By Curt Herron – For the IWCOA

Oak Forest wins title at Westosha Central Stateline Scuffle

Oak Forest captured top honors and five other Illinois teams placed among the top eight at the 29-team Westosha Central Stateline Scuffle, which took place in Salem, Wisconsin. A total of fourteen Illinois teams participated.

Coach John Sebek’s Bengals scored 202 points to capture the title by 72 points over the hosts. Zion-Benton (122) took third, Dundee-Crown (116) was fourth, Wheeling (115) finished fifth, Lakes Community (111.5) placed sixth and Warren Township (93) claimed eighth.

Oak Forest received titles from Alexandra Sebek (104-110), Charlotte Pedroza (115-121), Maya Coreas Funes (145-158), Ryann Reeves (153-167) and Isabel Peralta (168-182) while Marjorie Rodriguez (111-116) and Iyobosa Odiase (140-151) both took second place.

Taking third for the Bengals were Victoria Taylor (117-122) and Jessica Komolafe (173-193) and finishing fourth were Camila O’Leary Salas (117-122) and Rionna Jean Jurik (120-128). Aliyah Blount (95-104) and Madelyn Sears (130-139) placed fifth and Cyniah Poindexter (128-134) claimed sixth while Leann Abdallah (115-121), Jordan Clyne (119-128) and Bryanah Carrera (125-129) took seventh.

“We wanted to wrestle this event to see new competition out of state as well as see other teams from the northern end of the state,” Sebek said. “A lot of the girls were a bit nervous wrestling out of state for the first time but they definitely showed up. It was a fantastic event and hats off to the Westosha Central High School wrestling staff for putting on an awesome tournament with a lot of good competition.  We brought 17 girls to the event, with only 10 scorers allowed, and we had 9 girls place in the top 3, with seven girls in the finals.

Coach Hal Lunsford’s third-place Zee-Bees had four title winners, Emily Ortiz (125-129), Jahmariona Thompson (130-139), Naomi Foote (138-146) and Grace Johnson (141-146). They placed third with only six competitors and all of them were in the top five with Nathaly Tenorio (120-128) and Adrianna Ketchum (126-138) taking fifth.

Other Illinois champions were Wheeling’s Elise Burkut (120-128) and Jasmine Rene (173-193), Warren Township’s Jaylyn Trevino (85-89), Dundee-Crown’s Diamond Rodriguez (95-104), Crystal Lake South’s Annalee Aarseth (107-112), Grayslake Central’s Gianna Arzer (119-128) and Lakes Community’s Ava Babbs (126-138).

Additional second-place finishers from Illinois were Lakes Community’s Haven Sylves (107-112) and Josephine Larson (173-193), Dundee-Crown’s Ruby Gavina (119-128), Wheeling’s Stephanie Solano (155-170) and Cary-Grove’s Denver Gier (168-182).

There were four All-Illinois title matchups. Aarseth won by fall in 3:27 over Sylves at 107-112, Arzer recorded a pin in 2:43 over Gavina at 119-128, Peralta was a winner by fall in 1:10 over Gier at 168-182 and Rene won a 2-1 decision over Larson at 173-193 in a rematch of last week’s 190 championship at Waukegan, which Larson won 3-1.

All of the other Illinois champions but one used falls to win titles. The exception was Babbs, who captured a 9-5 decision at 126-138.

Other third-place Illinois finishers were Lakes Community’s Zaryia Mouzon (95-104) and Christina Hasner (128-134), Dundee-Crown’s Iris Torres (104-110) and Daniella Ibanez (138-146), Warren Township’s Isabella Miron (115-121) and Jane Kelly (125-129), Grayslake North’s Quinna Sheets (126-138) and Alyson Alvarenga (130-139), Wheeling’s Krystal Diaz (141-146) and Nikol Orendarchuk (145-158) and Crystal Lake Central’s Cait Jones (168-182).

Also claiming fourth-place finishes were Crystal Lake South’s Mayayla Miranda (140-151), Karrina Del Valle (145-158) and Kayla Hadfield (173-193), Grayslake North’s Jacqueline Cordova-Marquina (153-167) and Jeniah Robinson (155-170), Grant’s Kayden Manis (104-110), Dundee-Crown’s Elisa Martin (111-116), Lakes Community’s Lilyann Blasius (115-121), Lake Forest’s Bree Hirsch (126-138), Prairie Ridge’s Angela Thrush (138-146) and Warren Township’s Hanna Bairstow (141-155).

Others taking fifth place were Warren Township’s Alyssa Bentley (104-110), Ashley Bridges (128-134) and Ashley Fugelseth (140-151), Grayslake North’s Amara Facundo (107-112) and Victoria Marquez (138-146), Dundee-Crown’s Perla Lomeli (141-155) and Mackenzie Lessner (153-167), Lake Forest’s Kamile Rayome (119-128) and Cary-Grove’s London Goldsberry (145-158).

Additional sixth-place finishers were Grant’s Evelyn Gonzalez (117-122) and Aubrey Hopkins (120-128), Wheeling’s Layah Woods (126-138) and Madeline Chicas (141-155), Lakes Community’s Osmairi Medina Alvarado (111-116), Cary-Grove’s Shelby Pijut (125-129), Warren Township’s Erin Bush (153-167) and Dundee-Crown’s Ayline Tinajero (168-182).

Eleven individuals tied for the most team points with 26, including three each from Oak Forest (Pedroza, Reeves and Sebek) and Zion-Benton (Foote, Johnson and Ortiz) plus one from Wheeling (Burkut). East Troy, WI’s Isa McGinley and Kylie Schmidt, Glendale Martin Luther, WI’s Nadia Lathan and Wilmot Union, WI’s Morgan Rutherford were the other four individuals who scored 26 team points. 

Pedroza had the most falls in the least time, which was three in 1:45 while Babbs and Milwaukee Reagan, WI’s Aliana Rauter were the only individuals to claim a win by technical fall. Milwaukee Reagan, WI’s TaHonesty Donnell had the most total match points with 47 while Babbs tied for second in that category with 32, however Babbs prevailed in what mattered most, a 9-5 decision between the two in the 126-138 finals.

Championship matches at the Westosha Central Stateline Scuttle

85-89 – Jaylen Trevino (Warren Township) F 0:48 Monica Hernandez (Milwaukee Reagan, WI)

95-104 – Diamond Rodriguez (Dundee-Crown) F 1:03 Raven Ringhand (Oregon, WI)

104-110 – Alexandra Sebek (Oak Forest) F 1:24 Addison Friedrichs (Janesville Parker, WI)

107-112 – Annalee Aarseth (Crystal Lake South) F 3:27 Haven Sylves (Lakes Community)

111-116 – Margaret Gillmore (Westosha Central, WI) F 1:41 Marjorie Rodriguez (Oak Forest)

115-121 – Charlotte Pedroza (Oak Forest) F 0:46 Eva Rivera (Greenfield, WI)

117-122 – Morgan Rutherford (Wilmot Union, WI) F 0:31 Rubi Egurrola (Kenosha Bradford, WI)

119-128 – Gianna Arzer (Grayslake Central) F 2:43 Ruby Gavina (Dundee-Crown)

120-128 – Elise Burkut (Wheeling) F 1:06 Sienna Melby (Westosha Central, WI)

125-129 – Emily Ortiz (Zion-Benton) F 0:47 Jazlene Solis (Greenfield, WI)

126-138 – Ava Babbs (Lakes Community) D 9-5 TaHonesty Donnell (Milwaukee Reagan, WI)

128-134 – Isa McGinley (East Troy, WI) F 1:08 Payten Kent (Janesville Parker, WI)

130-139 – Jahmariona Thompson (Zion-Benton) F 0:40 Karen Pisano (Westosha Central, WI)

138-146 – Naomi Foote (Zion-Benton) F 1:50 Maggie Hansen (Burlington, WI)

140-151 – Kylie Schmidt (East Troy, WI) F 2:33 Iyobosa Odiase (Oak Forest)

141-146 – Grace Johnson (Zion-Benton) F 1:09 Anna Kienbaum (Edgerton, WI)

141-155 – Makayla Howard (Edgerton, WI) F 4:30 Jada Oparie-Addoh (Oregon, WI)

145-158 – Maya Coreas Funes (Oak Forest) F 3:42 Anayiz Castro (Shoreland Lutheran, WI)

153-167 – Ryann Reeves (Oak Forest) F 1:26 Elisabeth Bixby (Shoreland Lutheran, WI)

155-170 – Nadia Lathan (Greendale Martin Luther, WI) F 5:59 Stephanie Solano (Wheeling)

168-182 – Isabel Peralta (Oak Forest) F 1:10 Denver Gier (Cary-Grove)

173-193 – Jasmine Rene (Wheeling) D 2-1 Josephine Larson (Lakes Community)

185-208 – Jana Kopak (Greendale Martin Luther, WI) F 2:18 Danna Andrade (Milwaukee Reagan, WI)

215-240 – Taryn Armbruster (Greendale Martin Luther, WI) F 1:13 Genevieve Galin (Burlington, WI)

Team standings at the Westosha Central Stateline Scuttle

1. Oak Forest (202), 2. Westosha Central, WI (130), 3. Zion-Benton (122), 4. Dundee-Crown (116), 5. Wheeling (115), 6. Lakes Community (111.5), 7. Greendale Martin Luther, WI (96), 8. Warren Township (93), 9. Milwaukee Reagan, WI (92.5), 10. Oregon, WI (91), 11. Shoreland Lutheran, WI (78), 12. Grayslake North (77), 13. Edgerton, WI (75), 14. Greenfield, WI (65), 15. Janesville Parker, WI (57), 16. Crystal Lake South (54), 17. East Troy, WI (52), 18. Wilmot Union, WI (50), 19. Cary-Grove (34), 20, Burlington, WI (33), 22. Grant (25), 23. Grayslake Central (15), 24. Lake Forest (21), 25. Crystal Lake Central (15), 26. Prairie Ridge (12), 27. Racine St. Catherine, WI (6), 28. Mundelein (5), 28. Kenosha Indian Trail, WI (5).

Davino captures championship at Walsh Ironman

St. Charles East’s Ben Davino was the lone Illinois champion at the Walsh Ironman, which featured individuals from 130 schools who  participated in Walsh Jesuit’s tournament in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Thirteen individuals from Illinois finished in the top eight in the event.

Mount Carmel scored 76.5 points to place 12th while St. Charles East scored 74 to finish 13th. Warren Township (47.5) was 24th and Marist (38.5) tied for 31st. Other Illinois schools in the tournament were Marmion Academy, Hononegah, IC Catholic Prep, Joliet Catholic Academy, Loyola Academy, Washington Community, Montini Catholic, Normal Community and Unity.

Davino went 6-0 to win the 132 championship, defeating Perrysburg, OH’s Marcus Blaze 3-2 on an ultimate tiebreaker in the title match. He opened with a win by technical fall, followed that with a 20-6 major decision and then got a fall in 1:06 before winning 5-2 on a tiebreaker in the quarterfinals over Blair Academy, NJ’s Matthew Lopes. He advanced to the title mat with a 9-4 decision in the semifinals over Union County, KY’s Jordyn Ranney. It was Davino’s third trip to the finals and his second championship. Davino won the 126 title last year and took second place at 120 in 2021.

Warren Township’s Aaron Stewart took second place at 157 after dropping a heartbreaker in the finals 3-2 on an ultimate tiebreaker to Stillwater, OK’s Landyn Sommer. Opening with a fall and win by technical fall, Stewart was then involved in four nail biters, winning 2-1 in round three, 3-1 in the quarterfinals over Baylor School, TN’s Hunter Sturgill and 4-3 in the semifinals over State College, PA’s Asher Cunningham.

Mount Carmel’s Colin Kelly claimed second place at 175  after losing by fall in 4:52 to Parkersburg South, WV’s Gage Wright. Kelly opened with a win by technical fall, a pin and a major decision before getting a 3-1 win in sudden victory in the quarterfinals over Faith Christian Academy, PA’s Adam Waters and then he captured an 11-4 decision over Liberty, MO’s Peyton Westpfahl in the semifinals.

Coach Alex Tsirtsis’ Caravan had another medalist, Seth Mendoza, who took third at 126. Mendoza opened with two wins by technical fall and a pin before claiming a 3-2 decision over Union County, KY’s Jayden Raney in the quarterfinals. After suffering a tough loss in the semifinals, 9-5 in sudden victory to Wyoming Seminary, PA’s Luke Lilledahl, Mendoza won two close matches, winning 3-1 by sudden victory over Stillwater, OK’s JJ McComas to claim third place. This was the third time Mendoza has placed at the Ironman, taking seventh last season at 113 after placing fifth at 106 in 2021.

Warren Township coach Brad Janecek had one other medalist, Caleb Noble, who dropped a 4-2 decision to Hononegah’s Rocco Cassioppi in the 106 quarterfinals but then won three-straight tight matches, including a 6-4 win in sudden victory to reach the third-place mat, where he fell 10-1 to Pomona, CA’s Ignacio Villasenor to take fourth.

Washington Community’s Wyatt Medlin bounced back from his third-round setback to St. Charles East’s Tyler Guerra at 138 by getting five-straight consolation wins, which included four close decisions to become the Panthers’ lone medal winner. He took fourth place after dropping a 1-0 decision to Blair Academy, NJ’s William Deraker.

Marist’s Will Denny took fifth place at 150. After falling 4-2 to Bethlehem Catholic, PA’s Kollin Rath in the quarterfinals, Denny won two decisions and lost another before finishing with a 3-1 decision over Dublin Scioto, OH’s Ty Wilson in his final match.

Hononegah’s Rocco Cassioppi won a 4-3 decision over Normal Community’s Caden Correll in his opener and beat Noble 4-2 in the 106 quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals, where he lost 11-3 to Faith Christian Academy, PA’s Joey Bachmann. After losing his next match, he took fifth with a 5-1 decision over Blair Academy, NJ’s Vincenzo Anello.

Loyola Academy’s Kai Calcutt lost by fall in the 215 quarterfinals to Wyoming Seminary, PA’s Jude Correa but then won two matches to assure himself of a medal and he wound up taking sixth place.

St. Charles East’s Tyler Guerra got a 5-2 decision over Washington Community’s Wyatt Medlin in the third round at 138 and then won a 4-1 decision over Baylor School, TN’s Mathew Hart in the quarterfinals. After getting edged 3-2 in the semifinals by Dublin Coffman, OH’s Omar Ayoub, Guerra had medical forfeits in his final two matches to finish sixth.

The other medalist for coach Jason Potters Fighting Saints was Dom Munaretto, who placed seventh at 113. He got bumped into the consolation bracket following a 7-3 quarterfinal loss to Brecksville, OH’s Rylan Seacrist. He went 2-1 after that, edging Marmion Academy’s Nicholas Garcia 3-2 in the seventh-place match. He won an Ironman title at 106 last season.

IC Catholic Prep’s Michael Calcagno took the hard route to a seventh place at 215 after falling in the first round. Calcagno won five-straight matches in the consolation bracket before losing but then captured a 15-3 win over Crown Point, IN’s Will Clark to capture seventh place.

Nicholas Garcia captured eighth place to lead Marmion Academy. He fell 7-2 in the 113 quarterfinals to Notre Dame, PA’s Ayden Smith and split two close matches before losing 3-2 to Munaretto to take eighth place.

Ten medalists at the Women of Ironman Tournament

Ten Illinois competitors finished in the top eight at their weights at  the inaugural The Women of Ironman, an event which included individuals from 79 schools, that took place at Walsh Jesuit in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. 

Joliet Township had half of those medalists and that helped it to a seventh-place finish with 64 points and Loyola Academy took 15th place with 31.5 points. Hononegah (19), Joliet Catholic Academy (16) and Bolingbrook (15) also competed and they all had medal winners.

IWCOA Coach of the Year Liz Short’s Joliet Township co-op, which includes athletes from Joliet Central and Joliet West, were led by a third-place finish from Fernanda Miranda (235) while Eliana Paramo (115) placed fourth, Chloe Wong (105) took sixth, Vanessa O’Connor (145) was seventh and Bianca Campos (170) took eighth.

Also finishing in third place were Loyola Academy’s Harlee Hiller (115), Hononegah’s Angelina Cassioppi (125) and Bolingbrook’s Katie Ramirez-Quintero (135) while Joliet Catholic Academy’s Cheya Bishop (170) placed fifth and Loyola Academy’s Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (110) took sixth place.

Hiller won by fall in 4:31 in the 115 quarterfinals over Tri-Valley, OH’s Kandice Spry but then dropped a 6-4 decision to Bultler, PA’s Ana Malovich in the semifinals. Bouncing back with a fall, Hiller captured third place with another fall, this one in 1:54 over Paramo. Hiller ranked second overall with 43 total match points and tied for fourth place with 18 points in one match.

Cassioppi won a 14-4 major decision in the 125 quarterfinals over Tulsa Union, OK’s Aiyiana Perkins but then dropped a 7-4 decision to NorthMont, OH’s Lacie Knick in the semifinals. Following a 5-0 decision, she met Perkins again for third and won a 2-0 decision.

Ramirez-Quintero won 7-1 in the 135 quarterfinals over Harrison, OH’s Lilly Kinsel before falling 4-2 by sudden victory in the semifinals to Blair Academy, NJ’s Corryenne McNulty. She won a major decision and then beat Kinsel again, this time 7-5, in the third-place match.

Miranda got pinned in 0:17 by Tulsa Union, OK’s Azreal Smith in the 235 quarterfinals. But she assured herself of advancing to the third-place mat with a first-period fall and then won with another pin, in 4:19, over Olentangy Orange, OH’s Jenny Huaracha-Arellanos.

Paramo fell in the quarterfinals to Bultler, PA’s Ana Malovich but then won three in a row, which included two falls, to compete in the third-place match at 115 against Hiller, who pinned her in 1:54.

Bishop fell in the 170 quarterfinals to Loveland, OH’s Elizabeth Madison but won three of her final four matches with falls to take fifth place. Nidelea-Polanin lost her opener at 110 and then had to win twice, which included a 4-3 decision, to help her finish sixth.

Wong won by fall in 2:39 over Tulsa Union, OK’s Skylar Tran in the 105 quarterfinals before getting pinned in 1:16 by Harrison, OH’s Chloe Dearwester in the semifinals. But she was unable to win her next two matches, losing by fall in both, to place sixth.

O’Connor lost in the 145 quarterfinals to Columbia, OH’s Youstina Hanna and then split her two matches to take seventh while Campos fell in the 170 quarterfinals to Erie Prep Academy, PA’s Alexandra Alli and won her next match before losing the next two to place eighth.

Brother Rice edged for title at Pueblo East Invitational

Brother Rice put up a good fight in its quest to win the Pueblo East Invitational in Pueblo, Colorado but the host team prevailed by a 160-158.5 margin to claim top honors in the 19-team competition.

Leading the way for coach Jan Murzyn’s runner-up Crusaders was Mac Murzyn, who took second place at 285 after getting pinned in 1:05 by Centarus, CO’s Xavier Valentin-Bradford. Brother Rice had six third-place finishers as well as two more who took fourth place.

Finishing in third place for the runner-u Crusaders were James Bennett (132), Jack O’Connor (144), Gambino Perez (165), Colin Goggin (175), James Crane (190) and Nick Baser (215) while Dan Tait (106) and Oliver Davis (138) both claimed fourth place. Baser ranked second in most pins in the least time with four in 4:39. 

Quincy Senior has two champions at Baltzley Invitational

Owen Uppinghouse (165) and Bryor Newbold (175) both captured titles for Quincy Senior at the Baltzley Invitational, a 13-team invite that was held in Johnston, Iowa. The Blue Devils finished eighth in the tournament. Uppinghouse won a 9-8 decision over Johnston, IA’s Jacob Helgeson in the 165 finals and Newbold claimed a 4-1 decision over Waverly-Shell Rock, IA’s Braxten Westendorf in the 175 finals.

Triad places third at Hazelwood West Girls Tournament

Although Triad and Belleville East didn’t have many competitors in the event, both teams had two champions at the 12-team Hazelwood West Girls Tournament, which took place in Hazelwood, Missouri.

Triad claimed third with 61 points and placed all of its five entrants in the top five with Kelsey Davis (115) and Harmony Martin (145) winning titles in the round-robin competition. Daisy Smith (120) took third place and Imani Hawkins (135) finished fourth. Davis and Martin won all four of their matches with falls.

Belleville East only had two individuals participating, and both Alexcia Hardin (110) and Kami Ratcliff (155) won championships. Hardin recorded four falls and Ratcliff had pins in both of her matches.

By Bobby Narang for the IWCOA

The 2023 Tom Dubois varsity wrestling meet was a must-see event on Saturday at Richmond-Burton High School.

Tucked away in the northern portion of the state, just a few miles away from hoops haven Hebron and a 10-minute drive to the Wisconsin border, this year’s version of the Tom Dubois featured some of the top wrestlers from area high schools all aiming to make a memorable mark early in December.

One team, in particular, had Dec. 9 circled as a key testing ground: Wauconda.

The Class 2A school had not won the prestigious meet in several years, according to Wauconda coach Trevor Jauch.

The Bulldogs came into the season with high expectations, mainly due to a strong group of returnees along with some promising newcomers. That potential showed on Saturday.

The Bulldogs cruised to the team title, compiling 210 points to blow past second-place Hampshire (166.5), Crystal Lake South (147), Jacobs (142) and host Richmond-Burton (136). Wheaton Academy just missed the top-five cut, finishing with 120 points for sixth place. Johnsburg placed seventh (79), Lake Forest took eighth (71), while Grayslake North (65) and Marengo (58) rounded out the top 10 teams in the 18-team field.

The Bulldogs placed third last season.

“I can’t remember the last time we won (this meet),” Jauch said, smiling. “Our team is starting to come together. We had a good showing at the Barrington tournament, where we took fifth, the highest Class 2A team. We are starting to wrestle finally how we want to wrestle. We didn’t hold onto leads and try to put on more points. Our guys are starting to buy into scoring points.

“Gavin Rockey had a great tournament, so did Nate Randall. Both put a lot of points up on the board. They both got the job done. Nick Cheshier lost his finals match, but he wrestled a good tournament. Cole Porten also wrestled well. We had several strong performances up and down the lineup. Freshman Brian Hart took third at 132 but he could’ve easily been at the top of the podium. At 190, Mike Merevick is starting to turn some heads as well. He’s starting to put things together.”

Hampshire coach Matthew Todd also had reason to smile, but due to some other factors. While Todd was being interviewed following Saturday’s meet, several of his wrestlers had some fun trying to distract him.
“We had some consistency from our wrestlers,” Todd said. “They all showed up and did the work they needed to do and were aggressive. That’s been our mantra all year, just being aggressive and going after it. At 285, Joey Ochoa did very well for us. At 138, Logan Campbell did very well in his first tournament of the year. Our freshman at 190, Carter Hintz, stepped up and showed he could do very well. He’s a big freshman. It was another great tournament. We’re excited about what the next one holds for us.”
Richmond-Burton’s Emmett Nelson earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award for the lower weights by winning the 144-pound weight class, while Crystal Lake South’s Andy Burburija claimed the award at the upper weights.

Tom Dubois championship match breakdowns:

106 – Gavin Rockey, Wauconda

Wauconda’s Gavin Rockey (11-1) had to work for his title, ending a long and arduous match with a 15-2 major-decision victory over Jacobs’ Kristian Declercq in the title match.
“I just pushed the pace a lot today,” Rockey said. “I was trying to push the pace after the Barrington tournament. It was a lot slower out there at Barrington. I just realized I had to open up and push the pace. My coach talked about going out there strong.”
Rockey, a junior, said he’s aiming to top last season’s run, when he finished in second place at the Class 2A meet at 106. Rockey finished with a 29-6 record last season, losing to Grayslake Central’s Anthony Alanis in the state championship match.
“I feel pretty good right now,” Rockey said. “I definitely want to win state this year.”
Crystal Lake South’s Christopher Talbert won by fall in the third-place mat against Wheaton Academy’s Buckley Kazmierczak.

113 – Eric Bush, Johnsburg

Eric Bush was part of a strong wave of freshmen wrestlers who shined at Richmond-Burton. After a strong showing in junior high school, Bush continues to showcase his vast potential early in his career. He recorded a workmanlike 6-0 decision over Lake Forest’s Charlie Biddle to win the title at 113 pounds.

“I feel good about today,” Bush said. “I had to work hard in the finals. He was a tough kid. I felt strong and pretty good in the match. I worked hard from last year, but I know I still have to put in extra work to get better.”

In the third-place match, Hampshire sophomore Lou Jensen posted a 13-5 major-decision victory over Jacobs’ Anthony Martinez.

120 – Nate Randle, Wauconda

Sophomore Nate Randle played a big part in helping the Bulldogs pick up some early momentum with his 18-6 major-decision conquest over Jacobs’ Ben Arbotante in the title mat.

“The key for me was practicing my attacks,” Randle said. “Lately, I’ve been scared in my matches. My second match was my best match. I got through most of my attacks. I know if I get through most of my attacks, I can win now.”

Randle said he was happy to play a major role in his team capturing the title, especially since he missed last season’s Tom Dubois meet due to an injury. Randle is coming off a big first season wrestling, when he placed second at 113 pounds in Class 2A. He recorded a 31-9 record last season, losing a close 3-2 decision to Chatham Glenwood’s Drew Davis in the title match.

Randle said he’s slowly rounding himself into top form.

“It feels great,” Randle said. “I was out only a week and a half last year, but it was during this time. I kept thinking I could’ve won this tournament and help our team win it, so this feels great.”
Richmond-Burton’s Clay Madula knocked off Hampshire’s Andrew Salmeiri via a pin in the first period to take third place.

126 – Lincoln Hoger, Wheaton Academy

Lincoln Hoger gained a major confidence builder with a tough victory over Wauconda’s Lucas Galdine in the title match.

“I kept pushing through in the hard moments and didn’t give up when I was down,” Hoger said, a sophomore.

Also a lacrosse player, Hoger (12-3) said he didn’t have a highlight match but was happy with his consistency throughout Saturday’s difficult meet.

“I started the season a little bit slow, but it’s been picking up every day in practice and it keeps getting better,” Hoger said.

North Boone junior Gavin Ekberg pinned Richmond-Burton’s Kyan Gunderson for the third-place medal.

132 – Will Hupke, Wheaton Academy

Senior Will Hupke pinned Jacobs senior Antuan Barfield for the championship at 132 to improve his record on the season to 7-2. Hupke had a big cut under his left eye, but said the injury occurred on Tuesday.

“My eye didn’t bother me,” Hupke said, cracking a smile.

Hupke said he’s healthy and primed for a big push in the next few months.“I felt I wrestled really well on top and worked my stuff and worked my angles,” Hupke said. “I feel excited since we’re nearing the middle of the season. I’m excited for the rest of the season.”Freshman Brian Hart, of Wauconda, defeated Crystal Lake South’s Devyn Carrillo for third place.

138 – Cooper Daun, Wauconda

Wauconda senior Cooper Daun cruised to a 13-6 win over Hampshire’s Logan Campbell to win the championship at 138 pounds.

Daun said he’s a perfect 3-for-3 in picking up titles at the Dubois.

“It feels good to win,” Daun said. “I just tried to score as many points as possible. Everybody on the team wanted to just put on a show. My first match felt good, so that started me going. It was a good day. I need to finish my takedowns more and just be more aggressive.”

Crystal Lake South’s Brockton Miller, a sophomore, earned an 8-1 decision over Wheaton Academy’s Oscar Smith.

144 – Emmett Nelson, Richmond-Burton

Richmond-Burton junior Emmett Nelson received a big round of applause for his showing at the medal stand, helping the home team pick up some key points. Nelson pinned Wauconda senior Logan Andrews to win the 144-pound title.

Nelson made a splash on the mat – and off the mat. He donned a big wig on the podium to celebrate his big day.

“I had to get it, and now wear it to every meet,” he said. “I got a good pace going today. I don’t like low scoring matches. It’s boring to watch, so I try and score as many points as I can. I really wanted to see what I could do in my finals match and see how many points I could score. I have to keep my conditioning and confidence up. It’s huge to win here.”

Wheaton Academy sophomore Tyler Jones won by fall over Johnsburg senior Erik Bate for third place.

150 – Cole Porten, Wauconda

Wauconda senior Cole Porten (13-2) rolled to the title in his weight class, ending with a 9-1 major-decision over Wheaton Academy junior Chasen Kazmierczak in the title match. Porten was so focused on his matches that he joked that he couldn’t remember the reasons for his success, especially so soon after his finals victory.

“I felt really good about today,” Porten said. “I don’t know yet what I’m happy about. I’m still figuring that out. I’m just going to keep watching film.”

Richmond-Burton senior Isaac Jones claimed an 8-4 win over Rockford Auburn junior Arshoun Island on the third-place mat.

157 – Seth Digby, Lake Forest

One of the best and most anticipated matches took place at 157 pounds. Lake Forest senior Seth Digby and Wauconda senior Nick Cheshier hooked up for a must-see match on Mat 1. Digby (11-0) kept his record spotless with a 7-5 decision over Cheshier (11-2).

But Digby had a small bloody gash over his left eye.

“That just keeps coming back,” Digby said of the blood mark over his eye.
Digby was intense in his title match, even keeping a determined attitude following the victory.
“I felt good in that title match,” Digby said. “I put in a lot of work in the offseason, preseason and in the season. I feel all that hard work is starting to pay off. I just tried to remind myself that I’m working harder than all my opponents.

“I have to keep working hard, and maybe work on some top. Overall, I feel great. The weight cut hasn’t been too bad. I’ve been able to manage it well.”

Grayslake North junior Jacob Ronsman won by fall over Jacobs senior Casey Lechuga on the third-place mat.

165 – Brady Brewick, Genoa-Kingston

A few minutes after Digby won his weight class, Genoa-Kingston senior Brady Brewick took a different approach to his title win at 165. He celebrated with a his family, taking in a few hugs and smiles from his teammates to cherish the milestone.

Brewick, a senior who also plays football, pinned Hampshire’s Michael Brannigan to claim the title at 165.
“I felt good out there in the last match,” he said. “I felt I was dominating the whole match even though it was low scoring in the first period. I knew once I controlled my ties and took over that I was going to win my match. I’m feeling great so far. I took a rough loss in my first meet of the season. I’ve been working hard since that. It pushed me hard. I knew I was better than that.

Brewick, who said he rarely leaves the field in football, is excited about his senior wrestling season after missing most of last season with an injury.

“I worked really hard in the offseason,” he said. “I had a couple of weeks before the start of wrestling after football ended. My goal this year is to win a state championship. I lost in the blood round in sectionals last year, so I’m motivated. I was out about five weeks last year but came back a week before regionals. It feels great to be healthy. I feel at the top of my game, seeing some good progress with some more stuff to improve on.”

Johnsburg freshman Duke Mays snared an 8-4 win over Jacobs’ Daniel Mendez in the third-place bout.

175 – Kaden Combs, Woodstock North

Woodstock North senior Kaden Combs cruised to a 7-2 win over Crystal Lake South senior Caden Casimino in the 175-pound title match. Combs (15-1) is off to solid start, ending his day with a momentum-building win.

Hampshire junior Aidan Rowells won by a 7-2 major decision against Jacobs sophomore Johnny Strauss in the third-place match.

190 – Carter Hintz, Hampshire

Hampshire freshman Carter Hintz is living up to his potential. A tall and strong wrestler, Hintz pinned Richmond-Burton senior Alex Reyna for the 190-pound title. Hintz (12-3) said he didn’t have any projections for Saturday’s last match, taking a see-how-it-goes approach.

“I just tried hard and wrestled hard,” Hintz said. “The last match was probably my best one. I kind of went in doubting myself, so I kind of surprised myself. I don’t even know why (I doubted myself). I knew he was a tough wrestler.”

Wauconda junior Mike Merevick won by fall in the third-place mat against Rockford Auburn’s Joshua Nabors.

215 – Dominic Ariola, Crystal Lake South

Crystal Lake South senior Dominic Ariola remained somewhat shocked by his performance on Saturday, even after receiving his first-place medal at 215 pounds. Ariola celebrated his pin victory over Rockford Jefferson’s Karlondo Dubois with a memorable celebration.

“I just kept working hard and pushed through and mentally stayed focused the whole time,” Ariola said. “This feels great. I’ve come a long way. I’ve put in a lot of hard work. I’m glad it paid off.”

Ariola (9-2) admitted he was shocked by his stellar day.

“I had a good first-round matchup and had a solid match in my first match to go up,” Ariola said. “I didn’t have any expectations for today, so it felt great to place number one. Now, I’m trying to get down to sectionals and state.”

At third place, Lake Forest sophomore Yaree Sandifer (13-5) won via pin over Richmond-Burton freshman Breckin Campbell.

285 – Andy Burburija, Crystal Lake South

Crystal Lake South senior Andy Burburija wrapped up a long day and a solid day – for himself – by pinning Hampshire senior Joey Ochoa in the 285 final. Burburija (9-0), who plays on the offensive and defensive lines in football, said he was happy to end his day with a title.

“He was good on his feet, but it was finals, so I just took my time and see if my shot was there,” Burburija said. “I felt pretty good in all of my matches today. I can’t believe it’s almost the middle of December so far. It’s gone so fast.”

Durand senior Domani Orto (9-1) closed out his day by pinning Grayslake North freshman Anthony Metzel in the third-place bout.

===============================
Tom Dubois championship match results:

106 – Gavin Rockey (Wauconda) 15-2 MD Kristian Declercq (Jacobs)

113 – Eric Bush (Johnsburg) D 6-0 Charlie Biddle (Lake Forest)

120 – Nate Randle (Wauconda) 18-6 MD Ben Arbotante (Jacobs)

126 – Lincoln Hoger (Wheaton Academy) SV-1 7-5 Lucas Galdine (Wauconda)

132 – Will Hupke (Wheaton Academy) F 0:45 Antuan Barfield (Jacobs)

138 – Cooper Daun (Wauconda) D 13-6 Logan Campbell (Hampshire)

144 – Emmett Nelson (Richmond-Burton) F 3:31 Logan Andrews (Wauconda)

150 – Cole Porten (Wauconda) MD 9-1 Chasen Kazmierczak (Wheaton Academy)

157 – Seth Digby (Lake Forest) D 7-5 Nick Cheshier (Wauconda)

165 – Brady Brewick (Genoa-Kingston) F 3:07 Michael Brannigan (Hampshire)

175 – Kaden Combs (Woodstock North), D 7-2 Caden Casimino (Crystal Lake South)

190 – Carter Hintz (Hampshire) F 1:47 Alex Reyna (Richmond-Burton)

215 – Dominic Ariola (Crystal Lake South) F 5:08 Karlondo Dubois (Rockford Jefferson)

285 – Andy Burburija (Crystal Lake South) F. 3:55 Joey Ochoa (Hampshire)

Final team scores: 1. Wauconda (210) 2. Hampshire (166.5) 3. Crystal Lake South (147) 4. Jacobs (142) 5. Richmond-Burton (136) 6. Wheaton Academy (120) 7. Johnsburg (79) 8. Lake Forest (71) 9. Grayslake North (65) 10. Marengo (58) 11. Genoa-Kingston (49) 12. Auburn (47) 13. Jefferson (42) 14. Woodstock (39) 15. Durand (34.5) 16. North Boone (33) 17. Woodstock North (29.5) 18. Winnebago (14).

Bison win Rex Lewis for the first time

By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA

In a wrestling program that has produced state champions such as Lindsey Durlacher, Nick Blackshaw, and Kyle Czarnecki, Buffalo Grove has never in its history been able to lift the championship trophy at its own Rex Lewis Invite.

Rex Lewis, a wonderful man who gave so much of his time to so many activities in the school —including becoming president of the first Bison Booster Club in 1973 — became a big fan of the sport of wrestling as all four of his sons competed while at Buffalo Grove.

The first Rex Lewis tournament was held in 1976, and at that time it was the first dual meet tournament in the state of Illinois. It became an individual event in 1992.

So from the very beginning in 1976 until Saturday afternoon in the Buffalo Grove gymnasium, not one Bison team had claimed the top prize until George Beres’ club did so.

During a day when several teams took turns atop the leader board, it was the Bison who took control for good when senior Caden Watson pinned his man in the 195-pound final to officially close out the field for good.

Watson and his teammates finished with 166.5 overall points, with last year’s champion Schaumburg chasing 12 points and ending the day in second place with 154.5 points.

Elk Grove (146.5), Morris (140.0) and St. Patrick (136.0) rounded out the top five, each of which found themselves on top of the field at one time or another.

“It’s just a great feeling to win our own tournament, and it sounds like for the first time ever in program history,” said an elated Watson.

“It was a real team effort, which is something you need in order to win a tournament championship, so it’s something we should all be very proud of.”

“Last year we ended way down the list at this tournament, and looking back, we’ve never been very close to the top 2-3 teams,” began Bison head coach George Beres.

“Just last night we lost to Hersey in a dual. But the guys came in here today so focused on putting together a real team effort, and that’s exactly what they did.

“When we came in last year as a new coaching staff, it was clear we needed everyone to buy into what we were selling – and the boys have done just that with zero-hour workouts, guys making the commitment to train at great clubs outside of high school, and just dedicating themselves to the program and their teammates.

“Last week we beat fantastic programs like Barrington and Huntley to win our own jayvee tournament. That really provided the inspiration for the rest of the guys who saw our jayvee put a great effort in to finish on top of seventeen other teams.”

Watson appreciated the lesson his boys can learn from winning Saturday’s tournament.

“This is something we can build from, but everyone knows there is a lot of work and wrestling ahead of us. But we can all now see the hard work will pay off if we continue to put the work in,” Watson said.

Rex Lewis championship match breakdowns:

106 – Owen Sater, Morris 

Morris sophomore Owen Sater got the final round off and running following his 3-1 decision over top seed Daniel Goodwin of St. Patrick to win the 106-pound crown.

Sater (13-1) who came in as the No. 3 seed would start down in the second period, earn one point for his escape then add to his lead later on before conceding an escape to Goodwin, who entered the tournament as the No. 4 man in 2A at 106.

“(Goodwin) was a real tough opponent,” Goodwin said, “So it was important to wrestle smart, and to stay cool and calm, especially in that third period when I knew if I could ride him out that I would win the match,”

Sater did indeed ride out Goodwin for the last two minutes before time.

Sater, a sectional qualifier a year ago with a 16-7 record despite missing time to a concussion, opened his day with a pin at 2:27, then sent off No. 2 Austin Phelps from Schaumburg in their semifinal with yet another pin at 3:15. That booked his place in the finals opposite Goodwin, who is now 12-1 on the season.

Sam Sikorsky (Geneva, 13-5) majored Austin Phelps (Schaumburg, 11-3) in the third place match, and Ermuun Urtanasan (Glenbrook South, 10-3) earned fifth place honors due to a forfeit.

113 – Brock Claypool, Morris

Brock Claypool made quick work of all three of his opponents to easily win the 113-pound title.

The Morris freshman needed just over three minutes to finish off the competition, including his super-quick pin of No. 2 seed Bryce Mensik (Lake Park, 11-3) in 39 seconds to move his overall record to a sparkling 14-0.

Claypool won by fall at 0:50 in his quarterfinal match, then won by fall at 1:50 in his semifinal match against Geneva’s Andrew Hosman. Mensik also used a pair of pins to reach the finals, with a fall at 4:58 in his semifinal against Glenbrook North’s Ayaan Rizwan.

Rizwan (10-3)) finished his day on a high note when he recorded a 16-1 technical fall result over Hosman to earn third-place honors, while Savion Essiet (Romeoville) grabbed fifth place after his fall at 3:05 against Dawson Horvath from Buffalo Grove.

120 – Brian Farley, Romeoville

Romeoville senior Brian Farley (10-0) gave his club its lone title of the day following his 5-1 decision over St. Patrick sophomore Calvin Stahl (11-2) in a contest of the top two seeds in this weight division.

“It’s nice to win here, but I could have been much more aggressive than I was in my final, especially in the second period after I got that escape to go up 3-0,” admitted Farley, who was a state qualifier a year ago, finishing up at 23-7.

“My first two guys at state ended up state medal winners (Teddy Flores, Damian Recendez), but even though I went 0-2 there, the experience of getting downstate will really help me this year,” said Farley, ranked No. 4 in the latest state polls.

Trent Tono (12-2) from Niles North won third place via a forfeit, while Bryan Sanchez (Schaumburg) pinned Ammar Khan from Glenbrook South for fifth place.

126 – Grant Madl, Elk Grove

Grant Madl could have easily been the OWA choice on the day after his dominating effort en route to his second consecutive Rex Lewis title.

The Elk Grove senior opened with a fall at 1:59, followed by a 19-3 tech-fall before closing out his championship day with an impressive 10-0 major of Jaxon Jorgensen from Mt. Carmel.

“There is no doubt three straight blood-round losses at sectionals has motivated me to do whatever it takes to get downstate,” fifth-ranked Madl said. “I feel if I continue to work hard, stay the course in my training at school, and Izzy Style, while staying healthy,  there’s no doubt I’ll be on the podium in Champaign.”

Madl, now 15-1, who competed at Preseason Nationals and Beat the Streets, trains six, and sometimes seven days a week. He has impressed Elk Grove coach Dan Vargas with his commitment to excellence.

“Grant has beaten No. 7 Drew Fifield, and No. 8 Zev Koransky (OPRF) and recently lost to the No. 1 guy in 2A (Josh Vasquez) from Montini in overtime at the Neuqua Valley Invite for his only loss,” Vargas said. “You can see from his increased extra time in and out of the room has prepared him for his senior year.”

Cameron Engels (Bartlett, 11-4) majored Michael Shick (Glenbrook South, 10-4) in the third place match, and Sergio Hernandez (Lake Park, 14-4) came back to pin Daniel Derevlyak (Palatine) for fifth place overall.

132 – Carter Skoff, Morris

The third and final individual title for Morris came from top-seeded Carter Skoff, who is now 13-1 on the season following his pin of Justin Cortes-Apolinar of Schaumburg.

The Morris junior lost in his blood-round match a year ago at Burlington Central and finished up with a 30-16 record. He needed just 4:40 spanning three victories to pin his way to the title.

“I was in a tough regional last year at (120) but it was still a little disappointing not advancing into sectionals,” Skoff said.

“But not qualifying really helped push me to put in a lot of time during the offseason, getting a lot of extra time on the mat and competing at tournaments against really good competition. So I feel like I’m ready this year to get downstate.”

Romeoville junior Alan Amaya finished third after his 6-5 decision over JR Leach (Lake Park) and Dulguun Nyamdavaa (Maine North, 10-2) finished fifth after his 16-3 major decision victory over David Sartoev (9-4) from Buffalo Grove.

138 – Rocco Fontela, Schaumburg

Schaumburg senior Rocco Fontela proved too much for the rest of his opponents at 138 by recording a pair of pins on each side of a 5-0 win in his semifinal to capture his first major of the season.

“I felt good out there today. I’m bigger, stronger, and have a better understanding of what I need to do in order to get downstate after falling short last year,” opined Fontela, now 10-4 after his pin at 5:27 over No. 3 seed Aiden Fladeland (10-3) from Glenbrook South.

After helping his club win the Streamwood regional last season with a regional title of his own, Fontela lost in the blood round at the Conant sectional to dash his hopes of a trip to Champaign.

“It didn’t feel good after my 6-5 loss at sectionals, so I made the decision to put in the extra work during the offseason so it wouldn’t happen again,” said Fontela.

Bartlett junior Nick Barton (11-6) recorded a 10-3 decision over Rodrigo Gonzalez of Romeoville for third place honors, and Maxwell Turner (Buffalo Grove) pinned Damari Miller (Larkin, 10-4) for fifth place.

144 – Niko Karamaniolas, St. Patrick

Niko Karamaniolas got off to a flying start on Saturday, needing just 46 seconds to advance into the semifinals at 144.

However, once there the St. Patrick senior kept the Shamrocks’ faithful on the edge of their collective seats. It began with a thrilling 6-4 sudden death victory over state-ranked Tyler Semlar of Morris.

Karamaniolas then made sure the stress level stayed at its peak during his exciting 9-8 decision in the 144-pound final with No. 1 seed Callen Kirchner of Schaumburg. Two thrilling wins helped Karamaniolas not only win his second straight Rex Lewis title, but also earn OWA honors at the end of the day.

“My semifinal and final were such tough matches against two really great guys,” began Karamaniolas (8-1) who came into the tournament as the No. 6-rated man in 2A at 144.

“Our weight class was really tough. I was able to get my semifinal back to 4-4 with a third period takedown, and get another in overtime, which felt really good.

St. Patrick coach Dominic Angelo was happy to see his senior win Saturday’s title.

“Niko lost to the Vernon Hills kid (Jack McGowean) in the semi’s last year at sectionals, so to get past him in his first match was big,” Angelo said.

“And Semlar beat him in late October at the BTS Preseason tournament, so I told him at the start of the day that he needed to be in state-tournament mode right from the start.”

Karamaniolas cut Kirchner’s lead to 4-3 with a reversal to start the third period but Kirchner —No. 4 in 3A at 144 — went ahead at 7-3 to take over the contest.

“I never felt out of the match, but I also knew I had to do something soon to help give me a chance,” admitted Karamaniolas.

“Niko was able to respond by staying composed, and trusting his training,” Angelo said, “I knew from that and his body language, good things were about to happen for him in that final.”

The final, frantic 30 seconds saw Karamaniolas reverse Kirchner to make it 7-5. He cut Kirchner to make it 8-5; plenty of pace and purpose saw Karamaniolas cut his deficit to 8-7 before his double sent Kirchner to his back just before the final buzzer for the win. 

“Niko had a phenomenal day in what I felt was the deepest weight class of the tournament,” Angelo said. “When I saw the brackets, we knew it would not be an easy day at all.”

Tyler Semlar (13-2) majored Andrew Haritos (Glenbrook South, 12-3) for third place, and Lake Park senior Vince Merola (10-3) won by forfeit for fifth place.

150 – Gavin Hinkle, Schaumburg

Schaumburg’s unseeded Gavin Hinkle sent off the number three- and four-seeds and then ended the hopes of the top-seed, Lake Park’s Chase Hofstetter, with a hard-fought 6-4 decision to win the crown at 150.

Hinkle (6-5), who like teammate Rocco Fontela, fell short in the blood round at sectionals, saw his sophomore season end with a very respectable 25-15 record, but was unable to get a ticket to Champaign.

“Yeah, it was disappointing not getting downstate, but I learned from last year and have carried it into this year that you have to go out and stay composed and just grind out those tough matches if you want to win,” Hinkle said.

Hinkle found himself chasing a 4-0 advantage built by Hofstetter (9-5) midway through the first period, but got back level at 4-4 with a minute before time. The Saxons junior went ahead for good with 30 seconds remaining and would stay busy with a hard ride to ensure victory.

Buffalo Grove’s Sonny Tugs (6-4) won 2-1 in a tiebreaker over Palatine’s Alan Allende in the third place match and Glenbrook South’s Ilan Ruderman (9-3) pinned St. Patrick’s Sebastian Bruno in 3:33 for fifth place.

157 – Van Grasser, St. Patrick

Van Grasser went out early in his 157 final with Elk Grove’s Anthony Macina and never looked back as the St. Patrick sophomore claimed the second title for the Shamrocks with a pin at 4:38.

After a scoreless first period, Grasser (13-4), who earlier came back from a 5-0 first period deficit to defeat the Geneva’s top-seed Peyton Marzen in the semifinals, reversed Macina (11-7) midway through the third period to go up 6-2 in advance of his early third period pin.

“Van’s performances have gotten better each week, in three tournaments he’s gone from fifth, to fourth, to the top of the podium,” said the proud Shamrocks head coach, Dominic Angelo.

“He was really tested in his semifinal, getting caught on his back, and eventually finding himself down 7-2 heading into the third period. He kept pushing the pace, which saw him outscoring his opponent (9-1) in the third period to win 11-8 to move on.”

“His final wasn’t picture perfect, but again, he stayed level headed, kept the pace high, and just like the semifinals, it was just a matter of time until dominated for the pin, and title,” added Angelo.

“(His) skill has visually improved with each week and he’s not even at 20 percent of his full potential, but he did well when tested in his last two matches.”

Marzen (15-4) pinned Schaumburg’s Kolin Little (9-6) in 0:44 to take third place and Glenbrook South’s Henry Downing (13-3) won by fall in 5:46 over Morris’ Andrew Paull (11-5) to finish fifth.

165 – Chris Chi, Buffalo Grove

Chris Chi has been a pleasant surprise in the Buffalo Grove room, who welcomed back the junior after a year away from the sport.

Chi (9-2) began his successful journey to the 165 title with a pin at 1:40, then got wins by technical fall over his next two opponents before recording a pin at 1:57 over the top-seed, Vernon Hills’ Ilia Dvoriannikov (5-1), a 2022 2A state qualifier, to capture the first of two titles on the day for the Bison.

“I’m just trying to work as hard as I can in the room with my partners, and coaching staff, and to be the very best that I can,” said Chi, who only began in the sport in seventh grade.

“Chris is easily one of the hardest workers in the room, day in and day out, he trains the same way every morning in zero hour, then in P.E. lifting class,” Bison coach George Beres said.

“One of the most impressive things about Chris is after being away for a year, his teammates have looked to him as one of our leaders, and the guy who will go out and compete full speed, full intensity for six minutes. The best thing about him is he is just a phenomenal young man.”

Chi turned this weight class upside-down, as the top two seeds, Dvoriannikov and Geneva’s Cam McGoarty, didn’t meet in the final.

Lake Park’s Max Mohapp (6-3) pinned McGoarty (12-7) in 4:17 in the third-place match and Morris’ Ian Wills (8-8) won by fall in 2:55 over Glenbrook South’s Drew Philbrick (9-6) for fifth.

175 – Benny Schlosser, Elk Grove

Benny Schlosser found himself in a whole lot of trouble in his 175-pound final with the No. 2 seed, Mason Gougis, when he trailed the Romeoville senior by a near-insurmountable 10-2 deficit with one minute left in the third period.

However, the Elk Grove senior found his chance to strike and moments later, he would stun his opponent with a pin at 5:11 to claim the second of three championship trophies for the Grenadiers.

“I wasn’t able to do much of anything for most of the match, but it turned out to be a happy ending for me,” said an elated Schlosser, who is now 12-3 on the season.

“I knew I had to do something so I just ‘jacked-him-up and felt the opening to strike,” added Schlosser, who conceded two straight takedowns to begin the third period to fall far behind Gougis (7-3), who was a state qualifier and a Lewis Invite champ a year ago.

Glenbrook North’s Kieran O’Sullivan (9-4) was a winner by fall in 1:18 over St. Patrick’s Devin Nichol (12-7) in the third-place match and Niles North’s Dionisi Ballas (14-3) pinned Buffalo Grove’s Jaime Garay in 5:22 to claim fifth place.

190 – Caden Watson, Buffalo Grove

You would be hard pressed to believe after first glance that Caden Watson competes at 190 as the Buffalo Grove senior has the size and muscle of a much larger wrestler.

All of that strength, now combined with a lot more technique, helped lead Watson to pin his way into the 190-pound final in his home gym, where he overwhelmed Palatine’s Trey Wildlowski with a win by technical fall at 5:14.

“It feels great to win this title and the team title in our home gym, it proves that hard work, commitment and dedication to the sport eventually pays off,” said Watson, who has high hopes of attending West Point next fall.

“I always felt I was one of the strongest guys out there, but I found out how important technique really was. So I’ve spent a lot of time improving that part of my game but I also know there’s a lot of work ahead of me if I want to continue to have success,” added Watson, now 10-1 with his lone defeat to Prospect’s top-rated Jaxon Penovich.

“Jaxon is at a whole other level, but I’ll keep working to put myself in position to get downstate, then see what happens when I get there,.” Watson said.

Glenbrook South’s Nathan Crecan (8-2), who was unseeded, beat the top-seed, Larkin’s Joshua Castillo (10-4) 2-1 to take third place. And the  No. 2 seed, Elk Grove’s Mo Burt (5-1), also won a 2-1 decision to capture fifth place over Bartlett’s James Smrha (10-5).

215 – Joe Pettit, Geneva

Geneva senior Joe Pettit followed in the footsteps of his friend, John Schmidt, by lifting a Rex Lewis championship crown one year after his former teammate collected the top prize at 195.

“John was a great partner and friend in the room, and he’s having a great year at Harper Community College right now, so I am looking forward to training with him during our holiday break,” said Pettit, who was third at 120 last season in the Lewis Invite and later dropped his state opener to the eventual 3A champion, Yorkville’s Ben Alvarez.

Pettit, who reminded that he lost to Elk Grove’s Dylan Berkowitz in his sectional semifinal last season, showed little mercy when meeting the top-seeded Berkowitz in his 215 final by recording a pin at just 1:36.

“I wanted to be bigger and stronger for my senior year, so I spent a lot of time doing so during the offseason to get myself downstate once again and get on the podium,” said Pettit, who also plays football.

Pettit (15-2) pinned the No. 2-seed, and a 2022 state qualifier, St. Patrick’s Aiden Gomez, to advance into his final with Berkowitz (13-3), who pinned his way into the last match in lightning speed.

Last year, Schmidt would be joined by Dylan Konkey (160) atop the podium in the event. Both Schmidt, and Joey Sikorsky continue to wrestle on the collegiate level at Harper Community College, while Konkey, and Maguire Hoeksman are doing the same at Carthage College.

Niles North’s Ahmad Musa (13-2) won 3-1 in sudden victory over Gomez (12-6) for third place. St. Patrick’s Jack Clancy (4-1) took fifth place following his pin of Lake Park’s Mathias Ewuoso (10-5) at 5:10.

285 – Mikey Milovich, Elk Grove

It appears as though Mikey Milovich is no longer a surprise in the heavyweight class this season.

The Elk Grove junior ran his record  to 16-0 after dominating his competition with a trio of pins on his way to his first Rex Lewis title.

“This season it’s all about staying cool, calm and composed, using what my speed and quickness to my advantage, while working as hard as I can taking in everything my coaches, Dan Vargas and Steve Polley, throw at me,” said Milovich following his pin in 3:36 over Buffalo Grove senior John Saracco (6-6) in the 285 final.

“Coach (Vargas) and I have a lot of talks in the room about how to approach each match, and those talks have really helped me so much this year. If I stay humble and do the work, I can get myself downstate for sure,” added Milovich, who was an offensive lineman for the Grenadiers in the fall and a recent champion at Neuqua Valley.

Milovich advanced to the Conant Sectional last season, and ended with a 23-11 overall record.

Romeoville’s Jamir Thomas (7-4) pinned Palatine’s Parker Brault (6-2) in 2:48 to claim third place. And Maine East’s Victor Nitchev (9-3) beat Niles North’s Julius Caban (7-5) 6-4 in sudden victory for fifth.

Championship matches for Buffalo Grove’s Rex Lewis Invite

106 – Owen Sater (Morris) D 3-1 Daniel Goodwin (St. Patrick)

113 – Brock Claypool (Morris) F 0:39 Bryce Mensik (Lake Park)

120 – Brian Farley (Romeoville) D 5-1 Calvin Stahl (St. Patrick)

126 – Grant Madl (Elk Grove) MD 10-0 Jaxon Jorgensen (Mount Carmel)

132 – Carter Skoff (Morris) F 1:50 Justin Cortes-Apolinar (Schaumburg)

138 – Rocco Fontela (Schaumburg) F 5:27 Aiden Fladeland (Glenbrook North)

144 – Nikolas Karamaniolas (St. Patrick) D 9-8 Callen Kirchner (Schaumburg)

150 – Gavin Hinkle (Schaumburg) D 6-4 Chase Hofstetter (Lake Park)

157 – Van Grasser (St. Patrick) F 4:38 Anthony Macina (Elk Grove)

165 – Chris Chi (Buffalo Grove) F 1:57 Ilia Dvoriannikov (Vernon Hills)

175 – Benny Schlosser (Elk Grove) F 5:11 Mason Gougis (Romeoville)

190 – Caden Watson (Buffalo Grove) TF 5:14 Trey Wildlowski (Palatine)

215 – Joe Pettit (Geneva) F 1:36 Dylan Berkowitz (Elk Grove)

285 – Mikey Milovich (Elk Grove) F 3:36 John Saracco (Buffalo Grove)

Team standings for Buffalo Grove’s Rex Lewis Invite

1. Buffalo Grove (166.5),  2. Schaumburg (154.5), 3. Elk Grove (146.5) 4. Morris (140), 5. St. Patrick (136), 6. Lake Park (131), 7. Romeoville (127.5), 8. Glenbrook South (124.5), 9. Geneva (97), 10. Glenbrook North (79), 11. Bartlett (78), 12. Palatine (71), 13. Niles North (70.5), 14. Mount Carmel (37), 15. Vernon Hills (33), 16. Larkin (31), 17. Maine East (29).

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Every scoring wrestler for Mundelein who posted any team points whatsoever was obviously vital to the Mustangs’ winning their second consecutive team title at Hoffman Estates’ Mickey Marchese Memorial tournament.

But it was Mundelein’s Celso Cabrera and Abisai Hernandez who provided some late high-drama moments and pivotal bonus points to clinch the Mustangs’ 178.5-175 win over second-place Notre Dame on Saturday.

Cabrera trailed in his title match at 215 before winning by fall, and Hernandez similarly won by fall on the fifth-place mat at 285, giving Mundelein the  tournament team title by a nose.

And where high drama is concerned, it was Cabrera’s come-from-behind fall that loomed largest.

“I think we were behind before (Cabrera’s) match and I think he was the one who officially won it for us,” Mundelein coach Craig Stocker said. “He wrestled his (backside) off for us today.

“We only brought ten guys so we knew it was going to be an uphill battle. Last year we won this tournament and we’ve got a better team this year so I told them if they all came to wrestle, we’d be in a good spot to repeat. And they did. Every single kid got us at least one win and we had eight placers. They got it done.”

Cabrera likes what he’s seeing from this year’s Mustangs.

“We lost some key people from last year but this team is strong,” Cabrera said. “Some of us from last year have gotten better and this year will be a lot better than last year. We’re more experienced and more unified because we’re going through all of it together.”

Homewood-Flossmoor (159.5) finished third in the 17-team tournament, followed by Lane Tech (151) and Stagg (121.5) to round out the top five team finishes.

Mundelein had three individual champions on the day in Ethan Banda (138), Kevin Hernandez (150), and Cabrera (215), plus second-place finishes from Ethan Thomas (157) and Macson Rastrelli (165). 

Banda garnered the most team points for the Mustangs with 28; Kevin Hernandez and Cabrera had 26 team points apiece; and Thomas and Rastrelli posted 24 points apiece for the team.

Pedro Becerra (120) placed third for Mundelein, while Neftali Cernas (113) was fourth and Abisai Hernandez (285) was fifth.

Second-place Notre Dame had six second-place finishers in Ray Long (106), John Sheehy (113), Tim Bridges (144), Sean Adams (175), Jack Malenock (190) and Scott Cook (285). The Dons also got a third from Sean Cook (215) and fifths from John Greifelt (120) and Dean Lazaris (157) for coach Anthony Genovesi.

Third-place Homewood-Flossmoor was led by individual champion Davion Henry (106) and runner-up Khamryn Beaver (215). The Vikings also got thirds from Diondre Henry (113), Brian Ingram (144), and Ian Lawrence (150) for coach Jim Sokoloski.

For the tournament, the most pins in the least time came from Thornton-Fractional North’s Joseph Merritt (157), who had four pins in 3:46. Cary-Grove’s Noah Pechotte’s two tech falls in 7:58 at 157 were the most tech falls in the least time.

Carmel Catholic’s Tony Hinojosa (144) finished with the most team points scored by any wrestler with 29.5; Wheeling’s Alex Nesterenko (132) scored the most points in a single match with 24; and Homewood-Flossmoor’s Brian Ingram (144) scored the most total match points of any wrestler present with 60.

The former Hawk Invite was renamed in 2013 for former Hoffman Estates wrestler and assistant coach Mickey Marchese, who passed away that year. As a wrestler, Marchese was twice a state runner-up for the Hawks in 1985 and ’86 before wrestling collegiately at Illinois State. 

Marchese then spent more than 20 years giving back to the sport as a coach, both at the youth level and as an assistant coach at Hoffman Estates.

Mickey Marchese Memorial tournament championship match breakdowns:

106 – Davion Henry, Homewood-Flossmoor

The first title match of the finals may well have been the most thrilling and dramatic, when H-F junior Davion Henry (8-1) and Notre Dame freshman Ray Long (11-2) squared off at 106. 

Each wrestler posted a pair of takedowns, fifth-seeded Henry twice fought through injury time, and the match ended in a 7-7 tie after three periods. Henry earned a takedown with one second left in overtime to snare a 9-7 decision win over third-seeded Long.

Henry had to dig deep to beat Long, and he pulled it off.

“It was a tough match because I was going into the match cramping, but I wasn’t letting anything stop me because I came here to win it,” Henry said. “I’ve been working hard. My coaches make me work hard so I had to keep pushing through it.”

The late winning takedown was just what the doctor ordered for Henry.

“I knew I had the single. I couldn’t dump it so I got to the upper leg and finished it,” Henry said. “I’m happy with the way I pushed through injury and that I’m working hard.”

Wheeling’s David Perez captured third place with an 8-5 decision over Lane Tech’s Evan Coles, and Wheeling’s Frankie Katz won a 6-4 decision for fifth place against Stagg’s Javier Corral.

113 – Alex Valentin, Lane Tech 

‘Never say never’ seemed to be the theme of the championship round, starting with Valentin’s stunning turn of fortune against Notre Dame’s John Sheehy.

Second-seeded Valentin (14-2) took a 3-2 lead with a takedown before top-seeded Sheehy (9-2) used a takedown and back points to grab a 10-3 lead after one period. Sheehy led 12-4 in the second when Valentin caught him in a bad position, reversed him, and pinned him for the win and the title at the 3:13 mark.

Chasing a big deficit in the match, Valentin stayed calm.

“I’m not thinking about winning and losing, I’m thinking about how I can get my next point, in the next moment,” Valentin said. “I just had to be confident in myself and what I can do.

“I still need to work on my neutral takedown defense — I was below my expectations today but I did so much off-season wrestling that when I got taken down (in the finals) I didn’t worry about it. I was just thinking about the next moment in the match.”

Valentin also sees good things ahead for a Lane Tech team that placed fourth on Saturday.

“My freshman year we were not really a team yet but now the team is compact. When one of us is doing well the expectations now are for all of us to do well.”

Homewood-Flossmoor’s Diondre Henry won a major decision for third place against Mundelein’s Neftali Cernas, and Harlem’s Justin Lewis won by fall for fifth against Cary-Grove’s Peter Hayden.

120 – Aiden Villar, Plainfield East

Second-seeded Villar (3-0) won by fall for the title at the 5:56 mark against eighth-seeded Anas Ahmed (9-3). Villar won a 7-4 decision in his semifinal match against Notre Dame’s John Greifelt, while Ahmed won by fall in his quarterfinal match against top-seeded Pedro Becerra of Mundelein and then won by fall to reach the finals.

Becerra took third place via 12-9 decision against Homewood-Flossmoor’s Roan Dukes, and Greifelt won by major decision for fifth against Maine West’s Logan Battersby.

126 – Robert James Zavala, Lane Tech

Second-seeded Zavala (16-2) posted a pair of takedowns and back points before winning by fall for the title against top-seeded Max Katz (11-2) of Wheeling.

Zavala posted a pin before winning a 13-7 semifinal decision against Carmel’s Matthew Lucansky, while Katz won by first-period fall in his semifinal against Plainfield East’s Nick Polzin.

Lucansky won by fall on the third-place mat against Polzin, and Thornton-Fractional North’s Tamilore Ogundeyi won by fall for fifth place against Cary-Grove’s Ignacio Santander.

132 – Alazar Eyob, Hoffman Estates

There’s a change that comes over a wrestler when he goes from an underclassmen with little experience to an upperclassmen committed to the sport.

“It’s my mentality,” Eyob said after winning a Marchese title at 132. “I used to get scared walking in against certain guys but now I’ve wrestled just as much as they have, I’ve seen them at their worst, and now I know I can beat them at their best.”

Fourth-seeded Eyob (14-3) won by fall over Harlem’s third-seeded Izayah Olejniczak (8-2) to win his title. Eyob had a takedown in each of the first two periods to lead 4-2. He escaped to start the third, posted another takedown off an Olejniczak shot, then turned him for the fall at 5:03.

Eyob opened his tournament with a 7-3 decision and won 8-6 over Plainfield East’s top-seeded Cam McCloskey in their semifinal match to reach the finals.

And one year after ending his junior season with a sub-.500 record, Eyob landed on a recipe that has made him better.

“After my sophomore year I thought lifting was the missing piece but it turns out it was wrestling that I needed,” Eyob said. “So this offseason I wrestled at Gomez RTC and wrestled freestyle and Greco all year. I had 45 (offseason) matches where I only had three or four previously in the offseason.”

Olejniczak pinned second-seeded Alex Nesterenko of Wheeling in their semifinal match to reach the title mat. McCloskey won an 8-2 decision on the third-place mat against Stagg’s Samer Suleiman, and Lane Tech’s Larry Posey won by fall for fifth place against Nesterenko.

138 – Ethan Banda, Mundelein

The top two seeds at 138 found each other on the title mat, and second-seeded Banda (12-3) did his part to help Mundelein to the team title with a hard-fought 10-9 decision over Lane Tech’s top seeded Nasser Hammouche (14-4). 

Banda led 10-5 before Hammouche earned a takedown and two near-fall points, cutting Banda’s lead to 10-9. The match ended with Hammouche trying to turn him but Banda fought it off. Both wrestlers pinned their way to the finals.

Cary-Grove’s Trenton Klapperich took third place via major decision against Wheeling’s Austin Berger, and Harlem’s Ethan Hagerman finished fifth with a 9-2 decision against Hoffman Estates’ David Ogunfowokan.

144 – Tony Hinojosa, Carmel Catholic

Third-seeded Hinojosa dominated his way to the title at 144, posting pins in his quarter- and semifinal matches before winning by tech fall on the title mat against Notre Dame’s fifth-seeded Tim Bridges (11-4) at the 3:39 mark.

“I felt good today,” Hinojosa said. “I’ve been working all week to get better and better so I could be here.”

Hinojosa went 29-18 as a freshman last year and was a state qualifier at 132. Now 10-1 as a varsity sophomore, he rode opponents well all day. “Last year I was pretty good on top and I feel like this year I’ve taken it a step higher,” he said. “My handfighting still has to get better and so does getting off bottom. But I’m getting good experience because wrestling high school is a whole other level.”

Bridges reached the finals with a 10-6 semifinal upset of Rolling Meadows’ top-seeded Jacob Martone. Bridges also posted wins by tech fall and fall on his way to the finals.

Homewood-Flossmoor’s Brian Ingram placed third via tech fall win against Martone, and Lane Tech’s Cesar Mucha won by injury default for fifth place against Maine West’s Dylan Kroschel.

150 – Kevin Hernandez, Mundelein

Hernandez (13-2) confirmed his top seed at 150 with a 7-2 win in the finals against host Hoffman Estates’ Dmytro Patykovskyi (8-6). Hernandez was the second of Mundelein’s three champions on the day. He won by fall in his quarterfinal before winning by medical forfeit in his semifinal match. 

Seventh-seeded Patykovskyi upset Wheeling’s second-seeded Nicholas Montesinos by 3-2 decision in their quarterfinal match before winning 9-2 in his semifinal against third-seeded Juan Cortez of Streamwood.

Homewood-Flossmoor’s Ian Lawrence won an 8-6 decision on the third-place mat against Montesinos, and Streamwood’s Juan Cortez took fifth by forfeit against Lane Tech’s Vermaat VanderBrug.

157 – Niko Duggan, Plainfield East

Top-seeded Duggan and second-seeded Ethan Thomas of Mundelein each did his part to see that the top two seeds met in the finals, and it was Duggan who walked away with a 12-6 decision win.

Duggan (15-1) led 6-4 when he reversed Thomas (6-3) to take an 8-4 third-period lead, and never looked back. Duggan posted two more takedowns from there to secure the win.

When did he feel comfortable against Thomas as he felt him out in the finals?

“The first takedown,” Duggan said. “Once you get physical with a guy you can pretty much tell how the match is going to go.”

Duggan won 6-2 in his semifinal match against fourth-seeded Noah Pechotte (16-2) of Cary-Grove, while Thomas reeled off three pins to reach the title mat.

Duggan lost in the sectional blood round to end his junior season and in his senior year he naturally wants to end the season on the podium in Champaign. He’s working hard to make that happen.

“I feel like I’m working my (offense) better and faster,” Duggan said. “I’ve been wrestling my whole life but you can always keep practicing to do things better and faster. And I want to improve on top, and be able to hold down people for longer.”

Pechotte won by fall on the third-place mat against Thornton-Fractional North’s Joseph Merritt, and Notre Dame’s Dean Lazaris won an 8-3 decision for fifth place against Wheeling’s John Scanlon.

165 – Jerry Nino, Plainfield East

Plainfield East’s No. 1 Jerry Nino (11-4) and Mundelein’s No. 2 Macson Rastrelli (12-4) both pinned their ways to the finals, where Nino turned a 3-2 lead after two periods into an 11-4 win for the title.

Rastrelli tied the match 3-3 with an escape to start the third period but a takedown and back points by Nino catapulted him to the win.

Stagg’s Owen Lally took third place by fall against Maine West’s Miles Pfaller, and Harlem’s Charles Faulkner placed fifth with a fall against Lane Tech’s Michael Birhala.

175 – John (Jack) Rappa, Rolling Meadows

Nothing tosses a shovelful of coal into the blast furnace of motivation quite like a loss. Coming off his first loss of the season in dual meet on Friday, Rappa (11-1) used a pair of pins to reach the Marchese finals at 175, then won 6-1 on the title mat against No. 3 Sean Adams (10-4) of Notre Dame.

Rappa earned takedowns in the final 30 seconds of the first and third periods in securing the win.

“My coach always tells me to go as hard as I can the last thirty seconds of a period. It’s not easy but it pays off,” Rappa said. “I was happy with my mentality today. We had a dual Friday at Prospect and I got pinned, but today I came back and got the wins I needed.”

The sophomore put more time into off-season wrestling and it’s paying off.

“I went to frosh-soph state and then put in the work in the offseason,” Rappa said. “I got twenty-to-thirty matches in and now I feel more comfortable on my feet. Last year I was constantly on defense and this year I feel more comfortable hitting moves.”

Adams used a fall and then a 3-1 decision win in a semifinal match against second-seeded Luke Bennett (12-6) of Cary-Grove.

Zion-Benton’s Tyson Poyer won a 3-2 decision for third place against Stagg’s Deyan Radev, and Streamwood’s Oliver Kozak placed fifth via fall against Bennett.

190 – Francisco Yilmez, Zion-Benton

Zion-Benton’s sixth-seeded junior Yilmez (8-3) burned a path to the finals with a pair of falls and a major decision, then won by fall for the championship at 190 over Notre Dame’s top-seeded Jack Malenock (9-6).

Yilmez trailed 6-2 when he took Malenock to his back and won by fall at 3:32.

Malenock used a pair of pins while Yilmez posted two pins and a major decision win to reach the finals.

“Today I felt good about my shots,” Yilmez said. “I feel good on top and bottom, but it’s all about taking guys down. And it’s a mindset; you can’t hesitate. If you do, it’s going to be a horrible shot.”

Streamwood’s Jace Wolf won by fall on the third-place mat against Homewood-Flossmoor’s Tyreese Whitcomb, and Rolling Meadows’ Nick Labbe won by fall for fifth place against Stagg’s Peter Rafacz.

215 – Celso Cabrera, Mundelein

Adversity both builds and reveals character and the Mundelein sophomore showed his character against Homewood-Flossmoor’s Khamryn Beaver in their title match at 215.

Trailing 7-3 early in the second period, Cabrera stunned Beaver, taking him to his back and pinning him at 2:37 to win his first Marchese title.

“The key in that match was not giving up because my (semifinal) round was also tough,” Cabrera said. “It went all the way to the ultimate tiebreak.”

Third-seeded Cabrera won 3-2 in OT in his semifinal against second-seeded Marco Mercado (11-3) of Wheeling, “and I had come so far, I couldn’t end it now. I had to keep powering and win (the title),” Cabrera said.

Cabrera (7-7) opened his tournament with a fall before gutting out his win over Mercado. Beaver (7-2) reeled off three pins to reach the title mat.

“I feel like I did well in not giving up,” Cabrera said. “It’s just knowing the situation but also knowing that you’re never out of it. Anything can happen in two minutes.”

Notre Dame’s Sean Cook won by fall for third place against Harlem’s Cully Nelson, and Wheeling’s Mercado took fifth place by fall against Carmel Catholic’s Axel Janicke-Anorve.

285 – Abdulhamid Olowu, Hoffman Estates

Third-seeded Olowu (16-1) opened with a 4-0 decision before winning by fall in his semifinal match against Stagg’s seventh-seeded Terrell Williams (6-4) to reach the finals. Fourth-seeded Cook won a 3-2 decision in his semifinal against top-seeded Abisai Hernandez (11-3) of Mundelein to advance.

A single escape by Olowu provided all the scoring in the title match as the Hoffman Estates senior posted a 1-0 decision win.

Cary-Grove’s Lucas Burton won by fall on the third-place mat against Stagg’s Williams, and Mundelein’s Hernandez won by fall for fifth place against Homewood-Flossmoor’s Adam Tovar; Hernandez’s pivotal bonus points added to Mundelein’s team total to help the Mustangs edge Notre Dame for the team title.

Mickey Marchese championship match results:

106 – Davion Henry (H-Flossmoor) SV-1 9-7 Ray Long (Notre Dame)

113 – Alex Valentin (Lane Tech) F 3:13 John Sheehy (Notre Dame)

120 – Aiden Villar (Plainfield E) F 5:56 Anas Ahmed (Stagg)

126 – Robert James Zavala (Lane Tech) F 1:33 Max Katz (Wheeling)

132 – Alazar Eyob (Hoffman Estates) F 5:03 Izayah Olejniczak (Harlem)

138 – Ethan Banda (Mundelein) D 10-9 Nasser Hammouche (Lane Tech)

144 – Tony Hinojosa (Carmel) TF 3:39 Tim Bridges (Notre Dame)

150 – Kevin Hernandez (Mundelein) D 7-2 Dmytro Patykovskyi (H-Flossmoor)

157 – Niko Duggan (Plainfield E) D 12-6 Ethan Thomas (Mundelein)

165 – Jerry Nino (Plainfield E) D 11-4 Macson Rastrelli (Mundelein)

175 – Jack Rappa (Rolling Meadows) D 6-1 Sean Adams (Notre Dame)

190 – Francisco Yilmez (Zion-Benton) F 3:32 John Malenock (Notre Dame)

215 – Celso Cabrera (Mundelein) F 2:37 Khamryn Beaver (H-Flossmoor)

285 – Abdulhamid Olowu (Hoffman E) D 1-0 Scott Cook (Notre Dame)

Final team scores: 1. Mundelein (178.5) 2. Notre Dame (175) 3. Homewood-Flossmoor (159.5) 4. Lane Tech (151) 5. Stagg (121.5) 6. Wheeling (120) 7. Plainfield East (115) 8. Harlem (106) 9. Cary-Grove (93) 10. Carmel (78) 11. Hoffman Estates (77) 12. Streamwood (72) 13. Rolling Meadows (69) 14. Zion-Benton (57) 15. Thornton Fractional North (43) 16. Maine West (36.5) 17. Kenosha Christian Life, WI (3)

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

63rd Mudge-McMorrow Wrestling Invitational

The tournament named for IWCOA hall-of-fame and former Prospect coaches Dick Mudge and Gary McMorrow saw Libertyville take the team title in Mt. Prospect.

Libertyville posted a 199-169.5 edge over second-place Naperville Central, followed by Prospect (160.5), York (149.5), and Joliet Catholic (139) to round out the top five team finishes.

“It was quite exciting to win a team title,” Libertyville coach Dale Eggert said. “Our team is set up for success in a meet like this.”

Libertyville got individual titles from Luke Berktold (120), Matt Kubas (175), and Owen McGrory (215), and seconds from Orion Moran (132), and Caleb Baczek (190). Coach Dale Eggert also got a fourth from James Liu (126), and fifths from Jake Shafer (106), Charlie Clark (165), Erich Waldorf (190).

Jacob Whisenand (150) was sixth and the Wildcats got sevenths from Hunter Hill (138) and Rhett VanBoening (285).

Kubas’ title win at 175 over York’s Danny Decristofaro also put another feather in his cap. Kubas improved to 14-1 with the win.

“Kubas puts on such an intense pace that few can hang with him,” Eggert said. “Decristafaro gave him a real tough match during the first part before Matt’s pace took over and got the pin, earning him the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler Award.”

Berktold’s 3-2 decision for the title against Round Lake’s Alejandro Cordova at 120 improved his season’s record to 13-0.

“Berktold has had his way early in the season,” Eggert said. “He’s quick and rough.  He got a wake up call from Cordova in the finals who was pushing hard from start to finish.  Luke held him off for a 3-2 win but he can see he needs a few change ups late in close matches.”

The Wildcats’ third unbeaten wrestler is McGrory (15-0) at 215. The undersized senior won a 5-0 decision in the finals against Naperville Central’s Nicolas Besteiro.

“McGrory is sneaky and smart,” Eggert said. “He is far under 215 but he is such a tough leg rider and scrambler that it throws the larger opponents off.”

The only thing standing between Baczek and an unbeaten record is Prospect’s Jason Penovich, who won by fall in their title match at 190. Eggert was pleased with wrestlers up and down his lineup.

“We have a bunch of competitive seniors that are fighting to grab whatever wins they can, adding a lot of points in addition to our stars,” Eggert said. “Hunter Hill (138), Will Carney (144), Jacob Whisenand (150), and Charlie Clark (160) will always grab some wins, quite often pins, adding a lot of points in addition to the big points our stars give us.

Libertyville also go three pins at 285 from VanBoening, who returned to the fold after sitting out last year to focus on football.

“He has a lot of talent and looks to do the work necessary to be a successful wrestler,” Eggert said of VanBoening. “His performance Saturday shows success could be coming his way.”

In addition to the Wildcats’ veterans, freshmen Jake Shafer (106), Tyler Wuh (113), and James Scanio (157) are all lighting their way towards become future varsity stars at Libertyville, along with sophomore James Liu (126) and Erich Walldorf (190).

Naperville Central coach Noah Fitzenreider got second-place finishes from Austin Aguinaldo (106) and Nicolas Besteiro (215), and thirds from Hagan Taylor (150), Jacob Smetters (190) and William Erbeck (285) for the second-place Redhawks.

Third-place host Prospect got individual titles from Connor Munn (165) and Jaxon Penovich (190) and a second from Bennett Westfallen (144) in finishing just 9.5 points behind second-place Naperville Central.

Also winning Mudge-McMorrow titles were Grayslake Central’s Vince DeMarco (106), Prairie Ridge’s Jake Lowitzki (113), Joliet Catholic’s Aurelio Munoz (126), York’s Zach Parisi (132), Grant’s Erik Rodriguez (138), Fremd’s Evan Gosz (144), McHenry’s Pedro Jimenez (150), Moline’s Zander Ealy (157), and Round Lake’s William Cole (285).

York’s Jackson Hanselman (144) posted the most pins in the least time, dispatching four opponents in 7:31. York’s Mondo Martinelli (126) had three tech falls in 5:35 to lead the tournament, and his 63 total match points were also the most by any wrestler.

Kubas’ 30 team points scored for Libertyville were the most by any wrestler present; McHenry’s Jesse Saavedra (285) had 26 points in a single match to lead the tournament; and the largest seed-place difference came from Fremd’s Trent Odachowski (113), who was seeded 13th and placed second.

Also placing second in Mt. Prospect were Round Lake’s Alejandro Cordova (120) and Grayson Kongkaeow (126), York’s Frank Nitti (138) and Danny Decristofaro (175), Joliet Catholic’s Nolan Vogel (150), Prairie Ridge’s Xander York (157), Grant’s Christian Wittkamp (165), and McHenry’s Saavedra (285).

Third-placers included Moline’s Collin Ledbetter (106), Grant’s Vince Jasinski (113), McHenry’s Ryan Hanson (120) and Aiden Fischler (165), Prairie Ridge’s Mikey Meade (126), Joliet Catholic’s Damien Flores (132) and Elias Gonzalez (144), Prospect’s Giorgio Difalco (138) and Michael Matuszak (175), Naperville Central’s Hagan Taylor (150), Fremd’s Ryan Muslimovic (157), and York’s Austin Bagdasarian (215).

Other wrestlers taking fourth place included Grant’s Carter Hutchinson (106), Joliet Catholic’s Matthew Laird (113), Adante Washington (120), and George Hollendoner (138), Moline’s Kayden Serrano (132) and Bradley Ledbetter (144), Prospect’s Joe Quirk (150), Addison Trail’s Martin Duarte (157) and Elmer Olascoaga (190), Fremd’s Peter Mondus (165) and Anthony D’Ambrosio (175), and Prairie Ridge’s Walter Pollack (215) and John Fallaw (285).

Mudge-McMorrow championship matches:

106 – Vince DeMarco (Grayslake C) D 11-5 Austin Aguinaldo (Naperville C)

113 – Jake Lowitzki (Prairie Ridge) F 0:15 Trent Odachowski (Fremd)

120 – Luke Berktold (Libertyville) D 3-2 Alejandro Cordova (Round Lake)

126 – Aurelio Munoz (Joliet Catholic) D 9-2 Grayson Kongkaeow (Round Lake)

132 – Zach Parisi (York) F 4:59 Orion Moran (Libertyville)

138 – Erik Rodriguez (Grant) D 3-2 Frank Nitti (York)

144 – Evan Gosz (Fremd) F 5:38 Bennett Westfallen (Prospect)

150 – Pedro Jimenez (McHenry) MD 10-1 Nolan Vogel (Joliet Catholic)

157 – Zander Ealy (Moline) F 0:53 Xander York (Prairie Ridge)

165 – Connor Munn (Prospect) D 5-1 Christian Wittkamp (Grant)

175 – Matt Kubas (Libertyville) F 2:58 Danny Decristofaro (York)

190 – Jaxon Penovich (Prospect) F 2:40 Caleb Baczek (Libertyville)

215 – Owen McGrory (Libertyville) D 5-0 Nicolas Besteiro (Naperville C)

285 – William Cole (Round Lake) D 7-0 Jesse Saavedra (McHenry)

Final team scores: 1. Libertyville (199) 2. Naperville Central (169.5) 3. Prospect (160.5) 4. York (149.5) 5. Joliet Catholic (139) 6. Fremd (120) 7. Moline (112) 8. McHenry (100.5) 9. Prairie Ridge (100.5) 10. Grant (99) 11. Round Lake (74) 12. Belvidere North (64) 13. Addison Trail (57) 14. Grayslake Central (54) 15. New Trier (39) 16. Lake Zurich (20)

Pontiac’s ‘The Munch’ Invitational

Evergreen Park, Morton, and Olympia got into a heated battle Saturday at Pontiac and when it was over Evergreen Park had captured the team title of this year’s 19-team invitational.

By a single team point.

‘The Munch’ Invite saw the Mustangs edge downstate Morton 226-225, with third-place Olympia scoring 216.5 team points. University (132.5) and Wilmington (122.5) rounded out the top five team finishes at the invitational named after former coach Russ Munch.

“It was a great dogfight,” Evergreen Park coach Ron Zimmerman said. “Morton has some very tough kids and I thought the tournament as a whole was great. My kids came off a huge (dual) win Friday night against Oak Forest and then made the two hour trip to Pontiac the next morning. It was a great team effort for sure.”

Evergreen Park had 12 wrestlers score team points in the win. Coach Ron Zimmerman got individual titles from Yohan Bonilla (106), David Johnson (144), Eduardo Antunez (215) and Gerald O’Hare (285), plus seconds from Chance Woods (126) and Genesis Ward (190).

The Mustangs also got fourth from Ryan Sema (150), a fifth from Ashton Gray (138), and sixths from Angel Ramirez (120), Ben Sanchez (132), and Noah Moreno (157).

In one of the final matches of the championship round of the tournament, O’Hare’s 4-1 decision on the title mat at 285 clinched Evergreen Park’s team win.

“I have never been in a tournament when the winner was decided by the very last match of the tournament,” Zimmerman said.

“We have a solid team this year that understands what it takes to be competitive. Our four champs came through for us in the end. David Johnson was down 4-0 (in the title match at 144) and battled back to a 8-6 win in OT. Eduardo Antunez (215) had a takedown with 15 seconds left to seal his win and Gerald O’Hare at 285 was a beast all day.  Chance Woods (126) and Genesis Ward (190) wrestled very well and just came up a little short in the finals.”

Second-place Morton went a perfect five-for-five in the finals, getting individual titles from Harrison Dea (113), Caiden Robison (132), Steven Marvin (150), Clayton McKee (157), and Tyus Almasy (175). Potters coach Ed Henderson also got thirds from Noah Harris (106), Caleb Lenning (126), and Lucas Herrmann (165), a fourth from Carter Jones (138), and fifths from Danny Marvin (150) and Colton Mckee (165).

Third-place Olympia got a title from Kelton Graden (165) and second-place finishes from Noah Whiteside (106), Austin Kisner (120), Cooper Phillips (138), and Bentley Wise (150).

Other wrestlers winning individual titles in Pontiac were Decatur Unity Christian’s Clinton VerHeecke (120) and Garrett VerHeecke (126), Dwight’s Dylan Crouch (138), and Springfield’s Keyshaun Harris (190).

The most pins in the least time came from Unity Christian’s Clinton VerHeecke (120), who had four pins in 5:36. Morton’s Clayton Mckee (157) had two tech fall wins in 10:06 to lead the tournament; Dwight’s Dylan Crouch (138) scored the most team points with 32; Springfield Southeast’s Brayden McBride (132) scored the most single match points with 23; Taylorville’s Ethan Dyer (138) scored the most total match points with 51; and Morton’s Carter Jones (138) finished with the largest seed-place difference, when the No. 19 seed placed fourth.

Also placing second were Pontiac’s Noah Davis (113), Prairie Central’s John Traub (132) and Ayden Mackey (144), Wilmington’s Matt Swisher (157) and Parker Adams (165), Kankakee’s Travon Jordan (175), J. Sterling Morton’s Jose Moreno (215), and Macomb’s Charlie Bodiford (285).

Taking third in Pontiac were J. Sterling Morton’s Tristan Rodriguez (113) and David Roa (150), Wilmington’s Landon Dooley (120), Springfield Southeast’s Brayden McBride (132) and Chris Hull (190), Herscher’s Gerrit Osenga (138), Olympia’s Bryson Wilson (144) and Nolen Yeary (215), Macomb’s Tyler Shannon (157), University’s Charles Karun (175), and Kankakee’s Rogello Cornejo (285).

Other fourth-placers included Olympia’s Mya Downs (106) Blake Youngren (190), and Cohen Maness (285), Herscher’s Owen Bollino (113), Macomb’s Ethan Hoyt (120) and Damome Johnson (132), University’s Nolan Lowe (126), Grayson Moody (165), and Joseph Hunt (215), Morton’s Carter Jones (138), J. Sterling Morton’s Malik Hammad (144) and Rafael Lopez (157), and Pontiac’s Cole Russell (175).

‘The Munch’ Invitational championship match breakdowns:

106 – Yohan Bonilla (Evergreen Park) F 1:15 Noah Whiteside (Olympia)

113 – Harrison Dea (Morton) F 1:55 Noah Davis (Pontiac)

120 – Clinton VerHeecke (Unity Christian) F 1:10 Austin Kisner (Olympia)

126 – Garrett VerHeecke (Unity Christian) MD 10-0 Chance Woods (Evergreen Park)

132 – Caiden Robison (Morton) MD 14-3 John Traub (Prairie Central)

138 – Dylan Crouch (Dwight) F 5:38 Cooper Phillips (Olympia)

144 – David Johnson (Evergreen Park) SV 8-6 Ayden Mackey (Prairie Central)

150 – Steven Marvin (Morton) MD 8-0 Bentley Wise (Olympia)

157 – Clayton Mckee (Morton) TF 5:35 Matt Swisher (Wilmington)

165 – Kelton Graden (Olympia) MD 9-1 Parker Adams (Wilmington)

175 – Tyus Almasy (Morton) F 1:18 Travon Jordan (Kankakee)

190 – Keyshaun Harris (Springfield) F 5:07 Genesis Ward (Evergreen Park)

215 – Eduardo Antunez (Evergreen Park) D 3-1 Jose Moreno (JS Morton)

285 – Gerald O’Hare (Evergreen Park) D 4-1 Charlie Bodiford (Macomb)

Final team scores: 1. Evergreen Park (226) 2. Morton (225) 3. Olympia (216.5) 4. University (132.5) 5. Wilmington (122.5) 6. JS Morton (114) 7. Herscher (69.5) 8. Unity Christian (69) 9. Springfield Southeast (60.5) 10. Macomb (60) 11. Prairie Central (55.5) 12. Springfield (48.5) 13. Pontiac (47) 13. Rantoul (47) 15. Kankakee (44) 16. Dwight (42) 17. Urbana (40) 18. Illinois Valley Central (17) 19. Taylorville (11)

Riverdale’s Jim Boyd Wrestling Invitational

Wilton High School of Wilton, Iowa cruised to the team title at this year’s 16-team Jim Boyd Wrestling Invite, hosted by Riverdale.
Riverdale’s Invite is named for IWCOA hall-of-famer Jim Boyd, head coach at the school for 11 years, stepping down after the 1993-94 season. Boyd led the Rams to third-place dual team state finishes in Illinois in ’93 and ’94.

Wilton posted 301.5 points to second-place Rock Island’s 176, with Seneca placing third with 167 points. Riverdale (153), Byron (137.5), United (125.5), Sterling (123), Sherrard (97.5), Mercer County (96.5), and downstate Notre Dame (89.5) rounded out the top 10 team finishes.

Wilton sent eight wrestlers to the title mat and got five individual titles, from Austin Etzel (120), Brody Brisker (132), Gabriel Brisker (138), Jordan Dusenberry (144), and Owen Milder (165). Mason Shirk (113), Gaitlin Rogers (175), and Kane Willey (190) placed second for Wilton.

Second-place Rock Island sent five wrestlers to the finals and saw four climb to the top step of the awards stand. Rocks coach Joel Stockwell got Individual titles from Truth Vesey (113), Daniel McGhee (126), Amare Overton (175), and Andrew Marquez (215, plus a second from Antonio Parker (138).

Third-place Seneca got individual titles from Raiden Terry (106) and Jeremy Gagnon (285), and a second from Chris Peura (215) for Fighting Irish coach Todd Yegge.

Also winning titles in Riverdale were Riverdale’s Blake Smith (150), United’s Kayden Marolf (157), and Byron’s Kyle Jones (190). 

Sterling’s Tatum Allen (165) had the most pins in the least time, with four pins in 6:38, while Wilton’s Owen Milder (165) had the fastest tech time in 2:18, and Milder posted the most total match points by any wrestler with 44. Wilton’s Brody Brisker’s 30 team points earned at 132 were the most by any wrestler, and United’s Xavier Marolf had the most points in a single match with 22.

Other second-placers included Notre Dame’s Josh Stedwill (106), Ian Akers (120) and Chase Daugherty (157), Riverdale’s Dean Wainwright (126) and Kolton Kruse (144), Polo’s Lucas Nelson (132), Sterling’s Dylan Ottens (150), and Byron’s Carsen Behn (165) and Jared Claunch (285).

Wrestlers placing third included United’s Blake Trickey (106), Byron’s Damien Palacios (113) and Tharren Jacobs (120), Wilton’s Owen Adlfinger (126) and Jensen Boorn (157), Mercer County’s Ethan Monson (132), Zeke Arnold (150), and Eli Burns (165), Sterling’s Austin Clemens (138), Max Smith (144) of Davenport North IA, Seneca’s Asher Hamby (175) and Landen Venecia (190), Riverdale’s Jake Schradeya (215), and Notre Dame’s Brady Mullens (285).

Also placing fourth were United’s Landon Henson (106) and Loic Houedakor (144), Sherrard’s Braiden Krahl (113), Byron’s Jackson Norris (120), Sterling’s Zyan Westbrook (126), Emmanuel Arreola (138), Isaiah Mendoza (157), and Tatum Allen (165), West Carroll’s Connor Knop (132), Wilton’s Haden Hill (150), Riverdale’s Zac Bradley (175), Mercer County’s Lucas Shadden (190), and Wilton’s Francisco Honts (215) and Carter Drake-Metzger (285).

Jim Boyd Invitational championship match breakdowns:

106 – Raiden Terry (Seneca) F 1:03 Josh Stedwill (Notre Dame)

113 – Truth Vesey (Rock Island) D 5-0 Mason Stark (Wilton)

120 – Austin Etzel (Wilton) D 8-5 Ian Akers (Notre Dame)

126 – Daniel McGhee (Rock Island) D 17-10 Dean Wainwright (Riverdale)

132 – Brody Brisker (Wilton) F 2:20 Lucas Nelson (Polo)

138 – Gabriel Brisker (Wilton) F 1:08 Antonio Parker (Rock Island)

144 – Jordan Dusenberry (Wilton) D 9-5 Kolton Kruse (Riverdale)

150 – Blake Smith (Riverdale) TF 3:57 Dylan Ottens (Sterling)

157 – Kayden Marolf (United) MD 12-3 Chase Daugherty (Notre Dame)

165 – Owen Milder (Wilton) D 8-2 Carsen Behn (Byron)

175 – Amare Overton (Rock Island) F 3:23 Gaitlin Rogers (Wilton)

190 – Kyle Jones (Byron) F 0:38 Kane Willey (Wilton)

215 – Andrew Marquez (Rock Island) D 12-5 Chris Peura (Seneca)

285 – Jeremy Gagnon (Seneca) F 1:16 Jared Claunch (Byron)

Final team scores: 1. Wilton (301.5) 2. Rock Island (176) 3. Seneca (167) 4. Riverdale (153.5) 5. Byron (137.5) 6. United (125.5) 7. Sterling (123) 8. Sherrard (97.5) 9. Mercer County (96.5) 10. Notre Dame (89.5) 11. Davenport North IA (74) 12. Polo (54) 13. Pleasant Valley IA (48) 14. St. Bede (29) 15. West Carroll (23) 16. ROWVA (14)

Walther Christian Hoger/Tuomi Invitational 

Peotone brought 11 wrestlers to this year’s Hoger/Tuomi Invitational, but with four champions and eight total finishers in the top four, the Blue Devils had enough firepower to top the field at Walther Christian. 

The Blue Devils posted a 166-161.5 edge over second-place Lutheran Westland from Michigan. Birmingham Seaholm of Michigan (138) was third, followed by Northridge Prep (131.5) and Rickover Naval Academy (125.5) to round out the top five finishes.

Four Blue Devils won individual titles to lead all teams in the 17-team field, as a murderer’s row from 144 to 165. Micah Spinozzola (144), Connor Pasch (150), Kurt Wagner (157), and Ian Kreske (165) all won individual titles for coach Josh Kreske.

Peotone also got thirds from Blake Anderson (113) and Laith Abunijmeh (175) and fourth’s from John Meneses (126) and Tino Izzi (157).

“Our kids who I expected to get first got first, but I didn’t expect our kids who placed third to place third. So they did a nice job throughout the day,” Kreske said. “Laith is probably only 159 pounds so he did a nice job wrestling up at 175.”

Wagner’s title win at 157 also keyed Peotone’s team title win. Wagner’s win was particularly surprising since he knocked off teammate Tino Izzi in their quarterfinal match.

“Ian, Connor, and Micah are all returning state qualifiers so I expected them to do well, and they did,” Kreske said. “They’ve been wrestling forever and they all did a nice job.

“But Kurt Wagner has been out of wrestling for about four years so I just had him in there as an extra wrestler. He and Tino wrestled in the second round, which I did not want to see, and Kurt beat him. I felt bad for Tino but that’s just the way it is. So Kurt was our surprise first.”

Second-place Lutheran Westland got titles from Nathan Betke (126) and Aiden Miller (138) and a second-place finishes from Anthony Kawod (132) and Jeffrey McGuire (150).

Also winning titles at Walther Christian were Streator’s Nicholas Pollett (106) and Aydan Radke (215), Ridgewood’s Islam Khater (113), Rickover Academy’s Breyon Wallace (120) and Jacob Pizarro (132), Lutheran Westland’s Nathan Betke (126) and Aiden Miller (138), Northridge Prep’s Adam Haddad (175), Nazareth’s Scott Creviston (190), and Rafael Castrejo-Tello (285).

Second-place finishers included Amundsen’s Matthew Nguyen (106), Nazareth’s Charlie Dvorak (113) and Andrew Fowler (157), Mather’s Tommy Lam (120), Jacob Scott (175) and Jaxien Jervis-Orr (215), Seaholm’s Alex Tappan (138) and Luca DeSanto (190), Northridge Prep’s George McShane (144) and Jon Suter (165), Lutheran Westland’s Jeffrey McGuire (150), and Living Word’s Joe Weissenburger (285).

Placing third at the Hoger/Tuomi were Nazareth’s Alex Ramos (106) and Alex Dvorak (165), Elmwood Park’s Michael Aiello (120), Northridge Prep’s Joe Pardilla (126), Walther Christian’s Caleb Peterson (132), Rickover Academy’s Justin Hernandez (138) and Brandon Valbuena (144), Seaholm’s Rhemsey Piles (150) and Oliver Smith (215), Living Word’s Cade Vogl (157) and Brayden Gregor (190), and Amundsen’s William Cano (285).

Fourth-place finishers included Northridge Prep’s Sky Shang (106), Lutheran Westland’s Justin Grissom (113), Streator’s Ted Neumann (120) and Aiden Ferris (285), Seaholm’s Casey Goetz (132), Westmont’s Joseph Salerno (138) and Mission Hatchell (144), Mather’s Julian Lopez (150), Amundsen’s James Reshoft (165) and Adrian Zepeda (190), Lutheran Northwest’s Nate Cummins (175), and Elmwood Park’s Jayden Vazquez (215).

Hoger/Tuomi Invitational championship match breakdowns:

106 – Nicholas Pollett (Streator) D 6-1 Matthew Nguyen (Amundsen)

113 – Islam Khater (Ridgewood) F 2:35 Charlie Dvorak (Nazareth)

120 – Breyon Wallace (Rickover) F 3:36 Tommy Lam (Mather)

126 – Nathan Betke (Lutheran Westland) F 5:12 Shawn Hanton (Elmwood Park)

132 – Jacob Pizarro (Rickover) F 3:50 Anthony Kawod (Lutheran Westland)

138 – Aiden Miller (Lutheran Westland) F 4:52 Alex Tappan (Seaholm)

144 – Micah Spinazzola (Peotone) F 3:05 George McShane (Northridge Prep)

150 – Connor Pasch (Peotone) F 3:18 Jeffrey McGuire (Lutheran Westland)

157 – Kurt Wagner (Peotone) MD 12-2 Andrew Fowler (Nazareth)

165 – Ian Kreske (Peotone) D 7-4 Jon Suter (Northridge Prep)

175 – Adam Haddad (Northridge) TF 21-5 Jacob Scott (Mather)

190 – Scott Creviston (Nazareth) D 6-1 Luca DeSanto (Seaholm)

215 – Aydan Radke (Streator) F 3:09 Jaxien Jervis-Orr (Mather)

285 – Rafael Castrejo-Tello (Westmont) F 2:08 Joe Weissenburger (Living Word)

Final team scores: 1. Peotone (166) 2. Lutheran Westland, MI (161.5) 3. Birmingham Seaholm, MI 4. Northridge Prep (131.5) 5. Rickover Naval Academy (125.5) 6. Streator (118) 7. Mather (116) 8. Nazareth Academy (113) 9. Living Word Lutheran (109) 10. Amundsen (92) 11. Westmont (87) 12. Elmwood Park (74) 13. Lutheran Northwest, MI (65) 14. Ridgewood (52) 15. Walther Christian (47) 16. Harvest Christian (13) 17. Chicago Academy (0).

By Chris Walker for the IWCOA

Dixon only had a single individual champion during the 40th annual Reaper Classic at Plano, but that’s all the Dukes needed to win the team title on Saturday.

That’s because the Dukes were busy at the award stand all day long. While 215-pounder Will Howell was the team’s lone champion, he was just one of the 10 Dukes who were called up to the podium.

“We only had one champ so it shows you how much these other guys contributed to coming out with a win,” Dixon coach Micah Hey said. “It’s an individual sport but it adds to the team score and we had third place matches and fifth place matches and we even had beginning wrestlers that got wins (Dylan Bopes, 285) and another who got two wins (Konner Koehler, 157). And it came down to the very end, too.”

Dixon’s Ayden Rowley (113), Jayden Weidman (144) and Steven Kitzman (175) each advanced to the finals and placed second, while Jack Ragan (106) and Jacob Renkes (126) each prevailed in their respective third-place matches for the Dukes.

Riley Paredes (120) and Cade Hey (150) each placed fourth for the Dukes while Jayce Kastner (165) and Zack Clevenger (190) were fifth.

“I was proud of everybody,” Micah Hey said. “They’ve been working real hard and it feels like we’ve had some tough times getting to the top of some of these tournaments so it was nice to come out on top.”

There certainly was a great deal of parity among the teams this year with 11 of the 20 teams seeing one of its own wrestlers place first.

Since the Dukes had 10 wrestlers on the award stand they were able to edge Yorkville Christian, 204 to 192 for the team title. Last season, the Dukes finished in ninth place without producing a single champion although Owen Brooks took second at 182. Dixon had not recently appeared in the Reaper Classic prior to last year.

Gibson City-Melvin Sibley was third with 187, Chicago DeLaSalle was fourth with 167 and St. Rita was fifth with 151.5. 

The host Reapers were sixth with 132.5.

“It’s been a good season for us so far,” Plano coach Dwayne Love said. “Last year we were ninth and this year we’re sixth so we’re climbing that ladder, and we brought in some different teams this year.”

Caidan Ronning won at 150 for the Reapers while Prince Amakiri took second at 190, Trevion Gilford placed third at 144, his brother, Antoine Gilford, was fourth at 138 and Luis Ballesteros also was fourth at 157.

“The Gilford twins both wrestled well and Luis (Ballesteros) wrestled well at 157,” Love said. “(Amakiri) placed second and had a good tournament. Just a few little tweaks with him and he’s going to fare out very well for us. He’s so athletic.”

Other teams included Princeton (131.5), Hoopeston (106), Amboy (80.5), Oregon (62), Metea Valley (54), Sandwich (51), East Aurora (50), St. Francis (50), Marmion (46), Proviso East (31), Mendota (23), St Viator (22), Marian Catholic (21.5) and St. Edward (14).

Yorkville Christian and Hoopeston were the only schools to produce more than one champion. Aiden Larsen (113), Ty Edwards (132) and Robby Nelson (157) were champions for Yorkville Christian while Talen Grady-Nelson (126) and Angel Zamora (175) won for Hoopeston.

Yorkville Christian was shooting for its third straight Reaper Classic title, but fell just short. The Mustangs didn’t have representation at 106 and 126 and pushed Tyler Gleason up to 165.

“It’s disappointing, especially for the seniors who are leaving, and we wanted them to leave with a team trophy since we had won it back-to-back,” Mustangs coach Mike Vester said. “This is going to sting a little bit to them, but I hope it helps in the long run.”

Amboy, Dixon, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, Oregon, Plano, Princeton, Sandwich, St. Francis and St. Rita each had one champion. Princeton’s Casey Etheridge had the most pins in the least time, sticking five opponents in 4:46, while Amboy’s Lucas Blanton’s 2 tech falls in 7:17 were tops in the tournament for most tech falls in the least time. Blanton’s 55 total match points were also the most in the tournament by any wrestler.

Yorkville Christian’s Robby Nelson had the most team points scored with 31, and East Aurora’s Joaquin Ramierez had the most single match points in the tournament with 22.

The wrestler who finished with the largest seed-place difference was St. Francis’ Jaylen Torres, who won the title at 285 after being seeded 13th.

“Plano puts on an awesome tournament,” Hey said. “It ran real well and I was happy with the outcome. A lot of tough competition.”

Reaper Classic championship match breakdowns:

106 – Augustus Swanson, Princeton

Swanson remained undefeated, completing his championship weekend with a 14-2 major decision over Chicago DeLaSalle’s Jeremiah Lawrence at 106.

Dixon’s Jack Ragan, who was one of six Dukes to finish in third place or better, won by fall over Hoopeston’s Charlie Flores for third place and Amboy’s Ty Florschuetz also won by fall, defeating East Aurora’s Xavier Sebastian for fifth place.

113 – Aiden Larsen, Yorkville Christian

Larsen, a two-time state medalist, needed just 19 seconds to earn his first win after opening with a bye. A forfeit sent him into the finals where he pinned Dixon’s Ayden Rowley in 1:21 to improve to 13-0 on the season.

St. Rita sophomore Jack Hogan won by fall over Oregon’s Nelson Benesh for third place at 113, and Chicago De La Salle senior Darren Oman took fifth place after Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley sophomore Gage Martin forfeited.

120 – Landon Blanton, Amboy

Blanton hasn’t slowed down after his breakthrough debut a season ago where he became the first Amboy freshman to advance to state. He was also the program’s first state qualifier since 2018. After his fantastic 43-11 debut, Blanton has opened the 2023-2024 campaign at 14-0 after a tech fall win before back-to-back pins. Blanton won by fall over Chicago De La Salle’s Anthony Trendle in the 120-pound title match.

Yorkville Christian sophomore Eli Foster earned a 9-4 sudden victory against Dixon’s Riley Paredes for third place at 120, and St. Rita’s Luke Pappalas prevailed by decision over Marian Catholic’s Chase Tankson for fifth place.

126 – Talan Grady-Nelson, Hoopeston

Grady-Nelson acknowledged that he was simply hoping to place again on Saturday after taking fourth in last year’s Reaper Classic.

He found himself situated in the top spot, pushing his undefeated mark to 8-0 after a win by fall over St. Rita’s Liam Quigley.

The title bout was a high-scoring battle before Grady-Nelson locked it down with a pin.

“I had a takedown in the first period and then I got into bad positioning and he got a reversal and back points off that,” Grady-Nelson explained. “And then in the second period he got another reversal and got back points again and then by that point it was 10-8 and there was a lot of scoring, and then I got a reversal. I was getting back (points) and then I held him back and pinned him.”

While Grady-Nelson believes he’s improved a lot even from last year, he’s looking to do much more.

“I didn’t really expect to come out here and win it,” he said. “I was hoping to place because I got fourth last year so I was trying to get better than I did last year. I think I’ve improved a lot. I like where I’m at but still feel like I’ve got a lot to improve on. I’ll stay in the wrestling room and keep improving.”

Jacob Renkes helped Dixon win the team title, picking up points in his win by decision over Princeton’s Kaydin Gibson for third, while Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Gabe Ward won by fall over Amboy’s Chase Montavon for fifth.

132 – Ty Edwards, Yorkville Christian

Edwards was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler after winning by fall over Marian Catholic’s Jeremiah Bolar, Chicago DeLaSalle’s Mario Perez and then St. Rita’s Nino Protti in the championship match at 132.

“I think the first day was good,” Edwards said. “I came out with heavy hands that’s what I was kind of focusing on, and been focusing on the past few weeks, and just getting to my offense. Today, the same thing and getting heavily physical. A few times the ref called me on it in the finals, but other than that it was a good tournament overall.”

Despite being named Most Outstanding Wrestler, Edwards showed humility, taking the time to point out a teammate’s success rather than continuing to talk about his own dominance.

Edwards offered praise for Eli Foster, who rallied for a sudden victory to win the 120 third place match against Dixon’s Riley Parades, who had won by a 9-2 decision over Foster in the quarterfinals.

“He went from losing to the Dixon kid to coming back the next time he wrestled him and beating him,” he said. 

Edwards improved to 14-0.

“I think now I’m a lot more physical than I was last year,” he said. “I was a little more lackadaisical with my hands. Now I’m just focusing on getting better.”

Chicago De La Salle’s Mario Perez defeated Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Hudson Babb by fall for third place at 132. In the fifth place match, Hoopeston’s Aiden Bell won by fall over St. Viator’s Caleb Jendras.

138 – Enzo Canali, St. Rita

After a hard fought 12-7 decision agains Princeton’s Ace Christiansen in the 138 semifinals, Canali earned a 5-0 decision over Yorkville Christian’s Grason Johnson to provide St. Rita with its lone title of the tournament. The Mustangs were one of 11 teams to at least produce a single champion in this year’s tournament.

Christiansen bounced back to defeat Plano’s Antoine Gilford by major decision in the third place match at 138 while Metea Valley’s Juan Arroyo took care of Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Shawn Schlickman by fall in 17 seconds for fifth place.

144 – Miles Corder, Sandwich

Corder understands that injuries are a part of sports, but that doesn’t make them any easier to deal with, even when you’re on the other end of them and mentally distraught.

The Sandwich senior said he was pretty sure that Dixon junior Jayden Weidman dislocated his shoulder during the 144-pound title match, eerily taking him back to a similar situation several years ago that coincidentally occurred against Yorkville Christian’s Robby Nelson. who would end up being this year’s 157 champion.

“You don’t really move on,” Corder said after Weidman sustained his injury not even a minute into the action. “I don’t really move on. A similar thing happened in seventh or sixth grade year for regionals. Robby (Nelson), one of my friends from Yorkville Christian, dislocated his knee in the finals match. It’s happened quite a few times in my life to my opponents and I never want to hurt anyone in wrestling. It’s sports. My brother (freshman Cooper Corder) is out until the 27th (of December) because his knee is pretty jacked up.”

Injuries and illness limited the Indians from a participation standpoint this weekend as they only brought five wrestlers to Plano.

“Most of the team is out due to concussions and illnesses so we only brought five guys and three of us made it to the second day,” Corder said. “I think we’ve done pretty well so far this season.”

Plano’s Trevion Gilford won by major decision against Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Corbin Ragle for third place and St. Francis freshman Chase Siguenza won by decision against Yorkville Christian’s Tiras Lombardo for fifth place.

150 – Caidan Ronning, Plano

If you’re looking for an example of a kid who works hard and also is committed to being a great teammate, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who excels like Ronning.

Ronning won by decision against St. Rita’s Nolan Keenan to become the first Plano wrestler to become a Reaper Classic champion in seven years. Nico Nunez was the last Reaper to win a title in the Reaper Classic, taking the top spot at 120 in 2016.

“I was having a conversation with him and he said he broke the curse, because we hadn’t had a (Plano) champion in a while,” Reapers coach Dwayne Love said. “He’s put in the work. He did a lot of summer work. He wrestled with us and he’s gone to a lot of tournaments too, so it’s paying off. And he’s a kid that it’s just awesome to see him achieve like this. He’s a team captain. He leads the kids and they all rally behind him.”

He’s a really good wrestler who has become a great leader as well.

“He’s done a good job of maturing into that role,” Love said. “He’s a good student and just keeps achieving, and he’s good to have around he’s good for the program. I don’t know what else to say about him.”

Ronning recorded three pins before earning a 12-5 win over St. Rita’s Nolan Keenan in the 150-pound championship.

“I’ve been working all off-season, I put all my time into getting ready for this,” Ronning said. “I think I just wanted it more than he did. Coming into that he looked tired and was hanging his head right off the bat. He knew what he was doing. He’s a good kid, but I think he was too tired from the long day. A two-day tournament is long for everyone.”

Yorkville Christian’s John ‘Isaac’ Grady won by fall over Dixon’s Cade Hey for third place at 150 while Chicago De La Salle’s Patrick Young won by fall over Metea Valley’s Austin Wadas-Luis.

157 – Robby Nelson, Yorkville Christian

Nelson was a busy kid, wrestling four matches to earn his championship. After opening his competition with a major decision win, Nelson won by fall in his final three matches, including over Chicago DeLaSalle’s Nicholas Arvetis in the 157 final.

Nelson improved to 12-1.

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Carson Maxey won by major decision against Plano’s Luis Ballesteros for third place at 157, and Princeton senior Preston Arkels took fifth place after Sandwich senior Sy Smith succumbed to an injury and couldn’t compete.

165 – Anthony Bauer, Oregon

Bauer hasn’t forgotten about what happened at the Reaper Classic a year ago.

Wrestling at 160, Bauer found himself on the wrong end of a 15-1 major decision to Yorkville Christian’s Tyler Martinez who went on to take third place in Class 1A last February.

“I came in here expecting to win,” Bauer said. “Last year I was in the finals and got pretty messed up by Tyler Martinez (now wrestling at NIU). So that kind of pushed me to get the plaque.”

Bauer opened the tournament the same way he finished it – with a pin.

After beating Mendota’s Reyli Sandoval in his opening bout, Bauer won by major decision over Princeton’s Casey Etheridge before edging Hoopeston’s Ayden Larkin to get to the finals where he won by fall over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Cooper Miller.

“I like to use my losses as lessons to push me to strive to do better and to work on different types of positions,” he said. “I may have won a match but been weak in that position so I try to work on little things to get better.”

He’s certainly grown emotionally.

“I’ve grown the most in controlling how I wrestle,” he said. “I’ve been angry and have a little bit of a chip on my shoulder but now I’m able to control it. Last year I’d let my emotions get out  of hand, but this year I’m a lot better.”

Princeton sophomore Casey Etheridge won by fall against Hoopeston’s Ayden Larkin for third at 165 while Dixon’s Jayce Kastner also won by fall to secure fifth place, defeating Marmion’s Anthony Haddad.

175 – Angel Zamora, Hoopeston

Zamora took home the title at 175 after Dixon’s Steven Kitzman suffered an injury and could not compete.

Chicago DeLaSalle’s Josue Hernandez earned a hard fought 3-2 win over Amboy’s Lucas Blanton for third place at 175 while Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Lincoln Eastin beat Sandwich’s Kaden Clevenger by major decision on the fifth-place mat.

190 – Aiden Sancken, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

Sancken pulled away late from Plano’s Prince Amakiri to earn a 14-8 decision to win at 190.

Leading 9-8, Sancken finished the bout scoring five straight points to improve to 8-0.

“I feel like it all starts in the practice room,” Sancken said. “Our coach always says it doesn’t matter if you’re down, getting pinned, your 0 to 14, it doesn’t matter, keep wrestling. I try to learn something from every match and I feel like that kind of pulled me through in the end. I kept thinking ‘keep wrestling, something is going to happen, one move could change it all’ and that’s what ended up happening.”

Going against a Plano kid who was wrestling in the comfy, familiar environs of his own gym helped fuel Sancken onward to victory.

“I feel like it fired me up that this is his home gym,” Sancken said. “He was going to have an edge but that’s nothing that matters to me. It’s just another wrestling match. I’m really happy with how I’ve wrestled. I haven’t had that many matches coming in here and winning this is big.”

Marmion freshman Luke Boersma won by fall over Chicago De La Salle junior Terrelle Jackson to claim third place while Dixon’s Zach Clevenger won bv decision against Yorkville Christian freshman Hayden Wheeler on the fifth-place mat.

215 – Will Howell, Dixon

Where there’s a will there’s a way and Dixon found a way to win the team title despite only having Will Howell crowned as a champion this year.

“We’re all super excited because we haven’t done it forever,” he said. “That was big. And this was big for us. We’re all super excited because we haven’t won this in forever. I think last year we placed tenth or maybe eighth or somewhere around there.”

Throwing proved to be key for Howell who won by decision over East Aurora’s Arnold Walker at 215.

“Most of my competition is usually a lot bigger than me because I’m a smaller 215,” Howell said. “I’m like 198 pounds so it’s pretty tough. So my goal was to get some throws in and just to try to stay on point and not get thrown myself.”

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Gavin Johnson won by fall against Princeton’s Ian Morris to win the third place match at 215. For fifth place, Proviso East’s Edward Love won by fall over Amboy’s Evan Flanagan.

285 – Jaylen Torres, St. Francis

Torres has been preoccupied with football, helping the Spartans to a lengthy post-season run in the Class 5A playoffs that ended in the state semifinals.

“This was my first time wrestling since football so I’m just getting back into it,” he said. “It’s been difficult the first couple matches but I feel like I’m getting back into it now. This is my 12th year wrestling so I’ve been doing this since I’ve been young.”

Still just a sophomore, Torres is now a two-time Reaper Classic champion. He won by fall over Yorkville Christian’s Garrett Tunnell after edging Chicago DeLaSalle’s David McCarthy on a tie breaker in the semifinals.

“I’ve just been doing what I’ve been practicing the whole week,” Torres said. “I’m going to take more shots this year. Last year I really didn’t take any shots.”

Torres, who beat Plano’s Alex Diaz, in last year’s final, joins Swanson, Blanton and Edwards as wrestlers who won titles last season who duplicated the feat again this year.

Swanson repeated at 106 while Blanton won at 113 last year and 120 this year while Edwards was the 132 champ after winning at 120 last December.

McCarthy won by fall for third place over Mendota’s Angil Serrano and Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Cohen Kean won by fall for fifth against Metea Valley’s Brady Jones.

Championship matches for the 40th annual Reaper Classic

106 – Augustus Swanson (Princeton) MD 14-2 Jeremiah Lawrence Chicago DeLaSalle)

113 – Aiden Larsen (Yorkville Christian) F 1:21 Ayden Rowley (Dixon)

120 – Landon Blanton (Amboy) F 3:21 Anthony Trendle (Chicago DeLaSalle)

126 – Talan Grady-Nelson (Hoopeston) F 3:58 Liam Quigley (St. Rita)

132 – Ty Edwards (Yorkville Christian) F 3:12 Nino Protti (St. Rita)

138 – Enzo Canali (St. Rita) D 5-0 Grason Johnson (Yorkville Christian)

144 – Miles Corder (Sandwich) Inj. 0:54 Jayden Weidman (Dixon)

150 – Caidan Ronning (Plano) D 12-5 Nolan Keenan (St. Rita)

157 – Robby Nelson (Yorkville Christian) F 3:30 Nicholas Arvetis (Chicago DeLaSalle)

165 – Anthony Bauer (Oregon) F 1:52 Cooper Miller (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley)

175 – Angel Zamora (Hoopeston) Inj 0:00 Steven Kitzman (Dixon)

190 – Aiden Sancken (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) D 14-8 Prince Amakiri (Plano)

215 – Will Howell (Dixon) D 15-8 Arnold Walker (East Aurora)

285 – Jaylen Torres (St. Francis) F 2:00 Garrett Tunnell (Yorkville Christian)

Final scores: 1. Dixon (204) 2. Yorkville Christian (192) 3. GC-Melvin-Sibley (187) 4. De La Salle (167) 5. St. Rita (151.5) 6. Plano (132.5) 7. Princeton (131.5) 8. Hoopeston (106) 9. Amboy  (80.5) 10. Oregon (62) 11. Metea Valley (54) 12. Sandwich (51) 13. East Aurora (50) 14. St. Francis (50) 15. Marmion Academy (46) 16. Proviso East (31) 17. Mendota (23) 18. St. Viator (22) 19. Marian Catholic (21.5)  20. St. Edward (14)

By Curt Herron – For the IWCOA

Despite overcoming an hour and a half delay earlier in the day due when the competition came to a complete standstill due to issues with the scoring system, McHenry was unfazed as it headed into the final place matches at Saturday’s Waukegan Girls Tournament in its attempt to overcome Wheeling for top honors in the 29-team event.

Coach James Buss’ champion Warriors definitely proved to be up to the challenge as they captured wins in four of their five matches, which included two championships and two third-place finishes, to help them capture top honors by a 118-113 margin over Wheeling.

Lakes Community took third place with 99 points, while Morton co-op, the defending champions featuring athletes from Morton East and Morton West, edged Riverside-Brookfield 89-88 for fourth place. Dundee-Crown and Zion-Benton tied for sixth place with 87 points, Grayslake North finished eighth with 85 points and Round Lake beat out Maine West 79-75 for tenth place.

Buss, a two-time IHSA medalist at De La Salle Institute who won the Class 3A championship at 285 in 2012, was very pleased with how his team performed on a day that certainly turned out to be much longer than anyone had anticipated.

The Warriors received titles from Natalie Corona (145) and Sophia Brown (235) while Addison Hodges (115) and Bri Duran (120) both took third and Madalynn Sima (170) was fourth. While Jazmine Argueta (140) and Tania Garcia (155) fell short of medals, they provided key points for a squad that didn’t compete in last season’s tournament, which featured 18 teams.

“Our girls stepped up tremendously in the entire tournament,” Buss said. “Our girls started off a little slow in the morning but they kicked it into gear and they just kept winning and fighting for every point. It was so balanced and it’s great to see so many girls at a tournament. Last year we had three on our team and this year we have 30. I like that they’re doing team-bonding activities and are building each other up throughout the entire season.

“Our scoring system broke down, but it was a lot of fun because then our girls were able to relax and talk to girls in other programs. I don’t think that I’ve ever been congratulated so much with people saying that our girls were great after they won. I coached boys for the last 10 years and I haven’t seen an atmosphere like girls wrestling. Everyone’s matside and they’re cheering on our teammates and they’re cheering on other peoples’ teammates. It’s super awesome just to see how fast our sport is growing because of how nice everyone is to each other.”

Throughout much of the late stages of the tournament, coach Anthony Piltaver’s runner-up Wildcats looked like they might emerge as champions of a competition where they had placed 13th last season, 123 points behind the champions, Morton co-op.

Obviously having 11 scorers compared to five a year ago made a big difference for Wheeling, which was led by second-place finishes from Haydee Cruz (105), Madeline Chicas (155) and Jasmine Rene (190) while Elise Burkut (130) took third place. Isabella Gomez (115), Layah Woods (135), Krystal Diaz (155B) and Nikol Orendarchuk (170) all provided valuable points.

Lakes Community had a tournament-high three champions. Coach Devin Tortorice’s third-place Eagles were led by champions Zaryia Mouzon (105), Ava Babbs (125) and Josephine Larson (190) while Haven Sylves (110) took second place.

Round Lake had two title winners. Riley Kongkaeow (100) and Ireland McCain (115). The other champions were Harvard’s Alexa Herrera (110), Glenbrook North’s Ariella Dobin (120), Zion-Benton’s Emily Ortiz (130), Freeport’s Cadence Diduch (135), Morton’s Faith Comas (140), Riverside-Brookfield’s Estefany Bejarano (155) and Plainfield Central’s Alicia Tucker (170).

The tournament featured two-time IHSA champion Diduch and 2023 IHSA title winner Tucker. 

On a day where 11 of the 14 title matches were determined by falls, the other three finals were competitive with Comas claiming a 6-4 decision over Zion-Benton’s Adrianna Ketchum at 140 and Larson capturing a 3-1 decision over Rene in the 190 finals. And in the first finals at 100 in which Kongkaeow won 14-7 over Montini Catholic’s Kat Bell, it was 7-7 heading into the final period.

Other second-place finishers were Plainfield Central’s Courtni Chuway (115), Grayslake Central’s Gianna Arzer (120), Waukegan’s Noelani Rodriguez (125), Fremd’s Kandice Wallace (130), Grayslake North’s Quinna Sheets (135), Harvard’s Ithandehui Rosas (145), Palatine’s Sabrina Cargill (170) and Maine West’s Eliana Garrett (235).

Corona, Diduch and Ortiz tied for the most team points with 28 while Babbs, Bejarano, Dobin, Herrera, McCain, Mouzon and Tucker all collected 26 team points. Among the finalists, the individual who made the biggest jump from where they were seeded to where they finished was Sheets, who drew the 15-seed at 135 but finished in second place.

Shortly before a break was going to be taken between rounds, the scoring system shut down. Fortunately, IWCOA Class of 2005 Hall of Famer Tony Clarke, who has been an official for 40 years and has served in a variety of key roles for the IWCOA and IHSA, was the tournament manager, so plans to score the meet in the traditional fashion were arranged and Waukegan coach Andres Santana and his staff got the tournament up and running again before too long.

Individuals who won titles in the B Division were McHenry’s Alexa Garcia (115), Maine South’s Grace Migasi (120), Morton’s Eveyln Miranda (125), Metea Valley’s Janiya Moore (130), Stevenson’s Isabella Baker (135), Zion-Benton’s Tegan Haske (140) and Grace Johnson (145) and Wheeling’s Krystal Diaz (155) and Stephanie Solano (170).

Here’s a look at the champions and weight classes at the Waukegan Girls Tournament

100 – Riley Kongkaeow, Round Lake

One of the many top matchups in the title matches at the Waukegan Girls Tournament was the first one between Round Lake’s Riley Kongkaeow and Montini Catholic’s Kat Bell at 100, which was a meeting of individuals who fell one win shy of medals at 100 at the 2023 IHSA Finals.

The match was even at 7-7 heading into the final period and that’s when Kongkaeow took control with a reversal and then a nearfall to help her capture a 14-7 decision for the 100 title. Kongkaeow, who also took first at Niles West, was one of two champions for the Panthers and earned her spot in the finals with an 11-3 win over Dundee-Crown’s Diamond Rodriguez.

“It was fun,” Kongkaeow said of the title matchup. “I want to try to place. I’ve been doing strength training and working on my technique. We have a lot of new girls, but they’re progressing quickly and I’m proud of them. I just kind of wanted to get my matches done because we were sitting here for a long time. I just wanted to wrestle my best. I just need to stick to my goals and just try to do the best that I can.”

Bell, who also won a title at Niles West and was one of three Broncos in the competition, recorded a fall in 1:33 in the semifinals over Freeport’s Aurielle Calmese. The semifinal losers met up in the third-place match with Rodriguez winning by fall in 5:05 over Calmese. 

105 – Zaryia Mouzon, Lakes Community

After losing a close decision to fall one loss shy of qualifying for the 2023 IHSA Finals, Zaryia Mouzon is determined to not come up short again of a state appearance in her senior year.

And she’s definitely off to a good start after winning a title in the opening week at her own Sandy Gussarson Invitational and then being the first of three champions for Lakes Community at Waukegan when she won by fall in 1:09 over Wheeling’s Haydee Cruz in the 105 title match. Mouzon also got a fall in 1:09 in her semifinal match with Dundee-Crown’s Leslie Figuroa.

“This is my second first-place tournament this year,” Mouzon said. “It was a little challenging my first year at Lakes because there were only two girls, me and Olivia Heft. In my sophomore year, I almost won sectionals and in my junior year, I almost won sectionals. And this year I haven’t lost one match yet. At our last tournament, four girls placed first. We had the least amount of girls on our team but we placed third as a team at our last tournament.”

Cruz, one of three second-place finishers for runner-up Wheeling, reached the 105 finals with a fall in 1:20 over Grant’s Jaiydyn Hoffman. Morton’ Hope Donnamario, who had the most falls in the least time with five in 3:07, claimed third place after recording a pin in 1:26 over Figuroa.

110 – Alexa Herrera, Harvard

When you live in a community like Harvard, which has produced one of the all-time winningest programs in state history, being able to excel in the sport is a big deal. And Alexa Herrera hopes that being a part of the Hornets’ program helps her to become the school’s first state medalist.

Herrera, who fell one win shy of a state trip last year and took third place at the Gussarson Invite, was one of two finalists for the Hornets and their lone champion after winning by fall in 1:50 in the 110 finals over Lakes Community’s Haven Sylves. She won her other two matches by fall, including in 1:28 in the semifinals over Plainfield Central’s Candice Cameron.

“Right now we have four girls on the team,” Herrera said. “(Harvard’s program) It’s run very well and they’re definitely preparing me to be the best that I can be. I started in the eighth grade and there were very few girls on the teams, so it’s great to watch it grow and to get bigger. 

Sylves, one of four finalists for the Eagles, entered on a high note after winning a title at her school’s Sandy Gussarson Invitational. She reached the title mat with a fall in 0:30 over Dundee-Crown’s Iris Torres. Warren Township’s Alyssa Bentley won 8-3 over Torres for third. 

115 – Ireland McCain, Round Lake

Ireland McCain is in good company as being among the select group who will be in pursuit of their third state medals this season. Round Lake’s McCain hopes to finish higher on the IHSA award stand after placing sixth at 115 last year and fifth at 120 in the inaugural IHSA Finals.

After placing fourth at Niles West to open the season, McCain was feeling better about things after claiming top honors in Waukegan at 115 by recording a fall in 1:51 over Plainfield Central’s Courtni Chuway in the title match. She got a pin in 0:59 in the semifinals over Riverside-Brookfield’s Frankie Abasta.

“We lost a few girls last year, but this year our girls are getting much better,”  McCain said. “We’re learning to be a good team and to work hard to do all of the things that we need to get done. I want to set the standards higher and place again. I’ve never seen anybody on the team see one of our teammates cry and not go up and try to fix it and help them. I think we’re very caring about each other.”

Chuway also reached the finals at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown in the season’s first tournament but had to face Glenbard North’s Gabby Gomez. She advanced to the 115 title match against McCain with a fall in 0:34 over Wheeling’s Isabella Gomez. McHenry’s Addison Hodges took third place by recording a fall in 1:37 over Metea Valley’s Uliana Shevtsova.

120 – Ariella Dobin, Glenbrook North

Glenbrook North freshman Ariella Dobin continues to impress after adding to her season-opening championship at Niles West with a title at the Waukegan Girls Tournament after recording a fall in 1:27 over Grayslake Central’s Gianna Arzer in the 120 title match.

One of Glenbrook North two entrants, Dobin used two first-period falls to advance to the championship. In the semifinals, she won with a pin in 1:06 over Zion-Benton’s Anneliese Mata. Following her great start, Dobin has the opportunity to be the Spartans’ first state medalist.

“I wrestled in eighth grade and that was my first year,” Dobin said. “We have three girls. The whole team is very supportive and we just bring each other up and we’re creating a really great community of boys and girls. I’m really excited for the future of girls wrestling. I like that this is very hard but the outcome, when you win, that makes it feel so much better.”

Arzer, the lone individual representing Grayslake Central in the tournament, earned her spot in the 120 finals with three falls, needing just 18 seconds to record a fall in the semifinals over Palatine’s Amialis Izaguirre. In the third-place match, McHenry’s Bri Duran won by fall in 5:55 over Freeport’s Marijose Avila.

125 – Ava Babbs, Lakes Community

Ava Babbs made a name for herself a year ago when she and teammate Josephine Larson placed at state to give Lakes Community two medals in addition to its initial medal in 2022 that was claimed by Olivia Heft, who was a runner-up to Glenwood’s Maya Davis at 115.

Now Babbs, who took third at 125 a year ago, and Larson, who was fifth at 190 in 2023, hope to join Heft as the trio look to become the Eagles’ first two-time medalists. Babbs won her first two matches with falls in 1:11 and then pinned Waukegan’s Noelani Rodriguez in 5:22 in the finals.

“When I first started, it was the first year that there was a girls IHSA state, so that was fun,” Babbs said. “A lot of the people on my team, it was all our first year, so it’s been fun seeing the sport grow and people are getting better. It’s such a close, tight-knit community and everybody is really sweet, no matter the school or the competition, there’s really good sportsmanship. I like that we’re building a culture and traditions right now.”

Rodriguez, who qualified for the IHSA Finals last year and competed in the quarterfinals and opened this season with a title win at Niles West, advanced to the 125 finals with a fall in 2:00 over Lemont’s Molly O’Connor. In the third-place match, Riverside-Brookfield’s Eleanor Aphay won 14-4 over Morton’s Nayeli Rodriguez.

130 – Emily Ortiz, Zion-Benton

Emily Ortiz hopes to do what two others from Zion-Benton have accomplished in the first two years of the IHSA Finals, and that is to win a state medal. Ileen Castrejon took second in the inaugural state finals and then placed third a year ago while Rachel Williams-Henry finished fourth at the historic debut in 2022.

Ortiz saved the best for last for her four falls, needing nearly two periods in her opener and 5:53 in a semifinal victory over Wheeling’s Elise Burkut before capturing the 130 title with a pin in six seconds over Fremd’s Kandice Wallace. A week ago, she took second place at Niles West.

“Last week I took second in my bracket at Niles West,” Ortiz said. “At first I was nervous because it was a rough start and I was like, ‘I can’t do this.’ But I changed my mindset and I was like, ‘I got this, I’m going to take first,’ and I took first. I love my team. We’re all friends and we push each other in the mat room and we work hard.”

Wallace, one of three Vikings who competed and their only medalist, used two first-period pins to reach the 130 title match, including a pin in 1:14 over Warren Township’s Jane Kelly  in the semifinals. Berkut bounced back her semifinal loss to Ortiz by capturing a 13-5 major decision over Kelly in the third-place match.

135 – Cadence Diduch, Freeport 

Just six individuals have won two IHSA titles and only four are back this season. So whenever Cadence Diduch, Sydney Perry, Gabby Gomez and Angelina Cassioppi step onto the mat, all eyes will be focused on their performances.

Freeport’s Diduch, who went 11-0 last season to claim first at 125 and 22-3 in 2022 to win the 120 title in the inaugural IHSA Finals, was one of three Pretzels medal winners on the day. After recording three-straight first-period falls, including in 0:39 in the semifinals over Plainfield Central’s Miah Banda, Diduch captured the 135 title with a pin in 1:59 over Grayslake North’s Quinna Sheets.

Sheets, one of three medal winners from Grayslake North, was seeded 15th but made up 13 spots to meet the two-time defending IHSA champ following a 7-1 decision over Zion-Benton’s Jahmariona Thompson, who bounced back from that setback to capture third place with a fall in 0:50 over Maine West’s Ava Reyes.

140 – Faith Comas, Morton

Faith Comas has experienced a lot of memorable moments for Morton’s co-op team that includes athletes from Morton East and Morton West. The Mustangs were an early leader in the sport, as is seen by them having four medalists in the initial IHSA Finals in 2022.

Comas hopes that she can add her name to that list after being one of the program’s two state qualifiers last season. In a finals round where all but of the title matches ended with falls, senior Comas captured a 6-4 decision over Zion-Benton’s Adrianna Ketchum to take top honors at 140. She won two falls to reach the finals, recording a semifinal pin in 4:35 over Dundee-Crown’s Perla Lomeli.

“This is my fifth year wrestling,” Comas said. “And this is the second time that I ever got first place in anything for wrestling, so this was a pleasant surprise. Karla Topete, she placed at state fifth, and she was my partner when I was a sophomore. And Leilany De Leon got sixth, and she was my partner when I was a junior. I think it comes down to dedication. A lot of schools can have really big numbers, and we had big numbers before. It kind of dwindled down, but because those kids stayed dedicated, we’re able to progress, despite lower numbers.”

Ketchum, who joined 130 champion Emily Ortiz as finalists for the Zee-Bees, reached the 140 title mat by recording a fall in 1:54 over Mundelein’s Khloe Heerdegen. Lomeli won by fall in 0:44 over Heerdegen to claim third place.

145 – Natalie Corona, McHenry

With Wheeling holding a slight advantage over McHenry heading into the first- and third-place matches at the Waukegan Girls Tournament, it was critical for the eventual champion Warriors to get a title from Natalie Corona, and the returning state qualifier who won 30 matches a year ago was determined to capture the championship at 145..

She joined 235 title winner Sophia Brown as champions for coach James Buss’ Warriors, who edged Wheeling by a 118-113 margin to claim top honors . After getting a fall in 0:41 over Riverside-Brookfield’s Danely Villagomez in the semifinals, Corona needed just 11 seconds to pin Harvard’s Ithandehui Rosas on the 145 title mat.

“I was really proud of the whole team and how hard they worked,” Corona said. “Most of these girls are in their first year and they did a really good job today and I’m impressed. It was really good to relax for a little bit and it definitely prepared you for the matches. I think this is pretty good. We’ve worked hard to get this program up and running. And gathering all of these girls and going from three girls to 30 girls this year is crazy. It’s really good that everyone works hard so everyone gets good competition. I like that when we’re in the wrestling room that everyone pushes each other to get better and the coaches push each other to get better. Everyone just works super hard but we also have fun.”

Rosas, who joined 110 champion Alexa Herrera as the Hornets’ medalists, captured a 9-3 semifinal decision over Stevenson’s Sajra Sulejmani, who placed fourth at state at 145 last season and finished fifth at the same weight in the inaugural IHSA Finals. Villagomez claimed third place over Sulejmani due to a medical forfeit.

155 – Estefany Bejarano, Riverside-Brookfield

After getting Eleanor Aphay to state as its lone qualifier in the first IHSA Finals in 2022 and then having Danely Villagomez join Aphay at state as Riverside-Brookfield claimed its first victories there last season, the program looks for bigger and better things this season, such as having its initial medal winner.

Things have gotten off to a good start for the Bulldogs as Estefany Bejarano reached the top of the awards stand at 155 after getting a fall in 1:02 over Wheeling’s Madeline Chicas while Aphay and Villagomez both took third place. Bejarano only needed 10 seconds to record a fall in the semifinals over Stevenson’s Taylor Braden to assure her spot on the championship mat.

Chicas, one of three second-place finishers for coach Anthony Piltaver’s runner-up Wildcats, needed 11 seconds to record a fall over Grant’s Cassidy Graham to advance to the finals. For third place, Grayslake North’s Jacqueline Cordova-Marquina won by fall in 0:43 over Dundee-Crowns’s Mackenzie Lessner.

170 – Alicia Tucker, Plainfield Central 

Alicia Tucker caught a lot of peoples’ attention last season when she put together a memorable season where she posted a 34-2 record and not only became Plainfield Central’s first medalist in the sport, but she took top honors at 155 to become its first champion and one of three Wildcats female athletes to ever win an IHSA title in any sport.

Now she hopes to join a more exclusive group, the two-time champions. There’s only been six in the first two years of IHSA competition and four are competing this season, including Freeport’s Cadence Diduch, who also won a title in Waukegan. Tucker added to a season-opening title at Minooka with a first at 155 after winning by fall in 1:41 over Palatine’s Sabrina Cargill. She needed 32 seconds to get a pin in the semifinals over McHenry’s Madalynn Sima.

“It feels great, moving up a weight class and getting all of these wins,” Tucker said. “It’s a big confidence booster. It was a really long day and I’ve been up since early this morning. I’ve just been really tired and it took a lot to just focus back on being in the moment during that match. I remember last year at this same tournament, there were not nearly as many wrestlers as there are this year.” 

Cargill, a state qualifier last year who won 26 matches, was the Pirates’ lone medalist. She won her first two matches with falls in the opening period, including in 1:11 in the semifinals over Maine West’s Lillian Garrett, who claimed third place with a fall in 2:00 over Sima. 

190 – Josephine Larson, Lakes Community

Josephine Larson put the finishing touches on a successful day for third-place Lakes Community when she captured a 3-1 decision over Wheeling’s Jasmine Rene in the 190 finals to give the Eagles a tournament-high three champions, with the others being Zaryia Mouzon at 105 and Ava Babbs at 125.

Larson, who went 15-4 and took fifth at 190 at state in 2023, hopes to join teammates Olivia Heft and Babbs in becoming two-time medal winners. Babbs placed third last year while Heft was the program’s first medal winner in 2022 with a runner-up finish. Larson added to a season-opening title win at her school’s Sandy Gussarson Invitational by recording three falls, including one in 2:15 in the semifinals over Maine West’s Jathziry Valencia Carranza, to reach the title mat.

“My freshman year, we only had five girls on our team and this year we have nine, so it’s awesome,” Larson said. “Our team did really well in this tournament. We took third overall and I think that’s awesome because we have a ton of first-year wrestlers.”

Rene became Wheeling’s first state medalist a year ago when she went 18-10 and took fourth place at 190. She reached the title mat at 190 with a fall in 1:52 over Grayslake North’s Jeniah Robinson. Waukegan’s Jennifer Perez won 4-0 over Robinson to finish third.

235 – Sophia Brown, McHenry

There’s nothing quite like winning the last championship of the day to help assure that your team is going to capture a tournament team title. But that’s just what Sophia Brown was able to do in the 235 title match when she recorded a fall in 1:03 over Maine West’s Eliana Garrett to assure that coach James Buss’ Warriors would prevail over Wheeling for top honors at the Waukegan Girls Tournament.

Brown, who joined 145 title winner Natalie Corona as one of McHenry’s two champions, hopes to do something that only one other individual has achieved thus far in the program, and that’s placing at state, which Emma Garrett accomplished in 2022, when she took sixth place at 140. Brown earned her trip to the 235 title mat with a fall in 1:09 over Round Lakes’ Yareli Macias in her only other match.

Garrett, the top-finisher among Maine West’s three medalists, recorded a fall in 1:34 over Warren Township’s Olivia Zasadil in the semifinals in her first match of the competition. In the third place match at 235, Macias won by fall in 1:15 over Zasadil.

Championship matches for the Waukegan Girls Tournament

100 – Riley Kongkaeow (Round Lake) D 14-7 Kat Bell (Montini Catholic)

105 – Zaryia Mouzon (Lakes Community) F 1:09 Haydee Cruz (Wheeling)

110 – Alexa Herrera (Harvard) F 1:50 Haven Sylves (Lakes Community)

115 – Ireland McCain (Round Lake) F 1:51 Courtni Chuway (Plainfield Central)

120 – Ariella Dobin (Glenbrook North) F 1:27 Gianna Arzer (Grayslake Central)

125 – Ava Babbs (Lakes Community) F 5:22 Noelani Rodriguez (Waukegan)

130 – Emily Ortiz (Zion-Benton) F 0:06 Kandice Wallace (Fremd)

135 – Cadence Diduch (Freeport) F 1:59 Quinna Sheets (Grayslake North)

140 – Faith Comas (Morton) D 6-4 Adrianna Ketchum (Zion-Benton)

145 – Natalie Corona (McHenry) F 0:11 Ithandehui Rosas (Harvard)

155 – Estefany Bejarano (Riverside-Brookfield) F 1:02 Madeline Chicas (Wheeling)

170 – Alicia Tucker (Plainfield Central) F 1:41 Sabrina Cargill (Palatine)

190 – Josephine Larson (Lakes Community) D 3-1 Jasmine Rene (Wheeling)

235 – Sophia Brown (McHenry) F 1:03 Eliana Garrett (Maine West)

115 B – Alexa Garcia (McHenry) F 3:35 Karolina Jaramillo-Garcia (Round Lake)

120 B – Grace Migasi (Maine South) F 1:59 Mirissa Buhler (McHenry)

125 B – Evelyn Miranda (Morton) F 0:17 Kylila Marquez (McHenry)

130 B – Janiya Moore (Metea Valley) F 1:00 Lydia Dillon (Grayslake North)

135 B – Isabella Baker (Stevenson) F 0:16 Vanesa Penaloza (Freeport)

140 B – Tegan Haske (Zion-Benton) F 1:24 Kimberly Hernandez (Dundee-Crown)

145 B – Grace Johnson (Zion-Benton) F 0:10 Emily Anaya (Riverside-Brookfield)

155 B – Krystal Diaz (Wheeling) F 1:00 Natalie Gonzalez (Dundee-Crown)

170 B – Stephanie Solano (Wheeling) F 0:45 Zyon Jordan (Plainfield Central)

Team scoring for the Waukegan Girls Tournament

1. McHenry 118, 2. Wheeling 113, 3. Lakes Community 99, 4. Morton 89, 5. Riverside-Brookfield 88, 6. Dundee-Crown 87, 6. Zion-Benton 87, 8. Grayslake North 85, 9. Round Lake 79, 10. Maine West 75, 11. Plainfield Central 67, 12. Warren Township 61, 13. Harvard 52, 14. Freeport 50, 15. Stevenson 42, 16. Waukegan 40, 17. Metea Valley 36, 18. Palatine 35, 19. Lemont 31, 20. Glenbrook North 26, 21. Grayslake Central 22, 22. Fremd 20, 22. Montini Catholic 20, 24. Grant 19, 25. Mundelein 15, 26. Lake Forest 14, 26. Saint Viator 14, 28. Maine South 10, 29. Guilford 3.

• 

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

Mount Carmel claims top honors at Dan Gable Donnybrook

Mount Carmel defeated Liberty, MO 401-391 to capture the title of the 37-team Dan Gable Donnybrook, which was held in Coralville, Iowa.

Bettendorf, IA edged Joliet Catholic Academy 336-332.5 for third place while Marmion Academy (266) finished fifth. Lockport Township (188.5) was 16th, Lincoln-Way West (169.5) placed 19th, DeKalb (150) was 23rd, Marian Central Catholic (129.5) placed 26th, Huntley (89.5) was 30th and Antioch (52) took 36th.

Once again, an Illinois team won the competition. In 2022, Marmion Academy took first with Liberty, MO edging out Mount Carmel for second and Joliet Catholic Academy placed sixth.

Coach Alex Tsirtsis’ first-place Caravan received titles from Seth Mendoza (126), Edmund Enright (157) and Colin Kelly (175) and a runner-up finish from Justin Williamson (113). 

Mendoza captured a 9-4 decision over Waukee Northwest, IA’s Koufax Christensen in the 126 finals. Enright beat Iowa City High, IA’s Kael Voinovich 5-3 on an overtime tiebreaker in the 157 title match and Kelly won a 7-3 decision over Liberty, MO’s Peyton Westpfahl for the 175 championship. Williamson lost a 13-1 major decision to Liberty, MO’s Hunter Taylor in the 113 finals.

Mendoza, who also took first place at last year’s Donnybrook, won the 2023 IHSA Class 3A title at 113 and also took first at 106 in 2022. Enright, who improved upon a third from a year ago, was the IHSA 3A runner-up at 152 last season and took fourth at 120 in the 2021 IWCOA Finals.  Kelly, who moved up from a fourth last season, took second at 170 in last year’s IHSA 3A Finals after winning the 160 title in 2022 and placing third at 160 in the 2021 IWCOA Finals.

Coach Ryan Cumbee’s third-place Hilltoppers received second-place finishes from Nino Ronchetti (190) and Dillan Johnson (285). Rochitti lost by technical fall in 5:38 to West Bend West, WI’s Connor Miraola in the 190 finals while Johnson was edged 5-4 in the 285 finals by West Bend West, WI’s Cole Mirasola. Johnson won a title in last year’s Donnybrook.

Johnson is a three-time defending champion, winning IHSA Class 2A titles at 285 in 2023 and 2022 and at 285 in the 2021 IWCOA Finals. Ronchetti took second in 2A at 182 last season.

Marmion Academy and Marian Central Catholic also each had a second-place finisher, Joey Favia (215) for the Cadets and Max Astacio (165) for the Hurricanes. 

Favia was edged 2-1 in the 215 finals by Fort Dodge, IA’s Dreshuan Ross. Astacio, who took fifth at 160 in the 2023 IHSA Class 1A  Finals, lost by technical fall in 5:27 in the 165 finals to Bettendorf’ IA’s Lincoln Jipp. He also was a top-10 finisher in last year’s event.

Other top performers for the champion Caravan included a fourth from Rylan Breen (190), a fifth from Liam Kelly (150), a sixth from Jairo Acuna (144), a seventh from William Jacobson (190) and a ninth from Evan Stanley (132). Breen also finished fifth last season. He’s a two-time IHSA Class 3A medalist taking fifth in 2023 and sixth in 2022, both times at 182.

Also turning in top-10 finishes for Joliet Catholic Academy were Luke Foster (106) with a fifth, Jason Hampton (120) with a sixth, Max Cumbee (113) with a seventh and Connor Cumbee (150), Luke Hamiti (157) and Max Corral (165) all finishing in eighth place. Connor Cumbee and Hampton also placed in the top 10 a year ago and later finished fourth in the IHSA 2A Finals, Hampton at 113 and Cumbee at 152.

Others in the top-10 for Marmion Academy were Nicholas Garcia (120) and Zach Stewart (138) with thirds, Ashton Hobson (144) with a fifth and Logan Conover (106) and Donny Pigoni (126) with sixths. Garcia and Stewart also placed in the top-10 at last year’s Donnybrook and Garcia took fourth at the 2023 IHSA 3A Finals at 106.

Also placing in the top-10 for Marian Central Catholic were Vance Williams (132) with a sixth and Austin Hagevold (106) with an eighth. Williams, who took second in Class 1A at 132 in 2023 and fourth at that weight in 2022, also had a top-10 Donnybrook finish last year.

Lockport Township’s top finisher was Justin Wardlow (138), who took fifth. The Porters also received eighth-place finishes from Timmy O’Connor (113) and Liam Zimmerman (132) while Durango Valles (175) took tenth. Zimmerman was also a top-10 finisher in 2022. Wardlow was the IHSA Class 3A runner-up at 120 in 2023.

Top performers for Lincoln-Way West were Luke Siwinski (138) with an eighth, Jase Salin (150) and Nate Elstner (190) with ninths and Shane Stream (113), who placed tenth.

DeKalb got a third-place finish from Jacob Luce (165) while Lamar Bradley (215) placed ninth. Luce, who took sixth at 152 in the 2023 IHSA 3A Finals, also placed in the top-10 last year.

Huntley’s was led by Markos Mihalopoulos (285), who finished eighth, giving him a second top-10 finish in the event. And leading Antioch was Chase Nobiling (138), who finished tenth.

Kelly tied Linn-Mar, IA’s Kane Naaktgeboren for the Donnybrook lead in most team points with 54 points while Mendoza (51.5) and Enright (51.5) tied for eighth place in that category.

Johnson led all competitors with the most falls in the least amount of time with four in 5:22. Salin (4 in 8:52) ranked fourth, Garcia (4 in 10:55) ranked seventh, Elstner (4 in 11:17) ranked eighth and Kelly (4 in 11:19) ranked ninth. Johnson also recorded the fastest fall in 0:11.

In the B Division, it was an all-Illinois matchup in the 132 finals as Huntley’s Gavin Nischke won by fall in 5:11 over Joliet Catholic Academy’s George Hollendoner. Other B Division first-place finishes were captured by Lockport Township’s Jaedon Calderon (144) and Lincoln-Way West’s Elijah Zepeda (165) while Huntley’s Lucas Bittman (175) also took second place.

Turner receives OWA at Girls Dan Gable Donnybrook

Lockport Township’s Morgan Turner won the 105 championship at the Girls Dan Gable Donnybrook in Coralville, Iowa, when she recorded a fall in 5:20 over Liberty, MO’s Sandy Breeden. As a result of her dominating tournament performance, the Porters sophomore newcomer received the Girls Outstanding Wrestler Award for the tournament. 

In the tournament, Turner scored 67 match points, which was 21 more that the next-best competitor, Cedar Rapids Prairie, IA’s Ciara Gomez-Bryant. She had two of the highest match point totals with a tournament-best 25 in her semifinals victory over Mason City, IA’s Layla Phillips and tied for fourth with 18 points in another triumph. She also had one of only two wins by technical fall in the tournament, against Phillips, and that was the quickest in 3:47. 

“Morgan wrestled well at the Donnybrook pinning or teching her way through the tournament,” Porters coach Jameson Oster said. “She dominated every match and was deserving of the OW award.”

Turner made history last season when she became the first girl to place in the IHSA Boys Finals by claiming third place at 106 in Class 2A while competing for Bremen. She went 4-1 at state, winning her first two matches before falling 3-0 in the semifinals to the eventual state champion, Grayslake Central’s Anthony Alanis, and then bounced back to win two two-point decisions. 

Five Illinois teams took part in the 43-team competition with the Turner’s Porters (210.5) taking 14th place, Huntley (149) finishing 20th, DeKalb (90) placing 31st, Joliet Catholic Academy (74) claiming 33rd place and Lincoln-Way West (63) in 34th place. 

Lockport Township also received fifth-place finishes from Claudia Heeney (130) and Rebekah Ramirez (235) and a sixth-place effort from Liz Ramirez (120). Heeney won a title in last year’s Donnybrook while Liz Ramirez took sixth place again. Heeney became the Porters’ first medalist when she took second place at 125 in last year’s IHSA Finals.

Huntley got four top-10 finishes as Taylor Casey (110) finished fifth, Jessica Olson (140) placed seventh, Janiah Slaughter (105) took ninth and Aubrie Rohrbacher (130) claimed tenth place. All four Red Raiders also placed in the top 10 in last year’s Donnybrook. Slaughter became the Red Raiders’ initial state placewinner when she finished third at 100 in the 2023 IHSA Finals.

DeKalb got a seventh from Aarianna Bloyd (235) and a ninth from Alex Gregorio-Perez (110), who also was in the top-10 a year ago.

Joliet Catholic Academy received a third-place finish from Cheya Bishop (170) and an eighth from Grace Laird (125), who won a title at last year’s Donnybrook. Bishop had the second-quickest fall in the tournament, at nine seconds. And Lincoln-Way West got a sixth-place finish from Zoe Dempsey (105) and a ninth from Alaina Hollendoner (120).

Edwardsville claims third at Francis Howell North Tournament

Edwardsville took third place with 33 points and Granite City was ninth with 17.5 points at the Francis Howell North Tournament in St. Charles, Missouri. Lafayette, MO won the championship with 58 points while Ft. Zumwalt South, MO took second with 47 points.

Winning championships for the Tigers were Logan Hiller (138) and Riley Steinkuehler (285) while Bryson Nuttall (113) and Aiden Stamp (157) both took second place.

Ryan Richie (126), Blake Mink (144) and Max Miller (175) took third and Levi Wilkinson (132) and Simon Schulte (190) finished fourth for a program that’s now coached by Eric Pretto.

Pretto, a Carl Sandburg graduate, is in his first year as head coach after serving the past few seasons as an assistant for 2019 IWCOA Hall Of Fame inductee Jon Wagner, who retired last season after winning over 500 dual meets in his 27 years leading the Tigers. 

Hiller capped a 5-0 day with a 6-4 decision over Ft. Zumwalt South’s Kyle Detchemendy while Steinkuehler also went 5-0 and won his final match by fall in 3:37 over Ft. Zumwalt South’s Junior Rudd.

Top performers for the Warriors were Dawson Hawthorne (120), who took second place, and Demarco Clark (285), who placed fourth.

Quincy Senior takes third at Board Hyland Cardinal Invite

Quincy Senior had a successful trip to Minnesota where it took third place with 162 points at the Board Hyland Cardinal Invitational in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. The Blue Devils, the lone Illinois team in the field, fell one half point behind Cumberland, WI while Hastings, MN took first with 179.5 points in the 15-team competition.

Owen Uppinghouse, who took third at 160 in Class 3A at the 2023 IHSA Finals, won the championship at 172 with a fall over Royalton-Upsala, MN’s Nicholas Leibold. Brody Baker (145) lost a one-point decision in the finals and Gunnar Derhake (160) also claimed a second-place finish for coach Phil Neally’s Blue Devils.

Eli Roberts (152) and Bryor Newbold (189) both took third place while Hugh Sharrow (114), Evan Wakefield (127) and Todd Smith (285) all finished in fourth place.

Cahokia finishes fifth at Westminster Tournament

Cahokia scored 112 points to take fifth place at the Westminster Tournament, which was hosted by Westminster Christian Academy in Town and Country, Missouri and won by Washington, Missouri with 180.5 points. The Comanches were the lone Illinois team in the field.

Cahokia was led by second-place finishes from Kindle Williams (150) and Issac Phipps (190) while Mark Norris (132) and Kindrick Williams (175) took third and Nathan Fisher (106) and Anthony Winters (138) finished fourth. Kindrick Williams tied for the largest seed to place difference, which was 12 spots, while Norris recorded four falls.

Brother Rice places sixth at Harvest Classic

Brother Rice scored 177 points to finish sixth at the 16-team Harvest Classic at Lake Central in St. John, Indiana. The Crusaders, the lone Illinois team in the competition, were just six points out of third place in an otherwise all-Indiana competition that was won by Penn with 235 points while the host school took second with 217 points.

The Crusaders advanced three individuals to the title mat with Gambino Perez being their lone champ. Perez won by fall in 1:13 over Highland, IN’s Hunter Sopkowski in the 165 finals. 

Oliver Davis (138) and Frank Meceli (150) both claimed second place while Jack O’Connor (144) placed third and Pat Gilholly (157) finished fourth. James Bennet (132) took fifth and had a tournament-high 65 match points, which was 16 points ahead of second place.

Andrew at Cliff Keen Independence Invitational

Three Andrew competitors claimed top-five finishes at the 33-team Cliff Keen Independence Invitational in Independence, Iowa. 

The Thunderbolts, who were one of six non-Iowa squads and the lone Illinois team in the competition, took 14th place with 172 points. Nadeem Haleem (113) and Max Siegel (126) both took fourth place while Michael McDonough (285) claimed fifth place. The Andrew trio all advanced to semifinals matches in their weight classes.

By Bobby Narang – For the IWCOA

ELGIN – Wrestling matches generally never run on schedule.

When you throw in a tournament packed with several teams from different regions of the state, it often leads to an even slower schedule.

Early-season weekend tournaments are notorious for blowing past any projected start time for finals.

Take for example the 2003 Chris Hruska Wrestling Classic at Conant in late November. The estimated start time for finals was 2 p.m.The actual start time was closer to 4 p.m.

Saturday’s Larkin Girls Royal Rumble in Elgin was no different.

The finals blew way past the projected start time, nearly four-plus hours later, due to a computer issue with the results. Several wrestlers said they had spent nearly 12 hours at the school, with the finals ending just before 8 p.m.

Just like in other sports, wrestling is a mental challenge, just as much as physical. Several champions said they resorted to unique methods to bid time during the long meet. 

Oak Forest captured the team title with 204 points while Batavia snared second place with 185 points. Joliet Township co-op, consisting of athletes from Joliet Central and Joliet West, just missed second place after scoring 182 points and the District 230 co-op of athletes from Andrew, Carl Sandburg and Stagg, finished in fourth place with 174 points in the 18-team field.

Coach John Sebek’s champion Bengals received titles from Camila O’Leary Salas (125), Ryann Reeves (170), Isabel Peralta (190) and Jessica Komolafe (235) while Madelyn Sears (140) placed second, Iyobosa Odiase (145) took third, Maya Coreas Funes (155) finished fourth, Marjorie Rodriguez (115) was fifth and Charlotte Pedroza (120) took sixth.

“I am very proud of how our girls wrestled, considering we were missing wrestlers at 100, 105 and 110 and a lot of other teams had full lineups,” Sebek said. “We had five girls in the finals, Camila O’Leary Salas, Maddy Sears, Ryann Reeves, Isabel Peralta and Jessica Komolafe. We also had four other girls place third through sixth, Iyobosa Odiase, Charlotte Pedroza, Marjorie Rodriguez and Maya Coreas Funes.

“We brought 12 girls to the event and only 10 could be considered for team points, so it shows the true heart and grit of this team. They battled all day long. We were also without our most experienced wrestler, Alexandra Sebek, who was a state finalist last year and is dealing with a high ankle sprain.

“Hats off to the girls and coaches of Batavia High School. It was neck and neck with them all day. Coach (Scott) Bayer and Coach Alvarado have a very young and talented team. They will be the team to beat very shortly.”

Glenbard West’s Alycia Perez, who was crowned the first champion of the night at 100 pounds, called it a tough and long day.

“I just reset my mind every time I felt tired and just had to push that feeling away and did sprints to keep moving,” Perez said.

In the 105-pound class, Addison Trail senior Veronica Cosio had a solid day to win her weight. She said her first time competing in the Royals Rumble was a unique experience.

“I made sure to keep my mental state and stay in a positive mindset even though it was a long and trying day and unexpected things happened,” Cosio said. “I kept a positive mindset throughout the day.”

At 110 pounds, Bartlett’s Angelina Carpintero took the title in her weight class, but not before some trying hours.

“Mentally, it was exhausting today,” Carpintero said. “I was trying so hard to not fall asleep, just kept eating and had a ton of Coke. I just kept busy, talking to my teammates, but I actually felt stronger because I had the extra time to rest.”

Glenbard North junior Gabby Gomez, the defending state champion at 115, added another first-place medal with three easy wins on Saturday. A veteran wrestler, Gomez said she enjoyed the long day but needed some extra caffeine.

“The tournament ran a little bit long, so I got a little tired and had a couple of energy drinks,” Gomez said. “I really liked the support and seeing all these girls have fun during the break. That was super cool.”

Other champions were District 230’s Sophia Figueroa (120) and Alyssa Keane (145), Glenbard North’s Keagan Edwards (130), Bolingbrook’s Katie Ramirez-Quintero (135), Richwoods’ Kaila Williams (140) and Batavia’s Sydney Perry (155), who was an undefeated IHSA champion at 145 in both 2022 and 2023.

Here’s a breakdown of the champions and their weight classes of the Larkin Girls Royal Rumble:

100 – Alycia Perez, Glenbard West

Alycia Perez won all four of her matches with pins, including defeating Batavia’s Lily Enos in 3:09 in the final. With her match surrounded by a lot of coaches and teammates, Glenbard West’s Perez started off the championship round with an impressive win over Enos, who took fifth at 100 in the 2023 IHSA Finals, to cap a strong day.

“I’m really motivated this year to make it to state, so this was a good start,” Perez said. “I just believed in myself and kept a good mindset. I learned that believing in myself and just trying hard really helped me. I didn’t know how that last match would go, but I just knew it would be tough.”

District 230’s Layan Saleh won by fall over Elgin’s Melissa Viveros for third place and Joliet Township’s Kassie Ruiz defeated Elgin’s Lourdes Hernandez 4-2 by sudden victory to claim fifth place.

105 – Veronica Cosio, Addison Trail

Addison Trail’s Veronica Cosio started her team off with a bright spot with four victories by fall to win the 105 title, defeating Richwoods’ Heaven Sewell in 1:04 in the championship match.

Cosio celebrated her title by doing a double-bicep pose on the podium.

“I was very confident in myself and believed in my abilities and went for it right away,” Cosio said. “I knew I had it in the last (match) and went for it. I feel really good. My mindset and mentality is better and I have way more confidence in myself this year.”

Elgin’s Mali Patino pinned Bartlett’s Kahlynn Spurgeon to take home the third-place medal while Joliet Township’s Alisa Carter pinned Bolingbrook’s Ashley Hobbs in the fifth-place match.

110 – Angelina Carpintero, Bartlett

Bartlett’s Angelina Carpintero was all smiles after she received her first-place medal during a rushed ceremony to the lateness of the event. She kept the early match tradition going by winning all of her four matches with pins, highlighted by a fall in 1:52 over Woodstock’s Eva Hermansson in the final.

“I told myself I wasn’t going to lose today, no matter how many points were against me,” Carpintero said. “I didn’t place at state last year at 110. I’m sticking at 110. I feel a lot stronger after doing offseason (work).”

Bolingbrook’s Alejandra Flores pinned Larkin’s Ashley Hammond in the third-place match, while Joliet Township’s Emma Schlismann pinned Harvest Christian’s Sam Macek for fifth place.

115 – Gabby Gomez, Glenbard North

Glenbard North’s Gabby Gomez had a strut in her step for most of the final few hours of Saturday’s meet. The junior was unfazed by the lengthy meet, relying on her championship background to handle the extra time. On the mat, the two-time defending state champion cruised to the 115-pound title. Gomez, who won an IHSA title at 115 last season and at 105 in 2022, earned a tough 9-0 major decision in the title match over Joliet Township’s Eliana Paramo, a two-time state medal winner and IHSA runner-up at 115 last season.

“I felt good today, so it’s always good to get this time of competition,” Gomez said. “There were a lot of first-time wrestlers today. I just tried to be aggressive. I had two really good matches, so I’m glad to get them before state.

“I feel more myself this year. Last year I was giving girls too much respect. Now, I’m just going to give it my all. I think I can do it again this year.”

Bartlett’s Emma Engels, who won the IHSA title at 100 last season, posted a 10-6 win over Addison Trail’s Nina Matthews in the third-place match. Oak Forest’s Marjorie Rodriguez notched a pin over Richwoods’ Brianna Johnson to collect a fifth-place medal.

120 – Sophia Figueroa, District 230

Sophia Figueroa closed out a tough class by pinning Glenbard West’s Karolina Konopka in 5;21 to win the title at 120. A junior for District 230’s co-op team, Figueroa said she relied on her strategy to defeat Konopka.

“I just tried to stay heavy on her hips and just knock her down when she tried to get up,” Figueroa said. “Going into this I wasn’t sure what I was going to do today, and even if I would make it to finals. I have to stay confident in my skills. I started thinking in the second period I could win it.”

Elgin’s Salome Patino claimed third place by medical forfeit over Thomas Kelly College Prep’s Jaqueline Dimas. Batavia’s Natalie Lenart pinned Oak Forest’s Charlotte Pedroza to win a fifth-place medal.

125 – Camila O’Leary Salas, Oak Forest

Oak Forest’s Camila O’Leary Salas capped off a big day with a pin in 0:30 over Batavia’s Mackenzie Harried in the 125 title match. The sophomore relied on a simple approach in her weight class.

“I just tried to pin them as quick as possible,” she said. “I like to get things done really fast. I was always trying to stay focused in my matches, knowing what they were doing. I think I performed pretty well today. I took a long nap during the break to help me.”

The first of the Bengals’ four title winners said she’s motivated to make a run at the state title after an injury ended her season early.

“I didn’t get cleared to wrestle (at 100 percent) until the summer,” she said. “It was hard on me. I had to push through it. There was some tension, but I just tried to have a good mentality.”

Conant’s Brooklyn Jones was enjoying pictures with her third-place medal after pinning West Chicago’s Susana Correa while Joliet Township’s Briahna Klobnak pinned Elgin’s Emily Pizano for fifth place.

130 – Keagan Edwards, Glenbard North

Keagan Edwards won the unofficial award for best celebration following her 7-2 win over Batavia’s Anabelle Guthke in the 130 title match. The Glenbard North sophomore was overcome with happiness, smiling nonstop for several minutes in bewilderment over her accomplishment, even asking someone near her if she won first place.

“This is my first, first place,” Edwards said. “I worked so hard last year and wasn’t winning, but I put in so much effort over the summer and it’s finally paying off. For me, it’s all about the effort I put in. I know how hard I work and have to do everything on the mat and believe in myself.”

Edwards said her ‘hype music’ helped her during the exhausting day. She prefers an old-school approach to her wrestling pre-match tunes.

“I listened to Led Zeppelin and AC/DC (today),” she said. “My dad raised me on it. It’s my favorite music.”

Woodstock’s Danica LaTessa earned a 6-4 win over District 230’s Mackenzie Conry in the third-place match and in a matchup of teammates, Addison Trail’s Brithany Mondragon pinned Ruth Castillo for fifth place.

135 – Katie Ramirez-Quintero, Bolingbrook

Bolingbrook’s Katie Ramirez-Quintero made her teammates proud by pinning District 230’s Lana Schuaibi to win her weight class. The 2022 IHSA sixth-place placewinner at 130 cherished her achievement after a trying offseason.

“I was just having with it today,” Ramirez-Quintero said. “I was struggling with an MCL tear for the past year. I kind of fell out of love with the sport. This year I’ve been focusing on what I love to do. I was out for a long time until September. This reassures me that I’m on the right path after I was struggling earlier.”

Joliet Township’s Izabel Barrera pinned Glenbard West’s Nydia Jotzat to capture third place while West Chicago’s Jenny Espinal recorded a 12-6 win over Batavia’s Amelia Howell to win fifth.

140 – Kaila Williams, Richwoods

Richwoods’ Kaila Williams had one of the longest days due her lengthy trek to the meet, but she made the trip worthwhile by pinning Oak Forest’s Madelyn Sears in 1:40 in the 140 title bout. She credited maintaining her composure for winning the title. She said she left Peoria at 5 a.m. on Saturday.

“The key for me was focusing on my moves and knowing what I want to do,” Williams said, a second-year wrestler. “I didn’t place at state last year, but I’m staying motivated and listening to my coaches. They helped me a lot today.”

Conant’s Ewa Krupa made a point to take several photos to celebrate her third-place pin over Joliet Township’s Veronica Klobnak and Glenbard West’s Poper Burke pinned Elgin’s Briana Anselmo to get fifth place.

145 – Alyssa Keane, District 230

District 230 junior Alyssa Keane, who took third place at 135 in the 2023 IHSA Finals, notched the 145-pound title by recording four pins, including a pin in 2:41 win over Glenbard West’s Miyalinna DeJesus in the 145 title match.

“I stayed confident,” Keane said. “I had to do what I did best. I placed third at state last year, so I’m trying not to cut as much as last year to be stronger going up against the girls I’m going up against this year. I feel a lot stronger and more confident this year. I have to just go out on the mat and do my job and I can’t have fun.”

Oak Forest’s Iyobosa Odiase pinned Conant’s Douaa Badou for third place while Joliet Township’s Vanessa O’Connor pinned Batavia’s Lyn Codo-Prim for fifth place.

155 – Sydney Perry, Batavia

As one of the most accomplished wrestlers in the state, Batavia’s Sydney Perry maintained a business-like approach for the majority of Saturday’s meet. The Bulldogs senior, who went 34-0 last season and won the IHSA title at 145 after going 21-0 and taking first at state at 145 in 2022, ended her trip to the Royal Rumble by pinning Hinsdale South’s Callie Carr in 1:58 in the 155 title match.

“I just stayed focused and kept my same goals and tried to help my team with the mental aspect,” Perry said. “I helped coach the girls and watched a lot of wrestling and chilled during most of the day. I’ve had a lot of character growth and feel more prepared this year and feel a lot better.”

Richwoods’ Jaida Johnson, who took second place at 155 in the inaugural IHSA Finals, got a win by fall in 0:21 over Oak Forest’s Maya Coreas Funes in the third-place bout. West Chicago’s Annette Huesca pinned Glenbard North’s Nathalie Miranda to take fifth place.

170 – Ryann Reeves, Oak Forest

Ryann Reeves was a dominant force in her weight class, showcasing her toughness and skills to capture two pins, ending the tournament with a win by fall in 1:34 over Joliet Township’s Bianca Campos in the 170 title match. The Oak Forest senior picked up wrestling last year for the first time and ended up advancing to state.

“I want to build on top of what I did last year at 155, which I still plan on wrestling at this year,” Reeves said. “I put all my faith in my hard work and it worked.”

Batavia’s Emma Abbate claimed third place over Thomas Kelly College Prep’s Sara Martinez Lopera by medical forfeit. Conant’s Lana Ton pinned Batavia’s Sarah Anderson to take fifth place.

190 – Isabel Peralta, Oak Forest

Oak Forest’s Isabel Peralta turned in a memorable four-victory day, ending by pinning Bolingbrook’s Aurelia Gil-Lane in 2:00 in the 190 title match to become one of the Bengals’ four champions. 

District 230’s Janae Vargas claimed third place over Thomas Kelly College Prep’s Liana Andrade by medical forfeit. Addison Trail’s JD Quijano pulled out a 5-0 win over Batavia’s Caoimhe Mitchell for fifth.

235 – Jessica Komolafe, Oak Forest

The final title match of the meet featured a quality win by Oak Forest’s Jessica Komolafe, who pinned District 230’s Emma Akpan,  who placed sixth at 235 in the 2023 IHSA Finals, in the 235 finals to become her team’s fourth champion.. 

Glenbard West’s Thanh Dinh claimed third place by medical forfeit over Thomas Kelly College Prep’s N’Dyia Mahon-Godfrey. Joliet Township’s Natalie Quiroz pinned Batavia’s Oliver Schafer for fifth.

Championship matches for the Larkin Girls Royal Rumble

100 – Alycia Perez (Glenbard West) F 3:09 Lily Enos (Batavia)
105 – Veronica Cosio (Addison Trail) F 1:04 Heaven Sewell (Richwoods)
110 – Angelina Carpintero (Bartlett) F 1:52 Eva Hermansson (Woodstock)
115 – Gabby Gomez (Glenbard North) MD 9-0 Eliana Paramo (Joliet Township)
120 – Sophia Figueroa (District 230) F 5:21 Karolina Konopka (Glenbard West)
125 – Camila O’Leary Salas (Oak Forest) F 0:30 Mackenzie Harried (Batavia)
130 – Keagan Edwards (Glenbard North) D 7-2 Anabelle Guthke (Batavia)
135 – Katie Ramirez-Quintero (Bolingbrook) F 2:52 Lana Shuaibi (District 230)
140 – Kaila Williams (Richwoods) F 1:40 Madelyn Sears (Oak Forest)
145 – Alyssa Keane (District 230) F 2:41 Miyalinna DeJesus (Glenbard West)
155 – Sydney Perry (Batavia) F 1:58 Callie Carr (Hinsdale South)
170 – Ryann Reeves (Oak Forest) F 1:34 Bianca Campos (Joliet Township)
190 – Isabel Peralta (Oak Forest) F 2:00 Aurelia Gil-Lane (Bolingbrook)
235 – Jessica Komolafe (Oak Forest) F 0:51 Emma Akpan (District 230)

Team standings for the Larkin Girls Royal Rumble

1. Oak Forest 204, 2. Batavia 185, 3. Joliet Township 182, 4. District 230 174, 5. Glenbard West 145, 6. Richwoods 111, 7. Addison Trail 96, 8. Bolingbrook 87.5, 9. Conant 83, 10. Glenbard North 73.5, 11. Elgin 70, 12. Bartlett 69, 13. Woodstock 65, 14. Thomas Kelly College Prep 56, 
15. Larkin 27, 16. Hinsdale South 24, 17. Harvest Christian 13.

By Curt Herron – For the IWCOA

Civic Memorial captures title at own Steve Bradley Invitational 

Civic Memorial finished strong to win the championship of its Steve Bradley Invitational, which featured seven ranked squads in Classes 2A and 1A among the 22 teams that took part in the event in Bethalto.

Coach Jeremy Christeson’s champion Eagles scored 190.5 points to take first place while Vandalia finished second with 167 points. 

Bloomington (148.5), Olympia (132), Mattoon (127), Benton (116), Murphysboro (115), Jacksonville (110), Waterloo (109), Oakville, MO (91.5) and Highland (85.5) rounded out the top half of the field.

Civic Memorial received titles from Avery Jamie (126), Bryce Griffin (165) and Luke McCoy (175) while Bradley Ruckman (120) placed second, James Wojcikiewicz (157) finished third and Brody Johnson (106) claimed fourth place.

Also for the Eagles, Kale Hawk (215) finished fifth, Jake Herrin (285) was sixth, Nathen Herrin (144) took seventh and Preston Furlow (132) placed eighth. Josh Harkey (138) also contributed points.

“I think we wrestled pretty well for the day,” Christeson said. “We still are not at full strength yet. We still have guys wrestling up a weight class, we were dealing with some sickness this weekend and some of our guys were a little banged up heading into the tourney. 

“We just talked about wresting through the excuses and getting your mind right and ready. There were some solid teams this year in the tourney and good competition, so we knew it would be tough. We are happy with some of the results and we’ve got to have a good week of practice to get ready for some tough duals in Indiana next weekend.”

Leading the way for coach Jason Clay’s runner-up Vandals were title winner Max Philpot (106) and second-place finishers Elijah Mabry (113) and Dillon Hinton (138). 

Also for Vandalia, Brody Matthews (126) took third, Kaden Tidwell (190) finished fourth, Keagan Turner (144) claimed fifth, Deon Moore (132) was sixth while Artan Mustafa (165) and Dominic Swyers (285) both took seventh place.

Other champions were Carlyle’s Preston Waughtel (113) and Tyson Waughtel (120), Benton’s Mason Tieffel (138), Mattoon’s Korbin Bateman (144), Highland’s Tyson Rakers (150), Murphysboro’s Liam Fox (157), Waterloo’s Jaxson Mathenia (190), Jacksonville’s Oliver Cooley (215), Bloomington’s Stephen Carr (285) and Oakville, MO’s Gokkhan Yurdanidze (132).

Four of the champions also won titles in last year’s invite, Carlyle’s Tyson Waughtel (120), Benton’s Tieffel (138), Mattoon’s Bateman (144) and Civic Memorial’s Griffin (165). 

Waughtel is a two-time state Class 1A champion, who went 50-1 last season and took first at 113 after winning the 106 title in 2022. Tieffel is a three-time medal winner and two-time 1A finalist who went 52-2 in 2023 and took first place at 138 last season after placing second at 126 in 2022. And Griffin is also a three-time medal winner who went 48-5 and placed second at 145 in Class 2A at 145 last season.

Also claiming second-place finishes were Bloomington’s Jaylen Sandy (106) and Maddox Kirts (165), East Alton-Wood River’s Jamal Burgess (132) and Drake Champlin (215), Jacksonville’s Joe Reif (157) and Aiden Surratt (285), Goreville’s Jeremiah Pulliam (126), Mascoutah’s Brock Ross (144), Mattoon’s Aidan Blackburn (150), Springfield High’s Keyshaun Harris (175) and Highland’s Ashton Zobrist (190).

Some of the closest championship matches included Carr getting past Surratt 6-4 by sudden victory at 285, Rakers winning 4-3 over Blackburn in a tiebreaker at 150, Bateman edging Ross 5-4 at 144 and Cooley prevailing 4-3 over Champlin at 215. 

Other third-place finishers were Jersey’s Hunter Hodge (106) and Connor Chin (175), Murphysboro’s Paxton Pyatt (113) and Julien Tanner (285), Benton’s Cohen Sweely (120) and Anthony Hernandez (144), Olympia’s Bentley Wise (150) and Nolen Yeary (215), Centralia’s Lane Griffin (132), Mattoon’s Ben Capitosti (138), Jacksonville’s James Cotton (165) and Freeburg’s Dane Olmstead (190).

Also finishing in fourth place were Mascoutah’s Jayden Wilkenson (132), Jordan Sonon-Hale (150) and Sean Murphy (157), Jacksonville’s Steven Easley (113), Waterloo’s Konnor Stephens (120), Bloomington’s M’khi Hollins (126), Murphysboro’s Bryce Edwards (138), Springfield High’s Gabe Ruvalcaba (144), East St. Louis’ Corey Robinson (165), Highland’s Thomas Mitchell (175), Jersey’s James Busch (285) and Oakville, MO’s Ethan Venable (215).

Additional fifth-place finishers were Olympia’s Austin Kisner (120), Cooper Phillips (138) and Kelton Graden (157), Waterloo’s Matthew Deutch (106) and Jackson Deutch (175), Mattoon’s Ean Freeman (165) and Blaine Howell (190), East St. Louis’ Pierre Walton (150) and Mehki McDowell (285), Highland’s Gavin Merkle (113), Centralia’s Nate LeCrone (126) and Murphysboro’s Sergio Garcia (132).

Carr, Philpot and Yurdanidze had the most team points with 30, Jamie, McCoy and Tyson Waughtel all scored 29.5 points, Tieffel had 29 points, Griffin collected 28 team points and Preston Waughtel fished with 27 points.

Philpot had the most falls in the least time with four in 2:44 and Jamie had the most total match points with 48.

Championship matches for Civic Memorial’s Steve Bradley Invitational

106 – Max Philpot (Vandalia) F 0:45 Jaylen Sandy (Bloomington)

113 – Preston Waughtel (Carlyle) TF 4:00 Elijah Mabry (Vandalia)

120 – Tyson Waughtel (Carlyle) F 0:49 Bradley Ruckman (Civic Memorial)

126 – Avery Jamie (Civic Memorial) F 1:07 Jeremiah Pulliam (Goreville)

132 – Gokkhan Yurdanidze (Oakville, MO) F 0:59 Jamal Burgess (East Alton-Wood River)

138 – Mason Tieffel (Benton) MD 17-6 Dillon Hinton (Vandalia)

144 – Korbin Bateman (Mattoon) D 5-4 Brock Ross (Mascoutah)

150 – Tyson Rakers (Highland) TB-1 4-3 Aidan Blackburn (Mattoon)

157 – Liam Fox (Murphysboro) D 7-1 Joe Reif (Jacksonville)

165 – Bryce Griffin (Civic Memorial) D 13-6 Maddox Kirts (Bloomington)

175 – Luke McCoy (Civic Memorial) F 1:58 Keyshaun Harris (Springfield High)

190 – Jaxson Mathenia (Waterloo) MD 10-2 Ashton Zobrist (Highland)

215 – Oliver Cooley (Jacksonville) D 4-3 Drake Champlin (East Alton-Wood River)

285 – Stephen Carr (Bloomington) SV-1 6-4 Aiden Surratt (Jacksonville)

Team standings for Civic Memorial’s Steve Bradley Invitational

1. Civic Memorial 190.5, 2. Vandalia 167, 3. Bloomington 148.5, 4. Olympia 132, 5. Mattoon 127, 6. Benton 116, 7. Murphysboro 115, 8. Jacksonville 110, 9. Waterloo 109, 10. Oakville, MO 91.5, 11. Highland 85.5, 12. Mascoutah 77, 13. Jersey 74.5, 14. Carlyle 71.5, 15. East St. Louis 70, 16. Centralia 62.5, 17. East Alton-Wood River 53, 18. Springfield High 41, 19. Goreville 40, 20. Freeburg 33, 21. Alton 29, 22. Civic Memorial B 12.

Edwardsville claims championship at Granite City Girls Invite

Edwardsville captured the title of the 33-team Granite City Girls Invite with 205 points while Bartlett, Tennessee was second with 141 points.  Fox, Missouri took third with 95 points. Collinsville (86), Normal West (77), Jacksonville (73), Mt. Vernon (62), Peoria Notre Dame (62), Glenwood (59) and Highland (58) rounded out the top 10.

Edwardsville coach Jon Wagner, a 2019 IWCOA Hall of Fame Inductee who won over 500 dual meets while leading the Tigers boys for 27 seasons, got individual titles from Gianna Linhorst (110), Holly Zugmaier (125) and Tayla Phillips (235) and second-place finishes from Genevieve Dykstra (100), Olive Linhorst (120) and Victoria White (190). and thirds from Olivia Coll (105) and Lydia Blind (135).

The Tigers also got thirds from Olivia Coll (105) and Lydia Blind (135), fourth-place finishes from Alison Kirk (100), Allie Chong (115) and Madison Aldrich (130) and fifths from Maddy Allen (105) and Abigail Hayes (190) while Abbrey DeWerff (170) also contributed points. 

Leading the way for coach Jordan May’s Collinsville Kahoks were champions Taylor Dawson (130) and Tashieya Taylor (155) as well as third-place finisher Leann Cory (140).

Normal West coach Margaret LeGates Lehr, who was the first girl to compete in wrestling in IHSA history while at Libertyville, got seconds from Cheyenne Anderson (110), Amelia McClure (125) and Cadence Duvall (235) while Alexis Clothier-Mattocks (190) took sixth.

Other champions were Glenwood’s Kadi Wilbern (105) and Jenna Tuxhorn (140), Jacksonville’s Alexis Seymour (120) and Hailey DeWitt (135), Roxana’s Madelyn Murphy (100), Auburn’s Jadyn Perry (145), Peoria Notre Dame’s Autumne Williams (170), Hazelwood Central, MO’s Carrington Reed (115) and Bartlett, TN’s Ayanna Omollo (190).

Also finishing in second place were Jersey’s Aliyah Brooks (135) and Rory Speidel (145), Belleville East’s Alexcia Harden (105), PORTA’s Alexia Glover (140), Highland’s August Rottmann (170), Bartlett, TN’s Emily Clement (115) and Paige McKendry (155) and Fox, MO’s Zoey Zimmerman (130).

All but one of the championship matches were determined by fall. The only one that wasn’t was in the 140 finals where Tuxhorn won a 9-0 major decision over Glover.

Williams claimed one of the biggest victories in the tournament when she won the title at 170 by fall in 1:07 over Rottmann, the 2023 IHSA champion at 170 who went 21-1 last year and also took third place at the same weight in the inaugural IHSA Finals.

IHSA medal winners who won championships were Dawson, who went 34-5 and placed third at 130 last season and took second place at 125 in 2022, and Seymour, who went 32-18 and placed fourth at 120 in the 2023 Finals.

Others who took third place were Mt. Vernon’s Lily Davis (100) and Dayton Phillips (145), Belleville West’s Jala Singleton (110), Springfield High’s Ella Miloncus (115), Alton’s Arryana Jones (120), Washington’s Lilly Bay (130), Highland’s Bryleigh Thomas (155), Belleville East’s Kami Ratcliff (170), Robinson’s Rylee Hammond (235) and Bartlett, TN’s Madyson Jones (125) and Fox, MO’s Abbigail Pogue (190).

Additional fourth-place finishers were Granite City’s Ma’Kayla Bonner (110), Civic Memorial’s Kendall Smith (120), Springfield High’s Anna Miloncus (125), Belleville East’s Lea Kuc (140), Auburn’s Heaven Workman (170), Peoria Notre Dame’s Bailey Amerman (190), Bartlett, TN’s Rebecca Humenik (105), Charlotte Mutchler (145) and Morgan Ragsdale (235) and Fox, MO’s Maleighia Stranger (135) and Meghan Breckenfelder (155).

Fifth-place finishes were also turned in by Auburn’s Jasmine Brown (115), Mt. Vernon’s Deziare Jones (120), Glenwood’s Isabella Resendez (125), Waterloo’s Nevaeh Gentelin (130), Granite City’s Jayden Malmkar (135), Marion’s Joelene Nappier-Feth (140), Belleville West’s Zoee Dozier (145), Peoria Notre Dame’s Martha Gardner (155), Alton’s Elanna Hickman (170) and Fox, MO’s Jaelyn Carmelo (110).

Seymour and Taylor led the way in team points with 34 apiece while Perry, Phillips, Reed and Williams all scored 28 team points. Dawson, DeWitt, Olive Linhorst, McKendry, Murphy, Omollo and Zugmaier all collected 26 team points.

Taylor had five falls in 2:47 while Jones and Seymour both also recorded five pins. And Dawson had the most total match points with 47, which were 14 more than the next-best total. 

Championship matches for Granite City’s Girls Invite

100 – Madelyn Murphy (Roxana) F 3:14 Genevieve Dykstra (Edwardsville)

105 – Kadi Wilbern (Glenwood) F 1:45 Alexcia Harden (Belleville East)

110 – Gianna Linhorst (Edwardsville) F 1:26 Cheyenne Anderson (Normal West)

115 – Carrington Reed (Hazelwood Central, MO) F 0:59 Emily Clement (Bartlett, TN)

120 – Alexis Seymour (Jacksonville) F 3:40 Olive Linhorst (Edwardsville)

125 – Holly Zugmaier (Edwardsville) F 4:47 Amelia McClure (Normal West)

130 – Taylor Dawson (Collinsville) F 2:33 Zoey Zimmermann (Fox, MO)

135 – Hailey DeWitt (Jacksonville) F 5:16 Aliyah Brooks (Jersey)

140 – Jenna Tuxhorn (Glenwood) MD 9-0 Alexia Glover (PORTA)

145 – Jadyn Perry (Auburn) F 0:50 Rory Speidel (Jersey)

155 – Tashieya Taylor (Collinsville) F 0:22 Paige McKendry (Bartlett, TN)

170 – Autumne Williams (Peoria Notre Dame) F 1:07 August Rottmann (Highland)

190 – Ayanna Omollo (Bartlett, TN) F 0:34 Victoria White (Edwardsville)

235 – Tayla Phillips (Edwardsville) F 2:45 Cadence Duvall (Normal West)

Team standings for Granite City’s Girls Invite

1. Edwardsville 205, 2. Bartlett, TN 141, 3. Fox, MO 95, 4. Collinsville 86, 5. Normal West 77, 6. Jacksonville 73, 7. Mt. Vernon 62, 7. Peoria Notre Dame 62, 9. Glenwood 59, 10. Highland 58, 11. Auburn 52, 12. Belleville East 50, 13. Belleville West 47, 14. Marion 45, 15. Alton 44, 16. Jersey 42, 17. Robinson 39, 18. Roxana 32, 19. Hazelwood Central, MO 31, 19. Springfield High 31, 21. Granite City 25, 22. Civic Memorial 24, 23. PORTA 22, 24. Washington 22, 25. Mascoutah 18, 26. Triad 16, 27. Rochester 11, 28. Waterloo 8, 29. Carbondale 4, 30. Cahokia 3, 31. Clayton, MO 1. 32. Liberty, MO 0, 32. McCluer North, MO 0.

Glenwood takes top honors at own Tyler Cox Memorial Invite

Glenwood won five titles and had six others place in the top four as it easily captured top honors over Grayslake Central by a 286.5-166.5 margin at its own 16-team Tyler Cox Memorial Invite in Chatham. The hosts also won the tournament championship last season.

Marion (155.5), Triad (141), Centennial (129), O’Fallon (122.5), Collinsville (111.5), Peoria Notre Dame (109.5), Dunlap (102) and East Peoria (101) rounded out the top-10 teams in the field.

Winning titles for coach Jerod Bruner’s champion Titans were Drew Davis (126), John Ben Maduena (138), Anny Williams (144), Max Wiezorek (190) and Cody Moss (215) while Tyler Clarke (106) and Jonah Broughman (165) took second place.

Glenwood also got third-place finishes from Jaxon Ferguson (113), Braxton Warren (150) and Justin Hay (175) while Julian Rammelkamp (157) finished fourth, Drew Moffitt (120) was fifth and Brad Dollus (132) placed seventh. Eli Moss (285) also scored points for the Titans.

Owen Ottino (126) and Maizon Milestone (165) also took third place and Kadi Wilbern (106) placed fourth competing for the Glenwood 2 team.

“We had a great weekend at home,” Bruner said. “It was to see Anny Williams collect his first varsity level tournament championship. Also, we thought Drew looked exceptional in his match against (Tyler) Weidman in the finals. John Ben still looks dominant at 138 pounds. Max Wiezorek and Cody Moss both collected their first championships of the season as well.

“We also enjoyed having Justin Hay and Jonah Broughman back in our lineup. Jaxon Ferguson plus the rest of our seniors, Brad Dollus, Owen Ottino, Braxton Warren and Eli Moss, continue to wrestle well for us and will always be in contention at these events.”

Top performers for coach Mathew Joseph’s runner-up Grayslake Central Rams were title winners Vince Demarco (106) and Matty Jens (175), second-place finisher Tyler Weidman (126) and also Trevor Hengl (138), who took third.

Rams who finished fourth were Krish Sahu (120) and Aidan Eisenberg (132) while Warren Nash (150) and Quetin Conkle (157) were fifth and Liam Halloran (132) and Jaxen Pratt (190) took sixth place.

Leading the way for coach Darren Lindsey’s third-place Wildcats were champion Caleb Ohnesorge (150) and second-place finishers Riddick Cook (120) and Caden Frey (144) while Justin Murphy (157) and Bryan Madinger (215) claimed third place.

Other champions were East Peoria’s Cooper Chester (113), Peoria Notre Dame’s Ian Akers (120), Carbondale’s Isaac Smith (132), O’Fallon’s Logan Thomas (157), Collinsville’s Cody Lutz (165) and Centennial’s Jack Barnhart (285).

Also finishing in second place were Dunlap’s Jayden Schmick (157) and Nick Mueller (175), Triad’s Shane Seip (113), Collinsville’s Camron Minner (132), Centennial’s Trevor Schoonover (138), Peoria Notre Dame’s Chase Daugherty (150), Southeast’s Chris Hull (190), O’Fallon’s Gavin Gentille (215) and East Peoria’s Jose Deltoro (285). 

Some of the closest championship matches included Demarco winning a 10-9 decision over Clarke at 106, Maduena edging Schoonover 2-0 at 138, Moss prevailing 6-4 over Gentille at 215 and Williams capturing an 8-4 victory over Frey at 144.

In one title match of particular interest, Jens captured a 5-1 decision over Mueller at 175 in a clash of the 2023 IHSA Class 2A champion at 182 beating the 2023 Class 2A runner-up at 160. Jens was a perfect 32-0 last season after going 47-3 and claiming second place at 182 in 2022. He also finished fifth at 170 in the 2021 IWCOA Finals to conclude a 28-7 debut season while Mueller finished 43-8 a year ago. 

The other state champion in the competition was Glenwood’s own Drew Davis, a  two-time title winner who won the Class 2A title at 113 to cap a 49-2 season in 2023 and also won the 2A championship at 106 the year before to complete a perfect 17-0 campaign. He took fourth at 106 as a freshman in 2021 at the IWCOA Finals to finish 32-3. Davis and Maduena were the only title winners at this tournament that also won a championship in the event a year ago

Others who finished in third place were Triad’s Will Kelly (106), Glen Henry (120) and Ben Baumgartner (132), Centennial’s Nehemie Mbangi (144), Dunlap’s Joseph Weeks (190) and Peoria Notre Dame’s Brady Mullens (285).

Additional fourth-place finishers were O’Fallon’s Jayden Wiegand (113) and Andrew Orloski (150), Carbondale’s Hatem Alshammari (126) and Connor Daly (175), Charleston’s Kenny Merrill (138), Southeast’s Frank Kittrell (144), Peoria Notre Dame’s Michael Kimbrough (165), Collinsville’s Scott Snyder (190), Peoria Heights’ Darien Jones (215) and East Peoria’s Keegan Barnes (285).

Akers, Barnhart, Davis and Thomas all collected 30 team points while Lutz had 29.5 points, Ohnesorge and Smith had 29 team points apiece and Chester, Jens, Maduena, Cody Moss and Wiezorek all collected 28.5 points.

East Peoria’s Dalton Oakman had the most falls in the least time with four in 4:52 while Barnhart recorded three pins in 2:52. Centennial also had the two individuals with the most total match points, Mbangi (46) and Schoonver (38).

Championship matches for Glenwood’s Tyler Cox Memorial Invite

106 – Vince Demarco (Grayslake Central) D 10-9 Tyler Clake (Glenwood)

113 – Cooper Chester (East Peoria) F 3:50 Shane Seip (Triad)

120 – Ian Akers (Peoria Notre Dame) F 3:24 Riddick Cook (Marion)

126 – Drew Davis (Glenwood) F 3:50 Tyler Weidman (Grayslake Central)

132 – Isaac Smith (Carbondale) F 1:25 Camron Minner (Collinsville)

138 – John Ben Maduena (Glenwood) D 2-0 Trevor Schoonover (Centennial)

144 – Anny Williams (Glenwood) D 8-4 Caden Frey (Marion)

150 – Caleb Ohnesorge (Marion) MD 9-1 Chase Daugherty (Peoria Notre Dame)

157 – Logan Thomas (O’Fallon) F 1:20 Jayden Schmick (Dunlap)

165 – Cody Lutz (Collinsville) F 1:50 Jonah Broughman ( Glenwood)

175 – Matty Jens (Grayslake Central) D 5-1 Nick Mueller (Dunlap)

190 – Max Wiezorek (Glenwood) F 5:15 Chris Hull (Southeast)

215 – Cody Moss (Glenwood) D 6-4 Gavin Gentille (O’Fallon)

285 – Jack Barnhart (Centennial) F 1:20 Jose Deltoro (East Peoria)

Team standings for Glenwood’s Tyler Cox Memorial Invite

1. Glenwood 286.5, 2. Grayslake Central 166.5, 3. Marion 155.5, 4. Triad 141, 5. Centennial 129, 6. O’Fallon 122.5, 7. Collinsville 111.5, 8. Peoria Notre Dame 109.5, 9. Dunlap 102, 10. East Peoria 101, 11. Carbondale 89, 12. Glenwood JV 84.5, 13. Charleston 44, 14. Southeast 37.5, 15. MacArthur 30.5, 16. Peoria Heights 29, 17. Decatur Eisenhower 12.5.

Lawrenceville wins title at own Lawrence County Tournament

Lawrenceville/Red Hill scored 232 points to beat Harrisburg, which had 212 points, for top honors at the 14-team Lawrence County Tournament in Lawrenceville. Fairfield (168), Richland County (144), Frankfort (133), Robinson (118) and Carterville (109.5) were next in line.

Coach Samuel Hyre’s champion Indians got title wins from Drew Seitzinger (106), Hudson Meek (144), Kasen Ochs (175) and Dylan Camden (285) while Dylan Aten (132) took second. Cale Seitzinger (138), Trevor Loy (150) and Dalton Spahn (157) all placed third.

Other top placers for the team champs were Delaney Ledbetter (113) and Malikye Walker (190), who took fourth, Jaxtyn Chansler (120), who was fifth, and Tyson Lucas (165), who placed sixth.

“I am pretty happy with the results from my team,” Hyre said. “The last couple years we have struggled to keep our kids healthy and have had some pretty big season-ending injuries with a lot of our better underclassmen.  

“We put a lot of emphasis in the offseason on weights and conditioning as a way to be more prepared for the beginning of the season and in better shape to avoid these one-off injuries. Healthy, we are a tough team to beat. The kids have put in the work and we look forward to a great season.”

Winning titles for coach Greg Langley’s runner-up Harrisburg Bulldogs were Avery Henderson (113), Tony Keene (126) and Kahmarie Terry (132) while Brock Felty (150) and Briar Butler (157) took second place and Brendan Hicks (190) and Zay Horton (285) finished third. Felty had the largest seed to place difference of anyone in the field, going from a 12-seed to a runner-up.

Top performers for coach Jordan Griffith’s third-place Fairfield Mules were champion Talan Keoughan (165) and third-place finishers Carter Poole (106) and Keegan Bare (215). Turning in fourth-place finishes were Jedd Wellen (120), Karson White (138) and Chris Graver (285).

Other champions were Oblong/Palestine/Hutsonville’s Ian Rosborough (120), Richland County’s Carson Bissey (138), Robinson’s Ben Mullins (150), Herrin’s Blue Bishop (157), Carmi-White County’s Nelson Rider (190) and Frankfort’s Brandon Turner (215) .

Also taking second place were Frankfort’s Aiden Milligan (106), Hayeden Hughes (113) and Conner Henson (190), Carterville’s Landyn Flood (120) and Zechariah Miller (285), Johnston City’s Jace Weaver (126) and Jude Beers (215), Robinson’s Lenox Parker (144) and Kahne Hyre (165), O/P/H’s Cole Littlejohn (138) and Richland County’s Logan McDonald (175).

In some of the closest title matches, Terry edged Aten 11-9 in overtime at 132, Keoughan claimed a 5-2 decision over Hyre at 165 and Camden prevailed 5-2 over Miller at 285. All of the other title matches were determined by falls, wins by technical fall or major decisions.

Also finishing third were Johnston City’s Benjamin Harris (132) and Randy Fuqua (175), Carmi-White County’s Travor Mason (113), Robinson’s Keaton Ault (120), Richland County’s Kaeden Davis (126), Frankfort’s Lucas Parker (144) and Carterville’s Jacob Grob (165).

Carterville had four fourth-place finishers, Sabastion Ramiro (126), Spencer Crotser (144), Merrick Orendoff (150) and Terry Mick (175). Also taking fourth place were Richland County’s Baxter Smith (106), Tuff Troyer (132) and Jashun McKinley (215), Frankfort’s Eric Duncan (157) and Paris’ Robert Wells (165).

There was a six-way for the most team points with 28 between Bissey, Keene, Ochs, Rider, Drew Seitzinger and Turner while Bishop had 27.5 points and Rosborough scored 26.5 points.

Rosborough tallied 55 match points, which was 23 better than second place thanks to three of his victories coming courtesy of technical falls, which was two more than anyone else. 

Three individuals who took fifth recorded four falls in less than 5:00. They were Harrisburg’s Cody Gunter (4:06) at 144, Mt, Carmel’s Evan Berberich (4:55) at 285 and Fairfield’s Bronson Rilea (4:58) at 190. 

Championship matches for Lawrenceville’s Lawrence County Tournament

106 – Drew Seitzinger (Lawrenceville) F 1:25 Aiden Milligan (Frankfort)

113 – Avery Henderson (Harrisburg) F 1:22 Hayeden Hughes (Frankfort)

120 – Ian Rosborough (Oblong/Palestine/Hutsonville) TF 17-2 Landyn Flood (Carterville)

126 – Tony Keene (Harrisburg) F 2:33 Jace Weaver (Johnston City)

132 – Kahmarie Terry (Harrisburg) D 11-9 OT Dylan Aten (Lawrenceville)

138 – Carson Bissey (Richland County) F 0:30 Cole Littlejohn (Oblong/Palestine/Hutsonville)

144 – Hudson Meek (Lawrenceville) MD 13-2 Lenox Parker (Robinson)

150 – Ben Mullins (Robinson) F 1:44 Brock Felty (Harrisburg)

157 – Blue Bishop (Herrin) TF 16-0 Briar Butler (Harrisburg)

165 – Talan Keoughan (Fairfield) D 5-2 Kahne Hyre (Robinson)

175 – Kasen Ochs (Lawrenceville) F 3:39 Logan McDonald (Richland County)

190 – Nelson Rider (Carmi-White County) F 3:59 Conner Henson (Frankfort)

215 – Brandon Turner (Frankfort) F 1:47 Jude Beers (Johnston City)

285 – Dylan Camden (Lawrenceville) D 5-2 Zechariah Miller (Carterville)

Team standings for Lawrenceville’s Lawrence County Tournament

1. Lawrenceville 232, 2. Harrisburg 212, 3. Fairfield 168, 4. Richland County 144, 5. Frankfort 133,  6. Robinson 118, 7. Carterville 109.5, 8. Oblong/Palestine/Hutsonville 85.5, 9. Johnston City 78, 10. Carmi-White County 68, 11. Herrin 56.5, 12. Mt. Carmel 39.5, 13. Paris 37, 14. Breese Central 13.