— New Trier senior Alec McKenna reached the title mat of this year’s Class 3A individual state finals before finishing second at 132 pounds, losing to returning state champion Austin O’Connor of St. Rita. O’Connor won by a 14-6 major decision.
But McKenna found solace in an outstanding year that saw him finish with a 46-2 record.
“It didn’t end the way I wanted, but this is where I wanted to get to and I’m happy with my season,” McKenna said.
McKenna won a major decision over Moline’s Edward Raya on Thursday and won 3-2 in his quarterfinal match Friday over Wheaton North’s Dylan Thurston.
Northwestern-bound McKenna earned his title shot with an 8-3 semifinal win against Marmion’s AJ Jaffe, and then he lost to O’Connor.
“He’s good. He’s good on his feet,” McKenna said of O’Connor. “I didn’t hand-fight as well as I have been, or move my feet, and I took some bad shots.”
New Trier coach Marc Tadelman wasn’t about to let the loss detract from the season his senior enjoyed.
“He had a great tournament except, obviously, for that last match,” Tadelman said. “Me, the entire school, and our entire coaching staff are proud of him.
“Every kid has the goal to make it here but the difference was that Alec put the time in during the offseason. In the weight room, wrestling year-round to try to get better.”
Ridgewood
In Class 2A, Ridgewood junior Vinny Scaletta lost his first match at 220 pounds. He then won three consecutive matches to reach the third-place mat against Geneseo’s Lane Akre.
Scaletta placed fourth after a 3-1 overtime loss, but he had a positive perspective on his first trip to the three-day tournament.
“It feels amazing. All the work I put in over the summer, it’s all worth it now,” Scaletta said. “Last year I didn’t make it out of the regionals but I went to frosh-soph state and placed seventh. This year my goal was to get to state. It’s a dream. I feel honored because so many kids never get to come here, so I’m just happy to come here and get a medal.”
Notes
In other Class 3A action in Champaign, Maine South’s Ibrahim Nasir (285 pounds) lost by fall to Belleville West’s Ricky Nelson and was eliminated from the tournament via a 4-0 loss to Hersey’s Tyler Cooke.
Maine East’s Mario Pagonis (220) lost his first match 9-6 to Naperville North’s Chris Zhang, and Zhang lost his next match to eliminate Pagonis.
Notre Dame’s Jimmy Gallardo (113) won 9-4 over Hononegah’s Alex Rader before losing the next two matches he wrestled, first by injury default against Lockport’s Abdullah Assaf and then 7-4 to West Aurora’s Isaac Jacquez.
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Teammate Jake Barzowski (138) lost 5-0 to Marmion’s Anthony Cheloni and was eliminated after losing 7-1 to DeKalb’s Brad Green.
Notre Dame’s Marco Orlandi (170) lost 9-3 to Barrington’s Julius Smith and Smith’s subsequent loss bounced Orlandi from the tournament.
New Trier’s Luke Iida (138) lost 4-0 to Plainfield Central’s Clayton Ledbetter and Ledbetter lost his next match to eliminate Iida.
Evanston’s David Rivera-Kohr (120) lost twice to exit the tournament, losing first by a 6-2 decision to St. Rita’s Jake Silzer and then losing 6-3 to Prospect’s Alex Preissing.
The Wildkits’ Zach Warhus (182) also was eliminated after losing twice, first by technical fall to Marmion’s Nathan Traxler and then by fall to McHenry’s Cameron Pait.
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.