Two winners for Viator; great news for Carmel's Kuykendall

At a time of the wrestling season when big men rule, the biggest man at St. Viator ruled the heavyweight division on Friday night in the East Suburban Catholic Conference tournament.

James (Tony) Valentino thrilled a packed house on the final championship bout of the night at Carmel Catholic, as he defeated Elijah Teague of Marist in overtime to win a long-sought conference title, and the first conference heavyweight crown for the program since 1996.

"Third time was a charm," said the low-key Valentino (30-0), who on two previous trips into the finals fell short. "It's something I've been after for awhile, and although it feels good to finally win it, it's the regional championship next weekend and then sectionals that I am really after."

Valentino's thrilling 3-2 victory fanned the flames of what was next up inside Salvi Auditorium as Carmel athletic director Andy Bitto announced that Corsairs long-time coach Bob Kuykendall had been elected into the Hall of Fame run by the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Assocation.

"To have my family, friends, former teammates, current and former wrestlers here to be on hand makes it all so special, and certainly something that I'll never forget," said Kuykendall, a 1977 graduate of Maine West who received well wishes from dozens who were on hand to celebrate his 30-plus years of coaching.

Back on the mats, the report of the demise of Marist wrestling were greatly exaggerated as the Redhawks edged Marian Catholic by 1 point (170.5-169.5) to capture their eighth consecutive conference title.

Notre Dame, the pre-tournament favorite to head the Redhawks long streak, finished third overall with 151.5, spoiling the chance for retiring coach Augie Genovesi to go out with a league title.

Valentino cruised into the finals against the nearly 300-pound Teague. The Marist junior took the early lead with a takedown off the opening whistle, but shortly after it was 2-2 following a pair of escapes.

"I knew that I could get out on him despite his size advantage," said Valentino, "and I also knew my conditioning would play a big role in a close match like this. The further we got into the match, the more I felt that I could outlast him if it came to it."

Valentino nearly scored the winner in the first extra session but failed to keep both feet in. After recording an escape in the second OT (after starting in the down position), he rode out a fatigued Teague to win it.

"Just an unbelievable performance by an unbelievable young man," said Lions coach Jason Churak. "This is what he's been working toward ever since coming into the room, and all of us know there's more ahead of him."

Churak and his staff celebrate another individual title when Jake Wolf (25-7) secured a hard-fought 7-3 win over Sam Grillo of Notre Dame at 170 pounds.

"I knew I would be better this season after taking my lumps last year in my first season on the varsity, but I didn't envision a conference championship this year," said Wolf.

Wolf roared into the final after a pin at 1:55 in his semifinal, then got in front for good after two minutes with a 4-1 lead.

An escape and takedown increased his advantage to 7-1 halfway through the bout. Then Wolf went to work to make sure Grillo never would muster a comeback.

"Getting that early lead really gave my confidence a boost, and I have to say right now it feels really amazing to win this," said the junior.

"Jake was clearly the No. 1 seed here, and he showed he deserved it with a great effort all througout the tourament," said Churak.

The host Corsairs managed to earn five medals on its home floor, four of them third-place finishes.

Andy Schaer (120, 24-8) freshmen, Yovaniel Garcia (138, 30-7), Will Martin (182, 21-15) and John Irvin (195, 22-13) climbed the podium.

"It was a good finish to a not-so-great start," said Irvin, a junior who lost a 5-1 decision to eventual runner-up Conor Flaherty (Notre Dame) but rebounded nicely to defeat John Finnegan (St. Viator) 6-2.

Garcia gave the same response as Irvin following an impressive technical fall win at 3:53 over Matt Davidson of Marist.

"(The) guy I wrestled in my semifinal was big and strong, and I didn't do very well with that, but there was no way I was going to lose for the second time in a row," said Garcia.

The state's top men at 182, Kordell Norfleet (Marian Central, 33-0) and Diata Drayton (Marist, 34-0) validated their lofty No. 1 status by dominating their respective weight classes to win their second straight ESCC titles.