Champs defend crowns at Ewoldt

Eight defending tournament champions returned to this year's 12-team Ed Ewoldt Wrestling Invitational at Wheaton Warrenville South on Saturday, and four of them walked away two-time champions.

Fenton's Josh Castellano, Hinsdale South's Jon Goldsher, Glenbard East's Pat Walker and Joliet's A.J. Juarez all repeated as individual champs, while West Aurora won its third consecutive team title in Wheaton.

Three first-time champions -- Tanner Andrews, Jesse Pena and Juan Perez -- led the way for the Blackhawks, who wrestled without state place-winner Mario Gonzalez but still outpointed second-place Hinsdale South 218-186.

The Hornets had a pair of individual champs in Joe McGuire at 140 and Jon Goldsher at 145, and got seconds from Jake Schramm, Ryan Garringer and Jamie McGuire. Joe McGuire beat the Blackhawks' Vince Morris 14-10 for his title, and Goldsher pinned Glenbard West's Paul Stano for his crown for a Hornets crew that had wrestlers in the finals from 140 through 160.

"The only problem is a lot of us are around the same weight now," Goldsher said. "But once the younger kids step up, we'll have a good team."

"We've got some nice individuals," said Hornets coach Mike Matozzi. "We had 11 guys wrestling for places today, so we're satisfied with that."

Glenbard East placed third with 174.5 points, led by Walker, who won the tourney's Outstanding Wrestler Award. Walker won an 18-6 major decision over the Blackhawks' Dan Carey for the title at 215 pounds.

"I'm a lot stronger this year," Walker said. "I had to cut a little weight this year to get back down to 215 after football."

The Rams also got titles from Joe Alexander at 103 and Jason Callahan at 152, and seconds from Zach Badsing at 112 and heavyweight Andrew Crounk. Callahan had the only two takedowns in a 5-3 title bout win over the Hornets' Ryan Garringer.

"Jason took it to him," said Rams coach Kevin Carlson. "When he's aggressive and moving on his feet like that, he's tough."

Addison Trail placed fifth, getting titles from Juxhin Hoda at 130 and Arber Bebo at 189 pounds, and a second from George Iliopoulos at 119 pounds.

Hoda was the aggressor throughout a 12-9 semifinal upset win over a returning state place-winner in West Aurora's Josh Zinzer, then kept up the pace in a 19-13 win over Jordan Holden of Gulf (Fla.) High School for the title.

"I knew I could compete with (Zinzer) because of all the work I put into the off-season," Hoda said. "I knew if I could push the pace, I'd win."

Fenton only brought eight wrestlers to the Ewoldt, but two of them won titles to pace the Bison's sixth-place finish. Kevin Larsen pinned his way to the title at 119, while Castellano posted two pins and a major decision at 135.

"Takedowns," Castellano said, when asked what he did well. "Last year I was more of a top wrestler, but this year I'm being more aggressive on my feet."

Glenbard West got a second from Stano at 145 and a third from Adam Jungkuntz at 135 in placing seventh, while Fremd took eighth with a pair of thirds from Ben Bodycot at 145 and Bryan Opitz at 215, fourths from Brett Opitz at 160 and heavyweight Jimmy Norris, and a fifth from Willie Tham at 119.

With half their lineup playing in the Class 7A title game in football, the host Tigers got thirds from Mark Savenok at 103 and Tim Savenok at 152 pounds in placing 11th.

-- Gary Larsen

At Barrington:ŒTo be the best, you must beat the best.

Matt Holmes did just that.

The Lakes' junior used a spectacular semifinal performance to defeat top-seed and 2007 state medal winner Dale Jarosz of Palatine in OT before delivering the knockout punch in the finals when he beat Alex Cizek of Neuqua Valley to capture the big trophy at 130 pounds.

Holmes' second-day thrill ride highlighted a terrific second session of wrestling before a huge audience at the 17th annual Moore-Prettyman Memorial tournament hosted by Barrington, which saw a late run by Neuqua Valley fall just short in its quest to overcome team champ St. Rita.

Coach Mick Ruettiger's team cut into a 15-point margin late in the day, fueled by three straight victories in the finals by Brian Epp (145 pounds), and head-to-head wins over No. 2 ranked St. Rita by Jimmy Duffy (160) and Chris Spangler (171). But St. Rita still earned the top prize by 6½ points, 235-228½.

A solid effort by Libertyville in the first session enabled it to earn third place overall with 173 points and 8 points ahead of NSC rival Grant and Wheeling, who finished tied for fourth with 165 points.

Epp and Duffy had to grind out victories in each of their finals, as the Neuqua Valley duo used an array of tactics to win.

Epp was methodic in a 12-4 major decision over Andrew Knoll (Lincoln-Way East) while 2007 state runner-up Duffy recorded a 7-1 win against a stubborn opponent in Taylor Osborn of St. Rita.

"I'm wrestling up in weight class, so I don't want to get into a brawl with any of those guys," Duffy said. "So I started slow and just took what (Osburn) gave me."

-- Mike Garofola

At Conant: Entering the day with a 15-point advantage, Glenbard North coach Mark Hahn and his team felt confident, poised, and ready to capture a first-place finish in the C.O. Fuetz Wrestling Classic at Conant.

Despite 11 of his wrestlers finishing with medals around their necks, Glenbard North fell 3 points shy of perennial state power Providence for second place.

"With what we had here, we thought we had enough to win it (the tournament)," Hahn said. "Providence got a lot more bonus points than we did, but we felt we had the firepower to win it."

The Panthers were in contention for a top-five finish in nearly every weight class.

Joe Gosinki, (103) Billy Heyduik, (130) and Corey Hope, (152) turned in second-place finishes, Jamie Warczynski (112), Colin Hartnett (135) and Danny Monaco(140) grabbed third-place medals; and Ray Varela, (119) and Tyler Knutson (189) finished fourth and eighth in their respective weight classes.

The story of the day, however, was the brother tandem of Tony (125) and Vince (160) Ramos. They both captured first place.

"This win wasn't too big," Tony said. "I'm hoping to keep wrestling well and get some big wins next week."

Vince, a senior, is proud of the success he's finding alongside his brother.

"We practice our stuff every day, and we push each other to succeed," Vince said. "It's nice to see us both have success."

-- Dan Hyman