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One bates to dwell on something one has no control over. But in the case of the McHenry Wrestling Regional, it's too painful not to. Johnsburg will send four of its wrestlers to the Barrington Sec­ tional Saturday, while McHenry will send one. But those numbers Page SS • PLAIfNDEALER-HER ALD. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY IS. IMS Sports Chris Jaiwlk Spwh Editor Wrestling simple --just like A-B-C Alphabetized leftovers from Saturday's McHenry Wrestling Regional. A: is for attitude. Without it, a wrestler just isn't. B: is for big. That's B-I-G. Like Carneli Washington, Woodstock's heavyweight. C: is for Carneli Washington. See also B. His first name could be Carnage, and you wouldn't think it odd. D: is for Dundee-Crown. The Fox Valley should feel priveleged to have such an outstanding team among its seven schools. E: is for effort, which was immeasurable among Saturday's competitors. is for fear. As in 'your turn to wrestle Carneli Washington, son.' G: is for McHenry's Geske (Dan) and Gaines (Dennis), two of the hard-luck stories from the regional. Both could have reached the sectional, both should have reached the sectional, but both just missed reaching the sectional, losing matches by one point each. H: is for horde, which is what Dundee-Crown did to all but two of • the first-place trophies. I: is for me. I mean 'I.' I'm a believer, a wrestling convert. But I'll stick to just watching, thanks. J: is for Johnsburg. The Skyhawks qualified a school-record four wrestlers for the sectional, and finished fourth in the regional. A standout performance. K: is for Kaifesh, Larry, from D-C. The state's number-one ranked wrestler at 167 lbs. is a joy to watch. He is in command the minute he walks in the gym. L: is for luck. The aforementioned 'G's' could have used some. M: is for Mann, Chris. The only McHenry representative in the sectional. The 98-lb. junior suffered a tough loss to D-C's Jesse Turner in Saturday's championship. Don't be surprised if Mann, given the chance, avenges it. N: is for near-fall. You get points for this in a wrestling match. When you almost pin a guy, it's called a near-fall. You may also use this as an answer if you're ever asked, 'when does August come along?' 0: is for ox. See also 'C.' P: is for professional wrestling, which can't hold a chin-strap to the excitement of a high school match. Q: is for quintet. That's five. That's how many total wrestlers from Johnsburg and McHenry advanced to the sectional. R: is for run. Which is what you might want to do if you have to wrAtle Carneli Washington. , S: is for subterfuge. Another option if faced with th^prospect of getting roughed up by C.W. T: is for teacher's strike. If. you're looking for a reason for McHenry's rather disappointing performance, this is probably the best one available. U: is for underdog, not enough of whom were victorious. * V: is for vocal. Why are assistant coaches so much more so than head coaches? W: is for water. As in pool, swimming. While the wrestlers were grunting and groaning upstairs, the Fox Valley Conference swim­ mers were putting on an exciting show of their own in the West Campus pool. X: is for XL, the size of Carneli Washington's togs. Y: is for young. Which is the state of the teams at both Johnsburg and McHenry. Of the 21 total wrestlers from both schools who saw action Saturday, only three will graduate. Z: is for Zinke, Al, the Dundee-Crown coach, whose team will probably face Grant in the sectional final Saturday. Grant has handed the Chargers their only two losses of the season. Don't ex­ pect it to happen again. Five area By Chris Juzwlk IsindMter-Horald photo by Ctorto Juzwtk McHenry's Chris Schreiner is congratulated by Warrior coach Mike Shanahan after the second heat of the 500 freestyle could have been much greater, if for one little break here, and perhaps another there. To summarize, four Skyhawks -- Mark Dumelle, Bob Bentz, David Thoren and Brian Hauck -- finished in the top three in their respective weight class, and join Warrior Chris Mann as the only area wrestlers to advance. For all the excitement and sur­ prises which were encompassed by McHenry's Buckner Gym Saturday, Dundee-Crown's Chargers had to go out and spoil the fun. There was no nail-biting, no excitement, no fun in the 'bat­ tle'for the team title. THE FOX Valley Conference champs rebuffed . what little challenge there was, as D-C had nine wrestlers (in 12 weight classes) win individual titles, allowing the Chargers to rack up 222 points in lapping the team field. Second-place Woodstock had 102. Surprising Johnsburg finished fourth overall, with 73 points, while McHenry was sixth with 49Vfe. After the long day was over, Johnsburg coach Mike Roberts and McHenry coach Jerry Rankin reflected on their respective suc­ cesses, but also entertained thoughts of what might have been. McHenry had four wrestlers lose in third-place bouts,' while Johnsburg had three. Triumphs instead of defeats in those mat­ ches would have meant a huge area contingent in Saturday's sec­ tional. ROBERTS ADMITTED he didn't know what to think. "I'm happy, but I'm disap­ pointed, if that's possible," he said. "I hurt for Terry Eifler and Jim Walker'J hurt very much so." Eifler (119 lbs.) and Walker (126) both lost in third-place mat­ ches. They joined teammate Jeff Carden as fourth-place finishets. "Carden had an uphill battle. He was against an. outstanding wrestler (Woodstock's Warren Wolschlager), but he held, his Tankers 2nd at FVC meet The McHenry High boys' swim­ ming team, buoyed by a superb performance from sophomore Brian Hoffman, swam to a second- place finish in the first-ever boys' Fox Valley Conference swimming meet at West Campus Saturday. Dundee-Crown won the meet with 78 points. The Warriors had 59. Woodstock and CL South followed with 51 apiece, CL Cen­ tral had 34, and Cary-Grove came in with 13. Hoffman claimed two individual firsts and shared the meet's co- most valuable swimmer honor with D-C's Greg Frick, who also won two races. _ * HOFFMAN WON the 200 medley (2:14.8) and the 100 breaststroke (1:06.78), while teammate Craig Karezynski won the 100 butterfly (1:00.02)-. Those three were the only firsts corrall­ ed by the Warriors. "We were a bit surprised," said McHenry coach Mike Shanahan. "We just happened to hit it right down the line. We nailed it on the button in every event. Everybody had good days." ** How close did McHenry come to overtaking the strong Chargers? "It came down to the relays. D- C won them both, and they won the meet," Shanahan said. The Chargers racked up 24 points in the two relays en route to the team title. THE WARRIORS' 200 medley relay unit finished second to D-C's group. The McHenry foursome consisted of Hoffman, Karezyn­ ski, Guy Petty and Chad Mihevc. The 400 freestyle relay team finished fifth, while the D-C team rolled to a school record in the event. Hoffman set a new McHenry varsity record, which Shanahan noted was the first boys' school record broken since 1978. Other point-getters for the War­ riors included Chris Schreiner fifth in the 200 freestyle. PETTY GARNERED a fifth in the 200 individual medley race which was won by Hoffman. Karczyfiskl was fourth in the 50 freestyle. McHenry divers Erik Anderson and Frank Schoen also had a fine showing. Anderson was second, while Schoen took fourth. Petty also took a fourth in the 100 breast, a race also won by Hof­ fman. Plalndesler-Herald photo by Chris Juzwtk McHenry's Chris Mann looks for a way out of ing the 98-lb. championship match Saturday, the grasp of Dundee-Crown's Jesse Turner dur- own." Carden dropped a 4-0 deci­ sion. ... "So, down one road, I'm very happy for our four guys who are going. Down the other road, though, I lust feel bad. Walker and Eifler had such great seasons." RANKIN WAS exhibiting the same emotions. The Warrior coach had hoped three to five of his crew would continue their seasons, but bad luck kept his haul down to just one. Losing in third-place matches were McHenry grapplers Jason Hoffman '(105), Russ Bunday (112), Dan Geske (155) and Dennis Gaines (185). Mann, who was seeded first at 98, received a first-round bye, and then pinned Woodstock's Lee Mass in :57 in the semifinals. Mann then faced Dundee-Crown freshman Jesse Turner in the championship, and the McHenry junior was soundly beaten, 8-0. Mann had won the last meeting between the two, 11-2 at last weekend's conference meet. "I don't know whether Gferi* was overconfident or what," Rankin said. "It just seemed like he wasn't prepared to wrestle. Turner was really pumped up. He came out and had Mann on the mat in five seconds. That really set the tone. Once he got the lead, he just controlled him." MANN COULDN'T seem toget untracked offensively in the match, trailing 2-0 after the first round and 5-0 after two. "Chris was very disappointed," Rankin said, "but he just got beat." Mann had claimed the con­ ference title with the win over Turner last weekend. Mann's record now stands at 23-8. Turner 18204. Only one other area wrestler was involved in a championship and lie couldn't have pick­ ed a worsefate. Johnsburg's Dumelle faced D- C's Larry Kaifesh in the 167 lb. ti­ tle match. Kaifesh is the state's number one-ranked wrestler at 167, with a record of 31-0-2. Dumelle reached the finals by topping Tom Kolar of CL Central 8-2, and then decisioning Tim Danley of Jacobs 10-6. In the title match, Dumelle hung tough with the aggressive Kaifesh, trailing 4-1 alter one period. But the D-C senior made WRESTLERS-- Page 20 Plalndealor-Heraid photo by Chris Juzwtk Jim Whiting of Woodstock is taken for a ride by wrestleback Saturday. Walker won 114. Jim Walker of Johnsburg during a 126-lb.