For most of his early life, Carmelo Palumbo planned to follow in the family tradition at Richards. He was a wrestler with a couple of great role models as older siblings.

His sister, Mia , made history as the first girl to win a match at the Illinois High School Association state finals, wrestling against boys before the start of the girls wrestling series. His late brother, Rocco , was a three-time state qualifier.

But when high school came around, Carmelo decided to take a different path.

“I quit wrestling when COVID hit,” Palumbo said. “I was working so hard on wrestling, and when that happened and I couldn’t wrestle, it kind of messed my mind up.

“Coming into high school, I wanted to try something new. Richards had the football tradition, and I just stepped into it freshman y

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