Boys wrestling: Batavia, Marmion have pair of sectional champs

HINSDALE – Batavia and Marmion each had two individual champions at the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional on Feb. 10.

Batavia senior Ino Garcia (24-5) earned a 9-1 decision against Sandburg junior Madden Parker (40-6) to win the title at 120 pounds.

“I just had to get on my offense,” Garcia said. “I knew I was good at defense and stuff like that. So if I get on my offense and score early, I can usually put away a match like that.”

Losses to tough competition in big invites this winter helped put Garcia in a position to win when it mattered most in the state series.

“Those other tournaments and stuff against really tough opponents pushed me to get better,” he said. “It put me in position so I could take first place.”

Batavia senior Aidan Huck (40-5) earned a 5-3 decision against Mount Carmel junior Jairo Acuna to claim the championship at 144.

“This means a lot,” Huck said. “We came in with a plan and I held him down and got to my attack and ended up on top. That definitely worked for me.”

Marmion sophomore Nicholas Garcia (41-7) got past Mount Carmel freshman Justin Williamson (29-9) by a 6-5 decision to take home the title at 113.

“I knew I had it in me,” Garcia said. “I just had to go out there and win. The pressure was on.”

Marmion sophomore Joey Favia (34-6) upended Mount Carmel senior William Jacobson (25-12) to win the championship at 215.

“It feels really good. I’m honored. I feel I took all the right steps to make it to state,” Favia said. “I’ve wrestled that kid before so I knew it was going to be a good match. I just have the best coaches in the corner and just know what I’m going to do, so I was pretty confident going in. I mean, obviously, this is a really good sectional. You’ve just got to wrestle your match, wrestle like you can wrestle.”

In the 165-pound title match, Glenbard West senior Collin Carrigan (42-1) held on to defeat Lyons’ Gunnar Garelli (44-2) by a 5-3 decision.

“I transferred to Glenbard West for my senior year so I’ve known [Garelli]. We went to the same club since fourth grade so I’ve wrestled this kid forever,” Carrigan said. “It’s funny that senior year worked out like this. I’ve seen him already two times and this was the third time. It’s a cool rivalry.”

Hinsdale Central’s lone qualifier in the finals was senior Marko Ivanisevic (37-2) who finished the sectional competition with a 3-0 victory against Mount Carmel senior Alex Poholik (18-9).

Mount Carmel led the sectional teams with four champions. Marist had three. The other seven champs were divided among five schools.

Marmion freshman Logan Conover (29-14) lost by fall to Sandburg junior Rocco Hayes (44-1) in the 106-pound title match.

Marmion sophomore Zach Stewart (26-8) lost by sudden victory to Marist junior Donavon Allen (31-6) at 138.

Batavia senior Ben Brown (31-2) suffered his first losses of the season Saturday, but still qualified for state with a fourth-place finish at 190.

Batavia junior Asher Sheldon (40-9) bounced back to beat Naperville Central senior Nicolas Besteiro (27-5) by fall for third place at 215.

The Redhawks had three wrestlers battle for third place with Christopher Bern (157) and Will Erbeck (285) prevailing and Hagan Taylor (144) placing fourth.

West Aurora’s Dominic Serio (150) and Noah Quintana (157) lost in the finals but qualified for state. Aiden Massaro (120), Evan Matkovich (126) and Dayne Serio (165) each wrestled for third place but only Serio (34-5) was victorious as the sophomore outscored Mount Carmel junior Kevin Kalchbrenner (21-14) to earn an 8-3 win.

Downers Grove South senior Matt Lapacek beat Brown to take third place with a 5-1 decision at 190. Downers Grove South senior RJ Samuels (34-8) suffered an injury against Marist junior Ricky Erickson (28-10) and took fourth place at 175.

Marmion senior Donny Pigoni (30-12) pinned Matkovich to take third at 126 and sophomore Ashton Hobson scored a major decision win against Taylor at 144 for third place for the Cadets. Marmion heavyweight Mateusz Nycz, a junior, lost a 7-5 decision to Erbeck.

Glenbard West senior Tony Shadid (25-13) placed fourth after a 5-1 loss to Bern. He’ll represent the Hilltoppers at state along with Carrigan.