15 in a row for Glenbard North
Johnny Gosinski etched his name among DuPage Valley Conference immortals Saturday in Carol Stream.
When the Glenbard North 132-pound wrestler put the finishing touches on his 7-1 victory in the championship match over West Chicago junior Robert Svestka, Gosinski became the sixth athlete in league history to become a four-time league champion.
As a team, the conference should consider permanently retiring its championship trophy after the host Panthers extended their remarkable streak of consecutive titles to 15.
Glenbard North came within a whisker of crowning all seven finalists, only to settle for six champions in cruising past Glenbard East 235-197.5.
Gosinski is the fourth wrestler from Glenbard North to win league championships all four years.
“It was on my mind the whole week,” Gosinski said of joining his older brother Joey among several other multiple state champions on the list. “I didn’t wrestle very well (in the semifinals). It’s something I never envisioned would happen to me as an eighth-grader.”
“This is a very tough conference,” Glenbard North coach Mark Hahn said. “It’s not surprising only six guys have won four (titles) in a row.”
Jered Cortez, should he run the table for a second consecutive year to a third state championship, would push his winning streak to close to triple figures.
The junior had few problems in a winning a second straight title, this year at 126 pounds.
“I’m not happy with a win,” Cortez said. “I want to go out and pin everything. I want to dominate.”
Brian Murphy (152 pounds) and Jon Marmalejo (120) won their third league titles for Glenbard North; 106-pounder Patrick Augustyn and Jimique Davis, a 160-pound sophomore, claimed the Panthers’ other titles.
“It’s a great honor for the community,” Murphy said of the Panthers’ latest team title. “There is such a great tradition here in wrestling.”
Glenbard East was down to its last bullet in its quest for an individual champion.
Four Rams had earlier been vanquished in title matches, but undersized heavyweight D’Andre Johnson saved the day with a dramatic third-period fall.
“I’m smaller than all of my opponents,“ said Johnson, who weights 78 pounds less than the maximum. I did one of my signature moves — and it worked. It was a headlock.”
Wheaton North had three champions — Kegan Calkins, Vince Terrazas and Kaelen Bradford.
It was a rather unlikely triumph for Bradford, who was making his season debut.
“I worked real hard to come back,” said Bradford, who had a fall at 182 pounds. “I decided to try and get some action in before the regional. Winning was just a bonus.”
Calkins and Terrazas were victorious at 113 and 145 pounds, respectively, for the Falcons.
The heart of the Naperville Central lineup comes between 182 and 220 pounds.
Justin Tardy fell to Bradford at 182, but Ryan Berg and Luke Roth won back-to-back titles for the Redhawks at 195 and 220.
Ramon King snared the lone title for Wheaton Warrenville South as he upended top-seeded Sean Murray of Wheaton North at 138 pounds.
Naperville North and West Chicago were shut out of the champions’ market.
Tim Young made sure Glenbard North was not a flawless 7 of 7 in championship matches.
The West Aurora sophomore, pitted in one of the most entertaining final matches of the evening, had a series of critical third-period takedowns to win his first career conference championship with a 13-8 win over the Panthers’ Colton Wegner.
Young had three takedowns in the final period after the two 170-pounders entered the final period tied 6-6.
“I feel the most important of the match was circling on my feet,” Young said. “I let him know that I was controlling the match (in the final period). As long as I score, I don’t care how I finish the takedown.”
Junior Brandon Farias was the only other West Aurora wrestler to reach the finals, but the 152-pounder stood little chance against Murphy, a reigning state finalist and consensus top-ranked athlete in the weight class for Glenbard North.
Jonathan Doyle has authored an impressive first-year resume for the Blackhawks at 113 pounds.
But his 30-plus wins in the regular season mean little in the DVC.
Doyle was pinned in the semifinals, only to rebound to two matches in the consolation bracket — his 35th and 36th on the year — to finish third.
“It was a close match the whole way, and I just caught in a move,” Doyle said of his semifinal clash with Naperville North senior Wayne Yuan. “I knew I needed to comeback and get points for the team.”
Trevon Williams’ 26th win on the year earned the West Aurora fifth place at 182 pounds.
West Aurora, with four regional championships in the last decade, will be greatly aided at the Class 3A Naperville Central regional Saturday with the return of Carlos Jacquez, its lone returning state qualifier.
“He should be back,” West Aurora coach Mike DiNovo said of his prized sophomore, who has been out with concussion-related issues four of the last five weeks. “We have a good lineup. We need to get our guys to see it that way.”