Prospect nails down regional championship
It was by the numbers for Prospect at the Class 3A Fremd wresting regional Saturday in Palatine.
The Knights advanced 10 wrestlers out of 14 weight classes to win the regional title with a score of 226.5. It was the second consecutive regional title for Prospect and fifth in the last six years.
"It is obviously a goal of ours every year to win a regional title," Prospect coach Tom Whalen said. "All of our champions did very well, but we had some other guys advance as well."
Jose Ramos (40-2) pinned his way to a regional championship in the 285-pound weight class. Ramos won his first match with a fall in 1:53. He then followed up with a fall in 2:19 and completed the sweep with a fall over Hersey's Austin Korba (28-12) in 5:10 to advance to next weekend's Barrington individual sectional.
"It was a little harder this time," said Ramos, who beat Korba earlier this season. "I just had to push more of the pace this time."
Prospect, which advances to the Feb. 19 McHenry dual-team sectional, got off to a great start with a win by Marcus Santos (24-5), who won by a fall in 3:54 at 106. Chad Vilchez (35-11) also won by a fall at 132 in 2:55. Andrew Baysinger (14-2) beat Wheeling's John Quintero 12-0 and Joe Caringella (40-7), who was seeded second at 170, beat top-seeded Nico Jung of Glenbrook North 4-1.
Fremd finished third with 129 points. The Vikings got a huge win by Charlie Fifield (22-18) at 113. Fifield, who was seeded second, had lost a previous bout earlier this year to Glenbrook North's Eddie Kline 7-2. Fifield turned the tables on Kline Saturday, pinning him at 5:46.
"It was really hard going into this because he beat me this year," Fifield said. "I spent all day thinking about it. I was surprised that I pinned him. I didn't think I would catch him. I am so glad I did to get the win."
Fremd had four other wrestlers in the finals, but the Vikings came up short in all of those matches. The most impressive of those was Brian Morel (25-14) at 220. Morel had lost previously to Glenbrook North's Trent Williams 14-3, but came up a bit short on Saturday losing 3-1.
"I thought Brian did very well," Fremd coach Jeff Keske said. "We were excited about having five guys in the finals and sending six guys to the sectionals."
Wheeling was fourth with a 114. The Wildcats had sectional champions in Fernando Olivera (27-10), who had a 9-2 decision at 126. John Smith (43-6) captured a title at 145 with an 8-2 decision over Fremd's Michael Mondus. Andy Madrigal (28-8) won at 152 with a 13-4 decision.
"It was a fantastic day for us, said Wheeling coach Charles Curran, who had six wrestlers advance. "All our guys wrestled to their seed or above. I couldn't be happier for the whole team."
Rolling Meadows was seventh with a score of 83.5. The Mustangs did not have a regional champion, but did advance two wrestlers - Elrico Domingo (3rd at 106) and Eric Guerra (2nd at 120).
"We did pretty well," Rolling Meadows coach Dillin Randolph said. "It has been a long season, but we still have some work to do."
Hersey, which finished eighth with 67 points, had a regional champion in the 120 bracket. Zach Joyce (30-10) pinned Guerra (23-8) of Rolling Meadows, who had dropped down from 130, at 3:09.
"We are a young team and we are trying to teach our kids how to fight and battle," Hersey coach Joseph Rupslauk said. "But it was encouraging to see Zach Joyce win and move on."