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Athlete of the week

GAGE HARRAH

Crystal Lake Central, sr.

Harrah pinned Grant’s Quinton Quarles on Saturday to improve his record to 31-1. Quarles is the No. 6-ranked wrestler at 220 pounds in Class 3A by Illinoismatmen.com. Harrah is the top-ranked wrestler at 195 in 2A.

Noteworthy

FVC Meet: With a 19-1 overall record and an undefeated Fox Valley Conference season, McHenry is the favorite going into the FVC tournament, which begins Friday at Huntley.

How the Warriors’ dual-meet success translates to a tournament setting has yet to be determined, but the meet should provide some great individual matches.

There will be 38 ranked wrestlers competing, including six in the 138-pound weight class. Crystal Lake Central’s Clay Lutzow, ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, leads the group, which also includes McHenry’s Wade Lardy and Crystal Lake South’s Nick Peters, ranked ninth and 10th, respectively, in 3A.

At 152, South’s Tom Gerszewski is ranked No. 2 in 3A and could see a rematch with Central’s Jason Fugiel, the top-ranked wrestler in 2A. Gerszewski defeated Fugiel, 3-2, in the semifinals at the Dvorak tournament in December.

Weighty competition: Richmond-Burton’s Jack Dechow hasn’t lost yet this season, but it hasn’t been for lack of competition.

Dechow, the top-ranked wrestler in 2A at 182, bumped up to 195 to face two ranked wrestlers Saturday at the Gurnee Warren Quadrangular.

Against Grayslake Central, Dechow defeated Joel Valdivia by major decision, 23-8. Valdivia is the No. 2-ranked wrestler at 195 in 2A. Dechow also defeated Warren’s Shakhiem Chapman, 5-3. Chapman is ranked No. 4 in 3A at 195.

Rockets coach Bret Wojcik said he wanted Dechow, who has placed second the past two years at state, to see as much competition as he could.

“We want him to be a little battle-tested going into state,” Wojcik said. “It’s a big confidence-builder for him. We feel like he beat two kids who are going to place at state and a weight up.”

Also for R-B, Cameron Kennedy is undefeated heading into the final weekend before regional competition. Kennedy, who is ranked third at 120, has placed the past two seasons at state.

Brothers update: In last week’s “Inside wrestling,” the Fugiel brothers from Crystal Lake Central were inadvertently left off the list of notable area brother combinations. Jason Fugiel’s sophomore brother, Kyle Fugiel, is ranked eighth at 126.

This week’s top meets

Granite City at Harvard

5 p.m. Friday

Hornets coach Tim Haak said this matchup features the team with the most wins in Illinois state history in Granite City against Harvard, which has the second-most wins.

FVC Meet at Huntley

Friday

5-6:15 p.m. – Preliminary rounds

6:15-8 p.m. – Quarterfinals and wrestlebacks

8-9:15 p.m. – Second round wrestlebacks

Saturday

10 a.m.-noon – Semifinals and third round wrestlebacks

Noon-1 p.m. – Semifinal wrestlebacks

1:30 p.m. – Finals

– Rob Smith
rsmith@shawmedia.com