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    No. 26 Montini Catholic upset in pair of dual meets against Illinois rivals

    Ranked No. 26 nationally, Montini Catholic went into Saturday's quad meet at Mt. Carmel expecting to be tested by a trio of Chicago area rivals, and that is what happened. Missing a pair of key starters in No. 8 Real Woods (126) and Preseason Nationals Frosh/Soph champ Parker Christensen (160/170) was not helpful to the cause either.

    The Broncos upended Chicago Bowen, who qualified for the round of 16 in the Class 1A team state tournament last year; before losing to Providence Catholic and Mt. Carmel. Providence Catholic placed fourth in Class 3A last year, while Mt. Carmel was third in Class 2A but finished the season nationally ranked.

    Against Providence Catholic, it was the Celtics who took a 16-6 lead through four matches in a dual meet that started at 220 pounds. In the fourth of those matches, Providence Catholic state medalist Jacob Lindsey secured a major decision against a Broncos reserve wrestler. To cover for the absence of Woods, who will be back for the Ironman this coming week, Montini Catholic bumped No. 13 Joey Melendez and New Mexico state champion Joseph Otero up a weight class respectively. Melendez was given a forfeit, while Otero scored a fall to give the Broncos an 18-16 lead.

    The lead extended to 22-16 after freshman Fidel Mayora earned a major decision at 132 pounds. State qualifier Dominick Ambrose leveled the dual meet at 22-all with a pin over Jake Stiles at 138. Montini Catholic won the next two matches to take a 31-22 lead with four bouts remaining, those were a pin from No. 10 Will Lewan (145) and a decision from Matthew Ortiz (152) over Jason Bazaluda in a battle of state qualifiers.

    The Celtics finalized the dual meet with a pin, major decision, forfeit, and major decision to confirm the 42-31 victory (eight matches to six).

    Against Mt. Carmel, it was Montini taking a 12-0 lead through three bouts. The dual meet started with a Broncos decision at 285 pounds, before a 13-7 decision from Dylan Ragusin at 106 and a pin from No. 13 Melendez at 113. Pins by Rehan Uribe (120) and 2015 state medalist Kaleb Guzior (126) leveled the dual meet at 12-all; Uribe's win by fall came against Otero, while Guzior upended the backup to Woods.

    Montini won three of the next four bouts to take a 24-15 lead with five matches remaining. Those wins came in the form of a fall by Mayora over state qualifier David Devine (132), a 3-2 tiebreaker win for No. 10 Lewan over state medalist Yahya Thomas (145), and a 3-1 decision for Ortiz over fellow state qualifier Dillon Hoey (152). The Caravan win in that stretch came from state medalist Kendall Coleman (138), by 3-2 decision over Stiles.

    Mt. Carmel closed out the dual meet with five straight wins, including a pin from state medalist Jack Mulay (160) and a forfeit by two-time state medalist David Riojas (182). The final score of the dual meet was 42-24 in favor of the Caravan, though it was only 8-6 in terms of matches won.

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