High school wrestling: Huntley wins Harvard's Sciacca/Holtfreter tournament

HARVARD – With a big lead going into the place matches, Huntley did not want to limp into a championship at the Sciacca/Holtfreter Wrestling Tournament at Harvard on Saturday.

The Red Raider qualified 10 wrestlers into the place matches and came away with seven wins to build on their lead and finish with 215 points. Harvard was second with 183.5 and Dundee-Crown took fourth with 125.5.

Chris Gamboa won for the Raiders at 138 pounds defeating Fremd’s Dom Lorig, 6-3, in the finals.

“I knew heading into the place matches we were ahead,” Gamboa said. “I wanted to finish well. Seal the deal.”

Huntley finished with three champions, two each in second, third and fifth and one fourth.

“It was a good overall team performance,” Huntley coach B.J. Bertelsman  said. “It’s a fun tournament.”

Huntley’s Josh Stenger got a little revenge in his championship match with Harvard’s Justin Wilcox at 113. Wilcox beat Stenger in the semifinals last year but Stenger prevailed this year, 6-2.

In the first period, Wilcox looked like he had Stenger on his back but Stenger rolled through it to get a takedown.

“I’ve done it a couple times in practice,” Stenger said of the move. “Why not try it now?”

Stenger said it was a big individual win and also big for the team with Harvard the only team with a chance of catching Huntley.

“It was kind of important because Huntley and Harvard were really close in the standings,” Stenger said. “It was just something to boost my confidence for the season.”

Also winning for Huntley was Brandon Meyer won by decision at 145.

Other local winners were Richmond-Burton’s Grant Sutton at 132, Dundee-Crown’s Christian Brunner (195) and Woodstock North’s Cody Barnes (220).

Sutton was named the outstanding wrestler for the lighter weights and Brunner was given the honor for the heavier weights.

Sutton wrestled after seeing his brother Gavin get pinned unexpectedly at 126 by Grayslake Central’s Joey Tarnowski.

“It kind of got me fired up for the next match,” Grant Sutton said.

Brunner, ranked No. 2 at 195 by illinoismatmen.com, defeated Fremd's Alex Jacobs, ranked No. 7, 8-7. In the third period, Brunner tied the score, 6-6, with a takedown and then gave Jacobs an escape and the lead before getting another takedown for the win.
Brunner said he thought he was less tired at that point than Jacobs.

“I had confidence in my conditioning,” Brunner said. “I knew I could take him down.”

GOOD FORM

Josh Stenger

Huntley, so., 113 lbs.
Stenger defeated Harvard's Justin Wilcox, 6-2, in the championship match. Wilcox beat Stenger last year at the Harvard tournament in the semifinals.
 
NUMBER

7 Place matches Huntley won out of 10.

BIG MOMENT

Huntley started the place matches with three consecutive wins – Zach Spencer (106) for third, Stenger and Juan Quiroz (120) for fifth.

WRESTLING

Sciacca/Holtfreter Tournament

at Harvard

Team scores: 1. Huntley 215; 2. Harvard 183.5; 3. Fremd 152; 4. Dundee-Crown 125.5; 5. Burlington Central 125; 6. Grayslake Central 118; 7. Pontiac 102; 8. Round Lake 96.5; 9. Grayslake North 90.5; 10. Richmond-Burton 67; 11. Woodstock 61; 12. Woodstock North 60; 13. Belvidere 48; 14. Bremen 41; 15. Elmwood Park 38; 16. Belvidere North 28

Championship

106: Macias (BC) dec. Fiegel (Harv), 4-3

113: Stenger (Hunt) dec. Wilcox (Harv), 6-2

120: Arias (Belv) dec. Ochoa (Bre), 13-6

126: Tamowski (GLC) p. Ga. Sutton (RB), 3:07

132: Gr. Sutton (RB) p. Vigil (Hunt), 3:36

138: Gamboa (Hunt) dec. Long (Fr), 6-3

145: Meyer (Hunt) dec. Gschwendiner (RL), 8-3

152: Hobart (Pon) maj. dec. Wright (GLN), 17-8

160: Makey (GLC) dec. Lanning (Pon), 11-7

170: Ransom (Pon) dec. J. Raap (DC), 6-5

182: Greenhill (RL) dec. Soto (Br), 4-2

195: Halilaj (Wood) d. Martin (Harv) by forfeit

220: Barnes (WN) p. Walker (Hunt), 2:36

285: Nemec (Fr) p. Munkacsy (Harv), 1:54

Third place

106: Spencer (Hunt) p. J. Arteaga (RL), 5:32

113: Riemer (Fr) dec. Fambro (BN), 5-2

120: Esquivel (Harv) dec. Campos (DC), 5-2

126: Ad. Gutierrez (DC) dec. Barwacz (Fr), 10-4

132: Augustine (GLC) dec. D. Arteaga (RL), 6-1

138: Jimenez (Harv) p. Rushing (BC), 1:50

145: Moran (GLN) dec. Kramer (Harv), 3-2 (TB)

152: Ar. Gutierrez (DC) dec. Zange (Wood), 7-2

160: Cloe (GLN) dec. Quiles (BC), 7-2

170: Kline (WN) dec. Elsing (GLN), 7-0

182: Sundberg (Wood) maj. dec. Thiel (GLC), 15-2

195: Sawyer (GLN) d. Mihalopoulos (Hunt) by tech. fall, 20-4, 3:34

220: Rodriguez (DC) dec. Overstreet (BC), 8-5

285: Swanson (Hunt) p. Lopez (BC), 2:25

Fifth place

106: Padilla (EP) dec. Connelly (GLC), 7-0

113: Sanchez (Belv) maj. dec. Horst (RL), 14-6

120: Quiroz (Hunt) maj. dec. Mikes (GLC), 10-2

126: Bielski (Harv) dec. Maldonado (BC), 8-4

132: Quinn (Harv) dec. Perez (BN), 5-3 (OT)

138: Wawrzynink (RL) dec. Flores (Belv), 9-6

145: Guerrero (RL) d. Fiorito (WN) by forfeit

152: Zbilski (Hunt) d. Streit (Harv) by forfeit

160: Sheets (Fr) dec. Kruse (Wood), 11-6

170: Titock (BC) dec. Avila (RL), 8-4

182: Gallo (Fr) dec. Ferrero (RB), 7-5

195: Brunner (DC) dec. Jacobs (Fr), 8-7

220: Popoca (Harv) p. Robar (Fr), 1:36

285: Galo (EP) d. Rodgers (BN) by forfeit