Marmion honors senior wrestlers

Marmion has arguably the best crop of junior wrestlers in the state.

But Wednesday night in Aurora, the Cadets' three seniors - Joe Antonelli, Jake Cornish and Matt Milder - were in the spotlight.

The triumvirate helped Marmion close out its nonconference dual meet with future Chicago Catholic League member Loyola with eight straight wins in the Cadets' 42-7 victory.

"You have three seniors out there who did it the hard way," Marmion coach Ryan Cumbee said of the trio honored before the match for their contributions to the program. "They waited their turn."

Considering the multiple state champions the program has produced in the last half-decade, cracking the starting lineup is not an easy proposition at Marmion.

Milder gave Marmion (13-4) the lead for good when he awarded with a forfeit at 120 pounds.

It was the first career varsity win for Milder.

"I'm grateful to the coaches to get an opportunity," Milder said. "I wanted to wrestle but am happy to help the team (with the 6-point forfeit)."

"I am very proud of (Milder)," Cumbee said. "He deserves to be out there with a varsity singlet on. He's the last one to leave the (practice) room every day."

Antonelli moved up two slots from his customary 120-pound position to earn a technical fall in an exhibition match at 132 pounds.

"It was a great experience," the St. Charles resident said.

Antonelli had his second 3-point near-fall in the final nine seconds remaining to end his match.

Cornish also bumped up two slots to earn a first-period fall at 138 pounds.

"I get to wrestle varsity pretty often," Cornish said. "The key for my win tonight was hand-fighting. We practice hand-fighting all week."

The Cadets' big guns - Matt Ferraro, Riley DeMoss and Nathan Traxler - also cruised to wins over the Ramblers, who were severely short-handed due to injury and illness.

The Wilmette school had to forfeit six weight classes.

But Marmion has its own injury issues at the moment as three of the weight classes - 106, 126 and 220 pounds - were double forfeits.

Mikey Callahan terminated his 152-pound match at the second-period buzzer with a technical fall.

Ferraro followed suit with a first-period pin at 160; DeMoss was awarded a forfeit win at 170, and Traxler, the No. 1-ranked 182-pounder in Class 3A, ended the night with a 13-5 triumph.

Loyola had back-to-back wins at heavyweight and 113 pounds from Ben LeRoy and Drew Johnson for their only wins of the match.

"We've got a lot of guys out right now," Loyola coach Chris Stephens said. "We have injuries and the flu bug is going around."

But Cumbee spoke almost exclusively of the three four-year members.

"That's what it's all about," Cumbee said of the Cadets' senior night.