Eye on Libertyville High School Sports

senior wrestler Pat Fitzgerald has seen professional wrestling on television but when his dad approached him about wrestling in sixth grade, young Fitzgerald wasn't all that interested.

"I thought it was that WWE stuff,'' Fitzgerald said.

It could be that he just couldn't see himself getting hit over the head with a chair and tossed into the third row of the stands.

"It turns out it wasn't that kind of wrestling,'' he said.

It's the final season of high school wrestling for Fitzgerald and it seems clear he's ready for a big finish. He's not shy about his goals. He wants to place in state or win a state title.

"He is on the top of his game right now,'' said Libertyville wrestling coach Dale Eggert. "He is all business. His moves are as crisp as I could imagine a high school guy doing them. His match pace is non-stop. Against tough guys, he's competing. Against guys he should beat he is pounding them."

Fitzgerald made the Libertyville varsity as a freshman. It took him a little while to get used to making the big club.

"I was scared,'' he said."I had to get used to the competitiveness and how hard it was to get in shape."

Fitzgerald qualified for the state meet as a sophomore but was tripped up a year ago. He hopes to qualify again this winter.

"Not returning to state his junior year was a disappointment for him,'' Eggert said. "It was a very tough regional weight."

One thing the senior knows for sure is that he's a much more talented wrestler than he was when he first made varsity three years ago.

"I'm 20 times better,'' he said. "I've done a lot more to get in shape. I went to nationals."

Fitzgerald has qualified for the Greco-Roman Nationals each season.

The senior has bounced around the weights starting at 103 and hitting as high as 125. He wants to drop to 113 for the run to state.

"I need to get my metabolism going,'' he said. "I'll be eating fruit and taking in lots of liquids."

Eggert feels this senior is ready to make his move come the post-season tournaments.

"Watching him practice and compete this year is like looking at a completely different guy,'' he said. "It has been a pleasure for coaches, teammates, and fans to watch."

By winning four matches last week, Fitzgerald was chosen as one of the school's athletes of the week.

Girls Hoops: Libertyville High School's girls basketball team hit a bump in the road heading to their first battle with rival Stevenson last week. That short losing streak, however, is over. Libertyville (9-3) stopped Stevenson 50-42 on Dec. 9

"The girls came out focused and with a lot of energy, which led to their quick start,'' said Libertyville coach Kathie Swanson. "Our posts, Kerry Risley and Nicole Kruckman, did a good job of initiating our offense against Stevenson's 2-3 zone. Their movement and passing helped create a lot of our looks."

Risley had an excellent game in the post with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Kruckman had seven points and five rebounds. Haley Hoeksel checked in with nine points and 5 rebounds.

Next up for the Wildcats was the Mundelein Holiday Invite. Last Saturday, Libertyville whipped Waukegan 55-11. A freshman led the way in this win. Mary Wilterdink led the offense with 12 points. Rosie Lynch came of the bench to add nine points and eight steals.

On Tuesday night, Libertyville knocked off the home team from Mundelein, 51-31. Swanson gave plenty of credit for this win to Olivia Mayer.

"She did a great job of providing energy on defense and coming up with steals,'' Swanson said.

Also having strong games for the Wildcats were Alex Haley, Dana Kym and Hoeksel.

"It was good to see the team respond to adversity and play together on the same page in the second half,'' Swanson said. "They brought good energy and focus. When they do that, they are a fun team to watch."

Boys Hoops: So far, so good for this club. How about seven wins in a row for coach Scott Bogumil's team.

Win No. 7 came last Friday when the Wildcats stopped Lake Zurich 53-39. Jack Deichl led the way with 14 points. Anthony Mack (10 points) and Griffin Pils (8 points) all helped out.

Mack was also one of the school's athletes of the week.

The big game this Friday night comes at Stevenson (7:30 p.m.).

Ice Cats Hockey: When we last left off with this team, they were in the process of collecting children's books. And officially it was more than 200 books that were headed to Bernie's Book Bank.

There was a win on Monday for this team. Goalie Nick Draths notched 27 saves in the 3-0 win over Latin School of Chicago. Scoring goals on this day were Peter Henderson, Brad Zwiener and Jack Segall. Scott Miller picked up two assists and Daniel Nekich had one.

The Ice Cats return to Glacier Arena on Friday night to battle Conant.