Elmwood Park junior Marco Padilla heads into Saturday’s Class 2A Antioch Sectional as a man on a mission.
The 106-pounder was a surprise qualifier out of sectional last year and now he’s feeling the pressure to have another strong sectional so he can make a repeat trip to the state meet.
“It’s a way tougher sectional than last year and there’s going to be guys looking out for me since I qualified for state last year,” Padilla said. “Since people are expecting more, I have to do more. I can’t overlook anyone in this tournament because I’m thinking about state, but I would be really disappointed if I didn’t get down to state.”
Padilla took the first step Saturday by winning his weight class at the Elmwood Park Regional on Saturday. He had a bye to start the tournament and then faced St. Patrick junior Jimmy Dalessandro in the championship match. Padilla cruised to a 12-3 victory.
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“I watched him in the semifinals and he didn’t look too strong and he dropped his elbow,” Padilla said. “I knew if he did that I just had to keep my head in front of his hand and not let him get to my legs. I felt stronger when I was wrestling him in every position.”
With the regional title in hand, Padilla can start focusing on sectionals. He’s on a collision course with Montini’s Real Woods, the winner of the Fenton Sectional. The two wrestlers have first-round byes, and with one win, they’d square off in the sectional semifinals.
Padilla wants to finish among the top four wrestlers in his weight class, and it would be much simpler to win his first two matches and lock up a spot for state.
“Every Montini kid is going to be tough at sectionals,” Padilla said. “Since I’m on the same side of the bracket as him I’ll have to push the pace more in practice and have high intensity so I can be ready for that match.”
Padilla is certain to be prepared thanks to his practice partner, Yamill Matos, who qualified for sectionals by finishing third at 145. The big weight difference is what helps Padilla the most.
“When I wrestle him in practice sometimes I get in positions where I can’t do anything because he’s bigger and stronger,” Padilla said. “But then when I wrestle against kids that are my weight it’s much easier. Practicing with Yamill helps a lot.”
While Matos has made Padilla a better wrestler, the time and effort that Padilla puts in during the offseason is the biggest reason he’s 28-7 this season.
“[Matos] wrestled the Oak Park camps and I don’t think he missed a practice,” Tigers coach Neil Posmer said. “He did the fall league and a couple other camps. He probably wrestled 50 matches during the offseason and I think the biggest difference this year is that he’s been able to be competitive with some of the tougher guys around.”
Also heading to sectionals for Elmwood Park is Angel Vargas (1st at 113), Amadeus Lopez (3rd at 120), Olsi Rama (3rd at 170), Justin Chakchay (3rd at 195) and Jaime Galo (2d at 285). Elmwood Park (149) finished second behind St. Patrick (239.5).
“We didn’t think we’d be able to compete with St. Pat’s but we wanted to take second there and beat St. Ignatius and Fenwick, and we did that,” Posmer said. “I was really happy with the way we wrestled.”