Boys gymnastics: Libertyville 2nd, Glenbard West 3rd at Ed Raymond Invite
Libertyville's boys gymnastics team fell just a bit short Friday at the Ed Raymond Invitational at Conant.
The Wildcats, who cracked the magical 160-point mark earlier this week in a dual meet, scored a 159.80 to finish second to Niles West, which scored a 160.80.
Libertyville coach Josh Cimo said the seven falls the Wildcats counted really hurt his team.
"We are happy with the overall score," Cimo said. "We counted too many falls today. We have to clean it up. It was nice to feel that pressure, because come sectionals and state it will be there."
Libertyville was led by Matt Richardson, who won the all-around with a 55.80, and Max Faber, who was eighth in the all-around with a 52.05. Tyler Kukla, Matt Neuberger and Robert Cartwright, who competed in just three events, all performed well for the Wildcats.
"My rings were my best event tonight," said Richardson, who also won the vault with a 9.40. "Even though it was not my best score, I thought it was my best event. I hit my handstand, which I am very happy about."
It was a tremendously competitive meet Friday as eight of the top 13 teams in the state were competing. Glenbard West was third with a 150.65. The Hilltoppers were followed by Hersey's 149.65, Schaumburg's 146.33 and Palatine's 143.75.
"We are at that point of the season where everyone is working a lot more routines," Glenbard West coach Frank Novakowski said. "This is our first meet since the beginning of the season with a lot of high level competition. It is good for the guys to see what else is going on and a good motivator."
The Hilltoppers got a solid performance from Alexander Demeris, who won the floor (9.60) and the rings (9.50). He had a difficult pommel horse which held down his all-around score, but it was still good enough for a third-place finish with a 53.95.
"This is one of my better meets," Demeris said. "My pommel horse was a little shaky. Other than that, it was some of my highest scores."
Demeris got help from Will Lanciloti, Grant Williams, Coley McArdle, Len Phuong, Joel Kekic, Jonathan Yangas, Charlie Deneberg, Aiden Sup and Connor Lapano.
Hersey got huge performances from its all-arounders. Garrett Naughton finished second with a 54.55 and Matt Bednar was fourth with a 53.30. The Huskies were without their third all-arounder, Will Stefaniak, who was out with an injured ankle.
"Garrett and Matt really pulled it off for us today," Hersey coach Joon Yun said. "We could have even done better with Will in the lineup."
Naughton also won the pommel horse with a solid routine that earned him a score of 9.30.
"My pommel horse was one of my best ever," Naughton said. "I did well on all my events except the high bar where I fell on my dismount. But it was still a good meet for me."
Schaumburg was without Brandon Nyborg, who sat out the meet with an injured wrist. Oscar Kulesza, Trever Baynes, Nathan Frank, Rundra Anumala and Dylan Ridenour helped pick up the scoring slack.
"It was about what we expected," Schaumburg coach Erik Bostrom said. "We had some uncharacteristic falls in the second half of the meet. The boys are a little bit tired so it will be nice to have some time off until our next meet."
Other gymnasts who completed well were Hoffman Estates' Alex Collier, who was second on the floor, Palatine's Trey Wilcox, who was fourth on the vault, Naperville North's Eric Loid, who was fifth on the parallel bars, and Fremd's Lucas Styczen, who was fifth on the high bar.