Wrestling: Red Devils advance five to state meet

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Updated: March 17, 2012 10:12AM

Any day you advance five wrestlers through one of Illinois’ toughest sectionals is a good day.

Hinsdale Central coach Jason Hayes and his staff will be kept busy at this year’s state finals in Champaign, moving mat-to-mat with George Tolbert (113), Juwan Edmond (126), T.J. Salley (170), Justin Katzovitz (220), and Brian Allen (285).

Edmond, Salley, and Allen all reached a Class 3A sectional title mat at De La Salle before placing second at their respective weights. Allen placed third at 215 downstate last season, but the Red Devils’ other four qualifiers will be making their first appearance in Assembly Hall.

Allen (41-1) and De La Salle’s James Buss (38-0) both went into the sectional unbeaten, as the top two ranked heavyweights in Illinois, and No. 1 Buss earned a 2-1 decision on the title mat over No. 2 Allen.

“They’re both great wrestlers and we just have to come out with a better game plan if Brian sees (Buss) downstate.” Hayes said. “Buss came out with a game plan and stuck to it.”

Edmond’s 6-3 semifinal win over Lane Tech’s Nick Jankowski secured his spot downstate, before the Red Devils freshman lost by decision on the title mat to Sandburg’s John Pellegrino.

“Juwan (23-10) shows up for those big matches. He thrives on them,” Hayes said. “He’s excited and he wants to stand on top of that podium. He’s got good motion going and he’s explosive.”

Salley (27-2) won 12-7 over Marist’s Alex Benoit to reach the title mat, where he took on unbeaten and top-ranked Ricky Robertson (40-0) of Sandburg.

Robertson pinned Salley in the third period, but the Red Devils’ junior didn’t back down leading up to the fall.

“T.J. took (Robertson) down a couple of times in that match,” Hayes said. “He was right there with him when he got caught. Robertson’s a good kid and T.J. wrestled him a lot better than he did at the Whitlatch (tournament) in December.”

Tolbert (32-15) clinched his first downstate berth with a 5-1 win over Hinsdale South’s Nick Carlson in the consolation semifinals before placing fourth.

“He’s wrestling tough and he’s wrestling with confidence,” Hayes said of Tolbert. “He’s can wrestle with all of them. This time of year a lot of it is the mental game, and he believes in himself right now.”

Katzovitz (30-16) also placed fourth at 220 and punched his ticket downstate with a 3-2 decision in his consolation semifinal match against York’s Joe Giordano, who had beaten Katzovitz earlier this year.

“The York kid can go and he grinded that win out. He got the takedown early in the first period and rode (Giordano) out in the third,” Hayes said. “Justin has been working his tail off for a long time and it’s well-deserved.”