Maine West's Bellizzi wins first state match

CHAMPAIGN - Jake Bellizzi of Maine West, Fremd's Brian Morel and the Barington duo of Luke Rasmussen and Dayven Shinhoste rescued the Northwest suburbs from what could have been a disastrous first day of wrestling at the Class 3A state tournament Thursday.

The aforementioned grapplers recorded the only victories among the 16 here from the Northwest suburbs.

These fortunate few remain in the front draw, and will open the action Friday at 8:30 a.m. in the quarterfinal round, while the rest will have another chance to stay alive when wrestlebacks take place at the same time and continue throughout the afternoon.

Semifinals are scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

After going 0-3 during his first two visits here Bellizzi would finally enjoy a breakthrough when he recorded a hard fought 5-2 victory over Ryan Boersma (42-6) of Providence Catholic.

"That was a big one for Jake, but I am not at all surprised with this win because he came in here with plenty of confidence, and trust in himself and the game plan we all put together," said Warriors head coach Chris Brassell.

"It's all coming together for him at the right time, and you saw how good he was feeling about his game when he got that takedown toward the end, then rode out the last 18-20 seconds."

Bellizzi (29-7), who recently signed on to play football next fall at Illinois State, will face Nik Mishka (29-9) of Mt. Carmel.

Rasmussen (42-3), in a weight division (160) which features all of the top guys in the state, will be facing one such man when he takes on No. 1 Baylor Fernandes (32-4) from Lockport.

His teammate Shinhoster (31-2) looked anything but a first time state qualifier during his 10-5 decision over Kevin Zimmer (Sandburg) and will now face Pekin junior Jared Dowell.

Morel's dramatic win in overtime brought a big smile to Fremd head coach Jeff Keske, who was thrilled with the effort from his senior, who last week won four straight in wrestlebacks at sectionals to earn himself a first trip downstate.

"Brian isn't going to score a lot of points, but he is so good at staying within himself, and with the game plan we've orchestrated, and that's how he was able to get out of his first round (because) he was intelligent and composed."

Morel would earn an escape in the waning moments of his 3-2 win over Jack Bazukas of Marmion Academy to push his overall record to 29-14.