Providence all too familiar with script

Providence's Edwin Cooper drives Joliet Township's Carlos Garcia into the mat during a match at the Romeoville Regional earlier this month. Cooper and the Celtics dropped a 25-24 decision to Minooka on Tuesday. The two were battling for a trip downstate.
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Providence Catholic High School's wrestling program has risen to the top of the sport because of its unique style of doing things.

During coach Keith Healy's 17 years at the helm, it's featured a mix of finding ways to win close matches while adding in bonus points.

And it's worked very well throughout the years, translating into six state championships, three second-place finishes and three third-place efforts.

On Tuesday at the West Aurora Sectional, the third-ranked Celtics hoped to move closer to getting another trophy but second-ranked Minooka had other ideas.

Coach Bernie Ruettiger's Indians, who had gone to state in three of the last five years but had failed to win a meet there, showed a different look against the 21-4 Celtics.

And it was a look that Providence knew all too well since it basically was the same formula that it has employed to pile up so much of its success.

While the Celtics had a 2-0 edge in pins, the Indians won eight matches, including four of the five that were decided by two points or less and two that went overtime.

In addition, Minooka avoided further trouble when it only allowed decisions in its matches against Celtic state champions Eddie Klimara and Edwin Cooper. And in an extra twist of drama, the Indians needed to claim wins in the final two matches of the night in order to pull out a dramatic 25-24 victory.

"We beat Providence tonight with what they've been so successful at over the years," Ruettiger said. "We're going to state with a different attitude."

It was a different story than when Providence won 29-21 on Jan. 9. In that meet, each team won seven matches, but the Celtics had two falls and two major decisions.

This time around, Minooka consistently got late scores in its wins, whether they came at the end of periods or at the conclusion of a bout.

"They outwrestled us at the end of periods and they outwrestled us at the edge," Healy said. "They did a great job."

Providence grabbed an early 9-3 lead after Sean Downes won a decision at 171 and Joey Michals followed with a pin.

But then the Indians won two straight thrillers plus a major decision to grab a 13-9 lead. The Celtics moved back in front following wins from their champs. After Minooka won the next two matches, including another overtime clash, to go up 19-15, Providence looked liked it had regained the advantage.

Jeremy Crnich turned around a 6-2 deficit by recording a fall at 135 and Jake Wojcik followed with a 1-0 victory over Marcus Rangel to take a 24-19 lead.

"It just seems like we didn't go out there and wrestle full matches," Wojcik said. "We let up a lot of last-second takedowns and points that could have gone our way.

"Hopefully the guys who are juniors and seniors next year learn from this by working hard in the offseason and all next season in order to get downstate as a team."

Minooka answered the challenge as it won the final two matches. Both featured takedowns late in the second period that helped assure the victory. Although Providence graduated the likes of Mark Augle, Brian Reynolds and Dave Togher, it returned much of the squad which claimed second place a year ago.

All year long, the Celtics were focused on winning another title, but they knew that getting past teams like Lockport and Minooka would make it difficult.

Still, Providence was in a position to advance out of the state's most difficult path and would have done so if it managed to turn around just one more match.

"They wrestled really well and I thought we wrestled as hard as we could but what happened happened," Michals said. "The close ones count a lot so give them props. It's discouraging to see it end but our seniors had a great four years together. Our juniors are great and I think they're going to have a great season next year."