Posts by Mick Torres

By Chris Walker – for the IWCOA

Evergreen Park had been waiting for a day like Saturday all winter long.

The time was certainly right for the Mustangs to have their full lineup see action for the first time this season as six of their wrestlers won individual titles and five others placed in the top-four to lead the team to victory in Lisle’s 17-team Steve Melichar Memorial Wrestling Tournament.

“We’ve been waiting,” Mustangs coach Ron Zimmerman said. “This is our first time our lineup has been intact all the way up and through. We don’t have a heavyweight, but 106 to 215 the dudes were here (today). All the dudes were in their weight class, all the dudes were healthy and we had a good showing. And we’ve been waiting for this type of outcome from our guys because things happened with injuries, illness, weight control.”

A month ago, Evergreen Park finished in third place in Pontiac’s Munch Invitational.

“We were third in two other tournaments and we were there with 10 guys,” Zimmerman said. “If we’ve got 13 guys there we’re second or first.”

The Mustangs are getting contributions from freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.

“So we’ve got an experienced team and a young team so it’s one or the other,” Zimmerman said. “Genesis (Ward) is one of our leaders and seniors and Ashton (Gray) is a senior captain and a go-getter. David (Johnson) is a senior and my 190 (Andres Flores-Ramirez), who had a tough go today, is a senior so we have four seniors.”

Lucas Landry, who is only a freshman, won at 132 for the Mustangs with a 15-10 decision over Hinsdale South’s Jason Jude. Landry had a pair of byes so his tech fall win over St. Edward’s Axell Magana in the semis was his lone other bout.

“Lucas is a freshman and we have three sophomores in the lineup, too, so we’re also a young team,” Zimmerman said. “But we’re trying really hard to push our kids really hard within limits, you know what I’m saying, and we have 10 kids who like to wrestle and not just during the season, during the offseason too, and that makes a difference.”

Junior Christian Ramirez got the Mustangs rolling with an 11-3 decision over Glenbard East’s Cole Forsyth in the 113 final. Ramirez had a pair of first-period pins in his two earlier matches.

Another junior, Adrian Cervantes, had one of the tightest and toughest championship victories, denying Lisle’s Alexander Ferari from winning on his home turf, 5-4, at 126. Cervantes had tech fall wins earlier against Westmont’s Christian Rosa and Nazareth Academy’s Alek Ramos.

Landry beat Jude at 132 to push Evergreen Park’s tally to three champions through just five weight classes. Plus, sophomore Jayden Cervantes also wrestled during that time frame, getting pinned late in the third period in the 120 finals by Glenbard East’s Ismael Chaidez.

Junior Chance Woods, one of two returning state qualifiers for the Mustangs, pinned Argo’s Aldo Gutierrez in 3:42 for the title at 138. Woods, last year’s Most Outstanding Wrestler in the tournament, had the most team points with 28.

Gray earned a spot in the front row after pinning Belvidere’s Mario Beasley in 2:41 for the title at 157. After opening his day’s competition with a 7-2 decision over Glenbard East’s Joel Gallarza, Gray pinned Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Trevor Williams in 1:09 to get into the finals.

“He’s very intelligent, he’s smart, he goes at it,” Zimmerman said of Gray. “If he keeps his head on straight a lot of good things are going to come his way.”

“It’s completely different,” said Gray, who began his season at 144. “I was at 138 last year and started at 144 but couldn’t maintain it. Now I’m up to 165 and was just recently 157.”

“I can’t run as much as I want to keep (the weight) on me then shed it,” Gray said. “I have a lot more strength and certainly my technique. My teammates have helped me the most. I didn’t rely on them as much before and they push me. If I’m tired I rely on their support a lot more.”

That support for one another was apparent early Saturday morning when the Mustangs rode the bus to Lisle.

“The bus this morning was full of confidence that we were going to win,” Gray said. “It was not whether we’d be celebrating. We were confident before and during wrestling and it just helps pushing each other.”

Ward earned a 9-1 major decision at 215 over Nazareth Academy freshman Sammy Swais for the Mustangs’ sixth title on the day.

But before he could do that, he’d have to wait around a bit. Watching his teammates win certainly kept him entertained.

“It’s really hard staying up and keeping the energy going,” Ward explained. “But it gets me more excited to keep the energy going knowing that I’m one of the last of many people to wrestle. Each of us wrestling would get me going, get me excited.”

Ward made a quick phone call to his parents to let them know he’d be wrestling in the final soon. It got them into the bleachers in time to see him win.

“To be honest I wrestled a kid about his size not too long ago, like a week ago,” Ward said. “It was a really good match and went OT like three times but I ended up winning. Wrestling that kid helped me improve my skills, to stay low always, always be ready, keep your hands ready and stay dangerous.”

Now the state knows how dangerous of a team Evergreen Park has when at full strength. Even without a heavyweight.

In addition to winning 43 percent of the title bouts, five others placed for the Mustangs. In addition to Jayden Cervantes taking second at 120, Brayden Mateja-Bates (106) and David Johnson (150) rebounded to win third-place matches while sophomore James Wilson (175) and Andres Flores-Ramirez (190) took fourth. Junior Josh Matheny (165) and sophomore Esau Ruvalcaba (144) scored seven and four points, respectively, to also contribute for the Mustangs.

“I mean to be honest, all you’ve got to do is believe in yourself and work at it,” Ward said. “We’re only this good because of our coaches, I feel like without them it would be the opposite of what happened today. Besides that, all of our kids work hard, we wrestle, we train at practice and we do it 24/7 so it’s really expected coming into this tournament to dominate and take first place and win.”

The Mustangs finished with 241.5 points and the rest of the top 10 was Glenbard East (187.5), Hinsdale South (147.5), Northridge Prep (125.5), Westmont (120), Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy (116.5), Streamwood (104), Argo (65.5), Belvidere (58.5) and host Lisle (51.5).

Coach Donald Pool’s runner-up Rams had three champions, sophomore Lorenz Rios Loud (106), junior Ismael Chaidez (120) and junior Orlando Hoye (190). Chaidez was bestowed the honor of being named Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Rios Loud (24-5) lost in his title bout at 106 at Melichar last year, Chaidez defended his title at 120 while Hoye got pinned by Streamwood’s Gabe Inorio in the third-place match a year ago. While Inorio would go on to win the title at 175 on Saturday, Hoye (20-10) took top honors at 190 with a fall in 2:27 over Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Dylan Wilborn.

Glenbard East got a second-place finish from Cole Forsyth (113) while Leo Mundinger (165) and Cooper Conliss (285) took third and Rami Aljubor (138) finished in fourth place and also had the most wins by technical fall with three and collected the most total match points with 74.

“I would kick my butt so much from last year,” Rios Loud said. “I finished 20-10 last year and right now I’m 25-5. The biggest difference is mindset and working during the hard practices with coaches and learning from hard matches. When I lose, I change my mindset.”

That also goes for those he’s working with regularly within the Glenbard East program.

“We have a great team and we have a young team,” Rios Loud said. “We’re definitely fixing up a bunch of mistakes and learning every single match. We’re getting more people in the finals, getting more significant wins, working together as a team.”

Rios Loud accumulated points until winning by tech fall in 4:38 against Westmont’s Mason Ponce in the 106 title match.

“The key was push the pace,” Rios Loud said. “Do my offense and keep trying to score.”

Chaidez (28-2) pinned Evergreen Park’s Jayden Cervantes at 5:41 to win the 120 title.

“The game plan going into there, I was just feeling him out for the first period,” Chaidez said. “I felt this sort of relief from his pressure for the first minute, I felt I may be able to fake to get him heavy on his feet. I like working boots and leg riding, and with that implemented I let it fly through. He showed me I need to win with more attacking, especially when I feel myself come down. Those were some physical takeaways from that match.”

While he says he feels better than he did a year ago, he also understands last year means nothing other than the lessons it provided to make him into the wrestler he is today.

“I was bumped last minute last year to 126 at regionals and felt unsafe,” Chaidez said. “I played it wrong. I’m more confident now and am not going to shy away from all these people on top. I’m going to come for them. I’m definitely more prepared this year and got experience with the coaching staff and room time.”

A year after winning the tournament, Hinsdale South didn’t have any champions. 

Jason Jude (132), Darrion Glover (165) and Ben Miller (175) each took second place. Alex Schuetz (120) and Apollo Cobb (138) won their third-place matches and James Cardenas (285) took fourth. Frank Waitkus, Nick Miller, Brady Miller and Al Amir Almannai did not place but scored team points for coach Andrew Mangiaguerra’s third-place Hornets.

After pinning Genoa-Kingston’s Hunter Wendt and Evergreen Park’s Matheny with first-period pins, Northridge Prep senior Adam Haddad (24-2) won by technical fall over Glover in 5:36 in the 165 title match. It was his fifth tournament title of the season, adding to firsts at Glenbrook South, Glenbard South, Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy and Sullivan.

“Pretty much none of this matters,” Haddad said. “The only thing that matters is regionals, sectionals, state. I’m just prepping as best as I can, staying healthy, staying strong and just making sure that I’m prepared in every way possible for regionals, sectional, state and giving it all my respect.”

Haddad finished in second place last year at Melichar while wrestling at 175 and then fought injuries at the very end of his season.

“I kind of got injured before the state finals and it kind of just lit a fire under me the couple months I was out,” Haddad said. “But I just got right back up and ready and worked hard every day. Two practices every day, seven days a week and I just did more thinking rather than physical, and was just trying to crack down on the mental game of wrestling. Just cracking down on the mental game, understanding things.”

His Knights teammates George McShane (150) and Thomas Suter (285) took second place, Joe Kopecky (126) and Mason Wagner (175) were third, Javi Rodriguez (144) was fourth and Nick Belcore (190) didn’t place, but scored six points.

Westmont got its lone win in the finals at the end of the tournament as junior Rafael Castrejon-Tello (22-6) edged Northridge Prep’s Thomas Suter 2-1 for the 285 title. 

Also placing for the Sentinels were Mason Ponce (106), who took second, Lawrence Walker (132) who was third and Luke Jimenea (113), Ardan Baglaev (120), Mission Hatchell (150) and Sean Paterson (157) who all took fourth. Christian Rosa (126) didn’t place but scored 10 points.

Gabe Inorio (15-3), a returning state qualifier for Streamwood at 175, took third place at this tournament at 170 as a sophomore and was third last year at 175. Now he’s a champ as a senior in his final appearance, winning the 175 title with a victory by technical fall in 3:17 over Hinsdale South’s Ben Miller. The Sabres also received third-place finishes from Luis Martinez (113), Jace Wolf (190) and Josiah Torres (215) while Josh Burton and Donald Krebs did not place but combined for 19 points.

Belvidere’s Landon VanAcker (12-2) won the 144 title with a 15-7 major decision over Argo’s Jacob Van Allen. VanAcker won 7-3 in the quarterfinals over Evergreen Park’s Esau Ruvalcaba by technical fall in 2:53 over Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Jayden Veal in the semifinals.

VanAcker was joined in the finals by Bucs teammate Mario Beasley, who lost to Evergreen Park’s Ashton Gray by fall in 2:41 in the 157 title match. 

Argo also got a second-place showing at 138 from Aldo Gutierrez, who lost by fall in 3:42 to Evergreen Park’s Chance Woods and a fourth-place finish from Leo Gallegos (215), who was the only individual who recorded four falls and had the quickest pin with one in 21 seconds.

Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Xavier Woods (27-2) didn’t have to wrestle in the 150 final after Northridge Prep’s George McShane had to take a medical forfeit. Woods won by fall in 2:00 over Genoa-Kingston’s Anthony Gum and then earned a 16-3 major decision over Hinsdale South’s Brady Miller in the semifinals. 

Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy also got third-place finishes from Trevor Williams (157) and Jayden Veal (144) while KeAndre Beal (106) and Daniel Robles (165) took fourth place. Also placing fourth was Nazareth Academy’s Alek Ramos (126).

Woods led all of the champions with 28 team points while Chaidez, Haddad, Inorio and Rios Loud tied for second place with 27.5 points. Hoye, Ward and Woods each collected 27 points, Ramirez had 26 and Castrejon-Tello finished with 25.5 team points.

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The annual tournament is named in honor of Steve Melichar, a Lisle wrestler who died tragically after being hit by a car in 1986 when he was just 16 years old.

Lisle Steve Melichar Memorial Tournament place matches

106

1st Place Match

Lorenz Rios Loud (Glenbard East) 24-5, So. over Mason Ponce (Westmont) 18-7, Fr. (TF-1.5 4:38 (17-0))

3rd Place Match

Brayden Mateja-Bates (Evergreen Park) 18-9, Jr. over KeAndre Beal (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 16-8, Sr. (TF-1.5 2:21 (17-0))

113

1st Place Match

Christian Ramirez (Evergreen Park) 19-5, Sr. over Cole Forsyth (Glenbard East) 18-6, So. (Dec 11-4)

3rd Place Match

Luis Martinez (Streamwood) 12-5, So. over Luke Jimenea (Westmont) 14-6, Fr. (Fall 4:51)

120

1st Place Match

Ismael Chaidez (Glenbard East) 28-2, Jr. over Jayden Cervantes (Evergreen Park) 27-3, Jr. (Fall 5:41)

3rd Place Match

Alex Schuetz (Hinsdale South) 22-6, Jr. over Ardan Baglaev (Westmont) 22-8, Fr. (Fall 3:13)

126

1st Place Match

Adrian Cervantes (Evergreen Park) 24-3, Jr. over Alexander Ferari (Lisle) 22-5, Jr. (Dec 5-4)

3rd Place Match

Joe Kopecky (Northridge Prep) 22-5, Fr. over Alek Ramos (Nazareth Academy) 13-5, So. (Dec 9-7)

132

1st Place Match

Lucas Landry (Evergreen Park) 21-7, Fr. over Jason Jude (Hinsdale South) 11-9, So. (Dec 15-10)

3rd Place Match

Lawrence Walker (Westmont) 15-9, So. over Axell Magana (St. Edward) 9-10, Jr. (TF-1.5 3:53 (17-2))

138

1st Place Match

Chance Woods (Evergreen Park) 27-2, Jr. over Aldo Gutierrez (Argo) 18-7, Sr. (Fall 3:42)

3rd Place Match

Apollo Cobb (Hinsdale South) 17-10, Sr. over Rami Aljubor (Glenbard East) 15-17, Jr. (Fall 5:52)

144

1st Place Match

Landon VanAcker (Belvidere) 12-2, Jr. over Jacob Van Allen (Argo) 22-4, Sr. (MD 15-7)

3rd Place Match

Jayden Veal (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 19-5, Fr. over Javi Rodriguez (Northridge Prep) 11-8, Jr. (Dec 16-15)

150

1st Place Match

Xavier Woods (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 27-2, Sr. over George McShane (Northridge Prep) 20-6, Jr. (M. For.)

3rd Place Match

David Johnson (Evergreen Park) 26-4, Sr. over Mission Hatchell (Westmont) 22-10, Sr. (Inj. 0:42)

157

1st Place Match

Ashton Gray (Evergreen Park) 20-7, Sr. over Mario Beasley (Belvidere) 7-2, So. (Fall 2:41)

3rd Place Match

Trevor Williams (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 18-12, Sr. over Sean Patterson (Westmont) 20-14, Sr. (SV-1 6-3)

165

1st Place Match

Adam Haddad (Northridge Prep) 24-2, Sr. over Darrion Glover (Hinsdale South) 18-11, Sr. (TF-1.5 5:36 (15-0))

3rd Place Match

Leo Mundinger (Glenbard East) 16-13, Sr. over Daniel Robles (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 2-2, Jr. (Fall 1:07)

175

1st Place Match

Gabe Inorio (Streamwood) 15-3, Sr. over Ben Miller (Hinsdale South) 19-9, So. (TF-1.5 3:17 (21-2))

3rd Place Match

Mason Wagner (Northridge Prep) 14-11, Sr. over James Wilson (Evergreen Park) 6-8, So. (Dec 16-11)

190

1st Place Match

Orlando Hoye (Glenbard East) 20-10, Jr. over Dylan Wilborn (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 18-10, Sr. (Fall 2:27)

3rd Place Match

Jace Wolf (Streamwood) 15-1, Sr. over Andres Flores-Ramirez (Evergreen Park) 21-11, Sr. (Fall 1:35)

215

1st Place Match

Genesis Ward (Evergreen Park) 21-4, Sr. over Sammy Swais (Nazareth) 13-4, Fr. (MD 9-1)

3rd Place Match

Josiah Torres (Streamwood) 11-7, Sr. over Leo Gallegos (Argo) 8-9, Sr. (Fall 4:27)

285

1st Place Match

Rafael Castrejon-Tello (Westmont) 22-6, Jr. over Thomas Suter (Northridge Prep) 16-10, Jr. (Dec 2-1)

3rd Place Match

Cooper Conliss (Glenbard East) 17-12, Sr. over James Cardenas (Hinsdale South) 4-7, Jr. (Dec 6-1)

Team scores

1. Evergreen Park 241.5, 2. Glenbard East 187.5, 3. Hinsdale South 147.5, 4. Northridge Prep 125.5, 5. Westmont 120, 6. Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy 116.5, 7. Streamwood 104, 8. Argo 65.5, 9. Belvidere 58.5, 10. Lisle 51.5, 11. Nazareth Academy 37.5, 12. St. Edward 18, 13. Genoa-Kingston 15, 14. Aurora Central Catholic 8, 15. Walther Christian 3.

By Chris Walker for the IWCOA

Nola Oben has bounced back and forth between sports as the seasons have changed, trying different things during her time at Carl Sandburg in Orland Park.

Oben didn’t return to the wrestling team for the District 230 co-op after her sophomore season, but she’s back now this winter as a senior.

On Friday night she was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Batavia Invitational, winning the 155-pound title while also helping her co-op team, which is made up of athletes from Andrew, Sandburg and Stagg, win the team title.

“I did volleyball when I was a freshman but that didn’t go really well, and I’ve done track all my years here,” she said. “I started flag football junior year and I did wrestling sophomore year but didn’t do it last year. So this is my second year doing wrestling. I’m mostly in track and then wrestling and flag football are my other main sports. Wrestling makes me happy and I’m happy being surrounded by my teammates that help me, and I’m really proud of them.”

Sophia Figueroa had District 230 co-op’s first of four victories in title matches, winning at 115 with a pin of Naperville Central’s Gracie Meluch in 3:50.

“That was my first time ever going against Naperville Central,” Figueroa said. I got headlocked and made a few silly mistakes, but was able to come back from a seven-point lead on her part, and I was able to pin her.”

Alyssa Keane pinned all four of her opponents to win the 135 title for District 230. DeKalb’s Lana Zimmerman was her only opponent to stretch their match into the second period.

“Hopefully I’m bringing my game back up because since we went to Ironman I got a concussion and I’ve had to recover from that,” Keane said. “Now I’m back on my game and I did pretty well.”

Emma “Manny” Akpan had three pins before earning a 7-2 decision against Kaneland’s Sadie Kinsella in the 190 title match.

“The main reason we’re so successful is because this team is a very odd bunch of people,” Akpan said. “We’ve got a very mixed bag of personalities, backgrounds, types. It’s just so amazing to mix so many types of people into one amazing sport which a lot of people look over, and it’s honestly awesome.”

As a two-time all-stater who took fourth in the state at 190 last year, Akpan appears to be set to finish strong.

“My year has been going great,” she said. “After Ironman it’s just been wins after wins. I got in my mindset I’ve got everything the way I want it to be and everything in this team I want it to be. It’s just great just being here and experiencing this with my entire team. I love everyone on it.”

District 230 co-op won with 198 points. Host Batavia was the runner-up with 153.5.

Saja Bader (120) took second, Tatum De La Vega (105) and Adrianna Vela (170) won their third-place matches and Piper Booe (130) placed fifth.

“I love being together with this team,” Akpan said. “Even if we’re a little crabby from the school day, as soon as we get in the room and see everyone the mood just goes up and we’re just excited to be there with all of my teammates. Being together is such an amazing experience.”

Altogether, District 230 co-op had eight kids who placed among the top five in their weight class.

“I’m super proud of all of them,” Keane said. “They worked really hard, especially coming on a Friday after a whole day of school and just being mentally prepared to come here to wrestle. Just really proud of them.”

And there’s no doubt that the team has been ecstatic to have Oben back.

“Nola is just really funny so she fits in really well with the team,” Figueroa said. “We’re all very supportive of each other inside the practice room and outside of the practice room, which I believe helps a ton.”

Batavia’s Lily Enos, who took third in the state at 100 last season, earned a tech fall victory over Yorkville’s Analiese Garretson to help the Bulldogs take second place. Batavia had eight girls finish among the top five, including second-place Annabelle Guthke (145) and third-place Caoimhe Mitchell (155). Natalie Lenart (125), Emma Abbate (170) and Jamie Gabriel (190) were fourth and Yasmin Lopes (135) and Eli Landgrebe (120) took fifth.

Kaneland finished in fifth place with 127.5 points and had a pair of tournament champions in Angelina Gochis (110) and Brooklyn Sheaffer (125).

Gochis, who won a state title at 105 last February, had three straight tech fall wins, including over Lyons’ Avi Gonzalez in the final at Batavia.

Sheaffer had three consecutive pins to push her into the final where she scored an 11-0 major decision against Lemont’s Molly O’Connor.

“It was great, but a little hard coming here after school and getting the energy to come here.”

Sheaffer said. “It was a good tournament. I’m happy I got some good matches in. Started off a little slow but picked it up in the end which is all that matters. I think this was the first (tournament on Friday we’ve had). We normally don’t wrestle after school unless it’s a dual so it was our first tournament on a Friday so I was really proud with how our girls did.”

After losing to Keane from District 230 co-op in the semifinals at 135, Kaneland senior Dyani Torres rebounded to beat Huntley’s Grecia Garcia for third place

“This year I’m going up three weight classes so it’s a big difference but I’m feeling comfortable where I’m at right now,” Torres said. “I was thinking I wanted to drop weight again but I feel comfortable with where I’m at so I don’t have to deplete my body and it’s my last year, senior year so I wanted to finish whatever these girls throw at me technique so I’m ready to work on that.”

She knows time is limited now. We’re already at the latter part of the month of January and the post-season is nearing.

“Everyone starts grinding right now and if you’re not in that mentality I don’t know what you should be doing,” Torres said “You’ve got to be in that mentality that it’s time to kick it up a notch. Everyone should be lighting up that fire right now especially towards the end off the season.”

The Knights had eight wrestlers in action, including Sadie Kinsella (190) who placed second and Caitlyn Manier (155), who took fourth.

“A lot of girls have gone through injuries this year and personal issues have come out and some have taken some time off and everything, but everyone came back today and battled,” Torres said. “Sadie (Kinsella) did super well. She had a real big match in the finals and proud of her especially.”

As teams grow, this sport is growing. That’s apparent in Maple Park.

“I love our team dynamic,” Sheaffer said. “We definitely grew in numbers this year with six last year and almost a full roster now. It’s great. Me and Dyani (Torres) were here at the start of Kaneland wrestling and I would say our team has kept building up and kept building and now we have a great team and a really good team dynamic. I think we all are building off of each other. All of our coaches are great and it’s really a good environment.”

Third-place West Aurora had seven medal winners in the top six of their weight classes, including individual champions Kameyah Young (105) and Brittany Moran (235).

After just falling short of a state title last February, West Aurora senior Young (25-1) has had her sights on returning to the championship match, and winning it this time.

“I’ve been using these tournaments for practice for state and regionals and having that goal of a state championship this year,” she said. “Last year I was a little hesitant in my wrestling and it affected me a little bit. The big difference between last year and this year is mainly my confidence and my shots.”

Young got taken to the limit, earning a 6-3 sudden victory over DeKalb junior Alex Gregorio-Perez, in the 105 final.

“It was a tough match,” Young said. “I had gotten two stalling calls so it was 2-0 and then I got a takedown so 3-2 and then we tied up at 3-3 and went into overtime. It was a very tough match. I won by a slide.”

It was just a few years ago that Young decided to give this girls wrestling sport a whirl. Now she’s one of the state’s best at it.

“My brother was a wrestler and he inspired me to do it and try it out,” she said. “I started my freshman year and it’s senior year now.”

Moran won her title at 235 with a fall against DeKalb’s Aarianna Bloyd at 5:15, with Young sitting mat-side to see it.

“I love to support my team and try to watch all my teammates that I can,” Young said. “I ended up getting to see Brittney. I’m so proud of her for winning that match. That was a big match for her.”

Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal pinned teammate Melissa Melgar (100) in 1:44 to win the third-place match at 100 for the Blackhawks. They also received strong efforts from Diana Llanos (110), who took third, as well as as fifth-place Lailonie Molina (115) and sixth-place finishers 

Kaylee Martinez (120) and Giselle Marin-Carrasco (140).

The Blackhawks finished in third place with 137 points, just getting past DeKalb which took fourth place with 136.

The Barbs had four girls advance to the finals with Reese Zimmer capturing the 120-pound title with a major decision over District 230 co-op’s Saja Bader. Alex Gregorio-Perez (105), Lana Zimmerman (135) and Aarianna Bloyd (235) each took second place. Valeria Lopez (110) took fourth place for the Barbs while Molly Kraft (235) was fifth and Kayden Johnson (155) took sixth.

Glenbard North junior Keagan Edwards (130) showed Friday that she is one heck of a wrestler.

She pinned Huntley’s Amanda Wiktor (3:13), West Aurora’s Ariana Rivera (0:21), Joliet Catholic Academy’s Grace Laird (3:20) to advance to the finals where she also pinned Huntley’s Aubrie Rohrbacher (3:12).

Edwards is also using wrestling as an academic aid.

“I’m a total math nerd,” she said. “My dad (Chris Edwards) also teaches math and aerospace engineering is something I’m extremely interested in doing. I’ve always loved math and science – that’s where my goal is at in the future. Wrestling, I think, helps me in school. It gets my energy up and I’ve learned to be determined and focused on what I need to do.”

Edwards got a small taste in the sport when she was eight years old but didn’t fully become engrossed with wrestling until she arrived at her school in Carol Stream.

“I wrestled for like a year when I was younger because my brothers did it,” she said. “I was like eight years old and my dad didn’t want me to wrestle because I was a girl and at that time it was more of a boys sport and then I stopped. I got back and then I started wrestling again basically for the first time my freshmen year. Honestly, it’s just been a lot of work so I started it for fun because my brothers did it and my dad is the girls coach and it’s just been so much fun everyday going to practice and all he stuff at Glenbard North. I love the environment.”

Her title bout against Rohrbacher was a back-and-forth affair for a few minutes before Edwards stuck her early in the second period.

“We each had takedowns and there was a lot of hand fighting, a lot of scrambling on the ground,” Edwards explained. “She was getting back points for a few seconds and then I rolled through on a cradle and stuck her on her back.”

Certainly a nice win for Edwards, but also just a step along the way towards greater things.

“I still have improvements to make,” she said. “I’m excited to get better. I never want to be complacent with where I’m at. I always want to be training to become the best of anything I can be at all the stuff I do.”

The title match at 145 in Batavia carried with it a bit of revenge.

Lake Park senior Joscelin Ritthamel (145) was not happy with herself the last time she wrestled Batavia junior Anabelle Guthke in a DuKane Conference match. This time, Ritthamel prevailed 10-4, and did so against an opponent in Guthke who had the benefit of competing at home.

“We had a dual at conference that I lost,” Ritthamel said. “I wasn’t in a good spot at that time and today I was like if I have to wrestle her I want to win, that was my main goal. I knew she was going to be here and I came out for blood definitely. I really wanted to show that I wasn’t the pathetic wrestler on the mat the first time that I am actually what I’ve worked myself to be.”

Confidence has been a key to her growth.

“I feel like a lot of wrestlers when they first start they think I can’t do this because it’s definitely a mental, physical and emotionally challenging sport,” Ritthamel said. “But it’s like as you keep coming out to practice you keep doing these tournaments, these meets and keep winning and keep seeing that oh I can do this and that confidence starts to build. You have to keep telling yourself I can. That’s how I got to where I am now. I had to keep reminding myself that I can do this. I’ve put myself through these things before, I know I how to get out of them, I know I can do it.

After trying out wrestling as a sixth grader, a variety of factors pushed Ritthamel away from the sport until she arrived at Lake Park.

“I wasn’t as much into the sport when I started as I wished I was, but then I got a head injury and it took me out and then Covid happened and then I moved and came to Lake Park and they didn’t have a girls team yet,” she said. “It was my freshman year and I really wanted to get back into wrestling. My dad didn’t let me so I was a manager and then I got insider information from all the coaches that they were planning on having a girls team, and I was like, this is my name, let me help advocate to get this girls team. I want to really wrestle. Then my sophomore year they got a girls team and I’ve been wrestling ever since.”

Sixth-place Oswego East (117.5) saw Wolves sophomore Quinn Janssens overwhelmed her opponents at 140. Janssens pinned Batavia’s Lizzy Beling (0:27), Kaneland’s Chloe Cervantes (0:38), Lake Park’s Ava Burns (0:18) and McHenry’s Natalie Corona (2:34).

Her teammate Jessica Stover also had a fantastic Friday en rout to the title at 170. Stover opened with a pin of McHenry’s Tania Garcia (0:53) and West Aurora’s Reyna Equivel (1:57) before outlasting Batavia’s Emma Abbate, 12-11 in the semifinals. Stover pinned Yorkville’s Janiah Murray in 3:50 to win the title.

Huntley followed the Wolves in seventh place with 108 points, followed by East Aurora 106, Naperville Central 90.5, McHenry 83, Glenbard North 82, Yorkville 66, Lake Park 61, Lyons 53, Lemont 41, Jacobs 40 and Harlem 22.

Individual highlights:

Oswego East’s Quinn Janssens finished with the most pins (4) in the least time (3:57), while Kaneland’s Angelina Gochis posted the most tech falls (3) in the least time (3:56). Jacobs’ Denise Bowling posted the fastest fall at 15 seconds, and Gochis had the fastest tech fall at 1:06. 

Five wrestlers tied with 30 for the most team points contributed by a wrestler, in Glenbard North’s Keagan Edwards, West Aurora’s Brittney Moran, District 230’s Alyssa Keane and Nola Oben, and Oswego East’s Janssens. Oswego East’s Jessica Stover scored the most single-match points with 25 and the most total-match points with 61.

District 230’s Piper Booe provided the largest seed-place difference in the tournament, as the No. 16 seed placed fifth at 130 pounds.

Batavia tournament results:

100

1st: Lily Enos (Batavia) 34-3, d. Analiese Garretson (Yorkville) 18-8,  (TF 4:54 (21-3)

3rd: Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal (W Aurora) 13-9, d. Melissa Melgar (W Aurora) 16-10,  (F 1:44)

5th: Annika Hull (Naperville C) 23-9, d. Joselyn Llanos (E Aurora) 16-8,  (F 1:46)

105 

1st: Kameyah Young (W Aurora) 25-1, d. Alex Gregorio-Perez (DeKalb) 36-3,  (SV-1 6-3)

3rd: Tatum De La Vega (District 230) 21-10, d. Ariana Baier (Lemont) 24-7,  (MD 14-0)

5th: Julia Felton (Algonquin (Jacobs) 14-6, d. Cristal Jacinto (Glenbard N) 20-8,  (F 1:16)

110

1st: Angelina Gochis (Kaneland) 21-0, d. Avi Gonzalez (LaGrange (Lyons) 12-4,  (TF 1:27 (19-4)

3rd: Diana Llanos (W Aurora) 17-10, d. Valeria Lopez (DeKalb) 16-12,  (Dec 5-2)

5th: Kassandra Reyes (E Aurora) 8-6, d. Anna Gonzalez (Glenbard N) 11-10,  (F 1:32)

115

1st: Sophia Figueroa (District 230) 28-9, d. Gracie Meluch (Naperville C) 20-9,  (F 3:50)

3rd: Donna Garcia (Huntley) 16-10, d. Ashley Uhler (LaGrange (Lyons) 9-4,  (TF 4:00 (18-2)

5th: Lailonie Molina (W Aurora) 19-10, d. Alexa Colin Garcia (McHenry) 20-8, . (F 2:23)

120

1st: Reese Zimmer (DeKalb) 32-7, d. Saja Bader (District 230) 17-8,  (MD 11-3)

3rd: Ellen Purl (Naperville C) 24-9, d. Payton Lustrup (Oswego E) 19-14,  (F 1:46)

5th: Eli Landgrebe (Batavia) 19-16, d. Kaylee Martinez (W Aurora) 10-6,  (Dec 12-6)

125

1st: Brooklyn Sheaffer (Kaneland) 26-2, d. Molly O`Connor (Lemont) 35-5,  (MD 11-0)

3rd: Dezi Azar (Naperville C) 26-4, d. Natalie Lenart (Batavia) 21-11,  (F 2:50)

5th: Mia Nevarez (Oswego E) 27-10, d. Addison Hodges (McHenry) 9-3, . (F 3:30)

130

1st: Keagan Edwards (Glenbard N) 32-5, d. Aubrie Rohrbacher (Huntley) 29-7,  (F 3:12)

3rd: Grace Laird (Joliet Cath) 13-3, d. Lupita Garcia (E Aurora) 15-9,  (F 1:05)

5th: Piper Booe (District 230) 19-12, d. Amanda Wiktor (Huntley) 3-2,  (F 0:48)

135

1st: Alyssa Keane (District 230) 30-3, d. Lana Zimmerman (DeKalb) 31-7,  (F 2:34)

3rd: Dyani Torres (Kaneland) 26-8, d. Grecia Garcia (Huntley) 19-8,  (Dec 3-2)

5th: Yasmin Lopes (Batavia) 21-7, d. Brooke Coy (Yorkville) 7-2,  (F 2:25)

140

1st: Quinn Janssens (Oswego E) 34-2, d. Natalie Corona (McHenry) 26-4, . (F 2:34)

3rd: Ava Burns (Lake Park) 25-6, d. Suzanne Stalley (Glenbard N) 26-12,  (F 3:12)

5th: Arianna Rico (Naperville C) 23-12, d. Giselle Marin-Carrasco (W Aurora) 20-9,  (F 3:29)

145

1st: Joscelin Ritthamel (Lake Park) 31-5, d. Anabelle Guthke (Batavia) 26-9,  (Dec 10-4)

3rd: Ella Cooper (Oswego E) 20-11, d. Nermina Rustemi (Lake Park) 2-2,  (F 2:36)

5th: Giovanna Sampognaro (Lake Park) 4-1, d. Abigail Ward (Huntley) 4-6,  (F 2:25)

155

1st: Nola Oben (District 230) 32-6, d. Desiree Bowling (Algonquin (Jacobs) 8-2,  (F 1:30)

3rd: Caoimhe Mitchell (Batavia) 22-11, d. Caitlyn Manier (Kaneland) 16-8,  (F 1:21)

5th: Noreidy Ruiz (E Aurora) 12-9, d. Kayden Johnson (DeKalb) 10-8,  (F 1:23)

170

1st: Jessica Stover (Oswego E) 32-4, d. Janiah Murray (Yorkville) 11-4, . (F 3:50)

3rd: Adrianna Vela (District 230) 23-11, d. Emma Abbate (Batavia) 24-6,  (Dec 9-2)

5th: Natalie Aguirre (Huntley) 23-11, d. Tania Garcia (McHenry) 14-10, . (F 2:28)

190

1st: Emma Akpan (District 230) 34-2, d. Sadie Kinsella (Kaneland) 20-7,  (Dec 7-2)

3rd: Brianna Felde (Huntley) 15-9, d. Jamie Gabriel (Batavia) 19-15,  (Dec 8-6)

5th: Paige Washburn (Lake Park) 4-1, d. Angelina Dimas (E Aurora) 10-8,  (F 5:54)

235

1st: Brittney Moran (W Aurora) 11-2, d. Aarianna Bloyd (DeKalb) 24-10,  (F 5:15)

3rd: Lilli Ortiz (E Aurora) 13-7, d. Nala Hernandez (McHenry) 16-10, . (F 2:27)

5th: Molly Kraft (DeKalb) 4-5, d. Gi Nascimento (Glenbard N) 6-6,  (F 0:59)

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Canton girls invitational

Geneseo snared the team title at this year’s 27-team Canton Girls Invitational for coach Carley Rusk, getting individual titles from Molly Snyder (100) and Lydia King (120) to lead the way among nine medalists finishing in the top six of their weight classes.

“The girls absolutely crushed it,” Rusk said. “Winning the title was a huge deal, and it really showed how hard they’ve been working. They came in focused and ready to compete, and it paid off. Overall, just a great team effort. The girls really came together and supported each other, and that made a huge difference.”

1st place: Geneseo (183 points)

In addition to individual titles from Snyder and King, Geneseo got seconds from Bella Curcuru (125), Rachel Roodhouse (135) and Mady Mooney (145), a third from Lauren Piquard (140), a fourth from Addison Hadsall (105) and a fourth from non-scoring Lily Roodhouse (135), and fifths from Ayla Schultz (130) and Sophie Bellagamba (155).

“Molly and Lydia were on fire,” Rusk said of her two champions. “Both wrestled great, stayed calm under pressure, and really led the way for the team. Both of their matches were against higher-seeded opponents. I was really proud of how they didn’t let that impact them and showed a lot of confidence on the mat. 

“We had some other strong performances too—Bella, Mady, Lauren, Addie, Lily, Sophie, and Ayla all stepped up big time. Everyone played a role in getting that team title, and I’m proud of how everyone showed up.”

2nd place: Canton (126.5)
Canton’s girls were led by individual champions Chloe Hedges (115) and Kinnley Smith (130) among the Little Giants’ eight place-winners, including third-place finishes from LT Diephus (100) and Shayla Schielein (105), fourths from Abella Brown (100), Annalee Haschmeyer (120) and Katelyn Marvel (145), and a sixth from Kennedy Smith (140).

3rd place: Springfield Co-op (106)

Springfield’s Co-op team got second-place finishes from Phoenix Criss (105), Reaghan Madura (110) and Ariella Miloncus (130), fifths from Cecelia Irwin (110) and Meredith Gumz (115), and sixths from Madison Bradley (120) and Paighton Bell (190).

Individual champions:

Also winning individual titles at Canton were Streator’s Addison Yacko (105), Pekin’s Tessa Donaldson (110), Jacksonville’s Alexis Seymour (125), East Peoria’s Taylor Sutton (135), Morton’s Karen Canchola (140), Glenwood’s Jenna Tuxhorn (145), Erie’s Jayda Rosenow (155), Notre Dame’s Autumne Williams (170), Washington’s Gracie Vanquakebeke (190) and Prairie Central’s Chloe Hoselton (235).

Closest title match finishes:
The closest championship match saw Erie’s Jayda Rosenow win a 1-0 decision at 155 over Bloomington’s Alicia Swank. Streator’s Addison Yacko also won a 14-8 decision at 105 against Springfield Co-op’s Phoenix Criss.

Individual highlights:
Streator’s Laila Vaughn had the most pins (4) in the least time (8:08) while teammate Lily Gwaltney had the most tech falls (2) in the least time (5:05). At 15 seconds, there was a three-way tie for the fastest pin between Geneseo’s Lauren Piquard, Springfield Co-op’s Meredith Gumz, and Prairie Central’s Chloe Hoselton, and Gwaltney posted the fastest tech fall in 1:32. Jacksonville’s Alexis Seymour scored the most team points of any wrestler present with 29.5, ROWVA’s Audrey Morss had the most single-match points with 23, and Pontiac’s Jocelyn Cobix posted the most total match points with 43. Washington’s Grace Mordhorst provided the largest seed-place difference when she placed fifth at 170 as the No. 15 seed.

Team scores: 

Geneseo 183, Canton 126.5, Springfield Co-op 106, Richwoods 78.5, Erie 78, Streator 78, Glenwood 77.5, Macomb 77, Ottawa 66, Prairie Central 62.5, Washington 61, Pekin 51.5, Morton 49, East Peoria 48, Dunlap 46, ROWVA 37, Jacksonville 33.5, Bloomington 33, Pontiac 33, Notre Dame 28, North Mac 16, Beardstown 15, Deer Creek-M. 14.5

Canton Girls Invitational results:

100 

1st: Molly Snyder (Geneseo) 20-4,d. Kadi Wilbern (Glenwood) 25-2, (TF-1.5 4:58 (15-0)

3rd: LT Diephuis (Canton) 28-5,d. Abella Brown (Canton) 10-6, (D 7-4)

5th: Morgan Armstrong (Morton) 8-11,d. Audrey Morss (ROWVA) 4-6,  (F 0:24)

105

1st: Addison Yacko (Streator) 7-0,d. Phoenix Criss (Springfield [Coop]) 11-4, (D 14-8)

3rd: Shayla Schielein (Canton) 24-8,d. Addison Hadsall (Geneseo) 19-10,  (F 1:41)

5th: Ariel Sipes (Petersburg (PORTA) 1-1, d. Isabel Gwaltney (Ottawa) 10-13, (F 5:17)

110

1st: Tessa Donaldson (Pekin) 14-6,d. Reaghan Madura (Springfield [Coop]) 20-5, (F 0:55)

3rd: Lily Gwaltney (Streator) 3-1,d. Aerith Adams (Dunlap) 9-5, (TF-1.5 3:33 (17-0)

5th: Cecelia Irwin (Springfield [Coop]) 12-14,d. Savannah Frederickson (Ottawa) 5-12,  (F 2:51)

115

1st: Chloe Hedges (Canton) 28-9, d. Payton Henson (Streator) 5-2, (F 2:35)

3rd: Madizyn Megrant (Pekin) 11-3,d. Brooke Stickle (ROWVA) 9-6, (F 1:28)

5th: Meredith Gumz (Springfield [Coop]) 12-7,d. Ashley Ronan (Virden (North Mac) 2-2, (F 2:44)

120

1st: Lydia King (Geneseo) 25-4,d. Ryleigh Stephens (Erie) 18-4, (F 3:49)

3rd: Yurithdzy Vilchis (Prairie C) 15-8,d. Annalee Haschemeyer (Canton) 20-11,  (F 3:48)

5th: Laila Vaughn (Streator) 9-3, d. Madison Bradley (Springfield [Coop]) 12-10, (F 0:30)

125 

1st: Alexis Seymour (Jacksonville ) 23-4,d. Bella Curcuru (Geneseo) 21-7, (F 5:43)

3rd: Isabella Mottler (Richwoods) 12-2,d. Daisy Gil (Beardstown) 24-7, (TF-1.5 4:00 (17-2)

5th: Jocelyn Cobix (Pontiac) 20-6, d. Makiya Baker (Prairie C) 15-12, (MD 12-1)

130

1st: Kinnley Smith (Canton) 35-3,d. Ariella Miloncus (Springfield [Coop]) 18-6, (TF-1.5 4:17 (17-1)

3rd: Michelle Naftzger (Erie) 17-4,d. Kenzi Milestone (Glenwood) 23-10,  (F 3:42)

5th: Ayla Schultz (Geneseo) 16-12,d. Ayden Grawe (Erie) 10-12,  (D 4-2)

135

1st: Taylor Sutton (East Peoria) 15-7,d. Rachel Roodhouse (Geneseo) 13-12, (F 1:12)

3rd: Alila Beck (Bloomington ) 8-4,d. Lily Roodhouse (Geneseo) 6-8, (F 3:20)

5th: Isabella Resendez (Glenwood) 23-8,d. Lilly Bay (Washington) 2-2, (F 3:16)

140

1st: Karen Canchola (Morton) 20-2, .d. Kelly Ladd (Macomb) 23-3, (F 2:51)

3rd: Lauren Piquard (Geneseo) 20-5,d. Ava Weatherford (Ottawa) 9-4, (F 2:56)

5th: Olivia Curtis (Dunlap) 12-4, d. Kennedy Smith (Canton) 26-11, (F 5:59)

145

1st: Jenna Tuxhorn (Glenwood) 26-1,d. Mady Mooney (Geneseo) 20-6, (F 0:58)

3rd: Mikaela Mwangong (Macomb) 15-5,d. Katelyn Marvel (Canton) 10-7, (F 5:12)

5th: Holly Hixon (Mackinaw (Deer Creek-M.) 12-4,d. Alivia Butler (Ottawa) 8-10, (F 1:50)

155

1st: Jayda Rosenow (Erie) 18-6,d. Alicia Swank (Bloomington ) 16-5, (D 1-0)

3rd: Dru Hyde (Macomb) 18-6,d. Alix Robinson (Pontiac) 6-4, (D 10-8)

5th: Sophie Bellagamba (Geneseo) 19-8,d. Bethany Marshall (Washington) 2-2, (F 4:26)

170

1st: Autumne Williams (Notre Dame) 6-1,d. Sydney Johnson (Richwoods) 16-2, (F 1:40)

3rd: Dezyrae Murray (East Peoria) 13-4,d. Dalonna Buckley (ROWVA) 9-5, (D 8-5)

5th: Grace Mordhorst (Washington) 4-1,d. Keira Minassian (Morton) 7-7, (F 2:49)

190

1st: Gracie Vanquakebeke (Washington) 3-0,d. Avery Lundgren (Macomb) 13-6, (F 3:02)

3rd: Brooklyn Groves-Watson (Richwoods) 2-1,d. Oliva Lindsey (Pontiac) 1-5,  (F 0:58)

5th: Griffin Schauble (Macomb) 12-11,d. Paighton Bell (Springfield [Coop]) 0-7, (F 2:35)

235

1st: Chloe Hoselton (Prairie C) 18-0,d. Juliana Thrush (Ottawa) 20-3, (F 2:31)

3rd: Marley Clark (Richwoods) 12-6,d. Kya Norman (Richwoods) 9-3, (F 1:19)

5th: Atalyssa Craig (Dunlap) 7-4, d. Trinity Abers (Carthage (Illini West) 3-7, (F 1:10)

Mary Kelly Invitational 

Morris topped the field at this year’s 21-team Mary Kelly Invitational, hosted by Mahomet-Seymour, winning 150-95.5 over the second-place team from Ft. Zumwalt, Missouri. LaSalle-Peru (93) finished third, followed by Urbana (80) and Carbondale (55) to round out the top five team finishes.

Twelve girls placed for Morris coach Lenny Trynor, led by individual champion Morgan Congo (190).

“Our girls team as a whole wrestled outstanding,” Trynor said. “There was a lot of really good competition there, that we haven’t wrestled yet, with teams from all over the state and even out of state.

“Our girls are a tight group that pull together and support each other and it took all of them to win the tournament.”

Mahomet-Seymour’s Mary Kelly Invitational is named after the first female former Illinois high school wrestler inducted into the IWCOA Hall of Fame, who wrestled on an all-boys team at Mahomet-Seymour in the early 2000s and was the first girl to ever win a match at the Illinois Dual Team State Tournament, in 2001. She was a Bulldogs team captain in her senior year, went on to shine in women’s international competition, and was a member of the U.S. National team for seven years after high school.

1st place: Morris (150 points)
In addition to getting an individual title from Morgan Congo (190), Morris got second-place finishes from Ellie Evans (100), Zara Lugo (125) and Nicolette Boelman (155), thirds from Brooklyn Bankowski (120), Tessa Neikirk (135) and Olyve Havens (140), fourths from Makensi Martin (115) and Savannah Vignali (145), fifths from Maggie Gordon (110) and Dulce Xique (135), and a sixth from Mia Garcia (145).

“Morgan Congo has been wrestling great for us this year,” coach Lenny Trynor said “She is a returning state qualifier and has her eyes on the podium for this year.  She really dominated her weight class today. She is hoping to continue her wrestling career at Illinois Wesleyan next year.”

Morris also got another strong performance from Ellie Evans.

“She is another senior that has been tough for us this year,” Trynor said. “She is down a couple weight classes from last year and is focused on making a state run herself.  She has been placing very high in all the tournaments we’ve been at.

“Zara Lugo is a first year wrestler and just keeps getting better every time she steps on the mat, and Nicolette Boelman usually wrestles 145 for us but moved up a weight class to score more points for the team.  She had an outstanding tournament with three pins and one major decision. She’s another one of our wrestlers that just won’t give up on the mat.”

2nd place: Ft. Zumwalt, MO (95.5)
The team from Ft. Zumwalt, Missouri, brought seven girls to Mahomet-Seymour and four of them won individual titles in Kate Cochran (100), Reaghan Jones (105), Aliyah Lorenson (155), and Addison Cooper (170). Ft. Zumwalt also got a fourth-place finish from Baylie Wehmeyer (140).

3rd place: LaSalle-Peru (93)

The Lady Cavaliers got second-place finishes from Sarah Lowery (110), Kiely Domyancich (115) and Emily Lowery (120), a third from Kalista Frost (100), and fifths from Emma Tomlinson (125), Ruby Davis (130) and Avalyn Edwall (140).

Individual champions:
Other wrestlers winning individual titles were Litchfield’s Rilynn Younker (110), Mt. Zion’s Sydney Cannon (115), Carbondale’s Kathleen Loyola (120), Mattoon’s Leonie Dubson (125), Centennial’s Ava Beldo (130), Rochelle’s Cammyla Macias (135), Urbana’s Rickasia Ivy (140), Rochelle’s Dempsey Atkinson (145), and Urbana’s Lily DiSanto (235).

Closest title-match finishes:
The championship match at 130 went to overtime, where Centennial’s Ava Beldo won a 13-10 decision on an overtime takedown against Champaign Central’s Londyn Grant.

In a wild one at 125, Mattoon’s Leonie Dubson won an 18-15 decision for the title against Morris’ Zara Lugo.

Individual highlights:

Litchfield’s Rilynn Younker finished the tournament with the most pins (5) in the least time (6:19), Charleston’s Olivia Rosine had the fastest pin (10 seconds), while Ft. Zumwalt’s Baylie Wehmeyer posted the fastest tech fall in 1:42. Urbana’s Rickasia Ivy, Litchfield’s Younker, Ft. Zumwalt’s Kate Cochran, and Rochelle’s Cammyla Macias tied for the most team points scored by an individual with 26.

Mahomet-Seymour’s Sierra Tuttle’s 24 single-match points were the most of any wrestler present, and Ft. Zumwalt’s Wehmeyer posted the most total match points with 48.

Team scores:

Morris 150, Ft. Zumwalt, MO 95.5, LaSalle-Peru 93, Urbana 80, Carbondale 55, Rochelle 51, Mattoon 46, Litchfield 45, Mt. Zion 41.5, St. Laurence 39, Centennial 26, Mahomet-Seymour 26, Rochester 26, St. Joseph-Ogden 25, Metamora 22, (Champaign) Central 20, (Decatur) Eisenhower 17.5, Charleston 17, Clinton 17, Unity Christian 6, (Normal) Community 0

Mary Kelly Invite results:

100

1st: Kate Cochran (Ft. Zumwalt) 32-7,d. Ellie Evans (Morris) 17-8, (F 4:00)

3rd: Kalista Frost (L-Peru) 3-2, d. Sierra Tuttle (Mahomet-S) 7-10,  (D 9-5)

5th: Sophia Mundy (Mattoon) 2-5,d. Sandy Clark (Clinton) 1-3, (M. For.)

105 

1st: Reaghan Jones (Ft. Zumwalt) 25-9,d. Grace Aeschliman (Metamora) 8-7, (F 1:39)

3rd: Bella Villanueva (Clinton)

110

1st: Rilynn Younker (Litchfield) 27-9,d. Sarah Lowery (L-Peru) 4-1, (F 3:12)

3rd: Madilyn Becker (Mahomet-S)

4th: Carlly Ho (Rochester)

5th: Maggie Gordon (Morris)

6th: Ariana Humes (Clinton)

115

1st: Sydney Cannon (Mt. Zion) 5-0,d. Kiely Domyancich (L-Peru) 4-1, (D 7-0)

3rd: Delaney Measimer (Carbondale)
4th: Makensi Martin (Morris)
5th: Lucie Eisenbarth (Rochester)
6th: Stephanie Rosado (St. Laurence)

120

1st: Kathleen Loyola (Carbondale) 11-7,d. Emily Lowery (L-Peru) 2-1,  (F 1:35)

3rd: Brooklyn Bankowski (Morris) 3-7,d. Alexandra Kiegley (Mahomet-S) 2-13,  (F 0:30)

125

1st: Leonie Dubson (Mattoon) 5-3,d. Zara Lugo (Morris) 12-10, (D 18-15)

3rd: Mylee Edwards (Metamora) 6-3,d. Morgan Smallhorn (Charleston) 7-5, (F 3:34)

5th: Emma Tomlinson (L-Peru) 2-2, d. Julie Roberts (Unity Ch) 4-11,  (F 1:22)

130

1st: Ava Beldo (Centennial) 19-5,d. Londyn Grant (Champaign C) 5-1, (SV-1 13-10)

3rd: Randi Campe (Urbana) 22-10,d. Tauhnisjha Hart (Urbana) 18-12, (F 1:57)

5th: Ruby Davis (L-Peru) 2-2,d. Maggie Roa (St. Laurence) 1-3,  (F 0:42)

135
1st: Cammyla Macias (Rochelle) 15-4,d. Charlie Bono (Litchfield) 9-19, (F 3:13)
3rd: Tessa Neikirk (Morris) 13-7,d. Tamya Terry (Urbana) 15-9, (F 3:02)
5th: Dulce Xique (Morris) 4-18,d. Geonna Brunson (Mattoon) 1-9,  (F 2:46)
140 

1st: Rickasia Ivy (Urbana) 22-4,d. Maddie Wells (SJ-Ogden) 12-4, (F 5:06)

3rd: Olyve Havens (Morris) 12-10,d. Baylie Wehmeyer (Ft. Zumwalt) 21-16, (F 4:42)

5th: Avalyn Edwall (L-Peru) 2-2, d. Jocelynn Deedrick (Mahomet-S) 2-13,  (F 0:29)

145

1st: Dempsey Atkinson (Rochelle) 14-0,d. Kyla Ford (Carbondale) 15-3, (MD 10-1)

3rd: Jessica Toomey (Mt. Zion) 7-2, d. Savannah Vignali (Morris) 8-8, (F 0:47)

5th: Hannah Marusarz (St. Laurence) 2-2, d. Mia Garcia (Morris) 1-7, . (F 1:17)

155
1st: Aliyah Lorenson (Ft. Zumwalt) 14-6, d. Nicolette Boelman (Morris) 16-13, (F 2:13)
3rd: Zaniah Manuel (Eisenhower) 4-7,d. Jocelyn Gonzalez-Ruiz (St. Laurence) 3-2, (F 0:29)
5th:Deava Barnette (SJ-Ogden) 3-10,d. Samariya Manuel (Eisenhower) 0-9, (F 1:08
170 

1st: Addison Cooper (Ft. Zumwalt) 17-11,d. Brooklyn Fuller (Mattoon) 3-5, (F 0:36)
3rd: Diana Naxi (Clinton) 1-4, d. Delia Humphrey (St. Laurence) 0-3, (F 3:36)

190 

1st: Morgan Congo (Morris) 16-4,d. Franciana Kalanga (Urbana) 21-5, (F 1:36)
3rd: Jaycee Weitekamp (Mahomet-S)

235 

1st: Lilly DiSanto (Urbana) 28-5,d. Olivia Rosine (Charleston) 2-3,  (F 1:51)
3rd: Kaya Brown (Carbondale)

Lady Raptor varsity invite at Rich Township

Joliet West had eight wrestlers place in the top six of their weight classes to win this year’s inaugural 21-team Lady Raptor Varsity Invitational, hosted by Rich Township. Coach Erik Murry’s Tigers topped Joliet Central 196.5-155.5 to take top honors, followed by Rolling Meadows (76.5), Peotone (72) and Antioch (70.5) to round out the top five team finishes. Host Rich Township placed sixth.

The fact that Joliet West and Joliet Central did battle for the top spot added a layer of intrigue to the tournament, for reasons in both the distant and recent past.

“Many of the girls are friends because they were together on the Joliet Township Co-Op last year,” Joliet West coach Erik Murry said. “I was especially proud of these girls because the whole team was going through a mental slump during some tough duals last week. As a matter of fact, we lost to Joliet Central the night before, and you can tell that the girls were very disappointed with the outcome.

“It was an honor to win the inaugural Rich Township Lady Invite.  The Invite sparked something, and they came out better prepared mentally and physically.”

1st place: Joliet West (196.5)
The Tigers got individual titles from Chloe Wong (105), Briahna Klobnak (125) and Natalie Quiroz (235) to lead the way to a team title in Richton Park. Joliet West also got seconds from Takyla Johnson (100), Veronica Klobnak (140) and Trista Pisano (190), and fourths from Willow Perruquet (120) and Majh Starks (155).

“We had quite a few matches that turned in our favor from the previous night against (Joliet) Central. Champions Briahna Kloblak and Natalie Quiroz have been our leaders and are improving every week. We’re also elated to finally get senior captain Chloe Wong back in the lineup, and see her make an immediate impact with a first-place finish at 105.

“Overall, this was a solid tournament to build off of, and the team understands that going forward into the SPC Conference tournament next Friday.”

2nd place: Joliet Central (155.5)
Coach Marcus McCullum’s Steelwomen got an individual title from Izabel Barrera (135), a second-place finish from Jewel Mister (235), third-place finishes from Kassandra Ruiz (100), Alisa Carter (105), Melissa Aguirre (125), April Ortiz (130) and Emma Guethle (165), and a fourth from Valeria Hernandez (190).

3rd place: Rolling Meadows (76.5)
Aiaishah Sanchez (155) won an individual championship for coach Eric Kohlberg’s Mustangs, who also got thirds from Ziza Sanchez (140) and Janet Brindis (145), and a fourth from Leilani Brindis (170).

Individual champions:
Other individual champs at Rich Township were De La Salle’s Anapaula Cerna-Rivera (100), Tinley Park’s Jayden Melendez (110), Lindblom’s Danita Palmore (115), De La Salle’s Iliana Heredia (120), Durand’s Evie Anderson (130), Mother McAuley’s Maggie Zuber (140), Cumberland’s Natalie Beaumont (145), Hampshire’s Annelise Tavira (170), and Guilford’s Anjanne Haywood (190).

Closest title-match finishes:
Tinley Park’s Jayden Melendez and Durand’s Ireland Dolan squared off for a good one in the championship match at 110, with Melendez edging Dolan by 3-2 decision.

Individual highlights:
Antioch’s Sasha Johnson posted the most pins (4) in the least amount of time (3:32) at Rich Township, while Joliet West’s Chloe Wong had the most tech falls (2) in the least time (6:58). Joliet West’s Natalie Quiroz had the fastest fall in 17 seconds, Wong had the fastest tech fall in 1:57, and De La Salle’s Iliana Heredia scored the most team points of any wrestler with 28. Antioch’s Dylylah Patterson had the most single-match points with 21, De La Salle’s Mia Vargas had the most total match points with 50, and the largest seed-place difference went to Guilford’s Layla Roy, who was seeded 13th and placed second at 130 pounds.

Team scores: Joliet West 196.5, Joliet Central 155.5, Rolling Meadows 76.5, Peotone 72, Antioch 70.5, Rich Township 66, De La Salle 65.5, Tinley Park 65.5, Durand 53, Oak Lawn 48, Guilford 48, Bremen 45, Cumberland 45, Mother McAuley 44, Lindblom 43.5, Hampshire 38, Thornton Fractional South 33, St. Ignatius 28, Intrinsic Charter-Downtown 20, Chicago Washington 18, Fenger 3

Lady Raptor Invite results:

100

1st: Anapaula Cerna-Rivera (De La Salle) 3-0,d. Takyla Johnson (Joliet W) 7-6,  (F 0:23)

3rd: Kassandra Ruiz (Joliet C) 11-3,d. Saryia Maddox (Rich Township) 2-2, (F 3:31)

105

1st: Chloe Wong (Joliet W) 3-1,d. Chloe Arana (Washington) 13-2, . (F 3:21)

3rd: Alisa Carter (Joliet C) 20-5,d. Alanna Mechling (Durand) 7-14, (TF-1.5 2:05 (17-2)

110

1st: Jayden Melendez (Tinley Park ) 21-5,d. Ireland Dolan (Durand) 9-5,  (D 3-2)

3rd: Dakodia Kelly (Lansing (Thornton Fractional South) 25-8,d. Natalie Bonick (Peotone) 10-12, (F 1:50)

115

1st: Danita Palmore (Lindblom) 18-8,d. De`neasia Hawkins (Bremen) 21-5, (F 1:55)

3rd: Kennedy Mort (Peotone) 17-6,d. Shaniya Tharp Thomas (Lansing (Thornton Fractional South) 19-12,  (F 1:52)

120

1st: Iliana Heredia (De La Salle) 4-0,d. Julianna Adamski (Tinley Park ) 19-7, (F 0:43)

3rd: Kaylee Bordreau (Peotone) 13-11,d. Willow Perruquet (Joliet W) 12-15, (F 3:04)

125

1st: Briahna Klobnak (Joliet W) 23-5,d. Journey Jackson (Oak Lawn) 20-6,  (TF-1.5 4:02 (19-4)

3rd: Melissa Aguirre (Joliet C) 17-11,d. Dylylah Patterson (Antioch) 12-9, (F 1:40)

130

1st: Evie Anderson (Durand) 18-8,d. Layla Roy (Rockford (Guilford) 3-1,  (F 1:58)

3rd: April Ortiz (Joliet C) 23-7,d. Annie Bergeron (Peotone) 17-10, (F 0:42)

135

1st: Izabel Barrera (Joliet C) 20-1,d. Amelia Quinlan (Bremen) 19-7, (F 3:39)

3rd: Laila Yunusa (Lindblom) 8-5,d. Magdelyn Brough (Antioch) 13-14,  (D 11-7)

140

1st: Maggie Zuber (Mother McAuley) 9-0,d. Veronica Klobnak (Joliet W) 30-5, (F 3:19)

3rd: Ziza Sanchez (Rolling Meadows) 22-11,d. Sasha Johnson (Antioch) 12-10, (F 2:51)

145

1st: Natalie Beaumont (Cumberland) 18-2,d. GG Garduno (St. Ignatius) 12-1, (MD 13-3)

3rd: Janet Brindis (Rolling Meadows) 22-9,d. Charvele McLain (Oak Lawn) 24-6, . (D 5-1)

155

1st: Aiaishah Sanchez (Rolling Meadows) 25-8,d. Juliamay Teston (Intrinsic) 13-7, (F 1:59)

3rd: Emma Guethle (Joliet C) 8-4,d. Majh Starks (Joliet W) 14-12, (F 5:20)

170

1st: Anneliese Tavira (Hampshire) 26-2,d. Summer Nichols (Cumberland) 4-2, (D 8-4)

3rd: Laila Carpenter (Rich Township) 3-1,d. Leilani Brindis (Rolling Meadows) 25-6, (F 3:11)

190

1st: Anjanne Haywood (Rockford (Guilford) 16-5,d. Trista Pisano (Joliet W) 16-8, (For.)

3rd: Josie Blau (Antioch) 16-13, d. Valeria Hernandez (Joliet C) 9-7, (D 3-0)

235

1st: Natalie Quiroz (Joliet W) 28-3, .d. Jewel Mister (Joliet C) 5-6,  (F 1:17)

3rd: Amaya McClain (Rich Township) 1-2,d. Lauren Ray (Hampshire) 2-8,  (F 0:20)

Oswego East Girls Invitational

Edwardsville’s girls won the 28-team Oswego East Invitational, led by individual champions Olive Linhorst (130), Holly Zugmaier (135) and Victoria White (190), plus 10 total championship-round medal winners, and 15 total wrestlers contributing team points. Coach Jon Wagner’s Tigers won 239-192.5 over second-place Plainfield South, followed by Oswego (152.5), Downers Grove North (136) and host Oswego East (128.5) to round out the top five team finishes.

1st place: Edwardsville (239 points)
In addition to titles from Linhorst, Zugmaier and White, the Tigers got a second from Genevieve Dykstra (110), thirds from Emma Rogers (100), Gigi Linhorst (115), Brooklyn Alldredge (125) and Abbrey DeWerff (155), a fifth from Lydia Blind (140), and a sixth from Angie Nunez (235). Wrestling back to win their consolation brackets were Hailey Buckingham (110) and Emily Rogers (125), while Zinnia Allen (170) took second in the consolation bracket. Also scoring team points for Edwardsville were Madison Aldrich (130), Alex Simpson (135) and Aubrey White (145).

2nd place: Plainfield South (192.5)
The Cougars got an individual title from Teagan Aurich (155), seconds from Kayla Ochotorena (115) and Mora Munoz (135), fourths from Allison Assante (120), Alexia Kachiroubas (130), Annika Lundgren (190) and Timi Mudasiru (235), and a fifth from Amie Fuentes (100).

3rd place: Oswego (152.5)

The Panthers got a trio of third-place finishes from Harmony Evans (130), Tennille Johnson (135), and Helena Torres (190), fourths from Kendra Padilla (115) and Rikka Ludvigson (170), and a sixth from Makayla Hill (145). The Panthers also got consolation bracket titles from Aaliyah Roldan (120) and Kiyah Chavez (155).

Individual champions:

Also winning titles at Oswego East were Round Lake’s Riley Kongkaeow (100), Leyden’s Zoey Dodgers (105), Crystal Lake South’s Annalee Aarseth (110), Round Lake’s Ireland McCain (115), Metea Valley’s Janiya Moore (120), Oswego East’s Mia Nevarez (125), New Trier’s Jillian Giller (140), Oswego East’s Ella Cooper (145), Oswego East’s Jessica Stover (170), and Normal West’s Cadence Duvall (235).

Closest title match finishes:
Round Lake’s Riley Kongkaeow edged Romeoville’s Daniela Santander by 3-1 decision for the title at 100 pounds, and New Trier’s Jillian Giller won 11-8 for the title at 140 over Oswego East’s Quinn Janssens.

Individual highlights:

Oswego’s Aaliyah Roldan had the most pins (5) in the least time (3:49) at Oswego East, while Somonauk’s Rylie Donahue had the most tech falls (2) in the least time (7:07). Romeoville’s Mariyah Mani posted the fastest pin of the day, in 12 seconds, and Donahue’s tech fall in 2:26 was the fastest by an wrestler. Round Lake’s Ireland McCain scored the most team points (33.5), while Elgin’s Lourdes Hernandez and Metea Valley’s Janiya Moore tied for the most single-match points with 22, and Moore scored the most total match points with 70.

Team scores:

Edwardsville 239, Plainfield South 192.5, Oswego 152.5, Downers Grove North 136, Oswego East 128.5, Round Lake 125.5, JS Morton 110, Romeoville 97, St. Charles East 92, Palatine 77, Wheaton Warrenville South 76.5, Leyden 68, Community West 63, Metea Valley 58.5, Sandwich  47.5, New Trier 46, Harvard 43, Neuqua Valley 43, Elgin 40, Naperville North 36, Crystal Lake South 30.5, Somonauk 25, Waubonsie Valley 23, Plainfield North 21, Cary-Grove 20.5, Aurora Central Catholic 3

Oswego East Invitational results:

100

1st: Riley Kongkaeow (Round Lake) d. Daniela Santander (Romeoville) (D 3-1)

3rd: Emma Rogers (Edwardsville) d. Andrea Jaimes-Alvarez (WW South) (D 12-5)

5th: Amie Fuentes (Plainfield S) d. Andaria Marron (Morton) (D 10-5)

Consolation 1st:

Jaszmyn Dotson (DG North) d. Lourdes Hernandez (Elgin) (F 0:41)

105

1st: Zoey Dodgers (Leyden) d. Sydney Stieb (SC East) (F 1:20)

3rd: Isabella Castro (New Trier) d. Abigail Channell (Sandwich) (F 2:39)

5th: Nevaeh Ovalle (Harvard) d. Alyssa Alicz (ACC) (F 3:31)

110

1st: Annalee Aarseth (CL South) d. Genevieve Dykstra (Edwardsville) (F 2:35)

3rd: Aleta Weigandt (Neuqua Valley) d. Alexa Herrera (Harvard) (F 0:53)

5th: Lydia Cartwright (Sandwich) d. Ella Matheu (DG North) (F 0:34)

Consolation 1st: Hailey Buckingham (Edwardsville) d. Mikaela Busse (Oswego) (F 1:37)

115

1st: Ireland McCain (Round Lake) d. Kayla Ochotorena (Plainfield S) (TF 21-4)

3rd: Gigi Linhorst (Edwardsville) d. Kendra Padilla (Oswego) (F 0:41)

5th: Brianna Carbajal (Morton) d Henessey Garcia (Romeoville) (Maj 13-0)

Consolation 1st: Norah Vick (Sandwich) d. Fatima Martinez (Morton) (D 13-6)

120

1st: Janiya Moore (Metea) d. Monica Garcia (Morton) (TF 22-4)

3rd: Sabrina Bono (Leyden) d. Allison Asante (Plainfield S) (F 1:08)

5th: Korrie Levandoski (Round Lake) d. Kachi Tijerina (SC East) (F 1:42)

Consolation 1st: Aaliyah Roldan (Oswego) d. Payton Lustrup (Oswego E) (F 1:15)

125

1st: Mia Nevarez (Oswego E) d. Rylie Donahue (Somonauk) (F 3:04)

3rd: Brooklyn Alldredge (Edwardsville) d. Emily Pizano (Elgin) (F 1:36)

5th: Sommer Kibbe (WW South) d. Valentina Gonzalez (DG North) (F 2:34)

Consolation 1st: Emily Rogers (Edwardsville) d. Victoria Vargas (Morton) (F 1:59)

130

1st: Olive Linhorst (Edwardsville) d. Natalia Cruz (DG North) (TF 20-4)

3rd: Harmony Evans (Oswego) d. Alexia Kachiroubas (Plainfield S) (F 1:38)

5th: Brianna Perez (Round Lake) d Olivia Pearson (SC East) (Maj 15-5)

Consolation 1st: Briana Anselmo (Elgin) d. Khloe Vest (Harvard) (F 1:19)

135

1st: Holly Zugmaier (Edwardsville) d. Mora Munoz (Plainfield S) (D 7-0)

3rd: Tennille Johnson (Oswego) d. Isabel Vaca (Morton) (F 2:00)

5th: Brianna Garcia (Romeoville) d. Laila Cuadra (SC East) (F 0:28)

Consolation 1st:

Heidi Bourne (WW South) d. Kaitlyn Kapral (DG North) (F 1:42)

140

1st: Jillian Giller (New Trier) d. Quinn Janssens (Oswego E) (D 11-8)

3rd: Alketa Picari (Metea) d. Viki Rodnikova (Plainfield N) (F 3:17)

5th: Lydia Blind (Edwardsville) d. Annabella Linton (Morton) (F 1:50)

Consolation 1st: Mia Olenek (SC East) d. Jazmin Rios (Sandwich) (F 0:43)

145

1st: Ella Cooper (Oswego E) d. Vivian Guither (Normal W) (D 11-6)

3rd: Jahdi`yah Hibbler (DG North) d. Karimot Iawal (Palatine) (SV-1 5-2)

5th: Addison Wolf (SC East) received a bye () (Bye)

155

1st: Teagan Aurich (Plainfield S) d. Michelle Rojas-Tellez (WW South) (F 1:48)

3rd: Abbrey DeWerff (Edwardsville) d. Aimee Valencia (Round Lake) (F 0:44)

5th: Samantha Stillo (DG North) d. Evelyn Castro Juarez (Palatine) (Inj. 0:00)

Consolation 1st: Kiyah Chavez (Oswego) d. Nathalia Rosas (Romeoville) (F 2:48)

170

1st: Jessica Stover (Oswego E) d. Vilte Petreikyte-Zemaitaitis (N) (F 1:51)

3rd: Denver Gier (Cary (C.-Grove) d Rikka Ludvigson (Oswego) (Maj 8-0)

5th: Nancy Licona (Round Lake) d. Alyssa Andreen (DG North) (D 4-3)

Consolation 1st: Imani McIntosh (Waubonsie) d. Zinnia Allen (Edwardsville) (F 2:14)

190

1st: Victoria White (Edwardsville) d. Aiva Wikar (Palatine) (F 4:51)

3rd: Helena Torres (Oswego) d. Annika Lundgren (Plainfield S) (F 2:57)

5th: Jarithsie Mercado (Harvard) d. Anali Wilson (Morton) (F 1:58)

Consolation 1st: Irma Villa (Palatine) d. Layla Williams (DG North) (D 9-4)

235
1st: Cadence Duvall (Normal W) d Henessis Villagrana (Romeoville) (Maj 8-0)

3rd: Zahriah Gaines (DG North) d. Timi Mudasiru (Plainfield S) (F 1:21)

5th: Aniaah Garcia (Palatine) d. Angie Nunez (Edwardsville) (F 0:35)

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

It’s been a special season thus far for Vandalia in its quest to improve upon last year’s fourth-place finish at the IHSA Class 1A Dual Team Finals. 

And based on its accomplishments during the past three weeks, it appears that coach Jason Clay’s Vandals definitely have what it takes to challenge the last two first-place finishers in Class 1A, 2023 champion Coal City and 2024 title winner Marian Central Catholic, in their quest to capture their program’s second state championship and first since 1996.

The Vandals claimed top honors at ABE’s Rumble in Springfield on December 28 after jumping out to a big lead and holding off a comeback by Coal City in the semifinals and winning in a similar fashion in the championship dual meet against Marian Central Catholic.

It was more of the same for Vandalia on Saturday at the 61st annual Lyle King Princeton Invitational Tournament where it went toe-to-toe with Coal City throughout the two-day competition that featured many of the state’s best Class 1A teams and individuals from the 34 schools on hand. 

Once again, the Vandals got the better of the Coalers, outscoring them 279.5-272 to become  champions for the first time in a tournament that they have been competing in since 2000.

Meanwhile, the Coalers demonstrated that even though they weren’t at full strength in their quest to win a third-straight title, on any given day, they’re just as good as any team in 1A.

Leading the way for coach Jason Clay’s first-place Vandals were champions Kaden Tidwell (190), Tyson Waughtel (126), Preston Waughtel (120) and Max Philpot (113) as well as runner-up Dillon Hinton (150).

Other top placewinners and points scorers for Vandalia were Aiden Evans (fifth at 106), Ross  Miller (fifth at 175), Cole Yarbrough (fifth at 138), Brody Matthews (sixth at 132), Dominic Swyers (sixth at 215), Dade Kleinik (seventh at 157), Artan Mustafa (eighth at 165), Keagan Turner (144) and Gabe Torres (285). 

“It is actually the first time we have won the tournament since we started coming in 2000,” said Clay, who will be inducted into the IWCOA Hall of Fame this year. “We have been second about four times but never won it. I’m proud of how our guys performed over two days with this being our first competition since Abe’s Rumble. We scored at every weight class and that was critical to hold off Coal City. 279.5 is a pretty amazing point total for a tournament of this level. I thought we did an outstanding job of also getting bonus points via pins and tech falls.”

After taking fourth place in the IHSA Class 1A Dual Team Finals last season, Vandalia hopes to battle with last year’s runner-up and the 2023 1A champions, Coal City, as well as last year’s Class 1A champions, Marian Central Catholic.

The Vandals have won one Dual Team title and that was in 1996. They also hope to boost their total of individual champions since they have just four and have not had more than one state champion in a season.

Finalists for coach Mark Masters’ runner-up Coalers were champion Landin Benson (175) and second-place finishers Brock Finch (165) and Cooper Morris (126). 

Additional top placers and point scorers for Coal City were John Keigher (third at 215), Owen Petersen (third at 113), Cade Poyner (third at 190), Mason Garner (fourth at 157), Aidan Kenney (fourth at 144), Luke Munsterman (fourth at 132), Brody D’Orazio (sixth at 190), Trace Wilson (sixth at 150), Noah Houston (seventh at 150), Roberto Rodriguez (seventh at 138), Payton Vigna (seventh at 285), Culan Lindemuth (eighth at 120) and Jason Piatak (106). Brody Widlowski, an IHSA runner-up last season and a two-time state medalist, did not compete.

“They know that they can perform a little bit better,” said Masters, who is a 2022 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee. “Everybody’s beat up a little bit, but they’re not using that as an excuse. We had our backup 38-pounder and he came in today and he placed. They let us bring a couple of extra guys and our backup 190 took sixth. (Cooper Morris) It was huge to see the takedown and it closed the gap against a two-time state champion and three-time finalist (Tyson Waughtel) and you belong, that’s the mentality. 

“The one thing that programs always encourage is that you score the next point, whatever it is, whether it’s an escape, or takedown, nearfall, that’s all that we care about. Are you improving through the match? Even in the loss, maybe we didn’t wrestle so well the first period but man, you really put it together in the second and third period. You hear it all the time, it’s effort-based, not result-based, and that’s what we really encourage to the kids. We love you no matter what, we just need your best effort and I’m not too concerned about the outcome.”

Richmond-Burton took third place with 184 points and Newman Central Catholic finished fourth with 148 points and both teams had two champions and one second-place finisher. 

Champions for Richmond-Burton were Emmett Nelson (144) and Colin Kraus (285) while Lelan Nelson (106) took second. Title winners for Newman Central Catholic were Daniel Kelly (165) and Landon Near (106) while Briar Ivey (157) took second place.

Returning state champions who won PIT titles were Rockridge’s Jude Finch (138), Illini Bluffs’ Jackson Carroll (150), Preston Waughtel (120) and Benson (175) while 2023 and 2022 state champ Tyson Waughtel (126) also took first place.

The other PIT title winners were Roxana’s Brandon Green, Jr. (132), Riverdale’s Blake Smith (157) and Mt. Zion’s Keller Stocks (215). Lyle King PIT Outstanding Wrestler Awards went to Preston Waughtel for the lower weights and Benson for the upper weights.

Champions with the most team points were Green, Jr with 34 while Preston Waughtel and Stocks were next with 33 points. Finch and Nelson both scored 32.5 points, Kraus had 32, Tyson Waughtel, Carroll and Philpot each had 31.5 and Tidwell collected 30.5 points.

A 2023 IHSA champion who took second place was Riverdale’s Dean Wainwright (132). Other state medalists who took second place were Olympia’s Dylan Eimer (113), Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth’s Logan Roberts (120), Princeton’s Ace Christiansen (144), Tremont’s Bowden Delaney (175) and Orion’s Maddux Anderson (190). 

Other second-place finishers were Reed-Custer’s Jeremy Eggleston (138) and Dominic Alaimo (215) and LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Tate Sigler (285). 

Several freshmen claimed third-place finishes. They were Reed-Custer’s Colton Drinkwine (106), Oakwood/Salt Fork’s Mason Swartz (120), Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Landen Lage (126), Princeton’s Kane Dauber (132) and Dixon’s Preston Richards (144).

Others who finished in third place were Oakwood/Salt Fork’s Pedro Rangel (138), Clifton Central/Iroquois West’s Gianni Panozzo (150), Byron’s Will Julian (157), Roxana’s Lyndon Thies (165), Richmond-Burton’s Blake Livdahl (175) and Princeton’s Cade Odell (285).

Additional individuals who finished fourth were Dixon’s Jack Ragan (113) and Charlie Connors (138), Oakwood/Salt Fork’s Steven Uden (106), Richmond-Burton’s Adam Glauser (120), Newman Central Catholic’s Zhyler Hansen (126), Riverdale’s Kolton Kruse (150), Princeton’s Casey Etheridge (165), Mt. Zion’s Carson Thornton (175), Wilmington’s Logan VanDuyne (190), Litchfield/Mt. Olive’s Tristan Staggs (215) and Dakota’s Randy McPeek (285).

Here’s a look at the champions and weight classes of the 61st annual Lyle King Princeton Invitational Tournament (in the order they were contested):

157 – Blake Smith, Riverdale

Blake Smith took third place at 150 at the IHSA Class 1A Finals so the Riverdale senior definitely hopes to move higher up the awards stand this season. And he knows what it takes to be a state champion since he saw teammate Dean Wainwright achieve that feat in 2023 and his brother Brock and Collin Altensey also win titles for the Rams in 2022. Smith is obviously feeling really good about his progression after capturing a 7-0 decision over Newman Central Catholic senior Briar Ivey in the 157 Lyle King PIT title match to repeat as a champion in the competition and improve to 26-0 on the season.

Smith, one of two finalists and the lone champion for coach Aron Kindelsperger’s Rams, opened with a win by technical fall before getting a pin in 3:04 in the quarterfinals over Litchfield/Mt. Olive’s Braxton Kieffer. He earned his spot on the title mat with a 9-4 decision over Byron’s Will Julian in the semifinals. Kicking off the title matches, he grabbed an early 3-0 advantage over Ivey and increased it during the final period to claim his first championship of the season.

“I wrestled good all year and I had a good state tournament but third place was not where I wanted to be,” Smith said. “I want to be standing on top of that podium and I think this year it’s going to happen since I’ve been working really hard to get to that goal. With all of the work that I’ve been putting in, my confidence is growing and growing. I know what exactly needs to be done and I’m doing it so I’m going to be on top of that podium. (Riverdale) It’s a very special place. Wrestling is in our history at Riverdale and in my freshman and sophomore years, having the guys that I had in the room, every day I was getting better every single day. I’m just trying to stay on that same path of getting better every day, and it’s been working.”

Ivey (28-2) was one of three finalists for coach Brian Bahrs’ fourth-place Comets and he looks to get back to state for the first time since 2022 and earn his first medal there. He opened with a win by technical fall and then won a 16-5 major decision over LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Brock Owens in the quarterfinals before claiming  a 10-4 decision in the semifinals over PORTA’s Justin Zimmerman. In the third-place match, Byron sophomore Julian (12-1) won an 11-7 decision over Coal City junior Mason Garner (17-5). For fifth, PORTA junior Zimmerman (29-5) claimed a 10-2 major decision over LeRoy/Tri-Valley senior Owens (28-7). And for seventh place, Vandalia sophomore Dade Kleinik (17-6) won a 6-4 decision over Litchfield/Mt. Olive junior Kieffer (23-7).

190 – Kaden Tidwell, Vandalia

Kaden Tidwell was understandably excited about being one of the five individuals from Vandalia that reached the title mat at the Lyle King PIT and a bonus in the 190 PIT championship match was a rematch of last season’s third-place match at the IHSA Class 1A Finals at 190 where he lost 7-6 to Orion’s Maddux Anderson. In the rematch between the two seniors, Tidwell used a takedown and nearfall in the middle period to overcome an early deficit and went on to claim an 11-3 major decision to add to a first-place finish he had at Civic Memorial and improved to 29-2. 

Tidwell, the first of four title winners for coach Jason Clay’s Vandals, got the added bonus of helping his team to win their first-ever Lyle King championship as they edged defending champion Coal City 279.5-272 for top honors in the 34-team event. He opened with two pins before getting a win by technical fall in 4:19 in the quarterfinals over Clinton’s Kristian Hibbard and then won an 11-6 decision over Coal City’s Cade Poyner in the semifinals.

“It’s been amazing,” Tidwell said of his team’s season thus far. “We had goals at the beginning of the year to win state and win ABE’s and get a bunch of winners here at Princeton, and we’ve kind of been completing them step by step and it just starts in the room, just practicing real hard. We just have to keep working hard in the room and not get too big in our heads because we’re winning other stuff because the main goal is February. It was a rematch and it felt amazing to get out there and kind of build my lead and I majored him and now I’m just working toward state. It’s a great time to build some momentum as we’re getting closer to regionals and postseason so hopefully we can just keep it rolling.”

Anderson (29-2), who was hoping to repeat as a PIT champion and add to titles that he’s won this season at Seneca and Erie/Prophetstown, was the lone finalist for coach Zach Nelson’s Chargers. He won his first two matches with first-period falls before getting a victory by technical fall in 2:22 over Dixon’s Will Howell. He earned his spot on the 190 title mat with a 12-0 major decision over Wilmington’s Logan VanDuyne in the semifinals. For third place, Coal City junior Poyner (18-3) won a 5-3 decision over Wilmington junior VanDuyne (22-3). In the fifth-place match, Dixon senior Howell (22-7) prevailed 9-8 over Coal City sophomore Brody D’Orazio (18-4). And for seventh place, Mt. Zion senior Kaden Becker (21-8) won by fall in 0:52 over Monticello senior Hunter Romano (24-4). Becker joined Oakwood/Salt Fork’s Brayden Edwards and Vandalia’s Ross Miller as the lone competitors to record five falls in the tournament.

144 – Emmett Nelson, Richmond-Burton

Emmett Nelson started off his career in an impressive fashion, placing second in the IHSA Class 1A Finals at 113 in 2022 and at 126 in 2023. After settling for a sixth-place finish at 144 a year ago in Champaign, the three-time state medalist hopes that he’s saved his best performance for last this season. So far, so good, as Nelson is off to a 25-1 start and he’s leading a Richmond-Burton team that’s won three titles and placed third twice. As a bonus, he became a first-time champion at the Lyle King PIT along with his senior teammate Colin Kraus and was one of three finalists for his team, with his freshman brother Lelan being the other one. He won the 144 title with a wild, high-scoring 22-14 major decision over Princeton senior Ace Christiansen.

Nelson, who won titles at his school’s own invite and at Palatine and suffered his lone loss in the finals at Glenbrook South, was one of seven top-five finishers for coach Tony Nelson’s Rockets, who easily claimed third place in the Lyle King PIT with 184 points. After getting two first-period falls, with the second one in 1:48 over Mt. Zion’s Drayden Smith in the quarterfinals,  Nelson won by technical fall in 2:59 over Coal City’s Aidan Kenney to advance to the 144 finals. He finished with 32.5 team points, which tied him for fourth place with Rockridge’s Jude Finch and thanks to his high-scoring finale, he also tied for seventh place in match points with 60.

“It’s fun winning by yourself, but I think it’s even more fun when the team is doing well because then everybody is going to get good,” Nelson said. “It’s even more fun beating bigger schools since they seem to underestimate us a little bit. I’m really close with him (Lelan), so it’s really cool. And we go at it all of the time in the room, so it’s good to just have another partner in there. It makes me take on a leadership role on the team, so it makes me not just work hard for myself but also so I can set a good example for other people. A big part of it is how much we support each other and everybody really gets behind everybody on our team. In this one (PIT) they did a good job of really making the atmosphere cool and I always want to put on a show for the fans.” 

Christiansen (21-3) prevailed with a 12-10 decision over Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth’s Charlie Wittmer in the semifinals to give the large crowd at Prouty Gym hope that IWCOA Hall of Famer Sreve Amy’s Tigers, who tied Dixon for fifth place with 129 points, might get a championship from their lone finalist at their 34-team tournament. Christiansen, who took third place at 138 in the IHSA 1A Finals in 2024 and was seeking his first title of the season, opened with two falls, including one in 2:50 over Clifton Central’s Evan Cox in the quarterfinals. In the third-place match, Dixon freshman Preston Richards (26-7) bounced back from a 5-4 quarterfinal loss to Kenney (20-7) to capture a 4-3 decision over the Coaler junior. For fifth place, Roxana junior Logan Riggs (23-10) won by medical forfeit over Warrensburg-Latham junior Wittmer (26-5). And for seventh, PORTA senior Mike Minor (18-4) won 6-1 over Olympia sophomore Austin Kisner (30-10).

126 – Tyson Waughtel, Vandalia

Tyson Waughtel has enjoyed a great career, winning IHSA Class 1A titles at 113 in 2023 and at 106 in 2022 and just falling short of another title at 120 last season while at Carlyle. Now with him and his sophomore brother Preston, an IHSA champion at 113 a year ago as a freshman, also competing for Carlyle, the pairs’ hopes are much bigger than winning individual titles since they’re on a team that closed 2024 by taking first at ABE’s Rumble and opened 2025 with a title at the Lyle King PIT. Tyson Waughtel was one of four champions, five finalists and 12 individuals who placed eighth or better to help Vandalia get past Coal City by a 279.5-272 margin to win their first Lyle King PIT team championship. The senior improved to 32-0 after claiming the 126 title with an 11-5 decision over Coal City sophomore Cooper Morris.

Tyson Waughtel opened with two falls, including one in 1:25 in the quarterfinals over Rockridge’s Clayton Blumenstein, and the senior earned his spot on the title mat with a win by technical fall in 2:57 over Newman Central Catholic’s Zhyler Hansen. This was his second tournament title of the season with the other coming at Civic Memorial’s Steve Bradley Invite. Vandalia had a tournament-high four champions for coach Jason Clay, who is a 2025 inductee for the IWCOA Hall of Fame. Kaden Tidwell (190) won two matches  before him and his brother Preston (120) and Max Philpot (113) claimed consecutive titles a bit later while Dillon Hinton (150) took second. He tied for seventh for the most team points with Philpot and Illini Bluffs’ Jackson Carroll with 31.5. 

“We’re just making history,” Tyson Waughtel said. “We’re doing great. We won ABE’s, which was really big because we were the two-seed going into it. (Taking second last year) I put a picture of me in my room of losing just to motivate me every day, and it helps keep me going and to remind myself of what I have to accomplish. It’s awesome seeing your little brother just compete and do the best that he can out there, it’s like I helped him do that. (Being at Vandalia) I’m so grateful to have these guys, I’m just really thankful for them. We all act like a family. We’re not just teammates, we work as if we’re related almost, and it’s awesome to have that.”

Morris (22-3), who took fifth at 113 at state and second at the PIT last season, put up a good fight in the finals, getting a takedown late in the second period to close to within 6-5 before the senior scored the final five points. One of three finalists and 15 individuals who placed eighth or better for the runner-up Coalers, who are coached by 2022 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Mark Masters. Morris joined champion Landin Benson (175) and runner-up Brock Finch (165) as finalists after winning 4-3 in an overtime tiebreaker to Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Landen Lage in the semifinals. He opened with a fall and won a 16-8 major decision over Rock Falls’ Josiah Tarbill in the quarterfinals. In the third-place match, GCMSF freshman Lage (24-2) won 7-4 over Newman Central Catholic junior Hansen (27-3). For fifth, Richmond-Burton senior Clayton Madula (28-7) won by fall in 2:56 over Monticello junior Nick Litchfield (24-13), who led all competitors with the most total match points with 88. And for seventh place, Rock Falls junior Tarbill (4-2) won 16-10 over Byron senior Damien Palacios (7-5). Tarbill was seeded 26th, so he finished 19 places better than that, which was the second-largest seed to place differential.

138 – Jude Finch, Rockridge

Jude Finch reached the pinnacle last season by taking first place at 132 in the IHSA 1A Finals after placing third at 126 in 2023 at state. Now the three-time state qualifier hopes to do something that only one other individual from Rockridge has been able to accomplish, 2020 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee and Princeton coach Steve Amy, which is winning more than one state title. The senior is off to a great start, improving to 19-0 after winning the 138 championship at the Lyle King PIT with a 19-5 major decision over Reed-Custer senior Jeremy Eggleston, handing him his first defeat. Finch claimed second place finishes in the PIT in both 2024 and 2023.

Finch, who also won a title at Erie/Prophetstown this season, wasn’t pleased with the fact that he had to spend the whole six minutes on the title mat after opening with two falls in the first minute, including one in 0:49 over Coal City’s Roberto Rodriguez in the quarterfinals. And he needed just 2:22 to win by technical fall in the semifinals over Dixon’s Charlie Connors to become the lone finalist for coach Lucas Smith’s Rockets. Finch tied Richmond-Burton’s Emmett Nelson for the fourth-most team points with 32.5

“I’ve been trying to win for a while now and could never seem to get it done, but finally did,” Finch said of winning the PIT. “I’m just working hard in the room every day. Being on weight and wrestling the whole match. (The finals) That was the longest match that I wrestled all season. Being one point away from the tech and then giving up a dumb takedown, I was just trying to finish the match instead of wrestling. (About Rockridge) I love wrestling with my friends, it’s fun. It’s an individual sport, but it also is a team and those are the guys that you train with.”

Eggleston (24-1) hopes to get back to the state finals, which he qualified for in 2023. One of two finalists for coach Yale Davis’ Comets, with junior Dominic Alaimo (215) the other one, he got pins in his first two matches, winning by fall over Illinois Valley Central’s Hunter Toliver in 5:08 in the quarterfinals. Then he claimed  a 7-5 decision over Vandalia’s Cole Yarbrough in the semifinals prior to suffering his first loss this season. In the third-place match, Oakwood/Salt Fork senior Pedro Rangel (22-6), a three-time state qualifier, claimed a 7-3 decision over Dixon freshman Connors (18-5). For fifth place, Vandalia sophomore Yarbrough (24-7) was a winner by technical fall in 4:31 over Tremont senior Chase Stedman (32-10), who had the largest seed to place differential of 21 places after being seeded 27th. And for seventh place, Coal City sophomore Rodriguez (15-3) claimed a 20-8 major decision over IVC sophomore Toliver (3-3). 

285 – Colin Kraus, Richmond-Burton

Colin Kraus came into the 61st Lyle King PIT with literally nothing to lose since he was unranked at 285 and hadn’t ever qualified for state. So all the Richmond-Burton senior went out and did was not lose any of his five matches as he captured top honors at 285 by recording a fall in 4:41 over LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Tate Sigler, another senior who was unranked and hadn’t gone to state but also went 4-0 to advance to the title mat. Every other title match featured two individuals who were ranked in the top 10 and other than the all-freshman matchup at 106 which featured one of three Richmond-Burton finalists, Lelan Nelson, every other finalist had at least made one trip to state and 19 of the 28 had also been state medal winners.

Kraus, who improved to 22-6, was one of two champions for coach Tony Nelson’s third-place Rockets, with classmate Emmett Nelson (144) the other. The 285 champion won his first three matches by fall, needing 5:37 to pin Dakota’s Randy McPeek before earning his spot in the finals by capturing a 4-1 decision over Princeton’s Cade Odell. Kraus added to a title win at his school’s invite and also took second at Palatine and fourth at Glenbrook South this season. Kraus finished with a total of 32 team points, which ranked him sixth in that category. 

“I’ve never been to this tournament before, it was my first one,” Kraus said. “I saw a lot of good kids and went against a really good kid and I surprised myself by beating him. That’s the thing I love about wrestling, it’s the team. I could be having a really bad day in the wrestling room and I can look over and see everyone else putting in the same work as me and it motivates me to keep going. I love my team, it’s what keeps me going. We’ve put in the work, we’re all here together and wrestling with each other. It’s a team sport, but it’s also individual. I really think that the team part helps the individual. It all ties together and that’s what I love about it.”

Sigler (28-5), the lone finalist for coach Brady Sant Amour’s Panthers, followed two pins with two decisions, winning 5-2 over Clinton’s Dawson Thayer in the quarterfinals and then 8-4 in the semifinals over Byron’s Jared Claunch to assure him of improving on his other tournament finish this season, a fourth at PORTA. For third place, Princeton senior Odell (16-1), who took second at his own tournament last season, bounced back from his first defeat to Kraus to record a fall in 1:26 over Dakota junior McPeek (19-5). In the fifth-place match, Olympia junior Darian Holloway (33-6) claimed a 7-5 decision over Byron senior Claunch (9-4). And for seventh, Coal City junior Payton Vigna (14-5) was a winner by medical forfeit over Clinton senior Thayer (14-1), who also suffered his first defeat of the season with his quarterfinal loss to Sigler..

165 – Daniel Kelly, Newman Central Catholic

Daniel Kelly is proud to point to all of the success that Newman Central Catholic has enjoyed at the IHSA Finals during the years and he’d like to do what many others have achieved while competing for the school, winning a state title. Boosted by a fifth-place finish in Class 1A at 157 in 2024, the senior would like to be the school’s first champion since Will Rude won the IWCOA Open title in 2021 and he’s off to a 20-0 start after winning a 4-2 decision over Coal City junior Brock Finch in the 165 championship to become the first of two title winners for coach Brian Bahrs’ Comets, with freshman Landon Near taking first at 106 in the next match on the title mat.

Kelly added to tournament championships at Sterling and Erie/Prophetstown thanks to collecting the full spectrum of wins enroute to the 165 championship. He opened with a win by technical fall and followed with a first-period pinl. Then he captured a 13-5 major decision over Byron’s Brody Stien in the quarterfinals and followed that with a 15-9 decision over Roxana’s Lyndon Thies in the semifinals to become one of three finalists for his team, with Briar Ivey (157) the other. Kelly fell behind early against Thies in the semifinals in a rematch of last year’s PIT finals at 157, which Thies won, but he rallied to reach the title match again and then he held off a spirited challenge by Finch to win his first PIT title and continue his unbeaten season.

“We had three in the finals and Briar started it off and he’s been wrestling really good,” Kelly said. “Landon is just like a workhorse and he’s really surprised a lot of people. (The semifinal) It was a tough match. I was down and I battled through and I knew I had to put pressure on him in the third, so I had to get a lot of takedowns and that’s what I did. Everyone that comes through here (his school), is usually a pretty good wrestler. All of our coaches are state champs and we have the second- or third-most state champs in Illinois, that’s a crazy feature, especially for a 1A school. It’s just really fun to be a part of the team, especially with its rich history, great coaches and the great culture around it. And I think we have one of the toughest rooms in the state.”

Finch (17-5) was one of three finalists and 15 top-eight finishers for the runner-up Coalers, who are coached by 2022 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Mark Masters. The two-time state qualifier, who hopes to win his first state medal this season, recorded falls in his first two matches, with the second of those coming in 2:48 over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Cooper Miller in the quarterfinals and then he claimed a 10-5 decision over Princeton’s Casey Etheridge to earn his spot on the 165 title mat. In the third-place match, Roxana junior Thies (26-2), who took fourth in 1A at 157 last season and ranked second in match points with 74, won 17-10 over Princeton junior Etheridge (24-2). For fifth place, Byron sophomore Stien (11-3) got a fall in 1:43 over Clinton senior Logan Thoms (15-6). For seventh, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher sophomore Miller (20-7) claimed a 15-11 victory over Vandalia senior Artan Mustafa (22-9).  

106 – Landon Near, Newman Central Catholic

Landon Near and Daniel Kelly aren’t likely to win many consecutive titles since the former is at 106 and the latter at 165. But because the Lyle King PIT mixes up its first-place and third-place matches, odd combinations happen and that benefitted Newman Central Catholic since senior Kelly won 4-2 over Coal City’s Brock Finch and freshman Near followed with a 4-0 decision over Richmond-Burton freshman Lelan Nelson to claim the 106 championship, helping coach Brian Bahrs’ Comets to a fourth-place finish in the 34-team event that presented its 61st tournament.

Near (24-1), one of three finalists for Newman Central Catholic with Briar Ivey (157), who normally would have competed just ahead of Kelly, being the other. Near got a win by technical fall in his first match and then claimed a 9-0 major decision over Olympia’s Brandon Gaither in the quarterfinals. He earned his spot on the 106 title mat with a 7-1 decision over Reed-Custer’s Colton Drinkwine in the semifinals. This was the third finals appearance for Near, who also won a championship at Sterling and placed second at Erie/Prophetstown.

“It feels great, especially as a freshman,” Near said. “This was a really big tournament. I’ve won two and I got second at one, too. It’s very fun and we always work hard in the room, too. I like how hard we work and we don’t really give up during our match. We had quite a few comeback wins during this tournament that were pretty big to get us into that final round. I got second at state last year in IKWF. I’ve been working hard in the room and putting in the extra time.”

Nelson (26-3) was one of three finalists for the third-place Rockets, with his brother Emmett (144) and Colin Kraus (285) both winning titles. After opening with a 3-2 decision over Dixon’s Riley Paredes, the freshman needed just 24 seconds to record a fall over Vandalia’s Aiden Evans in the quarterfinals and then earned his trip to the 106 championship match with a 9-6 decision over Oakwood/Salt Fork’s Steven Uden in the semifinals. For third place, Reed-Custer freshman Drinkwine (24-3) prevailed 1-0 over Oakwood/Salt Fork sophomore Uden (22-4). In the fifth-place match, Vandalia freshman Evans (26-7) captured a 7-1 decision over Olympia freshman Gaither (30-8). And for seventh place, PORTA freshman Coyt Rademaker (24-9) claimed a 6-0 victory over Rockridge freshman Nate Lower (18-8).

215 – Keller Stocks, Mt. Zion

Keller Stocks enjoyed a successful sophomore season in 2023-2024 when he won 42 matches and qualified for the IHSA Finals for the first time. But he had the bad luck of running into a pair of eventual medalists and thus went 0-2 in Champaign. Thanks to that experience and faith in his coaches, the Mt. Zion junior is anticipating bigger and better things this season and he improved to 25-2 after recording a fall in 3:54 over Reed-Custer junior Dominic Alaimo in the PIT 215 title match to become his team’s lone champion and added to a first-place finish he had at PORTA. He tied for second in team points with 33 along with Vandalia’s Preston Waughtel, which was one point behind the leader, Roxana’s Brandon Green, Jr, who had 34 team points.

Stocks was the lone finalist for coach Dave Klemm’s Braves. He’s happy to be led by a coach like Klemm, who had great college careers as a wrestler and coach, and is a recipient of a 2012 Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame-Illinois Chapter and received a Lifetime Service Award from the IWCOA in 2015. He hopes to become the 15th individual from his program to win a state medal and perhaps, its fourth champ. He opened with two falls, with the second in 2:58 over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Cohen Kean in the quarterfinals and then he won 16-5 over Coal City’s John Keigher to reach the 215 title mat.

“It feels pretty good, it feels like a preview to state,” Stocks said. (Competing for Dave Klemm) It gets your name out there a little bit and he’s always there to push you in the room and make sure that you go hard. “(Mt. Zion) I feel like it’s just the people that continue to invest in it and we always want to have a good coach and to have a good room. I like that our team loves to get better on their own. They like to go out on runs, go lift and we all stay focused, and I like that. I’ve just learned to stop over-thinking, that tended to be my problem last year.”

Alaimo (25-1) also qualified for state for the first time last season as a sophomore and won one match there. He joined Jeremy Eggleston (138) as one of two finalists for coach Yale Davis’ Comets, and they both suffered their first defeats of the season on the title mat. Alaimo got a fall in his opener before winning a 4-1 decision over Vandalia’s Dominic Swyers in the quarterfinals. Then he claimed a 4-2 victory over Litchfield/Mt. Olive’s Tristan Staggs to advance to the finals. In the third-place match, Coal City senior Keigher (15-1) was a winner by fall over Litchfield/Mt. Olive junior Staggs (27-5). For fifth place, Richmond-Burton freshman Shane Falasca (28-8) got a pin in 2:42 over Vandalia sophomore Swyers (21-11). And for seventh, Dixon junior Dawson Kemp (7-6) won by fall in 2:00 over Clifton Central junior Brody O’Connor (27-11).

120 – Preston Waughtel, Vandalia

Preston Waughtel is understandably very happy that the addition of him and his brother Tyson to the Vandalia program has helped it to achieve some special accomplishments in the last few weeks. The Vandals capped 2024 by winning close dual meets over Coal City and Marian Central Catholic to win ABE’s Rumble in Springfield and they kicked off 2025 by getting past Coal City to win their first-ever title at the Lyle King PIT, which they’ve competed in since 2000. Preston took top honors at 120 while Tyson (126), Kaden Tidwell (190) and Max Philpot (103) also won titles and Dillon Hinton (150) took second to help Vandalia win the 34-team tournament with 279.5 points, which was 7.5 points ahead of the runner-up Coalers, who had 272 points. This was the third tournament title season for Vandalia, who also took first at Civic Memorial.

Preston Waughtel, who won the IHSA Class 1A title at 113 as a freshman competing at Carlyle last season, improved to 30-1 and became the third of the four champions for the Vandals, who are coached by Jason Clay, who will be one of this year’s inductees into the IWCOA Hall of Fame. He won by technical fall in 2:40 over Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth senior Logan Roberts in the 120 championship match to claim his second title of the season, with Civic Memorial being the first. He opened with two falls, including one in 1:17 over Coal City’s Culan Lindemuth in the quarterfinals and then he won by technical fall in 3:51 over Oakwood/Salt Fork’s Mason Swartz in the semifinals. He tied for second with Mt. Zion’s Keller Stocks for the most team points with 33, which was one behind the leader, Roxana’s Brandon Green, Jr. Preston Waughtel received the PIT’s Outstanding Wrestler Award for the lower weights.

“We had one goal coming to this tournament, just beat Coal City,” Preston Waughtel said. “They’re one of the top teams, so beating them is always going to feel good. It’s always fun competing in tournaments, and especially getting the win, that’s the best part. The Vandalia room is just so incredible. I feel that we could have over half of our kids place at state and the other half in sectionals. All of the weights are great to wrestle with, they’re great partners and they’re always supporting you. Win or lose, they’re there to help us. We won ABE’s and that’s definitely the first step to winning that team state title.”

Roberts (28-2), a two-time state qualifier who finished sixth at 120 in Class 1A last season and hopes to become the first two-time IHSA medalist for his program, was the lone finalist for coach Garrett Knock’s Cardinals. After opening with a fall, he won an 8-3 decision over Illini Bluffs’ Barret Speck in the quarterfinals before claiming a 10-2 major decision over Princeton’s Augustus Swanson to advance to the 120 title mat. In the third-place match, Oakwood/Salt Fork freshman Swartz (26-3) captured a 7-0 decision over Richmond-Burton freshman Adam Glauser (27-6). For fifth place, Illini Bluffs freshman Speck (30-4) was a 12-8 victor over Princeton junior Swanson (9-4). For seventh place, Litchfield/Mt. Olive junior Vinny Moore (30-3) won 8-5 over Coal City senior Lindemuth (20-9). LeRoy/Tri-Valley senior Brady Mouser (26-3), a three-time state qualifier and 2024 PIT champ, lost his opener and eventually took a medical forfeit.

113 – Max Philpot, Vandalia

Max Philpot got the good fortune to step on to the title mat at 113 right after his teammate and fellow sophomore Preston Waughtel gave Vandalia its third Lyle King PIT title at 120. The sophomore made the most of the opportunity by capturing an 8-3 decision over Olympia senior Dylan Eimer to help Vandalia move closer to its first  title in the competition, which it has been taking part in since 2000. Philpot, last year’s runner-up at 106 in 1A, was one of five finalists for coach Jason Clay’s Vandals and it was his second title this season, with the other at Civic Memorial, where he also beat Eimer in the finals. Philpot (32-0), recorded falls in his first two matches, with the second in 2:40 over Reed-Custer’s Cole Harris in the quarterfinals. He earned his spot in the 113 title match with a victory by technical fall in 4:51 over Dixon’s Jack Ragan. 

Philpot tied teammate Tyson Waughtel (126) and Illini Bluffs’ Jackson Carroll for seventh in team points with 31.5, which was one point more than his other teammate who also won a title, Kaden Tidwell (190). Those four and the Vandals’ other finalist, Dillon Hinton (150), are all eying up the real possibility that any of the five could join four others from the program who have won state titles, and be the first to pull off that feat since Jarek Wehrle captured first place in the IWCOA Open in 2021. Vandalia has never had more than one state champion in a season.

“I think a big part for me winning this was the confidence that my team gave me when I saw them get their hands raised in the finals,” Philpot said. “I’m just grateful to win this tournament and hard work really does pay off. We have a lot of potential and I think we can be a lot greater than we are. (Training with the Waughtel brothers) It’s helped me a bunch, but the same with my other teammates. Growing up with my teammates and them being my best friends through my whole life really helps our team come together as one.”

Eimer (25-3) was the lone finalist for coach Josh Collins’ Spartans. A fourth-place finisher in the IHSA 1A Finals twice, at 113 in 2024 and at 106 in 2022, the senior hoped to add to titles this season at Illini Bluffs, Pontiac and Unity, but was again stymied by Philpot and took second in the PIT for the second year in a row. He opened with a decision before getting a victory by technical fall in 3:31 over Clinton’s Briley Carter. Eimer advanced to the finals with a 16-3 major decision over Coal City sophomore Owen Petersen (24-2), who went on to claim third place with  

a 12-2 major decision over Dixon sophomore Ragan (26-3). For fifth, Dakota junior Brandon White (22-7) won by fall in 2:39 over Oakwood/Salt Fork senior Brayden Edwards (20-10), who was one of three competitors who collected five pins. And in the seventh-place match, PORTA freshman Kainin Fillbright (28-8) got a pin in 3:27 over Clinton sophomore Carter (18-6).

132 – Brandon Green, Jr., Roxana

Brandon Green, Jr. said that he’s a different wrestler than he was a year ago when he took fifth at 132 in the IHSA Class 1A Finals. After claiming a fifth-place finish at Fargo in Greco-Roman, the Roxana junior who helped his team take third place at the Class 1A Dual Team Finals in 2024, looks like he’s capable of bigger and better things this season and he showed that at the Lyle King PIT when he won the 132 title with a fall in 4:50 over Riverdale junior Dean Wainwright, to add to a first at Mascoutah and improved his record to 27-0. Wainwright, who won the 2023 IHSA 1A title at 106 and took third last season at 120, lost for the first time in 27 matches. 

Green Jr., won all four of his matches by fall, pinning Newman Central Catholic’s Landon Blanton in 4:26 in the quarterfinals before earning his spot on the title mat with a fall in 1:27 over PORTA’s Zach Bryant to become the lone finalist for coach Rob Milazzo’s Shells. He led all champions with 34 team points, which was one point more than the two individuals who tied for second place in that category, Mt. Zion’s Keller Stocks and Vandalia’s Preston Waughtel. 

“Last year I came here and I took third, but this year I’m dominant and I was ready for it,” Green, Jr. said. “I knew that it was going to be tough. Last year I was a sophomore and felt like I still had that inner child in me. I went to Fargo and was an All-American. I’m a junior now and I’m a lot more focused. I feel more mature and I’m not stupid and have crazy moves like I used to. I miss our team from last year but our team is decent this year and I think we can do big things. This tourney, it matters, but it really doesn’t matter because state is all that matters to me.” 

Wainwright was one of two finalists for coach Aron Kindelsperger’s Rams, with champion Blake Smith (157) the other. The two-time PIT champion opened with a first-period fall and won a 10-2 major decision over Coal City’s Luke Munsterman in the quarterfinals. He earned his spot on the 132 title mat with a 15-3 major decision over Princeton freshman Kane Dauber (24-2), who went on to claim third place after he captured a 14-3 major decision over Coal City junior Munsterman (22-8). For fifth place, PORTA junior Bryant (29-8) won by fall in 1:36 over Vandalia sophomore Brody Matthews (25-7). And for seventh place, Newman Central Catholic junior Blanton (25-4) claimed a 6-1 decision over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher sophomore Nolan Lowe (21-7).

150 – Jackson Carroll, Illini Bluffs

Jackson Carroll made history last season for Illini Bluffs when he became the school’s fifth IHSA champion with his Class 1A title at 144 and he was the second individual to achieve that feat since 1986 with Paul Ishikawa, who won an IHSA title in 2023 and IWCOA Open Championship in 2021, the other. Not only would he like to give the program a state champion for the third year in a row, he hopes to join his former teammate as a two-time state title winner. The senior remained unbeaten with a 34-0 record after capturing a 9-1 major decision over Vandalia junior Dillon Hinton in the 150 championship match at the Lyle King PIT, his first title at the event. 

Carroll, a three-time state qualifier and the lone finalist for coach Shawn O’Connor’s Tigers, won his third tournament title of the season, adding to firsts at his school’s invite as well as at Erie/Prophetstown and this was his first PIT championship after finishing second last season. His first three victories all came by technical fall and he won in 1:43 in the quarterfinals over Coal City’s Noah Houston and then earned his spot in a PIT title match for the second year in a row when he beat Clifton Central’s Gianni Panozzo in 4:22.  He and Rock Falls’ Logan Thome were the only individuals who had three wins by technical fall and he ranked fourth in total match points with 70 and tied two others for seventh place in team points with 31.5. 

“I don’t want to wrestle like I just did,” Carroll said. “I know I’m the best in the state and I know that I should win state if I wrestle the best. I just want to widen the gap every time and in my match, I just wanted to win, and I didn’t wrestle like I should have, I could have scored a lot more points. I just kind of stuck to what I do and got the win, which is great, but I know that I’m better than that and my performance didn’t show it. My cardio has been a big factor and I definitely did work on that more. But overall, I was not very disciplined when I wrestled. I’ve always wrestled not really to win, I liked to do cool moves and liked be the guy that people

want to watch and be entertaining.”

Hinton (29-2), who took second in Class 1A at 138 last season and fifth at 132 in 1A in 2023, was one of five finalists for coach Jason Clay’s champion Vandals. He advanced to a PIT title match for the third time but was unable to repeat as a champion. A returning member of a team that placed fourth at the Dual Team Finals last year, Hinton won his first four matches with pins, needing 3:21 in the quarterfinals to beat Coal City’s Trace Wilson and 3:20 in the semifinals to defeat Riverdale’s Kolton Kruse. In the third-place match, Clifton Central senior Panozzo (29-3) won a 9-1 major decision over Riverdale senior Kruse (25-2). For fifth place, LeRoy/Tri-Valley senior Kobe Brent (30-4) won a 7-5 decision over Coal City junior Wilson (9-3). And for seventh, Coal City junior Houston (13-7) got a pin in 3:12 over PORTA junior Logan Baker (27-9). 

175 – Landin Benson, Coal City

Landin Benson edged Bowden Delaney 3-1 in the IHSA Class 1A championship at 165 last season so it was no surprise that the two seniors would meet up in the 175 title match at the Lyle King PIT, where they also faced off a year ago with Tremont’s Delaney winning that time with a 4-0 decision. In what was appropriately the last championship match of a quality final round, Coal City’s Benson prevailed in another close decision, this time 2-0, to make him the lone champion for the Coalers, who put up a good battle to try to three-peat as tournament champions before Vandalia prevailed by a 279.5-272 margin to win the PIT title for the first time.

Benson, a two-time state qualifier who improved to 20-2, was one of three finalists for the Coalers, the 2023 IHSA 1A champions who placed second to Marian Central Catholic in last year’s Dual Team Finals and are coached by 2022 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Mark Masters. He opened with two falls, getting a pin in 3:28 over Monticello’s Ross Brown in the quarterfinals before capturing a 5-3 decision over Richmond-Burton’s Blake Livdahl to assure himself of a chance to claim his second PIT title while also earning his third appearance in the finals. Benson received the Lyle King PIT’s Outstanding Wrestler Award for the upper weights.

“It’s fun to wrestle him,” Benson said of Delaney. “He’s an amazing wrestler and to have that competition and to push each other, it’s nice to have that. (Coal City) We’re looking good right now and I don’t think we’re at full potential because we’re battling some injuries and some people are still getting into it. Once we get everything settled up, I think we’ll be rolling. We’re looking forward to Team State Finals. I’m excited, we have a lot of potential right now. And down the road, you’ll see a lot of success.”

Delaney (33-2), a three-time state qualifier, was the lone finalist for coach TJ Williams’ Turks. He recorded falls in his other three matches, winning in 2:36 over Illinois Valley Central’s Owen Moser in the quarterfinals and in 1:13 over Mt. Zion’s Carson Thornton in the semifinals. For third place, Richmond-Burton sophomore Livdahl (28-3) won a 17-3 major decision over Mt. Zion junior Thornton (17-2). In the fifth-place match, Vandalia junior Ross Miller (25-9), who was one of three individuals to record five falls, got a pin in 0:48 over Newman Central Catholic junior Ben Geske (11-10). And for seventh place, Byron junior Issac Alvarez (11-3) was a winner by fall in 1:23 over Auburn’s Owen Evans (16-9).

61st annual Lyle King Princeton Invitational Tournament place matches

157

1st Place Match

Blake Smith (Riverdale) 26-0, Sr. over Briar Ivey (Newman Central Catholic) 28-2, Sr. (Dec 7-0)

3rd Place Match

Will Julian (Byron) 12-1, So. over Mason Garner (Coal City) 17-5, Jr. (Dec 11-7)

5th Place Match

Justin Zimmerman (PORTA) 29-5, Jr. over Brock Owens (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) 28-7, Sr. (MD 10-2)

7th Place Match

Dade Kleinik (Vandalia) 17-6, So. over Braxton Kieffer (Litchfield/Mt. Olive) 23-7, Jr. (Dec 6-4)

190

1st Place Match

Kaden Tidwell (Vandalia) 29-2, Sr. over Maddux Anderson (Orion) 29-2, Sr. (MD 11-3)

3rd Place Match

Cade Poyner (Coal City) 18-3, Jr. over Logan VanDuyne (Wilmington) 22-3, Jr. (Dec 5-3)

5th Place Match

Will Howell (Dixon) 22-7, Sr. over Brody D`Orazio (Coal City) 18-4, So. (Dec 9-8)

7th Place Match

Kaden Becker (Mt. Zion) 21-8, Sr. over Hunter Romano (Monticello) 24-4, Sr. (Fall 0:52)

144

1st Place Match

Emmett Nelson (Richmond-Burton) 25-1, Sr. over Ace Christiansen (Princeton) 21-3, Sr. (MD 22-14)

3rd Place Match

Preston Richards (Dixon) 26-7, Fr. over Aidan Kenney (Coal City) 20-7, Jr. (Dec 4-3)

5th Place Match

Logan Riggs (Roxana) 23-10, Jr. over Charlie Wittmer (Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth) 26-5, Jr. (M. For.)

7th Place Match

Mike Minor (PORTA) 18-4, Sr. over Austin Kisner (Olympia) 30-10, So. (Dec 6-1)

126

1st Place Match

Tyson Waughtel (Vandalia) 32-0, Sr. over Cooper Morris (Coal City) 22-3, So. (Dec 11-5)

3rd Place Match

Landen Lage (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher) 24-2, Fr. over Zhyler Hansen (Newman Central Catholic) 27-3, Jr. (Dec 7-4)

5th Place Match

Clayton Madula (Richmond-Burton) 28-7, Sr. over Nick Litchfield (Monticello) 24-13, Jr. (Fall 2:56)

7th Place Match

Josiah Tarbill (Rock Falls) 4-2, Jr. over Damien Palacios (Byron) 7-5, Sr. (Dec 16-10)

138

1st Place Match

Jude Finch (Rockridge) 19-0, Sr. over Jeremy Eggleston (Reed-Custer) 24-1, Sr. (MD 19-5)

3rd Place Match

Pedro Rangel (Oakwood/Salt Fork) 22-6, Sr. over Charlie Connors (Dixon) 18-5, Fr. (Dec 7-3)

5th Place Match

Cole Yarbrough (Vandalia) 24-7, So. over Chase Stedman (Tremont) 32-10, Sr. (TF-1.5 4:31 (19-3))

7th Place Match

Roberto Rodriguez (Coal City) 15-3, So. over Hunter Toliver (Illinois Valley Central) 3-3, So. (MD 20-8)

285

1st Place Match

Colin Kraus (Richmond-Burton) 22-6, Sr. over Tate Sigler (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) 28-5, Sr. (Fall 4:41)

3rd Place Match

Cade Odell (Princeton) 16-1, Sr. over Randy McPeek (Dakota) 19-5, Jr. (Fall 1:26)

5th Place Match

Darian Holloway (Olympia) 33-6, Jr. over Jared Claunch (Byron) 9-4, Sr. (Dec 7-5)

7th Place Match

Payton Vigna (Coal City) 14-5, Jr. over Dawson Thayer (Clinton) 14-1, Sr. (M. For.)

165

1st Place Match

Daniel Kelly (Newman Central Catholic) 20-0, Sr. over Brock Finch (Coal City) 17-5, Jr. (Dec 4-2)

3rd Place Match

Lyndon Thies (Roxana) 26-2, Jr. over Casey Etheridge (Princeton) 24-2, Jr. (Dec 17-10)

5th Place Match

Brody Stien (Byron) 11-3, So. over Logan Thoms (Clinton) 15-6, Sr. (Fall 1:43)

7th Place Match

Cooper Miller (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher) 20-7, So. over Artan Mustafa (Vandalia) 22-9, Sr. (Dec 15-11)

106

1st Place Match

Landon Near (Newman Central Catholic) 24-1, Fr. over Lelan Nelson (Richmond-Burton) 26-3, Fr. (Dec 4-0)

3rd Place Match

Colton Drinkwine (Reed-Custer) 24-3, Fr. over Steven Uden (Oakwood/Salt Fork) 22-4, So. (Dec 1-0)

5th Place Match

Aiden Evans (Vandalia) 26-7, Fr. over Brandon Gaither (Olympia) 30-8, Fr. (Dec 7-1)

7th Place Match

Coyt Rademaker (PORTA) 24-9, Fr. over Nate Lower (Rockridge) 18-8, Fr. (Dec 6-0)

215

1st Place Match

Keller Stocks (Mt. Zion) 25-2, Jr. over Dominic Alaimo (Reed-Custer) 25-1, Jr. (Fall 3:54)

3rd Place Match

John Keigher (Coal City) 15-1, Sr. over Tristan Staggs (Litchfield/Mt. Olive) 27-5, Jr. (Fall 5:48)

5th Place Match

Shane Falasca (Richmond-Burton) 28-8, Fr. over Dominic Swyers (Vandalia) 21-11, So. (Fall 2:42)

7th Place Match

Dawson Kemp (Dixon) 7-6, Jr. over Brody O`Connor (Clifton Central/Iroquois West) 27-11, Jr. (Fall 2:00)

120

1st Place Match

Preston Waughtel (Vandalia) 30-1, So. over Logan Roberts (Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth) 28-2, Sr. (TF-1.5 2:40 (18-3))

3rd Place Match

Mason Swartz (Oakwood/Salt Fork) 26-3, Fr. over Adam Glauser (Richmond-Burton) 27-6, Fr. (Dec 7-0)

5th Place Match

Barret Speck (Illini Bluffs) 30-4, Fr. over Augustus Swanson (Princeton) 9-4, Jr. (Dec 12-8)

7th Place Match

Vinny Moore (Litchfield/Mt. Olive) 30-3, Jr. over Culan Lindemuth (Coal City) 20-9, Sr. (Dec 8-5)

113

1st Place Match

Max Philpot (Vandalia) 32-0, So. over Dylan Eimer (Olympia) 25-3, Sr. (Dec 8-3)

3rd Place Match

Owen Petersen (Coal City) 24-2, So. over Jack Ragan (Dixon) 26-3, So. (MD 12-2)

5th Place Match

Brandon White (Dakota) 22-7, Jr. over Brayden Edwards (Oakwood/Salt Fork) 20-10, Sr. (Fall 2:39)

7th Place Match

Kainin Fillbright (PORTA) 28-8, Fr. over Briley Carter (Clinton) 18-6, So. (Fall 3:27)

132

1st Place Match

Brandon Green, Jr. (Roxana) 27-0, Jr. over Dean Wainwright (Riverdale) 26-1, Jr. (Fall 4:50)

3rd Place Match

Kane Dauber (Princeton) 24-2, Fr. over Luke Munsterman (Coal City) 22-8, Jr. (MD 14-3)

5th Place Match

Zach Bryant (PORTA) 29-8, Jr. over Brody Matthews (Vandalia) 25-7, So. (Fall 1:36)

7th Place Match

Landon Blanton (Newman Central Catholic) 25-4, Jr. over Nolan Lowe (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher) 21-7, So. (Dec 6-1)

150

1st Place Match

Jackson Carroll (Illini Bluffs) 34-0, Sr. over Dillon Hinton (Vandalia) 29-2, Jr. (MD 9-1)

3rd Place Match

Gianni Panozzo (Clifton Central/Iroquois West) 29-3, Sr. over Kolton Kruse (Riverdale) 25-2, Sr. (MD 9-1)

5th Place Match

Kobe Brent (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) 30-4, Sr. over Trace Wilson (Coal City) 9-3, Jr. (Dec 7-5)

7th Place Match

Noah Houston (Coal City) 13-7, Jr. over Logan Baker (PORTA) 27-9, Jr. (Fall 3:12)

175

1st Place Match

Landin Benson (Coal City) 20-2, Sr. over Bowden Delaney (Tremont) 33-2, Sr. (Dec 2-0)

3rd Place Match

Blake Livdahl (Richmond-Burton) 28-3, So. over Carson Thornton (Mt. Zion) 17-2, Jr. (MD 17-3)

5th Place Match

Ross Miller (Vandalia) 25-9, Jr. over Ben Geske (Newman Central Catholic) 11-10, Jr. (Fall 0:48)

7th Place Match

Issac Alvarez (Byron) 11-3, Jr. over Owen Evans (Auburn/Franklin/New Berlin) 16-9 (Fall 1:23)

Team scores

1. Vandalia 279.5, 2. Coal City 272, 3. Richmond-Burton 184, 4. Newman Central Catholic 148, 5. Dixon 129, 5. Princeton 129, 7. Reed-Custer 119.5, 8. Olympia 116.5, 9. Oakwood/Salt Fork 109, 9. PORTA 109, 11. Byron 105.5, 12. Roxana 103, 13. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher 95, 14. Mt. Zion 87.5, 15. Riverdale 86.5, 16. LeRoy/Tri-Valley 80, 17. Clifton Central/Iroquois West 77, 18. Rockridge 70.5, 19. Litchfield/Mt. Olive 69, 20. Monticello 66, 21. Tremont 65, 22. Clinton 60, 22. Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth 60, 24. Illini Bluffs 52.5, 25. Dakota 47.5, 26. Orion 44.5, 27. Auburn/Franklin/New Berlin 36, 28. Wilmington 34.5, 29. Rock Falls 33, 30. Illinois Valley Central 29.5, 31. Mercer County 24, 32. Ottawa Township 14, 33. Alleman 11, 34. Manteno 5.

By Chris Walker for the IWCOA

Saturday was a long, productive day for Normal Community. Ironmen coach Trevor Kaufman got a white bus ready for the guys at around 4 a.m. on Saturday morning and his team began the trek to Sycamore at around 5 a.m. 

Later that afternoon, the Ironmen were the XLIX Sycamore Invitational champions. Normal Community won with 531 points ahead of second-place Unity (453).

“It’s a good tournament, we like going to it,” Kaufman said. “Wake up early and drive up to see some teams we normally don’t get to see. I thought everyone we brought competed and wrestled and did what they were supposed to do. At this time of the year hardly any team is going to be full at this stretch with injuries and sickness. We had some guys who hadn’t wrestled all year who got to fill in for the typical guys and did what they were supposed to do.”

The Ironmen are deep and they showed it in Sycamore.

“We don’t have a lot of room to fit in our lineup at 106, 113, 126 and a few guys would probably be starters on most teams,” Kaufman said. “It’s nice for them to get some varsity matches and see them succeed. Everybody competed well and did what they were supposed to do. In every second of every minute of every match we had maximum effort. If we do that I’m proud no matter what.”

Caden Correll (113) continued his undefeated run so far this winter, pinning Hampshire’s Deegan Kirschke in his title bout, after recording three tech falls on his way to the final.

“He’s kind of wrestling at a different level,” Kaufman said. “He’s extremely confident. He’s got the skills and he’s healthy. Last year he had some back and forth with some injuries. He thinks he’s the best and is going to show it. He has all the talent and obviously he wants to go out and put up points and have fun. He’s the type of kid who wants to score and keep scoring.”

Jackson Soney (106) got the Ironmen rolling in the finals when he pinned Sycamore freshman Carson West in 3:53.

The Ironmen had three wrestlers shake off tough losses in the semifinals and win third place matches. It included Elijah Conda (106), Mason Soney (120) and Cole Gentsch (126). Gentsch lost to the eventual champion at 126, York’s Mondo Martinelli, in a semifinal sudden victory decision.

“(Elijah) was 10 seconds away from making the finals and got third,” Kaufman said. “He doesn’t always get a chance, but he’s going to throw it out every tournament he gets and he got a chance to win a tough tournament.”

Brayden Manning (132) and  Jaren Frankowiak (175) took fifth, Mason Caraway (215) was sixth and Ethan Cavallo (138) and Cole Kretsinger (190) placed seventh.

There’s a culture of winning at Normal Community and it’s going strong these days.

“I think it comes from having some kids whose parents went (to Normal Community) and having good, coachable kids,” Kaufman said. “We’ve put in a lot of work in not just the wrestling, but the coaches and kids and all that have built a team culture. We do a lot of stuff together and kind of give them a little bit of responsibility and they do a good job in leading stuff, developing different outings, and I use my captains and team leaders a lot to discuss what we can do better and whether that’s from going out and doing stuff together and in practice as well.”

With three individual champions, York sent the most wrestlers of any of the 25 teams present to the top of the awards stand, the Dukes got titles from Mondo Martinelli (126), Frank Nitti (144), Jackson Hanselman (150).

Rochelle’s Xavier Villalobos, a two-time state medalist in 2A who took fifth in the state a year ago, gave Martinelli a great battle in a 6-3 decision. After getting eliminated at state last year, Martinelli has been fully committed.

“Up to this point I haven’t taken a break since the last state tournament,” Martinelli said. “I was unhappy with the results and I just felt I needed to change that. I’ve worked every day since then and put in all the work. Everything I can do to fortify my mind that I’ve worked harder than anyone else.”

Nitti, a returning state qualifier, was familiar with his finals foe, Unity’s Kaden Inman, who was a state runner-up in Class 1A last year. But Nitti (29-3) has been rolling this season.

“I’ve wrestled (Inman) a few times,” Nitti said. “I kind of brought it to him and pinned him. I’m not going to play around with him. Getting better each day rolling around with (Martinelli and Hanselman)… I can’t wait to see how we’re going to do downstate. I think we’re going to kill it against all these dudes.”

Hanselman wasn’t killing it per se early on in his title bout, but he bided his time, seizing a big opportunity when he saw it against Brazelton and winning by fall at 3:15.

“In the beginning of the match he got up 2-1 on me and was kind of pushing me around the mat,” Hanselman said. “He got on my leg twice and we kind of scrambled out of it. He eventually scored on me, but in the second period he picked down and I was kind of riding him out for maybe 30 seconds to a minute and eventually I just kept working on him and felt him break, felt him slump over and just turned him and pinned him. It was a great feeling.”

Second-place Unity got a pair of titles from Hunter Eastin (190) and Taylor Finley (138), and the Rockets showed resilience Saturday after a rougher night of wrestling on Friday.

“We got big-brothered a bit on Friday by Washington under the spotlights of the Five Points Theatre,” Rockets coach Logan Patton said. “It’s the Dubtown Throwdown and there were some matches we thought we should win and matches (Washington coach) Nick (Miller) thought they should win. We competed hard but we got big-brothered so the two-hour bus ride  to Sycamore wasn’t pleasant but we challenged them.”

Eastin (190), the defending Class 1A state champion at 190, pinned Portage, Wisconsin’s Landon Heitmeier in 1:09 while Finley, a state qualifier a season ago, took first place at 138 with a tech fall win against Mahomet-Seymour’s Justus Vrona.

Unity’s Kaden Inman (144), who took second in the state last year in 1A, took second place on Saturday along with teammates Holden Brazelton (150) and Abram Davidson (165). Ryan Rink (175), who took fifth in the state in 1A at 165 last year was third, Hunter Shike (132) took fourth and Keegan Germano (157) placed eighth for Patton’s Rockets.

“I told them the outcome is the outcome because we won’t see these guys freestyle until the offseason so go out and wrestle free and score points and they did that,” Patton said. “We finish Abe’s Rumble and go into hiding in 2A and 3A land until the state series. Us, Naz and Peotone were the only 1A schools at Sycamore, but we go in with a good rapport and know Rochelle and York and Sycamore coaches and they know us and will be prepared for us.”

Currently, Washington is ranked no. 2 in 2A while Unity is ranked no. 4 in 1A. The Rockets undoubtedly had an uphill battle on a big stage on a Friday night in a small town.

“At some point in time you need a kick in the butt,” Patton said. “This is all a part of the process. I’ve been here for eight years and had to schedule for six to make sure we’re prepared for state. We’re trying to win state so this competition is needed.”

It wasn’t too long ago that Patton wandered into athletic director Scott Hamilton’s office and told him that the Unity wrestling schedule wasn’t tough enough.

“I couldn’t thank our athletic director Scott Hamilton enough,” he said. “He’s retiring after 31 years and I came in (my first year) and looked at him and said the schedule is soft and I told him I want to schedule Washington (that) year. He asked if that’s what I really wanted to do and if I was sure.”

The results today speak for themselves.

“This weekend we take second and have a few champs in the finals and represented well,” Patton said. “They were ready to go and with a kick in the butt (from Washington) can compete at any level.”

Third-place Rochelle’s Grant Genlser (165) and Kaiden Morris (215) won titles for the Hubs. Both went from the gridiron to the mats and have continued to have great success in both sports. The all-conference football players (Genlser was also named all-state) helped the Hubs take third place with 452 points.

Xavier Villalobos (126) placed second for the Hubs, Roman Villalobos (190) was third, Aidan Lopez (120) and Deegan Schabacker (138) took sixth, Freddie Hernandez (113) and Brendan Voight (157) placed seventh and Keagan Albers (132) was eighth.

The host Spartans took fourth with 408.5 points, led by a pair of second-place finishes from Carson West (106) and Michael Olson (120), thirds from Charlie Olson (113) and Jayden Dohogne (138), and fourths from Tyler Lockhart (126) and Cooper Bode (175).

“Overall I thought we did very well,” Sycamore coach Randy Culton said. “We came together as a team. We had some tough wins and tough losses, but gelled as a team, finished fourth out of 25 teams. Our guys stepped up. Every single guy on the team scored points for us today, that was good.”

Wheaton North took fifth place with 375.5 points.

While Wheaton North’s Thomas Fulton (157) has some familiarity with winning tournaments this season, it was a whole new experience for teammate Rocco Mecallaio (120).

The Falcons soared into the top five thanks to titles from Fulton and Macellaio.

“I’ve started to trust my coaching a lot more and it’s been turning out well for sure,” Macellaio said. “I definitely started out very slow and sloppy but I came back, you know, but I definitely got a lot more work to do this season. It’s nice to win for sure, but I still have got work to do.”

Macellaio persevered. After opening with a 3-0 decision over McHenry’s Cody Kamp, Macellaio  earned three consecutive tech fall victories against Lyons’ Louie King, Rochelle’s Aidan Lopez and Normal Community’s Mason Soney to advance to the finals where he spoiled Sycamore’s Michael Olson from winning a title at his school’s own tournament.

Sycamore’s Carson West had also advanced to the finals for the Spartans but came up short after losing to Normal Community’s Jackson Soney, falling in 3:53 at 106.

Last year, Macellaio placed sixth at 106 at Sycamore, while Fulton dropped his first-place match a season ago.

While winning a tournament title was a new experience for Macellaio this winter, Fulton has reached that promised land, having won at the McLaughlin Classic at Joliet Central in early December. More recently he placed fifth in the Dvorak.

“It always feels nice to win, but I felt like in several of the matches I didn’t really capitalize on the opportunities to work my stuff,” Fulton said. “I got knocked out last week a little bit and didn’t get to wrestle as much so I was a little tired in some of my matches. But I think I’m starting to get my wind back a little bit more, but I definitely think I could’ve done more in my matches, but it always feels nice to win.”

All five of Fulton’s victories came via tech fall or fall. He had tech fall wins over Rock Island’s Ian McGowan, Sycamore’s Ian Ruiz before another against Mundelein’s Kevin Hernandez in the semifinals. He pinned Lyons’ Mickey Ahrens in his quarterfinal and had a tech fall victory in his title bout against Normal Community’s Carter Mayes.

Lyons’ Griff Powell (24-1) continued his strong season with a tech fall win over McHenry’s Ryan Hanson to win the 132 title, and Mahomet-Seymour’s Marco Casillas (32-3) also took home a title at 175 with a tech fall in the finals against Hampshire’s Aidan Rowells.

“I’ve been working on pushing the pace against some guys,” Powell said. “I know they can’t keep up the pace and I’m ready right from the get go. The competition here was like I’m wrestling the same match anywhere. I went out for the same match and wrestled my style and pushed my pace. I like where I’m at. I think I can get a little bit better before the state tournament.”

Team scores:

Normal Community 531, Unity 453, Rochelle 452, Sycamore 408.5, Wheaton North 403, Glenbrook South 375.5, Lyons 364, Mahomet-Seymour 363, York 328, Mundelein 316.5, Rock Island 305.5, Rockford East 282, McHenry 274, Oak Forest 270, Hampshire 258.5, Grayslake North 236, Sterling 234, Portage (WI) 221, Bloomington 178, Willowbrook 151, Marengo 146.5, St. Charles North 11.5, Peotone 107, Belvidere North 86, Nazareth Academy 52.5.

Sycamore Invitational results (1st-6th place):

106

1st: Jackson Soney (Normal Community) 28-4, d. Carson West (Sycamore ) 26-3,  (Fall 3:53)

3rd: Elijah Conda (Normal Community) 17-4, d. Jason Schickel (Oak Forest) 19-10,  (Dec 7-4)

5th: Dylan Le (Wheaton N) 10-9, d. Angelo Parker (Rock Island ) 15-7,  (Dec 7-4)

113

1st: Caden Correll (Normal Community) 32-0, d. Deegan Kirschke (Hampshire) 21-6,  (Fall 1:27)

3rd: Charlie Olson (Sycamore ) 13-4, d. Aris Neal (Willowbrook) 17-8,  (Dec 4-0)

5th: Jacob Sebek (Oak Forest) 25-1, d. Diego Arteaga (Glenbrook S) 13-10,  (Fall 1:31)

120

1st: Rocco Macellaio (Wheaton N) 5-0, d. Michael Olson (Sycamore ) 24-9,  (Dec 6-3)

3rd: Mason Soney (Normal Community) 21-7, d. Lou Jensen (Hampshire) 15-11,  (Fall 0:42)

5th: Ermuun Urtnasan (Glenbrook S) 19-4, d. Aidan Lopez (Rochelle) 21-9,  (Dec 13-9)

126

1st: Mondo Martinelli (York) 33-3, d. Xavier Villalobos (Rochelle) 27-4,  (Dec 6-3)

3rd: Cole Gentsch (Normal Community) 31-3, d. Tyler Lockhart (Sycamore ) 25-6,  (Fall 0:48)

5th: Caden Cahill (Wheaton N) 24-12, d. Roger Martinez (Lyons) 20-6,  (MD 12-0)

132

1st: Griff Powell (Lyons) 24-1, d. Ryan Hanson (McHenry) 25-7,  (TF-1.5 3:01 (18-3)

3rd: Zyan Westbrook (Sterling ) 16-2, d. Hunter Shike (Unity) 22-8,  (Fall 3:08)

5th: Brayden Manning (Normal Community) 26-6, d. Hayden Beebe (Marengo) 18-11,  (TF-1.5 4:00 (20-5)

138

1st: Taylor Finley (Unity) 27-2, d. Justus Vrona (M-Seymour) 25-10,  (TF-1.5 4:00 (17-2)

3rd: Jayden Dohogne (Sycamore ) 29-5, d. Tyler Barlow (Bloomington ) 18-13,  (Fall 0:37)

5th: Jack Kutchek (Lyons) 12-6, d. Deegan Schabacker (Rochelle) 17-14,  (Fall 1:41)

144

1st: Frank Nitti (York) 29-3, d. Kaden Inman (Unity) 27-3,  (Fall 1:53)

3rd: Antonio Parker (Rock Island ) 20-3, d. Colton McClure (M-Seymour) 18-15,  (TF-1.5 2:40 (21-5)

5th: Ryan Johnston (McHenry) 25-8, d. Brogan Sons (SC North) 13-11,  (Fall 0:56)

150

1st: Jackson Hanselman (York) 31-5, d. Holden Brazelton (Unity) 27-4,  (Fall 3:15)

3rd: Dana Wickson (Rockford E) 22-4, d. Owen Anderson (Grayslake N) 24-2,  (M. For.)

5th: Ryan Rosch (Wheaton N) 16-4, d. Chris Napiorkowski (Hampshire) 21-9,  (DQ)

157

1st: Thomas Fulton (Wheaton N) 5-0, d. Carter Mayes (Normal Community) 28-5,  (TF-1.5 4:37 (20-4)

3rd: Ty Smart (Rockford E) 23-8, d. Kevin Hernandez (Mundelein) 25-4,  (Dec 9-4)

5th: Jacob Ronsman (Grayslake N) 22-4, d. Mickey Ahrens (Lyons) 12-12,  (TF-1.5 1:48 (15-0)

165

1st: Grant Genlser (Rochelle) 30-3, d. Abram Davidson (Unity) 24-4,  (Dec 6-2)

3rd: AJ Demos (M-Seymour) 21-9, d. Henry Downing (Glenbrook S) 20-7,  (MD 10-2)

5th: Aiden Schuldt (McHenry) 19-7, d. Blake Bussie (Oak Forest) 17-11,  (Dec 9-2)

175

1st: Marco Casillas (M-Seymour) 32-3, d. Aidan Rowells (Hampshire) 14-5,  (TF-1.5 4:16 (18-3)

3rd: Ryan Rink (Unity) 20-7, d. Cooper Bode (Sycamore ) 23-9,  (SV-1 6-3)

5th: Jaren Frankowiak (Normal Community) 27-7, d. Sean Gielarowski (Willowbrook) 7-6,  (SV-1 6-3)

190

1st: Hunter Eastin (Unity) 28-1, d. Landon Heitmeier (Portage, WI) 14-2,  (Fall 1:09)

3rd: Roman Villalobos (Rochelle) 24-6, d. Brock VanDeveer (M-Seymour) 19-6,  (MD 11-2)

5th: Willie Nieves-Pena (Mundelein) 15-8, d. Rowan Stockwell (Rock Island ) 14-6,  (Fall 1:50)

215

1st: Kaiden Morris (Rochelle) 31-1, d. Kenner Bye (Bloomington ) 21-5,  (Dec 8-4)

3rd: Andrius Vasilevskas (Oak Forest) 24-4, d. Noah Daniels (M-Seymour) 16-6,  (MD 8-0)

5th: Mikey Grazzini (York) 20-7, d. Mason Caraway (Normal Community) 25-9,  (Fall 2:15)

285

1st: Abisai Hernandez (Mundelein) 24-2, d. Hunter Johnson (Glenbrook S) 18-7,  (Fall 2:41)

3rd: Phil Daniels (M-Seymour) 16-11, d. Colin Thompson (Portage, WI) 7-4,  (Dec 2-1)

5th: Knox Homola (Hampshire) 19-6, d. David Williams (Bloomington ) 6-2,  (SV-1 10-7)

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

Geneseo claims title at Morton’s Bob and Liz Schnarr Invite

As Geneseo prepares for its 20-team Geneseo Wrestling Invitational this weekend that includes three teams in the top five in the state rankings, Joliet Catholic Academy (fourth in 3A), IC Catholic Prep (third in 2A) and the host Maple Leafs (fifth in 2A), it certainly has a lot of momentum since it’s coming off its third tournament title of the season after taking top honors at Morton’s Bob and Liz Schnarr Invitational.

Coach Jon Murray’s Maple Leafs added to individual tournament championships last month at Rockford East’s E-Rab Giardini Invitational and Lincoln’s Floyd Bee Memorial Holiday Tournament by winning the 21-team competition after scoring 253 points, placing them 83.5 points ahead of runner-up Yorkville Christian, who edged the host Potters 169.5-168.5 for second place. The rest of the top 10 included Richwoods (121), Triad (118), Dunlap (95), Lincoln (89), Limestone (83), East Peoria (82) and Champaign Central (75).

1 – Geneseo

The Maple Leafs were led by six champions, Devan Hornback (25-3 at 132), Izaac Gaines (23-2 at 144), Malaki Jackson (16-3 at 150), Zachary Montez (25-0 at 160), Kye Weinzierl (25-2 at 175) and Colten Mooney (20-9 at 215), as well as two second-place finishers, Tim Sebastian (126) and Grady Hull (157). Gaines, Hornback and Jackson tied for second place in team points with 28, Weinzierl tied for fifth with 27.5 points and Montez, one of two champions who are unbeaten, was tenth with 26.5 team points.

Geneseo, which also claimed third place at Downers Grove South’s Larry Gassen Dual Team Tournament, received fifth-place finishes from Aaron Betcher (190) and Owen King (285) and a sixth-place showing from Brycen Fahnestock (106). Others who contributed to the title cause were Leo Rizzo (120) and Lincoln Barnett (138). In other noteworthy tournament feats, Jackson led all competitors with 66 match points, Montez had the most wins by technical fall with three, King ranked second in falls with four and Gaines tied for third in pins with three. 

2 – Yorkville Christian

Coach Mike Vester’s Mustangs, who are ranked seventh in Class 2A, earned a top-four tournament finish for the sixth time, adding to titles at Joliet Central’s McLaughlin, Plano’s Reaper and Unity Christian’s New Years Duals plus a runner-up showing at West Chicago’s Hein and a fourth at Antioch’s DeRousse. They were led by champions Ryan Festerling, Jr. (20-2 at 106) and Aiden Larsen (25-3 at 120) and runner-up Garrett Tunnell (285).

Other top performers for Yorkville Christian were Isaac Gray (165) and Jackson Allen (190), who took third place, Owen Curran (144), who was fourth, Christian Sandoval (113) and Ryan Alaimo (126), who finished fifth, and Adrian Wadas-Luis (138), who claimed sixth place.  

3 – Morton

Coach Edward Henderson’s Potters, who are now ranked 14th in Class 2A, claimed their third top-three tournament of the season, adding to a title at Pontiac’s Munch and a third at Joliet Central’s McLaughlin when they fell just short of a runner-up effort at their invite. 

Harrison Dea (28-3 at 126) was Morton’s lone champion while Caiden Robison (138) and Clay Mckee (165) placed second, Ryan Siebenthal (106), Noah Harris (113) and Cash Hill (120) took third place, Carter Jones (150) and Colton Mckee (175) finished fourth, Brody Watson (120) was fifth and Lincoln Yerby (132) and Miles Chaffer (215) claimed sixth place. Dea tied for fifth place for the most team points with 27.5 while Watson and Yerby tied for third in most pins with three.

Also winning championships were Normal West’s Dylan McGrew (24-5 at 113), Champaign Central’s Ron Baker III (22-0 at 138), United Township’s Kayden Marolf (11-2 at 157), Limestone’s Ethan Dixon (22-4 at 190) and East Peoria’s Jose Del Toro (29-1 at 285). 

Baker, who joined Montez as the two champions who remain unbeaten, collected the most team points with 29 while Geneseo’s Gaines, Hornback and Jackson tied for second with 28 points. Dea, Dixon and Weinzierl all had 27.5 points, Del Toro and Marolf collected 27 and Montez finished with 26.5 team points.

Other second-place finishers were  Richwoods’ Wensley Rahn (106) and Rikyis Doss (144), 

Triad’s Will Kelly (120) and Glen Henry (132), Glenwood’s Jaxon Ferguson (113), Dunlap’s Colton Mosack (150), Lincoln’s Dawson McConnell (175), Southeast’s Chris Hull (190) and East Peoria’s Alec Del Toro (215).

In three of the closest championship matches, Festerling Jr. prevailed over Rahn 4-2 at 106, McGrew got past Ferguson 8-6 at 113 and Mooney edged Alec Del Toro 5-3 at 215.

Additional third-place finishers were Dunlap’s Joseph Weeks (175), Carson Paustian (215) and Jaspher Williams (285), Springfield High’s Bryce Bryant (150) and Cody L Stevens (157), 

Champaign Central’s Talin Baker (126), Richwoods’s Colton Boyer (132), United Township’s Xavier Marolf (138) and Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Ashten Finch (144).

Fourth-place finishes were also turned in by Limestone’s Kaleb Fuchs (106), Christian Johnson (120) and Bruce Ryder (215), Triad’s Colin Crouch (113) and Pearce Goodfield (157), Richwoods’ Gabe Robb (138) and Shaun Anderson (285), Glenwood’s Tyler Clarke (126), Normal West’s 

Abram Rader (132), Lincoln’s Aiden Frye (165) and East Peoria’s Dalton Oakman (190).

Other individuals who finished in fifth place were Glenwood’s Cooper Clarke (106) and Elijah Smith (175), East Peoria’s Cooper Chester (132), Triad’s Braden Rowe (138), Peoria High’s Chris Walker (144), Lincoln’s Cam Bell (150), Richwoods’ Alex Martinez (157), Dunlap’s Jayden Schmick (165) and Pekin’s Bradyn Haynes (215).

Also claiming sixth-place finishes were Pekin’s Kayne Hayes (113), Aydyn Artman (144) and Lucas Gosch (157), Richwoods’ Nathan Ortiz (120) and Phoenix Wombacher (165), Lincoln’s Cort Pentecost (126), Triad’s Jacob Perez (150), Springfield High’s Shamar Brownlee (175)

Champaign Central’s Dawson Caldwell (190) and Crete-Monee’s Dominic Jackson (285).

Lincoln’s Cam Bell was the lone competitor to record five falls while Geneseo’s Owen King was the only one to get four pins. Geneseo’s Malaki Jackson had the most match points with 66 while Peoria High’s Chris Walker ranked second with 64 points. East Peoria’s Cooper Chester had the largest seed to place difference by finishing in fifth place at 132 after being seeded 16th.

Morton Bob and Liz Schnarr Invitational place matches

106

1st Place Match

Ryan Festerling, Jr. (Yorkville Christian) 20-2, Fr. over Wensley Rahn (Richwoods) 17-2, So. (Dec 4-2)

3rd Place Match

Ryan Siebenthal (Morton) 16-14, So. over Kaleb Fuchs (Limestone) 21-7, Jr. (Dec 7-4)

5th Place Match

Cooper Clarke (Glenwood) 26-10, Fr. over Brycen Fahnestock (Geneseo) 14-15, Fr. (TF-1.5 3:34 (17-2))

113

1st Place Match

Dylan McGrew (Normal West) 24-5, Sr. over Jaxon Ferguson (Glenwood) 13-4, Jr. (Dec 8-6)

3rd Place Match

Noah Harris (Morton) 24-9, So. over Colin Crouch (Triad) 18-6, Fr. (MD 14-4)

5th Place Match

Christian Sandoval (Yorkville Christian) 17-10, Jr. over Kayne Hayes (Pekin) 11-9, Jr. (TF-1.5 3:49 (17-0))

120

1st Place Match

Aiden Larsen (Yorkville Christian) 25-3, Sr. over Will Kelly (Triad) 22-3, Jr. (Dec 4-0)

3rd Place Match

Cash Hill (Morton JV) 4-1, Jr. over Christian Johnson (Limestone) 19-8, So. (Fall 4:54)

5th Place Match

Brody Watson (Morton) 19-14, Fr. over Nathan Ortiz (Richwoods) 14-6, Fr. (Fall 1:43)

126

1st Place Match

Harrison Dea (Morton) 28-3, Jr. over Tim Sebastian (Geneseo) 16-12, Sr. (MD 13-4)

3rd Place Match

Talin Baker (Champaign Central) 18-2, So. over Tyler Clarke (Glenwood) 28-8, Sr. (Dec 7-5)

5th Place Match

Ryan Alaimo (Yorkville Christian) 25-9, So. over Cort Pentecost (Lincoln) 18-6, Sr. (Fall 5:50)

132

1st Place Match

Devan Hornback (Geneseo) 25-3, Sr. over Glen Henry (Triad) 16-7, Jr. (MD 14-1)

3rd Place Match

Colton Boyer (Richwoods) 18-4, Sr. over Abram Rader (Normal West) 19-13, Sr. (Dec 14-12)

5th Place Match

Cooper Chester (East Peoria) 23-9, So. over Lincoln Yerby (Morton) 19-14, So. (TF-1.5 5:17 (15-0))

138

1st Place Match

Ron Baker III (Champaign Central) 22-0, Sr. over Caiden Robison (Morton) 26-8, Sr. (Fall 1:57)

3rd Place Match

Xavier Marolf (United Township) 13-4, Jr. over Gabe Robb (Richwoods) 15-4, Jr. (Fall 3:26)

5th Place Match

Braden Rowe (Triad) 16-5, Sr. over Adrian Wadas-Luis (Yorkville Christian) 24-8, Jr. (Fall 0:45)

144

1st Place Match

Izaac Gaines (Geneseo) 23-2, So. over Rikyis Doss (Richwoods) 17-3, Sr. (Fall 2:47)

3rd Place Match

Ashten Finch (Deer Creek-Mackinaw) 15-6, So. over Owen Curran (Yorkville Christian) 10-4, Sr. (Dec 8-7)

5th Place Match

Chris Walker (Peoria High) 9-4, Sr. over Aydyn Artman (Pekin) 11-5, Sr. (Fall 5:00)

150

1st Place Match

Malaki Jackson (Geneseo) 16-3, Jr. over Colton Mosack (Dunlap) 22-5, So. (TF-1.5 4:09 (17-1))

3rd Place Match

Bryce Bryant (Springfield High) 19-11, So. over Carter Jones (Morton) 19-12, Sr. (TF-1.5 2:37 (20-3))

5th Place Match

Cam Bell (Lincoln) 20-6, So. over Jacob Perez (Triad) 12-10, Sr. (Fall 1:17)

157

1st Place Match

Kayden Marolf (United Township) 11-2, Sr. over Grady Hull (Geneseo) 24-5, Jr. (Dec 9-2)

3rd Place Match

Cody L Stevens (Springfield High) 14-12, Sr. over Pearce Goodfield (Triad) 10-10, Jr. (Fall 3:47)

5th Place Match

Alex Martinez (Richwoods) 11-2, Jr. over Lucas Gosch (Pekin) 16-9, Jr. (Fall 3:53)

165

1st Place Match

Zachary Montez (Geneseo) 25-0, Sr. over Clay Mckee (Morton) 30-4, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:00 (22-6))

3rd Place Match

Isaac Gray (Yorkville Christian) 24-6, Sr. over Aiden Frye (Lincoln) 17-7, Sr. (MD 15-6)

5th Place Match

Jayden Schmick (Dunlap) 23-5, So. over Phoenix Wombacher (Richwoods) 17-8, Sr. (Dec 11-4)

175

1st Place Match

Kye Weinzierl (Geneseo) 25-2, Jr. over Dawson McConnell (Lincoln) 19-3, Sr. (Dec 14-7)

3rd Place Match

Joseph Weeks (Dunlap) 15-2, Sr. over Colton Mckee (Morton) 26-9, So. (Dec 1-0)

5th Place Match

Elijah Smith (Glenwood) 27-6, So. over Shamar Brownlee (Springfield High) 19-7, Jr. (MD 16-2)

190

1st Place Match

Ethan Dixon (Limestone) 22-4, Sr. over Chris Hull (Southeast) 18-6, Jr. (Dec 4-1)

3rd Place Match

Jackson Allen (Yorkville Christian) 18-3, Jr. over Dalton Oakman (East Peoria) 24-6, Jr. (Dec 10-3)

5th Place Match

Aaron Betcher (Geneseo) 9-4, Sr. over Dawson Caldwell (Champaign Central) 15-8, Sr. (Dec 4-3)

215

1st Place Match

Colten Mooney (Geneseo) 20-9, So. over Alec Del Toro (East Peoria) 24-8, Jr. (Dec 5-3)

3rd Place Match

Carson Paustian (Dunlap) 18-6, Sr. over Bruce Ryder (Limestone) 13-14, Sr. (Dec 7-2)

5th Place Match

Bradyn Haynes (Pekin) 16-9, Fr. over Miles Chaffer (Morton) 14-10, Jr. (Fall 1:05)

285

Guaranteed Places

1st Place Match

Jose Del Toro (East Peoria) 29-1, Sr. over Garrett Tunnell (Yorkville Christian) 25-5, Sr. (Fall 1:19)

3rd Place Match

Jaspher Williams (Dunlap) 14-13, So. over Shaun Anderson (Richwoods) 12-6, Sr. (Fall 3:36)

5th Place Match

Owen King (Geneseo) 12-2, Sr. over Dominic Jackson (Crete-Monee) 13-6, So. (Fall 3:26)

Team scores

1. Geneseo 253, 2. Yorkville Christian 169.5, 3. Morton 168.5, 4. Richwoods 121, 5. Triad 118, 6. Dunlap 95, 7. Lincoln 89, 8. Limestone 83, 9. East Peoria 82, 10. Champaign Central 75, 11. Springfield High 67, 12. Glenwood 65.5, 13. United Township 62, 14. Normal West 55, 15. Pekin 50.5, 16. Deer Creek-Mackinaw 38, 17. Morton JV 35, 18. Crete-Monee 30.5, 19. Southeast 28, 20. Peoria High 22.5, 21. LaSalle-Peru 16.

Hoopeston Area/Milford wins Prairie Central Hawk Classic 

Hoopeston Area/Milford co-op scored 268.5 points to capture the title at the 39th-annual Prairie Central Hawk Classic, which took place in Fairbury. El Paso-Gridley edged Beardstown 234.5-232.5 to take second place in the 18-team competition. It was the first time that the Cornjerkers had ever won the championship in this competition.

Others who placed in the top-half of the field were Peoria Notre Dame (220.5), Bishop McNamara (146), Camp Point Central/Brown County/Southeastern co-op (125), Unity Christian/Argenta-Oreana co-op (118.5), Sandwich (108) and the host Hawks (90).

1 – Hoopeston Area/Milford

The top finishers for coach Chris Kelnhofer’s champion Cornjerkers were title winners Charlie Flores (29-2 at 106), Aiden Bell (31-2 at 120), Ayden Larkin (26-5 at 165) and Angel Zamora (29-1 at 175) while David Bell (157) placed second and Fernando Rivera (138) took third. Zamora was the recipient of the Outstanding Wrestler Award.

Reydon Montez (144) and Tucker Deck (285) finished fourth while RaSiah Jones (150) and Earl Kelnhofer (190) were fifth. Others who contributed to winning the championship were Damian Salinas (132) and Dominic Simpson (215), who claimed seventh place.

2 – El Paso-Gridley

Leading the way for coach Caden Tjarks’ runner-up Titans were champions Tom Erwin (30-3 at 113), Dominic Ricconi (19-8 at 190 and Ryden Barker (28-3 at 215) while Kole Petta (106), Braden Gibson (165) and Christopher Blackmore (285) took second place and Parker Key (144) and Ben Buis (285) claimed fifth place.

3 – Beardstown

Turning in the best showings for coach Joe Kolb’s third-place Tigers were champions Luis De La Cruz (29-6 at 144) and Chunk Dailey (32-4 at 285) and runner-up Kellen Brown (126) while Bryan Islas (113) and Maddox Medrano (150) placed third and Alex Armenta (120), Aksel Avila (138), Gunner Looker (165) and Ryder Hamlin (215) all finished in fourth place.

Unity Christian received first-place finishes from brothers Garrett VerHeecke (28-1 at 132) and Clinton VerHeecke (27-0 at 138) while the other champions were Peoria Notre Dame’s Remi Joesting (27-9 at 126), Dwight’s Dylan Crouch (26-1 at 150) and Saint Thomas More’s Philip Christhilf (30-3 at 157). The only title match that was resolved by a decision of less than two points was at 157 where Christhilf got past Bell by a 5-4 score.

Peoria Notre Dame had three second-place finishers, Josh Stedwill (113), Ian Akers (132) and Joe Culp (215) while others who took second place were Bishop McNamara’s Alex Kostecka (138) and Cole Kimberlin (144), Camp Point Central/Brown County/Southeastern’s Charlie Welch (120), Ridgeview/Lexington’s Judson Stover (150), Illini West’s Shawn Watkins (175) and Streator Township’s Devin Thompson (190).

Also finishing in third place were Camp Point Central/Brown County/Southeastern’s Paxton Buehler (106) and Case Hughes (126), Sandwich’s Jacob Cassie (144) and Kai Kern (175), Prairie Central’s Ethan Ziller (157) and Jaxson Martin (165), Bishop McNamara’s Ethan Pfeiffer (190) and Kian Bramer (285), Peoria Notre Dame’s Freddie Couri (120), Urbana’s Emiliano Bedolla (132) and Streator Township’s Aydan Radke (215).

Other fourth-place finishers were Peoria Notre Dame’s Tomie Couri (106) and Bobby Stickelmaier (190), Camp Point Central/Brown County/Southeastern’s Jackson Buehler (113) and Paul Schenk (150), Bishop McNamara’s Henrik Fandrey (126), Prairie Central’s John Traub (132), Unity Christian’s Everett Roughton (157) and Urbana’s Jonnah Fonner (175).

Crouch easily had the most team points with 44 while Stover ranked second with 40 points and Medrano was third with 38 team points. Next-best were De La Cruz (35), Bell (34), Garrett VerHeecke (33) and Joesting (32.5) while Barker (32), Dailey (32), Schenk (32) and Zamora (32) all tied for eighth place.

Fifth-place efforts were also turned in by Prairie Central’s Andrew Patino (106) and Gabriel Valadez (113), Herscher’s Owen Bollino (120) and Everett Osenga (126), Peoria Notre Dame’s Jack Bartoletta (138) and Sie Couri (165), Streator Township’s Garritt Benstine (132), Sandwich’s Josh Lehman (157), Dwight’s Gavin Bafia (175) and Plano’s Rider Larson (215).

Also claiming sixth-place finishes were Plano’s Humberto Guardado (126), Elijah DeLaCruz (150) and Isaac Nevarez (165), Peoria Notre Dame’s John Couri (157), Tyler Miller (175) and Jacob Khoury (285), Bishop McNamara’s Chase Moeschke (120) and Mason Hemenover (190), Sandwich’s Colten Stone (132) and Luis Murillo (215), Streator Township’s Lily Gwaltney (113),

Herscher’s Owen Duay (138) and Unity Christian’s Gavin George (144).

Nine individuals recorded four falls, but Beardstown’s Kellen Brown was able to pull off that feat in just 1:26 as he advanced to the 126 title mat, where he lost to Peoria Notre Dame’s Remi Joesting, who claimed his third win by technical fall, the lone competitor to achieve that feat.

Beside easily leading the way in team points, Dwight’s Dylan Crouch also had the most total match points with 71 while El Paso-Gridley’s Jude Roth was second in that category with 64 points. Three individuals, El Paso-Gridley’s Braden Gibson and Jude Roth and Prairie Central’s Ethan Ziller, finished 10 positions higher than they were seeded. 

Prairie Central Hawk Classic place matches

106

1st Place Match – round robin

Charlie Flores (Hoopeston Area/Milford co-op) 29-2, Jr. over Kole Petta (El Paso-Gridley) 22-9, Fr. (TF-1.5 4:10 (18-2))

3rd Place Match – round robin

Paxton Buehler (Camp Point Central/Brown County/Southeastern co-op) 21-6, Fr. over Tomie Couri (Peoria Notre Dame) 12-8, Fr. (Fall 2:59)

5th Place Match

Andrew Patino (Prairie Central) 9-13, Fr. (Bye)

113

1st Place Match

Tom Erwin (El Paso-Gridley) 30-3, Fr. over Josh Stedwill (Peoria Notre Dame) 26-10, So. (Dec 6-2)

3rd Place Match

Bryan Islas (Beardstown) 13-10, Jr. over Jackson Buehler (Camp Point Central co-op) 17-11, So. (TF-1.5 5:09 (19-4))

5th Place Match

Gabriel Valadez (Prairie Central) 5-8, Jr. over Lily Gwaltney (Streator Township) 1-4, So. (Fall 1:06)

7th Place Match

Julius Smith (Prairie Central) 7-14, Fr. over Landon Benoit (Bishop McNamara) 3-16, Fr. (Fall 3:13)

120

1st Place Match

Aiden Bell (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 31-2, Jr. over Charlie Welch (Camp Point Central co-op) 16-9, So. (Fall 1:21)

3rd Place Match

Freddie Couri (Peoria Notre Dame) 15-7, So. over Alex Armenta (Beardstown) 7-17, So. (Fall 2:34)

5th Place Match

Owen Bollino (Herscher) 19-3, So. over Chase Moeschke (Bishop McNamara) 8-16, Fr. (TF-1.5 2:50 (19-2))

7th Place Match

Daisy Gil (Beardstown) 16-4, Jr. over Yurithdzy Vilchis (Prairie Central) 4-10, Jr. (Fall 3:59)

126

1st Place Match

Remi Joesting (Peoria Notre Dame) 27-9, Jr. over Kellen Brown (Beardstown) 24-8, Fr. (TF-1.5 5:26 (19-2))

3rd Place Match

Case Hughes (Camp Point Central co-op) 16-11, So. over Henrik Fandrey (Bishop McNamara) 5-12, So. (Fall 1:25)

5th Place Match

Everett Osenga (Herscher) 4-2, So. over Humberto Guardado (Plano) 2-3, Fr. (TF-1.5 1:02 (15-0))

7th Place Match

Alejandro Gil (Beardstown) 10-11, Fr. over Luke Bruns (Unity Christian) 6-12, Jr. (Fall 0:32)

132

1st Place Match

Garrett VerHeecke (Unity Christian) 28-1, Jr. over Ian Akers (Peoria Notre Dame) 33-2, Sr. (Fall 2:26)

3rd Place Match

Emiliano Bedolla (Urbana) 26-4, Sr. over John Traub (Prairie Central) 24-11, Sr. (MD 15-1)

5th Place Match

Garritt Benstine (Streator Township) 12-8, Jr. over Colten Stone (Sandwich) 15-12, So. (Fall 4:54)

7th Place Match

Damian Salinas (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 10-11, So. over Josh Collins (Camp Point Central co-op) 19-8, Fr. (Fall 2:38)

9th Place Match

Landon Christner (Ridgeview/Lexington) 14-15, Jr. over Jacob Benoit (Herscher) 11-10, So. (Fall 1:05)

11th Place Match

Alejandro Rivera (Beardstown) 6-12, Jr. over Colin Martinez (El Paso-Gridley) 7-25, Fr. (TF-1.5 4:00 (23-5))

13th Place Match

Avery Crouch (Dwight) 4-9, Fr. over Kiana Mayne (El Paso-Gridley) 5-8, So. (Fall 2:27)

15th Place Match

Sean Conner (Ridgeview/Lexington co-op) 5-10, Fr. over Julie Roberts (Unity Christian) 0-5, Fr. (Fall 0:51)

138

1st Place Match

Clinton VerHeecke (Unity Christian) 27-0, Jr. over Alex Kostecka (Bishop McNamara) 16-12, Jr. (Fall 1:57)

3rd Place Match

Fernando Rivera (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 4-1 over Aksel Avila (Beardstown) 12-13, Jr. (MD 11-3)

5th Place Match

Jack Bartoletta (Peoria Notre Dame) 14-20, Jr. over Owen Duay (Herscher) 5-5, So. (MD 10-0)

7th Place Match

Nolan Whitman (El Paso-Gridley) 15-18, Jr. over Thomas Kralik (Unity Christian) 8-5, So. (Fall 0:40)

9th Place Match

Jack Forth (Sandwich) 15-11, Jr. over Daemian Spisak (Prairie Central) 3-9, Fr. (Fall 4:36)

11th Place Match

Gael Flores (Plano) 2-3, Sr. over Jacob Starks (Ridgeview/Lexington) 3-21, So. (Fall 2:32)

13th Place Match

Tysen Walker (Dwight) 1-3, Jr. (Bye)

144

1st Place Match

Luis De La Cruz (Beardstown) 29-6, Sr. over Cole Kimberlin (Bishop McNamara) 15-10, Jr. (Inj. 2:40)

3rd Place Match

Jacob Cassie (Sandwich) 12-10, Jr. over Reydon Montez (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 10-11, Fr. (Fall 3:43)

5th Place Match

Parker Key (El Paso-Gridley) 23-9, Sr. over Gavin George (Unity Christian) 9-11, Jr. (Fall 2:33)

7th Place Match

Liam Soyk (Plano) 2-3, Fr. over Logan Wagoner (Ridgeview/Lexington) 5-18, Fr. (Dec 9-4)

9th Place Match

Lane Sexton (Champaign (Saint Thomas More) 8-23, So. (Bye)

150

1st Place Match

Dylan Crouch (Dwight) 26-1, Sr. over Judson Stover (Ridgeview/Lexington) 14-5, Sr. (MD 8-0)

3rd Place Match

Maddox Medrano (Beardstown) 21-16, So. over Paul Schenk (Camp Point Central co-op) 17-10, Sr. (Fall 3:16)

5th Place Match

RaSiah Jones (Hoopeston Area)/Milford) 18-15, Jr. over Elijah DeLaCruz (Plano) 1-3, So. (TF-1.5 4:50 (17-0))

7th Place Match

Jude Roth (El Paso-Gridley) 14-18, So. over Trevor Torres (Bishop McNamara) 10-16, Jr. (MD 18-10)

9th Place Match

Alex Mendez (Herscher) 15-9, So. over Wyatt Gregory (Sandwich) 15-9, So. (MD 15-7)

11th Place Match

Cristian Zientara (Unity Christian) 5-14, Sr. over Marquez Brown (Urbana) 0-5, So. (Fall 1:51)

13th Place Match

Keandre Towns (Urbana) 17-13, Fr. over Charles Lemerand (Prairie Central) 12-20, Jr. (TF-1.5 6:00 (23-4))

15th Place Match

Christian Clark (El Paso-Gridley) 5-7, Fr. over Adam Stark (Unity Christian) 3-11, Jr. (Fall 3:19)

17th Place Match

Andrew Warwick (Streator Township) 3-8, Jr. (Bye)

157

1st Place Match

Philip Christhilf (Saint Thomas More) 30-3, Sr. over David Bell (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 21-14, Sr. (Dec 5-4)

3rd Place Match

Ethan Ziller (Prairie Central) 17-10, Sr. over Everett Roughton (Unity Christian) 12-6, Sr. (MD 11-1)

5th Place Match

Josh Lehman (Sandwich) 17-6, Sr. over John Couri (Peoria Notre Dame) 19-18, Sr. (Fall 1:56)

7th Place Match

Yanai Taylor (Urbana) 16-17, Sr. over Eli Goliday (El Paso-Gridley) 5-8, Fr. (Fall 1:51)

9th Place Match

Ethan Kruger (El Paso-Gridley) 10-23, Jr. over Devin Fraizer (Plano) 2-3, Fr. (Fall 1:59)

11th Place Match

Diego Lopez (Beardstown) 13-15, Jr. over Julian Assaf (Prairie Central) 2-9, So. (Fall 2:00)

13th Place Match

Logan Mueller (Streator Township) 2-3, Fr. over Taylor Barbee (Streator Township) 4-12, Sr. (Fall 3:02)

15th Place Match

Nolan Galloway (Bishop McNamara) 0-17, Fr. over Bryce Reordanz (Herscher) 8-5, Jr. (NC)

165

1st Place Match

Ayden Larkin (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 26-5, Sr. over Braden Gibson (El Paso-Gridley) 14-7, So. (MD 10-1)

3rd Place Match

Jaxson Martin (Prairie Central) 15-5, Sr. over Gunner Looker (Beardstown) 30-2, Jr. (M. For.)

5th Place Match

Sie Couri (Peoria Notre Dame) 22-14, Sr. over Isaac Nevarez (Plano) 2-2, Jr. (Fall 1:20)

7th Place Match

Braiden Linnabury (Herscher) 2-2 over Brody Archer (Unity Christian) 10-14, Sr. (TF-1.5 5:07 (24-9))

9th Place Match

Mason Collins (Camp Point Central co-op) 11-15, Sr. over Cristian Ornelas (Ridgeview/Lexington) 4-8, Fr. (Fall 3:34)

11th Place Match

Alton Spears (Sandwich) 10-9, Sr. over Malik Carreon (Plano) 0-4, Fr. (Fall 0:45)

13th Place Match

Deven Rodriquez (Plano) 1-3, Fr. over Ayden Weaver (Unity Christian) 2-3, Fr. (M. For.)

175

1st Place Match

Angel Zamora (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 29-1, Sr. over Shawn Watkins (Illini West) 15-1, Sr. (Fall 4:50)

3rd Place Match

Kai Kern (Sandwich) 6-2, Jr. over Jonnah Fonner (Urbana) 22-8, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:46 (31-16))

5th Place Match

Gavin Bafia (Dwight) 11-10, Jr. over Tyler Miller (Peoria Notre Dame) 7-10, Jr. (MD 21-9)

7th Place Match

Alcantar Medrano (Beardstown) 11-16, Jr. over Payton McCoy (Beardstown) 5-3, Jr. (Fall 2:17)

9th Place Match

Jackson Pettyjohn (Unity Christian) 10-16, Jr. over Carter Ludwig (Ridgeview/Lexington) 10-15, Fr. (TF-1.5 3:14 (19-4))

11th Place Match

Ryan Kerr (El Paso-Gridley) 13-19, So. over Ian Alverson (Prairie Central) 1-16, Fr. (Fall 0:41)

13th Place Match

Cullen Bramer (Bishop McNamara) 5-13, Fr. over William Muthami (Bishop McNamara) 0-12, Jr. (MD 20-9)

190

1st Place Match

Dominic Ricconi (El Paso-Gridley) 19-8, Sr. over Devin Thompson (Streator Township) 11-7, Sr. (MD 12-4)

3rd Place Match

Ethan Pfeiffer (Bishop McNamara) 16-6, Sr. over Bobby Stickelmaier (Peoria Notre Dame) 10-10, Sr. (TF-1.5 2:17 (19-3))

5th Place Match

Earl Kelnhofer (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 24-10, So. over Mason Hemenover (Bishop McNamara) 2-7, Fr. (Fall 2:25)

7th Place Match

Chase Yelton (Illini West) 7-7, Jr. over Chazz Eskridge (El Paso-Gridley) 3-6, Fr. (Fall 0:22)

215

1st Place Match

Ryden Barker (El Paso-Gridley) 28-3, Sr. over Joe Culp (Peoria Notre Dame) 28-6, Sr. (Fall 5:22)

3rd Place Match

Aydan Radke (Streator Township) 9-7, Sr. over Ryder Hamlin (Beardstown) 22-12, Sr. (Fall 3:31)

5th Place Match

Rider Larson (Plano) 2-2, Sr. over Luis Murillo (Sandwich) 18-9, So. (Fall 0:27)

7th Place Match

Dominic Simpson (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 7-6, So. over Brandon Mercer (Peoria Heights) 4-8, Fr. (M. For.)

285

1st Place Match

Chunk Dailey (Beardstown) 32-4, Sr. over Christopher Blackmore (El Paso-Gridley) 21-10, Sr. (Fall 0:34)

3rd Place Match

Kian Bramer (Bishop McNamara) 15-8, Jr. over Tucker Deck (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 12-18, So. (Fall 2:38)

5th Place Match

Ben Buis (El Paso-Gridley)) 7-5, So. over Jacob Khoury (Peoria Notre Dame)) 10-7, Jr. (Dec 6-3)

7th Place Match

Matthew Stone (Herscher) 11-7, Sr. over Quinn Lyle (Plano) 1-3, So. (Fall 5:30)

9th Place Match

Crew Shaver (Peoria Heights) 5-8, So. over Jacob Benitez (Plano) 1-3, So. (Fall 3:10)

11th Place Match

Adam Westerhold (Streator Township) 3-7, Sr. over Tyler Barbee (Streator Township) 0-7, Sr. (Fall 1:51)

13th Place Match

Issac Salas (Plano) 0-3, Fr. (Bye)

Team scores

1. Hoopeston Area/Milford co-op 268.5, 2. El Paso-Gridley 234.5, 3. Beardstown 232,5, 4. Peoria Notre Dame 220.5, 5. Bishop McNamara 146, 6. Camp Point Central/Brown County/Southeastern co-op 125, 7. Unity Christian 118.5, 8. Sandwich 108, 9. Prairie Central 90, 10. Streator Township 85, 11. Herscher 80, 12. Plano 76, 13. Dwight 67, 14. Ridgeview/Lexington co-op 66, 15. Urbana 53, 16. Illini West 32, 17. Saint Thomas More 31, 18. Peoria Heights 13.

Oregon edges Fulton for championship at Polo Invitational

Oregon and Fulton were in a battle for who would claim top honors at the Polo Invitational and when the final round concluded, Oregon claimed first place with 217.5 points while Fulton settled for second with 212 points. 

Others in the top eight of the 17- team competition were Freeport (146.5), West Carroll (104.5), Guilford (101.5), Lisle (93), North Boone (93) and the host Polo Marcos (89.5), who are part of a co-op along with Eastland, Forreston and Milledgeville.

1 – Oregon

Leading the way for coach Justin Lahman’s first-place Hawks were champions Josiah Perez (21-4 at 113), Boone Alderks (20-2 at 120) and Nelson Benesh (23-4 at 132) while Jackson Messenger (138), Andrew Young (175) and Briggs Sellers (285) claimed second place. 

Preston LaBay (126) took third, Jakobi Donegan (165)  and Seth Rote (190) finished fourth, Landen Elder (215) placed fifth and Jordan Lowe (106), Jayden Berry (150), Leyton Kenney (165) and Jack Tinsman (190) were sixth. Also contributing to the title effort were Sonny Wesselman (144) and Hunter Skoli (157). The Hawks, who were sixth in the latest Class 1A poll, took second at Richmond-Burton and Stillman Valley and were fifth at ABE’s Rumble.

2 – Fulton

Top finishers for coach Shawn Price’s runner-up Steamers were title winners Skylier Crooks (25-7 at 165), Mason Kuebel (23-5 at 175) and Jeff Kane (20-3 at 190) and also Daniel Holman (215), who took second. They also had seven individuals who finished in fifth place, Hudson Price (106), Coltin Hartman (113), Victor Jackson (120), Easton Spooner (126), Riley Wester (132), Teague Bray (144) and Wiley Bladsell (157) while Jack Holmbo (285) was sixth.

3 – Freeport

Turning in the best showings for coach Nathan Arendt’s third-place Pretzels were champion Donavyn Fernandez (19-5 at 157), second-place finisher Treyden Diduch (106) and third-place medalists Sajjad Abdulrazzaq (150), Michael Tillmon (190) and Israel Goodman (215). Thomas Olson (126), Blake Slusser (144) and Kyle Clem (175) finished fourth, Kareem Odeh (285) was fifth and Steven Van (144) took sixth place.

Additional champions were Erie/Prophetstown co-op’s Aidan Jepson (20-8 at 138) and Caleb Reymer (22-2 at 285), West Carroll’s Connor Knop (14-1 at 144) and Jonner Smith (15-2 at 150), Guilford’s Dominic Angileri (5-0 at 106), North Boone’s Gavin Ekberg (23-5 at 126) and Parkview/Albany, WI’s Wesley Egan (25-0 at 215). Angileri won a title as the 11th-seed while Jepson also was a champion as an eighth-seed.

Egan had the most team points with 29.5 while Angileri and Kane tied for second with 28 team points. Benesh and Reymer both had 27 points, Ekberg, Perez and Smith tied with 26 team points while Fernandez and Kuebel both recorded 25.5 team points. 

Others who took second were West Carroll’s Noah Rannow (113), Aurora Central Catholic’s Vince Hefke (120), Lisle’s Alexander Ferari (126), Polo/Eastland/Forreston/Milledgeville’s Lucas Nelson (132), Erie/Prophetstown’s Tristan Hovey (150), North Boone’s Maysen Smith (157), Alden-Hebron’s Logan Crowell (190), Parkview/Albany, WI’s Tavin Bomkamp (144) and Camanche, IA’s Olyver Fuller (165).

Some of the closest title matches were Alderks edging Hefke 4-3 at 120, Smith getting past Hovey 9-8 at 150 and Ekberg defeating Ferari  6-4 at 126.

Also taking third place were Lisle’s Johnny Consuegra-Lopez (144) and David Skonieczny (165), North Boone’s Gabe Marella (120), West Carroll’s Nick Moore (132), Erie/Prophetstown’s Noah Wetzell (138), Alden-Hebron’s Caleb Linneman (157), Galena’s Dameon Polton (175), 

Jefferson’s Antonio Osorio-Pasillas (285), Camanche, IA’s Logan Edens (106) and Parkview/Albany, WI’s Slater Valley (113).

Others who finished fourth were North Boone’s Drew Patel (113) and Christian Allen (285), Guilford’s Jayden Goco (132) and Ayden Macklin (138), Polo/Eastland/Forreston/Milledgeville’s Kaenyn McCarren (150) and Liam Setterstrom (157), Lisle’s Sebastian Lara (106), West Carroll’s Jack McIntyre (120) and Aurora Central Catholic’s Joaquin Martinez (215).

Fifth-place finishes were also turned in by Polo/Eastland/Forreston/Milledgeville’s Jaidyn McKinney (138) and Micah Stringini (165), Guilford’s Jason Teal (175) and Kane Phommarath (190) and Parkview/Albany, WI’s Peter Roth (150).

Also taking sixth were Durand/Pecatonica co-op’s Evie Anderson (132) and Trey Jones (215), Lisle’s Jack Taylor (138) and Ibraheem Harb (157), Alden-Hebron’s George Longfield-Loftis (113), Jefferson’s Mecose Johnson (126), Polo/Eastland/Forreston/Milledgeville’s Ethan Dewey (175) and Comanche, IA’s Ethan Edens (120).

Parkview/Albany, WI’s Tavin Bomkamp had the most match points with 60 and three individuals led the way with four-pin efforts, Oregon’s Landen Elder, Guilford’s Kane Phommarath and Fulton’s Easton Spooner.

Polo Invitational place matches

106

1st Place Match

Dominic Angileri (Guilford) 5-0, So. over Treyden Diduch (Freeport) 19-4, Fr. (Dec 14-9)

3rd Place Match

Logan Edens (Camanche, IA) 14-10, So. over Sebastian Lara (Lisle) 14-8, So. (Fall 1:27)

5th Place Match

Hudson Price (Fulton) 21-9, Fr. over Jordan Lowe (Oregon) 16-12, Fr. (Dec 7-6)

113

1st Place Match

Josiah Perez (Oregon) 21-4, Jr. over Noah Rannow (West Carroll) 11-5, Sr. (Fall 3:32)

3rd Place Match

Slater Valley (Parkview/Albany, WI) 22-1, Sr. over Drew Patel (North Boone) 19-10, Fr. (Fall 3:19)

5th Place Match

Coltin Hartman (Fulton) 18-12, Fr. over George Longfield-Loftis (Alden-Hebron) 4-7, So. (Fall 2:34)

120

1st Place Match

Boone Alderks (Oregon) 20-2, Fr. over Vince Hefke (Aurora Central Catholic) 14-3, Sr. (Dec 4-3)

3rd Place Match

Gabe Marella (North Boone) 18-9, Fr. over Jack McIntyre (West Carroll) 11-5, Fr. (Fall 1:02)

5th Place Match

Victor Jackson (Fulton) 12-11, Fr. over Ethan Edens (Camanche, IA) 13-9, Jr. (Fall 5:30)

126

1st Place Match

Gavin Ekberg (North Boone) 23-5, Sr. over Alexander Ferari (Lisle) 18-4, Jr. (Dec 6-4)

3rd Place Match

Preston LaBay (Oregon) 14-2, Sr. over Thomas Olson (Freeport) 20-9, So. (Fall 3:13)

5th Place Match

Easton Spooner (Fulton) 24-11, Fr. over Mecose Johnson (Jefferson) 12-7, Fr. (Fall 3:18)

132

1st Place Match

Nelson Benesh (Oregon) 23-4, So. over Lucas Nelson (Polo/Eastland/Forreston/Milledgeville co-op) 22-4, Sr. (MD 16-7)

3rd Place Match

Nick Moore (West Carroll) 4-2, So. over Jayden Goco (Guilford)) 1-5, Jr. (Fall 4:33)

5th Place Match

Riley Wester (Fulton) 7-9, So. over Evie Anderson (Durand/Pecatonica co-op) 2-2, Sr. (Fall 0:50)

138

1st Place Match

Aidan Jepson (Erie/Prophetstown co-op) 20-8, Sr. over Jackson Messenger (Oregon) 17-10, Jr. (Dec 10-7)

3rd Place Match

Noah Wetzell (Erie/Prophetstown) 19-10, Fr. over Ayden Macklin (Guilford) 6-3, Jr. (Dec 7-4)

5th Place Match

Jaidyn McKinney (Polo co-op) 20-5, Sr. over Jack Taylor (Lisle) 10-8, Fr. (Fall 1:31)

144

1st Place Match

Connor Knop (West Carroll) 14-1, Jr. over Tavin Bomkamp (Parkview/Albany, WI) 14-1, Fr. (Dec 10-4)

3rd Place Match

Johnny Consuegra-Lopez (Lisle) 14-5, So. over Blake Slusser (Freeport) 21-8, Fr. (M. For.)

5th Place Match

Teague Bray (Fulton) 10-9, Fr. over Steven Van (Freeport) 9-12, Jr. (Fall 5:59)

150

1st Place Match

Jonner Smith (West Carroll) 15-2, Jr. over Tristan Hovey (Erie/Prophetstown) 21-8, So. (Dec 9-8)

3rd Place Match

Sajjad Abdulrazzaq (Freeport) 19-11, Jr. over Kaenyn McCarren (Polo co-op) 13-8, Jr. (Dec 8-7)

5th Place Match

Peter Roth (Parkview/Albany, WI) 15-9, So. over Jayden Berry (Oregon) 16-13, So. (Fall 4:16)

157

1st Place Match

Donavyn Fernandez (Freeport) 19-5, Sr. over Maysen Smith (North Boone) 19-8, Sr. (Dec 8-3)

3rd Place Match

Caleb Linneman (Alden-Hebron) 8-6, Fr. over Liam Setterstrom (Polo co-op) 3-10, So. (Fall 0:47)

5th Place Match

Wiley Blasdell (Fulton) 14-14, So. over Ibraheem Harb (Lisle) 8-10, Jr. (Fall 5:20)

165

1st Place Match

Skylier Crooks (Fulton) 25-7, Sr. over Olyver Fuller (Camanche, IA) 19-4, Jr. (Dec 14-11)

3rd Place Match

David Skonieczny (Lisle) 15-6, Jr. over Jakobi Donegan (Oregon) 16-10, So. (Fall 3:26)

5th Place Match

Micah Stringini (Polo co-op) 17-9, So. over Leyton Kenney (Oregon) 9-14, Sr. (Fall 1:17)

175

1st Place Match

Mason Kuebel (Fulton) 23-5, Jr. over Andrew Young (Oregon) 12-4, Sr. (Fall 1:13)

3rd Place Match

Dameon Polton (Galena) 17-6, So. over Kyle Clem (Freeport) 16-6, Sr. (Fall 1:29)

5th Place Match

Jason Teal (Guilford) 3-6, So. over Ethan Dewey (Polo co-op) 13-13, So. (Fall 3:44)

190

1st Place Match

Jeff Kane (Fulton) 20-3, Jr. over Logan Crowell (Alden-Hebron) 11-3, Sr. (Fall 3:47)

3rd Place Match

Michael Tillmon (Freeport) 15-13, Sr. over Seth Rote (Oregon) 6-4, Sr. (Dec 6-3)

5th Place Match

Kane Phommarath (Guilford) 5-4, So. over Jack Tinsman (Oregon) 10-15, Sr. (Fall 1:56)

215

1st Place Match

Wesley Egan (Parkview/Albany, WI) 25-0, Sr. over Daniel Holman (Fulton) 26-9, Sr. (Fall 2:32)

3rd Place Match

Israel Goodman (Freeport) 23-4, Jr. over Joaquin Martinez (Aurora Central Catholic) 5-8, So. (Fall 1:07)

5th Place Match

Landen Elder (Oregon) 14-14, Sr. over Trey Jones (Durand/Pecatonica) 3-2, Jr. (Fall 0:30)

285

Guaranteed Places

1st Place Match

Caleb Reymer (Erie/Prophetstown) 22-2, So. over Briggs Sellers (Oregon) 17-10, Sr. (MD 8-0)

3rd Place Match

Antonio Osorio-Pasillas (Jefferson) 5-4, Jr. over Christian Allen (North Boone) 10-11, Jr. (Fall 1:28)

5th Place Match

Kareem Odeh (Freeport) 3-2, Fr. over Jack Holmbo (Fulton) 5-8, Fr. (MD 13-4)

Team scores

1. Oregon 217.5, 2. Fulton 212, 3. Freeport 146.5, 4. West Carroll 104.5, 5. Guilford 101.5, 6. Lisle  93, 6. North Boone 93, 8. Polo/Eastland/Forreston/Milledgeville co-op 89.5, 9. Parkview/Albany, WI 80.5, 10. Erie/Prophetstown co-op 65, 11. Camanche, IA 56, 12. Alden-Hebron 42, 13. Durand/Pecatonica co-op 38, 14. Aurora Central Catholic 36.5, 15. Jefferson 34.5, 16. Galena 29, 17. Genoa-Kingston 12.5.

Out of state tournament roundup

Two individuals claim titles at Lafayette Ross Invite in Missouri

Belleville East’s Jonathan Rulo won a championship to lead six individuals from his school as well as six from Quincy Senior who finished in sixth place or better at Lafayette’s Fred Ross Invitational that featured a field of 33 teams and took place in Wildwood, Missouri. The Lancers placed seventh with 125.5 points and the Blue Devils were eighth with 113.5 points.

There was also a girls tournament at the same site that featured individuals from 24 schools, including three from Illinois, and three competitors from Collinsville finished in the top six with Taylor Dawson winning a title.

Rulo improved to 14-0 after claiming top honors at 285 by recording a fall in 2:20 over STEAM Academy at McCluer South-Berkeley, MO’s Reggie Thomas in the title match. His other three wins were falls and he was one of two competitors in the invitational that recorded four pins and thus tied for first place for the most team points with 32.

Other Lancers who placed in the top-six were Terence Willis (third at 165), Cedric King (fourth at 190), Jackson Schadegg (fifth at 106), Braden Kelly (fifth at 138) and Eliot Dahm (sixth at 175). 

Leading the way for the Blue Devils were Gunnar Derhake (fourth at 165), King Johnson (fourth at 285), Clayton McClelland (sixth at 113), Derik Lohmeyer (sixth at 120), Wyatt Boeing (sixth at 126) and Eli Roberts (sixth at 150). 

In the girls competition, Dawson improved to 23-2 after winning all three of her matches by technical fall, beating Seckman, MO’s Caroline Owens in 5:12 in the 140 title match. She was the lone competitor with three wins by technical fall and no one else had more than one. Other top finishers for the Kahoks were Londyn Long (third at 125) and Tashieya Taylor (sixth at 145).

Two capture championships at Lancer Girls Invite in Iowa

Newman Central Catholic’s Blair Grennan and Rock Island’s Courtney Walls won titles at the Lancer Girls Wrestling Invitational, a competition featuring individuals from 16 schools that took place at North Scott in Eldridge, Iowa.

Grennan recorded first-period falls in all four of her matches to take top honors at 105. In the title match, she won by fall in 1:55 over Davenport, Iowa’s Jacey Mason. Grennan finished with 30 team points, which tied her with Marion, Iowa’s Cadence Pastor for the most in the event.

Walls won all three of her matches in a round robin competition at 170. In the final round, she got a fall in 5:07 over the runner-up, Marion, Iowa’s Ellie Cox, to clinch her title. The Lady Rocks also had two fifth-place finishers, Lucy Mass (115) and Izabel Vega (130).

Five girls collected four falls and three of them were from Illinois. Grennan did so in the least time in 3:45 while Mass and Vega also recorded four pins.

Loyola Academy second at Wolverine Duals in Wisconsin

Loyola Academy took second place in the Wolverine Duals, a 10-team competition that took place at Waukesha West in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Coach Matt Collum’s Ramblers went 4-1 and lost to the hosts 44-32 in the championship dual meet after going 4-0 in their pool.

Turning in 5-0 records for the Ramblers were Kai Calcutt (215/285), Danny Malan (144/150), Niko Odiotti (106/113), Gavin Pardilla (126/132) and Sam Thompson (157).

Lena-Winslow/Stockton fifth at Northeast Invite in Iowa

Lena-Winslow/Stockton scored 159 points to finish fifth at the Northeast Invitational, which was held at Northeast in Goose Lake, Iowa. Leading the way for the PantherHawks were Duncan Nevel (second at 175), Aiden Larson (second at 190), David Prater (third at 120), Carson Hill (fourth at 106), Tegan Arnold (fourth at 144) and Jack Jordan (fourth at 215). 

Placing second in the B division were Tayler Kaiser (144), Sawyer McPeek (165) and Asher Acevedo (215) while Daniel Beltran (157) took fourth.

By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA

During its five previous successful races to the finish line at tourney host Leyden, Stevenson has had enough to stop the advances of Conant on four occasions, and Notre Dame last season.

There have been some close calls along the way: seven points (184-177) in 2023 over Conant; and last year when ten points (208-198) separated the Patriots from Notre Dame.

Saturday afternoon inside historic Chuck Farina Field House, the Patriots saw Notre Dame within 19 points of their lead, halfway through the final round before putting the Dons out of reach for good.

Individual champions Shawn Kogan (132) and Mikey Polyakov (138), plus 15 team pins, 6 team t-falls and a whopping 394 total match points proved too much, as the Patriots earned 200.0 total points to win its sixth consecutive Randy Conrad championship, 200-174 over Notre Dame.

Conant (155.5) placed third, Burlington Central (119.5) was fourth, and host Leyden (115.5) finished fifth.

“We have a great room, with great coaches, and all of us are ready for the second half of the season,” Kogan said. “If we stay healthy we can produce some really good individual and team results.”

Kogan is having a magnificent season, and he and Polyakov are battling in the room.

“I have the best partner with Shawn,” Polyakov said. “We push each other every day, and that’s the way our room is. We have really good depth, which is so important in tournaments.”

The Patriots claimed seven top-three medals, Notre Dame and Conant had six each, and Stevenson had 11 total medalists.

Randy Conrad Invite individual champions:

106: Ray Long, Notre Dame

One year ago, after claiming the first regional title of his young career, Notre Dame’s Ray Long found himself in the ultimate 106-pound group of granite at the Grayslake Central sectional. Long’s season ended there, with a sparkling 37-10 overall record.

From that sectional, Montini’s Allen Woo, Wauconda’s Gavin Rockey, Grayslake Central’s Vince DeMarco and St. Patrick’s Daniel Goodwin advanced to Champaign and finished first, second, fourth and fifth in state, respectively, with over 150 combined victories.

“I learned a lot last year,” Long said. “I was close to the top four, but I knew t was so much extra work that I needed to put in, to help me have a great chance to get onto the podium at state.” 

Long improved to 29-3 Saturday, after his 19-7 major decision triumph in the finals over Daniel Berdich (21-8) from Stevenson.

“I am fortunate to have a great partner like John (Sheehy) in our room, who brings so much intensity, and toughness (to him) that helps me prepare for each opponent that I take on,” Long said.

Long, the No. 5 man (2A) in the state, was third at the Dvorak, and sixth overall at nationals in Greco.

Charles Dominguez (Vernon Hills) was third at Leyden, Duncan Tenezaca (Maine East) fourth, Ryu Yamazaki (Conant) fifth and Ryne Sauberlich (Harlem) sixth overall.

113: Eduardo Vences, Burlington Central

Burlington Central’s Eduardo Vences (17-9) could not have been more pleased with his first major title of the season, following a marvelous performance in his 113-pound final with Conant’s Damian Ramos (17-9).

Vences sits just outside the top 10 in the most recent 2A state poll, and he cruised to victory with a 16-4 major decision.

Vences opened the third period with a 9-2 advantage, and with a stealthy move he extended his lead to 16-2 on his way to the title.

“It feels really good to finally win a tournament championship,” admitted the Burlington Central sophomore. “I’ve been working hard in the room to get better each time I go out there, so winning means that extra work is beginning to pay off.”

Vences, who was second at the Rus Erb in late December, opened with a pin and then followed with back-to-back majors.

“I’ve tried to be more aggressive in my attacks, and in that third period, I just went for it and really didn’t let up until the final whistle.

Stevenson junior Evan Mishels was third, Tony Lopez (Vernon Hills) fourth, Justin Forbes (De La Salle) fifth and Alex Gudgeon (Highland Park) sixth.

120: Jeremiah Lawrence, De La Salle

De La Salle head coach Jason Davidson is blessed with a terrific triple threat on his Meteors club, in Jeremiah Lawrence, Marquis Mays and David McCarthy, all of whom brought home championship trophies from Leyden.

Lawrence was clearly the best in his weight class, witnessed by his second straight title. He used three lightning-quick tech-falls, including a 19-3 (3:03) match winner in his final against Ayush Bajaj (18-12) from Stevenson.

“Last year I left a lot of points out there, so I worked incredibly hard during the offseason at perfecting my craft to make a serious run at a state title,” said Lawrence, who was third a year ago at 106 in Class 1A, finishing with a 27-5 overall record.

The two-time state qualifier, and current No. 5 man in the state, said his 3-2 win over second-ranked Aiden Larsen (Yorkville Christian) as his best match of the season, following his claiming his second major title of the year at Plano.

Emmett Arens (Conant) was third, Jaydee Doke (Harlem) fourth, Alex Rodriguez (Leyden) fifth, and James Cohen from Vernon Hills sixth.

126: John Sheehy, Notre Dame

It was clear from the start that the rest of the field at 126-pounds would be chasing No. 3 John Sheehy (29-3), as the Notre Dame senior had the wind in his sails from the onset en route to his second Leyden title and second tournament title of the season.

After his marvelous three-match effort, which ended with a 15-7 major decision victory over Conant’s 2024 3A state qualifier Luis Flores. It was the third time Sheehy has beaten Flores this year.

“Ray (Long) is a great partner to have in the room,” Sheehy said. “We have contrasting styles so we attack and defend each other in so many different ways.”

Sheehy is a two-time state qualifier who finished fourth in state last year at 113, and the circumstances surrounding that state medal last is a story in itself: Sheehy suffered a case of appendicitis at 4 a.m. on the morning of first day in Champaign.

“I was overweight, and obviously feeling really uncomfortable,” Sheehy said. “I found a way to make weight, and went out and won my first two matches on Thursday, then lost my semifinal (to state runner-up Edgar Mosquera of Riverside-Brookfield) after being up six. I won my next match in consolation before losing my third-place match.”

Josh Vazquez (Montini Catholic) and Xavier Villabos (Rochelle) are just ahead of Sheehy in the most recent state polls.

“My confidence is so much better this year,” Sheehy said. “I feel that I can get back downstate and reach my goal of getting into the state final.”

Nathan Corder (Harlem) was third, Gabriel Quintana (Harvard) fourth, Marcelo Cantu (Stevenson) and Sabir Aliev (Vernon Hills) were fifth and sixth respectively.

132: Shawn Kogan, Stevenson

Stevenson’s No. 5 Shawn Kogan (26-1)continues to roll on after the Stevenson star smashed three opponents at Leyden, including Maine East’s Dulguun Nyamdavaa (17-8) in his 132-pound final with a 17-1 tech-fall (2:27) victory.

His Randy Conrad crown marks Kogan’s third major title of the season. The junior recently won at Palatine’s Berman Holiday Classic, and claimed the top spot on the first weekend of the season at Barrington.

“After a little down time from our tournament schedule, we were back at it this week,” Kogan said. “Mikey (Polyakov)  and I have been hard at work in preparation for the last half of the season.

“With the regular season winding down, I’m really looking forward to the Illini Classic next weekend, where I’m hoping to face (Lyons’ No. 6) Griff Powell and (Marist’s No. 2) George Marinopoulos. That will be my biggest test of the year.”

Kogan earned 27.5 team points for the Patriots’ cause, second-best in the tournament along with Conant senior Victor Chevganov, and just 0.5 behind tourney leader Ilia Dvoryannikov from Vernon Hills.

Austin Lee (Burlington Central) finished third, Izayah Oleniczak (Harlem) fourth, Brady Krueger (Notre Dame) fifth, and Melvin Cannon (De La Salle) sixth.

138: Mikey Polyakov, Stevenson

It was his old NSC rival from Grant, Erik Rodriguez who dashed the hopes of Mikey Polyakov for an individual title recently at the 69th Berman Holiday Classic, but the Stevenson sophomore feels his odds of changing his luck against Rodriguez are growing.

Polyakov improved his record to 21-8 after two quick pins sent him into the finals against Conant’s Matt Goolish (16-7), where his 9-0 major decision victory over the Cougars’ senior gave him his first major title of the season.

Polyakov enjoyed a 6-0 advantage into the second period against Goolish. He chose down to start the period and never conceded a point along the way.

“Erik is a great opponent, but I feel like I’m closing the gap on him each time we meet, despite being 0-3 against him so far,” said Polyakov, who was a sectional qualifier a year ago in his rookie season, finishing with a 26-17 overall record.

“Shawn (Kogan) has been a tremendous help to me in my training. I’ve doubled up my workout each day, I did a lot of lifting in the offseason, trained at Brunson, and really worked hard on my slide-bys, tilts, positioning and ‘re-attacks’ that have made a big difference in the way I’ve wrestled this year.”

Mike Miranda (Leyden) was third, Jonathan Kruse (Burlington Central) fourth, Owen Recoy (Harlem) fifth, and Telmen Bayanbileg (Maine East) sixth overall.

144: Victor Chevganov, Conant

Conant’s Victor Chevganov figures that ‘flying under the radar’ is his best approach to his final season at Conant.

After a 13-21 record a year ago, the Cougars senior has done a complete 180 with his first tournament title of the campaign, to go along with an impressive 22-6 record following his pin at 3:01 over Stevenson senior Devitt Narens, now 18-11.

“I just wasn’t very good last year,” Chevganov said. “I wasn’t engaged at all both physically or mentally, but I did not want to end things the same way as last year, so I set out to make my senior year a great one.

“I was up (five points) in the final at Niles West and ended up losing in overtime, so I promised myself since then to do even more in the room because I feel like I can be one of those guys everyone overlooks in the postseason.

“It’s kind of like my teammate from last year, Tanner Cosgrove. He came out of nowhere to get downstate. That’s my plan this season, and to go after a medal.”

Brennan Peters (Harvard) was third, Andrew Diaz (Vernon Hills) fourth, followed by Cole McGuire (Burlington Central) and John Carr from Notre Dame.

150: Preston Fadness, Harlem

While his teammates from Harlem were chasing state power and NIC-10 rival Hononegah at the Huntley regional a year ago, Preston Fadness (19-8) was on the sidelines with a broken ankle.

But the Huskies senior persevered. Following his season-ending injury, he put in plenty of offseason training and extra work, which would include time in both Greco and Freestyle action.

“It (the broken ankle) was a big setback, but at least it happened during my junior year, so it gave me one more year of wrestling.”

Since his fifth-place finish in early December at the Mickey Marchese tournament put his record at 4-2, Fadness has gone 15-6. He opened Saturday’s action with a decision win, then won by major decision to reach the finals.

Fadness then won a hard-fought 5-3 decision over Notre Dame’s Joseph McCarthy (10-9) to win his Conrad title.

“We have a very good room and I have good partners, so I feel like I can improve with each week leading up to regionals,” Fadness said. “The plan is to advance into sectionals.”

Andrew Garcia (Maine East) third, Aidan Elliott (Stevenson) fourth, Leo Flores (Richards) fifth, Skaba Kokumbaev (Conant) sixth.

157: Deniz Ozturk, Notre Dame

No, it’s not an illusion that Notre Dame senior Deniz Ozturk was a 2023 sectional qualifier at 215, and then a sectional qualifier at 165 last season.

“Nope, it’s true,” Ozturk said. “I really was a 215-pounder as a sophomore. But I made a huge commitment to get fit and in shape for my senior year. I’m doing all the right things in my diet and training, and this year I feel really great. I’m ready to compete at a high level.” 

Ozturk is now 21-2 after his 13-1 major decision victory over Jayden Corchado from Highland Park.

“I obviously lost a lot of weight, but I did it in a healthy way,” Ozturk said. “I think that wrestling at 215 actually made me more prepared to compete at 157.

“The adjustment was a little difficult at the start, but I believe my pace has helped me a lot at this weight. It’s something that has really not allowed my opponents to rest during our matches.”

Ozturk would like to continue to wrestle at the next level, perhaps at nearby Triton College.

Giorgi Solorio-Alvarez (Vernon Hills) was third, Jeremy Castro (Leyden) fourth, Kosuke Hirata (Stevenson) fifth and Jaewon White of Conant sixth.

165: Ilia Dvoriannikov, Vernon Hills

Vernon Hills’ Ilia Dvoriannikov (23-1) has enjoyed plenty of success at 175 pounds this season, and could very well enjoy more before the postseason begins.

The Vernon Hills junior won at his home tournament, then won a title at Buffalo Grove at 175, and was fifth overall at the prestigious Dvorak – again at 175.

However it’s at 165 where the 2024 (2A) state runner-up will do most of his damage from here on out, with the hopes of another Grand March in Champaign come February.

“I still might compete at (175) before regionals, but I feel like I am most dangerous at 165, where I will have the best chance of winning a state title,” said the soft-spoken Dvoriannikov.

He lets his work on the mats do his talking for him. He did so Saturday, winning a Conrad title with a pin at 0:58 against Notre Dame’s Dean Lazaris (18-12).

A state qualifier as a freshman with a 31-11 record, Dvoriannikov won three straight hard-fought, one-point victories at state last season to advance into the 165-pound final against Dunlap star Nick Mueller (43-3) now wrestling at Upper Iowa University.

Mueller’s 4-2 victory would give Dunlap its first state title in program history, while providing the motivation for Dvoriannikov to reach for the stars this time around.

Dvoriannikov would like nothing more than to become the first state champion for the Vernon Hills program since 2011, when heavyweight Jeremy Brazil won it all. That same year, Vernon Hills’ Gideon Yim was second at 125.

Jackson Spizzirri (Conant) was third overall, Jake Rhymes (Burlington Central) fourth, Dominic Ganir (Leyden) fifth and Josh Olex (Stevenson) sixth.

175: Marquis Mays, De La Salle

Affable De La Salle senior Marquis Mays just laughs when he recounts at what weight he competed at a year ago.

“I was in our lineup at 215 last season – can you believe it?” the three-year varsity veteran said with a wide smile.

“It’s where I was needed last year, and I felt really good about helping our team win our own regional team title,” Mays said. “But now that I’m at the weight I should be, I feel like I have a great chance of getting downstate.”

Last season Mays had state medalist Josue Hernandez (third) at 175, and current teammate, Terrelle Jackson holding down the 215 spot in the lineup.

“Having both David (McCarthy) and Terrelle in the room pushing me each day has made me so much better,” added Mays, after his 15-5 major decision victory over Holden Wiegel (11-5) from Burlington Central earned him a Conrad title.

Mays plans to attend Michigan State University where he’ll major in finance.

Chris Quizphi (Leyden) finished third, Peter Escamilla (Notre Dame) fourth, Philip Boyko (Stevenson) fifth and Timur Arzumanov (Vernon Hills) sixth.

190: Mike Taheny, Richards

A bigger, stronger, and more focused Mike Taheny is back from back-to-back appearances in Champaign, and the Richards senior is ready to make the third trip downstate a memorable one.

“There’s no doubt my desire to get past that barrier of not earning a state medal motivated me,” Taheny said. “And the extra work that I’ve put in has raised my level of confidence to where it needs to be to help me get on top of the podium.

Taheny improved to 23-1 overall after recording his second straight tech-fall victory Saturday, the second one coming over Stevenson’s Everett Ciezak (21-10) on the title mat at 5:30.

The No. 3 man in 2A now has four major titles to his credit (Antioch, Fenton, Glenbrook South) one season after going 2-2 at state to end his season at 31-5.

Cayden Parks (Crystal Lake Central) and Jack Paris from Fenwick currently sit just ahead of the 2024 regional and sectional champ Taheny, who has applied to the Naval Academy where he wants to continue to wrestle, while earning a degree in either computer science, cyber-security or high level mathematics.

Notre Dame senior Michael Keany was third, Terrelle Jackson (De La Salle) fourth, Michael Junitz (Burlington Central) fifth, and Jaiden Thorney (Conant) sixth.

215: Erick Worwa, Leyden

Make it two-straight Randy Conrad titles for Leyden star Erick Worwa, who advanced into the Conant sectional last season as a sophomore, and used that experience to provide the type of motivation needed to go even further in 2025.

“When you’re around so much talent in your weight class at sectionals, you realize how good they are, and how much more you have to work in every area to get back there and qualify downstate,” Worwa (25-2) said.

Worwa put forth a terrific effort against Highland Park sophomore Daniel Derbedyenyev (10-10) that led to a 19-2 (2:00) tech-fall victory on Saturday’s title mat.

“I put so much into my offseason training, and came out this year so much more focused on the sport,” Worwa said. “It’s just coming out in each match ready to battle, and to do whatever it takes to win.”

Worwa has now won three tournament titles this year.

Cully Nelson (Harlem) was third, Bo Branum (Harvard) fourth, Enrique Benitez (Conant) fifth, and Jonathan Keats (Vernon Hills) sixth.

285: David McCarthy, De La Salle

De La Salle’s No. 2 David McCarthy squashed his heavyweight rivals on Saturday, posting three pins in just over five minutes to claim his third major title of the season. He also won title at Conant and Plano this year.

He won a Conrad title Saturday with a fall at 0:42 against Harlem’s Chandler Jack (24-8).

“I worked extensively during the offseason on my movement, hand-fighting, and looking more for openings for me to attack,” McCarthy said. “The improvement in those areas has been a big part of my success thus far.”

The three-year Meteors veteran won a sectional title last season at Hope Academy before going on to earn a fifth-place 1A state medal, the 26th in program history.

The chances of a bigger, better finish this season in Champaign for McCarthy comes from some magnificent results on the season over high-profile heavyweight stars.

McCarthy has beaten No. 3 (1A) Jaylen Torres, the state runner-up from Wheaton St. Francis, No. 6 (1A) Ray Phelps (Hope Academy) in addition to a pin over the No. 2 man at 3A, William Cole from Round Lake.

“I just have to stay healthy, and stay mentally and physically strong from here on out,” McCarthy said.

Aidan Jaffray from Leyden finished third, Connor Moynihan (Notre Dame) fourth, Reece Parinello (Burlington Central) fifth, and Justin Lopez (Highland Park) sixth.

Final Team Standings: Stevenson 200.0, Notre Dame 174.0, Conant 155.5, Burlington Central 119.5, Leyden 115.5, Vernon Hills 113.0, Harlem 112.5, De La Salle 99.5, Highland Park 58.5, Maine East 53.0, Harvard 42.0, Richards 37.0, Lakes Community 0.0

Randy Conrad Invite results:

106

1st: Ray Long (Notre Dame) 29-3, d. Daniel Berdich (Stevenson) 21-8,  (MD 19-7)

3rd: Charles Dominguez (Vernon Hills) 15-7, d. Duncan Tenezaca (Maine East) 15-8,  (MD 13-2)

5th: Ryu Yamazaki (Conant) 7-18, d. Ryne Sauberlich (Harlem) 9-7,  (TF-1.5 3:11 (16-1)

113

1st: Eduardo Vences (Central) 17-9, d. Damian Ramos (Conant) 17-9,  (MD 16-4)

3rd: Evan Mishels (Stevenson) 18-12, d. Tony lopez (Vernon Hills) 11-12,  (MD 12-2)

5th: Justin Forbes (De La Salle) 2-1, d. Alex Gudgeon (Highland Park) 7-4,  (F 1:01)

120

1st: Jeremiah Lawrence (De La Salle) 3-0, d. Ayush Bajaj (Stevenson) 18-12,  (TF-1.5 3:03 (19-3)

3rd: Emmett Arens (Conant) 2-1, d. Jaydee Doke (Harlem) 18-12,  (D 10-3)

5th: Alex Rodriguez (Leyden) 5-7, .d. James Cohen (Vernon Hills) 5-11,  (F 5:32)

126

1st: John Sheehy (Notre Dame) 29-3, d. Luis Flores (Conant) 2-1,  (MD 15-7)

3rd: Nathan Corder (Harlem) 14-8, d. Gabriel Quintana (Harvard) 4-6,  (F 4:28)

5th: Marcelo Cantu (Stevenson) 14-6, d. Sabir Aliev (Vernon Hills) 10-11,  (F 0:57)

132

1st: Shawn Kogan (Stevenson) 26-1, d. Dulguun Nyamdavaa (Maine East) 17-8,  (TF-1.5 2:27 (17-1)

3rd: Austin Lee (Central) 20-7, d. Izayah Olejniczak (Harlem) 16-10,  (D 13-7)

5th: Brady Krueger (Notre Dame) 23-11, d. Melvin Cannon (De La Salle) 1-2,  (F 2:39)

138

1st: Mikey Polyakov (Stevenson) 21-8, d. Matt Goolish (Conant) 16-7,  (MD 9-0)

3rd: Mike Miranda (Leyden) 3-1, .d. Jonathan Kruse (Central) 1-3,  (TF-1.5 2:29 (18-0)

5th: Owen Recoy (Harlem) 15-7, d. Telmen Bayanbileg (Maine East) 3-10,  (MD 13-2)

144

1st: Vic Chebganov (Conant) 22-6, d. Devitt Narens (Stevenson) 18-11,  (F 3:01)

3rd: Brennan Peters (Harvard) 8-9, d. Andrew Diaz (Vernon Hills) 11-13,  (D 7-1)

5th: Cole McGuire (Central) 9-7, d. John Carr (Notre Dame) 4-3,  (D 10-4)

150

1st: Preston Fadness (Harlem) 19-8, d. Joseph McCarthy (Notre Dame) 10-9,  (D 5-3)

3rd: Andrew Garcia (Maine East) 9-6, d. Aidan Elliott (Stevenson) 1-3,  (D 16-12)

5th: Leo Flores (Oak Lawn Richards) 14-7, .d. Shaba Kokumbaev (Conant) 2-4, . (F 2:31)

157

1st: Deniz Ozturk (Notre Dame) 21-12, d. Jayden Corchado (Highland Park) 4-6,  (MD 13-1)

3rd: Giorgi Solorio-Alvarez (Vernon Hills) 9-6, d. Jeremy Castro (Leyden) 1-2, . (MD 14-6)

5th: Kosuke Hirata (Stevenson) 9-15, d. Jaewon Willhite (Conant) 6-6,  (F 4:16)

165

1st: Ilia Dvoriannikov (Vernon Hills) 23-1, d. Dean Lazaris (Notre Dame) 18-12,  (F 0:58)

3rd: Jackson Spizzirri (Conant) 16-13, d. Jake Rhymes (Central) 4-7,  (MD 15-4)

5th: Dominic Ganir (Leyden) 13-13, .d. Josh Olex (Stevenson) 2-6,  (F 4:50)

175

1st: Marquis Mays (De La Salle) 3-0, d. Holden Wiegel (Central) 11-6,  (MD 15-5)

3rd: Chris Quizphi (Leyden) 16-7, .d. Peter Escamilla (Notre Dame) 8-11,  (TF-1.5 4:00 (16-1)

5th: Philip Boyko (Stevenson) 11-4, d. Timur Arzumanov (Vernon Hills) 11-8,  (F 1:47)

190

1st: Mike Taheny (Oak Lawn Richards) 23-1, .d. Everett Ciezak (Stevenson) 21-10,  (TF-1.5 5:30 (23-7)

3rd: Michael Keany (Notre Dame) 17-9, d. Terrelle Jackson (De La Salle) 1-2,  (SV-1 7-4)

5th: Michael Junitz (Central) 22-9, d. Jaiden Thorney (Conant) 11-18,  (TF-1.5 4:16 (16-0)

215

1st: Erick Worwa (Leyden) 25-2, .d. Daniel Derbedyenyev (Highland Park) 10-10,  (TF-1.5 2:00 (19-2)

3rd: Cully Nelson (Harlem) 15-11, d. Bo Branum (Harvard) 6-9,  (F 1:53)

5th: Enrique Benitez (Conant) 4-1, d. Jonathan Keats (Vernon Hills) 7-10,  (F 1:57)

285
1st: David McCarthy (De La Salle) 3-0, d. Chandler Jack (Harlem) 24-8,  (F 0:42)

3rd: Aidan Jaffray (Leyden) 10-14, .d. Connor Moynihan (Notre Dame) 1-4,  (F 4:44)

5th: Reece Parinello (Central) 3-10, d. Justin Lopez (Highland Park) 7-8,  (F 0:52)

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Glenbard West Chris Chappell Invitational

The host Hilltoppers took the team title at this year’s Chappell Invite, posting a 246.5-175.5 edge over second-place Libertyville. Lockport (173) was third, Cary-Grove (121.5) placed fourth, and Bartlett (106) rounded out the top five team finishes.

Glenbard West coach Pat McCluskey got four individual titles, four runners-up finishes, two thirds, one fourth and one sixth-place finish among its 13 medalists.

Libertyville had 10 medalists and two additional place-wins from non-scoring wrestlers. Lockport also had 10 medalists, while Cary-Grove and Bartlett each sent eight wrestlers to the podium.

“We wrestled tough as a team today,” McCluskey said. “I was proud of our third-period effort, mental game, and conditioning.  It’s always nice for our seniors to win the Chappell, a memory they will not forget.”

The Chappell Invitational is named for Chris Chappell, who wrestled at Glenbard West for long-time coach Bernie Botheroyd, graduating in 1986. Chappell passed away in 2002 at the age of 35 and Botheroyd re-named the Glenbard West Invitational after Chappell in 2006.

1st place: Glenbard West (246.5)
The Hilltoppers got individual titles from Aidan Ortega (106), Carson Prunty (126), Alejandro Aranda (138), and Vince Tortoriello (150), and another title from Jondelle Malunay (144) wrestling for the Glenbard West JV team, which finished sixth in the team standings.

Prunty trailed Lockport’s Isaac Zimmerman 7-0 in their title match at 126 before winning by fall at 5:56. “(Prunty) showed great toughness and poise,” McCluskey said. “(Ortega) works his tail off day in and day out…(Aranda) has been a hammer all year and continues to get better every week…(Tortoriello) is a great technician and loves to compete.

“Jondelle Malunay has been fighting and working hard all year to crack the lineup and today his skills and toughness really showed by winning the tournament with a last second takedown.

Glenbard West also got four second-place finishes, from Christian Lopez (113), Ulises Rosas (132), Brandon Watson (157), and Phin Codinha (215), thirds from Brennen Myra (144) and Tallis Taylor (165), a fourth from Andrew Bargiel (190), and a sixth from Advin Murtic (120).

“I could not be prouder of our team and program this year,” McCluskey said. “Day-in and day-out they come to practice to work hard and get better.  We still have three weeks to improve before the regionals so I’m looking forward to seeing their progress.”

2nd place: Libertyville (175.5)
Coach Dale Eggert got individual titles from James Scanio (175) and Caleb Baczek (215), seconds from Tyler Wuh (120) and Jack Treutelaar (190), thirds from Jake Shafer (126), Pierce Adams (157) and Steve Strelow (190), and fifths from Liam Huizenga (106), Elliott Hibbard (138), Ruben Quintero (150), and Ethan Trowbridge (165). Callum O’Connell (157) also placed fifth as a non-scoring wrestler for the Wildcats.

3rd: Lockport (173)
Liam Zimmerman (132) and Jaedon Calderon (157) won titles for the Porters, who also got seconds from Isaac Zimmerman (126) and Chris Miller (165), thirds from Caleb Russell (106), Naseem Jaber (138) and Hunter Rahn (175), fifths from Timmy O’Connor (120) and Ethan Robledo (285), and a sixth from Kyle Holland (215).

Other individual champions at Glenbard West were Elk Grove’s Zander Spatafore (113) and Mikey Milovich (285), Cary-Grove’s Hunter Lenz (120) and Noah Pechotta (165), and Waukegan’s Lamero Ceaser (190).

Team scores:

Glenbard West 246.5, Libertyville 175.5, Lockport 173, Cary-Grove 121.5, Bartlett 106, Glenbard West JV 102, Glenbard South 100, Waukegan 92.5, Elk Grove 72, Thornton 47.5, Proviso East 41.5, Larkin 35

The day’s best:

Glenbard West’s Jondelle Murray won an 11-9 decision for the title at 144 on a last-second takedown, and Elk Grove heavyweight Mikey Milovich gutted out a 1-0 win for the title against Cary-Grove’s Lucas Burton.

Individual statistics:

Cary-Grove’s Landon Locker had the most pins (4) in the least time (13:25) and Libertyville’s Tyler Wuh had the most tech falls (2) in the least time (5:40). Proviso East’s Jaedon Otero had the most combined pins and tech falls (4) in the least time (12:05), and Libertyville’s Steve Strelow had the fastest pin, in 11 seconds. Wuh had the fastest tech fall posted, in 1:40.

Waukegan’s Lamero Ceaser and Libertyville’s Caleb Baczek tied for the most team points scored with 30 apiece, Thornton’s Christian Cossia’s 24 match points were the most of any wrestler, and Otero scored the most total match points with 56.

The largest seed-place difference went to Cary-Grove’s Hunter Lenz, as the No. 8 seed won the title at 120 pounds.

Glenbard West Chappell Invite results:

106

1st: Aidan Ortega (Glenbard W) 24-3, D. Adrian Valadez (Thornton) 8-2,  (F 1:05)

3rd: Caleb Russell (Lockport) 5-16, d. Martrel Davis (Proviso E) 12-7,  (Inj. 2:00)

5th: Liam Huizenga (Libertyville) 3-10, D. () , . (Bye)

113

1st: Zander Spatafore (Elk Grove) 20-5, d. Cristian Lopez (Glenbard W) 11-10,  (F 5:00)

3rd: Jorge Lopez (Larkin) 9-5, d. Gunner Cotte (C.-Grove) 3-15,  (F 1:27)

5th: Gio Ambris (Glenbard W JV) 2-5, D. Arthur Schweitzer (Thornton) 3-2,  (F 0:16)

120

1st: Hunter Lenz (C.-Grove) 5-1, d. Tyler Wuh (Libertyville) 7-4,  (MD 10-0)

3rd: Manny Rodriguez (GW JV) 7-3, .d. Chase Murrell (Proviso E) 10-7 (MD 11-2)

5th: Timmy O’Connor (Lockport) 13-5, d. Advin Murtic (Glenbard W) 12-13,  (F 1:05)

126

1st: Carson Prunty (Glenbard W) 19-3, d. Isaac Zimmerman (Lockport) 21-9,  (F 5:56)

3rd: Jake Shafer (Libertyville) 16-11, D. Jordan Quaid Bowman (Glenbard S) 16-6,  (MD 15-3)

5th: William Miller (C.-Grove) 3-3, D. Salvador Garcia (Larkin) 8-5,  (F 4:29)

132

1st: Liam Zimmerman (Lockport) 27-6, d. Ulises Rosas (Glenbard W) 24-3,  (TF-1.5 3:01 (15-0)

3rd: Nick Barton (Bartlett) 19-5, d. Nicasio Acino (Elk Grove) 6-2,  (F 3:23)

5th: Jaedon Otero (Proviso E) 8-1, .d. Ignacio Santander (C.-Grove) 10-8,  (F 3:52)

138

1st: Alejandro Aranda (Glenbard W) 25-4, d. Cam Engels (Bartlett) 19-5,  (F 0:41)

3rd: Naseem Jaber (Lockport) 10-6, d. Emmanuel Adedeji (Thornton) 5-3,  (TF-1.5 3:58 (18-3)

5th: Elliott Hibbard (Libertyville) 12-6, d. Jaime Iman (Glenbard W JV) 2-2,  (D 7-1)

144 

1st: Jondelle Malunay (Glenbard W JV) 3-2, d. Jin Tai (Glenbard S) 22-5,  (D 11-9)

3rd: Brennen Myra (Glenbard W) 23-5, d. Damari Miller (Larkin) 15-7,  (D 12-8)

5th: David Brown (Waukegan) 11-5, d. Gus Saletta (Bartlett) 3-5,  (TF-1.5 2:42 (16-1)

150

1st: Vince Tortoriello (Glenbard W) 22-7, d. Ben Schoettle (GW JV) 2-1 (MD 18-5)

3rd: Joey Caputo (Bartlett) 17-10, d. Truth Thurman (Waukegan) 7-9,  (MD 14-5)

5th: Ruben Quintero (Libertyville) 3-7, D. Ezekiel Carillo (Bartlett) 3-7,  (F 1:34)

157

1st: Jaedon Calderon (Lockport) 21-9, D. Brandon Watson (Glenbard W) 22-7(MD 13-2)

3rd: Pierce Adams (Libertyville) 11-11 d. Anthony Kinney (Glenbard S) 12-12 (TF-1.5 4:11 (17-1)

5th: Callum O`Connell (Libertyville) 4-1, d. Lawerence Marcelo (Bartlett) 12-12,  (TF-1.5 3:06 (17-0)

165

1st: Noah Pechotta (C.-Grove) 24-1, d. Chris Miller (Lockport) 22-12,  (D 7-2)

3rd: Tallis Taylor (Glenbard W) 10-4, D. Soren Myra (Glenbard W JV) 5-6,  (Inj. 0:00)

5th: Ethan Trowbridge (Libertyville) 14-14, d. Eric Bello (Bartlett) 10-7,  (F 0:46)

175

1st: James Scanio (Libertyville) 19-9, D. Reid Sebahar (Glenbard S) 21-11,  (F 0:58)

3rd: Hunter Rahn (Lockport) 9-7, D. Dom Thorson (Bartlett) 9-11,  (MD 11-1)

5th: Josh Humphrey (C.-Grove) 2-6, d. Marco Gomez (Waukegan) 3-5,  (F 1:15)

190

1st: Lamero Ceaser (Waukegan) 13-4, d. Jack Treutelaar (Libertyville) 18-11,  (Inj. 4:00)

3rd: Steve Strelow (Libertyville) 8-2, d. Andrew Bargiel (Glenbard W) 11-16,  (F 3:37)

5th: Landon Locker (C.-Grove) 6-7, D. Donald Hubbard (Bartlett) 10-10,  (F 4:24)

215

1st: Caleb Baczek (Libertyville) 19-1, d. Phin Codinha (Glenbard W) 21-5,  (F 1:27)

3rd: Danny Langner (Glenbard S) 25-5, d. James Smrha (Bartlett) 17-6,  (F 3:00)

5th: Diego Cano (Glenbard W JV) 2-1, d. Kyle Holland (Lockport) 6-4,  (D 5-2)

285

1st: Mikey Milovich (Elk Grove) 21-5, d. Lucas Burton (C.-Grove)) 13-2, Sr. (Dec 1-0)
3rd: Ivan Martinez (Waukegan) 9-2, d. Ambrose Davis (Glenbard S) 7-6,  (F 4:00)

5th: Ethan Robledo (Lockport) 9-5, d. Al Kouakou (Proviso E) 7-6, . (F 2:44)

Grant’s Loffredo Duals

Marmion Academy topped St. Charles East 40-30 to win the team title at this year’s 8-team Loffredo Duals, hosted by Grant.

Marmion beat Crystal Lake South 53-21 and Grant 64-12 to reach the 1st-place dual against St. Charles East. The Saints won 67-8 over South Elgin and 52-17 over DeKalb before taking on Marmion.

Marmion’s Colton Wyller(106), Aidan McClure(113), Preston Morrison(113), Demetrios Carrera(132), Zach Stewart(138), Ashton Hobson(150), Luke Boersma(190), and Joey Favia (215) all went undefeated on the day.

“We wrestled well this weekend,” Marmion coach Anthony Cirrincione said. “Standouts were Preston Morrison and Aidan McClure, who bumped up weight classes and still performed very well. The big standout was Luke Boersma, who has pinned his last four opponents and seems to be figuring out his style and what is going to lead him to reaching his goals. He is on a tear right now.

“It was nice to have (returning state champion) Zach Stewart back in the line-up and he looked good. Wyller, Carrera, Hobson, and Favia all dominated as they have the majority of the season in dual meets. We’re still working towards having everyone compete in a competition at the same time. It has not happened yet, but we are closing in on that first for the season and are excited to see what this group of young men do when finally at full strength.”

St. Charles East got unbeaten performances on the day from Dom Munaretto (120/126), Liam Aye (126), Gavin Woodmancy (138), Ryan McGovern (157), Anthony Gutierrez (165), and Abraham Leidig (175).

In one of the day’s marquee match-ups, a pair of state champions squared off at 126 in St. Charles East’s Dom Munaretto and Marmion’s Nicholas Garcia when the Saints and Cadets competed in the title dual.

Munaretto won 10-9 in an ultimate tie-break decision, exacting a bit of revenge for Garcia’s 4-2 decision over Munaretto in last year’s state title match at 113. Munaretto is currently ranked No. 1 at 120 pounds in Illinois in Class 3A and Garcia is ranked No. 1 at 126 pounds.

DeKalb placed third, first winning 39-34 over Lincoln-Way Central in the day’s closest finish of any dual. DeKalb followed its ensuing loss to St. Charles East with a 42-29 win over host Grant in the 3rd-place dual.

Warren began the day with a 36-28 loss to Grant but then won 56-16 over Crystal Lake South before placing fifth with a 44-24 win over sixth-place Lincoln-Way Central. Lincoln-Way Central topped South Elgin 45-20 to reach the 5th-place dual. South Elgin won 48-31 to place 7th over 8th-place Crystal Lake South.

DeKalb’s 3-0 wrestlers were Jayden Bradley (106), Mike Hodge (144), Hudson Ikens (150) and Jeremiah Piniera (285). Warren got 3-0 days from Caleb Noble (113/120), Royce Lopez (165/175), Aaron Stewart (190) and Anthony Soto (285), while Lincoln-Way Central’s Jadon Zimmer (138/144), South Elgin’s Nicholas Dilallo (113), and Crystal Lake South’s Christopher Talbert (106) and Nathan Randle (132/138) also each went 3-0 in Fox Lake.

Final team standings:

1st: Aurora (Marmion Academy); 2nd: St. Charles (East); 3rd: DeKalb; 4th: Fox Lake (Grant); 5th: Warren; 6th: Lincoln-Way Central; 7th: South Elgin; 8th: Crystal Lake South

Individual statistics:

Among all wrestlers present, St. Charles East’s Abraham Leidig finished with the most pins (3) in the least time (6:56), and Marmion’s Zach Stewart had the most tech falls (3) in the least time (11:22). DeKalb’s Jayden Bradley had to most combined pins and tech falls (3) in the least time (2:51). St. Charles East’s Leidig and Marmion’s Luke Boersma tied for the most team points scored by an individual with 18, and South Elgin’s Evan Hamilton scored the most single-match points with 26. Marmion’s Stewart posted the most total match points with 55.

Dual results:

1st place dual: Marmion 40, St. Charles East 30

120 – James Morrison (Marmion) d. Jayden Hernandez (SC East) D 11-9

126 – Dom Munaretto (SC East) d. Nicholas Garcia (Marmion) UTB 10-9

132 – Demetrios Carrera (Marmion) d. Payton Lee (SC East) TF 17-2

138 – Gavin Woodmancy (SC East) d. Grayson Garcia (Marmion) Maj 13-0

144 – Zach Stewart (Marmion) d. Logan Tatar (SC East) TF 19-3

150 – Ashton Hobson (Marmion) d. Isaac Lenard (SC East) F 1:32

157 – Ryan McGd.n (SC East) d. Andrew Haritos (Marmion) TF 21-6

165 – Anthony Gutierrez (SC East) d. Jack Young (Marmion) F 0:48

175 – Abraham Leidig (SC East) d. Anthony Haddad (Marmion) F 3:19

190 – Luke Boersma (Marmion) d. Rocco Lobrillo (SC East) F 1:10

215 – Joseph Favia (Marmion) d. Cooper Murray (SC East) D 5-2

285 – Matt Medina (SC East) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

106 – Colton Wyller (Marmion) d. Nate Butcher (SC East) F 0:38

113 – Aidan McClure (Marmion) d. Dlan Sons (SC East) F 1:56

3rd place dual: DeKalb 42, Grant 29
120 – Owen Burgess (DeKalb) d. Breiydyn Hoffman (Grant) F 1:10

126 – Vince Jasinski (Grant) d. Tyler Daub (DeKalb) TF 18-1

132 – Ayden Shuey (DeKalb) d. Sammy Mendez (Grant) D 10-7

138 – Erik Rodriguez (Grant) d. Alan Izaguirre (DeKalb) F 3:47

144 – Mike Hodge (DeKalb) d. Adrian Khi (Grant) F 3:33

150 – Hudson Ikens (DeKalb) d. Nathan Flores (Grant) Maj 11-3

157 – Grayson Lennon (Grant) d. Preston Kjell (DeKalb) F 1:56

165 – Sean Kolkebeck (DeKalb) d. Aaden Arroyo (Grant) F 3:03

175 – Christian Wittkamp (Grant) d. Hussul Greer (DeKalb) F 1:19

190 – Casey Gipson (Grant) d. Elvis Mora (DeKalb) F 3:30

215 – Nick Waddle (DeKalb) d. Tyler Zdon (Grant) F 2:28

285 – Jeremiah Piniera (DeKalb) d. Ian Hernandez (Grant) D 7-1

106 – Jayden Bradley (DeKalb) d. Brady Myatt (Grant) TF 17-1

113 – Julian Hartwig (DeKalb) d. Larry Quirk (Grant) D 7-1

5th place dual: Warren 44, Lincoln-Way Central 24
120 – Jonathan Marquez (Warren) d. Eric Hoselton (LW Central) TF 21-4

126 – Brooks Mcray (LW Central) d. Luis Calderon (Warren) D 9-4

132 – Evan Glowinski (Warren) d. Michael Heimberg (LW Central) Maj 9-1

138 – Jadon Zimmer (LW Central) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

144 – Jadon Zimmer (LW Central) d. Kyle Miron (Warren) F 1:40

150 – Simon Castillo (Warren) d. Zander Zilewicz (LW Central) Maj 12-4

157 – Jalen Byrd (LW Central) d. Justice Humphreys (Warren) D 1-0

165 – Royce Lopez (Warren) d. Caden Harvey (LW Central) Maj 10-0

175 – Aaron Stewart (Warren) d. Will Mohney (LW Central) TF 19-2

190 – Caleb Vanleer (Warren) d. Justin Langford (LW Central) F 2:40

215 – Aiden Hennings (LW Central) d. Don Powyer (Warren) F 1:50

285 – Anthony Soto (Warren) d. Ethan Toosley (LW Central) Maj 10-1

106 – Walter Thomas (Warren) d. Finn Fifer (LW Central) F 5:16

113 – Caleb Noble (Warren) d. Devin De La Vega (LW Central) F 1:24

7th place dual: South Elgin 48, Crystal Lake South 31
120 – Drew Raval (S Elgin) d. Logan Eugenio (CL South) F 3:35

126 – Vaughn Tiria (CL South) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

132 – Devin Carillo (CL South) d. Jameson Rybacki (S Elgin) F 1:44

138 – Nathan Randle (CL South) d. Aamir Nieves Allen (S Elgin) D 7-1

144 – Aiden Marrello (CL South) d. Amaan Khan (S Elgin) TF 21-4

150 – Dane Henson (S Elgin) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

157 – Nathan Jung (S Elgin) d. Ethan Egge (CL South) F 1:27

165 – Zachary Stinson (CL South) d. Deelan Zamora-Alomar (S Elgin) TF 18-0

175 – Connor DeMoulin (S Elgin) d. Gabriel Randle (CL South) F 4:34

190 – Karl Pretzer (S Elgin) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

215 – Deremit Zamora (S Elgin) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

285 – Alejandro Facio (S Elgin) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

106 – Christopher Talbert (CL South) d. Evan Hamilton (S Elgin) F 0:56

113 – Nicholas Dilallo (S Elgin) d. Annalee Aarseth (CL South) F 0:22

Sullivan Slam

St. Rita snared the Sullivan Slam team title at this year’s 20-team tournament, with 10 of the 11 Mustangs entered finishing in the top six of their weight divisions, including five individual champions, three second-place finishers, one fourth- and one fifth-place medalist.

St. Rita coach Ryan Klinger’s squad outpointed second-place Johnsburg 241.5-191.5, followed by Bradley-Bourbonnais (156.5), Northridge Prep (133) and Perspectives (124) to round out the top five team finishes.

“The boys are really starting to turn a corner and fire on all cylinders,” Klinger said. “We’re a little banged up and have a lot of sickness running through the lineup but all our back ups are chomping at the bit to compete and wrestling hard whenever they get the opportunity.

“We’re very focused on fundamentals, staying in good position, capitalizing on our opponent’s mistakes, and letting our conditioning take over in the third period.”

1st place: St. Rita (241.5)

Last year’s Class 2A third-place medalist at 106 pounds, junior Jack Hogan (120) kicked off the parade of eight Mustangs who reached the title mat at Sullivan. Hogan used three falls to reach the finals, where he won by tech fall for the title. Hogan is currently ranked No. 7 at 120 in 2A.

“All our kids wrestled great on Saturday,” Klinger said. “Jack Hogan received the outstanding wrestler award for the lower weights and Nolan Keenan received the outstanding wrestler award for the upper weights. Both guys are very focused and determined. We work a lot on mindset and still being able to wrestle hard and pull out victories when you’re in deep waters.”

The Mustangs’ Luke Pappalas (132) won St. Rita’s next title, followed by Nino Protti (138), a two-time state qualifier currently ranked No. 7 at 132 pounds. Nolan Keenan (150) and James Bansley (190) also won Sullivan Slam titles for St. Rita, which got seconds from Cleto Protti (126), Micah Spinazzola (165) and James Kevin (175), a fourth from Joe Franklin (144), and a fifth from Mitch Street (215). Eli Erkapc also contributed team points for St. Rita at 285.

“This tournament really helped build confidence in all our wrestlers,” Klinger said. “Our staff is noticing a big shift in the way everyone is wrestling in our program. Rita wrestling is getting better and better every time we step in the circle. It’s all about building momentum as we go into February. We have a great team of hardworking young men who built a great bond together going into the end of the season.”

2nd place: Johnsburg (191.5)

Johnsburg coach James Sylvanus got a pair of individual titles from Chase Vogel (113) and Duke Mays (175), and seconds from Kai Surdick (106) and Landon Johnson (24-4). The Skyhawks also got a third from Tanner Hansen (126), a fourth from Jackson Hjorth (165), fifths from Chase Vogel (120) and Kainoa Ancog (150), and a sixth from Micah Klos (132).

3rd place: Bradley-Bourbonnais (156.5)

The Boilermakers took third led by an individual champion in Cullen Parks (106), a third from Kayden Roach (175), a fourth from Coen McGill (157), fifths from Jason Smith (113) and Raziel Perez (126), and sixths from Zach Hoffner (120) and Max Fischer (138) for coach Mike Spiwak.

The other individual Sullivan Slam champions were Northridge Prep’s Joe Kopecky (126) and Adam Haddad (165), Hubbard’s Fabian Salazar (144), Sullivan’s Abobaker Stanikzai (157), Amundsen’s James Reshoft (215), and Leo’s Nicholas Armour (285).

Team scores:

St. Rita 241.5, Johnsburg 191.5, Bradley-Bourbonnais 156.5, Northridge Prep 133, Perspectives 124, Maine West 118, Taft 94.5, Niles West 88, Senn 76, Sullivan 69.5, Mather 68, Rickover Naval Academy 64.5, Lane 59, Amundsen 56.5, Phillips 56, Noble/UIC 50, Hubbard 49.5, Leo 44.5, Intrinsic 30, Ridgewood 22

Individual statistics:

Niles West’s Jacob Collings had the most pins (4) in the least time (5:44), and Johnsburg’s Chase Vogel had the most tech falls (3) in the least time (6:06). Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Cameron Borneman had the fastest tech fall win, in 48 seconds.

Leo’s Nicholas Armour scored the most team points with 30, Lane’s Adgate VanderBrug scored the most single-match points with 23, and Senn’s Lennon Ojeda scored the most total match points with 69. St. Rita’s Joe Franklin provided the largest seed-place difference of the tournament, when the No. 15 seed placed fourth at 144 pounds.

Sullivan Slam results:

106

1st: Cullen Parks (B-Bourbonnais) 9-6, d. Kai Surdick (Johnsburg) 19-10,  (D 14-7)

3rd: Mohammed Zia Nadre (Sullivan) 13-4, d. Kenye Flanigan (Perspectives) 12-5,  (F 0:00)

5th: Justin Chogllo (Rickover) 3-1, d. Leonardo Rodriquez (Taft) 2-2,  (F 0:00)

113

1st: Chase Vogel (Johnsburg) 23-5, d. Daveon Farmer (Perspectives) 14-6,  (TF-1.5 2:00 (15-0)

3rd: Leo Zapien (UIC Noble) 3-1, .d. Jonathan Pawlowski (Rickover) 10-2,  (D 14-10)

5th: Jason Smith (B-Bourbonnais) 5-6, d. Vito Capili (Taft) 3-2,  (F 3:40)

120

1st: Jack Hogan (St. Rita) 22-4, d. Donald Bunton (Perspectives) 16-4,  (TF-1.5 3:07 (15-0)

3rd: Logan Battersby (Maine W) 25-6, d. Daniel Garcia (Hubbard) 25-3,  (F 2:57)

5th: Chase Davis (Johnsburg) 26-7, d. Zach Hoffner (B-Bourbonnais) 22-8,  (MD 16-3)

126

1st: Joe Kopecky (Northridge) 17-4, d. Cleto Protti (St. Rita) 18-5,  (D 13-9)

3rd: Tanner Hansen (Johnsburg) 20-8, d. Jayden Perez (Taft) 2-1,  (M. For.)

5th: Raziel Perez (B-Bourbonnais) 9-3, d. Santy Cruz (Senn) 3-2, . (F 0:45)

132

1st: Luke Pappalas (St. Rita) 12-10, d. Justin Hernandez (Rickover) 14-2,  (D 8-3)

3rd: Mohamad Khater (Ridgewood) 17-6, d. Jeremy Catchings (Phillips) 2-2,  (F 1:53)

5th: Jacob Collings (Niles W) 13-8, d. Micah Klos (Johnsburg) 11-6,  (F 1:12)

138

1st: Nino Protti (St. Rita) 21-5, d. Landon Johnson (Johnsburg) 24-4,  (D 7-4)

3rd: Benjamin Malmberg (Maine W) 18-15, d. Mohsen Maliky (Sullivan) 14-5,  (F 4:22)

5th: James Hill (Phillips) 4-1, d. Max Fischer (B-Bourbonnais) 9-15,  (F 4:46)

144

1st: Fabian Salazar (Hubbard) 27-1, d. Lennon Ojeda (Senn) 3-1, . (F 5:36)

3rd: Javi Rodriguez (Northridge) 8-4, d. Joe Franklin (St. Rita) 2-2,  (F 1:25)

5th: Qaisar Sadat (Niles W) 19-7, d. Ben Kubal (B-Bourbonnais) 9-11,  (F 2:00)

150

1st: Nolan Keenan (St. Rita) 21-7, d. George McShane (Northridge) 16-6,  (F 5:21)

3rd: Dylan Kroschel (Maine W) 20-8, d. Sebastian Gordon (Niles W) 16-9,  (D 9-4)

5th: Kainoa Ancog (Johnsburg) 20-11, d. Noah Fields (Intrinsic) 11-6,  (F 2:58)

157

1st: Abobaker Stanikzai (Sullivan) 16-4, d. Fenton Pratt (Chicago Lane) 3-1, N/A. (F 0:32)

3rd: Louis Avalos (Maine W) 15-9, d. Coen McGill (B-Bourbonnais) 4-9,  (F 1:54)

5th: Joshua Mreana (Niles W) 11-17, d. Omobobola Bankole (Mather) 16-7,  (TF-1.5 5:07 (18-3)

165

1st: Adam Haddad (Northridge) 19-2, d. Micah Spinazzola (St. Rita) 11-2,  (D 7-1)

3rd: Peter Greco (Maine W) 24-5, d. Jackson Hjorth (Johnsburg) 12-5,  (F 2:47)

5th: Noah Sherrod (Intrinsic) 4-1, d. Willem Johnston (Mather) 2-3,  (F 3:27)

175

1st: Duke Mays (Johnsburg) 17-5, d. James Kevin (St. Rita) 13-7,  (F 2:25)

3rd: Kayden Roach (B-Bourbonnais) 21-10, d. Zomire Dilworth (Mather) 18-4,  (TF-1.5 2:41 (17-1)

5th: Ricky Moore (Taft) 4-1, d. Zbigniew Kordalewski (Maine W) 18-11,  (D 9-8)

190

1st: James Bansley (St. Rita) 14-14, d. Mivontae Russell (Perspectives) 18-1,  (TF-1.5 4:47 (18-3)

3rd: Josh Taylor (Taft) 3-1, d. Brayden O`Connor (B-Bourbonnais) 14-13,  (D 4-1)

5th: Adrian Zepeda (Amundsen) 14-1, d. Malik Allen (UIC Noble) 3-2, . (F 3:18)

215

1st: James Reshoft (Amundsen) 12-2, d. Elijah Jamison (Perspectives) 14-4,  (F 3:36)

3rd: Charleston Rice (Phillips) 3-1, d. Julian Rios (Mather) 16-6,  (D 12-5)

5th: Mitch Street (St. Rita) 12-5, .d. Jamonte Jones (Senn) 3-2, . (F 1:07)

285

1st: Nicholas Armour (Chicago Leo) 4-0, d. Thomas Suter (Northridge) 13-8,  (F 2:00)

3rd: Manny Olojo (Niles W) 14-4, d. Eligiah Pagan (Taft) 2-2,  (F 0:18)

5th: Dontrelle Anderson (Perspectives) 12-3, d. Denzel Lockhart (Mather) 15-10,  (F 0:50)

Geneva’s Newbill Wrestling Invitational

West Aurora had three individual champions, one second-place finisher, two thirds, three fourths, and two fifth-place finishers among its 11 medalists, as the Blackhawks won the Newbill team title 227.5-193 over second-place Downers Grove North.

Brother Rice placed third with 189.5 points, followed by Naperville North (179.5) and Joliet Central (141) to round out the top five team finishes in the 18-team field.

1st place: West Aurora (227.5)
The Blackhawks got individual titles from Evan Matkovich (138), Marcus Quintana (144) and Dayne Serio (165), seconds from Dominic Serio (150), thirds from Peter Kabene (126) and Alfonso Aguilar (285), fourths from Joseph Huicochea (120), Malan Hatfield (157) and Manny Chavez (175), and fifths from Aidan Ambre (106) and Jack Platt (132).

Kabene (126) won the closest medal-round match with an 11-10 decision for third against Brother Rice’s Jimmy Lotito.

2nd place: Downers Grove North (193)
Four second-placers led the Trojans to a second-place team finish, in Tyler Tiancgo (120), Alex Hengles (126), Caden Chiarelli (144) and Peter Rodriguez (285). Coach Chris McGrath also got thirds from Liam O’Sullivan (157) and Jack Lasota (175), a fourth from Christian Chiarelli (132), fifths from Aidan Cummings (138) and Owen Kelly (150), and sixths from Jack Helsdon (190) and Nate Olona (215).

3rd place: Brother Rice (189.5)
A trio of individual champions led the way for coach Jan Murzyn, in Bobby Conway (132), Frank Mitchell (157) and James Crane (190). The Crusaders also got a second-place finish from Dan Costello (175), thirds from Oliver Davis (138) and Jack O’Conner (150), a fourth from Jimmy Lotito (126), and a fifth from Colin Goggin (215).

Team scores:
West Aurora 227.5, Downers Grove North 193, Brother Rice 189.5, Naperville North 179.5, Joliet Central 141, Dundee-Crown 114, Glenbard East 107.5, Lane Tech 97.5, Geneva 93.5, Stillman Valley 87.5, Glenbrook North 72.5, Wheaton Warrenville South 63, Lake Zurich 59, Addison Trail 55, Plainfield Central 46, Shepard 33.5, Metea Valley 23, Boylan 0, Oak Lawn 0

The day’s best:
The closest decision win of the finals went to Geneva heavyweight Joseph Petit in a 1-0 decision win over Downers Grove North’s Peter Rodriguez. 

The title match at 157 went to overtime, with Brother Rice’s Frank Micelli winning 7-4 on a takedown in overtime against Lane Tech’s Nasser Hammouche.

Individual statistics:
Glenbrook North’s Shane Onixt had the most pins (4) in the least time (5:04) of all wrestlers present, while Geneva’s Sam Sikorsy had the most tech falls (4) in the least time (18:03). Stillman Valley’s Xander Bell had the fastest pin in 15 seconds, while West Aurora’s Marcus Quintana, Glenbrook North’s Onixt, and Naperville North’s Tyler Sternstein tied for the most team points scored, with 30 apiece. Stillman Valley’s Bell scored the most single-match points with 28 and Geneva’s Sikorsky scored the most total-match points with 69. West Aurora’s Peter Kabene provided the largest seed-place difference in the tournament, as the No. 14 seed placed third at 126.

Geneva Newbill Invitational results:
106

1st: Aiden Healey (Dundee Crown) 27-6, d. Michael Pannarale (Stillman Valley) 21-4,  (F 5:54)

3rd: Lorenz Rios Loud (Glenbard E) 21-5, d. Rocco Valvano ( WW South) 17-8,  (D 7-1)

5th: Aidan Ambre (W Aurora) 13-5, d. Jeremiah Arroyo-McMullan (Lane) 15-4,  (F 2:17)

113

1st: Sam Sikorsky (Geneva) 4-0, d. Liam Walsh (Joliet C) 20-13,  (TF-1.5 2:45 (16-0)

3rd: Adam Beedon (Naperville N) 18-3, d. Cole Forsyth (Glenbard E) 16-5,  (D 7-1)

5th: Santiago Trejo-Huerigo (Addison Trail) 19-5, d. Xander Bell (Stillman Valley) 14-7,  (TF-1.5 2:43 (16-0)

120

1st: Ismael Chaidez (Glenbard E) 24-2, d. Tyler Tiancgo (DG North) 25-6,  (D 7-2)

3rd: Aleck Allende (Joliet C) 23-10, d. Joseph Huicochea (W Aurora) 19-11,  (D 4-3)

5th: Ryan Beedon (Naperville N) 21-7, d. George Driesbach (Geneva) 3-2,  (F 4:56)

126

1st: Connor McDonald (Naperville N) 23-3, d. Alex Hengles (DG North) 8-6,  (D 8-3)

3rd: Peter Kabene (W Aurora) 16-13, d. Jimmy Lotito (Brother Rice) 16-8,  (D 11-10)

5th: Jowel Maldonado (Joliet C) 18-14, d. Kellen Oxborrow (Lake Zurich) 16-10,  (D 3-1)

132

1st: Bobby Conway (Brother Rice) 13-3, d. Alex Valentin (Lane) 26-6,  (F 0:52)

3rd: Chris Gerardo (Dundee Crown) 27-8, d. Christian Chiarelli (DG North) 19-7,  (F 4:39)

5th: Jack Platt (W Aurora) 22-13, d. Andrew Wendt (Geneva) 3-2,  (F 4:47)

138

1st: Evan Matkovich (W Aurora) 28-5, d. Ben Messier (Naperville N) 23-2,  (MD 13-1)

3rd: Oliver Davis (Brother Rice) 23-3, d. Jack Bowen (Plainfield C) 19-7,  (MD 14-3)

5th: Aidan Cummings (DG North) 22-9, d. Isaiah Kan (Joliet C) 23-12,  (D 9-4)

144

1st: Marcus Quintana (W Aurora) 29-3, d. Caden Chiarelli (DG North) 24-6,  (F 1:30)

3rd: Matthias Hautzinger (Addison Trail) 14-5, d. Vermaat VanderBrug (Lane) 24-8,  (F 2:36)

5th: Zachary Mally (Naperville N) 20-7, d. Shane Salerno (Glenbard E) 14-11,  (TF-1.5 2:46 (17-0)

150

1st: Tyler Sternstein (Naperville N) 22-4, d. Dominic Serio (W Aurora) 27-3,  (Inj. 0:00)

3rd: Jack O`Conner (Brother Rice) 20-8, d. Henry Hildreth (Stillman Valley) 21-4,  (F 1:55)

5th: Owen Kelly (DG North) 14-9, d. Jadon Wheatley (Dundee Crown) 15-13,  (TF-1.5 3:51 (16-0)

157

1st: Frank Micelli (Brother Rice) 25-3, d. Nasser Hammouche (Lane) 26-8,  (OT 7-4)

3rd: Liam O`Sullivan (DG North) 25-7, d. Malan Hatfield (W Aurora) 13-7,  (D 10-6)

5th: Mark Bew (Joliet C) 9-3, d. Lucas Marcoux (Metea) 3-2,  (TF-1.5 3:58 (17-1)

165

1st: Dayne Serio (W Aurora) 31-1, d. Ethan Waugh (Stillman Valley) 20-6,  (TF-1.5 4:00 (15-0)

3rd: Henry Hafner (Glenbrook North) 16-6, d. Alen Bautista (Addison Trail) 8-11,  (Inj. 0:00)

5th: Leo Mundinger (Glenbard E) 12-12, d. JT Hill (Naperville N) 12-10,  (D 12-5)

175

1st: Shane Onixt (Glenbrook North) 21-3, d. dan costello (Brother Rice) 17-6,  (F 0:46)

3rd: Jack Lasota (DG North) 22-7, d. Manny Chavez (W Aurora) 24-8,  (F 1:45)

5th: Xavier Eggert (Joliet C) 17-15, d. Aidan Hill (Shepard) 12-5,  (F 2:00)

190

1st: James Crane (Brother Rice) 24-3, d. Zach Anderson (Dundee Crown) 19-8,  (F 1:35)

3rd: Orlando Hoye (Glenbard E) 17-9, d. Rocco DiCanio (Lake Zurich) 24-8,  (M. For.)

5th: Brady Valle (Naperville N) 12-16, d. Jack Helsdon (DG North) 16-11,  (MD 13-0)

215

1st: Charles Walker (Joliet C) 27-1, d. Teigen Moreno (Dundee Crown) 28-4,  (MD 12-3)

3rd: Tavfik Ibragimov (Naperville N) 20-4, d. Anthony Minnito (Plainfield C) 20-4,  (F 1:46)

5th: Colin Goggin (Brother Rice) 21-6, d. Nate Olona (DG North) 18-9,  (MD 12-1)

285

1st: Joseph Pettit (Geneva) 4-0, d. Peter Rodriguez (DG North) 21-9,  (D 1-0)

3rd: Alfonso Aguilar (W Aurora) 24-8, d. Ashton Kibbe ( WW South) 18-7,  (Inj. 0:00)

5th: Roy Ramirez (Dundee Crown) 24-13, d. Jacob Zdanowicz (Lake Zurich) 8-18,  (D 7-1)

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

Naperville Central enjoyed its best season in over a decade in 2023-2024 when it followed up on a DuPage Valley Conference championship with a title at the Class 3A East Aurora Regional and then defeated the hosts 40-21 in the Downers Grove South Class 3A Dual Team Sectional to earn its first appearance in the IHSA Dual Team Finals since 2012.

Although coach Noah Fitzenreider’s Redhawks graduated several key members from the school’s third-ever team to earn a trip to dual team state, it returns a significant number of individuals that helped them to get to Bloomington, where they put up a good fight before falling 36-29 to eventual runner-up Yorkville in the quarterfinals to conclude a 20-7 season.

While Naperville Central aspires to make a return trip to state, all involved realize that it will be a challenge considering the regional and dual team sectional that they will participate in.

The Redhawks, ranked 14th in the latest polls, are one of four ranked teams in the Class 3A Naperville North Regional, with the others being Carl Sandburg (4th), Downers Grove North (17th) and Glenbard West (25th), making that the only one in 3A with four top-25 teams.

The other three regionals feature three of the top 10 teams in the class with top-ranked Marist at Downers Grove South, second-ranked Marmion Academy at its own regional and 10th-ranked and defending state champions Mount Carmel at Morton.

Boosted by a second-place finish behind third-ranked Joliet Catholic Academy at Prospect’s Mudge-McMorrow Invite on December 14, the Redhawks wanted to keep busy after competing in DeKalb’s Flavin dual meet tournament on December 27-28.

They got the chance to do that in the only boys tournament in the Chicago-area and one of the few in Illinois on Saturday, Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Knights Invitational in Chicago. 

Naperville Central had seven champions and 13 in the top three to help it score 311.5 points, which was 68.5 ahead of runner-up Buffalo Grove, who had 243 points while Zion-Benton took third place with 161 points. Chicago Agricultural Sciences (110), Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy (110), Northridge Prep (100) and Crete-Monee (98) rounded out the top half of the 14-team field.

Winning championships for the Redhawks were Jacob Cochran (132), Vince Bern (138), CJ Bierman (150), Justin Skryd (157), Henry Rydwelski (175), Paul Peradotti (190) and William Erbeck (285) while Dalton Meluch (106), Jake Moore (120) and Nicolas Olvera (165) took second place. Finishing third were Jack Schwartz (113), James Ball (126) and Stavros Gerousis (144) while Jayden Davis (215) placed sixth.

The runner-up Bison, coached by George Beres, had three title winners, Oleksandr Havrylkiv (113), Mykola Shamray (120) and Bohdan Malaksianov (144) while Stone McKone (106), Anthony Laguna (132), Khurshedov Jahongir (157), Sonny Tugs (175) and Christiano Marogy (215) took third place. Anthoni Valladares (126) and Chris Chi (165) finished fourth, Aleksander Krotosyznski (190) took fifth place and David Karapetyan (138) placed sixth.

The third-place Zee-Bees, coached by Hal Lunsford, were led by five second-place finishers, Luis Medina (138), Demar Dixon (157), Francisco Yilmaz (175), Tyson Poyer (190) and Isaiah Tellado (285) while Brayden Sroka (106) claimed fourth place, Said Vazquez (126) finished fifth and Davin Esparagoza (144), Ian Serkanic (150) and Anthony Malone (165) took sixth place. Medina and Yilmaz won titles in last year’s tournament.

Other champions were Northridge Prep’s Joe Kopecky (126) and Adam Haddad (165), Chicago Agricultural Sciences’ Jeremy Powell, Jr. (106) and Crete-Monee’s Malakai Scott (215). This was the third year in a row that Haddad won a championship in the competition while Scott was a runner-up in last year’s tournament.

Skryd led all competitors with 29.5 team points while Erbeck, Kopecky and Shamray tied for second with 28 points and Scott was next with 27.5 points. Bern and Haddad both had 27 points, Malaksianov and Rydwelski tied with 26 points and Peradotti scored 25.5 team points.

Also finishing in second place were Chicago Agricultural Sciences’ Elijah Sawyer (113) and Maurice Bush (144), Little Village’s Jovanni Harris (126), Ridgewood’s Mohamad Khater (132), Kelly’s Leovardo Juarez (150) and Eisenhower’s Rayshawn Doles (215). Sawyer and Harris were champions in the tournament last season.

Additional third-place finishers were Crete-Monee’s Jaylene Johnson (165) and Kijuan Springfield (190), Chicago Agricultural Sciences’ Kingston Sawyer (120), Kelly’s Cliffon Johnson (138), Northridge Prep’s George McShane (150) and Lindblom’s Josue Olivo (285).

Other fourth-place finishers were Westinghouse’s Jamari Starr (113), Eric Magana (215) and Tyler Brooks (285), Little Village’s Benito Chavez (120), Anthony Suarez (138) and Felipe Juan Aguilar Urbina (157), Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Isaah Poole (132), Xavier Woods (150) and Dylan Wilborn (190), Kelly’s Awwal Ogunsolu (144) and Chicago Military Academy-Bronzeville’s Caleb Gordon (175). Woods was a champion in last year’s tournament.

Also claiming fifth-place finishes were Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Keandre Beal (106), Isaiah Diaz (138), Jayden Veal (144), Trevor Williams (157) and Thomas Davis (215), Chicago Military Academy-Bronzeville’s Gustavo Benitez-Mendez (120), Ryan Singleton (150) and Kendall Taylor (165), Eisenhower’s Logan Esparza (113), Kelly’s Isaah Montes (132), Lindblom’s Erick Arroyo (175) and Northridge Prep’s Thomas Suter (285).

Additional sixth-place finishers were Eisenhower’s Santiago Daviila (132), Khalid Watson (157) and Marvelous Akhalu (190), Crete-Monee’s Aiden Roop (106) and Jordan Kirkpatrick (126), Little Village’s Ricardo Dominguez (113), Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Braylen Chavez-Rangel (120) and Chicago Agricultural Sciences’ Marquel Wilson (175)

Buffalo Grove’s Sonny Tugs easily had the most total match points with 77 while Northridge Prep’s George McShane ranked second with 60 points. Agricultural Sciences’ Kingston Sawyer was the only individual in the tournament to record five falls. 

Here are the champions and their weight classes from Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Knights Invitational:

106 – Jeremy Powell, Jr., Chicago Agricultural Sciences

Jeremy Powell, Jr. was one of three finalists and the lone champion for coach Ronald Wilson’s Cyclones after capturing the title at 106 at the Knights Invitational with a 10-7 decision over Naperville Central junior Dalton Meluch. The freshman, who competed for the Harvey Twisters, is dedicating his season to his father, Jeremy Powell, Sr., who is dealing with health issues.

Powell, Jr. opened with a win by fall before recording a pin in 3:46 over Buffalo Grove’s Stone McKone in the semifinals. He was the first of four straight freshmen that won titles and the only one of five CPS athletes who advanced to the finals to win a championship in the competition. 

“I feel like this is a great opportunity for me,” Powell, Jr. said. “Since eighth grade, I’ve been thinking about going to this school, it’s not a well known school, so I just came here to make them known, put them on the map. Me and a couple of my guys have been working really hard. I’m doing this all for my dad. This season is dedicated to my dad since he’s fighting cancer.”

Meluch (18-10), one of 10 finalists for the coach Noah Fitzenreider’s champion Redhawks, followed a quick pin with a win by technical fall in 4:28 over Zion-Benton freshman Brayden Sroka in the semifinals. In the third-place match, McKone, a sophomore, won a 13-5 major decision over Sroka (17-7). And for fifth place, Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy senior Keandre Beal (11-5) was a winner by fall in 1:28 over Crete-Monee sophomore Aiden Roop.

113 – Oleksandr Havrylkiv, Buffalo Grove

Oleksandr Havrylkiv is a recent arrival to the United States from Ukraine, thus he’s trying to improve his English so that he can say more things about his experiences as a Buffalo Grove freshman. After taking first at 113 for ninth and tenth grade boys at the Brian Keck Memorial Preseason Nationals in October, second at his own Rex Lewis Invite and first at Palatine’s Al Berman, it’s pretty clear that he just needs to let his wrestling do his talking for the time being.

Havrylkiv (16-1) was one of the three finalists and champions for coach George Beres’ Bison, who took second place in the Knights Invitational. He earned his second high school title with a win by fall in 3:49 over Chicago Agricultural Sciences’ Elijah Sawyer in the 113 finals. He joined his freshman teammate and training partner Mykola Shamray and senior Bohdan Malaksianov as Bison champs. He only had to compete in one match to reach the title mat and in it he won by technical fall in 43 seconds over Naperville Central senior Jack Schwartz in the semifinals.

“They’re both just phenomenal kids,” Beres said of his two freshmen champions. “They’ve dedicated themselves in the offseason through Built by Brunson. And in the room, both of them are actually leaders for us. It’s different that you’d have freshmen as your leaders. But those two kids work their butt off and it’s nice that they’re so close in weight, so they actually are practice partners every single day. Sasha actually teched the number-six kid in the state last week at Palatine. Across the board, all of the kids have bought into what we’re trying to tell them to do. It’s just a great feeling to watch.”

Sawyer, a sophomore who was one of three finalists for coach Ronald Wilson’s Cyclones, went 30-5 last season and fell one victory shy of a trip to state from the Class 2A Hinsdale South Sectional. A champion at this invitational last season, he got a win by technical fall in his first match and then recorded a pin in 11 seconds over Westinghouse senior Jamari Starr in the semifinals. Schwartz (16-10) claimed third place with a win by fall in 1:24 over Starr (10-6). And for fifth place, Eisenhower freshman Logan Esparza (10-9) captured a 10-8 decision over Little Village senior Ricardo Dominguez (6-4).

120 – Mykola Shamray, Buffalo Grove

Mykola Shamray clearly demonstrated that Buffalo Grove potentially has a dangerous one-two punch at the lower weights after the freshman followed a title won by classmate and training partner Oleksandr Havrylkiv with one of his own at the Knights Invitational when he recorded a fall in 5:32 over Naperville Central junior Jake Moore in the 120 championship match to become one of three champions for coach George Beres’ Bison, who finished second in the competition.

Shamray (21-4) opened with a fall and then needed only 44 seconds to pin Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy senior Braylen Chavez-Rangel in the semifinals to earn his spot on the 120 title mat. After taking third at his school’s Rex Lewis Tourney and fourth at Glenbrook South’s Rus Erb, he recently won his first high school tournament at Palatine’s Al Berman Holiday Classic. He finished in a three-way tie for most team points with 28.

“They like each other and they’re very coachable, and that’s the biggest thing,” Beres said of his two freshmen champions. “Neither of them are thinking, ‘Oh, I’m this, this and this.’ They’re just able to just practice and learn to be better. Mykola placed second at state the last two years at IESA and I don’t think he’s ranked yet, but he’ll be on that board pretty soon. All of the credit goes to these kids. They’ve listened to what we’ve said as coaches and they’ve bought in, and I think that’s the biggest thing that I’m proud of them. We can only do so much as coaches but they’ve bought into everything that we’ve asked them to do.”

Moore (16-8), one of 10 finalists for coach Noah Fitzenreider’s champion Redhawks, was a sectional qualifier last season who only had a 7-4 record but still fell just one victory shy of a trip to state from the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional. He opened with a win by technical fall before getting a pin in 2:51 in the semifinals over Chicago Military Academy-Bronzeville sophomore Gustavo Benitez-Mendez. For third place, Chicago Agricultural Sciences junior Kingston Sawyer (5-1) got a pin in 2:31 over Little Village freshman Benito Chavez (11-6). And for fifth place, Benitez-Mendez (6-2) won by medical forfeit over Chavez-Rangel (9-5).

126 – Joe Kopecky, Northridge Prep

Joe Kopecky is understandably a big fan of Northridge Prep since his grandmother works there, he’s had two brothers who competed there and his uncle coaches h[m there. The freshman is hopeful that he can make a name for himself at the Niles school and after having a rough introduction at Rockford East and Glenbrook South, he’s feeling much better following titles at Walther Christian and Glenbard South and a first at 126 in the Knights Invitational, following in the footsteps of his brothers Michael and Steven, who were champions at the invite in 2023.

Kopecky (12-4) was one of two finalists and the first of two champions for coach Joseph Rhee’s Knights after he recorded a fall in 3:56 over Little Village junior Jovanni Harris in the finals to join senior teammate Adam Haddad at 165 as title winners. He followed a first-period fall with a pin in 5:53 over Naperville Central freshman James Ball in the semifinals to reach the title mat. He recorded 28 team points, which tied him for second place.

“My grandmother works there in the front office,” Kopecky said of Northridge Prep. “I had a couple of tough tournaments at Rockford (East) and Glenbrook South but I took first at Glenbard South and at Walther Christian. (Competing in high school) This is a lot tougher. Last year I wrestled IESA and took second at state for this school. I had two older brothers who qualified for state two years ago and I have a lot of family here and my uncle, Bill Kopecky, coaches me.”

Harris (14-5), the lone finalist for coach Michael Zagorski’s Phoenix, went 31-12 last season and fell a bit short of a state trip from the Class 2A Hinsdale South Sectional. A 2024 champion at the Knights Invite, he followed a win by technical fall with a pin in 40 seconds over Crete-Monee senior Jordan Kirkpatrick in the semifinals to earn his spot on the title mat. Ball (8-5) claimed third place by recording a fall in 3:47 over Buffalo Grove junior Anthoni Valladares and in the fifth-place match, Zion-Benton sophomore Said Vazquez got a pin in 0:39 over Kirkpatrick.

132 – Jacob Cochran, Naperville Central

Jacob Cochran got the ball rolling for Naperville Central in its quest for champions at the Knights Invitational as he became the first of seven first-place finishers for the Redhawks when the junior recorded a fall in 1:17 over Ridgewood junior Mohamad Khater in the 132 title match.

Cochran (23-5), one of 10 finalists for coach Noah Fitzenreider’s first-place Redhawks, got a bye into the semifinals, where he won with a pin in 1:06 over Eisenhower sophomore Santiago Daviilla to start a run where his team won seven of the last 10 titles. Also a finalist at Prospect, where he took second, he won 27 matches last season and qualified for the Hinsdale Central Sectional and helped his team reach the IHSA Dual Team Finals for the first time since 2012.

Khater (13-7), who was the lone finalist for coach Jared McCabe’s Rebels, won 14 matches and fell one win shy of advancing to the sectional last season. He opened with a pin in the opening minute and then claimed a victory by technical fall in the semifinals over Buffalo Grove junior Anthony Laguna (4-4), who went on to claim third place with a fall over Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy junior Isaiah Poole (10-9). In the fifth-place match, Kelly sophomore Isaah Montes captured an 18-4 major decision over Davilla.

138 – Vince Bern, Naperville Central

Vince Bern became his team’s second of seven champs at the Knights Invitational after getting a fall in 5:59 over Zion-Benton’s Luis Medina in the 138 title match. The junior opened with two wins by technical fall, needing just 1:44 in the semifinals to win over Little Village junior Anthony Suarez to become one of the 10 finalists for coach Noah Fitzenreider’s champion Redhawks.

Bern (19-4) won 20 matches last season and qualified for the Hinsdale Central Sectional while also helping his team earn its first trip to the IHSA Dual Team Finals in 12 years. He’d not only like to help them get back to state for the second year in a row, something the program’s never done, but also do what his brother Chris achieved in 2024 as a senior, which is qualifying individually for state. This was his second title of the season with the other one at Prospect.

“We took the offseason pretty personal,” Bern said. “We go into practice working hard every day and we have a really good bond as a team, I feel. One of the qualities that helps us a lot is the closeness of our team. How we can always bond together and just talk to each other about stuff. We can joke around at practice and then get serious, too.”

Medina (17-7), a senior who was one of five finalists who all took second place for coach Hal Lunsford’s third-place Zee-Bees, opened with two falls, with the second one coming in 3:43 in the semifinals over Kelly senior Cliffon Johnson. Last season, Medina went 17-9 and fell one win shy of advancing to state from the Class 3A Barrington Sectional and he also won a title at the Knights Invitational. For third place, Johnson (10-3) was a winner by technical fall in 2:55 over Suarez (11-6). In the fifth-place match, Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy senior Isaiah Diaz (13-9) recorded a pin in 1:19 over Buffalo Grove freshman David Karapetyan.

144 – Bohdan Malaksianov, Buffalo Grove

Bohdan Malaksianov made it three-for-three for Buffalo Grove on the title mat at the Knights Invitational when he won by fall in 1:11 over Chicago Agricultural Sciences’ Maurice Bush in the 144 championship match. The senior along with freshmen Oleksandr Havrylkiv and Mykola Shamray won titles for coach George Beres’ Bison and helped their team finish in second place.

Malaksianov (18-6), a senior who won 16 matches last year and fell one win shy of advancing from the Class 3A Stevenson Regional, opened with two first-period falls, getting a pin in 1:30 over Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Jayden Veal in the semifinals to reach the title mat. This was his first title of the season and he also was a finalist at Palatine, where he placed second.

“I love wrestling, it’s my passion, something that I want to keep doing in my future,” Malaksianov said. “I’ve wrestled varsity for two years and I really appreciate the program that they have for us there, coach Beres, all of the coaches at BG, and I’m thankful for them and for what they’ve taught me. And I also used to train in judo for a while, so I did upper body throwing and tossing. Our two freshmen are really good, they’re amazing wrestlers and both have a really bright future ahead of them. I love Buffalo Grove High School, I love the wrestling program and I love my team. I like the consistency of practices and also staying as a team and supporting each other,”

Bush,  a junior who was one of three finalists for coach Ronald Wilson’s Cyclones, won his first two matches by fall, getting a pin in 2:36 in the semifinals over Naperville Central junior Stavros Gerousis (18-12), who went on to claim third place with a fall in 3:07 over Kelly senior Awwal Ogunsolu (13-4). And in the fifth-place match, Veal (12-4), a freshman for the host Knights, captured a 15-2 major decision over Zion-Benton sophomore Davin Esparagoza.

150 – CJ Bierman, Naperville Central

CJ Bierman won 17 matches last season and got the opportunity to be a member of Naperville Central’s first IHSA Dual Team Finals team in 12 years but was not in the mix for the East Aurora Regional, where his team qualified all 14 of its individuals for the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional. So this season, the senior is hoping that he can conclude his Redhawks career not only on another state team but do so after competing in the individual state series.

Bierman (16-6) was one of 10 finalists and the third of seven champions for coach Noah Fitzenreider’s championship team at the Knights Invitational when he won by fall in 1:30 over Kelly junior Leovardo Juarez in the 150 title match. He advanced to the title mat with two decisions, claiming an 11-8 victory in his opener before getting a 12-7 win over Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Xavier Woods in the semifinals, handing the Knights senior his initial defeat.

“Last year I went into the room undecided about how good our team was and we just kept on improving,” Bierman said. “As a junior, I wrestled 126 and I saw our team grow from a team that was not supposed to be good. And this year, we’re just trying to keep the momentum, and I believe that we have. We had a lot of seniors leave from last year, but I believe we’re up and coming and we’re getting better every single day and we’re working hard at practice. (Coach Fitzenreider) He cracks down on us when we get a little goofy, but he’s an amazing coach. The goal is individual state and team state. You’ve got to think and aim big. I like our grit.”

Juarez (12-4), the lone finalist for coach Stephen Kunca’s Trojans, won 15 matches last season but fell a bit short of advancing from the Class 3A Downers Grove South Regional. After opening with a first-period fall, he earned his spot in the finals with a wild 14-13 decision over Chicago Military Academy-Bronzeville senior Ryan Singleton in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Northridge Prep junior George McShane (11-5) won a 9-6 decision over Woods (20-2). And for fifth, Singleton (6-2) won by fall in 4:00 over Zion-Benton sophomore Ian Serkanic (9-9).

157 – Justin Skryd, Naperville Central

Justin Skryd got the great opportunity for a freshman to be on the state roster for Naperville Central as it advanced to the IHSA Dual Team Finals for the first time since 2012. After only getting in four matches on the varsity last season, the sophomore is beginning to make his mark after becoming one of seven champions and 10 finalists for the Redhawks at the Knights Invitational when he won by fall in 3:28 over Zion-Benton’s Demar Dixon in the 157 finals.

Skryd (8-5) not only turned in a team-high 29.5 team points for coach Noah Fitzenreider’s champion Redhawks but that point total also was 1.5 points higher than anyone else in the competition. After opening with a first-minute fall, he got a win by technical fall in 3:10 and then recorded a pin in 2:36 over Buffalo Grove sophomore Khurshedov Jahongir in the semifinals.

“We’ve done really well,” Skryd said. “A lot of young guys have stepped up for the seniors who left last year. Last year, I was only wrestling on the varsity for a little bit and this year I’m wrestling a lot more and I’ve done a lot better. My teammates definitely make me a lot better just because of their experience and the skill that they have. I like the work ethic in practice and the resilience on the mat, we always fight to stay off our backs and we never give up. Our leaders are very strong on this team and they really lead us and help us to perform as hard as we can.”

Dixon (12-11), a  senior who was one of five finalists and second-place finishers for coach Hal Lunsford’s third-place Zee-Bees, won 14 matches last season and fell a bit short of advancing from the Class 3A Libertyville Regional. He opened with a pin in 26 seconds and followed up on that with a 9-1 major decision over Little Village junior Felipe Juan Aguilar Urbina in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Jahongir won by fall in 4:42 over Aguilar Urbina (16-5) and for fifth place, Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy senior Trevor Williams (13-10) captured a 14-8 decision over Eisenhower  junior Khalid Watson (13-11).

165 – Adam Haddad, Northridge Prep

Adam Haddad suffered two defeats at Rockford East’s Giardini Invitational a month ago to drop to 4-2 after finishing fourth at 165. Since then, he’s been on a roll, capturing championships at Glenbrook South’s Rus Erb and Glenbard South in December and now the Northridge Prep senior has captured a third title, claiming the 165 championship at Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Knights Invitational with a win by technical fall in 5:25 over Naperville Central’s Nicolas Olvera to join freshman Joe Kopecky as a title winner for coach Joseph Rhee’s Knights.

Haddad (15-2) opened with a first-period fall and then earned his spot as one of his team’s two finalists when he claimed another win by technical fall, this one in 5:58, over Buffalo Grove senior Chris Chi in the semifinals. Last season, Haddad went 28-6 and qualified for the IHSA Finals. A three-time champion at the Knights Invite, he hopes to do something that no one has achieved yet, which is to become Northridge Prep’s first state medalist.

“In the offseason I just put in the work every single day,” Haddad said. “And working with intent every single day when I practice, I’m practicing for tournaments, I’m practicing for matches, I’m practicing for live wrestling and I’m practicing for the state tournament. (Northridge Prep) It’s just really high-level people, really all-around good Catholic people and we go to Mass pretty much every day. We’re all like a family, and it’s all-boys school, so there’s no distractions. As team captain, I’m trying to push all of these guys to their limits and get them to work as hard as I can.”

Olvera (17-9) followed a fall with a win by technical fall before becoming one of the 10 finalists for coach Noah Fitzenreider’s champion Redhawks when the sophomore won a 14-2 major decision in the semifinals over Chicago Military Academy-Bronzeville senior Kendall Taylor. Last season, Olvera was able to be a member of the school’s first Dual Team state appearance since 2012. In the third-place match, Crete-Monee senior Jaylene Johnson (12-5) won an 11-4 decision over Chi (13-5). And for fifth place, Taylor (5-2) prevailed in a high-scoring 22-18 decision over Zion-Benton sophomore Anthony Malone (18-15).

175 – Henry Rydwelski, Naperville Central

Henry Rydwelski captured his third tournament championship of the season, adding to firsts at Marmion Academy and Prospect, when the senior won a 15-5 major decision over Zion-Benton senior Francisco Yilmaz in the 175 title match at the Knights Invitational to become one of the seven champions for coach Noah Fitzenreider’s Redhawks, who took top honors in the 14-team tournament by a 311.5-243 margin over runner-up Buffalo Grove.

Rydwelski (26-1), a senior who went 26-14 last season and fell a bit short of qualifying from the Hinsdale Central Sectional but closed on a high note by getting to compete in his team’s 36-29 loss to eventual runner-up Yorkville in the IHSA Class 3A Dual Team quarterfinals in their first visit to that competition since 2012. He opened with a fall and then captured a 19-11 major decision over Buffalo Grove junior Sonny Tugs to become one of the Redhawks’ 10 finalists.

“We’re doing great,” Rydwelski said. “We’re ready to get some more competition and we’re ready to beat these teams that are ranked highly. We think we’re better, we don’t care about rankings. I think we’re really the toughest team in the state. We can go out there and out-tough anybody. Even if we don’t win, we’ll be tougher than every other team. We pushed pretty well at the Flavin and I was proud of our performance there. And I definitely what we did at Prospect, we really put on a good showing.”

Yilmaz (12-7), who went 24-14 last season and competed in the Class 3A Barrington Sectional, was one of five second-place finishers for coach Hal Lunsford’s third-place Zee-Bees. A title winner in 2024 at the Knights Invitational, he advanced to the 175 title mat following two pins, needing 5:37 in his opener and just 1:12 in the semifinals to defeat Chicago Military Academy-Bronzeville senior Caleb Gordon. Tugs (13-11), who took third place, had the most total match points with 77, which was 17 ahead of the next-best in that category. He got a win by technical fall in 4:16 over Gordon (5-2) in the third-place match. And for fifth, Lindblom senior Erick Arroyo (7-6) won by fall in 0:56 over Chicago Agricultural Sciences senior Marquel Wilson.

190 – Paul Peradotti, Naperville Central

Paul Peradotti went 17-0 last season as a sophomore and got the opportunity to be on the first  Naperville Central team to qualify for the IHSA Dual Team Finals since 2012.  He’s off to another good start this season after appearing in his second tournament finals and capturing his first championship by winning at 190 in the Knights Invitational to join six other teammates as title winners and help coach Noah Fitzenreider’s Redhawks claim top honors by 68.5 points.

Peradotti (20-2) secured the title with a 7-2 decision over Zion-Benton’s Tyson Poyer. He opened with a win by technical fall before earning his spot as one of the Redhawks’ 10 finalists with a fall in 4:00 over Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy senior Dylan Wilborn in the semifinals. He also advanced to the finals at Prospect’s Mudge-McMorrow Invite, where he placed second. 

“I’m super excited,” Peradotti said. “Losing a couple of really good seniors from last year, it was like ‘okay, what is our team going to look like?’ And I feel like just a lot of people have stepped it up. In practice, you can’t go far without finding a good partner. My partner, Henry, and I go at it every day. We have so much fun. This whole group, we’re brothers. It’s so nice to see in a group of guys, especially for wrestlers, who are generally solitary, it’s definitely great to see. It’s really just my practice partner. Just getting to work with him, it’s iron sharpening iron. He makes me better and I make him better, and I feel like it’s that way throughout every weight.”

Poyer (24-7) was one of five members of coach Hal Lunsford’s Zee-Bees who claimed second-place finishes. He advanced to the 190 title mat with two pins, winning in 1:41 in the semifinals over Crete-Monee senior Kijuan Springfield (10-9), who went to claim third place with a pin in 3:45 over Wilborn (12-9). In the fifth-place match, Buffalo Grove junior Aleksander Krotosyznski (5-4) recorded a fall in 3:07 over Eisenhower senior Marvelous Akhalu. 

215 – Malakai Scott, Crete-Monee

Malakai Scott is up several weight classes from where he was at last season when he competed at 165 in the state series and finished 23-8 after advancing to the Class 2A Hinsdale South Sectional. The Crete-Monee senior hopes that he can advance a bit further this season and no doubt received a big boost to do just that following his title at 215 in the Knights Invitational that he secured with a fall in 2:44 over Eisenhower junior Rayshawn Doles.

Scott (12-4), one of three individuals to place third or better and the lone finalist for coach Jonathan Hernandez’s Warriors, he opened with a first-period fall and then was a winner by technical fall in 4:44 over Naperville Central senior Jayden Davis in the semifinals. He finished with 27.5 team points, which was the fifth-best total in the competition. A runner-up in the Knights Invite in 2024, Scott also reached the finals last month at Unity, where he took second.

“My coaches said that they really wanted me to win and that I should be able to get some competition with all of the kids today were very good,” Scott said. “I try hard in practice and I try to push my peers, so that they practice hard as well. And I show up to practice every day, that’s really one of the main points. From last year, I’ve just really been trying harder. I’ve been pushing myself to do my best and I want to win and make it down to state. I really like it, it’s a lot of fun (competing for the program). You meet a lot of good people, like teammates, and they’re all good, even the opponents. Everybody in wrestling is really nice.”

Doles (9-5) was the only finalist for coach Joe Ambrosino’s Cardinals. He advanced to the 215 title mat after recording two falls with the first in 5:47 and the second in 1:25 in the semifinals over Buffalo Grove junior Christiano Marogy, who went on to capture third place with a win by technical fall in 4:00 over Westinghouse senior Eric Magana (12-6). For fifth place, Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy sophomore Thomas Davis (15-11) won by fall in 2:29 over Davis.

285 – William Erbeck, Naperville Central

William Erbeck capped a successful day for Naperville Central when he the senior won the 285 title at the Knights Invitational with a fall in 1:50 over Zion-Benton senior Isaiah Tellado to become one of seven champions for coach Noah Fitzenreider’s Redhawks, who scored 311.5 points to easily claim the team championship over Buffalo Grove, who finished with 243 points.

Erbeck (21-1), the lone returning state qualifier for Naperville Central, went 38-5 last season and got a pin to help his team grab an early 13-0 lead over Yorkville in last year’s IHSA Class 3A Dual Team Finals, which the Redhawks lost 36-29 to the eventual runner-up Foxes as they made an appearance at dual team state for the first time since 2012. Erbeck, whose only loss was a 5-3 decision to Round Lake’s William Cole in the 285 championship match at Prospect’s Mudge-McMorrow Invite, opened with a first-period fall and then got another one, in 0:52, over Lindblom senior Josue Olivo in the semifinals to become one of his team’s 10 finalists. He had 28 team points, which ranked him second with two others behind Justin Skryd’s 29.5 points. 

“I like how we all have a competitive edge,” Erbeck said. “You see our guys and even though they’re down, they keep moving and trying to get into the next best position and even if you can’t win the match, you still want to finish on top. I’ve been practicing all offseason trying to get better and the goal is to win state and place at state, that’s the main goal for the season for me, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Tellado (20-8), who won 19 matches last season but was unable to advance from the Class 3A Libertyville Regional, was one of five finalists, who all placed second, for coach Hal Lunsford’s Zee-Bees, who wound up finishing third in the team standings. He opened with two falls, with his second one coming in 5:03 over Westinghouse sophomore Tyler Brooks in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Olivo (8-3) won by fall in 3:37 over Brooks (12-5). For fifth, Northridge Prep junior Thomas Suter (9-7) got a pin in 3:18 over Buffalo Grove junior Jenrry Aguirre.

Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy Knights Invitational place matches

106

1st Place Match

Jeremy Powell (Chicago Agricultural Sciences) 3-0, Fr. over Dalton Meluch (Naperville Central) 18-10, Jr. (Dec 10-7)

3rd Place Match

Stone McKone (Buffalo Grove) 3-1, So. over Brayden Sroka (Zion-Benton) 17-7, Fr. (MD 13-5)

5th Place Match

Keandre Beal (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 11-5, Sr. over Aiden Roop (Crete-Monee) 3-7, So. (Fall 1:28)

113

1st Place Match

Oleksandr Havrylkiv (Buffalo Grove) 16-1, Fr. over Elijah Sawyer (Chicago Agricultural Sciences) 2-1, So. (Fall 3:49)

3rd Place Match

Jack Schwartz (Naperville Central) 16-10, Sr. over Jamari Starr (Westinghouse) 10-6, Sr. (Fall 1:24)

5th Place Match

Logan Esparza (Eisenhower) 10-9, Fr. over Ricardo Dominguez (Little Village) 6-4, Sr. (Dec 10-8)

120

1st Place Match

Mykola Shamray (Buffalo Grove) 21-4, Fr. over Jake Moore (Naperville Central) 16-8, Jr. (Fall 5:32)

3rd Place Match

Kingston Sawyer (Chicago Agricultural Sciences) 5-1, Jr. over Benito Chavez (Little Village) 11-6, Fr. (Fall 2:31)

5th Place Match

Gustavo Benitez-Mendez (Chicago Military Academy-Bronzeville) 6-2, So. over Braylen Chavez-Rangel (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 9-5, Sr. (M. For.)

126

Guaranteed Places

1st Place Match

Joe Kopecky (Northridge Prep) 12-4, Fr. over Jovanni Harris (Little Village) 14-5, Jr. (Fall 3:56)

3rd Place Match

James Ball (Naperville Central) 8-5, Fr. over Anthoni Valladares (Buffalo Grove) 5-13, Jr. (Fall 3:47)

5th Place Match

Said Vazquez (Zion-Benton) 8-12, So. over Jordan Kirkpatrick (Crete-Monee) 4-8, Sr. (Fall 0:39)

132

1st Place Match

Jacob Cochran (Naperville Central) 23-5, Jr. over Mohamad Khater (Ridgewood) 13-7, Jr. (Fall 1:17)

3rd Place Match

Anthony Laguna (Buffalo Grove) 4-4, Jr. over Isaiah Poole (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 10-9, Jr. (Fall 0:00)

5th Place Match

Isaah Montes (Kelly) 7-9, So. over Santiago Daviilla (Eisenhower) 3-5, So. (MD 18-4)

138

1st Place Match

Vince Bern (Naperville Central) 19-4, Jr. over Luis Medina (Zion-Benton) 17-7, Sr. (Fall 5:59)

3rd Place Match

Cliffon Johnson (Kelly) 10-3, Sr. over Anthony Suarez (Little Village) 11-6, Jr. (TF-1.5 2:55 (17-2))

5th Place Match

Isaiah Diaz (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 13-9, Sr. over David Karapetyan (Buffalo Grove) 4-13, Fr. (Fall 1:19)

144

1st Place Match

Bohdan Malaksianov (Buffalo Grove) 18-6, Sr. over Maurice Bush (Chicago Agricultural Sciences) 2-1, Jr. (Fall 1:11)

3rd Place Match

Stavros Gerousis (Naperville Central) 18-12, Jr. over Awwal Ogunsolu (Kelly) 13-4, Sr. (Fall 3:07)

5th Place Match

Jayden Veal (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 12-4, Fr. over Davin Esparagoza (Zion-Benton) 10-15, So. (MD 15-2)

150

1st Place Match

Cj Bierman (Naperville Central) 16-6, Sr. over Leovardo Juarez (Kelly) 12-4, Jr. (Fall 1:30)

3rd Place Match

George McShane (Northridge Prep) 11-5, Jr. over Xavier Woods (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 20-2, Sr. (Dec 9-6)

5th Place Match

Ryan Singleton (Chicago Military Academy-Bronzeville) 6-2, Sr. over Ian Serkanic (Zion-Benton) 9-9, So. (Fall 4:00)

157

1st Place Match

Justin Skryd (Naperville Central) 8-5, So. over Demar Dixon (Zion-Benton) 12-11, Sr. (Fall 3:28)

3rd Place Match

Khurshedov Jahongir (Buffalo Grove) 4-1, So. over Felipe Juan Aguilar Urbina (Little Village) 16-5, Jr. (Fall 4:42)

5th Place Match

Trevor Williams (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 13-10, Sr. over Khalid Watson (Eisenhower) 13-11, Jr. (Dec 14-8)

1st Place Match

Adam Haddad (Northridge Prep) 15-2, Sr. over Nicolas Olvera (Naperville Central) 17-9, So. (TF-1.5 5:25 (19-4))

3rd Place Match

Jaylene Johnson (Crete-Monee) 12-5, Sr. over Chris Chi (Buffalo Grove) 13-5, Sr. (Dec 11-4)

5th Place Match

Kendall Taylor (Chicago Military Academy-Bronzeville) 5-2, Sr. over Anthony Malone (Zion-Benton) 18-15, So. (Dec 22-18)

175

1st Place Match

Henry Rydwelski (Naperville Central) 26-1, Sr. over Francisco Yilmaz (Zion-Benton) 12-7, Sr. (MD 15-5)

3rd Place Match

Sonny Tugs (Buffalo Grove) 13-11, Jr. over Caleb Gordon (Chicago Military Academy-Bronzeville) 5-2, Sr. (TF-1.5 4:16 (20-5))

5th Place Match

Erick Arroyo (Lindblom) 7-6, Sr. over Marquel Wilson (Chicago Agricultural Sciences) 3-3, Sr. (Fall 0:56)

190

1st Place Match

Paul Peradotti (Naperville Central) 20-2, Jr. over Tyson Poyer (Zion-Benton) 24-7, Sr. (Dec 7-2)

3rd Place Match

Kijuan Springfield (Crete-Monee) 10-9, Sr. over Dylan Wilborn (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 12-9, Sr. (Fall 3:45)

5th Place Match

Aleksander Krotosyznski (Buffalo Grove) 5-4, Jr. over Marvelous Akhalu (Eisenhower) 8-11, Sr. (Fall 3:07)

215

1st Place Match

Malakai Scott (Crete-Monee) 12-4, Sr. over Rayshawn Doles (Eisenhower) 9-5, Jr. (Fall 2:44)

3rd Place Match

Christiano Marogy (Buffalo Grove) 9-13, Jr. over Eric Magana (Westinghouse) 12-6, Sr. (TF-1.5 4:00 (19-4))

5th Place Match

Thomas Davis (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) 15-11, So. over Jayden Davis (Naperville Central) 2-3, Sr. (Fall 2:29)

285

1st Place Match

William Erbeck (Naperville Central) 21-1, Sr. over Isaiah Tellado (Zion-Benton) 20-8, Sr. (Fall 1:50)

3rd Place Match

Josue Olivo (Lindblom) 8-3, Sr. over Tyler Brooks (Westinghouse) 12-5, So. (Fall 3:37)

5th Place Match

Jenrry Aguirre (Buffalo Grove) 3-2, Jr. over Thomas Suter (Northridge Prep) 8-8, Jr. (Fall 3:18)

Team scores

1. Naperville Central 311.5, 2. Buffalo Grove 247, 3. Zion-Benton 161, 4. Chicago Agricultural Sciences 110, 4. Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy 110, 6. Crete-Monee 98, 7. Northridge Prep 96, 8. Little Village 76, 9. Kelly 72.5, 10. Chicago Military Academy-Bronzeville 61.5, 11. Eisenhower 51, 12. Lindblom 46.5, 13. Westinghouse 44, 14. Ridgewood 23.5.