Kane County Chronicle Wrestler of the Year: Ben Davino won third state title, led St. Charles East to first team crown

ST. CHARLES – The goalposts haven’t shifted for Ben Davino.

Davino, a St. Charles East junior, has every intention of winning four high school state titles and being the most decorated wrestler he can be. His junior high school season was no deviation from that goal.

Davino went 50-0 and won his third high school state title in the Class 3A 126-pound finals over Marmion’s Jameson Garcia. Davino, the No. 1 nationally ranked wrestler by Flo Wrestling, has only one loss in his career and ballooned his record to 119-1.

So for Davino, the Kane County Chronicle Wrestler of the Year for the second consecutive year, what’s in store for his final campaign?

“I’m excited to see what’s to come for that,” Davino said. “I definitely always think about what the team is looking for, not just myself. It’s still a team aspect to it. I know people think it’s an individual sport, but at the end of the day, your team is in it with you, no matter if it’s an individual tournament or a team tournament. So I’m always definitely not just looking to improve myself, but try and always push my team in the room.”

Davino was one of the cornerstones in leading St. Charles East to a program-first team dual state title in Bloomington this season.

Davino’s personal standard is perfection. Although he was moments removed from winning his third individual state title in Champaign last month, Davino was quite emotional post-match.

“It’s definitely one of the things that we love about him,” Saints coach Jason Potter said. “He sets that tone and it’s contagious throughout my team. He looks at wrestling like an artistic form. He wants to put on a show. He wants to put on a performance. He wants to dominate, but in the act in which he does it, he likes things to look smooth and clean. He’s always scoring points and being creative.

“At one point coming into high school, he was kind of pegged as a kid who used one move and one move only. I remember when he was 14 that really bothered him and he wanted to prove to everybody he wasn’t a one-trick-pony, that he could do anything and everything. I think that’s part of the underlying drive that he has. He truly loves the sport. For him, it’s not really even about winning and losing. It’s about putting on a show and being creative and letting that artistic side of it flow.”

While some saw the initial tears after the state-title winning match, what wasn’t initially seen, Potter said, was Davino found a mat in a nearby tunnel and immediately got to work trying to fix how he was slowed down and what he could do different next time, so if that matchup happened again, he could truly open up and show his real caliber.

The next week, he rebounded with a dominating performance in a decisive state title match against Marmion. The only dual team loss the Saints suffered this season was against Joliet Catholic in December.

That loss was a reckoning for the Saints.

“After we lost to JCA, everything just switched and we were like, ‘We really got to focus up because we’re not as good as we can be,’'’ Davino said. “Potter talked to us right after and then everybody just realized the vibe in the room changed. It wasn’t, ‘We’re here at wrestling practice. We’re here to go’ We stopped lallygagging a little bit and it was pedal to the metal.”

Davino took a self-imposed one-week break from wrestling after the high school season, but he’s now preparing for a trip to the USA Wrestling World Team Trials in June.

In a sense, it’s a full-time job.

“You’ve always got to try and live a normal life, too,” Davino said. “Just definitely got to have fun with it, but it’s a lot of work and it’s fun putting in the work.”

“He has a coach’s card [with the St. Charles Wrestling Club],” Potter said. “He’s helping out with the kids club. Not only is he a student of the sport, but he loves it. He works with all the little kids in the community. He can’t get enough of it and I don’t care what sport the person is in, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find another junior in high school that is more obsessed and truly loves what they do more than him.”