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Glenbard East claims Newbill Invitational title

Ben Pham had already defeated his 195-pound Upstate Eight Valley rival once this wrestling season in the athletes' regular-season dual meet.

But West Aurora senior Armando Ferrer had redemption in his mind against Pham in the championship match of the Jim Newbill Invitational Saturday afternoon in Geneva.

"Every time I have wrestled (Ferrer) it has been a challenge," said Pham, a Glenbard East senior.

But Pham became one of four champions for the Rams with his 8-3 victory.

Placing eight wrestlers in the top four of the 20-team field on Saturday, Glenbard East - making its debut at the 39th annual tournament - eased past Class 2A power Marian Central 196-154 to win the team title.

Wheaton Warrenville South used consistency in seven weight classes to finish third with 121 points.

West Aurora was fourth (113), Addison Trail had two champions to finish sixth (93), host Geneva duplicated the Blazers' win total for seventh (81), Lake Zurich tied for 10th (68) and Dundee-Crown rounded out the programs in the Daily Herald coverage area to place No. 16 (57).

"It's been at least a couple of years since (winning a team tournament), down in Urbana," Glenbard East coach Kevin Carlson said. "We needed to toughen up our schedule. Last year we thought we had some guys who could get to state - and they didn't even make it to the sectional."

Pham had yet another tactical showdown with Ferrer.

"I am a very physical wrestler and busted his elbow up," Pham said. "I give (Ferrer) a lot of credit, busting your elbow up and keep wrestling."

The Rams also received wins from Alex Posada, Alec Wolff and Jesus Lopez at their respective weights of 145, 182 and 195 pounds.

"I just had to feel out my opponents and do what I could do - be aggressive," Posada said.

Wolff had nothing but falls for his first individual tournament championship of the season.

"I knew I was the best wrestler here," Wolff said. "It's really nice to have everyone recognized. We were really looking forward to winning the tournament this year."

Lopez was the Upstate Eight Conference champion and Class 3A regional titlist as a sophomore two years ago. He had a simple formula for success.

"Not laying off the gas, keep working, keep fighting," Lopez said.

"Whenever you have guys in the championship match, I think it's about what guys do in the wrestle backs (that determines the team champion)," Carlson said. "We only had one guy go 0-2."

Geneva had two aces in Honor Nguyen and Michael Donatelli to rest its hopes on as the host program.

The two succeeded brilliantly, ending the undefeated seasons of Marian Central athletes Daniel Valeria and Luke Silva in the process at 126 and 160 pounds.

Nguyen had the all-important first takedown against Valeria in a 6-4 victory in terminating the season-opening 26-match winning streak of the sophomore resident of Huntley.

"I did not know that (Valeria) was undefeated, but it feels really good," Nguyen said. "(Getting the opening points) gave me the confidence to beat him. If he would have got the first (takedown), the match could have been completely different."

"I wrestled bad," Valeria said. "I just didn't wrestle like I could."

In defending a Newbill championship, Donatelli is approaching 30 wins - against a sole loss - after moving up three weight classes from 138 pounds.

"I am carrying a lot more weight," Donatelli said after a pair of takedowns and equal number of 2-point near-falls in his 8-2 victory. "Going into the third period, I felt like I could go another three periods. I am doing everything I can - before school, after school and during practice - to be in the best condition possible."

Donatelli pinned Sherman Dixon (Shepard) to reach the finals despite a shoulder injury.

"In the semifinal match (Donatelli) was in a tremendous amount of pain," Geneva coach Tom Chernich said. "It was a game-time decision (to compete in the championship match). He said he was ready to go. He was also going against another undefeated boy, and that match really wasn't that close."

Ferrer and major-consolation champions Johnny Acevedo and Juan Carrillo powered fourth-place West Aurora.

"I told myself to keep wrestling (against Phan)," Ferrer said. "I had more confidence. The last tournament (Hinsdale Central), I had no confidence."

Dundee-Crown heavyweight Isiah Ziegler fell in the final match, 3-2, against Myles Ruffin of Brother Rice.

  Callan Schmeiser, left, of Dundee Crown in his 152-pound match with Johnny Acevedo of West Aurora. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
  Xavier Sierra of Addison Trail in his 170-pound match with Joey Fitzgearald of Marian Central at the Newbill Invitational wrestling at Geneva High School on Saturday. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
  Nick Dimaggio of Lake Zurich gets ahold of Nate Dalan of Wheaton Warrenville South at the Newbill Invitational wrestling at Geneva High School on Saturday. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
  Dzhabrail Khurshidov of West Aurora gets ahold of Frankie Robies of Addison Trail in their 182-pound match at the Newbill Invitational wrestling at Geneva High School on Saturday. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
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