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Montini headed to state for 13th straight year

The month of February means the Montini wrestling program continues its unabated run to brilliance.

Since the turn of the century, the Broncos have established the state benchmark for most team state titles with 14 in four class arrangements.

Montini participated in its 18th consecutive team-sectional dual series Tuesday night in Orland Park against host Sandburg at the Class 3A sectional championship.

Saturday in Bloomington, Montini will make its 13th straight Elite Eight appearance after dispatching the host Eagles 52-12 on Tuesday.

The Broncos will be in the lower bracket of the eight-team final draw and will face Barrington.

"There are high expectations for all of us," said the Broncos' Oklahoma-bound, undefeated state champion Jake Stiles, who like a number of his teammates, wrestled one class higher in helping the team improve to 26-2 overall. "Everyone expects a high level of wrestling from us. I will be back to my normal weight this weekend."

Stiles has a season-long 48-match winning streak.

"He's my first one," Montini coach Israel Martinez said of mentoring an undefeated state champion in his ninth year as coach.

With eight all-state athletes from the individual state meet last weekend in Champaign in his arsenal, Martinez conducted some experiments against Sandburg.

But it paid handsome dividends. The outcome was never in doubt after Montini scored the first 31 points between the meet-starting 145-pound weight class and 195.

Fidel Mayora could have only wondered what if with nemesis Trevor Chumbley of Marmion competing only feet away against Mt. Carmel.

Chumbley defeated Mayora by a single point for the state championship each of the last two years at 145 pounds.

Mayora had a third-period fall for Montini at 152 Tuesday night.

"It takes the sting away a little bit," Mayora said of being the reigning team state champion. "But it won't ever leave me. We had a hard weight cut for the (team) state tournament."

"They're two of the top guys in the country," Martinez said of the nine showdowns between Mayora and Chumbley the last two seasons. "That's the name of the game. They could wrestle in North Dakota (at the national championships) and still wrestle in the finals."

Either way, Montini is going back to state again.

"I don't think it's much tougher (to repeat)," Montini all-stater Anthony Geraci said after a fall at 170 pounds. "We already have a notch on our belt. It's definitely a great confidence boost (to have so many all-staters in our lineup). If one match goes bad, we know we have so many others in the bag."

"It was a tall order," Sandburg coach Clinton Polz said of facing the Broncos. "We had a couple guys banged up that took (an upset) out of the question."

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