Boys tournament recaps: Palatine, Morton, Glenbard South

By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA

70th Berman Holiday Tournament

Canton showed a field of 2A and 3A rivals that it belonged, with a terrific start-to-finish effort that gave the Little Giants their second tournament crown of the season, adding to its win at the Seneca Fighting Irish Invite in early December.

“We were thrilled to have the opportunity to come here to compete against bigger schools, and I would say we did quite well today,” Canton coach Zach Crawford said.

“Our three individual champions, Dyllan Steele, Jacob Hardesty, and Connor Williams obviously wrestled well. They were very strong throughout the tournament.”

The Little Giants (7-3-0) won their own regional last year easily, then fell short in their class 1A dual-team sectional against Stanford Olympia, who would lose to eventual state champion Coal City in its dual-team state quarterfinal.

The Berman Holiday Classic is the longest -running boys wrestling tournament in the state, aside from the state tournament, and is named after Al and Sally Berman, two names synonymous with Palatine High School wrestling.

Al Berman began as the freshman coach at Palatine in 1969, moved on to the man in charge of the Junior Varsity through the 1989 sports season.

It was during this time that he met and married Sally, and together they worked what was then called the Palatine Holiday Wrestling Tournament.

The Bermans would work at a variety of tournaments in and around the area, while continuing to be the glue that held together the Pirates’ programs.

In 1993, the tournament was officially renamed the Berman Holiday Wrestling Classic. Al Berman was named to the IWCOA Hall of Fame in 2001, and two years later, the Berman’s were inducted into the Palatine High School Hall of Fame in honor of a lifetime of contributions to the community.

Final Team Standings

Canton 179.5, Palatine 167.5, Lake Zurich 145.0, Stevenson 138.5, Zion-Benton 136.0, Oswego East 93.5, Buffalo Grove 88.5, St. Ignatius 80.0, Rolling Meadows 71.0, Lane Tech 69.5, Leyden 66.5, Metea Valley 62.0, St. Viator 45.5, Grayslake North 40.0, Bremen 25.0, Hillcrest 23.5.

1st: Canton (179.5)

The 200 mile-plus trip to Palatine would be an enjoyable one for individual champions: Dyllan Steele (120, 17-0), Jacob Hardesty (132, 16-1) and heavyweight Connor Williams (16-0) all found in the state’s top 10, but it always takes support from others in order to have the chance to lift the team championship trophy.

Maddux Steele (126, 15-2), Alex Carrier (157) and Daniel Kees (165, 13-5) were all deserving of their second place medals, with Jireh Hodges (138) and Grady Smith (150) third overall. Dean Bruketta would pitch in with his fourth place finish at 113.
“We got ourselves a good experience against guys we will never see, and the hope is this trip here will help us going forward, and the goal is to see if all comes together for us in the postseason,” Crawford said.

2nd Palatine (167.5)

The host Pirates, and its head coach Tulga Zuunbayan, who would star at Wheeling, then Rolling Meadows, earning three trips downstate, would in second all throughout the day to earn the runners-up trophy.

“I thought we wrestled pretty well as a team, and especially (Dunamis) Philip at (13) and Karl Bep at (65) who were both champions here at home,” said Zuunbayan, who would finish up his prep career with a 142-16 overall record before going on to win a National Junior College championship while at nearby Harper College.

“My defense today was really good, especially in my final because it was so high scoring (18-11) – but I give all the credit to Jesus, who is so important in my life,” said the freshman Philip, who is now 10-2.

“Dunamis is a shy young man, but his faith is very strong,” said Zuunbayan.

“As far as (Bep) he’s the leader in our room, a four-year guy, whose energy, and personality is something we all appreciate,” echoed Zuunbayan, and Pirates long-time assistant Chris Winters, who was head coach (2019-2020) in between Jeff Keske, now head coach at Fremd, and Javier Rivera, whom Zuunbayan took over for last season.

The Pirates, ninth here a year ago, would also receive second place medals from: Aidan Noe (106) and Ilya Pilshchikov (10-2) at 215, with teammate Daniel Derevlyak third at 157.

Joel Aragon (120) and Jacari Turner (285) were fourth, and Miguel Allende (144) and Josiah Carrillo (150) fifth.

3rd: Lake Zurich (145.0)

The Bears are in a steady rebuilding project under head coach Mike Buhr, who watched his best man, Rocco DiCanio (22-3) overwhelm the competition at 215 to give the Bears its lone title on the day.

“Rocco is just a great leader, who gets better each time out, and the perfect guy to lead a really young group that we have,” said Buhr, of his sophomore who was fifth at Barrington at the start of the season.

Evan Honegger earned second place honors at 138, Ivan Pantoja (190) third, Jonathan Diaz fourth at 126, with the foursome of: Joey Pacini (113), Cole Wojtalewicz (120, 4 pins), Edgar Bonilla (157) and Filip Kawalec (165) all grabbing fifth place medals.

The Bears were in fifth place on the leaderboard just after the lunch break, but it would be its eight medal day that helped them squeeze past NSC rival Stevenson by one-half point, and into third place.

Additional champions:

Jeremiah Arroyo-McMullan (106, Lane), Mykola Shamray (126, Buffalo Grove), 

Dylan Solesky (138, Zion-Benton), Colton Huff (144, St. Ignatius), William Guziec 

(150, Stevenson), Anthony Malone (157, Zioń-Benton), Josh Rappa (175, Rolling Meadows), John Rappa (190, Rolling Meadows), 

Additional runners-up:

Danny Huerta (113, Leyden), Braden Sroka (120, Zioń-Benton), Malachi Turner (132, Bremen), Kingsley Chen (144, Stevenson), Noah Snów (150, Oswego East),

Dominic Ganir (175, Leyen), Eduardo Albarran (190, Zion-Benton), David Williams (285, Grayslake North).

Buffalo Grove sophomore Mykola Shamray (14-1) would be named O.W. after his championship performance at 126 pounds.

The unbeatens (minimum 10 matches wrestled)
Canton’s Dyllan Steele (17-0 at 120), Buffalo Grove’s Mykola Shamray (13-1 at 126), Rolling Meadows’ John Rappa (13-0 at 190), Canton’s Connor Williams (16-0 at 285)

The once-beatens (minimum 10 matches)
Lane’s Jeremiah Arroyo-McMullan (22-1 at 106), Canton’s Jacob Hardesty (16-1 at 132), St. Ignatius’ Colton Huff (16-1 at 144), Rolling Meadows’ Josh Rappa (11-1 at 175)

Statistics
Lake Zurich posted the most pins in the least time, with 16 in 36:11, while Rolling Meadows had the most tech falls in the least time, with four techs in 9:58. Stevenson scored the most total match points with 298, followed by Palatine with 287.

Individually, Lake Zurich’s Cole Wojtalewicz finished with the most pins in the least time, with four falls in 7:30. Metea Valley’s Lucas Marcoux had the most tech falls in the least time, with three techs in 13:25. Marcoux also scored the most total match points in the tournament with 65. St. Ignatius’ Colton Huff and Lane’s Jeremiah Arroyo-McMullan tied for the fastest pin, at 25 seconds. Rolling Meadows’ John Rappa posted the fastest tech fall, at 1:04.

Zion Benton’s Anthony Malone and Lake Zurich’s Rocc DiCanio tied for the most team points scored with 28, and Metea Valley’s Adam Loos had the most single-match points with 25.

Buffalo Grove’s Christiano Marogy provided the largest seed-place difference, as the No. 16 seed placed sixth at 215.

Championship match results:

106- Jeremiah Arroyo-McMullan (Lane) d. Aidan Noe (Palatine) (TF 1:59, 19-4).

113- Dunamis Philip (Palatine) d. Danny Huerta (Leyden) (MD 22-11).

120- Dyllan Steele (Canton) d. Braden Sroka (Zioń-Benton) (MD 9-0).

126- Mykola Shamray (Buffalo Grove) d. Maddux Steele (Canton) (D 6-0).

132- Jacob Hardesty (Canton) d. Malachi Turner (Bremen) (TF 3:40, 21-5).

138- Dylan Solesky (Zion-Benton) d. Evan Honegger (Lake Zurich) (MD 13-1).

144- Colton Huff (St. Ignatius) d. Kingsley Chen (Stevenson) (TF 5:09, 15-0).

150- William Guziec (Stevenson) d. Noah Snów (Oswego East) (D 4-3).

157- Anthony Malone (Zion-Benton) d. Alex Carrier (Canton) (D 10-6).

165- Karl Bep (Palatine) d. Daniel Kees (Canton) (TF 2:58, 21-5).

175- Josh Rappa (Rolling Meadows) d. Dominic Ganir (Leyden) (TF 3:06, 16-0).

190- John Rappa (Rolling Meadows) d. Eduardo Albarran (Zion-Benton) (MD 16-2).

215- Rocco DiCanio (Lake Zurich) d. Ilya Pilshchikov (Palatine) (F 2:20).

285- Connor Williams (Canton) d. David Williams (Grayslake North) (D 4-2).

Third-place match results:

106- Thomas Emery (St. Viator) d. Aidan Noe (Palatine) (TF 1:59, 19-4).

113- Jayden Garcia (Rolling Meadows) d. Dean Brunette (Canton) (TF 3:23, 18-3).

120- Evan Mishels (Stevenson) d. Joel Aragon (Palatine) (TF 2:33, 16-1).

126- Alex Villanueva (St. Ignatius) d. Jonathan Diaz (Lake Zurich) (MD 13-4).

132- Colin McCann (St. Ignatius) d. Joaquin Salameda (Lane) (F 3:16).

138- Jireh Hughes (Canton) d. Angel Santana (Lane) (F 1:53).

144- Marcus Smith (Oswego East) d. Daniel Chacia (St. Viator) (F 3:19).

150- Grady Smith (Canton) d. Gage Tate (Zion-Benton) (F 4:48).

157- Daniel Derevlyak (Palatine) d. Johnny Khurshedov (Buffalo Grove) (INJ).

165- Payton McNabb (Zion-Benton) d. Larry Watson (Hillcrest) (D 2-1).

175- Sonny Tugs (Buffalo Grove) d. Carpel Herry (Zion-Benton) (4-3).

190- Ivan Pantoja (Lake Zurich) d. Tului Hurelbaatar (Stevenson) (INJ).

215- Melson Ngassa (St. Ignatius) d. Jovan Cerny (Oswego East) (INJ).

285- Dave Reardon (St. Ignatius) d. Jacari Travis (Palatine) (F 0:59).

Steve Eckert Holiday Wrestling Classic

Naperville North made it two tournament titles in a row, winning Morton’s 18-team Steve Eckert Classic just one week after winning the team title at West Chicago.
Naperville North coach Tom Champion sent five to the title mat, getting individual titles from Michael Arrendondo (132) and Tavfik Ibragimov (215) to lead the Huskies to a 190-152.5 final cushion over second-place Maine West. Bolingbrook (144.5) placed third, followed by host Morton (143.5) and Riverside-Brookfield (135.5) to round out the top five.

1st- Naperville North (190)
In addition to titles from unbeaten Arrendondo (21-0) and unbeaten No. 4 Ibragimov (21-0), North got runner-up finishes from Max Venecia (144), Kai Balice (150), and JT Hill (190), thirds from Cam Krueger (106) and Jaden Milner (165), a fifth from Hank Burresh (113), and sixths from Antonis Rasoulis (120) and Kienan Rubald (175).

2nd-Maine West (152.5)
Maine West coach Demetrios Vrettos got a third-place finish from Lucas Masek (285), fourths from Lincoln Curley (106), Hafid Alicea (144), Louis Avalos (150), and Nathan Dorado (190), fifths from Adrian Trejo (126), Joshua Villacis (138), and Marcel Debski (215), and sixths from Tyson Dorado (113) and Ben Crumlish (132).

3rd- Bolingbrook (144.5)
A pair of individual champs in Elijah Flowers (144) and Geno Vargas (165) led the way for Raiders coach Dylan Burnoski, who also got a second from Nate Zeffield (285), and fourths from Jeremiah Starks (138), Diego Segura (157) and Logan Sogavo (175).

Team scores
Naperville North 190, Maine West 152.5, Bolingbrook 144.5, JS Morton 143.5, Riverside-Brookfield 135.5, Burlington Central 121.5, Fenwick  120.5, St. Laurence 106, Stagg 98, Shepard 94.5, Montini 91, Nazareth Academy 86, Little Village 76, Maine East 65.5, Hancock 48.5, Argo 30.5, Ridgewood 25.5, Phoenix Military Academy 7

Additional champions
106 Angelo Alcantar (Morton), 113 Liam Kissane (St. Laurence), 120 Eduardo Vences (Central), 126 Alek Ramos (Nazareth), 138 Tony Lombardo (R-B), 150 Brandon Leech (Shepard), 157 Samer Suleiman (Stagg), 175 Santiago Moya (Morton), 190 Matthew Zalinski (St. Laurence), 285 Ruben Tello (Little Village)

Additional runners-up
106 Riley Cavaliere (R-B), 113 Tristan Rodriguez (Morton), 120 Rich Gulli (Nazareth), 126 Harrison Brown (Fenwick), 132 Adrian Pintado (St. Laurence), 138 Will Howenstein (Montini), 157 Ronald Perez (Central), 165 Joey Massey (Shepard), 175 Malaki Davis (Hancock), 215 Xavier Bitner (St. Laurence)

The unbeatens (minimum 10 matches)
Nazareth’s Alek Ramos (17-0 at 126), Naperville North’s Michael Arrendondo (21-0 at 132), Naperville North’s Tavfik Ibragimov (21-0 at 215)

Statistics
Maine West finished with the most pins in the tournament with 23, followed by Naperville North’s 21 pins. Montini had the most tech falls with six, followed by Shepard with five. Fenwick scored the most total match points with 320, followed by Bolingbrook with 306.

Individually, Bolingbrook’s Diego Segura had the most pins in the least time, with four falls in 8:47, and Maine East’s Mustafa Al-Temeeni had the fastest fall at 8 seconds. Nazareth Academy’s Alek Ramos had most tech falls in the least time, with three in 13:15.

Shepard’s Brandon Leech scored the most team points with 29, and the most single-match points with 25. The largest seed-place difference came from Stagg’s Samer Suleiman, who was seeded 16th and won the title at 157 pounds.

Championship match results
106-Angelo Alcantar (Morton) MD 15-5 Riley Cavaliere (R-B)
113-Liam Kissane (St. Laurence) TF 4:00 Tristan Rodriguez (Morton)
120-Eduardo Vences (Central) F 1:47 Rich Gulli (Nazareth)
126-Alek Ramos (Nazareth) TF 4:44 Harrison Brown (Fenwick)
132-Michael Arrendondo (Naperville N) F 2:34 Adrian Pintado (St. Laurence)
138-Tony Lombardo (R-B) D 12-6 Will Howenstein (Montini)
144-Elijah Flowers (Bolingbrook) F 2:19 Max Venecia (Naperville N)
150-Brandon Leech (Shepard) TF 6:00 Kai Balice (Naperville N)
157-Samer Suleiman (Stagg) D 3-1 Ronald Perez (Central)
165-Geno Vargas (Bolingbrook) MD 15-6 Joey Massey (Shepard)
175-Santiago Moya (Morton) D 8-4 Malakai Davis (Hancock)
190-Matthew Zalinski (St. Laurence) D 6-5 JT Hill (Naperville N)
215-Tavfik Ibragimov (Naperville N) D 8-3, Xavier Bitner (St. Laurence)
285-Ruben Tello (Little Village) F 1:13 Nate Zeffield (Bolingbrook)

Third-place match results
106-Cam Krueger (Naperville N) MD 15-3 Lincoln Curley (Maine W)
113-Maurizio Campana (Fenwick) D 7-4 Emilio Fortiz (Nazareth)
120-Javier Corral (Stagg) D 5-0 Benito Chavez (Little Village)
126-Cade Vazquez (Montini) D 13-11 Nicolas Jaramillo (Morton)
132-Izaiah Gonzalez (R-B) TF 2:00 Joaquin Fortiz (Nazareth)
138-Mohamad Khater (Ridgewood) MD 11-3 Jeremiah Starks (Bolingbrook)
144-Joel Waggoner (Montini) MD 12-2 Hafid Alicea (Maine W)
150-Burke Burns (Fenwick) TF 4:37 Louis Avalos (Maine W)
157-Will Konder (Montini) D 4-2 Diego Segura (Bolingbrook)
165-Jaden Milner (Naperville N) F 2:59 Brayden Driscoll (Stagg)
175-Nick O’Connor (R-B) F 5:03 Logan Sogavo (Bolingbrook)
190-Gerald Evans (R-B) F 2:32 Nathan Dorado (Maine W)
215-Michael Junitz (Central) MD 14-4 Zikorno Mbewe (Fenwick)
285-Lucas Masek (Maine W) D 7-3 Daniel Cisneros (Maine E)


Glenbard South Varsity Tournament
Host Glenbard South ruled the roost at its 15-team tournament Saturday for the second straight year, winning 200.5-182.5 over second-place East Aurora. Leyden (161) was third followed by St. Francis (154) and Northridge Prep (123) to round out the top five.
Glenbard South got individual titles from Jin Tai (150) and Dallin Ames (175) to lead the Raiders.
“Jin is a returning state qualifier with goals of making it on the podium,” Glenbard South coach Kenny Paoli. “He recorded three wins on the day, two by tech fall and a pin in the finals. Dallin is an up-and-coming sophomore whose strength and athleticism make him dangerous on the mat. He recorded three wins in the tournament, all of them coming by pin.”

1st- Glenbard South (200.5)
In addition to individual titles from Tai and Ames, coach Kenny Paoli got seconds from Logan Murphy (113), Ruben Kasman (157) and Anthony Kinney (165), fourths from Max Klaus (120), Aiden Munoz (132) and Kurt Lewandowski (144), fifths from Rocco Marcantonio (126) and Griffin Pawelski (138), and a sixth from Lucas Benning (106).
“We are a fairly young team with seven underclassmen in the varsity lineup but we are filling a varsity lineup for the first time in a long time at Glenbard South,” Paoli said. “The team is currently 7-3 and our goal is to win a regional championship this year, something that has never been done in school history.”

2nd- East Aurora (182.5)
East Aurora coach Frank Davison got runner-up finishes from Benjamin Hinton (106) and Zaid Lupian (138), plus thirds from Jorge Farias (157) and Kevin Sanchez (165), a fourth from Emmanuel Diaz (190), fifths from Alejandro Camarillo (113) and Roman Cepeda (215), and sixths from Salvador Rodriguez (132), Jose Guzman (144), Alexander Chaves (150) and Josias Garcia (175).

3rd- Leyden (161)
Danny Huerta (113) and Erick Worwa (190) won individual titles for coach John Kading, and the Eagles got thirds from Dominic Ganir (175) and Zachary Jaffray (215), fourths from Xiavier Herrera (157) and Alexander Aguinaga (285), fifths from Eli Uribe (150) and Jason Castro (165), and a sixth from Zabiel Lagunas (138).

Team scores

Glenbard South 200.5, East Aurora 182.5, Leyden 161, St. Francis 154, Northridge Prep 123, Kelly 111.5, Elgin 98, Highland Park 80.5, Noble/ITW Speer 76, Goode STEM Academy 61, Horizon/Southwest Chicago 55.5, Harvest Christian 48.5, Waukegan 47, Westmont 42.5, Lindblom 34.5

Additional champions
106 Ira Medina (Waukegan), 120 Patrick Manio (Northridge), 126 Brian Martinez (Highland Park), 132 Brennan O’Donnell (Harvest Christian), 138 Paul Coco (St. Francis), 144 Jayden Veal (Good/STEM Academy), 157 Emilio Guzman (Elgin), 165 Chase Siguenza (St. Francis), 215 Victor Juarez (Elgin), 285 Rafael Castrejon-Tello (Westmont)

Additional runners-up
106 Benjamin Hinton (East Aurora), 120 Santino Pignatelli (St. Francis), 126 Andrew Chirinos (Waukegan), 132 Patrick Kopecky (Northridge), 144 Max Mulhearn (Harvest Christian), 150 Javier Rodriguez (Northridge), 175 James Reitman (St. Francis), 190 Samel Marrero (Horizon/SW Chicago), 215 Nick Belcore (Northridge)

The unbeatens (10-match minimum)
Goode/STEM Academy’s Jayden Veal (14-0 at 144)

The once-beaten (10-match minimum)
Glenbard South’s Jin Tai (19-1 at 150)

Statistics
Leyden led all teams present with 23 pins, followed by East Aurora with 21. Glenbard South had the most tech falls in the least time with five in 10:18, followed by East Aurora with five at 16:34. East Aurora and Leyden finished tied for the most total match points with 315, followed by Glenbard South with 313.
Individually, Kelly’s Leovardo Juarez had the most pins in the least time, with four falls in 6:36, while Noble/ITW Speer’s Adrian Ortiz had the fastest fall in 15 seconds. Glenbard South’s Jin Tai had the most tech falls in the least time, with two in 3:04, and the fastest tech fall in 1:04.
Highland Park’s Brian Martinez and Leyden’s Danny Huerta tied for the most team points scored with 29.5, and there was a three-way tie for the most single-match points at 29 between Waukegan’s Ira Medina, and Leyden’s Danny Huerta and Dominic Ganir. Leyden’s Zabiel Lagunas finished with the most total match points with 70.

Championship match results
106-Ira Medina (Waukegan) TF 4:29 Benjamin Hinton (E Aurora)
113-Danny Huerta (Leyden) F 5:39 Logan Murphy (Glenbard S)
120-Patrick Manio (Northridge) F 1:11 Santino Pignatelli (St. Francis)
126-Brian Martinez (Highland Park) F 4:47 Andrew Chirinos (Waukegan)
132-Brennan O’Donnell (Harvest Ch) TF 2:56 Patrick Kopecky (Northridge)
138-Paul Coco (St. Francis) TF 3:02 Zaid Lupian (E Aurora)
144-Jayden Veal (Goode/STEM) F 5:35 Max Mulhearn (Harvest Ch)
150-Jin Tai (Glenbard S) F 2:52 Javier Rodriguez (Northridge)
157-Emilio Guzman (Elgin) MD 14-1 Ruben Kasman (Glenbard S)
165-Chase Siguenza (St. Francis) D 6-1 Anthony Kinney (Glenbard S)
175-Dallin Ames (Glenbard S) F 2:48 James Reitman (St. Francis)
190-Erick Worwa (Leyden) D 5-3 Samel Marrero (Horizon/SW Chicago)
215-Victor Juarez (Elgin) F 3:48 Nick Belcore (Northridge)
285-Rafael Castrejon-Tello (Westmont) F 1:26 Christopher Johnson (E Aurora)

Third-place match results
106-Jonathan Mendoza-Rodriguez (Lindblom) D 7-0 Jayden Robles (Kelly)
113-Christopher Gaytan (Kelly) D 14-7 Ithan Payne (Lindblom)
120-Adrian Ortiz (Noble/ITW Speer) TF 4:09 Max Klaus (Glenbard S)
126-Arden Baglaev (Westmont) TF 4:49 Isaah Montes (Kelly)
132-Leon Stille (Highland Park) D 8-6 Aiden Munoz (Glenbard S)
138-Alontae Lorek (Horizon/SW Chicago) TF 1:58 Isaiah Poole (Goode/STEM)
144-Leovardo Juarez (Kelly) TF 4:19 Kurt Lewandowski (Glenbard S)
150-Jayden Corchado (Highland Park) F 3:05 Lev Svoboda (St. Francis)
157-Jorge Farias (E Aurora) TF 3:54 Xiavier Herrera (Leyden)
165-Kevin Sanchez (E Aurora) F 1:23 Amir Carruthers (Horizon/SW Chicago)
175-Dominic Ganir (Leyden) F 3:00 Josiah Turner (Elgin)
190-Kylexy Sosa (Elgin) fft. Emmanuel Diaz (E Aurora)
215-Zachary Jaffray (Leyden) F 0:25 Yovany Amaya (Noble/ITW Speer)
285-Thomas Suter (Northridge) F 5:21 Alexander Aguinaga (Leyden)