admin
07-02-2006, 01:34 PM
Post replies to Jaguar's recap in our Discussion Forum (http://www.illinoismatmen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6441). More pictures can be found in our Photo Gallery (http://www.illinoismatmen.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=5669).
TEAM ILLINOIS GRECO - NATIONAL RUNNER-UP
Photo and caption courtesy of Gail Rush
http://www.illinoismatmen.com/images/2006JrGrecoWeb.jpg (http://www.illinoismatmen.com/images/2006JrGreco.jpg)
Front Row (L to R): Coach Poewel, Luke Cherep, Clayton Rush, BJ Futrell, Chris Gonzales, Cartice Lloyd, Kyle Williams(seated), John Drendel
Middle Row: Brian Bokowski, Kevin Bokowski, Ben Treat, Lance Fister, Scott Penny, Coach Wetzel, Volodymyr Rozdolsky, Danny Malouf, Joe Fagiano
Back Row: Peter Kowalczuk, Jack Danikowicz, Peter Lovaas
Absent was Coach Rozdolsky
Congratulations Illinois Junior Greco National team! What a great two days (and a long twelve hour trip home). There were ups and downs along the way. Danny Malouf suffered a concussion in the very first dual meet and was not in the line up for the Missouri dual. Little did we know that our dual with Missouri would be a warm up to the national championship. We had to forfeit at 125, and we bumped everyone up from 135 to 152 trying to find the best matchups. While the match between Vlodomymr Rozdolsky and Cadet National Champ, Shane Nay, was an exciting win for Illinois (7-0/0-4/8-1 TF), the strategy back fired as we lost at 135, 140 and 145.
Going in to the tournament, I figured we had a chance to place second in our pool and to win a dual, possibly, in the championship bracket. We were ranked 7th, and that is about where I figured we would end up, not that the seedings mean anything. We were worried about Washington off the bat, ranked 10th and always a tough Greco state. However, we blew through them with a sound 50-11 victory. We knew Missouri was tough. The Cadets found that out last year when they beat us soundly on their way to a national championship. Even so, after our 47-17 loss to Missouri, the team was a bit down. We had the good fortune to recover with duals against Tennessee and North Carolina that we won 46-21 and 57-10 respectively, without too much effort. We also had the good fortune of ending the day with a bye. The guys were able to eat, rest and get to sleep early for the next day.
Even with extra rest, we took some lumps in day one. We had Danny back, though he didn't seem competely himself. He also came in to the duals with a bad shoulder and a bad back. We picked up other injuries along the way. Kevin Bokoski's back was giving him trouble even walking. Cartice Lloyd's back was also giving him trouble. Jonathan Drendel hurt his wrist hitting a reverse lift early in day one, and everyone had bumps, bruises, aches and pains. We also lost Josh Byrum when he got a little too aggressive in his second match (against Missouri) and was d'qued from the tournament. Even so, we came out of the chute in day two with victories over Wisconsin (50-18) and New Jersey (47-16) to seal a place in the championship bracket.
Looking at the other brackets, we were amazed to see that Texas knocked off California 1, the #1 seed in the tournament. And, Texas did not scrape out the win; it was a trouncing. New York dominated its pool, and Iowa had won close and lost close in its pool, indicating a high degree of parity in that pool. those were the three teams in our half of the championship bracket. The other bracket incuded Missouri and Florida (pool winners) and California 1 and Minnesota. We soon learned that we would catch Texas first. It was gut check time!
I understand that the Illinois/Texas dual was broadcast live. I don't know if it can still be heard, but I see someone posted the link on the message board. It was the dual of the tournament and would be worth listening to. B.J. Futrell started us out, like he did in every dual, with a win - a tech fall. B.J. was the essence of consistency and the unsung hero of the team - unsung because he is so quiet and not flashy; he just gets it done. He was the only IL wrestler to win 10 matches and go undefeated. B.J. and Brian Bokoski, the 105 pounder, are still Cadets. Brian lost the next match, but he had a great tournament. Clayton Rush teched his kid, and Kyle Williams lost his match at 119. Those Texas kids were dangerous. Kyle is too, but he ended up on the short side of some exciting throw attempts. We were dualing back and forth, neck and neck. In that fashion, Danny Malouf dropped a close 2-1/0-3/0-6 match, but Luke Cherep picked him up. He hit an exciting 5 pt. throw to seal the first period. But, he only made the Texas kid mad, who teched Luke in the second period (6-0). Luke battled back and won the third period (6-4). The next two matches continued the theme, with Cartice Lloyd losing 3-4/0-7 and Jonathan Drendel winning 6-3/7-3.
Vlod Rozdolsky broke that mold of win/loss/win/loss. He lost the first period 1-4, only the second period Vlod had lost to that point. The first was to the Cadet National champ, Shane Nay. But, Vlod came back with convincing 5-1 and 6-0 wins in the next two periods to win the match. Vlod was the anchor in the line up and the star of the team. His technique is virtually flawless. He is as patient as a surgeon in setting up his moves. He was unflappable and a joy to watch. However, Texas was tough from 152 to 171, and we took losses at all three weights after Vlod’s victory.
Texas had momentum going, and they were getting excited. They could obviously taste the victory. A Texas parent in the crowd told me that this was finally their year. Texas wrestling is on the upswing. After years of getting beat badly in the national events and taking their lumps, Texas has arrived. With Kenny Monday and other past Olympians setting up shop in Texas, the country is taking notice of the wrestling in Texas. Texas was pulling away, but the dual meet was still within reach at 27-21 going in to the last three matches.
We needed the big guys to come through, and they came through in a big way. Scott Penny teched his Texas opponent convincingly (7-0/8-0) to start the run. Joe Fagiano continued the dominance with a 7-0 win in the first period of his match and sealed it with a pin. That same Texas parent told me at the beginning of the dual meet that they had a good heavyweight. The dual meet was knotted up at 30-30 when Jack Danlikowicz stepped on the mat against the good Texas heavyweight, and Jack did not disappoint. He rose to the occasion, shutting out the Texas big guy 6-0/3-0 to give Illinois the key victory. In fact, Texas did not score a single point at 189, 215 or 275. It was a major come back and a turning point for Illinois.
At that point, we knew we had chance for something special. Since 1991, when USA Wrestling added Greco to the national duals, Illinois has never been in the national finals. It looked like we could actually do it, but we needed to keep up the intensity and beat New York, who had just beaten Iowa. The Illinois guys were banged up, but they stepped it up. With pins from Williams, Drendel and Rozdolsky, techs from Futrell and Penny, and wins from Rush, Malouf, Fagiano and Kowalczik, we were one dual meet from a national championship final. The final score was 44-22 over New York.
We excitedly watched Texas and Iowa come down to the final match with either team in a position to win the meet with a victory at heavyweight. And, and it was the good Texas heavyweight who came through to win the dual for Texas and to solidify a finals match for Illinois - the first ever. Iowa had lost to both New York and Texas. All we had to do was wrestle a complete dual (put 8 guys out on the mat to wrestle), and we would win the pool on criteria. The coaches took the opportunity to rest the guys who were banged up. Luke Cherep suffered strained ligaments in his shoulder and collar bone area in the Texas match, which he won. It hurt to breath, and he iced it during the Iowa dual. Cartice labored with a bad back that gave him problems even before Illinois arrived in Oklahoma. The coaches were able to rest them on the bench in the Iowa dual. There were virtually no fills ins available. They were needed to wrestle, healthy or not. Malouf had a bad back and shoulder, and Drendel’s wrist was still tapped and hurting, but they wrestled any way to give the team the necessary matches to make it an official dual. Everyone was banged up to one degree or another, but they were all warriors.
It was almost 11:00 at night when the Missouri/ Illinois final began - the end of two long days of hard wrestling against the best high school Greco guys in the country. We were not supposed to be in the national finals, but there we were. And, our guys earned it. They wrestled with intensity, guts and purpose. One thing that impressed me was that our guys scored points even when they lost, and every point helped the team. It was truly a team effort.
The second dual with Missouri was a different story from the first. B.J., Mr. Consistency, started off with a win. Brian Bokoski battled tough again, but lost for a second time. The first difference came when Clayton Rush avenged his earlier loss to Fargo All-American, Dente` Butler, with a 6-0/4-3 win - a huge win for Clayton. Kyle Williams fought back from a first period loss, to win for the second time over Cadet All-American, Vito Kriescke. The second difference was having Danny Malouf back. He did not win, but he scored a point and limited Missouri to 3 points instead of 5 for a forfeit, even with a bad back, bad shoulder and a concussion the day before. Luke Cherep battled hard against Missouri standout, Jacob Nay, at 130, gritting his teeth through the pain of strained ligaments and earning another team point by scoring on Nay.
A third difference was not bumping guys up from 135 to 152. Cartice Lloyd won a battle at 135 (2-1/2-6/5-3) in spite of his aching back. Drendel stepped in against Cadet All-American, Dylan Joiner, winning the first period 2-1 but dropping the next two. Vlod wrestled Brian Graham the second time through, and took his only loss of the tournament to the 3x Fargo All-American (3-1/1-3/1-4).
You have to give the Missouri coaches and wrestlers a lot of credit. Drendel wrestled Graham the first time through. Although Drendel lost two of three periods, he beat Graham 9-3 in the second period with a good headlock and a reverse lift. Joiner kept Drendel at arms length on his feet. All of the points that were scored but one came from the mat in that match, and Joiner defended the reverse lift like a champ. Meanwhile, Graham had the benefit of watching the Vlod wrestle Shane Nay. It was ugly against Nay! Vlod locked up Nay and tossed him, and he gutted him all over the mat. Graham stayed away from Vlod completely on the his feet, and he also defended Vlod’s gut like a champ. It was impressive to see the Missouri team make the adjustments they needed to in the second dual. They could have taken Illinois for granted after the relatively easy pool win, but they did not. The Rozdolsky/Graham match was the pivotal match in my mind. Missouri’s best against Illinois’ best. I believe Missouri won the dual right there.
The next three Missouri All-Americans won (Nay, Neeley and Haynes) over Peter Lovaas, Lance Fister and Ben Treat. Lovaas is a Junior from Oak Park/River Forest and was a "fill in" at 152 when Mike Smith could not make the trip. But, he didn’t wrestle like a fill in. Although he lost his match in the Missouri dual, Peter was a big contributor to IL’s success. The same is true for Treat. In the tournament, the two of them scored 23 and 25 team points respectively. Fister and Treat are both Sophomores. In fact, the Illinois team was very young, with only four Seniors on the team. Fister and Lovaas both scored on their opponents, earning Illinois team points.
Another difference in the second Missouri dual is that Scott Penny avenged an earlier loss to Cadet national champ, Deron Winn. He won a real battle with Winn, 2-2/3-3/4-1. A huge victory fro Team Illinois. Even bigger was Joe Fagiano’s first period pin over Dakota Greenshaw, who beat Joe in the first dual. Believe it or not, Illinois was within reach of beating Missouri going into the last match with the score 30-27. Danilkowicz needed a pin or a tech without giving up a point to win it. A tie would have gone to Missouri. It was not to happen, but the Illinois Greco team definitely made us proud.
Missouri’s wins were as follows:
58-7 over TN
50-15 over WA
52-15 over WI
43-27 over NJ
54-13 over NC
40-22 over CA#1
44-19 over MN
47-15 over FL
33-28 over IL
TEAM ILLINOIS GRECO - NATIONAL RUNNER-UP
Photo and caption courtesy of Gail Rush
http://www.illinoismatmen.com/images/2006JrGrecoWeb.jpg (http://www.illinoismatmen.com/images/2006JrGreco.jpg)
Front Row (L to R): Coach Poewel, Luke Cherep, Clayton Rush, BJ Futrell, Chris Gonzales, Cartice Lloyd, Kyle Williams(seated), John Drendel
Middle Row: Brian Bokowski, Kevin Bokowski, Ben Treat, Lance Fister, Scott Penny, Coach Wetzel, Volodymyr Rozdolsky, Danny Malouf, Joe Fagiano
Back Row: Peter Kowalczuk, Jack Danikowicz, Peter Lovaas
Absent was Coach Rozdolsky
Congratulations Illinois Junior Greco National team! What a great two days (and a long twelve hour trip home). There were ups and downs along the way. Danny Malouf suffered a concussion in the very first dual meet and was not in the line up for the Missouri dual. Little did we know that our dual with Missouri would be a warm up to the national championship. We had to forfeit at 125, and we bumped everyone up from 135 to 152 trying to find the best matchups. While the match between Vlodomymr Rozdolsky and Cadet National Champ, Shane Nay, was an exciting win for Illinois (7-0/0-4/8-1 TF), the strategy back fired as we lost at 135, 140 and 145.
Going in to the tournament, I figured we had a chance to place second in our pool and to win a dual, possibly, in the championship bracket. We were ranked 7th, and that is about where I figured we would end up, not that the seedings mean anything. We were worried about Washington off the bat, ranked 10th and always a tough Greco state. However, we blew through them with a sound 50-11 victory. We knew Missouri was tough. The Cadets found that out last year when they beat us soundly on their way to a national championship. Even so, after our 47-17 loss to Missouri, the team was a bit down. We had the good fortune to recover with duals against Tennessee and North Carolina that we won 46-21 and 57-10 respectively, without too much effort. We also had the good fortune of ending the day with a bye. The guys were able to eat, rest and get to sleep early for the next day.
Even with extra rest, we took some lumps in day one. We had Danny back, though he didn't seem competely himself. He also came in to the duals with a bad shoulder and a bad back. We picked up other injuries along the way. Kevin Bokoski's back was giving him trouble even walking. Cartice Lloyd's back was also giving him trouble. Jonathan Drendel hurt his wrist hitting a reverse lift early in day one, and everyone had bumps, bruises, aches and pains. We also lost Josh Byrum when he got a little too aggressive in his second match (against Missouri) and was d'qued from the tournament. Even so, we came out of the chute in day two with victories over Wisconsin (50-18) and New Jersey (47-16) to seal a place in the championship bracket.
Looking at the other brackets, we were amazed to see that Texas knocked off California 1, the #1 seed in the tournament. And, Texas did not scrape out the win; it was a trouncing. New York dominated its pool, and Iowa had won close and lost close in its pool, indicating a high degree of parity in that pool. those were the three teams in our half of the championship bracket. The other bracket incuded Missouri and Florida (pool winners) and California 1 and Minnesota. We soon learned that we would catch Texas first. It was gut check time!
I understand that the Illinois/Texas dual was broadcast live. I don't know if it can still be heard, but I see someone posted the link on the message board. It was the dual of the tournament and would be worth listening to. B.J. Futrell started us out, like he did in every dual, with a win - a tech fall. B.J. was the essence of consistency and the unsung hero of the team - unsung because he is so quiet and not flashy; he just gets it done. He was the only IL wrestler to win 10 matches and go undefeated. B.J. and Brian Bokoski, the 105 pounder, are still Cadets. Brian lost the next match, but he had a great tournament. Clayton Rush teched his kid, and Kyle Williams lost his match at 119. Those Texas kids were dangerous. Kyle is too, but he ended up on the short side of some exciting throw attempts. We were dualing back and forth, neck and neck. In that fashion, Danny Malouf dropped a close 2-1/0-3/0-6 match, but Luke Cherep picked him up. He hit an exciting 5 pt. throw to seal the first period. But, he only made the Texas kid mad, who teched Luke in the second period (6-0). Luke battled back and won the third period (6-4). The next two matches continued the theme, with Cartice Lloyd losing 3-4/0-7 and Jonathan Drendel winning 6-3/7-3.
Vlod Rozdolsky broke that mold of win/loss/win/loss. He lost the first period 1-4, only the second period Vlod had lost to that point. The first was to the Cadet National champ, Shane Nay. But, Vlod came back with convincing 5-1 and 6-0 wins in the next two periods to win the match. Vlod was the anchor in the line up and the star of the team. His technique is virtually flawless. He is as patient as a surgeon in setting up his moves. He was unflappable and a joy to watch. However, Texas was tough from 152 to 171, and we took losses at all three weights after Vlod’s victory.
Texas had momentum going, and they were getting excited. They could obviously taste the victory. A Texas parent in the crowd told me that this was finally their year. Texas wrestling is on the upswing. After years of getting beat badly in the national events and taking their lumps, Texas has arrived. With Kenny Monday and other past Olympians setting up shop in Texas, the country is taking notice of the wrestling in Texas. Texas was pulling away, but the dual meet was still within reach at 27-21 going in to the last three matches.
We needed the big guys to come through, and they came through in a big way. Scott Penny teched his Texas opponent convincingly (7-0/8-0) to start the run. Joe Fagiano continued the dominance with a 7-0 win in the first period of his match and sealed it with a pin. That same Texas parent told me at the beginning of the dual meet that they had a good heavyweight. The dual meet was knotted up at 30-30 when Jack Danlikowicz stepped on the mat against the good Texas heavyweight, and Jack did not disappoint. He rose to the occasion, shutting out the Texas big guy 6-0/3-0 to give Illinois the key victory. In fact, Texas did not score a single point at 189, 215 or 275. It was a major come back and a turning point for Illinois.
At that point, we knew we had chance for something special. Since 1991, when USA Wrestling added Greco to the national duals, Illinois has never been in the national finals. It looked like we could actually do it, but we needed to keep up the intensity and beat New York, who had just beaten Iowa. The Illinois guys were banged up, but they stepped it up. With pins from Williams, Drendel and Rozdolsky, techs from Futrell and Penny, and wins from Rush, Malouf, Fagiano and Kowalczik, we were one dual meet from a national championship final. The final score was 44-22 over New York.
We excitedly watched Texas and Iowa come down to the final match with either team in a position to win the meet with a victory at heavyweight. And, and it was the good Texas heavyweight who came through to win the dual for Texas and to solidify a finals match for Illinois - the first ever. Iowa had lost to both New York and Texas. All we had to do was wrestle a complete dual (put 8 guys out on the mat to wrestle), and we would win the pool on criteria. The coaches took the opportunity to rest the guys who were banged up. Luke Cherep suffered strained ligaments in his shoulder and collar bone area in the Texas match, which he won. It hurt to breath, and he iced it during the Iowa dual. Cartice labored with a bad back that gave him problems even before Illinois arrived in Oklahoma. The coaches were able to rest them on the bench in the Iowa dual. There were virtually no fills ins available. They were needed to wrestle, healthy or not. Malouf had a bad back and shoulder, and Drendel’s wrist was still tapped and hurting, but they wrestled any way to give the team the necessary matches to make it an official dual. Everyone was banged up to one degree or another, but they were all warriors.
It was almost 11:00 at night when the Missouri/ Illinois final began - the end of two long days of hard wrestling against the best high school Greco guys in the country. We were not supposed to be in the national finals, but there we were. And, our guys earned it. They wrestled with intensity, guts and purpose. One thing that impressed me was that our guys scored points even when they lost, and every point helped the team. It was truly a team effort.
The second dual with Missouri was a different story from the first. B.J., Mr. Consistency, started off with a win. Brian Bokoski battled tough again, but lost for a second time. The first difference came when Clayton Rush avenged his earlier loss to Fargo All-American, Dente` Butler, with a 6-0/4-3 win - a huge win for Clayton. Kyle Williams fought back from a first period loss, to win for the second time over Cadet All-American, Vito Kriescke. The second difference was having Danny Malouf back. He did not win, but he scored a point and limited Missouri to 3 points instead of 5 for a forfeit, even with a bad back, bad shoulder and a concussion the day before. Luke Cherep battled hard against Missouri standout, Jacob Nay, at 130, gritting his teeth through the pain of strained ligaments and earning another team point by scoring on Nay.
A third difference was not bumping guys up from 135 to 152. Cartice Lloyd won a battle at 135 (2-1/2-6/5-3) in spite of his aching back. Drendel stepped in against Cadet All-American, Dylan Joiner, winning the first period 2-1 but dropping the next two. Vlod wrestled Brian Graham the second time through, and took his only loss of the tournament to the 3x Fargo All-American (3-1/1-3/1-4).
You have to give the Missouri coaches and wrestlers a lot of credit. Drendel wrestled Graham the first time through. Although Drendel lost two of three periods, he beat Graham 9-3 in the second period with a good headlock and a reverse lift. Joiner kept Drendel at arms length on his feet. All of the points that were scored but one came from the mat in that match, and Joiner defended the reverse lift like a champ. Meanwhile, Graham had the benefit of watching the Vlod wrestle Shane Nay. It was ugly against Nay! Vlod locked up Nay and tossed him, and he gutted him all over the mat. Graham stayed away from Vlod completely on the his feet, and he also defended Vlod’s gut like a champ. It was impressive to see the Missouri team make the adjustments they needed to in the second dual. They could have taken Illinois for granted after the relatively easy pool win, but they did not. The Rozdolsky/Graham match was the pivotal match in my mind. Missouri’s best against Illinois’ best. I believe Missouri won the dual right there.
The next three Missouri All-Americans won (Nay, Neeley and Haynes) over Peter Lovaas, Lance Fister and Ben Treat. Lovaas is a Junior from Oak Park/River Forest and was a "fill in" at 152 when Mike Smith could not make the trip. But, he didn’t wrestle like a fill in. Although he lost his match in the Missouri dual, Peter was a big contributor to IL’s success. The same is true for Treat. In the tournament, the two of them scored 23 and 25 team points respectively. Fister and Treat are both Sophomores. In fact, the Illinois team was very young, with only four Seniors on the team. Fister and Lovaas both scored on their opponents, earning Illinois team points.
Another difference in the second Missouri dual is that Scott Penny avenged an earlier loss to Cadet national champ, Deron Winn. He won a real battle with Winn, 2-2/3-3/4-1. A huge victory fro Team Illinois. Even bigger was Joe Fagiano’s first period pin over Dakota Greenshaw, who beat Joe in the first dual. Believe it or not, Illinois was within reach of beating Missouri going into the last match with the score 30-27. Danilkowicz needed a pin or a tech without giving up a point to win it. A tie would have gone to Missouri. It was not to happen, but the Illinois Greco team definitely made us proud.
Missouri’s wins were as follows:
58-7 over TN
50-15 over WA
52-15 over WI
43-27 over NJ
54-13 over NC
40-22 over CA#1
44-19 over MN
47-15 over FL
33-28 over IL