Stevenson bounces back strong at Grant triple-dual
After suffering its first loss of the young season Friday night at Libertyville, the Stevenson wrestling team was hoping to get back on the winning track Saturday at the Grant triple-dual meet in Fox Lake.
And the No. 11-ranked Patriots (5-1) did exactly that as they beat No. 12 Barrington 35-29 in the opening round before rolling past the host Bulldogs 65-13 in the second round, and Evanston 46-24 to close out a perfect 3-0 record on the day.
Barrington (3-5) bounced back strongly after its loss to Stevenson as the Broncos easily dumped Evanston 63-16 in round two before coasting to a 65-13 victory over short-handed Grant (1-4) in the third round. The Bulldogs did go 1-2 on the day as they toppled the Wildkits 39-31 in the first round.
The Barrington-Stevenson dual meet came down to the final two matches as the Broncos got decisions from Brian Darling at 285 pounds, and Neel Talpallikar at 106 to stay within striking distance of the Patriots.
But Stevenson 126-pounder Lorenzo Frezza's 5-4 decision over Barrington 2021 state qualifier Brian Beers gave the Pats a 35-24 lead with one bout left to clinch the team victory. Barrington 132-pounder Chuck Jones got a technical fall to account for the final score.
"I'm really proud of the way our guys competed after coming off a tough loss last night against Libertyville," said Stevenson coach Shane Cook. "To respond the way that we did with three big wins was a big step for our program and a big step for our team."
Frezza went 3-0 on the day for the Pats as did highly-ranked 138-pound teammate Cole Rhemrev, who remained undefeated with a 10-0 record. Stevenson teammates Yash Jagtap (113), Thomas Schoolman (145), and Carter Rand (152) also posted 3-0 records.
"I've been doing really well so far. I haven't really run into the guys I wanted to this year. I can always get better, the work is not over, and I'm not satisfied with where I am," said Rhemrev, who will wrestle for Indiana University next year. "My goal is a state title this year and anything less is not necessarily a failure, but it's not my goal."
The Broncos got three wins each from Jones, Jon Fier (170), sophomore Ayden Salley (who had four pins at 182 this weekend), and Zach Meyer (12-1 at 195).
"We had a hard battle with Stevenson with a couple of losses that went the other way," said Barrington coach Dave Udchik. "But we rebounded nicely, we're coming together as a team, and we're looking forward to wrestling Schaumburg next Friday."
Grant is without injured senior Justin Warmowski at 160, and injured sophomore Ethan Tarvin (113), who was a state qualifier last year. The Bulldogs got three wins apiece from Cameron Lattimore-Hollandsworth (220), and Ivan Hernandez (285).
"Our effort is really high, but our kids just aren't very experienced," said Grant coach Lenny Grodoski, whose team had two dual meets canceled this week due to COVID-19 issues with their opponents.
"Stevenson and Barrington are really good teams. They're very well coached, and we'll see them later in the year so hopefully we can close the gap on them."