wrestlers Artie Bess and Lenny Bloom have laser like focus on winning a state championship and job is to keep them focused on the road between this weekend’s Sectional and the State Finals Feb. 17 and 18.
Both athletes went to the State Meet a year ago,
“My goal is to win the state championship,” Bess said. “I’m going to keep my eyes on the prize. For me it’s about winning State. I’m bigger this year. That will help.” Bess has added weight and strength while he continues to wrestle in the 220 weight class.
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Bloom will be working on everything he feels he needs to do to return to Champaign in two weeks and come back to Deerfield a champion.
“I want to win State,” Bloom said of his 145-pound weight class. “I’ll be working on my moves a lot. I want to get better at what I did well and work on what I didn’t feel was good enough.”
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Before his championship match Saturday, Bloom was pacing the gym with music playing in his ears getting ready for the bout. He appeared oblivious to his surroundings. “I was thinking about my strategy,” he said. “I was getting mentally prepared.”
Pechter has confidence in Boom, Bess and the other five Warriors who advanced from the Stevenson Regional Saturday into the Barrington Sectional this Friday and Saturday. The Deerfield mentor knows he must keep his charges grounded.
“One match at a time,” Pechter said of the task before his wrestlers. “We’ll keep them firmly grounded. They know what they want and how to get it.”
Bess, 33-1 for the season, and Bloom (145), 34-1, won Regional championships Saturday along with Christian Hoogheem (120). The trio will be joined at the Sectional by second place finishers Tyler Pohn (170) and J.J. Nawrot (280) as well as Keven Hoogheem (113) and Jim Kirby (195) who placed third. Keven Hoogheem also went to the State Meet last year.
Pechter is happy about the seven Warriors who will continue with their season. He plans to have them all concentrating on success at the Sectional and going beyond to the State Meet. “I feel good about the seven who are going further,” he said. “It’s up to us as coaches to get them ready.”
The Barrington Sectional will provide Bess with initial concentration for his overall goal. He knows winning there will put him in a better place for the State Meet. “I want to win Sectional and hopefully get a good seeding for State,” he said.
As Christian Hoogheem prepares for the Sectional this week, he will take the lessons learned from his championship bout, an 11-4 decision, into practice to emerge a better wrestler Friday night. He just missed going to the State Meet in 2011.
“I feel my hard work paid off,” Christian Hoogheem said of the season since missing out on a trip to Champaign a year ago. “I worked on my cuts. My single leg (move) is better.”
