in the 145-pound finals.

"It was our goal to finish in the top four, it's a competitive conference, and there are some good programs here," said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. "Millman is looking real good with 30 wins now, he seems to be peaking at the right time, and we have high expectations for him."

In one of the best finals bouts, Lake Zurich's Kevin Fanta (33-2) posted a 3-1 overtime victory over Lakes' Matt Holmes. The Bears' Cameron Shaffer won a 15-6 major decision over Vernon Hills' Edgar Cuevas for the 130-pound crown.

Lake Zurich 215-pounder Wade Self (25-5) was also a champion with a 6-3 decision over Grant's Jake Brown.

"I think that we pushed each other pretty hard the whole match and in the end I think I was in a little better shape than him," said Fanta. "It gives me a lot of confidence with my offense and if I can keep working like that I think I can score on anyone."

Warren's Tyreese Woodard outlasted Libertyville's Ryan Mertz 4-3 for the 215-pound crown to help lead the Blue Devils.

"We had a great day with three firsts, a second, and two thirds," said Lake Zurich coach Dan Strickler. "Fanta lost to (Holmes) by one point earlier this year, and I think winning in overtime was great for him psychologically."