Boys wrestling: IC Catholic Prep claims four individual state champions
CHAMPAIGN — IC Catholic Prep’s Max Cumbee and Brody Kelly became two-time state champions and Frank Nitti and Aiden Arnett won titles for the first time during Saturday’s IHSA boys wrestling finals at Champaign’s State Farm Center.
Kelly pinned Geneseo’s Kye Weinzierl at 3:12 to win the Class 2A title at 175.
“All my great coaches and great teammates make it a lot easier,” Kelly said. “Having those great resources and my parents are always there for me which helps a lot. It’s always pretty hard, but I enjoyed it more this year definitely, because I wasn’t as worried about winning, it was more about the experience out there. and it definitely helped being there before, being comfortable in the positions.”
Cumbee won by major decision 13-4 over Morton’s Harrison Dea at 132.
“It feels great doing it again, there’s nothing better than that except winning it in 3A next year, I can’t wait for that,” Cumbee said. “I actually thought it was kind of easier. I’ve been here before, didn’t have as much nerves, was really confident in all my techniques, confident in my training. I felt like I made a big jump from last year to this year so I was prepared for this one.”
Far better than he was a year ago.
“I think I would tech myself,” he said. “That would be my goal to tech myself, to whoop on my last year’s self.”
Nitti, who spent the past three years at York, won by a 4-2 decision over Crystal Lake Central’s Nicholas Marchese to win the title at 144.
“That was sick, that was something I’ve been working my butt off to get,” Nitti said. “I don’t think it would’ve been possible without making the move (to IC Prep) and doing what’s best for me and being around my teammates.”
Arnett, who dropped a 1-0 match to take second in the state last year, flipped the script, getting a 1-0 victory over Civic Memorial’s Knox Verbais at 150 to win a title.
Sammy Murante, who placed third at 113 last season, dropped his title match, 8-3, to Providence’s Max Mandac. Both IC Catholic Prep and Providence had five wrestlers in the finals with IC Catholic Prep winning four titles to the Celtics’ three.
In addition to getting five guys into the finals, ICCP had eight guys place in fourth or higher overall.
Foley Calcagno took third at 190, less than 24 hours after suffering a 3-2 tiebreaker loss to Mahomet-Seymour’s Marco Casillas in the semis.
After pinning Marion’s Evan Francis in the consolation semis, Calcagno scored a 12-1 major over Lemont’s Judah Heeg.
“I think the difference is just our training,” Calcagno said. “We train so much harder than these guys. Our coaches just push us to get better, in better shape everyday. I think that is the biggest difference, our training.”
Montini’s Erik Klichurov couldn’t stop Warren’s Caleb Noble from winning his third title, getting blanked 4-0 at 113 in Class 3A.
Allen Woo attempted to do the same against St. Charles East’s Dom Munaretto at 120, but Munaretto held on for his third title with the 4-3 win.
Lyons’ senior Griff Powell’s bid to win the title at 138 was thwarted by Marmion’s Zach Stewart 7-3.
Wheaton North’s Ryan Rosch was another area wrestler victimized by a three-time champion. Warren’s Aaron Stewart earned a tech fall to defeat Rosch for the 190 title.
Montini received a third-place finish from AJ Tack who fought back after losing in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Tack won four straight matches, including a 9-4 decision against Lincoln-Way Central’s Jalen Byrd in his final one.
Mikey Malizzio dropped a 4-3 match to Stevenson’s Shawn Kogan to place fourth at 132 and Gavin Ericson also played fourth at 285 for the Broncos.
Glenbard West’s Aidan Ortega picked up a 9-5 win over Mt. Carmel’s Sebastian Gracia in the consolation semifinals, but dropped a 4-1 decision in his third-place match to Edwardsville’s Michael McNamara to place fourth.