Chino Shines For Tigers At DVC Meet

WHEATON – Wheaton Warrenville South senior wrestler has always had success in his high school career.

He reached the semifinals of the state meet in each of the past two seasons, after all. But he looks like he has finally found at home at 152 pounds, and looks poised to make a run at a state title after Saturday’s DVC championship performance.

Chino earned two pins and a technical fall to roar to 29-1 on the season. He was named the wrestler of the meet from 145-285 pounds, as well.

“This is a good, natural weight for me,” said Chino, who finished the football season at 167 pounds and wrestled at 160 for most of the season after making the jump from 140 as a junior. “It’s the first time in a long time that I just felt the love for wrestling again. I think it’s due to the lack of weight cutting. I feel really strong.”

Chino showed it by dominating a field at 152 that featured no other wrestlers with less than 10 losses. But he has been feeling dominant all season after getting most of his work in at a higher weight, including his only loss, to Malik Taylor of Brother Rice.

Mix in an improvement on his feet this season, and Chino has the look of a champion.

“Technically, I feel fantastic on my feet,” Chino said. “Usually, I’ve been a good mat wrestler and struggled on my feet, but I’m taking good shots now. I always thought I was decent on my feet, but coach (Ryan) Ferguson told me that if I want to be a state champ, I have to be able to take people down. I really feel like I don’t have a weakness this year.”

Chino’s performance helped the Tigers take sixth place as a team at the meet with 155 points. Glenbard North ran away with its 13th straight DVC crown with 290 ½ points, 110 points ahead of the field.

(160 pounds), (171) and (215) all won individual championships for the Tigers at the meet. They did receive a big scare at 145, however, as senior lost his title match at the last second, and also had to be helped off the mat after an apparent knee injury.

Wheaton North was fourth with 160 points at the meet, and provided the highlight for the Falcons at 189. He won the lone championship for the Falcons, improving to 33-2 on the season after winning 20 matches as a sophomore last year.

“At the beginning of the season, I was hoping to make it downstate this year,” Swider said. “I had no idea I’d have 33 wins. After some big wins (at the Dvorak Tournament in December), that was the big turning point. I realized that I could do this.”

added a second-place finish at 119 for Wheaton North.