Ferraro, Broncos hold off Mount Carmel

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:52PM

Ross Ferraro was outsized again, but not outmatched.

The senior heavyweight, who competes well below the 285-pound limit, scored a 6-1 overtime decision over Amani Brown-Hall to help No. 2 Montini hold off host Mount Carmel 31-24 on Saturday morning.

"I actually don't mind it because everybody underestimates me," Ferraro said of being outweighed by most of his rivals. "They think, 'There's a small guy, [I'm] going to kick his butt.'"

But it's usually Ferraro who dominates, both on the wrestling mat and the football field. He was a starting offensive lineman for the Montini football team that repeated as Class 5A champ last weekend and went straight into wrestling, where he's ranked No. 1 in Class 2A by Illinois Best Weekly.

"I had 12 hours off and [went] right back into it Monday morning." Ferraro said. "It's kind of tiring. We were doing doubles [practices] all week trying to get the wrestling mode back into me."

Dimitri Willis, a starting running back for the football team and the No. 2-ranked 160-pounder in 2A, sat out Saturday with a sore ankle.

"Ross Ferraro, we could have sat him, too," Montini coach Israel martinez said. "But he wanted to go. He's a gamer. ... The season is four months long for a reason. We'll be ready at the end."

Montini (6-0) led 22-9 after eight bouts, but Mount Carmel (5-3) won three straight – including pins by Nick Williams (160) and Sterling Hicks (171) – to go up 24-22.

Edgar Ruano's 3-1 win at 215 put the Broncos ahead

to stay at 25-24, and Ferraro and 103-pounder Tommy Pawelski (major

decision) sealed the win.

"He's a wonderful freshman," Martinez said of Ruano, who has wrestled four returning state qualifiers and is 6-1. "Every day he gets better."

Montini also had major decisions from 2A top-ranked KeVon Powell (119) and 2A No. 2 Steve Robertson (152) along with decisions from Michael Gibson (112), Chris Garcia (130) and 2A top-ranked Frank Baer (145), who edged Kevin Skrzypiec 4-3.

Drawing encouragement from that result was Mount Carmel assistant coach Blake Tomczak, who was in charge with head coach Jason Erwinski dealing with a family matter.

"Coming back from a terrible arm injury last year, [Skrzypiec] wrestled a one-point match against one of the best kids on their team," Tomczak said.

"We did a good job today. There's a lot of things we're working on: being aggressive, moving our feet. I think we did a good job of that."

Mount Carmel also had decisions from Northern Illinois recruit Tyler Argue (140), who's ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, and Jimmy Mickens (189). Montini forfeited to Steve Scannell at 135.

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