Tinley Park’s Eric Schultz plans to announce where he’ll wrestle in college — either Nebraska or Virginia — on Monday. In the meantime, the 195-pounder was content to add another award to his trophy case.
Schultz became just the fourth wrestler in the 35-year history of the Stagg Invitational to earn the Most Outstanding Wrestler award on two occasions when he received the honor on Saturday.
Schultz also won it in 2013 as a sophomore. Crown Point’s Jason Tsirtsis, currently one of the top collegiate wrestlers in the nation at Northwestern, was the last wrestler to be twice honored at the Stagg Invite.
“Right after football ended, I switched my mentality over to wrestling and got right into it,” said Schultz, a Daily Southtown All-Area choice at linebacker. “My gas tank is my biggest strength right now. I try to always keep moving and keep looking to score.”
Schultz pinned his way to the finals before landing a 22-7 technical fall over Collinsville’s Derrion Miller for the title.
Schultz was the prohibitive favorite, but a dominant performance from Stagg freshman Domenic Zaccone turned the Most Outstanding Wrestler voting into a race.
Zaccone topped Crown Point’s Jacob Moran by a 15-6 major decision for the title at 106 pounds.
The freshman is definitely one to keep an eye on in the Southland. Zaccone was an Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation state champion and a national champion as an eighth-grader.
“I’ve been wrestling since second grade, but I started really improving in seventh grade when I started training in the offseason,” Zaccone said. “Then last year, I was a state and national champion. I’m not on the rankings yet, but it’s still early.”
Stagg put five into the finals and also received a title from Noah Price, who topped Andrew’s Luke Gardner at 126 pounds. The Chargers took third in the 12-team tournament with 137 points.
“I don’t think (Zaccone) is being slept on, but I think he’s a little bit under-recognized,” Stagg coach Brian Jackson said. “But he’s going to be around. People know who he is and he’s going to make some noise.”
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Crown Point won the tournament for the 10th straight season with 243.5 points. Collinsville was second with 149 points and Reavis finished fourth at 115 behind a championship from Jimmy McAullife.
McAuliffe, a junior, was third in Most Outstanding Wrestler voting. The 138-pounder recorded two falls before grinding out an 8-2 victory over Crown Point’s Daylan Schurg in the finals.
“I’m really fighting to get those takedowns,” McAuliffe said. “I’m an aggressive wrestler. If I wrestle too cautious, I get flustered. I have to go, go go.”
Andrew finished fifth in the tournament and Tinley Park was eighth despite bringing only five wrestlers. The Titans had titles from Justin Idrovo (138).
Logan Malloy is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.