Four top seeds and a handful of second seeds fell before the finals of the Dvorak Memorial Wrestling Tournament on Thursday, including two stunning upsets.
Wheaton North’s Michael Swider recorded his fourth win of the tournament against Iowa City West’s No. 2 seed Mickey Pelfrey. Swider won 7-5 in overtime to advance to a 189-pound title match against Crystal Lake Central’s Gage Harrah, who won the championship.
“This is what I was hoping for,” Swider said. “My coach and I worked on a few things, and we saw him wrestle before. He liked to do the underhook, so I just had to hand-fight to get away from him, and it worked. Toward the end I think I just had more heart.”
Perhaps the morning’s biggest stunner came when Marist sophomore Tom Howell pinned Montini senior Ross Ferraro, the top seed at 285 pounds, in 3 minutes, 59 seconds, after trailing 6-1 early in the match. The win ignited the packed house at Harlem High School.
“That kid was strong,” said Howell, who is wrestling at heavyweight despite being 205 pounds. “Usually when I’m down I go for a big move like a headlock or a throw. This is the second time this year I’ve been lucky with this. He took a bad shot. I tripped him and got the headlock on. Then I picked up his head and tried to put as much of my weight on him as possible.”
Howell one-upped his semifinal performance by scoring a dramatic, last-second 6-5 win over Barrington’s Aaron Castagna for the 285-pound title.
In the day’s other upsets, Iowa City West’s Phillip Laux won a 3-2 decision over Fenwick’s Matt Garelli (103). Oak Park’s Darius Henry knocked off Glenbard North’s Johnny Gosinski (112). Marmion’s Bryce Brill topped 135-pound top seed Cody Shivener of Springboro ( Ohio), and Marmion’s Angelo Silvestro beat Providence top seed Mike Togher (140).
Four-peat for Cooper:
Providence’s Edwin Cooper became the first wrestler to win four straight Dvorak championships Thursday.
He did it in style.
Cooper was aggressive from the whistle and pinned Crystal Lake Central’s Jason Fugiel in 39 seconds at 145 pounds. He received the tournament’s Most Valuable Wrestler honor.
“It feels good to be the first to do this. It reminds me of how hard I’ve worked to get here,” said Cooper, who improved to 16-1. “It was just hard work and going right at it when the whistle blows.”
Quick worker:
Central’s Harrah was recognized for his time on the mat this week — or rather his lack of time on the mat. Harrah received a trophy for most pins in the shortest amount of time — 3 minutes, 20 seconds — in four matches.
“Coach told us to just go out there and get the pins,” said Harrah, whose longest match was a semifinal win over Plainfield Central’s Jordan Ellingwood on a fall in 1 minute, 16 seconds. “It was a pretty tough bracket, but I went out there, wrestled really well and got the quick pins for the team.”
Showdown letdowns:
The anticipated battle between St. Rita’s Jahwon Akui and Oak Park’s Sam Brooks at 171 pounds didn’t happen because Brooks pulled out before Thursday’s quarterfinal with an injury. Plainfield Central junior Nathan Davis, who upset Harlem’s 119-pound top seed Derek Elmore on his way to a quarterfinal, took a forfeit to rest a sore shoulder.
Strong finish for Barrington:
The Broncos have been building a legitimate wrestling power for several years and took another big step at Dvorak. Paced by junior Jared Parvinmehr’s title at 112 pounds, Barrington took sixth.
“It’s always hard to say what you expect of a team because it really doesn’t matter until the end of the season,” Barrington coach Alex Strobl said. “But I knew we’d have a good team this year. How good remained to be seen.
“Last year we took 10th here, and being 10 in this tournament is amazing. We wanted to do better, and this is why we’re here, to test ourselves. Sure, there were a couple of matches that you wish went here or there, but then you have a finish like Jared’s and it makes everything seem worthwhile.”
