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'I McHenry Junior High wrestler Tony Gambona is on his way to pinning Ron Raiiford of Parkland to capture the 155-pound_championship title during Saturday's Illinois Elementary School Association District Wrestling meet at Johnsburg Junior High School. STAFF PHOTO -- MIKE LAMB Johnsburg Surprises Field With Title BARB ANSELL JOHNSBURG -- It was the Johnsburg Jr. High School Wildcats who not only swept the Illinois Elementary School Assocation (IESA) district wrestlirig meeting, but surprised many of their competitors this weekend. The Wildcats captured first grapplers will tind themselves traveling to Bloomington, Illinois' on FHday to participate in the state elementary school wrestling finals this weekend. Hauck believes much of the Wildcats successful first year in the district meets can be at­ tributed to the extensive program offered at Johnsburg. "Our Elementary District Wrestling place at the district meet with an overwhelming 297.5 points over second place Shady Lane with 205.5 points. Shady Lane had been Johnsburg's biggest threat, as their team last place second in state. Rounding out the order of the team finishes were Avon with 157.5 points, Big Hollow with 149.5 points, Parkland Jr. High in fifth place with 133.5 points, McHenry Jr. High in sixth place with 122 points, and Round Lake with 115 points. Wildcats coach Bill Hauck was enthusiastically proud of his team's performance. "I've never had so many natural athletes, or with so much talent." The Wildcats went into the tournament with an unblemished ; 7-0 Fox Valley conference record, and of the 27 Wildcat wrestlers who participated, 11 Johnsburg program starts the kids as early as Kindergarten, and that helps to get the kids interested. "The younger the kids have a chance to work out on the mats, the more relaxed they are and the quicker they build up to the competition level," added Hauck. Although Parkland Jr. High finished in fifth, coach Ron Parks will take four of his wrestlers to the state meet also. "We have a tough squad," said Parks, whose team came into the tournament with a 4-1 record. Their only loss came from Johnsburg. "But we ran into some difficulty both on and off the mat and that hurt us." "We are gradually progressing," said McHenry Jr. High coach A1 Jovanovic, following their sixth place finish. "Our team had a 2-3 conference record, but of the 14 wrestlers who participated in the district meet, seven of them finished in the top of their weight divisions." All of the local coaches feel the upcoming tournament will be good experience for their wrestlers. "We don't know our competition, so we'll have to take things one step at a time," said Parks. "We have to go down there thinking we can win," said Hauck, "but I want the guys to relax and have fun competing at the same time." The Johnsburg wrestlers capturing championship matches to continue at state include: Shawn Kegel at 70, Joe Olekszy at 80, Mark O'Brien at 100, Paul Mungovan at 100, Ray Mendlick at 105, John Shimman at 112, Jim Walker at 119, Jim O'Brienat 126, Chuck McMillan at 126, Emil Murunde at 167, and Mike Milbratz at 167. Those wrestlers from Parkland Jr. High who all took second place in the district meet and will wrestle in Bloomington are: Gary Layton at 75, Dave Parisi at 112, Ron Raiford at 155, and Mike Groggin at 185. Also competing in the state championship for McHenry Jr. High will include: Phillip March at 85, Roger March at 95, and Tony Gamboa at 155. Jgh iter Valley Conference wrestling teams will compete in the state finals this weekend, the schools will have at least one additional conference meet before the conference tournament. BARB ANSELL JOHNSBURG -- "Just between the McHenry and Johnsburg area, wrestling has grown a lot, and far more than most people realize," said Marty Sobczak. Sobczak is the varsity wrestling coach for McHenry High School and is finding wrestling's popularity growing not only at the high school level, but all the way down to the kindergarten and pre-school levels too. Almost 300 elementary school students participated in last weekend's Illinois Elementary School Association district meet at Johnsburg. However, that number only reflects a small percentage of the students in­ volved throughout the area. Johnsburg Jr. High par­ ticipated for the first time in a district meet and took first place, believes their win was mainly helped because their program starts at the kindergarten level. "Developing an interest in the sport is the first step," said Johnsburg coach Bill Hauck. "At this age we can show the kids wrestling can be fun." Wrestling is a natural sport. Its history goes as far back as the cavemen who used the skill for basic survival rather than sport. But Sobczak says wrestling, especially in this area, has come a long way. "These kids are not simply backyard wrestling. They are learning and developing fine technique and skills." The coaches agree that the agressiveness of the sport does scare some athletes and many "If the support for the program continues the results from the elementary level will make the coach's job at the high school much easier." parents away. But Sobczak feels that much of the danger has been --removed with the increased education of the officials. "We have very good officials in our area. They keep the matches controlled and as soon as they see a violation or a potentially dangerous move, the match is halted immediately." Ron Parks, coach of Parkiand's Junior High Wrestling team yells out some encouragment to one of his wrestlers. STAFF PHOTO -- MIKE LAMB V - - PAGE 7 - PLAINDEALER - WEDNESDAY. MARCH 9.1983 Parkland wrestling coach Ron Parks teaches that wrestling goes beyond the competition on the mat. "It is a very individual sport. When a player loses, there is no one but the player at fault." Parks emphasizes the im­ portance of discipline in the sport, "If a wrestler wants to be good he must have self discipline both on and off the mat. To meet the challenge of doing your best and knowing that winning isn't everythinng, is the biggest step." The technique level demon­ strated by so many of the wrestlers at the district level reflects the dedication of everyone involved in the program. Starting with the coaches and extending to the wrestlers, their parents, the schools, and the communtiy. "Our district showed as much quality as I expect to see at the state level," said Parks. All of the coaches at this level stress the importance of learning the basics. The basics include participation as the primary focus, and zeroing in on the take downs, pins, and various other manuevers. Sobczak says that .most of the area wrestling programs have felt the pinch of budget cutbacks. "Wrestling is usually one of the first sports cut. McHenry wrestlers have had to do their own fund raising in order to keep the program going." Johnsburg too, despite the interest, was forced to totally fund the high school program last year by the donation of time by all the coaches and monies raised and given by the parents. Sobczak says it's clear that the investment has already paid off. "These kids are all dedicated and displaying a strong talent for the sport. If the support for the program continues the results from the elementary level will make the coach's job at the high school much easier." An assistant wrestling coach at Johnsburg, Jim Briscoe, sum­ med up the wrestling program in this way, "I've seen big name college wrestling programs and the wrestlers they produce. But after seeing the talent and determination of the wrestlers in this area, I believe if these grade school kids continue to receive the fine level of coaching from grade school thru high school, this area may soon be recognized as a leading wrestling community." Wrestling Interest Seeping Down All The Way To Kindergarten Scoreboard Wrestling Johnsburg Junior High Wrestling District 65-- Championship - Randy Melton (Big Hollow) def. Paul Williams (Avon); third place - Jeff Harvey (Round Lake) def. Todd Rezek. 70 -- Championship - Keith Stewart (Avon) def. Shawn Kegel (Johnsburg); third place - Eric Sutton (Shady Lane) def. Dwayne Arneson (Parkland). 75 -- Championship - Jerry Mazur (Big Hollow) def. Gary Clayton (Parkland); third place - Rusty Thielsen (Shady Lane) def. Ronny Bunday (Parkland). 80 -- Cham­ pionship - Chet Kearby (Avon) def. Mike Calarco (McHenry); second place - Joe Olekszy (Johnsburg) def. Bill Baver (Big Hollow). 85 -- Championship - Pat Casher (Avon) def. Jason Hoffman (Parkland); second place - Phil March (McHenry) def. Hoffman (Parkland). 90 -- Championship - Todd Soucy (Shady Lane) def. John Muzur (Big Hollow); third palce - Damon Horn (Round Lake) def. Shane Clewis (Parkland). 95 -- Championship - Roger March (McHenry) def. Joe Sundland (Shady Lane); third place - Andy Adkins (Big Hollow) def. Jesse Bazile (John­ sburg). 100 -- Championship - Mark O'Brien (Johnsburg) def. Paul Mungovan (Johnsburg); third place - Rich Sundland (Shady Lane) def. Tom Hertel (Johnsburg). 105 -- Championship - Tyler Hamm (Shady Lane) def. Jim LaFleur (Shady Lane); second place - Ray Mendlick (Johnsburg) def. Mark Olson (McHenry). 112 -- Cham­ pionship - John Shiman (Johnsburg) def. Dave Parisi (Parkland); third place - Kevin Psomas (Shady Lane) def. John Kavanagh (Avon). 119 -- Championship -- John Bakis (Big Hollow) def. Jim Walker (Johnsburg); third place - Ivan Cvitkovich (Parkland) def. Mitch Meyers (Big Hollow). 126 -- Cham­ pionship - Jim O'Brien (Johnsburg) def. Chuck McMillan (Johnsburg); third place - Dan Geske (McHenry) def. Junior Johnson (Big Hollow). 135 -- Championship - Tim Onstad (Avon) def. James Lipscomb (Shady Lane) ; third place - Dave Buckley (Round Lake) def. Tim Mitsven (McHenry). 145 -- Championship - Jim Reeves (Avon) def. Rick Robb (Shady Lane); third place - Steve Woods (Johnsburg) def. Steve Brastad (Parkland). 155 -- Championship - Tony Gamboa (McHenry) def. Ron Raiford (Parkland); third place - Jeff Hodina (Shady Lane). 167 -- Championship - Emil Murunde (Johnsburg) def. Mike Milbratz (Johnsburg); third place - Steve Slager (Round Lake). 185 -- Championship - John Castillo (Round Lake) def. Mike Groggin (Parkland); third place - Jerry Dietz (Round Lake). Basketball Woodstock Regional Crystal Lake South 69 McHenry 46 McHenry: Mezzano3-1-17, Keevil 1- 0-1 2, Koerber 3-0-1, Blume 2-3-3 7, Brough 1-0-0 2, Podpora 0-1-0 1, Prust 4-0-1 8, Pinkstaff 1-0-0- 2, Norton 0-0-1 0, Karpavicius 3-5-2 11, totals 18-10-10 46. Crystal Lake South: Minoque 1-1-4 3, Naujokas 4-2-3 10, Hoppmann 3-1-2 7, Feely 5-1-1 11, Catencamp 9-0-3 18, Zimmerman 8-0-0 16, Henry 2-0-1 4, totals 32-5-14 69. McHenry 9 16 10 11 -- 46 Crystal Lake South 11 20 20 13 -- 69 Crystal Lake South 54 McHenry 40 McHenry: Blume 1-2-4 4, Brough 0- 1-11, Karpavicius 3-2-1 8, Keevil 3-0-2 6, Keevil 3-0-2 6, Koerber 3-3-1 9, Larson O-O^l 0, Mezzano 1-0-5 2, Norton 0-2-0 2, Pinkstaff 2-0-0 4, Prust 2-0-0 4, totals 15-10-15 40. Crystal Lake South: Minoque 1-0-1 2, Zimmerman 7-0-114, Naujokas 5-0-1 10, Hoppman 3-0-3 6, Catencamp 3-0-0 6, Feely 5-0-5 10, Henry 0-0-2 0, Roughen 0-2-2 2, Rosenthal 0-0-4 0, Fiedlerl-2-2 4, Byrnes 0-0-4 0, Hen­ dricks 0-0-4 0, totals 25-4-26 54. Crystal Lake South 16 14 18 6 -- 54 McHenry 8 6 8 18 -- 40 Dundee C.L.S. Crown C.L.C. McHenry Woodstock Cary-Grove Jacobs Final Fox Valley Girls W L Pts. Opp. 14 0 12 2 All 893 528 22 1 857 674 20 3 8 6 656 629 11 11 6 8 678 638 9 12 5 9 545 662 6 4 10 555 753 4 4 10 637 766 5 3 11 545 709 4 16 12 Final Northwest Suburban Conference Girls W L Warren 12 2 Wauconda 12 2 Antioch 11 3 Grayslake 6 8 Lake Zurich 6 8 Round Lake 5 ,9 Johnsburg 2 12 Grant 2 12 Stuck Glasses Loosen glasses that are stuck by pouring cold water in the inside glass and dip­ ping the outside glass in hot water. HOW 10 SUBSCRIBE 10 THE McHENRY PLAINDEALER The McHenry Ploindealer 3812 W. Elm Street McHenry, II. 60050 • 3 YEARS • $40.00 O 2 YEARS - $28.50 D 1 YEAR-$16.50 •6 MONTHS • $8.50 Q PAYMENT ENCLOSED Name Address City Prices good in McHenry County Mchenry Country Club Open to the Public KREME LEMON CHOCOLATE HONEY DIPPED OLD FASHIONED PLA/^ McHENRY TRIPLE FEATURE DAYS! MONDAY 385-1072 820 N. JOHN ST., McHENRY DUE TO POPULAR itfc air! McHENRY COUNTRY CLUB will b* serving lunch starting March 15 Lunch Hours: Tuesday thru Saturday 11 am until 2 pm Reservations Appreciated REMEMBER We're Open to the Public! 15 DONUIS FOR LIMIT 30 PER CUSTOMER TUESDAY 1 °°F 45 MUNCHKINS DONUT HOLE TREATS LIMIT 90 PER CUSTOMER WEDNESDAY 4 MUFFINS FOR LIMIT 12 PER CUSTOMER NO COUPONS OUNKIN' MTTwi NECESSARY!! DOMjnS IJ >1J !• WI iVA1! »1 j :1 j I :1:M U j »11 j I KM M