Wrestling: Minus its leading man, Montini still rolls to third straight state title

BLOOMINGTON — Minus its leading man, the Montini wrestling team had no trouble putting away the only Class 3A program that stood a fighting chance of dethroning the Broncos.

Montini head coach Israel Martinez did not coach Saturday, and was not on the floor with the Broncos. Assistant coach Paul Faris, a longtime figure in Illinois wrestling circles, was the acting head coach as Montini rolled to six consecutive victories to begin Saturday's Class 3A Dual State Team Tournament final against Chicago Catholic League Rival Mount Carmel. The Broncos toughed out close wins, but easily won the points battle 37-9 to win their third straight Class 3A championship.

“I really can’t talk about it, but I’m just going to be optimistic about everything," Faris said. "But I will tell you these kids didn’t get diverted. They just focused on the project at hand is the way to put it. All they concentrated on was what they set out to do.”

Martinez also did not coach at the dual team sectional in South Elgin Tuesday. The Montini administration issued a no comment to a request for information about Martinez's absence.

The Broncos claimed their 16th state championship in wrestling with the win. Montini has now won eight team titles in 10 years.

As one of a successful group that set lofty standards, senior 182-pounder Trevor Swier, who won his match 3-1 Saturday, said what the Class of 2020 leaves is beyond notable.

“It leaves a precedent in the program for the highest standard in Illinois," Swier said.

The Broncos did not lose a dual this season on their way to a 24-0 record.

“It is business as usual because we’ve all been there before, but on the other hand it is such a special thing that we’re able to do," Swier said. "Montini is such a storied dynasty of a program and we’re just happy we can add to it.”

Mount Carmel’s last team trophy came in 2016 when the Caravan finished third, and the Caravan's second-place finish was its best since 2002.

Jalen Grant at 285 earned the Caravan’s first win of the day, 3-0 over after Mount Carmel already found themselves trailing 20-0. Earlier in the season, Montini had to come from behind to defeat Mount Carmel 33-26 in CCL competition.

State champion Joe Roberts (152) got the Broncos off to a fast start with a 25-9 tech fall win, and Brayden Thompson (160) ground his way to a 4-3 decision for an early 8-0 Broncos lead. The Broncos kept rolling with Cooper Wettig (170) winning by 6-2 decision and Trevor Swier (182) earning a 3-1 decision.

Nathan Wemstrom (195), one of Montini's 14 individual state qualifiers, kept the winning going to start the dual, coming from behind against Mount Carmel's Robert Bowman to ride him out through the end of the third period to win 5-4.

“In Carmel, I studied my match again because I wrestled him previously last year so I knew what to do," Wemstrom said. "I knew he was going to gas out easy and I just knew I’d push the pace real hard.”

A sophomore, Wemstrom said part of the reason younger Broncos' wrestlers succeed is how they're thrown into tough scenarios immediately when they join the program.

“I feel like as an underclassmen, I’m not given the leeway ... and that’s how we excel and that’s how we get better because the expectations are just so high," Wemstrom said. "The expectation (is not) different for Dylan Ragusin compared to (a freshman)."

Also grabbing wins for the Broncos were Josh LaBarbera (220) with a 3-1 decision, Joe Fernau (106) earned a 20-5 tech fall win, Nain Vazquez (120) held on 4-3, Dylan Ragusin (126) beat fellow state champion at 132 pounds Noah Mis by a 6-2 score, Braden Stauffenberg (138) won 6-2 and Fidel Mayora (145) held on for a 3-1 decision.

“There’s some kids that are heroes here that won’t be in all the statistics about how this thing ended, but they just did their job and that’s been the message all year," Faris said. "In a team competition, sometimes you have to sacrifice."

Faris, who has been an assistant under Martinez for six seasons and has coached the sport at Plainfield Central, Hinsdale South and North Central College, considered the championship something of a different type of reward.

“This is my retirement year after 50 years," Faris said. "It’s a nice present.’

The Broncos rolled through Lockport with seven falls in a 55-9 victory Saturday morning, before putting down Barrington 53-4 on their way to the finals.

"They’ve been on a mission from the first practice to all the different tournaments and the quality of the competition we faced, it may be one of the best teams ever in Illinois," Faris said.

Montini boasted five champions from the 3A individual state tournament in Champaign, and rolled through the week with a 61-9 win over Maine South Tuesday at South Elgin to get to dual team state.

Before accepting their championship trophy and medals, a hyped-up member in a mass of Broncos in the tunnel screamed what was on the mind of several Broncos.

"We're one of the best Illinois teams ever."

Correction: Nathan Wemstrom's last name was originally misspelled and the article has been edited for clarity.