Thursday, March 14, 2013
Joliet Central wrestling standout Trayvon Zabala picked himself up after a tough setback and showed what he is made of in a drive to a third-place finish in the 120-pound weight class at the IHSA state tournament.
A judgment call went against him. His dreams of winning the 120-pound championship at the IHSA state wrestling tournament were dashed. And Joliet Central’s Trayvon Zabala could have quit on the spot. Instead, he drew inspiration from a conversation he had with his mother. He battled back to place third in Class 3A. And he is recognized today as Joliet Patch’s Athlete of the Month for February. Zabala, a senior who finished with a career record of 155-11, twice was penalized for stalling in a 6-3 overtime loss to Sandburg’s Sebastian Pique in a quarterfinal match in the state tournament at Assembly Hall in Champaign. He also was penalized for an illegal body slam. “Yeah, it was pretty hard,” Zabala said of bouncing back, reeling off four …
Patch editors and photographers snap portraits of Joliet Patch Athlete of the Month winners and present each of them with keepsake digital images.
Patch local editors and photographers recognize Joliet Patch's Athlete of the Month each month with a portrait such as the one above of Joliet Central wrestling standout Trayvon Zabala. Zabala placed third in the 120-pound weight class at the IHSA state tournament in Champaign. He finished with a record of 48-1 for the season and 155-11 for his four-year career at Joliet Central. And he became the first Steelmen individual to win three state wrestling medals since Greg Maxey in the mid-1970s. Zabala was selected as Joliet Patch's Athlete of the Month for February from a list of Patch MVP weekly winners by Patch Local Editor Ron Kremer. The other weekly winners were Anthony McInerney (JCA wrestling), Morris Dunnigan (Joliet West basketball…
Friday, January 18, 2013
Watch: Joliet Central senior Trayvon Zabala drills with Drake DeBenedetti during a workout earlier this week as the two prepare for the Southwest Suburban Conference wrestling tournament.
His orange hair experiment raised a few eyebrows, drew a bit of extra attention. Joliet Central’s Trayvon Zabala didn’t need a bottle of hair color dye to set himself apart from the high school wrestling crowd, though. He is a three-time state qualifier and two-time state medal winner. And, even as his hair fades back to black, he is burning a path toward a big finish to his career with the Steelmen. Zabala is a senior with a 31-0 record. He is ranked No. 3 in the 120-pound weight class by Rob Sherrill, author and publisher of Illinois Best Weekly, heading into the Southwest Suburban Conference tournament this weekend. Zabala already has won tournaments at Conant, Pontiac and Lincoln. He boasts a four-year record of 138-7 and that includes…
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