Rangel: Renaissance wrestler

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MORRIS -- During homecoming week festivities in October, Marcus Rangel hooked up with four of his closest friends to participate in a fun-and-games competition at Minooka High School.

He still wears a colorful Tie Dye T-shirt he bought for the occasion to serve as a personal reminder that he's living a charmed life, one that includes tug-o-war and pudding wrestling and a future that is his to name. A giant peace symbol is emblazoned on the front of the shirt that calls to mind the hippie movement of the late-'60s.

"We actually wore it for a team competition, me and another wrestler, Brian Bokoski," Rangel said after he helped the Indians roll to a 56-19 victory over Morris on Thursday night in a Southwest Prairie Conference dual wrestling meet. "I just wore it again today. It's peace off the mat and war on it. We bought the shirts for the competition.

"We actually won Cubs tickets -- because we won the competition. So, it was kind of cool. We did tug-o-war. We did pudding wrestling. So, it was nice to have me and Brian in there. That was just one of the events, and we did well in it, of course."

Rangel and Bokoski paint a Tie Dye picture of themselves that belies the inner-Tiger in their tanks. On the mat, they are nowhere near as playful as off. And once they set foot in the center ring, they're all business, all the time.

The two have blossomed into senior leaders on a Minooka team that is ranked second in 3A by Illinois Best Weekly. The Indians (10-0, 2-0) launched a depth charge on Morris that was triggered by junior 215-pounder Brandon Haase. He opened the dual with a 3-minute 56-second fall over Morris' Alex Club.

Tim Wright (285) and Colin Nielson (103) gained forfeit victories. Freshman Joey Govednik spotted Dean Fredericks a 6-1 lead and then rallied to win by pin in 5:44 at 112. Minooka led 24-0 before Morris dented the scoreboard.

Seth Bonic pinned Jake Deklerk in 1:10 at 119. Zach Mann pinned David Cobb in 5:32 at 125 and the Redskins (1-4, 0-3) were within 24-12.

The Indians then reeled off six wins in eight matches to pull away. Included in the string was Rangel's 3-minute 33-second fall over Eric Wagner at 135.

Bokoski never took off his warmup jacket. His services were not needed.

"We've had a lot of guys step up this year, a lot people who have surprised the coaches and surprised a lot of other teams, actually," Rangel said. "It's nice to be able to come in and dominate other teams. And on nights like this, we get to step up our JV squad for next year."

Julian Hoshell (130), Ryan Warczynski (160) and Brandon Collofello (171) added pins for Minooka during its closing rush. Freshman Kalvin Hill (145) won by technical fall. Sean Kenny beat Andrew Bordner 7-2 at 140.

"I think this year the student body at Minooka has done a really good job of bringing back spirit to MCHS," Minooka assistant coach Paige Schoolman said. "We've got a core group of kids that have started developing what is called the 'Tribe' -- which is like a super-fan kind of club. They've been coming out to home and away events. It started during the football season. It's spread into basketball.

"I think that pudding wrestling contest was part of the 'Tribe' kind of thing, bringing spirit to athletic events, kind of making high school fun again. Kids like Rangel and 'Boko' -- they're just good kids to have around in your school. They're positive kids. They're people that bring that kind of energy and spirit out.

"Peace off the mat and war on it, well, you know what? That's how we wrestle. We try to develop good kids here. But when you get on the mat, you've got to be hard-nosed. And those kids are very exemplary of that. Good students. Good kids. But when they get on the mat, they're all business."

The Indians won 10 of 14 bouts and then started to look ahead to Saturday's Minooka Duals. The eight-team field for the event includes a couple of downstate heavyweights -- O'Fallon and Edwardsville -- plus Homewood-Flossmoor, Leyden, Marian Catholic, Yorkville and Lincoln-Way East.

"Guys, I think we're good, and I don't usually talk like this," Minooka coach Bernie Ruettiger said. "I'm pretty pessimistic sometimes. But, like I said, if we stay healthy, we're going to give whoever we face a battle. Plainfield Central is tough. It's going to be a brawl when we see them next week.

"We're trying to get some kids some varsity experience in a meet like this, and that's what we were able to do. We were able to get some matches for these kids. Now, when we do need them, they'll be ready, like Sean Kenny, he's wrestled in four or five duals for us, and I don't think he's been beaten. And we haven't wrestled a powder-cake schedule.

"Joey Govednik -- he's a freshman also that we threw in at 112. He's losing the whole match. He comes back, takes the kid down, puts him to his back and pins him. That says something. He didn't quit. You've got to give these coaches of mine a ton of credit. Jeff Charlebois is doing a ton of work with these kids. He's pretty much taken over practice as far as showing technique.

"Paige (Schoolman) works with the big kids. And I'm just the coordinator. We talk about the wrestlers all the time. But we started off with a hundred and twenty-something kids. It's because of these coaches here. They deserve some credit. We've been strong for the last five or six or seven years. Our coaching staff has been together for the last five or six or seven years.

"Eventually, that pays dividends. So, it's showing up."