Rockets appear to have a lot of firepower

Burlington Central wrestling coach Tony Rigitano felt last year's regional championship was the spark his program needed.

Now Rigitano is hoping that spark leads to even bigger things.

Central returns 8 starters from last year's squad, including regional champions Kevin Marshall (119, Sr., 25-6 last year), Shane Burke (125, Jr., 31-6) and Taylor Schuck (160, Jr., 26-7).

Sectional qualifier Tim Vincent (215, Jr., 14 wins) is also back, along with sophomore Tim Maroder (171, 23 wins), senior Thomas Perko (189-215) and juniors Tim Bostford (140-145) and Demitrius Phillips (135).

Vincent, Burke and Schuck were all part of a Team Illinois squad that competed in Fargo, N.D. this past summer.

Central started the 2008-2009 season with a 5-0 mark.

"I think last year was the spark we needed," said Rigitano. "Last year the team set the standard with the regional championship. We'll see where we are at the end of the year. We're hoping to get farther than we did the year before. We have this program heading in the right direction."

Freshman Johnny Major (112) was off to a 5-0 start, as were Burke, Marshall and Phillips.

Here's a look at the rest of the area:

Bartlett: Eric Moreno (160, Jr.) is a key returner for the Hawks. Seniors Brian Wozniak (135) and Tim Barringer (145) and juniors Camilo Garzon (152) and Mitch Horne (152) will be counted on as well.

Cary-Grove: The Trojans will have a youthful look, but do return veterans Terrance Fox (135-140, Jr.), Josh Nelson (140-145, Jr.), Jake Stewart (152-160, Sr.) and Cody Heche (189, Sr.). Fox took eighth at 140 at Barrington recently.

"We don't have a lot of varsity experience. We'll be kind of young," said Cary-Grove coach Dan Cysewski. "But we'll be more balanced than we have been. As the year goes on, we will get better."

Crystal Lake South: South won 11 dual matches (7 in the FVC) last year and returns 11 wrestlers from that squad, including senior Joe Fontanetta (160).

"We are still a very young team. However, we have a lot of experienced wrestlers," said South coach Ross Ryan. "The kids are focused and ready to build on last year."

Dundee-Crown: Hall of Fame coach Al Zinke enters his final season at the helm with plenty of firepower on the roster.

"This is my last year and after 30-some years, I'm really enjoying this group of young men," said Zinke.

D-C was off to a 5-0 start.

"I'm never happy," said Zinke. "We've got a lot of stuff to work on and a plan to put in."

Senior Ron Dumas (215-285) and four-year veteran Jack Lewis (152-160) were off to 5-0 starts, while senior Alex Laberd (145) was 4-1.

Zinke has been pleased with Dumas' start.

"I dismissed him at the end of the year last year," said Zinke. "He's done a terrific job. He's really turned it around big-time."

Zinke has also been pleased with junior Miko Villanueva (103) and sophomore Cody Churkey.

"Miko is a stud. He's tough," said Zinke. "Cody wrestled 50 matches in the off-season."

D-C had its string of 7 straight Fox Valley Conference titles ended last year by Crystal Lake Central. The Chargers would like that title back.

"We've got conference at home, the regional at home and this is my last year," said Zinke. "What do you think?"

Elgin: Coach Anthony Genovesi has just 2 seniors in his starting lineup currently.

Juniors Ivan Ceballos (160) and Sebastian Altamirano (152) both placed fourth at the Wheaton-Warrenville South tournament recently. Jesus Aguirre (140-145) was fifth and Sophomore Nathan Andresen (103) was sixth.

"We've very young, but we are getting better every day," said Genovesi. "As long as we keep improving, that's all that matters."

Huntley: The Red Raiders, under new coach Kevin Summerville (previously coached at Leyden), return only Coty Claudio (119) and Lucas Rogers (125) with varsity experience.

Claudio placed sixth at Barrington recently. Summerville has also been impressed with freshman 160-pounder Josh Symbol.

"Right now we're a very young team," said Summerville. "We have no seniors and we'll have a number of sophomores and freshmen on the varsity. We're hoping to improve one meet to the other and one week to the other."

Jacobs: The Golden Eagles have a new head coach in Todd Rader, a youth wrestling coaching veteran who won a district heavyweight title in 1979 at Schaumburg High School.

Rader inherits a squad that is led by returning state qualifier Aaron Ryan (112, Jr.) and senior Joe Diehl (125). Seniors Nate Muhlman (171) and Joe Stein (140) and junior Michael Stein (145) will also contribute. Diehl took sixth at the Barrington tournament recently, while Ryan was seventh.

"The guys are working real hard and are getting in the swing of things," said Rader.

Larkin: The Royals are off to a 5-7 start in duals. Larkin was eighth out of 18 teams at the Maine East team tournament. Seniors Tony Feliciano (130), Cameron Tanner (140) and Edir Nevarez (285) are key returners for the Royals. Feliciano and Tanner were 30-match winners last year, while Nevarez was a sectional alternate. Feliciano is 11-1 this season, while Tanner and junior Tim Einhorn (135) were off to 10-2 starts. Nevarez was 9-3, while juniors Patrick Lipscomb (125) and Jordan Perez (171) were each 8-4.

"Our team is much improved and our juniors and seniors are wrestling well," said Larkin coach Mike Mulhearn.

St. Edward: The Green Wave will also feature a young look.

"We have no seniors on the team," said St. Edward coach Shane Kottkamp.

Juniors Shane Finnane (285), Price Davis (171-189), Dan Duffy (160-171) and Jon Godfrey (152-160) are key returners along with sophomore Dan Miller (130). Godfrey and Miller are returning sectional qualifiers.

"We've got some lower-weight kids, which is the first time we've had that in awhile," said Kottkamp.

South Elgin: The Storm had a 9-4 dual-meet record to start the week. Kyle Henry (285) was 11-2, while Kevin Gianaris (112, Jr.) was 10-3. Dan Hoelting (152, Sr.) and Hakeem Johnson (215, Jr.) both had 9 wins, while Nick Citta (119, Fresh.), Kyle Rodriguez (125, Soph.) and Frank Cintora (160, Jr.) all had 7 wins.

"This season looks to be a promising year for us," said South Elgin coach Mark Cameron. "We still have a lineup which is dominated by underclassmen, but these underclassmen have experience, which is something we have not had in the past."

Streamwood: Sectional qualifier Joe Kubica headlines a list of returners for the Sabres. Kubica was third in the Upstate Eight at 135 as a freshman. The Sabres had won 2 duals to start the week. Junior Frank Adame (119) and senior Chad McMahon (189) were off to 4-2 starts.

"Our goal every year is to be in the top half of the conference," said Streamwood coach Bill Peach. "With the guys we have this year, I think we can be in that top half."

Mat notes: Hampshire has started a wrestling program. Terry Wilkinson is the Whip-Purs' head coach-Burlington Central is ranked 18th as a team in the most recent Illinois Matmen (www.illinoismatmen.com) Class 2A rankings. Dundee-Crown is ranked 24th in Class 3A.

Individually, Burlington Central's Marshall (9th at 119), Burke (9th at 125) and Schuck (3rd at 160) are all in the Class 2A individual rankings, while Streamwood's Kubica (11th at 140) and D-C's Cody Muscat (11th at 145) show up in the 3A rankings.

Jacobs' Ryan (4th at 112) and Diehl (7th at 125) are both ranked. The only problem is they show up in the Class 2A rankings. Jacobs is a Class 3A school in 3-class IHSA system.