Wrestling: Chino, Savenok Take Sectional Crowns

DOWNERS GROVE – Wheaton Warrenville South senior had knee surgery before the season, and the knee has bothered him most of the season.

Two weeks ago at the DuPage Valley Conference tournament, he suffered a loss and had to be scraped off the mat in his home gym, leading to an ice pack on the knee the rest of the day.

But he has shaken that off to become a sectional champion.

Savenok (20-2) earned an 11-3 major decision against Lake Park’s Joey Kubica in the finals of Saturday’s Class 3A Downers Grove North Sectional at 145 pounds to advance to the state meet next weekend at Assembly Hall in Champaign.

“After conference, my knee was really bugging me,” Savenok said. “I worked on my strength around the knee. I improved my confidence and started working on not worrying about the knee.”

Helping him in that process was his best friend, Tigers 152-pounder . Chino (35-1) celebrated his own sectional title Saturday, but during the week, he did what any best friend would do for a wounded buddy.

“All I did was attack his leg to show him that he could be confident with that leg,” Chino said. “The damage is already done. I told him that this isn’t going to get any worse. Whenever I went to the legs, I’d knee him in the leg. I just showed him that his knee is fine. It’s a big confidence thing. Even when he’s hurt, he still wrestles well.”

Chino still hasn’t lost a match at 152 this season. His lone loss came when he wrestled up at 160 earlier in the season. He woke up Saturday congested and having trouble breathing, but still mustered up the strength to top Neuqua Valley’s Luke Pigot, 2-1 in overtime, in the semifinals.

“I went out there kind of in a haze,” Chino said. “I don’t want to sound cocky, but I knew that if I stayed in good position, I’d be fine. At not one point in that match was I in danger of losing it, but I wasn’t scoring points. I felt really bad afterward. In the finals, I wanted to come out and show that I can have a bad match and still come out and win.”

Chino will work with Savenok in the room all week to prepare for their final chance at a state title.

“We both want that title so bad,” Savenok said. “We’ve been busting our butts for that the last four years, so we really want it.”

The duo will have company in Champaign. Teammates Evan Welsh (171) and Joe Hall (215) each took third Saturday and Vinny LaMontagna was fourth at 189. Steve Franke (160) fell one win short of advancing.

He did just that, dominating Batavia’s Augie Watson in a 12-3 major decision.

Wheaton North junior Mike Swider (37-3) faced a stiff challenge in the finals at 189. He took on Schaumburg’s Joe LaManna (39-1), and the match went to overtime. LaManna wound up taking the title, 6-4. Swider was the Falcons’ lone state qualifier.

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