Complete Results

RIVER GROVE, Ill. – In what has become the norm for head coach Dan Loprieno and the rest of his team, the #11 Harper College wrestling team won the Midwest District meet hosted by Triton College, posting 144.5 points to edge out #4 Lincoln College and seven other teams.  Perhaps more importantly, the team qualified all ten of their wrestlers for the national tournament in two weeks.
 
Conor Infelise (McHenry, Ill., McHenry) and Curtis Blaydes each won their respective weight classes to help spur the Hawks to their ninth regional title since 2000.  But all along, Harper had a different objective in mind.
 
“Winning regionals is a nice gift but it's not our goal,” Loprieno said.  “Our goal every year is to go out to nationals every year and perform well.  I told the guys that our first order of business is to qualify everyone for nationals, not to win reginoals.  Winning regionals is a by-product of what we do.  I tell them that when I recruit them.  Winning is just a by-product of how hard you work.”
 
The team got their biggest spark from two guys who weren't expected to make the biggest impact.  Brandon Dillenbeck (Goshen, Ind., Goshen) took third place at 184 pounds but even bigger, he contributed three pins to Harper's team score.  Zach Hummel (Johnsburg, Ill., Johnsburg) also performed well at 125, placing fourth and scoring eight points.
 
“Zach Hummel (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) and Brandon Dillenbeck (Goshen, Ind./Goshen) did what we needed them to do,” Loprieno said.   “That's how you win these tournaments, you win them on the backside.  It was definitely a team effort.  The guys that needed to step up really stepped up and wrestled above their seeds in order to qualify for the national tournament.”
 
Infelise won two matches at 133 to capture the title, including a pin in the championship against Wright College's Jameel Carter.  Blaydes continued his torrid run with two more victories in the heavyweight division.
 
Chris Gonzalez (Bloom Trail), Nicholas Finkenbinder (Belvidere, Ill., Belvidere), Khari Washington (Broadview, Ill., Proviso West) and Charles Argue (Chicago, Ill., Mount Carmel) all took second place in their respective weight classes.  In addition, Josh Tardy (Naperville, Ill., Naperville Central) and Donnie Simpson (Romeoville, Ill., Romeoville)  took third to round out the lineup.
 
“Some of the guys got rewarded for working hard, and for me, that was the best part of the day," Loprieno said.  "The guys that deserved it got to go.  Those are the guys who really earned it.  They earned their trip to nationals, they earned some respect and got a chance to contribute to a regional championship team.  It was on them; we needed them to do that in order to win.  That's the fun part of sports, when the hard work pays off.”
 
Now, the team can get back to the practice mat as the NJCAA Nationals in Rochester, Minn. aren't until Feb. 24.  Loprieno is confident that his team will be prepared and issues that plagued teams last weekend won't be an issue for his team.
 
“We work harder than everyone else,” Loprieno said.  “There were a lot of forfeits and injuries because a lot of these teams weren't ready.  We can have a tough match and keep going and continue.  Some of the teams weren't ready for that.  They had one tough match and they were done.  They just couldn't compete.”