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Huntley sweeps Fremd quad

The state-ranked Huntley wrestling team got off on its front foot Tuesday night when the Red Raiders swept all three duals at host Fremd in a season-opening quad in Palatine.

Led by reigning state champion David Ferrante, the Red Raiders went past Grayslake Central, Fremd, then Lake Zurich - outscoring their opponents 159-60.

"You never win anything in November, but I am excited for our season to begin, in what all of us hope will be a big year both individually and as a team," said Ferrante, who is Northwestern-bound following the end of the 2019-2020 campaign.

The big crowd had the chance to see a pair of No. 1 rated wrestlers go head-to-head in the opening dual of the evening when Ferrante met Adrien Cramer of Grayslake Central - both anointed the No. 1 spot in state preseason polls.

Ferrante, who dominated the 170-pound division in Class 3A a year ago and Cramer, a junior who recently committed to Old Dominion and who holds the top spot in 2A at 182 kept their audience glued to the mat for the entire six minutes of action.

Ferrante opened up a 2-0 lead 30 seconds in then would slowly build upon his advantage with a sweet ankle pick to make it 5-1 midway through the second period.

The four-year star got in on Cramer early in the third period before going on to register a 11-3 major decision.

"Our plan all along was for me to meet Adrien, who is a great wrestler, and who could easily be in the 2A state final so this was a good opportunity to go against one of the best," said Ferrante, who'll likely stay at 170 come the postseason.

The Red Raiders would go on to defeat an undermanned Rams club that was missing four starters 57-19.

Cramer, who went 46-2 a year ago, would win his next two matches easily as did teammate Joey Jens (170) who together will form a dynamic duo for the Rams, who also have Cramer's younger brother Aaron in their lineup.

It was not a good weekend in Champaign last year for the Cramer family who would watch Alex, undefeated at the time, drop a heartbreaker in his final and earlier Adrien falling (5-3) in the quarters to eventual state champion Daniel Jezik of Coal City.

"It was a tough state tournament for both of us so now I feel like the I have to carry on the family name this season, and winning a state title," admitted Adrien, whose win over nationally ranked Tate Picklo of Oklahoma during the offseason validated his spot atop the polls in Illinois.

The Cramer brothers, Jens and Jake Lester (220) all went 3-0 on Tuesday to help their club finish 1-2, with their lone victory coming at the hands of Lake Zurich, also without a handful of starters, which led to forfeits all through the night.

Senior Joey Mrazek, 34-6 a year ago, and one win away from going downstate, ran into Adrien Cramer in his second match of the night and fell victim to the junior by a fall.

In between, the Bears' senior won twice both with pins.

"Losing like I did at sectionals last year was not the way to end a season - but I am more determined than ever to get past sectionals this year and reach my goal of getting to state and competing for a medal," said the affable Mrazek, who qualified for the Team Illinois during the offseason, while spending plenty of time lifting and improving his fitness in anticipation of a banner final season for his team.

Huntley, which was without three-time state qualifier Sam Spencer would receive perfect results from 2018 state qualifiers Sam Henkle, Jeremy Jankowitsch, Joaquin Miranda and Ferrante as well as heavyweight Nick Burba.

The host Vikings gave the Red Raiders their biggest test of the night during a 45-27 contest which at one time was a 22-6 lead for the visitors following a Burba pin.

"We went 1-2 here last year, so to go 2-1 on our first night of the season is a terrific start for us," said Fremd coach Jeff Keske, whose 14-man lineup featured four sophomores and two freshmen.

"We received quality efforts by our usual guys - Charlie Fifield (126), and Isiah Pettigrew (195) -- but also got some good stuff from our freshman at 106 (Jake Crandall) in addition to our guys at 220 and heavyweight, Panos Salouras and Justin Lilliebridge.

"The thing I like about this team is they work hard, they're willing to grind things out and they're in it for each other and that's something you can really build from."

Fremd, which will compete in the Moore-Pettyman this coming weekend, would claim victories over Central and Lake Zurich.

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