Wrestlers Take Second at E.S.C.C. Championships
January 28, 2008

The Saint Patrick Shamrocks finished second in the East Suburban Catholic Conference Wrestling Championships, which were held at Saint Patrick on January 25, 2008. The Shamrocks finished 54 points behind Marian Catholic, who ended Marist’s incredible run of consecutive E.S.C.C. titles at 27 straight years. Marist finished third, 32.5 points behind the Shamrocks.

Two Shamrocks won individual championships. Senior George Vitzileos took the title at 285 pounds, pinning Notre Dame’s Mark Nunes at 2:19 in the semi-finals and Rick Wilson of Marian Catholic at 2:52 in the championship bout. Vitzileos, an IHSA State Qualifier last year is now 36-4 on the season. Sophomore Alex Ortiz won the championship at 145 pounds, winning a 6-3 decision over Corey Felker of Marist in the semis to earn a berth in the title bout against Dennis Walsh of Notre Dame. Ortiz and Felker battled to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation. Neither wrestler was able to score a takedown in overtime. Felker started in the down position for the first 30-second portion of double overtime, and Ortiz was able to ride Felker out for the full 30 seconds. Ortiz then started down, and he was able to score an escape, giving him a 2-1 victory for the title.

The Shamrocks had four wrestlers that made it to the championship bout, but had to settle for second place. Anthony Sciaccotta won by technical fall 23-7 over Notre Dame’s Kevin Heneghan to make it to the final, where he dropped an 8-2 decision to Marist’s Sean Raddatz. Jimmy DiNino won by technical fall 16-0 over Saint Viator’s Kevin Huidobro, and he edged Marist’s Ron Galason 2-0 to make it to the final. DiNino fell to Elias Larson of Marian Catholic by a score of 8-2. Freshman Charlie Doyle, wrestling at 152 pounds, pinned Alec Pignotti of Marian Catholic before losing by fall to Ryan Unrein of Carmel in the title bout. Matt Ortega scored a technical fall 16-1 over Robert Cabello of Marist and pulled out a 9-8 decision over Jack Joyce of Saint Viator before falling to Ryan Williams of Carmel

Four Shamrocks fought their way through the wrestle backs to claim third place finishes: Robert Peters, Joe Romano, Frank Calvello and Joe Rau all took home third place honors.

The Shamrocks wrestle this Saturday in the Illinois High School Association’s Franklin Park-Northlake Regional at East Leyden High School.