Beverly resident Blaydes states his case

Curtis Blaydes and Tim Stringer.

They are now tied together in De La Salle Institute wrestling history.

Blaydes, a resident of Beverly, joined Stringer (first at 140 pounds in 1993) as the only two Meteors to win an individual state championship. After playing a key role for De La Salle's state-qualifying football team, Blaydes put together an unbeaten wrestling season at 285 pounds.

Blaydes came from behind to defeat O'Fallon's Terrell Pugh 9-8 in the Class 3A title match. Blaydes finished with a 37-0 record, becoming the first Meteors wrestler to do unbeaten en route to winning a state crown.

"In the title match, Curtis once again found it in his heart to come from behind," De La Salle coach Dale Burke said in an e-mail. "All of his hard work, dedication and heart paid off.

"He started wrestling his freshman year after the coaches saw him on the football field. His athleticism and competitiveness on the football field carried over to the wrestling mat. He was unbeaten at the freshman level."

As Blaydes gained more experience, he became more dominating.

"Curtis moved up to the varsity as a sophomore and qualified for state in 2008," Burke said. "When he finished one win away from getting a medal, he set his sights on having an undefeated season and winning a state championship."

Burke realized something special was happening when Blaydes won the prestigious Dvorak Tournament in December.

"That's when we realized what Curtis was capable of accomplishing," Burke said. "As the season progressed and he won the Chicago Catholic League title, he kept a quiet confidence about himself. He battled tough opponents at the regional and sectional to earn the No. 1 seed at state.

"He then had a great state meet."

Good season at Ag Science

Ag Science coach Kenneth Bringe watched his team qualify five wrestlers to the Lemont Sectional and one to the Class 2A individual state finals in Champaign.

"Mike McNeil is a four-year varsity wrestler who made it to state at 189 pounds," Bringe said in an e-mail. "He was an extremely hard worker and dedicated athlete. Mike will be heading to college next year and will probably be competing at the Division III level. A lot of his success goes back to his extensive freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling last summer."

McNeil finished the season with a 26-6 after losing 1-0 to Tim Sereno of Morris in the first round at state.

Bringe also praised the work of Cyclones sectional qualifiers Reggie Jones (215), Dantrell Cotton (140), Dominic Deschcorbett (171) and Mahmoud Shalabi (112).

"Reggie is a two-time sectional qualifier and is only a junior, but will graduate this year, leaving high school early," Bringe said. "He showed continued improvement over three years of wrestling.

"Dantrell made his first trip to sectional and is an honor student at our school."

Deschcorbett, a senior, was in his first year of wrestling.

"He had a tough time competing early in the season, but he slowly improved as he gained experience," Bringe said. "He took his losses and kept coming back to practice and working hard. By the end of the season, he had a series of moves he could execute with proper technique that helped him make it to the sectional.

"As for Mahmoud, he came back late in the season after suffering a broken thumb in late December. After not competing for seven weeks, he managed to finish third at the regional. Only a freshman, he will be a factor in the coming years."

Alan Macey can be reached at amacey@southtownstar.com or (708) 802-8834.