Wrestling: Libertyville’s Polakowski, Pettinato earn league crowns
By jon kerr Contributor January 29, 2012 3:30PM
Libertyville's Steve Polakowski (left) battles Warren's Craig Mason at 113 pounds on Saturday. Polakowski went on to take first place in his weight class at the conference meet. | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: April 2, 2012 1:55AM
On a day when Libertyville High School recognized its storied wrestling past, it was forging ahead in the present.
Hosting the North Suburban Conference league meet Friday and Saturday, the Wildcats staged a reunion of their 2002 sectional championship team.
As names such as Jeff Keske, Anthony Panico and Jim Friend were recognized for past accomplishments, current wrestlers such as Steve Polakowski assured their own legacies. The 113-pound sophomore earned a conference championship, decisively winning all three of his matches.
Polakowski’s run to the crown culminated in a 3-0 decision over Grant’s Noah Drabek.
“It’s really nice,” said Polakowski, who improved to 27-7 overall. “All that hard work pays off.”
A takedown in the second period all but won the match for Polakowski, who held on and, “chopped (Drabek) him down at the start of the third period. I hit his wrists right away. I knew I could ride him out the whole period if I kept it up with the intensity.”
That intensity was hatched when he picked up the sport at Highland Middle School in the sixth grade. It wasn’t until he landed at Libertyville as a freshman that Polakowski made a quantum leap. Working out with older teammates such as senior Mike Fitzgerald (126), and the lighter Noah Strong (106) has helped with his pace. A November victory against St. Rita’s powerful Colton Kielbasa was revealing in how it proved to Polakowski that he could compete with the state’s best.
“I got a big takedown and reversal, and got a bunch of back points and a big lead,” Polakowski said. “It was nice to make it to the finals.”
And as he walked to the podium after being announced as the first-place winner, he was congratulated by members of the 2002 team. All at once, Libertyville’s past and present were on display.
Recap: It was day worthy of celebration for the Wildcats, and for one member, specifically. Saturday marked long-time head coach Dale Eggert’s birthday. A conference championship would have been icing on the cake, but Libertyville’s second-place finish (213 points) behind Grant (224.5) provided plenty of smiles all around.
“(Grant) is a good team, and we fought hard the whole day. It wasn’t a very good Friday but it was an excellent Saturday,” said Eggert, not mentioning his birthday.
The Wildcats ended the tournament with two champions — Polakowski and Austin Pettinato (145) — who defeated Zion-Benton’s Adrian Collier 7-1 in the first-place match. Libertyville had four second- and third-place finishers, allowing them to leapfrog from Friday’s third-place spot into the runner-up position on Saturday.
Second-place winners were Fitzgerald (30-11) at 126, Charlie Meyer (21-16) at 132, Kevin Barbian (22-14) at 220 and Chris McDermand (28-9) at 285. Third-place winners were Kyle May (27-8) at 120, Josh Hirth (17-17) at 138, Kayne MacCallum (14-9) at 152 and Sal Ayala (26-12) at 160.
Other medalists were Austin Koziol at 170 (5th place) and Connor O’Donnell at 182 (6th place).
Eggert was particularly pleased with MacCallum, who’s rounding into form after starting the season late while recovering from a knee injury.
“He wrestled in a really tough class and beat a returning State qualifier (Vernon Hills’ Danny Klema),” Eggert said. “He’s back to where we expect him to be.”
It was the first time since 2008 that Libertyville didn’t win the conference tournament. The Cats have bigger goals in mind, such as winning their own regional. The Wildcats will watch quite a bit of video in preparation.
“We’re going to show highlights of each match and confront them on mistakes,” Eggert said. “These guys know what they are supposed to do. It’s now time to do it.”
On the schedule: Libertyville hosts a regional on Saturday.
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