Grayslake Central's Makey making good in third downstate trip
CHAMPAIGN - It's easy to dwell on the rich wrestling tradition of Lake County's perennial powers such as Libertyville and Grant.
But there's certainly room for more in that category, and Grayslake Central's fast-growing program would love to join it.
With competitors like Jon Makey around, the Rams certainly have taken a step in that direction.
Coach Mark Stewart and Makey, a four-year veteran of the program, have formed a terrific partnership. And now, after the first day of the wrestling state touranment, Makey has broken new ground with his first state tournament victory.
The senior now turns his attention to bigger and better things. Makey (41-3) will meet Chase Vosburgh (42-0) of Mt. Vernon in the 11 a.m. Class 2A quarterfinal session with an opportunity to enhance his chances at a state medal.
"I finally won a match here," Makey said with a wide grin. "After going one and out for the past two years, it feels real good to still be alive. It's time to go to work tomorrow."
The area had a mixed batch of results Thursday evening on the big floor of the State Farm Center in Champaign.
The arrow's pointing straight up for several of Lake County's entrants, including Libertvyille's Joey Gunther (34-1), who impressed during his opening bout, a 5-2 decision over Steve Schmult (29-10) of Naperville North in the Class 3A bracket.
"It was a solid six minutes of work today," said Libertyville assistant coach Jeff Keske. "He went up early on, then worked on some things, and didn't do anything out of the ordinary to jeopardize his result in order to move into the quarterfinals."
Next for Gunther is Mitch Volle (39-9) of Wheaton North. Libertyville's Mark Dunsing (36-7) also passed his first test at 220, recording a 6-3 decision.
Grant junior Christian Kantzler (30-8) cruised in his opener, defeating Michael Milan (Glenbard North, 36-10) to secure a spot in the quarters against Brother Rice sophomore Julian Blanco, who enters their 126-pound bout with a record of 35-3.
North Suburban Conference and regional champion Tyler Harrington (36-3) of Stevenson wasted little time in setting up a decisive third matchup of the season against Maine West's Joey Vogeney at 182 pounds. Vogeney (45-1) recorded a fall early on in his first match, while the Patriots senior came back to earn a 4-1 win.
In Class 2A action, Michael Tortorice (33-4) of Carmel enjoyed a nice opening result with a fall over Jose Contreras (Riverside) to stay alive in the championship bracket. Next up for Tortorice is Tom Buell (33-11) of Lincoln-Way West.
"I felt a lot better after getting the lead, and it's great to win my first match down here," said Tortorice, a junior. "Now my focus is on getting one more win in order to meet the No. 1 guy in the country, Jabari Moody (36-0) from Rich South."
Antioch's Patrick Schoenfelder (43-3) was involved in one of the more exciting finishes of the day, coming back from a 7-4 deficit to overtake Cameron Caffey (38-6) of Carbondale 9-8, with the winning 2 points coming with 30 seconds left in regulation.
"That was an easy one, wasn't it?" said the two-time state-qualifying sophomore with a wry smile. "He was ranked a little higher than me in the state polls, and I think I let that get into my head too much. But as the match went on, I gained some confidence, and I was able to finish strongly."
Antioch's tammate George Bessette (7-2), fourth here a year ago but still oming back from a torn labrum which sidelined the sophomore nearly all season, dropped a disappointing 5-3 decision in his opening match.
Makey is competing at state for a third consecutive year, and he came into the tournament as Grayslake Central's all-time leader in wins (130) after recently passing none other than Stewart.
"Coach (Stewart) has been the biggest influence on me, and my wrestling career, ever since we met back in junior high - and he's been the inspiraton for me to bring a medal home after he was unable to in his three tries, so it would be a real tribute to him if I can do that."
"Jon is just a great kid. Period," says Stewart, who in 2012 would witness double medal winners Dylan Hay (145) and Joey Valdivia (195) climb the podium to accept their fifth- and second-place medals, respectively.
Makey and Stewart first met in the seventh grade, and they've formed a winning bond.
"Coach is an intense guy, which is good for me," said Makey. "But he's really helped my focus and approach to each and every match, while showing me all the little things necessary to be more technically sound and fluid, especially for my final year and the last couple of weeks during the postseason."
Makey won his first FVC title three weeks ago. A few days later, he brushed aside the competition to earn a first regional title as well.
"It felt good to finally win both of those titles," said Makey, who was 39-10 last season
At the sectional, Makey navigated his way into the final against Vosburgh and a chance at a top-four state seed. After a scoreless first period, Makey conceded an easy out to Vosburgh for a 1-point escape. But Makey later was unable to complete a boot scoop, which led to a takedown with 10 seconds to go in the period.
"I thought I put in some pretty good work in that third period on him, but he is very good and I wasn't able to get anything going, and he beat me 3-0," said Makey, who prior to the Vosburgh defeat had lost twice at 160 pounds. One of those was against Sage Heller, a 3A junior standout from Deerfield.
Collegiate wrestling is in Makey's plans, and Luther College in Iowa is one option.
Friday's first-round wrestlebacks will begin just after the quarterfinals, at approximately 1:30 p.m. The semifinals for Class 2A and 3A are set to start at 7 p.m.