Scouting Lake County regionals
CLASS 3A
Libertyville individual regionalWhen: 9 a.m. Saturday, semifinals at 11 a.m., first- and third-place matches at 3 p.m.
Advancement: first-place team advances to the McHenry dual-team sectional Feb. 19 at 6 p.m.; top three individuals in each weight class advance to Barrington individual sectional Feb. 8-9.
Teams: Libertyville, Warren, Grant, Mundelein, Round Lake, Deerfield, Highland Park, Waukegan, Zion-Benton
Top area competitors: 106 — Warren senior Sawyer Nash, Libertyville freshman Caelan Riley; 113 — Warren senior Austin Nash, Grant freshman Justin Warmowski; 120 — Warren junior Cameron Domke, Libertyville senior Peter Kafkis, Grant sophomore Chris Lozos; 126 — Warren sophomore Joel Vandervere, Libertyville senior Brandon Murphy; 132 — Libertyville junior Danny Pucino, Grant junior Zach Hitzler, Round Lake junior Ender Kongkaeow; 138 — Libertyville senior Michael Gunther, Grant junior Dylan Rinkenberger, Round Lake senior Zach McCain; 145 — Warren senior Noah Hergenreder; 152 — Warren sophomore Isaiah Parker, Grant junior Ethan Geist; 160 — Libertyville sophomore Chase Baczek, Warren senior Keann Matias; 170 — Libertyville senior Bennett Whitney, Mundelein senior Geo Albavera, Grant junior Kyle Rainey; 182 — Grant junior Justin Brown, Libertyville senior Ryan Damenti, Mundelein sophomore Rudy Osornio; 195 — Mundelein senior D.J. Preston; 220 — Warren senior Christian Goeden, Mundelein junior Jason Guadarrama, Grant senior Kaleb Perzigian, Libertyville junior Jordan Smith; 285 — Grant junior Angel Martinez, Libertyville junior Eddie Downing, Round Lake senior Miguel Enriquez
Outlook: After defeating Libertyville by 8.5 points at the Lake County invite on Jan. 21, surprise-squad Warren could be the team to beat as the Blue Devils had six champions crowned in that meet. The nine-team regional is loaded with powerful teams, including perennial power Deerfield and Northern Lake County Conference champion Grant. The battle for this regional championship could end up being a fight to the finish between a variety of teams, even though Warren has quite a bit of proven star led by Vandervere, who placed third in the state as a sophomore. The other three regionals that feed into the Barrington individual sectional and the McHenry dual-team sectional are at Dundee-Crown, Fremd and Rockford East.
Dundee-Crown individual regionalWhen: 9 a.m. Saturday, semifinals at 11 a.m., first- and third-place matches at 2 p.m.
Advancement: same as Libertyville individual regional
Teams: Stevenson, Lake Zurich, Dundee-Crown, Jacobs, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Cary-Grove, McHenry, Palatine
Top area competitors: 106 — Stevenson freshman Cole Rhemrev, Lake Zurich sophomore Mitch Wayne; 113 — Lake Zurich senior Ian McGee, Stevenson junior Randy Lu; 120 — Stevenson senior Tommy Frezza; 126 — Stevenson senior Yoni Leibovitz, Lake Zurich senior Justin Wollard; 132 — Lake Zurich senior Jason Wollard; 145 — Stevenson senior Jason Bickers, Lake Zurich senior Cristian Gavriluti; 152 — Stevenson senior Ivor Gueorguiev; 160 — Lake Zurich senior Marek Enters; 170 — Lake Zurich junior Joey Mrazek; 182 — Stevenson senior Michael Phelps; 195 — Stevenson senior Max Gomez; 220 — Stevenson senior Dan Erdenetsogt
Outlook: Stevenson has run into many obstacles in its quest to bring home an elusive regional title over the past five years when the Patriots were knocking on the door on numerous occasions. This year will be no different as Stevenson is in the same regional as probable meet-favorite Barrington, not to mention a host of strong teams from the Fox Valley Conference. Both Lake Zurich and the Patriots should have a lot of individuals advance to the Barrington individual sectional next weekend.
CLASS 2A
Lakes individual regionalWhen: 9 a.m. Saturday, semifinals at 11 a.m., finals at 1 p.m.
Advancement: first-place team advances to the Wauconda dual-team sectional Feb. 19 at 6 p.m., top three individuals in each weight class advance to the Antioch individual sectional Feb. 8-9.
Teams: Antioch, Carmel Catholic, Grayslake Central, Grayslake North, Lakes, Vernon Hills, St. Viator, Lake Forest, North Chicago
Top area competitors: 106 — Antioch sophomore Drew Lehn; 113 — Grayslake North junior Alex Castiglia; 120 — Antioch junior Alex Barbarise, Grayslake Central junior Jayson Weidman, Lakes junior Jayden Terranova; 126 — Antioch junior Danny McPherson, Grayslake North junior Jake Jozwiak; 132 — Grayslake North junior Nick Kozanecki; 138 — Carmel junior Vince Swindell, Grayslake North senior Kyle Bosshart; 145 — Carmel senior Riley Palm, Grayslake Central senior Joey Murphy, Antioch senior Jackie Sistrunk, Vernon Hills junior Will Darling, Lakes senior Joey Gunther; 152 — Grayslake North senior Adam Blonski; 160 — Carmel senior Tommy Hoy, Grayslake sophomore Joey Jens, Antioch senior Mikey Volkmar, Grayslake North senior Danny Flores; 170 — Grayslake Central senior Alex Cramer; Antioch junior Niall Schoenfelder; 182 — Grayslake Central sophomore Adrien Cramer, Lakes sophomore Kaleb Lind; 195 — Grayslake Central senior Ethan Lester, Carmel senior Jonathan Lopez, Vernon Hills senior Casey Wood; 220 — Vernon Hills senior Faheem Mannan; 285 — Lakes senior Jack Brunati, Antioch senior Xavier Sanchez, Vernon Hills senior Max Xu
Outlook: Grayslake Central brings in undefeated state champ Alex Cramer (36-0) and undefeated younger brother Adrien (33-0) into this powerful regional, while Carmel also has a defending state champ in Palm. In spite of all of the elite wrestlers in this field, it looks like Antioch is once again the team to beat, as the Sequoits have five wrestlers in their deep lineup with experience downstate. Former Class 3A squad Lake Forest is a team to keep an eye on, but the Scouts may not have the depth to win it all. The final outcome could be close with key head-to-head finishes potentially deciding the team title. The other regionals that feed into the Antioch individual sectional are at Harvard, Fenwick and Ridgewood.
Harvard individual regionalWhen: 10 a.m. Saturday, semifinals at noon, finals at 2 p.m.
Advancement: same as Lakes individual regional
Teams: Wauconda, Crystal Lake Central, Prairie Ridge, Crystal Lake South, Harvard, Richmond-Burton, Woodstock, Marian Central, Woodstock North
Top area competitors: 106 — Wauconda sophomore Jack Sullivan; 113 — Wauconda senior Johnny Lopez; 120 — Wauconda freshman Colin Husko; 126 — Wauconda senior Evan Husko; 220 — Wauconda junior McGwire Landvick
Outlook: Wauconda will have its hands full in this powerful regional, as the Bulldogs head out to the far northwest suburbs. Evan Husko is a two-time state qualifier, and he is one of the few remaining individuals who was on the Bulldogs' 2017 squad that took second place in the state in Class 2A. Besides Husko, Wauconda should still have many individuals with a good shot of advancing to the Antioch sectional next weekend.