3A Yorkville Team Dual Sectional roundup

Chris Walker For The IWCOA

Marmion 38, Carl Sandburg 36

Marmion has never won a team state title, although the Cadets took second place in 2022.

The Cadets believe this is a year they can do it, so they took the next step toward attaining that goal, overwhelming Carl Sandburg, 38-36, at the 3A Yorkville Team Dual Sectional.

The final score is a misleading one as Marmion led 38-18 with three bouts remaining, which they opted to forfeit since the victory was already a lock. As a result, Ahmad Alomari (175), Chris Davis (190) and Malic Breish (215) were awarded forfeit victories for the Eagles. Almori and Breish had previously lost matches against the Cadets when the teams were in the individual competition at the Class 3A Hinsdale Central sectional.

Oscar Kalman (126) and Ryan Hinger (150) also received forfeit victories for Sandburg.

When the teams were competing at the aforementioned Hinsdale Central individual sectional their wrestlers’ paths crossed on five occasions with Sandburg senior Rocco Hayes defeating Aidan McClure at 113, accounting for the lone victory for the Eagles.  Colton Wyller beat Oscar Kalman at 120 by decision, Zach Stewart pinned Hinger at 144, Vinnie Testa earned a tech fall against Alomari at 175 and Joe Favia earned an 8-1 decision over Breish in the semifinals.

Marmion sent 11 wrestlers to state out of Hinsdale while Sandburg sent four.

Marmion’s Nicholas Garcia (126) proceeded to lead the trek down to Champaign, winning a state title last weekend, while Zach Stewart (144) took second, Preston Morrison (106), Demetrios Carrera (132), Ashton Hobson (150) and Mateusz Nycz (285) took third and Aidan McClure (113) took fifth as the Cadets had a state-best seven wrestlers place in this year’s IHSA state individual finals.

Hayes (113) and Hinger (144) both placed third to lead the Eagles at state.

Nycz (285), Wyller (106), Garcia (132) and Stewart (144) all had pins against Sandburg to lead the Cadets toward the sectional dual win.

Taking advantage of the rare opportunity to get the Cadets rolling since the dual began at 285, Nycz pinned Omar Alhmoud in 39 seconds.

“I was really excited, you know it’s not often that the heavyweight starts a dual,” Nycz said. “And with my high pace and being third in the state or second in the state, whatever, just being out there and setting the tone for the team was really satisfying.”

Preston Morrison (113) and Ashton Hobson (157) won by tech fall for the Cadets. 

“The dual went really good and the team did amazing today and everyone was on top of it,” Morrison said. “I’m really excited for this weekend for team state because we have a chance to win our first team state title if we all wrestle at our best so I’m looking forward to it.”

Carrera (138) earned an 18-5 major over Madden Parker.

“We were ready today and we showed it on the mat,” Carrera said. “I’m grateful to be a part of this team with a bunch of talented kids. We all feel we are ready. We have worked very hard and we are confident that we can bring home a team state championship this weekend.”

Marmion will wrestle Schaumburg at 7 p.m. on Friday in a Class 3A state quarterfinal at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

Mount Carmel, 35, Marist 34

Despite having won two state titles in the past three years, Mount Carmel found itself playing the underdog during Tuesday’s showdownl against top-ranked Marist

The underdogs are also the ones returning to state after they denied the RedHawks 35-34 in a match that was tied 34-34, but an unsportsmanlike conduct point against Marist proved to be the heartbreaking tiebreaker that ended its season and pushed the Caravan onward to Bloomington this weekend.

“We knew what their lineup was, we knew where they could bump to kind of make points in their lineup,” Mount Carmel coach Alex Tsirtsis said. “So we figured that we had to have Seth (Mendoza) wrestle Donavon Allen, and he did a good job in that match (at 150). And George Hollendoner at 144, he hasn’t wrestled the last couple weeks, (Jaxon) Jorgensen won that spot for individual state, but both did their job.”

Hollendoner earned an 11-1 major over Jonathan Fields at 144. Jorgensen fell short in his bout at 138, but he limited the damage against George Marinopoulos, who had just taken second in the state at 132. While Jorgensen dropped the 12-6 decision, it only cost the Caravan three points.

“It felt good just doing my job,” Hollendoner said. “Everybody else on the team did theirs too. I’m just glad we got it done and we’re going to state. It was tough, but I’m just happy we’re moving on. We’re going to be state champs.”

Mount Carmel is the defending state champion, after all. The Caravan also won a title in 2022. They are now pursuing the sixth state title in program history. 

Mendoza, who became the 15th four-time individual state champion in the state on Saturday, was ecstatic with how his team stuck with it, transitioning from the emotions of having four guys place at state on Saturday to redirecting their attention to getting the team to state against a team that beat them, 43-26, on Jan. 10.

“Well, first of all, I’m super proud of my team,” Mendoza said. “Since Saturday night after we got done wrestling, we had a team meeting and coach basically told us we can beat Marist, all we have to do is stay super disciplined and that’s what we did. We stayed super disciplined. We kind of just, after individual state, just chilled out, hung out, nothing crazy and got right back to work at practice on Sunday, focused on things we needed to work on and it really paid off today.”

Marist was able to pick up victories in the final four bouts of the match, beginning with Ethan Sonne’s 12-3 major over Kevin Kalchbrenner.

Will Denny, who won the state title at 165 last weekend, and at 157 last season, wrestled at 175, earning a tech fall over Sergio Calleros, Denny most definitely wanted the pin and the RedHawks needed it. He appeared close to doing so at least twice but left the mat frustrated.

Marist was still alive though, and Kevin Tomkins really got them fired up after pinning Kenneth Segerson with eight seconds remaining in their match at 190.

That left it up to Ricky Ericksen, who just won the Class 3A 190-pound title over the weekend, to finish the match at 215. If the Marist senior could pin Leonard Siegal, the RedHawks would be able to overcome a 34-14 deficit and keep their season alive.

Siegal avoided getting pinned. While Ericksen was able to beat him with the tech fall just before time expired, it still wasn’t a big enough win. The Red Hawks needed all six pin points to prevail.

“We all focused on every little detail, and they threw some tricks at us that we didn’t expect, such as that last match with Ricky going up to 215,” Mendoza said. “But mistakes happen, like our 190 match, but you learn from it. I think overall we all did really well.”

Beginning the match at 285, Marist got a strong start with Jack Watson pinning Landin Carter in 2:20, but Mount Carmel would prevail in seven of the next nine matches.

Sebastian Gracia, who took fifth in the state at 106, picked up Marist’s first win with a 7-5 decision over Elio Gil. The RedHawks’ two other winners during that stretch were Michael Esteban and George Marinopoulos, both who just took second in the state’s individual finals.

Wrestling at 126 again, Esteban pinned Francis Burke in 1:19. Marinopoulos, who was bumped up from 132 to 138, followed with a victory, but fewer points with the 12-6 decision over Jorgensen. 

William Grafton-Hodgetts received a forfeit win at 113 for the Caravan and Ravel Moore followed with a late pin over Joseph Bronske at 5:31, which was huge for team points.

Justin Williamson, who returned from Champaign after taking fifth place at 132, pinned Eddie Astorga in 3:33.

“I wish I would’ve placed higher at state, but I lost to George (Marinopoulos) off of 10 seconds which defeated my confidence,” Williamson said. “But I built it right back up. I thought I was going to face George again here, but never did, but I was hoping.”

Williamson humbly attributed his success to preparation and those who have coached him.

“I think the main reason we won was how we train,” he said. “We went out and trained right after state. Coach told us to stay focused, don’t do anything after state, don’t have fun, just come over here and practice and let’s go down to state. I think the biggest part was coach thinking this was possible. I’m surprised how we made it here. We just have a great coach who helps us out in every way possible. He encourages us and everything. I’m really at a loss of words myself. I feel we have a strong mental mindset and coach pushing us through practice and everything.”

Just last month, Williamson broke his foot. 

“He broke his foot in mid-January and he had been wrestling really well this year,” Tsirtsis said. “He was chomping at the bit (to get back). I think two weeks into a broken foot, and he could barely walk on it, and he wanted to practice. So it was us holding him back and then when he got back to the sectional he was a bit rusty, but he had a great state tournament last week in a deep weight class.”

In a pairing of a four-time state champion and a fourth-place finisher, Mendoza moved up from the 138 pounds in which he won state on Saturday to wrestle Allen at 150. Allen also bumped up after taking fourth in the state at 144.

Mount Carmel’s other state champion, Liam Kelly at 157, followed Mendoza with a 17-1 tech fall over Tommy Fidler, which would prove to be the team’s final victory.

“We had a good discussion Saturday night after we got done with the finals on how to be responsible and we had practice the next day and we really got every guy on the team physically, and mentally ready and we were prepared,” Tsirtsis said. “They bought in. It would’ve been really easy for them to be like it’s Saturday night, we have (two) state champions, let’s hang loose. They were dialed in Saturday night and continued Sunday, Monday and they were ready today.”

Mount Carmel will wrestle Hononegah at 5 p.m. on Friday in a Class 3A state quarterfinal at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

Joliet Catholic Academy 43, Yorkville 27

Joliet Catholic Academy was without its head coach Ryan Cumbee, a recent inductee into the Class of 2025 IWCOA Hall of Fame.

With Cumbee tied up with a work commitment, assistant coach Luke Pascale and the rest of the staff watched the Hillmen seize control early against Yorkville and never let up with a 43-27 victory.

JCA had beaten Yorkville, 44-27, at the Flavin on Dec. 28.

Leading 43-9 with just three bouts remaining, the Hillmen conceded at 175, 190 and 215 with their berth into the Class 3A state finals already a done deal.

What a night for the Hillmen. 

Sophomore Lukas Foster wrestled for the first time in 81 days and won via pin.

Foster, who broke his wrist at the Donnybrook the first weekend in December, pinned Yorkville sophomore Landon Jenkins in 1:25. It was a huge early win in the dual for the Hillmen, especially after Yorkville’s Ramsey Barton pinned Jon Higueros in 2:21.

“During our first tournament, my second match back, I broke my wrist on Dec. 6,” Foster said. “I broke it earlier in the summer so I’m going to assume that had something to do with that. It’s great to be back. We did great. It seemed some of my teammates stepped up who maybe lost to these kids in the past and won big, majors and bonus points and pins. We were just getting it done out there.”

Junior Jason Hampton, who took third in state at 126 over the weekend, bumped up to 138 and earned a tech fall over Dominic Recchia. 

“The team needed me to bump up to 138 and I ended up tech-ing the kid, and not many people expected a tech,” he said. “But I showed up and showed out. It’s easy to show up and wrestle good when you’ve got teammates winning back-to-back-to-back. It’s an adrenalin thing.”

In a match-up pairing state placers, JCA junior Nolan Vogel doubled up Yorkville’s Van Rosauer, 4-2. Rosauer had just taken fourth at state at 150 while Vogel took fifth.

“Vogel was a huge win,” Pascale said. “We knew it was a swing match and when you’re wrestling a tough team like Yorkville, you gotta win those. He’s become a guy we rely on.”

Sophomore Derrick Pomatto went from 215 to 285 for the Hillmen and gave them an early boost since the dual began at 285. Pomatto earned a 4-0 decision against Xavion Ulloa.

“We were talking about it all week,” Pomatto said. “And it came down and we started at 285 and coach wanted to throw me out there and I’m up for anything for the team. It was a pretty cool atmosphere before the match hearing everyone go crazy. It was really cool and coming out with the win is even better.”

Pomatto said goals are attained with a team-first attitude — big goals, like getting to state out of the toughest sectional in the state. Among the six teams competing at Yorkville, 120 pounds and 215 pounds were the only weight classes without a top sixth state placer competition. If you also include the fourth dual of the sectional, only 120 pounds wasn’t represented with a state placer

“At practice all we preach is team, team team,” Pomatto said. “And last week it was individuals but Coach (Ryan) Cumbee and Coach (Ben) Gerdes are on us about everything. I live for these guys. These guys are my best friends.”

Junior Luke Hamiti, who took third in the state at 165 pounds, won by tech fall over Yorkville junior Caleb Viscogliosi in that same weight class. He was the Hillmen’s ninth and final winner in the dual before they conceded the final three bouts.

‘We had a few setbacks at the beginning of the year like Luke (Foster) being injured and all that,” Hamiti said. “And then this dual we came together and just dominated, becoming a family.  Our tradition is great. It’s awesome, I mean, we have won a state championship and want to get another and build on our tradition. It’s fun.”

Yorkville’s Jack Ferguson joined Barton as the Foxes only other non-forfeit winner after earning a 13-10 decision over Vince Tindal at 157. It was Ferguson’s 52nd win of the season which established a single-season record for wins at Yorkville.

“Going into it we felt it was going to be a really close match, maybe 7-7 and come down to bonus points,” Yorkville coach Jake Oster said. “We thought we were going to have an edge there. They stepped up and won the matches we thought we were going to win and some of those they got pins and it snowballed from there.”

Yorkville seniors Luke Zook (175) and Ryder Janeczko (190) didn’t get a chance to wrestle one final time in a high school match, receiving forfeit victories after JCA had already secured the win.

“(JCA) wrestled really well and we didn’t wrestle as well as we’re capable of and that’s what happens,” Oster said. “It’s hard to end it like that, but it is what it is. But it’s been a good year regardless.”

JCA will wrestle Oak Park and River Forest  at 5 p.m. on Friday in a Class 3A state quarterfinal at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

Edwardsville 35, Lincoln-Way East 30

Edwardsville’s Blake Mink pinned Lincoln-Way East’s Connor Schultz in the second period to win their 150-pound match in the fourth and final Class 3A Yorkville team dual sectional, which was held at Lincoln High School.

The Tigers were trailing 30-29 after Lincoln-Way East’s Kaidreaus Richardson picked up a tech fall against Edwardsville’s Logan Hiller at 144 to put the Griffins ahead by one heading into the final bout to decide the match.

Mink’s victory gave the Tigers the 35-30 win and a spot at state.

Michael McNamara (106), Bryson Nuttall (113), Levi Wilkinson (126), Ryan Richie (138), Simon Schulte (190), Roman Janek (215), and Rile Steinkuehler (285) also won for the Tigers with Nuttall and Janek getting pins.

Noah Ciolkosz (120), Tyson Zvonar (132), Alex Lizak (157), Christian Darnell (165) and Jackson Zaeske (175) joined Richardson in winning for the Griffins.

Edwardsville will wrestle Hersey at 7 p.m. on Friday in a Class 3A state quarterfinal at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

The Tigers are making their first state appearance since 2019.