Southern_Hospitality
01-23-2007, 11:08 PM
WRESTLING NOTEBOOK
Granite tourney gets stronger
By Joe Lyons
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
01/22/2007
The already-brutal William "Red'' Schmitt Holiday tournament at Granite City just got a little tougher. And that's a trend Warriors' coach Allen Kirgan hopes to see continue.
"I'm the head wrestling coach, not the athletic director or the administration, so it's not my call. But I'd like to see this become one of the premier events in the country,'' Kirgan said after confirming that Missouri power Fort Zumwalt West and Chicago power Oak Park-River Forest have been added to the 2007 field. "With the teams we have and the format, the Holiday is already a great event — it's a real meat-grinder. But our goal is to try to keep raising that level of competition. I want to get to the point where nobody in the Holiday can talk about having a tough draw or an easy draw; I want every wrestler to be pushed throughout the two days of wrestling.
"I'm really excited about this.''
The addition of Oak Park-River Forest, currently ranked seventh among Illinois Class AA programs, could cause some confusion, considering that nationally ranked Oak Park of Kansas City has won the last five titles at Granite City.
"I've had coaches ask me about getting rid of Kansas City Oak Park, telling me that they don't feel their kids can compete, but one of the main reasons I want to improve the tournament is to make sure that we don't lose a top team like Oak Park,'' Kirgan said. "Oak Park has a nationally ranked program, and I'd like to attract more teams like that. The way I see it, going against those kids, the really tough wrestlers, is the quickest and best way to help your own kids improve.''
Oak Park-River Forest reached the Class AA quarterfinals a year ago and features a solid and young lineup.
"They'll be a good fit here,'' said Kirgan, who unsuccessfully tried to lure another AA power, Chicago Mount Carmel, to fill that spot.
Zumwalt West, currently ranked second in the St. Louis area by the Post-Dispatch, has come on strong under the direction of former Mizzou wrestler Dan Hayes in recent years, finishing as state runner-up to Oak Park each of the last two seasons.
"We wanted to add a team from Missouri, and they're a team we've had an eye on for a while,'' Kirgan said.
Zumwalt West and Oak Park-River Forest will replace Lindbergh and Cahokia in next December's field.
"It's tough (replacing teams) because I'm friends with these guys and the last thing you want to do is hurt anybody's feelings,'' Kirgan said. "But you also want to guard against letting the tournament get stale. We talked at weigh-ins about dropping the bottom two teams in this year's tournament and were approached by the Lindbergh coaches. They're a senior-dominated team that decided they weren't coming back, and I appreciate them letting us know early. In this sport, things tend to run in cycles.''
Lowe vs. Williams
Two of the area's best, Alton senior Wade Lowe (32-0) and Mascoutah junior Kyle Williams (31-0) are set to square off Thursday in a dual at Mascoutah. Wrestling will begin at 6 p.m.
In the latest state rankings, Williams is No. 1 at 130; Lowe is No. 2.
"It really should be a great match, and I'm hoping we can really get a big crowd out to see it,'' said Mascoutah coach Chris Lindsay, noting that the night's action will also include a Highland-Roxana dual. "It's our senior night, and we've worked extremely hard to get the program where it is now. We know Alton has a solid team; there should be some great wrestling, but I'm sure everybody's looking forward to seeing Kyle and Wade go head-to-head.''
Williams was fourth at 119 at state a year ago.
Mascoutah will travel to Triad on Saturday for the Mississippi Valley Conference Tournament, which features a dual format.
"I've heard that we're the favorite, but I'm sure Triad and Civic Memorial will have something to say about that,'' Lindsay said. "In my mind, Triad is the team to beat because they won our dual early in the season. No matter how things turn out, we know it's going to be a good, tough day of wrestling.''
Regional assignments
Regional tournaments in Illinois will be held Feb. 3, with sectionals Feb. 9-10 and state tournament Feb. 16-17 at Assembly Hall in Champaign.
Team sectionals are Feb. 20, with the team state tournament Feb. 25 in DeKalb. Following are the regional assignments for area squads:
CLASS A
Pittsfield regional — Pittsfield, Carlinville, Carrollton, Hillsboro, Litchfield, Mount Olive and Roxana.
Individual sectional at Vandalia; team sectional at Herrin.
CLASS AA
Effingham regional — Carbondale, Centralia, Charleston, Marion, Mascoutah, Mattoon and Mount Vernon.
Granite City regional — Althoff, Belleville East, Belleville West, Cahokia, Collinsville, East St. Louis, Granite City and Waterloo.
Wood River regional — Alton, Civic Memorial, Edwardsville, Highland, Jerseyville, O'Fallon, Triad and Wood River.
Individual sectional at Chatham-Glenwood; team sectional at Edwardsville.
Getting a peek at Oak Park
Zumwalt West got its first face-to-face look at Oak Park this season, finishing second to the Northmen at the Winnetonka Invitational. Oak Park had five champions and finished with 381 ½ points, beating out Zumwalt West (324) and Raymore-Peculiar (272) for the top spot.
Lindbergh placed eighth and Hazelwood East 10th in the 12-team field.
Zumwalt West earned titles from freshman Trevor Wiest (125 pounds), sophomore Joey Wolfrum (135) and senior Brandon Wiest (145). Wolfrum won 1-0 over Oak Park's Joe Green while Wiest, a three-time state runner-up, came away with a 3-2 win over Oak Park's Shane Nay. At state in both 2004 and 2006, Nay defeated Wiest in championship matches.
Other highlights
Eric Lewis Invitational: Fifth-ranked Holt captured the 15-team Eric Lewis Invitational at MICDS, finishing ahead of No. 10 McCluer North and No. 8 Zumwalt North.
The Indians were paced by champions Tony James (130), Greg Amos (135), Kyle Ream (145), Eric Gibson (171) and Andrew Hammond (275).
Undefeated Donald Woods of McCluer North took the title at 160, coming away with a 5-3 win over Zumwalt North's Matt Espey. The Stars' Kevin Knopf won the title at 189.
Other champions at MICDS were: Whitfield's Ryan Mango (103), CBC's Ryan Banning (112), Whitfield's Conor Hovis (119), Whitfield's Andrew Scharf (125), Zumwalt North's Corey Lee (140), St. Clair's Tyler Gordon (152) and Westminster's Orion Ross (215).
Columbia Hickman tourney: Jefferson City edged out third-ranked Northwest for the title at the Columbia Hickman tourney. Area champs included Vito Krischke (130) and Ron Porter (215) of Northwest and Oakville's Charles Toney (189). Finishing second were Herb Krischke (135), Todd Porter (152), Wes Nicholas (160) and Brad Aten (189) of Northwest and Nick Lester (125) and Matt Lester (130) of Eureka.
Lafayette tourney: Parkway South beat out Carbondale for the team title in the Lafayette tourney. Parkway South and the host Lancers captured their respective titles in pool competition.
South's champions were David Bage (130) and Derrick Ingram (275). Other area champs: Lafayette's Zach Hagy (112), Parkway West's Sterling Wheelis (119), Warrenton's Sam Kassing (125), Parkway West's Joe Stansberry (135), Parkway West's George Young (140), Zumwalt South's John Moenster (145), Warrenton's Josh Duren (152), Burroughs' Mitch Stromsdorfer (160), Parkway West's Dan Phillips (171), Warrenton's Clayton Olsson (189) and Lafayette's Matt Brewer (215).
Granite tourney gets stronger
By Joe Lyons
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
01/22/2007
The already-brutal William "Red'' Schmitt Holiday tournament at Granite City just got a little tougher. And that's a trend Warriors' coach Allen Kirgan hopes to see continue.
"I'm the head wrestling coach, not the athletic director or the administration, so it's not my call. But I'd like to see this become one of the premier events in the country,'' Kirgan said after confirming that Missouri power Fort Zumwalt West and Chicago power Oak Park-River Forest have been added to the 2007 field. "With the teams we have and the format, the Holiday is already a great event — it's a real meat-grinder. But our goal is to try to keep raising that level of competition. I want to get to the point where nobody in the Holiday can talk about having a tough draw or an easy draw; I want every wrestler to be pushed throughout the two days of wrestling.
"I'm really excited about this.''
The addition of Oak Park-River Forest, currently ranked seventh among Illinois Class AA programs, could cause some confusion, considering that nationally ranked Oak Park of Kansas City has won the last five titles at Granite City.
"I've had coaches ask me about getting rid of Kansas City Oak Park, telling me that they don't feel their kids can compete, but one of the main reasons I want to improve the tournament is to make sure that we don't lose a top team like Oak Park,'' Kirgan said. "Oak Park has a nationally ranked program, and I'd like to attract more teams like that. The way I see it, going against those kids, the really tough wrestlers, is the quickest and best way to help your own kids improve.''
Oak Park-River Forest reached the Class AA quarterfinals a year ago and features a solid and young lineup.
"They'll be a good fit here,'' said Kirgan, who unsuccessfully tried to lure another AA power, Chicago Mount Carmel, to fill that spot.
Zumwalt West, currently ranked second in the St. Louis area by the Post-Dispatch, has come on strong under the direction of former Mizzou wrestler Dan Hayes in recent years, finishing as state runner-up to Oak Park each of the last two seasons.
"We wanted to add a team from Missouri, and they're a team we've had an eye on for a while,'' Kirgan said.
Zumwalt West and Oak Park-River Forest will replace Lindbergh and Cahokia in next December's field.
"It's tough (replacing teams) because I'm friends with these guys and the last thing you want to do is hurt anybody's feelings,'' Kirgan said. "But you also want to guard against letting the tournament get stale. We talked at weigh-ins about dropping the bottom two teams in this year's tournament and were approached by the Lindbergh coaches. They're a senior-dominated team that decided they weren't coming back, and I appreciate them letting us know early. In this sport, things tend to run in cycles.''
Lowe vs. Williams
Two of the area's best, Alton senior Wade Lowe (32-0) and Mascoutah junior Kyle Williams (31-0) are set to square off Thursday in a dual at Mascoutah. Wrestling will begin at 6 p.m.
In the latest state rankings, Williams is No. 1 at 130; Lowe is No. 2.
"It really should be a great match, and I'm hoping we can really get a big crowd out to see it,'' said Mascoutah coach Chris Lindsay, noting that the night's action will also include a Highland-Roxana dual. "It's our senior night, and we've worked extremely hard to get the program where it is now. We know Alton has a solid team; there should be some great wrestling, but I'm sure everybody's looking forward to seeing Kyle and Wade go head-to-head.''
Williams was fourth at 119 at state a year ago.
Mascoutah will travel to Triad on Saturday for the Mississippi Valley Conference Tournament, which features a dual format.
"I've heard that we're the favorite, but I'm sure Triad and Civic Memorial will have something to say about that,'' Lindsay said. "In my mind, Triad is the team to beat because they won our dual early in the season. No matter how things turn out, we know it's going to be a good, tough day of wrestling.''
Regional assignments
Regional tournaments in Illinois will be held Feb. 3, with sectionals Feb. 9-10 and state tournament Feb. 16-17 at Assembly Hall in Champaign.
Team sectionals are Feb. 20, with the team state tournament Feb. 25 in DeKalb. Following are the regional assignments for area squads:
CLASS A
Pittsfield regional — Pittsfield, Carlinville, Carrollton, Hillsboro, Litchfield, Mount Olive and Roxana.
Individual sectional at Vandalia; team sectional at Herrin.
CLASS AA
Effingham regional — Carbondale, Centralia, Charleston, Marion, Mascoutah, Mattoon and Mount Vernon.
Granite City regional — Althoff, Belleville East, Belleville West, Cahokia, Collinsville, East St. Louis, Granite City and Waterloo.
Wood River regional — Alton, Civic Memorial, Edwardsville, Highland, Jerseyville, O'Fallon, Triad and Wood River.
Individual sectional at Chatham-Glenwood; team sectional at Edwardsville.
Getting a peek at Oak Park
Zumwalt West got its first face-to-face look at Oak Park this season, finishing second to the Northmen at the Winnetonka Invitational. Oak Park had five champions and finished with 381 ½ points, beating out Zumwalt West (324) and Raymore-Peculiar (272) for the top spot.
Lindbergh placed eighth and Hazelwood East 10th in the 12-team field.
Zumwalt West earned titles from freshman Trevor Wiest (125 pounds), sophomore Joey Wolfrum (135) and senior Brandon Wiest (145). Wolfrum won 1-0 over Oak Park's Joe Green while Wiest, a three-time state runner-up, came away with a 3-2 win over Oak Park's Shane Nay. At state in both 2004 and 2006, Nay defeated Wiest in championship matches.
Other highlights
Eric Lewis Invitational: Fifth-ranked Holt captured the 15-team Eric Lewis Invitational at MICDS, finishing ahead of No. 10 McCluer North and No. 8 Zumwalt North.
The Indians were paced by champions Tony James (130), Greg Amos (135), Kyle Ream (145), Eric Gibson (171) and Andrew Hammond (275).
Undefeated Donald Woods of McCluer North took the title at 160, coming away with a 5-3 win over Zumwalt North's Matt Espey. The Stars' Kevin Knopf won the title at 189.
Other champions at MICDS were: Whitfield's Ryan Mango (103), CBC's Ryan Banning (112), Whitfield's Conor Hovis (119), Whitfield's Andrew Scharf (125), Zumwalt North's Corey Lee (140), St. Clair's Tyler Gordon (152) and Westminster's Orion Ross (215).
Columbia Hickman tourney: Jefferson City edged out third-ranked Northwest for the title at the Columbia Hickman tourney. Area champs included Vito Krischke (130) and Ron Porter (215) of Northwest and Oakville's Charles Toney (189). Finishing second were Herb Krischke (135), Todd Porter (152), Wes Nicholas (160) and Brad Aten (189) of Northwest and Nick Lester (125) and Matt Lester (130) of Eureka.
Lafayette tourney: Parkway South beat out Carbondale for the team title in the Lafayette tourney. Parkway South and the host Lancers captured their respective titles in pool competition.
South's champions were David Bage (130) and Derrick Ingram (275). Other area champs: Lafayette's Zach Hagy (112), Parkway West's Sterling Wheelis (119), Warrenton's Sam Kassing (125), Parkway West's Joe Stansberry (135), Parkway West's George Young (140), Zumwalt South's John Moenster (145), Warrenton's Josh Duren (152), Burroughs' Mitch Stromsdorfer (160), Parkway West's Dan Phillips (171), Warrenton's Clayton Olsson (189) and Lafayette's Matt Brewer (215).