By Patrick Z McGavin- Photos by Renee Kaspar & Lauren Gray
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase for 2 Weeks at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p619691993 **
CAROL STREAM— Wrestling is often a sport of pure emotion, and the body will almost always follow where the mind takes it.
Makenna Whelan was hyped about the challenge of competing in her local tournament as a 44-pounder in the Tots girls wrestling class.
The gregarious 6-year-old was ready for action.
“I got mad this morning, and I was thinking about that, and it really helped me with my first match,” she said.
“I’m strong, and I know how to take people down.”
Her older brother Connor Whelan has a similar mindset and direct approach to the sport.
“I just try to fight my hardest whenever I go out there,” he said. “I’m at my best when I’m on top of somebody, or on my feet.
“I like to tie up, and stuff like that, and I sweep their hands away and I can score.”
The Whelan sister and brother combination underscored the massive wave of interest in numbers and interest in youth wrestling.
Connor Whelan finished first place in the 49-54 Bantam division, and Makenna Whelan was second in the Tots level in the Mat Rat Invitational at Glenbard North on Sunday, December 22.
In the Tots division, the Mat Rat Wrestling Club had multiple top place finishers.
Gaetano Dragonetti captured the 54-56 weight class with a first period fall of Gus Gentile of the Villa Park Young Warriors.
Jaxson Wisniewski also posted the first period fall of teammate Vincenzo Mendoza for the championship at 71-81 pounds.
In the tournament format, wrestlers who won their first match advanced to the championship.
At the Tots level, the Mat Rat program had multiple second-place performers in Lucian Muniz (40-40), Colton Heimer (40-42 B), Zachary Adams (54-55) and Mendoza.
In the girls’ bantam class, Rose Bucaro (49-53) and Kennedy Prince (68-73) each captured first place.
Emma Rosa was second at 56-61.
The boys’ bantam class is divided into two divisions, the rookie and regular classification.
In the rookie bantam, Reece Pavlick (48-50), Jonny Pauling (59-61), PJ Valdez (82-88) and Evan Vick (91-96) each finished second.
Ronin Pavlick, the twin brother of Reece Pavlick, was second in 51-54 bantam class.
“Like having fun out there,” Ronan Pavlick said. “I was able to use my speed, and get the other guy down.”
The sense of fun and adventure was a constant theme.
”I worked really hard out there,” Reece Pavlick said. “I love pinning people, and I just wanted to have fun out there.”
Connor Whelan defeated Andrew Schweikhofer of the Crystal Lake Wizards 7-3 in the 49-54 championship match.
“I just love going out there and winning and having fun,” Connor Whelan said.
His father, Nick Whelan, is a coach with the program. Success is thrilling. The level of support, interest and passion for the sport, bridging gender lines, is cause for celebration.
“I just think it’s so cool to be part of the sport,” said Nick Whelan, who played football and baseball at Glenbard West.
“I think high school girls’ wrestling is the fastest growing sport. It’s been really fun watching Makenna. She’s got some girls she looks up to in the program. The room is getting filled, more and more with the girls.”
Despite losing the championship match, Makenna Whelan felt a surge of excitement.
“My second match today was hard,” she said. “I’m strong, and I can take people down.
“I wanted to come out for wrestling because I love competing hard and getting more medals. I love fighting, and winning
The Mat Rat Wrestling Club is in its third year of formal operation. It began as a freestyle and Greco-Roman group that evolved in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Glenbard North head coach Travis Cherry is the president. His top assistant Joey Gosinski is the head of wrestling operations, and the varsity wrestling coach.
Ray Varela is the vice president, and the director of the Foundations Club, the youth organization.
A former standout wrestler at Glenbard North, he told his mother after his graduation from high school as he was contemplating the next stage of his life, he was going to run the wrestling room there.
The numbers have exploded.
“The first year we had 25 kids on the roster, boys and girls,” he said. “Last year we had about 60 and this year we’re up to about 90 kids.
“Youth wrestling has really evolved over the last 10 years, driven by new technology. Tournaments are run much better now.”
Success just begets more success, and a spike in interest and development.
“The more we’re feeding it, the bigger it’s getting,” Varela said. “Exposure, exposure, exposure.”
The sense of purpose and self-satisfaction was written all over the faces of the young wrestlers.
Colton Heimer had his first ever tournament in the 40-42 B weight class of Tots.
He needed just under a minute to record his first fall before he finished runner-up.
“He was in football earlier in the year, and that was a real struggle,” said Scott Heimer, his father.
“He wasn’t that into it, and the reason was over just as it started to click for him. The football coach told him to come out and do wrestling, just to see if he liked it. Now there hasn’t been a day where he has not wanted to go to wrestling practice.”
As the coach for the Foundations Room, Varela said the focus is about development, not results.
“These are kids ages 4 to 9, and we don’t throw them to the wolves right away,” he said.
“It’s slow paced, fundamentals, basic moves. As soon as they learn how to master those, it’s positive, positive, positive.”
The newcomers are joined by those with a few years experience.
“They’re not 4 or 5, they’re 7 to 9,” Varela said. “They’ve taken their lumps from learning and losing, and now it’s about getting them mentally tough.”
The Tots program is not just a way of introducing young kids to the sport. It furthers the genealogical line.
Albert Gudella finished third at the 59-61 weight class. He is the grandson of Mark Hahn, the legendary former coach at Glenbard North.
He marks the next part of the family dynasty.
He captured third place with the fall of Josie Hoban of the Naperville Wrestling Club.
“I was a little bit nervous going out there,” Gudella said. “I like wrestling. I went out there and got the pin.
“I had a lot of fun out there, and I can’t wait to do it again.”
PJ Valdez finished second in the 82-88 class in Tots.
“My dad and my uncle wrestled, and I want to do just like them,” he said. “I like to shoot, and take down guy.
“I like to go out hard, and have fun.”
The dichotomy between the present and past was not lost on his father, Paul Valdez, who was a high school wrestler at York.
“When I was his age, I was around the same weight, and every tournament I went to, I maybe had two kids in my bracket,” Paul Valdez said.
“There was never enough to fill it out. Now there are so many kids in his weight bracket. It’s wild to have such a great turnout.”
The personal highlight for many of the wrestlers was a chance to meet Austin Gomez, a three-time state champion at Glenbard North, a former Michigan standout, and Paris Olympian.
“I want to be a good influence on these kids,” Gomez said. “I try to put content out there, more behind the scenes stuff.
“Everybody sees the glory, the wins or the losses, but nobody really sees how you train.”
Gomez began in an earlier iteration of the Carol Stream-based youth program. His start was not auspicious.
“My first ever match, I lost to a girl,” he said. “I was probably about 4 years old. I was talking about this story with my mom recently.
“After that, my dad told her, ‘I don’t know if Austin can be a wrestler. He just lost to a girl.’ My mother would tape my matches, and I’d watch them on VHS. It’s crazy to see how far I’ve come, with this program and my family.”
Varela said one of the larger imperatives of the organization is to develop a consistent group of wrestlers to create a dual team.
The program is on a fast track, with no signs of slowing down.
“I hope one day to win a state championship,” Varela said.
At their own invitational, the Mat Rat Wrestling Club featured many excellent performers throughout the Tots and Bantam divisions. The Tots wrestlers included Mateo Hernandez, Cooper Giannokis, Vincent Bucaro, Samuel Reach, Odin Graham, Carter Sinnett, Hank Cherry and Giovanni Islas.
The Bantam athletes were Cambrie Giannokis, Teagan Thompson, Jackson Dulceak, Michael Therriault, Tomek Moczydłowski, Biagio DiCarlo, Mateo Ruiz, Sam Vicario, Benjamin Pereda, Jacob Frechmann and Owen Kerwin.
