When Shepard senior Mylyk Mitchell comes back to his high school after graduating, he’ll have a reminder of how hard he and his classmates worked throughout their wrestling careers.
“It means a lot that we’re going to have that banner hanging in the gym as conference champs,” Mitchell said. “I’m always going to look at it and, when I’m older, I can show my kids what we accomplished.”
The Astros rolled to a 13-0 record in South Suburban dual meets to capture the Red title. Along the way, they picked up wins over Lemont and Oak Forest, each ranked in the top 10 in Class 2A by IllinoisMatmen.com.
Shepard wrestling is firmly back on the map.
“Wrestling is always a blue-collar sport,” Mitchell said. “We’ve got to make ourselves known. We stand out now.”
The Astros have been led by their seniors, including Mitchell, Tavion Morris, Troy Fugger, T.J. Quinlan, Robert Muhammad, Dwayne Dawkins and Jamir Dunbar.
“I remember all of us freshman year just wrestling around, just having fun,” Fugger said. “We just got better and better and senior year, we popped up. I didn’t see it coming.”
Shepard coach Scott Richardson saw it coming, at least partially.
“I knew we’d be good,” he said. “Having all this senior leadership helps a ton. We’ve got great support from our administration, teachers and our athletic director, Curry Gallagher. Our assistant coaches Jim Craig, Murphy Mahalik, Bruce Papp and Kenny Rodriguez are a big part of this.”
Craig, a longtime assistant at Shepard and a former national champion at Iowa, is retiring from coaching at the end of this season.
“That motivated us a lot,” Quinlan said. “We wanted him to go out with a bang. We honored him on senior night, and it was really cool to hear more about his accomplishments. It was perfect.”
It’s been a season the seniors won’t soon forget.
“We’re a really close group,” Muhammad said. “We’re all friends. We push each other to get better. We came together and did better than we expected. It means a lot to us to be conference champs.”
Still perfect: Rich East senior Kevin Radcliff, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A at 120 pounds, won his fourth championship at the Normal U-High George Girardi Invitational. He was named the tournament’s MVP for the second time.
Radcliff, who finished third in the state last season, improved to 20-0.
“I’m working hard to improve from last year,” Radcliff said. “It’s my last year and my last chance to go out there and get that state title.”
Radcliff will be challenged in the postseason. Lemont’s Drew Nash and Oak Forest’s Brandon Musselman are ranked Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, at 120. Like Radcliff, both were placed in the Thornridge Sectional.
Rich South’s Joe Green also had a big day at the George Girardi Invitational, capturing the title at 145.
Warrior strong: Crete-Monee rolled to the title of its Bragging Rights Tournament on Jan. 7, getting first-place finishes from Curtis Pointer (106), Dylan Lemay (113), Isaiah Castile (120), Christian Hall (138) and Dabion Couch (182).
The Warriors took 10th at Saturday’s Geneseo Invitational. Hall and Chris Betancourt (152) led the way with third-place finishes.
Crete-Monee has been a successful dual team as well, highlighted by a 40-30 win over Marian Catholic. Couch, Jordan Harding and Jacob White had key victories in the dual with the Spartans.
“We’re peaking at the right time,” Crete-Monee coach David Burchett said.
The Warriors will compete in the 3A Lincoln-Way East Regional, where Lincoln-Way West and Marian are the favorites.
Steve Millar is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.
TOP 10
Previous ranking in parentheses.
1. Lockport (1)
2. Providence (2)
3. Mount Carmel (3)
4. Lincoln-Way West (4)
5. Sandburg (5)
6. Shepard (6)
7. Lemont (7)
8. Marian Catholic (10)
9. Oak Forest (8)
10. Crete-Monee (9)
Wrestler or the Week: Rich South senior Joe Green won the 145-pound title at the George Girardi Invitational, pinning El Paso’s Kaleb Featherly in the championship match.