Greco brothers tough pair

With a surname to symbolically mesh with their wintertime passions, Eddie and Pat Greco were in their element at the Jim Newbill Invitational at Geneva.

The Marmion wrestlers advanced to the championship match of the 18-team Geneva tournament, only to meet with mixed results.

Eddie, the diminutive freshman 103-pounder had a third-period takedown to overcome two earlier near-misses in claiming a 7-4 decision over Mundelein freshman Matt Ornoff.

The elder Greco was pitted against savvy Brother Rice junior Luke Nelson in the final match of the afternoon at 140 pounds.

With the third-period clock winding down and Greco trailing by 2, the Cadets' three-year standout made one final bid for a tying-takedown.

But Nelson, whose efforts culminated in tournament MVP honors, caught Greco with a brilliant move of his own, leading to a takedown, 3-point near-fall and 11-4 triumph.

The Cadets' third finalist, Nico Jimenez, is a story in his own right.

The junior 171-pounder continued his comeback from a devastating back injury that derailed virtually his entire sophomore campaign.

The St. Charles resident willed his way to the championship match and gave the Cadets their second champion of the day with a thrilling 4-3 win over Stillman Valley junior Barry Gaudel.

With Geneva resident Angelo Silvestro placing third at 119 pounds for the Cadets and another quartet finishing between fifth and seventh place, Marmion was fourth with 136.5 points, 3.5 behind Brother Rice.

Hinsdale Central had three champions to defend its team title, more than 40 points better than second-place Lake Zurich, which led all schools with five finalists.

Eduardo Dominquez captured the 112-pound title to flavor the sixth-place finish by Mundelein, and Jeff Mertens was the lone finalist for seventh-place Geneva.

Carmel bettered Fenton for ninth place, with West Chicago, Larkin and St. Edward rounding out the schools from the Daily Herald circulation area.

Eddie Greco trailed Ornoff 3-2 after the opening period, and the Cadets' freshman was looking to extended his unanswered run to five points over the final four minutes.

But Greco twice in the decisive third had potential takedowns overruled when his feet fell outside the ring.

"I didn't panic when I didn't get those two takedowns," Greco said. "I kept my composure. Those two takedowns would have helped, but you can't win everything."

But Greco was not denied a third time, icing the match with a legitimate takedown in the final 35 seconds to add to an earlier-season crown at Wheeling.

Jimenez had the only offensive points of the championship match at 171-a reversal and takedown-to claim the Cadets' second title.

"It was a good win for me to keep my spirits high for the rest of the season," Jimenez said. "I had to stay focused. I felt like I had to redo everything from what I did last year (while injured)."

Pat Greco was in position to make it a clean sweep for the family, but the momentum changed when Nelson tied the match with a reversal at the first-period horn.

"I made some mistakes that cost me," Greco said. "I could have come out a little more aggressive. I was a little too stagnant."

The day could not have started any worse for host Geneva: the Vikings learned junior heavyweight Frank Boenzi would be lost for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.

"Pretty crummy news to start the weekend," Geneva coach Tom Chernich said of losing his lone returning state qualifier. "(The knee has been) bothering him the whole school year."

Nine of the Vikings' 11 wrestlers place, but Mertens' 5-2 loss to Hinsdale Central junior Quinn Francis was the lone Geneva athlete to place in the top three.

"I knew (Francis) was going to be tough competition," Mertens said. "He beat me fair and square. I had a decent day overall."

In the most entertaining match of the championship bracket, the 135-pound collision between Jonny Padilla (West Chicago) and Kevin Fanta (Lake Zurich) went against the grain of the tactical standoffs that characterized the majority of the matches.

The two exchanged takedowns, reversals and escapes with abandon, but Fanta ultimately prevailed 19-12.

"I knew it was going to be a good, nice match to wrestle," Padilla said. "A couple of times I got caught on my knees. Other than (the championship match), everything else went pretty good."

Hinsdale Central had long decided the team title when Jack Allen won at 215 pounds, and his teammate, Pat Clegg, continued the Devils' dominance at the upper weights with a 3-2 decision over Fenton senior Francisco Ochoa.

The Bison heavyweight negated the only takedown of the match with a pair of escapes, but Clegg returned the favor early in the third to win the 285-pound crown.

"(Ochoa) capitalizes on other wrestlers' mistakes," Clegg said. "I watched him a couple of times (in his preliminaries). He is very hard to shoot on. (The final period) was very interesting, but I didn't think he could take me down."

Tony Feliciano was the lone hope to salvage the collective performance by Larkin.

The 130-pounder had a first-period fall to start his day and sailed into the semifinals, but the senior lost to the ultimate winner in Brother Rice junior Mike Avelar.

In the top consolation match, Feliciano earned a takedown against Geneva junior Collin Callahan with 15 seconds remaining in overtime to earn third place.

"I was a little surprised at first," Feliciano said of a stalling call with six seconds to go in regulation that forced the extra session. "I got my double (leg takedown in overtime) and I'm just glad I won."

"I wasn't too disappointed with the performance," Callahan said.

Of the eight wrestlers competing for St. Edward, heavyweight Shane Finnane was the sole place-winner for the Green Wave.

The junior eked out a 7-6 overtime win to advance to the semifinals, but a familiar figure stood in his way: Fenton senior Francisco Ochoa.

"He beat me by a point here last year, too," Finnane said of his 3-2 loss to the Bison gladiator.

Carmel junior Steve Lester then ended the third-place match quickly with a first-period fall.

"Walking away with fourth place is OK," Finnane said.