Mount Carmel’s Kavel Moore has spent his whole high school career surrounded by star wrestlers.
That list includes four-time state champion Sergio Lemley, who is now at Michigan. Two-time state champion Colin Kelly, who is now at Illinois. And current senior teammate Seth Mendoza, a Missouri recruit who will try for his fourth state title this weekend.
When he was younger, Moore would compare himself to those standouts and feel unworthy. Now, the senior 120-pounder has embraced learning from them.
And he knows that he belongs.
“Seeing them make it look so easy, at first, I was doubting myself,” Moore said. “But then I just kept building off what I saw them doing and kept getting better, and then when my time came, I took advantage of it.
“Now, I’m going back for my last dance.”
Indeed, Moore will make a second and final trip to the individual state meet. But this time, he’s going as a sectional champion after upsetting Glenbard East’s Ismael Chaidez in Saturday’s Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional championship match.
Mendoza rolled to his fourth sectional title at 138. Illinois recruit George Marinopoulos (132), North Carolina State commit Will Denny (165) and Ohio recruit Ricky Ericksen (190) all took titles for Marist, while Virginia commit Rocco Hayes (113) was a champion for Sandburg.
Marist and Mount Carmel each qualified nine wrestlers and Sandburg will send four to the state meet, which begins Thursday at the State Farm Center in Champaign.
Moore (25-11), who is an honorable mention in Illinois Matmen’s rankings, trailed seventh-ranked Chaidez 4-0 in the second period before coming up with a pin.
It was a comeback Moore said mirrors the way his season has gone.
“Early in the year, I got off to a slow start,” Moore said. “I went from being ranked to just being an honorable mention. But it’s like that match. I got off to a slow start and then I was able to flip that switch. I also flipped it halfway through the year and really started to pick it up.
“Now, I’m a sectional champion.”
Moore’s early season struggles took him off the radar a bit. He likes that.
“I love being the underdog,” he said. “I love when people are like, ‘Yeah, you’re good, but this kid is better than you.’ I’m like, ‘We’ll see.’
“Obviously, a lot of people thought that kid was going to beat me, but it didn’t happen.”
After going 1-2 at state last season, Moore spent the offseason training hard with Mendoza.
“Last summer, he started coming to the gym by my house and me and my dad would do workouts a couple days a week in the morning,” Mendoza said. “He wouldn’t miss any of them.
“You can see a lot of progress from last year and especially from freshman and sophomore years. This year, he’s really taken a step up. Winning sectionals is awesome. I’ve been wrestling with him for four years, and the growth I’ve seen is pretty awesome.”
Mount Carmel coach Alex Tsirtsis has seen Moore push through adversity and persevere.
“I would say the last month, he’s been coming on,” Tsirtsis said. “We had a rough January with ups and downs as a team and as individuals, but I think a lot of our guys found themselves.
“He was definitely one of them who really turned it on.”
Moore has been wrestling since he was 9 years old. Reluctantly, at the start.
“At first I didn’t even know it was a sport and then my parents told me about it one day,” he said. “I looked into it. I was like, ‘I’ll try it.’ At first I didn’t like it, like any kid wouldn’t like it because it takes away from play time.”
What changed his mind?
“Just the feeling of winning,” Moore said. “Accomplishing something that you set your mind to, especially in this sport, there’s not another feeling like it.”
