St. Charles North's O'Brien reaches Conant semifinals
Day No. 1 at the Class 3A Conant wrestling sectional in Hoffman Estates went without a hitch for most of the favorites in the Fox Valley area, but on the second day inside William N. Perry Gym, things should be a little more interesting.
The 9 a.m. semifinals should produce plenty of spills and thrills as a victory secures a spot at the state tournament, while a loss sends you back into the dreaded consolation bracket.
In the not to distant past - last February to be exact, and at Conant, the season for Kolbe O'Brien was about to come to an abrupt end.
The St. Charles North senior would open strong on his first day of sectionals with a pair of quality victories before eventual state runner-up Anthony Madrigal, from Oak Park-River Forest sent him into the consolation bracket following a defeat in the semifinals.
The four-year star would then see his hopes dashed later in the day for good by Wesam Alabed of Leyden in his state qualifying bout.
"That loss hurt a lot,"admits O'Brien (35-2) who will meet No. 10 Frankie Indelli (39-4) of Wheaton North in Saturday's semifinals as he goes for career victory No. 134, but more importantly, booking a trip downstate.
"I really feel as if I'm peaking at the right time this year, but even with that, I'm not looking past any opponent. I'll take it one match at a time here at sectionals," said O'Brien.
O'Brien would open on Friday with his 19th pin of the season at 30 seconds, while his Indelli recorded a technical fall, then a nicely played 10-4 victory in his quarterfinal match to set up what should be a very entertaining 132-pound semifinal.
Regional champion St. Charles East, aside from the success of Saints' duo of Joe Ruffino (106, 37-0) and Ben Anderson (113, 34-4), who cruised with ease into the semifinals, struggled a bit.
"That was the idea," said the senior Ruffino, who will meet Catron Fraizer (35-5) of Glenbard West, who overpowered Luke Badger of Lake Park, 7-1 to advance against the No. 6 rated Ruffino.
Anderson, a sophomore, needed just a few moments more than his teammate Ruffino to move one step closer to going downstate as he pinned his opponent at 1:08, 32 seconds more than Ruffino.
"The goal at this time of the season is to get off the mat as quick as possible to conserve energy," said Anderson, who meets Peter Ogunsanya (OPRF, 29-5) in his semifinal.
South Elgin junior Bobby Tornabene (30-10) was one of the surprise stories from the area after he stunned 41-match winner Chris Rivera (Evanston, 41-5) with a hard-fought 3-2 decision. Next up for Tornabene will be Alex Giuliano (27-8) from Conant.
"Bobby is just a grinder, so I knew he would eventually wear (Rivera) down, and that's what led to those two late points to get himself a big win," said a proud Storm coach Mark Cameron.
It was difficult to find more good news on the day, as a handful of players from the area came this close to staying in the championship bracket, only to fall just short and set up a second day start in wrestlebacks.
Among those who will look to fight their way back to a state-qualifying match will be Kevin Huck (37-11, 145) of Geneva, who lost a heartbreaking 11-9 match in the final seconds of overtime and UEC rival Cole Reynolds (22-10, 152) from St. Charles North, who won his opener before falling victim to Eugene Lee of Maine South in his quarterfinal. The North Stars' senior missed most of last season with a separated shoulder, then some time with a variety of illnesses this year, and is now competing with a sprained LCL.
Nick Dawson (Bartlett, 195, 24-9) and Elgin junior Angelo Poland (152, 33-7) will have to qualify the hard way after losing in the quarterfinals.