Jan. 15, 2007 • Week in Review
What’s great … and maddening … about high-school wrestling? The inconsistency
By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. High School Editor
Last week, Iowa City (Iowa) West High was on top of the world after scoring its second victory of the season over the state’s No. 2 team, Waverly-Shell Rock High, and Missouri power Kansas City Oak Park High, to win its own Lepic Duals.
One newspaper even trumpeted West’s lofty position in the race for the elusive public schools national championship.
Things looked good, indeed.
But, as we’ve seen time and time again in high school wrestling, what a difference a week can make.
The Lepic Duals elevated West to No. 6 nationally in W.I.N.’s Top 25 a week ago. On Saturday, midnight came several hours too soon for the Trojans, who turned back into pumpkins in a distant fourth-place finish in the Geneseo (Ill.) Bi-State Tournament, scoring 172 points.
There were a couple of familiar names at the top of the leader board. Chicago St. Rita High won the tournament with 205 points and New Lenox Providence High was third with 179.5. Both teams had finished behind the Trojans in the Al Dvorak Memorial Tournament three weeks before.
And there was one completely unfamiliar name. Minooka High, making its first appearance on any stage resembling a national one, finished second with 192.5 points. The Indians, who have won only one tournament this season but haven’t lost a dual meet since falling to powerful Carol Stream Glenbard North High and Chicago Marist High all the way back in November, tied St. Rita for meet honors with 11 place-winners in the top six, with Providence placing 10 and Iowa City West nine.
The teams that finished 1-2-3 are ranked fifth, sixth and fourth, respectively, in Class AA by The Illinois Best Weekly – showing once again the depth of the state.
Though their team finish was disappointing, Iowa City West did have its moments. At 125 pounds, junior Nate Moore continued a stellar season by exacting revenge for last year’s Geneseo finals loss, beating Providence’s John Starzyk 6-2 in the title match. Moore won by technical fall over another state-ranked wrestler, St. Rita’s John Majka, in the semifinals. Fellow junior Grant Gambrall also was dominant at 171, winning with a pin, a major decision and two technical falls.
But that was the extent of the Trojans highlights. The only other champion supplied by the rest of the five Iowa teams entered was Mickey Sprague (215) of Cedar Rapids Prairie High. The rest of the day belonged to the Illinoisans. Some cases in point:
• At 103, Minooka sophomore Brian Bokoski, not even ranked in The Illinois Best Weekly’s top six, beat Iowa’s top two Class 3A 103-pounders back-to-back to win. Bokoski shut out West’s Ridge Kiley, 4-0, in the semifinals, then beat Cedar Rapids Kennedy High senior Cruse Aarhus, 8-4, for the title.
• Remember how good West 119-pounder Dylan Carew looked in winning the Dvorak? I do. He beat nationally-ranked state champion Chris Spangler of Naperville Neuqua Valley High, 5-1, in the final after pinning Lombard (Ill.) Montini High’s Carson Beebe in the semifinals. But he may have been the most mortal on this day. Another unranked wrestler, Providence sophomore Jake Wojcik, spilled Carew, 7-3, in the semifinals. Wojcik then fell 4-3 in the final to unbeaten Mark Marianovich of Chicago Heights Marian Catholic High, a school improving under second-year head coach Joey Gilbert.
• At 135, unbeaten Steve Zimmerman of St. Rita showed his 3-2 victory over West’s Derek St. John in the Dvorak semifinals was no fluke. He pounded St. John, 7-0, in the final.
Tyler Carew (140) and Jeremy Garvin (160) also fell to state-unranked opponents in the semifinals, while 215-pounder Nick Brayton, the hero of West’s victory over Oak Park the previous week, failed to place.
And West wrestlers weren’t the only Iowa wrestlers who were being surprised. In the semifinals at 189, Northern Illinois recruit Scott Penny edged Iowa recruit and Junior National place-winner Brodie Ambrose of Eldridge North Scott High, 4-3. Penny lost, 8-3, to St. Rita’s Jerome Ward in the final.
Despite crucial losses, Glenbard North survives at Wisconsin Rapids
One of the highlights of Carol Stream (Ill.) Glenbard North High’s season has become its annual trip north to face Wisconsin’s year-in, year-out powerhouse, Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High.
The two teams have wrestled some classics over the years. Saturday’s was one of the best yet.
Despite four of its top wrestlers — including the nation’s 112-pounder, sophomore Tony Ramos — taking losses in the match, the Panthers got plenty of other contributions and some key bonus points to take away a 26-22 victory Saturday.
The two teams took turns beating up on the rest of the competition, Fridley (Minn.) Totino Grace High and Ellsworth (Wis.) High. Wisconsin Rapids warmed up by beating Totino Grace 58-13 and Ellsworth 47-12, Glenbard North scoring victories of 42-13 over Ellsworth and 63-3 over Totino Grace.
That left the main event between two teams whose only loss this season had come to Apple Valley (Minn.) High at The Clash National Duals.
Wisconsin Rapids came up with four signature wins: Cadet National place-winner Carl DeLuca’s 11-4 victory over Ironman place-winner Jamie Warczynski at 103, state champion Josh Chappa’s 6-2 victory over Ramos at 119, Ben Best’s 7-5 slugfest win over state qualifier Danny Monaco at 140 and Justin Fuller’s overtime tie-breaker win at 189, a match he won on a locked-hands call against Roy Feltson.
Chappa trailed 1-0 after two periods, but scored all his points in the third period on a reversal and a pair of near falls.
But Glenbard North, which wrestled much of its lineup up a weight, got some big wins as well: Ray Varela’s 7-6 victory over Coltin Brehm at 112, Jimmy Chase’s 9-4 victory over state champion Jared Jaminski at 125, Geno Capezio’s 3-1 victory over James Berdan at 130 and major decisions from Vince Ramos (145) and Bryan O’Connor (160). And at 285, Glenbard North’s Alex Hansen scored the meet’s only pin against Doug Fuller, who had posted a 6-0 record at The Clash. Hansen’s Clash record: 5-1.
By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. High School Editor
Last week, Iowa City (Iowa) West High was on top of the world after scoring its second victory of the season over the state’s No. 2 team, Waverly-Shell Rock High, and Missouri power Kansas City Oak Park High, to win its own Lepic Duals.
One newspaper even trumpeted West’s lofty position in the race for the elusive public schools national championship.
Things looked good, indeed.
But, as we’ve seen time and time again in high school wrestling, what a difference a week can make.
The Lepic Duals elevated West to No. 6 nationally in W.I.N.’s Top 25 a week ago. On Saturday, midnight came several hours too soon for the Trojans, who turned back into pumpkins in a distant fourth-place finish in the Geneseo (Ill.) Bi-State Tournament, scoring 172 points.
There were a couple of familiar names at the top of the leader board. Chicago St. Rita High won the tournament with 205 points and New Lenox Providence High was third with 179.5. Both teams had finished behind the Trojans in the Al Dvorak Memorial Tournament three weeks before.
And there was one completely unfamiliar name. Minooka High, making its first appearance on any stage resembling a national one, finished second with 192.5 points. The Indians, who have won only one tournament this season but haven’t lost a dual meet since falling to powerful Carol Stream Glenbard North High and Chicago Marist High all the way back in November, tied St. Rita for meet honors with 11 place-winners in the top six, with Providence placing 10 and Iowa City West nine.
The teams that finished 1-2-3 are ranked fifth, sixth and fourth, respectively, in Class AA by The Illinois Best Weekly – showing once again the depth of the state.
Though their team finish was disappointing, Iowa City West did have its moments. At 125 pounds, junior Nate Moore continued a stellar season by exacting revenge for last year’s Geneseo finals loss, beating Providence’s John Starzyk 6-2 in the title match. Moore won by technical fall over another state-ranked wrestler, St. Rita’s John Majka, in the semifinals. Fellow junior Grant Gambrall also was dominant at 171, winning with a pin, a major decision and two technical falls.
But that was the extent of the Trojans highlights. The only other champion supplied by the rest of the five Iowa teams entered was Mickey Sprague (215) of Cedar Rapids Prairie High. The rest of the day belonged to the Illinoisans. Some cases in point:
• At 103, Minooka sophomore Brian Bokoski, not even ranked in The Illinois Best Weekly’s top six, beat Iowa’s top two Class 3A 103-pounders back-to-back to win. Bokoski shut out West’s Ridge Kiley, 4-0, in the semifinals, then beat Cedar Rapids Kennedy High senior Cruse Aarhus, 8-4, for the title.
• Remember how good West 119-pounder Dylan Carew looked in winning the Dvorak? I do. He beat nationally-ranked state champion Chris Spangler of Naperville Neuqua Valley High, 5-1, in the final after pinning Lombard (Ill.) Montini High’s Carson Beebe in the semifinals. But he may have been the most mortal on this day. Another unranked wrestler, Providence sophomore Jake Wojcik, spilled Carew, 7-3, in the semifinals. Wojcik then fell 4-3 in the final to unbeaten Mark Marianovich of Chicago Heights Marian Catholic High, a school improving under second-year head coach Joey Gilbert.
• At 135, unbeaten Steve Zimmerman of St. Rita showed his 3-2 victory over West’s Derek St. John in the Dvorak semifinals was no fluke. He pounded St. John, 7-0, in the final.
Tyler Carew (140) and Jeremy Garvin (160) also fell to state-unranked opponents in the semifinals, while 215-pounder Nick Brayton, the hero of West’s victory over Oak Park the previous week, failed to place.
And West wrestlers weren’t the only Iowa wrestlers who were being surprised. In the semifinals at 189, Northern Illinois recruit Scott Penny edged Iowa recruit and Junior National place-winner Brodie Ambrose of Eldridge North Scott High, 4-3. Penny lost, 8-3, to St. Rita’s Jerome Ward in the final.
Despite crucial losses, Glenbard North survives at Wisconsin Rapids
One of the highlights of Carol Stream (Ill.) Glenbard North High’s season has become its annual trip north to face Wisconsin’s year-in, year-out powerhouse, Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High.
The two teams have wrestled some classics over the years. Saturday’s was one of the best yet.
Despite four of its top wrestlers — including the nation’s 112-pounder, sophomore Tony Ramos — taking losses in the match, the Panthers got plenty of other contributions and some key bonus points to take away a 26-22 victory Saturday.
The two teams took turns beating up on the rest of the competition, Fridley (Minn.) Totino Grace High and Ellsworth (Wis.) High. Wisconsin Rapids warmed up by beating Totino Grace 58-13 and Ellsworth 47-12, Glenbard North scoring victories of 42-13 over Ellsworth and 63-3 over Totino Grace.
That left the main event between two teams whose only loss this season had come to Apple Valley (Minn.) High at The Clash National Duals.
Wisconsin Rapids came up with four signature wins: Cadet National place-winner Carl DeLuca’s 11-4 victory over Ironman place-winner Jamie Warczynski at 103, state champion Josh Chappa’s 6-2 victory over Ramos at 119, Ben Best’s 7-5 slugfest win over state qualifier Danny Monaco at 140 and Justin Fuller’s overtime tie-breaker win at 189, a match he won on a locked-hands call against Roy Feltson.
Chappa trailed 1-0 after two periods, but scored all his points in the third period on a reversal and a pair of near falls.
But Glenbard North, which wrestled much of its lineup up a weight, got some big wins as well: Ray Varela’s 7-6 victory over Coltin Brehm at 112, Jimmy Chase’s 9-4 victory over state champion Jared Jaminski at 125, Geno Capezio’s 3-1 victory over James Berdan at 130 and major decisions from Vince Ramos (145) and Bryan O’Connor (160). And at 285, Glenbard North’s Alex Hansen scored the meet’s only pin against Doug Fuller, who had posted a 6-0 record at The Clash. Hansen’s Clash record: 5-1.