St. Charles East’s Dom Munaretto, Marmion’s Nicholas Garcia win second IHSA boys wrestling state titles

CHAMPAIGN — Even from the walkouts, St. Charles East junior Dom Munaretto was in a glass half-full kind of mood.

While most of the other wrestlers came out onto the floor donning loose sweats, Munaretto came onto the mat wearing the school’s white robe, with “Saints” embroidered across the back.

And while it was a tradition that he’s followed in his first two walkouts prior to the state championship match, this time he flaunted it as a sign of confidence.

And when he came back out onto the floor for the Class 3A 120-pound championship match Saturday, he showed that he had every reason to be.

After winning each of his first three matches at the IHSA boys wrestling individual state meet via technical fall, Munaretto managed to get one final tech-fall, defeating Schaumburg’s Brady Phelps 19-3 in 4:19 to secure his second state title in three seasons.

“This wasn’t just a win physically, this was a win mentally too,” Munaretto said. “It showed myself that I can do it. I believed in myself that I could do it, and I was just happy to go out there and prove it.”

After winning the 106-pound title his freshman season, Munaretto fell short of the 113-pound crown last year, losing by decision to Marmion’s Nicholas Garcia.

While the loss motivated Munaretto physically, as he moved his record to 51-1 on the season, it also helped him change his approach to the mat mentally.

“Last year, I felt like I was a bit glass half-empty during my matches,” Munaretto said. “When things would go wrong, I would start to panic a bit. But this time I matured a bit and took a glass half-full approach to wrestling. I was just always feeling positive and just looking to score the next point. And that’s what kept me going through all these matches.”

Meanwhile, Garcia ended up winning his second straight state championship up in the 126-pound class after getting a 14-1 major decision over Marist’s Michael Esteban.

Garcia’s bout with Esteban wasn’t the first time the two clashed in the postseason. The two wrestled twice before, including in the Hinsdale Central Sectional championship just a week ago, where Garcia secured a 2-1 victory in a tiebreaker.

This time around, Garcia made sure to leave no doubt about who the winner was going to be, building up an 11-0 lead by the end of the second period.

“I finally got him to open him up,” Garcia said. “I didn’t think I was going to get him down in the first period because he’s usually defensive, but I did and that’s when I knew he didn’t really have it in him. But I was able to push it in the second period and after I made that turn, I knew I had him.”

Throughout the match, Marmion’s coaches both ring side and from the stands were reminding Garcia of him being a machine, a mind set that the Cadets have maintained throughout the entire postseason.

And it’s that mind set that Garcia said has helped him reach the podium for a second straight season.

“After conferences, everyone in the room died and became machines,” Garcia said. “After that, we had a hard week of practice and got broken down and built back up. Our conditioning was at the highest level.

“Humans break, but machines don’t. And we’re done breaking. It’s just a mental edge that we have on our opponents that we can keep going and they can’t.”

Also looking to go back-to-back was junior Zach Stewart, who was hoping to defend his 144-pound crown that he won a season ago. But in the championship bout against Fremd’s Evan Gosz, the Purdue commit was put on his back midway through the second period and suffered a loss by fall in 3:11.

Stewart, who’s been practice partners with Gosz since he was in fifth grade, said that the two wrestlers know each other inside-and-out. And when he tried a new move on Gosz, he got caught, and eventually pinned.

“When it gets to a close match like that, anything can happen,” Stewart said. “It’s whatever, he got me. I’m happy he got it, but I’ve got stuff to improve on.”

While falling just short was definitely not his hope from the state trip, Stewart said that his focus is turning to helping his team win their first-ever dual team championship, with the sectional matches starting Tuesday and the state finals following next Saturday in Bloomington.

As for his hopes of winning a state title next season? He’s not too worried about how the loss affects his chances.

“It’s just one move. I’m going to go back into the practice room and keep working out,” Stewart said. “I’ll see what happened in the match and see what I can improve on. Obviously job is not done. I’m just excited to have stuff to work on.”