Pusateri powers Pats
With the Independent Conference boys gymnastics meet a week away, host Stevenson and Mundelein wanted to continue to show improvement in Wednesday night's dual meet.
And while neither team came away with a season-high score, both squads came away with some real positives against their archrivals.
The Patriots (4-1, 1-1) chalked a winning 136.7, despite holding out standout sophomore all-arounder Lukasz Adamczyk.
Mundelein (1-2) put together a balanced effort to score 123.9 points in preparation for its conference showdown against Libertyville tonight.
Stevenson improved by over seven points from its dual meet last week, but the Patriots have already scored in the 140s with their full lineup.
Junior Bryan Pusateri continued to shine for Stevenson on Wednesday night, as he won the all-around with an 8.60 average. Stevenson freshman Mike Wilner took runner-up honors with a 7.15 average.
"They looked really good, especially after having three meets close to back-to-back," said Stevenson coach Mike Farina, whose team scored 26.6 points on vault. "I know some of the guys were tired tonight, but they still did a great job."
Pusateri won the vaulting competition with a 9.5 while Mundelein senior Paolo Apuli had one of his best vaults of the season with a second-place 9.0. Wilner placed third with an 8.8.
Pusateri had a clean sweep of the first place on all six events, as he added scores of 9.4 on floor exercise, 8.9 on parallel bars, 8.7 on still rings, 7.6 on pommel horse and 7.5 on high bar.
Mundelein was led by Grant Ley with a third-place 38.4 in the all-around.
Stevenson junior Bryan Epstein took second place on floor with an 8.3 to edge third-place Apuli with an 8.1.
Mundelein senior Rick Fox posted a second-place 7.8 on still rings while senior teammate Nyles Lantin added a second-place 7.5 on pommel horse.
Wilner took runner-up honors on parallel bars with a 7.8 followed by Lantin and Apuli (7.7) in a third-place tie.
"This is actually not their best meet of the year because they already have a 126 under their belts," said Mundelein assistant coach Jesse Piland, whose team scored 25.3 points on vault. "So this is very promising, despite them not having their best meet, and 130 would be a great score for these guys.
"Grant Ley is a freshman and he's getting better and better each week and I'm very happy how he has grown this season," added Piland. "We're hoping Paolo (Apuli) can find his landing a little cleaner, but we're happy with his height on vault."