By Curt Herron – For the IWCOA

Following a six-year run where either Coal City or Lena-Winslow/Stockton captured the championship at ABE’s Rumble, Marian Central Catholic broke the streak while making its debut in the tournament and took top honors in the 60-team tournament in dramatic fashion.

The Hurricanes, co-coached by Ryan Prater and Jordan Blanton, edged Coal City 32-31 in the ABE’s Rumble title dual meet at the Bank of Springfield Center that was decided in overtime in the last match. Marian Central Catholic was top-rated in Class 1A and the Coalers were ranked second by Illinois Matmen, and that’s where the teams still are in the January 1 rankings.

It was the closest title dual meet in the seven-year history of the event. In the 2016 debut, Coal City won 35-30 over Lena-Winslow/Stockton. That dual also came down to the last match with the Coalers holding a 31-30 lead and then getting a major decision in the finale.

Coach Mark Masters’ Coalers, the defending IHSA Class 1A champions, were trying to repeat as ABE’s champions and were seeking their fourth title to go along with firsts in the inaugural event in 2016 and again in 2018. This was the sixth time in seven tournaments that Coal City was in the title dual meet. 

Despite forfeiting at three weights, the Hurricanes were able to prevail in a dual where both teams won seven matches. Marian Central Catholic had two falls, two wins by technical fall, a major decision and two close decisions while the Coalers added a major decision, a win in sudden victory and two one-point decisions to go along with the three forfeits they received.

Coal City won the first of the five matches that were decided by three points or less when Owen Petersen captured a 14-13 decision over Austin Hagevold in the opener at 106. Anthony Alanis won a 20-7 major decision over Cooper Morris at 113 and Brayden Teunissen followed with a win by technical fall over Luke Munsterman at 120 to give the Hurricanes a 9-3 lead but Culan Lindemuth received a forfeit win for the Coalers at 126 to create a 9-9 tie.

Marian Central Catholic won the next two matches as Andrew Alvarado edged Brody Widlowski 4-3 at 132 and Vance Williams recorded a fall in 1:27 over Evan Greggain at 138 to give it an 18-9 advantage but Mason Garner won a 16-6 major decision over Josh Gawronski and Brock Finch received a forfeit at 150 to give Coal City its first lead since the opening match at 19-18.

The Hurricanes captured the next two victories to go up 26-19 as Jimmy Mastny won by technical fall over Brant Widlowski at 157 and Max Astacio followed with a 3-0 decision over John Keigher at 165. But the Coalers responded as Landin Benson edged Nic Astacio 7-6 at 175 and Cade Poyner got a forfeit at 190 to put their team up at 28-26 with two matches left.

Dan French looked he might have to settle for a decision over Alec Waliczek at 215 to put Marian Central Catholic back in front by one point, but French continued to attack in the final moments and that paid off when he was able to record a fall in 5:56 to put the Hurricanes up at 32-28 entering the heavyweight match. 

Marian Central Catholic’s Kaleb Eckman held a late 1-0 lead over Emmett Easton but he was called for stalling with three seconds left in regulation. In the first overtime, Eckman got a takedown with 39 seconds remaining to win 3-1 but that assured a 32-31 Hurricanes victory.

1st – Marian Central Catholic

The Hurricanes, who are led by co-coaches Ryan Prater and Jordan Blanton, rolled through pool competition, winning 57-18 over Tremont, 57-6 over Farmington and 52-30 over Clifton Central and 55-18 over Morrison. After winning 61-12 over Lawrenceville/Red Hill, they went to the Gold Bracket where they won 52-18 over LeRoy/Tri-Valley, 46-28 over Vandalia in the quarterfinals and then 51-18 over PORTA in the semifinals.

With just 15 individuals competing, the Hurricanes had more limited options than did the Coalers, who had 22 competitors. Although both teams remain atop the Class 1A rankings, they feature a lot of young team members. The Coalers brought 16 freshmen and sophomores to Springfield while the Hurricanes had seven from those classes. Needless to say, both sides are excited about the improvement that the young athletes will make in the upcoming weeks.

“It was a battle from the first dual that we wrestled,” Prater said. “We had a tough pool and then earlier today we wrestled LeRoy, Vandalia and PORTA, so it was a tough road to get here. We don’t have many guys on the team, so everyone had almost nine matches. Our young guys really shined today. Dan French moving up and getting the pin. Everybody did their job and it was unbelievable. That was a complete team effort against a very well-coached team and a very good 14-man team. 

“We talked for a while about bumping or maybe doing some other stuff but then it was like, we’ll give them the forfeits, don’t hide our holes, we’ll put them right in the open and just go firepower for firepower and we’ll just try to out-sprint them. This tournament was really good for our team to jell. A lot of guys have been great individuals but now we need them to jell and wrestle as a team. Being gritty, saving every point and being stingy, that’s what it boils down to. It’s December 30, and we’re nowhere near finished. We have a month and a half to train and we’re just starting our climb and we’re only going to get better from here.”

Individuals from the champion Hurricanes who won at least two-thirds of their matches in the two-day event were Andrew Alvarado (9-0 at 132), Jimmy Mastny (9-0 at 157), Brayden Teunissen (9-0 at 120/126), Anthony Alanis (8-0 at 113/120), Max Astacio (8-0 at 165), Vance Williams (8-0 at 138/144), Nic Astacio (8-1 at 175), Dan French (8-1 at 190/215), Chandler Gardner (7-1 at 106/113) and Kaleb Eckman (6-3 at 285).

“This was very encouraging,” Anthony Alanis said. “We have one of the toughest schedules in the whole nation and we’ve finally faced all these 1A teams and we put our marker down that we’re number one. It was definitely a team effort. We were training every single day for one of these moments like this so to finally be able to put on a show for the people is good. I think we have the best coaches and they push us and get us better every single day. I like the way that we bond together as a whole team. We all have a really good connection and we all work really good together and at practice, we’re each other to our full potential.”

“Today was the first day that we really got together and looked like a good team and bonded,” Jimmy Mastny said. “They’re really good coaches and our team just bonds every day. We’re always around each other, so we’re just getting better together every day.”

“It felt good, it felt like a preview of what we’re going up against for state,” Dan French said. “It felt like our team really developed over these past two days. Our community got better and we support each other a lot better. We bond together really well and everyone enjoys our practices and everyone is working hard.”

2nd – Coal City

Coal City also had few difficulties reaching the championship dual meet. It won 78-6 over Mt. Carmel, 84-0 over St. Bede Academy, 72-3 over Cumberland and 81-0 over Knoxville in its pool. The Coalers won 62-16 over Rockridge in the Gold bracket and then beat Olympia 47-26 in the quarterfinals and Roxana 45-25 in the semifinals to advance to another championship in the competition, the sixth time in seven years that coach Mark Masters’ Coalers have competed in the finals.

“I thought we had a great weekend,” Masters said. “We came up a little bit short there at the end. Where their studs were at, we had a chance to win a couple of those matches and got beat in the last few seconds or got pinned late. There are points all over the place that we could have had. I think we had around 10 freshman and sophomore combination out there, so it was good. We got off of that Roxana match, and that was pretty much a fist fight. We have youth, and there’s a lot of room to grow, so that’s a good thing. We saw that today and we should be a lot better in February.”

Top performers for the runner-up Coalers who won at least two-thirds of their matches in the competition were Mason Garner (8-0 at 144/150), Owen Petersen (8-0 at 106), Landin Benson (6-0 at 165/175), Cade Poyner (6-0 at 190), James Keigher (4-0 at 175/190), Brock Finch (5-1 at 150), Brandt Widlowski (5-1 at 157), Brody Widlowski (5-1 at 126/132), Emmett Easton (4-1 at 285), Aidan Kenney (4-1 at 132),  Luke Munsterman (4-1 at 120), Culan Lindemuth (3-1 at 120/126), Cooper Morris (6-2 at 113) and Alec Waliczek (3-1 at 215/285).

“No matter what team it was, we just wrestled how we usually wrestle,” Mason Garner said. “It  doesn’t matter what team it is, we just go out there and keep doing what we do. And the better the teams, the better the practice is. I like our dedication in the practice room. And when we’re on the mat, we work and there’s no breaks. And that we’re really hard-working all around.”

“It’s good to have these hard matches because it shows me what I need to improve on,” Owen Petersen said. “I like the practice room and how the coaches push us. We have great coaches and great practice partners that push me to work my hardest.”

“We were shown our flaws and what we need to work on,” Landin Benson said. “We have a lot of stuff to work on since we have new wrestlers since we lost a lot of seniors last year. I like the way they work out there and that they try their hardest, no matter who they’re going against.”

3rd – Roxana

Coach Rob Milazzo’s Roxana Shells, who took tenth place in the Rumble a year ago, finished in third place following a 51-30 victory over coach Jeff Hill’s PORTA Bluejays, who improved from an eighth-place showing last season.  In the semifinals, Marian Central Catholic won 51-18 over PORTA while Coal City was a 45-25 victor over Roxana.

“It feels great,” Milazzo said. “The kids have worked really hard to get to where we are, and I’m really happy, and they’re happy. To be where we are right now this early in the season, I feel very fortunate. There was some tremendous competition here. The boys got down early to Canton and we were on the ropes but we wrestled really hard and got on a roll and got through that and then had a good win against a good Lena team. 

“What’s nice about this tournament is that we get to see the competition, so hopefully at the end of the year we’re in the dual team and we’ve already faced some of the tough competition. They’re gritty, and sometimes, too gritty, and they’ve all been together for a very long time. They’ve progressed through the kids club and they wrestle all year long and they just put a lot of work into it and the parents have devoted their time.”

Competitors for the third-place Shells who won at least two-thirds of their matches in the competition were Brandon Green, Jr. (9-0 at 132), James Herring (9-0 at 285), Donald Battles (8-1 at 215), Lyndon Thies (8-1 at 165), Robert Watt (8-1 at 190), Logan Riggs (7-1 at 126), Lleyton Cobine (7-2 at 120) and Trevor Gihring (7-2 at 138).

“I knew this was going to happen,” James Herring said. “We had a couple of rough duals before this and before this tournament, we were preaching that we were going to win ABE’s. We didn’t win it, but we placed top three, which is good. We’re not going to back down. We could be in a down situation and I know that my teammates aren’t going to get down about it. I’m going into a new weight class, so that’s kind of confusing, so I have to learn some stuff.”

“It’s crazy, because coming in, I think we were ranked real low, so to get to the top four, it was amazing, especially because last year we got ninth here” Logan Riggs said. “This will boost our confidence individually and as a team as a whole seeing this tough competition. It shows that we’re good enough to compete with all of these guys. We’ve got a lot of drive on the team and we all want to succeed individually and as a team. We have some ups and downs with attitudes, but I think after we overcome that and get our minds in the right spot I think that we can go far at team state, for sure.”

4th – PORTA

In a theme that was consistent among many of the top placing teams in the competition, the fourth-place Bluejays have a lot of young team members. But PORTA coach Jeff Hill, the IHSA leader in dual meet wins and a 2011 IWCOA Hall of Fame Inductee who also serves as tournament host of ABE’s Rumble, is encouraged that his team fared better this year than last season despite their youth.

“Nine duals in two days is a grind, so the teams that have some depth definitely have the advantage,” Hill said. “We wrestled Roxana earlier in the year and they beat us, so we knew that they were going to be tough. We had an opening and they (Marian Central Catholic) contacted us and wanted to get in. We have probably a 10-team waiting list but any time the number one team in the state wants in, then we’re going to get them in the field. I think this was the first year that out of the top 20 from Rob Sherrill’s rankings, that all 20 were here. 

“We really focus on pinning and for a long time we had the state record. You have to get those six-point decisions and we work every night on fighting off our back and surviving when you’re outmanned, and my kids do a great job of that. And I think we’re a fairly young team and we have nine sophomores starting. So we’re feeling pretty good about the next couple of years when those guys mature and even get better than they are now.”

Top performers from PORTA who won at least two-thirds of their matches were Brayden Barner (4-0 at 165), Isaac Guinan (8-1 at 285), Athony Hull (7-1 at 106/113), Cael Cotner (5-1 at 150/157), Russell Mattson (4-1 at 190/215), Logan Baker (6-2 at 132/138), Jacob Vogel (6-2 at 144) and Zach Bryant (6-2 at 120).

“I think there’s a lot of good teams in the state right now,” Cael Cotner said. “And I think that a lot of these teams are a lot better than they were last year and the competition is a lot tougher than it was last year. We got eighth last year and we didn’t eighth this year, we wanted higher than that, and that was our mindset coming in. When we got to the quarterfinals, that was the one that we wanted to win. When we got into the semifinals, we knew we had top four. We had Marian Central and we knew that they would be tough. I think we wrestled hard. We have some young kids in our lineup and a lot of sophomores that wrestled really good. The team has a lot of the same energy, everyone wants to be a team player. We’ve got a lot of guys who want to win for the team.” 

“This is a very good look into team state,” Jacob Vogel said. “I think the top 25 teams in 1A are here, so there’s a lot of competition. “We have to thank coach Hill because he is a very good coach. It really showed in the Oregon dual when everyone was cheering our team on and that was a really big thing. We were really pumped up to get that win and it was really big for us.” 

5th – Vandalia

Coach Jason Clay’s Vandalia Vandals defeated coach Josh Collins’ Olympia Spartans 44-30 to take fifth place as Vandalia improved two spots from a year ago. Olympia made one of the most dramatic improvements in one season, going from first place in the Bronze Division, which was 33rd in the competition, to sixth place overall.

Just like Marian Central Catholic, Coal City and PORTA, Vandalia features a lot of newcomers. But the veteran Vandals coach, who has taken 11 teams to the IHSA Dual Team Finals with three of them winning trophies since 2007, hopes that despite having a young team that several individuals who were part of the IESA state championship team from Vandalia, which finished ahead of Coal City in the 2023 Class A Finals, that this year’s team can make another state trip.

“It was great,” Clay said. “We had a tough pool and we were able to win those matches and then got into the Gold bracket today and ran into Marian Central Catholic and they had a little too much for us today but hopefully by February we can get there. Our kids battled back hard. We won two tough matches over two quality programs in Oregon and Olympia. 

“We didn’t make it (to state) last year, we got beat out in the regional by a tough Auburn team, and that was tough to take because it broke our streak of 29-straight regionals, so we’re going to try to start a new one this year and get back to the state tournament. We’ve got a young team and we have no seniors with a bunch of freshmen in the lineup, but they compete hard and we have some depth where we can move and jockey people around and guys can jump in and we haven’t had that in awhile.”

Top competitors from Vandalia who won at least two-thirds of their matches were Max Philpot (9-0 at 106), Keagan Turner (8-1 at 138/144), Dillon Hinton (7-1 at 138/144), Artan Mustafa (6-2 at 150/157), Dominic Swyers (6-2 at 190/215), Jayden Rosetto (6-2 at 285), Deon Moore (5-2 at 126) and Elijah Mabry (6-3 at 113).

“We’re a young team and coach said early on, let’s be the best now, don’t wait until our sophomore year or until we get older, let’s do it now,” Max Philpot said. “It’s just the heart that we have. We’ll get put on our backs and then we’ll just fight off of it and we’ll end up winning that match.”

“For most of them being young, you’d be surprised by how much work they put in,” Artan Mustafa said. “Every practice they’re sweating and tired because they put in the work. These guys are some of the hardest young people that I’ve seen in practice. Last year they did really good but I didn’t really know how they were going to do, but they’ve surprised me a lot. I like how much fun these guys are and they’re so full of energy. And whenever we have to step onto the mat, they get real serious real quick.”

6th – Olympia

Spartans coach Josh Collins, an IHSA Class A champion at Olympia in both 2000 and 2001 who competed on three trophy-winning teams for IWCOA Hall of Famer Mike Manahan from 1999-2001, is excited with  the progress that his team has made this season, which includes a title at Unity. A year ago, Olympia was the top team in the Bronze, a far cry from their sixth place showing this year.

“The big thing is just wrestling for six minutes,” Collins said. “The top five, top 10 teams, they wrestle for six minutes and they let the match play out, They want to be better and they want to be on top and they do the work to get there. They’re not going to back down from anybody and they’re going to keep grinding and try to get the wins when they need to. The team is a real tight-knit group and they push each other. And when one guy doesn’t win maybe when they’re supposed to, someone else picks them up and gets a win for them. As a team, we work together. We’re a family and we stick together and we pick each other up.”

Top individuals for the Spartans who won at least two-thirds of their matches in the tournament were Nolen Yeary (9-0 at 215/285), Carter Knoblach (5-0 at 113), Dylan Eimer (9-1 at 113/120), Bentley Wise (8-1 at 150/157), Austin Kisner (6-1 at 120/126), Cooper Phillips (5-2 at 138/144), Noah Whiteside (5-2 at 106) and Cole Bauer (6-3 at 175/190).

“It feels really good this year because last year we won the Bronze bracket,” Nolen Yeary said. “I think this year is by far our best. This is my senior year, but in my freshman year, we only had seven kids on the whole team. The big thing for us is family. I feel close to the coaches and I feel close to my teammates and I enjoy being around them and that just makes it a lot of fun.”

“We had a pretty tough week at practice and coach pushed us hard,” Cole Bauer said. “I think that this team has really excelled at coming together and having the same goal. We see teams like Coal City here. We had tough teams in our pool and we just took it step by step. We came in today thinking that we were going to win it, but even though we didn’t exactly hit our goal, we put up a hard fight. This is a huge step. Last year, we didn’t have the bond that we do this year.”

7th – Lena-Winslow/Stockton

Coach Kevin Milder’s Lena-Winslow/Stockton PantherHawks, who won ABE’s championships in 2021, 2019 and 2017, fell 39-30 to Roxana in the quarterfinals and settled for seventh place after claiming a 55-21 win over coach Justin Lahman’s Oregon Hawks. 

Top performers for Lena-Winslow/Stockton who won at least two-third of their matches in ABE’s Rumble were Mauricio Glass (8-1 at 138), Brady Haas (8-1 at 165), Eli Larson (8-1 at 175), Jeremiah Luke (8-1 at 190/215), John Mensendike (8-1 at 150), Arrison Bauer (7-1 at 132), Jared Dvorak (7-1 at 157) and Karl Hubb (7-1 at 144).

Though disappointed that his team fell in the quarterfinals and then lost by criteria to Olympia to compete for seventh place, Milder is optimistic about what his young squad might be able to accomplish this season. The 2020 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee, who won IHSA Class 1A titles in 2017 and 2019 and won two other trophies, including a third-place finish last season, figures to have his PantherHawks performing at a much higher level heading into the postseason.

“We went 7-2 and got seventh place,” Milder said. “We were a couple of guys down, but no excuses. We battled and had some tough duals, we tied Olympia and lost in criteria and we lost 39-30 to Roxana. We learned some tough, valuable lessons that will hopefully help us down the road. I think our kids learned today that bonus points matter and we have to get them when we can and we can’t give them up. And if we can benefit from that down the road, I think it will be well worth it. I think that we had a lot of growth today.”

8th – Oregon

Competitors from eighth-place Oregon who won at lead two-third of their matches were Anthony Bauer (8-1 at 157), Quentin Berry (6-1 at 190), Nelson Benesh (7-2 at 113/120), Colton Flaharty (3-1 at 120/126), Landon Ege (4-2 at 113/120) and Landen Elder (4-2 at 215/285),

Also in the Gold Division, Mike Glosser’s Oakwood/Salt Fork Comets edged Zach Crawford’s Canton Little Giants 35-34 for ninth place and Brady Sant Amour’s LeRoy/Tri-Valley Panthers won 48-18 over Brian Bahrs’ Newman Central Catholic Comets for 11th. 

Logan Patton’s Unity Rockets defeated Chase Hargrave’s Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats 54-24 for 13th place and Lucas Smith’s Rockridge Rockets got past Aaron Robinson’s Benton Rangers 39-36 for 15th place.

Others that made it into the Gold Bracket who made a significant improvement from their 2022 Rumble finish were Oakwood/Salt Fork (Bronze 5th, 28 positions), Newman Central Catholic (Silver 16th, 20 positions) and Rockridge (Bronze 2nd, 19 positions).

Clifton Central, Mt. Zion, Seneca and Lawrenceville/Red Hill were the top four teams in the Silver Division while Chicago Hope Academy, Stillman Valley, Riverdale and Morrison completed the top half of that division. 

The rest of the Silver Division, in order, included Murphysboro, Sherrard, Monticello, Erie/Prophetstown, Reed-Custer, El Paso-Gridley, Cumberland and Mt. Carmel. Once again, there were 60 teams in the competition with 932 individuals participating.

Roxana scored the most team points with 510 while Coal City was second with 500 and PORTA ranked third with 469. Others with over 400 team points were Vandalia (467), Marian Central Catholic (464), Lena-Winslow/Stockton (453), Murphysboro (448), Unity (436), Canton (414), Clifton Central (412), Seneca (411), Oakwood/Salt Fork (408) and Olympia (404).

Marian Central Catholic easily had the most match points with 679 while Lena-Winslow/Stockton was second with 509 and Murphysboro was third with 496 points. Others with over 400 match points were Vandalia (466), Olympia (454), Newman Central Catholic (447), Roxana (423), Unity (419), Coal City (417), Stillman Valley (417) and Chicago Hope Academy (407).

PORTA edged Vandalia 59-56 for the most pins while Seneca (54), Unity (52), Coal City (51), Lena-Winslow/Stockton (51), Roxana (51) and Oakwood/Salt Fork (50) all recorded 50 or more falls. Marian Central Catholic had 11 wins by technical fall, Murphysboro ranked second with seven and Olympia and Unity both collected five.

Individually, Unity’s Abram Davidson, Seneca’s Asher Hamby, Roxana’s James Herring, Mt. Zion’s Remington Hiser, Canton’s Danny Murphy and Morrison’s Donny Reavy had the most team points with 54 while Roxana’s Brandon Green, Jr. and Olympia’s Nolen Yeary ranked eighth with 53 points and Marian Central Catholic’s Jimmy Mastny, Benton’s Mason Tieffel and Monticello’s Ezekiel Young tied for tenth place with 52 team points.

Marian Central Catholic’s Anthony Alanis had the most total match points with 115 while Olympia’s Dylan Eimer ranked second with 110. Mastny (108) ranked ahead of Hurricanes teammate Brayden Teunissen (103) for third while Newman Central Catholic’s Briar Ivey (93) and Tieffel (93) tied for fifth, Murphysboro’s Kaiden Richards (90), Chicago Hope Academy’s Josiah Willis (83), Lena-Winslow/Stockton’s Arrison Bauer (78) and Chicago Hope Academy’s Tony Jones-Blakely (77) rounded out the top-10 in that category.

Hamby and Reavy both recorded nine falls, with Hamby achieving that in 7:45. Frankfort’s Brandon Turner, Shelbyville’s Nate Sanders, Herring, Murphy and Tieffel all had eight pins. Alanis was the lone competitor in the field to win four matches by technical fall while Eimer, Teunissen and Willis all had three wins by technical fall.

Here’s a closer look at the top competitors (by percentage, four match minimum) who took part in Abe’s Rumble in Springfield.

1. Marian Central Catholic 

Andrew Alvarado (9-0 at 132), Jimmy Mastny (9-0 at 157), Brayden Teunissen (9-0 at 120/126), Anthony Alanis (8-0 at 113/120), Max Astacio (8-0 at 165), Vance Williams (8-0 at 138/144), Nic Astacio (8-1 at 175), Dan French (8-1 at 190/215), Chandler Gardner (7-1 at 106/113) and Kaleb Eckman (6-3 at 285)

2. Coal City 

Mason Garner (8-0 at 144/150), Owen Petersen (8-0 at 106), Landin Benson (6-0 at 165/175), Cade Poyner (6-0 at 190), James Keigher (4-0 at 175/190), Brock Finch (5-1 at 150), Brandt Widlowski (5-1 at 157), Brody Widlowski (5-1 at 126/132), Emmett Easton (4-1 at 285), Aidan Kenney (4-1 at 132),  Luke Munsterman (4-1 at 120), Culan Lindemuth (3-1 at 120/126), Cooper Morris (6-2 at 113) and Alec Waliczek (3-1 at 215/285)

3. Roxana

Brandon Green, Jr. (9-0 at 132), James Herring (9-0 at 285), Donald Battles (8-1 at 215), Lyndon Thies (8-1 at 165), Robert Watt (8-1 at 190), Logan Riggs (7-1 at 126), Lleyton Cobine (7-2 at 120) and Trevor Gihring (7-2 at 138)

4. PORTA

Brayden Barner (4-0 at 165), Isaac Guinan (8-1 at 285), Athony Hull (7-1 at 106/113), Cael Cotner (5-1 at 150/157), Russell Mattson (4-1 at 190/215), Logan Baker (6-2 at 132/138), Jacob Vogel (6-2 at 144) and Zach Bryant (6-2 at 120)

5. Vandalia

Max Philpot (9-0 at 106), Keagan Turner (8-1 at 138/144), Dillon Hinton (7-1 at 138/144), Artan Mustafa (6-2 at 150/157), Dominic Swyers (6-2 at 190/215), Jayden Rosetto (6-2 at 285), Deon Moore (5-2 at 126) and Elijah Mabry (6-3 at 113)

6. Olympia

Nolen Yeary (9-0 at 215/285), Carter Knoblach (5-0 at 113), Dylan Eimer (9-1 at 113/120), Bentley Wise (8-1 at 150/157), Austin Kisner (6-1 at 120/126), Cooper Phillips (5-2 at 138/144), Noah Whiteside (5-2 at 106) and Cole Bauer (6-3 at 175/190)

7. Lena-Winslow/Stockton

Mauricio Glass (8-1 at 138), Brady Haas (8-1 at 165), Eli Larson (8-1 at 175), Jeremiah Luke (8-1 at 190/215), John Mensendike (8-1 at 150), Arrison Bauer (7-1 at 132), Jared Dvorak (7-1 at 157) and Karl Hubb (7-1 at 144)

8. Oregon

Anthony Bauer (8-1 at 157), Quentin Berry (6-1 at 190), Nelson Benesh (7-2 at 113/120), Colton Flaharty (3-1 at 120/126), Landon Ege (4-2 at 113/120) and Landen Elder (4-2 at 215/285)

9. Oakwood/Salt Fork

Jack Ajster (9-0 at 138), Grant Brewer (9-0 at 150/157), Dalton Brown (9-0 at 175), Pedro Rangel (9-0 at 132), Jamison Chambliss (5-0 at 190/215), Sailer Harrison (4-1 at 150/157), Bryson Capansky (7-2 at 157/165) and Thomas Wells (6-3 at 126)

10. Canton

Dyllan Steele (9-0 at 106/113), Danny Murphy (9-0 at 190), Jacob Hardesty (8-1 at 106/113), Grant Kessler (8-1 at 215), Maddux Steele (8-1 at 120), Connor Williams (8-1 at 285), Gus Lidwell (7-2 at 175) and Jack Jochums (6-3 at 132)

11. LeRoy/Tri-Valley

Brady Mouser (9-0 at 106), Tate Sigler (8-0 at 285), Jacob Bischoff (7-1 at 215), Connor Lyons (6-2 at 157/165) and EJ Chaon (4-2 at 120)

12. Newman Central Catholic

Zhyler Hansen (8-0 at 120/126), Briar Ivey (8-0 at 138/144), Carter Rude (8-0 at 144/150), Brady Grennan (7-0 at 132/138), Daniel Kelly (7-0 at 157), Caleb Donna (6-2 at 175) and Leo Francis (3-1 at 157/165)

13. Unity

Abram Davidson (9-0 at 157), Taylor Finley (9-0 at 132), Hunter Shike (9-0 at 126), Ryan Rink (9-0 at 165), Hunter Eastin (8-0 at 190/215), Thayden Root (7-0 at 175/190), and Kaden Inman (8-1 at 144/150)

14. Anna-Jonesboro

Drew Sadler (9-0 at 120), Aaron Sheffer (6-1 at 165/175), Eddie Dahmer (7-2 at 285), Daniel Dover (7-2 at 138/144) and Zoee Sadler (6-3 at 106/113)

15. Rockridge

Jude Finch (8-1 at 132/138), Ryan Lower (8-1 at 165), Thomas Soward (8-1 at 126), Colton Bock (6-3 at 113) and Tanner McKeag (6-3 at 215)

16. Benton

Mason Tieffel (9-0 at 138/144), Braxton Tittle (5-1 at 106/113), Tristen Gordon (4-1 at 138/144), Cohen Sweely (6-2 at 113/120), Izaiah Dalton (6-3 at 190/215) and Drake Spears (6-3 at 285)

Silver

1. Clifton Central  

Hunter Hull (6-0 at 175/190), Brody O’Connor (6-0 at 215), Giona Panozzo (7-1 at 144), Evan Cox (6-1 at 138), Garrison Bailey (7-2 at 132), Beau Williams (7-2 at 113), Gianni Panozzo (6-2 at 150), Maxwell Joseph (6-3 at 165) and Blake Hemp (6-3 at 120/126)

2. Mt. Zion 

Remington Hiser (9-0 at 285), Vincent Fiore (8-1 at 175), Mason Gray (7-2 at 120), Keller Stocks (7-2 at 190), Vincent Baker (6-3 at 106) and Kaden Becker (6-3 at 165)

3. Seneca

Asher Hamby (9-0 at 175), Raiden Terry (9-0 at 106), Chris Peura (7-0 at 215), Nate Othon (7-1 at 150/157), Ethan Othon (7-2 at 120/126) and Jeremy Gagnon (6-3 at 285)

4. Lawrenceville/Red Hill

Dylan Aten (8-1 at 126), Kasen Ochs (7-2 at 175/190) and Dylan Camden (6-3 at 285)

5. Chicago Hope Academy

Josiah Willis (8-0 at 126), Santiago Chaparro (8-1 at 144), Arkail Griffin (7-2 at 150), Roy Phelps (7-2 at 285), Tony Jones-Blakely (6-2 at 157) and Dylan Galvez (6-3 at 138)

6. Stillman Valley

Michael Pannarale (9-0 at 106), Mack Jones (8-1 at 113), Braxton Jennings (6-3 at 215) and Blake Mollet (6-3 at 285)

7. Riverdale

Zachary Bradley (9-0 at 175/190), Tharren Jacobs (9-0 at 120), Dean Wainwright (8-0 at 126/132), Blake Smith (7-1 at 150) and Ben Porter (6-3 at 106)

8. Morrison

Donny Reavy (9-0 at 190), Karder White (9-0 at 150/157), Brady Anderson (6-3 at 165), Jonathon Hicks (6-3 at 215), Caleb Modglin (6-3 at 132/138) and Camden Pruis (6-3 at 138/144)

9. Murphysboro

Kaiden Richards (9-0 at 126), Liam Fox (7-0 at 157), Sergio Garcia (7-0 at 132/138), Paxton Pyatt (7-0 at 113), Sayvair Williams (6-0 at 132/138), Bryce Edwards (7-1 at 138/144), Maxon Stearns (5-1 at 165), Aiston Holt (3-1 at 120), Jonathan Witzman (5-2 at 144/150) and Gage Boucher (4-2 at 150)

10. Sherrard

Cyrus Hoke (7-2 at 165), Jayden Thomson (5-2 at 138/144) and Braiden Krahl (6-3 at 113/120)

11. Monticello

Ezekiel Young (9-0 at 106), Wyatt Vaughan (7-2 at 175), Gavin Ridings (3-1 at 157), Hunter Romano (5-2 at 190), Brandon Peters (6-3 at 285), Tristan Slade (6-3 at 150) and Drake Weeks (6-3 at 138)

12. Erie/Prophetstown

Bryce Folsom (8-1 at 215), Wyatt Goossens (6-1 at 144/150), Luke Otten (6-1 at 190), Conner Johnson (5-1 at 132), Victor Bonnell (6-3 at 157) and Caleb Reymer (6-3 at 285)

13. Reed-Custer

Jeremy Eggleston (8-1 at 144/150), Rex Pfeifer (8-1 at 175), Adrian Aleman (6-2 at 157), Dominic Alaimo (6-3 at 190/215), Jason Davis (6-3 at 150/157) and Jayden Sanchez (6-3 at 126/132)

14. El Paso-Gridley

Parker Duffy (7-0 at 215), Ryden Barker (8-2 at 190/215), Waylon Melick (7-2 at 157/165), Nolan Whitman (7-2 at 120) and Christopher Blackmore (6-3 at 285)

15. Cumberland

Brayden Olmstead (9-0 at 138), Sawyer Welbaum (8-1 at 120), Harley Pierce (4-1 at 132), Mason Robinson (7-2 at 113) and Owen McGinnis (6-3 at 144)

16. Mt. Carmel

Donald Downing (4-2 at 190/215)

Bronze

1. Wilmington

Logan VanDuyne (8-0 at 190/215), Parker Adams (6-2 at 157/165) and Landon Dooley (6-2 at 120)

2. Camp Point Central

Conner Griffin (7-1 at 165/175), Case Hughes (6-1 at 113/120), Jack Weese (5-1 at 285), Joseph Friday (3-1 at 157/165) and Konnor Bush (5-2 at 150)

3. Auburn

Joey Barrow (8-0 at 190/215), Joey Ruzic (8-0 at 132/138), Brodie Linn (5-2 at 165/175) and Jayden Brown (4-2 at 150/157) 

4. Tremont

Riley Poisal (5-0 at 106/113), Mason Mark (7-1 at 138/144), Bowden Delaney (6-1 at 165/175) and Ethan Kinsey 4-2 at (190/215)

5. Pontiac

Aidan Scholwin (7-1 at 106), Kooper Wiles (7-1 at 113/120), Jackson Crawford (6-2 at 190), Noah Davis (6-2 at 113/120) and Hunter Melvin (5-2 at 215)

6. Robinson

Dreagan Johnson (8-0 at 157), Broady Kelly (8-0 at 126), Ben Mullins (8-0 at 150), Kahne Hyre (7-1 at 165), Keaton Ault (6-1 at 120) and Lenox Parker (4-1 at 144)

7. St. Joseph-Ogden

Emmitt Holt (8-0 at 106), Devan Swisher (5-0 at 157) and Holden Brazelton (7-1 at 132)

8. Hoopeston Area

Angel Zamora (8-0 at 165/175), Ayden Larkin (7-1 at 157/165), Charlie Flores (6-2 at 106) and Talan Nelson (6-2 at 126/132)

9. Frankfort Community

Clayton Dent (8-0 at 165), Brandon Turner (8-0 at 215/285), Conner Henson (7-1 at 190) and Hayeden Hughes (7-1 at 113/120)

10. Litchfield

Isaiah Johnson (8-0 at 132/138), Braxton Kieffer (8-0 at 144/150), Vincent Moore (5-0 at 113) and Clayton Hauter (5-2 at 157/165)

11. Westville

Logan Mahaffey (8-0 at 157), Ethan Miller (8-0 at 190), Gabriel Kiddoo (6-2 at 165) and Trent McMasters (6-2 at 150)

12. Ottawa Marquette

Adrian Schaefer (4-2 at 285)

13. Shelbyville

Nate Sanders (8-0 at 144/150), Colin Wells (7-1 at 113/120, Andre Townsend (4-1 at 285) and Ryne Peavler (6-2 at 157/165)

14. Knoxville

Horatio Erwin (4-1 at 138/144), Donovan Anthony (3-1 at 120/126), Hunter Johnson (6-2 at 120/126) and Joe Wall (5-2 at 150/157)

15. Deer Creek-Mackinaw 

Ryker Gemberling (6-1 at 190/215), Joey Humphreys (6-2 at 285) and Wyatt Otto (6-2 at 165/175)

16. Sacred Heart-Griffin

Charlie Huston (6-0 at 106/113), Casen Lyons (6-2 at 175) and Cooper Balen (4-2 at 138)

Copper

1. Beardstown

Chunk Dailey (6-0 at 285), Gunner Looker (6-0 at 175), Caleb Hobrock (5-0 at 157) and Diego Lopez (4-1 at 150)

2. Illini Bluffs

Jackson Carroll (8-0 at 144/150), Hunter Robbins (8-0 at 113/120), Jacob Strube (4-0 at 106), Ian O’Connor (7-1 at 138/144), Wyatt Knowles (6-1 at 106/113) and Nathan Owens (4-2 at 120/126)

3. Warrensburg- Latham

Kaden Roberts (7-0 at 126), Logan Roberts (7-0 at 120) and Charlie Wittmer (6-1 at 132)

4. Macomb

Hector Maymi (4-0 at 215), Charlie Bodiford (3-1 at 285), Ethan Hoyt (5-2 at 120) and Tyler Shannon (5-2 at 150/157)

5. Farmington

Keygan Jennings (6-1 at 132/138)

6. Hillsboro

Treyton Kuhl (5-1 at 144), Zander Wells (5-1 at 165) and Landon Bandy (5-2 at 113)

7. Prairie Central

Ethan Ziller (6-2 at 150) and Prestin Gero (3-1 at 126)

8. Mercer County

Ethan Monson (8-0 at 138/144), Zeke Arnold (7-1 at  150/157), Bodie Salmon (7-1 at 175) and Kaiden Terrill (6-2 at 285)

9. Quincy Notre Dame

Bradi Lahr (7-0 at 144), Taylin Scott (7-0 at 215), Aidan Brunier (5-2 at 285) and Oliver Moore (4-2 at 126)

10. St. Bede Academy

Logan Pineda (5-2 at 150) and Hunter Savage (5-2 at 132)

11. Dwight

Dylan Crouch (6-0 at 138) and David Piaga-Gomez (5-2 at 190)

12. Walther Christian Academy

Caleb Peterson (5-2 at 132/138)

Gold Title dual meet – Marian Central Catholic 32, Coal City 31

106 – Owen Petersen (Coal City) D 14-13 Austin Hagevold (Marian Central Catholic)

113 – Anthony Alanis (Marian Central Catholic) MD 20-7 Cooper Morris (Coal City)

120 – Brayden Teunissen (Marian Central Catholic) TF 24-9 Luke Munsterman (Coal City)

126 – Culan Lindemuth (Coal City) FFT

132 – Andrew Alvarado (Marian Central Catholic) D 4-3 Brody Widlowski (Coal City)

138 – Vance Williams (Marian Central Catholic) F 1:27 Evan Greggain (Coal City)

144 – Mason Garner (Coal City) MD 16-6 Josh Gawronski (Marian Central Catholic)

150 – Brock Finch (Coal City) FFT

157 – Jimmy Mastny (Marian Central Catholic) TF 23-8 Brant Widlowski (Coal City)

165 – Max Astacio (Marian Central Catholic) D 3-0 John Keigher (Coal City)

175 – Landin Benson (Coal City) D 7-6 Nic Astacio (Marian Central Catholic)

190 – Cade Poyner (Coal City) FFT

215 – Dan French (Marian Central Catholic) F 5:56 Alec Waliczek (Coal City)

285 –  Emmett Easton (Coal City) SV 3-1 Kaleb Eckman (Marian Central Catholic)

Gold final standings

1st – Marian Central Catholic, 2nd – Coal City, 3rd – Roxana, 4th – PORTA, 5th – Vandalia, 6th – Olympia, 7th – Lena-Winslow/Stockton, 8th – Oregon, 9th – Oakwood/Salt Fork, 10th – Canton, 11th – LeRoy/Tri-Valley, 12th – Newman Central Catholic, 13th – Unity, 14th – Anna-Jonesboro, 15th – Rockridge, 16th – Benton

Gold final results

1st – Marian Central Catholic 32, Coal City 31

3rd – Roxana 51, PORTA 30

5th – Vandalia 44, Olympia 30

7th – Lena-Winslow/Stockton 55, Oregon 21

9th – Oakwood/Salt Fork 35, Canton 34

11th – LeRoy/Tri-Valley 48, Newman Central Catholic 18

13th – Unity 54, Anna-Jonesboro 25

15th – Rockridge 39, Benton 36

Silver final standings

1st – Clifton Central, 2nd – Mt. Zion, 3rd – Seneca, 4th – Lawrenceville/Red Hill, 5th – Chicago Hope Academy, 6th – Stillman Valley, 7th – Riverdale, 8th – Morrison, 9th – Murphysboro, 10th – Sherrard, 11th – Monticello, 12th – Erie/Prophetstown, 13th – Reed-Custer, 14th- El Paso-Gridley, 15th – Cumberland, 16th – Mt. Carmel

Silver final results

1st – Clifton Central 49, Mt. Zion 29

3rd – Seneca 54, Lawrenceville/Red Hill 22

5th – Chicago Hope Academy 46, Stillman Valley 31

7th – Riverdale 42, Morrison 35

9th – Murphysboro 59, Sherrard 18

11th – Monticello 36, Erie/Prophetstown 27

13th – Reed-Custer 51, El Paso-Gridley 24

15th – Cumberland 54, Mt. Carmel 24

Bronze final standings

1st – Wilmington, 2nd – Camp Point Central, 3rd – Auburn, 4th – Tremont, 5th – Pontiac, 6th – Robinson, 7th – St. Joseph-Ogden, 8th – Hoopeston Area, 9th – Frankfort Community, 10th – Litchfield, 11th – Westville, 12th – Ottawa Marquette, 13th – Shelbyville, 14th – Knoxville, 15th – Deer Creek-Mackinaw, 16th – Sacred Heart-Griffin

Bronze final results

1st – Wilmington 42, Camp Point Central 30

3rd – Auburn 48, Tremont 34

5th – Pontiac 42, Robinson 41

7th – St. Joseph-Ogden 60, Hoopeston Area 18

9th – Frankfort Community 42, Litchfield 34

11th – Westville 57, Ottawa Marquette 12

13th – Shelbyville 41, Knoxville 30

15th – Deer Creek-Mackinaw 39, Sacred Heart-Griffin 30

Copper final standings

1st – Beardstown, 2nd – Illini Bluffs, 3rd – Warrensburg-Latham, 4th – Macomb, 5th – Farmington,

6th – Hillsboro, 7th – Prairie Central, 8th – Mercer County, 9th – Quincy Notre Dame, 10th – St. Bede Academy, 11th – Dwight, 12th – Walther Christian Academy

Copper final results

1st – Beardstown 48, Illini Bluffs 36

3rd – Warrensburg-Latham 48, Macomb 28

5th – Farmington 42, Hillsboro 30

7th – Prairie Central 36, Mercer County 30

9th – Quincy Notre Dame 42, St. Bede Academy 18

11th – Dwight 24, Walther Christian Academy 18

Pool Results

Pool A

1st – PORTA, 2nd – Unity, 3rd – El Paso-Gridley, 4th – Sacred Heart-Griffin, 5th – Walther Christian Academy

Pool B

1st – Marian Central Catholic, 2nd – Clifton Central, 3rd – Morrison, 4th – Tremont., 5th – Farmington

Pool C

1st – Oakwood/Salt Fork, 2nd – Benton, 3rd – Stillman Valley, 4th – Wilmington, 5th – Warrensburg-Latham

Pool D

1st – Riverdale, 2nd – Reed-Custer, 3rd – Litchfield, 4th – Frankfort Community, 5th – Beardstown

Pool E

1st – Roxana, 2nd – Oregon, 3rd – Shelbyville, 4th – Ottawa Marquette, 5th – Dwight

Pool F

1st – Vandalia, 2nd – Rockridge, 3rd – Mt. Zion, 4th – Westville, 5th – Illini Bluffs

Pool G

1st – Olympia, 2nd – Anna-Jonesboro, 3rd – Auburn, 4th – St. Joseph-Ogden, 5th – Mercer County

Pool H

1st – Murphysboro, 2nd – Erie/Prophetstown, 3th – Monticello, 4th – Deer Creek-Mackinaw, 5th – Macomb

Pool I

1st – Newman Central Catholic, 2nd – LeRoy/Tri-Valley, 3rd – Lawrenceville/Red Hill, 4th – Camp Point Central, 5th – Prairie Central

Pool J

1st – Canton, 2nd – Seneca, 3rd – Sherrard, 4th – Robinson, 5th – Hillsboro

Pool K 

1st – Coal City, 2nd – Cumberland, 3rd – Mt. Carmel, 4th – Knoxville, 5th – St, Bede Academy

Pool L

1st – Lena-Winslow/Stockton, 2nd – Chicago Hope Academy, 3rd – Pontiac, 4th – Hoopeston Area, 5th – Quincy Notre Dame

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Montini Catholic wins Marge and Tate Dual Tournament in Michigan

Montini Catholic improved to 12-1 after winning four dual meets, including three that were decided by two points or less, to capture top honors at the Marge and Tate Dual Tournament that was hosted by Grandville High in Grandville, Michigan.

Coach Mike Bukovsky’s Broncos, who competed against four Michigan teams, won 54-21 over Cedar Springs, 38-36 over the tournament hosts, 37-35 over Byron Center and 38-36 over Temperance Bedford 38-36. 

It’s the team’s second title of the season, with the other one being the Neuqua Valley Scuffle on December 2. Montini Catholic also finished in third place in Harlem’s Dvorak Tournament, which took place December 16-17. 

The team’s lone loss in a dual meet came against Marist by a 35-34 score. The next-closest dual meet that they’ve had against an Illinois team was a 47-22 victory over Woodstock.

Josh Vazquez (22-2 at 126) and Kam Luif (20-4 at 132) are leading the Broncos in wins through the 2023 portion of the schedule. Several members of the squad have been dealing with injuries but are expected to be back in action shortly.

Other top winners for Montini Catholic are Santino Tenuta (16-3 at 157), AJ Tack (15-3 at 165), Alex Marre (14-3 at 175), Jaxon Lane (14-6 at 190), David Mayora (13-1 at 150), Mikey Malizzio (12-3 at 113), Allen Woo (11-3 at 106), Jeremy Huf (6-0 at 138), Mick Ranquist (6-3 at 285) and Bobby Ruscitti (4-0 at 106). Huf, Malizzio, Ranquist and Woo did not compete in Michigan.

Mayora is a two-time state medalist who lost a 1-0 decision to Aurora Christian’s Taythan Silva in the 2023 Class 2A Finals at 152. Luif placed sixth at 120, Tenuta fell one win shy of a medal at 145 and Ranquist also qualified for state.

Bukovsky is happy to be back at the school that he attended and later served as an assistant coach before taking over the head coaching duties in 1994 and remained in that position through 2010.

In his 16 seasons, his teams posted a 459-39 dual meet record, which is good for a .922 win percentage, that featured eight IHSA championships as well as one runner-up finish and two third-place showings in 13 appearances in the IHSA Dual Team Finals. Other than his debut season, his teams won at least 24 dual meets and on 12 occasions they concluded a season with two defeats or less.

He also has enjoyed success at Montini in two other sports, being a longtime assistant coach in football under Chris Andriano before taking over as head coach in 2017 and leading the Broncos to  second place the next season. And he was the school’s head softball coach from 2015 to 2018 and won IHSA titles in 2016 and 2018.

He has received numerous honors for his outstanding coaching career and service to the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association. In October, he received a Lifetime Service Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame-Illinois Chapter. In 2020, he was an IWCOA Lifetime Service Award winner and a Grand Marshal at the 2017 IHSA Finals. He received the IWCOA Person of the Year Award in 2010 and was inducted into the IWCOA Hall of Fame in 2008.

Hononegah wins Mid-States Wrestling Classic in Whitewater, WI

Illinois traveled well to Wisconsin’s Mid-States Wrestling Classic in Whitewater this year. Twelve teams from Illinois joined 30 Wisconsin teams in the 42-team field Dec. 29-30, and nearly half of the 28 individual finalists haled from Illinois.

Thirteen Illinoisans wrestled for individual titles, winning eight individual crowns.

Hononegah ruled the day for the team title, finishing at the top of the 42-team field.

Hononegah posted a 312-284.5 edge over a second-place Sun Prairie East/West from Wisconsin. Downers Grove South was third, finishing a mere 1.5 points behind Sun Prairie.

Among the other Illinois teams present, Wauconda (274) finished fourth; Morton (188.5) was seventh; Grayslake Central (174) was eighth; and Round Lake (156) took 10th to round out the top 10 team finishes.

Also competing from Illinois were McHenry (12th), Bradley-Bourbonnais (24th), Dundee-Crown (25th), New Trier (27th), Harvard (31st), and Lakes Community (41st).

Top three Illinois team finishes:

1st place: Hononegah (312)

Bringing home individual titles for Hononegah coach Tyler DeMoss were Rocco Cassioppi (106), Bruno Cassioppi (113), Brody Sendele (157) and Connor Diemel (165). Isaak Smith (215) placed fourth, Jackson Olson (120) placed fifth, and DeMoss got sevenths from Robert Darling (132), Max Haskins (150), and Kurt Smith (175).

Also chipping in team points were Evan Musil (126), Max Aranki (144), Greyson Cotone (190), and Carlos Delgado (285).

3rd place: Downers Grove South (283)

All 14 of coach Sean Lovelace’s crew contributed team points for Downers Grove South, led by a second-place finish from Matty Lapacek (190), a third from Connor Kelly (165), and fourths from Miguel Castaneda (113) and RJ Samuels (175). The Mustangs also got a fifth from Nick Spirek (138), sevenths from Jadon Dinwiddie (120) and Mack Piehl (215), eighths from Trevor Dinaso (106), Drew Woolsey (126), and Noah Greene (157).

Other Mustangs scoring team points were Jordan Christin-Holley (132), TJ Johnson (144), Jax Canik (150), and Jayden Contreras (285).

4th place: Wauconda (274)

Wauconda had 10 place-winners in Wisconsin, and Wauconda coach Trevor Jauch got a second-place individual finish from Cooper Daun (138), a third from Nathan Randle (120), and a pair of fourths from Cole Porten (150) and Zachary Johnson (165).

The Bulldogs also got a fifth from Gavin Rockey (106), sixths from Brian Hart (132) and Logan Andrews (144), and eighth from Michael Merevick (190), a ninth from Lucas Galdine (126), and a 12th from Kason Buse (157).

Also scoring team points were Nicholas Ruiz (113), Brody Rudolph (215) and Caleb Apodaca (285).

Top individual finishers from Illinois:

A pair of previously unbeaten, top-ranked wrestlers met in the finals at 175, where Jake Stoffel (20-0) of Appleton North, WI won on an ultimate tie-break against Illinois’ top ranked Matty Jens (21-1) of Grayslake Central.

Other Illinois wrestlers winning individual titles in Wisconsin were Round Lake’s Alejandro Cordova (120) and William Cole (285), Grayslake Central’s Tyler Weidman (126), and Morton’s Steven Marvin (150).

Other second-placers from Illinois included Grayslake Central’s Jens (175) and Vince DeMarco (106) and Matty Jens (175), Morton’s Harrison Dea (113), McHenry’s Pedro Jimenez (144) and Aiden Fischler (165), 

Bradley-Bourbonnais’ AJ Mancilla (175) placed third; fourth-placers included McHenry’s Ryan Hanson (120) and Round Lake’s Grayson Kongkaeow (126); placing fifth were New Trier’s Tagg Miller (150), Morton’s Clayton Mckee (157), and Dundee-Crown’s Jose Gavina (165); and finishing sixth from Illinois were Grayslake Central’s Warren Nash (150) and Harvard’s Riley Vest (285).

Mid-States Classic championship matches:

106 – Rocco Cassioppi (Hononegah) F 4:45 Vince DeMarco (Grayslake Central)

113 – Bruno Cassioppi (Hononegah) TF 4:00 Harrison Dea (Morton)

120 – Alejandro Cordova (Round Lake) F 5:53 Lukas Orloff (Pecatonia-Argyle WI)

126 – Tyler Weidman (Grayslake C) F 4:55 Ethan Aird (Darlington-Blackhawk WI)

132 – Christopher Anderson (Sun Prairie WI) D 4-2 Cade Aaberg (Oregon WI)

138 – Owen Race (Cedar Grove-Belgium WI) D 10-3 Cooper Daun (Wauconda)

144 – Owen Seffrood (Darlington-Blackhawk WI) MD 13-5 Pedro Jimenez (McHenry)

150 – Steven Marvin (Morton) D 6-0 Ashton Meister (Poynette WI)

157 – Brody Sendele (Hononegah) D 10-6 Breylin Goebel (Darlington-B’hawk WI)

165 – Connor Deimel (Hononegah) D 3-0 Aiden Fischler (McHenry)

175 – Jake Stoffel (Appleton N. WI) UTB 3-2 Matty Jens (Grayslake C)

190 – Owen Burling (Lake Mills WI) D 7-4 Ross Crist (Darlington-B’hawk WI)

215 – Nate Grooms (Lake County Luth. WI) D 4-3 Jaxon Johnson (Sun Prairie WI)

285 – William Cole (Round Lake) F 3:26 Evan Held (Nicolet WI)

Illinois team finishes among 42 teams:

1. Hononegah 312, 3. DG South 283, 4. Wauconda 274, 7, Morton, 8. Grayslake Central, 10. Round Lake, 12. McHenry 24. Bradley-Bourbonnais (89) 25. Dundee-Crown (85) 27. New Trier (79) 31. Harvard (60.5) 41. Lakes Community (12) 

Lourdes OTW Classic in Oshkosh, WI

The Oshkosh, Wisconsin tournament saw Hortonville, WI take the team title, with Libertyville snaring second-place in a field of 70 teams. Sixty-six of the teams competing were from Wisconsin, with three from Illinois and one from Minnesota.

Hortonville won 287.5-267.5 over Libertyville and among Illinois teams, Fremd (154) finished 15th and Lane Tech (133) finished tied for 19th.

Libertyville coach Dale Eggert got an individual title from Matt Kubas (175) and a second from Owen McGrory (215) among the Wildcats’ six wrestlers finishing in the top 12 of their divisions.

Kubas was dominant in Oshkosh, posting four falls before winning by 10-2 major decision for the title at 175 against Markesan, Wisconsin’s Treston Eckstein. Kubas improved to 24-2 with the win and is ranked No. 2 in Rob Sherrill’s Illinois Matmen rankings. It was Kubas’ second tournament title this season, to go with two second-place tournament finishes.

Third-ranked in Illinois at 215, McGrory went 5-1 in Wisconsin to up his record to 27-2, his lone loss coming in a tight 4-3 decision in the finals to Ayden Grulke of Hartford, WI.

Libertyville also got a fourth-place finish from Caleb Baczek (190), a sixth from Luke Berktold (120), and a seventh from Charlie Clark (165). Placing 10th in the 70-team field was Tyler Wuh (113), and Orion Moran (132) placed 12th.

Also scoring team points were Jake Shafer (106), James Liu (126), Antonio Kelly (138), Will Carney (144), James Scanio (157), and Rhett VanBoening (285).

Fremd was paced by a fourth-place finish from Peter Mondus, and Vikings coach Jeff Keske also got a sixth from Drew Fifield (126), a seventh from Ryan Muslimovic (157), an eighth from Trent Odachowski (113), and a 12th from Jack Sloan (138). Also scoring team points for Fremd were Max Duberstein (120), Jovan Gongora (132), Chase McCluskey (144), Lucas Nance (150), Jaime Vela (215), and Owen Jakubczak (285). 

Lane Tech coach Matt Yan had a pair of wrestlers take third in Alex Valentin (113) and Robert James Zavala (126), and got a seventh from Evan Coles (106) and a ninth from Nasser Hammouche (138). Also scoring team points for Lane were Angel Santana (120) and Vermaat VanderBrug (144).

Wonder Women in Columbia, Missouri

The 79-team field in Columbia, Missouri, saw Collinsville’s Taylor Dawson emerge as the lone individual champion from Illinois, after she won a 5-4 decision in the finals at 130 against Alexis Dunwiddie of Jefferson, MO.

Dawson used five pins to reach the finals and improved to 18-0 with her win over Dunwiddie (22-2).

An Illinois state runner-up at 125 last year, Dawson competed as the lone entrant for Collinsville, and the No. 3-ranked girl in Illinois at 130. She also won individual tournament titles at Granite City and Normal this year.

Highland’s August Rottman — an Illinois state champion at 170 last year — is currently ranked No. 3 in Illinois. Rottman competed as Highland’s lone competitor in Missouri and opened her tournament with three pins before a 9-4 decision win in the semifinals over Oak Park, Missouri’s Nevaeh Wardlow.

Bixby, Missouri’s Millie Azlin (16-0) won a 3-0 decision in the title match against Rottman (15-3), who also placed first at Normal’s tournament and second at Granite City this season.

Edwardsville was the only Illinois team present with more than one wrestler entered in the 79-team field, and placed 17th in Columbia.

Edwardsville coach Jon Wagner entered 13 girls and got team points from eight wrestlers. Leading the way for the Tigers were a pair of seventh-placers in Holly Zugmaier (125) and Tayla Phillips (235) and an eighth-place finisher in Olivia Cole (105).

Also scoring team points for Edwardsville were Genevieve Dykstra (100), Gianna Linhorst (110), Allie Chong (115), Lydia Blind (140), and Abbrey Dewerff (155).

Hallsville Holiday Tournament in Hallsville, Missouri

Belleville West and Edwardsville were the lone Illinois teams at the Hallsville Holiday Tournament in Missouri and they did the Land of Lincoln proud.

Washington, MO won the team title with 224 points, followed by Ft. Zumwalt North with 181.5. Belleville West (170) finished third and Edwardsville (114) placed fourth in a 30-team field.

Belleville West coach Bob Dahm got individual titles from Xander Goodwin (132) and Kenwyn Horne (285) and the Maroons got a second from Ethan Hofmeister (190), a third from Rocky Seibel (113), a fourth from Alex Ramos (165), a fifth from Brody O’Donnell (175), and a sixth from Tyson Seibel (126).

Also scoring team points for the Maroons were DeMario Walters (106), Kadin Alexander (150), and Shamontae Matthews (215).

Goodwin won a 4-0 decision on the title mat at 132 against Edwardsville’s Ian Trauernicht, and Horne won by fall for the heavyweight title against Aiden Christian of Holden, MO.

Edwardsville got seconds from Chase Mathney (106) and Ian Trauernicht (132) for coach Eric Pretto, a third from Kenneth Jamison (144), and a sixth from Lucas Kunz (285). Colin Waddington (120), Ethan Knecht (138), Charles Houle (157), Jack Cloud (165), Graham Taylor (175), and Dominic Dykstra (215) also contributed team points for the Tigers.

Mater Dei Holiday Classic in Evansville, IN

Civic Memorial placed ninth in the 19-team field of this year’s Mater Dei Holiday Classic in Evanville, Indiana. The Eagles got an individual title from Bryce Griffin, when Illinois’ top-ranked 157-pounder posted a 6-0 decision on the title mat against Trinity’s Malachia Harris.

Griffin improved to 27-2 with the win and handed Harris (19-1) his first loss of the year. Griffin was Illinois’ 2A state runner-up last year at 145 pounds and also won a tournament title at Civic Memorial this season.

Civic Memorial coach Jeremy Christeson also got fourths from Bradley Ruckman (120) and Caleb Scott (126), and a sixth from Nathan Herrin (144). Also contributing team points were Brody Johnson (106), Josh Harkey (132), James Wojcikiewicz (165), Luke McCoy (175), Kale Hawk (215).

By Curt Herron – For The IWCOA

Mattoon wins inaugural Unity Christian Christmas Duals

Mattoon went 7-0 to capture top honors at the inaugural Unity Christian Christmas Duals, which was a two-day round-robin competition featuring eight teams. Coach Brett Porter’s Greenwave captured a 48-30 in the final round over Clinton, which took second place with a 6-1 record.

The event was hosted by Unity Christian School in Decatur. Prior to its renaming, the school was known as Lutheran School Association. The young program has more individuals to work with now that they are in a co-op arrangement with a nearby school, Argenta-Oreana.

University High posted a 5-2 record to claim third place, Pittsfield went 4-3 to finish fourth, the host Lions took fifth place, Illinois Valley Central was sixth, Ridgeview/Lexington finished seventh and Rantoul placed eighth.

The champion Greenwave defeated both University High and Pittsfield by 57-18 scores, claimed a 60-18 win over Unity Christian, captured a 57-12 victory over IVC, beat Ridgeview/Lexington 61-6 and won 71-0 over Rantoul. 

Leading the way for Mattoon with 7-0 records were Ben Capitosti (138), who was named as the lower weight outstanding wrestler, Aidan Blackburn (150), who was named as the upper weight outstanding wrestler, Korbin Bateman (144) and Mitchell Clapp (215). 

Also for the Greenwave, Ean Freeman (165) went 5-0 while Miles Clapp (157), Blaine Howell (190) and JD Sullivan (285) all had 6-1 records and Janelle Willoughby (113/120), Vincent Gibson (126) and Brody Goonan (132) went 5-2.

Coach Matt Cooper’s runner-up Maroons went 6-1. They beat University High 51-21, Pittsfield 65-12, Unity Christian 66-16. Illinois Valley Central 63-12, Ridgeview/Lexington 65-6 and Rantoul 58-12 before falling 48-30 to Mattoon in their final dual meet.

Clinton was led by Logan Thoms (157), who went 7-0, Briley Carter (106) and Kristan Hibbard (175), who were 6-0, Dawson Thayer (285), who went 5-0 and Isreal Ramirez (190/215), who went 3-0. Going 5-1 were Ariana Humes (113/120), Cayden Poole (138) and Kael Morlock (215) while Justin Droke (144) went 5-2.

In the championship dual, the Greenwave received pins from Tristan Porter (120), Korbin Bateman (144), Aidan Blackburn (150), Ean Freeman (165) and Blaine Howell (190) while Brody Goonan (132) got a victory by technical fall, Mitchell Clapp (215) won a 12-4 major decision and Vincent Gibson (126) received a forfeit win. The closest match in the title dual saw Ben Capitosti capture a 9-6 decision over Cayden Poole at 138. 

Meanwhile, the Maroons got falls from Ariana Humes (113), Logan Thoms (157), Kristan Hibbard (175) and Dawson Thayer (285) while Briley Carter (106) got a forfeit win.

Leading coach Caleb Phillips’ third-place Pioneers were Ethan Lowe (144), who finished 5-1, and Joshua Butler (120) and Grayson Moody (165), who both went 4-1. Charles Karun (175) and Aidan Hager (190) both had 3-1 records and Joshua Caraballo (150/157) went 4-2.

Coach Johnathon Peterson’s fourth-place Saukees, received a 7-0 effort from Tucker Cook (190/215) while Waylon White (165) went 6-1 and Jake Oitker (157) and Bodine Marable (175) both finished 5-2.

Top performers for coach Zach Whitsel’s host Lions were brothers Clinton VerHeecke (120) and Garrett VerHeecke (126/132), who both posted 7-0 records.

Illinois Valley Central’s  Lilyana Malagon (120/126) turned in a 6-0 effort, Hunter Toliver (132) finished 4-0 and Maison Toliver (157) went 4-2. 

Ridgeview/Lexington was led by Danny Tay (126/132), who went 4-1, Payton Campbell (150), who finished 5-2 and Judson Stover (138), who went 4-2. And Darius Williams (150) went 4-2 to be the top performer for Rantoul.

Mattoon’s Korbin Bateman recorded seven falls in 8:30, which were two more pins than any other competitor. He tied Clinton’s Logan Thoms and Unity Christian’s Garrett VerHeecke for the most team points with 42 while Clinton VerHeecke had 41, Pittsfield’s Tucker Cook scored 40 and Mattoon’s Aidan Blackburn (38) and Ben Capitosti (37) were next in line in team points.

University High’s Joshua Caraballo had the most match points with 57, which was 19 more than his teammate Joshua Butler had to rank second-best in points. Mattoon (411) and Clinton (398) easily led in team points and also had a big edge in falls with Mattoon at 38 and Clinton at 33.

Unity Christian Christmas Duals Final Standings

1st – Mattoon, 2nd – Clinton, 3rd – University High, 4th – Pittsfield, 5th – Unity Christian, 6th – Illinois Valley Central, 7th – Ridgeview/Lexington, 8th – Rantoul

Unity Christian Christmas Duals Championship meet – Mattoon 48, Clinton 30

106 – Briley Carter (Clinton) FFT

113 – Ariana Humes (Clinton) F 0:43 Janelle Willoughby (Mattoon)

120 – Tristan Porter (Mattoon) F 1:46 Carter Bostic (Clinton)

126 – Vincent Gibson (Mattoon) FFT

132 – Brody Goonan (Mattoon) TF 17-1 Gabe Walker (Clinton)

138 – Ben Capitosti (Mattoon) D 9-6 Cayden Poole (Clinton)

144 – Korbin Bateman (Mattoon) F 1:41 Justin Droke (Clinton)

150 – Aidan Blackburn (Mattoon) F 1:09 Kayleb Kent (Clinton)

157 – Logan Thoms (Clinton) F 1:37 Miles Clapp (Mattoon)

165 – Ean Freeman (Mattoon) F 0:10 RJ Stamp (Clinton)

175 – Kristan Hibbard (Clinton) F 0:44 Brock Taylor (Mattoon)

190 – Blaine Howell (Mattoon) F 3:24 Bryan Alejandro (Clinton)

215 – Mitchell Clapp (Mattoon) MD 12-4 Kael Morlock (Clinton)

285 – Dawson Thayer (Clinton) F 3:31 JD Sullivan (Mattoon)

Rockford East claims first place at Sandwich Duals

Rockford East defeated host Sandwich 45-33 in the championship dual meet at the 10-team Sandwich Dual Team Tournament to cap a 5-0 performance. 

Plainfield Central claimed a 38-30 victory over Peotone to take third place, Rock Falls won 48-36 over Saint Viator for fifth place, St. Bede Academy defeated Genoa-Kingston 42-30 for seventh place and Durand/Pecatonica won 36-24 over Mendota for ninth place.

Coach Gene Lee’s champion E-Rabs defeated Genoa-Kingston 48-36, Durand/Pecatonica 78-6 and Saint Viator 60-21 before claiming a 39-33 victory over Plainfield Central.

Top records for Rockford East were Ty Smart (5-0 at 157/165), Lee Smith (4-0 at 285) and Jospeh Young (3-0 at 132), Donald Cannon (3-0 at 138) and  Christian Cossia (3-0 at 138/144). 

Other top E-Rabs were Ryan Muraski (5-1 at 175/190/215), Rafael Esquer Sanana (4-1 at 126/132), Austin Nelson (4-1 at 150/157),  Hayden Roach (3-1 at 106), Dana Wickson (3-1 at 144/150) and Orion Losiniecki (3-1 at 215).

Coach Derek Jones’ runner-up Indians beat Peotone 45-34, St. Bede Academy 46-27 and Mendota 36-24 before capturing a 45-29 victory over Rock Falls.

Leading the way for Sandwich were Laiken Ervin (5-0 at 113), Tristen King (4-0 at 190/215), Norah Vick (3-0 at 106), Colten Stone (3-0 at 113/120),  Sy Smith (3-0 at 157/165), Eddie Hernandez (3-0 at 285) and Jacob Cassie (4-1 at 138).

In the title dual meet, the E-Rabs got falls from Jospeh Young (132), Donald Cannon (138) and Orion Losiniecki (215), forfeit wins from Lee Smith (285), Austin Nelson (150), Ty Smart (157) and Ryan Muraski (175) and Rafael Esquer Sanana won 7-6 over Jakob Gruca at 126.

The host Indians received falls from Jacob Ross (106), Colten Stone (113) and Sy Smith (165) while Laiken Ervin (120) and Tristen King (190) won by forfeit and Miles Corder won a 4-3 decision over Dana Wickson at 144.

Coach Terry Kubski’s third-place Wildcats beat Durand/Pecatonica 66-9, Saint Viator 49-13 and Genoa-Kingston 66-18 before getting edged 39-33 by the eventual champion E-Rabs and then bouncing back to beat Peotone for third.

Posting the best records for Plainfield Central were Jayden Mizelle (5-0 at 113), Brody Rangel (5-0 at 126), Anthony Minnito (5-0 at 215), Liam Thompson (4-1 at 120), Gavin Enders (4-1 at 138/144), Matthias Hautzinger (4-1 at 150) and Antonio Montoya (4-1 at 285).

Peotone turned in a 3-2 record to place fourth. Top Blue Devils performers were Micah Spinazzola (5-0 at 144), Santino Izzi (5-0 at 157), Kurt Wagner (5-0 at 165/175), Ian Kreske (5-0 at 165/175), Connor Pasch (4-0 at 150) and Mohammed Abunijmeh (3-0 at 150/190).

Leading the way for Rock Falls were Josiah Tarbill (5-0 at 120/126), Logan Thome (5-0 at 126/132), Jacob Hosler (4-0 at 285), Scottie Hampton (4-1 at 106), Adan Oquendo (4-1 at 132/138), Logan Williamson (4-1 at 138/144) and  Preston Armstrong (3-1 at 120).

Saint Viator was led by Phu Truong (5-0 at 190), Devin Adams (4-0 at 165) and Elliot Heckard (4-1 at 113). St. Bede Academy’s top performers were Hunter Savage (4-1 at 132), Logan Pineda (4-1 at 150/157) and Garrett Connelly (4-1 at 175/190).

Recording top records for Genoa-Kingston were Kaleb Lancaste (5-0 at 106), Brady Brewick (5-0 at 165) and Xander Gleissner (4-0 at 175). And leading the way for Durand/Pecatonica was Ethan Foster (5-0 at 120).

Rock Falls’ Logan Thome recorded five falls in 11:03 and no one else had more than three pins. St. Bede Academy’s Garrett Connelly led those who had three falls with an elapsed time of 2:19. Rock Falls also had the leader in total match points with 40, Adan Oquendo, and Peotone’s Ian Kreske was next-best with 37 match points.

Nine individuals had 30 team points. They were Rockford East’s Ryan Muraski and Ty Smart, Peotone’s Ian Kreske and Kurt Wagner, Genoa-Kingston’s Brady Brewick and Kaleb Lancaste, Sandwich’s Laiken Ervin, Plainfield Central’s Jayden Mizelle and Rock Falls’  Logan Thome.

Rockford East had the most team points with 270 while Plainfield Central ranked second with 252 team points. Plainfield Central had the most match points with 208 while Peotone was second in match points with 192.

Sandwich Dual Team Tournament Final Standings

1st – Rockford East, 2nd – Sandwich, 3rd – Plainfield Central, 4th – Peotone, 5th – Rock Falls, 6th – Saint Viator, 7th – St. Bede Academy, 8th – Genoa-Kingston, 9th – Durand/Pecatonica, 10th – Mendota

Sandwich Dual Team Tournament Final Results

1st – Rockford East 45, Sandwich 33

3rd – Plainfield Central 38, Peotone 30

5th – Rock Falls 48, Saint Viator 36

7th – St. Bede Academy 42, Genoa-Kingston 30

9th – Durand/Pecatonica 36, Mendota 24

Sandwich Dual Team Tournament Championship – Rockford East 45, Sandwich 33

285 – Lee Smith (Rockford East) FFT

106 – Jacob Ross (Sandwich) F 0:22 Hayden Roach (Rockford East)

113 – Colten Stone (Sandwich) F 0:47 Tyler Gentry (Rockford East)

120 – Laiken Ervin (Sandwich) FFT

126 – Rafael Esquer Sanana (Rockford East) D 7-6 Jakob Gruca (Sandwich)

132 – Jospeh Young (Rockford East) F 0:19 Wyatt Gregory (Sandwich)

138 – Donald Cannon (Rockford East) F 0:51 Jacob Cassie (Sandwich)

144 – Miles Corder (Sandwich) D 4-3 Dana Wickson (Rockford East)

150 – Austin Nelson (Rockford East) FFT

157 – Ty Smart (Rockford East) FFT

165 – Sy Smith (Sandwich) F 0:44 Eh Kaw (Rockford East)

175 – Ryan Muraski (Rockford East) FFT

190 – Tristen King (Sandwich) FFT

215 – Orion Losiniecki (Rockford East) F 1:17 Brandon Moore (Sandwich)

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

2023 Ottawa Girls Holiday Hootenanny

Minooka ran away with Ottawa’s 37-team Girls Holiday Hootenanny on Thursday, as the lone team present that sent four individuals to the title mat among 13 girls who placed in the top seven of their weight classes.

Minooka out-pointed second-place Geneseo 231-141 for the team title, followed by Richwoods (110), Plainfield South (98), and Naperville Central (93) to round out the top five team finishes.

Oak Park and River Forest (90), Bolingbrook (75), Erie-Prophetstown (65), Princeton (65) and Morris (59) completed the top ten in the field.

“We are excited about the performance of a lot of our girls this weekend,” Minooka coach Paige Schoolman said. “We brought twenty-two girls and had thirteen of them place. While our veterans came through with solid performances, I’m also really excited for some of our young girls that came through with multiple wins on their way to placing.

“Marian Nordsell, Holli Coughlen, Daisy Musser, Kailey Jefferson, and Mackenzie Kapanowski all got better throughout the day.”

1st place: Minooka (231)

Schoolman got individual titles from Addie Cailteux (130) and Bella Cyrkiel (145), and seconds from Brooklyn Doti (110) and Sabina Charlebois (125) among their four finalists.

The Indians’ coach liked what he got from his title-mat wrestlers in Ottawa.

“(They) all wrestled well to make the finals,” Schoolman said. “Brooklyn avenged a previous loss in the semis and Addie had a statement performance, beating a state qualifier in the semi’s and then another state qualifier in the finals.”

Seeded third at 130, Cailteux (13-4) upset Erie-Prophetstown’s Michelle Naftzger (17-4) in the semifinals in a 6-1 decision, before winning the title 7-3 over Seneca’s top-seeded Sammie Greisen (19-4).

Top-seeded Cyrkiel (24-3) won a 6-0 decision in the finals at 145 over Harvard’s second-seeded Ithandehui Rosas (16-4).

“Bella wrestled smart and took advantage of the right opportunities to win her weight class,” Schoolman said. “And Sabina continued to wrestle tough all day just like she has done all year.”

Minooka also got a third from Peyton Kueltzo (235), fourths from Marian Nordsell (100), Holli Coughlen (105), Daisy Musser (115), and Palmer Calvey (140), a fifth Mia Lemberg (170), sixths from Kailey Jefferson (130) and Abby Boersma (155), and a seventh from Mackenzie Kapanowski (140).

“Across the board, we are seeing weekly improvements as well as things we need to work on,” Schoolman said. “We are excited for what is in front of us with the Clash Duals next week and the state series a month away.”

2nd place: Geneseo (141)

Geneseo got an individual title from Lydia King (115) and a second from Molly Snyder (100) in sending two to the title mat. Geneseo coach Carley Rusk also got fifths from Bella Curcuru (125) and Grace Schilling (130), and sixths from Emily Bopes (120), Gia Ritter (135) and Lauren Piquard (140).

Top-seeded King (19-7) pinned her way to the title at 115, capped by a fall in the finals against Ottawa’s Val Munoz (8-11), who spent the day upsetting higher-seeded wrestlers on her way to the title mat.

3rd place: Richwoods (110)

The Lady Knights had five place-winners for coach Rob Penney, paced by second-placers Kaila Williams (135), Jaida Johnson (155) and Sydney Johnson (170). Isabella Mottler (135) and Marley Clark (235) finished fourth.

Williams (16-1) lost for only the first time all year on the title mat at 135, to Freeport’s returning state champion Cadence Diduch (12-0). Johnson (3-1) also lost to an unbeaten wrester in the finals at 155, in Moline’s Maryam Ndiaye (14-0).

4th place: Plainfield South (98)

The Cougars got a second-place finish from Keira Enright (190) and thirds from Amy Fuentes (100) and Teagan Aurich (155).

Also winning individual titles in Ottawa were Montini’s Kat Bell (100), Lasalle-Peru’s Kiely Domyancich (105), Morris’ Ella McDonnell (110), Lane Tech’s Nyah Lovis (120), Naperville Central’s Dezi Azar (125), Freeport’s Cadence Diduch (135), Maine East’s Alena Oshana (140), Moline’s Maryam Ndiaye (155), Oswego East’s Jessica Stover (170), Oak Park and River Forest’s Trinity White (190), and Ottawa’s Juliana Thrush (235).

Other wrestlers who reached the title mat and finished second included Streator’s Lily Gwaltney (105), Ottawa’s Val Munoz (115), Lemont’s Molly O’Connor (120), Seneca’s Sammie Greisen (130), Princeton’s Izzy Gibson (140), Harvard’s Ithandehui Rosas (145), Plainfield South’s Keira Enright (190), and Oak Park and River Forest’s Sarah Ephstein (235).

Freeport’s top-ranked three-time state champion Cadence Diduch remained unbeaten with three falls and then a 12-0 major decision at 135 over Richwood’s Kaila Williams (14-1), who is currently ranked No. 3 at 140 pounds.

A pair of top-eight ranked wrestlers squared off for the title at 100 when Montini’s No. 5 Kat Bell (14-3) won by fall over Geneseo’s No. 8 Molly Snyder (15-5).

Morris’ top-ranked Ella McDonnell improved to 22-2 with her title win at 110 against Minooka’s Brooklyn Doti (13-4), and Moline’s No. 2 Maryam Ndiaye (14-0) won by fall at 155 against Richwoods’ No. 7 Jaida Johnson.

One of the day’s closest finals came at 235, where Ottawa’s Juliana Thrush – ranked honorable mention – won a 4-2 decision over Oak Park and River  Forest’s No. 5 Sarah Ephstein. Thrush improved to 17-3 with the win.

Ottawa Girls Holiday Hootenanny championship results:

100 – Kat Bell (Montini) F Molly Snyder (Geneseo)

105 – Kiely Domyancich (Lasalle-Peru) F Lily Gwaltney (Streator)

110 – Ella McDonnell (Morris) F Brooklyn Doti (Minooka)

115 – Lydia King (Geneseo) F Val Munoz (Ottawa)

120 – Nyah Lovis (Lane Tech) D 12-5 Molly O’Connor (Lemont)

125 – Dezi Azar (Naperville Central) F Sabina Charlebois (Minooka)

130 – Addie Cailteux (Minooka) D 7-3 Sammie Greisen (Seneca)

135 – Cadence Diduch (Freeport) MD 12-0 Kaila Williams (Richwoods)

140 – Alena Oshana (Maine East) F Izzy Gibson (Princeton)

145 – Bella Cyrkiel (Minooka) D 6-0 Ithandehui Rosas (Harvard)

155 – Maryam Ndiaye (Moline) F Jaida Johnson (Richwoods)

170 – Jessica Stover (Oswego E) D 5-3 Sydney Johnson (Richwoods)

190 – Trinity White (OPRF) Dflt Keira Enright (Plainfield South)

235 – Juliana Thrush (Ottawa) D 4-2 Sarah Ephstein (OPRF)

Third-place results:

100 – Amy Fuentes (Plainfield South) F Marian Nordsell (Minooka)

105 – Alexa Herrera (Harvard) D 6-0 Holli Coughlen (Minooka)

110 – Alejandra Flores (Bolingbrook) D 8-6 Ryleigh Stephens (Erie-Prophetstown)

115 – Ciara Bolf (Ottawa) F Daisy Musser (Minooka)

120 – Cammyla Macias (Rochelle) F Ellen Purl (Naperville Central)

125 – Dyani Torres (Kaneland) MD 14-4 Mila Rocush (Shepard)

130 – Michelle Naftzger (Erie-Prophetstown) F Keagan Edwards (Glenbard N.)

135 – Katie Ramirez (Bolingbrook) D 1-0 Isabella Mottler (Richwoods)

140 – Jayda Rosenow (Erie-Prophetstown) F Palmer Calvey (Minooka)

145 – Josie Leone (Princeton) D Morgan Lietz (Shepard)

155 – Teagan Aurich (Plainfield South) D 6-1 Dempsey Atkinson (Rochelle)

170 – Kaleigh Mehrkens (D-Mack) F Bella Brooks (D-Mack)

190 – Aurelia Gil-Lane (Bolingbrook) F Sadie Kinsella (Kaneland)

235 – Peyton Kuetizo (Minooka) F Marley Clark (Richwoods)

Fifth-place results:

100 – Annika Hall (Naperville Central) F Daniella Almazan (Shepard)

105 – Eliana Badeen (Maine East) F Ashley Hobbs (Bolingbrook)

110 – Gracie Meluch (Naperville Central) F Payton Henson (Streator)

115 – Taniyah Sherman (Kankakee) F Abby Harris (Princeton)

120 – Ryleigh Eriks (Rock Falls) F Emily Bopes (Geneseo)

125 – Bella Curcuru (Geneseo) F Sofia Flores (Montini)

130 – Grace Schilling (Geneseo) F Kailey Jefferson (Minooka)

135 – Makayla Jones (Kankakee) MD 15-6 Gia Ritter (Geneseo)

140 – Mia Reyes (Larkin) F Lauren Piquard (Geneseo)

145 – Alicia Swank (Bloomington) F Korah Hosler (Rock Falls)

155 – Ellisa Russell (Rock Falls) F Abby Boersma (Minooka)

170 – Mia Lemberg (Minooka) F Megan Barajas (OPRF)

190 – Morgan Congo (Morris) F Bailey Herr (Putnam County)

235 – Asrellia Walace (Glenbard N) F Kassandra Lee (Shepard)

Final team scores: 1. Minooka (231) 2. Geneseo (141) 3. Richwoods (110) 4. Plainfield South (98) 5. Naperville Central (93) 6. Oak Park and River Forest (90) 7. Bolingbrook (79.5) 8. Erie-Prophetstown (65) 8. Princeton (65) 10. Morris (59) 11. Kankakee (50) 11. Shepard (50) 13. Rock Falls (49) 14. Maine East (48) 15. Harvard (43) 16. Lasalle-Peru (42) 16. Montini (42) 18. Kaneland (39) 18. Larkin (39) 18. Ottawa (39) 21. Moline (36) 22. Freeport (34) 23. Oswego East (33) 24. Glenbard North (32) 25. Rochelle (31.5) 26. Seneca (29) 27. Lemont (28) 27. Streator (27) 29. Lane Tech (27) 30. Dee-Mack (23) 31. Batavia (21) 32. Bloomington (20) 33. Saint Viator (18) 34. Putnam County (17) 35. Conant (6) 35. Rockford Guilford (6) 37. Sterling (0).

Jacksonville Crimson Ladies Invitational

It was a 40-team mountain to climb and when the climbing was done, it was Schaumburg standing alone at the summit of this year’s Jacksonville Crimson Ladies Invitational.

The Saxons dominated the field, winning 219-121 over the J. Sterling Morton girls from Berwyn/Cicero. East Peoria (94) placed third followed by a tie for fourth-place between Canton (81) and Collinsville (81).

“Jacksonville did a great job hosting,” Schaumburg coach Matt Gruszka said.

Urbana (74), Belleville West (73), Goreville (69), Glenwood (63), and host Jacksonville (61.5) rounded out the top 10 teams.

“I like going down south because we see a lot of the competition that we will see at the state tournament,” Gruszka said. “Our champs had a great day and this tournament (win) was a team effort.”

1st place: Schaumburg (219)

Thirteen girls placed in the top eight of their weight classes for Schaumburg coach Matt Gruszka. The Saxons got individual titles from Madeline Zerafa- Lazarevic (140) Valeria Rodriguez (155) and Nadia Razzak (190); third-place finishes from Diya Patel (110), Anna Villareal (115), Madyson Meyer (120) and Alya Razzak (170); a fourth from Justice Girod (105); fifths from Makenzi Aguilar (100) and Keara Micek (145); a sixth from Ella Jackson (235); a seventh from Sharon Olorunfemi (130); and an eighth-place finish from Olivia Furlan (135).

“Madeline Zerafa is really starting to sharpen her skills, especially on her feet,” Gruszka said. “155 was a loaded bracket and Valeria (Rodriguez) did an outstanding job, she is really working hard towards her goals for the end of the season. And Nadia (Razzak) at 190 is really starting to wrestle the way I want her  to now.”

Schaumburg also went 4-for-5 on the third-place mat.

“Our third placers really finished the tournament on a high note after some early losses,” Gruszka said. “Having thirteen placers made it a complete team effort. This tournament has also shown us some stuff that we for sure need to work on.”

Schaumburg had the most pins in the least time of any team present, posting 32 total falls in 53:31. Belleville West was second, with 14 pins in 26:31.

2nd place: JS Morton (121)

The girls from Berwyn-Cicero had an individual champions in Nayeli Rodriguez (125) and a pair of second-placers in Anahi Ceja (100) and Monica Garcia (125) for coach Fernando Arratia. Morton also got fourths from Sofia Petronijevic (130), Faith Comas (135) and Violet Mayo (170); a sixth from Brianna Carbajal (125); a seventh from Isabella Sanchez (155); and an eighth from Evelyn Miranda (120). Natalia Perez (145) also chipped in to Morton’s team total.

3rd place: East Peoria (94)

Coach Chad Dunham got individual titles from Abella Brown (100) and Kennedy McMenimen (110) and a second-place finish from Bailey Lusch (105) to lead the way. Four of the Mustangs’ seven wrestlers participating earned place-medals, including a fifth from Taylor Sutton (130), while Kyla Kaonohi (125) and Dezyrae Murray (145) also contributed team points.

4th place (tie): Canton (81)

Six of the seven wrestlers entered by the Little Giants placed in the top seven of their respective weight classes. Coach Zach Crawford got second-place finishes from Kinnley Smith (130) and Aubrianna Putnam (145), a third from Katelyn Marvel (145), a fifth from LT Diephuis (105), a sixth from Kinnley Smith (140), and a seventh from Gianna Stevens (120). Emmie Waller (155) also contributed team points for Canton.

4th place (tie): Collinsville (81) 

Coach Jordan May got an individual title from Taylor Dawson (130), who departed the tournament with a perfect 22-0 season record. The Kahoks also got thirds from Leann Cory (135) and Tashieya Taylor (155) and a seventh from Hannah Jones (170), while Emma Ford (125) also chipped in to Collinsville’s team total.

Other individuals winning individual titles were Glenwood’s Kadi Wilbern (105), Auburn’s Jasmine Brown (115), Mt. Zion’s Sydney Cannon (120), Morton’s Karen Canhola (135), Goreville’s Alivia Ming (145), Highland’s August Rottmann (170), and Unity’s Phoenix Molina (235).

Individuals also placing second included Belleville West’s Jala Singleton (110), Centennial’s Ava Beldo (115), Jacksonville’s Alexis Seymour (120), Glenwood’s Jenna Tuxhorn (135), Urbana’s Rickasia Ivy (140) and Jurdan Tyler (235), Alton’s Elanna Hickman (155), Notre Dame’s Autumne Williams (170), and Macomb’s Sifa Feruzi (190).

Springfield’s Anna Miloncus’ five pins in 7:32 were the most pins in the least time for any wrestler in the tournament, and El Paso-Gridley’s Kianna Mayne was right behind her, posting five pins in 7:39.

Other tournament bests: Jacksonville’s Alexis Seymour had the fastest tech fall in 4:17; Schaumburg’s Valeria Rodriguez had the fastest fall in 0:08; East Peoria’s Kennedy McMenimen had the most single match points with 18; JS Morton’s Nayeli Rodriguez had the most total match points with 42; and Carlinville’s Samantha Scott had the largest seed-place difference, placing seventh as the No. 23 seed at 135.

Jacksonville Crimson Ladies Invite championship match results:

100 – Abella Brown (E. Peoria) F 1:18 Anahi Ceja (JS Morton)

105 – Kadi Wilbern (Glenwood) MD 17-8 Bailey Lusch (E. Peoria)

110 – Kennedy McMenimen (E. Peoria) F 4:48 Jala Singleton (Belleville W.)

115 – Jasmine Brown (Auburn) F 5:06 Ava Beldo (Centennial)

120 – Sydney Cannon (Mt. Zion) D 8-2 Alexis Seymour (Jacksonville)

125 – Nayeli Rodriguez (JS Morton) D 8-7 Monica Garcia (JS Morton)

130 – Taylor Dawson (Collinsville) F 2:50 Kinnley Smith (Canton)

135 – Karen Canhola (Morton) D 3-2 Jenna Tuxhorn (Glenwood)

140 – Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic (Schaumburg) F 1:39 Rickasia Ivy (Urbana)

145 – Alivia Ming (Goreville) F 1:13 Aubrianna Putman (Canton)

155 – Valeria Rodriguez (Schaumburg) D 7-1 Elanna Hickman (Alton)

170 – August Rottmann (Highland) D 6-1 Autumne Williams (Notre Dame)

190 – Nadia Razzak (Schaumburg) F 4:38 Sifa Feruzi (Macomb)

235 – Phoenix Molina (Unity) D 3-2 Jurdan Tyler (Urbana)

Third-place match results:

100 – Claire Crouch (Triad) F 1:42 Lily Davis (Mt. Vernon)

105 – Hope Donnamario (JS Morton) D 9-5 Justice Girod (Schaumburg)

110 – Diya Patel (Schaumburg) F 0:19 Ma’Kayla Bonner (Granite City)

115 – Anna Villareal (Schaumburg) F 1:15 Kendall Smith (Civic Memorial) 

120 – Madyson Meyer (Schaumburg) F 0:55 Daisy Gil (Beardstown)

125 – Anna Miloncus (Springfield) F 2:21 Amelia McClure (Community W.)

130 – Delaney Griffin (Civic Memorial) F 0:44 Sofia Petronijevic (JS Morton)

135 – Leann Cory (Collinsville) F 3:05 Faith Comas (JS Morton)

140 – Mackensie Williams (Charleston) D 2-0 Ju’Bri Edwards (Belleville W.)

145 – Katelyn Marvel (Canton) F 5:49 Kelly Ladd (Macomb)

155 – Tashieya Taylor (Collinsville) F 2:29 Anna Vasey (Unity)

170 – Alya Razzak (Schaumburg) SV-1 7-5 Violet Mayo (JS Morton)

190 – Krista McBride (Goreville) F 0:26 Andre’a Kirkpatrick (Belleville W.)

235 – Rylee Hammond (Robinson) F 5:36 Cadence Duvall (Community W.)

Fifth-place match results:

100 – Makenzi Aguilar (Schaumburg) F 2:55 Nicole Stanley (Carlinville)

105 – LT Diephuis (Canton) F 1:07 Josselyn Allen (Jersey)

110 – Karley Moore (Jacksonville) F 3:29 Ariana Humes (Clinton)

115 – Aryanna Jones (Alton) MD 9-0 Kaitlyn Knight (Jacksonville)

120 – Kianna Mayne (E.P.-Gridley) F 2:14 Morgan Krone-Smallhorn (Charleston)

125 – Isabella Resendez (Glenwood) F 3:26 Brianna Carbajal (JS Morton)

130 – Taylor Sutton (E. Peoria) F 0:44 Randi Campe (Urbana)

135 – Lillien Roughton (Unity Christian) F 0:27 Raegen Hansen (Macomb)

140 – Vivian Guither (Community W.) F 0:48 Kennedy Smith (Canton)

145 – Keara Micek (Schaumburg) F 0:51 Rory Speidel (Jersey)

155 – Savannah Hamilton (E.P. Gridley) F 1:02 Mikaela Mwangong (Macomb)

170 – Franciana Kalanga (Urbana) F 1:19 Liberty McBride (Goreville)

190 – Patience Riggs (ROWVA) F 0:52 Bailey Amerman (Notre Dame)

235 – Khyiema Poole (Robinson) F 1:25 Ella Jackson (Schaumburg)

Final team scores: 1. Schaumburg (219) 2. JS Morton (121) 3. East Peoria (94) 4. Canton (81) 4. Collinsville (81) 6. Urbana (74) 7. Belleville West (73) 8. Goreville (69) 9. Glenwood (63) 10. Jacksonville (61.5) 11. Macomb (61) 12. Community West (55) 13. Highland (44.5) 14. Alton (41) 15. Civic Memorial (40) 15. Triad (40) 17. Unity (39) 18. Notre Dame (38) 19. Auburn (37) 19. Charleston (37) 21. El Paso-Gridley (35) 22. Springfield (33) 23. Robinson (32) 24. Mt. Zion (27) 25. Granite City (26) 25. Morton (26) 27. ROWVA (24) 28. Clinton (23) 29. Centennial (22) 30. Mt. Vernon (20) 31. Beardstown (19) 32. Unity (17) 33. Jersey (16) 33. Rochester (16) 35. Carlinville (14) 36. Eisenhower (6) 37. Oregon (4) 38. Pittsfield (2) 39. Carbondale (0) 39. Mahomet-Seymour (0).

By Patrick Z. McGavin – For the IWCOA

The worst part for Gavin Connolly was the anguish of thinking an entire year about what might have been. The ramifications only compounded and accentuated a profound unease.

“I knew we’d have a chance to go up against them in the Flavin,” said the 150-pounder from St. Charles East. “I’ve been looking forward to that match for a year.”

Connolly’s 1-0 decision over Joliet Catholic Academy’s Connor Cumbee brought closure and a symbolic lift in the Saints’ 42-23 dual team victory Saturday to complete a 6-0 tournament finish for the team championship of DeKalb’s Dan Flavin Invitational.

The Saints (17-0) and Hilltoppers were the only undefeated teams heading into the final round.

Connolly secured the match’s only point with his escape with 30 seconds remaining.

“I was confident the whole time, and I felt like I was in control,” said Connolly, who went 4-2 in the tournament. “I lost to the same kid in double-overtime here last year.”

The victory proved a turning point as St. Charles East captured eight of the final nine matches after the Hilltoppers jumped out to a 19-6 lead. 

“That match was a swing and we knew it was going to have a big impact on the final,” St. Charles East coach Jason Potter said.

JCA defeated the Saints 36-32 in preliminary action at last year’s tournament. That proved the only loss for the Saints, who defeated Marmion Academy in the IHSA Class 3A Dual Team championship.

“Their match last year changed the outcome of the dual, and we knew it was going to also come down to that today,” Potter said.

Connolly’s victory marked a streak of four consecutive wins, following falls by Ben Davino (132) and Tyler Guerra (138) and a 6-4 decision by Jayden Colon over Nolan Vogel at 144 pounds.

The Connolly win stretched the margin to 24-19.  The Hilltoppers managed only one more victory, Luke Hamiti’s 11-3 major decision over Ryan McGovern at 157 pounds.

“Gavin has really wrestled fantastically,” Potter said. “He has always been very talented, but I don’t know if he realized until now how much he really loved it. With him being a senior now, you see how much he is giving it everything he has. He got down to 150, which is way more of an ideal weight.”

He showed off his speed and quickness against the skilled and dynamic Cumbee, who nearly pulled away in the final seconds. Connolly exerted his own force to close out the victory.

“Before he was wrestling at 157 or 165 pounds, and he was just getting outmuscled,” Potter said. “With his style of wrestling, it is going to be a problem if he is not stronger.”

Connolly rode the momentum of the Saints’ three defending individual state champions Davino, Colon and Dom Munaretto (113). Guerra was a state-runner up at 138 pounds last season.

“I knew we had our guys in the middle weights, and they were going to do what they always do,” Connolly said.

Munaretto, Davino, Guerra, Colon, Anthony Gutierrez (165) and Brody Murray (175) went 6-0.

The Hilltoppers narrowly lost to Washington Community in the IHSA Class 2A Dual Team Finals last season. Coming off a Class 2A championship and runner-up finish the last two seasons, Joliet Catholic Academy has been bumped up to Class 3A.

Nico Ronchetti, a state runner-up at 182 pounds last season, was not able to wrestle against St. Charles East.

“At the end of the day, it’s good to see where we are,” said JCA’s Dillan Johnson, a two-time IHSA 2A champion at 285 who also won the IWCOA title at 285 in 2021, who went 5-0. “We basically have a month left in the regular season and now we know where we have to improve.

“I like it because it’s a chance to see what team, and you are also doing something for the whole team.”

Also for the Hilltoppers, Luke Hamiti (157) went 6-0, Luke Foster (106) and Max Corral (165) each finished 5-1, Vogel went 4-1, Nico Ronchetti went 3-0 and Jason Hampton, who was fourth at state last season, went 4-2.

St. Charles East, JCA, Marist and defending tournament champion Marmion Academy made up the championship bracket.

The Flavin marked a dazzling showcase of the state’s top 3A teams. Only Mount Carmel was absent from teams ranked in the top-five of the Class 3A state rankings of Illinois Matmen.

“It’s harder to go through this day than it is to win the state dual championship,” DeKalb coach Sam Hiatt said. “The championship pool is tougher than the state finals. Then you throw in some of the best 2A teams and some of the best teams from downstate.”

Rather than diluting the strength, expanding the field has only made it deeper, stronger, and more extreme to great through.

“Every year we keep growing, and we have a bunch of teams on the waiting list and more and more teams that want to get in,” Hiatt said.

The atmosphere inside the fieldhouse rocked, with fans ringed around the different mat placement and the stands overflowing. The Flavin is one of the gold standards of Illinois’ dual team tournaments.

The format is at once unyielding and exhilarating, creating strategic actions and the freedom for coaches and elite wrestlers to leap around different weight classes.

“We’re wrestling all the good teams, and I like to see where I’m at,” said Yorkville’ Jack Ferguson, a returning state qualifier who went 5-1 at 150 pounds, earning the Foxes’ outstanding wrestler award. “You’re going up against the top wrestlers and there is no place to hide from.”

The 32-team field included five of the six state dual team finalists from last season, St. Charles East and runner-up Marmion Academy, defending 2A state champion Washington Community and runner-up Joliet Catholic Academy and defending 1A runner-up Yorkville Christian.

The teams are grouped into four eight-team brackets, with pool play results creating a hierarchical order for the championship rounds. The top four finishers of each bracket compose the four top pools, Championship, Gold, Silver and Bronze. Each bracket is determined by the round robin results of the team duals.

Defending tournament champion Marmion Academy is undergoing a transitional period. Two standouts from last season’s team went undefeated for their new schools. Collin Carrigan (175) went 6-0 for Glenbard West and Brody Kelly (157) finished 6-0 for IC Catholic Prep.

Defending 182 state champion Jack Lesher is continuing his rehabilitation from a torn ACL he  suffered during a football game in the fall. The Cadets have three elite sophomores in Nicholas Garcia (113), Zach Stewart (138) and Joey Favia (215), with Favia going 6-0 in the tournament.

Stewart finished 4-2, providing Davino his only significant challenge. Davino bumped up to 138 for the showdown and he prevailed 7-2, including a takedown in the final seconds.

In one of the most electronic matches of the day, Munaretto held on for the 5-3 victory over Garcia, who went 5-1 and nearly pulled out the tying takedown in the final seconds.

“When we wrestled at Ironman a couple of weeks ago, we were both off a bit,” Garcia said. “I like this tournament a lot because there’s a lot of strategy that goes into what you do, but you also wrestle the same way to win as you would during a regular tournament.”

If the top four teams monopolized the spotlight, other elite wrestlers stepped up and showed what they were capable of.

“I like being with my team, and all of us being together instead of always being part of an individual tournament,” said Sandburg’s Rocco Hayes, who went 6-0 wrestling primarily at 106 pounds. “We train all year for stuff like this. We have a lot of guys who push us in the room during training to get ready for something like this.”

Marist’s 150-pounder Will Denny powered the Redhawks’ third-place finish by going 6-0.

“Everybody on the team loves this tournament,”’ Denny said. “It’s just like the state tournament. We come here and get into some really tough dual meets.”

Also going 6-0 for Marist were Michael Esteban (126) and George Marinopoulos (120) while Donavon Allen (138), Conor Phelan (190) and Ethan Sonne (132) all went 5-1.

Here’s a list of all of the individuals from the 32 teams who won at least two-thirds of their matches in the tournament, with a minimum of three matches to be considered.

Champion’s Pool

1. St. Charles East

Jayden Colon (6-0 at 144/150), Ben Davino (6-0 at 132/138), Tyler Guerra (6-0 at 138/144), Anthony Gutierrez (6-0 at 165), Dom Munaretto (6-0 at 113), Brody Murray (6-0 at 175), Matt Medina (5-1 at 285), Gavin Connolly (4-2 at 150/157) and Brandon Swartz (4-2 at 215)

2. Joliet Catholic Academy

Luke Hamiti (6-0 at 157), Dillan Johnson (5-0 at 285), Nico Ronchetti (3-0 at 190), Max Corral (5-1 at 165), Luke Foster (5-1 at 106), Nolan Vogel (4-1 at 144), Jason Hampton (4-2 at 120) and Max Vela (2-1 at 175)

3. Marist

Will Denny (6-0 at 150/157), Michael Esteban (6-0 at 126/132), George Marinopoulos (6-0 at 120/126), Donavon Allen (5-1 at 138/144), Conor Phelan (5-1 at 190/215), Ethan Sonne (5-1 at 132/138) and Ricky Ericksen (4-2 at 175/190) 

4. Marmion Academy

Joey Favia (6-0 at 215), Nicholas Garcia (5-1 at 113/120), Donny Pigoni (5-1 at 126/132), Logan Conover (4-1 at 106/113), Vincenzo Testa (3-1 at 175), Zach Stewart (4-2 at 138) and Ashton Hobson (4-2 at 144/150)

Gold Pool

1. IC Catholic Prep

Foley Calcagno (6-0 at 190), Michael Calcagno (6-0 at 215/285), Joe Gliatta (6-0 at 165), Brody Kelly (6-0 at 157), Deven Casey (5-1 at 120/126), Pat Mullen (5-1 at 144/150), Dominic Pasquale (4-2 at 106) and Bryson Spaulding (4-2 at 138/144)

2. Carl Sandburg

Rocco Hayes (6-0 at 106/113), Ryan Hinger (5-1 at 138/144), Madden Parker (5-1 at 120/126) and Zac Ritter (5-1 at 150/157)

3. Yorkville

Ben Alvarez (6-0 at 215/285), Cameron Peach (4-0 at 157/165), Jack Ferguson (5-1 at 150), Luke Chrisse (5-1 at 190/215), Dominic Recchia (5-1 at 132), Luke Zook (5-1 at 175/190) and Dominick Coronado (4-1 at 144)

4. Washington Community

Peyton Cox (5-1 at 144/150), Cael Miller (5-1 at 165), Sean Thornton (5-1 at 285), Eli Gonzalez (4-2 at 126/132), Josh Hoffer (4-2 at 215) and Zane Hulet (4-2 at 175)

Silver Pool

1. Lincoln-Way West

Chris Yirsa (3-0 at 175), Nick Kavooras (5-1 at 285), Jase Salin (5-1 at 150), Carter Dibenedetto (4-2 at 120) and Elijah Zepeda (4-2 at 157)

2. Hersey

Anthony Orozco-Diaz (6-0 at 113), Elijah Garza (3-0 at 120/126), Gus Dammann (5-1 at 285), Esteban Delgado (5-1 at 120/126), Danny Lehman (5-1 at 106), Maksim Mukhamedaliyev (5-1 at 132/138), Abdullokh Khakimov (4-1 at 126/132), Rodrigo Arceo (3-1 at 138/144/150), Anthony Cambria (4-2 at 190), Leo Delgado (4-2 at 175) and Jake Hanson (4-2 at 144/150).

3. DeKalb

Lamar Bradley (6-0 at 215/285), Mekhi Cave (6-0 at 144), Jacob Luce (6-0 at 165/175), Sean Kolkebeck (5-1 at 165/175), Jeremiah Pineira (3-1 at 285), Eduardo Castro (4-2 at 113/120) and Cam Matthews (4-2 at 157)

4. York

Zach Parisi (5-1 at 132), Austin Bagdasarian (4-2 at 215), Mondo Martinelli (4-2 at 126) and Frank Nitti (4-2 at 138/144)

Bronze Pool 

1. Lockport Township

Liam Zimmerman (5-0 at 132), Jake Kratz (3-0 at 285), Justin Wardlow (5-1 at 138), Isaac Zimmerman (4-1 at 120/126), Cyrus Czyz (4-2 at 215) and Timothy O’Connor (2-1 at 113)

2. Glenwood

Drew Davis (6-0 at 126), Maximus Wiezorek (6-0 at 190), Justin Hay (5-1 at 165), Tyler Clarke (4-2 at 106) and John Ben Maduena (4-2 at 138)

3. Barrington

Augusto Rhenzo (6-0 at 150), Silas Oberholtzer (5-0 at 157) and Kaleb Pratt (4-2 at 106/113)

4. Naperville Central

William Erbeck (6-0 at 285), Mitchell Kaszuba (3-0 at 126), Henry Rydwelski (3-1 at 175), Jacob Cochran (4-2 at 113) and Ty Martin (4-2 at 120/126) 

Pool A

1. Minooka

Kaden Meyer (5-0 at 150), Robbie Murphy (5-0 at 285), Cale Stonitsch (5-0 at 132), Noah Avina (4-0 at 120), AJ Frescura (4-1 at 157), Mason Vogt (4-1 at 106) and Lucas Shipla (4-1 at 190)

2. Stevenson

Ayush Bajaj (6-0 at 113), Evan Mishels (6-0 at 106), Themba Sitshela (6-0 at 165/175) and Shawn Kogan (4-2 at 132)

3. Moline

Jack Sibley (4-1 at 150), James Soliz (4-1 at 190), Zander Ealy (3-1 at 157) and Hassan Ndiaye (3-1 at 138)

4. Rochelle

Grant Gensler (6-0 at 165), Thomas Tourdot (6-0 at 120/126), Xavier Villalobos (5-0 at 126/132), Kaiden Morris (5-1 at 215/285), Brenden Voight (5-1 at 144) and Roman Villalobos (4-2 at 175)

Pool B

1. Mukwonago, WI

Grant Stromberg (6-0 at 285), Adam Whittier (6-0 at 144/150), Hayden Chitwood (5-1 at 175), Gavin Meinecke (5-1 at 106), Brian Whipple (4-1 at 120), Wade Kippers (4-2 at 215), Chace Nehls (4-2 at 113) and Austin Schulist (4-2 at 165)

2. Glenbard West

Collin Carrigan (6-0 at 175), Elliot Torres (6-0 at 150), Alejandro Aranda (5-1 at 126), Sasha Boulton (5-1 at 190/215), Aidan Ortega (4-2 at 106), Carson Prunty (4-2 at 120) and Tony Shadid (4-2 at 157/165)

3. Prospect

Jaxon Penovich (6-0 at 190/215), Giorgio DiFalco (5-0 at 138), Connor Munn (4-2 at 165/175), Joseph Quirk (4-2 at 150) and Bennett Westfallen (4-2 at 144)

4. West Aurora

Dayne Serio (6-0 at 157), Evan Matkovich (5-1 at 132), Dominic Serio (4-1 at 150) and Noah Chacon (4-2 at 285)

Pool C

1. Deerfield

Jayden Palzet (3-0 at 132/138), Adrian Cohen (5-1 at 120), Max Drumke (5-1 at 215), Chris Mauer (5-1 at 175/190), Jordan Rasof (5-1 at 138/144), Luke Reddy (5-1 at 132/138), Jorey Becker (4-1 at 106), Jackson Palzet (4-1 at 126/132) and Charlie Cross (4-2 at 150)

2. Yorkville Christian

Jackson Allen (6-0 at 175), Ty Edwards (6-0 at 132/138), Aiden Larsen (6-0 at 113) and Robby Nelson (5-1 at 157/165)

3. Oswego

Ethan Essick (5-1 at 150/157), Joseph Griffin (5-1 at 165/175), Vincent Manfre (5-1 at 126), Colin O’Grady (5-1 at 157/165) and Jonathan Theodor (4-2 at 113)

4. Glenbard East

Ismael Chaidez (6-0 at 120/126), Blake Salvino (5-1 at 190) and Waleed Binmahfooz (4-2 at 106/113)

Pool D

1. Lemont

Noah O’Connor (5-0 at 157), Daniel Taylor (5-0 at 190), Cory Zator (5-1 at 138), Carter Mikolajczak (4-2 at 132) and Alex Pasquale (4-2 at 285)

2. Pewaukee, WI

Caleb Cady (6-0 at 165/175), Dylan Boel (4-2 at 120/126) and Peyton Bruner (4-2 at 157/165)

3. Sycamore

Tyler Lockhart (6-0 at 120), Gable Carrick (4-2 at 190), Jayden Dohogne (4-2 at 138) and Charlie Olson (4-2 at 106)

4. Hinsdale Central

Marko Ivanisevic (6-0 at 285), Zach Kruse (6-0 at 175), Sammy Murante (6-0 at 113) and Aiden Galeckas (4-2 at 190)

Champion’s Pool Title dual meet – St. Charles East 42, Joliet Catholic Academy 23

285 – Dillan Johnson (Joliet Catholic Academy) F 0:12 Matt Medina (St. Charles East)

106 – Luke Foster (Joliet Catholic Academy) F 0:37 Kaden Potter (St. Charles East)

113 – Dom Munaretto (St. Charles East) F 1:26 Max Cumbee (Joliet Catholic Academy) 

120 – Jason Hampton (Joliet Catholic Academy) MD 15-5 Liam Aye (St. Charles East)

126 – Aurelio Munoz (Joliet Catholic Academy) D 5-1 Gavin Woodmancy (St. Charles East)

132 – Ben Davino (St. Charles East) F 1:14 Damian Flores (Joliet Catholic Academy)

138 – Tyler Guerra (St. Charles East) F 0:53 Elias Gonzalez (Joliet Catholic Academy)

144 – Jayden Colon (St. Charles East) D 6-4 Nolan Vogel (Joliet Catholic Academy) 

150 – Gavin Connolly (St. Charles East) D 1-0 Connor Cumbee (Joliet Catholic Academy) 

157 – Luke Hamiti (Joliet Catholic Academy) MD 11-3 Ryan McGovern (St. Charles East) 

165 – Anthony Gutierrez (St. Charles East) D 6-4 Max Corral (Joliet Catholic Academy)

175 – Brody Murray (St. Charles East) F 2:34 Max Vela (Joliet Catholic Academy) 

190 – Cooper Murray (St. Charles East) D 5-2 Derrick Pomatto (Joliet Catholic Academy)

215 – Brandon Swartz (St. Charles East) F 0:30 Max Hrvatin (Joliet Catholic Academy)

Champion’s Pool standings and results

1st – St. Charles East, 2nd – Joliet Catholic Academy, 3rd – Marist, 4th – Marmion Academy

Round 1: St. Charles East 44, Marist 19; Joliet Catholic Academy 52, Marmion Academy 18

Round 2:St. Charles East 50, Marmion Academy 10; Joliet Catholic Academy 32, Marist 27

Round 3: St. Charles East 42, Joliet Catholic Academy 23; Marist 45, Marmion Academy 29

Gold Pool standings and results

1st – IC Catholic Prep, 2nd – Carl Sandburg, 3rd – Yorkville, 4th – Washington Community

Round 1: Yorkville 42, Washington Community 17; Carl Sandburg 39, IC Catholic Prep 28

Round 2: IC Catholic Prep 41, Yorkville 22; Carl Sandburg 37, Washington Community 30

Round 3: Yorkville 33, Carl Sandburg 28; IC Catholic Prep 40, Washington Community 24

Silver Pool standings and results

1st – Lincoln-Way West, 2nd – Hersey, 3rd – DeKalb, 4th – York

Round 1: DeKalb 56, York 10; Hersey 32, Lincoln-Way West 24

Round 2: Lincoln-Way West 40, York 27; DeKalb 34, Hersey 33

Round 3: Hersey 50, York 15; Lincoln-Way West 47, DeKalb 21

Bronze Pool standings and results 

1st – Lockport Township, 2nd – Glenwood, 3rd – Barrington, 4th – Naperville Central

Round 1: Lockport Township 43, Naperville Central 27; Glenwood 37, Barrington 22

Round 2:Glenwood 47, Naperville Central 26; Lockport Township 41, Barrington 30

Round 3: Barrington 31, Naperville Central 30; Lockport Township 47, Glenwood 23

Pools A through D standings

Pool A 

1st – Minooka, 2nd – Stevenson, 3rd – Moline, 4th – Rochelle

Pool B

1st – Mukwonago, WI, 2nd – Glenbard West, 3rd – Prospect, 4th – West Aurora

Pool C

1st – Deerfield, 2nd – Yorkville Christian; 3rd – Oswego, 4th – Glenbard East

Pool D

1st – Lemont, 2nd – Pewaukee, WI, 3rd – Sycamore, 4th – Hinsdale Central

Here are the top four teams in each bracket

Wayne Miller Bracket standings

1st – St. Charles East, 2nd – Yorkville, 3rd – York, 4th – Naperville Central

Dan Cliffe Bracket standings

1st – Joliet Catholic Academy, 2nd – Carl Sandburg, 3rd – Hersey, 4th – Barrington

Terry McCoy Bracket standings

1st – Marmion Academy, 2nd – IC Catholic Prep, 3rd – Lincoln-Way West, 4th – Glenwood

Rich Harvey Bracket standings

1st – Marist, 2nd – Washington Community, 3rd – DeKalb, 4th – Lockport Township

by Mike Garofola for the IWCOA.

68TH BERMAN HOLIDAY CLASSIC

Palatine –

It was too much York Dukes for the field at the 68th Berman Holiday Classic who overpowered its rivals en route to lifting the championship trophy Thursday afternoon at host Palatine High School.

The Dukes advanced seven into the finals – claiming five titles – including three consecutive champions at the lower weights with Zach Parisi (132, 25-0) who was sandwiched around Mondo Martinelli (126) and Frank Nitti at 138 who all impressed en route to their respective individual titles.

“We’ve got a really hard working room, with the new guys coming in this year helping to push each other each, and every day,” said Parisi, who came into the day as the No. 5 rated man according to the latest Illinois Matmen polls.

Teammates Danny Decristofaro (175, 23-2) and Austin Bagdasarian (215, 24-4) would join Parisi atop of the podium at the end of the day.

Parisi, who recently committed to wrestle next fall at the University of Chicago, is now a two-time champ here along with Decristofaro, who continues to explore his collegiate options, which he hopes will include wrestling, while pursuing an Integration degree.

It was little surprise to see why the final team standings would end with tournament champion York having (10) of its men finish top five, followed closely by Richmond-Burton (8) and Mundelein, Maine South, and South Elgin all with (7) in the top five.

When the final match ended, York would collect 233.0 overall points, Mundelein was next at 173.0, with 2022 Berman champ Maine South sitting in third with 164.5.

Richmond-Burton, led by Emmett Nelson (22-0), was fourth overall with 138.5, two points in front of South Elgin (136.5) which celebrated titles from Julius Avendano (106, 21-2) and sophomore Leo Rosas (23-2) at 150.

“(Just) a real gutsy effort from Julius who had to dig down deep to beat a very good opponent from Geneva (Sammy Sikorsky) in his final,” said a proud South Elgin

head coach, James Gloudeman.

The aforementioned Emmett Nelson, third a year ago in Champaign with a 43-2 record, is currently the No. 2 man behind senior Mason Tieffel from Benton.

With this Berman Holiday Classic title, Nelson now has four in the first half of the 2023/24 campaign.

Seniors Ethan Thomas (157, 17-4) and Macson Rastrelli (165, 17-6) spent a combined 1:41 on the mat to give Mundelein its two titles on the day.

Third place Maine South was three-for-three on mat No. 1 with top ranked Teddy Flores (120, 25-0) continuing his blistering start to his senior year for the Hawks.

Flores, who was named O.W. afterwards, cruised into his final where he would meet No. 10 Demetrios Carrera (22-2) who kept things close during a 5-1 decision.

“I worked on fine tuning a lot of what I do, but the most important area that I paid a lot of attention to was my diet – just watching very closely as to what I was putting into my body,” said Flores, third at state last season with a 37-3 record.

Flores’ teammates Brett Harman (113) and heavyweight Tyler Fortis (24-1) both carried off championship trophies.

Carrera would set a handful of South Elgin program records when as a freshmen, he advanced to the state tournament at 106 – finishing with a 38-2 overall record.

The Palatine faithful were treated to its first Berman title since 2007 when junior Trey Widlowski (20-3) used an escape with 4.2 seconds remaining in regulation to defeat Stevenson senior Richie Gueorguiev, 5-4 in the final at 190 pounds.

Palatine fans will remember its two-time state qualifier Dale Jarosch, who last won here in 2007, the same year he earned a fourth place state medal at 112 pounds under-then head coach, Dan Collins, himself a two-time state champion in 1993 and 1994 for his alma mater.

68th Berman Holiday Classic championship match results

106- Julius Avendano (South Elgin) D 12-7 Sammy Sikorsky (Geneva).

113- Brett Harman (Maine South) D 6-1 Bryce Mensik (Lake Park).

120- Teddy Flores (Maine South) D  5-1 Demetrios Carrera (South Elgin).

126- Mondo Martinelli (York) F 3:21 Izaiah Gonzalez (Bremen).

132- Zach Parisi (York) F 1:32 Doug Phillips (Burlington Central).

138- Frank Nitti (York) D 11-4 Ethan Banda (Mundelein).

144- Emmett Nelson (Richmond-Burton) MD 14-3 Jackson Hanselman (York).

150- Leo Rosas (South Elgin) F 5:17 Kevin Hernandez (Mundelein).

157- Ethan Thomas (Mundelein) F 0:55 Nick Decrisofaro (York).

165- Macson Rastrelli (Mundelein) F 0:48 Dominick Dickins (Richmond-Burton).

175- Danny Decrisofaro (York) D 9-3 Jovani Piazza (Hinsdale South).

190- Trey Widlowski (Palatine) D 5-4 Richie Gueorguiev (Stevenson).

215- Austin Bagdasarian (York) F 5:36 Joe Petit (Geneva).

285- Tyler Fortis (Maine South) F 5:34 Abisai Hernanez (Mundelein).

Team Standings:

York 233.0, Mundelein 173.0, Maine South 164.5, Richmond-Burton 138.5, South Elgin 136.5, Hinsdale South 132.0, Oswego East 80.0, Rolling Meadows 75.5, 

Grant/Leyden 71.0, Lake Park 69.5, Palatine 64.5, Bremen 62.5, Geneva 59.5,

Stevenson 56.0, Burlington Central 49.0, Grayslake North 46.0, Zion-Benton 34.5.

FLOYD BEE MEMORIAL HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT

Lincoln –

It was at this time last year that officials honored Floyd Bee, the beloved, and long time former Lincoln High School head coach by renaming the long running Floyd Bee Tournament to the Floyd Bee Memorial Holiday Tournament.

Coach Bee, who was a three-time state qualifier at Lanphier High School where he graduated from in 1958 became head coach at Lincoln where he enjoyed 30 years of winning wrestling from 1970-2000 where he amassed 451 dual meet victories.

Mr. Bee would pass away at the age of 82 last August, but school officials made sure to keep the memory of this IWCOA, and National Hall of Fame gentlemen in front of all to see with the name change of his tournament which has gone on for over 50 years.

No doubt that Mr. Bee would have enjoyed the thrilling finish to his tournament that saw two long days of action between (31) teams be decided by just one-half points with Normal Community outlasting Lincoln-Way Central 403.0-402.5.

Chicago St. Patrick was not far behind, finishing third overall with 398.0, followed closely by Gibson-City-Melvin Sibley (379.5) and Rock Island, which used a trio of individual titles to earn fifth place with its 351.0 points.

“I was very proud of how well our guys would compete over the weekend,” begins Normal Community head coach, Trevor Kaufman.

“(Lincoln-Way Central) is a great team, coached by a local legend in our area, and that’s Tyrone Byrd.”

“I was in junior high at Olympia when he was dominating the high school ranks at Clinton High School, and he always has well coached, and tough teams, so anytime you can finish in front of him is a good day.”

Kaufman went on to say that although his four individual champions: Jackson Soney (106, 25-0), Caden Correll (24-2), Cole Gentsch (21-3) and Cooper Caraway (24-2) provided plenty of points to the cause – the difference between trading places with Lincoln-Way Central at the end was this.

“It was the contributions from our unheralded kids that really pulled us through – guys like Hunter Hardwick at (50) and Victor Reyes at (60) just did their job when we needed it,” said Kaufman.

Soney would pin his way to the 106-pound title, and now has (21) pins, while not conceding a single point along the way.

Correll, No. 4 in the state, would pin Truth Vesey (Rock Island) who entered the weekend at the No. 1 guy in 2A at 113.

Gentsch recorded a 6-0 victory over Deshawn Armstrong (Jacksonville) at 120 in a rematch of an early season contest, while Caraway, who collected his 100th pin of his career over the weekend, won at 215 due to a medical forfeit.

Runner-up Lincoln-Way Central would celebrate just one individual title on Saturday, this one coming from Caden Harvey (17-6) who would decision Carson Maxey (18-3) from Gibson-City – Melvin-Sibley in the 157 pound final.

“Caden battled through two days – pulling off some gritty wins, so it was nice to see him earn a championship,” said Byrd.

“Day No. 2 for us was rough at the start, but we recovered, and chipped away at the tournament leaders by maximizing our bonus points – so I was proud of the guys for finishing the way we did.”

Byrds’ club was chasing Normal Community, and third place St. Patrick by nearly 80 points after the first two rounds on Friday.

“As coaches, we talk about not focusing on the things you have no control over, and these two days were the perfect example as they guys turned their attention to what they ‘could’ control, which was effort and attitude.”

Rock Island did well during the final session, claiming a trio of titles from Daniel McGhee (126, 21-1), Amare Overton (175, 21-2) and Andrew Marquez (190, 21-1) all of whom were 2023 state medal winners.

Gibson City – Melvin-Sibley head coach Cody Moody was thrilled with the two-day effort from his young men who would stay in the race all throughout during its maiden voyage to the Floyd Bee.

“We approached this tournament as an opportunity to practice what we want to do in the post-season – we asked the guys to focus on effort, not outcome in order to free them up to just compete without pressure,” begins Moody.

Our first few rounds really set the tone for what we expected out of the tournament – so in the end, it was an entire team effort, and one that will help us set our sight(s) on a conference team title, regional title, and (then) a birth in the 1A dual-team state tournament.”

Moody would praise his terrific threesome of returning state qualifiers: Shawn Schlickman, Aiden Sancken, and the aforementioned Carson Maxey who he says continued to compete at the level needed in order to give themselves opportunities to be at the top of the podium each time out.”

A quick look at the six who raised the championship bracket begins with DePaul Prep junior, and two-time state qualifier, Max Rosen (23-0) at 132 followed by the senior from Galesburg, Gage Shipp, now 20-0 after his win at 138.

Two-time state qualifier, RaMez Watson (17-1) from Pekin was the champ at 144, while another two-time state qualifier, Tyson Rakers (20-1) solidified his No. 4 ranking in the state at 150 after his win in his weight class.

Dunlap senior, No. 2 Nick Mueller (23-1) pinned his way to a 165-pound crown to claim his second major title of the season for the three-time state qualifier, and 2023 state runner-up at 160. 

Last, and certainly not least, was the superb two days of play turned in by Jack Barnhart (16-0, Champaign Centennial) who in his five matches registered five pins – needing just over five minutes to do so.

The No. 2 man in 2A at 285 pounds was recently named first team All-State, and All-Academic by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association.

Floyd Bee Championship Match Results

106: Jackson Soney (Normal Community) MD 8-0 Daniel Goodwin (St. Patrick).

113- Caden Correll (Normal Community) F 4:00 Truth Vesey (Rock Island) 4:00.

120- Cole Gentsch (Normal Community) D 6-0 Deshawn Armstrong (Jacksonville).

126- Daniel McGhee (Rock Island) F 3:12. Rocky Almendarez (Galesburg) 3:12

132- Max Rosen (DePaul Prep) D 7-4 Isaac Smith (Carbondale) 7-4.

138- Gauge Shipp (Galesburg) F 3:47 Trevor Schoonover (Champaign Centennial).

144- RaMez Watson (Pekin) D 5-3 Nikolas Karamaniolas (St. Patrick).

150- Tyson Rakers (Highland) SV-1 4-2 Joe Reif (Jacksonville).

157- Caden Harvey (Lincoln-Way Central) D 5-3 Carson Maxey (Gibson-City/Melvin-Sibley).

165- Nick Mueller (Dunlap) D 5-2 Dawson McConnell (Lincoln).

175- Amare Overton (Rock Island) F 5:51Phillip Shaw IV (Danville).

190- Andrew Marquez (Rock Island) D 12-5 Aiden Sancken (Gibson-City/Melvin-Sibley.

215- Cooper Caraway (Normal Community) FFT Brody Cuppernell (St. Thomas More).

285- Jack Barnhart (Champaign Centennial) F 1:15 Jose Del Toro (East Peoria).

Floyd Bee Team Standings:

Normal Community 403.0, Lincoln-Way Central 402.5, St. Patrick 398.0, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 379.5, Rock Island 351.0, Lincoln 295.0, Galesburg 292.5,

DePaul Prep 263.0, Jacksonville 240.0, Champaign Centennial 230.0, Peoria Notre Dame 221.0, Rochelle 188.5, Dunlap 174.0, Highland 166.5, East Peoria 164.5,

Marengo 160.0, Chatham-Glenwood 159.5, Limestone 149.0, Carbondale 143.0,

Pekin 138.0, Danville, Jerseyville 128.0 each, North Boone 113.0, St. Thomas More 109.0, East St. Louis 107.5, Thornton 100.5, Heyworth 73.0, Lanphier 64.0, Springfield 42.0, Taylorville 39.0.

By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA

The story of the third annual Sally Berman Holiday Classic was pure domination by eventual champion Oak Forest which won here for the first time, and in doing so collected its fourth tournament title of the 2023/24 campaign.

“It’s a great group of girls we have – senior dominated – so it’s important we enjoy the run while we have this terrific bunch of young women in our room,” said Oak Forest head coach John Sebek.

“I am really proud of this entire team,” began sophomore Alex Sebek, who is now a two-time Berman champion following her title run at 105 pounds.

“We have a great room – everyone comes in each day and works hard, supports each other, and enjoys each other, which makes for us having a lot of fun in a sport we all enjoy.”

Oak Forest would lead nearly wire-to-wire on this day, thanks in part to the six wrestlers it advanced into the finals, ten overall medals, and three champions to help the Bengals collect 211.0 overall points, 35 points clear of runner-up Andrew. Andrew out-distanced third-place Dundee-Crown 176.0-102.0

Zion-Benton was fourth with 99.0, with Homewood-Flossmoor squeezing in over Lakes (94.0) and Conant with 91.0 points.

Oak Forest previously lifted championship trophies at Hampshire, in Wisconsin at the Stateline Scuffle in Westosha Central, and the Royal Rumble at Larkin.

Runner-up Andrew would equal the 10 medals secured by the tournament champions. But Andrew garnered just one champion when Alyssa Keane won the 140-pound crown.

The Sally Berman Holiday Classic came one day after the 68th Berman Holiday Boys Classic in Palatine.

Al Berman started the wrestling program in Elk Grove Village at Grove Junior High in 1967, and later moved to Palatine where he served as an assistant coach at the high school from 1977 to 1994, while coaching football and baseball as well.

Berman served as tournament manager 25 years for the then-named Palatine Holiday Tournament until 1993 when the name was changed to the Berman Holiday Classic in honor of he and his wife Sally for their long time commitment to Palatine wrestling.

This tournament is the second oldest running tournament in the state of Illinois outside of the IHSA state tournament.

Mr. Berman would also serve in several different capacities at the IHSA State Tournament as an assistant bench official and timer, always with beloved wife Sally at his side.

Al Berman was inducted into the IWCOA Hall of Fame in the spring of 2001, and later, both he and Sally were inducted into the Palatine High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.

Let’s now take a closer look at the 14 weight classes, and its individual champions:

Berman Holiday Classic championship results:

100 – Mia Vazquez, Rickover Naval Academy

Rickover Naval Academy junior Mia Vazquez (19-3) wasted little time in her final with Diamond Rodriguez (20-2) when she built a 4-0 first period advantage against the Dundee-Crown junior, en route to a 10-1 major decision to claim her first Palatine title

It was Vazquez’s second tournament title on the season. She also won an individual crown at this year’s Beat the Streets tournament.

“Diamond is a real tough opponent, we wrestled twice before, so I knew had to be smart, strong on top, and just keep attacking and going for points when I could,” Vazquez said.

Vazquez, a state qualifier at year ago, and No. 6 in the state polls, defeated Round Lake’s No. 4 Riley Kongkaeow (20-2) in a hard fought semifinal. Vazquez used a reversal with 4.6 seconds from time to win 8-6 over Kongkaeow, who was looking to claim a second-straight Sally Berman crown.

Kongkaeow would pin Bartlett’s Kahlynn Spurgeon (13-3) for third place, while Homewood-Flossmoor’s Faythe Robinson recorded a 8-7 decision over Andrew’s Layan Saleh in the fifth-place contest.

105 – Alexandra Sebek, Oak Forest

There was an impressive list of candidates to select from for the Outstanding Wrestler Award, but of them all Alexandra Sebek would be rightly chosen for the award by the 25 coaches who were present.

The Oak Forest sophomore needed just 2:46 minutes on the day to squash the competition at 105 to win here for the second time, and further validate her spot as the No. 3 person in the most recent state polls.

“I’ve been really pleased with how my season has gone thus far, except for my two losses,” said Sebek (24-2) with a smile.

The Bengals star, who was a state runner-up a year ago with a 41-7 overall record, went ahead of Lakes’ Zaryia Mouzon (19-4) early on before recording her pin at just 40 seconds.

“Both of her losses came with our boys varsity,” Oak Forest coach John Sebek said. “Alex has been a leader in the room and on match day, despite being just a sophomore. She was truly honored to be named (outstanding wrestler) today because this tournament is just loaded with-top tier talent.

“She has been wrestling at both 105 and 110 this year to allow other girls on our team to get mat time, which shows her true leadership as a teammate.”

Dundee-Crown’s Iris Torres (15-9) finished third after her pin over West Chicago’s Brissia Bucio, and Andrew’s Tatum De la Vega earned fifth place following her pin of Waukegan’s Reyna Garcia.

110 – Emma Engels, Bartlett

Both Emma Engels (23-1) and Victoria Macias (22-2) would sail into the 110-pound final, and when the two state-ranked stars met on the center stage, it would be the reigning state champion Engels who delivered the first of two individual titles for the Bartlett.

The Hawks’ junior would use an early third-period takedown to go ahead 8-2 before a reversal increased her lead to a near insurmountable 10-4. The match ended in an 11-4 decision in favor of top-seeded Engels, who is currently No. 5 at 115 pounds.

“Since the Rex Lewis (Buffalo Grove) where I competed with the boys, I’ve been working on improving my set-ups and on my footwork, and just being more physical, which is something that I’ve learned from wrestling against the boys,” Engels said. 

Engels won 23 matches when she qualified for state two years ago, then 37 last winter on her way to capturing the 100-pound state crown.

Engels’ teammate, Angie Carpentiro (19-2) went on to earn third place with her pin over Homewood-Flossmoor’s London Gandy. Carpentiro lost to Macias in the semifinals.

Macias was fifth last season at state at 125.

St. Viator senior Natalie Gubernat (13-8) earned fifth place after she pinned Conant’s Sam Macek.

115 – Ayane Jasinski, Grant

The Berman was filled with several stars who are high profile state-ranked wrestlers, including Grant’s Ayane Jasinski. Jasinski won a state title last February, is ranked No. 3 at 115 behind Glenbard North’s Gabby Gomez and Loyola’s Harlee Hiller.

Less than 24 hours prior to the girls’ tournament at Palatine, Jasinski finished fifth at the boys’ Berman Classic.

“Ayane is truly an amazing athlete,” Grant coach Mark Jolcover said. “She’s , humble, a terrific young woman, great teammate, and the ultimate student-athlete. To see her come out here today after four matches yesterday and just dominate says a lot about her.”

Jasinski welcomed the challenge of wrestling in tournaments on back-to-back days.

“All you can do is to just put the extra work in every day in the room,” she said. “And for me, being able to wrestle against the boys has really helped me become much stronger, both physically, and mentally.”

Jasinski pinned Round Lake’s Ireland McCain (20-5) on the title mat, and McCain is herself a two-time state qualifier, and ranked No. 6 just behind Bartlett’s Emma Engels at No. 5.

Homewood-Flossmoor’s Nina Hamm (11-3) who advanced to state last season as a sophomore, was third overall after her pin of New Trier’s Zoe Lee (10-6). Oak Forest junior Marjorie Rodriguez (15-4) earned fifth place with a pin of Lakes’ Osmairi Medina Alvarado.

120 – Olivia Heft – Lakes

The story of Olivia Heft even brings a smile to the face of the Lakes senior herself, who cruised easily to her first Berman title and perhaps took another big step forward to getting back to where she was two years ago during a sensational sophomore campaign.

Not one of those who met Heft (17-1) in Palatine were able to solve the Eagles’ senior who sent all three of her rivals off via pins, including her opponent in the final, Oak Forest’s Charlotte Pedroza (13-8).

“I’ve been slowly working my way back to being close to a hundred percent after missing all of last season to labrum surgery,” began Heft.

“Nine months of being off and away from the sport, it’s been tough at times but I feel better with each day, knowing the hard work will pay off as I look to get back to state.”

Heft was the state runner-up at 115 pounds during a glorious postseason run two years ago as a sophomore. Heft won an Evanston sectional title before a stunning 4-1 victory downstate over Yorkville’s top-seeded Yami Aguirre in the semifinals sent her into a state final against undefeated Maya Davis from Glenwood.

“It was a great experience two years ago at state, so my goal is to get back there and make another run onto the podium,” said Heft, who plans on a career as a physical therapist.

Conant’s Beth Ciavarella (12-9) finished third after her 9-7 decision over Homewood-Flossmoor’s Amirat Lawal, and West Chicago’s Susana Correa was fifth overall after her 7-5 sudden victory triumph against Andrew’s Saja Bader.

125 – Lilly White, Bartlett

What a terrific first year it has been for Lilly White.

The Bartlett sophomore claimed her second major trophy of the season following a marvelous four-match effort that saw each contest end by a fall, including her pin at 3:00 over Waukegan senior Noelani Rodriguez (17-3), who won a title at Niles West earlier in the year.

“I really feel like my background in ju-jitsu has helped me transition more easily into this sport,” White said. “Because in that sport it’s all about being physically, and mentally strong in order to succeed.” 

White (18-1) won her first title of the season at Glenbard South.

“It’s great being in the room with someone like Emma (Engels) who is a state champion, and has a lot of experience in the sport. And to have such a great coaching staff help me so much in my first year in the sport,” White said.

Oak Forest’s Camila O’Leary Salas (15-3) placed third after her pin of Andrew’s Hala Salem, and Conant’s Brooklyn Jones (14-6) was fifth overall after she pinned Homewood-Flossmoor’s Amara Nwyoe.

130 – Briana Anselmo, Elgin

The Elgin Royals’ faithful were all smiles after watching Briana Anselmo (9-5) convert the perfect escape with 11 seconds remaining in the first overtime of her title match to defeat Dundee-Crown’s Ruby Gavina.

The 3-2 sudden victory ended a wonderful day on the mats for the Royals sophomore. Anselmo advanced into the final after back-to-back pins helped send her through against Gavina (22-5), who withstood a fierce challenge in her semifinal bout with Jenny Espinal (12-5) from West Chicago.

“This feels great to win at a big tournament like this, which is my first one ever,” said Anselmo, who showed terrific composure, positioning, and fortitude during a second period when she rode Gavina hard for nearly two minutes to send this final into the third period level at 2-2.

Dundee-Crown coach Cynthia Sanchez, a D-C grad and now a special education teacher at the school, sees Anselmo’s commitment to the sport.

“Briana is just in her second year, with no previous experience in the sport, but in the room she is a hard worker,” Sanchez said. “And it’s all business with her. She always wants to be better, and grow as a wrestler.

“(Anselmo) implements what we are teaching in the room into her matches, and she is a hundred percent all-in when training and competing.”

Andrew senior Lana Shuaibi would later pin Espinal in the third place match, while Zion-Benton’s Emily Ortiz (19-3) used a pin at 2:37 to defeat Oak Forest’s Jordan Clyne for fifth place.

135 – Madelyn Sears, Oak Forest

Madelyn Sears would survive a nervy third period in her final against Soraya Walikonis to earn a spot atop the podium at 135 pounds.

The second-seeded Oak Forest senior used a one-point penalty point for stalling, and then an escape to go ahead of Walikonis (6-4) with 30 seconds before time. Sears then conceded a pair of penalty points for stalling but still hung on long enough to secure a hard fought 6-5 decision.

“It was kind of a crazy ending, but I felt really good about this win,” said Sears, who improved to 17-3 with the win. “The goal, of course, is to get downstate in my senior year and come home with a medal, after missing out last year.”

“Maddy turned in a very gritty performance today,” Oak Forest coach John Sebek said. “She finally reached the top spot on the podium after reaching the podium at every (tournament) we’ve participated in.

“This is the start of (Sears’) third year and it has been remarkable to see how much she has progressed during that time.”

Walikonis, now 18-6 on the year, defeated Zion-Benton’s top-seed Jay Thompson (20-4) in the semifinals.

Thompson went on to finish third after she pinned Lakes’ Christina Hasner (15-9) while Conant’s Jasmine Zavaleta (14-7) earned fifth place over Round Lake’s Brianna Perez.

140 – Alyssa Keane, Andrew

Despite finishing third last season at the state tournament with a dazzling 32-5 overall record, Andrew junior Alyssa Keane found herself outside of the top four seeds when the brackets were posted early Friday morning.

The two-time state qualifier, and current No. 7-ranked 145-pounder quickly tossed aside the error in the system by pinning her way into the final against New Trier junior Jillian Giller.

Keane outlasted Giller 9-8 to claim her third major trophy of the first half of the season. She also won individual tournament titles at Minooka and Larkin, and was a Berman champion last year at 135.

“(Giller) is a tough opponent, someone I’ve beaten before, so it was important to wrestle hard and smart for six minutes,” Keane said. Especially in that third period, when I thought I earned two points but they went the other way.

“The biggest thing for me this year is I’m more confident and composed compared to last season, which I know will help me as we go further into this season.”

Giller (14-4) No. 7 at 140 pounds, pinned Palatine’s Karimot Lawal (15-7) in her semifinal match after Lawal topped Downers Grove South’s fourth-seeded Alison Garcia (8-3) in the quarterfinals.

Conant’s Ewa Krupa (14-4) beat Lawal in the third place bout, while Dundee-Crown’s Perla Lomeli (13-4) decisioned Garcia for fifth place.

145 – Naomi Foote, Zion-Benton

Two-sport star Naomi Foote (18-5) gave Zion-Benton the first of its two championship crowns when the Zee Bees junior pinned Oak Forest’s Iyobosa Odiase (19-6) at 1:33 of the first period.

Foote – also a defender on Zion-Benton’s soccer team – had little trouble on her day as she advanced into each new round by virtue of a fall. She spent a grand total of just under seven minutes on the mats to gather a well-deserved first-place bracket.

“I finished second at Niles West, then the next weekend I didn’t wrestle my best at Waukegan, and was fifth last week at Hampshire,” Foote said. “So to come out here today and win the tournament feels really good right now.”

St. Viator junior Avery Brooks (12-11) was third after she pinned Evanston’s Kennedy Murray (10-5) while Grayslake North freshman Victoria Marquez pinned Andrew’s Ahlam Mehyar in the fifth place match.

155 – Callie Carr, Hinsdale South

Hinsdale South’s Callie Carr has plenty of support from her teammates, coaching staff, and especially her family – specifically her older brother Griffin Carr, who starred at Hinsdale South and is now playing collegiate football at UW-Whitewater.

Callie Carr left all four of her opponents in her wake en route to the 155-pound title, her second major of the season.

“I’m feeling so much better this season – stronger, quicker, and just feeling really good about my wrestling,” Carr said. “But I know I have to continue to work hard if I want to get on the podium this year.

Carr (14-2) pinned New Trier’s Nina Aceves (17-4) in Palatine.

“My two losses are to Sydney Perry (Batavia) who just beats everyone to show why she’s nationally-ranked,” Carr said. “But despite those losses, I still feel real confident about things. And it’s great to have Griffin come down from college to watch me as often as he can.”

Carr went 14-3 as a state qualifier last season as a freshmen at 155, and entered the Berman as the No. 6-rated1 55-pounder in the state.

Dundee-Crown’s Mackenzie Lessner pinned teammate Helen Ruelas for third place, and Zion-Benton’s Grace Johnson was fifth after her 6-4 decision of Central senior Jada Hall.

170 – Ryann Miller, Burlington Central

Ryann Miller is yet another newcomer on the high school scene who has made her mark from almost the instant the Central freshman stepped onto the mats.

Miller (27-1) would complete a marvelous day of wrestling when she pinned her fourth opponent on the day to win the 170-pound title, and her fourth of the season.

“I’ve been in the sport since fifth grade, so I feel really confident out there even though I am just a freshman in high school,” Miller said after title-match pin against Oak Forest’s Ryann Reeves (17-1).

While Miller was claiming the top prize recently at the Hampshire Invite, so was Reeves – but at 155 pounds, where the returning state qualifier is likely to compete during the postseason.

“Coming in at 170 is a tough weight for a freshman, but I’ve worked hard and feel like I’ve held my own really well,” Miller said. “But I’m also lucky to have a teammate like Jada Hall in the room because she’s at 155 and really quick and strong.” 

Miller needed just 59 seconds to advance into the semifinals where she posted her third pin of the day over Palatine’s Sabrina Cargill (18-2) a state qualifier who went on to finish third overall.

Cargill beat Grant’s Riley O’Grady (14-6) for third, and Andrew’s Janae Vargas earned fifth place with her pin of Oswego East’s Jessica Stover (12-4).

190 – Ileen Castrejon, Zion-Benton

Zion-Benton senior ILeen Castrejon would come back strong from a hard-fought championship match defeat at Hampshire to dominate the bracket en route to win this weight class going away.

Illinois’ No. 4-ranked 170-pounder bumped up to take on a strong field, which included three state-ranked rivals, all of whom Castrejon shoved aside en route to taking home the big trophy.

“I’ve worked very hard at improving my fitness,” Castrejon (7-1) said. “It’s so important when the really important matches go six minutes or more.

“In the past, there’s always been a little self-doubt but I feel this year my confidence is so much better than ever before, and I know that will be a big help later on in the season.”

Castrejon is a two-time state medalist, her first coming in 2022 when she was runner-up to Hononegah star Rose Cassioppi, who followed her All-American older brother Anthony to the University of Iowa to continue to wrestle.

Castrejon won by fall in the Berman quarterfinals against Lakes’ Josie Larson (20-3), who is currently ranked No. 2 at 190 in Illinois. She then pinned Oak Forest’s fifth-ranked Isabel Peralta (24-2) in the semifinals before needing 51 seconds to earn her first-place medal with a pin over Andrews’ Emma Akpan who is currently ranked eighth in Illinois at 235.

Peralta defeated Jefferson’s Kylie Eilken for third, and Larson would come back to defeat Elgin’s Nina Mullins in the fifth-place match.

235 – Jessica Komolafe, Oak Forest

Oak Forest had long-secured its first Sally Berman Holiday Classic title before Jessica Komolafe gave her club its third title of the day. But the Bengals’ star supplied the cherry atop the championship trophy with a superb effort, albeit a super quick one, during her 41 seconds on the mat against Evanston’s Jereni Marshall.

Marshall (14-3) who pinned her way into the finals but couldn’t solve Komolafe (20-3), who earned her third tournament title of the season. Komolafe used up a all but 2:30 minutes of the clock on the day to validate her place as the No. 7-ranked 235-pounder in the state.

“I am having so much fun in this sport,” Komolafe said. “My level of confidence is really high, I trust my coaches, and I really enjoy being around all of my teammates so much.

“I’ve worked hard on a lot of things to improve, especially my set-ups, but I also try to keep things simple, stay with the basics, and just go out and be the best that I can, even against big, strong opponents like (Marshall).”

Komolafe’s coach is happy to have Komolafe as a team leader.

“Jessica showed her dominance today by not allowing a point to be scored on her,” Sebek said, “and as the lightest 235-pounder in her bracket at 194 pounds, that shows just how good she was.

“She proved that hard work, and determination will pay off. I think all of her teammates would agree she is the heart and soul of this team.”

Downers Grove South sophomore Zuzia Cebulski (10-4) was third after a fall over Bartlett’s Kim Olwoch while Andrew’s Samaher Eljubeh used a pin at 5:17 over Round Lake’s Yareli Macias to earn fifth-place honors.

Sally Berman Championship Match Results:

100 – Mia Vazquez (Rickover Academy) major d. Diamond Rodriguez (Dundee-Crown) 10-1

105 – Alexandra Sebek (Oak Forest) p. Zaryia Mouzon (Lakes) 0:40

110 – Emma Engels (Bartlett) d. Victoria Macias (Central) 11-4

115 – Ayane Jasinski (Grant) p. Ireland McCain (Round Lake) 5:12

120 – Olivia Heft (Lakes) p. Charlotte Pedroza (Oak Forest) 3:41

125 – Lilly White (Bartlett) p. Noelani Rodriguez (Waukegan) 3:00.

130 – Briana Anselmo (Elgin) d. Ruby Gavina (Dundee-Crown) SV-1, 3-2.

135 – Madelyn Sears (Oak Forest) d. Soraya Walikonis (Central) 6-5

140 – Alyssa Keane (Andrews) d. Jillian Giller (New Trier) 9-8

145 – Naomi Foote (Zion-Benton) p. Iyobosa Odiase (Oak Forest) 1:33

155 – Callie Carr (Hinsdale South) p. Nina Aceves (New Trier) 0:00

170 – Ryann Miller Miller (Burlington Central) p. Ryann Reeves (Oak Forest) 1:50

190 – Ileen Castrejon (Zion-Benton) p. Emma Akpan (Andrew) 0:51

235 – Jessica Komolafe (Oak Forest) p. Jereni Marshall (Evanston) 0:41

Final team scores: 1. Oak Forest (211) 2. Andrew (176) 3. Dundee-Crown (102) 4. Zion-Benton (99) 5. Homewood-Flossmoor (95) 6. Lakes (94) 7. Conant (91) 8. Burlington Central (88) 9. Bartlett (78) 10. New Trier (70) 11. Round Lake (64) 12. Evanston (54) 13. West Chicago (51.5) 14. Downers Grove South (51) 15. Palatine (50) 16. Grant (49) 17. Grayslake North (46) 18. Elgin (44) 19. St. Viator (34) 16. Waukegan (32.5) 17. Hinsdale South (30) 17. Oswego East (30) 19. Rickover Naval Academy (25) 20. Jefferson (15) 21. Fremd (1).

By Chris Walker For the IWCOA

Lincoln-Way East won five individual titles and had five additional wrestlers either lose in the title match or win on the third-place mat as the Griffins reigned supreme on the 16-team field during Thursday’s 47th annual Ed Ewoldt Wrestling Invitational at Wheaton Warrenville South.

Kaidge Richardson (126), Tyson Zvonar (132), Brayden Morrell (138), Domanic Abeja (150) and Caden O’Rourke (215) returned to Frankfort as champions in their respective weight classes for the Griffins.

JT Theis (113) and Alex Lizak (157) lost by decision in their title bouts while Kevin Byrne (144), Jackson Zaeske (175) and Isaiah Williams (190) all prevailed in third-place matches.

“This is a good tournament for us,” Griffins coach Kevin Rockett said. “We do a lot of two-day tournaments so this is good one for us, a single day after the holiday. It’s a nice one for us in the middle of the year with solid competition and to just get in here after the holidays and to get some good wrestling in.”

The Griffins finished with 280.5 points while runner-up Downers Grove North scored 194.50 despite having only one wrestler advance to the finals as Jaden Lewis prevailed at 190 for the Trojans.

Lyons was third with 189, Dixon was fourth with 163 and West Chicago was fifth with 142 to round out the top five teams. The host Tigers were seventh with 122.

“Out of the 13 guys we brought here, most of our guys were in some sort of placing match,” Rockett said. “It’s the middle of the season and we’re about to turn it up a little bit. We just got back from the Dvorak so this is a nice solid tournament for us. We’re trying to clean some things up, and up and down our lineup guys are working on different things, and some guys who maybe have struggled a bit or taken some bumps and bruises, it’s a good tournament to get some wins under our belt going into the last couple weeks here. The Illini Classic is a real tough, two-day (tournament) and then we roll into the conference tournament and then already we’re in the state series.”

106 – Jack Ragan, Dixon 

Ragan doesn’t like to waste time. After getting a pin in the opening minute in his victory in the semis, the 10th-ranked 106-pounder in 2A won by fall against West Chicago’s Emanuel Rangel in 2:50.

“I try to make quick work for my people so I tried to pin him right away,” Ragan said. “I definitely like to be aggressive out there, to be strong right away and put some fear into them.”

Wheeling’s Frankie Katz had a 5-0 decision over Lyons’ Ignacio Rodriguez for third place, and Downers Grove North’s Logan Loftus earned a 12-0 major decision over Hoffman Estates’ Mann Patel on the fifth-place mat.

113 – Riley Parades, Dixon

Parades, who is just a freshman, scored a pair of victories by fall to advance to the championship where he edged Lincoln-Way East freshman JT Theis, 2-1.

Downers Grove North’s Tyler Tiangco won an 8-2 decision over T.F. South’s Jayden Scott for third place, and West Chicago’s Jonathan Antonio earned a 13-9 decision over Willowbrook’s Miteku Branch on the fifth-place mat.

120 – Griff Powell, Lyons

Powell kept his poise during his championship match against Plainfield East’s Aidan Villar, prevailing 3-1 in overtime.

“He wrestled an interesting style, he likes to keep his matches close,” Powell said about Villar. “He didn’t shoot one shot so it was ten shots to one. It was a little tough coming in three days after Christmas, but I got down to weight and performed what I needed to do.”

West Chicago’s Ryan Alvarado earned a 10-5 win over Downers Grove North’s Cory MongellMongoliao on the third-place mat, and Lincoln-Way East’s Zach Miller edged Homewood-Flossmoor’s Robert Williams by a 9-8 decision for fifth place.

126 – Kaidge Richardson Lincoln-Way East

A year ago, Richardson remembered seeing a lot of his fellow teammates warming up for the finals. He experienced a similar thing on Thursday.

“I came in here knowing after last year that it’s just one of those good tournaments that you want to wrestle your best,” he said, “I felt like I met my expectations.”

Richardson recorded a pair of pins before his opponent in the title bout at 126, Evanston’s Marco Terrizzi, went down with an injury.

“I don’t know who he was so I was a little nervous,” Richardson said. “But once I got out there I got away from that.”

The sophomore continues to progress.

“This season has been going pretty good so far,” he said. “I’ve just been slowly progressing over time and at the end of the day it’s a slow progression toward the end of the season. It’s all a build up to there so I just want to improve every day and constantly get better.”

He’s definitely enjoying wrestling for Lincoln-Way East, which sent wrestlers to seven of the 14 championship bouts.

“This is a good team to be a part of,” he said. “Like most tournaments we go to, it’s definitely a challenge, but at the end of the day it’s fun to be a part of this team and being with your team and winning.”

Lyons’ Roger Martinez won by a 4-3 decision against Wheeling’s Max Katz for third place, and Oak Lawn’s Ammar Elayyan took fifth place by forfeit against West Chicago Pedro Arroyo.

132 – Tyson Zvonar, Lincoln-Way East

8th-ranked Zvonar pinned all three of his opponents to capture the 132 title for the Griffins. 

“I felt like I wrestled through positions well and I thought it was a good overall tournament for our team obviously and then individually it worked out well,” he said. “I mean, it’s just another opponent that you got to face every time you go out there and it’s fun to go out there and compete and wrestle six minutes hard.”

Evanston’s Erne Atac was Zvonar’s opponent in the championship round and while the senior stuck around for a bit, Zvonar finally finished him by fall at 5:49.

“It’s awesome to go out there and see what you can do,” Zvonar said. “These kind of tournaments are good for competition and then good for seeing what comes February. It’s just good for us overall to get back into the groove. It’s just a good tournament overall for us to compete and try new things.”

Amongst the hectic schedule of holidays, being out of school, the impending New Year and countless spreads of food during seasonal parties, wrestlers are facing tough opponents and distractions away from the mats as well as on them.

“At the end of the day you’ve got to keep your mind on what’s important and do what you really want to do,” Zvonar said. “We all had a two-pound allowance which definitely helps to eat some stuff, but at the end of the day it’s about keeping your goal six inches in front of your face and knowing what you want come February. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that so far, and think we’ll be ready come February.”

138 – Brayden Morrell, Lincoln-Way East

Morrell’s road to a title was one of the toughest among all of the wrestling that took place in Wheaton at this year’s event.

After opening with a win by fall over Plainfield East’s Daniel Nevarez, Morrell edged Evanston’s Bryan Lemos by a 7-6 decision. Morrell then needed overtime to defeat West Chicago’s Donovan Avila before sneaking past Wheaton Warrenville South’s Cooper Hollis by a 2-0 decision in the finals.

Avila bounced back to win third place with a 9-2 decision against Downers Grove North’s Caden Chiarelli. Dixon’s James Simpson defeated Hoffman Estates’ David Ogunofowokan on the fifth-place mat by fall.

144 – Ethan Wojtowich, Waubonsie Valley

Third time’s a charm!

Wrestling in his third and final Ewoldt, Wojtowich walked away with a title there for the first time on Thursday.

“Going into this I just thought to myself I just wanted to get this win,” he said. “It’s big to me. It’s my last tournament of the (2023) year before the DVC and all that stuff so I thought I just might as well win it.”

Wojtowich said he’d placed third and fourth in his prior appearances at Ewoldt. This time he pinned Dixon junior Jayden Weidman in 2:57 for the title.

“As soon as the buzzer rang, he shot,” Wojtowich explained. ‘I knew he was aggressive and I knew my best thing is my offense so I knew I had to push my pace on him rather than him setting the tone on me. At first he started out strong and he shot on me, but then I was able to defend him and stuff. I started putting my pressure onto him, my shots. I wanted to dictate how the match went and go my pace for the match.”

Wojtowich improved to 24-2 on the season.

“I was able to come in here knowing it’s my last year and there are no other guys older or more experienced,” he said. “So I’m just going to put pressure on him. I know what I’m capable of now.”

The power of positively is big with Wojtowich.

“I just tell myself I can do it,” he said. “I try to get myself into the right mindset. I try to warm up as early as possible to try to get in the right mindset. It’s not just getting my body warm, it’s getting myself mentally ready before my matches so I just tell myself I can do it and I just see who I’m versus and kind of see what he’s doing a little bit and then focus on myself mostly. I’m mostly getting myself ready.”

While the Warriors haven’t seen much success as a team this winter, Wojtowich is proud be a part of their commitment to getting better while celebrating this great sport.

“It’s been great wrestling with the guys because we have a good bunch of guys,” he said. “We have team spirit in there. Everyone is trying to encourage each other. We’re always there whenever someone has a match. The whole team is watching. Right now we have a small varsity team. We have a lot of people –  88 in total – but a small team because we want our best wrestlers that are varsity-qualify to wrestle. We have a good bond with the small amount of people we have.”

Lincoln-Way East’s Kevin Byrne scored a major decision win against Downers Grove North’s Antonio Manzo for third place, and West Chicago’s took fifth place over Evanston’s Manny Holloway by forfeit.

150 – Domanic Abeja, Lincoln-Way East

Abeja followed up a pair of victories by fall with a 12-0 major decision against Dixon’s Cade Hey in the 150 final.

Abeja proved to be one of five champions for the Griffins as his dominant effort helped the team win the title as well.

Wheeling’s Nicholas Montesinos won by a 7-0 decision against Downers Grove North’s Liam O’Sullivan to take third place, and Lyons’ Finn Forsythe win by fall against West Chicago’s Brian Correa on the fifth-place mat.

157 – Niko Duggan, Plainfield East

Duggan continues to dig into his opponents.

The Bengals’ senior recently captured the 157 title at the Mickey Marchese Memorial Tournament at Hoffman Estates, pinning a pair of opponents and winning another two matches by decisions. At the Ewoldt, the 7th-ranked wrestler in Illinois at 157pinned a couple of opponents from Downers Grove North and Dixon before winning an 8-4 decision against Lincoln-Way East’s Alex Lizak in the 157 final.

Evanston’s Rodrigo Salinas earned a 6-2 decision against Lyons’ Mickey Ahrens to capture third place, and Downers Grove North’s Mike Schaefer won by fall over Dixon’s Konner Koehler on the fifth-place mat.

165 – Gunnar Garelli, Lyons

Gunnar Garelli is gunning for even more this season after finishing in fourth place at 160  during the IHSA Class 3A state finals a season ago.

Ranked third in 3A at 165, Garelli appears to be on the same course of excellence. He put forth a dominant performance in Wheaton, pinning his three opponents, including Evanston’s Xavier Stark at 4:00 in the 165 final.

On the third-place mat, Plainfield East’s Jerry Nino won by a 9-4 decision against Oak Lawn’s Isaac Barber while in the battle for fifth place, Dixon’s Jayce Kastner earned a 6-0 decision over Lincoln-Way East’s Christian Darnell.

175 – Sedeeq Al Obaidi, Wheaton Warrenville South

Al Obaidi could not have scripted it any better.

Competing in his final Ewoldt, in his senior season, while at home, Al Obaidi won his 100th match, earned the lone title for the Tigers and was recognized as this year’s Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

Al Obaidi is currently ranked 5th in Illinois at 175, and what an unforgettable day it proved to be for him.

“I just trusted the process and kept going,” he said. “Getting to 100 career wins at home at my own tournament and being a champ here as well was pretty nice.”

After making his wrestling debut in the sixth grade, Al Obaidi quickly recognized that this sport was right for him.

“I became a state qualifier in eighth grade but it got canceled because of COVID,” he said. “But after that I knew I just wanted to put in the work and keep going and keep reaching the next level.”

While he was the only Tiger to become an Ewoldt champion this season, Wheaton Warrenville South and Dixon each had four wrestlers advance to the finals which was the most among any of the 16 teams other than Lincoln-Way East.

“Teammates did pretty well and we ended up having four finalists,” he said. “Everyone fell short a little bit, but it was really good wrestling today. I’ve seen a lot of improvements from my teammates.”

Jackson Zaeske defeated Dixon’s Steven Kitzman by fall to take third place. Zaeske had battled Al Obaidi in a semifinal before bowing out, 5-2. Such a battle also may have given Al Obaidi a confidence boost heading into the final.

“Having that match go three periods like that and knowing you’ve already done it once in this tournament, I knew I could do it again,” Al Obaidi said, “That was a close match in the semis. It was a tough match with pretty good wrestling. So going into my last match I knew I could go into the third period and do it again so I wasn’t nervous or anything, I knew I could do it.”

Plainfield East’s Robert Vogel won by forfeit against Downers Grove North’s Cam Menzione for fifth place.

190 – Jaden Lewis, Downers Grove North

Lewis earned a pair of wins by fall before defeating Elvis Muja on his home turf at Wheaton Warrenville South by a 5-1 decision. With the three wins, Lewis improved to 13-8 on the year.

Lincoln-Way East’s Isaiah Williams won by fall against Lyons’ Matt Turek to win the third-place match at 190. Meanwhile, West Chicago’s Daniel Guzman won by fall against Larkin’s Imanol Pantoya on the fifth-place mat.

215 – Caden O’Rourke, Lincoln-Way East 

O’Rourke pinned Waubonsie Valley’s Josh Housour for the 215 title in 1:51. The junior for the Griffins also won by fall in 1:00 and 1:14 in his matches leading up to his title victory.

Abdulhamid Olowu was the top finisher for Hoffman Estates, earning third place after he won by fall against Wheaton Warrenville South’s Mason Monce at 215. On the fifth-place mat, Lyons’ Nick Arquilla earned a 9-6 decision over T.F. South’s Emon Arnold.

285 – Sam Costello, Lyons

After getting past Lincoln-Way East’s Ryan Stingily, 2-0, and then edging Evanston’s Jeremy Marshall, 1-0, Lyons senior Sam Costello scored a 10-0 major decision against Wheaton Warrenville South’s Ashton Kibbe to win the 285 title and improve to 17-7 overall this year.

Waubonsie Valley’s Leo Hobson won by fall against Marshall to take third place, and Homewood-Flossmoor’s Bryce Pollard won by forfeit over West Chicago’s Omar Sarmiento for fifth place.

Here’s a look at the champions and weight classes at the 47th annual Ed Ewoldt Wrestling Invitational:

106 – Jack Ragan (Dixon) F 2:50 Emanuel Rangel (West Chicago)

113 – Riley Parades (Dixon) D 2-1 JT Theis (Lincoln-Way East)

120 – Griff Powell (Lyons) D 3-1 OT Aidan Villar (Plainfield East)

126 – Kaidge Richardson (Lincoln-Way East) D INJ Marco Terrizzi (Evanston)

132 – Tyson Zvonar (Lincoln-Way East) F 5:39 Eren Atac (Evanston)

138 – Brayden Morrell (Lincoln-Way East) D 2-0 Cooper Hollis (Wheaton Warrenville South)

144 – Ethan Wojtowich (Waubonsie Valley) F 2:57 Jayden Weidman (Dixon)

150 – Domanic Abeja (Lincoln-Way East) MAJ 12-0 Cade Hey (Dixon)

157 – Niko Duggan (Plainfield East) D 8-4 Alex Lizak (Lincoln-Way East)

165 – Gunner Garelli (Lyons) TF 4:00 Xavier Starks (Evanston)

175 – Seder Al Obaidi (Wheaton Warrenville South) MAJ 16-5 Noah Brockie (Willowbrook)

190 – Jaden Lewis (Downers Grove North) D 5-1 Elvis Muja (Wheaton Warrenville South)

215 – Caden O’Rourke (Lincoln-Way East) F 1:51 Josh Housour (Waubonsie Valley)

285 – Sam Costello (Lyons) MAJ 10-0 Ashton Kibbe (Wheaton Warrenville South)

By Bobby Narang for the IWCOA

CICERO – Three days after Christmas, the Morton Fieldhouse and gymnasium were filled with wrestlers aiming to add some post-holiday hardware.

The 2023 Steve Eckert Holiday Wrestling Classic was a nonstop flurry of activity, with the fieldhouse doors open, which allowed plenty of space for wrestlers to roam before and after their matches. Some wrestlers walked to the far corner of the field house following their matches, while others took short jogs around the track.

In the end, Bolingbrook captured its second-straight title at the event, finishing with 211 points to narrowly beat out Riverside-Brookfield (200). Stagg claimed third place with 148.5 points, host Morton took fourth with 127.5 points and Plainfield South snared fifth with 117.5 points.
Bolingbrook coach AJ Knoll said his five champions were part of a deep and motivated lineup that led his team to the victory. The weight-class winners for Bolingbrook included Jared Craig (120), Damin Hudson (126), Aaron Camacho (144), Tommy McDermott (165) and Gonzalo Camacho (175).

“Last year, we were the younger team, but had a fuller lineup,” Knoll said. “I’m not sure what it is about this year because we had a couple of starters not come back but the ones that did are seeing the payoff of the hard work they are putting in. Our core guys dominated, and we got an outstanding wrestler (award) out of it — Gonzalo (Camacho) at 175, who pinned his way through the tournament.

“They are buying into the program. Last year, it was just me basically coaching the varsity team. This year, we have a full group of assistants. The (team is) starting to believe. I put a good staff around me, and we are starting to see kids buy in.”

Morton first-year coach James Hensley is no stranger to the event, though he did say the name of the invite has changed several times. It is now named for former head coach Steve Eckert, who guided the Mustangs’ program from 1999-2015 and spent 23 years total as a coach with the program.

After coaching at Morton for several years and spending seven seasons at Naperville North, Hensley is back, but this time as the head varsity coach.

“Overall, they wrestled nicely as a team,” Hensley said of his team. “Everyone was excited. I know I’m excited to get back to where I started. We have held (the tournament) for a long time but took a break a couple of years ago. Overall, I think it went fantastic.

We had full brackets. We had a close race for first. I was happy we finished fourth, just ahead of Fenwick. We lost to them in dual two weeks ago, and were able to finish three places higher than Fenwick today. My team showed a lot of growth and although we didn’t have any champions, they are getting better. We’re very young, with just three seniors. We’re getting better every day.”

106 — Jamiel Castleberry, Proviso West

Jamiel Castleberry was on a mission on Thursday. After an impressive second-place showing at the prestigious Dvorak tournament, Castleberry was aiming for a first-place medal.

He achieved his goal by beating Ridgewood’s Islam Khater with a 15-4 major decision in the finals.

“I kept my feet moving at all times, got my hands on my opponent to create angles, getting to my attacks and working hard on top and scoring as many points as possible,” Castleberry said. “Whenever I do those things right, I feel very confident and feel I can come out on top every time.”

Castleberry (16-1) said he’s benefitted from some tough matches early in the season, helping him gear up for a possible run at making state. His lone defeat came against Hononegah’s Rocco Cassioppi at the Dvorak finals.

“I’ve had a few good matches against some solid guys and I came out on top, so that’s always a confidence going into the second half of the season,” he said. “My lone loss was lopsided, but I know for a fact I’m way better than what the score was. I just wasn’t in the right headspace a bit and was shell-shocked, I didn’t get to my attacks, and I was flat-footed most of the time. I know I will wrestle him again and the outcome will be way different.”

Castleberry said his best win this season came against then-top ranked Wauconda’s Gavin Rockey at Dvorak in a semifinal match.

“(Gavin) is a pretty good wrestler and he’s lanky, so I knew I had to finish my attacks quick and protect my legs,” Castleberry said. “Besides that, I felt I controlled the match very well and came out on top. My goals for this season are to stay healthy, keep competing to the best of my ability and to win a state title.”

Riverside-Brookfield’s Mateo Gonzalez bested Stagg’s Javier Corral for third place, and Morton’s Tristan Rodriguez scored points for the host program with a win over St. Laurence’s Seamus Gahagan.

113 – Edgar Mosquera, Riverside-Brookfield

Riverside-Brookfield junior Edgar Mosquera encountered a tough hurdle against a motivated Isaac Harris of Bolingbrook in the 113 final. Mosquera outlasted Harris with a 6-5 decision to claim the title.

“I just tried to tire him out and I know I can keep a better pace,” Mosquera said. “That was my first time wrestling him. My conditioning and keeping persistent helped me, especially when my opponents got tired (on Thursday). My best match was against Stagg (Jaime Corral). He was keeping a good pace, but he got tired in the second period. In the third period, he was so tired. I felt I could outpace him.”

Mosquera (20-2) said he was encouraged by his performance at Morton.

“I think it was my best showing of the season,” he said. “There were some good wrestlers. I have to keep on training and working hard to get better.”

Meanwhile, Harris said he’s been wrestling for seven years and plans on making a big leap in 2024.

“My coaches keep telling me to wrestle tough and hard,” Harris said. “This year the tournament had more teams and was harder. I have to be smart and pay attention in the (wrestling) room. I’m trying to build up. I’m lanky right now, so I’m trying to build some muscle.”

120 – Jared Craig, Bolingbrook

Jared Craig earned a big win for Bolingbrook in the lower weights, knocking off Proviso West’s Anthony Brown 7-1 in the finals.

“The keys for me were confidence and going into the tournament knowing I was going to win,” Craig said. “I also trusted and stuck to what I learned and practiced in the wrestling room. I think my best win this season was from this tournament, when I beat (Stagg’s Anas Ahmed). I lost to him last year in the same tournament in overtime. I stuck to what I know and that’s wrestling smart, keeping my foot on the gas and (staying) confident in myself. I pinned him in the third period for the win.”

Craig was part of a strong contingent of Bolingbrook wrestlers who dominated at the Morton invite. He said he’s hopeful for many more big wins this season, especially after building his belief in himself.

At 12-6 on the season, Craig said he has made some adjustments that will help him for the second half of the season.

“My season has been going pretty good,” he said. “At first, I was down on myself about a few losses I took against some pretty good kids, but now I’ve been trying to get my mindset right and been feeling pretty good.”

Stagg’s Ahmed captured third place by topping Riverside-Brookfield’s Jayden Tulian, and Fenwick’s CJ Brown beat Little Village’s Jovanni Harris for fifth.

126 – Damin Hudson, Bolingbrook

Damin Hudson wrapped up a long and productive afternoon with a solid win over Stagg junior Dinero Garcia in the finals. Hudson (5-0) is showing a lot of promise for a sophomore wrestler.

“I listened to my coaches,” Hudson said. “They were telling me to breathe through the matches and take my time. I feel great going into 2024. I feel there’s a lot to be learned but I’m ready for bigger and better competition. My goal is definitely to get on top of the podium at state.”

Chicago Phoenix Military Academy junior Elijah Torres downed Morton’s Nicholas Guzman in the third-place match, and Riverside-Brookfield’s Nathan Stanard earned fifth by beating Maine East’s John Moor.

 132 – Colton Huff, St. Ignatius

Full-time wrestling is starting to pay off for Colton Huff.

The St. Ignatius wrestler made a decision to spend more time focusing on wrestling, which is looking like a smart move.

“This is my first season that I’ve fully focused on wrestling,” Huff said. “In years past, I’ve split my time between basketball and wrestling. This has given me the opportunity to really spend the time on technique. I’ve been studying a broader array of moves. My coaches at St. Ignatius have really pushed me on this effort.”

The competitors at 132 pounds on Thursday discovered the new and improved Huff. He rolled to the title in his weight class, defeating Riverside-Brookfield’s Jacob Godoy 7-4 in the finals.

“In this tournament, I was able to get on my offense on my feet,” Huff said. ‘I implemented some new ties that I’ve been practicing that worked well for me. My shape was good, and I continued to pressure in each match. I lost to (Godoy) at Fenton a month ago, and it was important to me to redeem that loss.

 “I (want) to continue to improve and wrestle hard, maintain my work ethic throughout the entire season and ultimately make it downstate in February.”

Maine East’s Dulguun Nyamdavaa earned a 6-4 decision over Stagg’s Samer Suleiman in the third-place match, and Argo’s Carlos Gutierrez downed Fenwick’s Burke Burns for fifth place.

138 – Vince Ramirez, Chicago Little Village

Before his matches on Thursday, Vince Ramirez maintained a positive attitude and made a point to visualize a victory.
His pre-match ritual worked to perfection, ending with a pin over Argo’s Kevin Bustillos in the 138 final.

“I had to visualize being on top of the podium,” Ramirez said. “I knew I had to be consistent and wrestle smart because there was going to be tough competition. I reminded myself to put myself in good positions that I was comfortable wrestling in and didn’t hesitate to take action.”

Ramirez called his victory over Bustillos his toughest match of the day.

“(Kevin) was pretty quick to recover, gave me a hard time looking for a takedown and he had a heavy club for sure,” he said.

Ramirez said working hard in the wrestling room is important if he wants to achieve his goal of “taking it all the way to state.”  Ramirez said he’s undefeated wrestling this season at 138, his two defeats coming at 144 pounds.

“Last season it was tough for me to compete because I was thinking I didn’t belong,” he said. “I thought I was just lucky enough to where I am, when in reality, I’m here for a reason. This season, I can’t settle for less. My loss in sectionals really motivated me. I have to keep being mentally tough and do whatever it takes to win.”

144 – Aaron Camacho, Bolingbrook

After dropping a 7-5 decision to Joliet West’s Carson Weber at the Dvorak tournament, Aaron Camacho bounced back in a big way at Morton. 

Camacho (18-1) closed out his showing at the diverse meet with an impressive win, topping Riverside-Brookfield’s Josh Gonzalez by fall for the title.

“I just tried to break down the kids and keep a high pace and keep on scoring points,” Aaron Camacho said. “I feel good. I’m not cutting a lot of weight, so I’m just focusing on technique instead of losing weight.”

Like his brother Gonzalo, Aaron Camacho has big goals for the remainder of the season.

“Winning state and doing good in the offseason wrestling,” he said. “I want to make a statement in wrestling.”

In the third-place match, Phoenix Military Academy’s Jose Lua pinned Argo’s Aldo Gutierrez, and Plainfield South’s Brad Surwillo pinned Fenwick’s Max Kenny for fifth.

150 – Marquis Deloach, Proviso West

Winning was just part of Marquis Deloach’s goals on Thursday.
He wanted to make a statement, too.

He accomplished his mission with a strong effort, pinning Morton’s David Roa in the second period to win the championship at 150.

“I was just going with the flow and getting to my offense first and getting to what I know (well),” Deloach said of the keys to winning at 150. “My season has been good. I’m looking forward to staying undefeated and winning state this year. I feel like I put on a show for everyone here and I had the coaches from other teams telling me that they like my positive energy and the way I wrestled.”

Bolingbrook’s Marcus Poe capped off a solid day by pinning Riverside-Brookfield’s Jacob Noe for third place. St. Ignatius junior Nate Sanchez claimed fifth by pinning Shepard’s TaVayris Howard.

157 – Aiden Burns, Fenwick

Aiden Burns prefers to do his talking via his actions.

Burns was making big-time moves on the mat throughout Thursday’s meet, and he preferred to let his actions do the talking for him where his first-place showing was concerned.

Burns claimed a 9-1 major decision over Plainfield South’s Chase Pierceall in the 157-pound final.

“I went into my matches ready to go,” Burns said. “My last match I put it all together by staying aggressive and keeping the tempo going.”
Burns said he’s been wrestling for almost seven years and he’s starting to see the fruits of his labor pay off this season. A linebacker on the football team, Burns said he’s devoting more time to wrestling.

“I know I can do better and have a lot of room to improve,” he said. “Overall, my offense has improved. My goal is to make it downstate.”

Fenwick coach Seth Gamino said Burns has the skill set and motivation to make a trip to state.

“Aiden’s goal to make it downstate and make some noise,” Gamino said. “He’s a really hard worker. He was excited to wrestle at Morton. He took third at Morton last year, so he really wanted to win and he took every match the same way by wrestling tough. His championship match was one of his finer matches of the season.”

Morton’s Rafael Lopez-Granados went on to finish in third, Maine East’s Tim Kato placed fourth, Shepard’s Isaiah Martinez took fifth and St. Ignatius’ Grant Ghaly ended in sixth.

165 – Tommy McDermott, Bolingbrook

Sophomore Tommy McDermott added another big victory for Bolingbrook by pinning Phoenix Military Academy’s Jules Rodriguez in the finals.

McDermott said he gained valuable experience at the Morton invite.

“I feel there are some things I can work on and things I can clean up, but overall I think I’ve pushed the pace in my matches and wrestled pretty good,” McDermott said. “I need to work on the bottom a little bit more and get better at neutral, plus the little mistakes I make on top can cost me some matches. I also have to work harder.”

After wrestling his freshman year at 138 pounds, McDermott, who also plays baseball, said he feels more comfortable with the additional experience on the varsity – and the additional pounds.

“It feels different this year for me,” McDermott said. “I’m definitely not as big of an underdog but I still feel I have a lot of things to prove and people are (still) overlooking me. I like being that dark horse that nobody knows is coming.”

Little Village’s Edwin Govea earned a big 9-7 decision over Fenwick’s Dominic Esposito in the third-place match, while Shepard’s Aiden Hill claimed fifth and Plainfield South’s Colin Bickett placed sixth.

175 – Gonzalo Camacho, Bolingbrook

Undefeated Gonzalo Camacho (8-0) added to his family’s memorable day with a flurry of pins, including a first-period pin over Maine East’s Isai Ocampo-Velasquez in the finals.

Camacho said his plan for Thursday’s meet was pretty simple.

“The keys for winning for me was to put the kids away, and that’s what I did,” Camacho said. “My season has been great heading into the end of 2023. I got on the mat after five years without competing. I’m having fun returning after a long time being out. I haven’t faced anyone challenging so far and I’ve pinned all my kids so far. My goal is to definitely improve as a wrestler day by day.”

Rounding out the top six spots, Fenwick’s Patrick Gilboy beat Riverside-Brookfield’s Max Strong for third place.

Argo’s Cornelius Vigovsky finished in fifth and Plainfield South’s Connor Matlock took sixth.

190 – Matthew Elzy, Riverside-Brookfield

Riverside-Brookfield junior Matthew Elzy was looking for his second tournament win this season. Elzy, who captured first place at 190 pounds at the Fenton tourney, is adjusting nicely to his new weight class after competing at 182 pounds last season.

Thursday was another example of his improvement, as Elzy closed out the tourney with a win over Morton’s Lenin Contreras for first place.

“I just stayed focused throughout my matches,” Elzy said. “I stayed locked in and kept my eyes on the prize. The 190 (class) is a lot tougher and stronger, so I had to focus on my endurance. At Fenton, I was pretty much able to pin a lot of guys in the first and second periods. I had to push myself here a lot because I had a lot longer matches.”

Elzy (13-1) said he was excited for his match against Fenwick’s Luke D’Alise, his second of the day. D’Alise is a star linebacker who committed to the Miami Hurricanes.

“My second match was my best one,” Elzy said. “He was a really tough guy. I just happened to pin him, kind of a fluke. He did a move, and I just happened to get him. I think all of the guys were tough. This is one of the few tournaments without a big variance. Overall, I feel fantastic. Last year I wasn’t quite good enough at 182. I got second at Morton. This year I’m winning 80 to 90 percent of my matches.

“I feel more dominant and am one of the bigger guys in my weight class. I’m working hard and not taking any days off.”

Rounding out the top six placers includes Argo’s Jacob Fries, D’Alise, Shepard’s Yazen Ashkar and Phoenix Military Academy’s Chris Tillman.

215 – Matt Janiak, Plainfield South

At 23-3 on the season, Plainfield South’s Matt Janiak is looking to make a splash in the next six-plus weeks. The senior added to his solid season by pinning Phoenix Military Academy junior Kaleb Abney in the finals.

St. Laurence’s Xavier Bitner knocked off Morton’s Carlos Arriaza for third place, while Argo’s Jesus Ibarra pinned Riverside-Brookfield’s Anthony Esposito for fifth place.

285 – Nicholas Armour, Leo

Staying in solid shape is one of the main factors explaining why Nicholas Armour was the top wrestler in his class on Thursday. The Leo junior pinned Stagg’s Terrell Williams in the second period to win his class.

“I just tried to tire them out,” Armour said. “The last match was tough. It was my most competitive and (Williams) was the only one at heavyweight who would shoot at me. He also knew to grab my ankle when I got off from the bottom. I was using my left foot for everything, so I had to switch it up.”

Armour credited his father for pushing him throughout an arduous day.
“My dad had a hand in hyping me up,” Armour said. “Every day leading up to the tournament, he would tell me to win out and he would make something good to eat. So I was motivated to win bad because I had a little extra. 

I have to stay locked in and continue to take in the information my coach gives me and also to keep my energy up. I’m excited to see how this season plays out. I’m going to try my hardest to get to state for both of my last two seasons.”

Bolingbrook senior Isaac Amoh claimed third place, Plainfield South’s Ian Portillo finished fourth, Phoenix Military Academy’s Brendyn Shields ended in fifth and Morton’s Miguel Rojas placed sixth.

Steve Eckert Holiday Wrestling Classic championship match results:

106 – Jamiel Castleberry (Proviso West) MD 15-4 Islam Khater (Ridgewood)

113 – Edgar Mosquera (Riverside-Brookfield) F 2:58 Nathan Martinez (St. Laurence)

120 – Jared Craig (Bolingbrook) F 2:49 Anthony Brown (Proviso West)

126 – Damin Hudson (Bolingbrook) SV-1 7-5 Dinero Garcia (Stagg)

132 – Colton Huff (St. Ignatius) D 7-4 Jacob Godoy (Riverside-Brookfield)

138 – Vince Ramirez (Little Village) F 3:06 Kevin Bustillos (Argo)

144 – Aaron Camacho (Bolingbrook) F 2:53 Josh Gonzalez (Riverside-Brookfield)

150 – Marquis Deloach (Proviso West) F 3:24 David Roa (Morton)

157 – Aiden Burns (Fenwick) MD 9-1 Chase Pierceall (Plainfield South)

165 – Tommy McDermott (Bolingbrook) F 1:37 Jules Rodriguez (PHX)

175 – Gonzalo Camacho (Bolingbrook) F 1:30 Isai Ocampo-Velasquez (Maine East)

190 – Matthew Elzy (Riverside-Brookfield) D 6-4 Lenin Contreras (Morton)

215 – Matt Janiak (Plainfield S) F 2:00 Kaleb Abney (Phoenix Military)

285 – Nicholas Armour (Leo) F 2:51 Terrell Williams (Stagg)

Final team scores: 1. Bolingbrook (211) 2. Riverside-Brookfield (200) 3. Stagg (148.5) 4. Morton (127.5) 5. Plainfield South (117.5) 6. Phoenix Military Academy (109.5) 7. Fenwick (109) 8. Argo (102) 9. Proviso West (94) 10. Maine East (81) 11. Shepard (79) 12. Little Village (71) 13. St. Laurence (61) 14. St. Ignatius (60.5) 15. Leo (32) 16. Ridgewood (25) 17. Hammond, IN (0) 17. North Chicago (0).

By Curt Herron – For the IWCOA

Oak Forest had several noteworthy accomplishments during the first two years of girls wrestling that put the program right up there with the elite in the sport.

It is one of just five programs that had five or more qualifiers at each of the first two IHSA Finals, joining Hoffman Estates, Homewood-Flossmoor, Joliet Central/Township and Richwoods, and one of 11 schools that have sent five individuals to a state finals. Oak Forest also is one of the 23 schools that have had two or more medalists at an IHSA Finals, doing so last season.

But while the Bengals have had success getting individuals to state, they haven’t had much success in winning any tournament titles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. In fact, as best as anyone can recall, they won just one tournament in the first two seasons the sport has been sanctioned.

That makes what it achieved at Saturday’s Hampshire Girls Tournament that much more impressive. Coach John Sebek’s Bengals won their third-consecutive title during the past four weeks, adding to firsts at Westosha Central, WI’s Stateline Scuffle and Larkin’s Royal Rumble with top honors at the 28-team competition with 196 points, which was 69 points better than runner-up Huntley, who had 127 points.

Oak Forest’s tournament streak began on December 2 when it took first place at the 18-team Larkin Girls Royal Rumble with 204 points, finishing ahead of Batavia (185), Joliet Township (182) and District 230 (174). Then on December 9, the Bengals won the title at the 29-team Westosha Central Stateline Scuffle in Salem, Wisconsin with 202 points, which was 72 points ahead of the hosts, who finished second.

Wheeling (108), Lakes Community (99), Dundee-Crown (97), Zion-Benton (94), Burlington Central (82), Lincoln-Way Central (77) and Richmond-Burton (71) were next in line in the event.

The Bengals had four champions and two second-place finishers to lead the way among their nine individuals who received medals for top-five finishes.

Winning titles for Oak Forest were Alexandra Sebek (110), Maya Coreas Funes (145), Ryann Reeves (155) and Jessica Komolafe (235) while Marjorie Rodriguez (115) and Camila O’Leary Salas (125) placed second. It was the third title of the season for Sebek and Reeves and the second for Coreas Funes and Komolafe.

Charlotte Pedroza (120) and Iyobosa Odiase (140) finished fourth, Isabel Peralta (190) took fifth and Adri Bille (170) was sixth. Hanan Abdallah (105), Bryanah Carrera (125) Cyniah Poindexter (130) and Riona Jean Jurik (130) were other competitors for the Bengals. Peralta had won titles in the team’s first three tournaments. Oak Forest took fourth place in its season opener at Lakes Community’s Sandy Gussarson Invitational and hopes to continue its run of titles when it competes in Palatine’s Sally Berman Holiday Classic on Friday.

“They do their thing and it’s just such a good group of girls,” said Sebek, who wrestled at Marist for Mark Gervais, a 1995 IWCOA Hall of Famer and 2015 recipient of a Lifetime Service Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame-Illinois Chapter. “They’ve been together for a couple of years now and they’re a very coachable group that do what they’re supposed to do and they make my job very easy. They’re such a good group and they practice well together and they’re always at practice and that’s what helps to form that relationship. In wins and losses, they’re still cheering each other up or on during a match and off of a match, so that’s a good thing to have. 

“There was good representation, especially from up west, teams that we don’t really see. It wasn’t easy getting up this early in the morning to come all the way up here, but it was worth it for the competition. It’s good to see in different areas of the state of Illinois the growth that they’re having. And cheers to Hampshire for putting on a heck of a tournament like this. There were so many close matches today and the quality of them is that they just don’t stop, they keep going and going. There’s more fight in them than I’ve seen from them this year. They’re all hungry and it’s awesome to see that progression over the last three years.”

It’s not that surprising that girls wrestling has been a big hit at the youngest of the four schools in the south suburb’s Bremen High School District 228. Bucky Randolph led Oak Forest to its first IHSA Class 2A Dual Team Finals in 2009 and Shawn Forst, who still leads the program, took the Bengals to state in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018, placing third in both 2014 and 2015.

Leading the way for coach Gannon Kosowski’s second-place Huntley Red Raiders were champion Aubrie Rohrbacher (130) and runner-up Sara Willis (235). Addyson Wasielewski (105) took third, Taylor Casey (110) and Jessica Olson (140) finished fifth and Valeria Sanchez (115), Grecia Garcia (145) and Alyssa Aguilar (155) all took sixth place.

Top performers for coach Anthony Piltaver’s third-place Wheeling Wildcats were title winner Jasmine Rene (190) and third-place finishers Valeria Avalos (135) and Madeline Chicas (155). Sherlyn Ruiz (135), Stephanie Solano (155) and Nikol Orendarchuk (170) placed fourth, Isabella Gomez (115) finished fifth and Elise Burkut (130) took sixth.

Burlington Central had three competitors and they all won titles. Taking first place for coach Jeff Richart’s Rockets were Victoria Macias (115), Soraya Walikonis (135) and Ryann Miller (170).

Seven other schools had champions and 15 teams sent individuals to the title mat. Also winning championships were Dundee-Crown’s Diamond Rodriguez (100), Montini Catholic’s Kat Bell (105), Lincoln-Way Central’s Gracie Guarino (120), Lakes Community’s Ava Babbs (125) and Boylan Catholic’s Netavia Wickson (140).

Zion-Benton had three second-place finishers, Jay Thompson (135), Grace Johnson (145) and ILeen Castrejon (190).  Others taking second place were Dundee-Crown’s Ruby Gavina (130) and Helen Ruelas (155), Newman Central Catholic’s Blair Grennan (100), Jacobs’ Aaliyah Guichon (105), Crystal Lake South’s Annalee Aarseth (110), Grayslake Central’s Gianna Arzer (120), Richmond-Burton’s Jasmine McCaskel (140) and Cary-Grove’s Denver Gier (170).

Twelve of the title matches ended by fall. The closest championship match was 135 where Walikonis edged Thompson 4-2. One of the most-anticipated title matches was at 190, where Rene jumped out to an early advantage and captured a 12-7 decision over Castrejon.

Individuals with perfect records at the end of the tournament were Sebek (13-0), Guarino (10-0) and Reeves (12-0) while Rodriguez (17-1), Macias (19-1), Miller (23-1) and Rene (18-1) have one defeat and Wickson (13-2) has lost twice while Babbs’ overall record wasn’t available but this was also her third title of the season. Wickson won the 2023 IHSA title at 135 and is a two-time finalist, Guarino has placed second twice at state and Sebek also took second a year ago.

Babbs and Rohrbacher tied for the most team points with 30 while Macias, Miller, Reeves, Rene and Sebek tied for third with 28 points. Coreas Funes and Wickson both collected 27 points, Guarino, Rodriguez and Walikonis all finished with 26 points and Bell scored 25.5 points.

Others who took third were Richmond-Burton’s Isabella Nelson (110) and Sandra Teren Reyes (170), Lincoln-Way Central’s Monica Alvarez (100), Metea Valley’s Uliana Shevstova (115), Wheaton North’s Ryan Mark (120), Rock Falls’ Ryleigh Eriks (125), Zion-Benton’s Emily Ortiz (130), Dundee-Crown’s Perla Lomeli (140), Buffalo Grove’s Abigail Swanson (145), Lakes Community’s Josephine Larson (190) and Rockford East’s Sophie Bolanos (235).

Also finishing in fourth place were Hampshire’s Madison Minson (130) and Annilease Tavaria (190), Buffalo Grove’s Catalina Videlka (100), Plainfield East’s Angelina Nettey (105), Dundee-Crown’s Iris Torres (110), Lincoln-Way Central’s Liyah Owens (115), Sycamore’s Gretchyn Dunbar (125) and Saint Viator’s Avery Brooks (145).

Additional fifth-place finishers were Lake Community’s Zaryia Mouzon (105), Olivia Heft (120) and Christina Hasner (135), Plainfield East’s Ariella Delapena (100), Lincoln-Way Central’s 

Riley Cooney (125), Kaneland’s Dyani Torres (130), Zion-Benton’s Naomi Foote (145), Sycamore’s Ema Durst (155) and Metea Valley’s Sanskruti Sangalge (170).

The 190 weight class was arguably the toughest in the competition. Rene, who took fourth at 190 last year at state to become Wheeling’s first medalist, won a hard-fought 12-7 decision in the title match over Castrejon, who took third last year and second in 2022 at 170 in the IHSA Finals to become Zion-Benton’s first two-time medal winner. 

In addition, Larson, a two-time qualifier who took fifth at 190 at state last year to become one of Lakes Community’s three medalists, placed third at 190 in the competition, and Peralta, who fell a win shy of a medal at 190 at last year’s IHSA Finals, suffered her first loss in the quarterfinals to Castrejon, dashing her hopes of winning a fourth tournament title thus far this season. 

Durst had the most falls in the least time with four in 3:06 while Babbs, Olson and Rohrbacher also recorded four falls. Shevstova easily scored the most total match points with 60, thanks to two of the day’s three wins by technical fall, ranking her well ahead of Rene, who had 37 points.

With many teams in the field anxious to hit the road early due to the foggy conditions in northern Kane County, Whip-Purs coach Matthew Todd and his tournament team at Hampshire held an excellent competition that ran very smoothly and no doubt will be quite popular in the future.

Here’s a look at the champions and their weight classes at the Hampshire Girls Tournament:

100 – Diamond Rodriguez, Dundee-Crown

After going 24-9 last season but falling one win shy of a state trip at the rugged Schaumburg Sectional. Diamond Rodriguez hopes to take the next step and not only qualify for the IHSA Finals but also to become the first girl from Dundee-Crown to medal there. The Chargers junior is off to a great start after improving to 17-1 following her win by fall in 3:07 over Newman Central Catholic’s Blair Grennan in the 100 finals. One of five medalists, three finalists and the lone champion for coach Tim Hayes’ squad, Rodriguez reached the title mat with a fall in 0:29 over Buffalo Grove’s Catalina Videlka. This was her third tournament title, adding to Westosha Central, WI’s Stateline Scuffle and Lakes Community’s Sandy Gussarson Invitational. 

“I was really nervous,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve been wrestling since last year, my sophomore year. One of my friends convinced me to join along with her and then she ended up leaving it, but I ended up falling in love with it and I hope to continue until my senior year and stick with it. I don’t know if I’ll do it continuously, but I really want to. It will be my main sport. I was involved in soccer but I had to leave it for wrestling. Something just interested me and then I liked it more. I like that it’s really mentally challenging and apart from the physical work that we have to do, it is a mental thing, to say that I’m not giving up and I have to give it my all. Really it’s challenging me and helping me to grow mentally. The coaches really support us and they make us work just as hard as the boys. It motivates me to try to be better, and so do my parents. I always hear them in the back of my head and I’m like, I have to keep going.”

Grennan (18-5), a freshman who was the lone competitor for Newman Central Catholic in the invite, recorded a fall in 0:43 over Lincoln-Way Central’s Monica Alvarez in the semifinals. Alvarez (6-4), a junior, took third place with a 4-3 decision over Videlka. And Plainfield East senior Ariella Delapena took fifth by medical forfeit over Wheaton North junior Isabel Paz.

105 – Kat Bell, Montini Catholic

Kat Bell definitely has earned one of the hard luck awards at the first two IHSA Finals after twice falling one win shy of medals at 100. She won 16 matches both years but lost in the consolation third round. But the Broncos junior, who improved to 10-3, is hopeful that the third time’s the charm and she can place high to become her school’s first medalist. She’s excited about getting guidance from coach Mike Bukovsky, a 2008 IWCOA Hall of Famer who recently received a Lifetime Service Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame-Illinois Chapter, who’s again leading the program. Bell won the 105 title with a fall in 1:43 over Jacobs’ Aaliyah Guichon after advancing to the finals with a win by technical fall in 4:17 over Plainfield East’s Angelina Nettey.

“I’m not happy with myself coming so short of my goals,” Bell said. “So definitely this year I’m doing anything that I can to make sure that there are no excuses. (Coach Mike Bukovsky) He’s so supportive so I’m definitely thankful. I’m really excited because now it feels like there’s some real competition. Girls wrestling is really kind of paving its way through Illinois. Even at Montini, it feels nice when you’re able to feel like you’re the first to be able to do something.”

Guichon was the lone medalist of the four Golden Eagles who took part in the tournament. The freshman reached the 105 title mat after winning by fall in 5:56 over Huntley’s Addyson Wasielewski in the semifinals. Wasielewski won by fall in 0:55 over Nettey to claim third place in a matchup of two freshmen. And in the fifth-place match, Lakes Community senior Zaryia 

Mouzon recorded a fall in 0:38 over Dundee-Crown junior Leslie Figueroa.

110 – Alexandra Sebek, Oak Forest

Alexandra Sebek set the tone for the champion Bengals in the finals by becoming their first of their four champions when she captured the 110 title with a fall in 3:40 over Crystal Lake South’s Annalee Aarseth. Sebek (13-0), a sophomore who also won titles at Lakes Community and Westosha Central, WI, earned her spot in the finals with a fall in 1:21 over Richmond-Burton’s Isabella Nelson to become one of six finalists for coach John Sebek’s champion Bengals, who had nine medal winners. A year ago, Sebek made history for Oak Forest at the IHSA Finals when she finished 41-7 after losing 4-0 to Bartlett’s Emma Engels in the 100 title match, joining Sabrina Sifuentez, who was sixth at 140, as her school’s first two medalists. 

“We’ve got a lot of girls back from last year,” Sebek said. “Seeing how many girls are taking their time to come out and try the sport that’s hard for girls in general, it’s super cool to see that because I like seeing other girls do the same thing that I do and they work their butts off. (Coach Shawn) Forst has helped me a lot because he’s the boys coach and I practice with the boys. So he’s always there supporting me and helping me to get better. We’re like a family and we do stuff together. We go out to eat after every single meet together and we’re always on the bus rides together and making each other laugh. So I just love my team because it’s like a family.”

Aarseth, a freshman, was the only medalist of the three Gators who took part in the event. She earned her spot on the 110 title mat after capturing a 7-0 decision over Dundee-Crown’s Iris Torres in the semifinals. Nelson (5-4) took third place when she recorded a fall in 5:15 over Torres (12-8) in a matchup of juniors. And Huntley senior Taylor Casey (9-3) won by fall in 1:14 over Lakes Community junior Haven Sylves to claim fifth place. Casey is the Red Raiders’ lone two-time IHSA Finals qualifier and she posted a 23-9 record last season.

115 – Victoria Macias, Burlington Central

Victoria Macias started something special for Burlington Central on Saturday when she won the title at 115 and then later saw teammates Soraya Walikonis at 135 and Ryann Miller at 170 give coach Jeff Richart’s Rockets three champions for the day, which was a pretty impressive feat considering that they only had three competitors in the event. Macias (19-1), a junior who went 31-9 a year ago and took fifth at 110 at the IHSA Finals and was 23-6 and placed fourth at 110 in 2022, won the 115 title by recording a fall in 1:35 over Oak Forest’s Marjorie Rodriguez. Macias, one of the 31 individuals competing this season who are two-time state placewinners, advanced to the title mat after recording a fall in 2:34 over Lincoln-Way Central’s Liyah Owens.

In recent weeks, Macias also won titles at Maine East and at Morris.

“I’m really excited,” Macias said of the sport. “I was hoping that it would grow, honestly. I started wrestling when I was in sixth grade and I would wrestle mostly boys because there was never another girl at my weight class, so I lost most of the time, and I’m really glad that it’s growing a lot. I like that the girls compared to the boys are so much more friendly with each other and it’s so close. We meet so many new people and it’s like everyone just becomes friends. It’s like,  ‘yeah, we’re opponents on the mat, but we’ll be friends at the end of the day.'”

Rodriguez (11-3), a junior who was one of six finalists and nine medal winners for the champion Bengals, earned her spot in the 115 finals by getting a pin in 2:27 over Metea Valley’s Uliana Shevstova in the semifinals. Shevstova (15-8), a senior who led all competitors with 60 total match points, was the top finisher and one of two medalists for Metea Valley, won by technical fall in 4:25 over junior Owens (7-4) to place third. Wheeling sophomore Isabella Gomez (15-5) took fifth place after winning 8-7 in overtime over Huntley senior Valeria Sanchez (8-5).

120 – Gracie Guarino, Lincoln-Way Central

Usually it’s a badge of honor when you’re one of only three individuals to have done something in the IHSA Finals, but few competitors would be pleased to lose one title match, let alone two. Lincoln-Way Central senior Gracie Guarino lost 2-0 by sudden victory to Grant’s Ayane Jasinski in the 110 finals to conclude a 13-1 season after taking second to Glenbard North’s Gabby Gomez at 105 in 2022. Guarino obviously wants to finish first this season and she’s 10-0 after recording a fall in 1:08 over Grayslake Central’s Gianna Arzer to be the lone champion and one of four medalists for the Knights, who are coached by Tyrone Byrd, a 2020 IWCOA Hall of Famer. Guarino, who opened the season with a first-place finish at Lake Community’s Gussarson Invite, won by fall in 2:50 over Oak Forest’s Charlotte Pedroza in the semifinals.

“It just fuels the fire to keep me going,” Guarino said of losing twice in the state finals. “In my first time at state, my opponent was Gabby Gomez and that gave me a lot of things to look at and to work on since at that time, it was only my third year of wrestling and I was able to see one of the best in the country. (Coach Tyrone Byrd) He really helped to support me and really helped to make the sport click for me. When I entered high school, in my freshman year, he told me that I was going to be on the boys varsity and that only pushed me harder, so I really appreciate his efforts. I love all of the new friends that I’m getting. In my freshman and sophomore years I’d go to tournaments and my other teammate would have so many friends, and I was like, ‘I want that.’ So coming to this tournament, everywhere I look, I’m saying hi to everyone I know and old teammates, and I love it.”

Arzer (17-3), a sophomore who was unable to qualify from the Evanston Township Sectional last year, was the lone competitor for Grayslake Central. She advanced to the title mat following a fall in 0:45 over Wheaton North’s Ryan Mark. In the third place match, senior Mark (6-2) got a pin in 5:18 over senior Pedroza (11-7). Lakes Community senior Olivia Heft, who went 14-1 in 2022 and was a state runner-up at 115 to Glenwood’s Maya Davis, claimed fifth place with a fall in 2:54 over Lincoln-Way Central junior Yasmin Ejaidi. 

125 – Ava Babbs, Lakes Community

On a day where there were 12 falls on the title mat, Ava Babbs spent the least time there when she got a pin in 0:25 over Oak Forest’s Camila O’Leary Salas in the 125 finals. The Lakes Community senior reached the finals with a fall in 0:53  over Sycamore’s Gretchyn Dunbar. She was the lone finalist and one of five medal winners for coach Devin Tortorice’s Eagles. Babbs tied with Huntley’s Aubrie Rohrbacher for the most team points with 30. Last season she went 22-5 and took third place at 125 and joined Josephine Larson as medalists to make them the second and third Eagles to place in the IHSA Finals after Olivia Heft was a state runner-up in the inaugural Finals in 2022, when Babbs fell one win shy of earning a medal at 135. Babbs also won titles this year at Waukegan and Westosha Central, WI’s Stateline Scuffle.

“Having a lot of schools, compared to my first year when we didn’t have a lot of schools, and even to have bigger teams is cool,” Babbs said. “And to have different competition, like last weekend when we went to Wisconsin, which was cool. When I started my sophomore year, I started with a lot of girls around me, and we’ve all been able to see each other grow and get better. So seeing them this year is so fun. We started with five people and we have nine now, and it doesn’t sound like a lot, but having an actual team is fun. I like the community (of the sport) and that everybody is really nice. I think it’s funny that it’s such a physical and aggressive sport, but everybody is so nice to each other. I love that part.”

O’Leary Salas (9-2), a sophomore, was one of six finalists and nine medal winners for coach John Sebek’s champion Bengals, who captured their third-straight team title this season, She earned her spot on the 125 title mat after winning by fall in 1:19 over Rock Falls’ Ryleigh Eriks in the semifinals. Eriks claimed third place over Dunbar by getting a pin in 4:46 in a matchup of sophomores. And Lincoln-Way Central sophomore Riley Cooney (8-4) took fifth place after winning by fall in 5:32 over Montini Catholic sophomore Sofia Flores (8-7).

130 – Aubrie Rohrbacher, Huntley

After going 30-7 as a freshman and falling one win shy of a medal at 125 in last year’s IHSA Finals, Huntley’s Aubrie Rohrbacher is determined to reach the awards stand this season and see how high she can get on it. Rohrbacher improved to 11-3 and was the lone champion, one of two finalists and joined four of her teammates as medal winners for coach Gannon Kosowski’s runner-up Red Raiders. Rohrbacher, who tied Lakes Community’s Ava Babbs for the most team points with 30, won by fall in 0:50 over Dundee-Crown’s Ruby Gavina in the 130 finals, which she advanced to with a pin in 0:54 over Zion-Benton’s Emilty Ortiz. She also recently won a title at Maine East’s Mejoe Hernandez Invite.

“It’s very fun because you get to create a lot of bonds with everybody,” Rohrbacher said. “It’s different girls from different schools but it’s just one big wrestling community and it’s very fun. I think it’s new and it’s growing, and so many girls can relate to each other through a lot of things. Especially with all of the hard work that you put in, how hard it is and how aggressive you 

have to be, that people can relate to each other because of that. My thoughts on this sport is that it makes you better not just as an athlete, but it makes you better as a person. It’s mentally and physically tough and it requires a lot of hard work. I’m very happy (about Huntley), it’s like a big home and a big family.”

Gavina (19-4), a freshman who was one of three finalists and five medalists for the Chargers, advanced to the 130 title mat after recording a fall in 5:48 over Hampshire’s Madison Minson. Ortiz (16-2), a sophomore who won a title at Waukegan, claimed third place after getting a pin in 1:52 over freshman Minson. And in the fifth-place match, Kaneland junior Dyani Torres (16-5) captured a 9-6 decision over Wheeling sophomore Elise Burkut (19-5).

135 – Soraya Walikonis, Burlington Central

Soraya Walikonis and Victoria Macias made history for Burlington Central in 2022 when they both qualified for the inaugural IHSA Finals and Walikonis capped her freshman season with a 16-11 record while Macias claimed her first of two medals. On Saturday at the Hampshire Girls Tournament, Walikonis and Macias were joined by freshman Ryann Miller as champions, which was a big deal for coach Jeff Richart’s Rockets, since the trio were their only entrants in the event. Walikonis (15-5) won her first title of the season after prevailing in the closest title match of the day, taking first place at 135 with a 4-2 decision over Zion-Benton’s Jay Thompson after advancing to the finals with a pin in 1:22 over Wheeling’s Valeria Avalos. 

“The first year I joined was in middle school and I always wrestled guys because there weren’t enough girls,” Walikonis said. “Going into my freshman year, it was the first girls state tournament and it was a big ‘wow, this sport is really growing.’ Honestly, I love all of the new competition and the new girls, even if they are in their first year. And the first-year girls who are doing really well, that’s just pretty amazing to see. At my school, we really try to push girls wrestling. We’re just trying to get the girls out on the mat and show them that, ‘hey, this is a really fun sport. It’s not as bad as you think it is.’ And there’s a great community behind it.”

Thompson (18-3), a senior who fell one victory shy of qualifying at 145 from the Evanston Township Sectional last year, was one of three finalists and five medal winners for coach Hal Lunsford’s Zee-Bees. She reached the 135 title mat after winning a 6-0 decision over Wheeling’s Sherlyn Ruiz. Avalos, a sophomore, captured a wild 23-13 major decision over junior Ruiz to take third place. And Lake Community sophomore Christina Hasner took fifth place after recording a fall in 4:30 over Rock Falls sophomore Ashlyn Fargher.

140 – Netavia Wickson, Boylan Catholic

Just 12 individuals can say that they’ve achieved what Netavia Wickson has accomplished, and only 10 of those can make even more history this season as the girls who have competed in two title matches at the IHSA Finals. Wickson was a runner-up to Homewood-Flossmoor’s Attalia Watson-Castro, an eventual two-time champ, in 2022 at 135 and took first at 135 when she won a 9-1 over Canton’s Kinnley Smith to cap a 19-5 season in 2023. The Boylan Catholic senior, who’s coached by her father, Dathan Wickson, Sr. and brother, Dathan Wickson, Jr., improved to 13-2 by recording a fall in 1:12 over Richmond-Burton’s Jasmine McCaskel in the 140 title match after getting a pin in 2:52 over Oak Forest’s Iyobosa Odiase in the semifinals. She competes for her school’s boys team and took first at Rockford East’s Girls Tournament.

“It’s really amazing,” Wickson said. “I remember when I started wrestling, there were usually four or five girls in one tournament with no girls division and we were wrestling boys. Now to see that we have full tournaments with full brackets and girls that are willing to go out there and wrestle tough in this tough sport is really inspiring. You really see how much you inspire people when you make history. I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and just tell me, ‘you really inspire me and I really admire you’, and that shows the growth. I really think that wrestling has built so much confidence in me and built it to where I’m able to talk to other people and I’m not scared or I don’t doubt myself. I see myself as a strong individual and I can do anything that I put my mind to. So I think it’s really good for girls to feel strong and feel empowered and just have that confidence. Nobody’s really worried about who’s good or who’s not, you’re just worried about growing and getting better, and that’s what I really appreciate.”

McCaskel (10-1), who went 16-3 and placed fourth at 140 in 2023 to become Richmond-Burton’s first IHSA medal winner, was the lone finalist and one of three medalists for coach Tony Nelson’s Rockets. She advanced to the 140 finals with a fall in 3:28 over Dundee-Crown’s Perla Lomeli in the semifinals. Lomeli (10-3), a senior who went 24-11 last year and fell one win shy of a medal at 140 in the IHSA Finals, finished third with a fall in 1:28 over sophomore Odiase (14-5). And Huntley senior Jessica Olson (11-4) took fifth place after getting a pin in 5:03 over Zion-Benton senior Adrianna Ketchum (10-8), who also qualified for the IHSA Finals last season.

145 – Maya Coreas Funes, Oak Forest

Maya Coreas Funes joined Alexandra Sebek, Ryann Reaves and Jessica Komolafe as title winners for coach John Sebek’s Bengals, who claimed top honors by 69 points in the 28-team Hampshire Girls Tournament. Coreas Funes (12-3), a junior who also won a title at Westosha Central, WI, went 23-11 last season and qualified for the IHSA Finals and would no doubt like to join Sebek and the graduated Sabrina Sifuentez as Bengals state medalists. She won the 145 title with a fall in 3:55 over Zion-Benton’s Grace Johnson after winning a 13-4 major decision over Buffalo Grove’s Abigail Swanson in the semifinals. Coreas Funes was one of the six finalists and nine medalists for Oak Forest, which claimed its third-straight tournament title.

“It is actually really exciting and very great to win and it’s by a margin of points,” Coreas Funes said. “Our team puts in a lot of work, especially during practice to correct things that could be better. So we have to get in a better stance, we work on our stance. And we practice the things that we can be caught in very often, like headlocks, so we practice defense for headlocks because that is a move that a lot of girls like to do. Most of us are relatively new with either one to three years of experience, other than Alex. I can see the growth in every girl, it’s amazing. This is my second year wrestling. At first, it was challenging but I made a promise to never give up. So I kept going, and at first it was hard. The thing that I like most about wrestling is that it’s more about your mentality and skill than it is about anything else. It’s your work that gets you to where you want to go.”

Johnson (11-3), a junior who was one of three finalists and five medal winners for coach Hal Lunsford’s Zee-Bees, earned her spot on the 145 title mat with a pin in 0:52 over Saint Viator’s Avery Brooks in the semifinals. Swanson (5-1) claimed third place with a fall in 0:36 over junior Brooks. And Zion-Benton had another medal winner at the weight class as junior Naomi Foote (15-5) captured a 9-0 major decision over Huntley freshman Grecia Garcia to finish fifth.

155 – Ryan Reeves, Oak Forest

Ryan Reeves gave Oak Forest its third title of the day at 155 shortly after Maya Coreas Funes took first at 145 and in between Alexandra Sebek’s win at 110 to start the medal round and Jessica Komolafe’s first at 235 to put the final touches on the Bengal’s third-straight invitational title. Reeves (12-0), added to tournament titles at Larkin and Westosha Central, WI.  An IHSA qualifier in 2023 who finished with a 22-17 record, Reeves won the title at 155 with a fall in 0:50 over Dundee-Crown’s Helen Ruelas, which came after a pin in 3:02 in the semifinals over Wheeling’s Madeline Chicas. Reeves hopes to cap her Bengals career by adding her name to the list of two the program’s first two IHSA medalists in 2023, Sabrina Sifuentez and Sebek.

“It does feel very good,” Reeves said of her team winning three-straight titles. “I see it as an honor to work with my friends and the people that I’ve met on this team have really pushed me. I just started last year. At the beginning, it’s the hardest because you have nothing in your arsenal and you’re just kind of going to your matches blind, hoping for a chance for it to go in your favor. But you grow and stick with it, go through the losses and tough out the pain when you’re continuously losing. But once you build your arsenal, wrestling does evolve and change for you. I think that wrestling is actually more of a mental sport than it is a physical sport and some girls come into the sport and they can’t handle it. I’ve made some life-long friends on this team. I’ve connected with some people that I never considered myself to be friends with, and now I consider them as a sister to me and my best friend.”

Ruelas (6-3), one of three finalists and five medalists for coach Tim Hayes’ Chargers, earned her spot on the 155 title mat by medical forfeit over Wheeling’s Stephanie Solano. Freshman Chicas (13-6) took third as senior Solano (6-2) was unable to compete. And in the fifth-place match, Sycamore freshman Ema Durst (9-8) won by fall in 1:10 over Huntley sophomore Alyssa Aguilar to give her the most falls in the least time among all competitors with four in 3:06. 

170 – Ryann Miller, Burlington Central

Ryann Miller hasn’t attracted very much attention so far, but after the Burlington Central freshman claimed her third tournament title and fourth finals appearance to improve to 23-1 following a dominant performance at the Hampshire Girls Tournament, people should start taking notice. Miller won the 170 title with a fall in 0:38 over Cary-Grove’s Denver Gier, which followed a pin in 1:13 over Wheeling’s Nikol Orendarchuk in the semifinals. Her three falls only required 2:23 as she joined teammates Victoria Macias (115) and Soraya Walikonis (135) as title winners, which was quite a feat for coach Jeff Richart’s Rockets since that trio were their lone entrants in the event. She also has won titles at Lakes Community and at Maine East.

“This is really exciting,” Miller said. “We all work very hard during practice and we all try our absolute hardest. We’re all practice partners, even though there’s different weights. It shows us how to control our strength and shows us different moves that we can hit. I only wrestled guys when I was in middle school. We have a solid support system (at Burlington Central) and we wrestle with the guys and do the same things as the guys and there’s no difference between us, we work just as hard as they do.”

Gier, a junior, was unable to advance out of the rugged Schaumburg Sectional at 190 a year ago but she’s off to an 8-3 start this season after recording two falls in the tournament, including one in 2:24 over Richmond-Burton’s Sandra Teren Reyes in the semifinals to earn her spot in the 170 finals. Teren Reyes (5-2) won by fall in 3:53 over Orendarchuk (11-9) in a matchup of freshmen for third place and Metea Valley senior Sanskruti Sangalge (12-7) took fifth place with a pin in 3:40 over Oak Forest junior Adri Bille.

190 – Jasmine Rene, Wheeling

Jasmine Rene definitely made quite an impression in her freshman season at Wheeling, going 18-10 and taking fourth place in the IHSA Finals to become the first medalist for her program. She’s already won as many as she did in her debut as she improved to 18-1 after capturing a 12-7 decision over Zion-Benton’s ILeen Castrejon in a showdown between two returning state medalists. Rene jumped out to a big lead before Castrejon closed the gap a bit. Rene needed 1:56 to get a fall in the semifinals over Hampshire’s Annilease Tavaria to become the lone finalist and one of seven medal winners for coach Anthony Piltaver’s third-place Wildcats. Two weeks prior to this invite, she took first at the Westosha Central, WI Stateline Scuffle.

“I started in my freshman year, which was last year,” Rene said. “I decided to go to an offseason club at Gomez, especially coach Hector, he pushes you to the best of your abilities. We used to only have six girls on the team and now I think we have 20. I went to Fargo this summer and I got seventh. What I like about the sport is that this is an individual sport so you don’t really have to rely on your team, besides your partners that you train with. I feel like my school doesn’t really do too well in team sports. So I love the fact that you can win and rise with the school. After I became a state qualifier, everyone wanted to join wrestling. And it’s an honor to be the one to bring up the school.”

Castrejon, a senior, went 17-8 last season and took third place at 170 in the IHSA Finals and in 2022, she posted a 14-6 record and took second place at state to Hononegah’s Rose Cassioppi in the 170 finals to become her program’s first finalist and she joined Rachel Williams-Henry as their first medalists. Castrejon earned her spot in the 190 finals with a 15-9 decision over Lakes Community’s Josephine Larson in the semifinals. Larson, a two-time state qualifier, went 15-4 last season and took fifth at 190 in the IHSA Finals to join Ava Babbs as the program’s second and third medalists. She also won titles this season at her own tournament and at Waukegan, where she won 3-1 over Rene in the 190 title match. Larson took third place on Saturday after getting a pin in 0:35 over junior Tavaria. Oak Forest’s Isabel Peralta (18-1), who went 24-13 last season and fell one win shy of a medal at 190 in the IHSA Finals and won titles this year at Lakes, Larkin and Westosha Central, bounced back from her first loss to Castrejon in the quarterfinals by taking fifth place with a fall in 4:40 over Kaneland freshman Sadie Kinsella.

235 – Jessica Komolafe, Oak Forest 

Jessica Komolafe put the finishing touches on Oak Forest’s third-straight tournament title when she won the lone round-robin division in the Hampshire Girl Tournament, at 235, as the result of a win that she had earlier in the day when she recorded a fall over Huntley’s Sara Willis in 0:26. That title gave the champion Bengals their fourth of the invite, and she joined Alexandra Sebek (110), Maya Coreas Funes (145) and Ryann Reeves (155) as first-place finishers and coach John Sebek’s team had two other finalists as well as three others who got medals for taking fifth or better. Komolafe (14-3) also got a pin in 1:04 over Rockford East’s Sophie Bolanos. The senior, who also won a title at Larkin this year, qualified for the first IHSA Finals in 2022 at 235.

“I feel like being in this sport is a good thing for me because I feel like wrestling just makes me more confident about myself,” Komolafe said. “Every single thing I do, I feel confident when I’m wrestling. I understand that it’s a really tough sport but the hard work and everything that I put into it, I’m really grateful to be able to do that and not quit. I come from a background where ladies are not supposed to wrestle. But with me going through with this, I want other people to see that you can wrestle and do what you like. This is such a safe space and I feel so loved by my girls. If I have a problem, I can go to my girls. I feel like it’s family, the connection that’s built because of the hard work, the sweat, the cries. I would never trade that for anything. I’m grateful for every single girl on my team.”

Willis pinned Bolanos in 0:38 to assure herself of second place at 235 in the only non-bracket division in the competition. As a result of her win, she joined 130 champion Aubrie Rohrbacher as one of her team’s two finalists and the Red Raiders finished with five medalists who finished fifth or better as well as three individuals who took sixth to help coach Gannon Kosowski’s team to a second-place showing with 127 points, which was 19 more than third-place Wheeling. 

Championship matches for the Hampshire Girls Tournament

100 – Diamond Rodriguez (Dundee-Crown) F 3:07 Blair Grennan (Newman Central Catholic)

105 – Kat Bell (Montini Catholic) F 1:43 Aaliyah Guichon (Jacobs)

110 – Alexandra Sebek (Oak Forest) F 3:40 Annalee Aarseth (Crystal Lake South)

115 – Victoria Macias (Burlington Central) F 1:35 Marjorie Rodriguez (Oak Forest)

120 – Gracie Guarino (Lincoln-Way Central) F 1:08 Gianna Arzer (Grayslake Central)

125 – Ava Babbs (Lakes Community) F 0:25 Camila O’Leary Salas (Oak Forest)

130 – Aubrie Rohrbacher (Huntley) F 0:50 Ruby Gavina (Dundee-Crown)

135 – Soraya Walikonis (Burlington Central) D 4-2 Jay Thompson (Zion-Benton)

140 – Netavia Wickson (Boylan Catholic) F 1:12 Jasmine McCaskel (Richmond-Burton)

145 – Maya Coreas Funes (Oak Forest) F 3:55 Grace Johnson (Zion-Benton)

155 – Ryann Reeves (Oak Forest) F 0:50 Helen Ruelas (Dundee-Crown)

170 – Ryann Miller (Burlington Central) F 0:38 Denver Gier (Cary-Grove)

190 – Jasmine Rene (Wheeling) D 12-7 ILeen Castrejon (Zion-Benton)

235 – Jessica Komolafe (Oak Forest) F 0:26 Sara Willis (Huntley)Team standings for the Hampshire Girls Tournament

1. Oak Forest (196), 2. Huntley (127), 3. Wheeling (108), 4. Lakes Community (99), 5. Dundee-Crown (97), 6. Zion-Benton (94), 7. Burlington Central (82), 8. Lincoln-Way Central (77), 9. Richmond-Burton (71), 10. Montini Catholic (38.5), 11. Hampshire (38), 12. Metea Valley (35), 12. Rock Falls (35), 14. Buffalo Grove (34), 15. Sycamore (30), 16. Cary-Grove (29), 17. Boylan Catholic (27), 18. Crystal Lake South (26), 19. Plainfield East (25), 20. Wheaton North (24), 21. Grayslake Central (22), 21. Jacobs (22), 21. Newman Central Catholic (22), 24. Kaneland (21), 25. Rockford East (17), 26. Saint Viator (15), 27. Mundelein (13), 28. Crystal Lake Central (0).