Lemont Wrestlers Take Home Another State Trophy

BLOOMINGTON—The Lemont wrestling team seems to have a GPS system spotlighting central Illinois this time of the year.

For the third straight year, the Indians advanced to the Class 2A team dual-meet quarterfinals, and their 40-28 victory over Chatham Glenwood in the Elite Eight meant another state trophy.

But the Indians’ quest for a state title was dashed by Montini in the semifinals, and Sycamore had an ever more decisive win in the third-place match.

“We picked the wrong time to wrestle our worst dual,” Lemont coach John St. Clair said of the squad’s 42-17 loss to Sycamore.

In Lemont’s quarterfinal win over Glenwood, Eric Kirkman and Chris Giatras ignited the early attack with a technical fall and pin at 171 and 189 pounds, respectively.

Arnas Laurinaitis’ pin at heavyweight maintained the double-digit lead, and Andrew Nelson needed only 19 seconds to win his match at 119.
Glen Malecki followed the first-period pin with another technical foul for Lemont, and the combined wins from Gio Schmitt—undefeated on the day—and Jake Kaminsky at 135 and 145 enabled St. Clear to rest state runner-up Derek Nagel at 160.

“I didn’t want to go out there and risk and injury,” Nagel said.

Lemont, which finished the season 20-7, wrestled credibly against three-time defending state champion Montini.
But the Broncos’ depth ultimately told the tale in their 41-24 victory.

“It’s a tall hill to climb when you have to wrestle Montini,” St. Clear said of the middle-tier powerhouse that went on the defeat Crystal Lake Central for its record eighth state title.

Giatras, Schmitt and Nagel all earned the maximum six-point wins with two falls and a forfeit; Jake Catanski and Kaminsky earned simple decisions to account for the Indians’ other six points against the Broncos.

“I’m proud to take home another state trophy for a second year in a row,” St. Clear said. “Hopefully, you’ll see us down here again for next year.”

Whether it was a letdown over not making the championship round or fatigue from three duals in seven hours, the Indians’ performance against Sycamore went from bad to worse.

Laurinaitis, Nelson, Schmitt and Nagel were the only ones to emerge victorious.

Nagel, who was looking for an opportunity for a rematch with Montini senior Dimitri Willis in the semifinals, ended his prep wrestling career with a 50-second pin against Sycamore.

“I think fourth place is pretty good overall,” Nagel said. “We went out there and gave it everything we had (against Montini). Everyone was saying that Montini and Crystal Lake would meet in the finals. We were trying to change that.”

“We worked hard for (fourth place) all year,” Schmitt said. “We should have a pretty solid program next year with a lot of returning starters.”