LHS Wrestling NewsLibertyville finishes 4th in Dual Team State
After advancing to the semifinals with our win over Oak Park, we lost 36-20 to Yorkville, then lost 37-22 to St. Charles East for third place. Wrestlers winning three matches on the weekend were Owen McGrory, who had a 15-0 tech fall over an Oak Park Sectional Champion, a 7-2 win over the Yorkville defending state champion, and a pin over a St. Charles East state qualifier. This pin was Owen's 31st of the season breaking the previous record set by Cole Matulenko in 2023. Matt Kubas has a pin, a major decision, and a 3-2 win over the St. Charles East opponent that had beaten him in the previous weekend's state tournament 3rd place match. Luke Berktold had a decision, a major decision, and a forfeit win. Orion Moran had a pin and two decisions.
Dual Team State Quarterfinal Recap
The Libertyville wrestlers defeated Oak Park, 45-24, in the Dual Team State Quarterfinals to advance to the Semifinals where they will face Yorkville at 11:00. Win or lose they will compete for 1st or 3rd at 6:00.
The Oak Park meet began at 215 where our 4th in State, Owen McGrory, matched up with Oak Park's Sectional Champion. Owen dominated with a 15-0 technical fall. Erich Walldorf, a usual 190 pounder went up to face a 260 pound sectional qualifier and got a first period pin. These two matches gave us an improbable 11-0 lead. We knew we had wins coming at 165, 175, and 190. But we needed some other wins along the way. Tyler Wuh beat a sectional qualifier at 113, 7-2. Luke Berktold had a 12-1 win at 120. Orion Moran was down 6-1 at the end of the first period but came up with a pin. With the wins coming at the upper weights, this essentially locked up the meet. We got another win by Will Carney at 144. He got taken down with :15 left to fall behind 6-5. But he manuevered into a reversal with 5 seconds to go for the 7-6 win. Oak Park got wins at 150 and 157 to get close to us, 27-24. We wrapped up the meet with a Charlie Clark first period pin at 165, a :20 pin by Matt Kubas at 175, and a first period pin by Caleb Baczek at 190.
Dual Team Sectionals Recap
On Tuesday, February 20 the Libertyville wrestlers defeated Prospect 45-19 to earn a spot in the Dual Team State Tournament on Friday, February 23.
6 pins led the way against Prospect including Matt Kubas (170), Owen McGrory (215), Jake Shafer (106), Tyler Wuh (113), Luke Berktold (126), and Antonio Kelly (138). But the top match was at 157 where freshman James Scanio beat a sectional blood round loser 7-4. Also winning decisions were Caleb Baczek (215) and Owen McGrory (285).
State Recap - 3 LHS All-Staters
All 3 of our LHS state qualifiers finished in the top 6 at their weights in the state tournament to earn All-State honors. Luke Berktold finished 6th at 120. Matt Kubas finished 4th at 175. Owen McGrory finished 4th at 215. Kubas pinned his first round opponent which gave him 79 pins for his career breaking the LHS Wrestling career pin record of 78 set by Mark Friend (2001-2004).
Sectionals Recap - 3 LHS wrestlers to state
Matt Kubas, Owen McGrory, and Luke Berktold finished in the top 4 in the Friday/Saturday Sectionals to qualify for the state tournament this Thursday/Friday/Saturday at the University of Illinois. Kubas won the 175 title with a pin, a 4-2 semifinals win, and an 11-2 win in the finals. In pinned his first round opponent Matt tied the LHS Wrestling Career Pin record of 78 set by Mark Friend (2001-2004). McGrory pinned his first two opponents before losing in the finals to finish 2nd. Berktold had two decisions over returning state qualifiers before having to default in the finals.
Caleb Baczek finished one spot out of the top four, getting two pins along the way. Jake Shafer had two wins including an 11-9 prelim win where he came back from a 7-0 deficit with a minute left to go. He also had a technical fall. Orion Moran and Will Carney each had a pin
Regional Champions - 10 LHS wrestlers to Sectionals
The varsity wrestlers held off Warren to win the 8 team Regional title, 200-186. 10 Libertyville wrestlers qualify for the Sectionals. We were led by 5 champions; Luke Berktold (120), Will Carney (144), Matt Kubas (175), Caleb Baczek (190), and Owen McGrory (215). Second place finishers were Jake Shafer (106), James Liu (126), Orion Moran (132), Antonio Kelly (138). Charlie Clark (165) was our final sectional qualifier finishing 3rd.
Week 8 Recap
The varsity wrestlers wrapped up the 2024 North Suburban Conference Championship on Friday night at the North Suburban Conference Duals at Stevenson. We beat Zion-Benton in the first round, 75-6. In the second round we beat Stevenson, 40-26. We were down 19-6 after 5 matches, but won the next 6 matches to take a commanding lead. The winners were James Scanio (157), Charlie Clark (165), Matt Kubas (175), Erich Walldorf (190), Caleb Baczek (215), and Owen McGrory who went up to 285 to wrestle an opponent who outweighed him by 75 pounds, beating him 7-1. Luke Berktold (120) wrapped up the meet with a pin in the last match.
The JV's competed in the JV Conference and finished 3rd with 233 points, behind champion Mundelein (241) and Stevenson (238). We were led by 4 champions, Anthony Kelly (138), Jack Treutelaar (175), Erich Walldorf (190), and Gabe Turchinsky (285). 2nd place finishers were Brayden Liu (120), Ruben Quintero (144), and Ethan Trowbridge (165). 3rd place finishers were Chase Burchfield (106), Callum O'Connell (144) and Pierce Adams (157). 4th place finishers were Thomas Wiesneth (150) and Aleks Nikolich (215). Ryan Sherman (113) finished 5th. Others winning matches were Liam Huizenga (106), Mason Roe (150), Jon Garrison (157), Luis Martinez (165), and Eddie Brown (190).
Week 7 Recap
The varsity wrestlers beat Mundelein 45-21 to raise our conference record to 5-0. On Saturday we competed in the Lake County Invitational and finished second behind Warren,196-193.5. Two LHS wrestlers won individual titles, Caleb Baczek (190) and Owen McGrory (215). Luke Berktold (120) and Matt Kubas (175) finished 2nd. Orion Moran and James Scanio (157) took 3rds. Tyler Wuh (113) took 4th. Will Carney (144) and Charlie Clark (165) took 5ths.
Week 6 Recap
Our competitions the weekend from January 12/13 were cancelled due to snow and cold weather. Friday the 12th was to be our conference dual with Mundelein. That will be made up Friday, January 19 in LHS's west gym. It is our senior's night. Saturday the 13th was supposed to be the Conant Quad with DeKalb and Grant. This meet will not be made up.
Week 5 Recap
The Varsity beat Lake Zurich 76-0 on Thursday, moving our conference record to 4-0. On Saturday we won the team title in the Glenbard West 13 team invitational, 269 to second place Fremd's 210. We were led by 7 individual champions, Jake Shafer (106), Luke Berktold (120), Orion Moran (132), Antonio Kelly (138), Matt Kubas (175 ), Caleb Baczek (190), and Owen McGrory (215).
Winter Break Recap
The Varsity competed in the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh for a 71 team invitational Friday and Saturday, December 29/30. LHS finished 2nd (267) behind champion Hortonville (287), ahead of third place Hartford (226). Matt Kubas won the 170 pound championship with 4 pins and a 10-2 decision in the finals. Owen McGrory (215) finished 2nd with 3 pins. Caleb Baczek (190) finished 4th with 3 pins. Luke Berktold (120) finished 6th with 3 pins. Charlie Clark (165) finished 7th with 5 pins. Tyler Wuh (113) finished 10th. Orion Moran (132) finished 12th. Others winning matches were Jake Shafer (106), James Liu (126) with 4 pins, Antonio Kelly (138), Will Carney (144), James Scanio (157), and Rhett VanBoening (285).
Week 4 Recap
We beat conference opponent Waukegan 72-9 on Friday night. On Saturday we competed in the 37 team Harlem Invite, finishing 9th. Matt Kubas finished 2nd, beating the Yorkville wrestler that beat him the 3rd place match at state last season. Owen McGrory finished 3rd, beating the Yorkville defending state champion at his weight class, 3-2, in the consolation semifinals. Caleb Baczek finished 5th beating two state qualifiers in the process. Luke Berktold and Orion Moran finished 6th. Charlie Clark finished 8th.
The freshmen won the team title in the Antioch Dual Team Tournament, beating Glenbrook North 48-22, Lakes 48-22, and Niles West in the finals 57-18.
Week 3 Recap
We beat Lake Forest Friday night, 75-6. On Saturday we competed in the 16 team Prospect Invitational, winning the team championship, 199 to 169 for second place Naperville Central. We were led by three individual champions; Luke Berktold (120), Matt Kubas (175), and Owen McGrory (215). Kubas was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler. Second place finishers were Orion Moran (132) and Caleb Baczek (190). James Liu finished 4th at 126. Jake Shafer (106), Charlie Clark (165), and Erich Walldorf (190) finished 5th. Jacob Whisenand (150) finished 6th. Hunter Hill (138) and Rhett VanBoening (285) finished in 7th.
The Freshmen finished 2nd in the Grayslake Central 12 team invitational. 4 LHS frosh won individual titles, Joe Gawronski (90), Braydan Liu (120), Jon Garrison (157), and Aleks Nikolich (215). Chase Burchfield (106) and Karim Alaoui (175) finished in second. Ryan Sherman (113) and Ruben Quintero (144) finished in 3rd. Liam Huizenga (98) and Mason Roe (144) finished in 4th. Deniz Korkut (150) finished 5th.
Week 2 Recap
We won a big one on Friday night against Warren in our first conference meet. With a starting weigh of 106 Warren jumped out to a 10-0 lead. We won the next five with 4 pins to go ahead 27-10. Warren wonthenext three to pull within 3. But our upper weight stars had a pin, a tech fall, and a 5-0 win over their returning state qualifier to put the meet out of reach. Warren pinned at 285 to make the final score 41-30.
Saturday we competed in a mega dual at St. Charles East. We beat Oswego East (62-9) and Oswego (48-27), losing to St. Charles East, the #1 ranked team in the state, 46-21. Three match winners were Luke Berktold, Matt Kubas, Caleb Baczek, and Owen McGrory. Top wins were by Matt Kubas, a 6-3 win over a returning All-Stater, and Owen McGrory, a pin over a returning state qualifier. James Liu had two pins, one over a returning sectional qualifier.
Week 1 Recap
The Libertyville varsity wrestlers opened the season with victories over Antioch (42-33) and McHenry (55-24). On Friday/Saturday, they competed in the 32 team Barrington Invitational, finishing 3rd. Placewinners were Luke Berktold (120 champion), Owen McGrory (215 champion), Matt Kubas (2nd at 175), Orion Moran (3rd at 132), Caleb Baczek (3rd at 190), Will Carney (6th at 144), James Liu (8th at 126), Jake Shafer (9th at 106), and James Scanio (10 at 157). Others winning matches were Hunter Hill (138), Jacob Whisenand (150), Ethan Trowbridge (165), Erich Walldorf (190), Gabe Turchinsky (285), and Rhett VanBoening (285).
The JVs competed in the 12 team Glenbard North JV Invitational, finishing in a tie for 2nd. They were led for 4 champions; Antonio Kelly (138), Anthony Kelly (144), Jacob Whisenand (150), and Ethan Trowbridge (165). Second place finishers were Brayden Liu (120) and Jack Treutelaar (175). Thomas Wiesneth (157) took 5th.
The Freshmen competed in duals against Antioch, McHenry, Carmel, Highland Park, and Cary-Grove. Going 3-0 for the weekend were Jon Garrison (left), Ruben Quintero (middle), and Liam Huizenga (right).
2 match winners were Lola Gonzalez, Breckin Hanahan-McKenzie, and Denis Korkut.
Cole Matulenko wins the 2023 195 State Championship
Cole Matulenko began his state tournament with a first period pin over Joliet West. He scored a technical fall (17-2) in the quarterfinals over Mt. Carmel. In the semifinals he beat Belleville East 6-2. In the finals the #1 state ranked Marist wrestler, also #23 in the nation, Cole got the first takedown sending his opponent to his back, getting the pin in 31 seconds, a new 195 state finals fastest pin record.
Matt Kubas went 4-2 to finish 4th at 170, scoring a pin over York, a 12-2 win over Lincoln-Way Central, a 13-6 win over Wheaton Warrenville South, and a 3-1 win over St. Charles East in the consolation semifinals.
Luke Berktold and Owen McGrory both went 2-2, losing in the blood round, the consolation quarterfinals, one spot shy of an All-State finish. Luke beat Belleville East (8-4) and Hersey (5-0). Owen pinned Geneva and beat Elk Grove (12-0). Caleb Baczek also competed but lost to Marmion and Quincy.
5 Libertyville wrestlers finished in the top four at their weights in the Sectional Tournament (February 10/11) to qualify for the State Tournament (February 16-18). Cole Matulenko won the 195 title. 2nd place finishers were Matt Kubas (170) and Owen McGrory (220). 4th place finishers were Luke Berktold (120) and Caleb Baczek (182).
The Libertyville varsity wrestlers competed in the Regionals at Grant Saturday, February 4. Despite qualifying 10 wrestlers for the Sectional Tournament, we finished behind Warren in the team standings, 195-178. Both teams had 10 Sectional Qualifiers. McHenry finished in third (162, 8 qualifiers), Mundelein was fourth (131, 5 qualifiers), Grant was 5th (113, 6 qualifiers), Round Lake was 6th (84, 3 qualifiers), Waukegan (16) and Zion-Benton (10) did not get any qualifiers. Our Sectional Qualifiers were Luke Berktold (3rd at 120), Orion Moran (3rd at 126), Hunter Hill (3rd at 132), Will Carney (3rd at 152), Charlie Clark (2nd at 160), Matt Kubas (2nd at 170), Caleb Baczek (1st at 182), Cole Matulenko (1st at 195), Owen McGrory (1st at 220), and Caleb Christensen (3rd at 285).
The Libertyville wrestlers defeated Zion-Benton (66-4) and Stevenson (37-28) in the final two meets of the conference race to finish atop the conference standings with a 7-0 record, 17-4 overall. Winners against Stevenson were Hunter Hill (pin at 132), Anthony Kelly (pin at 145), Will Carney (7-3 at 152), Matt Kubas (15-7 major at 170), Cole Matulenko (pin at 195), Owen McGrory (pin at 220), and Luke Berktold (pin at 120). Here are the conference champions . . .
In last weekend's Lake County Invitational, Libertyville finished in second behind Warren (212-204). Stevenson was in third with 175. We were led by two individual champions, Matt Kubas (170) and Owen McGrory (220). 2nd place finishers were Luke Berktold (120), Caleb Baczek (182), and Cole Matulenko (195). Caleb Christensen (285) finished 3rd. Orion Moran (126) and Hunter Hill (132) took 4ths. Will Carney (152) finished 5th, Charlie Clark (160) finished 6th. Our two Lake County champions (Owen on left, Matt on right) . . .
The Libertyville wrestlers moved their conference record to 5-0 with a 55-24 win over Mundelein on January 13. Competing in the Lyons Quad on Saturday, the Libertyville wrestlers went 2-1 with wins over Conant (46-23) and Lyons (53-21), losing to DeKalb (43-35).
The Libertyville wrestlers moved their conference record to 4-0 on January 6 with a 61-12 win over Lake Zurich. On Saturday, the wrestlers won the team title in the Glenbard West 12 team invite, 227 to 174 for second place Fremd. 6 Libertyville wrestlers won individual championships: Hunter Hill (132), Matt Kubas (170), Austin Gomez (182), Cole Matulenko (195), Owen McGrory (220), and Caleb Christensen (285). Orion Moran (126) finished 2nd. Luke Berktold (120), Antonio Kelly (138), and Anthony Kelly (145) finished 3rd. Charlie Clark (160) finished 5th. Below are the Glenbard West Invitational team champions . . .
The Libertyville wrestlers competed in the DeKalb 32 Dual Team Invitational on December 29/30. We finished the competition with a 4-2 record and in 21st place. We lost to West Aurora in the first round 43-36 which put us in the consolation bracket. We beat Hillgrove (GA) 57-15 in the second round. We lost to Hinsdale Central 37-35 in the final meet of the first day to finish 6th in our pool. That put in a 4 team round robin the second day with the other 6th place pool finishers where we would finish 21st through 24th. We won all three meets the next day, Oswego (48-31), Pewaukee (WI, 54-28), and Belvidere (48-31). Austin Gomez won his 6 matches, all by first period pin. Matt Kubas won 6 with four pins. Cole Matulenko went 6-0 with 5 pins. Luke Berktold and Caleb Christensen had 5-1 records with 5 pins. Owen McGrory went 4-2, both of his losses coming to returning All-Staters. Others winning matches were Brian Furlong, Orion Moran, Hunter Hill, and Antonio Kelly.
The Libertyville wrestlers moved to 3-0 in the conference with a 72-3 win over Waukegan on December 15. Vernon Hills was also competing with us that day and we won 54-15. Over the weekend we competed in the Harlem (Dvorak) 39 team invitational. We had three placewinners, Cole Matulenko (3rd at 195), Matt Kubas (5th at 170), and Owen McGrory (5th at 220). Luke Berktold (120), Charlie Clark (160), Austin Gomez (182), and Caleb Christensen (285) also had wins. We finished 19th as a team. Placewinners below are Matt Kubas, Cole Matulenko, and Owen McGrory.
The Libertyville wrestlers moved to 2-0 in the conference with a 57-9 win over Lake Forest on December 9. The next day they competed in the Prospect 16 team invite and finished 3rd behind champion Prospect and runner up Joliet Catholic. Austin Gomez (182) and Owen McGrory (220) won championships. Matt Kubas (170) finished 2nd. Cole Matulenko (195) and Caleb Christensen (285) finished 3rd. Antonio Kelly (138) and Caleb Baczek (182) finished 4th. Luke Berktold (120) finished 5th. Others winning matches were Orion Moran (126), Hunter Hill (132), and Max Butler (160).
The Libertyville wrestlers won a hard fought 41-30 win over conference title contender Warren on December 2. Warren jumped out to a 12-0 lead before Libertyville won the next 6 matches including an upset 15-12 win by Charlie Clark at 160. Cole Matulenko and Owen McGrory knocked off returning sectional qualifiers. A Warren pin at 106 made the score 27-18 lead. We got another upset win at 113 with freshman Jack Gershtenson winning his first high school match, 11-7 with a great comeback effort. Luke Berktold (120) and Hunter Hill (132) had pins to wrap up the win.
On Saturday, December 3 the Libertyville wrestlers competed in a mega dual at West Aurora. We went 2-1 with wins over Wheaton Warrenville South (45-30) and Oswego (55-24), losing to St. Charles East (54-21).
The Libertyville wrestlers began the season with a triangular with McHenry and Antioch on Wednesday, November 23. Libertyville won both meets, 52-24 over Antioch, 45-27 over McHenry. On Friday and Saturday the Libertyville wrestlers competed in the Barrington 31 team Invitational and placed 2nd behind champion Hersey. Our place winners were Matt Kubas (1st at 170), Hunter Hill (2nd at 132), Austin Gomez (2nd at 182), Cole Matulenko (2nd at 195), Owen McGrory (3rd at 220), Luke Berktold (4th at 120), Caleb Christensen (4th at 285), Charlie Clark (9th at 160), and Caleb Baczek (10th at 182).
Coach Seeger is named to the IWCOA Hall of Fame
On Sunday, November 27, the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association selected Coach Roy Seeger to their 2023 Hall of Fame class. Coach Seeger is in his 37th year in coaching. He began at Lake Forest High School as an assistant for 6 years. He came to Libertyville for his first of four stints as an assistant in 1992 and 1993. Lake Forest asked him back as their head coach for the 1994 season. He spent 5 years as Lake Forest's head coach. Lake Forest hadn't been a top division for nearly two decades when Roy took over. He got them to second in the conference within two years. Same with the Regionals, 2nd in two years. Before Roy got there, Lake Forest had never had an All-State wrestler. During his five years Lake Forest had 4 All-State wrestlers.
Due to his job responsibilities at a family business in Arlington Heights, and the addition of two children to his family, Roy had to give up his Lake Forest head coaching position. He came back to Libertyville as an assistant coach the next three years, 1999-2001. After three successful season at Libertyville, Mundelein asked Roy to be their new head coach. Very similar to his time at Lake Forest, Roy took Mundelein to the upper division of the conference and regionals. Before the 2005 season, the new Mundelein superintendent said any head coach had to be a teacher at the school. So Roy was out. He came back to Libertyville as an assistant coach. He spent 8 years here (2005-2012), some of our best years.
Roy went back to Mundelein for the 2013 season as his former Lake Forest assistant coach, current LHS assistant coach, Vinny Jiuditta, took over the Mundelein head coach and asked Roy to be his technique coordinator. He stayed at Mundelein for several years but came back to Libertyville's coaching staff in 2021 after a Mundelein head coaching change, his fourth stint on our staff, his 16th overall.
Coach Seeger will be inducted at the IWCOA Banquet on Sunday, April 16, 2:30. More details for registering for the banquet will be announced later.