Fremd's Jacobs makes state final
CHAMPAIGN - Alex Jacobs advanced to the 220-pound final in dramatic fashion as the second day of the high school wrestling state championship came to a close Friday night in State Farm Arena.
Winning his semifinal against Diata Drayton of Marist allowed the Fremd senior set himself up for an opportunity to become the sixth Fremd wrestler in program history to win a state title.
"I cannot even begin to tell you how much work has gone into this moment, where I'll have a chance to be a state champion," said Jacobs moments after his takedown near the edge in the closing moments of regulation gave him a hard-fought 3-1 triumph. "Drayton was a big, strong guy, so I was very careful not to get caught up in that.
"I remember looking at the clock and seeing there were 13 seconds to go, and that it was time to set something up so we didn't go to overtime."
Jacobs meets Allen Stallings (31-3) of Oak Park-River Forest, who upset No. 1 Eric Johnson (46-1) of Plainfield South in the other semifinal. Johnson gave Jacobs (38-1) his only loss of the season early on.
Jacobs would carve up Maine South senior Ibrahim Nasir (39-5) 12-6 in the quarterfinals.
"I can tell you now that when I was in eighth grade, I put a postcard up on my wall that said 'State champion' - it sounds a little goofy, but I meant it, and it's still up there as a reminder of that goal."
Fremd coach Dan Ruettiger likes the development he's seen in Jacobs over the seasons.
"Alex has come such a long way since his freshman year, and he's put the work in every day he's been at Fremd with me," said Ruettiger, who will accompany Jacobs during Saturday's 5:30 p.m. Grand March to start the finals sesson. "But the best thing about all of this is that he's a great kid."
After a tough first session Friday, there's plenty of good news to report as several from the Mid-Suburban League are in the hunt for coveted state medals.
When the 9 a.m. wrestlebacks begin Saturday, Logan Gruszka and Tony Vezzetti of Schaumburg will need two more wins to medal.
Both Saxons standouts had the unfortunate luck of meeting wrestlers ranked No. 1 in their weight class by IllinoisMatmen.com - Gruszka (38-3) faced Matt Rowland of Willowbrook, and Vezzetti met Nathan Traxler of Marmion Academy.
Both reigning state champions flashed first-place form to send the 170- and 182-pounders from Schaumburg into the consolation bracket.
"Logan could use my 8-3 win over him earlier in the year as a bit of an advantage coming into our quarterfinal, so it was important that I got the lead on him while looking out for his upper body strength and throws," said Rowland (53-0), who established a Willowbrook program record for wins.
Gruszka responded in his wrestleback opener with a pin, giving him 31 on the season.
The brilliant Conant duo of Danny Madonia and Kyle Peisker had their championship hopes dashed in Friday's quarterfinals - No. 5 Madonia (36-2) falling to No. 3 Anthony Cheloni (Marmion Academy), who coincidentally knocked Bobby Alexander from the unbeaten ranks here last year.
Peisker found the waters a little rough against No. 2 AJ Jaffe (Marmion Academy), who recorded a 5-0 victory to advance. Later, the Harvard-bound Jaffe booked his place in the finals.
Both Madonia and Peisker rebounded nicely in their wrestleback openers to stay alive for the Saturday morning wrestleback quarterfinals.
"That was a tough loss for Danny," said Conant coach Chad Hay. "Cheloni was given a takedown at the end of the second period, but we argued it happened after the buzzer, so we were not too sure that call was the proper one.
"Kyle had a tough quarterfinal against a guy who finished third last year, but he was cool and calm in his first match of wrestlebacks to keep his hopes of getting on the podium still alive."
Prospect junior Matt Wroblewski (182) saw his 40-match unbeaten streak and hopes of a state title dashed by No. 3 Patrick Brucki (Sandburg, 47-3) after a 3-1 loss in the quarterfinals on a late takedown.
The Knights' Bobby Jarosz (29-11) lost his quarterfinal on Friday to No. 3 Ben Schneider (Sandburg). But Jarosz fired back with a 13-7 victory in wrestlebacks.
Prospect's Alex Koczwara, however, was not as fortunate as Jarosz in his first-round consolation match. The senior, who in his first varsity year won regional and sectional crowns, racked up 38 victories.
Barrington sophomore Markus Hartman (41-8) is still in the chase for a medal at 126 pounds. His journey will continue Saturday morning against Garrett Bass (38-10) of Belleville West.
After three straight state appearance failed to yield a medal for Tulga Zuunbayan (31-4), the Rolling Meadows senior saw a brilliant high school career come to an end.
Jaylen Shaw, a former teammate of Zuunbayan's at Wheeling, lost his quarterfinal bout to Trace Carello (Marmion Academy) and must now came back through wrestlebacks. The same is true for Conant's Nick Catalano (Conant, 40-6), who next meets Jackson Schoen (Lake Park, 40-6) for the third time this year.
Barrington sophomore Jake Meyer (35-16) delivered a knockout blow to state-ranked Josh Barzkowski (Notre Dame, 34-11) with a fall at 2:54, and next meets Cole Smith of Providence Catholic.
The third- and fifth-place matches will begin approximately at 1 p.m., with the championship matches set to start after the Grand March.