Montini's Goebel sets tone for senior season at Ironman
Those Illinois heavyweights dreaming of winning a state title this year have one dreadful nightmare to get through first.
Defending state champion and senior Garrett Goebel of Montini may be hanging up his singlet in favor of an Ohio State football uniform next year, but he showed at last weekend's 59-team Ironman Tournament that he intends to leave a big footprint behind.
"I'll miss the meets," Goebel said of his departure from the sport. "But I probably won't miss the practices."
Montini and Glenbard North competed last weekend at the annual Ohio Ironman Tournament, held at Walsh Jesuit high school in Cuyahoga Falls. The Broncos finished ninth and the Panthers placed 17th in what many consider the toughest national tournament in the country.
Top-seeded Goebel won his second consecutive Ironman title at heavyweight after placing second at 215 as a sophomore. He posted a pair of pins before winning a 4-0 semifinal decision over fourth-seeded Nick Cook of Virginia's Fauquier High School, setting up a title match against seventh-seeded James Meder of Ohio's Parma Valley Forge High School.
"I didn't pay any attention to the seeds. Whoever you wrestle is tough," Goebel said. "Most of the guys I wrestled wanted to keep the score close, and they wrestled smart matches."
The match went into overtime tied 1-1 before Goebel threw Meder for the only takedown of a 3-1 decision. Last year Goebel used three pins to reach the final before winning it by 7-0 decision.
In two years of Ironman competition, no wrestler scored an offensive point on Goebel.
"He just has a relentless attitude, and I'm very proud of him for fighting off some rust after football but still winning that title," said Montini coach Mike Bukovsky.
As a team, the Broncos won 23 matches to the Panthers' 19 over the two days of the tournament. As a general measure of what was required to win the formidable tournament, Ironman team champion St. Paris Graham of Ohio won 61 matches.
Montini's Sam Brody (103 pounds), Colton Rasche (112), Benny Marti (125) and Carl Foreside (171) all finished one win away from placing in the tournament.
Glenbard North's Vince Ramos finished third at 145 and teammate Danny Monaco placed sixth at 140 pounds for Glenbard North. Heavyweight Jeff Jones was also one win away from placing.
Ramos went 5-1 at the Ironman, with his lone loss coming in a 3-2 decision loss to the eventual runner-up at 145 pounds. The senior rebounded to reach the third-place match against heralded Mario Mason of New Jersey's Blair Academy.
"For Vince I think it took a little bit of the sting of not winning the title by beating (Mason)," said Panthers assistant coach Jim Considine. "It was great for Vince to come out on top, beating the No. 1-ranked kid in the country like that."
Mason was ranked No. 1 in the nation at 145 and 152 pounds by the Amateur Wrestling News and WIN Magazine, respectively. Ramos, who is also nationally ranked, beat Mason by 3-2 decision.
Monaco went 4-2 and also lost to an eventual runner-up at 140 before winning twice in the consolation round and then bowing out by injury default to place sixth.
The weekend that Montini's Marti and the Panthers' Jamie Warczynski spent in Ohio perfectly illustrated how high the level of competition is at the Ironman.
A year after placing eighth, Warcynski lost his first match to the fifth-ranked 112-pound wrestler in the nation and eventual Ironman runner-up. Warczynski then won his first consolation-round match before losing to the eventual third-place finisher in the tournament.
Unseeded senior Marti upset top-seeded and nationally ranked Tony Ramos of Glenbard North by an 8-4 decision before losing to the tournament's eighth seed and eventual runner-up at 125 pounds.
"That just shows you how tough that tournament is," Goebel said. "Anyone can beat anyone."
Final-match wizards:ŒOver the last two seasons Naperville Central has displayed a knack for winning dual meets that come down to their final matches. The Redhawks used pivotal final matches to win duals against Leyden, Naperville North, West Aurora and Glenbard East last year, and they were up to their old tricks again last week.
Nick Weithman clinched a 33-29 win over Downers Grove North with a decision at 215 pounds. The next night Keenan Marr came from behind twice to win a wild, 13-10 decision at 130 to give the Redhawks a win over Glenbard East on the final match, 29-28, beating the Rams in a final match for the second consecutive year.
Coach Rob Porter is working to fill a few lineup holes this year, but the Redhawks are getting more and more comfortable in dual meets that go down to the wire.
"I got the feeling in the Glenbard East dual that now, in that situation, the kids are getting used to it," Porter said.
"They're starting to believe that if it's close, they're going to win."
Words of wisdom:ŒYoung wrestlers could do worse than listen to the words of Willowbrook's Dan Marin, who has come to understand the value of composure in his senior year.
"I'm in control more this year. Last year I was all over the place, I was wild," Marin said. "This year I feel like I actually know what I'm doing out there, and I'm thinking it out more. I'm not letting my emotions jump all over the place."
Marin improved to 16-3 in finishing fourth at Hoffman Estates' 12-team Hawk Invitational on Saturday.