Husky “Sleigh-ride” runs away at Conant

[admin]

By MACK BOLEN
Illinois Matmen

It’s Thanksgiving weekend and while IHSA Football is deciding its champions, all wrestling eyes turn to one of the best tournaments in the state. Renamed the Chris Hruska Wrestling Classic for the former Conant wrestler who succumbed to cancer in April of 2010, this tournament is a lot like your typical Thanksgiving turkey stuffing; delicious with a lot of ingredients. Some of the several ingredients include suburban powers Glenbard North and Oak Park-River Forest, along with Catholic League and Illinois wrestling legacy Providence Catholic; add to that northern Illinois and 2A power Crystal Lake Central, an “I-80” team in Ottowa, downstate representation by Bloomington and Normal, along with teams from St. Charles, Naperville, Joliet, and several other suburbs and cities from across the state. Conant is also a tournament loaded with talent; this year’s field included 6 state champions and numerous placers and qualifiers.

******

The “Big 3”, Sam Brooks (OPRF) 182lbs, Gage Harrah (CLC) 195lbs, and Josh Marchok (Schaumburg) 220lbs, dominated the competition enroute to winning championships. Harrah, the defending 2A state champ, wrestled less than 2 minutes for the entire tournament. James Buss, 3rd in 3A 285 last year, had a bit tougher go of it, defeating Mark Brumant 6-4 in the finals. Fenwick, new to Conant this year, got a 1st place from Matt Garelli. Garelli, last year's 3A state champ at 103lbs, moved up to 120lbs to capture the title with a 9-2 victory over Glenbard North’s Chris Gonzalez. Eddie Klimara, runner-up at 125lbs in 3A, defeated Matt Adcock from Lake Park in a 6-3 battle, and Jon Marmalejo defeated Nick Ruffino for 3rd place in a loaded 132lbs weight class. The 126lbs final had the looks of a blow-out, with 2A state champ Jered Cortez facing-off against OPRF freshman Larry Early III. Sure enough, Cortez jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead, but he would not score another point in the match. Early used a punishing attack on top for two periods to frustrate and tire Cortez into giving up 3 points on stalling. In the end, Cortez hung-on for the 6-4 win, and Vela from SCE defeated both Kyle Fugiel (CLC) and Cole Ferguson enroute to 3rd place in another loaded division. Aaron Kohlberg of Rolling Meadows, a runner-up here last year, got the title at 113lbs, and teammate Joe Caprio won his 2nd straight title at 170lbs.

The biggest shocker of the finals came at 138lbs. Jake O’Mara (OPRF) squared off versus Clayton Lutzow (CLC), a 2A 4th place finisher in a loaded 130lbs division last year. O’Mara scored a quick take down and Lutzow escaped. Off of a tie-up, O’Mara hit the OMG-WTF was that move of the tournament, winning by fall at 1:12.

Eddie Gonzales (a former Marmion Academy Cadet like Cortez), turned in a very impressive performance winning all his matches by pin for the 145lbs title.

Other champs were Tim Noverini (SCN) 152lbs, a 6-2 winner over Jason Fugiel (CLC), Farai Sewera (LP) at 160lbs, and Wayne Yuan (NN) at 106lbs.

Since the 2004-05 season, the team competition has been dominated by 3 powerful programs, Providence Catholic, Glenbard North, and Oak Park-River Forest. The only exception was 2009 when OPRF finished runner-up to Marmion Academy. Several other teams have consistently been in the mix, such as Crystal Lake Central, Naperville North, Leyden, Rolling Meadows, and host Conant. This year a young OPRF Husky team came in and won convincingly, collecting 270 points over 2nd place Glenbard North – 178.5 and 3rd place Providence Catholic – 168. Coach Powell’s squad came in with 12 wrestlers out of the 14 weight classes and didn’t lose a match until the quarterfinals. The Huskies put 9 wrestlers in the semifinals and 5 in the finals. In the end, OPRF managed two 1st places, three 2nd places, four 3rd places, two 4th places, and a 7th.

On a side note, Providence Coach Healy’s yellow shirt was so bright, five tractor trailers tried to park on it.

[CONDOR]

How many guys wrestled up a weight?

[Jaguar]

Under the old weights, we would have seen a Harrah/Brooks or Harrah/Marchok match. With the new weights, Gage Harrah wrestled a total of two minutes.

[Champaign Supernova]

"Off of a tie-up, O’Mara hit the OMG-WTF was that move of the tournament, winning by fall at 1:12."
"On a side note, Providence Coach Healy’s yellow shirt was so bright, five tractor trailers tried to park on it. "

Well done sir.

[agdfan]

Originally Posted by Champaign Supernova

"Off of a tie-up, O’Mara hit the OMG-WTF was that move of the tournament, winning by fall at 1:12."
"On a side note, Providence Coach Healy’s yellow shirt was so bright, five tractor trailers tried to park on it. "

Well done sir.

Love your style, Mac. Fun to read!

[james buss sr.]

the buss score was 5 to 2

[PapaBearSLIM]

Originally Posted by james buss sr.

the buss score was 5 to 2

Yes, it was. The Bus is legit. He had some battles over the weekend and is an immovable object (I say that with respect and admiration) that I kept waiting to run out of gas in the finals... it didn't happen. Congrats.

[RailerMan]

What schools are Cortez and Brill wrestling for this year?

[Luvwrestling]

Originally Posted by RailerMan

What schools are Cortez and Brill wrestling for this year?

Cortez is at Glenbard North; Brill is at Mt. Carmel

[agdfan]

Awww, Mac. Love the pic. I miss Coach Powell.... They seriously don't come any better than him. Would you tell him I said HI and I insist that YOU give him a huge hug for me...