Oak Park-River Forest wrestling coach Paul Collins was prepared for all kinds of strategy entering the Class 3A Larkin Sectional on Tuesday, Feb. 23 in Elgin.
As OPRF’s dual meet against Glenbard North began at 126 pounds, Collins expected Glenbard North to select junior Austin Gomez (40-1), who had won the individual state title at 126 on Feb. 20. Collins deliberated between using sophomore Anthony Madrigal, whom Gomez had defeated in the state final, or junior Jason Renteria, the state champion at 120 in Champaign.
“At the weigh-in, I had Jay (Renteria) ready at 126,” Collins said. “I thought, ‘We’ll do whatever (it takes).’ I had Anthony or Jay ready to go against Gomez.”
Collins’ decision was easy in the end: Gomez did not wrestle. Glenbard North coach Mark Hahn said Gomez was sore after the individual state meet. Collins went with Madrigal at 126 against Glenbard North sophomore Juan Rivera. Madrigal (38-2) won 15-0 by major decision, and the Huskies would go on to sweep Glenbard North 73-0.
“I thought I did pretty good,” Madrigal said. “I didn’t change anything. I stayed focused no matter who I was wrestling against. It doesn’t bother me.”
The Huskies will face Rockton Hononegah, a 45-21 winner over Deerfield, in the state quarterfinals Saturday, Feb. 27, in Bloomington.
Collins said OPRF’s annual trip to the Clash dual-team championships in Rochester, Minn., has helped him prepare strategy for the dual-meet format.
“(Assistant coach) Mike Powell and I spend a lot of time beforehand, seeing if this happens or if that happens as a result of the coin flip,” Collins said. “When the weight class is drawn, I think, ‘Oh! But that’s all right. We’ll know what to do.'”
Collins said he would look at video on Hononegah in the next few days. Many of the matches at the individual state meet were streamed through the National Federation of High Schools website, according to Collins. Senior Fernie Silva (40-2) was Hononegah’s only state champion at 152, a weight class the Huskies did not have a state qualifier for.
Collins added that he would review junior Peter Ogunsanya’s 106 state wrestlebacks victory over Hononegah’s Giovanni Cassioppi.
Based on their sectional performance against Glenbard North, OPRF appears to be entering the dual team state tournament in top form. After Madrigal’s win, Renteria at 132 pinned Mike Milan in 1:57. Later in the match, OPRF enjoyed a run of four consecutive pins from Kendale McCoy at 195, Allen Stallings at 220, Christopher Middlebrooks at 285 and Ogunsanya at 106.
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“Ultimately, we will focus on what we do,” Collins said. “The name of the game is to earn bonus points as much as you can and not give any up.”
Twitter @geomwilcox