Wrestling: Barrington 170-pounder Thomson turns up the amp

• Reprints

Barrington Saturday, 11/26/11 Barrington's Cameron Thomson won the championship at 170 lbs during Barrington High School's annual Moore/Prettyman Memorial Wrestling Invitational. | Brian O'Mahoney~for Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 27, 2012 8:50AM

Even though Cameron Thomson wrapped up an undefeated, 28-win regular season during a special senior night meet last week, the Broncos senior said the ultimate goal remains ahead of him.

“I’m very happy with my season so far, but this hasn’t been the important part,” the 170-pounder said. “The important matches are downstate. I really want to get into the state finals and wrestle there. That’s my ultimate goal. I’m not satisfied yet.”

Thomson earned a major decision in his most recent win against Schaumburg on Jan. 20 in the Broncos’ final tune-up before the postseason starts with the MSL conference meet this weekend at Elk Grove.

The team dominated as whole as well, holding the Saxons to only nine points. The Broncos dropped only two dual meets all season.

“I feel like all of us are peaking at a very good time,” Thomson said. “I just want to finish the season as strong as possible. I haven’t eased up at all.”

Thomson explained that while most coaches prefer to taper late-season practices to keep wrestlers fresh and healthy down the stretch, he’s working even harder.

He gets to the gym early each morning to lift weights, and is a full participant in practice after school.

“I’m trying to amp up my game for conference and the state series,” he said. “I still want to get stronger and be better conditioned. A lot of people toward the end of season ease up. I like to amp it up. That’s how I wrestle.”

Thomson admitted that he is wary of heading into the postseason with the undefeated record. Last year, during his 40-10 season, he believed he learned a lot from those loses, including how to respond to adversity.

“I’m not going to say I rather have lost a match,” he quickly added. “To me that really shows the hard work I put in and that it all paid off.”

Broncos coach Ken Hoving pointed to the team’s losses to Glenbard North and Wisconsin Rapids Jan. 14 in the Neuqua Valley Mega-Dual as examples of how losses can prove to be positive.

“I think we needed something like that to kind of pull the team together,” he said. “We’ve been tested in tournaments but not in dual meets this season. I think it was awakening to a lot of the guys and I think it will end up benefitting us.”

He called Thomson’s perfect regular season spectacular and boasted that his path to varsity stardom didn’t go through the club pipeline.

“He’s a homegrown Barrington system product,” Hoving said. “He just has the hunger for wresting and winning. The record shows the type of kid he is and how much he’s developed.”

Hoving said he sees the potential for at least three state champions on the Broncos roster. Thomson tops the list of Barrington contenders, which also includes seniors Adrian Gonzalez (106 pounds) and Jared Parvinmehr (112).

“The team is really amped up for the final stretch,” Thomson said. “Most of us seniors realize this is our last shot. The potential that this could be our last time wrestling kind of heightens the intensity and drive to make it the best we can make it.”

The MSL meet will be held Friday and Saturday at Elk Grove. The run to a third straight appearance at the dual-team state starts Feb. 4 with regionals.