(Youth1) â The Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation hosted their Dual Meet State Championships this past weekend at Willowbrook High School in Willowbrook, IL. The event, which consisted of 12 elite teams, featured some of the states best youth wrestlers and teams.
The championship bout saw two of the states most storied programs square off versus one another when the Martinez Fox Valley Elite took on the Gomez Wrestling Academy. Martinez Fox Valley Elite used earlier victories over Granite City WC, Force Wrestling, and Crystal Lake Wizards to reach the gold medal match while Gomez Wrestling Academy posted victories over Vittum Cats and the Tinley Park Bulldogs.
The two teams, who were evenly matched, brought excitement to the gymnasium from the very first bout. Starting at the 130 pound weight class Martinez Fox Valley Elite was first to strike when Matthew Wroblewski scored an exciting 2-1
decision over Jeremiah Recinos. Joseph Muscolino was able to follow his teammate up with another victory for Martinez Elite as he scored a 4-0 decision over Matt Kleinkopf.
In the 147 pound bout, Arturo Alfaro got Gomez Academy on the board as he scored a thrilling 5-4 decision over Jaime Hernandez. Ricardo Alba put Gomez Academy ahead when he caught Mitchell Jones and was able to put him to his back and a pin to capture crucial bonus points for Gomez Academy.
After Jose Garcia received a forfeit in the 166 pound bout, John Embrey used a late match escape to defeat Brandon Andino from Gomez Academy by a score of 1-0. Dominic Ferraro, the 189 pound wrestler from Gomez Academy, received a forfeit and that evened the team score at 15 apiece.
Martinez Elite wrestler, Dylan Ervin, was awarded a forfeit victory at 275 pounds and 66 pounder Eddie Bolivar picked up a 7-3 decision for Gomez Academy. Martinez Elite then went on a four match winning streak as Austin Kedzie scored an 11-5 decision over Michael Gunther, Juan Bazaldua scored a 24-9 tech fall over Jamel Sheppard, Anthony Madrigal and Jason Renteria each recorded 3-2 decisions over Pat Walker and Gavin Sutton, respectively.
Abe Assad put a stop to the Martinez Elite streak and he helped start one for Gomez Academy as he recorded a 6-4 decision over Cody Baldridge. Austin Gomez and Kyle Peisker followed Assad up with back to back victories. Gomez defeated Issac Jacquez by major decision and Peisker scored a 6-5 decision over Jake Barzowski.
With Martinez leading the match by a score of 35-28, Gomez still had a chance to capture the match but would need the help of bonus points in two of the remaining three matches. Martinez was able to extend their lead to 39-28 when Devin Kane picked up a 9-1 major decision over Jackson Schoen.
With two bouts to go, Gomez Academy would need either two falls or a fall and a tech fall to have a shot to win. John Doyle gave them a chance when he defeated David Veitch with a second period fall. In the final bout of the day, Tony Vezzetti did all he could to bring Jacob Dudeck to his back, but Dudeck was able to fight it off winning by a score of 10-6, but that was enough as Martinez Elite captured the IKWF Dual Meet State Championship by a score of 39-37.
For complete results of the event, please click here.
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