By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA
IWCOA rankings from Rob Sherrill’s Illinois Best Weekly

CHICAGO CATHOLIC LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

Marmion Academy topped the field at this year’s 16-team CCL tournament, sending eight wrestlers to the title mat and winning six individual championships for coach Anthony Cirrincione.

The defending 3A state champion Cadets had 13 wrestlers place in the top six of their weight classes in out-pointing defending 2A state champion IC Catholic Prep 294-248. Providence Catholic (182.5) placed third followed by Loyola Academy (172) and Mt. Carmel (168) to round out the top five team finishes.

“The boys wrestled well, competing hard and listening well,” Cirrincione said. “We went in expecting a good performance and the boys delivered.”

No. 2 3A Marmion got titles from a stable of state medal winners in No. 3 Preston Morrison (28-6 at 113), No. 1 Nicholas Garcia (38-2 at 132), No. 1 Zach Stewart (16-1 at 138), No. 2 Demetrios Carrera (28-4 at 144), No. 2 Ashton Hobson (19-1 at 150) and No. 2 Joey Favia (32-4 at 285).

No. 2 Carrera won the outstanding wrestler award after surviving a bracket that included No. 3 3A Justin Williamson of Mt. Carmel, No. 4 3A Kam Luif of Montini, and No. 1 2A Jack Hogan of IC Prep.
Carrera won 11-2 over Hogan in their semifinal match before topping Williamson in a 6-5 decision for the title.

Morrison, Stewart, and Hobson were dominant in winning titles, with . A pair of state champs in Garcia and IC Prep’s Max Cumbee squared off in the finals with Garcia winning a 4-2 decision. Favia won 4-1 in his final at 285 over No. 2 Hunter Wahtola of DePaul College Prep.

1st- Marmion Academy (294)
In addition to their six champions, Marmion got runner-up finishes from No. 2 Colton Wyller (30-7 at 106) and No. 6 Aidan McClure (26-7 at 126), plus a third from Vincenzo Testa (18-3 at 190), a fourth from Grayson Garcia (18-14 at 157), and fifths from Brody Page (25-10 at 120), Daniel Skura (7-17 at 165) and Luke Boersma (29-10).

“Colton Wyller wrestled the number one-ranked kid (Loyola’s Niko Odiotti) to an overtime match, and Aidan McClure competed hard against a number one (Montini’s Bobby Ruscitti) as well,” Cirrincione said. “Grayson Garcia upset higher-ranked wrestlers, Vincenzo Testa took and knows the adjustments he needs to make to get what he is looking for at the end of the season.

“Overall, we came out healthy, wrestled hard, and still have room for improvement, which is exciting down the stretch run.”

2nd- IC Catholic Prep (248)
No. 1 Class 2A Knights Danny Alcocer sent three wrestlers to the top of the awards stand in No. 2 Kannon Judycki (21-8 at 120), No. 1 Brody Kelly (40-4 at 175) and No. 3 Foley Calcagno (33-7 at 190). The Knights also got seconds from No. 1 Max Cumbee (34-7 at 132) and No. 2 Aiden Arnett (32-10 157), thirds from No. 2 Drew Murante (28-11 at 113) and No. 3 Anthony Sebastian (31-9 at 285), and fourths from No. 2 Mike Bird (27-13 at 106), No. 7 Jack Hanrahan (26-14 at 138), No. 7 Jacob Alvarez (23-16 at 150) and No. 9 Joey Pontrelli (24-16 at 165).

3rd- Providence Catholic (182.5)

No. 2 Class 2A Celtics coach Don Reynolds got an individual title from No. 1 Justus Heeg (42-1 at 157), seconds from No. 1 Christian Corcoran (28-9 at 113), No. 1 Tommy Banas (36-7 at 138) and No. 3 Jasper Harper (27-11 at 165), thirds from Andrew Pellicci (22-11 at 150) and No. 5 Ameer Khalil (32-13 at 175), a fourth from Lucas Forsythe (23-20 at 132), a fifth from Max Mandac (30-14 at 126), and a sixth from Luke Banas (28-17 at 144).

Team scores
Marmion Academy 294, IC Catholic Prep 248, Providence Catholic 182.5, Loyola Academy 172, Mount Carmel 168, Montini Catholic 164.5, Brother Rice 117.5, St. Ignatius 63, St. Rita 54.5, St. Laurence 41.5, DePaul 40.5, St. Francis 25, Fenwick 24, De La Salle 19, Leo 7, Aurora Central Catholic 0

Additional champions
106 No. 1 Niko Odiotti (27-2) Loyola
126 No. 1 Bobby Ruscitti (36-0) Montini
165 No. 1 Liam Kelly (25-2) Mt. Carmel
215 No.1 Kai Calcutt (30-2) Loyola

Additional runners-up
120 No. 4 Allen Woo (29-8) Montini
144 No, 3 Justin Williamson (17-6) Mt. Carmel
150 No. 8 James Hemmila (20-5) Loyola
175 No. 6 AJ Tack (23-10) Montini
190 Colin Goggin (10-3) Brother Rice
215 Melson Ngassa (29-7) St. Ignatius
285 No. 2 Hunter Wahtola (28-2) DePaul

Championship match results
106 Niko Odiotti (Loyola) SV-1 8-5 Colton Wyller (Marmion)
113 James Morrison (Marmion) MD 12-3 Christian Corcoran (Providence)
120 Kannon Judycki (IC Prep) F 5:24 Allen Woo (Montini)
126 Bobby Ruscitti (Montini) D 8-3 Aidan McClure (Marmion)
132 Nicholas Garcia (Marmion) D 4-2 Max Cumbee (IC Prep)
138 Zach Stewart (Marmion) MD 9-0 Tommy Banas (Providence)
144 Demetrios Carrera (Marmion) D 6-5 Justin Williamson (Mt. Carmel)
150 Ashton Hobson (Marmion) F 2:45 James Hemmila (Loyola)
157 Justus Heeg (Providence) MD 16-5 Aiden Arnett (IC Prep)
165 Liam Kelly (Mt. Carmel) F 1:07 Jasper Harper (Providence)
175 Brody Kelly (IC Prep) F 5:56 AJ Tack (Montini)
190 Foley Calcagno (IC Prep) F 0:48 Colin Goggin (Brother Rice)
215 Kai Calcutt (Loyola) F 1:15 Melson Ngassa (St. Ignatius)
285 Joseph Favia (Marmion) D 4-1 Hunter Wahtola (DePaul)

Third-place match results
106 Sebastian Gracia (Mt. Carmel) TF 5:56 Mike Bird (IC Prep)
113 Drew Murante (IC Prep) MD 20-7 Daniel Macatangay (Mt. Carmel)
120 Justin Forbes (De La Salle) D 7-6 Daniel Myint (Loyola)
126 Brody Koselke (Mt. Carmel) fft. Gavin Pardilla (Loyola)
132 Mikey Malizzio (Montini) D 2-0 Lucas Forsythe (Providence)
138 Colton Huff (St. Ignatius) D 10-3 Jack Hanrahan (IC Prep)
144 Kam Luif (Montini) D 7-3 Jack Hogan (St. Rita)
150 Andrew Pellicci (Providence) D 5-4 Jacob Alvarez (IC Prep)
157 Daniel Malan (Loyola) inj. Grayson Garcia (Marmion)
165 Jonathan Harris (Brother Rice) D 5-4 Joey Pontrelli (IC Prep)
175 Ameer Khalil (Providence) D 4-1 Otis Davis (Brother Rice)
190 Vincenzo Testa (Marmion) TF 3:57 Kevin May (Montini)
215 Xavier Bitner (St. Laurence) MD 11-3 Dan Costello (Brother Rice)
285 Anthony Sebastian (IC Prep) D 5-3 Gavin Ericson (Montini)

Statistics
TEAM: IC Catholic Prep led all teams present with 21 pints, followed by Marmion with 20 and Mt. Carmel with 13. Providence posted the most tech falls in the least time with seven tech falls in 19:27, followed by Montini with seven in 22:39. IC Catholic also led the field with 386 total match points, followed by Mt. Carmel with 356 and Marmion with 344.

INDIVIDUAL: Marmion’s Luke Boersma posted the most pins in the least time with four in 16:02, followed by IC Prep’s Foley Calcagno with three pins in 6:07. Loyola’s Gavin Pardilla had the most tech falls in the least time with two techs in 4:35, followed by Brother Rice’s Jonathan Harris with two falls in 5:05.

St. Rita’s James Bansley posted the fastest fall in 19 seconds, followed by Mt. Carmel’s Landin Carter with a fall in 28 seconds. Providence Catholic’s Justus Heeg posted the fastest tech fall in 59 seconds, followed by Montini’s AJ Tack with a tech fall in 1:36.

IC Prep’s Brody Kelly posted the most team points with 30, and Loyola’s Kai Calcutt and Mt. Carmel’s Liam Kelly followed with 29.5 points apiece. Heeg also posted the most single-match points with 27, followed by teammate AJ Mendez and Brother Rice’s Oliver Davis with 24 apiece.

Heeg led all wrestlers with 60 total match points, followed by IC Prep’s Drew Murante with 57.
The largest seed-place difference came from IC Prep’s Foley Calcagno, who was seeded No. 12 and won the title at 190 pounds.


CHICAGO PUBLIC LEAGUE DUAL TEAM TOURNAMENT

Lane left no doubt where the best dual team in the Chicago Public League resides.
Coach Matt Yan’s Champions won 69-12 over Corliss, 51-21 over Crane, and then 46-20 in the CPL title dual against Taft to claim the top prize at this Saturday’s 8-team CPL Dual Team Championship.

“This season has been a learning year for a lot of our guys who are new to the lineup,” Yan said. “We’re oddly experienced and young at the same time.

“We have seniors making up half the lineup, while the other half is all guys who are new to varsity — two freshmen, four sophomores and two juniors. So it’s been a tough transition for the newcomers, but a welcome one.

“We are 23-9 in dual meets, which is a testament to the work these guys have put in during the offseason.”

Going a perfect 3-0 on the day for Lane were Alexis Rodriguez (120), Angel Santana (138), Joe Siprut (144), Harrison Yankellow (157), and Jose Lagunas (175). Jose Curiel (113) and Apollo Abney (215) went 2-0 for Lane, and going 2-1 were Logan Gabriana (126) and Adam Sanchez (190).
Lane’s title-dual win over Taft included a few individual reversals of fortune since Lane won 42-30 over Taft in their December dual meeting.

Yankellow lost by 6-3 decision to Taft’s Damian Chavez in a December dual but turned the tide in a 13-2 major decision win Saturday. At 215, Abney avenged a December loss to Taft’s Tyler Shoessow with an 8-3 decision win.

“Harrison’s dominant win was the standout performance for me,” Yan said. “He’s really improved this season. Fenton Pratt, our senior at 150, also won an 8-3 match that could have gone either way. He beat that same kid (Taft’s Anthony Miller) 9-8 in the first dual with a score in the last 20 seconds.

“Our boys really brought it in the finals, and we had more of our regular starters in the lineup this time. Joe Siprut’s pin at 144 was huge, and Logan Gabriana (126) was able to limit their state qualifier (Taft’s Bernardo Roque) to a technical fall.

“Our other seniors really stepped up and secured wins, including two pins by Jeremiah Arroyo-McMullan (106) and Jose Curiel (113). It was really a total team effort. “

Agricultural Science won 48-31 over Crane in the third-place dual, Noble/UIC won 42-36 over Noble/ITW Speer for fifth place, and Hancock placed seventh Saturday.

Statistics
TEAM: Taft led all teams with 20 pins, followed by Noble/UIC and Lane with 17 apiece. Hancock, Crane and Lane each posted three tech falls.

Lane scored the most team points with 166, followed by Taft with 160 and Noble/UIC with 131. Lane also had the most total match points with 281, followed by Crane with 212 and Taft with 210.

INDIVIDUAL: Noble/Speer’s Gael Martinez-Cabrera posted the most pins in the least time with three falls in 2:50, followed by Agricultural Science’s Maurice Bush with three falls in 4:33. Hancock’s Nicholas Anguiano had the most tech falls in the least time with two techs in 5:23, followed by Taft’s Angel Rivera with a tech in 1:43.

Noble/UIC’s Malik Allen posted the fastest fall in 23 seconds, followed by Lane’s Jeremiah Arroyo-McMullan with a fall at 26 seconds. Taft’s Rivera had the fastest tech fall at 1:43 followed by Hancock’s Anguiano with a tech at 2:16.

Taft’s Taje Oussama finished with the most single-match points with 21, followed by Anguiano and Rivera with 20 apiece. Lane’s Joe Siprut finished with the most total match points with 49, followed by Anguiano with 42 and Crane’s Deniko Fox with 36.

Championship dual result: Lane 46, Taft 20

120 – Alexis Rodriguez (Lane) d. Gabriel Palacios (Taft) F 2:26

126 – Bernardo Roque (Taft) d. Logan Gabriana (Lane) TF 17-1

132 – Yehor Shymko (Taft) d. Joaquin Salameda (Lane) F 0:46

138 – Angel Santana (Lane) d. Kevin Sanchez (Taft) D 7-4

144 – Joe Siprut (Lane) d. Oussama Taje (Taft) F 3:07

150 – Fenton Pratt (Lane) d. Anthony Miller (Taft) D 8-3

157 – Harrison Yankellow (Lane) d. Damian Chavez (Taft) MD 11-2

165 – Isaac Mendez (Lane) d. Ryan Ridgeway (Taft) D 4-1

175 – Jose Lagunas (Lane) d. Joel Flores (Taft) F 2:31

190 – Dmyrtii Mykhniak (Taft) d. Adam Sanchez (Lane) D 18-14

215 – Apolo Abney (Lane) d. Tyler Schoessow (Taft) D 8-3

285 – Eligiah Pagan (Taft) d. Henry Ferrell (Lane) F 2:34

106 – Jeremiah Arroyo-McMullan (Lane) d. Weston Amato (Taft) F 0:26

113 – Jose Curiel (Lane) d. Dreyton Pedregosa (Taft) F 1:54

3rd place dual: Agricultural Science 48, Crane 31

120 – Brayden Burrell (Crane) d. Charlie Bradley (Ag Science) TF 18-0

126 – Elijah Sawyers (Ag Science) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

132 – Jeremy Powell (Ag Science) d. Danny Lau (Crane) F 4:58

138 – James Gregory (Ag Science) d. Isaac Dumas (Crane) F 5:04

144 – Deniko Fox (Crane) d. Arthor Gardunio (Ag Science) TF 17-1

150 – MAURICE BUSH (Ag Science) d. Mauricio Caterino (Crane) F 0:37

157 – Franklin Pennix (Ag Science) d. Jason Lin (Crane) F 3:45

165 – Tayfun Mcelwain (Crane) d. Dennis Diviney (Ag Science) F 1:23

175 – Adrian Del Villar (Crane) d. Jamir Johnson (Ag Science) F 1:42

190 – Sylvester Staples (Ag Science) d. Jasper Korotko (Crane) F 0:34

215 – Donovan Kenerson (Ag Science) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

285 – Musa Hamadeh (Ag Science) d. Markius Woods (Crane) Inj 2:33

106 – Christian Kim (Crane) d. Jessie Greene (Ag Science) Inj 2:52

113 – James Kirk (Crane) d. Zachary Thomas (Ag Science) D 10-3

5th place dual: Noble/UIC 42, Speer 36

120 – Benjamin Flores (UIC) d. Adrian Ortiz (Speer) F 1:56

126 – Leonardo Zapien (UIC) d. George Pineda (Speer) F 3:02

132 – Julian Collins Jr (UIC) d. Dajuan Reed (Speer) F 1:18

138 – Ethan Mandujano (Speer) d. Marcellus Blount (UIC) F 1:17

144 – Luis Cruz (Speer) d. Kendrian Walker (UIC) F 2:32

150 – Deonte Thomas (UIC) d. Luis Donis Corleto (Speer) F 4:33

157 – Andy Del Lano (Speer) d. Demetrius Douglas (UIC) F 2:15

165 – Gael Martinez-Cabrera (Speer) d. Vince Chiorlu (UIC) F 0:55

175 – Samuel Vargas (Speer) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

190 – Briant Long (UIC) d. Brylon McKay McCorvey (Speer) F 0:43

215 – Malik Allen (UIC) d. Yovany Amaya Berrios (Speer) F 4:36

285 – Kavon Grant (UIC) d. Jonathan Rosa (Speer) F 0:43

106 – Double Forfeit

113 – Dyllan Ornelas (Speer) d. Idonije Manuel (UIC) F 1:10

By Rob Sherrill for the IWCOA

A way-too-early look ahead at the state tournament

A season that has flown by finds us just over one week away from the regionals – the start of the postseason. So we decided to take a first glance at what the state tournament fields could look like, both in the team state series and the individual stats series.

Since state qualifying at both levels occurs at the sectional level, this will be a 30,000-foot view from each sectional, in each of the three classifications, based on the rankings through matches of Tuesday, Jan. 20.

Since the top-ranked team in each regional wins the team title – and advances to the dual-team sectionals – about 90% of the time, we’ve identified which Top 25 team is the highest-ranked in the regional in which it competes. However, as you can see from looking at the team sectional breakdowns, a team not in the top 25 will win at least one regional in each of the three classifications, as of Jan. 20. So spots are still available. Which team, and which regionals, will those be? We’ll find out on Jan. 31.

The individual breakdowns provide a similar road map. In each classification, we’ve identified the ranked wrestlers, including honorable mentions, within each sectional at each of the 14 weight classes. If you want to see what the state tournament field at the State Farm Center is most likely to look like, here’s your first glance at it. These represent our best information regarding which weight class a wrestler is likely to compete at, based on their match history. Wrestlers who are injured or have yet to wrestle a match are not included.

Four wrestlers qualify for the state tournament from each sectional at each weight class. So, as you can see, some weight classes at some sectionals are stacked, based on the rankings, while others are so thin that four ranked wrestlers have not yet been discovered. We’ve identified those weight classes where spots are available – which means that one or more unranked wrestlers will break through to earn a state tournament berth. Not on this list? It may not mean anything right now. Rather, it will mean a great deal on Feb. 14, when the individual sectionals conclude. Expect, also, that some movement between weight classes will occur to fill those gaps.

So, for your reading pleasure, here’s our best guess at where things stand at the moment. How much will they change? Probably not a lot, but they’re guaranteed to change some. And that’s what makes the daily flyover so much fun.

CLASS 1A

CLASS 2A

CLASS 3A

By Chris Walker for the IWCOA

In just the fourth Clint Arlis Invitational tournament ever at Batavia, Hononegah junior Rocco Cassioppi won his third consecutive title while helping the Indians win the invite for the second time on Saturday.

Hononegah outscored runner-up Lincoln-Way East, 217-187.

Washington was third with 150.5, Hersey took fourth with 142.5 and Maine South was fifth with 135 to round out the top five team performances.

Downers Grove North (119.5) took sixth and was followed by Batavia (116), Iowa-Grant/Highland (107), Wheaton North (106), Plainfield North (98.5), Bolingbrook (69), McHenry (65), York (59), Harlem (52), Lemont (36), Oswego East (36.5), Vernon Hills (33) and Jacobs (25). 

Hononegah had 10 placers, including four champions: Logan Harris (113), Rocco Cassioppi (150), Bruno Cassioppi (165) and Brody Sendele (175).

“Just a lot of guys trying their absolute hardest,” Bruno Cassioppi said. “No one was giving up in any matches, we’re always the guys first back on the line, trying to score points, whether that be bonus points or getting back in the match.”

Harris is just a sophomore but already a key part of the Hononegah wrestling family.

“We’re like a family here and Logan is a great kid obviously,” Bruno Cassioppi said. “He loves working hard. He gets extra practices in, of course, so we’re going to build him up as much as we can because he’s great person to have. He definitely loves the sport, which is really cool.”

Kristian DeClercq (120) and Jackson Olson (126) fell short in their respective title matches, placing second for the Indians. 

Evan Musil (144) was fourth, Logan Person (138) took fifth and Alex Martin Pecino (190) and Isaiah Martinez (132) placed sixth.

JT Theis (138) and Max Mularz (157) won titles to lead the Griffins to second place in their first appearance in the tournament.

Colton Zvonar (190) and Justin Powers (215) placed second for the Griffins while Kaidreaus Richardson (150) and Ryan Stingily (85) bounced back from losses to take third place. Additionally, the Griffins received a pair of fifth-place finishes from Timmy Lorimer (106) and Salah Dajani (113) while Zachary Ankarlo (165) took sixth.

Washington’s Symon Woods (106), Josh Hoffer (215) and Sean Thornton (285) went home as champions while helping the team take third place.

Logan Makiney (132) took second for the Panthers while Cruise Brolley (157) and Wyatt Leman (175) placed third.

106 – Symon Woods, Washington

The finish line is nearing for Woods who is now a senior at Washington.

“It’s gone by so fast,” he said. “I can’t believe it’s almost done. Tough times, you know, it was a long four years but also quick, too. I had some guys keep me in my place for sure. Everyone is looking to get better so it’s always going to be harder and harder every year, but I focus on what I want and that’s what I wanted.”

Woods would win the 106 title via three straight tech falls, getting past Lincoln-Way East’s Timmy Lorimer, Batavia’s Joey Calvillo and finally Bolingbrook freshman Julian Medina in the finals.

“I was just ready to go, ready to wrestle and just another tournament to get ready for February,” Woods said. “I did (wrestle the way I wanted to) for the most part, but there are some things that I’ve got to work on in the room and even out of the room, but it’s keep my head up, moving forward, that’s what I want.”

As Woods pushes himself toward a strong final finish, he’s also pushing his team which is ranked no. 4 in Class 2A and currently just behind IC Catholic, Providence Catholic and Glenwood.

“We have some really good guys all around,” Woods said. “We’re looking to come together as a team for sure.”

Calvillo earned an 18-5 major decision over Lemont’s Alex Powers to take third, and Lorimer won by fall over Jacobs’ Travis Wilgosiewicz to take fifth.

113 – Logan Harris, Hononegah

Call him Underhook Harris!

This sophomore discovered how devastating his underhook could be early on this season and he’s continued to utilize it to get excellent results, including joining three of his teammates as champions on Saturday.

Harris outscored Iowa-Grant/Highland sophomore Griffin Wineski, 11-5, in the 113 final.

After opening with a bye, Harris blanked Washington’s Sage Davis, 7-0, in the quarterfinals and won by tech fall over Downers Grove North’s Carter Walter in the semifinals.

“I was just getting to my underhook, really,” Harris said. “That is kind of my gimmick right now. So in my first tournament I won my first match and lost my second match, but during my second match I realized that the underhook was very easy to get to so I just started using it from there.”

Harris couldn’t have imagined high school wrestling would be as enjoyable of an experience as it’s been. Of course, being a key contributor to one of the elite programs in the state definitely helps.

“Jackson (Olson/126), Bruno (Cassioppi/165) and Brody (Sendele/175), all those guys are all absolutely terrific as leaders,” Harris said. “Honestly, I couldn’t have done what I did without them. They’re everything to the team. Sometimes during practice they lead it, know what I mean? Like the coaches kind of sit off on the sidelines sometimes. It’s amazing. I didn’t imagine it would be like this.”

Vernon Hills’ Charles Dominguez blanked Walter, 6-0, to take third place, and Lincoln-Way East’s Salah Dajani pinned Tyson Rivard (3:25) for fifth.

120 – Kai Enos, Batavia

Enos, the top-ranked kid at 120 in Class 2A, acknowledged that his start left something to be desired as he fought to a 7-5 victory over Hersey’s Cole Anselmi in his quarterfinal match after opening with a bye.

“My first match I started out a little slow,” Enos said. “I thought I could just get to my shots better. I got to my offense, but was slow in the first match, but in my second and third match,  I picked it up. I made a few mistakes, but then really cleaned it up in the last match.”

Enos piled on the points in a 14-0 major decision over Wheaton North’s Luke Edwards in the semifinals before defeating Hononegah’s Kristian DeClercq, 9-5, in the finals.

“I mean, there’s definitely room for improvement so I guess at this point in the season we just got to keep training as hard as we can and just work on what we need to work on,” Enos said.  “We need to go back and look at our film, see where we’re making mistakes and just improve upon it and make sure we don’t do it again.”

Anselmi won by fall over Downers Grove North’s Damian Garcia (5:43) to take third place, and Harlem’s Jaydee Doke won by fall over Edwards (1:43) to take fifth.

126 – Oleksandr Havrylkiv, Hersey

Havrylkiv was talking about practice after coming away with the title at 126.

“I didn’t really care about this tournament,” he said. “My goal is state so this is just practice.”

Havrylkiv, ranked second in Class 3A at 126, picked up victories over a pair of highly ranked opponents, including the no. 3 and no. 5 ranked guys in his weight class in 3A. He defeated Plainfield North’s Aidan Durell by an 11-6 decision in the semifinal and earned a 6-1 decision over Hononegah’s Jackson Olson to take the 126 title. Durell is ranked fifth and Olson is third. 

“I trained hard and I just work hard and practice every day,” he said. “I was analyzing these kids to prepare for them so I could beat them. I feel good.”

Durell outscored Lemont’s Cory Zator, 10-9, to bounce back and take third place, and over on the fifth-place mat, Jacobs senior Ben Arbotante pinned Wheaton North’s Daniel Hyde (4:56).

132 – Brett Harman, Maine South

Harman picked up a tech fall win over McHenry’s Nate Hunt and another win by fall over Wheaton North’s Caden Cahill (3:21) to earn his spot in the championship round where he defeated Washington’s Logan Makiney, 7-1.

Hersey’s Joe Romano earned a 7-1 decision over Batavia’s Kyle Pasco to take third place, and Wheaton North’s Caden Cahill won by fall over Rockton Hononegah’s Isaiah Martinez (1:26) to take fifth.

138 – JT Theis, Lincoln-Way East

Battling illness recently, Theis simply wasn’t feeling that great. He hasn’t necessarily been thrilled with his wrestling either so getting a chance to re energize and return to action worked wonders for the Frankfort area senior.

“I was sick, and coming off this sickness I’ve been working hard the past week and wanted to get back on course,” he said. “I’m feeling pretty good. I didn’t miss any competitions but I was losing a lot and it really got in my head so I was working really hard.”

Theis, like the rest of the Griffins, hadn’t been to Batavia previously. 

“I had not been to this tournament before,” he said. “It was a great tournament. I would love to come back. I had a great time.”

Made even greater by his success.

“I got great practice partners, great guys pushing me all around and great coaches,” he said. “So I’ve been working hard and our coaching staff really gets us to peak at the right time, right before the state series, so we’re doing good.”

Maine South’s Emmett Mazukelli slipped past Batavia Elias Chaney, in a battle among seniors for third place, 8-7, while for fifth place Hononegah’s Logan Person was awarded fifth place as Iowa-Grant/Highland’s Hayden Aultman had a medical forfeit.

144 – Jack Colleran, Maine South

Colleran wrestled four matches, including his 14-3 major decision win over McHenry’s Ryan Johnston in the 144 finale. 

After opening with a pin of Plainfield North’s Anthony Parton (0:46), Colleran got a tech fall over Washington’s Cayden Park and a 10-0 major decision over Hersey’s Nolan Variano.

Variano earned a 13-2 major decision against Hononegah’s Evan Musil to capture third place, and Downers Grove North’s Alex Hengles had a 17-0 tech fall win over Iowa-Grant/Highland’s Max Kelley for fifth.

150 – Rocco Cassioppi, Hononegah

For some the third time is the charm. For Cassioppi, the third time resulted in his third title as Cassioppi earned a tech fall against Maine South’s Gavin Hoerr to win at Batavia for the third time in as many tries.

Cassioppi won here at 126 last season and was the champion at 106 during his freshman season in 2024.

On Saturday, he pinned Lincoln-Way East’s Kaidreaus Richardson (1:22), Wheaton North’s Jay Doherty (0:30) and Oswego East’s Noah Snow (2:25) en route to the title match at 150.

Richardson defeated Hersey’s Honorio Yin, 9-4, to take third place, and Doherty earned a 14-3 major decision over Snow to take fifth.

157 – Max Mularz, Lincoln-Way East

Mularz pinned his first two opponents: Maine South’s Josh Nelligan (1:02) and Iowa-Grant/Highland’s Bryar Yelinek (2:24) before he went the distance in the semifinal, beating Washington’s Cruise Brolley, 10-6.

Maine South’s Caden Ljubenko delivered a similar challenge in Mularz’s title match and once again Mularz stood strong, earning the 5-3 decision.

Washington’s Cruise Brolley pinned Bolingbrook’s Diego Segura (3:27) to take third place, and Downers Grove North’s Billy Rausch earned an 11-0 major over York’s Benji Gorny to take fifth.

165 – Bruno Cassioppi, Hononegah

This year’s Most Outstanding Wrestler honors went to Cassioppi who finished his day by earning a tech fall over Iowa-Grant/Highland senior Jaxon Busse.

“A lot of it was mental for me,” he said. “I wasn’t able to wrestle here last year because of an injury. I won my freshman year, but last year with the injury, coming back, just showing that I still got it. They had me as a third seed so it was a little bit of a prove-myself moment, so it was really good.”

Cassioppi earned a tech fall over Downers Grove North’s Griff Lockwood to get started, pinned Maine South’s Chris Kumiga in 46 seconds and scored an 11-2 major decision against Hersey’s Frank Tagoe to advance to the finals.

Tagoe won a hard fought battle between seniors for third place, earning a 4-3 decision over York’s Jackson Hanselman, who was coming off a title last Saturday at the 50th Sycamore Invitational. Then in the fifth-place match, Batavia’s Colin Peyton finished strong with a 10-8 win against Lincoln-Way East’s Zachary Ankarlo.

175 – Brody Sendele, Hononegah

Just because he doesn’t always smile, doesn’t mean Sendele isn’t having a good time.

The junior, who improved to 30-3 on the season after scoring a 17-5 major decision over Iowa-Grant/Highland’s Brock Hinderman to win the title at 175, received some playful teasing from his teammates and others who attempted to get him to crack a smile at the awards podium after the invite concluded.

“The environment we have is a very good one, we try to make it fun,” Sendele said. “That’s the most important thing, is having fun.”

Wins on the road to the title for Sendele included a tech fall against Hersey’s Victor Gallegos, a really quick pin of Harlem’s Charles Faulkner in the quarterfinals and another tech fall in the semifinals against Washington’s Wyatt Leman.

“I was pushing the pace and getting my stuff in, and I was just like taking over the match, basically doing what I do,” Sendele said. “Just progressively getting better throughout the year, every day trying to get a little bit better each day. There’s always room for improvement so that’s just what we’re trying to do.”

Leman defeated Wheaton North’s Julian Flores, 9-6, to take third place, and Hersey’s Gallegos received a medical forfeit victory over Faulkner to take fifth.

190 – Ryan Rosch, Wheaton North

Rosch, who didn’t wrestle in the 50th Sycamore Invitational a week ago, looked well rested as he pinned Hersey’s Drew Frank (1:27) and earned a major decision over Downers Grove North’s Jack Helsdon before winning his title match, 19-12, over Lincoln-Way East’s Colton Zvonar.

Batavia’s Jack Brown earned a 12-3 major decision over Helsdon for third place, and York’s Beau Walker nearly did the same for fifth place, outscoring Hononegah’s Martin Pecino, 12-5.

215 – Josh Hoffer, Washington

For the second straight season, Hoffer is the 215-pound champion.

The University of Illinois recruit earned a tech fall over Lincoln-Way East’s Justin Powers. Last year, Hoffer doubled up Marmion’s Joey Favia, in the final, 4-2.

“I just keep moving, like having more committed attack, not just faking, and pulling on guys’ heads,” he said. “It was just being more committed and level changes and stuff like that.”

Since he’s heading to Champaign to wrestle after he graduates later this spring, Hoffer had special interest in the history behind the Clint Arlis Invitational which was shared before the finals when Clint’s dad, Tom, the former Batavia boys head wrestling coach, who is now an assistant coach, addressed the wrestlers and fans in the stands. 

The late Clint Arlis was a three-time state qualifier and two-time conference champion for the Bulldogs who continued his wrestling career at the University of Illinois where he was teammates with Mike Poeta, the current Illinois coach.

Poeta and Artis were roommates, teammates and great friends. 

Poeta shared a video message, “…what he did at U of I was nothing short of amazing. He worked so incredibly hard. He was so dedicated and turned himself into a starter at U of I, and not just the guy in the weight class, but a guy to be feared at the weight class,” Poeta said. “He had a very successful senior year and the last guy I want to see on the other side of that line was Clint Arlis because I knew he was going to bring it. He was all heart and heart is what embodies Clint. And (a few years ago) we started the Clint Arlis Heart Award and it goes to the hardest working guy on the team who I see in the future being a superstar, a guy that is a huge contributor to the program, and I get a goosebumps even thinking about who got it last year and who gets it this year because they’re such special kids and getting an award based on such a special guy.”

“It was kind of cool seeing how a (University of) Illinois guy came through this tournament and wrestled there, Hoffer said. “I think the guys that did well here they wrestled hard and kept wrestling through positions, and I think some of the guys had tough matches against tough kids, but I think they came back and bounced back.”

All four of Hoffer’s wins came via tech fall. Before he finished off Powers, he built substantial leads to get past Jacobs’ Lucas Retzler (21-6), Vernon Hills’ Timur Arzumanov (22-5) and Downers Grove North’s Nate Ilona (22-6).

Downers Grove North’s Nate Olona earned an 11-2 major to get past Plainfield North’s Jack Nowicki and take third place, and Harlem’s Chandler Jack received a medical forfeit win for fifth over Arzumanov.

285 – Sean Thornton, Washington

Thornton finished strong for Washington as he joined teammates Symon Woods (106) and Josh Hoffer (215) as champions. Washington competed without its two-time state champion, Wyatt Medlin.

After opening with an 11-0 major decision over Hononegah’s Wyatt Kinney, Thornton proceeded to pin McHenry’s Marc Walsh (1:53) to advance to the finals.

Downers Grove North’s Colin Murphy took Thornton the distance, but Thornton was able to prevail in the low-scoring clash, 2-1.

Lincoln-Way East’s Ryan Stingily recorded a 13-5 major decision over Plainfield North’s Liam Corona to take third place, and Walsh pinned York’s Arthur Verwoerdt (0.57) to place fifth.

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

BATAVIA INVITATIONAL

It’s not very often that a half-point decides the team title of a tournament but that’s what happened at Friday’s 19-team Batavia Invitational, as East Aurora finished with a 182-181.5 edge over host Batavia to claim the crown.

East Aurora coach Ryan Mick sent three wrestlers to the title mat, had 10 total wrestlers finish in the top six of their weight classes, and the Tomcats led the 19-team field with 28 pins at this year’s Batavia Invitational.

Mick needed every bit of that from his girls and then some.

And while an individual title from Jaylene DeAlba (190) and runner-up finishes from Joselyn Llanos (110) and Lupita Garcia (145) keyed the team win, girls from up and down Mick’s lineup had to step up to get it done.

Girls like captain Valentina Barboza at 125 pounds.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t speak about (Barboza’s) performance Friday.,” Mick said. “She has been dealing with a nagging injury and dropped her first match of the tournament. She battled back to the fifth place match. She had to dig deep and pull off a big takedown in overtime to clinch us the tournament.

“She knew what we needed for the team and she made sure she took care of that. I was extremely proud of her. I know she’s going to give me everything she has every match and seeing her and all of my girls dig deep and overcome adversity is the greatest thing about this sport. It shows them that anything is possible as long as you keep on pushing yourself and you never settle.”

The District 230 co-op team that won last year’s team state title placed third with 154.5 points, followed by a tie for fourth between West Aurora and McHenry with 151 points each.

1st- East Aurora (182)
In addition to a title from DeAlba (23-5) and seconds from Llanos (24-5) and Garcia (23-7), the Tomcats got a third-place finish from Lilli Ortiz (19-3 at 235), a fourth from Jelena Coyomani (22-9 at 120), a fifth from Barboza (28-5 at 125), and sixths from Carmen Garcia (100), Lilian Beto Tecaxco (145), Guadalupe Casiano (155) and Olena Ftoma (170).

“As they have been doing for us all season, my top girls showed up and helped carry us,” Mick said. “Joselyn Llanos wrestled a great tournament, Jaylene DeAlba is coming on very strong here at the end of the season and wrestling well, and Lilli Ortiz has been competing with some of the top girls at her weight class all season and continued that on Friday. I have high hopes for them as we get to the best part of the season.

“I was thrilled with the way we competed on Friday. We had a few girls stepping up filling in spots for us as we have been bit by the injury bug and they all showed up and wrestled hard and scored points for us. This tournament has always been very competitive so I knew coming in we were going to need to wrestle well.”

2nd- Batavia (181.5)
Coach Scott Bayer got individual titles from state medalist Lily Enos (28-2 at 100) and Audrey Sheldon (32-4 at 155), plus seconds from Natalie Lenard (30-7 at 125), Norah Stoodley (20-9 at 140) and Caoimhe Mitchell (4-1 at 170), a third from Eli Landgrebe (23-14 at 115), fifths from Kinzer Mikesell (18-18 at 170) and Jamie Gabriel (18-5 at 190), and a sixth from Liaden Anderson (115).
Batavia led all teams in total match points with 163.

3rd- District 230 (154.5)
Last year’s team state champion, made up of girls from Andrew, Carl Sandburg, and Stagg, got individual titles from state medalist Jade Hardee (27-5 at 110) and Piper Booe (24-3 at 115). Coach Liz Short also got fourths from state qualifier Tatum De La Vega (19-5 at 105), Isabella De La Vega (19-7 at 135) and Busola Dinan (13-8 at 155), a fifth from Anastasia Dvorak (12-3 at 130), and sixths from Hala Salem (13-6 at 125) and Talah Hamed (18-11 at 140).

SC – state champion; SM – state medalist; SQ – state qualifier

Additional champions
105 Larisza Gomez Guevara (35-4) DeKalb
120 Aiyanah Sylvester (20-1) West Aurora
125 SQ Molly O’Connor (27-4) Lemont
130 Keagan Edwards (36-2) Glenbard North
135 Grecia Garcia (25-7) Huntley
140 SQ Quinn Janssens (18-2) Oswego East
145 SQ Natalie Corona (25-0) McHenry
170 Madalynn Sima (24-3) McHenry
235 SQ Aarianna Bloyd (25-7) DeKalb

Additional runners-up
100 SQ Jade Weiss (14-13) DeKalb
105 Janiah Slaughter (24-2) Huntley
115 Nikia Variano (27-9) Hersey
120 Gracie Meluch (17-4) Naperville Central
130 SM Aubrie Rohrbacher (25-3) Huntley
135 Ava Burns (28-6) Lake Park
155 Suzanne Stalley (33-6) Glenbard North
190 Brooklyn Anderson (23-3) McHenry
235 Asreilla Wallace (32-6) Glenbard North

Team scores
East Aurora 182, Batavia 181.5, District 230 154.5, West Aurora 151, McHenry 151, DeKalb 131, Huntley 111, Yorkville 110, Glenbard North 93, Hersey 84.5, St. Charles East 75, Lyons 71, Lake Park 59, Harlem 52, Naperville Central 52, Jacobs 41, Lemont 39, Oswego East 33, Ottawa Marquette 16.5

Championship match results
100 Lily Enos (Batavia) F 1:34 Jade Weiss (DeKalb)
105 Larisza Gomez Guevara (DeKalb) F 2:39 Janiah Slaughter (Huntley)
110 Jade Hardee (D 230) F 1:44 Joselyn Llanos (E Aurora)
115 Piper Booe (D 230) F 2:21 Nikia Variano (Hersey)
120 Aiyanah Sylvester (W Aurora) F 0:35 Gracie Meluch (Naperville C)
125 Molly O’Connor (Lemont) F 3:32 Natalie Lenart (Batavia)
130 Keagan Edwards (Glenbard N) D 5-0 Aubrie Rohrbacher (Huntley)
135 Grecia Garcia (Huntley) F 4:59 Ava Burns (Lake Park)
140 Quinn Janssens (Oswego E) F 1:22 Norah Stoodley (Batavia)
145 Natalie Corona (McHenry) F 0:51 Lupita Garcia (E Aurora)
155 Audrey Sheldon (Batavia) F 5:49 Suzanne Stalley (Glenbard N)
170 Madalynn Sima (McHenry) F 1:32 Caoimhe Mitchell (Batavia)
190 Jaylene DeAlba (E Aurora) F 5:31 Brooklyn Anderson (McHenry)
235 Aarianna Bloyd (DeKalb) D 9-2 Asreilla Wallace (Glenbard N)

Third-place match results
100 Melissa Melgar (W Aurora) F 0:37 Danielle Turner (Yorkville)
105 Sydney Stieb (SC East) D 13-9 Tatum De La Vega (D 230)
110 Julia Felton (Jacobs) F 1:18 Savannah Turner (Yorkville)
115 Eli Landgrebe (Batavia) D 5-3 Frieda Hernandez (DeKalb)
120 Alexandra Lexi Gumino (Hersey) F 4:41 Jelena Coyomani (E Aurora)
125 Lailonie Molina (W Aurora) F 3:16 Soha Faisal (Hersey)
130 Aryanna Geiger (Jacobs) F 0:53 F 0:53 Madison Heneks (Harlem)
135 Kara Zimmerman (DeKalb) D 6-1 Isabella De La Vega (D 230)
140 Olivia Pearson (SC East) F 1:18 Aviana Froelich (Yorkville)
145 Maren Minarcik (W Aurora) F 3:05 August Pulli (Lyons)
155 Lauryn Trotter (Yorkville) F 0:21 Busola Dinan (D 230)
170 Tiffany Manungu (W Aurora) F 0:50 Leah Osorio (Hersey)
190 Janiah Murray (Yorkville) F 0:13 Deeanna Rothaug (Yorkville)
235 Lilli Ortiz (E Aurora) F 3:18 Nala Hernandez (McHenry)

Statistics
TEAM: East Aurora finished with the most pins with 28, followed by West Aurora with 26 and McHenry with 24. St. Charles East had the most tech falls in the least time with two in 5:17, followed by Harlem with two tech falls in 9:11. Batavia finished with the most total match points with 163, followed by McHenry with 156 and West Aurora with 150.

INDIVIDUAL: District 230’s Anastasia Dvorak posted the most pins in the least time with five falls in 5:01, followed by St. Charles East’s Sophia Rivas with five falls in 6:27. St. Charles East’s Sydney Stieb posted the fastest tech fall in 1:17, followed by D 230’s Jade Hardee with a tech fall in 3:25.

DeKalb’s Larisza Gomez Guevara scored the most team points with 32, while Lyons’ Jhania Wickert-Harris and St. Charles East’s Stieb tied for the most single-match points with 19. Wickert-Harris also tied with Harlem’s Mylee Turnmire for the most total match points with 43.

Lyons’ Sofia Turek and Hersey’s Soha Faisal tied for the largest seed-place difference in the tournament. Turek was seeded No.16 and placed fifth at 135, and Faisal was seeded No. 15 and placed fourth at 125.

HOFFMAN ESTATES

The District 210 Lincoln-Way Co-op team has been a runaway train this season,

having won the IWCOA dual team state title for a second straight year, and won team titles in tournaments at Minooka, Antioch and Oswego East.

Saturday’s Hawk Invite hosted by Hoffman Estates presented yet another opportunity for the D 210 girls to shine, and shine they did.

Coach Josh Napier’s girls led the 39-team field with 39 pins, five tech falls, and 384 total match points to win their second straight Hawk Invite title.

D 210 posted a 321.5-238.5 edge over second-place Lockport, followed by Schaumburg (231.5), Minooka (221) and Conant (201.5) to round out the top five team finishes.

“The team wrestled really well once again. It feels like they hit their stride about a month ago and haven’t looked back since,” Napier said. “We were really excited about this tournament, we know how many good teams and wrestlers would be there and we couldn’t wait to bump into that tough competition at this point in the season.”

Individual titles came from Zoe Dempsey (34-2 at 115) and Riley Depolo (26-5 at 170) to lead the pack.
“It was great to see Zoe Dempsey win the title,” Napier said. “This was her last regular season tournament ever and I would say she did some of her best wrestling of her career this weekend. Her shots looked clean and her motor was going from start to finish in each match.”

Dempsey and Depolo both won by fall on the title mat.

“We are really excited for Riley Depolo,” Napier said. “She is really starting to put things together in her second year. We can’t wait to see what she does this postseason.

“It’s always fun to compete against the schools in this one. We have developed friendships and rivalries with a lot of these schools,” Napier said. “The entire lineup contributed in this one. Freshman Abby Kunz at 140 fell just short of an individual title and girls like first-year wrestler Brianna Palomares at 190 found themselves on the podium. It was great to finish on top in the end and bring home some championship hardware.”

1st- Lincoln-Way District 210 (321.5)
In addition to titles from returning state medalist Dempsey and Depolo, Napier got a pair of seconds from Aubrey Barnes (29-8 at 120) and Abby Kunz (30-6 at 140), a third from state qualifier Ella Giertuga (27-5 at 145), fourths from Emmy Hoselton (32-6 at 105) and Liv Clumpner (31-6 at 135), fifths from McKenzie Steinke (28-5 at 100), Georgia Erhardt (24-10 at 105), Caleigh Nicholson (26-10 at 125), and sixths from Grace Spangler (28-9 at 110) and Kate Bohms (27-12 at 145). Also scoring team points for D 210 were Dani Schedin (130), Avery Holeman (155), Brianna Palomares (190) and Jalyssa Venegas (235).

“There’s still a lot of wrestling left to do this year, but we are a few short weeks away from regionals, so the girls are locked in and ready to put themselves in the best position to succeed,” Napier said.

2nd- Lockport (238.5)
The Porters got individual titles from state champion Claudia Heeney (31-3 at 135) and state qualifier Rebekah Ramirez (29-4 at 235) for coach Ameir Khamis, plus a second from state qualifier Sophie Kelner (29-7 at 190), a third from Veronica Skibicki (22-11 at 120), and fifths from Bella Romando (25-14 at 115) and Myra Vicencio (24-10 at 170). Also scoring points for the Porters were Julia Hernandez (100), Alaina Churnovic (105), Chloe Scalf (125), Heidy Castillo Sanchez (130), Katherine Martinez (145) and Dakota Obbish (155).

3rd- Schaumburg (231.5)
Coach Matt Gruszka got an individual title from state medalist Nadia Razzak (33-1 at 190), a second-place finish from Anna Villareal (27-8 at 115), a third from Isabella Rivas (30-3 at 125), a fourth from Layla McHenry (26-10 at 155), a fifth from Ava Hartman (21-7 at 135) and a sixth from Makenzi Aguilar (29-6 at 100). Also scoring team points for the Saxons were Catherine Franco (105), Justice Girod (110), Elena Nikola (120), Lauren Brehmer (130), state qualifier Sharon Olorunfemi (140), Emily Fowler (145), Maja Brzosko (170) and Olivia Furlan (235).

SC – state champion; SM – state medalist; SQ – state qualifier
Additional champions
100 Alex Sebek (4-0) Oak Forest
110 SM Nadia Shymkiv (29-2) Glenbard East
110 SQ Ariel Woodfin (17-2) Thornton
120 Sarah Bell (24-7) Montini
125 SM Ariella Dobin (24-0) Glenbrook North
130 SQ Catherine Diehl (34-1) Wheaton Academy
140 Nicole Dziura (22-4) Barrington
145 SQ Iyobosa Odiase (7-0) Oak Forest
155 Abigail Underhill (28-7) Minooka

Additional runners-up
100 Eva Hermansson (27-3) Woodstock co-op
105 SC Saya Hongmoungkhoune (13-1) Rockford East
110 SQ Blair Grennan (23-2) Newman CentralCatholic
125 SQ Karolina Konopka (30-2) Glenbard West
130 SQ Jasmine Zavaleta (29-4) Conant
135 SM Bella Castelli (13-1) Hononegah
145 Ezra Rodriguez (26-3) Minooka
155 Brianna Crown (24-7) Woodstock co-op
170 Estefany Bejarano (4-1) Riverside-Brookfield
235 Karrine Jenkins (30-4) Shepard

Team scores
Lincoln-Way Co-op 321.5, Lockport 238.5, Schaumburg 231.5, Minooka 221, Conant 201.5, Woodstock Co-op 171, Oak Forest 162, Glenbard East 119, West Chicago 114.5, Shepard 108.5, Maine South 105, Downers Grove South 100, Thornton 100, Glenbard West 95.5, Bartlett 84, Hononegah 83, Hoffman Estates 81, Plainfield East 74, Glenbard South 73, Riverside-Brookfield 71, Maine East 68.5, Bolingbrook 67.5, Grayslake Central 66.5, Oak Park and River Forest 65.5, Grayslake North 64, Wheaton North 64, Glenbrook North 58.5, Barrington 54.5, Rockford East 46, Montini 43, Saint Viator 41, Newman Central Catholic 38.5, Wheaton Academy 38, Dundee-Crown 32, Fremd 31, Plainfield Central 25.5, Genoa-Kingston 20.5, Vandalia 19, Loyola Academy 16

Notable
A pair of returning state medalists squared off on the title mat at 105, with last year’s state runner-up at 105, Glenbard East’s Nadia Shymkiv, taking on last year’s state champion at 100, Rockford East’s Saya Hongmoungkhoune, with Shymkiv winning by 7-2 decision.


Championship match results
100 Alex Sebek (Oak Forest) MD 12-0 Eva Hermansson (Woodstock)
105 Nadia Shymkiv (Glenbard E) D 7-2 Saya Hongmoungkhoune (Rockford E)
110 Ariel Woodfin (Thornton) F 1:09 Blair Grennan (Newman C)
115 Zoe Dempsey (D 210) F 2:39 Anna Villareal (Schaumburg)
120 Sarah Bell (Montini) Med. Fft. Aubrey Barnes (D 210)
125 Ariella Dobin (Glenbrook N) F 3:50 Karolina Konopka (Glenbard W)
130 Catherine Diehl (Wheaton Ac) D 14-8 Jasmine Zavaleta (Conant)
135 Claudia Heeney (Lockport) F 1:13 Bella Castelli (Hononegah)
140 Nicole Dziura (Barrington) F 4:25 Abby Kunz (D 210)
145 Iyobosa Odiase (Oak Forest) F 0:58 Ezra Rodriguez (Minooka)
155 Abigail Underhill (Minooka) SV-1 6-3 Brianna Crown (Woodstock)
170 Riley Depolo (D 210) F 1:55 Estefany Bejarano (R-Brookfield)
190 Nadia Razzak (Schaumburg) F 5:00 Sophie Kelner (Lockport)
235 Rebekah Ramirez (Lockport) F 1:43 Karrine Jenkins (Shepard)

Third-place match results
100 Kali Declercq (Hononegah) TF 6:00 Karla Sarabia (Glenbard E)
105 Brissia Bucio (WEGO) Med. Fft. Emmy Hoselton (D 210)
110 Norah Cwik (Bartlett) F 0:37 Marian Nordsell (Minooka)
115 Giselle Varelas (Conant) F 5:39 Annika Lee (Maine S)
120 Veronica Skibicki (Lockport) F 1:24 Brooklyn Jones (Conant)
125 Isabella Rivas (Schaumburg) Med. Fft. Rain Scott (Oak Forest)
130 Lilly White (Bartlett) Fft. Sabina Charlebois (Minooka)
135 Ewa Krupa (Conant) F 1:01 Liv Clumpner (D 210)
140 Maria Green (Glenbard E) F 0:32 Victoria Marquez (Grayslake N)
145 Ella Giertuga (D 210) D 5-4 Miranda Tellez (Grayslake C)
155 Sydnee Allen (Hoffman Es) F 3:18 Layla McHenry (Schaumburg)
170 Addison Davis (Minooka) F 3:14 Olivia Halminiak (WEGO)
190 Jen Serna (Plainfield E) F 3:40 Mia Lemberg (Minooka)
235 Sophia Fortis (Maine S) F 2:12 Miniyai Adams (Thornton)

Statistics
TEAM: Lincoln-Way D 210 led all teams with 39 pins in the tournament, followed by Lockport with 38 and Conant with 32. D 210 also led the field with five tech falls, followed by Oak Forest and Hononegah with four apiece. D 210’s 384 total match points were the most by any team, followed by Woodstock Co-op’s 321 and Lockport’s 281.

INDIVIDUAL: Thornton’s Ariel Woodfin finished with the most pins in the least time, with five falls in 3:19, followed by Lockport’s Claudia Heeney with five falls in 7:01. Lincoln-Way’s Zoe Dempsey posted the most tech falls in the least time with three techs in 5:49, followed by teammate Caleigh Nicholson’s two tech falls in 3:56.

The fastest fall came in at 10 seconds, a time shared by Schaumburg’s Sharon Olorunfemi, OPRF’s Isabella Miller and Riverside-Brookfield’s Lea Becker. Nicholson posted the fastest tech fall in 58 seconds, followed by West Chicago’s Brissia Bucio with a tech in 1:01.

Lockport’s Heeney, Thornton’s Woodfin, and Montini’s Sarah Bell shared the lead for the most team points scored with 43, followed by Dempsey with 41.5. Glenbard East’s Aislynn Reif had the most single-match points with 26, followed by Maine East’s Evelyn Torres with 22. Dempsey also posted the most total match points with 85, followed by two girls with 57 total match points in Heeney and Glenbrook North’s Ariella Dobin.

The largest seed-place difference came from Riverside-Brookfield’s Estefany Bejarano, as the No. 23 seed placed second at 170 pounds.

CPL GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Thirty-four teams squared off at this year’s Chicago Public League Championships tournament, with Lane taking the team crown 226-188.5 over second-place Curie.

One day later on Sunday, Lane also won the CPL Dual Team Championship, 54-30 over second-place Curie.

In Saturday’s tournament, Lane finished with a 226-188.5 edge over Curie. Kelly (135) placed third followed by Agricultural Science (117) and Noble/ITW Speer (116.5) in the top five.

Lane coach Liam Cummins got a pair of individual titles from Zabby Badru (35-1 at 140) and Layla Moreland (26-8 at 155) to lead a group of 11 girls to finish in the top six of their weight classes.

“Our girls continue to wrestle for one another and it results in them being successful,” Cummins said. “The city title was something we worked every single day for over the last year. I am grateful for all of the efforts of our wrestlers.”

Lane had girls step up throughout its lineup and no one more so than Moreland.

“Layla Moreland, one of our city champions, was the most crucial piece of our success this weekend,” Cummins said. “She had a comeback pin to win in the finals and crucial victories in the duals on Sunday. We are excited to continue training and prepare for the State series.”

In other results from Sunday’s CPL dual meet, Rickover Naval Academy won 43-42 over Noble/ITW Speer in the third-place dual; Kelly won 35-18 over Little Village for fifth place, and Back of the Yards won 48-18 over Hancock in the seventh-place dual.

1st- Lane (226)
In addition to titles from Badru and Moreland, Cummins got seconds from Imyjah Jackson (21-12 at 130), Allison Gutierrez (20-6 at 135) and Mumtaz Abdul Malik (14-7 at 145), thirds from Sofia Guerrero (34-2 at 100), Kenaiece Barrett (26-11 at 170) and Akyah Thomas (12-3 at 190), a fourth from Lauren Guerrero (30-11 at 115), a fifth from Oliwia Wodjak (15-13 at 125), and a sixth from Irene Romero (11-7 at 110). Lane led all teams with 27 pins in the tournament.

2nd- Curie (188.5)
Condors coach Yahya Muhammad got an individual title from Giselle Arambula (23-1 at 105), seconds from Joselyn Flores (11-5 at 140) and Carina Cirilo (5-2 at 235), thirds from Gymaria Brown (23-3 at 115) and Zoe Gonzalez (7-2 at 145), a fourth from Yaretzi Avila Calixto (14-6 at 130), a fifth from Ana Garcia (11-8 at 190) and a sixth from AD Garcia (10-7 at 120).

3rd- Kelly (135)
Lady Trojans coach Jazzmine Seely got individual titles from Liliana Monserrat Dimas (15-5 at 135) and state medalist Sara Martinez Lopera (19-3 at 170), seconds from Destiny Hills (9-9 at 110), Yazmine Garcia (14-2 at 115) and Liana Andrade (8-3 at 155), and a sixth from Csani Wilson (190).

Team scores
Lane 226, Curie 188.5, Kelly 135, Agricultural Science 117, Noble/ITW Speer 116.5, Taft 95, Little Village 86, Back of the Yards 79, Rickover Naval Academy 78.5, Phoenix Military Academy 77, Goode STEM Academy 73.5, Crane Medical Prep 71, Mather 63, Noble/Golder 49.5, Hancock 47.5, Lake View 38, Chicago Academy 30, Westinghouse 29, Corliss 23, Clark 22, Kenwood 22, Bowen 20, South Shore International College Prep 17, Morgan Park 16, Phillips 16, Lindblom 13, Amundsen 10, Dyett 9.5, Senn 6, Horizon/Southwest 4, Hubbard 4, Foreman 0, Hyde Park 0, Schurz 0

SC – state champion; SM – state medalist; SQ – state qualifier
Additional champions
100 Adali Cruz (24-3) Speer
110 SQ Carmen Jackson (23-1) Agricultural Science
115 Danita Palmore (20-3) Agricultural Science
120 Hannah Chong (16-1) Crane
125 Kendra Chatman (20-2) Goode
130 Layla Zbiec (11-2) Taft
145 SQ America Cabrera (21-0) Phoenix
190 Julissa Az (19-3) Mather
235 SQ Esmerelda Bustamante (26-1) Speer

Additional runners-up
100 Jitzel Aranda (11-4) Phoenix
105 J Colbert (14-2) Lake View
120 Shealanay Williams (11-8) Agricultural Science
125 Jennifer Arenas (20-8) Taft
170 SQ Elena Haugh (18-3) Agricultural Science
190 Nyomi Ascencio (23-8) Back of the Yards

Championship match results
100 Adali Cruz (Speer) F 5:51 Jitzel Aranda (Phoenix)
105 Giselle Arambula (Curie) inj. J Colbert (Lake View)
110 Carmen Jackson (Ag Sci) F 1:12 Destiny Hills (Kelly)
115 Danita Palmore (Ag Sci) D 7-6 Yazmine Garcia (Kelly)
120 Hannah Chong (Crane) F 3:29 Shealanay Williams (Ag Sci)
125 Kendra Chatman (Goode) F 1:24 Jennifer Arenas (Taft)
130 Layla Zbiec (Taft) F 4:31 Imyjah Jackson (Lane)
135 Liliana Monserrat (Kelly) F 2:51 Allison Gutierrez (Lane)
140 Zabby Badru (Lane) F 2:26 Joselyn Flores (Curie)
145 America Cabrera (Phoenix) F 1:07 Mumtaz Abdul Malik (Lane)
155 Layla Moreland (Lane) F 2:26 Liana Andrade (Kelly)
170 Sara Martinez (Kelly) F 2:17 Elena Haugh (Ag Sci)
190 Julissa Az (Mather) F 4:57 Nyomi Ascencio (BOTY)
235 Esmerelda Bustamante (Speer) F 0:42 Carina Cirilo (Curie)

Third-place match results
100 Sofia Guerrero (Lane) F 0:47 Maelaya Brown (Crane)
105 Jaden Concepcion (Chicago Ac) F 2:54 Camila Ramirez (Little Village)
110 Tamya Gates (Golder) F 0:19 Camrynn Collier (Corliss)
115 Gymaria Brown (Curie) F 2:26 Lauren Guerrero (Lane)
120 Elitzua Sandoval (Goode) F 3:14 Paige Finnegan (Rickover)
125 Sharyah Harris (Bowen) F 2:27 Isabelle Matthews (Ag Sci)
130 Kenya Louis (Kenwood) F 0:23 Yaretzi Avila Calixto (Curie)
135 Kylie Kowalisyn (Taft) F 2:26 Kayla Nolan (Phillips)
140 Evelyna Perez (BOTY) F 3:08 Heaven Rodriguez (Hancock)
145 Zoe Gonzalez (Curie) F 4:37 Neriah Treadway (Hancock)
155 Dorca Morales (Crane) F 3:51 Daiana Lopez (Curie)
170 Kenaiece Barrett (Lane) F 1:20 Midna Lozoya (Rickover)
190 Akyah Thomas (Lane) F 2:39 Tanesha Esteban (Speer)
235 Danalys Marchan (Little Village) F 2:22 Yolianie Hernandez (Golder)

Statistics
TEAM: Lane led all teams with 27 pins, followed by Curie with 22, while Kelly and Back of the Yards posted 15 pins apiece. Taft’s two tech falls led the field. Curie finished with the most total match points with 213, followed by Lane with 194 and Kelly with 150.

INDIVIDUAL: Noble/Golder’s Tamya Gates posted the most pins in the least time with four falls in 3:34, followed by Taft’s Kylie Kowalisyn with four falls in 5:00. Taft’s Alyssa Martel had the most tech falls in the least time with two in 7:16, and Goode’s Kendra Chatman posted the fastest tech fall in 2:00.

Lane’s Zabby Badru, Phoenix’s America Cabrera, and Crane’s Hannah Chong tied for the most team points scored with 30 apiece. Curie’s AD Garcia scored the most total match points with 46, followed by Taft’s Martel with 44. Curie’s Giselle Arambula and Golder’s Gates tied for the most single-match points with 21.
The largest seed-place difference came from Lane’s Allison Gutierrez, as the No. 14 seed placed second at 135 pounds.

By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA

PHILLIPS ELITE 2026

1st: Notre Dame (148.5)

With its first team away at the Illini Classic, the Dons were able to parlay two individual champions from Colin Walsh (157, 7-2) and John Duffy (215, 5-0) and 21 pins to edge St. Ignatius by a mere 1.5 points to lift the championship trophy.

“We sent a few guys with varsity experience, along with some jayvee guys to compete at the Phillips (tournament), and I thought it proved to be valuable experience to get them matches at the varsity level,” said Dons head coach, Anthony Genovesi.

“Colin (Walsh) and John (Duffy) are both good kids who are always looking to improve their game. I thought it was also good to see three of our guys get a feel of a blood round. Although we came out on the wrong end, it was good to get them there.

“We had five guys overall who placed, and of the eleven who wrestled, all but one of them won a match. It was a good day for our kids.”

Patrick Haugh (138) helped the cause with his second-place finish, and the Dons got a third from John Pacyna (106) and a fourth from Dominick Yale (120).

The Dons will begin to prepare for the ESCC conference tournament this Friday, January 23 at nearby St. Patrick.

2nd: St. Ignatius (147.0)

The Wolfpack were the returning 2025 team champion here in Lisle, and would come close to bringing home the big trophy again.

Nino Capuano (150, 22-6) was St. Ignatius’ lone individual champion, but the club claimed a trio of second-place medals.

Frank Valle (113), Pat Maroney (132) and Colin Often (190) did just that, with teammates Luke Sanchez third at 144 and Chinadu Madu fourth at 285.

Sophomore Gus Scheff (157) would record the fastest pin on the day (13 seconds) along with Dylan Crump from Proviso East.

Next up for the Wolfpack will be a triangular at nearby De La Salle this Thursday.

3rd: Sullivan (119.5)

The Sullivan Redskins watched two of their men win individual titles in Mohammed Zia (106, 16-4) and Charles Harris (25-3) at 285.

Moneeb Alsakka (120) and Mohsen Malicky (144) were second overall.

Additional individual champions:

Andrian Valadez (113, Thornton), Benito Chavez (120, Little Village), Jeremy Powell (126 AG Science), Alejandro Salas (132, Noble/Golder), Randy Lazaro (138, Schurz), Maurice Bush (144, AG Science), Grant Smith (165, Corliss), Brandon Dumas (175, Thornton), Sylvester Staples (190, AG Science).

Additional runners-up:

Wilson Paz (106, Lake View), Abel Alvarado (126, Lake View), Julian Chavez (150, Back of the Yards), Roderick Johnson (157, Phillips), Charles Barry (165, Proviso East), Nicholas Jungman (175, Kennedy), Malik Allen (215, Noble/UIC), Martaveon Howard (285, Proviso East).

Championship match results:

106- Mohammed zia Nadre (Sullivan) d. Wilson Paz (Lake View) (F 1:29).

113- Andrian Valadez (Thornton) d. Frank Valle (St. Ignatius) (MD 12-4).

120- Benito Chavez (Little Village) d. Moneeb Alsakka (Sullivan) (F 3:39).

126- Jeremy Powell (AG Science) d. Abel Alvarado (Lake View) (F 3:37).

132- Alejandro Salas (Noble/Golder) d. Pat Maroney (St. Ignatius) (D 15-8).

138- Randy Lazzaro (Schurz) d. Patrick Haugh (Notre Dame) (SV 6-3).

144- Maurice Bush (AG Science) d. Mohsen Maliky (Sullivan) (F 1:21).

150- Nino Capuano (St. Ignatius) d. Julian Chavez (Back of the Yards) (F 1:21).

157- Colin Walsh (Notre Dame) d. Roderick Johnson (Phillips) (D 3-1).

165- Grant Smith (Corliss) d. Charles Barry (Proviso East) (F 5:59).

175- Brandon Dumas (Thornton) d. Nicholas Jungman (Kennedy) (F 1:38).

190- Sylvester Staples (AG Science) d. Colin Offen (St. Ignatius) (F 3:43).

215- John Duffy (Notre Dame) d. Malik Allen (Noble/UIC) (F 1:45).

285- Charles Harris (Sullivan) d. Martaveon Howard (Proviso East) (F 2:59).

Third-place match results:

106- John Pacyna (Notre Damę) d. Jonathan Mendoza-Rodriguez (Lindbloom) (F 1:35).

113- Josue Tankson (Kennedy) d. Tommy Lam (Mather) (F 0:52).

120- Benjamin Flores (Noble/UIC) d. Dominick Yale (Notre Dame) (TF 17-0).

126- Leonardo Zapien (Noble/UIC) d. Jovanni Harris (Little Village) (D 4-0).

132- Jeremy Catching (Phillips) d. Jaylen Smith (Thornton) (D 7-1).

138- Alonte Lorek (Horizon) d. David Bahena (Little Village) (TF 17-2).

144- Luke Sanchez (St. Ignatius) d. Leonardo Juarez (Kellly) (D 11-10).

150- Marcus Freeman (CMA Bronzeville) d. Peter Martin (Amundsen) (F 3:30).

157- Habibullo Begov (Kennedy) d. Christian Laws (Corliss) (F 0:27).

165- Anton Kurbatov (Lake View) d. Christian Vega (Kennedy) (D 10-3).

175- Ethan Munoz (Back of the Yards) d. Danny Quizhpi (Mather) (F 3:34).

190- Braeden Carlson (Joliet Catholic) d. Isreal Paul (CMA Bronzeville) (F 3:26).

215- Daniel Smith (Little Village) d. Mikel Robinson (Hyde Park) (F 1:42).

285- Justin Powell (Hyde Park) d. Chinadu Madu (St. Ignatius) (F 1:22).

Final Team Results:

Notre Dame 148.5, St. Ignatius 147.0, Sullivan 119.5, AG Science 102.0, Little Village 94.0, Thornton 91.5, Noble/UIC 80.5, Kennedy 80.0, Lake View 76.0, Proviso East 73.5, Joliet Catholic Academy 59.0, Corliss 55.5, CMA Bronzeville 54.5, Back of the Yards 53.5, Kelly 53.0, Payton 40.0, Hyde Park/Schurz 38.0, Horizon 34.5, Amundsen 34.0, Mather 33.0, Noble/Golder 30.0, Phoenix Military 25.5, Lindbloom 23.0.

Statistics:

Leonardo Juarez from Kelly recorded the fastest tech-fall (1:35) with AG Science sophomore Jeremy Powell earning the most match points with 65.

Little Village would have the most total match points with 292.

MELICHAR WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

Despite its small size relative to several larger tournaments happening over the weekend, the 14-team field at Lisle’s Melichar Tournament featured several state-ranked wrestlers all throughout the weight divisions.

It was good to be an Evergreen Park fan on Saturday, as Mustangs fans watched a team led by four state-ranked men help Ron Zimmermans’ men collect nearly 250 points, and inspire a second consecutive team title in Lisle.

The Mustangs earned 241.5 team points in 2025, and on Saturday they bagged 252 overall points, 69.5 more than runner-up Hinsdale South (183.5) with Northridge Prep third with 150.5.

(We finally have everyone healthy, and back in the lineup where they should be,” said Zimmerman, whose club won last year over second-place Glenbard East, which competed instead at the UEC Conference tournament this year.

“Senior Brayden Mateja-Bates (106) is a three-year starter, and captain, and today, his tilts were working nicely for him in his final,” continued Zimmerman. “Sophomore Michael Chatman at 138 has been on a roll the last three weeks, going 15-0 during that time.

“Our third of six individual champions, Essa Ruvalcaba (157) is a junior, and second-year guy on our varsity, while senior Owen Brady had a tech-fall in his semifinal, and a big pin in his final at 165. Kyle Croft (175) who is a junior, wrestled physical all day, and recorded a big throw in his semifinal victory.

“Last but not least, senior Willie Johnson (285) has had an amazing three-week stretch as well, going 15-1.”

1st: Evergreen Park (252.0)

The Mustangs registered 15 pins and seven tech-falls during the course of the day, and amassed a tourney-best 267 total match points. Eleven wrestlers earned medals for Evergreen Park.

The aforementioned six individual champs — Mateja-Bates (24-13), Chatman (21-4), Ruvalcava (10-2), Brady (22-11), Croft (23-13) and Johnson (24-10) went bonus-point crazy with their 15 pins on the day. They recorded a combined 12 tech-falls and pins on their way to the top of the podium.

The group also received plenty of help from its teammates: Adrian Cervantes (132) who finished second, as well as Jayden Cervantes who was third at 126.

Ethan Brantley (113), Jacob Ruvalcaba (150) and James Templin (190) all were fourth.

Next up for the Mustangs will be the South Suburban Conference tournament, hosted this year by Shepard High School, this Saturday, January 24.

They will also host a class 2A regional the following weekend as part of the Hinsdale South sectional.

2nd: Hinsdale South (183.5)

The Hornets recorded a tourney-best 19 pins, and would celebrate three individual champions.

Alexander Schuetz (120, 22-4), Benjamin Miller (190, 21-5) and Jonathan Mansker (215, 18-8) would climb atop the podium, and for Miller it was his second Melichor title after winning during his freshman season at 157 pounds.

Miller won earlier in the season at the Hornets Invite.

Sahil Malik (113) and James Cardenas (285) were second, George McShane (144) third, and Owen Miller (138) and Noah Koehler (157) were both fourth.

The Hornets were 2024 Melichor team champions.

3rd. Northridge Prep (150.5)

The Knights earned eight top-five medals, which included a pair of second-place medals from Patrick Kopecky at 138 and Javier Rodriguez at 150.

The trio of Patrick Manio (120), Joe Kopecky (132) and Thomas Suter (285) were third, while Michael Magallon (106), Lucas Landry (144) and Nick Belcore (215) all would finish fourth.

Rodriguez was a class 1A state qualifier last season.

Additional individual champions:

Emilio Fortiz (113, Nazareth), Alexander Fereri (126, Lisle), Brennan O’Donnell (132, Harvest-Westminster Academy), Jayden Veal (144, Goode), Skylar A. Phipps (150, Argo).

Additional runners-up:

Richie Gulli (120, Nazareth), Alek Ramos (126, Nazareth), Landon VanAcker (144, Belvidere), Ibraheem Harb (157, Lisle), Bequer Zamarripa (165, Lisle), David Hendrickson (175, Belvidere), Joshua Lewis (190, Walther Christian), Thomas Davis (215, Goode).

Final Team Results

Evergreen Park 252.0, Hinsdale South 183.5, Northridge Prep 150.5, Lisle 126.5, Nazareth 118.0, Argo 90.5, Chicago Goode 79.0, Genoa-Kingston 61.0, Belvidere 

55.5, Westmont 43.0, Harvest Westminster Academy 31.5, Walther Christian 30.0,

Christian Heritage Academy 20.0. 

Championship match results

106- Brayden Mateja-Bates (Evergreen Park) d. Luke Jimenea (Westmont) (TF 17-0).

113- Emilio Fortez (Nazareth) d. Sahil Malik (Hinsdale South) (TF 19-3).

120- Alexander Schuetz (Hinsdale South) d. Richie Gulli (Hinsdale South) (MD 12-1).

126- Alexander Ferari (Lisle) d. Alek Ramos (Nazareth) (F 3:22).

132- Brennan O’Donnell (Harvest-Westminster) d. Adrian Cervantes (Evergreen Park) (D 8-4).

138- Michael Chatman (Evergreen Park) d. Patrick Kopecky (Northridge Prep) 

MD 12-0).

144- Jayden Veal (Goode) d. Landon VanAcker (Belvidere) (D 3-2).

150- Skylar A. Phipps (Argo) d. Javier Rodriguez (Northridge Prep) (F 2:30).

157- Essa Ruvalcaba (Evergreen Park) d. Ibraheem Harb (Lisle) (D 6-3).

165- Owen Brady (Evergreen Park) d. Bequer Zamarripa (Lisle) (F 1:25).

175- Kyle Croft (Evergreen Park) d. David Hendrickson (Belvidere) (F 3:34).

190- Benjamin Miller (Hinsdale South) d. Joshua Lewis (Walther Christian) (TF 18-1).

215- Jonathan Mansker (Hinsdale South) d. Thomas Davis (Goode) (F 1:06).

285- Willie Johnson (Evergreen Park) d. James Cardenas (Hinsdale South) (D 5-4).

Third-place match results

106- Sebastian Lara (Lisle) d. Michael Magallon (Northridge Prep) (TF 16-1).

113- Eduardo Garcia (Goode) d. Ethan Brantley (Evergreen Park) (F 2:00).

120- Patrick Manio (Northridge Prep) d. Sebastian Rafacz (Lisle) (F 0:25).

126- Jayden Cervantes (Evergreen Park) d. Ardan Baglaev (Westmont) (MD 19-5).

132- Joe Kopecky (Northridge Prep) d. Joaquin Fortiz (Nazareth) (F 2:42).

138- Owen Miller (Hinsdale South) d. Isaiah Poole (Goode) (F 4:52)

144- George McShane (Northridge Prep) d. Lucas Landry (Evergreen Park) (Inj.)

150- Anthony Gum (Genoa-Kingston) d. Jacob Ruvalcaba (Evergreen Park) (Inj.)

157- Dan Vazquez (Argo) d. Noah Koehler (Hinsdale South) (D 6-3).

165- Hunter Wendt (Genoa-Kingston) d. Josh Bollinger (Nazareth) (F 3:29).

175- Michael Starzyk (Argo) d. Kaden Sosnowski (Genoa-Kingston) (F 1:45).

190- Ezra Luthardt (Christian Heritage Academy) d. James Templin (Evergreen 

Park) (F 0: 24).

215- Wilson Wunder (Lisle) d. Nick Belcore (Northridge Prep) (F 4:45).

285- Thomas Suter (Northridge Prep) d. Dilan Bustillos (Argo) (F 3:50).

UPSTATE EIGHT CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

West Aurora would bag seven individual champions and place 13 across the weight classes to demolish the field in Bensenville, at the UEC Conference tournament hosted by Fenton.

The 294.0 points scored by the Blackhawks would eclipse the 292.00 it collected a year ago to give Andrew Plata’s club a second consecutive league championship.

“We have a good group of guys who are working hard, and have been pushing the pace each week, but we have to keep the intensity up and continue to work hard to get ourselves ready for regionals,” said Plata.

“I like our room, we have really good depth,” senior Dayne Serio said. “It’s great to win this UEC title, but we all know there’s more that we want ahead of us.”

Serio (30-4) is ranked third at 175 in 3A and was voted the outstanding wrestler at this year’s UEC tournament. He placed sixth a year ago at state, is a strong contender for a state title this season, and will join his brother Dominick – a state runner-up a year ago – at Ohio University in the fall.

All seven individual Blackhawks champions registered either a tech-fall or a pin, to help give the club a tourney-best 20 pins, and 12 tech-falls over the course of the day.

They also led the field with 437 total match points.

Gabe Richmond, Jack Platt, Evan Matkovich, Malan Hatfield, and Serio are now two-time UEC champs as well.

1st: West Aurora (294.0)

Richmond (113, 26-4) and Platt (138, 22-9) won titles before an upper-weight explosion by the Blackhawks put them in the driver’s seat.

Evan Matkovich (150, 24-9), Malan Hatfield (157, 25-7), Marcus Quintana (165, 22-4), Serio, and heavyweight Alfonso Aguilar (22-10) all won titles. 

Hatfield would have a tourney-best three tech-falls.

Donovan Johnson (106) and Eric Castillo (120) were second, Jeremiah Haynes (126) third, while Michael Huicochea (144), Jesuovic Uz-Ikelegbe (190) and Miguel Guerrero (215) all contributed with fourth-place medals.

Uz-Ikelegbe registered four pins on the day.

2nd: South Elgin (178.0)

Logan Dilallo could not have flashed a bigger smile after taking home his first UEC title of the season following a well played 19-9 decision over Gus Saletta (Bartlett, 22-5) in the 144-pound final.

“It feels great to win here and it’s an amazing way to continue my final year at South Elgin,” began Dilallo, who took time off from the sport to compete in MMA.

“I had to come back for my senior year, and to be a part of the South Elgin team, and to be with my brother Nick,” continued Dilallo, now 21-6.

Nick Dilallo has been on the injured list all season, and Storm head coach James Gloudeman has his fingers crossed his 2025 state qualifier at 113 will return in time for the postseason.

Not to be forgotten was the work from freshman Leo Salas (18-9) who won the 106-pound title with a 8-5 decision over West Aurora freshman Donovan Johnson.

Alejandro Facio (285) was second on the day, with Evan Hamilton (120), Connor Ignacio (138), Dane Henson (165) and Landree Dracousis (190) adding points with their third place medals.

Justin Bayna (132) and Tommy Visvardis (150) were fifth.

3rd: Glenbard East (131.5)

No. 7 Ismael Chaidez (31-4) is now a three-time UEC champ following his masterful effort in the 126-pound weight class.

“I’m bigger, stronger, and have a much better gas tank compared to last season, and I can feel from the extra work that I put in during the offseason that I can score points in a variety of ways,” says Chaidez, who won at Geneva last weekend.

Teammate Orlando Hoye (15-1, 190) won his second UEC crown, and in doing so, also recorded the most total match points (67) in the tournament.

Evan Reichert (215) was second, Nick Greenfield (106) third, and Lance Padieanos (120) fourth overall.

Additional individual champions:

Jace Serpa (120, West Chicago), Izaiah Gonzalez (132, Riverside-Brookfield), Victor Juarez (215, Elgin).

Additional runners-up:

Ulises Vega (113, West Chicago), Emanuel Rangel (126, West Chicago), Brian Correa (132, West Chicago), Jayden Edgar (138, Elgin), Gus Saletta (144, Bartlett), Cameron Engels (150, Bartlett), Cesar Munoz (157, West Chicago), Omar Diaz (165, Fenton), Nick O’Connor (175, Riverside-Brookfield), Emmanuel Diaz (190, East Aurora), Evan Reichert (215, Glenbard East).

Final Team Results:

West Aurora 294.0, South Elgin 178.0, Glenbard East 131.5), West Chicago 130.0, Bartlett 128.5, Riverside-Brookfield 97.0, Fenton 92.0, East Aurora 79.5, Elgin/Glenbard South 76.0, Streamwood 60.0, Larkin 36.0, Ridgewood 20.0, Elmwood Park 0.0.

Championship match results:

106- Leo Salas (West Aurora) d. Donovan Johnson (West Aurora) (D 8-5).

113- Gabe Richmond (West Aurora) d. Ulises Vega (West Chicago) (TF 18-3).

120- Jace Serpa (West Chicago) d. Eric Castillo (West Aurora) (TF 19-4).

126- Ismael Chaidez (Glenbard East) d. Emanuel Rangel (West Chicago) (F 1:25).

132- Izaiah Gonzalez (Riverside-Brookfield) d. Brian Correa (West Chicago) (F 5:59).

138- Jack Platt (West Aurora) d. Jayden Edgar (Elgin) (F 2:15).

144- Logan Dilallo (South Elgin) d. Gus Saletta (Bartlett) (MD 19-9).

150- Evan Matkovich (West Aurora) d. Cameron Engels (Bartlett) (F 4:50).

157- Malan Hatfield (West Aurora) d. Cesar Munoz (West Chicago) (TF 20-5).

165- Marquis Quintana (West Aurora) d. Omar Diaz (Fenton) (F 4:00).

175- Dayne Serio (West Aurora) d. Nick O’Connor (Riverside-Brookfield) (TF 17-0).

190- Orlando Hoye (Glenbard East) d. Emmanuel Diaz (East Aurora) (TF 24-8).

215- Victor Juarez (Elgin) d. Evan Reichart (Glenbard East) (MD 15-4).

285- Alfonso Aguilar (West Aurora) d. Alejandro Facio (South Elgin) (F 0:44).

Third-place match results:

106- Nick Greenfield (Glenbard East) d. James Kowalski (Bartlett) (F 5:52).

113- Luis Martinez (Streamwood) d. Miles Russell-Barnes (Riverside-Brookfield)

(F 2:27).

120- Evan Hamilton (South Elgin) d. Lance Padiernos (Glenbard East) (F 4:25).

126- Jeremiah Hayes (West Aurora) d. Sal Garcia (Larkin) (F 3:01).

132- Rene Reyna (Fenton) d. Joseph Caputo (Bartlett) (MD 17-7).

138- Connor Ignacio (South Elgin) d. Mohammed Khater (Ridgewood) (D 10-5).

144- Jin Tai (Glenbard South) d. Michael Huicochea (West Aurora) (F 5:09).

150- Ruben Kassman (Glenbard South) d. Aiden Veltman (Riverside-Brookfield)

(F 1:23).

157- Emilio Guzman (Elgin) d. Jorge Farias (East Aurora) (TF 17-1).

165- Dane Henson (South Elgin) d. Armani Meola (East Aurora) (F 3:48).

175- Dereck Mazariegos (Fenton) d. Kevin Sanchez (East Aurora) (D 7-1).

190- Landree Dracousis (South Elgin) d. Jesuovie Uz-Ikelegbe (West Aurora) 

(D 11-10).

215- Amar Dzananovic (Bartlett) d. Miguel Guerrero (West Aurora) (F 1:18).

285- Chase Paduch (Bartlett) d. Ambrose Davis (Glenbard South) (F 3:27).

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA
IWCOA rankings from Rob Sherrill’s Illinois Best Weekly

REED-CUSTER COMET CLASSIC

Despite not having any wrestlers reach the championship mat, No. 9 Olympia’s depth got the job done at Reed-Custer’s 28-team Comet Classic. The Spartans took the team title, 195-180 over Chicago Hope Academy, followed by Althoff Catholic (169.5), Yorkville Christian (163.5) and Wheaton Academy (142.5) in the top five.

Olympia coach Josh Collins had nine wrestlers finish in the top six of their weight classes and the Spartans got a lift from a tournament-leading 24 pins and 492 total match points in Braidwood.

“Overall, the team wrestled very well this weekend,” Collins said. “We had a few setbacks in the semifinal rounds, but were able to bounce back on the back side, ending up with nine placers and securing the first-place spot as a team.”

Olympia also won a tournament title at Unity this season, and placed third at Civic Memorial, fourth at Princeton, and sixth at Abe’s Rumble.

“I continue to be proud of this team, their continued growth, and their never-quit mentality,” Collins said. “As a team we have goals to finish on the podium at both the individual state and dual-team state level. We will keep putting in the work for the next few weeks to make sure we are ready for the postseason.”

1st- Olympia (195)
Five Spartans fought back for third-place for Olympia in No. 4 Connor Collins (29-5 at 106), No. 5 state medalist Brandon Gaither (28-7 at 113), Kenzer Burrell (26-14 at 138), No. 9 Austin Kisner (22-7 at 150) and No. 5 Darian Holloway (34-4 at 285). Collins also got a fourth from Caleb Peters (21-10 at 190), fifths from Carter Knobloch (26-13 at 132) and No. 9 Kaden Collins (33-8 at 157), and a sixth from Tucker Garey (28-7 at 126).

2nd- Chicago Hope Academy (180)
The No. 17 Eagles only entered eight wrestlers and half of them won individual titles for coach Dan Willis: No. 2 Obadiah Willis (30-3 at 126), No. 3 state medalist Jeremiah Lawrence (17-2 at 132), No. 1 state qualifier Chance Woods (32-1 at 138) and No. 4 state medalist Arkail Griffin-Edwards (32-1 at 175). Hope Academy also got a third from state qualifier Dylan Galvez (29-6 at 157), and fourths from state qualifier Nolan Callahan (12-3 at 120) and state qualifier Santori Knight (11-2 at 150).
Willis, Woods, and Griffin-Edwards also won tournament titles at Rich Township this year, and Knight won a title at Sullivan.

3rd- Althoff Catholic (169.5)
Coach Emanuel Brooks’ No. 13 Crusaders got individual titles from No. 4 state qualifier Jacobi Cobbs (28-1 at 113), No. 8 Landon Weidler (25-2 at 157) and No. 1 state champion Pierre Walton (28-0 at 165), a second from No. 2 state medalist Dawson Hawthorne (26-1 at 132), and a fourth from Jaxon Lynn (25-5 at 126).

SQ-state qualifier
Additional champions
106 No. 6 SQ Coyt Rademaker (34-4) PORTA
120 No. 7 state medalist Raiden Terry (27-3) Seneca
144 No. 8 state medalist Lincoln Hoger (25-4) Wheaton Academy
150 No. 3 state medalist Cooper Corder (30-1) Sandwich
190 No. 2 2A, 3A state medalist Jaxon Penovich (34-5) Saint Viator
215 No. 9 SQ Sebastian Sanderson (5-0) Tinley Park
285 No. 7 2A Wynn Philippi (28-10) Saint Viator

Additional runners-up
106 Thomas Emery (32-6) Saint Viator
113 No. 7 Phoenix Senodos (22-4) Yorkville Christian
120 No. 9 Wesley Janick (20-2) Ottawa Marquette
126 No. 3 Aiden Bell (32-1) Hoopeston Area/Milford
132 No. 2 Dawson Hawthorne (26-1) Althoff
138 Jaxson Blanchard (27-6) Sandwich
144 No. 4 state medalist Zach Bryant (29-5) PORTA
150 No. 7 Caleb Modglin (33-4) Morrison
157 No. 10 Logan Baker (28-7) PORTA
165 No. 4 Tyler Jones (24-2) Wheaton Academy
175 Kayden Roach (27-5) Bradley
190 No. 6 SQ Logan VanDuyne (21-1) Wilmington
215 No. 6 state medalist Dominic Alaimo (29-6) Reed-Custer
285 Pablo Morales (22-4) Wheeling

Team scores
Olympia 195, Chicago Hope Academy 180, Althoff Catholic 169.5, Yorkville Christian 163.5, Wheaton Academy 142.5, PORTA 138, Sandwich 133, Reed-Custer 132.5, Wheeling 127.5, Saint Viator 123, Bradley 120, Ottawa Marquette 117, Morrison 116.5, Seneca 85.5, Winnebago 72.5, Plano 71, Clifton Central 67.5, Wilmington 63.5, Tinley Park 55.5, LaSalle-Peru 50, Hoopeston Area/Milford 49.5, Joliet Central 49, Herscher 42, Kankakee 35, Manteno 34.5, Peotone 31.5, Bremen 28, Dwight 16

Notable
In the finals at 106, PORTA’s Coyt Rademaker won a 5-4 decision over Saint Viator’s Thomas Emery.
At 126, Hope Academy’s Obadiah Willis (30-3) won a 6-4 decision for the title against Hoopeston Area/Milford’s Aiden Bell (32-1), handing Bell his first loss of the season.
The title match at 132 saw Hope Academy’s Jeremiah Lawrence (17-2) win 4-2 over Althoff’s Dawson Hawthorne (26-1), giving Hawthorne his first loss of the year.
Another doozy took place in the finals at 144, where Wheaton Academy’s Lincoln Hoger (25-4) won a 5-4 ultimate tie-break decision over PORTA’s Zach Bryant (29-5).

Championship match results
106 Coyt Rademaker (PORTA) D 5-4 Thomas Emery (St. Viator)
113 Jacobi Cobbs (Althoff) Med. Fft. Phoenix Senodenos (Y’ville Ch)
120 Raiden Terry (Seneca) MD 14-4 Wesley Janick (Marquette)
126 Obadiah Willis (Hope) D 6-4 Aiden Bell (Hoopeston)
132 Jeremiah Lawrence (Hope) D 4-2 Dawson Hawthorne (Althoff)

138 Chance Woods (Hope) MD 18-6 Jaxson Blanchard (Sandwich)

144 Lincoln Hoger (Wheaton Ac) UTB 5-4 Zach Bryant (PORTA)

150 Cooper Corder (Sandwich) TF 4:28 Caleb Modglin (Morrison)

157 Landon Weidler (Althoff) F 3:47 Logan Baker (PORTA)
165 Pierre Walton (Althoff) TF 4:44 Tyler Jones (Wheaton Ac)

175 Arkail Griffin (Hope) TF 6:00 Kayden Roach (Bradley)

190 Jaxon Penovich (St. Viator) F 1:11 Logan VanDuyne (Wilmington)
215 Sebastian Sanderson (Tinley Pk) D 9-4 Dominic Alaimo (Reed-Custer)
285 Wynn Philippi (St. Viator) F 3:29 Pablo Morales (Wheeling)

Third-place match results

106 Connor Collins (Olympia) TF 1:51 Cam Whitehead (Winnebago)
113 Brandon Gaither (Olympia) D 9-3 Colton Drinkwine (Reed-Custer)
120 Kainin Fillbright (PORTA) F 4:25 Nolan Callahan (Hope)
126 Eli Modglin (Morrison) TF 6:00 Jaxon Lynn (Althoff)
132 Koby Clark (Marquette) TF 3:14 Shane Downs (Plano)

138 Kenzer Burell (Olympia) D 11-4 Beau Thompson (Marquette)

144 Evan Cox (Clifton Central) MD 17-5 Adrian Wadas-Luis (Y’ville Ch)

150 Austin Kisner (Olympia) D 6-3 Santori Knight (Hope)

157 Dylan Galvez (Hope) Med. Fft. Gunner Varland (Seneca)
165 Reily Leifheit (Marquette) D 7-4 Nicholas Montesinos (Wheeling)

175 Joshua Kotalik (Sandwich) Med. Fft. Tyler Gleason (Y’ville Ch)

190 Johnny Strauss (Winnebago) MD 25-13 Caleb Peters (Olympia)
215 Jackson Allen (Y’ville Ch) F 1:27 Colton Schneider (St. Viator)
285 Darian Holloway (Olympia) F 3:10 Hezzy Garcia (Wheaton Ac)

Statistics
TEAM: Olympia finished with the most pins in the tournament with 24, followed by Yorkville Christian with 22 and Reed-Custer with 19. Sandwich led the field in tech falls with 10, followed by Althoff Catholic with nine, and two teams tied with seven tech falls apiece in Wheaton Academy and Yorkville Christian. Olympia posted the most total match points with 492, followed by Sandwich with 416 and Althoff Catholic with 381.

INDIVIDUAL: LaSalle-Peru’s Beau Lawrence led all wrestlers with five pins in 12:41, followed by Olympia’s Carter Knobloch and Yorkville Christian’s Jackson Allen, who each posted four falls in 4:24. Sandwich’s Cooper Corder posted the most tech falls in the least time with four techs in 10:48, followed by Althoff’s Pierre Walton with four techs in 14:23.

Morrison’s Caleb Carroll and Wilmington’s Logan VanDuyne tied for the fastest fall at 11 seconds, followed by Yorkville Christian’s Kenny Fox with a fall in 14 seconds. Corder posted the fastest tech fall in 1:00, followed by Olympia’s Brandon Gaither with a tech fall at 1:21.

Saint Viator’s Jaxon Penovich scored the most team points with 32, followed by Althoff’s Landon Weidler and Saint Viator’s Wynn Philippi with 31.5 apiece.

Olympia’s Caleb Peters posted the most total match points with 91, followed by Corder with 80. The largest seed-place difference came from Winnebago’s Johnny Strauss, who was seeded No. 22 and placed third at 190 pounds.

KANELAND’S MARGARET FLOTT INVITATIONAL

Kaneland’s 17-team Margaret Flott Invitational saw Wheaton Warrenville South snatch the team title, 190-138 over Plainfield South, with eight of coach Matt Janosek’s boys finishing in the top three of their weight classes.

Freeport (134.5) finished third followed by Crystal Lake South (122.5) and Waubonsie Valley (109.5) in the top five.

Michael Riggs (27-10 at 132) won an individual title for WW South and six other Tigers placed third to lead the pack.

“I’m proud of the way the boys competed this weekend.  It was great to see Michael Riggs win his first varsity tournament beating a tough wrestler from Waubonsie Valley (Nathan Duffield) for the third time this season. He wrestles hard through all positions and keeps up a high pace.

“Our team had a tough semifinal round, but it was great to see the boys battle back to try and get the next best thing. Also, it was great to see this group break through and finish a tournament as we have finished second at two other tournaments this season.”

The Tigers placed second in tournaments at Niles West and at their own Ed Ewoldt tournament this year, and were fourth at Geneva and 12th at Granite City.

1st- Wheaton Warrenville South (190)
In addition to Riggs’ title, Janosek got third-place finishes from Rocco Valvano (34-2 at 106), Joey Sirmon (21-11 at 144), Noah Nau (26-13 at 157), Reid Adler (21-13 at 165), Foster Yarbrough (10-6 at 215) and Brandon Mayes (8-3 at 285), and a fourth from Matthew Vann (20-20 at 138).
The Tigers also led the field with 25 pins and six tech fall wins.

“This group is extremely hard working and have made some great strides from last season as a result of the work they put in last spring, summer, and this fall,” Janosek said. “This season they have been improving each week on the mat and continue to get stronger as a team. They have represented our philosophy of out-work, out-tough, out-believe.”

2nd- Plainfield South (138)
Four individual champions scaled the podium for Plainfield South in Drew Ritchie (10-7 at 126), Kyle McCormick (19-9 at144), Chase Pierceall (22-5 at 190) and Mason Bucon (26-7 at 215). Coach Dan Saracco’s Cougars also got a second from Jakub Kowal (10-4 at 285), and a fourth from Allen Cortez (15-14 at 106)

3rd- Freeport (134.5)
Coach Nathan Arendt got five runner-up finishes from Jaylen Lowe (18-15 at 126), Thomas Olson (25-12 at 138), Blake Slusser (25-11 at 144), Mathias Rada (20-15 at 150) and No. 9 Sajjad Abdulrazzaq (23-14 at 157), and a fourth from Israel Goodman (23-9 at 215).

Team scores
Wheaton Warrenville South 190, Plainfield South 138, Freeport 134.5, Crystal Lake South 122.5, Waubonsie Valley 109.5, Plainfield Central 95.5, Addison Trail 89.5, Leyden 69.5, Buffalo Grove 63.5, Romeoville 59, JS Morton 57.5, Deerfield 56.5, Woodstock North 49, Kaneland 47, St. Charles North 46.5, Ottawa Township 33.5, Bloom Township 33

Additional champions
106 Christopher Talbert (22-10) Crystal Lake South
113 No. 9 Logan Aarseth (21-4) Crystal Lake South
120 No. 8 state medalist Nikolas Duarte (17-2) Addison Trail
138 Nathan Randle (27-1) Crystal Lake South
150 Hudson VonQualen (4-0) St. Charles North
157 Anthony Klikas (17-6) Buffalo Grove
165 Aiden Marrello (30-2) Crystal Lake South
175 Santiago Moya (28-4) Morton
285 Leonidas Berrios (28-4) Waubonsie Valley

Additional runners-up
106 Logan Ferguson (10-12) Addison Trail
113 Danny Huerta (23-5) Leyden
120 No. 10 Mykola Shamray (25-4) Buffalo Grove
132 Nathan Duffield (23-9) Waubonsie Valley
165 Tyler Lewis (13-5) Romeoville
175 Apollo Gochis (28-9) Kaneland
190 Erick Worwa (24-3) Leyden
215 David Randecker (24-5) Woodstock North

Notable
A trio of two-point decisions took place in the final round of wrestling in Maple Park. In the title match at 215, Plainfield South’s Mason Bucon won 6-4 over Woodstock North’s David Randecker.
On the third-place mat, first Plainfield Central’s Jayden Mizelle won 7-5 over
Woodstock North’s Olin Wiedel at 120 pounds, and then Romeoville’s Hector Villagrana won 10-8 against Waubonsie Valley’s Lucas Pretkelis at 175.

Championship match results
106 Christopher Talbert (CL South) TF 2:07 Logan Ferguson (A Trail)
113 Logan Aarseth (CL South) TF 2:49 Danny Huerta (Leyden)
120 Nikolas Duarte (A Trail) D 4-0 Mykola Shamray (Buffalo Grove)
126 Drew Ritchie (Plainfield S) D 10-5 Jaylen Lowe (Freeport)
132 Michael Riggs (WW South) D 17-11 Nathan Duffield (Waubonsie)

138 Nathan Randle (CL South) F 3:16 Thomas Olson (Freeport)

144 Kyle McCormick (Plainfield S) MD 9-0 Blake Slusser (Freeport)

150 Hudson VonQualen (SC North) F 5:03 Mathias Rada (Freeport)

157 Anthony Klikas (Buffalo Grove) inj. Sajjad Abdulrazzaq (Freeport)
165 Aiden Marrello (CL South) TF 2:34 Tyler Lewis (Romeoville)

175 Santiago Moya (Morton) TF 5:30 Apollo Gochis (Kaneland)

190 Chase Pierceall (Plainfield S) MD 10-2 Erick Worwa (Leyden)
215 Mason Bucon (Plainfield S) D 6-4 David Randecker (Woodstock N)
285 Leonidas Berrios (Waubonsie) F 1:26 Jakub Kowal (Plainfield S)

Third-place match results
106 Rocco Valvano (WW South) F 1:19 Allen Cortez (Plainfield S)
113 Troy Rotter (Deerfield) F 2:26 Mayson Munson (Ottawa)
120 Jayden Mizelle (Plainfield C) D 7-5 Olin Wiedel (Woodstock N)
126 Alezander Bautista (A Trail) D 6-2 Liam Thompson (Plainfield C)
132 Jack Jansen (Deerfield) Med. Fft. Nicolas Jaramillo (JS Morton)

138 Brody Rangel (Plainfield C) D 11-7 Matthew Vann (WW South)

144 Joey Sirmon (WW South) F 1:04 Julio Bastida (Bloom Twp.)

150 Colten Heltsley (Kaneland) F 1:51 Desmond Stribley (Waubonsie)

157 Noah Nau (WW South) MD 14-1 Owen Greenfield (Waubonsie)
165 Reid Adler (WW South) F 1:45 Doug Mejdrich (SC North)

175 Hector Villagrana (Romeoville) D 10-8 Lucas Pretkelis (Waubonsie)

190 Ty Sabin (Plainfield C) D 7-4 Wes Weatherford (Ottawa)
215 Foster Yarbrough (WW South) F 0:55 Israel Goodman (Freeport)
285 Brandon Mayes (WW South) F 1:26 Giuliano Salazar (Romeoville)

Statistics
TEAM: Team champion Wheaton Warrenville South led all teams in pins with 25, followed by Waubonsie Valley with 13 and Plainfield Central with 11. The Tigers led the field with six tech falls, followed by Crystal Lake South with five, and WW South also scored the most total match points with 377, followed by Crystal Lake South with 266 and Addison Trail with 225.

INDIVIDUAL: WW South’s Brandon Mayes had the most pins in the least time with four falls in 8:01. Waubonsie Valley’s Jamarion Lee was next with three falls in 2:49. Freeport’s Israel Goodman posted the fastest fall in 15 seconds, followed by Plainfield South’s Jakub Kowal with a fall in 17 seconds.

WW South’s Joey Sirmon posted the most tech falls in the least time with three in 15:29, followed by Deerfield’s Jack Jansen with two tech falls in 4:54. Addison Trail’s Nikolas Duarte had the fastest tech fall in 57 seconds, followed by Kaneland’s Colten Heltsley with a tech in 1:08.

Waubonsie Valley’s Leonidas Berrios and Crystal Lake South’s Nathan Randle tied for the most team points scored with 28, followed by Buffalo Grove’s Anthony Klikas with 27.5. Crystal Lake South’s Ricardo Briones posted the most single-match points with 23, followed by Romeoville’s Hector Villagrana and Freeport’s Mathias Rada with 21 apiece. Romeoville’s Villagrana also led the field with 62 total match points, followed by Addison Trail’s Alezander Bautista with 58.

The largest seed-place difference came from St. Charles North’s Hudson VonQualen, as the No. 10 seed won an individual title at 150 pounds.


ILLINI CLASSIC

The team title of this year’s 20-team Illini Classic went to the boys from Clovis, California on Saturday in New Lenox.

Clovis was dominant in posting a 322.5-227.5 win over second-place No. 6 Marist, followed by No. 15 Stevenson (189.5), No. 4 St. Charles East (184) and No. 11 Lincoln-Way West (183.5) to round out the top five finishes.

Clovis sent nine wrestlers to the title mat and had five individual champions to lead the field, and its 23 pins were the most by any team present.

1st- Clovis, CA (322.5)
Clovis had five champions in Michael Bernabe (18-2 at 113), Zander Schaefer (18-5 at 144), James Curoso (19-3 at 165), Lolomanaia Clark (17-5 at 190) and Andrew Arroyo (26-2 at 285), plus seconds from Anthony Garza (19-2 at 120), Raymond Rivera (18-4 at 138), Dylan Tirapelle (17-7 at 157) and Adan Castillo (20-3 at 215), a third from Tobias Nabors (16-4 at 150), a fourth from Abdul Mirjan (15-10 at 157), and fifths from Phillip Green (22-13 at 120) and Jaden Garcia (16-8 at 132).

2nd- Marist (227.5)
Redhawks coach Brendan Heffernan got titles from No. 8 state qualifier Elio Gil (20-8 at 106) and No. 2 state qualifier Ethan Sonne (24-3 at 157), a second from No. 5 state qualifier Tommy Fidler (30-8 at 150), a third from No. 5 Axel Rodriguez (27-8 at 138), fourths from Eddie Astorga (17-11 at 126), No. 7 Jaxon Jorgensen (6-2 at 144) and No. 10 Tom O’Brien (26-13 at 215), and fifths from Ronin Haran (26-14 at 165) and Jack Watson (21-11 at 285).

3rd- Stevenson (189.5)
Stevenson coach Shane Cook got runner-up finishes from Stefan Vihrov (24-7 at 106), No. 5 state qualifier Shawn Kogan (22-4 at 132), state qualifier Valentin Vihrov (144) and No. 7 Phillip Boyko (22-7 at 175), thirds from No. 6 state qualifier Daniel Berdich (21-3 at 113), Evan Mishels (24-9 at 120) and state qualifier Marcelo Cantu (20-7 at 126).

Team scores
Clovis, CA 322.5, Marist 227.5, Stevenson 189.5, St. Charles East 184, Lincoln-Way West 183.5, Minooka 177.5, Lincoln-Way Central 158.5, Sandburg 144.5, Yorkville 144.5, Deerfield 130, Notre Dame 114.5, Marian Central 111, Lyons Township 92, Hinsdale Central 64.5, East Moline United 56, Niles North 54.5, Andrew 50, Andrew 50, Schaumburg 43, McNamara 37, Oswego 32

SQ – state qualifier
Additional champions
120 state champion Dom Munaretto (35-0) St. Charles East
126 SQ Declan Sons (22-14) St. Charles East
132 No. 3 SQ Adrian Cohen (35-1) Deerfield
138 No. 2 state medalist Griff Powell (35-3) Lyons Township
150 No. 3 state medalist Donovan Rosauer (35-2) Yorkville
175 No. 4 SQ Jalen Byrd (37-3) Lincoln-Way Central
215 No. 1 (190)  state champion Jimmy Mastny (41-1) Marian Central

Additional runners-up

113 No. 4 Hogan Rice (27-10) Marian Central
126 Carter DiBenedetto (29-8) Lincoln-Way West
165 No. 7 Kaden Meyer (19-5) Minooka
190 Santino Capodice (16-6) Minooka
285 No. 4 SQ Robbie Murphy (21-2) Minooka

Notable
In the finals at 138, Lyons Township’s Griff Powell won a 1-0 decision over Raymond Rivera of Clovis, California.

On the third-place mat at 126, Stevenson’s Marcelo Cantu won a 4-3 decision over Marist’s Eddie Astorga, and at 138 Marist’s Axel Rodriguez won a 5-3 decision over Lincoln-Way West’s Shane Stream. Another close third-place match took place at 190, where Yorkville’s Brock Janeczko won a 2-1 decision over Notre Dame’s Jeramy Hamm.

The wildest third-place match occurred at 175 pounds, with Sandburg’s Adnan Askar winning a 13-12 decision over Yorkville’s Caleb Viscogliosi.

Championship match results
106 Elio Gil (Marist) TF 2:00 Stefan Vihrov (Stevenson)
113 Michael Bernabe (Clovis) F 4:56 Hogan Rice (Marian C)
120 Dom Munaretto (SC East) D 7-1 Anthony Garza (Clovis)
126 Declan Sons (SC East) F 3:25 Carter DiBenedetto (LW West)
132 Adrian Cohen (Deerfield) D 9-6 Shawn Kogan (Stevenson)

138 Griff Powell (Lyons) D 1-0 Raymond Rivera (Clovis)

144 Zander Schaefer (Clovis) F 4:20 Valentin Vihrov (Stevenson)

150 Donovan Rosauer (Yorkville) D 7-2 Tommy Fidler (Marist)

157 Ethan Sonne (Marist) MD 12-1 Dylan Tirapelle (Clovis)
165 James Curoso (Clovis) TF 4:22 Kaden Meyer (Minooka)

175 Jalen Byrd (LW Central) F 1:24 Philip Boyko (Stevenson)

190 Lolomanaia Clark (Clovis) TF 4:30 Santino Capodice (Minooka)
215 Jimmy Mastny (Marian C) TF 5:07 Adan Castillo (Clovis)
285 Andrew Arroyo (Clovis) F 3:23 Robbie Murphy (Minooka)

Third-place match results
106 Jake Pechter (Deerfield) TF 4:13 Michael Scott (LW West)
113 Daniel Berdich (Stevenson) D 7-1 Kyle Hayes (Sandburg)
120 Evan Mishels (Stevenson) D 7-2 Ray Long (Notre Dame)
126 Marcelo Cantu (Stevenson) D 4-3 Eddie Astorga (Marist)
132 Maddux Tindal (Minooka) D 9-4 Brady Glynn (LW West)

138 Axel Rodriguez (Marist) D 5-3 Shane Stream (LW West)

144 Austin Hagevold (Marian C) F 3:53 Jaxon Jorgensen (Marist)

150 Tobias Nabors (Clovis) F 1:45 Ben Cyrkiel (Minooka)

157 Brady Ritter (Sandburg) TF 4:46 Abdul Mirjan (Clovis)
165 Max Herman (LW West) D 11-6 Nicholas Astacio (Marian C)

175 Adnan Askar (Sandburg) D 13-12 Caleb Viscogliosi (Yorkville)

190 Brock Janeczko (Yorkville) D 2-1 Jeramy Hamm (Notre Dame)
215 Cooper Murray (SC East) F 1:30 Tom O’Brien (Marist)
285 Sean Cook (Notre Dame) F 1:38 Jimmy Hillman (Lyons)

Statistics

TEAM: Clovis led all teams with 23 pins in the tournament, followed by Lincoln-Way Central with 22 and Lincoln-Way West with 21. Stevenson’s 11 tech falls led the field, followed by Marist with 10. Marist also finished with the most total match points with 473, followed by Clovis with 465.

INDIVIDUAL: Clovis’ Tobias Nabors had the most pins in the least time with four falls in 5:13, followed by Lincoln-Way Central’s Jalen Byrd with four falls in 6:54. Sandburg’s Wyatt Hochgraber posted the fastest fall in 14 seconds, followed by Lincoln-Way West’s Jimmy Talley with a fall in 24 seconds.
Marist’s Elio Gil posted the most tech falls in the least time with three in 6:10, followed by Deerfield’s Jake Pechter three tech falls in 10:31. Lincoln-Way West’s Brady Glynn had the fastest tech fall in 1:04 followed by East Moline United’s Caleb Flint with a tech fall in 1:20.

Byrd and Clovis’ Michael Bernabe tied for the lead in team points with 34, while Notre Dame’s Peter Escamilla and St. Charles East’s Kaden Potter tied for the most single-match points with 23. Clovis’ Phillip Green posted the most total match points with 77.

There was a two-way tie for the largest seed-place difference between Hinsdale Central’s Jonathan Martinez and teammate Henry Milburn. Martinez was seeded No. 17 and placed eighth at 144 pounds, and Milburn was seeded No. 14 and placed fifth at 190 pounds.

LITCHFIELD’S RICH LOVELLETTE INVITE

Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm coach Austin Hedrick got individual titles from Vance Johnson (20-7 at 138) and Conner Mahaffey (18-13 at 144) and a runner-up finish from Ethan Miller (30-3 at 190) to lead a pack of 11 wrestlers winning place-medals.

That was enough to edge second-place Cumberland 169-154 to snare the team title of this year’s 16-team Rich Lovelette Invitational, hosted by Litchfield.

“Great tournament for us. The boys wrestled tough,” Hedrick said. “The backside of the bracket was huge for us. We had guys battle back for third and fifth which helped tremendously. We had some of our freshmen come through huge for us.”

Freshman Mahaffey went 3-0 in winning his title at 144, and Johnson is a sophomore who won four matches on his way to the title at 138 pounds.

1st- Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm (169)
In addition to sending three to the championship mat, coach Austin Hedrick got thirds from Kason Cramer (14-16 at 106), Levi Miller (22-11 at 132), Liam Hughes (22-12 at 157) and Bleigthen Irelan (14-5 at 215), fourths from Eric Roberson (16-9 at 150), and a sixth from Kendall Newell (16-13 at 285).

Westville had 16 pins in the tournament and its 246 total match points was the most by any team.
“This is kind of the first time this season we’ve really put a complete tournament together and we were missing our starter at 175,” Hedrick said. “Looking forward to the postseason, we’re looking to make some noise in February when it matters most.”

2nd- Cumberland (154)
Coach Ash Edmonds’ Pirates got a trio of titles from Peyton Groves (25-4 at 106), Sawyer Welbaum (27-5 at 132) and Owen McGinnis (25-7 at 157), a second from Daniel Nichols (23-10 at 165), a third from Logan Aaron (22-11 at 138), fourths from Jared Koester (6-3 at 144) and Jaxson Dukeman (25-9 at 150), fifths from Mason Robinson (19-15 at 144) and Max Strader (23-10 at 190), and a sixth from Stratton Skidmore (15-16 at 126).

Cumberland led all teams with 21 pins in the tournament.

3rd- Freeburg (137)
Freeburg got an individual title from Jack Amann (33-4 at 285) for coach Dan Quartz, plus seconds from Eli Schaefer (25-11 at 106), Devon Jensen (15-8 at 132), Colt Hess (28-11 at 175) and Dane Olmstead (28-4 at 215), a third from Brayden Jackson (19-19 at 120), and fifths from Brock Becker (18-12 at 125), Broden Becker (23-18 at 138) and Cooper Kisgen (19-14 at 165).

Freeburg’s four tech falls were the most by any team present.

Team scores
Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm 169, Cumberland 154, Freeburg 137, Red Bud 103.5, Sacred Heart-Griffin 95.5, Sparta/Steelville 90.5, Litchfield/Mt. Olive 79.5, Breese Central 77.5, Hillsboro 72, Pinckneyville/Trico/Elverado 72, Carlinville 51, Oakwood/Salt Fork  35.5, Southwestern 31, Dupo 26, North Mac/Waverly 18, Metro-East Lutheran 13

SQ-state qualifier
Additional champions
113 Kohl Fuller (23-2) Hillsboro

120 Ashton Shute (17-7) Pinckneyville/Trico/Elverado
126 Landon Fausz (16-10), Red Bud
150 Matthew Walsh (26-3) Breese Central
165 SQ Braxton Kieffer (28-4) Litchfield/Mt. Olive
175 Jonathan Ramaker (28-1) Pinckneyville/Trico/Elverado
190 No. 2 state medalist Daniel Jackson (26-1) Red Bud
215 Wade Rees (24-6) Pinckneyville/Trico/Elverado

Additional runners-up 

113 Zack Bean (18-7) Southwestern
120 Landon Bandy (20-4) Hillsboro
126 Jase Edrington (2-1) Oakwood/Salt Fork
138 Briar Kuhl (20-7) Hillsboro
144 Ridge Reagan (12-4) Carlinville
150 Braxton Glodo (21-7) Sparta/Steelville
157 Jovonis Lunford (25-8) Sacred Heart-Griffin
285 Dylan Heinen (23-4) Sparta/Steelville

Notable matches
In the closest decision of the final round, Westville’s Levi Miller won 6-5 over Metro-East Lutheran’s Miles Dennis at 132 pounds.

Statistics
TEAM: Cumberland led all teams in pins with 21, followed by Westville with 16 and Freeburg with 15. Freeburg finished with the most tech falls with four, followed by Breese Central, Oakwood, Sparta and Red Bud with three apiece. Westville posted the most total match points with 246 followed by Freeburg with 236 and Cumberland with 187.

INDIVIDUAL: Red Bud’s Weston Brockmeyer posted the most pins in the least time with four falls in 2:29, followed by Westville’s Baron Gouty Jr. with four falls in 5:58. Carlinville’s Wesley Smith had the most tech falls in the least time with two in 3:07. Smith also posted the fastest tech fall in 0:55.

Litchfield’s Braxton Kieffer scored the most team points with 29, followed by Cumberland’s Owen McGinnis and Red Bud’s Daniel Jackson with 29 apiece. Hillsboro’s Westin Fenton posted the most single-match points with 23, followed by Freeburg’s Broden Becker with 22.

There was a tie for the largest seed-place difference, as Litchfield’s Thayden Bailey (138) and Sacred Heart-Griffin’s Jowan Davis (215) were both seeded No. 16 and placed sixth in their respective weight classes.

Championship match results
106 Peyton Groves (Cumberland) F 1:27 Eli Schaefer (Freeburg)
113 Kohl Fuller (Hillsboro) D 8-1 Zack Bean (Southwestern)
120 Ashton Shute (Pinckneyville/T-R) TF 3:49 Landon Bandy (Hillsboro)
126 Landon Fausz (Red Bud) F 3:17 Jase Edrington (Oakwood/SF)
132 Sawyer Welbaum (Cumberland) F 2:28 Devon Jensen (Freeburg)
138 Vance Johnson (Westville/GR) D 11-8 Briar Khul (Hillsboro)
144 Conner Mahaffey (Westville/GR) F 3:31 Ridge Reagan (Carlinville)
150 Matthew Walsh (Breese C) D 7-3 Braxton Glodo (Sparta-S)
157 Owen McGinnis (Cumberland)MD 13-4 Jovonis Lunford (SH-Griffin)
165 Braxton Kieffer (Litchfield-Mt. O) TF 2:50 Daniel Nichols (Cumberland)
175 Jonathan Ramaker (Pinckneyville/T-E) D 6-3 Colt Hess (Freeburg)
190 Daniel Jackson (Red Bud) TF 3:55 Ethan Miller (Westville/GR)
215 Wade Rees (Pinckneyville/T-E)  F 4:57 Dane Olmstead (Freeburg)
285 Jack Amann (Freeburg) F 5:34 Dylan Heinen (Sparta-Steelville)

Third-place match results
106 Kason Cramer (Westville/GR) BYE
113 Cooper Stine (Sparta-Steelville) F 0:15 Eric Roberson (Westville/GR)
120 Brayden Jackson (Freeburg) BYE
126 Wesley Smith (Carlinville) TF 0:55 Skyler Sturgeon (Hillsboro)
132 Levi Miller (Westville/GR) D 6-5 Miles Dennis (Metro-E Lutheran)
138 Logan Aaron (Cumberland) F 1:55 Billy Gard (North Mac-W)
144 Jay Klemish (Breese C) F 2:51 Jared Koester (Cumberland)
150 Max Wolter (Red Bud) F 1:02 Jaxson Dukeman (Cumberland)
157 Liam Hughes (Westville/GR) MD 13-4 Tyler Nolan (Red Bud)
165 Jeremy Judd (SH-Griffin) F 2:43 Camden Schoolcraft (Westville/GR)
175 Antonio Monroe (Sparta-Steelville) F 5:18 Henry Stevens (SH-Griffin)
190 Casen Lyons (SH-Griffin) MD 10-1 Jayden Ellinger (Litchfield-Mt. O)
215 Bleighten Irelan (Westville/GR) D 9-2 Evan Fricke (Litchfield-Mt. O)
285 Braxton Barnett (Dupo) F 1:24 Josh Eyer (SH-Griffin)

GENESEO WRESTLING INVITE

Joliet Catholic coach Ryan Cumbee sent eight wrestlers to the title mat and got six individual titles to lead a 287-225.5 win over second-place Geneseo, at this year’s 14-team Geneseo Invitational.
The top-ranked team in 3A had 13 wrestlers placed in the top four of their weight classes.

“Great tournament to get us locked in for the conference tournament and state series,” Cumbee said. “I feel so good about the way we’re wrestling. Joliet Catholic is happy to wrestle like we’re capable.”
The win marked Joliet Catholic’s third team title of the season, to go with wins at Prospect and Grant. The Hilltoppers were also third at Iowa’s Donnybrook, fifth at DeKalb, sixth at Wisconsin’s Cheesehead and eighth at this year’s Dvorak tournament.

Joliet Catholic got individual championships from Kane Robles (24-7 at 106), No. 5 Colton Schultz (23-8 at 113), No. 8 state qualifier Lukas Foster (29-5 at 126), No. 3 state qualifier Adante Washington (32-4 at 138), Matthew Laird (19-12 at 144) and No. 3 state medalist Nolan Vogel (35-5 at 157).
Huntley (183.5) placed third followed by Oak Forest (175) and Morton (155.5) to round out the top five team finishes.

1st- Joliet Catholic (287)
In addition to titles from Robles, Schultz, Foster, Washington, Laird and Vogel, the Hilltoppers got runner-up finishes from Ryker Czubak (18-7 at 215) and Daniel Dalach (24-13 at 285), thirds from Finn McDermott (25-11 at 120), state qualifier Adonis Washington (17-4 at 132) and Aidan Bishop (21-7 at 190), and fourths from Lincoln Mack (9-5 at 132) and Vince Skedel (14-10 at 175).

Foster, Adante Washington, Vogel and Czubak also won Prospect tournament titles this season.
Cumbee’s squad led Saturday’s field with 12 tech falls and 465 total match points, and finished third in pins with 15. The Hilltoppers won the crown despite wrestling without three-time state medalist No. 2 Jason Hampton (132) in their lineup.

2nd- Geneseo (225.5)
Coach Tom Rusk’s No. 6 in 2A Maple Leafs sent a trio of champions to the awards stand in No. 2 state qualifier Izaac Gaines (23-2 at 165), No. 2 state medalist Kye Weinzierl (22-1 at 175) and Colten Mooney (23-8 at 215). Geneseo also got a runner-up finish from state qualifier Grady Hull (18-10 at 157), thirds from No. 7 state qualifier Landen Vincent (19-7 at 138) and Josh Stahl (20-7 at 285), fourths from Tad Moore (21-14 at 113), 3-time state qualifier Malaki Jackson (22-9 at 144) and Harrison Hill (20-9 at 190), and fifths from Brycen Fohnestock (18-12 at 106) and Kie Smith (20-16 at 150).

It was Gaines’ third tournament title of the season to go with wins at Rockford East and Morton. Weinzierl also won a title at Morton this year and Mooney won his first individual tournament title of the season.
Geneseo led all teams in pins with 18 and were second in tech falls with six. The Maples Leafs won team titles at Rockford East and Morton this year, and placed seventh in tournaments at Downers Grove South and Hinsdale Central.

3rd- Huntley (183.5)
The Red Raiders got individual titles from returning state medalist Colin Abordo (30-6 at 120) and Waylon Theobald (29-11 at 190), a second from Cael Saldana (14-4 at 113), thirds from Cameron Abordo (15-5 at 126), Gavin Nischke (28-10 at 144) and Matthew Keaty (21-15 at 150), fourths from Colin Huminsky (28-12 at 138) and Alexander Vega (21-17 at 157), and a sixth from Max Dziamidau (18-23 at 215).
Huntley wrestled without No. 4 returning state medalist Radic Dvorak (165) in its lineup.

Team scores
Joliet Catholic 287, Geneseo 225.5, Huntley 183.5, Oak Forest 175, Morton 155.5, Civic Memorial 151, Moline 83.5, Riverdale 83, Granite City 74, Rich Township 44.5, East St. Louis 36, Dunlap 34, Belvidere-B North 31, IC Catholic 2

Additional champions
132 No. 2 2A state medalist Harrison Dea (35-1) Morton
150 No. 1 2A state medalist Knox Verbais (32-6) Civic Memorial
190 Waylon Theobald (29-11) Huntley
285 Hudson Davis (26-8) Civic Memorial

Additional runners-up
106 Trygg Herron (27-8) Morton
120 Hunter Kroll (14-12) Oak Forest
126 state medalist Jacob Sebek (21-8) Oak Forest
132 No. 2 1A state medalist Dean Wainwright (32-3) Riverdale
138 Housseyn Ndiaye (24-8) Moline
144 No. 9 2A Greg Harkey (19-7) Civic Memorial
150 No. 2 2A state medalist Austin Perez (16-3) Oak Forest
165 state qualifier James Wojcikiewicz (28-7) Civic Memorial
175 DeAnthony Simpson (25-5) Moline
190 Eli Miller (23-9) Granite City

Notable matches
The championship final at 215 pounds went to the sudden victory round before Geneseo’s Colten Mooney won a 4-1 decision over Joliet Catholic’s Ryker Czubak. At 165, Geneseo’s Izaac Gaines won the title via 7-5 decision over Civic Memorial’s James Wojcikiewicz.
On the third-place mat at 157, Morton’s Ben Eichorn won a 3-2 decision against Huntley’s Alexander Vega. The wildest final-round match came for third place at 126, where Huntley’s Cameron Abordo won a 19-15 decision against Morton’s Noah Harris.

Statistics
TEAM: Geneseo led all teams with 18 pins, followed by Morton with 16 and Joliet Catholic with 15. Joliet Catholic’s 12 tech falls led the tournament followed by Geneseo with six and Rich Township, Huntley, and Civic Memorial with five apiece. Joliet Catholic posted 465 total match points to lead the field followed by Geneseo with 374 and Huntley with 307.

INDIVIDUAL: Belvidere North’s Bryson Teunissen had the most pins in the least time, with four in 7:03, followed by Joliet Catholic’s Nolan Vogel with three  falls in 2:47. Civic Memorial’s Cody Weidner posted the fastest fall in 21 seconds, followed by Granite City’s Andrew McElroy with a fall in 28 seconds.
East St. Louis’ Ethan Clark had the most tech falls in the least time with two in 2:42, followed by Geneseo’s Malaki Jackson with two tech falls in 3:25. Morton’s Harrison Dea posted the fastest tech fall in 59 seconds followed by Rich Township’s Kelcey Span, who had a tech fall in 1:03.

Joliet Catholic’s Colton Schultz and teammate Nolan Vogel tied for the most team points scored with 29, followed by teammate Adante Washington with 28.5 team points. Huntley’s Colin Huminsky scored the most single-match points with 30, followed by Civic Memorial’s Greg Harkey with 24. Schultz also led the field with 61 total match points, followed by Huminsky with 60.

Championship match results
106 Kane Robles (Joliet C) TF 3:20 Trygg Herron (Morton)
113 Colton Schultz (Joliet C) TF 4:28 Cael Saldana (Huntley)
120 Colin Abordo (Huntley) F 1:08 Hunter Kroll (Oak Forest)
126 Lukas Foster (Joliet C) TF 3:37 Jacob Sebek (Oak Forest)
132 Harrison Dea (Morton) D 15-8 Dean Wainwright (Riverdale)
138 Adante Washington (Joliet C) MD 15-4 Housseyn Ndiaye (Moline)
144 Matthew Laird (Joliet C) D 4-0 Greg Harkey (Civic Mem)
150 Knox Verbais (Civic Mem) D 10-3 Austin Perez (Oak Forest)
157 Nolan Vogel (Joliet C) MD 14-3 Grady Hull (Geneseo)
165 Izaac Gaines (Geneseo) D 7-5 James Wojcikiewicz (Civic Mem)
175 Kye Weinzierl (Geneseo) F 2:54 DeAnthony Simpson (Moline)
190 Waylon Theobald (Huntley) D 6-3 Eli Miller (Granite City)
215 Colten Mooney (Geneseo) SV-1 4-1 Ryker Czubak (Joliet C)
285 Hudson Davis (Civic Mem) D 8-4 Daniel Dalach (Joliet C)

Third-place match results
106 Cody Weidner (Civic Mem) TF 4:18 Jason Schickel (Oak Forest)
113 Roberto Rangel (Oak Forest) F 1:16 Tad Moore (Geneseo)
120 Finn McDermott (Joliet C) F 0:35 Benjamin Porter (Riverdale)
126 Cameron Abordo (Huntley) D 19-15 Noah Harris (Morton)
132 Adonis Washington (Joliet C) fft. Lincoln Mack (Joliet C)
138 Landen Vincent (Geneseo) D 11-7 Colin Huminsky (Huntley)
144 Gavin Nischke (Huntley) F 2:18 Malaki Jackson (Geneseo)
150 Matthew Keaty (Huntley) F 1:18 Tristin King (Rich Twp.)
157 Ben Eichorn (Morton) D 3-2 Alexander Vega (Huntley)
165 Corey Robinson (E St. Louis) TB-1 10-1 Jayden Schmick (Dunlap)
175 Jason Janke (Oak Forest) D 4-1 Vince Skedel (Joliet C)
190 Aidan Bishop (Joliet C) D 10-6 Harrison Hill (Geneseo)
215 Benjamin Chaffer (Morton) F 2:23 Kevahn Flanagan (Civic Mem)
285 Josh Stahl (Geneseo) F 1:08 Henry Schradeya (Riverdale)

ROLLIE PLATT/RON RUSH QUINCY INVITE

Host Quincy’s boys snared the team title at Saturday’s 17-team Rollie Platt/Ron Rush Invitational for coach Phil Neally, outpointing second-place Mascoutah 234-209.5.
The Blue Devils led all teams in pins (37), tech falls (8) and total match points (518), as 12 wrestlers placed in the top six of their divisions.

“We did a great job of making strides as the post season approaches,” Neally said.
Quincy got individual titles from Griffin Finch (28-10 at 106), Clayton McClelland (26-9 at 113), Wyatt Boeing (20-9 at 120) and Brody Baker (23-6 at 150).

1st- Quincy (234)
In addition to titles from Finch, McClelland, Boeing and Baker, 3A Quincy got a runner-up finish from Austin Ragar (20-15 at 144), a third from King Johnson (19-4 at 285), fourths from Ethan Paul (18-20 at 157) and Jayden Wilson (18-7 at 175), a fifth from Derik Lohmeyer (26-12 at 132), and sixths from Preston Sturhahn (5-4 at 138), Roman Lilo (8-8 at 165) and Harlen Derhake (190).

2nd- Mascoutah (209.5)
Coach Cole Witzig got titles from 2A state qualifier Xavier Sonon-Hale (24-9 at 126) and No. 5 state medalist Brock Ross (28-0 at 157), plus second-place finishes from Braxton McCall (21-6 at 106), state qualifier Sean Murphy (7-3 at 165) and No. 8 state qualifier Jordan Sonon-Hale (29-4 at 175), thirds from Macguire Leck (22-9 at 132) and Desi Wade (28-4 at 138), a fourth from Harrison Redenius (23-12 at 190), and sixths from Logan Lott (13-20 at 113) and Marcus Noble (16-10 at 144).

3rd- East Peoria (185)
Coach Phil Johns’ 2A Raiders brought home individual titles from No. 6 state qualifier Dalton Oakman (27-3 at 190) and Keegan Barnes (26-7 at 285), a second-place finish from No. 10 state qualifier Cooper Chester (23-2 at 150), thirds from Wyatt Durham (20-7 at 157) and No. 7 state qualifier Alec Del Toro (28-2 at 215), fourths from Tucker Brown (10-10 at 106) and Isaiah Rivera (8-4 at 165), and fifths from Jaxson Cornelius (18-12 at 126), Cole Brooks (24-7 at 144), and Gabe De Toro (20-10 at 175).

Team scores
Quincy 234, Mascoutah 209.5, East Peoria 185, Roxana 144.5, Alton 143.5, Palmyra, MO 111, Jacksonville 110.5, Cahokia 90, Pittsfield 84, Quincy Notre Dame 84, Camp Point Central 81.5, Mt. Vernon 59.5, Quincy JV 52, Macomb 45, Pekin 39, Warsaw 19, Illini West 12

Notable:
On the title mat at 126, Mascoutah’s Xavier Sonon-Hale won a 5-4 decision over Jacksonville’s Dashawn Armstrong.
A pair of sudden victory decisions played out on the third-place mat. First, East Peoria’s Wyatt Durham won 13-10 over Quincy’s Ethan Paul at 157 pounds; Jacksonville’s Brock Meyer followed with a 4-1 sudden victory win over Mascoutah’s Harrison Redenius at 190 pounds.

Additional champions
132 Behrett Lorenson (26-7) Palmyra, MO
138 Jacob Sutphin (24-6) Alton
144 Emmet Lorenson (29-5) Palmyra, MO
165 Brayden Drew (28-2) Alton
175 Lyndon Thies (15-0) Roxana
215 Fisher McEuen (30-5) Pittsfield

Additional runners-up
113 Austin Jones (22-10) Alton
120 Jamarcus Agnew (19-6) Cahokia
126 Dashawn Armstrong (22-5) Jacksonville
132 Jordan Kholian (24-4) Jacksonville
138 Tyler Spicknall (16-4) Palmyra, MO
157 Bradi Lahr (32-3) Notre Dame
190 Bodine Marable (29-7) Pittsfield
215 Robert Horton (10-6) Roxana
285 Eli Zanger (24-5) Quincy JV

Statistics
TEAM: Team champion Quincy finished with the most pins in the tournament with 37, followed by Mascoutah with 36 and East Peoria with 32. Quincy also led the way in tech falls with eight, followed by Jacksonville’s seven and a three-way tie with four apiece from Notre Dame, East Peoria and Palmyra, MO. Quincy led in total match points with 518, followed by East Peoria with 354 and Jacksonville with 351.

INDIVIDUAL: Quincy JV’s Eli Zanger led all wrestlers with the most pins in the least time, with five falls in 7:43. Roxana’s Lyndon Thies was next with five pins in 8:58. Roxana’s Mason Crump posted the fastest fall at four seconds, followed by Mascoutah’s Jordan Sonon-Hale with a fall at eight seconds.

Jacksonville’s Dashawn Armstrong posted the most tech falls in the least time with four in 13:32, followed by Notre Dame’s Bradi Lahr with three falls in 8:58. Mt. Vernon’s Jack Clark had the fastest tech fall in 1:09 followed by Cahokia’s Jahari Tucker with a tech at 1:10.

There was a three-way tie for the most team points posted with 30, between Roxana’s Thies, Pittsfield’s Fisher McEuen and East Peoria’s Dalton Oakman. Cahokia’s Pierre Taylor posted the most single-match points with 26. Jacksonville’s Armstrong posted the most total match points with 89 followed by Quincy’s Wyatt Boeing with 88.

The largest seed-place difference came from East Peoria’s Isaiah Rivera, who was seeded No. 14 and placed fourth at 165 pounds.

Championship match results
106 Griffin Finch (Quincy) MD 8-0 Braxton McCall (Mascoutah)
113 Clayton McClelland (Quincy) F 2:33 Austin Jones (Alton)
120 Wyatt Boeing (Quincy) F 4:54 Jamarcus Agnew (Cahokia)
126 Xavier Sonon-Hale (Mascoutah) D 5-4 Dashawn Armstrong (Jacksonville)
132 Behrett Lorenson (Palmyra MO) F 4:39 Jordan Kholian (Jacksonville)
138 Jacob Sutphin (Alton) D 7-3 Tyler Spicknall (Palmyra, MO)
144 Emmett Lorenson (Palmyra, MO) F 2:20 Austin Ragar (Quincy)
150 Brody Baker (Quincy) D 4-1 Cooper Chester (E Peoria)
157 Brock Ross (Mascoutah) TF 2:35 Bradi Lahr (Notre Dame)
165 Brayden Drew (Alton) MD 15-1 Sean Murphy (Mascoutah)
175 Lyndon Thies (Roxana) F 2:50 Jordan Sonon-Hale (Mascoutah)
190 Dalton Oakman (E Peoria) F 1:56 Bodine Marable (Pittsfield)
215 Fisher McEuen (Pittsfield) F 4:35 Robert Horton (Roxana)
285 Keegan Barnes (E Peoria) MD 10-0 Eli Zanger (Quincy JV)

Third-place match results
106 Roman Alm (Alton) F 0::55 Tucker Brown (E Peoria)
113 Jack Welch (CP Central) F 1:27 Braxton Shemansky (Pekin)
120 Ethan Hoyt (Macomb) F 0:40 Brayden Hendrix (Roxana)
126 Jack Clark (Mt. Vernon) D 6-3 Josh Collins (CP Central)
132 Macguire Leck (Mascoutah) F 1:23 Kyler Reisner (Mt. Vernon)
138 Desi Wade (Mascoutah) F 5:48 Lincoln Hawkins (Pekin)
144 Gavin Pedigo (Mt. Vernon) F 2:45 Austin Shull (Notre Dame)
150 Logan Riggs (Roxana) D 6-0 Cale Hilbing (Notre Dame)
157 Wyatt Durham (E Peoria) SV-1 13-10 Ethan Paul (Quincy)
165 Tylee McClellan (Roxana) D 6-3 Isaiah Rivera (E Peoria)
175 Jeshua McPheeters (Macomb) MD 12-4 Jayden Wilson (Quincy)
190 Brock Meyer (Jacksonville) SV-1 4-1 Harrison Redenius (Mascoutah)215 Alec Del Toro (E Peoria) F 1:26 Kale Wieman (Palmyra, MO)
285 King Johnson (Quincy) F 6:00 Martez Williams (Cahokia)

KEWANEE INVITE

Sherrard got individual titles from Braiden Krahl (17-13 at 120) and Jonathan Weakley (23-5 at 215) to lead the way as the Tigers won the 22-team Kewanee Invitational, edging out second-place Fulton 207.5-200 in a fight to the finish.

Sherrard coach Jeff Garrett had 10 wrestlers finish in the top six of their weight classes and his Tigers posted 20 pins and five tech falls on the way to victory.

Host Kewanee (179) finished just off the lead followed by West Carroll (175) and Mendota (127.5) to round out the top five team finishes.

1st- Sherrard (207.5)
In addition to titles from Krahl and Weakley, Garrett’s Tigers got a runner-up finish from Andrew Knox (19-13 at 150), thirds from Aidan Eads (19-13 at 106), Quinn Zimmerman (16-11 at 157), Kaden Dutton (23-9 at 165) and Gideon Heist (20-12 at 175), a fourth from Tavian Straus (11-10 at 113), a fifth from Cooper Thomas (21-8 at 190) and a sixth from Luke Werner (132).

2nd- Fulton (200)
Coach Shawn Price’s Steamers got a title from Hudson Price (26-4 at 113), seconds from Coltin Hartman (28-6 at 106) and Mason Kuebel (29-6 at 175), thirds from Jeff Kane (10-4 at 190) and Jack Holmbo (20-14 at 285), fourths from  Brady Keller (14-13 at 120), Victor Jackson (126) and Easton Spooner (8-7 at 150), a fifth from Christian Mitchell (215) and a sixth from Isaac Echebarria (144).
Fulton led the field with 24 pins in the tournament.

3rd- Kewanee (179)
The Boilermakers got four runner-up finishes for coach Charley Eads in Kingston Peterson (24-6 at 126), Hunter Vancil (22-10 at 138), Ace Lafollette (23-7 at 165) and Douglas Swearingen (20-4 at 190), plus a third from Lain Taylor (29-5 at 144), a fourth from Jermain McKnight (17-7 at 157), fifths from Trenton Edens (20-9 at 120) and Landyn Greenhagen (18-7 at 132), and a sixth from Ryan Conway (20-10 at 106).
Kewanee’s 279 total match points led all teams in the tournament.

Team scores
Sherrard 207.5, Fulton 200, Kewanee 179, West Carroll 175, Mendota 127.5, Eureka 123.5, Farmington 115.5, St. Bede 93.5, Knoxville 92, ROWVA 87.5, Monmouth-Roseville 77, Polo-Forreston-Eastland-Milledgeville (PFEM) 69, Manual 63, Streator Twp. 51, Monmouth United 44, Peoria Heights-Elmwood 30, Putnam County-Hall 20, Kewanee JV 16.5, Quad Cities Christian 12, Rockford Auburn 11, Somonauk-Leland 9, Abingdon-Avon 8

Notable
Three wrestlers walked away from the tournament with unbeaten records intact in Farmington’s Isaac Showalter (27-0 at 106), Monmouth-Roseville’s Landon Peterson (25-0 at 138) and Mendota’s Corbin Furar (14-0 at 175).

Wrestlers with only a single loss on their records include Farmington’s Bradlee Ellis (24-1 at 144) and West Carroll’s Jonner Smith (28-1 at 165).

The closest result in the final round came on the third-place mat at 190, where Fulton’s Jeff Kane won by 7-5 decision over Knoxville’s James Long.

In another close match on the title mat at 157, Knoxville’s Gavyn Stevens won by 3-0 decision over Mendota’s Gavin Evans.

SQ – state qualifier
Additional champions
106 No. 3 Isaac Showalter (27-0) Farmington
126 Michael Benge (25-3) St. Bede
132 Henry Watson (25-5) Eureka
138 Landon Peterson (25-0) Monmouth-Roseville
144 No. 9 SQ Bradlee Ellis (24-1) Farmington
150 Cole Herrell (23-5) West Carroll
157 Gavyn Stevens (22-2) Knoxville
165 No. 7 Jonner Smith (28-1) West Carroll
175 Corbin Furar (14-0) Mendota
190 Micah Stringini (29-8) Polo
285 Crew Shaver (13-7) Peoria Heights

Additional runners-up
113 Kegan Miller (21-5) ROWVA
120 Bryson Bunn (17-8) West Carroll
132 Jack McIntyre (24-5) West Carroll
144 Finn Hoffman (21-5) Eureka
157 Gavin Evans (27-7) Mendota
215 Reese Lane (13-9) Mendota
285 Ben Feick (10-6) West Carroll

Statistics
TEAM: Fulton finished with 24 pins to lead all teams, followed by Sherrard with 20 and Eureka with 19. St. Bede finished with the most tech falls in the least time with five in 14:57, followed by Sherrard with five techs in 21:09. Kewanee finished with the most total match points with 279, followed by Fulton with 264 and West Carroll with 244.

INDIVIDUAL: Eureka’s Gavin Alliss finished with the most pins in the least time, with four falls in 3:23. Polo’s Micah Stringini was next with four falls in 5:13. St. Bede’s Max Moreno had the most tech falls in the least time with three techs in 10:57, followed by Manual’s La’Darius Green with two tech falls in 4:00. Eureka’s Henry Watson had posted the fastest fall in 10 seconds, followed by ROWVA’s Emerson Ponce with a fall in 15 seconds.

ROWVA’s Emerson Ponce scored the most single-match points with 26 followed by Fulton’s Victor Jackson with 22.

Championship match results
106 Isaac Showalter (Farmington) TF 2:31 Coltin Hartman (Fulton)
113 Hudson Price (Fulton) F 0:29 Kegan Miller (ROWVA)
120 Braiden Krahl (Sherrard) D 10-3 Bryson Bunn (W Carroll)
126 Michael Benge (St. Bede) F 3:53 Kingston Peterson (Kewanee)
132 Henry Watson (Eureka) F 2:38 Jack McIntyre (W Carroll)
138 Landon Peterson (Monmouth-R) F 5:33 Hunter Vancil (Kewanee)
144 Bradlee Ellis (Farmington) F 5:02 Finn Hoffman (Eureka)
150 Cole Herrell (W Carroll) D 7-1 Andrew Knox (Sherrard)
157 Gavyn Stevens (Knoxville) D 3-0 Gavin Evans (Mendota)
165 Jonner Smith (W Carroll) MD 9-0 Ace Lafollette (Kewanee)
175 Corbin Furar (Mendota) Med. Fft. Mason Kuebel (Fulton)
190 Micah Stringini (Polo) F 1:48 Douglas Swearingen (Kewanee)
215 Jonathan Weakley (Sherrard) F 0:41 Reese Lane (Mendota)
285 Crew Shaver (Peoria Heights) F 2:31 Ben Feick (W Carroll)

Third-place match results
106 Aidan Eads (Sherrard) F 0:39 Brody Sliker (Streator)
113 Jackson Ralph (Farmington) F 2:22 Tavian Straus (Sherrard)
120 Isaac Flora (Farmington) F 3:16 Brady Keller (Fulton)
126 Aydon Doss (Manual) F 5:10 Victor Jackson (Fulton)
132 Max Moreno (St. Bede) TF 4:48 Gavin Stevenson (Mendota)
138 Jesus Martinez (Streator) F 3:15 Alrec Robinson (ROWVA)
144 Lain Taylor (Kewanee) TF 5:35 Garrett Carter (W Carroll)
150 Komen Denault (Mendota) MD 16-8 Easton Spooner (Fulton)
157 Quinn Zimmerman (Sherrard) F 0:41 Jermain McKnight (Kewanee)
165 Kaden Dutton (Sherrard) F 0:54 Levi Pearson (Knoxville)
175 Gideon Heist (Sherrard) F 1:36 Keegan Smith (Monmouth-R)
190 Jeff Kane (Fulton) D 7-5 James Long (Knoxville)
215 Weston Heersink (St. Bede) F 5:44 Vann Olcott (Monmouth United)
285 Jack Holmbo (Fulton) F 2:59 Sailas Cung (Monmouth-R)

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

CARPENTERSVILLE – Ever since it made history on November 27, 2021 at Normal Community by winning the first tournament that was conducted in the initial season of girls wrestling as an official IHSA sport, Schaumburg has definitely been one of the trendsetters in the sport.

During the first four IHSA Finals, coach Matt Gruszka’s Saxons have claimed eight medals in Bloomington, which ties them with Edwardsville for the most by any school. They’ve also had four different individuals earn all-state honors for top-six finishes at state, which ties them for fifth with J. Sterling Morton, Lakes Community and West Aurora with only Edwardsville (6), District 230 co-op (5), Homewood-Flossmoor (5) and Richwoods (5) having more.

Schaumburg also is one of just four schools that has finished in the top-10 of each of the past two IHSA Finals, which have had trophy winners based on the top-three scoring teams. The others that have done that are Hoffman Estates, Lakes Community and Lockport Township. 

Schaumburg is one of four programs that has qualified at least three individuals to each of the IHSA Finals with District 230 co-op, Edwardsville and Hoffman Estates the others. And it and Batavia are the only programs that have had two individuals who’ve won three or more medals, with the three-time Saxon all-staters being Valeria Rodriguez and Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic.

Lakes Community edged Lockport Township 61-58 for the first IHSA title in 2024 while Batavia was third and District 230 scored 66 points last season to finish 15 points ahead of runner-up Hampshire as Kaneland claimed third. As a result, Schaumburg has been out of the trophy mix.

Both Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates came close to placing in the top three in 2024 when they tied for fourth place and finished 3.5 points behind Batavia and last season the Saxons finished in seventh place. But based on its strong start to this season, those in the Schaumburg program hope that the third time may be the charm in their quest to claim an IHSA trophy. 

The Saxons met up with three of the six programs that have won IHSA trophies at the 28-team Dundee-Crown Girls Invitational and in just its second individual tournament of the season, it turned in an impressive performance by having four champions, two second-place finishers and seven other individuals who finished eighth or better to help them score 240 points, claiming top honors by 50.5 points over second-place Woodstock.

Antioch beat out Glenbard East 137-132.5 for third place while Freeport edged Harvard 118.5-116 for fifth place. Others in the top half of the field were Batavia (113), Stevenson (100.5), Thornton Fractional South (89), Hampshire (86), Zion-Benton (80.5), Jacobs (80), Hersey (76) and Richmond-Burton (67).

Schaumburg missed out on its usual season-opening competition at Normal Community due to inclement weather. The Saxons’ only other individual tournament was on December 20 at the Morris Reindeer Rumble Invite when they prevailed 448-428 over Minooka for top honors to win that competition for the third-straight year.

One week later, the Saxons took part in the IWCOA Girls State Dual Team Championship and for the second year in a row, Lincoln-Way co-op beat them for the championship. This past weekend, the Saxons finished third behind Lincoln-Way co-op and Lockport Township at its third individual tournament, which was at Hoffman Estates’ 39-team Girls Hawk Invite.

Champions for Schaumburg at Dundee-Crown were Isabella Rivas (125), Sharon Olorunfemi (135), Nadia Razzak (190) and Olivia Furlan (235) while Justice Girod (110) and Ava Hartman (140) finished in second place.

Other top finishers for the Saxons were Makenzi Aguilar (third at 100), Anna Villarreal (fourth at 115), Layla McHenry (sixth at 155), Emily Fowler (seventh at 140), Maja Brzosko (seventh at 170), Aubree Campos (eighth at 115) and Reagan Paulson (eighth at 120) while Lauren Brehmer (130) and Catherine Franco (105) also contributed to the title cause.

“It was a quality,” Gruszka said. “There were a lot more girls this year and the brackets were bigger. With the teams they added, it definitely made it a tougher tournament. I was real proud of the champs. Nadia, because that girl placed ahead of her state last year, so that was a good improvement for her. Our 235-pounder, Rain, just put her nose in it. Is(abella) our 25-pounder, that was a real tough bracket, and she came out on top. And then, of course, Sharon was just doing what she does. 

“It’s like little dual meets within a tournament. The dual meet, like the state duals was nice because everyone knows exactly what’s going on, but with tournaments, everything’s kind of scattered. So as coaches, you kind of understand where they’re at, but the girls are so good because they’re by each other, so they almost treat it like a dual meet, and that aspect I appreciate. (Schaumburg’s success). It comes from the girls because they actually, especially the older ones, they try to mold the younger ones. So it’s like, this is how it needs to be done. And they do a good job of kind of like mother henning each other, and then it shows up on the mat, which is nice to see.”

Runner-up Woodstock, who’s coached by Eric Hunt, was led by champion Eva Hermansson (100) and second-place finishers Kyla Hayes (120) and Tayler Menzel (135). Other top placewinners for the Blue Streaks were Allison Hill (third at 235), Aubree Hansen (fourth at 110), Hannah Olsen (fourth at 130), Ava Kok (fifth at 140) and Brianna Crown (fifth at 155).

Third-place Antioch, coached by Isaac Reyes, was led by runner-up Josie Blau (170) and third-place finisher Sasha Johnson (140). Other top performers for the Sequoits were Dylylah Patterson (fourth at 125), Timinadi Farquah (fourth at 235), London LLoyd (sixth at 105) and Magdelyn Brough (sixth at 130).

Stevenson had two champions, Athena Zappas (115) and Karina Lojowski (130). Additional title winners were Hampshire’s Annabelle Mueller (105), Jacobs’ Julia Felton (110), Freeport’s Kaiya Galindo (120), Glenbard East’s Maria Green (140), Harvard’s Ithandehui Rosas (145), Batavia’s Audrey Sheldon (155) and Jefferson’s Kylie Eilken (170).

Others who finished in second place were Hampshire’s Madison Minson (145) and Samantha Diehl (190), Glenbard East’s Karla Sarabia (100), Jacobs’ Aaliyah Guichon (105), Harvard’s Alexa Herrera (115), Dundee-Crown’s Ruby Gavina (125), Richmond-Burton’s Madelyn Peterie (130), Freeport’s NaJeyah Wallace (155) and Johnsburg’s Carmen Sierra (235).

The title match at 190 featured two individuals who won medals at 190 at last season’s IHSA Finals. Razzak, who took fifth at state, won by fall in 1:36 over Diehl, who placed third at state.

There were two freshmen champions, Mueller and Sheldon. Mueller earned her spot in the 105 title match with a 7-2 win in the semifinals over Glenbard East’s Nadiia Shymkiv, a three-time state medalist and a runner-up last season, who settled for third place.

Only three of the title matches were decisions. At 110, Felton won 10-4 over Girod, at 120, Galindo won 15-9 over Hayes and at 235, Furlan won 6-1 over Sierra.

Eilken led all competitors with 32 team points while Green was second with 31.5 points and Rosas ranked third with 31 team points. Others in the top 10 were Hermansson (30.5), Galindo (30), Lojowski (30), Sheldon (30), Mueller (29), Rivas (29) and Zappas (29).

Finalists with the best records following the invite were Green (20-0), Razzak (25-1), Lojowski (19-1), Eilken (18-1), Peterie (18-1), Hermansson (17-1), Zappas (17-1), Rivas (24-2), Diehl (24-3), Sarabia (24-3), Olorunfemi (23-3), Mueller (29-4), Sheldon (25-4), Felton (12-3), Galindo (20-4) and Blau (18-4).

Additional third-place finishers were Thornton Fractional South’s Shaniya Tharp Thomas (110) and Jermia Moore (170), Batavia’s Natalie Lenart (125) and Jamie Gabriel (190), Zion-Benton’s Emily Ortiz (130) and Masserati Valenzuela (135), Byron’s Rylie Dach (115), Hersey’s Soha Faisal (120), Maine West’s Grace Graves (145) and Wauconda’s Gesselle Vazquez (155).

Also finishing in fourth place were Harvard’s Denise Lopez (100) and April Cardenas (155), Larkin’s Susan Cruz (105) and Mariana Flores (170), Genoa-Kingston’s Violet Sanders (120) and Marilu Mercado-Marquez (140), Richmond-Burton’s Brooklyn Peterie (135), Stevenson’s Isabel Hilinski (145) and Lakes Community’s Joslin Coon (190).

Freeport’s Nalani Isaac and Richmond-Burton’s Breanna Warren were the only two individuals in the invite to collect five pins while Mueller was the only one to have two wins by technical fall. 

Hermansson had the most total match points with 54 while Antoch’s Magdelyn Brough was second with 52 points and Mueller ranked third with 51 match points. Freeport’s Brea Balles had the largest seed-place difference with 19 after being seeded fifth and placing fifth at 115.

Schaumburg had the most pins with 29 while Woodstock was second with 25 and Antioch was third with 22. Glenbard East collected the most total match points with 210 while Woodstock was second with 194 and Schaumburg ranked third with 186 match points.

Here are the champions and their weights of the Dundee-Crown Girls Invitational

100 – Eva Hermansson, Woodstock

Eva Hermansson hopes that she can conclude her senior season by doing what no one from Woodstock was able to accomplish last season, which was qualifying for state, or has ever done from her program, which is to get a medal at the IHSA Finals. She improved to 17-1 after winning the 100 title at Dundee-Crown by recording a fall in 5:22 over Glenbard East Karla Sarabia. She was the lone champion and one of three finalists for coach Eric Hunt’s runner-up Blue Streaks. She followed a major decision and a victory by technical fall with a pin in 3:15 over Harvard’s Denise Lopez in the semifinals. She had the most total match points with 54 and was fourth for most team points with 30.5. Another highlight this season was her taking first and helping the Blue Streaks to win the title at Antioch’s Sandy Gussarson Invite by 108 points. 

“Our team has grown substantially,” Hermansson said. “I remember my first year, the first year of the program, we had 15 girls, and this year we have over 30. So it’s just crazy to see how much it’s grown in just three years, and a lot of that’s due to my coach, Eric Hunt. I’ve been wrestling for two years. I think if you’re athletic, you can wrestle. And I have played soccer ever since I was little. I build my whole foundation on my faith. I’m a true believer in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So I think that anything is possible with Him. Like, whatever you do in life, as long as you have your firm foundation built on Him, anything will be possible. And there’s a verse in 1 Samuel, and it says that anything you do, you’ll have great success in it as long as the Lord your God is with you, and so I totally live by that. And I love the community and just everything that has to do with it. Wrestling is a super hard sport mentally and physically. But I think everybody should try it at least because it builds you so much fun as a person. And the person I was when I started is so much different from who I am today.” 

Sarabia, a sophomore who joined 140 champion Maria Green as finalists for coach Matt Nelson’s fourth-place Lady Rams, earned her spot on the 100 title mat with a 6-0 decision in the semifinals over Schaumburg’s Makenzi Aguilar, who went on to claim third place by getting a fall in 1:49 over Lopez. In the fifth-place match, Burlington Central’s Melanie Granda won a 12-8 decision over Jefferson’s Danika Lamb. And for seventh place, Hampshire’s KyLynn Larkin won by fall in 3:37 over Stevenson’s Caitlin Kilroy. 

105 – Annabelle Mueller, Hampshire

Annabelle Mueller is only a freshman at Hampshire but she’s definitely already making a name for herself. She joined Batavia’s 155 champion Audrey Sheldon as the lone freshmen title winners at Dundee-Crown and became her team’s only first-place finisher when she won by fall in 5:49 over Jacobs’ Aaliyah Guichon in the 105 title match. After getting two wins by technical fall, which no one else in the tournament was able to do, she became one of three finalists for coach Matthew Todd’s Whip-Purs with a 7-2 decision in the semifinals over Glenbard East’s Nadiia Shymkiv, a three-time state medalist who took second to Roxana’s Chloe Skiles at 105 last season after placing third in 2024 and fourth in 2023. She also ranked third in match points with 51. Other noteworthy showings for the freshman were her winning a title at Princeton and also taking second in her school’s Whip-Pur Classic after falling 9-7 in the 105 title match to Rockford East’s Saya Hongmoungkhoune, the IHSA champion at 100 in 2025.

“Why I’ve been doing so well is because I do it all-year round, and I have a really good coach, Justin Christopher,” Mueller said. “He’s really good and he teaches me the fundamentals of everything, and he helps with my technique. And then my dad pushes me hard, and this is why I’m winning, and I’ve been doing so good for such a short amount of years. (Competing at Hampshire) I love it. All the girls are amazing and they really push you. They don’t screw around. They know whenever you have to lock in and actually take it serious.”

Guichon, a junior who joined 110 champion Julia Felton as finalists for coach Gary Conrad’s Golden Eagles, followed a major decision in the quarterfinals with a pin in 5:37 over Larkin’s Susan Cruz in the semifinals. Shymkiv, who suffered her first loss in 21 matches to Mueller in the semifinals, bounced back to finish third by getting a pin in 2:43 over Cruz. For fifth place, Thornton Fractional South’s Dakodia Kelly, who went 34-13 last season and qualified for the IHSA Finals, won by fall in 0:43 over Antioch’s London LLoyd. In the seventh-place match, Hersey’s Emma Strohmeier got a pin in 0:59 over Dundee-Crown’s Esme Grugel.

110 – Julia Felton, Jacobs

Julia Felton got the good opportunity to compete in a sectional as a freshman and trying to qualify from the Schaumburg Sectional is challenging for veterans of the sport, let alone a newcomer. Now with that experience behind her, she looks to qualify for state, which no one from Jacobs did last season and ultimately try to become the first individual from her school to get a medal there. The sophomore won the Dundee-Crown title at 110 by claiming a 10-4 decision over Schaumburg’s Justice Girod. She joined 105 runner-up Aaliyah Guichon as one of the two finalists for coach Gary Conrad’s Golden Eagles after getting two quick quick falls and then adding a third pin in the semifinals in 1:56 over Thornton Fractional South’s Shaniya Tharp Thomas to earn her spot in the finals. She tied for 11th place in team points with 28.

“I feel pretty good,” Felton said. “I know that I’ve worked hard for it, so I knew that I did everything that I could to get here. (Competing at Jacobs) I think we work harder than almost anybody else. We do more sprints. My coach (Gary Conrad) always says that once we get to third period, that’s ours because we never gas out just because of how much conditioning we do. It’s unlike any other sport. It’s hard. You have to be determined and you can’t just give half effort, you have to go full in or else it’s just not going to work. And it’s like the closest that you can get to fighting. There’s nothing else like it. It’s definitely kind of like a big family.”

Girod, a junior who was one of six finalists and two runners-up for coach Matt Gruszka’s champion Saxons, pinned her way to the finals, getting a fall in 2:52 over Woodstock’s Aubree Hansen in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Tharp Thomas won a 9-5 decision over Hansen. And for fifth place, Zion-Benton’s Arelis Claudio claimed a 4-1 decision over Glenbard East’s Molly Lavin.

115 – Athena Zappas, Stevenson

Athena Zappas only won nine matches last season as a freshman at Stevenson so it’s easy to see why she was so excited by winning the 115 title at Dundee-Crown after also claiming first place at Waukegan in addition to owning a 17-1 record following that competition. She joined 130 champion Karina Lojowski as title winners for coach Jonathan Leibovitz’ Patriots. She won the 115 title by claiming a 10-1 major decision over Harvard’s Alexa Herrera. Zappas opened the competition with a fall and an 8-2 decision before earning her spot on the 115 finals by recording a fall in 3:35 over Schaumburg’s Anna Villarreal in the semifinals. She tied for eighth-place in most team points with 29

“I had some good shots and reverses, so there’s just some things I need to work on, like small things,” Zappas said. “(Why she got into wrestling in high school) I just wanted to get stronger and stuff and be able to know martial arts. (Competing for Stevenson) It’s a good program. My coaches and my parents support me, and the team’s really supportive and nice. The community is good and also like the help you get.”

Herrera, a senior who joined 145 champion Ithandehui Rosas as one of two finalists for coach Mike Stumpf’s sixth-place Hornets, reached the 115 title match with four falls, with the last of those coming in 1:26 over Byron’s Rylie Dach in the semifinals. She tied for third place for the most pins with four and also tied for 11th place in team points with 28. In the third-place match, Dach was a winner by fall in 0:48 over Villarreal. For fifth place, Freeport’s Brea Balles won a 6-1 decision over Thornton Fractional South’s Aracely Stevens. Balles had the largest seed-place difference of anyone in the invite, being seeded 24th and taking fifth place. And for seventh, Hersey’s Nikita Variano claimed a 1-0 decision over Schaumburg’s Aubree Campos.

120 – Kaiya Galindo, Freeport

Kaiya Galindo went 27-17 last season as a freshman at Freeport and fell one victory shy of advancing from the Geneseo Sectional to the IHSA Finals. She is focused on not only qualifying for state this season but also being a medalist there, something that only three-time IHSA champion Cadence Diduch has achieved for her program. Galindo, who improved to 20-4, won the title at 120 by claiming a 15-9 decision over Woodstock’s Kyla Hayes. She joined 155 runner-up NaJeyah Wallace as finalists for coach Brad Parsons’ Pretzels. The sophomore opened with a pin and won by medical forfeit before getting a fall in 2:13 over Genoa-Kingston’s Violet Sanders in the semifinals. She tied two others for fifth for the most team points with 30. 

“This is my third year,” Galindo said. “(What she’s done to get better) Go to all the practices I can and just practice a lot. (Competing for Freeport) It’s really fun. The whole team, we’re all good friends. Especially the girls’ team, we’re really close. It’s just fun to support each other and get better and watch each other grow up and get better.”

Hayes joined 100 champion Eva Hermansson and 135 runner-up Tayler Menzel as finalists for coach Eric Hunt’s second-place Blue Streaks. She recorded three pins to reach the 120 finals, winning in the semifinals by fall in 1:37 over Hersey’s Soha Faisal, who went on to claim third place with a pin in 2:26 over Sanders. In the fifth-place match, Richmond-Burton’s Breanna Warren got a pin in 0:56 over Glenbard East’s Tessa Yannias. That was her fifth fall of the tournament, which tied her for first for most pins with Freeport’s Nalani Isaac. And for seventh, Batavia’s Sarah Zuziak was a winner by fall in 3:16 over Schaumburg’s Reagan Paulson.  

125 – Isabella Rivas, Schaumburg

Isabella Rivas was one of six finalists and the first of four title winners for team champion Schaumburg at the Dundee-Crown Invite after she improved to 24-2 by recording a fall in 3:33 over Dundee-Crown’s Ruby Gavina in the 125 title match. The senior, who went 39-9 last season and fell one victory shy of advancing to the IHSA Finals from her own sectional, was joined by Sharon Olorunfemi (135), Nadia Razzak (190) and Olivia Furlan (235) as champions for coach Matt Gruszka’s Saxons, who claimed top honors in the invite by a 240-189.5 margin over Woodstock. Rivas followed two falls with an 8-0 major decision over Batavia’s Natalie Lenart in the semifinals. She tied two others for eighth place for the most team points with 29.

“I’ve been part of the Schaumburg program since my sophomore year,” Rivas said. “I started with swimming and I literally got into the sport just because it was kind of like an accident because I wasn’t planning to. I was doing weightlifting and then suddenly I got into the sport because of recommendations. It was like, ‘just do it, just try it out.’ And then Gruszka just threw me into the sport and asked, ‘have you ever wrestled?’ ‘No’, and he said, ‘just take your jewelry off and try it out.’ At the beginning, I wasn’t sure about it. And then I started falling in love with the sport. And I will say, I discovered another passion. (The difference between swimming and wrestling) Yeah, it’s so much different. When you’re in swimming, it’s so individual and you don’t feel like you get into the team too much. But when you’re in wrestling, at practice, all the people in there are in the same spot as you. We all struggle together and we go through the same things and it makes you stronger. So your relationship with others is going to be so much stronger, your partners, your team, and everything. I ended up loving it. If I’m not wrestling, I feel like something’s missing. I just love my team, I love my coaches and I love the program. I’ve met  a bunch of good girls during my three years wrestling and it’s been exciting.”

Gavina, a junior who is 22-6, just one victory shy of her win total from last season, when she fell a bit short of advancing to the IHSA Finals from the Schaumburg Sectional. She was the lone finalist for coach Tim Hayes’ Chargers. Gavina opened with a pin and followed that with a victory by technical fall before earning her spot in the 125 finals with a fall in 5:59 over Antioch’s Dylylah Patterson in the semifinals. For third place, Lenart won by fall in 1:30 over Patterson. And for fifth, Zion-Benton’s Nathaly Tenorio got a pin in 1:28 over Hersey’s Audrey Sarinyamas.

130 – Karina Lojowski, Stevenson

Karina Lojowski experienced a successful junior season in 2024-2025 for Stevenson by going 28-8 and qualifying for the IHSA Finals. But she also fell one win shy of earning a medal at 125, which would have made her the school’s second all-stater, with two-time medalist Sajra Sulejmani the first in 2022 and 2023. Now she would not only like to get back to the Finals, but hopefully get to awards stand and become her school’s highest placewinner if she can finish third or better. The senior improved to 19-1 after getting a fall in 1:40 over Richmond-Burton’s Madelyn Peterie in the 130 title match to join 115 title winner Athena Zappas as champions for coach Jonathan Leibovitz’s Patriots, who placed eighth. Also a title winner at Antioch, Lojowski followed two pins with an 8-3 decision over Zion-Benton’s Emily Ortiz in the semifinals and tied two others for fifth place for the most team points with 30.

“It’s awesome,” Lojowski said of competing for Stevenson. “It’s a big community like coach Cook always says. Our school motto for the wrestling team is always together, we’re just one big family and we just help each other out. I love the girls team. It’s just a bunch of girls who want to get better, who want to win. It’s awesome just hanging out with them, they’re a good group of people. Working hard in the wrestling room is awesome. I love making jokes and just having fun. It’s a really tough sport, so it’s nice to have some joy in the room. (Got into the sport) A lot of my friends did it for fun so I was like, why not?  It’s awesome. I love girls wrestling because it’s a place where you grow mentally and physically. It’s changed me a lot through the years to help me in my day-to-day life. It’s hard in the wrestling room, but It teaches you toughness. (Done to get better) A lot of offseason work. Always going to practice, I practice twice a day and I try to lift every day. I just try to put in as much work as I can. I don’t let the better girls outwork me.”

Peterie, a junior who went 20-10 last season and failed to qualify for state from the Schaumburg Sectional, suffered her first defeat in 19 matches. Also a title winner at Rockford East, Lakes Community and Hampshire, she was the lone finalist for coach Devin Tortorice’s Rockets. She recorded falls in her first three matches, winning in 2:28 over Woodstock’s Hannah Olsen in the semifinals. Ortiz, who went 36-8 last season and qualified for the IHSA Finals, won by fall in 1:37 over Olsen to claim third place. In the fifth-place match, Ridgewood’s Gianna Mezzano won by default over Antioch’s Magdelyn Brough, who ranked second second in total match points with 52, just two points behind Woodstock’s Eva Hermansson. And for seventh place, Lakes Community’s Elise Kaylor was a winner by default over Jacobs’ Aryannna Geiger. 

135 – Sharon Olorunfemi, Schaumburg

Sharon Olorunfemi went 42-11 last season was able to get through her team’s rugged sectional to be one of four individuals from Schaumburg to qualify for the IHSA Finals, but was able to only win one match there. The junior hopes to not only get back to state this season but also to add to her school’s total of an IHSA-best eight medals won in Bloomington, which is tied with Edwardsville for that honor. She was one of six finalists and joined Isabella Rivas (125), Nadia Razzak (190) and Olivia Furlan (235) as champions for coach Matt Gruszka’s Saxons, who captured the team title by 50.5 points. She moved to 23-3 when she captured the 135 title with a pin in seven seconds over Woodstock’s Tayler Menzel. Her other two victories were also first-period pins, with the middle fall coming in 0:51 over Zion-Benton’s Masserati Valenzuela in the semifinals. She tied Razzak as well as two others for 11th place in team points with 28.

“I love my team, I love my coaches and I love everybody,” Olorunfemi said. “We’re such a good group of girls and we all support each other. We all cheer each other on and we’re motivating each other. Even if somebody falls short, we all make sure to get the next one. Shake it off. You can’t control that. I love all of our coaches. And they each focus on different things. But it all makes sense together and they make sure to communicate with us. And we work hard every day in the room to make sure and they don’t go easy on us, but that’s what we need. And our girls are super nice to each other. We all get along with each other. We’re always going to support each other. If somebody’s wrestling, we’re going to be on each others’ mat, making sure we show up for them. I would like to think that I’m very coachable. I started when I was a freshman, and I knew next to nothing about the sport. But I always make sure to listen to my coaches and I also watched a lot of wrestling, especially freshman year. I like making my coach proud, especially if I get a good, big win. Because my coach is a strict man, but he’s also like a father figure to all of us. So, I like when I make him proud and I live up to his expectations.”

Menzel, a junior who is 14-9, was one of three finalists and two- runners-up for coach Eric Hunt’s Blue Streaks, who claimed second place in the 28-team tournament. She recorded three falls to advance to the 135 title match, winning in 4:48 over Richmond-Burton’s Brooklyn Peterie in the semifinals. For third place, Valenzuela won by fall in 1:08 over Peterie. In the fifth-place match, Batavia’s Norah Stoodley recorded a pin in 1:57 over Ridgewood’s Fiona McFadden.

140 – Maria Green, Glenbard East

Maria Green went 36-8 last season and qualified for the IHSA Finals along with 105 runner-up Nadiia Shymkiv but had a tough draw and only claimed one victory there. Now she hopes to do what her Glenbard East senior teammate Shymkiv has done the past two years and Dahlia Leighton achieved for the first time for the program in the inaugural Finals in 2022, which is winning a state medal. Green remained unbeaten through 20 matches after getting a victory by technical fall in 2:29 over Schaumburg’s Ava Hartman in the 140 title match. She was the lone champion and joined 100 runner-up Karla Sarabia as finalists for coach Matt Nelson’s Lady Rams, who placed fourth, just 4.5 points behind third-place Antioch. Also a title winner at Waukegan and Glenbard South, she claimed three first-period falls to reach the title match, with her quickest pin coming in the semifinals in 0:47 over Antioch’s Sasha Johnson. She ranked second for most team points with 31.5, one-half point behind Jefferson’s Kylie Eilken and was also fourth in total match points with 45.

“It’s really fun and it feels like a family being a part of the program and the coaches pushing me to do the best I can,” Green said. “I just like being a part of everyone cheering you on and just being in the atmosphere or the environment of Glenbard East. (Her teammate) Nadiia Shymkiv is a person who pushes you and makes you want to get better because of how hard of a worker she is in the room and outside the room, being a nice person and just wanting the best for you. I’ve been in the sport for four years, so I started my eighth grade. (why she got into wrestling) Knowing that it’s like out of the box, that girls wrestling is growing and I’ve never tried it. So then once I tried it and got the taste of losing and winning, I was like, ‘oh, wow, I love being challenged like this.’ Being in the room with all the girls and just laughing and getting to know each other and being able to wrestle hard with the girls without everyone bringing in their feelings, that even good, hard wrestling, aggressive wrestling is welcomed in there. And it’s implied that you should wrestle hard, even though girls wrestling can be viewed as if it’s soft, but it really isn’t. And the guys wrestlers, they help out with the girls. I just love wrestling for Glenbard East, it’s really nice. My favorite thing about wrestling is probably getting my hand raised. Getting my hand raised is just an accomplishment knowing that I’ve achieved winning and knowing that I put my all on the line and am just putting my all into the sport.”

Hartman was one of six finalists and two second-place finishers for coach Matt Gruszka’s Saxons, who claimed top honors with 240 points to add to a team championship at Morris. The sophomore moved to 13-6 after collecting pins in her other three matches, with that run being capped by a fall in 1:38 over Genoa-Kingston’s Marilu Mercado-Marquez in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Johnson won by fall in 1:10 over Mercado-Marquez. For fifth place, Woodstock’s Ava Kok got a pin in 2:33 over Ridgewood’s Rose McFadden. And for seventh, Schaumburg’s Emily Fowler won by medical forfeit over Wauconda’s Jatziry Godoy. 

145 – Ithandehui Rosas, Harvard

Ithandehui Rosas has been able to witness the growth of girls wrestling at Harvard and is excited about what she might be able to accomplish in the postseason to cap off her career, such as qualifying for the IHSA Finals and being the first girl from the school to medal at state and so far she’s been preparing well for that by capturing the 145 title at Dundee-Crown with a fall in 1:02 over Hampshire’s Madison Minson to add to titles that she’s won at Waukegan and Antioch. The senior joined 115 runner-up Alexa Herrera as one of two finalists for coach Mike Stumpf’s Hornets.  Rosas opened with two falls before capturing a 10-0 major decision over Stevenson’s Isabel Hilinski in the semifinals. She ranked third in most team points with 31.

“We started off my freshman year and we only had three girls, and now we’ve built up to 25 girls for my senior year.” Rosas said. “It’s really amazing to see the sport grow. I know we started off being on the boys’ team. So now that we have our own team, that’s also really amazing. What I like the most about girls wrestling is definitely my teammates and just the self-discipline. I know in other sports you rely on your team, but in wrestling, even though sometimes for duals you do rely on your team, more for tournaments it’s on your own and you compete for yourself. So you win because of yourself. I lift a lot, and then I show up every single day and give it my all. I’ll make sure that even when the coaches aren’t watching, when they’re helping somebody else, I’m still giving it 100 percent. I like seeing that the girls are growing. We started off having a limited amount of girls, so now I’m coming to a tournament where it’s all girls, where it’s completely girls and it’s not just guys.” 

Minson, a junior who left the invite with a 21-7 record, joined 105 champion Annabelle Mueller and 190 runner-up Samantha Diehl as finalists for coach Matthew Todd’s Whip-Purs, who were the IHSA runners-up to the District 230 co-op last season. She followed two first-period falls with a pin in 2:33 in the semifinals over Maine West’s Grace Graves, who went on to capture third place by medical forfeit over Hilinski. In the fifth-place match, Lakes Community’s Christina Hasner won by fall in 1:36 over Jacobs’ Desiree Bowling. And Glenbard East’s Camila Gonzalez claimed seventh place by medical forfeit over Woodstock’s Lydia Weidner.

155 – Audrey Sheldon, Batavia

Audrey Sheldon joined Hampshire’s Annabelle Mueller, who captured top honors at 105, as the only freshmen champions at the Dundee-Crown Invitational when the Batavia athlete recorded a fall in 1:28 over Freeport’s NaJeyah Wallace in the 155 title match to improve to 25-4 in her debut season. This was her second title as she also captured first place in her initial tournament at Larkin. The lone finalist and one of three top-three medalists for coach Scott Bayer’s Lady Bulldogs, she opened with two first-period pins before earning her spot in the 155 title match by capturing an 8-3 decision over Wauconda’s Gesselle Vazquez in the semifinals. She tied two others for fifth place for the most team points with 30. A big goal for her is to join three-time IHSA champ Sydney Perry and three-time all-stater Lily Enos as Batavia’s third medal winner. 

“(Sydney Perry) She was definitely a really good example for how our girls team was going to be set up because our girls team is growing every single year, and I’m really proud of, especially this year, how our girls team has grown because last year we barely even had a full varsity lineup, and this year we almost got a full J-V,” Sheldon said. “I’ve been wrestling for four years. (What she likes about her team) I honestly just love all of our friendships on the team. We’re all always there for each other, and I love that all my teammates are mat-side next to me while I’m wrestling.(What she likes most about the sport) The community, it’s really unique. All of us might not have exactly the same goals in our minds, but we all have kind of the same mindset of just wanting it and seeing who wants it more or the most and seeing who comes out on the championship side is just really interesting to me.”

Wallace, a senior who won a title at Lakes Community and moved to 17-6, joined 120 champion Kaiya Galindo as one of two finalists for coach Brad Parsons’ Lady Pretzels. She won her other three matches by fall, with the third one in 0:20 over Harvard’s April Cardenas in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Vazquez won a 5-0 decision over Cardenas. For fifth, Woodstock’s Brianna Crown won by fall in 6:21 over Schaumburg’s Layla McHenry. And Stevenson’s Jessica Ivanyuk claimed seventh place by medical forfeit over Harvard’s Kendra Cunningham.

170 – Kylie Eilken, Jefferson

Kylie Eilken went 22-10 last season as a sophomore and fell one victory shy of a medal at 190 at the IHSA Finals, so now she’s ready to become the first medalist from Jefferson and also hopes to join five individuals from NIC-10 schools who have been IHSA title winners and have combined for an impressive 11 state championships. The junior, who also finished in first place at Waukegan and Hampshire, moved to 18-1 after winning the 190 title at Dundee-Crown by recording a fall in 0:38 over Antioch’s Josie Blau. The lone finalist for coach Alexander Porter’s J-Hawks, Eilken opened with a fall, won her next match by medical forfeit and advanced to the 170 title match with a pin in 0:41 over Larkin’s Mariana Flores in the semifinals. She led all of the competitors in the tournament by collecting the most team points, which was 32.

“I used to be the only female and there were no other females and then we started getting people and it’s been getting so much bigger and there’s so many girls now,” Eilken said. “It would just be me and the coach, so it’s a big change. I talked to a couple girls, and I was like, ‘if you’re interested, come down to the room’. Some of them showed, and most of them stayed, so we have a pretty good girls team right now (Being at Jefferson) I like competing and we’ve got new coaches and they’re very interested in helping us learn. And they’re dedicated to the sport and helping us and they like to help us with our confidence. It’s a really good team, and all the people there act like we’re family and we’re just all as one. And we’re not separated by girls or boys. So it really helps, especially wrestling with the boys. (What she likes the most about wrestling) I love the community, and how everybody just comes together as one, and we don’t separate, even though we’re on different teams. It’s still such a friendly sport, and nobody discriminates. It’s not like somebody’s just being mean to it, but they’re all coming together, and everybody makes new friends, and it’s just one big community.”

Blau, a sophomore who is 18-4, was the lone finalist for the Sequoits, who are coached by Isaac Reyes. A title winner at Waukegan, she won 23 matches last season and fell one win shy of advancing to the IHSA Finals from the New Trier Sectional. She opened with two quick falls before earning her spot in the 170 finals with a pin in 3:03 over Thornton Fractional South’s Jermia Moore, who went on to take third with a fall in 3:54 over Flores. For fifth place, Freeport’s Nalani Isaac got a pin in 0:39 over her teammate, Caydence Fellows, for her fifth fall, tying her with Richmond-Burton’s Breanna Warren as the leaders for the most pins. And for seventh, Schaumburg’s Maja Brzosko won by fall in 1:02 over another Eilken from Jefferson, Kendra. 

190 – Nadia Razzak, Schaumburg

Nadia Razzak won by fall in 1:36 over Hampshire’s Samantha Diehl in a clash of returning IHSA medalists for the 190 championship at the Dundee-Crown Invitational. Razzak took fifth at 190 last season while Diehl was third at 190. The senior, who went 47-5 last season while earning All-State honors for the first time, hopes to become the program’s third multiple winner of state medals, joining Valeria Rodriguez and Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic, and help their program add to its total of eight state medals, which is tied with Edwardsville for the most by any school. Razzak improved to 25-1 and added to a title at Morris to become one of the four champions and six finalists for coach Matt Gruszka’s Saxons, who added to a title at Morris and a second-place finish to Lincoln-Way co-op at the IWCOA Girls State Dual Team Championship. Razzak followed a quick pin with a fall in 1:22 over Batavia’s Jamie Gabriel in the semifinals. She tied teammate Sharon Olorunfemi, the 135 champion, and two others for 11th in team points with 28.

“I’m really excited that we had so many tournament champions,” Razzak said. “My favorite part of winning is my team being on the side cheering for me. I literally came up to my coach and I gave him a big hug and my friends all came and gave me hugs and that was a really big match for me, too. Especially taking over as a captain this year, it’s meant so much to me. I take my position as a captain very seriously. Just seeing my team be able to grow throughout these past few years and seeing all of the different types of kids that come in here and change. My personality completely changed from this program. Just seeing everybody grow in their strengths and as themselves, as people, it’s really important to me, it’s a very special thing to see. And wrestling just does that to people. Wrestling changes you as a person, it gives you morals and values that you didn’t think that you would have. I think that’s what our program really puts into these girls. What you put into the sport is what you get out of it. Inspiring other girls, especially on my team, to be able to put in as much work as we have in the previous years is really special and really important.”

Diehl went 31-6 last season as a freshman to help her program claim second place at the IHSA Finals with 51 points and joined Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (third at 115) as her program’s top finishers and also Anneliese Tavira (sixth at 170) as the school’s first three state medalists. This season, she also has won titles at Rockford East and at her school’s Whip-Pur Classic and finished this invite with a 24-3 record. She joined 105 champion Annabelle Mueller and 145 runner-up Madison Minson for coach Matthew Todd’s Whip-Purs. Diehl won her first three matches by fall, with her semifinal match with Lake Community’s Joslin Coon being her quickest victory in 0:40. In the third-place match, Gabriel won by fall in 0:50 over Coon. And for fifth, Thornton Fractional South’s Lucia Terrazas got a pin in 1:29 over Maine West’s Amira Williams.

235 – Olivia Furlan, Schaumburg

Olivia Furlan closed out a successful day for Schaumburg at the Dundee-Crown Invitational when she captured a 6-1 decision over Johnsburg’s Carmen Sierra in the 235 title match to join Isabella Rivas (125), Sharon Olorunfemi (135) and Nadia Razzak (190) as champions, and was also one of six finalists and 13 individuals who placed eighth or better for coach Matt Gruszka’s Saxons, who won the championship of the 28-team event by a 240-189.5 margin over runner-up Woodstock. The senior, who improved to 18-6 on the season, opened with a fall and then earned her spot on the 235 title mat by claiming a 3-2 decision over Woodstock’s Allison Hill.

“The camaraderie is absolutely amazing,” Furlan said. “My drill partner, Nadia, she’s absolutely amazing and my coaches are amazing. It’s wonderful. It’s an absolutely amazing team,I couldn’t ask for anything better. I’ve been in it since freshman year and I’m a senior now. It’s been fun. I love the competition and the individuality, it’s awesome.”

Sierra was the lone medalist for coach James Sylvanus’ Skyhawks. She only had to win one match in order to reach the 235 finals and she won that one with a fall in 0:30 over Antioch’s Timinadi Farquah in the semifinals and the junior completed the competition with a 9-4 record. In the third-place match, Hill recorded a fall in 1:05 over Farquah. And for fifth place, Glenbard East’s Marianna Mendoza was a winner by fall in 4:19 over Hersey’s Natalia Berhns.

Team scores of the Dundee-Crown Girls Invitational

Schaumburg 240, Woodstock 189.5, Antioch 137, Glenbard East 132.5, Freeport 118.5, Harvard 116, Batavia 113, Stevenson 100.5, Thornton Fractional South 89, Hampshire 86, Zion-Benton 80.5, Jacobs 80, Hersey 76, Richmond-Burton 67, Lakes Community 55, Jefferson 47, Dundee-Crown 46, Wauconda 43, Ridgewood 37, Maine West 36, Genoa-Kingston 34, Larkin 31.5, Burlington Central 28, Johnsburg 27, Byron 21, Plano 18, Marengo 13, Carmel Catholic 4

Championship matches of the Dundee-Crown Girls Invitational

100 – Eva Hermansson (Woodstock) F 5:22 Karla Sarabia (Glenbard East)

105 – Annabelle Mueller (Hampshire) F 5:49 Aaliyah Guichon (Jacobs)

110 – Julia Felton (Jacobs) D 10-4 Justice Girod (Schaumburg)

115 – Athena Zappas (Stevenson) MD 10-1 Alexa Herrera (Harvard)

120 – Kaiya Galindo (Freeport) D 15-9 Kyla Hayes (Woodstock)

125 – Isabella Rivas (Schaumburg) F 3:33 Ruby Gavina (Dundee-Crown)

130 – Karina Lojowski (Stevenson) F 1:40 Madelyn Peterie (Richmond-Burton)

135 – Sharon Olorunfemi (Schaumburg) F 0:07 Tayler Menzel (Woodstock)

140 – Maria Green (Glenbard East) TF 2:29 Ava Hartman (Schaumburg)

145 – Ithandehui Rosas (Harvard) F 1:02 Madison Minson (Hampshire)

155 – Audrey Sheldon (Batavia) F 1:28 NaJeyah Wallace (Freeport)

170 – Kylie Eilken (Jefferson) F 0:38 Josie Blau (Antioch)

190 – Nadia Razzak (Schaumburg) F 1:36 Samantha Diehl (Hampshire)

235 – Olivia Furlan (Schaumburg) D 6-1 Carmen Sierra (Johnsburg)

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

Montini Catholic claims third place at The Cheesehead Invitational in Kaukauna, Wisconsin

Montini Catholic led Illinois teams at the 46-team Cheesehead Invitational in Kaukauna, Wisconsin with 438.5 points, which was 30 behind champion Hickman, Missouri and 13 behind runner-up Southeast Polk, Iowa. Other Illinois teams in the competition were Joliet Catholic Academy (sixth, 378), St. Charles East (ninth, 304), Providence Catholic (11th, 301.5), Lockport Township (19th, 200), Grant (20th, 196.5), Edwardsville (21st, 189), Barrington (22nd, 177), Warren Township (27th, 166), Yorkville (30th, 140), Marian Central Catholic (33rd, 116), Plainfield North (39th, 61.5), DeKalb (43rd, 31.5) and Neuqua Valley (45th, 13). 

Seven individuals from Illinois won titles and two others finished in second place. Warren Township had two champions, Caleb Noble (113) and Royce Lopez (165), and one runner-up, Aaron Stewart (190). For Montini Catholic, Bobby Ruscitti (126) took first place and Eric Klichurov (113) finished second. And for Providence Catholic, Justus Heeg (157) won a title while Jasper Harper (165) was a runner-up. 

The other champions from Illinois were St. Charles East’s Dom Munaretto (120), Joliet Catholic Academy’s Jason Hampton (132) and Marian Central Catholic’s Jimmy Mastny (215). The other individual from Illinois who claimed second place was Yorkville’s Van Rosauer (150).

There were two all-Illinois title matches and they both were major decisions. Noble won 12-4 over Klichurov at 113 and Lopez claimed an 18-10 victory over Harper at 165.

The two closest championship matches involving Illinois athletes were at 157, where Heeg won 2-1 on a tiebreaker over Jefferson, GA’s Dallas Russell and at 126, where Ruscitti claimed a 2-1 decision over Southeast Polk, IA’s Eddie Woody, Jr.

In other title matches, Munaretto won by fall in 3:44 over Coweta, OK’s Aiden Jalajel at 120 and Mastny recorded a pin in 4:48 over Lake Gibson, FL’s Jeremiah Chavis at 215. Hampton captured a 10-1 major decision over East Troy, WI’s Brady Collins at 132 and Oconomowoc, WI’s Kellen Wolbert won by technical fall in 5:00 over Rosauer at 150.

Coach Sal Annoreno’s third-place Broncos also received fourth-place finishes from Mikey Malizzio (132), Santino Tenuta (165) and Gavin Ericson (285) while Allen Woo (120) took fifth and AJ Tack (175) claimed sixth place. Woo, Tack and Malizzio also all recently captured their 100th career victories.

Claiming third place were Joliet Catholic Academy’s Lukas Foster (126), Providence Catholic’s Tommy Banas (138), Grant’s Vince Jasinski (144) and Lockport Township’s Justin Wardlow (157). Also finishing in fourth place were Edwardsville’s Michael McNamara (106) and Barrington’s Daniel Blanke (150).

Others who took fifth place were Barrington’s Ryan Dorn (132) and Joliet Catholic Academy’s Nolan Vogel (157). St. Charles East’s Kaden Potter (126) and Cooper Murray (215) also claimed sixth place. 

Lockport Township’s Isaac Zimmerman (132) and Edwardsville’s Braylon Hill-Lomax (285) placed seventh. Grant’s Adam Glauser (120), Providence Catholic’s Luke Banas (144),

Yorkville’s Max Delgado (165) and Warren Township’s Ilia Dvoriannikov (175) took eighth.

Lockport Township’s Noe Hernandez (106) and Chris Miller (175), St. Charles East’s Gavin Woodmancy (150) and Matt Medina (285), Providence Catholic’s Christian Corcoran (113) and Joliet Catholic Academy’s Adante Washington (138) finished in ninth place. 

Tying for second place for most pins with four were Zimmerman, Noble, Mastny and Blanke. There was a three-way tie for third in most wins by technical fall with four between Ruscitti, Munaretto and Miller. Montini Catholic led all teams with 19 wins by technical fall while Providence Catholic was second with 15.

Championship matches at the Cheesehead Invitational (Illinois individuals)

113 – Caleb Noble (Warren Township) over Erik Klichurov (Montini Catholic), MD 12-4

120 – Dom Munaretto (St. Charles East) over Aiden Jalajel (Coweta, OK), F 3:44

126 – Bobby Ruscitti (Montini Catholic) over Eddie Woody, Jr. (Southeast Polk, IA), D 2-1

132 – Jason Hampton (Joliet Catholic Academy) over Brady Collins (East Troy, WI), MD 10-1

150 – Kellen Wolbert (Oconomowoc, WI) over Van Rosauer (Yorkville), TF 5:00

157 – Justus Heeg (Providence Catholic) over Dallas Russell (Jefferson, GA), TB 2-1

165 – Royce Lopez (Warren Township) over Jasper Harper (Providence Catholic), MD 18-10 

215 – Jimmy Mastny (Marian Central Catholic) over Jeremiah Chavis (Lake Gibson, FL), F 4:48

Six from Illinois place at the Doc Buchanan Invitational in Clovis, California

Three athletes from IC Catholic Prep and one each from Lyons Township, Oak Park and River Forest and Saint Viator finished in the top eight at their weights in the Doc Buchanan Invitational, which took place in Clovis, California and featured 503 athletes from 123 schools. 

IC Catholic Prep took 13th place with 62.5 points.

Claiming fifth-place finishes were Oak Park and River Forest’s Michael Rundell (116), IC Catholic Prep’s Brody Kelly (178) and Saint Viator’s Jaxon Penovich (193).

IC Catholic Prep’s Aiden Arnett (160) took sixth place, IC Catholic Prep’s Max Cumbee (135) finished seventh and Lyons Township’s Griff Powell (141) claimed eighth place.

Illinois individuals who lost in the round of 16 were IC Catholic Prep’s Drew Murante (116) and Foley Calcagno (218), West Aurora’s Marcus Quintana (168) and Dayne Serio (178), Addison Trail’s Nikolas Duarte (123) and Oak Park and River Forest’s Jamiel Castleberry (129).

All of the medalists lost in the quarterfinals, other than Powell, who fell in the round of 16. IC Catholic Prep’s Anthony Sebastian also lost in the quarterfinals and did not place. 

Downers Grove North wins Mid-States Wrestling Classic in Whitewater, Wisconsin

Downers Grove North, Downers Grove, Mahomet-Seymour and Wauconda went down to the wire for top honors at the 43-team Mid-States Wrestling Classic in Whitewater, Wisconsin and when all was said and done, Downers Grove North edged rival Downers Grove South 170-163.5 for first place while Mahomet-Seymour edged Wauconda 161-160 for third place.

Grayslake Central (125) was seventh, Morton (118.5) took eighth and Bradley-Bourbonnais (112.5) placed tenth. Other Illinois teams who took part were New Trier (67.5), Dundee-Crown (61), McHenry (54), Round Lake (30), Harvard (27) and Lakes Community (10).

Champions from Illinois were Grayslake Central’s Dominick DeMarco (106), Downers Grove South’s Tanner Stone (120), Morton’s Noah Harris (126), Mahomet-Seymour’s Talon Decker (165) and  Dundee-Crown’s Teigen Moreno (215).

Taking second were Downers Grove North’s Damian Garcia (126) and Colin Murphy (285), Mahomet-Seymour’s Justus Vrona (144) and Marco Casillas (190), Dundee-Crown’s Aiden Healey (106), Grayslake Central’s Vince DeMarco (113) and Wauconda’s Brian Hart (157).

There were two all-Illinois title matches with Dominick DeMarco winning by technical fall in 2:29 over Healey at 106 and Harris recording a pin in 3:56 over Garcia at 126.

In other title matches won by Illinois athletes, Stone captured a 7-0 decision over Sussex Hamilton, WI’s Reece Moore at 120, Decker was a winner by technical fall in 4:52 over Waukesha North, WI’s Mitchell Stigler at 165 and Moreno claimed a 4-0 decision over Sussex Hamilton, WI’s Weston Hackbarth at 215.

In other championship matches where Illinois athletes took second place, Union Grove, WI’s Camden Rugg claimed an 11-0 major decision over Vince DeMarco at 113, Pardeeville, WI’s Karrsen Bussan won by technical fall in 3:09 over Vrona at 144, Weyauwega-Fremont, WI’s Collin Hamm got a win by technical fall in 5:10 over Hart at 157, Lake Mills, WI’s Owen Burling won a 7-3 decision over Casillas at 190 and Monona Grove/ McFarland, WI’s Deangelo Clay got a pin in 1:01 over Murphy at 285.

1st – Downers Grove North, 170 

Leading the way for coach Chris McGrath’s champions Trojans were second-place finishers Damian Garcia (126) and Colin Murphy (285) while Alex Hengles (144) was fourth and Caden Chiarelli (150) and Nate Olona (215) finished fifth.

“The team is really turning a corner,” McGrath said “After our football team advanced to the final four, it took a while for our football players to get healthy, but our lineup is finally set for the season. If we continue to get better each week, we will have several wrestlers making noise at the end of the season.”

2nd – Downers Grove South, 163.5

The top performer for coach Zach Holtzman’s runner-up Mustangs was champion Tanner Stone (120) while Nick Spirek (157) placed fourth, Michael Danial (285) took fifth place and Jadon Dinwiddie (132) and Daniel Mensah (190) finished sixth.

3rd – Mahomet-Seymour, 161

The third-place Bulldogs, coached by Rob Ledin, a 2025 Lifetime Service Award Recipient from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Illinois Chapter, were led by champion Talon Decker (165) and second-place finishers Justus Vrona (144) and Marco Casillas (190). Taking fifth were Noah Meints (120) and Gideon Hayter (132) while Myles Hartzler (106) and Weston Neutz (157) both claimed sixth place.

4th – Wauconda, 160

The best finishers for coach Landen Pfeiffer’s fourth-place Bulldogs were runner-up Brian Hart (157) and third-place finisher Wyatt Roland (150). Taking fourth were Madden Gunn (113) and Nicholas Ruiz (120), finishing in fifth place were Mason Porten (126), Liam Harris (138) and Brody McKenna (175) while Kason Buse (165) took sixth.

Additional third-place finishers were Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Cullen Parks (106) and Zach Hoffner (120), Grayslake Central’s Krish Sahu (126), Morton’s Harrison Dea (132) and McHenry’s Ryan Johnston (144) while Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Kayden Roach (175) and New Trier’s Cooper Kemnitz (285) finished fourth and Morton’s Trygg Herron (106) took fifth. Claiming sixth-place finishers were McHenry’s Tyson Rivard (113) and Grayslake Central’s Warren Nash (150).

Downers Grove North’s Nate Olona and Morton’s Colton McKee were the only two individuals in the competition to record five falls. And Grayslake Central’s Dominick DeMarco was the only one in the Classic to claim five wins by technical fall, with no one else having more than three.

Downers Grove North had the most pins with 22 while Morton was second with 20 and Bradley-Bourbonnais third with 19. Grayslake Central had the most wins by technical fall with 14, which was six more than three teams ranked second, one of which was Mahomet-Seymour.

Championship matches at the Mid-States Wrestling Classic (Illinois individuals)

106 – Dominick DeMarco (Grayslake Central) over Aiden Healey (Dundee-Crown), TF 2:29

113 – Camden Rugg (Union Grove, WI) over Vince DeMarco (Grayslake Central), MD 11-0

120 – Tanner Stone (Downers Grove South) over Reece Moore (Sussex Hamilton, WI), D 7-0

126 – Noah Harris (Morton) over Damian Garcia (Downers Grove North), F 3:56

144 – Karrsen Bussan (Pardeeville, WI) over Justus Vrona (Mahomet-Seymour), TF 3:09

157 – Collin Hamm (Weyauwega-Fremont, WI) over Brian Hart (Wauconda), TF 5:10

165 – Talon Decker (Mahomet-Seymour) over Mitchell Stigler (Waukesha North, WI), TF 4:52

190 – Owen Burling (Lake Mills, WI) over Marco Casillas (Mahomet-Seymour), D 7-3

215 – Teigen Moreno (Dundee-Crown) over Weston Hackbarth (Sussex Hamilton, WI), D 4-0

285 – Deangelo Clay (Monona Grove/ McFarland, WI) over Colin Murphy (Downers Grove North), F 1:01

Gochis, Piazza, Skiles capture titles at the Wonder Women in Columbia, Missouri

Roxana’s Chloe Skiles, Hampshire’s Stella Piazza and Kaneland’s Angelina Gochis all won titles at the Wonder Women in Columbia, Missouri, which featured girls from 12 Illinois schools and individuals from 87 schools in a field of 628 competitors. Hampshire scored 101 points to finish in 11th place.

Skiles (14-1) claimed a 7-0 decision over Jackson, MO’s Kayleigh Milam in the 110 title match. Piazza (18-0) was a winner by fall in 4:35 over Clarksville, TN’s Tatiana Pena-Corona in the 115 finals. And Gochis captured a victory by technical fall in 5:02 over Odessa, MO’s Aalyiah Sanders in the 120 title match.

Collinsville’s Leann Cory (26-4) settled for second place at 145 when she lost by fall in 1:27 to Broken Arrow, OK’s Emily Beckley, whose team won the championship by 101.5 points. 

Hampshire’s Samantha Diehl (21-2) took third place at 190 with a fall in 0:23 over Willard, MO’s Harmony Moore. DeKalb’s Alex Gregorio-Perez (20-3) settled for fourth place at 100 when she was edged 7-6 by Blair Oaks, MO’s’ Macie Kempker. 

Finishing in fifth place were Collinsville’s Londyn Long (26-4 at 125) and Hampshire’s Annabelle Mueller (25-4 at 105) while Kelly’s Sara Martinez Lopera (170) claimed sixth place.

Piazza ranked fifth in most team points with 35 while Gochis and Skiles tied for eighth place in most team points with 33.5. Mueller tied one other individual for second place for the most wins by technical fall with three and also ranked fifth for most total match points with 77. Hampshire had the most wins by technical fall of any team in the competition with six.

Championship matches at The Wonder Women (Illinois individuals)

110 – Chloe Skiles (Roxana) over Kayleigh Milam (Jackson, MO), D 7-0

115 – Stella Piazza (Hampshire) over Tatiana Pena-Corona (Clarksville, TN), F 4:35

120 – Angelina Gochis (Kaneland) over Aalyiah Sanders (Odessa, MO), TF 5:02

145 – Emily Beckley (Broken Arrow, OK) over Leann Cory (Collinsville), F 1:27

Washington Community places sixth at The Clash XXIII Duals in La Crosse, Wisconsin

Washington Community led the way for four teams from Illinois that competed in The Clash XXIII Duals, which were held in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Coach Nick Miller’s Panthers took second place in the 2nd Bracket, with each bracket having four places. Hononegah took first in the 5th Bracket and in the 6th Bracket, Unity took second and Marian Central Catholic was third.

Washington Community won its first two duals and went 2-1 in Bracket B and won its final two meets in the 2nd Bracket to go 4-2. Top performers for the Panthers were Wyatt Medlin (6-0 at 160/172), Josh Hoffer (5-1 at 215/285), Cruise Brolley (4-1 at 160/172), Sean Thornton (4-1 at 285), Wyatt Leman (3-1 at 172/189) and Symon Woods (4-2 at 107).

Hononegah lost its opener in Bracket C but then won its next four duals to go 4-1 and take first in the 5th Bracket. Leading the way for the Indians were Bruno Cassioppi (5-0 at 160), Rocco Cassioppi (5-0 at 152), Logan Harris (5-0 at 114), Brody Sendele (5-0 at 172), Harrison Kinney (4-1 at 215) and Jackson Olson (3-1 at 121/127).

Unity bounced back from going 0-2 in Bracket A to win two of its three duals in the 6th Bracket, which included a 40-29 victory over Marian Central Catholic to finish 2-3. The Rockets were led by AJ Daly (5-0 at 139), Abram Davidson (4-0 at 160), Ben Mullins (4-0 at 152), Hayden Smith (4-1 at 145) and Chason Daly (3-1 at 215).

Marian Central Catholic lost both of its duals in Bracket D and went 1-2 in the 6th Bracket, which included its 40-29 loss to Unity in its first meet of that division. The Hurricanes were led by Jimmy Mastny (5-0 at 189/215) and Hogan Rice (5-0 at 114).

64TH ANNUAL MURDALE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

Thirty-one teams entered and one team from Murphysboro walked away as team champion of this year’s 64th Murdale Tournament, hosted by Carbondale.

Coach Shea Baker’s No. 4-ranked team in 1A outpointed second-place No. 17 2A Mascoutah 266-220.5, followed by third-place No. 13 1A Althoff Catholic (173.5), No. 25 1A Benton (167) and No. 17 1A Freeburg (151) in the top five.

Baker got an individual title from the winner of the tournament’s outstanding wrestler award, No. 6 state qualifier Paxton Pyatt (31-3 at 120), plus titles from Sergio Garcia (28-6 at 126) and No. 2 state qualifier Julien Tanner (30-2 at 285) to lead a pack of 10 wrestlers finishing in the top six of their weight classes.
Murphysboro led all teams with 16 tech falls and 586 total match points, and the Red Devils finished third in pins with 28.

“We had a great tournament and I’m incredibly proud of the guys,” Baker said. “There is no doubt that the depth of our team helped contribute to this win. Every single wrestler competed and contributed points towards this win. “

1st- Murphysboro (266)
Adding to titles from Pyatt, Garcia and Tanner were tournament runners-up Griffin Diehl (21-7 at 106), No. 9 Drevan Bramlett (25-5 at 113) and state qualifier Maxon Stearns (25-4 at 165). Baker also got thirds from Lemar Treshansky (22-9 at 144), Logan Tanner (19-7 at 190) and Caybren Hubbard (27-6 at 215), and a fifth from Jackson Graff (132).
Also scoring team points for the Red Devils were Jeret Edwards (138), Jace Witzman (150), Haegan Hughes (157), and Nick Christopher (175).

2nd- Mascoutah (220.5)
Mascoutah led the field with 30 pins, finished third in tech falls with seven, and was third in total match points with 449. Coach Cole Witzig got a trio of individual titles from Desi Wade (24-3 at 138), No. 5 state medalist Brock Ross (23-0 at 157) and state qualifier Jordan Sonon-Hale (24-3 at 175), thirds from Braxton McCall (17-5 at 106), state qualifier Xavier Sonon-Hale (19-9 at 126), Macguire Leck (17-8 at 132) and Nygel Bowers (14-9 at 285), fifths from state qualifier Sean Murphy (4-1 at 165) and Harrison Redenius (20-10 at 190), and a sixth from Adrian Nastas (9-7 at 150).
Also scoring team points for Mascoutah were Logan Lott (113), Jacob Martell (120) and Abel Faircloth (215).

3rd- Althoff Catholic (173.5)
Althoff finished second in tech falls with nine for coach Emmanuel Brooks, who got individual titles from No. 7 state qualifier Jacobi Cobb (23-1 at 113), No. 3 state medalist Dawson Hawthorne (132) and No. 1 returning state champion Pierre Walton (23-0 at 165), a second from No. 9 Landon Weidler (21-1 at 157), and a fourth from Jaxon Lynn (20-3 at 120). Also scoring team points were Karson Fowler (106), Nathan Fisher (126), Robbie Schallert (138), Aidan Delisle (175), Austin Wilkinson (190), Stephen Ache (215), Braden Busch (215) and Collin Carter (285).

Additional champions
106 state qualifier Braxton Tittle (35-1), Benton
144 state qualifier Kaden Blades (32-4), Benton
150 Matthew Walsh (20-3), Breese Central
190 No. 2  state runner-up Danny Jackson (22-1), Red Bud
215 Dane Olmstead (19-3), Freeburg

Additional runners-up

120 Max Wade (22-4), Marion
126 Bradley O’Dell (19-8), Carbondale
132 Benjamin Kale (14-4), McCracken County
138 Adrian Mendez (17-9), Granite City
144 Lukas Quartz (144), Freeburg
150 Michael Minor (10-3), Frankfort
175 Lonnez Smith (23-6), East St. Louis
190 Evan Francis (27-2), Marion
215 Wade Rees (20-5), Pinckneyville
285 No. 10 Jack Amaan (26-3), Freeburg

Team scores
Murphysboro 266, Mascoutah 220.5, Althoff Catholic 173.5, Benton 167, Freeburg 151, Granite City 134, Marion 115.5, Carbondale 101, Richland County 99.5, East St. Louis 96, Salem 85.5, Effingham 80.5, Pinckneyville 79, Mt. Vernon 77.5, Red Bud 71.5, Breese Central 68.5, Herrin 65, Anna-Jonesboro 60.5, Johnston City 60, Carterville 59.5, Frankfort 49.5, Cahokia 44, Fairfield 44, McCracken County KY 43.5, Centralia 37, Harrisburg 27.5, Goreville 26, East Alton-Wood River 23, Paducah Tilghman KY 14, Highland 13, Trico 0


Statistics
TEAM: Mascoutah led all teams with 30 pins, followed by Benton with 28 and Murphysboro with 26, and Murphysboro posted the most tech falls with 16, followed by Althoff Catholic with 9 and Mascoutah with 7. Murphysboro also led the field with 586 total match points, followed by Granite City with 502 and Mascoutah with 449.

INDIVIDUAL: Paducah Tilgham’s Titan Henderson posted the most pins in the least time with four in 2:31, followed by Mascoutah’s Jordan Sonon-Hale with four pins in 3:05 and Benton’s Braxton Tittle with four in 5:47.

Althoff’s Pierre Walton had the most tech falls in the least time with four in 16:52, followed by Murphysboro’s Sergio Garcia with three tech falls in 4:35 and Althoff’s Dawson Hawthorne with three techs in 6:36. Garcia also had the fastest tech fall in 46 seconds, followed by Centralia’s Lucas Ashlock with a tech in 50 seconds and Marion’s Max Wade with a tech fall in 55 seconds.

Mascoutah’s Brock Ross posted the most team points with 32, followed by Benton’s Kaden Blades with 31.5 and Red Bud’s Daniel Jackson with 30.5.

Cahokia’s Hartles Holman scored the most single-match points with 27, followed by Murphysboro’s Nick Christopher with 26 and teammate Caybren Hubbard with 25.

Althoff’s Hawthorne and Cahokia’s Holman posted the most total match points with 79 apiece, followed by Althoff’s Walton with 71 and Murphysboro’s Garcia with 70.

Two wrestlers tied for the largest seed-place difference in the tournament, at 19 places: Herrin’s Gabe Eldridge was seeded 22nd and placed third at 138 pounds, and Mascoutah’s Sean Murphy was seeded 24th and placed fifth at 165 pounds.

Championship matches
106 Braxton Tittle (Benton) F 3:11 Griffin Diehl (Murphysboro)
113 Jacobi Cobbs (Althoff) MD 14-0 Drevan Bramlett (Murphysboro)
120 Paxton Pyatt (Murphysboro) F 2:51 Max Wade (Marion)
126 Sergio Garcia (Murphysboro) TF 2:37 Bradley O’Dell (Carbondale)
132 Dawson Hawthorne (Althoff) TF 2:07 Benjamin Kale (McCracken Co)
138 Desi Wade (Mascoutah) F 5:59 Adrian Mendez (Granite City)
144 Kaden Blades (Benton) F 1:08 Lukas Quartz (Freeburg)
150 Matthew Walsh (Breese Central) MD 16-7 Michael Minor (Frankfort)
157 Brock Ross (Mascoutah) F 3:43 Landon Weidler (Althoff)
165 Pierre Walton (Althoff) TF 5:46 Maxon Stearns (Murphysboro)
175 Jordan Sonon-Hale (Mascoutah) F 0:53 Lonnez Smith (E St. Louis)
190 Daniel Jackson (Red Bud) MD 14-5 Evan Francis (Marion)
215 Dane Olmstead (Freeburg) TF 5:34 Wade Rees (Pinckneyville)
285 Julien Tanner (Murphysboro) D 8-3 Jack Amann (Freeburg)

Third-place matches
106 Braxton McCall (Mascoutah) TF 2:44 Eli Schaefer (Freeburg)

113 Hayden Hazel (Richland Co) D 8-2 Cameron Urbaniak (Herrin)
120 Dalton St. Angelo (Mt. Vernon) TF 5:15 Jaxon Lynn (Althoff)
126 Xavier Sonon-Hale (Mascoutah) F 5:32 Rylan Moore (Salem)
132 Macguire Leck (Mascoutah) F 1:40 Brendon Freyerabend (Granite City)
138 Gabe Eldridge (Herrin) DQ Rocko Neal (Harrisburg)
144 Lemar Treshansky (Murphysboro) F 1:41 Jase Holshouser (Anna-J)
150 Kade Orrell (Salem) F 3:54 Peyton Robinson (Benton)
157 Jonathan McCray (E St. Louis) D 7-3 Derek Wilkey (Benton)
165 Corey Robinson (E St. Louis) D 7-6 Trevor Fath (Pinckneyville)
175 Jonathan Ramaker (Pinckneyville) D 5-0 Kobe Cali (Benton)
190 Logan Tanner (Murphysboro) TB-1 3-2 Eli Miller (Granite City)
215 Caybren Hubbard (Murphysboro) F 5:28 Wade Rees (Pinckneyville)
285 Nygel Bowers (Mascoutah) D 5-3 Jeremiah Lorton (Effingham)

QUINCY NOTRE DAME INVITATIONAL

Five individual champions led Lawrenceville to a team title at this year’s 13-team Notre Dame Invitational in Quincy for coach Cody Bobe. The Lawrence County co-op team that includes wrestlers from Red Hill and Lawrenceville got titles from Dalton Baker (19-7 at 106), Kyler Guercio (17-6 at 120), state qualifier Hudson Meek (23-6 at 144), Nick Morehead (20-7) and Jude DeCausey (17-7 at 215).

Lawrenceville won 219-162 over second-place Notre Dame, followed by Palmyra MO (148.5), Jacksonville (130) and Quincy (129.5) to round out the top five.

Lawrenceville led the tournament in tech falls with five and in total match points with 283.

1st- Lawrenceville (219)
In addition to its five champs, Lawrenceville got second-place finishes from Daniel Kiser (19-9 at 157) and Malikye Williams (19-7 at 190), thirds from Grayson Allender (17-7 at 113), Drew Seitzinger (17-10 at 126) and Cale Seitzinger (22-6 at 150), and fourths from Jude Shick (11-13 at 132) and Tucker Waldrop (10-15 at 165).

2nd- Notre Dame (162)
Raiders coach Adam Steinkamp got titles from Cale Hilbing (16-2 at 150), state qualifier Bradi Lahr (23-2 at 157) and Abram Zanger (16-8 at 165), plus thirds from Ethan McEntee (15-6 at 106) and Austin Shull (17-8), a fourth from Dawson Stafford (11-15 at 215), fifths from Carson Kerkoff (13-12 at 126) and Caleb Zook (17-9 at 285), and sixths from Samuel Moore (14-11 at 132) and Ryan Turnbaugh (3-6 at 175).

3rd- Palmyra, MO (148.5)
The team from Missouri got an individual title from Blake Rife (17-4 at 126), seconds from Behrett Lorenson (17-8 at 132), Emmett Lorenson (22-5 at 144), Michael Hines (11-6 at 150), Kale Weiman (17-8 at 215) and Ace Harper (18-7 at 285), a fourth from Parker Murphy (3-10 at 120), and a sixth from Joe Poor (10-14 at 157).

Additional champions
113 state qualifier Hunter Hayes (25-5), Jacksonville
132 state qualifier Dashawn Armstrong (17-3), Jacksonville
138 Harrison Lott (17-0), Riverton
190 Brock Meyer (20-7), Jacksonville
285 Eli Zanger (19-4), Quincy

Additional runners-up
106 Jordan Friday (18-5), Camp Point
113 Jack Welch (23-5), Camp Point
120 Greyson Steele (17-10), Camp Point
126 Josh Collins (8-5), Camp Point
138 Trotter Titus (15-3), Charleston
165 Mason Reynolds (21-8), Riverton
175 Kavuntae Lewiel (15-6), Jacksonville Co-op

Team scores
Lawrenceville 219, Notre Dame 162, Palmyra MO 148.5, Jacksonville 130, Quincy 129.5, Camp Point Central 123, Riverton 72, Warsaw-Hamilton 64, Monmouth United 57.5, Charleston 55, Jacksonville Co-op 39, Illini West 7, Seymour 0

Statistics
TEAM: Quincy finished with the most pins of any team in the tournament with 17, followed by 16 apiece from Lawrenceville and Notre Dame. Lawrenceville also posted the most tech falls with five, followed by three apiece from Palmyra, MO and Quincy. Lawrenceville also led the field in total match points with 283, followed by Quincy with 241 and Jacksonville with 230.

INDIVIDUAL: Lawrenceville’s Drew Seitzinger posted the most pins in the least time with four falls in 3:28, followed by Quincy’s Caleb Nation with four falls in 8:52. Palmyra, Missouri’s Joe Poor posted the fastest fall in 13 seconds, followed by Lawrenceville’s Kyler Guercio with a fall in 14 seconds and Seitzinger with a fall in 15 seconds.

Charleston’s Trotter Titus had the most tech falls in the least time with two techs in 4:55, followed by Lawrenceville County’s Nick Morehead with two techs in 7:38. Camp Point Central’s Josh Collins posted the fastest tech fall in 1:56.

Palmyra’s Blake Rife scored the most team points with 30, followed by Riverton’s Harrison Lott with 28 and Notre Dame’s Abram Zanger and Bradi Lahr with 27 apiece. Jacksonville’s Dashawn Armstrong scored the most single-match points with 26, followed by Camp Point Central’s Paxton Buehler with 23 and Charleston’s Titus with 21. Quincy’s Ethan Wells scored the most total match points with 51, followed by teammate Carter Steinhauser and Lawrenceville County’s Tucker Waldrop with 48 apiece.

The largest seed-place difference came from Quincy’s Preston Sturhahn, as the No. 11 seed placed fourth at 138 pounds.

Championship match results
106 Dalton Baker (Lawrence Co) F 1:24 Jordan Friday (Camp Pt.)
113 Hunter Hayes (Jacksonville) MD 13-3 Jack Welch (Camp Pt.)
120 Kyler Guercio (Lawrence Co) MD 12-0 Greyson Steele (Camp Pt.)
126 Blake Rife (Palmyra MO) F 3:46 Josh Collins (Camp Pt.)
132 Dashawn Armstrong (Jacksonville) D 19-13 Behrett Lorenson (Palmyra MO)
138 Harrison Lott (Riverton) F 3:45 Trotter Titus (Charleston)
144 Hudson Meek (Lawrence Co) D 5-3 Emmett Lorenson (Palmyra MO)
150 Cale Hilbing (Notre Dame) MD 9-1 Michael Hines (Palmyra MO)
157 Bradi Lahr (Notre Dame) MD 16-2 Daniel Kiser (Lawrence Co)
165 Abram Zanger (Notre Dame) MD 12-1 Mason Reynolds (Riverton)
175 Nick Morehead (Lawrence Co) TF Kavuntae Lewiel (Jacksonville Co-op)
190 Brock Meyer (Jacksonville) F 1:19 Malikye Williams (Lawrence Co)
215 Jude DeCausey (Lawrenceville Co) D 7-1 Kale Weiman (Palmyra MO)
285 Eli Zanger (Quincy) F 1:45 Ace Harper (Palmyra MO)

Third-place results
100 Ethan McEntee (Notre Dame) BYE
113 Grayson Allender (Lawrence Co) F 0:52 Hunter Harley (Riverton)
120 Kaiden McGee (Jacksonville) F 0:46 Parker Murphy (Palmyra MO)
126 Drew Seitzinger (Lawrence Co) F 1:08 Colin Booker (Charleston)
132 Case Hughes (Camp Pt.) F 2:00 Jude Schick (Lawrence Co)
138 Austin Olps (Camp Pt.) D 8-4 Preston Sturhahn (Quincy)
144 Austin Shull (Notre Dame) F 2:56 Evan Smith (Warsaw)
150 Cale Seitzinger (Lawrenceville Co) TF 4:John Marshall (Jacksonville Co-op)
157 Bob Kendall (Monmouth U) F 2:00 Jordyn Phelps (Warsaw)
165 Carter Steinhauser (Quincy) MD 15-4 Tucker Waldrop (Lawrence Co)
175 Grant Hamilton (Camp Pt.) MD 16-7 Ethan Prim (Warsaw)
190 Eli Banks (Riverton) F 0:32 Harlen Derhake (Quincy)
215 Liam Weiman (Jacksonville) F 1:36 Dawson Stafford (Notre Dame)
285 Remi Bryant (Charleston) F 2:00 Brayden Hall (Warsaw)