Marmion maintaining winning ways despite defections
Eleven months after crowning five state champions, the Marmion wrestling team has an entirely different look this season.
The Cadets, who did not lose any of their Class 2A standouts to graduation, are down to one healthy reigning state champion.
Three of the Cadets’ champions — Ben Whitford, Jered Cortez and Bryce Brill — transferred out of the program, and Johnny Jimenez is still recovering from surgery to remove his appendix.
“When you take a state champion out (of your lineup), that’s tough to replace,” Marmion coach Dean Branstetter said. “When (Jimenez) comes back, I don’t know. He has done a very good job of maintaining his weight (while convalescing from surgery).”
Branstetter does expect Jimenez, a sophomore who is the top-ranked 113-pounder in Class 2A, back for the state series in the worst-case scenario.
George Fisher is the one Marmion defending state champion who has managed to stay healthy this year.
The junior 132-pounder from St. Charles is nearing 20 victories on the season against nationally-seasoned athletes.
“He’s really a 26-pounder wrestling at 132,” Branstetter said of Fisher, rated third at his weight class. “(Fisher will) come after you. That’s how he won a state championship.”
Marmion closed out the calendar year with a middle-of-the-pack finish at the Clash, a renowned tournament held in Rochester, Minn.
The highlight for the Cadets was Angelo Silvestro capturing the 138-pound championship.
“I just thought (Silvestro) really wrestled smart,” Branstetter said. “He was in control the whole time. He never wrestled from behind.”
The Geneva native is currently ranked No. 2 in his weight class.
Eddie Greco has been one of the Cadets’ fixtures since qualifying for the Class AA state tournament as a freshman.
The senior, the fourth-rated 126-pounder, has elected not to compete at the next level.
“Eddie is not going to wrestle in college,” Branstetter confirmed.
Branstetter has daunting challenges in the upper weights, having no 195-pounders in the program, but Cody Snodgrass and Alec Fritz have ameliorated the situation at 182 and 220 pounds, respectively.
The two juniors are both rated in the top 10, with Fritz, a converted heavyweight, currently holding the second slot among middle-tier wrestlers.
Even with the departures and injuries, the Cadets are 12-3 in their dual matches; the squad has yet to encounter any of its Suburban Christian opponents.
“I am very pleased (with the athletes’ progression),” Branstetter said. “To be 12-3 I feel very good about what the kids have done so far.”
Huge match Friday in Batavia: Batavia threw the proverbial monkey wrench into the Upstate Eight Conference River Division with its road victory over St. Charles East last week.The twin divisions#146; regular-season champion is crowned solely through dual results; the Upstate Eight has a single-division format for its individual championships.Geneva, which lost to St. Charles East in late December, can forge a three-way tie at 5-1 with a victory over the Bulldogs Friday night in Batavia.#147;That should be a good dual,#148; St. Charles East coach Steve Smerz said. #147;I think both teams match up with each other real well.#148;The Vikings eagerly welcomed back Henry Zupke, the reigning conference champion at 195 pounds who won his first seven matches before falling in the championship match at the Vikings#146; 17-team tournament over the weekend.#147;I couldn#146;t tell you how many dual meets we#146;ve lost by 1 or 2 points,#148; Geneva coach Tom Chernich said of the Vikings#146; entirely different look with Zupke in the lineup.#147;(Wrestling shape) definitely needs to get better,#148; Zupke said of his return.#147;I think we match up very well with (Geneva),#148; Batavia junior standout Joey Shump said in the aftermath of the Bulldogs#146; victory over St. Charles East on the second tiebreaker last Thursday.Saints shine again: For the fourth time in the last five years St. Charles East captured the Glenbard West Invitational over the weekend.The Saints#146; Ryan Rubino (113 pounds), Ramon Lopez (138) and Cameron Carlson (160) won individual titles, and the slender margin of victory over Morton and the host Hilltoppers was also made possible by four runners-up.Smerz has been without the services of sophomore star Isaiah Vela, who along with West Aurora senior 182-pounder Brandon Warren is the highest-rated Class 3A area athlete at No. 4, and Peter Bellino in recent weeks.#147;It seems like it#146;s been a month (since Bellino wrestled),#148; Smerz said of his senior 138-pounder. Smerz expects Vela, who is 20-1 on the season, to return early next week from an unspecified injury.Looking ahead: The IHSA has announced the postseason assignments for the seven area programs.In Class 3A, the five area teams will all feed into the Glenbard North individual sectional with the four corresponding regional champions advancing to the West Aurora team sectional.St. Charles North has been assigned the South Elgin regional, with St. Charles East and Geneva slated for West Chicago.Batavia and West Aurora will square off at Metea Valley.Kaneland and Marmion are in the same Class 2A sectional complex as well.The Knights will be part of the Sterling sectional with DeKalb as their regional hosts; the Cadets take part in the LaSalle-Peru regional for a berth at the Sycamore dual-meet sectional.#147;We#146;re going to be focusing on individual things (in coming weeks),#148; Chernich said after Geneva won its tournament for the first time in its 33-year history on Saturday. 29681960Marmions Angelo Silvestro is ranked second in the state at 138 pounds.Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com