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Barrington's success train keeps rolling along

The continued pipeline of wrestling talent that helps power Barrington has come through its youth programs, the Broncos' tradition of excellence, as well as several families who over the years have sent a household of young men into the practice room.

This season is no different with Jack Hartman, Luke Rasmussen, and Dayven Shinhoster leading the way in front of an impressive Barrington roster that according to everyone in the Mid-Suburban League is the team to beat.

"You cannot overlook the influence the guys before us have provided us. They were all stars in their own right, but it was their work ethic and commitment to the program, and each other that has a profound effect on all of us," said Rasmussen, whose older brother Dan would proceed him, as did Markus Hartman and Jaritt Shinhoster.

All three completed brilliant careers under head coach Dave Udchik - Markus, now wrestling at West Point after his state championship senior year; Jaritt Shinhoster starring at UW-Whitewater; and Dan Rasmussen, back in the room as one of the Broncos' assistant coaches.

"All of our brothers, plus Jake Meyer (another state medalist) led the way for us, so now when it's our turn to be leaders, we can make the room and program just like family, the way it has been for such a long time here," Luke Rasmussen said.

"When I wrestled at Glenbard West for my head coach Bernie Botheroyd, he stressed giving kids a positive wrestling experience, and making lifelong friends through the sport," said Udchik, fifth in state in 1995.

"Fast forward 20 years and at Barrington we call our team 'The Circle' and we focus on wrestling for something bigger than yourself, and building the team. Showing respect and a care for each other is what we want the guys to leave here with and for me it's the highlight of coaching Broncos wrestling."

The Broncos should provide plenty of highlights for their fans after a 2019 Class 3A dual-team state appearance, 24-4-0 overall record, and MSL West division title.

Hartman, Rasmussen and Shinhoster combined to go 114-21, but there's plenty more to a Barrington lineup that won both the MSL and regional titles by a wide margin.

Four-year veteran and two-time state qualifier Kai Conway (160, 36-9) is next up after the Broncos' big three with sophomore Brian Beers (113, 37-11) back and ready for more after a fantastic freshman season that included his first appearance at state.

Chris Allegretti (132, 20-18), Trey Cysewski (145, 12w) and Marko Hennin (152, 33-14) all have plenty of experience against the Broncos' high profile nonconference schedule and are each capable of providing bonus point victories when needed.

"The MSL is a wrestling strong conference and last year after many people thought we were third or fourth best behind Prospect, Conant and others we won the conference tournament and kept on going after that," said Luke Rasmussen. "There's always high expectations in and around our room, but we know we have to work hard every day and to respect every opponent. If we do all of that, we could have a very good season by the time it's over."

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