Burlington Central contending with the big boys

Burlington Central traveled into the land of wrestling giants last weekend and the Rockets may have gotten taller themselves after the experience.

Coach Tony Rigitano's club finished fifth at the 31st Newbil Invite in Geneva, where the likes of state powers Marmion Academy, Brother Rice and Stillman Valley all were featured guests.

"You have to go against the best in order to be the best," said Rigitano, who will send his team up against Class 3A monsters Grant and Glenbard North, and 2A big-boy Crystal Lake Central in 2 weeks in a quad hosted by the Grant Bulldogs.

"We were a late entry into the Geneva tournament, and we were thrilled to get in," continued Rigitano.

"We were able to see our way to 10 medals out of 14 spots, and only 10 points ended up separating us and second place (Brother Rice), so the weekend was a very good one."

The Rockets have been led by the quartet of 2009 state qualifiers Johnny Major (125, 18-6) and Shane Burke (130, 20-1), in addition to big men Taylor Schuck (171) and Tim Maroder at 189 pounds.

"Those four have carried us all throughout the year, but we've got a couple of young guys beginning to make their mark, especially Jake Turk (16-6) who has come in as a freshman at a man's weight to compete at a pretty high level," offered the Rockets' head coach.

The Rockets can be found up and down and all around the state polls, with Burke the highest rated (No. 4) after a pair of tournament victories at both Sterling and Harvard, and the senior Schuck (13-2) earning MVP honors at Sterling to help validate his No. 4 spot.

Teammate Maroder, who is 20-2, currently comes in at No. 5.

"Two years ago we were regional champs, but everyone here wants more," says Rigitano. "The guys are working hard in and out of the room, we all have goals that we want to reach through that hard work and dedication, and we're getting closer each time out."

Gators take a bite out of opponents: A quick glance at the exploits of both Nick Fontanetta and Kean Loupee provides a mouthwatering hint of what may be to come for the talented wrestling duo from Crystal Lake South and head coach Ross Ryan.

"Quite simply, Nick is Nick," began Ryan of his sophomore sensation. "He's a great example for his teammates, he's never satisfied with his work on the mats, and he is always looking to extend leads for not only himself, but for his team as well."

Fontanetta, currently No. 2 in the state at 103 pounds, owns a perfect 17-0 overall record, which includes a team-high 44 points in dual meet competition, and championship belts at both the Moore-Prettyman and Harvard, where he was named MVP.

The junior Loupee (18-2) is No. 5 at 160 pounds after earning runner-up honors at Moore-Prettyman to the state's top rated Nick Proctor (Neuqua Valley) and a first-place finish at Harvard, where he would capture OW (Outstanding Wrestler) honors for the upper weights, joining Fontanetta.

"Kean is tested each and every week, and his best attribute is he does not lose his focus, even in the tightest of matches," said Ryan.

The Gators' head coach mentioned the work from both Nick Peters and Cullen Smith as some of the best on his 6-2 club, however, he saved plenty of praise for senior Mark Mohler, who recently surprised the field at 140 during the Gators' trip to the Sycamore Tournament.

"Mark got into the sport as a freshman, and he's a classic example of 'getting back what you put in' because he's never looked back after that first year with us," offered Ryan, who watched the senior climb the podium to accept his third-place medal after running his record to 16-5 on the season.

South Elgin suddenly something special: Fans of the South Elgin Storm were bursting with pride when the club recently exceeded the school record of 15 wins set last season.

With 6 wrestlers totaling 20 victories or more already, the Storm ran its win total to 18 on the season, much to the delight of head coach Mark Cameron, who has been on the job from the very beginning.

"We got off to a really good start to the season, and it has continued all throughout the season so far," said Cameron.

The Storm coach was thrilled to see the effort his team put together in the very first weekend of the season when it came back from a first-day loss to state ranked Hersey to defeat the No. 20 Huskies on day No. 2 of the Maine East tourney to win its first-ever tournament championship.

"It took a lot of heart and energy from the kids to come back and beat a team that had already beaten us," said Cameron, "and it showed a lot about the overall character of the team as well."

The good fortune blew in for the Storm during the offseason when brothers Tom and Jake Randich transferred from Driscoll Catholic following its official closing, giving the Storm some much needed strength at the upper weights, and closer power from Jake Randich, who was runner-up at the 1A state tournament, and is currently rated the No. 3 man at 215 pounds behind Dan Kiebler (Leyden) and Joe Schneider (Sandburg).

"Jake is a tremendous wrestler, who is capable of going very far in the state this year," said Cameron of the 31-1 junior, "but Tom has also been a great addition to our program as not only as an athlete (he is 23-4 at 171) but also as a leader, so much so that we made named him our captain."

Cameron points to the sophomore duo of Tyler Toczek and Cody Pych (145) as key players in the middle of his lineup who have provided a level of consistency and winning moments to become important contributors for the Storm.

"Tyler didn't even start for us as a freshman, but this year he hasn't lost in conference matches, and his record is 23-10," says Cameron, who figures Toczek's offseason regimen of running 5 miles a day, and competing in Greco, freestyle and folk tournaments Friday through Sunday is the biggest reason for the 140-pounder's success.

Pych, who had no previous experience in the sport until entering high school, is the team leader in pins, and enters the weekend 22-8 after finishing just a tick below .500 last year in his rookie season.

Hello Huntley: Head coach Kevin Summerville, would like to let everyone know that Huntley wrestling is alive and well, and going forward following a less than sparkling 4-19 season in 2009.

The Red Raiders are a most respectable 8-4, after getting off to a rough start at the mega-Moore-Prettyman at Barrington in the very first week of the season.

"I am not too sure Huntley knows we have a wrestling team, but we do, and things are really beginning to look up for us heading into the second part of the season," said Summerville.

The former Leyden head coach enjoyed watching his lone sectional qualifier from a year ago (Colt Claudio) win his first-ever high school tourney championship at Harvard, the latter when the senior took home the big trophy at Wauconda.

Teammates Lucas Rogers (17-4) and Josh Symbal (16-8) would join Claudio (19-2) high atop the podium at Wauconda as the Raiders celebrated 3 championships.