February Saturdays in Illinois are guaranteed to bring cold temperatures. This February, Saturdays have also meant records for the Deerfield wrestling program.
One week after it won its first regional title in 31 years, Deerfield qualified six individuals for the Class 3A state meet from the Barrington Sectional on Saturday.
“That’s a record,” said junior Andrew Mehrholz, who earned his third trip to state by winning the 138-pound championship by an 8-5 decision over DeKalb senior Brad Green. “We’re just building every year.”
The top four wrestlers in each weight class earned automatic state berths. Deerfield’s six state entrants doubled last season’s total of three. The number was the most by any team out of Barrington. The host Broncos qualified five wrestlers for the state meet, to be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Champaign.
Deerfield was most dominant in the lower and middle weights. All six state qualifiers came from the 106-to-170-pound divisions. At 106, sophomore Dylan Utterback followed his regional title with a third-place medal. Sophomore 113-pounder Kyle Clough finished fourth, as did 126-pound junior Nick Kupets.
Mehrholz quickly jumped out in front of Green in his title bout at 138, leading 5-0 in the first period. Green scored points late to tighten the final margin, but Mehrholz (now a two-time sectional champ after winning at 106 pounds as a freshman in 2012-13) never ceded control.
Since he qualified for the Illinois Elementary School Association state meet as a sixth grader, strength has always been an asset for Mehrholz. That is still the case, allowing him to leapfrog three weight classes (he wrestled at 120 a year ago) and still win matches by physically manhandling opponents.
“It’s a little extra boost,” Mehrholz said of his strength, which comes from a program culture that emphasizes weight lifting during the season, often after grueling practices. “When I’m on top and I’m chopping way on that guy’s arm and I have got his wrist, that shows how doing those [arm] curls and forearm lifts come into play.”
At 160, junior Sage Heller made it all the way to the title bout. For the second week in a row, he faced Libertyville senior Joey Gunther, a defending sectional champ. Just like at the Stevenson Regional on Feb. 7, Heller could not get enough offense on the impenetrable Gunther, dropping an 11-7 decision.
Heller said the second loss to Gunther boosted his morale heading into the state meet.
“I think this time around, I thought I was as good as him. I figured out some of the things he did,” said Heller, who returns to the state meet after competing at 138 pounds in 2013-14. “Last year I was surprised I made it down. This year, it’s more about winning.”
Deerfield’s other state qualifier is senior 170-pounder Brady Glantz. A regional champ, Glantz pinned Highland Park senior John Ciancio in the second period for the third-place finish at the sectional.
Because the Warriors are still alive in the team state tournament (Deerfield faces Jacobs Feb. 24 in the team sectional), every wrestler has a stake in this season’s outcome. That fact should make for an ultra-competitive practice room leading up to the state meet.
“It will definitely be more intense with guys trying to place downstate and us trying to place as a team,” Glantz said.
Jon Kerr is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.