Wrestling: Joliet Catholic repeats as champs at 57th Rex Whitlach Invitational

HINSDALE – Aaron Stewart, Anthony Soto and Caleb Nobel provided plenty of firepower on the wrestling mats Saturday afternoon at Hinsdale Central - but so did Joliet Catholic heavyweight Dillan Johnson, and his teammates who outscored a fantastic field at the 57th Rex Whitlach Invitational.

Johnson, nationally ranked, and a two-time state champion was one of four Hilltoppers to win their weight division and help their club amass 264.5 overall points to claim the top prize for the second consecutive year at Hinsdale Bank Gymnasium.

Warren, runner-up a year ago, would once again take home second place honors with 193.5 points, followed by Sandburg (184.0), Lincoln-Way West (165.0) and DeKalb with 149.5 points.

Downers Grove South, Stevenson, Barrington, West Aurora and Glenbard West rounded out the top 10 at this prestigious tournament which featured 14 state-ranked teams, in addition to over 100 state-ranked wrestlers in both the 3A and 2A classes.

Stewart (18-1), No. 1 at 157 pounds, demolished the field to win here for the second consecutive time.

“We have most of our team back from our state team, and we’re starting to come together all throughout our lineup, so there’s no reason why we cannot get back to dual-team state and do much better than last year,” said Stewart, third a year ago at state, and No. 14 in the latest national polls.

His freshmen teammate, the aforementioned Nobel, now 17-2 after his 7-2 decision over Rocky Seibel (Belleville West, 16-1) is the No. 3 man in the state at 106, and also nationally ranked.

“With great leaders like Aaron Stewart, it’s easy for me to come in as a freshman and feel like I belong on the team,” said Nobel.

Anthony Soto (12-2) would pin DeKalb senior Lamar Bradley (15-5) at 2:55 to win at 215.

Across the divisions, the area had a modicum of success, beginning with Stevenson sophomore Shawn Kogan (15-3) who won his first major of the season after a hard-fought 3-2 contest with Ulises Rosas 17-2) from Glenbard West.

“It felt good to win a title at such an important tournament like this one - but there’s still a lot of work ahead of me,” said Kogan, who took a 3-0 advantage midway through the second period before holding off Rosas.

West Aurora junior Dominic Serio kept his record spotless after an impressive six minutes of work against No. 7 Rhenzo Augusto (Barrington, 16-2) ended in a 11-5 decision in the title match at 150.

“It’s nice to be the No. 2 rated guy at (50) but the goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the year,” said Serio, now 17-0 after his 34 win season last year helped him to advance to state.

Augusto’s teammate, Jimmy Whitaker (14-6) fell in his final to Madden Parker (Sandburg, 18-0) at 126, while Serio watched his mate, No. 4 Noah Quintana (14-3) lose to Aaron Stewart via a technical fall.

Collin Carrigan (Glenbard West, 19-0) cruised to his 175-title after a 22-7 technical fall over No. 8 RJ Samuels (15-2) from Downers Grove South.

“I am feeling really good right now, and even better about my move from Glenbard West, which I now have a two-three minute to my classes,” said Carrigan, who transfered from Marmion Academy during the offseason for his senior year.

Carrigan, No. 1 at 165, left little doubt after bumping up at weight class, with a pair of pins, and tech-falls on his day.

Matty Lapacek lost a heart-breaker to Nicholas Rochetti (Joliet Catholic Academy, 11-3) in their 190-final when the Downers Grove South senior, and returning state qualifier conceded a take-down with 19 seconds remaining in the first overtime session.

Lyons Township senior Gunnar Garelli, is now 18-0 following his 6-4 victory over Jacob Luce (DeKalb, 15-2) at 165, to capture his second major of the season.

Dillon Johnson would be named Outstanding Wrestler (O.W.) by the coaches at the end of the tournament.

Over in Glenview, at the 58th Rus Erb Tournament, Batavia would use four individual titles to lift the championship trophy for the second straight year.

Aidan Huck (138, 17-1) and Asher Sheldon (215, 18-1) won here for the second straight year, while teammates: Ino Garcia (113) and Ben Brown (13-0) at 190 earned their first Rus Erb crown.

The Bulldogs, who were chasing Oswego East by five (140.5-135.5) late in the day, would jump atop the leader board to finish with 161.5 overall points, thanks in part to their victorious quartet.

Oswego East were runners-up with 156.5, followed by Deerfield (143.5), St. Patrick (138.5) and Riverside-Brookfield at 132.0

Grant (113.5) and Buffalo Grove (109.5) were next up in the final standings.

Junior Christian Wittkamp (17-5) would give Grant its lone championship of the day at 165 after his tech-fall victory over Buffalo Grove junior, Chris Chi, now 13-3.

Chi, and Caden Walton (190, 12-2) both champions last weekend at the Rex Lewis fell short in their bid for a second straight week of success.

Vince Jasinski (Grant, 16-4) was second at 106, as was Carmel Catholic junior Matthew Lucansky, now 11-3 after his loss to Robert Zavala from Lane Tech.

Lake Forest senior Seth Digby (17-0) continues to shine at 157 after pinning his way into the final where he dominated Colin O’Grady (16-4) from Oswego East with a 16-4 major decision triumph.