By Chris Walker – for the IWCOA

Mount Carmel’s Seth Mendoza (126), Evan Stanley (132), Edmund Enright (157) and Colin Kelly (175) followed their regional titles a week ago with sectional titles during Saturday’s Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional.

They punched their ticket to state along with teammates Justin Williamson (113), Jairo Acuna (144), Rylan Breen (190), William Jacobson (215) and Alex Poholik (285) who took second place. Kavel Moore (106) and Liam Kelly (150) finished with victories on the third-place mat while Damian Resendez (138) and Kevin Kalchbrenner (165) fell short in their respective third-place matches, but all of them qualified for coach Alex Tsirtsis’ Caravan, who will send 13 individuals to the IHSA Class 3A Individual Finals at the State Farm Center in Champaign, which runs from Thursday through Saturday. Last year, Mount Carmel had 10 state qualifiers.

Marist advanced eight wrestlers to the state finals behind Donavon Allen (138), Will Denny (150) and Conor Phelan (190), who won titles. Michael Esteban (126) and Ethan Sonne (132) took second, George Marinopoulos (120) and Ricky Ericksen (175) placed third and Tommy Fidler (113) took fourth for coach Brendan Heffernan’s RedHawks.

Marmion Academy’s Nicholas Garcia (113) and Joey Favia (215) led the Cadets with sectional championships. Logan Conover (106) and Zach Stewart (138) finished second while Donny Pigoni (126) and Ashton Hobson (144) won their third-place matches and Mateuz Nycz (285) took fourth place. All told, the Cadets, who are coached by Anthony Cirrincione and Nathan Fitzenreider, will send seven individuals to Champaign.

West Aurora didn’t come away with any sectional titles, but five of its individuals advanced to state. Dominic Serio (150) and Noah Quintana (157) placed second, Dayne Serio (165) was third and Aiden Massaro (120) and Evan Matkovich (126) took fourth.

Carl Sandburg matched the Blackhawks with five state qualifiers, led by champion Rocco Hayes (106). Madden Parker (120) took second, Ryan Hinger (138) was third and Brady Ritter (132) and Zac Ritter (150) were fourth.

Naperville Central, the DuPage Valley Conference champs, didn’t have any sectional champs either, but will send four Redhawks to state. Christopher Bern (157) and William Erbeck (285) won their third place matches while Hagan Taylor (144) and Nicolas Besteiro (215) each took fourth place.

Batavia matched the Redhawks with four state qualifiers as Ino Garcia (120) and Aidan Huck (144) earned championships to lead the way. Asher Sheldon (215) was third and Ben Brown (190) took fourth.

Downers Grove South’s Matt Lapacek (190) took third and RJ Samuels (175) was fourth while Glenbard West’s Collin Carrigan picked up his 42nd victory on the season to earn the title at 165 while his teammate Tony Shadid (157) took fourth.

A handful of teams were fortunate to escape Hinsdale with at least one state qualifier.

Lyons Township’s Gunnar Garelli (165) and Wheaton Warrenville South’s Sedeeq Al Obaidi (175) each took second, Stagg’s Jaime Corral (113) and Naperville North’s Tyler Sternstein both placed third and Glenbard East’s Waleed Binmahfooz (106) finished in fourth.

Argo, Bolingbrook, Curie Metropolitan, Downers Grove North, East Aurora, Hubbard, Kennedy, J. Sterling Morton, Neuqua Valley, Oak Lawn, Reavis, Thornton, Waubonsie Valley and Willowbrook also had wrestlers that competed in the sectional.

Carl Sandburg’s Rocco Hayes (44-1) dominated like few others at Hinsdale Central, pinning all three opponents he faced and each in shorter time than the last, including his win by fall at 0:30 against Marmion Academy freshman Logan Conovoer (29-14) in the 106 title match.

106 – Rocco Hayes, Carl Sandburg

“I’m just happy with all my training that I was able to have,” Hayes said. “I got prepared really well for this but the job is not done. I have more work to do.”

That work is pointing towards a possible state title. Hayes, a junior, took third at 106 last year and has gotten better.

“Getting to my offense is really important and I’m really good at what I do and it really helped me throughout this tournament,” he said. “I’ve become (offense oriented) this year and gotten into more positions where I wasn’t able to (last year) and I’m a lot better now and I have better coaches and partners who push me everyday.”

Mount Carmel junior Kavel Moore (21-11), one of five wrestlers from his team to advance to state by advancing to the third-place mat, finished with an 11-1 major decision victory over Glenbard East senior Waleed Binmahfooz (38-9).

113 – Nicholas Garcia, Marmion Academy

Marmion Academy sophomore Nicholas Garcia (41-7) had a difficult time getting into his offense against Mount Carmel freshman Justin Williamson (29-9) but kept his poise and pulled out a 6-5 decision in the 113 championship match. Last year, Garcia placed fourth at 106 in the IHSA 3A Finals.

“He had a really good game plan going into it, trying to hold on the whole time,” Garcia said. “He had a great ride on top, turned me, it’s exactly what he wanted to do, so I have a lot of respect for that. I knew I had it in me. I just had to go out there and win so the pressure was on.”

Stagg senior Jaime Corral (28-8) won a 7-3 decision over Marist sophomore Tommy Fidler (27-13) to take third place. Corral’s finish was a big for him and his program as he’ll be the only Charger that’s competing at state this weekend.

120 – Ino Garcia, Batavia

Batavia senior Ino Garcia (24-5) earned a 9-1 decision against Carl Sandburg junior Madden Parker (40-6) to win the title at 120. He’ll be making his third state appearance.

“I just had to get on my offense,” Garcia said. “I knew I was good at defense and stuff like that. So if I get on my offense and score early I can usually put away a match like that.”

Garcia, who took sixth in the state last season at 113 in the Class 3A finals, believes he’s an ever better wrestler than he was a year ago.

“I think I’ve grown the most on my feet,” he said. “I like to think I’ve grown in everything, but I’m not sure if that’s 100 percent. Either way I know I’ve gotten better and I put in a lot of time and effort.”

After wins by fall and decision to win the Glenbard West regional, Garcia picked up three victories to win the sectional. Tough battles prior to the postseason helped prepare Garcia for a state run. He placed second in the DuKane Conference, losing to Glenbard North’s Kalani Khiev. He took third in Batavia’s Arlis Invite after dropping a match in the semifinals to Marmion Academy’s Nicholas Garcia, who won the sectional title at 113.

“In those other tournaments and stuff against really tough opponents pushed me to get better,” Garcia said. “It put me in position so I could take first place.”

Marist junior George Marinopoulos (35-7), who fell one win shy of a medal at 106 a year ago at state, scored a 15-1 major decision victory against West Aurora senior Aiden Massaro (32-13) on the third-place mat.

126 – Seth Mendoza, Mount Carmel

Improving to 38-2 on the year, Mount Carmel junior Seth Mendoza is now looking for a third-straight state title after winning by technical fall in 4:24 over Marist junior Michael Esteban in the 126 sectional finals. Mendoza was the IHSA 113 champion last season after taking first place at 106 in 2022. Esteban (32-8) placed sixth at state at 113 in 2022.

Marmion Academy senior Donny Pigoni (30-12), who fell one win shy of state medals in both 2023 

and 2022, pinned West Aurora sophomore Evan Matkovich (34-9) in 1:12 to win third place at 126.

132 – Evan Stanley, Mount Carmel

As much as he loves his two older sisters, Mount Carmel freshman Evan Stanley is equally thankful for the pestering he absorbed growing up around them which helped mold him into the tough, successful wrestler he is today.

Stanley (33-5) defeated another freshman in the 132 finals, earning a 7-2 decision over Marist’s Ethan Sonne (21-15).

“I got into wrestling when I was four years old and I was really hyper and didn’t have any older brothers or cousins who were boys, just had two older sisters (Leia and Haven) who beat up on me a lot,” he said. “And my parents got me into wrestling because I was hyper and it seemed like I would like it.”

He’s remains committed to the sport since he started.

“I’ve never taken a year off,” he said. “Never taken a month off unless for surgery or a broken bone.”

He suffered his last broken bone several years ago against St. Charles East’s Ben Davino who is vying to become a four-time state champion.

“Ben Davino broke my collarbone when I was seven or eight years old,” he said.  “It’s been a long time since we wrestled, and me and him have talked (since),” he said. “It’s raised a little bit (the left collarbone), it’s never been the same.”

Despite being a newcomer on a team loaded with talent, Stanley hasn’t just shown he belongs, he knows he deserves this kind of success.

“I haven’t surprised myself, this has been the goal,” he said.”I work for it. I know I do, and whenever I feel like I underperform that’s when I hold my head even if it’s a win. And I was running after (the championship win) trying to do everything I can to be the best version of myself on and off the mat, and that’s pushing myself through everything, but also expecting a lot from myself throughout life and throughout wrestling.”

As an Indiana resident, Stanley hasn’t attended the IHSA state finals before. That’ll change real soon.

“Growing up, it’s been going to Indiana,” he said. “I’m an Indiana kid who ever since middle school factored in going to Mount Carmel. I always paid attention and I have friends who have wrestled at (the IHSA state finals) and I wrestled in the actual arena just for a fun match when I was younger, but going down there and competing is something I’m really looking forward to. I’m going to put in a lot of work this week, I’m getting right back at it at 8 a.m. tomorrow and the grind starts, the state run, the state push, it’s time now.”

Naperville North junior Tyler Sternstein (34-4) upended Carl Sandburg freshman Brady Ritter (31-12) with a 7-5 decision for third place at 132. Sternstein is the Huskies’ lone state qualifier.

138 – Donavon Allen, Marist

Donavon Allen (31-6) doesn’t mince words when he talks about where he hopes to end up at the end of his junior year at Marist.

“The goal for me is being on top of that podium this year,” he said. “I fell short the two previous years so I want to be on the top of that podium. I feel like I definitely got better in my conditioning and my overall work ethic (from last year) so I feel ready to go.”

Last year Allen fell short of winning a sectional title, taking second place after losing by technical fall in the 132 finals.

He stayed focused and persevered to beat Marmion Academy sophomore Zach Stewart (26-8) 5-3 by sudden victory in the 138 title match.

“I really practice on that poise and my coaches help me stay focused during a match,” Allen said. “I try to stay focused through the whole six minutes locked in and battling. I don’t really buy into what’s going on in the match, I just wrestle my match.”

Carl Sandburg junior Ryan Hinger (41-4) earned a 10-1 major decision over Mount Carmel senior Damian Resendez (20-13) to capture third place at 138. A year ago in the IHSA Finals, Hinger fell one win shy of getting a medal at 132. Resendez took fifth at 120 in 2023 and was second at 113 in 2022. 

144 – Aidan Huck, Batavia

It was deja vu for Aidan Huck on Saturday almost a year to the day at the same place, Hinsdale Central.

A year ago, Batavia’s Huck survived Mount Carmel junior Jairo Acuna by sudden victory at 126 in the Hinsdale Central Sectional semifinals before falling in the finals.

On Saturday, Huck (40-5) met Acuna (29-11) in the 144 finals and earned a 5-3 decision to claim a sectional title in his senior season.

“This means a lot,” Huck said. “We came in with a plan and I held him down and got to my attack and ended up on top. That definitely worked for me. We got four guys in, the same as last year going down to state.”

Last year’s narrow win was definitely on Huck’s mind as he fought for a sectional title.

“This kid (Acuna) won against me last year in the semis,” Huck said. “I took him down by a point or two, and you know, he came in with a plan but I slowed him down and got to my attacks and ended up on top.”

Marmion Academy sophomore Ashton Hobson (36-8) won a 20-8 major decision against Naperville Central senior Hagan Taylor (29-9) for third place.

150 – Will Denny, Marist

In a final pairing of two juniors, Marist’s Will Denny (38-4) earned a 15-4 major decision over West Aurora’s Dominic Serio (29-2) in the 150 title match. A year ago, they both advanced to state at 145 and Denny took fourth place while Serio fell one win shy of a medal.

Mount Carmel sophomore Liam Kelly (28-11), who fell one win shy of a medal at 138 last year at state, was able to get past Carl Sandburg senior Zac Ritter (42-11) by a 3-2 decision to win the third-place match at 150.

157 – Edmund Enright, Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel senior Edmund Enright, who finished second to West Chicago’s Nolan Allen in the IHSA Finals at 152 last season, will now try to win a state title at 157. Enright (36-3) won the sectional title at 157 with a 5-0 decision over West Aurora senior Noah Quintana (28-6). 

Naperville Central senior Christopher Bern (29-9) gained some momentum as he heads to state after winning a 5-1 decision over Glenbard West senior Tony Shadid (25-13) in the third-place match at 157.

165 – Collin Carrigan, Glenbard West

It’s hard to imagine Glenbard West’s Collin Carrigan and Lyons Township’s Gunnar Garelli as fourth graders joking around about a future where the two battled for a sectional wrestling title as high school seniors, but that’s exactly where the two met up again on Saturday.

“I transferred to Glenbard West for my senior year so I’ve known (Garelli), we went to the same club since fourth grade so I’ve wrestled this kid forever,” Carrigan said. “It’s funny that senior year worked out like this. I’ve seen him already two times and this was the third time. It’s a cool rivalry.”

Carrigan (42-1) beat Garelli (44-2) by a 5-3 decision in the 165 title match. A year ago at state, Garelli took fourth place at 160 while Carrigan, competing for Marmion Academy, lost in the 152 quarterfinals and failed to win a medal after placing fifth at 152 in 2022.

“Getting that early score was good and helped me win,” Carrigan said. “Being No. 1 or whatever doesn’t mean you can just cruise to a state title. They’re people gunning for you which makes me hungry.”

Rebounding from a loss by fall against Garelli in the semifinals, West Aurora sophomore Dayne Serio (34-5) earned an 8-3 decision over Mount Carmel junior Kevin Kalchbrenner (21-14) to take third place.

175 – Colin Kelly, Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel senior Colin Kelly (39-1) appears to be ready to battle for another state title after earning a 19-7 major decision against Wheaton Warrenville South senior Sedeeq Al Obaidi (37-3) in the 175 championship match. 

Last year, Kelly finished second at state following a 3-2 loss to McHenry’s unbeaten Chris Moore in the 170 finals. In 2022, he won the 160 championship by handing Moore his first loss 3-1 in sudden victory. As a freshman in 2021, he took third at 160 in the IWCOA Finals. Meanwhile, Al Obaidi fell one win shy of a medal at 170 last year at state.

With Downers Grove South senior RJ Samuels (34-8) succumbing to injury at 1:58 in the third place match at 175, Marist junior Ricky Ericksen (28-10) finished his day with a win.

190 – Conor Phelan, Marist

Marist senior Conor Phelan has good reason to be passionate about the sport as he nears the end of his high school career. After taking third place at 182 a year ago to earn his first state medal, he heads into this weekend’s IHSA Finals on a high note after recording a fall in 2:32 in the 190 title match over Mount Carmel senior Rylan Breen, who is a two-time state medalist.

“I knew I was going to have a lot of good matches against really good wrestlers here,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. Skipping school to go wrestle some studs, that’s fun. I love it, I love it.”

Phelan (36-8) recalled taking a break from the sport while in elementary school, but the itch to return brought him right back. That’s not only been good for him, but for the sport.

“I’ve gone up and down with it (wrestling) throughout the years,” he said. “I quit when I was 10 and forgot about it over the summer and told my dad I need my wrestling shoes and that’s when I started to show some talent in the sport,” he said. “And I think last year at state, again there wasn’t anything left to qualify for anymore, it was just wrestling, and I wanted to just wrestle. And that’s when I started to fall in love with it again because I realized I have nothing to prove to anyone except myself and there’s no reason to do sports if you don’t enjoy it.”

Breen (26-8) took fifth place at state at 182 last season after finishing sixth at that weight in 2022.

“I’ve wrestled him twice before and twice it’s been really dynamic matches,” Phelan said. “He’s always trying to score and that’s a lot more fun to me than people who don’t like to try to win their matches and it’s 2-1, 1-0 matches. I hate that. I just knew it was going to be a fun match going in and I think that let me wrestle better a little bit.”

Winning is fun and Phelan is having a blast winning.

“I got two different people telling me it was a fun match, and honestly that was a better compliment to me than anything you could say,” he said. “I want to be dynamic when I wrestle. I do this sport because I love it and that was part of going into the match. I know it was for seeding points or whatever, but I already was in (for state) and he was already in (for state) so I just wanted to wrestle him again and have fun. My college situation is already figured out. I have nothing to prove to anyone. I’m really just here because I like to wrestle.”

Downers Grove South senior Matt Lapacek (26-4), who fell one win shy of a medal at 182 last year at state, handed Batavia senior Ben Brown (31-2) his second loss of the day, and of the season, with a 5-1 victory for third place at 190.

215 – Joey Favia, Marmion Academy

Marmion Academy’s Joey Favia (34-6) held on to defeat Mount Carmel senior William Jacobson (25-12) by a 3-2 decision for the 215 title. The sophomore has been fantastic all season long for the Cadets and now will try to reign supreme on the state’s biggest stage.

“It feels really good, I’m honored, I feel I took all the right steps to make it to state,” Favia said. “I’ve wrestled that kid before so I knew it was going to be a good match. I just have the best coaches in the corner and just know what I’m going to do so I was pretty confident going in. I mean, obviously, this is a really good sectional, you just got wrestle your match, wrestle like you can wrestle.”

Batavia junior Asher Sheldon (40-9) put his loss to Jacobson in the semifinals behind him and bounced back in a big and quick way with a win by fall in 1:17 over Naperville Central senior Nicolas Besteiro (27-5) to take third place at 215.

285 – Marko Ivanisevic, Hinsdale Central

Hinsdale Central senior Marko Ivanisevic (37-2) defeated Mount Carmel senior Alex Poholik (18-9) 3-0 to wrap up the sectional title at 285. Ivanisevic finished fifth at state at 220 in both 2023 and 2022. If he places again this year, he’ll join Brian Allen, Juwan Edmond, Jack Allen and Cody Tavoso as the only Red Devils who have been all-staters for three or more seasons.

Naperville Central junior William Erbeck (36-3) earned a 7-5 decision to defeat Marmion Academy junior Mateusz Nycz (27-20) to take third place at 285.

Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional Championship matches

106 – Rocco Hayes (Carl Sandburg) F 0:30 Logan Conover (Marmion Academy)

113 – Nicholas Garcia (Marmion Academy) D 6-5 Justin Williamson (Mount Carmel)

120 – Ino Garcia (Batavia) MD 9-1 Madden Parker (Carl Sandburg)

126 – Seth Mendoza (Mount Carmel) TF 4:24 Michael Esteban (Marist)

132 – Evan Stanley (Mount Carmel) D 7-2 Ethan Sonne (Marist)

138 – Donavon Allen (Marist) SV 5-3 Zach Stewart (Marmion Academy)

144 – Aidan Huck (Batavia) D 5-3 Jairo Acuna (Mount Carmel)

150 – Will Denny (Marist) MD 15-4 Dominic Serio (West Aurora)

157 – Edmund Enright (Mount Carmel) D 5-0 Noah Quintana (West Aurora)

165 – Collin Carrigan (Glenbard West) D 5-3 Gunnar Garelli (Lyons Township)

175 – Colin Kelly (Mount Carmel) MD 19-7 Sedeeq Al Obaidi (Wheaton Warrenville South) 

190 – Conor Phelan (Marist) F 2:32 Rylan Breen (Mount Carmel)

215 – Joey Favia (Marmion Academy) D 3-2 William Jacobson (Mount Carmel)

285 – Marko Ivanisevic (Hinsdale Central) D 3-0 Alex Poholik (Mount Carmel)

Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional Third Place matches

106 – Kavel Moore (Mount Carmel) MD 11-1 Waleed Binmahfooz (Glenbard East)

113 – Jaime Corral (Stagg) D 7-3 Tommy Fidler (Marist)

120 – George Marinopoulos (Marist) MD 15-1 Aiden Massaro (West Aurora)

126 – Donny Pigoni (Marmion Academy) F 1:12 Evan Matkovich (West Aurora)

132 – Tyler Sternstein (Naperville North) D 7-5 Brady Ritter (Carl Sandburg)

138 – Ryan Hinger (Carl Sandburg) MD 10-1 Damian Resendez (Mount Carmel)

144 – Ashton Hobson (Marmion Academy) MD 20-8 Hagan Taylor (Naperville Central)

150 – Liam Kelly (Mount Carmel) D 3-2 Zac Ritter (Carl Sandburg)

157 – Christopher Bern (Naperville Central) D 5-1 Tony Shadid (Glenbard West)

165 – Dayne Serio (West Aurora) D 8-3 Kevin Kalchbrenner (Mount Carmel)

175 – Ricky Ericksen (Marist) Inj, 1:58 RJ Samuels (Downers Grove South)

190 – Matt Lapacek (Downers Grove South) D 5-1 Ben Brown (Batavia)

215 – Asher Sheldon (Batavia) F 1:17 Nicolas Besteiro (Naperville Central)

285 – William Erbeck (Naperville Central) D 7-5 Mateusz Nycz (Marmion Academy)

By Bobby Narang for the IWCOA

SCHAUMBURG – A year after hosting the first IHSA girls sectional, the 2024 version of the Schaumburg Sectional had a different look.

The sectional was power-packed with talented wrestlers – just like last year – but the tournament wasn’t as hectic or cramped. That’s due to the change in the format this year by the IHSA to include regionals, which led to less congestion, a smoother run sectional and more space for fans, coaches and wrestlers.

The Schaumburg Sectional was the place to be for top-notch wrestling. Schaumburg had the largest turnout of any of the four sectionals: 582 girls compared to 366 for the Evanston Sectional, 335 for the Geneseo Sectional and 235 for the Rich East Sectional.

Just like on the boys’ side, the top four wrestlers from each of the 14 weight classes advanced to the state tournament. But unlike the boys, the girls will not have dual team state tournament.

But they were still wrestling for team pride.

Schaumburg and Lockport tied for first place with 92 points, while Hoffman Estates (91) and Andrew (85) took third and fourth, respectively.

Schaumburg coach Matt Gruszka, hosting the sectionals for the second year in a row, talked about the growth of the sport.

In 2023, Andrew won the Schaumburg Sectional, with the host Saxons taking second and Hoffman Estates earning third place.

“First of all, the level of wrestling has increased so much in the state,” Gruszka said. “This sectional was a grind. We will have state champs and placers all over the place at state from this sectional. It’s just the growth of it. This thing is going to grow, in terms of quality in the next couple of years. 

“This year’s sectional was easier to host because there was only a 12-girl bracket. Last year, we had all these teams in, like 45 teams. This year that was at the regionals. In our sectional, we had a massive amount of talent, and some didn’t make it out of sectionals. Another big thing I see is the level of coaching is raising in girls wrestling. A lot of older coaches are coming down. It’s nice. They have the knowledge. You could see it (today) and how it looked.”

Schaumburg advanced three girls to the state tournament, including two champions in Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic (140) and Valeria Rodriguez (155), and fourth-placer Madyson Meyer (125),

“Val and Madeline had really good matches, but there’s still a lot of things to work on for the next two weeks,” Gruszka said. “That’s the one thing I wish they would change. The boys have rhythm with regionals, sectionals and state. We go regionals, then wait two weeks, then sectionals, then wait two weeks for state. It’s a mental grind. Everyone, though, wrestled well.”

Lockport coach Nathaniel Roth echoed Gruszka’s opinion on the sectional, noting he was happy to see his team step up in such a talented sectional.

“As far as sharing the tournament title championship with Schaumburg, we are ecstatic,” Roth said. “They are a phenomenal team and to be right up there with them is an absolute honor. We saw them earlier in the season and they are solid throughout their entire lineup and very well- coached, so us showing up as well as we did on Friday and Saturday and getting as many points as they did was just beyond fantastic for us.”

Roth said girls wrestling is growing at a fast rate. Several coaches at the sectional discussed the big difference in talent and coaching from last season.

“I have seen some major progress in girls wrestling over the last three years,” Roth said. “The first year we had an IHSA state series, to be moderately successful you just had to be athletic, or aggressive, or extra points if you were both. But now it’s very obvious that there is more talent out there which makes it tougher to be successful, but also pushes girls to keep getting better as well. 

“Girls are starting wrestling earlier and earlier and I do not think it will be long until most teams in the state have not only a full lineup, but a JV lineup as well. It’s still kind of tough for those girls that cannot quite break the varsity lineup to get matches just because so few teams have full lineups, much less extras. 

“Luckily, most of the tournaments that run allow extras to enter them, so those JV girls can still get some experience on the mat and get better prepared for seasons to come. It’s really great to see it growing and improving so much though. It is especially fun to see the big-name girls competing so close to home too. I mean Illinois has some of the biggest names in the country competing for us. You have Sydney Perry, Cadence Diduch, Gabby Gomez and Morgan Turner. These are big names that are known at the national and international level, wrestling right here in front of you and that is a really cool experience and very humbling.”

Regarding his team, Roth praised his two sectional champions for stepping up. Morgan Turner captured a title at 110 and Claudia Heeney won her weight class at 130.

“Morgan is a very talented wrestler, as is Claudia,” Roth said. “Claudia has been with us since her freshman year last year and is an amazing asset to the team. She is looked up to by all the other girls and is a great role model. She is an exceptional leader in the practice room and always works hard. She also has knocked it out of the park with her grades. She currently has a 4.0 GPA in school. Having Claudia on the team is great not only because she is obviously a good wrestler, but she makes everyone around her better as well.

“Our other two qualifiers, Rebekah Ramirez and Averi Colella, have similar stories as well. They both work hard and are great students. Having kids that you do not have to worry about any of the other stuff like grades, and behavior is a great feeling because you just know that the other stuff is taken care of already. So as a coach, you do not have to worry about it and can focus on the wrestling. All of our qualifiers are coming back next year as well so that is a great feeling too. I have even more time to keep developing the team and getting even better. Maybe next year we can win the sectional tournament outright.”

Hoffman Estates coach Leo Clark was all smiles following the last match of the day. At 120 pounds, Hoffman Estates’ Sophia Ball capped a dominating weekend by cruising to a sectional championship. At the next weight, teammate Abi Ji finished second at 125 to advance to state. In addition, Emmylina O’Brien took third at 135 and Anjali Gonzalez earned fourth at 235 to round out the Hawks’ state qualifiers.

“Sophia Ball came out and wrestled well in the finals and handled business,” Clark said. “Abi Ji got second and made a couple of mistakes but we will make some adjustments and be ready for state to get her on the podium. Emmylina is another tough wrestler. We’re looking for her to do some damage and have some success. Anjali is dangerous. You don’t want to wrestle her.”

Clark said the Schaumburg Sectional is a good testing ground for his wrestlers.

“We’re going to have a lot of state champions coming out of this sectional,” Clark said. “There was so much talent up and down the board. It was a loaded sectional, which was exciting to see. I expect a lot of placers coming out of state.”

100—Alycia Perry, Glenbard West

Glenbard West senior Alycia Perry did everything right on the mat on Saturday.

She just made one mistake after her 4-2 win over Batavia’s Lily Enos in the 100-pound finals. Perry (31-0) made the mistake of walking over to the wrong coaches following the completion of her stellar championship match win.

“I actually wear glasses, so I’m kind of blind without them,” Perry said, smiling. “Usually, the coaches are on the (other) side, so that’s the side I usually go to. I didn’t realize they were on the other side. This feels really, really good. I worked really, really hard for this.”

A tough-as-nail competitor, Perry (31-0) credited her belief that early in the season that she could win a sectional title.

“I was just focused on my offense, tried to take my shots because that’s how you win,” Perry said. “Last year I didn’t make state, so this is a really big moment for me. I had some really good competition today, so I’m surprised I made it through. I definitely could’ve taken more shots today, and been more offensive.”

Batavia’s Enos (38-10) heads to state, while West Aurora’s Kameyah Young defeated Montini’s Kat Bell in the third-place match with a 12-4 major decision.

105 – Nadia Shymkiv, Glenbard East

Glenbard East sophomore Nadia Shymkiv (18-0) was locked into a tough match in the finals, but she managed to make an incredible turnaround that shocked the crowd. She pinned Huntley’s Janiah Slaughter in the second period to win at 105.

“I was scared when I got put on my back, but I fought hard to get off,” Shymkiv said. “My coaches inspired me because they believed in me. I knew I needed to be aggressive and try to pin her. I was relieved when I heard the referee call the pin.”

Shymkiv said she was happy to repeat as a sectional champion. She captured an 18-4 major decision win over Addison Trail’s Veronica Cosio in the sectional semifinals.

“I was a little nervous, but still confident that I would do well,” Shymkiv said. “I thought I wrestled well, but I think I could do better. I want to work on taking better shots. I won sectionals last year and expected to win it again. I want to win state. I have worked really hard and trained a lot. I’m in great shape and I want it very much.”

Late in the second period, Glenbard East coach Matt Nelson provided Shymkiv a source of motivation by telling him Slaughter was tired.

“She wrestled great and showed it,” Nelson said.

Lockport’s Averi Colella (39-11) won the third-place match, pinning Cosio in the third period.

110 – Morgan Turner, Lockport

As one of the celebrated stars of the sport, Lockport sophomore Morgan Turner handled her business on Saturday afternoon with an efficient yet powerful performance.

Turner (7-0) defeated Bartlett’s Emma Engels (30-13) with a 16-3 major decision in the 110-pound finals.

“I was trying to be slick because (wrestlers) were a lot bigger and I trusted my training,” Turner said. “I worked on everything my coaches taught me.”

Morgan said wrestling is in her blood.

“My brother did it, my mom did it and my uncle did it, so I just started it,” Turner said.

Turner’s late season success is not surprising due to her worldly talents, but she dealt with an assortment of injuries all season that limited her time on the mat.

“I’m just grateful that I was able to come back, and at least finish out on the girls season because they wouldn’t let me finish out on the boys,” Turner said. “I was out six to seven weeks. I got cleared a day before regionals. I feel good now. I stayed solid in my position, kept my head up and listened to my coaches.”

On the other side of the gym, Crystal Lake South Annalee Aarseth notched a 3-1 decision against Grant’s Ayane Jasinski in the third-place match.

115 – Gabby Gomez, Glenbard North

Glenbard North junior Gabby Gomez spent the majority of her finals match showing her dominance. The title match was a good opportunity for Gomez to work on her conditioning, technique and get some additional mat-time against a quality opponent.

Gomez, one of Illinois’ marquee girls’ wrestlers, is among the best in the Midwest. She showed that again in the 115-pound finals, pinning Andrew’s Sophia Figueroa in a powerful showing of her talents to improve to 34-0.

“I knew she was going to be a tough competitor, so I was focused on keeping my composure and trying new things,” Gomez said of her finals match. “Right now, I really want to practice my top (position). My top is getting a lot better. I kept my composure.”

Besides her first-place medal, Gomez walked away from the sectionals with a lasting memory.

“I bit my lip pretty hard today,” Gomez said.

Gomez, a two-time state champion, also commented on the toughness of the sectional.

“It’s a lot more different because there’s a lot more girls in our sectionals,” Gomez said. “I think our sectional is probably one of the toughest ones. The bracket is not easy. So seeing the girls you will see at state is even better. You’d rather have the tough ones now because it really only matters at state. All you have to do is qualify here.”

Glenbard North coach Chris Edwards said Gomez is focused on a three-peat.

“She’s always focused and set goals early in the season and getting the takedown record. She already broke her own record from last year,” Edwards said. “She’s really focused and an energetic wrestler. She’s in better shape than anyone. She’s good at breaking her opponent.”

Wheaton Warrenville South senior Star Duncan pinned Bartlett’s Angie Carpintero in the first period to notch the third-place medal.

120 – Sophia Ball, Hoffman Estates

Sophia Ball had a big group of fans cheering her on in the title match at 120, but one spectator definitely caught her eye in the middle of her match.

After winning the 115-pound title, Glenbard North star Gabby Gomez, a two-time state champion, sat down and watched her friend and summer training partner from just a few feet outside the circle.

Ball did not disappoint her friend.

The junior remained undefeated, just like Gomez, with a first period pin over West Aurora’s Aiyanah Sylvester. Ball (24-0) won all three matches in her bracket via a pin. She placed fifth at state last year at 120. Ball said Gomez helped her up her game this season.

“I feel way better this year,” Ball said. “I was training all summer with Gabby and her dad. I think it helped me a lot on the offensive side. I think it did a lot. Gabby really helped me and showed me technique when I didn’t get it. Warming up with her today was really nice.”

Ball said her main focus in sectionals was setting herself up for a run at the state title.

“I just really wanted to win because I wanted better seeding at state,” Ball said. “I had a good warmup and having good partners and training helped me.”

Ball said she’s excited to be healthy and primed for a state title run after being out with a concussion.

“I had a concussion at the beginning, so I missed half the tournaments and meets we went to,” Ball said. “It was literally on the first day of practice, so it’s been pretty weird. I was really mad and also sad. I just wanted to wrestle. I was out for a month and a half. I just rested and worked out in the gym and started to slowly get back to the mat. I think about five or six matches, I saw my conditioning start going back up and the matches started being the same again.”

Addison Trail’s Nina Matthews pinned Naperville Central’s Ellen Purl in the second period for the third-place medal.

125 – Lilly White, Bartlett

Bartlett coach Matt Pancamo couldn’t stop smiling following White’s title victory, mainly because he has two more full years working with her. Before this season, White had never wrestled but decided to take a stab at the growing sport.

“This is her first year wrestling with us,” Pancamo said. “She was doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu. She’s been fantastic and puts in extra overtime and helps coach little kids on the weekend or during the week. She’s a great student of the sport. She’s been wanting to learn. I watched her first match at the start of the season beating the boys.”

White (28-3) capped off her stunning run to state by notching a 9-1 major decision over Hoffman Estates’ Abi Ji in the finals at 125 pounds.

“I never thought I could do it, but all my coaches and teammates have been very supportive,” White said. “My coaches have been watching the matches and tried to drill in what I had to work on. I just had to tell myself not to let the past affect me.”

White said her martial arts background helps her on the mat.

“That helps me with takedowns and helped me get a head start,” White said. “The Palatine tournament in late December was my turning point for me to realize I could do it. I love that girls wrestling is becoming so popular. I loved being here and doing it.”

Schaumburg junior Madyson Meyer is headed to state following a first-period pin over Riverside-Brookfield’s Eleanor Aphay in the third-place match.

130 – Claudia Heeney, Lockport

After earning a second-place medal at state at 125 pounds last season, Lockport sophomore Claudia Heeney has her sights focused on the top prize in two weeks.

Heeney broke her thumb during freestyle state, which has affected her development since the summer.

“I think I have a lot less confidence, but I’m getting it back slowly,” Heeney said. “Since my injury, I haven’t been able to gain it all this season. Today was a confidence booster, to come back and win sectionals was a big deal for me. It wasn’t until about mid-November that I realized my thumb wasn’t okay, so I had to take five weeks off. I had a lot less confidence coming back because of that. I’m going into state with a clear mind and going out there and wrestling my match every single time.”

Heeney (17-1) defeated Huntley sophomore Aubrie Rohrbacher (40-4) in a hard-fought 4-0 grind in the 130-pound final.

“I’ve been working on bottom a lot recently and my coach has been getting on me to get out,” Heeney said. “Since I’ve been working on it, it’s been going really well. (Rohrbacher) is a very talented wrestler. I tried to wrestle my match to the best I could, so she wrestled her match. It was definitely a grind.”

Prospect junior Viola Pianetto (22-4) recorded a first-period pin win over Wheeling’s Elise Burkut (29-9) for third place.

135 – Katie Ramirez-Quintero, Bolingbrook

Kate Ramirez-Quintero notched Bolingbrook’s lone sectional title win by fall over Elmwood Park’s Rose Craig in the 135-pound title match.

Ramirez-Quintero (30-3) is headed back to state armed with more experience.

“It’s all about not being afraid of anyone because anyone is beatable,” she said. “Records and rankings don’t matter. I think I got into my head last year, looking at the rankings. I had to get that out of my head. I’m just trying to have fun with wrestling this year. It’s my last year, not to put too much pressure on it.”

Now healthy, Ramirez-Quintero is primed for a big showing at state.

“I feel good,” she said. “I’ve been wrestling since freshman year. It’s always been my best sport. I used to play soccer and flag football. I have to sharpen up what I already know and be good at my staples. Last year was pretty bad with injuries. Thankfully, I haven’t had any injuries this year. I feel like a different person.”

Bolingbrook coach Jordan Hovel said Ramirez-Quintero is wrestling at a very high level.

“She stayed on her attack and we’ve been working a lot on her getting after it and not playing around too much, and that’s what she did today,” Hovel said. “She wrestled (Craig) two weeks ago at regionals, so we knew her well. We just had to play our game. I think we can get to the finals at state.”

Hoffman Estates senior Emmylina O’Brien (21-17) pinned Conant sophomore Jasmine Zavaleta in the third-place bout.

140 – Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic, Schaumburg

Seconds after pinning Andrew’s Alyssa Keane in the second period to win the 140-pound sectional championship, Schaumburg junior Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic (34-2) was mobbed by several teammates and fans.

That’s the positive side of wrestling on your home mat, as she wrestled one of the most-watched finals matches.

“The key was I kind of viewed all of the girls in my bracket and knew they were all really good, but  my coach told me to prepare for six minutes,” Zerafa-Lazarevic said. “He got me mentally and physically ready, but also having this home field advantage and seeing all my girls was so helpful. It was super awesome. I was in a pin position and she was tight and her coaches were in my ear. I was getting in my own head and then I hear my best friend scream and that helped me. I fought through it and had my teammates and coaches and the energy in the room that helped me.”

Zerafa-Lazarevic said she was motivated to break new ground after placing second in the past two seasons in her weight class.

“Everyone was saying there was no pressure for me because I was going to state anyways,” she said. “For me, I felt the pressure. The pressure was on because I had to break the curse, especially in the home gym. We love hosting. It was really awesome. Last year I was cutting too much. Being able to not worry about weight and cutting has completely changed the experience for me this year. When I’m not worried about making weight, it makes everything so much easier.”

Richmond-Burton senior Jasmine McCaskel (19-3) earned a first-period pin over McHenry’s Natalie Corona.

 145 – Sydney Perry, Batavia

Coming into the sectional, Batavia senior Sydney Perry (37-0) didn’t lack for name recognition as one of the elite wrestlers in the country.

She added to her growing fame by handing Fenton’s Yamile Penaloza (34-1) her first defeat of the season via first-period pin at 145 pounds.

“I just practiced my shots and learning positions and tried to stay into it,” Perry said. “I have the same mindset as last year, excited to be done with the high school season and get ready for world team trials and all the great national tournaments that are coming up.”

Batavia coach Scott Bayer said Perry is a unique athlete who doesn’t require much of a push by the coaching staff to train.

“She’s been flawless,” Bayer said.  “She’s a once-in-a-career kid to have in your room. The great thing is she grew up in our Batavia wrestling club, a home-grown talent and trained Izzy style and dedicated to her own training all year round but also dedicated to our program, too. She’s basically one of my assistant coaches and a team leader and an absolute gift.”

In the third-place match, Harvard sophomore Ithandehui Rosas (33-9) is headed to the state tournament with momentum after earning a 6-3 win over Downers Grove North’s Natalia Cruz.

155 – Valeria Rodriguez, Schaumburg

Last season, Valeria Rodriguez was a ball of energy and smiles after her showing at sectionals. This season, at regionals and sectionals, Rodriguez remained focused and driven even well-after her victories.

Rodriguez (37-1) remained on track toward a big finish at state by notching a 5-1 decision over Hinsdale South’s Callie Carr in the 155-pound finale. A three-time state qualifier, Rodriguez placed third at state at 140 pounds.

“Balance and movement and patience were key for me today,” Rodriguez said. “This year, as I’ve gotten closer to state, I’ve been more zoned in and more focused on my goal and what I want to do. Last year I moved a lot less, but this year at my bracket, I’m like more of the smaller girls in my bracket. I weighed in at 153 today. If I’m not wrestling or maintaining my weight, I’m naturally at 145.”

Rodriguez, in her fourth year wrestling, said she’s glanced at her possible state opponents, noting she’s aiming for a top-of-the-podium ending to her storied prep career.

“It’s my senior year and I’m giving it everything I have,” she said. “I don’t want to leave Schaumburg High School without winning state. That’s my ultimate goal. I want to leave something behind for my teammates and coaches.”

Fenton’s Sophia Sosa notched a tough 2-1 win over West Aurora’s Ionicca Rivera in the third-place match.

170 – Kayleigh Loo, Downers Grove North

Downers Grove North wrestler Kayleigh Loo was just happy to be on the mat at the Schaumburg Sectional.

Maybe that’s why she couldn’t stop smiling following her amazing performance, which ended with a second-period pin over Maine West’s Lillian Garrett in the 170 final.

Loo said she was happy because she had a different feeling last season at sectionals.

“I tore my ACL, so I wasn’t able to wrestle last year about halfway into the season,” Loo said. “I was here last year. I sat at the top because there’s always a great view. I felt I could’ve taken half of these girls (last year). I was watching what they were doing, and how I could do it better. It was hard watching. I wanted to be out there.”

Loo (21-0) is headed to the state tournament after notching her 20th pin of the season.

“I tried not to go on bottom, and let (Garrett) get on top of me,” Loo said of her strategy in the finals. “I kept my head up and took my shots with my arms in. This feels fantastic, all the hours of physical therapy I put in. I put in hundreds of hours. It was physically hard. It feels great to be back.”

Downers Grove North coach Marcos Rico said Loo is special wrestler and teammate.

“Kayleigh started off the season wrestling varsity boys, so she’s really been putting it together,” Rico said. “This year she’s been healthy. She’s a workaholic and does everything right on the mat and in the classroom. I think she’s only had three matches go outside the first period. She’s been wrestling with confidence and having fun.”

Proviso East’s Haley Arechiga sealed her third-place medal with a third-period pin over Andrew’s Janae Vargas.

190 – Jasmine Rene, Wheeling

Wheeling sophomore Jasmine Rene had plenty of fans at Saturday’s Sectional. Rene, who pinned Oak Park-River Forest’s Trinity White in the third period of a long match in the 190 finals, spent most of the her time before the medals were handed out in the stands talking to congratulators on both sides of the gym.

She earned that respect by improving to 33-1 on the season.

“Today, I just came out and wrestled my bracket. I knew I had a lot of tough girls in my bracket, with three state placers and other state qualifiers, but I had to wrestle like it was just another match for me,” she said.

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Wrestling fans can be sure that the fur will be flying when top-ranked Montini Catholic and No. 2 IC Catholic Prep square off at this year’s 2A Wauconda Dual Team Sectional.

Montini advanced 12 wrestlers to this year’s individual finals in Champaign and IC Prep advanced 10, giving the two programs a combined 22 state qualifiers of the 56 who advanced from this year’s Grayslake Central individual sectional.

It’s a transgression against Illinois high school wrestling that the powers that be scheduled the two top-ranked teams in an elimination dual, ensuring that one of them won’t wrestle in the dual team state finals.

A simple seeding process would likely prevent such an occurrence — as it’s done in every other team sport except football — but that’s a story for another time.

Montini had four individual champions in Grayslake in Allen Woo (106), Mikey Malizzio (113), Josh Vazquez (126), and David Mayora (150), while IC Prep had five champs in Deven Casey (120), Bryson Spaulding (138), Joe Gliatta (165), Foley Calcagno (190), and Michael Calcagno (215).

“This sectional is so tough,” Montini coach Mike Bukovsky said. “There are weight classes where you’re going to get multiple place-winners from this sectional. We knew that going in. We had a rough semifinal where we only won four (out of 10) of those matches. So we challenged ourselves to pick it up and I was really pleased with the way they responded.”

The blood round was where Montini truly shined, going 8-for-8 in wins in the consolation semifinals – that brutal round at every individual sectional which determines who will wrestle downstate, and who goes home.

“I don’t know if we’ve ever done that before,” Bukovsky said of his squad’s 8-for-8 blood round performance. “You look at those blood-round guys. Kam Luif (132) and Jeremy Huf (138) bounced back, and Harrison Konder (157) got caught this morning by a real tough kid from Lake Forest (Seth Digby) and bounced back, and that’s what this sport is about.”

“Santino Tenuta (165) had a bad match last night and came all the way back to take third place in his bracket — it’s guts, toughness, and heart. Then AJ Tack (175) and Santino both bumped up a weight for us when Harrison became eligible late in the year, and they both qualified. They deserve it, they did everything right, and they’re just great kids.”

“Jaxon Lane had the best day of his season today at 190 and really wrestled his butt off to finish fourth. It just goes up and down the lineup.”

Isaac Mayora (120) and Mick Ranquist (285) rounded out Montini’s 12 state qualifiers.

IC Prep coach Danny Alcocer’s boys also won four blood-round matches to earn state qualification, in Kannon Judycki (113), Pat Mullen (144), Brody Kelly (150), and Nate Brown (175) to round out IC’s 10 qualifiers.

“It was a great team effort. You always want to get more guys through and there are always a couple guys you wish could have performed better to get down(state),”Alcocer said. “But overall we did great and the team is coming together at the right time. I can’t wait to see how these guys do next week in Champaign.”

In his first year at the helm, Alcocer has IC poised to make a run at state glory.

“It’s a different vibe this year but I don’t deserve to take all the credit. We have a great coaching staff and what I like to say is ‘it’s we, not me’,” Alcocer said, tipping his hat to assistant coaches Corey Stanley, Randy Spaulding, and Tony Norton for the job they do with the IC program.

Other sectional champions at Grayslake Central were Edgar Albino (132), St. Patrick’s Nikolas Karamaniolas (144), Lake Forest’s Seth Digby (157), Grayslake Central’s Matty Jens (175), and Fenton’s Thomas Klos (285).

Wauconda advanced six wrestlers to Champaign, St. Patrick advanced four, while host Grayslake Central, Deerfield, Fenwick, Notre Dame, and Antioch each advanced three wrestlers downstate.

2A Grayslake Central Individual Sectional championship match results:

106 – Allen Woo, Montini Catholic

The top three ranked wrestlers in Illinois at 106 battled for a sectional title in Grayslake, and No. 3 Allen Woo (17-3) of Montini shined in winning the sectional title.

Woo has the ingredients that could have him en route to winning a state title, as the top-ranked Montini freshman dominated Wauconda’s No. 2 Gavin Rockey in a 9-2 decision in the finals.

“Allen just does everything right,” Montini coach Mike Bukovsky said. “Great kid, hard worker, and just absolutely as robotic and disciplined as they come, in everything he does. He’s a great representation for our program.”

Woo set himself apart from the field with a quarterfinal fall before winning 8-1 over Grayslake Central’s top-ranked Vince DeMarco (39-6). Wood then handled No. 2 Rockey with a pair of first-period takedowns, one in the second, and one more in the third without giving up a single takedown.

Rockey won a 4-3 ultimate tie-break decision in his semifinal match against Antioch’s Jacob Smith (25-8). DeMarco went on to place third by walkover against St. Patrick’s Daniel Goodwin (37-9).

Woo lost part of this season to injury and only recently returned to the fold.

“Regionals was my first tournament back and I feel good,” Woo said. “I just know that nobody trains as hard as me, so I was ready. We’ve got good coaches and we train hard, so we’re all ready for whatever comes our way.”

113 – Mikey Malizzio, Montini Catholic

Along with Woo, Montini’s other highly-touted lower-weight freshman is Mikey Malizzio. Malizzio toughed out a 5-4 semifinal win over Notre Dame’s John Sheehy (39-10), then used a third-period reversal in the finals for a 3-0 win over Cary-Grove’s Hunter Lenz (14-4).

Third-ranked freshman Malizzio improved to 30-5 in winning the first sectional title of his career.

“I love what he’s doing this year,” Montini coach Mike Bukovsky said. “He had a couple growing pains early in the year but he wrestles smart, and he can wrestle in all three phases and I think that’s the secret to him.”

The junior Lenz reached the finals with an 8-1 semifinal decision over IC Prep freshman Kannon Judycki (24-16). Sixth-ranked Sheehy and Judycki bounced back with pins in the blood round, and Sheehy placed third with a fall against Judycki.

120 – Deven Casey, IC Catholic Prep

Two of the state’s best at 120 squared off in the finals at Grayslake Central when IC Prep’s No. 2-ranked Deven Casey and Antioch’s No. 3 Gavin Hanrahan took to the title mat.

Casey (30-4) ultimately prevailed 7-5 over Hanrahan (37-7) to give IC the first of its five individual sectional titles on the day.

“You just can’t say enough about (Casey),” IC coach Danny Alcocer said. “His GPA is above 4.0, he’s a great team leader, and he does all the little things that we ask of him. I can’t wait to see him compete downstate.”

Hanrahan had the first takedown of the match, Casey had the second and led 5-4 after a period. Casey reversed Hanrahan to start the second, Hanrahan escaped, and Casey’s 7-5 lead held up for the rest of the match between the two juniors.

Casey placed third in Illinois at 106 as a freshman and third at 113 last season; Hanrahan was a state qualifier as a freshman and a sophomore.

Casey won by major decision in his semifinal match against Montini freshman Isaac Mayora (29-12), while Hanrahan won by fall in his semifinal against DePaul College Prep’s Johnny Cunningham (32-13). Wauconda’s Lucas Galdine (32-16) took third to advance and Mayora placed fourth in getting to Champaign.

126 – Josh Vazquez, Montini Catholic

Another bracket featuring four top 10-ranked wrestlers saw the day’s tightest finals match play out, when Montini’s top-ranked Josh Vazquez (39-4) took on Deerfield’s No. 4 Luke Reddy (40-3) at 126.

A scoreless first period in the finals gave way to a long second period of riding time for Vazquez, but Reddy escaped with five seconds remaining in the period and led 1-0 heading into the third.

A Vazquez escape to start the third made it 1-1, which held to a first overtime in neutral, which went scoreless. A Reddy escape to start the second OT put him up 2-1 before Vazquez got a reversal to start the third OT and held on for the 3-2 victory.

“I wasn’t wresting as sharp as I wanted to but later in the match I kind of picked it up,” Vazquez said. “My conditioning kind of pulled me through.”

Vazquez placed fourth in Champaign at 132 as a freshman and second at 120 last season. 

“I’ll just get my practices in, probably not too hard but just keeping my body ready for state,” Vazquez said.

132 – Edgar Albino, Antioch

At this stage, Antioch senior Edgar Albino is a wily veteran of the state tournament. He’s a two-time medal winner and three-time IHSA state-qualifier, and a medal-winner his freshman year at the IWCOA state tournament during the COVID year.

Albino finished fourth at 132 in Champaign last year and third at 120 as a sophomore. He’s now a senior with an approach that young wrestlers should heed.

“I’m having fun now. It’s a game; it’s not life or death,” Albino said. “In past years I was too nervous and I wasn’t having fun at all. Now, I’m just letting it fly. It’s just a sport.”

On the mat, Albino is also using his speed, fakes, and snaps to greater effect. The third-ranked senior improved to 38-4 with his 5-2 win in the finals Saturday over IC Prep’s No. 8 Omar Samayoa.

“I wrestled him at a (club) practice and I knew he was defensive,” Albino said. “So I already had a plan in my head — just be patient.”

A scoreless first period gave way to a second-period Albino takedown, and Albino led 3-1 before scoring again off a desperation shot from Samayoa in the waning seconds of the third period.

Samayoa (26-15) reached the finals with a 7-2 semifinal win over St. Patrick’s fifth-ranked Olin Walker (35-5), while Albino gutted out a 3-1 sudden victory decision in his semifinal against Montini’s fourth-ranked Kam Luif (33-7). Walker won by fall over Luif on the third-place mat.

138 – Bryson Spaulding, IC Catholic Prep

If you could bottle and sell senior-year urgency, you’d be a millionaire in no time. But IC Prep senior Bryson Spaulding came by that sense of urgency honestly, after three years of high school wrestling.

“I started feeling it at the very beginning of the season and I’ve worked on all the things I need to clean up, on my endurance — I felt it right away,” Spaulding said. “I feel more prepared, I’ve improved my focus and I’m definitely more driven this year.”

Senior-year drive drove Spaulding (31-10) to a sectional title, one week after winning a regional title. Both times, he faced Deerfield’s Jordan Rasof (36-7) on the title mat.

“I wrestled Rasof in the finals at the regional, so I knew I could beat him,” Spaulding said. “I just had to stay on my technique and stay aggressive. After no scoring in the first period I felt alright because I was staying aggressive and true to my technique.”

A Spaulding takedown in the second period and another in the third sent Spaulding to a 5-1 victory and a third berth in the IHSA state finals. The junior Rasof advanced downstate again after placing sixth at 126 in Champaign last year.

Fourth-ranked Spaulding won by major decision in his semifinal match over Wauconda’s Cooper Daun (36-10), and fifth-ranked Rasof won by 5-3 sudden victory decision over Montini’s Jeremy Huf (13-1). Huf won by major decision over Daun for third place.

144 – Niko Karamaniolas, St. Patrick

Illinois’ third, fifth, seventh, and eighth-ranked wrestlers at 144 dove into Saturday’s sectional pool and when it was over, St. Patrick’s No. 5 Niko Karamaniolas (31-5) was the last man treading water.

Karamaniolas won his first sectional title in a hard-fought 8-6 decision in the finals against Deerfield’s No. 7 Mark Martinez (28-3), who kept coming in the third chasing a 6-2 Karamaniolas advantage in the third period.

It was a hard day’s work for all four of the top 10-ranked 144-pounders.

“I also had (IC Prep’s No. 3) Patrick Mullen in the semi’s so I knew it was a tough draw for me,”  Karamaniolas said, “but I had to just go out and treat it like it was any other match.”

Karamaniolas won a 4-3 decision over Mullen (22-8) to reach the finals, while Martinez won by major decision in his semifinal match against St. Ignatius’ Nate Sanchez (35-8). Mullen went on the place third by major decision over No. 8 Tony Hinojosa (33-10) of Carmel.

“Rankings don’t really mean much right now,” Karamaniolas said. “You just have to go out on the mat and give it all you can. I love the kind of matches I had today. In the third period it’s about who wants it more and I wanted it more in every single match. I’m locked in and have my head in the right place.”

150 – David Mayora, Montini Catholic

As one of eight seniors winning sectional titles in Grayslake, Montini Catholic’s top-ranked David Mayora is pulling out all stops during his final run at winning a state title.

Mayora has placed second and third in Champaign in the last two years but with the curtain closing on his high school wrestling career, he is wrestling with a level of aggressiveness that is off the charts.

“(Aggression) has been prioritized all season but right now I feel like I’m kicking it into overdrive,” Mayora said. “Last year I didn’t have as much confidence as I do now, to want to go out there and just rip people’s heads off. And now it’s showing.”

Mayora (34-1) won by fall for a sectional title against Wauconda’s No. 9-ranked Cole Porten (40-8). Mayora led 6-2 when he took Porten to the mat and won by fall at 3:35.

“I realized how strong he was but I didn’t want to let that affect me,” Mayora said. “I just didn’t want to put myself into any compromising positions and give up any points.”

Mayora opened with a win by fall Friday before he and IC Prep’s No. 3 Brody Kelly (30-7) wrestled to overtime in their semifinal match Saturday. Mayora got the takedown he needed in overtime for the 3-1 decision win.

The Montini senior is locked in as he makes a final run at state finals glory.

“I’ve been improving, figuring out my techniques, my strengths, and figuring out that I’m good at anything I put my mind to,” Mayora said.

Kelly won by fall for third place against Cary-Grove’s Noah Pechotta (36-9).

157 – Seth Digby, Lake Forest

State-ranked No.’s 2, 3, and 4 at joined Saturday’s sectional party at 157, and Lake Forest’s No. 3 Seth Digby was the last one to leave.

Two-time state qualifier Digby (38-2) won a 10-3 decision in the finals over Wauconda’s No. 4 Nicholas Cheshier (27-5). Montini’s No. 2 Harrison Konder (11-2) took third and St. Patrick’s Van Grasser (37-14) finished fourth to advance.

Digby won his first sectional title and heading into Grayslake, he wasn’t too concerned with rankings.

“I was just focused on wrestling whoever was in front of me,” Digby said. “It’s my senior year and I just want to have fun. Rankings can get into your head a little bit so I’ve always tried not to pay too much attention to them.”

Digby was a state qualifier in each of the past two years and this year he wants to end his high school career on a Champaign podium.

“The job’s not finished yet. My sophomore year I was sort of surprised I made it (downstate) and was almost just satisfied with that,” Digby said. “Last year I just didn’t wrestle very well at the state tournament but I think it will be a lot different this year.”

Digby led 5-0 in Saturday’s finals after one period thanks to a cradle and back points, then rode Cheshier out for the whole second period before getting two more takedowns in the third.

“We’ve worked on riding a lot in the past month,” Digby said. “It’s something I’ve struggled with but I feel like I’ve turned a switch a little bit. When you’re wrestling the top kids in the state, it’s a key to being able to win a match.”

Digby won by first-period fall in his semifinal match against Konder, while Cheshier won by 8-3 decision in his semifinal against Grasser.

165 – Joe Gliatta, IC Catholic Prep

Another tough bracket at 165 saw four wrestlers ranked among the top 10 in Illinois get after it in Grayslake.

The highest-ranked among them won the crown, as IC Prep’s No. 2 Joe Gliatta (37-6) became the third of the Knights’ five sectional champions on the day. Gliatta won by fall at 1:33 in the finals against Vernon Hills’ No. 7 Ilia Dvoriannikov (29-6), in a first period that saw no shortage of action.

“He came real hard but I got five points in the (first period),” Gliatta said. “He got a reversal, I got up, then got him to his back. It was a short but a long match.”

Gliatta placed sixth at 145 in Champaign two years ago and was a state qualifier last year as a junior. This year

“In previous years I started calm but I know I have to push the pace now because I don’t think anyone can keep up with me,” Gliotta said. “Every day I run two miles, we do bike sprints, and I’m ready to go. Everyone on (IC Prep) wants the same goal and this team is really good.”

Gliatta won a 4-2 semifinal decision over Antioch’s No. 8 Ben Vazquez (35-12), while Dvoriannikov won an 8-4 decision over Montini’s No. 9 Santino Tenuta (30-7). Tenuta went on to place third and Fenton’s Jovany Zuniga (36-5) was fourth.

Gliatta will spend the week before Champaign shoring up his technique. He wasn’t happy with his 4-2 semifinal decision over Vazquez.

“I feel like I let him come to me instead of doing my own thing,” Gliatta said. “I wasn’t attacking enough.”

175 – Matty Jens, Grayslake Central

Matty Jens’ rampage through Illinois’ 175-pound weight class continued on Saturday.

The top-ranked Grayslake Central senior and last year’s state champion at 182 won his second sectional title and improved to 37-1 with a fall in the finals against Fenwick’s Patrick Gilboy (30-12).

Afterwards, Jens was asked if he’s any different than he was when he won a prestigious Dvorak tournament title back in December.

“If I wrestled Matty Jens from six weeks ago, I’d smash that guy’s face,” Jens said. “I think I’d whip his butt. Because everything you do in this sport can get better, every single day.”

Jens got in some work on his feet at this year’s sectional. He won his quarterfinal match by tech fall and led 16-4 after a period in the finals, before a pin at 2:39 ended his day.

Gilboy won a 3-2 decision in his semifinal match against St. Patrick’s Devin Nichol (36-14). After losing to Jens in his quarterfinal match, Montini’s AJ Tack (34-8) ticked off three wins in the wrestlebacks to take third place, with IC Prep’s Nate Brown (8-12) wrestling back to place fourth.

Jens placed second in state at 182 as a sophomore and placed fifth at 170 in the IWCOA state tournament as a freshman.

“When I was younger I was just having fun, and I got to wrestle, too,” Jens said. “But now I’ve matured mentally and physically, and I want to be the best. And I’ll do everything I can do to get there.

“Losing in the finals my sophomore year was pretty rough. It was an eye-opener. But the year before that, getting my butt whipped every single day was a key to making me better.”

190 – Foley Calcagno, IC Catholic Prep

IC Prep’s third-ranked sophomore Foley Calcagno (32-6) and Notre Dame’s No. 7 senior Jim Amatore (34-7) stood across each other on the title mat at 190, and Calcagno’s 6-5 decision win earned him a sectional crown.

“Foley is one of the football players who has really bought into our new system and the culture change that our staff has brought,” IC Catholic coach Danny Alcocer said. “I’m excited to see what he leaves Champaign with, as well as his development over the next two years.”

Like multiple football players at IC, Calcagno worked out with the wrestling team twice a week during football season to stay sharp.

Calcagno had two first-period takedowns and led 5-2 heading to the third, before Amatore found a takedown with a minute left to make it 6-5. Amatore fought hard for a takedown but Foley held him off for the win.

Calcagno reached the finals with an 8-5 semifinal decision win over Montini’s Jaxon Lane (31-12), and Amatore won his semifinal 2-1 over Antioch’s Colin Arquilla (14-14). Fenwick’s Jack Paris (7-3) wrestled back to place third and Lane took fourth place.

215 – Michael Calcagno, IC Catholic Prep

IC Catholic Prep senior Michael Calcagno was a state champion at 182 his sophomore year before his junior season got derailed.

“I tore my ACL and missed the whole year last year,” Calcagno said. “I made it back for football season this year and went through everything I needed to do to get to wrestle again. I feel hungrier. I lost a year and now I have to go out and make up for it.”

Top-ranked Calcagno is making it count. He improved to 47-4 and won a sectional title with his third pin of the tournament, winning by fall in the finals against Antioch’s Owen Shea (26-13). Calcagno followed his semifinal fall at 0:37 against Notre Dame’s Jack Malenock (32-16) with a fall at 0:36 against Shea.

“I just want to go out there, take care of business, and go,” Calcagno said. “I feel like I had more mat time this year in (pre-season) practice. We got back sooner from football so I had more time on the mat, and we worked hard on conditioning, too.”

Calcagno is aware of the target on his back as the state’s top-ranked 215-pounder but he doesn’t give it a second thought.

“I don’t really care,” Calcagno said. “I don’t like looking at who I have to wrestle, or doing all that digging. I just go out and wrestle. I’ve never really looked at the rankings.”

His advice to young wrestlers who obsess over where they’re ranked is simple.

“Don’t do it,” Calcagno said. “Just wrestle.”

Fenwick’s Luke Dalise (30-16) placed third by decision over fourth-place Hunter Wahtola (29-13) of DePaul College Prep.

285 – Thomas Klos, Fenton

“I wasn’t expecting to be here,” Fenton heavyweight Thomas Klos said. “But here I am.”

‘Here’ for Klos was standing in the gym at Grayslake Central after winning a 2A sectional title, thanks to a fall in the finals against Notre Dame’s Scott Cook.

All unranked Klos had to do was negotiate a sectional heavyweight field that included ninth-ranked Cook, Cary-Grove’s No. 8 Lucas Burton, and Montini’s No. 10 Mick Ranquist. Mission accomplished.

Klos (22-6) won by fall in his semifinal against Ranquist (20-6) before pinning Cook (36-8) for the title. Klos got a headlock and threw Cook to his back before winning by fall at 0:44 in the finals.

“I was just hoping to make it to state. I didn’t think I’d win it all,” Klos said. “But I was able to get to my good stuff.”

“My conditioning is so much better now. I was something like 10-6 in December but I haven’t lost since. I’ve just been winning.”

Klos punched his ticket to Champaign with his semifinal win and stayed aggressive in the final against Cook.

“It was exciting winning my (semifinal) and didn’t really know what to think about the finals but I decided to just go out there and compete,” Klos said. “Now I’ll just heal up my body, go (to Champaign), and try to keep winning.”

Burton (22-7) won by decision for third place and Ranquist (20-6) placed fourth to advance.

2A SECTIONAL QUALIFIERS from Grayslake Central 

Sectional championship match results:

106 – Allen Woo (17-3, Montini) over Gavin Rockey (38-9, Wauconda) D 9-2

113 – Mikey Malizzio (Montini)) 30-5, Fr. over Hunter Lenz (14-4, Cary-Grove) D 3-0

120 – Deven Casey (30-4, IC Catholic) over Gavin Hanrahan (37-7, Antioch) D 7-5

126 – Josh Vazquez (39-4, Montini) over Luke Reddy (40-3, Deerfield) TB-1 3-2

132 – Edgar Albino (38-4, Antioch) over Omar Samayoa (26-15, IC Catholic) D 5-2

138 – Bryson Spaulding (31-10, IC Catholic) over Jordan Rasof (36-7, Deerfield) D 5-1

144 – Nikolas Karamaniolas (31-5, St. Patrick) over Mark Martinez (28-3, Deerfield) D 8-6

150 – David Mayora (34-1, Montini) over Cole Porten (40-8, Wauconda) F 3:35

157 – Seth Digby (38-2, Lake Forest) over Nicholas Cheshier (27-5, Wauconda) D 10-3

165 – Joe Gliatta (37-6, IC Catholic) over Ilia Dvoriannikov (29-6, Vernon Hills) F 1:33

175 – Matty Jens (37-1, Grayslake Central) over Patrick Gilboy (30-12, Fenwick) F 2:39

190 – Foley Calcagno (32-6, IC Catholic) over Jim Amatore (34-7, Notre Dame) D 6-5

215 – Michael Calcagno (47-4 IC Catholic) over Owen Shea (26-13, Antioch) F 0:36

285 – Thomas Klos (22-6, Fenton) over Scott Cook (36-8, Notre Dame) F 0:44

Third-place results:

106 – Vince DeMarco (41-7, Grayslake Central) over Daniel Goodwin (37-9, St. Patrick) (For.)

113 – John Sheehy (39-10 Notre Dame) over Kannon Judycki (24-16, IC Catholic) F 3:04

120 – Lucas Galdine (32-16, Wauconda) over Isaac Mayora (29-12, Montini) fft.

126 – Tyler Weidman (38-4, Grayslake Central) over Nathan Randle (34-8, Wauconda) F 0:29

132 – Olin Walker (35-5 St. Patrick) over Kam Luif (33-7, Montini) F 4:28

138 – Jeremy Huf (13-1, Montini) over Cooper Daun (36-10, Wauconda) MD 13-4

144 – Pat Mullen (22-8, IC Catholic) over Antonio Hinojosa (33-10, Carmel) MD 16-5

150 – Brody Kelly (30-7, IC Catholic) over Noah Pechotta (36-9, Cary-Grove) F 5:35

157 – Harrison Konder (11-2, Montini) over Van Grasser (37-14, St. Patrick) MD 10-1

165 – Santino Tenuta (30-7, Montini) over Jovany Zuniga (36-5, Fenton) F 3:53

175 – AJ Tack (34-8, Montini) over Nate Brown (8-12, IC Catholic) SV-1 9-7

190 – Jack Paris (7-3, Fenwick) over Jaxon Lane (31-12, Montini) D 3-1

215 – Luke Dalise (30-16, Fenwick) over Hunter Wahtola (29-13, DePaul College Prep) D 14-9

285 – Lucas Burton (22-7, Cary-Grove) over Mick Ranquist (20-6, Montini) D 7-2

By Mike Garofola – for the IWCOA

It is never fair to compare the four Class 3A sectional venues across the state. There’s so much talent to go around, that each year all of the sectionals are filled to the brim with talent.

However, it would be considered a massive upset if several from the Barrington Sectional are not involved in the Grand March on Saturday night with the chance of lifting the biggest prize of the 2023-2024 campaign.

When the IHSA Class 3A  tournament opens on Thursday in Champaign on the campus of the University of Illinois, the 3A Barrington Sectional will send 56 of the best from its area, which will include 15 who are in the top four of their respective weight divisions, who are all quite capable of finding themselves on or atop the podium.

The big two-day crowd was treated to several high-profile matches that had a profound impact on how each 16-man field eventually shook down. A sectional championship went to the 14 winners, earning each of them the highly-coveted top-four seed.

Let’s take a look now at each weight class and the many fine young men who passed through on their way to Champaign:

106 – Caleb Noble, Warren

The final session of the Barrington sectional created quite a stir when it opened with No. 1 Rocco Cassioppi (Hononegah, 40-3) and No. 2 Caleb Noble (Warren, 38-3) stepping out onto mat No.1 in the 106-pound final.

These two fantastic freshmen can already be found in the national rankings, where they have validated their lofty status in the country with their impressive results in and out of the state.

Noble, who earlier in the season lost to Cassioppi in the Ironman semifinals, would avenge that 4-2 defeat with a marvelous six-minute performance en route to a 7-4 victory to claim the first sectional title of the day.

“It was obviously a very good win for me today. I was a little cautious the first time we met at the Ironman but today I was much more aggressive right from the start to help me set the tone for the match,” said Noble, who would start down in the third period with a 4-3 advantage, make it 5-3 with an early escape, then extend his lead to 7-3 midway one minute from time.

“Rocco is a great wrestler, and to be honest, I hope we meet in the state final next weekend,” added Noble.

No. 8 Kaleb Pratt (Barrington, 33-11) is on his way to Champaign after his pin of James Hemmila (Loyola Academy) in the third place match between a pair of regional champions.

113 – Bruno Cassioppi, Hononegah

No. 4 Bruno Cassioppi spent countless hours inside the big gym here in Barrington during the days when his older brother Tony dominated the field at 285, before heading off to the University of Iowa where he became a four-time All-American.

On Saturday, the Hononegah freshman would add another big piece of sectional hardware to the Cassioppi family collection following his masterful effort during a 15-3 major decision victory over Warren junior Jonathan Marquez.

“I was running around this gym when I was just a little guy with my brother Rocco, so it’s kind of cool to actually come here to wrestle and win a sectional championship,” said Cassioppi after claiming his seventh major of the season, which includes a NIC-10 conference title.

“One of the most important things I learned from Tony is that hard work eventually pays off, and that’s what I will continue to do when we get back to training,” added Cassioppi.

The aforementioned Marquez is now 30-9, while third-place Anthony Orozco-Diaz (Hersey, 26-3) moves on after his 3-2 decision over Grant sophomore Vince Jasinski (33-13) who advanced on the same day his sister Ayane did from the Schaumburg girls’ sectional.

Ayane Jasinski was a girls state champion a year ago at 110 pounds.

120 – Alejandro Cordova, Round Lake

Alejandro Cordova (38-7) certainly earned his spot in the final with Libertyville rival Luke Berktold, but an injury Berktold (33-6) would suffer earlier would see Cordova claim victory due to a medical forfeit.

“I would have much rather wrestled Luke instead of winning because of his injury, I just hope he’s better and can wrestle at state next week,” said a classy Cordova, who is now a three-time state qualifier.

Cordova made history of sorts along with teammate William Smith and Grayson Kongkaeow when the trio became the first in the Panthers program to qualify three to the tournament.

Back in 2003, the Panthers the sextet of: Scott Pocasangre, AJ Charping, Calvin Reed, Ted Silvetti, Rob Walleck, and heavyweight Mark Beaton all were sectional qualifiers, with Walleck winning a sectional title here at Barrington at 189 to become the lone Panther to advance.

“I’m excited for going downstate, and hoping to make this last time there my best ever,” said Cordova, who leads his club in take-downs 92 and team points (331), and is now only the second in program history to be a three-time qualifier after Mike Kukla did so in 1992-1994.

Regional champions Gavin Pardilla (Loyola Academy, 26-11) and Barrington freshman Ryan Dorn (24-17) finished third and fourth respectively to advance.

126 – Abdullokh Khakimov, Hersey

No. 4 Addullokh Khakimov was all business during these two days in Barrington to earn his second consecutive appearance in Champaign, following his 8-2 decision over No. 7 Drew Fifield (19-10) from Fremd.

The Hersey senior, who also collected his second regional title of his career last weekend, opened with a pin and then an impressive six minutes against Round Lake senior Grayson Kongkaeow (36-13), which ended with a 13-2 major decision.

“Addullokh is getting better and better each time out, and when he opens things up like he did this weekend, anything is possible for this young man,” said Hersey head coach Joe Rupslauk.

“His style is kind of funky and right now his attack is just flowing really well,” added Huskies assistant, Tom Vezzetti.

Kongkaeow, who won his second regional title a week ago, now becomes a first-time state qualifier, as does Barrington sophomore Jimmy Whitaker (31-17) who majored Kongkaeow in their third place contest.

132 – TJ Silva, Hononegah

As this tournament would continue to heat up, so did Hononegah junior TJ Silva. Silva was never threatened on his way to a third trip downstate, where he looks to claim his second- straight state championship trophy.

Silva (25-4), who won a 1A title for Dakota at 126 last season after taking second at 132 in 2022, pressed over his three rivals, including No. 4 Maksim Mukhamedaliyev (Hersey, 32-3) who was unable to slow the No. 2 man in the state in what ended with a fall at 5:08.

“I know some people thought winning a state title at 1A last year wasn’t a big deal because it was a small school class, but I can tell you 1A is a very competitive class down at state. So I am out to make a statement this year in 3A,” said Silva.

“We have a great room, with a great coaching staff, and I feel like a lot of us are going to do great things at state, then dual team state.”

No. 6 Erik Rodriguez (Mundelein, 34-13) is in the field of 16, as is fellow NSC sophomore, Shawn Kogan (24-8) whose exciting 6-5 victory over top-four seed Max Brown (Glenbrook South) in his quarterfinal kept the Patriots star alive in the front draw.

138 – Robert Darling, Honenegah

There is always a sleeper among the 14 weight divisions that will surprise to stay alive for yet another day.

Hononegah sophomore Robert Darling (29-16) is one such young man, who could only smile when asked who was Robert Darling, and why is he now a first-time state qualifier for head coach Tyler DeMoss.

“I’m a hard worker in a room full of great teammates, who push me everyday, and I’ve been able to reach my goal of going downstate after a pretty good year that had me medal in just about every tournament we went to,” said Darling, who came in unrated but left with the big prize.

Darling would defeat a pair of quality opponents en route to his hard fought 1-0 victory over Stevenson senior Andrew Chamkin, who joins three of his teammates as first-time qualifiers.

Darling, second at the NIC-10 and giant Sycamore Invite, beat regional champ Giorgio DiFalco (Prospect, 35-9) in his quarterfinal (10-7) after turning in a strong effort in his sectional-opening 7-0 decision.

Next up would be Hersey junior, No. 10 Rodrigo Arceo (21-12) who was a freestyle and Greco Fargo qualifier, coming off a regional title last weekend at Stevenson.

Darling would edge Arceo 4-3, then use a third period escape against Chamkin (28-13) to claim his sectional crown.

DiFalco would defeat Arceo 5-1 for third place.

144 – Evan Gosz, Fremd

Evan Gosz would produce a world-class effort during his two days here at host Barrington High School, ending his tournament with a third-straight technical fall to make it three consecutive sectional championships.

The number three has an interesting attachment to the Fremd junior, who entered this weekend as the No. 3 man in the state behind Carson Weber (Joliet West) and two-time state champion Jaydon Colon from St. Charles.

Twice Gosz (34-0) has finished third at state, last year after entering the final weekend of the season ranked No. 3.

“(Obviously) I am looking to change all of that No. 3 stuff next weekend at state,” began Gosz with a wry smile.

“I’ve put more work in during the offseason than ever before. I am bigger and stronger, spent a lot of time lifting to gain ten pounds, and I really feel like I’ve opened my game up much more than last year.”

After collecting his three tech-fall victories here, Gosz now has 11 on the year to go along with 16 pins, plus going well over his previous 126 takedowns prior to the boat load more he earned over the two days.

Stevenson sophomore Vlad Maluhin is on his way to Champaign for the first time as is Glenbrook South junior Andrew Haritos (24-7) who was a regional champion a week ago on his home mats.

150 – Rhenzo Augusto, Barrington

No. 3 Rhenzo Augusto cut his teeth in the sport of ju-jitsu, where his father was a world champion in Brazil, so the die had been cast for the Barrington senior, who Saturday afternoon won the biggest prize of his career thus far.

The 2023 state qualifier held off three-time state qualifier Pedro Jimenez (McHenry, 37-3) by using a third-period reversal to be the difference in a 2-0 victory, much to the delight of a large Broncos contingency and head coach Dan Keller.

“Just a great, hard-fought victory by Rhenzo who needed a dynamic and strong six-minute effort to help get him ready for state,” said a proud Keller, who in his first year after coming over from league rival Prospect would guide his men to a MSL title, and later send four into the state tournament.

“These are the type of 2-0, 2-1, 3-2 matches that I need, and expect at state, so to beat a really great opponent like Jimenez will help me prepare for what’s ahead,” said Augusto, now 38-5.

“Ju-jitsu helped me get ready for high school wrestling, and our great room, and all of the time spent wrestling at Izzy has been really important to my success thus far,” added Augusto.

New Trier junior Tagg Miller (33-7) whose hopes to advance were dashed in a blood round loss here last year, heads into the state tournament with the wind in his sails after a major decision victory for third place over Max Haskins (34-8) of Hononegah.

157- Aaron Stewart, Warren

In the second of two powerhouse finals between Warren and Hononegah, Warren’s No. 1 Aaron Stewart held firm over Hononegah’s No. 3 Brody Sendele in this key final when Stewart (39-2) used a late throw for a takedown near the edge to defeat freshman Sendele 3-1.

The two could meet for the state title inside State Farm Center, although Mount Carmel’s No. 2 Edmund Enright will have plenty to say of that outcome as he will likely be on the same side of the bracket as Sendele.

“I always felt in control, just waiting for the opportunity to get (in) for a takedown,” said Stewart, who wrestled a smart, yet cautious six minutes, which still made for an exciting final that saw two super-quick and talented young men whose constant movement and superb defense kept the big crowd on the edge.

Stewart, third a year ago as a freshman, drew back level with Sendele at 1-1 with an escape 16 seconds into the third period, thrilling the audience with his takedown with just 10 seconds from time.

Stewart, a three-sport star (football, track) won here last season and is currently No. 12 in the nation. His only defeats on the season are to No. 2 Charlie Millard from Wisconsin, who;s on his way to the University of Minnesota next fall, and No. 11 Landyn Sommer from Oklahoma, who will stay in his home state to attend the University of Oklahoma in the fall.

No. 7 Ryan Muslimovic (42-6) has enjoyed an outstanding senior campaign at Fremd which includes three majors, and a 5-3 win over sectional champion Thomas Fulton from Wheaton North. The Vikings senior won 9-5 over Huntley freshmen Radic Dvorak (36-14) in the third place contest.

165 – Royce Lopez, Warren

The road to glory for No. 7 Royce Lopez (28-7) was paved in gold for the Warren sophomore who is now a two-time state qualifier, and his top-four seed at state was assured following his marvelous three match performance which ended with his impressive 10-3 decision over Prospect’s No. 9 Connor Munn (38-8), who is now a three-time qualifier.

Warren head coach Brad Janesek said after Lopez raced past the competition en route to his regional title that his young star is “never satisfied” and “always looking for more each time he goes out”, and the Blue Devils’ 165-pounder could not agree more with his Janecek.

“There’s always something that I can do better, whether in the room, or when I compete, but what is most important is for me to always look to score, and to add points to help keep the pressure on my opponents,” said Lopez, who did just that against Munn.

Holding a narrow 2-0 lead after two periods, Lopez executed a sweet reversal to double his advantage at the start of the third period, then slowly pulled away from the Prospect senior who is also a two-time MSL and regional champion.

“I feel like I’m ready for what is ahead of me at state, the really tough six minute matches as I go deeper into the tournament,” added Lopez, who beat Hononegah’s No. 6 Connor Diemel to move into the final.

Diemel (43-5), who leaves here with the most wins on the season with along with teammate Brody Sendele, recently won at Batavia, NIC-10, and regionals before finishing third ahead of Highland Park senior Dmitry Derbedyenyev (32-3) who earned his second-straight state appearance.

175 – Matt Kubas, Libertyville

This weight class at the state tournament is separated by just inches within the top four, all arriving in Champaign from different sectionals with a ridiculous 158-16 overall record, and seven state medals among them, including the state championship Mount Carmel’s Colin Kelly won in 2022.

Libertyville’s No. 2 Matt Kubas (36-3), just behind Kelly, and in front of St. Charles East’s No. 3 Brody Murray and Yorkville’s No. 4 Luke Zook, with Kelly, Zook and Kubas, in that order, finishing behind 2023 170-pound state champ Chris Moore of McHenry, who’s now at the University of Illinois.

If all comes to fruition, this quartet will meet in the semifinals on Friday night with the chance of earning a spot in the Grand March one day later.

“At this point it’s all about taking it one match at a time, not looking ahead, and just respecting your next opponent you face,” said Kubas moments after a magnificent six minutes in which he defeated NSC rival, Stevenson’s Themba Sitshela (35-16), with a 11-2 major decision.

“Cole (Matulenko) just took off from here last year, and he was so good at that same approach of a match at a time and not caring at all about who your opponent is, and where they’re at in the state rankings (so) it worked for him, and that’s my plan from here on out,” continued Kubas, who watched Matulenko crush his opponents on his way to the 195-pound state title last season.

Sitshela used a narrow 1-0 victory in his semifinal contest with Prospect’s Michael Matuszak (28-14) to go through to the final. Hononegah’s No. 7 Kurt Smith (38-9) won 3-1 over Matuszak for third place.

190 – Jaxon Penovich, Prospect

Add Prospect sophomore Jaxon Penovich to the list of favorites to bring home a state title after the No. 1 man at 190-pounds made his statement of intent following a brilliant two days in which he continued his dominant ways over his rivals.

Penovich (42-3) wasted little time on his way to his first sectional title of his young career when he opened with his 22nd pin of the year, then followed up with a pair of wins by technical fall to run his season total to 17.

Penovich needed 4:58 to record a 22-6 technical fall over Loyola Academy’s No. 7 Quinn Herbert (29-8) to give his club its lone sectional title on the day.

“I’d like to believe that I can, and will win a state title next weekend, which is obviously one of my goals, but being an eventual world champion is right up there also,” admits Penovich, fifth a year ago at 195 with a 45-7 overall record.

“I think (me) being a little immature as a freshman may have led to my loss in my state  opener to the state runner-up Pete Marinopoulos (Marist, now at Illinois), and after that, I struggled some to get back on track,” continued Penovich.

“This year is different in that I am mentally stronger and have a better idea of what is needed at this level, and especially with my technique.”

Penovich has either pinned, or tech’d all of his opponents from Illinois and has conceded just one takedown on the season.

Herbert held off a hard-charging Caleb Baczek (34-8) to defeat the No. 8 Libertyville junior in the quarterfinals.

Baczek later suffered a stunning 5-4 loss in his state qualifying match with his conference rival, Warren’s Jeremija Hixson (24-10) who fell in the third place bout against Hersey senior Anthony Cambria (30-11), who is now a two-time state qualifier.

215 – Kai Calcutt, Loyola Academy

There would have been quite an amazing list to choose from should there have been an O.W. (Outstanding Wrestler) named at the end of the two days, perhaps beginning with Loyola Academy sophomore Kai Calcutt, who overwhelmed all three of his opponents to collect his second-consecutive sectional title.

The No. 1 man at 215 pounds left little doubt as to who will be the favorite in Champaign in his weight class after spending just 90 seconds on the mats during his first two bouts, before forcing Libertyville’s No. 3 Owen McGrory (41-3) to play defensive wrestling for six minutes en route to a 12-7 victory.

“My hand fighting is so much better than a year ago, I really feel like it has helped bring my game together to where it needs to be,” said Calcutt, now 27-4.

The affable Loyola Academy star was state runner-up at 220 to Yorkville’s Ben Alvarez after a heart-breaking 3-2 ultimate tie-breaker contest which ended at 6:57.

“To be honest (that) loss didn’t really stay with me at all during the offseason, it was over, and my work to be better and get back in the final was much more important to me,” said Calcutt.

Calcutt says he was inspired by his former teammate, and 2023 120 state champion, Massey Odiotti (Northwestern), who he remains close to, even training with Odiotti family members at the gym.

Despite the loss to Calcutt, McGrory is on his way to Champaign for the second consecutive season, and will challenge for a top three spot on the podium.

Buffalo Grove senior Cadon Watson (39-8) will be on his maiden voyage after his pin over Warren’s No. 6 Anthony Soto (30-8), who is also now a first-time state qualifier, for third place.

Watson won at the Rex Lewis at 190 pounds, but bumped up to 215 for the state series before claiming a regional title.

285 – William Cole, Round Lake

William Cole continues to be in total command of his rivals at 285 after the Round Lake senior squashed the competition here on his way to his first sectional title and sixth major of the season.

The Round Lake junior defeated Huntley senior Markos Mihalopoulos (39-9) 6-1 as each earned their second visit to Champaign to give the Panthers their first sectional crown since Rob Walleck did so in 2003.

“It’s all about getting better each time out there to help me get back downstate where the goal is to get on the podium, and even win a state title,” said Smith, No. 5 in the polls, and just behind Wyatt Schmitt (Joliet West) whom his only loss is to in the Dvorak final in overtime.

“My movement is so much better than last year, I was kind of too stiff but this year my feet are quicker which has helped me set up my attacks,” added Cole, now 41-1 overall.

Mundelein junior Abisai Hernandez (38-7) is back for a second trip downstate after his pin of Loyola Academy junior Joey Herbert (20-11).

Barrington Sectional Championship match results

106- Kaleb Noble (Warren) D 7-4 Rocco Cassioppi (Hononegah)

113- Bruno Cassioppi (Hononegah) MD 15-3 Jonathan Marquez (Warren)

120- Alejandro Cordova (Round Lake) M FFT Luke Berktold (Libertyville)

126- Abdullokh Khakimov (Hersey) D 8-2 Drew Fifield (Fremd)

132- TJ Silva (Hononegah) F 5:08 Maksim Mukhamedaliyev (Hersey)

138- Robert Darling (Hononegah) D 1-0 Andrew Chamkin (Stevenson)

144- Evan Gosz (Fremd) TF 4:45 (19-4) Jake Hanson (Hersey)

150- Rhenzo Augusto (Barrington) D 2-0 Pedro Jimenez (McHenry)

157- Aaron Stewart (Warren) D 3-1 Brody Sendele (Hononegah)

165- Royce Lopez (Warren) D 10-3 Connor Munn (Prospect)

175- Matt Kubas (Libertyville) MD 11-2 Themba Sitshela (Stevenson)

190- Jaxon Penovich (Prospect) TF 4:58 (22-6) Quinn Herbert (Loyola Academy)

215- Kai Calcutt (Loyola Academy) D 12-7 Owen McGrory (Libertyville)

285- William Cole (Round Lake) D 6-1 Markos Mihalopoulos (Huntley)

Barrington Sectional Third Place match results

106- Kaleb Pratt (Barrington) F 1:50 James Hemmila (Loyola Academy)

113- Anthony Orozco-Diaz (Hersey) D 3-2 Vince Jasinski (Grant)

120- Gavin Pardilla (Loyola Academy) D 5-0 Ryan Dorn (Barrington)

126- Jimmy Whitaker (Barrington) MD 15-6 Grayson Kongkaeow (Round Lake)

132- Erik Rodriguez (Mundelein) D 8-4 Shawn Kogan (Stevenson)

138- Giorgio DiFalco (Prospect) D 5-1 Rodrigo Arceo (Hersey)

144- Val Vihrov (Stevenson) MD 12-2 Andrew Haritos (Glenbrook South)

150- Tagg Miller (New Trier) MD 16-6 Max Haskins (Hononegah)

157- Ryan Muslimovic (Fremd) D 9-5 Radic Dvorak (Huntley)

165- Connor Diemel (Hononegah) D 5-1 Dmitry Derbedyenyev (Highland Park)

175- Kurt Smith (Hononegah) D 3-1 Michael Matuszak (Prospect)

190- Anthony Cambria (Hersey) MD 12-3 Jeremija Hixson (Warren)

215- Cadon Watson (Buffalo Grove) F 3:32 Anthony Soto (Warren)

285- Abisai Hernandez (Mundelein) F 5:28 Joey Herbert (Loyola Academy)

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2A HINSDALE SOUTH INDIVIDUAL SECTIONAL

Brother Rice led all schools with nine state qualifiers at this year’s 2A Hinsdale South Individual Sectional, led by sectional champion James Crane (190) and four second-place finishers in Jonathan Harris (126), James Bennett (132), and Oliver Davis (138).

Oak Forest had three sectional champions to lead a field of five state qualifiers, in James Mair (120), Austin Perez (138), and Hunter Daniel (157). Lemont also advanced five to Champaign, led by sectional champions Noah O’Connor (150) and Alex Pasquale (285).

St. Rita had three sectional champions in Jack Hogan (106), Nino Protti (132) and Sean Larkin (144) among its four state qualifiers; Providence Catholic’s five state qualifiers were led by sectional champion Tommy Banas (126); while Hinsdale South’s four state qualifiers were led by sectional champion Jovani Piazza (175).

Other sectional champs at Hinsdale South were Riverside-Brookfield’s Edgar Mosquera (113), Richards’ Mike Taheny (165), and St. Laurence’s Xavier Bitner (215).

2A Hinsdale South championship match results:

106 – Jack Hogan (34-5, St. Rita) over Jacob Sebek (33-3, Oak Forest) F 0:40

113 – Edgar Mosquera (38-6, Riverside-B) over Victor Alvarado (26-3, Kennedy) MD 12-4

120 – James Mair (23-12, Oak Forest) over Gianni Alberto (14-3, Kennedy) MD 15-3

126 – Tommy Banas (41-7, Providence) over Jonathan Harris (30-9, Brother Rice) F 1:41

132 – Nino Protti (33-3, St. Rita) over James Bennett (31-13, Brother Rice) D 8-2

138 – Austin Perez (39-3, Oak Forest) over Oliver Davis (29-7, Brother Rice) D 5-2

144 – Sean Larkin (18-2, St. Rita) over Josh Gonzalez (40-10, Riverside-B) MD 12-2

150 – Noah O`Connor (41-4, Lemont ) over Andrew Musil (34-8, Hinsdale S) F 2:22

157 – Hunter Daniel (34-4, Oak Forest) over Geno Papes (36-13, Providence) F 1:34

165 – Mike Taheny (29-3, Richards) over Malakai Davis (39-3, Hancock) F 0:33

175 – Jovani Piazza (30-4, Hinsdale S) over Michael O`Connor (Providence) MD 11-3

190 – James Crane (35-11, Brother Rice) over Genesis Ward (37-7, Evergreen Park) D 5-0

215 – Xavier Bitner (42-5, St. Laurence) over Sebastian Sanderson (27-4, Tinley Park) F 5:52

285 – Alex Pasquale (30-3, Lemont) over Marco Olvera (27-12, Bremen) F 1:07

Third-place match results:

106 – James Lotito (24-13 Brother Rice) over Amari Brown (22-14, Hillcrest) F 1:20

113 – Mikey Wallace (30-15, Hinsdale S) over Brian Bahena (33-10, Little Village) F 1:56

120 – Angel Ramirez (26-6, Evergreen Park) over Chase Tankson (12-11, Marian) F 2:41

126 – Chance Woods (39-3, Evergreen Park) over Julian Vallianatos (26-16, Lemont) F 5:15

132 – Cory Zator (33-8, Lemont) over Justus Snapp (22-18, Providence) D 3-1

138 – Enzo Canali (26-10, St. Rita) over Carter Mikolajczak (36-12, Lemont) D 4-3

144 – Kiaven Sullivan (25-4, Hillcrest) over Jack O`Connor (36-15, Brother Rice) SV-1 7-5

150 – Dom Paul (29-7, Richards) over Frank Miceli (29-15, Brother Rice) D 13-8

157 – Joseph Merritt (24-9, T-F North) over Ethan Rivas (24-12, Riverside-B) med. fft.

165 – Jackson Castaneda (37-2, Oak Forest) over Colin Goggin (31-7, Brother Rice) MD 10-1

175 – Dan Costello (35-7, Brother Rice) over Adrian Esparza (32-6, Bremen) F 0:47

190 – Alec Miller (33-8, Hinsdale S) over Derick Ibarrondo (24-11, Back of the Yards) F 2:48

215 – Eduardo Antunez (37-3, Evergreen Park) over Antone Woods (28-11, Agricultural Science) D 6-2

285 – Gerald O’Hare (33-6, Evergreen Park) over Mike Sisk (27-16, Providence) D 3-2

2A MAHOMET-SEYMOUR INDIVIDUAL SECTIONAL

Glenwood advanced eight wrestlers to this year’s 2A state finals in Champaign, led by sectional champions Tyler Clarke (106) and Drew Davis (120) at Saturday’s 2A Mahomet-Seymour Individual Sectional.

Civic Memorial had six state qualifiers, led by sectional champ Bryce Griffin (157); Bloomington advanced five wrestlers to Champaign, led by sectional champ Maddox Kirts (165); Jacksonville’s four state qualifiers were led by sectional champions Joe Reif (150) and Oliver Cooley (215); and Mt. Vernon had four state qualifiers led by sectional champion Dillon White (138).

Other sectional champions at Mahomet-Seymour were Champaign Central’s Talin Baker (113), Triad’s Colby Crouch (126), Carbondale’s Isaac Smith (132), Mattoon’s Korbin Bateman (144), Danville’s Phillip Shaw IV (175), Waterloo’s Jaxson Mathenia (190), and Champaign Centennial’s Jack Barnhart (285).

2A Mahomet-Seymour Individual Sectional championship match results:

106 – Tyler Clarke (39-5, Glenwood) over Will Kelly (39-6, Triad) D 6-0

113 – Talin Baker (30-6, Champaign Central) over Dylan McGrew (32-12, Normal West) D 6-0

120 – Drew Davis (39-0, Glenwood) over Bradley Ruckman (40-8, Civic Memorial) MD 17-4

126 – Colby Crouch (36-1, Triad) over Caleb Scott (27-7, Civic Memorial) F 0:25

132 – Isaac Smith (45-2, Carbondale) over Bradley Dollus (35-12, Glenwood)) F 0:36

138 – Dillon White (37-3, Mt. Vernon) over John Ben Maduena (30-5, Glenwood) F 5:40

144 – Korbin Bateman (42-0, Mattoon) over Ron Baker III (13-2, Champaign Central) F 1:40

150 – Joe Reif (44-6, Jacksonville) over Tyson Rakers (40-4, Highland) D 3-2

157 – Bryce Griffin (45-2, Civic Memorial) over Evan Willock (35-2, Normal West) F 1:34

165 – Maddox Kirts (36-7, Bloomington) over Dawson McConnell (41-6, Lincoln) MD 13-5

175 – Phillip Shaw IV (33-1, Danville) over Gus Schreiber (36-11, Normal West) D 11-4

190 – Jaxson Mathenia (23-4, Waterloo) over Kenner Bye (25-8, Bloomington) D 5-2

215 – Oliver Cooley (43-4, Jacksonville) over Cody Moss (38-11, Glenwood) F 1:35

285 -Jack Barnhart (40-0, Champaign Centennial) over Aiden Surratt (40-5, Jacksonville) med. fft.

Third-place results:

106 – Pierce Bultmann (31-10, Rochester) over Jaylen Sandy (22-17, Bloomington) F 5:27

113 – Avery Jamie (30-10, Civic Memorial) over Tyler Barlow (14-15, Bloomington) MD 9-1

120 – Riddick Cook (38-8, Marion) over Deshawn Armstrong (34-8, Jacksonville) F 3:18

126 – Andon Beldo (30-7, Champaign Centennial) over Justus Vrona (38-15, Mahomet-S) F 1:27

132 – Ty Rangel (25-9, Danville) over Brody Smith (31-9, Triad) D 7-0

138 – Trevor Schoonover (41-8, Champaign Centennial) over Ben Capitosti (39-7, Mattoon) D 8-3

144 – Brock Ross (40-7, Mascoutah) over Nathen Herrin (34-17, Civic Memorial) F 0:47

150 – Aidan Blackburn (43-5, Mattoon) over Caden Frey (38-12, Marion) F 2:52

157 – Gage Decker (36-9, Mahomet-S) over Braxton Warren (36-17, Glenwood) med. fft.

165 – James Wojcikiewicz (34-9, Civic Memorial) over Thomas Imboden (38-11, Carbondale) D 12-5

175 – Maddux Randall (36-8, Mt. Vernon) over Justin Hay (34-10, Glenwood) D 5-1

190 – Max Wiezorek (47-4, Glenwood) over Mason Randall (33-10, Mt. Vernon) D 5-3

215 – Ashton Zobrist (39-10, Highland) over Jhymear Smith Henson (31-15, Mt. Vernon) D 3-1

285 – Stephen Carr (30-9, Bloomington) over Mekhi McDowell (25-9, East St. Louis) F 3:23

2A SYCAMORE INDIVIDUAL SECTIONAL

Washington led all teams with eight state qualifiers at this year’s 2A Sycamore Individual Sectional, getting sectional titles from Wyatt Medlin (138), Peyton Cox (144), Cael Miller (165), plus seconds from Eli Gonzalez (126), Zane Hulet (175) and Josh Hoffer (190).

Geneseo’s five state qualifiers featured a pair of sectional champions in Zachary Montez (150) and Kye Weinzieri (157); Rock Island’s five state qualifiers were led by sectional champion Truth Vesey (113); and Rochelle had four state qualifiers led by sectional champions Xavier Villalobos (126) and Kaiden Morris (215).

Other sectional champions at Sycamore were Morris’ Owen Sater (106), Galesburg’s Rocky Almendarez (120) and Gauge Shipp (132), and Crystal Lake South’s Andy Burburija (285).

2A Sycamore Individual Sectional championship match results:

106 – Owen Sater (39-1, Morris) over Nicholas Pollett (40-4, Streator) D 6-1

113 – Truth Vesey (33-4, Rock Island) over Tim Sebastian (27-9, Geneseo) MD 17-5

120 – Rocky Almendarez (39-1, Galesburg) over Kamron Scholl (44-1, Kaneland) TB-1 5-3

126 – Xavier Villalobos (40-1, Rochelle) over Eli Gonzalez (27-10, Washington) D 3-2

132 – Gauge Shipp (41-0, Galesburg) over Ty Edwards (43-2, Yorkville Christian) MD 13-4

138 – Wyatt Medlin (41-4, Washington) over Antonio Parker (29-14, Rock Island) TF-1.5 4:39

144 – Peyton Cox (23-1, Washington) over Malaki Jackson (31-9, Geneseo) MD 12-2

150 – Zachary Montez (37-2, Geneseo) over Alessio Pezzella (31-11, Crystal Lake C) MD 11-3

157 – Kye Weinzierl (32-3, Geneseo) over Ty Smart (32-10, Rockford E) F 2:58

165 – Cael Miller (36-10, Washington) over Nick Mueller (39-3, Dunlap) D 5-4

175 – Amare Overton (39-2, Rock Island) over Zane Hulet (32-7, Washington) D 10-6

190 – Andrew Marquez (39-2, Rock Island) over Josh Hoffer (31-10, Washington) D 9-5

215 – Kaiden Morris (38-3, Rochelle) over Tommy McNeil (26-5, Crystal Lake C) D 11-4

285 – Andy Burburija (32-0, Crystal Lake S) over Jose Del Toro (27-7, East Peoria) D 2-0

Third-place matches:

106 – Jack Ragan (37-5, Dixon) over Noah Harris (31-11, Morton) F 5:12

113 – Aiden Larsen (35-3, Yorkville Christian) over Jake Lowitzki (33-8, Prairie Ridge) med. fft.

120 – Noah Woods (37-13, Washington) over Joseph Young (37-9, Rockford E) D 10-7

126 – Daniel McGhee (39-2, Rock Island) over Mikey Meade (33-8, Prairie Ridge) med. fft.

132 – Donald Cannon (33-1, Rockford E) over Timmy Smith (30-15, Washington) MD 12-2

138 – Izaac Gaines (20-4, Geneseo) over Jayden Dohogne (30-14, Sycamore) med. fft.

144 – Dana Wickson (37-10, Rockford E) over Grady Neal (25-8, Metamora) med. fft.

150 – Steven Marvin (40-3, Morton) over Caidan Ronning (31-4, Plano) F 0:52

157 – Robby Nelson (40-5, Yorkville Christian) over Xander York (25-8, Prairie Ridge) F 1:43

165 – Grant Gensler (37-6, Rochelle) over Jonah Chavez (26-18, Central) D 6-0

175 – Kaden Combs (37-3, Woodstock N) over Caden Casimino (30-4, Crystal Lake S) F 4:29

190 – Cayden Parks (38-6, Crystal Lake C) over Brock Metzger (34-6, Rochelle) F 1:08

215 – John Fallaw (27-11, Prairie Ridge) over Gable Carrick (31-11, Sycamore) F 2:09

285 – Lee Smith (37-5, Rockford E) over Riley Vest (27-10, Harvard) F 0:18

3A CONANT INDIVIDUAL SECTIONAL

St. Charles East had six sectional champions and led all teams with eight wrestlers advancing to this year’s individual state finals in Champaign. Winning titles for Saints coach Jason Potter were Dom Munaretto (113), Ben Davino (132), Tyler Guerra (138), Jayden Colon (144), Gavin Connolly (150), and Brody Murray (175). Anthony Gutierrez (165) and Cooper Murray (190) placed second to advance for the Saints.

DeKalb had six state qualifiers, led by sectional champion Jacob Luce (165), and Glenbard North advanced five, led by sectional champion Christian Chavez. Conant advanced three to Champaign, led by sectional champ Harley Stary (285). OPRF advanced four wrestlers to Champaign, and York had five state qualifiers.

Other sectional champions at Conant were Proviso West’s Jamiel Castleberry (106), Maine South’s Teddy Flores (120), Wheaton North’s Thomas Fulton (157), Elgin’s Fabian Ramirez (190), and Oak Park and River Forest’s Eric Harris (215).

3A Sectional championship match results:

106 – Jamiel Castleberry (30-1, Proviso West) over Bernardo Roque (34-5, Taft) MD 13-4

113 – Dom Munaretto (44-2, St. Charles E) over Dominick Marre (32-7, Glenbard N) D 1-0

120 – Teddy Flores (44-1, Maine S) over Demetrios Carrera (38-3, South Elgin) D 5-1

126 – Christian Chavez (36-4, Glenbard N) over Grant Madl (34-3, Elk Grove) D 3-2

132 – Ben Davino (46-0, St. Charles E) over Damian Valdez (32-10, Addison Trail) F 1:00

138 – Tyler Guerra (45-1, St. Charles E) over Joseph Knackstedt (34-8, OPRF) MD 13-5

144 – Jayden Colon (37-5, St. Charles E) over Mekhi Cave (41-8, DeKalb) F1:59

150 – Gavin Connolly (37-10, St. Charles E) over Fernando Lopez (26-3, Lane Tech) D 7-1

157 – Thomas Fulton (39-8, Wheaton North) over Peyton Marzen (29-10, Geneva) D 3-2

165 – Jacob Luce (41-2, DeKalb) over Anthony Gutierrez (35-10, St. Charles E) D 4-2

175 – Brody Murray (39-8, St. Charles E) over Danny Decristofaro (31-5, York) F 1:13

190 – Fabian Ramirez (20-4, Elgin) over Cooper Murray (29-17, St. Charles E) D 9-5

215 – Eric Harris (32-9, OPRF) over Joe Pettit (39-6, Geneva) D 2-1

285 – Harley Stary (28-6, Conant) over Mikey Milovich (32-2, Elk Grove) F 2:39

Third-place matches:

106 – Michael Rundell (31-8, OPRF) over Rocco Macellaio (32-14, Wheaton North) MD 12-1

113 – Alex Valentin (33-5, Lane Tech) over Kaden Klapprodt (25-17, DeKalb) D 3-1

120 – Brady Phelps  (21-2, Schaumburg) over Kalani Khiev (34-6, Glenbard N) D 7-4

126 -Mondo Martinelli (32-11, York) over Nick Merola (8-4, Lake Park) D 8-3 

132 – Zack Parisi (45-3, York) over Luke Morrison (34-11, Maine South) F 1:57

138 – Hudson Ikens (32-12, DeKalb) over Frank Nitti (41-9, York) D 7-1

144 – Callen Kirchner (33-8, Schaumburg) over Gavin Hoerr (27-11, Maine S) F 3:04

150 – David Ogunsanya (34-8, OPRF) over Rylan Kradle (38-9, Glenbard N) D 4-2

157 -Tanner Cosgrove (35-10, Conant) over Martin Duarte (36-8, Addison Trail) F 2:36

165 – Logan Tosterud (17-7, Elk Grove) over Julian Flores (32-15, Wheaton N) D 11-6

175 – Sean Kolkebeck (38-12, DeKalb) over Gabe Inorio (15-5, Streamwood) MD 10-1

190 – Tyler Ott (29-12, Glenbard N) over Jace Wolf (28-9, Streamwood) F 4:32

215 – Lamar Bradley (37-7, DeKalb) over Austin Bagdasarian (42-10, York) D 3-1

285 – Tyler Fortis (40-4, Maine S) over Julian Hutchinson (15-3, Lane Tech) F 1:41

3A QUINCY INDIVIDUAL SECTIONAL

Joliet Catholic led all schools with 11 state qualifiers at this year’s 3A Quincy Sectional, led by sectional champions Jason Hampton (120), Nico Ronchetti (190) and Dillan Johnson (285).

Yorkville qualified six wrestlers, led by sectional champs Jack Ferguson (150), Ryder Janeczko (157) and Luke Zook (175), and Plainfield North had three state qualifiers, led by sectional champion Maddox Garbis (113). Lockport also qualified three, led by sectional champion Justin Wardlow (138), as did Joliet West, led by sectional champ Carson Weber (144).

Lincoln-Way East also qualified four wrestlers to Champaign.

Other sectional champions at Quincy were Normal Community’s Caden Correll (106), Andrew’s Max Siegel (126), MInooka’s Cale Stonitsch (132), Quincy’s Owen Uppinghouse (165), and Plainfield South’s Matt Janiak (215).

3A Quincy Sectional championship matches:

106 – Caden Correll (36-5, Normal Community) over Luke Foster (35-13, Joliet Catholic) D 13-6

113 – Maddox Garbis (41-3, Plainfield North) over Nadeem Haleem (36-7, Andrew) D 6-2

120 – Jason Hampton (30-15, Joliet Catholic) over Brian Farley (29-3, Romeoville) D 8-5

126 – Max Siegel (40-6, Andrew) over Adante Washington (23-10, Joliet Catholic) D 4-3

132 – Cale Stonitsch (36-6, Minooka) over Damien Flores (29-16, Joliet Catholic) D 1-0

138 – Justin Wardlow (39-6, Lockport) over Luke Siwinski (28-13, Lincoln-Way W) MD 13-3

144 – Carson Weber (38-1, Joliet West) over RaMez Watson (34-4, Pekin) MD 9-0

150 – Jack Ferguson (41-10, Yorkville) over Connor Cumbee (29-17, Joliet Catholic) D 5-3

157 – Ryder Janeczko (20-9, Yorkville) over Terence Willis (13-1, Belleville E) MD 12-1

165 – Owen Uppinghouse (51-0, Quincy) over Max Corral (30-15, Joliet Catholic) D 3-0

175 – Luke Zook (44-4, Yorkville) over AJ Mancilla (41-5, Bradley-B) D 8-1

190 – Nico Ronchetti (32-9, Joliet Catholic) over Leonardo Tovar (42-5, Plainfield North) MD 19-6

215 – Matt Janiak (41-4, Plainfield South) over Cooper Caraway (43-3, Normal Community) F 3:00

285 – Dillan Johnson (35-1, Joliet Catholic) over Jonathan Rulo (32-1, Belleville East) med. fft.

3rd-place matches:

106 – Rocky Seibel (31-4, Belleville West) over Bryson Nuttall (31-16, Edwardsville) F 1:27

113 – Max Cumbee (29-14, Joliet Catholic) over Shane Stream (34-17, New Lenox (Lincoln-Way W) Dec 6-3

120 – Cole Gentsch (41-5, Normal Community) over Aiden Villar (34-10, Plainfield East) MD 8-0

126 – Kaidge Richardson (36-11, Lincoln-Way E) over Coehn Weber (35-10, Joliet West) D 5-2

132 – Liam Zimmerman (37-14, Lockport) over Tyson Zvonar (38-8, Lincoln-Way E) F 4:42

138 – Elias Gonzalez (27-21, Joliet Catholic) over Brayden Swanson (31-9, Oswego) D 8-4

144 – Blake Mink (30-10, Edwardsville) over Dominick Coronado (29-6, Yorkville)F 2:48

150 -Jase Salin (40-9, Lincoln-Way W) over Domanic Abeja (38-9, Lincoln-Way E) D 4-0

157 – Luke Hamiti (31-17, Joliet Catholic) over Zander Ealy (40-7, Moline) D 5-0

165 – Durango Valles (37-14, Lockport) over Rory Moran (6-2, Lincoln-Way E) MD 16-

175 -Bryor Newbold (44-6, Quincy) over Mason Gougis (25-7, Romeoville) med. fft.

190 -Luke Chrisse (32-15, Yorkville) over James Soliz (35-11, Moline) D 6-3

215 – Ben Alvarez (42-5, Yorkville) over Charles Walker (40-7, Joliet Central) D 6-2

285 – Wyatt Schmitt (32-2, Joliet West) over Nick Kavooras (39-11, Lincoln-Way W) F 1:17

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

The Class 1A Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional definitely lived up to expectations as three of the state’s top 11 teams in the class, No. 6 Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher, No. 7 Olympia and No. 11 LeRoy/Tri-Valley, squared off to not only see see how many individuals they could advance to the Olympia Sectional but also which team would move on to the LeRoy Dual Team Sectional to see if then could win a dual meet there and qualify for the IHSA Dual Team Finals.

Things were tight through the semifinals with the hosts holding a narrow lead over LeRoy/Tri-Valley with Olympia still very much in the mix and things remained tight the rest of the way as only eight points separated the three teams entering into the final three weight classes. 

The host Falcons watched in dismay as LeRoy/Tri-Valley kept closing the gap and the Panthers, who featured many individuals who competed in the IHSA Dual Team Finals last season, only trailed 192-189.5 after they got a title win from Jacob Bischoff at 215 while the Falcons were unable to win a third-place match at that same weight class.

So in a scenario that happened a few other times throughout the state on Saturday, the title would be determined in the 285 championship between LeRoy/Tri-Valley junior Tate Sigler and Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher senior Aydin Cornell.

Following a match that was tough throughout and still in doubt until the final whistle, Sigler ermerged with a 2-1 decision over Cornell to give LeRoy/Tri-Valley the title by a 193.5-192 margin. Olympia scored 180 points and took third while University High (120.5) was fourth and Pontiac (103) placed fifth in the 11-team tournament in Gibson City.

During a key stretch from 138 until the end of the competition, the Panthers went 5-1 in place matches, with five of those being on the title mat, and they won two matches by fall, one by a major decision and two others in narrow decisions.

As a result, coach Brady Sant Amour’s Panthers will get to compete in their own dual team sectional on  February 20 against Canton, who also edged a host team in a close team race when it got past PORTA by a 226-221 margin in Petersburg. The other dual meet that day will feature Unity going up against Peoria Notre Dame, which won its first regional title in the program’s history. The Panthers hope to make a return trip to the IHSA Dual Team Finals.

Leading the way for champion LeRoy/Tri-Valley were title winners Brady Mouser (106), EJ Chaon (120), Colton Prosser (138), Connor Lyons (157), Jacob Bischoff (215) and Tate Sigler (285) while Brock Owens (144) took second place and Bo Zeleznik (165) finished third, giving the title team eight individual sectional qualifiers.

Brian Roberts, LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s assistant coach and a LeRoy graduate, was understandably impressed by his team’s strong finish but also wasn’t that surprised by it.

“First, hats off to Gibson City, they’re tough and they’re a well-coached team,” Roberts said. “This is a tough regional and both Gibson and Olympia were ranked in the top 10 and they’re two good programs. But sometimes you just have to be prepared for the opportunity to arise and that’s kind of what we talk about in our program, is being consistent, being dependable and being prepared. And when you’re consistent, dependable and prepared, it allows you to take advantage of opportunities when those opportunities come around.  

“We saw them last week at the tournament, and they beat us by 20 points. So our whole conversation today was that everybody’s got to score points and everybody’s a part of it and that every point matters. These guys did a wonderful job of getting ready for every single round and it seemed like as the day went on that we wrestled better. You can talk about mentality and mindset, and that’s what we’re talking about. Like winning matches that people don’t think you can win or keeping it close and giving yourself the opportunity. The kids want to be successful and they put in a lot on their own individually in the mornings. A group of them wake up and run every day. And when you put in that amount of sweat, it’s hard to lose and it’s hard to give up, and I think that’s the best thing.”

Top performers for coach Cody Moody’s second-place Falcons were champions Shawn Schlickman (132) and Aiden Sancken (190), runners-up Carson Maxey (150), Cooper Miller (165), Lincoln Eastin (175) and Aydin Cornell (285) and third-place finishers Gage Martin (120) and Hudson Babb (126).

One week earlier, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher claimed top honors over LeRoy/Tri-Valley in the Heart  of Illinois Conference Tournament by a 199-179.5 with most of the same teams in the field as the regional, with the exception of Olympia, University High and Pontiac.

So even though Moody’s team had a 15-point lead at one point during the final round, he realized all too well that both LeRoy/Tri-Valley and Olympia weren’t going down without a fight.

“It was absolutely heartbreaking today, coming down to the last match,” Moody said. “The heavyweight match was one that we had not calculated winning, so he did everything that we asked and got the pins that we needed. It was tough getting a draw like this with a regional stacked with three of the top 10 teams, or in my opinion, three of the top five teams in central Illinois. I really like Olympia’s and LeRoy’s programs and I respect and enjoy their coaches  and so today, even though we lost by an inch, it was fun. Competing against those top two teams today was really fun. There’s a lot of rivalry there, but it’s a good rivalry.

“Falling short of the team goal today and that was sad, but we’ve got to shift gears as a coaching staff and still get those guys ready to try to accomplish their individual goals. The seniors have been working, not only four years, but their entire lives, through kids club and middle school and high school. They’ve had their sights set on standing on the podium and it’s our job to help them get there this year.”

Turning in the best showings for coach Josh Collins’ third-place Olympia Spartans were first-place finishers Dylan Eimer (113) and and Bentley Wise (150) while Austin Kisner (120), Kelton Graden (157) and Nolen Yeary (215) took second place and Cooper Phillips (138) placed third.

Other regional champions were Ridgerview’s Danny Tay (126), University High’s Ethan Lowe (144), Tremont’s Bowden Delaney (165) and El Paso-Gridley’s Dominic Ricconi (175). Also finishing in second place were Pontiac’s Aidan Scholwin (106) and Kooper Wiles (113), University High’s Nolan Lowe (126), Prairie Central’s John Traub (132), Tremont’s Mason Mark (138) and El Paso-Gridley’s Ryden Barker (190).

Individuals with the best records following the regional include Bowden Delaney at 165 (39-1, .975), Jacob Bischoff at 215 (39-2, .951), Brady Mouser at 106 (39-2, .951), Dylan Eimer at 113 (26-2, .929), Danny Tay at 126 (38-4, .905), Aidan Scholwin at 106 (26-3, .897), Aiden Sancken at 190 (31-4, .886) and Ethan Lowe at 144 (37-5, .881).

Shawn Schlickman had the most team points with 27.5 while Cooper Lyons was next with 27 and then there was a three-way tie with 26 points between Jacob Bischoff, Danny Tay and Bentley Wise. Ethan Lowe had 25.5 team points and EJ Chaon, Bowden Delaney and Dylan Eimer all finished with 24 team points.

Gage Martin had the most total match points with 36 while Domonic Ricconi was next-best with 33 points. There were eight individuals who had three falls with Bo Zeleznik getting his pins in 3:49 and EJ Chaon needed 3:50 to pull off the same feat. Olympia beat out Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher 208-204 for total match points and the Falcons edged the Panthers 19-18 for the most pins.

Note: Because this story couldn’t be posted until Saturday, I’ve included updated results through the Olympia Sectional semifinals since 12 of the regional champions and five others who took second or third place also advanced to the semifinals. Then another roundup of the Olympia Sectional will run some time next week.

Seventeen individuals from Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional advance to Olympia Sectional semifinals, including 12 champions

If anyone had any doubts about how challenging the Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional was, they saw an impressive display from many of the individuals who are featured in the regional story that follows.

Twelve of the regional champions and five others who took second or third won quarterfinals matches on Friday to earn spots in the semifinals and to move to within one win of qualifying for the IHSA Finals in Champaign.

Here’s a rundown of qualifiers from the Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional who won in Friday’s Olympia Sectional quarterfinals:

106 

LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Brady Mouser (40-2) won by fall in 3:52 over Clinton’s Briley Carter (30-8). Semifinals opponent: Hoopeston Area’s Charlie Flores (38-11).

.

Pontiac’s Aidan Scholwin (28-3) won a 4-1 decision over Canton’s Dyllan Steele (31-6). Semifinals: St. Joseph-Ogden’s Emmitt Holt (36-1).

113 

Olympia’s Dylan Eimer (27-2) won by technical fall over Camp Point Central’s Case Hughes (24-18). Semifinals: Illini Bluffs’ Hunter Robbins (44-1).

120 

LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s EJ Chaon (29-9) won by technical fall over Peoria Notre Dame’s Remi Joesting (21-19). Semifinals: Warrensburg-Latham’s Logan Roberts (41-3).

132

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Shawn Schickman (32-10) won by fall in 3:26 over Warrensburg-Latham’s Charlie Wittmer (36-12). Semifinals: Farmington’s Keygan Jennings (39-3).

138

LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Colton Prosser (32-12) won a 7-3 decision over Farmington’s Bradlee Ellis (34-10). Semifinals: Illini Bluffs’ Ian O’Connor (44-6).

150

Olympia’s Bentley Wise (38-12) won by fall in 1:26 over Clinton’s Kayleb Kent (25-19). Semifinals: Warsaw’s Evan Carel (29-5).

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Carson Maxey (35-7) won a 12-1 major decision over St. Joseph-Ogden’s Coy Hayes (26-7). Semifinals: Peoria Notre Dame’s Chase Daugherty (34-6).

157

LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Connor Lyons (37-9) won a 9-3 decision over Hoopeston Area’s Ayden Larkin (37-10), Semifinals: Monmouth United’s Jake McElwee (29-7)

165 

Tremont’s Bowden Delaney (40-1) won by fall in 1:59 over PORTA’s Brayden Barner (31-5). Semifinals: Unity’s Ryan Rink (37-9).

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Cooper Miller (31-10) won by technical fall over IVC’s Owen Moser (23-20). Semifinals: LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Bo Zeleznik (28-10).

LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Bo Zeleznik (28-10) won by fall in 2:23 over Camp Point Central’s Connor Griffin (29-9). Semifinals: Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Cooper Miller (31-10).

175

El Paso-Gridley’s Dominic Ricconi (33-14) won a 5-2 decision over Beardstown’s Gunner Looker (22-7). Semifinals: Hoopeston Area’s Angel Zamora (46-2).

190

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Aiden Sancken (32-4) won by technical fall over Monmouth-Roseville’s Alex Gandarilla. Semifinals: Unity’s Hunter Eastin (41-6).

215

LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Jacob Bischoff (40-2) won a 5-1 decision over Warsaw’s Malachi McKune (26-12). Semifinals: Peoria Heights’ Issac Coleman (29-10).

Olympia’s Nolan Yeary (35-5) won by fall in 2:35 over High School of Saint Thomas More’s James Schmidt (13-5). Semifinals: Quincy Notre Dame’s Taylin Scott (41-3).y’s Taye

285

LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Tate Sigler (38-6) won by fall in 3:03 over Monticello’s Brandon Peters (30-20), Semifinals: Clinton’s Dawson Thayer (36-9).

Here’s a look at the champions and their weight classes for the Class 1A Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional

106 – Brady Mouser, LeRoy/Tri-Valley

The final round of the Gibson City Regional began in impressive fashion for Brady Mouser as he secured the lone win by technical fall on the title mat with a victory over Pontiac’s Aidan Scholwin in 5:17 for his fifth title this season. And it ended in an even more exciting way for the LeRoy/Tri-Valley junior as he watched his teammates rally from being down 15 points at one point in the medal round to edge host Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher to win the team title by a 193.5-192 margin. Mouser (39-2), a two-time state qualifier who went 47-5 a year ago and fell one win shy of a medal at 106 in the IHSA 1A Finals before helping the 24-2 Panthers reach the IHSA Dual Team Finals, was one of six champions and eight sectional qualifiers for LeRoy/Tri-Valley.  He won his only other match with a fall in 0:24 over University High’s Clayton Piper.

“We’re down a couple of guys so I’m really proud of all of our JV kids who stepped up and scored some points for us,” Mouser said. “We have a good group of seven or eight good leaders on the team and everybody is pushing each other in the room and out here, so it’s a great team with great morale. A lot of hard work goes into it and the mentality is that you outwork everybody. You wrestle with the mentality that they haven’t put in as much work as you so they aren’t going to take it from you.”

Scholwin (26-3), a senior who was one of two finalists and three sectional qualifiers for Pontiac, won by injury default in 0:25 over Olympia’s Noah Whiteside in the semifinals in his only other match. A year ago, Scholwin went 36-6 but fell one win shy of making a trip to the IHSA Finals at 106 at the Clinton Sectional. Piper (4-7) , a freshman who was one of four sectional qualifiers for University High, won third place by medical forfeit over freshman Whiteside (19-16), who was unable to return following his injury in the semifinals.

113 – Dylan Eimer, Olympia

Dylan Eimer hopes that he can make another successful postseason run just as he did as a freshman in 2022 when he capped a 43-7 season by placing fourth at 106 in the IHSA 1A Finals. The Olympia junior seems to be well on his way to duplicating that impressive debut after he improved to 26-2 by recording a fall in 1:33 over Pontiac’s Kooper Wiles to claim the 113 title. He was one of the Spartans’ two champions, five finalists and six qualifiers for their own sectional. Olympia was right in the thick of things in the three-way team title race throughout most of the finals before claiming third place. Eimer won his only other match, getting a pin in 1:40 over University High’s Mason Howard in the semifinals. 

“I had to come out there strong and was just trying to get six, and that’s what I did,” Eimer said. “You’ve just got to do what’s best for the team. I’d love to go back (to state), that’s been my goal since the start of the season. I’ve just been going after competition and trying to see if I can get. In the mat room, everyone is pushing everyone and it’s a dogfight every day. We’ve created such a good bond over this past year, Everyone has come together and everybody’s buddies and that just helps us a team”

Wiles (27-7), a freshman, joined Aidan Scholwin at 106 as one of Pontiac’s two finalists and is among three individuals from his team that will compete in the Olympia Sectional. He won his only other match, in the semifinals, with a 9-1 major decision over Eureka’s Henry Watson.  The two freshmen who lost in the semifinals met up for third place with Eureka’s Watson (13-6) winning by fall in 1:49 over University High’s Howard (9-12) to become one of the Hornets’ three sectional qualifiers.120 – EJ Chaon, LeRoy/Tri-Valley 

When talk will come up in the future about LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s come-from-behind effort to win top honors at the Class 1A Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional, one name that will be recalled was one of the youngest of the Panthers’ six champions and eight sectional qualifiers, EJ Chaon, who only needed 0:51 to record a fall over Olympia freshman Austin Kisner in the 120 title match. Chaon, who improved to 28-9, won all three of his matches with first-period falls, with the longest duration of those pins coming in the semifinals when he needed 1:52 to beat Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Gage Martin.

“It’s pretty impressive,” Chaon said of winning a regional title, “I’ve been working really hard with it and my partner, Brady Mouser, has been pushing me all of this time. He’s really fast and keeps me on my toes and even when I’m tired, he tells me to keep going, no matter what.  Our coach really pushes us in the wrestling room, And whether we’re up or down, he’s always trying to encourage us to keep going. He’s just a really good coach all around.”

Kisner (33-12), one of five finalists and six sectional qualifiers for Olympia, joins 157-pounder Kelton Graden as freshmen from their team that will be competing in the sectional that they host. He also recorded a pair of pins to set up the all-freshman 120 finals, getting a win in 2:54 over El Paso-Gridley’s Nolan Whitman in the semifinals. The lone semifinalist that lost  but made it the third-place mat, GCMSF sophomore Gage Martin (23-13), captured a 10-9 thriller over University High junior Joshua Butler (34-13) to earn his spot in the sectional. The pair also met in the quarterfinals with Martin winning that time with a fall in 4:26 over Butler.

126 – Danny Tay, Ridgeview/Lexington

After getting the opportunity to compete in the IHSA Class 1A Finals in 2022 and finishing 37-8 after falling one win shy of a medal at 113, Danny Tay had high hopes for a return to state last season but a broken finger hampered those plans. That’s why the Ridgeview/Lexington senior is focused not only on getting back to Champaign but to also finish on the awards stand this time. Tay improved to 38-4 after winning an 11-4 decision in the 126 title match over University High’s Nolan Lowe which gave him a first-round bye in the Olympia Sectional, where he’s the lone qualifier for the Mustangs. He won his first two matches by fall, earning his spot in the finals with a pin in 3:00 over Pontiac’s Drayden Ramsey.

“I’m doing pretty good so far and I’ve only lost a few matches to some pretty good kids,” Tay said. “Last year, I was hurt and had a broken finger. I’ve just been working hard in practice and I’m just really hoping to get there (back to state). I’ve got a pretty tough sectional with a few top-ranked kids.”

Lowe (28-13) one of three freshmen who qualified for the sectional for University High, he will also be joined at Olympia this weekend by his sophomore brother Ethan, who like him was a finalist, but also was the Pioneers’ only regional champion after taking top honors at 144. Nolan Lowe set the table for both brothers to reach the title mat when he opened with two falls, with the latter one in 3:35 over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Hudson Babb in the semifinals. Babb (33-9), who’s also a freshman, bounced back from his semifinal loss to meet Drayden Ramsey (18-16), who also lost in the semifinals, and Babb won by recording a fall in 0:56.

132 – Shawn Schlickman, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher

Shawn Schlickman competed for the final time in his home gym and walked away feeling good about doing his part to help Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher stave off LeRoy/Tri-Valley and Olympia in a clash of three of the top 11 teams in Class 1A, according to Illinois Matmen. Schlickman (31-10) went 30-12 last season and qualified for the IHSA Finals along with classmates Carson Maxey and Aiden Sancken. In the 132 title match, Schlickman needed only 0:50 to record a fall over Prairie Central’s John Traub to become one of the Falcons’ two champions with Sancken being the other at 190. He earned his spot on the 132 title mat following a quick fall and a win by technical fall in 4:31 over Olympia’s Mateo Martinez in the semifinals to assure of being one his team’s six finalists and eight sectional qualifiers.

“These are teams that we were ranked under all year, so this really shows the time and effort that we’ve put into it,” Schlickman said. “This year, we’ve just been a really close team and we’ve all worked and practiced really hard together and even a couple of us go on runs every night after practices. It really motivates you when you know that you should be ranked higher, but you’re not. This year we have nine seniors and we’re really close together with each other, so that also helps us to push each other.”

Traub (29-14), a junior who was the lone finalist and one of two sectional qualifiers for Prairie Central, opened with a fall and then won a dramatic 2-1 decision over Tremont’s Chase Stedman in the semifinals. Traub won 30 matches and qualified for the Clinton Sectional last season. The two juniors who lost in the semifinals met for third place and Tremont’s Stedman (30-10) captured an 8-4 decision over Olympia’s Martinez (24-21) to  become one of the three sectional qualifiers for the Turks.

138 – Colton Prosser, LeRoy/Tri-Valley 

As LeRoy/Tri-Valley was trying to stage a late rally to finish ahead of the hosts in the Class 1A Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional, there were several key matches where the Panthers needed to beat individuals who may have had better credentials than their competitor did. One of those cases was in the 138 finals where senior Colton Prosser, who went 32-13 and failed to qualify at the Clinton Sectional a year ago, met Tremont senior Mason Mark, who was a state qualifier that went 44-8 last year. But with his team hoping to move a step closer to a trip to the IHSA Dual Team Finals for the second-straight year, Prosser (31-12) won a 3-1 decision over Mark to become one of his team’s six champions and eight sectional qualifiers. Prosser followed a major decision with a 6-2 victory over Ridgeview/Lexington’s Judson Stover in the semifinals.

“We had a lot of guys who were seeded low and they placed higher than they were seeded, so we’re putting up a fight,” Prosser said. “I’m really proud of the guys. Last year I was on the team that went to state and we wanted to do this year again. I started off really good and I won at the PORTA tournament, but then I kind of went through a mid-year slump, and at the PIT (Princeton), I was sick and I went 0-2. But I’m at full strength now, so it’s good to finish up the year strong.”

Mark (36-7), who joined 165 champion Bowden Delaney as one of Tremont’s two finalists and three qualifiers for the Olympia Sectional, used a pair of falls to reach the 138 title match, with the last of those coming in 2:24 over Olympia’s Cooper Phillips in the semifinals. The two individuals who lost in the semifinals, both juniors, met in the third-place match and Olympia’s Phillips (32-15) won a 10-4 decision over Ridgeview/Lexington’s Stover (32-12) to become one of his team’s six qualifiers for their own sectional tournament, which takes place in Stanford.

144 – Ethan Lowe, University High

People may not have known a whole lot about University High sophomore Ethan Lowe prior to the Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional, but they do now after the sophomore improved to 37-5 when he captured the title at 144 with a 10-5 decision over LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Brock Owens. Although only a sophomore, Lowe was the oldest of the Pioneers’ sectional qualifiers, with the other three being freshmen, which included his brother Nolan, who also advanced to the finals and took second place at 126. Lowe, who was unable to qualify out of the Pontiac Regional at 152 last season when he won 24 matches as a freshman, followed a quick pin with a win by technical fall in 3:52 over GCMSF’s Corbin Ragle in the semifinals to join Nolan as a finalist.

“I’ve talked about it with my parents and I’m definitely going to work a lot harder this offseason because I’m going to try to wrestle after high school,” Lowe said. “We’re from kids club, so I’m just thankful that we;ll never have to wrestle in the finals like in kids club. Over the offseason, what I worked the most on was my neutral, setting up shots and finishing, and I think that’s been my strongest point this year. That’s helped me a lot to win matches with that one takedown that I had to work hard for.”

Owens (16-10), a sectional qualifier who went 35-14 last season and came up a bit short of advancing from the Clinton Sectional, was one of a tournament-high seven finalists and joins the Panthers’ six champions and third-place finisher Bo Zeleznik as one of their eight sectional qualifiers. Owens opened with a major decision and then won by fall in 1:29 over Prairie Central’s Ayden Mackey in the semifinals. Mackey (23-8), a senior, joined 132 runner-up John Traub as sectional qualifiers for the Hawks after he won 4-2 over Olympia senior Bryson Wilson (25-19), who lost to Owens in the quarterfinals and bounced back to win his next two matches. 

150 – Bentley Wise, Olympia

A year ago, Bentley Wise came as close as you can get to qualifying for a trip to the state finals in each of the past two seasons when he lost in the consolation semifinals at the Clinton Sectional in 2023 and at his own Olympia Sectional in 2022 to come up short of appearances in the state finals by just one win despite winning 42 matches last season and 30 in the 2021-22 season. Needless to say, the Olympia senior doesn’t intend to fall short in his final attempt. Wise improved to 37-8 after claiming a 3-1 decision over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Carson Maxey in the 150 title match to join 113 title winner Dylan Eimer as regional champions and was one of five finalists for the Spartans, who will have six qualifiers advancing to their own sectional in Stanford. Wise opened with a fall and then advanced to the 150 title match when University High’s Joshua Carabello was forced to take a medical forfeit.

“I say that we’re almost there, too bad we had injured guys,” Wise said. “We have six guys who are getting ready for sectionals. This year has been amazing, This past week we had the best times of our lives, getting ready, and our coaches are amazing and they bring everyones’ spirits up to have some fun in the wrestling room . I hope to come back next year and watch them.”

Maxey (33-7), a senior who was one of six finalists and eight sectional qualifiers for the host school, did his best to try to help his team hang on to the team lead and hold off challenges by both LeRoy/Tri-Valley and Olympia for the regional championship. Maxey, who went 36-7 last season and was a state qualifier along with classmates Shawn Schlickman and Aiden Sancken and Maxey fell in the quarterfinals. He’d like to do what Sancken accomplished last season, which was earning a medal for placing fifth at 195. Maxey followed a pin with an 11-3 major decision over Eureka sophomore Sam Hoffman in the semifinals. Hoffman (29-14) bounced back to capture an 11-8 decision over University High junior Joshua  Carabello (24-10) in the third-place match to become one of the three sectional qualifiers for the Hornets.

157 – Connor Lyons, LeRoy/Tri-Valley

Connor Lyons helped to close the gap some more on the hosts as he became LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s fourth champion in five title matches when he captured a 9-0 major decision over Olympia’s Kelton Graden in the 157 finals to improve to 36-9. Last season he went 32-11 and fell one win shy of qualifying for state at 145 from the Clinton Sectional. Beside looking to get to Champaign, he would also like to see the Panthers return to the Dual Team Finals for the second year in a row. In order to accomplish that, they need to beat Canton in the dual team sectional that they will host on the Tuesday after the IHSA Individual Finals conclude. Lyons assured himself of being one of his team’s six finalists and eight qualifiers when recorded a pair of first-period falls, including one in 1:51 over Pontiac’s Carlito Lattin in the semifinals.

“LeRoy and Tri-Valley is a co-op and it is such a strong brotherhood,” Lyons said. “I tell them all of the time that I wouldn’t trade a single one of you. I’m so blessed to be able to compete with these guys and go through all of the hardships of wrestling. I love them all and I’d fight for every single one of them. And I’m going to turn some heads, for sure, I promise you that.”

Graden, a freshman who is 37-10, assured himself of being one of Olympia’s five finalists and six qualifiers to their own sectional when he followed a pin with a 7-5 decision over El Paso-Gridley’s Waylon Melick in the semifinals. Melick, a senior, improved to 32-15 when he won by fall in 2:25 over Pontiac junior Carlito Lattin (21-16) in the third-place match, Melick, one of four sectional qualifiers for the Titans, went 31-14 last season and suffered the same fate as Lyons did in the 145 bracket at the Clinton Sectional when he also came up one win shy of making an appearance in the IHSA Finals.

165 – Bowden Delaney, Tremont  

While plenty of individuals left the Class 1A Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley with impressive records, only one of them has suffered just one defeat heading into sectional competition, Bowden Delaney captured his fifth tournament title of the season and improved to 39-1 after winning by fall in 1:21 over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Cooper Miller in the 165 title match. The Tremont junior was one of three sectional qualifiers and two finalists for the Turks, who are coached by IWCOA Hall of Famer TJ Williams. Delaney advanced to the 165 title mat with a pin in 1:16 over Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Wyatt Otto in the semifinals in his other match. A two-time IHSA qualifier who went 42-6 last season and lost in the quarterfinals at 126, hopes to become just the 11th Turk to win a medal at the IHSA Finals, joining former teammates Payton Murphy and Cooper and Lucas Wendling, who accounted for three medals in 2022 and 2023. Delaney’s lone defeat this season came at ABE’s Rumble to Marian Central Catholic’s Max Astacio.

Miller (29-10), one of six finalists and eight sectional qualifiers for the second-place Falcons, also was one of six freshmen who competed in title matches. He opened with a pair of falls in the opening period, which included a pin in 1:44 over LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Bo Zeleznik in the semifinals. Zeleznik (26-10), a junior and one of the eight sectional qualifiers for the champion Panthers, did his part in his team’s late surge that helped them win the team title as he won by fall in 1:27 over Deer Creek-Mackinaw freshman Wyatt Otto (24-17) to claim third place.

175 – Dominic Ricconi, El Paso-Gridley

Dominic Ricconi didn’t know what to expect when Joe Cliffe stepped in to be the head coach again at El Paso-Gridley. But as the season has progressed, the junior has found out why Cliffe has received all sorts of honors, such as a 1993 IWCOA Hall of Fame induction, serving as a 2000 Grand Marshal, being a 2003 IWCOA Lifetime Service Recipient and in 2007, receiving a Lifetime Service Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Illinois Chapter.  Ricconi, who improved to 32-14, credits the veteran coach for making him better, and that was evidenced by him winning the title at 175 with a 7-5 decision over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Lincoln Eastin. Ricconi, the lone champion and one of four sectional qualifiers for the Titans, followed a major decision with a 10-3 victory over Olympia’s Cole Bauer to earn his spot in the finals.

“It does feel really good,” Ricconi said of winning the regional title. “When I started off the year, coach Cliffe was the new head coach coming in, and we really weren’t used to it because he’s kind of old school, but it’s really paid off for all of us and I’ve seen the whole team improve.”

Eastin (22-8), who’s a senior, was one of six finalists and eight sectional qualifiers for Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher. He followed up on a fall in his opening match with a 14-3 major decision over Eureka’s Wyatt Zacha in the semifinals. The third-place match featured the two individuals who lost in the semifinals and senior Zacha (28-14) captured a 9-3 decision over Olympia junior Cole Bauer (25-17) to earn his trip to the Olympia Sectional.

190 – Aiden Sancken, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher

As Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher, LeRoy/Tri-Valley and Olympia were all still within eight points of each other with the finals matches at three weight classes remaining, Aiden Sancken knew what he needed to do as he stepped onto the mat for the 190 championship match with the hosts hanging on to a 4.5-point lead for first. With El Paso-Gridley’s Ryden Barker also battling to win a regional title, Falcons senior Sancken delivered a big win for the home team with a 6-2 decision to capture the 190 title and improve to 31-4. Sancken, one of six finalists and eight sectional qualifiers for GCMSF joined Shawn Schlickman as regional champions for the Falcons, who eventually lost the title to LeRoy/Tri-Valley by 1.5 points. Sancken, who went 35-6 a year ago and took fifth at 195 in the IHSA Finals, won his first two matches in falls of 0:21 and 0:32, with the second pin against Pontiac’s Jackson Crawford in the semifinals. 

“I think we had a lot of matches where we had people leave a lot of points out there, including mine,” Sancken said. “Honestly, there’s not much you can do there, you’ve just got to wrestle. LeRoy is a really good team and we faced them earlier this season and only lost to them by one or two. It’s just a shame that we had three amazing teams in the same regional and only one could come out. But we have a lot of people who are still going to sectionals and I was kind of patting everyone on the shoulder and saying, ‘hey, keep your head up, you still have a week left.’ And for some kids, even two more weeks. Last year we had three people make it and I was the only one to place. The people we have going to sectionals have amazing talent and I think we could send almost everyone that’s going to sectionals to state and maybe even place multiple people. I can’t wait.”

Barker (35-10), a junior who was one of two finalists and four sectional qualifiers for El Paso-Gridley, won his first two matches to advance him to the 190 finals. After collecting a quick pin in his opener, Barker had a struggle in the semifinals and he prevailed for a 3-0 decision over Olympia’s Darian Holloway. The third-place match featured the two individuals who lost in the semifinals meeting up and Pontiac junior Jackson Crawford (17-17) assured himself of a trip to the Olympia Sectional after recording a fall in 0:44 over sophomore Holloway (30-17).

215 – Jacob Bischoff, LeRoy/Tri-Valley

Jacob Bischoff knew exactly what he had to do as he stepped onto the title mat at 215 but getting the job done against a determined opponent like Nolen Yeary was easier said than done. With the Olympia senior frustrating his efforts to end the match early to help his team win the regional championship, the Panthers senior finally got his opportunity and made the most of it to record a fall in 4:49 to assure that Tate Sigler could wrap up the team title with a decision at 285, which is what he did. Bischoff (39-2) followed a fall in his opener with a 7-5 decision over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Cohen Kean in the semifinals. One of six champions and eight sectional qualifiers for LeRoy/Tri-Valley, he hopes to not only get back to state and improve upon last year’s showing, when he capped a 43-12 season with a sixth-place finish at 220, but also close out his career by once again competing in the IHSA Dual Team Finals.

“It was a close race the entire time,” Bischoff said. “Gibson and Olympia, we were neck and neck the entire time, it was intense. It started from the beginning, I could just tell that the focus wasn’t what we had. We were down two guys but we wanted to keep going. Today, every one of us wrestled great, from our freshmen to our seniors, everyone wrestled to the best of their abilities. We’re down Kobe (Brent) and Jimmy (Chaon), but we’re hoping to get them back because now we have an extra week of team.” 

Yeary (33-5), one of the six qualifiers from Olympia who will get the opportunity to try to qualify for a trip to Champaign at their own sectional, opened his tournament with a quick fall and then captured an 11-3 major decision over El Paso-Gridley’s Parker Duffy in the semifinals. In the third-place match, senior Duffy (38-8) complicated matters for the host team when he captured an 8-1 decision over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher junior Cohen Kean (29-11).

285 – Tate Sigler, LeRoy/Tri-Valley

The task at hand was clear, get a victory and your team wins a regional championship or lose, and the other team walks away with the regional plaque. With two competitors realizing that there was so much on the line, there didn’t figure to be a lot of twists and turns, and that’s what happened when LeRoy/Tri-Valley junior Tate Sigler and Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher senior Aydin Cornell met in the 285 title match to determine who would take first. The host Falcons entered the match up 192-189.5. After a scoreless first period, Sigler went up 2-0 in the second period and Cornell got the early escape to make it 2-1, but that was it for the scoring as Sigler (37-6) won a 2-1 decision that was the last piece of the puzzle in the Panthers’ comeback which saw them prevail by a 193.5-192 margin. Sigler, one of his team’s six champions, opened with two falls, with one in 5:30 in the semifinals over University High’s Michael Bennett.

“Both of those programs are incredible so we knew that it was going to be a dog fight coming in, so just to pull it out at the end, that’s awesome,” Sigler said. “With how hard our program works and since we work as hard as anyone, I wouldn’t call it pressure, it’s more like I’m in that position. It also helps that we have a couple of guys that are injured right now and this gives them time to come back. I just like the fight. Midway through the last round, we’re down by 15 or so. But coach (Brian) Roberts came up to everyone and said, ”just do your job, and if you win, you win’. And then people went out and got bonus points.”

Cornell (15-6) reached the 285 championship match following a pair of first-period falls to become one of his team’s six finalists. His quickest pin came in the semifinals when he needed just 0:43 to get past Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Joey Humphries. For third place, University High freshman Michael Bennett bounced back from his loss to Sigler to assure himself of a sectional trip when he recorded a fall in 3:00 over El Paso-Gridley junior Christopher Blackmore (29-17).

Championship matches for the Class 1A Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional

106 – Brady Mouser (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) TF 5:17 Aidan Scholwin (Pontiac)

113 – Dylan Eimer (Olympia) F 1:33 Kooper Wiles (Pontiac)

120 – EJ Chaon (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) F 0:51 Austin Kisner (Olympia)

126 – Danny Tay (Ridgeview/Lexington) D 11-4 Nolan Lowe (University High)

132 – Shawn Schlickman (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher) F 0:50 John Traub (Prairie Central)

138 – Colton Prosser (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) D 3-1 Mason Mark (Tremont)

144 – Ethan Lowe (University High) D 10-5 Brock Owens (LeRoy/Tri-Valley)

150 – Bentley Wise (Olympia) D 3-1 Carson Maxey (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher)

157 – Connor Lyons (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) MD 9-0 Kelton Graden (Olympia)

165 – Bowden Delaney (Tremont) F 1:21 Cooper Miller (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher)

175 – Dominic Ricconi (El Paso-Gridley) D 7-5 Lincoln Eastin (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher)

190 – Aiden Sancken (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher) D 6-2 Ryden Barker (El Paso-Gridley)

215 – Jacob Bischoff (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) F 4:49 Nolen Yeary (Olympia)

285 – Tate Sigler (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) D 2-1 Aydin Cornell (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher)

Third-place matches for the Class 1A Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional

106 – Clayton Piper (University High) M For Noah Whiteside (Olympia)

113 – Henry Watson (Eureka) F 1:49 Mason Howard (University High)

120 – Gage Martin (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher) D 10-9 Joshua Butler (University High)

126 – Hudson Babb (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher) F 0:56 Drayden Ramsey (Pontiac)

132 – Chase Stedman (Tremont) D 8-4 Mateo Martinez (Olympia)

138 – Cooper Phillips (Olympia) D 10-4 Judson Stover (Ridgeview/Lexington)

144 – Ayden Mackey (Prairie Central) D 4-2 Bryson Wilson (Olympia)

150 – Sam Hoffman (Eureka) D 11-8 Joshua Carabello (University High)

157 – Waylon Melick (El Paso-Gridley) F 2:25 Carlito Lattin (Pontiac)

165 – Bo Zeleznik (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) F 1:27 Wyatt Otto (Deer Creek-Mackinaw)

175 – Wyatt Zacha (Eureka) D 9-3 Cole Bauer (Olympia)

190 – Jackson Crawford (Pontiac) F 0:44 Darian Holloway (Olympia)

215 – Parker Duffy (El Paso-Gridley) D 8-1 Cohen Kean (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher)

285 – Michael Bennett (University High) F 3:00 Christopher Blackmore (El Paso-Gridley)

Team scores for the Class 1A Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional

1. LeRoy/Tri-Valley 193.5, 2. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher 192, 3. Olympia 180, 4. University High 120.5, 5. Pontiac 103, 6. El Paso-Gridley 98, 7. Tremont 73, 8. Eureka 59, 9. Ridgeview/Lexington 48, 10. Prairie Central 44, 11. Deer Creek-Mackinaw 37.

Summary of regionals feeding into the Class 1A Byron Sectional

Class 1A Stillman Valley Regional – champion Byron

Last year, Lena-Winslow/Stockton got a win in the final match of the Class 1A Polo Regional to beat rival Dakota 203-200 for the team championship. This year  at the Class 1A Stillman Valley Regional, the tables turned on the PantherHawks as Byron got a win in the heavyweight title match from Jared Claunch, its fifth first-place finish of the day, and that gave the Tigers 196 points, which was one more than Lena-Winslow/Stockton scored, which was 195. Oregon (126), Dakota (110.5) and Stillman Valley (104.5) were next best in the 11-team competition.

Beside advancing eight individuals to the sectional that it’s hosting this weekend, Byron will get to compete in the Newman Central Catholic Dual Team Sectional where it will face the team’s that has been top-ranked for much of the season by Illinois Matmen, Marian Central Catholic.

Leading the way for coach Mike Elsbury’s champion Tigers were first-place finishers Jackson Norris (120), Will Julian (138), Brody Stien (150), Kyle Jones (190) and Jared Claunch (285) while Carsen Behn (165) took second and Damien Palacios (113) and Jacob Ross (157) were third. Hunter King (126), Cael O’Horo (132), Nick Ingram (175) and Jarett Ross (215) all finished fourth and Briggs Barton (144) also added key  points to the cause.

Top performers for coach Kevin Milder’s runner-up PantherHawks were champions Arrison Bauer (132), Jared Dvorak (157) and Eli Larson (175) while Mauricio Glass (138), John Mensendike (150), Jeremiah Luke (190) and Michael Haas (215) took second place and Kameron Rowe (106), Tegan Arnold (126) and Karl Hubb (144) placed third to give them 10 individuals who will be competing in the Byron Sectional.

Other regional champions were Dakota’s Brandon White (106), Jason Bowers (144) and Noah Wenzel (215), Oregon’s Nelson Benesh (113) and Preston LaBay (126) and Genoa-Kingston’s Brady Brewick (165). Top records for regional title winners include Noah Wenzel at 215 (29-0, 1.000), Brady Brewick at 165 (36-2, .947), Kyle Jones at 190 (33-4, .892), Eli Larson at 175 (38-5, .884), Jared Dvorak at 157 (38-6, .864) and Nelson Benesh at 113 (34-6, .850).

Additional second-place finishes were turned in by Stillman Valley’s Michael Pannarale (106), Mack Jones (113) and Henry Hildreth (144), Genoa-Kingston’s Shayden McNew (126) and Xander Gleissner (175), Durand’s Ethan Foster (120), West Carroll’s Connor Knop (132), Oregon’s Anthony Bauer (157) and Galena’s William Anderson (285).

Championship matches for the Stillman Valley Regional

106 – Brandon White (Dakota) TF 4:00 Michael Pannarale (Stillman Valley)

113 – Nelson Benesh (Oregon) F 1:05 Mack Jones (Stillman Valley)

120 – Jackson Norris (Byron) MD 11-0 Ethan Foster (Durand)

126 – Preston LaBay (Oregon) F 3:13 Shayden McNew (Genoa-Kingston)

132 – Arrison Bauer (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) D 5-0 Connor Knop (West Carroll)

138 – Will Julian (Byron) F 4:32 Mauricio Glass (Lena-Winslow/Stockton)

144 – Jason Bowers (Dakota) D 5-4 Henry Hildreth (Stillman Valley)

150 – Brody Stein (Byron) D 7-0 John Mensendike (Lena-Winslow/Stockton)

157 – Jared Dvorak (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) D 6-5 Anthony Bauer (Oregon)

165 – Brady Brewick (Genoa-Kingston) D 4-2 Carsen Behn (Byron)

175 – Eli Larson (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) F 2:38 Xander Gleissner (Genoa-Kingston)

190 – Kyle Jones (Byron) SV 7-2 Jeremiah Luke (Lena-Winslow/Stockton)

215 – Noah Wenzel (Dakota) D 4-1 Michael Haas (Lena-Winslow/Stockton)

285 – Jared Claunch (Byron) F 2:55 William Anderson (Galena)

Third-place matches for the Stillman Valley Regional

106 – Kameron Rowe (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) F 2:56 Kaleb Lancaste (Genoa-Kingston)

113 – Damien Palacios (Byron) D 7-4 David Prater (Lena-Winslow/Stockton)

120 – Chase Whitehead (Winnebago) F 3:05 Jackson Messenger (Oregon)

126 – Tegan Arnold (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) F 2:53 Hunter King (Byron)

132 – Brodie Watterson (Stillman Valley) D 2-1 Cael O’Horo (Byron)

138 – Harlan Kinney (Dakota) F 2:46 Mark Nevdal (Durand)

144 – Karl Hubb (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) F 1:20 Jakobi Donegan (Oregon)

150 – Ethan Mowry (Oregon) F 0:56 Josue Arcos-Andrade (Galena)

157 – Jacob Ross (Byron) F 1:58 Connor Panoske (Dakota)

165 – Braden Rogers (Stillman Valley) F 4:10 Brady Haas (Lena-Winslow/Stockton)

175 – Dameon Poulton (Galena) SV 9-7 Nick Ingram (Byron)

190 – Quentin Berry (Oregon) D 12-8 Brock Needs (Stillman Valley)

215 – Braxton Jennings (Stillman Valley) F 4:57 Jarett Ross (Byron)

285 – Randy McPeek (Dakota) F 5:04 Blake Mollet (Stillman Valley)

Team scores for the Stillman Valley Regional

1. Byron 196, 2. Lena-Winslow/Stockton 195, 3. Oregon 126, 4. Dakota 110.5, 5. Stillman Valley 104.5, 6. Genoa-Kingston 68, 7, Galena 50, 8. Durand 25, 9. West Carroll 18, 10. Winnebago 15, 11. Boylan Catholic 7.

Class 1A Johnsburg Regional – champion Marian Central Catholic

Marian Central Catholic received a good challenge as it kicked off postseason competition as Richmond-Burton put up a good fight in the Class 1A Johnsburg Regional before the Ryan Prater/Jordan Blanton-led top-ranked Hurricanes captured top honors with 235 points while Richmond-Burton took second with 199 points with Wheaton Academy (123) and host Johnsburg (115) were next in line in the 10-team tournament that took place in Johnsburg.

Beside qualifying 11 individuals to this weekend’s Byron Sectional, Marian Central Catholic also earned the right to advance to the Newman Central Catholic Dual Team Sectional in Sterling where it will meet Byron, who edged Lena-Winslow/Stockton in the Stillman Valley Regional, for the opportunity to qualify for the IHSA Dual Team Finals in Bloomington. The Hurricanes took part in that competition each year from 2018 to 2020 under David Silva, with the highlight being a third-place finish in 2019.

Leading the way for the champion Hurricanes were first-place finishers Anthony Alanis (113), Brayden Teunissen (120), Vance Williams (132), Andrew Alvarado (138), Jimmy Mastny (157), Max Astacio (165) and Nic Astacio (175) while Austin Hagevold (106) and Dan French (190) placed second and Connor Cassels (150) and Kaleb Eckman (285) were third. Josiah Perez (126) finished fourth and Josh Gawronski (144) and Owen Neuzil (215) also helped the cause.

“We competed very well as a team, led by seven individual champions,” Blanton said, “Notably, returning state champion Anthony Alanis, won his 150th career match in the finals at 113 pounds. Our freshman competed very well, led by champions Jimmy Mastny (157) and Nic Astacio (175). We got 11 wrestlers qualified for the Byron Sectional and are excited for the opportunities ahead in the coming weeks!”

Top performers for coach Tony Nelson’s runner-up Rockets were title winners Emmett Nelson (144), Brody Rudkin (150) and Alex Reyna (190) as well as second-place finishers Kristian Gersch (113), Clay Madula (120), Kyan Gunderson (126), Dane Sorensen (138), Isaac Jones (157) and Colin Kraus (285).

Other champions in the regional were Johnsburg’s Eric Bush (106), Wheaton Academy’s Lincoln Hoger (126), St. Edward’s Dominic Savini (215) and St. Francis’ Jaylen Torres (285). Some of the best records of the regional title winners were Emmett Nelson at 144 (43-0, 1.000), Jimmy Mastny at 157 (21-1, .955), Jaylen Torres at 285 (13-1, .929), Dominic Savini at 215 (19-2, .905), Eric Bush at 106 (28-3, .903), Anthony Alanis at 113 (33-4, .892), Brody Rudkin at 150 (22-3, .880) and Lincoln Hoger at 126 (35-5, .875).

Also claiming second-place finishes were Wheaton Academy’s Will Hupke (132), Tyler Jones (144) and Chasen Kazmierczak (150), Johnsburg’s Duke Mays (165) and CJ Ameachi (215) and Marengo’s Maverick Quatroke (175).

Championship matches for the Class 1A Johnsburg Regional

106 – Eric Bush (Johnsburg) D 7-6 Austin Hagevold (Marian Central Catholic)

113 – Anthony Alanis (Marian Central Catholic) F 3:03 Kristian Gersch (Richmond-Burton)

120 – Brayden Teunissen (Marian Central Catholic) TF 4:34 Clay Madula (Richmond-Burton)

126 – Lincoln Hoger (Wheaton Academy) MD 14-3 Kyan Gunderson (Richmond-Burton)

132 – Vance Williams (Marian Central Catholic) F 3:07 Will Hupke (Wheaton Academy)

138 – Andrew Alarado (Marian Central Catholic) MD 8-0 Dane Sorensen (Richmond-Burton)

144 – Emmett Nelson (Richmond-Burton) MD 18-7 Tyler Jones (Wheaton Academy)

150 – Brody Rudkin (Richmond-Burton) D 3-1 Chasen Kazmierczak (Wheaton Academy)

157 – Jimmy Mastny (Marian Central Catholic) F 3:27 Isaac Jones (Richmond-Burton)

165 – Max Astacio (Marian Central Catholic) MD 13-5 Duke Mays (Johnsburg)

175 – Nic Astacio (Marian Central Catholic) MD 14-2 Maverick Quatroke (Marengo)

190 – Alex Reyna (Richmond-Burton) F 2:58 Dan French (Marian Central Catholic)

215 – Dominic Savini (St, Edward) D 9-3 CJ Ameachi (Johnsburg)

285 – Jayden Torres (St. Francis) D 11-4 Colin Kraus (Richmond-Burton)

Third-place matches for the Class 1A Johnsburg Regional

106 – Jonathon Sebring (Marengo) F 1:45 Nicolas Chiappetta (Wheaton Academy)

113 – Micah Klos (Johnsburg) F 2:58 Buckley Kazmierczak (Wheaton Academy)

120 – Gavin Prudlick (Marengo) F 0:33 Cameron Sweeney (Johnsburg)

126 – Gavin Ekberg (North Boone) D 2-1 Josiah Perez (Marian Central Catholic)

132 – Landon Johnson (Johnsburg) MD 12-0 Owen Ostler (Marengo)

138 – Erik Bate (Johnsburg) D 1-0 Max Mulhearn (Harvest Christian Academy)

144 – Mason Lampe (Marengo) D 10-4 Chase Siguenza (St. Francis)

150 – Connor Cassels (Marian Central Catholic) F 0:30 Isiah Harris (North Boone)

157 – Deonta Giles (Wheaton Academy) D 3-2 Ben Conte (St. Francis)

165 – Dominick Dickens (Richmond-Burton) F 5:24 Connor Sacco (Marengo)

175 – Dylan Falasca (Richmond-Burton) F 5:48 Ian Tanacea (Wheaton Academy)

190 – Logan Crowell (Alden-Hebron) D 6-5 Devin Storti (Marengo)

215 – Frankie Solis (Marengo) F 2:31 Sebastian Sandoval (North Boone)

285 – Kaleb Eckman (Marian Central Catholic) F 1:58 Kolonati Zibaya (Wheaton Academy)

Team scores for the Class 1A Johnsburg Regional

1. Marian Central Catholic 235, 2. Richmond-Burton 199, 3. Wheaton Academy 123, 4. Johnsburg 115, 5. Marengo 92, 6. St. Francis 44, 7. North Boone 38.5, 8. St, Edward 22, 9. Alden-Hebron 14, 10. Harvest Christian Academy 8.

Class 1A Fulton Regional – champion Riverdale

It was anyone’s guess as to who would prevail in the Class 1A Fulton Regional considering that there were six teams in attendance that were ranked in the top 25 by Illinois Matmen. But while there were several regionals throughout the state where things went down to the wire, that wasn’t the case at Fulton where Riverdale took top honors with 183.5 points, which was 38.5 points better than runner-up Newman Central Catholic, who scored 145 points. Kewanee (130.5) took third while Orion (123) and Rockridge (123) tied for fourth in the 11-team event.

Beside advancing eight individuals to this weekend’s Byron Sectional, the champion Rams get the chance to compete in the Newman Central Catholic Dual Team Sectional where they’ll meet Sandwich, who won its own regional tournament.

Top performers for coach Aron Kindelsperger’s first-place Rams were champions Benjamin Porter (106), Tharren Jacobs (113), Dean Wainwright (120), Blake Smith (150) and Zachary Bradley (175) while Kolton Kruse (138) finished second and Iyezayha Hill (190) and Jacob Baustian (285) took third place. Elijah Newton (126), Cole Barrett (132), Brayden Geigle (144), Brennan Huggins (157), Aaron John Scranton (165) and Jacob Schredeya (215) also competed in the regional for Riverdale.

Other Fulton Regional champions were Rockridge’s Thomas Soward (126), Jude Finch (132) and  Ryan Lower (165), Newman Central Catholic’s Briar Ivey (138), Carter Rude (144) and Daniel Kelly (157), Orion’s Maddux Anderson (190), Kewanee’s Alejandro Duarte (215) and Rock Falls’ Jacob Hosler (285). 

Some of the top records of title winners were Tharren Jacobs at 113 (40-1, .976), Dean Wainwright at 120 (40-1, .976), Carter Rude at 144 (39-1, .975), Blake Smith at 150 (43-2, .956), Maddux Anderson (41-2 at 190), Ryan Lower at 165 (39-2, ,951), Zachary Bradley (44-3, .936), Daniel Kelly at 157 (37-3, .925), Alejandro Duarte at 215 (33-3, .917) and Briar Ivey at 138 (37-4, ,902).

Also finishing in second place were Fulton’s Zander Ketelsen (106), Skyler Crooks (157) and Mason Kuebel (175), Kewanee’s Kingston Peterson (113) and Jackson Hawkins (190), Orion’s Cole Perkins (126) and Aiden Fisher (215), Erie/Prophetstown’s Wyatt Goossens (144) and Caleb Reymer (285), Morrison’s Karder White (150) and Brady Anderson (165), Newman Central Catholic’s Brady Grennan (132) and Rock Falls’ Josiah Tarbill (120).

Championship matches for the Class 1A Fulton Regional

106 – Benjamin Porter (Riverdale) MD 10-2 Zander Ketelsen (Fulton)

113 – Tharren Jacobs (Riverdale) F 3:04 Kingston Peterson (Kewanee)

120 – Dean Wainwright (Riverdale) F 1:07 Josiah Tarbill (Rock Falls) 

126 – Thomas Soward (Rockridge) D 8-4 Cole Perkins (Orion)

132 – Jude Finch (Rockridge)) D 2-1 Brady Grennan (Newman Central Catholic)

138 – Briar Ivey (Newman Central Catholic) D 6-3 Kolton Kruse (Riverdale)

144 – Carter Rude (Newman Central Catholic) MD 14-3 Wyatt Goossens (Erie/Prophetstown)

150 – Blake Smith (Riverdale) F 0:30 Karder White (Morrison)

157 – Daniel Kelly (Newman Central Catholic) MD 17-7 Skylier Crooks (Fulton)

165 – Ryan Lower (Rockridge) F 2:34 Brady Anderson (Morrison)

175 – Zachary Bradley (Riverdale)) F 4:47 Mason Kuebel (Fulton)

190 – Maddux Anderson (Orion) F 1:13 Jackson Hawkins (Kewanee)

215 – Alejandro Duarte (Kewanee) F 4:24 Aiden Fisher (Orion)

285 – Jacob Hosler (Rock Falls) F 0:46 Caleb Reymer (Erie/Prophetstown)

Third-place matches from the Class 1A Fulton Regional

106 – Tyler Olson (Orion) D 6-4 Luke Werner (Sherrard)

113 – Colton Bock (Rockridge) F 0:23 Braiden Krahl (Sherrard)

120 – Kaleb Sovey (Orion) F 3:38 Landyn Greenhagen (Kewanee)

126 – Zhyler Hansen (Newman Central Catholic) F 0:47 Blake Pender (Sherrard)

132 – Caleb Modglin (Morrison) F 2:44 Jacob Gibson (Erie/Prophetstown)

138 – Camden Pruis (Morrison) D 18-11 Benjamin Taylor (Kewanee)

144 – Adam Jacks (Alleman) F 1:37 Levi Milder (Morrison)

150 – Tristan Hovey (Erie/Prophetstown) D 8-4 Kaden Dutton (Sherrard)

157 – Victor Bonnell (Erie/Prophetstown) D 13-10 Preston Brunat (Rockridge)

165 – Joey McGuire (Kewanee) F 2:36 Ben Geske (Newman Central Catholic)

175 – Jamal Lasenby (Kewanee) D 6-5 Nolan Loete (Orion)

190 – Iyezayha Hill (Riverdale) F 4:43 Peyton Pirog (Alleman)

215 – Tanner McKeag (Rockridge) D 6-2 Joey Magee (Alleman)

285 – Jacob Baustian (Riverdale) F 3:01 Chris Carroll (Fulton)

Team scores for the Class 1A Fulton Regional

1. Riverdale 183.5, 2. Newman Central Catholic 145, 3. Kewanee 130.5, 4. Orion 123, 4. Rockridge 123, 6. Morrison 110, 7. Erie/Prophetstown  96, 8. Fulton 75, 9. Rock Falls 69.5, 10. Sherrard 60, 11. Alleman 39.

  Class 1A Sandwich Regional – champion Sandwich

The last time that Sandwich won a regional title was in 2022 and the Indians followed up on that by getting a huge win over Lena-Winslow Stockton in the Rock Falls Dual Team Sectional to earn their 12th appearance in the IHSA Finals and cap a  22-5 season. Now coach Derek Jones hopes that his program can get back to state and win their first trophy since 2012 when it took fourth for coach Josh McCarty.

Sandwich started its postseason in a fine fashion, collecting 205.5 points to finish 35.5 points ahead of runner-up Princeton, which scored 170 points. Marquette Academy (119.5) and Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/LaMoille/Ohio (112) were next in the 11-team competition that took place in Sandwich. Beside sending qualifiers to this weekend’s Byron Sectional, the Indians will compete in the Newman Central Catholic Dual Team Sectional where they’ll meet, Riverdale, which took first place in the very competitive Fulton Regional.

Leading the way for Sandwich were champions Colten Stone (113), Cooper Corder (138), Miles Corder (144) and Ian Hawkins (150) while Jack Forth (132) and Kaden Clevenger (175) took second place and Jacob Ross (106), Jakob Gruca (120), Wyatt Gregory (126), Sy Smith (157) and Kai Kern (165) all won third-place matches to advance to the sectional. Luis Murillo (215) took fourth while Tristen King (190) and Eddie Hernandez (285) also got to compete in the team’s final event on the home mats this season.

Top performers for IWCOA Hall of Famer Steve Amy and his runner-up Princeton Tigers were title winners Augustus Swanson (106), Preston Arkels (157), Casey Etheridge (165), Ian Morris (215) and Cade Odell (285) while Ace Christiansen (138) took second place. 

Other regional champions were St. Bede Academy’s Hunter Savage (132) and Grady Gillan (190), Lisle Senior’s Alexander Ferari (120), Marquette Academy’s Beau Thompson (126) and Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/LaMoille/Ohio’s Lucas Blanton (175). Regional champions with the top records include Augustus Swanson at 106 (29-1, .967), Cade Odell at 285 (27-1, .964), Ian Hawkins at 150 (13-1, .929), Cooper Corder at 138 (29-3, .906) and Alexander Ferari at 120 (27-4, .871).

Also claiming second-place finishes were Marquette Academy’s Koby Clark (113), Reily Leifheit (157) and Alex Schaefer (165), Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/LaMoille/Ohio’s Landon Blanton (120), Chase Montavon (126) and Evan Flanagan (215), Aurora Central Catholic’s Vince Hefke (106) and Joaquin Martinez (190), Lisle Senior’s Johnny Consuegra-Lopez (144), St. Bede Academy’s Logan Pineda (150) and Mendota’s Angil Serrano (285)

Championship matches for the Class 1A Sandwich Regional

106 – Augustus Swanson (Princeton) F 5:55 Vince Hefke (Aurora Central Catholic)

113 – Colten Stone (Sandwich) D 4-2 Koby Clark (Marquette Academy)

120 – Alexander Ferari (Lisle) SV 3-1 Landon Blanton (Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/LaMoille/Ohio)

126 – Beau Thompson (Marquette Academy)  F 1:44 Chase Montavon (Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/LaMaille/Ohio)

132 – Hunter Savage (St. Bede Academy) D 9-5 Jack Forth (Sandwich)

138 – Cooper Corder (Sandwich) D 7-6 Ace Christiansen (Princeton)

144 – Miles Corder (Sandwich) F 4:31 Johnny Consuegra-Lopez (Lisle)

150 – Ian Hawkins (Sandwich) F 1:24 Logan Pineda (St. Bede Academy)

157 – Preston Arkels (Princeton) D 5-1 Reily Leifheit (Marquette Academy)

165 – Casey Etheridge (Princerton) F 1:33 Alex Schaefer (Marquette Academy)

175 – Lucas Blanton (Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center.LaMoille/Ohio) F 1:58 Kaden Clevenger (Sandwich)

190 – Grady Gillan (St. Bede Academy) F 1:59 Joaquin Martinez (Aurora Central Catholic)

215 – Ian Morris (Princeton) F 2:50 Evan Flanagan (Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center, LaMoille/Ohio)

285 – Cade Odell (Princeton) D 7-0 Angil Serrano (Mendota)

Third-place matches for the Class 1A Sandwich Regional

106 – Jacob Ross (Sandwich( F 2:00 Ty Florschuetz (Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/LaMoille/Ohio)

113 – Chase Huggins (Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/LaMoille/Ohio) MD 14-6 Tilar Murphy (Mooseheart)

120 – Jakob Gruca (Sandwich) TF 2:42 Jaydon Cooke (Princeton(

126 – Wyatt Gregory (Sandwich) D 9-5 Jaime Briceno (Mooseheart)

132 – Trayvon Rucker (Mendota) F 2:15 Owen Haggerty (Somonauk)

138 – Caiden Heath (Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/LaMoille/Ohio) F 5:53 Marco Rizzi (St. Bede Academy)

144 – Brysen Manley (Marquette Academy) MD 17-5 Abram Longeville (Princeton)

150 – Michael Kurth (Princeton) F 3:11 Nolan Demink (Marquette Academy)

157 – Sy Smith (Sandwich) F 5:31 David Skonieczny (Lisle)

165 – Kai Kern (Sandwich) F 3:00 Jack Maschmann (St. Bede Academy)

175 – Garrett Connelly (St. Bede Academy) F 1:02 Grant Dose (Marquette Academy)

190 – Eli Berlin (Princeton) F 1:24 Alex Tucker (Putnam County)

215 – Madrick Musgrove (Mendota) F 0:48 Luis Murillo (Sandwich)

285 – Elijah Leota (Putnam County) F 1:07 Adrian Schaefer (Marquette Academy)

Team scores for the Class 1A Sandwich Regional

1. Sandwich 205.5, 2. Princeton 170, 3. Marquette Academy 119.5, 4.  Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/LaMoille/Ohio 112, 5. St. Bede Academy 94, 6. Mendota 57, 7. Lisle 53, 8. Aurora Central Catholic 34, 9. Putnam County 26, 10. Mooseheart 18, 11. Somonauk 4.

Summary of regionals feeding into the Chicago Hope Academy Sectional

Class 1A Walther Christian Academy Regional – champion Rickover Naval Academy

There’s a lot of ways to score one point in a tournament so when that’s all that separates the top two teams in a regional, the analysis of what might have been could go on for quite some time.

That’s the margin that separated Rickover Naval Academy and Sullivan at the Class 1A Walther Christian Academy Regional. Coach Andrew Holden’s Sea Dragons had seven sectional qualifiers and scored 146 points while coach Calvin Clark’s Tigers had 145 points to finish second. Golder College Prep (137) and Ida Crown (129) were next in line in the 11-team competition in Melrose Park. According to the IHSA website, Rickover Naval Academy had won no regional titles in a boys sport and just one title in any sport, in girls soccer in 2012.  

As a result of its historic regional title, Rickover Naval Academy, a Chicago school named for Navy Admiral Hyman Rickover, a Chicago native who’s regarded as the father of the nuclear Navy, will compete in the Coal City Dual Team Sectional and if it defeats Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville, it advances to the IHSA Class 1A Dual Team Finals in Bloomington.

Winning titles for the champion Sea Dragons were Jonathan Pawlowski (113), Breyon Wallace (120), Justin Hernandez (138) and Brandon Valbuena (144) while Justin Chogllo (106) and Jacob Pizarro (132) finished second and Damian Hryniewicki (157) placed third to all qualify for the Chicago Hope Academy Sectional. Naruto Martinez (175) took fourth while Chris Uzhca (126), Mohammed Al-Tabaqchali (150), Evan Grabowski (165), Christopher Chogllo (190), Adam El Atrassi (215) and Juan Vega Hernandez (285) all helped to secure the regional title.

Sullivan got first-place finishes from Mohammed Zia Nadre (106) and Charles Harris (285) while Mohsen Maliky (138), Tunmise Alonge (144), Abobaker Stanikzai (150) and Ibrahim Diakite (157) all claimed second-place finishes to give it six sectional qualifiers.

Northridge Prep had four champions, George McShane (150), Jon Suter (165), Adam Haddad (175) and Nick Belcore (215). Other regional title winners were Walther Christian Academy’s Caleb Peterson (126), Ida Crown’s Gabriel Klein (132), Golder College Prep’s Santiago Hernandez (157) and Melanie Clark Academic Prep’s Marquise Hightower (190). Two of the top records of champs were Jon Suter at 165 (29-2, .935) and Gabriel Klein at 132 (16-2, .889).

Others who claimed second-place finishes were Golder College Prep’s Yahir Garcia (113), Paris Guerra (120) and Jose Puga (165), Ida Crown’s Ari Klein (126), Millo Benmelech (175), Melanie Clark Academic Prep’s Jalin Powell (215) and Amarjae Devine (285) and Northridge Prep’s Mason Wagner (190).

Championship matches for the Class 1A Walther Christian Academy Regional

106 – Mohammed Zia Nadre (Sullivan) F 0:59 Justin Chogllo (Rickover Naval Academy)

113 – Jonathan Pawlowski (Rickover Naval Academy) F 3:41 Yahir Garcia (Golder College Prep)

120 – Breyon Wallace (Rickover Naval Academy) F 0:34 Paris Guerra (Golder College Prep)

126 – Caleb Peterson (Walther Christian Academy) F 1:33 Ari Klein (Ida Crown)

132 – Gabriel Klein (Ida Crown) D 11-9 Jacob Pizarro (Rickover Naval Academy)

138 – Justin Hernandez (Rickover Naval Academy) D 7-1 Mohsen Maliky (Sullivan)

144 – Brandon Valbuena (Rickover Naval Academy) MD 12-4 Tunmise Alonge (Sullivan)

150 – George McShane (Northridge Prep) F 2:16 Abokaker Stanikzai (Sullivan)

157 – Santiago Hernandez (Golder College Prep) F 2:15 Ibrahim Diakite (Sullivan)

165 – Jon Suter (Northridge Prep) F 1:36 Jose Puga (Golder College Prep)

175 – Adam Haddad (Northridge Prep) F 2:41 Millo Benmelech (Ida Crown)

190 – Marquise Hightower (Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet) F 0:41 Mason Wagner (Northridge Prep)

215 – Nick Belcore (Northridge Prep) F 5:40 Jalin Powell (Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet)

285 – Charles Harris (Sullivan) F 1:09 Amarjae Devine (Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet)

Third-place matches for the Class 1A Walther Christian Academy Regional

106 – Megill Hamieri (Ida Crown) F 1:50 Joksan Ramos (Golder College Prep)

120 – Sandra Jimenez (Walther Christian Academy) – no opponent

126 – Bartosz Luberda (Chicago Academy) F 1:33 Ashiq Zazai (Sullivan)

132 – Alejandro Salas (Golder College Prep) F 2:54 Adam Lyaazale (Chicago Academy)

138 – Liam Drysch (Golder College Prep) F 1:36 Keandre Bates (Marshall)

144 – Christian Eddy (Walther Christian Academy) F 0:56 Benny Lowenthal (Ida Crown)

150 – Jacob Z. Friedman (Ida Crown) F 1:27 Frank Robinson (Marshall)

157 – Damian Hryniewicki (Rickover Naval Academy) F 4:35 Ruben Hernandez (Chicago Academy)

165 – Darence Sanders (Clements) F 2:56 Isiah Lockhart (Sullivan)

175 – Martin Limas (Golder College Prep) F 3:48 Naruto Martinez (Rickover Naval Academy)

190 – Dory Marshall (Ida Crown) F 1:34 Ernesto Ramirez (Golder College Prep)

215 – Meir Aberman (Ida Crown) F 1:00 Almojtaba Mahgoub (Sullivan)

285 – Tom Suter (Northridge Prep) F 2:57 Brian Gutierrez (Walther Christian Academy)

Team scores for the Class 1A Walther Christian Academy Regional

1. Rickover Naval Academy 146, 2. Sullivan 145, 3. Golder College Prep 137, 4, Ida Crown 129, 5. Northridge Prep 126.5, 6. Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet 62, 7. Walther Christian Academy 61, 8. Chicago Academy 28, 9. Clemente 23, 10. Marshall 21, 11. Noble Academy 4.

Class 1A Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville Regional – champion Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville

It’s got to be a good feeling to know that if you can win an opening-round postseason individual tournament and then follow up on that over two weeks later with a winning performance in a different type of competition that you are one of the last eight teams in the state in your class and you get the opportunity to compete in an IHSA Finals.

Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville no doubt feels fortunate to be in that position after taking top honors at its own Class 1A regional where it scored 176 points to finish 58 points in front of runner-up Leo. Now all coach Francisco Reyes’ Eagles need to do is defeat Rickover Naval Academy in the Coal City Dual Team Sectional and they’ll become one of the eight Class 1A teams in the field at the IHSA Dual Team Finals in Bloomington. 

The champion Eagles had four champions and eight finalists and qualified all 10 of their entrants for this weekend’s Chicago Hope Academy Sectional. 

Leading the way for Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville were title winners Ryan Singleton (144), Jemel Obrien (150), Caleb Gordon (165) and Sean Brown (215) while Gustavo Benitez-Mendez (120), Jayden Clair (132), Corey Davis (138) and Denzel Adjel (175) took second place and Justin Soria (126) and Dalauren Edwards (285) placed third to qualify for the sectional. 

Perspectives Leadership Academy had three champions Kenye Flanagan (106), Donald Burton, Jr. (120) and Mivontae Russell (190). Leo’s title winners were Vandell Dudley (126) and Nicholas Armour (285) and Corliss got firsts from Demetrice Davis (132) and Laquaris Moore (157). Other regional title winners were Hyde Park Academy’s Amarie Franklin (113), South Shore International College Prep’s Dakhari Esters (138) and Harlan’s Joel Stokes (175). 

Some of the top records of regional champions were Mivontae Russell at 190 (17-0, 1.000), Sean Brown at 215 (21-1, .955), Donald Burton, Jr. at 120 (17-1, .944), Kenye Ferguson at 106 (15-1, .938), Dakhari Esters at 138 (9-1, .900), Demetrice Davis at 132 (17-2, .895) and Nicholas Armour at 285 (31-4, .886).

Leo had three second-place finishers,  Byron Lee (106), Taylor Atkins (157) and Jubril Kannike (165). Corliss also had three runners-up, Jashawn Evans (113), Deangelo Willis (144) and Derrick Nash (150). The other four individuals who placed second were Perspectives Leadership Academy’s Nicario Bella (126) and Elijah Jamison (215), South Shore International College Prep’s Reginald Craig (190) and Hyde Park Academy’s Justin Powell (285).

Championship matches for the Class 1A Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville Regional

106 – Kenye Flanagan (Perspectives Leadership Academy) F 1:48 Byron Lee (Leo)

113 – Amarie Franklin (Hyde Park Academy) F 2:47 Jashawn Evans (Corliss)

120 – Donald Burton, Jr. (Perspectives Leadership Academy) F 1:59 Gustavo Benitez-Mendez (Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville)

126 – Vandell Dudley (Leo) F 1:23 Nicario Bella (Perspectives Leadership Academy)

132 – Demetrice Davis (Corliss) F 3:38 Jayden Clair (Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville)

138 – Dakhari Esters (South Shore International College Prep) F 1:21 Corey Davis (Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville)

144 – Ryan Singleton (Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville) F 4:49 Deangelo Willis (Corliss)

150 – Jemel Obrien (Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville) F 1:50 Derrick Nash (Corliss)

157 – Laquaris Moore (Corliss) F 3:32 Taylor Atkins (Leo)

165 – Caleb Gordon (Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville) F 1:42 Jubril Kannike (Leo)

175 – Joel Stokes (Harlan) F 0:49 Denzel Adjei (Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville)

190 – Mivontae Russell (Perspectives Leadership Academy) F 0:25 Reginald Craig (South Shore International College Prep)

215 – Sean Brown (Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville) F 2:50 Elijah Jamison (Perspectives Leadership Academy)

285 – Nicholas Armour (Leo) DQ Justin Powell (Hyde Park Academy)

Third-place matches for the Class 1A Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville Regional

113 – Daveon Farmer (Perspectives Leadership Academy) F 1:27 Justin Thompson (Leo)

120 – Ismail Ayyash (Universal School) D 9-5 Vincent Daniel (Corliss)

126 – Justin Soria (Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville) F 3:40 Malachi Mcclure (Corliss)

132 – Muizz Shalabi (Universal School) F 1:10 Tyler Wilcox (Leo)

138 – Aiden Bright (Leo) F 1:45 Nakia Smith (Corliss)

144 – Adam Fahsi (Universal School) F 3:25 Kaliqu Razaaq (Leo)

150 – Venson Jones (Leo) – no opponent

165 – Grant Smith (Corliss) F 4:51 Josiah Lee (Fenger)

175 – Leslie Teague (Corliss) F 0:31 Khamari Carter (Leo)

190 – Makel Robinson (Hyde Park Academy) F 1:28 Chevy Vaughns (Harlan)

215 – Amir Abdul-Shakur (Leo) F 0:24 Ahmed Ali (Universal School)

285 – Dalauren Edwards (Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville) F 0:55 Michael Parks (Perspectives Leadership Academy)

Team scores for the Class 1A Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville Regional

1. Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville 176, 2. Leo 118., 3. Perspectives Leadership Academy 105, 4. Corliss 104, 5. South Shore International College Prep 45. 6. Universal School 41, 7. Hyde Park Academy 35, 8. Harlan 28, 9. Fenger 11.

Class 1A Wilmington Regional – champion Coal City

Coal City began its quest to repeat as IHSA Class 1A champions by rolling to an easy title victory at the Class 1A Wilmington Regional. The Coalers had eight champions and two other sectional qualifiers to score 245.5 points. That total was 108 points more than runner Clifton Central, who scored 137.5 points to edge Seneca (136) for third place while Bishop McNamara (110) finished fourth in the 10-team competition that took place in Wilmington.

Beside advancing 10 individuals to this weekend’s Chicago Hope Academy Sectional, the Coalers, coached by 2022 IWCOA Hall of Famer Mark Masters, advance to their own dual meet sectional where they’ll meet De La Salle Institute for the opportunity to qualify for the IHSA Dual Team Finals in Bloomington for the seventh time since 2015, during which time time they won their first state title last year, placed second on three occasions and took third place twice.

Winning titles for Coal City were Owen Petersen (106), Cooper Morris (113), Culan Lindemuth (120), Brody Widlowski (126), Noah Houston (132), Brant Widlowski (150), Landin Benson (165) and Cade Poyner (190) while Mason Garner (138) took second and Brock Finish (144) finished third. James Keigher (175) and Emmett Easton (215) placed fourth while Trace Wilson (157) and Payton Vigna (285) scored points for the Coalers.

“The Coalers are looking to make some noise at the individual state tournament and improve on their 35-5 dual meet record,” Masters said.

Seneca had three champions, Gunner Varland (157), Chris Peura (215) and Jeremy Gagnon (285). Other regional title winners were Dwight’s Dylan Crouch (138), Peotone’s Micah Spinazzola (144) and Manteno’s Carter Watkins (175). 

Some of the top records of the regional champions are Dylan Crouch at 138 (42-1, .977), Carter Watkins at 175 (30-2, .938), Owen Petersen at 106 (40-3, .930), Brant Widlowski at 150 (40-3, .930), Chris Peura at 215 (41-4, .911) and Landin Benson at 165 (19-2, .905).

Clifton Central had four second-place finishers, Kayden Cody (132), Gianni Panozzo (144), Brody O’Connor (215) and Noah Gomez (285) while Wilmington had three individuals who took second, Landon Dooley (120), Parker Adams (157) and Logan VanDuyne (190). Other runners-up were Seneca’s Raiden Terry (106) and Nate Othon (150), Peotone’s Blake Anderson (113) and Ian Kreske (165), Herscher’s Gerrit Osenga (126) and Reed-Custer’s Rex Pfeifer (175).

Championship matches for the Class 1A Wilmington Regional

106 – Owen Peterson (Coal City) D 7-1 Raiden Terry (Seneca)

113 – Cooper Morris (Coal City) F 1:44 Blake Anderson (Peotone)

120 – Culan Lindemuth (Coal City) F 4:17 Landon Dooley (Wilmington)

126 – Brody Widlowski (Coal City) F 3:06 Gerrit Osenga (Herscher)

132 – Noah Houston (Coal City) F 4:20 Kayden Cody (Clifton Central/Iroquois West) 

138 – Dylan Crouch (Dwight/Gardner-South Wilmington) D 6-4 Mason Garner (Coal City)

144 – Micah Spinazzola (Peotone) D 3-0 Gianni Panozzo (Clifton Central/Iroquois West)

150 – Brant Widlowski (Coal City) F 1:29 Nate Othon (Seneca)

157 – Gunner Varland (Seneca) MD 14-6 Parker Adams (Wilmington)

165 – Landin Benson (Coal City) D 13-6 Ian Kreske (Peotone)

175 – Carter Watkins (175) D 9-3 Rex Pfeifer (Reed-Custer)

190 – Cade Poyner (Coal City) F 1:56 Logan VanDuyne (Wilmington)

215 – Chris Peura (Seneca) F 1:19 Brody O’Connor (Clifton Central/Iroquois West)

285 – Jeremy Gagnon (Seneca) For Noah Gomez (Clifton Central/Iroquois West)

Third-place matches for the Class 1A Wilmington Regional

106 – Owen Bollino (Herscher) F 2:28 Aiden Baud (Bishop McNamara)

113 – Beau Williams (Clifton Central/Iroquois West) F 3:29 Tyson Whittum (Reed-Custer)

120 – Blake Arseneau (Bishop McNamara) F 1:26 Ethan Othon (Seneca)

126 – Oakley Rivera (Wilmington) F 0:41 Brady Anders (Manteno)

132 – Alex Kostecka (Bishop McNamara) F 2:55 Jordan Kamide (Peotone)

138 – Giona Panozzo (Clifton Central/Iroquois West) F 3:51 Cole Kimberlin (Bishop McNamara)

144 – Brock Finch (Coal City) MD 12-0 Jeremy Eggleston (Reed-Custer)

150 – Santino Izzi (Peotone) D 11-4 Matt Swisher (Wilmington)

157 – Chris Andrade (Clifton Central/Iroquois West) F 1:55 Tristin Golden (Bishop McNamara)

165 – Kayden Roach (Bishop McNamara) TF 4:24 Adrian Aleman (Reed-Custer)

175 – Asher Hamby (Seneca) MD 12-2 James Keigher (Coal City)

190 – Hunter Hull (Clifton Central/Iroquois West) F 1:54 Drew Lowenstrom (Bishop McNamara)

215 – Dominic Alaimo (Reed-Custer) D 3-1 Emmett Easton (Coal City)

285 – Kian Bramer (Bishop McNamara) MD 12-3 Matthew Stone (Herscher)

Team scores for the Class 1A Wilmington Regional

1. Coal City 245.5, 2. Clifton Central/Iroquois West 137.5, 3. Seneca 136, 4. Bishop McNamara 110, 5. Wilmington 91, 6. Peotone 76, 7. Reed-Custer 67.5, 8. Herscher 64, 9. Manteno 42, 10. Dwight/gardner-South Wilmington 29.

Class 1A De La Salle Institute Regional – champion De La Salle

De La Salle Institute held off a determined challenge to capture its own Class 1A regional championship by scoring 208  points, which was 10.5 points ahead of runner-up Chicago Hope Academy. Westmont (102) and Phoenix Military Academy (93) were the next-best finishers in the 10-team competition that took place in Chicago.

Coach Jason Davidson’s champion Meteors had six champions and eight finalists to help it get 10 qualifiers for this weekend’s Chicago Hope Academy Sectional. In addition, De La Salle will compete in the Coal City Dual Team Sectional against the hosts and defending Class 1A champion Coalers on Tuesday, February 20. 

Leading the way for De La Salle were champions Jeremiah Lawrence (106), Darrel Oman (113), Mario Perez (132), Nicholas Arvetis (157), Josue Hernandez (175) and David McCarthy (285) while Anthony Trendle (120) and Malik Warren (165) placed second and Patrick Young (150) and Terrelle Jackson (190) finished third to earn sectional trips. Damian Gomez (126) and Melvin Cannon (144) took fourth while Connor Parker (138) and Marquis Mays (215) scored points to help their team capture the championship.

Top performers for Chicago Hope Academy were title winners Josiah Willis (120), Santiago Chaparro (144), Arkail Griffin (150) and Ismael Martinez (165) while Nathan Sosa-Dykstra (126), Dylan Galvez (138), Tony Jones-Blakely (157), Miguel Rodriguez (175) and Roy Phelps (285).took second to give coach Dan Willis’ Eagles nine sectional qualifiers. Chicago Hope Academy was hoping to repeat as a regional champion.

Other first-place finishers were Phoenix Military Academy’s Jose Lua (138) and Kaleb Abney (215), Westmont’s Christian Rosa (126) and King College Prep’s Calvin Savage (190). Some of the best records of champions belong to Calvin Savage at 190 (31-1, .969), Santiago Chaparro at 144 (42-2, .955), Jose Lua at 138 (17-2, .895) and Josue Hernandez at 175 (25-5, .833).

Also claiming second-place finishes were Nazareth Academy’s Aleksander Ramos (106), Andrew Fowler (150) and Scott Creviston (190), Horizon Science Academy – Southwest Chicago’s Emmanuel Aguilar (113) and Samel Marrero (215) and King College Prep’s Moses Pittman (132) and Zahir Mbengue (144). 

Championship matches for the Class 1A De La Salle Institute Regional

106 – Jeremiah Lawrence (De La Salle Institute) F 0:50 Aleksander Ramos (Nazareth Academy)

113 – Darrel Oman (De La Salle Institute) F 3:07 Emmanuel Aguilar (Horizon Science Academy – Southwest Chicago)

120 – Josiah Willis (Chicago Hope Academy) F 1:34 Anthony Trendle (De La Salle Institute)

126 – Christian Rosa (Westmont) F 3:03 Nathan Sosa-Dykstra (Chicago Hope Academy)

132 – Mario Perez (De La Salle Institute) F 3:56 Moses Pittman (King College Prep)

138 – Jose Lua (Phoenix Military Academy) F 3:49 Dylan Galvez (Chicago Hope Academy)

144 – Santiago Chaparro (Chicago Hope Academy) TF Zahir Mbengue (King College Prep)

150 – Arkail Griffin (Chicago Hope Academy) MD 11-3 Andrew Fowler (Nazareth Academy)

157 – Nicholas Arvetis (De La Salle Institute) Tony-Jones Blakely (Chicago Hope Academy)

165 – Ismael Martinez (Chicago Hope Academy) D 1-0 Malik Warren (De La Salle Institute)

175 – Josue Hernandez (De La Salle Institute) F 0:27 Miguel Rodriguez (Chicago Hope Academy)

190 – Calvin Savage (King College Prep) F 5:12 Scott Creviston (Nazareth Academy)

215 – Kaleb Abney (Phoenix Military Academy) F 4:24 Samel Marrero (Horizon Science Academy – Southwest Chicago)

285 – David McCarthy (De La Salle Institute) D 3-0 Roy Phelps (Chicago Hope Academy)

Third-place matches for the Class 1A De La Salle Institute Regional

106 – Damarcus Washington (King College Prep) F 1:53 Chris Tirado (Phoenix Military Academy)

113 – Charlie Dvorak (Nazareth Academy) F 1:08 RaSean Fenner (Chicago Hope Academy)

120 – Elijah Torres (Phoenix Military Academy) F 4:37 Alontae Lorek (Horizon Science Academy- Southwest Chicago)

126 – David Carrera (Phoenix Military Academy) F 3:02 Damian Gomez (De La Salle Institute)

132 – Laneal Conley (Westmont) F 3:54 Mike Garcia (Chicago Hope Academy)

138 – Joseph Salerno (Westmont)  F 0:50 James Furlong (Nazareth Academy)

144 – Zaiden Amos (Phoenix Military Academy) D 10-9 Melvin Cannon (De La Salle Institute)

150 – Patrick Young (De La Salle Institute) F 4:28 Sean Patterson (Westmont)

157 – Ben Lukes (Nazareth Academy) F 0:46 Tyler Saylor (Tilden)

165 – Alex Dvorak (Nazareth Academy) – no opponent

175 – Vincent Willkommen (Westmont) F 2:12 Elijah Prophett (King College Prep)

190 – Terrelle Jackson (De La Salle Institute) F 5:44 Alex Garcia (Chicago Hope Academy)

215 – Rafael Castrejon-Tello (Westmont) F 2:23 Brayden Walker (Chicago Hope Academy)

285 – Tyerre Freeman (Westmont) F 0:24 Shuan Gill (King College Prep)

Team scores for the Class 1A De La Salle Institute Regional

1. De La Salle Institute 208, 2. Chicago Hope Academy 197.5, 3. Westmont 102, 4. Phoenix Military Academy 93, 5. Nazareth Academy 84, 6, King College Prep 75, 7. Horizon Science Academy – Southwest Chicago 47, 8. Wendell Phillips Academy 5.5, 9. Tilden 4, 10, DuSable 0.

Regionals feeding into the Class 1A Olympia Individual Sectional and Class 1A LeRoy Dual Team Sectional

Class 1A PORTA Regional – champion Canton

Canton edged PORTA 226-221 to capture the title of the PORTA Regional in Petersburg to repeat as a regional champion, which is quite an accomplishment for a program that had only won two regionals before last season, which was their first regional title since 2009.  

Although coach Zach Crawford’s Little Giants graduated several top performers from their first team to compete in the IHSA Dual Team Finals, they denied IWCOA Hall of Fame coach Jeff Hill, the IHSA’s all-time leader in dual meet victories, and his PORTA Bluejays of winning their first regional championship since 2015, which ended a string of 15-straight titles for the program. Central of Camp Point finished third with 131.5 points in the 11-team competition.

The champion Little Giants had four title winners, seven finalists and 11 qualifiers for the Olympia Sectional in Stanford. Taking firsts were Dyllan Steele (106), Maddux Steele (113), Danny Murphy (190) and Connor Williams (285) while Mason Bilbrey (126), Gus Lidwell (175) and Grant Kessler (215) placed second. Finishing third and qualifying for the sectional were Austin Brewer (120), Jireh Hedges (132), Aden Greene (157) and Jacob Latimer (165) while Alex Carrier (138) and Daniel Kees (150) took fourth and Grady Smith (144) also competed.

Canton earned a spot in the LeRoy Dual Team Sectional where it will meet the hosts, LeRoy/Tri-Valley, who rallied to win the Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional, with the winner advancing to the IHSA Dual Team Finals in Bloomington.

Leading the way for coach Jeff Hill’s runner-up PORTA Bluejays were its five champions, Zach Bryant (120), Hunter King (126), Logan Baker (132), Mike Minor (138) and Justin Zimmerman (157), while Cael Cotner (150) and Brayden Barner (165) placed second. Anthony Hull (106), Jacob Vogel (144) and Dane Jiannoni (190) took third and advanced to the sectional.

The other five PORTA Regional champions were Quincy Notre Dame’s Bradi Lahr (144) and Taylin Scott (215), Warsaw/Hamilton’s Evan Carel (150), Central’s Conner Griffin (165) and Illini West’s Shawn Watkins (175). Some of the top records for the regional champions were Danny Murphy at 190 (40-1, .976), Connor Williams at 285 (37-1, .974), Taylin Scott at 215 (40-3, .930) and Bradi Lahr at 144 (34-4, .895).

Central had four runners-up, Charlie Welch (106), Case Hughes (113), Kayne Mitchell (144) and Jack Thompson (157). Also finishing in second place were Macomb’s Ethan Hoyt (120) and Damome Johnson (132), Williamsville’s Matthew Miller (138), Quincy Notre Dame’s Ryan Darnell (190) and Beardstown’s Chunk Dailey (285).

Championship matches for the Class 1A PORTA Regional 

106 – Dyllan Steele (Canton) F 2:20 Charlie Welch (Camp Point Central)

113 – Maddux Steele (Canton) F 2:57 Case Hughes (Camp Point Central)

120 – Zach Bryant (PORTA) F 0:52 Ethan Hoyt (Macomb)

126 – Hunter King (PORTA) F 3:49 Mason Bilbrey (Canton)

132 – Logan Baker (PORTA) F 2:25 Damome Johnson (Macomb)

138 – Mike Minor (PORTA) MD 13-3 Matthew Miller (Williamsville)

144 – Bradi Lahr (Quincy Notre Dame) F 3:43 Kanye Mitchell (Camp Point Central)

150 – Evan Carel (Warsaw/Hamilton) D 6-2 Cael Cotner (PORTA)

157 – Justin Zimmerman (PORTA) D 4-2 Jack Thompson (Camp Point Central)

165 – Conner Griffin (Camp Point Central) D 7-5 Brayden Barner (PORTA)

175 – Shawn Watkins (Illini West) F 1:51 Gus Lidwell (Canton)

190 – Danny Murphy (Canton) F 5:27 Ryan Darnell (Quincy Notre Dame)

215 – Taylin Scott (Quincy Notre Dame) F 1:26 Grant Kessler (Canton)

285 – Connor Williams (Canton) F 5:49 Chunk Dailey (Beardstown)

Third-place matches for the Class 1A PORTA Regional

106 – Anthony Hull (PORTA) F 1:50 Eli Carel (Warsaw/Hamilton)

113 – Alex Armenta (Beardstown) F 4:10 Elliot Gilreath (PORTA)

120 – Austin Brewer (Canton) F 1:43 Evan Smith (Warsaw/Hamilton)

126 – Oliver Moore (Quincy Notre Dame) MD 10-2 Nick Parkins (Macomb)

132 – Jireh Hedges (Canton) F 3:39 Kai Humphry (Warsaw/Hamilton)

138 – Luis De La Cruz (Beardstown) Inj 2:00 Alex Carrier (Canton)

144 – Jacob Vogel (PORTA) F 1:42 Maddox Medrano (Beardstown)

150 – Konnor Bush (Camp Point Central) F 1:42 Daniel Kees (Canton)

157 – Aden Greene (Canton) D 8-5 Tyler Shannon (Macomb)

165 – Jacob Latimer (Canton) F 3:35 Alcantar Medrano (Beardstown)

175 – Gunner Looker (Beardstown) D 9-3 Gaitlin Servis (PORTA)

190 – Dane Jiannoni (PORTA) F 1:10 Alex Brown (Warsaw/Hamilton)

215 – Malachi McKune (Warsaw/Hamilton) F 3:33 Jacob Leeneerts (Camp Point Central)

285 – Charlie Bodiford (Macomb) F 1:10 Nick Huls (Illini West)

Team scores for the Class 1A PORTA Regional

1. Canton 226, 2. PORTA 221, 3. Camp Point Central 131.5, 4. Quincy Notre Dame 97, 5. Macomb 94, 6. Beardstown 92, 7. Warsaw/Hamilton 80, 8. Williamsville 48, 9. Illini West 42, 10. Midwest Central 10, 10. Payson Seymour 10.

Class 1A Knoxville Regional – champion Peoria Notre Dame

Peoria Notre Dame continued its special season by capturing its first regional title in its history after scoring 177 points at the Class 1A Knoxville Regional, which was 32 points ahead of runner-up Monmouth-Roseville, who had 145 points. Mercer County took third with 96 points.

Leading the way for coach Danny Burk’s champion Irish were title winners Ian Akers (113), Chase Daugherty (150) and Michael McLaughlin (285) while Josh Stedwill (106) and Remi Joesting (120) claimed second place and Jack Bartoletta (144) and Joe Culp (190) also advanced to the Olympia Sectional in Stanford after taking third place. Andy Plaskon (126), Andrew Elward (132), Michael Kimbrough (165), Sie Couri (175) and Ben Mullens (215) finished fourth and John Baker (138) and John Couri (157) also competed for Notre Dame. 

One of the highlights for the regional champions was when Ian Akers (35-5) handed Illini Bluffs’ Hunter Robbins (42-1), a two-time IHSA runner-up, his first defeat in the 113 title match. And as a result of winning its first regional championship, Notre Dame will get to participate in the dual team series. The Irish face Unity at the LeRoy Sectional on February 20 with the winner advancing to the IHSA Dual Team Finals at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

“This is our first ever regional championship as a team in the history of our wrestling program at Peoria Notre Dame,” Burk said. “We really had an awesome day, top to bottom we had everyone contribute to help our team. This was a goal these guys set out at the beginning of the season, and we have great leadership within our team to help pave the way for everyone to know what it takes to be successful. We had a huge win in the finals at 113 from our captain Ian Akers, over the number-two ranked kid in the state, who he had never beaten before, and that set the tone for a good final round to cement the team title.”

Champions for coach Travis Henry’s Monmouth-Roseville Titans were Bawi Thang (106) and Landon Montroy (175) while Liam Spears (126) and Alex Gandarilla (190) took second place.

Mercer County had three title winners, Ethan Monson (138), Eli Burns (157) and Lucas Shadden (190). Other regional champions were Farmington/Cuba’s Caleb Showalter (126) and Keygan Jennings (132), Knoxville’s Hunter Johnson (120), Illini Bluffs’ Jackson Carroll (144), Illinois Valley Central’s Owen Moser (165) and Peoria Heights’ Issac Coleman (215). Some of the best records for the regional champions were Jackson Carroll at 144 (44-2, .957), Keygan Jennings at 132 (38-3, .927), Ethan Monson at 138 (41-4, .911), Bawi Thang at 106 (31-4, .886) and Ian Akers at 113 (35-4, .875).

Four teams had two second-place finishers. They were Illini Bluffs’ Hunter Robbins (113) and Ian O’Connor (138), Knoxville’s Gage Fox (132) and Joe Wall (150), Monmouth United’s Jake McElwee (157) and Carter Rothzen (285) and Manual’s Duane Brice (175) and Nas King (215). Mercer County’s Zeke Arnold (144) and ROWVA/Williamsfield’s Preston Schroeder (165) also were the other two runners-up.

Championship matches for the Class 1A Knoxville Regional

106 – Bawi Thang (Monmouth-Roseville) F 2:00 Josh Stedwill (Peoria Notre Dame)

113 – Ian Akers (Peoria Notre Dame) D 6-3 Hunter Robbins (Illini Bluffs)

120 – Hunter Johnson (Knoxville) TF 4:00 Remi Joesting (Peoria Notre Dame)

126 – Caleb Showalter (Farmington/Cuba) F 4:00 Liam Spears (Monmouth-Roseville)

132 – Keygan Jennings (Farmington/Cuba) MD 9-1 Gage Fox (Knoxville)

138 – Ethan Monson (Mercer County) D 5-2 Ian O’Connor (Illini Bluffs)

144 – Jackson Carroll (Illini Bluffs) Inj Zeke Arnold (Mercer County)

150 – Chase Daugherty (Peoria Notre Dame) D 7-3 Joe Wall (Knoxville)

157 – Eli Burns (Mercer County) MD 14-4 Jake McElwee (Monmouth United)

165 – Owen Moser (Illinois Valley Central) F 2:00 Preston Schroeder (ROWVA/Williamsfield)

175 – Landon Montroy (Monmouth-Roseville) F Duane Brice (Manual)

190 – Lucas Shadden (Mercer County) D 11-6 Alex Gandarilla (Monmouth-Roseville)

215 – Issac Coleman (Peoria Heights) F Nas King (Manual)

285 – Michael McLaughlin (Peoria Notre Dame) F Carter Rothzen (Monmouth United)

Third-place matches for the Class 1A Knoxville Regional

106 – Parker Zerfass (Farmington/Cuba) TF 4:30 Jacob Strube (Illini Bluffs)

113 – Jacob Penn (Monmouth United) – no opponent

120 – Nathan Owens (Illini Bluffs) F 5:21 Miles Ward (Mercer County)

126 – Gunnar Johnson (Knoxville) F 1:49 Andy Plaskon (Peoria Notre Dame)

132 – Alejandro Morales (Monmouth-Roseville) F 1:57 Andrew Elward (Peoria Notre Dame)

138 – Bradlee Ellis (Farmington/Cuba) F 1:23 Gybanhi Mendoza Velverde (Monmouth-Roseville)

145 – Jack Bartoletta (Peoria Notre Dame) F 3:57 Jack Cordle (ROWVA/Williamsfield)

150 – Antonio Toliver (Illinois Valley Central) F 1:26 Mason Giddings (Monmouth United)

157 – Gabe Ortiz-Mora (Monmouth-Roseville) D 12-8 Maison Toliver (Illinois Valley Central)

165 – Moises Martinez (Monmouth-Roseville) D 9-4 Michael Kimbrough (Peoria Notre Dame)

175 – Brydon Walters (Knoxville) F 1:08 Sie Couri (Peoria Notre Dame)

190 – Joe Culp (Peoria Notre Dame) F 3:02 Ethan Sheilds (Farmington/Cuba)

215 – Gage Aldred (ROWVA/Williamsfield) F 1:45 Ben Mullens (Peoria Notre Dame)

285 – Curnell Williams (Manual) D 6-4 Gavin Bell (Monmouth-Roseville)

Team scores for the Class 1A Knoxville Regional

1. Peoria Notre Dame 177, 2. Monmouth-Roseville 145, 3. Mercer County 96, 4. Farmington/Cuba 85.5, 5. Knoxville 84.5, 6. Illini Bluffs 73, 7. Monmouth United 54, 8, Illinois Valley Central 53, 9. Manual 52.5, 10. ROWVA/Williamsfield 48, 11. Peoria Heights 28.

Class 1A Unity Regional – Champion Unity

After finishing two points behind champion LeRoy/Tri-Valley in last year’s LeRoy Regional, Unity was not going to leave anything to chance when it hosted a regional that no longer had state-ranked LeRoy/Tri-Valley and Olympia in it, as those teams were competing at Gibson City. 

Coach Logan Patton’s Rockets won six titles and advanced 10 individuals to the Olympia Sectional in Stanford to help it score 223.5 points and win the title of their 11-team regional tournament in Tolono by 82.5 points over two teams that tied for second place with 141 points, Clinton and St. Joseph-Ogden. Hoopeston Area/Milford took fourth place with 131.5 points.

Winning titles for Unity were Travis McCarter (113), Keegan Germano (138), Kaden Inman (144), Abram Davidson (157), Ryan Rink (165) and Hunter Eastin (190) while Hunter Shike (126), Taylor Finley (132) and Josh Heath (150) finished second and Thayden Root (175) placed third to also advance to the Olympia Sectional. Andrew Weller (106), Bryce Martin (120), Hudson DeHart (215) and Dallas Hollingsworth (285) were other members of the title team.

The Rockets hope to return to the IHSA Dual Team Finals, where they took third in 2020 and fourth in 2022. To get back to the IHSA Finals at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington they will have to get past first-time regional winner Peoria Notre Dame in the LeRoy Sectional.

St. Joseph-Ogden had three champions, Emmitt Holt (106), Holden Brazelton (132) and Coy Hayes (150). Other Unity Regional champions were Unity Christian’s unbeaten brothers Clinton (120) and Garrett (126) VerHeecke, The High School of Saint Thomas More’s James Schmidt (215) and Robbie Vavrik (285) and Hoopeston Area/Milford’s Angel Zamora (175). Some of the best records for the regional champions were Garrett VerHeecke at 126 (37-0, 1.000), Clinton VerHeecke at 120 (36-0, 1.000), Holden Brazelton at 132 (42-1, .977), Emmitt Holt at 106 (35-1, .972) and Angel Zamora at 175 (45-2, .957). 

Other second-place finishers were Hoopeston Area/Milford’s Charlie Flores (106) and Ayden Larkin (157), St. Joseph-Ogden’s Jackson Walsh (113) and Landen Butts (138), Clinton’s Justin Droke (144) and Kael Morlock (215), Monticello’s Russ Brown (165) and Brandon Peters (285), The High School of Saint Thomas More’s August Christhilf (175) and Brody Cuppernell (190) and Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth’s Logan Roberts (120).

Championship matches for the Class 1A Unity Regional

106 – Emmitt Holt (St. Joseph-Ogden) D 6-0 Charlie Flores (Hoopeston Area/Milford)

113 – Travis McCarter (Unity) D 7-2 Jackson Walsh (St. Joseph-Ogden)

120 – Clinton VerHeecke (Unity Christian) F 0:53 Logan Roberts (Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth)

126 – Garrett VerHeecke (Unity Christian) D 6-0 Hunter Shike (Unity)

132 – Holden Brazelton (St. Joseph-Ogden) F 1:18 Taylor Finley (Unity)

138 – Keegan Germano (Unity) MD 13-4 Landen Butts (St. Joseph-Ogden)

144 – Kaden Inman (Unity) TF 4:24 Justin Droke (Clinton)

150 – Coy Hayes (St. Joseph-Ogden) F 2:15 Josh Heath (Unity)

157 – Abram Davidson (Unity) D 6-4 Ayden Larkin (Hoopeston Area/Milford)

165 – Ryan Rink (Unity) F 1:45 Russ Brown (Monticello)

175 – Angel Zamora (Hoopeston Area/Milford) F 1:40 August Christhilf (The High School of Saint Thomas More)

190 – Hunter Eastin (Unity) D 6-2 Brody Cuppernell (The High School of Saint Thomas More)

215 – James Schmidt (The High School of Saint Thomas More) D 6-0 Kael Morlock (Clinton)

285 – Robbie Vavrik (The High School of Saint Thomas More) F 1:56 Brandon Peters (Monticello)

Third-place matches for the Class 1A Unity Regional

106 – Ezekiel Young (Monticello) F 4:45 Briley Carter (Clinton)

113 – Harrison Lott (Riverton) F 5:22 Kingston Elizondo (Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth)

120 – Taylor Pattison (Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin/Armstrong) F 3:36 Carter Bostic (Clinton)

126 – Kaden Roberts (Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth) D 9-5 Talan Nelson (Hoopeston Area/Milford)

132 – Charlie Wittmer (Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth) D 3-0 Aiden Bell (Hoopeston Area/Milford)

138 – Alec Murray (Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth) D 4-2 Ayden Golden (Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin/Armstrong)

144 – Trevor Soice (Heyworth) D 7-4 David Bell (Hoopeston Area/Milford)

150 – Kayleb Kent (Clinton) F 1:46 Logan Stout (Heyworth)

157 – Phillip Christhilf (The High School of Saint Thomas More) D 10-6 Gavin Ridings (Monticello)

165 – RJ Stamp (Clinton) D 10-6 Devan Swisher (St. Joseph-Ogden)

175 – Thayden Root (Unity) D 10-5 Kristan Hibbard (Clinton)

190 – Christian Walton (Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin/Armstrong) F 0:28 Khaden Hallowell (St. Joseph-Ogden)

215 – Landynn Balla (Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin/Armstrong) F 2:35 Bryson Brewer (Hoopeston Area/Milford)

285 – Dawson Thayer (Clinton) F 0:45 Tucker Deck (Hoopeston Area/Milford)

Team scores for the Class 1A Unity Regional

1. Unity 223.5, 2. Clinton 141, 2. St. Joseph-Ogden 141, 4. Hoopeston Area/Milford 131.5, 5. The High School of Saint Thomas More 101.5, 6. Monticello 90, 7. Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth 86.5, 8. Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin/Armstrong 64.5, 9. Unity Christian 53. 10. Heyworth 34, 11. Riverton 13.

Note: We will post a full story from the Class 1A Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional

Regionals feeding into the Class 1A Vandalia Individual Sectional and the Class 1A Benton Dual Team Sectional

Class 1A Auburn Regional –  champion Vandalia

A year ago, Vandalia saw a 29-year streak of regional titles get snapped by Auburn. But there was no drama at the Auburn Regional where the Vandals had six six champions and qualified 13 to the sectional that they will host as they easily won top honors with 245 points while Mt. Zion took second with 141 points and Auburn beat out Litchfield/Mt. Olive 123-117 for third.

Leading coach Jason Clay’s first-place Vandals were champions Max Philpot (106), Elijah Mabry (113), Brody Matthews (120), Cole Yarbrough (132), Dillon Hinton (138) and Kaden Tidwell (190) as well as runners-up Deon Moore (126), Artan Mustafa (150), Ross Miller (157) and Dominic Swyers (215). Taking third were Keagan Turner (144) and Jayden Rosetto (285) while Noah Langston (165) placed fourth and Zander Tate (175) also contributed points.

The Vandals also qualified for the Benton Dual Team Sectional where they’ll meet the host Rangers, who won the Herrin Regional. Oakwood/Salt Fork and Roxana meet in the other dual. The winner of each dual meet advances to the IHSA Dual Team Finals in Bloomington.

Mt. Zion had three champions, Vincent Fiore (175), Carson Thorton (215) and Remington Hiser (285). Other title winners were Shelbyville’s Kaz Fox (150) and Ryne Peavler (157), Auburn/Franklin/New Berlin’s Joey Ruzic (126), Litchfield/Mt. Olive’s Braxton Kieffer (144) and Hillsboro’s Zander Wells (165). First-place finishers with the best records include Joey Ruzic at 126 (37-0, 1.000), Max Philpot at 106 (42-2, .955), Dillon Hinton at 138 (41-2, .953), Remington Hiser at 285 (40-3, .930) and Vincent Fiore at 175 (34-3, .919).

Also finishing second were Shelbyville’s Colin Wells (113), Bodee Fathauer (132) and Andre Townsend (285), Mt. Zion’s Mason Gray (120) and Kaden Becker (165), Auburn/Franklin/New Berlin’s Quinten Chizmar (144) and Joey Barrow (175), Litchfield/Mt. Olive’s Vincent Moore (106), Hillsboro’s Gaven Vollintine (138) and Pittsfield’s Tucker Cook (190).

Championship matches for the Class 1A  Auburn Regional

106 – Max Philpot (Vandalia) MD 11-2 Vincent Moore (Litchfield/Mt. Olive)

113 – Elijah Mabry (Vandalia) F 1:12 Colin Wells (Shelbyville)

120 – Brody Matthews (Vandalia) MD 12-0 Mason Gray (Mt. Zion)

126 – Joey Ruzic (Auburn/Franklin/New Berlin) F 1:40 Deon Moore (Vandalia)

132 – Cole Yarbrough (Vandalia) F 5:56 Bodee Fathauer (Shelbyville)

138 – Dillon Hinton (Vandalia) F 3:18 Gaven Vollintine (Hillsboro)

144 – Braxton Kieffer (Litchfield/Mt. Olive) D 10-6 Quinten Chizmar (Auburn/Franklin/New Berlin)

150 – Kaz Fox (Shelbyville) F 2:30 Artan Mustafa (Vandalia)

157 – Ryne Peavler (Shelbyville) D 7-2 Ross Miller (Vandalia)

165 – Zander Wells (Hillsboro) F 2:38 Kaden Becker (Mt. Zion)

175 – Vincent Fiore (Mt. Zion) D 6-1 Joey Barrow (Auburn/Franklin/New Berlin)

190 – Kaden Tidwell (Vandalia) F 1:54 Tucker Cook (Pittsfield)

215 – Carson Thorton (Mt. Zion) D 6-3 Dominic Swyers (Vandalia)

285 – Remington Hiser (Mt. Zion) F 3:06 Andre Townsend (Shelbyville)

Third-place matches for the Class 1A Auburn Regional

106 – Vincent Baker (Mt. Zion) F 2:40 George Piazza (Auburn/Franklin/New Berlin)

113 – Landon Bandy (Hillsboro) F 3:57 Hector Alvarado (Illinois School for the Visually Impaired/Illinois School for the Deaf)

120 – Drayven Hamm (Auburn/Franklin/New Berlin) F 1:31 Briar Kuhl (Hillsboro)

126 – Porter Dennis (Sacred Heart-Griffin) D 7-0 Fontane Gifford (Hillsboro)

132 – Ronald LaPlante (Carlinville) D 7-4 Isaiah Johnson (Litchfield/Mt. Olive)

138 – Shay Westhoff (Litchfield/Mt. Olive) F 2:23 Cooper Balen (Sacred Heart-Griffin)

144 – Keagan Turner (Vandalia) D 9-4 Treyton Kuhl (Hillsboro)

150 – Jayden Brown (Auburn/Franklin/New Berlin) F 2:51 Jordan Weter (Mt. Zion)

157 – Clayton Hauter (Litchfield/Mt. Olive) D 10-6 Jake Oitker (Pittsfield)

165 – Waylon White (Pittsfield) D 7-3 Noah Langston (Vandalia)

175 – Jayden Ellinger (Litchfield/Mt. Olive) D 6-2 Casen Lyons (Sacred Heart-Griffin)

190 – Keller Stocks (Mt. Zion) F 1:09 Tristan Staggs (Litchfield/Mt. Olive)

215 – Devin Hansel (Litchfield/Mt. Olive) F 2:38 Taven Agney (Shelbyville)

285 – Jayden Rosetto (Vandalia) F 2:35 Cash Thomas (Auburn/Franklin/New Berlin)

Team scores for the Class 1A Auburn Regional

1. Vandalia 245, 2. Mt. Zion 141, 3. Auburn/Franklin/New Berlin 123, 4. Litchfield/Mt. Olive 117, 5. Shelbyville 106, 6. Hillsboro 92, 7. Pittsfield 55.5, 8. Sacred Heart-Griffin 55, Illinois School for the Visually Impaired/Illinois School for the Deaf 16, 10. Carlinville 13. 

Class 1A Herrin Regional – champion Benton/Sesser-Valier

Benton/Sesser-Valier scored 222 points to help it capture the championship of the Class 1A Herrin Regional by 24 points over Murphysboro, which finished with 198 points. Harrisburg took third place with 135.5 points and Carterville edged Anna-Jonesboro 107.5-106 to finish fourth in the 11-team event.

Coach Aaron Robinson’s first-place Rangers had four title winners and qualified nine individuals for the Vandalia Sectional. Champions for Benton were Zane Stanley (106), Cohen Sweely (113), Kaden Blades (132) and Mason Tieffel (138) while Connor Dean (157) and Tiffin Kouzoukas (165) took second place. Finishing third and qualifying for the sectional were Anthony Hernandez (144), Peyton Robinson (175) and Izaiah Dalton (190) while Derek Wilkey (150) and Drake Spears (285) finished fourth. Others who competed in the regional were Briggs Miller (120), Kingston Palmer (126) and Nathan Galant (215).

Benton/Sesser-Valier, who had won three regional championships with its last one coming in 2020, advances to its own dual team sectional, where it faces Vandalia, who won the Auburn Regional title. Individual qualifiers will compete in the Vandalia Sectional this weekend.

“It was a total team effort,” Robinson said. “We challenged the boys to show up and do their job and they did that and then some. We are excited for the opportunity to get to host and wrestle in the Dual team sectional at Benton.”

Runner-up Murphysboro got titles from Bryce Edwards (144) and Liam Fox (157) while Tony Keene (126) took first for third-place Harrisburg. Other regional champs were Anna-Jonesboro’s Drew Sadler (120) and Drew Holshouser (175), Carterville’s Jacob Grob (165) and Zechariah Miller (285), Herrin’s Blue Bishop (150), Frankfort Community’s Conner Henson (190) and Johnston City’s Jude Beers (215). Top records among the title winners included Mason Tieffel at 138 (48-0, 1.000), Liam Fox at 157 (44-0, 1.000), Blue Bishop at 150 (40-1, .976), Drew Sadler at 120 (45-2, .957), Tony Keene at 126 (38-2, .950) and Jude Beers at 215 (37-2, .949).

Murphysboro had four second-place finishers, Kanton Richards (106), Paxton Pyatt (113), Sergio Garcia (132) and Gage Boucher (150). Others who took placed second were Frankfort Community’s Lucas Parker (144) and Brandon Turner (215), Harrisburg’s Brendan Hicks (190) and Javier Horton (285), Carterville’s Landyn Flood (120), Goreville/Vienna’s Jeremiah Pulliam (126), Anna-Jonesboro’s Daniel Dover (138) and Trico/Elverado’s Johnny Ramaker (175).

Championship matches for the Class 1A Herrin Regional

106 – Zane Stanley (Benton/Sesser-Valier) F 3:19 Kanton Richards (Murphysboro)

113 – Cohen Sweely (Benton/Sesser-Valier) D 7-0 Paxton Pyatt (Murphysboro)

120 – Drew Sadler (Anna-Jonesboro) F 0:34 Landyn Flood (Carterville)

126 – Tony Keene (Harrisburg) F 0:41 Jeremiah Pulliam (Goreville/Vienna)

132 – Kaden Blades (Benton/Sesser-Valier) F 3:34 Sergio Garcia (Murphysboro)

138 – Mason Tieffel (Benton/Sesser-Valier) F 2:14 Daniel Dover (Anna-Jonesboro)

144 – Bryce Edwards (Murphysboro) F 1:32 Lucas Parker (Frankfort Community)

150 – Blue Bishop (Herrin) F 0:45 Gage Boucher (Murphysboro)

157 – Liam Fox (Murphysboro) F 1:42 Connor Dean (Benton/Sesser-Valier)

165 – Jacob Grob (Carterville) D 5-0 Tiffin Kouzoukas (Benton/Sesser-Valier)

175 – Drew Holshouser (Anna-Jonesboro) F 4:00 Johnny Ramaker (Trico/Elverado)

190 – Conner Henson (Frankfort Community) F 3:19 Brendan Hicks (Harrisburg)

215 – Jude Beers (Johnston City) F 5:47 Brandon Turner (Frankfort Community)

285 – Zechariah Miller (Carterville) D 4-3 Javier Horton (Harrisburg)

Third-place matches for the Class 1A Herrin Regional

106 – Aiden Milligan (Frankfort Community) MD 13-4 Jack Smith (Anna-Jonesboro)

113 – Jaxton Thompson (Trico/Elverado) D 7-6 Hayeden Hughes (Frankfort Community)

120 – Matt Crim (Goreville/Vienna) D 12-8 Jarryion Agnew (Murphysboro)

126 – Aiston Holt (Murphysboro) F 5:46 Jace Weaver (Johnston City)

132 – J.Q. Mezo (Harrisburg) D 9-4 Benjamin Harris (Johnston City)

138 – Sayvair Williams (Murphysboro) F 0:38 Kadyn Cummins (Harrisburg)

144 – Anthony Hernandez (Benton/Sesser-Valier) F 2:28 Jerry Tate (Johnston City)

150 – Merrick Orendoff (Carterville) F 1:15 Derek Wilkey (Benton/Sesser-Valier)

157 – Briar Butler (Harrisburg) F 4:20 Carter Jones (Carterville)

165 – Maxon Stearns (Murphysboro) F 4:55 Colin Hughey (Trico/Elverado)

175 – Peyton Robinson (Benton/Sesser-Valier) D 6-2 Randy Fuqua (Johnston City)

190 – Izaiah Dalton (Benton/Sesser-Valier) F 2:32 Juan Salazar (Johnston City)

215 – Nelson Rider (Carmi-White County) F 4:53 Logan Dirden (Herrin)

285 – Eddie Dahmer (Anna-Jonesboro) D 6-0 Drake Spears (Benton/Sesser-Valier)

Team scores for the Class 1A Herrin Regional

1. Benton/Sesser-Valier 222, 2. Murphysboro 198, 3. Harrisburg 135.5, Carterville 107.5, 5. Anna-Jonesboro 106, 6. Frankfort Community) 104, 7. Johnston City 96, 8. Goreville/Vienna 54, 9. Herrin 50, 10. Trico/Elverado 47, 11. Carmi-White County 43.

Class 1A Carlyle Regional – champion Roxana

Roxana won its first regional championship since 2014 and now has an opportunity to qualify for the IHSA Dual Team Finals for the first time since that year after it easily won the title at the Class 1A Carlyle Regional with 265 points while Althoff Catholic was a distant second with 150 points. Red Bud/Valmeyer outscored Salem 125.5-117 to claim third in the 11-team regional in Carlyle. Roxana had six champions and qualified 13 individuals for the Vandalia Sectional.

Leading the way for coach Rob Milazzo’s first-place Shells were champions Savion Hall (106), Brandon Green, Jr. (132), Kaden Carlisle (138), Braden Johnson (150), Lyndon Thies (157) and Robert Watt (190). Finishing second were Lleyton Cobine (120), Logan Riggs (126), Trevor Gihring (144), Elias Thies (175), Donald Battles (215) and James Herring (285) while Ari Walker (113) took third and Zebediah Katzmarek (165) had to take a medical forfeit in his last match.

As a result of the regional title, Roxana advances to the Benton Dual Team Sectional where it meets Oakwood/Salt Fork with the winner earning a trip to the IHSA Finals in Bloomington. The two teams met recently at Litchfield’s Rich Lovellette Invitational and Roxana finished ahead of Oakwood/Salt Fork by a 217-195 margin to capture the title in the competition.

“We had an outstanding regional tournament and are looking forward to more solid wrestling at the sectional tournament this weekend,” Milazzo said. “The boys have put in a lot of time working to refine their technique and to get in shape for the postseason. They hope to reap the rewards of that hard work in the last few weeks of the season.”

Winning championships for Althoff Catholic were Brenden Rayl (126) and Jason Dowell (285), while Ty Carter (175) took first place for Red Bud/Valmeyer and Salem got titles from Keyton King (144) and Carter Moore (165). Host Carlyle got firsts from brothers Preston Waughtel (113) and Tyson Waughtel (120) while East Alton-Wood River’s Drake Champlin (215) also won a title. Some of the best records for champions were Tyson Waughtel at 120 (44-0, 1.000), Preston Waughtel at 113 (43-0, 1.000), Brenden Rayl at 126 (30-1, .968), Jason Dowell at 285 (26-1, .963) and Drake Champlin at 215 (44-2, .957).

Other second-place finishers were Freeburg’s Broden Becker (106) and Kaiden Case (113), Althoff Catholic’s Alex Schallert (150) and Antwan Strong (190), East Alton-Wood River’s Jamal Burgess (132), Sparta/Steeleville’s Gavin Watson (138), Pinckneyville’s Trevor Fath (157) and Red Bud/Valmeyer’s Gavin Baldwin (165).

Championship matches for the Class 1A Carlyle Regional

106 – Savion Hall (Roxana) F 5:18 Broden Becker (Freeburg)

113 – Preston Waughtel (Carlyle) F 0:18 Kaiden Case (Freeburg)

120 – Tyson Waughtel (Carlyle) F 3:25 Lleyton Cobine (Roxana)

126 – Brenden Rayl (Althoff Catholic) F 5:44 Logan Riggs (Roxana)

132 – Brandon Green, Jr. (Roxana) F 1:56 Jamal Burgess (East Alton-Wood River)

138 – Kaden Carlisle (Roxana) D 6-2 Gavin Watson (Sparta/Steeleville)

144 – Keyton King (Salem) D 7-4 Trevor Gihring (Roxana)

150 – Braden Johnson (Roxana) F 1:31 Alex Schallert (Althoff Catholic)

157 – Lyndon Thies (Roxana) F 1:00 Trevor Fath (Pinckneyville)

165 – Carter Moore (Salem) F 0:55 Gavin Baldwin (Red Bud/Valmeyer)

175 – Ty Carter (Red Bud/Valmeyer) F 3:03 Elias Thies (Roxana)

190 – Robert Watt (Roxana) F 0:44 Antwan Strong (Althoff Catholic)

215 – Drake Champlin (East Alton-Wood River) F 4:15 Donald Battles (Roxana)

285 – Jason Dowell (Althoff Catholic) SV 5-4 James Herring (Roxana)

Third-place matches for the Carlyle Regional

106 – Aden Doolen (Salem) – no opponent

113 – Ari Walker (Roxana) F 1:03 Liam Bundt (Althoff Catholic)

120 – Miles Dennis (Metro-East Lutheran) F 3:04 Brock Becker (Freeburg)

126 – Carter Missey (Carlyle) D 4-1 Hunter Hooten (Red Bud/Valmeyer)

132 – Zach Manning (Red Bud/Valmeyer) F 0:59 John Taylor (Althoff Catholic)

138 – Carter Pryor (Metro-East Lutheran) F 0:22 Kevan Moore (Salem)

144 – Tyler Adams (East Alton-Wood River) D 7-5 Max Wolter (Red Bud/Valmeyer)

150 – Cooper Lobek (Salem) D 6-5 Matthew Walsh (Breese Central)

157 – Alex Wolter (Red Bud/Valmeyer) F 1:34 Jakobi Tow (Althoff Catholic)

165 – Stephen Ache (Althoff Catholic) D 10-5 Landon Jones (Metro-East Lutheran)

175 – Brody Diekemper (Carlyle) MD 10-2 Michael Soto (East Alton-Wood River)

190 – Carson Osborne (Salem) F 1:30 Wyatt Hamilton (Red Bud/Valmeyer)

215 – Enrique Morales (Althoff Catholic) F 1:22 Jack Amann (Freeburg)

285 – Drew Olmstead (Freeburg) F 1:02 Chance Sill (Salem)

Team scores for the Class 1A Carlyle Regional

1. Roxana 265, 2. Althoff Catholic 150, 3. Red Bud/Valmeyer 125.5, 4. Salem 117, 5. Carlyle 78.5, 5. Freeburg 78.5, 7. East Alton-Wood River 69.5, 8. Metro-East Lutheran 43, 9. Sparta/Steeleville 35, 10. Pinckneyville 23, 11. Breese Central 18.

Class 1A Robinson Regional – champion Oakwood/Salt Fork

Last year, Oakwood/Salt Fork won its first regional title since 2009 and went to qualify for the IHSA Dual Team Finals for the first time and took fourth place in the competition. With most of their competitors back from that historic 22-12 team, the Comets had no problems repeating as regional champions after scoring 255.5 points to win the title of the Class 1A Robinson Regional by 99.5 points over Lawrenceville/Red Hill, which took second with 156 points, Richland County (138) placed third and Cumberland (132) was fourth in the 11-team tournament in Robinson.

Coach Mike Glosser’s Champion Comets had five champions, nine finalists and qualified 12 individuals for the Vandalia Sectional. In addition, Oakwood/Salt Fork earned a spot in the Benton Dual Team Sectional where it meets Roxana, who won the Carlyle Regional. The winner of that dual meet advances to the IHSA Dual Teams Finals in Bloomington.

Winning championships for Oakwood/Salt Fork were Brayden Edwards (113), Grant Brewer (150), Bryson Capansky (157), Dalton Brown (175) and Jamison Chambliss (190) while Steven Uden (106), Tyler Huchel (120), Pedro Rangel (132) and Jack Ajster (138) took second place. Placing third and also advancing to the sectional were Thomas Wells (126), Carter Chambliss (144) and Kade Fleming (285). Reid Dazey (165) and Ezekiel Smith (215) also took part.

Runner-up Lawrencevill/Red Hill got titles from Drew Seitzinger (106) and Dylan Camden (285) while third-place finisher Richland County also had two champions, Carson Bissey (132) and Jashaun McKinley (215). Other regional title winners were Robinson’s Broady Kelly (126) and Kahne Hyre (165), Cumberland’s Brayden Olmstead (138) and Owen McGinnis (144) and Oblong/Hutsonville/Palestine’s Ian Rosborough (120). Top records of Robinson Regional champions included Carson Bissey at 132 (42-1, .977), Grant Brewer at 150 (36-2, .947), Broady Kelly at 126 (33-2, .943) and Kahne Hyre at 165 (35-3, .921).

Fairfield and Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm both had three second-place finishers. Taking second for Fairfield were Scotty Cuff (144), Keegan Bare (215) and Bentley Rogers (285) while Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm got seconds from Logan Mahaffey (157), Gabriel Kiddoo (165) and Ethan Miller (190). Other runners-up were Lawrenceville/Red Hill’s Dylan Aten (126) and Kasen Ochs (175), Cumberland’s Mason Robinson (113) and Robinson’s Ben Mullins (150).

Championship matches for the Class 1A Robinson Regional

106 – Drew Seitzinger (Lawrenceville/Red Hill) F 1:47 Steven Uden (Oakwood/Salt Fork)

113 – Brayden Edwards (Oakwood/Salt Fork) F 0:59 Mason Robinson (Cumberland)

120 – Ian Rosborough (Oblong/Hutsonville/Palestine) F 2:39 Tyler Huchel (Oakwood/Salt Fork)

126 – Broady Kelly (Robinson) MD 16-4 Dylan Aten (Lawrenceville/Red Hill)

132 – Carson Bissey (Richland County) MD 15-5 Pedro Rangel (Oakwood/Salt Fork)

138 – Brayden Olmstead (Cumberland) D 10-6 Jack Ajster (Oakwood/Salt Fork)

144 – Owen McGinnis (Cumberland) D 9-4 Scotty Cuff (Fairfield)

150 – Grant Brewer (Oakwood/Salt Fork) D 6-0 Ben Mullins (Robinson)

157 – Bryson Capansky (Oakwood/Salt Fork) D 5-3 Logan Mahaffey (Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm)

165 – Kahne Hyre (Robinson) D 3-2 Gabriel Kiddoo (Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm)

175 – Dalton Brown (Oakwood/Salt Fork) MD 12-0 Kasen Ochs (Lawrenceville/Red Hill)

190 – Jamison Chambliss (Oakwood/Salt Fork) D 3-2 Ethan Miller (Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm)

215 – Jashuan McKinley (Richland County) D 6-1 Keegan Bare (Fairfield)

285 – Dylan Camden (Lawrenceville/Red Hill) D 6-1 Bentley Rogers (Fairfield)

Third-place matches for the the Class 1A Robinson Regional

106 – Peyton Groves (Cumberland) F 3:07 Baxter Smith (Richland County)

113 – Jesse Irelan (Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm) F 0:37 Maverik Cordell (Richland County)

120 – Kaeden Davis (Richland County) F 2:45 Sawyer Welbaum (Cumberland)

126 – Thomas Wells (Oakwood/Salt Fork) D 8-1 Chase Ackman (Richland County)

132 – Jaxson Dukeman (Cumberland) D 10-5 Cale Seitzinger (Lawrenceville/Red Hill)

138 – Hudson Meek (Lawrenceville/Red Hill) MD 12-3 Baker Moon (Effingham)

144 – Carter Chambliss (Oakwood/Salt Fork) D 8-4 Daniel Kiser (Lawrenceville/Red Hill)

150 – Trevor Loy (Lawrenceville/Red Hill) F 3:28 Joshua Lamour (Paris)

157 – Dreagan Johnson (Robinson) MD 11-1 Nicholas Masterson (Fairfield)

165 – Robert Wells (Paris) F 2:31 Grant Keyser (Cumberland)

175 – Logan McDonald (Richland County) F 5:54 Judah Sweitzer (Oblong/Hutsonville/Palestine)

190 – Bronson Rilea (Fairfield) F 3:39 Will Moody (Paris)

215 – Ethan Curl (Paris) F 1:54 Jeremiah Lorton (Effingham)

285 – Kade Fleming (Oakwood/Salt Fork) SV 1-0 Trenton Patterson (Effingham)

Team scores for the Class 1A Robinson Regional

1. Oakwood/Salt Fork 255.5, 2. Lawrenceville/Red Hill 156, 3. Richland County 138, 4. Cumberland 132, 5. Robinson 114, 6. Fairfield 100, 7. Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm 80, 8. Paris 74, 9. Effingham 63.5, 10. Oblong/Hutsonville/Palestine 62.5, 11. Mt. Carmel 32.