A lot of people came to Saturday’s Hinsdale Central Invitational to watch Charles Martelli wrestle. Well, they didn’t get to see much of the Naperville North senior. What they did see was worth the trip.
Martelli, who won the Class AA state 152-pound title last season, didn’t need much time to win the 160-pound crown at Hinsdale Central. He pinned Minooka’s Jake Bavirsha in 1 minute 7 seconds of the 160-pound final for his fourth fall in as many matches. He was voted the meet’s outstanding wrestler by the coaches.
“He was ready to rumble,” said Martelli, who took Bavirsha twice in the first 30 seconds. “You have to get warmed up well. You never know who’s going to be out there and what can happen. I just went out there intense. I had a couple of pretty good setups out there.
“It (having an aggressive opponent) makes it so much better. You can work more of your moves and setups. When a guys is like `Rubber Man’ and won’t wrestle you, it’s hard to get certain holds. No one likes to get an easy match. You want the competition. That’s what you work for.”
Martelli spent a total of 3:40 on the mat in the two-day tournament. He took just 45 seconds to pin Jesse Campos of Fenton in the first round, 1:06 to subdue Sandburg’s Jeremy Wellman in the second round and 32 seconds to flatten Thornwood’s Ruben Washington in the semifinals.
The four pins at this event gave Martelli 13 for the season. He’s 19-0 with three technical falls. He’s only wrestled a full 6 minutes three times, but he isn’t concerned about getting out of shape.
“I’m fine,” he said. “We put in our time in the wrestling room. Every day, practice is extremely hard. We have great conditioning every day after practice.”
Sandburg won the team title with 205.5 points to 196 for second-place Thornwood. Minooka was third at 192, Naperville fourth at 190 with Rockford East at 188.5.
Sandburg clinched the title with a 5-3 overtime victory by Mike Polz at 171 pounds over Hinsdale South’s Nick Giancana. Polz’s victory, coupled with a default to Eagles 189-pounder Brian Corcoran, gave Sandburg the championship.
“I knew if I won, we would win it,” said Polz (15-0), the nephew of Sandburg coach Mike Polz. “That’s what the coaches told me. I could have wrestled better. I didn’t wrestle well all weekend. I don’t know why. Giancana is good and I give him a lot of respect, but I could have wrestled better.”
Sandburg came into the finals in third place with 176.5 points behind Minooka at 178.5 and Thornwood at 177. The Eagles won eight of 10 matches in the final session.
“We knew we had a shot with 10 guys still going,” coach Polz said. “We did a good job in the final session. That’s the mark of a good team, a team with a lot of heart, to come back like that.”
Thornwood’s Jerrel Jones was trying to pin his way through to the championship and help his team but couldn’t stick Glenbard West’s Mike Archibald in the 140-pound final. Jones took a 17-6 decision, giving up a takedown at the buzzer. Thornwood also won titles from Joe Paun (135) and Mark Aitken (145), who had three pins in the tournament.
“I was trying to get a technical fall for the team,” said Jones, a sophomore who placed sixth at 130 in last year’s state meet. “I thought I had him a couple of times on the side of the mat, but the ref didn’t see it that way. I was going for the pin in every match to try to help our team out. I knew this would be a tough tournament.”
Homewood-Flossmoor’s Chris Panio spent a lot more time on the mat than he’d have liked. The 130-pound senior is wrestling with a broken knuckle on the little finger of his right hand and was just happy to win the title with a 3-2 victory over Sterling’s Gary Tate. Panio, sixth in the Class AA state meet at 119 pounds last season, is 13-0.
“I just do what I can,” said Panio, who needed overtime before pinning Rolling Meadows’ Skip Rozanksi in the semifinals. “I know my pain threshold, and 6 minutes of pain I can stand. It’s made me a lot more of a defensive wrestler. I just hope it doesn’t change my style, Normally, I’m more aggressive.
“There are a lot of moves I can’t do–like the cradle and a couple of takedowns. It’s tough to do some things, and I just do what I can.”
