Marmion edges St. Charles East in battle of top 10 teams
With all due respect to the quality cast in Aurora on Saturday, the big holiday crowd on hand was here mostly to watch St. Charles East and Marmion wrestle.
The two state powers did not let down their audience - which in the end saw the host Cadets defeat the Saints 33-27 to help Marmion finish a perfect 4-0 on Senior Day at their own super-duals inside Alumni Gymnasium.
The four match sweep improved the No. 4 Cadets to 10-2, while the Saints, after a 3-1 record on the day, go to 17-3 to firm up their spot at No. 7 in the state polls.
"I thought we wrestled really well today, especially against St. Charles, which is the one both Jason (Potter) and I were looking forward to," said Cadets coach Nathan Fitzenreider.
"It was the best of the best here today, and the difference was our 'studs' earned important bonus points for us. But we still have some things we'll need to clean up in advance of next week when we go to Granite City, where we'll get 6 to 8 matches (in) during our two days there."
Both the home side and St. Charles East tuned up for this headline contest by going on a pin frenzy attack against Andrew and Stagg (for the Saints) to dominate their opponents with 35-plus victories.
The No. 1 rated heavyweight in the state, Justin Hull (13-0), would get things going win a pin just 17 seconds into his match to inspire teammates Max Sztuk (106), Jake Penzato (113), Mark Guerrero (120) and Ben Anderson (126, 10-1) to follow suit.
"To be rated No. 1 in the state is humbling (but) it also carries the responsibility of being the guy that is counted on - which I feel that is something that I owe my teammates, and our coaching staff," said Hull, fifth last season at state, and on his way to the University of Duluth next fall to play football.
Hull took a forfeit early in the Saints-Cadets contest before things really began to heat up.
David Jaffe (106) and Michael Jaffe (120) would sandwich wins around a 10-4 decision by top-rated Diego Sotelo (113) to give the home side a 19-12 advantage.
But not for long.
Anderson and Peyton Schroeder (132) needed just under two minutes to finish off their Cadets' opponents - much to the delight of the orange and white dressed Saints faithful.
Justin Benjamin (138) held off Nathan Callaway to earn a hard-fought 3-2 victory to increase the Saints' lead to 27-19.
"The heart of our lineup came through just as I thought they would, but (Marmion) is so good at the lower weights, and that's where we had some trouble today," said Potter, who watched the Cadets go back in front with three straight wins.
Ryan Fleck's pin at 145 drew the hosts within 27-24 before No. 1 rated Trevor Chumbley registered a pin at 1:21 when he bumped up to 152.
Now in front at 30-27, Brad Gross insured the eventual seven-point triumph with a 2-0 decision against Tommy Schroeder.
"I thought the decision to move Carter (Maggio) up to (182) to face Patrick Daum was a good one," Potter said. "(He) fought hard, but fell just short (6-5) to start the match.
"Overall, we competed very well against one of the best in the state, and a nationally ranked team as well, but when you are up against a first class team like them, you cannot give away (12) points to forfeits, and have to stay away from tilts and rolls that get you in trouble.
"Nonetheless, it was a good effort on our part, and at the start of a front-loaded tournament schedule, which includes two days next week at DeKalb (Flavin Invite), the Cheesehead (Wisconsin) and the Illini Classic (Lincoln-Way East) in early January. By then, it will be all about tapering (off) and working to keep us fit. both physically and mentally."
Chumbley likes what he sees with his club of late, despite a rough go of it last weekend when national power Detroit Catholic Central came to Aurora, along with Illinois' powers Montini and Mt. Carmel.
"We had 4-5 guys out for that super-dual, so it would have been nice to be at full strength, but this team, when we're all together, will be in good position for the second half of the year," said Chumbley.
This day, which honored the Cadets senior class, was also a homecoming of sorts for Joilet Catholic Academy head coach Ryan Cumbee, who was in charge of the Marmion Academy program from 2012-2015.
During that time, Cumbee would celebrate five state champions, and 20 state qualifiers.
Cumbee is in the midst of a rebuilding project at JCA, and already has a brilliant first piece to lean on in DJ Hamiti, who in his rookie season last year was crowned 106-pound 2A state champion.
Hamiti, one of five top-ranked wrestlers at the super duals, is currently ranked No. 1 at 126 pounds.