Marmion crowns five sectional champions, sends meet-high 11 to state meet from Hinsdale Central Sectional

HINSDALE — Senior Zachary Stewart is a big fan of the shirts that his Marmion team was rocking at the Class 3A Hinsdale Central boys wrestling sectional.

On the shirts worn by both the athletes and coaches, along with the cross present in the school’s logo, is the word “machine,” signifying the team’s persistence on the mat while not getting tired.

And with his 144-pound semifinal match against Marist’s Donavon Allen heading into overtime, the Purdue commit Stewart knew he needed to embody his inner machine to come out with a victory.

“You go in there with the score tied and my body’s tired and I don’t want to do this anymore,” said Stewart, who lost to Allen twice in his junior season. “But you’ve got to find it mentally and just do whatever you can to win.”

Stewart would go on to win the match with a 3-2 ultimate tiebreaker victory, as well as the sectional championship in the weight class, to become one of 11 Cadets to qualify for the individual state meet in Champaign.

“I’m proud of everybody, even the guys that didn’t make it out,” Marmion coach Nathan Fitzenreider said. “The effort was awesome out there. This is an emotional roller coaster of a weekend with a bunch of highs and lows, so it’s good to get through this weekend and have a lot of guys that are going to be with us next week.”

The Cadets' 11 qualifiers were the most of any team in the sectional, with Mount Carmel and Marist being the next closest teams with nine apiece. The Cadets also had the most wrestlers (9) make it to the championship match in their respective weight classes.

Along with Stewart, James Morrison (106), Nicholas Garcia (126), Ashton Hobson (150) and Joseph Favia (215) won their respective weight classes for Marmion.

Aidan McClure (113), Demetrios Carrera (132), Vincenzo Testa (175) and Mateusz Nycz each took second in their weight classes. Colton Wyller (third in 120) and Luke Boersma (fourth in 190) rounded out the state qualifiers for the Cadets.

“As a team we’ve been working hard, and it’s kind of our culture,” Stewart said. “We work, we push the pace and we win, even when we’re not supposed to win. That’s just what we do as a team. And if you see someone else doing it, it just starts a chain and it just gets us going.”

West Aurora had four wrestlers qualify for the state meet, with three of them making it to the championship match. Dominic Serio (157) and Alfonso Aguilar (285) took home the sectional title in their weight class, while Dayne Serio (165) took second and Marcus Quintana (144) finished fourth.

“I was nervous, especially since he pinned me in the first 15 seconds last time,” said Aguilar, who avenged a loss to Nycz at regionals with a win by fall in the first period in the sectional championship. “It feels amazing after putting in that practice and finally seeing the results of it.”

Also sending four wrestlers to Champaign next week is Glenbard West. Aidan Ortega (106) had the best finish for the Hilltoppers on the day, finishing in second. Carson Prunty (126) finished in third, while Vince Tortoriello (150) and Brandon Watson (157) both took fourth.

Naperville Central’s Henry Rydwelski needed a last-second takedown to defeat Testa for the 175-pound sectional title. The Redhawks also had Jacob Cochran (126) and William Erback (285) advance to state with fourth-place finishes.

Lyons saw two wrestlers qualify for state, with both Griff Powell (132) and Jack Kutchek (138) finishing in third place.

But Kutchek’s third-place finish almost didn’t come to be. The senior had back-to-back matches where he had last-second, go-ahead takedowns to move his way through the consolation bracket, with the latter of the takedowns securing a 6-3 sudden-victory to secure his first trip to the state meet.

“In those situations, I fully prepare that most likely I’ll be wrestling for all six minutes,” Kutchek said. “Before every match, I’m mentally ready to go all six minutes and never give up.

“This week I was wrestling with one of my coaches, and I was just so tired during the live go. In my head I could have given up, but I just told myself that it was sectionals, and If I give up now, I’m not going to be able to win those close matches this weekend.”

Also seeing two wrestlers make it to state was Batavia (Kai Enos, third in 113, and Asher Sheldon, second in 215), Glenbard East (Ismael Chaidez, second in 120, and Orlando Hoye, third in 190) and Downers Grove South (Noah Green, third in 175, and Jacobi Spraggins third in 285).

Downers Grove North (Tyler Tiancgo, 120), Bolingbrook (Tommy McDermott, 165) and Hinsdale Central (Zachary Kruse, 190) each saw a wrestler qualify for the state meet. Kruse finished second, McDermott took third and Tiancgo came in fourth in their respective weight classes.