Banner day for regional champ Maine West
For four years, Maine West’s senior wrestlers have peered at the program’s 1999 regional championship banner.
Maine West also won a sectional title that year, and the daily reminders of those successes have spurred this year’s squad.
Maine West will have to make a bit more room on its wall, as the Warriors dominated the Niles West regional en route to its first regional title since 1999, with 218.5 points in Skokie.
Maine West advances to the Class 3A West Aurora dual-team sectional after winning 5 individual titles on Saturday.
Maine South took second with 161 points, followed by Elk Grove (119.5 points), Rolling Meadows (109 points) and host Niles West (103 points).
“It’s been a big goal of theirs,” said Maine West coach Lance Weber of winning a regional. “We’ve been wrestling really well, but I also think we are peaking at the right time.”
Last week Maine West took third at the Central Suburban League meet. This week the Warriors elevated their game by sending 10 wrestlers to the championship round while advancing 11 wrestlers to Saturday’s Glenbard North individual sectional.
Senior Tom Sunny started the roll by taking first in 106 pound-final, coming from behind to record a fall at 4:43.
The Warriors then started to flex their muscle in the middle weights as senior Jake Korbecki (35-3, 138), senior Rico Zayes (30-6, 145), senior Jordan Pessah (25-5, 152) and senior Ben Kindle (30-9, 160) swept to four consecutive titles.
Pessah and Kindle both recorded falls, while Korbecki and Zayes wore down their opposition in close matches.
Korbecki hung tight in a tough 1-0 decision over Maine South senior Dan Brewster. The Warriors senior had split his first two decisions with Brewster this season.
“We’ve been in the wrestling room every day, and all those numbers say ‘99,’ ” said Korbecki of the title banners. “That has been a big motivation for us. The key is not giving up. We lost a couple of tough matches, but we came back and wrestled tough.”
Zayes also helped spur the Warriors by taking control early over Maine South sophomore Tom Brewster and hanging on for a 4-3 decision.
“A lot of us have been together since freshmen year looking at those banners,” said Zayes of his team’s motivation. “This is what we wanted.”
Maine West also had five second-place finishers, including sophomore Adeel Afshar (113), senior Colin Gratz (132), senior Max Hanak (182), senior Rogelio Rodriguez (220) and senior Robbie Jones (285). Senior Zach Watson took third at 195 to help round out the Warriors’ day.
Elk Grove is definitely showing signs of improvement. The Grenadiers failed to advance any wrestler to sectionals two years ago, and then advanced two individuals to sectionals last year.
This year the Grens will be sending six to the sectional meet, including two regional champions.
“That’s the most we’ve had in a long time,” said Elk Grove coach Craig Johnson. “We’re making hay — these seniors have been here before and they know what is needed.”
Senior Alex Mertes got the Grenadiers going in an inspiring 3-1 overtime decision over top-ranked senior Colin Gratz of Maine West.
Mertes had lost a tough 2-1 decision to Gratz at the Lake Park Invitational, but the Grenadiers senior used a reversal in overtime to nail down a hard-fought victory to tag Gratz with only his second loss of the season.
“It gives me a lot of energy going into next week,” said Mertes.
Senior Greg Johnson recorded a fall against Maine South senior Michael White in winning the 195-pound title.
“I got the arm and I was able to flip him over,” said Johnson of his title. “It worked out well. It’s a real big deal to win this going into sectionals.”
Also advancing for the Grenadiers are senior Joe Hauser, who took second in the 120 pound finals, and senior Vince Greco (145), senior Tom Jansen (152), and junior Jon Ebert (170), who all took third place.
Rolling Meadows was also able to make quite an impression, advancing five individuals — three of them champions.
Senior Aaron Kohlberg ignited the Mustangs’ attack by recording a fall at 1:40 over Maine West sophomore Adeel Afshar.
“This year I’ve been really dedicating myself, because I want to make a good showing,” said Kohlberg (34-2), who took control of his match early. “I’ve been working really hard, and it’s paying off.”
Senior Joe Caprio (37-1) then outmuscled Niles West junior Anthony Underwood to gain a 7-3 decision in taking the 170-pound title.
“I was just looking to get some takedowns,” said Caprio, who lost his regional title match last year. “That kind of motivated me and wanted to come in and get the job done this year.”
Senior Jordan Diaz capped the Mustangs’ day by recording a fall at 1:32 over Maine West senior Robbie Jones to secure the 285-pound title.
Also advancing for the Mustangs are junior Zack Schultz (138) and senior Luke Perkins (220), who took third place in their respective matches.