Wrestling: Notre Dame crowns three champions at ESCC championships

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Glenview, IL 12/17/11 Glenbrook South hosted the 48th Annual Rus Erb Wrestling Tournament Saturday. Notre Dame's Tim Donnelly works to get Marion Catholic's Frank Voltatorni onto his back. Donnelly won the semi-final match 9-1 | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 3, 2012 8:30AM

Roark Whittington is no longer a secret weapon for Notre Dame.

After wrestling only four varsity matches last season, the 145-pound junior is now a conference champion sporting an impressive 29-7 record.

Whittington lived up to his top seed with a 7-3 decision and a first-period pin of St. Patrick’s Dan Buendia in the ESCC championship at Marian on Friday. Senior Jimmy Biancofiori (132) and freshman Jimmy Gallardo (106) also won titles as Notre Dame, with 172.5 points, finished second behind powerhouse Marist (214) among the eight teams.

Marist, boasting 11 ranked wrestlers and only one senior among them, captured eight individual titles to three for Notre Dame, two for third-place St. Patrick and one for Nazareth. Notre Dame, however, won two of the three meets as its JV and freshman teams both dominated.

“Roark has been very consistent and quietly become one our top five guys,” praised Dons head coach Augie Genovesi. “He was sixth in the state last year on the frosh-soph level. He was just a little too deliberate in the past. Roark is never hurt, always makes weight, and he’s a multi-sport athlete and outstanding student.”

Biancofiori, who got down to 132 a couple of weeks ago, improved to 27-6 with a second-period pin of his Marist foe after rolling to a major decision 18-6. He placed second in last year’s meet at 140.

Gallardo shored up his fundamentals in a 2-0 victory over Danny Kasper, one of Marist’s two strong 106-pounders. The RedHawks held out Nick Gasbarro.

Scott Smith earned his second straight runner-up conference finish, hanging tough in a 9-4 loss to Marist sophomore Mark Duda, ranked No. 1 in Class 3A by Illinois Matmen. Smith trailed Duda by only a point going into the third period. A returning state qualifier, Smith recently dropped a weight to 113.

Joe Cortese, also a returning state qualifier, was the runner-up at 152. He blew the doors off a quality opponent 6-1 before losing 8-0 to eighth-ranked Peter Andreotti, another sophomore star for Marist. Cortese (19-4) was back in action after missing a month with a dislocated shoulder.

Kevin Brand (120), Anthony McDermott (126) and Jack Fracek (160) outperformed their No. 4 seeds with third-place performances. Brand put up a worthy struggle into the third period before Marist stud Mario Leveille gained a fall. McDermott bounced back with a 6-1 win after a pin by St. Patrick’s ranked junior, Dominic Boggia.

Tim Donnelly (138) aggravated a groin injury in a 9-6 loss, but the Dons’ senior standout gamely came back with a tech fall and fall to take third place. Colton Kelly, another senior leader at 195, was too ill to compete.

A few Dons appeared a bit rusty after snow prevented the team from traveling to Edwardsville for a tournament the previous week. Senior Kevin Stahmer (29-5, 182) found himself in a difficult bracket and did not have his best meet, coming in fourth. Classmate Ryan Walsh (27-6, 220) also struggled and took fourth.

“They wrestled not to lose. You see that a lot at this stage of the season, but that’s not what we want,” said Genovesi. “We did OK considering everything, but I was a little disappointed in some of our big guys.”

Two football stars returned to the mat after lengthy waits for various gridiron injuries to heal. Conner Gavin (170) celebrated his commitment to play football for Northern Illinois with a win by fall in the third-place match.

Senior heavyweight Rocco Faggiano opened with a pin and wound up taking fourth. He will have to beat junior teammate Gino Orlandi in practice for the second straight week to stay in the lineup.

Notre Dame won’t be seeing Marist, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A, again this season. The Dons made an involuntary move this season down to 2A and will host a regional on Saturday. The regional begins at 9 a.m., with finals starting around 3 p.m.

The Dons, ranked No. 3 in 2A behind Montini and Lemont, are favored to win their regional and advance to the Woodstock dual-team sectional. They also expect a group of individual qualifiers for the Grayslake Central Sectional.

Junior Sean Heneghan, who has won 64 varsity matches but missed nearly all of this season with an injury, could return for the team sectional.