Montini qualifies 11 to state, Marmion 10

The hometown boy more than symbolically framed the Montini wrestling road show Saturday night in Hinsdale.

Mike McNicholas' pin to beat the first-period buzzer by one second anchored the seventh and final Class 3A individual sectional championship for the consensus top-ranked Broncos at Hinsdale Central.

"I live five minutes from the school," the Lombard resident said. "I didn't even make it out of the regional last year. I could tell (Downers North senior Ethan Smith) was a little tired. I definitely had to wrestle my best for it. It was not an easy pin."

It was McNicholas' fourth fall of the day.

Montini, ranked No. 4 in the nation, continued its season-long brilliance over Illinois competition.

"I love to see everyone wrestle to their potential," said Stanford-bound two-time state champion Real Woods, who stopped Chicago Catholic League rival Ryan Fleck of Marmion with a third-period technical fall at 132 pounds. "We have so much talent in the room. (Coach Israel Martinez) pushes us to the limit."

Will Lewin also had a fall in the finals for Montini by stopping Marmion junior Patrick Daum 65 seconds into the match at 152 pounds.

Montini led all programs with 11 qualifiers to the three-day state tournament, which starts Thursday at the University of Illinois' State Farm Center in Champaign.

But Marmion was not far behind. The Cadets had all 10 of their athletes, including two champions, finish in the top four.

"They are like our biggest enemies," Lewan said of his Marmion rivals. "I am confident enough in my top that I would be able to finish it in the first."

In the 160-pound climatic match Montini junior Matt Ortiz handed Marmion junior Brad Gross his first loss of the season with a 12-5 decision.

Gross, a returning all-stater, did not make his season debut until winning the Catholic League tournament three weeks ago.

"Not be able to do a lot of cardio (was the biggest challenge)," Gross said. "I wrestled pretty bad. I will make the adjustments for next week."

Peter Christiansen had arguably the most unlikely championship for Montini by ending the perfect season of Downers South senior Sergio Villalobos.

Reversing the regional final from Lyons Twp., Christensen had the only offensive points - a second-period takedown - to end Villalobos' 42-match winning streak in a 3-1 victory.

"Last week when we wrestled I learned a few things," Christensen said. "There were a few moves he got on me that were real good. Once I got to his body, I picked him up and tripped him for the 2 (points)."

Dylan Ragusin, North Carolina-bound Joey Melendez and Trevor Swier also claimed titles for Montini at the respective weights of 113, 120 and 182 pounds.

Metea Valley had three qualifiers in Phillip Sims, Josh Labarbera and Mekhi White.

"I am very happy," Metea Valley coach Claudio Torres said of his first qualifiers in program history.

Naperville North advanced Ben Kruk and Gabe Matar; Naperville Central did likewise behind Jackson Punzel and Ben Cianchetti.

Waubonsie Valley and WW South each had one state finals achiever: Garrett St. Clair for the Warriors and heavyweight Jon Cooper for the Tigers.

Trevor Chumbley made sure the individual battles Marmion had with Montini were not entirely decided by the conference champion.

Meeting Fidel Mayora for the third time this year in the finals at 138 pounds, Chumbley had an escape for the only point of the match.

"You have to keep changing your style or make the adjustments to the last time," Chumbley said. "I watched a lot of film."

Reigning state runner-up Nate Jimenez is another Marmion wrestler who missed significant time this season with a knee injury.

The Michigan State-bound 170-pounder pinned Stagg senior Ahmad Suleiman in the third period for the Cadets' other sectional title.

"It's the same step as last year," Jimenez said of his planned route back to a state-championship bid. "My gas tank broke down a little bit. I'm not where I want to be because of the setback."

Diego Sotelo (106 pounds) was the fourth Marmion wrestler to fall in the finals.

"I thought we wrestled hard," Marmion coach Donny Reynolds said. "We got everybody through to the state tournament. We have 10 guys who can win state medals."

West Aurora and Batavia had sole individuals to extend the seasons of respective coaches Andrew Plata and Scott Bayer.

Juan Acevedo and Andy Posledni emerged though the meat grinder of the consolation bracket to advance at 152 and 132 pounds for West Aurora and Batavia, respectively.

"The only thought that was going through me is I wanted to be on the floor downstate," Acevedo said. "I didn't work this hard for nothing."

"Real Woods (whom Posledni lost to in the quarterfinals) is ranked in the country," Posledni said. "I thought I would be in the consolation bracket. They were all close matches. The excitement you get in the wrestlebacks is nothing like it."