Host Marmion takes inaugural Cadet Invite crown

By Chris Walker For the IWCOA

Some wrestlers were able to loosen their belts and truly enjoy Thanksgiving on Thursday, including second helpings and desserts, after opening their 2024-2025 high school season by competing in the inaugural Marmion Cadet Invite on Wednesday in Aurora.

“This is the first year we put this tournament together and I would say every program that is here is either a friend of the staff or friend of the program,” Cadets coach Anthony Cirrincione said. “We just wanted to put together an event where these guys could wrestle before Thanksgiving and give the kids their Thanksgiving day to engage with their families and not worry about making weight on the weekend. There were a lot of good teams here.”

As what’s always expected at the beginning of the season, there’s a great deal of excitement amongst the competition but teams aren’t anywhere close to where they hope to be once the postseason rolls in. That includes the wrestlers themselves,

A couple state champions did not compete. Marmion junior Nicholas Garcia, who won at 113 in 3A last year and was fourth at 106 the year before, wasn’t in action. Marian Central Catholic senior Brayden Teunissen, last year’s state champion at 120 in 1A, also did not compete. Teunissen is shooting for his third state finish after taking second place in 1A at 106 during his sophomore season.

“No Nick (Garcia), no Joe (Favia), no Vinnie (Testa), no Aidan McClure,” Cirrincione said. “When those guys come back we’ll be a different team, believe it or not. That’s a lot of horsepower that’s sitting out right now. But they’ll be back probably within the next two to three weeks and looking to compete right on the other side of Christmas.”

All but Garcia is coming off Marmion’s fall football season. Heavyweight Mateusz Nycz is coming off of football and he scored in a big way, defeating Glenwood Chatham’s Cody Moss by tech fall in the championship bout to give the Cadets five champions on the day.

Marmion needed those champs to win its own invite, fighting its way past runner-up Marist, 211.5 to 206. Lincoln-Way West was third with 172.5 while Lockport had 147 and Glenwood Chatham had 140.5 to round out the top five team finishers.

Colton Wyller (106), Demetrios Carrera (132), Zach Stewart (138) and Ashton Hobson (150) also were crowned champions for the Cadets.

Marian Central Catholic had a pair of champions in Austin Hagevold (113) and Jimmy Mastny (190).

The final seven champions were the lone ones from their school which says a lot about the quality of the competition and its diversity. 

Huntley’s Radic Dvorak (157), Lincoln-Way West’s Nate Elstner (215), Marist’s Will Denny (165), Naperville Central’s Henry Rydwelski (175), Oakwood/Salt Ford’s Mason Swartz (120), St. Patrick’s Patrick Hulne (144) and West Chicago’s Ryan Alvarado (126) will go done in history as the first winners in their weight classic in this new tournament. 

Stewart (138 in 3A), Denny (150 in 3A) and Mastny (157 in 1A) are all returning after winning state titles a season ago. Stewart is the only one of the three wrestling in the same weight class.

“There was great competition today for sure,” Swartz said, after winning the crown at 120. “I didn’t have an easy match all day and every single match I had, I had to work as hard as I could to win. There were no shortcuts today.”

There may have been shorter ways for Swartz to get from Filthian to Aurora, but a flight didn’t seem like an option. Instead, he was up early with his team for the nearly three-hour drive. He also was able to pose for photos afterward on the award stand before the rest of the invite was complete in order to begin the long journey back home.

“It was an early morning, had to get up here super early and get weighed in and then just wrestled the whole day,” Swartz said. “The final match was a challenge. The first match is always hard and getting into it for the second match I felt a lot better, and the third match I felt even better. It feels good to progress throughout the day.”

Swartz, who was making his high school debut, is coming off a soccer season in which he scored 19 goals. He’s obviously a multi-sport athlete who has made a quick leap onto the scene in both sports at the high school level.

“A lot of hard work, early mornings and late nights,” he said. “Grinding. I’m working as hard as I can.”

Unlike Swartz, Rydwelski and Alvarado are both seniors who are coming off disappointing losses during the sectional last year. Both dedicated a great deal of their time in the off-season for their final high school seasons and both have already seen that work pay off immensely as they won titles.

“Last year I got knocked out of sectionals before the blood round which was heartbreaking as a junior,” Rydwelski said. “I wanted to get to state and where I’m at now I’m just proud of the work I put in during the off-season. I went to these tournaments, these high level tournaments and I lost a lot but those, you know, losses build character and I think those losses made me much better as a wrestler than any of the wins that I’ve had. I think that the losses are more important than anything in that losses taught me how to win against those good kids, how to wrestle those good kids in those good matches.”

Such wisdom did not arrive overnight.

“It’s something that has come later for me,” he said. “I just started wrestling freshman year so you know I was just a kid and every loss I would throw my head gear so I’ve learned to take those losses on the chin and really think about what I can do better and I think that’s why I won today.”

At 175, Rydwelski won by fall against Marmion’s Carsten Zink to open up his day before rattling off three wins by decision against Glenwood Chatham’s Eli Smith (4-1), Huntley’s Waylon Theobald (12-8) and Marist’s Kevin Tompkins (5-2).

“I saw people that I’ve never wrestled and I saw schools I’ve never heard of,” he said. “I just approached every match as it’s a new match and was not sure if I was going to win or lose, I just wrestled as hard as I could for six minutes and we’ll see what happens.”

The Redhawks placed eighth overall with 119.5

“We lost a lot of seniors, but we have a lot of good young guys and I’m really proud to be a leader on this team and a captain,” Rydwelski said. “I’m really proud with how my team performed today. We did take a lot of tough losses and heartbreaking defeats but I feel we got much better because we came to this tournament.”

Like Rydwelski, Alvarado saw his junior season end at sectionals last winter.

“I got knocked out in the blood rounds and took a little, small break for a month or two after it and then got right back,” he said. “I was lifting (weights) right after (the season) because I knew strength was a big difference. I got a tattoo and was out for a bit for that to heal, but I’ve wrestled every day of the week or at least three days a week to be where I’m at right now.”

Alvarado pinned Plainfield North’s Aidan Durell to begin his day. Durell would bounce back to take third place at 126.

“I felt nervous at the weigh-in so I wasn’t sure how I was going to do,” Alvarado said. “You could see I was nervous in the first match, my foot work is very stiff. In the finals I felt calm and confident and didn’t feel like I had much to lose. I really felt like I found how to calm myself compared to last year. I feel more mature and confident.”

Alvarado defeated a couple Lockport kids to get to the finals at 126 and pinning Glenwood Chatham’s Tyler Clarke, a state qualifier from a year ago, in 3:07.

“It was really surprising, I mean, I heard it was going to be a tough tournament so I wasn’t expecting to be at the top of the podium,” Alvarado said. Winning four matches in one day to open the season is not easy.

“I was pretty tired, but I knew that if I had given up there would be regret so I had to push through and keep going for what I wanted, Alvarado said. “I had to stay up without falling down. It was a pretty long day but I felt it was all worth it.”

Arguably the most-anticipated bout of the day came at 150, matching Hobson with Lockport junior Justin Wardlow. Last year, Wardlow was the Class 3A runner-up at 138. The year before that he also placed second, going home as runner-up at 120 in Class 2A.

The two had battled during the summer with Hobson sneaking past Wardlow, 1-0. It happened again while Hobson battled a bloody nose that was resilient.

As shouts of “tape his face!,” drifted towards the mats after a second injury delay, Hobson began to wonder if an injury time loss was his destiny. 

“It was definitely frustrating getting a bloody nose and it wouldn’t stop,” he explained. “I thought I was going to lose on injury time to be honest.”

Hobson credited his preparation in giving him just enough to prevail.

“I definitely knew it was going to be a battle,” he said. “I think it comes down to going harder in the room. I didn’t think he’d cut me in the second (period) but I knew I would be able to get out, and in the third I knew I could ride him and I’m really confident in my ability to ride. A pretty gritty match and it came down to me being able to ride him.”

The 106 match between Colton Wyller and Preston Morrison was the lone one to pair athletes from the same school as the Marmion sophomores went head-to-head like they so often do during training.

“We wrestle a lot with each other, doing tournaments together,” Wyller said. “We get a good feel for each other in practice, and in tournaments we just show up and wrestle. It went pretty well for both of us getting to the final.

Wyller prevailed this time, 3-1.

“This tournament was fun,” Morrison said. “It was something new, which is what I like, and I met a lot of new kids.”

Morrison said he was able to muscle up via off-season conditioning and put on some weight.

“I worked out a lot, I wasn’t too big last year,” he said. “I got some muscle on me and got more technique which is pretty good.”

Similarly, Wyller put in a lot of work to be in position to fight for titles.

“Toward the end of last year I got a lot better,” he said. “I worked a lot of one-on-ones with coaches and then in the summer I got a lot better. I got to wrestle at Fargo and got to the blood rounds. I’ve been working really hard, sometimes doing three practices a day.”

Marist may have only had a single champion, but its depth led to it narrowly winning the team title. The RedHawks had 14 placers including four runner-ups as Michael Esteban (132), George Marinopoulos (138), Kevin Tomkins (175) and Ricky Ericksen (190) advanced to championship bouts. They were without Donavon Allen, a senior who took third at 138 in Class 3A last year.

Other placers for the Redhawks included Eddie Astorga (138), Gordo Gil (106), Tommy Fidler and Kyle Herzog (215) who all took fourth place, Tommy O’Brien (215) and Jack Watson (285) who each were fifth and Colin Phelan (113) Joe Bronske (120) and Ethan Sonner (157) who each placed sixth.

Lincoln-Way West had 10 placers in addition to Elstner winning at 215.

Brady Glynn (113) and Haden Anderson (144) were runner-ups, Jakob Siwinski (138) and Brandon Bavirsha (285) took third each,  Shane Stream (126) and Jimmy Talley (190) placed fourth, Max Munn (120) was fifth and Carter Dibenedetto (132), Henry Finley (144) and Cole Yirsa (190) were sixth. The Warriors did not have Luke Siwinski, who took fifth in the state at 138 in Class 3A last season, in their lineup. 

Coming off their Class 1A state title season, Marian Central is talented and experienced again this winter, but was short-handed in the opener.

In addition to not having Teunissen, the Hurricanes were without Vance Williams, a three-time state placer at 132 and state qualifiers, Andrew Alvarado (138) and Dan French (190).

The football season obviously is playing a factor with the start of some wrestlers, particularly with multi-sport athletes who play football like French. Naperville Central’s William Erbeck is another one who isn’t back yet.

Championship matches
106 – Colton Wyller (Marmion Academy) 4-0, So. over Preston Morrison (Marmion Academy) 3-1, So. (Dec 5-1)
113 – Austin Hagevold (Marian Central Catholic) 3-0, Jr. over Brady Glynn (Lincoln-Way West) 2-1, So. (TF 2:53 (21-5))
120 – Mason Swartz (Oakwood/Salt Fork) 3-0, over Calvin Stahl (St. Patrick) 2-1, Jr. (Dec 4-2)
126 – Ryan Alvarado (West Chicago) 4-0, Sr. over Tyler Clarke (Glenwood) 3-1, (Fall 3:07)
132 – Demetrios Carrera (Marmion Academy) 4-0, Jr. over Michael Esteban (Marist) 3-1, Sr. (Dec 4-0)
138 – Zach Stewart (Marmion Academy) 4-0, Jr. over George Marinopoulos (Marist) 3-1, Sr. (Fall 3:37)
144 – Patrick Hulne (St. Patrick) 3-0, So. over Haden Anderson (Lincoln-Way West) 3-1, Jr. (Dec 8-6)
150 – Ashton Hobson (Marmion Academy) 4-0, Jr. over Justin Wardlow (Lockport Township) 3-1, Jr. (Dec 1-0)
157 – Radic Dvorak (Huntley) 3-0, So. over Andrew Haritos (Marmion Academy) 3-1, Sr. (Fall 0:58)
165 – Will Denny (Marist) 3-0, Sr. over Van Grasser (St. Patrick) 2-1, Jr. (Fall 3:12)
175 – Henry Rydwelski (Naperville Central) 4-0, Sr. over Kevin Tomkins (Marist) 2-1, Sr. (Dec 5-2)
190 – Jimmy Mastny (Marian Central Catholic) 3-0, So. over Ricky Ericksen (Marist) 2-1, Sr. (Dec 9-2)
215 – Nate Elstner (Lincoln-Way West) 3-0, Sr. over Wyatt Theobald (Huntley) 3-1, Sr. (Fall 5:24)
285 – Mateusz Nycz (Marmion Academy) 4-0, Sr. over Cody Moss (Glenwood) 3-1, Jr. (TF 4:52 (29-12))

Third-place matches
106 – Jack Koenig (St. Patrick) 5-1, So. over Gordo Gil (Marist) 4-2, So. (Dec 5-4)
113 – Logan Conover (Marmion Academy) 3-1, So. over Colin Abordo (Huntley) 2-2, Jr. (Fall 3:55)
120 – Cameron Abordo (Huntley) 4-1, Jr. over Austin Aguinaldo (Naperville Central) 2-2, Jr. (Dec 5-4)
126 – Aidan Durell (Plainfield North) 5-1, Jr. over Shane Stream (Lincoln-Way West) 3-2, So. (Dec 13-11)
132 – Liam Zimmerman (Lockport Township) 5-1, Sr. over Jacob Cochran (Naperville Central) 3-2, Jr. (Fall 2:21)
138 – Jakob Siwinski (Lincoln-Way West) 4-1, Jr. over Eddie Astorga (Marist) 4-2, So. (Fall 1:13)
144 – Santino Milazzo (West Chicago) 4-1, Sr. over Anthony Diorio (Lockport Township) 3-3, Jr. (Fall 4:32)
150 – Leo Rosas (West Chicago) 4-1, Jr. over Tommy Fidler (Marist) 3-2, Jr. (Dec 4-3)
157 – Luke Grindstaff (Plainfield North) 4-1, Jr. over Yusuf Sikander (Naperville Central) 4-2, Jr. (MD 15-3)
165 – Nic Astacio (Marian Central Catholic) 4-1, So. over Maizon Milestone (Glenwood) 3-2, Sr. (Fall 3:14)
175 – Eli Smith (Glenwood) 5-1, So. over Christian Czerwinski (Lockport Township) 5-2, So. (Fall 2:31)
190 – Max Wiezorek (Glenwood) 3-1, Sr. over Jimmy Talley (Lincoln-Way West) 3-2, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:34 (17-1))
215 – Drew Silzer (Lockport Township) 5-1, Jr. over Kyle Herzog (Marist) 3-2, Jr. (Fall 1:38)
285 – Brandon Bavirsha (Lincoln-Way West) 5-1, Sr. over Kaleb Eckman (Marian Central Catholic) 4-2, Sr. (Dec 3-2)

Fifth-place matches
106 – Dalton Meluch (Naperville Central) 3-2, Jr. over Ethan Bell (Marmion Academy) 2-3, So. (Fall 0:46)
113 – Danny Goodwin (St. Patrick) 2-2, Jr. over Colin Phelan (Marist) 1-3, So. (Fall 3:56)
120 – Max Munn (Lincoln-Way West) 3-2, Jr. over Joe Bronske (Marist) 1-3, Jr. (Fall 4:21)
126 – Isaac Zimmerman (Lockport Township) 4-3, Jr. over Justin Godina (Lockport Township) 2-3, Jr. (For.)
132 – Grayson Garcia (Marmion Academy) 4-2, So. over Carter Dibenedetto (Lincoln-Way West) 3-3, Jr. (Fall 2:32)
138 – Gavin Nischke (Huntley) 4-2, So. over Evan Curry (Lockport Township) 2-3, So. (For.)
144 – Carter Chambliss (Oakwood/Salt Fork) 2-2, Sr. over Henry Finley (Lincoln-Way West) 2-3, Jr. (Dec 7-2)
150 – Staverous Gerousis (Naperville Central) 4-2, Jr. over Larson Nestar (Glenwood) 3-3, Sr. (Dec 6-4)
157 – Julian Rammelkamp (Glenwood) 4-2, So. over Ethan Sonne (Marist) 2-3, So. (For.)
165 – Chris Miller (Lockport Township) 4-2, Jr. over Anthony Haddad (Marmion Academy) 3-3, Sr. (Fall 1:16)
175 – Waylon Theobald (Huntley) 3-2, So. over Jacob Reece (Plainfield North) 2-3, Jr. (Fall 3:20)
190 – Luke Boersma (Marmion Academy) 4-2, So. over Cole Yirsa (Lincoln-Way West) 2-3, So. (Fall 1:42)
215 – Tommy O`Brien (Marist) 2-2, Jr. over Bryson Melgoza (Lockport Township) 3-3, Sr. (Fall 3:44)
285 – Jack Watson (Marist) 3-2, Jr. over Abe Bonano (St. Patrick) 2-3, (Fall 3:59)

Team scoring

1. Marmion Academy 211.5, 2. Marist 206, 3. Lincoln-Way West 172.5, 4. Lockport Township 147, 5. Glenwood 140.5, 6. St. Patrick 128.5, 7. Huntley 120, 8, Naperville Central 119.5, 9. Marian Central Catholic 98.5, 10. West Chicago 89, 11. Oakwood/Salt Fork 61.5, 12. Plainfield North 55.