Relentless Montini breezes to regional title
The Montini wrestling team's philosophy is simple, and it was on display at Saturday's Class 3A regional at Lyons Township.
Attack relentlessly. Get as many points early in a match as possible, And never, ever let up.
"That's exactly the foundation of our program," said seventh-year coach Israel Martinez, who saw his squad breeze to the team title with 227 points and advance to team sectional competition Feb. 21. The Broncos finished well ahead of runner-up Glenbard East, with 168. Willowbrook was seventh with 60.
"The goal is to go out there and put ourselves in as many positions as possible and prepare for the state tournament," Martinez said, "so when we get to state we can wrestle out of it."
Montini sent 10 of 14 wrestlers to next weekend's Downers Grove North individual sectional and crowned seven regional champions, including Dylan Ragusin (106 pounds), Joey Melendez (113), Real Woods (126), Fidel Mayora (132), Jake Stiles (138), Will Lewan (145) and Matt Ortiz (152).
But it was how Montini did it that was significant. Take Lewan. He jumped out to a 22-8 lead over Downers Grove South's Jacob Chisholm after the second period before winning by technical fall in 4:10 with a 24-8 score. Ragusin, Melendez and Woods won in similar fashion.
"That's just how we practice," said Lewan, who improved to 35-2. "Go, go, go."
Glenbard East sophomore Jesus Lopez used a similar tack in his title match at 220 to defeat top-seed Jim Flavin of Downers Grove North by technical fall in 2:55. Lopez, who lost in overtime to Flavin earlier this season, staked himself to a 15-3 lead before prevailing.
"At the end I wasn't expecting to tech him that good," Lopez said. "After the Palatine tournament I really upped my practice. I increased my endurance, stamina, everything."
Lopez and senior Nick Donovan at 120 pounds were the regional champions for the Rams, who also sent five other wrestlers to the sectional, including Reese Martin (113), Scott Szabo (138), Cole Martin (152), Matt Leonard (160) and Brandon Raines (285). Donovan, a senior who was a state alternate the last three years, is ready for his final run at making it.
"I'm not done yet," said Donovan, who improved to 30-5. "I need to get to state this year. That's my overall goal."
Willowbrook got one regional title, from junior Jack Jessen, who pinned Montini's Pete Christensen in 2:51 to improve to 47-0 on the season. But the Warriors advanced two other wrestlers, including Zach Zeffiro, the fourth seed at 126 who pinned third-seed Nick Guthrie from Glenbard East in 2:26. Zeffiro is a senior and earned his first sectional trip.
Willowbrook coach Brandon Murphy was brimming with pride for Zeffiro and senior Dominic Ranieri, who took third at 132.
"They were four seeds, so whenever you can outwrestle your seed, that's a good thing," Murphy said. "All of them are great stories and they deserve to be where they are at."