Fantastic four maintain pursuit of state titles
CHAMPAIGN - Area wrestlers are riding a wave of success as the first day of the Class 3A state tournament concluded Friday inside Assembly Hall.
Luke Smith (Wheeling), Matt Boggess (Prospect), Kyle Czarnecki (Buffalo Grove) and Dan Kleiber (Leyden) each survived an upset-filled quarterfinal round to advance into Saturday's 9:30 a.m. semifinals, where another victory ensures a spot in the finals.
Czarnecki (39-1), a No. 4 seed started brightly and ripped past both David Whitaker (Simeon) and Alex Ortiz (St. Patrick) to inch closer to a title appearance with only Charles Argue (28-7) standing in his way of an invitation to the Grand March on Saturday night.
"I feel after going out last year (when) I did just one match away from the medal round, I've come here with a little bit more of an edge toward each match and my opponent," said Czarnecki. "I knew that Jamie Zabrin (Czarnecki's teammate, who went 1-1 in the first session on Friday) had beaten Ortiz earlier in the season, and that would bode well for me because Jamie and I work out and train together each day."
The MSL trio were all given an early wake-up call as to the fragility of each 16-man bracket after freshman phenom Max Schneider (Lane Tech) sent a shock wave when he pinned undefeated and No. 1 Ellis Coleman (Oak Park) in the quarterfinals at 135 pounds to send the fifth-rated wrestler in the nation down and out of the championship round.
"I knew when he kept trying to finesse me, while leaving himself open to (let) me get in one firemen after another, that I had a chance to beat him," said Schneider (40-3) whose legend grew only larger after hauling down Coleman and closing him out at 5:55.
"Pretty amazing stuff for a guy who just started wrestling this year," said Boggess (40-1), who said the turn of events for Coleman is a reminder to all about what can happen.
"You had better be ready (down) here or else," said Boggess, a three-time state qualifier and a runner-up last season to Josh Kratovil.
Leading up to the tournament, Boggess seemed certain his road to the finals, one that is filled with tough bouts leading up to a hopeful final, would take six minutes of all-out wrestling in order to get through his fierce bottom half of the bracket.
"I said for me to win at 140 pounds, it would take 24 minutes. So far, I am halfway through."
The senior defeated Andy Spangler (Neuqua Valley) 4-0, then Luke Nelson (Brother Rice) 3-1, while top seed Mark Marianovich (Marian Catholic) fell in a mild upset to Donny Simpston (11-7) of Romeoville.
After recording a fall in his opener over a clearly overmatched Dave Mizaur (Brother Rice) in his tournament opener, Wheeling sophomore Luke Smith (34-2, 125) struggled a bit before dispatching Boylan's Blaise Butler 9-4. Smith next meets defending 119-pound state champ Jon Morrison (42-1) of Sandburg.
"I felt so good all throughout my first match, then really nervous before my match with Butler," said Smith, who believes just the opportunity to improve on his one and done from a year ago likely gave him his cases of butterflies.
Leyden's big thrower Klaiber (31-2) tossed around Eric Nolen (St. Rita) en route to a technical fall at 4:09, then needed a full six minutes to defeat Joe Patricelli (Conant) 3-1. Klaiber will meet Zach Smith (Boylan) on Saturday morning.
"It was good to see Dan go six minutes with an opponent like Patricelli, who gives you nothing and just never stops until the end," said Leyden coach Jason Potter.
Dundee-Crown freshman Miko Villanueva (35-6) added to the upset theme when he stunned No. 3 seed Jake Schramm (Hinsdale South) 6-4 to grab a spot in the semifinals against No. 2 Derek Elmore (Machesney Park Harlem, 36-2). Elmore made quick work of No. 4 seed Tommy Laskowske (Palatine, 40-5) with a fall at 1:46.
"We scouted (Schramm) and put together a great game plan and Miko just carried it out from there," said D-C coach Al Zinke.
Wrestlebacks continue all afternoon Saturday until third- and fifth-place matches take place beginning at 3 p.m. Championship matches will start at 6:30 p.m.