Wrestling: Sandburg rules SWSC again
By Curt Herron For Sun-Times Media January 21, 2012 11:08PM
Joliet Central’s Drake De Benedetti (left) wrestles Lincoln-Way Central’s Mick Korte. | Ray Luna ~ For Sun-Times
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Updated: March 22, 2012 1:57AM
Friday’s snowstorm forced the SouthWest Suburban Conference wrestling tournament into becoming an all-day affair on Saturday.
But after nearly 12 hours of competition, the final result was not much different than in past SWSC meets where Sandburg won the unofficial team title.
The Eagles had four champions to help them capture top honors in the 16-team event by a 347.5-263 margin over runner-up Lincoln-Way Central in Joliet.
Winning championships for Sandburg were Sebastian Pique (120), John Pellegrino (126), Dan Garcia (132) and Ricky Robertson (170).
Pellegrino edged Joliet Central’s Drake DeBenedetti 3-2 in the finals while Garcia beat returning champ Robbie Mikenis of Lincoln-Way Central 5-2 for his title.
“Coming in here seeded third, I had a chip on my shoulder,” Garcia said. “I came in with a positive attitude and when you do that, you can get a positive result.”
Host Joliet Central and Bolingbrook had two champions apiece while six other schools finished with one title winner each.
Capturing titles for the Steelmen were Trayvon Zabala (113) and Sharod Wilson (182) while the Raiders got firsts from Issac Jensen (220) and Rob Bain (285).
Two-time champ Zabala won 9-3 to avenge an earlier loss to Lockport’s Austin Strzelczyk while Bain won 11-4 over Andrew’s Cory Chojnowski in a clash of unbeatens.
“I worked hard for this match and I did all that I could do in order to beat him,” Zabala said. “And I’m going to keep working harder so that I can get better.”
Lockport’s Shaun’Qae McMurtry (160) won his third straight title while Lincoln-Way East’s Kyle Langenderfer (138) and Stagg’s Kevin Moylan (145) became two-time champs.
Langenderfer won 4-0 over Joliet West’s Jim Spangler while Moylan edged Sandburg’s Colin Holler 1-0 in a pair of matchups featuring returning state placewinners.
“I got a pin against him last time,” Langenderfer said. “So I knew he was going to be a little more resistant to what I did on my feet. But I still had a solid match.”
Other title winners were Thornton’s Kris Williams (106), Lincoln-Way Central’s Tyler Schneider (152) and Joliet West’s Matt Koran (195).
Williams beat Sandburg’s John Pellegrino 11-4 while Koran defeated returning champion Donnie Bell of Homewood-Flossmoor 6-1 in the finals.
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