Mastrolonardo follows father’s path to mats

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Niles, 1/7/11--Tony Mastrolonardo, (top) of Maine South, wrestling against Notre Dame's Kevin Brand, in the 126 lbs weight class. | Vincent D. Johnson~for Sun-Times Media.

Updated: February 20, 2012 8:36AM

Tony Mastrolonardo never thought he would be a wrestler.

A soccer player growing up, Mastrolonardo wasn’t interested in following in his father’s footsteps at Maine South. Ray Mastrolonardo wrestled and was a captain for the Hawks in the 1970s under Tom Ziemec.

Funny how history repeats itself.

Mastrolonardo now is a senior captain for the Hawks and hopes to qualify for his first state tournament as a lightweight next month.

“It was in his blood, and he didn’t know it,” Maine South coach Craig Fallico said. “The rest is history.”

Mastrolonardo joined the wrestling program as a freshman and immediately connected with the sport.

“My dad would always ask me about wrestling, but he never pushed it on me,” Mastrolonardo said. “In hindsight, I regret not doing it early. It would have given me more of an edge.”

Mastrolonardo loved how wrestling, unlike soccer, was all about him. He never played an individual sport before high school, and he enjoyed the self-reliance and accountability of wrestling.

“It’s all up to you out there,” said Mastrolonardo, who improved by training every offseason after his freshman year. “I liked that.”

Mastrolonardo’s next step is preparing himself for a long run in the state series, which starts Feb. 4 at the Niles West Regional. The Hawks look to have received a reprieve after the state sent them to the York Regional last year. The three top finishers at Mastrolonardo’s weight (119) all advanced from York to the state meet.

“Going to the state tournament is my No. 1 goal,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy, but I think it’s a reasonable goal to have.”

Mastrolonardo experienced ups and downs last week. On Friday, he won by pin against an Evanston opponent. A day earlier, he dropped a 14-4 decision to New Trier’s Arash Ghafouri.

The rest of the Hawks didn’t fare much better against the upstart Trevians, who earned a 50-19 win, the team’s first over Maine South since 2004.

New Trier went on to finish 5-0 in the CSL South, while the Hawks ended 4-1 in league dual meets. The CSL tournament is Friday and Saturday at Maine East.

At Batavia’s tournament Saturday, the Hawks finished ninth in the 16-team field. Tom Brewster won the title at 145 pounds. Terry Calkins was third at 120, and Mastrolonardo finished sixth at 126.