Boys gymnastics: Libertyville cleans up at conference meet

Libertyville's Matt Richardson won four events and Max Faber won the other two as the Wildcats dominated the first Independent Conference meet on Thursday in Wheaton.

The Wildcats finished well in front of the 13-team field with 157.9 points. Runner-up Wheaton co-op had 144.45 and third-place Lake Park scored a 137.55.

"They did a great job and we just have to polish it up now," Libertyville coach Josh Cimo said. "That's kind of been the thing all season just flip-flopping back and forth on the things we need to polish up. We start making one and missing the other, and then making that and missing the one before. There are a lot of good teams out there so we want to stay healthy and bring our 'A' game at the sectional and pull it all together for the state meet."

Richardson won floor, pommel horse, parallel bars and high bar. Faber was the conference champion on vault and still rings. The Wildcats were most dominant on still rings and high bar as Tyler Kykla helped them snag the top three scores in those two events.

"I think the scores weren't the best, but I think I did the best that I've ever done," Richardson said. "I didn't really focus on the scores that much afterward because it was just based on the skills and not really how they scored it."

Richardson also won the all-around with an eye-popping 55.3.

Such personal accolades along with winning conference are wonderful, but the Wildcats have their eyes on a much bigger prize, and are focused on getting to state to compete for it.

"We're not focusing on our score, we're comparing how we compete to how we did at the last meet," Faber said. "You know how your routine was. If you did as good as you could, that's what you base your performance on."

While Kykla delivered three big team scores, Matt Neuberger came up huge on floor and pommel horse while Robert Cartwright's vault increased Libertyville's team score.

Host Wheaton Warrenville co-op received one of top personal performances from Cade Houlihan, who took second in the all-around with a 52.4.

The junior tied for second on floor and placed second on parallel bars, was third on pommel horse, fourth on high bar and fifth on vault as he found himself on the award stand often.

"I fell a few times but still had a pretty good meet and I know I can do better," he said. "I'm pretty happy about our team. We continue to get more consistent, which is good."

Senior Rodrigo Ruiz finished seventh in the all-around for Wheaton co-op. Marty Franz was fifth on still rings and sixth on pommel horse. Andy Votava and Hsar Lwen also contributed clutch scores for Wheaton co-op.

Lake Park posted a season high in points and was ecstatic to take third.

"This was one of the first meets where we've had everyone hit," Lancers coach Tim Whelan said. "We rode the wave from one event to the next, hitting every single routine one after the other. We went almost 5 for 5 on every event. We missed a few, but it was a great night."

Louie Ranieri and Matt Scimeca led the Lancers, finishing fifth and sixth in the all-around, respectively, with a 49.85 and 48.8, but they once again received some key scores from the rest of the lineup.

"We've had a lot of injuries and different things going on so it's been a next-man-up mentality," Whelan said. "And the fourth and fifth guys have stepped up to be our third score meet after meet and we're getting better and better."

Naperville North placed fourth with a 132.675 as Michael Hunter Jr. took second on vault and fellow senior Eric Loid scored a 44.35 in the all-around.

"I'm glad I finished second, especially with no prior experience and with all these club guys who were insane, by the way," Hunter said. "It was a good meet and I had fun. I'm glad with how I did and how we did overall."