Naperville Central powers to Marchese crown
Ben Cianchetti and six other Naperville Central wrestlers led a power-packed Redhawks lineup to an overwhelming victory Saturday afternoon at the 41st Mickey Marchese Memorial Tournament in Hoffman Estates.
Central's comprehensive effort saw coach Noah Fitzenreider's club score a whopping 293 points, 140.5 more than runner-up Notre Dame (152.5) which would better third-place Crystal Lake South by one-half point.
Cary-Grove was fourth with 112 points, while Maine West rounded out the top five with its 96 overall points.
"While we're very happy with the team result, and with the way the team performed today, there's still plenty of work everyone needs to do in order to be able to compete with so many great teams in our area and later on in the postseason," said Fitzenreider after the Redhawks lifted the Marchese trophy for a third consecutive season.
"We have a lot of talent and depth this season, and we're a real tight group, so I definitely feel if we stay healthy, and continue to work hard, this team can do some really great things this season," said Cianchetti (195 pounds, 9-1), who pinned his way to a second straight Marchese title.
Tommy Porter's hard-fought 5-4 win at 106 got Central off to a flying start, leading to individual titles from Colin Baumgartner (120, 9-1), Kyle Guttosch (138, 9-1), Ryan Silva (145, 8-2) and Ryan Palmer (170, 10-0).
For Baumgartner and Palmer, it would be their second championship ring at this tournament.
Top seed Jackson Punzel (9-1) appeared to be on his way to joining his teammates atop the podium, until the No. 6 rated 182-pounder was stunned by unseeded Isaac Rands (Cary-Grove) in the final.
Punzel looked every part his high profile status, running out to a 13-5 advantage after two periods, and 18-6 later when Rands caught Punzel.
"(Punzel) was taking me down, and letting me up all throughout the match, until I caught him with a lateral drop," said the junior Rands, who won only five matches two years ago as a freshman.
Rands' teammate, Charlie Gruen (10-3), thrilled the Cary-Grove faithful with his gritty 6-3 victory over Elrin Esporlas in the 132-pound final, using a crafty move one minute from time to defeat the Redhawks' junior.
"I just battled and never gave up, and when I had a chance to add to my lead, I did," said Gruen, who was a sectional qualifier a year ago with 22 wins as a sophomore.
"Both of those guys never gave in today, and you could see how important it is to wrestle with that mindset," offered Cary-Grove head coach Will Petersen.
The one-two punch of Christian Olsen (113, 9-0) and Peyton Timmons (8-0) continue to deliver knockout punches to their opponents with both Crystal Lake South stars claiming the top prize in their respective weight divisions.
Olsen, fourth a year ago at the Class 2A state tournament, cruised to his second straight Marchese title, while Timmons impressed all day long after bumping up to 126 pounds for this tournament.
"Knowing I would be moving (up) a weight class from a year ago, I spent a lot of time during the offseason to work on my conditioning in order to take on bigger and stronger guys," said Olsen, who was 45-3 in his rookie season a year ago.
Timmons, who was 39-5 as a first-time state qualifier, also became a two-time Marchese champ after his 5-1 decision over Leo Keating of Naperville Central.
"My focus over the summer was to build strength, and to get my body right to get ready for the season and state tournament," said Timmons.
After falling short a year ago, Maine West senior Sean Muellner (14-0) fired back to capture the 152-pound title to stay undefeated and give the Warriors their lone championship on the day.
"Oh yeah, I was really disappointed with my second place finish last season, so that was all the motivation I needed for this year," said Muellner, who led Ted Lawler (Hoffman Estates) 4-0 after two periods, before waiting for his chance to strike with a late pin (5:29) to finish things off.
South Elgin junior Elijah Lopez (160) made it two straight majors when he defeated Sean O'Farrell from Notre Dame.
Lopez (11-1) had just rolled over, and on top of O'Farrell at the edge, but in doing so, watched the Dons' senior injured on the move forcing him to take an injury default.
"That's not the way I want to ever win a match," admitted a gracious Lopez, who just 43 seconds in added another first-place trophy after doing so last weekend at Fenton.
"Elijah is such a great kid, and when he says how bad he felt about winning as he did, he really meant it," said South Elgin head coach Adam Lehnus. "His confidence this year is way up there, and it shows with the way he goes out each and every time he wrestles."
Storm senior Hayden Groesser would upend the No. 2 and 3 seeds to reach the final, before having his run ended by Gabe Fitzpatrick (10-1) of Notre Dame.
Willowbrook, which finished with 59 points, was led by Zach Seymore (18-2), who finished second at 120, while Elgin enjoyed a pair of fourth-place medals on the day from Brian Rea (126) and Felipe Franco at 220.