Girls wrestling: Schaumburg’s Rodriguez rules again at Conant

Valeria Rodriguez continues to confound her opponents — witnessed by another magnificent display on the wrestling mats Saturday afternoon at the third annual Conant girls tournament inside William Perry Gymnasium.

The Schaumburg senior needed all of 56 seconds to claim her second consecutive individual title here, and run her near perfect record to 25-1 after recording a pin over Ryann Reeves (Oak Forest, 19-2) to win at 155 pounds.

"I put a lot of work in during the off-season on both my offense, defense and movement (but) I've really come to trust in myself more than ever," said Rodriguez, twice a third-place state medalist, and currently the No. 3 rated 55-pounder in the state.

Rodriguez was one of nearly 270 who would compete in this 37-team event that tournament officials said enjoyed a 20% increase in participation compared to a year ago.

Among those on hand were the nationally ranked duo of Alex Sebek (Oak Forest, 110, 27-2) and Alisha Tucker (Plainfield Central, 170, 22-0) who won easily in their respective weight divisions.

Sebek would defeat Metea Valley sophomore Ashley Basmajian (16-3) in her final while Tucker upended Gracie Swierczynski (Downers Grove South) in their championship bout.

The area would advance 10 into the afternoon finals, including both Basmajian and Swierczynski, and would celebrate a trio of champions at day’s end.

Round Lake sophomore Riley Kongkaeow (12-1) breezed past three rivals at 100 pounds — ending with a pin over Makenzi Aguilar (17-6) from Schaumburg.

"We have a good room. Everyone is working hard (and) for me, I feel like I've improved quite a bit from last year," said Kongkaeow, a state qualifier a year ago, and No. 4 in the state polls.

Kongkaeow's teammate, Ireland McCain (12-3), finished second at 115, as did Larkin junior Ashley Hammond (17-8) at 105.

Dyani Torres (Kaneland, 22-6) claimed her second major title of the season following her pin of Valeria Malinowski (Lake Park 10-3) at 2:54 in her final at 125.

The Knights junior, who pinned her way to this title, was third here a year ago, and the first in program history to win 20 matches in a season.

"(Wrestling) has been a fun sport from the very first time I started seven years ago," said Torres.

Grayslake Central sophomore Gianna Arzer (120, 23-4) was runner-up at 120, as were Amaya Jackson (Palatine, 135) and Alison Garcia (16-8) from Downers Grove South, who fell to Jillian Giller (17-4) of New Trier.

Garcia was a state qualifier at 135 last season who came into the weekend as the No. 4 rated 135-pounder in the state, while Giller is No. 7 at 140.

Giller was second last week at the Sally Berman Holiday Classic.

Most of the field here will be among the 40-plus teams who will compete at the Hawks Invite at host Hoffman Estates next Friday and Saturday.