Four Saint Patrick wrestlers, led by defending state champion Joe Fagiano, earned berths in the Illinois High School Association Class AA Wrestling Individual Championships at the Franklin Park-Northlake (Leyden) Sectional. In addition to Fagiano, the sectional champion at 215 lbs, George Vitzileos, Jimmy DiNino and Jon Schiewe all will compete this weekend at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Assembly Hall. Preliminary round matches will begin at 9:00am on Friday February 16.

Fagiano dominated the 215lb weight class, pinning all three of his opponents. In his first match Fagiano pinned John Fudala of Reavis in 24 seconds. In the semi-finals, Harold White of Gordon Tech gave Fagiano his toughest match of the sectional, lasting 4:20 before getting pinned. In the finals, Fagiano made short work of St. Rita’s Alex Brandt, pinning him in 26 seconds to earn his second sectional championship. Fagiano brings a record of 40-2, with both losses coming to John Schoen of Marist, into the state finals. Fagiano, who will wrestle at Indiana University next season, has put up a record of 85-4 over the last two seasons. Fagiano will face either Christopher Owens of East Moline or Mike McEntee of Providence in his first match. A probable showdown with undefeated Pat Walker (39-0) of Glenbard East awaits Fagiano in the quarterfinals.

Vitzileos won his first trip downstate with a second-place finish in the heavyweight division. Vitzileos pinned Ray Dunker of St. Ignatius at 1:40 in his opening match, then pinned Victor Roman of Von Steuben at 1:59 to earn a spot in the semi-finals. In the semis Vitzileos pulled out a 3-2 decision in double-overtime over John Grubisch of Argo in what might have been the most exciting match of the day. Vitzileos and Grubisch battled through regulation time to a 1-1 tie. Starting in a neutral position, neither wrestler scored in the first overtime. In the first 30 seconds of the second overtime, Grubisch started down and escaped to take a 2-1 lead. In the last 30 seconds of the second overtime, Vitzeleos started down, and with 10 seconds remaining, reversed Grubisch for a 3-2 lead and rode him out to win the match. Vitzileos (29-17) will meet Daryl Pernelle (26-8) of Rock Falls in his first match on Friday.

Schiewe earned his spot at 135 lbs by overcoming a loss and taking third place through the wrestlebacks. Schiewe won his first match by technical fall at 2:30 over Zack Moreno of Riverside-Brookfield, but dropped a 7-4 decision to Shane Kennelly of Reavis in the semi-finals. In the wrestlebacks, Schiewe won a decision over Terrell Webster of DeLaSalle by a score of 5-1, then defeated Adam Schammert of Leyden by the same score in the third-place match. Schiewe (33-6) takes on Demond Carter (25-5) of East St. Louis in his first match on Friday.

DiNino also overcame a series of obstacles to earn a berth downstate at 130 lbs. DiNino pinned Daaron Willard of Ridgewood at 1:56 in his first match, and won a 6-1 decision over Brian Stagowski of DeLaSalle to reach the semi-finals. In the semis, DiNino lost a 14-1 major decision to Mike Migawa of St. Rita. In the wrestlebacks, DiNino pinned Matt Rosenberg of Oak Park-River Forest at 2:24. In the third-place match DiNino took a 6-1 decision over Kevin O’Brien of Argo to earn a trip downstate. The accomplishment was particularly rewarding for DiNino, who had lost matches to both Stagowski and O’Brien during the regular season, but came back to beat them when it mattered the most. DiNino (21-25) will face Matt Walters (30-11) of Nequa Valley in his first match on Friday.

Sending wrestlers downstate has become a common occurrence at Saint Patrick since Pat Duggan took over the wrestling program in 2000. Over Duggan’s seven seasons, a total of 12 Shamrock wrestlers have earned trips to the state finals. This year’s total of four wrestlers heading downstate equals the second-most state finals qualifiers in Saint Patrick wrestling history. In 2003 Shamrocks had five wrestlers (Pat Gamboney, Dominic Angelo, Alexander Rivera, Mike DiNino, and Kevin Hawkins) go downstate.