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r«jrr m- im.\im>k\i>;kiikk\m>. fkidai . February i. i9*s Sports On the Sideline Dick Rabbitt It's do-or-die time again on the mats Area wrestlers primed for McHenry Regionals Warriors were talk of FVC -- until Tuesday The Warriors of Ken Ludwig not only surprised the Tigers of Crystal Lake Central, but the rest of the Fox Valley as well with their win Friday night. The Warriors, with only one organized practice in over two weeks, defeated the second-place Tigers 56-50 in a game that wasn't near as close as the final score would indicate. As Ludwig said after the game, "this set coaching back 40 years." Dundee-Crown coach Jim Hinkle, whose Chargers took over second place with the Central loss, remarked to me during the game, "this is crazy. Central should be ahead by 20 points," and added, "this is Just amazing, no regular practice and winning by (at the time) 14. With just over three minutes remaining, the Warriors had a 17- point lead, only to go astray at the foul line and let the bigger Tigers - put on a late rush, but to no avail. It avenged an earlier one-point loss to Central at the fieldhouse, and may set the tone for the rest of the season»for the Warriors, although the loss to CL South Tuesday night didn't help. More on that later. s PLAYING AT SOUTH Tuesday, along with games at Jacobs Fri­ day and at Cary-Grove Saturday, means the Warriors will have traveled three times this week. Shades of the NBA. Make-up events on the schedule that were missed during the strike have the Warriors playing host to Round Lake on Saturday, Feb. 23 in a non-conference battle. The Lady Warriors of Pat Wirtz have several games to make-up, starting Monday with a home contest against Woodstock at 6 p.m. South will play here on Saturday, Feb. 23, as will Central on Tuesday, Feb. 26. On March 3, the girls will play at Dundee-Crown. All wrestling events missed during the strike have been forfeited, , as well as all swimming meets. A TIP OF THE fedora to Warrior Chris Mann. The long layoff didn't stop the 96-pounder from winning the Fox Valley Conference title in his weight class last Saturday at Dundee-Crown. Jerry Rankin's lads finished fifth in the meet. Friday night and all day Saturday, the "Rassling Warriors" host the IHSA Regional, as all seven Fox Valley teams along with the Johnsburg Skyhawks of Mike Roberts will be on hand. The prelims will begin Friday night at 6 p.m., while the semifinals and wrestlebacks will begin at noon Saturday, with the consolation and championship rounds beginning Saturday at 6 p.m. The meet will be held at West Campus, with a $2 cost for everyone. Medals for the first three places in each weight class, along with a team trophy, will be presented after the meet. Those winners will ad­ vance to the Barrington Sectional next weekend. West Campus will also be the site of another big event on Saturday. The Fox Valley Conference swimming meet will be held beginning at lp.m. Medals for the top six in each individual event, and the top three relays along with a team tr up, with Dundee-Crown the trophy ^ he slight would N ' will be awarded. This meet is a toss- it favorite. YOU MIGHT KNOW 1 would receive some flak about the article on "The Coach" last week. One must remeber the article was written some years ago, long before girls' athletics came into the picture. However, my apologies to Coach Pam Schaefer of the McHenry staff and her fellow female coaches. I guess we could place the word 'she' instead of 'he' and it would come out alright. The ladies that coach do a bang-up job, and wish them all great success. The Warriors dropped a close one to Gary Collins' Gators on Tues­ day night, 59-56. Both teams burned the nets during the opening period, then the Warriors cooled off, and the Gators went ahead by 10. The Warriors close the gap to six at the intermission. The locals finally went ahead with 1:40 left in the game, but South was hitting from the charity line, and came away with the win. Ken Ryan, the 6-7 center of the Collins-coached crew, was too much for the Warriors. Had a nice evening visiting with old friend Elroy Fitzgerald. "Fitz" took a night off from officiating to attend the game. Hers quite RABBITT--Page 19 By Chris Juzwik The area's wrestling eyes will be upon McHenry West High School this weekend, as McHenry and Johnsburg -- along with six other schools -- begin do-or-die time at the McHenry Regionals. Before the analyses begin, one thing is already clear: Dundee- Crown will be the team champion. Now that that's done with, let's move on to other matters. Preliminary rounds will com­ mence at 6 p.m. Friday, with semifinals and wrestlebacks star­ ting at noon Saturday, and the championship round set to begin at 6 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $2. McHenry coach Jerry Rankin and Johnsburg head man Mike Roberts, due to the dominating nature of D-C, have set their sights on individual honors for their squads, instead of team ones. DUNDEE-CROWN, the host school, rolled to the team title at the Fox Valley meet last Satur­ day. For the regional, Johnsburg is the only addition to the group that met there. The Chargers amassed 269 points, an FVC record. Neither the Warriors nor the Skyhawks pose much of a threat to overtake D-C, nor do any of the other teams involved, but individually, both teams have wrestlers who are gunning for the number one spots. The top finishing team, along with the top three finishers in each weight class, will advance to the Barrington Sectional next weekend. So, without flirther adieu, here are the two experts' forecasts: fMw: Rankin looks toward Chris Mann, the 98-pounder who cruised to the championship at con­ ference, to do the same Saturday. Mann, a junior, finished fourth in the regional last year. "Mann came back (from the teacher's strike layoff) in good shape, obviously," Rankin said. "He's been wrestling well. Satur­ day he just did a great job. He's tte favorite at 98, no question." Roberts concurred. "You have to go with Mann. He's as good as anyone I've seen this year. He's the best at 98." 106 lbs: Both coaches believe Dundee- Crown's Bob Carrigan is the pro­ hibitive favorite*. Carrigan, who has won three straight conference titles, tipped CL South's Jeff Iversen in the finals Saturday, 16- 8. "Carrigan's the kid to beat," Roberts said. Rankin saw it as a tougher race. "Carrigan's tough. But Iversen is a very good wrestler. And Bor- chardt (Woodstock) will be there too." Nam* McHenry coach Jerry Rankin and Johnsburg coach Mike Roberts (inset) are hoping outstanding individual performances can highlight their respective weekends at the McHenry Wrestl­ ing Regional. " n " -r'.V" 112 lbs: D-C's Mark Ortiz and Cary- Grove's Dan Doesenbach surface as the top dogs here. The two met in Saturday's championship match, won by Ortiz. Also figuring in this division is Robert Fortlz of Woodstock. 119 lbs: Woodstock's Dan Weiskopf top­ ped D-C's Tom Keaty in the finals at conference. "Those two will be there," Rankin said. "It's the toughest weight class in the region," chip­ ped in Roberts. Hoping to figure in the finish at 1 ' | f ) j <&***•-*r, 119 is Terry Eifler of Johnsburg. 126 lbs: "It's a toss-up here," Rankin said. "Anyone can win it. If (CL South's Jim) Dusthimer comes down (from 132 lbs.), he would be the favorite. If not, (Dan) Schneider from Dundee-Crown should win it." Rankin said two area sophomores -- Johnsburg's Jim Walker and his own Ivan Cvitkovic -- have a chance to sur­ vive at this weight class. "Walker beat Ivan, but Ivan's capable of winning," said Rankin. "Cvitkovic's tough," agreed Roberts, "but Walker beat him 12- 5. Either one of those guys - or both -- could make it" 132 lbs: Rankin said he believes 132 to be the toughest weight class in the region, "Dusthimer could be here. If not, (Bob) Birdsell from Woodstock, (Doug) Hughes from Cary or (McHenry's Dan) Parisl are the top three." "I was real impressed with Hughes," Roberts lauded. "And Parisi is a tough, tough kid. Dave Thoren (of Johnsburg) could be in mere too. You never know." 138 lbs: "A real toss-up," Rankin observed. "Totally wide-open. (Marc) Nlketas from D-C, (Geoff) Szot from Central, those two should be one-two. After that, it's a scramble." "Tough weight class," Roberts noted. "Don't count (Johnsburg's) Shaun Kee out. He's 15-12-1. Don't count him out at all." 1461bs: Dave Singer from Jacobs Is 294) on the season, and as you might guess, is expected to win the tttle "Singer's the only undefeated, untied wrestler in the conference. Definitely the prohibit ive favorite," said Rankin. "(McHenry's Dan) Geske wrestl­ ed at 15S at conference, and he'll be here. He could do well." j "Singer's excellent," said Roberts. "South's (Dave) McMor- ran was second in the conference and Terry Hauck (of Johnsburg) tied McMorran. So this one's wide- open, too." ISSlbs: Brian Bushy of D-C and Warren Wolschlager of Woodstock emerge as the top of the heap In this category. Both were finalists Saturday, with Bushy winning. Neither Rankin nor Roberts had - a guess at a third-place finisher. 167 lbs: D-C's Larry Kaifesh is the number one-ranked wrestler in the state at 167. Rankin: "KatfeshwiU win, no doubt about it. After him, follow. But noitber -- although I wrestlers -- will they're both good phallmM Kaiteah Roberts: *&«U "Kaifesh is great. elle ar Sr would agree that Dumette and Dunklau should follow Kaifesh. They're both good wrestlers." 186 lbs: Tim Seymour of (guess where) edged Central's Grant Gabel in the championship Saturday. "Seymour's beaten everybody in the conference," Rankin said. "I think that Dennis Gaines (of McHenry) and Gabel will fight it out after that." "Gabel's excellent," Roberts WRESTLERS--"Page 18 r ' S \ ' A, '*• ̂ Wisconsin gets the nod Marian Central's Andy Hartlieb to follow brother to Big 10 By Sam Natrop PlatadMtaMteraidN«waS«nrk» distinct possibility that the brothers will lineup J across from one another on the gridiron someday. That's because Andy Hartlieb last week verbally committed to a football scholarship at the University of Wisconsin to become the second nlAvinp nnnnrtunitv "if< member of the family to accpet a scholarship to a best chaSSe to dUv in t o ? J c h U C i 1 8 a t t e n d i l , g « " * • " « 2 i • Andy Ha>tlieb said the offer was part of fulfilling a lifelong dream. "I've always wanted to " y Big Ten football," Hartlieb said in an in- week. "I'm real happy. I'm looking there (Macuson)." forward to getting up HARTLIEB becomes the second McHenry County gridder to verbally accept a scholarshi from Uw. Harvard's Eric Schimke last monti an offer to be a Badger. the story of Hartlieb's recruiting differs from most stories collegiate-bound athletes will tell vou. Usually, the recruiting process takes months of wooing as coaches make several visits to games, practices and to the fan But that's where this recruiting practices and to the family's home, it's where this recruiting stories differ. They never saw me play once this year." Hartlieb said. "They based their decision to recuit me on what they saw last year. They came to the state championship game and theyrve called me almost every weekend since. But they never came to see me play this year." What more than 1,200 coaches saw impressed them lor year, Hartlieb piled i ards rushing and another S Badger enough as, during his junior year, Hartlieb piled up yards 1 receiving during Marian Central's Class 2A state 300 Plalndealer-Herald photo by Chr*t Juzwik Marian Central's Andy Hartlieb hopes bag­ ging injuries won't keep him out of games atthe University of Wisconsin, like they did against Amboy in the Class 2A semifinals ' (above). championship year. » Hartlieb said he had his choices narrowed down to four schools - Vanderbilt, Colorado, Northwestern and Wisconsin. But it was finally the sincerity of the coaching staff from UW that made Hartlieb decide he'd like to wear the Cardinal and White. "THEY WERE straightforward with me," he said. "They were on my level. They were guys I could sit' down and talk to. They really seem to care about their players. "And, obviously, I was really impressed with the school itself - the academics. Not many people know that Wisconsin's business school u ranked 10th in the nation," he said adding that he would be seeking a business-related education. "Plus, it's a chance to play near home." Another key factor in his decision was his I felt at Wisconsin I had the the shortest amount of 'There are a couple of question marks about who's coming back for them, so I'll have to wait and see once summer drills start." Hartlieb said former Woodstock's first famous Madison gridiron resident, Dave Mohapp, was also helpful in aiding in the decision. "He was just like all the coaches - he was honest and open about everything," Hartlieb said. "He told me what going to Wisconsin had done for him. Yes. he was an influence, but he didn't flat-out recruit me." Hartlieb, who was an all-Northwest Suburban Conference player his junior and senior years, said he doesn'tletthe 'rap' about his being too small and too slow. "WHENEVER I ask Mohapp what he ran the 40 (yard dash) in as a senior, he tells me he ran a 4.9. To be honest I don't even know how fast I could run it, but I'm not going to let it bother me," he said adding that he guessed he ran about 4.7 seconds for 40 yards. "As for being too short or too small, I'm 6-feet and one-half inch - almost 6-foot-l. That's as tall as fullbacks are in the Big Ten," he added "Weight-wise, I'm 212 pounds right now. I think I'd like to play around 215 or so. You don't need to be a 230-pound hulk in Wisconsin's system " linebacker, everyone thinks I'm going there to play 'D.' '* HE SAID there Is a good chance he would be red-shirted - the process where an athlete works out with a team but does not lose any of his four years of eligibility. "That's OK. I can learn the system that way and have a little ahead the next year." A separated right shoulder during pre-season practice xept Hartueb out of the Hurricanes' 26-20 overtime win over Crystal Lake South and limited Us playing time in several other games. Last year, he tore a muscle in his left shoulaer and daring his sophomore season he pinched a nerve in Us neck. And during Marian's quarter-final win over Polo, he received a helmet to his right ankle which severiy bruised all the muscles around it and limited his mobility. "The toughest thing I've ever had to do was sit on the sideling and watch during the (34-27 semifinal loss to) Amboy game. It was the most frustrating game I've ever had." But the injuries are all behind the muscular guard-foroardon the Hurricanes' basketball team where he currently leads the team During the spring track season, he runs yard few hurdles and is a shot-putter. GROWING UP in an athletic family, ob­ viously, is advantageous, but it does have its drawbacks. Up until the last couple of years when he's enjoyed success of Us own, it's been tough being known as "Chuck Hartlieb's little brother." But Andy takes it in stride knowing full well that the Little Brother Syndrome is common in most families. "Actually, I used to ldd Mm all the time last year. 'Here comes Chuck Hartlieb, and there's Us little brother with him,' people used to say But it doesn't bug me at all," he said. "I've done some things for myself, so I don't have to in scoring, ms the 3w- worry. with his brother) said he would be entering UW's camp _ _ fullback. "Everyone asks me where I'm going to play on defense and I tell them I'm not going there to play defense," he said. "I know I didn't have the numbers (yards rushing) I had in my junior year and, because I had a pretty good defensive year at id a sub-par rushing hrr niwr* ^.i«. ' u f ^ F c ^ n ^ M a n y t h i n g . W e j u s t k n e w w h a t t h e other was thinking. And the possibility of playing against Us big brother? "It would be great. But first I want to Just get up there and get going," he Said. August lOtn, AndyHartlieb will get that wish.