Elmwood Park dominates way to title
BY DANNY CARLINO Contributor December 12, 2011 6:28PM
Elmwood Park's Joe Stacco (front) tries to escape Mather's Mark Okamura in the Walther Lutheran Wrestling Invitational on Saturday, Dec.10. | Shauna Bittle~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: January 16, 2012 8:28AM
A year after finishing in second place due to a late disqualification, Elmwood Park’s wrestling team erased those bitter memories and replaced them with a first place trophy at the Warren G. Hoger Invitational at Walther Lutheran on Saturday in Melrose Park.
The Tigers had nine wrestlers in the finals, five champions, and 12 of the 14 finished with top-six medals amassing 252.50 points ahead of second place Seaholm of Michigan’s 197 points.
“We just decided to go out there and wrestle our butts off,” Elmwood Park head coach Lane Stone said. “We knew we had the skills to do it, and we left it on the mat and didn’t let anyone take it away from us. I think we did even better than we thought. Last year we had just four guys make it to the finals so we were way past what we expected. We came in with determination and were focused. We wanted it, and I told the guys that if they wanted it enough and wrestled their butts off, they could do it.”
Sophomore Ben Vasquez and senior Mike DiFrisco each maintained their perfect records en route to their first place finishes. Vasquez won both of his bouts by pin after having a bye through the first round. He won his championship bout at 106 pounds in just 45 seconds over Westmont’s Scott Larem to raise his unbeaten record to 11-0. DiFrisco was the master of the takedown recording 19 of them on the day to make 44 on the season in his run to the 132-pound title. He had only 49 takedowns all of last year and is now 12-0 on the season.
Sophomore Ruben Bahena won both of his matches at 113 pounds to take first place. After his bye in the first round, he won by pin and 11-7 to win the championship and up his record to 10-2. Senior Jim Accettura was perfect in his three bouts winning two by pin including in the 170-pound title bout making his record 13-1. Senior Joe Shaw won the 195-pound crown with a pair of pins improving his season record to 10-3.
“I felt good this week and conditioned well,” Shaw said. “I came out and wrestled smart and tried to get the pin. When I started to get out of the leg ride, and I got on top I said to myself, ‘The championship is mine.’”
A quartet of Tigers finished in second place with sophomore Sebastian Rodriguez going 2-1 at 120 pounds losing the championship bout by pin. Classmate Brian Sama (5-2) also went 2-1 before suffering a pin loss in the 182-pound title match. Seniors Leo Bernal (220 pounds) and Jeremy Wood (285) each also went 2-1 en route to a runner-up finish.
Now the Tigers turn their focus toward Metro Suburban Conference competition as they travel to Fenton for their conference opener on Thursday ahead of a triangular meet against Mather and host Westmont on Friday.
“We’ll take the win to boost our confidence,” Stone said. “If we’re going to beat Fenton it’s got to be this year. We’re going to pump that into their heads all week.”
Guerin Prep
The Gators took eighth place at Saturday’s Warren G. Hoger Invitational with a score of 60.5 points. Senior Alex Sullivan dominated as usual winning his third straight tournament title at 182 pounds with a 3-0 record on the day. He won by pin in his first bout and 11-3 in the semifinal. He then went up against Elmwood Park’s Brian Sama and pinned him to win the championship and improve his record to 12-0. Sullivan is now ranked No. 10 in the state at his weight.
The championship bout was an interesting affair as Sullivan recovered from an early takedown to lead 3-2 after one period. Early in the second period the scoreboard went out and the bout had to be stopped until it was operating again. Sullivan responded with an authoritative takedown that had him up 5-2 before he got the pin with 21.5 seconds left in the bout to secure first place. Despite yet another tournament win, Sullivan was still not completely satisfied with his overall performance.
“It probably helped a little bit to get me a breather,” Sullivan said of the scoreboard delay. “I came out and really turned it on after that. In my second match, I won 11-3, but I wasn’t as aggressive as usual. Everyone has a bad match, but if I want to go to state, I can’t let that happen.”
Freshman Juan Reyes went 2-1 on the afternoon to take third place at 113 pounds. He pinned his way to the consolation title with a pin of Jason Hertel of Michigan’s De La Salle with 37 seconds left in the second period.
Senior David Connelly took his consolation championship into overtime but fell 5-3 in the extra session to Westmont’s David McDermott. Connelly’s victory, his fifth of the season, secured the pin midway through the second period before losing 5-1 in the semifinal and moving into the third place match.
“We’re definitely showing progress and are more technically sound and able to exploit the weaknesses of our opponents,” said Guerin head coach Earl Danan. “We’re being assertive and aggressive. We have Juan blossoming the way he should be at this point with two pins. Now it’s time to make sure our holes in the line-up are filled and stay injury free. It will take time, but our main goal is to have a great showing at the regional also at Walther.”
The varsity Gators are off until Dec. 20 when they travel to Elgin to face St. Edward in a Suburban Christian Conference match while many on this young squad will be in action as they host the sophomore-level Myles Goddard Invite this Saturday.
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