Wheeling, Conant pin down regional triumphs
Wheeling's wrestling team followed up its Mid-Suburban League championship by winning the Class 3A regional tournament it hosted on Saturday.
The Wildcats finished with 259 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up New Trier (177) to earn a spot in the dual-team sectional semifinals.
First, though, plenty of Wheeling wrestlters will attempt to advance through next weekend's Conant individual sectional.
Wheeling's champions on Saturday included Eric Le at 106 pounds, Manny Ramirez at 113, Brian Madrigal at 120, Tristin Guaman at 145, Carlos Montiel at 152, Jaylen Shaw at 160, Andrew Lara at 170 and Anderson Scott at 182.
Wheeling senior Zach Yfantis topped Palatine's Jonathan Alanis 6-1 in the championship bout at 220 pounds.
Fremd senior Zach Nemec won by fall to take the heavyweight division.
At 132, Wheeling's Andy Madrigal advanced with a third-place finish.
Fremd's Cole Riemer was runner-up at 138 pounds, and Wheeling's J.P. Smith advanced at that weight by placing third.
Hersey's Jordan Davis was runner-up at 145 pounds, and Fremd's Rene Cortez was third.
Fremd had the runners-up at 152 pounds (Adam Kemp) and 160 (Quinn Bergles).
Buffalo Grove's Jack Pontarelli advanced with a third-place finish at 170 pounds, and Hersey's Luke Schmiederer was runner-up at 182.
Streamwood regional: Conant emerged at the top team, finishing with 215.5 points to better Prospect (184.5), Lake Park (109) and Rolling Meadows (97.5) and Schaumburg (85).
Conant's champions were Alex Giuliano at 113 pounds, Nicky Amato at 132, Cormac Kane at 160 and Eric Hominiac at 170.
Conant's runners-up and third-place finishers included Tommy Santangelo (third at 106) and Jeremy Conroy (third at 120).
Rolling Meadows' Jackson Kohlberg earned the title at 126 pounds by topping Conant's Tyler Futris 7-0. Maine West's Arsalan Afshar placed third.
Also winning for Meadows were Liam Collins and Michael Wolmedorf. Collins prevailed at 138 pounds, topping Conant's Joe Gomez in the title bout, and Maine West's Jayton Hall advanced by taking third place.
Wolmedorf was a champion at 152, and Conant's Dan Wozniak advanced with a third-place effort.
Kane topped Rolling Meadows' Manny Luna 7-1 in the title matchup at 160 and Schaumburg's Brandon Schaar placed third.
At 132, Conant's Nicky Amato pinned Prospect's Gianni Rago in the title bout and Hoffman Estates' Reis Ginter advanced by placing third.
Prospect's Vince Lobono took a 7-2 decision over Conant's Noah Davis in the championship matchup at 145 pounds, and Hoffman Estates' Malik Walker advanced with a third-place finish.
Hominiac pinned his way past Maine West's Jake Bellizzi at 170, and Prospect's Ryan Vedner placed third.
Prospect's Alex Koczwara edged Conant's Lee Fuller 3-2 for a victory at 182 pounds.
Matt Wroblewski also earned a title at 220 for Prospect after Elk Grove's Dionte Tillman lost by injury default. Schaumburg's Hadi Mashhadiabolgha also advanced at 220 by taking third.
The Knights had the heavyweight champ as Jose Ramos decisioned Hoffman Estates' Ryan Edwards 9-2. Elk Grove's Anthony Greco took third.
Prospect also had advancers in Joseph Tobin, who was third at 113 pounds, and Anthony Silva, who was runner-up at 120.
Schaumburg's Nolan Warner won by fall against Conant's Artis Hudson at 195 pounds, and the Saxons also got a third-place effort from Tony LaRocco at 113.
at Grayslake Central: St. Viator had a regional champ in senior Tony Valentino, who topped Antioch's Xavier Sanchez 6-0 to win the heavyweight class at the Class 2A gathering.
The Lions' Jake Wolf also advanced after dropping a 7-6 decision to Wauconda's Devin Parrish in the championship matchup at 170 pounds.
at Leyden: Oak Park-River Forest took the team title, bettering runner-up Wheaton North.
Senior Shane Dziadosz (29-11), one sectional victory from his first state berth in 2016, led Leyden's five third-place finishers. Joining him are junior Shouwayne Johnson (18-16), sophomores Anthony Aguilar (17-15) and Ryan Jaffray (23-12) and freshman Daniel Uribe (28-14).
Quickly behind 4-0, Uribe won his third-place match with a first-period pin just before the buzzer.
"Our arms were tangled so I knew all I had to do was just throw in my hips and he would go over, and then he was on his back," Uribe said. "I'm only a freshman but (qualifying) was something that if I didn't do I would be really disappointed with myself."