* 11/19/2010 Fri vs. - Red and White Meet
11/23/2010 Tue vs. NAPERVILLE NORTH H.S.
11/26/2010 Fri vs. Barrington - Moore/Prettyman Mem - Moore/Prettyman Memorial Invite
11/27/2010 Sat vs. Barrington - Moore/Prettyman Mem - Moore/Prettyman Memorial Invite
12/3/2010 Fri vs. York
12/4/2010 Sat vs. RB Quad - RB Quad
12/9/2010 Thu vs. Lockport Township H.S.
12/10/2010 Fri vs. Downers Grove North
12/11/2010 Sat vs. DOWNERS GROVE SOUTH INVITE
* 12/15/2010 Wed vs. Plainfield Central H.S.
12/17/2010 Fri vs. Rex Whitlach Varsity Wrestling Tourney
12/18/2010 Sat vs. Rex Whitlach Varsity Wrestling Tourney
12/28/2010 Tue vs. BERMAN CLASSIC - BERMAN Classic
12/29/2010 Wed vs. BERMAN CLASSIC - BERMAN Classic
* 1/6/2011 Thu vs. WAUBONSIE VALLEY H.S.
1/7/2011 Fri vs. Oak Park River Forest
1/8/2011 Sat vs. Lincoln Way Central H.S.
1/13/2011 Thu vs. Hinsdale South H.S.
1/14/2011 Fri vs. Proviso West
1/15/2011 Sat vs. ST. CHAS. E/ HOMEWD FLOSS/ WILLOWBRK - Quad
1/21/2011 Fri vs. Lyons Township
1/22/2011 Sat vs. DGS TRIPLE DUAL
1/28/2011 Fri vs. Glenbard West
*Denotes Uncomfirmed Event

Go Red Devils!





NEWS

Strocchia, Lutz deliver strong invite efforts -- The Doings Coverage
Strocchia, Lutz deliver strong invite efforts

December 22, 2009By KEN RYAN kryan@pioneerlocal.com

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/clarendonhills/sports/highschools/1953507,clarendon-hills-hcwres-122209-s1.article

Hinsdale Central senior Joe Strocchia admits he likes to peruse the individual rankings.

So he was a bit miffed that he couldn't find his name recently, despite entering the 44th annual Rex Whitlatch Invitational with a 13-0 record.

Strocchia made a strong case to enter the rankings after placing second at 160 pounds in the 27-team tournament Friday and Saturday.

"My expectations are to exceed all expectations this season," Strocchia said. "I wasn't ranked or even honorable mention coming in here, but I don't even mind being the underdog anymore. Hopefully, I get credit for what I did here."

Senior David Lutz also finished second at 171 pounds, as Hinsdale Central (147 points) finished fourth behind Sandburg (254.50), Crystal Lake Central (205) and Lemont (148.50) in its own invitational.

Lutz (15-1), who was seeded second, lost to top seed Derek Nagel (12-0) of Lemont 5-3 in the championship match after pinning his first two opponents and then earning a 7-4 decision in the semifinals.

"Not winning it, I'm not satisfied with the outcome," Lutz said. "I just don't want this to happen again later on. There's really no reason I should've lost that match. Joe (Strocchia) has improved a lot and he feels the same way I do about the loss. Both of us need to step up and win those matches."

The invite did have extra significance to Lutz.

He suffered a season-ending injury during last season's Whitlatch.

"It's nice coming back and being able to finish this tournament," Lutz said. "After last year when my season ended so short, it's nice to be able to wrestle a full season so far."

Junior Jack Allen placed third at 285, while freshman Ernest Battaglia was fourth at 119. Juniors Terry Ward (130) and Steve Stefani (145) both finished sixth, and senior Sean Sullivan (7th at 215) and junior Matt Freyn (8th at 112) also placed for the Red Devils.

Battaglia (14-4) suffered an injury during his third-place match and had to default.

"We did OK," said first-year Hinsdale Central coach Jason Hayes. "A lot of kids got a lot of matches and I saw a lot of good things. I also saw some things we need to work on. It's a long, grinding tournament, and I think our kids learned a lot about toughness and sticking it out. Overall, we're going the right direction as a program."

Strocchia (16-1) pinned his first opponent, won an 11-4 major decision and earned a 3-2 semifinal victory before falling to Geneseo's Collin Akers 8-5 in the championship match.

"I expected to be in the finals," Strocchia said. "I'm going to learn from that loss. Lutz and I are going to work harder so this doesn't happen again. That's the only thing we can do."

Strocchia finished fourth at last year's regional tournament and is determined to make a much deeper postseason run in 2010.

"I think my work ethic is the biggest difference this year," Strocchia said. "I have something to fight for. Wrestling is a hard sport and I want to get something out of it this year. I think I'm capable of doing whatever I put my goal at, and I'm thinking big."

Hayes was pleased to see Lutz and Strocchia reach the championship match, but understands their disappointment in not taking home the title.

"Their goal is to win every time," Hayes said. "They want to go out and wrestle hard and dominate. It didn't go their way this tournament, but we learn from it."

Allen (16-1) also suffered his first loss of the season when Moline's Jeremy Howell (16-1) pulled out a 3-2 victory in the semifinals.

Allen, who placed second at State at 215 last season, bounced back to beat Downers Grove South's Matt Felsecker 7-2 in the third-place match.

"(Allen is) wrestling heavyweight now, and heavyweights wrestle a different style than 215-pounders," Hayes said. "We have got to get him wrestling more heavyweight-style against guys that weigh 270, 280 pounds. He's got to set his shots up a little better and take different shots than shooting from the outside every time against certain guys. He'll be all right, he'll bounce back -- and he did well (Saturday). It shows a lot of heart and pride that he came back and got third."


 

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