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CL Central, Huntley, Jacobs lead FVC after Day 1

A highly entertaining night of wrestling came to an end Friday with Crystal Lake Central, Huntley and Jacobs this close to each after the first day of the Fox Valley Conference Tournament at Hampshire.

Defending champion Jacobs stands in third place (70 points), 7.5 points behind Central, which leads Huntley by 1.5 when the action resumes Saturday morning.

"Not a bad first day, but we'll have to do better (Saturday)," said Huntley head coach BJ Bertelsman, whose night was made complete when senior Petros Mihalopoulos (26-11) avenged a loss two weeks ago to Michael Bujacz (22-3) in his 195-pound quarterfinal.

"(He) stuck me last year to eliminate me at regionals then again at our dual with them so to come back and pin him tonight not only gave me some revenge, but it also helped our team, and (seeding) at regionals next week," said Mihalopoulos, who will face No. 3 seed Cadin Koeppel (Cary-Grove, 22-7) in the semis.

Mihalopoulos will join eight of his mates in the semifinals, including Zach Spencer (30-9) who is part of a marvelous group at 113, which have some history with each during the regular season, including the Red Raiders' sophomore, who dropped a 4-1 decision to Harrier at the same dual Jacobs-Huntley dual.

"This is a real tough weight class, but that's OK, because it will prepare me for the state series which begins next weekend at regionals," said Spencer, who entered the weekend ninth in the state polls, one back from Harrier, who registered a pin against the No. 3 seed here, Joseph Arroyo (23-4) of Grayslake North.

"Both Spencer and Harrier are real tough, but for me, it's going to be going about wrestling six hard minutes in order to beat both of them," said Arroyo, who faces Spencer in the semis.

"I feel like I've been wrestling my best of late, but it will have to continue this weekend because of the quality of my opponents," added Harrier, now 22-4 after his pin of Wally Marsh of McHenry in the quarters.

Harrier's middle-of-the-lineup teammates, the strength of the Golden Eagles all throughout its perfect 17-0 record during the regular season, would continue to shine on Day 1 with David Dudych (132, 25-5), Chris Dranka (138, 25-4), Jacobs Sabella (145, 27-6) and Dean Lane (160, 25-1) hitting the jackpot in the quarters with a pair of majors and falls to add extra points on the scoreboard for coach Gary Conrad's club.

Hampshire's Wylie Allen (29-2) the top seed at 152 pounds, showed why he was anointed such an honor after a masterful performance in his lone bout of the night which ended in favor of the Whips' senior, 7-0, over Collin Pogue (24-7) of Grayslake Central.

Next up for Allen will be Frank Carone (11-15) from Crystal Lake Central.

"I've been at fine tuning my game, and fixing a few things which attributed to my two losses, but I feel great right now, and would like nothing more than to win a conference championship on our home mats," said Allen.

His younger brother Casey takes on No. 1 Luke Silva (Prairie Ridge, 30-6) in his 132-pound semifinal, while Whips junior Max McGowan (26-5) takes on the aforementioned Lane.

2015 state qualifier John Cullen (138, 6-0) made sure the Cary-Grove faithful stayed on the edge of their seats during a nerve-wracking final 30 seconds of his first period bout with Miguel Carrera (Grayslake North), who had the Trojans' star on his back right until the very end of the opening period.

"I kind of made it interesting, didn't I?" said Cullen, who returned recently after missing most of the season after having surgery to repair his broken elbow.

"I think I've only been put to my back twice so I didn't really know what to do when it all happened, but I survived and hopefully more matches and time on the mat will get me close to where I want to be here in the next couple of weeks."

Cullen's eventual pin at 3:50 sets up a semifinal with Dranka.

The state's top man at 195, Christian Brunner of Dundee-Crown (36-0) eased into the semifinals, as did his partner in the room, junior Chase Raap (32-6) who looked solid in his first FVC tourney match.

"Having Christian as my partner has been the absolute best thing for me but with that said it sure isn't fun having him beat on me everyday in the room," said Raap with a wry smile.

"He doesn't let you do or get away with anything, but he's taught me so much, and has helped with my development as a first-year varsity wrestler."

Raap, the No. 2 seed, will meet No. 3 Vinny Fontanetta (19-8) of Crystal Lake South.

Other top seeds from the area cruised into the semifinals, including Josh Stenger (Huntley, 120, 35-4) and his teammate Dominic Swanson (285, 34-5).

Prairie Ridge senior, Travis Piotrowski (126, 29-0) appears on course to win his fourth consecutive FVC crown, while Crystal Lake Central's Michael Petersen (27-6, 145) hopes to fight off the challenge of Jake Wright (Grayslake North, 30-6) in the semis, while Sabella of Jacobs will look to do the same against Larry Augustin (Grayslake Central, 30-6) in one of the deepest, and most talented divisions of the weekend.

Semifinal wrestlebacks are scheduled to begin around 11:15 a.m., with the championship matches set for a 2 p.m. start.

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