Mustangs' Akui claims sectional

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:24AM

It's a good thing Jahwon Akui welcomes a challenge, because the road to a

potential second state wrestling title is littered with them.

It started last week, when the St. Rita senior suffered a hyperextended

right elbow in practice. Then he faced a bracket at the Class 3A Leyden

Sectional that included another returning state champ in Oak Park's Sam

Brooks.

Akui overcame it all, beating Brooks 7-5 in the 171-pound final that was the

marquee match of the sectional at East Leyden in Franklin Park.

"I felt like this is the match a lot of people have been waiting to see in a

big-time tournament," said Akui, who is 26-0 and ranked No. 1 by Illinois

Best Weekly at 171, the weight he won at last season.

Akui took control early, getting a takedown 13 seconds into the match. "I

felt like it was real important," Akui said. "I know he comes out strong, he

comes out aggressive."

Brooks (25-3), last year's 160 state champ, knew it'd be tough to play

catch-up against Akui.

"Originally, we had planned to [make] the match lower-scoring, maybe 0-0 at

the end of the first period," Brooks said. "We're very confident with the

conditioning I have. [But] he's so explosive. I had to get on my offense and

that opened it up for him."

It gets no easier for Brooks or Akui next week. The 171 state bracket will

include a third returning state champ in Willowbrook junior Steve Congenie

(30-1), who won at 152 last season.

The other highly anticipated match on Saturday came in the 140 final, where

Mount Carmel's Tyler Argue and St. Rita's Tim Corse, who transferred from

Mount Carmel, met for the fourth time this season.

Argue (37-7) beat his rival and former teammate for the third time since

late December, winning 11-3.

"Basically, I saw him on the bracket and I automatically thought I was going

to face him," Argue said. "It was inevitable."

The pair's first three meetings were all decided by one or two points, with

Corse (27-8) prevailing in the Catholic League tournament final.

"I honestly doubt I was my true self in the other matches," Argue said.

"This one, I kind of turned it up a little bit."

Akui was one of two No. 1-ranked wrestlers to win titles; the other was

Fenwick 103-pounder Matt Garelli (43-1), who beat Lane freshman Danny

Carlson 12-2 in the final.

"I felt like he came out pretty strong and then he gassed a little bit,"

Garelli said. "I stayed smart, didn't want to do anything crazy and I

started to get something rolling."

Joining Akui in staying unbeaten were St. Patrick sophomore Steve Galliardo

(43-0) and De La Salle heavyweight James Buss (35-0). Galliardo got a late

takedown to beat Mount Carmel's Mike Mizaur 8-7 in the 125 final, while Buss

edged Maine South's Sean Sullivan 8-6 for the title.

Lyons and St. Rita led the qualifying, advancing seven wrestlers each. The

Lions had a meet-best four champs: Drew Bates (24-5) at 130, Jack

Windmoeller (36-8) at 135, Matt Nora (40-2) at 152 and Joe Gonzalez (37-5)

at 215.

Also winning titles were Oak Park's Darius Henry (32-7) at 112, St. Rita's

Mike O'Connor (18-6) at 119, Morton's Chepe Mariscal (35-1) at 145, Proviso

West's Malik Thurman (30-4) at 160 and York's Jim Nudera (39-3) at 189.

Mount Carmel, Oak Park and Proviso West all advanced wrestlers, while Lane

had four of the six Public League state qualifiers. Lane's Max Schneider,

the defending 145 state champ, didn't compete because of a left shoulder

injury, but might return for the team state series, according to Indians

coach Mark Miedona.

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