Marmion dominates the field at Batavia

The Marmion wrestling team continued to add accolades to its postseason pedigree of the last several years Saturday afternoon in Batavia.

Six of the 10 Marmion athletes who qualified for the Class 3A Downers Grove North individual sectional snared championships at the Batavia regional.

The Cadets strolled to their fifth consecutive regional championship with 212.5 points, and the reigning team state runner-up earned a rematch with Sandburg at the Hinsdale Central team sectional on Feb. 21 with its triumph.

Wheaton Warrenville South and Naperville Central combined to advance 13 wrestlers to Downers North with team scores of 132.5 and 124.5 points, respectively.

West Aurora, Metea Valley, Naperville North, Batavia, Waubonsie Valley and East Aurora rounded out the nine-team field.

"It's pretty sweet to be a part of this team," said Marmion 170-pounder Peter Ferraro, who had a second-period fall in the championship match. "My teammates and coaches have been pushing me. I'm just focused on working my heart out this week to face good competition (at Downers North)."

The Cadets' Nate Jimenez also had a dominant win - a technical fall - for another Marmion championship at the proceeding weight class of 160 pounds.

"(Assistant) coach Joe Silvestro gave us a lecture before the match," Jimenez said. "'Keep going forward. Continue to build on your lead.' My dad (assistant coach Walt Jimenez) taught me to pull the trigger. When I'm confident in my shots, I'm tough to beat."

Like Jimenez, the Cadets' Anthony Cheloni is another returning all-state performer.

"It was a really good start to the state series," Cheloni said after a 6-2 finals victory over Metea Valley freshman Jaycee Randolph-Gonzalez. "It's like mandatory in the state series that you gotta get this in."

Marmion also received victories in the championship round from Michael Jaffe, Trevor Chumbley and Brad Gross at 106, 126 and 152 pounds.

West Aurora senior Isaac Jacquez completed a flawless regional career at 120 pounds.

In his first preliminary to be a four-time state qualifier, Jacquez captured a regional title for the same number of times.

"I really don't worry about winning, I just worry about scoring points," Jacquez said after his 30th consecutive win to improve to 40-2. "I don't worry about kids scoring on me because I know I can get it back."

The Blackhawks, who had three qualifiers, saw an end to another lengthy winning streak as Steve Norman dropped a heartbreaker at 182 pounds to WW South junior Placide Niyigena for a first-round sectional bye

Host Batavia also had three sectional qualifiers in 132-pound runner-up Johnny Major and consolation champions Seth Winkle (145 pounds) and Joe Posledni (160).

"We had an opportunity to send a couple more kids (to Downers North)," Batavia coach Scott Bayer said. "I won't take away what the other teams have done here. It was a real meat-grinder for a regional."

Matt Young, the runner-up at 160 pounds, was the sole East Aurora qualifier.

It was a good day to be a member of the Keating household.

Naperville Central siblings Nick and Jake Keating were the two champions among the seven Redhawk qualifiers.

"It's his first regional title, it's his first time qualifying for the sectional," senior Jake Keating said of his junior brother after defeating Marmion senior Jake Polka 7-2 in the 145-pound finals. "Watching that got me hyped up."

Jake Keating was the lone athlete to defeat a Marmion wrestler in a championship match.

"Obviously, that was a big move," Jake Keating said of his first-period takedown and 3-point near-fall that was the foundation of his victory.

Jake Keating has won 37 of his 38 matches this season.

Nick Keating was the lowest-seeded champion, but the No. 4-ranked 132-pounder had a third-period fall for his ultimate title.

"I knew I could win," Nick Keating said. "I have been wrestling well since the end of the year. I just keep focusing on winning the next point, not looking too far ahead."

The fourth match of the season between Mason Kroening and Andrew Leonard proved to be anticlimactic.

One week after WW South 195-pounder Leonard ended the Kroening hopes of an undefeated regular season at the DuPage Valley Conference finals, Kroening scored the first 10 points of their championship match to win by double figures.

"Wheaton Warrenville South does a great job of scouting opponents to fit their game plan," Kroening said after improving to 34-1. "(Leonard) ending my perfect season hurt, but it wasn't something that handicapped me. I knew I would have to come back and avenge myself."

Fellow senior Nick Sondag made it back-to-back Waubonsie Valley championships with a second-period fall at 220 pounds.

"They kind of wanted to up the ante, not just win but dominate," Waubonsie Valley coach Brad Caldwell said of his two senior stars. "(The coaches) have no doubt that they are there, they are for real. Mason's loss to Leonard last week definitely lit the flame."

State-ranked heavyweight Bobby Papiernik was the lone champion among the five Metea Valley sectional qualifiers.

Niyigena and Norman were engaged in an epic battle at 182 pounds, before the WW South junior escaped in double overtime to win 10-9.

"He got really tired, and I took advantage of it," said Niyigena, the DVC 170-pound champion who has not lost in more than two months. "I started at 170 this season and went up today. He was a lot stronger than me."

Naperville North junior Lucas Van Ploucke was also a conference champion last week at Lake Park.

The 113-pounder headlined the list of five Naperville North qualifiers with three 3-point near-falls in a second-period match terminated by a 15-point differential.

"I have to go out there, try my best and the ref will tell how the points fall," Van Ploucke said. "I have been working with Champ (coach Tom Champion) on faking a lot. It has been working."