130 - 145 USA Rankings Analysis

[Jaguar]

130

The All Class, Senior and Junior rankings at 130 make sense in the order that the Ilinois wrestlers are ranked. Kenny Jordan (Mt. Carmel) proved his 5th Senior and 9th All Class ranking by winning a State title. 22nd ranked Senior, Daniel Dennis (Grant) took second; 29th ranked Senior, Jason Fitzenreider (Wheaton North) took 3rd; and special mention Senior, Scott DeChant (Providence) took 4th. However, Jordan only beat Dennis 1-0 in the finals. Does that mean Dennis deserves a higher ranking? Dennis also dominated Fitzenreider 18-7 in the semis.

Meanwhile, Senior special mention, Ryan Precin (Sandburg) didn’t qualify for State. Perhaps, he doesn’t deserve to be ranked. While Senior Stuart Jelm (Morris), a perennial state qualifier, placed 6th and should have been a special mention ahead of Precin. Jelm lost to Fitzenreider 8-1 and to standout freshman, Vince Ramos (Glenbard North) 10-3 in the 5th place match. Sean Kinney (Neaqua Valley), ranked 15th among Juniors, lost to Ramos 4-3 for the second week in a row and did not place. Kinney was pinned by Jordan in the quarter finals in 5:04, but the score was 0-0 at the time! Ramos lost only to DeChant and proved why he 9th ranked among freshman & sophomores. Shane Kennelly (So)(Reavis), ranked 12th, didn’t qualify for State and probably doesn’t deserve to be ranked only 3 places behind Ramos. Ramos, a double Cadet All-American in Fargo last year, maybe deserves a higher ranking.

135

135 was a deep weight in Illinois again. Senior Brett Robbins (Bloomington), who beat Cyler Sanderson for the Junior national Greco title in Fargo, and took second in State last year to Joe Gomez who is at University of Illinois now, did not even place. Robbins was ranked 11th anong Seniors and 17th All Class. Matt Cusick (Sandburg), ranked 3rd among freshman & sophomores and 28th All Class could only manage a 5th place finish. Robbins was knocked out of the tournament by Senior Drake Rossi (Lincoln-Way East), losing 6-3. Rossi is listed as a special mention among Seniors at 140. Rossi was beat 8-3 by the eventual champ, Nick Bertucci (Fenwick), who also does not get special mention among seniors. Rossi was also beat 7-4 in the consolation bracket by Senior special mention, Dave Paramski (Libertyville), and Rossi was beat 13-4 in the fifth place match by Cusick. Meanwhile, Marty Gould, also a special mention senior, took third, beating Cusick 4-2 in overtime and beating Paramski 7-5 in overtime in the third place match. Gould is a four time state qualifier and two-time placer. Special mention senior, Jamie Smith, took 2nd, beating Gould 5-4 with a takedown in the last 20 seconds of the match and losing in the finals to Bertucci 1-0. Robbins got buried among all these special mentions.

At the same time, Junior, Vince Castillo (Lyons) barely missed a pace, losing 3-1 to Gould and 4-1 to Cusick. Perhaps, he deserves a ranking or mention among juniors. Freshman, Rob Fenicle (Rocton-Hononegah), also came one match from placing, losing to Rossi 3-1 in a great match that knocked him out of the tournament. Should he be ranked or mentioned among freshman & sophomores?

140

What a weight this year! Earlier in the year, at the Dvorak tournament, Albert White, who was undefeated in his high school career, freshman state champ and runner up in the Junior freestyle tournament in Fargo, was beat by Senior Jeff Keske (Libertyville) in overtime. That match, undoubtedly, earned Keske a 15th ranking among seniors and 20th ranking All Class. One the same day at the same time, Senior, Jeff Tharp (Morton) beat sophomore phenom Mike Benefiel (Montini) 10-6. Benefiel was also a freshman state champ last year (class A) and Cadet national freestyle champ in Fargo. Benefiel than turned around and handed White is second career loss 5-3 in the third place match.Tharp is ranked 7th All Class and 6th Senior.

At the State tournament, White and Benefiel both avenged those losses by becoming two-time State champs in this, their sophomore, year. Meanwhile, both Tharp and Keske failed to place.

White beat Keske in the revenge match (8-4), and Keske lost to Jon Issacson (Glenbard North), who is a Senior special mention at 152. Issacson was a State champ as a sophomore, but failed to make weight at the sectional tournament last year and did not qualify for State last year. After beating special mention Senior, Dan Reuttiger (Providence), Tharp was tied with Joe McHale (Wheaton-Warranville South) in the second period, when McHale hit a beautiful headlock and pinned him. McHale lost 5-2 to the runner up, unmentioned Junior, Nic George (Geneseo). White beat George 6-2 in the finals. Isaacson beat McHale 11-4 for 5th.

Mike Smith (Plainfield Central), a special mention Junior, beat special mention Senior, Clint Arlis (Batavia) in 2-1 in double overtime to eliminate Arlis from the tournament. Arlis also lost to unmentioned, George, 6-4 in overtime, and Smith lost 3-1 to George in the semis. Smith also eliminated Tharp from the tournament by a 4-1 score in the consolation bracket. As runner up to White, and with victories over Arlis and Smith, George deserves at least a mention in the Junior rankings.

Finally, unmentioned Senior, Mike Anello (Sandburg), lost only 8-7 to Benefiel at the Dvorak and 3-1 to White in the semis of the State tournament. He also beat Smith 7-3 for third and probably deserves a special mention among the Seniors.

[Larry]

Jon Issacson didnt win state he got second, you might be thinking about his brother

[Jaguar]

No. I was thinking about Jon, but I forgot he took second.