Posts by Mick Torres

by IWCOA reports

Geneseo dominates the field at Rockford East

This year’s 19-team Giardini Invitational saw Geneseo run away with the team title, posting 199.5 points to finish 49.5 points ahead of the second-place co-op team from Belvidere (149). Host Rockford East (143.5) finished third, followed by Freeport (141.5) and Rochelle (125.5).

Coach Jon Murray’s Maple Leafs saw three individual champions scale the top of the awards stand in Zachary Montez (113), Anthony Montez (160), and Levi Neumann (285). The Maple Leafs got seconds from Aiden Damewood (152) and Tim Stohl (220), and Geneseo had 12 wrestlers finish in the top six of their respective weight classes, finishing with the most place-winners of any team present.

In title matches, Cameron Phillips of Kaneland won 4-0 over Belvidere’s Brayden Teunissen at 106; Geneseo’s Zachary Montez won a 6-4 sudden victory decision over Rochelle’s Xavier Villalobos at 113; Freeport’s Cadence Duduch won 7-1 over Rochelle’s Joseph Nadig at 120; Rockford East’s Donald Cannon won by fall over Rolling Meadows’ Ben Escalante at 126; Freeport’s Markel Baker won by tech fall over Richmond’s Brody Rudkin at 132; Freeport’s Jacob Redington won 12-6 over Metamora’s Dylan Baitinger at 138; and Rochelle’s Caleb Nadig won by fall over Rockford East’s Sam Young at 145

In the upper weight championship matches, Tanner Paulson of Belmont (WI) won by fall over Geneseo’s Aiden Damewood at 152; Geneseo’s Anthony Montez won a 9-0 major decision over Freeport’s Tarrone Jackson at 160; Rochelle’s Brock Metzger won by fall over Richmond’s Alex Reyna at 170; St. Charles North’s Drew Surges won 1-0 over Winnebago’s Mannix Faworski at 182; Belvidere’s Jake Bell won by tech fall against Winnebago’s Gabe Ginger at 195; Rockford East’s Joey Pineda won a 2-1 tiebreak over Geneseo’s Tim Stohl at 220; and Geneseo’s Levi Neumann won 5-1 over Rockford East’s Andres Cisneros at 285.

Placing third in Rockford were Rochelle’s Thomas Tourdot (106), Richmond’s Emmet Nelson (113), Rolling Meadows’ Alan Velasquez (120), Belvidere’s Dominic Girardin (126), Belvidere’s Camryn Labeau (132), Belvidere’s Colin Young (138), Freeport’s Jaylon Hall (145), Rockford East’s Marshawn Spates (152), Rolling Meadows’ Dominic Andrejek (160), Winnebago’s Lucas Cowman (170), Belvidere’s AJ Piloni (182), Richmond’s Joe Reyna (195), Rochelle’s Kaiden Morris (220), and Metea Valley heavyweight Jake Pauline.

Finishing fourth were Richmond’s Clay Madula (106), Rockford East’s Peter Young (113), LaSalle-Peru’s Reegan Kellett (120), North Boone’s Dylan Hughes (126), Rolling Meadows’ Isaiah Tavera (132), Winnebago’s Waylon Hanke (138), Belmont’s Dylan Taber (145), LaSalle-Peru’s Connor Sines (152), Winnebago’s Charley Murray (160), Belvidere’s Tavion Wilson (170), Johnsburg’s Kyle Rasper (182), Kaneland’s Max Pietak (195), East Aurora’s Bryan Romero (220), and heavyweight Arnold Walker of East Aurora.

Waubonsie Valley tops R-B at Fenton

Waubonsie Valley edged out Riverside-Brookfield at this year’s 16-team Weiss Invitational, hosted by Fenton. Coach Brad Caldwell’s Warriors finished with 192 points to Riverside-Brookfield’s 187, with DePaul Prep placing third with 115 points. Host Fenton and Richards tied for fourth with 111 points each, followed by Bremen (93), Palatine (87), South Elgin (79), Westmont (53), and Elmwood Park (52).

Waubonsie sent seven wrestlers to the finals, getting an individual title from Ethan Wojtowich (132) and seconds from Sebastian Sifuentes (113), Elias Gonzalez (120), David Geataz (145), Andrew Meister (182), Ashton Phillips (195) and Luke Buntin (285).

Eight championship matches were decided by fall at Fenton: Fenton’s Kon Papadopoulous over Waubonsie’s Sifuentes at 113; DePaul’s Max Rosen over Waubonsie’s Gonzalez at 120; Riverside-Brookfield’s Mateo Costello over South Elgin’s Anthony Vasquez at 126; Saint Viator’s Austin Kanyuh over South Elgin’s Andre Rios at 138; South Elgin’s Nico Clinite over Richards’ Mike Taheny at 152; Fenton’s Jovany Zuniga over Riverside-Brookfield’s Bill Martin at 160; Riverside-Brookfield’s Brock Hoyd over Palatine’s Damien Nestor at 170; and Nazareth’s Gabe Kaminski over R-B’s Joe Midonna at 220.

In other title matches, Elmwood Park’s Jack Dombeck won a 13-0 major decision over DePaul’s Johnny Cunningham at 106; Waubonsie Valley’s Wojtowich won an 8-4 decision over Westmont’s Dominic Wagner at 132; Palatine’s Joey Spirrizzi won by 15-4 major decision over Waubonsie’s Geataz at 145; Fenton’s Viktor Klimczyk won 9-6 over Waubonsie’s Meister at 182; Westmont’s Jaylan Lacy won 5-4 over Waubonsie’s Phillips at 195; and Bremen’s Eric Perez-Nava won 1-0 over Waubonsie’s Buntin at 285.

Third-place finishers included Richard’s Adnan Abuzier (106), DePaul’s Jack Myers (113), Nazareth’s Javaughn Jossell (120), DePaul’s Drew Gerstung (126), Richards’ Jibrel Judeh (132), Fenton’s Justin Dickeson (138), Richards’ Xavier Lara (145), Riverside-Brookfield’s Cade Tomkins (152), DePaul’s Jake Kelly (160), South Elgin’s Lukas Lopez (170), Riverside-Brookfield’s. Liam Cote (182), Palatine’s Sam John (195), North Chicago’s Kody Bennett (220), and Richard’s Adnan Abuzier (285).

Finishing fourth in Bensenville were Waubonsie’s AJ Ramirez (106), Bremen’s Gerrardo Zambrano (113), Riverside-Brookfield’s Quintavius Murrell (120), Waubonsie’s Will Traylor (126), Elmwood Park’s Christian Campos (132), DePaul’s Jaxon Kaminsky (138), Riverside-Brookfield’s Jacob Noe (145), Bremen’s Justin Robinson (152), Palatine’s Joey Bowling (160), Richards’ Xavier Dilloy (170), Westmont’s Spencer Gale (182), Elmwood Park’s Jack Pedersen (195), Bremen’s Alex Perez-Nava (220), and Proviso East’s Evan Carr (285).


Highland Park takes Matozzi Invitational

Highland Park won 148.5-141 over second-place Argo at this year’s 10-team Matozzi Invite hosted by Hinsdale South. The host Hornets (139) were third, followed by Fenwick (108) and Bolingbrook (93) to round out the top five team finishers.

Highland Park got individual titles from Seth Gordon (145) and Dmitry Derbedyenyev (152), and seconds from Nikko Rosenbloom (138) and Joe Williams (195). Second-place Argo got titles from Juan Villa (106) and Ethan Medel (182) and seconds from David Gonzalez (113), Luke Wesolowski (160), and Krystian Krol (285).

Hinsdale South led all schools with four individual champions in Oscar Choi (120), Trent Ferguson (138), Manny Wallace (160) and Giovanni Piazza (170). Fenwick had two champs in Conor Paris (195) and Jimmy Liston (285) and Bolingbrook also had two champions in Lucas Beechler (113) and Joe McDermott (132).

Tinley Park’s Aflonso Insalaco (126) and Glenbard South’s Gavin Krisik (220) rounded out the cast of Matozzi champions.

Dixon edges Pleasant Valley, IA at Sterling

Dixon finished with a 205-197 advantage over the second-place team from Pleasant Valley (IA) to win the 43rd Carson DeJarnatt Invitational, hosted by Sterling. Host Sterling (174) finished third in the nine-team field, followed by Newman Central Catholic (128) and Galesburg (125).

Clinton, IA finished with 85 points and rounding out the field were Oak Lawn (78), Fulton (55), and Granville (52).

Coach Micah Hey’s Dukes sent five wrestlers to the title mat and got an individual championship from Mitchell White (195). Placing second for Dixon were Gabe Buelvas (113), Chris Stiller (126), Owen Brooks (160), and Justin Dallas (220).

In addition, seven Dixon wrestlers earned spots on the third-place mat. Five of the 10 wrestlers present for Pleasant Valley won individual titles, followed by three champions for Newman and two for host Sterling.

In championship matches, Pleasant Valley’s Carter Siebel won 4-1 over Oak Lawn’s Ammar Elayyan at 106; Sterling’s Zyon Westbrook won by fall over Dixon’s Buelvas at 113; Newman’s Brady Grennan won a 22-16 decision over Galesburg’s Gauge Shipp at 120; Newman’s Carter Rude pinned Dixon’s Sitter at 126; Newman’s Daniel Kelly won 18-8 over Galesburg’s Santana Castellano at 132; Pleasant Valley’s Holden Willett won 2-0 over Fulton’s Ben Fosdick at 138; and Pleasant Valley’s Jack Miller won by fall over Clinton’s Brooke Peters.

In upper-weight title matches, Sterling’s Drew Kested won 6-0 over Newman’s Mason Glaudel at 152; Sterling’s Thomas Tate won 6-4 over Dixon’s Brooks at 160; Granville’s Connor Brooker won by fall over Oak Lawn’s Hani Odeh at 170; Pleasant Valley’s Caden McDermott won an 11-3 major decision over Oak Lawn’s Evan Zambrano at 182; Dixon’s White won a 3-1 sudden victory over Pleasant Valley’s Rusty VanWetzinga at 195; Galesburg’s Jeremiah Morris won by fall over Dixon’s Dallas at 220; and Pleasant Valley’s Luke Vonderhaar won by fall over Granville’s John Davis at 285.

Taking third in Sterling were Dixon’s Jacob Renkes (106), Clinton’s Drew Steiner (113), Pleasant Valley’s Caden Irvin (120), Galesburg’s Rocky Almendarez (126), Sterling’s Dylan Ottens (132), Clinton’s Brady Jennings (138), Newman’s Brendan Tunink (145), Clinton’s Luke Jennings (152), Pleasant Valley’s Ike Swanson (160), Newman’s Hunter Luyando (170), Fulton’s Zane Pannell (182), Galesburg’s Jashon Parks (195), Sterling’s Diego Leal (220), and Sterling’s Alejandro Arellano (285).

Fourth-place finishers included Sterling’s Nakyynzy Canazos-Hodge (106), Oak Lawn’s Eduardo Nunez, Jr. (120), Pleasant Valley’s Duncan Harn (126), Dixon’s Jayden Weidman (132), Dixon’s Austin Hey (138), Dixon’s Cade Hey (145), Dixon’s Jayce Kastner (152), Galesburg’s Che Thomas (160), Dixon’s Steven Kitzman (170), Dixon’s Brody Potter (182), Clinton’s Ajai Russell (195), Clinton’s Mike Rausenburger (220), Galesburg’s Tyler Kemp (285).

by IWCOA reports

Triad claims top honors at Glenwood Invite

Triad had three title winners and seven top-four finishers to help it score 183 points and capture the title of the 16-team Glenwood Invite that was held in Chatham. 

Coach Russ Witzig’s Knights received championship wins from Colby Crouch (132), Aiden Postma (138) and Seth Brooks (195) and a runner-up finish from Chase Hall (145) to help them finish with a comfortable margin over runner-up Glenwood (168.5) and third-place Centennial (163.5).

In championship matches, MacArthur’s Logan Roberts edged Peoria Notre Dame’s Ian Akers 4-3 at 106, Grayslake Central’s Anthony Alanis got a fall in 3:44 over Notre Dame’s Eddie Couri at 113, O’Fallon’s Brodey Durbin won 8-0 over Grayslake Central’s Tyler Weidman at 120, Centennial’s Trevor Schoonover claimed a 6-4 victory over O’Fallon’s Andrew Orloski at 126, Crouch won by fall in 1:08 over Glenwood’s Ben Maduena at 132, Postma got a pin in 1:03 over Carbondale’s Aiden Murphy at 138 and Glenwood’s Aden Byal won 6-1 over Hall at 145.

In other title matches, Dunlap’s Nick Mueller edged Centennial’s Tyler Easter 7-5 at 152, Notre Dame’s Joey Mushinsky won by fall in 2:30 over Carbondale’s Isaiah Duckworth at 160, Collinsville’s Austin Stewart got a pin in 3:01 against O’Fallon’s Jaron Alf at 170, Grayslake Central’s Matty Jens prevailed 6-4 over Mt. Vernon’s Jared Shafer at 182, Brooks won a 13-4 major decision over East Peoria’s Zach Eaton at 195, Centennial’s Jack Barnhart won by fall in 1:26 over Mt. Vernon’s Mason Randall at 220 and Glenwood’s Alex Hamrick captured a 2-0 victory over O’Fallon’s Isaiah Hill at 285.

Capturing third-place finishes were Triad’s Landon Tourville (170) and Jordan Clines (182), Notre Dame’s Jesus Prieto (120) and Jac Couri (126), Harlem’s Andrew Ryden (145) and Caleb Ecklund (160), Glenwood’s Kayle Blankenship (106) and Jaidyn Lee (220), Peoria High’s Kenny Rutherford (138) and Tim Petty (285), Centennial’s Darell Dugar (113), Collinsville’s Ian Freeman (132), O’Fallon’s Elijah Roberts (152) and Carbondale’s Aiden Taylor (195).

Fourth-place finishers were Collinsville’s Carter Bubb (113), Owen Neimeier (120) and Cameron Varner (138), Notre Dame’s Chase Daugherty (132) and Tommy Miller (160), Glenwood’s Larson Nestar (106) and Brandon Bray (195), Dunlap’s Mohammad Jaber (182) and Austin Hasselman (285), Harlem’s Donavin Vanderheyden (126), Triad’s Landon Steinman (145), Grayslake Central’s Ramon Enriquez (152), East Peoria’s Austin Seaman (170) and Centennial’s Brandon Harvey (220).

Civic Memorial captures own Holiday Tournament

Civic Memorial captured top honors in its 42nd annual Holiday Tournament with 237 points while Vandalia took second place with 191.5 points, Bloomington was third with 169 and Mattoon finished fourth with 150 points in the 22-team event in Bethalto.

Coach Jeremy Christeson’s champion Eagles received title wins from Joey Biciocchi (132), Abe Wojcikiewicz (170), Miggy Gonzalez (182), Colton Carlisle (195) and Logan Cooper (285) while Bradley Ruckman (106) and Bryce Griffin (138) both claimed second placed finishes. 

In title matches, Carlyle’s Tyson Waughtel won 8-0 over Ruckman at 106, Mattoon’s Brady Foster was a 7-3 winner over East Alton-Wood River’s Aaron Niemeyer at  113, Bloomington’s Carson Nishida pinned Benton’s Bobby Rodriguez in 1:44 at 120, East Alton-Wood River’s Jason Shaw won by disqualification over Benton’s Mason Tieffel at 126, Biciocchi won 7-3 over Vandalia’s Owen Miller at 132, Murphysboro’s Arojae Hart edged Griffin 7-6 at 138 and Vandalia’s Cutter Prater prevailed 11-9 over Mattoon’s Aidan Blackburn at 145.

In the other championship matches, Mattoon’s Kiefer Duncan won by fall in 3:34 over Jacksonville’s Trey Elliott at 152, Murphysboro’s Dayton Hoffman was a 5-0 winner over Vandalia’s Ryan Kaiser at 160, Wojcikiewicz won with a fall in 1:17 over Jacksonville’s Luca Thies at 170, Gonzalez recorded a pin in 0:48 over Jersey Community’s Connor Chin at 182, Carlisle won 3-1 in sudden victory over Bloomington’s Anthony Curry at 195, Waterloo’s Jordan Sommers edged Bloomington’s Jack Weltha 6-5 at 220 and Cooper won by fall in 1:50 over Jersey Community’s Jayden Busch at 285.

Claiming third-place finishes were East St. Louis’ Jaymz Young (106), Cody Powell (152) and Mekhi McDowell (285), Vandalia’s Sophie Bowers (113), Pierson Wilkerson (120) and Eric Barenfanger (220), Jacksonville’s Collin Reif (138) and James Cotton (160), Mattoon’s Korbin Bateman (126), Murphysboro’s Bryce Edwards (132), Bloomington’s Jacob Barger (145), Waterloo’s Brandon Lloyd (170), Benton’s Connor Dean (182) and Centralia’s Elijah Johnson (195).

Fourth-place finishers were Bloomington’s Javier Enriquez-Lynd (113), Noah Read (126) and Stephen Carr (285), Highland’s Tyson Rakers (132) and Ben Mitchell (152), Centralia’s Nate Lecrone (120) and Noah Morris (160), Waterloo’s Drew Rose (182) and Kreighton Bair (195), Vandalia’s Daniel Kirkland (106), Mattoon’s Mick Porter (138), Civic Memorial’s Ashton Reed (145), Carlyle’s Owen Birkner (170) and Champaign Central’s Zavier Neill (220).

Lawrenceville/Red Hill wins Lawrence County Tourney

Lawrenceville/Red Hill captured top honors at Saturday’s Lawrence County Tourney in Lawrenceville by scoring 186.5 points, which was well ahead of second-place Fairfield, which scored 153 points. Frankfort Community (149) beat out Carmi-White County (146) and Anna-Jonesboro (144) to claim third place in the 11-team competition..

Coach Sam Hyre’s Indians captured top honors after receiving title wins from Hayden Frey (152) and Brian Seed (170) while Brianna Richey (106), Shaina Hyre (120), Nathan Blackwell (182) and Dylan Camden (220) claimed second-place finishes for the hosts.

In championship matches, Anna-Jonesboro’s Drew Sadler won by fall in 1:12 over Richey at 106, Harrisburg’s Tony Keene got a pin in 0:15 against Mt. Carmel’s Jordan Wood at 113, Frankfort’s Eli Klus recorded a fall in 2:49 over Hyre at 120, Richland County’s Carson Bissey was a winner by fall in 1:39 over Anna-Jonesboro’s Brett Smith at 126, Herrin’s Elijah Bishop captured a 10-0 major decision over Fairfield’s Scotty Cuff at 132, Anna-Jonesboro’s Blake Mays won a 10-0 major decision over Fairfield’s Cole Simpson at 138 and Anna-Jonesboro’s Caleb Mays recorded a fall in 0:55 against Frankfort’s Gavin Mann at 145.

In other title matches, Frey won by fall in 1:44 over Fairfield’s Jerek Keoghan at 152, Robinson’s Jared Hermann won by injury default in 2:00 over Mt. Carmel’s Kenny Taylor at 160, Seed recorded a pin in 1:26 over Harrisburg’s Josh Stewart at 170, Robinson’s Aiden Schrader won 7-0 over Blackwell at 182, Fairfield’s Konner Dagg captured an 11-2 major decision over Harrisburg’s Bryant Lester at 195, Fairfield’s Payton Allen won 6-0 over Camden at 220 and Carmi-White County’s Titus Wood got a fall in 2:34 against Frankfort’s Braxton Tutt at 285.

Claiming third-place finishes were Carmi-White County’s Trenton Belford (138), Isaac King (182) and Nelson Rider (195), Robinson’s Draegon Johnson (145), Austin Hargrave (220) and Dalton Woods (285), Anna-Jonesboro’s Zoee Sadler (113) and Daniel Dover (120), Mt. Carmel’s Satchel Taylor (106), Lawrenceville’s Dylan Aten (126), Harrisburg’s Sebastian Brown (132), Richland County’s Kaden Hess (152), Fairfield’s Talon Keoghan (160) and Carterville’s Chris Bates (170).

Mount Carmel third, DeKalb fourth at Dan Gable Donnybrook

Three Illinois teams finished in the top five at the 33-team Dan Gable Donnybrook in Coralville, Iowa. Mount Carmel edged DeKalb 352.5-351 for third place while Marmion Academy beat out Bettendorf, Iowa 269.5-263.5 for fifth. Lockport was eighth with 246 points while Joliet Catholic Academy (155), Lincoln-Way West (101), Huntley (84.5) and Marian Central Catholic (69.5) also competed in the event which was won by Liberty (Missouri) with 419.5 points while Waverly-Shell Rock (Iowa) took second with 372 points.

Illinois champions were Mount Carmel’s Seth Mendoza (106), Sergio Lemley (126) and Ryan Boersma (285), DeKalb’s Tommy Curran (145) and Lockport’s Brayden Thompson (170) while DeKalb’s Danny Aranda (120) and Bradley Gillum (182) and Lockport’s Carlos Munoz-Flores (132) all took second place.

In championship matches, Mendoza won 5-3 over Brandon Morvari of Simley (Minnesota) at 106, Lemley claimed a 13-4 victory over Carter Freeman of Waukee Northwest (Iowa) at 126, Tommy Curran claimed a 10-7 decision over Kyle Dutton of Liberty (Missouri) at 145, Thompson prevailed 3-1 by sudden victory over Tate Naaktgeboren of Linn-Mar (Iowa) at 170 and Boersma won by fall in 2:29 over Jake Walker of Waverly-Shell Rock (Iowa) at 285.

Aranda lost 13-2 to Trever Anderson of Ankeny (Iowa) at 120, Munoz-Flores dropped a 5-2 decision to Zach Ourada of Omaha Skutt Catholic (Nebraska) at 132 and Gillum suffered an 9-2 setback to Bennett Berge of Kasson-Mantorville (Minnesota) at 182.

Third-place finishers from Illinois schools were Mount Carmel’s Damian Resendez (113) and Colin Kelly (160) and DeKalb’s Damien Lopez (152) while Marmion’s Jack Lesher (182) and Sean Scheck (22) and Mount Carmel’s Eddie Enright (132) finished fourth. 

Fifth-place efforts were turned in by JCA’s Gylon Sims (120), Mason Alessio (152) and Owen Gerdes (220) and DeKalb’s Luke Schmerbach (170) while Marmion’s Jameson Garcia (113) and Kenny Siwicki (160), DeKalb’s Danny Curran (138), Huntley’s Ryder Hunkins (182) and Lincoln-Way West’s Michael Sneed (220) all took sixth place.

Claiming seventh place was Lockport’s Keegan Roberson (152) and placing eighth were JCA’s Logan Kuhl-Trimmer (132) and Owen O’Connor (138), Mount Carmel’s Jairo Acuna (120), Marian Central Catholic’s Nik Jimenez (145), Lockport’s Paul Kadlec (160), DeKalb’s Bryson Buhk (195) and Marmion’s Jared Durian (285).

Glenbard North kicked off the new season with a team championship at Conant’s 19-team Chris Hruska Wrestling Classic on Saturday. The Panthers sent six wrestlers to the title mat and three to the top of the awards stand in Kalani Khiev (106), Cody Dertz (170), and heavyweight Paulie Robertson.

North won 229-212 over second-place Sandburg. Bloomington placed third with 167 and host Conant was fourth with 159 points. Oswego rounded out the top five teams with 157 points.

Glenbard North’s second-pace finishers included Dominick Marre (113), Solomon Gilliam (132), and Ryan Yabi (285).
Second-place Sandburg got an individual title from Sammie Hayes (126) and seconds from Rocco Hayes (106), Ryan Hinger (120), Max Pitura (182), and Mike Rydell (220).

Other individual champions at Conant were Glenwood’s Drew Davis (113) and Ben Maduena (132); Bloomington’s Carson Nishida (120); Lake Park’s Mike DiBenedetti (138) and Joseph Olaide (160) ; Bloomington’s Jacob Barger (145) and Jack Weltha (220); Oswego’s Joseph Griffin (152); Conant’s AJ Hernandez (182); and Leyden’s Colin O’Neill (195).

Bloomington’s Barger (145) and Glenbard North’s Robertson (285) won by fall in each of their four matches on the day. Bloomington’s Nishida (120) and Glenbard North’s Dertz (170) each posted three pins on Saturday.

Lake Park’s DiBenedetti (138) posted a fall, two tech falls, and a major decision in winning his title, and Bloomington’s Weltha (220) had a two falls, an 8-0 major, and a 6-0 decision on the day. Glenwood’s Davis (113) posted a fall to go with two major decision wins.

The closest title matches of the day came at 106 and 182 pounds. Glenbard North’s Khiev won 1-0 over Sandburg’s Rocco Hayes at 106, while Conant’s Hernandez won 1-0 over Sandburg’s Pitura at 182.

By Gary Larsen

Normal West scored 220 points to easily capture top honors at the 15-team Illini Bluffs Invite. Illini Bluffs edged Olympia 135-134 for second place while Peoria Notre Dame was fourth with 122 points.

Winning titles for the champion Wildcats were Froylan Racey (120), Evan Willock (126) and Noah Passoni (160) while Cody Sears (138) and Matthew Marsaglia (145) both finished second.

Host Illini Bluffs’s lone champion was Paul Ishikawa (138) while Wyatt Knowles (106), Hunter Robbins (113), Avery Speck (120), Jackson Carroll (126) and Ian O’Connor (132) all finished in second place.

Winning titles for Olympia were Dylan Eimer (106) and Will Winter (145) while Peoria Notre Dame got a title from Joey Mushinsky (170) and a second-place finish from Tommy Miller (160).

Other champions were Farmington’s Keygan Jennings (113) and Rese Shymansky (182), Limestone’s Cosmo Palmgren (132) and Aydan Trueblood (220), Dunlap’s Nick Mueller (152), East Peoria’s Zach Eaton (195) and Knoxville’s William Stowe (285).

Also claiming second-place finishes were Macomb’s Carter Hoge (152), Max Ryner (182) and Ethan Ladd (195), Knoxville’s Hunter Fox (170), Farmington’s Chris Haggard (220) and East Peoria’s Jose Del Toro (285).
Eimer, Jennings, Racey, Ishikawa, Winter, Shymansky, Eaton, Trueblood and Stowe all won titles with falls while Mueller won by major decision and Willock, Palmgren, Passoni, and Mushinsky all claimed decisions for their title wins.

Vernon Hills Invitational Re-Cap

Wauconda out-pointed second-place Vernon Hills 193.5-160.5 at this year’s 15-team Varsity Cougar Invitational, hosted by Vernon Hills. Glenbrook South (130), Christian Life (124.5) of Wisconsin, and Hoffman Estates (118) rounded out the top five team finishers.

Wauconda sent six wrestlers to the title mat and two to the top of the awards stand as Gavin Rockey (113) and Colin Husko (145) won individual titles.

Husko, currently ranked No. 6 at 145 in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings, used three falls to earn his title, while Rockey used a pair of 4-3 decisions to reach the finals at 113 before winning 5-3 over Harvard’s Brian Hernandez.

Placing second for Wauconda were Lucas Gladine (106), Cole Porten (138), Nick Cheshier (152), and heavyweight Matthew Merevick.

Vernon Hills had a pair of individual champs in Gary Gurevich (138) and heavyweight Max Accettura and got seconds from Blake Moncayo (170) and Jake Psaras (195).
Maine East led all teams with three individual champions.

Other individual champions included Drew Dolphin (106) and Troy Dolphin (132) of Christian Life (WI); Chris Kish (120), Edgar Estrada (126), and Ezequiel Figueroa (160) of Maine East; Julian Bonilla (152) and Jalen Curtis (182) of Hoffman Estates; Kaden Combs (170) of Woodstock North; Nathan Rosas (195) of Harvard; and Betim Jahovic (220) of Niles North.

The day’s closest finishes on the title mat included Wauconda’s Rockey in a 5-3 win over Harvard’s Brian Hernandez at 113; Maine East’s Estrada in an 8-7 win over Taft’s Patrick Diete at 126; Hoffman Estates Bonilla in a 5-3 win over Wauconda’s Cheshier at 152; and Maine East’s Figueroa in a 6-4 win over Glenbrook South’s Patrick Downing at 160.

Also reaching the finals and placing second were Glenbrook South’s Arnold Park (120); Taft’s Colin Roque (132) and Ryan Porebski (220); Christian Life’s Jordan Luhr (145); and Hoffman Estates’ Josh Ellery (182).

BARRINGTON — Marmion Academy got its 2021-2022 season off to a flying start on Saturday when it lifted the championship trophy at the 30th annual Moore-Prettyman Invitational inside the fieldhouse at Barrington High School.

The Cadets claimed the first major title of this highly anticipated campaign using a trio of individual titles and five top four finishes to outscore runner-up Libertyville 215.50-193.50. Stevenson (159.50) was third followed by Aurora Christian (159) and Fremd (146.5).

Teams hung around eventual champion Marmion until coach Nathan Fitzenreider’s club pulled away for good.

“I can’t tell you how excited the guys are to finally be back wrestling in a real tournament, and one that has so many great teams and wrestlers,” Fitzenreider said. “This is a season we were all looking forward to being a part of after COVID took the season away from all of us last year.

“Although this is a long, grueling season, this is a great way for our team to start and I think the performance the entire team gave was kind of a statement that Marmion Academy wrestling back, and ready to go out and enjoy this season, and to have a successful one as well.”

The aforementioned top five teams were ‘this’ close to each other after the first day of play, with North Suburban Conference (NSC) powers Libertyville and Stevenson suffocating the Cadets all throughout the weight classes.

“Our team is built to compete at a high level in tournament play – and it all starts with our dynamic duo of Lorenzo Frezza (126) and Cole Rhemrev, who provide great energy and leadership that all of the guys feed off of,” said Stevenson head coach Shane Cook, whose Patriots finished fifth at the IWCOA 3A state duals last summer in Springfield.

“We wrestled really well as a team in our first big tournament of the season, and if we continue to work hard, and keep our focus, there’s no reason why we can’t be successful in the regular season and when the state series begins,” offered the senior Rhemrev, who marched through the field at 138. Rhemrev recorded a pair of pins, a tech-fall in his semifinal, and ended with a 13-1 major decision to earn the top prize.

His teammate Frezza bagged plenty of points to help the cause with two pins and a major, before shutting out talented freshman Peyton Cox from Washington, 5-0 to win his second Moore-Prettyman title.

“During the offseason I worked on getting bigger, stronger, and faster, plus my stance and shots, and maybe most importantly watching what I eat, which has really helped me feel so much better,” Frezza said.

The top four teams on the leader board dominated the final round on Saturday, with Aurora Christian and its new head coach, Danny Alcocer, collecting a tourney-high four champions.

“We’re glad the sport of wrestling is back, and as a team, we are really happy to be a part of this great tournament, and our plan all along is to set the bar high, and keep it there throughout the season through hard work and dedication to each other,” said Alcocer, who was a state medal winner at Waubonsie Valley, and would later go on to wrestle for two years at Arizona State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Education.

Alcocer’s program received a major boost in talent when several former Montini Catholic stars made their way west to the Eagles’ campus in Aurora – to make the club an instant favorite to succeed in 1A circles before all is said and done.

“It was a big decision for all of us to leave Montini, and come to ‘AC’ – but we’re all thrilled to part of the program, and stoked about this season, and what we can achieve as a team,” said Eagles senior captain Nate Wemstrom, who will wrestle at Indiana University next season where he is considering a degree in Criminology.

Wemstrom claimed the 195-pound crown while another senior, Braden Stauffenberg grabbing the 152-pound title over Dillon Carlson (Crystal Lake Central) in a contest between the Nos. 1 and 4 rated 52-pounders in the latest rankings by the IWCOA.

“It was a big decision for those of us who moved over to ‘AC’ but once we did, and we saw what we have, the promise and hope of big things for all us will help us fight even harder,” added Stauffenberg, who has his eyes on attending West Point to continue his wrestling career.

“I come from a family of grunts, so to eventually be in Special Forces, and an Army Ranger is really exciting for me,” Stauffenberg said.

Eagles newcomers Deven Casey and California transplant Taythan Silva were magnificent in their first Moore-Prettyman appearances.

“I work as hard as anyone out there,” Casey said. “It’s 24-7 for me — before school, during training, throughout the weekend — I’m working on my conditioning, technique, and everything else in my game to be the best.”

Casey’s reversal at the start of the third period was enough to hold off Fremd’s Wiley Jessup, who was unable to pry open the Eagles’ freshmen in the final moments of a 7-4 decision.

Casey defeated top seed Dominic Ducato of Jacobs, 2-1, in his semifinal.

Silva was rarely challenged throughout his four matches, opening with a fall, then a major, before sending off No. 2 seed Thomas Schoolman (Stevenson) during his 13-2 major decision semifinal victory.

Silva would continue his winning ways over top seed Damien Puma (Prospect) to take home the 145-pound crown, ending his bout with a near fall to record a 11-4 triumph.

“My mother and I moved into the area from California, and I knew coming into the great staff here with coach Alcocer, and Cory Clark (2017 National Champion at Iowa) and the strong academic program at AC would be the best thing for me,” said Silva, who came to Aurora Christian from the prestigious wrestling program at Clovis High School.

Silva was runner-up at Preseason Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa in late October, losing in sudden victory, 3-1.

Teammate Braden Stauffenberg was crowned champion (160) at the same tournament, while Nathan Wemstrom grabbed second place at 195.

While there was plenty of one-way traffic to the top of the podium from Marmion, Stevenson and Aurora Christian, the quintet of Will Baysingar, Evan Gosz, Blake Henrichsen, Massey Odiotti, and John Pacewic all exhibited the skills, style, and staying power needed to earn titles in their respective weight divisions.

At the forefront was the reigning 120-pound state champion Baysingar, who closed out his tournament with a hard fought victory over Aurora Christian senior, Joe Fernau to claim the 132-pound top prize.

The 5-4 decision would avenge a 4-3 decision in the semifinals of the 2019 3A state tournament to Fernau at 106 pounds – a victory that would send the then- Montini sophomore on his way to a state title.

“If I had it to do over, I would have likely pushed the pace more, especially in the first period, and obviously score more points,” Baysingar said. “But (Fernau) is a very good wrestler, so it’s a good start to the season and I’m very happy with the result.”

Baysingar was named Outstanding Wrestler for his efforts over a host of deserving candidates, including an all-star cast at 132 pounds.

Freshman Evan Gosz made his presence felt in his first major tournament ever – recording a 9-2 decision over Rudy SIlva of Plainfield South to win at 113.

“Evan goes right after his opponents – he’s a three sport athlete (football, and lacrosse) who is a fearless, hard working young man,” said Fremd head coach, Jeff Keske after watching the Vikings youngster a third-period takedown, and near-fall to secure his victory.

John Pacewic is off to join the Marines upon graduation but until then, the Plainfield South senior to make his final season at South a memorable one.

“I lost a year of wrestling to the pandemic, so I’m thrilled to be back competing in the sport I love,” said Pacewic, who pinned his way to the 225-pound title.

The affable Pacewic recounted how he figured a visit at work from someone he thought was his sister’s boyfriend was actually a Marine recruiter instead.

“After I told him to get lost, one day later I was in his office and enlisting,” said Pacewic with a smile.

Second place Libertyville, which held the lead over Marmion 162.50-150.50 during the early part of Saturday afternoon, saw its hopes dashed when the Wildcats went o-fer in the finals.

“Our guys had some real tough opponents in the finals,” admitted Wildcats head coach, Dale Eggert.

“The matches were competitive but didn’t go our way. But the guys know they can do better so those defeats will be put to good use.”

Eggert said his sophomore, Matt Kubas got hit by a tiger in his 160-pound final, and that is the perfect way to describe the all out attack Blake Hinrichsen put on display.

The Washington junior registered an impressive 15-4 major decision one bout after defeating top seed Justin Warmowski of Grant.

“I’ve been working on improving my stance, having better position, and scoring early, and adding to my lead, and today I did that,” said Hinrichsen, who says when his team gets back to full strength, it will be a force in 2A this season.

Marmion’s Jack Lesher (182) and heavyweight Jerred Durian helped close out Libertyville with their head-to-head bouts with Wildcats Josh Knudten, and Caleb Christensen in their respective finals.

“It’s been almost two years since all of us have competed, so to come in here and wrestle as well as a team against this competition says a lot about what we can achieve this year,” said Durian, who is being recruited to play football at both North Central College and Augustana.

“Jack was one of our most pleasant surprises this weekend,” Fitzenreider said, following Leshers’ 3-0 decision over Knudten.

“We were not sure what we had with him but he showed a lot over these two days, beating the No. 3 seed in the semi’s, then the top seed to win it all.”

The Cadets’ third and final championship came from Tyler Perry (170), who sent the No. 2 seed, Austin Gomez of Libertyville out in the quarterfinals, and later, top seed AJ Mancilla in spectacular fashion by recording a pin at 2:51.

“I’ve been working a lot on my conditioning, and eliminating mistakes because of being a little sloppy, and this weekend, I felt like I stayed in good position, and was (clean) in all of my matches,” Perry said afterwards.

On a day which featured so many wonderful individual efforts – the performance from Massey Odiotti was one not to be overlooked.

The Loyola Academy junior, who was anointed the No. 3 seed at 120 pounds edged No. 2 Josh Vasquez (Aurora Christian) 3-1 in his semifinal contest – using a lightning quick move to score the decisive take-down 30 seconds from time.

Later, Odiotti staved off top seed Caelan Riley of Libertyville who made a late valiant attempt to draw back even but fell short in Odiotti’s 3-2 victory

“Massey has come a long way from his freshmen year with us,” Loyola coach Matt Collum said. “He likely would have lost this match as a freshman, maybe would have had a better chance to win as a sophomore, but this season he is mentally and physically stronger, which helped him ‘tough’ this out to earn a big win for himself.”

By Curt Herron
For the IWCOA

NORMAL – There aren’t very many firsts that both competitors and spectators will be able to experience in an Illinois high school sport.

But Saturday provided one of those rare events at the Normal Community boys’ JV and Girls Invite and a large crowd was on hand to witness the special occasion.

For the first time as an Illinois High School Association-approved sport, girls could compete against one another in a tournament format to highlight the initial week of girls wrestling.

Sixteen of the 25 schools who brought girls to the competition had individuals who advanced to title matches with eight of those teams capturing individual championships.

Schaumburg led the way with three champions and placed eight of its 13 competitors in the top four to easily claim top honors with 172 points.

Joliet Central edged West Aurora 100-97 for second place and the Steelwomen were one of four teams that had two champions, with Richwoods (fourth, 73 points), Normal West (sixth, 63) and Yorkville (ninth, 54) the others.

Andrew/Sandburg/Stagg co-op took fifth with 68 points but had no first-place finishers. Other teams who had individual champions were Homewood-Flossmoor (seventh, 56.5), Larkin (eighth, 56) and Mahomet-Seymour.

In a fascinating historical twist, the first champion of the event, Normal West’s Sammy Lehr (100), is the daughter of Margaret LeGates Lehr, who was the first girl to compete in the sport in IHSA competition and began her three-year career for the boys’ team at Libertyville 30 years ago.

Schaumburg received titles from Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic (135), Valeria Rodriguez (155) and Lili Reyes (235), had three others who placed third, and two more who took fourth.

The Saxons are coached by Matt Gruszka and his son, Luke. Matt wrestled for his father, Stan, at Naperville North while Luke wrestled at Schaumburg. Stan, a Class of 2003 IWCOA hall of famer, was involved in 79 seasons of coaching in 33 years, which also included football and track and field.

“I’ve been around the sport for a long time and have seen it come to this, where girls are competing,” Matt Gruszka said. “The girls are awesome and this is certainly adding to our sport. Our girls’ national team always does well and our U.S. Olympic team has done well, so it just makes sense that the state has taken this initiative and let the girls have their own venue.

“Just the amount of girls was unbelievable. It’s just great for the sport and it’s fun to be a part of. We’re a big wrestling state so we have good coaches scattered throughout, so when something like this comes along, they see what’s going on and the grassroots movement in Illinois is unbelievable and it trickles down to our freestyle and greco teams. We saw the majority of the girls were in the upper weights. The lower weights weren’t very crowded but there were 13 heavyweights today, and that was unbelievable. Just to see that is very encouraging for the sport.”

Winning titles for Joliet Central were Dioselina Tenorio (115) and Stephany Serna (140). Richwoods’ title winners were Kyley Bair (110) and Arie Johnson (170), Yorkville got titles from Yamilet Aguirrre (120) and Natasha Markoutsis (130) and Normal West also received a first from Angel Bateson (105). 

Other champions were Mahomet-Seymour’s Isabelle Leyhe (125), Homewood-Flossmoor’s Attalia Watson (145) and Larkin’s Maria Ferrer (190). A total of 134 girls took part in the competition with Joliet Central (19), Andrew/Sandburg/Stagg (17), Homewood-Flossmoor (15) and Schaumburg (13) leading the participants.

Here’s a breakdown of the girls champions:

100 – Sammy Lehr, Normal West

Normal West’s Sammy Lehr made history as the first champion of an IHSA-sanctioned girls’ tournament when she used three falls to go 3-0 in round-robin competition to capture top honors at 100, while Galesburg’s Hannah Almendarez went 2-1 to take second place and Olympia/Heyworth’s Mya Down placed third. 

Lehr, whose mother Margaret LeGates Lehr was the first girl to compete in the IHSA in the sport, was thrilled to be able to capture the initial tournament title and in the process, make history just as her mom did 30 years ago.

“I’m very excited,” said Sammy Lehr, who’s a junior. “Being able to be a part of the first one in the state is also really exciting. Coming from my mom’s background, I only started in high school and I’m able to follow in her footsteps. It’s a lot different of an experience to wrestle with other girls compared to guys since it gives you a whole new perspective. It’s a whole new skill set and being able to be a part of this as it grows is really important, as well.”

Margaret, who competed for three seasons at Libertyville for coach Dale Eggert, a Class of 2000 IWCOA hall of famer, was in the corner to help lead the Wildcats’ two finalists to become the sport’s first tournament champions.

“All day I’ve just been amazed by it all, seeing all of these girls with this opportunity,” Margaret Lehr said. “I love it and I’m so excited for the future of girls wrestling. It’s just exploding in growth, so that’s awesome. This is very special. And within my own community this is pretty awesome since we’re Normal West and this is our neighbor. I’m very thankful to Trevor Kaufman for pulling this together and really seeing the future for girls wrestling.”

105 – Angel Bateson, Normal West

Normal West claimed the first two titles at the state’s initial tournament as an approved IHSA sport when Angel Bateson won by fall over East Peoria’s Bailey Lusch to capture top honors at 105. In the third-place match, Homewood-Flossmoor’s Ava Anderson won 8-3 over Metea Valley’s Uliana Shevtsova. 

After recording three falls, Bateson joined teammate Sammy Lehr as champions in the historic competition, and achieving the feat in her hometown made the accomplishment that much better.

“I think it’s very important for girls to have their own sport,” said Bateson, who’s a junior. “To not have to wrestle the boys and to be one-on-one with another girl because girls wrestling is a totally different sport than boys wrestling. It was a fun day.”

110 – Kyley Bair, Richwoods

Richwoods’ Kyley Bair, who’s a junior, recorded a fall over West Aurora’s Fatima Mogollan and went 3-0 in the round-robin to win the title at 110 to become the first of two champions from the Lady Knights, who have had a large number of girls in their program during the past few years.

115 – Dioselina Tenorio, Joliet Central

Joliet Central was assured of a title at 115 after Dioselina Tenorio and Scarlett Chavez both advanced to the title match with a pair of falls. Tenorio, who took  fourth at 106 in the IWCOA finals in June, got a pin in the championship to become one of the two Steelwomen who claimed 

first place finishes. Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Samantha Lauer claimed third place by fall over Schaumburg’s Harika Matukamilli. 

Tenorio is not only pleased that she is finally able to compete against other girls in high school but also with how many more girls are now participating in the sport.

“From my freshman year, I’ve seen girls wrestling expand and that’s made me so happy,” said Tenorio, who’s a senior. “When I first started, it was like just one or two girls trying it, but as the years have progressed, girls keep joining us. Now we get our own tournaments so in my last year, I’m happy to have all of this.”

120 – Yamilet Aguirre, Yorkville

Yorkville’s Yamilet Aguirre claimed her team’s first of two titles when the sophomore captured a 4-1 victory over Joliet Central’s April Ortiz in the 120 finals after winning three matches by fall. The Foxes only brought two individuals to the tournament and both of them captured championships. Schaumburg’s Nina Akimoto took third place by injury default over Joliet Central’s Itsel Vivanco.

125 – Isabelle Leyhe, Mahomet-Seymour

Mahomet-Seymour captured its first title in a girls tournament when Isabelle Leyhe won by fall over Normal Community’s Pyper Wood in the 125 finals to cap a day where she had two other pins and a win by technical fall. The Bulldogs had the most individuals who competed in the event with 22, but Leyhe was the only girl to take part. In the third-place match, Schaumburg’s Madison Meyer won by fall over Canton’s Naomi Luedtke.

Leyhe, who placed eighth at 113 at the IWCOA finals, enjoyed being on hand for the special day and has been inspired by a famous alumni of her school, Mary Kelly, a Class of 2019 IWCOA hall of famer who was a three-year starter for the program and the first girl to win a match at the IHSA dual team finals.

“Today was just a day full of emotion and I’m really thankful that I could be a part of it,” said Leyhe, who’s a sophomore. “Working so hard for the past couple of years, I’m really glad that I can come out here and show what I can do. As long as I can remember, I’ve always looked up to Mary Kelly and other female wrestlers. I just really wanted to follow in their footsteps and help other girls come out if this is what they want to do. I’m just really glad that this is growing so fast.”

130 – Natasha Markoutsis, Yorkville

Yorkville became one of five teams to have multiple champions when Natasha Markoutsis won by fall over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Avery Schlickman in the 130 title match, which was her third pin of the day. 

Schaumburg’s Bethany Regione, who took fourth at 132 in the IWCOA finals, claimed third place after recording a pin over Larkin’s Quetzali Lara.

After being a runner-up at 132 at the IWCOA finals, Markoutsis not only has her sights set on being one of the first IHSA champions but also is excited about what other girls might be able to achieve in the new sport.

“To me, it means a lot,” said Markoutsis, who’s a senior. “I’ve never actually had the chance to go to a girls-sanctioned event for high school. So to do it with my high school coach there meant the world to me. It’s eye-opening to see how the sport is evolving and just how much it’s getting better, especially for younger girls. They’ll have this opportunity at their fingertips and it’s really inspiring. I’m really thankful for all of those older girls who’ve paved the path for them so they don’t have to battle the boys and they can have their own little space to do what they need to do.”

135 – Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic, Schaumburg

The champion Saxons captured their first individual title at 135 when Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic won by fall over Pekin’s Jaylah Dalton to record her third pin of the day. The third-place match at the weight featured a clash of Andrew/Sandburg/Stagg teammates with Delilah Freyman recording a pin against Noemi Concha.

After receiving a bye, Zerafa-Lazarevic recorded three straight falls to not only be the initial Saxon to capture a tournament title but also become the first freshman to capture a first-place finish in an IHSA-sanctioned event.

“There was a packed crowd and it was awesome,” Zerafa-Lazarevic said. “It is so much fun and I have a really great team that’s full of really great people so I think that I’ll be able to do well with them.”

140 – Stephany Serna, Joliet Central

Joliet Central claimed its second title when Stephany Serna prevailed in the highest-scoring match of the competition by capturing a wild 26-14 triumph over Olympia/Heyworth’s Jordan Bicknell in the 140 finals. The Steelwomen also claimed third and fourth place at the weight class when Ana Franco won by fall over teammate Mariah Crosley-White.

After finishing eighth in the IWCOA finals at 132, the Joliet Central senior looks to finish her high school career on a high note when she gets the opportunity to compete in the IHSA tournament and hopes that she can put her name among the elite wrestlers at her school, which has enjoyed a rich legacy in the sport.

“We’ve been working really hard in the room and this is my senior year and I think that my hard work has been paying off and I’m happy to get this place today,” Serna said. “Competition between girls and boys is really different so I’m excited for our girls to have their own division for the first time and I’m excited to compete. It was really exciting especially with all of the people that were here and I’m just really happy to put everything out on the mat and to get first today. On the wall there’s a lot of boys’ names so we just want to keep adding girls’ names onto the wall.”

145 – Attalia Watson, Homewood-Flossmoor

Attalia Watson became the first Homewood-Flossmoor girl to capture a tournament title after she won by fall over West Aurora’s Dyanni Rivera in the 145 finals to finish with two pins and a win by technical fall. Ottawa’s Sara Meyer captured third place when she recorded a pin against Canton’s Aubrianna Putman.

The Vikings junior is looking forward to seeing her program start making its mark at a school that has enjoyed success in most of its girls programs and also is excited about seeing the growth of her sport throughout Illinois.

“This was fun and It was really interesting and eye-opening to see how many girls were here,” said Watson, who’s a junior. “There was a lot of good things, especially since a lot of them are new, and they’ve come a long way in the first couple of weeks since we started. The IWCOA state was out of season so a lot of girls didn’t compete in it but now that we have a state tournament in season, a lot of girls will be able to compete.”

155 – Valeria Rodriguez, Schaumburg

Schaumburg’s Valeria Rodriguez picked up her team’s second title of the day after recording a pin against Andrew/Sandburg/Stagg’s Amber Schwider in the 155 championship in a matchup of two placers from the IWCOA finals where Rodriguez was sixth at 160 and Schwider was eighth at 152. For third place, Larkin’s Giselle Ayala, who took fourth at 152 in the IWCOA finals, won 7-0 over Plainfield South’s Teagan Aurich.

The Saxon sophomore went 4-0 on the day with three of her victories coming by fall to become one of three individual champions who helped their team to capture top honors in impressive fashion. She was pleased to see her and her teammates compete at a high level against the quality field that participated in the tournament.

“I think this is a really good opportunity for all of us,” Rodriguez said. “We’re from Schaumburg, so we really don’t see a lot of these schools so this is the first time that we get to get experience against everyone else.”

170 – Arie Johnson, Richwoods

Richwoods’ Arie Johnson, who captured the 152 state title at the IWCOA finals in June, gave the Lady Knights their second 

championship of the day when she posted a 7-2 victory over West  Aurora’s Ionicca Rivera in the 170 finals to follow up on three falls. Thesenior standout doesn’t just compete in wrestling, she’s also a member of Richwoods’ cheerleading team. Morton’s Kristiana Bass claimed third place after recording a fall against Andrew/Sandburg/Stagg’s Emma Akpan.

190 – Maria Ferrer, Larkin

Larkin’s Maria Ferrer recorded four falls, including one in the title match against West Aurora’s Brittney Moran, to lead the Royals, who had three of their four individuals place in the top-four. Ferrer, a junior, was the IWCOA champion at 170 and now owns a 21-match winning streak over the past two seasons. In the semifinals, Moran beat Richwoods’ Jaida Johnson, who placed third at 170 in the IWCOA finals. Johnson went on to claim third place with a 10-0 victory over Normal West’s Henriette Bustgaard.

235 – Lili Reyes, Schaumburg

Lili Reyes capped an historic day for Schaumburg by claiming her team’s third championship in the competition. In the 235 finals, Reyes, who was the IWCOA champion at 220, won by fall over Homewood-Flossmoor’s Ini Odumosu to claim the title with her fourth pin of the day. Host Normal Community received a 3-0 victory from Shelby Hailey in the third-place match against Joliet Central’s Janiya McMurtry.

Beside hoping to become one of the first individuals to capture both IWCOA and IHSA championships in the sport, the Saxon junior is excited about what her program might be able to achieve during this truly historic season.

“This is a really good feeling,” said Reyes. “It feels like all of the hard work that we’ve been doing is really paying off. It’s great, it’s a new feeling for everything. With all of the new girls stuff that has been opened up, so many more girls are joining because of that.”

Normal Community wins title at own junior-varsity tournament

The hosts claimed top honors in the junior-varsity boys competition as coach Trevor Kaufman’s Ironmen scored 197.5 points while Mahomet-Seymour was second with 150.5 points and Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher beat out Pontiac by  a 115.5-110 margin to claim third place honors. Ten of the teams in the 31-school field won individual titles.

Capturing titles for Normal Community were Caden Correll (106), Dylan Conway (126) and Jayden Campbell (132). Mahomet-Seymour’s Deandre Hughey (145) and Camden Harms (285) also won titles and Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher received title wins from Shawn Schlickman (120) and Gavin Johnson (220).

Other tournament champions were LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Kobe Brent (113). Metamora’s Dylan Baitinger (138), Pontiac’s Dylan Ramsey (152), Centennial’s Leon Gordon (160), Richwoods’ Gabe Martinez (170), East Peoria’s Kaden Rowland (182) and Peoria High’s Malachi Washington (195).

By Curt Herron

Although Mount Carmel had the fewest number of qualifiers of the three squads that were in the battle for the team title at last Saturday’s Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Class 3A Open Championships in Springfield, it got maximum points from the six individuals that it had on hand for the tournament.

The Caravan averaged 16.5 points per individual to score 99 points, which was 5.5 points better than DeKalb and Glenbard North, who tied for second place with 93.5 points. The Barbs averaged 11.7 points for each of their eight qualifiers while the Panthers received 8.5 points on average from their 11 competitors.

In an effective combination of scoring bonus points and winning close decisions, Coach Alex Tsirtsis’ squad went 24-7 with seven falls, two wins by technical fall and three major decisions to account for half of their wins and another quarter of their victories came in matches that they won by two points or less. The team champs also won their two head-to-head matchups against Glenbard North and the one against DeKalb.

While the team champions in Class 1A, Lena-Winslow/Stockton, and Class 2A, Marian Central Catholic, both won state, sectional and super regional championships, the Caravan’s only title in the IWCOA series came in the state finals. They finished third in the other two tournaments.

The last time that Mount Carmel won a state title was in 1994, when it completed a run of three-straight years as IHSA Class AA dual team champions and its coach was one of Illinois’ legendary figures, National Wrestling Hall of Famer Bill Weick.

Mount Carmel got a state championship from Ryan Boersma (285) while Damian Resendez (106), Zack Rotkvich (152) and Colin Kelly (160) all placed third, Eddie Enright (120) took fourth and Caleb Drousias (113) fell one win shy of a medal. Rotkvich was the only senior among them.

“We had five out of the six place and the one that lost in the blood round had a great tournament and he scored a lot of points for us, too,” Tsirtsis said. “So they came here to wrestle and that’s all that you can ask for and they got better in every match.”

Boersma completed a 12-0 season by winning 4-0 over Belleville West’s previously-unbeaten Dustin Olmstead (26-1) in the final championship of the day at 285. The junior, who competed for Providence Catholic the past two years, improved on his fifth-place medal from a year ago at the same weight by collecting a fall and a 6-0 decision before claiming a 2-1 win on an overtime tiebreaker in a key semifinal match against Glenbard North’s Paulie Robertson (26-2).

Resendez (14-3), a freshman, went 5-1 with two wins by technical fall and followed up on a 10-4 quarterfinal loss to Andrew runner-up Max Siegel (8-1) with four-straight wins to claim third place with a 9-1 victory over Jacobs’ Dominic Ducato (27-2).

Rotkvich (15-2), a senior, went 4-1 to take third place at 152 with all of his victories by two points or less. After falling 7-2 to Schaumburg runner-up Grant Hansen in the semifinals, he won 3-1 in sudden victory over Lockport’s Nate Ramsey (25-3) and then claimed a 3-2 victory over McHenry’s Brody Hallin (31-2).

Kelly (16-3), a freshman, claimed third place at 160 after going 5-1 with a fall and two major decisions with his lone loss coming to Batavia’s first-ever champion, unbeaten Mikey Caliendo (34-0). In the third-place match, he captured a 7-2 win over Sandburg’s Zach Bateman (15-4).

Enright (13-4), a freshman, went 4-2 and recorded three falls and won a tiebreaker while falling 3-1 in the 120 quarterfinals to Prospect’s unbeaten champion Will Baysingar (20-0) and then losing 6-4 to Stevenson’s Lorenzo Frezza (31-2) in the third-place match.

Drousias (11-7), a sophomore who recorded two falls and lost to St. Charles East’s unbeaten champ Ben Davino (30-0) in the 113 quarterfinals, fell a win shy of being the Caravan’s sixth medalist.

Also competing for the Caravan in the Elmhurst Sectional and the Marist Super Regional were freshman Carlos Perez (138), sophomore Joshua Kwiatkowski (126) and junior Owen Jacobson (170). Earlier in the week, Perez won the 138 title at the IWCOA’s Frosh-Soph Championships.

Trying to put together a successful season during a pandemic has certainly been one of the greatest challenges that coaches will ever face. But thanks to a lot of hard work and increased dedication, the Caravan were able to put together a truly memorable season.

“It’s been a weird year with how the regular season was and then kind of leading into this, but I think they really took it in stride toward these last two weeks,” Tsirtsis said. “I think with everything that’s been going on the last 14 or 15 months that everyone’s been chomping at the bit to have a little bit of the feeling of getting back.  

“Basically, we shut down everything two and a half weeks after the high school state tournament. So we went from a high of competing to nothing, so it felt good for everyone to get out here and compete against people that you haven’t seen in a little over a year. It really gets your competitive juices going again and it makes you feel alive.”

Tsirtsis has already accomplished a lot during his five seasons as the program’s coach, which isn’t that surprising considering his impressive credentials. He was a four-time Indiana state champion at Griffith and had a 236-0 record and then was an All-American and also a four-time Big 10 placewinner with 96 wins while competing for the University of Iowa, where he was on two NCAA DI championship teams.

Boersma is his fifth champion at the school, joining David Riojas (2017), Colton Drousias (2019), Sergio Lemley (2020) and Noah Mis (2020). He also led the Caravan to the IHSA dual team finals in 2020, where they finished in second place to Montini Catholic, which was the program’s best showing since Weick’s 2002 squad placed second to Providence Catholic.

The Caravan coach feels privileged to be able to coach at a school with a rich history that now boasts 23 champions who have won 35 titles.
“It’s crazy with the teams from the 1990s and the support we get from the alumni,” Tsirtsis said. “But it’s not only from the alumni, it’s from the school itself, they know how important wrestling is to Mount Carmel and they do a great job of supporting it. 

“This is more satisfying than competing yourself. You see kids go through highs and lows and you go through it with them. And then when you see them accomplish what they want to accomplish or even just make improvements, that’s what it’s all about. It’s just a process of growing and improving and the goal is to make an impact on peoples’ lives in a positive way.”

By Curt Herron

There are very few programs that will get the opportunity to do what Marian Central Catholic accomplished when it competed in last Friday’s Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Class 2A Open Championships in Springfield.

What the Hurricanes achieved that day was to set school records for most champions with three, finalists with four and medal winners with nine to help them to pile up a total of 178 points, which was 30.5 points better than runner-up Civic Memorial, to easily win the team title in the competition at Bank of Springfield Center.

In coach David Silva’s final day of his five-year tenure at the Woodstock school, his team had more champions and individual placewinners than the program had in the years before he took over in 2016-17 and the nine medals was one shy of the total that the school won in 20 years from its first medal winner in 1985 to 2016.

Silva, who is moving to Nashville, Tennessee to take a new job, also led the Hurricanes to their first three appearances in the IHSA dual team finals from 2018-20 and their third-place finish in 2019 marked the first time that they won a trophy in the sport. His teams went 108-13 in dual meets, losing just five times in four years with no losses this season.

Winning championships for Marian Central Catholic were seniors Dylan Connell (182) and Elon Rodriguez (126) and junior Nik Jimenez (132), who all finished unbeaten. Connell (24-0) is a four-time state champion while Rodriguez (25-0), a finalist for the second-straight year and three-time medal winner, and Jimenez (25-0), who was a finalist at Harvard last season, both won their first titles.

Connell won 9-1 over Civic Memorial’s Colton Carlisle in the 182 finals to join the exclusive four-time champions club. Rodriguez pulled out a thriller in the 126 finals, beating St. Patrick’s Sean Conway 3-2 in an overtime tiebreaker and Jimenez captured a 4-0 victory over Deerfield’s Rory Perlow in the 132 title match.

Right after Rodriguez and Jimenez won their titles, sophomore Chris Moore (138) hoped to capture another championship for the Hurricanes. But the 2020 champion while competing for Aurora Christian, suffered his only loss and finished with a 16-1 record after falling 7-2 in 138 finals to Civic Memorial’s Caleb Tyus, who also was unbeaten.

Third-place finishers junior Josh Glover (106) and senior Scott Burke (152) both fell in the quarterfinals to eventual champions, but then won their next four matches. Glover (11-2) bounced back from a loss to Joliet Catholic Academy’s Gylon Sims by claiming four-straight wins to take third and Burke (22-4) did the same thing after falling to Civic Memorial’s Vinny Zerban. It was the second state medal won by both Burke and Glover.

Sophomore Nick Davidson (16-9) fell in the 120 semifinals to Morton’s Connor Kidd and then split his next two matches to finish in fourth place and sophomore Charlie Fitzgerald (20-5) lost in the 113 quarterfinals to the eventual champion, Joliet Catholic Academy’s Shay Korhorn, and won three of his next four matches to finish fifth.  

Senior Joe Miller (21-9) went 2-2 after falling in the 220 quarterfinals to Glenwood’s Conner Miller to claim sixth place and freshman Max Astacio (14-4) was the team’s other qualifier and he went 1-2 at 145.

“These guys performed very well at the state tournament and I’m so proud of them because we worked really hard,” Silva said. “Our season kept being pushed back but even during that time we were finding opportunities to wrestle and compete and we’d travel out of state or do what we needed to do to keep these guys busy and active. I’m just super proud of their consistency in the room and their hard work.

“Some of these guys were sacrificing a lot of the senior year when normally they’d be hanging out with their friends or enjoying the summer. They were dedicated and they were loyal and they just followed through on everything and I’m so glad that they did because we ended in the right way. Finishing on top is obviously the goal, but we put so much time and effort into it so it was very fitting to go the way that we did.”

There were significant differences in the IWCOA and IHSA tournaments. The IWCOA competition was one day for each of the three classes, instead of everyone competing for three days. In addition, the champion being determined by the scored meet was the IHSA practice from 1937-83, but that was replaced in 1984 by the dual team finals, which takes place one week after the individual finals.

“I liked it,” Silva said of the IWCOA state finals format. “Having the one-day tournament was different, but it really had a spotlight on the guys who were performing well, and fortunately for us, our guys performed very well that day so these guys got the attention that they deserved. “The guys that score the most points win tournaments, and we were prepared to do that. It was kind of cool since guys were still going for majors, techsand pins and ordinarily you wouldn’t do that.”

“The competition was there but the only difference was that there weren’t quite as many fans and the venue was different. But other than that, wrestling is wrestling and it didn’t matter if we had it in Springfield or if we had it in Champaign, the true competitors were going to come. I kept telling our guys to not be distracted about what other people were saying. If you’re a true competitor, you show up and you compete. I think it was a great showing for everyone.”

Other members of Hurricanes who competed when the team won the Naperville Athletic Center Sectional and Antioch Super Regionals were seniors Lou Gaddy (170) and Hugh Holian (160) and sophomores John Herff (195) and Ray Hughes (285).

Silva is very happy with the progress that the Hurricanes have made during his five years of leading the program. His nephew, Fernie Silva, who was a two-time finalist and 2016 Class 3A champion at Hononegah and wrestled at Indiana University, assisted him this season and will take over as the head coach of the program.

“I really put in a lot of time into this group,” said David Silva, who competed at Dundee-Crown and Elmhurst College. “When I started at Marian five years ago, a newspaper guy interviewed me and asked me what my goals and aspirations were and I told him that I wanted to create a program from the ground up that was very competitive and I wanted to win the state title. I wanted a team that competed not only at the tournament level to get state championships, but also on the dual team state level and to be at state every year. He kind of laughed and said that we could never do that at Marian, but we did, and I’m super proud of that.

“At Marian, we got kids who wanted to be elite, not only in the classroom, but in all aspects of their life. I tell people if you want what’s best for your kids you have to put them in the right environment. These kids have made that decision and when they’re at Marian, they thrive and I think it’s definitely worked out to everyones’ benefit. It’s been so rewarding for me to help these guys get to their goals. I really cherish the five years I’ve been able to spend with these guys and I’ll never forget, I know I won’t. I even get emotional thinking about it because it’s the relationships and we’ve spent some special times together.

“There’s going to be a change at the top with the coach but nothing will really change since they’ll keep training hard and there will be new guys coming in every year who have the same goals to be state champions. It’s going to be business as usual. I have a lot of faith in this program and what I built and I think it will continue on for years to come.

By Curt Herron

You know that a team has turned in a good performance in a major tournament when it loses all of its championship and third-place matches but is still able to win the title before that round even began, and that was the case at last Thursday’s Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association’s Class 1A Open Championships in Springfield.

Lena-Winslow/Stockton advanced all seven of its qualifiers to the first- and third-place mats and claimed four second-place finishes and three fourth-place showings, but despite that, the squad had already performed so well throughout the rest of the day that it had captured the team championship before those matches were even contested.

Coach Kevin Milder’s co-op team finished with 124.5 points, placing it ahead of Dakota, who took second place with 105.5, and IC Catholic, who placed third with 100.5 points.

The PantherHawks received second-place finishes from seniors Case Harmston (170), Jaden Rice (182) and Andrew Haas (195) and sophomore Garrett Luke (120) while finishing in fourth place were seniors Simon Rillie (145) and Jason Hermann (160) and sophomore Griffin Luke (152).

Four of those matches were decided by three points or less. Dakota and IC Catholic both had five medalists and they each won a title and claimed a third-place victory.

“I’m very proud of the kids,” Milder said. “This group really took the season and the tournament postseason very seriously and they worked hard. I had a good core of senior leadership in the room, and that was the core of my team from 2019 when we won the state title. 

“Just for them to be able to have the opportunity to kind of have some closure on their high school careers was huge for those guys.”

Rice (31-1) suffered his only loss in the 182 finals by 5-3 score to LeRoy’s Grant Sant Amour and Haas (26-5) lost 10-7 in the 195 finals to Tremont’s unbeaten Cooper Wendling.

Garrett Luke (23-5) fell 10-1 to Dakota’s Phoenix Blakely in the 120 finals and Harmston (30-2) lost by fall in 3:24 to Alleman’s Jack Patting in the 170 title match.

In the third-place matches, Rillie (28-6) lost 7-6 to LeRoy’s Owen Gulley at 145, Hermann (31-4) fell 5-1 in sudden victory to Yorkville Christian’s Tyler Martinez at 160 and Griffin Luke (25-5) lost by fall in 2:34 to Canton’s Joseph Norton at 152. Hermann and Rillie lost to eventual champions in the semifinals while Griffin Luke fell 8-7 in that round.

“We had a rough final round,” Milder said. “We had seven kids place and in the final round we had four in the finals and they all got second and the other three were in the third-place match and they got fourth. But to put ourselves into that position, I thought we wrestled really well. 

“And obviously the further you go into a tournament, the tougher the road is going to be. We had some tough matches but I think getting the team trophy was a big boost for our kids. They worked hard all throughout, so to have that result at the end of the tournament was very rewarding for the kids.”

Having any sort of a season was very important to nearly all teams, but Lena-Winslow/Stockton’s athletes showed their coach a special level of dedication.

“I think we initially went into it happy that we could do something,” Milder said of his team’s season. “The kids were excited about just getting back on the mat. As the state series got closer, I was really proud of my kids for sticking it out. Some of them were coming to practice after they had graduated or school was out. I was really proud of the kids for keeping up the hard work.”

“I know from talking with other programs that they had kids who weren’t showing up and other kids didn’t get into the tournament for whatever reasons. I commended my kids and said how proud I was that they were just putting in the work to do this. The work ethic is a big piece of it for us, our kids are committed and they work their butts off.”

That dedication isn’t surprising from a program that Milder has led since 1994-95 and which he led the Panthers to a state runner-up finish for their first trophy in 2012 and state championships in both 2017 and 2019. 

Boosted by an impressive 254-20 record during the past 10 seasons, Milder owns a 488-139 record in 27 years leading the program. 

This season’s team finished with a 21-1 record in dual meets and now has won 20 or more dual meets for seven straight years.

The northwest part of Illinois has been strong in the sport ever since the advent of the two-class system. In recent years, Dakota won four titles in a row from 2013-16 before Lena-Winslow/Stockton claimed its two titles in three years and Dakota captured its sixth title since 2006 last season.

One of the highlights for Milder’s team in the regular season was a dual meet that it hosted against Dakota on May 27 in a clash of the top-two ranked teams in Class 1A.
Lena-Winslow/Stockton won four overtime matches to claim a 40-28 victory.

“I think that the programs in our area have made everybody else better,” Milder said. “From the youth level, they’re just constantly getting tough matches all the way through.

“You’ve got to have a lot of courage to step on a mat and it’s just one-on-one and there’s no blending in like in other team sports. There’s really nowhere to hide when you’re one-on-one on the mat, so it definitely takes a different kind of kid to accept that and to embrace it.”

Individuals from the team that helped them win the Sandwich Sectional and Sandwich Super Regional were freshman Carson McPeek (126), junior Zach White (132) and sophomore Henry Engel (220) while those who were part of the Sandwich Super Regional champions were freshmen Noah Draeger (106) and Logan Breed (113).

By Curt Herron and Gary Larsen

The IWCOA Open State Championships crowned its Class 3A state champions and place-winners in Springfield on June 26. Here are the stories of those champions:

106 – Jameson Garcia, Marmion Academy

The best wrestlers hold onto a loss like a grudge, the way Marmion’s Jameson Garcia did over his state quarterfinal loss in Champaign as a freshman in 2020.

“Last year I lost in the blood rounds so I’ve been waiting for this day for a year,” Garcia said. “That’s what’s kept me pushing forward and excited to wrestle in this tournament.”

Garcia kicked off the 3A title round of the IWCOA Open state championships by putting last year’s grudge to rest. The Marmion sophomore won a 5-1 decision in his title match against Andrew’s Max Seigel to capture his first high school state crown.

“I knew that if I just continued to wrestle my style, it’s really hard for people to do their thing,” Garcia said. “(Seigel) is a tough wrestler and had good defense so I just had to create angles.”

Garcia (8-0) posted a tech fall, a pin, and then another tech fall in his semifinal match against Glenbard North’s Dominic Marre to reach the finals. Seigel (8-1) opened with a pair of straight decision wins and then posted a third in his 4-3 win in a state semifinal match against Jacobs’ Dominic Ducato.

In winning the title Garcia became the 13th state champion in Marmion history.

“I was a little smaller last year but I’ve just continued to do what I do best — hand-fight, get to my shots – and that’s really what I do. I also worked on positions that I needed to work on,” Garcia said.

Garcia credited his club coaches and a Marmion staff led by head coach Nate Fitzenreider for helping him win a state title.
Marmion assistant coach Sparty Chino believes the sky’s the limit for the Cadets’ sophomore.

“I know his ultimate goal is to be a three-time state champ, a Fargo champ, then an NCAA champ,” Chino said. “He’s just a sponge and you can’t help but give him information because you know he’ll take it and do it in his next match.”

Mt. Carmel’s Damien Recendez finished third at 106 via 9-1 decision over Ducato, and Marre placed fifth with a tech fall win over sixth-place Wiley Jessup of Fremd.

113 – Ben Davino, St. Charles East

Facing the biggest challenge of an exceptional freshman season, St. Charles East’s Ben Davino figured to have hands full against DeKalb senior Ben Aranda in their 113-pound title match in Springfield, and that certainly proved to be the case.

Aranda, trying to complete his career as a champion and also help the Barbs to perhaps win the team title, battled Davino through regulation and overtimes and into a tiebreaker where Davino allowed an escape and was able to get a takedown in the final seconds to help him complete a perfect 30-0 season with a 7-4 victory.

“It feels really good,” Davino said. “It’s everything I dreamed of. At first, I didn’t think that I’d get anything, but I’m super glad that (Rob) Porter helped to put this thing together. It took a lot of effort but it turned out awesome. It was a super exciting match and I didn’t believe in myself for some of it, but in the last 10 seconds, I was like, just go, go, go.”

Davino had few difficulties prior to the finals, recording a fall in 0:58 in his first match, another in 0:51 over Mount Carmel sophomore Caleb Drousias in the quarterfinals and a win by fall in 1:25 in the semifinals over Marist sophomore Jesse Herrera.  

Aranda, who placed fourth a year ago at 106, finished with an 18-2 record. He followed up on a win by technical fall with a fall in 1:35 in the quarterfinals over Lake Park freshman Vincent Merola and then a pin in 4:35 in the semifinals over Lincoln-Way Central junior Joey Malito.

Davino won the fifth title for the Fighting Saints since the district split and the program now has 10 championships that have been won by seven individuals, with coach Jason Potter leading the way with three. Later in the round, the Barbs picked up their 12th title and got their 10th champion when Bradley Gillum won at 170, which helped DeKalb tie Glenbard North for second in the team standings with 93.5 points, which was 5.5 points behind champion Mount Carmel.

Malito (23-1) bounced back from his lone loss to capture a 10-3 win over Herrera (16-3) to claim third place while Glenbard West senior Hunter Bogwill (22-9) won by medical forfeit over Schaumburg sophomore Caden Kirchner (24-8) in the fifth-place match.

120 – Will Baysingar, Prospect

Top-ranked and unbeaten was how Baysingar arrived at this year’s IWCOA state tournament and that’s the way the sophomore departed the tournament, improving to 20-0 and winning the first state title of his career.
Baysingar won a 6-0 decision in the title match at 120 over Billy Meiszner of Providence Catholic and improved to 68-1 in his high school career through two seasons.

“This feels great,” Baysingar said. “I won a title back in kids’ club and that was a great feeling there, and it’s a great feeling now. It’s just pure happiness.”

Baysingar went into Springfield ranked No. 1 in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings.

Baysingar placed third in Illinois at 106 last year in Champaign, where he suffered the lone loss of his prep career, a 4-3 state semifinal decision to eventual champions Joe Fernau of Montini.

“That loss has been my motivation for the past year,” Baysingar said. “I’ve been working to get as strong as I can. I really wanted to work on my top (position) and my hand-fighting, I’ve stayed focused on the best matches I can get so I can prepare for the better opponents.

“I didn’t know we’d even have a state series this year and I’m really happy we did. It was a lot of fun.”

Baysingar posted a major decision and three straight decision wins in his state title run, capped by his win over Meiszner.  

“I wrestled (Meiszner) before and we’ve had some closer matches than this one. I won by a point once and a couple points by another,” Baysingar said. “I just really wanted to keep the tempo going. Usually the first takedown wins the match so I was focused on coming out aggressive and getting the fist score.”
Baysingar joined former Prospect greats Matt Boggess (2009) and Matt Wroblewski (2017) in becoming the third state champion in Prospect history.  

Meiszner reached the finals thanks to a 4-2 semifinal win over Sandburg’s Sammie Hayes. Stevenson’s Lorenzo Frezza placed third at 120 with a 6-4 win over fourth-place Eddie Enright of Mt. Carmel, and Hayes took fifth via fall over sixth-place Caelen Riley of Libertyville.

126 – Jacob Macatangay, Plainfield North

Jacob Macatangay wasted little time in setting the tone in the 126 pound championship match at Saturday’s IWCOA Class 3A Open Championships in Springfield.

The Plainfield North junior used a quick five-point move against Lake Park junior Dominik Mallinder and went on to dominate before getting a fall in 2:45 to make him the second Tiger to win a state title, joining Matt Hennessey, who won the program’s first title in 2018.  

“It was definitely a confidence booster,” said Macatangay. “(The five-point move) wasn’t my idea for scoring, but it worked out for me. More my ideal was getting my single-leg and getting in shots. But it definitely changed my confidence and helped me to push my offense more, too. I’ve worked really hard and practiced with my club coach (Mike Rundell) and he has helped me so much with my technique. I was so happy when I heard that they would have a state series. I was glad that I could redeem myself from last year. We started real young when I was a freshman, but our guys are getting more mature and seeing better opportunities as they get older. We’ve just grown so much.”

Macatangay, who placed sixth a year ago at 113, finished the season with a 34-0 record. In the semifinals, he recorded a fall in 1:04 over Fremd sophomore Maddox Khalimsky, he won his quarterfinal match by technical fall in 4:42 over Sandburg senior Matthew Parker and kicked off the day with a 15-2 victory.

Mallinder, who made his state debut and finished with a 26-2 record, hoped to capture the school’s seventh title and become the fifth Lancer to win a state championship and the first to do it since 1997, when Jamie Pales took top honors.  

He won 7-5 over Hinsdale Central sophomore Cody Tavoso in the semifinals, claimed a 3-2 quarterfinal victory over Stevenson senior Kei Yamato and got a fall in his opener.

Tavoso (20-1), who placed sixth last year, bounced back from his lone loss to claim a 5-1 victory over Khalimsky (19-2) for third place while DeKalb freshman Daniel Aranda (8-4) won 9-1 over Yamato (27-6) in the fifth-place match.

132 – Kole Brower, Moline

Brower left no doubt who the top 132-pounder was in Springfield, posting two tech falls and two major decision wins during his run to a state title.  

“I just worked hard and told myself that I’m better than everybody else, and that no one should beat me,” Brower said. “I train with the top guys and go out and find the best partners I can.”
Brower (23-0) won his title with a major decision over Dylan Gvillo (20-2) of Edwardsville. The top-ranked Moline junior won by tech fall in his quarterfinal match against No. 3 Matt Chi of Glenbard North, then did the same in his semifinal win over No. 4 Cole Rhemrev of Stevenson.
After failing to medal as a state qualifier last season, Brower turned on a switch after last year’s state finals.

“I worked hard before but I didn’t take it as seriously as I could have,” Brower said. “I looked at kids as better than me when they were beating me, and now I look at it like I should be beating them. I got faster, learned how to move my feet a little better and I know that I can’t hold back and I need to score every time.”
Brower became the first Moline state champion since 2014, when Adarios Jones won the title at 285 pounds. Brower and teammates Noah Tapia (138) and DeAnthony Parker (182) all won state titles this year, giving the program its 13th, 14th, and 15th state champions.
“We’re good,” Brower said matter-of-factly about this year’s team. “That’s all we are.”

Gvillo opened his tournament with a simple decision win and then earned two falls to reach the finals. Rhemrev placed third at 132 in a 10-2 win over fourth-place Chi, and Batavia’s Kaden Fetterolf took fifth via 4-3 decision over sixth-place Pierre Baldwin of West Chicago.

138 – Noah Tapia, Moline

After coming up one win shy of a state medal a year ago, Noah Tapia was determined to not fall short of a much bigger accomplishment this year, winning a state title.

The Moline sophomore got a takedown with 32 seconds left in overtime to win 6-4 on sudden victory over Lockport junior Keegan Roberson in the 138 pound finals at Saturday’s IWCOA Class 3A Open Championships in Springfield.

“That was definitely the scenario that you’re always imagining of winning the state finals in overtime,” Tapia said. “There was a time when me, Kole (Brower) and DJ (DeAnthony Parker) were uncertain if we’d even compete in this. But we kind of all decided that why wouldn’t we? This is an opportunity to be in that state tournament or it would have been a whole year that we would have lost. So we came out and performed like this and it feels great. And we got great support from parents, coaches and teammates.”

Tapia, who finished 8-0, beat Wheaton Warrenville South senior Aidan Waszak 9-3 in the semifinals and Stevenson senior Arad Peregoudov 17-4 in the quarterfinals. Roberson, who finished 24-3, got an 8-6 sudden victory in the semifinals over Huntley senior Jeremy Jakowitsch and claimed a 9-6 win over Glenbard North sophomore Nolan Allen in the quarterfinals.

It was an historic day for the Tapia and the Maroons, who claimed three individual titles with Kole Brower winning just ahead of him at 132 and DeAnthony Parker taking first at 182 and both finished with 23-0 records. It was Moline’s most titles at a single finals, with the previous high being two in 1969 with Paul Carther and Dwight McHenry being the champions. The Maroons now have 17 titles and 15 champions.

And the titles were Moline’s first since 2014, when Adarios Jones won. Highlighting the impact of the day, coach Jacob Ruettiger’s Maroons had one less championship than they had won in the previous 40 years. The Porters later claimed their 13th title and 12th champion when Andrew Blackburn-Forst won at 220. Had Roberson won, it would have been the third time that Lockport had two champions.

Jakowitsch (29-2) won 4-3 over Allen (15-2) to take third place for the second year in a row while Downers Grove North freshman Harrison Konder (20-4) claimed a 3-2 win over Waszak (23-5) 3-2 for fifth place.

145 – Ethan Stiles, Conant

Stiles placed third at 132 as a freshman in 3A last year while wrestling for Montini, before transferring to Conant and becoming the 7th state champion in program history at this year’s tournament. The sophomore is also the first state champ for Conant in 21 years, since Jim Kassner won the state crown at 215 in 2000.

Second-ranked Stiles (10-0) won a 12-1 major decision over top-ranked Tommy Curran (13-1) of DeKalb on the title mat.

Stiles kicked off his title run with a tech fall and then a simple decision win, before winning by major decision in his semifinal match against Justin Warnowski of Grant.  

Curran (13-1) opened with a tech fall before winning two decisions to reach the finals, capped by a 3-1 semifinal win over Neuqua Valley’s Bryce Boumans.

Stiles used a 5-point move near the edge early in the first period against Curran and never looked back, posting takedowns in the second and third periods en route to his major decision win.

In an interview with Tony LiFonti of Illinois Matmen after the win, Stiles talked about the win over Curran:

“Me and [Curran] have history,” Stiles explained. “We both beat each other last year, so I just came into the match knowing that I was going to dominate. I know what it takes to win that match, and that is putting lots of pressure on his head—I knew he would break and that’s what happened.”

Boumans finished third at 145 with a 5-1 win over fourth-place Warmowski, and Oswego’s Zach Sato took fifth via 6-1 decision over sixth-place Jake Matthews of Addison Trail.

152 – Damari Reed, Shepard

When a school has only had two individual state champions who won three state titles in boys athletics in its 44-year history, it’s usually not a good setting for someone who hopes to win a state title.

But don’t tell that to Shepard’s Damari Reed, who made the supporters of the school in south suburban Palos Heights very proud this week when he captured the 152-pound title in the IWCOA’s Class 3A Open Championships in Springfield.

Under the guidance of coach Scott Richardson, the Astros junior fought through overtime matches in the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals and edged Schaumburg senior Grant Hansen 5-3 in an overtime tiebreaker in the title match to give Shepard its fourth title in the sport, with the others won by Paul Kubski (1984) and Paul Cocco (1980, 1981).  

“The main thing for me coming from not such a big wrestling school, I have to push harder than any other person out here,” Reed said. “My whole thing is focusing and hard work, that’s what got me here today. Being from a south suburban high school, I don’t really have that many partners that can push me as well as I push them. But I still thank them for showing up for practice and working with me every day and my coach being with me. All three of my matches from the quarterfinals to the finals were all in overtime, and that’s called conditioning and hard work. I took on these big, muscle-bound dudes and I’m lean and lanky. I wanted to get my picture in the hallway since they post all of the state champions, so my face is going to be up there.”

Reed, who finished with a 15-1 record, won his first match at state in 2019 and lost the next two competing at 119 pounds. He did not participate in the postseason last year. After winning 9-2 in his first match, he beat Lockport senior Nate Ramsey 7-5 in sudden victory in the quarterfinals and then won 6-5 in an overtime tiebreaker over McHenry junior Brody Hallin in the semifinals. Then in the finals, he got a reversal in overtime to secure the championship.  

Hansen, who finished 27-1 after suffering his first loss, opened with a fall before claiming an 8-2 quarterfinal win over Libertyville freshman Matt Kubas and following that with a 7-2 semifinal win over Mount Carmel senior Zack Rotkvich. After going 0-2 in his state debut a year ago, he was hoping to become just the second Saxons champion and add to the two titles that Josh Marchok had won in 2011 and 2012.

Rotkvich (15-2) won 3-2 over Hallin (31-2) to finish third while Ramsey (25-3) beat Kubas (26-7) by a 14-3 score to take fifth place.

160 – Mikey Caliendo, Batavia

Is it utter domination and a history-making performance you want? Then look no further than the way Caliendo dominated his competition all season, punctuated by the history he made in Springfield for Batavia’s wrestling program.

Caliendo was a wrecking ball this year, finishing with a 34-0 record and doing it without giving up a single offensive point in 34 matches. Nobody keeps records on how many wrestlers have gone a whole season without giving up a single takedown or reversal, but you can bet Caliendo reached some rarefied air with that feat in 2021.

Even more importantly to Caliendo, his major decision over Minooka’s Jack McClimon on the title mat at 160 made him the first state champion in Batavia history.

“That’s always been my goal, since second or third grade in kids’ club,” Caliendo said. “I always wanted to be up on that wall.”

Logan Arlis, son of former Batavia and Naperville North coach Tom Arlis, was a state runner-up at 112 pounds in 2009. Matt Weight also wrestled for a state title at 215 pounds in 2000 and placed second for Batavia.
Logan Arlis is now an assistant coach at Batavia under head coach Scott Bayer, and has Caliendo is grateful for his influence.
“It really means a lot to him and to me that we could get someone on the wall,” Caliendo said of Arlis. “He puts in a lot of work for me, pushing me in the room. And training at Izzy Style, of course – that’s my second family over there. We’re never taking days off.
“I just put in more work and never stopped grinding this year. There are always ups and downs in this sport but even when you’re having your worst day, you can’t put off going into the gym and working out.”

Caliendo posted two falls and two major decisions to win his state crown, and will now head off to wrestle at North Dakota State University.  

McClimon (27-2) earned his spot on the title mat with a major decision win in his semifinal match against Tommy Boland of Marist.
Mt. Carmel’s Colin Kelly took third at 160 via 7-2 decision over fourth-place Zach Bateman of Sandburg, and Boland placed fifth with a fall against Lockport’s sixth-place Paul Kadlec.

170 – Bradley Gillum, DeKalb

After dropping a 3-1 decision in last year’s Class 3A title match at 160 to Edwardsville’s Luke Odom, DeKalb’s Bradley Gillum was determined to not fall short again.

With Naperville Central junior Antonio Torres trying to upset the party by becoming his school’s first champion since 1973, the Barbs junior accomplished what he set out to do and capped an 18-0 season with a 5-2 victory in the 170 title match at Saturday’s IWCOA Class 3A Open Champions in Springfield.  

“I knew that I needed to step it up just a little bit more,” Gillum said. “As a sophomore, it was a great accomplishment to get to the finals already, but I wasn’t satisfied with that, I wanted the bracket board. It was very iffy the entire year, but just because COVID hit, it didn’t mean that anyone else in Illinois was going to sit back and take the easy way out. All of my friends said that since last year I made it to the finals that I’d better win it the next year. Thanks to everybody who put this together. We could actually have it this year with all of the craziness that we’ve been through.”

That win also helped coach Sam Hiatt’s Barbs to 93.5 points, which tied them with Glenbard North for second in the team standings, 5.5 points behind champion Mount Carmel. They had four placewinners in addition to Gillum, with Ben Aranda and Tommy Curran falling in title matches and Daniel Aranda and Bryson Buhk placing fifth.

After recording a fall in 0:17 in his first match, Gillum claimed a 5-4 quarterfinal win over Barrington senior Marko Hennin and then won 11-1 over Conant senior Jack Hominac in the semifinals to advance to the finals for the second time in his third trip to state.  

Torres, who went 8-2 after taking fifth place at 170 for Waubonsie Valley last season, was hoping to become the Redhawks’ second champion and first in nearly 50 years, joining Doug Chirico, who won in 1973 while there was still one school in the district. Torres opened with a pin and then beat Edwardsville senior Drew Gvillo 12-3 in the quarterfinals and edged Loyola Academy junior Cooper Wettig by a 4-3 score in the semifinals to become the first from his school to reach the title mat since 1976.

Wettig (19-3) beat Hominac (28-3) by a 10-0 score to claim third place while Libertyville junior Josh Knudten (27-5) won 10-2 over Gvillo (21-3) in the fifth-place match.

182 – DeAnthony Parker, Moline

Not 10 minutes after he won an individual state title at 182 on Saturday, Parker already had no plans for any lengthy celebration.

“I’ll be back in the room Monday, getting ready for Fargo,” Parker said.

Parker (23-0) completed a perfect season and became the 15th state champion in Moline history, with his 10-2 major decision win over Libertyville’s Chase Baczek in the finals. He joined teammates Kole Brower (132) and Noah Tapia (138) as one of three Moline state champions crowned in Springfield.

Parker placed third in Illinois at last year’s state finals at 182, then put his shoulder to the wheel even harder in the time since.

“I’ve been traveling all around the country and I have a lot of people that support me and allowed me to do that,” Parker said. “I haven’t taken a break since last year’s state tournament. I’ve been wrestling ever since then.”
Parker entered the state finals ranked No. 1 at 182 and Baczek was ranked second. Parker reeled off three pins to reach the title mat, while Baczek (27-2) posted a tech fall and two simple decisions, capped by a 5-2 semifinal win over Alton’s Damien Jones.

Lake Park’s Ryan Riser took third at 182 with a 14-7 win over fourth-place Matt Arsenault of Plainfield Central, and Jones finished fifth with a 15-5 major over sixth-place Jackson Tonkovich.

Parker will join Batavia state champion Mikey Caliendo in wrestling for North Dakota State next year.

“We have a really good recruiting class, getting more good guys there, so we can take over (the program),” Parker said. “This feels good but now I have even bigger goals to focus on. I’m looking forward to wrestling in college.”

195 – Thomas Culp, Quincy

While Thomas Culp realizes that it’s tough to round up a lot of wrestlers in a basketball-crazed city like Quincy, he hopes that his accomplishment this week will help some more kids make the shift to the mat.

The Quincy senior concluded a 32-1 season by capturing an 11-4 victory over Glenbard North senior Patrick Curran in the 195 title match at Saturday’s IWCOA Class 3A Open Championships in Springfield.

“It’s been awhile since we’ve had one, 21 years, Jermaine Dade, he was really talented,” Culp said. “So this is huge. And it just shows that if you go in there and work every day of the week, if you work your butt off, it pays off. We don’t really have the most people come out for wrestling down here and we’re a 3A school so everyone who comes into the room, we like to go after them. When they said we might not have a state tournament, I almost cried, since I dreamed of winning the state title. It’s awesome to throw everybody off, when they say who does Quincy wrestling have any more, and this year we have a state champ and I’m going to represent the school well. Hopefully next year this will bring more kids out, and they’ll say, ‘Thomas Culp was the state champ’ and maybe I’ll try that.”

Culp won a match at state as a sophomore and got injured in his first state match a year ago. On Saturday, the Blue Devils senior wouldn’t let anything stop him as he recorded falls in his first three matches, recording his quickest pin in the semifinals in 0:44 over Glenbard West junior Phillip Dozier and had a fall in 2:49 in the quarterfinals over DeKalb junior Bryson Buhk.

Not only is Culp the first Blue Devils champion since Jermaine Dade won a title in 2000, he’s only the fourth in the program’s history but the first two title winners were from the 1940s and 1950s so Culp and Dade are the only ones to win titles during the past 64 years. He will continue his career and education at Missouri Baptist University.

Curran, who finished 24-3 and was the top-finisher of the Panthers’ five medal winners, got a fall in 3:43 over Marist junior Ghee Rachal (20-4) to earn his spot in the finals. The Glenbard North senior, who was making his first state trip, won his other two matches in falls with his quarterfinal match decided in 1:25 over Lincoln-Way Central senior Andrew Hesse. His efforts helped coach Travis Cherry’s Panthers to a second-place finish with DeKalb with 93.5 points while Mount Carmel won the title with 99 points.

In the third-place match, Dozier (24-2) won with a fall in 0:40 over Rachal (20-4) and Buhk (18-5) claimed a 5-3 decision over Hesse (20-6) to capture fifth place.

220 – Andrew Blackburn-Forst, Lockport

Five years ago, Lockport junior Blackburn-Forst was just a kid sitting in a grade-school classroom. But he already knew what he wanted his athletic future to look like.

“I was about in sixth grade when I heard about all these state champions coming out of Lockport and when I was in eighth grade, they won the state championship as a team,” Blackburn-Forst said. “That just made me feel like I was part of Lockport, that Lockport would be my team, and I’d get a chance to be a part of the rich history of the program. And now I’m on the wall with all those other guys.”

With his 10-3 state title-match win, third-ranked Blackburn-Forst (17-0) beat top-ranked Evan Roper (30-1) of Barrington to become the 13th state champion in Lockport history. He’s also the eighth state champ in Josh Oster’s 10 seasons as the Porters’ head coach.

Blackburn-Forst used two pins and a decision to reach the finals, stopping No. 4 Ryan Golnick of Jacobs and No. 5 Drew Bielawski of Downers Grove North along the way. Roper won a 6-4 decision over No. 2 Dzhabrail Khurshidov of West Aurora in his quarterfinal, then pinned Naperville North’s Dane Tsao in their semifinal match.

Blackburn-Forst led 3-1 in the third period against Roper in the title match and had a 5-point move to make it 8-1. Is that when he smelled blood in the water?

“He’s a phenomenal wrestler,” Blackburn-Forst said of Roper. “But I smelled blood on that first-period throw. That’s when I was smelling it and I was going for it.”

Golnick finished third at 220 via 2-1 decision over Khurshidov, and Tsao took fifth with an 11-2 major over sixth-place Bielawski.

285 – Ryan Boersma, Mount Carmel

After going to state twice while at Providence Catholic and finishing fifth a year ago at 285, Ryan Boersma was hopeful that his first visit at his new school might result in a title.

It’s safe to say that the Mount Carmel junior got more than he bargained for since not only did Boersma win an individual title at 285 pounds in Saturday’s IWCOA Class 3A Open Championships at Springfield but he also got to celebrate with his Caravan teammates after their six-man state contingent won the team title.

Boersma, who went 12-0 this season, defeated Belleville West senior Dustin Olmstead 4-0 in a clash of unbeatens in the 285 title match to cap a special day for Mount Carmel, which last won a state championship in the sport in 1994 that featured a run of three-straight title teams for hall of fame coach Bill Weick.

“I won and the team got there, too, which I’m most happy about,” Boersma said. “And we only had six guys and we didn’t have half of our starters, so all of our guys who came did really well and that was awesome. And what was really big was that they accommodated the guys who wanted to do the junior duals, too, which was huge since we were competing for Team Illinois. And look at what happened, the top four weights were all won by junior dual team members. This will be a day to remember, that’s for sure.”

Coach Alex Tsirtsis’s Caravan, who finished second in last year’s dual team competition to champion Montini, got third-place finishes from Damian Resendez, Zack Rotkvich and Colin Kelly and Eddie Enright took fourth to help them win the team title with 99 points, which was 5.5 better than DeKalb and Glenbard North, who tied for second place.

After opening with a fall, Boersma claimed a 6-0 quarterfinal victory over Fremd senior Brian Clay (21-6) and then won 2-1 on a tiebreaker over Glenbard North junior Paulie Robertson in the semifinals for his 100th win. In the finals, Boersma got a third-period takedown to assure that he would be the Caravan’s fourth champ in the past three years, following Sergio Lemley and Noah Mis (2020) and Colton Drousias (2019). Mount Carmel now has 22 state champions who have captured 34 titles.

Olmstead, who took third last year at 285 and finished 26-1 after suffering his first loss, got a 4-3 ultimate tiebreaker win over Lishman in the semifinals and had a fall in 3:12 over Maine East’s Kevin Wingate in the quarterfinals. He was hoping to become the Maroons’ fifth state champion and first since Mech Spraggins in 2013. In the third-place match, Robertson (26-2) won 4-3 by ultimate tiebreaker over Montini senior Colin Baker (10-4) and Lake Zurich senior Alan Pantoja took fifth with a 6-3 decision over West Aurora’s Jordan Lishman.