By Mike Clark
Grzegorz Krupa is heading off to play football this fall at Division II Truman State, but first he has some unfinished business to take care of.
The Taft senior is the No. 2-ranked 285-pounder in Class 3A, according to Illinois Matmen. He breezed to the Public League title over the weekend at De La Salle, going 5-0 with four pins and an injury default win, to improve to 33-1.
A city title is nice, but Krupa (33-1) has bigger dreams as his wrestling career nears an end.
“I’m happy I won,” he said. “But this isn’t my (ultimate) goal. I want to win state.”
Doing so would put him in some elite company among CPS wrestlers. No Public League wrestler has won a state title since Washington’s We Rachal went back-to-back in Class 2A at 132 pounds in 2016-17. No CPS wrestler has won a 3A championship since Lane’s Max Schneider won his second title at 152 in 2012. And only one Taft boy has won a state medal: 113-pounder Julian Valtierrez, who was fourth in 3A at 113 in 2020.
That history doesn’t faze Krupa, who is determined to make history before focusing on his main sport.
“I had a tough match two weeks ago against a top-ranked kid in 2A (No. 2 Karl Schmalz of Notre Dame) and I lost to him (3-1),” Krupa said. “I think that really, really helped me understand that I’ve got to work harder in practice. I’ve been doing a good job of stressing to my teammates it happens in the practice room.”
“We need to work harder in practice in order to win matches here and at a bigger l
Another North Side wrestler looking to wind up on the podium at state is also a football and wrestling standout. Lane senior Finn Merrill (32-3) had four falls en route to the 138-pound title. Like Krupa, he’s trying to make some program history. The Champions haven’t had a state placer since Jeremiah Olojo was sixth at 285 in 2017.
“I feel like I’m wrestling pretty good,” Merrill said. “I’m excited for the state series coming up (this) week.”
Though he also was busy getting ready for his senior year of football, Merrill did put in time to improve in his winter sport.
“I worked hard in the offseason, just working on positioning and any of my weaknesses,” he said. “I’m definitely a little bit better upper body, more comfortable with it.”
Merrill was one of five champs and eight medalists for Lane, which won its second straight Public League title and 23rd overall, 253-5-225 over Taft. Also finishing first for the Champions were junior Evan Coles (27-7) at 106, sophomore Alex Valentin (36-5) at 113, senior Felix Zavala (30-11) at 145 and junior Fernando Lopez (32-5) at 152.
Krupa led a meet-best nine medalists for Taft.
Phoenix Military Academy was third with 183.5 points, three champs and seven placers. The Firebirds’ winners were the Lua brothers, junior Jose (37-3) at 120 and senior Jimmy (33-6) at 160, along with senior Vin Moreno (35-3) at 132.
Jose Lua had three pins and a technical fall. “I was looking to dominate just every match, trying to get it over with quick,” he said.
He followed his brother into the sport. “I started seeing him wrestle, I think my seventh-grade year. They were always gonna bully me, you know?” he said jokingly. ” It was just tough love. I got into wrestling my freshman year, that’s when I started practicing with them.”
He credits the Beat the Streets youth program for putting his development into overdrive: “It really helped a lot.”
Also winning titles were Kenwood senior Cameron Griffin (35-6) at 126, Solorio senior Antonio Padilla (25-3) at 170, Hyde Park senior Wilhelm Lord (22-1) at 182, CMA-Bronzeville junior Sean Brown (22-2) at 195 and Goode senior Elijah Edwards (26-5) at 220.
