Scouting Class 3A dual-team wrestling

Scouting Class 3A dual-team wrestling

Where: Grossinger Motors Arena, Bloomington

When: Saturday, quarterfinals at 9 a.m., semifinals at 2 p.m., first- and third-place matches at 8 p.m.

Defending champion: Lockport

The lowdown: After a physically and mentally draining marathon of a season capped by last weekend's individual state tournament, wrestlers and coaches alike were asked to somehow muster one last week of competition in the the dual-team state tournament.

Starting lineups here rarely resemble what they looked like during the regular season, as many who'd been cutting weight all season struggle to do so one more time.

Some will bump up a weight or two in order to offset injuries, sickness or just to help the cause for their team.

Here's a look at what the 3A eight-team bracket looks like, and who might be crowned team champion late Saturday night

It's likely a foregone conclusion everyone else here is competing for second place against the nationally ranked lineup that Montini will field. But no one in this field is willing to hand the title to the Broncos just yet.

Quarterfinal matchupsNo. 5 Minooka (25-2) vs. No. 2 Oak Park-River Forest (23-2), 9 a.m.

Minooka is back to being the gritty southside bunch they were during their glory days after making it most recent appearance here in 2013. While the Indians lack the individual superstars of that era, such as former state champion Jake Residori, this club has plenty of starting lineup experience. Its only two losses this season were to No. 3 Mt. Carmel (31-30) and No. 4 Lincoln-Way West (28-22). Minooka comes into the weekend on a 19-match win streak.

OPRF saw its three-year hold on the team trophy end when Montini sent the Huskies packing in the quarterfinals here a year ago. Despite losing four state qualifiers from a year ago, coach Paul Collins has done a quick remodeling job on a roster which features several sophomores and juniors, including state champion Jake Rundell (106, 42-2) and 132-pound runner-up Eddie Bolivar (40-8). OPRF is making its seventh consecutive appearance here.

No. 9 Huntley (23-3) vs. No. 8 Glenbard North (24-4), 9 a.m.

The Red Raiders finally broke through to earn the program's first-ever trip to the tournament. They capped their impressive season with a narrow win over DeKalb to win a second straight regional crown, and earlier this week, coach BJ Bertelsman's group cruised past Mid-Suburban League champion Prospect 41-27 to advance.

"It was about midseason, during our tournament season, when I felt we became a great tourney team," says Bertelsman, now in his seventh year.

A deep and talented roster featurs a majority of athletes who will be back next season. Those younger competitors from this year expect to be joined by another infusion of youthful talent next season.

Huntley has put 50 or more points on a dozen of its opponents. The Red Raiders are led by four-time state qualifier Zach Spencer (126, 46-9), who got himself a championship a week ago. Zach and younger brother Sammy (113, 44-6) accounted for both of Huntley's medals in Champaign.

Two-time state qualifiers David Ferrante (160, 35-5, 22 pins) and Juan Quiroz (170, 42-6) will have plenty of incentive to rebound this weekend after falling short in bids to join their teammates on the podium a week ago.

"Nik Wise (220) really stepped up his game," said Bertelsman. "Freshmen Andrew Lira and Jeremy Jackowitch were terrific to have in the lineup, as well as Gannon (Kosowski, 120). who went from being on the JV (stuck) behind Sammy last year to becoming a state qualifier."

Glenbard North returns after a two-year absence, giving longtime coach Mark Hahn his 15th dual-team appearance in a career which has spanned 31 years. The Panthers have amassed close to 680 victories during that time.

After returning from Fargo last summer with a Greco-Roman national title under his belt, Abe Assaid (48-0) continued his winning ways when brought home the state crown at 170 pounds last weekend. The junior led the Panthers to a 42-21 win over Huntley way back in December when the Red Raiders were without a few of their starters. Nonetheless, North's strength from 145-182 is impressive, with more than 240 victories at those weights.

No. 12 Marmion Academy (21-10) vs. No. 1 Montini Catholic (27-1), 11 a.m.

The luck of the draw pitted No. 1 Montini against No. 3 Mt. Carmel last Tuesday, instead of somewhere else in these state brackets. But when it was over, the No. 4-ranked team in the nation flexed its collective muscle to send Mt. Carmel crashing out of the tournament.

How good are the Broncos? One way to measure is that they had four state champs and a total of 10 medal winners last weekend.

Marmion coach Donny Reynolds has welcomed back two of his best from injured reserve (Nate Jimenez, Brad Gross), and both responded with second-place finishes at state. Junior Trevor Chumbley (45-2) led the way with his title at 138 pounds. Despite this success, the Cadets' formidable lineup, quite possibly the second-best group in the state, appears to be short of firepower needed to outduel the Bronocs.

Montini reaffirmed its status of one of the best in nation last Saturday in Champaign with one impressive finals performance after another. The best may have come from three-time state champion Real Woods (132, 41-1), who showed why he's on the way to Stanford next fall. Nine Broncos have 40 or more victories this season.

Barrington (25-3) vs. Providence Catholic (19-11), 11 a.m.

It was nearly three weeks ago that Barrington overpowered the field at Dundee-Crown to win the regional title there. Since then, this proud program celebrated a Markus Hartman state title, and state medals from Jarrit Shinhoster and Jake Meyer.

When the Broncos dominated Libertyville four days ago, they secured a fourth dual-team state appearance in programy history, and the first for coach Dave Udchik.

"We have such great kids, parents and families, which all makes my job very easy, but I am quite fortunate to be coaching with all my wrestling friends," says Udchik.

According to the Broncos' coach, former head coach Ken Hoving is the operations manager of the program. Ryan Horcher and Jon Murphy are two key assistants who run the room, while 2013 state medalist Ben Calamari specializes in motivation and another former time head coach, the recently retired Tim Dunn, has been Udchik's mentor since the 2014-2015 season.

It's been a true team effort for this club, which is led by the Hartman, a superb talent, while still a humble one.

In its 62 years of wrestling, Barrington has had just 13 individuals who have totaled 100 career victories or more. Four of them are seniors on this year's team: Hartman, Shinhoster, Meyer and Dan Rasmussen.

This incredible quartet has plenty of help, namely for Rami Sakka, Kai Conway and Tucker Priola. Barrington knows it will need everybody's best effort to turn back a Providence Catholic riding a wave of emotion as it looks to give Keith Healy the best sendoff it can.

Healy announced he would retire following this, his 26th year in charge. In 14 of those seasons, Providence has earned a spot in the dual-team state tournament, and six times it ended with a championship trophy.

Celtics four-year standouts Dominick Ambrose and Cole Smith will lead the effort to honor Healy with an inspired performance.

- Mike Garofola