Scouting DuPage County wrestling
Top teams: Montini, Glenbard North, Hinsdale Central, Downers Grove North, York, Wheaton Warrenville South, Naperville Central, Naperville North, Neuqua Valley, Downers Grove South.
Top athletes: Addison Trail: Luis DeLaCruz, sr., 112 pounds; Johnny Delmedico, sr., 130. Downers Grove North: Connor Cummings, sr., 215; Cullen Cummings, so., 125; Jimmy Nehls, sr., 130; Dave Tessiapore, sr., 140. Downers Grove South: Willie Anaya, jr., 160; Sam Apland, sr., 171; Larry LeBlanc, sr., 152. Fenton: Chris Butz, sr., 160; Ed Havlovic, sr., 171. Glenbard East: Alec Noa, jr., 112; Angel San Juan, jr., 119. Glenbard North: Dan Buyle, sr., 285; Bryan Gonzalez, sr., 119. Joe Gosinski, sr., 130; Johnny Gosinski, so., 112; Bryan Murphy, so., 140. Glenbard South: Jon Allof, jr., 125; Charles Asselmeir, so., 119; Brian Dahmen, sr., 135. Glenbard West: Mitch Anderson, sr., 171; Zak Hassan, so., 125; Will Stano, sr., 152; Mike Summerville, sr., 189; D. J. Terdy, sr., 160. Hinsdale Central: Jack Allen, sr., 285; Ernest Battaglia, so., 125; Jimmy Grimm, jr., 140; Terry Ward, sr., 145. Hinsdale South: Anthony Colant, sr., 152; Steve Galiniak, jr., 215; Bobby Lane, jr., 130; Sebastian Picque, soph., 112. Lake Park: Mark Adcock, jr., 130; Chris Kowalski, sr., 152; Joey Kubica, sr., 160; Austin Schoen, soph., 119. Marmion: Dan Rowland, so., 152; Ben Whitford, so., 130. Montini: Frank Baer, sr., 152; Ross Ferraro, sr., 285; KeVon Powell, jr., 119; Dimitri Willis, sr., 160. Naperville Central: Kirk Cherep, sr., 119; John Graebner, sr., 145; James Mitchell, sr., 285; Josh Tardy, sr., 135; Jon Williamson, sr., 125. Naperville North: Steve Gutka, sr., 160; Frankie McKeown, sr., 135; Max Obreicht, sr., 130. Neuqua Valley: Andrew Geers, soph., 285; Casey Greenberg, jr., 189; Luke Pigott, sr., 152; Matt Slavik, jr., 145. Wheaton Warrenville South: Sparty Chino, sr., 160; Joe Hall, sr., 215; Pat McFadden, jr., 130; Vinny Lamontagna, sr., 189; Mark Savenok, sr., 145. Wheaton North: Don Hane, sr., 152; Trevor Schmit, sr., 171; Tyler Simmons, sr., 119; Mike Swider, jr., 189. Willowbrook: Ben Coman, sr., 130; Steve Congenie, jr., 160. York: Rudy Guthrie, sr., 130; Marcus Loffredo, sr., 135; Jim Nudera, sr., 185; Troy Valdez, jr., 125.
Scouting report: Three area athletes return this winter after running the table last year en route to an undefeated individual state championship. Willowbrook junior Steve Congenie moves up a weight class to 160 pounds, and fellow Class 3A champion Joey Gosinski returns to power Glenbard North.
Marmion sophomore Ben Whitford, a Naperville resident, not only went undefeated in his first campaign with the Cadets but also defended his national championship in North Dakota over the summer. “It’s not my goal to be an undefeated four-time state champion,” said Whitford, who will move up two classes to 130 pounds this winter. “I just want to be a four-time state champion. Our schedule is a lot tougher this year.” Marmion and Montini are laying the framework for what could be a peerless rivalry in years to come. The Suburban Christian Conference teams are the unquestioned top two in Class 2A. The Broncos handed Marmion its only two losses last year, including the state quarterfinals, in marching to its third straight state triumph.
Israel Martinez, a legendary three-time state champion at West Aurora, takes over the program in Lombard for Mike Bukovsky. “We’re going to have some great senior leadership,” Martinez said of his battle-hardened crew headlined by four state medal-winners in Powell, Baer, Willis and Ferraro. “(Marmion) still has something to prove. We want our guys to be the best they can on and off the mats.”
Marmion also has Rowland, who lives in Lombard, to try to end the Broncos’ reign. “I hope we have narrowed the gap with Montini,” Marmion coach Dean Branstetter said. “If we want to win a state championship we have to beat Montini.”
In Class 3A Glenbard North made an impressive early statement by easily handling Minooka, the defending state champion. The Panthers will seek to extend their decade-plus long dominance in the DuPage Valley Conference and another team berth at the dual-meet sectional. The Panthers captured their 11th consecutive regional title at St. Charles East last year. “It’s a veteran team; we don’t have any rookies,“ Glenbard North coach Mark Hahn said. “We should be right there in the mix (for a team state title) at the end.“
The conference, however, will present many land mines with state-ranked West Aurora, WW South and the two Naperville high schools. “I’m not conceding the DVC title, but Glenbard North is the team to beat again,” said Naperville North coach Tom Champion. “They’re better this year than they were last year.”
WW South has two returning all-state performers in Chino and Savenok. “I thought we were going to be really good this year, but it doesn’t look like our lower weights are going to come together like I thought,” said WW South coach Ryan Ferguson. Naperville Central has returning state qualifier Tardy to anchor its hopes. “They have set really high goals for what they did last year,” Redhawks coach Tom Porter said of his returning seniors. “(Glenbard North) is going to be tough in every weight class.”
In the new-look Upstate Eight Conference, Lake Park ended the five-year Neuqua Valley stranglehold last season. Kuibica is a major threat for state hardware for the Lancers, while Neuqua Valley rebuilds after losing four all-state athletes to graduation. “We have a young, inexperienced team,” Neuqua Valley coach Mick Reutiger said. “I think at the end of the year you will see a pretty improved team.”
The Silver Division of the West Suburban may be the best in the state from top to bottom. “There are five ranked teams, and then there is us and Proviso West,” Glenbard West coach Nick Posegay said. Hinsdale Central rates the edge with heavyweight state-title contender Allen, a Michigan State football recruit. The Ward brothers are equally potent, and Grimm is a state qualifier who transferred from Hinsdale South. Downers North senior Nehls seeks to become a four-time state qualifier. “The (conference) dual meets are going to be crazy,” Downers North coach Chris McGrath said. Downers South should battle Leyden for supremacy in the Gold, while Fenton and Glenbard South are the central protagonists in the Metro Suburban.
Key dates: Dec. 4, WW South Mega Duals; Dec. 11, Hoffman Estates Invite; Dec. 17 and 18, Hinsdale Central Tournament; Dec. 22 and 23, Dvorak; Dec. 30 and 31, Cheese head (Wisconsin); Jan. 8, Geneva Invitational; Jan. 15, Batavia Tournament; Jan. 21 and 22, Upstate Eight Conference; Jan. 28 and 29, Conference championships. Predicted state champions: Class 1A Petersburg Porta; Class 2A Montini; Class 3A Glenbard North.
Kevin McGavin