Wrestling: Pawelski joins list of Montini state champions

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Rich Central's Nikosi Moody (below) battles Montini's Tommy Pawelski (top) during the 2A championship match of the IHSA individual state wrestling tournament in Assembly Hall Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012, in Champaign. Moody finished second. | Matthew Grotto~Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 24, 2012 8:42AM

Tommy Pawelski wrote a perfect script for winning a state title.

Down one point with the seconds ticking off the clock Saturday at Assembly Hall, the Montini junior scored two points for a 6-5 victory over Rich Central’s Nkosi Moody at 106 pounds in Class 2A.

“I think it was pretty cool way to win,” said the Park Ridge resident. “There was a lot of emotion.”

Pawelski ended his individual season in fine fashion after winning titles at every step of the way during the state series. It was Pawelski’s first state championship, although he’s been part of two team state titles at Montini.

The final in Champaign was a rematch of the championship match at the Lemont Sectional.

“It was pretty much the same game plan,” said Pawelski, the No. 1 seed at the state tournament. “I knew what I had to do. He got tired in the third period, and I had better conditioning than him.”

Montini was scheduled to wrestle Lincoln-Way West at Fenton on Tuesday for a trip to the state tournament. Pawelski entered the week 42-5.

Loyola

Michael Paloian acknowledged that he was an unlikely candidate to be the first who’d make history for Loyola’s wrestling program.

But on Saturday, the Ramblers senior capped off his career by not only competing in the IHSA Class 3A state finals, but by earning a medal in the process.

It marked the first time that a Rambler placed at the state meet. Paloian finished the season with a 32-9 record after claiming sixth place at 182 pounds in the three-day tournament, held in Champaign.

“This feels pretty good,” said Paloian, a resident of Park Ridge. “I think it speaks a lot for our coaches to be able to get me Downstate and to place with very little experience. So I have to thank them. When I came here, I knew how to wrestle, but my technique wasn’t that good. But that changed in my freshman year, when coach (Chris Stephens) started bringing a new mind-set to try to be the best.”