Huntley's Ferrante keeps repeat hopes alive
David Ferrante was all business Friday night in the Class 3A semifinals of the individual wrestling state tournament.
The Northwestern-bound Huntley senior was not to be denied as Waubonsie Valley sophomore Antonio Torres discovered first hand at 170 pounds.
Ferrante accrued points early and often, using takedowns, a reversal and series of near-falls to secure a second-period technical fall.
With his one-sided triumph, Ferrante earned the right to defend his state championship Saturday evening at the University of Illinois' State Farm Center.
"I was trying to get on my offense early," said Ferrante, who scored 9 points in the first period. "I wanted to be physical. I was using that physicality to move (Torres') legs out. He is a little light for a 170-pounder."
Ferrante (44-2) also earned a date with undefeated Barrington senior Luke Rasmussen in a rematch of their sectional final last week.
"He had a takedown in the last five seconds," Ferrante said of the championship match at Barrington that Rasmussen captured by a mere point.
Diego Sotelo also aims for a second straight state championship as the Marmion junior secured his third finals appearance in as many years with a hard-fought 10-6 victory over Chicago Taft 52-match winner Julian Valtierrez.
Sotelo has a sectional rematch as well as Mt. Carmel freshman Sergio Lemley awaits in the finals at 113, one class lower than the two previous state-championship finals Sotelo appeared in at 106.
"I want to make sure I am constantly scoring points," Sotelo said, who nearly squandered a significant early lead. "I don't want to be satisfied with a 3-point lead."
But West Aurora senior Dzhabrail Khurshidov could arguably make a case for the MVP among largest-class competitors.
Khrushidov was unrelenting for a third consecutive time in his state return from last year, terminating his semifinal match against Willowbrook junior Elijah Brockie at 195 pounds in the second period.
The Khurshidov fall followed his other two opponents not even lasting literally a minute.
"This is a dream tournament for me right now," Khurshidov said. "I was just peaking to what we have been doing."
In a terrible twist of irony, Khurshidov, the second seed, will face Yorkville senior Nick Stemmet, the Stanford-bound top seed who is 45-0 on the season.
It will be the ultimate conference tournament match as West Aurora and Yorkville both joined the Southwest Prairie Conference last fall.
"I have known (Stemmet) for years," Khurshidov said.
The two did not meet at either the schools' regular-season dual or the league championship.
Unfortunately for more than one area combatant in Class 3A, there were some bitter losses one match shy of a state-finals berth.
DuKane Conference members Mikey Caliendo and Jake Penzato of Batavia and St. Charles East, respectively, dropped overtime matches at 145 and 126 pounds.
Caliendo (39-2) forced OT with a dramatic reversal against Mt. Carmel junior Connor Gaynor a few seconds before time expired.
But Gaynor returned the favor as Caliendo sought to score back points in the 6-4 decision.
Penzato was victimized by Lockport 44-match winner Mike Kaminski with 17 seconds remaining.
"I knew it was going to be hard to score on him (in overtime)," said Penzato (27-8), who fell 5-3. "I got taken down. Things didn't go as planned."
Jacob Tinajero had the misfortune of having to face the top seed in Warren 138-pounder Joe Vanderverve.
Tinajero was thrust back into the third-place bracket when Vanderverve secured a first-period fall.
Aurora Christian certainly showed no signs of wilting in its newly designated Class 2A status.
Two years removed from a Class 1A team state championship, the Eagles had three athletes advance to the championship round.
Noah Villareal seeks a third career state championship for the Eagles at 138 pounds.
Alex Knauf knocked off Cahokia top-seeded 182-pounder Arnold Edwards in the quarterfinals on Thursday and only continued his winning ways by ending the 38-match winning streak of second seed Adrien Cramer of Grayslake Central to reach the finals.
Aurora Christian freshman Chris Moore is 42-8 at 113 pounds with his 10-2 major decision in the semifinals over St. Patrick sophomore Patrick Conway.