Maine South junior 152-pounder Eugene Lee, one of three Hawks to qualify for the Class 3A state tournament, began participating in judo at the age of 7, before taking up wrestling in eighth grade
Lee said his experience in judo, a martial art that requires upper-body strength and involves throwing your opponent, can be a major asset on the wrestling mat. However, Lee said he was over-reliant on his judo moves early in his wrestling career, which led to some struggles.
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“Freshman and sophomore years, all I did was throw, and people started to find out, and that’s when I started to get in trouble,” said Lee, who lives in Park Ridge. “People started keeping their distance, taking shots from a distance, and that’s why I couldn’t even get out of regionals last year.”
Lee finished third at 152 pounds at the Conant Sectional, which was held on Friday and Saturday. He said the turning point in his career came early last spring when he finished fourth in the 145-pound division at the Illinois Wrestling Coaches & Officials Association Freshman/Sophomore State Championship.
“At frosh/soph state, I started finding out more about myself (as a wrestler), what I can do,” Lee said. “I was able to get my shots going, my short offense got a lot better. I started expanding (my repertoire).”
A week after winning the Notre Dame Regional, Lee went 3-1 at the sectional, upping his record to 20-5. Lee punched his ticket to state by beating Oak Park-River Forest junior Eddie Ordonez 9-4 in the consolation semifinal. He then defeated Conant senior Dan Wozniak 7-5 in the third-place match.
“To get to this (state-qualification) level, he had to adapt and become a wrestler, and not just a judo guy who wrestled,” Maine South coach Kevin Hansen said.
Though Lee now has more to offer than just judo moves, he said there are instances when they still come in handy.
“When people try throwing me, I can counter it. That’s all from judo,” Lee said. “Judo helps a lot, but only when you use it at the right time.”
Results
Maine South will send three wrestlers to the state meet, which starts Thursday in Champaign, for the first time since 2011. That year, senior Sean Sullivan finished sixth in the heavyweight division.
The two Hawks joining Lee at state this year are sophomore 170-pounder Jon Halvorsen (27-6), who reached the sectional final before losing 4-3 to Oak Park-River Forest senior Drew Matticks, and senior 195-pounder Michael Milito (33-5), who went 3-2 at the sectional, including a 5-3 loss to Wheaton North junior Bo Neidballa in the third-place match.
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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