Batavia, Grant take top two spots at Glenbrook South
The Batavia trio of Aidan Huck, Cael Andrews and Kaden Fetterolf had too much firepower for the rest of the field at the 57th Rus Erb Invitational to help inspire their teammates to lift the team trophy Saturday afternoon in Glenview at tourney host Glenbrook South.
The Bulldogs won five invitational titles to claim 209.5 overall points to outscore runner-up Grant (176.0) who stayed close until the final session when Fetterolf and company opened up an insurmountable lead.
“We got off to a bit of slow start with some out guys out because of football, but now that we're at full strength, we're beginning to compete like we knew we could,” said Fetterolf, who was a state runner-up last season.
After his win at 152, and along with their titles at 126 (Huck, 18-2) and at 145 (Andrews, 21-0), the Bulldogs' threesome is now a combined dazzling 60-2.
“We have terrific leadership on this team, led by our two captains (Andrews and Fetterolf). Plus we have a group that comes to work hard each day in the room (so) we're starting to see things come together for us,” said Bulldogs coach Ryan Farwell, who saw his upper weight lineup get a boost after the return of a handful of men from Batavia's 7A state runner-up football team.
Second place Grant enjoyed a solid all around two days of work with freshman Vince Jasinski (16-3) second at 106 and junior teammate Ethan Tarvin (14-2) runner-up at 120.
Third place Schaumburg (170) would celebrate two championships on Saturday, the best coming from sophomore Brady Phelps (18-0) who beat Batavia junior and fourth place state medalist Ino Garcia 2-1 in his 113-pound final.
Phelps, who continues to climb up the state poll charts with each successful weekend, was joined on the top of the podium by teammate Callen Kirchner (18-1) at 126.
Wauconda was fourth overall by edging host Glenbrook South, 155.5-152.5.
Sophomore Gavin Rocky (11-1) gave Wauconda its lone champion at 106 after his 8-0 decision over the aforementioned Jasinski.
“We have a great coaching staff that has made a huge difference in the room and in the way we come to work each day. And that's the reason our team is doing so well this year,” said junior Cooper Daun (14-1) who fell short in his bid at 132 against Deerfield sophomore Jordan Rasof, 9-5.
Jack Brozny (Batavia, 13-4) won a hard fought 8-4 decision over Vlad Fedorchenko (Buffalo Grove, 14-3) in the 182-pound final, while teammate Asher Sheldon (16-4) recorded a pin to win at 220.
Over at Niles West, Joliet West (459.5) held off Geneva (435.5) to win the fifth annual Robert Porter Invite.
Niles West (383.5) was third and Lake Zurich fourth with 376.0 overall points.
Geneva received titles from Joey Sikorsky (16-2) at 106, Maguire Hoeksma (152, 15-3), Dylan Konkey (160, 16-2) and senior Jon Schmidt (195, 16-2) who won his second consecutive major of the season.
Class 2A state runner-up Anthony Alanis (Grayslake Central, 18-1) won last weekend at the Mudge-McMorrow, and did so again Saturday.
Burlington Central's Austin Lee (16-5) dropped a 5-4 decision to Tyler Weidman (Grayslake Central, 18-6) in their final at 120.
After two consecutive defeats in tournament finals, Lake Zurich senior Scott Busse (19-2) finally broke through after his wonderful two-day effort ended with the Bears state qualifier defeating Austin Perella from Joliet West.
Teammate Jack Turner (13-6) held off Tyler Koulis (Joliet West) 3-1 in his 220-pound finale, while Benny Schlosser (15-3) from Elk Grove won easily at 182.