Marmion's Traxler, Dundee-Crown's Brunner will wrestle for titles
CHAMPAIGN - Nathan Traxler has what Christian Brunner wants.
On the second day of the Class 3A individual state wrestling finals at the University of Illinois' State Farm Center, Brunner moved one match away from a perfect season.
The Dundee-Crown senior bound for Purdue had few issues in either his quarterfinal or semifinal match on Friday to advance to the championship match Saturday evening.
Brunner extended his season-long winning streak to 50 matches by going unscored upon in a technical-fall win in his semifinal match at 195 pounds.
The Brunner win 91 seconds into the final period came one match after Traxler, the Marmion defending state champion headed for Stanford, also won decisively to reach his second straight final.
"That was the goal," Brunner said of a potential undefeated season. "I am feeling pretty confident. I didn't worry about losing. Last year I was wrestling not to lose (at the state meet)."
Brunner was runner-up two years ago and had to settle for third last season.
"He's been dominant all year," D-C coach Tim Hayes said of Brunner. "He didn't let his opponents dictate the match."
Traxler, meanwhile, was one of three Marmion wrestlers to reach the finals.
"My semifinal match was the probably the worst match of the tournament last year," Traxler said after advancing at 182 pounds with a 10-4 verdict over Schaumburg senior Tony Vezzetti. "I felt like I wrestled solid in every position. I can't celebrate yet."
The Cadets' Anthony Cheloni fell short against Catholic League rival Dylan Duncan of Montini at 132 pounds, but Marmion Division-I recruits A.J. Jaffe and Trace Carello picked up the slack.
The Harvard-bound Jaffe advanced to his first career final with a hard-fought 5-3 win at 138 pounds.
"This has been a dream of mine for a long time," said Jaffe, who fell in the semifinals last year. "(My finals opponent, Oak Park-River Forest junior Jaime Hernandez and I) have battled a lot in the past. It's going to be a war."
Trace Carello is headed to the Air Force Academy; the Marmion senior had back-to-back 3-1 decisions to qualify for the 152-pound finals.
Forty-five match winner Nick Foster of Belleview West was cited for stalling in the final seven seconds to give Carello the margin of victory.
"It was starting to get annoying," Carello said of Foster gnawing at his ankles throughout overtime. "The ref had to do what he needed to do. I played conservative and did what I could."
The following athletes were knocked out of the championship bracket in the semifinals: Josh Stenger, Huntley, Class 3A 120 pounds; Austin Macias, Burlington Central, Class 2A 120 pounds; Wylie Allen, Hampshire, Class 2A 152 pounds.
The area hopes for a Class 2A state championship rests with Kaneland 106-pounder Austin Kedzie.