Marmion outclasses Moore-Prettyman field at Barrington
Anthony Cheloni and AJ Jaffe provided a bridge into the strength of the Marmion Academy's wrestling lineup. And from there, the Cadets were clearly in their own category in rolling to the title Saturday night in the 25th Moore-Prettyman Invitational at Barrington.
Trace Carello (160), Riley DeMoss (170) and Nathan Traxler duplicated earlier championship performances from Cheloni and Jaffe as Marmion topped second-place Lyons Township by 50 points (265.5-211.5). Rockton Hononegah edged Prospect 162-160.5 to secure a third-place finish.
Reigning NSC champion Stevenson (149) rounded out the top five, with Wheaton North falling just short of the Patriots with 143.5 points.
"When we were all freshmen, we talked about our senior year being our year, and today is the start of what all of us hope will be a memorable season with a state title in February," said Traxler, a senior who pinned his way into the finals before rolling over Danny Saracco (Plainfield South) to capture the 195 pound crown.
The Stanford-bound returning state champ gave first-year head coach Don Reynolds Marmion's sixth and final title of the day. The Cadets built an early lead after the first day of competition and slowly increase their advantage with each round.
"We came here wanting to win it all, so it's a great way to begin the year," said Reynolds, a two-time state champ and four-time state medalist at Providence. "But the guys know what the big picture is for us individually and as a team, so it's back to work on Monday to tweak and fix a few things in preparation of the (Walsh) Ironman in Ohio in two weeks."
Jaffe likes the state of his team at the moment.
"This is a very good team we have this season, and although we're all sorry to see coach (Ryan) Cumbee leave us, we're very fortunate to have coach Reynolds take over for him to make the transition an easy one," said Jaffe, who won here two years ago and did so easily on Saturday. "The plan was to score early and often and to push the pace, and keep adding points along the way - which will be the plan this entire season."
Jaffe will wrestle next fall at Harvard.
"Believe it or not, I wanted to go to Harvard when I was a kid, and after visiting and meeting the coaching staff and team, I knew that I would realize my dream," he said.
Both Jaffe and Cheloni proved to be a nightmare for opponents over the two days of competition - Jaffe with two majors, one tech-fall and another pin in four contests, while Cheloni (132 pounds) battered three of his four rivals with pins, including his final with Marc Fleenor of Plainfield South in 2:29.
"After I beat Andrew Mehrholz of Deerfield at the Stevenson quad last year, it was like a wake-up call that I could beat anybody," said Cheloni, who was a runner-up in Champaign last season. "Then when I defeated the No. 1 seed at state (Bobby Alexander of Conant) in the state semifinals, I knew it could continue when this season began."
Wheaton North junior Frankie Indelli saw his marvelous run into the 138-pound championship come to an abrupt halt at the hands of Jaffe in a 15-4 decision.
"AJ was definitely the better man out there today," said Indelli, who beat No. 2 seed Julian Blanco of Riverside-Brookfield in the semifinals 5-3. "If I had a do-over with AJ, I would not have fallen behind so early and have to chase the lead against such a great wrestler, but you learn from these types of matches, and hope not to make the same mistakes again."
While Indelli obviously represent the Falcons best over the weekend, teammates Devin Donovan (160) and Bryce Thurston (132) fared well too. Donovan, a state qualifier a year ago with 42 wins, came back from a heartbreaking 4-3 loss in the semifinals to Johnny Mogogousis of Lyons Township to earn third-place honors, while Thurston brought home a fourth-place medal.
"That was a tough loss for Devin earlier today, but it's the type of match and loss you'd rather have early than later in the year," said Falcons coach Travis Cherry.
Prospect junior Matt Wroblewski carved up one 182-pound contestant after another before finishing off Bryce Shewan of Yorkville 11-3 to secure the lone tournament title for the Mid-Suburban League.
"I thought my final was my best match of the weekend, but it can always be better, and that's what I am after each time out," said Wroblewski, who lived and trained the entire summer in Poland in advance of what he hopes to be another strong run in the postseason.
"We ended up with a pretty decent finish despite having a few injuries and other things going on with us this weekend, but we'll have to get tougher if we want to compete at a higher level and in the conference when it all begins next week," said Prospect coach Tom Whalen.
Barrington sophomore Markus Hartman fired back from a tough loss in the semifinals against eventual 126-pound champ and tournament MVP Travis Piotrowski of Prairie Ridge to come away with a well-deserved third-place finish after upending Alex Preissing of Prospect 9-1.
"I could have done a couple of things a little differently against Piotrowski, especially in that second period when I allowed too many tie-ups," said Hartman, who won at 106 pounds in the this touranment last season. "I've got to stay out of them against a guy like him and get my points when they are right there for me."