LF_021617

28 | February 16, 2017 | The lake forest leader sports
LakeForestLeader.com
Wrestling
Scouts make strides at sectional meet
Neil Milbert
Freelance Reporter
Highland Park’s threesport
star DJ Penick is
going to focus on football
when he gets to college at
Murray State, but in the
meantime he’s ending his
high school sports career
by having a superlative
wrestling season.
Penick improved his unblemished
record to 35-0
on Feb. 11 when he earned
another trip to the state
tournament by defending
his 182-pound championship
in the Class 3A Barrington
Sectional.
The score was 2-2 in the
title match when Penick
suddenly ended it by pinning
his Dundee-Crown
opponent Chase Raap with
59 seconds remaining in
the second period.
He advanced to the
match with Raap (40-8)
via a semifinal 8-0 major
decision over Jake Leske
(33-8) of McHenry after
eliminating Huntley’s Justin
Henry (22-17) on a fall
with 59 seconds elapsed in
their quarterfinal match.
“It’s something to keep
me motivated,” Penick
said of his flawless season.
“I’ve been trying to
stay strong, listen to my
coaches and have a perfect
match every time.”
In last year’s state tournament,
Penick finished
sixth. He then went on to
compete in track and made
it to the sectionals.
But this year Penick
doesn’t plan to join the
track team when his wrestling
season ends. He
wants to use the time to get
ready for college football.
“Football is my passion,
and I love the place (Murray
State),” he said. “I’ll
go and see what I can do
down there.”
Penick’s 145-pound
junior teammate, Alex
Rosenbloom (26-5), finished
second in the sectional
for the second year
in a row, losing a 3-0 decision
to Barrington junior
Markus Hartman (41-1) in
the title match.
Rosenbloom, who competed
in the 138-pound
class last year, fell behind
when Hartman got a twopoint
takedown at the outset
and a second period
ankle sprain hindered his
attempt to make a comeback.
During the offseason
Rosenbloom and Hartman
work out against one another
at the Poeta Training
Center.
“I tried one of my best
moves (to start the match)
but it never works on
him,” Rosenbloom said.
“I should have known better.
Other than that one
takedown I wrestled pretty
well, except for when I
went down in the third period.
That was a bad idea.
“I want to fix areas where
I cost myself between now
and the state tournament.
Last year at state I lost my
two matches but I wrestled
competitively. I lost by one
point in both matches and
both guys placed in state
so I knew I was right up
there.”
Hartman had a significant
height advantage in
the title match and so did
Rosenbloom’s semi-final
opponent, Eric Carter (38-
9) of Stevenson, who had
defeated him twice this
season.
This time the match was
deadlocked 2-2 going into
the final period but then
Rosenbloom came on
strong to win a 7-5 decision.
“My game plan was
key,” Rosenbloom said.
“Keep moving and get past
his elbow. I did a great job
on that.”
Seeing Rosenbloom
avenge his two defeats
came as no surprise to
his Highland Park coach,
Chris Riley.
“He has a very high
wrestling IQ,” Riley said.
“He’s a smart and strategic
wrestler. He learns and
learns. I was very pleased
with his entire tournament.
In his final match we were
hoping for an upset but he
wrestled about as well as
he could. There were a lot
of tightly contested scrambles.”
The Giants’ other sectional
representative,
152-pound Steve Weathers
(34-4), won his first
match on a fall at 1:48 but
then was defeated in the
quarterfinals by Huntley
freshman David Ferrante
on a 6-5 decision. Ferrante
(26-2) went on to win the
championship.
Weathers went to the
consolation bracket where
he took a 13-2 major decision
before losing a semifinal
match on a decision.
Lake Forest’s three
wrestlers—132-pound
junior Quinn Dailey (32-
10), 160-pound senior
Mark Tupanjac (28-8) and
195-pound senior Cory
Barth (29-9)—all made it
to the consolation semifinals
before being eliminated.
Dailey—who moved up
from the 126-pound class
to finish third in the Libertyville
Regional—won his
first match on a decision
and then lost his quarterfinal
match on a decision
to drop to the consolation
bracket. There it was the
same story, a victory by
decision followed by a defeat
on a decision.
“I’ve made significant
improvement since last
year,” said Dailey. “Last
year I got double eliminated.
I want to take what I
learned this year and build
on that in (offseason) national
tournaments and invitationals.”
Tupanjac and Barth,
both of whom were regional
runners-up, had
identical sectional story
lines—a victory on a fall,
then a loss on a fall, followed
by a second victory
on a fall and a second loss
on a fall.
Glenbrook North had
four wrestlers in the sectional
but the only one to
make it to the state tournament
was senior Jacob
Weingardt (30-12), the
fourth place finisher in the
285-pound class.
After winning 2-1 overtime
decisions in his opening
round and quarterfinal
matches, the workaholic
Weingart lost on a fall in
the semi-finals. Dropping
to consolation bracket, he
gained his second overtime
decision at the expense
of Deerfield’s Peter
Runac (27-14), this time
by a 4-2 margin in two
overtimes.
At the end of regulation
time the second match
with Runac was deadlocked
1-1. An escape
followed by a two-point
takedown gave Weingart a
4-1 and he held on for the
one-point victory.
“Everything I had went
into that match,” Weingart
said.
In the third place match,
Weingart was pitted
against Auburn’s Jordan
Williams and lost on a fall
at 2:35.
“Jason has a lot of
heart,” said GBN Coach
Jason Erwinski. “I work
out with him every practice.
He’s in great shape.”
In the consolation
semifinals, the Spartans’
220-pound senior, Brandon
Friedman (28-11), lost
a 13-7 decision to Josh
Dyer (29-6) of Lake Zurich.
GBN also lost matches
at 106 and 182 pounds to
wrap the sectional.