Full Harper Results
PALATINE, Ill. – The Harper College wrestling team has been competing for nearly three months, but Saturday marked the first time the Hawks hosted a meet this year. Twelve Harper wrestlers battled it out in the Illinois Underclassman State Invitational inside the Wellness & Sports Center, and eight of those 12 either won their weight class or finished runner-up.
Ian Mullen (McHenry, Ill. /McHenry West), Antoine Bess (Chicago, Ill. /Fenton ), and Kameran Hardwick (/Lake Park) won their weight classes while Paul Marcson (Buffalo Grove, Ill. /Stevenson ), James Knapp (Bourbonnais, Ill. /Bradley-Bourbonnais), Howard Olson (DeKalb, Ill. /DeKalb), John Makey (Grayslake, Ill. /Grayslake Central ), and Fabian Jerez (New York, NY/Liberty ) (unattached) finished second in their divisions.
Mullen and Marcson were the only two competitors at 125 pounds. The two teammates squared off in a single match, with Mullen prevailing 8-3. Bess navigated a three-man bracket at 133 pounds that included teammate Lamar Carter, who wrestled unattached, and Lincoln College's Kaevahn Pendelton. He defeated Pendelton first by major decision, 13-5, and then pinned Carter at the 4:46 mark of their match.
Hardwick and Jerez both wrestled in the heavyweight division and took the top two spots out of four wrestlers. Hardwick pinned both Ben Staton and Cody Cannon of Lincoln and then won by forfeit over Jerez. Jerez topped Cannon 5-1 and Staton 3-0 before the last match was forfeited.
Knapp won his first match of the day at 141 by fall over Garrad Straube of Lincoln. Casey McWhirtier of North Central College pinned Knapp in his second match. Finally, he rebounded with a 15-13 win over North Central's Justin McGady. Olson placed runner-up among four wrestlers at 157. He was pinned less than a minute into his match with Jake Domke. However, Olson defeated Thomas Morales of North Central with a pin in the closing seconds of their match. He closed out his day with a close 7-6 victory over Lincoln's Jeff Fresch.
Makey wrestled at 165 pounds and posted a 2-1 record to take second place. After a first round lose to eventual champion Tyree Overton of Lincoln College, he won by fall over Lincoln's Grant Carmody and won by injury default over North Central's Matt Pandocchi.
