The departure of two of his top wrestlers to a cross-town rival is not something Fenwick head wrestling coach Jerry Ruffino is eager to discuss. The only comment the long-time coach would make on the subject of losing Chris and Nick Dardanes to cross-town rival Oak Park this season is that he’s never had a wrestler leave his program to go to another school.
“But we’ll be fine,” added Ruffino, who has coached wrestling at Fenwick since 1995 and is one win away from accumulating 200 in his head coaching career. “We’ll be more of a team this year than we have been in the last couple of years.”
End of subject. Ruffino has no qualms about discussing his team, which will be headed up by returning state qualifier Bobby Barnhisal. The senior will grapple at 152 pounds. Barnhisal went 42-2 last year but lost in the first round of the Class AA State Tournament.
“He caught a bad break last year and we’re really hoping for good things for him this season,” said Ruffino of Barnhisal. “He’s worked real hard and hopefully it will pay off.”
Jim Dorsey, a sectional qualifier last year, returns to the team. Dorsey, a senior, will wrestle at 140 pounds. Also competing on varsity this season for the Friars are Joe Shannon (135 pounds), Phil Gough (160), Tim Sampey (160), Ilya Stambolic (171), Jim Vondraskek (215) and Austin Brown (215). Juniors Matt Jewell and Bill Meyer will compete for the 130-pound weight class slot, as will sophomore Eric Hulihan and junior Jayson Heredia at 145 pounds. Still to be determined is the 189-pound weight class where Tim Reichel and Steve Sernowski will battle it out. Junior Jim Konrad will wrestle as the heavyweight.
But it’s a group of four freshmen with that Ruffino will be counting on exponentially this season. Matt Garelli (103), Anthony Aguiliar (112), Carlos Pike (119), Graham Joss (125) all have prior wrestling experience.
“They’ve all done very well in our Falcon wrestling program, so they know what we’ll be asking of them,” said Ruffino.
The Friars will try to improve on last season’s 13-7 overall record. Providence, Mt. Carmel and St. Rita are expected as usual to rule the Catholic League with Fenwick in the hunt for the fourth or fifth spot.
The Friars host Glenbard West tonight (Wednesday, Nov. 26), and travel to the Barrington Tournament this weekend. On Dec. 12, they’ll host a quad against St. Patrick, St. Ignatius and St. Laurence.