LaGrange Park — The list of accomplishments for Notre Dame’s Jimmy Gallardo is quite lengthy.
The senior from Northlake has wrestled on the Dons’ varsity for all four years and is a three-time conference champion, regional champ, sectional placer and state qualifier, as well as a two-time member of the Illinois team at the National Wrestling Championships.
The one achievement missing is the one he’s aiming for this season: placing at state.
“My goal is the same one I had last year, getting on the podium at state,” Gallardo said. “Coming into this season I’m way ahead of where I was at the end of last season. Everything is going my way and I hope this is my year.”
Gallardo’s one win at state came as a sophomore. He dropped his second match to the eventual third-place finisher, Lockport’s Brian Rossi.
Last year he fell to Zion-Benton’s Anthony Munoz in the first round and that loss stung. But it also lit a fire under him.
“It was a huge setback,” Gallardo said. “But I knew I had to make the national team again. I had to push myself, wrestling every weekend, competing against the best kids with no days off. I just pushed myself to the limit and I feel like no one is training as hard as I am.”
Gallardo (25-3) and his teammates are rolling right along this season. The Dons (17-4, 5-0) remained perfect in the East Suburban Catholic Friday with a pair of wins at Nazareth.
Notre Dame started the night with a 47-15 victory over St. Patrick before blitzing Nazareth 64-6.
Gallardo wrestled just once, pinning the Shamrocks’ Thomas Godsel 1:24 into the second period of their 113-pound match.
“I kept the pace up and put the pressure on him,” Gallardo said. “I’d let him [escape] so he didn’t really have a chance to keep the pace with me. When I got a comfortable lead, I felt like I should have pinned him by then so I went for it and ended up pinning him.”
Gallardo brings a lot more to the Dons than just wins. His teammates and coaches admire his attitude, work ethic and selflessness.
“He’s always been a leader and a role model in the room,” senior Marco Orlandi said. “He goes 100 percent all of the time and he gets ticked when he loses. He really makes our practices better.”
“He’s made a sacrifice to the team by staying at 113,” head coach Augie Genovesi said. “The smallest weight class in college is 125 and he’s going to be a wrestler in college.”
Gallardo is looking into Edinboro, located in Pennsylvania, and Cornell in Iowa.
“I’m hoping to wrestle Division I in college, but I’ll settle for just wrestling because I love the sport,” Gallardo said.
- Nazareth dropped its match to St. Patrick, 66-12. The two bright spots were pins by Brian Kavanaugh (160) and James Eraci (182). Jack Faine (106) and Blaine Bilek (170) picked up wins for Nazareth in the loss to Notre Dame.