Yorkville Christian snares McLaughlin Classic title
By Chris Walker For the IWCOA
As the weather was beginning to warm up and days became longer this spring, Yorkville Christian coach Mike Vester was looking ahead towards winter as he pieced together the team’s competitive schedule.
As he considered options for the Mustangs, he reached out to Joliet Central to inquire about the McLaughlin Classic
“I had reached out about the McLaughlin before, but it was full,” Vester said. “I inquired again this year and they graciously let us attend. Very good tournament, well run, great hospitality and competition.”
And it was a great Saturday for Yorkville Christian as a whole as the Mustangs walked away as team champions as their 214 points were tops among the 24-team field.
“We told the kids what we thought they were capable of doing if we all made the weight we were supposed to make, and then focused on some stuff,” Vester said. “We had some up and down matches that should’ve gone a different way, but then we had some guys step up and do some things that maybe we weren’t expecting so that was cool.”
Aiden Larsen (120) and Jackson Allen (190) won titles at their respective weights to lead the Mustangs.
“We do have a solid squad this year,” Larsen said. “We’re really tough this year and I don’t think people know that. I think that people are underestimating us as a team as a whole and today a statement was made. I know there are tough kids out at Ironman (held at Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Dec. 6-7) right now. Whatever we did, we had to do today and we’re hoping to keep this momentum going into the next tournaments. We have the Plano Reaper Classic next weekend and then we’re at West Chicago. So we just got to keep this momentum going into the next week and keep the train moving.”
Larsen needed 3:00 on the dot to pin Joliet Central’s Aleck Allende in the quarterfinals. Larsen took care of his other opponents in similar fashion but didn’t need as much time to do it. He needed just 51 seconds to win his semifinal match and only 42 seconds to pin St. Rita’s Jack Hogan in his title bout, handing Hogan his first loss of the year.
“I just went in wanting to attack,” Larsen said. “Just offense, offense, offense. He fell out of position. He’s a tough kid. I caught my cradle and there it was.”
Allen also was dominant, earning four straight pins, including over Belleville East’s Cedric King in 5:00 during the final.
“There were a lot of good guys at the Ironman and other tournaments this weekend so it was a good little preview of what we’re going to face this season,” Allen said. “I woke up around five o’clock (Saturday morning), got to the school, drove out here and got a little warmup in and some stretching and wrestled. We started off the tournament and got to our offense, good defense and scored when we could and got bonus points.”
Vester continues to be impressed with Larsen and Allen.
“Aiden (Larsen) is a beast and just ran through people today and Jackson Allen is at another level this year so I’m happy for him,” he said. “And it was good to see other guys improving and you know where they can be in February.”
The Mustangs had 12 wrestlers place overall. They certainly needed all those points to outscore runner-up Normal Community by 18 points.
John Gray (157) took second while Tiras Lombardo (150), Robby Nelson (165) and Xander Oliver (215) each won their third-place matches.
“Tiras (Lombardo) came back after he almost made finals,” Vester said. “He lost 4-3 in the semifinals so to come back and get a pin was a big deal. And we had Christian Sandoval, who is just kind of finding himself. It’s his first time on varsity and he fought in the fifth place match. He was really tough.”
Sandoval dropped a 14-13 decision to take sixth place at 113. Ryan Festerling Jr. (106), and Tyler Gleason (175) also took sixth place while Adrian Wadas-Luis (138) and Garrett Tunnell (285) won fifth-place matches. Ryan Alaimo (126) took fourth place.
Without a doubt, it was a total team effort from the Mustangs.
“We’ve been up for 14 hours now so it’s been a long day,” Larsen said. “Even with Antioch (on Nov. 26) we had to wake up at 4am and drive all the way up there and weigh in. It’s long days and you just got to stay focused and keep the energy going. We tried to cheer and keep the momentum going and install energy throughout.”
Positivity and noise provided quite a combination for the Mustangs, creating an environment for success.
“Noise and positivity go a long way,” Larsen said. “Even when I’m wrestling you get a takedown and you have your team next to you cheering and it instills energy and you want to keep going. You don’t think about being tired when that happens. You’re electric. You’re ready to go and it’s just go go go and get to your offense.”
Normal Community had three champions and a couple second-place finishes to earn second place overall with 196.
Caden Correll (113) became a two-time champion after his tech fall win over Marist’s Colin Phelan to give the Ironmen their first championship of the day.
Cole Gentsch (126) and Carter Mayes (157) also celebrated championship days in the City of Stone and Steel.
Gentsch (8-0) remained perfect on the young season with a major decision over Deerfield’s Adrian Cohen. His three earlier wins included two by fall and another by tech fall.
“There’s not a whole lot to be said – I stuck to my guns,” Gentsch said. “I stuck to what I knew I could do. I knew (Cohen) was going to come out of a headlock right away so I just based my offense off of that and I adjusted and reinforced it and I was able to get to a 13-1 major, you know. That’s a true blessing. It’s my senior year and I just give all things to God and Jesus. He’s my Lord and Savior and all glory to him.”
Gentsch isn’t one to shy away from his spiritual life.
“I attended Catholic school all the way until seventh grade and I’ve always been that spiritual, but just recently the past two years I’ve really opened up my spirituality and I’m not afraid to show it like I used to. I’m just giving thanks and I’m living life day to day. Thanks to this sport I’m committed right now to UW-Lacrosse. It is a blessing being able to compete at such a prestigious program and you know and give all things to Him.”
Last year Gentsch lost in the 120-pound championship match here at Joliet.
“In high school I’ve really developed my skills,” he said. ‘I’ve figured myself out. Last year I was kind of battling an injury and was figuring out my wrestling and what I truly want to do with myself, and this year I figured out I can’t hide under a rock anymore. I have come short the last couple years in the state tournament but you know this year I’m ready to let it fly and let it show and give everything I have.”
Last December, Carter Mayes took third place at the McLaughlin while wrestling at 138. The junior won at 157 this time.
“I think I wrestled ok,” he said. “Obviously I have some things I need to work on – we all do, If I want to achieve my goals at the end of the season I’m going to have to work a little harder in practice and sharpen up the stuff that I got scored on today so I’ll go back and watch my matches and figure out what I need to do different to not get scored on anymore.”
Mayes won by tech fall over Yorkville Christian’s John Gray in his title match.
“You just got to get here and step on the scale and make weight and work hard from there and try to win every match and take it one match at a time until you’re on the podium,” Mayes explained. “I’ve kind of tried to mature a little bit and understand that not every match is going to be easy and that you’re going to have to walk out there and do it like every match is going to be a hard one if a kid is good enough. You just got to go out there and compete.”
He had get through wrestlers from Romeoville, Minooka and Marist before he got to Gray.
“We don’t see these teams very often,” Mayes said. “We won’t see these teams again until state especially some of the bigger schools because they have a harder schedule because we can’t come up to Chicago every weekend. It’s just a great opportunity to get to come up here at the beginning of the season and figure out what we need to work on. We’ll be back here later and then we’ll be in Champaign for state. Trying to get ready for that.”
Jaren Frankowiak (175) and Mason Caraway (215) placed second for the Ironmen. Jackson Soney (106) took third after winning a year ago. Daniel Bourbulas (190) was fourth. Brayden Manning (132) and Gavin Capodice (150) each took fifth place.
“It’s a great team and I love the guys and I think we all work pretty hard at practice.” Mayes said. “We’re dialed in at practice everyday. Everybody makes weight. We just go out and do what we do.”
So far, so good.
“We’ve been competing really well this year. Our team has surprised us,” Gentsch said. “We lost one of our best guys, Cooper Caraway (285), but that hasn’t stopped us. I’m really thankful for the team that we have and what we’ve made out of this program. This program isn’t very historic but we’ve made it historic the past three years and it’s truly a blessing being part of such an awesome team and awesome culture.”
Morton was third with 139 points. Benjamin Chaffer (215) won a title to lead the Potters while Caiden Robison (144) took second, Clay McKee (165) was fourth, Colton McKee (175) took fifth and Noah Harris (120) placed sixth.
Marist was fourth with 122 points after winning the previous two McLaughins. Hersey won the inaugural one in 2021. The RedHawks were without six of their top wrestlers as seniors Michael Esteban (126), Donavon Allen (138), Will Denny (157) and Ricky Ericksen (190) competed at the Ironman in Ohio along with junior Tommy Fidler (144). Illinois recruit George Marinopoulos did not compete on Saturday for the RedHawks.
Denny led the RedHawks at the Ironman placing second.
The team still had a fine showing in Joliet with Colin Phelan (113) and Jonathan Fields (138) taking second place, Kevin Tomkins (175) winning third place, Gordon Gil (106) and Ronin Haran (157) taking fourth and Caden Campo (126) placing fifth.
Seniors Jackson Palzet (132) and Jordan Rasof (138) were crowned champions for a young Deerfield squad which took ninth with 109 points.
Rasof, who placed fifth in the state in 2A at 138 last year, also won at Joliet in 2023.
“I think I’m ranked around third this year and I’m back at 138 and feeling ready for the year,” Rasof said. “I just got to work on my offense, but I think things are going well. I just got to keep my temper on the mat and keep wrestling, but I think things are falling my way and with my training I’ll be able to be a state champion.”
Not feeling totally healthy, Rasof made sure to not waste any time during his title bout, pinning Marist freshman Jonathan Fields in 1:12.
“I didn’t really know much about the kid, but I just knew I had to stay aggressive,” he said. “I was feeling a little sick today so I wanted to just make it quick, so I knew once I got that takedown I felt I’d get my bar in and that’s my best move I think on top and I just had the pin ready.”
While he enjoyed his victorious day, Rasof was pleased to see Palzet succeed at 132. The two have squared off for countless hours during training.
“The past couple of years he’s always been injured, but he’s always been one of my main training partners since we started. We joined wrestling at the same time and go to club together. It’s good to see him finally healthy and he’s killing everybody. We work really hard together so this is what we train for. It’s good to see my training partner succeed just as well.”
The object is to continue progressing, focusing on the now and moving forward. That’s not for just the season but for long days like Saturday that begin in the early morning and carry on until evening.
“I think just staying positive in the crowd and I’ve been doing this for years,” Rosof said. “And just getting the right feel after matches, staying hydrated, not getting down on yourself even if you lose or something bad happen in the match. I keep moving forward, keep wrestling, next match, next match don’t worry about the past.”
Deerfield had six underclassmen competing at Joliet, including Adrian Cohen (126) who placed second and Alexander Shvartsman (144) who took sixth.
“I like seeing my teammates compete,” Rasof said. “We have a lot of young guys on the team and I’m a senior so it’s nice to see them compete, see how they are doing in the upcoming year. It’s all going so fast. I feel like I was a freshman yesterday.”
His advice? Train, train and train some more.
“I love winning on Saturday,” he said. “It builds my confidence throughout the year and year-round training helps me stay positive. I think training is the biggest thing. Just keep on training. Keep on working.”
Wheaton North senior Thomas Fulton acknowledged that he wrestled better the previous Saturday when he took fifth place at the 32nd Barrington Moore-Prettyman Invitational, but he still found a way to win in Joliet. The Falcons were seventh with 117.5 points, just behind sixth-place Minooka’s 119.5.
“I felt like it wasn’t my best wrestling,” he said. “I felt like I wrestled a little bit better last week at Barrington. I pulled out the wins in the end, but felt I could’ve wrestled better at the start and not put myself in vicarious situations in quarterfinals and semifinals and finals.”
Last year, Fulton took seventh place at 157 at Joliet.
“I was here last year and last year was a little worse for me so this was a little more satisfying,” he said. “I like this tournament. I feel there are some good kids and a lot more variety. Usually during the season we just see 3A. So here there are 2A and 1A and some pretty good guys so that’s a nice experience.”
About 300 miles separate Wheaton North from Belleville East, which is where Fulton’s championship opponent Terence Willis wrestles. Fulton won by a 9-5 decision.
“It’s nice to wrestle new guys instead of just the same guys over and over again.” Fulton said. “And I think wrestling a new person is a different style of wrestling than wrestling someone you already know.”
Fulton narrowly survived in the semifinal, winning by a 12-11 decision over Yorkville Christian’s Robby Nelson.
“I try not to care about winning necessarily,” he said. “Obviously that’s kind of the goal but mostly when I wrestle at my best I’m focusing on just trying to dominate my opponent and push myself to my absolute limit no matter the opponent.”
Fulton’s teammates Rocco Macellaio (120) and Jacob Veltri (138) each took fourth place and Carlo Saenz (190) and Ezekeil Psenicka (215) each took sixth.
“I think we are a pretty decent team and I think we might surprise some people, but we still have a lot to work to get in the best possible position we want to get to,” Fulton said. “I think we have an absolutely amazing coaching staff. We have a new head coach this year in Coach (Tim) Walker. I think every team is good and obviously I think our team is the best because I’m on it.”
Homewood Flossmoor’s Davion Henry (106), St. Rita’s Enzo Canali (144), Minooka’s Ben Cyrkiel (150) and Kaden Meyer (175) and Belleville East’s Jonathan Rulo (285) were also champions at the 4th McLaughlin Classic.
Yorkville Christian’s Aiden Larsen had the most pins (4) in the least time (5:59) of any wrestler present, and St. Rita’s Nino Protti had the most tech falls (3) in the least time (6:29). Crete-Monee’s Trevon Williams and Belleville East’s Jonathan Rulo tied for the fastest fall in 11 seconds, Kennedy’s Victor Alvarado had the fastest tech fall in 1:07, and Larsen and Yorkville Christian teammate Jackson Allen tied for the the most team points scored with 30. Romeoville’s Rodrigo Gonzalez had the most single match points with 30, and Normal Community’s Caden Correll scored the most total match points in the tournament with 74. Wheaton North’s Thomas Fulton (165) and Minooka’s Ben Cyrkiel (150) tied in providing the tournament’s largest seed-place difference, as the 14th seeds both left Joliet as individual champions.
Team scores: 1. Yorkville Christian 214, 2. Normal Community 196, 3. Morton 139, 4. Marist 122, 5. Belleville East 119.5, 6. Minooka 117.5, 7. Wheaton North 115, 8. St. Rita 113, 9. Deerfield 109, 10. Providence Catholic 97.5, 11. Romeoville 83.5, 12. Joliet Central 80.5, 13. Homewood-Flossmoor 76.5, 14. Plainfield East 65.5, 15. Marian Catholic 41.5, 16. Shepard 32, 17. Crete-Monee 29, 18. Bloom Township 23.5, 19. McNamara 23, 19. Stagg 23, 19. Kennedy 23, 22. Rich Township 22, 23. Peotone 14.5, 24. Westinghouse College Prep 7
McLaughlin Classic results:
106
1st: Davion Henry (H-Flossmoor) 3-0, over Christian Corcoran (Providence) 8-3, (D 9-7)
3rd: Jackson Soney (Normal C) 6-1, over Gordo Gil (Marist) 7-4, (D 13-8)
5th: Pedro Hernandez (Romeoville (H.S.) 7-1, over Ryan Festerling, (Yorkville C) 6-2, (F 1:05)
113
1st: Caden Correll (Normal C) 8-0, over Colin Phelan (Marist) 7-3, (TF-1.5 2:07 (20-3)
3rd: Liam Walsh (Joliet C) 6-5, over Lucas Forsythe (Providence) 6-4, (D 8-4)
5th: Jon`King Williams (H-Flossmoor) 6-1, over Christian Sandoval (Yorkville C) 4-5, (D 14-13)
120
1st: Aiden Larsen (Yorkville C) 10-2, over Jack Hogan (St. Rita) 6-1, (F 0:42)
3rd: Victor Alvarado (Kennedy) 8-1, over Rocco Macellaio (Wheaton N) 7-5, (D 12-8)
5th: Aleck Allende (Joliet C) 8-3, over Noah Harris (Morton) 5-2, (MD 12-0)
126
1st: Cole Gentsch (Normal C) 8-0, over Adrian Cohen (Deerfield) 9-3, (MD 13-1)
3rd: Adante Washington (H-Flossmoor) 5-2, over Ryan Alaimo (Yorkville C) 9-4, (TF-1.5 4:11 (19-4)
5th: Caden Campo (Marist) 6-5, over Chace Tankson (Marian) 3-2, (F 1:15)
132
1st: Jackson Palzet (Deerfield) 9-1, over Harrison Dea (Morton) 6-1, (F 2:41)
3rd: Nino Protti (St. Rita) 7-3, over Roan Dukes (H-Flossmoor) 4-3, (MD 20-8)
5th: Brayden Manning (Normal C) 8-1, over Dinero Garcia (Stagg) 6-3, (TF-1.5 5:15 (17-1)
138
1st: Jordan Rasof (Deerfield) 10-1, over Jonathan Fields (Marist) 4-1, (F 1:12)
3rd: Isaiah Kan (Joliet C) 6-4, over Jacob Veltri (Wheaton N) 5-4, (D 6-5)
5th: Adrian Wadas-Luis (Yorkville C) 8-1, over Alex Kostecka (McNamara) 6-3, (D 7-1)
144
1st: Enzo Canali (St. Rita) 9-1, over Caiden Robison (Morton) 6-1, (D 6-0)
3rd: Camden McCloskey (Plainfield E) 10-2, over Dewayne Taylor (Belleville E) 3-2, (D 1-0)
5th: Andrew Pellicci (Providence) 8-4, over Alexander Shvartsman (Deerfield) 8-4, (D 4-1)
150
1st: Ben Cyrkiel (Minooka) 5-2, over Nolan Keenan (St. Rita) 6-3, (MD 13-3)
3rd: Tiras Lombardo (Yorkville C) 9-4, over Jonah Greenwood (Marian) 3-2, . (F 3:53)
5th: Gavin Capodice (Normal C) 6-3, over Muhammad Hasib (Plainfield E) 6-7, (F 1:33)
157
1st: Carter Mayes (Normal C) 8-0, over John Gray (Yorkville C) 10-3, (TF-1.5 2:40 (17-0)
3rd: Jasper Harper (Providence) 10-3, over Ronin Haran (Marist) 3-2, (TF-1.5 4:31 (16-1)
5th: Conor Pasch (Peotone) 7-3, over Killian Rauch (Belleville E) 4-2, (D 10-4)
165
1st: Thomas Fulton (Wheaton N) 5-0, .over Terence Willis (Belleville E) 4-1, (D 9-5)
3rd: Robby Nelson (Yorkville C) 11-2, over Clay Mckee (Morton) 3-2, (D 4-2)
5th: Joey Baranski (Marian) 5-1, over Braeden McKay (Providence) 5-4, (F 1:21)
175
1st: Kaden Meyer (Minooka) 6-1, over Jaren Frankowiak (Normal C) 7-1, (D 12-9)
3rd: Kevin Tomkins (Marist) 7-2, over Aiden Hill (Palos Heights (Shepard) 5-2, (D 10-3)
5th: Colton Mckee (Morton) 5-1, over Tyler Gleason (Yorkville C) 10-4, (F 2:57)
190
1st: Jackson Allen (Yorkville C) 11-2, over Cedric King (Belleville E) 4-1, (F 5:00)
3rd: Hugh Callaghan (Plainfield E) 9-2, over Daniel Bourbulas (Normal C) 4-2, (F 2:36)
5th: Isiah Escobar (Romeoville (H.S.) 5-1, .over Carlo Saenz (Wheaton N) 7-4, (SV-1 4-1)
215
1st: Benjamin Chaffer (Morton) 7-0, over Mason Caraway (Normal C) 7-1, (D 9-2)
3rd: Xander Oliver (Yorkville C) 7-5, over Mohamad Almadani (Romeoville (H.S.) 5-2, (Inj. 0:00)
5th: Santino Capodice (Minooka) 5-3, over Ezekiel Psenicka (Wheaton N) 5-4, (F 3:38)
285
1st: Jonathan Rulo (Belleville E) 5-0, over Charles Walker (Joliet C) 8-1, (MD 10-1)
3rd: Jamir Thomas (Romeoville (H.S.) 6-1, over Robbie Murphy (Minooka) 4-3, (F 2:27)
5th: Garrett Tunnell (Yorkville C) 11-2, over George Range (Chicago Heights (Bloom Twp.) 7-2, . (F 1:57)