A GOLDEN CORRAL
Oak Forest wrestler wants to ‘stay in best shape I can,’ eats up competition in new sport
As a sophomore wrestler, Oak Forest’s Ivan Corral went 0-2 at 132 pounds in the Class 2A state meet. Right away, he began thinking about a return trip to state.
When the coronavirus pandemic shut downjust about everything in March, the only thing Corral could do was run. So he ended up running to stay in shape for wrestling.
Howmuch?
Corral ran somuch, he decided to try out for the boys cross country team for the first time. And so far, he has been enjoying the successful start to his second career.
One week after finishing second to teammate Liam McGoldrick in a win over Hillcrest, Corrral led the Bengals with a second-place finish Tuesday in a 27-34 victory over host Bremen in Midlothian.
Bremen’s boys finished 19th in the state last year in 2A.
Thanks in part to a first-place finish Tuesday from sophomore Mia Nutile, Oak Forest also won the girls race over the Braves with a 16-39 decision.
Bremen’s Zach Casper won the boys race with a time of 17 minutes, 32 seconds. He was followed by Corral in 17:44.
Oak Forest’s Brandan Bagnara took third with a 17:47. McGoldrickwas fifth, Carter Birk seventh and Andy Damon eighth to round out the scoring for the Bengals.
“Liam, Brandan and I will be battling back and forth this season,” Corral said. “This was a good, flat course and I felt great.
“I don’t know if we’re going to have awrestling season or not. It’s delayed, but I am trying to stay in the best shape I can.”
Casper, who finished 90th in the state last year in 2A, has won both of his races this season after getting off to a late start when District 228 canceled all fall sports before reinstating them.
“We never knew what was going to happen one day to the next,” Casper said. “Ever since cross country last year, I’ve been training all I can.
“I found out we weren’t running, then I found out we were running. It’s been a roller coaster few months for us.”
The meetwas a family affair for Bremen boys coach Bill Griffin. For the first time, Griffin and his two children were involved in a meet together.
His senior daughter, Mackenzie, finished sixth in the girls race for Oak Forest. His freshman son, Parker, did not finish in the JV race for the Bengals after experiencing a rapid heart rate.
“It’s was a bittersweet day, for sure,” Bill Griffin said.
Also scoring for the Braves
wereDavidDudek, Diego Frausto, Bryan Barban and Jaquari Booker.
Nutile, a state qualifier as a freshman in 2019, ran a 21:50 to capture the girls race. Hailey Gibbs was second at 22:32. Abby Frias took third, Sabeen Barakat fourth and Griffin sixth.
Anu Patel led Bremen with a fifth-place finish.
“My goal was, if there was a state meet this year, to try to make it again,” Nutile said. “Now, I just want to finish high and be the best competitor I can be.”
Nutile finished 199th in 2A last
season with a 21:28 at Detweiller Park in Peoria.
“I loved the course — it was beautiful,” she said. “I loved that I could run with two seniors that I ran with all year.
“I really didn’t have a good performance at state because I had a shin splint injury that kept building up and I was also sick that weekend. It wasn’t the best combination, but it was so much fun to be there.”