Scouting the UEC and MSC tournaments
Upstate Eight Conference
When: Friday 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.
Host: St. Charles East
2017 champ: St. Charles East
Outlook: After watching its five year championship reign come to an end in 2016 by Batavia, St. Charles East fired back with an exceptional second day of work last year to beat runner-up Glenbard East (261-242) to capture the UEC crown.
It wasn't for a lack of effort by the Rams that they fell short against Jason Potter's team - instead it was the 10 medals in the top three, including four individual champs, two of which belonged to Ben Anderson (120, 32-1) and Justin Benjamin (132, 28-4), both of whom are back and better this season.
Cole Martin (152, 32-7), Alec Wolf (182, 37-2) and Jesus Lopez (220, 30-8) will look to repeat as well for the Rams - making what appears to be another fight-to-the-finish between these two UEC powerhouse clubs.
" (Glenbard East) will be our biggest threat this weekend, and we're looking forward to the challenge ahead of us," said Potter. "We need great individual performances to build momentum on and to use that going forward to a regional championship in two weeks.
"Guys like (Justin) Major (Batavia) and (Michael) Donatelli (Geneva) are wrestling really well right now, and are ones to watch, as they will add to the depth of the tournament. We have standouts on our team, but at this point, it is the next tier of guys who will need to step up to help us this weekend."
The Saints' head coach mentioned Major (16-5) and Donatelli (160, 32-2) as two who will be difference-makers, and in the case of Donatelli, the Geneva senior has been nothing short of brilliant thus far.
John Glorioso of Bartlett believes the trio of Trent Johnson (170, 24-7), Ryan Pancomo (195, 16-7) and Paul Kearns (126, 19-12) have the best shot of placing this weekend, and from his place on the outside looking up at the favorites - the perspective he gives on the tournament is an interesting one.
"St. Charles East and Glenbard East are the two best in this conference right now, and I really enjoy competing against them. East has a great team, but do they have enough to overcome St. Charles? But this is the last time some of these teams will be in the UEC, because a handful are leaving the conference, so I expect this to be a hard-fought tournament, and a real grind for the team that eventually wins it all."
Metro Suburban Conference
When: Saturday 9 a.m.
Host: Ridgewood
2017 champ: Riverside-Brookfield
Outlook: Class 1A IC Catholic Prep showed its stuff last weekend by staying with a couple of strong 2A teams from Woodstock North and Sandwich to finish third overall at the Amboy Tourney with 146 overall points.
Starring was reigning 1A state champion Joey Bianchini (26-3), who recently finished sixth at the Dvorak, a high profile tournament filled with plenty of 3A and 2A teams, both from Illinois and out-of-state.
The two-time state medalist and his mates will give the favorites a run for their money, including Fenton and its head coach, Brian Hastings, who has a star of his own with Dylan Butts (25-3) who also earned all-state honors during the 2017 football season.
The No. 6 rated 182-pounder, who made it downstate a year ago for the first time, leads a quality Bison lineup which features: Jeremy Piskorz, Danny Ramirez, Anthony Park, Jack Butts and Isaiah Brock.
"We haven't had the opportunity to see a number of the teams in our conference this year, but I know that IC has a number of very good wrestlers who are capable of winning individual titles," said Hastings. "We have a very nice lineup, and we should have a number of place-winners of our own, and the guys I mentioned above have been wrestling well of late, so we should have a chance in the end as well."
Aurora Central Catholic senior Keegan Donnelly (14-7) is on his way to another 20-win season after collecting 24 a year ago, in addition to a 1A regional championship. Donnelly is a two-time sectional qualifier, and will be in the fight for a medal at 145 pounds here.