Libertyville topples Lake Zurich
After escaping with a North Suburban Conference victory last week at Warren, the Libertyville wrestling team hosted its 14th annual Alumni Night Thursday against Lake Zurich.
This time around there was not nearly as much drama, as the Wildcats built an 18-6 lead after five matches before rolling to a 56-11 NSC victory over the short-handed Bears.
Libertyville (10-1, 4-0) is in a good position to win the NSC title, although there is still a long way to go in the season.
Lake Zurich (8-4, 1-3) continued to be hampered by injuries. The Bears were forced to forfeit four bouts.
Senior Cristian Gavriluti got Lake Zurich on the scoreboard first at 145 pounds, as his 6-5 decision over Alec Goodman gave the Bears a 3-0 advantage.
But the Wildcats got a forfeit win from Quentin Hart at 152 and pin from 160-pound sophomore Chase Baczek in 3:41 to take a 12-3 lead.
Lake Zurich junior Joey Mrazek won a 7-1 decision over Bennett Whitney at 170. But the Bears struggled at the upper weights after that. A forfeit victory by Adam Pressley (182), pin by Ryan Damenti (195) and pin by Jordan Smith (220) gave the hosts a 30-6 cushion.
"Libertyville is always tough and always well-coached, but I'm liking our competitiveness out there," Lake Zurich coach Jake Jobst said. "The end result is not what we expected, but hopefully we're learning from these matches and these mistakes."
A 1-0 decision by Libertyville 285-pounder Eddie Downing over Josue Hernandez made the score 33-6, before the Bears finally stopped the Wildcats' rally with a technical fall by Mitch Wayne at 106.
Libertyville finished the meet with a forfeit win by Michael Rocco at 113 and a 9-2 decision by 120-pound Peter Kafkis over Logan Neurauter.
"It helped that we got four forfeits, but I thought Kafkis had a really nice match," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert, who was joined at the meet by fellow co-captain and 1974 graduate Steve Montgomery. "It was a nice pin by Baczek and by Jordan Smith, so we did well in the matches we had."
Libertyville senior Brandon Murphy added a 13-4 major decision over Justin Wollard at 126, before junior Danny Pucino improved to 18-0 by posting a 21-8 major decision over Jason Wollard at 132.
Wildcats senior Michael Gunther closed out the meet with a forfeit at 138. Both Pucino and Gunther have already committed to wrestle at the University of Illinois.
"Overall, the team did really well and we're adapting to the new stalling rules," Pucino said. "My goal has been to win the state title since I was a little kid. That is my ultimate goal."
Libertyville's wrestling program began in 1956, and that team was represented by Dick Fischer at the alumni night meet. Kayne MacCallum (LHS Class of 2014) was also in attendance. He is beginning his senior season wrestling at Oklahoma University.