Barrington stays perfect at Schaumburg

[Larsen]

By Mike Garofola
Illinois Matmen

Host Schaumburg was on the receiving end of a second consecutive thrashing by MSL West-leading Barrington Friday night as the Broncos marched into the Saxons' gym and came away with a 42-24 dual-meet victory.

The win helped Al Strobl's club to stay a perfect 13-0 on the season, 3-0 in the division, and put one foot in the MSL West championship door.

The Broncos have been at full throttle since bringing home a 5th place team trophy at the prestigious Dvorak tournament during the holiday break. Conference foes Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg found out firsthand who might be the most serious contender for top honors next month at the MSL conference tournament.

"Obviously there are a lot of things about this team that I am pleased with going forward,” Strobl said. “But we're not going to get ahead of ourselves, or look past anyone, because there's a lot of wrestling still to be done, and we (still) a lot of work to do before we get into the post-season."

Strobl’s club has Hoffman Estates and Conant remaining on its MSL schedule, with a mega-dual at Lockport on January 15 sandwiched between.

"The one thing I really like about this team is they are never satisfied, and it's great for a coach to watch how they continue to evolve as a team as they keep putting all the extra work in needed to be successful,” Strobl said.

The Saxons (8-5, 1-2) won last season’s dual on criteria (30-29) then later edge the Broncos' by 8 points to capture its MSL team title. Schaumburg more than held its own in the early going on Friday, thanks to a surprise fall by Bryan Peterson in the opening match of the night at 140 pounds.

After Dakota Wapotish put Barrington back in front with an impressive 12-1 major over Will Lang at 145, teammates Nick Shealy (152) and Cameron Thomson (160) added to the visitors’ lead with a decision and fall, respectively.

The hopes for an upset by the home-side rose when Pat Felde edged Michael Weisshappel 2-0, before the Saxons nasty duo of Jon Lamanna (189) and Josh Marchok (215) went to work. The two registered falls to put the Saxons back on top at 21-13.

Marchok showed why he is a deserving choice to be the No. 1 rated 215-pounder in the state with his pin of Daniel Davidson (18-10) at 1:19.

"We felt coming in tonight that we had a chance against Barrington, but we had to stay away from giving up too many bonus points, and win the matches that we were supposed to," Marchok said.

"Barrington is a very good team, and they’ll be tough to beat at the MSL tournament next month. But we've got to continue to work hard so we can make a move at that tournament and at regionals."

Wapotish pointed to the team-wide contributions that have Barrington ranked fifth in Illinois by Illinois Best Weekly and Illinois Matmen.

"Davidson, Weisshappel, Ryan Wilt (189), Thomson, and Matt Sheehy (103) have really stepped up and taken advantage of their opportunities,” Wapotish said. “They’ve all made a real difference for this team. I really feel we're a better team this year because of the depth in our lineup."

Wapotish (23-5) is one of five Broncos with 20 or more victories thus far in the season.

Shealy's hard-earned 6-4 decision over Jordan Bradley was an important one for the Broncos, and Thomson’s pin added to his club-leading 24 victories in his first full year with the big club.

"Cameron’s success really isn't a surprise because he is such a hard worker,” Strobl said. "The kid really works at getting better so I am not surprised at well he is doing for us right now."

The Broncos got back in it with a forfeit at heavyweight from Aaron Castagna to set up an all-out attack from their vaunted lower weights.

Barrington went from being down by two (21-19) to an insurmountable 18-point lead after the quartet of Sheehy, Adrian Gonzalez, Jared Parvinmehr and Connor Mannina were done wrestling.

The four kept their feet on the gas pedal in recording a fall by Sheehy, tech falls from Gonzalez and Mannina, and a 16-4 major from Parvinmehr (22-3).

"I don't think any of us on this team looks at our overall or individual records and believes we're unbeatable, or that we’re the best in our weight class,” Parvinmehr said. “I think that's why all of us are working so hard each day to get better and to keep our focus."

The senior Mannina, one of just six seniors in Strobl's starting lineup on Friday, was superb in his 4:33 minutes of work against Stacy Smith. That’s the time Mannina needed to earn his technical fall at 125 and push his record to 20-4.

Smith would use his speed and quickness on three separate occasions to scramble free from the clutches of Mannina, but the Saxons' junior was unable to escape a trio of 3-point near-falls Mannina was able to hit, who finished his third and final one as the second period closed to go up 13-0.

Sophomore Coord Wiseman would drop a 3-0 decision to Mike Pinones in a well-fought defensive bout at 130 pounds, but Steve Polasik would put the icing on the cake in the finale with a 8-1 victory over Tim Ferguson at 135 when he doubled up on the junior with a reversal and take-down midway through the third period.

"We might have been a little flat tonight after our big win last night against Rolling Meadows, and I thought there were a few bouts here and there that we could have wrestled differently, but the effort was there, and we were able to get some very good wins with bonus points, which really helped us put this match away for good," Strobl said.