Lake Park duo delivers at Berman

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Blake Santi (22-2) was the man of the moment Wednesday afternoon, producing a stunning upset over top seed Kyle Langenderfer as he capped a marvelous two-day effort to win the 138-pound crown and Outstanding Wrestler honors at the 57th annual Berman Holiday Classic at host Palatine High School.

The Lake Park senior sealed his 6-3 victory over the No. 5-rated Langenderfer (17-2) with a takedown just before time expired to give the Lancers their first of two individual champions, the second coming after Farai Sewera dominated the field at 160 pounds, finishing things up with a fall over Hunter Rollins of Hersey at 1:55.

Hinsdale Central, which took the lead early on and never let go, lifted the team trophy by outscoring Lincoln-Way Central 178.5-153.5, with 2A power Lemont edging St. Charles East for third-place 145-143.

A strong effort in the final rounds carried Warren past Rock Island (127), Richmond-Burton (126) and Downers Grove North for fifth place, as seniors Aaron Brewton (152) and Shakhiem Chapman (195) earned championship rings.

Lake Park coach Todd Raymond praised the winning mentality of Santi and the dramatic improvement shown by Sewera.

“Those two guys have a dream of doing something special down in Champaign in late February, and both took a big step forward to reaching that dream,” said Raymond. “You have to remember that Blake and Farai have been wrestling only 3˝ years, so to see them reach the level they’re at right now says a lot about their hard work, commitment and desire to improve.”

Santi appeared to be in trouble in the early going as Langenderfer looked to be the stronger and quicker of the two while taking a 3-0 lead midway through the second period.

But a late escape to end the period, followed by back-to-back calls for stalling and subsequent penalty points brought Santi even at 3-3. A 1-point escape put him ahead for good with 30 seconds left in regulation to set up a deuce at the edge to give him the victory.

“I told my dad the other day I was done with finishing third at the Conant and Lake Park tournaments,” joked Santi, who easily defeated previously unbeaten Steve Galliardo of St. Patrick in the semis. “This is the type of win that I can build off, then use the momentum from the tournament to help me continue on through and into the state tournament, where I am looking to accomplish bigger and better things.”

“It wasn’t the prettiest of matches, but Blake wrestled brilliantly, and really earned his title,” said Raymond.

Sewera (20-1) a native of Zimbabwe, never let any of his four opponents get close. That includes talented Herse senior Rollins, who cruised into the finals, only to be stopped cold by the Lancers’ senior star.

“I got a taste of the state tournament, but after being (excited) to just get down there last year, this season, my plan is to go down there and do something special,” said Sewera.

Freshmen Jake Drew (Glenbard East) opened the final session of the day with an impressive 8-0 victory over Ryan Rubino (St. Charles East) to win the 106-pound crown and start a nice little run for the area, which included back-to-back title runs by the Saints’ Isaih Vela (126, 20-1) and senior Nick Ruffino (132, 20-3), who both held their top seeds.

Ruffino finally won his first Berman title after two third-place finishes and a runner-up last year after pinning Dvorak runner-up Conrad Bugay (Hersey) at 2:58.

“I watched (Bugay) a couple of times over the two days, and kind of knew what was coming, and before the match (Isaih) told me to go head-hard with him, and when I did, I was able to catch him and get him to his back, and I didn’t let up after that,” said Ruffino.

Vela, who bruised his ribs during his semifinal bout with Mike Gussarson of Antioch, wasn’t deterred by the discomfort, providing a rough ride for freshman upstart Juwan Edmond (Hinsdale Central) en route to a 8-5 decision for the sophomore, who brought home a fourth-place medal from Champaign last season.

“Nick and Isaih were both terrific, and it was great to see (Nick) the leader of this team, win a championship here after falling short a couple of times,” said Saints coach Steve Smerz. “I would have liked us to do better in our last seven matches, where we won just three. When it comes around to regionals and sectionals, losses in those types of matches could be the difference between advancing or going home.”

Drew (16-2) relished the opportunity to be the underdog, first defeating No. 2 seed Tyler Dehaven (Rock Island) in the semis before knocking off the top seed to give the Rams their lone championship.

“It really helped to get (ahead) in my final, and after that, I just tried to keep good position while keeping his hands under control and adding to my lead along the way,” said Drew.

The Rams’ Angelo San Juan (17-1) lost in a battle of the unbeatens as the senior fell 6-2 to BJ McGhee (22-0) of Rock Island in the 113-pound final.

North Suburban Conference rivals Matt Ornoff (Mundelein) and George Gonzalez (Antioch) met in the 145-pound final. Ornoff (21-0) held off a late push from the 2A star to grab am 8-4 victory.

Both Brewton (20-1) and Chapman (20-1) hope to give Warren coach Jim Ouimette the lineup power necessary to carry the Blue Devils past perennial league leaders Libertyville and Grant at the conference tournament later this season; both turned in magnificent work to win their individual titles.

“Those (two) have really come around this season — they’ve matured as competitors and as people and now have the confidence needed to reach the goals they’ve set for themselves,” says Ouimette.

“It begins to get more serious (now) and this championship feels real good right now,” said Brewton, whose second-period explosion broke open a close match with top seed Kyle Kerres (19-1) of Rock Island.

Kerres had no answer for Brewton’s takedown and near-fall to help increase his lead from 2-0 to a more comfortable 7-2 after two periods.

“I am a light rider, but when I felt his weight shift, I just went after him,” said Brewton.

Richmond-Burton, trying to get itself to full strength with several football players from its 4A state runner-up team, had a terrific afternoon. R-B was led by Cameron Kennedy (120) and Jack Dechow (182), each brilliant in their runs to the top of the podium

Kennedy, a junior and the younger brother of former Grant and current Illinois star Jimmy Kennedy, conceded just 1 point over the two days as he ran his record to 21-0. Dechow, who ran for 246 yards in the Rockets’ football title game loss to Rochester, destroyed the competition to help secure his No. 1 spot atop the state polls.