Another regional crown for Glenbard North
Glenbard North's Jon Marmolejo and Larkin's Duke Bogicevic entered the 126-pound championship match of the Class 3A South Elgin wrestling regional Saturday with a combined 81-2 record.
The match wasn't much of a contest.
Marmolejo dominated Bogicevic and won by fall 43 seconds into the third period. Marmolejo was leading 14-1 at the time.
“My goal was to pin him, obviously,” said Marmolejo, a senior. “I knew he was going to come out strong. I just had to wear him out eventually. The pin came along.”
Marmolejo's title was one of eight individual championships for the Panthers, who had wrestlers in 12 of the 14 title matches. Glenbard North won the team title with 263.5 points, easily distancing itself from St. Charles East (182). Geneva (117) was third followed by South Elgin (103.5) and Bartlett (79.50). The regional title is the 24th in program history for the Panthers.
This is Marmolejo's fourth consecutive regional title. Marmolejo (38-1) has not finished better than fifth at the state meet. That came last year at 120 pounds.
“We have a strong lineup and we just perform,” Marmolejo said of the team, which also advances to the Conant dual team sectional on Feb. 25.
The Panthers' Jered Cortez started his quest for a fourth consecutive state championship winning by technical fall in the first period in all three of his matches. Cortez (37-2) defeated St. Charles East's Ryan Valesh in the 132 title match in 1:45. Cortez had an early takedown and piled up back points to earn the victory.
“I'm good on top. I'm good on my feet too,” Cortez said. “Mat wrestling is definitely something that I worked on and enjoy competing at. I try to score as many points as possible in the least amount of time.”
Kirk Johansen (106), Austin Gomez (113), Pat Augustyn (120), Colton Wegner (170), Luke Greenberg (195) and Chris Edward (285) also won regional championships for Glenbard North. Also advancing to next week's Leyden sectional for the Panthers were Phil Partipilo (second, 138), Nick DePrima (third, 145), Anthony DePrima (second, 152), Tom Czernek (second, 160) and Geo Esparza (second, 182).
STC East won four individual regional championships, beating Glenbard North opponents in three of those matches.
Keone Derain (38-4) pinned Anthony DePrima in 2:48 for the 152 title. Ramon Lopez won by fall over Czernek in 2:30 at 160. Isaiah Vela won the 138 title by injury default when Partipilo withdrew.
The Saints' Jake Mende (30-7) defeated Geneva's Mike Huck for the third time this season with a 9-5 decision in the 145 title match.
“Our goal was definitely to come hard at Glenbard North,” Mende said. “They're a good team, full of good athletes. Now it's time to focus on our individual season.”
STC East will send nine wrestlers to the sectional. Anthony Rubino (113) and Valesh (132) finished second. D.J. McDermott (120), Blake Fialka (182) and Will Leite (285) each took third.
Geneva's Mitch Bradberry overcame arm pain in the 182 title match and beat Esparza. Bradberry said he has been dealing with arm tendinitis for much of the season.
“It was hard to fight through,” Bradberry said. “It's not fun at all.”
Joining Bradberry on the trip to Leyden for Vikings will be Steven MacDonald (third, 113), Huck (second, 145), Austin Chaon (second, 170) and Jake Anderson (second, 220).
Bartlett's Ben Wiley may have wrestled a “sloppy” match against Anderson as one of the Hawks' coaches told him afterward, but it was good enough to capture the 220 crown. Wiley won an 11-4 decision for his first regional title and his first trip to sectionals.
“As my coach said, it was sloppy,” Wiley said. “I definitely need to work my conditioning.”
Alec Delgado (third, 138) and Joe DiSanti (third, 195) also will head to sectionals for Bartlett.
Four South Elgin wrestlers advanced. Diego Gonzalez finished second at 285. Mike Perez (126), Zack Crosby (170) and Raustin Lucas (220) each took third.
West Chicago had three athletes move on — Emmanuel Garcia (second, 106), Adrian Smiley (third, 160) and John Garcia (second, 195).
Elgin's Zach McCullough injured his leg during the first period, but recovered and gave Augustyn a tough match in the 120 title match. Augustyn ended up with an 8-7 decision.
“I'll be all right,” McCullough said. “I'm looking forward to next week even if I have to battle through the pain. I'll deal with it.”
Nathan Romero, who finished third at 132, also advanced for the Maroons.
Bogicevic (34-2) and Alex Duran (third, 152) advanced for Larkin.
St. Charles North had just one wrestler move on. Kolbe O'Brien finished third at 106.