Glenbard North rolls to 16th straight regional title
Extreme determination.
That reflected the collective countenance of the Glenbard North wrestling team as it entered the gym Saturday for the championship round of its Class 3A regional in Carol Stream.
Even St. Charles East coach Jason Potter couldn't help noticing.
"He's a mastermind of the psychological stuff," Potter said of his North counterpart Bill Hahn, "so you could tell when those kids walked out of their backroom, they were ready to go."
The Panthers put 12 wrestlers into that round - with 8 vying for regional titles - and 11 of them won, advancing to next weekend's Conant sectional. That also helped North amass 236 points, good enough for its 16th straight regional title and a berth in the Larkin dual-team sectional. Potter's Saints were second with 197, while Geneva was third with 125 and Bartlett fourth with 89.
"We knew that in the final round St. Charles East was right behind us," Hahn said. "We knew we were going to meet them in five places in the final round, and they had guys that were going to score points and we needed to get on a roll."
And that's exactly what the Panthers did.
Abe Assad beat fellow East freshman Ben Anderson 5-2 at 120 pounds. Junior Austin Gomez won the so-called Group of Granite at 126, pinning Saints' senior Anthony Rubino in 5:47. Senior Joe Czernek dropped Bartlett senior Brandon Johnson 7-1 at 138. And it only took sophomore Anthony Marre 1:03 to pin Geneva junior Nic Anastasia at 145.
Just like that, North had pushed a slim 6-point advantage after 3 weight classes to 217-190 over East with 7 to go.
Later winners for North included Tom Czernek at 160, who prevailed 10-4 over East senior Jeff Sommer, and senior Jon Czernek, who pinned Larkin senior Aaron Marshall in 1:03 at 285. Jon is the cousin of brothers Tom and Joe Czernek, so winning wasn't only for North - it was for family.
"We've been together since freshman year doing all these sports, and it's great to see us grow and become champions together," said Jon Czernek, flanked by his cousins.
East had plenty to be proud of, sending 9 wrestlers to Conant, including junior Joe Ruffino at 106 and freshman Justin Benjamin at 113, both of whom won by pins. Senior D.J. McDermott won 152 with a 10-4 decision over St. Charles North junior Chad Reynolds.
Geneva was led by senior Alex Crowe, who won the title at 195 through an injury default by South Elgin sophomore Sami Aldabbagh after the two wrestlers bumped heads in the second period, with Crowe leading 4-3 at the time. It wasn't exactly the way Crowe envisioned advancing, but he'll take it.
"It would have been better going the distance, but stuff like that happens, and I'm just glad to move on," Crowe said.
Bartlett got a strong effort from senior Alex Montbriand at 170, who won both of his matches to advance, including pinning Geneva junior Nick Sowers in 4:44 after an 8-0 defeat of West Chicago's Mason Otzwirk in the semifinals.
"It felt amazing to get that regional championship," said Montbriand, now 25-7 and making his second trip to sectionals. "I'm just going to really work as hard as I can in the room, day after day, and do whatever I can to get better."
South Elgin was led by senior Zach Crosby at 182, who advanced to the sectional by beating West Chicago junior Trey Lally 8-1, after racing out to a 4-0 lead after 2 periods.
"I was taking as many shots as possible, pushing the pace," Crosby said of his title match, which improved his record to 34-4.
West Chicago, fifth with 76 points, placed 2 other wrestlers in the sectional besides Lally - senior Juan Aceves, third at 152, and junior Jonathan Juarez, third at 195.
Larkin advanced a pair to sectionals - Marshall and senior Leo Martinez, third at 160. But junior Hugo Barraza had a tough day, dropping both of his matches at 126. Elgin senior Eric Corder pinned East junior Max Schumann in 3:04 to finish third at 285.