Yorkville Christian has big plans after winning Seneca Regional

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

SENECA – Yorkville Christian heavyweight Michael Esquivel made a bold claim on December 11 after his team sent 14 to the semifinals and had five champions and six second-place finishers to help it score 229 points and beat Sandwich by 49.5 points to claim top honors at the Plano Reaper Classic.

“I know how good this team can be, this is a heck of a team,” Esquivel said at the time. “We only had eight guys last year and were trying to get a regional title and we lost by half a point and that hurt and we could have had them if certain things played out. Going into this year, I want that regional title and the sectional title and hopefully the state title. We have a bunch of hammers on our team now that we can make a run at that team state title.”

The Mustangs senior definitely was on to something as his team went from honorable mention to ranked ninth at the start of 2022 and had moved up to seventh heading into the Class 1A Seneca Regional, where they met up with third-ranked Coal City, ninth-ranked Reed-Custer and 17th-ranked Seneca in one of the toughest tournaments in the class.

Entering the final round with a three-point lead over the Coalers, Yorkville Christian opened with four title wins in the first five weights to take control and moved ahead by as much as 30 points after two more firsts and settled for a 200-175 final margin over Coal City for top honors after Esquivel capped his team’s 7-0 performance in championship matches. Reed-Custer took third place with 122.5 points while Seneca was fourth with 102 points and Peotone took fifth with 88 points to round out the top half of the field.

Following this weekend’s regionals, Yorkville Christian, which had just four competitors, including current senior Isaac Bourge, on their first regional team in 2019, is now second in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings behind only Lena-Winslow/Stockton. It moved one spot in front of Coal City, who saw its hopes dashed of getting back to the IHSA dual team finals for the sixth time in seven seasons and adding to the three second-place and two thirds that it has claimed during its successful run in Bloomington.

Coach Mike Vester’s Mustangs will be represented by their seven champions and two third-place finishers at the Coal City Sectional, where they hope to have multiple qualifiers for the IHSA finals. Then the first-time regional champions set their sights on the dual team series, which they begin on February 22 when they try to earn a quarterfinal spot against another first-time regional winner, Phoenix Military Academy of Chicago, who took first at the Chicago Hope Academy Regional, at a site still to be determined.

Yorkville Christian has a 14-5 record in dual meets but has only faced a handful of Class 1A opponents. Two of its losses came against Lockport (No. 5 in 3A) while the others were to Marist (No. 2 in 3A), Washington (No. 2 in 2A) and Deerfield (No. 3 in 2A). And they’ve faced strong competition against bigger schools in tournaments at Antioch, DeKalb, Wisconsin’s Cheesehead and Mahomet-Seymour.

Champions for the Mustangs were Aiden Larsen (35-6 at 106), Isaac Bourge (25-9 at 120), Grason Johnson (14-16 at 126), Noah Dial (32-8 at 132), Tyler Martinez (33-10 at 160), Jackson Gillen (39-5 at 170) and Michael Esquivel (30-12 at 285). Finishing in third place were Braulio Flores (26-18 at 138) and Drew Torza (31-13 at 152) while Jackson Mehochko (182) and Christopher Durbin (195) claimed fourth place.

“When we started the season, this is what we wanted, but when you finally get here, you look at it and go, wow, that was an undertaking,” Vester said. “You’re watching every match and turn of events and then to put seven in the finals and then one-by-one-by-one they started knocking them out. But I could see right after the break that there was a resolve in them to come out and do just that and I was real proud of how they approached their championship matches. Whoever it is that we were going to go up against, in whatever regional or sectional, we knew that we just had to be more prepared. 

“When we saw the brackets we knew that they had somebody good at every weight class and that’s why they’re such a good tournament team. We knew that we had to take care of business and get some bonus points when we could. A lot of them have known each other for a while, so there’s family, and when someone new comes in, they bring them in the same way.” 

Coach Mark Masters’ Coalers were led by champions John Housman (26-6 at 113), Braiden Young (31-7 at 182) and Ashton Harvey (6-1 at 195) and second-place finishers Culan Lindemuth (32-7 at 106), Brant Widlowski (35-6 at 120), Jacob Piatak (28-8 at 126), Zach Finch (32-5 at 152) and Derek Carlson (26-5 at 160) while Joey Breneman (20-9 at 170) and Dylan Cronk (19-11 at 220) placed third to advance and Mateo Blessing (145) settled for fourth place.

“They’re a very good tournament team and we’re a very solid dual meet team and we can put 14 quality kids out there,” Masters said. “We had to be perfect today and we that going in, but we weren’t. But the kids wrestled real hard and you can’t question the effort. We have coaches in the right place at the right time and we’re building off of that. And that’s what you have to have, everybody’s working together and all of the coaches are on the same page with the same goal. It’s been consistency in the coaching staff. And the kids need to buy in. It’s tough because we have multiple-sport athletes, we’re not just wrestlers. We’re going in the right direction.”

Leading the way for coach Yale Davis’ Reed-Custer Comets were champions Landon Markle (31-8 at 145) and Kody Marschner (33-0 at 220) while Ryan Tribble (22-5 at 138) and Gunnar Berg (24-6 at 285) finished second and Sam Begler (24-6 at 126) advanced with a third-place finish. Finishing fourth were Jeremy Eggleston (132), Brenden Tribe (160) and Rex Pfeifer (170). 

Coach Todd Yegge’s Seneca Fighting Irish were led by second-place finishers Tommy Milton (24-14 at 113) and Owen Feiner (40-5 at 145) while Kyler Hahn (26-8 at 106), Jaden Casey (36-10 at 120), Robby Nelson (32-9 at 132) and Chris Peura (39-7 at 195) placed third and Nick Grant (126), Asher Hamby (152) and Alex Bogner (220) finished fourth.

The tournament’s other two champions were Peotone’s Marco Spinazzola (36-2 at 138) and Bishop McNamara’s Luke Christie (22-2 at 152). 

Gillen and Marschner tied for first in team points with 24 while Dial had 23. Bourge, Esquivel and Young each scored 22 points, Spinazzola had 21 points and Johnson, Larsen and Martinez all finished with 20 team points. 

Other second-place finishers were Peotone’s Ian Kreske (33-10 at 132), Oscar Villalobos (33-13 at 182) and Alex Cardenas (22-16 at 220) and Manteno’s Wyatt Young (19-7 at 170) and Gabe Johnson (23-7 at 195).

Bourge, Gillen and Harvey also won regional titles in 2020 while Finch fell a point shy of winning a third title and Flores, Tribble and Young came up short of getting back to the top of the awards stand.

Also finishing in third place to advance to the sectional were Manteno’s Carter Watkins (27-6 at 160) and Colin Zeppi (21-5 at 182), Peotone’s Kevin Hogan (33-10 at 145) and Wilmington’s Blake Shirey (22-6 at 285). Additional individuals who took fourth place were Bishop McNamara’s Jackson Jeck (120), Illinois Lutheran’s Josyah Holland (138) and Manteno’s Damian Alsup (285).

Coal City has the most qualifiers with 10 while Yorkville Christian has nine. Seneca qualified six, Reed-Custer and Peotone both have five advancing and Manteno has four. 

Here’s a closer look at the champions and other placewinners at the Class 1A Seneca Regional tournament:

106 – Aiden Larsen, Yorkville Christian

Aiden Larsen wanted to get his Yorkville Christian team off to a good start in the final round and the freshman certainly did that by recording a fall in 1:45 over Coal City freshman Culan Lindemuth in the 106 title match.

Larsen (35-6), who’s ranked seventh, added to a first-place finish at Plano, by setting the tone for his team in a series of four early title matches that his team won to take control, with three of those coming against Coal City.

“I think that we have a good shot at winning a team state title,” Larsen said. “I feel like the rankings mean nothing. I don’t think we’re a number-seven team and I think we’re at the top and I think I can go out there and win an IHSA state title this year. We’ve wrestled a lot of 3A competition at the Cheesehead and Flavin. Some of these guys have seen maybe one or two 3A teams and we’ve seen one or two 1A teams. It’s one week at a time now, that’s what your mindset has to be. It could be your last match.”

Lindemuth (32-7) had a battle on his hands in the semifinals and advanced to the title mat with a 3-2 decision over Seneca’s Kyler Hahn (26-8), who claimed third place.

113 – John Housman, Coal City

John Housman had a good reason to be a little rusty due to limited competition in recent weeks but the Coal City senior got the job done when it counted by capturing a 2-0 victory over Seneca’s Tommy Milton in the 113 title match to become one of his team’s three champions.

As a result, Housman (26-6) helped his cause at the sectional tournament that his school hosts while freshman Milton (24-14) will gain valuable postseason experience.

“I had a hard week at practice since I was missing some partners, but I did the best that I could since I hadn’t wrestled in awhile,” Housman said. “I hadn’t wrestled since we went to Princeton to wrestle them and Dakota (January 15). At conference and at other duals, they didn’t have any others at 113. I have a few tough kids at sectionals, so I’m taking it match by match.”

120 – Isaac Bourge, Yorkville Christian

In a key title match involving the two squads battling for the team championship, Isaac Bourge did his part to help Yorkville Christian get off to a fast start in the finals that ultimately helped to put them in control.

Bourge (25-9), a senior who’s ranked fourth with a title at Plano this season to go along with being a state qualifier at both the 2021 IWCOA and 2020 IHSA finals, got a takedown with 25 seconds left in overtime to capture a 3-1 victory over Coal City sophomore Brant Widlowski. Bourge advanced to the finals with two falls, including one in 5:31 in the semifinals over Bishop McNamara junior Jackson Jeck.

“It was crazy close between Coal City and us for team points,” Bourge said. “I feel like I started off slow, but in these last matches, everyone has really stepped it up a notch. We faced a lot of Coal City kids in the finals and we were neck and neck, but we turned it up to the next level and have been winning the matches, and that’s great. In my freshman year, we started with four kids and we couldn’t even do duals, but now we have 19 kids. Just to be able to beat schools that are way bigger than us, it just feels amazing.”

Widlowski (35-6) also used a pair of falls to advance to the title mat, winning in the semifinals in 2:19 over Seneca senior Jaden Casey. The two semifinal losers had a tight battle in the third-place match with Casey (36-10) edging Jeck by a 9-8 score.

126 – Grason Johnson, Yorkville Christian

Grason Johnson made it 3-for-3 for Yorkville Christian in decisive head-to-head clashes between Yorkville Christian and Coal City competitors in early title matches that helped to put his team in control for good.

Johnson (14-16), a sophomore, followed Isaac Bourge’s dramatic win with a close decision of his own when he captured a 4-1 victory over junior Jacob Piatak. Johnson advanced to the title mat with a 12-3 major decision over Reed-Custer sophomore Sam Begler.

“This is one of the hardest regionals, so it feels good to win it,” Johnson said. “As a team, it feels good. We came in here and our coaches said that we were going to win and we came out and said that’s what we’re going to do. We’ve put in hard work all year, and so have our coaches have, too, and that’s a big part of it. They make practices and tournaments fun and everyone just has a good time. This regional really tested everyone.”

Piatek (28-8) also had a decisive win in the semifinals, recording a fall in 0:53 over Seneca freshman Nick Grant. In the third-place match, Begler (24-6) recorded a fall in 2:01 over Grant to advance to the sectional.

132 – Noah Dial, Yorkville Christian

Noah Dial capped a 4-0 start for Yorkville Christian competitors in title matches when he captured a 10-0 major decision over Peotone’s Ian Kreske in the 132 finals.

Dial (32-8), a junior who’s ranked sixth that also won a title at Mahomet-Seymour and was a state qualifier in 2020, advanced to the title mat with a fall in 2:23 in the semifinals over Coal City sophomore Chase Dehler.

“It does feel good,” Dial said. “As a team, this is all that we’ve been looking for all season. Obviously we want to further ourselves as individuals, but the team state was our biggest goal, for sure. Our coach gave us a really tough schedule, wrestling in the Cheesehead and wrestling Washington and Lockport and all of those good schools. It’s just good matches for times like these. I like the energy that we have in and out of the room. We’re all super close with each other and support each other, it’s a difference, for sure. My ultimate goal is making the state finals. Obviously there’s a lot of hard work to get there, but we have a good room to put in that hard work.”

Kreske (33-10), a sophomore, advanced to the finals following a pair of decisions, including a 5-4 triumph in the semifinals over Seneca freshman Robby Nelson. In the third-place match, Nelson (32-9) won 8-1 over Reed-Custer freshman Jeremy Eggleston.

138 – Marco Spinazzola, Peotone

Marco Spinaazzola has his sights set on qualifying for state for the third-straight year and the Peotone junior who’s ranked seventh seems to have positioned himself to do just that after winning the title at 138 over another state-ranked individual who also competed in both the 2021 IWCOA and 2020 IHSA finals, Reed-Custer’s Ryan Tribble.

Spinazzola improved to 36-2 after claiming a 6-2 victory over senior Tribble, who’s ranked eighth, in the title match. The Blue Devils standout who also won a title at Unity after beefing up his offseason training, won his semifinal match by technical fall over Seneca sophomore Nate Othon.

“I wrestled him three weeks ago and beat him but he came back stronger than I expected,” Spinazzola said about Tribble “I’m really excited and I can’t wait till state. I have a few hard kids but I saw my name ranked up there and I thought, okay, I’ve got a shot at this. I did a lot more offseason training, too, so hopefully that pays off. I worked with Vasil Robinson and me and Vincent were practice partners like all summer and I went to Fargo. It really makes a big difference. I complained about doing to it, but it was worth it.”

Tribble (22-5), who was a regional champ in 2020, won a pair of close decisions to advance to the finals, with the last one a 4-2 victory in the semifinals over Yorkville Christian senior Braulio Flores, who also won a regional in 2020. In the third-place match, Flores (26-18) won 17-6 over Illinois Lutheran’s Josyah Holland, his school’s lone entrant.

145 – Landon Markle, Reed-Custer 

Landon Markle is hoping that his junior season is a breakthrough one that allows him to advance to state for the first time and after beating a pair of individuals who have advanced to state before, he may be on his way to doing just that.

Reed-Custer’s Markle improved to 31-8 after capturing a 10-6 victory in the 145 finals over Seneca senior Owen Feiner, who was fifth at the IWCOA finals. After opening with a major decision, Markle won 9-3 in the semifinals over Coal City junior Mateo Blessing, who qualified for state in 2020.

“It was definitely a hard one going in since I knew that I had a hard bracket,” Markle said. “My coach calls it the gauntlet and you have to face the gauntlet to keep going. I kept telling myself right before my match that I have to start my legacy now. I still have another year, but it all starts this year. We’ve had a good team all year and our kids have come out and performed. We had some holes that we were trying to fill but we couldn’t find people. But throughout that, we still pushed through it and kept going.”

Feiner (40-5), who won a title earlier this season at Seneca, followed a win by technical fall with an 8-4 semifinal victory over Peotone senior Kevin Hogan, who qualified for the IWCOA in 2021 and the IHSA in 2020. In the third-place match, Hogan (33-10) advanced after getting a fall in 2:48 over Blessing.

152 – Luke Christie, Bishop McNamara

Luke Christie entered the Seneca Regional as the top-ranked individual at his weight class and now enters the Coal City Sectional in the same position after capturing a 5-4 victory over Coal City senior Zach Finch, who’s third-ranked, in the 152 title match.

The Bishop McNamara junior, who won titles at Unity and in the Metro Suburban Conference, is a two-time state qualifier who owns a 22-2 record and has a lot of confidence as he seeks his first state medal. He earned his spot on the title mat after capturing an 11-7 win over Seneca sophomore Asher Hamby in the semifinals.

“It feels good to win this since I had a tough bracket,” Christie said. “This was definitely a tough regional and sectionals are going to be harder so it feels good to come out on top. I’m very happy with how my season has been going. I took a few losses, but the confidence is still there. I have one of the best coaches in the state and training partner, Jake Kimberlin. If I can hang with my coach and score here and there, then I know that I can beat anybody in the state. I just have to keep the confidence rolling, even if  something happens, you just have to stay mentally there. If you get taken down, you get right back up and take them down. I’m excited to see what happens.”

Finch (32-5), who was a state qualifier in 2020 and was vying for a third regional title, earned his spot on the title mat after claiming a 3-1 decision over Yorkville Christian junior Drew Torza in the semifinals. In the third place match, Torza (31-13) won 7-2 over Hamby to earn his spot in the sectional.

160 – Tyler Martinez, Yorkville Christian

Tyler Martinez has an impressive resume this season after capturing a fourth tournament title and now the Yorkville Christian junior looks to add to some of his highlights before this season which included placing eighth in Greco Roman at Fargo and third in the IWCOA finals.

Martinez (33-10) added to titles at Antioch, Plano and Mahomet-Seymour when he captured a 5-1 victory over Coal City junior Derek Carlson in the 160 finals. After opening with a fall, Martinez captured a 7-0 semifinals victory over Manteno sophomore Carter Watkins.

“It was great to come out here and be able to wrestle some of the best teams in 1A after our really hard season that we put together where we were wrestling 2A and 3A schools and only wrestled four total 1A duals,” Martinez said. “It was great to come out here and show that our preparation paid off. We knew coming here that Coal City was the team to beat so we knew that we had to win our advancement matches and win with big points. The momentum was great and we went undefeated in the finals. It’s a great feeling not only that individual season isn’t over with sectionals coming up but that we’ll also get to continue our dual team season and hopefully go out and compete for a team state title.”

Carlson (26-5) earned his spot on the title mat after recording a fall in 3:00 over Reed-Custer senior Brenden Tribe in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Watkins (27-6) won by fall in 2:34 over Tribe.

170 – Jackson Gillen, Yorkville Christian

Jackson Gillen earned a spot in his fourth tournament finals of the season and added to a title win at Plano when the Yorkville Christian junior, who’s ranked fourth, improved to 39-5 by claiming top honors at 170.

Gillen won his title by injury default when Manteno senior Wyatt Young was unable to compete in the title match. Gillen advanced to the finals after winning by fall in 0:37 in the semifinals over Reed-Custer sophomore Rex Pfeifer.

“It was awesome,” Gillen said. “We knew that we could come in here and get the title, we just needed to execute, and I think we did that very well. We only wrestled 2A and 3A schools and that really sharpened us up. I think we only wrestled three 1A schools the entire year. You can feel the energy once someone in front of you wins, it just gets you ready for your match. I like how close we are, we’re like brothers. We’ve been around each other so much and it’s just good to bond with each other and I think that’s important for a team.”

Young (19-7), who was a regional champion in 2020, captured a 6-1 victory over Coal City junior Joey Breneman in the semifinals to become one of the Panthers’ two finalists. In the third-place match, Breneman (20-9) claimed an 8-5 victory over Pfeifer.

182 – Braiden Young, Coal City 

Braiden Young heads into his own sectional as one of the favorites at 182 after claiming top honors in the Seneca Regional with an 11-4 victory over Peotone senior Oscar Villalobos, becoming the first of two Coalers champions.

Young (31-7), a junior who is ranked tenth, was an IWCOA qualifier last year. He earned his spot in the title match when he recorded a fall in 3:33 over Reed-Custer junior Brandon Moorman in the semifinals. 

“We wrestled great as a team but we fell a little short.” Young said. “But we have some individuals who are going to go on to sectionals and then hopefully they go on to state. It’s a lot of fun. We have good coaches and they coach us up and we succeed as a team. There were a lot of hard kids here and it will just keep getting harder but I’m feeling confident. Our wrestling is very competitive and it makes it very good to train. I have a very good coaching staff and my wrestling partner, Derek Carlson, is very good and he’s been helping me a lot this year.”

Villalobos (33-13) advanced to the finals with a fall in 2:31 over Manteno senior Colin Zeppi. In the third-place match, Zeppi (21-5) won by fall in 2:16 over Yorkville Christian junior Jackson Mehochko. 

195  – Ashton Harvey, Coal City

Due to having a broken leg that he suffered in football, Ashton Harvey has definitely had a very abbreviated season, but that might not be the worst thing for the Coal City senior, who was also a regional champion in 2020. 

Competing in just his seventh match, Harvey won for the sixth time when he captured a 3-2 decision over Manteno senior Gabe Johnson in the 195 title match. Harvey, who’s ranked seventh and was an IHSA qualifier in both 2020 and 2019, earned his spot in the finals with a 5-2 semifinals win over Yorkville Christian junior Christopher Durbin.

“I had a couple of tough matches, but I needed them,” Harvey said. “I need to get the gas tank better and need to build up the endurance and get ready for sectionals. Unfortunately we aren’t moving on as a team but we definitely have a solid team and hopefully next year they’ll make a decent run. Honestly, I’m just excited to be back. I had an injury and came back and only wrestled five matches before regionals and that set me back, for sure. I have a good practice partner in the room, Zach Finch, and we’ve been working really hard lately. I’ve been wrestling for a while, so I should be good to go.”

Johnson (23-7) earned his spot in the finals when he claimed a 10-8 overtime win over Seneca sophomore Chris Peura in the semifinals. Peura (39-7) bounced back from that tough defeat to claim third place when he won 16-4 over Durbin.

220 – Kody Marschner, Reed-Custer

While there are a lot of outstanding records among the qualifiers who will be competing in the Coal City Sectional, Kody Marschner is the only one with a significant number of matches that hasn’t suffered a defeat.

The Reed-Custer junior, who’s ranked third, improved to 33-0 after recording a fall in 4:30 over Peotone junior Alex Cardenas in the 220 finals. Marschner, who took second in the IWCOA and qualified for state in 2020, has title wins at Princeton and his school’s invite. He got a fall in 45 seconds over Seneca sophomore Alex Bogner in the semifinals.

“It feels really good,” Marschner said. “I knew that this would be like a stepping stone for sectionals, because I have a really tough sectional and that’s just what I have my eyes on right now. I think that I have a really good shot at winning it this year and next year, that’s my goal. We’ve only had one two-timer, Billy Chancey, and that’s what I really want to be. I’m so much better on my feet. Last year, I had shots head down but this year I don’t think I have a single shot with my head down. And I’ve just expanded what I do.”

Cardenas (22-16) earned his spot in the finals with a fall in 5:30 over Coal City senior Dylan Cronk. In the third-place match, Cronk (19-11) recorded a fall in 1:14 over Bogner. 

285 – Michael Esquivel, Yorkville Christian

Michael Esquivel had high hopes for his senior season after placing fifth at the IWCOA finals and following title wins at Antioch and Plano with a regional championship at 285, the Yorkville Christian athlete is ranked fourth and hopes to perform well in the Coal City Sectional and then pursue state medals both individually and with his team.

Esquivel (30-12) claimed a 3-1 decision over Reed-Custer junior Gunnar Berg to capture the regional championship after recording a fall in 5:51 over Coal City junior Michael Gonzalez in the semifinals.

“I knew what my team could do from my past experiences of winning a team regional at Aurora Christian,” Esquivel said. “I knew right away as soon as the building blocks were together that we could win ourselves a team title, the first regional title in school history, and I’m very proud of these guys. I knew that this team could be something, especially under coach Vester. Like I said before at the Reaper, I know what my team can do from the lightweights up to the heavyweights since they know how to compete.” Berg (24-6) advanced to the title mat with a fall in 1:36 over Wilmington senior Blake Shirey in the semifinals. In the third place match, Shirey (22-6) recorded a fall in 0:18 over Manteno junior Damian Alsup.

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!

Class 1A Regional Roundup

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

Here’s a look at the 16 regional championship teams in Class 1A as well as all of the individual champions from those tournaments, including their records going into sectionals.

All of the summaries are grouped together in the individual sectional that they will be competing in this weekend. A special thanks to all of the coaches who sent team pictures.

Princeton Individual Sectional & Rock Falls Dual Team Sectional

Sandwich – Sandwich Regional champions

Tenth-ranked Sandwich finished with nine champions to help it collect 239.5 points and claim top honors at its own regional. Wheaton Academy placed second with 152 points while Plano was third with 125 points.

Top performers for coach Derek Jones’ champion Indians were title winners Ashlyn Strenz (22-12 at 106), Miles Corder (32-13 at 126), Evan Fraser (5-0 at 132), Evan Reilly (29-3 at 138), Nolan Bobee (26-10 at 145), Aidan Linden (40-4 at 152), Bryce Decker (30-14 at 160), Samuel Dale (23-10 at 170) and Alex Alfaro (39-1 at 182). The program won a regional title for the second season in a row and now hopes to qualify for dual team state for the first time since 2012. They had the most qualifiers in the sectional with 11.

Wheaton Academy, which had eight sectional qualifiers, got firsts from Will Hupke (31-4 at 120) and Peter Johanik (31-5 at 220). Plano, who had seven qualifiers, was led by a first-place finish by Carnell Walls (12-4 at 195). Somonauk’s Mason Smith (11-9 at 113) and Mooseheart’s Joshua Gaye (5-0 at 285) also were champions.

Lena-Winslow/Stockton – Dixon Regional champions

Second-ranked Lena-Winslow/Stockton prevailed in a clash of ranked teams at the Dixon Regional, after winning three titles to help it score 202 points while top-ranked Dixon took second with 157 points and eighth-ranked Dakota was third with 146 points and No. 18 Stillman Valley (137.5) and No. 22 Oregon (103) claimed the next two spots.

Coach Kevin Milder’s champion PantherHawks, who had 10 sectional qualifiers, were led by title winners, Garrett Luke (40-3 at 145), Marey Roby (29-6 at 160) and Griffin Luke (41-3 at 170). In 2019, when they concluded a three-year run of regional titles that featured two dual team championships and they finished first in the IWCOA finals in 2021.

Dakota had the most title winners with four, Phoenix Blakely (29-3 at 126), TJ Silva (29-6 at 132), Maddux Blakely (34-1 at 138) and Noah Wenzel (34-3 at 195). Others taking first place were Dixon’s Ayden Rowley (10-3 at 106) and Justin Dallas (19-4 at 220), Stillman Valley’s Henry Hildreth (24-10 at 120) and Jack Seacrist (32-2 at 152), Oregon’s Preston LaBay (17-13 at 113), Winnebago’s Mannix Faworski (32-1 at 182) and Polo’s Daniel Engel (20-2 at 285).

Harvard – Harvard Regional champions

Harvard had four title winners to help it claim top honors at its own regional with 171 points while No. 24 Marian Central Catholic and Marengo tied for second with 156 points. 

Leading the way for coach David Schultz’s first-place Hornets, who had eight sectional qualifiers, were champions Marques Merida (31-10 at 126), Bailey Livdahl (32-8 at 160), Gabe Sanchez (27-10 at 182) and Nathan Rosas (36-3 at 195). The program hopes to once again compete in the IHSA dual team finals, which they qualified for in 2020.

Marian Central Catholic, who took first in 2A in the IWCOA finals in 2021 and qualified for dual team state in 2A from 2018-2020 with a third-place finish in 2019, had eight qualifiers and got first-place finishes from Charlie Fitzgerald (22-3 at 120), Vance Williams (33-9 at 132) and Nik Jimenez (28-4 at 145). Richmond-Burton, who had seven qualifiers, got titles from Clay Madula (25-13 at 106), Emmett Nelson (35-3 at 113) and Brock Wood (11-0 at 220). Marengo had nine qualifiers and two champions, Logan Miller (29-11 at 138) and Michael Macias (36-4 at 285) while Johnsburg’s Logan Kirk (26-4 at 152) and Haden Lucas (23-9 at 170) also won titles.

Newman Central Catholic – Sherrard Regional champions

Newman Central Catholic, ranked 16th, prevailed over several quality teams to capture the title in the Sherrard Regional with 167.5 points while Riverdale (134) took second place, Erie/Prophetstown edged No. 14 Princeton 123-122.5 for third and No. 20 Sherrard nipped No. 15 Rockridge 103.5-102.5 for fifth.

Leading the way for coach Daryl Dieterle’s champion Comets, who had eight sectional qualifiers, were first-place finishers Brady Grennan (36-1 at 120) and Will Rude (16-0 at 138). It was the Sterling school’s first regional title since 2012, which was a year after it captured its second IHSA championship.

Teams that had three champions were Erie/Prophetstown, with Wyatt Goosens (26-5 at 113), Jase Grunder (23-5 at 145) and Andrew Bomleny (39-5 at 195) and Riverdale, with Brock Smith (42-0 at 132), Collin Altensey (40-0 at 152) and Alex Watson (41-1 at 160). Other title winners were Allemen’s Dalton Nimrick (30-6 at 106) and Charlie Jagusah (34-0 at 285), Sherrard’s Ryder Roelf (36-5 at 170) and Walker Anderson (35-3 at 220), Princeton’s Matthew Harris (35-5 at 126) and Morrison’s Kayden White (30-3 at 182).

Olympia Individual Sectional & Tremont Dual Team Sectional

Prairie Central – El Paso-Gridley Regional champions

Prairie Central had three champions and seven sectional qualifiers to score 141 points which helped it to prevail in a competitive El Paso-Gridley Regional in El Paso in which the host Titans edged No. 23 Clifton Central 132-127 to claim second place.

Claiming first-place finishes for coach Scott Ziller’s champion Hawks were Donavan Lewis (25-5 at 132), Owen Steidinger (29-10 at 170) and Connor Steidinger (31-3 at 195). The Fairbury school hopes to qualify for the dual team finals for the third season in a row and win their first trophy since 2011.

Also winning titles were Dwight’s Dylan Crouch (19-7 at 113), Dillon Sarff (25-4 at 138) and Samuel Edwards (15-0 at 220), El Paso-Gridley’s Logan Gibson (22-9 at 120), Tyler Roth (31-13 at 126) and Dax Gentes (41-2 at 145) and University High’s Zachary Gross (29-5 at 152) and Hunter Otto (25-1 at 285). Other champions were Pontiac’s Aidan Scholwin (16-2 at 106), Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Gage Sweckard (34-7 at 160) and Clifton Central’s Auston Miller (27-10 at 182), who was one of eight qualifiers for his team.

Kewanee – Farmington Regional champions

Kewanee had three champions which helped it to capture top honors at the Farmington Regional with 197.5 points while Notre Dame claimed second place with 187 points and host Farmers were third with 137 points..

Claiming first place finishes for coach Charley Eads’ champion Boilermakers, who qualified nine individuals for the sectional, were Will Taylor (18-7 at 145), Kadin Rednour (33-4 at 152) and Nate Lockett (10-3 at 195). The program captured its first regional championship since 2009 and looks to advance to the dual team finals for the first time.

Notre Dame, which also had nine sectional qualifiers, led all teams with five champions, Ian Akers (31-5 at 106), Jac Couri (25-11 at 126), Chase Daugherty (21-10 at 132), Joey Mushinsky (35-1 at 160) and Michael McLaughlin (15-7 at 285). Other title winners were Farmington’s Keygan Jennings (39-1 at 113), Austin Utt (35-9 at 170) and Reese Shymansky (35-2 at 182), Mercer County’s Ethan Monson (23-5 at 120) and Zeke Arnold (17-9 at 138) and Peoria Heights’ Isaac Coleman (13-5 at 220).

Ridgewood/Lexington – Heyworth Regional champions

Ridgeview/Lexington wasn’t ranked in the top-25 but it had four champions to help it prevail over No. 12 Oakwood/Salt Fork 175-169 for the title at the Heyworth Regional while LeRoy/Tri-Valley took third with 144 points. 

Coach Jeremy Lopshire’s champion Mustangs only had five sectional qualifiers but four of those won titles. Danny Tay (32-5 at 106), Braydon Campbell (27-4 at 120), Evan Antonio (36-3 at 220) and Gage Kelly (25-11 at 285) all placed first to help their school in Colfax, which co-ops with Lexington, to capture its first-ever regional championship.

Oakwood/Salt Fork had seven sectional qualifiers and four champions, Pedro Rangel (28-4 at 126), Reef Pacot (36-4 at 132), Grant Brewer (32-10 at 145) and Joe Lashuay (30-5 at 160). Other title winners were Olympia’s Dylan Eimer (37-4 at 106) and William Winter (31-1 at 138), Clinton’s Trevor Willis (28-9 at 152), LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Tyson Brent (27-1 at 170), Hoopeston Area’s Abel Colunga (32-3 at 182) and The High School of Saint Thomas More’s Brody Cuppernell (22-2 at 195).

Tremont – Tremont Regional champions

Sixth-ranked Tremont had few difficulties capturing top honors at its own regional after winning six titles and having a sectional-high 12 qualifiers, to help it score 247 points, which was 90 points better than the second-place finisher, 11th-ranked Canton, who scored 157 points and Illini Bluffs was third with 116 points.

Winning titles for coach TJ William’s champion Turks were Bowden Delaney (33-3 at 120), Mason Mark (25-9 at 132), Levi Leitner (29-5 at 152), Logan Stedman (30-4 at 160), Cooper Wendling (27-3 at 195) and John Rathbun (22-4 at 220). The program advanced to the last two dual team finals and seeks its first state trophy.

Canton finished with four title winners, Trevor Hedges (26-5 at 126), Andrew Hedges (15-2 at 145), Joseph Norton (34-0 at 170) and Weston Swise (29-5 at 285). Also winning titles were Illini Bluffs’ Hunter Robbins (25-3 at 106), Paul Ishikawa (32-1 at 138), Camp Point Central’s Jack Thompson (39-6 at 113) and Macomb’s Max Ryner (41-5 at 182).

Vandalia Individual Sectional & Unity Dual Team Sectional

Anna-Jonesboro – Harrisburg Regional champions

Anna-Jonesboro only had two title winners but scored 199.5 points to capture the Harrisburg Regional by 41.5 points over runner-up Fairfield, who finished with 158 points while Murphysboro edged Frankfort 143-141 for third place.

Turning in first-place showings for coach Chase Hargrave’s champion Wildcats, who had nine sectional qualifiers, were Drew Sadler (43-3 at 106) and Caleb Mays (42-4 at 145). The program’s other regional titles were won in 2017 and 2019 and it seeks its initial appearance at the dual team finals.

Fairfield had four title winners, Jerek Keoughan (30-3 at 152), Landon Stewart (11-7 at 182), Konnor Dagg (33-5 at 195) and Payton Allen (37-1 at 220). Murphysboro, which had seven qualifiers, got firsts from Arojae Hart (31-1 at 138) and Dayton Hoffman (33-4 at 160), Other champions were Frankfort’s Eli Klus (25-5 at 120) and Braxton Chance (3-0 at 285), Benton’s Mason Tieffel (41-4 at 126) and Wyatt Upton (21-8 at 170), Harrisburg’s Tony Keene (34-1 at 113) and Herrin’s Blue Bishop (29-2 at 132).

Auburn – Illinois School for the Visually Impaired Regional champions

Auburn captured four titles and qualified seven for the sectional to help it finish with 162 points as it captured top honors at the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired Regional that was held at Routt Catholic in Jacksonville. Mt. Zion scored 152 points to take second and Litchfield scored 145 for third as both finished with eight sectional qualifiers.

Leading the way for coach Matt Grimm’s champion Trojans were title winners Anthony Ruzic (19-0 at 113), Gage Lopez (27-9 at 120), Dresden Grimm (42-1 at 132) and Cole Edie (36-6 at 285). The program looks to get back to dual team state, where they finished fourth in 2020.

Other champions were Mt. Zion’s Tanner Garrett (23-7 at 126) and Lawrence Trimble (30-9 at 160), Taylorville’s Gage Rusher (36-6 at 138) and William Blue (24-9 at 195), Hillsboro’s Zander Wells (22-10 at 152) and Magnus Wells (31-1 at 220), Litchfield’s Alex Powell (29-5 at 106), Carlinville’s Jake Schwartz (42-2 at 145), Pittsfield’s Mason Davis (27-5 at 170) and Sacred Heart-Griffin’s Cory West (38-2 at 182).

Unity – Richland County Regional champions

Fourth-ranked Unity had no troubles capturing top honors at the Richland County Regional in Olney after claiming five titles and advancing 11 individuals to the sectional as it  collected 243 points while Westville beat out Monticello 125.5-117 for second place.  

Leading the way for coach Logan Patton’s champion Rockets were Tavius Hosley (44-1 at 145), Nat Nosler (27-5 at 160), Nick Nosler (41-2 at 195), Oran Varela (32-4 at 220) and Karson Richardson (43-3 at 285). The program won its second-straight regional and hopes to improve upon its third-place IHSA finish from 2020.

Other title winners were Lawrenceville’s Dylan Aten (23-9 at 113) and Brian Seed (31-0 at 170), Westville’s Hayden Weaver (24-10 at 132) and Rylee Edwards (31-1 at 182), 

Cumberland’s Hank Warfel (31-5 at 106), Shelbyville’s Calvin Miller (44-2 at 120), Richland County’s Carson Bissey (21-1 at 126), Monticello’s Jaxon Trent (37-10 at 138) and 

Effingham’s Jon Perry (35-6 at 152).

Vandalia – Carlyle Regional champions

Fifth-ranked Vandalia captured seven titles and had a sectional-high 12 qualifiers to help it score 218.5 points and it easily captured top honors in the Carlyle Regional by 69 points over Roxana, which claimed second place with 149.5 points while No. 21 Cahokia took third with 106 points.

Finishing first for coach Jason Clay’s champion Vandals were Pierson Wilkerson (26-20 at 120), Owen Miller (37-9 at 132), Cutter Prater (42-3 at 138), Logan Nance (35-11 at 145), Eric McKinney (41-5 at 152), Ryan Kaiser (39-6 at 160) and Wyatt Dothager (29-16 at 182). The program didn’t go to dual team state in 2020, ending a 10-year run of trips where they won trophies in three of their last four visits.

Other title winners were Carlyle’s Tyson Waughtel (45-0 at 106) and Owen Birkner (35-8 at 170), East Alton-Wood River’s Aaron Niemeyer (33-4 at 113) and Jason Shaw (36-2 at 126), Roxana’s Hunter Bailey (16-2 at 195) and James Herring (25-3 at 220) and Cahokia’s Berylonte Shegog (22-3 at 285).

Coal City Individual Sectional & TBA Dual Team Sectional

St. Laurence – Bowen Regional champions

In one of the closest regional results in the state, St. Laurence claimed top honors at the Bowen Regional in Chicago over the hosts by just two points, a 183-181 margin. It’s the school’s first regional championship since 1990, when it won the IHSA Class AA dual team championship while making its first and only finals appearance.

Winning titles for coach Marcel Cook’s champion Vikings, who had nine sectional qualifiers, were Eduardo Arias (6-3 at 126), Gabe Alvarez (17-6 at 145), Henry Coughlin (23-9 at 160), Mike Gentile (24-6 at 170) and Matt Bielski (10-25 at 220).

Bowen had 11 sectional qualifiers and four title winners, Niko Brussard (13-3 at 120), Michael Alade (18-1 at 132), Josiah Jackson (10-0 at 138) and Trevon Smith (13-3 at 152). Perspectives Leadership had eight qualifiers and two champions, Daniel Jones (14-3 at 182) and Jamel Blachmond (18-1 at 195). Also claiming first place were Harlan’s Jonking Williams (17-3 at 106) and Amarion Lee (22-5 at 285) and Hyde Park’s Keshaun Colmen (3-2 at 113).

Phoenix Military Academy – Chicago Hope Academy Regional champions

Phoenix Military Academy had five title winners to help it capture the championship of the Chicago Hope Academy Regional with 249 points, which was 10 points better than second-place DePaul College Prep, who had 239 points while the host Eagles took third with 165.5 points.

Leading the way for coach Daniel Curin’s champion Firebirds, who had 13 sectional qualifiers, were title winners Vin Moreno (25-1 at 120), Omar Ramirez (20-4 at 132), Rafael Soto (24-4 at 138), Diego Mendez (22-5 at 145) and Kaleb Abney 7-6 at 220). It was the first regional championship won by the Chicago school.

DePaul College Prep, which had 11 sectional qualifiers, got titles from Johnny Cunningham (16-9 at 106), Max Rosen (24-5 at 113), Mikekal McClarin (19-2 at 126), Luke Walters (15-9 at 182) and Emmett Jeske (19-9 at 285). Taking first place for Chicago Hope Academy, who had nine sectional qualifiers, were Franky Saez (26-3 at 152), Esteban Aleman (16-6 at 170) and Uriah Martin-Valez (18-12 at 195). The other regional champion was Golder College Prep’s Christian Villasenor (6-1 at 160).

IC Catholic Prep – Walther Christian Regional champions

IC Catholic Prep, which is ranked 13th, had nine champions and 10 sectional qualifiers to help it to an easy win for the team title at the Walther Christian Regional in Melrose Park with 226 points while Lisle claimed second place with 141 points and Nazareth Academy was third with 103 points.

Coach Jason Renteria’s champion Knights received first-place finishes from Andrew Alvarado (17-10 at 113), Nick Renteria (21-1 at 120), Bryson Spaulding (11-6 at 126), Omar Samayoa (15-5 at 132), Joseph Gilatta (19-5 at 145), Brandon Navarro (17-5 at 170), Michael Calcagno (14-1 at 182), Jadon Mims (19-3 at 220) and Isaiah Gonzalez (24-1 at 285). The program hopes to return to the dual team finals for the first time since 2018, when it made its debut there. The Knights also placed third at the IWCOA finals in 2021.

Lisle, who had eight sectional qualifiers, got first- place finishes from Ryan Hsu (24-5 at 106), Abe Payne (12-10 at 152) and Joe Raineri (23-10 at 195). The other two champions were Nazareth Academy’s Zach Milos (21-5 at 138) and Northridge Prep’s Michael Kopecky (5-3 at 160).

Yorkville Christian – Seneca Regional champions 

Seventh-ranked Yorkville Christian prevailed over a group of ranked squads to capture top honors in the Seneca Regional with 200 points while third-ranked Coal City took second with 175 points. Ninth-ranked Reed-Custer (122.5) and No. 17 Seneca (102) were next in line. For more on this regional, see Curt Herron’s story.

Coach Mike Vester’s champion Mustangs, who had nine sectional qualifiers, got titles from Aiden Larsen (35-6 at 106), Isaac Bourge (25-9 at 120), Grason Johnson (14-16 at 126), Noah Dial (32-8 at 132), Tyler Martinez (33-10 at 160), Jackson Gillen (39-5 at 170) and Michael Esquivel (30-12 at 285). This was the program’s first regional title.

Coal City, which had 10 sectional qualifiers, got first-place finishes from John Housman (26-6 at 113), Braiden Young (31-7 at 182) and Ashton Harvey (6-1 at 195). The Coalers had advanced to state in five of the last six seasons and had three seconds and two thirds during those state trips, including second in 2020. Other champions were Reed-Custer’s Landon Markle (31-8 at 145) and Kody Marschner (33-0 at 220), Peotone’s Marco Spinazzola (36-2 at 138) and Bishop McNamara’s Luke Christie (22-2 at 152).

Class 2A Regional Roundup

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

Here’s a look at the 16 regional championship teams in Class 2A as well as all of the individual champions from those tournaments, including their records going into sectionals.

All of the summaries are grouped together in the individual sectional that they will be competing in this weekend. A special thanks to all of the coaches who sent team pictures.

Mahomet-Seymour Individual Sectional & TBA Dual Team Sectional

Mahomet-Seymour – Mahomet-Seymour Regional champions

Fifth-ranked Mahomet-Seymour prevailed in a regional featuring several top teams after scoring 229 points to defeat runner-up No. 11 Normal West, who scored 205 points. No. 19 Centennial (154) and No. 17 Bloomington (138) were next-best.

Capturing titles for coach Rob Ledin’s champion Bulldogs, who had 10 sectional qualifiers, were Caden Hatton (40-4 at 106), Tallen Pawlak (30-11 at 138), Braeden Heinold (39-8 at 152), Brennan Houser (37-6 at 170), Mateo Casillas (46-1 at 195) and Camden Harms (30-6 at 285). It’s the seventh-straight season that the program has won a regional title and they hope to make their third state dual team trip during that time, including a visit in 2020.

Normal West, who qualified 11, got titles from Matt Bicknell (18-6 at 113), Froylan Racey (31-3 at 120) and Austin Johnston (30-5 at 126). Bloomington’s champions were Dylan Watts (26-6 at 132), Jacob Barger (30-7 at 145) and Jack Weltha (29-2 at 220). Winning a title for Centennial, who had eight qualifiers, was Kodiac Pruitt (27-11 at 160) while Danville got a first-place finish from Phillip Shaw (23-4 at 182).

Glenwood – Jacksonville Regional champions

Eighth-ranked Glenwood easily captured top honors in the Jacksonville Regional after winning seven titles and qualifying 12 individuals for the sectional to score 227 points, placing it well ahead of the host Crimsons, who had 141 points to take second place.

Top finishers for coach Jerod Bruner’s champion Titans were first-place finishers Andrew Davis (10-0 at 106), Braxton Warren (20-12 at 126), John Ben Maduena (29-16 at 132), Aden Byal (39-6 at 145), Brandon Bray (22-20 at 195), Jaidyn Lee (28-9 at 220) and Alex Hamrick (44-2 at 285). The program hopes to get back to the dual team finals, which they last did in both 2018 and 2019.

Jacksonville, who qualified eight individuals, got titles from Collin Reif (29-4 at 138), James Cotton (33-3 at 152) and Luca Thies (30-9 at 182). Also finishing in first place were Lanphier’s Connor Janssen (28-4 at 160) and Gabriel Orosco (31-4 at 170), Rochester’s Adam Gribbins (22-9 at 113) and Springfield High’s Kaden Rios (14-13 at 120).

Marion – Mt. Vernon Regional champions

Marion won its first-ever regional championship and moved up to No. 22 in the rankings after scoring 212 points to take top honors at the Mt. Vernon Regional while No. 23 Mattoon finished in second place with 185 points and the host Rams were third with 144.5 points.

Leading the way for coach Darren Lindsey’s first-place Wildcats, who had 11 sectional qualifiers, were champions Tate Miller (32-9 at 120), Ricky Wade (30-0 at 132), Nate Dampier (34-1 at 152) and Kanye Gunn (23-3 at 285).

Mattoon, who qualified for the dual team finals in 2020, had nine qualifiers and six champions, Brady Foster (31-1 at 113), Korbin Bateman (30-4 at 126), Mick Porter (22-13 at 138), Kiefer Duncan (36-2 at 145), Aidan Spurgeon (21-2 at 195) and Leo Meyer (31-7 at 220). Mt. Vernon, who had eight sectional qualifiers, got titles from Maddux Randall (31-8 at 170) and Jared Shafer (32-2 at 182). Other champions were MacArthur’s Logan Roberts (20-0 at 106) and Carbondale’s Isaiah Duckworth (28-9 at 160), with the latter being one of the Terriers’ eight qualifiers.

Civic Memorial – Civic Memorial Regional champions

Tenth-ranked Civic Memorial captured its first regional championship since 1996 when it won its own regional tournament in Bethalto with 224.5 points while No. 25 Triad took second place with 188 points and Waterloo was third with 124.5 points.

Top performers for coach Jeremy Christeson’s first-place Eagles, who had 12 sectional qualifiers, were champions Bradley Ruckman (36-5 at 106), Ethan Skiff (18-9 at 113), Bryce Griffin (35-5 at 138), Abe Wojcikiewicz (34-0 at 170) and Colton Carlisle (36-2 at 182). The program placed second at the IWCOA finals in 2021.

Champions for Triad, who had 10 qualifiers, were Colby Crouch (28-0 at 120), Aiden Postma (31-6 at 145) and Landon Tourville (29-10 at 195), Winning titles for Waterloo, who had seven sectional qualifiers, were Gavin Hearren (20-3 at 126) and Jordan Sommers (37-0 at 220). Also capturing first-place finishes were Mascoutah’s Santino Robinson (38-1 at 132), East St. Louis’ Cody Powell (19-9 at 152), Highland’s Ben Mitchell (32-8 at 160) and Jersey’s Jayden Busch (27-6 at 285).

Hinsdale South Individual Sectional & Brother Rice Dual Team Sectional

Saint Ignatius College Prep – Kenwood Regional champions 

Saint Ignatius College Prep prevailed by a 196-188.5 over the host school to claim top honors in the Kenwood Regional, which was held in Chicago. Gary Comer College Prep took third place with 143 points.

Leading the way for coach Ben Sanchez’s champion Wolfpack were title winners Nate Sanchez (30-7 at 113), Dylan Kabance (29-7 at 132), Sam Opawuyi (6-3 at 182) and Damian Lassak (14-3 at 285). The team has 10 sectional qualifiers in Sanchez’s first year as head coach and it’s the first regional championship that the program has won.

Kenwood had five champions among its 10 sectional qualifiers, Cameron Griffin (23-10 at 120), Billy Torin (26-9 at 145), Joshua Butler (28-6 at 160), Dimitri Walker-Hunt (28-11 at 170) and Adam Achebe (28-3 at 220). Gary Comer College Prep also advanced 10 to the sectional and got firsts from Malik Wynn (16-12 at 138) and Donovan Hall (27-4 at 152). Others who won titles were Washington’s Juan Jimenez (21-3 at 126) and Christian Leyva (15-6 at 195) and De La Salle Institute’s Raymond Alvarado (18-4 at 106).

Riverside-Brookfield – Hinsdale South Regional champions 

Riverside-Brookfield moved up to No. 21 in the rankings following its title at the Hinsdale South Regional in Darien where it scored 225 points, putting it well ahead of the host Hornets, who took second place with 182 points.

Coach Nicholas Curby’s first-place Bulldogs had a sectional-best 14 sectional qualifiers to go with titles from Quintavius Murrell (21-17 at 120), Mateo Costello (31-5 at 126), Brock Hoyd (31-4 at 170), Liam Cote (20-6 at 182) and Thurman Givens (13-10 at 195). It’s their second-straight regional title and they hope to return to the dual team finals.

Hinsdale South had 10 sectional qualifiers and four first-place finishers, Trent Ferguson (10-7 at 138), Alec Miller (12-8 at 152), Manny Wallace (25-5 at 160) and Griffin Carr (19-12 at 220). Other champions were Lindblom’s Diego Salgado (23-3 at 113), Zachary Carter (19-2 at 132) and Ashton Allen (12-5 at 145) and Kennedy’s Victor Alvarado (19-1 at 106) and Raymond Begay (28-2 at 285).

Oak Forest – Oak Forest Regional champions 

No. 18 Oak Forest had no troubles capturing top honors at its own regional, winning nine titles and qualifying 13 individuals to score 226 points, which placed it well ahead of runner-up Hillcrest, who had 108 points.

Leading the way for coach Shawn Forst’s Bengals were champions Tyler Evitts (19-3 at 120), Caden Muselman (25-2 at 126), Hunter Hale (17-13 at 138), Connor Nowicki (22-8 at 145), Ivan Corral (24-6 at 152), Max Corral (28-12 at 160), Joe Castaneda (18-8 at 170), Gavin Brown (13-14 at 182) and Adam Richtor (17-7 at 220). This is the program’s sixth regional title since 2014 and they would like to make a fifth trip to dual team state during that time, which includes a pair of third-place finishes.

Others who won titles were Thornton’s Keevin Osborne (4-2 at 106), Marian Catholic’s Ian Toosevich (3-9 at 113), Hillcrest’s K’vion Bills (3-0 at 132), Thornton Fractional North’s Alex Jackson (15-0 at 195) and Crete-Monee’s Vincente Arebalo (18-2 at 285). Hillcrest had seven sectional qualifiers.

Brother Rice – St. Rita Regional champions 

No. 16 Brother Rice dominated the competition by winning six titles and having 13 sectional qualifiers to score 242 points to win the St. Rita Regional title in Chicago over the hosts, who took second place with 160 points and Evergreen Park was third with 144 points.

Top performers for coach Jan Murzyn’s first-place Crusaders were champions Bobby Conway (23-5 at 120), Al Perez (21-6 at 138), Charles Connolly (17-10 at 152), Nate Chirillo (13-3 at 160), Tom Bennett (24-1 at 170) and Gabino Perez (20-6 at 195). This is the program’s second-straight regional title and fourth in six seasons.

St. Rita had eight sectional qualifiers and four title winners, Austin Dangles (14-7 at 113), Griffin Duffin (16-6 at 126), Sean Larkin (20-7 at 132) and Isaac Gaytan-Reilly (12-8 at 145). Evergreen Park qualified seven and had three champions, Johan Bonnilla (5-3 at 106), James Williams (25-5 at 182) and Eduardo Antunez (22-6 at 220). Bremen’s Eric Perez-Nava (21-3 at 285) was the other first-place finisher. Although it had no champions, Richards also advanced seven to the sectional.

Sycamore Individual Sectional & Washington Dual Team Sectional 

Rock Island – United Township Regional champions

In a regional featuring several top teams, sixth-ranked Rock Island scored 213 points to finish ahead of seventh-ranked Geneseo, who scored 196.5 points, to claim first place in the United Township Regional in East Moline. No. 24 Freeport (141), No. 20 Rochelle (129.5) and No. 25 Galesburg (123.5) also competed in the event.

Winning titles for coach Joel Stockwell’s champion Rocks, who had 10 sectional qualifiers, were Truth Vesey (33-5 at 106), Aoci Bernard (43-3 at 138), Steven Marquez (29-5 at 182), Anthony Marquez (33-12 at 195) and Eli Gustafson (29-18 at 285). The program also won a regional title in 2020 and hopes to qualify for its first dual team appearance since 1992, it’s only previous trip to that competition.

Champions for Geneseo, who had nine sectional qualifiers, were Zachary Montez (34-3 at 113), Anthony Montez (40-2 at 160) and Harrison Neumann (32-10 at 170). Winning titles for Freeport, who had eight qualifiers, were Markel Baker (20-0 at 126), Jacob Redington (12-2 at 132) and Tarrone Jackson (21-3 at 152). Also finishing in first place were Galesburg’s Gauge Shipp (36-3 at 120) and Jeremiah Morris (35-3 at 220) and Rochelle’s Caleb Nadig (29-3 at 145), with the latter being one of seven Hubs to qualify.

Joliet Catholic Academy – LaSalle-Peru Regional champion

Top-ranked Joliet Catholic Academy won seven championships and advanced all 14 of its individuals to the title mat to capture the title of the LaSalle-Peru Regional with 254 points, which was 60 points ahead of fourth-ranked Lemont, who scored 194 points to finish in second place. The runner-up Indians won the IHSA Class 2A title in 2020. .

Capturing championships for coach Ryan Cumbee’s first-place Hilltoppers were Gylon Sims (26-4 at 113), Shay Korhorn (12-6 at 120), Logan Kuhel-Trimmer (19-7 at 132), Owen O’Connor (21-9 at 138), Mason Alessio (28-4 at 145), Connor Cumbee (22-14 at 152) and Dillan Johnson (27-0 at 285). The program also won a regional in 2020 and placed third in the IWCOA finals in 2021 and hopes to make its first appearance in the dual team tournament this season.

Lemont had 11 sectional qualifiers and five champions, Sam Schuit (28-7 at 126), Mike Jabaay (20-7 at 160), Alex Tagler (29-3 at 170), Moe Khalil (29-4 at 182) and Tyler Wilms (26-3 at 220).  Also finishing in first place were Ottawa’s Ivan Munoz (11-3 at 106) and LaSalle-Peru’s Connor Lorden (20-1 at 195) . 

Sycamore – Rockford East Regional champions

No. 12 Sycamore had four champions and 11 sectional qualifiers to help it score 168.5 points to capture top honors in the Rockford East Regional while seventh-ranked Aurora Christian was second with 152 points and the host E-Rabs took third place with 144 points.

Claiming first-place finishes for coach Alex Nelson’s champion Spartans were Brayden Peet (38-1 at 152), Gus Cambier (31-5 at 160), Zack Crawford (33-3 at 170) and Gable Carrick (29-9 at 182). The program’s last regional title was in 2019 and they hope to get back to dual team state for the first time since 2013, when they placed third.

No. 13 Aurora Christian, which placed third in 2020, had eight sectional qualifiers and five champions, Deven Casey (25-6 at 106), Joe Fernau (21-5 at 126), Josh Vasquez (19-6 at 132), Taythan Silva (26-7 at 145) and Nate Wemstrom (30-5 at 195). Rockford East had seven qualifiers and four title winners, Peter Young (18-8 at 113), Sam Young (23-7 at 138), Joey Pineda (28-4 at 220) and Lee Smith (20-1 at 285). Burlington Central’s Austin Lee (28-15 at 120) also took first while Kaneland had no champions but qualified seven.

Washington – Washington Regional champion

Second-ranked Washington had nine champions and 14 sectional qualifiers as it rolled to the championship at its own regional by scoring 264.5 points while Morton claimed second place with 139 points and Peoria High was third with 101 points.

Winning titles for coach Nick Miller’s champion Panthers were Peyton Cox (35-2 at 120), Eli Gonzalez (16-15 at 126), Kannon Webster (41-1 at 132), Blake Hinrichsen (31-11 at 160), Zane Hulet (20-14 at 170), Joseph Hoffer (17-16 at 182), Donnie Hidden (20-0 at 195), Tyler Casey (32-3 at 220) and Justin Hoffer (32-7 at 285). This is the eighth-straight regional title for the program and they hope to be back in the state dual team finals for the eighth season in a row and add to their four first-place and two second-place trophies during that run, which includes a runner-up finish in 2020.

Morton had seven sectional qualifiers and three champions, Caleb Lenning (22-11 at 106), Zane Ely (28-7 at 113) and Jamison Almasy (31-12 at 138). Also capturing title wins were Metamora’s Sam Ohl (23-12 at 145) and Dunlap’s Nick Mueller (31-2 at 152).

Deerfield Individual Sectional & Woodstock North Dual Team Sectional

Deerfield – Notre Dame College Prep Regional champions

Third-ranked Deerfield had eight champions and 10 sectional qualifiers to help it capture top honors at the Notre Dame College Prep Regional in Niles with 224 points while the host Dons claimed second place with 195 points and Wheeling was third with 149 points.

Claiming top honors for coach Marc Pechter’s first-place Warriors were Luke Reddy (31-7 at 113), Renzo Morgan (28-9 at 132), Kai Neumark (32-1 at 138), Lucio Morgan (36-3 at 145), Stamos Tsakiris (34-4 at 152), Benjamin Shvartsman (39-0 at 160), Aiden Cohen (38-2 at 170) and Braeden Wittkamp (37-2 at 182). This is the program’s second-straight regional title and fifth since 2015 and they hope to make a third state dual team trip and improve upon a fourth-place showing in their last time there in 2017.

Notre Dame College Prep had 13 sectional qualifiers, including champions Johnny Sheehy (20-16 at 106), Aodan O’Sullivan (33-6 at 220) and Karl Schmalz (29-3 at 285). Wheeling had nine sectional qualifiers, including title winners Jatuthep Rattanahattakul (21-9 at 120), Patrick Tinsley (19-6 at 126) and Erik Giron (19-16 at 195).

Antioch – Grayslake Central Regional champion 

No. 15 Antioch won six titles and qualified 12 for the sectional to easily capture top honors at the Grayslake Central Regional with 216 points, which gave it an 80-point advantage over the host Rams, who scored 136 points.

Leading the way for coach Wilbur Borrero’s champion Sequoits were title winners Edgar Albino (34-1 at 120), Tanner Jurinek (14-18 at 126), Caleb Nobiling (32-5 at 138), Ben Vazquez (30-5 at 145), Evan Vazquez (26-4 at 152) and Briar Russell (20-12 at 220). The program won a regional title for the fourth-straight season and looks for its third state trip during that time with its 2020 visit resulting in a fourth-place trophy.

Grayslake Central got firsts from Anthony Alanis (42-4 at 106), Tyler Weidman (32-13 at 113), Aaron Cramer (41-1 at 170) and Matty Jens (41-1 at 182). Others who won titles were Vernon Hills’ Will Ludolph (21-4 at 160) and Jake Psaras (29-8 at 195), Lake Forest’s Seth Digby (29-5 at 132) and Lakes’ John Sullivan (20-3 at 285).

Crystal Lake Central – Crystal Lake Central Regional champions 

Ninth-ranked Crystal Lake Central claimed top honors in its own regional by qualifying nine individuals and winning five titles to score 205 points, which was well ahead of No. 14 Wauconda, who had 161.5 points while Crystal Lake South took third with 125 points.

Leading coach Justen Lehr’s first-place Tigers were champions Greco Rendon (17-14 at 132), Cayden Parks (25-11 at 145), Connor Lezama (31-12 at 152), Dillon Carlson (37-4 at 160) and Ben Butler (31-12 at 170). This was their first regional title since 2017. The program has won nine regionals and five IHSA trophies in seven state trips under Lehr. 

Also taking first place were Crystal Lake South’s Josh Glover (23-0 at 113), Shane Moran (29-4 at 182) and Andy Burburijia (28-8 at 285). Wauconda, which also had nine sectional qualifiers, got titles from Lucas Galdine (18-3 at 106) and Cole Porten (25-9 at 138). Other champions were Prairie Ridge’s Tyler Evans (31-3 at 120) and Mikey Meade (27-10 at 126), Cary-Grove’s Wade Abrams (19-1 at 195) and Woodstock’s Gavin Loiselle (17-0 at 220).

St. Patrick – Fenton Regional champions 

St. Patrick claimed top honors at the Fenton Regional in Bensenville by scoring 219 points while Fenwick claimed second place in the competition with 188 points and the hosts edged Montini Catholic 155-152 for third place. For more information on the regional, see Gary Larsen’s story, which already appears on the website.

Recording first-place finishes for coach Tom Kelliher’s champion Shamrocks, who had 11 sectional qualifiers, were Olin Walker (33-13 at 113), Niko Karamaniolas (24-12 at 126), Sean Conway (44-1 at 132) and Gio Hernandez (36-11 at 170). This is the program’s fifth regional title since 2015 and they seek their first trip to the dual team finals.

Montini Catholic had seven qualifiers and four champions, Jayden Colon (18-4 at 145), David Mayora (11-3 at 152), Will Prater (11-9 at 160) and Evan Jocic (7-8 at 195). The Broncos failed to win a regional team title for the first time  since 2001.  During that amazing run, they won 15 state titles and were second twice and reached state in all but one year. Fenwick, which had 10 sectional qualifiers, got titles from Tommy Sullivan (22-10 at 138), Conor Parris (25-4 at 182) and Jimmy Liston (30-3 at 285). Others who took first were Elmwood Park’s Jack Dombeck (30-5 at 106) and Schurz’s Majd Hamarsha (6-4 at 120). Although they had no champions, the host Bison qualified nine to the sectional.

Class 3A Regional Roundup

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

Here’s a look at the 16 regional championship teams in Class 3A as well as all of the individual champions from those tournaments, including their records going into sectionals.

Over the next two days, we will present the same type of story in order to also recognize the teams and champions who participated in regionals in both Class 2A and Class 1A.

All of the summaries are grouped together in the individual sectional that they will be competing in this weekend. A special thanks to all of the coaches who sent team pictures.

Granite City Individual Sectional & TBA Dual Team Sectional

Lockport – Homewood-Flossmoor Regional champions 

Sixth-ranked Lockport won four individual titles to help it edge fifth-ranked Lincoln-Way East 229-215.5 and capture top honors in the Homewood-Flossmoor Regional in Flossmoor while No. 19 Homewood-Flossmoor (171) finished in third place.

Coach Josh Oster’s champion Porters had 11 sectional qualifiers and four title winners, David Vukobratovich (27-8 at 113), Logan Swaw (27-5 at 152), Brayden Thompson (38-0 at 170) and Andrew Blackburn-Forst (28-5 at 220). It was the program’s seventh-straight regional title and it hopes to qualify for dual team state for the third-time in a row.

Homewood-Flossmoor, who had seven sectional qualifiers, got titles from Deion Johnson (31-6 at 106), Vincent Robinson (26-2 at 126), Jaydon Robinson (25-5 at 145) and Haku Watson-Castro (24-8 at 182). Lincoln-Way East had 10 qualifiers and three champions, Dominic Adamo (30-5 at 160), Connor Lindaur (32-5 at 195) and Alex Knaperek (24-9 at 285). Lincoln-Way Central’s Joey Malito (38-1 at 120) and Conor Smetana (35-4 at 138) and Rich Township’s Nasir Bailey (34-0 at 132) also finished first.

Moline – Joliet West Regional champions 

Moline had three champions and eight sectional qualifiers to help it capture top honors at the Joliet West Regional with 180 points while 23rd-ranked Lincoln-Way West claimed second place with 161.5 points and Joliet West took third with 148 points and tied Moline for the most sectional qualifiers with eight.

Winning titles for coach Jacob Ruettiger’s champion Maroons were Kole Brower (39-1 at 138), Noah Tapia (41-2 at 145) and Parker Terronez (15-7 at 160). It was the program’s first regional title since 2016 and they hope to advance to dual team state for the first time since 2000. Moline took fourth place at the IWCOA finals in 2021.

Lincoln-Way West, who had seven qualifiers, got titles from Jase Salin (33-11 at 120), Cameron Knepper (32-13 at 152) and Michael Sneed (27-8 at 220). Pekin got firsts from Ramez Watson (33-10 at 132), Shamon Handegan (36-0 at 182) and Tyler Haines (30-0 at 285), Other champions were Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Ethan Spacht (23-2 at 106) and AJ Mancilla (34-4 at 170), Joliet Central’s Tony Toledo (17-7 at 113), Minooka’s Dominic Schiavone (17-3 at 126) and Normal Community’s Cooper Caraway (34-3 at 195).

Yorkville – Plainfield Central Regional champions 

Ninth-ranked Yorkville captured five titles to help it collect 220 points and claim top honors in the Plainfield Central Regional while 24th-ranked Plainfield North took second place with 183 points. It was the program’s first regional title since 2013 and they hope to advance to dual team state for the first time since 2012, when they took second in 2A.

Claiming first-place finishes for coach Jake Oster’s champion Foxes, who had 12 sectional qualifiers, were Jack Ferguson (29-6 at 113), Dominic Recchia (25-11 at 120), Luke Zook (31-8 at 152), Hunter Janeczko (30-3 at 195) and Ben Alvarez (41-4 at 220).

Plainfield North had 11 sectional qualifiers and four title winners, Jacob Macatangay (40-0 at 126), Brody Wyller (30-17 at 145), Jared Gumila (42-3 at 160) and Kaden McCombs (38-9 at 285). Other champions were Romeoville’s Brian Farley (20-4 at 106), Plainfield East’s Nicholas Duggan (22-14 at 138), Plainfield South’s Matthew Janiak (25-11 at 170), Plainfield Central’s Max Bowen (22-4 at 182) and Oswego’s Logan Guerrero (18-6 at 132), who was one of the Panthers’ seven sectional qualifiers.

Edwardsville – Quincy Regional champions 

Edwardsville, ranked 25th, captured five titles and had 11 sectional qualifiers to help it finish with 206 points, which was good enough to capture the title at the Quincy Regional over Belleville West, which had 164 points while O’Fallon (130.5) took third place.

Top performers for coach Jon Wagner’s champion Tigers were first-place finishers Levi Wilkinson (29-9 at 106), Dylan Gvillo (41-4 at 138), Drew Landau (31-8 at 145), Jorden Johnson (39-6 at 152) and Evan Holderer (13-6 at 195). This was their tenth-straight regional title and they hope to get to dual team state for the first time since 2019.

Other individuals who captured title wins were O’Fallon’s Brodey Durbin (23-1 at 120), Terence Willis III (21-9 at 160) and Isaiah Hill (23-1 at 285), Granite City’s Brenden Rayl (25-10 at 113) and Dylan Boyd (27-6 at 132), Belleville West’s Aiden Colbert (10-5 at 126) and Cash Mays (17-4 at 220), Collinsville’s Austin Stewart (31-8 at 170) and Belleville East’s Dominic Thebeau (30-1 at 182).

Barrington Individual Sectional & Stevenson Dual Team Sectional

Huntley – Dundee-Crown Regional champions

Huntley, ranked 18th, scored 200.5 points to claim top honors over runner-up Belvidere co-op, who finished with 179.5 points, at the Dundee-Crown Regional in Carpentersville. It’s the fifth-straight season that the program has captured a regional title and it hopes to qualify for dual team state as it did in 2020 and 2018, taking fourth in its first visit.

Capturing first-place finishes for coach B.J. Bertelsman’s champion Red Raiders, who had 10 sectional qualifiers, were Adam Pena (28-16 at 120), Jake Jensen (23-10 at 126), Sam Henkle (25-4 at 132), Ryder Hunkins (28-6 at 182) and Markos Mihalopoulos (27-17 at 285). 

Belvidere, which also had 10 sectional qualifiers, had four champions, Brayden Tuenissen (39-4 at 106), Colin Young (39-5 at 138), Antonio Alvarado (36-4 at 145) and T.J. Mitchell (25-15 at 220). Other title winners were Hampshire’s Niko Skoulikaris (18-4 at 152) and Dimitri Skoulikaris (15-7 at 170), Harlem’s Koletyn Zanoni (16-8 at 113), Hononegah’s Kurt Smith (13-3 at 160) and Dundee-Crown’s Porter Leith (32-3 at 195).

Prospect – Glenbrook South Regional champions

Prospect, ranked 13th, scored 212.5 points to claim top honors at the Glenbrook South Regional in Glenview, with the host school taking  second place with 159 points and Loyola Academy third with 153 points. This is the program’s fourth-straight title and seventh in eight seasons and it hopes to reach dual team state for the fourth time.

Leading the way for coach Dan Keller’s champion Knights, who had 11 sectional qualifiers, were first-place finishers Joel Muehlenbeck (36-7 at 106), Will Baysingar (41-1 at 132), Lennon Steinkuehler (33-5 at 138) and Damien Puma (29-8 at 145).

Loyola Academy had seven sectional qualifiers and four champions, Massey Odiotti (34-4 at 120), Patrick Zimmer (22-14 at 126), Cooper Wettig (10-1 at 160) and Quinn Herbert (30-9 at 182). Glenbrook South had eight qualifiers and three title winners, Will Collins (18-2 at 152), Ilkin Badalov (24-6 at 170) and Drew Duffy (15-2 at 285). Also taking first-place were New Trier’s Jack Cummings (28-2 at 195) and Ty Stringer (24-3 at 220) and Evanston’s Marco Terrezzi (12-8 at 113), who was one of seven Wildkits’ qualifiers.

Libertyville – Libertyville Regional champions

Libertyville, which is ranked 14th, won half of the individual titles and that helped it to claim top honors in its own regional with 208 points while tenth-ranked McHenry finished second with 181.5 points. This is the program’s fourth-straight regional championship and they hope to get back to dual team state for the first time since 2014.

Capturing championships for coach Dale Eggert’s first-place Wildcats were Caelan Riley (33-3 at 120), Trevor Jean (25-12 at 132), Matt Kubas (17-13 at 152), Austin Gomez (29-9 at 170), Josh Knudten (32-3 at 182), Cole Matulenko (29-8 at 195) and Caleb Christensen (22-8 at 285). The first-place team also qualified 11 for the sectional.

Mundelein had three champs, Bryce Durlacher (34-1 at 113), Erick Nova (29-8 at 145) and Henri Ortiz (30-8 at 220) while McHenry had 10 qualifiers and two title winners, Pedro Jimenez (34-12 at 126) and Chris Moore (42-0 at 160). And Round Lake’s Grayson Kongkaeow (29-11 at 106) and Warren’s Evan Onstad (16-9 at 138) also won titles.

Fremd – Fremd Regional champions

In one of the most-competitive regionals in Class 3A, No. 16 Fremd edged No. 12 Hersey 189.5-184.5 for top honors of its own regional in Palatine while No. 15 Stevenson (177) and No. 21 Barrington (148) took the next two spots. For more on this regional, see Mike Garofola’s complete story, which will appear on the website. 

Coach Jeff Keske’s champion Vikings had nine sectional qualifiers and three title winners, Evan Gosz (35-3 at 113), Maddox Khalimsky (29-6 at 132) and Charlie Fifield (39-4 at 145). This is the third time that the program won a regional title and its first title since 1996, when it made its only appearance at state in the dual team tournament.

Hersey had nine qualifiers and four champions, Esteban Delgado (32-15 at 120), Billy Spassov (35-8 at 160), Manny Mejia (40-5 at 220) and Oleg Simakov (34-11 at 285). Stevenson had eight qualifiers and three title winners, Lorenzo Frezza (34-1 at 126), Cole Rhemrev (34-0 at 138) and Carter Rand (32-9 at 152). Other champs were Jacobs’ Dominic Ducato (21-5 at 106) and Joey Scrivani (9-0 at 170) and Barrington’s Ayden Salley (26-6 at 182) and Zach Meyer (33-6 at 195), two of the Broncos’ seven qualifiers.

Hinsdale Central Individual Sectional & TBA Dual Team Sectional

Marist – Marist Regional champions 

Second-ranked Marist had 14 sectional qualifiers and nine champions to help it score 280 points and win its own regional in Chicago while Carl Sandburg claimed second place with 206 points. It was the program’s first regional title since 2014, which is also the last time that it qualified for the dual team finals, where it finished second.

Capturing titles for coach Brendan Heffernan’s RedHawks were Michael Esteban (32-8 at 113), Jesse Herrera (21-10 at 126), Owen Dunlap (14-1 at 138), Ricky Ericksen (31-8 at 145), Tommy Boland (31-5 at 160), Jake Liberatore (16-0 at 170), Conor Phelan (25-8 at 182), Peter Marinopoulos (33-0 at 195) and Ghee Rachal (26-2 at 220).

Carl Sandburg had 11 sectional qualifiers and three champions, Rocco Hayes (24-11 at 106), Sammie Hayes (7-0 at 120) and Kevin Zimmer (12-0 at 285). The other two title winners were Bolingbrook’s Joe McDermott (25-9 at 132) and Shepard’s Damari Reed (29-0 at 152).

Downers Grove South – Downers Grove South Regional champions 

Downers Grove South finished with 212 points to easily claim top honors at its own regional while Lyons Township edged Downers Grove North 155-154 for third-place. This was the first regional championship for the program, whose last title in the sport came in a district tournament in 1982, two years before the dual team series began.

Coach Sean Lovelace’s champion Mustangs, who had 12 sectional qualifiers, were led by their four first-place finishers, Jimmy Nugent (32-6 at 138), RJ Samuels (24-9 at 152), Matty Lapacek (28-10 at 160) and Will Schuessler (34-7 at 170).

Lyons Township, which had eight sectional qualifiers, got titles from Gunnar Garelli (30-9 at 126), Ben Zeman (25-13 at 145) and Cooper King (9-5 at 195). Downers Grove North, who had seven qualifiers, got firsts from Tyler Tiango (28-11 at 106), Ben Bielawski (32-3 at 182) and Jordan Lewis (31-4 at 285). The other champions were Hinsdale Central’s Cody Tavoso (21-3 at 132) and Marko Ivanisevic (32-1 at 220), Morton’s Anthony Lopez (30-2 at 113) and Oak Park and River Forest’s Jalen Dunson (16-2 at 120).

Mount Carmel – Mount Carmel Regional champions 

Third-ranked Mount Carmel captured 12 titles and scored 281 points to claim top honors in its own regional in Chicago while Reavis (143) finished second and Argo (110) placed third. This was the 24th-straight regional title for Mount Carmel, who was second in 2020 at dual team state and won the 2021 IWCOA title.

Capturing first-place finishes for coach Alex Tsirtsis’ champion Caravan, who had 13 sectional qualifiers, were Seth Mendoza (32-2 at 106), Damian Resendez (24-7 at 113), Jairo Acuna (20-12 at 120), Sergio Lemley (33-1 at 126), Eddie Enright (22-9 at 132), Nam Doan (9-11 at 138), Marcus Milianti (10-14 at 152), Colin Kelly (30-4 at 160), Rylan Breen (23-11 at 182), Elliot Lewis (21-9 at 195), John McKeon (9-11 at 220) and Ryan Boersma (33-2 at 285).

Reavis, which had eight sectional qualifiers, got a title win from Stefano Cobo (4-4 at 145) while Oak Lawn’s Hani Odeh (22-8 at 170) was the other champion. Although it had no first-place finishers, Argo had the second-highest total of sectional qualifiers with nine.

Marmion Academy – Naperville Central Regional champions 

Fourth-ranked Marmion Academy captured 10 titles at the Naperville Central Regional to finish with 293.5 points while 25th-ranked West Aurora (179.5) and seventh-ranked Naperville Central (153) were next in line. After missing out on a title in 2020, it won its eighth regional in nine seasons and all of the others led to trips to the dual team finals, where they won four trophies with the last, a third, in 2019.

Winning championships for coach Nathan Fitzenreider’s first-place Cadets, who advanced all 14 of their individuals to the sectional, were Donny Pigoni (31-9 at 106), Jameson Garcia (25-4 at 113), Tyler Aters (15-4 at 120), Santino Scolaro (24-6 at 138), Collin Carrigan (21-2 at 152), Tyler Perry (33-3 at 170), Jack Lesher (34-4 at 182), Teddy Perry (22-12 at 195), Sean Scheck (31-9 at 220) and Jerred Durian (23-5 at 285). 

Others who won titles were Naperville Central’s Ethan Olson (25-6 at 126), West Aurora’s Ashton Massaro (18-8 at 132), Naperville North’s Cam Clark (25-4 at 145) and Waubonsie Valley’s Antonio Torres (26-0 at 160). West Aurora had 10 sectional qualifiers while Naperville Central advanced eight to the sectional.

Conant Individual Sectional & South Elgin Dual Team Sectional

Glenbard West – Wheaton North Regional champions

Glenbard West, ranked 20th, surprised district rival Glenbard North, which was ranked 11th, by winning seven titles to help it claim top honors at the Wheaton North Regional by a 209-176 margin. It was the program’s first regional championship since 2005 and its third ever and it seeks its first appearance in the dual team finals.

Winning titles for coach Nick Posegay’s champion Hilltoppers, who advanced 10 individuals to the sectional, were Ulises Rosas (32-7 at 113), Jacob Lachs (29-10 at 138), Trevor Skoda (21-3 at 145), Brennan Skoda (32-5 at 152), Max Konopka (32-4 at 160), Pat Shadid (29-4 at 182) and Philip Dozier (37-1 at 195). Posegay, a longtime coach in the program, is retiring at the end of the season.

Glenbard North, who had won 19 regional titles and made 14 state trips and won 11 trophies in the last 20 seasons, had eight sectional qualifiers and five champions, Kalani Khiev (26-8 at 106), Christian Chavez (10-4 at 120), Paul Woo (28-5 at 126), Blake Maday (4-0 at 220) and Paulie Robertson (25-1 at 285). The other two title winners were West Chicago’s Pierre Baldwin (34-2 at 132) and Willowbrook’s Nick Mabutas (29-4 at 170). 

Conant – South Elgin Regional champions 

Conant, ranked 22nd, claimed top honors at the South Elgin Regional after winning six titles and piling up 192 points, placing if well ahead of runner-up Schaumburg (132) and third-place Elk Grove (131.5). It was the program’s first regional title since 2018 and it hopes to get back to the dual team finals for the first time since 2017.

Coach Andrew Guilde’s champion Cougars, who advanced 10 individuals to the sectional, were led by first-place finishers Sammy Santangelo (13-8 at 120), Peter Floyd (25-8 at 132), Ethan Stiles (23-1 at 152), Cody Sebo (23-9 at 170), AJ Hernandez (20-10 at 182) and Henry Chang (25-6 at 195).

Others title winners were Lake Park’s Dominik Mallinder (25-4 at 126), Mike DiBenedetto (32-5 at 138) and Joey Olalde (28-2 at 160), Schaumburg’s Brady Phelps (25-2 at 106) and Callen Kirchner (27-7 at 113), South Elgin’s Nico Clinite (25-1 at 145), Hoffman Estates’ Kehinde Akintunde (24-14 at 285) and Elk Grove’s Chance Guziec (26-7 at 220), who was one of eight sectional qualifiers for the Grenadiers. 

DeKalb – DeKalb Regional champions 

Top-ranked DeKalb scored 268 points to win its own regional while eighth-ranked St. Charles East was second with 224 points and No. 17 Batavia took third with 201.5 points. It was the third-straight regional title for the program, which seeks its third-consecutive trip to the dual team finals and its 12th overall, with its last trophy, a fourth, claimed in 2019.

Claiming first-place finishes for coach Sam Hiatt’s champion Barbs, who advanced all 14 individuals to the sectional, were Tommy Curran (23-1 at 145), Damien Lopez (23-3 at 152), Lukes Schmerbach (28-2 at 170), Bradley Gillum (24-2 at 182), Bryson Buhk (23-8 at 195) and Gavin Engh (21-7 at 220). Four of those champions helped the team to claim third place in the 2021 IWCOA finals.

St. Charles East had 13 sectional qualifiers and five title winners, Ben Davino (30-1 at 120), Ethan Penzato (23-5 at 126), Tyler Guerra (25-5 at 132), Brody Murray (26-6 at 160) and Austin Barrett (21-11 at 285) while Batavia, who had 10 sectional qualifiers, received first-place efforts from Ino Garcia (35-4 at 106), Aidan Huck (25-8 at 113) and Kaden Fetterolf (35-5 at 138).

Maine South – Maine South Regional champions 

Maine South scored 210 points to win the championship at its own regional in Park Ridge while York took second place with 167 points and Taft finished third with 139 points. The program also won regional titles in 2020 and 2018 and hopes to qualify for the dual team finals for the first time.

Winning championships for coach Kevin Hansen’s first-place Hawks, who had 12 sectional qualifiers, were Christos Vaselopolus (24-8 at 106), Teddy Flores (29-6 at 113), Nathan Beltran (29-6 at 138), Danny Spandiary (6-3 at 152) and Cole Cichowski (21-11 at 170). 

York, which had 10 sectional qualifiers, got title wins from Sean Berger (36-4 at 120), Sean Van Sleet (29-6 at 126) and Evan Grazzini (36-6 at 182). Taft, who qualified seven for the sectional, received first-place finishes from Colin Roque (24-3 at 132), Ryan Porebski (32-6 at 220) and Grzegorz Krupa (31-6 at 285). Other champions were Leyden’s Patrick Gadocha (16-10 at 160) and Colin O’Neill (21-3 at 195) and Lane Tech’s Finn Merrill (32-8 at 145).

St. Patrick tops Fenwick for 2A team title at Fenton

By Gary Larsen
For the IWCOA

St. Patrick won its seventh team regional title in program history Saturday at Fenton and to think, coach Tom Kelliher nearly missed it.

I wasn’t able to show up until the finals. I had a baby this week and we got discharged from the hospital about 11 this morning,” Kelliher said. “So it’s been a pretty wild day.”

The Shamrocks posted a 219-188 edge over second-place Fenwick in winning its 2A regional crown in Bensenville. Fenton (115), Montini (152) and Elmwood Park (57) rounded out the top five team finishes.

St. Patrick won fives individual titles among the eight finalists it sent to the title mat, and advanced 11 of the 12 wrestlers it entered to this year’s Deerfield 2A individual sectional.

“The past couple years we had a smaller team and regional championships haven’t been an option,” St. Patrick senior Alex Goworowski said. “This year we had some younger kids fill some spots and we were able to win a regional championship, which is huge. Our young guys may not have all the technique, but the fight is there.”

Goworowski (220), Olin Walker (113), Niko Karamaniolas (120), Sean Conway (132), and Gio Hernandez (170) all won regional titles, while Justin Ranzonni (106), Jack Clancy (182), and Aiden Gomez (195) placed second.

Ben Kusar (138), Devin Nichol (145), and PJ Summers (152) all placed third to earn sectional advancement.

“These guys have just worked so hard and you can see that in their conditioning,” Kelliher said. “They push the pace, they’re focused — you really couldn’t ask for a better group of kids to have some success. We’ve had amazing senior captains and a lot of leadership.”

Saturday’s team regional plaque for St. Patrick will be added to the school’s trophy case along with hardware commemorating team titles in 2003 and 2012 under coach Patrick Duggan, and 2015-17 and 2019 under coach Dominic Angelo.

Tri-captains Conway, Summers, and Goworowski are proud to be a part of a bit of program history.

“We have a lot of young guys,” Conway said. “We hit a dropoff at a few weight classes but by the end of the season, they got the basics down and we’ve been able to fill out a lineup. We’ve just told them ‘keep coming to practice because you’re going to get better.”

Fenwick advanced 10 wrestlers to the Deerfield sectional, led by individual regional champions Tommy Sullivan (138), Conor Paris (182), and Jimmy Liston (285). Montini had four champions in Jayden Colon (145), David Mayora (152), Will Prater (160) and Evan Jocic (195).

Elmwood Park’s Jack Dombeck (106) and Schurz’s Majd Hamarsha (120) were also regional champions at Fenton.

Also earning sectional advancement and placing second at Fenton were Fenton’s Kon Papadopoulos (113), Alberto Bracamontes (132), Justin Dickeson (138), and Viktor Klimczyk (170), Fenwick’s Rowan White (145), Finn McGee (152), Martin Paris (160), and Conor Stetz (220),Montini’s David Hernandez (120), Ridgewood’s Kris Popovich (126), and Schurz’s Danny Ortiz (285).

With the top three finishers earning sectional advancement from Illinois regionals, the third-place mat — as it is each year — saw victory and heartbreak.

Placing third at Fenton were Fenton’s Anthony Bigham (106), Kris Nogueda (120), Joshua Dickeson (126), Jovany Zuniga (160), and Dorien Vazquez (182), Montini’s Max Neal (113) and Mick Ranquist (220), Fenwick’s Aiden Burns (132), Vincent Fiorvanti (170), and Julian Richard (195), and Westinghouse’s Davarein Stevenson (285).

Bensenville regional champions’ stories:

106 – Jack Dombeck, Elmwood Park

The Tigers’ freshman won a tournament title at Walther Christian, placed second at the Metro Suburban Conference tournament, and third at Harvard this season. Dombeck (30-5) added a regional championship to his individual resume with a pair of pins in Bensenville, capped by a fall against St. Patrick’s Justin Ranzonni in the finals.

A freshman season is typically spent acclimating to varsity wrestling.

“I learned how to wrestle hard in matches and I’ve definitely wrestled stronger kids and more experienced kids this year,” Dombeck said. “But I was expecting this — I’ve had a goal to qualify for state.”

Where has most of his improvement come?

“On my feet,” Dombeck said. “I’m taking more shots and scoring more points.”
Fenton’s Anthony Bigham finished third to also advance to Saturday’s Deerfield individual sectional, and Ridgewood’s Sal Reina finished fourth.

113 – Olin Walker, St. Patrick

Walker (33-13) handed the only previously unbeaten wrestler in the tournament his first loss, when the Shamrocks’ sophomore won 13-3 over Fenton’s Kon Papadopoulos (22-1) in the finals at 113.

Walker, ranked No. 7 at 113, improved to 33-13 for regional champion St. Patrick. Walker won a tournament title at Buffalo Grove this year, placed third at Glenbrook South and Lincoln, and fourth at Antioch and the East Suburban Catholic Conference tournament. He was an IWCOA state qualifier last year as a freshman at 106.

Walker found a takedown early against Papadopoulos and earned back points en route to a 4-0 lead after a period. He led 6-1 after two periods before breaking the match open in the third.

“In the beginning of the season I was kind of slow on my feet. I didn’t move enough,” Walker said. “Now I feel like I’m moving faster and I’ve gotten a lot more aggressive. I feel good and I’m excited for the sectional.”

Montini’s Max Neal advanced to the sectional with a 14-9 decision over Fenwick’s Evan Hickman on the third-place mat.

120 – Majd Hamarsha, Schurz

The junior Hamarsha (6-4) showed toughness in his title match against Montini’s David Hernandez (10-11), breaking a 7-7 second-period tie with a takedown that gave him a 9-7 lead that he’d never relinquish, on his way to a 13-11 win and a regional championship.

“It feels good,” Hamarsha said.

Schurz coach James Marable was proud of his junior’s accomplishment, especially considering Hamarsha’s history.

“He’s from Palestine and he’s only wrestled for two years,” Marable said. “He’s got good fundamentals, a good double-leg, and a good single-leg. It’s been a lot of repetition and it’s worked for him.”

Fenton’s Kris Nogueda placed third and Fenwick’s CJ Brown was fourth at 120.

126 – Niko Karamaniolis, St. Patrick

One of two sophomores to win regional crowns for the Shamrocks, along with Olin Walker, Karamaniolis (24-12) used a pair of pins at Fenton to advance to Deerfield’s sectional.

Karamaniolis pinned Ridgewood’s Kris Popovich in the first period to claim his crown.

“Niko is a sophomore and a kid who came up through 312 (kids’ club) and he’s been wrestling for a long time,” St. Patrick coach Tom Kelliher said. “He works really hard in the room and he’s one of the kids I’m most proud of because he’s been through his ups and downs but he has kept his head up, he stayed in it, and he’s really peaking at the right time.”

Fenton’s Joshua Dickeson won 10-1 over Montini’s Lewis Wais-Montoya to place third.

132 – Sean Conway, St. Patrick

The St. Patrick senior improved to 44-1 with a fall against Fenton’s Alberto Bracamontes (14-6) in the finals. Conway is ranked No. 2 at 132 and has won individual tournament titles this year at Antioch, Buffalo Grove, Glenbrook South, Lincoln, and this year’s East Suburban Catholic Conference meet.

Conway placed third at 106 at the 2019 IHSA state finals; sixth at 116 in 2020; and second at 126 at the IWCOA state finals in 2021.
What does Conway’s coach appreciate about his senior captain?

“How much time have you got?” Kelliher said. “Sean is the kind of kid that we’ve been able to build a successful program around. He’s been a leader since the day he stepped into the room and he just does everything the right way.”

Conway’s senior-year focus and urgency are driving him during his final go-round as a high school wrestler.

“I’m trying to be as dominant as I can in each win,” Conway said. “I feel like I have more edge this year than I did last year. I haven’t won state and it’s something I need to achieve. The sectional will be harder and now I just need to focus on each individual match at a time, and don’t look ahead.”

Fenwick’s Aiden Burns (17-11) won by fall on the third-place mat to advance, against Elmwood Park’s Konrad Trestka (20-17).

138 – Tommy Sullivan, Fenwick

There was only one takedown in the title match at 138 and Fenwick’s Tommy Sullivan got it, fighting off a headlock from Fenton’s Justin Dickeson in the second period and scoring off of it.

Sullivan (22-10) escaped to start the third period for a 3-1 lead, and that’s the way it stayed for the Friars senior, who went into the tournament with thoughts of winning his first regional title.

“I had that mindset going into it and I was really motivated,” Sullivan said. “I started wrestling my freshman year and this was always a goal of mine. Now it’s on to sectionals and hopefully I can qualify for state.”

Sullivan wrestled at 152 last season but dropped to 138 for his final bite at the apple in his senior year. The drop to 138 took some getting used to.

“At the start of the season I started slow, like I lacked energy, but now I’m feeling back to normal, full of energy,” Sullivan said. “I improved on my riding skills and my takedowns this year and I’ve become more well-rounded overall.”
St. Patrick’s Ben Kusar won by fall over Elmwood Park’s Mark Gomez to advance from the third-place match.

145 – Jayden Colon, Montini

The No. 2-ranked 145-pounder in Illinois posted two pins to improve to 18-4 and win the first regional title of his career in Bensenville.
All four of Colon’s losses have come to wrestlers outside of Illinois and he finished fourth at this year’s formidable Cheesehead tournament in Wisconsin.

“I haven’t really wrestled anyone in 2A yet. Most of our (meets) have been with 3A teams,” Colon said. “I’ll just go into the sectional believing I’m the one who’s going to take the title this year and be ready for anyone that’s coming in.”

Colon’s second-period pin of Fenwick’s Rowan White (16-12) gave Montini its first of four regional titles on the day.

“I’ve gone after every guy I’ve wrestled. My hand-fighting has gotten a lot better, and now I’m better at pushing the pace and making kids tired,” Colon said. “I need to work on getting more leg attacks, getting in more, and getting in faster earlier in matches.”

St. Patrick’s Devin Nichol advanced to Deerfield’s sectional with fall on the third-place mat against Elmwood Park’s Josh Dascola.

152 – David Mayora, Montini

After wrestling up at 170 as a freshman last year, Montini’s David Mayora hit the weight room, improved his diet, and emerged this year as the No. 6-ranked 152 pounder in Illinois.

“Last year I struggled a little bit but this year I found my comfortable weight,” Mayora said. “I added a little bit of muscle and having to wrestle against bigger guys last year made me better. I held my own and beat a ranked kid or two last year, but this is a lot easier.”

Mayora’s second-period fall in the finals against Fenwick’s Finn McGee earned him his first regional title and improved his season record to 11-3. The sophomore put his remaining wrestling goal for the season in its simplest terms:

“I want to win everything,” Mayora said.

St. Patrick’s PJ Summers won by fall on the third-place mat to advance, over Fenton’s Artur Zawitkowski.

160 – Will Prater, Montini

Prater was a state qualifier at 170 for last year’s IWCOA state finals and the junior is currently ranked No. 5 in Illinois at 160. He won a regional title Saturday with a 10-2 decision over Fenwick’s Martin Paris (17-10) on the title mat.

The junior Prater (11-9) placed third at this year’s Chicago Catholic League tournament and was 16th at the Cheesehead in January.
Fenton’s Jovany Zuniga placed third to advance, with a fall against St. Patrick’s Danny Espinoza.

170 – Gio Hernandez, St. Patrick

St. Patrick’s Gio Hernandez (36-11) won tournament titles at Antioch and Buffalo Grove this season, and became a regional champion with an overtime win in the finals against Fenton’s Viktor Klimczyk (22-2).

Hernandez also placed second at Lincoln and third at both the Glenbrook South and East Suburban Catholic tournaments this season.

Hernandez took another step forward as a wrestler in his junior year.

“Gio has just come leaps and bounds. It’s amazing to see the growth in him since he was in seventh or eighth grade to where he is now,” St. Patrick coach Tom Kelliher said. “You see it in his confidence level, in the way he’s been wrestling.”
Hernandez used a takedown in overtime to win 3-1 over Klimczyk in the finals.

“He was a lot stronger than me and I was just trying to use my stamina. I knew if I could last to the third, I could wear him down and take a shot,” Hernandez said.

Fenwick’s Vincent Fiorvanti won by fall on the third-place mat against Ridgewood’s Kevin Mimini.

182 – Conor Paris, Fenwick

Fenwick’s Conor Paris was a state qualifier two years ago as a sophomore at 170, and it didn’t come easy.

“I was 145 pounds but had to wrestle up at 170 because we were so good at the middle weight classes,” Paris said. “But I’ve learned a lot and I’ve had great coaches. We only had four seniors this year but we had seven guys in the finals today so we’ve done really well.”

Paris (25-4) posted a pin on the title mat at 182 over St. Patrick’s Jack Clancy (23-22) to win his regional title, adding that to first-place tournament finishes at Hinsdale South and Morton, and a fifth at this year’s Chicago Catholic League tournament.

Fenton’s Dorien Vaazquez placed third with a fall against Sam Ostrowski.

195 – Evan Jocic, Montini
A war of underclassmen at 195 saw Montini freshman Evan Jocic emerge with a regional title in Bensenville.

Jocic (7-8) used a pair of pins to win the first regional title of his career, winning by fall over St. Patrick sophomore Aiden Gomez (7-8). Fenwick freshman Julian Richard (6-4) advanced to Deerfield’s sectional with a fall on the third-place mat against Fenton sophomore Austin Platta (8-11).

220 – Alex Goworoswki, St. Patrick

St. Patrick’s 220-pound senior is currently ranked 4th in Illinois and after winning a regional title Saturday he talked about his progression since wrestling 182 as a sophomore and 195 last season.

“I’m a lot more aggressive this year,” Goworowski said. “I feel faster since I bumped up to 220 and I feel just as strong as anyone in the weight class.”

Goworowski (41-4) won tournament titles at Glenbrook South and Lincoln this season, placed second at Antioch, and third at the Chicago Catholic League tournament. He was an IHSA state qualifier at 182 two years ago and placed 6th at 195 at the IWCOA finals last year.

“It’s my last year of wrestling because I’m trying to play college football next year,” Goworowski said, “so I want to finish out on top.”

Goworowski pinned Fenwick’s Conor Stetz (15-11) on the title mat, while Montini’s Mick Ranquist pinned Elmwood Park’s Omari Evans for third.

285 – Jimmy Liston, Fenwick
Fenwick senior Jimmy Liston (30-3) was also a lineman on the Friars’ football team and he has enjoyed his time wearing Fenwick colors.

“My dad always says he likes wrestling more than football but I’ve done both since I was a freshman,” Liston said. “The whole experience has been great and I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world.”

Liston’s two pins at Fenton earned him a regional title, capped by a first-period fall against Schurz’s Danny Ortiz (16-2). Liston won a tournament title at Hinsdale South this year, placed second at Morton, and finished to returning state champion Ryan Boersma of Mt. Carmel at this year’s Chicago Catholic League tournament.

He has his eye on a place on the podium in Champaign.

“I’m a career heavyweight,” Liston said. “I’m in better shape and I’m more knowledgable about the sport than I was as a freshman. Every experience I’ve had has made me better.” Westinghouse’s Davarein Stevenson placed third with a fall against Fenton’s Tom Klos.

Ranking the rankings, Part 3: a way-too-early look at the state tournament field – Class 1A

By Rob Sherrill

Finally, here’s our look at what the Class 1A state tournament field might look like, based on the rankings.

I’m not guaranteeing 100 percent accuracy. You’ll probably see some of these wrestlers competing in their regionals at different weight classes than where I’ve listed them. After all, it’s all about two things: teamwise, winning the regional, which assures a berth in the dual state series, and individually, giving each wrestler the best chance to get to the State Farm Center. Some may even use this list as a roadmap to the most advantageous weight class. That happens every year.

The following list will include the top four wrestlers in each sectional, along with an alternate, at each weight class as things currently stand. At some weight classes, I don’t have enough wrestlers listed in the rankings to fill out the field – which means plenty of opportunities for plenty of wrestlers, at the right time of the season!

So let’s take a look at the state tournament field the rankings would bring us – and good luck flipping those orders starting on Saturday!

Class 1A

106 pounds

                Byron – Brian Hernandez, Harvard; Dalton Nimrick, Alleman; Tharren Jacobs, Riverdale; Ayden Rowley, Dixon; Alternate – Steven Benavidez, Princeton

                Coal City – Aiden Larsen, Yorkville Christian; Kyler Hahn, Seneca; Ryan Hsu, Lisle; Culan Lindemuth, Coal City; Alternate – Julian Decker, Wilmington

                Olympia – Hunter Robbins, Illini Bluffs; Dylan Eimer, Olympia; Ian Akers, Peoria Notre Dame; Aiden Scholwin, Pontiac; Alternate – Hunter Johnson, Knoxville

                Vandalia – Tyson Waughtel, Carlyle; Hank Warfel, Cumberland; Alex Powell, Litchfield; Drew Sadler, Anna-Jonesboro; Alternate – Kaiden Richards, Murphysboro

113 pounds

                Byron – Kaden Harman, Marian Central; Emmett Nelson, Richmond-Burton; Thad Jacobs, Riverdale; Shea Reisel, Somonauk; Alternate – Gunnar Bay, Byron

                Coal City – Max Rosen, DePaul; Andrew Alvarado, IC Catholic; JaVaughn Jossell, Nazareth Academy; John Housman, Coal City; Alternate – Mission Hatchell, Westmont

                Olympia – Keygan Jennings, Farmington; Danny Tay, Ridgeview/Lexington; Kobe Brent, LeRoy/Tri-Valley; Chase Stedman, Tremont; Alternate – Teegan West, Clinton

                Vandalia – Joe Ruzic, Auburn; Tony Keene, Harrisburg; Aaron Niemeyer, East Alton-Wood River; Sophie Bowers, Vandalia; Alternate – Trevor McCarter, Tolono Unity

120 pounds

                Byron – Brady Grennan, Sterling Newman; Charlie Fitzgerald, Marian Central; Ace Christiansen, Princeton; Will Hupke, Wheaton Academy; Alternate – Karder White, Morrison

                Coal City – Saul Trejo/Nick Renteria, IC Catholic; Isaac Bourge, Yorkville Christian; Brant Widlowski, Coal City; Jaden Casey, Seneca; Alternate – Jose Lua, Phoenix Military Academy

                Olympia – Ethan Monson, Mercer County; Holden Brazelton, St. Joseph-Ogden; Brayden Campbell, Ridgeview/Lexington; Bowden Delaney, Tremont; Alternate – Shawn Schlickman, GCMSF

                Vandalia – Calvin Miller, Shelbyville; Kaden Inman, Tolono Unity; Gage Lopez, Auburn; Bobby Rodriguez, Benton; Alternate – Garyson McBride, Westville

126 pounds

                Byron – Phoenix Blakely, Dakota; Carter Rude, Sterling Newman; Matthew Harris, Princeton; Jude Finch, Rockridge; Alternate – Wyatt Doty, Polo

                Coal City – Saul Trejo/Nick Renteria, IC Catholic; Mikekal McClarin, DePaul; Jacob Piatak, Coal City; Sam Begler, Reed-Custer; Alternate – Vin Moreno, Phoenix Military Academy

                Olympia – Trevor Hedges, Canton; Pedro Rangel, Oakwood/Salt Fork; Payton Campbell, Ridgeview/Lexington; Jackson Carroll, Illini Bluffs; Alternate – Curtis Steinkamp, Quincy Notre Dame

                Vandalia – Jason Shaw, East Alton-Wood River; Jason Tieffel, Benton; Carson Bissey, Olney Richland County; Demarious McGill, Cahokia; Alternate – Liam Fox, Murphysboro

132 pounds

                Byron – Brock Smith, Riverdale; T.J. Silva, Dakota; Vance Williams, Marian Central; Ethan Struck, Marengo; Alternate – Daniel Kelly, Sterling Newman

                Coal City – Noah Dial, Yorkville Christian; Omar Samayoa, IC Catholic; Omar Ramirez, Phoenix Military Academy; Ian Kreske, Peotone; Alternate – Robby Nelson, Seneca

                Olympia – Paul Ishikawa, Illini Bluffs; Reef Pacot, Oakwood/Salt Fork; Mason Mark, Tremont; Austin Grise, Herscher; Alternate – Donavan Lewis, Prairie Central

                Vandalia – Dresden Grimm, Auburn; Owen Miller, Vandalia; Elijah Bishop, Herrin; Bryce Edwards, Murphysboro; Alternate – T.J. Macy, Anna-Jonesboro

138 pounds

                Byron – Maddux Blakely, Dakota; Will Rude, Sterling Newman; Garrett Luke, Lena-Winslow/Stockton; Evan Reilly, Sandwich; Alternate – Seth Stevens, Oregon

                Coal City – Marco Spinazzola, Peotone; Ryan Tribble, Reed-Custer; Braulio Flores, Yorkville Christian; Nathan Brown, IC Catholic; Alternate – Jake Prescott, Wilmington

                Olympia – Dillon Sarff, Dwight; William Winter, Olympia; Bryson Capansky, Oakwood/Salt Fork; Jerome Brown, Prairie Central; Alternate – Zeke Arnold, Mercer County

                Vandalia – Arojae Hart, Murphysboro; Cutter Prater, Vandalia; Elijah Schlessinger, Metro-East Lutheran; Blake Mays, Anna-Jonesboro; Alternate – Jaxon Trent, Monticello

145 pounds

                Byron – Nik Jimenez, Marian Central; Reese Finch, Rockridge; Tyler Simmer, Dakota; Ivan Rosas, Harvard; Alternate – Augie Christiansen, Princeton

                Coal City – Kevin Hogan, Peotone; Landon Markle, Reed-Custer; Mataeo Blessing, Coal City; Joseph Gliatta, IC Catholic; Alternate – Ethan Chaheine, Hope Academy

                Olympia – Andrew Hedges, Canton; Dax Gentes, El Paso-Gridley; Grant Brewer, Oakwood/Salt Fork; Kodey Krumwiede, Clifton Central; Alternate – Treysean Grant, Beardstown

                Vandalia – Tavius Hosley, Tolono Unity; Caleb Mays, Anna-Jonesboro; Jake Schwartz, Carlinville; Patrick Campbell, Murphysboro; Alternate – Will Fox, Shelbyville

152 pounds

                Byron – Collin Altensey, Riverdale; Jack Seacrist, Stillman Valley; Aidan Linden, Sandwich; Max Astacio, Marian Central; Alternate – Jared Dvorak, Lena-Winslow/Stockton

                Coal City – Luke Christie, Bishop McNamara; Zach Finch, Coal City; Carter Watkins, Manteno; Drew Torza, Yorkville Christian; Alternate – Henry Coughlin, St. Laurence

                Olympia – Levi Leitner, Tremont; Lance Belshaw, Illini West; Brayden Barner, PORTA; Kadin Rednour, Kewanee; Alternate – Zach Gross, Normal University

                Vandalia – Eric McKinney, Vandalia; Nick DeLoach, Cahokia; Jon Perry, Effingham; Lane Mills, Murphysboro; Alternate – Nick Mason, East Alton-Wood River

160 pounds

                Byron – Alex Watson, Riverdale; Marey Roby, Lena-Winslow/Stockton; Aiden Livingston, Stillman Valley; Gabe Eckerd, Oregon; Alternate – Dylan Russell, Sherrard

                Coal City – Tyler Martinez, Yorkville Christian; Derek Carlson, Coal City; Brendan Tribe, Reed-Custer; fourth and alternate – not ranked

                Olympia – Joe Lashuay, Oakwood/Salt Fork; Joey Mushinsky, Peoria Notre Dame; Angel Zamora, Hoopeston Area, Gage Sweckard, Deer Creek-Mackinaw; Alternate – Logan Stedman, Tremont

                Vandalia – Dayton Hoffman, Murphysboro; Ryan Kaiser, Vandalia; Jared Hermann, Robinson; Damien Phipps, Cahokia; Alternate – Nat Nosler, Tolono Unity

170 pounds

                Byron – Griffin Luke, Lena-Winslow/Stockton; Steven Kitzman, Dixon; Zane Pannell, Fulton; Sammy Dale, Sandwich; Alternate – Zach Bradley, Riverdale

                Coal City – Jackson Gillen, Yorkville Christian; Brandon Navarro, IC Catholic; Mike Gentile, St. Laurence; Joey Breneman, Coal City; Alternate – Wyatt Young, Manteno

                Olympia – Joe Norton, Canton; Lucas Wendling, Tremont; Abel Colunga, Hoopeston Area; Tyson Brent, LeRoy/Tri-Valley; Alternate – Kyus Mitchell, Camp Point Central

                Vandalia – Corron Midgett, Cahokia; Brian Seed, Lawrenceville; Iysten Syfert, Cumberland; Kyus Root, Tolono Unity; Alternate – Mason Davis, Pittsfield

182 pounds

                Byron – Alex Alfaro, Sandwich; Mannix Faworski, Winnebago; Kayden White, Morrison; Nathan Petreikis, Rockridge; Alternate – Ryder Roelf, Sherrard

                Coal City – Michael Calcagno, IC Catholic; Braiden Young, Coal City; Collin Zeppi, Manteno; Oscar Villalobos, Peotone; Alternate – Kiyun Willis, Hope Academy

                Olympia – Keddrick Terhune, Rantoul; Rhys Shymansky, Farmington; Max Ryner, Macomb; Aiden Sancken, GCMSF; Alternate – Joshton Schwartz, Hoopeston Area

                Vandalia – Cory West, Sacred Heart-Griffin; Grant Albaugh, Tolono Unity; Rylee Edwards, Westville; Skyler Fay, Auburn; Alternate – Hunter Eastin, Tolono Unity

195 pounds

                Byron – Noah Wenzel, Dakota; Nathan Rosas, Harvard; Drew Mensendike, Lena-Winslow/Stockton; Mitchell White, Dixon; Alternate – Walker Anderson, Sherrard

                Coal City – Jaylan Lacy, Westmont; Ashton Harvey, Coal City; Chris Peura, Seneca; Chris Williams, Wilmington; Alternate – Gabe Johnson, Manteno

                Olympia – Cooper Wendling, Tremont; Connor Steidinger, Prairie Central; Owen Birt, St. Joseph-Ogden; Trace Shaub, PORTA; Alternate – Ethan Ladd, Macomb

                Vandalia – Nick Nosler, Tolono Unity; Colby Ryan, Cumberland; Hunter Bailey, Roxana; Konnor Dagg, Fairfield; Alternate – Bryant Lester, Harrisburg

220 pounds

                Byron – Brock Wood, Richmond-Burton; Justin Dallas, Dixon; Henry Engel, Lena-Winslow/Stockton; Nathan Schaefer, Morrison; Alternate – Peter Johanik, Wheaton Academy

                Coal City – Jadon Mims, IC Catholic; Donovan Marschner, Reed-Custer; Gabe Kaminski, Nazareth Academy; Dylan Cronk, Coal City; Alternate – Matt Bielski, St. Laurence

                Olympia – Samuel Edwards, Dwight; Evan Antonio, Ridgeview/Lexington; Andrew Moore, LeRoy/Tri-Valley; John Rathbun, Tremont; Alternate – Isiah Im, Normal University

Vandalia – Oran Varela, Tolono Unity; Magnus Wells, Hillsboro; Payton Allen, Fairfield; Drake Champlin, East Alton-Wood River; Alternate – James Herring, Roxana

285 pounds

                Byron – Charlie Jagusah, Alleman; Elijah Friedrichsen, Erie/Prophetstown; Joshua Gaye, Mooseheart; Alex Diaz, Plano; Alternate – Sean DeVries, Dixon

                Coal City – Isaiah Gonzalez, IC Catholic; Michael Esquivel, Yorkville Christian; Blake Shirey, Wilmington; Michael Gonzalez, Coal City; Alternate – Gunnar Berg, Reed-Custer

                Olympia – Hunter Otto, Normal University; Owen O’Hara, Beardstown; Weston Swise, Canton; Giacomo Panozzo, Clifton Central; Alternate – Markus Miguel, GCMSF

                Vandalia – Cole Edie, Auburn; Karson Richardson, Tolono Unity; Noah Carl, Cumberland; Justin Laws, Roxana; Alternate – Berylonte Shegog, Cahokia

Conference Tournament Roundup for January 29th

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

Lane Tech wins Chicago Public Schools City Championship

Lane Tech had four individual champions and received three runner-up finishes at this weekend’s Chicago Public Schools City Championship to help it to score 282.5 points, placing it well ahead of runner-up Taft, who had 227 points, in the two-day, 38-team competition that was held at De La Salle Institute. It was the first CPS title for Lane Tech since 2012 while Taft had won the last three championships.

Phoenix Military Academy (195) took third place while Kenwood (189) was fourth. Rounding out the top-10 teams in the field were Curie (118), Kennedy (112), Gary Comer  College Prep (104.5), Bowen (104), Amundsen (103) and Lindblom (76).

Leading the way for coach Matt Yan’s champion Indians were title winners Alex Valentin (14-3 at 106), Evan Coles (21-5 at 113), Finn Merrill (28-8 at 145) and Fernando Lopez (27-6 at 152) while James Zavala (27-6 at 120), Matt Ridley (21-9 at 126) and Gustavo Diaz (12-20 at 182) took second place. Finishing third was Cesar Mucha (5-1 at 138), taking fourth was Mehdi Tlich (21-11 at 285), placing fifth was Marcello Valle (12-14 at 132) and capturing sixth was Patrick Cabrera (10-6 at 160). Orlando Torres (220), Diego Condie-Espinosa (170) and Joaqin Gigante (195) also scored points for Lane Tech.

“Our team put together an incredible two days to win the tournament by 55.5 points over Taft,” Yan said. “We went 9-0 with nine pins in the first round, 7-for-9 in the semis, and 4-for-7 in the finals. A first-year wrestler (Valentin) won the 106 bracket for us, pinning everyone including the unbeaten number-one seed in the semis. At 138 our backup first-year freshman (Mucha) took third, earning four pins including one for third place over a Taft senior who beat him in the quarterfinals. We had sophomores win city titles at 113 (Coles) and 152 (Lopez), and a junior (Merrill) who avenged a prior loss in the finals at 145.

“Overall we had 11 placewinners and all 14 wrestlers contributed a pin toward the team score. It was a true team effort by our boys. Our unseeded 160-pounder (Cabrera) was hurt in the second round but stormed back with four pins in the consolations before we injury-defaulted him out to sixth place. I’m proud of the effort the kids put forth, especially to get bonus points for their team. We earned 36 pins and outplaced our seeds by a greater margin than any other team. They embodied our values of discipline, gratitude and toughness this weekend and now they get to be city champions forever.”

Top performers for coach Brad Engel’s runner-up Eagles were champions Ryan Porebski (29-6 at 220) and Grzegorz Krupa (28-6 at 285) and third-place finishers Lance Rosales (24-12 at 113), Lawrence Rosales (16-13 at 120), Patrick Diete (25-8 at 126) and Michelangelo Scalera (21-9 at 170). Finishing fourth was Miguel Guevera (13-6 at 106), Antoni Turek (19-12 at 138), Damian Pagan (15-12 at 145) and Grant Hansen (20-15 at 182) while Austin Dempsey (15-8 at 132) took sixth place.

Phoenix Military Academy turned in another good showing after winning titles the past two weeks at Lisle’s Melichar Invite and at the initial Sullivan Slam. Coach Daniel Curin’s Firebirds received titles from Jose Lua (20-4 at 120), Vin Moreno (23-1 at 126), Omar Ramirez (18-4 at 132) and Diego Mendez (20-5 at 138) while Rafael Soto (23-4 at 145) took second and Jimmy Lua (20-3 at 152) was third and Freddy Martinez (5-4 at 160) finished fifth. 

Other champions were Kenwood’s Joshua Butler (26-5 at 160), Kelly’s Frankie Cruz (19-2 at 170), Mather’s Jacob Scott (15-1 at 182) and Curie’s Anthony Garcia (20-3 at 195). 

Also placing second were Kennedy’s Phillip Lullo (22-3 at 138), Dorian Vaughns (31-4 at 160) and Raymond Begay (26-2 at 285), Kenwood’s Nehemiah Pinder (9-8 at 195) and Adam Achebe (26-3 at 220), Harlan’s Jonking Williams (10-2 at 106), Marine Leadership Academy’s David Esteban (10-2 at 113), Lindblom’s Zachary Carter (17-2 at 132), Gary Comer College Prep’s Donovan Hall (25-4 at 152) and Curie’s Percy Taylor (17-10 at 170).

Four individuals competed in title matches both this weekend and also in 2020. They are Butler, Ramirez, Begay and Soto.

The closest title matches included Coles edging Esteban 7-6 at 113, Ramirez beating Carter 9-8 at 132, Mendez getting past Lullo 3-2 at 138, Merrill beating Soto 9-7 at 145, Lopez prevailing over Hall 9-7 at 152, Porebski winning 3-0 over Achebe at 220 and Krupa edging Begay 3-1 at 285.

Winning titles by fall were Valentin at 106, Cruz at 170, Scott at 182 and Garcia at 195 while winning major decisions were Lua at 120 and Moreno at 126 and Butler claimed a 6-1 win over Vaughns at 160.

Others finishing in third place were Perspectives/IIT Math & Science Academy’s Daniel Jones (16-4 at 182) and Jamel Blackmond (20-1 at 195), Kennedy’s Victor Alvarado (17-1 at 106), Bowen’s Michael Alade (16-1 at 132), Kenwood’s Billy Torin (24-9 at 145), Northside College Prep’s Arlo Johnston (6-1 at 160), Mather’s Tofarati Fatoki (10-6 at 220) and Schurz’s Danny Ortiz (7-1 at 285).

Also placing fourth were Kenwood’s Cameron Griffin (21-10 at 120), Colin Claffey (13-8 at 132) and Christopher Guiger (17-10 at 152), Amundsen’s Issac Lane (13-9 at 160), Michael Wojatch (20-9 at 195) and Kevin Olson (20-4 at 220), Chicago Academy’s Antonio Ruiz (11-2 at 113), Washington’s Juan Jimenez (19-3 at 126) and Solorio Academy’s Antonio Padilla (15-7 at 170).

Additional fifth-place finishers were Gary Comer College Prep’s Elijah Akinwale (16-7 at 126) and Kenneth Barrett (17-16 at 182), Rickover Naval Academy’s Nathaniel Sales (18-6 at 120) and Osmar Mora (16-7 at 220), Chicago Academy’s Islam Khater (8-4 at 106), Lindblom’s Diego Salgado (21-3 at 113), Solorio Academy’s Roger Martinez (11-7 at 138), Richard Crane Medical Prep’s Jayden Kitchens (10-2 at 145), Senn’s Hassan Adogoke (14-2 at 152), Kenwood’s Demitri Walker-Hunt (26-11 at 170), Bowen’s Dimonte Smallwood (10-3 at 195) and Kelly’s Wyatt Qualls (9-5 at 285).

Four individuals tied for the most team points with 30, Butler, Lua, Porebski and Valentin while Finn had 29 points and Cruz, Garcia, Krupa, Lopez, Mendez, Ramirez and Scott had 28 team points. Gary Comer College Prep’s Kenneth Barrett had the most match points with 42 and Senn’s Hassan Adogoke was involved in eight falls, winning six of them.

The top two teams in the CPS will start the postseason at the Class 3A Maine South Regional in Park Ridge while Phoenix Military Academy will be in the Class 1A Chicago Hope Academy Regional and Kenwood hosts its own 2A regional.

Chicago Public Schools City Championship title matches:

106 – Alex Valentin (Lane Tech) over Jonking Williams (Harlan), F 5:35

113 – Evan Coles (Lane Tech) over David Esteban (Marine Leadership Academy), 7-6

120 – Jose Lua (Phoenix Military Academy) over James Zavala (Lane Tech), 16-4

126 – Vin Moreno (Phoenix Military Academy) over Matt Ridley (Lane Tech), 16-5

132 – Omar Ramirez (Phoenix Military Academy) over Zachary Carter (Lindblom), 9-8

138 – Diego Mendez (Phoenix Military Academy) over Phillip Lullo (Kennedy), 3-2

145 – Finn Merrill (Lane Tech) over Rafael Soto (Phoenix Military Academy), 9-7

152 – Fernando Lopez (Lane Tech) over Donovan Hall (Gary Comer College Prep), 9-7

160 – Joshua Butler (Kenwood) over Dorian Vaughns (Kennedy), 6-1

170 – Frankie Cruz (Kelly) over Percy Taylor (Curie), F 1:23

182 – Jacob Scott (Mather) over Gustavo Diaz (Lane Tech), F 1:49

195 – Anthony Garcia (Curie) over Nehemiah Pinder (Kenwood), F 1:23

220 – Ryan Porebski (Taft) over Adam Achebe (Kenwood), 3-0

285 – Grzegorz Krupa (Taft) over Raymond Begay (Kennedy), 3-1

Belvidere co-op captures Northern Illinois Conference 10 (NIC-10) championship

Belvidere North/Belvidere co-op had six champions and three second-place finishers who helped it to score 226 points and claim top honors at the Northern Illinois Conference 10 (NIC -10) Tournament, which was held at Guilford in Rockford.

Freeport took second with 188.5 points while Rockford East was third with 175 points. Harlem (110) was fourth and Hononegah (98) fifth in the nine-team tournament.

Leading the way for coach Danny Martinez’s champion Belvidere co-op squad were title winners Brayden Teunissen (38-4 at 106), Colin Young (38-5 at 138), Antonio Alvarado (35-4 at 145), Tayvione Wilson (29-12 at 170), A.J. Piloni (26-7 at 182) and Jake Bell (35-2 at 195). Taking second were Kamryn LaBeau (26-6 at 132), Jorge Hernandez (24-15 at 160) and T.J. Mitchell (24-15 at 220). Nick Taylor (29-14 at 152) was third while Angel Valdez (2-2 at 113) finished fourth.

Belvidere finished with a 25-3 dual team record, which was the most wins ever for the program. This was also the first conference championship for Belvidere since 1993. 

Top performers for coach Anthony Dedmond’s runner-up Pretzels were champions Cadence Diduch (16-3 at 120), Markel Baker (18-0 at 126), Jacob Redington (11-2 at 132), Jaylon Hail (16-3 at 152) and Tarrone Jackson (20-3 at 160) while Tyler Calam (12-4 at 145) and Donavyn Fernandez (5-5 at 170) both finished second. Placing third were Dayvion Fernandez (4-3 at 138) and Logan Schwartz (10-7 at 195) while Kyle Clem (3-4 at 182) finished fourth. Freeport won the NIC-10 title in 2020.

Rockford East had the other three champions, Peter Young (16-8 at 113), Joey Pineda (26-4 at 220) and Lee Smith (18-1 at 285). Also finishing second were Rockford East’s Caleb Hahn (9-1 at 120), Donald Cannon (19-3 at 126) and Sam Young (21-7 at 138),  Hononegah’s Angelina Cassioppi (18-6 at 106) and Elliot Diemel (15-6 at 152), Harlem’s Koletyn Zanoni (15-8 at 113) and Andrew Redmon (7-5 at 182), Jefferson’s Karlondo Dubois (17-7 at 195) and Auburns’ D’marion Love (22-4 at 285).

The closest title match was at 113 where Young edged Zanoni 11-10. The only other decision was Baker’s 8-1 win over Cannon at 126. Teunissen (106) and Hail (152) both won major decisions while Redington (132), Young (138), Alvarado (145), Jackson (160), Wilson (170), Piloni (182), Bell (195), Pineda (220) and Smith (285) all won titles by fall and Diduch (120) won by injury default.

Diduch (HM in 2A at 120) and Baker (second in 2A at 126) won their third titles in three finals appearances. Claiming their second titles of the season were Redington  (HM in 2A at 138), Alvarado (seventh in 3A at 145), Hail (HM in 2A at 152), Jackson (fifth in 2A at 152), Bell (HM in 3A at 195), Pineda (eighth in 2A at 220) and Smith (fifth in 2A at 285).

Baker, Alvarado and Hail were also NIC-10 champions in 2020 while Redington, Jackson and Piloni all won titles after taking second two years ago, Pineda went from third to first and Bell improved from fourth to first. And Baker and Calam both competed in their third NIC-10 title matches.

Also placing third were Harlem’s Ethan Hagermann (9-6 at 126), Ben Larsen (12-5 at 170) and Dylan Hogan (4-2 at 220), Rockford East’s Marshawn Spates (14-8 at 145), Mekhi Byrd (12-9 at 160) and Andrew Chartier (9-9 at 182) Guilford’s Rashad Hoel (4-3 at 113) and Gannon Buckner (7-1 at 285), Hononegah’s Connor Diemel (17-4 at 120) and Damien Huber (11-4 at 132) and Auburns’ Joseph Young (13-4 at 106).

Others finishing fourth were Harlem’s Justin Lewis (11-10 at 106), Myles Babcock (13-9 at 132) and Aidan Zacharuk (9-5 at 138), Guilford’s David Avila (12-5 at 120) and Noah Nelson (8-8 at 195), Boylan Catholic’s Esair Torres (10-9 at 126) and Austin Alonso (160), Hononegah’s Morgan Bartlett (13-9 at 170) and Isaak Smith (15-12 at 285), Jefferson’s Kane Vongkingkeu (2-2 at 145) and Rockford East’s Malik Ali (15-16 at 152).

Eight individuals tied for the most team points with 24. They were Alvarado, Bell, Jackson, Piloni, Pineda, Redington, Wilson and Young. Scoring 23 team points were Hail, Smith and Teunissen while Smith had the most match points with 43.

Belvidere co-op, honorable mention in Class 3A, will compete in the Dundee-Crown Regional along with Auburn, Guilford, Harlem and Hononegah as well as by No. 18 Huntley and honorable mention Hampshire. Freeport, No. 23 in Class 2A, will be in the rugged United Township Regional in East Moline along with No. 5 Geneseo, No. 8 Rock Island, No. 21 Rochelle, No. 24 Galesburg and honorable mention Sterling. And Rockford East, honorable mention in 2A, hosts a regional that includes Jefferson as well as No. 7 Aurora Christian, No. 14 Sycamore and honorable mention Kaneland.

Northern Illinois Conference 10 (NIC-10) championship matches: 

106 – Brayden Teunissen (Belvidere co-op) over Angelina Cassioppi (Hononegah), 11-0

113 – Peter Young (Rockford East) over Koletyn Zanoni (Harlem), 11-10

120 – Cadence Diduch (Freeport) over Caleb Hahn (Rockford East), Inj. Def. 1:43

126 – Markel Baker (Freeport) over Donald Cannon (Rockford East), 8-1

132 – Jacob Redington (Freeport) over Kamryn LaBeau (Belvidere co-op), F 3:41

138 – Colin Young (Belvidere co-op) over Sam Young (Rockford East), F 5:01

145 – Antonio Alvarado (Belvidere co-op) over Tyler Calam (Freeport), F 0:31

152 – Jaylon Hail (Freeport) over El liot Diemel (Hononegah), 14-5

160 – Tarrone Jackson (Freeport) over Jorge Hernandez (Belvidere co-op), F 2:12

170 – Tayvione Wilson (Belvidere co-op) over Donavyn Fernandez (Freeport), F 1:23

182 – A.J. Piloni (Belvidere co-op) over Andrew Redmon (Harlem), F 2:40

195 – Jake Bell (Belvidere co-op) over Karlondo Dubois (Jefferson), F 2:38

220 – Joey Pineda (Rockford East) over T.J. Mitchell (Belvidere co-op), F 3:32

285 – Lee Smith (Rockford East) over D’marion Love (Auburn), F 4:31

Marist claims East Suburban Catholic Conference title

Marist captured 10 first-place finishes to beat Joliet Catholic Academy by a 261-221 margin on Friday for top honors at the East Suburban Catholic Conference Championship, which was in Joliet. Marian Central Catholic, which won the ESCC title in 2020, took third place with 110 points while Notre Dame beat out St. Patrick 60-55 for fourth.

Coach Brendan Heffernan’s RedHawks, ranked second in Class 3A, placed all 14 of its competitors in the top four at their weights. The last time that the RedHawks had 10 champions in 14 weight classes in the competition was in 2014, when Heffernan’s team placed second in state. In 1987, when the program went 26-0 and won the state title under IWCOA hall of famer and National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Illinois chapter inductee Mark Gervais, they had 10 of the 12 champions.

Winning titles for Marist were George Marinopoulos (27-7 at 106), Will Denny (24-7 at 120), Jesse Herrera (19-10 at 126), Owen Dunlap (12-1 at 138), Andrew Dado (22-6 at 152), Tommy Boland (29-5 at 160), Jacob Liberatore (14-0 at 170), Conor Phelan (24-8 at 182), Peter Marinopoulos (31-0 at 195) and Ghee Rachal (24-2 at 220).

Michael Esteban (30-8 at 113) took second while Ricky Ericksen (29-8 at 145) and Michael Maloney (15-7 at 285) placed third and Matthew Cornfield (19-11 at 132) was fourth.

“They had a great week of practice and it translated to an outstanding performance on the mat,” Heffernan said. “Jesse Herrera and Owen Dunlap had a couple of gutsy efforts in the finals, and the entire team was getting bonus points, which is what we are emphasizing this time of year. We are looking forward to continuing to get better this week and to continue our peaking process as the state series begins.”

Host Joliet Catholic Academy also took second in the tournament in 2020. Leading the way for coach Ryan Cumbee’s runner-up Hilltoppers, who are top-ranked in Class 2A, were champions Gylon Sims (24-4 at 113), Mason Alessio (25-5 at 145) and Dillan Johnson (25-0 at 285).

Nine individuals finished second for JCA, Noah Avina (18-17 at 106), Jake Hamiti (17-13 at 126), Owen O’Connor (19-9 at 138), Connor Cumbee (21-13 at 152), Isaac Clauson (10-11 at 160), Nico Roncheti (2-1 at 170), Caden Moore (11-3 at 182) and Owen Gerdes (21-8 at 195). Taking third were Shay Korhorn (10-6 at 120) and Logan Kuhel-Trimmer (17-7 at 132) while Hunter Powell (2-2 at 220) placed fourth.

The other champion was St. Patrick’s Sean Conway (42-1 at 132) while also finishing in second place were Marian Central Catholic’s Charlie Fitzgerald (19-3 at 120), Vance Williams (31-10 at 132) and Nik Jimenez (26-4 at 145), Nazareth Academy’s Gabe Kaminski (26-2 at 220) and Notre Dame’s Karl Schmalz (285). 

Some of the closest titles were Denny winning 4-3 over Fitzgerald at 120, Conway claiming a 5-2 victory over Williams at 132, Dunlap edging O’Connor 2-1 in two overtimes at 138 and Alessio getting past Renteria 3-2 at 145.

Claiming titles by fall were Boland (160), Phelan (182), Peter Marinopoulos (195) and Johnson (285) while George Marinopoulos (106), Liberatore (170) and Rachal (220) won major decisions and Sims (113), Herrera (126) and Dado (152) all won decisions by six points.

Rachal and Sims also won ESCC titles in 2020 while Dunlap was a champion in 2019. Korhorn was a champion in 2020 but took third after losing to Denny in the semifinals. Dunlap and Rachal are two-time champions and three-time finalists and also reaching the title mat for the third time was Conway, who captured his first title. Kuhel-Trimmer also earned a top-four medal in the competition for the third time and Alessio won a title after placing third in 2020.

Five RedHawks went from being second-place finishers in 2020 to champions this season, with Boland, Dado and Peter Marinopoulos joining Dunlap and Rachal in that club.

Conway (second in 2A at 132) won his fourth title while competing in his fifth finals while Johnson (first in 2A at 285) and Peter Marinopoulos (second in 3A at 195) both won their third title in three finals appearances. Winning their second titles of the season were Alessio (first in 2A at 145), Dunlap (ninth in 3A at 138), Boland (fifth in 3A at 160), Liberatore (sixth in 3A at 170) and Rachal (second in 3A at 220). 

Five ranked individuals were seeking a third title but lost in the finals to other ranked competitors. Fitzgerald (third in 1A at 120) lost 4-3 to Denny (fifth in 3A at 120), Williams (sixth in 1A at 132) lost 5-2 to Conway at 132, Jimenez (first in 1A at 145) fell 3-2 to Alessio at 145, Kaminski (fifth in 1A at 220) lost 11-3 to Rachal at 220 and Schmalz (fourth in 2A at 285) lost by fall to Johnson at 285.

Individuals winning their first titles of 2021-22 are George Marinopoulos (HM in 3A at 106), Sims (third in 2A at 113), Denny (fifth in 3A at 120), Herrera (HM in 3A at 126), Dado (HM in 3A at 152) and Phelan (182). O’Connor (second in 2A at 138) was seeking his first title but lost in two overtimes to Dunlap.

Others who captured third place were Marian Central Catholic’s Kaden Harman (28-8 at 113), Max Astacio (17-5 at 152) and Christian Stravroplos (182), Camel’s Matthew Lucansky (25-15 at 106) and Ethan Onan (23-13 at 138), Marian Catholic’s Joey Baranski (126) and Lloyd Mills (160), St. Patrick’s Gio Hernandez (33-11 at 170) and Alex Goworowski (220) and Notre Dame’s Alden Rice (195).

Also finishing fourth were Notre Dame’s Johnny Sheehy (18-16 at 106), Jack Shelvin (152), Quinn Mahoney (160) and Emmett Chapman (182), St. Patrick’s Olin Walker (31-13 at 113) and Niko Karamaniolas (22-13 at 126), Nazareth Academy’s Javaughn Jossell (13-9 at 120) and Joe Urso (4-2 at 285), Marian Central Catholic’s Jack Schmid (138) and Hunter Birkhoff (170) and Carmel’s Nicholas Asllani (145) and Camren Lang (8-11 at 195).

There was a three-way tie for the most team points with 22 between Johnson, Peter Marinopoulos and Phelan while Dado scored 21.5, Liberatore and George Marinopoulos had 21 and Alessio, Boland, Rachal and Sims all scored 20 points. Onan had the most match points with 33 while Herrera was next with 28.

Since Marist won its first ESCC title in 1981, it has captured 37 titles in the competition while Marian Central Catholic and Marian Catholic have both won two championships.

Among the ranked teams in the conference, Marist hosts a Class 3A regional, Joliet Catholic Academy joins No. 4 Lemont in the Class 2A LaSalle-Peru Regional and No. 24 Marian Central Catholic competes in the Class 1A Harvard Regional.

East Suburban Catholic Conference Championship title matches:

106 – George Marinopoulos (Marist) over Noah Avina (Joliet Catholic Academy), 10-1

113 – Gylon Sims (Joliet Catholic Academy) over Michael Esteban (Marist), 9-3

120 – Will Denny (Marist) over Charlie Fitzgerald (Marian Central Catholic), 4-3

126 – Jesse Herrera (Marist) over Jake Hamiti (Joliet Catholic Academy), 12-6

132 – Sean Conway (St. Patrick) over Vance Williams (Marian Central Catholic), 5-2

138 – Owen Dunlap (Marist) over Owen O’Connor (Joliet Catholic Academy), 2-1 2OT

145 – Mason Alessio (Joliet Catholic Academy) over Nik Jimenez (Marian Central Catholic), 3-2 

152 – Andrew Dado (Marist) over Connor Cumbee (Joliet Catholic Academy), 6-0

160 – Tommy Boland (Marist) over Isaac Clauson (Joliet Catholic Academy), F 1:16

170 – Jacob Liberatore (Marist) over Nico Roncheti (Joliet Catholic Academy), 13-1

182 – Conor Phelan (Marist) over Caden Moore (Joliet Catholic Academy), F 3:51

195 – Peter Marinopoulos (Marist) over Owen Gerdes (Joliet Catholic Academy), F 3:17

220 – Ghee Rachal (Marist) over Gabe Kaminski (Nazareth Academy), 11-3

285 – Dillan Johnson (Joliet Catholic Academy) over Karl Schmalz (Notre Dame), F 1:58

Geneseo prevails in Western Big 6 Conference Tournament

Geneseo emerged from a battle between three teams who were within10 points of each other during Friday’s Western Big 6 Conference Tournament, which was held at Wharton Field House in Moline.

The Maple Leafs edged Rock Island 197-194 while Moline took third place with 187 points. Galesburg (109.5) was fourth to round out the top-half of the eight-team competition.

Leading the way for coach Jon Murray’s champion Maple Leafs were title winners Zachary Montez (32-3 at 113), Carson Raya (27-11 at 132), Anthony Montez (38-2 at 160) and  Harrison Neumann (30-10 at 170) while Landon Shoemaker (17-12 at 195), Tim Stohl (28-9 at 220) and Levi Neumann (25-11 at 285) all took second place. Tim Sebastian (19-10 at 106) and Josh Hock (31-14 at 145) took third while Bennett Kreiner (24-14 at 120), Jack Snyder (27-18 at 138) and Aiden Damewood (22-12 at 152) all finished fourth. Nathan McAvoy (182) didn’t place but got a fall for his lone win and that victory was worth three points, which shows just how tight the competition was.

In the medal round, Geneseo collected six wins, recording a fall, two major decisions and a one-point decision in its four matches on the title mat and going 2-1 in head-to-head clashes with the Rocks, with Zachary Montez recording a fall in 2:54 in the 113 title match and Hock winning 2-1 to take third place at 145.

It was the fourth tournament title of the season for Geneseo, which is ranked fifth in Class 2A. Its other first-place finishes were at Rockford East, Morton and its own invite. The Maple Leafs also won the WB6 championship in 2020.

Top finishers for coach Joel Stockwell’s runner-up Rocks were champions Truth Vesey (31-5 at 106), Steven Marquez (27-5 at 182) and Andrew Marquez (31-12 at 195) while Samuel Niyonkuru (31-9 at 113), Daniel McGee (34-10 at 120), Aoci Bernard (41-3 at 138) and Matthew Cook (27-11 at 152) took second place. Finishing third was Israel McGowan (7-11 at 220) and placing fourth were Dominick Eckman-Allred (4-6 at 126), Tristan Willoughby (25-14 at 145), Amare Overton (4-5 at 160), Eian Marshall (170) and Eli Gustafson (26-18 at 285).

Rock Island, ranked eighth in Class 2A, just missed out on winning its third title adding to first-place finishes that it claimed at Lincoln and Midland, Iowa. The Rocks still had a chance in the final match when Gustafson led Sterling’s Alejandro Arellano in the final period but the Rock athlete got pinned to end the drama. While Rock Island had one more individual in the medal round than did Geneseo, it won four matches.

Turning in top performances for coach Jacob Ruettiger’s third-place Maroons were champions Kole Brower (37-1 at 138), Noah Tapia (39-2 at 145) and Jordan Langenderfer (12-5 at 152) and second-place finishers Alec Schmacht (30-8 at 126), Bradley Ledbetter (15-13 at 132) and James Soliz (31-12 at 182) while Jackson Sibley (25-8 at 113), Carmelo Cruz (13-7 at 120), Parker Terronez (12-6 at 160) and Pablo Perez (20-9 at 170) were third and Devon Jones (27-11 at 106) finished fourth.

Other champions were Galesburg’s Gauge Shipp (34-3 at 120), Rocky Almendarez (29-3 at 126) and Jeremiah Morris (33-3 at 220) and Alleman’s Charlie Jagusah (31-0 at 285). Also finishing in second place were Sterling’s Drew Kested (25-4 at 145) and Thomas Tate (17-4 at 160), Alleman’s Dalton Nimrick (29-5 at 106) and Quincy’s Kayden Garrett (33-10 at 170).

Closest championship matches included Almendarez winning 6-4 over Schmacht at 126, Harrison Neumann edging Garrett 6-5 at 170, Steven Marquez over Soliz 7-4 at 182 and Morris winning 5-2 over Stohl at 220.

Zachary Montez (113), Shipp (120), Langenderfer (152) and Jagusah (285) all won by falls, Vesey (106), Raya (132), Tapia (145), Anthony Montez (160), Andrew Marquez (195) all won by major decision and in the highest-scoring finals of the tournament, Brower captured a 15-10 decision over Bernard at 138.

Anthony Montez (second in 2A at 160) captured his fifth title in six finals appearances and Zachary Montez (second in 2A at 113) and Brower (first in 3A at 138) both claimed their fourth title in five finals and Morris (sixth in 2A at 220) also won his fourth title on the season in four finals trips.

Claiming third titles in 2021-22 were Vesey (tenth in 2A at 106), Shipp (seventh in 2A at 120), Almendarez (sixth in 2A at 126) and Tapia (second in 3A at 145) while Harrison Neumann (HM in 2A at 170) and Jagusah (first in 1A at 285) won their second titles. Taking first for the initial time this season were Raya (HM in 2A at 126), Langenderfer (152), Steven Marquez (tenth in 2A at 182) and Andrew Marquez (HM in 2A at 195). 

Bernard (fifth in 2A at 138) fell shy of his fifth title in his fifth finals tripwhile Kested (fourth in 2A at 145) was denied a fourth title in his fifth finals appearance.Garrett (HM in 3A at 170) came up a bit short in his attempt to win a third title in four finals trips,Stohl (seventh in 2A at 220) was denied a third title in five finals appearancesand Levi Neumann (HM in 2A at 285) fell shy of a third title in four finals trips.

Also finishing third were  Galesburg’s Santana Castellano (23-8 at 132), Che Thomas (26-13 at 152) and Emilio Torres (16-6 at 195), Quincy’s Eli Roberts (14-18 at 126) and Bryor Newbold (28-11 at 182), United Township’s Kayden Marolf (9-3 at 138) and Sterling’s Alejandro Arellano (16-10 at 285).

Other fourth-place finishers were Quincy’s Dylan Becker (19-21 at 132) and Gage Bringer (23-18 at 195), Sterling’s Chase Ullrich (9-14 at 182) and Diego Leal (18-17 at 220) and United Township’s Jordan Pauwels-Whitmarsh (16-10 at 113).

There was a tie for first in team points with 24 between Jagusah and Zachary Montez while Shipp was third with 23.5 and Langenderfer, Anthony Montez and Tapia tied for fourth with 23 team points. And there was a tie for most match points between Silver Streaks teammates Almendarez and Castellano with 38. 

Brower and Tapia also won WB6 titles in 2020 while Anthony Montez was second, Raya took third and Jagusah placed fourth last year. Nimrick also placed second in 2020 and Schmact and Garrett were third that year.

Five of the conference teams compete in the very competitive Class 2A United Township Regional in East Moline. They include No. 5 Geneseo, No. 8 Rock Island, No. 24 Galesburg, honorable mention Sterling and the hosts, who’ll be joined by No. 21 Rochelle and No. 23 Freeport. In Class 3A, Moline is at the Joliet West Regional while Quincy hosts a regional, which both feature a top-25 squad. And in Class 1A, Alleman will be in the Sherrard Regional, which includes four top-25 teams.

Western Big 6 Conference Tournament championship matches:

106 – Truth Vesey (Rock Island) over Dalton Nimrick (Alleman), 8-0

113 – Zachary Montez (Geneseo) over Samuel Niyonkuru (Rock Island), F 2:54

120 – Gauge Shipp (Galesburg) over Daniel McGhee (Rock Island), F 2:57

126 – Rocky Almendarez (Galesburg) over Alec Schmacht (Moline), 6-4

132 – Carson Raya (Geneseo) over Bradley Ledbetter (Moline), 15-4

138 – Kole Brower (Moline) over Aoci Bernard (Rock Island), 15-10

145 – Noah Tapia (Moline) over Drew Kested (Sterling), 11-0

152 – Jordan Langenderfer (Moline) over Matthew Cook (Rock Island), F 3:48

160 – Anthony Montez (Geneseo) over Thomas Tate (Sterling), 12-0

170 – Harrison Neumann (Geneseo) over Kayden Garrett (Quincy), 6-5

182 – Steven Marquez (Rock Island) over James Soliz (Moline), 7-4

195 – Andrew Marquez (Rock Island) over Landon Shoemaker (Geneseo), 12-4

220 – Jeremiah Morris (Galesburg) over Tim Stohl (Geneseo), 5-2

285 – Charlie Jagusah (Alleman) over Levi Neumann (Geneseo), F 2:44

Oak Park and River Forest girls first in West Suburban Conference Tournament

Oak Park and River Forest’s girls team continued its winning ways by capturing top honors in the West Suburban Conference Tournament that was held in Addison.

The Huskies scored 186 points to capture their third title in the past three weeks, adding to first-place finishes at their own invite as well as at Hoffman Estates.

Morton finished second with 136.5 points while Glenbard West edged host Addison Trail 105-102 for third-place in the eight-team competition

Leading the way for coach Fred Arkin’s Huskies were champions Bentley Hills (11-3 at 100), Ana Banuelos (3-5 at 105), Camila Neuman (17-0 at 110), Bella Tyma (10-4 at 135), Keydy Peralta (7-1 at 145), Louise Calkins (155), Trinity White (15-0 at 170) and Sarah Epshtein (9-1 at 235). Mayan Akali (140) and Tamera Erving (6-6 at 235) placed second, Maria Diaz (11-5 at 120) was third and Pearl Lacey (8-9 at 125) finished fourth.

Top performers for Morton were Ximena Juarez (120), Nayeli Rodriguez (125), Karla Topete (130) and Diana Rodriguez (190) while Jennifer Villagomez (110), Neida Arreola (115) and Faith Comas (135) took second. Finishing third were Aseel Jadallah (190) while Alejandra Velazquez (190) and Sofia De La Sancha (235) claimed fourth place.

Other champions were Addison Trail’s Nina Matthews (7-2 at 115) and Glenbard West’s Ani Navarro (21-1 at 140) while Addison Trail’s Autumn Oregon-Williams (100), Stephany Mondragon (9-6 at 120) and Emily Rivera (145) and Glenbard West’s Kaylie Delahanty (10-9 at 125), Khatija Ahmed (14-4 at 130), Miyalinna DeJesus (155) and Ella Rejman (16-6 at 190) and Downers Grove North’s Kayleigh Loo (170) took second place.

Navarro and Nayeli Rodriguez tied for the most team points with 26 while Topete had 25.5 points. Tying with 24 points were Matthews, Neuman, Diana Rodriguez and Tyma. Neuman had the most match points with 33 while Tyma was next with 28 points.

Also finishing third were Addison Trail’s Veronica Cosio (9-4 at 110), Lluvia Sanchez (3-2 at 125), Nancy Perez (130) and Alondra Sandoval (140), Glenbard West’s Sydney Nimsakont (17-9 at 115) and Aridiana Hernandez (15-7 at 135), Willowbrook’s Jayde Keaty (145), Proviso East’s Hayle Ortega (170) and Downers Grove South’s Brianna Fellows (235).

Others who took fourth were Downers Grove South’s Ariana Reyes (115) and Azaria Alexander (130), Downers Grove North’s Natalia Cruz (135) and Dana Romonosky (140), Glenbard West’s Azul Alejandre (8-8 at 110) and Addison Trail’s Nelly Sanchez (120).

West Suburban Conference Tournament girls championship matches:

100 – Bentley Hills (Oak Park and River Forest) over Autumn Oregon-Williams (Addison Trail), F 0:25

105 – Ana Banuelos (Oak Park and River Forest), Bye

110 – Camila Neuman (Oak Park and River Forest) over Jennifer Villagomez (Morton), 13-7 (pool)

115 – Nina Matthews (Addison Trail) over Neida Arreola (Morton), F 5:56

120 – Ximena Juarez (Morton) over Stephany Mondragon (Addison Trail), F 3:31

125 – Nayeli Rodriguez (Morton) over Kaylie Delahanty (Glenbard West), F 1:17 (pool)

130 – Karla Topete (Morton) over Khatija Ahmed (Glenbard West), F 4:50 (pool)

135 – Bella Tyma (Oak Park and River Forest) over Faith Comas (Morton), 10-7 (pool)

140 – Ani Navarro (Glenbard West) over Mayan Alkali (Oak Park and River Forest), F 0:25 (pool)

145 – Keydy Peralta (Oak Park and River Forest) over Emily Rivera (Addison Trail), F 1:50 (pool)

155 – Louise Calkins (Oak Park and River Forest) over Miyalinna DeJesus (Glenbard West), F 5:14

170 – Trinity White (Oak Park and River Forest) over Kayleigh Loo (Downers Grove North), F 3:08 (pool)

190 – Diana Rodriguez (Morton) over Ella Rejman (Glenbard West), F 3:40

235 – Sarah Epshtein (Oak Park and River Forest) over Tamera Ewing (Oak Park and River Forest), 7-2

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!

Ranking the rankings, Part 2: a way-too-early look at the state tournament field – Class 2A

By Rob Sherrill

Here’s our look at what the Class 2A state tournament field might look like, based on the rankings.

To repeat: I’m not guaranteeing 100 percent accuracy. You’ll probably see some of these wrestlers competing in their regionals at different weight classes than where I’ve listed them. After all, it’s all about two things: teamwise, winning the regional, which assures a berth in the dual state series, and individually, giving each wrestler the best chance to get to the State Farm Center. Some may even use this list as a roadmap to the most advantageous weight class. That happens every year.

The following list will include the top four wrestlers in each sectional, along with an alternate, at each weight class as things currently stand. At some weight classes, I don’t have enough wrestlers listed in the rankings to fill out the field – which means plenty of opportunities for plenty of wrestlers, at the right time of the season!

So let’s take a look at the state tournament field the rankings would bring us – and good luck flipping those orders starting on Saturday!

Class 2A

106 pounds

                Deerfield – Anthony Alanis, Grayslake Central; Lucas Galdine, Wauconda; Gavin Hanrahan, Antioch; Jack Dombeck, Elmwood Park; Alternate – none ranked

                Hinsdale South – Raymond Alvarado, DeLaSalle; second, third, fourth and alternate – none ranked

                Mahomet-Seymour – Drew Davis, Chatham Glenwood; Caden Hatton, Mahomet-Seymour; Bradley Ruckman, Civic Memorial; Jaymz Young, East St. Louis; Alternate – Angel Bateson, Normal West

                Sycamore – Deven Casey, Aurora Christian; Cameron Phillips, Kaneland; Carter Mikolajczak, Lemont; Truth Vesey, Rock Island; Alternate – Ivan Munoz, Ottawa

113 pounds

                Deerfield – Josh Glover, Crystal Lake South; Olin Walker, St. Patrick; Luke Reddy, Deerfield; Tyler Weidman, Grayslake Central; Alternate – Kon Papadopoulos, Fenton

                Hinsdale South – Austin Dangles, St. Rita; second, third, fourth and alternate – none ranked

                Mahomet-Seymour – Brady Foster, Mattoon; Cordero Sims, Urbana; Matt Bicknell, Normal West; Brennan Vogt, Marion; Alternate – none ranked

                Sycamore – Zachary Montez, Geneseo; Gylon Sims, Joliet Catholic Academy; Zane Ely, Morton; Sammy Niyonkuru, Rock Island; Alternate – none ranked

120 pounds

                Deerfield – Tyler Evans, Prairie Ridge; Edgar Albino, Antioch; Amador Castro, Crystal Lake South; Caleb Sciame, Woodstock; Alternate – none ranked

                Hinsdale South – Bob Conway, Brother Rice; Donavon Allen, St. Rita; Tyler Evitts, Oak Forest; Quintavius Murrell, Riverside-Brookfield; Alternate – Oscar Choi, Hinsdale South

                Mahomet-Seymour – Colby Crouch, Troy Triad; Carson Nishida, Bloomington; Froylan Racey, Normal West; Logan Blackburn, Mattoon; Alternate – Gavin Hearren, Waterloo

                Sycamore – Peyton Cox, Washington; Connor Kidd, Morton; Shay Korhorn, Joliet Catholic Academy; Gauge Shipp, Galesburg; Alternate – Josh Vasquez, Aurora Christian

126 pounds

                Deerfield – Cooper Daun, Wauconda; Mike Meade, Prairie Ridge; Rannin Gruen, Cary Grove; fourth and alternate – none ranked

                Hinsdale South – Caden Muselman, Oak Forest; Mateo Costello, Riverside-Brookfield; Griffin Duffin, St. Rita; James Bennett, Brother Rice; Alternate – Joey Baranski, Marian Catholic

                Mahomet-Seymour – Thomas Vansacik, Chatham Glenwood; Austin Johnston, Normal West; Trevor Schoonover, Centennial; Korbin Bateman, Mattoon; Alternate – none ranked

                Sycamore – Kannon Webster, Washington; Markel Baker, Freeport; Joe Fernau, Aurora Christian; Rocky Almendarez, Galesburg; Alternate – Tyler Barbee, Rock Island

132 pounds

                Deerfield – Sean Conway, St. Patrick; Renzo Morgan, Deerfield; Seth Digby, Lake Forest; Anthony Streib, Antioch; Alternate – Jack McGowean, Vernon Hills

                Hinsdale South – Sean Larkin, St. Rita; Zachary Carter, Lindblom; Dylan Kabance, St. Ignatius; fourth and alternate – none ranked

                Mahomet-Seymour – Santino Robinson, Mascoutah; Ricky Wade, Marion; Joey Biciocchi, Civic Memorial; Nolan Mrozowski, Rochester; Alternate – Ben Maduena, Chatham Glenwood

                Sycamore – Logan Kuhel-Trimmer, Joliet Catholic Academy; Johnny O’Connor, Lemont; Josh Biagini, Washington; Steven Marvin, Morton; Alternate – Tyler Calam, Freeport

138 pounds

                Deerfield – Kai Neumark, Deerfield; Garry Gurevich, Vernon Hills; Caleb Nobiling, Antioch; Armen Jerikian, Grayslake North; Alternate – Cole Porten, Wauconda

                Hinsdale South – Alvaro Perez, Brother Rice; Jovan Williams, Hillcrest; Phillip Lullo, Kennedy; fourth and alternate – none ranked

                Mahomet-Seymour – Bryce Griffin, Civic Memorial; Chase Hall, Troy Triad; Collin Reif, Jacksonville; Cole Peters, Rochester; Alternate – Tallen Pawlak, Mahomet-Seymour

                Sycamore – Owen O’Connor, Joliet Catholic Academy; Aoci Bernard, Rock Island; Evan Schiffman, Lemont; Sam Young, Rockford East; Alternate – Jacob Redington, Freeport

145 pounds

                Deerfield – Jayden Colon, Montini; Lucio Morgan, Deerfield; Colin Husko, Wauconda; Ben Vazquez, Antioch; Alternate – Cayden Parks, Crystal Lake Central

                Hinsdale South – Connor Nowicki, Oak Forest; Isaac Gayton-Reilly, St. Rita; third, fourth and alternate – none ranked

                Mahomet-Seymour – Kiefer Duncan, Mattoon; Trey Elliott, Jacksonville; Aden Byal, Chatham Glenwood; Aiden Postma, Troy Triad; Alternate – Ben Skaggs, Civic Memorial

                Sycamore – Mason Alessio, Joliet Catholic Academy; Taythan Silva, Aurora Christian; Drew Kested, Sterling; Caleb Nadig, Rochelle; Alternate – Cael Miller, Washington

152 pounds

                Deerfield – Ben Shvartsman, Deerfield; Dillon Carlson, Crystal Lake Central; David Mayora, Montini; Will Ludolph, Vernon Hills; Alternate – Evan Vazquez, Antioch

                Hinsdale South – Chuck Connolly, Brother Rice; Nikola Malovic, Riverside-Brookfield; Ivan Corral, Oak Forest; Donovan Hall, Noble/Comer; Alternate – George Akkawi, St. Ignatius

                Mahomet-Seymour – Nate Dampier, Marion; Braeden Heinold, Mahomet-Seymour; Ben Mitchell, Highland; Tyler Easter, Centennial; Alternate – Braeden Banz, Carbondale

                Sycamore – Braden Stauffenberg, Aurora Christian; Brayden Peet, Sycamore; Tarrone Jackson, Freeport; Connor Cumbee, Joliet Catholic Academy; Alternate – Nick Mueller, Dunlap

160 pounds

                Deerfield – Will Prater, Montini; Stamos Tsakiris, Deerfield; Connor Lezama, Crystal Lake Central; Eddie Ferree, Prairie Ridge; Alternate – Zac Johnson, Wauconda

                Hinsdale South – Nathan Chirillo, Brother Rice; Manny Wallace, Hinsdale South; Max Corral, Oak Forest; Joshua Butler, Kenwood; Alternate – Dorian Vaughns, Kennedy

                Mahomet-Seymour –Noah Passoni, Normal West; Sam Wheeler, Troy Triad; Isaiah Duckworth, Carbondale; Aden White, Marion; Alternate – none ranked

                Sycamore – Blake Hinrichsen, Washington; Anthony Montez, Geneseo; Gus Cambier, Sycamore; Mike Jabaay, Lemont; Alternate – Thomas Tate, Sterling

170 pounds

                Deerfield – Aaron Cramer, Grayslake Central; Aiden Cohen, Deerfield; Ben Butler, Crystal Lake Central; Nick Bennett, Wauconda; Alternate – Gio Hernandez, St. Patrick

                Hinsdale South – Tom Bennett, Brother Rice; Mike Torres, Evergreen Park; Joe Castaneda, Oak Forest; Brock Hoyd, Riverside-Brookfield; Alternate – Jovani Piazza, Hinsdale South

                Mahomet-Seymour – Abe Wojciekiewicz, Civic Memorial; Brennan Houser, Mahomet-Seymour; Brandon Lloyd, Waterloo; Logan Will, Mascoutah; Alternate – Gabe Orosco, Lanphier

                Sycamore – Alex Tagler, Lemont; Zack Crawford, Sycamore; Nathan Kim, Burlington Central; Harrison Neumann, Geneseo; Alternate – none ranked

182 pounds

                Deerfield – Matt Jens, Grayslake Central; Shane Moran, Crystal Lake South; Charlie Heydorn, Lake Forest; Braeden Wittkamp, Deerfield; Alternate – Henry Goetz, Woodstock North

                Hinsdale South – James Williams, Evergreen Park; Colin Ashley, Brother Rice; Liam Cote, Riverside-Brookfield; fourth and alternate – none ranked

                Mahomet-Seymour – Colton Carlisle, Civic Memorial; Brock Leenerman, Normal West; Jared Shafer, Mount Vernon; Phillip Shaw, Danville; Alternate – Jordan Clines, Troy Triad

                Sycamore – Mo Khalil, Lemont; Gable Carrick, Sycamore; Steven Marquez, Rock Island; Charles Medrow, Ottawa; Alternate – Jashon Parks, Galesburg

195 pounds

                Deerfield – Jake Psaras, Vernon Hills; Wade Abrams, Cary-Grove; third, fourth and alternate – none ranked

                Hinsdale South – Alex Jackson, TF North; Rodney Sims, Hillcrest; Gambino Perez, Brother Rice; fourth and alternate – none ranked

                Mahomet-Seymour – Mateo Casillas, Mahomet-Seymour; Anthony Curry, Bloomington; Aidan Spurgeon, Mattoon; Aiden Taylor, Carbondale; Alternate – Clayton Tanner, Marion

                Sycamore – Donnie Hidden, Washington; Nathan Wemstrom, Aurora Christian; Connor Lorden, LaSalle-Peru; Owen Gerdes, Joliet Catholic Academy; Alternate – Cole Brannigan, Lemont

220 pounds

                Deerfield – Alex Goworowski, St. Patrick; Aodan O’Sullivan, Niles Notre Dame; Gavin Loiselle, Woodstock; Matthew Merevick, Wauconda; Alternate – Kevin Olson, Amundsen

                Hinsdale South – Eduardo Antunez, Evergreen Park; Adam Achebe, Kenwood; third, fourth and alternate – not ranked

                Mahomet-Seymour – Jordan Sommers, Waterloo; Jack Weltha, Bloomington; Jack Barnhart, Centennial; Colton Crowley, Mahomet-Seymour; Alternate – Leo Meyer, Mattoon

                Sycamore – Justin Hoffer, Washington; Jeremiah Morris, Galesburg; Tim Stohl, Geneseo; Joey Pineda, Rockford East; Alternate – Tyler Wilms, Lemont

285 pounds

                Deerfield – Karl Schmalz, Niles Notre Dame; John Sullivan, Lakes; Andy Burburija, Crystal Lake South; Leo Diaz, Crystal Lake Central; Alternate – Max Acettura, Vernon Hills

                Hinsdale South – Raymond Begay, Kennedy; Leno Campbell, Kenwood; Vincent Arebalo, Crete-Monee; Eric Perez-Nava, Bremen; Alternate – Damian Lassak, St. Ignatius

                Mahomet-Seymour – Alex Hamrick, Chatham Glenwood; Camden Harms, Mahomet-Seymour; Jayden Busch, Jerseyville; Logan Cooper, Civic Memorial; Alternate – Matthew Hobbs, Troy Triad                 Sycamore – Dillan Johnson, Joliet Catholic Academy; Braden Hunter, Aurora Christian; Lee Smith, Rockford East; Tyler Casey, Washington; Alternate – Lincoln Cooley, Sycamore

St. Charles East takes DuKane crown

By Mike Garofola
For the IWCOA


St. Charles East reaffirmed its status as the best in the DuKane Conference when the Saints held off perennial league power Glenbard North and Batavia to win its first DuKane title in program history.


Jason Potter’s men held the lead for most of the day inside Neal Hudson Gymnasium at tourney host Glenbard North, holding a slim advantage at the lunch break before claiming the top prize by just eight points (256-248) over North, and 31.5 points over a very talented club from Batavia (225.5).


Wheaton North (127.5) and Wheaton-Warrenville South with (111.5) rounded out the top five.


“It’s very satisfying to see us win our first DuKane championship, but it was way too close for all of us,” said a relieved Potter, who celebrated a trio of individual titles. Glenbard North led all teams with five champions, followed with Batavia with four.


“We got bonus points and some big wins when we really needed them from everyone, which was really important because we only brought thirteen here today,” Potter said.


“Ben Davino and Tyler Guerra gave us what we expected, but Lane Robinson’s comeback win at 152 came when we needed it – especially when you saw Glenbard North win at 170, 220 and 285. A loss from Lane might have been disastrous for us.”


“We had a few guys really step up, and come through for us today, but there were others who just did not carry their weight when we needed it,” said disappointed Panthers head coach, Travis Cherry, whose club was looking to capture its 33rd conference title.


“We have a lot of work to do before our regional next weekend at Wheaton North, so we’ll move on from today and concentrate on cleaning things up to meet the challenge ahead and get ourselves in position to make it to dual-team state.”


Batavia head coach, Scott Bayer was pleased with the effort from his lads following difficult times in the Bulldogs wrestling family.


“I’m very proud of all of our guys, who went out and performed at a high level despite the fact we were dealing with the death of Clint Arlis, one of our own, and the son of my assistant, Tom Arlis,” said Bayer.


“There were plenty of heavy hearts around our room, but the guys pulled themselves together today, and went out to compete at a high level.”

Clint Arlis, 34, was a 2005 Batavia graduate, who enjoyed a brilliant career at Batavia, finishing second all-time in program history with 141 wins, while also a three-time state qualifier, and three-time conference champion.


Batavia will join Geneva, St. Charles East, St. Charles North at the DeKalb regional this coming Saturday, while Glenbard North will be the favorite at Wheaton North.


2022 DuKane Conference individual champions:


106 – Ino Garcia, Batavia


There are several very good six-pounders in the state and Ino Garcia is one of them.


The Batavia sophomore, No. 9 in the most recent IWCOA polls, went through his weight class here at the DuKane Conference tournament to collect his third major of the season, after winning titles at Glenbrook South and Granite City.


“Ino just dominated out there today and if he stays healthy, and continues to work as hard as he has, there’s no reason why he cannot get himself on the podium next month in Champaign,” declared his head coach, Scott Bayer.


“I feel like I can compete with anyone in my weight but right now, it’s all about just working hard and doing the right things when the state series begins,” said Garcia (31-4) moments after his impressive 12-1 decision over Glenbard North’s Kalani Khiev (24-8) in his final.


Garcia, who was runner-up last summer at state Frosh-Soph, took over his title match with seven third-period points, highlighted with near-fall points late in the contest.


“I expected (Khiev) to try some big moves in that third period, so I defended his shots and scored off of them to control the match,” said Garcia.


113 – Dominick Marre, Glenbard North


Dominick Marre (25-3) used up just under one minute on the mats on Saturday to win his championship medal at 113.


Following his first round bye, the Glenbard North sophomore needed 23 seconds to win his semifinal, then 26 seconds to close out Batavia’s Aidan Huck (21-7) to earn the first of five individual titles on the day for the Panthers.


“It was all about getting bonus points for my team, and getting on and off the mats as quickly as I could today,” admitted Marre, fifth last year at the IWCOA State Championships.


“This is a good way to start the last part of the season, but I have much bigger goals that I am looking to reach, and a top-three finish at state is one of them,” continued Marre, who currently sits at No. 10 in the state rankings, and has a 8-5 decision win over No. 3 David Vukobratovich from Lockport on his resume.


“I’ve been working harder than ever – my shots, scoring early and often to put pressure on my opponents.”


Marre will be one of the favorites at the Wheaton North regional, then one of the top guys at the Conant sectional along with No. 9 Zach Parisi from York.


120 – Ben Davino, St. Charles East


When asked what he’s doing well right now, sophomore Ben Davino replied, “I’m having fun.”


It may not be much fun for Davino’s opponents, but it’s clear for this marvelous talent from St. Charles East that the fun is just beginning.


“Ben is like this giant sponge who just soaks up everything you give him and then wants more,” Saints coach Jason said of the top-rated 20-pounder in the state.


“He’s the consummate hard worker and student of the game who wants to be the very best, and I can tell you he’s on his way to becoming the very best.”


“I love the sport of wrestling,” Davino said. “I’m always looking for ways to be better. To be in a room like ours, and to be around a coach like coach Potter is the best of both worlds.”

Davino (28-1) won by fall over Glenbard North’s Christian Chavez to claim his first DuKane Conference crown of his young career.


Davino’s second pin of this day gave him 15 falls on the season, with 21 of his victories providing bonus points.


Chavez advanced into the final after his 10-2 upset of No. 2 seed Dylan Schlegel (Geneva, 24-12) who came back to earn third-place honors


126 – Paul Woo, Glenbard North


The stars appeared to be aligned for a second Paul Woo-Dominick Mallinder contest within a week, but when Lake Park’s Mallinder (23-5) sustained a minor injury in his semifinal bout with Ethan Penzato (St. Charles, East, 21-5) it ended the chance for a rematch.


“I was really looking forward to seeing (Mallinder) in the final today, and was ready to go, so hopefully we’ll see each other again at sectionals,” offered Woo (26-5) who advanced into the finals with a pin at 1:06 before accepting an injury default victory.


“I’ve been working very hard in the room and at Izzy Style, which has helped me with the mental part of my game. I feel like I can compete with anyone from here on out,” said the Glenbard North senior, who is considering being a teacher and high school coach after college.


Lake Park coach Mark Cameron appreciates the evolution Mallinder has shown this year.

“Dominick has always been a high-energy guy who would just outscore his opponents in order to win,” Cameron said. “This year he has learned to put kids on their back and earn the pin, and he has 18 pins on the season thus far.”


Penzato went on to earn valuable points for the Saints’ cause when the junior recorded a tech-fall in his third-place bout.


“Penzato can hang with the top guys in the state,” Saints coach Jason Potter said. “I’m proud of his effort as he tried to dig himself back out of a hole, but he knows he can’t give up big points against an opponent like Mallinder.”


132 – Tyler Guerra, St. Charles East


Leading up to the tournament, Saints coach Jason Potter would comment on how both Davino and Tyler Guerra (23-5) have been dominant all season, and have set the tone for his team throughout.


The No. 5 man in his weight class looked dangerous from the opening moments of this day,
never allowing his opponents to get anything going, including during his technical fall win over Glenbard North’s Solomon Gilliam in their title match.


“I went into my final looking for bonus points with a pin, but I just wasn’t able to close him out and had to settle for the tech-fall,” said the Saints sophomore after collecting his second major of the season – the other coming at the Illini Classic.


“It’s all about going out and scoring points early on in order to put my opponents under pressure right away, then go to work at adding to my lead and not allowing my opponent to get back in the match,” said Guerra, who lost to No. 4, Eddie Enright (Mt. Carmel) in overtime (5-3) early on.


Guerra followed his tactical plan perfectly when his take-down 30 seconds into this final quickly became 7-1, then 10-1 when he registered a near fall just before the period ended.


A nicely-executed throw from the neutral position, followed by another takedown made it 14-2, with Guerra unable to produce a pin against a stubborn Gilliam (21-11) who did well to keep Guerra from adding an extra bonus point associated with a pin.


“I’m having fun and putting a lot of extra time in the room,” Guerra said. “I know if I stay healthy, I’ll be able to compete for a state medal next month.”


138 – Kaden Fetterolf, Batavia


It was a clash between two of the top 38-pounders in the state and for the third consecutive time, No. 5 Kaden Fetterolf (33-5) of Batavia won another heart-stopping bout against No. 6 Mike DiBenedetto (30-5) from Lake Park.


The Bulldogs’ junior used a third period reversal to extend his lead before riding out the final 60 seconds to secure his 3-0 decision.


“All three of our matches have been really close,” Fetterolf said. “The last one ended in overtime so I expected this one to be like the first two. That’s why it was important to score first and to stay composed.”


“It’s always tough to beat someone for a third time, especially after the last time they met, so it took a real gritty performance by Kaden against a tough opponent to win that match,” Batavia coach Scott Bayer said.


DiBenedetto was unable to get Fetterolf off his hips when the Lancers junior started down in the second period. DiBenedetto nearly escaped with 30 seconds left in the period, only to get hit with a penalty point for stalling just seconds before the referee whistled the period over.


“I’ve been training hard in the room, and at Izzy Style, and I really feel like I am ready to compete with the best from here on out, especially at the state tournament,” said Fetterolf.


“The first two times these guys met were real barnburners,” began Lake Park head coach, Mark Cameron. “Mike has been wrestling real tough of late, not allowing his opponent to become comfortable at any time while doing a much better job of dictating the match.”


With his pin in the semifinals, DiBenedetto now has 15 pins on the season.


145 – Cael Andrews, Batavia


Cael Andrews (32-7) made it two in a row for Batavia with his 6-0 decision over St. Charles East sophomore Gavin Connolly.


The Bulldogs’ junior scored the opener off a missed shot attempt to take a lead he would never let go of.


“I knew (Connolly) was a really good scrambler so it was important to stay away from his strength, be clean with my shots, and be the first to score,” said Andrews.


“Kaden (Fetterolf) is a great partner in the room for me,” Andrews said. “He’s helped me become a better all-around wrestler, so this year I feel much more confident than ever before. I feel ike I can do some very good things in the state series coming up.”


“Cael split his with Connolly (23-6) in their two prior matches, so I was anxious to see how he would come out today in his final,” began Scott Bayer.


“He was calm and in control from the very beginning, he wrestled smart, and never allowed (Connolly) to get into any kind of rhythm – it was a complete six-minute effort for him.”


Connolly, whom Potter said has flown under the radar all season long, has been a key figure in the Saints success thus far. He went in as the No. 1 seed and immediately won an important head-to-head match with a major decision over Glenbard North junior Osmany Martinez to help the cause.


Andrews registered a pin in his first contest of the day, then followed up with a dominating effort en route to a 17-1 technical fall to book his place in the final.


152 – Lane Robinson, St. Charles East


Robinson has enjoyed a rapid rise since being with the big club after earning a spot in the IWCOA state tournament last summer.


The junior has continued to solidify his spot as a valuable member of the Saints, which he did with flying colors on Saturday afternoon with a thrilling 7-6 decision over the talented junior from Wheaton North, Devin Medina.


Medina (34-8) put a scare into the Saints hopeful when he went out to a 5-0 second period advantage, only to have Robinson (14-7) stun the Falcons star with a late take-down to insure his first DuKane title.


“Lane’s championship was a big confidence booster for him,” Saints coach Jason Potter said. “We’ve been trying to get him to realize how much talent he has, have him stop overthinking and just attack his opponents.


“He found himself down late in the match, and the only thing he could do was to throw as much offense at Medina as possible. If he goes out with a mindset to attack, and score as many points as possible, he’ll shake things up going into the postseason.”


Robinson is well aware of what he needs to do moving forward.

“I was really tentative at the start, and got myself in big trouble,” Robinson said. “(Potter) told me to get on my attack, so I just went after him relentlessly, and it paid off for me.”


160 – Joey Olade, Lake Park

There was plenty at stake when Lake Park’s No. 8 Joey Olade (27-2) met St. Charles East’s No. 10 Brody Murray (24-6) in this 160-pound final.


Not only were important points out there for his St. Charles East team for Murray, but the impetus to jump up and over Murray and likely into the higher seed at the Conant sectional in two weeks with a victory all made this contest one of great interest.


With the all-important first takedown in the scorebook for Olade, the Lake Park senior slowly added to his lead, taking a 6-2 advantage into the third period before claiming a well-deserved 8-4 decision.


“Maybe I am under the radar in the state at 160 and maybe I’m not — it doesn’t matter what others think, because I know I’m right there with everyone else,” said a confident Olade, who with his finals victory now has four majors to his name on the year.


“My family and I moved away to Texas and then moved back to finish up my senior year in wrestling at Lake Park.I know all of the hard work and dedication will pay off for me in the next few weeks.”


“Joey suffered an injury around winter break, and missed a little time, but he is just starting to get back into shape, and hitting his stride,” said Lancers head coach, Mark Cameron.


“He has really been able to to start focusing on wrestling his style on the mat, and he has become a better practice wrestler, which has made him a better competitor as well.”


170 – Cody Dertz, Glenbard North


Cody Dertz kept his Glenbard North mates within striking distance of eventual league champions St. Charles after his head-to-head victory over St. Charles East’s Elijah Chiaro, 2-1.


“I just had to grind that one out for my teammates and myself,” said Dertz, now 14-6 after his 2-1 thriller over the No. 7 rated Chiaro, who cruised into his final.


“Coach Cherry saw something in me early on, and all of my success and development as a wrestler is a hundred percent on him,” said Dertz, who was a 2021 IWCOA state qualifier. Dertz now has two major titles on his resume, the first coming on Thanksgiving weekend at the Hruska Invite at Conant.


Chiaro also threw plenty of praise upon his head coach, Jason Potter, for his development on the mats.


“(Potter) believed in me right from the start, and he’s always been there to help me – both in this sport and away from it,” said Chiaro (17-4), who will continue to wrestle on the collegiate level, with an eye on Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Wisconsin-Platteville, Wabash College, and D-1 University of Chattanooga-Tennessee.


“Elijah has his USA Card, and helps us at the kids club – he’s such a great kid, who will succeed at whatever he does in life,” said Potter.


182 – Jackson Tonkovich, Batavia


A takedown 30 seconds from time was enough to give Batavia’s Jackson Tonkovich a hard-fought 8-7 victory over previously undefeated Drew Surges (24-1) of St. Charles North to claim the 182 pound title.


That Surges was in this one to the very end said plenty about the heart of the North junior, who suffered an injury after a Tonkovich (24-3) throw and takedown gave Tonkovich a 6-5 advantage midway through the third period.


“That was a very good match between Jackson and Surges, who came back and fought hard to make for a great finish by Jackson,” said Scott Bayer.


Surges stayed on the mat while his leg injury was attended to by the medical staff for an extended period of time. He worked his way to his feet and eventually took a 7-6 lead, before conceding the late takedown to Tonkovich, who came in ranked No. 5 in the state.


“I’ve been working a lot on pushing the pace and riding guys out which is what I did in that third period after getting the lead back,” said Tonkovich, who will attend Chadron State College in Nebraska, where he will pursue a degree in Agribusiness.


“Jackson is coming off an injury so get this win, and especially when the pressure was on late in the third period, is a huge confidence boost for him,” said Bayer.


195 – John Schmidt, Geneva


Six hard-fought minutes is what Geneva head coach Tom Chernich has come to expect from John Schmidt, and the Vikings junior came through once again with another sterling three-period performance to capture top honors at 195, with a 7-3 decision over St. Charles East’s Anthony Chiarro.


“There’s not a lot of style or flair in the way John competes, but he’s going to bust his butt for six minutes, and make his opponents work for everything. Today, you saw him in action,” said Chernich.


“John lost twice before to Chiarro before, so maybe he had a little advantage coming into this final, but he worked hard throughout his match, adding points here and there to keep his lead.”


“Conditioning is important to me because I’m a guy who likes to slow things down, get that first takedown, then outwork my opponents,” said Schmidt, now 31-13 overall after his finals win.


Schmidt, an IWCOA state qualifier a year ago, opened with a pin and then edged eventual third-place medal winner, Ben Brown (Batavia) by the score of 3-2 in his semifinal.


“John is going to give you a real honest effort out there all of the time,” Chernich said. “He’ll fight, and like I said, he’ll work for the entire six minutes, which almost always keeps him in every one of his matches.”


220 – Blake Maday, Glenbard North


After winning the title at 220, Glenbard North’s Blake Maday was asked if his 0-0 season record printed on the bracket sheets at the start of the tournament was a misprint.


“No, it’s correct, 0-0,” said Maday.


“I broke the plate that I had in my foot over four months ago, and today is the first official competition of the season. I’m really happy to be here,” continued Maday, who celebrated his long-awaited return in fantastic fashion with a pin at 1:18 to defeat Christian Allen of Batavia.


“I’m so happy to be back because at some point, I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to come back at all,” added Maday.


The Panthers junior admits he’s not back in wrestling shape of yet, but teammate and heavyweight Paulie Robertson has been just what the doctor ordered to help put him back on track.


“I’m not totally ready to go hard with Paulie in the room, but he’s been a great help to cheer me up while I’ve been out, and helping me keep focused both physically and mentally to get me back on the mats, helping the team.


“There’s a lot of challenges after dealing with an injury that’s kept me out so long, but having someone like Paulie has made it so much easier.”


285 – Paulie Robertson, Glenbard North


The No. 2-rated big man in the state delivered yet another powerful statement of intent, in his desire to be the best in the state come February, when Glenbard North’s Paulie Robertson dismissed both of his opponents on Saturday in just under three minutes combined.


Robertson (24-1) was in complete control of the 285-pound division right from the start, opening with a pin in 55 seconds to advance into his final, where a nicely-played effort led to his pin of St. Charles junior Austin Barret (19-11).

The win gave Robertson his his second league crown, and second major of the season.


“For me, this year, it’s all about being more confident in myself. And an increased confidence in my abilities has been a big reason for my success thus far,” said Robertson, who recently made a commitment to play football next fall at Saginaw Valley State University, where he’ll turn his academic attention towards physical therapy, and/or a degree in Chiropractic Care.


Robertson admitted he can’t wait for these last few weeks of the season when he’ll look forward to a potential rematch from the Dvorak against No. 1 Ryan Boersma from Mt. Carmel, where he hopes his quickness and agility could be the ticket to success in Champaign.


“Boersma is big, and strong – a big push and pull guy, so I learned a lot in my final with him in that 4-1 loss,” said Robertson.

Ranking the rankings: a way-too-early look at the state tournament field – Class 3A

By Rob Sherrill

                We made it!

Illinois high school wrestling experienced a fun, thrill-filled regular season the past 10 weeks. Most important, the season was wrestled – the beginning, the middle and the end. Teams across the state had to survive the occasional COVID-19 pause, but of the more than 100 regular-season tournaments that were scheduled, only four were canceled – and one of those was made up a month later. Cheers to all those who persevered and overcame numerous obstacles to give us a wrestling season we can all be proud of.

I’ve done my best to help us keep up with the weekly rankings diary. As we head into the state tournament series, with 48 regionals set to take place this coming weekend, I thought it would be fun to see where the rankings leave us as a predictor of who we’ll see on the mats at the State Farm Center Feb. 17-19. Based solely on the rankings as they stand today, I’ve put together a schematic of what the state tournament field might look like at each weight class in each classification, sectional by sectional.

I’m not guaranteeing 100 percent accuracy. You’ll probably see some of these wrestlers competing in their regionals at different weight classes than where I’ve listed them. After all, it’s all about two things: teamwise, winning the regional, which assures a berth in the dual state series, and individually, giving each wrestler the best chance to get to the State Farm Center. Some may even use this list as a roadmap to the most advantageous weight class. That happens every year.

The following list will include the top four wrestlers in each sectional, along with an alternate, at each weight class as things currently stand. At some weight classes, I don’t have enough wrestlers listed in the rankings to fill out the field – which means plenty of opportunities for plenty of wrestlers, at the right time of the season!

So let’s take a look at the state tournament field the rankings would bring us – and good luck flipping those orders starting on Saturday!

Class 3A

106 pounds

                Barrington – Wiley Jessup, Fremd; Dominic Ducato, Jacobs; Joel Muehlenbeck, Prospect; Grayson Kongkaeow, Round Lake; Alternate – Luca Poeta, Lake Zurich

                Conant – Inocencio Garcia, Batavia; Kalani Khiev, Glenbard North; Brady Phelps, Schaumburg; Kaden Klapprodt, DeKalb; Alternate – Julius Avendano, Elgin

                Granite City – Deion Johnson, Homewood-Flossmoor; Nore Turner, Lockport; Max Siegel, Andrew; Ethan Spacht, Bradley-Bourbonnais; Alternate – Cole Gentsch, Normal Community

                Hinsdale Central – Seth Mendoza, Chicago Mount Carmel; Donny Pigoni, Marmion Academy; Rocco Hayes, Carl Sandburg; George Marinopoulos, Marist; Alternate – none ranked

113 pounds

                Barrington – Evan Gosz, Fremd; Bryce Durlacher, Mundelein; Maksim Mukhamedaliyev, Hersey; Yash Jagtap, Stevenson; Alternate – Alejandro Cordova, Round Lake

                Conant – Zach Parisi, York; Dominick Marre, Glenbard North; Aidan Huck, Batavia; Joey Phelps, Schaumburg; Alternate – Grant Madl, Elk Grove

                Granite City – Trevor Silzer, Andrew; David Vukobratovich, Lockport; Nathan Knowlton, Lincoln-Way Central; Anthony Lawryn, Bradley-Bourbonnais; Alternate – Jack Ferguson, Yorkville

                Hinsdale Central – Jameson Garcia, Marmion Academy; Damian Resendez, Chicago Mount Carmel; Ryan Hinger, Carl Sandburg; Michael Esteban, Marist; Alternate – Donnie Fields, Downers Grove South

120 pounds

                Barrington – Caelan Riley, Libertyville; Massey Odiotti, Loyola Academy; Tom Miller, Prospect; Wilson Wright, New Trier; Alternate – Lucas Van Diepen, McHenry

                Conant – Ben Davino, St. Charles East; Daniel Aranda, DeKalb; Sammy Santangelo, Conant; Chris Kish, Maine East; Alternate – Dylan Schlegel, Geneva

                Granite City – Joey Malito, Lincoln-Way Central; Tyson Zvonar, Lincoln-Way East; Caleb Scott, Granite City; Jase Salin, Lincoln-Way West; Alternate – Isaiah Rogers, Lockport

                Hinsdale Central – Sammy Hayes, Carl Sandburg; Will Denny, Marist; Tyler Aters, Marmion Academy; Jalen Dunson, Oak Park-River Forest; Alternate – Jairo Acuna, Chicago Mount Carmel

126 pounds

                Barrington – Will Baysingar, Prospect; Lorenzo Frezza, Stevenson; James Wright, Jacobs; Brian Beers, Barrington; Alternate – Jacob Jensen, Huntley

                Conant – Paul Woo, Glenbard North; Dominic Mallinder, Lake Park; Caden Kirchner, Schaumburg; Ethan Penzato, St. Charles East; Alternate – Jacob Luce, DeKalb

                Granite City – Vincent Robinson, Homewood-Flossmoor; Jacob Macatangay, Plainfield North; Billy Meiszner, Providence; Dominic Schiavone, Minooka; Alternate – Dominic Coronado, Yorkville

                Hinsdale Central – Sergio Lemley, Chicago Mount Carmel; Jesse Herrera, Marist; Gunner Garelli, Lyons Township; Christian Favia, Marmion Academy; Alternate – Cooper Lacey, Oak Park-River Forest

132 pounds

                Barrington – Maddox Khalimsky, Fremd; Chuck Jones, Barrington; Sam Henkle, Huntley; fourth and alternate – none ranked

                Conant – Danny Curran, DeKalb; Tyler Guerra, St. Charles East; Pierre Baldwin, West Chicago; Peter Floyd, Conant; Alternate – Colin Roque, Taft

                Granite City – Nasir Bailey, Rich Township; Carlos Munoz-Flores, Lockport; Conor Smetana, Lincoln-Way Central; Tyler Boyd, Granite City; Alternate – Cale Stonitsch, Minooka

                Hinsdale Central – Eddie Enright, Chicago Mount Carmel; Cody Tavoso, Hinsdale Central; Luke Swan, Downers Grove South; Joe McDermott, Bolingbrook; Alternate – Brandon Weber, Marist

138 pounds

                Barrington – Cole Rhemrev, Stevenson; Scott Busse, Lake Zurich; Philip Chapa, Barrington; Colin Young, Belvidere North; Alternate – Lennon Steinkuehler, Prospect

                Conant – Kaden Fetterolf, Batavia; Michael DiBenedetto, Lake Park; Austin Martin, DeKalb; Gavin Connolly, St. Charles East; Alternate – Diego Garcia, Glenbard East

                Granite City – Kole Brower, Moline; Dylan Gvillo, Edwardsville; Elijah Munoz, Minooka; Jermaine Butler, Homewood-Flossmoor; Alternate – Warren Zeisset, Belleville East

                Hinsdale Central – Harrison Konder, Downers Grove North; Jimmy Nugent, Downers Grove South; Santino Scolaro, Marmion Academy; Owen Dunlap, Marist; Alternate – Dominic Serio, West Aurora

145 pounds

                Barrington – Charlie Fifield, Fremd; Damien Puma, Prospect; Antonio Alvarado, Belvidere North; Thomas Schoolman, Stevenson; Alternate – Matt Impastato, Dundee-Crown

                Conant – Tommy Curran, DeKalb; Cael Andrews, Batavia; Trevor Skoda, Glenbard West; Nico Clinite, South Elgin; Alternate – Nicky O’Keefe, Geneva

                Granite City – Noah Tapia, Moline; Keegan Roberson, Lockport; Jaydon Robinson, Homewood-Flossmoor; Will Dahm, Belleville West; Alternate – Drew Landau, Edwardsville

                Hinsdale Central – Noah Quintana, West Aurora; Ricky Ericksen, Marist; Nate Pacetti, Blue Island Eisenhower; Christopher Ramirez, Naperville Central; Alternate – Carlos Perez, Chicago Mount Carmel

152 pounds

                Barrington – Matthew Boyer, New Trier; Will Collins, Glenbrook South; Matt Kubas, Libertyville; Niko Skoulikaris, Hampshire; Alternate – Marshal Cunz, Machesney Park Harlem

                Conant – Ethan Stiles, Conant; Damien Lopez, DeKalb; Lane Robinson, St. Charles East; Devin Medina, Wheaton North; Alternate – Brennan Skoda, Glenbard West

                Granite City – Logan Swaw, Lockport; Jack Marion, Lincoln-Way East; Luke Zook, Yorkville; Jorden Johnson, Edwardsville; Alternate – Owen Uppinghouse, Quincy

                Hinsdale Central – Damari Reed, Shepard; Ayden Lutes, Naperville Central; Moses Quintana, West Aurora; Collin Carrigan, Marmion Academy; Alternate – Andrew Dado, Marist

160 pounds

                Barrington – Chris Moore, McHenry; Billy Spassov, Hersey; Justin Warmowski, Grant; Patrick Downing, Glenbrook South; Alternate – Jon Fier, Barrington

                Conant – Joe Olalde, Lake Park; C.J. Gilbert, Conant; Brody Murray, St. Charles East; Caleb Wall, DeKalb; Alternate – Max Konopka, Glenbard West

                Granite City – Jared Gumila, Plainfield North; Dominic Adamo, Lincoln-Way East; Paul Kadlec, Lockport; Zach Lusk, Belleville West; Alternate – Brody Williams, Yorkville

                Hinsdale Central – Colin Kelly, Chicago Mount Carmel; Antonio Torres, Waubonsie Valley; Tom Boland, Marist; Kenny Siwicki, Marmion Academy; Alternate – none ranked

170 pounds

                Barrington – Brody Hallin, McHenry; Cooper Wettig, Loyola Academy; Austin Gomez, Libertyville; fourth and alternate – none ranked

                Conant – Lukes Schmerbach, DeKalb; Cody Dertz, Glenbard North; Elijah Chiaro, St. Charles East; Nick Mabutas, Willowbrook; Alternate – Pat Shadid, Glenbard West

                Granite City – Brayden Thompson, Lockport; A.J. Mancilla, Bradley-Bourbonnais; Matthew Janiak, Plainfield South; Ari Zaeske, Lincoln-Way East; Alternate – Romeo Williams, Homewood-Flossmoor

                Hinsdale Central – Tyler Perry, Marmion Academy; Jacob Liberatore, Marist; Will Schuessler, Downers Grove South; Cooper Schodrof, Lyons Township; Alternate – Owen Jacobson, Chicago Mount Carmel

182 pounds

                Barrington – Josh Knudten, Libertyville; Ryder Hunkins, Huntley; Matt Luby, Lake Zurich; Aiden McCain, Round Lake; Alternate – Quinn Herbert, Loyola Academy

                Conant – Bradley Gillum, DeKalb; Jackson Tonkovich, Batavia; Drew Surges, St. Charles North; Brandon Swartz, St. Charles East; Alternate – A.J. Hernandez, Conant

                Granite City – Dominic Thebeau, Belleville East; Gavin Jones, Lincoln-Way East; Haku Watson-Castro, Homewood-Flossmoor; Paul Rasp, Lockport; Alternate – Shamon Handegan, Pekin

                Hinsdale Central – Jack Lesher, Marmion Academy; Rylan Breen, Chicago Mount Carmel; Ben Bielawski, Downers Grove North; David Pirozhnik, Naperville Central; Alternate – Luke Liberatore, Marist

195 pounds

                Barrington – Jack Cummings, New Trier; Zach Meyer, Barrington; Jacob Whiting, Stevenson; Cole Matulenko, Libertyville; Alternate – Porter Leith, Dundee-Crown

                Conant – Philip Dozier, Glenbard West; Bryson Buhk, DeKalb; Colin O’Neill, Leyden; Henry Chang, Conant; Alternate – John Schmidt, Geneva

                Granite City – John Pacewic, Plainfield South; Hunter Janeczko, Yorkville; Evan Holderer, Edwardsville; Cooper Caraway, Normal Community; Alternate – Cruz Ibarra, Oswego

                Hinsdale Central – Peter Marinopoulos, Marist; Elliott Lewis, Chicago Mount Carmel; Cooper King, Lyons Township; Ashton Phillips, Waubonsie Valley; Alternate – Teddy Perry, Marmion Academy

220 pounds

                Barrington – Manny Mejia, Hersey; Ty Stringer, New Trier; Casey Bending, Fremd; Betim Jahovic, Niles North; Alternate – Luke Zunkel, McHenry

                Conant – Gavin Engh, DeKalb; Blake Maday, Glenbard North; Chance Guziec, Elk Grove; Ryan Porebski, Taft; Alternate – Gustav Tosterud, Leyden

                Granite City – Shawn Blackburn-Forst, Lockport; Liam McDermott, Providence; Ben Alvarez, Yorkville; Justin Thomas, Homewood-Flossmoor; Alternate – Karson Lamb, Pekin

                Hinsdale Central – Ghee Rachal, Marist; Marko Ivanisevic, Hinsdale Central; Sean Scheck, Marmion Academy; Gio Amaya, West Aurora; Alternate – Jacob Housour, Waubonsie Valley

285 pounds

                Barrington – Caleb Christensen, Libertyville; Oleg Simakov, Hersey; Reyes Gonzalez, Warren; Patryk Barnas, Hampshire; Alternate – none ranked

                Conant – Paulie Robertson, Glenbard North; Morley Coval, Glenbard West; Austin Barrett, St. Charles East; Grzegorz Krupa, Taft; Alternate – Adam Lambatz, Elgin

                Granite City – Jake Ziemniarski, Lincoln-Way West; Kaden McCombs, Plainfield North; Wyatt Schmitt, Joliet West; Isaiah Hill, O’Fallon; Alternate – Tyler Haynes, Pekin

                Hinsdale Central – Ryan Boersma, Chicago Mount Carmel; Kevin Zimmer, Carl Sandburg; Jared Durian, Marmion Academy; Jordan Lewis, Downers Grove North; Alternate – Jordan Lishman, West Aurora