McHENRY – McHenry wrestling coach Jake Guardalabene wasn’t about to let a pandemic and its restrictions stop him from giving kids the most authentic wrestling experience possible in a season with real promise.
The fifth-year coach, with an anticipated group awaiting, has a huge schedule of 25 duals this season, many of which are against ranked teams and northern Illinois’ best. If Thursday’s dominating 63-15 dual win over Cary-Grove is any indication, his kids are responding to the challenge with flying colors.
“We’ve been rebuilding the system until we got to this year and finally have a full lineup,” Guardalabene said. “We have a strong guy at every weight. We are two or three deep at every weight.
“We’ve been wrestling a ton. This is our 11th dual. That was my goal this season. If we were going to get in a short season, we needed to make it as worthwhile as possible. … But the kids are doing awesome with it.”
The motivation certainly was there for the dual with the Trojans. Not only had McHenry dropped duals the previous two nights – including a heartbreaking four-point loss to Huntley on Tuesday – but it also wanted to make up for last year’s loss to Cary-Grove when it came down to the final match of the evening.
Although going against a Cary-Grove squad with a much different makeup than last year, the Warriors made sure this one didn’t have that dramatic conclusion. The dual never was in doubt with Aldair Perea and Pedro Jimenez starting the night with victories by fall at 126 and 132 pounds, respectively. McHenry wrestled aggressively early in almost every weight class, claiming six victories by fall, including four in the first period.
Senior Logan Lucas, who is earning honorable mention recognition in the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Class 3A rankings, led the list of impressive performances. He won in only 1:24 at 170 pounds. Jimmy Norris needed only 35 seconds at 106 pounds and Alessandro Perea only 36 seconds at 113 pounds.
Luke Zunkel also won by fall in 4:46 at 220 pounds.
As for a young and inexperienced Cary-Grove squad that had only one senior returnee in its starting lineup, there were a few highlights, namely back-to-back wins by Gabe Simpson and Wade Abrams. Simpson claimed a pin in 2:43 at 182 and was followed by a strong technical fall win in 4:27 by Abrams at 195. Abrams was a frosh/soph state series qualifier a year ago and will be one to watch in the coming season.
“It’s all starting to come back to him,” C-G coach Bill Petersen said. “Every match is getting cleaner and smoother. The progression is getting there, and we are excited to see how the season continues to him.”
But it was a tough night, with the Trojans giving up four forfeits and not having returning state qualifier Joey Swanson.
“I think it’s a young season, and we have a lot of improvement to do,” Petersen said. “We have a lot of guys who were able to find their way up and into the varsity roster today to give up less forfeits. We are building the basics.
“We’re just trying to give these kids the best experience they can get in high school. We are trying to help them wrestle six minutes and make the most of what we have in this shortened season.”