CHAMPAIGN —Libertyville’s Joey Gunther faced a familiar foe in his Class 3A state title bout on Saturday night.
After taking out Marmion’s touted Trace Carello in the semifinals, Gunther clashed with friend and offseason training partner, Matthew Rundell of Oak Park-River Forest, in the 160-pound finale at the State Farm Center on the campus of the University of Illinois.
“I wrestle with him a lot in the offseason,” Gunther said. “We’re pretty good friends, so it was tough wrestling him out there. You both play defense a lot better. I know he was trying to stop me from getting outside and stay on my head. I thought we both wrestled each other pretty good.”
It was a strategic match from start to finish, but in the end, the North Carolina-bound Rundell (34-3) had his hand raised with a 3-2 victory over Gunther (36-2).
“I put together a great tournament,” Gunther said. “I wish I could have finished it off at the end, but second place isn’t too bad.”
The best may still be yet to come for Gunther, who was classy in defeat. He committed to Iowa in the fall.
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“It was great being out here for the Grand March,” he said. “Looking up and seeing all the lights and people watching you is quite an experience.”
Gunther’s teammate, Mark Dunsing, capped a stellar season with a fourth-place finish at 220 pounds. Dunsing (38-9) missed state last year due to a staph infection.
Stevenson’s Tyler Harrington (38-4) and Deerfield’s Andrew Merholz (46-4) also placed in 3A. Harrington took fourth at 182 pounds. Merholz was fifth at 138.
In Class 2A, Grayslake North senior Cody Sawyer (29-9) revealed some extra motivation to reach the 195-pound podium after dropping his semifinal bout to Crystal Lake Central’s Andrew Marsden, an Oklahoma State recruit.
“I actually made a bet with one of our assistant coaches (Jesse Wolter),” Sawyer said. “He’s been growing out a beard and he said if I took top four, he’d rock a Fu Manchu in school for a week.”
Sawyer did Wolter one better than fourth. He placed third with a 5-2 win over Triad’s John McKinney.
“All the work in the offseason paid off,” Sawyer said. “I’ve had some D-II and D-III schools look at me, but I haven’t decided if I want to wrestle in college yet.”
Carmel and Antioch each posted a pair of Class 2A state medalists.Carmel’s Michael Tortorice (36-5) notched third in the loaded 113-pound bracket, while teammate Anthony Swindell (27-9) placed sixth at 145.
Antioch was led by Patrick Schoenfelder (45-4), who finished fourth at 145 pounds.Schoenfelder toppedSwindell 12-5 to reach the third-place match. Antioch’sNathan Dlugopolski (40-11) took sixth at 120.