Mt. Zion Finishes 9th at 28th Annual Bulldog Invitational
(1/12/2008)
On the Saturday, the Mt. Zion High School Wrestling Team travelled to Mahomet for the 28th Annual Bulldog Invitational. They ended the day in 9th place an improvement over their 13th place finish in 2007. The tournament field included two top-25 ranked teams in the state and three more teams who have received honorable mention in the state rankings.
At 119 lbs, senior John Salas led the Braves off with a solid victory over Cody Briggs of Mahomet. Briggs came into the tournament with a 21-5 record and the #4 seed. In the quarterfinals, Salas then met the #12 ranked Class A wrestler Scott Adams of Byron. He battled Adams and won the match 4-2. Salas’ great wrestling earned him a semi-final matchup with Justin Farmer the #7 ranked, wrestler in the state. Salas wrestled well but was handed a tough 11-2 loss. The day didn’t get any easier for Salas in the 3rd place match where he met Diontae Brown from Marist High School, who has received honorable mention in the state rankings. Salas again competed very well, but was a handed a 7-3 loss and a 4th place finish.
At 130 lbs, freshman Bo Schlosser continues to impress. He started the day with a 5-1 decision over Rich Messina of Tinley Park Andrew. In the quarterfinals, he added a 10-1 major decision over Andy Kovalsky of Naperville Central. Bo found himself matched up with Adam Heimer of Lincoln Way; the #4 ranked 130-pounder in the state. Bo lost a tough match in the semi-finals, but rebounded by pinning the #12 ranked Class A wrestler, Steven Bradley of Byron.
At 135 lbs, sophomore Carlos Maldonado started the day with a 4-2 victory over Collin Neighbors of Belleville West. Carlos then met up with Josh Kratovil of Lincoln Way in a semi-final bout. Kratovil came into the tournament with a record of 23-0 and is the #1-ranked, 135-pounder in the state. Kratovil was also the 2007 Class AA runner-up. Carlos fought his way through the match, but came out on the short end. Like Bo, Carlos battled back in the 3rd place match to defeat Kofi Bazzell-Smith of Champaign Central with a 1st period fall.
At 145 lbs, Joe Butler is making people forget that he is just a freshman. Joe started the day off right with a first period fall over Jeff Francis of Marist. He then met Miguel Roa of St. Ignatius who had only 1 loss coming into the tournament and that was due to an injury default. Roa has also received honorable mention in the state rankings. Joe wrestled like an upperclassman handing the senior a 9-4 defeat. In the semifinals, Joe met Joe Hamill of Elmhust York, who came into the match with a 19-7 record. Joe again controlled the match for an 8-2 victory. This victory put Joe in the finals opposite Jake Nelson, a Lincoln Way senior and the #4 ranked wrestler at 145 pounds. Nelson proved too much for Butler in the finals, but Joe came away with his top tournament finish of the season.
At 152 lbs, the tournament bracketing committee did Brandon Watson no favors by pairing him up with highly regarded Dale Lewis of Elmhurst York. Lewis proved his reputation was well earned with a victory of Watson. Brandon was able to knock off Mike Ferrarini of Lombard Montini in the consolation bracket, but was then defeated in the next round by Andrew Gasper of Tinley Park Andrew.
At 160 lbs, freshman Chris Grimestead found himself in a bracket loaded with upperclassmen. He wrestled well, but lost tough matches to Joe Savina of Naperville Central and Dan Massengill of Washington.
At 189 lbs, freshman Tyler Betzler ran into two tough opponents. He lost a tough match to Josh McAuliffe of Tinley Park Andrew and then lost to Matt Burns of Naperville Central in the consolation bracket.
At 215 lbs, senior Brian Oros lost to Jamie Ping of Tolono Unity, who entered the tournament with 17-3 record. Oros then suffered a defeat in the consolation bracket Nick Weithman of Naperville Central.
Although this Mt. Zion squad is loaded with upperclassmen, they continue to improve as they head into the post season. It appears Coach Donovan Marschner could have his team peaking in February.
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