Mike Romanelli is aiming high.

The 17-year-old senior at Crystal Lake South High School is a wrestler that aspires to make it to state this coming season.

He’s been cutting weight.

He’s 200 pounds and wants to get down to the 195-pound class. He said a boxer’s workout — including about 20 rounds of sparring Saturday and Sunday — is helping.

“I’d rather work out than diet,” Romanelli said, explaining why he’s a regular at the School of Hard Knocks in Crystal Lake. He’s hoping to knock off about five more pounds before the wrestling season starts. He's not in a fall sport, so he needs to stay active, he said.

“The next weight up (in high school wrestling) is 220 pounds,” Romanelli added. "I could go up."

“He could always go to the higher weight class by using the Lou Malnati’s workout,” joked Gary Dobry, head trainer at the gym.

Dobry said he first trained Romanelli when Romanelli was 8 years old, when Dobry’s boxing gym was in Palatine. He also trained Romanelli’s father, Mike Romanelli Sr.

Dobry said the younger Romanelli is at a level in which he is good enough to be competitive in the Chicago Golden Gloves boxing tournament. 

“You can’t teach toughness,” Dobry said. “Mike’s a tough kid. He hits hard. He can take a punch. He just need’s to work on his range and learn how to work the angles a little more.”

But Romanelli said he’s having none of that. 

Once the wrestling season starts in November, you won’t see Romanelli in the boxing gym until next spring.

“Wrestling season is the same time as the Golden Gloves,” Romanelli said. “When I’m wrestling, I don’t have time for anything else.” 

And that’s O.K. with Dobry.

“Some people just want a boxer’s workout but don’t want to compete,” Dobry said. “That’s fine.”

Romanelli said working out as a boxer has helped with the mechanics of wrestling. He said he feels like he’s a faster, has better footwork on the wrestling mat.