Boys wrestling: JCA dominates in winning title at Class 3A Joliet Central Regional

JOLIET – Max Hrvatin of Joliet Catholic Academy was a little nervous heading into the 215-pound third-place match at the Class 3A Joliet Central Regional.

And with good reason. All 12 of the Hilltoppers wrestlers who had wrestled before him had qualified for next week’s Quincy Sectional and the only one remaining after him, Dillan Johnson, already had his sectional slot secured by reaching the 285 title bout.

“Coach [Ryan Cumbee] brought it up before the match,” Hrvatin said. “I felt a little pressure to win and advance so we could get all 14 guys to the sectional.”

Hrvatin trailed Lockport’s Cyrus Czyz in the third period before rallying to secure a takedown to take the lead, and he then put an exclamation point on the win by recording a fall at the 5:38 mark. The top three placers in each weight class advance to the sectional.

“It was all about the team,” Hrvatin said. “It was great to get those six team points for the fall, and it got me to advance to the sectional. At the end of a match like that, it all comes down to conditioning and who wants it more.

“We go the extra mile and push ourselves so hard so that we can be the last one standing at the end of the match.”

JCA won the team title in its first year competing in Class 3A, totaling 269.5 points to outdistance runner-up Lockport’s total of 164.5.

JCA regional champions were Luke Foster (106), Max Cumbee (113), Jason Hampton (120), Connor Cumbee (150), Luke Hamiti (157), Max Corral (165), Nico Ronchetti (195) and Johnson (285). Taking second for the Hilltoppers were Damien Flores (132) and Elias Gonzalez (138), while Hrvatin, Adante Washington (126), Nolan Vogel (144), and Isaac Clauson (175) finished third.

Foster got the Hilltoppers off to a thrilling start in the 106 title bout. He was trailing 5-4 late in the third period, but scored two points on a reversal with 15 seconds left to move ahead 6-5. A reversal attempt by Normal Community’s Caden Correll didn’t finish until after the buzzer and Foster won the title.

“I knew I had to make something happen,” Foster said. “That’s why we train for every match to go three periods. It felt good to get our team going in the right direction.”

Max Cumbee entered the tournament with a 23-13 record and was seeded second to Normal Community’s Jackson Soney, who was 38-1 entering the tourney and seeded first. Cumbee made it look easy with a 21-6 technical fall victory.

“I figured I would have to wrestle [Soney] for the title,” Cumbee said. “I was prepared. I was able to use my speed and power, and the fact that he was seeded first over me as fuel. For us, it’s all about the team and getting the team as many points as we can.

“My confidence heading into sectional is pretty high, but I have to keep my ego low. There’s still a lot of work to do.”

Hampton became the third straight second-seeded Hilltopper to win a title when he topped Romeoville’s Brian Farley, who entered as the top seed, 5-1 in the title bout.

“Luke Foster, Max Cumbee and Jason Hampton all stepped up big,” JCA coach Ryan Cumbee said. “None of them got seeded first, and they all won the title.

“We put together our regular season schedule as tough as it is so that we can be well prepared when the postseason starts. That paid off for us today.”

At 126, Joliet West’s Coehn Weber lost a 6-5 decision to Lockport’s Isaac Zimmerman in the title bout, while Minooka’s Cael Stonitsch beat Flores 6-4 to win at 132. At 138, Lockport’s Justin Wardlow beat JCA’s Gonzalez 8-2 for the title, while Joliet West’s Carson Weber won an 11-1 decision over Pekin’s RaMez Watson for the 144 title.

One of the happiest wrestlers of the day was Romeoville’s Mason Gougis, who won the 175 title with a 6-2 decision over Minooka’s Hunter Coons.

“I am very excited to win the regional,” Gougis said. “We’ve had some setbacks with finishing second this year. There are a lot of great teams and wrestlers here, so to win the title feels really good.

“Even though I knew I had qualified for the sectional, I wasn’t thinking about that. Winning this match will help me with sectional seeding, so that’s what I was thinking about.”

Lockport advanced nine wrestlers to the sectional. Wardlow and Isaac Zimmerman (126) each won a title, while Durango Valles (165) took second. Placing third for the Porters were Jake Churnovic (106), Timothy O’Connor (113), Liam Zimmerman (132), Naseem Jaber (150), Drew Silzer (157) and Wojtek Chrobak (285).

“It feels good to win the regional,” Wardlow said. “I need to keep working and stay focused, but I feel pretty confident heading into sectional. I just believe in God and myself and go out there and have fun.”

Besides Carson Weber at 144, Joliet West also advanced Coehn Weber (126) and Wyatt Schmitt (285), each of whom finished second. Joliet Central also advanced three wrestlers, including Charles Walker, who took second at 215, Jorge Robles (third, 138) and Amelio Gonzalez (third, 190).

“It was pretty nice to qualify on my own floor in my senior year,” Robles said. “I have a lot of confidence now. I lost to [Joliet West’s Adrian Hernandez] in the conference meet, so to beat him in the regional felt really good.”

Romeoville qualifiers were Farley at 120 and Gougis at 175, while Minooka qualifiers were Stonitsch at 132, Kaden Meyer (second, 150) and Coons (second, 175).