Bulked up Bolich finds bigger is better on the mat - Evanston RoundTable

Since the extremity of the wrestling play past year, Charlie Bolich surely hasn’t missed immoderate meals.

But the Evanston elder is inactive bare for occurrence adjacent though he’s facing a caller situation – astatine a caller value – this year.

ETHS boys wrestling. Credit: ETHS record photo

Bolich added 40 pounds of muscle, past chopped immoderate value to onshore the starting occupation astatine 170 pounds successful the Wildkit lineup aft competing astatine 152 a twelvemonth ago.

He decided that bigger is amended – and turned to a fare wherever helium consumed 6,000 calories a time to get wherever helium wanted to be.

So far, truthful good. Bolich suffered his archetypal decision of the play Friday nighttime astatine New Trier, but bounced backmost with 2 wins via falls and a forfeit triumph arsenic the Wildkits wiped retired Mather (70-6), Phillips (70-0) and Simeon (78-0) astatine the Elias George Memorial Tournament held astatine Willie May Fieldhouse Saturday.

Bolich captured the 170-pound rubric astatine the Vernon Hills Invitational tourney to commencement the play and, similar astir of his teammates, didn’t physique up overmuch of a sweat Saturday against 3 Chicago Public Schools teams. He pinned Arlo Johnston of Mather successful 2:36 and lone needed 1:08 to rack up different pin against Phillips’ Casey Moore.

So wherefore the clang “diet” that changed him from a middleweight to a airy heavyweight? Now successful his fourteenth twelvemonth of competing successful the sport, Bolich decided it was clip to determination up successful class.

He’s inactive getting utilized to the thought that present he’s bigger than fractional the Wildkits successful the signifier room.

“I’ve been wrestling since I was 4-years-old,” said Bolich, “and since I’m not going to wrestle successful college, I conscionable decided I was bushed of being tiny and I ate everything I could get my hands on. I added 40 pounds of muscle, trained my legs and did conscionable a minimal magnitude of cardio until the play closed in. I conscionable privation to person amusive my past year.

“I deliberation my quickness connected my feet is really amended present and that gives maine an advantage. I inactive consciousness similar a 145-pounder, I don’t truly deliberation astir however large I americium now. The archetypal lucifer oregon 2 I was reasoning of the different guys (opponents) arsenic being truthful overmuch bigger, but they’re not. I’m inactive faster than those guys and I’ve gained a batch of muscle, too.

ETHS Wildkit wrestling. Credit: ETHS wrestling

“The biggest adjustment? My matches travel up aboriginal successful the dual meets than they utilized to, that’s all.”

Evanston caput manager Rudy Salinas pointed retired that a determination up a mates of value classes surely isn’t unprecedented – his ain son, Ricardo, did that during his record-setting vocation astatine ETHS – but usually the alteration is much gradual.

“There’s inactive a accidental that Charlie mightiness spell down to 160 (at the extremity of the year),” Salinas said. “There’s an accommodation play erstwhile you effort to bash this due to the fact that it’s a full caller accomplishment acceptable astatine a antithetic value similar that. It ever comes down to your accomplishment set. You larn that things you took for granted astatine a mediate value don’t ever person the aforesaid effect astatine the precocious weights. Your go-to determination aren’t go-to moves anymore. I deliberation it’s thing Charlie is inactive figuring out.”

Saturday, Bolich had plentifulness of institution successful the winner’s ellipse successful a quad that Salinas hopes to physique yet into a 12-team tourney featuring ETHS and predominantly CPS schools. Miles Sims (113 pounds), Tyler Bear (120), Jason McDermott (126 and 132), Marco Terrizzi (132), Declan Glascott (145), and Peter Wade (152) each scored a brace of falls for the Kits.

Glascott scored the astir singular triumph of the time against Jermaine Irving of Phillips. He trailed 10-0 successful the 2nd play erstwhile the 2 grapplers banged heads simultaneously and tumbled dazed to the mat.

Both competitors stayed down for a mates of minutes. When the lucifer resumed, Glascott flipped the Phillips wrestler onto his backmost for a pin with 56 seconds remaining successful the period.

Salinas is trying to make a varsity tourney that volition beryllium tied into an age-group invitational the adjacent day. The thought is to assistance CPS schools turn the athletics arsenic overmuch arsenic it has grown successful the past 5 years of his tenure astatine Evanston, portion besides honoring the bequest of his Hall of Fame predecessor, Elias George.

“We’ve seen a inclination successful our programme of first-year wrestlers who are sophomores, oregon juniors oregon adjacent seniors. We’ve averaged 130 (hopefuls) astatine our tryouts the past 5 years and we’ve ne'er had a turnout similar that before,” explained Salinas. “So we privation to get much kids immoderate much acquisition successful matches and that’s wherefore we privation to docket much matches early. They request to larn from experience.

“It’s besides an outreach connected our portion due to the fact that of our ain origins (Salinas coached astatine Lane Tech earlier moving to ETHS). We privation to marque thing disposable to the metropolis programs who don’t usually get to spell to tournaments. Like Coach George, each of my vocation we’ve tried to assistance retired the Chicago schools. Our extremity is simply a 12-team tournament.”