Top seeds from DuPage County easily advance at state wrestling meet
CHAMPAIGN — The No. 1 seeds from around DuPage County had no equal at the 81st annual boys state individual wrestling tournament.
So rampant were the No. 1 seeds on this opening session, few conceded little to their opponents to advance into Friday's Class 3A quarterfinals, with an eye on getting through and into the 7 p.m. semifinals.
Glenbard North 170-pounder Abe Assad (44-0) blasted his first-round opponent, as did teammates Dylan Ragusin (40-2) at 113 pounds and Joey Melendez (39-2) at 120 pounds. Montini 132-pounder Real Woods (38-1) and 152-pounder Will Lewan (40-2) also advanced. Willowbrook 182-pounder Jack Jessen (48-0) needed just 27 seconds to dispatch and prepare for his quarterfinal contest.
Phillip Sims made sure his name stayed in the front draw, while Neuqua Valley's Jacob Boumans (41-7) and Naperville North's Gabe Matar (29-10) each turned the 170-pound bracket upside down with stunning victories over highly favored rivals.
First Sims.
The Metea Valley junior bounced No. 7 Michael Gunther (Libertyville) in overtime 8-6 to book his place opposite three-time state qualifier Dominick Ambrose from Providence Catholic.
“I missed a lot of time with injuries, so nobody really knows what to expect from me here at state (and) that's the way I like it,” Sims said.
His DuPage Valley Conference unheralded pals Boumans and Matar made their statements last night. Boumans took a 2-0 lead over No. 3 Cormac Kane (29-3) into the third period, then watched the Conant star forced to take a default when it appeared he injured his shoulder.
Matar's motor and high work rate never stopped, right up until the point in his match with No. 6 Juan Quiroz (41-6) when he put the Huntley star to his back, then finished him off for good at 4:47.
“Coach (Tom Champion) told me this week that records and rankings don't mean a thing, and if you keep on working, good things can happen down here,” said Matar, who'll meet Jonathan Pullen (41-4) from Joilet Central next.
While Wheaton North's Jaime Suarez is just this close to the elite duo of Robert Precin (Andrews) and Fabian Lopez (DeKalb) at 126 pounds, the four-year veteran is considered a strong favorite to medal for sure while still quite capable of going the distance with the ones picked to win.
Suarez (38-4) made his intent clear to the 126-pound field following his championship performance in late December at the high-profile Dvorak Invite in Rockford.
There the three-time state qualifier beat the top-rated 126-pounder from Wisconsin, plus two Illinois state-ranked opponents on his way to lifting the big trophy.
“I always knew I was capable of going with the top guys, so that win at the Dvorak game my confidence a big boost, and it's stayed that way ever since,” said Suarez, who has gone 19-2 since then.
Not to be left out, Glenbard West senior Catron Frazier (42-3) opened the tourney with a hard-fought 5-4 victory over Noah Mis of Mt. Carmel to avenge his disappointing one-and-done first appearance here a year ago.
“This is the way to start down, with a win in the first round to stay out of wrestlebacks,” Frazier said.