By Curt Herron

The quest for a state championship that began in the first IHSA Dual Team Championship in 1984 and that has seen numerous close calls since that inaugural competition has finally been realized.

Coal City, making its 12th appearance in the tournament  and a runner-up on six occasions under four different coaches, finally was able to walk away as state champions on Saturday, but only after surviving a determined effort from the defending champions.

IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee coach Mark Masters had led teams to the finals on three previous occasions and also was an assistant coach on an earlier second-place finisher. To finally capture the elusive state championship, the Coalers would understandably need to wrestle an excellent strategic dual meet in order to deny Yorkville Christian of its second state title during its brief history.

But after the disappointment of second-place finishes in 1984, 1995, and 1998 under coaches George Dare, Sean Poston and Brett Porter, and in 2016, 2019 and 2020 under Masters, the Village of Coal City can now paint its water tower with the proclamation – 2022-23 IHSA Class 1A State Champions – that it achieved with its hard-fought 32-31 victory over the Mustangs, who lost twice against 1A opponents, with a 48-23 loss on December 15 to the Coalers the other setback.

This is the third IHSA championship that has been won by Coal City. The first was coach Ken Miller’s 14-0 football team that won the Class 2A title in 1993 and the other was in 2010 when coach Brad Schmitt led a 40-0 softball team to the Class 2A title.

The acknowledged team to beat in Class 1A all season brought a 40-2 record to Grossinger Motors Arena with its only losses coming to top-ranked Class 2A squad and runner-up Joliet Catholic Academy and a Lincoln-Way East team that was ranked in the top 10 in 3A.

After sending all 14 of its individuals to the IHSA Individual Finals in Champaign, Coal City beat Chicago Hope Academy 75-3 to earn its 12th state appearance and guaranteed its tenth trophy with a 65-6 triumph over LeRoy/Tri-Valley in Friday’s quarterfinals. Another finals spot was assured with a 46-14 victory over Lena-Winslow/Stockton.

From the time that senior Derek Carlson kicked off the final round with an impressive acapella version of the national anthem through freshman Brody Widlowski’s dramatic fall in the next-to-last match that started the celebration for the large contingent of Coalers fans, Coal City put on a near-perfect dual meet exhibition, by getting bonus points, winning close matches and not allowing many big losses.

Coal City received falls in the title dual meet from Mataeo Blessing, Michael Gonzalez and Brody Widlowski, major decisions from Braiden Young and Joey Brenemen and close decisions from Brock Finch and Brant Widlowski. 

Yorkville Christian got falls from Jackson Mehochko and Aiden Larsen, a major decision from Tyler Martinez and close decisions from Noah Dial, Drew Torza and Jackson Gillen while Ty Edwards received a forfeit win since the Coalers were up by seven points.

Masters, whose record in 435-149 in 20 seasons, has taken six teams to state since 2015 and all of them have placed in the top three, with his first team and the 2018 squad both finishing in third place. He is assisted by Jim Looper, Nick O’Bert, Joe Widlowski, Greg Keigher and Zach Berman.

“You know what, taking second four times gets kind of old,” Masters said. “It was a great senior class and I couldn’t be prouder of those guys. They’re high class, high character kids who did a great job of leading our program. All the way from our youth program, we’ve had the right coaches in the right places throughout these kids’ careers. And our freshmen, that’s our very first group of our tots.

“It was great with Brody Widlowski, and if we pin, it’s over. He went out as calm as could be and he executed and put it away. Mike (Gonzalez) doesn’t let anything phase him. He goes out and he fights hard and he’s explosive.

“Especially at 82 and 95, those guys (Braiden Young and Joey Breneman) came up with big bonus points with seconds left on the clock. You know, that was the deciding factor because they had a stud at 120 so we wanted to make sure we were ahead by seven going into that match. Mataeo has been that guy all year, he’s always going, ‘hey coach, I want to wrestle that guy. Give me the tougher match at 52.’ We want to get the matches we want, and that’s exactly what happened. We got the matches that we wanted and our guys did what they had to do to win.

“We had a discussion about how in our society, everybody is always about living a life of comfort, but not these guys. They were built for greatness and I told them, ‘you’ve just got to be you.’ It’s the same circle like you have at practice at home, don’t make it any bigger than what it is, and that’s exactly what they did. They just came like it was a regular match, and obviously they knew the implications would be a little bit heavier, Nobody backed down and we wrestled so well.”

Yorkville Christian’s impressive first two state appearances saw a dominating performance from coach Mike Vester’s 23-6 squad that resulted in a championship in its debut in 2022 and then  just missing out on capturing another state title in its return visit to Bloomington.

After defeating Riverdale 42-28 to earn its second state trip, the Mustangs, who finished 22-6, captured a 49-27 quarterfinals victory over Auburn and earned their spot in a second-straight title meet with a 47-24 win over Oakwood/Salt Fork in the semifinals.

Vester is 58-13 in his third season of leading the program, which hoped to become the third to repeat as state champions in the state’s smallest class since the three class tournament was introduced in 2008-2009, joining Wilmington and Dakota. He is assisted by Brody Vester, Travis Martinez, Michael Esquivel and Nick Loomis. 

“They did a good job of keeping points off of the board,” Vester said. “Some of the guys we thought we were going to dominate, they did a good job. We left a lot of points on the table. I went back in my head and I think we should have won that dual by seven or eight points. 

“We had one real close one that would have been a major decision that would have tied the dual, and we got a major decision against us at the edge of the mat with like three seconds remaining. And they got a reversal and back points and that changed things because literally this came to one point or two points for winning.

“There were a lot of tears today, but not one of them has anything to do with losing the match. It was about losing time with kids that I’ve been around for so long. And a lot of them are walking away from the sport for good. We have a few who are going off to college to wrestle.

“Knowing that this was their last match and knowing that they were part of our family for so long, that’s the stuff that hurts. What I’m blessed for is that I’ve had these kids and I’m blessed I have some of them coming back and I’ve got some guys who’ve been behind them and have been waiting for their chance. There’s a culture that’s been established. They built the program and it’s a tribute to them.”

Lena-Winslow/Stockton returned to state for the first time since 2019, when it won its second state championship in three seasons. IWCOA Hall of Fame coach Kevin Milder is 4-for-4 on winning trophies in state finals appearances after the PantherHawks claimed a 40-31 win over Marian Central Catholic to reach Bloomington and beat Canton 42-23 in the quarterfinals and bounced back from their loss to Coal City by winning third place with a 46-23 win over Oakwood/Salt Fork.

Making its state tournament debut, Oakwood/Salt Fork, a co-op of schools in Fithian and Catlin, followed up on its 46-31 win over Anna-Jonesboro to reach state and then coach Michael Glosser’s Comets defeated IC Catholic Prep 39-31 in the quarterfinals to assure their program of a trophy. While Salt Fork, Catlin and Jamaica had won state trophies before in sports, Oakwood had not.

Canton (28-10) made its first tournament appearance after beating Kewanee 57-24 in the sectional. Coach Zach Crawford’s Little Giants had a banner year qualifying a school-best six individuals for state. This was the third regional that the program had won and first since 2009. Canton lost four duals against 1A teams and three of those were state qualifiers, 1A champion Coal City, 1A third-place finisher Lena-Winslow/Stockton and Auburn, who also fell in the quarterfinals.

Auburn (26-4) was back at state for the second time in three seasons after defeating Cahokia 48-32 in the sectional. Coach Matt Grimm’s Trojans made their third state trip since 2017 with the highlight being the last time that they got to state in 2020, when they took fourth.

LeRoy/Tri-Valley (24-2) earned its first state trip since 2014 and its fifth overall after winning 46-27 over El Paso-Gridley in the sectional. Coach Brady Sant Amour’s Panthers had won 23 dual meets in a row after suffering their only loss, a 46-34 defeat to Normal Community, on December 1, the first day that they competed this season.

IC Catholic Prep only took part in a handful of dual meets but it defeated St. Laurence 51-28 in the sectional to make its second-straight state appearance for coach Jason Renteria and the school’s third overall since 2018. The Knights were one of only two teams who also were at state a year ago, with runner-up Yorkville Christian, the 2022 champions, being the other. 

State Championship Meet

Coal City 32, Yorkville Christian 31

Coal City (43-2) and Yorkville Christian (22-6) were ranked one-two throughout the season so it should come as no great surprise that the two programs met for the IHSA Class 1A Dual Team championship at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington and after settling for second its previous six title meets, the Coalers prevailed 32-31 to win their first title while preventing the Mustangs from repeating as champions.

In the opener at 126, Coal City’s Brock Finch captured a 4-0 decision over Tristan Gleason and at 132, Yorkville Christian’s Noah Dial edged Jake Piatak 4-3 to create an early 3-3 tie.

The Coalers won the next two matches to go up 12-3 as Brant Widlowski got past Grason Johnson 6-4 at 138 and Mataeo Blessing followed with a fall in 0:52 over John Isaac Gray to make it 12-3.

The Mustangs won the next three matches to take their first lead at 13-12 at the midway mark of the meet. Drew Torza was a 3-2 winner on an ultimate tiebreaker over Landin Benson at 152, Tyler Martinez followed with an 8-0 major decision over Jack Poyner and Jackson Gillen captured a 6-2 decision over Derek Carlson at 170.

“Yorkville Christian has a lot of solid guys, so some times a win for us was not giving up a pin or a major, and we did that a lot,” Carlson said. “If we didn’t win the match, we were fighting like hell not to give up bonus points.”

When asked which was more difficult, singing the national anthem or wrestling last year’s state champion who just missed being a two-time title winner, his answer was surprising. 

“The national anthem, for sure, my legs were shaking,” Carlson said. “That’s why I wanted to take this opportunity because I thought it was super cool. 

“We care about each other more than about ourselves. We are a selfless team. We care about how others perform before how we do and that just pushed us further every day in the practice room and on the mat. And we have a great roster of coaches this year.”

Coal City responded with two major decisions that came about due to late points as Braiden Young won 16-8 over Jeremy Loomis and Joey Breneman claimed a 10-0 victory over Christopher Durbin at 195 to give their team a 20-13 advantage with five matches remaining.

“It’s amazing,” Young said. “We have kids that work and we never give up and we always keep fighting and it showed. We have kids that get put to their back, fight it off and keep going. And we have kids who get taken down and then get right back up, they just keep going.

“Bonus points are huge. This is our first state championship in school history for wrestling. It’s amazing, we’ve got the whole town out here, it was a really good experience.We’ve been together a long time and it’s a great thing to see when everything clicks together. I will remember everything. Some times our practices were hard, but you were with your buddies, and especially hanging out with them has been amazing. It’s a great group and I’m going to miss them.”

“There’s nothing like this, it’s just awesome,” Breneman said. “All of the hard work that we’ve put in and all of the hard work that he (Masters) put us through and trained us, it feels awesome. 

“If you looked at the crowd, we had damned near the whole town here and oh my gosh, it got us so pumped.”

After Jackson Mehochko won by fall in 0:43 over Drake Dearth to pull Yorkville Christian to within 20-19, Michael Gonzalez got a pin in 1:11 over Garrett Tunnell to again expand the lead back to seven points.

Aiden Larsen gave the defending champions renewed hopes after he recorded a fall in 3:38 over Culan Lindemuth at 106 to make it 25-24 with two matches remaining.

With Ty Edwards looming as the Mustangs’ competitor at 120, it was important for Brody Widlowski to try to get a fall, if possible, in order to make the final match a moot point, and that’s just what the freshman went out and did.

Brody Widlowski’s fall in 1:36 over Eli Foster made it 32-25 and the Coalers gave a forfeit win to Edwards, making this only the fifth time in state history that a state championship was decided by one point. 

On the next mat over in another case of a defending champion seeing their hopes of repeating doomed by a very determined opponent,  Washington claimed a 28-27 victory over Joliet Catholic Academy in the Class 2A finals.

That became the sixth title dual meet decided by one point and it made history as the first time in the event’s history that two dual meets for titles in the same finals were determined by one point. 

Coal City also happened to be involved in one of the other one-point title duals, which also was the last time that it had happened. That was in 2016 when Dakota edged the Coalers 31-30 for the 1A title.

The Coalers tied an IHSA record for qualifying all 14 individuals for Champaign from its own sectional. Placewinners for Coal City were senior Breneman (third at 195), senior Young (fourth at 182), freshman Brody Widlowski (fourth at 113) and senior Piatak (sixth at 132) while senior Blessing (145) fell one win shy of earning a medal.

Coal City ‘s other state qualifiers were seniors Poyner (160), Carlson (170), Dearth (220) and Gonzalez (285), junior Brant Widlowski (138),

sophomores Lindemuth (106) and Benson (152) and freshmen Kenney (120) and Finch (126).

Yorkville Christian had six state qualifiers, including five who won medals. They were senior Gillen (second at 170), who won a title last season; junior Edwards (second at 120), senior Martinez (third at 160), senior Torza (sixth at 145) and sophomore Larsen (sixth at 106) while senior Durbin (182) also advanced to state.

Third-place Meet

Lena-Winslow/Stockton 46, Oakwood/Salt Fork 23

The third-place dual meet was the story of a program that’s enjoyed some of its biggest moments in recent years that was able to win its fourth trophy in its fourth appearance at the dual team finals,

The other was the tale of another co-op program that was making its state debut in the competition and not only was able to get a trophy in its initial attempt, it claimed the first state trophy for any sport for one of the two schools that it is involved in the cooperative arrangement.

So it’s very easy to see why both Lena-Winslow/Stockton (34-6) and Oakwood/Salt Fork (22-12) were pleased to battle for third place and the chance to finish behind Coal City and Yorkville Christian.

Oakwood/Salt Fork started fast, getting two quick falls to grab an early 12-0 advantage. Pedro Rangel got a pin in 1:20 over Mauricio Glass in the opener at 126 and Carter Chambliss added a fall in 0:58 over Mark Detwiler.

Lena-Winslow/Stockton got its first victory from Carson McPeek, who recorded a fall in 1:30 over Taylor Owens but the Comets answered with a 17-7 major decision from Reef Pacot over Karl Hubb at 145 to claim a 16-6 lead.

“The first-time ever,” Pacot said of his team making its state debut. “So getting that fourth is awesome. We were the underdog in the tournament, for sure, so to come out with fourth is awesome.And the next few years are going to be awesome.”

However, the PantherHawks started to take control following four-straight falls, receiving the first in 3:07 from Garrett Luke over Bryson Capansky, the next from Jared Dvorak in 1:58 over Saul Carrillo, another one from Eli Larson in 5:17 over Dalton Brown and the last from 182-pound state champion Griffin Luke in 0:23 over Ezekiel Smith to put Lena-Winslow/Stockton in front for good at 30-16.

“Everyone had something to prove,” Dvorak said. “We lost our semifinals match and we felt down, but they all fought back and I was impressed with everyone. Everyone fought to the end and they all gave it their all out there. We were ready for this moment, especially me. I was disappointed at state and didn’t finish how I wanted to, and lost two overtime matches. 

“I pinned, won a major decision and I pinned. I’m glad with how I did after not placing at state.And I’m proud of my whole team. We have a bunch of young kids so hopefully we can be back here next year.”

Jace Phillips captured an 8-3 decision over Harley Grimm, Mike Haas won a 12-0 major decision over Doug Myers and Henry Engel got a fall in 1:32 over Kade Fleming at 285 to extend the PantherHawks’ advantage to 43-16.

The Comets won the next two matches, with Brayden Edwards claiming a 7-0 decision over Reece Demeter and Tyler Huchel adding a 15-6 major decision over David Prater at 113 before Lena-Winslow/Stockton’s Arrison Bauer closed out the meet with a 6-2 decision over Jack Aister.

2020 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee coach Kevin Milder has now led his PantherHawks to four trophies in four state finals appearances since 2012, when they took second place. The highlights for the program came in 2017 and 2019 when they won their two state titles.

Lena-Winslow/Stockton had five state qualifiers and two medal winners, senior Griffin Luke (first at 182), who took second last year, and his brother, senior Garrett Luke (third at 152), who was a state champion last season. Other qualifiers were senior Engel (285) and juniors Dvorak (160) and Haas (220).

Milder has a 547-148-2 record in 29 years at Lena-Winslow/Stockton. He’s assisted by Jared Hermann, Seth Milks and Josh Oates.

“We really closed the season out strong,” Milder said. “I guess some of our kids that you’d say were lesser-known have really stepped up. Going back to Tuesday when we beat Marian Central, Jared Dvorak had a huge win to kick start us and Arrison Bauer has been on a tear and Jared had  a great weekend.

“Garrett Luke is wrestling with an injured elbow and he’s been grinding out some big wins for us. It was just a complete total team effort. Even our guys that lost, they were fighting hard to limit team points. Just a total team effort this week and I’m proud of the guys. Even in our Coal City match that we lost, I felt like we competed, we just weren’t winning matches.

“Just being able to come out of our regional, number one, was huge because there was a lot of power and heavy hitters there. And beating Marian Central was no easy task and then Canton in our first round, they came to wrestle and we had a really good match against them. Our kids stepped up and I’m just super happy for our seniors to go out that way. We had four and all four were able to win in their last match. Bringing home a state trophy in any year is great.”

Another highlight for coach Michael Glosser’s Comets in their historic season is that they qualified five individuals for state and had one medalist and two others who fell one win shy of being All-Staters. Senior Pacot (second at 145) was the team’s lone medalist while sophomore Rangel (126) and freshman Huchel (113) both fell one win shy of claiming a medal. Junior Capansky (152) and sophomore Chambliss (132) were their team’s other state qualifiers. 

Glosser, who has led his teams to 19 or more dual meets in the last five full seasons, is one win away from 200 victories with a 199-106 record in his 12 seasons at Oakwood. He is assisted by Vince Chambliss and Brendan Watson.

“It’s pretty special. “Glosser said. “I’ve got a group full of competitors and it’s been awhile in the making. We’ve had to beef up our schedule a little bit to try to get some tougher competition to get the guys a feeling of what it’s like to get to this level against teams like this. About five or six years ago we ended up beginning this co-op and they have a great feeder program with Vince Chambliss and his brother (Darin) is their school’s principal. So it’s all worked out and you saw this weekend how it helps.

“The guys trust me and they’ve bought in. It’s a hard-nosed room where there’s battles every day and they compete for everything, and that’s what we preach. Of course we want to win, but forget about the winning and losing, if I can build a room full of competitors, guys who are buying into our philosophy and what we’re trying to preach, then this is the kind of stuff that happens.

“You know that they had to feel the pressure since they’re high school kids. But with the kind of mentality that we’ve had all year, we treat the first match of the year like it’s a state championship, so we don’t try to place a huge importance on our conference and county, on regionals and sectionals, we’re wrestling from the beginning of the year like these are state championship matches. 

“So when you get here, we preach to be a competitor and to have fun, because if you’re not having fun, you’re not going to go out there and wrestle the way that you want to wrestle. Our kids came here and had fun and they competed and special things happened for them.”

Semifinals Meets

Yorkville Christian 47, Oakwood/Salt Fork 24

The Mustangs won three of the first four matches to take an 18-3 lead and after the Comets pulled to within 18-9 in the next match, Yorkville Christian won the following five to build up a 41-9 advantage that helped it to capture a 47-24 victory, which assured it of its second-straight visit to the state championship dual meet.

Edwards opened with a fall in 2:21 over Aister at 120 before Rangel won a 7-1 decision over Gleason. Dial followed with a fall in 2:46 over Chambliss and Johnson got a pin in 1:02 over Owens to build the Mustangs’ lead to 15 points.

After Pacot got a fall in 1:33 over Gray at 145 to make it 18-9, Torza won a 13-3 major decision over Capansky, Martinez pinned Carrillo in 1:06, Gillen was a 9-3 winner over Brown, Durbin won a 15-6 major decision over Grimm and Mehochko got a fall in 0:34 over Smith . 

The Comets won three of the final four matches as Myers got a fall in 0:59 over Xander Oliver at 220 before Yorkville Christian got its last victory at 285 when Tunnell won with a pin in 1:37 over Fleming. Edwards won the last contested match with a 4-0 decision over Foster before Huchel received a forfeit victory in the finale.

Coal City 46, Lena-Winslow/Stockton 14

Lena-Winslow/Stockton opened its semifinals dual with Coal City with a win and it strung together three more victories a bit later, but other than that it was all Coalers, who had five-consecutive victories after the opener and concluded the meet with another run of five wins.

After Bauer prevailed with a 1-0 decision over Kenney in the opener at 120, the Coalers took over with Finch recording a fall in 3:11 over Glass and Piatak following with a pin in 0:43 over Detwiler. Brant Widlowski won an 8-5 decision over McPeek at 138 and then Blessing was a winner by technical fall over Hubb and Benson completed the early run with a pin in 5:38 over Jimmy Goebel

The PantherHawks tried to turn the tide with three-straight victories as Dvorak won an 11-3 major decision over Poyner, Larson prevailed 3-1 over Carlson and Griffin Luke captured a 14-3 major decision over Young at 182 to pull their team to within 26-14.

Coal City countered with three-straight decisions as Breneman won 7-1 over Phillips, Dearth captured a 5-2 victory over Haas and Gonzalez won 3-0 over Engel. Lindemuth added a fall in 0:42 over Demeter and Luke Munsterman got a win by technical fall over Prater.

Quarterfinals Meets

Oakwood/Salt Fork 39, IC Catholic Prep 31

In a matchup of two programs who were hoping to assure themselves of their first trophy, it was the newcomer who prevailed over a squad that was back at state for the second year in a row and left dejected as the third time at state wasn’t the charm for them.

Coach Jason Renteria’s Knights took a 19-15 lead midway through the dual but Oakwood/Salt Fork got pins in the next two matches and a forfeit win a bit later to go up 33-19 and although IC Catholic Prep won all of the rest of the contested matches, it forfeited at two more weights and that helped the Comets to capture a 39-31 victory.

As a result, Oakwood, which is in Fithian, assured itself of its initial trophy in any sport, not just wrestling. According to IHSA records, Fithian was playing basketball in 1916-17, so this is the first trophy won by the school in over a century of competition. Its co-op partner Salt Fork, which is in Catlin, won state titles in both boys and girls track and field while Catlin won a boys basketball title and a former school in that district, Jamaica in Sidell, had also won trophies.

Huchel started the meet at 113 with a fall in 1:01 over Clara Samayoa before Saul Trejo won by technical fall over Aister and Omar Samayoa captured a 9-6 decision over Rangel to make it 8-6. Chambliss briefly put the Comets back in front at 9-8 when he won a 4-1 decision over KC Kekstadt at 132.

Following a pin by Bryson Spaulding over Owens in 0:39 and Pacot pinning Justin Grace in 0:57, Joseph Gliatta won by technical fall over Blake Barney at 152 to put IC Catholic Prep up 19-15 at the midpoint.

Capansky followed with a fall over Will Bryk in 0:43 and Dalton Brown added a pin in 2:22 over Nate Brown to give Oakwood/Salt Fork the upper hand again. Foley Calcagno followed with a win by technical fall over Grimm and Smith received a forfeit win at 195.

IC Catholic Prep got a 4-0 decision from Vinnie Gonzalez over Myers and Isaiah Gonzalez followed with a win by technical fall over Flemming at 285 but that wasn’t enough as Edwards received a forfeit win in the finale to wrap up an historic moment for the Comets.

“I’m very excited,” Capansky said. “It was a good experience overall, and I loved it. I think that our schools do very well and we’re very close. Team family is what we preach all of the time. 

“It was a fun weekend and I’m very proud of my team. I think that we did very well.”

It capped a special season for IC Catholic Prep where several members of a state championship football team also got to qualify for team state in wrestling. Also the team had three state placewinners, just missed getting another one and two other qualifiers.

Senior Isaiah Gonzalez was the state champion at 285 after taking second place the past two years. Senior Trejo, a state champion in 2020 and 2021, took third place at 120 after not competing last season due to injury. Freshman Calcagno finished sixth at 182 while junior Gliatta fell one win shy of getting a medal at 152. Juniors Omar Samayoa (126) and Spaulding (138) were the team’s other qualifiers.

Coach Jason Renteria has taken both of his Knights teams to state and this was their third appearance in the dual team finals. He is assisted by Joe Calcagno and Randy Spaulding.

Yorkville Christian 49, Auburn 27

Yorkville Christian kicked off its quest to repeat as state champions when it met Auburn in Friday’s quarterfinals. While the Trojans (26-4), who were making their third state appearance and first since 2020 when they placed fourth, only trailed 18-15 through the first six matches, the Mustangs broke things open by winning all of the next six matches as they claimed a 49-27 win that advanced them to the semifinals against Oakwood/Salt Fork.

Auburn’s Drayven Hamm started things off with a 9-2 decision over Foster at 113 and Edwards got the Mustangs’ first victory with a fall in 0:39 over Jasmine Brown. Two-time state champion Joey Ruzic responded with a fall in 3:56 over Gleason before Dial answered with a pin in 0:48 over Walker Britz and Gray followed with a fall in 0:27 over Jayden Brown. Grimm continued the run of falls with a pin in 1:15 over Johnson  to pull the Trojans to within three points at 145.

But the Mustangs started to break things open as Torza won a 9-0 major decision over Quinten Chizmar, Martinez followed with a fall in 2:54 over Colby Willhite and Gillen received a forfeit victory. 

Yorkville Christian expanded on its lead as Loomis pinned Joey Barrow in 2:51 at 182, Durbin pulled out a 6-4 decision over Skylar Fay and Mehochko followed with a pin in 0:40 over Clinton Lovens before Cole Edie and Ryer Parker received forfeit wins. 

Coach Matt Grimm’s Trojans had six qualifiers and three medalists. Junior Ruzic (first at 120) won his second-straight title while seniors Edie (second at 285) and Grimm (third at 138) also placed at state. Other state qualifiers for the team were senior Fay (182), junior Barrow (170) and freshman Hamm (106).

Grimm, who collected his 300th win in his 16th season as a coach, is 294-119 in 15 years at Auburn, which co-ops with both Franklin and New Berlin, with all three state teams and the fourth place finish in 2020 are the program’s highlights. He’s assisted by Gary Wilmarth. 

Coal City 65, LeRoy/Tri-Valley 6

Coal City only lost one match in a dual meet that was its second-biggest victory in its 12 appearances in the competition, behind only a 75-4 win over Walther Christian in the quarterfinals in 2016, the year of its fourth second-place finish, and the first of those for Masters.

LeRoy/Tri-Valley (24-2), which had won 23-straight dual meets since suffering its lone loss by a 46-34 score to Normal Community on its first day of competition, which was December 1. Making their sixth state appearance and first since 2014, the Panthers were only able to win one match, and that was in the finale and was a forfeit victory after the Coalers had won the first 13 matches.

Brody Widlowski started things at 113 with a 3-2 decision over Kobe Brent before Kenney won by forfeit and Finch followed with a 2-0 win by sudden victory over Brock Owens and Piatak collected a 3-0 decision over Colton Prosser at 132 to quickly make it 15-0.

In its next nine victories, the Coalers recorded seven falls, a win by technical fall and a decision. Brant Widlowski won by fall in 2:16 over Jack Green at 138 before Blessing claimed an 8-3 decision over Connor Lyons, The next four matches were pins with Benson over Bo Zeleznik in 1:13, Poyner over Ethan Conaty in 3:28, Carlson over Jackson Ritchie in 1:57 and Young over Adam Moore in 1:14.

After Breneman won by technical fall over Drendon Stickling, Dearth got a fall in 4:23 over Jacob Bischoff and Gonzalez won by fall over Tate Sigler in 1:15 before Brady Mouser got a forfeit victory.

Coach Brady Sant Amour’s Panthers had three state qualifiers and one placewinner, junior Bischoff, who took sixth place at 220. Sophomore Mouser (106) fell one win shy of getting a medal while sophomore Brent (113) also qualified. Sant Amour, who’s led the program since 2019-20 and has posted a 62-16 record at the school, is assisted by Brian Roberts, Sean Kennedy and Josh Sexton.

“Our kids did an incredible job competing all season,” Sant Amour said. “Coal City has a great program and really not a weak spot in their lineup. We had a few injuries the past couple weeks that I don’t think really would have changed the outcome but definitely had an effect on our ability to compete. 

“Most of our starters are sophomores and juniors so we’ll get to work this offseason and hopefully come back next year with a better final result.”

Lena-Winslow/Stockton 42, Canton 23

Lena-Winslow/Stockton assured itself of its fourth trophy in its fourth dual team appearances after falling behind 10-3 following the first three matches and then claiming wins in eight of the next nine.

Canton (28-10), which made its first appearance in the dual team tournament, only lost three other duals to Class 1A teams during the season, to eventual champion Coal City, to fellow quarterfinalist, Auburn, and to Oregon, which was one of the five top-10 teams in the Polo Regional, which was won by Lena-Winslow/Stockton.

The Little Giants’ Jack Joachums won a 19-8 major decision over

Prater in the opener at 113 before Bauer captured a 3-1 decision over John Davis and Trevor Hedges increased Canton’s lead to 10-3 after he recorded a fall in 1:29 over Glass.

Detwiler started the PantherHawk’s run of five-straight wins with a 3-2 decision over Brandon Eaton before McPeek won by fall over Will Phillips in 2:44 and Hubb captured a 6-3 decision over Wesley Chaney. Garrett Luke followed with a fall in 1:42 over Wyatt Sego and Dvorak won with a pin in 1:27 over Danny Murphy.

Canton’s state champion at 170, Joseph Norton, won a 12-0 major decision over Larson to cap his 54-1 season. Phillips followed that with a 6-2 decision over Aden Greene before Griffin Luke won by fall in 0:50 over Rob Mayall and Haas got a pin in 3:12 over Grant Kessler. The Little Giants won the last two matches as Asa Reed got a pin in 4:59 over Engel and Maddux Steele won 6-0 over Demeter.

“It was a pretty tough season,” Bauer said. “We were all just trying really hard to get here.

“We worked real hard for this. And the future looks very bright. I’ll remember our seniors. They’re really funny and they’re really good wrestlers.”

Canton had a program-best six state qualifiers and tied its mark for most medalists with three and just missed getting one more. Beside senior state champion Norton (first at 170), senior Hedges (fourth at 126) and freshman Steele (fifth at 106) were All-Staters while senior Davis (120) fell one win shy of earning a medal. Senior Reed (285) and junior Murphy (160) were the team’s other two state qualifiers.

Zach Crawford has posted a 120-61 record in his seven seasons as the Little Giants head coach and his team improved significantly on last year’s 21-11 record. He is assisted by Andy Mulholland.

By Patrick Z. McGavin

BLOOMINGTON – The greatest moment for any wrestler is the joyous ritual of having his hand raised at the end. Few things are so emotionally satisfying.

Throughout the season, Noah Woods had an enviable success rate. He enjoyed his moment of exultation on nearly 40 different occasions.

In the most consequential match of his life, the Washington sophomore won by losing.

Woods stayed tight against Joliet Catholic Academy’s Aurelio Munoz, nullifying his desperation and his constant pressure that provided the necessary margin of victory for his team.

Woods’ loss by a 6-2 decision preserved the Panthers’ narrow margin and helped secure a riveting 28-27 victory over the defending state champions in the Class 2A Dual Team State Championship Saturday at Grossinger Motors Arena.

With Washington holding a four-point lead heading into the last match, Woods had direct, unambiguous directions. Losing was fine. Just keep the score within seven points.

“Before the match, everybody was hyping me up and saying don’t give up the major, and I was just pumped up with a lot of adrenaline,” Woods said.

“I got into the middle, and I kept looking at the score and the clock, and I just did whatever I had to in order to hold off. I did, and we won.”

Washington captured its fifth state dual championship in the last seven years.

By dethroning the favored Hilltoppers, Washington gained a measure of revenge. The teams met last year in the dual sectional in what amounted to the de facto state championship.

The score ended in a tie, though Joliet Catholic Academy won for an unsportsmanlike-like infraction and tiebreaker against the Panthers.

JCA was not seriously challenged at the subsequent state series, essentially flattening the field.

This was the third-straight year the teams met in the postseason.

That sectional defeat snapped a string of six-consecutive state championship appearances. The Panthers won four-straight titles from 2016 to 2019 before losing by four points against Lemont three years ago. The pandemic disrupted the state series in 2021.

“That was really tough drawing them in the team sectional last year,” Washington’s Cael Miller said. “We took that, and we built off of that and I feel like that’s a big part of what got us here tonight.”

This year’s state final felt preordained from the moment the dual brackets were issued, and the two powerhouse teams were put on opposite sides.

The individual state championships at State Farm Center in Champaign also largely predicted this outcome.

The two programs dominated with a combined nine finalists. Joliet Catholic Academy had three individual state champions out of its five finalists. Washington had two state champions and two runner-up finishers.

Washington (25-8) defeated Mahomet-Seymour 50-23 in the quarterfinals on Friday night and dominated third-place Wauconda 52-20 in the semifinals earlier Saturday.

In the win over Wauconda, the Panthers only lost two contested matches. The other two losses were forfeits to preserve their wrestlers for the state championship match.

Joliet Catholic Academy (15-8) had no troubles in the lower bracket. The Hilltoppers shut out first-time state qualifiers Jacksonville 69-0 and dominated Geneseo 50-15 in the semifinals, giving the luxury of even working in several secondary and back-up wrestlers in anticipation of the Washington matchup.

Duals have their own logic, style and meaning. Strategy and individual matchups are subject to optimizing strengths and mitigating weaknesses.

It is also to some extent the luck of the draw, in this case, the weight class at which the meet begins. The championship and third-place matches began at 126 pounds.

That was the strength of the Panthers’ order, leading into their elite middleweight performers. Washington seized the early advantage by winning four of the first five matches.

With the exception of the win by technical fall of three-time state champion Kannon Webster over Luke Hamiti at 145 pounds, Washington developed the early lead by winning highly-contested matches.

By contrast, Joliet Catholic Academy was constantly forced to chase from behind.

On both sides the stars did what was expected of them. The two teams brilliantly and tactically moved their best wrestlers around. That became a scintillating turn of events.

Webster (54-0), the 145-pound champion, and 220-pound state champion Justin Hoffer posted dominant performances. Hoffer defeated Hunter Powell 16-6 by major decision.

Peyton Cox, who finished second at 132 pounds, punched up to 138 pounds, and produced one of the best matches of the finals.

Going up against the state runner-up at 138, Jake Hamiti, Cox broke the scoreless tie with a second-period escape. He used a brilliant turning action in the closing moments for a riveting 4-0 decision.

Washington’s Blake Hinrichsen, who finished second in the state at 170 pounds, defeated Zach Pomatto by major decision, 21-8, at 182.

“It’s great,” Hinrichsen said. “As a senior, we were really motivated from last year after the loss, it was driving us all season. I really didn’t want to lose and I know that our team really didn’t want to lose again because there were a lot of us that never lost that type of a dual.

“We had two state champs, Justin Hoffer and Kannon Webster, I took second and Peyton Cox took second also and we had three other placers. We’re all one team, we’re all one family, we have it on our shirts, hashtag family and we try to bring that out. It’s not just a team, it’s a family and we’re fighting for each other, and not just ourselves.”

Five of the Panthers’ eight victories were decisions, beginning with a 3-0 win by Eli Gonzalez over George Hollendoner in the opener at 126 pounds. Those decisions were the difference in the finals.

Cael Miller, the son of coach Nick Miller, made the most of his second chance. After losing both of his state matches in Champaign, Miller proved to be another unsung hero for the Panthers.

In a great back and forth match involving sons of the head coaches, he used a second-period takedown for a grueling 3-2 victory at 152 pounds over Connor Cumbee, who was fourth at state and is the son of JCA coach Ryan Cumbee

“For the individual state tournament, I didn’t have the outcome I wanted,” Cael Miller said.”When I got back to the room, I just kept after it, and I got the results I wanted. Last year, that loss to JCA in team sectionals was really a bummer. It was tough drawing a team that good in the sectional. But we took that one to heart and got back in the room right away.

“We were hungry. We came off of a great weekend at individual state with seven placers, that’s really something that we’re proud of. But that’s just one step in the goal. Growing up around this program and watching the teams from the past winning the titles was really something special to watch and made me want to be a part of that.”

Joliet Catholic Academy had its own actions and maneuvers.

Three-time state champion Gylon Sims closed out his extraordinary career with steely and mesmerizing performance jumping two weight classes to 132 pounds in a showdown with third-place state finisher Wyatt Medlin.

The two responded with a match of the ages, a classic back and forth clash that showcased Sims’ speed and athleticism against the power and range of Medlin.

It featured four ties and three lead changes with Medlin seemingly having the edge with a late third period reversal for a 7-6 lead.

Just as he did in the 120-pound state championship final against Aurora Christian’s Josh Vazquez, Sims engineered a late escape that occasioned overtime. Sims then pulled out the incredible 8-7 tiebreaker.

“There were a lot of swing matches, and that is pretty much what it came down to with the winners or losers of that,” Sims said. “I think tonight just showed it could come down to chance if you have two really good teams.”

Joliet Catholic Academy had its own magic up its sleeve. State finalist Nico Ronchetti, who was second at 182 pounds, leapt up a weight class and edged Josh Hoffer, who finished sixth at 195, with a 5-3 decision at 195 pounds.

“They matched up well against us, and they did a good job,” Sims said. “In a state championship dual, it’s as much about tactics and strategy as results.

“What matches are you going to keep close, and what matches are you going to keep down. Are you wrestling not to give up points, or are you wrestling to score as many points as possible? They were very smart. At the end of the day, they come out as champions.”

By winning four of the first five matches, Washington jumped out to the 14-3 lead.

Joliet Catholic Academy state champion Mason Alessio posted the first finals fall with his 33-second masterpiece against Braden Baker, securing a cradle that converted into a dominant final performance.

“They had the early momentum, and that helped them a little bit,” Alessio said. “It probably doesn’t get talked about enough, but just starting the meet at an odd weight, at 126 pounds, and that was just a subtle difference.

“It’s all another step in the process, and getting ready for the next level and wrestling in college,” said Alessio, who finished with a 47-3 record.. “Tonight, we knew it was going to come down to one or two swing matches, and unfortunately they didn’t go our way. It was still a great season.”

Alessio defeated Washington’s Zane Hulet in the state quarterfinals en route to his championship at 160 pounds.

On Saturday, Hulet moved up to 170 pounds, and he defeated Maximus Vela 8-1 and that, combined with Hinrichsen’s major decision, extended the Panthers’ lead to 21-9.

“I had to go out there and wrestle and really try to help rescue my team,” Hulet said. “I was wrestling a new kid. This was a great experience, especially for the younger wrestlers, the juniors like myself.

“We grew up watching all of the state championship teams, and this was a lifelong goal for us. We looked up to those teams from 2018 or 2019, and we wanted to be just like them.”

Washington conceded the heavyweight bout, where two-time IHSA champion and 2021 IWCOA title winner Dillan Johnson won by forfeit.

Family connections ran deep on both sides, especially with head coaches being able to work with their own sons.

The night also proved a deeply special one for the Woods’ family. Noah Woods was the unorthodox headliner.

His younger brother, freshman Symon Woods, also stepped up when called upon. His 8-5 victory over Noah Avina at 106 pounds gave the Panthers what turned out to be an insurmountable 10-point cushion leading into the final two matches.

Symon Woods ended up with a virtually identical record as his older brother. Noah Woods (37-17) qualified for state at 113 pounds. Symon (36-16) came up just short.

Like Cael Miller, he made the most of his final chance.

“I just tried to wrestle my best, and work out of good positions,” Symon Woods said. “At the end, we got kind of tired, but I just kept wrestling, and kept the pressure up.”

Of course, anything is possible. Class 3A state champion St. Charles East utilized back-to-back falls to clip defending state champion Mount Carmel by two points in the quarterfinals.

Freshman Jason Hampton, who took fourth place at 113,  gave the Hilltoppers a final chance with the fastest work of the night, a 28-second fall of Logan Makiney.

That narrowed the score to 28-24 in favor of Washington, with one final match left at 120 pounds.

Munoz was the rare JCA wrestler with more losses than victories leading into the final match. He showed tremendous grit, resilience and toughness.

He gave the Hilltoppers a chance. On several occasions, he nearly caught Noah Woods for a dangerous moment.

“I couldn’t have done it without my brother,” Noah Woods said. “He went up against that crazy good kid, and he got me so hyped before the match.

“I knew I had to wrestle, and not do anything dangerous or sloppy, and not get majored. I knew it might come down to me, and I was ready.”

Nick Miller pointed out the clear fact that Joliet Catholic Academy was a wholly different type of opponent than their first two state teams.

“We were the better wrestling team in both of those matches from top to bottom,” Nick Miller said. “We knew that it was going to be a fight.

“I said to just keep taking your time, even in matches that we lost.Just as we predicted, we knew there were going to be matches where it was just a dogfight, and we had to win those matches.”

By any standard, Joliet Catholic Academy had an extraordinary season. The Hilltoppers were the only team to beat 3A state champion St. Charles East. At both the individual and team level, they were a cut above.

“Everybody on our team just wrestled so hard,” Sims said. “Obviously we could have gotten better results than we did, but we are so proud of this season. We are never going to forget all the work that we put into this.”

Third Place Match

Wauconda 37, Geneseo 36 (criteria)

Wauconda not only added to its 2017 trophy for finishing second to Washington in Class 2A in its initial state finals appearance by claiming third place but it also made history in its second trip to the state finals by becoming the first team to win two dual meets on criteria at one dual team state finals. 

In the third-place match, there was a 36-36 tie between the Bulldogs and Geneseo and the outcome was determined by tiebreaker D, the greater number of matches. On that account, Wauconda won 37-36.

In Friday’s quarterfinals, Wauconda and Deerfield, who took second to Joliet Catholic Academy last season, wound up tied at 39-39 and tiebreaker I, the most first match points scored, gave the Bulldogs the victory 40-39 and assured the program of its second trophy. In the semifinals, Wauconda lost 52-20 to eventual champion Washington.

Since the dual team tournament began in 1984, there had only been five dual meets that had been determined by criteria, with the last of those in 2008 in Class A when Oregon beat Lisle for third place in the final year of the two-class tournament.

There actually had been two wins by criteria in one year, in 1989, when Dakota beat Riverdale in the quarterfinals in Class A and Providence Catholic defeated Marist in the Class AA semifinals.

The Bulldogs also become just the second team to win two one-point dual meets at state, with Wilmington also accomplishing that feat in 2007 in Class A when it beat Harvard by a point in the quarterfinals and Vandalia by one point for the championship. And it’s just the third team to be involved in two one-point dual meets. In 1997 in Class AA, Waubonsie Valley beat Granite City by a point in the quarterfinals and lost to St. Charles by one point for third place.  

It was a great debut season for coach Trevor Jauch, who won three Class 2A titles for Crystal Lake Central from 2009-2011 when he competed for coach Justen Lehr and was on a third-place team as a sophomore and second-place squads as a junior and senior.

The Bulldogs (9-5) shattered their old mark for state qualifiers by having nine individuals who advanced to Champaign this season.

“I’m very pleased with a third place finish,” said Jauch, who’s been an assistant for the Bulldogs for five years. “This is the second medal in history that Wauconda has earned. My coaching staff has put a tremendous amount of time, effort, and energy into getting these guys ready. Ryan Jauch, Chris Prostka and Bob Kenison bring so much to the table when it comes to preparation for our athletes. 

“These guys were prepared and excited to compete. Our guys continue to buy into the program and do the small things right. We talk all the time about attitude and effort and it is important that our guys wrestle a full six minutes every match. Some guys went out and did their job which is incredibly important when it comes to dual team series. I hope this third place trophy becomes the expectation and our guys should expect to be down in Bloomington every year.

“We rostered 21 and the majority of them got a match there and everyone has a job. Ideally this will grow our numbers and get more interest out for the sport of wrestling. I run our youth program, as well, and I know that those numbers are growing, which is awesome.”

The Bulldogs’ top state performers were second-place finishers Gavin Rockey (106) and Nate Randle (113) and Nick Cheshier (152), who fell one win shy of winning a medal. Other qualifiers were Lucas Galdine (120), Cooper Daun (132), Logan Andrews (138), Cole Porten (145), Sean Christensen (182) and Michael Merevick (195). 

“It was really fun and a great experience,” Rockey said. “I like the bonds that we have. We’ve all been wrestling for a lot of years together growing up and doing club. So we’re all friends. And this year it all just kind of worked out and everyone came together.

“It came down to the wire twice. It came down to me for Deerfield and then it went all the way down to (tiebreaker) I and then it came down to Nate for Geneseo.”

Only seven teams in the state in all classes had more qualifiers than did the Bulldogs, and just JCA and Washington in Class 2A. And the good news for Wauconda is that Christensen is the only one of the qualifiers who is graduating and the team only had a couple of other seniors. Of the 21 individuals on the state dual team roster, 11 of them are freshmen and sophomores.

“It felt really good and it was really exciting for all of us to be able to do all of that,” Cheshier said. “It was a really fun season. We got new coaches who are really great and we were really working hard and we accomplished a lot as a team.

“Most of our guys should be returning, so I’m looking forward to next year. We all just have a great connection and we all worked really hard this year together. It’s just a great bond that we’ve built. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing already, just work hard and follow our goals.”

Geneseo (22-3) also enjoyed one of its best-ever seasons, only losing one dual meet during the regular season, and it didn’t suffer its initial loss to an Illinois opponent until the final day of the season.

This was the fifth time that coach Jon Murray has led one of his Maple Leafs teams to 20 or more wins in a season

This was the fourth state tournament appearance for Murray’s program and the first since 2015. That completed a run of three-straight trips to the state finals and the Maple Leafs were the state runner-up to Montini Catholic in both 2013 and 2014 in Class 2A.

At the IHSA Individual Finals the Maple Leafs were recognized with two special honors. Murray, who’s 339-102 in 21 years leading the program, was announced as one of this year’s inductees for the IWCOA Hall of Fame. And Larry Kanke, the Maple Leafs’ coach for 32 years and a longtime official who was a class of 2002 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee, was honored as one of four Grand Marshals, along with Roy Snyder, Randall Konstans and Mike Garland.

“We have two pictures on our wall, one from the 2013 team and one from the 2014 team and challenged them to put 2023 next to them, because those were the only trophies we’ve had,” Murray said.

“This is a completely different group of kids, so I’m proud that they seemed motivated to get it done. We ask them one thing, to just give yourself, your team and your community your best effort, and that’s all that we can ask. If you give your best effort, then the wins take care of themselves.  

“Their heart is what does it. Making the weight, doing the workouts, and then during the six minutes out there, just represents the effort that they’ve already put into the practice.” 

Geneseo qualified 13 individuals for the rugged Rochelle Sectional but was able to advance only three of those to Champaign, Zachary Montez (132), Malaki Jackson (138) and Kye Weinzierl (145) and Montez was its lone medal winner, taking third at 132 after losing in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion, Mascoutah’s Santino Robinson, and then closing the competition with four-straight wins.

“The last time was 2015 so getting it this year is awesome,” Montez said. “No one really expected us this year but we just kind of came together and started doing our thing and getting pins and everything. 

“Everyone comes into the room every day and is working hard and is pushing themselves. That’s what I really like about this team.”

The Maple Leafs only had five seniors on their dual team state roster, Bryce Bealer, Aiden Damewood, Landon Shoemaker, Jack Snyder and Tim Stohl. So with 15 individuals back from a team that claimed one of the four Class 2A trophies, Geneseo may be in line to enjoy another run of success, like the teams from 2013-2015 enjoyed. 

“I’ve always looked up to those teams,” Stohl said of the second-place state squads. “No matter how tired I’d be, I’d look up at the board and see all of the state champs and state placers and then on the other side of the room, the second-place teams in 2013 and 2014. When we faced Sycamore earlier in the season, they weren’t this team, they were still good but they were missing a lot of people.

“I didn’t have the best season this year but this is like icing on the cake. Hey, if we can get up on the board, then kids over the next few years are going to be looking up to us, too.”

In the third-place meet, the Bulldogs got a fall from Galdine in 2:42 over Bealer in the opener at 126 but the Maple Leafs won the next three matches to go up 14-6 as Jackson won by technical fall over Kaden Hebert, Montez followed with a fall in 1:38 over Ty Curran and Weinzierl won a 3-0 decision over Andrews at 145.

Three Wauconda wins worth15 points put it back on top at 21-14 midway through the meet at 170. Porten edged Josh Hock 4-3 before Cheshier won by fall in 3:46 over Damewood and Zac Johnson followed with a pin in 5:15 over Logan Palmer.

After Shoemaker pulled Geneseo to within 21-18 with a 9-1 major decision over Christian Cendejaz, the Bulldogs took their biggest lead of the meet at 27-18 with a fall from Christensen over Aaron Betcher in 3:49 at 195.

The Maple Leafs moved in front at 30-27 following a fall from Stohl over Merevick in 4:38 and another pin, this one in 3:09, by Levi Neumann over Joe Scianna. But Wauconda tied it at 30-30 when Rockey won a 10-7 decision over Tim Sebastian at 106.

The Bulldogs moved in front at 36-30 on a pin by Nate Randle over Grady Hull in 1:36 at 113 before Devan Hornback tied things again at 36-36 when he won by fall in 1:07 over Nick Ruiz.

Semifinals dual meets 

Washington 52, Wauconda 20

The Panthers won the first three matches to take a 17-0 lead and eight of the first nine as the Bulldogs only won two matches that were contested and collected two late forfeit wins.

Recording falls for Washington were Noah Woods (120), Gonzalez (126), Webster (152), Hinrichsen (182), Justin Hoffer (220) and Sean Thornton (285) while Medlin (132) and Hulet (170) got wins by technical fall and Cox (145) won 10-6 over Porten and Miller (160) claimed an 8-7 decision over Johnson. 

Wauconda received a fall from Merevick (195) and a 10-5 decision from Andrews (138) over Timmy Smith while Rockey (106) and Randle (113) received forfeit wins to conclude the match.

Joliet Catholic Academy 50, Geneseo 15

The Hilltoppers won the first three matches to go up 13-0 and also nine of the first 10 matches before the Maple Leafs won the next three and then JCA closed the meet with another victory.

Recording falls for JCA were Sims (126), Luke Hamiti (145), Alessio (160), Rochetti (182) and Pomatto (195) while Issac Clauson (170) won by technical fall, Nolan Vogel (132), Cumbee (152) and Hampton (113) won major decisions and Hollendoner (120) claimed a 15-8 decision over Hornback. 

Geneseo got a fall from Stohl (220) while Montez (138) won 5-2 over Jake Hamiti, Neumann (285) beat Alex Dalach 9-3 and Sebastian (106) claimed a 6-0 decision over Avina.

Quarterfinals dual meets

Washington 50, Mahomet-Seymour 23

Mahomet-Seymour (32-8) got a fall in the opener to grab an early 6-0 lead but Washington (23-8) rattled off eight-consecutive wins to assure the Panthers of their seventh state trophy since 2015.

Recording falls for Washington were Gonzalez (126), Cox (138), Webster (145), Miller (152) and Hinrichsen (170) while Noah Woods (120) got a win by technical fall. Medlin (132), Hulet (160) and Justin Hoffer (220) captured major decisions and Symon Woods (106) closed out the meet with an 8-1 decision over Colton McClure.

Getting falls for Mahomet-Seymour were Caden Hatton (113), Mateo Casillas (195) and Camden Harms (285) while Brennan Houser (182) collected a win by technical fall.

Casillas, who finished with a 54-1 record, won the state title at 195 and Houser took fifth at 182 while Donovan Lewis (138) and Colton Crowley (220) both fell one win shy of All-State honors. Other state qualifiers for Mahomet-Seymour were Hatton (113) and Harms (285).

It was an historic season for the Bulldogs, who have been coached since 2006-07 by 2011 IWCOA Hall of Famer Rob Ledin. This was the 20th state appearance for the Bulldogs, who took third place last season and have gone to state five times under Ledin, with this being their fourth trip since 2017.

“We had a great year,” Ledin said. “We had many all-time records that we captured: 32 wins for our team was a team-best; Mateo Casillas had 175 career wins, which ties Brett Camden for the all-time best; And he also had the most career falls, with 85, And Brennan Houser set the record for most career technical falls with 49 and most career near fall points with 655.  

“As a team we placed first as a team at the Neuqua Valley Scuffle, second at Granite City, first at our own Marty Williams Invitational, first in the Apollo Conference; Regional dhampions and Sectional Dual victory to qualify for the Final 8 Dual Team Tournament. I’m very proud of our Bulldogs!”  

Wauconda 40, Deerfield 39 (criteria)

Deerfield (17-6) saw its hopes of claiming a second-straight state trophy get dashed when Wauconda captured the first of its historic two dual meets that were won by criteria. The Bulldogs got the extra point to break a 39-39 deadlock based on tiebreaker I, which is the most first match points that were scored

After Wauconda opened the meet with a win by technical fall from Randle (113), Deerfield got pins from Luke Reddy (120) and Jordan Rasof (126) and a major decision from Jackson Palzet (132) to go up 16-5. But the Bulldogs responded with four-straight wins, getting pins from Andrews (138), Porten (145) and Johnson (160) while Cheshier (152) won a major decision to give their team a 27-16 lead.

Chris Mauer (170) got a pin and Aiden Cohen (182) won by technical fall to pull Deerfield even at 27-27 before Christensen recorded a fall at 195 to put the Bulldogs up by six. But the Warriors responded with falls from Garvin Crews (220) and Jordan Meyers (285) to go up 39-33 with one match left and after Rockey got a fall in 4:26 in the finale, the Bulldogs prevailed on criteria to assure themselves of the second trophy, with the other one in their previous trip to state, in 2017, when coach Michael Buhr led them to the state championship dual meet, which they lost to Washington.

Deerfield had three state qualifiers and two of them earned All-State honors while the other fell just short. Cohen took third at 170, Rasof was sixth at 126 and Reddy fell one win shy of a medal at 120.

Like many of the teams in the field, much of Deerfield’s state team featured individuals who could make another run at the state finals next season. The Warriors only had five seniors, Renzo Morgan, Jordan Meyers, Will Holtz, Grant Goldsmith and Cohen.

This was the fourth state finals trip for coach Marc Pechter’s Warriors, who also won a trophy in 2017 after claiming a fourth-place finish.

Half of Deerfield’s defeats came over the course of two days at DeKalb’s Flavin Invite, where it lost to Class 3A programs Hinsdale Central and Moline and also fell to Father Ryan of Tennessee. It also lost a dual at the early-season Antioch Tournament to Class 3A Mundelein. The Warriors’ only loss to a Class 2A team prior to the state finals was against Crystal Lake Central. 

Joliet Catholic Academy 69, Jacksonville 0

Jacksonville (33-4) ran into a buzzsaw in its initial appearance in the IHSA Dual Team Finals as it dropped all of its matches against Joliet Catholic Academy in the quarterfinals, suffering a 69-0 defeat.

Coach Dustin Secrist’s Crimsons had gone 15-1 since falling to Class 1A quarterfinalist LeRoy/Tri-Valley at the High School of Saint Thomas More New Year’s Challenge. Their only loss against a Class 2A team came late in the regular season when they fell to Glenwood.

Jacksonville had two state qualifiers, Collin Reif (152), who took sixth place, and James Cotton (160). The Crimsons are another team who had only five seniors on their state roster, Ian Willner, Keaton Wilhelm, Luca Thies, Mason Meyer and Reif. 

JCA got falls from Avina, Hampton, Vogel, Jake Hamiti, Ronchetti and Johnson, a forfeit victory from Powell, wins by technical fall from Sims, Alessio and Vela and decisions from Munoz, Cumbee, Luke Hamiti and Pomatto. 

The Crimsons’ best efforts were Meyer losing 8-6 in sudden victory to Pomatto at 195, Reif falling to Luke Hamiti 2-1 at 152 and Deshawn Armstrong dropping a 6-4 decision to Munoz at 120.

Geneseo 50, Brother Rice 17

The Maple Leafs opened with three wins and built up a 26-3 lead over the Crusaders (9-7) midway through the meet as they assured themselves of their third state trophy and first since 2014, the year they repeated as a state runner-up to Montini Catholic. It also was the program’s fourth trip to the dual team finals, with its last one in 2015. 

Geneseo got falls from Hull and Bealer and a 4-1 decision by  Hornback over Oliver DAais in between to get off to the fast start. After Bobby Conway won a 13-9 decision over Jackson for the Crusaders’ first win at 132, Montez and Weinzierl captured major decisions and Jack Snyder claimed an 8-5 win over John Fitzpatrick..

Brother Rice got a fall in 1:59 from James Crane (160), a win by technical fall from Charles Connolly (182) and an 8-4 decision from Gambino Perez (195) over Shoemaker while Geneseo received falls from Damewood, Stohl, Neumann and Sebastian during the final half of the dual meet.

Conway, who finished with a 26-1 record, claimed first place at 126 to lead the Crusaders’ four state qualifiers. Perez placed fourth at 195, Connolly fell one win shy of getting a medal at 182 and Fitzpatrick was the team’s other qualifier.

It was the second year in a row that coach Jan Murzyn’s Crusaders advanced to dual team state and for the second time, they fell in the quarterfinals and saw their season end on the first day of the event.

All of the Crusaders’ defeats came against quality opponents, which includes three who teams who competed for titles, Coal City, Marmion Academy and Yorkville Christian, and another squad that lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion, Mount Carmel. 

Granite City Sectional (Saturday)

Belleville Althoff Catholic Regional

101 – William Kelly (Triad) D 8-1 Gavin Merkle (Highland)

106 – Tyler Perry (Edwardsville) MD 11-3 Zane Stanley (Benton)

113 – Riddick Cook (Marion) F 3:03 Kaiden Stewart (Effingham)

120 – Aiston Holt (Murphysboro) D 7-6 Brody Smith (Triad)

126 – Brenden Rayl (Granite City) MD 12-1 KJ Jamison (Edwardsville)

132 – Aiden Colbert (Belleville West) D 7-0 Cameron Moerlien (Edwardsville)

138 – Lyndon Thies (Roxana) D 12-7 Tate Miller (Marion)

145 – Braden Kelly (Belleville East) F 3:15 Caden Frey (Marion)

152 – Terence Willis (Belleville East) F 2:30 Luke McCoy (Civic Memorial)

160 – Thomas Imboden (Carbondale) F 1:39 John Cloud (Edwardsville)

170 – Ethan Hofmeister (Belleville West) MD 13-5 Colin Hughey (Trico)

182 – Kaden Tidwell (Vandalia) SV 4-2 Gavin Gentille (O’Fallon)

195 – Ashton Zobrist (Highland) D 6-3 Tristan Staggs (Litchfield)

220 – Shamontae Matthews (Belleville West) F 1:32 Enrique Morales (Granite City)

285 – William Rose (East St. Louis) F 2:51 Demarco Clark (Granite City)

Springfield Southeast Regional

101 – Hugh Sharrow (Quincy) D 4-1 Charles Wittmer (Warrensburg-Latham)

106 – Zachary Bryant (PORTA) MD 13-4 Joel Noble (Pittsfield)

113 – Kayle Blankenship (Glenwood) D 10-4 Augustus Williams (Glenwood)

120 – Kaden Roberts (Warrensburg-Latham) MD 11-2 Hunter King (PORTA)

126 – Logan Baker (PORTA) D 4-3 Ronald Laplante (Carlinville)

132 – Eli Roberts (Quincy) F 2:00 Luis De La Cruz (Beardstown)

138 – Brody Baker (Quincy) F 2:52 Chris Howell (Warrensburg-Latham)

145 – Gunnar Derhake (Quincy) F 1:57 Kanye Mitchell (Camp Point Central)

152 – Jonah Broughman (Glenwood) F 2:18 Maizon Milestone (Glenwood)

160 – Matthew Trapani (Glenwood) F 1:26 Kenny Smith-McClain (Lanphier)

170 – Jaylen Crowder (Lanphier) F 2:29 Wyatt Rapacz (Sacred Heart-Griffin)

182 – Tucker Cook (Pittsfield) MD 15-6 Shamar Brownlee (Springfield High)

195 – Ryan Darnell (Quincy Notre Dame) D 5-1 Christopher Hull (Southeast)

220 – Hunter Morris (PORTA) F 4:13 Kyler Cannon (PORTA)

285 – Todd Smith (Quincy) MD 14-1 Chunk Dailey (Beardstown)

Heyworth Sectional (Sunday)

Normal Regional title matches

101 – Jackson Soney (Normal Community) D 12-6 Elijah Conda (Normal Community)

106 – Dylan McGrew (Normal West) F 0:49 Drake Caldwell (Metamora)

113 – Dylan Eimer (Tremont) MD 12-3 Gabe Robb (Richwoods)

120 – Caiden Robison (Morton) F 0:55 Tyler Weiland (Richwoods)

126 – Connor Graham (Metamora) F 2:51 M’khi Hollins (Bloomington)

132 – Rikyis Doss (Richwoods) D 12-6 Don Patrick (Galesburg)

138 – Peyton Hixon (Deer Creek-Mackinaw) D 9-3 Logan Alvarez (Normal West)

145 – Gerard Tegbede (East Peoria) MD 11-2 Caleb Johnson (Galesburg)

152 – Clay McKee (Morton) D 7-2 Joshua Caraballo (University High)

160 – Dawson McConnell (Lincoln) F 2:21 Daniel Aguas (Bloomington)

170 – Tyus Almasy (Morton) D 5-1 Kenner Bye (Bloomington)

182 – Joe Weeks (Dunlap) F 1:00 Kelvin Harris (Bloomington)

195 – Ethan Dixon (Limestone) MD 19-6 Chase Bancroft (East Peoria)

220 – Christopher Blackmore (El Paso-Gridley) D 1-0 Caleb Zirkelbach (Lincoln)

285 – Jose Del Toro (East Peoria) MD 10-2 David Williams (Bloomington)

Clinton Regional

101 – Jordan Eveland (Mattoon) F 4:02 Charlie Flores (Hoopeston Area) 

106 – Gage Martin (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) F 1:34 Carter Knoblach (Olympia)

113 – Drayden Ramsey (Pontiac) F 6:27 Landen Toellner (Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin)

120 – Cale Seitzinger (Lawrenceville) F 0:42 Aiden Dalby (Mt. Zion)

126 – Aiden Bell (Hoopeston Area) D 9-2 John Traub (Prairie Central)

132 – Ty Rangel (Danville) SV 4-2 Avery McGraw (Unity)

138 – Logan Mahaffey (Westville) F 1:59 Corbiin Ragle (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley)

145 – Philip Christhilf (High School of Saint Thomas More) D 8-5 Ceasar Espinoza (Hoopeston Area)

152 – Kelton Graden (Olympia) D 10-3 Darius Williams (Rantoul)

160 – Josh Heath (Unity) MD 19-6 Ethan Bina (Westville)

170 – Kristian Hibbard (Clinton) F 2:02 Hunter Romano (Monticello)

182 – Keller Stocks (Mt. Zion) F 4:19 Malik Mosley (Urbana)

195 – Marcellx Boling (Charleston) SV 6-1 Drew Owen (Rantoul)

220 – James Schmidt (High School of Saint Thomas More) MD 18-8 Cohen Kean (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley)

285 – Stormy Hughes (Charleston) F 1:32 Iziah Wright (Pontiac)  

Sterling Sectional (Sunday)

Morrison Regional 

101 – Cael Lyons (Sterling) F 0:22 Trenton Edens (Kewanee)

106 – Merrick Stockwell (Rock Island) D 6-4 Caleb Dillard (Monmouth-Roseville)

113 – Zyan Westbrook (Sterling) F 3:24 Zhyler Hansen (Newman Central Catholic)

120 – Dominick Diaz (Moline) F 2:15 Temar Hudson (Rock Island)

126 – Antonio Parker (Rock Island) F 2:59 Alejandro Morales (Monmouth-Roseville)

132 – Kolton Kruse (Riverdale) MD 8-0 Josh McKendry (Amboy)

138 – Jayden Weidman (Dixon) F 2:05 Alex Espinoza (Rock Falls)

145 – Tatum Allen (Sterling) F 3:49 Aidan Jepson (Erie/Prophetstown)

152 – Kayden Marolf (United Township) D 8-1 Casey Etheridge (Princeton)

160 – Ryan Lower (Rockridge) D 8-2 Brady Anderson (Morrison)

170 – Gage Tate (Sterling) F 1:16 Brady Whitcomb (Orion)

182 – Donny Reavy (Morrison) F 0:56 Eli Berlin (Princeton)

195 – Nehemiah Lenzen (Moline) F 1:18 Pablo Cid (Rock Falls)

220 – Alex Reubin (Dixon) F 1:50 Douglas Swearingen (Kewanee)

285 – Jacob Hosler (Rock Falls) F 0:31 Noah Parr (Orion)

Huntley Regional

101 – Austin Hagevold (Marian Central Catholic) TF Trey Anderson (Hononegah)

106 – Jackson Olson (Hononegah) F 1:33 Kyan Gunderson (Richmond-Burton)

113 – Jackson Messenger (Oregon) D 5-1 Taqi Baker (Woodstock)

120 – Austin Lee (Burlington Central) TF Tyler Lockhart (Sycamore)

126 – Henry Hildreth (Stillman Valley) F 0:43 Robert Darling (Hononegah)

132 – Hudson Ikens (DeKalb) D 6-0 Aric Abbott (Hampshire)

138 – Dominick Girardin (Belvidere) F 2:42 Kyle Rogers (Kaneland)

145 – Connor Diemel (Hononegah) F 1:09 Christopher Napiorkowski (Hampshire)

152 – Michael Brannigan (Hampshire) F 1:16 Preston Fadness (Harlem)

160 – Jonah Chavez (Burlington Central) TF Connor Cassels (Marian Central Catholic)

170 – Chandler Jack (Harlem) F 3:17 Edgar Arana (Woodstock)

182 – Erick Rivas (DeKalb) MD 10-2 Landyn Windham (Oregon)

195 – Jack Parker (Kaneland) D 5-3 Andrew Young (Oregon)

220 – Emerson Watson (DeKalb) F 1:00 JR Warfel (Kaneland)

285 – Briggs Sellers (Oregon) F 3:38 Julian Gomez (DeKalb)

Lake Zurich Sectional (Sunday)

Lake Zurich Regional

101 – Austin Phelps (Schaumburg) D 10-8 Bryce Mensik (Lake Park)

106 – Payton Ramsey (Crystal Lake Central) F 4:24 Hunter Lenz (Cary-Grove)

113 – Jimmy Whitaker (Barrington) MD 11-0 Caden Spizzirri (Conant)

120 – Mikey Meade (Prairie Ridge) D 2-0 Iverson Cortes (Schaumburg)

126 – Callen Kirchner (Schaumburg) TF Justin Cortes (Schaumburg)

132 – Rocco Fontela (Schaumburg) F 2:40 Devyn Carrillo (Crystal Lake South)

138 – Dominic Vitale (Crystal Lake Central) MD 14-0 Joe Quirk (Prospect)

145 – Aiden Schuldt (McHenry) SV 6-4 Avian Roman (McHenry)

152 – Tommy Tomasello (Crystal Lake Central) F 0:35 Cooper Floden (McHenry)

160 – Aiden Fischler (McHenry) MD 15-2 Chase Vargo (Fremd)

170 – Johnny Strauss (Jacobs) F 2:57 Esteban Suarez (Palatine)

182 – Calvin Jackson (Barrington) SV 5-3 Wyatt Theobald (Huntley)

195 – Lucas Retzler (Jacobs) D 7-4 Yazan Aburmishan (Bartlett)

220 – Thomas McNeil (Crystal Lake Central) D 3-0 Teigen Moreno (Dundee-Crown)

285 – Clarence Jackson (Barrington) MD 17-3 Raphael Abano (Barrington)

Lakes Regional

101 – Evan Mishels (Stevenson) D 13-6 Larry Quirk (Grant)

106 – Vince Jasinski (Grant) D 7-2 Matthew Lucansky (Carmel)

113 – Ilan Guzman (Stevenson) D 4-1 Krish Sahu (Grayslake Central)

120 – Shawn Kogan (Stevenson) MD 15-2 Aidan Eisenberg (Grayslake Central)

126 – Erik Rodriguez (Grant) F 2:14 Val Vihrov (Stevenson)

132 – Luis Medina (Zion-Benton) D 9-2 Landon Johnson (Johnsburg)

138 – David Brown (Waukegan) D 10-4 Kian Riahi (Grayslake Central)

145 – Kevin Hernandez (Mundelein) TF Owen Anderson (Grayslake North)

152 – Everett Ciezak (Stevenson) D 6-4 Gael Diaz (Mundelein)

160 – Philip Boyko (Stevenson) F 1:40 Alexander Bustamante (Antioch)

170 – Jack Treutelaar (Libertyville) D 5-4 Julian Ramos (Lakes)

182 – Francisco Yilmaz (Zion-Benton) F 0:27 Andrew Langfeldt (Libertyville)

195 – CJ Ameachi (Johnsburg) F 4:10 Dylan Soto (Warren)

220 – Anthony Adams (Stevenson) SV 3-1 Celso Cabrera (Mundelein) 

285 – Ivan Rogel Martinez (Waukegan) F 4:44 Jesus Castaneda (Grayslake Central)

Thornton Sectional (Saturday)

Joliet West Regional

101 – Owen Sater (Morris) MD 13-2 Angel Godinez (Bolingbrook)

106 – Isaac Harris (Bolingbrook) F 2:22 Brody Rangel (Plainfield Central)

113 – Brandon Anderson (Morris) F 2:00 Taejon White (Romeoville)

120 – Carter Skoff (Morris) D 4-2 Evan Cox (Clifton Central)

126 – Cole Spivey (Minooka) MD 14-5 Julian Vallianatos (Lemont)

132 – Luke Grindstaff (Plainfield North) D 7-1 Anthony Frescura (Minooka)

138 – Aiden Rudman (Plainfield Central) D 5-4 Devin Aguirre (Plainfield South)

145 – Jack Tota (Plainfield North) F 1:12 Ian Wills (Morris)

152 – Marcus Poe (Bolingbrook) F 2:02 Raphael Tovar (Plainfield North)

160 – Colin Bickett (Plainfield South) TF Aiden Hennings (Lincoln-Way Central)

170 – Logan Van Duyne (Wilmington D 7-0 Jack Nowicki (Plainfield North)

182 – Tai’Vaughn Johnson (Joliet West) D 6-0 Landen Venecia (Seneca)

195 – Ty Sabin (Plainfield Central) F 1:12 Sullivan Feldt (Seneca)

220 – Brody O’Connor (Clifton Central) D 5-0 Andre De Leon (Joliet West)

285 – Antonio Montoya (Plainfield Central) F 1:18 Jamir Thomas (Romeoville)

Joliet Central Regional

101 – Davion Henry (Rich Township) TF Max Munn (Lincoln-Way West)

106 – Tate McCord (Bradley-Bourbonnais) D 4-2 Liam Walsh (Joliet Central)

113 – Jack Strezo (Lincoln-Way West) D 3-1 Haden Anderson (Lincoln-Way West)

120 – Kaidge Richardson (Lincoln-Way East) MD 12-1 Caiden Selof (Lincoln-Way West)

126 – Jakob Siwinski (Lincoln-Way West) MD 14-3 James Tverdek (Lincoln-Way East)

132 – Brayden Mortell (Lincoln-Way East) F 3:59 Robye Williams (Homewood-Flossmoor)

138 – Rory Moran (Lincoln-Way East) MD 13-3 Kiaven Sullivan (Hillcrest)

145 – Nicholas Ketcham, Jr. (Bradley-Bourbonnais) F 3:00 Brody Gish (Lincoln-Way East)

152 – Declan Dircks (Lincoln-Way East) F 4:06 Christian Darnell (Lincoln-Way East)

160 – Jackson Zaeske (Lincoln-Way East) MD 18-4 Thomas Leyden (Lincoln-Way East)

170 – Chris Yirsa (Lincoln-Way West) D 4-2 Jimmy Talley (Lincoln-Way West)

182 – Nathan Elstner (Lincoln-Way West) F 0:48 Jadin Billingsley (Rich Township)

195 – Joe Zimmer (Andrew) F 4:12 Mark Argyelan (Bradley-Bourbonnais)

220 – Brandon Bavirsha (Lincoln-Way West) F 1:50 Joe’L Washington (Rich Township)

285 – Ryan Stingily (Lincoln-Way East) F 1:44 Gavin Robles (Bloom Township)

Shepard Sectional (Sunday)

Richards Regional

101 – Joseph Bronske (Marist) D 7-0 Dylan Weber (Marist)

106 – Jake Crotty (Carl Sandburg) TF Ryan Bisonaya (Oak Lawn)

113 – Madden Parker (Carl Sandburg) MD 12-0 Tyson Bruce (Carl Sandburg)

120 – Elijiah Wofford (Bremen) MD 11-0 Nick Nicosia (Carl Sandburg)

126 – Austin Perez (Oak Forest) F 2:58 Jorden McCall (Shepard)

132 – Vince Gutierrez (Carl Sandburg) F 0:34 Leo Flores (Richards)

138 – Jeffery Bellik (Carl Sandburg) D 8-6 Malakai Scott (Bremen)

145 – Kevin Tomkins (Marist) F 3:18 Adnan Askar (Carl Sandburg)

152 – Jason Janke (Oak Forest) D 5-4 Kevin Bartolotta (Marist)

160 – Luke Amelio (Marist) F 1:52 Kyle Herzog (Marist)

170 – Malic Breish (Carl Sandburg) F 0:55 Huthaifa Issa (Richards)

182 – Yazen Ashkar (Shepard) D 4-3 Ilyas Yassin (Carl Sandburg)

195 – Ahmad Alomari (Carl Sandburg) F 0:16 Nathan Pinski-Izguerra (Oak Forest)

220 – Daniel Mahoney (Marist) D 5-3 Danzel Newell (Marist)

285 – Angelo Arellano (St. Laurence) F 1:47 Jeremy Gagnon (Evergreen Park)

Sara E. Goode STEM Academy Regional

101 – Jack Hogan (St. Rita) F Kenye Flanagan (Perspectives)

106 – Luke Pappalas (St. Rita) D 6-5 Josue Tankson (Kennedy)

113 – Jovanni Harris (Little Village) F Monte Bourke (St. Rita)

120 – Polo Sawyers (Harlan) D 1-0 Donald Bunton (Perspectives)

126 – Daniel Cervantes (Hubbard) MD 11-2 Nicario Bella (Perspectives)

132 – Maurice Bush (Perspectives) F Joshua Thorton (De La Salle)

138 – Anthony Westbrook (Hyde Park) D 8-3 Isaiah Diaz (Sara E.  Goode STEM Academy)

145 – Tremayne Cheers (De La Salle) F Deangelo Wilis (Corliss)

152 – Nolan Keenan (St. Rita) F Nicolas Junsman (Kennedy)

160 – Isaiah Baron (De La Salle) D 2-1 Ismael Martinez (Chicago Hope Academy)

170 – Marquis Mays (De La Salle) Inj, Israel Reed (Harlan)

182 – Dylan Wilbon (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy) F Alonta Parker (Hyde Park)

195 – Raul Duarte (Kennedy) D 2-0 Eduardo Seija (Curie)

220 – Mark Kelleher (St. Rita) SV 2-1 Elijah Jamison (Perspectives)

285 – Roy Phelps (Chicago Hope Academy) Inj. Teddy Agilera (St. Rita)

Naperville Central Sectional (Sunday)

Oswego East Regional

101 – Nico Harris (Oswego East) D 4-2 Chase Murrell (Riverside-Brookfield)

106 – Griff Powell (Lyons Township) D 9-3 Tyler Tiangco (Downers Grove North)

113 – Ismael Chaidez (Glenbard East) D 4-0 Connor McDonald (Naperville North)

120 – Tyler Sternstein (Naperville North) F 1:56 Noah Snow (Oswego East)

126 – Brayden Swanson (Oswego) F 2:29 Adrian Wadas-Luis (Naperville Central)

132 – Ryan Rosch (Wheaton North) D 4-1 Braeden Grisham (Oswego East)

138 – Thomas Fulton (Wheaton North) SV 6-5 Chasen Kazmierczak (Wheaton Academy)

145 – Mission Hatchell (Westmont) MD 8-0 Ethan Rivas (Riverside-Brookfield)

152 – Ethan Essick (Oswego) F 2:10 Jovan Cerny (Oswego East)

160 – Alexander Tack (Montini Catholic) F 1:55 Mickey Ahrens (Lyons Township)

170 – Henry Rydwelski (Naperville Central) D 4-0 Nate Woods (Downers Grove North)

182 – Jaxon Lane (Montini Catholic) D 5-2 William Erbeck (Naperville Central)

195 – Tavfik Ibragimov (Naperville North) D 6-4 Justin Davis (Downers Grove North)

220 – Joshua Edwards (Oswego East) F 0:41 Brodie Slou (Oswego)

285 – Peter Rodriguez (Downers Grove North) F 2:09 Jake Kedziora (Naperville North)

Glenbard South Regional

101 – Samuel Sikorsky (Geneva) F 3:18 Brady Podracky (Neuqua Valley)

106 – Carson Prunty (Glenbard West) D 2-0 Advin Murtic (Glenbard West)

113 – Ryan Alvarado (West Chicago) MD 12-0 Trey Thompson (Glenbard North)

120 – Evan Matkovich (West Aurora) F 2:29 Kyle Pasco (Batavia)

126 – Ulises Rosas (Glenbard West) MD 9-0 Jake Cassie (Sandwich)

132 – Elias Gonzalez (Waubonsie Valley) TB 3-2 Alwa Donovan (West Chicago)

138 – Rylan Kradle (Glenbard North) F 0:43 Jondelle Malunay (Glenbard West)

145 – Enzo Fajardo (Batavia) D 5-0 Edvin Murtic (Glenbard West)

152 – Robby Nelson (Yorkville Christian) D 11-5 Treshon Williams (Glenbard North)

160 – Nathan McLoughlin (St. Charles North) F 2:18 Jason Stoffels (Batavia)

170 – Matthew Plumb (St. Charles North) TF Tharun Anand (Metea Valley)

182 – Richie Amakiri (Plano) F 1:12 Kaden Clevenger (Sandwich)

195 – Julian Holland (Glenbard North) D 3-1 Dylan Hendee (Glenbard North)

220 – Asher Sheldon (Batavia) F 3:08 Evan Rector (Neuqua Valley)

285 – Matthew Medina (St. Charles East) F 2:29 Leonidas Hobson (Waubonsie Valley)

Evanston Sectional (Sunday)

Niles Notre Dame Regional

101 – Bernardo Roque (Taft) F Justin Chogllo (Rickover Naval Academy)

106 – David Ruiz (Taft) F 2:06 Mohamad Khater (Ridgewood)

113 – John Greifelt (Notre Dame) F 4:41 Brady Krueger (Notre Dame)

120 – Taylor Francis (Oak Park and River Forest) D 9-3 Isaiah Gibson (Oak Park and River Forest)

126 – Joshua Amorn-Vichet (Addison Trail) F 0:44 Lonnie Daley (Fenwick)

132 – Justin Hernandez (Rickover Naval Academy) F 2:12 Leo Resendez (York)

138 – Andrew Rieger (Walther Christian) F 0:40 Sebastian Gordon (Niles West)

145 – Marquis Deloach (Proviso West) F 4:11 Van Grasser (Chicago)

152 – Emmanuel Leal (Addison Trail) Inj. Daniel Murillo (Proviso West)

160 – Nicholas Ohanion (Fenton) D 9-7 Myles Moriarty (Fenwick)

170 – Victor Vanek (Oak Park and River Forest) F 2:02 Quinn Kovac (Notre Dame)

182 – Lenin Contreras (Morton) D 1-0 Benjamin Martin (Oak Park and River Forest)

195 – John Keigher (Elk Grove) F 4:00 Carey Robinson (Oak Park and River Forest)

220 – Eric Harris (Oak Park and River Forest) D 5-0 Daniel Martinez (Fenton)

285 – Scott Cook (Notre Dame) D 4-1 Alex Hernandez (Niles West)

Glenbrook South Regional

101 – Dimitri Dobre (DePaul College Prep) UTB 0-0 Quentin Williams (Loyola Academy)

106 – Colin Bosak (DePaul College Prep) D 6-3 Benjamin Malmberg (Maine West)

113 – Alexander Valentin (Lane Tech) F 2:04 Jaiden Casillas (Highland Park)

120 – Jack Handley (Maine South) MD 8-0 Hafid Alicea (Maine West)

126 – Dulguun Nyamdavaa (Maine East) D 6-2 Majid Alavi (Maine South)

132 – Nathan Ferrari (Highland Park) F 1:34 Yassin Aitzemkour (New Trier) 

138 – Matthew Brendel (DePaul College Prep) F 1:36 Henry Hafner (Glenbrook North)

145 – Ilan Ruderman (Glenbrook North) D 7-6 Micah Eickbush (New Trier)

152 – Henry Downing (Glenbrook South) F 4:40 Aidan Swenson (Maine South)

160 – Shane Onixt (Glenbrook North) TF Chris Kumiga (Maine South)

170 – Alan Motoa (Glenbrook South) F 0:36 Evan Rioch (Maine South)

182 – Brian Henry (Evanston) F 3:56 Joaqin Gigante (Lane Tech)

195 – Lucas Masek (Maine West) F 1:59 Marcel Debski (Maine West)

220 – Joey Herbert (Loyola Academy) F 1:24 Ian McKnedrick (DePaul College Prep)

285 – Jeremy Marshall (Evanston) D 1-0 Ian Sims (Evanston)

By Curt Herron

CHAMPAIGN – Four champions who repeated, including one who won his fourth-straight title, five individuals who were second last year but took first place on Saturday, a champion from two years ago winning a title again, three other seniors closing out the careers with dramatic title wins and a freshman breaking through to capture a championship.

Those were some of the major stories that played out during the IHSA Class 1A Individual State Finals at State Farm Center in Champaign and as one might expect, there was plenty of drama as half of the title matches were decided by four points or less.

When the final match was completed at 170, Dakota had the most champions with three while the other 11 title winners were all from different schools. 

Dakota senior Phoenix Blakely (42-1) won his third IHSA title and fourth overall after taking first at 132. Junior Noah Wenzel (42-3) won his second-straight title with a first at 220 and sophomore TJ Silva (38-2) bounced from taking second a year ago to claim first at 126.

“It was a great finals and all of the kids wrestled well all tournament, so we were really pleased with that,” Dakota coach Matt Jacobs said. “Going 3-0 in the finals was great. They started with the upperweights, so Noah was first and he had a really tough opponent. He wrestled a really smart match, that was methodical and he was always in control and didn’t get out of position.

“And then TJ was our second champion at 126 and he did a really nice job. I think he was a little tentative at first, maybe some nerves from getting second last year. But then in the third period, when he hit his big throw, he came alive there and he took care of business.

“We consider Phoenix to be a four-time state champion because of the IWCOA state championship his sophomore year. He’s one of the legends now for Dakota, our third four-time state champion. We’re going to miss Phoenix and he’s meant a lot for us the last four years. He’s really a legend for us and the kids are going to look up to his name for years and years.”

Others repeating as champions were Carlyle sophomore Tyson Waughtel (50-1) at 113 and Auburn junior Joey Ruzic (51-2) at 120 while Illini Bluffs senior Paul Ishikawa (51-0) at 145 is a state champion for the second time in three years.

The other 2022 second-place finishers who won state titles were IC Catholic Prep senior Isaiah Gonzalez (17-1) at 285, Unity senior Nick Nosler (52-2) at 195, Lena-Winslow/Stockton senior Griffin Luke (51-1) at 182 and Benton junior Mason Tieffel (52-2) at 138

Individuals who had medalled before at state but won their first championships were Canton senior Joseph Norton (51-1) at 170 and Peotone senior Marco Spinazzola (40-3) at 152. First-time medalists who were also champions were El Paso-Gridley senior Dax Gentes (52-1) at 160 and Riverdale freshman Dean Wainwright (49-1) at 106.

Champions from 2022 who finished in second place were Yorkville Christian senior Jackson Gillen (42-7) at 170 and Riverdale senior Collin Altensey (53-2) at 160. A title winner from last year who took third place was Lena-Winslow/Stockton senior Garrett Luke (53-3) at 152. And a champion from last season who finished fifth was Riverdale senior Brock Smith (53-3) at 138.

Claiming runner-up finishes for the second-straight year were Illini Bluffs junior Hunter Robbins (34-2) at 106, Richmond-Burton sophomore Emmett Nelson (46-3) at 126 and Nazareth Academy sophomore Gabriel Kaminski (30-1) at 220.

Other second-place finishers were Farmington junior Keygan Jennings (35-2) at 113, Yorkville Christian junior Ty Edwards (45-7) at 120, Marian Central Catholic sophomore Vance Williams (41-8) at 132, Newman Central Catholic junior Carter Rude (46-6) at 138, Oakwood/Salt Fork senior Reef Pacot (47-3) at 145, Bishop McNamara senior Luke Christie (35-5) at 152, PORTA senior Bryar Lane (51-4) at 182, High School of Saint Thomas More junior Brody Cuppernell (42-6) at 195 and Auburn senior Cole Edie (47-3) at 285. 

IC Catholic Prep senior Saul Trejo, a 2020 and 2021 champion, placed third at 120. Also taking third place were Anna-Jonesboro sophomore Drew Sadler (51-3) at 106, Lutheran School Association Decatur freshman Clinton VerHeecke (48-2) at 113, Rockridge sophomore Jude Finch (44-5) at 126, St. Joseph-Ogden sophomore Holden Brazelton (49-3) at 132, Auburn senior Dresden Grimm (39-3) at 138 and Princeton senior Augie Christiansen (50-6) at 145.

Others who finished in third place were Yorkville Christian senior Tyler Martinez (45-6) at 160, Fulton senior Zane Pannell (52-2) at 170, Byron junior Kyle Jones (42-9) at 182, Coal City senior Joey Breneman (43-6) at 195, Reed-Custer senior Kody Marschner (40-3) at 220 and Cahokia sophomore Jason Dowell (42-10) at 285.

Here’s a breakdown of the 2023 IHSA Class 1A champions and their weight classes:

182 – Griffin Luke, Lena-Winslow/Stockton

The disappointment of coming up a bit short a year ago in the 170 title match when he was pinned in 6:47 by Jackson Gillen provided great motivation this season for Griffin Luke.

The Lena-Winslow/Stockton senior improved to 51-1 on the season after prevailing 4-3 over PORTA’s Bryar Lane in a clash of the top-two individuals in the 182 championship match. The match was tight throughout and Luke used a late takedown to get the lead for good and then held off Lane’s reversal attempt in the late stages. Top-ranked Luke also took fourth in the IWCOA finals in 2021. Luke won his other three matches by fall, pinning Red Bud junior Ty Carter (34-11) in 2:40 in his opener, winning by fall in 0:35 over IC Catholic Prep’s Foley Calcagno in the quarterfinals and had a pin in 3:38 over Byron’s Kyle Jones in the semifinals.

His brother Garrett, champion at 145 last year, lost in the semifinals at 152 and placed third. The 182 state champion and his PantherHawks teammates got to take part in the the Dual Team Finals for the first time in their careers and the team went 2-1 to claim third place. Griffin Luke added four more wins during the final week to finish with a 55-1 record and Lena-Winslow/Stockton won its fourth state trophy and finished with a 34-6 record.

“It feels great and to finally come out here and do it feels amazing,” Luke said. “I knew that I had to get it done and I wasn’t going to be satisfied if I didn’t. It’s great to have great partners and to have a great twin brother to help push me to become the person that I can possibly be.”

Lane (51-4), who won five tournament titles and had hoped to become the fourth individual from his school to be a state champion, fell just a bit short of achieving that goal one year after missing out on his junior season due to having heart surgery. The PORTA senior, who took sixth at the IWCOA finals in 2021 and will be continuing his education and wrestling career at Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Kentucky, gave Luke all that he could handle in the finals and led 3-2 in the final period before Luke got a late takedown and prevented Lane from reversing him as time wound down. After opening with a fall in 4:34 over Northridge Prep junior Steven Kopecky (26-7) in his opener, Lane won a 12-5 decision over Stillman Valley’s Andrew Forcier and then captured a 10-6 victory over Coal City’s Braiden Young in the semifinals.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better match, it was very close and very action-packed,” Lane said. “Obviously, great job to Luke, he deserves it, he’s worked hard, I can tell. I’m proud of him and everyone who’s on the podium. I came into that match thinking that I was going to win, but also just thinking to let’s just go and have fun. I’m blessed to be here right now, so just go out there and wrestle and have fun, and that’s what I did.

“It was so close, but it’s just another thing to keep pushing for and it makes me want to work even harder. Now I have to go win the national championship at the college level. No matter what happens, always be ready to come back and fight. Every time you get knocked down, it’s not how you got knocked down, it’s about how you got up. That’s what makes you a champion. If you get up and work harder after you’ve been knocked down, people are going to see that.”

Jones (42-9), a junior who was an honorable mention selection in the rankings, claimed third place with a fall in 3:08 over Young. Jones, making his first tournament appearance, opened with a 3-0 decision over Westville senior Craig Johnson and then won a 7-3 decision over Unity sophomore Hunter Eastin (48-7) to reach the semifinals, where he got pinned by Luke. Jones, who also plays football and baseball, then edged Forcier 4-3 to advance to the third-place mat. 

“I took fourth at sectional and didn’t wrestle very well and wrestled timid,” Jones said. “I really felt a lot of nerves and pressure at regionals and sectionals, but I really didn’t feel any pressure and had no nerves coming into this. Now I just want to keep the momentum up.” 

Young (41-3), a senior, who was ranked seventh, was one of four placewinners for Coal City. He won a 5-4 decision in his opener over Tremont senior TJ Conner (42-10) and then by fall in 4:24 over Yorkville Christian senior Christian Durbin (29-16) in the quarterfinals before falling to Lane in the semifinals. Young won an 8-3 decision over Calcagno to reach the third-place match. Young and his teammates on the top-ranked Coalers won their program’s first state title over Yorkville Christian with the senior going 3-1 with a loss to Luke to finish with a 43-4 record.

Forcier (42-9), a senior who was ranked tenth, took fifth place with a 6-4 win by tiebreaker over Calcagno (15-6), a freshman who was ranked sixth. Both lost in the quarterfinals and then won two in the wrestlebacks with Forcer beating El Paso-Gridley senior Cody Langland (41-9) to assure him of a medal and Calcagno beating Eastin to guarantee him a medal in his first year.

195 – Nick Nosler, Unity

There were several individuals who were seeking state titles after falling just short of that accomplishment a year ago and Nick Nosler was one of those. Thanks to three falls and a major decision, he achieved his goal to become a state champion on the final weekend of his high school career and also ended a long title drought for his program in the process.

Nosler (52-2), a senior at Unity who was top-ranked, captured an 11-3 major decision over The High School of Saint Thomas More’s Brody Cuppernell, who was ranked fifth, in the 195 title match, the last of several recent postseason meetings between the pair that were all easily won by Noser. After opening with a fall in 0:24 over Clifton Central junior Joseph Maxwell, he followed with a pin in 1:17 over Taylorville senior William Blue (41-9) in the quarterfinals and won by fall in 4:17 over Coal City’s Joey Breneman, who was ranked sixth, in the semifinals.

A year ago, Nosler lost 8-6 by sudden victory in the finals at 195 to Dakota’s Noah Wenzel, who won the championship at 220 on Saturday. He was one of three Unity athletes who lost in state title matches last season. Nosler, who won all six of his tournaments and was unbeaten against Illinois competitors, is just the fifth individual champion for Unity, and the first one since 1991. And as Joey Wright reported in The News-Gazette, Nosler is also accomplished at crochet and has a business, Nick’s Knitting Service, where he makes hats, among other things. 

“(Coach Logan) Patton said that you don’t feel it until tomorrow,” Nosler said. “I had to act like I was there before and just wrestle like it was any other match I was wrestling. It kind of just feels great, last year’s loss, this year’s, it was all just coming together before I go off to college and wrestle there. It’s pretty great, I’m happy for Patton because he helped me all through these four years. I didn’t make it out of regionals my first year and now becoming the state \champ just feels great.”

Cuppernell (42-6), a junior, earned his first medal in his second state trip after opening with a fall in 1:07 over Wilmington senior Hunter Hayes, then won by injury default in the quarterfinals over Sacred Heart-Griffin senior Cory West, (35-3) who was ranked third, and won a 13-6 decision in the semifinals over Seneca’s Chris Peura, who was ranked seventh. He becomes his program’s highest placewinner and just the third individual from his school to win a medal.

“It was a good year, I had a lot of wins,” Cuppernell said. “We’re all tough, but there’s only five of us. I think we need more people next year and hopefully have a full team.”

Breneman (43-6), a senior who was sixth-ranked and making his first appearance at state, used a fall and then a 9-6 decision over Marengo senior Eddie Solis (39-11), who was ranked ninth, to reach the semifinals, where he fell to Nosler. After capturing a 7-5 decision over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher junior Aiden Sancken, who was ranked eighth, Breneman recorded a fall in 5:26 over Macomb’s Max Ryner to finish third. Breneman’s third-place finish was the highest of all of the Coalers’ four medalists. The next week, he helped Coal City win the dual team title.

“Not in a million years,” Breneman said of his anticipation of a third-place finish at state. “It was awesome. I roll with those guys every day, so when you come down here, it’s just like practice. We’re excited for next week.”

Ryner (52-5), a senior who was ranked fourth and claimed fourth place, was a three-time qualifier who won his first medal. After getting pinned by Peura in his opener, Ryner won his next four matches, getting a pin, beating Blue 7-3, winning by fall in 5:24 over Solis and avenging his defeat to Peura with a 9-3 decision before falling against Breneman for third.

Sancken (35-6), a junior who is a first-time medalist, took fifth with an 8-6 decision over Peura (46-10), a junior who also won a medal for the first time. After losing his opener to Breneman, Sancken won three-straight matches in the wrestlebacks to reach the fifth-place match. Falling one win shy of medals were Genoa-Kingston senior Julian Torres (31-15) and Solis.

220 – Noah Wenzel, Dakota

Repeating as a state champion proved to be a lot easier said than done as two of the six who were in that position settled for second place and two others, with Noah Wenzel being the first, saw their quest for a second title remain in doubt throughout their entire match.

Dakota junior Wenzel (42-3), who took first at 195 a year ago, finally pulled ahead with a 2-1 lead in the third period over Nazareth Academy sophomore Gabriel Kaminski (30-1), who was top-ranked, and held on to win a 2-1 decision. Wenzel not only handed his opponent his first defeat of the season, but he also prevented him from taking first place after losing a one-point decision in the finals a year ago at the same weight. Wenzel, who was ranked third, advanced to the title match with a 3-2 semifinals decision over Reed-Custer’s Kody Marschner, who was ranked second.  After opening with an 11-2 major decision over Eureka senior Landon Wierenga (35-13), Wenzel recorded a fall in 3:55 over East Alton-Wood River sophomore Drake Champlin (46-8), who was ranked eighth, in the quarterfinals.

Wenzel was the first of three champions for Dakota, with TJ Silva (126) and Phoenix Blakely (132) winning consecutive titles. Wenzel also placed fourth in the IWCOA as a freshman so all three of the Indians title winners have won medals in each season that they have competed and Wenzel joins Blakely and eight others from the program who have won two or more state titles.

“I really wanted to get the pace set in the first 30 seconds to a minute with a takedown, but sadly that’s not how it went down,” Wenzel said. “A win is a win, though, and that’s all that matters. I’ve got to fix myself on all fronts and all positions, that’s really what I have to thrive for next year. One thing that really took me off guard today was I saw J.J. Wolfe, someone that I came down to watch and support when I was a kid. And now he’s down here watching and supporting me.” 

Kaminski, who won five tournament titles this season and suffered his first loss in 31 matches, also lost a one-point decision in the 220 title match a year ago to IC Catholic Prep’s Jadon Mims. Kaminski earned his spot in the finals with a fall in 3:26 over LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Jacob Bischoff, who was ranked ninth, after opening with a fall in 2:40 over Johnston City junior Jude Beers (30-9) and then winning a 7-2 decision in the quarterfinals over Macomb’s Ethan Ladd, who was ranked seventh. After finishing second twice to begin his career, the sophomore is his program’s first two-time medalist. Kaminski also was a top performer for the Roadrunners’ Class 5A state championship football team and is also a highly-regarded recruit as a defensive end.

Marschner (40-3), a senior who was a four-time state qualifier, fell a bit short of a title at 220 for the third time, placing second at the IWCOA in 2021 and third both last year and this season. After opening with a win by fall in 3:15 over Robinson senior Craig Markello (26-6), he won a 5-1 decision over Beardstown’s Owen O’Hara, who was ranked fourth. Following his narrow semifinals loss to Wenzel, Marschner beat Ladd by technical fall before pulling out another close decision over O’Hara by a 3-2 margin. Marschner is one of only five Comets who have won two or more medals at state.

“Deep down, I wanted the bracket,” Marschner said. “I worked all summer for it and I came up short. I’m proud of him (Gunnar Berg), nobody thought that he would be here. Trent Lyons is our technician coach and he’s done really good and is a heck of a coach.”

O’Hara (39-3), a senior who qualified for the IWCOA in 2021 and the IHSA in 2020, won his first medal by finishing in fourth place. After opening up with a fall, O’Hara got dispatched into the consolation bracket by Marschner but went on to win three-straight matches, clinching a medal with a 10-2 major decision over Champlin and then advancing to the third-place match following a 5-1 decision over Bischoff. O’Hara is just the fifth state medal winner for the Tigers.

Ladd (50-8), a senior who was a three-time state qualifier, bounced back from a quarterfinals loss to Kaminski to win three consolation matches, winning 3-0 over Markello to assure himself of a medal and claiming fifth with a 4-3 decision over Bischoff (42-11), a junior who also won his first medal. Bischoff used two falls to reach the semifinals, with one in the quarterfinals in 4:55 over Roxana junior James Herring (36-7), who was ranked sixth, before losing to Kaminski. 

285 – Isaiah Gonzalez, IC Catholic Prep

Isaiah Gonzalez wanted to be a state champion even more after losing in the 285 title match to Charles Jagusah a year ago and that desire only grew after he and his teammates were members of a football team that won the IHSA Class 3A championship for the Elmhurst school.

Even though IC Catholic Prep’s top-ranked Gonzalez (17-1) only got to compete in 18 matches in his senior season due in part to his team’s football success, that was ample time to prepare him for a title run in which he recorded three falls and won a close decision to win the 285 title. The third time was the charm for Gonzalez, who also took second in 2021 at the IWCOA finals, as he got a fall in 4:38 over Auburn’s Cole Edie, who was ranked second, in the 285 title match. 

The four-time qualifier opened with a pin in 3:45 over Lena-Winslow/Stockton senior Henry Engel (44-9), who was ranked fifth, followed that with a fall in 1:30 over Fairfield’s Payton Allen in the quarterfinals and then won a 2-0 decision over Cahokia’s Jason Dowell in the semifinals to reach his third-straight state finals. He joins classmate Saul Trejo along with last year’s title winners Nick Renteria, Michael Calcagno and Jadon Mims as well the school’s first title winner, Joey Bianchini, as Knights who won state titles. Gonzalez added two more wins to his total, getting wins in ICCP’s sectional win over St. Laurence to advance to the dual team state, and in their quarterfinals dual meet in Bloomington, where they fell 39-31 to Oakwood/Salt Fork.

“This year my main driving factor was losing twice in the finals,” Gonzalez said. “During the COVID year, at the IWCOA state championships, I lost in the finals and last year I lost in the finals. So I had a lot of motivation from my teammates and from my coaches, basically saying that I had to get over that hump. You cannot make it to the finals two years in a row and lose two years in a row. I was a captain of the (football) team. I wouldn’t necessarily say that it slowed me down, it just felt it was like a little bit of a slower start.”

Edie (47-3), a senior who joined two-time champion Joey Ruzic (120) as a finalist and also  classmate Dresden Grimm (138), who took third place, as medal winners for the Trojans, which equaled their record from 2020 when they had three all-staters. Edie’s third state trip featured three falls leading up to the championship match. He got a pin in 2:53 over Knoxville senior William Stowe (40-9) in his opener, followed with one in 0:55 over Plano senior Alex Diaz (39-8), who was ranked eighth, and then pinned Reed-Custer’s Gunnar Berg, who was ranked third, in 0:44, to join Ruzic as one of the program’s three state finalists. Edie claimed two more wins as  his team won 48-32 over Cahokia in the Vandalia Sectional to qualify for state for the third time and then they fell to eventual runner-up Yorkville Christian 49-27 in the IHSA quarterfinals.

“He’s a helluva wrestler, through and through,” Edie said. “I wanted to wrestle him from the start of the season because I knew he was good. Seeing him in the rankings above me, I was like ‘I want to beat him and I want to wrestle him. So getting out here and getting a chance to wrestle him was awesome. I got beat, but you’ve got to face the best to become the best. So it’s going to help me in the postseason when I’m going up against someone that’s just as good as him. It’s really exciting to know that my season is not over here. I teared up a little bit in the tunnel, but it was like, ‘hey, I’ve still got a week left.If we get to Bloomington, I’ll have fun with my team and we’ll get to see the girls at team state. Our program is amazing from the coaching staff up.”

Dowell (42-10), one of two sophomores who qualified at the weight, took third place with a fall in 1:52 over Berg. After winning his opener over Peoria Notre Dame junior Mike McLaughlin (30-18) with a fall in 0:47, he won a 5-3 decision over St. Francis’ Jaylen Torres (21-3), who was ranked third, before getting edged by Gonzalez in the semifinals. Dowell, who just started wrestling last year and also plays football and baseball, recorded a pin in 1:30 over Cumberland’s Noah Carl to reach the third-place match as one of his program’s two medalists.

“I owe it to my teammates and my coaches for always being there and always pushing me,” Dowell said. “When I’m down, they pick me up and every time, he’s (coach Emanuel Brooks), right there. He’s an amazing man.”

Berg (41-7), a senior, captured his first state medal by taking fourth place. He advanced to the semifinals against Edie after recording a fall in 3:47 over Dixon senior Sean DeVries (35-10) and over Carl in 4:10 and later pinned Allen in 1:01 in the wrestlebacks.

Allen (51-3), a senior who earned his first medal, took fifth place with a fall in 2:41 over Carl, to become just the fourth medalist for Fairfield and its first since 2002. He won three matches in the consolation bracket, 4-2 in sudden victory over Coal City senior Michael Gonzalez (28-9) and denying freshman Torres of a medal with an 11-5 decision. Carl (25-9), also a senior who fell one win shy of winning a medal a year ago, beat Diaz 5-3 in sudden victory to secure his first medal and thus became the seventh Pirate to earn all-state honors.

106 – Dean Wainwright, Riverdale

With Riverdale having four individuals who were ranked fifth or higher, it was a good bet that one of those could end on the top of the awards stand at the IHSA State Finals, especially with senior defending champions Brock Smith and Collin Altensey top-ranked at their weights with 2022 placewinner senior Alex Watson fourth- and freshman Dean Wainwright fifth-ranked.

While the third state medals for Altensey and Smith and the second one for Watson were not what the trio was looking for as they completed their individual careers for the Rams, it was Wainwright who claimed top honors as he completed his debut season unbeaten against competitors from Illinois and wrapped up a 49-1 campaign by winning the championship at 106 with a fall in 3:40 over Illini Bluffs’ Hunter Robbins, who was ranked second. It was the first time that a freshman won a title for Riverdale. In the semifinals, Wainwright captured an 8-4 decision over Anna-Jonesboro’s Drew Sadler, who took third place at 106 a year ago and was top-ranked. Prior to that, he won a 4-1 decision in the quarterfinals over LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Brady Mouser (44-5), who was ranked sixth, and he opened the competition with a fall in 3:15 over Auburn freshman Drayven Hamm (36-18).

Wainwright, who also won five tournament titles, also was a state champion last season, taking first at 95 in Class A in the IESA Finals. His lone defeat was in the semifinals of the Geneseo Invitational where he lost 5-2 to Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Dylan Munson, a placewinner in Class 3A in the Iowa state tournament, who won the 106 title there while Wainwright placed third. The freshman got a final win in his team’s 42-28 loss to Yorkville Christian in the Oregon Sectional.

“Yes, it’s super exciting,” Wainwright said. “It was pretty nervous at first, but I got used to it.. We have good teammates in the room and they all help everyone else out. He (Coach Myron Keppy) is a pretty legendary coach at Riverdale and he’s been doing it for a long time.”

Robbins (34-2), a junior who also placed second at 106 last season, had also only been beaten once before the title match, and that was by Polo/Milledgeville/Forreston/Eastland’s seventh-ranked Josiah Perez in the 113 title match at the Erie/Prophetstown Tournament. After opening with a fall in 1:07 over Nazareth Academy freshman Charlie Dvorak, he pinned freshman Perez (34-6) in 4:39 in the quarterfinals before earning his spot on the title mat with a 1-0 decision over Yorkville Christian’s Aiden Larsen, who was ranked third.

“He’s a good wrestler,” Robbins said. “I wish that I could have had a better match. Now it’s just about trying to get prepared for next year. I’m glad to see it because a lot of them are from around my area. So it’s good to see so many Central Illinois kids here. Our lower weights are tough and that does help because we have a good room. I like the fact that it’s not a very big school so I know everybody and everybody knows me.”

Sadler (51-3), a sophomore, took third place after capturing a 6-2 decision over Peoria Notre Dame’s Ian Akers. Before falling to Wainwright in the semifinals, Sadler won a 6-0 decision over Princeton freshman Augustus Swanson (43-10), who was ranked eighth, and then won a 5-3 decision over Akers in the quarterfinals. He reached the third-place mat with a win by technical fall in 4:16 over Canton’s Maddux Steele.

“It was a heartbreaker, but I still have two more years to come back here,” Sadler said. “To get better than third is what my dreams are and I hope that I accomplish them. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for my coach and my family supporting me.”

Akers (43-6), a sophomore who was ranked fourth, won three matches in the consolation bracket after falling to Sadler in the quarterfinals. In the wrestlebacks, he got a fall in 3:08 over Litchfield freshman Vinny Moore (40-8) and then edged Mouser 4-3 to assure himself of a medal and advanced to the third-place mat after winning by injury default in 4:18 over Larsen. 

Steele (43-10), a freshman, also won three times in the consolation bracket, following a win by technical fall with a 4-1 decision over Perez before falling to Sadler and then taking fifth place by medical forfeit over sophomore Larsen (18-11), who placed fifth at 106 a year ago to help his team win the state title. Larsen added two more wins to his total as the Mustangs advanced to their second-straight appearance in the 1A title match, where they fell 32-31 to Coal City.

113 – Tyson Waughtel, Carlyle

After becoming his school’s  first state champion a year ago, Tyson Waughtel looked to build upon that accomplishment while also equalling the school’s previous total number for state medals won in Champaign, which was two, and those  were claimed in 2019 and 2013. 

Using two wins by technical fall and two decisions to win the 106 title last season to cap a 52-0 campaign, the Carlyle sophomore, who was top-ranked, opened with three wins by technical fall and looked like he might add another in the 113 finals before capturing a 12-1 major decision over Farmington’s Keygan Jennings, who was ranked third, to conclude a 50-1 season.

Waughtel, who also won championships at seven tournaments this season, also beat Lutheran School Association Decatur freshman Clinton VerHeecke, who was ranked second, in 3:21 in the semifinals, Warrensburg-Latham sophomore Logan Roberts in 4:30 in the quarterfinals and Harlan’s Kingston Sawyers in 2:33 in his opener as his opponents only combined to score only three points against him in the tournament and just one point in each of his last three matches.

“It’s the offseason that gets me better,” Waughtel said. “Last year I only tech’d two of my guys and this year I tech’d three of them. I was the number-one seed, so I had huge confidence and also was a returning state champ. The only setback that I really had was my one loss to a 126-pounder, (Shelbyville’s) Calvin Miller and he’s a great opponent. Sometimes when you lose, you learn. I was our first-ever champ and now I guess I’m one-upping myself each year. Two-time, hopefully next year, three-time, and the year after that, four-time.”

Jennings (35-2), who placed sixth at 113 a year ago, now has won one more medal than the program had claimed prior to the last two years, which was one. He also took fifth place at 106 in 2021 at the IWCOA finals. Jennings, whose only other loss came against the 120 champion, Auburn’s Joey Ruzic, won by fall in 2:18 in the semifinals over Marian Central Catholic’s Andrew Alvarado, who was tenth-ranked, recorded a fall in 3:35 in the quarterfinals over Litchfield senior Alex Powell, who was fifth-ranked, and opened with an 8-0 major decision over Riverdale junior Tharren Jacobs (39-11).

“He’s a stud,” Jennings said. “I’ve just got a few more things to work on and I made a couple of mistakes. It was super cool (the Grand March) given the atmosphere and there were tons of people here who were coming to watch you, your family and your friends. It’s huge for our school (placing twice). It helps, too, having all of these kids who are in our local area who are working together. We all used to go to the same club and it turns out that we’re all about the same level, so we get together and train and push each other to get better and better.”

VerHeecke (48-2), a freshman whose only other loss came against Jennings in the Clinton Sectional finals, took third place by capturing a 7-4 decision over Coal City’s Brody Widlowski, his second win of the tournament over the Coalers’ eighth-ranked freshman. Competing for a first-year program that was coached by Zach Whitsel, both he and his brother, freshman Garrett, who finished sixth at 120, reached the awards stand. Clinton VerHeecke pinned Dixon junior Ayden Rowley in 2:45 in his opener and won a 10-3 decision over Widlowski in the quarterfinals. He assured his spot on the third-place mat with a fall in 2:43 over Powell.

“It’s been a lot of fun and I have a lot of support from my coach and my family,” VerHeecke said. “My family has been there pushing me to take all of the opportunities that I’ve been given. The coaches took us from not having anything, not even having wrestling mats to being here on the big stage, so they really stepped up and are really leaders.”

Widlowski (39-3), whose only other loss came against Lena-Winslow/Stockton’s Arrison Bauer at ABE’s Rumble, was one of four medalists for coach Mark Masters’ Coalers. He opened with a 6-2 decision over Murphysboro sophomore Kaiden Richards (41-14) before being sent to the consolation bracket by VerHeecke. Following a 3-2 win over LeRoy/Tri-Valley sophomore Kobe Brent (39-12), who was ranked sixth, Widlowski pinned Wilmington junior Landon Dooley (39-11), who was ranked ninth, in 0:38 and won 6-3 over Alvarado to meet VerHeecke for third. He won all three of his matches last week, with his last victory being a fall in 1:36 over Yorkville Christian’s Eli Foster that secured his team’s first-ever state championship in a 32-31 win.

Alvarado (21-10), a sophomore, won a 3-1 decision over Powell to claim fifth place. Alvarado, who was one of four medalists for co-coaches Jordan Blanton and Ryan Prater’s Hurricanes, beat Brent 12-1 in his opener and Oakwood/Salt Fork freshman Tyler Huchel (36-11) 10-7 in the quarterfinals before falling to Jennings. Powell (44-8), a four-time state qualifier who placed sixth a year ago, became the fifth individual from Litchfield to win two or more state medals.

120 – Joey Ruzic, Auburn

Joey Ruzic realized that his quest for a second state championship might be a little more challenging than when he claimed top honors a year ago at 113 with three major decisions followed by an 8-2 decision over Emmett Nelson in the title match.

And that’s just how things played out for the Auburn junior, who was involved in close decisions in his final two matches in his pursuit of the 120 title. But Ruzic, who was top-ranked at his weight, was up to the challenge, winning 6-3 over IC Catholic Prep senior Saul Trejo, who was ranked third, in the semifinals and then 4-3 on a tiebreaker over Yorkville Christian junior Ty Edwards, who was second-ranked, in the title match. Ruzic (51-2) opened with a fall in 3:36 over Rickover Naval Academy senior Nathaniel Sales and then captured a 14-5 major decision over Rock Falls senior Aaron Meenen (39-9), who was ranked sixth, in the quarterfinals.

It was a big day for Auburn, which also got a second-place finish from Cole Edie at 285 and a third-place effort from Dresden Grimm at 138, equalling the best-previous medals count for coach Matt Grimm’s program, which was in 2020. The program had three individuals who’ve previously placed in the top three, with two of those coming last year when Ruzic went 26-0 to take first at 113 and Grimm finished third at 132. Ruzic, who also claimed a third-place finish at 106 in 2021 in the IWCOA finals, won seven tournaments this season. He added two more wins to his total, winning in his team’s Vandalia Sectional win over Cahokia and then again in their 49-27 loss in the quarterfinals in the Dual Team Finals to eventual runner-up Yorkville Christian.

“I knew this year coming into my weight bracket that it was going to be a little tougher than last year,” Ruzic said. “I knew that I was going to have some good matches so I made sure that I was prepared. It’s real exciting (Auburn with three in the top three). I give him (Cole Edie) an ear when I see him slacking. We were looking to go to state and possibly place. It feels amazing.”

Edwards (45-7), a junior who took second in the IWCOA finals at 106 in 2021, beat Harrisburg’s eighth-ranked Tony Keene with a fall in 2:47 to earn his spot on the title mat. He recorded  a fall in 2:58 over Coal City freshman Aidan Kenney (30-16) in the quarterfinals and opened with an 8-1 decision over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher junior Shawn Schlickman (30-12). Edwards added four more wins to his total last week after getting a win in his team’s 42-28 victory in the over Riverdale in the Oregon Sectional and then three more at the state finals, where the defending champion Mustangs were edged by Coal City 32-31 in the championship dual meet.

“I definitely could have done better in that match, but in the end, it is what it is and I just have to come back stronger next year,” Edwards said. “In my mind, I was like, this is another match and I had to wrestle it my way. Our team is going at it, so I’m happy about that and I’m also happy that I’ll get to have that match again soon at team state.”

Trejo (12-3), a senior who won a state title at 106 in 2020 and took first place at 113 in 2021 in the IWCOA finals, wasn’t able to compete a year ago due to an injury that he suffered just before the 2021-22 season kicked off. He opened with a pair of wins by technical fall, winning in 2:25 over Shelbyville freshman Boodee Fathauer in his opener and in 5:02 over Lutheran School Association Decatur freshman Garrett VerHeecke (43-7) in the quarterfinals. Trejo captured a 10-6 decision over Tremont senior Payton Murphy, who was fourth-ranked, to reach the third-place match, where he got another win by technical fall, this one in 4:12 over Keene.

“Last year I had a torn meniscus two weeks into the season, so I couldn’t come back and was out for the rest of the year,” Trejo said. “It was a bummer because it was a big season for me. My wrestling partner, Nick Renteria took my place at 120 and he won state there. We had three good people in our bracket and I think the thing is that it was just mat experience time because I had less than 10 matches before the state series started.”

Keene (45-4), a junior who won five titles this season and took fourth place at 113 a year ago and was making his third state appearance, opened with an 8-2 decision over Dwight sophomore Dylan Crouch (33-10) and then claimed an 8-6 win by sudden victory in the quarterfinals over Murphy. After getting pinned by Edwards, Keene won a 13-4 major decision over VerHeecke to advance to the third-place match against Trejo. With two state medals, Keene now has one more than the program had when he began competing for the Bulldogs. 

Murphy (40-4), a senior and three-time qualifier, won his first medal and took fifth with an 8-1 victory over VerHeecke (43-7), whose brother Clinton took third at 113 to make history for the first-year program. Canton senior John Davis (40-6) and Meenen fell one win shy of medals.

126 – TJ Silva, Dakota

After losing to Brock Smith 2-1 on a tiebreaker a year ago in the 132 championship match, TJ Silva has been focused on not falling short again when he made his second state finals appearance on Saturday in the 126 title match at the State Farm Center in Champaign.

Dakota sophomore Silva (38-2), who was top-ranked at his weight, pulled away in the third period from Richmond-Burton sophomore Emmett Nelson, who was second-ranked and also a state runner-up at 113 a year ago, and captured a 6-1 decision to make him one of the three champions for coach Matt Jacobs’ Indians, along with four-time title winner Phoenix Blakely, who followed with first place at 132, and two-time champion, Noah Wenzel, who took top honors at 220 earlier in the finals. Silva advanced to the championship match at 126 with an 8-2 decision over Newman Central Catholic junior Brady Grennan, who was sixth-ranked, after recording a fall in 2:37 in the quarterfinals over Farmington freshman Bradlee Ellis (41-11). In his opening match, Silva won by fall in 1:36 over Anna-Jonesboro junior Daniel Dover (42-10).

Silva, who won four tournament titles and also took second place at the Dvorak to St. Charles East junior Ben Davino, who won the Class 3A title at 126 and his other loss came against Washington sophomore Peyton Cox (44-3), who claimed second place at 132 in Class 2A. 

“It feels awesome,” Silva said. “I knew before the match that it was going to be a tough one. So I just had to keep putting pressure on him and just keep wrestling my style, and I did and I got a good outcome and just dominated the match.

“(The three titles) It’s definitely a good feeling because we have one of the toughest sectionals, hands down, in my opinion. We just know how to just grind it out and come up on top. Noah’s win was the spark. And it was just good to keep the momentum going. And Phoenix is one of the best partners that could have ever asked for. He just pushed me in the room all of the time. He’s awesome. Now I just have to keep the momentum going and try to get three titles, that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

Nelson (46-3), who had won five tournament titles, suffered his second defeat one week earlier when he lost 11-5 to Silva in the Oregon Sectional semifinals, where he took third place. His other loss was in the finals at Palatine to York senior Sean Berger (39-4), who took fourth place in 3A at 132. After opening with a 7-2 decision over Oakwood/Salt Fork sophomore Pedro Rangel, Nelson prevailed in sudden victory in the next two rounds, winning 14-9 over Canton senior Trevor Hedges, who was ranked seventh, in the quarterfinals and then 3-1 over Rockridge sophomore Jude Finch, who was fifth-ranked, in the semifinals. He became just the sixth individual from his program to advance to the title match at consecutive state finals.

“It’s crazy since I was right there,” Nelson said. “I wrestled him last week so I kind of had a game plan going. And that sectional was just loaded, it was brutal.”

Finch (44-5) earned his first medal, which was for third place, after beating Hedges by a 6-5 score. Finch prevailed 9-7 in an overtime tiebreaker in his opener against Shelbyville senior Calvin Miller, who was ranked ninth, and then beat IC Catholic Prep junior Omar Samayoa (12-2), who was ranked tenth, in the quarterfinals before being edged by Nelson. He defeated Miller again, this time by a 7-3 score, before capturing a one-point win over Hedges for third place.

“I feel like I could have done better in the semis and won it in overtime but it was a matter of one takdown to win a match or lose a match,” Finch said. “I was in on a lot of shots, I just could never finish and I have to work on that. I have two more years to get to the top of the podium. My brother Reese, a senior, was a great partner and he helped me out a lot and taught me a lot about the sport. He’s a little bigger than me, so he could push me.”

Hedges (48-4), who took fourth at the IWCOA finals in 2021, joined champion Joseph Norton (170) and fifth-place Maddux Steele (106) as medalists for the Little Giants, who tied a school mark set in 2009 for most state placers with three. Hedges beat Coal City freshman Brock Smith (35-16) 10-0 in his opener before losing by sudden victory to Nelson in the quarterfinals. He won by technical fall and then a 12-0 major decision over Roxana freshman Brandon Green, Jr. before pinning Grennan in 1:15. Despite battling throughout a third-place match that featured numerous delays for his injuries, he only lost by a 6-5 score to Jude Finch. Hedges got a victory in the El Paso-Gridley Sectional 57-24 win over Kewanee and claimed his 50th win in his team’s 42-23 loss to Lena-Winslow/Stockton in their initial appearance in the IHSA Dual Team Finals.

Grennan (13-5), a junior who took third at 120 last season and third at 113 in the IWCOA finals in 2021, claimed fifth place with a 3-1 decision over Miller (46-7), a senior who fell one win shy of placing last year, bounced back from his opening loss to Jude Finch to win three-straight matches in the consolation bracket, including a 2-0 tiebreaker over Tremont sophomore Bowden Delaney (42-6), to become his program’s first medal winner since 2016. Roxana freshman Green, Jr. (35-5) and Oakwood/Salt Fork sophomore Rangel (32-9) both lost in consolation round three to fall one win shy of a state medal.

132 – Phoenix Blakely, Dakota

While Phoenix Blakely wasn’t acknowledged as being a four-time state champion, the three-time IHSA title winner and 2021 IWCOA champion considers himself to be in the same class as his uncle, Josh Alber, and also Seth Milks, who both won four titles at Dakota. Blakely, who took first place at 126 last year and won titles at 120 in both 2021 and 2020, took top honors at 132 when he captured an 11-4 decision over Marian Central Catholic sophomore Vance Williams.

Although the IHSA held state finals in some sports in 2020-21, it did not have a state finals for wrestling, so the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association hosted its own competition which has been accepted by many in the sport as having been a legitimate state championship.

Blakely, top-ranked at 132, finished with a 42-1 record with his lone loss coming against Rich Township’s Nasir Bailey (43-1), the Class 3A champion at 138 who also won a third IHSA title to go with one from Texas in 2021, in the Dvorak finals. Blakely also won five tournament titles.

After opening with a fall in 3:09 over Oakwood/Salt Fork sophomore Carter Chambliss, Blakely captured a victory by technical fall in 4:00 over Coal City senior Jake Piatak in the quarterfinals and followed that with another win by technical fall in 4:27 over Vandalia’s Dillon Hinton, who was ranked fifth, in the semifinals. That set up the championship match with Williams, who was ranked third. The victory was the third in three title matches for the Indians, who had earlier received first-place finishes from Noah Wenzel at 220 and from TJ Silva at 126.

“This is my biggest accomplishment,” Blakely said. “It’s been my main goal since I was a little kid, so this is huge. It’s something that’s tough to do, it’s not easy. Dakota is the greatest 1A program that there ever was. I don’t know yet (about the future), it’s whatever comes my way. It was a perfect career for me. It would have been a little better if I didn’t lose as much, but I’ll settle for it.”

Williams (41-8), a sophomore who placed fourth last year at 132, was one of four medalists for the program that’s co-coached by Ryan Prater and Jordan Blanton and he is just the eighth Hurricane who has competed in a state championship match. The pair also met a week ago in the title match at the Oregon Sectional, where Blakely was a winner by technical fall. Williams got to the title mat following a 7-0 decision in the semifinals over St. Joseph-Ogden sophomore Holden Brazelton, who was ranked seventh. After recording a fall in 1:12 in his opener over Murphysboro sophomore Bryce Edwards (43-11), he won 12-6 in the quarterfinals over Clinton sophomore Cayden Poole, who was ranked eighth. 

“I didn’t know what it was going to be like,” Williams said of the Grand March. “They hadn’t done anything like that in IKWF, it was awesome. It’s super fun learning from them (Blanton and Prater), especially with what they’ve learned and what they know works, it’s really paying off. Our team really seemed to flourish and blend together, especially with the help of them. Having them really bond with us  and really show us how it all works.”

Brazelton (49-3), who finished sixth last season at 120, captured third place with an 8-3 decision over Polo/Milledgeville/Forreston/Eastland senior Wyatt Doty, who was ranked second. With the two medals in his first two seasons, Brazelton already is just the fifth Spartan to be All-State two or more times and none had gotten two medals in their first two seasons. After claiming a 15-1 major decision in his opener over Reed-Custer junior Sam Begler, Brazelton edged Doty 4-3 in the quarterfinals and then fell to Williams. Brazelton won a 6-2 decision over Piatak to advance to the third-place match.

“It was a tough match,” Brazelton said of Doty. “He’s a tough kid and he’s really strong. I just came out sharp in this match since I had to get the job done. I feel like I wrestled great and I wrestled smart. Last year as a freshman, I was just happy to be here and I got into a position where I could place. I came back this year with higher expectations and I wanted to do better as a sophomore, and that’s what I did.” 

Doty (44-6), who was making his third-straight state appearance and placed third at 126 last season, recorded a fall in 0:42 in his opener over Roxana freshman Logan Riggs (32-15) before getting bumped into the consolation bracket by Brazelton. In the wrestlebacks, he got a pin in 4:32 over Tremont junior Mason Mark (44-8), who was ranked sixth, and then won by fall in 1:06 over Poole before capturing a 9-2 decision over Hinton. He’s just the fourth Marco to be a two-time All-Starter and the athlete from Eastland is the first to pull off that feat since 2006.

Hinton (46-7), a freshman, was one of three medal winners for coach Jason Clay’s Vandals. He took fifth place with a 10-2 major decision over Piatak. Hinton captured an 11-6 decision over Harvard senior Marques Merida (39-9) in his opener and then won 8-2 over Illini Bluffs junior Ian O’Connor (45-9), who was ranked ninth, in the quarterfinals. Piatak (9-4), who suffered a dislocated elbow in the first week of the season, defeated Mark 6-0 in his first match and then won twice in the wrestlebacks, pinning Edwards in 1:22 to assure himself of a medal, becoming one of the four all-staters for coach Mark Masters’ Coalers, who went on to capture their first state championship one week later at the IHSA Dual Team Finals in Bloomington.

138 – Mason Tieffel, Benton

A year ago, Mason Tieffel didn’t feel like he performed very well in the 126 title match, where he lost by technical fall to Phoenix Blakely. Motivated by that performance, on Saturday, the Benton junior capped a 52-2 season by winning the championship at 138 with a 6-2 decision over Newman Central Catholic junior Carter Rude.

Tieffel joins one of his coaches, Zach Wilson, as the Rangers’ second IHSA champion, with Wilson’s title win coming at a similar weight class, 140, in 2008. Benton also recognizes Gabe Craig as a state champion since he claimed first place in 2021 at 285 in the IWCOA finals. Also in the IWCOA finals, Tieffel claimed third place at 120 as a freshman in a weight class that was won by Phoenix Blakely. He joins Peyton Smith and Wilson as the school’s only two-time IHSA placewinners and he is now their initial two-time finalist.  His lone losses came against Auburn senior Dresden Grimm, who took third place, in the Carterville Sectional semifinals, and to Mascoutah senior Santino Robinson, who capped a 41-0 season with the Class 2A 132 title.

It was the second time in two years that Tieffel, who was ranked second, and Rude, who was fourth-ranked, met at state, with Tieffel claiming a 5-3 decision over Rude in the quarterfinals in 2022. He earned his spot in Saturday’s finals for another marchup with Rude with a fall in 2:29 over Vandalia senior Owen Miller. The quarterfinals once again proved to be a very critical win for Tieffel as he won 9-7 in sudden victory over Riverdale senior Brock Smith, who was top-ranked and last year’s champion at 132. He kicked off his third state appearance with a 9-1 major decision over IC Catholic Prep junior Bryson Spaulding (11-6). 

“That loss last year really motivated me in every practice this year,” Tieffel said. “Coming that close and losing, it’s really tough. One of our coaches, Zach Wilson, also won a title. Being the champ is what I’ve wanted since I was at the beginning of middle school. I’ve wanted it for such a long time and I’ve been close multiple times and I’ve finally been able to do it. People don’t really know wrestling from the south very much, but I’m still going to come in and wrestle as hard as I can.”

Rude (46-6), a junior, also recalls the 2021 IWCOA finals well since that’s where his brother Will captured the title at 138 while he also qualified. Carter Rude took sixth last season at 126. He earned his spot in the championship match with a 10-2 major decision over Grimm, who was third-ranked, after beating Coal City junior Brant Widlowski (22-3), who was ranked seventh, by a 5-0 decision in the quarterfinals and he opened his tournament with a fall in 5:53 over Unity sophomore Kaden Inman (37-16), who was ranked tenth.

“It was fun and I’m proud of how far I came, but I’m not satisfied,” Rude said. “As siblings, we always had that competition and wanted to go against each other. I always wanted to be better than him and he wanted to be better than me.”

Grimm (39-3), a four-time qualifier who was third last year at 132 and took sixth in the IWCOA finals, finished in third place again. Before falling to Rude in the semifinals, he had only lost close matches to Smith and Tieffel. In the wrestlebacks, he won 6-2 over Smith and then recorded a fall in 4:24 over Miller. He opened his tournament with a fall over DePaul College Prep’s Alex Johnson and won a 6-0 decision in the quarterfinals over Dakota junior Jason Bowers, who was ranked fifth. He joined state champion Joey Ruzic (120) and runner-up Cole Edie (285) as medalists for Auburn, who advanced to the dual team finals for the third time after beating Cahokia 48-32 in the Vandalia Sectional. The Trojans lost 49-27 to eventual runner-up Yorkville Christian in the quarterfinals and Grimm claimed wins in his team’s final duals.

“It would have been nice if we had three guys (in the finals), but you kind of have to wrestle with the hand that you’re dealt,” Grimm said. “I came back and got third, but that’s not what I wanted. I was crushed last night and with my dad just talking. Looking back on this in a couple of years, I can at least be happy that I got third and not sixth.”

Miller (43-11), who took fourth place, won a 5-3 decision over Reed-Custer sophomore Jeremy Eggleston (38-11) in his opener and then prevailed 3-1 by sudden victory over Illini Bluffs sophomore Jackson Carroll (47-8), who was ranked ninth, in the quarterfinals. 

Smith (53-3) took fifth place with a a 7-2 decision over Bowers, equalling his finish in 2020 at 113, to close his career as one of the six individuals from Riverdale who won three state medals, joining senior teammate Collin Altensey, another returning state champion, who placed second at 160. His lone loss before the weekend came against Rich Township’s Nasir Bailey, the Class 3A champion at 138, in the finals at Geneseo. Bowers (37-13) was one of four medal winners for Dakota with Noah Wenzel, TJ Silva and Phoenix Blakely winning state titles.

145 – Paul Ishikawa, Illini Bluffs

After winning an IWCOA title at 126 in 20221 and then being disappointed with a fourth-place finish at 138 a year ago, Paul Ishikawa has been focused all season to get back to top of the awards stand, this time at 145 pounds at the IHSA State Finals, and he got the job done.

The Illini Bluffs senior who was a four-time qualifier and top ranked at his weight, capped a perfect 51-0 season by beating Oakwood/Salt Fork senior Reef Pacot, who was ranked second, in the 145 title match by a 3-1 score in sudden victory after getting a takedown with 22 seconds remaining. Ishikawa, who won eight tournament titles this season, advanced to the finals with a 4-2 decision over Herrin’s Blue Bishop, who was ranked eighth, in the semifinals. 

Ishikawa opened with a win by technical fall in 4:47 over Nazareth Academy junior Andrew Fowler and then recorded a fall in 3:16 in the quarterfinals over Murphysboro junior Liam Fox (41-13). He was one of two finalists and medalists for his program, with Hunter Robbins taking second at 106 while Jackson Carroll fell one win shy of getting a medal at 138. Ishikawa and Robbins become the fourth and fifth individuals to be two-time IHSA medalists for their school.

“The state tournament is an upset tournament and I wasn’t trying to get upset, so I wrestled my butt off,” Ishikawa said. “51-0. The State Farm Center goes crazy and it’s amazing. Reef is a great kid and I hope that one day he gets to win a state title. We’re both seniors and hopefully we’ll be national champs some day. I’ll say this, they didn’t want to put on a show, you had to wrestle where you wanted to wrestle and most kids wanted to wrestle somewhere. The IWCOA was a tough tournament, it was a state tournament.”

Pacot (47-3) placed at a state finals for the fourth-straight year with this being his highest finish. He was fifth at 132 a year ago and sixth at 106 in 2020 while taking fourth at 120 in the IWCOA finals in 2021, to become the first individual in his program to win three IHSA medals. Two of his defeats came against Ishikawa. He earned his spot on the title mat with a 6-2 semifinals win over Stillman Valley’s Aiden Livingston, who was ranked ninth. After opening with a 10-4 decision over Princeton’s Augie Christiansen, who was ranked third, in his opener, he won by technical fall in 5:38 in the quarterfinals over Peotone junior Ian Kreske (37-18). In the next week, Pacot closed his career competing in the Dual Team Finals, as his program qualified for the first time with a 46-31 win over Anna-Jonesboro in the sectional. A 39-31 win over IC Catholic Prep assured the Comets of a trophy and they took fourth place after falling to Yorkville Christian and Lena-Winslow/Stockton as Pacot added four wins to reach 51 for the season.

“I came out with second, my best place yet, but I was a little short and what can you do about it? You’ve just got to keep moving on,” Pacot said. “We’ve wrestled against each other and we’ve wrestled on state teams against each other. But he has got such a weird style that I have to wrestle against and it’s only him. You just have to go out and wrestle your match, that’s all that you can do. Our program has grown a lot and hopefully we can go to team state.”

Christiansen (50-6), a senior who not only finally qualified for state but also placed, took third with an 8-4 decision over Bishop in his final match, his fourth-straight win in the consolation bracket after losing his opener to Pacot. He got a fall in 1:09 over Coal City senior Mataeo Blessing (43-5), who was ranked fourth, before pinning Livingston in 2:36. Bishop (47-4), a junior who took sixth last year at 132, won 6-5 by ultimate tiebreaker in the quarterfinals over Blessing. He also won 5-3 over Yorkville Christian senior Drew Torza (38-18) to reach the third-place mat. Bishop is the fourth individual from Herrin to win two or more state medals.

” You have to go one match at a time, especially here, where you have multiple days that you have to worry about,” Christiansen said. “You just have to keep going and have no quit. I didn’t make it out of regionals last year”

Livingston (31-8), a senior, claimed fifth place with a fall in 5:22 over Torza. In his third state trip, Livingston got his first medal after winning a 3-0 decision over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher junior Carson Maxey (36-7) to reach the semifinals. Torza, who placed fourth at the IWCOA in 2021, won two decisions in the wrestlebacks to capture his initial IHSA medal. Richmond-Burton junior Brody Rudkin (39-10) and Blessing both fell one win shy of getting medals.

152 – Marco Spinazzola, Peotone

As the 152 pound title match concluded, Marco Spinazzola stood around for a few seconds wondering whether or not he was a state champion. After some consultations with the officials and timers, it was finally determined that he should be the one that was getting his hand raised following another exciting match with a frequent opponent from his area, Luke Christie.

Spinazzola (40-3), a senior at Peotone who was ranked fifth, and Christie (35-5), a senior at Bishop McNamara, who was ranked fourth, went all the way to the ultimate tiebreaker before Spinazzola was awarded a last-second escape to claim a 2-1 victory. The Blue Devils’ four-time qualifier placed sixth at 138 last year for his first medal. He joins Joey Izzi and Paul Keene as Peotone champions and became the sixth individual from the school to win two or more medals.

Spinazzola had another dramatic match in the semifinals, winning 2-1 by sudden victory over Lena-Winslow/Stockton senior Garrett Luke, who was ranked second and was last year’s champion at 145 and a winner of three other state medals. In the quarterfinals, Spinazzola won a 6-3 decision over Erie/Prophetstown senior Jase Grunder, who was top-ranked. In his opening match, he won by technical fall in 4:45 over Roxana junior Braden Johnson.

“I’d never really been that deep into a match before, so I didn’t know what happened,” Spinazzola said. “I looked over at my coach and he started celebrating and I’m like, ‘does this mean I won?’ I said wait a minute, don’t start cheering yet, we don’t know for sure. Honestly, overtime is one thing, but that was deep into the match that I didn’t know where I was. He was 100 percent the best opponent that I’ve ever had in my entire life. We’d been wrestling almost consecutively every other weekend. He’s been the guy who’s given me the most run for my money. At sectional, he beat me 13-6 and the week before I beat him 3-2 and the first time we wrestled he beat me 11-3. He deserves everything that he’s gotten. He’s one of the nicest guys that I’ve ever talked to.”

Christie (35-5), who placed fourth last season at 152 and also a four-time qualifier, hoped to be a champion like his brother Blain, who won the IWCOA title in 2021. The finalists split their four matches with Christie winning the first matchup and the sectional with Spinazzola prevailing in the regional and state finals. Christie reached the finals with a 5-3 decision over Marian Central Catholic’s Ethan Struck, who was ranked sixth. After winning by technical fall in 5:44 over Westville’s Houston Bryant in his opener, Christie won a 15-4 major decision over Stillman Valley’s Jack Seacrist, who was ranked third. 

“I never want to lose, obviously, and especially to a guy that’s local,” Christie said. “I want to be the best in my area and the best in my state, right? So it sucks, but at the same time, props to him. I would say that people in the crowd thought it was intense because it was state finals. But there were a lot of things going through my head. I’ve been wrestling since I was six years old and have been in overtime a million times. No excuses, he beat me. You never want to lose on a controversial call but I should have held on a second longer, I should have scored earlier in the match, there were a lot of things that I should have done.”

Luke (53-3) bounced back from his tough semifinals loss to Spinazzola to place third with a 7-3 decision over Struck. Luke, a returning state champion, took second in the IWCOA finals and also was third as a freshman. He followed a win by technical fall with a 16-2 major decision over IC Catholic Prep’s Joseph Gliatta before getting edged by Spinazzola. But he closed strong with a 5-2 decision over Seacrist to reach the third-place mat. Only one other athlete from his program, Rahveon Valentine, from 2015-18, has won four medals in state competition. Luke went 3-0 in his final week and helped his program to claim their fourth trophy after they beat Marian Central to qualify for the dual team finals and they won 42-23 over Canton, lost 46-14 to eventual champion Coal City and beat Oakwood/Salt Fork 46-23 to claim third place.

“Last year I was a state champ and had a tough semifinal match,” Luke said. “Coming back and losing in the semis was obviously tough, but I wrestled back and took third. I’ve been really fortunate. My freshman year, I didn’t expect much and came out with third place and that kind of opened my eyes to a brand new horizon. And obviously, the last three years I’ve been pushing it, and it’s paid off.”

Struck (37-15), a senior who last qualified in his freshman year, used two decisions to reach the semifinals, winning 9-2 over Macomb senior Carter Hoge (45-9) and 5-0 over Oakwood/Salt Fork junior Bryson Capansky (41-10) in the quarterfinals before being edged by Christie. He won 2-1 by ultimate tiebreaker over Grunder to reach the third place mat.

Grunder (50-6), a senior who placed fourth at 145 last year and was making his third state trip, overcame his quarterfinals loss to the eventual champion by winning two close matches in the wrestlebacks, winning 2-1 over Coal City sophomore Landin Benson (23-7) in a tiebreaker and then winning 3-1 over Gliatta to assure that he would get another medal. Only six other athletes from Erie or Prophetstown have won two or more state medals. Seacrist (36-7), a senior who took second place at 152 a year ago, bounced back from his quarterfinals loss to Christie by recording falls in the consolation bracket over Unity sophomore Ryan Rink (37-18) and Johnson to assure himself of a second medal. Gliatta and Johnson both fell one win shy of getting to the awards stand.

160 – Dax Gentes, El Paso-Gridley

While Dax Gentes wasn’t one of the favorites to capture top honors at 160, that didn’t discourage him from putting together an impressive tournament run where he beat three-straight opponents that were ranked ahead of him in his quest to be a state champion.

The El Paso-Gridley senior improved to 52-1 on the season after defeating a returning state champion, Riverdale senior Collin Altensey, who also was top-ranked, with an 11-3 decision in the 160 championship match. Gentes, who was ranked fifth and won his first state medal, jumped out to an early 5-0 lead over the 2022 champion at 152 and 2020 state placewinner, Altensey, who was unable to recover from the early deficit as he suffered his second defeat,

Gentes, who won eight tournament titles this season, earned his spot in the finals with a 7-4 decision over Marian Central Catholic’s Max Astacio, who was ranked third, and he also claimed a 6-3 win in the quarterfinals over Vandalia’s Eric McKinney, who was ranked fourth, avenging his only defeat of the season. He opened the competition with a fall in 1:15 over St. Laurence senior Henry Coughlin. As a result, Gentes, who fell one win shy of winning a medal last season and was making his third state appearance, becomes one of six athletes from El Paso or El Paso-Gridley to win an IHSA title. He got a forfeit win in his final match at his school when his team faced LeRoy/Tri-Valley in the sectional.

“I knew that he was the defending state champ and obviously people expected me to be the underdog coming into this match, but I knew that we both deserved to be here and I had a tough ride to the finals,” Gentes said. “I knew that I was going to have to push the pace and give it my all for six minutes hard to win. 

“I figured I might try a flip or something scrambly and he ended up on his back and I knew from having been in that position, so I was just comfortable there, stay in bounds, keep him on his back and hold him there. Getting that point lead was a huge advantage for me and I knew at that point I had just had to keep dominating and scoring more points.

“This has been awesome. I was telling everyone, all of my family and friends that no matter what, I was just going to have fun. This is a tough sport and people get beat up all day and you see people ending their seasons. But at the end of the day, you just have to have fun and live with it. I love the sport and obviously I hate losing, but win or lose, I was going to have fun. I’d love to continue my athletics career in wrestling in college.”

Altensey (53-2), who along with classmate Brock Smith, were hoping to join two others from Riverdale who won two or more titles, but instead, the program got a title from a freshman Dean Wainwright, who took top honors at 106. Altensey, who also placed fifth in 2020 and won five titles this season, got wins by technical fall in his first three matches, needing 3:40 to beat Lawrenceville senior Brian Seed (43-9), going 3:11 to win over Hoopeston Area sophomore Angel Zamora (41-12) and then needing 1:58 to defeat Shelbyville’s Will Fox (35-9). He picked up one final win on Tuesday when his team met eventual runner-up Yorkville Christian in the Oregon Sectional.

Yorkville Christian senior Tyler Martinez (45-6), who was ranked second, took third place for the third-straight year after bouncing back from a first-round loss to McKinney with five-straight wins in the wrestlebacks. He assured himself of another medal with a 5-1 decision over Carlinville senior Jake Schwartz (42-6), who was ranked seventh, and claimed a 3-1 victory over Astacio to again face McKinney, and he avenged his earlier defeat with a 3-1 win by sudden victory.

“This was my third year doing this and I had a tough loss on the front side of the bracket,” Martinez said. “But I think I’m like 15-0 on the backside of the bracket. We’re looking to repeat down in Bloomington as a team and bring home another state championship for the school. I might not win one by myself, but as a team, I know that we have more than enough.”

McKinney (50-5), a senior who was making his third state appearance and won his first medal, bounced back from his quarterfinals loss to Gentes with decisions over Coal City senior Jack Poyner (36-14), who was ranked tenth, Manteno junior Carter Watkins (32-8), who was ranked ninth, and Fox, who was ranked sixth, to reach the third-place mat.

Astacio (42-10), a junior who earned his first state medal, took fifth place with a fall in 4:44 over Fox (35-9), a senior who also was a first-time all-stater. Astacio used a fall and a 7-1 decision over Watkins to reach the semifinals, where he lost a close match to Gentes. Fox won 5-4 in sudden victory over Lena-Winslow/Stocton junior Jared Dvorak (45-9) and was an 8-4 winner over Deer Creek-Mackinaw senior Gage Sweckard (41-13) before falling to Altensey. Schwartz and Watkins both fell one shy of receiving a medal.

170 – Joseph Norton, Canton

After finishing in third place a year ago at 170 and also placing third at the IWCOA finals, Joseph Norton was determined that he was going to be a state champion in his final season, but there was just one problem, a returning state champion stood in his way.

Undeterred, the Canton senior capped a 51-1 individual season by capturing a 10-6 decision over Yorkville Christian senior Jackson Gillen in the 170 title match to become his program’s third state champion. Gillen, who was top-ranked, won the 170 title a year ago, but second-ranked Norton got off to an early lead in the finals and went on to claim his fifth tournament title. After opening with a fall in 2:26 over Northridge Prep senior Michael Kopecky (24-6), he won a 9-2 decision over Riverdale’s Alex Watson, who was ranked fourth, and then he captured a 12-2 major decision over Cahokia’s Nick Deloach, Jr., who was ranked ninth, to advance to the title mat.

Additional good news for Norton was that his special season was not over yet. On Tuesday, the Little Giants defeated Kewanee 57-24 to advance to the IHSA Dual Team finals in Bloomington. Norton, who added two more victories in the dual meets, has been a leader for coach Zach Crawford’s program and helping his program to their first dual team finals is a fitting ending to his career. Canton fell to Lena-Winslow/Stockton 42-23 on Friday, capping a special season when they won their first regional since 2009 and third ever, had three sectional champions and a record six state qualifiers and had three placewinners and nearly a fourth.

“Last year I was in the three spot because of a loss in that match and this year I came out on top,” Norton said. “I wrestled like I wanted to win, and that’s what I did. (The Grand March) It was so exciting and when I was out there, I felt like my legs were all jelly. I was ready for that match and it just showed out on the mat. We had a great team with great teammates, it was a whole family. As of right now, I don’t know if I’ll keep wrestling, but whatever happens happens.”

Gillen (42-7), who was vying for his fifth tournament title of the season, reached the finals with a fall in 3:20 over Unity’s Kyle Root, who was sixth-ranked. He opened with a pin in 1:15 over 

Murphysboro senior Dayton Hoffman (37-3), who was ranked eighth, and then won 12-4 over Coal City senior Derek Carlson, who was fifth-ranked, in the quarterfinals. He suffered his first loss to an Illinois competitor in the Oregon Sectional semifinals to Fulton’s Zane Pannell and then couldn’t compete in the third-place match there. But Gillen continued his season as his team looked to repeat as state champions. He added four more wins to his total as the Mustangs beat Riverdale 42-28 in the Oregon Sectional, Auburn 49-27 in the quarterfinals and Oakwood/Salt Fork 47-24 in the semifinals before falling 32-31 to Coal City in the state championship dual meet.

Panell (52-2), a senior who was ranked third, improved on last year’s fifth-place finish at 170 by taking third place with a fall in 3:46 over Root. Pannell, who won seven tournaments this season, opened with a fall in 2:30 over Robinson senior Jared Hermann (40-6) but then lost an 8-4 decision to Root in the quarterfinals. He bounced back with four-straight wins in the consolation bracket, capped by a 7-3 decision over Carlson and a fall in 5:39 over Deloach Jr. before avenging his earlier loss to Root. While Pannell fell short of winning a title like his brother Eli did in 2019, he joins him and three others as Steamers who won two or more state medals.

“Wrestling the same guys again makes me feel better because I have another shot at winning,” Pannell said. “I would have rather got first like my brother (Eli), who got first in his senior year. My goal was to always beat him.”

In his third state appearance, Root (48-8), a senior, was able to get a medal, which was for fourth place. After opening with a fall in 2:37 over Seneca senior Colin Wright (41-14), Root won 8-4 over Pannell before getting pinned by Gillen in the semifinals.Then he beat Watson with a 7-2 decision to reach the third-place mat. 

Deloach Jr. (42-10), who’s a senior, earned his first medal and took fifth place with a 4-3 decision over Watson (50-8), a senior who took fifth at 160 a year ago and was one of Riverdale’s four medalists. Falling one win shy of state medals were Reed-Custer junior Rex Pfeifer (45-7) and Coal City senior Derek Carlson (36-8).

By Mike Garofola

This year’s Class 3A field of the IHSA Dual Team State Tournament in Bloomington featured several schools that had been away from the competition for some time, as well as a couple that were making their state debuts.

One team that had one of the longest droughts of any of the eight in the Class 3A finals was St. Charles East, which had made two prior appearances, placing third in 1997 under IWCOA Hall of Fame coach Mick Ruettiger, who was on hand this weekend, and then falling in the quarterfinals in its last visit in 2001, when Steve Smerz was the head coach.

Not only did the Fighting Saints’ 22-year absence from the state finals come to an end this year, the program advanced to the championship for the first time and defeated Marmion Academy 28-24 on Saturday at Grossinger Motors Arena to capture their first state title in the sport.

Coach Jason Potter’s Saints (22-1), who only lost one dual meet all season to eventual Class 2A runner-up Joliet Catholic Academy, edged defending champion Mount Carmel 32-30 in the quarterfinals before beating Yorkville 44-25 in the semifinals to earn their spot against Marmion.

Coach Anthony Cirrincione’s Cadets (18-2) also suffered a loss to JCA. Marmion had last been in the state finals in 2019, when they capped a run of seven-straight state appearances from 2013-2019 under coaches Ryan Cumbee, Donald Reynolds and Nathan Fitzenreider, that featured two second- and two third-place finishes.

Marmion, which beat  Hersey 36-31 in the quarterfinals, advanced to the championship match for just the third time following a 36-30 semifinals victory over Lockport, who took third place. This equalled Marmion’s best previous finishes, second in 2013 under Cumbee and second in 2016 under Reynolds.

In the title meet, the Saints got wins from Ben Davino (126), Tyler Guerra (138), Jayden Colon (145), Lane Robinson (170), Brody Murray (182), Dom Munaretto (106) and AJ Marino (120) while the Cadets countered with victories from Jameson Garcia (132), Tegan Chumbley (152), Collin Carrigan (160), Jack Lesher (195), Teddy Perry (220), Sean Scheck (285) and Nicholas Garcia (113). 

St. Charles East had a fall from Davino, a forfeit win by Munaretto and major decisions from Colon and Marino to go with three decisions while Marmion had a win by technical fall from Perry and a major decision from Lesher along with five decisions.

Lockport beat Yorkville 45-16 to claim third place. The Porters (19-9) are coached by Jameson Oster while the Foxes (18-7) are coached by Jake Oster. It’s the first time in the history of the dual team tournament that teams coached by brothers met on the final weekend. In 1989 in AA, Bill Cartwright’s Proviso East team took fourth while Jim Cartwright’s Conant squad lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Providence Catholic but the brothers’ squads did not meet.

A year ago, the Porters were coached by Josh Oster, the oldest brother of the three, and they beat Yorkville 39-24 in the St. Laurence Sectional to advance to Bloomington, where they took third place. That was the first time that programs led by two brothers squared off to see whose team would reach the quarterfinals. 

This was the eight state appearance for and the fifth trophy won by Lockport, which took first place in 2017, third place in 2016, 2022 and 2023 and fourth place in 2015, with the previous qualifying teams and trophy winners all coached by Josh Oster.

Yorkville was making its sixth state appearance and its first trip since 2012 in the dual team tournament, and it has placed all six times that it qualified, taking first place in 1993 and 1994 in Class A and third place in 1995 in Class A under Bob Long and second place in 2A in 2009 under Shane Darnell and in second place in 2A in 2012 under Joe Fornell. The Foxes also won a state title in 1976, took second place in 1974, 1977 and 1978 and claimed third place in 1979 when the individual tournament was scored.

In the third-place meet, the Porters got wins from Logan Kaminski (138), Chris Miller (152), Durango Valles (160), Logan Swaw (170), Aidan Nolting (182), Payton Roberson (195), Wojciech Chrobak (285), Dominic Vukobratovich (106), Isaac Zimmerman (113) and Liam Zimmerman (120) with the Zimmermans and Roberson getting pins and Miller, Valles, Nolting and Chrobak winning major decisions. The Foxes’ winners were Dominic Recchia (126), Jack Ferguson (132), Ryder Janeczko (145) and Ben Alvarez (220), with Alvarez getting a fall and Janeczko a major decision.

In one semifinals, Marmion trailed Lockport 12-3 through four matches after the Porters got wins from Anthony Sutton (120), Liam Zimmerman (126) and Kaminski (138) while Jameson Garcia (132) won for the Cadets. But Marmion won six of the final 10 matches to reach the title dual. Winning those latter matches were Santino Scolaro (145), Carrigan (160), Lesher (182), Perry (220), Scheck (285) and Nicholas Garcia (106) while Valles (152), Swaw (170), Nolting (195) and Vukobratovich (113) won for Lockport.

In the other semifinals, St. Charles East won six of the first seven matches to take a 32-3 lead and went on to claim a 44-25 victory over Yorkville. Getting wins for the Saints were Logan Tatar (120), Davino (126), Guerra (138), Colon (145), Gavin Connolly (145), Anthony Gutierrez (160), Murray (182), Brandon Swartz (195) and Munaretto (106). The Foxes got wins from Recchia (126), Luke Zook (170), Alvarez (220), Logan Fenoglio (285) and Liam Fenoglio (113).

Two teams made their tournament debuts, York (24-10) and Warren (15-5). Coach Nick Metcalf’s York Dukes fell 43-25 to Yorkville in the quarterfinals while coach Brad Janecek’s Warren Blue Devils lost 46-18 to Lockport in that same round.

York received wins from Jake Kubycheck (113), Zach Parisi (120), Sean Berger (132), Evan Grazzini (182) and Dominic Begora (285) in its loss to Yorkville. Meanwhile, Warren got victories from Carlos Ordonez (113), Aaron Stewart (152), Justice Humphries (170) and Anthony Soto (220) in its loss to Lockport.

Defending state champion Mount Carmel (10-4) made its 14th state finals appearance but was unable to capture a trophy for only the fifth time after allowing falls in its last two matches to see a 30-20 lead over St. Charles East turn into a 32-30 defeat. This was the third team that coach Alex Tsirtsis has taken the Caravan to state with last year’s squad winning the title and the 2020 team taking second place.

Winning matches for the Caravan against St. Charles East were Lukas Tsirtsis (113), Seth Mendoza (120), Jairo Acuna (132), Sergio Lemley (138), Edmund Enright (152), Colin Kelly (170), Rylan Breen (182) and William Jacobson (220). Mount Carmel won eight matches but was outscored 14-6 in bonus points by the eventual state champion.

Hersey (12-5) came up a bit short against Marmion in its third state appearance and first since 1997. Getting wins for the Huskies were Anthony Orozco (120), Max Mukhamedaliyev (132), Fortis Variano (170), Anthony Cambia (195), Oleg Simakov (285) and Dan Lehman (106).

Coach Joe Rupslauk led Hersey to the dual team state finals for the first time since 1997 and this was the program’s third state appearance.

From the moment that Hersey opened its doors, wrestling became a force in the area and around the state. Under head coach Tom Porter, the Huskies lifted the IHSA championship trophy in 1971, and 1972, while celebrating state titles from Jim Battaglia, plus a pair from Brad Smith, with Tad DeLuca, Kevin Pancrate and Pat Teefey all collecting state medals as well.

After that, the program would go through a long dry spell, with Rick Mann leading his 1993 and 1997 clubs to dual team state, only to be eliminated with first-round defeats.

So you can imagine how ecstatic Rupslauks’ sixth-ranked men were when they went by league rival Prospect, 34-21 last Tuesday before a big crowd in the intimate setting of Marlowe Middle School in nearby Lake in the Hills at the Huntley Dual Team Sectional.

“This win tonight is a product of a group of young men, and their families, who have made the commitment to each other, our coaching staff, and the Hersey wrestling program, and right now, I cannot tell you how proud I am of all these guys,” said Rupslauk, before his club climbed to the top of the bleachers for a photo op from a thrilled group of fans, families and peers.

“Tonight was a culmination of so many of us putting the extra work in all throughout the offseason at camps, training, and out-of-town tournaments, it’s a great way for the seniors to go out and for the guys coming back, just a great experience, and accomplishment,” said senior Aaron Hernandez, a two-time state qualifier, who helped his club easily win the Dundee-Crown Regional to advance into this sectional.

Hernandez opened this contest with a 6-5 decision over four-time state qualifier Damien Puma to start what would be an early intense, tight dual between two longtime MSL East rivals that had the No. 7 Knights (20-8-0) chasing a one-point lead by the Knights after Ben Erhabor came back to beat Conor Mitchell, 9-8.

“(This) is just an amazing feeling right now,” said the four-year veteran Erhabor, who will attend the University of Michigan in the fall, and will enter the Nursing Program there. “We all believe in ourselves, and each other, and the support we’ve received from the coaching staff, school, and parents has made our room feel like a real family so I am not surprised by our success at all.”

“Ben is quite a young man,” Rupslauk said. “He’s the consummate leader (he) stayed back with coach (Jim) Wormsley to run training sessions for us, instead of coming to the state tournament, and made sure that everyone was mentally, and physically ready for Prospect tonight.”

The Huskies would go in search of increasing their lead and after the state qualifying trio of Oleg Simakov (285, 41-10), Danny Lehman (106, 37-11) and Abdullokh Khakimov (113, 36-14) recorded a pin, technical fall and major decision, the MSL champs were suddenly leading 24-8.

“Those four-straight wins were big for us, but when Max (Mukhamedaliyev, 126, 38-17) and James Shaffer (132, 29-19) gave us two big wins after (Joel) Muehlenbeck’s at 120 kind of slowed us down a bit,” said Rupslauk.

Muehlenbeck (34-13) earned his first state medal of his career, along with Jaxon Penovich (45-7) who capped a marvelous rookie season with a fifth-place medal at 195.

With the score standing at 31-11 in favor of the Huskies, impossible for the Knights to overcome, Rupslauk decided not to forfeit his last three matches in order to give Prospect star Will Baysingar (51-1) one last high school match.

“(That) was a real classy move on behalf of Joe, and his staff to allow the last three weight divisions to wrestle, especially (Will) who in most cases would have had to take a forfeit with the match way out of hand,” said Prospect head coach, Dan Keller, whose club crushed the field at the Fremd Regional to advance to this dual team sectional.

“Will has had an unbelievable career, he’s been the face of Prospect wrestling, and will leave here as the leader in wins, pins, takedowns, and just about every other statistic, while being a tremendous leader, and role model for others to follow.

“It would have been tough to be unable to wrestle one last time in high school, so I really appreciate what Rupslauk, and his team did in order to go out there tonight,” said Baysingar, who after his pin midway through the second period, went through the entire line of Huskies along the edge to accept their best wishes, before receiving a big bear hug from Keller on the Knights’ side.

“I don’t leave with any regrets,” said Baysingar, who will wrestle at Illinois next fall. “I won four state medals, one state title, and was state runner-up these past two years, but it’s been a great experience while here with a great bunch of teammates along the way, and coaching staff, and I believe I’ve been able to give back so much to our program, and hopefully helped lead the way for the next group coming through.”

On the other side of this cozy gym, a young, and ever-improving No. 14 Warren (15-4-0) got off to a flying start and never looked back as it overwhelmed Belvidere co-op, 60-16, to earn a berth in the 3A dual team state quarterfinals for the first time in program history.

The Blue Devils took inspiration from a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory by its rookie sensation Royce Lopez over three-time state qualifier, and recent state medalist Antonio Alvarado (52-3), who finished third in Champaign at 145, but bumped to 160 on this night where he faced Lopez (38-12) who was one win away from grabbing a state medal last weekend.

“It was the perfect way for us to get going tonight,” said Warren coach Brad Janecek, whose club has just two seniors on its roster, and five freshmen and sophomores, all of whom would be key figures in the Blue Devils capturing the Lake County Invite, then the Grant Regional to win a berth in this dual team sectional.

“Our program was really awful the last couple of years, but with the influx of two great freshmen like (Royce) and Aaron Stewart, plus a coaching staff that trains us so differently, and in so many ways, things turned around really quick for us,” Blue Devils senior Evan Onstad saif.

Onstad (31-7), a state qualifier at 138, was one of eight who recorded a pin on this night, the first coming from Demetrius Lin at 182, followed by a lightning-quick pin from Jeremija Hixson (34-11) at 195.

“This team has really turned around to become a very good wrestling program, it’s exciting to come into the room, and see all of the talent we have – I am really glad I’ll be back next season,” said Hixson, a three-year veteran who also is a defensive end and fullback on the football team.

Colin Young (46-7), one of three from Belvidere co-op who advanced to state, gave his club a brief lead after his pin at 1:59 followed the Lopez victory.

The 6-3 advantage would be short-lived when Lin, Hixson, Caleb VanLeer (forfeit), Anthony Soto (26-9) and Jonathan Marquez (28-6) at 106 went on a 30-0 scoring spree before 106-pound state runner-up, Brayden Teunissen (41-2) stopped the bleeding with his major decision victory at 113.

“(That) was a very good team from Warren we faced,” said Belvidere co-op head coach, Danny Martinez, who had just three seniors in a lineup that won its second straight NIC-10 conference title, and first regional crown since 2004.

“Despite this loss, we have brighter days ahead of us because we’re so young, and we have so many terrific guys coming back including Brayden and Colin, of course, and a bunch of guys who have really come around this season.”

“Nobody likes to have their season end the way it did tonight, but we had a really good year (and) to get to this dual team sectional says a lot about this team, and the way we’ve come together to get this far,” began Alvarado, a three-time state qualifier, who was fifth last season.

“I hope to wrestle next fall, Illinois is my first choice, but right now I am still sorting things out as far as where I’ll go to college,” continued Alvarado, who won six majors this season, including Barrington’s Moore-Prettyman, Sycamore, conference, regionals and sectionals.

Belvidere sophomore Dominick Girardin won his 30th match of the year with a pin at 145, before Aaron Stewart (44-2) continued his extraordinary rookie season when he ended this near-perfect night for the Blue Devils by taking a forfeit at 152.

“We told the guys after we won the Lake County Invite that we still had some unfinished business to take care of, and that was winning a regional championship, then qualifying for dual-team state, and the guys have been working hard everyday in the room to accomplish what we set out to do,” said Janecek..

“There are a lot of reasons for us going to state, the dedication to work to be better from the guys has been important, and their willingness to soak up whatever they can from a first-class group of assistants might be the main reason for our success.”

• 

by Mike Garofola

The 84th running of the boys’ 3A individual wrestling tournament had a little bit of everything throughout three days in Champaign to keep a raucous crowd alive and engaged.

This wrestling marathon produced triumphs, upsets, breakthroughs, overtime thrillers, and enough storylines to fill a 100-page publication.

The northern half of the state would dominate the final session with 14 individual champions, with St. Charles East taking home a trio of big brackets, and Mt. Carmel with two.

The two state powers, who will meet in a dual-team state quarterfinal Friday in Bloomington, combined for 15 overall medals, with Jason Potters’ club leading the way with 9 medals across the weight divisions.

East Suburban Catholic Conference champ Marist and Marmion Academy were next up with four medals each.

So to better commemorate the events of three days of competition, here’s a much closer look at each division’s champ, and its state medal winners:

106: Dom Munaretto, St. Charles East

Dom Munaretto has won on the world stage, and this season dominated on the prep scene. And despite all of his success, the St. Charles East freshman embraced his first-ever IHSA state title as much as anything he has won.

With his all-out attacking assault, savvy, silky smooth set-up, and non-stop pace and energy, Munaretto (50-0) gave the Saints their first of three state titles, with his 19-7 major decision victory over the talented sophomore from Belvidere North, Brayden Teunissen.

“This feels so awesome right now to win my first state championship,” said Munaretto, while becoming a key figure in the Saints advancing to the 3A Dual-Team state tournament for the first time since 2001.

“Wrestling here at St. Charles East is better than I ever expected, and to be a part of a team in a great room with great coaches is something that’s really been a lot of fun,” added Munaretto, who needed a little extra time to break down the aforementioned Teunissen (48-3), who has also enjoyed a sensational season at North, which recently won its first regional title since 2004.

“(Brayden) was a good opponent, but I know he didn’t want me to open up – so he tried to slow me down and tie me up,” Munaretto said. “It was important to be patient, continue to shoot, look to my angles, and just wear him down with my fitness, and pace.”

Munaretto’s plan worked when the lead went from 4-1 at three minutes, to 8-2, then 11-4, before a third-period explosion would guarantee a lop-sided victory.

“Dom is a guy who is always looking to improve – he’s always trying new moves, and pushing his limits on what he can, and cannot do on the mat,” said teammate Ben Davino, who is a frequent partner of Munaretto – who was a 2022 World Champion representing the United States in Rome in the 45kg category, and No. 3 in most national polls.

The next four men after Munaretto and Teunissen all earned their well-deserved first state medals. In order of finish, third- through sixth-place:  Rocco Hayes (Sandburg, 41-7); Nicholas Garcia (Marmion Academy, 28-6); Caden Correll (Normal Community, 51-2); and Maddox Garbis (Plainfield North, 42-5).

113: Seth Mendoza, Mt. Carmel

It was time to pull the fire hose out because Seth Mendoza was just burning things up on mat No. 1 on Saturday night.

The Mt. Carmel sophomore kept the Caravan faithful alive and alert with his high energy, all-action attack that gave him a 3-0 lead from early in the second period, to an eventual tech-fall at 5:46, as the now two-time state champion finished off Deion Johnson (33-7) of Homewood-Flossmoor by a score of 23-8.

Mendoza, who recorded a tech-fall in his 106 final last season, registered a trio of tech-falls, including his 2023 title match.

“It’s always about extending my lead during matches,” Mendoza said. “Deion, I knew if I did just that he would have a difficult time keeping up with my pace.”

With clinical precision, Mendoza would pick apart the No. 2-rated Johnson (33-7), who advanced into this final after edging Brady Phelps of Schaumburg, 4-3 in their Saturday morning semifinal.

Phelps (40-2) was sixth a year ago and now added a fifth place medal to his collection.

Dominic Ducato (35-3) who is on his way to wrestle next fall at St. Cloud State, finished off a sensational season and career for head coach Gary Conrad, who is stepping down after 11 seasons in charge at Jacobs.

“I am super proud of both Dom and James Wright (sixth at 138) – I’ve known both since they were eight-years old in kids club,” Conrad said., “For me, it’s a great way to go out with these two great young men, who have been so dedicated to our program, with each having great families to share this experience with.”

Ducato would avenge a 4-2 loss suffered here a year ago at the hands of Ethan Spacht (Bradley-Bourbonnais, 41-7) in the quarterfinals – then defeat Spacht once again for third place with a 3-2 decision.

Batavia junior Ino Garcia (Batavia, 25-9), fourth in 2022, added a sixth-place medal to his resume.

120: Massey Odiotti, Loyola Academy

Up until the arrival of Massey Odiotti, the cupboard was nearly bare of state medals at Loyola Academy, except for a sixth-place finish by Michael Paloian in 2012 at 182.

Following his first appearance at state in 2021, Odiotti was runner-up to three-time state champion Ben Davino in 2022, before turning in a memorable and magnificent final year for the Ramblers that would end with the Northwestern-bound wrestler climbing atop the podium in Champaign.

Odiotti (40-6), the top-ranked man at 120 all season long, would validate his status with a pair of pins to start the tournament, followed by an impressive effort during a 12-2 major in his 

semifinal victory over AJ Marino (St. Charles East, 40-9).

That win led to Odiotti’s hand being raised after Lockport freshman Justin Wardlow (41-13) was unable to wrestle due to an injury suffered in his semifinal bout with eventual fourth-place medalist, Teddy Flores of Maine South.

“I would have liked to have wrestled that final – it’s too bad for (Wardlow) – but in the end, I was able to achieve what I came here for,” admitted Odiotti, who won the Dvorak and three other majors along the way.

“Coach (Matt) Collum has been the driving force to our program – he’s the reason for my improvement, and success, as well as our team, which had its best year ever,” said Odiotti.

The Ramblers sent a program high eight wrestlers to the Barrington sectional, and set another record with five in the state field, including 220-pound runner-up, Kai Calcutt.

It was a topsy-turvy three days in this weight class, which saw Nos. 2-4: Zach Stewart, Damian Recendez, and Michael Esteban forced to fight for their wrestling lives in order to claim a state medal. Resendez (Mt. Carmel, 23-13) came away with a fifth place medal, the third of his career.

The aforementioned trio would all be sent off, and into the wrestle-backs of this high-profile field by unheralded but obviously talented opponents such as Flores (40-5), and Joel Muehlenbeck (Prospect, 34-13) who both had been here before, yet had never enjoyed the success they would ultimately enjoy.

Flores, an IWCOA qualifier in his rookie season, would come on strong at the end of the season when he claimed top honors at the Central Suburban League (CSL) tournament, then at regionals the following week, and at the Conant sectional where he beat then-No. 5, AJ Marino, 4-2 in the final.

“Teddy had been at his best coming into sectionals, but after winning there it was then that all of us, including Teddy, felt like he could come in here and compete with anyone,” said Maine South head coach, Kevin Hansen, after his best man beat Resendez in his wrestle-back semifinal.

Muehlenbeck (34-13) would jump start his run towards a sixth-place finish with a 9-4 defeat of Resendez in their state opener. He then lost to Flores in the quarterfinals, then two straight in wrestle-backs before Resendez evened the score with the Prospect senior.

“When it’s your last state tournament of your career, there are not any more chances to bring home a medal, so to do that this year is really amazing,” said Muehlenbeck, who won (42) a year ago at 106.

126: Ben Davino, St. Charles East

No. 1 Ben Davino burst out of the blocks of the 126-pound weight class, and never let up until reaching the final against No. 2 Jameson Garcia (Marmion Academy) in what many in the big crowd inside State Farm Center deemed the premier contest to watch.

The two giants in the prep wrestling world did not let down its audience in a match that pitted the all-action, lethal attack-minded Davino against the clever, crafty, and highly-skilled Garcia..

To give this final even more ‘juice’ was the fact that these two 26-pound stars came in as two-time state champions, and both nationally-ranked: Davino at No. 1, and the Harvard-bound Garcia, No. 18.

A chess match of sorts would greet the crowd who watched Davino defend a pair of ankle picks, while the St. Charles East junior missed a take-down near the edge to bring the first period to an end.

Davino would start down and easily escape; Garcia would draw even after Davino cut him loose after a hard ride for the first minute of the third period, which gave way to an extra session soon thereafter.

Once there, the speed and pace of this thriller would increase – most notably from Davino, who saw an opening and recorded the eventual take-down, which led to another quick strike that would see this match end at 6-1.

“Jameson is such a great opponent, he can do so many things that you need to be careful of – I was disappointed in the way I wrestled in my final, but it still was great to win a third state title over someone as good as Jameson,” Davino said.

“Ben is one of the best there is around,” Garcia said. “I had my chances in that first period, and throughout the match we both fought hard to make it a very close match. In the end, when he forced me to take a shot, he just was on me so quick, and that was the match.”

Davino now becomes the first in Saints history to claim three state titles to eclipse the two his coach, Jason Potter earned in 1998 and 1999 at 171 pounds.

When the day was done, the Saints program would pick-up eight state medals to bring the overall total for the program to 24.

Fremd sophomore Evan Gosz (43-2) now has a pair of third-place state medals following his 10-4 decision over fourth-place Nathan Knowlton.

Gosz was marvelous over the three days, recording his 24th pin of the season in his state opener, followed with another dominating effort in a 9-1 major decision to set-up his semifinal with Garcia, in which he fell just short in a 2-1 decision.

“I likely waited a little too long to get to my shots, especially in the third period against Jameson,” Gosz said. “But I felt I was right there with one of the best in the nation.”

Aaron Camacho (Bolingbrook, 34-7) finished fifth, and Hersey sophomore, Maksim Mukhamedaliyev (37-17) who upset No. 4 Aidan Huck (Batavia, 37-11) on Thursday, placed sixth..

132: Sergio Lemley: Mt. Carmel

Sergio Lemley did it again.

The Mt. Carmel senior, No. 2 in the country, won his fourth high school state title, three of which came here in Illinois and the other in Indiana, after holding off four-time state medalist Will Baysingar (Prospect) in an edgy, hard-fought 3-2 affair at 132 pounds.

After a tepid first period, Lemley (35-1) would score all of the points of the match with an escape 15 seconds into the second period, followed by the lone take-down of the contest, near the edge 15 seconds later.

“I knew this match would be a tight, defensive six minutes, so it was important for me to get the lead and then manage it the rest of the way,” Lemley said. “I wanted to make sure (Baysingarl) didn’t get into his attack where he is so dangerous.” Lemley will wrestle next fall at the University of Michigan, where he will major in Mechanical Engineering.

“I did all that I could to get that second period take-down, then just put everything I had into that last period to win this match, and state title,” continued Lemley. “(VIncent) Robinson, and Baysingar are great opponents, so to get past both of them is something for me to be proud of.”

No. 1-ranked Lemley needed to get by No. 2 Vincent Robinson (Homewood-Flossmoor, 33-3) in his semifinal; he did so, but not easily, with a 2-1 ultimate tie-breaker triumph enough to send him through. Robinson will wrestle at North Carolina State in the fall.

In the top half of this first class bracket, Baysingar (50-2) crushed all three of his opponents, beginning with a tech-fall in his state opener, followed by back-to-back pins, all in under three minutes.

“The goal was to win, and get off the mats as quick as possible to conserve my energy, then watch Lemley and Robinson go after each other,” said Baysingar, in advance of his third consecutive state final appearance, who came into the tournament at No. 14 in the nation.

“It was all about scoring off the head lock, and to expose (Lemley) wherever we could after watching hours of film on him,” Baysingar continued. “He’s a tough guy to score on at any time, and when you’re chasing the lead it’s especially difficult to do.” 

Baysingar lost just four matches out of 170 in a four-year career, and will wrestle in the fall for Illinois. “(Baysingar) is our all-time leader in wins, pins, and take-downs, and simply put he is the GOAT of Prospect wrestling. There’s no debate on that subject,” Prospect head coach Dan Keller said.

Robinson defeated York senior Sean Berger (39-4) for third place, with Mikey Dibenedetto (Glenbard North, 25-8) using a 6-0 victory over James Wright (41-7) of Jacobs to earn fifth place.

Prior to moving over to Glenbard North, Dibenedetto was a 1A state qualifier at IC-Catholic Prep, then twice more at Lake Park, before settling in with Travis Cherry and the Panthers.

Wright successfully garnered his first state medal after three previous attempts to give Jacobs its second medal of the weekend, and seventh in its history.

138: Nasir Bailey, Rich Township

Nasir Bailey (43-1) turned in one of the most dominant three-day performances of his career at State Farm Center to take home his third IHSA title, and fourth straight high school crown after the Rich Township senior recorded a 5-2 decision over Tyler Guerra (46-6) from St. Charles East.

Bailey, No. 2 in the country, would open his last prep tourney with a record-setting pin (13 seconds) then follow with another record-setting effort when he needed just 2:20 to register a technical fall to book his place in the finals against Guerra.

“I took a loss in the semifinals at the Ironman, and it really helped me regain my focus and commitment to working hard, knowing all along that February is when it really meant something,” Bailey said.

Bailey, who defeated Guerra 10-3 in his 2022 state semi-final before holding off Baysingar in the 132-pound final, is ranked No. 1 in the nation in a handful of publications and will compete next fall at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where his older brother (Bilal) is on the roster at 157.

“My older brothers were there for me in my freshman year, and it was something I was thinking about before and after my final,” said Bailey, who was a part of IHSA history when he, along with Sincere, and Bilal all won state titles in 2020 at Thornton Fractional North.

Nasir, and Sincere were Texas state champs the following year, before Nasir returned to claim his third prep crown a year ago.

Guerra, who came in at No. 3 in the latest IWCOA poll would avenge an early season loss to No. 2 Lorenzo Frezza (42-1) with a 4-3 semi-final decision over the Stevenson four-year star.

“(We) learned some things from that 6-4 loss to (Frezza) – who is an incredible talent and can do so many different things to beat you,” St. Charles East coach Jason Potter said. “But we knew if he got the lead, Tyler’s ability to ride could be the difference in what we figured would be a tight, hard-fought match.”

Frezza won in a tie-break on the third-place mat over Hinsdale Central’s CodyTavoso.

“I have been so fortunate to have someone like Lorenzo with me for four years,” Stevenson coach Shane Cook said. “He’s a remarkable young man who has been the type of leader who comes along rarely during your coaching career.”

Frezza leaves Cook and his staff with a trio of third-place state medals, four state appearances, and as the the all-time leader in victories with 151, as he departs for Columbia University to continue his wrestling career.

Bailey, Guerra, Frezza, and Tavoso were the clear top four all season. Tavoso (46-4) came back through wrestle-backs to claim fourth place after his defeat of Jacob Lachs (41-14) of Glenbard West to complete a superb career for the Red Devils.

Tavoso joined some lofty company with his fourth state medal, joining former Red Devils Brian Allen, and Juwan Edmond. The Princeton-bound Tavoso set a single season program record for pins with 31 and leaves with 133 career victories.

Lachs won a 6-3 decision on the fifth-place mat over Lockport senior Logan Kaminski (35-23).

145: Jaydon Colon, St. Charles East

The stars appeared to be aligned for No. 1 Noah Tapia, who mashed the competition throughout an unbeaten regular season.

But Jayden Colon had dreams of his own.

Tapia tossed aside all three of his opponents in Champaign with relative ease, setting up a final with Colon, who moved over to St. Charles East after claiming the 2A top prize at 145 for Montini Catholic.

This contest was yet another No. 1 versus No. 2, with Tapia the prohibitive favorite with his six majors, which included the Dvorak title that the Moline star won 6-4 over Colon. So signs pointed to Tapia following in the footsteps of his great friend and former teammate, Kole Brower, who gave the Moline program its 15th state champion when he won at 138 last season.

Colon had other ideas, and his dream materialized in the title match when he recorded an escape with 12 seconds remaining in overtime to take a 4-3 lead, dealing Tapia a heart-breaking defeat.

“I won a state title without really a single terrific shot, just like I did last year at Montini when I beat (Mason) Alessio (Joliet Catholic Academy),” said an exhausted Colon (41-5), who dealt Tapia his first loss of the season to end a remarkable year at 52-1, and 99-4 for two years.

“It was a real grind tonight. My shoulder is aching so it was a lot of grit, determination, and defending in order to keep him from opening up an attack that’s dangerous.”

Both men looked to throw the other during the first extra session after six minutes were unable to settle this contest, which ended at 3-3 after a Colon reversal initially gave the junior the lead at 3-2 with just the third period remaining.

“We learned some things from that match at the Dvorak, so we had a good plan in place, which I thought worked out really well for me,” said Colon.

“When overtime came, I went more to my strength – upper body stuff. And in that last overtime period, I was looking to get the pin but when I was unable to, that’s when I grabbed the one point (escape) for the win.”

Tapia saw the silver lining of a fine season in the dark cloud of losing on the state title mat.

“This loss hurts a lot but it doesn’t mean it was all for nothing,” Tapia said. “All of the work I’ve put in during the offseason and regular season will only make me better in college.” Tapia will wrestle next fall at Hofstra University.

No. 3 Antonio Alvarado (Belvidere North, 52-3) ended a superb career in third place to give him two state medals, while Marist sophomore Will Denny (27-8) took home fourth place.

Lake Zurich senior Scott Busse (47-5) earned himself a well deserved fifth-place medal, his first state finals medal in three attempts after a 9-6 decision over Cael Andrews (Batavia, 46-9).

“I broke my ankle here a year ago, then suffered a shoulder injury earlier during this season that likely required surgery,” Busse said. “But I never gave in to all of that, and kept working harder each time out with the focus always being to get on the podium, So to reach that goal feels very good right now.” Busse recorded almost 250 takedowns while leading Lake Zurich in pins (25) and every other statistic during his wonderful final year with the Bears.

152: Nolan Allen, West Chicago

There were so many deep and talented weight classes in Champaign, and the 152-pound division created plenty of interest in advance.

And why not? The top six men would move up and down in the state rankings, with just about everyone grabbing the top spot before the first whistle of the tournament would open things up in this group.

Jacob Luce (39-13) would strike for the first upset when the DeKalb junior sent No. 6 Harrison Konder (Downers Grove North, 41-6) into wrestle-backs after his 11-5 victory in the quarterfinals.

There would be more to follow as the tournament would progress with No. 3 Nolan Allen (West Chicago) sending No. 1 Kaden Fetterolf (Batavia) off, and into wrestle-backs with a hard fought 6-1 decision. That win earned Allen a spot in the finals with Edmund Enright (Mt. Carmel, 19-3) who managed to navigate his way through this high-profile bunch.

There is an old saying in sports that offense wins games but defense wins championships, and that’s exactly what Allen would supply in all four of his matches. Allen’s contest with Enright went from 2-1 midway through the second period to his historic pin at 3:53 to give the West Chicago program its first state title since 1979.

When the match ended, Allen leapt into the arms of coach James Phillips.

“I cannot tell you how proud of Nolan we all are right now,” Phillips said of Allen (30-0), who never allowed any of his rivals the time, space, or opportunity to pry him open en route to his championship.

“It was a great weight class – so tough, and with so many fantastic wrestlers who were all very capable of putting a lot of points up at any time,” Allen said. “But for me, it was all about staying composed and just slowing them down with a lot of hand-fighting and defense. I really felt like I wore all of them down.”

Aside from the tactical plan devised for Allen heading into the long weekend, it was his square stance, stingy defense, and almost a dare to his opponents to shoot that proved to be the difference.

“I knew I had to likely grind out a few of my matches this weekend, and I really feel like that was the difference between winning and losing,” Allen said. “But that pin in the final was the icing on the cake of an amazing state tournament for me.”

The marvelous freshman from Warren Township, Aaron Stewart (43-2), came back from his heart-breaking 3-2 loss to Allen in the semifinals to capture third overall after he beat the 2022 state runner-up Fetterolf (48-3), with Konder (41-6) recording a 3-2 triumph against Luce for fifth place.

“It was an incredible weight class, and I would guess if they came back and wrestled another 8-10 times, there would be a lot of changes in the final standings,” said Downers Grove North coach Chris McGrath.

160: Ethan Stiles, Conant

Ethan Stiles started his run towards another state title the day after the Conant senior won in Champaign a year ago at 152.

So it wasn’t a surprise when the Nebraska-bound Stiles (31-0) locked up a third title after his sterling performance in his final with No. 2 Logan Swaw (46-2) of Lockport in the 160-pound final.

“It was always about doing whatever it takes to get back out here in the state final, and winning it once again,” said Stiles, who was third during his rookie year at Montini Catholic, before capturing an IWCOA crown the next season, when he went a perfect 10-0.

“I’ve committed myself to improve in all parts of my game – mentally and physically – while paying special attention to my fitness and diet in order to win here one more time, and to prepare for college in the fall.”

Stiles handed Swaw his only two losses on the year, the second coming by 3-0 decision in the state finals.

“I knew it would be a real battle with (Swaw), so it was important to be strong, stay in good position, be smart with my shots, get a lead, then defend and ride him as hard as I could in order to break him down.”

Swaw, who was sixth here a year ago, and will wrestle at Illinois next fall, was near flawless on his way to the final. Swaw vs. Stiles was the sixth finals match between the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked wrestlers in 3A.

After the referee ruled a stale-mate 90 seconds into the match, Stiles – on his fifth shot of the period – finally recorded a take-down.

Stiles, No. 4 in the nation, rode out Swaw for most of the second period and then grabbed some insurance with an escape to start the final period after. Stiles stayed in control for the rest of the regulation.

“This season it was important for me to be the best leader, in and out of our room, helping our younger guys, and doing my best to show the way for those who will be leaders next year,” said Stiles.

“Ethan has been a great leader this year,” Conant coach Andrew Guilde said. “He was just so impressive and dominating against whoever he ran into. To be honest, what makes him so difficult to beat is the fact that he has that look of a collegiate wrestler already, which makes him even tougher to beat.”

Owen Uppinghouse (Quincy, 44-2), Gunnar Garelli (Lyons Township, 41-11), Luke Swan (Downers Grove South, 39-10, and Anthony Guiterrez (St. Charles East, 28-12) are now all first time state medal winners after finishing third through sixth, respectively.

Swan would defeat Garelli for the Hinsdale Central sectional title, while Uppinghouse, who missed the last half of the 2022 season to an injury, added the 15th state medal to the Quincy program with his third-place finish.

170: Chris Moore, McHenry

With all due respect to the 16-man field at 170-pounds, Colin Kelly (Mt. Carmel) and Chris Moore (McHenry) were the favorites to be in the Grand March.

So it was fitting these two behemoths would meet in the last championship match of the night, in what would also be a rematch of the 160-pound final from a year ago when Kelly would edge Moore in overtime.

When the dust settled after a tight, intense six intense minutes, it was Chris Moore who lifted the big championship bracket board after his 3-2 victory, avenging his 2022 defeat to Kelly and giving the Warriors’ program its first ever individual state title.

“Last year my shoulder was in real bad shape, but that’s no excuse for my loss to (Kelly) last year,” Moore said. “But it was something that I used to make me work as hard as I could, in order to have another run at the state title,” said Moore, who was level with Kelly (26-3) at the start of the third period before delivering a takedown with 10 seconds left in the period.

Moore (43-0) would concede an escape with three seconds from time.

“Of course that loss in the final last year stung, but my confidence never wavered and I knew if it was Kelly again in the finals, I wanted to push the pace, be the aggressor, and just keep him on his heels as much as I could,” Moore said. “I feel like we executed a very good game plan in order to come away with the win.”

“Chris has meant so much to the McHenry program,” coach Dan Rohman said. “He’s raised the bar within our program, and is never one to shy away from high level competition. All of that has rubbed off on the others in the room, who want to perform at high levels because they have seen how the hard work and dedication of Chris has paid off.

“Last year we had six kids qualify for Fargo, this year we have so many more who are committed to wrestle in the offseason, and it’s because of what Chris has accomplished, and all of the time he puts in during the season and in the offseason as well.”

Moore, who will continue his career next fall at Illinois, has built an impressive resume to take along with him, including a 91-1 overall record over the past two years, 33 pins, and 29 tech-falls during that time, as well as an astounding 603 takedowns, 451 teams points earned, and 875 match points, while his opponents mustered just 366 against.

Moore won a 2A state medal his freshman year at Aurora Christian, followed that up with a third place 2A finish at Marian Central Catholic, before moving over to McHenry where he set all sorts of records.

Luke Zook (44-8) who led Yorkville with 90 takedowns, earned a third-place medal, while Libertyville junior Matt Kubas (42-9) was fourth

Lane Robinson (St. Charles East, 36-16), and Ari Zaeske (Lincoln-Way West, 41-7) placed fifth and sixth, respectively.

182: Jack Lesher, Marmion Academy

It’s not how you start but how you finish, and Jack Lesher firmly believes in that old sports axiom after the way his regular season came to a close.

The Marmion Academy junior opened the final session of the tournament on Saturday in stunning fashion, using a three-point near-fall just as time ended to take a 5-0 advantage over Pekin senior Shamon Handegan. He took that lead into the second period and basically rode out Handegan (41-1) for most of the next four minutes to record a well deserved 6-1 victory, and the 22nd state medal in Marmion’s program history.

“I was coming off the football season and I was dealing with a leg injury, which slowed me down even more,” Lesher (34-6) said. “But when I got back into wrestling shape, I was ready to make a serious run at a state championship.

“We have a great room of work-out partners and an unbelievable coaching staff. It’s the best in the state, in my opinion. So with my faith in God and all of the support around me, it was just go out there and let it fly.”

Handegan, who would defeat AJ Mancila (Bradley-Bourbonnais (47-7) in the Normal Community sectional final, was a state qualifier in 2022, and would end his season with a dazzling 40-3 record at 182.

Conor Phelan (34-16) of Marist topped Mancilla for third place, while No. 4 Rylan Breen (Mt. Carmel, 23-11), No. 3 Brody Murray (St. Charles East, 36-7) would finish fifth and sixth, respectively

195: Cole Matulenko, Libertyville

It took all of 31 record-setting seconds for Cole Matulenko to add another state title to the Libertyville books, when a thunderous throw and pin ended the 195-pound final to give the Wildcats their fifth individual state title in program history.

The seismic tremor felt after Matulenko’s pin of Marist’s No. 1 Peter Marinopoulos (20-1) was tempered slightly when Marinopoulos stayed down on the mat, after appearing to suffer an upper body injury. Thankfully, after being attended to by the stadium medical staff, Marinopoulos was able to walk off under his own power with some assistance.

“It went from total euphoria to – oh, no, Marinopoulos is down and hurt,” Matulenko said. “It’s not anything you like to see happen to an opponent.” 

Matulenko has been a one man wrecking crew since claiming the top prize at regionals, following a disappointing loss at the Lake County Invite.

“Things finally came together for me,” Matulenko said. “I was lifting during the early morning before school, then again a couple of days a week, and when I told coach (Dale) Eggert about what I was doing he told me maybe it was time to take my foot off the gas with those workouts.”

“Cole was looking dead on his feet as we neared the state series,” Eggert said. “He wasn’t reacting to shots, and just looked sluggish. He was getting quite frustrated.

“He said that outside of practice he was lifting twice per week, which is enough if it’s done in an intense manner (but) Cole was lifting four days a week, more than a hour each time, and before school – which combined with him missing out on sleep, really had taken its toll on him.”

Eggert’s suggestion to ease off was just what the doctor ordered, and it was a refreshed and well-rested Matulenko (44-4) who went on a rampage. He had a pair of pins and a major at regionals, then pinned his way into the Barrington sectional final against freshman phenom Jaxon Penovich (45-7) who had lost to on two prior meetings.

Matulenko topped Penovice by 9-3 decision.

“After watching Cole in his sectional final with Penovich, I figured he had a chance against anyone in his state bracket,” Eggert said.

In his first match in Champaign last year, Matulenko lost by 15-6 decision to Marinopoulos.

“Last year did not go well for me, so I was anxious to get back down here to make amends,” said Matulenko, who is a three-sport star in wrestling, football, and as a thrower for the track team.

Eggert wanted his top man to keep Marinopoulos off his legs, while looking for his No. 1 shot that he’s been nailing his opponents with all season long.

“(Cole) has a great tilt, a move that turned the tide in his semifinal win over (Dominic) Thebeau from Belleville East,” Eggert said.

“It’s such an amazing feeling to win a state title for our program, coach Eggert, and coach (Vinnie) Jiuditta, who works his magic with all of our upper weight guys on the team,” said Matulenko.

“Everyone always believed in me, and it was their support, and me turning over everything to God that made the difference, when I just turned everything over to him.”

Matulenko, and his former partner in the room, 2022 state champion Josh Knudten, who drove to Champaign from Ann Arbor where he wrestles for the University of Michigan, would both participate in Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle at the high school, led by Eggert.

“You could always count on Cole to share something insightful from our weekly message, and I am sure, if you would ask both him and Josh, they would both say they are not in (FCA) to win matches, but instead to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ,” Eggert said. 

Matulenko, who will wrestle next fall at UW-Eau Claire would later climb atop the podium alongside Marinopoulos, third place Thebeau, with Hunter Janeczko (Yorkville, 21-6), Penovich, then Matthew Janiak (37-9) of Plainfield South filling out the top six.

“All of this is still hard to believe, but I know it will hit me, maybe later tonight or more than likely tomorrow, and that’s when I will really enjoy taking it all in,” said Matulenko.

220: Ben Alvarez, Yorkville

Yorkville’s Ben Alvarez (38-8) would be crowned state champion in stunning fashion when the Yorkville junior beat freshman phenom Kai Calcutt of Loyola Academy, 3-2, in an ultimate tie-breaker contest that saw a stalling call decide the hard-fought affair.

“That was quite an ending to Ben’s final,” Yorkville coach Jake Oster said. “You rarely see a match end the way it did with that call.

“It was an intense, and real defensive match for Ben against a talented freshman who likes to attack and throw, which we were aware of. There was a lot of hand-fighting. Ben was really stingy defensively in his final, and for that matter throughout the tournament.”

Loyola Academy coach Matt Collum was understandably disappointed in the way the title match ended.

“I don’t really remember seeing a call made like that in a state final,” said Collum, who saw Calcutt (40-9) draw back even at 2-2 with an escape in the third extra session.

“(Kai) wrestled well all throughout the three days. We let some things get away from us in that final but he was pushing the pace. He showed that he belonged here at state, despite the outcome of the final.”

Alvarez’s journey to a state title followed an all-too common path.

“I got off to a slow start to the season because of an injury, but I really put the extra time in to catch back up,” he said. “With the help of my teammate, Hunter Janeczko, I was able to get myself ready for the last half of the season.”

Alvarez who registered 22 pins and 64 takedowns this season, was as stingy as his head coach acknowledged, as witnessed by his 10-0 decision in his state opener, followed by a 2-1 overtime quarterfinal with Ed Perry (Marmion Academy). That win led to a 3-1 thriller in the semifinals over Luke Liberatore (Marist) to ensure his spot in the final.

Leonardo Tovar (Plainfield North, 48-9) would edge Liberatore (34-12) for third with a 4-3 decision, with Hinsdale Central’s Marko Ivanisevic (44-3) coming back to claim his second consecutive fifth-place finish over Cooper Caraway (46-10) of Normal Community.

285: Ben Bielawski, Downers Grove North

In the unpredictable world of the heavyweight division, Ben Bielawski predicted after being crowned champion at the Clint Arlis Batavia Invite that he could climb atop the podium in Champaign just as easily as anyone else at 285.

Five weeks later to the day that Bielawski (45-1) proclaimed he was a serious contender, the affable big man from Downers Grove North would make good on his prediction with his 5-3 victory over Jonathan Rulo from Belleville East.

“We all felt Ben could be a state champion,” DG North coach Chris McGrath said. “He absolutely threw everything he had into getting ready for his last year of wrestling after the football season. He got bigger, stronger, and quicker, and all of that came shining through in a big way.”

McGrath’s plan for Bielawski came to fruition in Champaign, as he became the first individual state champion in program history.

“McGrath always believed in me,” he said. “As one of the lighter guys in this weight class, it was important to use my speed, and quickness, and my physical and mental strength to win against some of these big guys,” said Bielawski, who will play football next fall at D-3 power, UW-Whitewater.

The Trojans’ star faced a massive freshman in Rulo.

“(Rulo) was an enormous young man, but Ben is so athletic,” McGrath said. “He was an all-state nose tackle for us so he’s as strong as it gets, and you saw that in the second period when he reversed (Rulo) to take the lead for good.”

The 4-3 advantage Bielawski grabbed became 5-3 when he escaped after starting down, and from there the match saw plenty of hand-fighting from both big men, along with some terrific defending and positioning by Bielawski, who made sure his young opponent could not get in close to strike.

“He was a big, strong kid and he was aggressive, but I felt good throughout the match,” said Bielawski, a four-time state qualifier. “I was never in trouble, but I knew I had to stay cool and composed in the final minute in order to win the state title.

“I put so much time in leading up to the football season – lifting to make myself as strong, and fit as I could be to handle guys in this weight class. Tonight all of that effort, commitment, and hard work paid off in a big way.”

Sean Scheck (Marmion Academy, 34-9), won a state medal in his first state appearance after his defeat of Joliet West junior Wyatt Schmitt (43-4) in the third place match.

No. 4 Austin Barrett (St. Charles East, 38-9) and No. 5 Adam Lambaz (Elgin, 31-6) finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Lambaz became the first state medal winner for the Maroons since 2008 (Terrel Walker), and the 18th in program history.

“We are all so proud of Adam,” Elgin coach Gary Parciak said. “He’s a young man that has given so much back to our program, as both a leader and mentor to the younger guys in the room – he’s the guy who has helped put our program back on the map.”

By Gary Larsen

Only two of last year’s eight dual team state finalists return in 2023, in defending 1A state champion Yorkville Christian and IC Catholic Prep, which is seeking its first team state medal.. Making their first-ever state finals appearances are Oakwood and Canton in a field that also includes LeRoy, Lena-Winslow, Coal City, and Auburn.

Lena-Winslow has two team state titles to its name, and LeRoy is chasing its second team title. Coal City leads all programs present in making its 11th state finals appearance in its long and storied history.

Here is a recap of Tuesday’s Class 1A dual team sectionals:

At El Paso-Gridley

Canton 57, Kewanee 24

Canton (28-9) makes its first dual team state finals appearance in history after winning 8 of 12 matches wrestled plus two forfeit wins against Kewanee. Coach Zach Crawford’s squad faces Lena-Winslow in a state quarterfinal dual on Friday.

Dual results:

106: Maddux Steele (Canton) FF

113: Jack Jochums (Canton) FF
120: John Davis (Canton) F 2:30 Landyn GreenHagen (Kewanee (H.S.))

126: Trevor Hedges (Canton) F 0:26 Benjamin Taylor (Kewanee (H.S.))

132: Brandon Eaton (Canton) F 1:41 Landon Mason (Kewanee (H.S.))

138: William Taylor (Kewanee (H.S.)) F 2:32 Jireh Hedges (Canton)

145: Wesley Chaney (Canton) F 2:27 Parker DeBord (Kewanee (H.S.))

152: Max Kelly (Kewanee (H.S.)) F 0:59 Wyatt Sego (Canton)

160: Jaxson Hicks (Kewanee (H.S.)) F 1:20 Danny Murphy (Canton)

170: Joseph Norton (Canton) F 0:21 Alejandro Torress (Kewanee (H.S.))

182: Alejandro Duarte (Kewanee (H.S.)) F 2:46 Aden Greene (Canton)

195: Rob Mayall (Canton) D 9-8 Jackson Hawkins (Kewanee (H.S.))

220: Grant Kessler (Canton) F 3:52 Douglas Swearingen (Kewanee (H.S.))

285: Asa Reed (Canton) F 0:25 Daniel Boswell (Kewanee (H.S.))

Leroy/ Tri-Valley 46, El Paso-Gridley 27

LeRoy/ Tri-Valley (24-1) is making its fourth state finals appearance, having won a team state title in 2012, placed second in 2009, and third in 2011 for coach Doug DeWald. Current coach Brady Sant Amour’s Panthers take on Coal City in Friday’s state quarterfinal dual.

Dual results:

195: Drendon Stickling (LeRoy) F 5:00 Parker Duffy (El Paso (E.P.-Gridley))

220: Jacob Bischoff (LeRoy) F 1:48 Chris Blackmore (El Paso (E.P.-Gridley))

285: Tate Sigler (LeRoy) MD 11-1Jesse Gerber (El Paso (E.P.-Gridley))

106: Brady Mouser (LeRoy) FF

113: Kobe Brent (LeRoy) F 1:32 Nolan Whitman (El Paso (E.P.-Gridley))

120: Logan Gibson (El Paso (E.P.-Gridley)) FF

126: Brock Owens (LeRoy) TF 17-1 Ethan Krugger (El Paso (E.P.-Gridley))

132: Colton Prosser (LeRoy) F 4:00 Jack Erwin (El Paso (E.P.-Gridley))

138: Tyler Roth (El Paso (E.P.-Gridley)) D 7-5 Jack Green (LeRoy)

145: Connor Lyons (LeRoy) MD 9-0 Waylon Melick (El Paso (E.P.-Gridley))

152: Bo Zeleznik (LeRoy) D 7-6 Conlee Landrus (El Paso (E.P.-Gridley))

160: Dax Gentes (El Paso (E.P.-Gridley)) FF

170: Ethan Whitman (El Paso (E.P.-Gridley)) FF

182: Cody Langland (El Paso (E.P.-Gridley))FF

At Oregon

Lena-Winslow/Stockton 41, Marian Central 30

Lena-Winslow/Stockton (32-5) makes its fourth appearance in the state finals under coach Kevin Milder, and the Panthers take on Canton in Friday’s state quarterfinals. Milder led Lena-Winslow to team state titles in 2017 and 2019, and a second-place finish in 2012.

Lena-Winslow won 8 of 14 matches against Marian, including seven in a row to end the dual, and earned bonus points in six of its eight wins.

Dual results:

106: Austin Hagevold (Woodstock (Marian)) F 0:31 Reece Demeter (Lena (L.-Winslow))

113: Andrew Alvarado (Woodstock (Marian)) F 5:19 David Prater (Lena (L.-Winslow))

120: Arrison Bauer (Lena (L.-Winslow)) F 2:40 Josh Gawronski (Woodstock (Marian))

126: Kaden Harman (Woodstock (Marian)) F 2:44 Mauricio Glass (Lena (L.-Winslow))

132: Vance Williams (Woodstock (Marian)) F 1:27 Mark Detwiler (Lena (L.-Winslow))

138: Nick Davidson (Woodstock (Marian)) MD 15-3 Carson McPeek (Lena (L.-Winslow))

145: Charlie Fitzgerald (Woodstock (Marian)) D 17-10 Karl Hubb (Lena (L.-Winslow))

152: Garrett Luke (Lena (L.-Winslow)) MD 12-3 Ethan Struck (Woodstock (Marian))

160: Jared Dvorak (Lena (L.-Winslow)) D 3-2 Max Astacio (Woodstock (Marian))

170: Eli Larson (Lena (L.-Winslow)) F 1:24 Connor Cassels (Woodstock (Marian))

182: Jace Phillips (Lena (L.-Winslow)) F 3:40 Rob Hernon (Woodstock (Marian))

195: Griffin Luke (Lena (L.-Winslow)) F 0:43 Hunter Birkhoff (Woodstock (Marian))

220: Mike Haas (Lena (L.-Winslow)) D 4-0 John Herff (Woodstock (Marian))

285: Henry Engel (Lena (L.-Winslow)) F 1:37 Ray Hughes (Woodstock (Marian))

Yorkville Christian 42, Riverdale 28

Defending 1A state champion Yorkville Christian (20-5) heads to the state finals for the second time under coach Mike Vester, and the Mustangs take on Auburn in Friday’s state quarterfinal dual.

Yorkville Christian won 8 of the 13 matches wrestled against Riverdale, which included five pins, one forfeit, and a pair of straight decisions.

Dual results:

106: Dean Wainwright (Port Byron (Riverdale)) F 1:02 Eli Foster (Yorkville (Christian))

113: Aiden Larsen (Yorkville (Christian)) D 3-2 Tharren Jacobs (Port Byron (Riverdale))

120: Ty Edwards (Yorkville (Christian)) F 0:22 Ethan Mathis (Port Byron (Riverdale))

126: Tristan Gleason (Yorkville (Christian)) F 2:38 Thad Jacobs (Port Byron (Riverdale))

132: Noah Dial (Yorkville (Christian)) F 3:12 Kolton Kruse (Port Byron (Riverdale))

138: Brock Smith (Port Byron (Riverdale)) F 0:35 John `Isaac` Gray (Yorkville (Christian))

145: Blake Smith (Port Byron (Riverdale)) F 2:59 Grason Johnson (Yorkville (Christian))

152: Drew Torza (Yorkville (Christian)) D 5-3 Eli Hinde (Port Byron (Riverdale))

160: Collin Altensey (Port Byron (Riverdale)) D 5-3 Tyler Martinez (Yorkville (Christian))

170: Jackson Gillen (Yorkville (Christian)) FF

182: Alex Watson (Port Byron (Riverdale)) MD 12-3 Jeremy Loomis (Yorkville (Christian))

195: Zac Bradley (Port Byron (Riverdale)) D 9-4 Christopher Durbin (Yorkville (Christian))

220: Jackson Mehochko (Yorkville (Christian)) F 2:55 Iyezaha Hill (Port Byron (Riverdale))

285: Garrett Tunnell (Yorkville (Christian)) F 4:28 Jake Baustian (Port Byron (Riverdale))

At Vandalia

Auburn 48, Cahokia 32

Auburn (26-3) returns to the state dual team finals for the third time under coach Mike Grimm, having made the trip in 2017 and placed fourth in 2020. The Trojans had five pins and three forfeit wins in taking down Cahokia at Vandalia.

Dual results:

160: Colby Willhite (Auburn) FF

170: Joey Barrow (Auburn) F 1:00 Kendrick Williams (Cahokia (H.S.))

182: Skylar Fay (Auburn) F 1:29 Avan Spratt (Cahokia (H.S.))

195: Nick Deloach Jr. (Cahokia (H.S.)) TF 17-2 Grant Dobson (Auburn)

220: Quinterrous Jones (Cahokia (H.S.)) F 5:58 Clinton Lovens (Auburn)

285: Cole Edie (Auburn) F 0:52 jason Dowell (Cahokia (H.S.))

106: Avionne Brown (Cahokia (H.S.)) F 1:12 Ryer Parker (Auburn)

113: Drayven Hamm (Auburn) F 5:47 Ja`marcus Agnew (Cahokia (H.S.))

120: Nicholas Scott (Cahokia (H.S.)) TF 19-4 Jasmine Brown (Auburn)

126: Anthony Ruzic (Auburn) FF

132: Demerious Mcgill (Cahokia (H.S.)) F 1:42 Walker Britz (Auburn)

138: Kody Harlan (Cahokia (H.S.)) MD 11-3 Jayden Brown (Auburn)

145: Dresden Grimm (Auburn) FF

152: Quinten Chizmar (Auburn) F 3:51 Anthony Winters (Cahokia (H.S.))

Oakwood 46, Anna-Jonesboro 31

Coach Mike Glosser’s Comets (20-10) advanced to the team state finals for the first time in program history, and will do battle against IC Catholic Prep in a state quarterfinal on Friday.

The Comets had five pins, one major decision, and two forfeit wins against Anna-Jonesboro to advance..
Dual results:

160: Drew Holshouser (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) F 3:18 Blake Barney (Fithian (Oakwood))

170: Dalton Brown (Fithian (Oakwood)) F 1:45 Metteo Vaca-Diez (Anna (A.-Jonesboro))

182: Harley Grimm (Fithian (Oakwood)) F 1:04 Carson Bracken (Anna (A.-Jonesboro))

195: Rayshaun Cannon (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) F 0:53 Ezekiel Smith (Fithian (Oakwood))

220: Levi Jones (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) F 1:22 Doug Myers (Fithian (Oakwood))

285: Eddie Dahmer (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) F 2:46 Kade Flemming (Fithian (Oakwood))

106: Brayden Edwards (Fithian (Oakwood)) F 3:01 Zoee Sadler (Anna (A.-Jonesboro))

113: Drew Sadler (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) MD 10-2 Tyler Huchel (Fithian (Oakwood))

120: Jack Aister (Fithian (Oakwood)) F 3:27 Brett Smith (Anna (A.-Jonesboro))

126: Thomas Wells (Fithian (Oakwood)) F 4:50 Lucas Hoehner (Anna (A.-Jonesboro))

132: Pedro Rangel (Fithian (Oakwood)) MD 11-2 Daniel Dover (Anna (A.-Jonesboro))

138: TJ Macy (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) D 6-0 Carter Chambliss (Fithian (Oakwood))

145: Reef Pacot (Fithian (Oakwood)) FF

152: Bryson Capansky (Fithian (Oakwood)) FF

At  Wilmington

Coal City 75, Chicago Hope Academy 3

Coal City (40-2) advanced to its 11th dual team state finals with Tuesday’s sectional win, and its sixth under coach Mark Masters, who led the Coalers to second-place finishes in 2016, ‘19, and ‘20, and third-place finishes in 2015 and ‘18. Coal City faces LeRoy in its state quarterfinal dual on Friday.

Dual results:

152: Mataeo Blessing (Coal City) F 1:34 Tony Jones-Blakely (Chicago (C. Hope Academy))

160: Landin Benson (Coal City) F 0:42 Miguel Rodriguez (Chicago (C. Hope Academy))

170: Derek Carlson (Coal City) F 3:59 Tristan Phipps (Chicago (C. Hope Academy))

182: Cade Poyner (Coal City) F 0:56 Mastewal Evely (Chicago (C. Hope Academy))

195: Uriah Martin-Velez (Chicago (C. Hope Academy)) D 5-4 Andrew Feisley (Coal City)

220: Drake Dearth (Coal City) F 0:57 Alex Garcia (Chicago (C. Hope Academy))

285: Michael Gonzalez (Coal City) F 3:20 Roy Phelps (Chicago (C. Hope Academy))

106: Culan Lindemuth (Coal City) FF

113: Brody Widlowski (Coal City) F 0:30 Mike Garcia (Chicago (C. Hope Academy))

120: Aidan Kenney (Coal City) F 0:50 Jorge Rios (Chicago (C. Hope Academy))

126: Noah Houston (Coal City) F 1:38 Donnell Smith (Chicago (C. Hope Academy))

132: Brock Finch (Coal City) FF

138: Evan Greggain (Coal City) D 4-2 Samuel Lazarus Amador (Chicago (C. Hope Academy))

145: Brant Widlowski (Coal City) F 2:16 Bryan Gonzalez (Chicago (C. Hope Academy))

IC Catholic Prep 51, St. Laurence 28

Coach Jason Renteria takes IC Catholic Prep (2-3-1) to the state finals for the second straight year and the third time in program history, and the Knights take on Oakwood in a state quarterfinal on Friday.

The Knights had six pins, one straight decision, and one forfeit in winning 7 of the 11 matches wrestled against St. Laurence.

Dual results:

152: Joseph Gliatta (Elmhurst (IC Catholic)) F 1:05 Jacob Sellers (Burbank (St. Laurence))

160: Henry Coughlin (Burbank (St. Laurence)) MD 15-6 Nate Brown (Elmhurst (IC Catholic))

170: Jack Claussen (Burbank (St. Laurence)) F 0:47 Will Bryk (Elmhurst (IC Catholic))

182: Foley Calcagno (Elmhurst (IC Catholic)) F 1:54 Damien Torres (Burbank (St. Laurence))

195: Xavier Bitner (Burbank (St. Laurence)) F 1:22 Marcheon Griffin (Elmhurst (IC Catholic))

220: Vinnie Gonzalez (Elmhurst (IC Catholic)) D 2-0 Jaquin Moreno (Burbank (St. Laurence))

285: Isaiah Gonzalez (Elmhurst (IC Catholic)) F 1:10 Angelo Arellano (Burbank (St. Laurence))

106: Henry Manning (Burbank (St. Laurence)) FF

113: Nathan Martinez (Burbank (St. Laurence)) F 0:20 Clara Samayoa (Elmhurst (IC Catholic))

120: Saul Trejo (Elmhurst (IC Catholic)) FF

126: Ben Czarnowski (Elmhurst (IC Catholic)) F 0:59 Tyler Malonowski (Burbank (St. Laurence))

132: Kc Kekstadt (Elmhurst (IC Catholic)) F 1:54 Eduarado Arias (Burbank (St. Laurence))

138: Justin Grace (Elmhurst (IC Catholic)) FF

145: Bryson Spaulding (Elmhurst (IC Catholic)) F 1:30 Joseph Barnett (Burbank (St. Laurence))

By Gary Larsen

Defending 2A champion Joliet Catholic, Deerfield, Brother Rice, and Mahomet-Seymour all return from last year’s dual state finals field. Deerfield was state runner-up to Joliet Catholic and Mahomet-Seymour finished third last year.

Joining those teams at this year’s finals in Bloomington will be Washington, Wauconda, Jacksonville, and Geneseo, and here is a recap of how those eight teams advanced through Tuesday’s Class 2A dual team sectionals: 

At Brother Rice:

Defending 2A state champion Joliet Catholic takes on Jacksonville in a state quarterfinal dual on Friday, on the heels of its sectional title win over Chicago’s Noble/Comer on Tuesday at Brother Rice. Joliet Catholic swept Comer en route to its second state finals appearance under coach Ryan Cumbee.

Joliet Catholic Academy 75, Noble/Comer 0

120: Jason Hampton (Joliet (Catholic Academy)) F 2:31 Isaac Banks (Chicago (Noble/Comer))

126: Aurelio Munoz (Joliet (Catholic Academy)) F 1:00 Oryan Sandifer (Chicago (Noble/Comer))

132: George Hollendoner (Joliet (Catholic Academy)) F 1:21 Damarius Smothers (Chicago (Noble/Comer))

138: Nolan Vogel (Joliet (Catholic Academy)) F 1:11 Daryl Offord (Chicago (Noble/Comer))

145: Jake Hamiti (Joliet (Catholic Academy)) F 5:10 Malik Wynn (Chicago (Noble/Comer))

152: Luke Hamiti (Joliet (Catholic Academy)) MD 11-1 Faizol Salam (Chicago (Noble/Comer))

160: Connor Cumbee (Joliet (Catholic Academy)) F 2:20 Demetrius Walker-Hill (Chicago (Noble/Comer))

170: Mason Alessio (Joliet (Catholic Academy)) TF 17-0 Larnzell McNeal (Chicago (Noble/Comer))

182: Issac Clauson (Joliet (Catholic Academy)) F 2:28 Kenneth Barrett (Chicago (Noble/Comer))

195: Marcello Aguilar (Joliet (Catholic Academy)) FF

220: Alex Dalach (Joliet (Catholic Academy)) F 2:27 Blaine Sanders (Chicago (Noble/Comer))

285: Hunter Powell (Joliet (Catholic Academy)) F 3:41 Joshua Pombo (Chicago (Noble/Comer))

106: Double FF

113: Noah Avina (Joliet (Catholic Academy)) F 1:24 Jadden Scott (Chicago (Noble/Comer))

Brother Rice 38, Lemont 29

Brother Rice earned its second consecutive state finals appearance under coach Jan Murzyn, winning 8 of 14 matches over Lemont that featured bonus points in five of those wins, and a pair of sudden victory wins to boot.

Brother Rice squares off with Geneseo in its state quarterfinal dual Friday.

Dual results:

120: John Vega (Chicago (Brother Rice)) SV-1 4-2 Carter Mikolajczak (Lemont (H.S.))

126: Bobby Conway (Chicago (Brother Rice)) F 0:32 Ethan Spadafora (Lemont (H.S.))

132: James Bennett (Chicago (Brother Rice)) TF 23-8 Jullian Vallianatos (Lemont (H.S.))

138: Sammy Schuit (Lemont (H.S.)) MD 11-0 Jack O`Connor (Chicago (Brother Rice))

145: Johnny O`Connor (Lemont (H.S.)) MD 16-2 Pat Gilhooly (Chicago (Brother Rice))

152: Noah O`Connor (Lemont (H.S.)) D 4-1 John Fitzpatrick (Chicago (Brother Rice))

160: Colin Goggin (Chicago (Brother Rice)) D 8-7 Nico LoCoco (Lemont (H.S.))

170: James Crane (Chicago (Brother Rice)) F 3:16 Vinny DelliColli (Lemont (H.S.))

182: Charles Connolly (Chicago (Brother Rice)) F 0:35 Dillon Labno (Lemont (H.S.))

195: Gambino Perez (Chicago (Brother Rice)) SV-1 3-1 Nathan Wrublik (Lemont (H.S.))

220: Daniel Taylor (Lemont (H.S.)) F 1:08 Mac Murzyn (Chicago (Brother Rice))

285: Alex Pasquale (Lemont (H.S.)) F 3:38 Nick Baser (Chicago (Brother Rice))

106: James Bowes (Chicago (Brother Rice)) F 1:08 Matteo Vitro (Lemont (H.S.))

113: Cory Zator (Lemont (H.S.)) FF

At Montini

Wauconda makes its second state finals appearance in program history, having placed second in 2017 for coach Michael Buhr. Current coach Trevor Jauch leads the Bulldogs into a state quarterfinal dual against Deerfield on Friday.

Wauconda won 8 of 11 matches wrestled against Montini to advance downstate.

Wauconda 55, Montini 24

138: Logan Andrews (Wauconda) FF

145: Cole Porten (Wauconda) F 3:59 Santino Tenuta (Lombard (Montini))

152: David Mayora (Lombard (Montini)) F 0:56 Branden Flores (Wauconda)

160: Nick Cheshier (Wauconda) F 0:45 AJ Tack (Lombard (Montini))

170: Zac Johnson (Wauconda) F 3:12 Sam Ostrowski (Lombard (Montini))

182: Sean Christensen (Wauconda) TF 17-2 Jaxon Lane (Lombard (Montini))

195: Evan Jocic (Lombard (Montini)) F 5:42 Joan Vazquez (Wauconda)

220: Mick Ranquist (Lombard (Montini)) F 1:45 Michael Merevick (Wauconda)

285: Joe Scianna (Wauconda) F 2:43 Mike Wind (Lombard (Montini))

106: Gavin Rockey (Wauconda) TF 19-3 Max Neal (Lombard (Montini))

113: Nathan Randle (Wauconda) FF

120: Kam Luif (Lombard (Montini)) FF

126: Lucas Galdine (Wauconda) F 2:26 David Hernandez (Lombard (Montini))

132: Kaden Hebert (Wauconda) D 13-6 Lewis Wais-Montoya (Lombard (Montini))

Deerfield 48, St. Patrick 23

St. Patrick forfeited four weight classes and Deerfield got bonus points in the four matches it won to advance downstate for the second consecutive year. Coach Mark Pechter brings his program to the team state finals for the fourth time, having placed fourth in 3A in 2017 and second in 2A last season. 

Dual results:

138: Niko Karamaniolas (Chicago (St. Patrick)) D 8-2 Joey Shaffer (Deerfield (H.S.))

145: Charlie Cross (Deerfield (H.S.)) F 2:41 Sebastian Bruno (Chicago (St. Patrick))

152: Luca Davila (Deerfield (H.S.)) FF

160: Devin Nichol (Chicago (St. Patrick)) D 3-2 Will Holtz (Deerfield (H.S.))

170: Gio Hernandez (Chicago (St. Patrick)) MD 11-0 Grant Goldsmith (Deerfield (H.S.))

182: Kevin Sabau (Deerfield (H.S.)) FF

195: Aiden Cohen (Deerfield (H.S.)) F 0:40 Sal Espinoza (Chicago (St. Patrick))

220: Garvin Crews (Deerfield (H.S.)) FF
285: Jordan Meyers (Deerfield (H.S.)) FF

106: Danny Goodwin (Chicago (St. Patrick)) F 5:59 Vincent Serwan (Deerfield (H.S.))

113: Calvin Stahl (Chicago (St. Patrick)) MD 9-1 Noah Palzet (Deerfield (H.S.))

120: Olin Walker (Chicago (St. Patrick)) MD 11-3 Luke Reddy (Deerfield (H.S.))

126: Jordan Rasof (Deerfield (H.S.)) F 1:02 Justin Ranzzoni (Chicago (St. Patrick))

132: Jackson Palzet (Deerfield (H.S.)) F 5:59 Ben Kusar (Chicago (St. Patrick))

At Sycamore:

Washington won 10 of the 13 matches wrestled against Crystal Lake Central to advance to the state finals for the eighth time in program history. Washington won four straight team state titles from 2016-19 and placed second in 2020. Coach Nick Miller’s Panthers take on Mahomet-Seymour in Friday’s state quarterfinal round.

Washington 48, Crystal Lake Central 15

170: Cayden Parks (Crystal Lake (Central)) F 3:33 Zane Hulet (Washington)

182: Blake Hinrichsen (Washington) F 4:36 TJ Metz (Crystal Lake (Central))

195: Josh Hoffer (Washington) D 4-2 Jon Barrick (Crystal Lake (Central))

220: Justin Hoffer (Washington) MD 12-3 Tommy McNeil (Crystal Lake (Central))

285: Leo Diaz (Crystal Lake (Central)) F 2:41 Sean Thornton (Washington)

106: Symon Woods (Washington) FF

113: Noah Woods (Washington) D 10-4 Dylan Ramsey (Crystal Lake (Central))

120: Logan Makiney (Washington) D 8-4 Ramiro Rendon (Crystal Lake (Central))

126: Wyatt Medlin (Washington) D 12-7 Greco Rendon (Crystal Lake (Central))

132: Eli Gonzalez (Washington) MD 10-2 Brett Campagna (Crystal Lake (Central))

138: Peyton Cox (Washington) TF 15-0 Dom Vitale (Crystal Lake (Central))

145: Kannon Webster (Washington) F 0:46 Elliot White (Crystal Lake (Central))

152: Cael Miller (Washington) TF 18-3 Tommy Tomasello (Crystal Lake (Central))

160: Ben Butler (Crystal Lake (Central)) D 7-0 Braden Baker (Washington)

Geneseo 44, Sycamore 23

Geneseo won 9 of 14 matches against Sycamore, including 8 straight wins from 106-152, to advance to its fourth team dual state finals. Geneseo finished second in state in 2013 and 2014 under coach Jon Murray, who takes his squad to a downstate quarterfinal against Brother Rice on Friday.

Dual results:

170: Cooper Bode (Sycamore (H.S.)) TF 15-0 Logan Palmer (Geneseo)

182: Zack Crawford (Sycamore (H.S.)) F 0:29 Aaron Betcher (Geneseo)

195: Gable Carrick (Sycamore (H.S.)) D 2-0 Landon Shoemaker (Geneseo)

220: Tim Stohl (Geneseo) MD 10-1 Ethan Bode (Sycamore (H.S.))

285: Lincoln Cooley (Sycamore (H.S.)) D 1-0 Levi Neumann (Geneseo)

106: Tim Sebastian (Geneseo) F 3:34 Michael Olson (Sycamore (H.S.))

113: Grady Hull (Geneseo) D 5-3 Tyler Lockhart (Sycamore (H.S.))

120: Devan Hornback (Geneseo) F 3:13 Thomas Lind (Sycamore (H.S.))

126: Bryce Bealer (Geneseo) D 5-0 Jonathon Buckheister (Sycamore (H.S.))

132: Malaki Jackson (Geneseo) F 1:50 Logan Sandfox (Sycamore (H.S.))

138: Zachary Montez (Geneseo) F 1:55 Cole Kleiser (Sycamore (H.S.))

145: Kye Weinzierl (Geneseo) MD 12-1 Jaden Cochran (Sycamore (H.S.))

152: Josh Hock (Geneseo) FF

160: Gus Cambier (Sycamore (H.S.)) FF

At Glenwood:

Mahomet-Seymour won 36-34 over Glenwood and Jacksonville won 51-24 over Mt. Vernon to advance to this year’s dual state finals.

Mahomet-Seymour will take on Washington in Friday’s state quarterfinal round, one year after placing third in Illinois for coach Rob Ledin. Mahomet-Seymour is making its 20th appearance in the team dual state finals and won four state titles under coach Marty Williams in 1984, ‘86, ‘88, and ‘89. The Bulldogs also placed second in 1985 and third in 1987 under Williams, and finished third in Illinois under coach Rob Porter in 1991, ‘94 ‘97, and 2001.

Ledin will lead the Bulldogs downstate for the fifth time in his tenure,
Jacksonville will be making its first-ever appearance at the team dual state finals for coach Dustin Secrist and will square off with Joliet Catholic in their state quarterfinal dual.

By Gary Larsen

Here’s a recap of Tuesday’s Class 3A team dual sectionals. The team state finals will take place Friday and Saturday at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

At DeKalb

St. Charles East 66, Maine South 9
The Saints were dominant Tuesday, winning 12 of the 13 matches wrestled including nine pins against Maine South. St. Charles East will compete in the team state finals for the third time in program history, having placed third in 1997 for coach Mick Ruettiger, and advancing in 2001 for coach Steve Smerz.

“I felt our guys wrestled really well on Super Tuesday,” Saints coach Jason Potter said. “It is a hard turnaround for the guys who are coming off a long weekend at individual state and I was impressed by their ability to get focused on short notice and take care of a tough Maine South team.
“We wrestled hard from top to bottom and we were even in the two matches we lost.  We’re excited about the opportunity to compete for a state championship this weekend and the challenge of facing the returning champs (Mt. Carmel) on Friday night.  We feel if we wrestle our best, we can beat anyone.”

Dual results:

106: Dom Munaretto (St. Charles East) F 1:35 Brett Harman (Maine South)

113: Christos Vaselopulos (Maine South) SV-1 10-8 Liam Aye (St. Charles East)

120: Logan Tatar (St. Charles East) FF

126: AJ Marino (St. Charles East) F 2:42 Majid Alavi (Maine South)

132: Ben Davino (St. Charles East) F 0:58 Luke Morrison (Maine South)

138: Ethan Penzato (St. Charles East) F 1:30 Sean Hamilton (Maine South)

145: Tyler Guerra (St. Charles East) F 1:01 Nate Beltran (Maine South)

152: Gavin Connolly (St. Charles East) D 3-1 Danny Spandiary (Maine South)

160: Alex Eng (Maine South) F 2:29 Ryan McGovern (St. Charles East)

170: Lane Robinson (St. Charles East) F 0:55 Sam Bartell (Maine South)

182: Brody Murray (St. Charles East) F 3:00 Fillip Michniewicz (Maine South)

195: Brandon Swartz (St. Charles East) F 2:27 Tommy Porrello (Maine South)

220: Christian Wilson (St. Charles East) F 2:27 Leo McDonald (Maine South)

285: Austin Barrett (St. Charles East) D 3-2 Tyler Fortis (Maine South)

York 38, Schaumburg 32

The final two matches of the York-Schaumburg dual decided things, with Austin Bagdasarian (220) winning a 1-0 decision and then Dominic Begora (285) winning by fall to send York to the team state finals for its first time ever.

York won 8 of 14 matches wrestled and got bonus points in six of those wins. The Dukes and coach Nick Metcalf will wrestle against Yorkville in Friday’s state quarterfinal round.
Dual results:

106: Austin Phelps (Schaumburg) F 1:57 Tommy Olins (York)

113: Jake Kubycheck (York) F 2:41 Jair Cole (Schaumburg)

120: Brady Phelps (Schaumburg) TF 20-5 Bobby Berner (York)

126: Callen Kirchner (Schaumburg) F 5:05 Jackson Hanselman (York)

132: Sean VanSleet (York) MD 12-3 Rocco Fontela (Schaumburg)

138: Sean Berger (York) F 2:33 Aiden Ploski (Schaumburg)

145: Frankie Nitti (York) D 8-4 Kolin Little (Schaumburg)

152: Gavin Hinkle (Schaumburg) F 3:55 Michael Grazzini (York)

160: Caden Kirchner (Schaumburg) F 3:24 Alejandro Carreon (York)

170: Danny DeCristofaro (York) MD 10-2 Logan Meyer (Schaumburg)

182: Sean Christoffel (Schaumburg) D 10-4 Matt Barton (York)

195: Evan Grazzini (York) F 3:59 Jacob Acevedo (Schaumburg)

220: Austin Bagdasarian (York) D 1-0 Jimmy Zinchuck (Schaumburg)

285: Dominic Begora (York) F 3:59 Dilon Najjar (Schaumburg)

At Marmion Academy:

Marmion Academy 51, Downers Grove South 21

Marmion went 10-4 with one forfeit win in matches against Downers Grove South and got bonus points in eight of the nine matches wrestled. Marmion advances to the team state finals for the ninth time in program history. Marmion is seeking its first-ever team state championship, having placed second in state twice (2013, 2016) and third twice (2014, 2019).

“The boys wrestled hard,” Marmion coach Anthony Cirrincione said. “It has been a while (2019) for Marmion, but we have been wrestling hard all year. The excitement of having an opportunity to compete for a team state title is real amongst the team. We will continue to ask the boys what we have asked them to do this entire season and that is to wrestle really hard and listen to the coaches. They have yet to not answer that request and nothing will be different this weekend. I expect us to compete really hard and give it everything we have.”

Dual results:
195: Mateusz Nycz (Marmion) F 4:00 Keandre Miles (DG South)

220: Teddy Perry (Marmion) F 1:07 Jayden Contreras (DG South)

285: Sean Scheck (Marmion) F 1:28 Semaj Croswell (DG South)

106: Nicholas Garcia (Marmion) TF 17-2 Trevor DiNaso (DG South)

113: Donny Pigoni (Marmion) MD 10-0 Miguel Castaneda (DG South)

120: Donnie Fields (DG South) FF

126: Jameson Garcia (Marmion) F 3:37 Angel Negron (DG South)

132: Ashton Hobson (Marmion) F 0:41 Jordan Christin-Holley (DG South)

138: Tyler Aters (Marmion) D 8-4 Dom Piehl (DG South)

145: Brody Kelly (Marmion) TF 20-3 Hugo Contreras-Lozano (DG South)

152: Collin Carrigan (Marmion) FF

160: Luke Swan (DG South) FF

170: RJ Samuels (DG South) D 6-3 Michael Phillips (Marmion)

182: Matty Lapacek (DG South) FF

Mt. Carmel 63, Naperville Central 9

Defending team state champion Mt. Carmel went 12-2 in matches against Naperville Central to advance to the team state finals for the 14th time in program history, having won team state titles under Hall-of-Fame coach Bill Weick back in 1992, ‘93, and ‘94, and also placed second in state in 2020 for current coach Alex Tsirtsis.

Dual results:

195: William Jacobson (Mt. Carmel) MD 14-4 Jacob Smetters (Naperville Central)

220: Nicolas Besteiro (Naperville Central) F 1:28 Nick Naujokas (Mt. Carmel)

285: Alexander Poholik (Mt. Carmel) F 1:35 over Chase Enfield (Naperville Central)

106: Kavel Moore (Mt. Carmel) F 1:02 Jacob Cochran (Naperville Central)

113: Lukas Tsirtsis (Mt. Carmel) F 3:24 Austin Aguinaldo (Naperville Central)

120: Seth Mendoza (Mt. Carmel) F 3:36 Ty Martin (Naperville Central)

126: Caleb Drousias (Mt. Carmel) MD 14-5 Ethan Olson (Naperville Central)

132: Jairo Acuna (Mt. Carmel) F 1:55 Mitchell Kaszuba (Naperville Central)

138: Sergio Lemley (Mt. Carmel) F 4:22 Larry Stubitsch (Naperville Central)

145: Liam Kelly (Mt. Carmel) MD 10-2 Hagan Taylor (Naperville Central)

152: Edmund Enright (Mt. Carmel) F 0:29 Christopher Bern (Naperville Central)

160: Gavin Bohan (Naperville Central) D 9-2 Kevin Kalchbrenner (Mt. Carmel)

170: Colin Kelly (Mt. Carmel) TF 24-8 Henry Rydwelski (Naperville Central)

182: Rylan Breen (Mt. Carmel) MD 10-0 Nyree Dabney (Naperville Central)

At Huntley

Hersey 34, Prospect 21

In a closely-fought dual, Hersey went 9-5 in matches won over Prospect, including three one-point decision wins from Aaron Hernandez (160), Anthony Cambria (182) and James Shaffer (132), and a pair of two-point wins from Ben Erhabor (220) and Parker Sena (152).
Hersey will be making its third trip to the team state finals, having last competed downstate in 1993 and 1997. They’ll take on Marmion in their state quarterfinal dual on Friday.

160: Aaron Hernandez (Hersey) D 6-5 Damien Puma (Prospect)

170: Michael Matuszak (Prospect) D 7-4 Fortis Variano (Hersey)

182: Anthony Cambria (Hersey) D 10-9 Nathan Lopez (Prospect)

195: Jaxon Penovich (Prospect) TF 22-7 Leo Delgado ((Hersey)

220: Ben Erhabor (Hersey) D 9-7 Conor Mitchell (Prospect)

285: Oleg Simakov (Hersey) F 5:09 Tommy Johl (Prospect)

106: Dan Lehman (Hersey) TF 18-3 Adam Epperson (Prospect)

113: Abdullokh Khakimov (Hersey) MD 11-2 Elijah Garza (Prospect)

120: Joel Muehlenbeck (Prospect) D 11-6 Esteban Delgado (Hersey)

126: Max Mukhamedaliyev (Hersey) MD 13-4 Jimmy Mateos (Prospect)

132: James Shaffer (Hersey) D 8-7 Giorgio Difalco (Prospect)

138: Lennon Steinkuhler (Prospect) MD 14-1 Rodrigo Arceo (Hersey)

145: Will Baysingar (Prospect) F 1:37 Jake Hanson (Hersey)

152: Parker Sena (Hersey) D 5-3 Alex Bootz (Prospect)

Warren 60, Belvidere North 16

Warren won eight of the 11 matches wrestled against Belvidere North and got bonus points in six of those eight wins, in advancing to the program’s first-ever trip to the team state finals for coach Brad Janecek. Warren squares off with Lockport in a state quarterfinal dual on Friday.

Dual results:

160: Royce Lopez (Warren) SV-1 2-1 Antonio Alvarado (Belvidere North)

170: Colin Young (Belvidere North) F 1:59 Justice Humphreys (Warren)

182: Demetrius Lin (Warren) F 3: 26 Juan Cervantes (Belvidere North)

195: Jeremiah Hixson ((Warren) F 0:40 Christian Mendoza (Belvidere North)

220: Caleb VanLeer ((Warren) FF

285: Anthony Soto (Warren) F 0:38 Zander Martinez (Belvidere North)

106: Jonathan Marquez (Warren) F 4:00 Unknown (Unattached)

113: Brayden Teunissen (Belvidere North) MD 13-1 Carlos Ordonez (Warren)

120:Jose Ordonez (Warren) F 1:29 Bryson Teunissen (Belvidere North)

126: Jorge Valenzuela ((Warren) D 11-5 Geren Stapleton (Belvidere North)

132: Zack Piszkiewicz (Warren) FF

138: Evan Onstead (Warren) F 1:51 Andrew Bucci (Belvidere North)

145: Dominick Girardin (Belvidere North) F 2:21 Daniel Currea (Warren)

152: Aaron Stewart (Warren) FF

At Lincoln-Way West

Lockport 42, Lincoln-Way West 22

Lockport went 9-5 in matches won against Lincoln-Way West to secure its eighth trip to the dual team state finals, having won the state crown in 2017, placed third in 2016 and 2022, and finished fourth in 2015, all under former coach Josh Oster. In his first season at the helm, current coach Jameson Oster takes his squad into a state quarterfinal dual against Warren on Friday night.

“The team wrestled really well,” Oster said. “Being down three starters made the dual a lot more interesting, but our guys stepped up like they’ve been doing all season. We are looking to keep this momentum going and bring home another trophy this weekend.”

Dual results:

220: Nick Kavooras (Lincoln-Way West) MD 11-1 Malik Salah (Lockport)

285: Wojciech Chrobak (Lockport) TF 16-0 Michael Bylaitis (Lincoln-Way West)

106: Isaac Zimmerman (Lockport) F 1:43 Carter Dibenedetto (Lincoln-Way West)

113: Timmy O`Connor (Lockport) D 5-3 Haden Anderson (Lincoln-Way West)

120: Liam Zimmerman (Lockport) F 0:23 Caiden Selof (Lincoln-Way West)

126: Jad Alwawi (Lockport) MD 12-0 Jakob Siwinski (Lincoln-Way West)

132: Karter Guzman (Lincoln-Way West) F 2:43 Robert Vukobratovich (Lockport)

138: Logan Kaminski (Lockport) D 9-3 Jase Salin (Lincoln-Way West)

145: Luke Siwinski (Lincoln-Way West) D 11-7 Chris Miller (Lockport)

152: Durango Valles (Lockport) D 10-3 Tyler Mansker (Lincoln-Way West)

160: Jimmy Talley (Lincoln-Way West) D 7-3 Max Knezevich (Lockport)

170: Logan Swaw (Lockport) F 1:06 Devin Swidergal (Lincoln-Way West)

182: Aidan Nolting (Lockport) F 3:02 Nate Elstner (Lincoln-Way West)

195: Anthony Sherman (Lincoln-Way West) F 1:23 Chase Creed (Lockport)

Yorkville 35, Edwardsville 23

Yorkville won 8 of 13 matches wrestled including four of the final five matches to notch its 11th trip downstate. The Foxes most recent state titles came in 1993 and ‘94 under coach Bob Long and they finished second in state in their most recent trip downstate under coach Joe Fornell in 2012.
In his 7th year at the helm, current coach Jake Oster takes Yorkville downstate to face York in a state quarterfinal dual on Friday.

220: Ben Alvarez (Yorkville (H.S.)) F 1:28 Roman Janek (Edwardsville (H.S.))

285: Dawson Rull (Edwardsville (H.S.)) D 10-3 Logan Fenoglio (Yorkville (H.S.))

106: Liam Fenoglio (Yorkville (H.S.)) D 5-0 Bryson Nuttall (Edwardsville (H.S.))

113: Tyler Perry (Edwardsville (H.S.)) F 4:00 Ramsey Barton (Yorkville (H.S.))

120: Levi Wilkinson (Edwardsville (H.S.)) MD 14-6 Nathan Craft (Yorkville (H.S.))

126: Ryan Richie (Edwardsville (H.S.)) SV-1 9-7 Dominic Recchia (Yorkville (H.S.))

132: Jack Ferguson (Yorkville (H.S.)) D 4-1 Zeke Rhodes (Edwardsville (H.S.))

138: Dom Coronado (Yorkville (H.S.)) MD 9-1 Blake Mink (Edwardsville (H.S.))

145: Drew Landau (Edwardsville (H.S.))  MD 14-6 Caleb Viscogliosi (Yorkville (H.S.))

152: Ryder Janeczko (Yorkville (H.S.)) F 1:27 Brendan Landau (Edwardsville (H.S.))

160: Cam Peach (Yorkville (H.S.)) MD 11-0 Jack Cloud (Edwardsville (H.S.))

170: Luke Zook (Yorkville (H.S.)) FF

182: Hubey Thomas (Edwardsville (H.S.)) D 4-0 Colten Stevens (Yorkville (H.S.))

195: Ryan Stockl (Yorkville (H.S.)) D 5-2 Simon Schulte (Edwardsville (H.S.))

By Patrick Z. McGavin

CHAMPAIGN – Everything old proved new again—with some delirious twists and turns.

Redemption was the ruling metaphor of the Class 2A State Championships at State Farm Arena here Saturday night.

By one measure, the dominant teams took hold on Mat 2–Joliet Catholic with five finalists, Washington four, and Aurora Christian three.

The most satisfying story was the possibility of the comeback.

Four wrestlers had a year to imagine and ponder a different scenario than what befell them last year—the heartbreak of losing a state championship match.

If the best teams invariably produce the best wrestlers, success begets deeper levels of accomplishment. The best wrestlers tend to come back—again and again.

“Illinois is one of the best states in the country for wrestlers,” said Washington senior Kannon Webster, a three-time state champion. 

“It is not a shocker that kids are coming back year after year, and putting themselves in the finals, and putting themselves on the top of the podium.”

The rankings refer to Rob Sherill’s Illinois Matmen standings. Seeds refer to the IHSA points-based system.

Here is a closer look at how the state championship matches played out.

Class 2A state champions

106: Anthony Alanis, Grayslake Central, junior

The rivalry of Anthony Alanis and Gavin Rockey constitutes its own narrative.

Their paths have been inescapably intertwined throughout the state series—clashing in successive weeks in the regional, sectional and fittingly, the largest stage.

Alanis seized the early advantage with two first period takedowns and withstood the rally of Rockey for the tense and superbly contested 8-6 final.

Alanis (44-1) reached his dream of ascending one level higher at the state podium after he lost to Drew Davis of Glenwood in the 106-pound state championship match last year.

His only loss came against Antioch sophomore Gavin Hanrahan at 113 pounds.

“A big difference from last year is that I was definitely not as nervous,” Alanis said. “I have been in this environment before, and I have been on this mat before.

“I felt more comfortable.”

Scoring first is also a great psychological advantage.

“Compared with our other matches, I think personally what was different was that I already knew what I wanted at the beginning of the match,” Alanis said. “I knew I was going to go as hard as I could for six minutes, and I wasn’t going to let up at any point in the match.”

He was dominant through the early stages of the tournament, posting a first period fall and technical fall en route to the upper bracket championship.

As a runner-up in the regional and sectional, Rockey (29-6) had a more contested path. He also posted a first period fall and a decisive quarterfinal victory. 

Four of his defeats came against Alanis.

As riveting as the title match proved, it was eclipsed to some extent by the history making effort of Bremen freshman Morgan Turner.

She became the first female wrestler in state history to capture a medal by defeating Civic Memorial sophomore Bradley Ruckman 4-2 in the third-place match.

Turner (35-3) eschewed a chance to capture a girls state championship. She took Alanis to the brink in the semifinal before falling 3-0.

“It feels great,” Turner said. “Along the journey, I felt like I could have done better. I just wanted a bigger challenge of going up against the boys as a way of really raising the bar.”

Freshman Harrison Dea of Morton (Ill.) captured fifth place with the 10-4 decision over junior Ivan Munoz of Ottawa.

113: Drew Davis, Glenwood, junior

Any defending state champion has a natural aura. They also have a massive target on their back, the one everybody wants to take down. 

Drew Davis survived the odds, and punched his return ticket with the hard fought and deeply satisfying 3-2 victory over Wauconda freshman Nate Randle.

Davis is angular and rangy, and blessed with superb technique and explosive athleticism.

He posted back to back technical falls to begin his title defense. He ended the perfect run of Montini junior Ben Dunne with the 8-1 victory in the semifinals.

Randle (31-9) achieved something almost unprecedented—he finished higher at the individual state meet than the sectional, where he was third behind Dunne and Hanrahan.

Randle improved with each match, showing toughness, verve and natural instincts.

He gave Davis everything he wanted, using his power and speed to throw off the lightning forays of Davis.

Scoreless at the start of the second period, Davis finally created some breathing space with an escape and takedown.

Randle stayed tight and restless, showing burst and energy. 

Sophomore Deven Casey of Aurora Christian captured his second consecutive third place trophy with the 3-1 victory over Joliet Catholic freshman Jason Hampton.

Casey (40-8) seized control with a second period takedown. 

Hampton (39-10) edged Dunne 4-3 in the semifinal wrestleback. Rock Island junior Truth Vesey earned fifth place with the medical forfeit over Dunne (18-3)

120: Gylon Sims, Joliet Catholic, senior

As a freshman, Gylon Sims made a surprise run to the state championship at 106 pounds.

He made it a habit.

A four-time state finalist, Sims put the finishing touches on his stunning individual career with the 5-3 sudden victory over Aurora Christian sophomore Josh Vazquez.

Sims (41-6) created the high-wire drama with an escape with about 18 seconds remaining in regulation.

Vazquez (26-7) proved a skilled and creative adversary in his own right. 

The two wrestled earlier this year, with Sims pulling out the 3-2 victory. Vazquez had several benchmark wins, most significantly a victory over Class 3A state champion Massey Odiotti of Loyola.

Vazquez appeared in the driver’s seat after his takedown put him up 3-2 late in the third period.

“I think my biggest motivation was this was my last year, and I knew I could not go out like that,” Sims said. “He was fighting hard not to give up any points, and obviously I had the same mentality.”

Given new life with the late escape, Sims took control in the extra time, getting the jump on Vazquez.

“I lost in the finals as a freshman, but I wasn’t really expecting to make it,” Sims said. “Once I did, I remember telling myself I never wanted to miss out on that experience.

“I made sure I made that march every year.”

Bremen senior Nore’ Turner fell just short of matching the achievement of his younger sister.

Senior Tyler Evans of Prairie Ridge secured the 5-2 victory in the third-place match. Evans finished 42-5.

Nore’ Turner posted a final record of 33-5.

In the fifth-place match, Rock Island junior Daniel McGhee (27-7) pulled out the 7-6 decision over freshman Kameron Luif (36-12) of Montini.

126: Bobby Conway, Brother Rice, sophomore

Bobby Conway packed three or four different matches into one berserk and helter skelter action.

The results proved revealing, spectacular, and intensely dramatic.

Facing undefeated defending state champion Colby Crouch of Triad, Conway staged two amazing comebacks at the start of the first period and the second period, went up and then fell behind.

He nearly pinned Crouch twice only to lose his balance and get reversed. A stunning combined 28 points were scored until Crouch suffered an injury.

Conway was declared the winner by injury default when Crouch was unable to complete the match.

“I just kept pushing forward,” Conway said. “In that situation, the moment you stop it’s over. Confidence is everything.

“You come into any match just thinking you’re not losing. When I was in that tunnel, I didn’t see myself losing. I couldn’t see the possibility of losing. I had great energy, and I was confident. Even if he put me on my back, I was confident I would win.”

Crouch (31-1) led 4-0 early in the first period and 9-4 at the start of the second period.

Conway was unbowed, twice scoring back points, yielding three times and four lead changes.

Crouch had gone up 15-13 late in the second period at the time of the injury.

Conway (23-1) overcame a stained knee injury during the season, becoming the second Brother RIce state champion in consecutive years.

Wiry and long, Conway utilized his superior length to throw off Crouch to catch him twice on his back.

“When he got me right off the bat, if I had not been long enough, he might have put me on my back,” Conway said. “I might have gotten stuck.

“It’s a good thing I am long enough.”

Ranked No. 6, Conway suffered his only loss against Loyola state champion Massey Odiotti.

Conway edged No. 5 Jordan Rasof, the tournament second-seed, in the semifinals.

Crouch had two first period falls en route to the upper bracket title.

In the third-place match, Washington freshman Wyatt Medlin registered a 20-5 technical fall over junior Tyler Weidman (40-13) of Grayslake Central.

Medlin gave Crouch his toughest match in the lead up to the final before falling in the competitive 10-5 decision during the semifinals.

In the fifth-place match, Caleb Scott (39-12)  of Civic Memorial outlasted Rasof (44-8) with the 4-2 ultimate tie breaker decision. 

132: Santino Robinson, Mascoutah, senior

Santino Robinson played out the most satisfying outcome in his mind.

Then he realized it.

Robinson has crossed borders to arrive at this point. A two-time state finalist in Missouri, he completed his magic run.

Robinson (41-0) completed his perfect season with the 4-2 tiebreaker over Washington sophomore Peyton Cox.

The mesmerizing showdown felt preordained given the two were ranked 1-2 throughout the season.

Cox (44-3) suffered his second consecutive heartbreaking state finals loss, having dropped the 120-pound title against Crouch last year.

After a scoreless first period, the two alternated escapes, setting up the dramatic conclusion.

“I knew that if I was able to take him down, I was going to win the match,” Robinson said. “That was my whole thinking, I just had to get the takedown.”

The clash of styles made the match all the more bracing and illuminating, with Robinson holding the advantage in quickness and athleticism, Cox carrying out the edge in power and strength.

Robinson deployed his speed and quickness to maneuver out of potentially dangerous moments.

His superior quickness finally broke Cox down, his escape and takedown turning the tide.

“I got in on his legs a couple of times, but I was not able to finish it,” Robinson said. “I knew eventually I was going to be able to finish one if I kept firing.”

Sophomore Zachary Montez of Geneseo earned the impressive 8-6 victory over junior Edgar Albino of Antioch to capture third place. 

Montez (48-3) won four consecutive matches after a tough quarterfinal loss against Robinson. Albino (34-5) defeated Normal West junior Evan Willock in the semifinal wrestleback.

In the fifth-place match, Oak Forest senior Caden Musselm (35-5) posted the second period fall of Willock (39-7). 

138: Gauge Shipp, Galesburg, junior

If ever the name fit the athlete, Gauge Shipp proved the moment prophetic.

He was the athlete everybody else in his field was ultimately measured against.

He proved himself a performer without peer.

Shipp hit multiple milestones as an undefeated champion who reached the 50-win threshold with his 15-0 technical fall of Joliet Catholic senior Jake Hamiti.

He made quite the leap, jumping up three weight classes after he finished sixth at 120 pounds last year.

Ranked No. 8, Shipp (50-0) overpowered Hamiti in the championship with his impressive command of speed, power, and technical prowess.

He punctuated one of the lopsided runs in the tournament with a fall, technical fall and major decision.

“I came in every day this season, and I worked on just getting better,” Shipp said. “I never plateaued. I am always working.

“There is a certain thing in my brain that I just unlocked this year. I just feel like every time I am out there, I am the best wrestler. I am completely confident in myself, and my abilities.”

Ranked No. 3, Hamiti edged Patrick Mullen of Aurora Christian in the quarterfinal and followed with a decisive victory over top-ranked Anthony Streib of Antioch in the semifinal.

Shipp was at a different level, ultimately untouchable.

Streib (27-4) recovered from his semifinal loss to Hamiti with the 8-2 decision over senior Sammy Schuit (33-10) of Lemont in earning third-place distinction.

In the fifth-place match, Dylan Watts (34-8) of Bloomington edged sophomore Ben Capitosti of Mattoon (43-10).

145: Kannon Webster, Washington, senior

The pound for pound question is a natural and highly entertaining one to ponder.

With the three state championship classes unfolding simultaneously, the kaleidoscopic view allows one to entertain all possibilities.

Kannon Webster certainly belongs at the top of any order, and very much in the discussion for the best wrestler in the state, regardless of class or weight.

Webster decimated the field for the third time in his career. He was the closest the class had to a fait accompli—meaning an outcome that was already decided.

Webster captured his second consecutive state title and the third of his illustrious career with the 18-8 major decision over Bryce Griffin of Civic Memorial.

Webster (50-0) won at 106 pounds as a freshman and defeated Santino Robinson last year at 132 pounds.

His breathless pace and relentless speed allowed Griffin little time to breathe.

He posted three falls during the preliminary bouts to capture the upper bracket.

“I am just going to go out there, and just compete the same every time and score as many points as possible,” Webster said.

“I like to be the one who sets an example with my leadership qualities, for the rest of the team and be the one that kids look up to. I hope they take something away from my wrestling.”

Ranked No. 2, Griffin (48-5) edged second-seeded and No. 3 Caleb Nobiling of Antioch 6-5 in the semifinals.

Nobiling (38-9) captured third place recognition with the 5-3 decision over junior Aidan Blackburn of Mattoon.

Blackburn (41-8) also qualified for the top bracket semifinal.

In the fifth-place match, Nolan Mrozowski (42-11) earned the major decision over senior Josyah Holland (25-8) of Crete-Monee.

152: Taythan Silva, Aurora Christian, senior

Taythan Silva had a different memory of a year ago.

After losing in the fifth-place consolation semifinal, he realized he had nothing tangible to show for his efforts.

“Every practice this year, I realized I didn’t really do anything last year, and I had to keep going,” he said.

Silva made a grand statement with his riveting 1-0 victory over Montini junior David Mayora in the championship match.

He secured his escape in the second period and then used his quickness, speed and power to subdue Mayora in the final period.

“We wrestled in freestyle last spring, and we have also wrestled before when we were younger,” Silva said. “We have known each other, and we know how each other wrestles.

“It was about trying to wear him down, and see who was going to score.”

Silva (39-7) gave Aurora Christian another state champion, a hallmark for the new powerhouse.

The top-seed and top-ranked Mayora (47-3) won by technical fall, decision and major decision in reaching the championship.

In the third-place match, Sycamore’s Gus Cambier posted the second period fall of Joliet Catholic’s Connor Cumbee.

Glenwood’s Aden Byal defeated Collin Reif of Jacksonville by major decision in finishing fifth.

160: Mason Alessio, Joliet Catholic, senior

Motivation takes on many forms and permutations.

Of the multiple state finalists who came up just short a year earlier, Mason Alessio of Joliet Catholic accomplished what nobody else could claim.

He eviscerated the sting of that memory.

Alessio punctuated a dominant run with a first period fall of Dunlap junior Nick Mueller.

Alessio (43-3) lost only once in state, against Lockport state finalist Logan Swaw.

He also wiped clean the memory of his loss against Jayden Colon in the 145-pound state championship last year.

Colon transferred from Montini to St. Charles East, and stunned previously unbeaten Noah Tapia of Moline to win the Class 3A 145-pound state championship.

In registering the only state finals fall in Class 2A, Alessio completed another extra piece of the equation.

He did not concede a point during the state series run, massing a 31-0 cumulative score in his preliminary results.

Mueller (43-8) was overpowered in the championship match. His tournament run was impressive, with a major decision in the quarterfinals and a sharp performance in the semifinals.

In the third-place match, Sycamore’s Zack Crawford stormed back from his quarterfinal defeat against Montini’s Will Prater to win four consecutive matches.

In the third-place match, Crawford (43-2) defeated Zane Hulet of Washington by major decision.

Hulet (29-15) defeated Prater (42-8) by medical forfeit in the wrestleback semifinal.

Ben Butler (38-13) of Crystal Lake Central also defeated Prater by medical forfeit in the fifth-place match.

170: Abe Wojcikiewicz, Civic Memorial, senior

Events come at you fast, no matter the circumstances.

A year ago, Abe Wojcikiewicz was sailing toward an apparent undefeated state run until he was stunned in the semifinals.

It was the ultimate wake up call. At state, anything is possible.

Wojcikiewicz removed any questions or doubt about his follow up action with a dominant 17-5 major over Washington senior Blake Hinrichsen.

Wojcikiewicz (47-2) registered two victories by technical fall and a first period fall in the semifinals.

“That is going to weigh on anybody who experiences that, and my whole mentality this year has just been to dominate people,” Wojcikiewicz said

Hinrichsen (41-7) was also masterful in the run up to the state final. In one of the best matches of the tournament, he edged Aiden Cohen of Deerfield 12-10 in the semifinals.

In the third-place match, Cohen (47-5) ended his remarkable individual career with the 10-2 major over Crystal Lake South sophomore Cayden Parks (40-8).

Amare Overton of Rock Island captured fifth place with the first period fall of Brenden Benz of Carbondale.

182: Matty Jens, Grayslake Central, junior

Second place was not an option.

Matty Jens had a year to mull over the circumstances of his 5-3 loss in the championship last year against rival Shane Moran of Crystal Lake South.

Funny enough, Moran saw the future a year ago, acknowledging that Jens was just a sophomore.

“He still has two more years.”

Jens actually led Moran 3-0 in that championship match. 

Cognizant of that, he never let up against Joliet Catholic sophomore Nico Ronchetti.

He posted two first period takedowns in the 9-1 major decision.

“I think the early takedowns were not a surprise,” he said. “They were just a part of the game plan. I think I was in control the whole time, and he was kind of broke early.”

Like his teammate Anthony Alanis, Jens had to work through the extreme disappointment of coming so close.

Jens did not have to worry about a long wait. The three state championship matches began at his weight.

He did not have to mull over his options.

“It was definitely weird being the first match up,” he said. “I have never had to do that before. I even asked Anthony what I should do.

“It definitely gave me less time to think, and I was just ready to wrestle.

Jens (32-0) is now 79-3 his last two years of wrestling.

He posted two falls and a 7-4 decision against Steven Marquez of Rock Island in the semifinals.

He had a private bond with Alanis through their shared experiences, and now joint state titles.

“We always brought up last year’s final with each other, and we would always push each other and use that as fuel in everything we did,” Jens said.

Ronchetti (32-17) was one of the wild cards of the finals, a literally out of nowhere sophomore who stunned top-seeded Brennan Houser of Mahomet-Seymour 7-6 in the semifinals.

His magic ran out against Jens.

Marquez edged Phil Shaw IV of Danville 7-5 in the third-place match.

In defeating Koen Rodebush of Triad by technical fall in the fifth-place match, Houser achieved a special distinction of a 50-win season

220: Justin Hoffer, Washington, senior

In the toughest, deepest draw in the class, Justin Hoffer was the last man standing.

Ranked No. 3, he took out top-ranked Connor Lorden of LaSalle-Peru 5-2 for the championship.

His speed and athleticism was the difference maker, yielding takedowns in the second and third period.

Justin Hoffer (43-1) won by technical fall in the quarterfinals, and edged No. 2 and top seed Jack Barnhart 6-4 in the semifinal.

The top-ranked Lorden edged previously unbeaten Alex Jackson (35-2) of Bremen in the quarterfinals, and beat Alex Hamrick of Glenwood in the semifinals.

In the third-place match, Hamrick (46-5) subdued Jackson 4-3. He previously had two top-five finishes at 285 pounds.

Leo Meyer (47-7) of Mattoon captured fifth place by medical forfeit of Barnhart.

285: Dillan Johnson, Joliet Catholic, junior

Watching the deep curved ceilings of the State Farm Arena is the typical fate of anybody who goes up against Dillan Johnson.

The defending state champion needed less than two and a half minutes of time to post two falls.

Aurora Christian senior Braden Hunter made Johnson work.

In the end, Johnson reigned supreme, staking his claim to being the best in the country.

Hunter used his explosive combination of power and speed to register four takedowns in the 8-2 victory.

Johnson (43-0) has not conceded a takedown. He posted falls of Class 3A finalists Ben Bielawski and Jonathan Rulo.

“I don’t really focus too much on the rankings or things like that,” Johnson said. “The one thing it does is motivate me to just keep working hard.

“It’s a difficult task sometimes, but my dad helps me out a lot with that.”

In the first period, Johnson got in tight on Hunter with a single leg. Hunter used his superior height and weight to offset the action.

Eventually Johnson was just too quick and powerful.

“I just focus on what I am going to do, and what my takedowns are,” he said.

Despite the loss, Hunter (12-1) made a remarkable recovery just to get to this point. He suffered a torn meniscus last fall playing football.

He also dealt with complications of the flu on Friday. He soldiered on.

“The final didn’t really go the way I wanted, but I will take what I can get with the month that I had,” Hunter said.

Third is the second charm for Notre Dame’s Karl Schmalz (34-3), who ended his standout career with his second consecutive third-place state finish with his 4-2 comeback victory over Andy Burburijia of Crystal Lake South.

“I didn’t wrestle well enough against Braden Hunter, and I wanted to come back strong,” Schmalz said.

The third-place match was a repeat of the title match of the Illini Classic that Schmalz won in sudden victory.

A junior Burburijia finished the season  33-5.

In the fifth-place match, Lincoln Cooley of Sycamore defeated Max Accettura  of Vernon Hills by ultimate tiebreaker 2-1.