Montini entered the Class A regional wrestling meet at Lisle as the favorite, a reputation earned as the defending state champion and owner of a 29-0 dual meet record this year. But the hosts were uninterested in whom the favorite was.
Lisle won seven weight classes and edged Montini 252-241, gaining a measure of revenge from their 33-30 dual meet loss this season.
“We really wrestled well,” said Lisle coach John Ruettiger. “We turned around four matches from our dual meet.”
Lisle’s Chris Vodicka (125 pounds), Mike Vodicka (171) and Kevin Walton (189) won Saturday, reversing the results of those three weight classes from the dual meet. Josh Goodwin, Josh Means, Joe Garcia and Marty Wilson also won their divisions for Lisle.
Montini wrestlers Tim Finegan (103), Chase Beebe (112) and Scott Andriano (152) won their weight classes by defeating Lisle wrestlers. Mike Grimes, Craig Dziewiatkowski and Joey Sipek won for Montini.
Lonny Goldsmith.
Argo regional: St. Rita won five weight classes and advanced wrestlers in 13 of the 14 divisions en route to winning its first regional championship, edging Catholic League rival Mt. Carmel 214-192.
“The kids just wrestled great all day,” St. Rita coach Dan Carroll said. “Beating Mt. Carmel is a huge accomplishment for this program. St. Rita is a program that is on the rise. I told the kids our season is not over and we’ve got a lot of work [left].”
Mt. Carmel won four weight classes and made the finals in three others.
Hinsdale South regional: Mark Robbins’ 7-6 win at 171 pounds pushed York to its first regional championship in five years, edging Willowbrook 162-157.
Robbins, now 30-6 on the year, won two points for a reversal of Willowbrook’s Nick Metcalf with 26 seconds left in the third period.
“When I saw Mark on his back, I thought that was it. But he made an incredible move and came through for us,” York coach Terry Clarke said. “This team has had success well beyond my expectations. But every time these guys hit the mat, they always believe they are going to win.”
Willowbrook’s top three wrestlers were in action in the final three matches: Andrew Santilli at 189 pounds, Mike Behnke (215) and Matt Roth (275). Behnke remained unbeaten at 30-0 and Roth, who has committed to play football at Iowa, is 24-0 after pinning Hinsdale South’s Jason Craig in 35 seconds.
Rolling Meadows regional: Hersey qualified 10 wrestlers for the sectional meet while winning the regional title with a 197 1/2 score.
“My biggest fear was that we didn’t overdue things last week when we won the conference,” Hersey coach Rick Mann said. “Obviously, we didn’t.”
Chris Janonis (103 pounds), Mike Sabatello (135), Brian Marsiglia (140) and Matt Joseph (189) all won for Hersey. Four other Hersey wrestlers competed in the championship matches.
Girls gymnastics
Palatine regional: The Crystal Lake South girls team made history Saturday, winning the school’s first regional title.
The Gators won the Palatine Regional with a 142.7 score. Palatine was second, at 141.775, and Schaumburg finished third with a 130.425 score.
“Throughout the season, our main goal was to win the regional,” said Gators sophomore Mandy Sadowski, who won the all-around competition. “I’m proud that we did it.”
The Gators soared on vault, earning a 37.125 team total, and floor exercise, compiling a 36.9 total. However, Crystal Lake South struggled on the uneven bars, finishing with a disappointing 33.475 total.
“With the exception of bars, the girls were very solid today,” Gators coach Amy Pape said.
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Crystal Lake South competed in a sectional for the first time last year. The Gators will be in the Schaumburg Sectional on Thursday night, where they will compete against Barrington, Conant, Fremd, Lake Park and Prairie Ridge.
Warren regional: The hosts clinched their first regional title by more than nine points over Glenbrook North.
Warren’s Ashley Alden, the defending Class AA state champion on the beam won all four events and the all-around title, with a 38.825.
“I was pretty happy, but I still need to clean up my routines and hit my dismounts a little better,” Alden said.
Boys swimming
Upstate Eight meet: St. Charles East junior Casey Dauw broke a 16-year-old conference record as the Saints edged host Neuqua Valley for the Upstate Eight title on Saturday.
Dauw swam the 500-yard freestyle in a record 4 minutes and 36.30 seconds, more than four full seconds better than the old league mark set by St. Charles’ Andy Edmondson in 1985. The Saints swimmer also won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:42.97 and swam on the championship 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relays.
“I was shooting for that conference record in the 500,” said Dauw, who was second in the 500 at last year’s state meet. “And I set two pool records. … It was a great day.”
All told, St. Charles East captured seven firsts and earned 305 teams points, including wins in the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke by junior Jim Brennan. Senior Matt North won the 200-yard individual medley for the Saints.
Neuqua Valley had four firsts, including the 200-yard medley relay. The Wildcats’ individual winners included Matt Dunn, 50-yard freestyle; Paul Perez, 100-yard freestyle; and Eric Triebe, 100-yard backstroke. Waubonsie Valley’s Oliver DiBlasi took top diving honors on Friday with a 413.80 score.
DuPage Valley meet: Naperville North grabbed firsts in six of 11 swimming events as the league held its inaugural meet at Wheaton College.
The Huskies had season-best times in winning the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:27.98), 400-yard freestyle relay (3:14.58) and the 200-yard medley relay (1:38.08). Individual championships came from Michael Anderson (200-yard freestyle), Peter Boumgarden (100-yard butterfly) and Mark Witschorik (100-yard freestyle).
West Chicago’s Joe Lureau was a double winner, taking the 200-yard individual medley and 100 breaststroke. Team runner-up Naperville Central had firsts from Pat Fleming (50 freestyle) and Jim Lullo (500 freestyle) while West Aurora’s Evan Parr was tops in the 100 backstroke.
The Huskies closed with 399 team points while the Redhawks had 377.
Girls bowling
East Aurora sectional: Morris edged West Aurora by 68 points as both teams advanced to next weekend’s state tournament. West Aurora’s Melissa Doyens was the top individual, rolling a total of 1,218.