2025 Break The Silence Invite at Oswego East
By Chris Walker for the IWCOA
Lincoln-Way co-op District 210 sent nine wrestlers to the finals and had five champions to win the inaugural Break the Silence tournament at Oswego East on Jan. 3, 2026, which raised awareness for mental health and suicide prevention with proceeds benefitting the Kendall County Healthy Department.
The team was coming off a championship effort in DeKalb the previous Saturday at IWCOA Girls Dual Team State, which was the second straight year that Lincoln-Way won that title.
“We had an amazing showing at Oswego East and I think we did some of the best wrestling we have all year,” Lincoln-Way co-op coach Josh Napier said. “Coming off the Dual Team State Championship, right now the girls are feeling unstoppable and are really competing hard. We are still such a young team and program, but they put in the work each day at practice and it is on full display right now. Getting nine wrestlers into the finals was a best for us and with five champions, we couldn’t be more proud of their effort in this one!”
The co-op finished well ahead of runner-up Homewood-Flossmoor, 278 to 192.5. East Aurora was third with 176.5, Lockport placed fourth with 146 and Metea Valley rounded out the top five with 118.5.
D210’s McKenzie Steinke (100) pinned her three opponents and Emmy Hoselton (105) and Riley Depolo (170) pinned the four girls they each faced. Zoe Dempsey (120) had a tech fall and two pins and Liv Clumpner had a pair of tech falls and won her other matches by fall, including in her title match as all five Lincoln-Way co-op champs finished with a flourish by pinning their title bout opponent.
Zoe Zerial (110), Abby Lizak (120), Abby Kunz (140) and Ella Giertuga (145) also advanced to the finals but dropped championship matches.
“I think we’ve all come a long way and we’ve gotten so much better in the time of our practicing,” Steinke said. ”And everybody has just grown in the way they wrestle.”
Altogether, Lincoln-Way co-op had a dozen placers after Caleigh Nicholson (130) came back to win third place and Gracie Hansen (125) and Jalyssa Venegas (235) both took fourth.
“We also want to thank Oswego East for promoting suicide awareness,” Napier said. “This is such an important cause that hits home for many people within the Lincoln-Way community. We try to not only promote good wrestling and mental toughness in our program but also strive to make sure that our wrestlers mental health is a top priority. Wrestling is the hardest thing most people will ever do and this time of the year is grueling for these young ladies. They are each other’s biggest fans and show one another support on and off the mat. We have built a culture of honesty; everyone feels comfortable to share how they are feeling with their coaches and teammates. So, once again thank you Oswego East for bringing light to this important cause and we will continue to break the silence here at Lincoln-Way as well.”
Runner-up Homewood-Flossmoor had 10 placers, but Amara Nwoye’s championship win at 130 was the lone title winner for the Vikings. London Gandy (125) also got to the finals, but lost.
Kennedy Dade (140) and Denise Brown (145) finished with wins to take third place while Amirat Toheeb-Lawal (115), Madelynn McClements (135), Rachel Nugin (170) and Kendra Hayden (190) took fourth. Dilailah Lopez (110) placed fifth and Olivia Haywood (155) was sixth.
The Tomcats matched the with 10 placers, led by Jaylene Dealba (190) and Lilli Ortiz (235) who took second. Joselyn Llanos (110) and Valentina Barboza (125) took third and Ayelen Higuera (130) and Ivy Ruiz (140) placed fourth. Jelena Coyomani (120), Lupita Garcia (140) and Guadalupe Casiano (145) were fifth and Carolina Ascencio (145) took sixth after losing 6-1 to Casiano.
Oswego (93.5) was sixth, getting just past its local rivals, the host Wolves (84), who finished in seventh, barely ahead of York (83.5).
Oak Lawn (73.5) and St. Charles East (72.5) followed in front of Plainfield East (62), Romeoville (53), Bloomington (51.5), Lake Park (42), Wheaton North (42), Rich Township (39), Waubonsie Valley (27), Neuqua Valley (18), Plainfield Central (15) and Plainfield North (0).
Aurora Central, Barrington, Downers Grove South and Morton did not compete as scheduled.
100 – McKenzie Steinke, D210
Steinke won by fall over Rich Township’s Sariya Maddox at 1:33 to capture the title match.
“I think it’s the composure and the hard work and great coaching,” Steinke said. “You just got to keep with it even though you don’t get the best outcome in every match. It’s just practice and you can come back.”
St. Charles East’s Sophia Espinoza pinned Lockport’s Julia Hernandez at 2:55 for third place, and Oak Lawn’s Elizabeth Bisonaya scored an 11-2 major decision over Lockport’s Gianna Bogdan for fifth.
105 – Emmy Hoselton, D210
Hoselton won by fall over Oak Lawn’s Felix Morales at 1:20 to win the title at 105.
“I think that we kept composed,” Hoselton said. “And like Liv (Clumpner) said about all the hard work, it paid off today.”
York’s Andie Brown won by fall over Oswego’s Savannah Martell-Quinones at 1:14 to take third place, and Lockport’s Alaina Churnovic pinned Romeoville’s Jordyn Williams in 27 seconds.
110 – Sydney Stieb, St. Charles East
Stieb won by tech fall, 17-1, over Zoe Zerial to give the Saints a title to celebrate.
“I was happy with the way I wrestled,” Stieb said. “There are things I can still improve on, but so far I think my season has been pretty good and I’m liking the way I’m wrestling and I keep improving. I just keep attacking. I kept scoring points and shooting.”
Now in her fourth year wrestling, Stieb is crushing the butterflies that once upon a time fluttered in her belly.
“I’ve learned that I don’t have to be nervous, I can go out and wrestle,” she said. “I feel stronger mentally like I’m more in it. The nervousness has died down. I think about what I can do in my matches now instead of worrying about losing.”
After receiving a bye to bypass a championship round one match, Stieb pinned Oswego’s Kendra Padilla at 1:22 in the quarterfinal before scoring a 16-3 major decision over East Aurora’s Joselyn Llanos in the semis.
Llanos scored a 14-1 major decision victory against Oak Lawn’s Allison Nava for third place, and Homewood-Flossmoor’s Dilailah Lopez got a pin at 2:44 to get past Lockport’s Camila Mendoza for fifth.
115 – Janiya Moore, Metea Valley
Moore earned a 11-5 decision over Bloomington’s Autumn Starr to win the 115-pound title.
Lockport’s Bella Romando won by a 4-3 decision over Homewood-Flossmoor’s Amirat Toheeb-Lawal for third place, and Plainfield East’s Ximena Valenzuela Hernandez pinned St. Charles East’s Sophia Rivas in 3:24 for fifth.
120 – Zoe Dempsey, D210
Dempsey, who placed third in the state at 110 last year, pinned teammate Abby Lizak in 1:12 in the 120 finals as Lincoln-Way co-op was blessed to have a pair of wrestlers advance to the championship bout at 120.
“I think the key to winning these tournaments is just wrestle through the adversity and every single match is data,” Dempsey said. “You’re just collecting data. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, every point scored, every point they scored on you, it’s just data and you’re just collecting that.”
All while training to maintain your mental edge.
“I struggled a bit in the offseason with winning,” Dempsey said. “I’d lose a couple matches at Fargo. I went 4-2 and had a rough go, didn’t quite meet the goals I had for myself. So a lot of my club coaches at Izzy Style they are very helpful. They’ve been just telling me it’s just data, just use it to get better and it’s just really helped me I think.”
Lockport’s Veronica Skibicki won by tech fall over Neuqua Valley’s Aleta Weigandt to take home third place, and East Aurora’s Jelena Coyomani won by fall over York’s Evangline Lopez at 1:44 to take fifth.
125 – Charlie Dolan, York
Dolan kept accumulating points with her offense, ultimately building an 18-1 advantage in a tech fall championship victory over Homewood-Flossmoor’s London Gandy.
“I’ll be honest, I came here last year and placed third in my first year wrestling, this is only my second year,” she said. “I started out my sophomore year and after that I’ve been working my butt off. I go to my school practices, I go to the girls practices, the guys practices, I go to my the club practices and even outside of that I run on my own and I work out on my own, so it’s not just a coincidence that I’m here, it’s because of all the hard work I’m putting in, even in off-season training as hard as in-season.”
Gandy was the fourth straight competitor that Dolan defeated via tech fall, outscoring them collectively, 75-8.
“I tech-falled everyone in this tournament and I tech-falled the girl in the finals,” she said. “So I guess that’s why I’m here.”
Although none it would’ve happened if she had never been bitten by the training and wrestling bug.
“I just love training and just kind of pushing myself to be the best version I can be,” she said. “I just like wrestling. When I first stepped on the mat I just loved it. I have an older brother who I used to wrestle with, but never that serious, but I enjoyed being able to just wrestle. Basically, I just like training. I just like wrestling.”
East Aurora’s Valentina Barboza won by fall over Lincoln-Way co-op’s Gracie Hansen in 1:02 for third place and Oswego’s Nina Witkowski won by a 9-5 decision over Oswego East’s Ella Worlds to take fifth.
130 – Amara Nwoye, Homewood-Flossmoor
Nwoye won by fall, her third pin in four matches on the day, over Wheaton North’s Estrella Bautista in 2:38 to capture the title at 130.
In her third year wrestling, Nwoye does not shy away from the strength of her religious beliefs.
“I can truly give all the praise to the Lord,” she said. “I really truly believe in His power and I was really nervous coming into this tournament. My morale was a little bit low so I really focus on my prayer every match, you know what I mean? Thinking about the Lord and his strength and how He loves me and putting that all in the match and realizing whatever happens it doesn’t define me and I can only do my best.”
After pinning Lincoln-Way Central’s Caleigh Nicholson (3:05) to begin, Nwoye earned a 13-4 major over East Aurora’s Ayelen Higuera in the quarterfinals and a fall (5:10) over Metea Valley’s Hala Elhelou in the semis.
“It’s also great to have my coaches at my side letting me know what I need to do,” Nwoye said. “Like my first match, I won but it didn’t go the way I wanted it to so I was a little down on it, but my coach was like you need to take your doubles, because I kind of stayed away from doubles.”
Those doubles can be daunting.
“I don’t know if it’s just me, but sometimes you get some trauma from doing a move and then you’re used to this move and somebody just comes and completely wrecks it for you,” she said. “So I got scared of doubles where so many matches where it ‘stopped’ working for me when it was me, and my setups, but I never lost it, so I decided, you know, that my next goal was to take my doubles and today was the first double I’ve taken all season. I’ve been a single girl all season and took them every single match and I’m very grateful it went out that way and can only thank the Lord, I’m very grateful.”
The road to a tourney title isn’t without its share of speed bumps, traffic and reroutes.
“It gets a little rough, being tired, waking up early and I couldn’t eat,” she said. “Like I couldn’t eat yesterday, and then I woke up today and ate too much so my stomach was hurting all the time. It was a lot, but I got through it and can only thank the Lord once again for his strength.”
She’d really like to see her peers find the Lord’s strength to get off of social media, something Nwoye said is destructive to mental health. She certainly broke the silence there.
“If I were being quite honest, I would recommend everybody to get rid of social media,” she said. “I’ve done it and been clean from social media, and I did it from TikTok and Instagram. I still have YouTube and am now kind of working on that. I’m kind of addicted to watching my little videos. The way I see it with my teammates and people around the school is every fight, every drama that is circulating is about having social media and to me that shows that there is a problem with that. It makes people insecure. It makes people very depressed and lonely to see other people’s stories. Oh, they’re having fun. You hear someone’s doing this and it makes you feel like you’re being left out when in reality you’re just a normal kid. You’re not doing that stuff and that’s ok.”
She’s found a great support group – the Homewood-Flossmoor girls wrestling team.
“Find recreational things outside of school and during school and find a program that supports you and loves you,” she said. “I cannot really explain how great my team is. I love my team, I love them so much. They’re such amazing girls. They’re at every match cheering us on. We truly have the best camaraderie. I’m grateful to have a team like the wrestling team I’m on.”
In the third-place match, Lincoln-Way co-op’s Caleigh Nicholson won by a 14-0 major decision over East Aurora’s Aileen Higuera, while on the fifth-place mat, Metea Valley’s Hala Elhelou won by fall over York’s Claire Kelton in 52 seconds.
135 – Liv Clumpner, Lincoln-Way co-op
Clumpner pinned Oswego’s Joslynn Sheets in 1:59 to win the title at 135 and help guide Lincoln-Way co-op to the team title.
It was the second straight pin by Clumpner who took down Homewood-Flossmoor’s Madelynn McClements at 5:52 in the semifinal.
Tech fall wins over East Aurora’s Isabel Velasco and Rich Township’s Brhyana Moreno preceded the aforementioned wins by fall.
“I think the key was consistency and hard work,” Clumpner said. “That’s about it.”
Metea Valley’s Emily Sugano won by fall over Homewood-Flossmoor’s Madelynn McClements in 1:55 to take third place and Oswego East’s Emily House finished with a win at home, pinning Waubonsie Valley’s Sophia Contreras at 1:02 to take fifth.
140 – Alketa Picari, Metea Valley
Picari pinned Lincoln-Way co-op’s Abby Kunz at 5:56 in the title match at 140.
After compiling 21 points in back-to-back tech fall wins over Oswego’s Angeles Ponce and Lockport’s Riley Morrow, Picaro scored a 14-3 major against Homewood-Flossmoor’s Kennedy Dade to earn a berth in the title match.
Over on the third-place mat, Kennedy Dade scored a 14-4 major decision to defeat East Aurora’s Ivy Ruiz, while for fifth place it was Ruiz’s teammate, Lupita Garcia, who prevailed over Picari’s teammate, Dariia Dzhumbaev, with a 7-1 decision.
145 – Ella Cooper, Oswego East
Cooper defeated Ella Giertuga in her championship match at 145 by a 9-6 decision. Giertuga was one of nine Lincoln-Way co-op wrestlers to advance into the finals.
Cooper had to go the distance to get past Giertuga, but she didn’t in her prior three matches, winning by fall against Metea Valley’s Jordyn Slager (2:46), Rich Township’s Cheyenne Haire (2:52) and East Aurora’s Guadalupe Casiano (1:35).
“It was just having the right mindset and making sure I was happy,” Cooper said. “And healthy eating. Of course, I had to eat, and just keeping my energy up. It was awesome. Last year I was almost in first place at regionals but dislocated my elbow so it’s awesome to get back into the sport and be fully recovered and everything.”
The opportunity to raise awareness for a challenging subject while wrestling was an added bonus to a wonderful day for Cooper. She was the lone Oswego East wrestler to win a title at its home tourney.
“This tournament speaks out against suicide and mental health awareness and we are taking all the money and donating it to a charity that helps people deal with mental health,” she said. “This will help a lot of people who struggle with that stuff.”
Funds were generated through t-shirt sales and will be donated to the Kendall County Health Department.
Homewood-Flossmoor’s Denise Brown won by fall over Metea Valley’s Jordyn Slager at the 45-second mark of the match to take third place, and East Aurora’s Guadalupe Casiano and Carolina Ascencio faced off in a battle of Tomcats for fifth place with Casiano taking bragging rights back into the practice room after winning 6-1.
155 – Alicia Swank, Bloomington
Swank didn’t know Demetrius Turrentine personally, but she saw the late Normal West Girls Wrestling Coach supporting his wrestlers at The Munch Pontiac Invitational on Dec. 12-13.
Just a couple days later word spread throughout Bloomington-Normal with the tragic news of Turrentine’s sudden death at the age of 23 on Dec. 15, 2025.
“Rest in peace Normal West Girls Coach and wrestling alumni Demetrius Turrentine,” Swank said. “I remember seeing you at ‘The Munch’ in Pontiac supporting your girls then hearing the news three days later. You will always be remembered even if I didn’t know you personally.”
Not even three weeks later, Oswego East raised mental health and suicide prevention awareness by having it intertwined with an inaugural girls wrestling tournament to Break The Silence.
“Mental health itself is huge to take into consideration when joining a sport like wrestling,” Swank said. “There is the pressure of being the sole competitor in a match when a lot of kids at this age are used to being on teams: basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball. They are used to having the back up of someone else to cover them, while in wrestling you have to be able to stay focused the entire time and rely on yourself. The anxiety of having to trust your body’s muscle memory and that you are good enough to be doing what you’re doing, it will take a lot out of a person to realize that and deal with the failures and successes in a healthy way.”
While Swank isn’t Bloomington’s lone wrestler, she only had Autumn Starr competing along with her at Oswego East. Starr placed second at 115. Regardless, the small team size is something she’s gotten used to during her time at Bloomington where this has been the norm.
“While I think it is great to have the big teams – we need more girls in the sport anyway,” she said. “I like being able to prove myself the way I can as a small team. Going to tournaments with all these huge or well known teams and showing off by being on the podium and having a team of two place in the top 15 with team points is an amazing feeling. Knowing that you have the skill to do that but also having the chance to continue to get better by seeing different styles and skills with girls in matches or practicing with our boys because you only have one other girl on the team is an opportunity in itself.”
Getting back to mental health, Swank knows some kids are struggling because she’s witnessed it.
“Junior high and high schoolers are dealing with a lot of changes at this time,” she said. “I have seen people close to me and my circle of people lose themselves in the emotional turmoil that comes with this sport. Whether it be in anger and accidentally harming themselves in outrage or quitting because they don’t think they are good enough.”
There is also the physical aspect of deteriorating mental health.
“How easy it is to fall into something like an eating disorder by trying to stay at one weight because of many reasons; a coach needs you there to fill a spot on the team, you were doing really well there previously, a parent wants you there, or you just feel better about yourself at that weight,” Swank explained. “Especially in women’s wrestling where girls at the high school age are usually experiencing bullying or self hatred about weight and not being socially seen as ‘pretty’ because they are gaining weight and muscle mass.”
Now a senior, Swank is eyeing a state appearance after getting close in past years, including a loss in the blood round at sectionals last year.
“”My goals for this season are to get to state,” she said. “It’s my goal because I started the girls team at Bloomington and would love to get there to finish before going off to wrestling (at Cornell College).”
Swank won by fall over Oswego East’s Gianna Edwards (3:46) and earned a tech fall win over Homewood-Flossmoor’s Olivia Haywood before surviving Plainfield East’s Kaitlyn Bucholz in a tiebreaker (TB-1 3-1) in the semifinal.
That earned her a spot in the finals where another Wolves’ home wrestler awaited, Julia Robb. Swank was able to get to the freshman at the 4:31 mark of the match, securing the pin to earn the title.
“I won my finals match by being aggressive on my feet and hand fighting, but also by staying calm throughout the match,” Swank said. “Being at her home tournament I think it actually tends to make them more nervous because there are the expectations of winning on home turf. Being able to ignore the background of a person’s team, record or other type of qualifications and keeping your wits is what helps win a match. Your focus will be on doing what needs to be done and doing the best you can.”
It’s been quite an experience on the mats for Swank who watched her older brother wrestle for a couple years before she joined in seventh grade after some friends on the boys teams told her she’d be good at it and convinced her to join.
Sometimes peer pressure can be life-changing for the better.
Plainfield East’s Julia Romero won by fall at 3:27 over Edwards for third, and Bucholz won by a 14-2 major decision over Haywood for fifth.
170 – Riley Depolo, Lincoln-Way co-op
Depolo was the fifth Lincoln-Way co-op champion to also pin her opponent in the final, defeating Oswego’s Ashlynn Roberts by fall at 1:43 for the 170-pound title.
“I just think it was discipline today,” Depolo said. “We worked really hard and like Zoe (Dempsey) said, each match is just like collecting stuff and trying different things so in the off-season we can work toward our goals.”
Depolo was part of a dominant performance from her team which sent wrestlers to the finals in all but five matches, going 5-4 in the finals.
“I’m just challenging myself through the match and just keeping up knowing that if I put in the hard work it’ll pay off,” she said. “I just try to continue doing different things.”
Lockport’s Myra Vicencio scored a 4-0 decision to defeat Homewood-Flossmoor’s Rachel Nugin for third, and Oak Lawn’s Nataly Romero earned a 9-2 decision over teammate Morgan Jacques, for fifth.
190 – Sophie Kelner, Lockport
Kelner was able to pin East Aurora’s Jaylene Dealba at 5:29 to take home the 190 title.
It was Kelner’s fourth pin in the tournament as she also took down York’s Tiana Fraser (1:35), Lake Park’s Paige Washburn (3:16) and Waubonsie Valley’s Catherine Schultz (1:42).
Plainfield East’s Jen Serna earned a 6-0 decision to defeat Homewood-Flossmoor’s Kendra Hayden to take third. Serna joined select company at her school, matching Julia Romero, who also placed third at 155 for the Bengals. Washburn took fifth, earning a 6-0 victory over Schultz.
235 – Henessis Villagrana, Romeoville
It took under three minutes for Villagrana to pin her first three opponents. That gave her plenty of time away from the mat to soak in the awareness aspect of the tournament.
“I learned that it is important to be self aware of the symptoms of mental health as well as being aware of the methods that help prevent further harm to oneself,” she said. “I really liked the hard work all my teammates put in for this tournament, everyone fought till the end and never gave up in their matches. All my teammates were very supportive to one another and showed great sportsmanship.”
Villagrana was one of 13 wrestlers from Romeoville to compete, but just one of two to place and its lone champion.
While Jordyn Williams placed sixth at 105 for the Spartans, Villagrana brought home the title at 235, pinning East Aurora’s Lilli Ortiz at 2:38.
“I was happy with how I wrestled, I believe like I controlled the mat well,” Villagrana said. “Although I wish I did better with my finals match, I could’ve performed better and stayed more in neutral, but I felt good about my wrestling during the tournament.”
In the third-place match, Lake Park’s Ameinah Hill made quick work of Lincoln-Way co-op’s Alyssa Venegas, getting the pin in 23 seconds, and her teammate was ever faster in the fifth-place match, prevailing by forfeit over Rich Township’s Island Ross.