Marian Central rolls to Chicagoland Christian Conference tournament title: Northwest Herald wrestling notes

Marian Central co-coaches Jordan Blanton and Ryan Prater wanted Saturday’s Chicagoland Christian Conference tournament to be a pivotal moment for the Hurricanes.

Not only was Saturday a chance for Marian to win its second straight CCC tournament title, it also was one last chance for the seniors to compete in Landers Pavilion.

Saturday couldn’t have gone better.

The Hurricanes won another conference title with relative ease after winning seven individual championships and three more runner-up finishes.

“We competed really hard and had some tough competition and we really performed well,” Blanton said. “So it was like a great jump start into the postseason.”

Marian won the team title with 225.5 total points, 37 points ahead of second-place Wheaton Academy. Chicago Hope Academy took third with 163 while Bishop McNamara placed fourth with 111.

Sophomore Jimmy Mastny continued his impressive season by taking the 190-pound crown, winning both of his matches by fall. Junior Austin Hagevold (113), senior Brayden Teunissen (120), sophomore Nick Marchese (126), senior Andrew Alvarado (138), senior Vance Williams (150) and junior Dan French (215) also won their respective weights.

Freshman Diego Martinez (106) and seniors Connor Cassels (157) and Kaleb Eckman (285) finished runner-up.

“We competed really hard and had some tough competition and we really performed well. So it was like a great jump start into the postseason.”

—  Jordan Blanton, Marian Central co-coach

Blanton said the Hurricanes highlighted their conference tournament on their schedule as a good tuneup for the postseason. While Blanton knew that Marian entered the tournament as favorites, he wanted the Hurricanes to focus on their performances rather than the results.

“I thought our guys did a really good job of competing hard and wrestling the style that we feel like is going to win in the end,” Blanton said. “So everything’s kind of trending in the right direction.”

They are, in more ways than one. Marian will also return sophomore Nic Astacio to the lineup after he missed the past six weeks due to an elbow injury. Astacio earned a couple top finishes at tournaments before his injury.

With just over a week left before Marian starts the postseason at the Class 1A Marengo Regional to defend its dual team state championship, the Hurricanes are feeling good with where things stand.

“We have the top-ranked wrestler in the state that wasn’t in the lineup there, but is now back and healthy,” Blanton said. “That’s kind of that last piece of the puzzle that our lineup has been looking for for a while.”

Prairie Ridge’s trio eyeing state run

Wolves coach Ross Ryan knew he didn’t need to worry about senior wrestlers Jake Lowitzki, Mikey Meade and Walter Pollack when he took over the program in the offseason. The trio came in with plenty of experience and had their eyes set on making a push to the state tournament.

Ryan’s intuition was right. All three have put together strong seasons and won their matches against Huntley on Thursday as they head into the final stretch of their high school seasons.

“I feel like they’re wrestling free,” Ryan said. “I think they’re really embracing every single match they get, knowing that it’s quickly running out of runway right before it’s all over.”

Lowitzki and Meade are both two-time state qualifiers while Pollack was forced to leave last season’s postseason push because of an injury. Lowitzki (120) and Meade (126) are both ranked top-10 in their respective weight class, according to Illinois Matmen, while Pollack (215) has earned honorable mention accolades.

While Pollack won by fall and Meade took his match by technical fall, Lowitzki fought to a 7-4 win against Huntley. Ryan wasn’t worried about Lowitzki’s tough matchup as he makes his final preperations.

“I want them to be in tight matches,” Ryan said. “It’s good to get that out of the system now. For Jake to know he’s going into the second period down three, ‘Oh, right, who cares? Go score the next point.’ And he did that. So it’s good to have a little bit of that test before the real test shows up.”

Huntley undefeated in FVC once again

The Red Raiders finished another dominant run through the Fox Valley Conference on Friday when it defeated Dundee-Crown 53-22. Huntley won its seventh outright conference title over the past nine seasons, going undefeated in FVC action all seven championship years.

The program won four straight titles from 2017 to 2020 before Jacobs went undefeated and won the FVC during the Spring 2021 season. Huntley retook the FVC in 2022 before McHenry went undefeated in 2023. The Raiders have now won the past two seasons.

Although winning conference has no postseason implications, the Raiders were proud of the accomplishment and want to build another streak.

“That’s what we want to do,” Huntley coach B.J. Bertelsman said. “Conference doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean playoffs like football or anything like that. But it’s good to have, especially every year we’ve won it, we’ve been undefeated. So we’re trying to get another one rolling.”

Red Raiders' Slaughter likely will miss playoffs

One of the area’s top wrestlers likely won’t participate in this year’s girls postseason when regionals start Friday.

Huntley junior Janiah Slaughter hasn’t wrestled this season and doesn’t appear to be set to wrestle this postseason, according to Huntley girls coach Gannon Kosowski. The coach declined to specify why Slaughter has missed action this season.

“[Slaughter] is hoping to get back, but it’s probably going to be next year,” Kosowski said.

Slaughter has had a decorated career during her time with the Raiders. She placed third at the state tournament as a freshman and finished runner-up at last season’s tournament.

Slaughter earned last season’s Northwest Herald Girls Wrestler of the Year.