Wrestling: ‘Underdog’ Peters rises to occasion for Lake Zurich at league meet

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Lake Zurich's Emilio Nava (top) battles North Chicago's Demarcus Jones during 113-pound action at Saturday's NSC Tournament. Nava went on to place fifth in his weight class. | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 3, 2012 8:12AM

Athletes can be fickle creatures, finding motivation in the most nuanced of places.

Take Lake Zurich High School wrestler Michael Peters. The junior 126-pounder was unseeded heading into Friday and Saturday’s North Suburban Conference league meet.

One could perceive that as a slight … a slap in the face.

How did Peters take it?

“I felt like I was the underdog and didn’t have any pressure to win,” he said. “It helped me with my nerves, kept me calm in my matches.”

By using this fly-under-the-radar strategy, Peters (16-12) won three of four matches Saturday, including his fifth-place match against Warren’s TJ Kuhn. The match went to overtime, and Peters prevailed 6-4.

It served as an example of Peters’ quickness on the mat, honed from many years of training, first at the Gomez Wrestling Academy in fourth grade. After his sophomore year, he developed a better shot technique, training at the Izzy School of Wrestling in Bensenville. 

But it was during a loss earlier in the season to state-ranked Justin Smiley of Plainfield North that Peters proved he could compete at the highest level. Smiley got a major decision, but not a technical fall.

“I learned that I can hang with people that are ranked high and still do decent,” Peters said.

Peters performed more than decently on Saturday, giving the Bears a boost from a weight class in which they hadn’t expected to receive any scoring. 

“He was discounted by everybody, and comes back and takes home a medal,” said Lake Zurich coach Dan Stickler.

“You win that match in OT, you feel like you’ve earned a great accomplishment,” Peters said. “It teaches you so much in life — to be determined, to not give up.”

Recap: It was a day of accomplishment for the Bears. Overall, they finished in fourth place (147 points) at the conference tournament. One statistic stood out more: LZ had 11 place-winners, which was second-best among all teams. 

“I’m really happy with my guys,” Strickler said. “Most of our guys placed where they should — or higher. It’s been a really outstanding year for a lot of reasons.”

Lake Zurich’s lone champion was top-seeded Scott Hoff (160). The senior won a 6-4 decision over Zion-Benton’s Luke Mivshek in the finals.

The Bears also had three fourth-place winners, five fifth-place finishers and two sixth-place winners. Fourth-place finishers were Sean Lynch (17-4) at 138, Matt Mueller (20-12) at 145 and Alex Kubes (14-10) at 182. Besides Peters, finishing fifth were Jerry Nigro (22-12) at 106, Emilio Nava (20-12) at 113, Gresh Henderson (21-6) at 120 and Adam Cantwell (16-11) at 220.

Lake Zurich’s two sixth-place medalists were Brandon Arteaga (28-11) at 132 and Chris Lehtinen (15-12) at 195. 

Previously, Lake Zurich tied the school record for wins in a single season (18) with its 47-15 decision over Mundelein on Jan. 24. The Bears finished the regular season at 18-3.

Stretch run: There’s always a question of how teams approach the end of the season. Coaches talk about wanting to peak in February. Conditioning and drilling is commonplace. Strickler, though, is a believer in sports psychology. He is a fan of noted author Beasley S. Hendrix, who has consulted with Olympic gold medalists and written several books on the topic.

“It boils down to different things work better for different kids,” said Strickler. “Overall, all thoughts have to be positive. Don’t expect to walk in and dominate any match. You have to expect a hard-fought match, that you win. There can’t be any question you are going to win.” 

On the schedule: Lake Zurich will compete in the Stevenson Regional on Saturday. 

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CONFERENCE STANDINGS: Grant (224.50), Libertyville (213), Antioch (166.50), Lake Zurich (147), Zion-Benton (134), Stevenson (111), Warren (102.50), Wauconda (91.50), Mundelein (76.50), Vernon Hills (67), Round Lake (62), Lakes (43), Lake Forest (22), North Chicago (16).

FIRST-PLACE FINISHERS: Nick Kramer, Grant (106); Steve Polakowski, Libertyville (113); Ben Soumar, Grant (120); Mike Gussarson, Antioch (126); Abel Rios, Zion (132); Matt Ornoff, Mundelein (138); Austin Pettinato, Libertyville (145); Justin Weber, Stevenson (152); Scott Hoff, Lake Zurich (160); Tony Cashmore, Grant (170); Zach Freundt, Antioch (182); Shakhiem Chapman, Warren (195); Quinton Quarles, Grant (195); Jeremy Brazil, Vernon Hills (285).