Scouting the individual state tournament, Lake County
Wrestling: Scouting the individual state tournament, Lake County
Where: State Farm Center, Champaign
When: Feb. 15-17. Thursday - 3 p.m. (approx.) Class 2A preliminaries, 5 p.m. (approx.) Class 3A preliminaries. Friday - 11 a.m. (approx.) Class 2A quarterfinals, 1:30 p.m. (approx.) Class 3A quarterfinals, 7 p.m. Class 1A, 2A, and 3A semifinals. Saturday - 9 a.m. quarterfinal wrestlebacks, 11 a.m. semifinal wrestlebacks, 1 p.m. third and fifth-place matches (1A/2A/3A). 5:30 p.m. Grand March followed by championship matches (1A/2A/3A) on three mats starting at 106 pounds.
Class 2AArea qualifiers: 106 - Crystal Lake South freshman Christian Olsen (42-1), Lakes sophomore David Becker (25-10); 113 - Antioch sophomore Alex Barbarise (38-6, two-time qualifier), Crystal Lake South sophomore Peyton Timmons (39-4); 120 - Carmel Catholic sophomore Christian Valadez (28-3, two-time qualifier), Vernon Hills senior Blake Teschky (40-12), Wauconda junior Evan Husko (32-9, two-time qualifier); 126 - Antioch sophomore Danny McPherson (38-15); 132 - Wauconda junior Delon Kanari (23-6); 138 - Carmel Catholic junior Riley Palm (37-0, sixth in 2017, two-time qualifier); 145 - Grayslake North junior Adam Blonski (37-14), Grayslake Central freshman Joey Jens (25-6), Antioch junior Jackie Sistrunk (32-11); 152 - Carmel Catholic junior Tommy Hoy (38-8), Antioch sophomore Niall Schoenfelder (30-20); 160 - Grayslake Central junior Alex Cramer (42-1, three-time state qualifier); 170 - Grayslake Central freshman Adrien Cramer (36-7), St. Viator junior Elijah Black (10-2); 182 - St. Viator senior Jake Wolf (26-5), Fenton senior Dylan Butts (37-4), Wauconda senior Zac Finn (27-10, two-time qualifier); 195 - Grayslake North senior Angel Flores (38-7, two-time qualifier); 220 - Carmel Catholic senior John Ivan (21-5); 285 - Grayslake North junior Wake Caldero (27-16).
Outlook: No. 1-ranked Grayslake Central junior Alex Cramer leads this season's contingent of area individuals into the big weekend with visions of a potential state crown after he impressively rolled to the 160-pound championship last weekend at the Rams' own sectional.
"I'm just training smarter, and not doing things that are going to hinder my training," said Cramer, whose younger brother Adrien is also competing in Champaign. "I'm hoping we can both come out with some bracket boards next week, I just have to go in there relaxed, and I'm very confident."
Grayslake Central coach Matt Joseph is also confident that Alex Cramer can reach the top of the mountain Saturday night, and he has seen much improvement from his top wrestler this season.
"He's a kid that wrestles year-round," said Joseph, a product of Hersey High School mentored by former head coach Rick Mann. "He got a lot stronger, and he's more technically sound than last year."
Undefeated No. 2-ranked Carmel junior Palm is another wrestler to watch very closely as he is definitely on track for another state medal with high hopes of reaching the top of the podium.
"He just needs to stay aggressive, stay in good position, and control matches," said Carmel Catholic coach Bob Kuykendall. "He's very confident, he just has to wrestle as hard as he possibly can."
Other regional champs with opening round byes will be Olsen, Barbarise, Valadez, Blonski, and Cramer. Wauconda has three wrestlers downstate for the second year in a row.
Class 3AArea qualifiers: 106 - Mundelein senior Dane Durlacher (41-0, fourth in 2017, two-time qualifier), Warren junior Sawyer Nash (34-6); 113 - Warren junior Austin Nash (17-7); 120 - Warren freshman Joel Vandervere (39-2), Stevenson junior Tommy Frezza (36-5, two-time qualifier), Libertyville junior Brandon Murphy (34-11); 126 - Mundelein junior Reese Durlacher (38-4, two-time qualifier), Libertyville senior Matt Templeton (32-9, two-time qualifier); 132 - Libertyville sophomore Danny Pucino (40-2, two-time qualifier); 138 - Libertyville junior Michael Gunther (24-3); 182 - Mundelein junior Logan Kvien (37-4, two-time qualifier), Grant sophomore Justin Brown (33-9); 195 - Stevenson junior Max Gomez (36-10); 285 - Libertyville senior Charlie Schmidt (35-5)
Outlook: After placing fourth in the state as a junior, Mundelein senior Dane Durlacher is on a mission to close out his high school career with nothing less than an individual state championship for the Mustangs. And while Durlacher has not chosen a college just yet, he said he would really love to return to Champaign again next year and wrestle for the Fighting Illini.
Libertyville sophomore Pucino is another area standout who has put together a stellar 2017-18 campaign, and the high-scoring wrestler had no problem winning the Barrington sectional last weekend with an 18-7 major decision over Barrington's Kai Conway.
Like Pucino, Libertyville junior Gunther is a wrestler going to state for the second year in a row, and he also won a regional crown last weekend at Barrington.
He may be only a freshman, but Warren's Vandervere is certainly an individual with the potential to bring home a state medal despite being a relatively unknown and inexperienced state-meet wrestler.
Vandervere will be joined downstate by junior twin teammates Sawyer and Austin Nash as they embark on their first state meet under the guidance of first-year head coach Brad Janecek.
Mundelein teammates Reese Durlacher and Kvien will be heading to state for the second year in a row as will Stevenson's Frezza.
Regional champs who will be getting first-round byes are Dane Durlacher, Vandervere, Pucino, Gunther, and Kvien. Libertyville's Schmidt is yet another Wildcat wrestler with the capability of capturing a medal if all of the pieces fall into place for him this weekend.
- John Bumbales