You’d need to think long and hard to recall the last time Montini lost in the team portion of the state wrestling tournament.
Way back on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007, the Mustangs were upended by Sandburg 30-21 in the Class 2A finals in what was, at the time, a two-class tournament.
Since then, Montini won the state title in 2008 in the two-class format, and has won four straight 2A state titles (2009-2012) since the advent of three-class competition.
This year appears to be more of the same.
On Tuesday, the Mustangs secured a berth in Saturday’s state quarterfinals by routing Crystal Lake Central 59-7.
In 2010 and 2011, it was this same CL Central team that reached the finals of the state tournamant before losing to Montini (39-29 in 2011 and 47-19 in 2010).
This time, the luck of the draw cost the Tigers a trip to Bloomington and a spot in the Elite Eight.
Tuesday’s match started at 113, and by the time CL Central’s Jake Inverness beat Chris Holloway 10-3 at 138 to put the Tigers on the board with three points, Montini already had 19 and was well on its way to victory.
Last weekend, four Montini wrestlers won titles at the individual state tournament — Chris Garcia (138), Xavier Montalvo (160), Vince Turk (182) and Anthony Ferraro (195).
Against CL Central, Montalvo won at 170, Turk won at 195 and Ferraro won at 220.
Garcia suffered a concussion in the championship match last Saturday night, in which he won when his opponent was DQ’d. Garcia didn’t compete on Tuesday and will not take the mat in Bloomington over the weekend, according to Montini coach Israel Martinez.
In fact, there might a lot of different names and faces in the Montini lineup on Saturday, if the coach sticks to his current game plan.
“We’re excited about trying to win our sixth straight state title,” said Martinez, who then explained that his Tuesday lineup won’t resemble the lineup he uses at state.
”(Saturday), we’re going to go with some guys who are biting at the chops … some freshmen, some sophomores, and some seniors who didn’t get in our lineup this year,” the coach said.
“We’re going to throw in some backups and soon-to-be starters and give everybody an opportunity — whoever put in the time, the sweat, blood and tears — to give us some successes next weekend.”
Against CL Central, George Benes (113), Michael Sepke (145), Luke Fortuna (152) and Ferraro (220) recorded pins for the Mustangs.
CL Central’s other victory was at 160 where Mike Zalasco beat John Sullivan 10-2.
In the other match at Antioch, the host Sequoits beat Amundsen 44-27 to advance with Montini downstate. The two advancers are in opposite halves of the bracket.
