Preps 24/7: Leyden ties bind Saints wrestling

Tony Rubino and Fred Dede wrestled at Leyden a few years earlier than St. Charles East coach Steve Smerz, who remembers watching both compete when he was in middle school.

These days, Rubino and Dede have sectional-bound sons who compete under Smerz at St. Charles East. Small world, right?

"You see how some of the Leyden guys are coming to St. Charles now, which, back in the day, we thought this was farmland, just all farmland, because it was," Smerz said. "It's kind of unique to see all our paths crossing again."

Check out Tuesday's Chronicle for more about Dede's son, Joe, the Saints' junior 119-pounder and one of seven Saints qualifiers for the upcoming IHSA Class 3A Glenbard North Sectional.