Evanston Wrestlers Boost Team Illinois To National Title

Three wrestlers from Evanston --- Jeremy Marshall, Rodrigo Salinas and Diego Lopez --- helped Team Illinois capture the 16 and under national championship last month at the Greco-Roman and freestyle national tournaments held in Fargo, North Dakota.

Marshall, competing for the all-star squad from Illinois, became the first ETHS product to earn U-16 All-American honors at the event when he placed 8th at 285 pounds. Salinas won 4 of 6 matches before he was eliminated at 157 pounds, and Lopez --- who will be a freshman this fall at ETHS --- posted a 3-2 won-loss record at 165 in his first trip to Nationals.

Both Marshall (4-2 in freestyle matches) and Salinas (3-2) also qualified and competed in the freestyle portion of the tournament.

Evanston head coach Rudy Salinas also was part of the title-winning effort. Team Illinois piled up 171 points and easily outscored the next two teams in the field, Oklahoma (122 points) and Minnesota (110).

“That’s the first time I’ve coached there since 2002-03, and it was a really exhausting week. But it was also a priceless experience,” Coach Salinas said. “It was great that I could be in the corner with other guys --- not just those three from Evanston --- and to be around great wrestling minds like that, rubbing elbows with the best. It was exhausting to do so much scouting, to deal with some of their feelings (emotions), but it was a great experience.

“I was there as a parent last year, just watching, but Jeremy asked me to do more this year and I was happy to help. Jeremy’s such a nice kid, on and off the mat, and I’d like him to impose his will a little more on the mat. Now he’s starting to do that. He’s executing the opportunities he has much better and taking more command.”

Rodrigo Salinas, son of the coach, lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion, Ivan Ivanov of Idaho, ranked No. 1 in the country. He then dropped his final bout, just missing out on All-American status.

Marshall and Salinas earned spots on the squad by scoring top finishes at the State tournaments in Greco-Roman and freestyle. Marshall placed 2nd in the freestyle meet at DeKalb and earned 3rd at the Greco-Roman qualifying at Oak Forest. Salinas scored a 3rd in Greco-Roman and 4th in freestyle.

Lopez took a different path to claiming a Team Illinois berth, placing 5th in the Central Region competition held in Indianapolis.

It marked the second year in a row that Evanston had 3 individuals on the team at the same time. Marshall, Salinas and Marco Terrizzi participated last summer.