Recaps: Harvard girls, Lake Co. girls & boys
By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA
LAKE COUNTY GIRLS INVITE
The 2026 Lake County Girls Invite, delayed until Monday night at host Zion-Benton, would provide plenty of back-and-forth challenges on the leaderboard with several lead changes keeping fan interest at a high level.
With over one dozen returning state qualifiers all throughout the weight divisions, it was no surprise that seven teams found their way into the top five – all chasing eventual tourney champion Antioch.
The Sequoits would open a 10.5 lead midway through the semi-finals, and see their advantage shrink by three (103.5-95.0) to Warren before slowly pulling away from the field.
The Sequoits would end with 132.0 overall points, 12 more than Stevenson (120.5) who would edge both Lake Zurich and Warren and their 120.0 points, with Grant (117.0) fifth.
“The girls worked very hard this season leading up to this tournament,” Antioch head coach Roland Vazquez said. “Many of the same girls at this tournament will also compete at regionals so it was a good measuring tool to see where everyone is at.
“Our team stepped up to the challenge, and came home with the hardware. It was not an easy task to accomplish to win here with such great competition that we have in Lake County.”
1st: Antioch (132.0)
2025 state qualifiers Sasha Johnson (140, 32-6) and Josie Blau (170, 31-6) won their second straight Lake County Invite crowns, while 2025 champ London Lloyd was second at 105 pounds.
Dylylah Patterson (125) finished second, with the trio of Alyana Cotton (115), Magdelyn Brough (130) and Rylee Dunlavy (145) all earning fourth-place medals.
The Sequoits amassed a tourney-best 218 total match points along the way.
“Sasha Johnson is a returning sectional qualifier, who has a goal of getting downstate,” Vazquez said. “She has been very focused during the past couple of weeks, understanding that the state series is approaching, and tonight she brought her ‘A’ game and was able to pull off a win against a very good opponent.
“Josie (Blau) is also a 2025 sectional qualifier whose goal is to make it to state. She also has been working hard, and her determination to win another Lake County Invite title against a great opponent (Warren’s Hanna Bairstow) helped her finish a very close match for the win.”
2nd: Stevenson (120.5)
Stevenson would claim a tourney-high three individual champions on this night in Athena Zappas (115, 27-1), Karina Lojowski (135, 24-1) and Isabel Hilinski (115, 15-4). Zappas would share top honors for the most team points (26) with Gianna Arzer (26-0) from Grayslake Central.
Nastasia Kobets (120) was second, Kaylee Sanchez (170) and Oluwakanyinsola Akinwale fourth at 190 pounds.
3rd: Lake Zurich/Warren (120.0)
Lake Zurich head coach Chad Hay — himself a two-time state champion while at Sandwich and a four-year letter winner at the University of Illinois — led the Conant boys program to a pair of dual-team state tournament appearances, and is now in charge of the Bears’ girls program.
On Monday night, Hay would watch three of his girls, including daughter (Georgia, 120, 24-7) bring back individual championship trophies.
Bayasgalan Battulaga (110, 23-8) and Ti’ara Saunders (230, 22-4) would join their teammates atop the podium, and Alanna Carlberg (135) and Kristyanna Apostol (140) were both fourth overall.
The Bears registered the most pins (17) as a team.
Warren, the 2025 Lake County Invite champions, collected seven top four medals during the course of the action.
Aaliyah Vazquez (115), Tyanna Jackson (140), Ellery Brown (145) and Hanna Bairstow (170) were all second, while senior Jane Kelly earned a third place medal at 135 pounds. Makaylee Welch (155) Kylie Motley (235) were both fourth.
Final Team Results:
Antioch 132.0, Stevenson 120.5, Lake Zurich/Warren 120.0 each, Grant 117.0, Grayslake Central 105.5, Zion-Benton 87.0, Lakes Community 67.0, Grayslake North 59.5, Round Lake 59.0, Waukegan 48.5, Lake Forest 38.0, Mundelein 36.5, Libertyville 25.5, Carmel Catholic 20.5, North Chicago 18.0, Wauconda 17.0.
Additional individual champions:
Kaylee Albovias (100, Grant), Jazmine Medina (105, Zion-Benton), Mary Minogue (125, Libertyville), Gianna Arzer (130, Grayslake Central), Miranda Tellez (145, Grayslake Central), Joslin Coon (190, Lakes Community).
Championship match results:
100- Kaylee Albovias (Grant) d. Ester Migues-Gaytan (Grayslake North) (F 3:16).
105- Jazmine Medina (Zion-Benton) d. Londyn Lloyd (Antioch) (D 5-4).
110- Bayasgalan Battulaga (Lake Zurich) d. Arelis Claudio (Zion-Benton) (F 1:51).
115- Athena Zappas (Stevenson) d. Aaliyah Vazquez (Warren) (F 0:34).
120- Georgia Hay (Lake Zurich) d. Nastasia Kobets (Stevenson) (D 6-0).
125- Mary Minogue (Libertyville) d. Dylyah Patterson (Antioch) (F 0:14).
130- Gianna Arzer (Grayslake Central) d. Emily Ortiz (Zion-Benton) (F 4:00).
135- Karina Lojowski (Stevenson) d. Abby Quirk (Grant) (MD 17-3).
140- Sasha Johnson (Antioch) d. Tyanna Jackson (Warren) (D 15-9).
145- Miranda Tellez (Grayslake Central) d. Ellery Brown (Warren) (D 5-2).
155- Isabel Hilinski (Stevenson) d. Myriah Jefferson (Round Lake) (F 3:27).
170- Josie Blau (Antioch) d. Hanna Bairstow (Warren) (D 8-7).
190- Joslin Coon (Lakes Community) d. Yareli Macias (Round Lake) (F 2:24).
235- Ti’ ara Saunders (Lake Zurich) d. Ashley Aguilar (North Chicago) (F 1:16).
Third place match results:
100- Esther Vega (Waukegan) d. Addison Sroka (Zion-Benton) (F 0:15).
105- Lauren Anderson (Grayslake North) d. Alejandra Hernandez (Round Lake) (F 1:28).
110- Kimberly Castro (Grant) d. Valeria Gonzalez (Grayslake North) (MFFT).
115- Osmairi Medina Alvarado (Lakes Community) d. Alyana Cotton (Antioch) (F 0:46).
120- Veronica Vera (Grant) d. Mirabelle Duboeuf (Lake Forest) (D 6-0).
125- Haley Ramos (Carmel Catholic) d. Natalie Gonzalez (Mundelein) (F 1:41).
130- Bree Hirsch (Lake Forest) d. Magdelyn Brough (Antioch) (FFT).
135- Jane Kelly (Warren) d. Alanna Carlberg (Lake Zurich) (F 0:38).
140- Annabelle Melton (Grant) d. Kristyanna Apostol (Lake Zurich) (F 0:59).
145- Christina Hasner (Lakes Community) d. Rylee Dunlavy (Antioch) (F 1:38).
155- Maryia Razhkova (Grayslake Central) d. Makaylee Welch (Warren) (F 1:02).
170- Kaylee Sanchez (Stevenson) d. Analis Huizar (Mundelein) (F 3:10).
190- Jaidyn Collins (Grayslake Central) d. Oluwakanyinsola Akinwale (Stevenson) (F 1:32).
230- Jacklyn Linaves (Waukegan) d. Kylie Motley (Warren) (F 0:23).
LAKE COUNTY BOYS INVITE
It was the fight for the big trophy that was expected, with Stevenson and host Grant each taking turns holding the lead only to see the other grab it back all throughout an exciting day in Fox Lake at Benedetti Field House.
The reigning Lake County Invite champions from Grant would trail the Patriots by just six points before the noon hour, then hold the lead first by 11.5 points (175.0-164.5) and then by a scant three points (181.5-178.0) that would disappear just ahead of the final session.
The Patriots would take the lead for good (198.5-195.5) then slowly increase their advantage until the final whistle saw Shawn Kogan (132) and his teammates finish with 230.0 overall points – 14 more than the Bulldogs’ 216.0.
Wauconda finished third with 140.5 points.
“This is easily the most talented and deep team that I’ve been around in my four years at Stevenson,” said Kogan (23-4), twice a state qualifier and this year the No. 5 man in the state at 132 pounds.
“We have a dynamic group from 106-144, and the guys after that have shown they compete against high-level opponents, which we’ve seen throughout the year,” Kogan said. “I’m confident our upper weight guys will come through when we need them the most.
“We all want to win the first regional team title in program history this weekend at Fremd, so that will be the focus in the room next week.”
1st: Stevenson (230.0)
Joining Kogan atop the podium was Marcelo Cantu (24-7) at 126-pounds, but terrific work from Evan Mishels (120) and Mikey Polyakov (138) to earn second place medals would help the cause.
So would the quartet of third-place medals from Stefan Vihrov (106), Daniel Berdich (113), Valentin Vihrov (144) and Philip Boyko at 175.
Freshman Stefan Vihrov recorded a tourney-high three tech-falls, 75 total match points, and his 23 single match points tied him with No. 1 Caleb Noble (Warren) who won his third straight league crown.
Mundelein senior Ethan Banda (155, 31-5) scored the quickest tech-fall of the day in just 51 seconds.
2nd: Grant (216.0)
Despite falling short to its rivals from Stevenson, last year’s Lake County champs managed to collect ten top five medals on the day, led by the two first-place trophies won by Jace Glauser (120, 26-5) and No. 3 Erik Rodriguez (32-6) at 138.
“This is a really great team to be around, everyone has bought into what is needed to be successful, and the culture that coach (Mark) Jolcover and his staff has instilled in us has really helped our program turn around,” opined Rodriguez, who was third a year ago at state.
No. 1 Vince Jasinski (144) was second overall, as were Brady Myatt (106), John Von Hoene (150) and Xavier Arroyo at 175.
Breiydyn Hoffman (126), Casey Gipson (190) and Ajani Williams (285) would all chip in with third place medals, Larry Quirk fourth at 113.
3rd: Wauconda (140.5)
No. 11 Wauconda (14-7-0) who will travel to the Wheeling’s 2A regional Saturday, would watch No. 6 Brian Hart (157, 35-6) win his first major of the season.
Finn Loomis (215) was third, Nicholas Ruiz (120), Mason Porten (126) fourth, and Liam Harris fifth at 138.
Additional individual champions:
Dominic DeMarco (106, Grayslake Central), Caleb Noble (113, Warren), Chase Nobiling (144, Antioch), Warren Nash (150, Grayslake Central), Brian Hart (157, Wauconda), Royce Lopez (165, Warren), Daniel Hernandez (175, Mundelein), Aaron Stewart (190, Warren), Rocco DiCanio (215, Lake Zürich), Owen Shea (285, Antioch).
Championship match results:
106- Dominic DeMarco (Grayslake Central) d. Brady Myatt (Grant) (D 8-5).
113- Caleb Noble (Warren) d. Vince DeMarco (Grayslake Central) (TF 23-8).
120- Jayce Glauser (Grant) d. Evan Mishels (Stevenson) (TF 20-2).
126- Marcelo Cantu (Stevenson) d. Krish Sahu (Grayslake Central) (D 7-1).
132- Shawn Kogan (Stevenson) d. Alexander Osborne (Libertyville) (F 1:22).
138- Erik Rodriguez (Grant) d. Mikey Polyakov (Stevenson) (FFT).
144- Chase Nobiling (Antioch) d. Vince Jasinski (Grant) (F 1:00).
150- Warren Nash (Grayslake Central) d. John Von Hoene (Grant) (TF 18-2).
157- Brian Hart (Wauconda) d. Ethan Banda (Mundelein) (F 3:14).
165- Royce Lopez (Warren) d. Pierce Adams (Libertyville) (TF 18-3).
175- Daniel Hernandez (Mundelein) d. Xavier Arroyo (Grant) (D 4-3).
190- Aaron Stewart (Warren) d. James Scanio (Libertyville) (F 0:43).
215- Rocco DiCanio (Lake Zürich) d. Yaree Sandifer (Lake Forest) (D 5-4).
285- Owen Shea (Antioch) d. Nolan Lopez (Warren) (F 1:15)
Third-place match results:
106- Stefan Vihrov (Stevenson) d. Mateo Marin (Round Lake) (TF 16-1).
113- Daniel Berdich (Stevenson) d. Larry Quirk (Grant) (F 5:18).
120- Brayden Sroka (Zioń-Benton) d. Nicholas Ruiz (Wauconda) (D 8-3).
126- Breiydyn Hoffman (Grant) d. Mason Porten (Wauconda) (D 8-5).
132- Emilio Chavarria (Round Lake) d. Josh Kubicki (Antioch) (D 9-5).
138- Jacob Smith (Antioch) d. Jake Shafer (Libertyville) (TF 19-4).
144- Valentin Vihrov (Stevenson) d. Trevor Hengl (Grayslake Central) (F 5:13).
150- Wyatt Roland (Wauconda) d. Kingsley Chen (Stevenson) (MD 16-4).
157- Gavin Cafferkey (Grayslake North) d. Aidan Eisenberg (Grayslake Central) (D 10-4).
165- Michael Vincic (Mundelein) d. Filip Kawalec (lake Zurich) (TF 15-0).
175- Philip Boyko (Stevenson) d. William Lyle (Grayslake Central) (F 1:25).
190- Casey Gipson (Grant) d. Jaxon James (Stevenson) (MD 15-3).
215- Finn Loomis (Wauconda) d. Pearce Estrada (Warren) (F 2:46).
285- Ajani Williams (Grant) d. David Williams (Grayslake North) (7-2).
HARVARD GIRLS OPEN
Homewood-Flossmoor would dominate up-and-down the weight classes, outscoring its closest rival by over 100 points en route to taking home the big trophy from the Harvard Girls Open.
“We are very excited about how our regular season ended,” began a proud H-F head coach Scott Aronson, whose club went 12-2-0 in dual-meet action.
“We have ten girls who finished their regular season with more than twenty-five wins, with eight of our girls finishing in third place, or higher.
“What is most exciting for me as head coach is the fact that none of these girls walked into our room with any previous experience, and the fact that just two will be graduating says a lot about the future of H-F girls wrestling.
“I attribute our success to a deep connection this group of girls have with each other, a culture of hard work, and a desire to work hard, and a dedication to offseason training. My hope that our success this season translate into some post-season magic.”
1st: Homewood-Flossmoor (242.5)
The team champions would celebrate the title runs of Amirat Toheeb-Lawal (115) and Kennedy Dade (140), who were supported nicely by teammate Kendra Hayden’s second-place finish at 190.
Ri’ Anna Giles (105), Dilailah Lopez (110), London Gandy (125), Amara Nwoye (135) and Denise Brown (145) were all third.
Lopez and Brown would both claim a tourney-best five pins, while Na’ imah Lamon (155) and Olivia Haywood (170) were fourth overall.
2nd: Woodstock (135.5)
No. 9 Eva Hermanson (100), along with Ava Kok (140), Brianna Crown (155) and Allison Hill (230) were all third, while Danica LaTessa (120) finished fourth.
Aubree Hanson (110), Tayler Menzel (135) and Lydia Weidner (145) would add fifth place medals.
3rd: Huntley (115.0)
No. 3 Aubrie Rohrbacher, a two-time state medal winner, was second at 130 along with teammate Grecia Garcia at 135.
Isabelle Singer (120) was third, Eliana Gonzalez (140) fourth overall.
Final team results:
Homewood-Flossmoor 242.5, Woodstock 135.5, Huntley 115.0, Harvard 104.5, Hononegah 91.0, Richmond-Burton 89.5, Freeport 84.5, Hampshire 78.0,
Harlem 75.5, Moline 68.0, Belvidere North 66.5, Jacobs 50.0, Fulton 46.0, Rock Falls/St. Viator 42.0 each, Marengo 40.0, McHenry 39.0, Seneca 31.5, Plano 29.0, Rockford East 28.0, Montini Catholic 23.0, Byron 19.5.
Additional individual champions:
Kali Declercq (100, Hononegah), Aaliyah Guichon (105, Jacobs), Saya Hongmoungkhoune (110, Rockford East), Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (120, Hampshire), Samantha Greisen (125, Seneca), Kerby Germann (130, Fulton), Bella Castelli (135, Hononegah), Ithandehui Rosas (145, Harvard), Bella Martins (155, Freeport), Linda Villa (170, Hononegah), Samantha Diehl (190, Hampshire), Jarithsie Mercado (230, Harvard).
Championship match results:
100- Kali Declercq (Hononegah) d. Mya Olejiniczak (Harlem) (D 9-7).
105- Aaliyah Guichon (Jacobs) d. Ariyana Calmese (Freeport) (F 0:32)
110- Saya Hongmoungkhoune (Rockford East) d. Evalyn Idzik (St. Viator) (F 1:56).
115- Amirat Toheeb-Lawal (Homewood-Flossmoor) d. Tessa Fosdick (Fulton) (F 5:24).
120- Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (Hampshire) d. Sarah Bell (Montini Catholic) (F 1:09).
125- Samantha Greisen (Seneca) d. Ryleigh Eriks (Rock Falls) (F 0:59).
130- Kerby Germann (Fulton) d. Aubrie Rohrbacher (Huntley) (F 4:37).
135- Bella Castelli (Hononegah) d. Grecia Garcia (Huntley) (TF 15-0).
140- Kennedy Dade (Homewood-Flossmoor) d. April Martinez (Plano) (F 3:53).
145- Ithandehui Rosas (Harvard) d. Emily Taylor (Belvidere North) (F 3:48).
155- Bella Martins (Freeport) d. NaJeyah Wallace (Freeport) (F 0:08).
170- Linda Villa (Hononegah) d. Allison Schultz (Richmond-Burton) (MD 17-5).
190- Samantha Diehl (Hampshire) d. Kendra Hayden (Homewood-Flossmoor) (F 2:23).
230- Jarithsie Mercado (Harvard) d. Savannah Trevino (Belvidere North) (F 3:53).
Third-place match results:
100- Eva Hermansson (Woodstock) d. Angelina McGuirk (Moline) (MD 11-0).
105- Ri’ Anna Giles (Homewood-Flossmoor) d. Nevaeh Ovalle (Harvard) (F 1:22).
110- Dilailah Lopez (Homewood-Flossmoor) d. Lily Olejniczak (Harlem) (F 2:51).
115- Rylie Dach (Byron) d. Brea Balles (Freeport) (TF 22-7).
120- Isabelle Singer (Huntley) d. Breanna Warren (Richmond-Burton) (D 14-8).
125- London Gandy (Homewood-Flossmoor) d. Danica LaTessa (Woodstock) (D 8-1).
130- Aryanna Geiger (Jacobs) d. Madison Heneks (Harlem) (D 7-2).
135- Amara Nwoye (Homewood-Flossmoor) d. Brooklyn Peterie (Richmond-Burton) (F 1:42).
140- Ava Kok (Woodstock) d. Eliana Gonzalez (Huntley) (F 0:34).
145- Denise Brown (Homewood-Flossmoor) d. Ashlyn Fargher (Rock Falls) (F 3:39).
155- Brianna Crown (Woodstock) d. Na’ imah Lamon (Homewood-Flossmoor) (TF 20-2).
170- Charlie Brown (Marengo) d. Olivia Haywood (Homewood-Flossmoor) (F 3:06).
190- Tatiana Cuellar (Moline) d. Lily Wurster (Freeport) (F 4:54).
230- Allison Hill (Woodstock) d. Jakeria Wilson (Moline) (F 2:42).