Montini preps for league meet
His teammates' collective reaction resonated loudly in Lombard on Wednesday night.
Peter Qi, a Montini senior in the country as a foreign exchange student from China, made his varsity wrestling debut at 138 pounds.
The Montini bench erupted in a furious applause when Qi terminated his match against Waukegan junior David Naverez 35 seconds before the final buzzer.
"It's the first match he has ever won on varsity," Montini coach Israel Martinez said after Qi helped the Broncos to a 58-22 victory. "He was, like, 0-20 on JV last year."
"I have been wrestling since I was a sophomore," said Qi, in his third year at the school. "It was my first match wrestling varsity."
The only fourth-year student to be honored on the Broncos' senior night, Qi was one of several reserves for Montini in the lineup as Martinez rested many key members in preparation for the Catholic League championship this weekend in Chicago.
"We brought up some lower-level guys so they could get some matches in," Martinez said.
Waukegan (4-13) was further addled by having to forfeit four weight classes: 113, 120, 132 and 195 pounds.
Due to the forfeits and lineup shifts, only one of the Broncos' eight Class 3A-ranked athletes performed.
Montini junior Matt Ortiz, ranked No. 3 among 152-pounders, needed only 45 seconds to give the Broncos one of nine 6-point victories.
Montini (13-3) actually fell behind by double digits, 16-6, when the Bulldogs had a pair of falls in three of the first four matches.
But freshman Keenan Makowski, subbing for top-ranked 106-pounder Dylan Ragusin, registered a fall.
Montini never trailed again when Ragusin was awarded a forfeit at 113 pounds.
"They'll bump up Dylan, and I'll get the 106 slot," said Makowski, who is undefeated in nine matches at the weight class this season. "I was getting my shots and had control of the whole match."
Makowski had secured a technical fall when he was awarded an extra bonus point for a pin midway through the third period.
"I knew I had to get the pin to get the six," Makowski said.
Montini underclassmen Bilal Bailey and Anthony Geraci had the last of the Broncos' five pins to close the night at 160 and 170 pounds.
Joey Melendez, Fidel Mayora and Patrick Peters were also given forfeits for Montini at 120, 132 and 195 pounds.
"We have been bit by the injury bug," Waukegan coach Ed Nobiling said. "That's why all the forfeits. But our kids still battled. We are very young. We only have one senior."
Eli Ibarra, a 145-pounder, was the lone Montini wrestler to compete for all six minutes.
The junior won his match 23-10.