Barrington spoils it for Mid-Suburban League foes

Cast in the role of spoiler before the Mid-Suburban League wrestling tournament, Barrington embraced its identity.

All the way to a championship.

The Broncos turned the tables on some powerhouse programs, using a sensational final session to stun runner-up Prospect and third-place Conant to win the MSL tournament Saturday afternoon at Palatine.

In classic team tournament fashion, the Broncos earned three individual titles, added big points in the consolation bracket and finally used Alex Crook's 6-3 decision in the third-place bout at 220 pounds to secure a 1.5-point advantage over runner-up Prospect (205.5-204).

"Yeah, we were expecting to be the team that would come here this weekend and muddy things up for Prospect and Conant, who were clearly the two favorites that everyone figured would battle it out for the league title," said Barrington coach Dave Udchik. "But after our first night here, where we went 11-2 overall, I think the guys suddenly believed they could become the third team in the race for the championship."

Saturday's action started with the Knights on top of Barrington 90-79, with Wheeling (77), Rolling Meadows (53) and reigning champ Conant (52) in hot pursuit.

"We dug ourselves to big a hole to start the day, but we've shown to be a resilient bunch," said Conant coach Chad Hay. "It's just that we didn't have enough here and there to be in it right up until the end."

Conant, the MSL West champ, drew closer before the finals, trailing just Barrington (126) and Wheeling (122) after amassing 113 points. Helping the Cougars remain in the hunt were the big three of Danny Madonia (132, 28-1), Kyle Peisker (138, 31-1) and Nick Catalano (145, 31-2). They all won titles to help raise Conant's point total to 177, to the Knights' 196 and the Broncos' 195.5.

Catalano dashed the hopes of a second MSL title for Michael Wolmeldorf (Rolling Meadows, 30-8) with a 10-7 victory.

"It's nice to get my first conference title, but for the team, all of us didn't wrestle as well as we can and should have - which is something we'll have to do next week at regionals," said Catalano, who until a late reversal was unable to put away the Mustangs' super sophomore.

Key head-to-heads, both in the finals and backdraw, decided the outcome for the Broncos, who last year just missed lifting the big trophy after a 3-point loss to the Cougars. Barrington's Nick Zawisza (145), Jake Meyer (152) and Dan Rasmussen (170) turned the tables on opponent's who'd beaten them earlier in the year, and the Broncos got several head-to-head wins in the afternoon to go along with individual titles for Jarit Shinhoster (113, 25-4), Markus Hartman (126, 33-4) and Max Guhde (160, 34-4).

"The thing is, at some point it becomes more about the team than yourself, and my final with (Bobby) Jarosz (of Prospect) was both because it was head-to-head with the team and opponent you're fighting for the title, so I knew it would be a tough battle, because I am sure he was feeling the same way - plus he was such a quality opponent," said Guhde, a senior who last year was second overall at 182 with a 21-12 record.

The two were locked in a fierce contest that went to overtime and was decided with a takedown near the edge with six seconds remaining in the first extra session to help Barrington stay on Prospect's heels.

The Knights appeared to be back in control when Matt Wroblewski (34-0) edged his friend and rival from Schaumburg, Tony Vezzetti (26-4), in an memorable final that went into overtime with Wroblewski prevailing 5-3.

"I knew this one would be just as tough as our first meeting (which Wroblewski won, 1-0) and I also knew this would be just as big a win for myself as it would for my team with the title on the line," Wroblewski said. "So it was important for me to stay cool and composed, especially after Tony got that takedown to make it 3-3."

Vezzetti, ranked No. 5 in the state just by IllinoisMatmen.com behind Wroblewski, sent the Saxons faithful into orbit when he drew even with 10 seconds left in regulation. But Wroblewski got on his leg and finished with 14.8 seconds to go for the winner.

Vezzetti's teammates Hazen Rice and Logan Gruszka manhandled their respective weight class over the two days to win easily at 120 and 170.

Rice (33-2) was hoping to avenge an earlier loss this season to Mitch MacTavish (Hersey), who was ruled out of the MSL meet with vertigo. It's Rice's second straight MSL title, while Gruszka, ranked third in the state, earned his fourth conference triumph to tie the standard set last year by Conant's Bobby Alexander.

Sophomore Danny Ramirez (29-9) gave Wheeling its lone title on the day at 106 pounds with a hard-fought 6-4 decision over Tucker Priola (Barrington, 23-12).

Tulga Zuunbayan (23-2) earned the only championship for Rolling Meadows by topping his former Wheeling teammate, Jaylen Shaw (28-8), at 152 pounds.

"It was kind of tough wrestling Jaylen," said Zuunbayan. "We had been in the same room for three years, but you just do what you have to do in order to win."

Another big storyline was the upper-weight domination from the Fremd trio of Aaron Cortez (195, 19-6), Alex Jacobs (220, 30-1) and Zach Nemec (285, 27-4). They swept the last three finals of the tournament to help the Vikings solidify sixth place overall, just behind Schaumburg.

"I am fortunate to have Alex pounding on me every day, and together with Zach, we're all helping each other get and stay tough and be ready for the last few weeks of the season," said Cortez.

Cortez, a senior, upended the top seed, Alex Koczwara (Prospect, 10-8), but using a well orchestrated double with 5.5 seconds in regulation.

Jacobs won his second consecutive MSL crown with a tech-fall over Yony Medina (28-13) of Wheeling, while Nemec's 5-0 decision over Maciej Poporzelski (Rolling Meadows, 33-5) completed the Vikings' 'big' sweep.

"This was a good way to end the tournament for us," said Fremd coach Dan Ruettiger. "In addtion to those three guys, we received some good performances from several others, and if we get in a good week of work in the room, and continue our improvement, we should be in a position to challenge for the team title next weekend at regionals, along with Wheeling and New Trier."