Title hunt goes on downstate
CHAMPAIGN - The hunt for perfection is still intact for Joey Gosinski, Steve Congenie and Austin Teitsma after opening-day action of the state wrestling tournament at the University of Illinois' Assembly Hall.
Gosinski, the Glenbard North 125-pound senior, improved to 46-0 with his twin victories Friday morning.
Congenie is seeking to become the first undefeated state champion at Willowbrook since legendary heavyweight Mike Behnke nine years ago.
The sophomore made quick work of his two foes, vanquishing one with a fall and ending the other with a technical fall.
Congenie is also 46-0 on the season.
Gosinski and Congenie were among nine local athletes who advanced to the championship bracket in the Class 3A division.
Teitsma made an early journey to his future destination; the Illinois football recruit turned back Western Sun Conference rival Alex Robinson of DeKalb to remain unblemished in Class 2A with a 3-0 quarterfinal victory.
The heavyweight duplicated his feat of last year by entering the state semifinals with a perfect record.
"I"m going to focus on this right now," Teitsma said of his future career in Champaign. "I'm so excited right now."
"Everybody knows what Austin does," Glenbard South coach Derrick Crenshaw said. "It just gets harder from here."
Teitsma, who missed several matches earlier in the year due to football-related injuries, is 27-0.
Neuqua Valley remains the dominant program in the area; of their four sectional champions, three remained in contention for state-title considerations.
Alex Cizek advanced to his first semifinal with his pair of wins at 145 pounds; the Wildcats' murderous one-two punch of Nick Proctor and Andy Spangler then duplicated the feat in back-to-back fashion at 160 and 171 pounds.
"Cizek has been wrestling very well," Neuqua Valley coach Mick Ruettiger said. "He really controlled both matches."
But the Wildcats' senior has one of the toughest draws in his semifinal this morning: Lane Tech sophomore extraordinaire Max Schnieder, who sports a 38-0 record as well as a growing fan base on the Internet.
In the only head-to-head semifinal match, Proctor, the top seed at 160 pounds, seeks his 40th victory against Hinsdale Central senior Joe Strocchia.
Spangler, the Wildcats' two-time state medal-winner and also a No. 1 seed, has Barrington senior Dan Santoro as his semifinal opponent.
Naperville Central coach Rob Porter was all smiles after 140-pound senior Andy Kovalsky advanced to become his first all-state athlete as Redhawks coach.
Kovalsky avenged an earlier tournament loss to St. Laurence senior Joe Wood, and the senior has Oak Park standout Nick Dardanes in the semifinals.
"I really focused on riding (Wood) for the whole match," Kovalsky said. "I changed my stance to prevent his moves from working."
The West Suburban Silver had the final two large-school semifinalist as Downers Grove North senior Jimmy Nehls advanced at 125 pounds, and Hinsdale Central heavyweight stands at 42-1 after his two victories.
Wheaton Warrenville South juniors Mark Savenok and Spartacus Chino are among the notable local athletes who won their consolation match in search of a possible third-place finish.
"After missing all of last season (with a knee injury), I was hungry," said Savenok, a 130-pounder. "I just have to forget (my quarterfinal) match. I'm going for third place now."
Montini came to the tournament with the sails of its juggernaut as tight as ever.
The Broncos had qualifiers in all 14 weight classes of the middle-tier tournament.
But the attrition rate for Montini turned out to be 50 percent.
"We left a couple of matches out there that I'm not too happy about," Montini coach Mike Bukovsky said. "That's the way they are down here."
Colton Rasche and Steve Robertson are the Broncos' unquestioned leaders.
Rasche is looking to return to the finals where he was runner-up last season.
The Naval Academy recruit had a decisive win in his 130-pound match to reach the semifinals.
"The first one is always the toughest," Rasche said. "I'm peaking right now. I'm looking to getting back to the finals. If I wrestle like I know I can wrestle, then no one can stop me."
Robertson is the defending champion who was a state runner-up as a freshman.
The junior 140-pounder has 46 wins after his quarterfinal second-period fall.
"I just have to keep pushing like I have all season," Robertson said. "If I have an opportunity to put (my opponents) away, then I'm going to do it."
Kevon Powell had a technical fall for Montini at 103 pounds, and Frank Baer was the most impressive of the seven Montini semifinalists: the 145-pounded needed only 32 seconds to advance.
Brandon McBride (152), Christ Divito (125) and Eric Powell (135) were the Broncos' other quarterfinal victors.