Crown Point wins Fifth Straight Stagg Title behind Four-Time Champ Roach

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By Curt Herron
Illinois Matmen

Saturday turned out to be another story of repeat performances at Stagg's Dave Anderson Chargers Invite.

Indiana's top-ranked team, Crown Point, captured its fifth straight title in the competition, outdistancing Lincoln-Way East 242.5-203 for top honors.

The Bulldogs captured six individual titles, led by four-time champion Eric Roach, who won at 152, and three-time champion Jason Tsirtsis, who was first at 140.

Roach, an undefeated state champion a year ago and a three-time state placewinner and Indiana University-recruit, joins an exclusive club of four-time Stagg Invite champs.

The only other four-time champions in the nearly 30-year history of the competition are Andrew's Joey Gilbert and Bolingbrook's Kyle Jahn.

Roach, earned his spot in the Stagg Invite record books when he pinned Waubonsie Valley's Jason O'Brien in 2:46 in the 152 finals.

"It's definitely exciting and an honor to win this tournament for the fourth time," Roach said. "And it's always fun to wrestle against Illinois guys since we don't do it very often and it's two different styles.

"After not knowing much about this tournament when I won it as a freshman, my second and third titles here were pretty exciting matches. This year as a senior I'm trying to go out and dominate against everyone."

Tsirtsis, who is a two-time Indiana state champion, won the tournament's MVP award after beating defending tourney champ Kevin Moylan of Stagg by a technical fall.

Other title winners for the Bulldogs were Josh Fuqua (103), Matt Harvey (125), Kyle Shrewsbury (171) and another defending champion, Tyler Kral (215).

Lincoln-Way East turned in its best finish in the tournament since 2006 and had one champion, Kyle Langenderfer, who won 11-1 at 145 over Crown Point's Josh Flamme, a defending champ.

A more complete story will appear on coach Tyrone Byrd's East squad later today. The Griffins are the latest program to join Illinois Matmen's news coverage.

The other individual who captured a second Stagg title on Saturday is Bolingbrook senior Frankie Campos, who helped the Raiders to third place with 144.5 points.

Campos, who won the title at 112 last season and then took sixth place at the state meet in the same weight class, took top honors at 119 this year.

In the championship match at 119, Campos defeated Bradley-Bourbonnais' Jacob Iguartua with a technical fall by a 20-5 score.

"Coming into the tournament I was a little nervous about wrestling at 119 against some kids who are bigger than me," Campos said. "But when I saw they weren't as strong as I thought, I knew I could do better against them.

"I'd like to place higher than sixth at state, hopefully in the top four at 119 and if I can do that, it will be a great accomplishment for me as a senior. Winning the Stagg tournament at 119 is a good start to my season."

The Raiders had one other individual in a title match, Jordan Laster, who dropped a 5-3 decision to Crown Point's Fuqua in the 103 finals.

Claiming third place finishes for Bolingbrook were Alfredo Najera (130), Lazarick Mahomes (135) and Bryant Etherton (189) while Chris James (285) placed fourth.

Bradley had a successful day, receiving individual titles from William Thompson (130), Adam Dahl (135) and Tyler Villarreal (160) to finish fourth with 133 points.

In the finals, Thompson beat Crown Point's Cameron Halsted 9-2, Dahl pinned Champaign Central's Julian Anastasia in 3:52 and Villarreal was a 7-2 winner over Waubonsie Valley's Elton Manuel.

The Boilermakers also received second-place efforts from Iguartua (119) and Chris Foster (125), who fell 8-2 to Crown Point's Harvey, plus a fourth-place finish from Colton Jensen (145).

Andrew had a pair champions, Jake Ferguson (189) and Cory Chojnowski (285), to help it to a fifth-place finish with 109 points.

In the finals, Ferguson got a pin in 5:27 over Lincoln-Way East's Chris Graf while Chojnowski recorded a 7-0 victory over Waubonsie's Adam Szott.

"I wouldn't have gotten here without my practice partners and my coaches," Ferguson said. "It was a great feeling to go out there and win this tournament so I could start the season well and hopefully it gets me noticed."

The T-Bolts also received a third-place effort from Doug Platt (171) while Sean McMahon (112) and Alex Thill (160) both turned in fourth-place showings.

Reavis finished sixth with 100.5 points and was led by Anthony Doory, who lost 10-0 in the 171 finals to Crown Point's Shrewsbury.

Claiming third-place finishes for the Rams were Josh Arnold (112) and Brian Taraszka (119) while Ryan Klimczak (135) settled for a fourth-place effort.

Thornwood was seventh with 90 points behind third-place finishers Brandon Loyd (145) and Aaron Richmond (152) and fourth-place medalists Felipe Ambrosio (125) and Michael Willis (140).

Romeoville's Darshawn Hardy beat Crown Point's Colton Saroff 4-0 in the 112 finals to help his team to eighth place with 85 points.

"I've been coming here for three years and always wanted to win this because it's a tough tournament," Hardy said. "Winning this title today makes me feel like I can have a great season as long as I work hard every day."

Also for the Spartans, Caleb Ramos (125) finished third while Aaron Brooks (119) and Robert Jones (215) claimed fourth-place showings.

Waubonsie placed ninth with 79 points with Jason O'Brien (152), Elton Manuel (160) and Adam Szott (285) all falling in previously-mentioned title matches.

Stagg finished tenth with 77 points, Shepard was 11th with 71 points while Champaign Central took the last position with 70 points.

Steve Monaco (215) joined Moylan as a second-place finisher for the Chargers after dropping a 12-2 title decision to Crown Point's Kral.