IC Catholic Prep wins 6 IHSA sectional titles, advances 12 to state tournament

IC Catholic had a goal of qualifying all 13 of its wrestlers to the IHSA state tournament from Saturday’s Class 2A Crystal Lake Central Sectional.

Well, 12 out of 13 isn’t bad.

The Knights continued their impressive postseason streak Saturday with another dominant showing. IC Catholic won six sectional titles, had three runners-up and qualified a total of 12 wrestlers for the state tournament.

“Sometimes you can miss your goal,” IC Catholic sophomore Kannon Judycki said. “But you have to get the next best thing and 12 down is amazing. It really shows how much our program has grown.”

The Knights led the sectional with the most state qualifiers. Six Antioch wrestlers qualified for the state tournament while Fenwick advanced four, Grayslake Central had two while Carmel, Vernon Hills and Fenton each finished with one.

Senior Deven Casey (132 pounds), juniors Sam Murante (113) Brody Kelly (175), sophomores Judycki (120) and Max Cumbee (126) and freshman Aidan Arnett (144) each won sectional titles for IC Catholic. Junior Foley Calcagno (215) and sophomore Dominic Pasquale (106) each took second, freshmen Jacob Alvarez (138) and Isaac Barrientos (190) placed third and sophomores Joey Pontrelli (150) and Anthony Sebastian (285) each took fourth.

After missing practice all week because of an unspecified injury, Judycki came back with a strong showing to win his sectional title. He and Prairie Ridge senior Jake Lowitzki were scoreless after one period before Judycki made a quick move in the second period to earn the title by fall.

“I have worked hard all offseason,” Judycki said “Then waiting for days like this, for the hard work to pay off, which means a whole lot to me.”

The Knights, ranked the No. 1 team in Class 2A according to Illinois Matmen, have come close to hitting their stride over the past few weeks. IC Catholic won the talented Chicago Catholic League a couple weeks ago and then won the Class 2A DePaul Prep Regional last week.

Although IC Catholic coach Danny Alcocer would’ve loved to have qualified all of his wrestlers for the individual state tournament, he’s proud of what his team has accomplished this far.

“We’re excited … ” Alcocer said. “Proud of these guys, how they performed, how they wrestled, proud of our coaching staff. They really did a good job getting these guys prepared for the sectionals.”

Antioch senior Owen Shea won the 215 title while senior Gavin Hanrahan (126) and junior Chase Nobiling (144) each finished runner-up. Senior Ben Vazquez (175) and sophomore Dominic Garcia (150) took third while junior Marcus Macias (165) placed fourth.

Shea played the long game in his title matchup against Calcagno. The two battled evenly for much of the match as Shea waited for his opponent to get tired. Once he saw his moment, he made a move late to earn a win by 7-5 decision.

“I was just trying to wear him out,” Shea said. “I didn’t want to do anything too big or risky in the beginning, and I kind of just wanted to catch him off guard with the throw. I did.”

Fenwick seniors Aiden Burns (157) and Dominic Esposito (175) each finished runner-up while senior CJ Brown (113) and Jack Paris (190) each placed fourth to qualify for state. Wauconda senior Mike Merevick (190) took second while seniors Gavin Rockey (120) and Christian Cendajez (175) each took fourth.

Vernon Hills junior Ilia Dvoriannikov (165) and Fenton senior (285) each finished runner-up while Grayslake Central junior Warren Nash (157) and sophomore Vince DeMarco (106) each placed third.

“Sometimes you can miss your goal. But you have to get the next best thing and 12 down is amazing. It really shows how much our program has grown.”

—  Kannon Judycki, IC Catholic sophomore

Saturday’s 150 sectional title for Carmel senior David Farjado felt like a special moment. Although he transitioned to becoming more of a boxer, he returned to wrestling to compete for the Corsairs after two years away from the team.

He’s now won East Suburban Catholic Conference, regional and sectional titles. He’s ready to compete for a state championship in Champaign, Ill. starting Thursday.

“It’s pretty cool,” Farjado said. “I’m excited. I worked really hard and feel like that hard work always pays off.”