Wrestling: Joliet Catholic shows its strength in second-place showing at Cheesehead Invitational

JOLIET – After winning a Class 2A state championship in 2022 and finishing second in 2023, the Joliet Catholic Academy boys wrestling team will move up to Class 3A – the largest class in the state – for the 2024 postseason.

To prepare for the step up in competition, the Hilltoppers and coach Ryan Cumbee put together a schedule that can be called, for lack of a better word, brutal. Not only has JCA upped its regular-season slate, but they have also ventured out of the state to get a look at even more high-quality competition.

After wrestling in the Donnybrook in Iowa to start the season, the Hilltoppers traveled to Wisconsin last weekend to take part in the prestigious Cheesehead Invitational. There, they finished second out of 40 teams. The field included top teams from Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska and Georgia.

“This was kind of a last-second addition to our schedule,” Cumbee said. “We saw a chance to get in it, and we knew it was where we needed to be. It was a great tournament for our program.”

The performance allowed JCA to receive the biggest jump in MatScouts’ national rankings this week. The Hilltoppers moved from No. 37 in the country to No. 30.

Two-time defending state champion 285-pounder Dillan Johnson won the title in his weight class and won the Most Outstanding Wrestler Award. He defeated Cole Mirasola in the semifinals and Koy Hopke in the championship match. Mirasola, from West Bend, Wisconsin, had given Johnson his first loss in three years at the Donnybrook and was ranked No. 1 in the country by si.com. Hopke, from Amery, Wisconsin, was ranked second.

“Dillan got some retribution from his one loss,” Cumbee said. “Even though the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked heavyweights in the country were there, we knew that if Dillan wrestled like he could, we were going to watch him become the No. 1 wrestler in the country.

“After he beat Mirasola in the semis, it was the most excited I have seen him after a match. He’s usually very calm, but he went out of the gym and let out a big yell, which is very unlike him.”

Johnson admitted he was looking forward to a rematch with Mirasola.

“When we looked at the brackets, we knew I would probably face Mirasola in the semis,” he said. “I was hoping to get a chance to wrestle him again. I just wanted to stay focused and light on my feet.

“A tournament like the Cheesehead is something you have to do in order to improve. When all you see is the local kids in Illinois, you don’t see as many different styles. To go against the wrestlers from states like Oklahoma, Iowa, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Wisconsin, where wrestling is huge, it gives you an opportunity to see a lot of different styles and moves that you might not see at home.”

Johnson beat Mirasola 9-5 in the semifinals and defeated Hopke 4-1 in the title match.

Johnson was not the only Hilltopper to experience success at the Cheesehead. Finishing in the top eight in their weight classes were Luke Foster (5th, 106), Mason Cumbee (4th, 113), Jason Hampton (6th, 120), Elias Gonzalez (8th, 138), Connor Cumbee (7th, 150), Max Corral (8th, 165), Nico Ronchetti (6th, 190) and Max Hrvatin (4th, 215).

“Sometimes I wrestle Dillan in practice, but most of the time I go against Nico,” Hrvatin said. “We really push each other and make each other better. I’m not real happy with fourth place, though. Any time you go into a tournament, you want to take first.

“But, I did start the season a little late since our football team went to state and I was playing. I had to lose a little weight from football, and it wasn’t easy.”

Ronchetti also had big goals for the tournament.

“I was hoping to finish in the top three,” he said. “But that level of competition will definitely help me when we get into the postseason.

“This was a great tournament for us, just for the bonding. We had a lot of fun messing around on the bus and stuff like that, but we all knew that when we got on the mat, it was time for business.”

Ryan Cumbee hopes that the Hilltoppers’ schedule will boost their chances when the postseason hits.

“Our tough schedule is all by design,” he said. “Max Hrvatin came into the tournament seeded 25th, and he finished fourth. He lost twice to the same kid, Ben Alvarez of Yorkville, who is a defending state champion.

“The state of Illinois has some great programs like Mt. Carmel and St. Charles East. Because of the schedule we have wrestled, some of our records aren’t going to look great on paper, but that strength of schedule is going to help us. We try to set up our schedule so that when the postseason rolls around, that seems like the easy part.

“The heroes of this whole thing are the kids. They have responded to the competition and handled it so well. I told our coaches and kids that the season is going to be a grind, and there are going to be a lot of records around .500 or so. They have all bought into that philosophy, and they want to be mature, learn and get better.”