THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2007
Strongest Wrestlers Survive
By DWIGHT ESAU
Journal Reporter
Just how rough was the competition in the three Journal-area IHSA high school wrestling sectionals this past weekend?
Well, 73 area wrestlers competed, and 12 qualified to advance to the state finals at the end of February. Seven others came very close to qualifying, coming up short in their third place matches.
Wrestlers had to finish first, second, or third at sectionals to make it to the state individual finals, which will take place at downstate Champaign on Feb. 23-24.
Many seeded wrestlers were upset, and, of the 126 state qualifiers from the three area sectionals, only eight are undefeated. One undefeated local wrestler lost his first bout of the season, but still managed to make it to state.
Area wrestlers competed at Barrington, Leyden, and Glenbard North high schools last Saturday, Feb. 10. Here is a summary of the results at each one:
BARRINGTON - Wheeling shined brightest here, getting three wrestlers through, compared to six the year before. Heading the Wildcat qualifiers was 103-pound sectional champion Max Nowry, who remained on a huge roll (he has a 38-2 record) with a 6-1 decision over Joey Carfagnini of Lake Zurich.
"He has been very consistent all year long, and his only two losses have been to other state-ranked guys, so we look for big things from him this year," said his coach, Neal Weiner.
Also qualifying for Wheeling were Abel Rangel, who was pinned in his 152-pound sectional title match by Sam Wrobel of Lake Zurich, but who qualified anyway; and Nick Bledsoe, who was a runner-up at heavyweight, losing a 3-1 decision to Dan Clinton of Carmel in his final match. Bledsoe is 22-4 on the season, and Rangel is 27-9.
Notre Dame's Joe Graves' 37-bout winning streak was snapped by Jordan Blanton of Richmond-Burton, but the Don star will move on at 171 pounds as a runner-up.
Graves' teammate Steve Catalano made it through at heavyweight with a second-period pin of Branden Cartwright of Round Lake to take third place.
The final state qualifier at Barrington was David Gould, a Niles West junior, a runner-up at 119 pounds to Lee Munster of Grant.
Possibly the most disappointed wrestler at Barrington was Wheeling's Matt Smith, who lost a hairline 3-2 decision for third place after dominating his 160-pound bout with Ryan Williams of Carmel.
"He was doing very well until Williams got a reverse on him with 20 seconds left, and he didn't have enough time to recover," said Weiner. "It was very tough for him, but he's a junior, and he'll be back next year for another shot "
GLENBARD NORTH - Prospect had another good day, qualifying three grapplers to state, two of them sectional champions. Dominating their weight classes were Knights Matt Boggess at 130 pounds, and Peter Zintak at 189.
Boggess won with a 7-4 decision over Andrew Saunders of Montini, a feat by itself since Montini qualified an incredible 11 wrestlers to state at this sectional. Boggess is among the few undefeated wrestlers still standing, at 43-0.
Zintak was equally dominant at 189, blanking Tyrand Williams of Lyons, 7-0. Zintak now has a 42-1 record.
Joining his teammates at state will be Knight Tyler Rossdeutcher, who was a runner-up to Tony Ramos of Glenbard North at 112 pounds. Ramos pinned Tyler at 3:21.
Joe Brewster of Maine South made it through at 103 pounds by taking third place with an 11-0 decision over Sam Littlehale of Glenbard West. Brewster's record now is 34-6. Hawk teammate Mark Corsello wasn't so fortunate. Corsello wrestled well in the wrestle-backs but fell to Streamwood's Chris Dunning, 7-1, in the third place bout at 215 pounds. Senior Corsello's season, and career, end with a 36-6 record this season.
The final state qualifier at Glenbard North is Conant's Adam Haftl, who won a 6-3 decision over Jason Callahan of Glenbard East to squeeze into the 140-pound division at state.
Coming close but just missing third place finishes from the area were Corey King of Conant (lost a 7-1 decision at 119 pounds), and Danny Robertson of Rolling Meadows (dropped a 13-5 decision at 171 pounds).
LEYDEN - The Eagles sent eight sectional qualifiers to competition at home last Saturday, one made it through, and two others came very close.
Eagle Matt Soch qualified as a runner-up at 140 pounds, despite losing a 9-2 decision in the title match to Weldon Rogers of Oak Park. Two of Soch's teammates weren't so fortunate, however. Juan Giron dropped a 9-2 decision for third place at 160, and Adam Schammert lost a 5-1 decision for third place at 135 pounds.
On Feb. 20, two area teams - Wheeling and Prospect - will compete in the state team dual competition, Wheeling against Barrington at Glenbrook North, and Prospect against Montini on the latter's mats in Lombard.
Here's Who Qualified
A total of 73 wrestlers from 14 Journal-area high schools competed in three area IHSA individual sectionals last weekend. Twelve of them qualified to advance to the state finals.
The area produced three sectional champions, six runners-up, and three third place finishers at sectionals at Barrington, Leyden, and Glenbard North high schools.
Winners of the top three places in each of the 14 weight classes at a sectional advance to state.
The area's 12 are:
* Max Nowry of Wheeling, sectional champion at 103 pounds.
* Peter Zintak of Prospect, sectional champion at 189 pounds.
* Matt Boggess of Prospect, sectional champion at 130 pounds.
* Tyler Rossdeutcher of Prospect, sectional runner-up at 112 pounds.
* David Gould of Niles West, runner-up at 119 pounds.
* Abel Rangel of Wheeling, runner-up at 152 pounds.
* Nick Bledsoe of Wheeling, runner-up at heavyweight.
* Joe Graves of Notre Dame, runner-up at 171 pounds
* Matt Soch of Leyden, runner-up at 140 pounds.
* Joe Brewster of Maine South, third place finisher at 103 pounds.
* Adam Haftl of Conant, third place finisher at 140
* Steve Catalano of Notre Dame, third place finisher at heavyweight.
The state individual finals will be conducted at the University of Illinois Assembly Hall in Champaign on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 23-24.