Scouting the 2019-20 season in Lake County
Top returning individuals: After placing second in the state in Class 3A as a junior and third as a sophomore, No. 1-ranked Libertyville senior Danny Pucino (138) will be a wrestler to watch closely as he has his sights set squarely on the 83rd annual IHSA state meet Feb. 20-22 in Champaign.
Warren junior Joel Vandervere is another elite wrestler to focus on out of the North Suburban Conference as No. 2-ranked Vandervere also placed second in the state last year in Class 3A after placing third in the state as a freshman.
The Daily Herald's Lake County area did lose some fantastic wrestlers to graduation, including two-time Class 2A state champion Riley Palm of Carmel Catholic who is wrestling at the University of Buffalo this season. Former Grayslake Central star Alex Cramer placed first as a junior and second as a senior, and he is wrestling at Old Dominion University. Stevenson will miss three-time state qualifier Tommy Frezza and two-time qualifier Max Gomez this winter.
Other top returning wrestlers in Class 3A are No. 4-ranked Grant senior Justin Brown at 182, No. 6-ranked Lake Zurich senior Joey Mrazek at 170, No. 6-ranked Warren junior Isaiah Parker at 152 and Warren senior Cam Domke at 126. No. 2-ranked Libertyville transfer student E'lan Heard (from LaSalle, Ohio) should make a huge impact to the Wildcats' lineup at 152.
In Class 2A, Grayslake Central junior Adrien Cramer is ranked No. 1 at 182 after placing third in the state as a sophomore. No. 4-ranked Antioch has an abundance of depth, talent and experience back beginning with No. 2-ranked senior Alex Barbarise at 120. The Sequoits will also turn to No. 5-ranked senior Elijah Reyes (138,) No. 6-ranked senior Danny McPherson (132) and No. 8-ranked senior Niall Schoenfelder (170).
Grayslake Central has another elite individual in No. 4-ranked Joey Jens (152), while Carmel turns to its powerful senior trio of No. 5 Christian Valadez (132), No. 6 Vince Swindell (145) and No. 10 Yovaniel Garcia (170).
Grayslake North senior Jake Jozwiak is ranked third at 126 in the preseason poll, while Wauconda sophomore Colin Husko (126) is ranked seventh. Lakes is led by Kurtis Smith (170).
Top returning teams: In Class 2A, No. 4-ranked Antioch looks like the team to beat again as the Sequoits hope to return to the Elite Eight dual-team state tourney for the sixth time since 2010 under coach Wilbur Borrero. Antioch had a school-record seven individual state qualifiers last year, and it probably would have had eight if Schoenfelder did not get injured.
In Class 3A, No. 13 Grant will turn to Brown at 182 along with 2019 state qualifier Ethan Geist (152), Sean Rogan (113), Justin Warmowski (120), Dylan Rinkenberger (145), Kyle Rainey (170) and Angel Martinez (285).
"We have won the NLCC the past two seasons, and I believe we are the favorites again," said Grant coach Lenny Grodoski. "We feel we can win the Lake County meet."
Despite some key losses to graduation, No. 14 Libertyville has a lot of star-power in its lineup behind Pucino and newcomer Heard, while senior Jordan Smith (220) has a shot at state.
Top meets and tournaments: Rex Lewis Invitational at Buffalo Grove (Dec. 14), Rus Erb Tournament at Glenbrook South (Dec. 20-21), 54th Annual Rex Whitlatch Invitational at Hinsdale Central (Dec. 20-21), Lake County Championship at Antioch (Jan. 24-25).