Deerfield takes top team honors at Libertyville
With a total of 13 wrestlers out of the 14 weight classes making the final round, there was no stopping Deerfield on Saturday afternoon at the Libertyville Class 3A regional.
The No. 8-ranked Warriors rolled to the championship of the nine-team meet with 194 points to top Stevenson (156.5), while Warren nipped the host Wildcats 136 to 135.5 for third place.
With the regional crown, Deerfield will advance to the Rockford East dual-team sectional meet on Feb. 21 with its opponent to be announced by the IHSA on Monday at approximately 4 p.m.
The top three individuals in every weight class Saturday earned a berth to the Barrington individual sectional next Friday and Saturday with Stevenson getting a total of seven wrestlers into that powerful field.
The Patriots' push for second place was led by No. 3-ranked, and Columbia-bound senior Dylan Geick (37-1), who pinned his opponent in 1:23 to take home the 160-pound title.
Stevenson also got a first-place finish from Michigan-bound senior Nikita Nepomnyashchiy (15-1) with a 17-8 major decision over Mundelein sophomore Logan Kvien for the 170-pound crown.
The Patriots' other champion was 113-pound sophomore Tommy Frezza (33-3), who won by injury default over Waukegan's Moises Rivera in 3:02.
"Deerfield is clearly the better team, they had 13 guys finish in the top four so that would be challenging for any team to beat," said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. "He (Geick) has definitely committed his life to the sport of wrestling, he's worked extremely hard, and he's just going to take one match at a time."
No. 4-ranked Warren senior Andrew Demos (37-0) continued to dominate with a pin in just 58 seconds to remain undefeated at 195 pounds.
"I wasn't out there for too long, but I felt good," said Demos, who also got a pin in 1:13 in the semifinals. "I'm not overconfident, but I believe in my ability, I believe in my coaching, and I just have to stay aggressive and put a lot of points on the board."
The Blue Devils also got a title from Grant Zamin (34-3), who recorded a 5-1 decision over Duke-bound Stevenson senior Eric Carter at 145 pounds.
"He (Demos) is wrestling well, he's getting into his offense, and he's getting pins," said Warren coach Jake Jobst. "He (Zamin) kind of controls his own destiny, when he's on fire he can beat anyone in the state."
Libertyville had four champions and two second-place finishers advance, led by No. 4-ranked senior Alex Mitchell (17-0 at 106). Mitchell thinks he will be more prepared for his second trip downstate in two weeks.
"I want to be state champ, last year I had a lot of nerves, and I just know I need to do what I need to do to win," said Mitchell, who did not compete in the Lake County meet last weekend. "I want to wrestle as well as possible, work on my moves, and not let anyone get in the way."
The Wildcats also got a first-place finish from standout freshman Danny Pucino (34-4 at 126), senior Jack Damenti (35-3 at 152), and junior Charlie Schmidt (36-7 at 285).
"I thought we did great with four champions and six qualifiers, and some of the guys we thought we could get through were in really tough weight classes," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. "The way he (Mitchell) is wrestling there really isn't a whole lot of limits on him. He's moving great, and he's scoring when he needs to."
Besides Kvien's second, Mundelein got third-place finishes from Dane Durlacher (106), Reese Durlacher (113), and surprising sophomore D.J. Preston with a pin at 195.
"We had a tough second round and some tough losses early in the tournament, but I like the way they rebounded," said Mundelein assistant coach Roy Seeger. "There is not a lot that separates all of these guys so it's just a matter of being healthy, being mentally tough, and doing your best on that given day."
Other second-place finishers were Libertyville's Drew Onufer (120), Libertyville's Michael Gunther (132), Warren's Kendell Bell (138), Stevenson's Robert Pavlovics (182), and Stevenson's Anand Baatbatar (285).
Other third-place medalists were Stevenson's Matt Zimring (120), Warren's J.T. VanderVere (126), Warren's Chris Love (160), and Warren's Tyler Gano (220).