Maduko, Montini meet Marmion's challenge
The task facing Mike Maduko was as simple as the stakes were dramatic.
The Montini freshman 145-pounder simply could not get pinned in his match against Marmion senior Eddie Breen.
In the final match of the Marmion Quadrangular on Saturday afternoon in Aurora, Montini held a 5-point lead over fellow Class 2A superpower Marmion.
Maduko was vulnerable twice — in the second period and late in the third — but Breen was only able to secure a major decision in the Broncos' thrilling 31-30 victory.
“My key is, this is Marmion, and I wasn't going to lose it for the team,” said Maduko. “All my conditioning came down to that moment.”
“I thought I had him (pinned),” Breen said. “It's hard to tell when you're wrestling. I have never felt so bad after winning a match.”
Technically not a league dual match, the two Suburban Christian powers dropped one-sided decisions to out-of-state powers St. Edward (from suburban Cleveland) and Iowa City West (Iowa) before their long-anticipated showdown.
The draw favored the Broncos, who captured the first five matches to take a seemingly commanding 21-0 lead.
Penn-bound Stephen Robertson began the Broncos' unanswered run with an injury-default win at 160 pounds, followed by common decisions by Pat Knudtson and Dimitri Willis.
Edgar Ruano received a forfeit win at 215 pounds, and Ross Ferraro dispatched Alex Fritz at heavyweight to culminate the five-class run.
“We had to keep their team bonus points to a minimum in the upper weights,” Marmion coach Dean Branstetter said.
The Cadets were missing three starters due to injuries and a disqualification in their preceding dual, but Jonny Jimenez forged the inevitable rally with a win at 103 pounds.
The momentum proved short-lived, however, as Kevon Powell dominated his match at 112 pounds for the Broncos, ending it with a second-period fall.
“I listened to Izzy (Montini coach Israel Martinez),” Powell said. “He knows what he is talking about. He told me to cut (release) him and take him to his back. I work best on my feet.”
Suddenly, the Montini lead was a hard-to-fathom 27-3 against the consensus top-ranked team in the state.
Then came the long-expected Marmion onslaught.
Jered Cortez had a technical fall at 119 pounds for the Cadets' second win, which Eddie Greco supplemented with a 16-6 pasting at 125 for Marmion.
Ben Whitford improved to 29-1 on the year with a fall at 130 pounds.
The once-commanding Montini lead shrunk to 27-22 and 27-26, respectively, when Bryce Brill and Ryan Riggs posted back-to-back major wins.
Frankie Baer ended the Cadets' run with a decisive win at 140 pounds to frame the final drama.
“To be (state) champions, you're going to have to come through us,” said Martinez, the three-time Class AA state-champion legend from West Aurora.
Marmion had bettered the two-time defending state champions in their three common December tournaments.
“We will find out the first day of the (Yorkville) regional who the better tournament team is,” Martinez said.