Saint Patrick sent four wrestlers to the Illinois High School Association Individual Wrestling Championships in Champaign last weekend. Joe Fagiano, Jon Schiewe, Jimmy DiNino and George Vitzileos all headed downstate with the goal of being crowned state champion.

Fagiano, the defending State Champion in the 215 pound weight class, and owner of a 40-2 record heading into the tournament, had a tough road ahead of him. The 215 pound bracket was stacked, featuring three undefeated wrestlers, as well as Christian Brantley of Mount Carmel, who Fagiano beat 3-2 for the state title last year, and John Schoen of Marist, who handed Fagiano both of his losses during the season this year.

Fagiano had a bye through the preliminary round, and defeated Mike McEntee of Providence in his first match by a score of 11-4. In the second round Fagiano faced Pat Walker of Glenbard East. Walker brought a perfect 40-0 record into the match, but Fagiano defeated him rather easily, scoring a 10-3 decision to advance to the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals, Fagiano took on John Schoen of Marist for the third time this season. Schoen was responsible for the only blemishes on Fagiano’s 2006-07 record. Schoen had won decisions over Fagiano both a dual meet, and in the East Suburban Catholic Conference Championships. This time, Fagiano came out on top, scoring a 5-3 victory to reach the championship match for the second consecutive year.

In the final, Fagiano would face Brantley in a re-match of last year’s title bout. The match was one for the ages as the top two wrestlers in the state fought to the finish. Brantley scored an escape in the second period for a 1-0 lead, but Fagiano tied the match with an escape in the third period, sending the match to overtime. No points were scored in the first overtime, and Brantley started the second overtime in the down position. Fagiano was able to ride him out for 30 seconds, and Fagiano started down for the final 30 second of overtime. Knowing that Fagiano would most likely escape within the 30 seconds, Brantley made a strategic decision, allowing Fagiano to escape immediately, so that Brantley would have time available to take him down. The move paid off for Brantley as Fagiano was penalized one point for stalling with 20 seconds remaining in the second overtime. The match headed into sudden death overtime tied 2-2. Since he was the first to score in the match, Brantley was allowed to choose which position to start the sudden death period in, and he chose the down position. From there, Brantley was able to escape, winning the match and the state title by a score of 3-2.

Fagiano completed a remarkable career at Saint Patrick, where he finishes the season with a record of 43-3 and a career record of 129-28 over the last two years. Fagiano will wrestle at Indiana University next season.

Schiewe won his first match at 135 pounds, pinning Demond Carter of East St. Louis in 4:46. In the second round, Schiewe dropped a 6-3 decision to Danny Monaco of Glenbard North. Schiewe finished the year with a record of 34-7.

DiNino (130 lbs) and Vitzileos (285 lbs) each lost their opening matches of the tournament. DiNino lost by technical fall to Matt Walters of Nequa Valley in 5:20, while Vitzileos got pinned by Daryl Pernell of Rock Falls at 3:38. DiNino closed out the year with a record of 20-27, and Vitzileos came up just short of 30 wins, with a final record of 29-18. Both DiNino and Vitzileos will be back next year, ready to improve upon their performance this year.