No matter how you figured it, the St. Rita and Providence wrestling teams were about as close as you could get.
Coming into Saturday night’s Class AA team dual finals, St. Rita had a dual meet victory over the Celtics and won the Catholic League championship with Providence second. Providence defeated St. Rita in the Dvorak Invitational and the Geneseo Invitation. That dual meet was tied 22-22 and came down to the seventh criteria of most near fall points. That’s close.
It wasn’t much of a surprise the two teams advanced to the finals at Wharton Fieldhouse Saturday. And it was no surprise the teams fought to the last match for the state championship with St. Rita winning 27-22 for its second straight title.
“This was such an unbelievable dual,” said St. Rita coach Dan Carroll, whose team defeated Glenbard North 37-18 in the semifinals. “You have to hand it to Providence. They are there every year. I’m just real proud of our kids.”
The unbelievable part was no exaggeration. St. Rita (25-1) found itself down 22-4 after losing six of the first seven matches. Only state champion Albert White’s major decision got in the way. The Mustangs then won seven straight matches–three by a single point–to win the title.
Scott Sands’ 3-2 victory over Class AA 189-pound champion DeAndre Nunn gave them the sense that it could happen. Heavyweight Fred Deramus gave the Mustangs a 24-22 lead with a 1-0 victory over Tim Jay, setting up the final match between Providence’s Ron Uccardi and St. Rita’s John Starzyk at 103 pounds. A Starzyk takedown with 26 seconds left gave him a 3-1 victory and St. Rita the title.
“I went out there to beat him,” said Starzyk, a freshman who finished with a 49-6 record. “I saw the lead we had, so I went out there to do my best. That’s what I gave all season.
“I definitely thought we could win. From 152 on up, we’re unbelievable. It’s just great how they came through for us.”
Providence (24-2) built its lead to 22-4 after Marty Engwall’s pin of Brian Carey at 145. State champion Sean Reynolds scored a major decision over Gerry Starzyk at 140. Things looked good for Providence, which defeated Dundee-Crown 35-30 in the semifinals.
“There was some great wrestling,” Providence coach Keith Healy said. “We got a good lead. I was hoping for one more win somewhere along the line, but we didn’t get it. [St. Rita] did a nice job. They kept their composure. I give them a lot of credit.”
Excitement wasn’t limited to the Class AA championship match. After Starzyk won his match, all eyes turned to the third-place battle between Glenbard North and Dundee-Crown. It came down to the 103-pound match between Glenbard’s Caitlyn Chase and D-C’s Colin Spence.
Chase, a sophomore, scored a takedown in overtime for an 11-9 victory to seal a 30-25 Panthers victory.
“Of course I was nervous, I was nervous the whole dual,” she said. “I knew it would come down to this. I didn’t realize it was overtime, the whole match flew by so fast. This is one of the best memories because I’m with my team.”
