When Oak Park-River Forest lost to Montini in the Class 3A dual wrestling state quarterfinals, the Huskies’ hopes for a fourth consecutive team state title were dashed.
It wasn’t long after that loss that Huskies coach Paul Collins asked his team a question.
“What are we going to do to get back there next year and compete for a state title?” Collins said. “It’s easy to go into an offseason after winning a state title and everyone is energetic, but now how do we respond?”
The Huskies’ first response to losing a close dual at the team finals in Bloomington, 29-26 to Montini, was to take collective responsibility for the loss, during which Montini won three one-point matches and earned unexpected bonus points in others.
“We don’t point any fingers at any of our guys. We win and lose as a team,” junior Tony Madrigal said. “(Montini) won the toss-up matches, and that’s the reason they won. We competed hard, but they just wrestled a little better than us on that day.”
Collins credited Montini for moving wrestlers around its lineup to great effect in its win.
“You’re not going to win a dual without winning some of those swing matches, and I can’t think of one swing match they didn’t win,” Collins said. “So kudos to Montini.
“But I think we could have wrestled better. We talk about putting our best 14 efforts out on the mat, and we didn’t have that against Montini. As a head coach, the responsibility falls on me to get our guys ready to wrestle their best on the last weekend of the year, so we’ll get right back to work as a coaching staff.”
The Huskies won a regional title, and won team tournament titles at Hinsdale Central and at their own 14-team tournament. They’ll graduate state champion Jason Renteria (132) and state placers Jaime Hernandez (138), Brian Holloway (160) and Drew Matticks (170).
Madrigal will be the only returning individual state medal-winner next year, having placed second at 126 pounds this season.
Madrigal knows that the bar is set high for a Huskies program that has been dominant in recent years. He also knows that it will be his turn to become a senior leader next season.
“A good amount of our varsity lineup is leaving. Next year we’ll be a young team,” Madrigal said. “We’ll have (underclassmen) who, by the end of the season, will be better and help us compete at the level we’re used to competing at.
“The guys I’ll be looking to for wins are (juniors) Jack Fisher, Elijah Osit, Eddie Ordonez, (sophomore) Eddie Bolivar and two younger guys, (freshmen) Nico Bolivar and Josh Ogunsanya.”
A year of growth will determine at which weight classes that group of Huskies wrestle next season. But Collins anticipates strength from his lower weights.
“I think our first five weights can be state placers,” Collins said.
He also sees potential for Madrigal as a team captain next year to help fill the void of two-time state champion Renteria.
“We’ve talked to Tony about how it’s his time to come into his own as a leader,” Collins said. “The things we talked about with (Renteria) stepping outside of himself and doing things for other guys, that would be the next, big step for Tony.”
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Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press