When he was a freshman at New Trier four years ago, Jimmy McDermed saw himself as a basketball player and tried out for the team.
McDermed had good size, he was 6-foot-2 and weighed 220 pounds as a freshman, but he was cut.
“I was told I didn’t make the (freshman) basketball team,” said McDermed, a Wilmette resident. “I saw the (wrestling) coaches coming out of the wrestling room and the (basketball) coaches suggested I try wrestling. I got a spot on the team.”
McDermed, now a senior, was one of three New Trier wrestlers to win a Central Suburban League title at the conference meet Saturday. As a team, the Trevians accumulated 222.5 points to finish third at Maine West in Des Plaines.
McDermed, who wrestles at 285 pounds, now stands 6-41/2 and weighs 235 pounds. He was a full-time member of the varsity as a junior and wanted to make his mark as a senior.
“I was fourth (at 220 pounds at conference) last year and felt I could do better,” McDermed said. “I worked out in the offseason. It was my senior year and my last chance.”
McDermed won his title by pinning Deerfield’s Eric Adler in 2 minutes, 43 seconds in the semifinals and then notching a fall over Maine South’s Niko Stamos with eight seconds left in the final.
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New Trier coach Marc Tadelman said McDermed’s intensity on the mat is one of his biggest assets and it helped him in the title match.
“It was a close match but he held on and got the pin at the end,” Tadelman said.
Also earning titles for New Trier were 145-pound senior Patrick Ryan, who earned a 7-3 victory over Highland Park’s Alex Rosenbloom, and 152-pound senior Jack Tangen, who pinned Evanston’s Ricardo Salinas at 4:51.
Evanston
Evanston senior wrestler Adrian Bytyqi was scheduled to have a busy weekend.
He captured the title at 170 pounds at the Central Suburban League conference championship Saturday at Maine West and he planned to attend a youth tournament Sunday in Oak Park. Bytyqi is a coach with the Evanston School of Wrestling program, which is for students in first through eighth grade.
“I get to run some of the practices twice a week,” Bytyqi said. “It’s nice that they come to some of my meets.”
What’s even better, according to Bytyqi, is that he gets to coach his 7-year-old brother, Art.
“He’s still at the age where he doesn’t always listen to me,” Adrian Bytyqi said.
Evanston coach Rudy Salinas lauded his senior’s leadership.
“He’s been a strong leader for our youth program. A mentor,” Salinas said.
On the mat, Adrian Bytyqi is a persistent grinder who creates opportunities with the ability to attack, Salinas said.
Bytyqi, who has a 36-5 record on the season, was in quite a tussle in the finals, which he won 4-2. Showing his defensive prowess, Bytyqi constantly fought off New Trier senior Russell Sanchez’s shots at his feet for a tying two-point takedown.
Steve Sadin and Mark Perlman are freelance reporters for Pioneer Press.
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