Evergreen Park puts it all together to win Lisle Melichar Tournament

By Chris Walker – for the IWCOA

Evergreen Park had been waiting for a day like Saturday all winter long.

The time was certainly right for the Mustangs to have their full lineup see action for the first time this season as six of their wrestlers won individual titles and five others placed in the top-four to lead the team to victory in Lisle’s 17-team Steve Melichar Memorial Wrestling Tournament.

“We’ve been waiting,” Mustangs coach Ron Zimmerman said. “This is our first time our lineup has been intact all the way up and through. We don’t have a heavyweight, but 106 to 215 the dudes were here (today). All the dudes were in their weight class, all the dudes were healthy and we had a good showing. And we’ve been waiting for this type of outcome from our guys because things happened with injuries, illness, weight control.”

A month ago, Evergreen Park finished in third place in Pontiac’s Munch Invitational.

“We were third in two other tournaments and we were there with 10 guys,” Zimmerman said. “If we’ve got 13 guys there we’re second or first.”

The Mustangs are getting contributions from freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.

“So we’ve got an experienced team and a young team so it’s one or the other,” Zimmerman said. “Genesis (Ward) is one of our leaders and seniors and Ashton (Gray) is a senior captain and a go-getter. David (Johnson) is a senior and my 190 (Andres Flores-Ramirez), who had a tough go today, is a senior so we have four seniors.”

Lucas Landry, who is only a freshman, won at 132 for the Mustangs with a 15-10 decision over Hinsdale South’s Jason Jude. Landry had a pair of byes so his tech fall win over St. Edward’s Axell Magana in the semis was his lone other bout.

“Lucas is a freshman and we have three sophomores in the lineup, too, so we’re also a young team,” Zimmerman said. “But we’re trying really hard to push our kids really hard within limits, you know what I’m saying, and we have 10 kids who like to wrestle and not just during the season, during the offseason too, and that makes a difference.”

Junior Christian Ramirez got the Mustangs rolling with an 11-3 decision over Glenbard East’s Cole Forsyth in the 113 final. Ramirez had a pair of first-period pins in his two earlier matches.

Another junior, Adrian Cervantes, had one of the tightest and toughest championship victories, denying Lisle’s Alexander Ferari from winning on his home turf, 5-4, at 126. Cervantes had tech fall wins earlier against Westmont’s Christian Rosa and Nazareth Academy’s Alek Ramos.

Landry beat Jude at 132 to push Evergreen Park’s tally to three champions through just five weight classes. Plus, sophomore Jayden Cervantes also wrestled during that time frame, getting pinned late in the third period in the 120 finals by Glenbard East’s Ismael Chaidez.

Junior Chance Woods, one of two returning state qualifiers for the Mustangs, pinned Argo’s Aldo Gutierrez in 3:42 for the title at 138. Woods, last year’s Most Outstanding Wrestler in the tournament, had the most team points with 28.

Gray earned a spot in the front row after pinning Belvidere’s Mario Beasley in 2:41 for the title at 157. After opening his day’s competition with a 7-2 decision over Glenbard East’s Joel Gallarza, Gray pinned Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Trevor Williams in 1:09 to get into the finals.

“He’s very intelligent, he’s smart, he goes at it,” Zimmerman said of Gray. “If he keeps his head on straight a lot of good things are going to come his way.”

“It’s completely different,” said Gray, who began his season at 144. “I was at 138 last year and started at 144 but couldn’t maintain it. Now I’m up to 165 and was just recently 157.”

“I can’t run as much as I want to keep (the weight) on me then shed it,” Gray said. “I have a lot more strength and certainly my technique. My teammates have helped me the most. I didn’t rely on them as much before and they push me. If I’m tired I rely on their support a lot more.”

That support for one another was apparent early Saturday morning when the Mustangs rode the bus to Lisle.

“The bus this morning was full of confidence that we were going to win,” Gray said. “It was not whether we’d be celebrating. We were confident before and during wrestling and it just helps pushing each other.”

Ward earned a 9-1 major decision at 215 over Nazareth Academy freshman Sammy Swais for the Mustangs’ sixth title on the day.

But before he could do that, he’d have to wait around a bit. Watching his teammates win certainly kept him entertained.

“It’s really hard staying up and keeping the energy going,” Ward explained. “But it gets me more excited to keep the energy going knowing that I’m one of the last of many people to wrestle. Each of us wrestling would get me going, get me excited.”

Ward made a quick phone call to his parents to let them know he’d be wrestling in the final soon. It got them into the bleachers in time to see him win.

“To be honest I wrestled a kid about his size not too long ago, like a week ago,” Ward said. “It was a really good match and went OT like three times but I ended up winning. Wrestling that kid helped me improve my skills, to stay low always, always be ready, keep your hands ready and stay dangerous.”

Now the state knows how dangerous of a team Evergreen Park has when at full strength. Even without a heavyweight.

In addition to winning 43 percent of the title bouts, five others placed for the Mustangs. In addition to Jayden Cervantes taking second at 120, Brayden Mateja-Bates (106) and David Johnson (150) rebounded to win third-place matches while sophomore James Wilson (175) and Andres Flores-Ramirez (190) took fourth. Junior Josh Matheny (165) and sophomore Esau Ruvalcaba (144) scored seven and four points, respectively, to also contribute for the Mustangs.

“I mean to be honest, all you’ve got to do is believe in yourself and work at it,” Ward said. “We’re only this good because of our coaches, I feel like without them it would be the opposite of what happened today. Besides that, all of our kids work hard, we wrestle, we train at practice and we do it 24/7 so it’s really expected coming into this tournament to dominate and take first place and win.”

The Mustangs finished with 241.5 points and the rest of the top 10 was Glenbard East (187.5), Hinsdale South (147.5), Northridge Prep (125.5), Westmont (120), Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy (116.5), Streamwood (104), Argo (65.5), Belvidere (58.5) and host Lisle (51.5).

Coach Donald Pool’s runner-up Rams had three champions, sophomore Lorenz Rios Loud (106), junior Ismael Chaidez (120) and junior Orlando Hoye (190). Chaidez was bestowed the honor of being named Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Rios Loud (24-5) lost in his title bout at 106 at Melichar last year, Chaidez defended his title at 120 while Hoye got pinned by Streamwood’s Gabe Inorio in the third-place match a year ago. While Inorio would go on to win the title at 175 on Saturday, Hoye (20-10) took top honors at 190 with a fall in 2:27 over Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Dylan Wilborn.

Glenbard East got a second-place finish from Cole Forsyth (113) while Leo Mundinger (165) and Cooper Conliss (285) took third and Rami Aljubor (138) finished in fourth place and also had the most wins by technical fall with three and collected the most total match points with 74.

“I would kick my butt so much from last year,” Rios Loud said. “I finished 20-10 last year and right now I’m 25-5. The biggest difference is mindset and working during the hard practices with coaches and learning from hard matches. When I lose, I change my mindset.”

That also goes for those he’s working with regularly within the Glenbard East program.

“We have a great team and we have a young team,” Rios Loud said. “We’re definitely fixing up a bunch of mistakes and learning every single match. We’re getting more people in the finals, getting more significant wins, working together as a team.”

Rios Loud accumulated points until winning by tech fall in 4:38 against Westmont’s Mason Ponce in the 106 title match.

“The key was push the pace,” Rios Loud said. “Do my offense and keep trying to score.”

Chaidez (28-2) pinned Evergreen Park’s Jayden Cervantes at 5:41 to win the 120 title.

“The game plan going into there, I was just feeling him out for the first period,” Chaidez said. “I felt this sort of relief from his pressure for the first minute, I felt I may be able to fake to get him heavy on his feet. I like working boots and leg riding, and with that implemented I let it fly through. He showed me I need to win with more attacking, especially when I feel myself come down. Those were some physical takeaways from that match.”

While he says he feels better than he did a year ago, he also understands last year means nothing other than the lessons it provided to make him into the wrestler he is today.

“I was bumped last minute last year to 126 at regionals and felt unsafe,” Chaidez said. “I played it wrong. I’m more confident now and am not going to shy away from all these people on top. I’m going to come for them. I’m definitely more prepared this year and got experience with the coaching staff and room time.”

A year after winning the tournament, Hinsdale South didn’t have any champions. 

Jason Jude (132), Darrion Glover (165) and Ben Miller (175) each took second place. Alex Schuetz (120) and Apollo Cobb (138) won their third-place matches and James Cardenas (285) took fourth. Frank Waitkus, Nick Miller, Brady Miller and Al Amir Almannai did not place but scored team points for coach Andrew Mangiaguerra’s third-place Hornets.

After pinning Genoa-Kingston’s Hunter Wendt and Evergreen Park’s Matheny with first-period pins, Northridge Prep senior Adam Haddad (24-2) won by technical fall over Glover in 5:36 in the 165 title match. It was his fifth tournament title of the season, adding to firsts at Glenbrook South, Glenbard South, Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy and Sullivan.

“Pretty much none of this matters,” Haddad said. “The only thing that matters is regionals, sectionals, state. I’m just prepping as best as I can, staying healthy, staying strong and just making sure that I’m prepared in every way possible for regionals, sectional, state and giving it all my respect.”

Haddad finished in second place last year at Melichar while wrestling at 175 and then fought injuries at the very end of his season.

“I kind of got injured before the state finals and it kind of just lit a fire under me the couple months I was out,” Haddad said. “But I just got right back up and ready and worked hard every day. Two practices every day, seven days a week and I just did more thinking rather than physical, and was just trying to crack down on the mental game of wrestling. Just cracking down on the mental game, understanding things.”

His Knights teammates George McShane (150) and Thomas Suter (285) took second place, Joe Kopecky (126) and Mason Wagner (175) were third, Javi Rodriguez (144) was fourth and Nick Belcore (190) didn’t place, but scored six points.

Westmont got its lone win in the finals at the end of the tournament as junior Rafael Castrejon-Tello (22-6) edged Northridge Prep’s Thomas Suter 2-1 for the 285 title. 

Also placing for the Sentinels were Mason Ponce (106), who took second, Lawrence Walker (132) who was third and Luke Jimenea (113), Ardan Baglaev (120), Mission Hatchell (150) and Sean Paterson (157) who all took fourth. Christian Rosa (126) didn’t place but scored 10 points.

Gabe Inorio (15-3), a returning state qualifier for Streamwood at 175, took third place at this tournament at 170 as a sophomore and was third last year at 175. Now he’s a champ as a senior in his final appearance, winning the 175 title with a victory by technical fall in 3:17 over Hinsdale South’s Ben Miller. The Sabres also received third-place finishes from Luis Martinez (113), Jace Wolf (190) and Josiah Torres (215) while Josh Burton and Donald Krebs did not place but combined for 19 points.

Belvidere’s Landon VanAcker (12-2) won the 144 title with a 15-7 major decision over Argo’s Jacob Van Allen. VanAcker won 7-3 in the quarterfinals over Evergreen Park’s Esau Ruvalcaba by technical fall in 2:53 over Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Jayden Veal in the semifinals.

VanAcker was joined in the finals by Bucs teammate Mario Beasley, who lost to Evergreen Park’s Ashton Gray by fall in 2:41 in the 157 title match. 

Argo also got a second-place showing at 138 from Aldo Gutierrez, who lost by fall in 3:42 to Evergreen Park’s Chance Woods and a fourth-place finish from Leo Gallegos (215), who was the only individual who recorded four falls and had the quickest pin with one in 21 seconds.

Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Xavier Woods (27-2) didn’t have to wrestle in the 150 final after Northridge Prep’s George McShane had to take a medical forfeit. Woods won by fall in 2:00 over Genoa-Kingston’s Anthony Gum and then earned a 16-3 major decision over Hinsdale South’s Brady Miller in the semifinals. 

Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy also got third-place finishes from Trevor Williams (157) and Jayden Veal (144) while KeAndre Beal (106) and Daniel Robles (165) took fourth place. Also placing fourth was Nazareth Academy’s Alek Ramos (126).

Woods led all of the champions with 28 team points while Chaidez, Haddad, Inorio and Rios Loud tied for second place with 27.5 points. Hoye, Ward and Woods each collected 27 points, Ramirez had 26 and Castrejon-Tello finished with 25.5 team points.

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The annual tournament is named in honor of Steve Melichar, a Lisle wrestler who died tragically after being hit by a car in 1986 when he was just 16 years old.

Lisle Steve Melichar Memorial Tournament place matches

106

1st Place Match

Lorenz Rios Loud (Glenbard East) 24-5, So. over Mason Ponce (Westmont) 18-7, Fr. (TF-1.5 4:38 (17-0))

3rd Place Match

Brayden Mateja-Bates (Evergreen Park) 18-9, Jr. over KeAndre Beal (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 16-8, Sr. (TF-1.5 2:21 (17-0))

113

1st Place Match

Christian Ramirez (Evergreen Park) 19-5, Sr. over Cole Forsyth (Glenbard East) 18-6, So. (Dec 11-4)

3rd Place Match

Luis Martinez (Streamwood) 12-5, So. over Luke Jimenea (Westmont) 14-6, Fr. (Fall 4:51)

120

1st Place Match

Ismael Chaidez (Glenbard East) 28-2, Jr. over Jayden Cervantes (Evergreen Park) 27-3, Jr. (Fall 5:41)

3rd Place Match

Alex Schuetz (Hinsdale South) 22-6, Jr. over Ardan Baglaev (Westmont) 22-8, Fr. (Fall 3:13)

126

1st Place Match

Adrian Cervantes (Evergreen Park) 24-3, Jr. over Alexander Ferari (Lisle) 22-5, Jr. (Dec 5-4)

3rd Place Match

Joe Kopecky (Northridge Prep) 22-5, Fr. over Alek Ramos (Nazareth Academy) 13-5, So. (Dec 9-7)

132

1st Place Match

Lucas Landry (Evergreen Park) 21-7, Fr. over Jason Jude (Hinsdale South) 11-9, So. (Dec 15-10)

3rd Place Match

Lawrence Walker (Westmont) 15-9, So. over Axell Magana (St. Edward) 9-10, Jr. (TF-1.5 3:53 (17-2))

138

1st Place Match

Chance Woods (Evergreen Park) 27-2, Jr. over Aldo Gutierrez (Argo) 18-7, Sr. (Fall 3:42)

3rd Place Match

Apollo Cobb (Hinsdale South) 17-10, Sr. over Rami Aljubor (Glenbard East) 15-17, Jr. (Fall 5:52)

144

1st Place Match

Landon VanAcker (Belvidere) 12-2, Jr. over Jacob Van Allen (Argo) 22-4, Sr. (MD 15-7)

3rd Place Match

Jayden Veal (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 19-5, Fr. over Javi Rodriguez (Northridge Prep) 11-8, Jr. (Dec 16-15)

150

1st Place Match

Xavier Woods (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 27-2, Sr. over George McShane (Northridge Prep) 20-6, Jr. (M. For.)

3rd Place Match

David Johnson (Evergreen Park) 26-4, Sr. over Mission Hatchell (Westmont) 22-10, Sr. (Inj. 0:42)

157

1st Place Match

Ashton Gray (Evergreen Park) 20-7, Sr. over Mario Beasley (Belvidere) 7-2, So. (Fall 2:41)

3rd Place Match

Trevor Williams (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 18-12, Sr. over Sean Patterson (Westmont) 20-14, Sr. (SV-1 6-3)

165

1st Place Match

Adam Haddad (Northridge Prep) 24-2, Sr. over Darrion Glover (Hinsdale South) 18-11, Sr. (TF-1.5 5:36 (15-0))

3rd Place Match

Leo Mundinger (Glenbard East) 16-13, Sr. over Daniel Robles (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 2-2, Jr. (Fall 1:07)

175

1st Place Match

Gabe Inorio (Streamwood) 15-3, Sr. over Ben Miller (Hinsdale South) 19-9, So. (TF-1.5 3:17 (21-2))

3rd Place Match

Mason Wagner (Northridge Prep) 14-11, Sr. over James Wilson (Evergreen Park) 6-8, So. (Dec 16-11)

190

1st Place Match

Orlando Hoye (Glenbard East) 20-10, Jr. over Dylan Wilborn (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 18-10, Sr. (Fall 2:27)

3rd Place Match

Jace Wolf (Streamwood) 15-1, Sr. over Andres Flores-Ramirez (Evergreen Park) 21-11, Sr. (Fall 1:35)

215

1st Place Match

Genesis Ward (Evergreen Park) 21-4, Sr. over Sammy Swais (Nazareth) 13-4, Fr. (MD 9-1)

3rd Place Match

Josiah Torres (Streamwood) 11-7, Sr. over Leo Gallegos (Argo) 8-9, Sr. (Fall 4:27)

285

1st Place Match

Rafael Castrejon-Tello (Westmont) 22-6, Jr. over Thomas Suter (Northridge Prep) 16-10, Jr. (Dec 2-1)

3rd Place Match

Cooper Conliss (Glenbard East) 17-12, Sr. over James Cardenas (Hinsdale South) 4-7, Jr. (Dec 6-1)

Team scores

1. Evergreen Park 241.5, 2. Glenbard East 187.5, 3. Hinsdale South 147.5, 4. Northridge Prep 125.5, 5. Westmont 120, 6. Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy 116.5, 7. Streamwood 104, 8. Argo 65.5, 9. Belvidere 58.5, 10. Lisle 51.5, 11. Nazareth Academy 37.5, 12. St. Edward 18, 13. Genoa-Kingston 15, 14. Aurora Central Catholic 8, 15. Walther Christian 3.