West Aurora wrestlers win again at WWS; Saints 4th at Conant
Eight defending tournament champions returned to this year's 12-team Ed Ewoldt Wrestling Invitational at Wheaton Warrenville South on Saturday, and four of them walked away two-time champions.
Fenton's Josh Castellano, Hinsdale South's Jon Goldsher, Glenbard East's Pat Walker and Joliet's A.J. Juarez all repeated as individual champs, while West Aurora won its third consecutive team title in Wheaton.
Three first-time champions -- Tanner Andrews, Jesse Pena and Juan Perez -- led the way for the Blackhawks, who wrestled without state place-winner Mario Gonzalez but still outpointed second-place Hinsdale South 218-186.
"Almost all of last year's team was seniors," Andrews said. "But we've got four good middle school (programs), and hopefully we'll keep getting good wrestlers."
After cutting weight to wrestle at 103 last year, Andrews has moved up to 125 and looked up to the physicality of the weight class throughout his 2-1, triple-overtime win over Joliet's Mark Johnson for the title.
"I feel great -- now. I didn't feel so great during the match," Andrews said. "When I escaped, I thought I won it. I forgot there was another overtime."
Andrews rode Johnson out for the win. Pena followed at 160 with four takedowns in an 8-5 title win over the Hornets' Jamie McGuire, and heavyweight Perez won his title via 4-2 decision over the Rams' Andrew Crounk.
"He's bigger, stronger and he's learning," Blackhawks coach Mike DiNovo said of Perez. "He's about 20 pounds bigger this year, and he has worked on his technique."
The Blackhawks also got second-place finishes from Steven Pena at 135, Vince Morris at 140 and Dan Carey at 215 pounds, and a third from Josh Zinzer at 130.
"A lot of our guys were wrestling their first varsity matches tonight," DiNovo said. "I gave them a challenge to get their first varsity wins today, and all of them did that.
"Steven Pena made it all the way to the finals in his first varsity tournament, and that was awesome."
At Conant: Entering the day with a 15-point advantage, Glenbard North coach Mark Hahn and his team felt confident, poised, and ready to capture a first-place finish in the C.O. Fuetz Wrestling Classic at Conant.
Despite the fact that 11 of his wrestlers finished with medals around their necks, Glenbard North still fell 3 points shy of perennial state power Providence Catholic for a second-place finish.
St. Charles East, which finished fourth overall in the team standings, saw eight of its wrestlers finish in the top six places in their weight class.
Adam Schaefer (189) wrestled his way to a second-place medal, while teammates Billy Diamond, (171), Steve Schnek (215) and Blake Griffiths (275) all finished third. Cody Crawford (125) and Daniel Mercadonte (135) also turned in solid performances, both earning fifth-place wins by fall.
"It's definitely nice to finish in the top five in this tournament," Saints coach Steve Smerz said. "This tournament is always tough. It lets you know as a team where you are at, and what you need to work on because you see real good competition."
Marmion Academy (eighth-place finish), led by Pat Greco (135), who earned a second-place medal Saturday, is another exciting young team to watch.
"We are an up-and-coming team right now," Greco said. "This is a top level tournament. Two or three years ago we might have come out here and got beaten badly. Our performance this weekend just shows how much we are improving."
-- Dan Hyman
Cross country
Hynes 15th:ŒHersey senior Kevin Havel placed fifth Saturday in the Midwest Regional of the Foot Locker Cross Country championships held at Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wis.
Havel and the rest of the top 10 finishers in the 5K race advance to the national championship held Dec. 8 in San Diego.
The girls race was won by Claire Durkin of Columbus, Ohio in 17:01. Lizzy Hynes of St. Charles East was the highest Illinois finisher with a 15th-place effort in 18:13.
Women's basketball
Aurora 70, Grinnell 59: The Spartans (1-3) outscored Grinnell 43-30 in the second half as they picked up their first win of the year. Ashley Daniels led Aurora with 16 points and Kim Voiles owned the boards, grabbing 17 rebounds. Megan Re added 11 points and six steals.