Highland Park’s Kessler takes 3rd at rugged Barrington Tournament

• Reprints

Highland Park's Nate Kessler looks for back points against Zion Benton's Johah Mahoney during the 113-pound third-place match at the Barrington Tournament on Saturday. Kessler won bout a technical fall. | Brian O'Mahoney~For Sun-Times Media

Updated: January 3, 2012 8:33AM

Many coaches tout a wrestler for putting in a lot of offseason work. For Nate Kessler, any such comments certainly ring true.

The Highland Park High School junior put all of his new skills on display during the Barrington Tournament. Kessler won five of six matches en route to placing third at 113 pounds.

“Nate has improved dramatically on his mat wrestling,” said Giants coach Chris Riley, aware that Kessler had a busy offseason. “He really understands the strategy of all three phases (top, bottom and neutral).”

Riley noted that Kessler has become much better at riding, and has the ability to quickly escape from the bottom.

His road to third place began with a 4-3 decision over Neuqua Valley’s Justin Kilacky. He then lost to Barrington’s Jared Parvinmehr 7-4 in the quarterfinal round. The score was impressive, considering eventual champ Parvinmehr destroyed his other three foes (14-2, pin, 13-0).

“(Parvinmehr) is legit,” Riley said. “That was a shot in the arm for Nate’s confidence.”

Kessler didn’t let the loss bother him. Instead, he roared through the consolation draw 5-2, 12-1 and 13-2 — and took third with a technical fall at 2:34 over Zion-Benton’s Jordan Mahoney.

Numbers game: Highland Park finished 25th at Barrington with 42.5 points. The Giants are plagued with low numbers, as the varsity has only six competitors available at this time.

On the plus side, the Giants do have some quality wrestlers. Senior Danny Cohen qualified for the second day of competition at Barrington in the 160 class.

“Danny is scoring more points and wrestling more aggressively than he has in the past,” said Riley of the returning Central Suburban League champion. “He’s scoring in more ways, and he’s putting together a better offensive attack.”

Other Giants to watch are sophomore Brandon Galvan (126), sophomore Dom Ciancio (138), sophomore Josh Pollack (152) and senior Connor McCraren (145).

McCraren, who earned dual-meet decisions over foes from Addison Trail and Grayslake Central on Nov. 23, is off to a 4-2 start.

“Connor is a kid who loves to compete,” Riley said. “He may not do things the conventional way, but he finds ways to score to keep himself in a match.”

On the schedule: The Giants will host District 113 rival Deerfield on Friday.