While many students took time to relax over winter break, Joliet Junior Colleges men and women wrestlers were as busy as ever on the mat.
Beginning with the women’s team, they would continue their season with the Carthage Classic on Dec. 7, taking place at Carthage College in Kenosha.
At 117 pounds, Diose Tenorio would place tenth out of twelve wrestlers, finishing 2-3 on the weekend. At 124 pounds, Charlotte Pedroza would finish in ninth place out of 11 wrestlers, also going 2-3, including a dominant performance over Milwaukee School of Engineering’s Alyssa Bentley.
At 131 pounds, Mia Orozco and Kaitlynn Valencia would finish the weekend at 11th and 12th. At 180 pounds, Jessica Komolafe would end up not placing, going 2-2. One of those wins would include a dominant pin over Teagen McKinnie of Wisconsin Stevens Point, winning just 21 seconds into the first period.
Komolafe competed again Dec. 14 at the North Central Invite at North Central College in Naperville. After receiving a first-round bye, she pinned Julia Shea of Adrian College less than two minutes into the opening period. Komolafe then dropped a quarterfinal match by technical fall to Trinity White of Quincy University and later fell by technical fall to Jocelyn Kolozsy of King University. She finished 2-2 on the day.
The men’s team would have quite a busy last few months as well, starting with the Men’s North Central Invite on Dec 13 in Naperville.
At 133 pounds, freshman Marquan Godfrey went 0-2. At 141, freshman Adrian Hernandez finished 1-2, earning a first-round consolation pin over Makoa King of Carthage College in 46 seconds.
Issac Barba would be next up for the Wolves at 165 pounds. Barba went 1-2 on the day, highlighted by a come-from-behind win over Kevin Kalchbrenner of Elmhurst University. Trailing 15-5 early in the third period, Barba secured a pin just 19 seconds into the third period. Finally, at 197 pounds, Jonathon Santiago went 0-2.
After a month-long break, the Wolves returned to action Jan. 17 at the Tom Jarman Spartan Mat Classic hosted by Manchester University in North Manchester.
At 141 pounds, Aden Vargus opened with an 11-6 decision over Karson Davis of Ohio Northern University. After a loss to Branson Weaver of Wabash College, Vargus rebounded with an 18-5 major decision against Jemil Pace of Ohio Wesleyan University. He later fell to Michael Valerio of Case Western Reserve University to finish 2-2.
Hernandez also went 2-2 at 141, earning a 15-4 major decision over Chase Morgan of John Carroll University and pinning Chris Rider of Ohio Wesleyan.
At 165 pounds, Barba dropped his opener to Andrew Supers of Baldwin Wallace University. He responded with an 8-2 consolation win over Elijah Matzke of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh before falling to Drew Tigg of Indiana Tech. At 184 pounds, Kael Morlock went 0-2.
The Wolves then competed near home at the Stormin’ Norman Open at Harper College in Palatine.
Vargus and Hernandez battled through the consolation bracket at 141 and faced each other in the consolation semifinals. Hernandez advanced and moved on to the fifth-place match, where he fell by technical fall, 22-6, to Zack Parisi of the University of Chicago.
Barba reached the semifinals at 165 before losing 14-7 to Dayveon Rupert of Southwestern Michigan College. He rebounded in the third-place match, defeating Mark Lynott of the University of Chicago to earn his first podium finish of the season. Morlock, competing at 174 pounds, went 0-2.
The Wolves opened February at the Jayhawk Open hosted by Muskegon Community College in Muskegon.
Vargus (141) and Morlock (174) each went 0-2. Barba continued his strong stretch at 165, finishing 3-1 and placing second for his second consecutive podium appearance.
“I’m very confident with the ending of the season coming,” Barba said. “I’m a big believer in faith and self-belief. I’ve put a lot of work in over the last year, and I believe in myself.”
Barba credited his mental growth for his improvement.
“You’ve got to win in your mind first,” Barba said. “I’ve learned from Scott Halicky, the sports performance psychology specialist, things like visualization, mental skills, and meditation—things that can take you to the next level in your mind.”
As for the postseason, Barba remains focused.
“I can definitely improve on looking toward the future and not looking toward the past,” Barba said. “When the postseason starts, everybody starts 0-0. It doesn’t matter what happened the week before, the month before, or the year before. Anybody can be beaten any given day.”
The Wolves return to Muskegon for the NJCAA Midwest District Championship on Saturday, Feb. 21.
