(Oak Lawn, IL) January 30, 2011 - The JV wrestlers came from behind in the final round Saturday to capture the SSC JV Wrestling Championship at Oak Lawn High School. The Rams, who placed fifth last year, won six of their final eight matches to edge Argo by four points for the conference title.
Several wrestlers contributed to the win, including eight Rams who placed in the top four individually. Freshman Tino Abarca won all three of his matches and was crowned champion at 103 lbs. "Tony wrestled great all day," said Coach Bill Breheny. "He never once let the big stage intimidate him even though he wrestled kids with more experience."
The three other Rams who placed first were Patrick Inglesby at 103 lbs., Matt Gonzales at 119 lbs., and David Valdez at 125 lbs. Mutaz Matariyeh (3rd at 112), Joe Estrada (3rd at 130), Ehab Khraiwish (4th at 171), and Omar Alwan (4th at 189) rounded out the place winners for Reavis.
Although it wasn't an easy road to victory for the Rams, Coach Breheny certainly was pleased with his team's effort. "Going into the tournament, I would have been happy with a fourth place finish. We didn't wrestle anyone at 140 lbs. and our 156 and 160 lbs. wrestlers were out due to skin conditions.
"Our guys really stepped it up, though and the coaching staff couldn't be prouder of them."
To view photos of the tournament courtesy of Coach Chet Mirus, please click here.