Wrestling: Hersey, Warren make history
It was a night of firsts Tuesday evening in Huntley.
That's where MSL champion Hersey advanced to its first dual-team state appearance since 1997 while Lake County Invite champ Warren (14-4) progressed to the last eight for its first state appearance in program history.
Warren made history after overwhelming Belvidere North 60-16, while the Huskies (12-4) beat league rival Prospect 34-21 before a big crowd at Marlowe Middle School.
"This program has come a long way since I came to Hersey four years ago. We have a great group of wrestlers, parents and an unbelievable coaching staff that are all committed to success. We're like a big family and tonight all of the hard work and dedication came through for us to reach our goal of making it to team state," said senior Ben Erhabor, who put his club ahead at 9-8 with his 9-7 decision over Conor Mitchell to inspire his club to go on a 22-3 run.
After the Erhabor decision, teammates Oleg Simakov (285), Dan Lehman (106) and Abdullokh Khakimov (113) - all state qualifiers - earned bonus points to give the Huskies a 23-8 advantage.
"Hersey won the close ones when it counted so congrats to Joe (Rupslauk) and his team, and best of luck to them in Bloomington," said a gracious Prospect coach Dan Keller, who would watch his best man Will Baysingar (51-2) win his final contest of what was a brilliant four-year career.
"I took a lot of pride in being the captain of this team the last three years. And even though we didn't come away with the result we wanted, it doesn't take away from a terrific year for our team and my teammates who fought hard tonight and would show a lot of heart right up until the very end," said Baysingar, who leaves with four state medals, one state championship, and nearly 170 victories.
Next up for the No. 6 Huskies will be No. 2 Marmion Academy (10-1-0) Friday in its state quarterfinal match at 7 p.m. at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.
No. 14 Warren will face No. 8 Lockport (18-8-0) in its state quarterfinal after its impressive 44-point victory over NIC-10 champion Belvidere North which featured state runner-up Brayden Teunissen (106, 49-2) and senior Antonio Alvarado (52-3) who despite a badly sprained ankle, still managed to finish third overall at 145 pounds.
North was no match for the Blue Devils who recorded five straight pins to build an overwhelming lead 33-6, then another three pins out of its four bouts from 120-138, with senior Evan Onstad recording his fall at (138) in 1:51.
"Our program was really struggling the past two years, but with an influx of some great freshmen, and a coaching staff that has changed the way we train, we've been able to build something really good in such a short time," said Onstad (31-7) who was one of four who qualified to the individual state tournament last weekend, including freshman Aaron Stewart (44-2) who was third at 152.
"It feels great to be heading to our first dual-team state tournament. The work ethic, extra time and commitment to each other, and themselves, is a big reason for the success we've achieved so far," said Warren coach Brad Janicek.