Remember the names Jacob and Gabriel Kaminski. The Riverside brothers are already making their mark in youth wrestling on a national level.
Jacob won the championship and Gabriel was runner-up in their respective divisions at the Tulsa Nationals junior wrestling event held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, between Jan. 15-17.
The tournament, one of the oldest in the country, hosted more than 2,000 wrestlers from 40 states this year.
RBHS wrestling head coach Mike Boyd, a former state champ at St. Rita High School who also wrestled at the University of Illinois, has provided instruction for the pair of promising wrestlers.
RBHS wrestling
The Riverside-Brookfield High School wrestling team continues to flourish under second-year head coach Mike Boyd. The Bulldogs (13-5, 3-1) finished second with 196 points behind host Fenton (279.5) at the Metro Suburban Conference tournament meet on Saturday.
Senior John Szydlo, who won four tournament titles this season, claimed the 145-pound weight class title with a 3-1 win over Fenton’s Oscar Ledezma.
All-conference selections Josh Contreras (113), Nick Giurini (120), Maxx Reeze (126), Antonio Ochoa (132) and Al’Lon Carter (220) each placed second for RBHS.
Shawn Jan took third at 285 with a fall (2:32) victory against Jeremy Anicella of Immaculate Conception.
The Bulldogs cruised past Glenbard South 59-13 in a conference dual on Jan. 22.
RBHS visits triangular host De La Salle on Jan. 28 at 5 p.m. before returning to Dudley Gymnasium to take on visiting Elmwood Park Friday at 5:30 p.m.
Fenwick wrestling
Fenwick seniors Chris Hawthorne and Ben Uphues combined to score 29 of the Friars’ 36 points at the Chicago Catholic League wrestling tournament at DePaul Prep on Saturday. Mount Carmel won the championship with 238.5 points, followed by St. Rita (185), Providence (164) and Brother Rice (105). The Friars finished ninth in the 14-team field.
Hawthorne (18-8) won three of four bouts to finish third at 220 pounds. In the third-place match, Hawthorne defeated Mount Carmel’s Ryan McCabe by a 10-5 decision.
Uphues (11-11) won three matches en route to a fourth-place finish in the 160-pound class. He pinned David Osborn (Bishop McNamara) and Sal Curran (St. Ignatius) and also defeated Scott Sierzega of Brother Rice by a 7-1 decision.
LTHS boys basketball
The experienced backcourt of seniors Harrison Niego and Jaquan Phipps paved the way in the Lions’ 65-57 victory against St. Viator at the 18th Annual High School Hoops Showdown at Hinsdale Central on Saturday.
Niego scored a team-high 20 points and Phipps added 15 points for LTHS (15-4). Joe Brunner had 12 points and 6-8 sophomore Connor Niego, Harrison’s younger brother, finished with nine points.
Fenwick boys basketball
Mike Smith and Mike Ballard typically led the Friars in scoring; however, senior Kevin Owens scored a game-high 19 points in a 40-39 win against Loyola on Friday.
While Owens notched top scoring honors, Ballard (eight points, six rebounds) made the game-winning free throw with 0.9 seconds remaining. Ballard was fouled on a jump shot off a pass from Smith, who finished with three points and six assists for Fenwick (13-5, 4-3 Catholic League North).
Brandon Danowski tallied a team-high 18 points for the visiting Ramblers (12-7, 6-2).
RBHS gymnastics
The Bulldogs win the fourth annual RB Invite with a score of 123.10, followed by runner-up Highland Park (116.9), Vernon Hills (112.3) and Geneseo (33.8).
Lacey Smith, who finished second in the all-around (33.35), took first in the balance beam (8.8), third in the floor exercise (8.4) and fourth in the uneven bars (8.15).
Other notable RBHS performers included Reilly O’Donnell (2nd place/8.2 in the vault) along with Campbell Hayes and Katie Polanski who tied for fifth in the vault (8.0 score). Olivia Weimar placed fifth in the floor (8.0)
RBHS boys swimming
The Bulldogs finished second at the Lockport Invite on Saturday. RBHS lost its first varsity dual meet this season, 111-73 against Whitney Young, on Jan. 22.
The Bulldogs will host the Independent Conference meet on Saturday, Feb. 7.
Trinity basketball
Annie McKenna scored 15 points to power the Blazers past St. Joseph. Kaitlin Aylward (12 points) and Mary Dillon (11 points) also led Trinity (19-2, 7-2 GCAC Red).
