WEEK 10 PREVIEW
This is a much more "normal" week for the Porters. Following two weeks where Varsity only had one competition each week, albeit an extremely tough one both weeks, this week is a more normalized schedule.
ALL LEVELS will be competing at Lincoln-Way East on Thursday, January 12. Wrestling is slated to begin at 5:30 for this conference dual - our final one of the season. Don't miss out!
VARSITY will also be heading out to Neuqua Valley High School this Saturday for the annual Mega-Quad that we alternate hosting with them. Wrestling is set to begin at 9:00am, and we will be taking part in three duals. Apart from ourselves and Neuqua Valley, the other teams that will be there include: Barrington, Bolingbrook, Bradley-Bourbonnais, Glenbard-North, Metea Valley, Plainfield Central.
The JUNIOR VARSITY squad will head out to Oak Lawn Community High School for the Oak Lawn Invite on Saturday. Wrestling will begin at 9am, and the wrestlers competing (should) generally know who they are - but given that varsity has three duals on Saturday, there may be some adjustments, so make sure that all wrestlers are keeping their eyes and ears open!
Also on Saturday, the FRESHMAN will bring their regular season to a close, as they will head out to Glenbard North to compete in a tournament there, also beginning at 9am. I should note that although this is the last week of competition for the Freshman team, a handful of them will be invited to come and join the JV and Varsity rooms for the remainder of the season. Often, this is not solely based on ability level, but also which weights are thin and where the freshman may be of the most benefit. The coaches will let those wrestlers know who they are later in the week.
Also of note, there is a FRESH/SOPH tournament this Saturday at Oswego High School that we will be bringing a group of wrestlers to. Wrestlers will be informed by their level coaches of if they are going to this tournament or not. This one also begins at - you guessed it - 9am.
Good luck to all of the freshman team wrestlers as they head into their final week of competition this year!
WEEK 9 RECAP
Varsity was up in Wisconsin at the Cheesehead, one of the toughest tournaments in the nation. The boys wrestled well, actually outplacing their seeds in 2/3 of the weights, but ultimately finished in 5th place as a team. The Porters did manage to place 8 wrestlers in the top-eight at their weight classes, all while missing 1.5 starters. Taking headlines away from the others was senior Abdullah Assaf, who came away with a Cheesehead Championship after defeating a tough Montini freshman, Fidel Mayora, by a 10-6 score in the finals. At the time of the match, Mayora was ranked 2nd in Illinois by IllinoisMatmen, while Assaf was ranked 5th. Click here for a full recap of the tournament.
On the lower levels, we did a lot of winning. The freshman squad was out at Downers Grove South, where they won that invite by 35 points over the runner-up team, while missing one weight class. Champions include Drew Aldous (106), Joe Oster (120), Elijah Banks (132),and Mikey Kinney (182). Gabe Garcia (99), Ishmael Curiel (113), Kyle Boone (138), and Jake Rosin (195) all finished in 2nd place, while Anthony Crapia (126), Anthony Grek (145), and John Tomas (170) finished in third.
The JV team also had a great showing at the Bolingbrook Invite, scoring 218 points to win the title over Lyons, who finished in 2nd with 187 points. Mikey Kaminski dominated his way into an individual title at 106, and was had several teammates join him as champions, including Sal Farbo (113), Jake D'Angelo (120), and John Pacetti (152). Taking 3rd place was Garret Golob (126), Matt Kronsbein (132). Izzy Ladd (100), Austin Kolada (145), Bo Hamlin (170), Parker Pavlacka (182) each came in 5th place, and Dimitri Hernandez (160) came away with a sixth place finish.
ALUMNI RECAP
Brad Johnson (Oklahoma University): On Saturday, Brad was a part of Oklahoma's upset victory over a Missouri team that was missing a few starters... but their 197 pounder wasn't one of them. Brad lost an extremely respectable 3-1 decision to J`den Cox, Mizzou's 2x National Champion, Olympic Bronze Medalist, and top-ranked collegiate 197 pounder.
Shaun'Qae McMurtry (Northern Illinois University): After a bit of a layoff recovering and recouperating, Qae took the mat Sunday as NIU took on UNI (Northern Iowa). Qae found himself on the losing end of his bout against UNI's Bryce Steiert by way of a 19-5 major decision.
Shayne Oster (Northwestern University): On Saturday, Shayne dropped a 6-2 decision at 149 pounds to Purdue's Jeremy Golding. Perhaps Shayne is the key factor for NU, as Northwestern ended up dropping the dual by a narrow margin.
Vince Dietz (St. Cloud State University): Now ranked 3rd in DII at 197 pounds, Dietz showed why as he helped his team to a DII National Dual Championship. Dietz posted a 4-0 record over the two days of wrestling. On Friday, he won a narrow decision victory, followed by a win by fall in the second dual of the day. Saturday, Dietz recorded a close 5-3 decision in the semifinal dual over the 6th ranked wrestler in the nation. In the finals, Vince recorded a fall in only 0:39 seconds, helping SCSU on their way to a 35-6 victory over Wheeling Jesuit.
Haley Augello (King University): Haley helped King to come out of this weekend with a 4th consecutive NWCA National Duals championship. Augello, ranked 1st nationally at 116 pounds, had only two matches on the season to this point, and weighed in for the duals at 123. She won her match in the quarterfinal dual at 123 by an 11-1 technical fall. In the semifinal dual, Augello took the mat at 123 and won by 15-5 technical fall. In the finals, however, Augello bumped to the 130 pound weight class to take on Megan Black of McKendree University, ranked 2nd in the nation at the weight class. For the first time in her collegiate career, Haley did not get her hand raised as she walked off the mat - she lost to Black by pinfall in 3:57. Her team, however, still came away with their title.
Dan Radcliffe (Central College): In the Central College Under Armour Invitational, Radcliffe, ranked 10th in Division III at 141 pounds, came away with a second place finish after posting a 4-1 record in the tournament. Radcliffe's four wins came via two decisions, a major decision, and a technical fall.
Eddie Ginnan (Central College): Ginnan, wrestling in the Under Armour Invitational at 165 pounds, posted a pair of wins, but it was not enough to earn a spot on the podium. After losing his first bout, Ginnan received a bye and then won by decision and major decision, respectively. Ginnan would then drop his 4th match by fall, and was eliminated from the tournament. (Also of note: this round would normally be the blood round, but this tournament only placed out the top 4 at each weight - very strange for an in-season tournament at any level.)
Chris Murino (Central College): Murino, the third member of the Central College trio, came away from the weekend with a 1-2 record. Or perhaps 1-1... After losing his first match by fall, Murino picked up a win by a 1-0 decision in his second bout. His third bout is listed as a loss by fall in 0:00, so either he defaulted, there was an error on Track. In either case, Murino also did not place, but if it was a default, here's hoping to nothing being serious!
BONUS!!!
Here's a picture of Coach Rossi, with his "Pillow Shoes," getting ready to sleep. (Yep, there's a person in there)