Marmion dominates regional
Moving up a class for the state wrestling tournaments has been a godsend for Marmion.
The defending Class 3A team runners-up, the Cadets were in a league of their own at the Waubonsie Valley individual regional Saturday afternoon in Aurora.
Crowning all but one of their 11 championship finalists, the Cadets dominated the largely Aurora and Naperville field by almost 140 points.
Waubonsie Valley and Wheaton Warrenville South combined for 13 qualifiers to the Hinsdale Central sectional next week in placing a distant second and third, respectively.
Naperville North and Metea Valley had five qualifiers each, with West Aurora and Batavia adding three apiece.
Naperville Central and East Aurora had a lone qualifier.
Marmion, which finished with 11 total qualifiers and 283.5 points, advances to the Marist team sectional the Tuesday after the individual state championships in Champaign later this month.
Marmion will face Mt. Carmel at Marist.
The Cadets had championship runs of four and six weight classes in accruing their 10 titles.
Lucas Warren came to epitomize the Cadets’ newfound health.
Ravaged by a lower-back issue and making his first appearance since the season-opening Barrington tournament, Warren had a takedown and reversal for the only points in his 4-0 verdict over Batavia senior Connor McKeehan at 220 pounds.
“I have been in practice the last three weeks,” Warren said. “Being able to beat up on some other guys, it felt great. (The matches) took all of my pent-up energy that I have had for a while.”
Sammy Breen followed Trace Carello launching the Cadets’ second run of uninterrupted titles with a 21-10 blitz at 160 pounds.
Nick Ferraro, Nathan Traxler and Josh Meyers then served as appetizers for Warren with wins between 170 and 195 pounds.
“We get a feel for the close matches (from our regular-season schedule),” Traxler said.
“I am pretty happy with what I did,” Meyers said.
Anthony Bosco, a North Carolina-bound 113-pounder, started the initial blitz with a technical fall.
AJ Jaffe needed less than a minute to emerge victorious at 120 pounds.
Three-time state reigning state champion Johnny Jimenez, bound for Wisconsin, had few issues in authoring a major decision at 126 pounds.
Anthony Cheloni then ended the Marmion run with another first-period pin at 132.
West Aurora freshman Isaac Jacquez had extra motivation: honoring his older brother Carlos.
The elder Jacquez, one of the top-ranked 113-pounders in the state, broke his hand two days before the tournament.
“I knew I had to get (a takedown),” Jacquez said of his 106-pound 3-1 decision over Naperville North senior Jake Kruk.
Brandon Farias (152 pounds) and heavyweight Sam Deisher also advanced for West Aurora.
In addition to McKeehan, Batavia junior Noah Frazier and freshman Joe Pesledni advanced at 195 and 126 pounds for the Bulldogs.
“I’m not surprised at what we have going to the sectional,” Batavia coach Scott Bayer said. “Three is about what I expected.”
Jimmy Davis’ attempt for a return trip to Big Ten country was successful as the Waubonsie Valley senior scored in all three offensive disciplines — takedown, reversal and back points — to post an 8-0 win over Naperville Central junior Ben Williamson at 138 pounds.
“My goal from the off-season is that I don’t want to have any regrets when I take that ankle bracelet off,” Davis said. “My goal for every match is to get that first takedown.”
Waubonsie Valley, a two-time reigning Upstate Eight Valley and defending regional champion, was the lone program other than Marmion to produce more than one champion.
Heavyweight Tyler Caldwell had a third-period takedown to beat the buzzer and fellow sophomore Deisher of West Aurora with a 3-1 victory.
The Warriors’ Jake Timberlake and Mitch Kroening dropped back-to-back championship matches at 170 and 182 pounds.
“We were hoping to get eight (qualifiers),” Waubonsie Valley coach Brad Caldwell said. “It’s uphill from here. Hinsdale Central is going to be a tough sectional. We’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game.”
Wheaton Warrenville South advanced in half of the 14 weight classes, only to fall a half-point shy of Waubonsie Valley for team runner-up.
Andrew Ives was the only athlete in the championship bracket to deny a Marmion wrestler.
Ives had a reversal against 145-pounder Matt Ferraro midway through the third-period to take a 6-5 lead.
Ferraro, after several savage skirmishes, finally broke free in the waning seconds to tie the match.
But Ferraro stumbled and lost his balance in the aftermath, enabling Ives to pounce on him as the buzzer sounded for an 8-6 victory.
“I don’t quite remember it,” the WW South junior said of the frenetic final minute-plus. “It happened so fast. I knew I could win it. I have never been to the sectional before.”
Karlin Johnnic, Ben Flores and Cory Drummond earned automatic bids in succession between 120 and 132 pounds with championship appearances.
Jake Kruk and Ben Brancaleon had the best performances for Naperville North with second-place showings at 106 and 195 pounds.
Axl Ariza, Kenan Carter and Sam Elston had the same accomplishment for Metea Valley, but the triumvirate all fell victim to the Marmion landslide.