Saints excited about season so far
The fortunes of the two St. Charles programs are headed in opposite directions.
St. Charles East is in the midst of a banner season; the Saints captured the eight-team Glenbard West tournament last weekend, and their dual-meet winning percentage is at its highest in years.
The Saints stand at 12-4 as the countdown to the Upstate Eight Conference tournament begins in earnest.
"I think it has been an exciting year so far," St. Charles East coach Steve Smerz said. "We have a lot of experienced kids, which makes it exciting. We're a good team from top to bottom."
The Saints are particularly potent in the upper weights, where Billy Diamond, Adam Schaefer and Steve Schenck hold court between 171 and 215 pounds.
Cody Crawford and Danny Mercadante, the Saints' two three-year starting juniors -- anchor the lower weights, and the Saints have their eyes set on the Class AA Dundee-Crown regional.
"It's going to be tough," Smerz said. "Batavia and Dundee-Crown are both going to be there."
St. Charles North, meanwhile, has difficulties being competitive in its dual-meet schedule due to forfeits.
The situation was exacerbated for the North Stars when the team lost freshman 112-pounder Roy Rodriquez to a season-ending injury.
It would, however, be grossly inaccurate to suggest the North Stars are bereft of talent.
St. Charles North is a dangerous tournament team as its core athletes -- Eric Justice, David Trizzino, Lin Stacey and Dan McSweeney -- continue to thrive.
Justice routed the field at the Hinsdale Central holiday tournament at 145 pounds, and his trio of teammates has all eclipsed 20 victories as well.
"We should be in top form for conference (Jan. 26 at Streamwood)," St. Charles North coach Dave Trizzino said. "We're getting the guys ready for tournament competition. We have raised the level of intensity in our (wrestling) room."
Blackhawks barely beat Batavia:ŒBased on their results against the other two foes last Saturday, the middle dual meet between West Aurora and Batavia at the Bulldogs' quadrangular figured to be another dominant showing by the Blackhawks.
West Aurora manhandled Romeoville and Marist, and Batavia needed dramatic falls from Ethan Huggins at 215 pounds to secure victories against the two programs.
In the ever-fickle world of high school athletics, however, the Bulldogs did not follow the script.
Batavia, seeking to upset West Aurora for a second straight year, made the Blackhawks work for every victory, ultimately falling by 2 points to the two-time reigning regional champions.
"A lot of it (the closeness of a dual meet) has to do with matchups," Batavia coach Tom Arlis said. "We had a number of opportunities to beat West again. We wrestled well enough to beat them."
In the Romeoville match, which ended with Huggins' fall sealing the Bulldogs' 34-28 victory, Arlis purposely failed to send any wrestlers out at 103 and 119 pounds; the Spartans were short-handed in the lower weights.
"I wasn't going to run up the score," Arlis said. "I wouldn't do that to my brother."
The decision was made easier as Arlis revealed a little known aspect that is prevalent throughout the sport.
The IHSA limits wrestlers to 21 dual meets in a season, but Arlis said coaches routinely schedule extra matches.
"It's a coaching strategy," Arlis said. "Every coach does it. It gives the younger kids a chance to get some varsity experience."
The respective programs were without the services of junior standouts Mario Gonzalez and Andrew Rudd.
The latter suffered a knee injury, and Arlis is anxiously awaiting the results of an MRI.
"I'm crossing my fingers and crossing my toes, hoping for the best," Arlis said. "It's like West not having Mario. Maybe not at the state level, but (Rudd) is a big point-earner for us."
The West Aurora sweep of the Batavia quad demonstrated its resilience as the Blackhawks routed Wheaton Warrenville South the previous night to win four impressive matches in two days.
It also took some of the sting out of a hard-fought loss to Wheaton North a week ago Thursday.
"It was a good day of wrestling, but a weird finish," West Aurora coach Mike DiNovo said.
DiNovo was referring to Romeoville forfeiting four consecutive weight classes, which enabled his squad to take a commanding 36-0 lead.
The Spartans, however, clawed their way back into contention, slicing the Blackhawks' cushion to single digits before another West Aurora surge framed its 21-point victory.
"Forfeits are a double-edged sword," DiNovo said.
Young Knights make strides:ŒThe graduation losses that decimated the Kaneland program have induced a baptism by fire for the Knights' underclass-dominated lineup.
One year after a season of hardware-raising achievements, the Knights are grooming for the future.
"We're basically trying to prepare," said Kaneland assistant coach Jeremy Kenny, who is taking over the program for Gary Baum next fall. "We have such a young team. Our young guys are making good strides. Between now and conference (Jan. 19 at Rochelle), we're just trying to keep doing what we have been doing -- keeping our conditioning up high and doing the best we can at conference."
The Knights' senior returning conference champions Sean Szatkowski and Jeff Stralka anchor the lower weights for Kaneland, and heavyweight Ben Fabrizius is a legitimate downstate contender with a team-best (in terms of winning percentage) 21-2 record.
Boenzi on a major roll:ŒGeneva sophomore Frank Boenzi has been a bad boy.
Not only to his competition but also his coach.
The heavyweight sensation had pins in an-almost unheard of 7 and 11 seconds, respectively, in easing to the crown at Geneva last weekend.
"That wasn't a misprint," Geneva coach Tom Chernich said.
In addition to his coaching duties, Chernich has assumed a new role with the team: workout partner for the massive Boenzi.
"If I don't answer the phone after 9 (p.m.), it means that I'm sleeping," Chernich joked. "I feel it in my entire body after working out with Frank."