The Lockport Porters wrestling team kicked off it’s 2017-2018 season, this past weekend, with the school’s first at the Moore-Prettyman Tournament, held at Barrington High School on the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving.
Lockport, the defending 3A dual-team state champions, finished in 4th place with 160.5 points, just 12.5 points behind team-champion Libertyville, and 4.5 points behind Yorkville for 3rd - notable because they are coached by former Lockport state Champion Jake Oster, brother and former assistant to current Lockport head coach, Josh Oster.
In what will be a very familiar theme this season, Lockport had a lot of new faces in the lineup. The Porters lost half of last year’s starting regional lineup to graduation, and 10 members of the the 21-man roster for the IHSA Dual Team State Tournament. New names and faces were expected, but due to some injuries, illness, weight issues, etc., we had more wrestlers making their varsity debuts than we had expected In fact, less than half of the nineteen wrestlers Lockport had competing at this tournament had ever competed on the varsity level in high school. For those wondering, Barrington allows teams to bring extra wrestlers that compete if there are open spots in the bracket. But although they are allowed to compete, they do not necessarily earn the team any points. Each team must designate one point-scoring wrestler at any weight that has multiple members of the same team, and must do so prior to the start of competition.
The Porters only had 13 scoring wrestlers, short a heavyweight for this tournament, while having 6 non-scoring wrestlers competing. Five of those thirteen scoring wrestlers earned a place in the top-eight of their bracket, while another - Chris McMurtry at 145 - took part in a mini-bracket for 9th place, but came up just short and finished in 10th.
The placers for Lockport included Matt Ramos and Anthony Molton, who each won titles at 113 and 120, respectively. Baylor Fernandes was a runner-up at 152, while Mike Kaminski finished in 3rd place in his first high school varsity tournament. Zach Reese and Malik Daghash each found a place on the podium, but both came up a bit short in their place matches, with Reese taking 4th at 160 and Daghash finishing 6th at 170.
Other point-scoring wrestlers who fell shy of earning a podium spot included Nate Ramsey at 126 pounds, who made his high school debut this weekend, and picked up a win in the process. If his name seems familiar, Nate is the younger brother of four-year starter and 1x State Qualifier Brendan Ramsey who just graduated this past year, Others who came up short but contributed toward the team score include Anthony Crapia at 132, Matt Mahalik at 138, John Tomas at 182, Parker Pavlacka-Piel at 195, and Jacob Rosin at 220. With the exception of Mahalik, it was the varsity debut for each of these wrestlers.
Lockport’s non-scoring wrestlers had some quality wins on the day as well. Ryan Oster joined Nate Ramsey in being the only other wrestler on the team to make their high school wrestling debut at Barrington. Oster, cousin to the brothers that are now synonymous with Lockport Wrestling, went 1-2 on the day at 106 pounds, after weighing in at a scale-tipping 92 pounds that morning. Ishmael Curiel and Mike Kinney, competing at 120 and 182, were unable to earn any victories on the day, however, journeyman starter Garrett Golob earned one victory by major decision at 132, with one of his two losses coming to the eventual 5th place finisher.
Although they earned no team points for their efforts, Kyle Boone and Austin Kolada each picked up three wins in their varsity debuts. Both wrestlers earned their way into the 9th place tournament, but each falling in the 9th-place quarterfinal round, ending their day with a 3-3 record.
Full brackets for the tournament can be found here, and they’re definitely worth checking ou
2017 Moore-Prettyman Results Summary: Lockport
SCORING WRESTLERS:
106: Mike Kaminski (So.) - 3rd (5-1)
113: Matt Ramos (Jr.) - 1st (4-0)
120: Anthony Molton (Jr.) - 1st (4-0)
126: Nate Ramsey (Fr.) - DNP (1-2)
132: Anthony Crapia (So.) - DNP 0-2
138: Matt Mahalik (Jr.) - DNP (1-2)
145: Chris McMurtry (Sr) - 10th (4-3)
152: Baylor Fernandes (Jr.) - 2nd (4-1)
160: Zach Reese (Sr.) - 4th (3-2)
170: Malik Daghash (Jr.) - 6th (5-3)
182: John Tomas (So.) - DNP (1-2)
195: Parker Pavlacka-Piel (Sr.) - DNP (1-2)
220: Jacob Rosin (So.) - DNP (0-2)
NON-SCORING WRESTLERS
106: Ryan Oster (Fr.) - DNP (1-2)
120: Ishmael Curiel (So.) - DNP (0-2)
132: Garrett Golob (Jr.) - DNP (1-2)
145: Kyle Boone (So.) - DNP (3-3)
152: Austin Kolada (Sr.) - DNP (3-3)
182: Mike Kinney (So.) - DNP (0-2)