Wheeling comeback notches D-C regional title

Neal Weiner just refused to believe.

Perhaps thinking that it was an April Fool's hoax, the Wheeling coach needed more than an official nod from assistant J.P. Akouri and even tournament officials before he realized what his team had done. Finaly, the public address announcer sent the Wheeling faithful, and Weiner, into a frenzy.

On the final match of the day, the Wildcats finally caught and passed Hoffman Estates to win the Dundee-Crown regional team title. Junior heavyweight Tim Schalz's OT victory over Nate Johnson of Conant gave the Wildcats a 2-point championship to end a day that would had so many stories leading up to its thrilling ending.

"I really never even thought we could come back from being so far down to Hoffman, and even before, and then after Tim's win ... I thought we would fall short by a point or two," said Weiner, who watched his team trail by as many as 26 points before slowly closing the gap en route to its sixth straight regional crown.

The Wildcats (168.5 points) advance to the Libertyville dual-team sectional later this month and will join team champions from the Glenbrook South, McHenry and Zion-Benton regionals.

Runner-up Hoffman Estates (166.50) would took home individual championship medals from Patrick Scully (119, 34-6), Tommy Wadas (145, 26-2) and senior Nico Sylvestri (135), who gave his club a big boost with his return to the line-up after missing virtually all of the 2008-2009 season due to injury.

The host Chargers (124.0) and retiring head coach Al Zinke rounded out the top three after a rough afternoon session effectively took D-C out of the team race after the Chargers had stayed close to the leaders and even led through 140 pounds during the first full round of competition.

"I've been very lucky (here) and fortunate to have so many great kids and champions walk into our room along the way," said Zinke, whose illustrious career spans 40 years.

Buffalo Grove, with its 1-2 punch of Kyle Czarnecki (160, 34-1) and Jamey Zabrin (171, 34-2) each capturing championships, placed fourth overall (94) and just ahead of MSL East champ Rolling Meadows by 3 points.

Wheeling, with a little help from its MSL rivals, got key head-to-head victories along and gritty performances from its unheralded competitors. Combined with superb work from its tried and true athletes, it was too much for the Wildcats' foes.

Mike Smith (130, 34-6) and David Aranda (140, 33-4) avenged disappointing losses to their Hoffman Estates counterparts at the MSL tournament to put Wheeling into contention.

Smith, with a fast start, routed Brian Kempf (17-13) 18-10 to not only gain a key victory but also add bonus points to the Wildcats' tally.

"That loss to (Kempf) last week hurt me mentally, so to come back and win like I did today really helped restore my confidence," said Smith, who'd battled a 102 fever during the past week.

Aranda erased a 3-1 quarterfinal loss to Silvestri with an impressive 10-6 win, which he sealed with a late takedown to close things out.

"I had been thinking about the (loss) all week, so I knew that I had to be aggressive from the start and to stay that way for six minutes," said Aranda, now a 2-time sectional qualifier.

The top 3 from each weight class advanced to the Barrington sectional next weekend, including two-timers Danny Sabatello (St. Viator, 35-3) who was dominant at 112, Joe Patricelli (Conant, 25-6) who bumped up to 215 and defeated favorite Jose Flores (Hoffman Estates, 31-7) for the second-time this season and three-time regional champ Jack Lewis (152, 35-4) of Dundee-Crown.

"I've put a lot into this program and taken a lot out of it too," said Lewis. "To be able to win a regional title, and on our home mats, and for coach Zinke, makes it all that much more special for me."

"Jack is a great kid, and you can see that all of the extra work that he puts in (before) school and very early, and the time he puts in after practice has paid off for him," said a proud Zinke, who will follow Lewis and four others to Barrington: Miko Villanueva (103) plus Jeremy (119), Jermaine (125) and Josh Lee (130).

"I did it the hard way coming all the way back in the (backdraw) .... but it's great to be alive for another week," said Josh Lee (29-15) who used a fall over Will Tham (Fremd) in his third-place qualifying match.

It was after Dan Vargas (Wheeling, 35-2) defeated Thomas Davidson (Rolling Meadows, 36-5) in a rematch of the 189-pound final at the MSL meet that things began to tighten up in the team race.

Hawks senior Greg Carroll, who just returned to the lineup last weekend, gave his club a 10-point lead when he pinned Brett Opitz (Fremd) in the third-place match at 189. But it was Patricelli who initiated the chain of events which would doom the Hawks.

Coupled with the Patricelli 10-6 decision over Flores, Wheeling sophomore Chris Johnson would win his third-place bout to make it a 5-point lead and set up the Schalz heroics.

Schalz followed a 9-3 defeat of Hoffman Estates heavyweight Mike Eisele by MSL champ Jimmy Norris (36-1, Fremd) with 10-1 major decison win in OT to give the Wildcats just enough to win it all.

"I was really nervous going into that match and I didn't even know what I was wrestling for except a place in the sectional next week," said Schalz, who did not compete last week for the Wildats at the conference tournament. "If I had known, I can't even imagine how much more nervous I would have been."

Schalz accepted the regional championship plaque before being hoisted atop his teammates shoulders who roared their approval after hearing their name called out as champions.

McHenry regional: Grant rolled to the team title with a total of 179 points, well ahead of runner-up Prairie Ridge (125.5).

The Bulldogs had champions at 125 with Chaz Alex, at 152 with Tyler Becker and at 171 with Lee Munster, who improved to 38-0 with a pin against Dan Sontoro of Barrington at 2:15 of their title bout.

Grant's other sectional qualifiers were Christian Balderas (second at 112), Roque Bustos (second at 130), Jason Montemayor (second at 135), Tyler Dempsey (second at 145) and Carl Williams (third at 285).

Lake Zurich finished third at 121 and had sectional champs in Cameron Shaffer (130), Kevin Fanta (135), Anthony Pace (145) and Wade Self (215). Other advancers were John Harkness (second at 140) and Andy Lynch (third at 152),

Barrington placed fourth and got its only title from Adrian Gonzalez at 103. Other Barrington sectional qualfiers were Conor Mannina (third at 112), Dakota Wapotish (third at 135), Luke Miller (second at 152), Sontoro and Kalvin Arqueta (third at 189).

Glenbrook South regional: Prospect's Matt Boggess extended his unbeaten season, winning a regional title at 140 pounds with a pin in 1:24 against Nick Turner of Glenbrook North. Boggess improved to 36-0 and will be joined by teammates George Wrobell, a champ at 119, and Tim Schweigel, second at 130.

York regional: Jeff Vernola earned a regioanl crown at 130 pounds, and he'll be joined at the sectional round by teammate Chris Pack (second at 152). The Warriors placed seventh in the meet at 72.5; Hinsdale Central was the team champion at 149.5, edging rival Hinsdale South (149.5).