Schaumburg Girls Sectional loaded again in 2025
By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA
How brutal was the gauntlet of this year’s Schaumburg girls’ sectional? Look no further than the four wrestlers who reached the semifinals at 105 pounds.
Heading into Schaumburg, those four girls had a combined record of 126-6. The group included two unbeaten semifinalists squaring off in Glenbard East’s Nadiia Shymkiv and Leyden’s Zoey Dodgers, plus two wrestlers with identical 36-3 records in the other semifinal, in Dundee-Crown’s Diamond Rodriguez and West Aurora’s Kameyah Young.
“It’s crazy. There’s no easy way out of here. You have to go earn it,” Schaumburg coach Matt Gruszka said.“These teams are just beating up on one another.”
At day’s end, it was Gruszka’s girls who earned a team sectional trophy in a tight race all day, 96.5-85 over second-place Lockport. Hoffman Estates (74.5), Glenbard West (72.5) and Hampshire (71.5) finished in that order in a tight battle for third.
Lockport got individual sectional titles from returning state champion Claudia Heeney (135) and Rebekah Ramirez (235), Hoffman Estates got a title from Sophia Ball (130), Glenbard West’s Khloe Perez (110) won a title, and Hampshire had two individual champs in Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (115) and Annaliese Tavira (170).
Schaumburg led all teams with four state qualifiers in sectional champion Nadia Razzak (190), runner-up Hope Zerafa-Lazarevic (145), and third-place winners Madyson Meyer (115) and Sharon Olorunfemi (135).
Razzak won a 14-7 decision over Streamwood’s Jasmine Rene on the title mat at 190, then raved about her Saxons.
“My team is amazing and I don’t know what I’d do without them. They support me so much,” Razzak said. “I don’t even get excited about winning my matches until I turn and see my team cheering for me. That just really makes it worth it for me, to be able to support my team and see that support come right back.”
“Overall, it was hard-nosed,” Gruszka said. “Nadia winning against Jasmine was great to see, and Hope wrestled a really tough kid (South Elgin’s Allison Garbacz). Maddy wrestled smart at 115 and my sophomore (Olorunfemi) didn’t even know what wrestling was last year, so she’s been fun to watch.
“Hoffman Estates, Lockport, Glenbard West — you look at the wins in these brackets and you just shake your head.”
INDIVIDUAL SECTIONAL CHAMPIONS
100 – Katelyn Bell, Montini
Seniors with a sense of urgency during the final chapter of their high school careers often also possess a perspective that only comes with maturity.
“I practice with intention, I know the things I need to work on and I have a goal in my head,” Montini senior Katelyn Bell said. “So even if I’m having a bad day, I try to leave it all on the mat. And the pressure is what makes it fun.”
Bell (36-5) met the pressure of a sectional title mat Saturday. The four-time state qualifier won by fall at 1:48 over Batavia’s Lily Enos (41-5) to win the first sectional crown of her career. And where pressure is concerned, Bell largely leaves all that to a higher power.
“My dad tells me to surrender the outcome,” Bell said. “We’re very religious, so leave the outcome to God and just leave everything you have on the mat.”
Regional champion Bell posted a pair of tech falls to reach the finals, while Enos used a fall and a major decision to get there. Bell shot a low double and scored to make it 3-0 early on, and got two more takedowns before getting the fall.
Bell placed sixth downstate last year but had to sit out the fifth-place match due to a concussion. She’s ready to make another run at the podium in her final high school season.
“Coach (Mike Bukovsky) tells me ‘you’ve done all the work all year, now this is the time to get it done’,” Bell said. “Be in a good mindset, be ready for everything, and just wrestle to the best of your ability. I know how to wrestle my match and know how to control where it goes.”
Romeoville’s Daniela Santander (34-6) won by fall over West Aurora’s Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal (26-13) on the third-place mat.
105 – West Aurora’s Kameyah Young
After placing second in state last year at 100 pounds, West Aurora’s Kameyah Young has been dominant all season, and she beat two regional champions on her way to beating a third for a sectional title.
In arguably the toughest bracket in arguably the toughest sectional in Illinois, Young (38-3) rose to the challenge. The Blackhawks’ senior won her last three matches of the day over regional champs Ashley Hammond (30-14) of Larkin, Diamond Rodriguez (37-5) of Dundee-Crown, and previously unbeaten sophomore Zoey Dodgers (23-1) of Leyden.
Young placed second to Glenbard East’s Nadiia Shymkiv (32-1) on a regional title mat a week earlier. Shymkiv placed third in Illinois at 105 last year but in a sectional semifinal battle of unbeatens, Dodgers won by major decision over Shymkiv to eliminate the chance at a Shymkiv-Young rematch.
Young’s four takedowns against Dodgers sent her along the path to a 13-1 major decision win and a sectional title. Shymkiv and Rodriguez both advanced downstate, with Shymkiv winning a 9-0 major decision over Rodriguez for third place.
110 – Khloe Perez, Glenbard West
For Glenbard West regional champion Khloe Perez (36-0), a trio of pins earned the freshman her first sectional title, capped by a pin at 1:50 on the title mat at 110 against Crystal Lake South’s Annalee Aarseth (14-2).
Aarseth also won a regional title one week prior and the sophomore used a pair of major decisions to reach the finals. Aarseth shot two first-period singles that Perez fought off before taking Aarseth down for the late first-period pin.
No one made it to the third period against Perez in Schaumburg. She opened with a quarterfinal fall at 2:39 against Harvard’s Alexa Herrera, then a fall at :29 in her semifinal against Woodstock’s Eva Hermansson, before knocking off Aarseth.
Perez’s sister Alycia went 35-0 as a state champion senior at 100 pounds last year, so she’s aiming to match her sister’s unbeaten championship season.
In the third-place match at 110, Elk Grove Village’s Valeria Pesantes (23-4) won by fall at 1:01 over Lisle’s Cadence Dubois (17-6).
115 – Amelia Nidelea-Polanin, Hampshire
Hampshire sophomore Amelia Nidelea-Polanin improved to 33-2 with here title-mat pin at 2:53 against Bolingbrook’s Alejandra Flores (30-4), winning her first sectional title one week after winning her first regional title.
Nidelea-Polanin used two tech fall wins to reach the title mat, where she led 3-1 midway through the second period when she took Flores to her back and finished the match.
A year ago, Nidelea-Polanin was sitting at home.
“I didn’t wrestle last year. I was worn out and I didn’t feel confident,” Nidelea-Polanin said. “Now, I feel good. I just pushed through it and pushed through practices because I know what I want to get, which is a state title.”
Schaumburg’s Madyson Meyer (44-3) finished third by medical forfeit against Metea Valley’s Ashley Basmajian (11-2).
120 – Emma Engels, Bartlett
A four-time state qualifier in Bartlett senior Emma Engels (40-3) followed last week’s regional title with the second sectional crown of her career. Engels won a state title at 100 pounds as a sophomore and the Oshkosh-bound wrestler is aiming to return to the highest step on the podium at this year’s state finals.
“I’m definitely more confident than I’ve ever been,” Engels said. “Training over the summer definitely helped. I’m doing anything all that differently than last year, I’m just more confident.
“I’ve wrestled most of the top girls so now it’s about making adjustments since the last time I wrestled them. I’ll keep training hard, working on what I’m doing, and making those adjustments.”
Engels led Leyden sophomore Sabrina Bono (27-5) 16-6 on the title mat Saturday, when she pinned her at the 5:24 mark.
Glenbard West senior Karolina Konopka (38-8) won by fall at 2:21 over Oswego senior Aaliyah Roldan (36-14) on the third-place mat.
125 – Elise Burkut, Wheeling
Wheeling junior Elise Burkut (35-3) trailed Bartlett junior Lilly White (38-4) 3-1 on the title mat at 125 when she made a decision.
“I guess I decided to just take a risk, since I was already down by a good few points,” Burkut said. “I don’t know how to say this without being family-friendly — but I just decided ‘F-it, we’re hip-tossing’. I knew I could lug her over because I’ve got pretty good torque. I think that was a pretty good match for me. Normally matches are a blur for me and when I tap myself on the headgear a couple times, that’s when it all clicks in.”
Burkut’s hip-toss paid off when she took White to the mat and pinned her at 3:16.
Burkut was a state qualifier last year and hopes to make more noise in Bloomington this year after going 0-2 there as a sophomore. She entered her junior year with a one-for-all approach.
“I knew I’d be doing this for my coaches, both in and out of the school,” Burkut said. “I knew I’d be doing it for my family, for my brother, and for my friends as well. It’s my love for the sport that helped me get through it.”
Regional champion Burkut put the feather of a sectional title in her cap, using a pair of falls to reach the finals in Schaumburg. White also earned two falls to reach the title mat.
Naperville Central sophomore Dezi Azar (36-6) placed third at 125 by medical forfeit over Lemont junior Molly O’Connor (41-6).
130 – Sophia Ball, Hoffman Estates
Hoffman Estates senior Sophia Ball placed second in state at 120 last year, giving Hononegah’s three-time state champion Angelina Cassioppi all she could handle before losing a 4-3 decision in the state championship match.
Ball only began wrestling as a freshman, so the distance she has traveled over four years has been remarkable, and fueled by incrementally larger expectations.
“Honestly, I never even thought I’d get that far,” Ball said. “But over time, my goal kept getting higher and higher. My goal in getting to state every year has been to get at least one place higher, so now my only place to go is first.”
Ball (39-1) placed fifth downstate at 120 as a sophomore and was also a state qualifier as a freshman. She won the third sectional title of her career up at 130 Saturday, winning by fall at 2:28 against Huntley junior Aubrie Rohrbacher (43-8).
Ball has watched girls wrestling in Illinois evolve and grow by leaps and bounds in four seasons, and she loves what she’s seeing.
“It’s so exciting to me,” Ball said. “I love watching my teammates, I love having hard matches and I love the challenge of wrestling. Girls have been putting the work in the off-seasons and it’s all on them. It’s their internal motivation.”
Conant junior Jasmine Zavaleta (36-11) placed third via an 8-5 sudden victory win against Fenton senior Yannel Perez (28-4).
135 – Claudia Heeney, Lockport
Lockport junior Claudia Heeney was a state champion last year at 130 pounds, a reality that didn’t quite sink in right away.
“I would say last year after state, I didn’t really take it in fully,” Heeney said. “It’s insane. Obviously it’s a huge deal and I can’t even believe I did that last year. I’ve just been working on keeping it going — working on my determination and keep going no matter what.”
The returning state champ won her third sectional title Saturday, and Prospects Viola Pianetto made her work for it, as Heeney (42-2) and previously-unbeaten Pianetto (36-1) locked horns in a doozy. A scoreless first period of hand-fighting gave way to a late-second period escape by Heeney for a 1-0 lead.
Pianetto started down in the third period and Heeney was a hammer on top, eventually turning Pianetto and winning by fall at the 5:00 mark.
Heeney hasn’t battled self-doubt this season but she has focused on keeping a positive mindset. Before her finals match, she told her father she was ready to go.
“He said ‘I know’,” Heeney said, “but sometimes I think you have to speak it into existence. I knew (Pianetto) was unbeaten so I knew she must be good, and I needed to get in the right mindset for it.”
Heeney used a pair of pins to reach the finals, while Pianetto had a pin and a 7-1 semifinal decision to get to Heeney.
Schaumburg sophomore Sharon Olorunfemi (41-9) won by fall at :54 on the third-place mat against Glenbard East sophomore Maria Green (35-6).
140 – Quinn Janssens, Oswego East
Sophomore regional champion Quinn Janssens had three pins in 4:20 to win a sectional title and improve to 47-3 on the year. Janssens won by fall in the finals at 2:29 over a state medal winner in Hoffman Estates senior Abigail Ji (37-6).
“She was really good and a lot stronger than I expected her to be,” Janssens said of Ji. “And she had good defense, so I couldn’t throw her like I like to do.”
Janssens finally solved Ji to cap a three-pin sectional performance that gave the sophomore her first sectional title, one week after she won the first regional title of her young career. She has been wrestling since middle school.
And as it is for all young wrestlers, the next step for Janssens will be a big one.
“Placing somewhere (downstate) would be nice,” Janssens said. “I’ll lay low as much as I can until then and it’s important to have some rest days, but I’ll also make sure I’m training hard and staying in shape, so it’s a mix of both.”
Ji’s path to the finals was a rugged one; she opened with a 7-6 tie-break win in her quarterfinal match against Richmond-Burton’s Madelyn Peterie, then won 3-2 in a semifinal match over Fremd’s Lloyd Kowalczyk.
McHenry junior Natalie Corona (35-5) wrestled back to place third by medical forfeit over Kowalczyk (24-12).
145 – Allison Garbacz, South Elgin
A top-flight wrestler doesn’t fly under the radar for very long in Illinois, and South Elgin freshman Allison Garbacz is definitely one of those.
Garbacz stayed unbeaten at 30-0 with her 5-1 title-match decision win over a two-time state medal winner and one of the best around at 145, in Schaumburg senior Hope Zerafa-Lazarevic (44-2).
Garbacz certainly doesn’t wrestle like a green freshman. Because she’s not.
“I’ve been wrestling since I was like four,” she said. “But even though I knew I was good, I didn’t think I’d be able to do this.
“I wrestled (Zerafa-Lazarevic) in the regional finals and I pinned her, but I knew she was going to come at me harder this time. She definitely did, but I just stuck to what I knew and worked hard.”
Garbacz wrestled most of the season at 155 pounds, where she won roughly 20 of her 30 wins this season. She has battled older girls all year but hasn’t flinched.
“Throughout regionals and sectionals I’ve mostly been wrestling juniors and seniors,” Garbacz said.
“I started the season at 155 and even though I haven’t lost yet, I wasn’t ranked for the longest time. They might have had a little strength on me at 155, but I know what I’m doing. The next goal is to place at state and I want to win it one day.”
Garbacz used two pins to get to the title rematch against Zerafa-Lazarevic, who had a tech fall win and two pins to reach the finals.
Wheeling sophomore Krystal Diaz (35-9) placed third with a 5-4 ultimate tie-break decision win over Batavia junior Anabelle Guthke (35-11).
155 – Callie Carr, Hinsdale South
Hinsdale South’s Callie Carr placed second at last year’s sectional meet, and third the year before that. But the unbeaten senior can now call herself a sectional champion.
Carr has been on an unbeaten rampage all season, improving to 35-0 via tech fall in her sectional final against Oswego senior Kiyah Chavez (38-9).
Carr hasn’t yet medaled in the top six downstate and she’s aiming to rectify that situation with the mentality that all the best wrestlers embrace.
“I can get in my head a lot but you go out there and put your foot on the line, and the other person is putting her foot on the line and she thinks she can beat me,” Carr said. “But I’m not going to let her beat me. I could have gotten in on more of my shots today but I’m happy with the outcome and it’s up from here. This is my year and I’ve worked really hard for this moment.
“Going freestyle, I really evolved on my feet. My neutral position was not good last year but now I’ve grown in the aspects I needed to grow and that has really helped me. I worked really hard and I think I’ve evolved in my neutral position.”
Regional champion Carr used two pins to reach the finals, while Chavez opened with a fall and then won an 8-0 quarterfinal decision over Dundee-Crown’s Mackenzie Lessner. She then won by fall against Wheeling’s Nikol Orendarchuk to clinch a trip downstate.
Sophomore Orendarchuk (26-5) wrestled back to win a 6-5 decision on the third-place mat against the senior Lessner (31-9).
170 – Anneliese Tavira, Hampshire
Hampshire senior Anneliese Tavira (34-4) knocked off a pair of regional champions on her way to the title mat at 170, where a recently familiar foe was waiting for her.
One week prior, Tavira lost a 12-5 decision in a regional final at 170 to Maine West senior Lillian Garrett (30-5). After winning by fall in her quarterfinal match over Oswego East’s Jessica Stover, Tavira posted a tech fall win in her semifinal match against Hoffman Estates’ Isabella Chiovari.
Both Stover and Chiovari won regional titles a week earlier.
Garrett used two quick pins to reach a finals rematch against Tavira. After a scoreless first period, Tavira chose down to start the second and escaped for a 1-0 lead. A Tavira takedown made it 4-0 and a Garrett escape made it 4-1 heading into the third period.
Tavira earned another takedown on the way to a 7-2 decision win and the first sectional title of her career.
Hoffman Estates senior Isabella Chiovari (24-7) won a 9-1 major decision on the third-place mat against Huntley senior Natalie Aguirre (38-14).
190 – Natalie Razzak, Schaumburg
Streamwood junior Jasmine Rene is having a whale of a season, with a 21-2 record at 190 pounds. And her two losses have come on regional and sectional title mats in each of the last two weekends, to the same opponent.
Schaumburg junior Natalie Razzak.
A week after winning on a regional title mat against Rene, Razzak won Schaumburg’s lone sectional title in a 14-7 decision against her on Saturday.
When the season started, did Razzak envision a sectional title in her future?
“Actually, yeah I did,” Razzak said. “I’ve been working so hard to get here, doing freestyle in the off-season, working after practice, and I really wanted this so bad. Next, I want to take state.”
Razzak (44-3) led 6-1 after a period and 9-1 in the second when Rene took her to her back near the edge. Razzak fought off her back to avoid disaster.
“That move happened to me before against Jasmine, I think at regionals last year,” Razzak said. “I just thought ‘no, this is not going to happen again’ and I pulled my arm through. I knew I had to be in control of the match to win it.”
With a two-week wait before the state finals in Bloomington, state qualifiers across Illinois on the girls’ side will negotiate the balance between hard training and rest.
Razzak also plans to sneak in a little free time for mental health.
“Training, eating good, and I’ll try to do something fun on the weekend to get my mind off of things,” Razzak said. “So I might go shopping.”
Razzak used a pair of falls to reach the finals, while Rene mixed things up some; she won by fall, tech fall, and major decision to get there.
Hampshire freshman Samantha Diehl (27-5) won by fall at 3:14 on the third-place mat against Lockport junior Sophie Kelner (41-12).
235 – Rebekah Ramirez, Lockport
Lockport’s Rebekah Ramirez was a freshman last year who went 36-14, placed second at the sectional meet, and was one of only two freshmen in the 16-girl state finals bracket at 235 in Bloomington.
Success might breed greater expectation, but Ramirez (42-9) was still pleasantly surprised to win Saturday’s sectional title, joining fellow sectional champ and teammate Claudia Heeney (135).
“I got second place last year so this was on the radar, but I didn’t expect to get the championship,” Ramirez said. “There were a lot of good schools and a lot of good girls here. I just felt good. I trusted my training. After getting a regional title I was hungry for this.
“I’ve gotten better as a whole. I have great coaches that teach me everything I could possibly need. Last year I was just starting out and I didn’t know many of the tips or tricks. This year I feel like I’ve got it down completely and it has changed my performance.”
Regional champ Ramirez pinned her way to the title, capped by a fall at 1:30 against Fenton sophomore Ariana Solideo (31-7) in the finals. Solideo knocked off a pair of regional champs along her path to the title match, 5-2 over Maine South’s Sophia Fortis and 7-4 over Romeoville’s Henessis Villagrana.
Fremd senior Jasmin Ocampo (26-5) won a 1-0 decision for third place against Romeoville’s Villagrana (22-8).
STATE QUALIFIERS FROM THE SCHAUMBURG SECTIONAL
100
1st – Katelyn Bell of Lombard (Montini)
2nd – Lily Enos of Batavia
3rd – Daniela Santander of Romeoville
4th – Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal of Aurora (West Aurora)
105
1st – Kameyah Young of Aurora (West Aurora)
2nd – Zoey Dodgers of Franklin Park-Northlake (Leyden)
3rd – Nadiia Shymkiv of Lombard (Glenbard East)
4th – Diamond Rodriguez of Carpentersville (Dundee-Crown)
110
1st – Khloe Perez of Glen Ellyn (Glenbard West)
2nd – Annalee Aarseth of Crystal Lake (South)
3rd – Valeria Pesantes of Elk Grove Village (E.G.)
4th – Cadence DuBois of Lisle (Sr.)
115
1st – Amelia Nidelea-Polanin of Hampshire
2nd – Alejandra Flores of Bolingbrook
3rd – Madyson Meyer of Schaumburg
4th – Ashley Basmajian of Aurora (Metea Valley)
120
1st – Emma Engels of Bartlett
2nd – Sabrina Bono of Franklin Park-Northlake (Leyden)
3rd – Karolina Konopka of Glen Ellyn (Glenbard West)
4th – Aaliyah Roldan of Oswego
125
1st – Elise Burkut of Wheeling
2nd – Lilly White of Bartlett
3rd – Dezi Azar of Naperville (Central)
4th – Molly O`Connor of Lemont
130
1st – Sophia Ball of Hoffman Estates
2nd – Aubrie Rohrbacher of Huntley
3rd – Jasmine Zavaleta of Hoffman Estates (Conant)
4th – Yannel Perez of Bensenville (Fenton)
135
1st – Claudia Heeney of Lockport (Twp.)
2nd – Viola Pianetto of Mt. Prospect (Prospect)
3rd – Sharon Olorunfemi of Schaumburg
4th – Maria Green of Lombard (Glenbard East)
140
1st – Quinn Janssens of Oswego (East)
2nd – Abigail Ji of Hoffman Estates
3rd – Natalie Corona of McHenry
4th – Lloyd Kowalczyk of Palatine (Fremd)
145
1st – Allison Garbacz of South Elgin
2nd – Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic of Schaumburg
3rd – Krystal Diaz of Wheeling
4th – Anabelle Guthke of Batavia
155
1st – Callie Carr of Darien (Hinsdale South)
2nd – Kiyah Chavez of Oswego
3rd – Nikol Orendarchuk of Wheeling
4th – Mackenzie Lessner of Carpentersville (Dundee-Crown)
170
1st – Anneliese Tavira of Hampshire
2nd – Lillian Garrett of Des Plaines (Maine West)
3rd – Isabella Chiovari of Hoffman Estates
4th – Natalie Aguirre of Huntley
190
1st – Nadia Razzak of Schaumburg
2nd – Jasmine Rene of Streamwood
3rd – Samantha Diehl of Hampshire
4th – Sophie Kelner of Lockport (Twp.)
235
1st – Rebekah Ramirez of Lockport (Twp.)
2nd – Ariana Solideo of Bensenville (Fenton)
3rd – Jasmin Ocampo of Palatine (Fremd)
4th – Henessis Villagrana of Romeoville