Fox Valley sectional preview

Dundee-Crown senior wrestler Jack Lewis will make his fourth straight appearance at the ticket window this weekend.

In his previous three appearances, Lewis found the window closed for business.

Lewis gets his final opportunity today at punching his state finals ticket at the Class 3A Barrington sectional. The top three place-finishers in each weight class advance to the state finals next weekend at Assembly Hall in Champaign.

"If I go and wrestle like I've been wrestling all year then I should be a state qualifier," said Lewis. "I've been watching a lot of film and staying after practice and working hard. There is no reason I shouldn't be confident going in."

Lewis, who estimates he wrestled around 70 matches last summer, credits his improvement and outlook on himself to all of the hard work he has put in.

"I spent a lot of time wrestling and working on being confident," said Lewis. "I go out there knowing that I am better even if I'm not. All of the experience and work I put in helped a lot. I got big match experience. I didn't get rusty at all because I was wrestling all the time."

Lewis started his high school career as a freshman at Jacobs. Between the two District 300 schools he's won, by his estimate, 126 matches (35-4 this year at 152 pounds) against only 36 defeats.

"It's been my goal since freshman year to get to the state meet," said Lewis. "I want to be a state-placer this year and maybe even a state finalist."

Lewis, who is looking into going to school and wrestling at Elmhurst College, also credits a lot of his development to legendary D-C coach Al Zinke, who will either coach in his penultimate or final high school event this weekend. Zinke is retiring after a three-decade run that will place him among the area's all-time greatest high school coaches regardless of sport.

"Ever since I came over here as a sophomore he's been like a second father," said Lewis of Zinke. "He's coached me mentally. He always has me prepared. He said he was going to graduate with my class. I've used that as motivation. I want to keep working hard so he goes out on a high note."

Lewis is one of 5 D-C wrestlers in the sectional. Also competing for the Chargers will be Miko Villanueva (30-5 at 103) and the triplet brother combination of Jeremy (34-5 at 119), Jermaine (30-11 at 125) and Josh (29-15 at 130) Lee.

Also at Barrington, Jacobs junior Aaron Ryan will be looking for his second-straight state trip. Ryan, the lone returning area state qualifier from a year ago, won a regional title last weekend and brings a 28-6 mark into the sectional. He'll be joined by senior teammate Joe Diehl (24-12 at 125).

Huntley junior Colt Claudio (34-11 at 119) will be making his second trip to the sectional in a row.

"I try not to worry about matches anymore," said Claudio. "I think about winning now. I don't get nervous as much. My mental game has improved. I'm beating kids now that I lost to before."

Claudio doesn't plan on changing much heading into this weekend.

"I'm going to go and do my thing and treat it like any other tournament," said Claudio, whose real first name is Coultzen (he also goes by Coty).

Crystal Lake South and Cary-Grove round out the local representation at Barrington. South qualified Nick Fontanetta (24-10 at 103), Gerard Golston (24-8 at 130), Kean Loupee (30-11 at 145), Joe Fontanetta (27-10 at 160) and Alex Uidl (17-17 at 171). Regional champions Josh Nelson (27-3 at 140) and Josh Stewart (22-13 at 160) will wrestle for Cary-Grove.

The Elgin U-46 qualifiers will compete in the Class 3A Leyden sectional.

Among the district's schools, Larkin leads the way with three sectional qualifiers in seniors Tony Feliciano (38-4 at 130) and Cameron Tanner (30-14 at 140), along with junior Cam Martin (9-1 at 215).

"I'm working hard and coach (Matt Mulhearn) pushes me a lot and I push myself a lot in conditioning," said Martin, who did not wrestle the first part of the season.

Martin has one specific strategy in mind for the sectional.

"I'm going to come out and be tough in my first match," said Martin.

Elgin's Nathan Andresen (21-14 at 103) and senior Erik McGinn (17-9 at 171) will also be part of the field at Leyden. McGinn had to injury default in the regional title match last weekend due to a knee problem.

"I should be able to go on Friday," McGinn said Thursday afternoon.

McGinn feels his offensive mindset has come to the forefront this season.

"My major improvement is on offense," said McGinn. "I didn't really have an offense last year. Now I'm aggressive going out there. I want to score on people. I'm going to go out there and wrestle smart and be aggressive and do what I do and take shots."

Bartlett junior Eric Moreno is fresh off a regional title win a week ago and will look to keep that momentum going today.

"Winning the regional title was huge. It was one of my goals coming into the year," said Moreno, whose older brother, Luke, also wrestled at Bartlett (Luke was a senior when Eric was a freshman). "I knew I could do it. I just had to work really hard."

Now Moreno is on the cusp of a potential state berth.

"If I keep working hard and listen to my coaches I should do OK," said Moreno.

Bartlett junor Camilo Garzon will also be in action. He brings a 24-14 mark at 145 into Leyden. South Elgin junior Mike Schoening (24-16 at 189) rounds out the U-46 contingent.

Class 2A at Fenton: Burlington Central qualified an area-high 9 wrestlers for sectional action in Bensenville today. That long list includes junior Shane Burke, who won a regional title at 125 pounds last week and brings a 31-4 mark into competition this weekend.

"I've been really working on my feet and my takedowns and being aggressive on my feet and not giving up," said Burke. "I'm working my arm bars and turning kids to their back."

Burke would like to gain the early advantage at Fenton.

"I'm going to go at it and keep on wrestling and try to weaken my opponent and wrestle tough and get on top and turn him and get a good lead," said Burke.

This is Burke's third-straight sectional trip. As a freshman he won his first sectional match and then lost and did not get a wrestleback. Last year as a regional champion, Burke received a first-round bye (like he will this year), but lost in his next match and did not get a wrestleback.

"That experience helps a lot," said Burke. "I've been working all year to go Downstate. It's been my goal since I was a little kid. My goal is to get to Champaign."

In addition to Burke, Johnny Major (17-3 at 103), Omar Awad (18-9 at 112), Kevin Marshall (25-3 at 119), Buddy Toth (18-18 at 130), DeMetrius Phillips (16-11 at 135), Tim Botsford (20-8 at 140), Tim Maroder (27-8 at 171) and Tim Vincent (20-17 at 215) will also wrestle for the Rockets.

Burke, Marshall and Maroder won regional titles last week. Major, Awad and Toth are all freshmen.

Class 1A At Plano: St. Edward juniors Shane Finnane (22-8 at 285) and Price Davis (13-19 at 171) both will compete at the Plano sectional.