High school wrestling insider: McHenry's Hallin steps up in class, excels at 152 pounds

McHenry’s Brody Hallin burst onto the high school wrestling scene last season and almost won a Class 3A sectional championship as a freshman.

Hallin lost a 6-3 decision in the Class 3A Barrington sectional title match at 138 pounds and lost two close matches at state. In all, his three postseason losses came by a combined six points.

Hallin adjusted to wrestling at the varsity level relatively quickly.

“It took him about a month and a half last year to adjust to wrestling strong guys,” McHenry coach Jake Guardalabene said. “He took some losses early last year, and now he’s matured. His wrestling’s matured; he’s physically matured; he’s mentally matured.”

The sophomore is hoping to turn those close losses into victories this season. So far, he’s been doing a lot of winning.

Hallin is 30-3 this season at 152 and ranked No. 5 in Class 3A by the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association. He said moving up to a more natural weight has been key.

“Last year, I felt like weight was kind of killing me,” Hallin said. “I was losing a lot of weight last year. I was losing like 10 pounds each week, then gain it back by eating. That kind of killed me. I wish I would have stayed at my actual weight. That’s what I did this year. I went up, stayed at 152, and it’s really been helping me. I’m not tired in my matches.”

Hallin had only one loss on the season until last weekend at the Oak Park-River Forest Invitational. He suffered a 3-1 loss against Noah Mulvaney of Arrowhead (Wisconsin), who is ranked No. 2 in Wisconsin in his division. Oak Park-River Forest’s Joe Chapman, a two-time state medalist at 152, beat Hallin, 7-0.

His only other loss came in November against Montini's No. 2-ranked Joe Roberts in a 4-2 decision. If anything, Hallin has shown he can compete with the best in his class.

“He wrestles really smart, doesn’t get himself into trouble, lives the lifestyle, lives wrestling,” Guardalabene said. “He’s got a good support system around him. His parents are super supportive and make sure he lives the right life, lives for wrestling. He’s just putting it together."

WHAT TO WATCH

Prairie Ridge at Cary-Grove, 5:30 p.m. Thursday: Fresh off a big win over Jacobs, C-G will take on the Wolves on C-G's senior night.

Marian Central at ESCC Tournament at Joliet Catholic, 3:30 p.m. Friday: The Hurricanes aim for a conference title. They went 3-0 at the ESCC mega duals last week, including a win over Class 2A No. 6-ranked Joliet Catholic.