CHAMPAIGN — Antioch senior Owen Shea looked joyfully bewildered as he stood atop the podium Saturday night.
Less than two weeks earlier, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Drake football commit had feared his wrestling career was all but over after he suffered a ruptured bursa sac in his left knee before the Class 2A Antioch Sectional.
“I thought I wasn’t even going to make it to the state tournament,” he said.
But Shea placed fourth in the 285-pound weight class at the sectional to qualify for the state meet for the third time.
“I trained hard immediately, and I didn’t wrestle the entire week coming off sectionals,” he said. “I did a ton of therapy, and it all worked out.”
Indeed, Shea won all of his matches at the state meet that began Thursday at the State Farm Center. He even beat Chatham Glenwood’s Cody Moss, the defending state champion, who had bested him at the beginning of the season.
“I lost to him in my first tournament as an official heavyweight,” Shea said. “I was a little nervous going into that match against him the first time. I think that the nerves were what got me to make that mistake and get reversed. But today I walked in confident and knew what I was going to do.”
In a showdown between defensive ends, Shea defeated Moss, a Western Illinois football recruit, by an 8-4 decision to become the state champion.
“I love being doubted,” Shea said. “I felt like I was doubted a little bit this weekend. I didn’t hear my name mentioned once as a possible state champion. Not many people believed in me. I loved it. I used it as fuel.”
Shea (35-5) joined 2017 Antioch graduate Patrick Schoenfelder as the only wrestlers in program history to win a state title.
“Just a couple of weeks ago, we didn’t know how close to 100% he would be,” Antioch wrestling coach John Ridle said. “Luckily, just 70 or 80% of him is still really good. He’s just an incredible athlete and really is a true believer in himself.”
Shea is one of four Lake County wrestlers who won state titles on Saturday. Grayslake Central junior Vincent DeMarco (41-7), a Northern Iowa commit, also won his first, defeating Providence’s Christian Corcoran in the final at 113 in 2A. He had placed fourth twice.
“It was fun out there,” DeMarco said. “It makes me realize there’s a lot of downs in this sport but a lot of ups, and you have to get through the lows to get to the highs.”
The highs have become commonplace for Warren teammates Aaron Stewart and Caleb Noble. Stewart (39-4), a senior who has committed to Illinois in both football and wrestling, won his third straight state title, defeating Wheaton North’s Ryan Rosch by technical fall in the final at 190 in 3A. Noble (46-1), a junior who has committed to Arizona State, also won his third straight state title by posting a 4-0 decision over Montini’s Erik Klichurov in the final at 113 in 3A.
Noble credited Stewart for being a role model who has pushed him to excel.
“Seeing Aaron win lights my heart up,” Noble said. “We have that type of bond. We both worked so hard and feel like we should win every match. We put in a lot of work to get these state titles. I’m glad people saw the potential in me when I was young.”
Shea has shown his potential in two sports. During the football season, he was named the Northern Lake County Conference defensive player of the year and was a Class 6A all-state pick after recording 56 tackles, eight sacks, 20 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
“I don’t know what my better sport is now, but I’m going to school for football,” Shea said. “I love to end wrestling this way with a state title. I knew I was good at wrestling right after sophomore year, when I first made it to state. I knew I could actually do something with the sport than just to use it to get better for football. That’s when I actually started taking it seriously and working hard.
“I love the pride coming with winning. It’s all you and all the work you put into it.”
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter.
