Scouting Fox Valley wrestling
Bartlett
Coach: Karl Bratland (1st year).
Last year: 9th, UEC tournament.
Graduation losses: Tom Gbean (2nd, UEC, 23 wins), Luke Latin (17 wins), Kenny Zipparro (15 wins), Ammiel Abiad (12 wins), Justin Jarosz (16 wins), Ed Ruiz, Mike Pszczolski (14 wins).
Key returnees: Seniors Lee Flores (138), Jake Joiner (145, 16 wins), Nick Mokodanski (160); junior Sal Annoreno (2-time sectional qualifier, UEC champ, 132, 37 wins); sophomores Nicholas James (126, 10 wins), Ryan Hennessey (120, 19 wins).
New faces to watch: Seniors Anthony Radun (106), Edgar Jaime (182), Greg kielbasa (170); juniors Connor Johnson (106,112), Alex Piedra (220), Andrew Guerrero (220,285); sophomores Anthony Zipparro
(120), Joe DiSanti (195), Nathan Baer (285); freshmen Junior Garcia (152).
Outlook: The Hawks are a very different looking club with the addition of a new coach whose enthusiasm and energy already appears to be just what was needed. “All we ask is for the guys to work hard, and to wrestle with a lot of fight and heart, and we’re sensing that they’ve bought into our system and style, and each day they come into the room they’re giving 110 percent to their training and their teammates,” says Brantland, who was an assistant for 6 years at North Central College. Early on, the Hawks and their new coaching staff will lean on the junior Annoreno, one of the best at his weight in the state, who looks primed for a long run into the tournament, and represents the lead player in the club’s strength, which is currently at the lower weights.
Burlington Central
Coach: Tony Rigitano (7th year).
Last year: 8-19-0
Graduation losses: Tim Maroder (2009 sectional qualifier, regional champ, 36 wins, playing football at Augustana), Brent Sunderlage, Jake Tork (transfer).
Key returnees: Seniors Johnny Major (2-time state qualifier, 2-time regional champ, 145, 35 wins), Buddy Toth (sectional qualifier, 160, 22 wins), Omar Awad (170, 10 wins), Jon Wright (120, 19 wins), Jordan Fillmore (12 wins); juniors Brady Weinrich (sectional qualifier, 126, 30 wins), Andrew Brooks (113, 11 wins), Jordan Fillmore (138, 12 wins), Jake Souza (285, 9 wins).
New faces to watch: Junior Andrew Yarwood (182).
Outlook: Health will be the key to a prosperous 2011-2012 campaign after an injury filled year last season robbed the Rockets from far too many matches and from a variety of players to even count. “We won’t use injuries as an excuse, but we had a share all throughout, beginning with Maroder, which was a tough one to overcome,” says BC head coach Tony Rigitano, whose previous year’s star saw his final year washed away from an ACL suffered during the football season. So while last year tested the character of Rigitano’s team, plenty of good came from all the diversity, including a second-straight appearance for Major at the state tournament, and a well-deserved top 10 state ranking. The 4-year star will have plenty of support from his mates, beginning with Yarwood, who was 5th at the Frosh/Soph state tourney, as well as a host of 3-year starters, beginning with the sectional qualifier Weinrich, who was a place winner at state Greco during the offseason.
Cary-Grove
Coach: Ryan Ludwig (1st year).
Last year: 6th, FVC tournament.
Graduation losses: Corey Meyer (state qualifier, FVC, regional champ, 2-time sectional qualifier, 35 wins, wrestling at UW-Whitewater), Collin Hanson (FVC champ, regional champ, 2-time sectional qualifier, 36 wins), Richard Kersten (2-time sectional qualifier), Zach Spielman, Jacob Mishall (sectional qualifier, 16 wins), David Henry.
Key returnees: Seniors Andy Sternard (152), Dan Hendriksen (160), Max Kersten (sectional qualifier, 195, 13 wins), Josh Freeman (285); juniors Trent Atkins (state qualifier, 132,138, 27 wins), Garett Glueck (sectional qualifier, 145, 31 wins), Michael Underwood (132, 138, 15 wins), James Smrt (132, 138), Pat O’Malley (sectional qualifier, 170); sophomore Logan Hanselmann (106, 113).
New faces to watch: Senior Matthew Fina (138; junior Greer Bozeman (182), Nick Huff (220); freshmen Michael Cullen (106, 113, IKWF state champ), Michael Altendorf (106, 113), Dale Charlier (106, 113), Michael Gomez (285).
Outlook: The bad news is the departure of Meyers, to the collegiate game, who was not only a wonderfully gifted wrestler, but also a terrific teammate and leader, but the good news is the return of the dynamic duo of Atkins and Glueck, among others, and the arrival of the freshman phenom Cullen, who after his impressive performance last weekend at the mammoth Moore-Prettyman signals the start of what could be an exciting first year for the youngster, and new head coach Ryan Ludwig, who takes over for Dan Cysewski, who is now an assistant alongside the 2004 Prairie Ridge graduate. “We’re expecting big things from Michael in his first season with us, and his presence gives us another top kid to go together with Trent and Garrett, and if our other guys continue to make strides, we’ll be a strong club when the conference tournament begins,” says Ludwig, who admits he and his staff still need to sort out the lineup, especially at the lower weights where the competition is fierce at spots.
Crystal Lake South
Coach: Ross Ryan (5th year).
Last year: 19-4-0, 5-0-0 (FVC Valley champs), 2nd, Jacobs regional.
Graduation losses: Kean Loupee (2-time state qualifier, 2-time regional champ, 37 wins, Central Michigan), Cullen Smith (regional champ, 2-time sectional qualifier).
Key returnees: Seniors Nick Fontanetta (2-time state medalist, 2-time FVC, regional, sectional champ, 42 wins), Tom Gerszewski (state qualifier, 2-time sectional qualifier, 152, 38 wins), Mike Romanelli (220, 23 wins), Jake Peters (sectional qualifier, 160, 17 wins); junior Nick Peters (sectional qualifier, 138, 19 wins); sophomore Nick Gil (126, regional champ, 33 wins).
New faces to watch: Junior Kelly Bielfeldt (106); freshmen Eric Barone (112), Garrett Dziedzic (106).
Outlook: The Gators made a big statement last weekend when they finished 4th in a field of 30 at the prestigious Moore-Prettyman tournament, bringing home two individual champions and 5 medals overall to open a season in which they hope to be right there with crosstown rival CL Central for top honors in the FVC. “We’re very exited about the chances for both Nick (Fontanette) and Tom Gerszewski both in the area and state level in late February, but in Nick Gil, Nick Peters and Mike Romanelli, we now have a strong core of championship caliber guys who can help take us to another level,” says the Gators’ terrific young coach Ross Ryan. Fontanetta is expected to challenge for a state title when all is said and done, while continuing to add to his 110 career victories, while Gerszewski is poised to have a monster season after his first trip downstate. Gil, Peters and Romanelli have the talent to join their mates downstate, and if Ross and his staff can get a few others to move forward in their advancement, their postseason will be a thrilling one indeed.
Dundee-Crown
Coach: Robert Skillman (1st year).
Last year: 5th, FVC, Jacobs regional champion.
Graduation losses: Cody Churkey (2010 FVC champ, regional champ, 34 wins), Travell Rounds (sectional qualifier, 27 wins, wrestling at UW-Whitewater), Connor Lewis (2-time sectional qualifier, 22 wins), Alonso Fuller (sectional qualifier, regional champ, 22 wins), Carson Tanner (sectional qualifier, regional champ, 25 wins), Gustavo Jacobo (sectional qualifier, 24 wins), Chris Lamprecht (sectional qualifier, 23 wins), Steven Vincent (18 wins).
Key returnees: Seniors Dillon Muscat (138, 20 wins), Jimmy Kuczinski (182, 24 wins); juniors Raymond Griggle (220, 25 wins).
New faces to watch: Sophomore Tim Schanmier (145) Elijah Velez-Kraemer (152).
Outlook: The Al Zinke era is over at D-C. After 32 glorious years, the sometimes controversial, but highly successful head coach has retired, giving way to his longtime assistant Bob Skillman, who came aboard in 1988 for the Chargers. “We’re in a complete rebuilding program right now with just 3 starters back from a year ago,” says Skillman. “We have to get our numbers back up once again, and in fact we’ve got 30 on the freshman team, but we’ll get back to where we were at one time with a lot of hard work and the desire to carry on the legacy of Dundee-Crown wrestling in which Al got started.” The Chargers surprised the field at Jacobs last year to win a regional title, and from the championship club return Muscat, Kuczinski and Griggle who accounted for 70 victories.
Elgin
Coach: Terry Stroh (1st year).
Last year: 9-11-0 (2-9-0).
Graduation losses: Toby Schimel (2-time sectional qualifier, regional champ, 33 wins, SIU), Nate Andresen (2010 sectional qualifier, 20 wins), Eric Lempa (12 wins, ISU), Tyler Lake (10 wins).
Top returnees: Seniors Wardell Rosemon (170), Jorge Zavala (182, 19 wins), Elrich Keophilalay (220); junior Richie Santana (197, 13 wins); sophomore Jeffrey Morrow (sectional qualifier, 106, 25 wins).
New faces to watch: Senior Tom Gross; freshmen Daniel Easter (126), Nathaniel Romero (285).
Outlook: The Maroons have a new coach in place with former South Elgin and Larkin assistant Stroh now in charge, and early on, he’s been impressed with what he sees in his 3 captains (Zavala, Rosemon and Keophilalay) in his room. “Our biggest strength thus far has been the leadership from those guys, who have been instrumental in increasing the excitement and work rate from their teammates, and because of them I feel that we’re in terrific shape and condition heading into the season,” offered Stroh. Although the Maroons’ best wrestler of late (Schimel) has moved on, Stroh figures that despite the lack of experience, the aforementioned trio, as well as his supersoph Morrow, and Army Nationals Tournament runner-up Santana gives his club a jump-start in the early stages of rebuild.
St. Edward
Coach: Shane Wales (1st year).
Last year: 1-18-0 (1-5-0).
Graduation losses: Dan Miller, Matt Rodriguez.
Key returnees: Senior Evan Finnane (state qualifier, regional champ, 20 wins); junior Dan Cibich; sophomore Ben Bottoni (132, sectional qualifier).
New faces to watch: Juniors Pat Berlin (220), Garrett Watkins (120).
Outlook: After plying his trade at crosstown Elgin for the past two seasons, Wales, the former Burlington Central star, takes over for Shane Kottkamp, who had been a fixture on the bench for the Green Wave for over 20 years. “We’re struggling to get kids interested and involved in wrestling,” admits the former 2-time sectional qualifier, “but I’ve enlisted the help of my former teammate at Central (Ron Pena) to help us get our kids program up and running where it can help us build things up again, and I feel real positive that will help us in the future.” For now, Wales will look to keep the 6-7 on the roster fit and ready to compete, including his big man (Finnane), who will be a strong candidate for a second consecutive to Champaign in the 1A tournament.
Hampshire
Coach: Terry Wilkinson (4th year).
Last year: 11-17 (1-5).
Graduation losses: Glen Buckwinkle (2-time 20 match winner).
Key returnees: Seniors Tyler Espino (113, sectional qualifier, 30 wins), Ray Stagen (132, sectional qualifier, 20 wins), Cody Kleiser (145, sectional qualifier, 26 wins), Kris Johnson; sophomores Alex Feltz (106, sectional qualifier, 38 wins).
New faces to watch: Freshmen Anton Krocko (160), Mason Fleury (145).
Outlook: With the move to the FVC this winter, the Whip-Purs will hopefully give this growing program a new lease on life as it leaves behind a handful of perennial 2A state powers in Harvard, Richmond-Burton and Stillman Valley, who each year would challenge for the big silverware presented at the end of the regular season. “The strength of our team continues to be our youth movement, as we are beginning to see our club programs and kids from middle school beginning to make a difference for us in our fourth year of existence,” says head coach Terry Wilkinson. “We know the (Fox) is a tough wrestling conference with both teams from Crystal Lake being quality programs, but we believe our future is very bright.” The future is now for a quartet of sectional qualifiers (Espino, Stagen, Kleiser, Feltz) who are back and better than ever to provide Hampshire with a terrific core group to build upon. Now a battle-tested bunch, this foursome totaled nearly 115 victories between them, and all will look to make an impact in the FVC and beyond when the postseason rolls around.
Huntley
Coach: B.J. Bertelsman (3rd year).
Last year: 8-14-0 (1-8-0).
Graduation losses: Lucas Rodgers (2010 state qualifier, 2-time sectional qualifier, FVC champ), Matt Zeis (sectional qualifier, 33 wins), Josh LaLuz (12 wins).
Key returnees: Seniors Josh Symbal (state qualifier, 2-time sectional qualifier, 182, 34 wins); juniors Zach Stenger (106, 21 wins), Jon Walker (138, 20 wins), Brandon Mabry (Junior National qualifier, 17 wins).
New faces to watch: Seniors Jacob O’Neal (126), Jeff Lucas (152); junior JJ Martinez (132); sophomores Trevor Symbal, Nate Urban (113), Austin Schofield (160); freshmen Ricky Vigil (120).
Outlook: The Red Raiders lost a pair of tough 3-year starters (Rodgers, Zeis) whom Bertelsman counted on for 30-plus victories each season. But the return of the two-sport star Symbal (football) gives the program a serious chance of celebrating is first all-state wrestler in its history, while giving a growing program the shot in the arm it needs to continue going forward. “We’ve got our largest number of kids in our program (55) in years, with lot’s of talent and energy, and a staff, and an active, supportive parent group as well, and we’re hoping to get ourselves up and over the .500 mark both overall and in the FVC when the season is over,” says Bertelsman, who will be looking to a few of his freshmen to make their imprint on the big club as well.
Jacobs
Coach: Chris Taylor (3rd year).
Last year: 7-13-0 (1-4-0).
Graduation losses: Joe Ladick (sectional qualifier, regional champ, 23 wins), Brad Jenisch (13 wins), Frank Garcia (7 wins).
Key returnees: Seniors Collin Zaio (145, 17 wins), Jared Mrzlak (171), Gabe Difecchio (195); junior Kenny Thompson (113, 9 wins); sophomore Austin Ryan (state qualifier, regional champ, 106, 34 wins).
New faces to watch: Freshmen Cody Ferenz, Jacob Orth, Jake Gatz, Brian Ta.
Outlook: The WOW factor for Eagles’ wrestling comes from its star (Austin Ryan), who took on every major test during the postseason last year before earning a spot in the field of 16 at the 3A state tournament. A strong offseason from the talented sophomore placed him as the No. 2 rated 106-pounder in the state, according to IllinoisBestWeekly.com, and just behind 4th-place medal winner Tyler Price, a senior from Lincoln-Way Central. “We’re young, but there’s still a lot of experience in our lineup this season, and we’ll look to build off Austin’s tremendous late season run to the tournament, which included a great effort at our regional to win the title,” says Eagles head coach Chris Taylor, who says his club won’t be the underdog anymore now that the rebuilding program is in full swing.
Larkin
Coach: Andre Allen (2nd year).
Last year: 8th, UEC tournament.
Graduation losses: Andy Koehnke (24 wins), Andy Laboy (13 wins).
Key returnees: Seniors Brett Barry (2-time sectional qualifier, 160, 20 wins), David Perez (2-time sectional qualifier, 170, 19 wins), Ian Keller (170, 11 wins), Josh Brooks (132, 15 wins), Deontae Joshua (285, 7 wins).
New faces to watch: Tyler Vonessen (113).
Outlook: Andre Allen will be banking on his 2-time sectional qualifying duo of Barry and Perez to continue to improve and lead another group void of much depth or experience, and the senior pair is likely to do so once again as each overcame bouts with injuries to grab one of the most coveted spots in the postseason to spark their mates and steer the Royals in the right direction all throughout the season in a wrestling conference which is heavily loaded at the top with the likes of Lake Park, Neuqua Valley and South Elgin. “There’s a never quit attitude on this team, and in our program, and I fully expect this group to have a good year, and to be able to compete strongly against our competition,” says Allen, who will need to find a way to replace Koehnke, who set the Larkin record for pins (25) in a season.
South Elgin
Coach: Mark Cameron (7th year).
Last year: 21-10-0 (7-1-0, T1, UEC Valley division).
Graduation losses: Ricky Garcia (sectional qualifier, 24 wins, United States Navy), Adam Lehnus (UEC runner-up, wrestling at North Central College, 27 wins), Andrew Marola (26 wins, Elgin Community), Kyle Rodriguez (Iowa).
Top returnees: Seniors Cody Pych (state qualifier, UEC champ, 170, 39 wins), Nick Citta (sectional qualifier, 145, 32 wins), Marco Aguirre (sectional qualifier, 132, 28 wins), DJ Greene (sectional qualifier, 220, 1 1 wins); juniors Cory Pych (sectional qualifier, regional champ, 113, 30 wins), Jacob Bergrojschge (sectional qualifier, 21 wins).
New faces to watch: Seniors Nick Skoczylas (160), Will Brock (152), Rashawn Johnson (195), Adrian Garduno (126); junior Joey Garcia (182).
Outlook: Expectations will be high around this club after the Storm won a program high 21 matches last season, and where among just a handful to send such a large contingent into the Downers Grove North sectional with seven. “We’ve got a lot of experience this year, and we have built our program on hard work during the offseason, and by having our younger guys step into key roles with the varsity,” begins head coach Mark Cameron. “But we have our most difficult schedule ever ahead of us, and we hope that it will help prepare us for a strong showing in the state series.” The Storm made an impact in the UEC and the area when front men Cody and Cory Pych showed flashes of brilliance throughout the season, and especially in February when both claimed championship rings, and oldest brother Cody easily advanced downstate en route to a 39-win season.
Streamwood
Coach: Bill Peach (7th year).
Last year: 10th, UEC tournament.
Graduation losses: Garrett Surges, Frank Adame, Jon Olmo (17 wins).
Key returnees: Seniors Mike Alvarado (145, 10 wins), Jimmy Gabioud (160), AJ Mitchell (285); junior Alex Curtis (sectional qualifier, 4th, UEC, 23 wins).
New faces to watch: John Brewer (170), Ryan Cook (195, 220), Kevin Moncada (195, 220); juniors Caleb Menendez (120), Eric Hilario (152), Dimitri Niforos (182); sophomore Sam Cook (138).
Outlook: While Sabres’ coach Bill Peach works to settle an unbalanced lineup at the start of the season, there’s no doubt who he’ll lean on during the early going as his lone returning sectional qualifier, Curtis, appears ready to continue to build upon his success from a year ago when he went from 10 victories in his rookie season to 23, and a spot in the heavily loaded Downers Grove North sectional. “Alex is a guy who put all the time in during the off-season to improve every facet of his game, and we’re going to count on him a lot while we sort things out,” says Peach. “We’ll get better as the season goes on, and after we get a lot of new kids more varsity matches along the way.” Peach expects some good things from his heavyweight (Mitchell) who toiled day-in and day-out in the room against 2-year starter Surges, while as many as 7-8 fresh faces will find their way into the starting lineup.