We're going to switch up the order a bit this week - Recap first, to get JV that recognition they deserve, then the alumni recap, then week preview. The week preview includes individual rankings as they pertain to Regionals, so it is a bit longer than usual.
WEEK 12 RECAP
Due to a virus going around the school, Deerfield cancelled the dual meet scheduled with the varsity this past Saturday, so Varsity had an off week this week. (Thanks for not getting us sick, Deerfield!)
This week did mark the end of the season for the JV team, who closed out the season on another high note. The Porters JV wrestling team took to the mats at Lincoln-Way Central this past Friday and Saturday at the SWSC Conference JV Tournament, and completely destroyed the field. The final scores were never posted, but after the semifinals, Lockport had 235.5 points - far ahead of runner-up Lincoln-Way West, who had 166.5 points at the same time. Coach Zimmerman said, regarding the final score, "I don't have the official, but the unofficial final was something like 280 to 220 . . ."
Individual champions at JV Conference for Lockport include Mikey Kaminski (106), Jake D'Angelo (120), Garrett Golob (126), Matt Kronsbein (132), Matt Mahalik (138), Demitri Hernandez (152), and Bo Hamlin (170). Three Porters made it into the championship bout, but ended up in second place. They are Sal Farbo (113), Malik Daghash (160), and Parker Pavlacka (182). Austin Kolada (145) and Jack Mladic (195) each took 3rd, while Izzy Ladd (100) came through with a rideout in UTB to take 5th.
You can click here for a link to the PDF of the brackets, although it looks as though they never updated them after the place matches were completed (at least not at the time of this writing).
Also, since Sealy had more free time this weekend, the POWERade photos finally got finished, and all of the SWSC Open did as well. Click here to browse through either of these tournaments. (And yes, I know, Cheesehead still not up - I'm working on it...)
ALUMNI RECAP
Shaun'Qae McMurtry (Northern Illinois University): McMurtry picked up a pair of wins on the week. In NIU's 30-12 win over Kent State, Qae won by fall in just 1:16 over Isaac Bast on Friday night. On Sunday, NIU took on Central Michigan, losing 33-6, but Qae was one of the two bright spots for NIU, as he picked up a decision over CMU's Logan Parks, 4-0.
Brad Johnson (Oklahoma University): Johnson also put together a good week for himself, helping Oklahoma towards two dual victories. In Friday night's 30-12 victory over Iowa State, Johnson picked up a 19-4 technical fall over Marcus Harrington at the 5:58 mark. Sunday, Oklahoma was out in Colorado taking on Northern Colorado, where Johnson came away with an 11-2 major decision over Jamarcus Grant.
Shayne Oster (Northwestern University): Shayne had a tough week, falling by a close 4-3 decision to Indiana's Chris Perez in Northwestern's 23-14 loss on Friday night. Oster appears to have sustained a bit of an injury in the bout. As a result, when Northwestern took on Penn State on Sunday, in a rough 45-3 defeat at the hands of the Nittany Lions, we were not treated to a rematch between Screws and top-ranked Zain Retherford, as Northwestern forfeited the 149 pound bout.
Vince Dietz (St. Cloud State University): Dietz picked up a win by fall in 4:49 over Robert Trait of Saint John's, as St. Cloud rolled to a dual meet shutout victory, 51-0.
Dan Radcliffe (Central College): In Central's 42-0 shut out of William Penn on Thursday night, Dan came away with an 18-3 tech fall over Fabian Rodriguez, in Central's only action on the week.
WEEK 13 PREVIEW
Regionals.
I wanted to end it with just that, but I suppose I should add more. By many accounts, our regional which we are hosting at East Campus Gymnasium this Saturday, February 4th, at 9:00 am, is considered by many to be the toughest in the state of Illinois. Of course, this varies depending upon the weight classes, but from top to bottom, it may very well be the case. Team wise, you have us - ranked #1 in the state at the moment, as well as #4 Providence, $17 Oswego, and #19 Plainfield Central.
Individually, here are the current ranked and honorable mentions at each weight in our Regional. Please note three things; (1) These are current as of January 30, 2017; (2) Rankings are not indicative of where wrestlers will be seeded, because (3) Lineups are always subject to change, and with it, the rankings would as well. A wrestler may very well compete at a different weight than they are ranked. Some teams have multiple wrestlers ranked at one weight class. Some people are ranked at more than one (Brendan Ramsey: HM at 126 and 132).
In any case, here you are. New rankings will render some of these entirely inaccurate tomorrow, but maybe I'll revise these after they do.
106:
#2 Jake Lindsey (Providence)
#7 Matt Ramos (Lockport)
#11 Nick Minnito (Plainfield Central)
HM Cesar Lopez (Bolingbrook)
113:
#5 Anthony Molton (Lockport)
120:
#1 Michael McGee (Plainfield East)
HM James Pierandozzi (Lockport)
HM Denis Murphy (Neuqua Valley)
HM Luke Pradel (Oswego)
HM Kevin Countryman (Providence)
126:
#3 Dylan Burnoski (Bolingbrook)
HM Brendan Ramsey (Lockport)
HM Anthony Zamora (Plainfield East)
132:
#2 Abdullah Assaf (Lockport)
#7 Gannon Hughes (Oswego)
HM Josh Ramos (Providence)
138:
#7 Luke Smiley (Plainfield North)
#8 Dominick Ambrose (Providence)
#10 Brandon Ramos (Lockport)
HM Allen Swanson (Oswego)
145:
#5 Baylor Fernandes (Lockport)
#9 Juan Bazaldua (Providence)
152:
#1 Cole Smith (Providence)
#5 Jared Ellingwood (Plainfield Central)
HM Andrew Okayama (Oswego East)
HM Zach Reese (Lockport)
160:
#1 Trevell Timmons (Lockport)
HM Jacob Boumans (Neuqua Valley)
HM Dan Majewski (Oswego)
170:
#3 Josh Torres (Oswego)
#6 Trevor Swier (Providence)
HM Nick Dado (Lockport)
HM Gage Goodwin (Bolingbrook)
HM Chandler Proszek (Lockport)
182:
#10 Payton Fernandes (Lockport)
HM Tim Donahue (Plainfield North)
HM Ryan Yohe (Plainfield Central)
195:
#4 Matt Hennessey (Plainfield North)
#9 Isaiah Herrera (Bolingbrook)
HM Yousif Salah (Lockport)
HM John Nowak (Providence)
HM Tommy Gustafson (Plainfield Central)
220:
HM Logan Anderson (Providence)
285:
#4 Ronald Tucker (Lockport)
HM Leo Santos (Plainfield North)