Iron sharpens iron at The Flavin
By Chris Walker For The IWCOA
The holiday season is a time for giving, and for 32 lucky high school wrestling teams, they just had an opportunity to compete in the premier dual team tournament in Illinois right after Christmas.
The Flavin, hosted by DeKalb, is a great gift those wrestlers and their teams can give one another, especially since it arrived during the midpoint of the season, allowing them to gauge where they’re at as a team and what they need to improve on as they head into the final half of the season in 2025.
Chicago Catholic League powerhouses Marmion, Montini and IC Prep earned a spot in the Champion’s Pool after winning their respective brackets on Friday where they were joined by Detroit Catholic Central (DCC).
IC Prep opened with a 48-27 victory against Oswego in the Wayne Miller Bracket. They survived Lockport, 37-35, and Joliet Catholic Academy, 33-27, to earn the opportunity to wrestle for the overall team dual title.
Marmion beat Libertyville 63-18 to open play in the Dan Cliffe Bracket. The Cadets proceeded to defeat Hersey, 45-17, and Yorkville, 52-29.
Montini beat Moline, 64-18, and Lincoln-Way West, 50-21, to get started in the Rich Harvey Bracket, before earning a 39-32 win over Washington.
DCC, which easily traveled the farthest to get to DeKalb, would win the 25th version in the wonderful history of this tournament. DCC was the lone team to win all six of its duals.
The winners made their five-hour road trip worthwhile, which is par for the course for the wrestling powerhouse which has won 17 state titles including back-to-back titles the past two seasons.
Marmion placed second in the Champion’s Pool. After falling, 44-23, to DCC, the Cadets beat Montini, 38-30 and IC Prep, 37-30. And the Cadets did it without their full lineup so there is certainly reason to be excited about what lies ahead.
“For our team to miss five starters and to win against rivals like Montini and ICC minus all that firepower, it shows that when we’re healthy we’re going to be a pretty fun team to watch,” Marmion coach Anthony Cirrincione said. “It will happen. We’re probably a couple weeks away, but once we have all of our kids ready to roll it’s going to be fun to watch.”
Nicholas Garcia (126) and Mateusz Nycz each went 6-0 for the Cadets. Demetrios Carrera (132) went 5-0, winning one of his five matches at 138. Colton Wyller (106) went 5-1 and Joseph Favia (215) went 4-1. Wyller’s only loss was a 8-2 decision against Klichurov while Favia dropped a 7-3 decision to DCC sophomore Connor Bercume.
Luke Boersma (190) opened the match against Montini with a fall at 1:55 over Nick Kois.
Favia and Nycz followed with pins of their own in 1:54 each.
“I’ve improved my strength a lot from last year,” Boersma said. “I was over muscled. Now I’m using my technique more to get to my offense and scoring more. (Against Kois), I was able to get underhooks and then I took him down and turned him, and put him away with a half towards the end of the first period.”
A 6-5 decision by Grayson Garcia (144) over Will Konder followed by Jonathan Kopcio (150) winning by fall over Joey Gabreleski and Andrew Haritos getting a 21-11 major over Kevin May sealed the victory for the Cadets. Kopcio’s win was a particularly big one for the Cadets.
“Kopcio basically sealed the dual for us,” Boersma said. “That was really cool especially since he’s not like a top wrestler. You just never know. He may not be one of the best guys on the team but he could step up in that situation and do whatever we needed him to do to win.”
Marmion won its first six bouts against IC Prep before forfeiting its first of four matches. IC Prep would forfeit three.
Montini, which would take third place overall, gave DCC its biggest challenge in the final dual for the two teams on Saturday night, but the Broncos came up short, 35-26.
“I think we wrestled fantastic,” said Montini’s Kam Luif, who scored a 12-1 major victory over DCC’s Nathan Walkowiak at 138. “We all battled as a team and we grew as a team. We just got closer and understand what a dual team is and we were actually wrestling like that. It was awesome.”
Luif went 6-0 in the tournament. He wrestled at 138 save for going up to 144 to defeat IC Prep’s Aidan Arnett by a 10-5 decision.
Erik Klichurov (106) and Allen Woo (113) also were undefeated for the Broncos while Bobby Ruscitti (120), Josh Vazquez (126, with one match at 132), Santino Tenuta (165) and AJ Tack (175) each went 5-1.
The Broncos defeated IC Prep, 37-29, in their first match in the Champion’s Pool before coming up short, 38-30, against Marmion.
“We put it up to our coaches who got us ready for this,” Luif said. “They got us mentally ready. Anything we needed to get, it’s all thanks to the coaches. I think they’re the best coaches in the country.”
Luif would certainly have liked to see his team pull out victories in their final two duals, but he also understood the significance of the tournament and what it’s true purpose is in allowing teams to assess their status.
“Nothing really stood out, it’s just keep pushing in the room, keep dominating and scoring points, and that’s what we go out there to do,” Luif said. “We’ll go back into the room and coaches will pick out things and we’ll work on all those. It’s reps and reps in the gym and stuff like that that helps me grow as a wrestler. Even if you lose, that will help me grow even more. It gives me the edge to get to the next level.”
IC Prep’s Brody Kelly had a massive tournament, winning his four matches at 175 as well as a pair at 190 to finish 6-0.
“I think getting into my ties and working my offense and working on my pins from neutral to top, it helped me get all my points today,” Kelly said. “We all train really hard so we know what it takes to do good at these tournaments so it’s fun to be testing out how we can do in these tournaments.”
Deven Casey went 5-0 for the Knights at 132 and was named Most Outstanding Wrestling for his team.
“It’s great getting the OW of the team, it’s something too because I’m a senior and team captain,” he said. “It’s nice to lead and show them the expectations, you know, they all look up to me. Everything I do, the way I wrestle, I know they’re watching me.”
Anthony Sebastian (285) went 5-1 for the Knights.
“It’s great watching (my teammates) wrestle,” Casey said. “A shout out to Anthony Sebastian who had a great tournament. Not a lot of guys know him. He’s won a lot of matches, a lot of close ones, and the team is doing great. We have a lot of things to work on. We’re at mid-season on Tuesday (Dec. 31).”
A year ago, Washington topped Montini, 30-28, to win the Class 2A dual team title.
On Friday, Montini got the better of Washington, 39-32, and the Broncos moved onto the Champions Bracket and Washington went into the Gold Pool.
“There were some guys on the team that were emotional, but for the majority of guys this is just information to make some adjustments for in February,”Washington junior Wyatt Medlin said.
“We lost to Montini and they are 2A and we’ll see them at the end of the year. So getting some information, some moves that can be made, will help us get better by developing. And Washington is great at developing guys. I’m a little biased but from the beginning of the year until the end of February we are the most developed team.”
Washington won the Gold Pool after defeating JCA, 34-31, dropping a 38-34 decision to Yorkville, and then finishing with a 39-32 win over Sandburg.
Noah Woods (120/126), Peyton Cox (144), Medlin (150/157), Josh Hoffer (215) and Sean Thornton (285) each went 6-0 over the weekend to lead Washington to fifth place overall. Symon Woods (106) went 5-1 while Woods split duties going 3-0 at 120 and 126 while Medlin was 2-0 at 157 and 4-0 at 150.
“I felt good,” Medlin said. “I missed out on a few extra bonus points and got a couple tech falls instead of pins. We’re just getting better. Everyone is getting better. The Flavin is essential for Washington’s growth as a team from an end of the year standpoint. We need to get exposed now and lose a few duals.
“You wrestle your hardest to win and regardless of the result you use the data to get better for your next bout.”
Cox concurred with his teammate.
“I think everybody wants to win, you go into it to win and I think our team and coaching staff understands we’re going in to win,” Cox said. “We want to compete and we want to get better and take things away from it and figure things out. I think we did good securing bonus points. I think some things we need to work on are staying off our backs and wrestling positioning. I mean, honestly, I was really happy with the way we competed.”
Cox had four pins, a tech fall and a forfeit win.
“I don’t have much to complain about,” he said. “I was a little sick going into this weekend so I didn’t know how conditioning was going to work out. I scored points. We talk about protecting your six (points) because you have six points for a team and getting that for the team is all I want to do.”
Washington has got something special going on in the suburbs of Peoria.
“It’s a culture thing,” Medlin said. “I remember being 10 years old in 2016 and sitting in the dual team stands watching Washington win its first state title and I remember being so fired up. To think that it’s me now is really special. Kannon Webster was my role model. I want to be just as successful and hope it has a domino effect from there. Washington has a great legacy of hard-working, really disciplined young men.”
Webster, a three-time state champion, is now wrestling at the University of Illinois, which is where Medlin is committed.
“For me personally I love the dual meet tournament,” Medlin said. “One thing is you can’t get too caught in lows and highs. I think Washington program-wise we’ve got guys willing to fight for something bigger than themselves. Two years ago Cael Miller lost in the state blood round in the individual tournament and then beat that same kid in the state semifinals for the dual team, putting his team on the line willing to fight harder for the team, doing something bigger than just for himself. I love my team. I love the team format and how everyone is warming up together and ready to go. And I like being a leader.”
Cox calls the Washington wrestling community family.
“I’m blessed to be a part of a program where we really are a family,” he said. “At the end of the day we have each other’s back when wrestling and outside of it. It’s on our t-shirts – hashtag family. We take pride in being a team and family.”
On paper, and in the trophy case, Washington is the team to beat from Tazewell County again this year having won the last two 2A state titles and six since 2016. But, it’s also a new team under the same name.
“We came in with a new team and coach told us that this team is not state champions,” Cox said. “He doesn’t like ‘defending state champions,’ because there are new guys on the roster.”
Washington will head to The Clash XXII in La Crosse, Wisc., next weekend. It’s another similar type of challenge as The Flavin.
“Personally I think this is the best dual team tournament we have on our schedule,” Cox said. “We have The Clash next. When I first got into high school The Clash was harder (than the Flavin) but every single year (The Flavin) gets harder and harder. You get a team like Detroit out-of-state that’s a hammer and a bunch of nationally-ranked teams like JCA, Marmion and IC Prep, us, Yorkville and Sandburg. There’s 12 top teams here, all really solid and hammer teams. So it’s good for us to get a look at that and it’s a really cool tournament, the way they run it and advertise it.”
Joliet Catholic Academy fell short, 34-31, against Washington, but rallied to take second place behind them in the Gold Bracket after beating Sandburg, 35-27, and Yorkville, 44-27.
“Coming in here there were a lot of expectations on our team and the fact of the matter is we’re not at full strength, but it’s not an excuse,” JCA coach Ryan Cumbee said. “Did we meet the expectations? No. But at the same time it’s the middle of the season and we got better and that’s the bottom line. Everyone who wrestled and competed got better and that’s really the end goal. I can’t tell the kids not to worry about the result, but focus on the process and then in turn be worried about the result. We didn’t get the results we wanted, but at the end of the day, it’s process-driven and I thought we did well.”
There’s nothing like The Flavin.
“It’s tougher than the dual state tournament and that’s no disrespect to the IHSA, but you have some of the best teams in the state competing here and six hard matches,” Cumbee said. “You don’t get that anywhere else.”
The Hilltoppers just competed at the 3rd annual National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dual Classic in Oklahoma.
“That was tough competition but only five matches,” Cumbee said. “This is one match after another and is a grind no matter what. And we just love that for these kids. We go to the Cheesehead (Invitational in Kaukauna, Wise.) next week and we’ll be tested again, but after that it’s going to be honing in and getting ourselves ready for the state tournament.
Kane Robles (106) went 6-0 overall with one of his victories coming at 113 for JCA. Jason Hampton (126/132) went 3-0 at 126 and 2-1 at 132. Nolan Vogel (150), Vince Tidal (157) and Nicolas Ronchetti (190) went 5-1. Luke Hamiti (165) was 5-0 and dropped his one bout at 175. Maddux Tindal (120) and Isaac Clauson (175) went 4-1 for the Hilltoppers.
Cumbee tipped his hat to Hampton, and put the junior’s place in the program in perspective.
“He got the MVP of the tournament for us,” Cumbee said. “And I’ve been coaching since 2003 and he’s the best leader I’ve ever coached.”
Hampton credits his father for helping mold him into the leader he is today.
“It’s my dad,” he said. “And just growing up and being the oldest brother and having to take charge in the house and stuff.”
Hampton’s lone loss was a sudden victory decision against Sandburg’s Madden Parker. He won a tiebreaker against IC Prep’s Max Calmby, as well as had a pair of tech falls, a pin and a major during the tournament.
“I’d say I wrestled pretty good,” Hampton said. “I had left a match out there and left it up to the refs. It’s a good tournament. I enjoy the dual tournament. It’s really fun to see some of the best guys at my weight, the best guys in the state and being able to wrestle them to see where I’m at. I just try to finish matches strong and wrestle hard here in all the duals.”
Sandburg finished third amongst the four teams in the Gold Pool, dropping duals to JCA and Washington after opening with a win over Yorkville.
Yorkville was fourth, getting a victory over Washington in its middle dual and losing to JCA and Sandburg.
Rocco Hayes (113) went undefeated for the Eagles, pinning all five opponents that he faced. He also received a forfeit victory. Madden Parker (132), Brady Ritter (138), Ryan Hinger (144), Ahmad Alomari (175) and Omar Alhmoud (285) went 4-2.
Jack Ferguson and Luke Zook went undefeated to lead Yorkville. Ferguson went 3-0 at 165 and 3-0 at 157 while Zook went 2-0 at 190 and 3-0 at 175. Donovan Rosauer (150) was 5-1 and Luke Chrisse went 4-2, going 4-1 at 215 and dropping his match at 285 against Mateusz.
Lincoln-Way East won the Silver Pool and was followed by Lincoln-Way West, St. Charles East and Hersey.
Lockport won the Bronze Pool. Naperville Central placed second and was followed by Barrington and DeKalb.
West Aurora won Pool A. Luxemburg-Casco took second, Glenbard North was third and Rochelle was fourth.
Glenbard West was the Pool B champion. Deerfield followed as did Mukwonago, Wisc., and Oswego.
Minooka captured the Pool C title. Chatham (Glenwood), Sycamore and Prospect followed.
Glenbard East took home the Pool D title. Moline placed second, Pewaukee, Wisc., came in third and Libertyville was fourth.
“It’s really great how we built this tournament up where to be the best you’ve got to beat the best,” DeKalb senior 175-pounder Sean Kolkebeck said. “If you go the whole year without wrestling anybody good then you’re going to fall short at the state tournament. It’s important to get in front of it and wrestle kids you know you’re going to see at state. Wrestle hard and really test yourself. Iron sharpens iron. You’re not going to get better wrestling a kid who is not good.”
Definitely not lost amongst the hours of wrestling was the opportunity it allowed for teams to stick together for the entirety of duals, rather than going to this mat and and that, making it impossible for wrestlers and coaches to capture a complete tournament experience.
“It’s definitely more emotional with six duals,” Cirrincione said. “There’s more emotion in dual meets than there is in individual tournaments. There’s good blood, there can be bad blood and all that leads to more emotions so it’s actually a lot more draining to be in six duals over two days than an individual tournament. You’re more invested in each match. In a tournament I might get a quarter of my team that I sit in a chair for, where here you’re in the chair for every single match. They all matter. We have performance expectations. You have competitive expectations. So it’s just a lot more draining and a lot more entertaining as well.”