Walk-Off Win Sends Marshall To State

Jeremy Marshall doesn’t play baseball for Evanston.

But the Wildkit junior discovered a new meaning for the term “walk-off win” Saturday at the Class 3A Conant Sectional wrestling tournament.

Competing in the consolation semifinals at 285 pounds, Marshall benefited from a stalling call for the winning point when his opponent backed away in the overtime period and clinched a trip to the Illinois High School Association state tournament.

Marshall triumphed 2-1, and went on to lose the third place match. But the rising junior became the first ETHS grappler to qualify for the IHSA finals since Ricardo Salinas back in 2020 and improved to 36-8 on the season.

Marshall won four of six matches at the two-day sectional test and was the only Evanston grappler among the school’s five entries to keep his season alive. He lost twice to the same individual --- Joseph Pettit of Geneva --- but rose to the occasion in the consolation bracket after Pettit defeated him 4-1 in the second round.

The soft-spoken junior eliminated Martavian Howard of Proviso East (fall in 1 minute, 11 seconds) and Terrence Garner of Oak Park-River Forest (3-2 decision) before a win-or-stay-home matchup with Matt Medina of St. Charles East in the scenario where only the top four placers in each weight class qualified for State.

Neither heavyweight could gain much ground in regulation, which ended in a 1-1 tie. And Marshall scored his only point when Medina was tagged with a stalling violation by the official in the second period.

“He was one of my teammates on the national team (in the summer) and I had pinned him last year,” Marshall recalled. “But he’s gotten better and he’s gotten stronger. I just tried to stay in front of him and not give up anything. I knew some of his techniques, and I just worked to not let him score. I didn’t push the tempo like our coaches wanted me to, because I was worried too much about what HE might do instead of what I could do.

“In the overtime, I was trying to get an under-hook and get control, and he just backed up far enough out of the circle that the referee called him for stalling. I didn’t even know you could win a match in overtime like that. I thought I needed to get a takedown to win it.

“I know their coach thought I had head-butted him (to make him back up), but I didn’t. I’ve never won a match like that.”

Pettit (37-3 won-loss record) ruled the third place match with a shutout (4-0) victory and will be part of the loaded heavyweight field that Marshall plans to challenge beginning Thursday at the State Farm Center at the University of Illinois in Champaign.

“Jeremy has big dreams, and he really wants to do well,” said Evanston head coach Rudy Salinas. “I’m definitely pleased for him, because making it to State is a mile marker in his career. He’s had success as a Cadet All-American and at the frosh-soph State level, and now he’s one of the big boys.

“He’s been knocking on the door to State the last two years and this weekend he walked through it.”

In Salinas’ view, Medina’s move backward was an attempt to stay too far away from his heavyweight.

“I really felt like Jeremy drove him off the mat,” said the veteran coach. “That kid wasn’t working to come in on Jeremy and he fled the mat. Jeremy bulldozed him and he got the call. I felt like he was in control of that match but the referee (earlier) didn’t want to make the call (stalling) for him.

“Jeremy did a great job in his matches. He stayed within himself and stayed disciplined, and that was great to see because in some of his losses this year he’s over-extended himself, going for things that weren’t there. At the sectional he stayed in good position and worked people backwards. He had to be more methodical because one bad move could have led to something catastrophic.

“This is really a feather in his cap to get to State. He has a tough draw, but once you’re there anything can happen. I believe in him. I see great things from him in our (practice) room and now he needs to do that under pressure at State.”

Marshall’s plan is to do just that.

“Right now I feel pretty good. I’ve been working for this for a long time,” he said. “I’m not shocked, I’m just really proud of myself. I feel confident and I’m good with going up against these upper guys. They don’t have anything I don’t have and there’s nothing to worry about. I believe in myself.

“At State, I’m looking to be on that (awards) podium on Saturday. That’s my goal for this year and for next year. I want to place as high as I can.”

Saturday ended in disappointment for ETHS senior Brian Henry, who fell one victory short of a trip of his own to Champaign. Henry continued his momentum from last week’s regional championship at 190 pounds, defeating Josh Benson of Schaumburg 9-2 after earning a first-round bye on Friday.

But in the semifinals, Henry was pinned by Glenbard North’s Julian Holland (in 2:26), and was eliminated when Carlo Saenz of Wheaton North nailed him in 5:05 in the consolation semis. Henry finished with a stellar 28-17 won-loss record in his final season.

“Brian was right there with that last kid (Saenz) at 1-1 in the third period, and then the kid got him down in the last minute,” noted the Evanston coach. “That’s tough, because that was a matchup that could have gone either way. I’m pleased that Brian made his way back to us this year (after sitting out his junior season to focus on academics) and he put in three months of really hard work coming back.”

Evanston’s other automatic qualifier, senior Ken Coleman, went 0-2 at 175 pounds, losing via a fall and a major decision.

Two young Wildkits received a bonus after earning alternate status coming out of the regional. When one sectional qualifier from another school didn’t make weight, and another couldn’t compete due to injuries, both freshman Art Bytyqi and sophomore Diego Lopez were allowed to suit up and compete at the sectional.

Bytyqi (his name was misspelled in the meet results) reached the 20-victory plateau after his season was extended at 157 pounds. He opened with a 5-3 triumph over Elgin Larkin’s David Miranda, then was pinned in his next two matches.

At 165, Lopez was eliminated early after a first period fall and a technical decision against him.