Easy to root for Gators’ Fontanetta

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Here’s all you need to know to become a fan of Crystal Lake South junior wrestler Nick Fontanetta.

When Fontanetta was a freshman, he competed at 103 pounds while weighing only 92. In wrestling’s smaller weight classes, a wrestler might give up eight pounds, but hardly ever 11.

Gators coach Ross Ryan felt it was a huge disadvantage and a significant factor for Fontanetta’s pedestrian 26-12 record. Fontanetta looked at it differently.

“I still felt like I could have won some of those matches,” he said. “That’s no excuse. It’s still a loss.”

That kind of attitude is a huge reason why Fontanetta is 81-1 since his freshman year, the best record among any area wrestler over the past two seasons. Fontanetta (39-0) is the top-ranked Class 3A 112-pound wrestler by illinoismatmen.com heading into the IHSA Individual Wrestling State Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Illinois’ Assembly Hall.

Fontanetta’s only loss last year came in the Class 3A state quarterfinals, when he was pinned by Belleville West’s Mech Spraggins.

“It feels good right now,” Fontanetta said. “I learned a lot from going there last year, and I’ll try not to make the same mistake again. That loss at state was the biggest thing for me to work harder this year.”

Ryan agrees. He says Fontanetta wasn’t out of his element against Spraggins, he just got caught in a bad spot and was pinned. Spraggins lost the championship match, 3-2.

“It humbled [Fontanetta] and made him realize on any given day that anything can happen,” Ryan said. “What he’s done these two years is pretty impressive.”

Fontanetta started wrestling with the Crystal Lake Wizards when he was 31⁄2. His brother, Joe, was 6 and had started. Nick wanted to get on the mat too, so his father, Tony, signed him up.

Ryan says there’s a lot to like about Fontanetta.

“He’s one of the most coachable kids there is; he’s like a sponge,” Ryan said. “When I talk to him, I know he’s listening. You know he can feel it without actually going through it. He’s relentless with the hard work he does and the extra stuff to get better.”

Fontanetta also tries to use his ranking and record to his advantage.

“That just makes me want to work that much harder,” he said. “When you’re on top, everybody wants to knock you down.”

Clinching night: Crystal Lake Central, which had wrapped up a share of the Fox Valley Conference Fox Division boys basketball title, won it outright Tuesday night with a 55-36 win against Woodstock.

The Tigers (20-4 overall, 10-1 FVC Fox) have won seven consecutive games, all by at least eight points. They have not won a Fox championship since the FVC split to divisions in 2006-07 and have not won an FVC title since 1998.

Huntley (20-4, 8-1) clinched a share of the FVC Valley championship with its 48-41 win at McHenry. The Red Raiders will try to clinch it outright when they host Cary-Grove on Friday.

Three for the Wall: Danielle Tonyan, Jake Howe and Reilly Shanahan, from McHenry’s Class of 2010, were added to the McHenry Athletic Wall of Fame on its annual induction night Tuesday.

The ceremony was held at halftime of the boys basketball game between Huntley and McHenry.

Tonyan was a four-year letterwinner in volleyball and was selected as the Warriors’ MVP three times. She set the career, season and match records for McHenry in kills, points scored and hitting percentage. Tonyan was a Northwest Herald All-Area second-team selection her senior year. She plays volleyball at Bowling Green.

Howe earned three varsity letters in both football and track and field. He was a state qualifier in track and field in the shot put as a senior, and was a Northwest Herald All-Area first-team selection as a defensive lineman as a senior. Howe plays tight end at Illinois.

Shanahan earned four letters each in swimming and water polo. He is the school record-holder in the 100-yard freestyle and on teams in the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay. Shanahan was named Most Valuable Swimmer at the Fox Valley Conference Meet. He also was selected as All-State second team and to the All-Star team at the IHSA State Tournament.

• Joe Stevenson covers high school sports for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached by e-mail at jstevenson@nwherald.com.