Wrestlers Advance Three to IHSA State Finals
February 11, 2008

Three Saint Patrick wrestlers earned berths in the Illinois High School Association Class AA Wrestling Individual Championships at the Bensenville (Fenton) Sectional. George Vitzileos, Alex Ortiz and Joe Romano 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 15.

Vitzileos won his second trip downstate with a second-place finish in the heavyweight division. Vitzileos pinned Rob Mains of Hinsdale Central at 1:27 in his opening match, then won a 6-3 decision over Oscar Herrera of Maine West to earn a spot in the finals. In the finals, Vitzileos dropped a 7-0 decision to Garrett Goebel of Montini, the top-ranked wrestler in the state. Vitzileos (41-5) will meet Zach Ochs (32-10) of Mahomet-Seymour in his first match on Friday.

Romano earned his spot at 130 lbs by overcoming a loss and taking third place through the wrestlebacks. Romano defeated Mike Lynch of Loyola Academy by a score of 9-4, but Romano got pinned by Jake Gregerson of Montini in the semi-finals. In the wrestlebacks, Romano won a 14-6 major decision over Ethan Knowlton of Glenbard West, then scored a 12-2 major decision over Juxhin Hoda of Addison Trail in the third-place match. Romano (38-11) takes on Kevin White (33-10) of Orland Park (Sandburg) in his first match on Friday.

Ortiz lost his first match, but overcame a series of obstacles to earn a berth downstate at 145 lbs. Ortiz dropped an 18-8 major decision to Isaiah Gonzalez of Montini, who went on to win the Sectional Championship. Relegated to the wrestlebacks, Ortiz went to work, scoring a 4-2 decision over Ethan James of Evanston, and taking a 10-7 decision from Adam Schammert of Leyden to reach the third-place match. Ortiz took on Joe Foreman of Downers Grove North. Foreman came into the weekend ranked fifth in the state, with a record of 19-1. Foreman and Ortiz battled through a tough match, ending regulation time tied 1-1. Neither wrestler scored in overtime, so the match went to double overtime. Foreman had the choice of position to start the first 30 seconds of the period, and he chose down. Ortiz was then able to ride Foreman out for the entire 30 seconds. Ortiz selected the down position for the next 30 seconds, and Foreman chose to cut him, giving Ortiz a 2-1 lead in an attempt to score a takedown for the win. Ortiz held Foreman off with a series of shots to win the match 2-1, earning himself a trip downstate. Ortiz (35-13) takes on Scott Carlson (36-9) of Wauconda 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 eight seasons, a total of 15 Shamrock wrestlers have earned trips to the state finals. In 2003 Shamrocks had five wrestlers (Pat Gamboney, Dominic Angelo, Alexander Rivera, Mike DiNino, and Kevin Hawkins) go downstate.

Seven other Shamrocks competed in the Sectionals. Matt Ortega won two bouts, but ,but lost a 6-1 decision to Nick Cassano of Leyden in the third-place match at 171 lbs. Jimmy DiNino won his first two bouts to reach the semi finals at 140 lbs, defeating Jim Wallenberg of Notre Dame and Chris Osterberg of Maine South, before losing his next two matches. Joe Rau, Robert Peters, and Ariel Vazquez each won one bout, and Anthony Sciaccotta and Charlie Doyle both lost their first match.