Boys wrestling: St. Charles East crowns 6 champions, holds off Glenbard West to take home regional title
Will DiFatta knew that his 113-pound 3A St. Charles East Regional title matchup would be a big one.
After dropping the first championship match of the day, St. Charles East found itself trailing Glenbard West in the team standings and needing a boost. And with the freshman facing the Hilltoppers’ Cristian Lopez, who beat him by tech fall just a month before, he knew it would be a fight to the end.
But once he got his opening, he didn’t want to take his foot off the gas.
“I just wanted to get to something like his leg and finish from there,” DiFatta said. “He took me down, but I could feel he was getting gassed. So eventually when I got to his legs, I knew I had to keep going.”
DiFatta’s 13-5 victory by major decision was one of six individual titles for the Saints, who would never lose the lead again to take the team title.
“We’re thrilled that the team was able to get it done,” Saints coach Jason Potter said. “We knew it was going to be like that. They were losing matches and found ways to win and put a ton of extra pressure on us.
“And for Will to come up for us in 113 to major that kid, that was huge. And that was really the difference, which was crazy.”
Besides DiFatta, Dom Munaretto (120), Kaden Potter (132), Liam Aye (138), Gavin Woodmancy (144) and Cooper Murray (215) also won individual titles for the Saints.
Along with winning his second-straight individual title, Woodmancy also celebrated his 100th career victory with a 17-0 win by tech fall in the semifinals. He then followed it up with a win by fall over Glenbard West’s Brennan Myra in the final.
“I just went to my offense with my tilts and tried to keep it nice and quick,” Woodmancy said. “Kept it up with that first match, I was looking to score and not back down on the gas pedal. I was looking for the pin, but instead I just got that in the final.”
Maximus Aye (106), Declan Sons (126), Luciano Litro (165) and Matt Medina (285) all took second place in their respective weight classes. Jayden Hernandez (150) rounded out the sectional qualifiers with a third-place finish.
“I thought they all really fought hard out there,” Potter said. “A couple of them didn’t wrestle their best, but we still found a way to win a regional. It’s weird, because you’re so excited for the guys to get it done, but also it’s heartbreaking for the guys who came up short and just had a bad day.”
The performance proved to be just enough to outdo the Hilltoppers for the team regional title, beating them out 232-221.
But despite falling short of the team title, Glenbard West coach Pat McCluskey said there was nothing to be ashamed of, especially with 11 wrestlers getting sent to sectionals.
“As a coach, you just want all of your wrestlers to go out there and toe the line and wrestle as hard as they could, and our guys continued to do that,” McCluskey said. “East is such a great team, and we knew we had to be almost perfect to beat them, and we almost pulled it off, so I’m very happy for them.”
Much like the Saints, the Hilltoppers sent 10 wrestlers to wrestle for an individual title. Aiden Ortega (106), Jondelle Malunay (157), Tallis Taylor (165) and Marc Tchapda (285) all came out victorious in their matches.
Malunay had the quickest title match of the day, getting a win by fall over Bartlett’s Cameron Engels in just 1:01.
“I was coming off of a sudden-victory in the match beforehand, and after that I knew I just wanted to win it all,” Malunay said. “Knowing everyone watched me do it and I had a huge support system in my corner was just a huge help. This was just another big step for me.”
Along with Lopez and Myra, Alejandro Aranda (138), Vince Tortoriello (150), Vince Schoettle (175) and Phin Codinha (215) also finished in runner-up positions. Andrew Bargiel concluded the qualifying list with a win in the third-place match at 190.
Glenbard North finished with eight wrestlers advancing to sectionals, six of them needing a win in the third-place match to do so. Dominic Melody (106), Jadiel Castillo (113), Lukas Thompson (120), Marco Rafael (157), Xavier Smiley (175) and Tyler Hvorick (215) all got the crucial win. Joseph Fitak (190) also advanced after a second-place finish
Vannak Khiev was the only Panthers wrestler to win a regional title, taking down Sons in the 126 title match for the second time in as many weeks in a 5-3 decision for his second straight regional title.
“I was pretty calm in that match until he got that first takedown on me,” said Kheiv, who beat Sons 4-0 for the DuKane Conference title the weekend before. “Coming back in after that, I just got angry. I pushed the pace and scored my first takedown. And in the third period when I needed something, I reversed him, and in my head I knew I was going to win it.”
Wheaton North saw Julian Flores (175) and Ryan Rosch (190) each win regional titles, with Flores winning by fall and Rosch getting a tech fall victory. Caden Cahill took second at 132 pounds, while Rocco Maceliao (138), Evan Madiol (144) and Jacob Veltri (165) all took third place to advance.
West Chicago’s Leo Rosas reclaimed his regional title in the 150 title match with a 3-2 victory over Tortoriello. Emanuel Ragel (126) and Brian Correa (132) also extended their seasons with wins in their third-place matches.