Wrestling: Fenwick’s Garelli returns from injury to nab league crown
By Mike Clark mclark@suntimes.com January 24, 2012 3:58PM
Fenwick's Matt Garelli (left) works to control Providence's Cole Ferguson at the Catholic League Wrestling Championships on Saturday. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 27, 2012 8:42AM
For six weeks or so, Matt Garelli couldn’t do much more than cheer on his Fenwick wrestling teammates.
The 120-pound senior suffered a torn meniscus in a match at Hinsdale South’s tournament on Dec. 3. He actually wrestled one more time that day before being shut down for surgery and rehab.
“You really do feel guilty when you’re not out there and your team’s working really hard,” Garelli said. “There’s not much you can do, but I just (had) to keep my head up.”
Garelli had no problem doing that on Saturday, when he returned to action in the Catholic League conference meet at Fenwick, and won his third league title. In a matchup of defending Catholic League champs, Garelli beat Providence’s Cole Ferguson 7-2 in the 120-pound final.
“I was a little worried if my conditioning would hold up, but it did well,” said Garelli, who’s 10-0 this season and No. 1 at 120 in IHSA Class 2A, as ranked by Illinois Best Weekly.
Garelli tried to maintain his stamina during the layoff.
“I did a lot of push-ups and workouts to stay active,” he said.
Being able to return and win another league title — Garelli placed first at 103 in 2010 and ’11 — at Fenwick made the moment that much more special.
“I wanted to pump it up, get the program going,” he said.
It was also a big day for Friars coach Jerry Ruffino, who’s retiring this year after 20 seasons at the helm. Ruffino’s peers voted to give him the Lawless Award as the Catholic League coach of the year. Ruffino’s son, Chris, who wrestled for his dad and was named the Catholic League’s outstanding wrestler as a senior in 2001, will be the Friars’ next head coach.
Fenwick finished sixth in the 13-team tournament with 78 points, trailing repeat champ Mount Carmel (182), St. Rita (177), Providence (154), Brother Rice (86.5) and Loyola (85).
The Friars also received third-place finishes from Danny Freitag (113), who improved to 3-1, and Mike Kozyra (145), who upped his mark to 25-9. Graham Joss (160) was fourth, improving to 14-6.
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