Wildcats roll to win over Warren on Senior Night
Friday was all about the Libertyville wrestling Class of 2022, and the host Wildcats didn't let their fans down with a very impressive performance on Senior Night.
Starting the North Suburban Conference dual meet at 152 pounds, Libertyville stormed ahead of Warren 40-0 after seven matches as the Blue Devils continue to struggle to put together a full lineup with three forfeits.
The Wildcats (10-4, 5-0) never looked back after taking the big early lead as they rolled to a 62-12 victory behind 6 pins in the dual meet.
Warren (7-5, 3-3) fell behind 22-0 right away as Libertyville's seven-senior lineup got a pin from Anthony McClendon at 152, a forfeit win from Max Basich at 160, an 8-0 major decision from Austin Gomez at 170, and a forfeit win from Owen McGrory at 182.
The upper weights really carried the heavy load for the Wildcats with pins by Josh Knudten (195), Cole Matulenko (220), and Caleb Christensen (285) staking the hosts to their 40-point lead.
"We're really coming together at the end of the season and happy to go out with a win on Senior Night," said Knudten. "I think we can win regionals and make it to state if we wrestle to our fullest ability."
The Blue Devils got on the scoreboard with a forfeit victory by Jesse Binoya at 106 before 113-pound Warren teammate Carlos Ordonez held on for a wild 12-10 decision over comeback-minded Orion Moran to make the score 40-9.
Libertyville senior Caelan Riley (120) got a pin in 2:14 before a forfeit win by teammate Luke Berktold (126), and a 12-2 major decision by Trevor Jean (132) made the score 56-9 with one bout remaining. Warren's Evan Onstad posted a 6-3 decision over senior Scott Wiegold to account for the final score.
"It's a great group of guys, and I'm really happy I was able to go through my four years with them," Riley said. "We have to stay consistent the next three weeks with our training, and trust coach (Dale) Eggert."
Warren misses the presence of Joel Vandervere, who won the IHSA state title as a junior before now wrestling at Northwestern University.
"Senior Night is a great night, and we weren't able to match their intensity tonight," said Warren coach Brad Janecek. "We haven't had the exact same lineup one time this year, but at the same time this gives us a chance to build for the future."
After taking fourth in the dual-team state tournament last year, Eggert's squad is gearing up for the final month-plus of the season with some pretty high hopes as the seniors have proved they can perform well on the big stage.
"We still have Lake Forest and Lake Zurich to go in the conference," said Eggert, who now has 627 career dual-meet victories. "We're hoping to have a Lake County tournament, and hopefully everyone is healthy for the regionals."