Deerfield senior Lucio Morgan had a message for his younger brother Renzo after the dual team state meet Saturday.
The Warriors had lost to Joliet Catholic in the Class 2A championship dual at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington, ending Lucio Morgan’s high school wrestling career.
That came a week after he finished fifth in the 2A 145-pound weight class and junior Renzo Morgan placed sixth at 132.
“I’m a three-time state qualifier, and my brother is a two-timer,” Lucio Morgan said. “So we do tend to copy each other a little bit. He’s definitely on the same path as I am.
“But when he’s a senior, he has to get the job done. Winning a state title had been a goal of mine for a long time. We had that talk on the bus ride home from team state Saturday night. We talked about what a great season we had but also what he had to do next.”
Renzo Morgan (36-13) said he plans to take a big step up next season — onto the podium.
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“I told him I’m going to win state next year,” Renzo Morgan said. “I think he believes in me.'”
Lucio Morgan (45-7) credited a strong family bond for their success on the mat over the years. Deerfield wrestling matches have been like a home away from home.
“My family is super supportive,” he said. “My dad has come to every single wrestling meet. He never misses one. My grandma and grandpa have come to all of my meets since third grade, so it was cool for them to see me grow. I’m excited to see that for (Renzo).”
Renzo agreed, saying: “My parents are really proud of both of us and have been really supportive. We’ve got the best fan section in the world. I’ve been on the same team as my brother pretty much my whole life. It’s amazing we got to wrestle on varsity together and go through it all together. He got me tough.”
Deerfield coach Marc Pechter slowly built the program into one of the best in Lake County. The Warriors set several program standards, winning the Central Suburban North for the 14th consecutive season and sending seven wrestlers to the individual state meet. Six medaled, led by senior Ben Shvartsman’s win at 160 and senior Kai Neumark’s runner-up finish at 138.
The Warriors defeated Rock Island 41-34 in the quarterfinals on Friday and Mahomet-Seymour 34-18 in the semifinals on Saturday to reach the state championship dual for the first time in program history. Joliet Catholic won 39-33.
Antioch also reached the 2A semifinals, losing 64-10 to Joliet Catholic before a 35-34 defeat against Mahomet-Seymour in the third-place dual. Libertyville lost 46-27 to eventual state champion Mount Carmel in the 3A quarterfinals.
“It was really special to have all the seniors on the team and to go through the best run in Deerfield’s team history, from placing second at team state to the amount of placers we had this year,” Renzo Morgan said.
Pechter said the Morgan brothers have different personalities but have the unbridled drive to succeed that’s become ingrained in his program.
“Lucio has more of an in-your-face type attitude and gets after it,” Pechter said. “Renzo is mellow, and sometimes it looks like he doesn’t care. … You can always count on those two guys to win matches and to work hard. They’re extremely coachable with an unbelievable work ethic. They push each other.”
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.