Big nights for Viator's Wolf, Carmel's Ivan and MCC
Two years ago, Jake Wolf was inserted into St. Viator's starting lineup late in the season and won six matches, half of which came via forfeit.
How much has changed since then.
On Friday, the St. Viator senior won his second consecutive East Suburban Catholic Conference championship with remarkable style and form to earn the lone individual title for the Lions.
Another senior, John Ivan, celebrated the perfect ending to his regular-season career by winning the 220-pound title at home, inside the Patrick Salvi Arena at Carmel Catholic.
While those two enjoyed a memorable evening, nothing could match what the event meant for Marian Central Catholic, which won its first league title in program history by outscoring runner-up Notre Dame by nearly 70 points.
The Hurricanes started slowly, then pick up a head of steam in its next two rounds to finish with 186 total points, while Notre Dame ended with 118. Nazareth Academy, which brought just seven competitors, used its upper weight strength to earn third place with 102 points.
"We didn't come out very well at the start of the tournament, but coach told us to settle down, and to just take one match at a time - and that's what we've been doing all year, so it was easy for us to just get back to what we do best after that slow start," said senior Luke Silva (160, 36-1), who was one of four from MCC to win a championship crown.
Silva's teammate at 132 pounds, Anthony Randazzo (31-5), was involved in one of two of the most highly anticipated finals during the evening session.
Third-ranked Randazzo took on No. 5 (3A) Carlos Champagne (35-1) from Marian Catholic, and the two high-profile stars did not disappoint the big crowd. It ended with a 16-11 decision in favor of two-time state medalist Champagne.
"Last year Carlos beat me bad with a tech-fall, but tonight I really felt I had the better of things in the early going when I got that first takedown," said Randazzo. "But he's so quick, especially when he scrambles. And when he got out of two or three good shots of mine, I knew it was going to be tough to beat him."
The finals began with another key bout, this one between No. 5 (in 2A) DJ Hamiti (Joliet Catholic, 33-4) versus No. 9 (in 3A) Michael Leveille (31-7) of Marist.
In this back-and-forth affair, it was the freshman Hamiti who prevailed by breaking a 6-6 deadlock during the first extra session with a takedown, followed by a pin at 6:31.
For the St. Viator and Carmel Catholic faithful, none of these thrilling finals could match the excitement of their heroes' championship runs, which began early during the afternoon.
Wolf (21-4) pinmed his way to his second title, using all of just 3:52 minutes to do so in his two matches. The last came at 2:46 over Stan Suter from Nazareth Academy.
"To be honest, winning this second conference title was more for my team and the program than anything else, because I know a lot of the young guys look to me as their leader, captain and mentor," Wolf said. "So it was important that I come through for all of them."
"What Jake said to you is just the way he is," said Lions coach Jason Churak. "He's all class and just a terrific young man who is an unbelievable student-athlete, and one that everyone in our program looks up to."
Freshman Gaetano Console (19-16) finished second overall at 126, while Jackson Churak (152, 14-20) and sophomore Ryan McGuire (195, 24-8) both earned fourth-place medals.
Ivan (16-3) wasn't sure he'd wrestle again this season after having his right knee scoped to repair a torn meniscus. So the 220-pound champ, after climbing back down off the podium, could hardly contain himself after accepting his championship hardware.
"This is all amazing, and so hard to believe. But what an incredible way to have my last wrestling match at home end for me," said Ivan, who went into sudden death before edging Louie Stec (Nazareth Academy) 2-1. "It wasn't the prettiest final of the night, but when he was hit with that penalty for stalling to put me up by one (2-1), all I could think of was going flat and to hold on until the final whistle."
The tourney hosts finished sixth overall with 84 points, with seven medals. One of which a second-place medal by junior Tommy Hoy (152, 31-7); the other a third from senior Anthony Schaer (31-7) at 126 pounds.
"My semifinal loss (2-0) to Daniel Valeria (of MCC) was disappointing in that I had lost to him earlier in the season, and I thought I was prepared for him if we met up again," said Schaer, one of eight senior wrestlers and scorekeepers honored before the final session. "We could meet one more time at sectionals, and hopefully the third time is a charm for me."
Both Carmel and St. Viator will compete next Saturday at the Antioch regional.