Leyden's Maldonado pulls off upset at Berman Classic
Leyden coach Jason Potter conjured up another stunning upset for the second straight year at the 55th annual Berman Holiday Wrestling Classic on Monday.
A year after watching unheralded Kevin Lewis stun then No. 1 seed and eventual Class 2A state champ Matt Holmes of Lakes, Potter found himself at mat's edge to see No. 7 Angel Maldonado upset No. 2 seed Connor Nagel (Lemont) 6-5 in a 189-pound match to cap a terrific first day of action in Palatine.
Top-rated Minooka leads the superb 26-team field, which includes nine top-20 teams, after the first day with a 151/2 point lead over Lincoln-Way Central with 124.50 overall points, with Lockport, Lemont, Lyons, Mundelein, Hersey and Glenbard East rounding out the top 8.
Third-round action begins at 9:30 a.m. today, with quarterfinals set to begin at 11 a.m.
"Angel has been coming on strong during the past two weeks, and today you saw just how far he has come during that time," said Potter of Maldonado, of the Eagles' record-setting running back who was named player of the year in the West Suburban Gold last fall. "Angel is playing catch-up to each and every kid he wrestles, but he's like a sponge, always wanting to work hard and learn as much as he can in and out of the room to stay even in a highly competitive weight class."
Maldonado (4-2), who hasn't wrestled for Potter since his freshman year, will face No. 3 Phil Cappitelli (Lakes, 16-1) this morning in the bottom half of the 189-pound bracket.
As the long day drew to an end, there were a few other surprises sprinkled through the upper weights, including a fall at 2:41 by No. 5 seed Parker Settecase (16-1) of Glenbard East over No. 4 Joe Gonzalez (Lyons) at 2:41. The Rams' senior will face top seed Dan Howell (18-0) of Oswego.
Settecase, who was dealt his lone loss on the season early on to none other than Gonzalez, upended the Moore-Prettyman champion with an impressive assault off the whistle which resulted in the affable senior scoring the first 2 points of this match.
"I wanted to attack (Gonzalez) right from the start, and scoring (first) is so important against an opponent like him," said Settecase, who has not medaled in his two previous appearances here.
Teammate Sam Pennisi (17-0) provided a nice 1-2 punch for their club with a strong effort at 171-pounds and a fall at 4:40 over Matt Stevens.
"I had kind of a shaky start, but once I got going I felt good," said the No. 3 seed, who will meet No. 2 Alex Ortiz of St. Patrick, who won here last year.
Downers Grove North senior Danny Balderas (17-2) found that the third time is truly the charm when the No. 4 seed bounced Hinsdale Central's David Lutz into the backdraw when he recorded a fall at 1:15 at 171 pounds.
"(He) had beaten me twice (already) this season, so I really wanted this match tonight," said a thrilled Balderas, who meets top-seed Derek Nagel (Lemont) today.
The St. Charles East trio of No. 1 seeds, Brandon Rubino (119), Nick Ruffino (130), Nick Scimeca (152) were perfect on the day as they advanced with ease, including Scimeca, who last year saw his tournament stay end on the first day after losses to a pair of future state qualifiers.
"I spent of lot of hours during the offseason to improve, including extra work at (Overtime) and it has really paid off," said Scimeca (19-2) who entered the tournament at the No. 4 rated wrestler in his weight class.
Mid-Suburban League power Hersey showed its middle of the lineup strength after top seeds Demetrios Mitchell (28-0, 145) and Jeff Koepke (27-4, 160) were joined by Sean Bonner (26-5, 152) in advancing to quarterfinal action.
"There's a long way (still) to go in the season, but I'll take (those) three guys against any other in the state at 145 through 160," said Hersey coach Jim Wormsley.
Mitchell, coming off a championship run at the presigious Dvorak last week, pinned his way into the quarters, while Koepke went the tech-fall route to reach the last 4.
Mundelein is within shouting distance of a top-five finish, thanks to the help of Nick Dudzinski (103), Matt Ornoff (112), Juan Jaimes (130) and Jake Hertel (189), who each passed their first-day test to remain alive in the championship bracket.
Ornoff (18-0) the top seed here and the No. 2 man in the state, mashed his first two opponents to set up a quarterfinal bout with No. 5 Steve Gallardo of St. Patrick.
"It's all about confidence this season," says Ornoff, who admits that having a bulls-eye on his singlet helps fuel his desire to be the best he can be following his sixth place finish at 103 last year at the state tournament.
Senior Robby Schultheis (119) was the lone bright spot for Warren on Friday as the No. 3 seed pounded his two opponents easily, including a fall at 5:07 over Emeric Williams of Lockport to book his place opposite No. 2 Jimmy Nehls of Downers Grove North.
"My goal at the start of this season is just to remain healthy," says Schultheis (15-2) who broke his femur here last season and wrestled with the injury all season long before having surgery during the off-season to repair the break.