At the IHSA state wrestling finals, disappointments were the order of the day.
But the athlete who had to be the most disappointed was Sal Annoreno. The Bartlett senior, who won the Class 3A 132-pound title state finals one year ago, will have to wait until college for his next victory.
Annoreno, who was wrestling at 138 pounds, could not overcome Belleville West senior Mech Spraggins, who entered the tournament with a 45-1 mark. He topped Annoreno 5-3.
“He is a tough kid,” Bartlett coach John O’Brien said of Spraggins. “Sal is offensive-minded and the other kid was offensive-minded. I did not see any mistakes that Sal made. Just the difference of one takedown. Sal has brought a great deal of glory to Bartlett Hawk wrestling. We just wanted a better ending to a great career.”
Annoreno then lost a 5-2 decision to Marist senior Matt Sears in the first round of the wrestlebacks. Annoreno finishes the year with a 31-4 mark.
The athletes who did advance to the Saturday’s competition were Isaiah Vela and Ray Griggel.
Vela, a St. Charles East junior, lost his first match of the day at 132 pounds, 3-0 to Marmion’s George Fisher.
But Vela survived the first round of wrestlebacks, beating Barrington’s Kevin Conrad 6-2. He is slated to wrestle Glenbard North’s Johnny Gosinski on Saturday morning. Vela, who finished fourth last year, still has a shot to improve his spot from one year ago. Two more wins would give him third place.
Griggel, a Dundee-Crown 220-pounder, defeated Waubonsie Valley’s Anthony Touchstone by pinfall at the 2:54 mark in the first round of the wrestlebacks.
At 195 pounds, Huntley’s Brandon Mabry lost his match, 3-1, to Marmion’s Cody Snodgrass. Mabry held a 1-0 lead for most of the match, but Snodgrass evened the score and in the final 30 seconds, scored the winning points with a double leg takedown.
“At state all matches are going to be close,” Mabry said. “I just tried to get an underhook all match. I kept digging in and never could get it. I knew when he did the double leg, there was not going to be enough time to get those two points back.”
St. Charles North’s Wes Posholk lost his match by a 3-1 count as well, but it took overtime for Naperville Central’s Luke Roth to beat him.
“There were no surprises, he knows me well and I know him well,” Posholk said. “Our matches are always close. Tough match. We had a one-point match earlier in the year.”
St. Charles East senior Ryan Rubino finished his senior year with a 35-8 mark. Rubino lost in his first round wrestleback to Marmion’s Anthony Bosco. Bosco won a 6-4 decision in overtime. Fellow St. Charles East grapplers Keone Derain (30-10), who wrestles at 145 pounds, lost a 1-0 decision to Hinsdale South’s Justin Maslow. Brad Kearbey’s first round opponent lost in his second round match, thus eliminating Kearbey, who finishes 32-12.
Jacobs’ Austin Ryan (34-4) did not have a chance to wrestle on Friday as his first round opponent lost, and Ryan, like Kearbey, was eliminated under the follow-the-leader rule. In Class 2A, Hampshire’s Travis Keeling (170 pounds) and Anton Krocko (182) did not wrestle.
