Montini freshman has senior moment

Joining a program with the stature of Montini wrestling can be intimidating for a freshman, but that is far from the case for the Broncos' Real Woods.

The 106-pounder has felt right at home in his rookie season, and after two more pins at Fenton's Class 2A wrestling regional Saturday, the nationally ranked Woods sports a 30-3 record and heads to next week's sectional at Antioch as a regional champion.

"It went well. I expected what happened (today)," said Woods, who pinned Vincent D'Orazio of St. Francis in the semis before also winning by fall over Fenton's Corey Muniz in the championship bout. "I had heard of (Muniz), but we had not wrestled before. People told me he was tough and stuff, but I don't like to overestimate or underestimate any wrestler."

Woods was one of 10 Broncos to claim titles as Montini won the team title with 264.50 points while advancing 12 wrestlers to the sectionals. The host Bison took second with 217.50 points and also have 12 wrestlers moving on, as Joe Oweina (160 pounds) and Juan Alfaro (170) won titles and 10 other Fenton wrestlers finished in the top three to secure a sectional berth.

While Woods was sharp, Montini boasted a number of other great showings, including heavyweight champion Michael Johnson and defending state champions Xavier Montalvo and Vince Turk, along with two wrestlers who finished above their seeds to help the team roll to victory.

Johnson, a state runner-up last winter, pinned St. Francis standout Cole Cunningham at the 5:04 mark in the title bout, marking the second straight year he defeated the Spartans' state qualifier in the regional finals. Turk pinned Glenbard South's Vince Marra to win the 145 title and improve to 33-2 on the year, while Xavier Montalvo wrapped up the title at 182 with a pin of Lake View's Stefan Zuric and will now take a 32-3 mark into the sectionals.

"It's just a good relief to see our boys have success after just a brutal year. Our schedule is brutal, with nationally ranked guys every other weekend and every other match," Montini coach Israel Martinez said. "It was great to get some local state competition, and our boys did pretty well."

Also claiming crowns for the Broncos were Holden Heller at 113, Will Lewan at 120, Jimmy Pawelski at 126, Dylan Duncan at 132, Caleb Fortuna at 138 and Luke Fortuna at 152. At 220 pounds, Robert Gannon was unseeded but earned a trip to sectionals by taking third, while Eddie Laviste was seeded fourth at 160 pounds but advanced to the finals before falling 9-3 to Oweina.

Oweina, a Bison senior now 25-9 on the year, claimed his first regional title after a solid day that also included a 9-3 defeat of St. Francis' Ethan Bougadis in the semis.

"I had seen him wrestle today and he was pretty good," the Fenton 160-pounder said of Laviste. "I wrestled tough, I was aggressive and I took it home pretty much. I really wanted it and sometimes you have to want it to get it."

For the Spartans, David Johnson joined teammate Cunningham in reaching the finals before taking second at 170 pounds, and three other St. Francis wrestlers move on after placing third at the regional.

"It was a great day," said Cunningham, who last year became the first state qualifier for St. Francis after the school resurrected the wrestling program after a decades-long hiatus. "Going from my first year here and starting off with no sectional qualifiers, and then a succession from zero, to 1, to 3 and then 5. This is our best regional team, the best coached and well trained that we've had."

Glenbard South sophomore Numan Ayhan topped the field at 195 for the team's lone title, but three other Raiders also earned sectional berths.

"It was fun," said Ayhan, who won by major decision and a fall. "There are really good athletes here and these guys are good. It was a pretty good challenge. Better days to come I guess since I'm only a sophomore."