Prospect surprises Huntley
Tom Whalen had it all figured out.
The Prospect wrestling coach mapped out what proved to be a tactical genius prior to his team taking on No. 10 Huntley in a Class 3A dual-team sectional at McHenry Tuesday night.
Whalen knew the Red Raiders (22-9-0) were without two state qualifiers in their lineup, one of which forced Huntley to take a 6-point forfeit at 132 pounds.
Whalen circled the names of his guys he had faith in to be victorious, two or three others that could swing success the Knights (18-9-0) way, all with the hope of making the appearance of state champion David Ferrante (45-2) powerless on the last bout of the night.
The Mid-Suburban League East champions followed Whalen's plan to near perfection, getting wins at several key positions, including Marcos Santos (23-7) and Andrew Baysingar (16-5), both who bumped up, setting the table later for senior Joe Caringella to deliver the knockout blow to the favored Red Raiders.
"Coach Whalen had things put together for us as to who had to bump up and win, and where we couldn't allow majors or pins, then it was up to us to follow his plan, and we did," said Caringella (42-10), who knowing a major would close out Huntley for good finished in grand style with a pin.
The Knights' 36-33 victory sends them into the dual-team state tournament for the third time in program history, and first since 2016, when Caringella was a freshman.
"This feels real good tonight knowing that we're going to the state tournament, and for many of us in our senior year," said a thrilled Caringella.
Prospect will meet No. 4 Marmion Academy (19-2-0), which edged No. 2 Mt. Carmel 27-26.
"Yes, we felt we had a chance tonight, despite going against one of the top teams in the state but we had to do a lot of things real well in order to do so, and with that said, we put it all in the hands of our seniors to help pull us through, and that's exactly what they did," said a relieved but proud Whalen.
The contest never saw either team with more that a 6-point lead, yet it was the Knights who would hold that advantage, once after that aforementioned forfeit to go up 27-21, and once again with Baysingar's 5-1 decision over Joaquin Miranda (30-17) in a battle between a pair of state qualifiers.
"It's not an excuse for us losing, but being without a 132-pounder hurt us badly, and not having Gannon (Kosowski, 35-12), who was injured at state and ruled out tonight even though he said he wanted to wrestle, was a big point swing for us," said Huntley coach BJ Bertelsman. "But it wasn't just that, we fell apart at spots in our lineup that cost us tonight, and that's the way it goes."
AJ Henkle, Jake Jensen and Sam Spencer, all state qualifiers, put 18 points on the scoreboard with their trio of pins, but Jose Ramos, Joe Tobin and the forfeit nullified those points with 18 of their own.
Alex Pena would draw the Red Raiders close at 30-27 after his 8-3 decision, but Caringella dashed the hopes of the Huntley faithful who were hoping to make a second consecutive trip to Bloomington.
"We had a lot of things to deal with this year, but the guys never stopped working and growing, and tonight's result is something all of them should be proud of, because I am extremely proud of each and everyone of them," said Whalen.
"Yeah, it's a tough way to go out for sure, but we'll have six of our eight state qualifiers back, some terrific complimentary guys with them, so I expect us to be back and better next year," said Bertelsman.