Three North Shore-area wrestlers place top 4 at state wrestling final
Paced by New Trier senior Jack Cummings' victory, three North Shore-area wrestlers placed top-four at the IHSA Class 3A boys individual state wrestling finals in Champaign last weekend.
At 195 pounds, Cummings (40-3) defeated Marist junior Peter Marinopoulos (42-2) in a tight 3-1 decision. Cummings became New Trier's first state champion since Rick Bickert, representing New Trier East, won the Class AA 185-pound title in 1975.
In a connection between local wrestlers, Cummings and Glenbrook South's Will Collins were practice partners at the North Shore Edge Wrestling Club when the two were junior high students.
Collins (29-6) placed fourth at 152 pounds, Glenbrook South's highest state finish since Jacob Suter took third at 220 pounds in 2013.
In the third-place match, DeKalb's Damien Lopez defeated Collins 5-2, after Lopez initially beat the Titans senior in the quarterfinals of the championship round.
Loyola junior Massey Odiotti (43-6) finished second at 120 pounds to St. Charles East sophomore Ben Davino, on a technical fall.