Gators hoping deep roster pays off

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Guerin Prep's David Connelly is expected to be one of the top wrestlers for the Gators this season. | Curtis Lemkuhl~For Sun Times Media

Updated: December 25, 2011 8:08AM

Guerin Prep’s wrestling program has grown considerably going from struggling to find guys to fill spots to having great competition at most weight classes and a deep roster. Now the Gators are trying to add some hardware to that ever-improving resume.

Seniors Sam Loconti, Alex Acosta, David Connelly, and Alex Sullivan lead the Gators into battle on the mat this winter as team captains. Loconti will be challenging Sam Hanesberg for time at 220 pounds this season while Acosta and fellow senior Michael Altman will compete at 170 pounds. Connelly is penciled in along with junior Michael Santana in the 285-pound slot with Sullivan as a solid choice at 182 with fellow senior Hugo D’acensio providing him with a weekly challenge for that spot.

It’s a squad that boasts four returning sectional qualifiers from a year ago in Connelly, Sullivan and juniors Kevin Doyle and Jaime Santana. Sullivan earned all-conference honorable mention for an undefeated season within the conference.

Guerin put together a 12-win season in dual meets and finished with a 7-3 conference record. They impressed the rest of the Suburban Christian Conference enough to earn the All-Conference Sportsmanship Award for a second year running. Those are all well and good, but third-year head coach Earl Danan thinks the Gators’ time for even bigger and better things is now.

“The SCC and IHSA Regional title are always our goals,” he said. “It will be a challenge, but if we wrestle to our abilities all season, they’re not out of our reach. Our strength will lie in our lower and upper weights this year. We have a handful of quality wrestlers fighting for a few weight classes. Those wrestlers need to be ready to get called upon at any time to wrestle.”

Freshman Rayne Coleman and Nick Zagotta will be in the mix to wrestle at 106 pounds while junior Frank Fini has freshman Juan Reyes to contend with at 113 pounds. Senior Nik Doherty is at 120 pounds while Santana is at 126. Junior Oscar Nunez is the guy at 132 pounds while sophomore Jake Danner is it at 145. Freshmen Michael Szczgiel and Andres Gonzalez are the choices for Coach Danan at 160 pounds while he will have to decide between seniors Alex Acosta and Michael Altman at 170 pounds. The 195-pound position battle will be between senior Antonio Talavera and sophomore Sheldon Hall.

With all the possibilities Danan has to choose from, he’ll need to make sure each wrestler is ready each week. It will take plenty of hard work to get each guy ready for every challenge, and he is more than eager to instill the dedication needed to not just be ready but to also produce results on the mat.

“To be successful in wrestling, you must look to improve every day,” Danan said. “You must train hard, train right, and prepare your body mentally and physically for the strenuous work it will go through all season. I feel very prepared this year to improve on last year’s performance, and we will be looking to a mixture of rookies and veterans to do this.”