St. Charles East's Jennings exudes the word teammate, on the mat and at home

Led by junior returning state qualifiers Ben Anderson and Justin Benjamin, St. Charles East's wrestling team is off to a great start this season.

Coach Jason Potter's squad improved its dual meet record to 11-0 last weekend with victories over Sycamore (49-19), Cary-Grove (70-6) and Antioch (47-19).

Earlier this month, the Saints edged highly regarded Libertyville (33-28) on the heels of their solid second-place performance despite not fielding a full lineup at Conant's Chris Hruska Wrestling Classic.

The defending Upstate Eight Conference and Class 3A regional champions finished with 209.5 points, just 9 points behind longtime nemesis Glenbard North.

Currently ranked 11th in the state among Class 3A teams by Illinoismatmen.com, St. Charles East hosts UEC River Division rival Batavia Thursday night.

"I think it's all about the connection between the wrestlers and coaches and with each other," senior Addison Jennings said behind the reasons for the team's early success. "We all get along well and we're always there for each other."

Jennings, one of three seniors on the roster, is enjoying his first year competing at the varsity level after spending his junior campaign on the junior varsity.

"I think the main difference is there's more speed (on varsity)," he said.

Along with that comes the execution of the specific moves.

"You have to have more of a feel for it," said the 5-foot-9 Jennings, who has wrestled primarily in the 170-pound slot despite weighing in at 160 pounds.

Jennings placed eighth (170) at the Conant Invite, recording a second-period pin (3:04) of DeLaSalle's George Witkowski before edging Leyden's Alejandr Quinonez 3-2 in the consolation round.

When teammate Eric Delmuro was sidelined last Thursday against Leyden (Saints won 64-12), Jennings moved up to compete at 182 pounds.

Despite giving up 20 pounds to his opponent, he welcomed the challenge.

"Coach (Potter) told me the day of the meet about moving up to 182," said Jennings. "I was fine with it."

The fact that Jennings serves as the quintessential team player is nothing new to his family.

A little more than a year ago, Jennings donated bone marrow so that his younger sister, Alexia, could receive a bone-marrow transplant.

Diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia - a rare condition in which the body stops producing enough new blood cells - Alexia needed a transplant in an effort to replace the failing bone marrow cells with new ones from a matching donor.

"Parents are rarely matches for their children," said Addison. "Doctors told me that it was unlikely I would be a match. But tests showed that I was a 98 percent match - very compatible."

After some serious family discussions, Addison followed through with the plans.

"I immediately said yes," he recalled. "I was going to do it either way."

A few weeks before her freshman year, Alexia caught what appeared to be a typical cold and fever.

"One morning, she passed out and wound up going to Delnor (Hospital)," said Addison.

Unsure of how she contracted the condition, a bone-marrow transplant offered a ray of hope.

For Addison, then a junior playing on the Saints' football team, it meant undergoing a series of blood tests.

"It was during the football season and they (medical staff) were taking blood from me," he recalled. "I was very exhausted."

While the Saints' football team marched all the way to the Class 8A state quarterfinals with postseason wins over Lockport and New Trier, Addison underwent the bone marrow donating procedure.

"The doctors stuck a large needle directly into the center of my hip bone," Addison said of the course of action that required donating half his bone marrow.

"It took a little time to recover. It was sore and tender down there for a while. I ate a lot of iron-enriched foods to get my iron levels back up."

Last December, St. Charles East Vice Principal Lisa Dandre helped organize a McTeacher's Night fundraiser at the McDonald's in St. Charles to raise money for Alexia and the Jennings family - courtesy of the St. Charles McDonald's owner - the Lardas family.

Addison, who plans on attending Northern Illinois University next fall and majoring in either chemical engineering or criminal justice, loves wrestling for the Saints.

"Coach Potter cares for all of us," he said. "We try to do the best that we can and when we make mistakes, he's there to help us work on it."

At practices, Addison often spars with teammates Delmuro, Carter Maggio and Steven Dziadosz.

"I put a lot of effort into it during practices," he said. "It's intense at times but we do it to help us improve."

Speaking of improving, Alexia, now a sophomore, is back in school and doing "OK," according to Addison.

During this holiday season, I can't think of a better gift.

Craig Brueske can be reached at csb4k@hotmail.com