Ruffino, O'Brien, You in good position at Conant sectional
It was a very good night in Hoffman Estates as several Fox Valley area wrestlers marched through the first day of the Conant sectional to keep their postseason campaign on track with an eye on a trip downstate next weekend.
When Saturday's semifinals begin at noon Joe Ruffino (St. Charles East), Kolbe O'Brien (St. Charles North) and Streamwood senior Sunny You (126, 29-2), among others, will be one victory away from booking their spot in the Class 3A state tourney when it begins next Thursday at State Farm Center in Champaign.
"This is where you want to be," said "Ruffino (106, 32-5), who raced out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back, defeating Christophe Rivera (42-5) of Evanston 7-3 in his quarterfinal bout to send the Saints' junior into the semis against Luke Badger (33-5) from Lake Park.
"Rivera beat me at frosh/soph state last year, so it was good to come out and win this time around, and stay out of the consolation bracket, where you have to win three in a row in order to get downstate."
The first-round of consolation matches will open the second day of action at 10 a.m., with wrestlebacks continuing all throughout the early afternoon until the championship and third-place matches will be decided at approximately 4:45.
O'Brien (33-3), who is looking to make his second straight visit to Champaign, is part of one of the most talented weight classes here, and the North Stars' 126-pounder can make his life a little easier if he can get by No. 2 Anthony Madrigal (OPRF, 33-0).
Madrigal would defeat No. 9 Anthony Rubino (St. Charles East, 33-8) in the quarters by a decision in a match that saw Madrigal ride out the Saints' star in the third period to help preserve a 5-2 triumph.
You started slow in his opening match before registering a pin at 2:21, which led to a hard-fought 7-6 decision over Scott Pechter (28-13) of Niles West. Next up for the Sabres' veteran is Miguel Romero (Prospect), who brought the big crowd to attention with a stunning pin of No. 4 Gabriel Townsend (26-8) to send this weight class upside-down.
"I'm glad I had that first round match, because I sometimes have a difficult time getting loose and ready to go but once I got going, I felt like I was attacking the way I know I can, and now it's one more victory and I'm downstate for the first time," said You.
Upstate Eight rivals Alex Montibriand (Bartlett, 24-7) and Zack Crosby (South Elgin, 33-4) survived their first day and in doing so lifted their hopes of advancing downstate for the first time.
Crosby and Storm head coach Mark Cameron had a few anxious moments during the senior's quarterfinal with Nick Prozanski (Notre Dame, 29-11) when a mid-second period throw kept the Notre Dame junior on the mat for several minutes while officials ruled the move unsporting.
"The Notre Dame corner was looking for Zack to be disqualified, and even though the throw could have been tempered better on the way down, it wasn't a vicious move, but still one that he has to be careful about, especially at this time of the year when that can cost you a match or worse," said a relieved Cameron.
Crosby, who lost his state qualifier match one year ago, faces No. 4 Matt Wroblewski (Prospect, 35-0) next.
Montbriand has been in terrific form during the last month of the season and he too, like Crosby, needs one victory to safely secure his place in the 16-man field in Champaign.
"It's kind of crazy to think where I'm at now, compared to earlier in the year, but during the last four weeks the intensity has been turned up and so has my confidence, which is so important at this time," said the Hawks' senior, who last weekend won the first regional title of his career.
Geneva senior Alex Crowe (195, 28-11) drew closer to Champaign after overwhelming freshman David Hardwick (Lake Park) with a 22-14 major decision.
"I wanted to take advantage of him being a freshman so the idea was to score early and keep adding points to take control of the match," said Crowe, who was a UEC champ late last month.