Cullen, Barone shine with championships
CHAMPAIGN - Hail to the champions!
Knowing that time was running out on their high school careers, and the chances of lifting a big trophy were down to just one more wrestling match, Michael Cullen and Eric Barone turned in the performance of their prep lives Saturday night and earned the first state titles of their careers at State Farm Arena.
Barone would stun No. 1 Larry Early of Oak Park-River Forest, the reigning state champ at 145 pounds, with a brilliantly played six-minute contest which would end in favor of the Crystal Lake South senior 3-2 (the third such result between the two best in the state) while Cary-Grove's Cullen, who entered this tournament as the No. 1 seed, held onto the top spot with a hard-fought 3-1 victory to defeat OPRF senior Alex Madrigal (37-5) in the 120-pound final.
"It's something that both Eric and I have been talking about for quite awhile but tonight, it's an amazing feeling to finally win a state title, and to share it with Eric, who has worked so hard to reach the top of his weight class," said Cullen (40-1) who is off to Wisconsin next fall, while Barone takes his talents here to Champaign.
"Everything happened so quickly at the end of my match with Early I don't think I can honestly tell you what occurred in those crazy last few moments but I know it was enough to beat the No. 1 guy, and win a championship," said Barone, who normally can recite chapter and verse on matches he's competed in from the first day he competed for coach Ross Ryan.
"This first state title for South is one I'll certainly remember, and especially so because it's Eric who won it," said Ryan, who embraced his star player for an eternity after a frantic closing seconds ended when the officials met to discuss whether Early had indeed scored two points with 25 seconds left in regulation.
"I had both Eric, and Garrett Dziedzic over for dinner one day, and gave each of them a writers notebook, and asked each of them to write their goals into that book everyday. Eric wrote down to be state champion, and Garrett to medal. They both did exactly that, and it's something I'll remember forever."
Barone (43-1) would extend Early to an ultimate tiebreaking match here last year, which went nearly 9 minutes, before the nation's No. 4 rated 145-pounder prevailed 3-2 en route to his state title.
Several weeks back, Early would defeat Barone once again 3-2 in the finals of the OPRF Invite, setting up this third and final match for all the marbles.
"I knew if we met again that I could get him this time around, so when the opportunity was there for me, I wanted to take advantage of it," said the three-time state qualifier, who needed three consecutive wins via ultimate tiebreakers last season in order to earn his fifth-place state medal.
Level at 1-1 Barone, always a whirlwind of activity, pushed the pace long enough to put two on the scoreboard with 90 seconds remaining before Early cut into the lead with an escape, but the Minnesota-bound Huskies senior was unable to take another bite out of Barone the rest of the way, as the decibel rate exploded as the big crowd anticipated the impending upset.
"I cannot even begin to tell you how thrilled and proud I am of Eric and his state title without almost breaking down with shear joy, but it's an amazing night for him, his family and parents, and our program," said Ryan.
There have been far too many nights in which Cullen and the Cary-Grove staff have dined at the best table here in Champaign, after three consecutive visits here have ended in heartbreaking fashion.
During his freshman season, Cullen arrived downstate as one of the favorites, only to be knocked out of contention in the semifinals by future three-time champion Kris Williams, before entering the tournament the following year undefeated until Ronald Triche (Plainfield Central) shocked the Trojans' star in the quarterfinals, and again in his fifth-place bout.
Last year Williams was up to his old tricks, bouncing Cullen into wrestlebacks with another loss in the semifinals.
"It's a dogfight when you come downstate, and you have to expect things to happen because these brackets are loaded with the 12 best guys in the state in your weight class," said a philosophic Cullen just before the tournament began on Thursday.
"Losses are part of sports, but those two to (Triche) stuck with me a long time, as did my lost to Jake Silzer (St. Rita) in the Dvorak final but you just have to learn to deal with them."
"Michael has had that look of a champion for several weeks now," admitted head coach Ryan Ludwig, who now has his first state title under his belt.
"It's been all Michael this year, not the coaching staff, or anyone else and you can see how he's matured this season, and how the focus has been on only one thing, and that was getting into this match, and finally winning a state title."
Cullen would easily close the door on his first four opponents here, each of whom he tossed plenty of respect their way after the victories began to pile up.
However, Madrigal was one tough customer on Saturday, keeping the four-time Fox Valley Conference champ tied up for most of the bout, and never allowing the always explosive Cullen to unleash a deadly attack to help build a lead and keep it.
"The pace was a little slow, but I thought that worked in my favor really well," Cullen said.
Cullen, who was taken out of the stadium to get himself fresh and ready to go instead of waiting for the last final of the night to come around, opened a 1-0 lead with a second period escape, before conceding a one-point escape to Madrigal at the start of the third period.
The score remained even at 1-1, sending this final into OT where, near the edge, and just in front of the OPRF corner, Cullen would end a wild scramble with what appeared to be a takedown winner with 23 seconds remaining in the first extra session.
The Huskies' coaching staff roared its disapproval, and after a short discussion, the officials allowed the takedown to give Cullen his long awaited state crown.
"I don't know if the referee was too quick to give me the two and even though I thought I had enough of him to get it, it wasn't for me to decide right or wrong," Cullen said. "All I know is it was enough to give me the title."
Cullen would receive several handshakes and hugs from coaches and his peers alike, a sign he is well-liked in the wrestling community, before bolting into the stands to find his parents for a quick celebration.
"It's been a long time coming, and I am glad it finally arrived," he said.
The news was good in and around the area as well, as the classy trio of Cary-Grove's Michael Gomez, Dziedzic and Dundee-Crown's Christian Brunner (46-3) would emerge from their astounding weight classes with state medals when the day came to an end, with the 2014 state runner-up Brunner firing back after collecting his thoughts from a Friday night heartbreaker to claim the third place prize at 195 pounds.
Gomez would later win his first state medal, fourth-overall, with the Gators' Dziedzic earning a well-deserved sixth-place medal from a division which was loaded from top-to-bottom.
"It took Christian quite a while on Friday to collect his thoughts, and refocus after coming to the realization he wouldn't be in the final for the second straight year but as always, he comes back in magnificent style, witnessed by his two hard-fought wins today to get a deserving third-place medal, which says a lot when you consider how tough his weight class was," said Dundee-Crown head coach Matt Wahl.
With the state brackets playing their usual game of sporting chance for some it was Gomez (37-6) who would fall victim to Brian Ditchman (Lincoln-Way Central, 45-4) for the second time this weekend, the last coming when the Cary-Grove senior dropped a 6-3 decision in his third-place bout.
"You come to expect something wonderful from Michael each and every time he steps onto the mats, and this weekend was no different, and I am so proud of what he's done here at state, and especially all throughout the season for us," said Ludwig.
Gomez would pin his way into the third-place match, after Ditchman knocked him out of the front draw in Friday's quarterfinals.
Dziedzic would end his career with his much-deserved state medal following a tough draw in wrestlebacks after a tense 3-2 loss in the quarterfinals on Friday sent the two-time state qualifier against powerful senior Noah Drabek of Grant for the second straight weekend.
"We had a tough match at the Barrington sectionals, but I felt because of that match I knew exactly what he would bring to our match, and I was ready for it," said the FVC champ, whose decisive escape in his state medal match secured the end result.
"When you ask me what I think of Garrett earning a state medal, I almost choke up with emotion because of how I feel about him as a person, team member and first class wrestler and competitor," said an obviously proud Ryan.
The superb career of Hampshire senior Anton Krocko (41-7) ended one match short of his first medal in three attempts at 170 pounds, while the same fate met Huntley sophomore Josh Stenger (42-11) at 113, as well as freshman Austin Macias (Burlington Central, 41-5) who dropped a heartbreaking 7-5 decision to see his extraordinary rookie year come to an end.
"Now Austin has sometime to go after next year, and knowing him, he'll take it on full-steam ahead," said Rockets' head coach Vince Govea.