It’s been while since I’ve put up some shout outs on the site. I’m sure I’m missing a few, and I apologize for that, but there have been so many kicking ass and taking names that it’s hard to keep up!! Here are a few:

Conant Tournament- 

Danny Madonia, Jered Cortez (Outstanding Wrestler Award as well), and Jon Marmolejo: 1st Place. Pat Augustyn, Austin Gomez: 2nd Place. Colton Wegner: 5th Place. Luke Greenberg: 7th place

(Taken from Illinois Matmen, link below)”When your program has finished third or better at state for 10 of the last 13 years, it’s no real surprise when it once again figures to be in the mix.

While the names may change at Glenbard North, the beat goes on for Mark Hahn’s squad, which entered the season eighth in Class 3A GEI Apparel rankings.

That will no doubt improve after the Panthers beat two ranked squads and won a major tournament championship on Saturday to cap their first week of action.

Glenbard North, which was third in the state the past two years after winning it all in 2011, took top honors at Conant’s two-day Chris Hruska Cougar Classic.

The Panthers utilized five finalists and 10 placers to help them accumulate 201 points to claim the championship of the 20-team competition in Hoffman Estates.

Defending tourney champ St. Charles East edged the hosts 178-173 for second while Oak Forest (166.5), Lake Park (163.5) and Crystal Lake Central (150) were next.

Bloomington (139.5), Naperville North (110.5), Metea Valley (99.5) and Providence Catholic (86.5) rounded out the top half of the field in the 34th annual meet.

A pair of Panthers staples, Jered Cortez and Jon Marmolejo, again found their way to the top of the awards stand in the event as both won their third titles.

Cortez captured his third straight bracket board and was the OWA winner for the second year in a row after posting three pins and a win by technical fall at 132.

Meanwhile, Marmolejo (126) repeated as a champ and claimed his third title in four tries and Kirk Johansen (106) also took first place honors for the Panthers.

Johansen pinned Metea Valley’s Joey Riordan in 1:10 and Marmolejo followed a short time later with a pin in 57 seconds over Normal Community’s Grant Aaberg.

That set the table for Cortez, the three-time state champ who recently signed a letter of intent to continue his education and career at the University of Illinois.

The senior, who hasn’t been beaten while wearing the black and gold and last lost as a freshman, pinned Conant’s Bobby Alexander in 2:44 in the championship match.

Glenbard North picked up victories over fifth-ranked Minooka and 21st-ranked Lincoln-Way Central while posting a 3-0 mark in its own Fulk quadrangular.

“We went 3-0 on Wednesday, which is a big turnaround from last year when we went 0-3,” Cortez said. “We’re a little banged-up up top so we had a couple of j-v guys in for our bigger guys. So we were in full swing on Wednesday and this tournament.

“I have a positive attitude about this year’s team. I think we can grow a lot and our ceiling is really high. We know that coach Hahn does magic and he’ll have us peaking in February when it counts. Hopefully we can bring home another team medal.

“And I just continue to push myself and try to progress every day. Each day I try to get better and better individually. I’m trying to keep my head straight, stay focused, relax and have fun. You’re only a senior once, so I’m trying to soak it in.

“I have my personal goals and I’m trying to attain those. Hopefully I can win my fourth state title and lead this team to a team state title. There would be nothing better than to go out like that.”

St. Charles East had a pair of champs, repeat winner Isaiah Vela (138), who also captured his third tourney title, as well as Jake Mende (145).

Vela pinned Crystal Lake Central’s Mike Peterson in 4:40 in the finals while Mende claimed a 6-0 title win over Conant JV’s David Atkin.

Conant also had a pair of champions, repeat winner Danny Madonia (120) as well as a member of the JV Cougars, Michael Meier (285).

Madonia edged Glenbard North’s Patrick Augustyn 6-5 for the title while Meier pinned teammate Tyler LaBarbera in 3:18 in the last finals.

Oak Forest got a title from its defending state champion, Danny Swan (113), who claimed a 7-1 win over Glenbard North’s Austin Gomez.

Crystal Lake Central joined Glenbard North with three champions, which included Andrew Marsden (195), a repeat winner.

Kyle Fugiel (160) and Mike Zelasco (182) also captured titles for the Tigers, who had six who placed third or better.

In his finals match, Marsden defeated another returning champion, Bloomington’s Austin Weltha, by a 15-1 score.

Also, Zelasco won 7-4 over Naperville North’s Brandon Gilligan and Fugiel pinned Conant’s Griff Rose in 2:15.

Another repeat champion was Fenwick’s Mike Kozyra (170), who defeated Providence’s Matt Glenn 9-2 in the finals.

Metea Valley got a title from Kenan Carter (152), who was a 7-3 winner in the finals over Bloomington’s Kyonn Keith.

Naperville North’s Chris Zhang (220) recorded a fall in 5:22 over Conant’s Andrew Zerfas to capture a championship.

Lake Park claimed five third-place finishes while Oak Forest had three and St. Charles East and Crystal Lake Central two each.

Chris Hruska was a two-time placewinner at Conant who served as a Cougar assistant before losing a battle to cancer in 2010.”

Barrington

Brian Allen: 1st Place and Outstanding Wrestler. Matt Allen: 2nd place

(Taken from Illinois Matmen, link below) The dietary habits of a heavyweight wrestler have long been under suspicion, and defending unbeaten state champion Brian Allen of Hinsdale Central confirmed the validity of that suspicion.

“I felt pretty good before Thanksgiving,” Allen said. “But I weighed 268 in the morning and 276 at night. I was a little nervous going home that night, thinking I might be 285 again. So I’m back on a little bit of a diet right now.”

It was a leaner Allen that dominated the field at this year’s Barrington tournament in winning his third consecutive Moore/Prettyman title. During his 47-0 rampage through last year’s heavyweight division, Allen consistently weighed in between 280 and 285 pounds, but he entered this season at 270 and he plans to stay there.

“This year I was about 295 during football,” Allen said. “I was a little fat last year and right now I weigh about 270 or so. My conditioning kind of broke down in close matches last year so I want to avoid that this season.”

Allen and teammate Juwan Edmond (145) both won individual titles on Saturday to lead a field of seven wrestlers to medal for the sixth-place Red Devils. Both were top-seeded in their divisions.

Fourth-seeded sophomore Matt Allen (220) won an 8-3 semifinal decision over top-seeded Lucas Warren of Marmion to reach the title mat, before placing second in a 3-1 decision loss to Libertyville’s Kevin Barbian.

Junior Matt Price was the first Red Devil to place, winning a 10-1 major on the seventh-place mat at 113 over Stevenson’s Eric Carter. Sophomore Austen Cruickshank was next, placing eighth at 132, and junior James Manikas did the same did the same at 138 pounds.

Edmond was next in line. The top-seeded junior won a 5-2 decision over third-seeded Eric Barone of Crystal Lake South to win his first Barrington title.

“(Barone) was tough and that was a good match,” Hinsdale Central coach Jason Hayes said. “Both those guys were going after it. Juwan just has to keep chain wrestling. He’s got a great re-shot and we just have to work on his lungs, but he’s always been very athletic. Some things he’s got, you can’t really teach. He can do some freakish things that some kids can’t do.”

Edmond’s explosiveness on his feet figures to doom many a 145-pounder this season for the third-ranked wrestler at that weight in the preseason polls.

“I feel a lot better this year. I feel like I can take down anybody in the state,” Edmond said. “I have to get better on top. I can turn people on a shot but I need to get better at it when I’m on top.”

Keith Schmidt followed with a fourth-place finish at 170 pounds, and Hayes sees the dedicated senior knocking on the door this season.

“Keith Schmidt is a hard worker and he does everything right – he stays after practice, he’s in good shape – and his goal is to get downstate and get on that podium,” Hayes said. “He put a lot of time in during the offseason, and just working on the mental preparation is the biggest thing with Keith right now. This was a good tournament for him. He’s always been in the mix, kind of under the radar, and hopefully this year we can get him on the podium.”

Trailing in his semifinal match at 220, Matt Allen reached the title mat thanks to a late takedown and back points against Warren for an 8-3 decision win.

“I knew (Warren) had a stalling call so I just had to keep pushing forward, to get him out of position and take a shot,” Allen said. “I just wore him out. I want to go after people this year and try to wear them down.”

After seeing spot action as a freshman on varsity last year, Allen is a different wrestler in his sophomore season.

“Matt Allen reached the finals and that’s awesome,” Hayes said. “He’s not scared, he’s enjoying getting after it, and he’s fun to watch wrestle. And he’s in good shape for a big guy.”

For Brian Allen, three pins and a 17-6 major decision over Libertyville’s Chris McDermand added up to an Outstanding Wrestler Award at tournament’s end.

“Brian is the real deal. He works hard,” Hayes said. “There’s a quote I read that said ‘nobody is a natural; you’re a product of your hard work’. Brian works his (posterior) off and he gets after it.”

Not only is Allen ranked No. 1 in Illinois; he’s also No. 3 in the country in WIN Magazine’s national amateur rankings. Allen will give up wrestling to play football for Michigan State next year, but let there be no doubt that he intends to put the same effort into his pursuit of a second heavyweight state title.

“It’s still the same goal and I’m still excited about it,” Allen said. “I got reversed once last year so that’s the goal this year – no points given up. Nothing but escapes.”

Red Devils’ junior Matt Schuster (106) came within a win of reaching the place medal round, as did senior Matt Zapka (160). The Red Devils did not enter a wrestler at 182 pounds in Barrington, but wrestlers like sophomores Brett Dougherty (120), Lukas Kubilius (126), junior Andrew Jones (152), and senior Eric Chia (195) all gained experience at the varsity level.

“It was a good tournament for us. We graduated seven starters so we lost quite a bit, but a lot of guys came here and wrestled hard,” Hayes said. “I thought a few of our guys that placed could have placed a little higher, but it’s November.

“The guys are going out and wrestling hard. Illinois wrestling is very, very tough, especially when you get deep into these big tournaments. Come the finals or semifinals, that’s what we’re training for. We train for these first, third, fifth, and seventh-place matches because that’s how you get on the podium at the end of the year.”

Team Illinois’ defeats #2 ranked Omaha AAA Hockey

Congrats Jack Nickels and Tom Keane, keep it up!

Rose Bowl/Big Ten Team

Congrats Jack Allen on being selected to the 2013 Academic All-Big Ten Team, and on the win over Ohio State and Rose Bowl Berth!

Smart Spartans

Seventeen Spartans have been named to the 2013 Academic all-Big Ten team, the second-most in school history.

The players include: sophomore center Jack Allen, senior linebacker Max Bullough, redshirt freshman offensive tackle Jack Conklin, sophomore quarterback Connor Cook, junior fullback Ty Hamilton, junior center Travis Jackson, sophomore tight end Paul Lang, redshirt freshman wide receiver Matt Macksood, fifth-year senior quarterback Andrew Maxwell, redshirt freshman safety Mark Meyers, fifth-year senior kicker Kevin Muma, junior wide receiver Keith Mumphery, redshirt freshman quarterback Tyler O’Connor, redshirt freshman tight end Josiah Price, junior punter Mike Sadler, sophomore nose tackle Mark Scarpinato and fifth-year senior offensive guard Blake Treadwell.

Tulsa Nationals

Congrats Noah Villareal for taking 4th and Tulsa Nationals!

http://www.worldofwrestling-roller.com/Welcome_files/2013%20Suplay%20Kickoff%20Classic%20Results.pdf

 

 

1. http://illinoismatmen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51289

2. http://illinoismatmen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51305

3. http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131213/SPORTS0202/312130032