There’s senior-year urgency and then there’s senior-year urgency.
Some seniors will wrestle in college, but the vast majority have, at best, roughly two weeks left in their wrestling careers.
In his fourth varsity season wrestling at 132 pounds for Elgin, Nathan Romero has felt that urgency all year, and it has ramped up even more with the postseason upon him.
“There are a lot of good seniors out there in my weight class who are all going hard right now,” Romero said. “I don’t think I want to wrestle in college and as the year went on I’ve felt that urgency more and more.”
Romero went 23-17 last season. He was 9-9 as a freshman and 12-14 as a sophomore before wrestling in his first sectional last year.
Now in his 10nth year in the sport, Romero is having his best high school season with a 24-8 record heading into Saturday’s Class 3A West Chicago Regional.
“He’s very good on his feet. That’s his bread and butter,” Elgin coach Jordon Bakley said. “There aren’t many guys that he can’t take down.
“His weight class is stacked at the regional, but if he can get through it I think he has a very good chance to get downstate.”
Bakley is Elgin’s third coach in four seasons. Romero credits Bakley for getting him in better condition this year and for sharpening his technique.
“He’s very intense in the room, and he’s all about making us better, every day,” Romero said. “I’m also more mature in the way I wrestle and carry myself this year. I’m more experienced and I’m using what I’ve learned.
“I’ve lost this year when I wrestle too defensively and don’t push the action, so I have to be aggressive on my feet and go for big points.”
Romero won an individual title at a 16-team tournament at Wheaton Warrenville South on Dec. 27, with a 6-3 win over Fremd’s Quinn Bergles.
But it was Romero’s semifinal win against Wheaton Warrenville South’s top-seeded Cory Drummond that Bakley points to as evidence of his senior-year maturity.
“He won it on a takedown in overtime,” Bakley said. “It was a tough, nail-biter match and that’s where I really saw what he’s made of.”
Romero simply saw an opening against Drummond and took it.
“Wrestling is instinctive. It’s intuitive and there isn’t a lot of time to think,” Romero said. “I can tend to over-think things so I’m at my best when I trust my instincts.”
“Every match now is getting me closer to the end so I’m putting everything I have to give out there.”
Around the area
Joining Elgin at Saturday’s Class 3A West Chicago Regional will be Bartlett, Larkin, South Elgin, St. Charles East and St. Charles North.
In other 3A regionals, Huntley and Jacobs join the field at Rockford East, while Streamwood competes at Lake Park and Dundee-Crown competes at Grant.
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In Class 2A, Hampshire hosts a regional, Burlington Central competes at Belvidere, and in Class 1A Genoa-Kingston and Harvest Christian compete at Rockford Lutheran.