Highland Park’s Alex Rosenbloom (right) works against Deerfield’s Jack Reichin in the 145-pound third-place match at the Libertyville Sectional PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
This one would’ve left a mark.
It would’ve left a pretty bad Terry Bradshaw stain (see the Tide Super Bowl ad) on one of Highland Park High School’s elite wrestlers.
Deerfield’s Jack Reichin tried to play spoiler in the 145-pound third-place match at the Class 3A Libertyville Regional on Feb. 4. The unheralded sophomore nearly came up with a comeback of Tom Brady (again, see Super Bowl) proportions.
But just in the nick of time — and nick might be a little generous here — Alex Rosenbloom was able to turn the … tide.
“My heart,” said the Highland Park junior, a good 30 minutes after his match, “is still pounding.
“I’m still shaking over it,” he added. “It took a pretty big adrenaline rush for me to get out of it.”
After building a sizeable lead (7-1), Rosenbloom was within half an eyelash of getting pinned by Reichin (15-9).
“I was really worried that it was over for him,” said HP head coach Chris Riley. “He got caught. And he got caught in a bad way.
“Alex unknowingly stepped into danger. He was exploited,” Riley added. “The kid [Reichin] made a big move at the right time. He set it up perfectly.”
In real time, fending off the pin seemed like an utter impossibility for the super-talented Rosenbloom. It looked like he was cooked. Stuck.
In wrestling vernacular, Reichin hit Rosenbloom with “the cement mixer” (Google that).
To his astonishment, Rosenbloom wound up on his back and in a ridiculously tight spot in the final minute of the second period.
And that’s when time stood still. Rosenbloom fought the pin off for what seemed like an eternity.
His escape from danger would’ve rivaled the great Harry Houdini on a good day.
“I don’t know if I got too cocky or what,” said Rosenbloom, a state qualifier at 138 pounds last winter. “I was beating him good. I had no worries.’’
“That’s the beauty of this sport and the cruelty of this sport,” Riley said. “You can do a thousand things right and then you do one thing wrong and you pay the ultimate price.”
The third period, like the first period, was all Rosenbloom. He reloaded. Rebooted. He wound up winning the bout 14-8. He will head to this weekend’s Barrington Sectional with a 23-4 record.
“It would’ve been really bad to have my season cut short at the regional,” Rosenbloom confessed.
Steven Weathers and DJ Penick also advanced out of the regional.
Penick kept his record unblemished (32-0) by going 3-0 and winning the 182-pound bracket. There was some drama in the championship match, when Stevenson’s Robert Pavlovich put Penick on his back early in the third period.
Pavlovich’s four-point move caused quite a stir from the crowd — especially from the large contingent of Stevenson students in the west bleachers.
But Penick soon recovered. He twisted out of Pavlovich’s grip and eventually won the hotly contested match 7-4.
Moments after his arm was raised by the referee, Penick hugged Pavlovich and quickly looked up to the Stevenson fans and put his index finger up to his lips. He had quieted them.
“Just having a little fun with them. I’m still a kid,” said Penick, who earlier in the week signed a national letter of intent to play Division I football at Murray State. “But you have to give a lot of props to the Stevenson fans. They’re rowdy. You hear them all day. It’s a great fan base. For them to give up a Saturday and come to a wrestling meet is amazing.”
Weathers, who lost 5-3 to Zion-Benton’s DJ Chisum in the 152-pound semifinals, had a tough battle in the third-place match. He recorded takedowns in the first and third period to edge Deerfield’s Brock Emmerich 4-2.
He will take a 32-2 record to the Barrington Sectional.
“All three of our guys had some adventures,” said Riley. “But all three of them kept their composure and found a way to advance.”
HP’s Steven Weathers competes against Deerfield’s Brock Emmerich in 152-pound third-place bout. He won 4-2. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
Teammate DJ Penick (left) gets ready to hug Steven Weathers following the 152-pound third-place match. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
DJ Penick of the Giants (white singlet) takes on Stevenson’s Robert Pavlovich. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER