Wrestling: Hinsdale Central wins Downers South tourney

Updated: December 10, 2011 7:20PM

After an injury-plagued junior season, Hinsdale Central’s Jimmy Grimm is happy to be healthy and wrestling again in his senior year, and winning an individual tournament title on Saturday only made him happier.

But Grimm was especially pleased to see his Red Devils win Downers Grove South’s Mustang Invitational for the second consecutive season and the third time in the last four years.

“We’ve been through some adversity, but our team chemistry is really good and we’re coming together,” Grimm said, after his 12-5 title-match decision at 145 over Ridgewood’s Donato DiGiulio. “And I’m taking every precaution I can to make sure I stay healthy this year.”

Hinsdale Central earned a 199-186 edge over the second-place host Mustangs, getting additional individual titles from Marco Del-Rosario (106), Juwan Edmond (126), T.J. Salley (170) and Brian Allen (285).

“We lost a tough dual to Lockport that went down to the final match on Thursday, and then bounced back Friday with a win against Downers North,” Hinsdale Central coach Jason Hayes said. “I wanted to see how we’d respond today and overall I was happy with the way we wrestled.”

Downers Grove South had individual champions in Ed Wenmouth (120), Alex Anaya (152), and Mark Clark (195). Downers Grove North finished third, led by title-winner Nick Bonomo (138), fourth-place Bloom got a title from Derrick Richardson (182), and Bolingbrook had a pair of champs in Milan Patel (113) and Dan Korabik.

In his third season in the sport, the senior Clark won his first individual tournament title with a 4-0 decision over Bloom’s Johnny Foster. “Coach (Rick LeBlanc) told me wrestling would make be a better football player when I was a freshman,” Clark said. “I liked it right away and it feels great to win a title.”

In a field of Class 3A teams, Class 2A Ridgewood and Nazareth each sent a champion to the awards stand.

Ridgewood’s Henry Meyers won a 9-6 decision over Hinsdale Central’s Masen Cruickshank for the title at 132, while Nazareth’s Malcolm Watson used a late third-period takedown and three near-fall points to post a 7-2 win at 220 pounds over Downers Grove North’s Zach Urbanski.

“You get that last-second desperation when you need a takedown and you have to get it done,” Watson said. “Our coaches work us hard so we’ll be able to finish matches at the end like that.”

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