High school wrestling: Marmion musters eight individual state tournament berths

DOWNERS GROVE – Michael Jaffe gave a shoutout to his family and teammates for their support at the Class 3A Downers Grove North sectional Feb. 11.

Then he planned on putting in a call to older brother AJ Jaffe.

After all, it hasn’t been all that long since AJ was in a similar position as Michael – a Marmion sophomore making his first appearance at the state tournament.

“He’s in college [at Harvard] right now, but I’m going to call him up when I get home,” the younger Jaffe said. “We were in the same boat sophomore year going downstate, so he’s really going to help me out, and my teammates, too, because they’re always behind me.”

Two first-period takedowns and some solid defense after that helped Jaffe capture third place at 106 pounds with a 4-2 win against Mount Carmel’s Colton Drousias. Getting a win against an opponent he had struggled with was the perfect way to get to state for Jaffe.

“It feels great because I was 1-2 against him and I lost the last two matches, so to come back and beat him is a big confidence booster,” Jaffe said. “The previous times I was kind of holding back, but I figured out if I attacked I could go get it.”

Jaffe was hardly alone in getting to state as seven teammates finished in the top four at the sectional to move on to the big stage.

Nate Jimenez won the 160-pound title. Brad Gross (152) and Peter Ferraro (170) were second, Trevor Chumbley (126) and Anthony Cheloni (138) were third, and Jake Polka (145) and Tyler Surges (195) placed fourth to advance.

This is the second straight state berth for Jimenez, but it is the first time he will walk into Champaign’s State Farm Center as a sectional champion.

“It feels great,” said Jimenez, a junior who improved to 36-6 on the season. “It’s been a goal of mine going down to state as a sectional champion.”

Jimenez, also a regional champion, survived a tough sectional to win the title convincingly. After a first-round bye, he won by fall in the quarterfinals, won 7-2 in the semis, and scored a 7-1 win in the championship match. The lone point scored against him in the final came in the last minute of the third period, an illustration of where his confidence level is heading to state.

“My dad has been preaching to me this whole year to have confidence in myself because when I’m on, I’m hard to beat,” Jimenez said. “At the beginning of the year my confidence wasn’t where it needed to be, so I built on it and built on it, and now I’m ready.”

Jimenez placed third at the sectional a year ago and went on to place third in the state at 160. Having state experience will only help as he strives to make his 2017 sectional and state place numbers match up.

“I’ve built confidence in myself with my training and technique, so I think things will be different this time around. I’m excited,” he said. “I’m in the best shape of my life and training every day, training in the summer, and I’ve never been more ready, so I’m confident.”

Batavia wrestling

The Bulldogs saw Justin Major (132 pounds), Seth Winkle (145) and Joe Posledni (160) win first-round matches at the Downers Grove North sectional.

It was a good start, but they all came up short of earning state tournament berths.

All three fell in quarterfinal matches. Winkle and Posledni each won a backdraw match before bowing out of the tourney.