Wrestling: Barrington qualifies six team members for the state meet
BY GARY LARSEN Contributor February 14, 2012 11:34PM
Barrington, IL 2/11/12 Many of the top high school wrestlers in the area competed in the sectional meet at Barrington High School for a chance to go to state next week. (bout 311 @ 106) Cary Grove's Mike Cullen tries to throw Barrington's Adrian Gonzalez to the matt. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 17, 2012 9:52AM
Nothing came easy for Barrington senior Cameron Thomson on Saturday, but wrestling is a sport that requires you to earn everything you get.
As one of six Broncos to advance Downstate from Saturday’s Class 3A Barrington Sectional, Thomson lost a one-point decision, won his next match in overtime, and then survived a wild match to place third at 170 pounds.
With the top four wrestlers at each weight making the state-meet cut, Thompson advanced with an overtime takedown over Harlem’s Sean Jones in a consolation semifinal match, before placing third with a 12-8 win over Wheeling’s Eddie Scanlon.
“The guys you go out there against are big, fast, and they stay after it,” Thomson said. “Eddie beat me last week, and those Harlem kids are strong — and Jones is a machine. I knew I had to hang with him, and that was obviously a close match.”
Seniors Adrian Gonzalez (106) and Jared Parvinmehr (113) each placed second for coach Ken Hoving’s Broncos, while Kevin Conrad (126), Coord Wiseman (145) and Ben Calamari (285) joined Thomson in placing third and advancing to Champaign, site of the state meet.
“We had some guys who lost early and came back strong to win some key matches,” Hoving said.
The road gets steeper every step of the way, and both Gonzalez and Parvinmehr lost title matches to a pair of fellow top-shelf wrestlers: Cary-Grove’s Mike Cullen and Harlem’s Jordan Northrup, respectively.
“I’m not worried, and I know they’re not worried about it,” Hoving said. “It’s just one of those things: who is on, on that day? We know next week that can all change on any given day.”
Conrad (31-10) punched his first ticket to state with a 5-4 decision over Warren’s Israel Santiago in the consolation semifinals. Trailing 4-3 with less than 15 seconds left in the match, Conrad reversed Santiago for the win.
“That was a gutsy performance. He didn’t give up,” Hoving said. “We always preach that you can’t ever stop because you don’t know what can happen out there, and he’s an example of that.”
Wiseman (34-9) defeated Hononegah’s Tyler DeMoss 7-4 for third place, while Calamari (33-6) had to bounce back from a 4-2 semifinal loss to Grant’s Dan Haffle (35-12).
“I didn’t wrestle well in the first two periods. I wasn’t focused enough and I didn’t wrestle my match,” Calamari said. “I had to win my next match so I could get Downstate so I had to find that extra effort.”
Calamari did just that, beating Libertyville’s Chris McDermand 8-3, before placing third with a 3-0 win over Prospect’s Oluwashola George.
The Broncos’ Ryan Wilt (195) was one win away from state-meet qualification, but suffered an injury and had to default his consolation semifinal match, while Daniel Davidson (220) went into overtime before losing his consolation semifinal.
“That hurts, because we’re a team — first and foremost,” Hoving said. “But we’ve still got the team state meet to think about, so hopefully Ryan’s injury isn’t too serious.”
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