Dundee-Crown's Brunner dominates at Geneva
Christian Brunner has a simple plan for the remainder of the wrestling season.
“My goal is to be undefeated and a state champion,” the Dundee-Crown junior said on Saturday afternoon after dominating the 195-pound class of the 36th Annual Newbill Invitational at Geneva Saturday afternoon.
The Chargers' standout, the reigning Class 3A state runner-up at 182 pounds, terminated his championship match against Geneva senior Austin Chaon with his third near-fall late in the final period to secure a technical fall.
In the process, Brunner extended his season-long winning streak to 25 matches with his third invitational title of the season.
Brunner was actually mortal in his semifinal match, surrendering a pair of takedowns to West Chicago senior John Garcia before rallying for the victory with his second straight pin.
“It gets harder,” Brunner said of his long winning streak. “I gave up two takedowns but ended up with a fall (in the semifinals). You have to keep improving.”
Alton crowned five champions, including 152-pound MVP Nicholas DeRoach, to rout the 18-team field with 203 points.
Harvard and Plainfield Central were more than 70 points behind in placing second and third.
Among the schools in the Daily Herald coverage area, Lake Zurich, which had the only other local champion in 220-pounder Josh Dryer, edged Carmel by a point for fourth place.
Wheaton Warrenville South nipped Dundee-Crown by a pair to finish sixth.
Host Geneva had two runners-up in placing a disappointing 11th.
West Chicago and Larkin were in the bottom third of the tournament finishers.
There were only five competitors at 220 pounds, and Lake Zurich senior Dryer had an escape for the only point of the championship match against Brother Rice junior Dan Howard.
Geneva senior Colin Parsons met the same fate in his 132-pound championship match against Plainfield Central junior Jared Ellingwood.
“I just have to work on my finishes,” Parsons said. “I have to get better with my shots.”
“I am very pleased with Colin,” Geneva coach Tom Chernich said. “In the quarterfinals he beat a boy by 14 (points). In the semifinals he avenged a loss to the Wheaton Warrenville South boy (Cory Drummond).”
Mitchell Bradberry and Alex Crowe placed in back-to-back weight classes at 170 and 182 pounds for Geneva.
Anthony Schaer (Carmel), Mike Tortorice (Carmel) Joey Stutzman (Lake Zurich), Kenny Barber (Carmel) and Adam Schultz (WW South) all lost championship bouts at the respective weights of 106, 113, 120 and 170 pounds.
WW South senior Qarin Johnic, one of the top-ranked competitors in the field, was upset in the 138-pound semifinals against Plainfield Central junior Clayton Ledbetter.
“The kids battled throughout the day,” WW South coach Matt Janosek said. “We would have liked to finish some of our semifinal matches (better).”
Carmel finished in the top third despite not fielding athletes in five weight classes.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Carmel coach Bob Kuykendall said. “We have guys who got outwrestled in the finals. We are focusing on the regional. That's when (the season) gets real. This is a glorified practice with medals.”
Oak Park d. Marmion: The expected showdown between the top-two Class 3A ranked programs never materialized in Oak Park on Saturday afternoon.
The defending state champion Huskies are simply at another level than Marmion, third in the team-dual state meet last season.
Marmion could secure only four wins — two majors and two simple decisions — against the national powerhouse in its 49-14 defeat.
“(Oak Park-River Forest) is ranked No. 1 in the country,” Marmion coach Ryan Cumbee said. “They are a very, very talented team. When (co-head coach) Donnie (Reynolds) and I were at Providence in 1999, we were ranked No. 1 in the country. We were not as talented as they are. They do the little things very well.”
A.J. Jaffe (132 pounds), Michael Callahan (145), Riley DeMoss (182) and Nathan Traxler (195) earned the Cadets' wins.