Big day for St. Charles East, Batavia

Batavia and St. Charles East should consider restaging their season-ending dual meet.

The two programs enjoyed banner afternoons at the conclusion of the two-day Class 3A individual wrestling sectional at East Leyden High School in Franklin Park on Saturday.

The schools' four state qualifiers each heralded a new era that will reach its apex next weekend at the state tournament at the University of Illinois' Assembly Hall.

Batavia, which had two champions in undefeated 112-pound junior Logan Arlis and fellow state returnee Danny Watson (171 pounds), tied its program bench mark.

Senior Charlie Ryan earned an automatic berth by reaching the finals at 130 pounds, and Andrew Rudd whitewashed his third-place semifinal opponent to gain entrance as well.

The Saints, meanwhile, crowned the 152-pound champion in Danny Mercadante. Brandon Rubino (112 pounds), Nick Ruffino (125) and Nick Scimeca (145) also made the grade to give St. Charles East its most state qualifiers since its 1997 Class AA team qualified eight en route to a third-place team finish under the old format.

As expected, Arlis and Rubino squared off to decide the championship at 112 pounds.

But it was all Arlis in the finals; the junior secured a late takedown in the first and second periods and clinched his 7-0 verdict with an escape and takedown early in the third.

"I always put my (individual) record aside," said Arlis, who extended his season-long winning streak to 39 matches. "I knew the takedowns (against Rubino) would keep coming. I was never out of my comfort zone."

"That was probably the best I've ever seen Logan wrestle," said his father, Tom, the Batavia coach.

Watson, on the other hand, matched Arlis' season win total against a lone loss by turning back Glenbard North senior Charleston Soko 3-2 for the 171-pound championship.

Watson had the only takedown of the match in the second period.

"I did what I had to do to win," Watson said. "I wrestled as hard as I could, but I didn't want to jeopardize (my late lead against Soko)."

Ryan reached the finals at 130 pounds, only to have his championship match end prematurely at the hands of defending state champion Jimmy Chase of Glenbard North.

"I have been looking forward to this my whole high school career," Ryan said. "The key to the weekend was to come out blazing. I knew this could be the final weekend of my wrestling career."

Rudd settled for fourth after dropping the consolation final, 6-4, at 160 pounds.

"The important thing was to advance," Rudd said.

Mercadante reached the magical 40-win plateau by turning back a determined effort by Wheaton Warrenville South senior Tim Savenok with an escape in the last 20 seconds.

It was the first state berth for the Saints' four-year starter.

"It feels really good," Mercadante said. "Every match was pretty much hard fought. I had to go to some different stuff (against Savenok)."

The Saints' leader is unblemished on the season at 145 pounds.

After Rubino fell to Arlis, freshman Ruffino, who earlier guaranteed state inclusion with a second-period fall in the third-place semifinals, dropped a 3-1 decision to Niles West senior Jamal Johnson.

"If I wrestled really hard and didn't make it, I wouldn't have felt satisfied," Ruffino said. "(My consolation semifinal opponent) made a mistake, and I caught him."

Scimeca survived an epic encounter with Naperville Central junior Adam Gebner to conclude the Saints' qualifiers.

"I thought everybody wrestled great," St. Charles East coach Steve Smerz said. "Two (state qualifiers) had always been the most (during my 12-year tenure), so we doubled that, and I'm very happy about that. I feel all the guys are wrestling their best right now."

Pat and Eddie Greco etched an indelible impression into the athletic annals of Marmion.

The former, the Cadets' 140-pound junior, officially became the first state qualifier in program history when he stopped Hinsdale Central senior Tim Knowles 5-2 in the semifinals.

Pat Greco was literally denied the championship in the last second.

Willowbrook freshman Steve Congenie sent the match into overtime with an escape at the third-period buzzer.

Congenie then capitalized on Greco losing his footing 21 seconds into overtime to snare a 10-8 victory.

Eddie Greco, the Cadets' freshman 103-pounder, had a second-period fall to ensure his state berth in the third-place semifinal match.

The younger Greco then used a reversal as the primary determinant in his 5-2 third-place championship.

"Your name goes down in history," Pat Greco said. "I'm never satisfied with a loss, (but) that's what you work for all summer. I'm really glad all my hard work paid off."

"After I got the reversal I knew I had (the third-place) match," Eddie Greco said. "I wasn't going to give up that 3-point (lead) and I knew I just had to ride him out."

Larkin senior Tony Feliciano ended a long state drought for the Royals' program by also forging a new bench mark for season victories.

Feliciano had a major-decision in the quarterfinals on Friday night, only to fall victim to a first-period fall in the semifinals.

But Feliciano regrouped to stop St. Charles East senior Cody Crawford and locked up third-place overall in the 130-pound bracket with a last-second win over Glenbard West Ethan Knowlton.

Feliciano is the Royals' first state qualifier since Ben Graham early in the decade.

He enters the state meet next weekend with a 41-5 record.

"I don't know if we've ever had a 40-match (in a single-season) winner before," Larkin coach Mike Mulhearn said. "He's got high hopes (for the state tournament)."

Feliciano trailed Knowlton 4-3, only to triumph with a takedown five seconds before the final horn.

"I was waiting for the right time to pull it off," Feliciano said. "The hard work at practice (was the difference)."

The Royals' Cam Martin had a heart-wrenching conclusion to his year.

The junior 215-pounder had a second-period fall to reach the semifinals, whereupon he was engaged with juggernaut Dan Kiebler.

The two went to overtime, and Kiebler had a hard-earned fall 28 seconds into the extra session.

Hinsdale South junior Jon Nelson then knocked Martin out of state contention in the third-place wrestle backs.

"(Nelson) was drained after the loss in overtime and didn't wrestle very well in the wrestle backs," Mulhearn said.

"Winning the (Elgin) regional still made it a satisfying season," Martin said.