South Elgin snares 1st regional crown
Devontae Joshua had no clue what was going on.
All the Larkin heavyweight knew was he could hear his name being chanted like something out of the movie Rudy and a sea of newfound fans were rushing to watch his every move.
Although Joshua (23-6) held the fate of winning his first regional championship in his own hands, he also held so much more. As long as the senior did not allow Conant's Danny Schram (30-9) to earn more than a decision South Elgin would be able to claim its first regional team championship at its own regional tournament Saturday.
Joshua, with the loudest reaction of the afternoon, scored a 5-4 decision over Schram with a takedown with 6 seconds left. The victory allowed South Elgin (167 points) to earn its first regional team title as well as sent Joshua into next weekend's Glenbard North individual sectional on a high note.
“I heard my name and it felt good,” Joshua said. “It gave me momentum to do what I had to do.”
South Elgin heavyweight Nick Kowalski (13-14) also took care of business just moments earlier when he pinned Hoffman Estates' Kyle Hendle (2-6) in 3 minutes, 28 seconds to give the Storm back the edge in the team standings over Conant. South Elgin trailed by merely half a point (162.5-162) going into the final matches. As soon as the official called Kowalski's pin, the South Elgin team sprinted in record time to cheer on Joshua to secure their team victory and a place in the Feb. 21 West Aurora dual team sectional.
“It was for the win,” said Kowalski, who marked his first regional placing on Saturday. “If I didn't pin him we could have lost.”
South Elgin, which finished last the last time the Storm hosted a regional in 2007 and have never placed higher than fourth, battled all day with Conant. The two sent a combined 18 wrestlers to next weekend's sectional meet.
“It was like an old-school dual meet,” Storm coach Mark Cameron said. “it came down to the heavyweights. I'm just excited for the kids.”
South Elgin wrestled with a purpose on Saturday.
After a second-place finish at last week's Upstate Eight Conference meet, the Storm were out to show how they could wrestle.
“I love the way we wrestled today,” said South Elgin's Cory Pych, who won his second-straight regional championship. “We were wrestling with anger. We just really wanted it.”
Pych (27-7, 113) broke a 0-0 tie in the third period against Schaumburg's Ivan Gomez (26-13) by scoring 6 points in the win. His senior brother Cody Pych (32-2) also took a regional title at 170 pounds when he pinned Elgin's Wardell Rosemon (26-5) in 2:59 for the victory.
Conant's Bobby Alexander (32-6) and Elgin's Jeff Morrow (26-4) had envisioned facing one another for quite some time. Both Alexander (freshman) and the sophomore Morrow's fathers work together so prior to Alexander entering high school Morrow gave him the rundown.
“We talked about it over the summer,” Morrow said. “Who would win, who'd go to state.”
Alexander got the victory Saturday with a 13-1 major decision. Alexander used a defensive approach, making it hard for Morrow to mount an offensive attack.
“Right after I won my first tournament I feel I was getting use to high school wrestling,” said Alexander, who won the Leyden tournament in January.
Lake Park's Farai Sewera (35-1) smoked through the 160-pound bracket. He defeated Elgin's Ethan Henke (pin, 2:27), Streamwood's Jimmy Gabiold (10-1 major decision) and Schaumburg's Matt Stephens (pin, 1:32)
“My coach told me to get it done,” Sewera said.
Schaumburg defending state champion Josh Marchok (37-0) spent just 3 minutes, 49 seconds on the mat on Saturday winning his title via injury default over South Elgin's DJ Greene (19-10).
Although he would have liked to wrestle in the finals match, Marchok still feels a great deal of momentum going into next weekend's sectionals.
“Next week, there'll be matches,” Marchok said. “You never want a forfeit, you're in the sport to wrestle.”
St. Charles North was able to advance two wrestlers to sectionals, which included a 17-2 technical fall from Tim Noverini (32-1) at 152 pounds. Noverini, who was battling an illness the past few weeks, claimed his first regional championship with the victory over Larkin's Brett Barry (30-7).
“I was going out there and wrestling tough,” Noverini said. “My outside single was working really well.”
The North Stars also advanced Eric Race (3rd, 106), Ivan Gomez (2nd, 113) Jordan Scalice (1st, 120), Matt Stephens (160), Matt Stopka (2nd, 182), Mike Baumhart (2nd, 195) and Wes Pasholk (3rd, 220).
Streamwood's Alex Curtis (120) survived a scare when he pinned Hoffman Estates' Jeremy Halverson (11-24) in 3:36 for third place. Curtis (25-8) entered as the No. 1 seed, but the junior lost his first bout to St. Charles North's Scalice in a 10-1 major decision.
Scalice defeated Conant's Zack Davis 5-0 to claim a regional title.
The Sabres' Mike Alvarado (145, 16-16) also advanced with a pin in 3:57 over Lake Park's Joseph DeSario (5-10) in a third-place match.
Elgin got regional titles from Richie Santana (22-7, 182 pounds) and Jorge Zavalla (21-6, 195 pounds). Santana scored a 5-2 victory over SCN's Stopka (27-7) and Zavalla won a tough 3-0 decision over Schaumburg's Mike Baumhart (30-9).