Bartlett’s Paul Kearns felt he had plenty to prove in Saturday’s Class 3A West Chicago Regional, and did.
The same applied to Elgin’s Angelo Poland, South Elgin’s Bobby Tornabene and every single St. Charles East wrestler.
The Saints won seve titles, advanced 11 individuals to next week’s Conant Individual Sectional, and piled up 245.5 points for its first regional championship since 2001. In the process, the Saints ended runner-up Glenbard North’s streak of 16 straight regional titles.
“They’ve always kind of been a thorn in our sides, and a 16-year run is pretty impressive,” St. Charles East coach Jason Potter said. “Even when their team is down they’ve found a way to come through.
“But we just felt when we were all healthy we were hands down a better team.”
St. Charles East had its regular lineup for the first time all season.
“Injuries and illnesses, I think that’s part of the reason nobody thought anything of us,” Potter said.
On Saturday, the healthy Saints won by 25 and advanced to the team sectional. Joe Ruffino (106), Ben Anderson (113), Justin Benjamin (120), Lucson Schneider (126), Max Hatch (170), Cody Glidewell (182) and Max Schumann (285) took firsts.
“We didn’t have a goal for number of titles,” Hatch said. “We just were focused on winning this meet and keeping the excitement of team competition going.”
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The Saints’ Louis Gordon (132) and Niko Derain (138) advanced with seconds, while Tommy Schroeder (145) and Justin Hull (220) took thirds.
Schumann (9-1) missed much of the season with a shoulder injury and illness, but capped the meet by beating Glenbard North’s Ray Kenny 13-4 for first.
“My teammates and coaches have done a great job preparing me for this moment, even though I haven’t had a lot of mat time,” Schumann said.
Bartlett’s Kearns (15-16) was lightly regarded. Seeded seventh, the sophomore still reached 120 finals before losing by fall to Benjamin.
In quarterfinals, Kearns avenged an early-season loss and pinned second-seeded Elijah Lopez of South Elgin in 3:55.
“Beating him was a huge match for confidence, very emotional,” Kearns said. “I’m only in my second year of wrestling.
“My father, Paul, and uncle (Harry) were wrestlers and finally talked me into going out last year.”
Teammate Nick Dawson (195) took second and Eric Cook (285) avenged a quarterfinal loss by fall to Larkin’s Mike Villanueva by pinning Villanueva in 5:46 for third.
South Elgin had seconds from Alex Tornabene (106) and Angel Rios (126) and thirds from Bobby Tornabene (113) and Monte Mardis (170).
Mardis overcame stomach cramps and bounced back from a seventh-place conference finish, while Tornabene won 3-1 for third over West Chicago’s Jesus Severiano. One year ago Severiano ended Tornabene’s season.
“So this year was kind of a year for revenge,” Tornabene said. “My work ethic has doubled to get me here.”
Elgin’s Poland (152) placed a disappointing fifth at conference, but rebounded to dominate St. Charles East’s Steve Dziadosz 18-2 for third at the regional.
“I wanted to make it out of here and prove I was better than I was at conference,” Poland said.
St. Charles North had a title from Kolbe O’Brien (132), while teammates Chad Reynolds (152) and Dominic Testa (160) advanced with seconds.
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