Proviso West off to a solid start

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:56PM

Rasheen Lemon picked up where he left off last season after finishing fifth in the Class 3A state meet at 189 pounds.

Lemon and two other Proviso West teammates went 10-0 to start the season at the Maine East Duals Invitational. The Panthers finished fourth Saturday out of 10 teams at the season-opening tournament.

Lemon, Christian Harris and Jevar Glover each went undefeated to open the season. Glover is coming off a state meet appearance at 285 last season.

"We had a really great tournament," Proviso West coach Bob Wortel said. "I'm very proud of the kids. They were there the day after Thanksgiving at 5 a.m. and they still made weight."

Lemon (38-6 last season) is expected to miss Saturday's Hinsdale South Invitational in order to take an official recruiting visit to Northern Illinois. The linebacker-wide receiver led Proviso West to back-to-back state playoff berths.

"He looks good for a first meet, coming off football," Wortel said. "He needs to get a little bit into wrestling shape. That's for everybody."

Lemon ended last season with a loss to Wheeling's Chris Johnson at the state meet. Glover is off to an undefeated 2010 start after going 30-5 last season.

Another state qualifier, Malik Thurman (20-6 last year), suffered his first loss at Maine East, but is still trying to find a weight class to meet his comforts. Both Thurman and teammate Julius Johnson can wrestle at 171 so Wortel may go to a platoon system.

"We can juggle and get them both matches," Wortel said.

Proviso West suffered two losses to eventual Maine East champion Notre Dame and Lake Park won another two duals from the Panthers.

"We gave every kid a match," Wortel said.

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