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Wild ride as Grant takes NSC lead

The push for the North Suburban Conference wrestling championship got off to a pretty wild start Friday night at Wauconda.

After winning its first NSC crown in school history by only a half-point over perennial power Grant last year, it looks like defending champion Stevenson will really have its work cut out Saturday if the Patriots hope to raise the first-place trophy again.

With seven wrestlers reaching the semifinals beginning at approximately 10:15 a.m., the Bulldogs hold a 76-66 lead over Warren, which had a strong opening day to the 14-team tournament with eight wrestlers reaching the semifinals.

The third-place Patriots (63 points) have seven wrestlers in the semifinals, including 195-pound freshman Max Gomez (4-9), who overcame an early 4-2 deficit to post a 7-5 upset win over Vernon Hills' Connor Wood in the quarterfinals.

Antioch holds a slim 53-52 lead over Libertyville for fourth place after both squads had solid showings. First-, third- and fifth-place matches are scheduled for around 2:45 p.m. Saturday.

Grant's push for first-place has been led by defending NSC champ Christian Kanzler (30-2) at 132, and top-seeded teammates Cole Berg (29-4 at 145) and Justin Gilich (24-6). They all rolled into the semfinals with pins.

The Bulldogs also have Spencer Welter (113), Adam Nixon (120), Dylan Mannes (138), and Kobe Lear (152) in the semifinals.

"Stevenson has some tough kids so we're going to have to take it if we're going to win it," said Grant coach Lenny Grodoski. "We feel good, and we're working very hard so we'll see where we end up."

Stevenson's top individuals looked sharp with No. 2-ranked Class 3A wrestler Dylan Geick (32-2) rolling into the semis with a pin at 152. Geick could be on a collision course for a dream match with top-seeded Antioch junior Patrick Schoenfelder (36-2), who is ranked second in Class 2A. Schoenfelder pinned Geick for the 145-pound NSC crown last year when Geick was at Vernon Hills.

The Patriots also saw Ben Ponto (138), Robert Pavlovics (160), Nikita Nepomnyashchiy (170), Michael Kordek (182), and Nick Grujanac (285) all reach the semifinals. Top-seeded Tommy Frezza of Stevenson was upset (6-4) by Round Lake's Juan Arteaga at 106.

"Today was definitely a challenge for us, we lost some close matches in the first round, and the key is going to have those guys bounce back strong tomorrow," said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. "The goal is obviously to get all seven guys in the finals, but every one of them has a tough semifinal match."

Warren was very impressive with top-seeded Zach Khoury (31-3 at 195), top-seeded Grant Zamin (28-8 at 138), J.T. VanderVere (113), Chris Love (160), Andrew Demos (170), Brandon Escamilla (182), Jared Pompilus (220), and Sergio Sosa (285) all winning in the quarterfinals.

"It's hard to be disappointed with eight guys in the semifinals, but to be honest I think we can wrestle better than we've been showing so far," said Warren coach Jake Jobst. "It's nice to be able to fill your upper weights with all juniors and seniors."

Besides Schoenfelder, 113-pounder Jake Gross (32-9) is a defending NSC champ for Antioch. The Sequoits also have No. 4-ranked George Bessette (23-5 at 195), Nathan Dlugopolski (126), and Jeremiah Reyes (145) in the semfinals.

"We really had a poor first round overall, but the kids we expected to win are winning," said Antioch coach Wilbur Borrero. "They (Schoenfelder and Geick) are No. 2-ranked in both classes, I hope it goes in our favor, and it could be the last time they see each other."

Libertyville has defending NSC champ Alex Mitchell (27-2 at 106), Drew Onufer (120), Will Johnson (145), Jack Damenti (152), Mike Beck (220), and Charlie Schmidt (285) all in the semis.

"We had a couple of nice wins in the prelims, and the higher-seeded guys won," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. "Mitchell is looking pretty good right now, and he would love to have a rematch with (Mundelein's Dane) Durlacher in the finals."

No. 1-seeded Josh Dyer (23-4 at 220) got a pin for Lake Zurich while teammates Maxx Wayne (120), Ben Baca (126), Kyle Fleming (182), and Eric Brown (285) also advanced to the round of four.

Durlacher and Mundelein teammate Cesar Obispo reached the semifinals as did Vernon Hills teammates Angel Tino (132), and Jeff Echeverria (145). Wauconda's Jose Munoz (126), and Lakes' Jared Smith (170) also won in the quarterfinals.

"Prior to that match (against Frezza) he (Arteaga) had 20 straight wins with bonus points and he hasn't lost a match since Dec. 12," said Round Lake coach Mike Hruska. "If he represents himself well he can win, but his opponent (Durlacher) is good too so it should be an interesting match tomorrow."

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