Nine straight for Glenbard North wrestlers
Glenbard North showed exactly why it's the best.
The Panthers won their ninth straight regional crown, this time sweeping through the competition at Saturday's Class 3A Elgin wrestling regional. Glenbard North (234.5) won easily, with St. Charles East (144.5) and Schaumburg (138) duking it out for second. Lake Park (117) took fourth and Larkin (79.5) rounded out the top five teams.
"Everyone scored points," Panthers coach Mark Hahn said. "We had our first seven weight classes make it to the finals. Heavyweight (Chris Van Gundy) did a nice job coming back after an injury and getting to the finals."
Of the Panthers' 11 wrestlers advancing to next week's Leyden sectional, Bryan Gonzalez (103 pounds), Tony Ramos (125), Jimmy Chase (130), Dalton Boland (135), Marty Schecht (140) and Charleston Soko (171) were all crowned regional champs.
Ramos pinned St. Charles East's Nick Ruffino in 1 minute, 53 seconds to improve to 41-2 on the season. After taking all three of his matches via pinfall, Ramos was confident about the message he and his teammates sent to the competition at Leyden next week.
"It's expected every time," Ramos said of his pins. "I want to be able to dominate the whole state series. It shows the other people what I've done and nothing is going to stop us."
While Glenbard North's victory wasn't exactly a nail-biter - the Panthers led by 80 points going into the championship round - Larkin's Cam Martin provided the drama.
Martin took St. Charles North's Kasey Ro down with three seconds left in overtime to secure a 3-1 victory and regional championship. Martin improved to 9-1 with the emotional victory.
"I just wanted to win," Martin said of his takedown. "He was going for the head, coach told me to go for the shoot, and I got it."
His teammates will be looking for redemption next week. Chase downed Larkin's Tony Feliciano with a technical fall at 4:49 and Cameron Tanner fell to Schecht 8-4.
Several other area athletes were able to claim titles. The Saints' Brandon Rubino took an 8-6 decision over Glenbard North's Dan Rios at 112 to redeem himself after a second-place finish at last year's regionals.
"I couldn't get my shots down," he said. "I was a little nervous to begin with, but everything fell into place."
Nerves skipped Lake Park's Mike DeSario (112), who improved to improved to an unprecedented 31-0 with a 6-2 decision over the Panters' Joey Gosinski. DeSario also finished second last season, marking Saturday's championship as his first.
"I just had to keep wrestling my best," DeSario said. "I stayed a little defensive after his first takedown."
Bartlett's Eric Moreno (160) slammed a 4-2 overtime decision over Schaumburg's Danny Maliak (26-6) scoring a takedown with 38 seconds left in overtime. Moreno improved to 28-4 and claimed the lone regional crown for the Hawks in the process.
"I hit a desperation move," Moreno said. "He's a tough kid and I knew I would have to wrestle my best to beat him and I did."