Baby steps.
That’s what Cole Smith and Providence wanted to do this season, gradually improving against a rugged schedule as time wore on.
That mindset paid off Saturday at the Class 3A Providence Regional. The Celtics built on those baby steps and took a giant leap forward.
Smith, a sophomore, won the 152-pound championship, and Providence won its first regional title since 2009.
“Every year we’ve been taking it step by step,” said Smith, who improved to 37-5. “And this year we’ve taken it to a whole new level.”
Jake Lindsey (106), Josh Ramos (120) and Juan Bazaldua (132) added titles for Providence, which topped Lincoln-Way East 206-165 in the team standings to move on to team sectionals.
Providence won six straight state championships starting in 1997. The Celtics are still steps away from contending on that level, but the pieces seem to be in place.
“Most of our team is freshmen and sophomores,” said Ramos, a freshman. “Hopefully we can win another state championship by my junior year.”
Meanwhile, Brian Burns (182) and freshman Nick Mihajlovich (170) led Lincoln-Way East with titles. Both earned first-round byes at sectionals by conquering their brackets. The top three wrestlers from each class advance.
“Winning a regional title is awesome. I hadn’t done that yet,” Burns said. “I came into the tournament expecting to win, but I’m not done yet.”
Lincoln-Way Central earned titles from Vinnie Piunti (126), Jake Dudeck (220) and heavyweight Bryan Ditchman. Piunti avenged a previous defeat to top-seeded Jason Stokes of Lincoln-Way East.
“There was a lot less blood this time,” said Piunti, referring to Stokes winning the SouthWest Suburban Tournament with a badly bloodied nose.
In the upper weights, Dudeck and Ditchman continue to dominate their competition. The duo is a combined 71-7.
“We’re pushing each other,” Dudeck said. “Bryan, he’s arguably a state champion at heavyweight, and I’m arguably a state champion at 220.”
Crete-Monee received a pair of titles from Christian Hall (138) and Lavall McNulty (195). Hall and McNulty placed at state in 2A last season but now wrestle with a chip on their shoulders.
“I’m out to prove myself,” McNulty said. “A lot of people think 3A is a lot harder, but it’s just one class.”
Other area champions were Andrew’s Motaz Askar (145) and Lincoln-Way North’s Dylan Conway (160).
The win gave Askar, Andrew’s team captain, the first tournament title of his career.
“I’d always finished second,” Askar said. “I’d never gotten first in my entire high school career. It’s awesome. I wanted to do wrestling (my freshman year) so I could do it for MMA later when I’m older, but I started loving it and put all my time into it.”
Class 3A Hubbard Regional: Hassan Johnson (106) prevailed for first-place Brother Rice (195.5). St. Rita’s Austin O’Connor (145) remained undefeated.
Class 3A Lockport Regional: Shayne Oster (152) and Trevell Timmons (160) won titles for first-place Lockport (209.5).
Class 3A T.F. South Regional: Kevin Stearns (120) and unbeaten Rudy Yates (132) prevailed for champion Sandburg (264.5).
Class 2A Dunbar Regional: First-place Mount Carmel (304.5) produced 13 champions, including Jake Tucker (152) and Matthew Reyes (285).
Class 2A Lincoln-Way West Regional: Gehrig Simon (126) and Josh Bohne (160) won titles for champion Lincoln-Way West (250).
Class 2A Oak Forest Regional: Travis Ford-Melton (106), Jose Champagne (160) and Kordell Norfleet (170) remained unbeaten as Marian Catholic (219.5) won the title. Tinley Park’s Eric Schultz (195) also stayed perfect.
Class 2A Hinsdale South Regional: Egan Berta (145) and Jake Kirkman (152) prevailed for runner-up Lemont (144).
Class 2A St. Laurence Regional: David Garrett (145) and Zian Rosario (182) contributed championships for first-place Ag. Science (138).
Class 1A Peotone Regional: Illiana Christian’s Isaac Lyzenga (152) won his weight class.
Girls basketball
Richards 59, Romeoville 49: Takesha Powell (20 points) led Richards (17-4).
Washington (Ill.) 56, Lemont 36: Shannon O’Donnell (14 points) paced Lemont (15-10).
Seton 89, St. Benedict 30: Danielle Bailey (24 points) boosted Seton (20-6) to the GCAC Blue title.
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Girls bowling
Bremen Regional: Individual champion Capri Howard (1,285) propelled champion T.F. South (5,991).
Sandburg Regional: Medalist Nikki Mendez (1,376) led Lockport (6,281) to the crown.
Rich East Regional: Jessica Schram (1,207) paced the field for runner-up Lincoln-Way West (5,684).
Hinsdale South Regional: Savoy Powell (1,222) topped all competitors as Argo (4,726) finished third, one spot behind fellow sectional qualifier Oak Lawn (4,924).
Boys swimming & diving
SouthWest Suburban Blue Meet: Sandburg (310) captured the title as Aidan Farley set pool records in winning the 100-yard freestyle (47.90) and 200 freestyle (1:43.75) at Stagg.
Men’s basketball
Lewis 93, William Jewell (Mo.) 89: Kyle Nelson (18 points, 5 rebounds) led Lewis (17-6, 9-4 GLVC East).
Moraine Valley 95, Oakton 79: Ermias Nega (27 points, 13 rebounds) paced Moraine (12-12, 7-3 Illinois Skyway).
St. Francis 60, Trinity Christian 43: Ilya Ilyayev (16 points, 8 rebounds) lifted St. Francis (23-2, 15-2 CCAC South).
Governors State 87, St. Xavier 81: Torrey Oliver (34 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists) sparked Governors State (5-19).
Women’s basketball
Lewis 65, William Jewell (Mo.) 54: Jessica Kelliher (23 points) helped Lewis (22-1, 13-0 GLVC East) set a school record with its 17th consecutive conference victory.
St. Xavier 84, Governors State 64: Kara Krolicki (13 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds) aided top-ranked St. Xavier (25-1).
St. Francis 64, Trinity Christian 52: Charnelle Reed (19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists) powered St. Francis (23-3, 13-2 CCAC South).
Prairie State 53, McHenry 52 (OT): Nadia Jean (16 points, 13 rebounds) keyed Prairie State (10-15, 6-4 Illinois Skyway).
Friday’s gamesBoys basketball
Rich South 36, Rich Central 34: Hasan Bilal scored on a layup with seconds left for Rich South (13-7, 5-2 Southland).
Thornton 68, Bradley-Bourbonnais 64: Curtis Dilworth (21 points) paced Thornton (18-1, 9-0 SWSC Red).
Crete-Monee 56, Kankakee 38: Victory Curry racked up 14 points for Crete-Monee (17-5, 6-1 Southland).
Lincoln-Way Central 63, Andrew 45: Jarret Gmazel and Mike Koszela (15 points each) sparked Central (15-5, 6-3 SWSC Red).
Providence 57, St. Laurence 55 (3 OTs): Anthony DiNardi (27 points, 10 rebounds) vaulted Providence (7-16, 3-6 Catholic South).
Lincoln-Way West 51, Thornwood 48: Marco Pettinato scored 23 points for West (11-8, 4-5 SWSC Red).
Hillcrest 64, Bremen 40: Isaac Stanback (19 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocked shots) keyed Hillcrest (16-5, 10-0 SSC Blue).
Homewood-Flossmoor 67, Lincoln-Way East 39: Jeffrey Boyd provided 19 points for H-F (16-5, 8-1 SWSC Blue).
De La Salle 75, St. Francis 58: George Willborn (23 points) and Andre Raiford (20) lifted De La Salle (18-5, 7-2 Catholic North).
Chicago Christian 71, Walther Christian 40: Malik Parker posted 18 points for Chicago Christian (16-6, 8-1 MSC East).
Bloom 89, Rich East 57: Jamal Parks (30 points, 11 rebounds) and Rodney Hayes (13 assists) spurred Bloom (13-9, 4-3 Southland).
Oak Forest 66, Longwood 54 (OT): Lance Stewart had 18 points for Oak Forest (15-7).
Lincoln-Way North 58, Thornridge 56: Dorian Aluyi (20 points) boosted North (8-14, 2-7 SWSC Red).
Argo 49, Reavis 46: Marcus Fry’s 18 points led Argo (12-9, 7-3 SSC Red).
Beecher 51, Illinois Lutheran 44: Jarod Stolzenbach netted 15 points for Beecher (12-10, 7-2 RVC).
Eisenhower 67, Evergreen Park 50: Demariae Collins (12 points) aided Eisenhower (10-11, 5-6 SSC Red).
Joliet Central 51, Lockport 47 (OT): Casey Schlusemann (7 rebounds) and Deiondre Taylor (6 rebounds) had 14 points each for Lockport (10-10, 3-6 SWSC Blue).
Oak Lawn 58, Shepard 43: Rashad Johnson chalked up 18 points for Oak Lawn (10-12, 4-5 SSC Red).
Notre Dame 56, Marian Catholic 43: Brandon Hurt (10 points) paced Marian (17-5, 4-1 ESCC).
St. Rita 70, Hales 57: Chris Williams (22 points) led St. Rita (9-14, 5-4 Catholic South).
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Illiana Christian 96, Southland Prep 49: Matthew Zandstra registered 15 points for Illiana (18-5).
Joliet West 59, Stagg 50: Tom Kazanecki had 16 points for Stagg (13-7, 5-4 SWSC Blue).
Logan Malloy is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. Freelancer Josh Krockey contributed.