Marmion wins seventh straight sectional championship
Nathan Callaway is a Class 3A all-state wrestler for a reason.
Tuesday night in Orland Park, Callaway, a Marmion senior who was fifth last weekend in Champaign at 132 pounds, was called upon for a special task.
Callaway had to wrestle one weight higher in order for Marmion to extend its Elite Eight consecutive appearances to seven.
Callaway more than came to the forefront as the senior secured a 4-0 victory against Catholic League rival Mt. Carmel at the Sandburg team-sectional final.
In reversing the Cadets' only deficit on the night, Callaway scored 3 team points to give Marmion a 27-26 victory over the Caravan at 138 pounds.
Marmion, in improving to 20-2 on the season, not only avenged a one-sided regular-season loss to Mt. Carmel but also qualified for the state quarterfinals this Saturday in Bloomington for a seventh consecutive year.
Mt. Carmel, the consensus No. 3 team in the state to the Cadets' fourth spot, had its season end at 14-3.
"Before walking on the mat, I was obviously nervous," Callaway said. "I knew it was my match to win. I just had to execute my match and knew I would win."
Mt. Carmel reversed a 7-point deficit behind back-to-back wins by Noah Mis and Alex Lalezas to take a 26-24 lead over the Cadets prior to the Callaway victory.
"What a dual," Marmion first-year coach Nate Fitzenreider said. "I think I am going to have a heart attack. It was two evenly matched teams that battled it out."
Marmion scored the first 12 points of the match as Ryan Fleck, two-time state champion Trevor Chumbley, two-time all-stater Brad Gross and Patrick Daum won decisions over their Mt. Carmel counterparts at 145, 152, 160 and 170 pounds.
"I separated my shoulder in the (individual) semifinals on Saturday," Gross said. "Physically-speaking, I am in a lot of pain. It could get worse, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to win a team state championship."
Mt. Carmel would battle back as expected, using a 12-3 run to come within 15-12 after the heavyweight match.
But the Caravan had the misfortune of facing the Cadets' other state champion in sophomore 106-pounder Diego Sotelo.
Runner-up at the class as a freshman last year, Sotelo needed less than a period to secure the lone Marmion fall.
"I knew it was going to be a close dual," Sotelo said. "I had to get 6 (points) for the team. I feel like everyone did their part."
Sotelo is 46-3 on the season.
The Cadets' sixth all-state athlete, Harvard-bound senior Michael Jaffe, had a 9-5 victory at 120 pounds to give Marmion a 24-17 lead.
"We did get bonus points, but not as many as we needed," Mt. Carmel coach Alex Tsirtsis said. "It wasn't the bonus points that cost us, but the swing matches."