It was a no-brainer for Diata Drayton.
When asked which of the state’s high school sports was the most grueling, Drayton and a few other area football standouts didn’t hesitate to throw in their two cents.
“Football practice is about a five and wrestling practice is about a 10,” Drayton said, referring to how tired he is after practice.
Drayton anchored the defensive line for Class 8A state runner-up Marist during football season, and he’ll soon be one of 3A’s top wrestlers at 220 pounds once he makes the drop from heavyweight.
“People don’t understand how hard wrestling is,” Drayton said. “I try to get guys to come out because they talk about how easy it would be. But some guys that do just can’t handle it.”
Drayton and Louie Depasquale are two RedHawks who are dealing with it well after a lengthy postseason run in football. Drayton, who qualified for state as a sophomore last season, said he’s still trying to get into wrestling shape.
Sandburg’s Patrick Brucki and Brian Krasowski know all about Drayton’s plight.
The linebackers returned to wrestling practice a few weeks ahead of Drayton after the Eagles fell in the first round of the football playoffs, but there still was a conditioning curve.
“We make jokes that me and Pat are the only two that play football,” said Krasowski, who will wrestle at Pennsylvania next year. “We come in and we’re in football shape.
“Everyone else is in wrestling shape, and we’re all tired that first week. Everyone’s ahead of us because football doesn’t really put you into the shape that wrestling does.”
Brucki said wrestlers who also play football have a mental edge in the fall sport.
“There’s something about wrestlers … we have that edge,” Brucki said. “We can smell blood and we know how to go out and get something and take it if we have to.”
Energizer bunny: Undefeated Hassan Johnson is off to a hot start for Brother Rice. The 106-pound sophomore is using his motor to his advantage.
“He never stops moving,” Brother Rice assistant coach Jan Paul Murzyn said.
“My conditioning and my strength gives me an edge,” Johnson said.
The 106-pound division in 3A has been a strong suit for the Southland, with three state champs and a runner-up in the last four years.
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Johnson, Stagg’s Domenic Zaccone, Marian Catholic’s Travis Ford-Melton and Providence’s Jacob Linsay are four wrestlers to keep tabs on.
Johnson (12-0) and the Crusaders figure to be tested this weekend at Hinsdale Central’s Rex Whitlatch Invitational. State powers Sandburg and Oak Park-River Forest will be in the mix, along with Lemont, Homewood-Flossmoor and 18 other programs.
Tournament time: The Whitlatch Invitational isn’t the only tournament going down in Chicagoland this weekend.
A bevy of Southland schools are headed Saturday to the Rich East Rocket Invitational, where the Most Outstanding Wrestler award should be up for grabs.
Look out for Crete-Monee’s Christian Hall (138) and Lavalle McNulty (195), a pair of returning state-placers, and T.F. South’s Jake Tisza (170) to contend.
Logan Malloy is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.
TOP 10
Last week’s rank in parenthesis
1. Sandburg (1)
2. Mount Carmel (2)
3. Lockport (3)
4. Marian Catholic (5)
5. Lincoln-Way East (6)
6. Providence (7)
7. Lincoln-Way West (4)
8. Lincoln-Way Central (9)
9. Brother Rice (NR)
10. Marist (10)
Wrestler of the Week
Mount Carmel’s Jake Tucker, a Michigan State recruit, secured two pins and two technical falls as the Caravan romped to a first-place showing in the Downers Grove South dual team tournament.