Wave's Lytle takes 2nd at Geneva

Keep battling to the final whistle.

It may be an age-old saying, but those words certainly rang out loud and true for Marmion's Pat Greco Saturday evening.

Greco, a sophomore, scored a takedown in the final seconds of the third period to force overtime, and then sealed the 135-pound championship with a takedown from behind during his dramatic 8-6 victory over Fenton's Josh Castellano at the 29th annual Jim Newbill Wrestling Invitational in Geneva.

"There's nothing else like being in a match like that," said Greco, who improved his record to 24-1 with 4 victories Saturday. "The adrenaline, the crowd -- that's what I'm going to remember for the rest of my life."

Greco trailed 5-2 early in the third period before his last-second heroics against Castellano, who suffered just his second loss in 26 matches this season.

"You've just got to keep wrestling," said Greco, who also won the 135-pound crown at Geneva last season. "That's the sport. You've got to have heart. It's one of the biggest assets that I have. I just keep working on my goals and my heart keeps getting bigger."

The Cadets, who also received a second-place effort from Matt Grange (130) and third-place finishes from Eddie Breen (103) and Elliot Guerrero (189), placed fourth in the 18-team event with 133 points.

Hinsdale Central, which sent 5 wrestlers to the semifinals, edged Stillman Valley 158.50-152 for team honors.

"It's a long day, but it makes it a little easier when you win the team title," said Red Devils coach Jim Zajicek. "We had seven guys in the placing round and we went 6-1 in that round with four pins. That was a really good round for us."

It was an even better day for Red Devil sophomore David Lutz and freshman Terry Ward, who captured titles at 145 and 103, respectively.

Lutz, seeded fourth, edged top-seeded Dan Hasty of Brother Rice 11-7 in the semis before his 11-5 title triumph over St. Edward senior Will Lytle.

"It's my first tournament win," said Lutz, whose best previous finish was a third at Downers Grove South. "I came out and I knew I could do it."

Lytle rallied from a 7-5 third-period deficit to outlast Mundelein's Alex Muna 9-7 in overtime of their semifinal bout just to reach the finals.

"I'm a little disappointed that I didn't come in first, but I put up a good match against a strong wrestler," said Lytle, now 16-3 after his best-ever tourney finish. "That semifinal match totally wiped me out."

Meanwhile, Ward scored a third-period pin over Richmond Burton's Mike Heuer in the 103-pound finals.

"Terry normally isn't in the last match of the night at 103 (pounds)," said Zajicek. "Getting the pin - it was nice to finish that way."

Zajicek also singled out 140-pound junior Tom Jung for his fifth-place showing.

"Tom wrestled a fantastic tournament," said Zajicek. "He lost in the quarterfinals to a kid (Glenbard South's Mark Griffin) who was and still is undefeated - and he lost to him 6-3."

In addition to Griffin's win at 140, eighth-place Glenbard South (98.50) also got a title-winning effort from sophomore Austin Tiestma, who downed Stillman Valley's Alex Bunk in the finals.

"I just went out there and did my best," said Tiestma, whose last tournament title came last year as a freshman.

Geneva sophomore Frank Boenzi (17-2), who recorded the fastest pin of the day with a seven-second fall in his opening match, claimed the heavyweight title with another first-period pin (1:52) over Carmel's Steve Lester after trailing early in the match.

"I got a little worried but then I kept my cool and did what I do - and stuck it out and won."

Boenzi, who now has won two straight tourney titles, provided the highlight of the day for the 11th-place Vikings (77.50), who also received a fourth-place finish from 152-pound senior Francis Ferrer.