Barrington sweeps Grant's triple-dual
After winning its own powerful tournament last weekend, No. 10-ranked Barrington wanted to keep its momentum going Saturday at the rugged Grant triple-dual wrestling meet in Fox Lake.
And the Broncos did just that as they swept the field with three nonconference victories to improve their record to 8-0.
Barrington rolled to a 72-3 victory over short-handed Waukegan in the opening round, before pulling away from Stevenson for a 48-17 triumph in the second round.
The Broncos closed out their day with a 51-21 win over the host Bulldogs (2-3), while Stevenson (3-2) beat Grant 50-21 in round two. The Bulldogs rolled past Waukegan 72-6 in the second round.
Barrington 170-pounder Luke Rasmussen kept his perfect record intact with three more victories to improve to 11-0, while 160-pound teammate Kai Conway (10-1) and 113-pounder Brian Beers (10-1) also added 3 wins apiece for the Broncos.
"We got bonus points where we needed them and we won a lot of the close matches," Barrington coach Dave Udchik said. "It's usually closer in these meets, but both of them (Stevenson and Grant) are not at full strength. Our guys are happy with how they wrestled."
Other three-match winners for Barrington were Charlie Jones (106), Phillip Chapa (120), Jon Fier (138) and Colin Lehmann (195).
After defeating Beers 1-0 for the Barrington tourney title last weekend, Stevenson freshman Lorenzo Frezza (8-1) dropped a 1-point decision to Beers for his first loss of the season.
Stevenson 120-pounder Cole Rhemrev went 2-0 to improve his record to 8-1.
"Obviously we were really pleased the way we won many close matches against Grant," said Stevenson coach Shane Cook, whose team fell to Libertyville Friday night. "We turned around and lost to a powerful team in Barrington, and they are one of the top teams in the state of Illinois."
Grant 182-pounder Justin Brown (7 pins this season) improved his record to 8-1 by going 3-0. Returning state qualifier Ryan Geist (170) was out of the Bulldogs' lineup all weekend due to sickness. No. 5-ranked Brown captured an 11-7 decision over No. 3-ranked Jack Hartman in the Barrington dual meet. Dylan Rinkenberger (152) was also 3-0 for Grant.
"Our lineup is in flux at the moment, but I was really happy with the fight of the guys we had out there," said Grant coach Lenny Grodoski, whose team won at Wauconda Friday night. "Justin (Brown) has been very impressive. He expects this of himself, and I'm not surprised with his success."
Barrington led Stevenson 39-17 after 12 bouts before a pin and a decision in the final two matches accounted for the final score.
Grant trailed the Broncos only 27-18 with five matches remaining, but Barrington got pins from Trey Cysewski (145), Conway (in 34 seconds) and Rasmusen (in 36 seconds) to close out the meet.