Relay team leads boys’ track in early going

Last year, the boys track team had a very successful with several runners going down state. In particular, the 4 x 800 relay was one of the best in RB track’s history. The relay team consisted of Alex Amaya, Keegan Buttimer, Peter Lyson, and Mark McDonagh and finished tenth in state. It would be easy to be happy with that result with only half of the relay team returning this year (Amaya and Buttimer), but Amaya is hoping for a better finish.

“This 4 x 800 relay team could be the best ever at RB. If we don’t go to state, it would be a disappointment,” said Amaya. 

Replacing McDonagh and Lyson are juniors Travis Treviso and Chris Dziagawa. It is evident that they are more than capable of filling in as the relay team broke the conference indoor record in the process at Glenbard South. They finished with a time of 8:50.10, which beat the second place finished by nearly ten seconds.

There are standouts for the Bulldogs in other events. Since the Glenbard South Invite, the Bulldogs have competed in meets at Lemont and in the Gary Johnson Bulldog Relays at RB. Jayson Kerber does the high jump for RB and was good enough for second at Glenbard South, and won the high jump at Lemont. Buttimer was also second in the individual 800 at Glenbard South.

Other individuals who should be strong this year include senior George Smith (200 meter) and junior John Kingzette.  The 4 x 400 should also be able to compete for first place in conference. Both Buttimer and Amaya are part of this relay and are able to run the quarter mile under 55 seconds. 

As for the team’s chances, Amaya is optimistic. “We should have a good team overall, too, “ he said.

At the first meet at Glenbard South, the team finished second to Glenbard South. Glenbard South had 199 points and RB finished with 85 points as six teams competed in the meet. At Lemont, the Bulldogs finished a modest fourth out of seventh team and they also had a good showing at the RB invite, despite several juniors missing to take the ACT. The Bulldogs finished fifth out of ten teams.

The team is coached by Tim Olson, Gary Johnson, Tim Brasic and Larry Forberg. The captains for the 2011 boys’ track team are Amaya, Buttimer, Treviso, John Schraidt, and Joey Malone. Malone and Treviso are both juniors, while Amaya, Buttimer, and Schraidt are seniors.

Uneasy tournament ending in Champaign

February 19^th at the ISHA state wrestling meet, senior John Schraidt was defeated in the first round against Jimmy Boyle of Kaneland High school. Schraidt lost his match by one point to Boyle.

 “It was a very close match. I wrestled hard and I barely lost” said Schraidt. Ross Ferraro of Montini Academy would win the 2A heavyweight class and Jimmy Boyle would finish in 4^th place.

Schraidt’s high school wrestling career may be over at the high school level, but he plans to wrestle division two or three in college. “He’s a beast and will continue to in college, he held the best record this year and was clearly the leader of our team,” said teammate Eduardo Orihuela.

 Schraidt plans to pursue a degree in accounting while in college. Schraidt was a two time state qualifier and received the title of All-Conference wrestler this year.

Schraidt heads to state

After a tough sectional meet at Lincoln-Way West the men’s wrestling team only have one wrestler advance to the IHSA state meet. The meet begins this Friday down at The University of Illinois-Champaign in the assembly hall.

 Senior John Schraidt is returning to state this year for the second year in a row. Schraidt will be facing the same opponent as the last year. Jimmy Boyle ousted him last year and pinned him ending his season. Schraidt stated, “This year will be different, I’m going for revenge”.

Schraidt has high hopes for the tournament; realistically he wants to place in the finals. Coach Neil Dughetti, “Schraidt is a hard worker and deserves to go down to state.”

Despite controversy, wrestlers grapple on

As the 2010-11 men’s wrestling regular season comes to a close, the quest for a state championship begins as well. The 2A regional leg of tournament starts this Saturday at Lemont high school at ten AM.

This year the team had a season filled with struggle, losing head coach, Bill Kucinski, mid-season. He was replaced by teacher and former head coach Neil Dughetti.

Senior Captain John Schraidt said, “It was a struggling year for the team. This was a much more individual year than a team one.” 

Schraidt and Edwardo Orihuela were named all conference wrestlers this season. Wrestlers to lookout for during the ISHA tournament are Schraidt, Orihuela, and Keegan Buttimer.

The week following after regionals, the qualifying wresters will have to wrestle at Lincoln-Way West high school Friday and Saturday for sectionals. Some of the top teams in the state, will be there like Montini, Marmion, and Yorkville.

Wrestling team opens up with a win

The Boy’s Wrestling team started their season opener at home on November 23^rd against Nazareth and Gurin Prep. The bulldogs beat both teams in their opener, beating Nazareth 69-6 and Gurin Prep 45-18. “This year the team looks really prepared and we have a new coach. I’m excited to work with him and hopefully go to down to state again” said senior captain John Schraidt.

 This year head coach Jason Rech stepped down from his position and gave it to William Kucinski. Kuchinski is the new coach he comes from The University of Iowa and wrested for the team throughout college.

Men’s wrestling has been pretty successful sending men to state every year, but this year they hope to send the whole team down. “A regional championship as a team, hopefully a repeat as conference champions,” said Schraidt. 

This season be on the lookout for wrestlers:  John Schraidt, Eduardo Orihuela, and Keegan Buttimer. Also sleeper Sophomore Vincent Zaccagnini should be watched in the upcoming matches.

The wrestling team has their next match this Saturday December 4^th at home. It will be a tri-meet between Hinsdale Central and Veron Hills.

Wrestlers finish with solid season

The 2009-2010 Wrestling season has come to a close, but not before experiencing a huge amount of success. RB wrestlers finished with a dual meet record of 11-4 and completely dominated their conference with a record of 4-0.

One of the high points of the season was when the team beat powerhouse Fenton for the first time in seven years. Fenton has been the conference champions for the last seven years, but RB was able to pick up a victory against them in the end.

They finished in the top 3 as a team in three separate tournaments including 3^rd against Mundelein, 2^nd against Lisle, and 3^rd in the Regionals.

Head Coach Jason Rech feels that the season as a whole went very well this year.

“This season was highly successful for the team and individuals.  We won the conference for the first time in 7 years, so that was a big goal achieved by our team. We are young in many spots and I think our young wrestlers learned a great deal from their experiences” Rech said.

Besides their 3^rd place finish as a team in Regionals, individual wreslters were also able to earn a lot of points and recognition. A total of six wrestlers qualified for Sectionals.

Sophomore Mike Abbatacola finished with a 27-7 record and placed fourth in Sectionals in the 103 pound weight class.

Junior Keegan Buttimer finished with a 21-15 record and placed fourth in Sectionals in the 112 pound weight class.

Junior Eduardo Orihuela finished with a 21-13 record and placed fourth in Sectionals in the 125 pound weight class.

Senior Chris Russell finished with a 27-11 record and placed fourth in Sectionals in the 140 pound weight class.

Senior Juan Gomez Velez finished with a 27-7 record and placed fourth in Sectionals in the 189 pound weight class.

But the biggest accomplishment was Junior John Schraidt, who finished with a 27-8 record, placed second in Sectionals, and qualified for State in the 285 pound weight class. This represents the end of a very successful season for the talented junior.

“John is a tireless worker and since the end of last year he has worked for everything he has achieved,” commented Rech.

“I was upset with my performance at State, but it was great to make it. The Semi-Final match was the biggest match of the year and I won 8-3 qualifying for state so I was really happy with that.” Schraidt added.

With another season in the books, Rech feels that next year holds a lot of opportunities for the team.

“We lose four senior starters and return 4 wrestlers who will be seniors and a solid group of underclassmen, so I feel like we can reload for next year and be even better.” said Rech.

Both Schraidt and Rech seem very confident about Schraidt’s chances to go back to State again next year.

“This year was good to get down there and get his feet wet, but next year’s goal is bring home the school’s first wrestling state championship in 28 years.” Rech said.

“I am really confident that I can go back to state. And I have a realistic goal of winning state.” Schraidt added.