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Marist Named Team of the Week

Balance of Chicago school too much for No. 14 Davison

By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. High School Editor

The past couple of seasons, Chicago (Ill.) Marist High competed in the Walsh Ironman Invitational.
In that event, the Redhawks were like a fish out of water.

Don’t get me wrong. Year in and year out, Marist is a very good team…very balanced, very tough, very well-coached. But in the Ironman, where the superstars score the big points and Marist just doesn’t have many…usually, any…wrestlers who fall into that category.

So Marist opted for a change of scenery this past weekend. And the results couldn’t have been better.
The Redhawks traveled to Davison (Mich.) High to compete in the inaugural Chase Metcalf Duals, named for the former Cardinal star who died in an automobile accident in September.

After winning their first four duals of the day easily — 63-6 over Northville High, 70-12 over Saline High, 54-18 over Shelby Township Eisenhower High and 56-16 over Fowlerville High — Marist still had something left in the tank for the hosts, ranked No. 14 nationally entering the day.

Marist went on to score one of the biggest victories in school history — the biggest, in fact, since the school won its only dual-team state title way back in 1987 — toppling the Cardinals 35-33 in the final round.
Marist improved to 7-0 overall with a typical Marist lineup and without a single wrestler ranked in the state, but without a weak spot as well.

How balanced were they? Marist won the meet despite not coming close to beating any of Davison’s seven studs. State champion Kyle Chittick (171), Cadet National All-American Bryan Rickard (103), state placewinners Zak Burns (130), Kyle Kidder (135) and Keenan Duffie (145) and two-time state champion Jon Reader (160) all won easily, with Rickard’s 12-4 major decision being the closest win.

Thanks to Marist’s balance, however, the Cardinals’ Super Six got absolutely no help.

After Chittick’s technical fall in the opening match gave Davison a 5-0 lead, Marist won six of the next seven matches. John Schoen started the hit parade with a 19-8 major decision at 189, Bill Durkin won 8-5 at 215 and heavyweight Dan Errico’s pin gave Marist a 13-5 lead.

Rickard’s major decision cut the lead to 13-9, but Bill Putman eked out a 2-1 win at 112, Tom Wolf added a technical fall at 119 and Ryan Blake won 7-1 at 125 and Marist’s lead was 24-9.

Quick pins by Burns and Kidder cut the lead to 24-21, but Steve Walsh’s pin at 140 swelled Marist’s lead back to 30-21. Two matches later, Cadet National All-American Tim Gleich sealed the win with a technical fall at 152, making Reader’s forfeit win at 160 moot as far as the team score was concerned.

Over the years, the whole has been far greater than the sum of the parts when it comes to Marist wrestling. And that’s just the way coach Mark Gervais likes it.

Ranked No. 7 in Class AA by The Illinois Best Weekly, Marist has another tough test Saturday when it travels to Mount Carmel for a double dual that includes Montini. Stay tuned.

The looming battle in California

Host Buchanan High was quite impressive in winning the team title in the Zinkin Classic, Dec. 2-3, in Clovis.
Placing nine wrestlers in the top six, Buchanan scored 250.5 points, outdistancing a pair of tournament-tough rivals: Bakersfield High (188) and Gilroy High (185).

Gilroy showed why it’ll be a team to contend with in the state meet with four champions: Martin Gonzalez (103), Nicolo Naranjo (112), Adin Duenas (135) and sophomore sensation Hunter Collins (171).

But Buchanan could be right there at Bakersfield in March as well with two champions of its own: Josh Betancur (130) and Ryan Flores (215).

The newest edition of the always-insightful California wrestling rankings has Poway High ranked No. 1, followed by Gilroy, Sunnyvale Fremont High and Buchanan. Poway leads Buchanan, 5-4 in state-ranked individuals.

(Rob Sherrill is one of the top high school wrestling analysts in the country and a long-time columnist of W.I.N. He also publishes the “American High School Wrestling Yearbook”. To order a copy, e-mail him at centermatpress@hotmail.com.)