For Oak Park and River Forest High School boys wrestling coach Jason Renteria, bringing home a dual-team state trophy was one of his main goals for his debut season. The Huskies fulfilled that goal by placing fourth in the IHSA Class 3A dual-team state finals at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington, Feb. 27-28.
“It’s huge. When I first started coaching,” Renteria said, “this was the thing I was looking forward to getting the most. The icing on the cake was being able to do it for my alma mater. Pushing these boys to the same standard I had and seeing them accomplish their goal is huge. A team trophy is very special to me. It’s always cool to see kids do well individually, but when it’s a team, everyone has to come together to make it happen, and that’s what makes it so much fun.”
OPRF needed to win its quarterfinal, Feb. 27, against Barrington in order to guarantee a trophy. The Broncos jumped out to a 13-10 lead after five matches, but victories from Lucas Albrecht at 215 and Pierre Nelson at 285 shifted momentum toward the Huskies.
“Lucas and Pierre stepping it up was big,” Renteria said.
The dual came down to the final match at 144. Senior Zev Koransky defeated Jimmy Whitaker 3-2, giving OPRF a 33-31 victory and advancement to Saturday’s semifinals.
The Huskies faced Montini Catholic and dropped five of the first six matches to fall into an early hole. OPRF won three of the next four, including victories from MJ Rundell at 113 and state champion Jamiel Castleberry at 126. But the Broncos got a technical fall, a pin, and a decision in the next three matches to seal a 42-24 victory.
“We lost a couple of tight matches and couldn’t overcome it,” Renteria said. “But it’s good to see how close we really are to the top teams with the boys we have.”
In the third-place match, OPRF lost to St. Charles East 34-30. But that didn’t diminish the season at all in Renteria’s eyes.
“All I can say is that I’m extremely proud of the boys and how the season went,” he said. “I know it may not have ended the way the boys wanted it to, but overall it was a great season, not only in terms of awards but also how much they’ve grown and matured from the middle of November to where we are today.”
Koransky, Nelson, and David Ogunsanya are among several seniors who will be lost to graduation. But in Albrecht, Castleberry, and Rundell, OPRF has a good foundation to reload around next year.
“I have a very good feeling. We’re going to have a lot of guys back and we’ll have some more looking to fill shoes,” Renteria said. “This will add fuel to the fire.”
Girls state wrestling
At the state individual finals in Bloomington, Feb. 27-28, OPRF senior Isabella Miller reached the finals of the 140-pound weight class, facing Emma Durst of Sycamore. While Miller was pinned by Durst in 1:50 and lost the match, hers was a strong run at state.
Miller defeated Alketa Picari of Metea Valley 10-5 in the first round. She then pinned Urbana’s Ricky Ivy with 18 seconds left to win the quarterfinal, then won 9-8 over Sasha Johnson of Antioch in the semifinal.
For her efforts, Miller was awarded All-State honors. Also receiving All-State for her top-six state finish is senior Caliyah Campbell, who pinned Sycamore’s Frankie McMurtry with :29 left to win her first-round match. She lost in the quarterfinals on a 10-0 major decision to Kira Thompson of O’Fallon and was forced into the wrestlebacks.
Campbell needed a win in her first wrestleback to stay alive in the tournament and got it by pinning Iy’Jah Grant of Champaign Central at 1:49. In the next match, she defeated Cahokia’s Janylah Holman with a 12-3 major decision to guarantee a top-six finish.
Campbell lost the final wrestleback 7-3 to Anali Wilson of Morton, then dropped the fifth-place match 9-7 to Layla Spann of Plainfield South.
Fenwick senior Valerie Franco, the first girls’ wrestler from the school to reach state, went 0-2 at 190. She was pinned in her opening match at the end of the second period by Kimyra Patrick of Plainfield South, then lost by fall (2:52) in the first wrestleback to Brooke Stellhorn of Belleville West.
