Nathan Traxler won’t wrestle at 285 pounds at Saturday’s Class 3A dual team state finals in Bloomington, although Marmion’s two-time state champion might be game for it.
Three days after winning his second individual state title at 182 pounds, Traxler weighed in at 190 pounds for Tuesday’s dual team sectional at Argo against Sandburg, figuring he might wrestle at 195.
Instead, Marmion coach Don Reynolds sent Traxler out to wrestle at 220 pounds, and Traxler’s pin was one of the key moments in the Cadets’ 29-26 win over the Eagles.
“I didn’t know I was going 220, but I wasn’t worried,” Traxler said. “I just wrestled my style.”
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“We did the same thing to him at the Clash (tournament in January),” Reynolds said, noting that Traxler beat eventual 3A 220-pound state champ Allen Stallings of Oak Park-River Forest there.
“Trax has been all over and done everything we’ve asked him to do.”
Traxler was just one of a team full of heroes in Tuesday’s dual, which pitted two teams ranked among the top 20 in the country by Intermat.
Marmion, ranked 16th, and Sandburg ranked 17th, each won seven matches. But the Cadets held the edge in bonus points, earning eight while giving up five, including three when Marmion forfeited the final match.
Traxler’s pin provided three bonus points, AJ Jaffe’s tech fall win at 145 earned two, and the final three bonus points came from Peter Ferraro.
Ferraro held a slim lead over Sandburg’s Tyler Foley at 138 pounds before pinning him with a minute left.
“I’ve been practicing this ball-and-chain move and I finally baited (Foley) into it,” Ferraro said. “I locked him up, got him to his back, and I was able to hold him there.”
Marmion trailed 17-12 when Ferraro’s pin put the Cadets ahead for good at 18-17.
Ferraro didn’t get to see the rest of the dual. He cramped up, became ill and was taken to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn for IV fluids.
“I found out we won when my dad got to the hospital and told me,” Ferraro said.
Ferraro missed one of the other stellar moments for Marmion.
Senior Mikey Callahan, who missed the individual state tournament due to injury, returned for the dual team sectional. Callahan held on for a 4-2 win over Sandburg’s Christian Robertson at 152 pounds. Robertson nearly turned Callahan as the final buzzer sounded.
“I was thinking, ‘Don’t give up two,'” Callahan said. “If I had to go to overtime, that would have been tough.”
Also winning decisions for Marmion were Trevor Chumbley (106), heavyweight Wes Kramer (285) and state medal winner Trace Carello, who won in overtime at 160. Sean McKenna returned from injury and held state champion Louie Hayes to a major decision at 113.
Marmion takes on Montini in a state quarterfinal dual, with the winner advancing to the Final Four.
“We knew this would be a tough dual but we came in expecting to win,” Traxler said. “We want a state title and we have to beat every team, so this was fun. There were a lot of tough matches.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News.