Sandburg Rules Roost; Downers South Places 7th

The rankings suggested it beforehand and when Saturday's 45^th annual Rex Whitlatch wrestling tournament was over, there was no doubt.

 Sandburg was the class of the 26-team field.

Illinois' third-ranked team sent six wrestlers to the title mat and had 13 wrestlers win place medals in posting 261 team points to win the two-day Whitlatch, with host Hinsdale Central placing second with 176 points.

"We're looking good, especially our younger guys," Sandburg's Dan Argueta said. "Mitch Cook went from 112 last year to 152 this year, and he took second, and Colin Holler had a great title match with (Brother Rice's Michael) Avelar."

Cook and Holler are both sophomores.

Argueta (17-1) won his title at 140 pounds and unbeaten teammate Nick Fishback (17-0) took the crown at 145. Sandburg picked up second-place finishes from Holler (15-2 at 135), Cook (7-4 at 152), Brandon Lopez (16-1 at 171), and Chris Lopez (16-1 at 285), and a pair of thirds from Jim Pellogrino (103) and Matt Strzelczyk (189).

Second-seeded Fishback finished his title match by riding out St. Charles North's top-seeded Tim Noverini for a 7-6 win, and top-seeded Argueta won his title via 7-1 decision over West Aurora's Greg Jacquez.

"In the third period I was up, so I knew if I stayed solid and didn't mess up, I had the win," said Argueta, who won his second consecutive Whitlatch title.

Chris Lopez squared off in a highly anticipated battle of unbeaten heavyweights on the title mat and lost 5-3 to Hinsdale Central's Jack Allen.

Downers Grove South placed seventh, a mere 6.5 points ahead of eighth-place DeKalb, thanks to a trio of third-place finishes from Willie Anaya (160), Sam Apland (171), and Mike Monaghan (215)

Anaya (17-1) went 4-1 and Apland (18-1) went 5-1 on the day, and both lost their first matches of the season. Monaghan (11-3) won 9-2 on the third-place mat over Sandburg's Brenden Pindel.

The Mustangs also picked up a fifth-place medal from Alex Anaya (145) and a seventh from Karl Fredriksen (189) on the day.

Lemont finished ninth on the strength of an individual title from unbeaten Derek Nagel (14-0) at 160. The second-seeded senior used a pin and two major decisions to reach the title mat, where top-seeded and previously unbeaten Malik Taylor (10-1) of Brother Rice awaited him.

Nagel trailed 5-4 and was riding Taylor late in the third period when a stalling call tied the score. Nagel's overtime takedown not only gave him a 7-5 title decision win, it also allowed him to break an old habit.

"I've been wrestling (Taylor) my whole life, since kids' club, and I've never beaten him," Nagel said. "I didn't think I was going to pull it out, but that stalling call gave me a chance. I was nervous, but I ended up pulling through in the end."

Second-seeded Andrew Mason (13-1) placed second at 119 for the Indians, suffering his first loss of the year by decision to top-seeded tourney champion Mech Spraggins (15-0) of Belleville West.

Lemont also picked up a fourth-place finish from Jake Latanski (112), a sixth from Glen Malecki (130), and an eighth from Bobby Bromberek (125).