The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

opportunistic Grant ]\qJ again ' By Barb Ansell PlalndealerHerald aporUwrltcr FOX LAKE -- "You could say we got trounced," said Johnsburg boys basketball coach Ben Beck. You certainly could. The Skyhawks were bitten Fri­ day night by the Grant Bulldogs 64-45. The Bulldogs, who control the top position in the Northwest Suburban Conference were also in NW SUBURBAN Conf. All WL WL Marengo . ..30 52 Grayslake . . . . 3 0 5 2 Grant . . . 3 0 5 4 "JOHNSBURG . . . . 1 2 3 3 Round Lake -- . . . 1 2 5 4 Lake Zurich . . . 1 2 1 7 Wauconda . . . 0 3 3 4 MARIAN CENTRAL . . . . 0 3 2 5 command against the Skyhawks throughout the entire game. "Give credit to Tom Maple's c o a c h i n g a n d t o t h e G r a n t defense," said Beck. "They pressured us outside and we couldn't find a way to score from the inside." Grant applied the pressure from the opening minutes taking the Jump ball and driving it down court for the opening score. THE SKYHAWKS could only manage two baskets out of seven attempts. The 'Hawks scored with Rick Easterling's under the bucket shot , which resulted in a three point play. Frank Husak also scored with a ten-footer from the left side of the lane, and Mark DuRei assisted the JHS with two free throw shots. Grant capitalized on several of Johnsburg's mistakes by snaring two passes and by turning two of­ fensive rebounds into points. The Bulldogs showed Johnsburg their strength not only from the floor but from the charity stripe as well. Senior guard Frank Wehrs- tein sunk a free throw shot in the early minutes of the game, after Johnsburg's DuRei was assessed a technical foul for a overzealous protest. LED BY THE Wehrstein, who had six points, Grant leaped to an early 16-7 in the first quarter. Johnsburg's Jeff Nichols at­ tempted to balance the scoring by swishing two iS-footers from the baseline and then dropped in a shot from deep in the corner. Free throw tosses also helped to keep Johnsburg within a respec­ table distance of the Bulldogs. Nichols made two of three at­ tempts, i^uRei went three for four, and Mike Toussaint added one free good charity toss and two baskets. For the Bulldogs, even when <Please turn to page 19) Warriors suffer yet another exasperating loss By Steve Peterson Plalndealer-Herald Newt Service Not again. As if once weren't enough. And to make matters worse -- it was a school from the same city. For the second straight week, McHenry's basketball Warriors lost a one point game to a Crystal Lake school -- this time a 39-38 decision to South -r dropping the Warriors to 0-2 in the Fox Valley Conference, 2-6 overall. Last week McHenry was edged by Central 38-37. Cubs' ace Rick Sutcliffe didn't attend the game Friday night. But if he had, he would have been ap­ preciative of the way the two teams turned basketball into a pit­ cher's duel. Ken Ryan's free throw with 11 seconds left iced the win for the Gators. McHenry had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds, but Junior guard Joe To- nyan missed an outside Jumper. Ryan, who missed 3-of-5 free throws Friday night, made the first of two tries. His second effort hit off the iron, and McHenry call­ ed a timeout. "We got one. We got to the odds. I knew they were going to bring the ball to half-court and I thought they were going to have some trouble with our defense," South Coach Garv Collins said. FOX VALLEY CONFERENCE Conf All WL WL CL Central 30 53 Woodstock 2063 CL South 21 36 Dundee-Crown 11 54 Jacobs .12 4 4 McHENRY 02 26 Cary-Grove ... 03 Id McHENRY HAD trouble with the Gators' defense throughout the last four minutes of the fourth quarter. The Warriors were shut out in the game's last 4:07, at which time Pat Dunne hit an out­ side shot for a 38-35 McHenry lead. A Charlie Collins free tnrow and a baseline jumper from Scott Przybyla tied the game at 38-all. That was with 3:30 left and neither team scored a point until Ryan's free thfow decided the contest. Both teams caftie into the con­ test struggling in the early season. The two squads had a combined 3- 11 record and the Gators had lost five of their last six. The two squads shot under 40 percent from the field ahd 50 percent from the free-throw line. It was McHenry which started like it was going to break its cold shooting spell. The Warriors made 8-of-13 first-quarter shots for a 16-8 lead. "WE RAN THE ball. That's what we have to do is run. We were running the ball well and that was opening up our game a little bit. As long as we do that, we're going to be alright," McHenry coach Ken Ludwig said. The Gators (2-1,3-6) got back in­ to the game with a vengence in the second quarter. The visitors outscored McHenry 14-5 for the period for a 22-21 half time lead. "That was the turning point," Ludwig said. McHenry (0-2, 2-6) led by 8 at 20- 12 on a baseline Jumper from Scott Freund early in the quarter. The Gators then outscored the War­ riors 10-1 over the remaining six minutes of the quarter. •"We had an eight-point lead and all kinds of opportunities to make it more. We had all kinds of good shots. That's the sad part about it. If we weren't getting good shots it would have been a different story. They Just aren't dropping for us now," Ludwifl said. 1 The Gators made 7 of their first 12 shots in the third quarter. Chris K a r d y s , S e a n F e e l e y a n d Przybyla contributed two baskets each in the 10-1 Gator rampage that sent South into the lead. The margin could have been more, but the Gators missed their last three shots of the quarter. NEITHER TEAM could find much offense in the third quarter. Each registered Just seven points, and South led 29-28 entering the final ctan7fl Ryan gave South a three-point margin in the opening minute of the final quarter at 31-28. . Two Mark Etheridge hoops put McHenry ahead. The Warriors' last lead of the game came at 36-35 on a pair-of Chris Anderson free throws witfe4:46 left. "W^iiteht to the boards. We had four or five attempts on that one and they came out with the ball, but the main thing is we came down and played good defense in pressure situations," Collins said. In McHenry's last-second op­ portunity, the Gators did an effec­ tive Job of shutting down the inside so the Warriors' Tonyan had to take an off-balance shot that fell short. COLLINS ATTRIBUTED the i&mMo turn Uhtutee Chris Juxwilt Sports Editor Wrestling with ideas about a pew interest P»ae 20. PLA1NDEALER HERALD. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19.1984 Sports Johnsburg crushed by Johnsburg's Jim Bentz has a good grip on McHenry's Mike Lobinsky during the two team's meeting Saturday at East Cam- And the winner is " Plaindealer-Hertld photo by Chris Juzwik pus. Bentz claimed the heavyweight match, but McHenry defeated Johnsburg. Waukegan bests McHenry, Johnsburg in double dual By Chris Juzwik Plalndealer-Herald aporta editor Johnsburg's early season suc­ cess came to a thundering halt, and McHenry's progress was slowed somewhat after each team wrestled three matches in less than 24 hours over the weekend. Grueling? You bet. Intense? Very. McHenry lost to Fox Valley foe Crystal Lake South Friday night 36-19, while Johnsburg was dropp­ ing a 38-14 Northwest Suburban Conference match to state-ranked Grant. . The two teams then Joined Waukegan East at East Campus Saturday for a double dual. Waukegan came out of the fray with two wins, McHenry split and the Skyhawks lost twice. For the record: Waukegan East 32, McHenry 20. Waukegan East 37, Johnsburg 20. McHenry 35, Johnsburg 18. BOTH WARRIOR coach Jerry Rankin and Skyhawk coach Mike Roberts agreed that East has a solid wrestling program. But un­ doubtedly, both McHenry and Johnsburg were more interested in battling each other. "Sure, there's a rivalry there," Roberts admitted. "A lot of the kids know each other." Rankin concurred. "It's a natural rivalry, with the proximi­ ty and all, the closeness geographically. I had one kid who didn't want to wrestle against his Johnsburg opponent because they were friends," Rankin noted. Against Johnsburg, Chris Mann (98) opened the scoring, winning by default after his opponent Karl Berg was injured in the first round. Berg was carried off on a stretcher by the McHenry Rescue Squad, and Roberts said Aronday the freshman chipped a vertebrae. "HE CHIPPED A small piece/' Roberts said. "It's not real serious, but you always want to be careful with the neck and the back. He'll be out a while." McHenry's Kevin Justen (105) also won by default, giving the Warriors a 12-0 lead in the match. They never looked back. Warrior Russell Bunday and Skyhawk Jesse Basile battled to a 3-3 tie in an outstanding match at 112 pounds. Tom Wrona of McHenry (119) captured a 7-4 decision over JHS' Terry Eifler, booting the McHenry lead to 17-2. At 126, Johnsburg's Jim Walker won over MCHS' Ivan Cvitkovic, 17-5. DANNY PARISI of McHenry recorded his third pin of the weekend, nailing David Thorn in 26 seconds. Rankin said Parisi was honored as the Warriors wrestler of the week for his per­ formance. "Three pins in three matches -- you can't get much better than that," said Rankin. Parisi's three wins raised his record to 7-3 on the season. Shaun Kee of Johnsburg won at 138 pounds over Randy Hawley, 13-12. At 145, Warrior Dan Geske edg­ ed Brian Hauck 3-2, and McHenry's Steve Seheurr pinned John Shiman at 4:55 of the 155- pound match. Scheurr's win gave McHenry a commanding 32-8 lead. Roberts heaped praise on Shiman, a sophomore. "He was wrestling up in weight," Roberts said, "and he doesn't like to do that. But he's a real team guy. Whatever the team needs, he'll do it. I can't say enough about him. Whatever we need, he does it." JOHNSBURG SENIOR Mark Dumelle pinned McHenry sophomore Ron Rayford at 167. Warrior Dennis Gaines edged Pat Bjerning at 185, 7-5, and in the heavyweight match, Johnsburg's Bob Bentz decisioned Mike Lobin­ sky of McHenry, 11-2. Despite a 1-2 weekend record for his team, Rankin said he is still pleased with his squad's per­ formance thus far. "We made some mental errors Friday night against South. There were three or four matches we could have won, but didn't. It was a matter of a lack of mental awareness. "But I was very happy with the way we came back Saturday. We wrestled much better Saturday." Roberts said his Skyhawks were valiant in a losing cause against an awesome Grant unit. £> "WE LOST QUITE a few close matches. We really did a good job. I never expected us to beat Grant. We approached it on more of an in­ dividual level. Winners for JHS against Grant were Bentz and Dumelle. Basile, just a freshman, battled his opponent to a tie.' "He (Basile) is so tough. He just doesn't get beat. He battles you all the way," Roberts said. McHenry's young varsity team, which contains a number of sophomores, is now 7-3 on the year. The JV squad is an even more impressive 9-1. The sophomore Warriors whipped South 46-15, Waukegan East 54-18 and Johnsburg 58-12. THE McHENRY freshmen are now 3-0-1 after tying South Friday. The Warriors will host Fox Valley power Dundee-Crown Thursday at 6 p.m.) "Dundee-Crown is really tough," Rankin said. "They have some really good quality wrestlers." Johnsburg (3-4) entertains Richmond-Burton and Hampshire Thursday, and then travels to Jacobs for a double dual meet with the Golden Eagles and St. Edward Saturday. "This is the biggest week of our schedule," said Roberts. "In three of the four, we'll be close one way or another. If not, our record could drop in a hurry." "WE TRY TO TALK TO our kids during breaks," said McHenry coach Jerry Rankin. "It's difficult to hear out on the mat. Between periods, when they have our undivided attention, we'll try to relay information. "If it's a stalemated situation, sometimes a tip can help. Dan Geske (McHenry's 145-pounder) had his leg caught Saturday. We yelled at him to free it, he did, and got a reversal." Roberts says only key words can be heard by a competitor dur­ ing a match. "They'll catch certain things, certain words. But if they're listening to me, their full concentration isn't on the match. It's a fast-paced sport. There's really no time to listen." SATURDAY, THERE WAS a bit of time for the participants from our two area high schools to hear their coaches tell them one thing -- to cool down. Tempers flared on more than one occasion, as extracurricular pushing and shoving took place after the whis­ tle. "It's a natural rivalry, with the close proximity and all," said Rankin. Roberts was more emphatic. "We're the little school, we broke off. It's an intense rivalry, we have the same type of thing with Grant, because of the location of our schools." The Johnsburg coach, however, admitted he was angered by the non-sanctioned fighting that took place. "AS A MATTER OF FACT, I was very disappointed in that. Johnsburg isn't known for that. We let the idea of the rivalry take over, and really come into play. Some kids didn't always behave. "But we got beat by a better team. We had better own up to that. We had a shot, but McHenry has excellent wrestlers. Excellent." Both teams have excellent wrestlers, if Saturday's matches were any indication. And both schools are buildr? what has the potential to be outstanding programs. Personally, my image of wrestling has done a >mplete tur­ naround, Saturday's match being the impetus. Yet the opening of the doors to this new world leaves many unanswered questions. And the most pressing of all these is: When's the next match? During high school days that suddenly seem too, too far removed, the word 'wrestling' conjured up a plethora of different . concepts, most of which weren't very positive. There was the overriding image oi the wrestler trying to make weight the day of a match. A couple of pounds over his limit, he would trek to the boiler room, throw on a heavy winter coat, six pair of socks and an electric blanket, and do 600 sit-ups. That'll drop the pounds pretty quickly, I'd imagine. It always amazed us non-wrestling types how anyone could have any strength left to wrestle, after toiling so hard trying to make weight. But methinks the answer has been found. Among the discoveries made in my first year in the real world, is wrestling. No, I haven't tried doing it, but rather watching it, which assumedly is much more enjoyable. McHENRY, JOHNSBURG AND Waukegan East high schools got together for a friendly 'double dual' meet Sriurday. Prior to this event, I always correlated 'double dual' with ketchup, cheese and pickles. Anyway, Waukegan East defeated both area schools, but nobody outside of Waukegan really cared. The important battle was between Johnsburg and McHenry. It was my first taste of a Johnsburg-McHenry meeting, and admittedly, it wasn't disap­ pointing. It was, from a non-experts' view, a struggle from start to finish, although McHenry emerged an easy winner. Wrestling is unique in that way. It's like those chewy confections -- is it a candy, is it a gum? Is wrestling a team sport or an individual one? Both. As Johnsburg coach Mike Roberts says, "you approach mat­ ches individually, with individual goals. If those are accomplish­ ed, then so are the team's goals." Astute. THAT ALONE IS WRESTLING'S best quality. If a team only has one good wrestler, his career doesn't necessarily go to the dogs. He can qualify for post-season matches on his merits alone. Neither basketball nor football nor baseball carry that uni­ queness. Another intriguing aspect of the sport is that each wrestler is out there, on his own. Physically, mentally alone. Coaches, team­ mates, parents can shout all the encouragement they want, but the wrestler has to actually do it. He's on center stage, in the spotlight, the star. Which brings another question -- do wrestlers hear their coaches screaming at them? "Cross-face! Get your leg out of there! Keep him on the mat!" they yell. Are they heard? I had to ask.