Montini wins a dozen regional titles

The most moments of Saturday's Class 3A Willowbrook individual wrestling regional belonged to perennial power Montini, but the biggest moment belonged to Leyden's Daniel Uribe.

Broncos wrestlers won the first five weight classes before Uribe stepped onto the mat in the 138-pound title bout, and he didn't disappoint.

In the second period of a scoreless match with Montini sophomore Braden Stauffenberg, Uribe in one fluid motion down-blocked a takedown shot, locked up Stauffenberg and rolled him to his back.

For about 90 seconds Uribe held his opponent down until finally earning the pin with five seconds to go in the period.

The ref's mat slap threw the crowd into a frenzy.

"There was no way he was getting that grip off me," Uribe said of his hold. " ... Every match I'm going in with the same mindset, but it's a little bit sweeter that it was Montini. They are kind of kicking everybody's butt today. I'm glad I could provide some relief."

Uribe and York's Josh Mathiasen at 285 pounds were the only non-Broncos regional champions on the afternoon. They both pinned Montini opponents in their respective title matches.

Otherwise, Montini grapplers won 12 of 14 divisions to earn their team 309 points, a regional title and a spot in the South Elgin dual team sectional.

With five sectional qualifiers and six fourth-place finishers, Glenbard West scored 144 points for second place, ahead of York and its 98.5 points.

All 14 Broncos qualified for the individual sectional next weekend at Conant High School in Hoffman Estates.

Montini's regional champs were: sophomore Joe Fernau (106 pounds), junior Nick Gonzalez (113), junior Nain Vasquez (120), senior Dyland Ragusin (126), freshman Ethan Stiles (132), senior Fidel Mayora (145), senior Joe Roberts (152), freshman Brayden Thompson (160), sophomore Cooper Wettig (170), senior Trevor Swier (182), sophomore Nathan Wemstrom (195) and senior Josh LaBarbera (220). Along with Stauffenberg, junior Colin Baker (285) also took second.

For Montini, which has aspirations of winning another state team championship and multiple individual titles, it was just another day on the mats. But, in a testament to the program's championship pedigree, all coach Izzy Martinez could think about was the end-of-meet loss at 285 pounds.

"We ended on a disappointment, so that's the feeling that I got right now," he said. " ... We had a great day and then we had a letdown. It's a little disappointing, but we have another four or five days to get ready for sectionals and overall a great job by our team, just (stinks) to end on a loss."

Joining the Broncos at the sectional will be five Glenbard West and five Addison Trail wrestlers, and four apiece from Leyden, York, Glenbard East and Willowbrook. Elk Grove advanced two individuals.

After Uribe's win Montini wrestlers earned another five straight regional titles before the most dramatic title match of the meet at 195 pounds.

Third-seeded Nathan Wemstrom, of Montini, and top-seeded Elijah Brockie, of Willowbrook, traded shots and blocks for nearly the entire match.

Up 2-1 in the final seconds, however, Brockie was called for stalling, a call that was met with jeers and boos from wrestlers, coaches and fans.

Nevertheless, Wemstrom was awarded a point to send the match to overtime, where he won with a takedown.

"(In overtime) it was kind of a scramble," Wemstrom said. "He shot first and I kind of wrestled out of it and came around on his legs."

Montini's Josh LaBarbera followed with a win at 220 pounds before York's Mathiasen won the day's final regional title.

Not all the drama was on the title mat, though. Second-place finishers still advanced to the sectional round, while those on Mat 2 were battling for their seasons; only the top three placers advanced.

That's why Elk Grove's Danny Gaskill erupted with emotion after he toppled his opponent for a buzzer-beating takedown to secure a 1-point win in the 120-pound third-place match.

"I felt it getting there all match. I knew (in the) third period something was going to open up eventually," Gaskill said. "Soon as I heard the buzzer, I knew I'd be moving on. I knew my brother (Elk Grove junior Joey Gaskill) would be proud, my dad, my coaches. I didn't want to let them down."

Gaskill will be joined by teammate Tuvshin Zuunbayan, who took second at 126 pounds, in the sectional round.

While Glenbard West advanced five wrestlers to the sectional, it also had six who finished fourth.