Svestka brothers changing West Chicago’s fortunes

When West Chicago brothers Tyler and Robert Svestka each qualified for the Class 3A Individual State Wrestling Tournament, it marked the first time since 1993 two Wildcats grapplers qualified in the same year.

That left Bob Hein impressed and hopeful for a WeGo mat turnaround. Hein taught and coached at West Chicago for 25 years. He retired as coach in 1997.

He praised current Wildcats coach Humberto Ayala and assistant Jamie Phillips, two of his former wrestlers, who pounded hallways to get 75 athletes into the program, the most Hein can recall. The Wildcats finished 12-8 in dual meets, believed to be the best dual meet record in at least 14 years.

The retired coach and Winfield resident pored through his notes to support the landmark achievements of freshman 103-pounder Tyler Svestka (35-5) and his brother, sophomore 119-pounder Robert (24-13).

Tyler’s sectional championship, the first by a Wildcats freshman since the 1960s according to Hein, was West Chicago’s first since Israel Castro in 1993. Castro went on to win the AA 112-pound state title unbeaten at 38-0, accompanied downstate by 119-pounder Russ Guerrero. Two Wildcats hadn’t made it since, till now.

After the sectional meet Hein approached Tyler Svestka and learned not only that the Svestkas have two younger brothers coming up, but that Tyler is an honor roll student.

Hein has seen West Chicago’s wrestling program ebb and flow, ebb and flow. The program’s high points coincided with leadership provided by wrestlers who were not only good on the mat but in the classroom “for the other boys to rally around.”

“I’m just excited, being the old guy on the sidelines here, that a program I spent so much energy on, to see it go downhill, it’s not easy to watch that,” Hein said.

“There’s much to be encouraged about.”

Catching up with... Becky Mladucky

Glenbard West senior Rebecca “Becky” Mladucky, who moved to Glen Ellyn from Wisconsin before second grade, qualified for her third straight state girls gymnastics meet, which takes place this weekend at Palatine High School. She shouldn’t even be competing right now, she said. Tumbling since age 2, last summer a lifetime of repetitive movement resulted in stress fractures in two lumbar vertebrae. Every gymnastics move hurts her, and she gets hospital checkups twice weekly. Mladucky had considered competing in college — her choices are Miami (Ohio) or the University of Kentucky — but the injury put a kibosh on that. A four-time all-West Suburban Silver gymnast, the 5-foot-3 Mladucky nonetheless hopes to end her gymnastics days with a bang. In 2009 she placed fifth in state on balance beam, second on parallel bars in 2010 and now brings the fourth-best sectional score on bars.

Q: What’s your goal at state?

A: I’m looking to place top five in bars and top 10 in the all-around.

Q: The back injury didn’t stop you.

A: It was my senior year and I really wanted to do it. ... The thing is, I love it so much I fight for it.

Q: Aren’t your parents (Maureen and Jim) afraid for you?

A: My dad is actually the (building and design director) of Northwestern (Memorial) Hospital in Chicago. It’s really nice going there, because I think I’m being supported very well. They’re more, like, nervous, not scared.

Q: You said you’ll rest after this season, but either way, your gymnastics career will be finished after Saturday. Is that hard to swallow?

A: I think I’m going to miss it a lot, and it’s going to be difficult for me to live life without it. It’s something I’ve done my whole life, and it’s going to be a difficult experience.

Q: What other activities do you think you’ll try?

A: Definitely when I go to college I want to join a sorority and definitely study as much as I can, do well in college. I think that’s a big outlet.

Q: What’s the most difficult move in your routine?

A: That’s a hard question. There’s different moves, but I feel like I’ve trained them so much they feel like they’ve become a secondhand thing that comes to my mind. I think the more difficult thing is to make everything more perfect.

Q: What are the top scores you’ve earned in your prep career?

A: This year I got a 9.75 on beam. Last year on bars I got a 9.7.

Q: Doesn’t that chalk get everywhere?

A: Yeah, but without it you wouldn’t be able to do bars, so it’s kind of a give and take.

Q: You, your parents and your brothers Luke and Greg moved to Glen Ellyn from the Madison, Wis., area. What do you like about Glen Ellyn?

A: I love how close it is. What I mean by that, is a lot of families are very close to each other, you know a lot of people. It’s a nice neighborhood, nice people that live around here. And a lot of times if I’m in the paper they’ll say “I saw you,” or “I read about you.”

Q: What’s something most people don’t know about you?

A: That’s difficult. I really like reading books, and I write a lot. ... Just stories, creative writing.

Q: Great. More competition. What do you feel, looking back on your gymnastics career?

A: I think it’s been a long road and I’ve worked very hard, and I’m proud of everything I’ve done because not a lot of people are as talented as I’ve become in gymnastics, and I’m just trying to use my talents to the best ability that I can.

Q: Anything else on your mind, Becky?

A: I think it’s very important that people get involved in their school academics and sports, because that’s really changed me as a person. I’ve gotten to know many people I otherwise wouldn’t have known, and it’s really a great thing. I’m really going to miss the sport, and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without it.