Morris pushes through, sweeps DeKalb, Huntley at Huntley Quad

HUNTLEY – Morris senior Ellie Evans heard her team was in for a challenge when it added Wednesday’s Huntley Quad to its schedule late after a team dropped out.

Evans and her teammates more than handled their own Wednesday.

Morris won all three of its duals against DeKalb, Huntley and Morton to pick up three wins in the final weeks of the regular season.

“I’m proud of them because they really came out and they did what they needed to,” Evans said. “They tried their hardest. I’m really proud.”

Morris picked up two commanding wins and eked out another. Morris beat Morton 51-24 and Huntley 49-24 before ending the night with a 42-38 win over DeKalb.

Leading 36-22 with two matches to go against the Barbs, Morris needed to win at 190 pounds since it was set to forfeit 235. Senior Morgan Congo won her match by pin to secure her team the dual win.

Congo and Evans each won two of their matches by fall and took their third by forfeit. Tessa Neikirk (140), Makensi Martin (115), Zara Lugo (125) and Olyve Havens (145) each also won all three of their matches.

Morris coach Lenny Tryner was proud of the way his team fought Wednesday. Many of the wrestlers on his roster had just started wrestling this year or over the past couple of seasons.

His team wasn’t daunted with the challenge. Everyone in his lineup came prepared to perform.

“They wrestled really well,” Tryner said. “They were excited to wrestle, and they all wrestled hard. Didn’t matter who I put in there.”

DeKalb dealt with its own set of injuries but had some strong performances. The Barbs lost 54-6 to Morton but beat Huntley 48-35. Junior Alex Gregorio-Perez took all three of her matches in commanding fashion, while senior Lana Zimmerman also won all three matches.

Gregorio-Perez has dreams of competing for a state championship after starting with the program as a freshman. She put in the work all offseason, and DeKalb coach Conor Infelise felt Wednesday was more indication that she’ll be ready for the postseason push starting next week.

“She’s put in that time,” Infelise said. “She’s trained countless hours every single week, all year round. She’s coming on at the right time. She’ll be prepared.”

Huntley picked up a win on a night when some backups earned mat time. On top of losses to Morris and DeKalb, the Red Raiders won their dual against Morton 51-30.

The Red Raiders wrestled without junior Aubrie Rohrbacher, who was out with an illness but is expected to return next week. But Huntley had a strong showing from junior Brianna Felde, who earned a win on a nice night for the Red Raiders’ depth.

“It was pretty nice to see some of these girls,” Huntley coach Gannon Kosowski said. “[Some] actually haven’t had matches for whatever reasons, different reasons, but some of them got their first matches tonight, and it was nice to see them get a first live match. So that was fun to watch.”

Each team now will have a little over a week before the start of the postseason with regionals Feb. 1.

“I’m proud of them, because they really came out and they did what they needed to. They tried their hardest. I’m really proud.”

—  Ellie Evans, Morris senior

For Morris, Wednesday was a good confidence booster before its conference tournament this weekend and then a playoff push.

“It’s good because we have conference this weekend,” Evans said. “It’s going to give us good fuel to get into that and everything, hopefully run strong through regionals and sectionals and get a few girls to state this year.”

https://www.shawlocal.com/northwest-herald/2025/01/23/morris-pushes-through-sweeps-dekalb-huntley-at-huntley-quad/