Boys wrestling: St. Charles East sending 10 downstate from Conant sectional
St. Charles East is bringing a large contingent south to Champaign.
The Saints will be sending 10 wrestlers from the Class 3A Conant sectional in Hoffman Estates to the state finals that begin Thursday. It is the most St. Charles East has sent downstate since the 2023 team that sent 11 wrestlers.
“Sectionals are weird like that,” St. Charles East coach Jason Potter said. “You look at the surface level and it looks like a fantastic day. As a coach it is weird because these greedy moments where I feel for the guys that didn’t get it done. When I sit back tonight and look back at some of this stuff, I will realize how impressive performance this was.”
The Saints won five of the eight championship bouts they competed in.
Declan Sons (113 pounds), Dom Munaretto (120), Ryan McGovern (157), Anthony Gutierrez and Cooper Murray (215) won sectional titles. Liam Aye (126), Gavin Woodmancy (138) and Rocco Lobrillo (190) finished second, while Kaden Potter (106) and Abraham Leidig (175) finished third.
There wasn’t a fall in any of the 14 title matches. But in one of the most physical matches of the finals, Munaretto (49-1), who was second last year at 113 and a state champion at 106 in 2023, bested Oak Park’s Jamie Castleberry 23-12.
“It was good match,” Munaretto said. “You just have to stay ferocious and keep looking for the next point.”
That match came in the heels of a huge win by Sons (27-14). The sophomore stunned previously unbeaten Nicholas Dilallo 13-4.
“It was one of my first matches back after sitting out after I transferred from St. Charles North,” said Sons, who lost to Dilallo 6-1 earlier in the year. “The difference today was that my confidence was good.”
McGovern (41-10) also had an impressive win. The senior trailed Proviso West’s Marquis Deloach 11-5 midway through the second period. But McGovern found a second gear and rallied for a 13-12 victory.
“I knew I could score, but I took some bad shots early in the match,” McGovern said. “I just took advantage of what I learned there and was able to make things work for me.”
Murray (38-13) went overtime for his first sectional title, beating Taft’s Evan Jocic 3-2 in sudden death.
“It went all the way to the end,” said Murray, who had two escapes in overtime for the win. “I needed those escapes.”
Gutierrez (44-6) had a solid 19-4 win over DeKalb’s Sean Kolkebeck. But Aye lost to Glenbard North’s Kalani Khiev (44-3), who had a takedown in the final second for a 3-2 win.
“I am willing to do whatever it takes to win,” Khiev said. “There was less than 5 seconds left, but I won because I didn’t stop wresting.”
York’s Frank Nitti (43-4) blanked Maine South’s Jake Colleran 7-0 to win the 144 class.
“I made a huge mistake in the semifinals and I also lost there,” Nitti said. “In the finals I was nerve-free and went out there and was ready to go.”
Elgin’s Fabian Ramirez (27-2) jumped out to huge lead and posted an impressive 19-3 win over Glenbard North’s Joseph Fitak at 175.
“It went pretty fast,” said Ramirez, who won his second consecutive sectional title. “I was able to be able to get things done.”
Maine South’s Tyler Fortis (38-2), who finished 5th in the state last year at 285, took a huge step toward getting back on the winner’s podium. Fortis, who is senior, won his first sectional title, by outlasting Elk Grove’s Mikey Milovich 1-0.
“It feels amazing,” said Fortis, who had a second-period escape for the match’s only points.