By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

Among the greatest aspects of why Illinois wrestling has long stood out as being among the very best in the nation are all of the families who have made so many significant contributions to the sport throughout its rich history.

Whether they were the athletes who were competing or the coaches who were leading them, a lot of memorable names have helped to define the high standard that has been set in Illinois. And obviously one of the greatest things that many coaches were able to experience during their careers was being able to lead their own sons and related family members to success on the mat.

One of the best ways to honor those individuals who helped to make the sport what it is today is induction into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association’s Hall of Fame. Since 1972, the association has honored nearly 600 individuals for their contributions to wrestling. Another honor bestowed to just 150 individuals is induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Illinois Chapter with many recognized for their lifetime service to wrestling.

But perhaps the most prestigious way that the best in Illinois wrestling have been recognized is another honor that is much more visible to the average fan of the sport, and that is being selected as one of the Grand Marshals at the IHSA Individual State Finals, which has been a tradition since 1975. There were two Grand Marshals in each tournament but one and the current standard of having four individuals honored has been the case ever since 1987.

The Marshals lead the 84 individuals who are competing for state titles around the floor of the State Farm Center prior to the start of the finals. The March of Finalists, one of the most unique ceremonies in the nation, is conducted by the IHSA in conjunction with the IWCOA and State Farm Center.

Speaking of unique, this year’s Grand Marshals are definitely one of a kind, the five Ruettiger brothers. Tim, Mick, Johnny, Bernie and Mark. Beside being the only known family that produced five brothers who were all head coaches, each of them enjoyed success at their various schools and all are members of the IWCOA Hall of Fame and Mick and Mark were honored by the IWCOA with Lifetime Service Awards. While several sets of brothers have been Grand Marshals, no more than two were together at any one finals.

Beside the family significance, the event was also memorable for the Joliet-area, which has had a rich history in the sport for 80 years. Prior to the weekend, it’s believed that only 11 individuals with significant ties to the Joliet-area had been selected as Grand Marshals at the IHSA Individual State Finals. They are Jarrett Hubbard (1992), Tom Heniff (1993), Henry Pillard (1997), Tom Flanigan (1999), Eural ‘Mac’ McLaughlin (2004), Pat O’Connor (2008), Larry Bernard (2011), Mike Polz (2013), Howard Becker (2016), Rob Murphy (2019) and Debbie Nason (2020).

The biographies of the Ruettiger brothers are courtesy of the IHSA while the quotes from Tim, Mick, Johnny and Bernie were made prior to the start of the Grand March at the State Farm Center while Mark’s comments were made after the tournament.

Tim Ruettiger

The eldest sibling of this year’s Grand Marshals, Tim Ruettiger was the forerunner and led the way for his brothers in the sport of wrestling. The seventh child of 14, he grew up in Joliet and was a 1971 graduate of Providence Catholic High School.

As a football player at Providence, he was named team MVP in 1969 and 1971, received All-Conference accolades and was awarded the Chicago Tribune Golden Helmet Award. Tim continued playing football at Joliet Junior College and then moved on to North Central College, where he lettered in both football and wrestling. He later went on to earn his Master’s Degree from Eastern Illinois University.

After graduating, Tim returned to his Celtic roots in 1975 and became Providence’s head wrestling coach in 1976. In 1988, he moved as head wrestling coach to Joliet West until 1990 and completed his coaching career at Leyden in 1994. During those 17 years, Tim finished with a record of 308-70-2, earned thirteen conference championships, won eight regional championships and hoisted five sectional championship plaques. Tim led Providence to dual team state championships in 1978, 1981 and 1988, runner-up finishes in 1980 and 1982, and third-place finishes in 1977 and 1987. Tim coached eight individual State champions and 25 individual State placers. Tim had the special honor to coach his two brothers, Bernie and Mark to state titles, including overseeing Mark’s historic run to becoming the first four-time state champion in IHSA history.

At Providence, Tim not only coached wrestling, but also assisted the Girl’s Track Team, helping to lead yet another team to a state championship in 1978, a second-place finish in 1981 and a third-place trophy in 1980. Tim was also the head cross country coach where his team won the 1986 conference championship.

Tim was named the IWCOA Coach of the Year in 1981 and again in 1988. He was recognized by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association as its Coach of the Year in Region Four in 1989, and was inducted into the IWCOA Hall of Fame, the St. Mary Magdalene’s Wall of Fame and the Providence Catholic Hall of Fame. Tim was also named Mason’s Man of the Year in 1985.

Tim finished his career with 19 years in Administration as Dean of Students at West Leyden from 1994 to 2013. Tim has been married to his wife, Kelly, for 35 years and has three children, Daniel, Jacob and Maggie (Kyle) and is the proud Papa of his grandson, Timothy Michael Dooley.

“It’s been unbelievable,” Tim said. “And the competitiveness between the five of us over the years, so it’s great being able to share this moment with them. And I have a little extra special moments because I got to coach two of my brothers to state titles. And my parents, I wish they were here, they would have loved it. I also had the opportunity of also having my son (Jacob) have two finalists in this tournament. So being with my four brothers is awesome. The amazing thing is that every one of those guys brought home a state trophy.

“Without doubt, our parents were the best and they taught us about hard work. We’re proud of our family and we’re blessed to have good wives. And I also was blessed with great assistant coaches. Without surrounding yourself with good people, you have nothing. And we also had great kids. It was just overwhelming to be a part of this and to be in this great sport and what it has taught all of us.” 

Mick Ruettiger

One of seven brothers in the wrestling-rich Ruettiger family, Mick Ruettiger began his career at Providence Catholic High School. He had a one-year high school career based on the timing when Providence started its program. In 1973, he won a PSL conference championship, a third-place IHSA Regional medal and finished with a 19-3-1 record.

In college, he wrestled for IWCOA Hall of Fame coaches in Henry Pillard at Joliet Junior College and Ron Clinton at Eastern Illinois University.

Mick’s coaching career began in 1978-79 as a graduate assistant at EIU, he then became an assistant coach at Mt. St. Joseph Prep School from 1979 to 1981. In the 1981-82 school year, he began his head coaching career at Plano High School. His team recorded an 11-8 record with one state qualifier.

He coached at St. Charles High School from 1982-1997.  From 1993-97, St. Charles placed third twice, eighth once, sixth once and was first in 1997 in State Final individual scoring. St. Charles also finished third at the state dual meet in 1997.

Under Ruettiger, St. Charles produced 44 State Qualifiers, 21 place-winners, seven finalists and two state champions. St. Charles won back-to-back Upstate 8 and regional titles in 1996 and 1997, a sectional title in 1997 and won 176 dual meets.

Mick’s next 20 years (1997-2017) were spent at the newly-opened Neuqua Valley High School.  Neuqua Valley’s teams produced three top 16 state dual meet teams, six regional championships and eight Upstate 8 championships. In the state finals Individual scoring, Neuqua Valley placed in the top 10 seven years in a row, with its highest placing of fourth.

Individually under Ruettiger, Neuqua Valley produced 54 state qualifiers, 29 placewinners, eight finalists and two state champions.

Mick has been inducted into three Hall of Fames, including the IWCOA in 2002, and both St. Charles and Neuqua Valley in 2020. He was also presented with the IWCOA Lifetime Service Award in 2020.

He has continued his coaching as an assistant at St. Charles East.

Mick has been able to have a long career because of the patience and sacrifice of his wife, Bobbie and his daughters, Angela, Rebekah and Samantha.  His success has been with the help of the coaches, athletes, managers, parents and the administrators for which he is forever grateful.

“We came from a family that was accountable for what we did as kids,” Mick said. “When somebody did something wrong, and they were called out on it, we wouldn’t tell on each other, you’d have to account for yourself, or else it would be a little tough on you with the brothers. 

“I think that our programs reflected our parents. Back then, when you started a program, where else would that come from, but your experience. I know that they’re up in heaven and watching and smiling at us. We’re unique. There’s a lot of families in this sport, but we just happened to have five.”

Johnny Ruettiger

Johnny Ruettiger graduated from Providence Catholic in 1975 following a decorated wrestling career that saw him named the school’s Athlete of the Year as a senior. He was a two-time wrestling captain and team MVP that won three conference titles along with two Regional championships and one Sectional crown. He also reached the state semifinals and was a High School All-American who was selected to wrestle in the East/West All-State Dual Meet.

After graduating from Providence Catholic, he was a two-year starter and a team captain on the wrestling team at Joliet Junior College. He then moved to the University of Nebraska, where he was a two-year starter in the rugged Big 8 Conference, and then went on to serve as a Husker Graduate Assistant after completing his career on the mat.

His high school coaching career began at Lisle Senior High School, where he coached for 25 years and accumulated a career mark of 357 wins, 134 losses and one tie. During his time leading the Lions, he coached 65 All-Conference wrestlers, five Regional champions, and one Sectional champ. Seventy-five of his wrestlers qualified for the IHSA State Final meet, where 36 went on to place, including seven state champions. His 2006 squad earned a fourth place trophy at the IHSA Dual Team State Meet.

One of his proudest accomplishments was winning the inaugural Ruettiger Cup in 1983. Johnny was the Suburban Coach of the Year in 2001 and IWCOA Coach of the Year in 2006. His amazing career as a wrestler and coach was immortalized in the IWCOA Hall of Fame in 2003.

Johnny has  been married to his wife Nancy for 35 years. They have 2 children, Katelyn and Johnny, and two awesome grandkids, Riley and Beckham.

“The biggest thing about me and all of my brothers is that we cared about our kids, no matter what we had to do,” Johnny said. “If we had to pick them up, or at night if we had to bring them home, whatever we had to do for them, we did and that’s why we had a good rapport with the kids. 

“And we were always fair to them and they appreciated that, and that’s why they wrestled their best for you. We grew up hard, but it was in the right way. My dad taught us how to treat kids, and I think that’s our strong point, is being able to deal with kids.”

Bernie Ruettiger

Bernie Ruettiger was born the 13th of 14 children to Dan and Betty Ruettiger. He began his wrestling career in seventh Grade for IWCOA Hall of Fame coach Larry Stonistch at the Joliet Boys Club.

Bernie’s wrestling continued as a student-athlete at Providence Catholic. His distinguished career saw him win the 1977 IHSA Class A State Championship at 98 pounds, the first championship in Providence’s rich athletic history. He also was a fourth-place medalist, earning him IWCOA two-time All-State status. Bernie was coached by his brother Tim, an IWCOA Hall of Fame coach.

His collegiate career continued at Eastern Illinois University, where he was a three-year starter for IWCOA Hall of Fame coaches Ron Clinton and Ralph McCausland.

His many outstanding accomplishments as a high school head coach began in 1986 and would include stops at Clifton Central, Bradley-Bourbonnais and Minooka.

Bernie developed a knack for first time state tournament accomplishments. At Clifton Central, he coached its first state finalist. At Bradley-Bourbonnais, he coached its first state champion. And at Minooka, he coached its first athletic team state championship.

At Clifton Central, from 1986 to 1989, Bernie coached four state qualifiers including State Runner-up Par Schoolman.  At Bradley-Bourbonnais, from 1989 to 1999, he coached 12 state qualifiers including five state place-winners and State Champion Mike Russow.

His tenure at Minooka from 1999 to 2020 included 18 years as a head coach and three as an assistant coach. His teams had incredible success in the IHSA Dual Meet State Finals, reaching the state finals eight times. Minooka captured the state championship in 2010 and finished as the runner-up in both 2009 and 2011.

At Minooka, Bernie coached three wrestlers to four IHSA Individual State Championships; including two-time champ Russ Weil, Kalvin Hill and Jake Residori. He also mentored 14 State Placewinners and 59 State Qualifiers and his career included 538 dual meet wins, 16 Conference Titles, 12 Regional Titles, and IWCOA Coach of the Year honors.

He is a member of three Hall of Fames, including Providence Catholic, the IWCOA and Rudy’s Gym. Bernie is most proud of his 34 year-marriage and his eight children. He was able to coach many of his children. 

“This is awesome, just to be with my brothers,” Bernie said. “My older brothers taught me a lot and obviously we learned it from our parents about how to treat kids and have compassion for kids that other people gave up on. We as a group have done that with a lot of kids.

“I can’t thank enough my coaching staff from Clifton Central, to Bradley-Bourbonnais and to Minooka High School, and the kids club coaches and the grade school coaches that prepared these kids for high school. They made me look good, they really did. They made me look like I knew what I was doing at times, so a lot of the credit goes to them.

“(My parents) They’re up there smiling right now. But I’m going to tell you, a lot of credit also goes to my wife, as far as the sacrifices that she made with us having eight children. And her dragging all of those kids to tournaments and dual meets while I was away all of the time which allowed me to do this.”

Mark Ruettiger

Unofficially, Mark Ruettiger began his wrestling career earlier than most, as the youngest of Dan and Betty Ruettiger’s 14 children, he had to learn how to defend himself at a very early age. Especially from his brother Johnny.

Officially, Mark began wrestling for the Joliet Boy’s Club in 1974 and was coached by IKWF Co-founder and IWCOA Hall of Famer Larry Stonitsch. At the Boy’s Club, he was a four-time state medalist, including a State Championship in 1977 at 95 pounds. Starting high school at Providence Catholic in 1978, he won his first Class A title at 98 pounds. He went on to win three more titles, becoming Illinois’ first four-time State Champion. He was a member of Providence’s first State Championship Team in 1978, along with a second-place finish in 1980, and a second State Championship Team in 1981. He was named Illinois Class A Outstanding Wrestler in 1980 and 1981 and was selected as a member of the USA Wrestling Dream Team in 1981 at 126 pounds.

Mark continued his career at Eastern Illinois University, where he was a two-time NCAA Division I qualifier in 1984 and 1985.  He won the Western Regional Championship in 1984, and in 1985 he finished second at the Western Regional and went on to become an All-American, placing 6th in the NCAA’s.

Mark began his teaching career at Lincoln-Way High School in 1987. There he was a Physical Education Teacher and coached football, girls badminton, and wrestling. In his first four years at Lincoln-Way, he was an assistant wrestling coach, with his head coaching career starting in 1991. Throughout his 18 years as a head coach for both Lincoln-Way and Lincoln-Way Central, he had a 274-87-1 career record with 37 individual Regional Champs, 18 Sectional Champs, and 57 State Qualifiers. He coached 25 of his qualifiers to a state medal, with 12 of them reaching the finals and five winning State Championships. In 2008, his team won the Regional and Sectional title and went on to place 3rd in the Class AA Dual Team State Championships.

As the Lincoln-Way area grew and more schools were built, Mark retired as a head coach in 2009 and went on to become an assistant coach at Lincoln-Way West for the next 11 years.  There he helped Head Coach Brian Glynn and Lincoln-Way West establish its wrestling program.  In 2013, its fourth year as a program, West qualified for the Class 2A Dual Team State Finals, and in 2017, West went on to place third at the Class 3A Dual Team State Meet. Mark then retired from Lincoln-Way High School District 210 in 2020.

Throughout his life, Mark has had some unique opportunities in the world of sports. In 1985, he was working on the field when the Bears won the Super Bowl. In 1993, he was an extra in one of the top rated sports movies ever made, “Rudy”, which is based on his oldest brother’s life. In 1994, he was part of a team that hosted the Cadet World Championships at Lincoln-Way, and with great thanks to the late Jim Craig, he was honored with an invitation to be a volunteer and work the wrestling venue at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.

His IWCOA honors include 1995 Hall of Fame induction, Class 2A Assistant Coach of the Year in 2010, and in 2017, he received the organization’s Lifetime Service Award.  He is a member of the Providence Catholic, Rudy’s Gym, and the Joliet Area Sports Halls of Fame.

Mark and his wife, Mary Kay, of 32 years have four children: Matt, Josh, Kyle and Cassie. Josh and Kyle are coaches at Lincoln-Way East.

“Absolutely, it was a special day and it was more special than I thought it would be,” Mark said. “We definitely learned that work ethic from our parents. They raised 14 kids and my dad worked two or three jobs and he came home to a spotless home all of the time because of my mom, so it definitely started with them. The Ruettiger Cup was definitely something that you wanted to win, it was just as important as any tournament. 

“Wrestling has contributed so much to my family. My brothers, obviously, and my own kids. Wrestling has given me a lot. And it’s nice to have my two kids coaching. From the beginning I started wrestling for Larry Stonitsch, there was not a better person to start with. And throughout my career, I was always around good people. 

“Then getting into coaching and being at a school that supported you was really good. And also all of the kids that I coached throughout the years. And wrestling is definitely what the Joliet-area is known for, I think, going back to Joliet Township. After reflecting on it, that weekend was a really nice time. It just had everything.”

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

BLOOMINGTON – In what is arguably one of the most impressive state tournament debuts in the 120-plus year history of the Illinois High School Association, girls wrestling burst upon the scene in a most amazing fashion last weekend at the Grossinger Motors Arena.

Eleven of the 14 champions at the initial state tournament of the newest officially-recognized sport in Illinois were listed in the top 25 nationally at their weight classes according to USA Wrestling, Flowrestling and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in their February rankings.

And to show just how challenging the first state finals competition was, two second-place finishers also appeared in the top 25, but both of those lost to girls who were ranked in the top-three in the nation. It’s very unlikely that any other IHSA tournament with multiple champions would have had over 75 percent of them being nationally-ranked individuals.

As the Grand March kicked off shortly before 2 p.m. last Saturday, the finalists made their way to the arena floor, including many who have been staples for Team Illinois, to compete on one mat that was devoted just to championship matches in what proved to be a fitting finale for the two-day tournament.

Despite the fact that so many talented individuals captured titles, only four of the matches ended with falls and one concluded early as the result of a technical fall.

From the time that Batavia’s Sydney Perry made history as the first IHSA individual champion at 145 until Alton’s Antonia Phillips concluded the title matches with a first-place finish at 140, a who’s who of girls who have raised the bar extremely high during their careers turned in performances which have already helped to make this new sport into a phenomenon that will likely see tremendous growth in the upcoming years.

And the good news for enthusiasts of the newest IHSA sport is that just four of the champions are seniors. Four juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen title winners joined the seniors on the top of the award stand and they figure to establish legacies that other competitors will be trying to duplicate as girls wrestling grows in Illinois.

There were five unbeaten champions and two other individuals who only lost one match. The champions’ combined record is 258-39, which is good for an .869 percentage.

Hononegah junior Rose Cassioppi and freshman Angelina Cassioppi become the first sisters to win titles in the same finals. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because it is. When Rose won her title at 170, the family became the first to have a brother and sister as state champions. Tony Cassioppi was a two-time champion and three-time medalist at 285 from 2016-18, going 100-0 in his last two seasons at the school in Rockton. He currently competes for the University of Iowa.

Another champion had a brother who enjoyed a lot of success during his high school career. Glenbard North freshman Gabriella Gomez won a title at 105 with a perfect record. Her brother, Austin, was a three-time champion for the Panthers from and currently is competing with the University of Wisconsin.

One champion is the sister of a Class 2A champion while another is a sister of a 3A runner-up at Marmion Academy this season. Glenwood senior Maya Davis’ brother is Andrew Davis, who took first place at 106 in Class 2A. And initial title winner Perry is the sister of Marmion Academy senior Tyler Perry, who took second place at 170 in 3A.

Here’s a listing of all of the first champions of the IHSA Girls Individual Finals, which were held in Bloomington. Senior champions were Somonauk’s Shea Reisel (23-4 at 110), Glenwood’s Maya Davis (9-0 at 115), Yorkville’s Natasha Markoutsis (30-1 at 125) and Plainfield South’s Alexis Janiak (12-0 at 130). Juniors who won titles were Homewood-Flossmoor’s Attalia Watson-Castro (17-1 at 135), Alton’s Antonia Phillips (20-3  at 140), Hononegah’s Rose Cassioppi (15-7 at 170) and Belleville East’s Kiara Ganey (15-0 at 235). Sophomore champions were Freeport’s Cadence Diduch (22-3 at 120), Batavia’s Sydney Perry (21-0 at 145), Unity’s Lexi Ritchie (19-9 at 155) and West Chicago’s Jayden Huesca Rodriguez (10-5 at 190). And freshmen who finished first were Hononegah’s Angelina Cassioppi (23-6 at 100) and Glenbard North’s Gabriella Gomez (12-0 at 105).

Berwyn-Cicero Morton and Richwoods both had four placewinners while Homewood-Flossmoor and Oak Park and River Forest each had three medal winners. Ten other schools finished with two medalists apiece. A total of 122 schools qualified individuals for the tournament and 52 of those sent more than one individual to the event.

Of the 14 champions, 13 came from different schools with Hononegah being the only one to have more than one title winner.

One of the program’s with the largest number of qualifiers was Berwyn-Cicero Morton, which advanced nine individuals and had four placewinners.

“This year has been very special for the Morton Mustangs and the girls were incredible,” Mustangs coach Joseph Helton said. “There were many times that our schedules had to change due to COVID issues but the girls fought through adversity. Our girls showed up day after day looking to get better and try to show that we were one of the toughest teams in the state. The Mustang girls have faced the toughest competition and are always excited to prove themselves.

“The girls are filled with the competitive spirit, but also extreme kindness. After the matches or during practice, the girls are always talking to their opponents or trying to build their teammates up. They are growing the wrestling community and promoting girls wrestling in the state of Illinois. This year has been a pleasure with the official introduction of girls wrestling.”

Homewood-Flossmoor qualified eight individuals and had three medal winners.

“Overall, we couldn’t be happier with how the girl’s state tournament ended up,” Homewood-Flossmoor coach Jim Sokoloski said.  “We brought eight girls and three of them made the podium and one was a champion.  We are so proud of our girls, especially since the vast majority were first-year wrestlers. I can confidently say that they have caught the wrestling bug and will be even more invested after seeing the state tournament. 

“I was so impressed with the level of competition of all the girls and how quickly they all took to the sport. I can’t wait for the sport to grow and can only imagine what this will look like next year, let alone in five years. One thing that I do believe needs to be fixed immediately is the fact that there was no emphasis on a team competition at the sectional or state tournament. I understand that a lot of teams probably cannot field a full dual team for that type of team competition, but the IHSA should at the bare minimum be recognizing team accomplishments from the two biggest tournaments of the year.”

Normally, we list the champions starting with the lowest weights, but due to the historical nature of the competition, we list the state champions in the order that they won titles.

Here’s a closer look at all of the first 14 IHSA girls champions as well as the remainder of placewinners at their weight classes.

145 – Sydney Perry, Batavia

Not very many athletes ever get the opportunity to say that they were the first person to accomplish something that’s very special, but Sydney Perry is someone who will always be able to do just that.

That’s because the Batavia sophomore had the good fortune of being in the weight class that was drawn as the starting point for the championship round of the initial IHSA Girls Individual State Final in Bloomington. And the nation’s fourth-ranked individual at 138 pounds who was the IWCOA champion at 132 a year ago and took second at 132 in 16-U at Fargo last year, is certainly a deserving recipient of that prestigious honor considering that she rolled to the title with three falls, including two in the first period, while winning by default early in another match to cap a perfect 21-0 season, to make more history by joining four others in another unique group, the sport’s first unbeaten state champions.

Perry won the sport’s first championship with a fall in 5:20 over West Aurora senior Dyani Rivera, who can take consolation since she also was in the first title match. The Bulldogs athlete also made history as her school’s first IHSA wrestling champion, after Mikey Caliendo claimed top honors in the 2021 IWCOA finals. Perry won by fall in 1:18 over Canton freshman Aubrianna Putman (10-9) in her first match, by default over Barrington junior Kaia Fernandez (15-8) in the quarterfinals and by fall in 1:26 in the semifinals over Warren senior Adriana Demos. Both Sydney and her brother, Tyler, a senior at Marmion Academy, advanced to the title mat but Tyler placed second at 170 in Class 3A.

“It feels good, it feels really accomplishing to be achieving such high goals right now,”Perry said. “It’s really interesting and cool that I got to be a part of this new sanctioned sport and to just compete. It feels great, I put in a lot of hard work in practice. I’ve been wrestling with guys all year, so I felt like I wasn’t accomplishing much. So to just come out and compete with girls and do really well feels great. It feels like all my hard work is finally going somewhere. Even from last year to this year, there’s a lot more girls here. It’s just cool how fast it’s expanding. At Batavia, we’re just recruiting like crazy.”

Rivera (21-5) needed 6:22 to record a fall in her opener against Richwoods senior Arie Johnson and then beat Stevenson sophomore Sajra Sulejmani 10-0 in the quarterfinals. She advanced to the title mat following a disqualification by Palatine junior Jasmine Hernandez (29-1) in the semifinals. Hernandez won the IWCOA title at 145 a year ago.

Demos (19-4) took third place by injury default over Johnson in 1:58. She opened with a fall in 0:39 and then beat Marion junior Haylie Nappier-Feth (10-8) 13-1 in the quarterfinals. After falling to Perry in the semifinals, she won by fall in 2:17 over Sulejmani to earn her way to the third-place match.

Johnson (19-3), who won the IWCOA title at 152 last year, had to go through the consolation bracket following her first-round loss to Rivera. She recorded three-straight falls, with the last over Rock Island junior Sanaa Hampton to assure her of a medal but got injured in the third-place match and took fourth. Sulejmani, who took sixth a year ago at the IWCOA, placed fifth.

155 – Lexi Ritchie, Unity

After letting a lead slip away and finishing in second place by one point to Arie Johnson in the 152 title match in the IWCOA finals, Lexi Ritchie knew that she would have her hands full when she tried to win a state title against Arie’s younger sister, Jaida, in the 155 title match in the first IHSA Girls Individual Finals.

And although the Unity sophomore owned a 9-3 lead in the third period, Richwoods sophomore Johnson stormed back to close to within 9-8 in the late going. But instead of seeing another state title slip away, Ritchie got an escape and then denied the Johnsons of an IHSA title as captured a 10-8 victory to be one of the many highlights of the past two weekends for the Rockets, who got second-place finishes from three-time finalist Tavius Hosley and Grant Albaugh and Nick Nosler at the IHSA Class 1A Individual Finals in Champaign and then her team, coached by Logan Patton, took third in the 1A Dual Team Finals, which also took place along with the first-ever girls state finals in Bloomington. 

Ritchie (19-9) got a fall in 0:37 in her opener against Homewood-Flossmoor sophomore Kristen Roberts and then recorded another fall, this time in 3:50 over Wheaton Warrenville South senior Maya Kalombo (15-5) in the quarterfinals. The seventh-place finisher at 152 in 16-U a year ago in Fargo, earned her spot in a state finals match for the second year in a row and got the opportunity to compete against another Johnson sister after claiming a 10-2 major decision over Buffalo Grove junior Julianna Conroy in the semifinals. She is the first Unity wrestler to win a state title since Juan Molina pulled off the feat in 1991.

“I wrestled her in the sectional finals and I tried so hard to pin her, but I just couldn’t and I ended up teching her in sectionals, 20-4,” Ritchie said. “So I knew coming out here that she would be prepared. She knew what I was going to hit and she made it a challenge all the way through. She hit her Hail Mary and I have to give it to her. There were some matches where I wished that I could have done that. I wrestled her sister last year in the IWCOA finals and had the same thing, I had a comfortable lead, and she came back. 

“I was so mad that we didn’t have it with the boys at the State Farm Center, but now I’m looking up at the top area of the bleachers and I’m seeing all my brothers up there from my team and I have tons of texts from them now. I’m sure they’re proud, maybe with not how I performed, but the fact that I got the title. Wrestling with my brothers every day has made me a lot better. It makes me come out to these girls tournaments and be comfortable with how my wrestling is. 

“I was a football player, so I’d always been around the boys. And that’s what got me into wrestling a year and a half ago or two years ago, whatever it was. I had no idea that this sport was as big and I’ve from when I joined from a year and half ago to now, it’s grown so much. And we have our own state tournament and we didn’t have that last year. It definitely makes it exciting to especially come back here and get it two more times. I think with all of the attention that this tournament is going to get right now, it’s going to bring in a whole lot of girls and a whole lot more competition in upcoming years.”

Johnson (17-4), who took third place at 170 a year ago at the IWCOA, recorded a fall in 4:00 over Evergreen Park sophomore Elliana Balderrama in her first match and then claimed an 11-3 major decision in the quarterfinals over Schaumburg sophomore Valeria Rodriguez. Johnson clinched her trip to the title mat when she got a fall in 2:34 over Larkin senior Giselle Ayala in the semifinals. Arie Johnson settled for fourth at 145 and Kyley Bair was sixth at 105 to give the Knights three medal winners in the tournament.

Rodriguez (32-2), who finished sixth at 160 at the IWCOA, won her opener with a first-minute fall but then got bumped into the consolation bracket by Johnson, She responded with two falls, including one in 2:46 over Wilmington senior Dezirae Yanke to assure herself of a medal and she captured a 7-1 victory over Conroy to earn her spot in the third-place match, where she recorded a fall in 2:37 over Ayala.

Ayala (21-9), who placed fourth at 152 at the IWCOA finals, recorded two falls to open her tournament, with the second of those being in 3:53 over Yanke in the quarterfinals. After losing to Johnson in the semifinals, Ayala won 6-3 over Balderrama before taking fourth. Conroy (25-6) recorded a fall in 1:31 over Balderrama (14-8) to finish fifth. A year ago, Conroy took third place at 152 and Ayala was fourth at that weight in the IWCOA finals. With Maria Ferrer (170) and Ayala both placing fourth, it’s just the second time that Larkin has had two placewinners at the same IHSA tournament, a feat the school last achieved in 1988 and they are also Larkin’s first IHSA placewinners since 1990 when Brian Rose won the AA heavyweight title. Balderrama also made history, becoming the first Evergreen Park wrestler to win an IHSA medal since 1996, when Dan McNulty took fourth.

170 – Rose Cassioppi, Hononegah

When you have a brother who won two state championships in his final two years of high school, a lot of siblings would like to try to duplicate that impressive accomplishment. And that’s what Rose Cassioppi is in the process of doing after she captured a state title in the first IHSA Girls Individual State Finals.

The Hononegah junior, who’s ranked fourth in the nation at 164 and took second at 152 in Junior Women at Fargo last summer, capped a 15-7 season when she recorded a fall in 1:37 in the 170 championship match over Zion-Benton sophomore ILeen Castrejon, Cassioppi had pins in all four of her matches with the one that lasted the longest was the first, when she won by fall in 2:50 over Canton freshman Katie Marvel. She followed that up with a pin in 1:11 over Lake Forest senior Naomi Miles in the quarterfinals. And then in the semifinals, she recorded a fall in 1:19 over Highland freshman August Rottmann.

It was a big day for the Cassioppi family since it made history by having two sisters capture state championships in the first-ever IHSA Girls Individual State Finals. Shortly after Rose claimed her state title, freshman Angelina, who is 23-6, pulled off the same feat when she took first at 100. Tony Cassioppi, who competes for the University of Iowa and was a runner-up in the Big Ten, had a great career at the Rockton school. During his junior and senior seasons from 2016-2018, he won all 100 of his matches and allowed no offensive points as he won two Class 3A titles at 285. Rose and Angelina join fellow champions Maya Davis and Gabriella Gomez as families with boys and girls state champs. 

“It feels awesome. It’s crazy how this is only the first year but I’m really happy that it happened and that girls wrestling is starting to grow bigger,” Rose Cassioppi said.” I’ve been used to wrestling boys my whole life, so it was like one girls tournament a year, and we would always have to drive super far just to find other girls to wrestle. I’ve been wrestling for about seven years. My brother is Tony, and of course I have to show him up a little bit. 

“My whole life it’s just been boys and I never even saw any girls, but this year, I saw a couple of girls around me, and there was never anyone at my weight. But there’s girls tournaments and all-girls teams now, it’s just insane and it’s awesome. If someone just sees a sport, and they’re like, ‘oh, that looks pretty cool, just join it, just try it. It’s cool that I got to be a part of the first-ever IHSA state tournament in Illinois and especially to win it is pretty awesome.”

Castrejon (14-6) won her first match by fall at 1:34 over Homewood-Flossmoor senior Madison Skowronski (18-11). In the quarterfinals, Castrejon won 6-0 over West Aurora sophomore Ionicca Rivera (20-8) and in the semifinals was a winner by injury default in 0:26 over Larkin junior Maria Ferrer, who won the 170 title in 2021 at the IWCOA . Zion-Benton wrestlers only won one state medal in the 33 years between 1976-2018 but now they have won four medals in the last three years of IHSA competition with Jordan Chisum placing in 2019 and 2020 and two more were added this weekend as Castrejon took second at 170 and Rachel Williams-Henry finished fourth at 140. Also, Castrejon is only the second Zee-Bee to reach the title mat, ending a 57-year drought since Jim Winston took second place at 154 in 1964.

Rottmann (22-15) followed a 7-5 win over Lockport junior Kelli Watkins (7-5) in her opener with a fall in 2:43 over Huntley junior Alexandra Strzelecki in the quarterfinals. After falling to Cassioppi in the semifinals, Rottmann advanced to the third-place match with a fall in 1:33 over Oak Park and River Forest sophomore Trinity White and then finished third after getting a fall in 2:48 over Ferrer.

Ferrer (23-3), followed a fall in her opener with a 4-2 quarterfinals decision over White. But after getting injured in her semifinals match, Ferrer got a fall in 0:38 over Miles but then got pinned in her next match to place fourth. In the fifth-place match, White (24-2), who took second at 160 in last year’s IWCOA finals, got a fall in 3:23 over Miles (9-5).

For just the second time, Larkin has two placewinners at the same IHSA tournament with Giselle Ayala (155) and Ferrer both placing fourth, The school last achieved that in 1988 and they are also Larkin’s first IHSA placewinners since 1990 when Brian Rose won the AA heavyweight title.

190 – Jayden Huesca Rodriguez, West Chicago

While a lot of athletes like the sport or sports that are already competing in and aren’t looking for any more challenges, being open to getting involved with a different sport can pay off in a big way, and that’s just what soccer player Jayden Huesca Rodriguez discovered about wrestling.

Encouraged by a friend to give wrestling a try as it was moving closer to becoming an official sport by the IHSA for the 2021-22 school year, the West Chicago sophomore may find that her fortunes are brighter on the mat than they are on the pitch after being one of the surprise champions at the IHSA Girls Individual State Finals in Bloomington. She becomes the first West Chicago wrestler to win an IHSA title since Israel Castro pulled off the feat in 1993.

In a matchup between girls with the last name of Rodriguez in the 190 finals, Jayden (10-5) was a winner by technical fall over Berwyn-Cicero Morton senior Diana in a weight class which featured some top finishers at last year’s IWCOA finals. The eventual champion recorded three falls to reach the title match, getting a pin in 1:58 over Lakes freshman Josephine Larson in her initial match and added a fall in 5:00 over Oak Park and River Forest senior Tiffany White. Then she got a pin in 1:04 over Homewood-Flossmoor sophomore Ini Odumosu in the semifinals to earn her unlikely finals appearance and then a state title in her new sport which surprised many, perhaps even herself.

“It was awesome, It feels great,” Rodriguez said. “It’s my first year of wrestling and I’ve been wrestling for like six months, so this is awesome. That just shows that your work pays off. I just wanted to try something new and my partner, Isabella Lopez, who’s coming to this school next year, motivated me so much to get into colleges, and she brought me into this. Thanks to her, I got into this. I do soccer and this is completely different. This is all arm work, upper body. It was so exciting. My mom finally got to see me win and it’s probably the best feeling ever that anyone can feel. I’m a sophomore, so I have two more years to keep winning. I want to keep being number one and the state champion.” 

Diana Rodriguez (15-5) kicked off her tournament with a fall in 1:26 over Moline junior Ruby Sepeda and then pulled off a bit of a surprise with a 5-4 quarterfinals victory over Fenton senior Noelia Vazquez, who was last year’s IWCOA champion at 182. In the semifinals, the 190 runner-up got a fall in 3:43 over West Aurora freshman Brittney Moran.

Vazquez (27-2) won a 3-1 decision over Bolingbrook sophomore Aurelia Gil-Lane in her opener and then was surprised by Diana Rodriguez in the quarterfinals. She got a 2-1 win over Andrew junior Mickaela Keane and then an 8-2 decision over Odumosu to send her to the third-place match, where she edged White by a 3-2 score to place third.

White (30-4), who was second at 170 in the IWCOA finals, won an 11-5 decision in her first match but fell to the eventual champion in the quarterfinals. After recording a pair of falls to assure herself of a medal, White recorded a fall in 1:38 over Moran but then lost a one-point decision to Vazquez in the third-place match. Odumosu (24-7) took fifth by claiming a 6-4 victory over Moran (12-5).

235 – Kiara Ganey, Belleville East

Beside becoming one of the initial 14 champions in the first-ever IHSA Girls Individual State Finals, Kiara Ganey had the opportunity to achieve some other rather significant  accomplishments that fewer individuals would be able to share with her.

One was to add a state championship to the one that she won a year ago at the IWCOA finals at 195 and the other was concluding an unbeaten season with a state title. The Belleville East junior capped her successful 15-0 season in impressive fashion by winning each of her four matches at state with pins, which included recording a fall  in 2:40 of the 235 championship match against Curie sophomore  Aaliyah GrandBerry. She joined Maya Davis (115), Cadence Diduch (120) and Sydney Perry (145) as IWCOA and IHSA champions and joined Gabriella Gomez (105), Davis (115), Alexis Janiak (130) and Perry (145) as undefeated state champions this season.

Ganey, who’s ranked third nationally at 200 and finished second at 180 in 16-U last year in Fargo, opened with a win by fall in 4:46 over Oak Forest freshman Jessica Komolafe (9-6) and then added a pin in 1:39 over Oak Park and River Forest sophomore Sarah Epshtein. Then she got a fall in 1:32 over Plainfield South freshman Keira Enright to advance her to the title mat. She became the first wrestler from her school to win an IHSA state championship and is also the second Lancer to earn two state medals in the sport. A year ago, she was the first wrestler from her school to reach the title mat in 30 years.

“This is amazing, just to see how far it’s come,” Ganey said. “I started in seventh grade and IWCOA was all of that. So this past year when I found out that it was going to be sanctioned, I was like, it’s about time. I think we work just as hard as the boys do and we should be given the same credit as them. I’m really happy that we’re sanctioned and we have an IHSA state. It’s about time. It was a good first two days. The Grand March was awesome and I’m happy that we’re like the guys now, we deserve all of the credit since we work just as hard as them. And we put in the hours, the blood, sweat and tears. I’m happy they did it just like the guys. No matter what you placed, it was awesome.

“I think it will help tremendously and girls see that now since now you don’t have to wrestle the guys or try to go for guys’ state, now we have our own individual girls state. I think that will give girls more confidence to come out since it’s girls against girls, so I have a chance. Unlike the boys, this is one big family. Winners or losers, whatever, we’re all one big family here and the girls support each other. At the end of the day you may lose or you may win, but we’re all family and we love each other. I’m just happy it’s here.” 

GrandBerry (11-1) was one of three individuals who suffered their lone defeat in the state title match, joining Lake’s Olivia Heft (115) and Edwardsville’s Mackenzie Pratt (120). She also was the first wrestler from Curie to not only win a medal at state, let alone compete for a title. GrandBerry opened her state competition with a pin and then got a fall in 5:44 over Normal Community junior Shelby Hailey in the quarterfinals. She earned her trip to the state title mat with a fall in 5:38 in the semifinals over Homewood-Flossmoor sophomore Jocelyn Williams.

Enright (12-4) opened with a pair of falls, pinning Addison Trail sophomore JD Quijano in 1:56 in the quarterfinals. After falling to Ganey, Enright got a pin in 0:39 over Taft freshman Kennedi Atkocaitis to advance to the third-place match where she recorded another fall over Williams in 3:46.

Williams (15-9) won her first two matches by fall, beating Atkocaitis in 1:22 in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to GrandBerry. Williams then beat Epshtein 2-0 before falling to Enright to claim fourth place. In the fifth-place match, Epshtein (17-4) won by fall in 1:42 over Atkocaitis (11-6). 

100 – Angelina Cassioppi, Hononegah

As one of two sisters who advanced to the title mat at the inaugural IHSA Girls Individual State Finals, Angelina Cassioppi already was assured of establishing history before she competed in the 100 finals.

But after her sister Rose, who’s a junior, won the championship at 170 to give Hononegah its first girls state title, freshman Angelina duplicated her sister’s accomplishment a short time later when she captured a 6-2 victory over Thornton Fractional South senior Dutchess King in the 100 finals. The two sisters join brother Tony as IHSA champions. Tony, who competes for the University of Iowa, won Class 3A titles at 285 in 2017 and 2018 for Hononegah, making the family the first to have state champions in each sport.

Angelina (23-6), who’s ranked seventh nationally at 100 and placed sixth at 100 in 16-U at Fargo last year, won by technical fall in 2:00 in her first match, which was against Normal West junior Sammy Lehr (9-5), who made history at the start of the season as the first girl to capture a title in a girls-only invitational, which she won at Normal Community. After recording a fall in 1:43 over Homewood-Flossmoor junior Ava Anderson (16-9) in the quarterfinals, she earned her spot in the finals with a 9-3 semifinals win over Lawrenceville senior Brianna Richey.

“This was very exciting and I’m very happy to win with my sister,” Angelina Cassioppi said. “My last match didn’t go as good as I wanted it to. It was really great. I have a lot of friends that were in the finals and hopefully were going to win, so it would be really cool to see that.”

King (20-11) won by a fall in 1:09 in her first match before capturing an 11-5 victory over Bartlett freshman Emma Engels (23-13) in the quarterfinals. The senior advanced to the title mat with a fall in 4:42 over Grant sophomore Ayane Jasinski in the semifinals. This is only the second time that an individual from Thornton Fractional South has reached the IHSA title mat, with the other being in 2003, when Jason Besse placed second at 145 in Class AA.

Richey (29-6) got falls in her first two matches, with the second coming in 1:23 over Oak Park and River Forest senior Bentley Hills (20-9) in the quarterfinals. After losing to Cassioppi in the semifinals, Richey won 7-0 over Rock Island senior Rebecca Ferguson and then defeated Jasinski by a 7-4 score to claim third place. 

Jasinski (11-3) won two decisions, including an 8-1 victory in the quarterfinals over Ferguson before King pinned her in the semifinals. After winning 7-0 over Edwardsville sophomore Olivia Coll in the wrestleback, she lost to Richey to finish fourth. And in the fifth-place match, Ferguson (18-10) recorded a fall in 2:00 over Coll (27-7). A year ago, Coll took fourth at 101 at the IWCOA.

105 – Gabriella Gomez, Glenbard North

Gomez and Glenbard North are synonymous with success in IHSA wrestling, so it’s no real surprise that nationally-ranked Gabriella Gomez would put herself in a position to capture the 105 title in the initial IHSA Girls Individual State Finals.

She won 5-3 by sudden victory over Loyola Academy freshman Harlee Hiller in the semifinals before capturing another 5-3 win in the finals over Lincoln-Way Central sophomore Gracie Guarino to become one of two freshmen champions and one of five unbeaten title winners. Gomez, ranked eighth nationally at 100 and a second-place finisher at 94 in 16-U at Fargo last year, finished with a 12-0 record, opened her tournament run with two falls, getting the first in 1:28 over Grant junior Snow Khi and the other in 1:12 in the quarterfinals over Belleville East freshman Alexcia Hardin (9-5). 

Her brother, Austin, is an Iowa State University graduate and also a redshirt junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who’s already qualified for the NCAA Division I Tournament and also won the Big Ten title. He was a four-time medalist and three-time champion for the Panthers, where he went 195-7 and won Class 3A titles from 2015-17, becoming one of just four individuals at the school to do that and one of only five who won four state medals. Her sister, Alexis, is a junior who competes for one of the nation’s top NAIA programs, Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. Both of her siblings are ranked in the top-five in the nation. 

“All I was looking forward to was having this bracket in my hands right now.” Gomez said. “When I found out that there was a girls state tournament, at first I was a little iffy about it because it was folkstyle, and I’m a big freestyle gal, so I was hoping it would be freestyle, but unfortunately, it wasn’t. But I kind of started into it a couple of weeks before sectionals. I was pumped and popped in Glenbard North’s room and asked if I could train with them and coach (Travis) Cherry said of course. So I had great partners there and Gomez Wrestling, great partners there, and I couldn’t have done it without them and coaches and especially my dad.

“My brother, Austin, was a three-time state champ and my sister, Alexis, went to Glenbard North and at the time they didn’t have girls state, so she wrestled with them for practice but didn’t compete. So we have a big legacy at Glenbard North and I’m happy to be a part of it. It feels great to be a part of this legacy with these girls just starting up. Some of these girls are first year and we still put on a great show, and it’s just going to get better. We want everyone to join girls wrestling and it will become big.. I hope the D-I schools open up opportunities for us with full rides, everything. I think this is going to be a great couple of more years for me at Glenbard North.”

Guarino (26-15) recorded three-straight falls to reach the title mat. After needing just 0:27 for her first pin, she got a fall in 1:12 in the quarterfinals over Minooka sophomore Brooklyn Doti and then added a pin in 2:52 in the semifinals over Morris sophomore Ella McDonnell. Guarino placed third at 106 in last year’s IWCOA.

Hiller (22-5) got a fall in her first match and won by technical fall in the quarterfinals over East Peoria sophomore Bailey Lusch. After losing the close call to Gomez, Hiller got a fall in 1:40 in the wrestleback over Richwoods junior Kyley Bair and then won by fall in 5:31 over McDonnell to claim third place. Before this season, the Ramblers had one IHSA medalist, Michael Paloian, who took sixth in 2012 but with Massey Odiotti’s second at 120 in 3A and Hiller’s third, the Ramblers now have three medals and Cooper Wettig took third in last year’s IWCOA.

McDonnell (16-22) recorded a fall in her first match in 2:36 and needed one second less than that for a pin against Bair in the quarterfinals before getting pinned by Guarino in the semifinals. Then she won 3-1 over Lusch before being pinned by Hiller to finish fourth. In the fifth-place match, Lusch (19-19) won a 5-2 decision over Bair (22-3).

110 – Shea Reisel, Somonauk

Shea Reisel brought an impressive resume into the inaugural IHSA Girls Individual state final by being one of two 2019 IWCOA champions in the field and she won two titles against boys this season, becoming the first girl to win a title at the Plano Reaper Classic, where she earned OWA honors for the lower weights, and also took first at Seneca.

Ranked 19th nationally at 112 and an IWCOA champion at 101 in 2019, the Somonauk senior used two falls and two decisions to cap a 23-4 season with a 5-0 victory over Jacksonville senior Brooklyn Murphy in the 110 finals. After opening with a fall in 1:10 over Richwoods sophomore Baya Perez (11-7), she needed just 21 seconds to pin Hillcrest junior Cha’Anna Kassim before claiming a 4-2 victory over Lawrenceville senior Shaina Hyre in the semifinals to reach the title mat. 

After beating Murphy in a clash of former IWCOA champions, Reisel becomes the first wrestler from the Somonauk/LeLand co-op to win a state championship. She’s also the second finalist from that combined wrestling program and is just the third medalist in the sport and its first since 2006

“It is so exciting,” Reisel said. “I’m so grateful to have been able to compete and I’m grateful that Illinois put on the whole event and I’m thrilled with my results. I’ve never seen so many girls in Illinois that wrestled in one spot at one time. I didn’t think that I’d have a whole bracket, to be honest with you, but I think every single bracket was filled. 

“I’ve wrestled females before nationally, but I liked the event. I don’t have a huge school and therefore I don’t have a lot of wrestlers on my team but I have an amazing support system within my community. It actually is quite the same as a national tournament because I don’t have a team here, which is alright and it feels natural.”

Murphy (22-13), who won an IWCOA title at 106 last year, recorded a fall in 1:25 in her first match against Joliet Catholic Academy freshman Grace Laird (19-8) before pinning Huntley sophomore Taylor Casey (12-7) in 0:56. Murphy advanced to the title mat with a fall in 5:25 over Burlington Central freshman Victoria Macias in the semifinals. This is only the third time that a Crimsons wrestler has competed in an IHSA title match, with the last previous one being in 1971, when Jim Patterson placed second at 98.

Hyre (27-5) opened the tournament with two falls, recording the second of those in 3:53 over Evanston junior Ariana Flores (15-7) in the quarterfinals. After getting edged by Reisel in the semifinals, Hyre pinned Maine East senior Amy Villegas in 4:45 and then got a fall in 3:10 over Macias in the third-place match.

Macias (23-6) got a fall in her first match before claiming an 8-4 decision over Hoffman Estates senior Evelyn Simon in the quarterfinals. After getting pinned by Murphy, Macias won 5-3 over Berwyn-Cicero Morton senior Jennifer Villagomez before falling to Hyre to take fourth. In the fifth-place match, Villagomez (18-3) pinned Villegas (19-12) in 3:18. A year ago, Villagomez took sixth at 106 in the IWCOA. Villegas and Hannah Suboni-Kaufman (third at 120) are the first IHSA medal winners for Maine East since 2002 when Dave Martinez won the 103 title in AA.

115 – Maya Davis Glenwood

A family would obviously feel very pleased if only one of their children were able to be a state champion orcan compete with some of the best nationally during one school year, so it’s easy to see why Maya Davis is understandably proud that her family can claim three children that have achieved those impressive accomplishments during 2021-22.

Beside the Glenwood senior making history on Saturday as one of five unbeaten champions in the first IHSA Girls Individual State Finals with a 10-3 win over Lakes sophomore Olivia Heft in the 115 title match, the day before she became one of the first individuals who’s ever been involved in two IHSA finals at the same time when her Titans squad lost 41-34 to Antioch in the quarterfinals of the Class 2A Dual Team Finals, which were also in Bloomington. That all came one week after her sophomore brother Andrew capped a perfect 19-0 season to win the Class 2A Individual title at 106. The two are now the first state champions in the sport at the school in Chatham. And her brother Luke was a wrestler but is now a gymnast who has performed well in national events and even competed internationally in trampoline and tumbling.

Davis (9-0), an IWCOA champion at 120 in 2021 who is ranked seventh nationally at 117, opened her run toward becoming one of the first IHSA champions in her sport with first-period falls over Thornton Fractional South freshman Quincy Onyiaorah in her first match and then Hoffman Estates freshman Sophia Ball (17-8) in the quarterfinals before securing her spot on the title mat with a fall in 4:15 over Joliet West sophomore Eliana Paramo. She will be continuing her education and career at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, which is one of the top-ranked teams in the NAIA this season.

“It’s super exciting,” Davis said. “I’m so very excited for me and all of these girls, it’s been a wild ride. It’s incredible that all of these girls are starting to come into this. It’s the biggest growth that I’ve seen since I was little in the amount of girls that are wrestling now. To see all of the girls that I grew wrestling with to all be on top of the podium is great. I love wrestling with the guys since that’s how I grew up, so wrestling with the guys has a special place in my heart. 

“But I’m super excited for all of these new girls that are coming into it because of the fact that they get to wrestle girls. It’s going to do so much for our sport and it’s going to boom with all of these girls. I love the fact that I was able to be a pioneer for women’s wrestling in Illinois. I’ve been doing this for the past 11 years of my life. So the fact that I get to be a part of this very first one, it’s like all of my hard work and all of the hard work that the people behind the scenes have been doing has paid off. It’s incredible.”

Heft (14-1), who also was unbeaten when she stepped onto the title mat, advanced there with falls in her first two matches, winning her opener in 3:25 and then in 3:43 in the quarterfinals over Jacksonville freshman Alexis Seymour and then capturing a 4-1 semifinals victory over Yorkville sophomore Yami Aguirre to become one of eight unbeaten finalists and be part of one of the two clashes of unbeatens that took place at the historic competition. A year ago at the IWCOA, Heft placed fourth at 115. She is the second individual from her school to reach the state title mat, joining Matt Holmes, who won the 2A title at 135 in 2009.

Bowen junior Monica Griffin (22-4) claimed third place with a fall in 5:35 over Aguirre. Griffin lost her opening match to Richwoods freshman Isabella Motteler but bounced back to claim five-straight victories in the consolation bracket. After recording a pair of first-period pins, she won 9-4 over Seymour and then recorded another fall, this one in just 0:21 over Paramo to advance to the third-place match. A year ago, Griffin took fourth at 120 at the IWCOA.

Aguirre (29-4), who was an IWCOA champion in 2021, recorded falls in her first two matches, winning in 5:06 in the quarterfinals over Berwyn-Cicero Morton senior Neida Arreola (12-9). After falling to Heft in the semifinals, she beat Motteler 13-0 before placing fourth. In the five-place match, Paramo (8-3) won by fall in 5:06 over Motteler (16-5).

120 – Cadence Diduch, Freeport

During the season, Cadence Diduch got the opportunity to be around senior teammate Markel Baker, who capped a 27-0 season as the IHSA Class 2A champion at 126.

So it’s not that surprising that the Freeport sophomore who is ranked second nationally at 117 and was a 2021 IWCOA champion at 113 and a 2021 16-U champion at 117 in Fargo who won tournament titles at Rockford East, Polo and the NIC-10 this season against boys, would be among the first group of IHSA champions in the sport, which she secured with an 11-0 major decision over Edwardsville freshman Mackenzie Pratt, in a clash of nationally-ranked competitors in the 120 title match. 

Diduch (22-3) won by technical fall over Hoffman Estates freshman Gianna Rossi in her opener and then recorded a fall in 3:23 over Red Bud sophomore Avery Smith in the quarterfinals and earned her spot in the semifinals, where she got a pin in 1:09 over Maine East senior Hannah Suboni-Kaufman to advance her against unbeaten Pratt. Prior to this season, the Pretzels only had won two state titles, and had just one title winner in the last 25 years, Major Dedmond in 2019, and now their total of champions has doubled.

“It’s pretty nice because I can see all of the girls and it shows that I’m not the only girl in the sport,” Diduch said. “I was glad since my whole family got to come down here. Since COVID, they hadn’t been able to come down, so all of my friends came and even some of my soccer teammates came. It’s pretty exciting, too, since we’re the first state champs at our weights ever.”

Pratt (12-1), who was ranked 17th at 120, got a fall in 1:35 in her opener with Riverside-Brookfield sophomore Eleanor Aphay (17-9) and then got a pin in 1:33 over Lane Tech freshman Nyah Lovis (13-12) in the quarterfinals. Pratt collected her third fall in 0:32 over Round Lake freshman Ireland McCain in the semifinals to reach the title mat.

Suboni-Kaufman (26-3) bounced back from her defeat to Diduch to claim third place. After winning 10-4 in her first match, she recorded a fall in 1:37 over Normal Community junior Pyper Wood (15-7) in the quarterfinals. Following her semifinals loss, she won 8-3 over Berwyn-Cicero Morton junior Leilany De Leon before recording a fall in 2:32 over Smith to claim third place. Suboni-Kaufman, who was sixth in the IWCOA at 113 last year, and Amy Villegas (sixth at 110) are the first IHSA medal winners for Maine East since 2002 when Dave Martinez won the 103 title in AA.

Smith (20-15) made history by becoming the first individual representing Red Bud to place at state in wrestling. The school in Randolph County in southwestern Illinois co-ops with Valmeyer. She won her opener with a fall in 4:39 over Curie sophomore Vanessa Torres but then fell to Diduch. Smith bounced back with three-straight falls, including ones in 0:43 over Wood and in 0:38 over McCain and settled for fourth place. In the fifth-place match, McCain (18-8) recorded a fall in 1:28 over De Leon (13-5). This was a big year for Round Lake with Aidan McCain also taking fifth at 182 in 3A, they were the first medals for the school since 1996, when Amador Estrada took second at 103 in AA .

125 – Natasha Markoutsis, Yorkville

With just one defeat and being ranked highly in the nation, it looked like a pretty good bet that Natasha Markoutsis would wrap up her high school career as one of the first champions at the inaugural IHSA Girls Individual State Finals, and that’s exactly what happened in the 125 weight class.

The Yorkville senior, who’s ranked 11th nationally at 132, capped a 30-1 campaign by recording three first-period falls to reach the 125 finals and then Markoutsis added one final pin, this one in 2:47 over Collinsville freshman Taylor Dawson to become one of four seniors who were able to win an IHSA title in their lone opportunity. A year ago, she took second at 132 in the IWCOA finals.

Markoutsis opened her title run with a fall in 1:51 over Anna-Jonesboro junior Oregan Dover (9-4) and then she recorded a pin in 1:48 over Berwyn-Cicero Morton senior Ximena Juarez (13-5) in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, she needed just 0:35 to get a fall over Vandalia junior Lauren Dothager to advance her to the title mat.

“I’ve waited for this moment for my entire life,” Markoutsis said. “Everything was always IWCOA or offseason tournaments, but this is really where it matters most. Every time I would win an offseason tournament, it would be like, ‘oh, congrats, anyway.’ So it was nice being here today to actually represent Yorkville and what I’ve trained for and what we do in the room and it shows on the mat. I’m just really proud that I can display that to not just everyone here, but on Flo(Wrestling) or Trackwrestling.

“That was really cool (The Grand March). It was really awesome to see us march out and I’m sure that I’ll see the video. You really don’t know what it’s like being in that tunnel until you’re in there. It’s really nerve-racking since everyone is watching you and especially on that mat, too, since there’s only one match going. It means the world to me to be a part of this trailblazing opportunity for younger women. We actually have representation now on Track and for our school and it’s going to make girls want to wrestle and do their best instead of not wanting to wrestle. I’m ecstatic to see the girls in this sport, especially after today. I know that the numbers in the future are going to double or even triple.”

Dawson (19-23), advanced to the title mat with three-straight falls, winning in 2:19 over Glenbard East senior Dahlia Leighton in her first match and following that with a fall in 0:49 over Coal City senior Carly Ford (15-5) in the quarterfinals. Dawson got a pin in 4:30 in the semifinals over Sherrard sophomore Bri Bynum to earn her spot in the finals. This was only the second time that a Collinsville wrestler advanced to the state championship mat and it equals the school’s best showing at state, which happened in 2008 when Ryan Robinson took second at 189 in AA.

Leighton (20-3) claimed third place by winning 6-4 in sudden victory over Dothager. Following her first-round defeat, Leighton won five-straight in the wrestlebacks, following up on a pair of falls with a win by technical fall over Kaneland freshman Dyani Torres (21-15) and then pinning Bynum in 3:54 and before winning the third-place match.

Dothager (21-15), who took second at 126 at last year’s IWCOA finals, won her first two matches, with a 13-0 victory in the quarterfinals over Lincoln-Way Central junior Ashley Villa sending her to the semifinals, where she fell to Markoutsis. She advanced to the third-place match with a 3-2 win over Schaumburg senior Bethany Regione (28-4), who won by fall in 4:18 over Bynum for fifth place. A year ago at the IWCOA finals, Regione placed fourth at 132.

130 –  Alexis Janiak, Plainfield South

After competing against boys throughout her high school career, Alexis Janiak felt that the opportunity for girls to finally compete in their own state tournament that she and other trailblazers like her finally were able to do this season was long overdue, and she was quite happy to make that point known, both in her words and in her actions.

A 2019 IWCOA champion at 106 who’s ranked third nationally at 122 and finished first at 127 in Junior Women last summer in Fargo, the Plainfield South senior capped a 12-0 season with an 8-1 win over Westville senior Berlin Kiddoo in the 130 finals in a clash of nationally-ranked individuals. In the process, she joined four others as undefeated state champions in the first year of an IHSA tournament for the sport. 

After recording a fall in 2:56 over Andrew freshman Alyssa Keane (8-7) in her first match, Janiak claimed a win by technical fall in 4:50 over Schaumburg freshman Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic in the quarterfinals and then captuured another win by technical fall in 4:18 over Edwardsville senior Abby Rhodes. With her title win, she becomes the first Cougars wrestler to capture an IHSA title in the sport. It’s been a good two weeks for the Janiak family since Alexis’ sophomore brother Matthew took sixth at 170 in Class 3A.

“This was really important for me because I started wrestling in second grade and there were very few girls,” Janiak said. “It was crazy to see another girl at a tournament so you’d become friends with them immediately because you understood each others’ situations. Now that it’s an IHSA-sanctioned sport, that’s huge and to see much it’s grown in the past 11 years since I’ve been in it. It really shows that if you give girls the opportunity to wrestle, they will come out and they will do it. A lot of them don’t know that they have the opportunity, they just assume that it’s only for guys. So when they see another girl competing, it’s like, ‘I didn’t even know that I could do that, let me try that. The struggles that I went through, I would never wish it upon anyone else. So the fact that they don’t have to go through it and I went through it for them is really important to me. 

“Oftentimes when I was younger, you’d find that girls wouldn’t get the attention in the practice room. Boys wouldn’t want to practice with them or wouldn’t want to compete against them. So now with girls wrestling growing, they don’t have to deal with that any more, because they have other girls that want to see it grow, just like them. I thought it was a great step in the right direction. I hope in the future that girls will get to compete in Champaign, just like the guys, but we’ll just have to grow and get better, step by step. It was treated just like the guys’ tournament, I just want to see it in a bigger spotlight because the environment and energy at Champaign is unbeatable. But I’m glad that this was here for us this year, especially considering COVID, I wasn’t sure that we’d have it.”

Kiddoo (20-6), who was ranked 19th nationally, recorded a fall in 1:15 over Fenton freshman Yannel Perez (12-8) in her first match and then won with a pin in 3:11 over Glenbard West junior Khatija Ahmed (20-7) in the quarterfinals. She earned her spot on the title mat after capturing an 8-2 semifinals victory over Grant senior Crystal Villegas.

Rhodes (19-9) bounced back from her semifinals loss to Janiak by capturing a 10-7 decision over Bolingbrook sophomore Katie Ramirez-Quinter to advance to the third-place match, which she won when she recorded a fall in 1:11 over Villegas.

Villegas (18-2), who was unbeaten entering the competition, won 12-2 over Olympia sophomore Jordan Bicknell in her first match and then claimed a 7-2 decision over Ramirez-Quinter in the quarterfinals. Following her loss to Kiddoo, Villegas captured a 7-6 win over Berwyn-Cicero Morton senior Karla Topete and then took fourth. A year ago, Villegas placed third at 126 in IWCOA finals. In the fifth-place match, Topete (18-3) won 6-3 over Ramirez-Quinter (13-5).

135 – Attalia Watson-Castro, Homewood-Flossmoor

Attalia Watson-Castro is pleased about the fact that during an historic season for wrestling at her school that she can say that she finished better at state than anyone else has, and that’s not just for this year, but it’s for all-time.

The Homewood-Flossmoor junior capped a 17-1 season by taking first at 135 with a 4-0 win over Boylan Catholic sophomore Netavia Wickson in the first IHSA Girls Individual State Finals. She won her first two matches by technical fall and captured two close decisions to become the school’s first champion in wrestling for a program that’s been  competing for over 60 years. The Vikings had four individuals in the boys tournament who placed third or better, doubling their previous-best of two from nearly 50 years ago.

Watson-Castro, who’s ranked 24th in the nation at 144 and took fourth at 138 in U-16 at Fargo last year, was one of eight Vikings qualifiers and was joined by two teammates as medal winners, Jocelyn Williams (fourth at 235) and Ini Odumosu (fifth at 190), after winning by technical fall over Pekin junior Jaylah Dalton and doing the same against Conant junior Samantha Anderson in the quarterfinals. She became the fifth Viking to compete on the title mat when she won 6-4 over Goreville sophomore Alivia Ming in the semifinals, which was one week after Vincent Robinson placed second at 126 in Class 3A and three of his teammates finished third.

“This actually means a lot,” Watson-Castro said. “Especially since the boys were first and they were setting where I was going to be for state. I feel like they set the tone for how I was going to wrestle down here. Since Vincent and JJ fell short, and they were the two that I looked up to and I watched them wrestle and certain things they did I practiced that in the wrestling room. With them falling short, it was like, now it’s money time, I can’t fall short, either. We have an Illinois thing that says first, second and third in the wrestling room. So I told them that when my name is on first, they can’t say anything to me since it’s my wrestling room.

“This was the start of history in the making for us, the start of something great. Starting with the boys and then the girls. I didn’t expect to have as many girls as we had this year. This is a big deal since the IWCOA was off season, so it’s good to be recognized in an organized sport. A lot of the girls that were out there that placed first, what we had to go through with the nail and the hammer to get to where we are now.”

Wickson (14-12), who finished second at 120 in the IWCOA last year, used two falls and a decision to reach the title mat. After recording a fall over Lakes sophomore Ava Babbs in her first match, she won 5-2 over Unity junior Ava Vasey in the quarterfinals. Wickson earned a spot in the finals, something done by only two other athletes at her school in IHSA wrestling, when she recorded a fall in 5:20 over Niles West junior Al Ghala Mariam Al Radi in the semifinals.

Al Radi (18-2), who took fourth at 138 in the IWCOA last year, finished third with a fall in 2:31 over Ming. She recorded two falls, with the latter coming in 4:41 over Kankakee junior Alejandra Cornejo in the quarterfinals, after falling to Wickson in the semifinals, she earned her spot on the third-place mat with a win by technical fall over Anderson. This was the first medal won by a Niles West wrestler at state since 2013 and their best finish at state since 2008, when Stephen Robertson placed second at 112 in AA.

Ming (20-22) also made history for Goreville by becoming her school’s first medal winner. It was an exciting weekend for the 171-student school in Johnson County in southern Illinois as the Blackcats also sent two other individuals to state, Molly and Mikah Merrill. Ming recorded falls in her first two matches, getting a pin in 2:38 over Joliet Central senior Stephany Serna (12-5) in the quarterfinals before falling to Watson-Castro. Ming advanced to the third-place match with an 8-4 win over Wauconda senior Keira Dafnis. In the fifth-place match, Dafnis (27-9), who was second at 138 at the 2021 IWCOA finals, won 9-0 over Anderson (14-6), who was sixth at 126 in last year’s IWCOA meet.

140 – Antonia Phillips, Alton

You know that you’ve done something that’s very special when your hometown has a ceremony in your honor where they designate that it’s your day and they also will put up signs that proudly announce your accomplishments and that’s just what happened for Antonia Phillips on Friday, a few days after she won the IHSA title at 140 pounds.

The Alton junior made school history on an historic day when she became the first Redbirds wrestler to win an IHSA state championship and now is one of just four finalists for the school, including one of only two individuals who have reached the title mat during the last 80 years. She wrapped up her memorable tournament by capturing a 6-2 victory over El Paso-Gridley freshman Savannah Hamilton in the 140 title match at the first-ever IHSA Girls Individual State Finals in Bloomington.

Phillips (20-3) advanced to the title mat after recording a fall in 1:40 over McHenry sophomore Emma Garrett in the semifinals, the first time that an Alton wrestler reached the finals since Taylor McGiffen placed second 10 years ago. She won her quarterfinals match by fall in 1:53 over Lane Tech senior Noemi Marchan after opening with a win by technical fall over Wauconda sophomore Hazel Hartwig (16-14). The last of the 14 individuals to claim titles on the historic day has been deaf for most of her life and clearly is an inspirational figure in her hometown.

“It’s really amazing, I don’t really have any other words to say,” Phillips said through her interpreter. “I won the state tournament, it’s amazing and I’m really happy. It was more of a challenge than I really expected and I’m hoping that more girls will join for next year. A lot of girls aren’t usually in tournaments like this, so it’s really great to see this. I like to focus on the mat, I focus on me and the opponent and I’m able to block out the rest of everything else. I’ll remember this forever.”

Hamilton (5-2) used two falls and a two-point decision to become one of five freshmen to advance to the championship mat. After recording a first-period fall in her initial match, Hamilton won 4-2 over Zion-Benton junior Rachel Williams-Henry in the quarterfinals and then got a pin in 1:53 over Ottawa senior Sara Meyer in the semifinals.

Meyer (15-4) claimed third place with a fall in 2:37 over William-Henry. After getting a pin in her first match, Meyer claimed a 13-8 quarterfinals win over Trico senior Maggie Ramaker and then got pinned by Hamilton in the semifinals. She secured her trip to the third-place match after winning 11-3 over Marchan. Williams-Henry (15-3), had a fall in 0:28 in her opening match before she was edged by Hamilton 4-2 in the quarterfinals. She recorded pins in three-consecutive matches in the wrestlebacks, winning in 1:25 over Garrett to advance to the third-place match. And Marchan (24-7) claimed fifth place with an 8-4 victory over Garrett (14-8). This was the best showing in IHSA competition for a Lane Tech wrestler since 2012 when Max Schneider won his second 3A title at 152. Last year at the IWCOA, Natalie Cortes was first at 101.

FROM THE IWCOA: If you are enjoying these articles, please consider a small donation to the IWCOA so that we can continue funding feature stories for our website and social media. The IWCOA is non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. Click this link to make a donation. Thank you!

By Mike Garofola

For the IWCOA

BLOOMINGTON – The IHSA Class 3A Dual Team State Finals usually carries that special magic with it, and this season was no different.

Fans were treated to a mouth-watering 2022 state final when after two-plus hours of action, Mount Carmel became the new Class 3A king when it was crowned as state champions following its 32-27 victory over DeKalb at Grossinger Motors Arena.

Mount Carmel’s heavy medal wrestling had been a delight to watch for Caravan fans amidst a very challenging race for the title.

The Caravan went through a demanding three-week schedule in December, making trips to the Dan Gable Donnybrook, The Ironman and the Dvorak before New Years.

A program that won its fourth state championship and first since 1994 pulled off a stirring comeback in its final before a raucous crowd in Bloomington Saturday night, when it chased the Barbs through 285 pounds before Seth Mendoza put his club in front when he followed teammate Ryan Boersma’s pin to give the Caravan a 23-18 advantage.

“We all pulled together in these final few weeks of the season to get to Bloomington, then advance into the final, it is what this season was all about,” said Boersma, who contributed three pins over the two days to finish his brilliant senior year at 44-2.

Damian Recendez’ 9-7 decision over Rory Burright at 113 increased the Caravan lead to 26-18 but the Barbs used three-straight decisions to claim a 27-26 advantage. Danny Aranda edged Jairo Acuna 3-2 at 120, Ethan Schultz was a 4-1 winner over Caleb Drousias at 126 and Danny Curran captured an 11-5 win over Eddie Enright at 132.

However, waiting in the wings was nationally-ranked and recent state champion Sergio Lemley, who registered the match-winning pin at 3:41 over Austin Martinat 138  to help the Caravan take home the big trophy in dramatic fashion in the final bout of the evening.

“We can all dream of having the state championship decided by you in a situation like this, and it is one that I wanted to have happen to me, and I was thrilled to be the guy who won the state title for my team,” Lemley said.

The Caravan (19-4) last lifted the championship trophy in 1994 when there were two classes, their third-straight title under IWCOA Hall of Fame coach Bill Weick.

Weick’s club defeated Waubonsie Valley 44-16 for the second straight year, and coincidentally, DeKalb, in its tournament opener.

The 1994 championship team was led by the fabulous quintet of state champion Tony Davis and placewinners Milton Blakely, Ron and Ryan Stonitsch and of course, the remarkable TJ Williams, who would go on to win four state titles with just one loss, before becoming an All-American at Iowa, where he was a two-time NCAA champ, and three-time Big-10 champion with a career record of 98-1. Williams was also in Bloomington, leading his Tremont team to a second-place finish to Yorkville Christian in Class 1A.

This season, Mount Carmel smashed the competition at the Chicago Catholic League Tournament, outscoring runner-up Marmion Academy 327.5-295.5 and Brother Rice, which was third with 198.0 points

Eventual state champions Mendoza, Lemley and Boersma were three of the seven who earned championship rings, just a few days in advance of back-to-back defeats to-then, No. 5, Marist, 30-29, and the No. 1 team in Indiana, Crown Point, 31-29.

After a sensational state tournament that saw four win individual state titles from Mendoza, Lemley, Colin Kelly and Boersma, the Caravan overwhelmed the competition at their own regional, while advancing 13 into sectionals.

The Marist Dual Team Sectional was top-loaded with the Caravan beating league rival Marmion Academy 42-27 and Marist advanced with a win over Downers Grove South.

To each and every senior on the DeKalb roster, this was the season all had been pointing to, and why not.

The fantastic foursome of Danny and Tommy Curran, Damien Lopez and Bradley Gillum were now in the Barbs’ room, and together with a handful of others who served their apprenticeship behind upperclassmen, this was a team built for success.

“We all were talking about our senior year at DeKalb even before we came in as freshmen and we knew if we continued to work hard during the season, and offseason, we could be something special,” Gillum said one week before the state tournament at the Conant Sectional.

One week earlier, the Barbs squashed the competition at their own regional, claiming individual titles from Tommy Curran, Lopez and Gillum, as well as seniors Lukes Schmerbach, Bryson Buhk and Gavin Engh, all key figures in the Barbs’ rise to prominence since 2019.

“This was a terrific group that went through our room during the past four years, they worked hard, and the focus was always getting downstate to have a chance at winning our first dual team title in our history,” Barbs head coach Sam Hiatt said.

The Barbs marched past Conant 63-12 at the South Elgin Dual Team Sectional and headed to Bloomington as the number one 3A team in the IWCOA rankings, with their own Flavin Invite and DuPage Valley Conference titles claimed, plus a third-place finish at the Dvorak, and a spotless 21-0 overall record.

The aforementioned group of seniors, Danny Curran (33-6), Tommy Curran (37-1), Lopez (34-5), Schmerbach (34-4), Gillum (31-3), Buhk (29-10), Engh (28-10) and Rory Burright (19-11) amassed 21 state qualifying spots, 13 state medals and 22 major titles this season, plus so much more.

“We were like family, we all worked hard for each other and would support each other as well. It was something I know all of us will remember for a long time,” said Danny Curran, who along with his brother will wrestle next fall at North Carolina State.

With that said, here is a closer look at the two days of competition in Bloomington:

Championship

Mount Carmel 32, DeKalb 27

Both Mount Carmel and DeKalb did not let down a passionate audience on this evening, showing their faithful just why they were the last two teams standing in Class 3A inside Grossinger Motors Arena and the dual went down to the wire with the Caravan winning 32-27 to capture their first state title since 1994.

The Barbs enjoyed the perfect start to get them up and running when Tommy Curran started things off with a pin at 5:09 after he pushed his lead to 9-2, followed by a superb effort by Damien Lopez, who recorded a 23-8 tech fall at 4:20.

State champion Colin Kelly took a bite out of the Barbs’ 11-0 advantage when he recorded a tech fall at 4:56, with Caleb Wall doing his best to stay away from conceding a pin to the Caravan senior.

Bradley Gillum, state runner-up at 182, dropped down to 170 and with a last-gasp move, registered an 11-3 major decision to pick up valuable points to increase the Barbs’ lead to 15-5.

A wild scramble just before time saw Michael Kelly pull out a key 3-1 sudden victory decision over Lukes Schmerbach and bring this comment from senior Ryan Boersma.

“We had to stay close in the early going and to have a guy like Michael Kelly step up to get us an important win when we really needed it was huge,” said Boersma, who one week earlier won his second state title in a row.

Bryson Buhk used a first-period takedown and then another just before the second period came to an end, to help him claim a 6-3 decision over Rylan Breen to extend the Barbs’ advantage to 10 points at 18-8.

The Caravan responded in style with four consecutive victories, beginning with Elliott Lewis’ 7-2 triumph over Gavin Engh at 220, a fall from Boersma at 0:48, another pin from state champion Seth Mendoza in 1:05 and Damian Recendez’ 9-7 thriller over Rory Burright at 113.

Burright drew close at 9-6 with a takedown in front of his bench with 90 seconds remaining, but was unable to solve Recendez, whose hard-fought victory gave the Caravan a 26-18 lead.

“The guys did what they had to when they needed to all night long, and especially when we were able to take the lead with those four straight wins,” Caravan coach Alex Tsirtsis said.

Danny Aranda’s late escape gave the Barbs a much-needed boost at 120 with a 3-2 decision over Jairo Acuna, and when his teammate, Ethan Schultz scored a takedown with 30 seconds remaining, his 4-1 win over Caleb Drousias insured an exciting finish.

“That win from Ethan was big for us, he really stepped up when we needed him to do so, because it got us back in the match,” Barbs coach Sam Hiatt said.

With the Caravan now in front by just two at 26-24, it was clear a pin was what the Barbs would need to keep the pressure on, but despite doing all that he could to earn the much needed six points, Danny Curran could not pry open the feisty, hard-nosed Eddie Enright.

The 11-5 decision at 132 gave the Barbs a 27-26 lead but when the nationally-ranked state champion Lemley stepped onto the mats, the Caravan faithful rose out of their seats in anticipation of success.

The junior did not let them down and when he registered the match-winning, state championship performance with a pin at 3:41 over Austin Martin, it sent the Caravan bench into orbit, as well as their fans.

“We’ve all been pointing towards this weekend all season long, so to get into the match, and come away with a state title is something all of us will have forever,” Boersma said.

“It was just a great dual between two great teams, both teams showed a lot of heart and fight to give the crowd the absolute best match of the weekend,” added Tsirtsis.

“I am obviously very proud of this team, and their accomplishments all throughout a long, tough season, and I congratulate DeKalb for their great season as well.”

On the other side of the stadium, Sam Hiatt and his fine coaching staff consoled a team that came so close to realizing a dream they all have had since entering the Barbs’ room.

“There’s a lot of shock, disappointment, and tears all around this team right now, and although it’s very tough for these guys right now, later they will realize what they have done this season, and in their career as well,” Hiatt said.

“This was an incredible field down here, there were 21 state qualifiers, 14 place winners, and seven state champions just in our state final, it was an all-star game between two great teams, and it took a really great team to give us our first loss in the season. 

“I am very proud of everyone on this roster, and I know I won’t forget this season for a long time.”

Third place

Lockport 46, Prospect 19

The Porters never looked back during its 46-19 victory to claim its fourth state trophy, and first since 2017, when they came home with its first championship trophy in program history. This was the sixth time in the last seven seasons that the tournament was held that coach Josh Oster’s Lockport program competed in the event.

After Damien Puma staked the Knights to a 6-0 lead with his pin at 145 pounds, the Porters ran off 34 unanswered points, which included a third win on the weekend by 220-pound state champion Andrew Blackburn-Forst (38-5) who is off to Northern Colorado University in the fall where he will play football and wrestle.

“We would compete in a very difficult schedule all season long, lost a few here and there, but that schedule really prepared all of us for this final weekend of the season so we were ready to battle our way through to get a trophy, which is something we all came here for,” said Blackburn-Forst, who leaves with a pair of state titles to his name, and three state medals overall.

Logan Swaw got a fall for the Porters’ first win at 152 before Paul Kadlec won 9-4 over Connor Munn, Paul Rasp captured a major decision, Brayden Thompson won by fall in 1:02 at 182, Aidan Nolting beat Jacob Grzesiak 7-3, Blackburn-Forst won by default in 0:43 and Cody Silzer completed the run with a fall in 0:32.

Lockport later got three-straight wins from Nore Turner, David Vukobratovich and Jad Alwawi while Prospect also got victories from Joel Muehlenbeck, state 132 runner-up Will Baysingar and Lennon Steinkuhler to cap the program’s fourth state appearance since 2015 with its first trophy.

“To just get here took a helluva effort from the guys, they showed a lot of heart, spirit, and fight to get through a tough season long schedule, so this third place trophy is something all of them should be proud of, and to take with them for the rest of their lives,” Oster said.

Despite its defeat at the hands of Lockport, there still were plenty of happy faces all around the Prospect Knights, who huddled up one last time to hear what Dan Keller, and assistant, John Joseph had to say just before accepting their fourth-place trophy.

“We won the Mudge-McMorrow back in November, and obviously a regional, but despite that, if you had told me we qualify, and come home with our first trophy, I would have been surprised,” Keller said.

“But we had a roster of guys who were strong willed, and wanted to put the work in, and the 40 guys we had in the room were all on the same page, and we found had so many of them contribute in so many ways, which makes this state trophy really something special.”

“This team overcame adversity, and really pulled together for each (that) was something that impressed me so much with these guys, and to see so many guys on the roster contribute when we really needed to come through was very satisfying, and with a solid nucleus coming back, our hope is we back down here again next season,” added Joseph.

Semifinals

DeKalb 34, Lockport 30

Mount Carmel 48, Prospect 21

Both DeKalb and Mt. Carmel left little doubt as to who would belong in the state final as each club marched through their semifinal rivals to record impressive victories to book their place in the championship match.

The Barbs’ four-point win was a bit misleading in that they took a 12-0 lead after Austin Martin won 8-5 over Carlos Munoz-Flores at 138, Tommy Curran recorded a fall in 0:55 and Damien Lopez was a 5-1 winner over Logan Swaw at 152.

The teams exchanged wins in the next half dozen matches as Paul Kadlec got the Porters’ first win with a 9-4 decision over Caleb Wall at 160, Schmerbach countered with a fall in 3:49 and Thompson edged Gillum 3-1 in sudden victory in a clash of state finalists at different weights.

After Buhk beat Aidan Nolting 8-0 at 195 and state champion Andrew Blackburn-Forst answered with a fall in 0:47, Lockport closed to within 22-12 but the Barbs claimed wins in the next three matches to end the drama.

Engh beat Cody Silzer 7-2 at 285, Kaden Klapprodt followed with a fall in 3:48 and Burright made it 34-12 with a 4-2 victory over Nore Turner. David Vukobratovich, Jad Alwawi and Logan Kaminski received forfeit wins to end the dual.

In the other semifinals meet, Prospect got falls from Damien Puma and Connor Munn to take a 12-4 lead over Mount Carmel after 152, but Colin Kelly got a fall, Michael Kelly and Rylan Breen followed with major decisions and Lewis added a fall to put the Caravan up 24-12. 

The final bout of this contest would see 132-pound state runner-up Will Baysingar defeat 126-pound state champion, Sergio Lemley, 5-2.

Quarterfinals

Lockport 34, Marist 33

In the marquee quarterfinal on the first day, two of the giants in the state met with No. 5 Lockport taking the lead for good on consecutive pins from state champion Brayden Thompson at 170 and Paul Rasp at 182 to help inspire its 34-33 victory over Marist, which finished with a 24-3 record and made its first state appearance since 2014.

“If we wrestle 10 times, we likely each win five, it was a match between two very good teams, and fortunately for us, we were able to come away with a win. It’s too bad a team like Marist had to go home early,” Lockport head coach Josh Oster said.

The lead would change three times before Thompson helped the Porters take a 15-13 advantage, which eventually rose to 31-24 after a Liam Zimmerman major decision at 106.

Nore Turner’s thrilling 7-6 win in overtime over Michael Esteban, was canceled out by a Will Denny decision that brought the score to 34-27, making the 126-pound finale inconsequential.

Other winners for the Porters were Carlos Munoz-Flores, Logan Swaw and Andrew Blackburn-Forst while coach Brendan Heffernan’s RedHawks also received wins from Owen Dunlap, Ricky Ericksen, Tommy Boland, Peter Marinopoulos, Ghee Rachal and Jesse Herrera.

“Once we saw the draw, and a quarterfinal with Marist, we knew what we had to do in order to stay alive for a state medal, and the guys went out and did their jobs to get a very important win for themselves, and the program,” Oster said.

DeKalb 53, Glenbard West 18

Although the stay was short for Glenbard West, the trip down to Bloomington was well worth the drive for Nick Posegay’s club.

The Hilltoppers were sent packing by No. 1 DeKalb, 53-18, yet despite the defeat, Posegay could not have been more proud of his men when interviewed afterwards.

“It’s been quite a season for this program, and it’s been an unbelievable final year for me,” said Posegay, who will retire when the school year comes to an end.

The Hilltoppers went 25-6 overall, the second-highest win total during Posegay’s 16 years as head coach, bested only by the 29-3 record in 2016.

“We had an unbelievable group of guys in our room, who gave me a great going away present, which I am very thankful for,” added Posegay.

DeKalb got falls from Martin, Tommy Curran, Gillum, Engh, Klapprodt and Burright while Lopez and Schultz won by technical fall, Schmerbach won a major decision and Hudson Ikens got a decision. Glenbard West got falls from Philip Dozier and Morley Coval and decisions from Jacob Lachs and Brennan Skoda. 

The Hilltoppers defeated perennial state power Glenbard North to capture the Wheaton North Regional, using their strength in the middle of the lineup to outscore the Panthers by 33 points, and had seven regional champions, to advance into the South Elgin dual-team sectional, where they rolled over Maine South to earn its first-ever dual team state appearance.

In between: Jacob Lachs, Brennan Skoda, Max Konopka, Phillip Dozier, and Morley Coval all qualified to compete in Champaign, bringing over 170 victories combined with them.

Mount Carmel 46, Libertyville 27

When No. 12 Libertyville drew into the eventual state champions from Mount Carmel, head coach Dale Eggert knew it would take a herculean effort to spring a major upset over the Wildcats’ quarterfinals opponent.

While the North Suburban Conference and regional champion Wildcats were unable to work enough magic to surprise the Caravan, they did, however, bring a smile to the face of one of the best in the coaching business following its 19-point defeat.

Mount Carmel got falls from Enright, Lemley, Colin Kelly, Lewis, Boersma and Mendoza while Carlos Perez and Resendez won by technical fall. Libertyville received falls from Anthony McClendon, Josh Knudten and Caelan Riley while Austin Gomez, Cole Matulenko and Luke Berktold won decisions.

“That was a great team we wrestling today, and one that could end up being the state champion, but we won six matches, and fought hard against a team with four state champions and seven overall state medal winners in their lineup, so I am very proud of the guys, and the effort they gave,” said Eggert, who, just finished his 35th season in charge, now has 630 career victories, 121 state qualifiers and 37 all-staters. This was his seventh team that he’s taken to state and the first since 2014.

“You never know how your season is going to unfold, but after an early season win over Stevenson, I then felt like we could compete, and be a very good team before the season would end.”

The Wildcats will lose six seniors, two of which will be near-impossible to replace in Caelan Riley (42-5), who was third at state at 120, and 182-pound state champion, Josh Knudten, who went 41-3 overall.

“Just two great leaders, and even better young men, who worked so hard, and conducted themselves like true gentlemen,” Eggert said.

Riley will wrestle next fall at The Citadel while Knudten will be at the University of Michigan.

“We’re losing a lot of quality seniors, so we’ll lean on a very good group of sophomores, who did well at their level, but were unable to break through on the varsity level because of who were in front of them (now) it will be their turn,” said Eggert.

Prospect 35, Moline 30

After it weathered an early storm against the Moline dynamic duo of state champion Kole Brower (48-1) and his teammate, Noah Tapia (49-3), Prospect slowly pulled away from the Maroons (16-5-0) enroute to a 35-30 victory to insure the first-ever state trophy in program history.

“We came down here with the intent of going home with our first trophy and now that we’ve accomplished that, we’re going to do our best to finish as strong as we can,” said Knights head coach, Dan Keller.

“This is a team that believes in itself, and each other, and a team that has come to count on guys who, when given the chance, have come through to win some big matches at regionals, dual team sectionals, and today to help us advance,” continued Keller, who went on to praise Alex Bootz and Jacob Grzesiak (31-12) for their effort in this match.

“(Will) Baysingar always comes up big for us, while Joel Muehlenbeck (106, 43-12) and Connor Munn (160, 33-14) have been big-time contributors as underclassmen, but against Moline, Bootz got us a big win after pins from Brower and Tapia, and later, Grzesiak’s major at 220 put us in front 26-18.”

Prospect received falls from Will Baysingar, Nate Lopez and Joel Muehlenbeck, a major decision from Connor Munn and decisions from Alex Bootz, Conor Mitchell and Elijah Garza. Moline got pins from Kole Brower, Noah Tapia and Carmelo Cruz while Alec Schmacht won a major decision and Trystan Duyvejonck won a decision.

Despite its early exit from the tournament, Jacob Ruettigers’ men from Moline enjoyed a wonderful season, led of course by Brower and Tapia, plus senior Alec Schmacht (35-11) and sophomore, James Soliz (38-15) who along with Tapia return to be the core of the club next year.

“It was definitely a fun year to say the least while we did not wrestle he same lineup once this year which was kind of crazy, we still were able to find a way to get back to the dual team state tournament for the first time in 22 years,” Ruettiger said.

“We had four kids on the team whose parents were part of past Moline teams, which was also a fun thing to see.

“To be able to watch the success of both Brower and Tapia was special, but we all really enjoyed watching the team get to Bloomington last Tuesday night at sectionals.”

The Maroons stunned Edwardsville by scoring the last 10 points to overcome a 27-19 deficit to win 29-27 when Carmelo Cruz, Schmadt, and Bradley Ledbetter provided the late heroics.

“We have a good thing going out here in Moline, and with a great coaching staff, and some great kids, all of us were happy to be a part of it all,” said Ruettiger.

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

BLOOMINGTON – One of the best stories in Illinois high school sports occurs when a team doesn’t get much respect both in the early going and then throughout much of its season yet the individuals on that squad and their coaches firmly believe that they have what it takes to win an IHSA championship.

While Class 3A title winner Mount Carmel and Class 2A Joliet Catholic Academy took the usual route of being one of the early favorites to capture IHSA Dual Team titles in their classes, Yorkville Christian was lightly regarded in Class 1A prior to winning the Plano Reaper Classic title and was still struggling to get into the top 10 late in the season.

But coach Mike Vester and his Mustangs knew that with their talented lineup, in addition to a lot of hard work and having a challenging schedule in which they went up against a lot of bigger programs, that it would likely all pay off, and that’s precisely what happened as their average score in three dual meets at the the IHSA Class 1A Dual Team finals was 54-22 and the fourth-year program captured its first championship in the sport with a 48-24 victory over Tremont at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington on Saturday.

Posting 3-0 records for the Mustangs were freshman Aiden Larsen (106), senior Isaac Bourge (120), sophomore Grason Johnson (126), junior Noah Dial (132), senior Braulio Flores (138), junior Drew Torza (152), junior Tyler Martinez (160) and senior Michael Esquivel (285) while juniors Jeremy Loomis (145) and Jackson Gillen (170) both went 2-1 and juniors Jackson Mehochko (182) and Christopher Durbin (195) also added wins. The squad won 30 of 39 matches, collecting eight pins in both the quarterfinals and the  semifinals and had 19 pins overall, with its losses coming against five medalists, three other state qualifiers and an individual who was ranked throughout the season.

Gillen (49-6 at 170) was the program’s first state champion while Bourge (34-11 at 120), the first four-year competitor for the Mustangs, was a runner-up at state. Martinez (45-11 at 160) and Esquivel (40-14 at 285) both took third place while Larsen (46-8 at 106) finished fifth to give the team five medalists. Dial (41-10 at 132) and Torza (41-16 at 152) both fell one win shy of placing at state while Flores (35-22 at 138) and Johnson (20-20 at 126) were other state qualifiers.

Yorkville Christian only had four individuals on its squad when it started competing in 2018-19. Since the first IHSA tournament won by Proviso in 1937, only two other programs are known to have become state champions in less time, with Aurora Christian winning the 1A title in 2018 in its second season and Hersey taking first in 1971 in its third season. The Mustangs also became the third program to win a state title in the same year that they also had their first medal winners, joining Proviso and Hersey in that exclusive club.

Since it’s obviously difficult to pin down the first season of competition for all of the 54 schools that have won state titles in the sport, a good base point is the year that they had their first medalist. Using that criteria, the average time that it’s taken a program to capture its initial team state championship after getting their first medal winner is 17.7 years. Since the dual team tournament was introduced in 1984 to determine the team champions, the average length of time between a first medalist and initial state title is 26.3 years.

Yorkville Christian finished its historic season with a 23-6 record. Its defeats came against Class 2A champion Joliet Catholic Academy, 2A runner-up Deerfield, 3A third-place finisher Lockport, 3A quarterfinalist Marist and 2A power Washington, who lost to JCA by a point in the sectional and one of its biggest wins came against Rock Island, which was a 2A quarterfinalist. In addition, the Mustangs,who were second-ranked behind Lena-Winslow/Stockton, competed in tournaments at Antioch, DeKalb, Mahomet-Seymour and Wisconsin’s Cheesehead and that prepared them well for the Seneca Regional, where they took first in a field featuring third-ranked Coal City and tenth-ranked Reed-Custer.

The Mustangs only competed against 10 Class 1A teams in dual meets, with four of those happening during the last week in the IHSA state series. They won 56-21 over Phoenix Military Academy at the St. Laurence Regional to advance to state for the first time and then 63-12 over Ridgeview/Lexington in Friday’s quarterfinals and 51-30 against Unity in the semifinals to earn their spot in the title meet against Tremont, who won its first trophy in its third state trip in the last three years which the event has been held.

“The kids were amped up and were beyond ready, but they weren’t overconfident at all,” Vester said. “In the long break between matches, they wanted to get back to the mats. We played it smart, we fed them, got them hydrated and they went back and took a nap. We got them up and got them warmed up again and then brought them here and they put on a show, they wrestled their butts off.

“One of the things was finishing matches. In some matches where we wrestled stiffer competition, if you let off the gas pedal for one minute, you can give up an escape at the end of the match, so if you get a chance to pin somebody, you’ve got to pin them. The coaching staff and the kids are aware of where we’re really strong and we’re young. Sometimes it’s just keeping matches close and if you give up six, then they know that the next guy in line has got to pick them up.

“I’m connected with the wrestling community and have been for 20 years so I think that there’s kids that are out there that if they want to get an education and if wrestling if their thing, then this is a good place to go to school. It’s not for everybody because we don’t have a football team. And being a teacher there, I have the perspective of what it’s like to teach. I love it there and I think that’s what gets the kids pumped up about going to school and they’re excited about going to school.”

In the title meet, Yorkville Christian got off to a great start as Loomis won by fall in 2:09 over Logan Poisal at 145 and Torza followed with a pin in 1:20 at 152 over Levi Leitner before Martinez recorded a 7-2 victory over Logan Stedman at 160 to give his team an early 15-0 advantage. 

“We knew all along from the beginning of the season that we had a great chance of becoming the number-one team in the state,” Martinez said. “So we just went out and pushed ourselves every single week  and were wrestling the best competition and it really paid off. We wrestled a lot of the teams that were in the state finals in 2A and 3A.

“We knew that if we started off strong and got the momentum going that we’d be able to hold them off for the rest of the dual. We knew that they had a couple of hammers in there but we knew that if we came out and wrestled hard that it would end up well. This is amazing. Just knowing that all of the hard work has paid off and we came in number one in the state, there’s really nothing else that you can ask for.” 

Esquivel and Martinez were both quoted following their team’s championship at the Plano Reaper Classic that they believed that the Mustangs could be state champions. Having been members of state-placing teams at Aurora Christian along with Dial and had success in offseason events, the pair had a good idea of what made a championship team.

“I knew right away from top to bottom that this team is a bunch of hammers, from 106 to myself,” Esquivel said. “So it’s great to go out my senior year as a team state champion. I’ve been here before and suffered from the losses at 1A to Lena-Winslow in my freshman year and to Lemont in the semifinals my sophomore year. So finally, I said to myself, that the third time’s the charm and I knew right away that these guys believed it. I want to thank the coaches for everything they’ve done. From eighth grade stepping in with Team 1006, so I want to thank them. I want to thank Yorkville Christian for welcoming me in right away as family. And I want to thank everyone who’s been there along the way.”

Tremont (28-4), which was seventh in the final IWCOA rankings, won the next four matches to claim its only lead in the dual meet at 18-15. Lucas Wendling, who was fourth at state, captured a 6-4 victory over state champion Gillen at 170 and TJ Connor followed with 3-2 triumph over Durbin at 182. Cooper Wendling, who finished fourth at 195, recorded a fall in 0:42 over Mehochko at 195 and then John Rathbun put his team ahead when he got a pin in 0:38 over Xander Oliver at 220. Despite being down after seeing their state champion drop a close match, the Mustangs definitely were determined that no one was going to stop their quest for a team state championship..

“I feel like we were looked down on in the rankings, so we wanted to prove everyone wrong,” Gillen said. “We never really wrestled many 1A teams, so to go in and have the resume that we did, I thought was pretty good, even though some didn’t really respect us, so we just wanted to show them. They took advantage early, but we pulled through and we just stayed together and didn’t take our minds off of it. We just had the thought of us winning the entire season in our heads, we couldn’t think of us losing, it just wasn’t a possibility. So it’s awesome for it to just manifest.” 

The tide started turning back in the direction of the Mustangs as Esquivel (285) and Larsen (106) received forfeit wins to put their team up 27-18 and after Tremont’s Konnor Martin (113) won by forfeit, Bourge got a fall in 2:37 over Chase Stedman at 120 and Johnson followed with an 11-0 victory over Bowden Delaney at 126 to make it 37-24 with two matches remaining to seal the championship. After Dial won by technical fall over Josiah Grant at 132, Flores received a forfeit win in the final match at 138.

“For our small school, I think we really made a big name for ourselves here,” Bourge said. “When we started my freshman year and we only had four kids, I would not have believed that we’d be where we’re at, winning a team state championship, or that I’d be a finalist myself. It’s just great. Our team has been practicing so hard and having this in our minds and just mulling it over and over and I think that really boosted our confidence, our morale and our bonding, everything.”

Yorkville Christian utilized a similar approach in its semifinals victory over Unity, which was ranked fourth and also advanced to the dual team finals in 2020, when it also lost in the semifinals to the eventual champion and then bounced back to finish third. 

The Mustangs won four of the first five matches as Flores, Martinez and Gillen all had falls and Torza won 5-1 over Braxton Manuel while the Rockets (33-4) received a fall from 145 runner-up Tavius Hosley to make the score 21-6. After Unity received falls from its other two second-place finishers, Grant Albaugh at 182 and Nick Nosler at 195 and Oran Varela followed with another pin at 220, it owned a 24-21 advantage. But Esquivel and Larsen responded with falls and after Trevor McCarter picked up a forfeit win for the Rockets, Bourge, Johnson and Dial closed out the victory with three-consecutive falls.

“This has been our vision since the start of the year,” Dial said. “Like I said at regionals, our whole goal as a team was to win team state. And it’s just crazy to see how all of this has unfolded. None of our duals were that close, according to the score, so it just shows how much of a powerhouse that we are. We all wanted this really bad. We had a pretty good individual tournament but some of us individuals didn’t, but then we knew that we just had to go straight on to team state. I’ll probably remember the energy that we bring when it’s needed. When we come out to wrestle, there’s just so much energy there. You can tell from our bench, since we got yelled at for being too loud.”

In Friday’s quarterfinals, Yorkville Christian only lost one contested match after winning the first eight against Ridgeview/Lexington, which was also making its debut in the event. Dial, Flores, Torza, Martinez, Gillen, Mehochko, Esquivel and Larsen all had falls while Durbin, Bourge and Johnson won narrow decisions and Loomis claimed a forfeit win.

Yorkville Christian only has two seniors, Bourge and Flores, so most of its team, which features seven juniors, two sophomores and five freshmen, could be back next season. And if some talented newcomers join the program, then the Mustangs likely will be a force to be reckoned with for some time.

“At the beginning of the season, we weren’t at the top of the list, but we climbed up,” Larsen said. “I think a big thing that helped us was that this team won a state title in IKWF and now we’re IHSA champions. We definitely had the teammate chemistry built up over the years. This is a great feeling.”

Tremont – Second Place

In their third-consecutive appearance in the dual team finals, coach TJ Williams’ Turks assured themselves of the program’s first trophy and ultimately, a trip to the title meet.

Going 3-0 for Tremont was Cooper Wendling (36-5 at 195) while Mason Mark (31-11 at 132/138) and TJ Connor (27-4 at 182) all went 2-0. Turning in 2-1 records were Konnor Martin (14-5 at 106/113), Bowden Delaney (38-8 at 120/126), Levi Leitner (35-10 at 152/160), Lucas Wendling (43-5 at 170/182) and John Rathbun (27-7 at 220/285).

“When my seniors were freshmen four years ago, I told them if you work hard, keep your head down and just listen and pay attention and take advice, you can be at the state tournament, individually and as a team,” said Williams, who’s a 2006 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee. “But it’s going to take hard work and it’s going to take you being committed and disciplined. You might have less friends because of what you’re trying to accomplish, and over the years, that’s what we’ve done. We stayed focused and it wasn’t always easy, but they came back every year and worked hard since they wanted to get better, and here’s where we’re at right now and I’m proud of these guys.

“Now we know what to shoot for. Nobody wants to get second, but second is better than a third. But now when we go back home, we’ll enjoy what we accomplished and starting next week, we’ll set a goal for next year. We teach our kids to be honest and have fun and don’t be dirty, that’s not what we are at Tremont. Yes, you want to compete and you want to win, but let’s do it the right way.”

In their 41-28 semifinals win over Harvard, the Turks led 24-12 after eight weights and then won three of the last four matches to move on to the title mat. Lucas Wendling, Cooper Wendling, Rathbun, Chase Stedman and Mark all recorded falls, Delaney won by technical fall, Leitner captured a decision and Connor won in sudden victory.

“These guys all work their butts off every day,” Cooper Wendling said. “We have 5 a.m. practices every single day, and we show up ready to work despite the early morning. And we work together well as a team and everybody is cheering everybody on. All season we’ve been really tight-knit and it’s a lot more fun when you have a team that’s cheering you on and wants one another to win in every single match when they step out there. 

“We came up short two times in a row, but this year we put in the extra work and wanted it a lot more. We didn’t just want to be satisfied with making it to state, we wanted to come here and make our mark and show who Tremont is and make sure everyone knows that we’re a legit, hard-working and tough team.”

And in its 39-34 quarterfinals victory over IC Catholic Prep, Tremont led 27-13 with six matches to go but the Knights won four of the next five to move ahead at 34-33 before Delaney got a fall in 2:51 in the finale over Bryson Spaulding at 126 to assure the Turks of capturing a trophy. Logan Stedman and Cooper Wendling also got falls, while Mark captured a 2-1 victory and Josh Geyer, Leitner and Martin claimed forfeit wins.

“It’s really nice to see all of the hard work pay off,” Rathbun said. “I remember freshman year, getting in and just getting beaten up by all of the upperclassmen. So it’s really satisfying to see it all come together. We had six seniors but our varsity lineup is filled with younger guys, and they are so hard-working, I’m excited to see how they turn out.”

Unity – Third Place

While Unity (33-4) fell a bit short of its quest to reach the championship meet for the first time since 1989 after falling to Yorkville Christian in the semifinals, it captured a 46-28 victory over Harvard in the third-place meet to equal its tournament showing from 2020. 

Coach Logan Patton’s Rockets only lost to four quality squads, three of whom were on hand for the dual team finals, the top two finishers in Class 1A, Yorkville Christian and Tremont, and 2A champion Joliet Catholic Academy. Their only other loss came to third-ranked Coal City, who fell to Yorkville Christian in the Seneca Regional. Unity has gone 148-32 in the last five seasons under their coach. 

The team had three second-place finishers this season, Tavius Hosley (52-4 at 145), Grant Albaugh (37-4 at 182) and Nick Nosler (50-3 at 195), and all of them completed their seasons with 3-0 efforts at dual team state. Going 2-1 for Unity were Ryan Rink (132), Braxton Manuel (152), Kyus Root (45-10 at 170), Oran Varela (37-8 at 220) and Karson Richardson (50-7 at 285).

“We came here in 2020 and lost to the eventual champs, Dakota, in the semis in a barnburner,” Patton said. “And history repeats itself and we lose a barnburner to Yorkville Christian and they’re the champs. But our guys bounced back and it’s a great group of seniors to take third again.

“We’ve built a great culture and it’s a family atmosphere and I feel like we’re a better team than we are individually and we wrestle for each other and it showed this weekend. “They understand that they have to do their job, whatever their job is, they go and do it because these guys are best friends and family, so they understand to do that. One of these days we’ll bounce through on the other side. That’s the plan, that’s what we’re shooting for.”

The Rockets hung tough with Yorkville Christian in the semifinals and led 24-21 eight matches into the meet, thanks to falls from Hosley, Albaugh, Nick Nosler and Varela. But the Mustangs responded with five falls to earn their spot in the finals, with Unity’s lone win in that stretch coming on a forfeit to Trevor McCarter and the dual ended 51-30.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Hosley said. “We’re obviously pretty sad that we didn’t get first, but ending on a win and ending muy high school career with a ‘W’ feels pretty good. The thing I liked the best was the chemistry. I’ve grown up with most of these kids and we’ve all wrestled together growing up, so the chemistry was awesome and wrestling with them was super fun. And a big shout out to coach Patton. He’s been there every step of the way and gotten me through everything.” 

Unity kicked things off on Friday in a good fashion when it took control through the middle of the dual to defeat Vandalia 41-30, a much-closer meeting than the teams’ earlier matchup on December 17 when the Rockets won by 25 points. After the Vandals grabbed a quick 9-0 lead, the Rockets won eight of next nine matches to go up 41-12. Hosley, Manuel, Varela, Richardson and Joey Young all recorded falls while Albaugh and Nick Nosler both won major decisions and Root claimed a 7-0 victory.

“It kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth to take third, but it still feels great to be here,” Nick Nosler said. “Next year, I think if we keep grinding together in the wrestling room then we’ll keep trending in the right direction. I think it’s just the environment, everybody’s cheering you on and if somebody loses a match, there’s someone to back you up. The environment is just great. I think that we have one of the hardest-working wrestling rooms in the state, so it’s just great to be on this team.”

Harvard – Fourth place

Harvard (19-5) overcame health issues early in the season to not only get back to the state dual team finals this season but one of the state’s winningest programs in the sport captured its sixth state trophy, including its first  since 2000. Coach David Schultz’s Hornets also did something that the program last accomplished in 2000-01 when it made consecutive appearances in the state finals, which Schultz also did as an athlete while competing for the school.

Turning in 3-0 efforts for the Hornets, who were ranked 20th heading into the postseason, were Brian Hernandez (27-13 at 106) and Bailey Livdahl (42-11 at 160/170) while Marques Merida (34-14 at 126), Daniel Rosas (27-13 at 138), Ivan Rosas (39-9 at 145) and Nathan Rosas (44-7 at 195/220) all went 2-1.  

“The kids wrestled really well and they’ve come a long way.” Schultz said. “With last year, having the pandemic and all of the disruption. So coming into the season, we were hoping that we could get a full lineup, and then with all of the disruptions throughout the year because of COVID and other stuff, for them to be able to stay focused for this long and to continue working for this long with no promise of anything at the end is a real credit to them.

“We came out here and we competed, and that’s exactly what we wanted to try to do. We talked about it before every one of the rounds that regardless of the outcome, as long as we could go out there and fight and as long as we’d leave it all out there on the mat, we could at least live with the outcome. And even though it was not the outcome that we had hoped for and that we wanted, it’s still a pretty big accomplishment for the guys.”

Harvard earned its latest trophy thanks to a 41-31 triumph over Sandwich in Friday’s quarterfinals. It got falls from Aidan Gomez, Livdahl, Gabe Sanchez, Nathan Rosas and Will Harter, major decisions from Ivan Rosas and Kaden Vest and a decision from Hernandez to help it grab a 41-16 lead.

“We are definitely proud of how things turned out for us this year, especially after not having anything to compete for last with no regional or team state series,” Kaden Vest said. “So to come back this year and place in the top four means a lot to us and this team. In the wrestling room, we always see the great names of teams in the past who placed at state and we always talk about how we want to be up there making history for our school. It just feels good to be back up here in the top four in the state with all of our teammates because I feel like we worked our butts off all season to deserve this.”

In their 41-28 semifinals loss to Tremont, the Hornets got falls from Ivan Rosas, Gerardo Cortez and Hernandez while Merida won a major decision and Daniel Rosas and  Livdahl got decisions. And against Unity in the third-place match, which the Rockets won 46-28, Hernandez, Connor Flores and Daniel Rosas recorded falls, Livdahl got a major decision, Nathan Rosas won a 3-2 decision and Merida prevailed by a 1-0 score.

“It was definitely something, considering the last time we brought anything home was almost 20 year ago,” Nathan Rosas said. “Especially considering that our season started with all of this COVID stuff and we were losing kids. It was really hard and it felt like we were getting split up because we couldn’t all be together in the same room and working out. But we stuck together through all of it and made sure to check up on those who couldn’t be in and told them what we were doing  in practice. Coach (Tim) Haak was a legend and just wants to make sure that the Harvard program is still in good hands, and considering we’re coming back with a trophy, I’d say that we’re in pretty good hands.”

Other Tournament Teams

IC Catholic Prep (12-3) made its second state appearance and first since 2018 but fell 39-34 to Tremont in a quarterfinals meet that came down to the final match. Recording falls for coach Jason Renteria’s Knights were Joseph Gliatta and Isaiah Gonzalez while Omar Samayoa captured a major decision, Michael Calcagno and Andrew Alvarado both won decisions and Jadon Mims and Nick Renteria received forfeit wins. It was IC Catholic Prep’s first loss to a Class 1A team.

The squad. which was ranked ninth, was hopeful that the momentum produced by getting state titles from Renteria (33-1 at 120), Calcagno (27-1 at 182) and Mims (32-3 at 220), a second-place finish from Gonzalez (34-2 at 285), a sixth from Gliatta (26-9 at 145) and a close call from Alvarado (25-15 at 113), who fell a win shy of a medal, but the Turks spoiled the plans and prevented them from winning their first trophy.

Vandalia (32-5) was looking to add to the second-, third- and fourth-place trophies that it had won from 2016-19, but coach Jason Clay’s squad fell 41-30 to Unity in the quarterfinals in the program’s 15th dual team finals trip since 2005. Unity, which took third, beat Vandalia 51-28 on December 17, the same day the Vandals fell to Tremont.

The sixth-ranked Vandals got a win by technical fall from Cutter Prater (49-6 at 138), a major decision from Owen Miller (41-14 at 132), a decision from Eric McKinney (48-7 at 160) and forfeit wins from Sophie Bowers (43-13 at 113), Pierson Wilkerson and Parker Ray. Ryan Kaiser (44-10 at 160) and Prater fell one win shy of state medals this season.

Sandwich (22-5) hoped that its 34-32 sectional victory  over top-ranked Lena-Winslow/Stockton would give it a boost as it headed to the dual team finals for the first time since 2012. But Harvard jumped out to a big early advantage to capture a 41-31 victory in Friday’s quarterfinals. It was only the team’s second loss against a Class 1A team, with the other on December 4 to eventual state champion Yorkville Christian.

Coach Derek Jones’ Indians, who were ranked 11th, received falls from Aidan Linden (49-6 at 160), Alex Alfaro (45-4 at 182), Anthony Sparti and Kadin Kern (19-10 at 120), a major decision from Evan Reilly (35-6 at 138) and a decision from Miles Corder (36-15 at 126). Linden finished third at 152, Alfaro took fifth at 182 and Reilly fell one win shy of a medal at 138.

Ridgeview/Lexington (23-6) also advanced to the dual team finals for the first time but could only win two matches against the eventual champions in the quarterfinals, which they lost 63-12. Coach Jeremy Lopshire’s Mustangs, who were ranked 23rd, received a fall from Evan Antonio (41-6 at 220) and a win by forfeit from Danny Tay (38-9 at 113). Braydon Campbell (32-8 at 120) and Tay both fell one win shy of medals.

Thirteen individuals in all three classes finished with 18 team points during the two-day competition. Those in 1A tying for first were Yorkville Christian’s Michael Esquivel, Braulio Flores and Aiden Larsen, Tremont’s Cooper Wendling and Unity’s Tavius Hosley. Next-best with 17 points was Yorkville Christian’s Noah Dial while Unity’s Grant Albaugh and Nick Nosler scored 16 points and Yorkville Christian’s Isaac Bourge, Tyler Martinez and Drew Torza and Harvard’s Brian Hernandez all scored 15 points.

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By Patrick Z. McGavin

For the IWCOA

BLOOMINGTON— Life has been a gilded dream for Hunter Powell the last couple of months.

Last fall the Joliet Catholic Academy junior started at defensive tackle and played running back on the Hilltoppers’ undefeated Class 4A football state championship team.

He made the quick and sudden transition to wrestling, losing about 10 pounds to get into ideal shape.

On Saturday night at Grossinger Motors Arena, Powell had the decisive action that paved the way for a historic moment for the Hilltoppers.

His third period fall over Deerfield’s Max Drumke in 4:43 unleashed a flood as the Hilltoppers captured six consecutive matches in their 39-33 victory for the IHSA Class 2A Dual Team State Championship.

Drumke reversed Powell late in the second period to pull within 6-4 but Powell responded with his own reversal. He led 10-5 when the end came at 4:43.

“I knew I could beat the kid,” Powell said. “I was just waiting for the perfect opportunity. In those last 30 seconds of the second period, I wanted to at least get a reversal or an escape.”

Starting on the bottom to open the third period, Powell again outmaneuvered Drumke for the reversal.

“I got out of it, and I just caught him on his back,” he said. “The rest was history.”

Deerfield had the fast start, breaking out to a 15-7 lead.

“We knew who their best wrestlers were,” Powell said. “If I set the tone, it was going to be over.”

Powell was the architect of the Hilltoppers’ crush as JCA won six consecutive matches, including four by fall, in scoring 32 points.

Owen Gerdes, who finished fourth in the state at 195 pounds, started the streak with a 13-1 major decision over Devlan Schwartz.

The showdown at 220 pounds was decidedly open. Powell (8-5) only had wrestled 12 matches during the season.

“I am really thankful for Hunter,” sophomore heavyweight Dillan Johnson said. “When he came in, he brought a certain intensity. He got the pin, and we just built the momentum off of that.”

Powell and Johnson started alongside each other at defensive tackle in football.

Johnson (38-0) punctuated an extraordinary season with a fall over Garvin Crews in 0:47.

His postseason proved to be one of the most thrilling and devastating examples of his raw power, athleticism and speed.

Johnson posted four falls, none lasting deeper than the second period, in capturing the individual state championship at 285 pounds.

His 3-1 decision over Washington’s Tyler Casey (third at 220) proved vital in their 30-29 sectional victory.

Johnson, who won the IWCOA title at 285 last year, steamrolled all three of his state finals’ opponents.

“It’s amazing,” he said of his remarkable athletic season. “I don’t know what to tell you. I’m very fortunate.”

Like Joliet Catholic Academy, Deerfield was participating in its first dual team state finals.

Deerfield finished fourth in 3A in 2017. The only other downstate appearance, in the 3A quarterfinals, was a loss against Lockport in 2015.

Coach Marc Pechter has built an under-the-radar powerhouse. From very humble beginnings, his first team won just two dual meets in 2001, Pechtar has amassed 380 career victories.

He has won at least 20 victories in 10 of the last 12 seasons. The Warriors won a school-record 30 matches two years ago.

“This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we had to take advantage of it,” senior Kai Neumark said.

Neumark underscored the strength, power and athleticism of the Warriors’ versatile and deep lineup.

In the quarterfinals Friday night, Neumark defeated Rock Island’s Aoci Bernard 11-6 in a rematch of the 138 state championship, in which Bernard (51-4) was awarded the 7-6 victory with an escape as time expired.

“That was probably one of the most bittersweet matches of my career,” Neumark said. “Obviously I got my redemption, but I felt like I could have beaten him the week before.”

The state final confrontation of the two programs was the logical action.

JCA had three finalists and two state champions in Johnson and junior Gylon Sims (113 pounds). It also had eight individual qualifiers and five All-State wrestlers. In addition to Gerdes, Mason Alessio (38-5) was second at 145 pounds and Owen O’Connor (29-13) finished fifth at 138 pounds.

Shay Korhorn (21-9 at 120), Logan Kuhel-Trimmer (23-11 at 132) and Caden Moore (19-8 at 182) were the other state qualifiers. Korhorn lost in the consolation semifinals in making the final eight.

Deerfield had seven qualifiers, powered by the invincible Benjamin Shvartsman at 160 pounds. He put the finishing touches on a magnificent season by going 50-0.

“It was a special group,” Shvartsman said. “We are all good wrestlers, but these guys—they’re good people.

“Every team you go up against here is really good. We fought hard. Maybe we could have wrestled better in the final. It’s been an honor to be on this team.”

JCA coach Ryan Cumbee knew the Hilltoppers dodged a bullet with the final dual starting at 145 pounds.

That pushed Neumark and Renzo Morgan, who took sixth at 132 pounds, to the backend.

“Deerfield is really strong from 132 to 182 pounds,” Cumbee said. “We knew if we could get a couple of wins and stay off of our backs, we were in a good position. The score at the beginning showed them in the lead, but we were optimistic.”

In the semifinals on Saturday morning against Mahomet-Seymour, Neumark started off with a fall as Deerfield won five of the first six matches to take a 22-3 lead. The Warriors defeated Rock Island 41-34 in the quarterfinals.

That buffered them against the heavy hitters of Mahomet-Seymour. Jackson Palzer posted the second period fall at 126 pounds that propelled the 34-18 victory.

By contrast, JCA entered the state finals largely untested.  After edging second-ranked Washington on Tuesday in the Washington Sectional, the Hilltoppers rolled past Riverside-Brookfield 65-7 in the quarterfinals and Antioch 64-10 in the semifinals.

By starting at 145 pounds, JCA had one of its big hammers, Mason Alessio, at the jump. He dominated Lucio Morgan (45-7, fifth at state) 12-0.

The coach’s son, Connor Cumbee, also delivered in the clutch. He surprised Stamos Tsakiris (41-10, sixth at state) 7-6 for the Hilltoppers’ 7-0 team lead.

“He found a way,” Ryan Cumbee said of his son. “That was not expected.”

The early success cushioned Deerfield’s run with a fall by Shvartsman, a technical fall by Aiden Cohen (47-6, fifth at 170) and a major by Braeden Wittkamp (42-6 at 182). The run of 15 consecutive points put the Warriors up 15-7.

Ryan Cumbee looked at the big picture.

“Once we got through 182 relatively unscathed, we knew we were winning,” he said.

The consecutive falls by Powell and Johnson altered the trajectory firmly in the controls of the Hilltoppers.

Noah Avina followed with another first period fall over Justin Sanger at 106 pounds.

The Hilltoppers’ other individual state champion, Gylon Sims, continued the torrid stretch with a 16-6 major decision over Jordan Rasof at 113 pounds.

With three-time state champion D.J. Hamiti, now at the University of Wisconsin, Sims (37-4)  personified the rise of the Hilltoppers to elite status.

As a freshman two years ago, he reached the state final at 106 pounds and last year he won the IWCOA title at 113.

Emboldened by that experience, he defeated Rochelle’s Xavier Villalobos in the state championship match.

“I think my individual success, and Dillan and Mason, just made the rest of my team more hungry,” Sims said.

“Maybe some of them didn’t get to accomplish their individual goals, but this was a way to get them hungrier.”

The major decision by Sims pushed the unanswered run to 26 points.

“We were not too worried about the score when we were down 15-7, maybe a little bit, but we stayed positive,” Sims said.

“When Hunter came and got that pin, that turned the tide and confidence went through the roof.”

Fittingly, Shay Korhorn secured the state title with his pin of Luke Reddy in 3:02 at 120 pounds.

It provided a moment of vindication after he went through a brutal draw at the individual state meet.

His quest for a state medal ended with a tight 3-1 loss against Galesburg’s Gauge Shipp in the semifinal wrestlebacks.

“There could not have been a better kid to finish the dual,” Ryan Cumbee said. 

“He works very hard every day. He fell short in his individual goal. He contributed as a team member.”

The football state championship JCA won last fall is standard operating procedure. The Hilltoppers own the state record for football state championships.

The wrestling title is the first of its kind. 

Only Class 3A quarterfinalist Marist deprived the Hilltoppers (17-1) of a perfect season. 

Ryan Cumbee took over the program three years ago after winning two state trophies at Marmion Academy.

Johnson and Sims reached the mountaintop. Now the rest of the team knows that exalted feeling.

“The individual title was nice, but this one was way better,” Sims said.

“I’m going to experience this title for the next 15 years of my life with all of these guys here.”

Jackson Palzet, Renzo Morgan (36-13, sixth at 132) and Neumark won by forfeit for the final margin.

Deerfield left its mark. 

The Warriors (27-6) split with 3A fourth-place finisher Prospect and lost by one point to Marist, who was a 3A quarterfinals squad.

“We are all really close,” Neumark said. “We hang out with each other, and we train together because we are all pretty close in weight. We do pretty much everything together.”

Mahomet-Seymour captured the third-place trophy with a 35-34 victory over Antioch. Coach Rob Ledin’s Bulldogs (30-4) won five of the first eight matches to grab a 27-14 lead over the Sequoits (23-6).

State finishers Matteo Casillas (57-2, third at 195), Caden Hatton (49-8, fifth at 106) and Brennan Houser (44-12, sixth at 170) were the standouts for the Bulldogs, who advanced to state for the third time in the last five seasons that the tournament was held and for the fourth time in Ledin’s 16-year tenure.

Edgar Albino (44-2, third at 120) and Caleb Nobiling (42-7, third at 138) keyed the Sequoits’ season surge. Brothers Ben Vazquez (38-9, 152) and Evan Vazquez (31-8, 170) also fortified the lineup, along with Gavin Hanrahan (36-11, 106) and Anthony Streib (36-11, 132).

In the third-place match, Mahomet-Seymour got falls from Braeden Heinhold (160), Houser (182) and Camden Harms (285) while Casillas (195) and Hatton (113) both won by technical fall, Alexander Demos (145) had a 13-5 major decision and Reese Wilson (126) won 6-3 over Tanner Jurinek.

Antioch received falls from Ben Vazquez (152) and Hanrahan (106), Evan Vazquez (170) and Streib (132) both had wins by technical fall, Briar Russell (220) won 8-3 over Colton Crowley, Albino (120) was a 7-2 winner over Camden Heinold and Nobiling (138) claimed a forfeit win in the final match.

Coach Wilbur Borrero made his seventh state appearance and captured his fourth state trophy at Antioch, which were all fourth place finishes, since 2012. He also had a team that took second place and two others who were fourth while at Waukegan.

In the quarterfinals, Mahomet-Seymour defeated Brother Rice 49-25 while Antioch won 41-34 over Glenwood. Coach Jan Murzyn’s Crusaders (10-5) were making their first state appearance while coach Jerod Bruner’s Titans (14-6) advanced to state for the third time in the last four years that the event took place.

Brother Rice got a fall from 170-pound state champion Tom Bennett (34-1 at 182), a major decision from Connor Nelligan (145) and a 3-0 win from fourth-place finisher Nate Chirillo (160) to go along with late forfeit wins by Bobby Conway (120) and James Bennett (126).

Glenwood received falls from Brandon Bray (195) and Jaidyn Lee (220), a major decision from Aden Byal (152), a win by injury default by unbeaten 106-pound state champion Andrew Davis (19-0 at 113) and forfeit wins from fifth-place finisher Alex Hamrick (285) and Braxton Warren (126).

Rock Island (14-10) made its first dual team state appearance since 1992. In their 41-34 quarterfinals loss to Deerfield, coach Joel Stockwell’s Rocks received falls from Steven Marquez (195), Eli Gustafson (285) and Truth Vesey (106) while Andrew Marquez (220) claimed a 14-4 major decision and Daniel McGhee (120) and Tyler Barbee (126) picked up late forfeit wins.

Riverside-Brookfield (17-8) returned to state after qualifying for the first time in 2020. Coach Nicholas Curby’s Bulldogs got a 12-1 major decision from Mateo Costello (126) and a 7-5 victory from Brock Hoyd (170).

One three-time champion and 13 first-time title winners.

Four undefeated competitors and three others with one loss.

First-ever champions for Auburn, Carlyle and Yorkville Christian.

Three champions apiece for Dakota and IC Catholic Prep.

Two titles each for Lena-Winslow/Stockton and Riverdale.

Three individuals win titles in their third state trip while another wins in his fourth try.

Those were some of the biggest stories of the IHSA Class 1A Individual Finals.

The finals started at 145 but to be consistent with other stories, we begin at 106.

Here are the stories of the 14 state champions and their weight classes.

106 – Tyson Waughtel, Carlyle

It’s quite an accomplishment when you’re only a freshman and you’ve already achieved something that only two other male athletes at your school have done in over 100 years of competition, and that’s just what Tyson Waughtel pulled off on Saturday.

The Carlyle athlete, who came into the Class 1A IHSA finals top-ranked at 106, became the third male from his school to win a state title in an individual sport when he wrapped up a 52-0 debut campaign by capturing a 9-4 victory over Illini Bluffs sophomore Hunter Robbins in the championship match. Waughtel joins track and field athletes Charlie Baltimore (1998) and Karl Beckemeyer (1926) as state title winners at the school. The best previous showing by an Indians wrestler was a third-place finish at 220 in Class 1A by Kevin Roper in 2013 while Dale Allen took fourth at 220 in 1A in 2019 for the program’s other medal. He also was one of just 11 unbeaten IHSA champions at the tournament. 

A champion of six tournaments this season, including two that had several Class 2A teams in them, Waughtel opened with a pair of wins by technical fall, with the second of those coming in 3:13 in the quarterfinals over Peoria Notre Dame freshman Ian Akers, who was ranked tenth. In the semifinals, he claimed an 11-4 win over Olympia freshman Dylan Eimer, who was ranked sixth, to become the first individual from his program to advance to a state championship match.

“I feel like I knew it at the beginning of the year because I was so dominant,” Waughtel said. “Coming in as the number-one seed just gave me the motivation. This gives me a lot of motivation because now, I can say that I’m an IHSA state champ. This year was a lot different since I got a lot harder competition and they’ve all been training for this moment. Nobody had been a state champ at Carlyle, this was the first time. It feels amazing and I can’t wait to come back to Carlyle and everyone will be cheering me on.”

Robbins (31-4), who was second in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings and an IWCOA qualifier in 2021 who had four tournament titles this season, advanced to the finals by recording a first-period fall in his opening match and then winning 4-0 over Harvard senior Brian Hernandez (23-13) in the quarterfinals. He earned his spot in the title match when he won 8-4 in sudden victory in the semifinals over Anna-Jonesboro freshman Drew Sadler, who was ranked fifth.

“I was excited since I knew that I was in the state finals and I’m proud of myself, either way,” Robbins said. “I just wanted to leave it all out there, and I guess this gives me more push for next year. I’m excited to get back into the room. I’ve got people that push me in the room and that really a lot and that brings me up and I know that they’re all going to help me through this and get me ready for next year. I’m proud of myself. I was a little nervous going out there, If I make it here next year, I know how it is.”

Sadler (50-5) fell a bit short of becoming the third individual finalist for the Wildcats but is still one of only four from his school to earn all-state honors. After recording a first-period fall in his opener, he captured a 10-0 quarterfinals victory over Yorkville Christian freshman Aiden Larsen and then lost by sudden victory to Robbins in the semifinals. Following a 10-2 win over Litchfield junior Alex Powell in the consolation semifinal to guarantee a medal, he captured a 9-0 major decision over Eimer to claim third place.

“It feels amazing,” Sadler said. “I don’t even have words right now. It’s unbelievable right now, I think I’m dreaming. I knew I had a dang good chance of placing here, but I didn’t know that I’d get number three. I came out here with all of the confidence in the world, thanks to my practice partners, they helped get me this far.”

Eimer (43-7) opened with two falls, including one in 3:59 in the quarterfinals over Alleman senior Dalton Nimrick (34-8), who was ranked eighth. After falling to Waughtel in the semifinals,  Eimer beat Larsen 6-1 to advance to the third-place match. Larsen (42-8), who was ranked seventh and was one of five medalists for his team, responded to his quarterfinals defeat with two falls and then bounced back from a loss to Eimer to claim an 8-2 victory over Powell for fifth place. Powell (34-9), an IWCOA qualifier last year and a state qualifier in 2020 who was ranked fourth, claimed 3-2 and 6-3 decisions in the wrestlebacks before dropping his last two matches to finish sixth.

Akers (35-8) fell in the quarterfinals to Waughtel and then lost to Powell in the quarterfinal wrestleback to twice fall a win shy of a medal. Also losing in the quarterfinal wrestleback was Murphysboro freshman Kaiden Richards (40-12), the only one of five winners of 40 or more matches at the weight who didn’t finish in the top-six.

113 – Anthony Ruzic, Auburn

During his five tournament titles heading into the IHSA 1A finals, Anthony Ruzic was definitely a force to be reckoned with after winning 12 of 14 matches by fall with 10 of those coming in the opening period and the others being a win by technical fall and a 12-1 major decision in the sectional finals, the lone time that he had to go the full six minutes.

So it came as no real surprise that the Auburn sophomore who placed third a year ago in the IWCOA finals and then was a champion in Greco Roman at Fargo would continue his tournament success in Champaign when he rolled through the 113 bracket with three major decisions and an 8-2 victory in the championship match over Richmond-Burton freshman Emmett Nelson to complete his state title run with a 26-0 record. That win assured Ruzic that he would become his program’s first state champion, its second finalist and fourth medal winner, with Peyton Hudspeth taking second at 195 in 2017 being the previous-best showing for the Trojans.

After claiming a 20-8 victory in his opening match, Ruzic won 12-4 over Marian Central Catholic junior Kaden Harman in the quarterfinals and 14-4 against Farmington sophomore Keygan Jennings in the semifinals to send him into the 113 title match against Nelson. The Rockets freshman hung tough into the final period before Ruzic wrapped up his title, becoming one of just 11 unbeaten champions in Illinois. On Tuesday, Ruzic picked up a forfeit win when his team competed in the Unity Sectional, where they fell to Vandalia 54-30. Ruzic is the third Auburn male athlete to win a state title in the last 100 years, with the others in track and field, and the last of those was Kyle Sergent in 2003.

“It feels great,” Ruzic said. “In the end, all of the hard work that I put in just paid off, so it felt great to finally get it done. I got a good practice earlier, so I felt great. I just treated every match like it was the same and went match to match. The pressure really didn’t get to me because I know I’m the best.”

Nelson (41-4), who was ranked seventh with five-straight tournament titles to his credit, was a winner by technical fall in his opening match before capturing an 8-2 victory over East Alton-Wood River senior Aaron Niemeyer in the quarterfinals. After claiming an 11-7 semifinals victory over Harrisburg sophomore Tony Keene, Nelson joined one of the all-time greats not only from his own program but from the state, Jordan Blanton, as the only freshmen from their program to advance to a title match. Blanton, a 2008 Richmond-Burton graduate and four-time finalist who only lost once in his career in his junior season, happened to be in attendance at the tournament, interviewing top performers.

“This will be a good motivator for upcoming times and it will be a reminder for what I have to work for,” Nelson said. “There’s no stage like the state finals, so it was a great experience. They do a great job of promoting it and the atmosphere is awesome with the fans and the arena. So next year, it will be twice as nice to win it.”

Niemeyer (40-6), a sixth-place finisher in the IWCOA and state qualifier in 2020 who was ranked third, finished in third place after recording a fall in 2:42 over Keene. Following his quarterfinals loss to Nelson, he won four-straight matches in the consolation bracket, following a first-period fall with a 12-3 win over IC Catholic Prep freshman Andrew Alvarado (22-13) to assure himself of a medal. He won 4-3 over Jennings to advance to the third-place match, where he won to tie for the fifth-best finish ever for his program. 

“It’s great,” Niemeyer said. “He beat me earlier in the year. This is huge. Last year I took sixth, and other than that, we haven’t had anybody place, it’s been awhile. This sets an example to the freshmen on our team that you can lose in the first round, second round and come back and still get the next best thing.”

Keene (40-4), an IWCOA qualifier who had won four tournament titles and was ranked second, recorded two first-minute falls, including one in 0:36 over Newman Central Catholic freshman Briar Ivey in the quarterfinals. After losing to Nelson in the semifinals, Keene beat Harman 11-8 to compete for third place but his loss in that match resulted in him tying for the program’s best finals showing with their only other medalist, Aaron Bailey, who placed fourth in 1994.

Harman (37-12), who was ranked eighth, bounced back from his quarterfinals loss to Ruzic to go 3-1 in the consolation bracket to finish fifth. He beat Ridgeview/Lexington sophomore Danny Tay (37-8) 7-1 to guarantee a medal and responded to his loss to Keene with a 4-2 victory to claim fifth place over Jennings (44-4), who was a fifth-place finisher at the IWCOA that was ranked fourth and won five titles with one second in six tournaments. His sixth-place effort tied the finish of the program’s only other IHSA placewinner, Broc Shymansky, in 2019.

120 – Nick Renteria, IC Catholic Prep

After placing fourth as a sophomore in 2020 and taking fifth in the IWCOA in 2021, Nick Renteria was prepared to do whatever it took to not only improve upon his two previous state finals efforts but to finish on top of the awards stand in his third appearance at a state finals tournament.

And inspired by the efforts of two of his teammates who captured championships on an historic day for the Knights’ program, Renteria rolled to a pair of wins by technical fall and a major decision before claiming a 9-4 win over Yorkville Christian senior Isaac Bourge in the 120 title match to become his program’s fifth champion improved him to 28-1. He added two more wins to that total as his ninth-ranked team qualified for the dual team state finals in Bloomington but fell 39-34 to Tremont in the quarterfinals.

Renteria, who was ranked third and took first in his other five tournaments, won his first two matches by technical fall. including over Ridgeview/Lexington sophomore Braydon Campbell (31-7) in the quarterfinals and won 11-3 over Mercer County sophomore Ethan Monson in the semifinals. His title victory followed first-place efforts from Michael Calcagno at 182 and Jadon Mims at 220 to boost IC Catholic Prep’s individual champions from two to five and its overall titles from three to six, surpassing Joey Bianchini’s two titles and a second from 2016-2018 and Saul Trejo’s first in 2020. Renteria’s loss was to another finalist, Loyola Academy junior Massey Odiotti, who took second at 120 in 3A.. 

“My coaches preached all season that I’m the best here and that nobody could stop me, and I took that into my mindset this year,” Renteria said. “We all work hard together and push each other and those are my brothers. We all had the same goal and we accomplished it. I hadn;t been in the state finals before and I was able to get here and get a title, that was the best part about it, so much excitement. This is a huge boost going into the team race. We’re only getting stronger and my brothers are coming together. It’s just our mindset and the way that we push each other in the room. Everybody is going hard all of the time. Our coaches really preach that and they push us hard.”

Bourge (30-11), the only member of Yorkville Christan’s initial four-man team during his freshman season, made his third-straight state appearance and joined 170 champion Jackson Gillen as their program’s first two finalists on a day where the Mustangs had five placewinners. The fourth-ranked senior won three two-point decisions before falling in the finals to Renteria. After winning 2-0 over Marian Central Catholic junior Jack Fitzgerald (26-6), who was ranked second and placed fifth in the IWCOA, in his opener. He won 3-1 over St. Joseph-Ogden freshman Holden Brazelton, who was eighth, in the quarterfinals and then won 3-1 over Coal City sophomore Brant Widlowski in the semifinals. He added two more wins as his team not only advanced to the IHSA Dual Team State Tournament for the first time but secured a trophy with a 63-12 win over Ridgeview/Lexington.

“I’m really proud of how I did today,” Bourge said. “It’s always better to get first, but it’s second-best, I guess. Our team put all they had out there today. We had a couple of kids wrestle all the way back to third and fifth place. We have a state champion now and a second place. When we started with four kids, it was all trust. I’ve been with coach Vester since I was little, so I just followed him and trusted him and now we have 19 kids and five placers, and it’s just incredible.”

Newman Central Catholic sophomore Brady Grennan (44-2) entered the competition as the top-ranked individual at 120 with five-straight titles to his credit but after getting a win over Phoenix Military Academy sophomore Vin Moreno (28-5) in his opener, he was pinned in 6:00 by Monson in the quarterfinals. That sent him to the consolation bracket where he dashed Fitzgerald’s placing hopes with a 3-0 victory and then won 9-2 over Campbell to insure himself of a medal to go along with his third-place effort in the IWCOA.  Grennan advanced with a fall in 0:39 over Widlowski and then won his fourth consolation bracket match in a row with a fall in 3:56 over Monson to claim third place.

“The match was definitely so much better than the last one,” Grennan said. “This is not what I was shooting for, but it is what I got, and I’m proud of it.”

Monson (30-8), who took fourth last year in the IWCOA and ranked fifth, recorded falls in his first two matches, with the last of those coming in the quarterfinals over Grennan. Following his loss to Renteria in the semifinals, Monson pulled out a 1-0 victory over Brazelton before Grennan avenged his earlier defeat. Thanks to Monson’s sixth-place effort, the Golden Eagles have now had at least one medal winner in each season since 2010. 

Widlowski (42-9) was one of three Coalers who won medals and placed fifth. After opening with two narrow decisions, he lost a 3-1 decision to Bourge in the semifinals. After getting pinned by Grennan, the unranked sophomore improved on his sixth-place effort at the IWCOA by taking fifth when he recorded a fall in 3:25 over Brazelton, who had won four of his five tournaments, settled for sixth in his debut season and was his program’s first medal winner since 2017. Despite having the most wins in at 120, Shelbyville junior Calvin Miller (49-4) fell one win shy of a medal after falling 10-6 to Widlowski in the quarterfinals and 7-3 to Brazelton in the wrestlebacks.

126 – Phoenix Blakely, Dakota

Phoenix Blakely experienced the spectrum of results in his quest for a third-straight state championship. And not surprisingly, the Dakota junior saved his most-dominating performance in the 126 weight bracket when it mattered the most, on the title mat, where he claimed a win by technical fall in 5:13 over Benton sophomore Mason Tieffel.

After recording a fall in his opener over IC Catholic Prep sophomore Bryson Spaulding, Blakely (36-3) experienced his toughest challenge when he claimed a 6-3 victory in the quarterfinals over East Alton-Wood River senior Jason Shaw, who was ranked second and had two seconds and one third while competing in Missouri, Florida and at the IWCOA. But that was pretty much the end of the drama for an athlete that won titles at 120 the past two seasons and was top-ranked with four-straight tournament titles and all of his losses had come against individuals in Class 2A or 3A, with two of those being 2A champions, Freeport’s Markel Baker (126) and Washington’s Kannon Webster (132). 

He earned his spot in the finals after claiming a 10-1 major decision over Richland County freshman Carson Bissey before building a 17-2 advantage over Tieffel, who entered the title match with 47 victories and who placed third in the IWCOA and was ranked third. Now Blakely can begin to focus on the ultimate goal, of being a four-time champion, a feat accomplished in the program by Seth Milks (2006-2009) and Josh Alber (2011-2014). Alber is one of the many quality coaches that helped head coach Matt Jacobs’ Indians finish with two other champions, Phoenix’s brother Maddux at 138 and Noah Wenzel at 195, while TJ Silva just missed winning a title at 132 and Tyler Simmer took fifth at 145.

“With Noah getting that win right away, it got the momentum up and got me pretty hyped for that match, so I came in ready,” Blakely said. “It feels amazing to be back here, I love the atmosphere here. No 1A kid beat me this year and the people who beat me were Class 2A and 3A boys. My goal was to win another state championship. And hopefully, I’ll get four some day.”

Tieffel (47-4), who had won four-straight tournament titles after finishing second in two others, had already made history for his program before he met Blakely by becoming the second individual to advance to a title match, with Zach Wilson, a champion at 140 in 2008, being the other. He’s also his school’s first medalist since 2017. Tieffel opened with a major decision and then captured a 5-3 victory over Newman Central Catholic sophomore Carter Rude, who was ranked fifth. The Rangers sophomore won another narrow decision to earn his spot on the title mat opposite the eventual three-time champion, claiming an 8-6 semifinals victory over Polo junior Wyatt Doty.

“It was a really cool experience,” Tieffel said. “I’m happy with my season but I’m looking for more next year.”

Doty (31-6), who qualified for the IWCOA last season, followed a 10-0 major decision in his opener with an 11-5 quarterfinals victory over Canton junior Trevor Hedges (30-7), who was ranked eighth. After dropping the two-point decision to Tieffel in the semifinals, Doty captured a 6-5 victory over Shaw to advance to the third-place match, where again he won a close decision, a 4-2 triumph over Bissey. He’s the Marcos’ first medalist since 2016 and only five individuals from the program have fared better than him at state.

“I’m really excited,” Doty said. “This was my first time making it to state for IHSA and my first time placing. I’m super excited because I know that I put in the hard work this year to get to where I got. After I lost my semifinals match, I knew that I had to perform today to get to where I got, so it feels good.”

Bissey (26-4) capped his debut season with a fourth-place finish. Winner of four titles but unranked, Bissey opened with a major decision before prevailing 11-6 by sudden victory over DePaul College Prep senior Mikekal McClarin (24-4). After getting bumped into the consolation bracket by Blakely, he captured a 4-2 win over Rude before falling a bit short for third. He’s the highest place winner for the school in Olney, finishing two spots better than Zach Shoulders did in 2014 when he became the Tigers’ first medal winner.

Shaw (43-5) captured his fourth state medal and finished on a high note by getting a pair of falls in the wrestlebacks before falling by one point to Doty. He responded to that defeat with a 14-2 victory over Rude in the third-place match. Rude (45-6), who was a qualifier in last year’s IWCOA finals, followed a 17-4 victory with a 7-0 win over Rockridge freshman Jude Finch (39-13) before bumped into the fifth-place match to become of of three placewinners for the Comets.

132 – Brock Smith, Riverdale

A week after suffering his first defeat in 45 matches in the Class 1A Princeton Sectional championship match at 132, Brock Smith was determined that his one-point loss to Dakota’s TJ Silva would be the final one of his successful season.

Although the Riverdale junior had several tough matches in the Class 1A IHSA finals in Champaign, Smith reached his goal of becoming a state championship by avenging his lone loss to Silva by capturing a 2-1 victory in a tiebreaker to join teammate junior Collin Altensey as state champions for the Rams, who also got a fifth-place finish from Alex Watson. From 1996 to 2019 the Rams only won two state titles but with Bryan Caves taking first in 2020, the program has now won three titles at the last two IHSA finals.

Smith (48-1), who was top-ranked after winning five tournaments, is now a two-time placewinner, adding to his fifth-place finish in 2020. After opening with a fall over Prairie Central sophomore Donavan Lewis (30-8) in his opener, Smith won 6-3 in the quarterfinals over Auburn junior Dresden Grimm, who was ranked second. Then in the semifinals, he captured a 6-4 victory over Marian Central Catholic freshman Vance Williams, who was ranked fifth. That set up the rematch with the Dakota freshman, who won 9-8 in the sectional title match, however this time on a bigger stage, Smith was the one who was able to prevail by one point.

“I was very confident coming into this week and I pulled off the win,” Smith said. “I had strep throat last week and I lost and I didn’t practice at all this week and didn’t get to fine-tune anything. It was the first time being part of the Grand March and everything, it was a great experience and I loved every minute of it. I live for this, I train for this. I put in a lot of effort and doing the right things, even when no one was looking. Jody Strittmatter, Young Guns coach, praises the live to wrestle lifestyle and I’ve really thought about that. If you want to be a champion, you can’t go out and drink and smoke and any of that stuff and I don’t do any of that. I just focus on wrestling and focus on being a good kid.” 

Silva (35-7), who was ranked third, came up strong in the late going to win both the regional and the sectional and looked to join teammates Phoenix Blakely (126), Maddux Blakely (138) and Noah Wenzel (195) as state champions. After recording a fall in his initial match, Silva captured a 9-0 quarterfinals victory over Herrin sophomore Blue Bishop (34-6), who was ranked tenth, and then earned his spot in the finals with a 6-1 semifinals triumph over Oakwood/Salt Fork junior Reef Pacot, who was ranked fourth.

“It was a great opportunity and I’m more than honored just to have that,” said Silva. “I had the opportunity and the goal and I just fell short, so next year, I’m just going to come harder. I just have to keep working hard since I fell short. This pushes me harder for next year.”

Finishing in third place was Grimm (50-2), who was ranked second after winning four-straight tournaments and five out of six with the other finish being a second. A sixth-place finisher in the IWCOA, he also qualified for state in 2020. After winning his opener by technical fall and then losing to Smith in the quarterfinals, Grimm won his final four matches in the consolation bracket, claiming a 12-3 win over Oregon junior Lane Halverson (31-11) and following that with a fall in 5:54 over Yorkville Christian junior Noah Dial (37-10), who was ranked sixth. After edging Pacot 1-0 in his next match, he won 8-6 over Williams in his final match.

“I didn’t get what I wanted, since I wanted to get first,” Grimm said. “I got a tough draw, but no excuses, and I came back and got third like I wanted to. Last year I lost in the semis and I was heartbroken and I never fixed myself. So this year after I lost, I knew that I wanted to get third, I was not going to get sixth. It’s great to have this program and we have a lot of guys coming back. It’s great to have all of the guys in the room because it just makes everyone better.”

Williams (39-12) followed an 11-0 major decision with a 5-3 win by sudden victory over Dial in the quarterfinals and then was edged by Smith in the semifinals. After winning 4-2 over Bishop to advance to the third-place match he fell by two points to Grimm to settle for fourth. 

Pacot (42-6), who placed fourth in the IWCOA and was sixth in 2020, won two major decisions, including 17-4 over Anna-Jonesboro junior TJ Macy (27-9) in the quarterfinals. After falling to Silva, he lost by a point to Grimm and closed with an 8-0 victory over Bishop to finish fifth. Bishop (34-6) got 6-1 and 5-1 wins in the consolation bracket, with the latter being against Lewis to assure himself of a medal but he dropped his next two matches to claim sixth place. Bishop was the Tigers’ sixth medalist and their first since 2012.

138 – Maddux Blakely, Dakota

In a fitting ending to the individual finals, Maddux Blakely capped his a successful career where he qualified as a freshman, placed third as a sophomore in the IHSA and third in the IWCOA as a junior by capturing top honors at 138 with a 10-6 victory over Dwight senior Dillon Sarff, another four-time qualifier who turned in his best tournament finish.

Blakely (41-2), who was top-ranked at the weight, recorded a fall in 1:37 over Phoenix Military Academy senior Rafael Soto (27-7) in his opener before prevailing 7-6 in the quarterfinals over Murphysboro senior Arojae Hart, who was ranked fourth. Then he captured a 4-3 victory on a tiebreaker in the semifinals over Illini Bluffs junior Paul Ishikawa, who was ranked third. On the championship mat, he took control midway through the match to join his brother Phoenix (126) and Noah Wensel (195) as Dakota champions and TJ Silva (132) as one of his team’s four finalists.

The weight class was definitely one of the most challenging since it featured two IWCOA champions, Newman Central Catholic senior Will Rude and Ishikawa, and three others who placed in that competition with most of the top individuals competing at state for either the third or fourth time. That provided plenty of motivation for Blakely, who obviously was also inspired by titles won by Wenzel and his brother and the close call involving Silva.

“I’ve been waiting four years, just working my butt off, just trying to get to this,” Blakely said. “It was exciting when I won. When I stepped off the mat, I hugged my coaches and started crying and then I got up to my parents and started crying again. I’m just happy and it feels great. When he (Phoenix) won, it just built momentum for me. And Noah’s was crazy match, too. All of those matches just built the momentum up for me and just helped me out. I feel that I wanted it more than anybody here.”

Sarff (31-6), was ranked fifth and took fourth place last year in the IWCOA and was a state qualifier in both 2020 and 2019. His run to the title match featured three decisions, which included a 3-0 quarterfinals victory over Peotone junior Marco Spinazzola, who was ranked seventh, and a 7-1 win over Rude, who was ranked second. His second-place finish tied the school’s previous-best showing, which was a runner-up effort by James Nakashima in 2007 and he was the second Trojan to win two medals, equalling Anthony Bauer’s achievement from 2013 and 2014.

Rude (23-1), who was the IWCOA’s 138 champion last year, also qualified for state in 2019. He recorded a fall in his first match and then won 3-0 in the semifinals over Vandalia senior Cutter Prater, who was ranked ninth. After seeing his title dreams dashed in the semifinals by Sarff, Rude bounced back with an 8-4 victory over Hart and then claimed third place with a 3-1 win by sudden victory over Ishikawa.

“It’s not what I wanted, obviously I wanted another championship,” Rude said. “But third place isn’t that bad and I’m happy that I went out and gave it my all. I do plan to continue wrestling in college, so there’s more to look forward for me.”

Ishikawa (38-3), an IWCOA champion at 126 and 2020 qualifier who had four title wins to go with a runner-finish this season, followed a fall with a 3-1 victory over Sandwich senior Evan Reilly in the quarterfinals. But Ishikawa’s title hopes were dashed when he lost to Blakely on a tiebreaker in the semifinals and following a one-point win over Spinazzola, he wound up losing the third-place match to Rude in sudden victory.

Hart (38-3), who took second in the IWCOA and was a qualifier in 2019, had four tournament titles to go along with a second-place finish this season. He opened with a win by technical fall before losing 7-6 to Blakely in the quarterfinals. He responded with two consolation wins, with the latter being 9-3 over Reilly. Hart claptured fifth place when he won 3-1 in sudden victory in his final match. He’s the program’s first medal winner since 2018. Spinazzola (42-5), a three-time qualifier who earned his first medal, responded to a 3-0 loss to Sarff in the quarterfinals with a pair of decisions, including one over Prater (47-6), another three-time qualifier, before settling for sixth place.

145 – Garrett Luke, Lena-Winslow/Stockton

Due to a draw to determine the start of the IHSA finals, 145 was chosen as the weight to kick things off and that was good news for Garrett Luke so that he didn’t have to sit around for a while and instead got to compete right away in his quest to win his first title for his third-consecutive medal.

And that’s just what the Lena-Winslow/Stockton junior did as he improved upon a third-place finish in 2020 and a runner-up showing at the IWCOA to become the first of his team’s two title winners when he ended a dramatic showdown against a three-time finalist, Unity senior Tavius Hosley with a fall in 5:57 in the Class 1A finals at 145.

Luke (47-3), who was ranked third and had won four titles this season, opened with a win by technical fall over Dwight senior Emmett Emmons, and then in the same fashion in the quarterfinals over IC Catholic Prep sophomore Joseph Gliatta. His semifinal match was another matter, however, as had a fight on his hands and wound up capturing a 1-0 decision over Erie/Prophetstown junior Jase Grunder, who came into the event ranked ninth, to get the opportunity to compete in his first title match, where he took control in the third period and put an exclamation point on his championship by getting the late fall.

“First period takedown right at the end and I got two,” Luke said. “Coaches wanted me to go down but I told them to defer and then I got out and he locked his hands and I got one and then I reversed him and it was 5-0 at that point and I felt good. Having Marey Roby and my twin brother, Griffin (in the finals) just means a lot. I’ve been working toward being a state champion since I was little. In middle school, I could never pull it off, but finally today I did. This feels great. The second they stopped the match for that pin there was just a rush of energy and happiness.”

Hosley (50-2), who was ranked second with four tournament titles and one second-place finish, placed second for the third time, with the others coming in 2019 and 2020. He won decisively in his first three matches, beginning with a win by technical fall and then got a fall in 3:18 in the quarterfinals over Dakota senior Tyler Simmer, who was ranked fifth. He won by fall in 4:39 in the semifinals over Harvard senior Ivan Rosas, who was ranked sixth. Hosley was one of three Rockets who hoped to become their program’s fifth champion and first since 1991, but all took second. But he did become Unity’s second three-time placewinner, equalling Dustinn Brown’s accomplishment from 2006-2008. And he and his program advanced to Dual Team State after beating Anna-Jonesboro in their own sectional and assured themselves of a trophy with a 41-30 victory over Vandalia.

Rosas (36-8), who was sixth at the IWCOA meet, captured four close decisions to help him claim third-place honors. After winning his opener 4-2 over El Paso-Gridley junior Dax Gentes (47-5), who was ranked seventh, he claimed a 7-5 quarterfinals victory over Peotone senior Kevin Hogan (38-12), who was a three-time state qualifier. After getting pinned by Hosley in the semifinals, he won 9-5 over Gliatta to advance to the third-place mat, where he was a 6-2 winner over Grunder. He and his teammates advanced to Dual Team finals in Bloomington after they beat Newman Central Catholic in Tuesday’s Rock Falls Sectional and assured themselves of a trophy with a 41-31 win over Sandwich.

“It feels pretty good,” Rosas said. “I had to go against number-one in the semis and I was keeping it close to the end and I got caught. Everyone was expecting Grunder to walk through me, but I went out there ready to wrestle and I knew what I was doing and I outworked him.It’s one of the strongest weight classes so to come out here and finish top three is a good feeling.”

Grunder (29-9), who was a state qualifier in 2020, won 6-2 in his initial match and then claimed an 8-2 quarterfinals victory over Seneca senior Owen Feiner (45-8), who placed fifth in the IWCOA finals, to earn a spot in the semifinals, where he suffered the 1-0 loss to eventual champion Luke. He responded to that tough defeat with his biggest victory, a 12-2 major decision over Simmer to send him to the third-place match, where he lost to Rosas.

Simmer (35-11) capped his Dakota career by being one of the team’s five placewinners after finishing fifth. He was a two-time placewinner with a second-place finish at last year’s IWCOA finals. After beating Illini West senior Lance Belshaw (32-9) in his first match, he was pinned by Hosley in the quarterfinals. In the consolation bracket, he won 6-4 in sudden victory over Carlinville junior Jake Schwartz (46-5) and claimed a 3-0 win over Canton senior Andrew Hedges (20-4) before falling to Grunder. That sent him to the fifth-place match, where he won 4-2 over Gliatta (24-9), a 2021 IWCOA qualifier, who beat Reed-Custer junior Landon Markle (34-12) and Gentes in the consolation bracket.

152 – Collin Altensey, Riverdale 

Winning any state championship is obviously very impressive, but doing it without losing a match along the way is really very special and Collin Altensey can say that he was one of 11 individuals from Illinois who did just that on Saturday in Champaign.

The Riverdale junior completed a 47-0 season when he captured a 6-1 victory over Stillman Valley junior Jack Seacrist in the Class 1A title match at 152. Others in 1A who were unbeaten were Alleman junior Charles Jagusah (41-0 at 285), Auburn sophomore Anthony Ruzic (26-0 at 113) and Carlyle freshman Tyson Waughtel (52-0 at 106). He also became the third individual from his school to be an unbeaten champion, joining Todd Hamilton (34-0 in 1982) and Tyler Hurry (36-0 in 1995). And he has another noteworthy accomplishment since he and classmate Brock Smith, who took first at 132, provided the school with two or more champions for the third time, with 1979 and 1976 the others.

Altensey, who was ranked second and placed fifth in 2020 as a freshman, captured titles in all five tournaments through the sectional. He kicked off his title run with a fall in 3:40 over Chicago Hope Academy senior Franky Saez (30-7) and then got a win by technical fall in 3:13 over Clinton senior Trevor Willis (32-12). He won by technical fall over Johnsburg senior Logan Kirk in the semifinals to join Smith for the opportunity to follow up on Bryan Caves’ championship at 220 in 2020. In a rematch of the Princeton Sectional title match, Altensey took an early lead and was up 5-0 with one period to go and went on to join Smith as the program’s fourth and fifth state champions in the past 26 seasons.

“It’s pretty special,” Altensey said. “I came into this weekend pretty nervous, but I knew I could do it if I just wrestled my matches. I wasn’t really worried about my record. Zero losses does mean something, but not when you get down here. Everyone’s trying to get that title so you just need to come into this tournament thinking you’re 0-0 and just each match at a time, and that’s what I did, and it worked out. I couldn’t do it without them. We sharpen each other in the room and that’s why we’re here. It’s pretty awesome and I’m just going to work even harder this summer and hopefully do it again next year.”

Seacrist (37-4), who was ranked fourth, had the rare distinction heading into the finals and having all of his losses against unbeaten fellow finalists, with one to Altensey and the others to McHenry’s Chris Moore and Shepard’s Damari Reed, but the latter two saw their perfect seasons spoiled in dramatic fashion on the title mat. Seacrist’s first trip to state began with a 6-0 win over Yorkville Christian junior Drew Torza (37-16) and then he had a 13-6 quarterfinals victory over Vandalia junior Eric McKinney (45-7). He earned his spot on the championship mat with a 12-2 semifinals win over Sandwich senior Aidan Linden. He was the Cardinals’ first finalist since Jared Van Vleet won a state title in 2018. 

“This is something that you don’t get to be in every day,” Seacrist said. “It’s not the same as IKWF, it’s that times 10 since you face every kid possible. I’m proud of myself for the season, I fought tough. I just have to improve on my feet and just come back next year and coming out firing. You’re going to see me next year in the finals, for sure.”

Linden (47-6), who was ranked fifth, won 9-3 in his first match over Coal City senior Zach Finch, who was ranked third, and then recorded a fall in 0:42 in the quarterfinals over Tremont senior Levi Leitner (33-7), who was ranked seventh. After Seacrist sent him to the  consolation bracket following a semifinals defeat, Linden beat Finch again, this time by a 4-3 score, and then won the third-place match by a 6-4 score over Bishop McNamara junior Luke Christie to claim his team’s best finish among their two medalists.

“When I lost that semifinal match, I went up to my dad and said I can’t just be happy with being here, I have to get my mindset ready,” Linden said. “That was a very hard loss. I kind of got smoked since I didn’t wrestle like myself. We’ve had a very good season and have a really good group and hopefully the eighth graders pick up where we left off.”

Christie (29-4), who entered the postseason top-ranked at the weight, appeared at state for the third-straight year and picked up his first medal by placing fourth. The Fightin’ Irish junior saw his hopes for a title dashed in his first match when he fell 10-7 to Kirk but then he rattled off four-straight wins in the consolation bracket, beating Effingham senior Jon Perry (39-9), McKinney and Saez with three decisions before avenging his earlier setback to Kirk by recording a fall in 4:33.

Finch (39-8), who also competed at state in 2020, suffered the same fate as Christie by falling in his first match to Linden and then having to work his way to a place match through the wrestlebacks. He recorded a pin and won a major decision to meet up with Torza for the chance to medal and advanced with a 3-1 win by sudden victory. After Linden edged him in the next match, he took fifth by injury default over Kirk (30-9), who capped his career by collecting his first state medal with the sixth-place finish.

160- Marey Roby, Lena-Winslow/Stockton

Few athletes at the IHSA finals can point to the accomplishments that Marey Roby has achieved thus far during the 2021-22 school year on the football field in the fall and on the mat during the winter.

The Lena-Winslow/Stockton senior improved to 36-6 after winning the Class 1A championship at 160 with an 8-2 victory over Oakwood/Salt Fork senior Joe Lashuay, claiming his second medal to go with his fourth from 2020. He was one of two champions and three finalists for the PantherHawks, with Garrett Luke taking first at 145 while Griffin Luke lost in overtime right after him to place second at 170. The top-ranked team’s season ended earlier than anticipated when they fell 34-32 to Sandwich at the Rock Falls Sectional.

Roby, who was ranked third and won three tournaments and was second in two others heading to Champaign, recorded a fall in 1:25 over St. Laurence junior Henry Coughlin and then won by technical fall over Deer Creek-Mackinaw junior Gabe Sweckard (38-3) before earning his spot in the title match by a 7-6 score in the semifinals over Peoria Notre Dame senior Joey Mushinsky, who was ranked fifth. That set the table for his matchup with Lashauy, who entered the postseason top-ranked at the weight. The two met in the finals at Litchfield with Lashuay claiming a 10-7 win. But Roby took control in the rematch by grabbing a 5-1 advantage after two periods to help him capture top honors.

“I have the best practice room, the best partners, the best coaches and they work me hard,” Roby said. “It’s a surreal feeling and you work hard for this moment and it pays off. It’s a dream come true. I had a spot in my room waiting open for this bracket board..”

Lashuay (36-6), who was the 160 champion at the IWCOA and also a state qualifier in 2020, won all four of his tournaments heading to state. He opened with a 16-3 win over Mt. Zion senior Lawrence Trimble (32-13) and then claimed a 5-4 victory over Manteno sophomore Carter Watkins (31-9) in the quarterfinals. His semifinals match was also tight, as he won 3-1 in sudden victory over Riverdale junior Alex Watson, who was ranked second. Although Lashuay fell short of becoming his program’s first two-time champion, he is their initial two-time finalist and joins 2020 champion at 113, Gage Reed, and teammate Reef Pacot, who was fifth at 132, as the Comets’ only two-time medal winners.

Yorkville Christian junior Tyler Martinez (41-11), who was ranked fourth, equaled his third-place finish at the IWCOA by placing third after avenging an earlier defeat. After winning 3-0 in his first match over Stillman Valley junior Aiden Livingston (25-5), who was ranked sixth, Martinez lost 8-4 in the quarterfinals to Mushinsky. He responded with four decisions in the wrestlebacks, winning 3-2 over Coal City junior Derek Carlson (31-8), 6-1 over Harvard senior Bailey Livdahl (38-11), 4-3 over Watson and 3-2 over Mushinsky to finish third. An eighth-place finisher at Fargo in Greco-Roman, he joins teammate Michael Esquivel, who was third at 285, as the program’s first two-time medalists.

“It feels great,” Martinez said. “I lost that match earlier in the tournament, so I was dying to get it back. In this tournament you could be as good as a wrestler as you want, but it just comes down to who wants it more and today I just wanted it more than these guys. We put together a super tough schedule just so we’d be prepared for this. We’re battle-tested and ready for the best of the best and we proved that by sending a couple of guys to the finals and placing three other guys for the first time in school history. We’re just building the momentum for team state.”

Mushinsky (40-4), who also was a state qualifier in 2020, won his first eight tournaments this season. After beating Unity senior Nat Nosler (31-8) 4-2 in his opener, he defeated Martinez 8-4 in the quarterfinals. But his title dreams were dashed by a one-point defeat to eventual champion Roby in the semifinals and then Mushinsky recorded a fall in 3:55 over Murphysboro junior Dayton Hoffman, who was ranked eighth, to advance to the third-place match, where Martinez avenged his quarterfinals defeat with a 3-2 victory. 

Watson (46-4), who won four titles and was a runner-up in two others, had a successful state debut, falling in a close semifinals match before taking fifth to be one of three medalists for Riverdale, along with champions Brock Smith and Collin Altensey. After winning 7-0 over Carlson in his first match, he claimed a 3-2 win in sudden victory over Hoffman but fell 3-1 in sudden victory to Lashuay in the semifinals. After getting edged 4-3 by Martinez, he once again beat Hoffman, this time 9-0 to finish fifth, Hoffman (39-7), an IWCOA qualifier last year, responded to his quarterfinal loss with a fall over Nosler and a 5-1 win over Vandalia senior Ryan Kaiser (43-9), who was a three-time qualifier. 

170 – Jackson Gillen, Yorkville Christian

Any time that a program captures its first state championship, it’s a truly memorable occasion. But in the way that Jackson Gillen won his school’s first state title and who he won it against and how it highlighted a memorable day for his team during a special season makes this title one that will definitely be remembered for a long time.

Following an exciting six minutes of action, the Yorkville Christian junior and Lena-Winslow/Stockton junior Griffin Luke headed into overtime in the Class 1A 170 title match. Then 47 seconds later, Gillen recorded a fall to give the fourth-year program their first individual championship in the sport. Although Gillen was ranked fourth and Luke third at the weight, the PantherHawks seemed to have all of the momentum going their after Griffin’s brother Garrett won with a late fall in the finals’ first title match at 145 and Marey Roby had just walked off the mat at 160 with a second championship for a program that was top-ranked heading into the postseason, one spot in front of the upstart Mustangs. 

A bit later, senior Isaac Bourge joined Gillen as Yorkville Christian’s second finalist and with junior Tyler Martinez and senior Michael Esquivel adding thirds and freshman Aiden Larsen contributing a fifth, it was a great evening for the program. Gillen started his title quest with a fall in 0:58 over Pittsfield senior Mason Davis (30-9) and then he followed that with a fall in 1:18 over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher senior Braylen Kean (21-7) in the quarterfinals before edging Canton senior Joseph North 5-3 in the semifinals. The Mustangs not only made their initial appearance in the dual team state finals but assured themselves of a trophy with a 63-12 win over Ridgeview/Lexington in the quarterfinals.

“I was just worried about myself and focused on what I could do to win it,” Gillen said. “When you get this feeling, you just know. I knew that I could do it but I needed to believe in myself and once I did and got on the mat I knew that it was my fight. I was just trying to be the best possible that I could be. I didn’t want to be a part of the bracket, I wanted to be at the top of the bracket.”

Luke (47-4), who took fourth at the IWCOA finals and had four tournament titles, won his first match by fall in 3:21 over LeRoy/Tri-Valley junior Tyson Brent, who was ranked fifth, and then recorded a fall in the quarterfinals in 2:42 over Cumberland senior Iysten Syfert (42-9), who was a four-time state qualifier that was ranked ninth. There was a little more drama in Luke’s semifinals match, where he captured a 3-0 victory over Tremont senior Lucas Wendling, who was ranked second.

The third-place match at 170 was a rematch of the Olympia Sectional finals when Wendling (40-4) handed Norton (40-2) his first loss of the season by a 5-2 score. In the latest meeting, the Little Giants junior got the upper hand when he claimed a 4-2 over Wendling after both fell in the semifinals. Norton, who took third in the IWCOA and was top-ranked heading into the postseason, won 9-6 over Fulton junior Zane Pannell in his first match at state and followed that with a fall in 0:48 over Unity junior Kyus Root (42-9). After falling to Gillen in the  semifinals, Norton won 17-15 over Pannell and then took third place again to become the third individual in his program to win two state medals.

“We had three who came down and two got beat so I was the one left and had to do it for my team, everything was on the line,” Norton said. “Next year, I’m bringing home first. 

Wendling, who placed fifth at the IWCOA and was ranked second when the postseason began, won 6-2 over Sherrard senior Ryder Roelf (40-9) in his first match and then won by technical fall in 3:44 over St. Laurence senior Mike Gentile (29-9). After falling to Luke in the semifinals the senior won another match by technical fall, this time over Brent in 5:21, before Norton avenged his sectional championship loss in the third-place match. But Wendling and the seventh-ranked Turks have assured themselves of a trophy at the dual team finals after beating IC Catholic Prep 39-34 in the quarterfinals.

Pannell (42-10) claimed fifth place in his state debut when he recorded a fall in 4:20 over Brent. After Pannell lost his close match in the opener, he rattled off three-straight falls over Manteno senior Wyatt Young (22-11), Syfert and Gentile before Norton prevailed in the 32-point match which sent the Steamers junior to the fifth-place match. Brent, who was an IWCOA qualifier who won his first five tournaments this season, responded to his first-round fall to Luke by winning 7-3 over IC Catholic Prep senior Brandon Navarro (19-8), who was a three-time state qualifier, and then recording falls over both Root and Roelf before falling to Wendling and wrapping things up in the fifth-place match.

182 – Michael Calcagno, IC Catholic Prep

Like a lot of other wrestlers in 2021, freshman Michael Calcagno hoped to get a chance to compete at state, but for quite some time that didn’t look like it would happen. However, once the IWCOA committed to a state final, hundreds of individuals got the opportunity to experience competing at a state meet, even if it didn’t say IHSA on it.

The IC Catholic Prep sophomore is one of the many success stories where individuals who placed in the IWCOA finals also earned medals in the IHSA finals, including nearly 40 in Class 1A. Calcagno went from being a sixth-place finisher to a state champion after capturing a 9-0 victory over Unity senior Grant Albaugh in the 182 title match. One school that definitely demonstrates just how important the IWCOA finals is Calcagno’s Knights. Of their nine qualifiers, seven also competed in the finals in Springfield and of those, three captured titles, one took second place and another was sixth. IC Catholic Prep headed to the IHSA finals with seven medals in its brief history and now has 12.

Calcagno (21-1), who won four-straight titles through the sectional, opened his title run with a fall in 1:33 over Stillman Valley junior Andrew Forcier (31-13) in his first match and then captured a 7-1 quarterfinals victory over Westville senior Rylee Edwards, who was ranked eighth. He advanced to the finals after being on the mat for just two minutes in the semifinals against Hoopeston Area senior Abel Colunga, who got injured and was unable to compete after that. In the title match, Calcagno met Albaugh, who was ranked ninth but was coming off wins over two of the top-three at 182. The ICCP sophomore took an early 5-0 lead to help him become the first of his team’s three champions.

“It feels amazing,” Calcagno said. “In the football season, I fractured my femur, so I was out for a little bit of the wrestling season. And then I just started up from there. I just did a ton of exercises, and went and got treatment on my leg and just recovered as best as I could. The energy here is crazy, it’s amazing. I have good partners and good teammates, just everything. The energy through the team helps everybody out. We’re all really close to each other, it’s basically like a brotherhood.”. 

Albaugh (33-5), a 2020 state qualifier who was one of three individuals from his school to advance the title mat, opened his tournament run with a fall in 1:35 and then captured a 5-1 victory in the quarterfinals over Winnebago senior Mannix Faworski, who was ranked third. In the semifinals, he won another close match, this time by a 3-1 score over Sandwich senior Alex Alfaro, who was top-ranked at 182.He was one of three second-place finishers for the Tolono school, joining Tavius Hosley (145) and  Nick Nosler (195). The Rockets advanced to the IHSA Dual Team finals, where they assured themselves of a state trophy after defeating Vandalia 41-30 in Friday’s quarterfinals.

“Truthfully it is a blessing to be here,” Albaugh said. “It’s all made possible by my excellent teammates and my excellent practice room. All of the blessings have been showered upon me from God above, including my wonderful family that’s here to support me. It’s definitely not the ending that I hoped for but better than I could have imagined.”

Faworski (40-3), who was fourth at the IWCOA and was Winnebago’s only qualifier, took third place following a 7-3 victory over Edwards. After winning 4-1 over Coal City junior Braiden Young (34-10) in his opening match, Faworski lost 5-1 to Albaugh in the quarterfinals. Then he went 4-0 in the wrestlebacks, recording a fall in 3:59 over Sacred Heart-Griffin junior Cory West (42-5), who was ranked second and took fifth at the IWCOA and then won 4-2 over Macomb junior Max Ryner (46-7), who also qualified for the IWCOA meet. He advanced to the third-place match by default over Colunga and won there 7-3 over Edwards. His brother Bryce won a state title at 160 for the Indians in 2020. In a great example of being committed to the sport while focused on academics, Faworski will complete his associates degree in college just as he graduates from high school.

“I didn’t come here to place third, but things happen,” Faworski said. “I’m grateful for everything and the hardships and I love the sport. I didn’t get frustrated when I lost and everything happens for a reason. I just stayed composed and finished. I’m a senior but I’m doing college courses at Rock Valley College and I’ll be getting my associates’ degree in May, along with my high school diploma. It’s tough going from school to wrestling every day, but I managed to do it.”

In his first match, Edwards (37-4) pinned Rantoul senior Keddrick Terhune (23-7), who was ranked seventh and took sixth in the IWCOA. After falling to Calcagno in the quarterfinals, he got a win by technical fall before getting a fall in 1:27 over Morrison senior Kayden White (35-5) in 1:27, who was ranked fifth and an IWCOA qualifier. He won 11-5 over Alfaro to reach the third-place match and took fourth but still became the seventh individual from his program to win a state medal.

Alfaro (44-4) opened the tournament with a 9-2 win over Peotone senior Oscar Villalobos (37-16) and then beat Ryner 9-3 in the quarterfinals. After falling to Albaugh 3-1 in the semifinals, Alfaro fell to Edwards and took fifth by default. Colunga (36-7), a four-time state qualifier who was ranked sixth, seemed to be on his way to big things after pinning West in his opener and then claiming a 4-2 win over White. But he got hurt in his semifinals match with eventual champion Calcagno and was unable to compete after that. 

195 – Noah Wenzel, Dakota

Beside being a part of a program that has collected around 50 individual titles throughout the years, Noah Wenzel had a very good idea about what it would take to become a state champion and he followed that path at the IHSA Class 1A Finals to accomplish that feat.

The Dakota sophomore followed in the footsteps of his brother Andrew, who took top honors in 2019 and now competes at the Air Force Academy, to join brothers Phoenix and Maddux Blakely with visits to top of the awards stand at the State Farm Center after he got a takedown in overtime to capture an exciting 8-6 win in sudden victory over Unity junior Nick Nosler in the 195 title match. That capped a 41-4 campaign for Wenzel, who placed fourth in last year’s IWCOA finals and prevented Unity from receiving a championship from any of its three individuals who competed on the title mat.

Wenzel opened his tournament with a pair of falls over Lisle junior Joe Raineri (26-14) in the first round and then another in 5:01 in the quarterfinals over Prairie Central junior Connor Steidinger, who was ranked eighth. He earned his spot on the championship mat with a 3-1 decision in the semifinals over Coal City senior Ashton Harvey, who was ranked seventh, to set up his rematch with Nosler, who was ranked second and had beaten Wenzel 1-0 for the championship at the Oak Park and River Forest Invite.

“The fans are really what got me through that match,” Wenzel said. “It feels really weird because I grew up sitting in the stands right there and seeing these wrestlers and now I’m one of them and I’m here. Whenever I saw someone win state I thought there’s no way they’re really celebrating like that, like they planned that, but it just happens. I really have to thank some of the coaches that we had working with me for the past couple of weeks and throughout the entire season.”

Nosler (47-3), who took sixth last year in Fargo in Greco-Roman, had won four of the five tournaments that he competed in heading into his trip to Champaign. He got a fall in 2:00 in his opener against The High School of Saint Thomas More sophomore Brody Cuppernell and then claimed a 3-0 quarterfinals victory over Lena-Winslow/Stockton senior Drew Mensendike, who was ranked fifth. Nosler earned his spot on the title mat with a 4-2 win by sudden victory over Tremont senior Cooper Wendling, who entered the postseason as the top-ranked individual in the weight class.

Harvey (13-2), who was competing at state for the third time, successfully wrapped up a shortened season that was the result of a football injury to claim third place. After recording a fall in 0:57 in his opener over Dixon senior Mitchell White (20-9), who was ranked sixth, Harvey captured a 6-0 quarterfinals victory over Cumberland senior Colby Ryan (42-8), who was an IWCOA qualifier last year. After falling 3-1 to Wenzel in the semifinals, he captured a 7-6 victory over Wendling in the third-place match.

“It feels great to come back,” Harvey said. “I had about a month to prepare, so this is obviously outstanding and I’m glad that I came back and wrestled this year with my team. I knew that I had to go back to try to help the team out. You have to keep fighting and I kept pushing. Everybody down here is solid so I just went out there and pushed as  hard as I could and came away with third.” 

Wendling (33-5), an IWCOA champion and three-time qualifier who was top-ranked after winning titles in his first three tournaments, recorded a win by technical fall in his first match and then captured a 7-0 quarterfinals win over Harvard senior Nathan Rosas (41-6), who was ranked fourth and had placed fifth in both 2021 and 2020. After losing by sudden victory to Nosler in the semifinals, Wendling recorded a fall in 0:37 over Steidinger to advance him to the third-place match, where he was edged by one point to settle for fourth, the same finish that his brother Lucas had at 170, making them the Turks’ only placewinners

Mensendike (46-6) earned his first medal as he claimed fifth place after recording a fall in 3:03 over Steidinger in his final match at state. He opened the tournament with a fall in 2:47 over Westmont senior Jaylan Lacy (38-5), who was an IWCOA qualifier but fell 3-0 to Nosler in the quarterfinals. He pinned Macomb junior Ethan Ladd, who was ranked ninth and an IWCOA qualifier, and then beat Rosas 3-0 to end his hopes of a third medal. He lost by major decision to Harvey to advance to the fifth-place match. Steidinger (37-7), an IWCOA qualifier, opened with a pin before being pinned by Wenzel. He followed with two more falls before being pinned in his final two matches.

220 – Jadon Mims, IC Catholic Prep

After falling one win shy of a state medal as a sophomore and then taking third place at the IWCOA last season, Jadon Mims seemed to be a likely candidate to finish his senior year as a state champion and that’s just what he accomplished by capturing the Class 1A 220 title.

Mims (26-3), who was ranked second, became the second of three IC Catholic Prep champions, following Michael Calcagno (182) and preceding Nick Renteria (120), when he won 5-4 thriller in the 220 title match over Nazareth Academy freshman Gabe Kaminski, who was ranked fifth, when he countered a takedown by Kaminski with 30 seconds remaining by getting a reversal with nine seconds left to clinch the dramatic victory.

He opened the tournament with a win by technical fall over East Alton-Wood River freshman Drake Champlin (32-16) and then captured a 14-10 decision in the quarterfinals over Dixon senior Justin Dallas (24-7). Mims became one of four individuals from his team to reach the title mat when he won 16-6 in the semifinals over Sherrard junior Walker Anderson. Mims and his teammates took part in the IHSA Dual Team Finals in Bloomington but fell 39-34 to Tremont in Friday’s quarterfinals.

“I wrestled him before and he’s a pretty good kid and I have much respect for him,” Mims said. “Michael Calcagno, the 182 state champ, I wrestle with him and my heavyweight was in the finals (Isaiah Gonzalez). We work with each other and we push each other. We go toe-to-toe and make sure we’re fixing the little things, We’re not good teammates, we’re great teammates. This team is very supportive and I will always remember this team. I feel that since I have a positive team they make sure that I’m doing great.”

Kaminski (33-5) just missed out on joining Carlyle’s unbeaten Tyson Waughtel, who took first at 106, as a Class 1A freshman state champion. But he did turn in the second-best showing for an individual at his school with his second-place effort, which ranks behind only Malcolm Watson’s title at the same weight 10 year ago and he’s just the sixth medal winner for the Roadrunners. He claimed a 14-5 win in his opener over Unity senior Oran Varela (35-7), a 2020 qualifier who was ranked fourth, and then won by disqualification to Dwight senior Samuel Edwards (19-2), who was ranked sixth. In the semifinals, he captured a 4-3 win over Reed-Custer junior Kody Marschner, who was ranked third.

“It’s tough that I didn’t get it, but I still have three more years to take care of business,” Kaminski said. “My brother, Jacob, was a state champ his sophomore year and freshman year, he took fourth at Fenwick. Hopefully, I’ll be back.” 

Marschner (40-2), an IWCOA runner-up and three-time state qualifier who won his first four tournaments of the season, got a fall in his opening match and then won 10-3 over Richmond-Burton senior Brock Wood, who was top-ranked, in the quarterfinals. Kaminski ended Marschner’s title hopes with the one-point semifinals defeat but he responded with a 3-1 victory over Hillsboro senior Magnus Wells, who was ranked ninth and an IWCOA qualifier and then defeated Wood by injury default in 3:20 in the third-place match.

Wood (18-2),  an IWCOA champion in 2021 and three-time qualifier who entered the postseason with a number-one ranking in a season that was shortened due to a football injury, recorded a fall in his opener over LeRoy/Tri-Valley senior Andrew Moore (25-13) and then lost to Marschner in the quarterfinals. in his first match in the wrestlebacks, he won 11-5 over Ridgeview/Lexington senior Evan Antonio (39-6), who was ranked seventh and placed fifth in the IWCOA and also was a three-time qualifier. After recording a fall in 4:52 over Hoopeston Area junior Hunter Cannon (35-10), Wood won 5-2 over Anderson to reach the third-place match, where he had to default due to injury at 3:20.

Anderson (40-6) got a fall in his opener and then won 8-0 in the quarterfinals over Wells. After falling to Mims in the semifinals, he lost to Wood but closed out his season with a 6-0 victory over Wells in the fifth-place match. Wells (37-4) opened with a fall over Coal City senior Dylan Cronk (22-15) but then lost to Anderson in the quarterfinals. After losing a close match to Marschner, Wells fell one more time to Anderson to finish sixth.

285 – Charles Jagusah, Alleman

In a season full of dominating performances, it should come as no great surprise that Charles Jagusah closed out his final and most important tournament in impressive fashion to capture his first Class 1A title at 285 and become one of just 11 individuals in Illinois who went unbeaten in 2021-22.

The Alleman junior capped a 41-0 campaign by recording three first-minute falls to reach the title match, where he got a pin in 4:55 over IC Catholic Prep senior Isaiah Gonzalez, who placed second at the weight for the season year in a row. Jagusah, who was top-ranked throughout the season and won five tournaments, won his second medal, adding to his fourth in 2020. He joined Carlyle’s Tyson Waughtel (52-0 at 106), Auburn’s Anthony Ruzic (26-0 at 113) and Riverdale’s Collin Altensey (47-0) as unbeaten 1A champions 

Jagusah needed 32 seconds to record a fall over PORTA junior Isaac Espnschied (24-16) in his opener and got a pin in 53 seconds in the quarterfinals over Auburn junior Cole Edie (39-9), an IWCOA qualifier who was ranked sixth. In the semifinals, he got a fall in 0:52 over Yorkville Christian senior Michael Esquivel, who was ranked fourth.  He’s the third Pioneer to win a state championship. Topher Carton was the last to do it and was an unbeaten champion in 2009 and 2010 while Jerome Reyes won the first title in 1991.

“It’s definitely big just to win here,” Jagusah said. “Not everybody gets to do this and it’s a big accomplishment, but I’m ready for next year. There’s stuff that I need to work on and I’m excited. I knew that this was a tough kid, a more defensive wrestler, so you just kind of have to work. It wasn’t the cleanest match, but I got it done. It’s not really about the undefeated record, it’s more, can I wrestle my best every match and can I improve on the stuff that I need to work on. It’s about peaking out in the finals. Everything’s building up to this match. It wasn’t my best match, but it was a good match and a smart match and I got it done.”

Gonzalez (30-2), who was ranked second and is a 2001 IWCOA runner-up and three-time qualifier who won four titles this season, captured a 4-1 win over Carmi-White County senior Titus Wood in his opener and then beat Polo senior Daniel Engel 8-0 in the quarterfinals before capturing a 6-2 semifinals victory over Mooseheart senior Joshua Gaye to earn another spot in the finals. Gonzalez was one of five placewinners and four finalists for the Knights, who lost to Tremont 39-34 on Friday at the IHSA dual team finals.

“It was a great experience, but I wish it would have ended in a different way,” Gonzalez said. “Moving forward, we want to get as far as possible in that team state tournament.” 

Esquivel (36-14), who placed fifth at the IWCOA last season, recorded a fall in 4:21 in his first match over Cumberland junior Noah Carl (44-8), an IWCOA qualifier who was ranked ninth. In the quarterfinals, he claimed a 4-2 victory over University High School senior Hunter Otto, who was ranked third. After getting pinned by Jagusah in the semifinals, Esquivel won 7-2 over Engel  and then won 6-4 in sudden victory over Gaye to claim third place and also claim the 100th win of his career. He was one of five placewinners for the Mustangs, who made their first appearance in the IHSA Dual Team Finals and advanced to the semifinals with a 63-12 win over Ridgeview/Lexington.

“One hundred right there,” Esquivel said. “My game plan was that I knew that he was going to shoot since he’s a smaller heavyweight. My dad and my coach have been saying to down block hard and circle. I hate going big man, but I had to go big man there, just to get that third place. Even though, it’s 100, I’m not done. We want to add three more.”

Gaye (10-3) made history when he became the first individual to be a state placewinner for Mooseheart. He got a fall in 2:30 in his first match over Tremont senior Luke Sauder and then captured a 10-7 win in the quarterfinals over Unity senior Karson Richardson (47-5), who was ranked eighth. After falling 6-2 to Gonzalez in the semifinals, Gaye defeated Otto 8-5 to advance to the third-place match, where he fell 6-4 in sudden victory to Esquivel.

Otto (32-3), who won five tournaments this season, placed third in the IWCOA last year. He won 5-2 in his opener over Erie/Prophetstown senior Elijah Friedrichsen (44-8), who was ranked seventh and was an IWCOA qualifier. Otto lost to Esquivel 4-2 in the quarterfinals and recorded a fall in 3:15 over Phoenix Military Academy sophomore Brendyn Shields before capturing a 5-2 victory over Wood. After falling to Gaye 8-5, Otto recorded a fall in 5:23 over Engel to take fifth place and become the Pioneers’ lone medalist. Engel (26-6) got a fall in his first match and added two pins in the wrestlebacks before losing to Esquivel and Otto to take sixth place to be one of two Marcos’ medal winners.

By Randy Whalen

For the IWCOA

WASHINGTON – As an undefeated individual state champion in 1999, who helped Providence Catholic to three IHSA Class AA titles from 1997 to 1999, Ryan Cumbee knows what it takes to be a champion. 

When he came to Joliet Catholic Academy in 2017 as an associate head coach, he brought that knowledge and work ethic to the Hilltoppers.  

Now, for the first time in school history, the Hilltoppers will be wrestling in the IHSA Dual Team State finals. In a tense, down-to-the-wire dual meet between the two top-ranked Class 2A teams in the state, they punched their ticket by defeating perennial power Washington 30-29 on its home mat on Tuesday at the Class 2A Washington Sectional.

It will be the first dual team state appearance for JCA, a program that hadn’t won a regional in its history until two years ago. The Hilltoppers (13-1), who are the top team in Class 2A in the IWCOA rankings, will face Riverside-Brookfield (17-7), who was a 68-12 winner over Saint Ignatius College Prep at the Brother Rice Sectional, in a Friday 5 p.m. quarterfinals dual meet at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

“This is the biggest moment in my coaching career,” said Cumbee, who was 46-0 in winning state at 135 as a senior in 1999 and earlier in his coaching career led Marmion Academy to second- and third-place finishes in Class 3A in 2013 and 2014. “I took a program that had almost dropped wrestling five years ago and we did everything from scratch. We barely had a wrestling room then and no mats on the walls.

“We just defeated one of the toughest teams in the state in their home gym. Now we get to go for the gold, baby.”

On the other side, Washington had wrestled for the IHSA Class 2A dual team championship the past six contested seasons. The Panthers won the title four straight years between 2016-19 and finished second in 2015 and 2020. 

Although the two teams wrestled in the second dual of a triangular meet on January 20 at Washington and JCA was victorious by a 45-24 score, the Hilltoppers knew this one wasn’t going to be easy and the teams split the 14 matches.

“We knew it was going to be tough,” said JCA sophomore Connor Cumbee, who is Ryan’s son. “The stakes were a lot higher this time.”

They were and, with his team trailing 22-21, Cumbee registered a pin in 5:26 at 152 pounds to put the Hilltoppers ahead for good at 27-22.

“I knew I needed that pin,” Cumbee said. “I had to do it for the team and it feels great.”

Junior Mason Alessio, who took second at state at 145, followed with a 9-2 victory over sophomore Zane Hulet at 160 and JCA led 30-22. But a huge moment came at 170 pounds when Hilltopper freshman Nico Ronchetti was nearly pinned a couple of times in the third period. But he fought off the attempts and instead lost a 21-9 major decision to junior Blake Hinrichsen.

“In a dual meet everyone had their jobs,” coach Cumbee said. “In certain situations that job is to not give up a lot of points on a tech or a pin. Nico did a great job of that.”

With the Hilltoppers up 30-26, Caden Moore had a similar situation in the final bout. He lost 4-3 to fellow senior Joe Hoffer but the Panthers still fell a point short.

In the 145-pound match, JCA’s Owen O’Connor was disqualified after it was ruled that Panther sophomore, Cael Miller, coach Nick Miller’s son, couldn’t continue due to an injury. The match was stopped a couple of times to see if he could continue, but he could not and had to be helped off the mat. 

There were numerous conversations with the officials during that time and the Panther coach was given a deduction of one team point.

“I’m not happy with that,” Nick Miller said of the one-point penalty. “He gave me an unsportsmanlike penalty and that was a team penalty, too. 

“But we knew it would be a battle coming in. When we wrestled them earlier in the season, we had some guys out. I wish this wasn’t a sectional matchup but I told our guys that it was pretty cool to have a state championship match in our own gym.”

The meet started at 195 and Washington had a pin in 3:56 by senior Donnie Hidden, who took second at state . But JCA tied it with a couple of 3-1 wins. The first was by senior Owen Gerdes over junior Justin Hoffer at 220 and the other was at 285 when sophomore Dillan Johnson beat senior Tyler Casey with a takedown seven seconds into overtime .

Johnson, who pinned all his opponents at state in capturing the championship at 285 last weekend to become one of just 11 undefeated state title winners, improved ro 35-0. Casey bumped up a weight class after taking third at 220.

“I got called for stalling,” Johnson said of surrendering a third-period point that tied the score at 1-1. “But I did a post-snap and it was the move I was looking for to take him down in overtime. This is what we’ve been working for. This was our goal all year long.”

JCA freshman Noah Avina had a forfeit win at 106, Hilltoppers state champion junior Gylon Sims got a pin in 5:20 at 113 and sophomore Justus Snapp had a 7-5 victory over sophomore Eli Gonzalez at 120 as the Hilltoppers had a five-match win streak to go up 21-6. 

But Washington came back with four-straight wins. That started with freshman Peyton Cox won 4-2 over senior Shay Korhorn at 126. Panthers senior Josh Biagini won 5-2 over junior Jake Hamiti at 132 and then 132 state champion junior Kannon Webster continued his success with a win by technical fall over senior Logan Kuhel-Trimmer at 138. That narrowed the team score gap to four points and the Panthers took their brief lead in the 145-pound bout.  

In the other dual at Washington, No. 6 Rock Island was a 42-27 winner over No. 12 Sycamore. That advanced the Rocks (14-9) to state for the first time since 1992. They face Deerfield (25-5) in a Class 2A state quarterfinal on Friday at 7 p.m. at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

“We’ve just worked hard, talked about doing something in the postseason, and we did,” said Rock Island coach Joel Stockwell, who is in his 14th season at the school. “Hopefully this is the start of something big and we’re not waiting another 30 years to get to state.”

Rock Island won eight matches but most were of the big-point nature. Sophomore Andrew Marquez started it off with a pin in 5:36 at 195. The Spartans (19-9) took a brief 9-6 lead but the Rocks rallied for seven-straight victories. 

Those were from freshman Merrick Stockwell with a forfeit at 106, sophomore Truth Vesey with a pin in 55 seconds at 113, junior Sammy Niyonkuru had a 9-0 major decision at 120, Dominick Eckman-Allred received a forfeit win at 126, junior Tyler Barbee had a pin at the 5:00 mark at 132, senior Aoci Bernard, who was the 138 state champion, had a win by technical fall win and junior Tristan Willoughby won a 9-4 decision over fellow junior Jaden Cochran at 145 pounds. 

“I bumped up to 113 pounds and was able to get a pin,” said Vesey, who wrestled at 106 in the individual state finals. “It (advancing to state) is history. We worked so hard in the room, coach pushed us all week, and we knew we had to do it. I feel we can beat any team. We just have to go hard and push through.”

Senior Jackson Funderburg had a pin in 4:25 at 220 and junior Lincoln Cooley had a 9-4 decision over sophomore Eli Gustafson at heavyweight to give Sycamore a brief 9-6 lead.

After Rock Island had clinched the match, the Spartans had a trio of forfeit wins. Those were awarded to senior Brayden Peet, who took second place at state at 152, junior Gus Cambier at 160 and junior Zack Crawford at 170. The 182-pound match was a double forfeit.

“I knew coming in that it was going to be tough,” Sycamore coach Alex Nelson said. “We had to make some moves in bumping guys around. 

“But we had a great season and we were regional champs. But Joel does a great job with those guys and I’m happy for them.”

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By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

BURBANK – While there are plenty of examples of brothers who were coaches that met up with one another throughout the regular season, those matchups have rarely ever happened during the postseason, which is probably a good thing if you want to keep harmony in the family .

But on Tuesday at the IHSA Class St. Laurence Sectional, a dual meet involving Lockport and Yorkville is believed to be the first time in the history of dual team state series that squads led by two brothers squared off to see which team would qualify for the state finals and which one would see its successful season come to an end.

Fifth-ranked Lockport, coached by Josh Oster, met up with eighth-ranked Yorkville, who’s coached by his brother, Jake Oster, to see who would qualify for Friday’s 7 p.m. Class 3A quarterfinals at Grossinger Motor Arena in Bloomington against second-ranked Marist.

While the unbeaten Foxes put up a good fight to try to advance to state for the first time in 10 years, the Porters won five of the first six matches to establish control of the dual meet and they went on to capture a 39-24 victory which advances them to state for the sixth time in the last seven years that the tournament has been held.

Lockport (17-5) capped a run of three-straight Class 3A trophies with a state title in 2017 but lost its quarterfinals dual meet at state in both 2019 and 2020. Meanwhile, Yorkville suffered its first defeat in 19 dual meets this season as it was attempting to get back to state for the first time since 2012, when it placed second in Class 2A.

After Shane McEntee won 11-9 over Cam Peach to put the Porters up 3-0 in the opener at 138, the Foxes grabbed their only lead at 6-3 when Cole Farren got a fall in 5:05 at 145. Lockport then collected wins in the next four matches as Logan Swaw won 5-1 over Luke Zook at 152, Paul Kadlec beat Nick Sinopoi 9-5 at 160, Paul Rasp claimed a 13-6 win over Brody Williams at 170 and Brayden Thompson, the unbeaten state champion at 170, recorded a fall in 2:23 at 182 to give the Porters an 18-6 lead. 

“This is going to be a great team for the next few years because we have a really good young core, and I think that it’s just going to keep coming. This was really cool,” Farren said of the Foxes’ successful season. “We’ve had more people show up for wrestling events and that’s just helped to fuel the fire for our team. We battled as hard as we could. I’m a senior, so I’m graduating, but next year, it might be a different story. These guys are very good and they’re going to work their butts off and they’re going to come back.

Hunter Janeczko got a fall at 195 to pull Yorkville to within 18-12 but 220 champion Andrew Blackburn-Forst won by forfeit and after Ben Alvarez defeated Cody Silzer 6-3 at 285 to pull to Foxes to within 24-15, Liam Zimmerman got a fall in 5:04 at 106, Nore Turner won 1-0 over Jack Ferguson at 113 and David Vukobratovich got a fall in 3:42 at 120 to end the drama. The Foxes closed things out with a fall by Dom Coronado in 4:20 at 126 and Ryder Janeczko won 6-4 in overtime over Logan Kaminski to end the dual meet.

“I just feel like we put everything out there in team sectionals,” Turner said. “We didn’t give many bonus points up. We came here with a mission, to go to state, so we just came here and did what we had to do. We produce a lot of great wrestlers and I think we should keep that going. No one man makes a team, so we just have to come together as a welll-oiled machine, get in and get out, and go to state and hopefully win it and walk out as champions.”

Josh Oster has a 219-47 record coaching the Porters since 2012, when he led his very first team to state. The 2002 Lockport graduate competed for and served as an assistant coach for eight years under IWCOA hall of famer Joe Williams, who built a great foundation for the program and won 294 duals meets in his 21 years as Lockport’s head coach. 

The Porters’ coaching staff has truly been a family affair for the Osters, who at one time or another have had all of his brothers sit in the corner. Jameson, who won one of each of the four medals during his career from 2008-11 with a title in 2009, has been one of Josh’s assistants for several seasons.

“This is about advancing and after the state tournament, everyone’s a little beat up and it’s a quick turnaround from Saturday to today,” Josh Oster said. “We obviously wrestled some kids at different weights, and that was the plan all along, we just needed everyone to execute and those guys who wrestled out of weight did what they were supposed to do, so it worked out. It’s always a little bit of a risk, but you’re balancing that we have to be healthy and it’s Friday now, instead of Saturday, so there’s one less day.

“I was told on Saturday that this was the first time in IHSA history that siblings were wrestling to make the team finals, so we had a little bit of history, which is nice. But it’s not the first time that we’ve coached against each other, but this was the biggest stage, obviously. I coached Jake in his state finals match and coached Jamie in the state finals match and coached with Jamie in a team state final. We’ve kind of done it all together. They’ve got a good team and they’ve got a young team so I know that he’s pretty excited.”

While Josh had a successful career for the Porters, Jake was the first in the family to win a state championship and to place at state, which he did in 2004 while his older brother was assisting Williams. Shayne was a three time medalist, winning a title in 2015, giving the family three titles and eight medals.

Jake Oster’s sixth season as head coach at Yorkville produced one the best dual team winning percentages in the program’s rich history. The Foxes won titles at Sycamore and the Southwest Prairie Conference to go along with their first regional title since 2013. With only one senior in their regional lineup to go along with a total of eight freshmen and sophomores, the future certainly looks bright for Yorkville.

“They showed a lot of heart today,” Jake Oster said of his Foxes. “We knew that Lockport was good and they’re tough, but we went out and they scrapped hard. There were a couple of matches where we could swing it the other way, we were in these matches and felt like we could really change the dual. But I’m proud of the way they all fought and wrestled hard and they did what they needed to do, but it just didn’t happen for us today.

“We have a lot of young guys and in our regional lineup, we had one senior in it. So it will be good to have almost every single guy back. These kids expect to win and they’re competitors and have been wrestling with each other since they’ve been five years old. They want to get better and want to win with each other and having that tight-knit group is really helpful.

“My brothers and I grew up together and we’re competitive and we want to beat each other whenever we’re going at it, it doesn’t matter if it’s dominoes or wrestling matches, we want to win. Having learned from my brothers and seeing their success, I can take things from that and watching them have success and then implementing it with our team. I think we’re close and I’m looking forward to next year.”

FROM THE IWCOA: If you are enjoying these articles, please consider a small donation to the IWCOA so that we can continue funding feature stories for our website and social media. The IWCOA is non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. Click this link to make a donation. Thank you!

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

BURBANK – There were a lot of interesting story lines on Tuesday at the IHSA Class 1A St. Laurence Dual Team Sectional, which took place in Burbank.

First there were two teams that are ranked in the state’s top 10, Yorkville Christian and IC Catholic Prep, who both had five state placewinners and nine qualifiers and they were seeking to advance to this weekend’s IHSA Dual Team State Tournament at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

Then there were the host Vikings, who won a regional title for the first time since 1990, the year that they made their only state tournament appearance and won a state title. 

And Phoenix Military Academy got the opportunity to compete in a sectional, which was a good reward for a Chicago school that won three tournament titles this season.

Yorkville Christian, which has only had a program for four seasons, is headed to state for the first time after capturing a 56-21 victory over Phoenix Military Academy. In the other dual, IC Catholic Prep will make its second state trip and first tr since 2018 with hopes of competing in more than one dual this time following its 66-12 win over St. Laurence.

Coach Mike Vester’s Mustangs (20-6), who were ranked second heading into the postseason, make their state debut on Friday at 7 p.m. when they face another newcomer to the competition, Ridgeview/Lexington (23-5), who’s ranked 23rd and earned its spot in the quarterfinals after claiming a 43-32 win over Prairie Central at the Tremont Sectional. Fourth-ranked Unity (31-3) and sixth-ranked Vandalia (32-4) will also compete at 7 p.m.

“I looked at a note I wrote to myself four years ago when we started the program and it was a message that I sent to the first two parents that joined,” Vester said. “I said that here is my philosophy, if you build something good, it doesn’t matter if you have two, four or six kids, people will see it and will want to be a part of it and little by little, we got the right people. Did I think that we would get to state in four years? I don’t know about that. “

One of the biggest reasons for the team’s success was the decision to go up against the best competition that was available. That’s why Yorkville Christian competed in tournaments like Antioch’s DeRousse, DeKalb’s Flavin, The Cheesehead in Wisconsin and Mahomet-Seymour’s Williams to see bigger schools and it also had dual meets against highly-ranked teams in 3A and 2A, such as Deerfield, Joliet Catholic Academy, Lockport, Rock Island and Washington.

“I think that was the difference maker, honestly,” Vester said. “They think that they can compete with anybody, so when you have that, you don’t have a lot of doubt. We talk about the goal, we don’t talk about the people. What’s really cool about that is that it doesn’t matter who’s there, you just put the goal out there and wrestle who’s there.”  

Getting falls for the Mustangs, who won the Seneca Regional, were Braulio Flores (138), Tyler Martinez (160), Jackson Gillen (170), Christopher Durbin (182), Jackson Mehochko (195) and Michael Esquivel (285) while Drew Torza (152) and Noah Dial (132) won major decisions and Aiden Larsen (106) and Isaac Bourge (120) had forfeit wins.

“It’s definitely exciting,” Durbin said. “I was here as a freshman, left my sophomore year and now I’m back here and I’m just happy to be a part of the program. I’m really excited since  we’ve definitely built up a nice team and I think that we are going to sit well in the state finals. Hard work is in the room and everyone is pushing each other all of the time. And since day one, this was always the task of being able to wrestle in Bloomington. This year we have a lot of tough guys and even the newer guys are tough, they’re hammers and I’m happy to have them in the room with us. We were wrestling these bigger and tough schools and that really contributed to our success this season.”

Coach Daniel Curin’s Firebirds, who were champions of the Chicago Hope Academy Regional, received falls from Rafael Soto (145), Kaleb Abney (220) and Jose Lua (126) while Adan Bucio (113) won a 7-1 decision over Brooklyn Sheaffer.

Yorkville Christian’s five placewinners are champion Gillen (170), runner-up Bourge (120), third-place finishers Martinez (160) and Esquivel (285) and fifth-place finisher Larsen (106). Falling one win shy of medals were Dial (132) and Torza (152) while Grason Johnson (126) and Flores (138) also were state qualifiers. And Brooklyn Sheaffer has the unique opportunity of not only being a part of a team that is seeking to win a state championship but is also competing individually in the inaugural IHSA Girls State Finals.

“This has been my favorite team, by far,” Sheaffer said. “They’ve accepted me since day one and wanted to work with me. If I have a question or if I’m upset after a match, they’re always going to help me out. Every single person on the team has really impacted me and made me become a better wrestler. Most of my wins are because of my teammates. We’re always really supportive of each other. After each match we’ll tell each other if we need to work on something. It’s just a really good learning experience for anybody. Everybody on the team has known each other since they were nine, so we’re a really tight group.” 

Firebirds who competed in the state tournament were Vin Moreno (120), Omar Ramirez (132), Brendyn Shields (285), Lua (126) and Soto (138).

Coach Jason Renteria’s ninth-ranked Knights (13-5) are headed to state for the first time since their initial appearance in 2018 and will face the other team that advanced from the Tremont Sectional, the host Turks, in a 5 p.m. dual meet on Friday. Seventh-ranked Tremont (26-3) beat Kewanee 68-15 to advance to state for the third time, with the others being in 2020 and 2019, and that program also hopes to win its first trophy. Also competing at 5 p.m. are 11th-ranked Sandwich (22-4) and 20th-ranked Harvard (18-3).

Although this is his first opportunity to coach a team at state, the high level of competition that he’ll see there is nothing new to the four-time finalist and two-time state champion who competed for Oak Park and River Forest from 2013-2017, helping the Huskies to Class 3A titles in 2014, 2015 and 2016 for head coaches Mike Powell and Paul Collins.

“I think that the morale going into the team state finals is definitely moving in the right direction,” Renteria said. “The kids are excited and it’s all about doing my job to make sure that they are ready and being prepared, so I’m on my toes, strategy-wise. I know how team duals go, I was on three state championship dual teams. I understand the whole strategy and everything else that comes into play. So I know that me and my coaching staff have to be ready for whatever gets thrown at us. 

“The guys are really starting to buy in and really believe in not only themselves but also believing in each other. So when we come into team stuff now, it’s not only the guys that are wrestling, it’s the whole team. And that’s what’s really starting to become special about this team, it’s really becoming a family and a brotherhood, and that’s all I can ask for. The whole brotherhood and the family-type situation comes from the way that Oak Park laid it out for us in high school. I know how lucky that I was to be a part of that type of family and brotherhood, and I’m just trying to build something new at a different school.”

Recording falls for the Knights, who were the champions of the Walther Christian Regional, were Nathan Brown (138), Michael Calcagno (182), Vinnie Gonzalez (195), Jadon Mims (225), Sam Stec (285), Bryson Spaulding (126) and Omar Samoyoa (132). Picking up victories by forfeit were Joseph Gliatta (145), Marcheon Griffin (170), Andrew Alvarado (113) and Nick Renteria (120).

“We’ve just worked all of the time and just got the job done,” Gliatta said. “We’ve been training hard in the room and it just shows that if you train hard that you can do great things. The champs worked their butts off and they did what they had to do and it just showed that we’re dominant in 1A. I like the chemistry that we have. We’re always hanging out and having fun, that’s just the biggest thing that we have. We’re going to practice hard these next two days and hopefully bring back the championship.”

State champions for IC Catholic Prep are Renteria (120), Calcagno (182) and Mims (220) while Isaiah Gonzalez (285) took second and Gliatta (145) placed sixth. Alvarado fell one win shy of a medal while Brandon Navarro (170), Spaulding (126) and Samayoa (132) also competed at the state finals.

“I just wanted to help the team get down there and just perform like I usually do,” Alvarado said. “We know that all of the work that we’ve put in the room has been paying off since we’re going back down there. I’m just excited to see what it’s like. The state tournament was very fun. I wish that I could have done a little bit better, but it was still a lot of fun. We all started very slow but in the end, we’ve picked it up and we’re just grinding in the room. I like the coaching. Jay really helped me a lot and made me a lot better.”

Coach Marcel Cook’s Vikings, who advanced to the event after winning the title at the Bowen Regional, had a pair of winners, Joseph Barnett (152), who recorded a fall, and Henry Coughlin (160), who won by forfeit to make it 12-12 in the early going. Mike Gentile (170) fell one win shy of placing while Coughlin was St. Laurence’s other qualifier.

Lena-Winslow/Stockton was top-ranked but fell 34-32 to Sandwich at the Rock Falls Sectional while 14th-ranked Newman Central Catholic also was eliminated in the Rock Falls Sectional in a 43-28 loss to Harvard and 19th-ranked Auburn fell 54-30 to Vandalia in the Unity Sectional. Half of the top 20 teams saw their hopes dashed in the regionals. 

While the field now looks to be wide open and Yorkville Christian is the highest-ranked remaining in the field, the Mustangs aren’t focused on the rankings considering that programs like Vandalia, Sandwich and Harvard have many state appearances and trophies to their credit and Unity, Tremont, and IC Catholic Prep have all made recent trips.

Throughout the years, 165 schools have advanced to the dual team finals and 100 of those did not place in their first appearance, which is a bit more than 60 percent of the total. And only nine schools have won titles in their initial visit to state, one of which was St, Laurence’s 1990 squad, which is just over five percent.

After being a one-day competition in recent years, the Dual Team Tournament now starts on Friday for all three classes with quarterfinals at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and the semifinals will be on Saturday at 9 a.m. and 11 a..m. and the first- and third place dual meets are at 7 p..m. 

The change in schedule was made in order to accommodate the inaugural IHSA Girls Individual State Tournament, which is at the same site with first- and quarterfinals-round matches and the first rounds of wrestlebacks on Friday morning and afternoon and the semifinals will be at 9 a.m. on Saturday with consolation and placement matches following. The initial Grand March will be at 1:45 p.m. with the title matches set for 2 p.m.

FROM THE IWCOA: If you are enjoying these articles, please consider a small donation to the IWCOA so that we can continue funding feature stories for our website and social media. The IWCOA is non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. Click this link to make a donation. Thank you!

By Mike Garofola
For the IWCOA

CHAMPAIGN — Mt. Carmel dominated the headlines at the 84th IHSA State Wrestling Championships.

The Caravan collected four individual state titles, and seven medals overall when the final whistle completed a glorious three days of 3Acompetition inside State Farm Center.

The Caravan’s seven medals led all teams, followed closely by DeKalb (6) and Marist (5), while a handful of other clubs came in with four overall medals.

Here are the stories of this year’s individual 3A state champions:

106 Seth Mendoza, Mt. Carmel

Seth Mendoza stormed through to his state final after completing the destruction of all who stood before him – then continued doing so one last time to capture his first IHSA crown, and sixth major of the season following his impressive technical fall victory at 2:39 over Fremd senior Wiley Jessup.

“(Wiley) had a great tournament to get into the final, so I wanted my effort to be physical and non-stop. Once I scored that first take-down, I was immediately confident that if I continued wrestling that way, I could win the match and a state title,” said Mendoza (39-2) who was a Fargo champion back in mid-July at 16U.

“I’ve been working hard on my conditioning and cardio from the very start, and have really watched what I eat. Plus we have a great coaching staff, led by coach (Alex) Tsirtsis, and a really supportive group of teammates that are in the room working really hard every day, encouraging all of us to be better,” continued Mendoza, who grabbed a first period lead with a pair of near-falls to go out to a 10-2 advantage after two minutes of play.

“I fully expected Seth to be a very difficult opponent, but he was so tough, and nearly impossible to defend. He clearly was the best at 106,” said Jessup (42-6) who took full advantage of another opportunity to shine after sustaining a blow to his armor and a fourth-place finish at individual sectional one week prior.

“I was not feeling really good about my sectional, and wasn’t sure what this weekend would end up to be,” Jessup said. “But coach (Jeff) Keske and I worked through a few things and he reminded me that I had a fresh start here at state. Although it doesn’t feel good to get this close and lose, in a day or so I’ll realize a second-place finish at state is something to be proud of.”

Medal winners: Mendoza, Jessup, Deion Johnson (Homewood-Flossmoor, 38-7), Ino Garcia (Batavia, 42-6), Ethan Spacht (Bradley-Bourbonnais, 29-5), Brady Phelps (Schaumburg, 30-6).

113 — Jameson Garcia, Marmion Academy

After a nervous start to the tournament, Jameson Garcia got himself up on his front foot and with the wind in his sails, put his game in full throttle en route to his second state championship following a 11-4 victory over Damian Resendez (30-9) of Mt. Carmel.

Garcia, who won an IWCOA crown last summer, overcame upset-minded Rory Burright (16-6) in his opening bout on Thursday when the senior from DeKalb nearly sprung the biggest surprise on day No. 1.

“(Jameson) had a big scare in his first match when he got put on his back, and was nearly pinned, but it takes a lot of heart and toughness to fight off being on your back in a situation like that,” said Marmion Academy head coach Nathan Fitzenreider.

“After his 8-7 win, I looked at Jameson and said, ‘well, we now have that out of the way’. He said he was all good so I knew after that it was going to be a very good weekend for him. HJe does such a great job of keeping his composure in all of his matches, while still being aggressive.”

“Yeah, that was kind of a scary moment for me in that match,” admitted Garcia, now 32-4 overall in advance of dual-team sectionals. “But this is an environment that I like, and feel comfortable, so after getting that first day out of the way, I felt as good as I possibly could.”

On day No. 2, Garcia recorded a 7-0 win over Bryce Durlacher, then turned in a dazzling six minutes on his way to a 14-4 semifinal triumph against Michael Esteban from Marist.

Once in his final with Resendez, it was all Garcia, who just 18 seconds into the match registered a take-down, increased his lead to 6-3 after two periods, then slowly added to his advantage en route to his win.

“There really wasn’t any game plan we put together for Resendez. It was just me going out and wrestling my style, because I feel most comfortable competing that way,” said Garcia, who beat Resendez one week earlier in his sectional semifinal at Hinsdale Central.

“Jameson’s final was a thing of beauty,” begins Fitzenreider.

“Most of the state finals before his were low scoring, and very close, so I told him to just go out and let it fly, and that’s exactly what he did. He scored really quick, and he never stopped, and it was great to see that big smile of his after his match was over.

“Jameson works harder than anyone I’ve seen, and it showed this weekend.”

Medal winners: Garcia, Resendez, Evan Gosz (Fremd, 42-4), Trevor Silzer (Andrew, 35-4), Bryce Durlacher (Mundeleiin, 40-4), Michael Esteban (Marist, 36-13).

120 — Ben Davino, St. Charles East

There’s no way around it – Ben Davino has set the 120-pound wrestling world on fire this season.

The St. Charles East sensational sophomore has been red-hot since the first whistle of the season. Saints coach Jason Potter says when Davino is ‘feeling it’ there’s just no stopping him.

Davino completed the rout of his weight class here in Champaign after storming past the superb junior from Loyola Academy, Massey Odiotti (40-5) with a 19-4 technical fall victory at 5:58, much to the delight of Potter and the Saints’ faithful.

“For Ben, in an atmosphere like this, he just wants to go out there and put on a show, and with all due respect to a talented kid like (Odiotti), that’s exactly what he did tonight,” said Potter after Davino recorded his 26th tech-fall of the season.

“He’s well on his way to breaking so many school records, including tech-falls. He easily passed my ‘measly’ (21) tech-falls in a season,” said Potter, a former Saint himself.

Davino (37-1) recorded five consecutive tech-falls — three on his way to a sectional title and three out of his four bouts downstate.

Now a two-time state champion after winning an IWCOA state title last year, Davino (37-1) has been magnificent since exploding into his sophomore year.

“Ben pushes the pace really hard, and I really couldn’t keep up with it. He’s so quick and really never slows down,” said Odiotti, who became the first in Loyola program history to advance into a state final.

“Massey is very strong, and looks to throw whenever he can,” Davino said. “With that in mind, it was important for me to get an early lead, keep adding to my lead, and just not allow him to get comfortable at any time in the match.

“With each day I’m always trying to improve in some way or another by watching film, going live, and always just having fun,” said Davino, whose close control, pace, strength, and clinical finishing gives him a well-balanced, and impressive portfolio.


“Ben enjoys a challenge and at times this season, he would see someone at a weight above him and ask if he can bump in order to go with that person. It’s a real joy to watch him compete,” says Potter.

Odiotti enjoyed a break-out junior season under former Neuqua Valley star, Matt Collum, now in his third season at Loyola. Odiotti claimed seven tournament majors this season, four of which came at 126 pounds.

Medal winners: Davino, Odiotti, Caelan Riley (Libertyville, 40-5), Daniel Aranda (DeKalb, 31-10), Joey Malito (Lincoln-Way Central, 44-3), Sammie Hayes (Sandburg, 112-3).

126 — Sergio Lemley, Mt. Carmel

It was easily one of the most anticipated finals of the evening and why not?

No. 1 Vincent Robinson (Homewood-Flossmoor, 32-3) vs No. 2 Sergio Lemley (Mt. Carmel, 40-1), two nationally ranked stars who were meeting for the first time since Robinson’s sudden victory (3-1) in the semifinals at the Ironman tournament.

Whole sections of wrestling walls are devoted to such an event and in the end it would be Lemley’s impressive 10-5 victory that would add another memorable piece to the Mt. Carmel wall.

The Caravan junior would stay cool, calm, and composed during a tense second period in which Robinson would concede two penalty points (three for the match) in and around injury time, before Lemley simply had too much for his long-time rival en route to his second state title. It was the third of Lemley’s career, with another coming in the state of Indiana in 2021, before he made his way back across the border to wrestle for head coach Alex Tsirtis at Mt. Carmel.

“I just went out there and let it fly from the first whistle, and with each injury time and penalty point he gave up it just made me push the pace even more, to the point when I knew he was just gassed,” said Lemley, who is a Folkstyle National Champion.

“I was really looking forward to avenge my loss at the Ironman. It was my only defeat of the season. When the chance came to take the lead I wanted to keep it and continue to add to it.”

A third penalty point gave Lemley the lead for good at 6-5, before he made it 10-5 with an explosive move, much to the delight of the big crowd.

“We’re so fortunate to have a great coaching staff, which has made me the wrestler that I knew I could be. With a strong room of teammates, training harder than I ever have before, and watching what I eat, I feel like I can be even better as we go forward,” said Lemley.

In one of the deepest and most talented divisions, Stevenson junior Lorenzo Frezza would bounce back from a 8-5 loss in the semifinals to Robinson to take home a third-place medal following his 8-2 decision over senior Jacob Macatangay (45-3) from Plainfield South.

Medal winners: Lemley, Robinson, Lorenzo Frezza (Stevenson, 41-2), Jacob Macatangay (Plainfield North, 45-3), Brian Beers (Barrington, 43-8), Paul Woo (Glenbard North, 334-8).

132 — Nasir Bailey, Rich Township

It was another No. 1 versus No. 2 – and once again, it was the No. 1 that prevailed in a history-making performance.

Rich Township junior and nationally-ranked Nasir Bailey (41-0) capped his perfect season with a well deserved 6-1 decision over IWCOA reigning state champion, Will Baysingar (Prospect, 47-2) to bring home the first ever state title in program history.

“It feels real good to be the guy who won the first state championship at Rich Township” Bailey said. Bailey is now a three-time state champion, his second coming in the state of Texas a year ago at Martin High School, and two years after claiming the 120-pound crown while at Thornton Fractional North in his rookie season.

“I think getting that early lead was the difference in our match, plus I thought my pace made it impossible for (Baysingar) to get anything going,” said Bailey, an Ironman champ this season and a junior Freestyle champion at 132 in Fargo in the summer of 2021.

“(Nasir) is a tough opponent,” Baysingar said. “I just wish I would have come back from that early take-down to make it 2-1, because then I could have gone to my ties, and been tough on top. The entire complexion of the match could have been different,” ‘

Baysingar conceded a trio of take-downs in the first period, forcing the University of Illinois recruit to chase a 6-1 advantage after the first period.

Medal winners: Bailey, Baysingar, Tyler Guerra (St. Charles East, 32-6),Billy Meiszner (Providence Catholic, 32-9), Danny Curran (DeKalb, 31-6), Cody Tavoso (Hinsdale Central, 26-6).

138 Kole Brower, Moline

After winning a Mudge-McMorrow tournament title early in the season, Brower promised that he’d land atop the downstate podium at season’s end.

“I never break my promises,” Brower said.

The Illinois-bound Moline senior won his second straight state title and seventh major of the season with his 13-3 major victory over Batavia junior Kaden Fetterolf, who himself enjoyed an extraordinary tournament in his third downstate visit.

“I won this state title tonight because of my family, friends, teammates, and especially Noah Tapia, who has been a great partner in the room, and a great friend. Without him, I would have never had the success I’ve had here at Moline,” said Brower, now 46-1 on the season.

“The support from all of the people here tonight is kind of overwhelming, so for me, this state championship is for them also,” added Brower, who had 2A two-time state champion Kannon Webster (Washington) on hand when Brower accepted his championship bracket plaque.

Webster, Brower and others were all on the 2021 Junior Greco/Roman team from Illinois that won the team title in July of 2021.

Brower went to work quickly against Fetterfolf (41-6) who was seeking a second consecutive state crown for Batavia after Mikey Caliendo won Batavia’s first state title last summer. Fetterolf’s chances were dashed when Brower went up 6-2 midway through the second period and added to his lead when it became 11-3 with 30 seconds remaining in the second period.

“The game plan with Kole was the same as it’s been all season – win the match on your feet, because we knew (Fetterolf) was very good on top,” said Moline head coach, Jacob Ruettiger. “We wrestled a very tough schedule to get the team and our individuals ready for this exact moment.”

For the season, Brower collected 27 pins, 7 tech-falls, 5 majors, and an astounding 301 take-downs.

This Group of Granite weight class would feature seven men with 40 wins or more on the season, two of which were unable to break through and into the top six.

Junior Jimmy Nugent of Downers Grove South nearly pulled a stunning upset in his semifinal match when he would head-lock Brower in the first period, only to have the eventual state champ find a way to stay alive en route to a 13-9 victory.

Stevenson senior Cole Rhemrev, who will wrestle in the fall at Indiana, arrived here on his fourth visit, and came away with a second state medal after coming back from a heart-breaking 6-2 loss in his semifinal with Fetterolf.

Medal winners: Brower, Fetterolf, Jimmy Nugent (Downers Grove South, 39-7), Harrison Konder (Downers Grove North, 43-5), Cole Rhemrev (Stevenson, 40-2) Dylan Gvillo (Edwardsville, 46-8).

145 Tommy Curran, DeKalb

With the memory of of back-to-back second place finishes firmly etched into his mind, DeKalb’s Tommy Curran (30-1) erased that disappointment away in the closing seconds of his championship bout with Noah Tapia.

The four-year veteran, on his way to North Carolina State in the fall, escaped from a wild scramble at the edge to earn the two-point winner in opening finals match of the evening.

“Everything happened so quick near the end of my match with Noah,” said Curran, moments after his 3-1 victory.

“He was a great opponent and I tried to push the pace as often as I could, knowing I had to get to his legs. When I finally did, I was able to get the two points for the win.”

“I was so nervous heading into this match because of what happened the last two years in the state tournament. I didn’t want that to happen again so I really feel I was way too cautious throughout the match, and not as explosive as I have been,” said Curran, who pinned his way to a sectional title, and added two more pins downstate to give him 20 heading into dual-team sectionals.

“Noah left it all out there tonight,” said coach Jacob Ruettiger. “It was just a great effort on his part, and I could not have been prouder of him.”

Medal winners: Curran, Tapia, Jayson Robinson (Homewood-Flossmoor, 33-7), Charlie Fifield (Fremd, 45-6), Antonio Alvarado (Belvidere North, 42-7), Drew Landau (Edwardsville, 36-12).

152 — Ethan Stiles, Conant

It was a masterful piece of tactical planning and execution that led to Ethan Stiles’ second state championship.

The Conant junior, who won at an IWCOA crown last summer in Springfield, earned another in Champaign in a tense six-minute contest that ended in a 1-0 decision over Damari Reed, who himself captured a 2021 IWCOA state title 

Reed looked ready to continue his offensive assault against Stiles after roaring past all three of his rivals. It was Stiles’ (30-1) workmanlike style and effort that sent him easily into his final.

“Ethan is a cool and calm customer,”Conant head coach, Andrew Guilde said. “It’s all business with him but he can also be a relentless opponent to anyone, regardless of their style and ability. It’s his focus and desire to succeed that makes him so tough out there.”

“My plan all along was to limit Damari’s chances and make him work for anything and everything,” Stiles said. “Most importantly, I wanted to get on top and ride him out hard when the opportunity presented itself.”

Stiles would defend a late first period shot, leading into a second period in which Reed (35-1) chose to begin down – a decision in which played to the strength of Stiles, who did his best boa constrictor imitation for the entire two minutes.

Reed deferred to start the third period to give Stiles the only point he would ultimately need. Despite two attempts to score with 43 and 12 seconds remaining, Reed was unable to pry open Stiles, who defended magnificently to the end.

Stiles also ended a long IHSA dry spell for a Cougars program that last celebrated a state champion in 1996 when Dan Weber won a state title in the same weight class.

“It’s a nice feeling to get this state title for myself and the Conant program,” Stiles said. “The program has been very supportive of me once I arrived, it has a great coaching staff and a terrific atmosphere in the room which leads to success.

“One of the things I take great pride in is not allowing points to be scored on me, and especially not from being taken down,” added Stiles, who would concede just a few escape points in his four downstate matches.

“Ethan’s commitment to the sport is far reaching,” Guilde said. “His diet, values, training regimen, and work in the classroom is second to none. We’re all very proud of him for all of that, and obviously his work on the mats as well.”

Medal winners: Stiles, Reed, Damien Lopez (DeKalb, 30-5), Will Collins (Glenbrook South, 25-4), Collin Carrigan (Marmion Academy, 27-5), Logan Swaw (Lockport, 32-8).

160 — Colin Kelly, Mt. Carmel

Colin Kelly won the first major championship of his career and third of the day for Mt. Carmel in stunning fashion when he beat previously undefeated Chris Moore (48-1) of McHenry, 3-1 in the 160-pound final.

The sophomore recorded a sudden victory decision to send the Caravan faithful into orbit, who knew the odds were stacked against Kelly; Moore was second last summer at the IWCOA Championships, and first in 2020 at 113 when he won 43 matches as a member of 2A state power, Marian Central Catholic.

“It’s an amazing feeling being a state champion but to be honest, coming from a room like ours at Mt. Carmel, with our great coaching staff, and all the extra time I’ve been spending at Izzy Style — I guess I always felt I could have a great chance to win if I had the opportunity,” Kelly said.

Kelly went into the weekend as the No. 2 man behind Moore, who had a close call in his semifinal bout with Antonio Torres (32-3) the four-time state qualifier from Waubonsie Valley.

Moore would pin Torres at 6:45, while Kelly managed to edge Justin Warmowski (Grant, 22-5) in his semifinal to insure a spot in the Grand March.

“I felt strong in my final that all of the work on my conditioning would really pay off, so I feel like that was a big difference in that match,” offered Kelly.

Warmowski surprised a quality weight class with his eventual third-place medal — something that earlier in the season appeared to be difficult to achieve after the Bulldogs best man suffered a high ankle sprain.

“I missed a lot of time and that injury takes awhile to come back from, but in the last couple of weeks I really felt I was as close to being a hundred percent. So this was a great way to end the season and my high school career,” said Warmowski, who beat four-time state qualifier, Jared Gumila (Plainfield North, 48-6) in the quarterfinals, 8-3.

Medal winners: Riley, Moore, Jason Warmowski (Grant, 22-5), Antonio Torres (Waubonsie Valley, 32-3), Tommy Boland (Marist, 37-8), Jared Gumila (Plaiinfield North, 48-6).

170 Brayden Thompson, Lockport

As the state tournament goes deeper and deeper into the weekend, the cream tends to rise to the top, and when the best are on center stage there’s nothing better to watch for a fan of the sport of wrestling.

Brayden Thompson is the best in the state, and in the country, and the Lockport junior put an exclamation point on his three days in Champaign with a near perfect performance during his 7-2 victory over Marmion Academy senior, Tyler Perry.

It was Thompson’s first state title and a remarkable ninth major of the campaign.

Thompson, now 45-0, lifted the big bracket board atop the podium, which he will add to an impressive array of hardware claimed this season, which includes tournament victories at the Donnybrook, Dvorak, Powerade, and Cheesehead, all against a dazzling array of opponents.

“When I lost here in the quarterfinals (to eventual state champion, Luke Odom) two years ago, I told myself that’s the only loss I am going to take here ever again. Tonight, I fulfilled that promise I made to myself,” began Thompson.

“Like all of us, I was a little nervous but I’ve been doing this awhile and have been going to every good tournament since I was a little guy. I’ve been telling myself I’m the best in the country, and if you want to be that guy you have to get it done on the mat with everyone watching you real close.”

Thompson had the advantage at 2-0 with a half minute remaining in the first period, extending his lead to 3-0 with an early escape to begin the second period before earning four more precious points in the period on the way to his eventual 7-2 win.

Perry’s coach was quick to praise him in Champaign.

“Tyler’s tournament was a thing of beauty all weekend long,” Marmion coach Nathan FItzenreider said. “Talk about seizing an opportunity For a senior who has never been to the tournament, he was so calm and to see him handle the pressure the way he did was incredible.

“He will be a guy our program talks about forever because of how much he progressed. He was a jayvee starter at 106 and turned himself into a state finalist.”

Medal winners: Thompson, Perry, Austin Gomez (Libertyville, 35-11), Brody Hallin (McHenry, 44-4), Matthew Liberatore (Marist, 21-4), Matthew Janiak (Plainfield South, 31-15).

182 Josh Knudten, Libertyville

During the long and exasperating down time due to COVID, Josh Knudten took his training to another level and said he would climb atop the podium should the state tournament return to State Farm Arena during his senior year.

Knudten (39-3) would fulfill his dream when he outlasted No. 1 Bradley Gillum 30-3) of DeKalb in sudden victory, 3-1, to give the Wildcats’ program its first state title since Mike Baumann did so in 1991.

“Coach (Dale) Eggert and I had been talking about the last time we had a state champion here at Libertyville, so in the back of my mind it was something that I wanted to do for everyone associated with the program and coach,” Knudten said. “So have that opportunity, and to be successful in doing so makes it all that much better.”

“Josh escaped a couple of dangerous pickles in his match but he also put Gillum in a few spots as well,” began a relieved but ecstatic Eggert, now in his 35th year in charge.

“Despite the low score, I thought it was quite an exciting bout, a real battle of nerves. In the end, it was (Josh) who never got himself out of position that proved the difference, and I’m very proud of him right now.”

“That was an amazing effort by Josh,” added Libertyville assistant coach Vinnie Jiuditta. “He showed great hand control, positioning, and a lot of grit in order to beat a great opponent. He has the heart of a lion.”

Knudten, second a year ago in the IWCOA at 170, and thrice a state qualifier, admits to dreaming of a state title since sixth grade. His ability to reach that goal came due to his ability to work the edge, keeping his back right up against it when Gillum looked to score.

“I felt like I was getting stronger as the match went on and that was because of all the extra work with my conditioning,” said Knudten, who pushed the pace as much as possible throughout. He felt that high pace was slowly taking its toll on the No. 1 Gillum, who is off to SIU-Edwardsville in the fall.

Knudten is off to the University of Michigan, where he will pursue a degree in Bio-Medical Chemistry Studies, with the hope of doing research work possibly in genetics.

“The academics at Michigan are amazing, and I felt real comfortable when visiting with the wrestling program,” Knudten said. “My club coaches said Michigan holds people to a high standard and that made my decision to go there so much easier.”

Medal winners: Knudten, Gillum, Dominic Thebeau (Belleville South, 37-2), Jack Lesher (Marmion Academy, 40-6), Aidan McCain (Round Lake, 39-13), Rylan Breen (Mt. Carmel, 28-15).

195 — Jack Cummings, New Trier

The sight of walking into the Barrington fieldhouse had to give Jack Cummings a feeling of deja vu last weekend with the memory of bitter back-to-back blood round defeats standing between him and his one last opportunity to make it downstate.

The affable New Trier senior would finally put to rest those losses when he advanced downstate, but in doing so Cummings (36-3) finished third overall and thus received a less favorable spot in the downstate field of 16.

“When the brackets came out, I was relieved to have three of the top guys at (95) – Philip Dozier (Glenbard West), Bryson Buhk (DeKalb) and especially (Peter) Marinopoulos (Marist) on the other side of my bracket,” Cummings said. “I thought that if I’m at my best, and can get past the second round, that there’s a good chance I could be in the Grand March.”

Cummings’ pin over Henry Chang (Conant, 30-9) booked his spot in the final with Marinopoulos (39-1) and once there, he dashed the hopes of an undefeated season for the Marist star with a 3-1 victory.

“(Marinopoulos), in my opinion was always the favorite in this weight class, despite how deep it was, so to stay away from him until the very end could not have worked out better,” admitted Cummings, who went through three other opponents who all ended up on the podium.

“When I got that takedown late in third period to go up 3-0, I felt like he was finally broken,” Cummings said. “Then I just rode him out for the win.” 

Cummings is awaiting notice from the Naval Academy, with Purdue already accepting the four-year Trevians veteran, and with Illinois, Michigan, and and Penn in the wings.

“Jack works a lot on top and I honestly believe that’s what won him that match. He’s just a dominant wrestler,” said a proud Trevians head coach, Marc Tadelman after his best man gave the program its first state champion in 46 years.

“It’s an amazing feeling to win an IHSA state title, there really isn’t anything like it in the country, except for maybe the state of Pennsylvania,” Cummings said.

Medal winners: Cummings, Peter Marinopoulos, Bryson Buhk (DeKalb, 29-10), Elliot Lewis (Mt. Carmel, 27-12), John Pacewic (Plainfield south, 34-5), Henry Chang (Conant, 30-9).

220 — Andrew Blackburn-Forst

Ask Andrew Blackburn-Forst how his 2022 IHSA state title compares to his 2021 IWCOA state title, and his response is a clear and concise — he’s equally proud of both titles.

But ask the all-American football player and nationally-ranked wrestling star about his decision to attend Northern Colorado to play both sports, and Blackburn-Forst’s face lights up.

“It was love at first sight. The mountains, the fresh air, it’s the BIG 12 — what’s not to like,” said top-rated Blackburn-Forst, who put one giant stamp on his regular season with a hard fought 3-2 victory over No. 2 Ghee Rachal (Marist, 32-3) to ensure his victory.

Blackburn-Forst’s takedown 30 seconds from time was enough against Rachal, who was fourth last summer at the IWCOA state tournament. Rashal recorded a pair of majors then a pin in his semifinal to move on, while Blackburn-Forst mashed all three of his rivals with a tech-fall in the quarters wrapped around lightning quick pins, neither more than 24 seconds in length.

“Ghee is a tough opponent, we know each other from Freestyle and Greco, so it was great to get that win,” Blackburn-Forst said, “but I really wanted one last pin to close things out, so I fell a little short in my bid to do so.”

North Carolina had its eyes on Blackburn-Forst, but the call of the Rockies was too great. Knowing that former Lockport teammate and state champion Baylor Fernandes was at Northern Colorado also helped.

“The coaching staff and head coach Troy Nickerson are fantastic,” Blackburn-Forst said. “I had a great visit there and I stayed with Branson Britten (Texas native). Plus, knowing Fernandes, and (Vincent) Zerban (Civic Memorial) made it all an easy choice for me.”

Medal winners: Blackburn-Forst, Rachal, Justin Thomas (Homewood-Flossmoor, 36-10), Manny Mejia (Hersey, 46-7), Marko Ivanisevic (Hinsdale Central, 37-4), Gavin Engh (DeKalb, 27-10).

285 — Ryan Boersma, Mt. Carmel

There have been a handful of big men who have dominated the field in the heavyweight division in recent years. Most recently it was Hononegah’s Anthony Cassioppi, who crushed the competition in 2018 en route to his 44-0 state championship campaign, and is now an all-American at the University of Iowa.

You might be hard pressed not to place Ryan Boersma on the list with Cassioppi after the Mt. Carmel senior captured his second consecutive state title in the land of the giants. Boersma defeated Sandburg’s talented Kevin Zimmer (17-2) for the second straight time in the 285-pound state championship bout.

Boersma (40-2) won 6-0 over Zimmer, one week after pinning him in the Hinsdale Central sectional final. Boersma now has six majors on the season, including one at the Dvorak back in December.

“It’s all about going out there and being physical, and to be better each time I go out there,” Boersma said. “Tonight, with Kevin and I just in the sectional final last weekend, it was important to wrestle intelligently. I just wish I could have opened up a little bit more.”

Boersma lone two losses of the season came to out-of-state opponents at the Ironman, where the nationally-ranked Marist star finished fifth overall.

“Winning an IWCOA state title meant a lot to me, and this one tonight at the IHSA, probably means just a little bit more because it’s held here down in Champaign, where everyone wants to come to win a state title,” admitted Boersma, who recently committed wrestle next fall at Missouri.

“Mizzou was always my first choice for college,” admits Boersma, who twice qualified to state while at Providence Catholic before moving over to Mt. Carmel ahead of his junior year.

“They have a world class coaching staff, in my opinion, and I had a great visit there to make it easy for me to commit to going there,” added Boersma, who will begin his studies out of the BioMedical Sciences Department, with an eye on medical school following his collegiate career.

A trio of former stars from Illinois — Dack Punke (Washington), Noah Surtin (Edwardsville) and Jeremy Jakowtisch from Huntley — will be there to greet their new teammate.

Medal winners: Boersma, Zimmer, Paulie Robertson (Glenbard North), Tyler Haynes (Pekin), Isaiah Hill O`Fallon), Jordan Lewis (Downers Grove North).

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