Glenbard North tops Conant, returns to state
The spectre of 2014 weighed heavily on the minds of Glenbard North's wrestlers as they headed into Tuesday's Class 3A dual-team sectional matchup against Conant at Niles West.
"You bet," said Glenbard North coach Mark Hahn when asked if his team was thinking about last year's sectional, where the Cougars eliminated the Panthers 27-26.
"Last season we weren't prepared," said Hahn. "We didn't have the intensity, and Conant did.
"But last year was last year, and this year is this year. We weren't about to make the same mistake again."
Despite a strong beginning by the Cougars that saw them grab an early lead at Niles, Conant ultimately fell 39-22.
Glenbard North advances and will meet Prospect in a 9 a.m. Saturday state quarterfinal at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington.
"We knew it was going to be a dogfight tonight," said Cougars coach Chad Hay. "We thought that going up against a team like Glenbard North, every close match was going to have to go our way.
"Our guys gave quite a battle but unfortunately, we watched some of those close ones get away."
Conant was feeling good after the first few matches were in the books, as wins by three-time state medalist Bobby Alexander (by fall) at 145 and junior Nick Catalano at 152 gave the Cougars a 10-7 lead.
Then the match turned on the bout at 170, where Glenbard North's Jimique Davis earned 2 points in the final seconds to win 8-7 over Conant's Dan Andress.
"He (Andress) really battled," said Hay. "All our guys battled in all the weight classes.
"I'm sure they (Glenbard North) were thinking about what happened last year and that did play into it tonight, but I couldn't be more proud of the effort from our team."
After the big win by Davis, everything went Glenbard North's way as the Panthers' Colton Wegner defeated Conant's Andrew Zerfas 5-4; Luke Greenberg of Glenbard North pinned Kevin Smith, and Dillon Warnecke outpointed Michael Meier 4-1.
Conant wasn't able to get another win. Kyle Neal of the Panthers topped Conant's Steven Hanks in the heavyweight division, and Glenbard North also won at 106 and 113. Glenbard North forfeited in the final classes, 120 and 126, to account for the final score.
"We had some troubles matching up with them in the lower weights," said Catalano. "In spite of that I think we had a very good year, very fun and it was great to compete alongside our seniors. I can't wait for next year and I hope we get a better placement."
Alexander, a senior, agreed with Catalano that it was a special season for the Cougars.
"I feel like this is the best team we've had since I've been here," Alexander said. "We knew it would be tough facing a team like Glenbard North tonight, and I feel like if we hadn't had to go up against them at this point we would have had a top-four (state) finish."