Polo grapplers compete in tourney
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The Polo High School wrestling team hosted its annual Polo Wrestling Invitational on Jan. 7 and came away with five top six finishes.
The Marcos had eight wrestlers in the tournament, and five of those wrestlers finished in the top six in their weight classes.
Polo had three fifth place finishers in Austin Steen, 152 pounds; Zach Hagemann, 160 pounds; and Brandon Imel, 285 pounds. The two sixth place finishers were Paul Smith, 120 pounds; and Keynon Janicke, 170 pounds.
The Marcos finished in 10th place out of 15 teams in the tournament with 57 points. Glenbard North J/V won the tournament with 196 points, Oregon was second with 178, and West Carroll was third with 167.
Austin Steen opened his tournament at 152 with a bye, and he was defeated in the second round by Desmond Canada of Freeport in a 13-3 major decision. He came back to knock off Jacob Levy of Putnam County in his next match by a pin in 1:08.
He kept his day going as he pinned Alpha Mugabo of Guilford in his next match in 4:38, and that win moved him into the fifth place match. In that match against Justin Spangler of Lisle, Steen controlled the whole to take fifth with a 5-0 win.
Hagemann also started with a bye at 160, but he fell to Justice Reed of Freeport in the second round by pin in 3:55. He rebounded to knock off Mike Venegas of St. Bede by pin in 0:55.
Next he won a hard-faught 9-5 decision over Parkview’s Derek Gerber to move into the fifth place match. In the fifth place match, Hagemann had no problems as he pinned Putnam County’s Tyrell Foockle in 2:42 to take fifth.
Imel also started the tourney with a bye at 285, but fell in his second round match to Devon Joiner of Guilford by pin in 4:50. He got a bye in his first wrestleback match, and pinned Erie-Prophetstown’s Easton Tarbill in 0:31.
That win moved him into the fifth place match against Chris Garcia of Parkview. Imel didn’t waste time, pinning Garcia in 1:06, and that allowed him to bring home fifth place.
Smith opened the tourney with a bye at 120, but fell to Oregon’s Rickey Rowe by pin in 0:31 in the second round. He received a bye in the wrestlebacks, and then pinned Guilford’s Mark Truillo in 1:28.
That win moved him into the fifth place match against Glenbard North’s Anthony DePrima. Smith couldn’t get anything going against DePrima, and he was pinned in 1:00 as he finished in sixth place.
Janicke faced eventual second place finisher Peter Bryers of Glenbard North in the opening round, and he lost by pin in 2:52. He earned a bye in the wrestlebacks before he pinned Freeport’s Brian Melborg in 3:47.
He picked up a pin of Nate Harman of West Carroll in the next match in 1:44 to move into the fifth place match. In the fifth place match Janicke couldn’t slow down Guilford’s Devin Joiner as he lost by pin in 1:57 to finish in sixth.
Devin Steen won his first match of the tournament at 138 pounds by pin over Dustin Marlowe of Parkview in 1:26, but fell to eventual champion Brian Czyl of Lisle in his next match by a 10-1 major decision.
He made quick work of Erie-Prophetstown’s Damian Hall in the wrestlebacks, pinning him in 0:40, but he lost his next match to Wade Dodson of Freeport by a 9-3 decision to end his tournament.
Westen Ackeberg opened his tournament against Nick Nelson of Alden-Hebron, and he lost by pin in 0:36. He earned a bye in the wrestlebacks, but then was knocked out of the tourney as he lost by pin to Zach Feller of Camanche in 1:32.
Dalton Haenitsch started his tournament with a bye, but then was pinned in 4:50 by eventual third place finisher Jacob Klein of West Carroll. He received a bye in the wrestlebacks, but then his tournament ended when he was unable to wrestle because of an injury against Guilford’s Tobias Hardy Cooper.
