Blackhawks go 14 for 14 at Ewoldt Invitational
Fourteen wrestlers and 14 medals.
West Aurora paced the field at this year's Ed Ewoldt Wrestling Invitational at WW South, winning by a 56.5-point margin over second-place Joliet Twp. and getting its entire lineup onto the medal stand.
"We've got a lot of seasoned varsity guys here," said Blackhawks coach Mike DiNovo. "They led the way, and I don't look at our other guys as newbies, even though some of them wrestled their first varsity matches today.
"They've all got a lot of wrestling experience."
West Aurora had four champions in Josh Zinzer (130), Vince Morris (145), Jesse Pena (160) and Mario Gonzalez, and four runners-up in Nicholas Drendel (103), Miguel Venencia (125), Sam McKinney (135) and heavyweight Marcos Hernandez.
Brandon Walz (112) and O.J. Quintanilla (119) also placed third for West Aurora.
"This is the best squad we've had since I was a freshman," Gonzalez said. "We've got something like nine seniors starting. I've got a good feeling about this year. I think we'll do real well."
Third-place Hinsdale South got individual titles from Jake Schramm (103) and Ryan Garringer (189), with each wrestling aggressively to a fault. Garringer wrestled at 160 last year, but 189 suits him in his senior year.
"I feel quicker compared to my opponents," Garringer said. "I'm filling out the weight pretty good. I wrestle big kids all the time in practice, and I understand how to wrestle and maneuver those bigger bodies. It's working well for me."
The Hornets also got thirds from Jimmy Grimm (125), Jack Hanrahan (140), Joe Coffey (171) and Jon Nelson (215).
The fourth-place and host Tigers crowned three champions in Spartacus Chino (140), Tim Savenok (152) and Jim Franke (171), with Mike Olp placing second to Garringer at 189 pounds.
Chino posted a pair of technical-fall wins before winning by major decision on the title mat over Joliet's Drew Aldridge.
"I was solid on my feet, with my takedowns, and on top today," Chino said. "Once I was on top, I felt very dominant with my tilt."
Fifth-place Addison Trail had three wrestlers reach the title mat in George Iliopoulos (119), Brandon Lopez (160) and Arber Bebo (215), who lost 3-1 to Gonzalez on the title mat. All placed second for coach Rob Serio, who was also particularly happy with Kerin Ramirez, who placed third at 145.
"He wrestled tough, nonstop, and never quit. I was really happy with the way he and Brandon (Lopez) wrestled today," Serio said. "Arber wrestled well, but he needs to believe he can win."
Glenbard East's Larry Caruso (145) and Sam Pennisi (171) brought home seconds for the sixth-place Rams, who also got a pair of thirds from Dalton Servatius (130) and Spencer George (285).
Glenbard West's Sam Littlehale placed second at 112, Bartlett's Carmilo Garzon placed third at 152 pounds, while Elgin got a pair of fourths from Sebastian Altamirano (152) and Ivan Ceballos, and a fifth from Jesus Aguirre (145).
Fremd heavyweight Jimmy Norris posted a pair of pins and a 7-1 decision in winning a title on Saturday, and the Vikings got thirds from Travis LaShiava (135) and Brett Opitz (189) on the day.
Norris placed fourth at last year's Ewoldt while filling in for then-injured eventual state qualifier John LaPointe, who graduated last year.
"LaPointe still comes in the room and helps out, and that has really helped me," Norris said. "The speed, competition, and strength - I'm a lot stronger this year, and I also worked on my speed for football, so that has helped."