Boys wrestling: Dom Munaretto among seven regional champs as St. Charles East takes title

DeKALB – He’s a regional champion, his team won a regional title and he’s 41-2 heading into the Class 3A Conant Sectional.

But St. Charles East sophomore and defending state champ Dom Munaretto said there’s still work to be done.

Munaretto was one of seven champs for the Saints on Feb. 3 at the Class 3A DeKalb Regional, although he had to come from behind against Glenbard North’s Dominick Marre in the final match for a 9-5 win at 113 pounds.

“Today was not a good performance on my part,” Munaretto said. “I got a little rattled. I need to work on that. It was just my mentality was a little off after I got taken down. I don’t know why. I just have to bounce back, work on my mental game a little bit. My wrestling is there. It’s just my mentality I need to work on a little bit at least.”

St. Charles East coach Jason Potter said the mental aspect will be the focus heading into the sectional this week. He said technical mistakes can be fixed by the coaching staff, but it’s up to the wrestlers to handle the mental aspect.

“When you’re the top guy, people are coming after you,” Potter said. “It just brings a different level of pressure, adrenaline, being able to keep our composure in those situations. Guys are going to wrestle us tight.”

Ben Davino remained undefeated on the year for the Saints with three first-period pins at 132 as he looks to become the 15th four-time state champion in IHSA history.

Tyler Guerra (138), Jayden Colon (144), Gavin Connolly (150), Brody Murray (175) and Matt Medina (285) also won titles for the Saints.

Liam Aye (second at 120), Gavin Woodmancy (second at 126), Anthony Gutierrez (second at 165), Cooper Murray (second at 190) and Brandon Swartz (third at 215) also advanced to the sectional for the Saints.

“We had every intention of coming in here and taking care of this and getting this done,” Potter said. “It’s just one step toward our ultimate goal at the end of the year.”

St. Charles East finished with 260 points, well ahead of second-place DeKalb (191) and third-place Glenbard North (151.5). Wheaton North, fourth with 111 points, was the only other of the eight teams to finish with more than 100 points.

Glenbard North sent seven wrestlers to the sectional, including champions Kalani Khiev (120), Christian Chavez (126) and Tyler Ott (190). Dominick Marre (second at 113), Rylan Kradle (second at 150), Treshon Williams (third at 157) and Julian Holland (third at 175) also qualified.

Khiev ran his record to 32-4 with a pair of decisions.

“I expect a lot more out of myself,” said Khiev, who qualified for state last year but did not place. “That’s why once Monday hits I’m really going to get back into the room and focus on my mistakes. I’m not satisfied right now. There’s more to improve on for better and bigger results.”

Wheaton North had six sectional qualifiers, including champions Rocco Macellaio at 106 and Thomas Fulton at 157. David Hyde (second at 132), Ryan Rosch (third at 150), Julian Flores (third at 165) and Carl Givens (second at 285) also advanced.

Macellaio knocked off St. Charles North’s Declan Sons for the title with an 8-2 win. Sons had won their previous two meetings this season.

“He avenged that and got the regional victory today. A lot of credit to him,” Wheaton North coach Kevin Formanski said. “It’s hard to come back and do that a third time and yet he rocked through it, did a good job.”

Fulton had a tough path to the title for the Falcons, needing an ultimate tiebreaker in his semifinal against DeKalb’s Cam Matthews before holding on for a 3-1 win against Geneva’s Payton Marzen for the championship.

“You get a couple close matches, you grind out a couple close wins, obviously that builds confidence moving forward,” Formanski said. “I think it’s also kind of an eye-opener, too, like, hey, this is a pretty tough regional. So we have to start a little quicker. But, hey, a win is a win. We’ll take it and hopefully build momentum.”

Marzen was one of four sectional qualifiers for Geneva, along with Sam Sikorsky (third at 106), Andrew Wendt (third at 132) and Joe Pettit (second at 215). Ryan Gura took third at 190 and was the lone qualifier for Bartlett. Ryan Alvarado (third at 120) and Donovan Avila (third at 138) were the only sectional qualifiers for West Chicago.

St. Charles North will send brothers Declan and Brogan Sons into the sectional. Freshman Declan was second at 106 and Brogan, a junior, was third at 144 with an injury default win with 13 seconds left over Santino Milazzo.

This is Brogan’s first year wrestling since eighth grade after spending two years playing basketball. He came back to wrestling at the same time his younger brother joined the team and now both are going to the sectional.

“About halfway through the season, you could see the rust shaking off,” St. Charles North coach David Drews said. “He’s back. He’s ready to go, so we got the Sons brothers at sectionals.”

St. Charles East has its trip to the team dual sectional locked up. The Saints beat Marmion 28-24 for the title last year.

“We’re not defending anything just because we won it last year,” Potter said. “Our goal is to go out and win a state title. If we wrestle our best, we’re going to be in the hunt for that. This is one step in that direction.”