Normal Community tops the field at Sycamore
By Chris Walker for the IWCOA
Saturday was a long, productive day for Normal Community. Ironmen coach Trevor Kaufman got a white bus ready for the guys at around 4 a.m. on Saturday morning and his team began the trek to Sycamore at around 5 a.m.
Later that afternoon, the Ironmen were the XLIX Sycamore Invitational champions. Normal Community won with 531 points ahead of second-place Unity (453).
“It’s a good tournament, we like going to it,” Kaufman said. “Wake up early and drive up to see some teams we normally don’t get to see. I thought everyone we brought competed and wrestled and did what they were supposed to do. At this time of the year hardly any team is going to be full at this stretch with injuries and sickness. We had some guys who hadn’t wrestled all year who got to fill in for the typical guys and did what they were supposed to do.”
The Ironmen are deep and they showed it in Sycamore.
“We don’t have a lot of room to fit in our lineup at 106, 113, 126 and a few guys would probably be starters on most teams,” Kaufman said. “It’s nice for them to get some varsity matches and see them succeed. Everybody competed well and did what they were supposed to do. In every second of every minute of every match we had maximum effort. If we do that I’m proud no matter what.”
Caden Correll (113) continued his undefeated run so far this winter, pinning Hampshire’s Deegan Kirschke in his title bout, after recording three tech falls on his way to the final.
“He’s kind of wrestling at a different level,” Kaufman said. “He’s extremely confident. He’s got the skills and he’s healthy. Last year he had some back and forth with some injuries. He thinks he’s the best and is going to show it. He has all the talent and obviously he wants to go out and put up points and have fun. He’s the type of kid who wants to score and keep scoring.”
Jackson Soney (106) got the Ironmen rolling in the finals when he pinned Sycamore freshman Carson West in 3:53.
The Ironmen had three wrestlers shake off tough losses in the semifinals and win third place matches. It included Elijah Conda (106), Mason Soney (120) and Cole Gentsch (126). Gentsch lost to the eventual champion at 126, York’s Mondo Martinelli, in a semifinal sudden victory decision.
“(Elijah) was 10 seconds away from making the finals and got third,” Kaufman said. “He doesn’t always get a chance, but he’s going to throw it out every tournament he gets and he got a chance to win a tough tournament.”
Brayden Manning (132) and Jaren Frankowiak (175) took fifth, Mason Caraway (215) was sixth and Ethan Cavallo (138) and Cole Kretsinger (190) placed seventh.
There’s a culture of winning at Normal Community and it’s going strong these days.
“I think it comes from having some kids whose parents went (to Normal Community) and having good, coachable kids,” Kaufman said. “We’ve put in a lot of work in not just the wrestling, but the coaches and kids and all that have built a team culture. We do a lot of stuff together and kind of give them a little bit of responsibility and they do a good job in leading stuff, developing different outings, and I use my captains and team leaders a lot to discuss what we can do better and whether that’s from going out and doing stuff together and in practice as well.”
With three individual champions, York sent the most wrestlers of any of the 25 teams present to the top of the awards stand, the Dukes got titles from Mondo Martinelli (126), Frank Nitti (144), Jackson Hanselman (150).
Rochelle’s Xavier Villalobos, a two-time state medalist in 2A who took fifth in the state a year ago, gave Martinelli a great battle in a 6-3 decision. After getting eliminated at state last year, Martinelli has been fully committed.
“Up to this point I haven’t taken a break since the last state tournament,” Martinelli said. “I was unhappy with the results and I just felt I needed to change that. I’ve worked every day since then and put in all the work. Everything I can do to fortify my mind that I’ve worked harder than anyone else.”
Nitti, a returning state qualifier, was familiar with his finals foe, Unity’s Kaden Inman, who was a state runner-up in Class 1A last year. But Nitti (29-3) has been rolling this season.
“I’ve wrestled (Inman) a few times,” Nitti said. “I kind of brought it to him and pinned him. I’m not going to play around with him. Getting better each day rolling around with (Martinelli and Hanselman)… I can’t wait to see how we’re going to do downstate. I think we’re going to kill it against all these dudes.”
Hanselman wasn’t killing it per se early on in his title bout, but he bided his time, seizing a big opportunity when he saw it against Brazelton and winning by fall at 3:15.
“In the beginning of the match he got up 2-1 on me and was kind of pushing me around the mat,” Hanselman said. “He got on my leg twice and we kind of scrambled out of it. He eventually scored on me, but in the second period he picked down and I was kind of riding him out for maybe 30 seconds to a minute and eventually I just kept working on him and felt him break, felt him slump over and just turned him and pinned him. It was a great feeling.”
Second-place Unity got a pair of titles from Hunter Eastin (190) and Taylor Finley (138), and the Rockets showed resilience Saturday after a rougher night of wrestling on Friday.
“We got big-brothered a bit on Friday by Washington under the spotlights of the Five Points Theatre,” Rockets coach Logan Patton said. “It’s the Dubtown Throwdown and there were some matches we thought we should win and matches (Washington coach) Nick (Miller) thought they should win. We competed hard but we got big-brothered so the two-hour bus ride to Sycamore wasn’t pleasant but we challenged them.”
Eastin (190), the defending Class 1A state champion at 190, pinned Portage, Wisconsin’s Landon Heitmeier in 1:09 while Finley, a state qualifier a season ago, took first place at 138 with a tech fall win against Mahomet-Seymour’s Justus Vrona.
Unity’s Kaden Inman (144), who took second in the state last year in 1A, took second place on Saturday along with teammates Holden Brazelton (150) and Abram Davidson (165). Ryan Rink (175), who took fifth in the state in 1A at 165 last year was third, Hunter Shike (132) took fourth and Keegan Germano (157) placed eighth for Patton’s Rockets.
“I told them the outcome is the outcome because we won’t see these guys freestyle until the offseason so go out and wrestle free and score points and they did that,” Patton said. “We finish Abe’s Rumble and go into hiding in 2A and 3A land until the state series. Us, Naz and Peotone were the only 1A schools at Sycamore, but we go in with a good rapport and know Rochelle and York and Sycamore coaches and they know us and will be prepared for us.”
Currently, Washington is ranked no. 2 in 2A while Unity is ranked no. 4 in 1A. The Rockets undoubtedly had an uphill battle on a big stage on a Friday night in a small town.
“At some point in time you need a kick in the butt,” Patton said. “This is all a part of the process. I’ve been here for eight years and had to schedule for six to make sure we’re prepared for state. We’re trying to win state so this competition is needed.”
It wasn’t too long ago that Patton wandered into athletic director Scott Hamilton’s office and told him that the Unity wrestling schedule wasn’t tough enough.
“I couldn’t thank our athletic director Scott Hamilton enough,” he said. “He’s retiring after 31 years and I came in (my first year) and looked at him and said the schedule is soft and I told him I want to schedule Washington (that) year. He asked if that’s what I really wanted to do and if I was sure.”
The results today speak for themselves.
“This weekend we take second and have a few champs in the finals and represented well,” Patton said. “They were ready to go and with a kick in the butt (from Washington) can compete at any level.”
Third-place Rochelle’s Grant Genlser (165) and Kaiden Morris (215) won titles for the Hubs. Both went from the gridiron to the mats and have continued to have great success in both sports. The all-conference football players (Genlser was also named all-state) helped the Hubs take third place with 452 points.
Xavier Villalobos (126) placed second for the Hubs, Roman Villalobos (190) was third, Aidan Lopez (120) and Deegan Schabacker (138) took sixth, Freddie Hernandez (113) and Brendan Voight (157) placed seventh and Keagan Albers (132) was eighth.
The host Spartans took fourth with 408.5 points, led by a pair of second-place finishes from Carson West (106) and Michael Olson (120), thirds from Charlie Olson (113) and Jayden Dohogne (138), and fourths from Tyler Lockhart (126) and Cooper Bode (175).
“Overall I thought we did very well,” Sycamore coach Randy Culton said. “We came together as a team. We had some tough wins and tough losses, but gelled as a team, finished fourth out of 25 teams. Our guys stepped up. Every single guy on the team scored points for us today, that was good.”
Wheaton North took fifth place with 375.5 points.
While Wheaton North’s Thomas Fulton (157) has some familiarity with winning tournaments this season, it was a whole new experience for teammate Rocco Mecallaio (120).
The Falcons soared into the top five thanks to titles from Fulton and Macellaio.
“I’ve started to trust my coaching a lot more and it’s been turning out well for sure,” Macellaio said. “I definitely started out very slow and sloppy but I came back, you know, but I definitely got a lot more work to do this season. It’s nice to win for sure, but I still have got work to do.”
Macellaio persevered. After opening with a 3-0 decision over McHenry’s Cody Kamp, Macellaio earned three consecutive tech fall victories against Lyons’ Louie King, Rochelle’s Aidan Lopez and Normal Community’s Mason Soney to advance to the finals where he spoiled Sycamore’s Michael Olson from winning a title at his school’s own tournament.
Sycamore’s Carson West had also advanced to the finals for the Spartans but came up short after losing to Normal Community’s Jackson Soney, falling in 3:53 at 106.
Last year, Macellaio placed sixth at 106 at Sycamore, while Fulton dropped his first-place match a season ago.
While winning a tournament title was a new experience for Macellaio this winter, Fulton has reached that promised land, having won at the McLaughlin Classic at Joliet Central in early December. More recently he placed fifth in the Dvorak.
“It always feels nice to win, but I felt like in several of the matches I didn’t really capitalize on the opportunities to work my stuff,” Fulton said. “I got knocked out last week a little bit and didn’t get to wrestle as much so I was a little tired in some of my matches. But I think I’m starting to get my wind back a little bit more, but I definitely think I could’ve done more in my matches, but it always feels nice to win.”
All five of Fulton’s victories came via tech fall or fall. He had tech fall wins over Rock Island’s Ian McGowan, Sycamore’s Ian Ruiz before another against Mundelein’s Kevin Hernandez in the semifinals. He pinned Lyons’ Mickey Ahrens in his quarterfinal and had a tech fall victory in his title bout against Normal Community’s Carter Mayes.
Lyons’ Griff Powell (24-1) continued his strong season with a tech fall win over McHenry’s Ryan Hanson to win the 132 title, and Mahomet-Seymour’s Marco Casillas (32-3) also took home a title at 175 with a tech fall in the finals against Hampshire’s Aidan Rowells.
“I’ve been working on pushing the pace against some guys,” Powell said. “I know they can’t keep up the pace and I’m ready right from the get go. The competition here was like I’m wrestling the same match anywhere. I went out for the same match and wrestled my style and pushed my pace. I like where I’m at. I think I can get a little bit better before the state tournament.”
Team scores:
Normal Community 531, Unity 453, Rochelle 452, Sycamore 408.5, Wheaton North 403, Glenbrook South 375.5, Lyons 364, Mahomet-Seymour 363, York 328, Mundelein 316.5, Rock Island 305.5, Rockford East 282, McHenry 274, Oak Forest 270, Hampshire 258.5, Grayslake North 236, Sterling 234, Portage (WI) 221, Bloomington 178, Willowbrook 151, Marengo 146.5, St. Charles North 11.5, Peotone 107, Belvidere North 86, Nazareth Academy 52.5.
Sycamore Invitational results (1st-6th place):
106
1st: Jackson Soney (Normal Community) 28-4, d. Carson West (Sycamore ) 26-3, (Fall 3:53)
3rd: Elijah Conda (Normal Community) 17-4, d. Jason Schickel (Oak Forest) 19-10, (Dec 7-4)
5th: Dylan Le (Wheaton N) 10-9, d. Angelo Parker (Rock Island ) 15-7, (Dec 7-4)
113
1st: Caden Correll (Normal Community) 32-0, d. Deegan Kirschke (Hampshire) 21-6, (Fall 1:27)
3rd: Charlie Olson (Sycamore ) 13-4, d. Aris Neal (Willowbrook) 17-8, (Dec 4-0)
5th: Jacob Sebek (Oak Forest) 25-1, d. Diego Arteaga (Glenbrook S) 13-10, (Fall 1:31)
120
1st: Rocco Macellaio (Wheaton N) 5-0, d. Michael Olson (Sycamore ) 24-9, (Dec 6-3)
3rd: Mason Soney (Normal Community) 21-7, d. Lou Jensen (Hampshire) 15-11, (Fall 0:42)
5th: Ermuun Urtnasan (Glenbrook S) 19-4, d. Aidan Lopez (Rochelle) 21-9, (Dec 13-9)
126
1st: Mondo Martinelli (York) 33-3, d. Xavier Villalobos (Rochelle) 27-4, (Dec 6-3)
3rd: Cole Gentsch (Normal Community) 31-3, d. Tyler Lockhart (Sycamore ) 25-6, (Fall 0:48)
5th: Caden Cahill (Wheaton N) 24-12, d. Roger Martinez (Lyons) 20-6, (MD 12-0)
132
1st: Griff Powell (Lyons) 24-1, d. Ryan Hanson (McHenry) 25-7, (TF-1.5 3:01 (18-3)
3rd: Zyan Westbrook (Sterling ) 16-2, d. Hunter Shike (Unity) 22-8, (Fall 3:08)
5th: Brayden Manning (Normal Community) 26-6, d. Hayden Beebe (Marengo) 18-11, (TF-1.5 4:00 (20-5)
138
1st: Taylor Finley (Unity) 27-2, d. Justus Vrona (M-Seymour) 25-10, (TF-1.5 4:00 (17-2)
3rd: Jayden Dohogne (Sycamore ) 29-5, d. Tyler Barlow (Bloomington ) 18-13, (Fall 0:37)
5th: Jack Kutchek (Lyons) 12-6, d. Deegan Schabacker (Rochelle) 17-14, (Fall 1:41)
144
1st: Frank Nitti (York) 29-3, d. Kaden Inman (Unity) 27-3, (Fall 1:53)
3rd: Antonio Parker (Rock Island ) 20-3, d. Colton McClure (M-Seymour) 18-15, (TF-1.5 2:40 (21-5)
5th: Ryan Johnston (McHenry) 25-8, d. Brogan Sons (SC North) 13-11, (Fall 0:56)
150
1st: Jackson Hanselman (York) 31-5, d. Holden Brazelton (Unity) 27-4, (Fall 3:15)
3rd: Dana Wickson (Rockford E) 22-4, d. Owen Anderson (Grayslake N) 24-2, (M. For.)
5th: Ryan Rosch (Wheaton N) 16-4, d. Chris Napiorkowski (Hampshire) 21-9, (DQ)
157
1st: Thomas Fulton (Wheaton N) 5-0, d. Carter Mayes (Normal Community) 28-5, (TF-1.5 4:37 (20-4)
3rd: Ty Smart (Rockford E) 23-8, d. Kevin Hernandez (Mundelein) 25-4, (Dec 9-4)
5th: Jacob Ronsman (Grayslake N) 22-4, d. Mickey Ahrens (Lyons) 12-12, (TF-1.5 1:48 (15-0)
165
1st: Grant Genlser (Rochelle) 30-3, d. Abram Davidson (Unity) 24-4, (Dec 6-2)
3rd: AJ Demos (M-Seymour) 21-9, d. Henry Downing (Glenbrook S) 20-7, (MD 10-2)
5th: Aiden Schuldt (McHenry) 19-7, d. Blake Bussie (Oak Forest) 17-11, (Dec 9-2)
175
1st: Marco Casillas (M-Seymour) 32-3, d. Aidan Rowells (Hampshire) 14-5, (TF-1.5 4:16 (18-3)
3rd: Ryan Rink (Unity) 20-7, d. Cooper Bode (Sycamore ) 23-9, (SV-1 6-3)
5th: Jaren Frankowiak (Normal Community) 27-7, d. Sean Gielarowski (Willowbrook) 7-6, (SV-1 6-3)
190
1st: Hunter Eastin (Unity) 28-1, d. Landon Heitmeier (Portage, WI) 14-2, (Fall 1:09)
3rd: Roman Villalobos (Rochelle) 24-6, d. Brock VanDeveer (M-Seymour) 19-6, (MD 11-2)
5th: Willie Nieves-Pena (Mundelein) 15-8, d. Rowan Stockwell (Rock Island ) 14-6, (Fall 1:50)
215
1st: Kaiden Morris (Rochelle) 31-1, d. Kenner Bye (Bloomington ) 21-5, (Dec 8-4)
3rd: Andrius Vasilevskas (Oak Forest) 24-4, d. Noah Daniels (M-Seymour) 16-6, (MD 8-0)
5th: Mikey Grazzini (York) 20-7, d. Mason Caraway (Normal Community) 25-9, (Fall 2:15)
285
1st: Abisai Hernandez (Mundelein) 24-2, d. Hunter Johnson (Glenbrook S) 18-7, (Fall 2:41)
3rd: Phil Daniels (M-Seymour) 16-11, d. Colin Thompson (Portage, WI) 7-4, (Dec 2-1)
5th: Knox Homola (Hampshire) 19-6, d. David Williams (Bloomington ) 6-2, (SV-1 10-7)