Narrow loss ends Barrington's big season on mats
BLOOMINGTON - Providence Catholic dealt a knockout blow to Barrington's state trophy hopes on Saturday when the Celtics registered a 33-30 victory in a Class 3A dual-team wrestling state quarterfinal at Grossinger Motors Arena.
The loss ended the Broncos' 21-match win streak and a magnificent season.
Coach Dave Udchik's club started the season slowly but finished fast, getting dominant postseason performances to get the Broncos into the state tournament for the fourth time in program history.
"There's a lot of great things about this season," Udchik said. "Maybe right now it's a little difficult for some of the guys to think about, but nonetheless, everyone associated with this team and our program should be very proud of our accomplishments.
"We knew coming in that Providence would be a strong test for us, and as we found, the individual matchups were not in our favor. A few things didn't go the way we had hoped, especially later on in the match. And when that happened, we were forced to chase the lead and fell short."
The Celtics (21-10) took an early lead when they won the first two bouts, at 132 and 138.
Barrington seemed to get momentum at 145 from Rami Sakka (39-11), as the senior overcame Providence state qualifier Josh Ramos with a strong third period to register an 8-7 victory.
Kevin Countryman's major decision at 152 extended the Celtics lead to 10-3.
But state champion Markus Hartman (49-0) and third-place state medalist Jarrit Shinhoster (39-2) delivered one last masterful performances to end their brilliant prep careers and put the Broncos ahead (15-10).
"This loss doesn't define our season," Shinhoster said. "It's tough to lose but we were able to get downstate and go for a state trophy, and that says a lot about this team."
From there, the two sides traded victories.
Daniel Rasmussen earned his 40th win of the season at 170, but the Celtics were lively the rest of the way to ensure victory.
A pin from Logan Anderson at 220 was the first of three falls in the next four bouts for the Celtics.
They closed out Barrington, which conceded pins from Marko Hennin and Cael Dyer, to make the final score closer.
"We're going to lose an incredible group of seniors," Udchik said. "Most of them have been with us four years and all of them have been terrific leaders, mentors and wrestlers at the same time.
"It will be time for a little bit of a rebuild - we have some very good pieces in place to get it all started. But this year's team is one I will never forget, that's for sure."