Entering the North Suburban Conference wrestling tournament Friday and Saturday, Libertyville had accumulated the most individual champions in conference tournament history with 146.
After the first title match Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats added one more to their record total. At 106 pounds, sophomore Alex Mitchell pinned Round Lake junior Juan Arteaga in the second period. The first-place medal was Mitchell’s first in a tournament as a varsity wrestler and set a winning tone for the Wildcats, who went on to a fourth-place finish behind champion Stevenson, runner-up Grant and third-place Warren. Joey Gunther added a title at 160 pounds and fellow senior Mark Dunsing won at 220.
“It means a lot that I did good in the conference,” Mitchell said. “It’s so far my biggest achievement.”
A season after winning five conference championships, Libertyville’s goals were more moderate in 2014-15. Mitchell, Gunther and Dunsing were the only Wildcats to earn top seeds. Winners of 19 team NSC titles, the Wildcats couldn’t win No. 20, but their top seeds all delivered.
A year after winning the 152-pound title, Gunther became the 160-pound champion with a decisive 14-5 major decision over Grant senior Mike Kouvelis. At 220, Dunsing defeated Mundelein junior Cesar Obispo in a 3-0 decision that was more one-sided than the score.
“I thought Dunsing wrestled a great match,” Wildcats coach Dale Eggert said. “If you can dominate a guy in a 3-0 match, [then Dunsing did]. They all did a great job.”
“I was in the [conference] finals my sophomore year and lost,” Dunsing said. “Ever since then, I’ve been dying to win. I feel like this is redemption.”
Mitchell’s first season on the varsity has been a season-long ascension. Not the strongest wrestler, Mitchell relies on superior conditioning and technical skills that were on display against Arteaga.
Mitchell led 3-0 after one period. After scoring a reversal, he extended the lead to 6-0. If Mitchell hadn’t pinned Arteaga with 10 seconds left in the second period, he was well on his way to a major decision.
“That guy [Mitchell] goes six [minutes] easy,” Eggert said. “He gets himself in jams from time to time, but he’s working on that. He’s cutting down on his mistakes and making it so that it comes down to who has more gas. Well that’s him.”
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Libertyville managed five other medal winners. Senior Jordan McInerney, at 195, earned a fourth-place spot. Junior Will Johnson (138), senior Sal Potts (152) and junior Mike Beck (285) each finished fifth. At 126, junior Dan Schilling won a sixth-place medal.
Libertyville’s team finish was its lowest since 1985. For the first time in years, the Wildcats are not favored to compete for a Class 3A regional team title Saturday. That expectation is reserved for host Stevenson and Deerfield.
But while team intentions for the state series are diminished compared to those of previous seasons, individual goals remain ambitious.
“Three titles is a huge accomplishment for our team,” Dunsing said.” We’ve got a lot of guys that are stepping up. The fact we have three conference champions, I think that is a great confidence builder.”
Jon Kerr is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.