Cruz control: Mustangs senior sparkles
CHAMPAIGN — Payton Cruz orchestrated one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.
The Mundelein senior stunned state-ranked Jake Gregerson of Granite City in a quarterfinal bout at 135 pounds to easily qualify as one of the highlights of Friday’s action. Cruz earned a spot in today’s 9:30 a.m. semifinals at the Class 3A state tournament.
The Mustangs’ standout will face Providence senior Mike Togher (42-5), a three-time state qualifier.
“(Payton) surprised Gregerson so badly — he didn’t even move after he got in and put that front head lock on him,” said Mundelein coach Tom Buenik.
Buenik was sporting a wide grin long after Cruz brought the crowd to attention with his pin at 3:56 over the three-time state qualifier Gregerson, who many predicted would be a state finalist.
Cruz (41-4) opened his second state appearance with a rather pedestrian 6-1 decision over Lake Park’s Blake Santi before ambushing his unsuspecting opponent and quickly ending Gregerson’s hopes of being a part of today’s Grand March.
“I think I kind of surprised him with my (Russian) tie-up, and when I swept, and tightened up with a nelson, it was all over so quickly,” said Cruz, who last weekend swept through the Barrington sectional field to give him a trio of postseason titles. He also won the North Suburban Conference and regional crowns.
“I’ve been working very hard during the past 3-4 weeks, and tonight all of that extra work paid off,” Cruz said. “Now I have to keep it going tomorrow.”
His NSC rival, Danny Sabatello (40-0), is on the fast track to a second consecutive state championship after the Stevenson senior overwhelmed Cullen Cummings of Downers Grove North by a 19-11 decision in his afternoon quarterfinals.
Cummings was unable to muster much resistance to Sabatello’s rampant attack. Sabatello, who scored at will, admitted later to some sloppy conduct which allowed the North sophomore to score a few more points than the four-year veteran would have preferred.
“I never like to resort to excuses and I certainly do not want to take anything away from (Cummings) but getting that first-round bye from a forfeit didn’t sit with me very well, and the extra time (away) and not on the mats competing led to me not being as sharp as I should have been in that quarterfinal match,” said Sabatello, who meets Belleville West’s Dylon Viglasky (43-3), who escaped with a 1-0 victory over Cary-Grove’s Trent Atkins (28-8).
Atkins had previously shocked one of the top four seeds, St. Patrick’s Steve Galliardo, who was previously undefeated at 43-0.
On the other side of this gifted bracket, Nicholas Drendel of Aurora West (40-0) takes on Eddie Klimara (39-0) of Providence.
Vernon Hills senior Gideon Yim (39-2) had all the incentive hed needed for his Class 2A 103-pound quarterfinal bout with Eddie Greco of Marmion Academy. The two-time state qualifier Yim used it to perfection to defeat the top-flight junior 11-4 and advance to the semifinals against Kyle Carstens (37-6) of Rock Island.
“The last couple of years, I’ve gotten kind of tired watching so many other guys that I’ve wrestled be a part of the Grand March, and I told myself that just wasn’t going to happen,” said Yim, who last year won 42 matches for Cougars coach Jerry Miceli.
Yim fell behind Greco 4-2 in the early stages of the second period, but he went ahead for good with a 3-point near fall at 3½ minutes and never looked back.
“After it was 5-4, I could sense he was beginning to tire, so I just pushing the pace, and eventually he was just gassed,” said Yim, who majored the junior 14-4.
Area big men had a mixed bag of results, with most still in medal contention. They included Wauconda’s Brian Kent (34-1 at 215) and Vernon Hills heavyweight Jeremy Brazil (39-6) — who both remain in the championship bracket after each registered pins in their Friday night quarterfinals.
Kent is on course to meet No. 1 Austin Marsden of Crystal Lake Central (42-0) for the title if he can get past Robert Wesley of Rich East.
Kevin Hein (33-11) was sent to the consolation bracket after being pinned by Marsden at 4:14 in his quarterfinal bout. auconda senior Pete Koostra ((36-8) was also sent into wrestle-backs at 160 pounds, but not until after the Bulldogs’ captain defeated Sycamore senior Kyle Culton (39-4) 2-0 in his first-round match.