As the heavyweight, Marmion senior Mateusz Nycz typically has to wait until the very end.
He wasted little time Tuesday night as the first one up under the blind draw of the sectional.
“Seeing my teammates achieve greatness is something I always get excited about,” Nycz said. “I always try to go out and set the tone. Getting a quick pin really got the team rolling.”
It definitely did.
Nycz ignited a dominant performance for the Cadets with a 39-second fall over Sandburg’s Omar Ahlmoud, leading the way for a 38-36 victory in the Class 3A Yorkville Dual Team Sectional.
Two-time state champion Nicholas Garcia (26-1), a junior, bumped up to 132 pounds for a win by pin. Junior 144-pounder Zach Stewart (31-3), a two-time state finalist, also posted a fall.
The Cadets (18-2), who led 38-12 before forfeiting the final four matches, will face Schaumburg at 7 p.m. Friday in a state quarterfinal at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.
Nycz (46-5), a Dartmouth football recruit, followed up a transcendent individual season that saw him finish third Saturday in Class 3A.
“A big thing that changed was my mindset,” Nycz said. “I just started going out and looked to score more points and get more active in matches and step up.
“I look to be aggressive and always apply constant pressure on the other guy.”
It marked quite a contrast to last winter when Nycz finished with a 27-22 record and lost both matches at the individual state meet. He lost by major decision against Maine South’s Tyler Fortis.
Nycz avenged that outcome Saturday at the State Farm Center, however, coming through with an 11-3 major decision over Fortis in the third-place match.
Adam Guerra, in his first year as Marmion’s football coach, also played a crucial role.
“The first day in weight training, he saw me working out,” Nycz said of Guerra. “He asked me why I was playing center when I should have been playing tight end.
“Making that position change in football definitely improved my athleticism.”
The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Nycz lost weight while getting leaner, quicker and more explosive.
“Athletically, he’s totally different this year, which is a huge benefit to him,” Marmion coach Nathan Fitzenreider said. “I think it’s also just working hard, being disciplined and being very coachable.
“He also didn’t really have a choice. When he was younger, he was in our room and he was getting beat up. That work has paid off.”
When Stewart first met Nycz two years ago as a freshman, he saw a quiet, shy kid who kept to himself.
“I just thought to myself, ‘He doesn’t talk very much,’” Stewart said. “He’s quiet until you get to know him. This year he’s all happy and never angry or mad.
“He’s one of the hardest workers in the room, and he’s always looking to improve.”
Nycz said wrestling is the sport where destiny is largely shaped by the individual. The crucial difference from last season is his belief in his own abilities to alter events to his own purposes.
“You could be the best football team in the country and still lose a game,” he said. “Wrestling is a little different. As long as you’re the best person on that mat, you know you can win.”
His parents and his older sister were born in Poland. Growing up in St. Charles, he started playing football and took up wrestling at age 5. His youth football coach encouraged him to try wrestling.
He has never looked back, but his wrestling career is nearing the end.
“I love the camaraderie of the team, even though it’s an individual sport,” he said. “The bond you make is much stronger than other sports.
“Since my freshman year, my big goal has been to win a team dual state title. I’m taking it step by step, match by match, putting it on guys since my last match is coming up.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
