By Bobby Narang-
The IC Catholic Prep wrestling program started with humble beginnings.
Seven seasons later, the Knights proved to be one of the best in the State.
Helped by a big contingent of football players, the IC Catholic wrestling team landed a spot at the Class 1A dual team State tournament in Bloomington.
The Elmhurst school’s first trip to the dual team State meet ended quickly, a 60-15 loss to eventual runner-up Vandalia to Aurora Christian at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. But considering the Knights had just a small handful of wrestlers in the first year and less than 10 in the second season, it was a positive step for the program.
“This is our breakthrough year, with sending (five) individual qualifiers to State and our team qualifying for State for the first time,” IC Catholic athletic director Adam Nissen said. “This is a huge stepping stone for the program. I’m really excited to see where we go moving forward.”
The Knights have built a solid program with a foundation of football players. This season, the program ended with 25 wrestlers, 19 of whom played football for the Class 3A State championship team.
The Knights lost their first six dual meets due to the football players’ missing three meets and, after the football players returned, they lost their next three due to adapting their bodies to wrestling and performing at higher weight classes until dropping weight.
“It does make things tricky practice-wise,” IC Catholic head coach Kevin Sliva said. “A month into the season, we’re teaching progressive skills and got guys with all different experience levels.”
As one of the six wrestlers who doesn’t play football, senior Joey Bianchini, a four-year member, wrapped up his memorable career with a 150-13 record.
Bianchini said the program endured some rough times. He recalled a particular quad meet at Riverside-Brookfield High School in his freshman year.
“We walked in with six or seven guys, and the other teams would have 25 guys on their team,” Bianchini said with laughter. “They kind of looked down on us, but we just went out there and scrapped. We weren’t bad, just a small team with decent guys and good wrestlers.”
Bianchini has played a key role helping build the private Elmhurst area school into a solid wrestling program. As a sophomore, he earned the program’s first State individual medal with a second-place finish in Class 1A at 106 pounds. Last season, he won the program’s first gold medal with a championship at 113 pounds. Among four other wrestlers on his team to advance to the State meet this season, Bianchini won the 138-pound State championship in mid-February at the State Farm Center in Champaign.
