Scouting Cook and Lake County boys wrestling
Two of the most prominent and successful wrestlers in the MSL have been way out in front of their challengers with each showing incredible staying power during their first three seasons in high school.
Evan Gosz and Brady Phelps are both on their way to claiming four straight state medals this season, so it will surprise few to see each enjoying a lofty spot in their respective weight divisions in the most recent state polls.
Gosz is No. 1 at 144 while Phelps sits third at 120.
The Michigan State-bound Gosz has improved with each year, bringing home countless conference and major titles -- except for the biggest of them all.
"After finishing third (twice), then losing in the finals last year, it's all about bringing back a state title in my last year at Fremd," said Gosz, whose three-year record is a remarkable 122-7.
The competition at 144 figures to be fierce with the Vikings star believing it will come from league rival Max Mukhamedaliyev (Hersey), Ryan Henger (Sandburg), and Ashton Hobson from Marmion Academy
"I spent the offseason wrestling at a couple of tournaments, but it was more important to continue working on my fitness, and my (shots), being more aggressive, and under control," said Gosz.
"Getting back into the state final is very important to me, but so is helping my team to win a conference and regional championship. And with a coach like Jeff Keske, who makes all of us better, we'll have the chance to accomplish that."
The aforementioned Phelps shares the hopes of Gosz to win the MSL crown, and to collect a third consecutive team regional title.
Phelps, 95-12 in three seasons, nearly saw his wrestling career come to an end when he was diagnosed with meningitis at the start of the 2023-24 campaign.
"It could have been real bad for me, but after missing four weeks of school, and eight weeks of competition, I was able to get back out on the mats," recounts Phelps, who went 25-4 last season, recording 10 pins on his way to a fourth-place finish at state to go along with sixth and fifth place state medals previously.
Phelps excels at soccer also, twice named all-MSL and all-sectional while helping run the show in the middle of the park for a young, inexperienced Schaumburg club.
Phelps, who plans on wrestling in college, with perhaps a degree in special education, spent his offseason putting in plenty of extra time with Saxons coach Mike Levanti while competing at Fargo and the Super 32.
The Saxons (19-6-0) will be chasing division favorite Barrington with Phelps, his younger brother Austin, and two-time state qualifier Cal Kirchner.
"We may be young this season, but Brady and Cal are as talented as anyone I've ever coached, but my hope is (that) as they go, so do our young guys," said Levanti.
Both clubs look to be chasing Barrington and Hersey, each declared the favorites by MSL coaches.
Reigning MSL champion Barrington (15-5-0) is young and skillful, especially from the middle of its lineup on down.
"We have a very talented group of kids who are highly credentialed and have put in a ton of work during the offseason," said Broncos coach Dan Keller.
Sophomore state medalist Kaleb Pratt (sxith, 38-14) plus Ryan Dorn and Jimmy Whitaker are state qualifiers.
"We have several top end guys, but I also feel like we'll be able to fill the 14 weights with kids who will compete hard, and do everything in their power to help this team succeed," added Keller.
Conant (12-12-0) returns eight including state qualifier Luis Flores and four-year starter Matt Goolish.
Palatine has a new coach, Tulga Zunnbayan, who was 142-26 between stops at Rolling Meadows and Wheeling.
Senior Trey Widlowski (175, 32-7) leads a very young Pirates club.
Maksim Mukhamedaliyev (36-4) was sensational a year ago for Hersey, taking home third place overall. The Huskies senior one of four state qualifiers back for the MSL East and regional champions.
Dan Vargas lost a first class star in Grant Madl (37-5, fifth in state) now at UW-LaCross, but the Elk Grove coach has two terrific big men back: Dylan Berkowitz (215, 29-6) and Mikey Milovich (285, 34-4) who are both top 10 in state polls.
"Dylan and Mikey have experienced a lot of success to lead our newcomers down the right path a they develop on the varsity level," said Vargas.
Wheeling, where Vargas once starred, enjoyed its best season since 2019 when it went 14-7-0, sending eight to sectionals -- seven of which return including junior David Perez (113) who was 20-7 overall.
"We return 13 of 14 starters, so one of our many goals is to win a 2A regional title, and qualify as many as we can downstate," said coach Charlie Curran.
Numbers in the room at Buffalo Grove (16-12-0) continue to rise, as does the success of the Bison who won its own Rex Lewis tournament for the first time in recent memory.
"We're still a very young team. We could potentially start four freshmen and four sophomores, but the future is bright," said coach George Beres.
Kacper (132) and Karol Kosciarz (126) plus their teammates Bennett Westfallen (157) and Joe Quirk (165) are back for a Prospect club that won the Glenbrook South regional title last year.
"We're young, so the hope is we can work hard in order to compete at a high level against a very tough schedule," said Knights coach Ashton Brown.
Can Maine South (20-12-0) win a seventh straight regional team title?
"We lost a great state champion in Teddy Flores (120, 48-1, Michigan) and the leadership he provided as well, but it will be our work ethic that will help carry us through this season," said Hawks coach Kevin Hansen.
Fifth overall at state a year ago, heavyweight Tyler Fortis (45-6) opens the season as the No. 5 man at 285, with No. 10, and returning state qualifier Gavin Hoerr (27-13), back as well.
Demetrios Vettos will build from seven returning starters, four of which are sectional qualifiers including seniors Logan Battersby and Peter Greco, both 28 match winners for Maine West.
Junior Ilia Dvoriannikov (32-7) inspired the first ever CSL North title for Vernon Hills last season - then later was second at the 2A state tournament.
"We return most of our lineup from a year ago, but we're still super young with a lineup that will consist of five to seven freshmen and sophomores," said Cougars coach Jesse Wolter.
Carmel Catholic and St. Viator find themselves surrounded by some of the best teams in the state as members of the ESCC.
Joliet Catholic and Marist are ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in 3A, with Notre Dame and St. Patrick both state ranked in 2A.
Two-time state qualifier Tony Hinojosa (33-12) and three-time sectional qualifier Matt Lucansky (34-11) are front and center for coach Bob Kuykendall at Carmel Catholic.
One would be hard pressed to find another program in Lake County that would have the firepower that Warren is in possession of. It begins with the nationally ranked dynamic duo of Caleb Noble (106, 42-3) and Aaron Stewart (43-2) at 175.
Both were state champions a year ago for the Blue Devils, with Noble, a sophomore, No. 1 in the nation, while Stewart (No. 2) a three-sport star, is also attracting plenty of attention from college football coaches following another superb All-State campaign.
The Blue Devils return six state qualifiers, while its long-time NSC rivals Libertyville (13-3-0) and Stevenson boast an impressive array of state ranked talent.
Libertyville won the NSC crown with a perfect 7-0-0 record before going on to claim a fourth place 3A team state trophy.
Hall of Fame coach Dale Eggert lost three marvelous state medal winners in Matt Kubas (43-5, Illinois), Owen McCrory (48-5, Duke) and Luke Berthold (40-9, UW-Whitewater).
Kubas twice finished fourth at state, and during his last two seasons was 86-14 overall, while McCrory set a single season program record for pins.
Eggert welcomes back a trio of sectional qualifiers led by No. 10 Caleb Baczek (35-9) who leads a strong upper weight group, bolstered by incoming Oak Forest transfer Steve Strelow who was a 2023 state qualifier.
Shane Cook has eight back at Stevenson, four of which are state ranked.
No. 6 Shawn Kogan (132, 24-10) and No. 9 Val Vihrov (150, 34-18) headline the returning Patriots who were 14-7-0 a year ago.
Senior Abisai Hernandez (40-10) gave Mundelein its 21st state medal in program history when he claimed sixth place last February at 285 pounds.
It should be a fascinating season in the NLCC this winter with four solid clubs vying for the regular season trophy: Antioch, Grant, Grayslake Central and Wauconda.
Wauconda has made two consecutive trips to the 2A dual state tournament with coach Trevor Jauch, who has since moved on to Crystal Lake South. Landon Pfeiffer, who was a two-time state medal winner at Marengo High School before going on to wrestle at UW-Oshkosh, inherits a Bulldogs club that lost seven to graduation, but returns a solid core led by No. 3 Gavin Rockey (113, 44-11).
Rarely does a season go by that Wilbur Borrero does not have his club from Antioch in the mix for both a league and regional title.
Borrero, now in his 32nd year in charge, returns eight, two of which can be found in the top 10 of the most recent state polls. No. 3 Gavin Hanrahan (126, 41-8) was third a year ago at state, while No. 4 Ben Vazquez (35-12) fell just short in his bid to join Hanrahan in Champaign.
The Grant Bulldogs appeared poised to make its run to the top of the NLCC, thanks in part to the state qualifier duo of Vince Jasinski (126, 33-15) and Erik Rodriguez (138, 35-15). Four frosh-soph state qualifiers also are ready to make their mark with the big club.
"With all 14 of our starters back this season, it's very promising for us here at the start," said coach Mark Jolcover. "We saw a glimpse here and there throughout last year of what we can do, but we never saw it all come together. So this year we have to focus on ourselves, not the schedule ahead of us, or who we may or may not wrestle against."
Grayslake Central lost one of the most entertaining, quotable, and superb wrestlers in the area when Matty Jens capped a brilliant career for the Rams with his second state title before moving on to wrestle at Wisconsin.
Jens was an astounding 120-4 during his three seasons at Central, with a second-place state finish in 2022.
Sophomore Vince DeMarco will look to carry the Rams flag deep into the postseason when he begins the new year as the No. 1 man at 106 pounds.
Last year DeMarco finished fourth at state with a 45-9 record.
"We have Vince to start us off in a lineup that will be solid through the middle weights with plenty of depth," said coach Matt Joseph.
William Cole came from out of nowhere as a sophomore to earn the first of his two trips to Champaign before breaking through to earn a fourth place state medal at 285 last season with a sparkling 45-3 overall record.
Cole is the No. 2 man behind Belleville East junior Jonathan Rulo (36-1) in advance of the new season.
"The middle of our lineup will be our strength along with William at 285, but we're likely going to be a little light at some of the weights," said Round Lake coach Ken Filas.