Barrington cruises past Conant
Defending Mid-Suburban League wrestling champion Barrington (17-0-0, 3-0-0) went out to a commanding 38-0 lead and cruised to a 50-13 victory Thursday night over host Conant in a key divisional contest at William N. Perry Gymnasium in Hoffman Estates.
Senior Kai Conway opened with a well-played 4-0 decision at 160 pounds to set the table for the Broncos' upper weight lineup of Luke Rasmussen (170), Jack Hartman (182), Colin Lehmann (195), Evan Roper (220) and Farouk Shaaban (285), who recorded 27 unanswered points to put a dent in the plans of Conant's Senior Night.
"Barrington showed why they're the No. 10 rated team in the state," said a gracious Conant coach Chad Hay, whose club is now 9-3-0 on the season, 2-1-0 in the MSL West.
"They have several stars, terrific depth and they all defend and wrestle very well at the edge, making them a tough team to beat."
Conway, one of five Broncos currently ranked in the Top Ten, is a four-year starter, who began his career as a 106-pounder, advancing to the state tournament in 2018, and looking primed to do so once more.
"I like the way this team is headed but we all know there's still a lot of work ahead of us if we want to win another conference and regional title and go on and bring home a state trophy later on," said Conway.
Conway has been impressed with teammate Evan Roper, who in his first year with the big club has risen up to the No. 1 spot at 220 after his recent defeat of-then No. 1 Ben Stemmet from Yorkville.
"Evan has put a lot of work in. He's a big, strong guy, who keeps getting better each time out," added Conway.
After it became 38-0 following a Charlie Jones major decision win at 106, and a 5-0 triumph from No. 7 Brian Beers at 113, Russell Hoeft put four points on the board for the home side with his 13-2 major at 120.
Phillip Chapa (126) and Chris Allegretti (132) each won their matches to push the Broncos' advantage up to 44-4.
Senior Trey Cysewski (145) would sandwich his pin at 3:26 in between victories from CJ. Gilbert (138) and Patrick Kane (pin at 152) to make the final score line a little closer.
"The boys came out ready to wrestle knowing Conant is always a tough opponent, and conference rival," said Barrington head coach Dave Udchik. "Tonight we took advantage of a young, inexperienced Conant team that is improving and will be a lot to handle in another year or two."
Barrington will host Fremd Friday, then is off to compete at the Lincoln-Way Central mega-duals on Saturday, while Conant is on the road at Hoffman Estates before traveling to the Conard Invite at Leyden on Saturday.