Libertyville rolls to another regional title
After building a commanding 52-point lead over Warren headed into the final round, Libertyville easily powered its way to the IHSA Class 3A wrestling regional Saturday afternoon at Grant.
The Wildcats won the 29th regional championship in school history with 203 points to easily topple the runner-up Blue Devils, who scored 153.5 points.
The host Bulldogs barely held off McHenry 127 to 126.5 for third place while Mundelein easily locked up fifth place with 111 points. Round Lake (73 points) placed seventh.
With the regional title, Libertyville advanced to the Glenbrook North dual-team sectional Feb. 25 against Huntley. The top three finishers in each weight class Saturday at Grant advanced to the Class 3A Barrington individual sectional next weekend.
Sophomore Caelan Riley (36-4) got the Wildcats going with a pin in just 32 seconds to win the 106-pound crown while senior teammate E'lan Heard (23-1 at 152) recorded a pin in 2:17 to take home first place.
Libertyville sophomore Josh Knudten (29-12) pinned Grant's Dylan Rinkenberger with 20 seconds left in the third period for the 160-pound title while junior teammate Chase Baczek (36-7 at 170) posted a 3-1 decision over Zion-Benton 2019 state medalist Jordan Chisum.
The Wildcats got yet another title when 220-pounder Jordan Smith nipped Mundelein's Efren Mendez 5-4 in the finals.
But the much-anticipated third showdown between No. 1-ranked Warren 138-pounder Joel Vandervere (26-1), and No. 2-ranked Libertyville senior Danny Pucino (32-3) never happened.
Pucino did pin his opponent in the semifinals, but due to an injury in that match Pucino was held out of the finals with Vandervere winning by injury default. If Pucino is ready to go next week it is very possible, if not likely, that he will face Vandervere for the sectional title.
"Hopefully everything will be OK and he will be ready to go on Friday," said Libertyville coach Dale Eggert. "We won a lot of really tough, close matches today, and getting (Loren) Semier in the finals was a pleasant surprise."
Besides Vandervere, Warren got a first-place medal from Cam Domke (34-3) as he posted an 11-2 major decision over Grant's Justin Warmowski at 132.
Other sectional qualifiers for the Blue Devils were Gino Ortiz (third at 145), Isaiah Parker (third at 152), Zach Dabney (third at 182), Armando Barrandey (third at 195), and Faris Abdallah (third at 220).
"We'll see what happens next week, and those guys (Vandervere and Pucino) could meet again next week," said Warren coach Brad Janecek. "Joel did a nice job getting to the finals, and Domke did a great job getting a major decision in the finals."
Grant got championships from 182-pounder Ethan Geist (30-6), and 195-pounder Justin Brown (31-4) as Brown posted a 12-0 shutout over Libertyville's Adam Pressley in the finals.
"Both of those guys have been cornerstones of our program for years so hopefully they can do something special for their senior year," said Grant coach Lenny Grodoski, whose team had six sectional qualifiers. "Overall we're really happy with the way these guys performed, and it's nice to see our seniors have success."
Mundelein's Jason Guadarrama (37-2) rolled to the 285-pound title with a pin over Libertyville freshman Caleb Christensen while freshman teammate Ben Albavera pinned his man for first place at 120.
"He (Albavera) is starting to peak at the right time, and he's showed that he can wrestle against some of the best guys," said Mundelein coach Craig Stocker. "He (Guadarrama) has had a great year with a lot of wins, and he's very confident at 285."
Round Lake got a second from Ender Kongkaeow, who injury defaulted at 145, while Grant's Nolan Florez placed second at 113. Semier placed second at 126 as did Mundelein's Rudy Osornio at 182.
Class 2A at Grayslake Central: No. 4-ranked Antioch completely rolled to the championship of the Grayslake Central regional with 219 points as the Sequoits crowned seven individual champions.
Lake Forest finished a distant second with 135.5 points followed by the host Rams (107) in third. Grayslake North and Lakes tied for fourth place.
Antioch's champions were Caleb Nobiling (106), Anthony Streib (113), Alex Barbarise (38-1 at 120), Danny McPherson (132), Elijah Reyes (138), Devin Nobiling (152), and Niall Schoenfelder (37-2 at 195).
The host Rams got crowns from top-ranked Adrien Cramer (32-1 at 182), Joey Jens (170), and Jake Lester (220). Other champs were Grayslake North's Jake Jozwiak (126), and Lakes' Isaiah Perrin (285).
With the team win, Antioch advanced to the Fenton dual-team sectional Feb. 25 where the Sequoits have a great chance of qualifying for a trip to the Elite Eight tourney in Bloomington the following weekend.