Grayslake Central Wrestlers Share Stories of State

The Grayslake Rams sent three wrestlers—Joey Valdivia, Kevin Hein and Bobby Raines—to the state tournament and two returned with third place medals. The wrestlers and their coaches shared their experiences now that they have had some time to reflect on it.

Valdivia, a junior, competed at 189 pounds. He had a tough first match against Jared Koch of Marian Central. Koch pinned Valdivia in 1:41 and eventually finished second in the state.

"I wrestled bad. I was kind of nervous and scared because I didn’t know what to expect and I lost," said Valdivia. "I had a whizzer in too long and then he cross-faced me and put me on my back. It was good though because I learned not to do that again. I wanted to get that first win. I was emotionally down after my first match. I was very angry and depressed. But Coach Stewart had a good story to tell me and that helped get me back on track."

Coach Mark Stewart said, "Nerves got the better of Joey in his first match. He didn’t wrestle his match; he wrestled Koch’s match. He let Koch dictate the pace and be the aggressor."

Valdivia then beat Brant Corwin of Yorkville 13-8, decisioned Grant Naylor of Mt. Zion 5-3 and then took Mike Graf of Mascouta by a 9-5 margin for third place. When asked how he felt after winning third place Valdivia said, "I wanted some chocolate ice cream."

Hein, a senior, wrestled at 215 pounds, although on a good day he might weigh 200. Most of the guys he’s wrestling are normally 15-20 pounds heavier and have cut 15 to 20 pounds of weight to wrestle at 215. Last year, Hein took fourth place and was looking to improve on that finish.

In his first match, Hein defeated Darvin Fridge of Cahokia 12-8. His next match was against the number one seed and nationally ranked Austin Mardsen of Crystal Lake Central. Hein was pinned in 4:14 (which was twice as long in the mat with Mardsen as any of his other state tournament opponents).

"Mardsen set the state record for the most pins in the least amount of time," Catanzaro said. "He did his thing to everyone all year long and all throughout the tournament."

"I was a bit frustrated because I knew that I was not going to be in the finals, but I knew Mardsen would be there and that would give me a chance to wrestle back," said Hein. "So I just concentrated on my next match and took it from there. I mean for me to beat Mardsen, I would have had to wrestle better than perfect and he would have had to come out partially paralyzed to have any chance."

In the wrestle backs, Hein pinned Edgar Ruano of Montini in 5:50 to move into the third place match against Dequence Goodman of Chicago Bowen. With barely 15 seconds to go in the match and trailing 6-3, Hein gained one point for an escape and then took Goodman down for 2 points to tie the match. In the overtime period, Hein won 8-6 to come home with the third place medal.

"In the overtime, Goodman was really gassed but I was in much better condition," said Hein. "I had a bit more pep in my step and was able to shoot for a takedown and that was that."

Family members like his mom and grandmother proudly supported Hein. "My dad was going to come down, but he came down with the flu and was hospitalized the night before the tournament," Hein said. "But he was watching the live stream on the computer from home when I wrestled."

Hein has an older brother in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany who was watching online whenever he could. "He called me after every match and was screaming so excitedly that I couldn’t understand him," said Hein, smiling. "He will be back in the states for my graduation, but then he is being shipped off to Iraq."

The coaches were asked to assess the performance of their wrestlers in the state tournament. Stewart said, "Joey is very physical and athletic. To beat Joey, Joey has to make mistakes. Every point that he gave up was from letting people go so he could take them down again."

"I calculated it and Joey had 12 takedowns and gave up 0 during the entire tournament," said Catanzaro. "This was the best that Joey wrestled all year. We have been on him about his offense and he finally found it. Joey is a very basic wrestler, but he has mastered his techniques and being so strong and athletic. Once he got the first takedown we knew those matches were over. Nobody was going to take Joey down. There was no doubt in our minds. Joey got multiple takedowns. He’s very good at putting people on their back off of his takedowns, but if he doesn’t do that, he can let them go and take them down again almost at will."

Catanzaro added that there is quite a bit of distance to go up the last two steps on the podium. "This third place medal can catapult Joey to the top next year if he puts the work in this off season."

"Kevin (Hein) has great hip and makes great throws. He’s probably the biggest thrower in that weight class," said Stewart. "Kevin is a rarity at 215 pounds in that he is so very athletic."

Coach Cat points out; "Joey Valdivia cannot be thrown because he faces the best thrower in the state every day in practice. Kevin Hein cannot be double-legged because he faces the best double-leg takedown in the state of Illinois every day at practice."

Valdivia and Hein wrestle against each other in practice and that has helped them in their conditioning and skill development. "We only wrestle each other once at the beginning of each practice," said Hein.

"That’s all we could afford to do," said Stewart and Catanzaro in unison.

"Yeah, we tend to get a little rough with each other," said Hein, "and we have hurt each other sometimes. Sometimes we go flying into other guys and they get hurt. We’re great competitors. Lee Brown and John Curtis do a great job helping us get ready for matches and tournaments."

Speaking of Hein’s performance, Catanzaro said, "Kevin finally wrestled like a senior. He has lost matches this season like the first one that he won in the tournament. The third place match that he won, he had previously lost matches like that. But he said enough is enough and decided that he could score when he wanted to at all costs."

"Jordan Lind is a tough kid. This kid wrestled at nationals as a sixth- and seventh-grader," said Coach Dan Catanzaro. "Lind has been wrestling most of his life and is ultra technical. He was able to catch Bobby in a position where he is really good. Jordan is good in the top position. He lost to the number 3 wrestler in the country 13-3 and he also lost to the number 5 kid in the country by a close score. So that is a really tough wrestler who people underestimate because he looks like he is 5 years old. Bobby wrestled well. His first trip to state last year lasted all of 19 seconds. Remember, Illinois is one of the top five wrestling states in the nation."

Raines, competing at 103 pounds, wrestled a tough first match against Jordan Lind of Pontiac and lost an 8-4 decision. When Lind lost his next match to eventual champion Johnny Jimenez of Aurora, there was no chance for Raines to wrestle back for a third place finish. Raines finished his season with a 35-9 record.

"I didn’t wrestle smart," said the ever-smiling Raines, "but I had a great career and made it downstate twice and had great teammates and coaches. After graduation, I am planning on wrestling freestyle this year and getting a job as an assistant wrestling coach at a high school in Carbondale. I am also looking at attending SIU."

Catanzaro was pleased with the performance of his athletes.

"It has been an absolute honor to coach kids like Bobby, Joey and Kevin," he said. "I mean, Tom Nance, who is a great coach and has been at Wauconda for 27 years, said in a recent article that’s he’s had 10 medalists over those 27 years. We’ve had three medalists in the last two years, so we just feel blessed."