Schaumburg’s depth shows at Buffalo Grove
By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA
The Rex Lewis Invite trophy will return home to Schaumburg after Mike Levanti’s men held off the field Saturday afternoon in Buffalo Grove.
The Saxons claimed just two individual champions on the day, but another seven top-four medal winners were enough for the Saxons to earn an overall edge in points to hold off runner-up Glenbrook South, 192.5-185.5.
Morris was third with 167, Lake Park next with 145, followed by St. Patrick which collected 137.5 points.
“It truly was a team effort today,” said Levanti, whose club won it all here in 2023.
“Brady (Phelps) at (120) and Callen Kirchner (150) gave us great efforts at their weights and across the weight classes we had guys who helped us earn points throughout the day.
“We are still a very young team, and you saw some of those guys exposed in spots, but that can be addressed and hopefully corrected.”
The Saxons held a 10-point advantage (166-156) just ahead of the final round over Glenbrook South, which earlier in the day was chasing a 17-point deficit before the Titans put on a late charge to run away from Morris for the second place trophy.
The first ever Rex Lewis Invite was held on December 11, 1976, which was also the first dual-meet tournament in Illinois. Dennis Riccio, the first head coach at Buffalo Grove, invited Bloom Township, RIchards, and East Leyden to the inaugural event.
Rex Lewis, his wife Dodie and their eight children lived in Buffalo Grove, his two sons Keith and Kirt wrestled at Wheeling, where Keith was a teammate of the classy long-time head coach at Buffalo Grove, Bob Tipsword. When Buffalo Grove opened in 1973, Rex Lewis became the president of the Booster Club and the voice of Bison wrestling for the next 20-plus years.
In 1991, the format of this tournament would change to the current individual format.
Let’s take a look at each championship match from Saturday’s tournament:
106- Jack Koenig (St. Patrick)
St. Patrick sophomore Jack Koenig continued his early season success when he edged defending Rex Lewis champion Owen Sater (Morris) in a hard fought 6-5 decision to open the final round here on Saturday.
Sater earned a place in the 2024 state tournament with an amazing 41-3 record.
Koenig (15-2) would deal No. 2 seed Austin Phelps (Schaumburg, 15-1) his first loss of the season in his semifinal, then do the same in his final with Sater (11-1) who entered the weekend as the No. 3-ranked man in 2A.
“I just kept fighting my way back into the match until I was able to get that takedown with just a few seconds left,” said Koenig, No. 6 in state polls.
Sater went out to a 3-0 advantage early in the second period, and it became 4-0 on an escape to start the third period. A takedown made it 4-3, but after Sater added another escape, up popped Koenig with his match-winning takedown with 11 seconds remaining.
Koenig won his first major of the season at Rockford East.
113- Bryce Mensik (Lake Park)
Bryce Mensik kept his early season record spotless after the Lake Park senior recorded a pin at 6:35 to defeat Morris sophomore Paxton Valentine.
Both contestants in this final advanced with ease before the two found themselves level at 4-4 after six minutes, until Mensik, 31-11 a year ago, finished things off with a pin in overtime to win his first Lewis title, after his second-place finish in 2023.
“After losing in the blood round last year at sectionals, I’ve got to put everything into getting downstate this year,” said Mensik, who has plans to be a physical therapist after college.
120- Brady Phelps (Schaumburg)
Three-time state medal winner and the No. 2-ranked man in the state at 120, Schaumburg’s Brady Phelps got a first hand look at future star in Sasha Havrylkiv, and the Schaumburg senior came away impressed following his third-period pin for the win.
Phelps earned the tournament’s outstanding wrestler award after the win.
After a wild first period that had Phelps leading 8-4, the Saxons star increased his advantage to 14-4 after two periods despite a handful of dangerous situations in which Havrylkiv (11-1) came close to taking a bite out of Phelps’ lead.
“When he gets more match time, he’s going to be a place-winner at state,” Phelps said of Havrylkiv. Phelps tweaked his knee in the third period after the Buffalo Grove freshman registered a takedown to make it 15-7. Phelps then stuck Havrylkiv at the 5:40 mark.
But the freshman earned the respect of Phelps and his coach.
“(Havrylkiv) is good in all positions and you saw just how explosive he can be,” added Saxons head coach Mike Levanti. Havrylkiv came to Buffalo Grove as an under-15 national champion in Ukraine.
126- Brock Claypool (Morris)
Morris sophomore Brock Claypool gave his club its first title of the day and won his second straight Lewis title after his dominating all-day performance, which ended with a 21-5 technical fall victory over Schaumburg senior Adrian Quevedo at 5:03.
“I spent a lot of time training at Izzy Style, doing Freestyle and Greco, and just working out two to three times a day to prepare for this season,” said Claypool, now 12-1 on the season.
Claypool, who entered the weekend as the No. 7-rated 126-pounder in 2A, enjoyed a marvelous rookie season that ended abruptly at sectionals.
“I was able to come back from my first round loss, but it wasn’t enough, so it’s all about getting downstate and on the podium,” said Claypool, 35-4 a year ago.
132- Sergio Hernandez (Lake Park)
Lake Park’s Sergio Hernandez was all smiles just ahead of climbing atop the podium at Buffalo Grove. And why not.
The Lake Park senior would claim the first major title of his career after mashing the competition in all three of his matches, including an impressive effort over Aiden Quevedo (15-2) a sophomore from Schaumburg.
“I was fifth here last year, so this was a big jump up for me,” said Hernandez, now 11-2 overall following his 20-2 tech-fall win on the title mat, which came just seconds before the clock went to zero.
“I did a lot of Freestyle and Greco during the offseason, competed in a few tournaments, and just worked hard so I can make my senior season my best of all,” added Hernandez, who is likely to attend UW-Whitewater in the fall where he will major in business management.
138- Patrick Hulne (St. Patrick)
St. Patrick sophomore Patrick Hulne roared through his first two contests on Saturday to set up his final with top seed Nicholas Merola (8-2) of Lake Park. Once there, Hulne finished on a high note with a pin at 5:00 to win his first major of the season.
“I wanted to open strong, and not let up until the very end,” said Hulne, now 15-3.
Hulne was one of eight Shamrocks to advance to sectionals last February. But the then-rookie fell short in his bid to join teammates Danny Goodwin, Olin Walker, Nikolas Karamaniolas and Van Gasser in Champaign.
“I want to make it downstate this year,” Hulne said. “I feel like playing football and rugby has helped me be stronger, so I spent a lot of time improving my hand fighting, and shot-taking during the offseason.”
144- Carter Skoff (Morris)
No. 10-ranked Carter Skoff is now a two-time Rex Lewis champion after his thrilling 5-4 decision over No. 3 seed Jacob Van Allen (11-1) from Argo.
The Morris junior chased the Argonauts senior all throughout the contest until taking a bite out of a 4-0 deficit with a reversal to start the third period.
“(Van Allen) was a tough opponent so it was important not to panic and to stay composed,” admitted Skoff, who used a three-point takedown with 21 seconds from time to seal the championship.
Skoff (10-1), a sectional qualifier a year ago with a 35-8 overall record, says he was diligent in his offseason training, working on all facets of his game – in particular work on the bottom to help improve his chances of earning a trip to Champaign.
150- Callen Kirchner (Schaumburg)
A key figure in back-to-back regional team championships, a two-time state qualifier, and currently ranked 7th in Illinois – Schaumburg’s Callen Kirchner was in total command en route to his title at 150.
“In the past I paid far too much attention to state rankings – where I was ranked and an opponent’s ranking as well – and that’s something that’s not of any interest to me this year,” began Kirchner, now 16-0 on the season following his pin at 1:11 over Oliver Quiros (12-3) of Niles North.
“It really is all about staying focused, taking it one match at a time in order to get myself back downstate and making a run at a state title,” Kirchner said.
The affable senior possesses a rare advantage in that he stands 6-foot–3, making it possible for him to wrap up his opponents like an octopus putting the final touches on his next meal.
Kirchner was 30-10 at 113 pounds when he qualified to state as a freshman, then went 34-7 in 2023 before going 35-10 last season at 144 pounds, when he earned a second spot in the final 16-man bracket.
157- Dominic Marino (Glenbrook South)
The third time proved to be the charm for Glenbrook South junior Dominic Marino, who erased a pair of early season losses to league rival Ilan Ruderman (13-3) of Glenbrook North to capture the Lewis title at 157.
“I didn’t want to go 0-3 against (Ruderman) so I was talking to my dad beforehand, and asked him what I should do in my final. He said to just go out there and wrestle my match,” Marino said with a smile.
Marino, the No. 3 seed at 157, impressed on his way to the final after opening with a tech-fall victory, followed by consecutive pins, including his pin of second-seeded Logan Wisner (Woodstock) in the semifinals.
“I was too lazy last year, and my fitness wasn’t anywhere near the way it should be in order to compete on the varsity,” Marino said. “So I made a commitment to get better with that part of my game and more.”
165- Henry Downing (Glenbrook South)
Henry Downing followed his GBS teammate onto the top of the podium after his hard-fought 9-7 decision over Buffalo Grove senior and top-seeded Chris Chi (7-2) who was looking to claim his second Rex Lewis title in a row.
“(Chi) was a strong upper-body guy, so I knew it would be a match where I had to fight hard, and get to my shots if I wanted to win,” opined Downing, who in a star-studded 157-pound sectional at Barrington last February was a blood-round victim despite his 34-win season.
“It was a lot of Freestyle and Greco for me during the offseason, and even though I was unable to qualify for Fargo, I felt like there was a lot of improvement in my overall game,” said Downing, now 11-1 overall.
175- Ilia Dvoriannikov (Vernon Hills)
In one of the most highly anticipated finals of the day, two of the very best in the state at 165 pounds met on mat number three to decide the 175-pound championship.
In a tepid but hard-fought six-minute affair, 2A state runner-up Ilia Dvoriannikov from Vernon Hills outlasted No. 3 Van Grasser (11-5) of St. Patrick with a 2-1 decision to nab his second straight Rex Lewis title.
“I was way too defensive in that match,” admitted Dvoriannikov, who lost to four-year standout Nick Mueller of Dunlap by 4-2 decision in their 165-pound state title match a year ago. Mueller’s win also gave Dunlap it’s first-ever state title in wrestling.
The junior Dvoriannikov, ranked No. 2 in Illinois, has enjoyed plenty of success away from the prep scene, and he was level with Grasser after a scoreless chess-like first period.
A late reversal in the second period by Dvoriannikov, and an escape from Grasser mid-way through the third period was all the fans would see, with strong defensive work down the stretch from Dvoriannikov helping him earn his title.
190- Isiah Escobar (Romeoville)
There was no stopping Romeoville senior Isiah Escobar, who pinned his way to the 190-pound title after winning by fall against top seed Adnan Shkeir (10-1) from Maine East.
“This was my first tournament championship of my high school career, and it feels really good right now,” said Escobar.
Escobar was a blood-round victim last year at the Joliet Central regional, sending him home with a 18-10 season record and a desire for bigger and better things in his final year of high school.
“Not qualifying for sectionals did not feel real good, so I put a lot of time in during the offseason. I wanted improve all parts of my game, especially my under-hooks, set-ups and throws, and so far I’m feeling really good about the way things are going.”
215- Samel Morrero (Chicago Horizon/Southwest)
Chicago Horizon/Southwest big man Samel Moreno can rightly say he’s a tournament champion after his terrific performance throughout the day in Buffalo Grove.
Seeded sixth 215, the junior majored the No. 3 seed Salvador Espinoza (St. Patrick) before recording a pin at 2:36 over No. 2 seed Sain Uranbold (Glenbrook South) to send him into his final with No. 1 seed Malachi Congo (9-4) of Morris.
“There is so much to learn right now, but I’m very happy about this championship,” said Marrero, who went 29-3 last season and honed his skills at Frosh-Soph state.
Marrero conceded a reversal to Congo late in the second period to level things at 2-2.
Starting in the neutral position to begin the third period, Marrero would take the lead for good with a takedown at five minutes, then later add to his lead en route to a hard fought 8-4 victory.
285- Jamir Thomas (Romeoville)
Romeoville senior Jamir Thomas got off to flying start in his 285-pound final, and would not slow down en route to his dominating tech-fall effort to capture the first title of his prep career.
Thomas stunned top seed, and No. 9-ranked Mikey Milovich (11-3) of Elk Grove with an all-out attack from the opening whistle. Thomas built an insurmountable 15-2 advantage after one period before turning the Grens senior to his back to end to the contest at 2:35 with a 17-2 lead.
“I knew coming in he was way taller and bigger than me, and he was ranked in the top ten in the state,” began Thomas, now 13-1.
“The plan was to go hard from the very start, get an early lead, and just keep attacking and never letting him get in on me,” added Thomas, who during the offseason spent time training at the Fox Valley Wrestling Club.
Thomas, like his teammate Isiah Escobar, suffered a heart-breaking blood-round defeat at regionals to end his 2023-2024 season with a very respectable 24-8 overall record.
Team scores:
Schaumburg 192.5, Glenbrook South 185.5, Morris 167, Lake Park 145, St. Patrick 137.5, Buffalo Grove 117.5, Romeoville 111.5, Vernon Hills 83.5, Glenbrook North 69.5, Maine East 68.5, Palatine 62.5, Argo 57, Niles North 55, Woodstock 47.5, Elk Grove 43.5, Horizon/Southwest Chicago 29
Rex Lewis results:
106
1st: Jack Koenig (St. Patrick) 15-2, over Owen Sater (Morris) 11-1, (D 6-5)
3rd: Austin Phelps (Schaumburg) 15-1, over Liam Lovelace (Lake Park) 8-2, (TF-1.5 3:26 (17-2)
5th: Parker Barry (Morris) 3-1, over Charles Dominguez (Vernon Hills) 9-6, (D 7-1)
7th: Pedro Hernandez (Romeoville) 10-5, over Duncan Tenezaca (Maine E) 8-5, (F 0:43)
113
1st: Bryce Mensik (Lake Park) 8-0, over Paxton Valentine (Morris) 12-1, (F 6:35)
3rd: Diego Arteaga (GB South) 8-4, over Tony Lopez (Vernon Hills) 7-4, (MD 12-4)
5th: Zander Spatafore (Elk Grove) 10-4, over Jairo Kish (Maine E) 7-7, (TF-1.5 5:03 (20-3)
7th: Dominic Cimino (Vernon Hills) 7-4, over Nurislam Karybekov (Buffalo Grove) 2-3, (TF-1.5 4:25 (19-3)
120
1st: Brady Phelps (Schaumburg) 13-0, over Oleksandr Havrylkiv (Buffalo Grove) 11-1, (F 5:40)
3rd: Calvin Stahl (St. Patrick) 11-5, over Brandon Anderson (Morris) 11-2, (D 6-2)
5th: Ermuun Urtanasan (GB South) 12-1, over Sevak Ohanyan (Lake Park) 6-4, (TF 5:08 (16-1)
7th: Charles Dvorak (Summit (Argo) 6-6, over A.J Metallo (GB North) 3-12, (F 2:37)
126
1st: Brock Claypool (Morris) 12-1, over Adrian Quevedo (Schaumburg) 8-1, (TF-1.5 5:03 (21-5)
3rd: Mykola Shamray (Buffalo Grove) 11-2, over Munkhtulga Tsendayush (GB South) 8-5, (D 11-4)
5th: Luca Rutili (Lake Park) 9-5, over Taqi Baker (Woodstock () 13-5, (D 7-4)
7th: Ammar Khan (GB South) 3-2, over Dean Angelo III (St. Patrick) 6-11, (F 1:11)
132
1st: Sergio Hernandez (Lake Park) 11-2, over Aiden Quevedo (Schaumburg) 15-2, (TF-1.5 6:00 (20-2)
3rd: Daniel Deredlyak (Palatine) 8-2, over Dulguun Nyamdavaa (Maine E) 7-6, (D 12-5)
5th: Roman Ocampo (GB South) 6-3, over Justice Randall Leach (Lake Park) 5-4, (D 9-4)
7th: Daniel Nilsson (Woodstock () 3-3, over Aidyn Taylor (Morris) 5-10, (TF-1.5 2:09 (18-3)
138
1st: Patrick Hulne (St. Patrick) 15-3, over Nicholas Merola (Lake Park) 8-3, (F 5:00)
3rd: Brody Hinkle (Schaumburg) 8-2, over Jordan Mokhtarian (GB North) 9-9, (MD 11-0)
5th: Aldo Gutierrez (Summit (Argo) 9-5, over Landyn White (Woodstock () 7-8, (D 10-4)
7th: Mohamed El-Zin (Palatine) 4-4, over Jacob Meloun (Morris) 3-4, (D 6-5)
144
1st: Carter Skoff (Morris) 10-1, over Jacob Van Allen (Summit (Argo) 11-1, (D 5-4)
3rd: Justin Cortes-Apolinar (Schaumburg) 5-1, over Kale Schrauth (GB South) 10-4, (D 6-2)
5th: Bohdan Malaksianov (Buffalo Grove) 10-3, over Dominic Peterka (Lake Park) 5-6, (F 0:23)
7th: Zachary Hempen (Niles N) 7-4, over Andrew Diaz (Vernon Hills) 10-6, (TF-1.5 3:37 (17-1)
150
1st: Callen Kirchner (Schaumburg) 16-0, over Oliver Quiros (Niles N) 12-3, (F 1:11)
3rd: Andrew Rieger (St. Patrick) 10-8, over Aidan Minihane (GB South) 11-3, (F 3:04)
5th: Tony Klinkas (Buffalo Grove) 9-5, over Andrew Peterson (Morris) 9-5, (TF-1.5 3:06 (21-5)
7th: Sual Razo (Romeoville) 8-5, over Malsymilian Wala (Lake Park) 6-10, (D 13-7)
157
1st: Dominic Marino (GB South) 12-1, over Ilan Ruderman (GB North) 13-3, (F 4:09)
3rd: Logan Wisner (Woodstock () 13-6, over Andrew Garcia (Maine E) 4-5, (F 4:20)
5th: Alan Allende (Palatine) 4-1, over Andrew Somenek (Elk Grove) 5-7, (F 3:25)
7th: Jose Sotero (Palatine) 3-2, over Evan Lazik (Niles N) 8-8, (D 11-8)
165
1st: Henry Downing (GB South) 11-1, over Chris Chi (Buffalo Grove) 7-2, (D 9-7)
3rd: Ian Wills (Morris) 7-2, over Henry Hafner (GB North) 10-5, (F 1:24)
5th: Tyler Lewis (Romeoville) 4-4, over Connor Riley (Niles N) 11-5, (MD 12-1)
7th: Michael Starzyk (Summit (Argo) 5-4, over Shane Bigler (Lake Park) 2-12, (MD 9-1)
175
1st: Ilia Dvoriannikov (Vernon Hills) 12-1, over Van Grasser (St. Patrick) 11-5, (D 2-1)
3rd: Shane Onixt (GB North) 12-3, over Sean Christoffel (Schaumburg) 7-5, (Inj. 1:41)
5th: Trey Widlowski (Palatine) 9-2, over Sonny Tugs (Buffalo Grove) 6-6, (F 3:57)
7th: Hector Villagrana (Romeoville) 7-5, over Liam O`Rourke (St. Patrick) 8-10, (F 0:50)
190
1st: Isiah Escobar (Romeoville) 9-1, over Adnan Shkeir (Maine E) 10-1, (F 5:51)
3rd: Jacob Shamoon (GB South) 6-1, over Antonin Svoboda (Lake Park) 8-7, (MD 9-0)
5th: Timur Arzumanov (Vernon Hills) 6-7, over Joshua Benson (Schaumburg) 8-9, (F 5:19)
7th: Ilya Pilshchikov (Palatine) 2-2, over Vincent Romano (Buffalo Grove) 3-5, (M. For.)
215
1st: Sami Marrero (Chicago (Horizon/Southwest) 8-0, over Malachi Congo (Morris) 9-4, (D 8-4)
3rd: Sain Uranbold (GB South) 10-3, over Matthew Carver (Schaumburg) 6-9, (M. For.)
5th: Emmanuel Ramirez (Romeoville) 3-2, over Salvador Espinoza (St. Patrick) 4-8, (F 1:40)
7th: Jonathan Keats (Vernon Hills) 3-4, over Dilan Bustillos (Summit (Argo) 2-8, (F 0:57)
285
1st: Jamir Thomas (Romeoville) 10-1, over Mikey Milovich (Elk Grove) 11-3, (TF-1.5 2:35 (17-2)
3rd: Hunter Johnson (GB South) 9-4, over Jaylen Maiden (Palatine) 6-6, (F 1:55)
5th: Abraham Bonano (St. Patrick) 7-6, over Christofer Arciniega-Sanchez (Schaumburg) 10-6, (F 0:47)
7th: Xhevdet Rustemi (Lake Park) 9-4, over Daniel Cisneros (Maine E) 5-6, (TF-1.5 4:09 (18-3)