St. Charles East boasts seven qualifiers
The 125-pound championship match of the Class 3A St. Charles East regional was metaphorically attuned to the team race as well.
St. Charles East sophomore Nick Ruffino stunned previously unbeaten Glenbard North junior Joey Gosinski with a pair of first-period takedowns.
But the Panthers' standout regrouped and reversed deficits at the end of the first and second periods with a critical takedown, 2-point near-fall sequence for a thrilling 8-6 victory to improve to 41-0 on the season.
The Panthers held a point-and-a-half lead over the host Saints Saturday evening in St. Charles heading into the championship round; Glenbard North crowned four champions, and three competitors advanced to its sectional well as the program notched its 10 consecutive team title with 169.5 points.
Glenbard North (20-6) also advanced to meet Schaumburg at the Leyden dual-meet sectional the Tuesday after the individual state finals in Champaign.
St. Charles East also advanced seven individuals, including a pair of champions to Carol Stream, in placing second with 157 points.
Lake Park and Batavia had two champions apiece in placing third and fourth; Wheaton North, South Elgin and Geneva all had a lone champion. West Chicago advanced three to the sectional with its eighth-place finish; Bartlett snared the final individual championship behind Eric Moreno, and Tim Noverini was the sole qualifier for St. Charles North.
In the opening championship match, Johnny Gosinski set the tone for all important bonus points with a second-period fall over Batavia freshman Joey Shump.
The Glenbard North freshman seized command after twice averting Shump takedowns.
Brian Murphy, yet another prized freshman for Glenbard North, shut out Noverini for the title at 130 pounds.
Chris Wahman claimed the final Glenbard North title with a thrilling takedown of South Elgin senior Tom Randich to win the 171-pound division 37 seconds into overtime.
Lake Park heavyweight Devon Smith, in a rematch of the Upstate Eight Conference tournament, defeated St. Charles East senior Rafael Flores to augment an earlier title won by the Lancers' Joe Kubica at 152 pounds.
Jon White fell in a tactical 189-pound collision with Geneva senior Ryan Ward to highlight an equal number of West Chicago qualifiers.
St. Charles East senior Brandon Rubino served notice that he intends to retain his undefeated status at 112 pounds.
The returning state qualifier cruised into the finals with a pair of falls, and Rubino allowed two harmless escapes with a dominant 9-2 effort over Glenbard North junior Bryan Gonzalez. Rubino improved to 31-5, with all of his losses coming at 119 pounds.
"My takedowns - that's what won the match," Rubino said. "I got 4 points right of the bat (takedown, 2-point near-fall)--that helped a lot."
Nick Scimeca had a third-period takedown to post a 7-6 victory over Lake Park junior and fellow 33-match winner--Chris Kowalski at 145 pounds to earn the Saints' other championship.
"It's been tough," Scimeca said of his late-season drop after qualifying for state at 152 pounds last year. "I had to run a couple of miles this morning (to make weight). I really want that (first-round) bye next week (at Glenbard North)."
In addition to Ruffino at 125 pounds and Flores at heavyweight, Joe Dede (119 pounds) and Mike Caddy (160) dropped championship matches.
Alex Maynard snared the Saints' final sectional berth with a third-place victory at 135 pounds.
"To get six guys in the finals was great," St. Charles East coach Steve Smerz said. Dede had the unfortunate task of meeting undefeated Batavia senior Logan Arlis in the finals at 119.
The two met to close out the regular season nine days earlier, and Arlis again emerged triumphant with his cat-like quickness, mat awareness and bevy of moves. Dede did earn a small consolation by taking down Arlis in his 14-4 loss.
That was the first legitimate takedown (against me this year)," said Arlis, the defending state runner-up at 112 pounds who extended his unbeaten streak to 34 matches. "(The last time we wrestled) he was trying to keep the match close. I knew I was inside his head because I had already taken him once (this year)."
"Arlis did a great job of adjusting from their last match," Smerz said.
Tyler Patton continued his triumphant late-season surge, becoming only one of two non-top seeds to claim a title.
The Batavia senior turned back Lake Park senior Robert Babej 4-1 in the 135-pound title match.
"I wish I would have scored more points (on the day)," Patton said. "I only scored 9 points in three matches. I went right after all my kids."
Rich Smith (130 pounds), Luis Campos (189) and Pat Martin (285) captured do-or-die third-place matches to extend the number of Batavia qualifiers to six.
Geneva senior Ryan Ward secured the final local championship by scoring the opening 5 points against West Chicago senior Jon White and holding on a for a 5-3 victory at 189 pounds.
Geneva had three others qualifiers -Justin Heinz (140 pounds), Nick Bradberry (145) and Will Duerr (171) - who advanced via consolation championships.
Moreno was a solitary figure for Bartlett in the championship round. The Hawks' senior leader advanced to the 160-pound title match with back-to-back technical falls.
Pitted against league rival Mike Caddy of St. Charles East in the finals, Moreno seized control early with a takedown, 2-point near-fall blitz for a quick 4-0 spread. Caddy failed to score any offensive points, and Moreno iced his 7-2 victory with a second takedown late in the third period.