Nice Berman start for Barrington
A flawless first round helped put Barrington's wrestling team in good position, and the Broncos managed to hold on to that early lead throughout Day 1 of the 60th annual Berman Holiday Classic on Monday at Palatine High School.
Dave Udchik's team went 14-0 to open the state's oldest wresting tournament before watching a big lead shrink to hard-charging Class 2A state power Oak Forest.
When the action resumes at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Barrington will be out in front of the 31-team field, ahead of Oak Forest 126-124.5, with Lincoln-Way West (124.5), Deerfield (114) and Glenbard East (96.5) all within striking distance.
"The guys came out ready to go today, and with bonus points coming from (Markus) Hartman, (Mitch) Stathakis, (Travis) Cysewski and Alex Zentner, with were able to build a big lead," said Udchik. "Even with this lead, we know we'll have to come out tomorrow and wrestle hard once again right from the start in order to win it all."
Hartman, a freshman, will face Darvell Flagg (Joilet West, 15-2) in the semifinals after improving to 21-0 following a pin at 0:57 in the quarterfinals. Broncos senior Connor Boundy (19-2) takes on top seed Kenen Carter (16-0) of Metea Valley in his 145-pound semifinal.
"Kenen's a great guy. We wrestled each other during the off-season at the preseason nationals, and I was able to get past him 2-1, so I'm excited to be going against him again tomorrow," said Boundy. "We had a very good day today. Everyone made a contribution, and guys like Josh Wink (152), who's with the JV, came in and gave us big points in that first round to help get us going."
Metea Valley senior Axl Ariza (16-1) cruised into the semifnals after back-to-back pins just under 60 seconds booked him a spot against No. 4 seed Tom Buell (16-4) of Lincoln-Way West.
"I feel with each day I've been getting better, but of late, I've turned decisions into majors and tech-falls, which is what we're all after, especially in a tournament," said Ariza, who was anointed the No. 2 seed just behind top seed Francis Edelin (13-3) of Oak Forest, who was the 2A state runner-up last season at 106 pounds.
Ariza will be joined in the semis by teammates Jake Toepler (126), Sam Elston (170) and Dylan Ervin (182).
Glenbard East big man D'Andre Johnson, who won 44 times on his way to Champaign last season, advanced as the top seed and next meets Ibrahim Nasir of Maine South in his 285-pound semifinal.
"This is the first competition of the season for D'Andre after missing the first half of the season with a broken bone in his hand, so his conditioning isn't where it should be right now," said Glenbard East coach Kevin Carlson, "but I can tell you he'll be ready to go when the postseason comes around."
Glenbard East currently sits 2.5 points in front of Metea Valley in fifth place.
Johnson is on a collision course with No. 2 Matt Allen (18-1, Hinsdale Central), while star-studded weight divisions at 132 and 138 seem likely to produce plenty of highlights when the 3 p.m. finals commence.
Reigning 2A state champ Danny Swan (17-1) of Oak Forest is on course to meet Grant Sutton (19-0) of Richmond-Burton in a battle royale between the two two ranked wrestlers in the state polls at 132 pounds, while top-rated 3A standout Andrew Mehrholz (21-0) of Deerfield figures to see two-time state medalist and the third-ranked competitor in Class 2A, Kyle Ruettiger (20-0) of Lincoln-Way West.
Mehrholz overwhelmed Leyden's to wrestler, Jeremiah Recinos (18-3), with a 13-3 major in the quarters to earn his spot opposite Michael Peters (Quincy), who upended No. 4 seed Egan Berta (6-4) of Lemont.
"Andrew is clearly the best in the state (at 138) in my opinion, but it was a good test for Jeremiah, to not only see where he's at but what he'll need to work on going forward from here," said upbeat Eagles coach Mike Fumagalli.