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Barrington takes down Libertyville

When the draw prior to the Barrington-Libertyville contest revealed the night would start at 182 pounds Conor Prettyman figured his result could possibly decide the outcome of the Class 3A McHenry dual-meet sectional match Tuesday night.

Barrington's 170-pounder was correct in his assumption, and when Prettyman (19-14) recorded an 11-5 decision over Bennett Whitney it meant he and his Broncos' teammates advanced to their second consecutive dual-team state tournament this weekend.

After Luke Rasmussen (44-5) put the Broncos in front 29-24 with a pin 65 seconds into his 160-pound match, Prettyman ensured victory with his well-earned victory to finish off the Wildcats for good with a 32-24 triumph.

The Broncos (24-3-0) will face No. 1 Montini Catholic (20-2-0) Saturday in a state quarterfinal in Bloomington at Grossinger Motors Arena.

"Yes, I knew there was a chance this dual would come down to me and even though he got the early first takedown, I felt real confident-knowing if I could get to his legs, and stay on them all throughout, there was a good chance I could win, and help us get back downstate," said Prettyman.

"I couldn't be more proud of Conor. There was a lot of pressure on him at that point, but he wrestled hard and smart and was able to get the win that we needed to advance," said Broncos head coach Dave Udchik.

In what everyone knew would be a tightly contested match between No. 15 Barrington and No. 16 Libertyville both sides did not disappoint a lively, raucous crowd on hand with just seven of the 14 bouts scored by bonus points while the others were hard-fought decisions.

"We weren't sure how we would do at 106 against their state qualifier, so when Caelan Riley (29-13) got us a big win there, it gave us hope (knowing) we had our three state qualifiers - Brandon Murphy (41-10), Danny Pucino (45-2) and Michael Gunther (44-4) - coming up soon in the middle of our lineup," said Libertyville head coach Dale Eggert.

True to form, the Cats' sensational trio collected 15 points between them to push them ahead (24-19) after Gunther's tech-fall at 138.

However, a win from Sean Cleary (145), and a major by Kai Conway (36-9) set up things nicely for some late dramatics by Rasmussen and Prettyman.

"We received two big wins from guys who really haven't been in our lineup very much," Udchik said. "Phillip Chapa (7-0) got us a huge pin at 113 to keep us in front by 10 points (16-6) then Evan Roper, out all season with a broken leg suffered during the football season, comes up with a 6-1 decision in his first match of the year at 195."

"We knew it would be close tonight, but (Barrington) did a good job from 195-285 getting 10 points from their guys, which was big at the time," said Eggert. "We still had a terrific season nonetheless, and I never expected us to go 19-4-0 overall, so despite the loss tonight, there's a lot to be proud of."

Pucino was a state runner-up at 132, Gunther fourth at 138 to end a superb career under Eggert.

  Barrington's Phillip Chapa holds Libertyville's Michael Rocco in the 113-pound bout at McHenry High School Tuesday. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Barrington's Patrick Mantatsky holds Libertyville's Peter Kafkis in the 120-pound bout at McHenry High School Tuesday. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Libertyville's Brandon Murphy reacts after defeating Barrington's Cael Dyer in the 126-pound bout at McHenry High School Tuesday. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Libertyville's Danny Pucino rolls Barrington's Marko Hennin in the 132-pound bout at McHenry High School Tuesday. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Libertyville's Danny Pucino reacts after defeating Barrington's Marko Hennin in the 132-pound bout at McHenry Tuesday. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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