St. Charles East qualifies 13, wins its own Regional

By Chris Walker – for The IWCOA

The names Lobrillo and Leidig may not be the first two that come to mind when you think about St. Charles East wrestling, but without wrestlers like Rocco Lobrillo and Abe Leidig, the Saints would have a much harder time remaining as one of the premier teams in the state each winter.

Those two along with 10 other Saints advanced to championship matches during Saturday’s IHSA Class 3A St. Charles East Regional.

They all advanced to next weekend’s Conant Sectional along with a third-place finisher as the Saints qualified 13 individuals while also winning the regional title as a team with 247 points. Glenbard North took second with 171.5 points and was followed by DeKalb (132.5), Wheaton North (128.5), West Chicago (83), Bartlett (65), Geneva (56) and St. Charles North (18.5).

“Lobrillo and Leidig don’t have a lot of experience wrestling,” Saints coach Jason Potter said. “Most of the guys on the team have been wrestling since they were five, six and seven years old. So to see them buy in and get themselves in the mix and not only be very high contributors but to come out here in the postseason and do damage and advance themselves and put themselves in position to get down to the individual state tournament. Once you’re down there your credentials don’t mean anything. Anything can happen.”

Potter, who will be inducted into the IWCOA Hall of Fame on April 27, said advancing 12 to the regional title match may be a school record.

“Might be a record, to be honest, I’m not sure, so it’s pretty good,” he said. “We’re pretty excited. And we felt we had one of the tougher regionals inside our sectional so for us to put 12 in the finals shows how good of a morning we had rolling into that.”

Dom Munaretto (120), Gavin Woodmancy (138), Anthony Gutierrez (165), Leidig (175) and Cooper Murray (215) won regional titles for the Saints. It was the first for all of them, except for Munaretto, who won this title with a pin while Gutierrez and Murray got victories by technical fall, Leidig captured a major decision and Woodmancy claimed a decision.

“We challenged the guys today to wrestle better than they did at the conference tournament last week,” Potter said. “Some of this competition was the same but we also drew some really tough kids from Bartlett and West Chicago.”

At last year’s regional at DeKalb, Woodmancy, Gutierrez and Murray lost title bouts while Leidig was competing at the JV level.

“I’ve been JV the last three years so for me it’s just been next match, next match and it doesn’t matter what seed I get or who I wrestle,”’ Leidig said. “It’s just been the next match and if you think too far ahead you get in your head.”

Leidig earned a 14-4 major decision against Glenbard North’s Joseph Fitak in the 175 final. Most recently, Fitak defeated Leidig in the DuKane Conference.

“I beat him early in the season but it was nothing that I wanted it to be and then lost to him two weeks ago at conference,” Leidig said. “Today I had to clear my mind. Some people feed off the emotion and I just need to calm down and focus. Normally I’m a little more passive and just sit upper body and really had to get that moving and get that moving. 

“Before the match the goal was just a takedown a period, one takedown a period, and I just kind of stuck to that mentality. When you really lock in you kind of just forget if you’re tired or not. I was just going and moving and moving. I wanted it so bad. I could’ve just gone on top and rode him out that last period but wanted to go up again. I wanted that last takedown. I wanted to win that not just to win it, but because last time never should’ve happened in the first place.”

Wrestling for a program that took third in the state last year and sharing the same gym as state champions like Ben Davino, Jayden Colon and Munaretto has certainly inspired Leidig this year as he transitioned in the fall from playing soccer to wrestling in the winter.

“After Ben (Davino), Jayden (Colon) and Tyler (Guerra), the standard is just set through the roof,” Leidig said. “And you can take it as if it’s pressure, but it’s encouraging. It really pushes us, especially in the room everyday. It’s like this is what you want to be, you see these kids at the next level on TV. That’s really what’s motivating and with coach Potter there’s no going wrong there.”

Fitak had beaten Leidig, 3-2, in the DuKane Conference semifinal at St. Charles North on January 25.

“To finally win something feels cool,” Leidig said. “I took eighth at Cheesehead, took third at conference, but this, to finally win something like this, this is a cool moment.”

Kaden Potter (106), Declan Sons (113), Liam Aye (126), Logan Tatar (144), Ryan McGovern (157), Lobrillo (190) and Matt Medina (285) each took second and advanced for the Saints, as did Payton Lee (132), who finished third. 

Potter’s return was a big one as the sophomore had been sidelined for the past two months.

Thanks to an opening bye, Potter’s first and only match came in the 106 semifinals as he pinned DeKalb’s Jaden Bradley in 3:37. To be cautious going forward, knowing that Potter had already advanced, the Saints kept him sidelined for the finals match against Glenbard North freshman Vannak Khiev.

“Since he got into the finals it was one of the weird father/son moments of hey buddy you’re not wrestling this,” Jason Potter said. “So he’s smart enough to understand it. We look forward to another week of practice. I think he can get his timing back, really get his conditioning back and more importantly his confidence back after taking eight weeks off the mat.”

Jason Potter thought that his son’s season may have been over so the fact that he’s back in action is big news for the Saints.

“He’s been out eight weeks so we thought his season was over or that we could get him back for postseason,” Jason Potter said. “He’s healed up a little bit faster than we thought. We just got him cleared two days ago so he had two days of practice, and out of respect for (Vannak) Khiev and the situation of not being 100 percent yet and a couple more days in practice would put him in a better position, so we tried to weigh the risk/rewards.”

After getting a pin in his return, there was no doubt that Kaden Potter wanted to wrestle for the title, but more importantly, the Saints need Potter at his best next week.

“He’s not excited about forfeiting and not going out, but as a coach I thought that was the right decision,” Potter said. “The goal was winning as a team and advancing. After taking eight weeks off the mat, stepping out and going against high-level competition and your confidence isn’t quite there yet. That was the main concern. I need him confident so he doesn’t get himself hurt.”

Junior Trey Thompson was one of Glenbard North’s four regional champions, earning a 6-4 decision against Bartlett’s Nick Barton in the 132 final.

“I haven’t won a tournament since freshman year,” Thompson said. “I started wrestling in the eighth grade so I’m pretty new to it so I’m just getting that first place feeling. It’s hard falling short often so just getting that victory, getting a bracket, getting a first place medal. It feels real nice.”

While Thompson had an older sibling who wrestled years ago, it didn’t inspire him to give the sport a shot until recently.

“It was always football, baseball and basketball and doing those sports,” he explained. “Wrestling seemed too weird and gritty for me. After falling short because of not being fast or big enough, I tried wrestling to get better at football and just fell in love with it right away. I started doing good and just wanted to be the best that I could.”

And he wanted to be on the wall.

“My coaches and our team, we have a wall in our school and if I won this match my coach was going to put me on it so it meant a lot to me to go out there,” he said. “It’s exciting. I love wrestling and I was happy to be out there. The guys, we all work hard. Every morning, every day, it’s a grind. I’m just excited. Our goal coming out here was to win the regional and obviously with a team like St. Charles East it’s hard to get a victory as a whole team, but we work hard every day to just be the best us and it showed out pretty well.”

Thompson’s growth between seasons has been phenomenal. 

“Last year I went 1-2 in this tournament,” he said. “I didn’t qualify and was unseeded with six wins on the year. This was my 32nd win this year. I’ve closed a very big gap working with programs like Team EL1TE Wrestling. It just inspires me to work harder and do better everyday.”

As Thompson walked past the bleachers shortly after his victory a huge smile formed as he lifted his left arm and gave a fist bump to some of his biggest supporters in the stands. He was in love with the moment.

“I love to come out here,” he said. “A lot of wrestlers don’t love it, but I love to come out here. I love wrestling. I take inspiration from Iowa. I like how they work, that mindset of keeping that pressure, keeping it going.”

His teammate, Julian Holland, joined him as a regional champion for the Panthers. Holland earned an 11-6 decision over St. Charles East’s Lobrillo in the 190 final.

‘Third match we’ve wrestled all year so I knew he was really amped up about the match thinking about it a lot,” Holland said. “I was trying to stick, to stay sticking to my set of moves, stay in my box, keep working my things I knew I was good at. And coaches were telling me to stay in good position and you got it.”

“This is pretty big to me. This means I get my photo up in the wrestling room, which was a big goal of mine, so it’s nice to make my next week easier and get me closer to state. I’m just happy.”

Holland’s come a long way.

“Last year I got last at conference but qualified for sectional, but I’ve gotten so much better,” he said. “I just keep on working. In the summer I kept getting better. I’ve noticed so many improvements since I started wrestling freshman year.”

Vannak Khiev (106) and Kalani Khiev (126) also won titles for Glenbard North, with Kalani winning by fall. Isaac Velasco (120), Richard Morales (138), Xavier Smiley (157) and Tyler Hvorick (215) took third to give coach Travis Cherry’s Panthers nine sectional qualifiers.

Geneva senior Joe Pettit is well aware that the end of his wrestling career could be nearing.

“Hard to imagine only two weeks left of this, and we’ll see if I wrestle in college or not,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to the next two weeks, being in the moment, going as hard as I can at practice. These big matches are the best part of wrestling because they’re pressure-free really going into better opponents and whatever happens, happens, wrestle hard and let the cards fall.” 

The two-time state qualifier defeated St. Charles East junior Matt Medina, 4-0, for the 285 regional title .

“He is a tough opponent, but I knew he was going to come after me after the last two times we wrestled,” Pettit said “He made me work, but I’m just excited for what’s to come with sectionals because it’ll be more big matches.”

It was the third time in as many weeks that the two DuKane Conference big men met.

“He came out strong,” Pettit said. “I got a takedown and just rode him out from there.”

Geneva’s Sam Sikorsky (113) also won a regional title, earning an 11-3 major decision over St. Charles East’s Declan Sons.

“I kind of came back this year and wrestled my heart out,” Sikorsky said. “That was the goal. Being regional champion will help me out going into sectionals for sure.”

Sikorsky said he’s feeling pretty good these days, not battling any injuries but continuing to battle the scales.

“The hardest part about wrestling for me is just about making weight,” he said. “I’m injury free right now. I don’t have knee pain or anything, basically just making weight every day is a little bit of a struggle, but I do it.”

Last year Sikorsky lost a 7-4 decision to Sons in the 106 semifinals of the Class 3A DeKalb Regional. Not this time.

“I wrestled him three times last year and I beat him at conference and then lost to him at regionals and a dual,” he said. “So I’m just coming back and getting my get-back. I like when it’s competition like that. Like when I wrestle (Batavia’s Kai) Enos. I beat him and then lost to him and wished the best for him. I like the competition, knowing I have something to go for when I lose someone is catching up to me so I got to train my heart out.”

Wheaton North’s Thomas Fulton captured the 157 title after a 4-2 victory over St. Charles East’s Ryan McGovern. Fulton has now won back-to-back regional titles.

Rocco Macellaio (120) took second for Wheaton North while Falcons teammates Ryan Rosch (150), Julian Flores (165) and Nikolas Schaafsma (175) fought back to win their respective third place matches to also move on to sectional competition. 

DeKalb’s Mike Hodge isn’t afraid of blood. In fact, the senior is used to it as bloody noses are not uncommon when he’s battling on the mat.

“I’m a bloody guy,” he said. “Going into practice every day, I get bloody noses. I think this one started in the second period and the loose plugs kept falling out and it kept getting worse.”

Hodge beat St. Charles East’s Logan Tatar, 5-3, to win the title at 144.

“This is really big, especially since last year I got fourth and it didn’t live up to what I wanted to do,” he said. “So this year I just came back improved, so this was huge for me.”

Also for the Barbs, Hudson Ikens (150) and Sean Kolkebeck (165) finished second while Jaden Bradley (106) and Jeremiah Piniera (285) each took third.

“I thought they all wrestled really hard,” Hodge said. “They wrestled a lot to the best of their ability and sometimes you just don’t come out on top, but coaches teach win, lose as long as you give the best effort you have, they’re happy.”

Knowing the stakes of a regional and the talent of such a competition, wrestlers will look to gain even the slightest edge over their opponents.

Sometimes that advantage somehow lands right at their feet, such as when it was time for West Chicago’s Leo Rosas to battle DeKalb’s Hudson Ikens for the 150 title.

Prior to it, Rosas watched as teammates Emanuel Rangel (113), Ryan Alvarado (126) and Santino Milazzo (144) won crucial third-place matches to qualify for next weekend’s Class 3A Conant Sectional. Rosas defeated Ikens, 5-2, to give West Chicago its lone regional champion.

“I had the comfort of knowing I had made it next week so in the finals I just had to go out there and give it my all and if I lose, I lose, I’m still going to wrestle next week,” Rosas said. “So it’s nervous watching your teammates wrestle for third place and everything and it’s nervous competing for that regional title, but at the end of the day I still made it to next week.”

“I went in knowing it was going to be a tough match. Whenever I know I’m wrestling someone tough I never let it get to my head, I take the nerves as like energy. So when I got in there, you know, he was pretty heavy on the clubs but I knew what I’ve been working on all week in practice and I used that and that’s how I was able to get the win. Everything I’ve been working on paid off.”

Bartlett had no regional champions but received second-place finishes from Nick Barton (132), Cameron Engels (138) and James Smrha (215).

Conant Sectional qualifiers from the St. Charles East Regional

106

1st Place – Vannak Khiev of Glenbard North

2nd Place – Kaden Potter of St. Charles East

3rd Place – Jaden Bradley of DeKalb

113

1st Place – Sam Sikorsky of Geneva

2nd Place – Declan Sons of St. Charles East

3rd Place – Emanuel Rangel of West Chicago

120

1st Place – Dom Munaretto of St. Charles East

2nd Place – Rocco Macellaio of Wheaton North

3rd Place – Isaac Velasco of Glenbard North

126

1st Place – Kalani Khiev of Glenbard North

2nd Place – Liam Aye of St. Charles East

3rd Place – Ryan Alvarado of West Chicago

132

1st Place – Trey Thompson of Glenbard North

2nd Place – Nick Barton of Bartlett

3rd Place – Payton Lee of St. Charles East

138

1st Place – Gavin Woodmancy of St. Charles East

2nd Place – Cameron Engels of Bartlett

3rd Place – Richard Morales of Glenbard North

144

1st Place – Mike Hodge of DeKalb

2nd Place – Logan Tatar of St. Charles East

3rd Place – Santino Milazzo of West Chicago

150

1st Place – Leo Rosas of West Chicago

2nd Place – Hudson Ikens of DeKalb

3rd Place – Ryan Rosch of Wheaton North

157

1st Place – Thomas Fulton of Wheaton North

2nd Place – Ryan McGovern of St. Charles East

3rd Place – Xavier Smiley of Glenbard North

165

1st Place – Anthony Gutierrez of St. Charles East

2nd Place – Sean Kolkebeck of DeKalb

3rd Place – Julian Flores of Wheaton North

175

1st Place – Abraham Leidig of St. Charles East

2nd Place – Joseph Fitak of Glenbard North

3rd Place – Nikolas Schaafsma of Wheaton North

190

1st Place – Julian Holland of Glenbard North

2nd Place – Rocco Lobrillo of St. Charles East

3rd Place – Carlo Saenz of Wheaton North

215

1st Place – Cooper Murray of St. Charles East

2nd Place – James Smrha of Bartlett

3rd Place – Tyler Hvorick of Glenbard North

285

1st Place – Joseph Pettit of Geneva

2nd Place – Matt Medina of St. Charles East

3rd Place – Jeremiah Piniera of DeKalb