Wrestling: Providence’s Eddie Klimara earns national honor

Updated: January 4, 2012 9:08PM

It’s always a big deal whenever a local wrestler earns a national honor and is also the first from the area to get the recognition.

Providence’s Eddie Klimara was chosen as Athlete of the Week for the period of Dec. 20 to 26 by TheMat.com, the official website of USA Wrestling.

Klimara was recognized for winning the 126-pound title at the Al Dvorak Memorial Tournament over another nationally ranked competitor, Iowa City West’s Jack Hathaway.

Klimara, a senior, is believed to be only the second four-time champion in the tournament, joining former teammate Edwin Cooper, who won his fourth title last season.

Roughly 20 individuals with ties to Illinois schools have won TheMat.com’s Athlete of the Week award during the past eight years and none was from this area.

While most of those were honored for their performances in national and international events, Klimara is the first to be recognized for a high school competition.

Recent tournaments recap

Wilmington boosted its claim as the top-ranked team in Class 1A after winning the 22-team St. Thomas More New Year’s Challenge dual tournament in Champaign.

Coach Rob Murphy’s squad beat fourth-ranked Mercer County in the semifinals and second-ranked LeRoy 30-28 in the finals at the University of Illinois’ Huff Hall.

The Wildcats (19-2) got wins from Stephen Kettner, Andy Rodawold and Sean Liaromatis against state-ranked competitors from LeRoy, which lost its first dual meet.

“Our team wrestled real well at the St. Thomas More New Year’s Challenge dual team tournament,” Murphy said. “I thought everyone wrestled very aggressive and physical, and that was the key to the team’s success.”

Joliet West had six champions as it captured top honors at the Bradley Tournament. Earlier, West finished first in a tournament at Metamora.

Winning titles for the Tigers at Bradley were Jared Sims (106), Cory Winchell (113), Jorge Ulloa (120), Jayvin Bandy (132), Jim Spangler (145) and Matt Koran (195).

Joliet Central had two champions at the Lincoln Tournament, Trayvon Zabala (113) and Drake DeBenedetti (126), as the team finished in third place.

In larger events, Minooka took third at the Granite City’s Schmitt Tournament behind second-place finishes from Jake Residori (170) and Mitch Morris (195).

At Palatine’s Berman Classic, Lincoln-Way Central finished in second place behind runner-up showings from Joey Nelson (120) and Bryce Gorman (170).

Lemont finished third at the Berman with Chris Giatras (182) taking second. Lincoln-Way East’s Kyle Langenderfer (132) also was a runner-up in the event.

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