By Bobby Narang –
Huntley High School’s David Ferrante preferred to have some company from his teammates on top of the medal awards stand for first place sectional finish Saturday.
The junior wrestler will have to settle for seven of his teammates to join him on the trek to the Class 3A State tournament in Champaign.
Ferrante was the lone Huntley wrestler to win a sectional championship by earning a 15-0 technical fall victory over Zion-Benton’s Jordan Chisum in the 170-pound championship at the Barrington Sectional.
“I just tried to stay poised, loose, and focused at sectionals,” Ferrante said. “The key for next weekend is to keep staying on my offense, opening up, and letting it fly in the big matches. I think this is by far my best year in wrestling, gotten better at flowing and my finishing.”
The Northwestern University recruit had a productive showing at the Barrington Sectional and won all three of his matches in easy fashion to improve to a 41-2 record.
Besides Ferrante, the Red Raiders sent Jacob Jensen, third at 106; Sam Spencer, second at 126; Andrew Lira, second at 132; Jeremy Jakowitsch, fourth at 138; Joaquin Miranda, fourth at 145; Gannon Kosowski, second at 152; and AJ Henkle, fourth at 195, to the State meet.
“It was a very good day for a lot of us,” Ferrante said. “I’m excited for State, to see what we can do.”
• Jacobs’ Justin Peters, 120; Jake Harrier, 132; and John Riddle, 145, all advanced to State from the Barrington Sectional.
• Montini Catholic had a strong showing at the 3A Bolingbrook Sectional. As the defending Class 3A State champions, the Broncos boasted 10 State qualifiers, led by sectional champions Dylan Ragusin, 126; Dylan Burnoski, 132; Jake Stiles, 152; Trevor Swier, 182; and Peter Christensen, 195.
• Marmion Academy had a memorable showing at the Bolingbrook Sectional, with Diego Sotelo, 106; Michael Jaffe, 120; Ryan Fleck, 138; Trevor Chumbley, 145; and Brad Gross, 160, all claiming sectional championships.
• Aurora Christian, last season’s Class 1A State champion, qualified 12 wrestlers of the 14 classes at the Aurora Central Catholic Sectional and all won championships. Host Aurora Central Catholic qualified eight wrestlers for next weekend’s State championships.