Thrilling bouts shake fieldhouse at Barrington
There was a wrestling earthquake of seismic proportions Saturday afternoon in Barrington.
The nation's best, Lee Munster (Grant, 31-1), was defeated via a fall just 1:10 minutes into his semifinal bout against No. 2 Sterling Hecox (Machesney Park) to send a capacity crowd into such a frenzy that it moved the fieldhouse from side to side.
An aftershock rocked the house one more time when No. 1 Luke Smith of Wheeling was dealt his first defeat (39-1) of the season when No. 3 Blaise Buter (Boylan, 39-1) held on for a 2-1 victory in the 135-pound final.
Smith's teammate Chris Johnson nearly moved the Richter Scale late in the evening when the junior pushed Hecox (34-1) to the brink before falling 7-6 in the 189 final.
Munster rebounded easily to advance into the 3A state tournament Friday in Champaign, where he will begin defense of his title and will be joined by a terrific area field at the Assembly Hall in Champaign.
The noisy crowd, which had sat on its hands for most of the first two-plus hours of competition - came to attention when the Munster-Hecox match was called. By the shift of hundreds toward mat No. 2, it was clear who would be stepping on for his first bout of the sectional after a first-round bye and quarterfinal forfeit Friday.
The two-time state champion Munster appeared to have recorded a takedown in the early stages, before Hecox set up his trademark move to a headlock - then caught Munster when the door opened and sent the Grant senior onto his back.
With every move to defend by Munster, Hecox's grip tightened like a vise until he registered the fall to become an instant internet matinee idol and create a roar which wouldn't subside untio well into the 215-pound matches.
"I relaxed for a second and didnt' see (it) coming and that was about it," said Munster, who credited his foe but warned Hecox and all others that this weekend will be different.
"Lee is in great shape for the state tournament, and, in fact, (that) result just wipes the slate clean in advance of next weekend," said Grant coach Ryan Geist.
"I don't want to discount the win, and it doesn't bring any special momentum-building type of thing heading into the state tournament, but it certainly would have if it came (down) in Champaign," Hecox said.
Hecox steered clear of the upset bid by Johnson (39-3) by holding off the Wheeling junior, who slowly gained confidence after a first-period flurry led to a reversal. Later in the second period a takedown brought the talented Wildcat even at 5-5.
"I got a little nervous, and maybe lucky when (he) almost caught be with a couple of his famous headlocks, but I really felt a shift as the match went on, and I really believe that I gave it everything that I could against him," said Johnson.
His teammate Luke Smith was unable to break through against Butler, who had lost to the top-rated Wildcat last year at the state tournament but rebounded during the off-season with a freestyle victory.
"No doubt I had revenge on my mind (today) after my loss to Luke at state," said Butler, who did little in the way of attacking for six minutes while frustrating the offensive-minded Smith with superb defense and the ability to stay away from any penalty points due to stalling.
Cousin Mike Smith fell to long-time friend Travis LaSchiava (32-5) in an all-MSL final at 140 pounds to give the Fremd senior his first state appearance, while his opponent heads down for a second consecutive season.
"I just refused to let up today, and from the very beginning (here) I was going to go all-out to get downstate for the first time," said LaSchiava.
He joins teammate Ronnie Hauser (22-10), who survived a wild state qualifier bout against J.P. Hough of Carmel (9-4) before closing out Juan Jaimes (Mundelein, 35-10) in the third-place match.
The Corsairs' duo of Frankie Swindell (145, 31-5) and Shane Siefert (160, 32-4) advanced the hard way, through the consolation bracket, with the senior Swindell outlasting Sayad Banifazl (Libertyville) 11-7 to book his trip. He later pinned Jimmy Wallenberg (Notre Dame) to capture third-place honors.
"I am going to Champaign hoping to surprise some people who don't know a whole lot about me and seeing what happens after than," said Swindell.
One of the most impressive figures throughout the 14 divisions was Libertyville's Matt Bystol (39-3), who was magnificent on his way to his sectional title against Manny Silva (Hononegah, 38-8) 9-1.
"Matt just practices and works at a higher level and greater pace than anyone else, and he does it all the correct way each time out," said Wildcats coach Dale Eggert of the three-time state qualifier.
The Wildcats' Josh Ronne (160, 40-8) will accompany his teammate and two others (Pat Fitzgerald, Luke Miller) after surviving one battle after another en route to third place at 160.
"That long OT match on Friday with (eventual champion) Jeff Koepke really drained me, but we train hard all season in order to get through the tough matches that you'll get at a sectional like this one," said Ronne, heading to Champaign for the second time.
The NSC had several bright stars, including 130-pound champion Jason Montemayor (Grant, 39-1) and freshaen teammate Cameron Kennedy (28-8) who qualified at 103 pounds.
"The goal has to be obvious (for) me, it is to get downstate and win a title," said Montemayor, who defeated Lucas Rogers (35-8) of Huntley in his final.
Lake Zurich senior Anthony Pace (35-3) went through at 152. But his post-tournament celebration for qualifying after a loss to Josh Anthony (Machesney Park) in the final followed a season-ending injury to two-time state qualifier and Bears teammate Cameron Schaffer.
"It was tough knowing that Cameron was injured, and done and that he was in a great place in his (135-pound) bracket and poised to go through and downstate for a third time," said Pace.
Schaffer (31-3) suffered a disclocated elbow during his first match of the day against Chaz Alex of Grant, and he was carted off to an ovation appreciative of his four years of effort.
Stevenson's Danny Sabatello suffered his second straight fall to eventual 119-pound champion Joe Schwartz (Highland Park) in a morning semifinal, but the Patriots junior roared back just as he did last season to earn another trip downstate.
"I lost focus for a brief moment, and (Schwartz) took advantage, it was just that simple," said Sabatello, who will be with Jordan Sherman (37-7, 135) in Champaign.
Warren senior Robby Schultheis (38-5) made a recent move from 119 to 112 pay off when he grabbed a third-place medal and a trip downstate along with junior heavyweight Josh Dust (32-7), Dust came aboard only after Carmel senior Steve Lester was ruled out because of an injury.
"I wasn't going to leave anything out on that mat in my qualifier, because I didn't want to have any regrets afterwards," said Schultheis following his 5-2 decision over 2009 state medalist Matt Ornoff (Mundelein) - who will not have the chance to earn another medal next weekend.
The Mustangs' Payton Cruz (37-6, 125) and Juan Jaimes (35-10, 130) did advance.
Sophomore Nick Fontanetta (Crystal Lake South, 37-0) dominated at 103 pounds, capturing the big trophy over Grant's Kennedy.
"I never felt threatened, and I feel like I was always in control (here) especially during my semifinal with (Adrian) Gonzalez this morning," said the Gators star, who cheered on Kean Loupee at 160 after the senior grabbed the second-place medal to move his overall record to 34-6.
The FVC will send a terrific contingent downstate, beginning with the Gators' dynamic duo, and including a trio of Miko Villanueva (Dundee-Crown), Huntley junior Lucas Rogers (35-8, 130) and Cary-Grove senior Josh Nelson (27-6) - who makes his second consecutive state appearance for coach Dan Cysewski.
"Josh brings so much more experience with him downstate (and) this year he has done a great job of controling his matches and frustrating his opponents .. because he never seems to get fooled," said Cysewski of his 145-pounder.
Villanueva gave the No. 1-rated Derek Elmore (Machnesney Park, 37-1) a battle before dropping a 10-5 decision in the 112-pound final.
"I could have been a little more patient in that match, but I'll go back on the bus tonight and go over things with my coaches, and get in the room this week and continue to work hard in preparation of the tournament," said Villanueva (38-5) who is anxious to improve on his third-place finish from a year ago.
A thrilled Rogers became just the second wrestler ever from the school to advance downstate, and it all came together after a hard-fought 4-3 decision over Fremd sophomore Ronnie Hauser in his semifinal bout.
"We both had the same style of wrestling, so it was important for me wrestle smart and in with my (pace) because he was so strong and tough," said Rogers.
The host Broncos will make reservations for four next weekend, with senior Kalvin Arugueta (189, 36-13) joining the guest list of captains Dan Santoro (171, 38-5), Luke Miller (152, 34-8) and sophomore Adrian Gonzalez (103, 37-3).
"At the start of the year I never would have thought that I would even have the slightest chance of getting downstate and being there with our three guys who went last year," said Argueta, who won three times in the back draw to advance.
Stephon Scales (39-11, 112) and Sean Bonner (44-12) will give MSL East champion Hersey four competitors in Champaign to go along with individual champions Jeff Koepke (160, 47-5) and Demetrios Mitchell (145, 48-0).
"This year I am enjoying being the guy everyone is chasing, because it's making me wrestler harder against each opponent," said Mitchell, who for the first time in the postseason sported a wide smile just prior to accepting his tournament hardware.
Jamey Zabrin (Buffalo Grove) makes his second appearance in as many seasons after his fourth-place finish at 171 pounds.