St. Viator, Round Lake partially pleased with dual results
Without their full varsity lineups intact, it turned out to be a challenge for St. Viator and the host Panthers Saturday at the Round Lake wrestling triple dual.
But in spite of having basically a split squad against Round Lake and Grayslake North, St. Viator came away with a 1-2 record.
The first and second rounds proved to be a struggle for St. Viator (12-9), as the Lions lost to both Lake Forest (11-6) and Johnsburg (9-15) by identical 52-15 scores.
But in the final round, St. Viator pulled out a 38-23 victory over Round Lake (2-20). The short-handed Panthers went 0-3, as many of their underclassmen competed at other meets.
The Panthers fell to Johnsburg 36-24 in the opening round, before losing to Lake Forest 54-27.
A pin by 113-pounder Quinn Dailey in the final bout of the day broke up a 33-33 deadlock to carry Lake Forest to an exciting 39-33 victory over Johnsburg, capping a 3-0 day for the Scouts.
Starting the final round at 120 pounds, St. Viator jumped out to a 6-0 lead over Round Lake. Junior Joe DeBartolo (22-9) pinned his opponent in 3:49 after falling behind early in the match.
Round Lake pulled within 6-5 moments later when 145-pound senior Sergei Wawrzyniak (22-6) captured an 18-3 technical fall over junior Mike Dziedzic (20-9).
Trailing 30-5 due to numerous forfeits at the upper weights, Round Lake got a spark from 220-pounder Josh Jackson (5-2). Jackson's pin pulled the Panthers within 30-11 with three matches remaining.
But a forfeit win by St. Viator junior 285-pounder James Valentino (14-2) clinched the victory for the Lions with a 36-11 advantage and only two bouts left. Valentino is looking forward to another potential trip to the Class 2A state meet after reaching the Assembly Hall as a sophomore.
"I'm confident I can make it to state again, and I'm really hoping to make some big noise downstate this year," said Valentino, who placed third at sectionals in 2015. "Today was tough because we didn't have a full lineup so we were running a split squad. But we've got a lot of underclassmen that are really stepping up and willing to fill the spots that they need to."
Besides Valentino going 3-0, the Lions also got 3-0 records from DeBartolo and 182-pound senior Joe McIntyre (16-2). Standout freshman Elijah Black (15-2 at 152) did not compete for St. Viator, while teammates Jack Augustyn (10-1 at 126), Jake Wolf (10-5 at 160) and Matt Cook (9-5 at 132) all wrestled at Grayslake North.
"Half of our team is at Grayslake North. They double-booked us by accident so we filled our missing spots in with JV guys today," St. Viator coach Jason Churak said. "I would rather see our kids compete since we made the commitment to (Grayslake North). So we put the best team out there we could."
Churak has been happy with the progress his top wrestlers have shown as the second half of the season begins to unfold.
"They're great leaders in the room," Churak said. "They have worked hard all year, and James Valentino has done anything and everything we've asked from him. Joe McIntyre gives us everything he's got. He's got great senior leadership, and he's a four-year varsity letterman."
Wawrzyniak went 3-0 for Round Lake, as did 103-pounder Juan Arteaga (21-6). Jackson wrestled an extra match to go 3-1 for the Panthers, as did teammates Tyvone Barfield (18-10 at 120) and Jarron Rodgers (113).
"Our JV is gone today at a tournament at Hersey, and I sent 10-12 of our freshmen to Bartlett, or we would have had a better lineup today," Round Lake coach Mike Hruska said. "If (Wawrzyniak and Arteaga) wrestle well at sectionals they've got a shot (at state), but it's going to be really tough."