Many interesting story lines came out of the Fenwick wrestling regional on Saturday. Oak Park-River Forest showed the juggernaut that it is, posting the highest team score of the regional on the strength of eight firs-place finishes.
Most of those first places came at the expense of Leyden as the Eagles had a great day with a disappointing end. The Eagles finished second overall in team score and are sending seven wrestlers along to the sectional meet they will host starting Friday night, but they lost five championship bouts to Oak Park opponents.
In first- and third-place bouts, the Eagles were 0-for-9 with only junior 285-pounder John Burke (21-11) advancing in third place due to a walkover after defeating Vic Younger of Proviso East by way of pin earlier in the tournament.
"It was a disappointing day," said Leyden head coach Jason Potter. "It was nice to have six wrestlers in finals, but I would have liked to have some win. A couple matches we just couldn't get it done. As upset as we are, we need to take a step back, take (a day off), watch some film and fix what we can fix."
A pair of bouts in particular will stick out in the minds of Leyden's wrestlers. Matt Soch was looking for his 27th win of the season and first place at 140 pounds, but he fell 10-8. He was down 4-1 after one period but rallied to within 9-8 with a takedown with 52 seconds left in the bout, but that's as close as he would get.
The other heartbreaker came at 160 pounds as senior Juan Giron held a 12-8 lead with 1:19 remaining in the match, but two moves by Oak Park's Colin Weir tied the match with 20 seconds left. A takedown and three-point near fall in overtime gave Weir the 17-12 win and first place.
"My main goal was to find my shot," said Soch. "I was having trouble with that today, but in the final match I was able to find it. I could have done better, but it's a start. It'll be big momentum for us to go (to sectionals) and have the home crowd. We'll be more pumped up."
Senior Chris Reed (119 pounds), sophomore Adam Schammert (135), and juniors Nick Cassaro (145) and Mike Feldmann (152) will make up the remainder of the Leyden contingent ready to defend the home turf.
Fenwick regional: Oak Park (254) won the team title, edging Leyden (170.5). Leyden’s sectional qualifiers were Chris Reed (third at 119), Adam Schammert (second at 135), Matt Soch (second at 140), Nick Cassaro (second at 145), Mike Feldmann (second at 152), Juan Giron (second at 160) and John Burke (third at 285).
Oak Park-River Forest comes in a little bit on the ornery side after dropping its regular-season finale to Lyons, thus losing a chance to win the West Suburban Silver title. The Huskies will likely use that defeat to its fullest, making them an ever nastier bunch to deal with in this eight-team regional, which features, among others, Leyden, Proviso East, St. Patrick and the host Friars.
The Huskies boast eight state-ranked wrestlers, including No. 9 Ellis Coleman. Leyden senior Chris Reed (29-7) will likely face him at 119.
Reed and his Eagles teammates arrive here with a little inspiration of their own following an exciting 32-29 win at Hinsdale South last Thursday which gave Leyden a share of the WSC Gold championship.
Reed is one of six Eagles wrestlers who earned top-three regional finishes last season. The others are senior David Turner (215, 19-16); juniors Bhavik Patel (103, 25-12), Isiah Recinos (112, 27-9) and Matt Soch (145, 25-8) and sophomore Adam Schammert (135, 23-9).
David Turner didn't keep his Leyden wrestling teammates in suspense very long at all when his pin 35 seconds into his 215-pound match at Hinsdale South on Thursday clinched the Eagles' first West Suburban Conference Gold Division championship since the 1993-94 season.
"The whole atmosphere for the meet was very electric," said Leyden head coach Jason Potter. "The whole team was very excited going up against Hinsdale South, knowing that the conference championship was on the line. I knew we were capable of winning, but these kids have never been in a situation like this, so you never know what's going to happen. I'm very pleased with the way they responded."
The 32-29 team victory over defending league champ Hinsdale South left Leyden with a 5-1 conference record for the season. The only league loss for the Eagles came against Willowbrook in a tie-breaker. Hinsdale South also finished 5-1 in the conference, but Leyden's win over the Hornets gave the title to the Eagles.
Along with Turner, Isaiah Recinos (112) and Chris Reed (119) also won by pins. Brian Andronic (125) won by a technical fall, and teammates Bhavik Patel (103), Matt Soch (140), and Juan Giron (160) each won by a decision.
Leyden, which also claimed a conference championship Thursday at the freshman level, returns to action at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Fenwick Class AA Regional.
Wrestling
Posted 1/29/2007
Daily Herald
| Rank |
School |
W |
L |
T |
Notes |
| 1 |
Montini |
24 |
1 |
0 |
Headlines tough regional at Willowbrook |
| 2 |
Glenbard North |
23 |
2 |
0 |
9th straight DVC crown |
| 3 |
Grant |
22 |
2 |
0 |
NSC champion again |
| 4 |
West Aurora |
22 |
4 |
0 |
Second at DVC tournament |
| 5 |
Neuqua Valley |
15 |
7 |
0 |
At East Aurora regional with West Aurora |
| 6 |
Warren |
21 |
0 |
0 |
Third at NSC tournament |
| 7 |
Wheaton North |
15 |
4 |
0 |
Third at DVC meet |
| 8 |
Prospect |
23 |
4 |
0 |
2nd MSL title in 3 years |
| 9 |
Kaneland |
23 |
2 |
0 |
Joins Yorkville at Sycamore regional |
| 10 |
Batavia |
11 |
7 |
0 |
Rough challenge at East Aurora regional |
| 11 |
Wheeling |
17 |
4 |
0 |
Favorite at Waukegan regional |
| 12 |
Dundee-Crown |
16 |
5 |
0 |
Fox Valley Conference champion |
| 13 |
Barrington |
14 |
6 |
0 |
Shorthanded Broncos 5th at MSL meet |
| 14 |
Lake Zurich |
18 |
6 |
0 |
4th at NSC tournament |
| 15 |
Waubonsie Valley |
14 |
4 |
0 |
Excellent season for the Warriors |
| 16 |
Libertyville |
17 |
5 |
0 |
2nd at NSC tourney |
| 17 |
St. Charles East |
15 |
5 |
0 |
Headed to Elgin regional |
| 18 |
York |
19 |
9 |
0 |
Regional hosts welcome Fenton, Lake Park |
| 19 |
Conant |
12 |
6 |
0 |
3rd at MSL tourney |
| 20 |
Leyden |
16 |
4 |
0 |
First league title in 16 years |
|
By Mike Garofola
Daily Herald Correspondent
Posted Friday, January 19, 2007
Leyden makes big leap: Leyden (13-5) will look to stand at the top of the West Suburban Conference table for the first time since 1994 when it meets Hinsdale South in dual-meet action next Thursday on the Hornets’ home mats.
After one dreary season after another, the Eagles’ program is soaring now thanks in part to the terrific work from second-year head coach Jason Potter.
The former two-time state champ at St. Charles has been a master in pushing the right buttons while challenging a young club ready to make its own footprint in Leyden wrestling history.
“For such a young coach and educator, Jason has conducted himself like a veteran of many years, while allowing his guys to progress and mature, while demanding nothing but hard work and dedication to the team and sport, much like he did when he wrestled,” said Leyden athletic director and Illinois wrestling icon Randy Conrad.
Conrad says he knew from the beginning that Potter was exactly what the Eagles’ program was in need of. Along with a fast-developing Wolfpack club program and several talented, yet inexperienced wrestlers in place on the big club, the future could shine for many years to come.
“We obviously had to walk before we could run, but I think you’re beginning to see how Jason has been able to make the transition for this team to a little higher of a level faster than we might have all thought,” Conrad said.
“We’ve still a lot of work to do, especially in the next couple of weeks leading up to regionals,” admits Potter, who is quick to remind that many on this team have just a couple of years in the sport, while most, except for three, are all just sophomores and juniors.
“Last year we would go against teams like Lake Park and Grant, and just try to survive, or not get blown away.
“Just last week, we beat Lake Park, which was a great measuring stick for us to see how we’ve progressed, while getting three individual wins against a state power like Grant.”
During the past few seasons the Eagles found themselves in trouble before the first whistle, as the previous coaching staff was unable to fill out a lineup card on a regular basis.
With greater depth throughout the program, several weight classes are near capacity, which Potter says helps keep his starters sharp and working hard all of the time, while backups improve each day in the room as well.
“Everyone is getting better just because of the competition in the room, and the desire to improve which is brought on by our seniors and a coaching staff and school which gives us total support,” said Potter.
Seniors Chris Reed (24-7, 119), Juan Giron (15-15, 215) and David Turner (15-14, 215) are the graybeards of the group, as well as all sectional qualifiers.
Juniors Matt Soch (21-7, 140), Bhavik Patel (20-12, 103) and Isiah Recinos (23-8, 112) joined them at regionals last year.
The improvement on the individual side has helped the Eagles enjoy success on the tournament trail.
Early in the season, the Eagles grabbed a fifth-place finish at the Hinsdale Central tourney, then at the prestigious Berman Invite at Palatine, they stayed in the hunt for two days before earning sixth-place honors in the 25-team field.
Two weeks ago, with sophomore Adam Schammert (20-7) capturing a championship belt at 135, a second-place team trophy was placed in the trophy case for all to see.
“You could see how important it was for Adam to wear the gold singlet for his championship match, and that’s the type of pride we’re trying to build here with this group to help carry on for future wrestlers,” says Potter.
Eagles victorious in own quad
January 17, 2007
By CHUCK FIELDMAN Staff Writer
By the time Leyden's Jerry Larsen walked onto the mat Saturday for his 189-pound match against his Rockford East opponent, the Eagles already had sewn up a team victory in the final round of the Leyden Quad.
But that didn't prevent Larsen's teammates, coaches and Leyden fans in the stands from having quite a celebration on the sophomore's behalf. Not only did Larsen record his first win of the season after 19 consecutive losses; he did it quite convincingly with a pin at the 1 minute 44 second mark of the second period.
"We were all just very happy for him," said Leyden coach Jason Potter. "He hasn't wrestled before (this season), he's young, and at 180 pounds he's wrestling underweight. Even with all of that going against him, Jerry has been getting better each week. We knew it would come for him, but I think he probably had developed a bit of a mental block by continuing to lose."
Potter, who watched his team finish the Leyden Quad with a 69-12 victory over Rockford East -- following a 45-21 victory over Lake Park and a 51-9 loss to state-ranked Grant -- believes Saturday's win for Larsen should help the sophomore's confidence. And Larsen agrees with his coach.
"It is hard to stay positive when you keep losing, but the team has always helped me out by being very supportive," he said. "I do think I'll be more confident now that I've gotten this losing streak out of my head."
Potter said Larsen certainly would have had more success competing this season at the JV level. But even with his first win not coming until Saturday, Larsen doesn't regret wrestling for Leyden's varsity team.
"It's good experience for me," he said. "I know it's a lot tougher, especially when I don't have much experience. I'm just going to keep on working hard, though, and I'm sure I'll have some more success."
The only success the Eagles (12-3) had in their 51-9 loss to Grant came via victories by Chris Reed at 119 pounds, Mike Feldmann at 152 and John Burke at 285.
Reed, Feldmann and Burke also were winners against Lake Park, as were Isaiah Recinos (112 pounds), Brian Andronic (125), Damian Espinoza (130), Mike Cocozza (135), Adam Schammert (140), Matt Soch (145) and Juan Giron (171).
In the win over Rockford East, along with Larson the Eagles received wins from Recinos, Reed, Cocozza, Schammert, Soch, Feldmann and Giron. Leyden also was a forfeit winner at 103, 125, 161 and 285.
"We've really improved so much in the past two weeks," Potter said. "We have a ton of potential on this team. We have guys who have beaten some of the better wrestlers in the state, but then come back and lose to opponents who aren't as good. We need to be more consistent."
The Eagles return to action against Addison Trail at home on Friday, and will also compete in a triple-dual meet at Glenbard West on Saturday.
January 7, 2007
BY ANDRE' MORGAN
Chicago Sun-Times
AT LEYDEN: Conant placed in 11 of the 14 weight classes and had three champions to win the 12-team invitational with 206 points while Leyden gave chase with 196½.
Adam Wright (125), Isaiah Frazier (189) and Kyle Weck (215) took first for the Cougars. Frazier (168) got behind Ridgewood's Sebastian Marzec with 35 seconds left for a 14-12 win.
At 160, Plainfield North's Cedric Gibson reversed Conant's Ken Aleksiak in the second overtime for a 9-7 decision.
Leyden's Adam Schammert (135) posted a 12-6 decision over Richards' Rob Frias.
Sean Newsome (285) and Paul Kioltyka (119) took first for Richards.
Highland Park had three champions, including Joe Schwartz (103), Danny Fisher (112) and Billy Lichtenstein (140).
New Trier's Sam Campbell (130), Stevenson's Bobby Vagun (145), Ridgewood's Stefan Kosanovic (152) and Vernon Hills' Ryan Michel (171) all took home championships.
Seth Schwartz
Minooka in front at Berman
By Mike Garofola
Daily Herald Correspondent
Posted Thursday, December 28, 2006
Bigger and better than ever after the addition of several new clubs, the now 25-team Berman Holiday Classic field is still chasing state-ranked Minooka at Palatine.
Minooka, which is threatening to run away with its second consecutive championship, has eight competitors in today’s 11:30 a.m. semifinals. The Indians have 141.5 points to build a 25.5-point lead over the state-ranked duo of Lyons and Lincoln-Way Central.
Area teams Hinsdale South, St. Charles East, Leyden, Lake Zurich, Palatine, Hinsdale Central and an injury-riddled Warren squad, last year’s runner-up, round out the top 10 in a tightly bunched group.
“Adding teams like Lyons, Glenbard East, Hinsdale Central and a fifth mat to compete on really made for a very competitive first day and the hope for (an) even better touurnament next season,” said Palatine second-year coach Dan Collins, who will have four Pirates in today’s championship bracket: Dale Jarosz (21-0, 112), Zach Zordan (12-1, 125), Ross Grande (23-3, 152) and Chris Garcia (18-2) at 171.
Grande will face No. 1 seed Steve Olin (Minooka) after edging Andre Vieyra of Lyons 3-1 in an afternoon quarter-final bout.
“I am not looking ahead to anything beyond my next match,” said Grande, who admitted to doing so at the Moore-Prettyman tournament in anticipation of possible meeting St. Rita’s Albert White.
There is likely no one looking ahead to time on the mats with Glenbard East behemoth Pat Walker, who validated his top seed here after a pair of stealthy victories to earn a spot in the semis opposite Pat Hoszkiewicz of Maine East.
The junior surprised both of his victims with falls at 0:44 and 0:56 seconds.
“I know all of the Web sites and blogs said I didn’t have any competition (here) at the Berman,” said Walker, “but I am not paying attention to what’s written. My goal is to stay sharp, and to wrestle the way I want to and not let down at any point in my matches.”
Area wrestlers Juan Giron (Leyden) and Alex Sonka (Hinsdale South) were both responsible for delivering upset specials.
Giron (10-10) bumped off No. 3 Joe Bonomo (Downers Grove North) 12-5 in a 171-pound quarterfinal, while Sonka (17-5) sent top-seed Joe Mahy (Lincoln-Way Central) into the backdraw following his 13-9 decision at 189.
Leyden’s Chris Reed (119, 17-4) and Isiah Recinos (112) joined Giron in the semifinals. Reed had a dominant performance in a 11-2 major-decision victory over Marcus Rangel of Minooka.
Today will begin with a round of wrestleback quarter-finals at 9:30 a.m. followed by championship bracket wrestling featuring semifinal bouts.
Third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches are set to begin at 3 p.m. and will lead into tonight’s championship matches at 5 p.m.
Reed takes 119-pound title at Hinsdale Central
By DANNY CARLINO Contributor
Leyden's wrestlers rebounded form a tough first round to put up a very respectable fifth-place finish at the Rex Whitlatch Wrestling Invite hosted by Hinsdale Central over the weekend.
Senior Chris Reed grabbed the only first-place medal for the Eagles while Bhavik Patel and Isaiah Recinos each earned a third-place finish.
West Aurora won the team title for the second consecutive year with Minooka finishing as the runner-up again as well. Leyden's finish was ahead of the host Red Devils as well as WSC Gold rivals Hinsdale South's seventh and Downers Grove South's 12th-place finishes.
"Wrestling was pretty tough (on Friday night)," said Leyden head coach Jason Potter of his team's opening-round struggles where they split the 14 bouts to start the tournament. "I was hopeful that the kids would bounce back, but we were still making some small mistakes in close matches that cost us."
Reed swept his four matches on his way to the 119-pound crown over the weekend. He won his opener by pin before a close 6-4 victory in his second outing. He finished things off with two high-scoring bouts winning the semifinal 16-3 and taking the final in an entertaining 14-11 match. He's the guy the Eagles can count on the most every time the team takes to the ring.
"He's a senior and a very good athlete," said Potter. "He can go with anybody, and he expects to be in the hunt and in the finals and get it done."
Patel and Recinos each won third place with Patel going 5-1 for the tournament and Recinos winning four of his five bouts. Recinos won his first two bouts at 112 pounds with a pin and a technical fall before dropping a tough 14-13 decision in the semifinals. He then won 8-6 to get into the third-place match where he won again 9-5.
Patel posted the highest win total and the biggest workload of the weekend for the Eagles. After opening with a win, he dropped his second match to go into the consolation bracket where he rolled off four straight victories. He won 12-3, by a technical fall, 5-3 and 5-1 to win a place on the podium at 103 pounds.
"Isaiah has a ton of potential," said Potter. "He's a kid who feels really good and scores points, but then he gives up a couple five-point moves. He'll control the majority of the match but then take a couple moves off. He responded well after a bitter match.
"Patel stepped it up after a rough patch of a couple tough losses. He lost to a really good kid early but he kept his head on straight and stayed focused."
Matt Soch split his four matches to wind up as the fifth place finisher at 145 pounds. He opened with two straight wins pinning in the opening round and taking an 11-6 score in the second before suffering consecutive losses that put him in fifth.
Juan Giron had a busy weekend matching Patel's six matches. Giron split them on his way to taking sixth place at 171 pounds. He lost the first one before rolling off three straight victories. He then lost his final two outings to wind up sixth in the standings.
This weekend should be a lesson showing the guys what they need to do to continue to make improvements. Sometimes very little separates the top teams from those who follow, and paying attention to every detail becomes very important. The difficulties of the opening round put the team behind the eight ball early, but they showed their abilities afterward and salvaged a good showing overall. If they can fix that opening round problem in the future, they will be in pretty good shape very quickly.
"Great teams show up day in and day out and in practice," Potter said. "We need to keep consistent. It seems to be contagious from top to bottom. Other days we carry our struggles through the line up. (Assistant Coach Byron Benion) and I were disappointed in that first round. Through that entire round we could have won a good majority of those matches. We have a lot of potential and we can fix things. We have time to fix them at the end of the year when it counts."
Daily Herald Dec. 17, 2006
Rex Whitlach Lnvitational: West Aurora, Minooka and Lockport finished 1-2-3 at the 18-team Rex Whitlatch Invitational at Hinsdale Central, and all three are ranked teams in Illinois.
Which is why Naperville Central’s fourth-place finish was a nice feat by the Redhawks.
Spearheaded by a title-match appearance from Chris Graeber, the Redhawks finished 14 points ahead of Leyden and continued to show well this season.
“Coach (Rob) Porter is a really good coach,” Graeber said. “I really like the way he teaches, and I think that’s a big reason why we’re having a good year.”
Graeber went 3-1 in the tournament, losing in overtime to tourney champ Todd Carroll of Downers Grove South.
“It feels awesome to do this well in a tournament like this,” Graeber said. “But it’s tough to lose in overtime like that.”
The Redhawks also got a third from Anthony Lewis at 215 pounds, and five fourths on the day to finish ahead of fifth-place Leyden, which was led by Chris Reed and his title win at 119 pounds, and a pair of thirds from Bhavik Patel and Isaiah Recinos.
The host Red Devils got seconds from Frank Battaglia and Milo Imrie, with Battaglia engaged in possibly the marquee match of the tournament, in a 4-0 loss to Lockport’s Luke Roth. Matt Tolbert placed third at 119 pounds, bouncing back from his only loss this year — by pin to Zinzer in the semifinals.
“That will just make me even hungrier,” Tolbert said of the lone loss in an otherwise dominant season thus far.
Tim Knowles also placed fourth for Hinsdale Central.
Hinsdale South got a title win from Ryan Garringer at 145 pounds to pace the Hornets’ seventh-place finish, and the sophomore showed that he has opened up offensively this year in a 16-10 title win over Geneseo’s Lucas Cropp.
“I was too defensive last year, and if you want to get downstate you have to have more offense,” Garringer said. “This feels great.”
Fenton’s Josh Castellano won the title at 125 pounds, his third tournament title win this year, via an 11-5 decision over Minooka’s Mike Bodemuller. Teammate Matt Hart placed second at 130 for 10th-place Fenton, which also got a fourth from Alex Mroz at 215 pounds.
Castellano used two major decisions and a pin to reach the title match, after which he echoed the never-satisfied view that all the top wrestlers seem to embrace.
“(Bodemuller) was tough on bottom,” Castellano said, “and I kept shooting on the buzzer. I needed to shoot earlier.”
Downers Grove South got titles from Carroll and Ben Apland, who stayed unbeaten on the year, and used a trio of pins to reach the title mat for the 12th-place Mustangs.
“I felt pretty good on my feet all day and on the mat,” Apland said. “All around, it was a good day.”
St. Charles North got a third-place finish from Eric Justice at 135 pounds, thanks to a late takedown to win a 4-3 decision over West Aurora’s Tyler Clark. Justice went 4-1 on the day for the North Stars, who also got a sixth from Dan McSweeney at 189 pounds.
Glenbard Gets it Done at Feutz Classic at Conant H.S.
“I thought I did really good today,” Schammert said. “It was a big improvement from yesterday."