TP_021617

52 | February 16, 2017 | The tinley junction sports
tinleyjunction.com
Wrestling
Three TPHS wrestlers are state-bound
Frank Gogola
Freelance Reporter
Tinley Park wrestling coach
John Pfeffer needed to talk
with senior Joey Davies after
the South Suburban Conference
championship meet.
Davies had just taken third
place in a loaded 152-pound
weight class, but they didn’t
dwell on that. Instead, Pfeffer
brought up the idea of
Davies moving up to 160
pounds for regionals.
“He had been wrestling
152 all year, but we thought
160 might be an easier path
for him to qualify for state,”
Pfeffer said. “We sat down,
talked about it and looked at
what the possible brackets
would be. Ends up we were
right on that.”
Davies, a two-time state
qualifier, is one of three Tinley
Park wrestlers heading
to state in Class 2A. Seniors
Joe Petrauskas and Brandon
Catledge earned their first
trips to state by placing in
the top four of the 182- and
285-pound weight classes,
respectively, at Saturday’s
Thornridge Sectional. Sophomore
Jose Marban will be
an alternate at 170 pounds.
This is the eighth consecutive
year that Tinley Park has
qualified at least one wrestler
for state. The state finals
begin with preliminaries on
Thursday and run through
Saturday at the State Farm
Center on the University of
Illinois campus in Champaign.
There will be 16 wrestlers
in each weight class.
Davies (28-7) was Tinley
Park’s highest finisher at
sectionals, taking second in
the 160-pound weight class.
He never led in the championship
match, losing 3-2 to
Riverside-Brookfield’s Joey
Swallow. Both are IllinoisMatmen.com
honorable
mentions in their Class 2A
weight class.
“Swallow is a really strong
kid on defense,” Pfeffer said.
“We were trying to open him
up and hit shots, and he kept
blocking Joey. Joey is pretty
aggressive on his feet, but
[Swallow] did a good job to
keep Joey away and defend
shots.”
Davies, a three-time sectional
qualifier, will be making
his second trip to state.
He did not place at last
year’s state tournament in
the 152-pound weight class.
Petrauskas (22-9), a firstyear
varsity wrestler making
his state debut, has been on a
roll after missing the conference
tournament with Bronchitis.
He took second in the
182-pound weight class at
regionals and beat Hinsdale
South’s Tyvell White by a
15-6 major decision in the
sectional third-place match.
“He definitely was in control
all the way through the
match,” Pfeffer said. “He’s
peaking at the right time of
the year and is putting it together
after he was out for
two weeks being sick.”
Catledge (30-8) placed
fourth in the 285-pound
weight class at sectionals,
losing to Hillcrest’s Ezenna
Cmadu by a 4-1 decision in
the third-place match. Catledge
had beat Cmadu, 9-8,
the week before at regionals
to win first. Sectionals was
the fourth time this season
they wrestled, splitting the
matches 2-2.
Catledge is in his first year
on varsity after sitting out
last year to train for football.
He had last wrestled on junior
varsity as a sophomore.
“I had Brandon in [American
History] class last year
and talked with him about
coming back because I knew
we’d need someone to fill
heavyweight with Adam
Simon graduating,” Pfeffer
said. “He said, ‘Yeah, I plan
on it,’ and we’ve been working
with him since the summer
to get him back ready
after missing the season.”
Six other Titans had advanced
from regionals to
sectionals but didn’t automatically
qualify for state.
Those included seniors Jake
Koepke (126), Justin Emmick
(132) and Noah Furlough
(220); sophomore Jose
Marban (170); and freshman
Dominic Rivera (106).
Marban will be a state alternate
since he lost to the
sectional’s eventual thirdplace
winner. He’s on the list
of alternates in case a wrestler
doesn’t make weight, is
ineligible or can’t compete
for a personal reason.
Koepke and Emmick had
made the state tournament
last season. They and Davies
were the only returners with
varsity experience from last
year’s team, which qualified
eight wrestlers for state.
“None of these three kids
going to state wrestled before
they got to high school,”
Pfeffer said. “All three came
through our program and
have developed in such a
Joey Davies (left) poses for
a photo after taking second
place in the 160 division at
regionals. photo submitted
short time to get this far. Even
last year, six of our eight state
qualifiers had never wrestled
before high school. I think
that’s a great accomplishment
for the program.”
Girls Bowling
Andrew’s inconsistency keeps team from heading to state
Frank Gogola
Freelance Reporter
For the first time this postseason,
things weren’t coming
easy for Lockport.
The state’s No. 1 ranked
team according to Illinois-
Bowling.net had been in
second place the majority of
the day at the Andrew Sectional
on Feb. 11 at Orland
Bowl. As other teams started
to fade late in the day, strong
play from junior Bailey Delrose
and a lineup change
helped the Porters win the
sectional title and earn their
fifth consecutive trip to state.
“It’s been a fantastic run,
especially these last three
years,” Lockport coach Art
Cwudzinski said. “You don’t
see girls with this ability this
often, and all on the same
team. It’s been a pleasure to
watch them work and mature.
They’ve accepted both
the good and bad breaks.”
Lockport was the only
area school to advance to
state as a team. Andrew’s
Noelle Doody and Danielle
Stefanski qualified for state,
as did Sandburg’s Emily
Schrader. Sandburg’s Sophia
Jablonski advanced to state
in the wheelchair division.
Lincoln-Way West, Lincoln-Way
East, Lincoln-Way
Central and Tinley Park didn’t
qualify any individual bowlers.
The lowest individual advancing
score was a 1259.
The four highest-scoring
teams and five top-scoring
individuals who didn’t advance
with a team moved
on to state. The state finals
are scheduled for Friday and
Saturday at Cherry Bowl
Lanes in Rockford.
Andrew bowled its worst
game of the postseason at
the most inopportune time
to finish in fifth place, which
kept the team from advancing
to state.
The Thunderbolts bowled
an 818 in the sixth game and
saw their 19-pin lead over
fifth-place Oswego turn into
a 107-pin loss, 5,777-5,670.
Their lead slowly eroded
throughout the afternoon session
after being in fourth place
since the end of game three.
Andrews’ day was defined
by equal parts highs and
lows. It bowled a seasonhigh
1069 in game three to
move from fifth to fourth
place with 3,000 pins after
the morning session. Its
previous season high was a
1,002 at regionals.
The Thunderbolts led by
59 pins after game three and
57 after game four. Their
lead fell to 19 after an 864
in game five. An 818 in the
final game was their worst
score across the conference
championship, regional and
sectional.
Their 5,670 was 214 pins
less than the 5884 they
bowled at regionals. “It was
super tough,” first-year Andrew
coach Katie Gibson
said through tears. “We were
just too inconsistent today.
That’s something we have
to work on next year is our
mental game and consistency.
We weren’t picking up
spares and hitting our marks.
We just lost sight.”
Despite missing out as
a team, sophomore Noelle
Doody and senior Danielle
Stefanski advanced to
state as individuals. Doody
bowled a 1289 to finish
seventh overall and second
among individuals advancing
without a team. Stefanski
was 11th overall and fourth
among qualifiers without an
advancing team at 1264.
“It’s great for Noelle and
Danny to get through,” Gibson
said. “They fought hard
and helped keep us in it.
They deserve to go on.”