High Five: Top boys prep sports performances of the school year
Last week we looked at the area’s top girls prep sports moments of the school year. Now it’s the boys’ turn.
Honestly, this was a tougher assignment. We could’ve chosen numerous athletes from certain sports, which forced us to cheat a bit here and there.
With the 2025-26 school year officially at an end, this edition of the High Five looks at the top boys prep sports performances from the past 10 months.
5. Dom Munaretto (St. Charles East), Caleb Noble, Aaron Stewart (Warren), Nicholas Garcia (Marmion)
This is cheat No. 1, but we couldn’t separate these four amazing wrestlers who each won their third straight state title.
Munaretto, committed to Ohio State, closed his prep career with his 98th straight victory. Stewart, who plans to play football and wrestle at Illinois, dominated his final with a 15-0 technical fall.
Garcia, committed to Virginia Tech, gutted out an overtime victory while Arizona State-bound Noble was business as usual.
4. Jaxson Davis, Warren basketball
We big a sad farewell to Davis, who announced last week he’s transferring to a Missouri prep school for his upcoming senior year.
Despite an injury-riddled close to his junior season, which ended in sectional semifinals, we still have a glowing memory from his final Illinois campaign.
Davis set a Big Dipper Classic record by scoring 51 points in an 88-54 win over Kenwood in the title game. He also had 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
3. Matthew and Luke Vatev, Hinsdale Central swimming
Cheat No. 2 lands us in the pool but, like the wrestlers mentioned above, there’s no separating these brothers.
Matthew, a senior, won an individual state title in the 100-yard breaststroke while Luke, a junior, won the 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle. They were both on Hinsdale Central’s championship 200 and 400 free relay teams.
2. Bennett Konkey, Geneva track and field
The rise in attention from college football coaches has been impressive for the talented wide receiver, who’s added Big Ten offers from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern and Wisconsin.
Let’s just say they like his speed.
Konkey earned the first track and field state titles in program history, claiming victory in the 100- and 200-meter races. It was a triumphant return to the sport after a hamstring injury kept him out last spring and limited him in the fall football season.
1. Brock Phillip, St. Francis football
The Spartans quarterback put in a title game performance for the ages.
Leading his team to the Class 5A state championship, Phillip capped a 17-play, 62-yard drive by scoring on a 1-yard run with 11 seconds left as St. Francis rallied to beat Providence 39-35.
Phillip completed 14 of 25 passes for 226 yards and carried the ball 23 times for 144 yards. He accounted for all six touchdowns scored by the Spartans.