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Oak Park-River Forest dominates at Conant

For the most part Saturday's 3A Conant wrestling sectional featured a lot of favorites led by the Oak Park-River Forest juggernaut, but Prospect, St. Charles East, and Schaumburg had reasons to gloat as did host Conant and Glenbard West.

Oak Park-River Forest brought a 13-member crew and have 11 state qualifiers, eight advancing as sectional champions. While the Huskies owned one of the surprise winners, both Prospect and Conant had their own upset specialists.

Ranked No. 1 nationally, OPRF 160-pounder Isaiah White lived up to expectations as did teammates Peter Ogunsanya (106), Robert Campos (113), Jason Renteria (120), Rolliann Sturkey (170) and Allen Stallings (220), who were all the highest rated wrestlers in their respective classes.

Despite being the only two weight classes featuring all regional champions vying for the four state-qualifying slots, both 138 and 195 featured two of the biggest surprises.

At 195, Prospect's Alex Koczwara pulled off a 3-2 ultimate tiebreaker triumph over OPRF's Kendale McCoy and then gutted out a 4-3 decision over Taft's Dakotah Peterson.

"Being my first year on varsity, making state was a goal and I just tried to have the right mindset throughout the day," Koczwara said. "Sometimes I might be a little conservative in the first period, but I make progress and focus on wrestling up to my abilities."

"He's an example of why you wrestle the matches and don't go by rankings," Prospect coach Tim Whalen noted. "We had four last year and six this is year is obviously an improvement. Even our guys who didn't move on wrestled well, so it was definitely a good weekend."

The Knights' six state qualifiers were second in number to OPRF and included 182-pounder Matt Wroblewski, Class 3A's No. 4 wrestler who edged No. 5 Tony Vezzetti of Schaumburg 11-5 for the title.

Prospect's other qualifiers include sectional runner-up Miguel Romero (132), third-place Tanner Strobel (152) and fourth-place finishers Andrew Baysingar (106) and Bobby Jarosz (160).

"As a sophomore my approach was to go match-by-match," Romero said. "Qualifying for state is the best feeling, a kind of satisfaction hard to explain."

Host Conant grabbed the spotlight with Kyle Peisker 8-3 championship win over state No. 1-rated Jaime Hernandez of OPRF. That victory came right after Cougar Danny Madonja won the 132-pound title and right before Nick Catalano took third at 145.

"Whether someone is ranked or not, those things don't mean much to me because I never want to take a back seat to anyone," Peisker said. "With my teammates, family, the JV squad here to support me, it was just extra motivation and all the more reason to be excited for the opportunity at the Assembly Hall."

Madonia's 4:46 championship pinfall of Romero was a highlight in itself for the Conant senior.

"Being my last time in the home gym I wanted to go out with a bang," Madonia said. "Once I got in his head, I could sense the opportunity for the fall. I think it's also means a lot for seeding. Taking second last year left me in a tough draw, so that showed me how much of a difference taking first could mean."

"As a coach you worry how the adrenaline of making state will affect them for the final round," Conant's Chad Hay noted. "So I can't be prouder of the results. Kyle stayed composed, Danny battled all year, and Nick had one of the most exciting consolation matches I've ever seen."

The wrestleback semifinals provided the most excitement because earning a chance to wrestle for third meant either a dream achieved or the nightmare and disappointment of falling one win shy of advancing. One case in point was St. Charles East's Justin Benjamin, who lost a tech fall to eventual 113-pound champ Campos, but earned a 5-3 win over Leyden's Shane Dziadosz via a takedown with three seconds left in the third period. Coming at the edge of the circle, the clock was stopped with one second left and Benjamin sitting atop his foe with his arms raised in triumph.

"I was so happy and even though my arms felt like jello at that point, I had to raise them up high," Benjamin said. "It felt amazing knowing I'd become just the third freshman at East to make state."

The Saints' other qualifiers include 106-pound runner-up Joe Ruffino, plus fourth-place finishers Niko Derain (132) and D.J. McDermott (152).

The 152-pound title went to Rolling Meadow's Tulga Zuunbayan, a 16-5 winner over Niles Notre Dame's Josh Barzowski.

"I'm proud to represent the school and realize that sectionals is just part of the road to the state podium," said Zuunbayan, who qualified twice previously when he attended Wheeling. "Hopefully the third time is the charm."

Teammate Maciej Pogorzelski is the other Mustang advancing after 4-2 sudden victory round triumph for third place.

Schaumburg has four state qualifiers led by runners-up Logan Gruska (170) and Tony Vezzetti (182) plus third-place Hazen Rice (120) and fourth-place Jack Lingle (113).

Another wrestleback semifinal thriller came at 195 for Geneva's lone sectional participant, Alex Crowe who had to outlast York's Brian Nudera in a 5-4 thriller before ultimately finishing fourth.

"I knew he was good and just had to find a way because it was do or die," Crowe said. "I don't how to really describe it other than oh am I happy. My sophomore year I made sectionals, but to reach state as a senior is just amazing. Wish I had other teammates going but I guess I'm glad to be the one guy."

"We had a really good scouting report," Geneva's Tom Chernich noted in the semi-hoarse voice of many coaches. "We wanted to stay in close to take shots, but he wasn't able to get takedowns so he had to counter shots and keep countering. He sprawled on one, worked around to get two, and then gave up a point in order to give me a near heartache."

On the flip side of such elation is the gut-wrenching close-but-you're-staying-home feeling that meant the end of the year for notable Fox Valley area competitors like Streamwood's Sunny You (132), Bartlett's Alex Monttbriand (170), and South Elgin's Sami Aldabbagh (195).

Montbriand lost a 7-4 decision that ended his year at 25-11 and drained in a hallway off the gym floor.

"He wrestled his heart out and it certainly hurts to be within a few seconds of an opportunity at state," Bartlett coach John O'Brien said. "He had a great showing at the Glenbard West tourney, was second in the UEC meet because he got caught late, then won regional to get here. There's no question he put in the time and effort. He may have been our last man with a shot of advancing, but we think of everything in terms of a team and we were all in this together."

You was making headlines all year for Streamwood, but lost a narrow 4-3 semifinal to Prospect's Romero and then came up on the short end of a 12-6 tangle with the Saints' Derain.

"I'm at a loss for words," You said fighting tears and fatigue. "Four years of hard work for something that seems almost impossible at Streamwood. My hope is to wrestle at college, but I know most people look for state competitors first, I need someone to realize taking a chance on me will pay off."

Perhaps even more painful was the scenario for Aldabbagh as the South Elgin big man didn't even get a chance to compete for a third-place match due to a medical disqualification.

"It's certainly disappointing not to even get the chance on the mat," Storm coach Mark Cameron said. "I look at where we started and the improvement that came and I'm still proud. It's tough because Sami is a senior."

Larkin heavyweight Aaron Marshall had his run ended on Friday by a dislocated shoulder which meant he had to forfeit. He and teammate Leo Martinez (who tied the school record for career wins at 66), had coach Steve Hoyt wondering what might have been.

On a more promising side, veteran Glenbard West coach Nick Posegay was upbeat to have four qualifiers led by a pair of second-place finishers in Darien Kaufmann, who went to the wire before losing the 285 title match 1-0, and Charles Faber who lost 9-3 at 113. The other qualifiers include Mike Lawson, who was third at 220, and Jack Vesevick, fourth at 182.

"Jack had some nice takedowns to get third and knows what he's doing," Posegay said. "We call Mike "Quietly" because he's gotten 41 wins and not too many people seem to know about him. Charles and Darien are making their second trips."

Glenbard North has a five-man delegation headed to Champaign led by 126-pound champion Austin Gomez, plus runners-up Abe Asaad (120) and Tom Czernek (160) plus brother Joe Czernek (138), who finished fourth. Gomez recorded a series of one-sided wins en route to his crown.

"My goal is to dominate every match not just to prove I'm the best, but to not give them a chance to beat me," Gomez added.

Asaad viewed his finish as proof "I can hang with big dogs, even as a freshman."

Addison Trail's Karim Fuentes wrestles with Hoffman Estates' Nathan Edwards in a 285-pound consolation match during Saturday's IHSA Class 3A sectional at Conant High School. Jeff Krage For the Daily Herald
St. Charles East's Justin Hull wrestles Geneva's Zach Ostrowsk in a 220-pound consolation match during Saturday's IHSA Class 3A sectional at Conant High School. Jeff Krage For the Daily Herald
St. Charles East's Joe Ruffino wrestles with Lake Park's Luke Badger in a 106-pound semifinal match during Saturday's IHSA Class 3A sectional at Conant High School. Jeff Krage For the Daily Herald
Glenbard West's Charles Faber wrestles with Schaumburg's Jack Lingle in a 113-pound semifinal match during Saturday's IHSA Class 3A sectional at Conant High School. Jeff Krage For the Daily Herald
St. Charles East's Justin Benjamin wrestles with Oak Park-River Forest's Robert Campos in a 113-pound semifinal match during Saturday's IHSA Class 3A sectional at Conant High School. Jeff Krage For the Daily Herald
Glenbard North's Austin Gomez wrestles with Evanston's David Rivera-Hohr in a 126-pound semifinal match during Saturday's IHSA Class 3A sectional at Conant High School. Jeff Krage For the Daily Herald
Bartlett's Alex Montbriano wrestles with Oak Park-River Forest's Rolliann Sturkey in a 170-pound semifinal match during Saturday's IHSA Class 3A sectional at Conant High School. Jeff Krage For the Daily Herald
Wheaton North's Jamie Suarez, left, wrestles with Glenbard North's Abe Assad in a 120-pound semifinal match during Saturday's IHSA Class 3A sectional at Conant High School. Jeff Krage For the Daily Herald
Glenbard North's Joe Czermek, right, wrestles with Conant's Kyle Peisker in a 138-pound semifinal match during Saturday's IHSA Class 3A sectional at Conant High School. Jeff Krage For the Daily Herald
Glenbard North's Tom Czermek, left, wrestles with Wheaton North's Devin Donovan in a 160-pound semifinal match during Saturday's IHSA Class 3A sectional at Conant High School. Jeff Krage For the Daily Herald
Geneva's Alex Crowe wrestles with Taft's Dakotah Peterson in a 195-pound semifinal match during Saturday's IHSA Class 3A sectional at Conant High School. Jeff Krage For the Daily Herald
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