By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

Lena-Winslow/Stockton wins Litchfield’s Rich Lovellette Invitational

Two of the top-five teams in Class 1A met up at Litchfield’s Rich Lovellette Invitational and second-ranked Lena-Winslow/Stockton used three firsts, four seconds and three fifths to help it capture top honors with 212 points while fifth-ranked Vandalia finished second with 177.5 points. 

Auburn took third place with 160.5 points and No. 12 Oakwood/Salt Fork was fourth with 152 points while Murphysboro (106), Cumberland (103.5) Roxana (102) and Rochester (91.5) rounded out the top-half of the 16-team field in the two-day competition.

Winning titles for coach Kevin Milder’s champion Pantherhawks were Garrett Luke (37-3 at 145), Griffin Luke (38-3 at 170) and Drew Mensendike (37-2 at 195) while Jared Dvorak (33-8 at 152), Marey Roby (26-6 at 160), Connor Vincent (30-7 at 182) and Henry Engel (36-4 at 220) all placed second. Finishing in fifth place were Brady Haas (18-15 at 126), Zach White (25-12 at 138) and Mike Haas (33-5 at 285) and they also got a seventh place from Carson McPeek (24-10 at 132).

Lena-Winslow/Stockton won its first individual tournament of the season, improving on its previous-best, a second-place effort at Erie/Prophetstown. But it also made a statement about its dual team potential when it won the championship of ABE’s Rumble in Springfield, which featured 58 squads.

Leading the way for coach Jason Clay’s runner-up Vandals were champions Cutter Prater (39-3 at 138) and Eric McKinney (37-5 at 152) as well as third-place finishers Sophie Bowers (34-8 at 113) and Owen Miller (34-9 at 132). Finishing fourth were Ryan Kaiser (36-6 at 160) and Wyatt Dothager (27-15 at 182) while Pierson Wilkerson (24-19 at 120), Logan Nance (33-10 at 145), Garrett Meyers (20-17 at 170) and Eric Barenfanger (31-11 at 22) all took fifth and Justin Proctor (28-15 at 195) was seventh.

It was the third second-place finish for Vandalia this season, with Civic Memorial and Princeton being the others, and it also turned in a third-place showing at ABE’s Rumble.

Other tournament champions were Auburn’s Anthony Ruzic (17-0 at 113), Dresden Grimm (37-1 at 132) and Cole Edie (32-5 at 285), Oakwood/Salt Fork’s Carter Chambliss (29-7 at 120) and Joe Lashuay (25-5 at 160), Cumberland’s Hank Warfel (31-5 at 106), Benton’s Mason Tieffel (38-4 at 126), Sacred Heart-Griffin’s Cory West (36-2 at 182) and Hillsboro’s Magnus Wells (29-1 at 220) .

Also taking second place were Cumberland’s Iysten Syfert (34-5 at 170), Colby Ryan (33-4 at 195) and Noah Carl (32-4 at 285), Oakwood/Salt Fork’s’s Pedro Rangel (23-4 at 126) and Reef Pacot (32-4 at 132), Litchfield’s Alex Powell (26-5 at 106), Harrisburg’s Tony Keene (32-1 at 113), Auburn’s Gage Lopez (22-9 at 120), Rochester’s Cole Peters (19-6 at 138) and Carlinville’s Jake Schwartz (38-2 at 145).

Some of the closest titles matches featured Warfel winning 6-4 in overtime over Powell at 106, Chambliss edging Lopez 8-6 at 120, Grimm prevailing 4-2 in two overtimes over Pacot at 132, McKinney capturing a 4-3 win in double overtime over Dvorak at 152 and Lashuay winning 10-7 over Roby at 160.

The championship match at 113 was a clash of unbeaten sophomores with No. 1 Ruzic winning by fall in 5:51 over No. 3 Keene. Also recording falls to win titles were Tieffel (126), Prater (138), Griffin Luke (170), West (182) and Wells (220) while Garrett Luke (145) and Mensendike (195) won major decisions and Edie (285) won 8-2 over Carl.

It was the third title in three finals appearances for Ruzic (first in 1A at 113) and Mensendike (fifth in 1A at 195) and the third title in four trips to the title mat for Warfel (third in 1A at 106) and Grimm (third in 1A at 132). Claiming second titles in two trips to the finals were Prater (ninth in 1A at 138), Garrett Luke (fourth in 1A at 138), Lashuay (first in 1A at 160), Griffin Luke (third in 1A at 170) and West (second in 1A at 182) while Tieffel (third in 1A at 126) won his second title in four finals appearances.

Individuals who won their first titles of the season were Chambliss (HM in 1A at 120), McKinney (ninth in 1A at 152), Wells (tenth in 1A at 220) and Edie (seventh in 1A at 285).

There was a four-way tie for most team points with 28 between Griffin Luke,Tieffel, Wells and West while Ruzic had 27.5 points and Mensendike scored 27 points. Edie, Garrett Luke, McKinney and Prater tied for seventh with 26 team points. Peters had the most match points with 49. 

Murphysboro had four third-place finishers, Kaiden Richards (26-7 at 106), Liam Fox (26-7 at 126), Patrick Campbell (11-4 at 145) and Dayton Hoffman (24-4 at 160). Also taking third were Roxana’s Hunter Bailey (12-2 at 195), James Herring (22-3 at 220) and Chase Allen (3-1 at 285), Auburn’s Colby Willhite (15-20 at 138) and Skylar Fay (31-8 at 182), Rochester’s Drake Pfeifer (28-9 at 120), Hillsboro’s Zander Wells (21-9 at 152) and Oakwood/Salt Fork’s Brysen Vasquez (23-10 at 170).

Others claiming fourth place were Rochester’s Conner Carroll (25-8 at 106), Adam Gribbins (20-9 at 113) and Nolan Mrozowski (34-3 at 132), Frankfort Community’s Jaden Smilanich (18-15 at 152) and Connor Henson (22-13 at 170), Murphysboro’s Aiston Holt (10-5 at 120), Roxana’s Lleyton Cobine (12-6 at 126), Pinckneyville’s Riley Maxey (27-7 at 138), Oakwood/Salt Fork’s Grant Brewer (27-10 at 145), Harrisburg’s Bryant Lester (21-7 at 195) and Benton’s Hunter Moss (24-18 at 285).

Also finishing fifth were Roxana’s Justin Theis (3-1 at 113) and Braden Johnson (8-8 at 152), Oakwood/Salt Fork’s Brayden Edwards (21-14 at 106), Murphysboro’s Bryce Edwards (28-8 at 132), Auburn’s Joey Barrow (26-12 at 160), Litchfield’s Hunter Hancock (23-13 at 182) and Frankfort Community’s Anthony Joyner (21-12 at 195).

Lena-Winslow/Stockton will compete in one of the state’s toughest regionals at Dixon, which features three teams in the top-eight in Class 1A, including the top-ranked host Dukes and eighth-ranked Dakota, the 2020 state champions, along with No. 18 Sillman Valley and No. 22 Oregon. The Pantherhawks hope to get back to dual team state, where they last competed in 2019 when they won their second state title in three years. Placers from the Lovellette who were on that title team are Roby, Vincent and White.

Vandalia will compete in the Carlyle Regional, where No. 21 Cahokia will also be on hand. Lena-Winslow/Stockton hopes to get back to dual team state, where it last competed in 2019 when it won its second state title in three years. The Vandals also would like to get back to state for the first time since 2019, when they completed a run of 10-straight state appearances by winning their trophy in four years. Placewinners in the Lovellette Invite who were part of that third-place team are Kaiser and Prater.

Auburn, whose third-place finish tied its previous-best showing at PORTA, will be in the Class 1A Illinois School for the Visually Impaired Regional, which will be held at Routt in Jacksonville. In 2020, the Trojans made their second trip to the dual team finals and won their first trophy, taking fourth place. Five of their placewinners from this weekend’s invite were members of that 2020 team, Edie, Fay, Grimm, Lopez and Willhite.

Litchfield Rich Lovellette Invitational championship matches:

106 – Hank Warfel (Cumberland) over Alex Powell (Litchfield), 6-4 OT

113 – Anthony Ruzic (Auburn) over Tony Keene (Harrisburg), F 5:51

120 – Carter Chambliss (Oakwood/Salt Fork) over Gage Lopez (Auburn), 8-6

126 – Mason Tieffel (Benton) over Pedro Rangel (Oakwood/Salt Fork), F 1:51

132 – Dresden Grimm (Auburn) over Reef Pacot (Oakwood/Salt Fork), 4-2 2OT

138 – Cutter Prater (Vandalia) over Cole Peters (Rochester), F 3:09

145 – Garrett Luke (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) over Jake Schwartz (Carlinville), 9-1

152 – Eric McKinney (Vandalia) over Jared Dvorak (Lena-Winslow/Stockton),  4-3 2OT

160 – Joe Lashuay (Oakwood/Salt Fork) over Marey Roby (Lena-Winslow/Stockton), 10-7

170 – Griffin Luke (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) over Iysten Syfert (Cumberland), F 3:17

182 – Cory West (Sacred Heart-Griffin) over Connor Vincent (Lena-Winslow/Stockton), F 3:40

195 – Drew Mensendike (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) over Colby Ryan (Cumberland), 11-2

220 – Magnus Wells (Hillsboro) over Henry Engel (Lena-Winslow/Stockton), F 3:52

285 – Cole Edie (Auburn) over Noah Carl (Cumberland), 8-2

Lawrenceville captures title of Eastern Illinois Tournament

There was very little that separated the top squads at Saturday’s Eastern Illinois Tournament, a 15-team competition which took place in Lawrenceville.

Lawrenceville edged Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm 153-150 for top honors while Carterville nipped Fairfield 143.5-143 for third place. Mt. Carmel finished fifth with 135 points and Champaign Central was sixth with 102 points while Bismarck-Henning Rossville-Alvin Cooperative (97), Robinson (95) and Goreville (94) were next in line.

Leading the way for coach Sam Hyre’s champion Indians were title winners Shaina Hyre (22-4 at 113) and Brian Seed (29-0 at 170) while Nathan Blackwell (25-8 at 182) took  second and Dylan Aten (25-9 at 120), Max Moore (15-10 at 138) and Morgan Halter (9-6 at 195) all placed third. Isaac Foster (13-12 at 126) was fifth and Marcus Hyre (18-12 at 132) finished sixth while Trevor Loy (145), Kasen Ochs (152) and Dalton Spahn (160) also contributed points to help Lawrenceville, which co-ops with Red Hill, to win its second title this season, with the first at it own Lawrence County Tournament.

“We wrestled a little short-handed on Saturday with three starters out, two of whom could have potentially won their whole bracket,” Sam Hyre said. “We talked to the kids about what they would have to do scoring-wise to get the win at home and they succeeded wonderfully.  We are peaking at the right time with a very young group and are excited to start our postseason run.  Brian Seed improved to 29-0 and Shaina Hyre, our lone female wrestler for the weekend, won her second boys tourney of  the last couple weeks.” 

Top performers for Kirk Edwards’ runner-up Tigers were champions Grayson McBride (14-3 at 120) and Rylee Edwards (28-1 at 182) and second-place finishers Gabe Kiddoo (22-6 at 126) and Hayden Weaver (21-10 at 132). Placing third was Logan Mahaffey (19-11 at 113) while Jesse Irelan (19-8 at 106) finished fourth, Tre Ramirez (13-11 at 220) was fifth and Jacob Pyle (19-14 at 152) took sixth. Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm easily bettered its previous-top finish, which was 12th a week earlier at LeRoy/Tri-Valley.

Fairfield had four champions, Cole Simpson (29-6 at 138), Jerek Keoughan (27-4 at 145), Konnor Dagg (30-5 at 195) and Payton Allen (35-1 at 220). Other title winners were Goreville’s Jeremiah Pulliam (23-7 at 106), Richland County’s Carson Bissey (18-1 at 126), Herrin’s Blue Bishop (26-2 at 132), Effingham’s Jon Perry (32-6 at 152), Robinson’s Jared Hermann (25-2 at 160) and Bismarck-Henning Rossville-Alvin Cooperative’s Hunter Wilson (24-10 at 285).

Individuals who won their third titles of the season include Allen (HM in 1A at 220), Bissey (HM in 1A at 126), Hermann (HM in 1A at 160) and Seed (ninth in 1A at 170) while Bishop (HM in 1A at 132), Dagg (HM in 1A at 195), Edwards (eighth in 1A at 182) and Perry (HM at 152) all won their second titles of 2021-22.

Edwards also won the Eastern Illinois Tournament in 2020. Four other champions improved on their place finishes from two years ago, McBride (second to first) and Hermann, Hyre and Seed (third to first) 

Also finishing in second place were Mt. Carmel’s Zeke Swanson (16-8 at 138), Joey Farrar (17-6 at 170) and Eli Swanson (18-9 at 285), Goreville’s Briley Lehmen (23-8 at 113) and Weston Henderson (19-5 at 160), Richland County’s Detrych Curtis (20-12 at 145) and Kaden Hess (22-12 at 152), Herrin’s Brad Williams (21-15 at 106), Oblong’s Ian Rosborough (14-3 at 120), Robinson’s Austin Hargrave (21-6 at 195) and Carterville’s Riley Bradford (22-15 at 220).

Two of the closest title matches were Shaina Hyre winning 10-8 over Lehmen at 113 and Dagg beating Hargrave 7-3 at 195. Winning titles by fall were Pulliam (106), McBride (120), Bissey (126), Keoughan (145), Seed (170) and Wilson (285) while Bishop (132) was a winner by technical fall. Perry (152) and Edwards (182) both won titles by major decision while Simpson (138), Hermann (160) and Allen (220) all won decisions by five or more points.

Champaign Central had four third-place finishers, Owen Esslinger (16-5 at 106), Jackson Dillow (24-15 at 145), Seth Bowers (182) and Zavier Neill (27-12 at 220). Also taking third place were Carterville’s Elijah Mohring (24-14 at 160) and Zacwariah Miller (29-10 at 285), Mt. Carmel’s Kreg Lofton (10-5 at 126), Bismarck-Henning Rossville-Alvin Cooperative’s Evan Parish (26-8 at 132), Trico’s Eli Rees (12-2 at 152) and Robinson’s David Staller (12-8 at 170).

Carterville had four individuals who took fourth, Merrick Orendoff (145), Chris Bates (20-14 at 170), Noah Johnson (13-8 at 182) and Luke Johnson (15-9 at 195), Others who placed fourth were Fairfield’s Jake Eckleberry (120), Scotty Cuff (28-8 at 132) and Jaxon Combs (19-8 at 285), Champaign Central’s Liam Potenberg (17-6 at 152) and Asher Kotowski (15-9 at 160), Mt. Carmel’s Jordon Wood (22-14 at 113) and Mason Rayborn (220), Bismarck-Henning Rossville-Alvin Cooperative’s Ayden Golden (17-11 at 126) and Effingham’s Robert Reardon (18-15 at 138).

There was a six-way time for individuals who had the most team points with 24. They were Bissey, Keoughan, McBride, Pulliam, Seed and Wilson while Perry had 23 points and Bishop scored 22.5 points. Tying for the lead in most match points with 42 were Richland County’s Cooper Fehrenbacher (fifth at 138) and Bishop.

Lawrenceville and Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm, who are both honorable mention in the IWCOA Class 1A rankings rankings, compete in the Richland County Regional in Olney, which includes No. 4 Unity as well as other honorable mention teams Monticello and Shelbyville. Others who competed in the tournament and will be in the same regional are Mt. Carmel, Robinson, Effingham and Oblong.

Eastern Illinois Tournament championship matches:

106 – Jeremiah Pulliam (Goreville) over Brad Williams (Herrin), F 1:32

113 – Shaina Hyre (Lawrenceville) over Briley Lehmen (Goreville), 10-8

120 – Grayson McBride (Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm) over Ian Rosborough (Oblong), F 1:44

126 – Carson Bissey (Richland County) over Gabe Kiddoo (Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm), F 0:42

132 – Blue Bishop (Herrin) over Hayden Weaver (Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm), TF 3:26

138 – Cole Simpson (Fairfield) over Zeke Swanson (Mt. Carmel), 5-0

145 – Jerek Keoughan (Fairfield) over Detrych Curtis (Richland County), F 2:40

152 – Jon Perry (Effingham) over Kaden Hess (Richland County), 10-1

160 – Jared Hermann (Robinson) over Weston Henderson (Goreville), 9-2

170 – Brian Seed (Lawrenceville) over Joey Farrar (Mt. Carmel), F 1:45

182 – Rylee Edwards (Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm) over Nathan Blackwell (Lawrenceville), 11-2

195 – Konnor Dagg (Fairfield) over Austin Hargrave (Robinson), 7-3

220 – Payton Allen (Fairfield) over Riley Bradford (Carterville), 8-1

285 – Hunter Wilson (Bismarck-Henning Rossville-Alvin Cooperative) over Eli Swanson (Mt. Carmel), F 3:08

Glenwood takes title at Quincy Notre Dame Invitational

Glenwood had five champions and three second-place finishers to help it claim top honors in Saturday’s Quincy Notre Dame Invitational. 

The Titans, who are ranked ninth in Class 2A, scored 238 points to capture first place by 36 points over Jacksonville, which took second with 202 points in the 17-team invite. This was Glenwood’s first tournament championship of the season, and one spot better than its previous-best finish, which was second in its own invite on December 4. It was the program’s eighth tournament of the season with half of those involving going up against bigger schools from the Chicago area.

Missouri squads Kirkwood (144) and Palmyra (142) took third and fourth, respectively, while Camp Point Central (121), who’s a co-op with Brown County and Southeastern, was fifth. Edwardsville (106), Quincy (100), St. Joseph-Ogden (95.5) and Riverton (87) were next in line. 

Leading coach Jerod Bruner’s champion Titans were title winners Kayle Blakenship (17-7 at 106), Drew Davis (9-0 at 113), John Ben Maduena (28-14 at 132), Aden Byal (37-6 at 145) and Alex Hamrick (41-2 at 285). Larson Nestar (3-1 at 106), Braxton Warren (19-13 at 126) and Jaidyn Lee (25-9 at 220) took second place and Jacob Antonacci (20-17 at 138) and Justin Hay (17-14 at 170) finished third. Taking fifth were Tyler Clarke (15-8 at 106) and Brandon Bray (19-19 at 195) while Cole Prost (8-8 at 126) was sixth, Owen Ottino (19-17 at 120) took seventh and Bradley Dollus (160) and Eli Moss (2-3 at 195) placed eighth.

Top performers for coach Dustin Secrist’s runner-up Crimsons were champions Trey Elliott (30-3 at 152) and James Cotton (29-3 at 160) while Collin Reif (25-4 at 145), Luca Thies (27-8 at 182) and Mason Meyer (11-3 at 195) finished second and Oliver Cooley (20-10 at 220) took third. Placing fourth were Brooklyn Murphy (18-12 at 113) and Aiden Surrat (19-10 at 285) while Evan Dewitt (20-11 at 132) was fifth and Alexis Seymour (13-14 at 120), and Gavin Seymour (5-7 at 170) were sixth. The second place showing tied their previous-best finish, which was at Quincy.

Glenwood has a 20-10 dual meet record and goes to Decatur on Wednesday to compete against MacArthur with the intent of wrapping up the title in the Central State Eight Conference. Then it’s on to the Jacksonville Bowl on Saturday for the Class 2A regional which also includes Springfield’s public schools as well as Riverton and Rochester.

The Titans hope that they can get back to the dual team series this year, which they competed in in 2018 and 2019 and if they can make the fourth state appearance in their history, the next goal would be claiming their first state trophy. 

Other Illinois athletes who won titles were  St. Joseph-Ogden’s Holden Brazelton (36-2 at 120), Notre Dame’s Curtis Steinkamp (35-3 at 126), Lanphier’s Gabe Orosco (26-4 at 170) and Macomb’s Max Ryner (37-5 at 182). Additional Illinois competitors who took second place were Camp Point Central’s Kanye Mitchell (33-9 at 120) and Conner Griffin (37-7 at 152), Edwardsville’s Zeke Rhoades (17-4 at 132) and Max Miller (10-8 at 160), St. Joseph-Ogen’s Emmitt Holt (27-5 at 113) and Warsaw’s Evan Carel (16-8 at 138).

Some of the closest titles matches included Maduena winning 5-2 over Rhoades at 132, Cotton beating Miller 3-0 at 160, Orosco edging Kirkwood’s Diego Guzman 13-11 at 170 and Ryner winning 3-1 over Thies at 182. Champions who recorded falls in the finals were Blankenship at 106, Davis at 113, Brazelton at 120, Steinkamp at 126, Elliott at 152, Hamrick at 285, Palmyra’s Collin Arch at 138 and Luke Triplett at 220 and Kirkwood’s Mason Hodo at 195. In addition, Byal claimed a 6-1 victory over Reif at 145.

Elliott had the most team points with 31 while Blankenship, Hamrick, Hodo and Triplett scored 30 points and Arch, Brazelton, Byal and Davis had 29.5 team points. Byal finished with the most match points with 37. There was an all-Glenwood finals at 106 where Blankenship pinned Nestar and Clarke finished fifth and all three of them are freshmen.

Brazelton (seventh in 1A at 120) won his third title in three finals appearances while Hamrick (sens in 2A at 285) also won his third title in his fourth trip to the title mat. Claiming their second titles in two finals trips were  Davis (first in 2A at 106) and Steinkamp (HM in 1A at 126) and winning a second title in three finals appearances were Byal (HM in 2A at 145) and Orosco (HM in 2A at 170). Capturing a second title in a fourth trip to the title mat were Elliott (tenth in 2A at 145) and Maduena (HM in 2A at 132), winning a first title in an initial trip to the finals were Blankenship (106) and Cotton (HM in 2A at 152) and capturing a first title in a third finals appearance was Ryner (HM in 1A at 182).

Five individuals who placed in the QND Invite in 2020 won titles on Saturday. Two years ago, Hamrick took first, Elliott was second, Ryner placed third, Steinkamp finished fourth

and Orosco took fifth.

Additional Illinois athletes who placed third were Riverton’s Connor Park (24-13 at 120), Ethan Fordham (26-10 at 126) and Matthew Crouch (285),Camp Point Central’s Jack Thompson (37-6 at 113) and Konnor Bush (31-13 at 145), Illini West’s Lance Belshaw (25-5 at 152), Lanphier’s Connor Janssen (23-4 at 160), Quincy’s Bryor Newbold (28-11 at 182) and St. Joseph-Ogden’s Owen Birt (18-7 at 195).

Other athletes from Illinois who took fourth were Quincy’s Dylan Becker (19-21 at 132), Ty Moore (152) and Gage Bringer (22-18 at 195), Camp Point Central’s Paul Schenck (25-18 at 106) and Joseph Friday (14-12 at 138), Notre Dame’s Ryan Scheuermann (19-10 at 120), Macomb’s Tyler Shannon (26-16 at 145), Edwardsville’s Hubert Thomas (11-5 at 160) and Riverton’s Garrett Johnson (10-10 at 220).

And some additional Illinois competitors who finished fifth were Edwardsville’s Blake Freitag (6-4 at 126) and Evan McCormick (14-8 at 220), Macomb’s Carter Hoge (32-10 at 152) and Tegan Perry (16-10 at 285), Quincy’s Evan Wakefield (17-21 at 113), Riverton’s Colin Ripperda (14-3 at 160) and Camp Point Central’s Kyus Mitchell (31-11 at 170).

Quincy Notre Dame Invitation championship matches:

106 – Kayle Blankenship (Glenwood) over Larson Nestar (Glenwood), F 5:27

113 – Drew Davis (Glenwood) over Emmitt Holt (St. Joseph-Ogden), F 2:54

120 – Holden Brazelton (St. Joseph-Ogden) over Kanye Mitchell (Camp Point Central), F 1:50

126 – Curtis Steinkamp (Notre Dame) over Braxton Warren (Glenwood), F 0:55

132 – John Ben Maduena (Glenwood) over Zeke Rhoades (Edwardsville), 5-2

138 – Collin Arch (Palmyra, MO) over Evan Carel (Warsaw), F 0:41

145 – Aden Byal (Glenwood) over Collin Reif (Jacksonville), 6-1

152 – Trey Elliott (Jacksonville) over Conner Griffin (Camp Point Central), F 0:31

160 – James Cotton (Jacksonville) over Max Miller (Edwardsville), 3-0

170 – Gabe Orosco (Lanphier) over Diego Guzman (Kirkwood, MO), 13-11

182 – Max Ryner (Macomb) over Luca Thies (Jacksonville), 3-1

195 – Nathan Hodo (Kirkwood, MO) over Mason Meyer (Jacksonville), F 2:44

220 – Luke Triplett (Palmyra, MO) over Jaidyn Lee (Glenwood), F 1:16

285 – Alex Hamrick (Glenwood) over Nolyn Richards (Palmyra, MO), F 1:03

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

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

The sign of a quality program is that when it experiences some disappointment it usually bounces right back and responds in a positive way to help ease some of the pain.

That’s just what Lockport did over the weekend when it fell just short of winning another conference title but instead came away with a strong tournament showing that should benefit it as it heads into the postseason.

Two days after seeing visiting Lincoln-Way East win its first-ever conference title when it prevailed on criteria for matches won with eight in a 33-33 SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue Division dual meet, the Porters responded with a quality effort in the Tom Lahey Tournament at Stagg in Palos Hills to capture their first tournament title.

Lockport won four championships and had four second-place finishes to score 251 points, which placed it well ahead of the runner-up Griffins, who finished with 206.5 points. Homewood-Flossmoor edged Lincoln-Way West 176-170 for third while Carl Sandburg took fifth place with 136 points and Lincoln-Way Central was next with 112 points.

Winning titles for coach Josh Oster’s Porters were Keegan Roberson (25-10 at 145), Logan Swaw (25-5 at 152), Brayden Thompson (35-0 at 170) and Andrew Blackburn-Forst (26-5 at 220) while Nore Turner (19-6 at 106), David Vukobratovich (25-8 at 113), Jad Alwawi (17-14 at 126) and Paul Kadlec (26-13 at 160) all placed second. Carlos Munoz-Flores (20-7 at 132) and Logan Kaminski (18-16 at 138) were fourth and Cody Silzer (13-12 at 285) finished sixth.

Thompson, who’s top-ranked at 170 in 3A, continues his impressive debut season with the Porters by remaining unbeaten through 35 matches and winning his fifth tournament title in five attempts, adding to firsts at the Gable Donnybrook, the Dvorak, the Powerade and the Cheesehead. Blackburn-Forst, top-ranked at 220, is in the groove following his standout football season and added to his trip to the finals at the Dvorak with his first title of the season. Roberson, ranked third at 145, also is beginning to perform well after his successful football season and he won his first title of the season and Swaw, who’s ranked eighth at 145, also captured his first title of the season.

“We had a tough one Thursday night so we had a talk afterwards and we discussed some of our shortcomings and we fixed some of those here,” Oster said. “They (East) came to wrestle Thursday and they wrestled hard and they did what they had to do to win. I’m not necessarily mad that we lost since those things happen sometimes. But there were definitely things that we could have done better and we did those better but it wasn’t perfect today.

“As we say every year, it’s about advancement now. The individual advancement from regionals to sectionals, then sectionals to state and team-wise, you have to win the regional to advance to the sectional. It’s how it’s always been, next man up if someone is out and twe he next guy steps in and we’re ready and we kind of build that into the program. And we’re just looking for improvement from everyone and what we do every year is start beating kids that beat us earlier in the year.”

While the Griffins won four-straight regional titles from 2004-07 and advanced to the dual team sectional final in 2004, they had not captured a conference title in the sport.

Only four schools had won SWSC titles with Carl Sandburg winning seven and Lockport five in the Blue Division and Lincoln-Way West winning nine and Lincoln-way Central three in the Red Division. Sandburg also won three combined titles and Lockport won the other since the conference’s initial season of 2005-06.

As a result of the week’s dual meets, there was a shakeup in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA Class 3A rankings with DeKalb moving up a spot to first and Marist going from fifth to second following a 30-29 victory over Mount Carmel, which dropped from first to third place and Marmion Academy remained fourth.

Coach Kevin Rockett’s Griffins, who had a 20-0 record going into their final dual meet against Lemont, moved up from eighth place to fifth while the Porters dropped from third place to sixth. The rest of the top-10 in the Class 3A rankings show Naperville Central in seventh, St. Charles East in eighth, Yorkville in ninth and McHenry in tenth.

Lincoln-Way East got titles from Dominic Adamo (17-6 at 160) and Connor Lindaur (27-4 at 195), the first championships that each won this season. Tyson Zvonar (29-5 at 120) and Jack Marion (30-3 at 152) finished second while Connor Koehler (15-7 at 126), Ari Zaeske (24-6 at 170) and Gavin Jones (28-1 at 182) all took third place. Domanic Abeja (19-8 at 145) and Alex Knaperek (21-7 at 285) were fourth while Brayden Mortell (21-14 at 113) and Alex Lizak (19-8 at 138) finished fifth.

“We’re all excited about this and we know that this is the time of the year that we need to peak,” Rockett said. “And our schedule has gotten toward this end and that’s kind of how we like it. As a team I think we’re solid up and down in most weight classes and I think what makes us a pretty good dual team. At times, I think that we have to do a little bit better in a tournament setting to get more guys in championship matches and to get those points. Hopefully these two-day tournaments help us prepare for the postseason.”

Leading the way for Homewood-Flossmoor were champions Deion Johnson (30-6 at 106) and Vincent Robinson (24-2 at 132). Robinson, top-ranked at 126, added to his championship at the Ironman with a second title while Johnson, ranked third at 106, also won his second tournament, with the other at Joliet Central to kick off the season. Jermaine Butler (23-6 at 138), Jaydon Robinson (24-5 at 145) and Justin Thomas (26-7 at 220) all finished second for coach Jim Sokoloski’s Vikings.

Lincoln-Way West was led by champion Karter Guzman (26-8 at 126), who captured his first title of the season while Anthony Sherman (24-14 at 195) placed second. Carl Sandburg, the 2020 Lahey title winners, was led by champion Kevin Zimmer (10-0 at 285), who’s ranked third at 285 and added to a title at the Illini Classic one week earlier.

Lincoln-Way Central had two champions, Joey Malito (35-1 at 120) and Conor Smetana (32-4 at 138). It was the third title of the season for Malito, who’s third-ranked at 120 and  previously took firsts at Glenbrook South and Lincoln, while Smetana won his first title of the season. Andrew got a title from Trevor Silzer (25-1 at 113), who’s ranked seventh at 113 and added to a first-place effort at Batavia. The other finalist from the SWSC was Bradley-Bourbonnais’ AJ Mancilla (30-4 at 170), who took second place.

The only champion that wasn’t from an SWSC team was Belleville East’s Dominic Thebeau (30-1 at 182). It’s the fourth title in four finals appearances for Thebeau, who’s ranked second in 3A at 182. His other titles were at Mascoutah, Granite City and Geneseo. The top performer for Glenwood was Alex Hamrick (40-2 at 285), who lost to unbeaten Zimmer in a clash of highly-ranked heavyweights. Hamrick, ranked second at 285 in 2A won two other titles this season.

Crystal Lake South’s Shane Moran (24-4 at 182) was edged 5-3 by Thebeau in the 182 finals in a clash between the second-ranked individuals in Class 3A and 2A. And
Hinsdale Central had one placewinner, Cody Tavoso (16-3 at 132), ranked seventh in 3A, who gave H-F’s Robinson a good battle before falling 8-7 in the 132 finals.

There were eight championship matches that were decided by two points or less, beginning with Johnson edging Turner 4-2 at 106 and Silzer claiming a 5-3 victory over Vukobratovich at 113. Guzman prevailed 2-0 over Alwawi at 126 and Vincent Robinson edged Tavoso 8-7 at 132. Then Smetana pulled out a 2-1 win over Butler at 138 and Roberson followed with a 7-6 thriller over Jaydon Robinson at 145. Later, Thebeau edged Moran 5-3 at 182 and Lindaur captured a 4-2 triumph over Sherman at 195.

Thompson (170) and Blackburn-Forst (220) both won their title matches by technical fall and Zimmer (285) recorded the lone fall in the final title match. Malito (120), Swaw (152) and Adamo (160) all won decisions by either five or six points to wrap up their titles.

Zimmer also won Lahey Tournament championships in 2019 and 2020 while Blackburn-Forst and Roberson both captured titles in 2020 and were placewinners in 2019. Adamo won a title in the event after placing second in 2020 and third in 2019. And Bolingbrook’s Joe McDermott claimed fifth place in the tournament for the third time.

Thompson and Blackburn-Forst tied for first in team points with 29.5 apiece while Zimmer had 29. Lindaur, Vincent Robinson, Silzer and Smetana all had 28 points with Thebeau and  Roberson collecting 27.5 points with Malito rounding out the top 10 with 27 points. Lincoln-Way West’s Jase Salin (29-11), who finished third at 120, had the most match points with 42, which was one better than Vincent Robinson. Salin also had the two quickest falls, which both required just 18 seconds.

The Lahey Tournament featured the 10 members of the SWSC as well as five other schools, including three from downstate. The event is named for 2001 IWCOA hall of fame inductee Tom Lahey, who was coach at Andrew for 20 years where he won 270 duals and seven SICA titles and six regionals and coached 19 placewinners, including the first four-time Class AA champion, Joey Gilbert, Illinois’ second four-time title winner, with Providence Catholic’s Mark Ruettiger, a longtime Lincoln-Way coach, being the first.

The top three teams in the Lahey Tournament meet again on February 5 in the Class 3A Homewood-Flossmoor Regional, with Lincoln-Way Central and Andrew again in the field, and that event also includes Providence Catholic, Rich Township and Bloom Township, with the champion advancing to the IHSA dual team series.

Lincoln-Way East has finished third or better in all four of its tournaments, winning titles at Wheaton Warrenville South and Niles West and placing third at the Illini Classic behind Marist and No. 8 St. Charles East. This was the Porters’ first title of the season, with their previous best finishes being fourths at more-challenging competitions, the Dvorak and the Cheeshead, and they took fifth at DeKalb’s Flavin duals despite missing four top performers who were at the Powerade in Pennsylvania.

The Porters hope that they have what it takes to advance to team state for the seventh time since Oster succeeded Joe Williams as coach in 2011-12. In the last six years of the dual team series, Lockport has advanced five times, winning three-straight trophies from 2015-17, with that run was capped by a state championship.

While the Homewood-Flossmoor Regional figures to be one of the most competitive in Class 3A, several other teams in the Lahey field also will be in tough regionals in 3A.

Lincoln-Way West, ranked 23rd in 3A, joins Bradley-Bourbonnais and honorable mention teams Joliet West, Minooka and Moline in the Joliet West Regional. Carl Sandburg, Stagg and Bolingbrook will be at the Marist Regional. And Belleville East and Granite City join No. 25 Edwardsville at Quincy. Some of the Lahey matchups may be renewed on February 11-12 since competitors from the H-F, Joliet West and Quincy regionals will meet the qualifiers from Plainfield Central at the Granite City Sectional.

Here’s a look at the champions of the Tom Lahey Tournament, as well as a breakdown of their weight classes:

106 – Deion Johnson, Homewood-Flossmoor

Deion Johnson was happy to be back on top of the awards stand for the first time since his tournament debut for the season on December 4, when he captured a title at Joliet Central’s McLaughlin Classic.

But it’s not like the Homewood-Flossmoor junior hasn’t accomplished anything special since then, as evidenced by his 30-6 record and number three ranking in 3A at 106 that includes seventh-place finishes at two quality competitions, the Ironman and the Powerade, as well as a third at Crown Point’s Carnahan. Johnson followed a fall with a 10-9 semifinals victory over Bradley-Bourbonnais junior Ethan Spacht before capturing the Lahey Tournament title at 106 with a 4-2 victory over Lockport junior Nore Turner.

“I’m very excited, but those losses that I took at the Ironman and Powerade are still on my mind and I’m trying to work better,” Johnson said. “There were real tough people, people ranked across the nation and all of that, so it was good but I don’t really like how I lost there. I love my team. If you see how we work in the room, this wouldn’t be a surprise to you. It’s like a family, everybody clicks, and that’s what I love about this team.”

Turner (19-6, tenth in 3A), whose best tournament showing had been a sixth-place finish at the Cheesehead, earned his spot as one of Lockport’s eight finalists after recording a fall in his opener and then capturing an 11-7 semifinals victory over Andrew sophomore Max Siegel (19-2, second in 3A), who entered the tournament with a 17-0 record, but also lost his next match 4-3 to Sandburg freshman Rocco Hayes (21-11) and then had to injury default in the fifth-place match to Lincoln-Way West senior Matt Soltis.

Spacht (22-2, sixth in 3A), bounced back from his tough semifinals defeat to capture a 6-0 victory over Hayes to take third place. Soltis (26-12) responded to his quarterfinals loss to Turner with a major decision and a win by technical fall in the consolation bracket before falling 6-0 to Spacht, who like Soltis had won two previous tournaments.

113 – Trevor Silzer, Andrew

A competitor has to be feeling pretty good about how things have been going when they reach this point of the season with two tournament titles to their credit and just one overtime loss, and that’s just what Trevor Silzer has accomplished thus far .

The Andrew junior, who’s ranked seventh in Class 3A, added to a title at Batavia with a championship of a tournament named after an IWCOA hall of fame coach at his school. Silzer improved to 25-1 after claiming a 5-3 title victory at 113 over Lockport senior David Vukobratovich. The Thunderbolts’ champion earned his spot in the finals with two first-period falls, including one in 1:47 over Granite City freshman Brenden Rayl in the semifinals. His lone loss is to Lincoln-Way Central’s Joey Malito, who won the title at 120.

“It does feel pretty good today,” Silzer said. “Knowing that I had tough competition and I still came out in first place, that feels good. I only have one loss to Joey Malito when I bumped up to face him in a dual. I’m just wrestling hard in the practice room and I had an ego-booster at Batavia by winning that. I have my buddy Max (Siegel), which is tough and I have Casey Griffin also, who’s a good practice partner. And I have my brother Kyle also in the room wrestling with me.”

Vukobratovich (25-8), ranked second in 3A with a runner-up finish in the Dvorak this season, advanced to the title mat with a pair of falls, including one in 3:05 in the semifinals over Sandburg freshman Ryan Hinger (25-8, fifth in 3A), who was coming off of a tournament title a week ago at the Illini Classic. Hinger responded to his loss in the semifinals by capturing a win by technical fall in 1:51 over Rayl (21-8) in the third-place match.

Lincoln-Way East freshman Brayden Mortell (21-14), who got pinned in the quarterfinals by Rayl, went 2-1 in the consolation and claimed a 17-5 major decision in the fifth-place match over Stagg sophomore Anas Ahmed (14-12), who also responded to a quarterfinal pin by Vukobratovich with a pair of wins.

120 – Joey Malito, Lincoln-Way Central

A week after suffering his first loss of the season to Bloomington’s Carson Nishida in the semifinals of the Illini Classic, Joey Malito was focused on not only getting back to the finals in his next tournament, but also winning his third title of the season.

And that’s just what the 35-1 Lincoln-Way Central senior who placed third at the IWCOA finals did when he followed a win by technical fall with a pin in 1:42 in the semifinals over Andrew sophomore Casey Griffin and went on to capture the Lahey title at 120 with a 9-3 win over Lincoln-Way East freshman Tyson Zvonar, adding to title wins at Glenbrook South and Lincoln. Malito also advanced to the finals of the Lahey Tournament in 2020 but took second, losing 3-0 to the eventual state runner-up, Sandburg’s Sammie Hayes.

“I’m super excited right now and I’m looking forward to regionals and the state tournament,” Malito said. “And getting down there is my big goal right now. It’s been fun since this is my last year so I’m just going out and laying it all out there and just trying to have fun and get to the podium. And we have a really good team. I just have to keep working hard at practice and giving it my all. In these type of matches, the tough one, you have to go in with the mentality that I should be there with these kids and I know I can beat them.”

Zvonar (29-5), who advanced to his third tournament finals and was hoping to add to a title win at Wheaton Warrenville South, earned his spot on the title mat with a pair of major decisions, including a 10-2 triumph over Belleville East junior Nick Fetters (12-5) in the semifinals. Lincoln-Way West sophomore Jase Salin (29-11) took an interesting route to the third-place match, where he avenged a quarterfinal loss to Fetters by winning 7-5 in sudden victory. Salin had the two quickest falls at 0:18 and won his final four matches.

After suffering a loss by technical fall to Malito in the quarterfinals, Bolingbrook senior Josh Cruz (17-14) won two of his final three matches to claim fifth place after recording a fall in 4:37 over Griffin (12-7).

126 – Karter Guzman, Lincoln-Way West

Karter Guzman was focused on not only improving on his best showing of the season, a third at Hinsdale Central’s Whitlatch, by advancing to the 126 finals at the Lahey Tournament but he also wanted to collect his first title of the season.

And that’s just what the Lincoln-Way West junior was able to achieve and he certainly also did so in a dramatic fashion as he improved to 26-8 after getting a takedown right before regulation time expired to capture a 2-0 victory over Lockport junior Jad Alwawi in the championship match. Guzman was the only title winner for the Warriors and one of two finalists and advanced to the title mat with a 4-0 semifinals win over Sandburg senior Kasey Kolke.

“I knew that he couldn’t stay with me,” Guzman said. “I just kept going, kept pushing forward and got a shot and scored and that’s how it works. I saw that he was tired and I’m not tired, I don’t get tired, I keep pushing and I got it, and that’s what matters. It’s awesome here and I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else. Coming in as a freshman, I wasn’t the best but look where I am now, I can go places. I’m going to keep pushing forward and I want to place downstate, and that’s what matters.”

Alwawi (17-14), one of eight Porters to advance to the finals, earned his spot there with a first-period fall in the quarterfinals and then claimed a 6-1 victory over Lincoln-Way East junior Connor Koehler (15-7) in the semifinals. Koehler responded to his loss to Alwawi by recording a fall in the next match and then beating Kolke (15-14) 8-2 to finish third.

Homewood-Flossmoor senior Carter Maclin claimed fifth place at 126 with a 16-3 major decision over Andrew junior Keeghan Oreilly.

132 – Vincent Robinson, Homewood-Flossmoor

It had been awhile since Vincent Robinson had been on top of the awards stand. And even though winning a title at the Lahey Tournament is a big deal for most individuals, when you get the first place medal at the Ironman and finish just ahead of some of Illinois’ best there, then the bar has been set very high.

For the first time since December 11, when the Homewood-Flossmoor junior placed first at 126 with Washington’s Kannon Webster and Mount Carmel’s Sergio Lemley getting the next two medals, Robinson has been focused on not only doing what he achieved in 2020, which was competing in an IHSA title match, but he intends to be on top of the awards stand this year in Champaign. The top-ranked individual in 3A at 126 improved to 24-2 after claiming the Lahey Tournament title at 132 by prevailing 8-7 in a struggle with Hinsdale Central junior Cody Tavoso to cap a day where he recorded falls in his other three matches, including a pin in 2:55 in the semifinals over Granite City junior Dylan Boyd.

“We’ve just started locking in since we already know that the state series is coming up,” Robinson said. “So we just go harder at practice and pushing ourselves more knowing what we need to do to get ready for state. Every time we go up against somebody that’s stronger competition, we just get better because we learn from that. Every match that we wrestle is a learning experience, win or lose. Today in my finals match I was disappointed because it was too close for me. He gave me a little bit of trouble and he was bigger than me, so I’m like, it’s cool, since I’m going back down to 126 for state, so we’re going to get our state title there.”

Tavaso (16-3, seventh at 132), who placed third in the IWCOA and was sixth in 2020 in the IHSA, had a title win at his own Whitlatch and took third at Batavia. He opened with a fall and won a major decision before recording a fall in 2:51 in the semifinals over Glenwood sophomore John Ben Maduena. In the third-place match, Boyd (24-6) won by injury default over Lockport junior Carlos Munoz-Flores (20-6, third at 132), a runner-up at the Gable Donnybrook, lost to Boyd in the quarterfinals and then had three-straight falls.

Bolingbrook senior Joe McDermott (22-9), who won titles at Hinsdale South and Berwyn/Cicero Morton, claimed fifth place for the third time in the tournament after capturing a 6-0 decision over Maduena (25-14, tenth in 2A), who has won a title and been in three finals this season.

138 – Conor Smetana, Lincoln-Way Central

Conor Smetana seemed to be hobbling around a bit after walking off of the championship mat at 138 in the Lahey Invitational, which didn’t seem to bother him a whole lot after what he had just accomplished.

And that was the Lincoln-Way Central senior not only winning his first title of the season in his fourth trip to the finals but also doing so in an event that he competed in the finals as a freshman. Smetana (32-4, eighth at 132) won a 2-1 decision over Homewood-Flossmoor junior Jermaine Butler in the 138 finals that was set up by three-straight first period falls, which included one in 1:58 in the semifinals over Lockport junior Logan Kaminski. Smetana placed second at Glenbrook South, Lincoln and the Illini Classic this season.

“I’ve had a few tough matches and I’ve been working on it in the practice room and I’m just getting better every day,” Smetana said. “It’s just great to have the energy in the room with the coaches always pushing you and your teammates always getting on you to get better every day. I was 0-3 in finals and I used that as motivation. I haven’t wrestled since freshman year so getting back in the room just messed with my head so I knew that I had to work 10 times harder than everyone in the room to get here.”

 Butler (23-6), who was appearing in his first tournament finals since early December at Joliet Central and was seeking his initial title, won his first two matches by technical fall and then captured a 5-3 semifinals victory over Belleville East junior Warren Zeisset (19-7). In the third-place match between the two individuals who fell in the semifinals, Zeisset recorded a fall in 4:25 to give him his best tournament finish of the season, something that Kaminski also achieved.

After falling 3-2 in the quarterfinals to Kaminski, Lincoln-Way East freshman Alex Lizak (19-8) recorded three falls in four consolation matches to claim fifth place with a pin in 1:43 over Granite City freshman Braden Kelly (19-16), who responded to a quarterfinal loss to Butler with a fall and major decision before dropping his last two matches.

145 – Keegan Roberson, Lockport

Keegan Roberson admitted that it took him a while to bounce back from an extended football season in which he was a starting receiver for a Porters squad that went 13-1 and captured the Class 8A title for the school’s third championship in the sport and its first since 2003.

After facing quality competition at the Gable Donnybrook, Powerade and Cheesehead, where he placed between fifth and seventh, the senior who was second in the IWCOA  hopes to make a deep run in two more state series, the individual finals and dual team state. Roberson (25-10, third at 145) got falls in his first two matches and won by technical fall in the semifinals over Lincoln-Way East sophomore Domanic Abeja. Then in the 145 finals, he captured a 7-6 win over Homewood-Flossmoor sophomore Jaydon Robinson.

“Coming out of football and missing the first couple of weeks, I was definitely not where I needed to be with my gas tank,” Roberson said. “So we’ve been working a lot harder in the room. In the first couple weeks of practice we were slacking off and messing around the whole entire time, kind of like knowing that we were going to win. But we got smacked in the mouth and we needed that. Now we’re working harder and harder and the coaches are definitely getting on us now. At first I was going to quit football, but then they were like do it since you’re not going to get worse at wrestling. So I took the shot and we won and I’m definitely glad I did since I had some good catches in the state game.”

Robinson (24-5, fourth at 145) advanced to his second final but wasn’t able to add to his early-season title win at Joliet Central. After recording a fall in the quarterfinals, Robinson claimed an 11-3 major decision in the semifinals over Glenwood junior Aden Byal (33-6). The two individuals who fell in the semifinals met up for third place with Byal capturing a 9-2 win to give him his fourth-straight tournament where he finished third or better while Abeja has placed fourth or better in all four of his tournaments.

Two juniors named Tyler met up in the fifth place match with Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Tyler Starr (26-12) getting the better of Lincoln-Way West’s Tyler Mansker (16-20) by an 8-1 score. Starr bounced back from a 4-3 quarterfinal loss to Byal with a pin and a win by technical fall while Mansker responded to a quarterfinal loss to Abeja with two falls.

152 – Logan Swaw, Lockport

After turning in a fourth-place showing at the Dvorak, people started to take notice of Logan Swaw and now following a good finals win at 152 over a quality opponent in the Lahey Tournament, the Lockport junior looks to build on his first tournament championship.

Swaw, who’s ranked eighth at 145, improved to 25-5 after claiming a 7-0 victory on the 152 title mat over Lincoln-Way East senior Jack Marion (30-3), who’s ranked fifth at 152 with title wins at Niles West and Wheaton Warrenville South to go with a second at the Illini Classic. Swaw earned his spot in the finals with a fall in the quarterfinals and a 7-0 victory in the semifinals over Stagg sophomore Luke Barham.

“I’ve got some of the best training partners in the state and we’re working hard every day,” Swaw said. “Keegan (Roberson) is the weight below me and I’m with him every day. Our coaches told us that we needed to pick it up and we responded and won this tournament by a lot. We have goals, we want to win the state duals and we have to achieve those. So we’re going to turn it up this week and see where we’re at at the end of the year.”

Marion, whose only previous losses were to Shepard’s Damari Reed (No. 1 at 152) and H-F’s Jaydon Robinson (No. 4 at 145) advanced to his fourth-straight tournament finals after getting a first-minute fall in the quarterfinals and then claiming a 12-2 major decision in the semifinals over Lincoln-Way West senior Cameron Knepper. The two individuals who fell in the semifinals scored decisive wins in their next matches to earn a spot on the third-place mat, where Knepper (28-13) claimed a 5-0 victory over Barham (15-12).

In the fifth-place match, a pair of sophomores met up with Lincoln-Way Central’s Tim Key (23-16) recording a fall in 4:38 over Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Zach Anderson (17-17). After Key fell 5-2 to Barham in the quarterfinals, he got a win by sudden victory and a fall while Anderson advanced with two falls before the pair fell to the third-place competitors.

160 – Dominic Adamo, Lincoln-Way East

By most standards, Dominic Adamo has been having a successful season, advancing to two tournament finals before taking fourth place in a tough bracket the previous week at the Illini Classic.

But everything finally came together for the Lincoln-Way East senior when he improved on second-place finishes at Niles West and Wheaton Warrenville South by winning his first-ever title, finishing first at 160 at the Lahey Tournament after capturing a 6-0 win over Lockport senior Paul Kadlec. Adamo (17-6) followed a fall and 5-0 decision with a win by technical fall in the semifinals over Stagg’s Ibrahim Hamideh. This is also the third-straight time that Adamo has placed in the event, taking third in 2019 and second in 2020.

“This should be like regionals so I’m expecting to see all of these guys again,” Adamo said. “This is my first title of the year and I had a couple of close calls. Actually, this is the first title of my high school career, since I’ve always come in second or third. This was really unexpected that all of the freshmen would be stepping up big this year. All of our heavier weights were lighter when I was younger and now we’re all there. Being a younger guy and then growing up and then seeing the younger guys come in, it’s awesome.”

Kadlec (26-13, tenth at 160), who was sixth at the IWCOA meet and took fourth at the Dvorak, reached the finals of a tournament for the first time this season after recording falls in both the quarterfinals and semifinals, getting a pin in 3:05 over Carl Sandburg junior John Thompson to advance to the 160 title mat.

Bolingbrook junior Chris Lozano (13-11), who lost by fall in the quarterfinals to Kadlec, recorded three-straight falls before winning 7-1 in the third place match over Lincoln-Way West freshman Chris Yirsa (10-7), who was pinned by Hamideh in the quarterfinals but bounced back with two falls and a decision. Yirsa was seeded 13th but improved nine spots to finish fourth. In the fifth-place match that featured the two individuals who lost in the semifinals, Thompson (3-2) won 10-8 by sudden victory over Hamideh.

170 – Brayden Thompson, Lockport

It’s safe to say that Brayden Thompson wasn’t wasting any time on the mat as he used three falls and a win by technical to capture the Lahey Tournament title at 170, which was his fifth championship of the season.

Thompson, who’s top-ranked ranked at 170 and improved to 35-0, defeated Bradley-Bourbonnais sophomore AJ Mancilla in the finals by technical fall to add to championships that he’s won at the Gable Donnybrook, the Dvorak, the Powerade and the Cheesehead. The junior, who’s competing in his first season for Lockport after placing third in the IHSA while at Montini Catholic in 2020, earned his fifth trip to the finals when he recorded a fall in 1:28 over Lincoln-Way East junior Ari Zaeske in the semifinals.

“I’m on the hunt for that first state title, that’s the goal right now,” Thompson said. “It’s not only about just pushing myself but it’s also about pushing everyone else on this team and picking them up when they’re down, maybe after a loss. It’s great here, they’re very welcoming. I’ve gotten to know them very well and they’re almost like brothers to me now. So anything that I can give them advice on, they really take it in and they listen to me. It’s just about getting better and having fun.”

Mancilla (30-4), ranked ninth in 3A, entered with good credentials after finishing third or better in all three of his tournaments and advanced to his third finals this season. After winning a 6-4 decision over Lincoln-Way West freshman Nate Elsner in the quarterfinals, he earned a spot opposite of Thompson on the title mat following an 8-1 semifinals victory over Homewood-Flossmoor senior Romeo Williams.

After the losers in the semifinals both recorded falls in the consolation bracket, they advanced to the third-place mat where Zaeske (24-6) recorded a fall in 2:37 over Williams (21-6). It was the third third-place finish for Zaeske this season. In the fifth-place match, Elsner (10-6) captured a 7-3 decision over Andrew junior Mike Barberi (18-9), who was seeded 15th but improved nine spots to finish sixth.

182 – Dominic Thebeau, Belleville East

While Dominic Thebeau realized that he faced a big challenge in the the 182 title match at the Lahey Tournament, the junior demonstrated why he’s won titles in all four of his tournaments and been beaten just once this season, a one-point decision in his initial match.

The Belleville East junior beat Crystal Lake South senior Shane Moran 5-3 in the finals in a clash of the second-ranked individuals in Class 3A and 2A. Thebeau (30-1) added to title wins at Mascoutah, Granite City and Geneseo while Moran (24-4), who was fourth at the IWCOA and sixth at the IHSA in 2020, had his best tournament showing of the season. Thebeau followed a fall with a win by technical fall in the semifinals over Lincoln-Way East senior Gavin Jones, who suffered his first loss of the season.

“I just stuck to the game plan because I knew that I had the ability to win,” Thebeau said. “So it was really just about following through on what my coach teaches me and stuff like that. I knew that if I had good cardio that no one would be able to stop me from taking them down and no one in the state can ride me so I feel pretty confident in my abilities. At the end of the day, this is an individual sport so if you want to be great, you have to put it on yourself. I feel like a champion right now so as long as I stick to my game plan, I should be fine. My eyes are on a state championship and it doesn’t matter how I get there, as long as I do my best, and I know that I will.”

Moran followed up on two falls with a 7-1 semifinals victory over Homewood-Flossmoor senior Haku Watson-Castro. The semifinals losers advanced to the third-place mat with Jones (28-1, sixth at 182) winning by major decision and Watson-Castro (23-8) by sudden victory and then Jones, who took first at Niles West and the Illini Classic, won a 7-6 decision to finish third.

The competitors who faced off for fifth place actually met one another in the opening round. Carl Sandburg junior Max Pitura (18-13) pinned Stagg senior Mark Jones (15-11) in 3:09 in the opening round of the competition. But after Mark Jones lost to Gavin Jones and Pitura was edged in sudden victory by Watson-Castro, the two met again for fifth with Pitura again winning by fall, this time in 2:35.

195 – Connor Lindaur, Lincoln-Way East

After placing third at Niles West early in the season and then fifth just one week earlier at the Illini Classic, Connor Lindaur was hopeful that he could not only earn his first finals appearance of the season but also end up with a title at 195 at the Lahey Tournament.

And that’s just what the Lincoln-Way East senior accomplished when he claimed a 4-2 triumph over Lincoln-Way West junior Anthony Sherman in the championship match. Lindaur, who improved to 27-4, joined classmate Dominic Adamo as one of the Griffins’ two champions as he earned his spot on the title mat with a pair of falls, including one in the semifinals in 3:05 over Homewood-Flossmoor senior Rahmal Graham.

“Honestly, this makes me feel great,” Lindaur said. “I had three matches and three wins and the last one did kind of make me realize that I need to put in a little more work. I’ve wrestled that kid a few times and he came closer to beating me. We were able to beat Lockport and that felt incredible and there was a lot of celebration. Having a really strong team motivates each of us to do better. We want to match with them and we don’t want to disappoint our team. I like how our season is looking and how our regionals are looking, so I’m excited.”

Sherman (24-14), whose best previous tournament showing was a sixth-place effort at Hinsdale Central, won his first two matches by fall and then claimed an 8-2 decision in the semifinals over Andrew senior Jack Cronin. Lincoln-Way Central senior Nathan Jarres (21-15) got pinned in the quarterfinals by Graham (19-12) but after recording a pair of falls in the consolation bracket, Jarres met up with Graham again, this time for third place, and Jarres recorded another fall, in 3:40 to finish third.

In the fifth-place match, Cronin (18-7) and Crystal Lake South’s KC Brichta Bachar (11-11) met for the second time. In the quarterfinals, Cronin claimed an 8-0 major decision but in the pair’s next meeting for fifth, Cronin prevailed again, but this time only by a 4-3 score.

220 – Andrew Blackburn-Forst, Lockport

After being one of the top players on a state championship football team in the fall, Andrew Blackburn-Forst wouldn’t mind seeing a similar scenario play out in the current season with the bonus being that he could receive a different type of honor for once again being one of the best at his sport in Illinois.

The Lockport senior had accomplished a lot thus far with a second at the Dvorak, fifth at the Powerade and third at the Cheesehead and a No. 1 ranking in 3A after going unbeaten against Illinois competitors. He reached the top of the awards stand for the first time this season at the Lahey Tournament, a feat that he’d like to repeat in upcoming weeks. The IWCOA champion and fifth-place finisher in the IHSA in 2020 improved to 26-5 after recording two falls and getting a win by technical fall in 5:36 over Homewood-Flossmoor senior Justin Thomas in the 220 finals. It was the third time that Blackburn-Forst placed in the tournament and was his second title, with the other in 2020.

“I think we improved a lot since Thursday when we had a few guys out, but those things happen,” Blackburn-Forst said. “From last year to now, East has made a lot of progress with a lot of the freshmen and sophomores coming in and H-F is much-improved from other years. I feel like as we get deeper into the season and going into regionals now, that everyone is starting to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. We’re making our technique perfect and getting stronger every day and the extra week of practice is going to make us better.”

Thomas (26-7), ranked fifth in 3A with two titles and three finals to his credit, won two matches by fall and claimed a 7-3 semifinals victory over Lincoln-Way Central senior Braeden Barrett (34-6), who had reached two tournament finals. The third-place match featured the losers of the two semifinals as Lincoln-Way West senior Michael Sneed (25-8), who fell in 0:46 to Blackburn-Forst, responded with two decisions, including a 4-2 victory over Barrett to claim third place, which was his best tournament finish of the season.

Glenwood junior Jaidyn Lee (23-8) was pinned by Sneed in the quarterfinals and Carl Sandburg senior Yazan Arafeh (19-15) lost by fall to Barrett in the same round but the pair responded with falls in their first consolation match before Barrett and Sneed sent them to the fifth-place match, where Lee recorded a fall in 2:42 to finish fifth.

285 – Kevin Zimmer, Carl Sandburg

Not many individuals get the opportunity to win a tournament three times, and even fewer pull off that feat when they only get three opportunities to win championships, but that’s just what Kevin Zimmer accomplished on Saturday at the Lahey Tournament.

The Carl Sandburg senior, a 2020 IHSA runner-up who is ranked third in 3A, followed up on a tournament title at the Illini Classic with a second championship a week later and improved to 10-0 since returning from injury after recording a fall in his first match, following that with a 13-3 major decision over Lincoln-Way East senior Alex Knaperek in the semifinals and then recording a fall in 1:46 over Glenwood junior Alex Hamrick in the 285 title match to capture his third Lahey Tournament championship.

“I’m excited for what the future holds,” Zimmer said. “I’m stoked for it, especially with state coming up. That’s the main goal, it’s not this bracket board, it’s the big one when you get to stand on the podium down at Champaign. That’s the goal at the end of the tunnel.”

Hamrick (40-2), who took third in the IWCOA and is ranked second in 2A with titles at Glenwood and Mahomet-Seymour and just one other loss early in the season to Glenbard North’s No. 2 Paulie Robertson at Conant, earned his third trip to a tournament finals with a fall and a 6-3 semifinals victory over Lincoln-Way West senior Jake Ziemniarski. The two individuals who lost in the semifinals bounced back with consolation wins and Ziemniarski (26-11, eighth in 3A) won a 3-2 decision over Knaperek (21-7) to place third.

Crystal Lake South sophomore Andy Burburija (24-8, seventh in 2A) fell 6-0 to Knaperek in the quarterfinals and Lockport junior Cody Silzer (13-12) lost 3-2 on a tiebreaker to Ziemniarski in the same round. After both recorded pins, they fell in the next round and met for fifth with Burburija prevailing 4-2 by sudden victory to claim his best finish.

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

By Gary Larsen
For the IWCOA

There will be no IHSA team dual team state finals for girls this year but if there were, you can bet Oak Park and River Forest would be one of Illinois’ favorites to make a run at a team state title.

The host Huskies won their second big-tournament title in as many weeks after out-pointing second-place Andrew 182-118 in Saturday’s 26-team OPRF Girls Invitational Tournament.

Oak Park won a 26-team tournament at Hoffman Estates one week earlier, 187-183 over second-place Schaumburg.

“I’m pretty pleased with how things are progressing this season,” Huskies coach Fred Arkin said. “It’s been a good couple of weeks.”

 Three OPRF wrestlers scaled the highest step on the awards stand Saturday, in Bentley Hills (100), Tiffany White (190), and Sarah Epshtein (235). White also won an individual title at Hoffman Estates.

Arkin’s Huskies also got seconds from Camila Neuman (110), Maria Diaz (120), Keydy Peralta (145) and Tamera Erving (235), with Erving placing as a non-scoring wrestler for Oak Park, which also got fourths from Ana Banuelos (105), Bella Tyma (135) and Megan Barajas (155).

Arkin is happy with his girls’ on-mat accomplishments thus far but he’s even happier about what they’ve shown him during trying times.

“I’m so proud of the way these girls have hung together through some incredible circumstances,” he said. “We were on our way to the IWCOA state tournament in March of 2020 when COVID hit and the tournament was shut down. Since that time, these girls have stuck together, worked hard and done workouts on zoom from basements and bedrooms and back porches.

“We’ve been in parks, parking lots — you name it, we’ve done whatever we could to keep them together as a team and they’ve all been there and participated. They’ve worked hard, haven’t complained and it’s been heartening to see it, for them to come together under circumstances that have really been onerous.”

Of the 26 teams present, six had a double-digit number of wrestlers entered in the tournament and all of those teams predictably finished among the top eight. Oak Park entered 13 wrestlers and Andrew entered 11 into the tournament.

Morton’s 11 wrestlers finished third (110 points), Homewood-Flossmoor’s 12 wrestlers place fourth (96), and Glenbard West (80) placed fifth with 10 wrestlers.

Larkin placed sixth with four wrestlers entered, Lane Tech placed seventh with four wrestlers, and Wilmington’s four wrestlers brought home an eight-place finish.

Yorkville only entered two wrestlers in the tournament and both won titles, in Yami Aguirre (115) and Natasha Markoutsis (130).

Andrew’s second-place finish came thanks to a title win from Kate Cygan (125), a third from Janae Vargas (140), fourths from Charlianne Johnson (120) and Alyssa Keane (130), fifths from Sophia Figueroa (110) and Lana Shualbi (135), and sixths from Ava McGuire (145) and Emma Akpan (170).

2022 OPRF Invitational champions stories:

100 – Bentley Hills, Oak Park and River Forest
Only two wrestlers were entered into the bracket at 100, in Morton’s Ariana Diaz and OPRF’s Bentley Hills, so the two squared off in a best-of-three-match showdown for the title.

Hills posted a pair of falls against Diaz to improve to 12-3 on the season. 

Hills placed third at the 26-team Hoffman Estates Invitational one week prior with a pin in her third-place match over Gracie Pattison of Bismarck-Henning.

“Bentley has been awesome,” OPRF coach Fred Arkin said. “She started out as a manager for the boys team her freshman year and we convinced her to try wrestling her sophomore year.

“She’s been working hard, developing strength, and she has really good agility and quickness. She can get physical, she’s not afraid of anybody, she has a good leg attack and she can be a hammer on top.”
Hills won both matches against Diaz (9-7) by fall to take the best-of-three pairing.

105 – Gabriella Gomez, Glenbard North
A pair of top freshmen met on the title mat at 105 and when it was over, Glenbard North’s Gabriella Gomez (2-0) had earned a 17-10 decision over Burlington Central’s Victoria Macias (15-2).

Gomez was the Panthers’ lone entrant in the tournament and is currently ranked No. 9 in the country at 100 pounds by USA Wrestling. 

Gomez pinned Hubbard’s Diana Cervantes (2-1) in their semifinal match while Macias won by tech fall in her semifinal against Oak Park’s Ana Banuelos (4-7).

110 – Ariana Flores, Evanston

Evanston junior Ariana Flores was a dancer a few years ago, when she was introduced to wrestling and needed to make a choice. For her, the choice was easy.

“I gave up dancing,” Flores said. “I did not enjoy it whatsoever.”

That decision set Flores on a path that most recently resulted in her beating a previously unbeaten wrestler and winning a tournament title. Flores (9-3) had a takedown and a reversal before posting a third-period pin of OPRF’s Camila Neuman (16-1) in the finals at 110.

Flores didn’t know Neuman was unbeaten, or that she had won a tournament title at Hoffman Estates one week earlier.

“Going into matches I try not to focus on the other person, and just wrestle to the best of my ability,” Flores said. “I was kind of following through with everything I’ve been practicing and stick to my basics and what I can do.”

Flores posted three pins on the day in winning her title, while Neuman had a pin and a major decision to reach the finals. Joliet Catholic’s Grace Laird placed third with a fall against Maine East’s Amy Villegas.

Flores has gone from a shy freshman to a junior captain for Evanston’s girls program and coach Rudy Salinas.

“She has put in a lot of hard work and she’s a good ambassador for us, as a captain,” Salinas said. “It was a good breakthrough weekend for her in terms of getting some recognition but we’ve also reminded her that the goal this year was not to win the Oak Park tournament. She has loftier goals and she’s keeping her eyes on the prize.”

That prize is obviously a place on the awards stand at this year’s inaugural IHSA girls state tournament in February. And after topping a wrestler in Neuman, who placed fifth at 101 at last year’s IWCOA state finals, Flores is on track.

“My mindset has changed this year. It’s become much more of a positive mindset,” Flores said. “And last year I wasn’t always the person to take the first shot but this year my mindset is to be the shooter, get the first move, get the first takedown. I’ve been improving but I want to improve a lot more with that.

“(Salinas) always says wrestling helps build and show character and I think that’s something I’ve seen in myself. My confidence has grown as a wrestler and I can see myself become a better and more well-rounded person. It’s a hard sport but it does push you to be better and have a better mindset.”

115 – Yami Aguirre, Yorkville
A stacked weight class at 115 featured four semifinalists with a cumulative season record of 62-12.The lone wrestler left standing atop the awards stand was Yorkville sophomore Yami Aguirre (14-2).

Aguirre opened with a win by fall over OPRF’s Andrea Munoz (12-7) in their quarterfinal match, then won 3-1 in overtime against previously unbeaten Hannah Suboni-Kaufman (18-1) of Maine East in a semifinal match.

“I didn’t know she was undefeated because I try not to look at my bracket so I don’t get intimidated,” Aguirre said. “My coach just told me I’d be wrestling a tough girl but I had no clue she was undefeated. I don’t think I’ve ever beaten someone who was undefeated this year. She was tough and it was a really good match.”

Aguirre and Suboni-Kaufman were tied 1-1 after three periods.

“I was trying to go for shots the whole match but she kept getting me in a headlock so I couldn’t finish my shots,” Aguirre said. “Neither one of us could finish our shots.”

Aguirre escaped twice to get the 3-1 overtime win, advancing to the finals against Morton’s Neida Arreola (10-7). Arreola opened with a pair of pins before reaching the finals with a 4-2 semifinal win over Lane Tech’s second-seeded Sharon Moreno (19-6).

Aguirre said she felt more in control of her finals match, where she topped Arreola by 7-0 decision. Suboni-Kaufman bounced back to take third, pinning Moreno in the second period.

The sophomore Aguirre didn’t wrestle last year due to COVID and although she’s in her first full year of high school wrestling, she’s been in the sport for eight years.

“I’d go and support my brothers at practice,” Aguirre said. “One day I just got tired of sitting there and decided to get on the mat. I liked being able to beat up on boys and not get in trouble for it.”

Aguirre’s only two losses this year came to Ashlyn Strenz of Sandwich and Lincoln-Way Central’s Gracie Guarino, and those losses taught her arguably the sport’s most important lesson.

“I need to be more confident. I tend to get a bit intimidated and that can’t happen,” Aguirre said. “I need to worry about myself and not be worried about anyone else, or overthinking it. I’m looking forward to wrestling those girls again.”

Coach Kevin Roth agrees with Aguirre’s perspective moving forward.

“When she’s confident, she’s pretty unstoppable,” Roth said. “She wrestled really well. She knows her stuff and she looked pretty dominant all day. She has a good shot, she’s not afraid to shoot, and she’s aggressive.”

120 – Leilany De Leon-Martinez, Morton
When Morton junior Leilany De Leon-Martinez develops the consistent ability to truly open up in a match, she’s going to be a handful for opponents who line up against her.

Heck, she’s already a handful.

“She’s a very talented young lady,” Morton coach Joe Helton said.

De Leon-Martinez won an OPRF title at 120 pounds when she posted an 11-0 decision against a tough wrestler in OPRF’s top-seeded Maria Diaz (14-5). De Leon-Martinez improved to 12-2 on the year in winning her first tournament title. She also placed second in a tournament at Maine East this season.

The thing is, De Leon-Martinez is not quite as comfortable taking shots as she’d like to be. She did manage to find a comfort zone offensively earlier this year, but that was when the friendly junior discovered that if she talked to her opponents or the referee during a match — just your basic chit-chat — only then was she able to relax enough to engage her own offense.

“The only time I felt comfortable was talking before shooting,” De Leon-Martinez laughed. “But I got in trouble for doing that.”

Discouraged from talking during her matches, De Leon-Martinez had to instead rely on being a more defensive, counter wrestler. During her title match against Diaz, she twice scored off Diaz’s shots and turned her each time in building a lead.

“I saw Maria wrestle on her Instagram and she’s really good,” De Leon-Martinez said. “I didn’t feel comfortable shooting so it was mostly sprawling. She shot, I got (behind her), and then I got back points.”

De Leon-Martinez opened the tournament with a decision win, then a pin in her semifinal match against Andrew’s Charlianne Johnson. Diaz posted two pins to reach the finals, including a semifinal pin against Morton’s Ximena Juarez (13-5). Juarez then pinned Johnson on the third-place mat.

And it was one of the friendliest wrestlers in the gym who took home the top prize.

“She’s just a selfless person and cares about each of her teammates,” Helton said. “She has the ability to go out carefree and wrestle to the best of her ability. She did very well against her opponents and she continues to surprise people with her abilities each week.”

125 – Kate Cygan, Andrew

Four pins and a tournament title.

That’s what Andrew junior Katherine Cygan earned Saturday but simplifying her day down to such simple math doesn’t do justice to what the Thunderbolts’ 125-pounder did in Oak Park: none of her four opponents even survived to the second period against her.

Cygan is proof of something that’s always been true in wrestling — that the most important part of any wrestler is the six inches of space between their ears, where either confidence or nervousness dictates everything.
“When I’m nervous I’m too hesitant and I’m second-guessing myself,” Cygan said. “When I’m more confident, I just go for it. I think about what I need to do and I just do it.” 

Andrew coach Demeri Pajic has watched Cygan’s growth firsthand.
“I’ve seen a full 180 of her confidence this year,” Pajic said. “In her second match she got taken down and I didn’t see any fear in her. She got a reversal and a pin, right away. She looked confident and just went out there tough, and mean, like nobody was going to stop her. Something clicked for her.”

Cygan’s pins came at the :40, :37, 1:42, and 1:50 marks of her four matches, capped by her pin of Lane Tech’s Uyen Le on the title mat. Ask Cygan about her day and it turns out she was just looking for redemption.

“I was a little nervous because Thursday we had a meet and I didn’t do very well. I was worried about having the same outcome,” Cygan said. “But it turned out the opposite.”

Cygan wasn’t able to wrestle last year due to injury and she’s looking forward to participating inthe inaugural IHSA girls state tournament in February.

“I was really excited to come into this year,” Cygan said. “I am so excited. I can’t wait.”

“I started wrestling because I wanted to get tough. People might see me and think ‘she’s so nice’ but I have a tough side and I wanted to show that with wrestling. So it’s been a good outlet.”

130 – Natasha Markoutsis, Yorkville
Returning high school wrestlers who placed second at the state finals the previous year have a unique perspective, having come so close to winning the state’s top prize before falling just short.

Yorkville senior Natasha Markoutsis was an IWCOA state runner-up at 132 last year, and she has taken that unique perspective to toss a shovelful of coal into the blast furnace of her motivation.

“For sure I used that as motivation,” she said. “I just want to keep getting better and I want to be number one so bad. Taking second last year was an awakening for me that I’m not the best yet and I have things that I have to work out. There are people out there who work harder than me but if I keep working harder to be the best I can be, I can live with whatever happens.”

Markoutsis (16-0) won the Oak Park title at 130 with a second-period fall in the finals against Morton’s Karla Topete (14-3), but in a tough bracket she had to first win her semifinal match over Coal City’s Carly Ford (9-2), who placed third in state at 132 last year.

Markoutsis won by fall in the third period against Ford. Yorkville only brought two wrestlers to the tournament and with her fall against Topete, Markoutsis joined teammate Yami Aguirre (115) as an Oak Park champion.

“She knows her stuff and she just goes to work,” coach Kevin Roth said of Markoutsis. “She’s fun to watch and she’s a student of the sport. Where guys can get by on their strength, girls don’t always have that so they have to be good technicians. And I love Natasha’s wrestling on the mat. When she gets you down on the mat, she’s going to ride you out.”

Markoutsis is currently ranked No. 10 nationally at 132 by USA Wrestling. But even a nationally-ranked wrestler can have a scare, and Markoutsis got a wakeup call in her title match against Topete.

“I almost got put on my back,” Markoutsis said. “(Topete) had a lot of arm strength, there was a lot of scrambling, and she knew her offense and defense. She was a really good opponent and I’m glad I got to wrestle her.”

135 – Al Ghala Mariam Al-Radi, Niles West
Odds are, no one has taken the path into Illinois high school wrestling that Niles West junior Al Ghala Mariam Al-Radi has traveled.
Born in Syria, Al-Radi and her family moved to Jordan before arriving in the U.S. when she was in sixth grade, as the oldest of six children. She began wrestling her freshman year for coach Anthony Genovesi and she hit the ground running.

“We took her down to the IWCOA tournament last year and she took fourth,” Genovesi said. “This year she only has one loss. She’s a strong kid and now she’s learning how to actually wrestle. She’s more focused, trying to improve her technique, and she’s working harder. It’s been really nice to see. She’s getting better and she’s a tough kid.”

Al-Radi (11-1) took the crown at 135 with a tech fall win over Morton’s Faith Comas (11-3). Top-seeded Al-Radi posted two wins by fall to reach the finals. The formerly raw freshman is striving for seasoning in her junior year.

“Freshman year I really only knew a couple moves. Now I’m focusing more on the techniques and moves, using my coaches feedback more often and I am listening way better on the mat,” Al-Radi said. “I didn’t like taking fourth place at the state tournament last year so I am very excited to be a part of the tournament this year.”

Al-Radi has not hesitated to get involved in athletics at Niles West and wrestling fills a unique need.

“I’ve done diving, wrestling, and water polo. I like being a part of a team,” Al-Radi said. “But I like wrestling because I focus more on myself and improving my own skills. It is easier to depend on myself and know that I can win individually.”

Comas reached the finals with a pair of pins, over Evanston’s Carmen Tracey-Amoroso and Lane Tech’s Noemi Marchan, who finished third with a 2-1 decision over OPRF’s Bella Tyma.

140 – Attalia Watson-Castro, Homewood-Flossmoor
After opening the tournament with two byes, it was past noon in Oak Park before Homewood-Flossmoor’s Attalia Watson-Castro wrestled her first match, a semifinal against Niles West’s Aiazah Khan.

“That match had to be a ‘go’ match for me, since I didn’t have as many matches as the other girls,” Watson-Castro said.

‘Go’ she did, winning by fall in the first period to set up her title match at 140 against previously unbeaten Ari Navarro (17-1) of Glenbard West, who had won an individual title one week prior at Hoffman Estates.

Watson-Castro (7-2) made it count, winning by fall over Navarro at the 1:57 mark of their finals match.

“She was stronger and taller so I had to adjust what I was going to do,” Watson-Castro said “The goal was to get a takedown in the first fifteen seconds, get three takedowns, and work my turns.”

The game plan worked for the junior Watson-Castro, who has battled injury this season and whose coach believes the following: “She is poised to dominate the state series if she can stay healthy,” Homewood-Flossmoor coach Scott Aronson said.

Watson-Castro also won an individual title at this year’s 25-team Normal Community Invitational. She didn’t wrestle her freshman year due to COVID and focused on Fargo last year.

This year, she’s ready to make a run at a state title, at the inaugural IHSA state tournament for girls in February.

“This is my ninth year wrestling,” Watson-Castro said. “It’s going to be fun getting a chance to win a state title. The thing I love about wrestling is it teaches you so many life lessons. It isn’t just wrestling.

“It’s hard and it gets harder, but you just have to fight through it. Getting out there and wrestling in front of everyone is the easy part; practicing and being in a hot wrestling room for two to three hours a day — that’s the hard part. Once you get past the hard part, it’s easy.”

Navarro won by fall in her semifinal match against Andrew’s Janae Vargas, and Vargas then pinned Niles West’s Khan for third place.

145 – Dyani Rivera, West Aurora
Cheerleading, softball, wrestling — with so little time to spare outside of those three interests, it’s no wonder West Aurora senior Dyani Rivera was happy to only spend 47 seconds on the title mat at 145 in Oak Park.

“My season never comes to an end. I’m always busy,” Rivera said. “I’ll have to skip nationals in cheerleading to go to the state tournament in wrestling this year. I have a lot of titles in cheer but I want a state title in wrestling.”

After opening Saturday’s tournament with a fall in 56 seconds, Rivera’s biggest test of the day came in her semifinal match against top-seeded Adrianna Demos (12-3) of Warren.

A back-and-forth match against Demos ended with Rivera posting a 4-0 decision win. Rivera scored a takedown on a single-leg shot in the first period and countered a Demos shot in the second period for her 4-0 lead.

Demos chose top in the third period, riding Rivera out but unable to turn her to the final buzzer.

“(Demos) was really good and I was kind of nervous going into that match,” Rivera said. “But I just went into it with the mindset that I needed to work hard and focus on what I need to work on. Then I was able to do what I did.”

Rivera won by fall at the :47 mark of her title match against OPRF’s Keydy Peralta. That win marked Rivera’s second tournament title of the season, having also won a title at Maine East. She also placed second at Normal’s 25-team tournament this year.

Rivera began wrestling at age four at her mother’s urging and quickly fell in love with the sport.

“I loved the feeling when you win, especially when you beat the boys,” Rivera said. “It’s even better when you can make them cry.
“Wrestling has taught me to stay strong and never give up. It’s great that girls are getting more into it and getting recognized.”

Peralta (7-2) reached the finals with a fall and then a 9-3 semifinal decision against Fenton’s Sophia Sosa (10-6). Demos then topped Sosa by 8-4 decision on the third-place mat

155 – Lexi Ritchie, Unity
Unity’s Lexi Ritchie could be the poster child for toughness.

The sophomore is now fully committed to year-round wrestling and plans to wrestle in college. She placed second at 152 pounds at last year’s IWCOA state tournament as a freshman.

Before that, Ritchie played tackle football with the boys’ team. And what she liked about playing linebacker tells you all you need to know about her competitive nature.

“My favorite part was the contact,” Ritchie said. “There was no complicated part about it.”

Unity coach Logan Patton admires the edge that Ritchie brings to the mat.

“She’s physical. She’d rather wrestle boys than girls and she’s still learning,” Patton said. “She wants to grasp so much wrestling so quickly and honestly doesn’t really even know her style yet. But she’s a brute and she’s going to come at you and wrestle hard.”

Ritchie (8-0) entered the OPRF tournament as the top seed at 155 and tore a path to an individual title. She posted a tech fall and three pins, capped by a pin in the finals against Larkin’s Giselle Ayala (12-7).

Ayala won by fall and then won a 4-2 semifinal decision over Fenton’s Yamile Penaloza to reach the finals. Penaloza then won by fall on the third-place mat against Oak Park’s Megan Barajas.

Ritchie has only been taken into the third period of a match once this season, and all of her wins have been by fall and tech fall. As she develops her own style, Ritchie is already more comfortable than she was in certain positions on the mat as a newcomer to the sport last year.

“Now I get to positions where before I might end up on my back, but now I’m coming out on top of those scrambles,” she said.

Ritchie was a Fargo all-American during the off-season and she views that experience as pivotal in her young wrestling career. “Wrestling those people was a good measure of where I am at the national level,” Ritchie said. “Later I was able to beat a lot of those girls. I also wrestle with the boys, and where I have to be careful against boys, that fear isn’t in my mind against girls.”

After placing second downstate last year, nothing but the top of the awards stand at this year’s state tournament will do for Ritchie.

“The opportunity for me to win four state titles has been taken away, so I want to do the next best thing and win three,” she said.

170 – Maria Ferrer, Larkin
2021 IWCOA state champion Maria Ferrer’s rampage through the 170-pound weight class in Illinois continued in Oak Park. The Larkin junior won another individual title as she chases her goal to win her first IHSA state crown.

Ferrer earned three pins and improved to 21-0 with her pin of Downer Grove South’s Gracie Swierczynski. To this point in the season, through 21 matches, no opponent has made it through six minutes of wrestling with her and none of her three opponents in Oak Park made it to the second period with the reigning state champion.

Ferrer is even better this year.

“Last year it was more hip-toss and headlock. This year it’s more shooting, and sweeps, and me getting lower and shooting more. I’m being faster when it comes to shooting,” she said.

Larkin coach Patrick Hillebrand has enjoyed watching his junior’s evolution as a wrestler.

“I’ve had her since she was a freshman. It’s been a lot about her confidence,” Hillebrand said. “She works hard, battles anyone she goes up against, she’s easily coached, and the biggest thing for her was understanding what she’s good at.”

Ferrer suffered the only two losses of her high school career during her freshman year two years ago. She has 21 pins in 21 wins this season. She even bumped up in weight for this season’s Normal tournament to win a title at 190 pounds.

Despite her dominance, Ferrer takes nothing for granted.

“I’m getting to know more people and they’re coming closer to me. It’s more competitive now,” Ferrer said.“I don’t pay attention to who I need to beat. Anything can happen so I just focus on what I have to do. If someone is strong I just have to be stronger.”

Not to be overlooked where Ferrer is concerned is her level of desire to see girls wrestling flourish in Illinois, and her willingness to help foster that growth.

She wants to see Larkin’s girls program grow to a level that teams like Schaumburg, Oak Park, and Morton already enjoy.

“There were full teams at Oak Park and that was so amazing to see,” Ferrer said. “So that’s something I have to work towards for our program. I have to work for that.”

190 – Tiffany White, Oak Park and River Forest
The lone title match in Oak Park between previously unbeaten wrestlers took place at 190, where 2021 IWCOA state champion Noella Vazquez of Fenton took on IWCOA state runner-up Tiffany White of Oak Park. Vazquez won her state title last year at 182 pounds, while White was a state runner-up at 170.

Both wrestlers cruised to the finals before White (16-0) won by fall over Vazquez (13-1) to take the tournament crown.

“It was a really good match and Tiffany looked really aggressive,” OPRF coach Fred Arkin said. “She’s a real physical wrestler, she likes to hand-fight hard, has a good leg attack and she brings it. She’s just a tough, aggressive girl.”

White won the title at 190 one week earlier at Hoffman Estates. Glenbard West’s Ella Rejman (14-5) placed third in Oak Park and Morton’s Diana Rodriguez (7-6) finished fourth.

235 – Sarah Epshtein, Oak Park and River Forest
A week after placing second at Hoffman Estates, Oak Park sophomore Sarah Epshtein (9-1) took the title in Oak Park with a pin in the finals over Huskies teammate Tamera Erving.

Erving (6-6) won 7-0 in her semifinal match against Downers Grove South’s Brianna Fellows (9-4). Epshtein pinned Homewood-Flossmoor’s Jocelyn Williams (9-4) in their semifinal match to reach the finals.

The sophomore Epshtein placed second one week prior at the Hoffman Estates tournament and OPRF coach Fred Arkin has a blue-collar, cerebral wrestler in his practice room at 235.

“Sarah came out during the pandemic and she has been working incredibly hard,” Arkin said. “She’s gaining strength, looks good and moves well, and she’s like a straight-A student. She approaches her wrestling as though it’s a chemistry experiment. She’s very analytical. She knows what she wants to do, she knows how to get there, and she’s a real student of the sport.”

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!

Galesburg wins Orion’s Bob Mitton Invite

Galesburg had three champions and 12 individuals who finished sixth or better to help it capture top honors with 210.5 points at Orion’s Bob Mitton Invite.

Rockridge took second with 167.5 points while Riverdale was third with 154.5 points. Orion (136), Kewanee (131), Macomb (107.5), Mercer County (106.5) and Clinton (98) were next in line in the two-day tournament that featured 17 schools.

Winning titles for coach Greg Leibach’s champion Silver Streaks were Gauge Shipp (29-3 at 120), Rocky Almendarez (25-2 at 126) and Jeremiah Morris (29-3 220) while Santana Castellano (20-6 at 132) was second. Taking third were Angelo Abdallah (106), Alex Baughman (145), Emilio Torres (195) and Tyler Kemp (285) while Dishon Nolen (220) finished fourth and Jashon Parks (182) and Ryne Straker (220) placed fifth.

Galesburg, ranked 24th in Class 2A, turned in its best tournament showing of the season, improving upon its previous-best of a third-place finish at Metamora. The Silver Streaks entered the week 15-2 in dual meets and needed just one more win to tie the school record. The squad hopes to continue its success on Saturday when it competes in the Western Big 6 Conference Tournament, which will be held at one of the state’s legendary sports settings, historic Wharton Field House in Moline. (Thanks to Matthew Wheaton of the Register-Mail for information on Galesburg).

Leading the way for coach Lucas Smith’s runner-up Rockets were champion Reese Finch (30-3 at 145) and second-place finishers Jude Finch (27-7 at 126) and Sam Buser (24-10 at 285). Taking third were Bryan Blumenstein (132) and Connor Shaffer (220) while Rylan Newell (120) and Zayd Evans (160) finished fourth and Cael Kuster (113) and Sawyer Weinert (138) took fifth.

Coach Myron Keppy’s third-place Rams had four champions, Tharren Jacobs (27-7 at 106), Brock Smith (34-0 at 132), Collin Altensey (33-0 at 152) and Alex Watson (34-1 at 160) and two of them won Most Outstanding Wrestler awards with Smith receiving it for the lower weights and Altensey for the upper weights. Placing second were Eli Hinde (26-7 at 145) and Zach Bradley (26-12 at 170).

Also winning titles were Farmington’s Keygan Jennings (113) and Rese Shymansky (182), United Township’s Kayden Marolf (6-2 at 138), Camp Point Central’s Kyus Mitchell (170), Macomb’s Ethan Ladd (31-5 at 195) and University High’s Hunter Otto (25-1 at 285).

Nine of the individuals who won titles were ranked in the top-10 in the state and 10 of the Mitton Invite champions have now won two or more tournament titles this season.

Smith (first in 1A at 132) won his fourth title in four finals trips and received an OWA for the second time while Otto (third in 1A at 285) also won his fourth title in four finals appearances and Jennings (fifth in 1A at 113) won his fourth title in five trips to the finals. Winning their third titles of the season were Altensey (second in 1A at 152), who has been in three finals, as well as Watson (second in 1A at 160) and Morris (HM in 2A at 220) also won his third title of the season.

Winning their second titles of 2021-22 were Shipp (seventh in 2A at 120), Almendarez (sixth in 2A at 126), Finch (fourth in 1A at 145) and Shymansky (HM in 1A at 182). Capturing their first titles of the season were Jacobs (tenth in 1A at 106), Mitchell (HM in 1A at 170), Ladd (HM in 1A at 195) and Marolf (2A at 138).

Others who took second were Sherrard’s Austin Fratzke (138), Dylan Russell (160) and Ryder Roelf (182), Mercer County’s Kale Stirn (106) and Ethan Monson (120), United Township’s Jordan Pauwels-Whitmarsh (14-8 at 113), Illini West’s Lance Belshaw (22-4 at 152), Clinton’s Kaedyn Sloat (195) and University High’s Isaiah Im (21-4 at 220).

The closest title matches included Shymansky winning 8-7 over Roelf at 182, Ladd beating Sloat 4-2 at 195, Reese Finch beating Hinde 5-1 at 145, Altensey winning 6-2 over Belshaw at 152, Mitchell beating Bradley 8-4 at 170 and Otto winning 6-2 over Buser at 285.

Kewanee had four third-place finishers, Nathaniel Hampton (120), Hayden Davis (126), Kadin Rednour (152) and Jaxson Hicks (160). Also taking third were Macomb’s Cohen Green (113) and Max Ryner (182), Mercer County’s Zeke Arnold (138) and Farmington’s Austin Utt (170).

Orion had four individuals who were fourth, Kaleb Sovey (106), Mason Anderson (138), Phillip Dochterman (182) and Seth Gardner (285). Others who finished in fourth place were Clinton’s Teegan West (113) and Cayden Poole (126), Camp Point Central’s Konnor Bush (145) and Conner Griffin (152), Mercer County’s Bodie Salmon (170) and Ian Willits (195) and Kewanee’s Will Taylor (132).

Orion also had four who placed fifth, Luke Moen (120), Cole Perkins (126), Caden Wegerer (132) and Maddix Moninski (170). Others in fifth were Macomb’s Tyler Shannon (145) and Tegan Perry (285), Monmouth-Roseville’s Caleb Dillard (106), Clinton’s Trevor Willis (152), Illini West’s Shawn Watkins (160) and United Township’s Evan Santilli (195).

Orion Bob Mitton Invite championship matches

106 – Tharren Jacobs (Riverdale) over Kale Stirn (Mercer County), TF 18-2

113 – Keygan Jennings (Farmington) over Jordan Pauwels-Whitmarsh (United Township), F 4:00

120 – Gauge Shipp (Galesburg) over Ethan Monson (Mercer County), 8-3

126 – Rocky Almendarez (Galesburg) over Jude Finch (Rockridge), 11-3

132 – Brock Smith (Riverdale) over Santana Castellano (Galesburg), TF 17-2

138 – Kayden Marolf (United Township) over Austin Fratzke (Sherrard), F 4:43

145 – Reese Finch (Rockridge) over Eli Hinde (Riverdale), 5-1

152 – Collin Altensey (Riverdale) over Lance Belshaw (Illini West), 6-2

160 – Alex Watson (Riverdale) over Dylan Russell (Sherrard), 6-0

170 – Kyus Mitchell (Camp Point Central) over Zach Bradley (Riverdale), 8-4

182 – Rese Shymansky (Farmington) over Ryder Roelf (Sherrard), 8-7

195 – Ethan Ladd (Macomb) over Kaedyn Sloat (Clinton), 4-2

220 – Jeremiah Morris (Galesburg) over Isaiah Im (University High), 9-3

285 – Hunter Otto (University High) over Sam Buser (Rockridge), 6-2

Stevenson edges Libertyville to capture Lake County Invitational title

Stevenson claimed Lake County bragging rights after outscoring Libertyville 196-189 to claim top honors in the Lake County Invitational, which was held in Wauconda.

Antioch (133.5), Grant (121), Mundelein (116.5), Lake Zurich (100.5) and Wauconda (98.5) rounded out the top-half of the field in the 14-team competition.

Leading the way for coach Shane Cook’s first-place Patriots were champions Lorenzo Frezza (29-1 at 126), Cole Rhemrev (30-0 at 138), Thomas Schoolman (29-5 at 145) and Jacob Whiting (28-4 at 195). After recording two wins by technical fall and handing Lake Zurich’s Scott Busse his first loss by a 3-1 score in the 138 title match in a clash of unbeaten competitors, Rhemrev received the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler Award.

Also for Stevenson, Carter Rand (152) and Themba Sitshela (160) took third place while Andrew Chamkin (106) and Allan Kantor (120) finished fourth and Yash Jagtap (113), Mesh Premanand (182) and Blake Duvall (285) claimed fifth place. The Patriots, who are ranked 17th in Class 3A, won a title at Leyden’s Randy Conrad Invite and were third at Barrington’s Moore-Prettyman and fourth at Hinsdale Central’s Whitlatch.

Top performers for coach Dale Eggert’s runner-up Wildcats were title winners Caelan Riley (28-3 at 120) and Josh Knudten (28-3 at 182), who both got title wins over undefeated opponents. Second-place finishers were Matt Kubas (13-13 at 160), Austin Gomez (25-9 at 170), Cole Matulenko (25-8 at 195) and Caleb Christensen (19-7 at 285). Taking third were Luke Berktold (126) and Trevor Jean (132) while Anthony McClendon (152) finished fourth and Michael Rocco (145) was fifth. Libertyville, ranked 16th in 3A, also took second place at Barrington and at Prospect’s Mudge-McMorrow Invite.

Other champions were Grayslake Central’s Anthony Alanis (35-4 at 106) and Aaron Cramer (37-1 at 170), Lake Forest’s Seth Digby (25-4 at 132) and Max Terlap (19-2 at 285), Mundelein’s Bryce Durlacher (30-1 at 113), Antioch’s Evan Vazquez (22-3 at 152), Grant’s Justin Warmowski (9-2 at 160) and Wauconda’s Matt Merevick (23-5 at 220).

Also finishing second were Antioch’s Edgar Albino (31-1 at 120), Anthony Streib (27-7 at 132) and Ben Vazquez (26-5 at 145), Lake Zurich’s Luca Poeta (17-2 at 106) and Scott Busse (23-1 at 138), Mundelein’s Benji Albavera (15-2 at 126) and Isaiah Robles (19-8 at 152), Round Lake’s Alejandro Cordova (27-11 at 113), Grayslake Central’s Matthew Jens (37-1 at 182) and Grant’s Cameron Lattimore (21-7 at 220).

Albino, Busse and Jens all suffered their first defeats in title matches. Riley (fourth in 3A at 120) won 9-1 over Albino at 120, Rhemrev (third in 3A at 138) edged Busse 3-1 at 138 and Knudten (fourth in 3A at 182) beat Jens 6-2 at 182. Jens was top-ranked in 2A at 182 and had two titles to his credit while Busse was tenth in 3A at 138 with three title wins and Albino was tenth in 2A at 120 with a pair of title wins. Rhemrev now has three titles in three finals trips while Knudten claimed his second title and Riley collected his first.

Frezza (fifth in 3A at 126) captured his fourth title in four finals appearances while Alanis (third in 2A at 106), Durlacher (eighth in 3A at 113), Schoolman (HM in 3A at 145) and Whiting (ninth in 3A at 195) all won their second titles of the season. Picking up their first tournament titles were Digby (HM in 2A at 132), Evan Vazquez (HM in 2A at 160), Warmowski (sixth in 3A at 160), Terlap (HM in 2A at 285) and Merevick (HM in 2A at 220), who collected his initial title in his fourth finals trip.

Other close title matches involved Durlacher edging Cordova 1-0 at 113, Digby winning 3-0 over Streib at 132, Cramer prevailing 7-4 over Gomez at 170 and Merevick winning 6-4 over Lattimore at 220.

There was a tie for the most team points between Frezza and Terlap with 26 while Riley and Schoolman tied for third with 25, Alanis and Warmowski tied for fifth at 24.5 and Knudten, Merevick, Evan Vazquez and Whiting tied for seventh with 24 points.

Also finishing in third place were Warren’s Nevin Mitrovic (170), Anthony Soto (220) and Reyes Gonzalez (285), Antioch’s Gavin Hanrahan (106) and Caleb Nobiling (138), Grant’s Sean Rogan (120) and Alex Gomez (195), Grayslake Central’s Tyler Weidman (113), Mundelein’s Erick Nova (145) and Round Lake’s Aidan McCain (182).

Lake Zurich had four individuals who placed fourth, Tomas Troutman (145), Nolan Schuetz (160), Nick Costis (170) and Matt Luby (195), Others who took fourth were Wauconda’s Cooper Daun (126), Kaden Hebert (132) and Cole Porten (138), Grant’s Patrick Ketter (113) and Ivan Hernandez (285), Antioch’s Seth Gomez (182) and Mundelein’s Miguel Hernandez (220). Grant’s Ketter had the largest differential between seed and finish with eight after finishing fourth while seeded 12th.

Also placing fifth were Warren’s Jose Ordonez (120), Evan Onstad (138) and Jeremija Hixson (195), Round Lake’s Grayson Kongkaeow (106) and Lewis Daniels (170),

Grant’s Vinny Potempa (126) and Douglas Zimmerman (132), Wauconda’s Nick Cheshier (152), Mundelein’s Ty Murray (160) and Lake Zurich’s Ethan Medina (220).

Lake County Invitational championship matches

106 – Anthony Alanis (Grayslake Central) over Luca Poeta (Lake Zurich), F 3:33

113 – Bryce Durlacher (Mundelein) over Alejandro Cordova (Round Lake), 1-0

120 – Caelan Riley (Libertyville) over Edgar Albino (Antioch), 9-1

126 – Lorenzo Frezza (Stevenson) over Benji Albavera (Mundelein), F 1:44

132 – Seth Digby (Lake Forest) over Anthony Streib (Antioch), 3-0

138 – Cole Rhemrev (Stevenson) over Scott Busse (Lake Zurich), 3-1

145 – Thomas Schoolman (Stevenson) over Ben Vazquez (Antioch), 13-4

152 – Evan Vazquez (Antioch) over Isaiah Robles (Mundelein), F 1:28

160 – Justin Warmowski (Grant) over Matt Kubas (Libertyville), 12-4

170 – Aaron Cramer (Grayslake Central) over Austin Gomez (Libertyville ), 7-4

182 – Josh Knudten (Libertyville) over Matthew Jens (Grayslake Central), 6-2

195 – Jacob Whiting (Stevenson) over Cole Matulenko (Libertyville), 9-3

220 – Matt Merevick (Wauconda) over Cameron Lattimore (Grant), 6-4

285 – Max Terlap (Lake Forest) over Caleb Christensen (Libertyville), F 2:38

LeRoy/Tri-Valley claims title at its Randy Bowman Invitational

LeRoy/Tri-Valley scored 190 points to win the championship of its Randy Bowman Invitational, which was held on Saturday in LeRoy.

Ridgeview/Lexington edged Oakwood/Salt Fork 173-172 to claim second place while Auburn (138), Oregon (125), Illini Bluffs (124.5), Princeton (116), Knoxville (95) and Dwight (81.5) were next in line in the 18-team tournament.

Top performers for coach Brady Sant Amour’s first-place Panthers were champions Ethan Conaty (15-4 at 152) and Tyson Brent (22-0 at 170), second-place finisher Kobe Brent (17-4 at 113) and third-place finishers Brady Mouser (106) and Andrew Moore (220). Colton Prosser (126) and Connor Lyons (132) were fifth while Brock Owens (120) and Tate Sigler (285) took sixth. This was the third title of the season for LeRoy/Tri-Valley, with the others being at Metamora and Urbana, which both featured several Class 2A teams.
“It was a battle back and forth all day between us, Ridgeview and Oakwood,” Sant Amour said. “Our juniors, Ethan Conaty and Tyson Brent, sealed the win with each getting a fall in the finals. Our younger wrestlers fought through some tough matches in the wrestlebacks. It was a great team effort Saturday.”

Leading the way for coach Jeremy Lopshire’s runner-up Mustangs were champions Danny Tay (22-5 at 113) and Gage Kelly (17-9 at 285), while Braydon Campbell (17-4 at 120) and Evan Antonio (28-2 at 220) placed second and Payton Campbell (126) and Connor Feit (182) took third. Anthony Wolinsky (113) and Gray McCue (195) took fifth while Cody Sutter (145), Cal Thomas (170) and Luke Evans (195) were sixth.

And best performances for coach Mike Glosser’s third-place Comets were champion Joe Lashuay (20-5 at 160) and second-place finishers Pedro Rangel (19-3 at 126) and Reef Pacot (27-3 at 132). Finishing fourth were Carter Chambliss (120) and Brysen Vazquez (170) while Bryson Capansky (138) and Grant Brewer (145) placed fifth and Doug Myers (182) and Harley Grimm (220) were sixth.

Other champions were Illini Bluffs’ Hunter Robbins (23-3 at 106) and Paul Ishikawa (26-1 at 138), Shelbyville’s Calvin Miller (27-2 at 120), Princeton’s Matthew Harris (26-3 at 126), Auburn’s Dresden Grimm (31-1 at 132), El Paso-Gridley’s Dax Gentes (35-2 at 145), Westville’s Rylee Edwards (24-1 at 182), Knoxville’s Dilan Vanbeveran (26-7 at 195) and Dwight’s Samuel Edwards (10-0 at 220).
Gentes (seventh in 1A at 145) and Brent (sixth in 1A at 170) both won their fourth titles in four finals appearances while Harris (fifth in 1A at 126) claimed his third title in four trips to the finals. Winning their second titles in 2021-22 were Robbins (fourth in 1A at 106), Miller (tenth in 1A at 120), Grimm (third in 1A at 132), Ishikawa (second in 1A at 132), Conaty (HM in 1A at 152) while Tay (HM in 1A at 113), Lashuay (first in 1A at 160), Vanbeveran (HM in 1A at 195), Edwards (tenth in 1A at 220) and Kelly (285) all won their first titles of the season. Antonio (third in 1A at 220) suffered his second defeat in 30 matches and was denied a fourth title in his fourth finals appearance of the season.

Also claiming second-place finishes were Warrensburg-Latham’s Mason Hawkins (170) and Walker Allen (29-9 at 195), Knoxville’s Hunter Johnson (26-7 at 106), Dwight’s Dillon Sarff (19-4 at 138), Princeton’s Augie Christiansen (27-5 at 145), Eureka’s Derrick Wiles (20-9 at 152), Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Gage Sweckard (29-6 at 160), Auburn’s Skylar Fay (26-7 at 182) and Oregon’s Evan Flaharty (19-6 at 285).

Some close title matches were Miller beating Braydon Campbell 6-3 at 120, Ishikawa edging Sarff 7-5 in overtime at 138, Gentes winning 3-2 over Augie Christiansen at 145.

Additional third-place finishers were Oregon’s Seth Stevens (138), Gabe Eckerd (160) and Andrew Young (195), Auburn’s Gage Lopez (120) and Cole Edie (285), Shelbyville’s Will Fox (145) and Aydan Fisher (170), Dwight’s Dylan Crouch (113), Illini Bluffs’ Ian O’Connor (132) and Westville’s Jacob Pyle (152).

Other fourth-place finishers were Westville’s Logan Mahaffey (113) and Hayden Weaver (132), Knoxville’s Mitchell Parrish (138) and William Stowe (285), Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin Coop’s Landen Toellner (106), Illini Bluffs’ Jackson Carroll (126), Oregon’s Anthony Bauer (145), Auburn’s Brodi Linn (152), Rantoul’s Rashon Allen  (160), Warrensburg-Latham’s Austin Stock (182), Pittsfield’s Noah Alger (195) and Shelbyville’s Andre Townsend (220).

Also finishing fifth were Princeton’s Ace Christiansen (120) and Payne Miller (285), Illini Bluffs’ Wyatt Knowles (106), Auburn’s Malachi Fitch (152), Eureka’s Dillon Wiles (160), Oregon’s Ethan George (170), Pittsfield’s Tucker Cook (182) and Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin coop’s Nathanael Gnaden (220).

Additional sixth-place finishes were turned in by Illini Bluffs’ Carson Overton (113) and Michael Schabatka (152), Princeton’s Kaydin Gibson (106), Warrensburg-Latham’s Alec Murray (126), Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin coop’s Evan Parish (132), El Paso-Gridley’s Waylon Melich (138) and Auburn’s Joey Barrow (160).

LeRoy/Tri-Valley Randy Bowman Invitational championship matches

106 – Hunter Robbins (Illini Bluffs) over Hunter Johnson (Knoxville), TF 4:00
113 – Danny Tay (Ridgeview/Lexington) over Kobe Brent (LeRoy/Tri-Valley), 4-0
120 – Calvin Miller (Shelbyville) over Braydon Campbell (Ridgeview/Lexington), 6-3
126 – Matthew Harris (Princeton) over Pedro Rangel (Oakwood/Salt Fork), 11-2
132 – Dresden Grimm (Auburn) over Reef Pacot (Oakwood/Salt Fork), 6-1
138 – Paul Ishikawa (Illini Bluffs) over Dillon Sarff (Dwight), 7-5 OT
145 – Dax Gentes (El Paso-Gridley) over Augie Christiansen (Princeton), 3-2
152 – Ethan Conaty (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) over Derrick Wiles (Eureka), F 3:00
160 – Joe Lashuay (Oakwood/Salt Fork) over Gage Sweckard (Deer Creek-Mackinaw), F 1:04
170 – Tyson Brent (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) over Mason Hawkins (Warrensburg-Latham), F 1:07
182 – Rylee Edwards (Westville) over Skylar Fay (Auburn), 12-5
195 – Dilan Vanbeveran (Knoxville) over Walker Allen (Warrensburg-Latham), F 0:47
220 – Samuel Edwards (Dwight) over Evan Antonio (Ridgeview/Lexington), F 5:17
285 – Gage Kelly (Ridgeview/Lexington) over Evan Flaharty (Oregon), F 1:22

Phoenix Military Academy wins first Sullivan Slam title

Phoenix Military Academy followed up on a tournament title last weekend at Lisle with another championship on Thursday when it scored 241 points to win the first annual Sullivan Slam, which was held at Sullivan High on Chicago’s north side.

Kenwood took second place with 162 points while Kennedy was third with 141 points. Curie edged Taft 116.5-116 for fourth and Rickover Naval Academy (107) and Lindblom (103) were next-best in the 15-team competition.

Top performers for coach Daniel Curin’s first-place Firebirds were champions Jose Lua (17-3 at 120), Vin Moreno (22-2 at 126), Rafael Soto (22-3 at 145) and Jimmy Lua (21-3 at 152) while Adan Bucio (11-6 at 113), Omar Ramirez (20-4 at 132) and Diego Mendez (17-8 at 138) were second. Liam Debates (106) and Freddie Martinez (160) took fourth and Corey Chalmers (170) and Jiovanni Barrios (192) were fifth. 

Leading the way for coach Carlos Latimer’s runner-up Broncos were champion Adam Achebe (21-2 at 220) and second-place finishers Joshua Butler (23-5 at 160) and Dimitri Walker-Hunt (22-9 at 170). Taking third were Cameron Griffin (120), Colin Claffey (132) and Billy Torian (145) while Monroe Evans (113) and Neimiah Pinder (195) finished fourth and Michica Taylor (126) and Christopher Guiger (152) took fifth.

Kennedy had four champions, Victor Alvarado (14-5 at 106), Phillip Lullo (13-2 at 138), Dorian Vaughns (21-3 at 160) and Raymond Begay (23-1 at 285). Also winning titles at the Slam were Lindblom’s Diego Salgado (15-1 at 113) and Zachary Carter (15-1 at 132), Kelly’s Frankie Cruz (19-3 at 170), Mather’s Jacob Scott (10-3 at 182) and Northridge Prep’s Steven Kopecky (9-4 at 195).

Others who took second place were Curie’s John Johnson (8-5 at 126), Emir Walker (6-3 at 152) and Anthony Garcia (7-3 at 195), Rickover Naval Academy’s Nathaniel Sales (13-4 at 120) and Alejandro Olvera (12-3 at 145), Taft’s Miguel Guevara (106), Sullivan’s Orphee Ngimbous (182), Amundsen’s Kevin Olson (10-2 at 220) and Kelly’s Wyatt Qualls (5-3 at 285).

Some of the closest title matches were Lullo edging Mendez 5-3 at 138 and Vaughns winning 3-0 over Butler at 160. Eight of the champions recorded falls in the finals.

Salgado and Scott led all competitors with 28 team points while Lua and Soto each had 27 and Alvarado, Carter, Cruz, Lua and Moreno all had 26 team points. Carter easily had the most match points with 57, which were 31 more than next-best in that regard.

Others who claimed third place finishes were Amundsen’s Matthew Nguyen (106), Lamar Lane (138) and Michael Wojatch (195), Rickover Naval Academy’s Julian Hernandez (126) and Adonai Zora-Awni (152), Curie’s Percy Taylor (170) and Angel Ascencio (182), Taft’s Marcus Regalado (113), Northridge Prep’s Jon Suter (160), Back of the Yards’ Fernando Gomez (220) and Mather’s Tofarati Fatoki (285).

Also finishing in fourth place were Lindblom’s Ashton Allen (145), Sergio Ramirez (152) and Erick Arroyo (182), Kennedy’s Gino Alberto (126) and Jacob Sosa (170), Kelly’s Roberto Vitela (120), Curie’s Porfirio Govea (132), Northridge Prep’s Adam Cheaib (138), Rickover Naval Academy’s Osmar Mora (220) and Taft’s Lucas Owen (285).

Others who took fifth place were Taft’s Antoni Turek (138), Grant Hansen (195) and Michael Barretto (285), Back of the Yards’ Emily Perez (106) and Alexis Alvarado (120), Mather’s Arlo Johnson (160) and Jonathonan Alvarado (220), Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Kwan Washington (113), Rickover Naval Academy’s Jacob Pizarro (132) and Curie’s Jermal Ray (145).

Sullivan Slam championship matches

106 – Victor Alvarado (Kennedy) over Miguel Guevara (Taft), F 1:06

113 – Diego Salgado (Lindblom) over Adan Bucio (Phoenix Military Academy), Inj. Def.

120 – Jose Lua (Phoenix Military Academy) over Nathaniel Sales (Rickover Naval Academy), F 1:25

126 – Vin Moreno (Phoenix Military Academy) over John Johnson (Curie), F 0:54

132 – Zachary Carter (Lindblom) over Omar Ramirez (Phoenix Military Academy), 19-7

138 – Phillip Lullo (Kennedy) over Diego Mendez (Phoenix Military Academy), 5-3

145 – Rafael Soto (Phoenix Military Academy) over Alejandro Olvera (Rickover Naval Academy), F 1:02

152 – Jimmy Lua (Phoenix Military Academy) over Emir Walker (Curie), F 1:52

160 – Dorian Vaughns (Kennedy) over Joshua Butler (Kenwood), 3-0

170 – Frankie Cruz (Kelly) over Dimitri Walker-Hunt (Kenwood), F 1:28

182 – Jacob Scott (Mather) over Orphee Ngimbous (Sullivan), F 1:08

195 – Steven Kopecky (Northridge Prep) over Anthony Garcia (Curie), F 0:48

220 – Adam Achebe (Kenwood) over Kevin Olson (Amundsen), 6-0

285 – Raymond Begay (Kennedy) over Wyatt Qualls (Kelly), 10-3

Wisconsin’s Arrowhead edges Huntley at OPRF Invitational

Arrowhead, Wisconsin had four individual champions to help it outscore Huntley 181-172.5 to claim top honors in the Oak Park and River Forest Invitational on Saturday in Oak Park. Crystal Lake Central edged Unity 160-156.5 for third-place in the seven-team tournament.

Leading the way for B.J. Bertelsman’s runner-up Red Raiders were champion Ryder Hunkins (27-5 at 182) and second-place finishers Aiden Lira (19-18 at 113), Sam Henkle (23-4 at 132) and Tyler Cerny (26-15 at 220). Taking third place for Huntley, which is ranked 18th in Class 3A, were Zack Hornickel (106), Jake Jensen (126), Zack Rogala (138) and Markos Mihalopoulos (285) while Ben Wiley (195) was fourth.

Unity, ranked fourth in Class 1A, had four champions, Tavius Hosley (35-1 at 145), Nick Nosler (33-2 at 195), Oran Varela (26-2 at 220) and Karson Richardson (30-10 at 285). Crystal Lake Central, which is ranked tenth in 2A had two champions, Payton Ramsey (18-10 at 106) and Dillon Carlson (34-4 at 160) and Dakota, which is ranked eighth in 1A, also had two champions, Phoenix Blakely (24-3 at 126) and Maddux Blakely (26-1 at 138). And the host Huskies received a championship from Jalen Dunson (14-1 at 120).

Other second-place finishers from Illinois were Dakota’s Tyler Simmer (21-6 at 145), Adrian Arellona (14-11 at 160) and Noah Wenzel (23-3 at 195), Oak Park and River Forest’s Ruben Acevedo (106) and Joe Knackstedt (7-3 at 120), Lyons Township’s Gunnar Garelli (26-9 at 126) and Cooper Schodrof (17-3 at 170), Crystal Lake Central’s Connor Lezama (24-15 at 152) and Leo Diaz (30-10 at 285) and Unity’s Grant Albaugh (19-2 at 182).

There was only one close title match, which was at 195 where Nosler (fourth in 1A) edged Wenzel (second in 1A) 1-0 in a clash of two of the best in Class 1A. Ten of the title matches were decided by fall, one was a major decision and another was a medical forfeit with only one other decision. There was one title matchup which featured a pair of Huskies with Dunson beating Knackstedt 14-3 at 120.

Four ranked individuals from Class 1A schools won their second tournament titles of the season. They are Phoenix Blakely (first in 1A at 126), Maddux Blakely (first in 1A at 138), Hosley (second in 1A at 145) and Nosler (fourth in 1A at 195). Others who are ranked who won their initial tournaments of 2021-22 are Dunson (ninth in 3A at 120), Carlson (fourth in 2A at 152), Hunkins (ninth in 3A at 182), Varela (fourth in 1A at 220) and Richardson (HM in 1A at 285).

In another top showdown of Class 1A competitors at 145, Hosley, who’s ranked second, pinned Simmer, who’s ranked fifth. And in a matchup of top-10 Illinois individuals in different classes at 182, Hunkins (ninth in 3A) pinned Albaugh (seventh in 1A). 

There was a six-way tie for the top team points scored with 26 with Maddux Blakely, Hunkins, Ramsey and Varela joining Arrowhead’s Wyatt Duchateau (32-0 at 132) and Mitchell Mesenbrink (26-0 at 152) in that company. Phoenix Blakely and Hosley each scored 25.5 points. 

Also claiming third place finishes were Lyons Township’s Patrick Jesse (113), Ben Zeman (145), Willy Takash (160) and Ricky Cavaliere (220), Dakota’s TJ Silva (132) and Case Rockey (152), Unity’s Kyus Root (170) and Crystal Lake Central’s Joe Barrick (195).

Crystal Lake Central had five fourth-place finishers, Aiden Frankowski (113), Tommy Hammond (132), Cayden Parks (145), Ben Butler (170) and Aiden Lowell (220) while Oak Park and River Forest had four who placed fourth, Tej Menon (106), Reid Butterly (138), Benny Bellmar (160) and Allyn Johnson (285). Unity’s Kaden Inman (120) and Braxton Manuel (152) and Lyons Township’s Kellan Knop (182) were others from Illinois schools who finished fourth.

Oak Park and River Forest Invitational championship matches:

106 – Payton Ramsey (Crystal Lake Central) over Ruben Acevedo (Oak Park and River Forest), F 3:26

113 – Collin McDowell (Arrowhead) over Aiden Lira (Huntley), F 0:30 (pool)

120 – Jalen Dunson (Oak Park and River Forest) over Joe Knackstedt (Oak Park and River Forest), 14-3

126 – Phoenix Blakely (Dakota) over Gunnar Garelli (Lyons Township), F 1:00

132 – Wyatt Duchateau (Arrowhead) over Sam Henkle (Huntley), F 1:53

138 – Maddux Blakely (Dakota) over Nate Druckrey (Arrowhead), F 2:33

145 – Tavius Hosley (Unity) over Tyler Simmer (Dakota), F 4:33

152 – Mitchell Mesenbrink (Arrowhead) over Connor Lezama (Crystal Lake Central), Med. Fft.

160 – Dillon Carlson (Crystal Lake Central) over Adrian Arellona (Dakota), F 3:29 (pool)

170 – Noah Mulvaney (Arrowhead) over Cooper Schodrof (Lyons Township), F 2:40

182 – Ryder Hunkins (Huntley) over Grant Albaugh (Unity), F 1:10

195 – Nick Nosler (Unity) over Noah Wenzel (Dakota), 1-0

220 – Oran Varela (Unity) over Tyler Cerny (Huntley), F 2:44

285 – Karson Richardson (Unity) over Leo Diaz (Crystal Lake Central), 5-0 (pool)

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

By Curt Herron
For the IWCOA

Deerfield wins Central Suburban League Tournament title

Deerfield not only captured its 14th-consecutive Central Suburban League North division title but it also easily claimed top honors in the CSL Tournament, which was held Saturday in Vernon Hills.

Coach Marc Pechter’s Warriors had seven champions to help them to 281.5 points and finished 63 points ahead of runner-up New Trier, who had 218.5 points. Glenbrook South edged Maine South 210-204 for third place while Evanston was fifth with 190 points and the host Cougars were sixth with 136 points to round off the top half of the 12-team field.

Winning titles for Deerfield, which is third in Class 2A in the IWCOA rankings, were Renzo Morgan (26-9 at 132), Kai Neumark (31-1 at 138), Lucio Morgan (34-3 at 145), Ben Shvartsman (37-0 at 152), Stamos Tsakiris (32-4 at 160), Aiden Cohen (36-2 at 170) and Braeden Wittkamp (36-2 at 182). Shvartsman was selected as the Outstanding Wrestler Award winner for the CSL North Division. Finishing third were Luke Reddy (113) and Brady Mills (126) while Jordan Rasof (120) and Max Drumke (195) both finished fourth. 

Leading the way for coach Marc Tadelman’s runner-up Trevians were champions Jack Cummings (25-2 at 195) and Ty Stringer (19-5 at 220) and second-place finishers Tagg Miller (22-10 at 145), Matthew Boyer (31-5 at 152) and Tyler Jackson (19-11 at 182). Placing third were Walter Garrett (106) and Wilson Wright (120) while Eli Polacek (138) finished fourth.

Other champions were Maine South’s Teddy Flores (26-5 at 113) and Tim Whitelaw (12-3 at 126), Glenbrook South’s Andrew Haritos (17-4 at 106), Maine East’s Chris Kish (24-1 at 120) and Vernon Hills’ Max Accettura (30-1 at 285).

Also finishing second were Glenbrook South’s Arnold Park (17-7 at 113), Max Brown (17-8 at 120), Marcus Santos (13-11 at 126) and Patrick Downing (21-6 at 160), Evanston’s Jason McDermott (12-8 at 132), Sam Adeoye (17-11 at 170), Sheldon Kinzer (26-4 at 220) and David Sanchez (21-9 at 285), Maine South’s Christos Vaselopolus (21-9 at 106) and Nathan Beltran (24-7 at 138) and Vernon Hills’ Jake Psaras (25-8 at 195).

In the closest title match, Flores edged Park 6-5 at 113. Four other title matches were decided by six points and there were six falls and three major decisions on the title mat.

There was a four-way tie for most team points with 30 between Acettura, Cummings, Renzo Morgan and Wittkamp while Neumark scored 29.5 team points and Cohen, Lucio Morgan and Stringer all had 29 team points. 

Neumark also had the most match points by a 46-42 margin over Shvartsman. Haritos had the largest seed to place differential, winning a title after being seeded ninth at 106.

Eight of the champions were ranked in the top10 in their weight class, with six of those being from Deerfield. Accettura (tenth in 2A at 285) won his fourth title and competed in his fifth finals this season and Cummings (sixth in 3A at 195) claimed his third championship. 

Warriors who won their second titles were Cohen (fourth in 2A at 170), Neumark (third in 2A at 138) and Shvartsman (second in 2A at 152) while Lucio Morgan (seventh in 2A at 145), Renzo Morgan (third in 2A at 132) and Wittkamp (sixth in 2A at 182) all won their initial titles. Also, Kish (HM in 3A at 120) won his fourth title in four finals appearances. 

Others finishing in third place were Glenbrook South’s Jack Downing (145), Will Collins (152) and Drew Duffy (285), Highland Park’s Nate Ferrari (132) and Mark Martinez (138), 

Vernon Hills’ Will Ludolph (160) and Kevin Halley (220), Evanston’s Ladell Allen (182) and Anthony Joyner (195) and Maine South’s Cole Cichowski (170). 

Also finishing in fourth place were Evanston’s Tyler Bear (106), Marco Terrezzi (113) and Massimo Terrezzi (126), Maine South’s Danny Spandiary (152) and Tyler Fortis (285), Glenbrook North’s Patrick Herbst (160) and Nate Glazebrook (220), Glenbrook South’s Ilkin Badalov (170) and Will Foster (182), Vernon Hills’ Dylan Moncayo (132) and Highland Park’s Seth Gordon (145).

Central Suburban League Tournament championship matches

106 – Andrew Haritos (Glenbrook South) over Christos Vaselopolus (Maine South), 8-2

113 – Teddy Flores (Maine South) over Arnold Park (Glenbrook South), 6-5

120 – Chris Kish (Maine East) over Max Brown (Glenbrook South), 9-3

126 – Tim Whitelaw (Maine South) over Marcus Santos (Glenbrook South), 7-1

132 – Renzo Morgan (Deerfield) over Jason McDermott (Evanston), F 0:41

138 – Kai Neumark (Deerfield) over Nathan Beltran (Maine South), F 4:39

145 – Lucio Morgan (Deerfield) over Tagg Miller (New Trier), 14-2

152 – Ben Shvartsman (Deerfield) over Matthew Boyer (New Trier), 16-3

160 – Stamos Tsakiris (Deerfield) over Patrick Downing (Glenbrook South), 7-1

170 – Aiden Cohen (Deerfield) over Sam Adeoye (Evanston), F 1:33

182 – Braeden Wittkamp (Deerfield) over Tyler Jackson (New Trier), F 5:51

195 – Jack Cummings (New Trier) over Jake Psaras (Vernon Hills), F 1:08

220 – Ty Stringer (New Trier) over Sheldon Kinzer (Evanston), 12-3

285 – Max Accettura (Vernon Hills) over David Sanchez (Evanston), F 1:02

Washington rolls to Mid-Illini Conference Tournament title

Washington sent 10 individuals to the title mat and won eight championships as it captured the title of the Mid-Illini Conference Tournament title in Metamora by 103.5 points

Coach Nick Miller’s Panthers, No. 1 in the IWCOA Class 2A rankings, scored 248.5 points while Canton took second with 145 points, Morton was third with 131 points and Pekin was fourth with 79 points in the eight-team competition.

Champions for Washington were Peyton Cox (32-2 at 126), Kannon Webster (38-1 at 132), Josh Biagini (23-13 at 138), Cael Miller (26-10 at 145), Blake Hinrichsen (28-11 at 160), Justin Hoffer (29-7 at 195), Donnie Hidden (17-0 at 220) and Tyler Casey (30-3 at 285). Taking second were Noah Woods (113) and Zane Hulet (17-14 at 170) while Joseph Hoffer (182) was third and Levi Downing (106) and Kaiden Hacker (152) placed fourth.

Coach Zach Crawford’s runner-up Little Giants got a title from Joseph Norton (30-0 at 170) while six individuals placed second, Jack Jochums (20-11 at 106), Trevor Hedges (24-5 at 126), Wesley Chaney (145), Andrew Hedges (12-2 at 152), Danny Murphy (18-4 at 182) and Weston Swise (25-5 at 285). Finishing fourth were Wyatt Sego (160), Grant Kessler (195) and Trevor Putman (220).

Morton had three champions, Caleb Lenning (19-11 at 106), Zane Ely (25-7 at 113) and Connor Kidd (28-1 at 120) while the other title winners were Dunlap’s Nick Mueller (25-2 at 152) and Pekin’s Shamon Handegan (34-0 at 182).

Also claiming second-place finishes were Morton’s Steven Marvin (27-8 at 132) and Jamison Almasy (27-11 at 138), Dunlap’s Daniel Weidner (120), Metamora’s Cole Kiefner (160), East Peoria’s Zach Eaton (25-6 at 195) and Pekin’s Karson Lamb (35-4 at 220).

The closest title matches featured Mueller winning 6-5 over Andrew Hedges at 152 and Biagini beating Almasy 4-1 at 138. Ten of the championship matches ended with falls while two others were by technical fall.

Ten individuals tied for the lead in team points with 24. They were Washington’s Casey, Hidden, Hoffer, Miller and Webster, Morton’s Ely, Kidd and Lenning, Canton’s Norton and Pekin’s Handegan. Champions who remain unbeaten are Handegan, Hidden and Norton while Kidd and Webster both have lost just one match.

Twelve individuals ranked in the top 10 in their weight class won championships. Kidd (fourth in 2A at 120) claimed his fifth title of the season in six trips to the finals and Mueller (ninth in 2A at 152) won his fourth title in five trips to the finals. Winning their second titles of the season are Casey (third in 2A at 220), Cox (third in 2A at 120), Ely (fifth in 2A at 113), Hidden (first in 2A at 195), Hinrichsen (first in 2A at 160), Hoffer (sixth in 2A at 195), Norton (first in 1A at 170) and Webster (first in 2A at 126). Winning their first titles of the season were Biagini (ninth in 2A at 132) and Miller (ninth in 2A at 145). And Handegan, who’s honorable mention in 3A at 182, won his fourth title in four finals appearances.

Other third-place finishers were Pekin’s Dalton Davis (106), Ramez Watson (132) and Demarcus Watson (160), Limestone’s Ashton Menees (113), Aydan Trueblood (220) and Hector Izaguirre (285), Metamora’s Sam Ohl (138) and Grant Tyrala (145), Dunlap’s Drew Stone (170) and Ryan Schuck (195), East Peoria’s Stephen Preciado (126) and  Morton’s Clay McKee (152). Ohl had the most total match points with 36.

Also finishing fourth were Limestone’s Cosmo Palmgren (132) and Kenyon Johnson (138), Morton’s Tyus Almasy (145), Pekin’s Lucas Campbell (170), East Peoria’s Kaden Rowland (182) and Dunlap’s Austin Hasselman (285).

Mid-Illini Conference Tournament championship matches

106 – Caleb Lenning (Morton) over Jack Jochums (Canton), F 0:22

113 – Zane Ely (Morton) over Noah Woods (Washington), F 1:19

120 – Connor Kidd (Morton) over Daniel Weidner (Dunlap), F 0:30

126 – Peyton Cox (Washington) over Trevor Hedges (Canton), TF 5:19

132 – Kannon Webster (Washington) over Steven Marvin (Morton), F 1:18

138 – Josh Biagini (Washington) over Jamison Almasy (Morton), 4-1

145 – Cael Miller (Washington) over Wesley Chaney (Canton), F 1:59

152 – Nick Mueller (Dunlap) over Andrew Hedges (Canton), 6-5

160 – Blake Hinrichsen (Washington) over Cole Kiefner (Metamora), TF 2:48

170 – Joseph Norton (Canton) over Zane Hulet (Washington), F 0:33

182 – Shamon Handegan (Pekin) over Danny Murphy (Canton), F 0:35

195 – Justin Hoffer (Washington) over Zach Eaton (East Peoria), F 1:30

220 – Donnie Hidden (Washington) over Karson Lamb (Pekin), F 2:57

285 – Tyler Casey (Washington) over Weston Swise (Canton), F 1:51

Yorkville wins Southwest Prairie Conference Tournament

Yorkville scored 505.5 points to capture top honors in the Southwest Prairie Conference Tournament. Host West Aurora was second with 442 points while Plainfield North took third with 427.5 points. Oswego (375), Minooka (343.5) and Joliet West (335) rounded out the top half of the 12-team competition.

Leading coach Jake Oster’s first-place Foxes were champions Jack Ferguson (27-5 at 113), Luke Zook (28-8 at 152) and Ben Alvarez (38-4 at 220) and second-place finishers Dominic Recchia (23-10 at 120), Dom Coronado (21-6 at 126), Ryder Janeczko (22-6 at 132) and Hunter Janeczko (27-3 at 195). Taking third were Raymond Cavey (106), Brody Williams (160), Colten Stevens (182) and Justin Wiesbrook (285) while Cam Peach (138) finished fourth.

Top finishers for coach Andrew Plata’s runner-up Blackhawks were champions Aaron Nelson (26-8 at 120), Dominic Serio (33-6 at 138), Noah Quintana (33-4 at 145) and Francisco Solis (16-3 at 170) while Moses Quintana (27-8 at 152) was second and Giovanni Amaya (220) took third.

Plainfield North’s Jacob Macatangay (38-0 at 126) is unbeaten. Other champions were Plainfield North’s Jared Gumila (38-3 at 160) and Kaden McCombs (35-9 at 285), Joliet West’s Carson Weber (25-3 at 106), Minooka’s Cale Stonitsch (20-12 at 132), Plainfield Central’s Max Bowen (20-4 at 182) and Plainfield South’s John Pacewic (23-2 at 195).

Other second-place finishers were Joliet West’s Jovon Johnson (17-10 at 182), Bryan McCoy (12-4 at 220) and Wyatt Schmitt (23-6 at 285),Plainfield North’s Brody Wyller (28-17 at 145) and Anthony Gulino (17-12 at 170), Romeoville’s Brian Farley (18-4 at 106), Plainfield South’s Rudy Silva (26-6 at 113), Minooka’s Elijah Munoz (17-11 at 138) and Oswego’s Andrew Johnson (32-7 at 160).

Closest title matches included Stonitsch winning 7-5 over Ryder Janeczko at 132, Zook edging Moses Quintana 3-1 in sudden victory at 152 and McCombs defeating Schmitt 3-0 at 285.

Scoring the most team points were Bowen (50) and Macatangay (49.5) while Alvarez, Gumila, Pacewic, Serio and Weber all tied for third with 48 points, McCombs and Nelson both had 47 points and Noah Quintana scored 46 points. Bowen also recorded the most falls with four. Macatangay had the most match points (53) and points in a match (25).

Macatangay, ranked third in 3A at 126, won his fourth title of the season in four finals appearances. Pacewic, ranked third in 3A at 195 and Alvarez, ranked fourth in 3A at 220, both won their second titles while Gumila, ranked seventh in 3A at 160, captured his first title win of the season.

Oswego had five third-place finishers, Brayden Swanson (113), Ryan Goddard (120), Logan Guerrero (126), Joseph Griffin (152) and Cruz Ibarra (195), Also taking third were Minooka’s Dominic Schiavone (132), Plainfield North’s Carter Alexander (138), Romeoville’s Sergio Dondiego (145) and Plainfield South’s Matthew Janiak (170).

Additional individuals who finished fourth were Plainfield North’s Maddox Garbis (106), Cayden Amico (113), Jude Rotkis (152) and Leo Tovar (220), Minooka’s Damien Flores (120) and Elliot Van Der Male (285), Joliet West’s Austin Perella (145) and Jacob Schmitt (195), Plainfield Central’s Lucas Mena (126), Plainfield East’s Hunter McCloskey (132), Joliet Central’s Kameron Mitchell (160), Romeoville’s Mason Gougis (170) and Oswego East’s William Chen (182).

Southwest Prairie Conference Tournament championship matches

106 – Carson Weber (Joliet West) over Brian Farley (Romeoville), F 1:05

113 – Jack Ferguson (Yorkville) over Rudy Silva (Plainfield South), 8-2

120 – Aaron Nelson (West Aurora) over Dominic Recchia (Yorkville), 7-1

126 – Jacob Macatangay (Plainfield North) over Dom Coronado (Yorkville), F 2:28

132 – Cole Stonitsch (Minooka) over Ryder Janeczko (Yorkville), 7-5

138 – Dominic Serio (West Aurora) over Elijah Munoz (Minooka), 8-4

145 – Noah Quintana (West Aurora) over Brody Wyller (Plainfield North), 7-0

152 – Luke Zook (Yorkville) over Moses Quintana (West Aurora), SV 3-1

160 – Jared Gumila (Plainfield North) over Andrew Johnson (Oswego), 9-5

170 – Francisco Solis (West Aurora) over Anthony Gulino (Plainfield North), 8-2

182 – Max Bowen (Plainfield Central) over Jovon Johnson (Joliet West), F 0:57

195 – John Pacewic (Plainfield South) over Hunter Janeczko (Yorkville), 9-2

220 – Ben Alvarez (Yorkville) over Bryan McCoy (Joliet West), 7-2

285 – Kaden McCombs (Plainfield North) over Wyatt Schmitt (Joliet West), 3-0

Normal West wins Big 12 Conference Tournament title

Normal West had five champions and three second-place finishers to help it claim the championship of the Big 12 Conference Tournament by a 184.5-131.5 margin over Centennial on Saturday at Notre Dame in Peoria.

Normal Community took third place with 122.5 points while Richwoods (79.5) and Champaign Central (67) rounded out the top half of the 10-team competition.

Leading the way for coach Adam Richards’ champion Wildcats were title winners Froylan Racey (28-3 at 126), Austin Johnston (27-5 at 132), Cody Sears (19-13 at 138), Kepi Guither (23-11) at 170 and Brock Leenerman (13-2 at 182) while Dylan McGraw (113), Matt Bicknell (14-6 at 120) and Xavier Edwards (19-7 at 152) finished second. Taking thirds were Noah Passoni (160) and Ben Smith (195) while Gage Hutchison (220) finished fourth.

Top performers for coach Jeff Rieck’s runner-up Chargers were champions Declan Pate (22-6 at 120), Tyler Easter (21-6 at 152) and Jack Barnhart (28-1 at 220). Claiming third-place were David Navara (170) and Braylen Lewis (285) while Jaiden Smith (106), Trevor Schoonover (126), Nick Pianfetti (138), Kodiac Pruitt (160) and Branden Harvey (195) all took fourth place.

Other Big 12 champions were Normal Community’s Cole Gentsch (29-2 at 113), Brayden Kull (20-11 at 145) and Cooper Caraway (30-3 at 195), Notre Dame’s Ian Akers (25-5 at 106) and Joey Mushinsky (29-1 at 160) and Peoria High’s Lucas Armstrong (3-0 at 285).

Also finishing in second-place were Danville’s Dalton Brown (24-7 at 170), Phil Shaw (23-4 at 182) and DeMarion Forman (14-4 at 195), Normal Community’s Caden Correll (27-7 at 106) and Mitchell Mosbach (23-7 at 160), Champaign Central’s Ronald Baker (26-9 at 126) and LaVontae Pelmore (10-9 at 285), Notre Dame’s Chase Daugherty (14-10 at 132), Richwoods’ Jayden Putts (12-5 at 138), Peoria High’s Tuison Conner (11-6 at 145) and Urbana’s Andre Hunt (14-10 at 220).

In some of the closest title matches, Akers won 2-0 over Correll at 106, Kull prevailed 13-11 in overtime over Conner at 145 and Leenerman edged Shaw 10-9 at 182.

There was a tie for the most team points scored with 24 between Armstrong and Guither while Barnhart and Caraway tied for third with 22 points, Mushinsky was next with 21.5 points and Easter, Kull, Leenerman, Racey and Sears all scored 20 points.

Racey had the most total match points with 31 while Armstrong had the largest seed to place differential of five, winning a championship after being seeded sixth.

Several ranked champions added to their list of titles that they’ve captured this season. Mushinsky (fourth at 160 in 1A) won his seventh title in seven finals appearances, Gentsch (seventh at 106 in 3A), captured his fifth title in six finals, Racey (sixth at 120 in 2A) and Barnhart (fifth at 220 in 2A) both won their fourth championships and Leenerman (ninth at 182 in 2A) won his second title.

Richwoods had five third-place finishers, Colton Boyer (106), Rykis Doss (113), Jeremiah LeFlore (120), Michael Vincent (152) and Terrell Holley (182). Also placing third were Normal Community’s Brock Bacus (126) and Vallen Thorpe (132), Champaign Central’s Jackson Dillow (145) and Zavier Neill (220) and Peoria High’s Kenny Rutherford (138) also finished third.

Also finishing in fourth-place were Richwoods’ Chris Harris (132) and Jesse Martinez (145), Normal Community’s Emmanuel Muyembe (152) and Daishawn Crawford (285), Danville’s Marquan Shaw (120), Peoria High’s Kaleb Lawson (170) and Champaign Central’s Seth Bowers (182).

Big 12 Conference Tournament championship matches

106 – Ian Akers (Notre Dame) over Caden Correll (Normal Community), 2-0

113 – Cole Gentsch (Normal Community) over Dylan McGrew (Normal West), F 1:25

120 – Declan Pate (Centennial) over Matt Bicknell (Normal West), 17-3

126 – Froylan Racey (Normal West) over Ronald Baker (Champaign Central), 16-5

132 – Austin Johnston (Normal West) over Chase Daugherty (Notre Dame), 11-2

138 – Cody Sears (Normal West) over Jayden Putts (Richwoods), F 3:12
145 – Brayden Kull (Normal Community) over Tuison Conner (Peoria High), OT 13-11

152 – Tyler Easter (Centennial) over Xavier Edwards (Normal West), 10-4

160 – Joey Mushinsky (Notre Dame) over Mitchell Mosbach (Normal Community), F 2:23

170 – Kepi Guither (Normal West) over Dalton Brown (Danville), F 2:30

182 – Brock Leenerman (Normal West) over Phil Shaw (Danville), 10-9

195 – Cooper Caraway (Normal Community) over DeMarion Forman (Danville), F 3:37

220 – Jack Barnhart (Centennial) over Andre Hunt (Urbana), F 1:19

285 – Lucas Armstrong (Peoria High) over LaVontae Pelmore (Champaign Central), F 0:17

IC Catholic Prep edges Aurora Christian for Metro Suburban Conference Championship

IC Catholic Prep sent 10 individuals to the title mat and won four championships to help it claim top honors at the Metro Suburban Conference Championships in Aurora by a margin of 230.5-221 over host Aurora Christian on Saturday. Riverside-Brookfield took third with 208 points while Wheaton Academy placed fourth with 142 points and Westmont was fifth with 80 points in the nine-team meet. Half of the title matches involved IC Catholic Prep and Aurora Christian competitors squaring off.

Leading the way for coach Jason Renteria’s champion Knights, who are ranked 13th in Class 1A, were title winners Andrew Alvarado (113), Nick Renteria (13-1 at 120), Nathan Brown (12-3 at 138) and Michael Calcagno (182) while Bryson Spaulding (9-6 at 126), Omar Samayoa (15-5 at 132), Joseph Gliatta (16-7 at 145), Brandon Navarro (15-5 at 160), Jadon Mims (17-3 at 220) and Isaiah Gonzalez (22-1 at 285) took second place and Vinny Gonzalez (195) finished third.

Coach Danny Alcocer’s runner-up Eagles, who are ranked seventh in Class 2A, were led by champions Deven Casey (24-6 at 106), Joe Fernau (19-5 at 132), Taythan Silva (25-7 at 145), Braden Stauffenberg (31-3 at 160), Nate Wemstrom (28-5 at 220) and Braden Hunter (3-0 at 285) while Parker Jenkins (113) and Josh Vasquez (17-6 at 120) were second and Tristan Spencer (138) and Conner Kendall (152) were fourth.

Other title winners were Riverside-Brookfield’s Mateo Costello (24-5 at 126) and Brock Hoyd (24-4 at 170), Bishop McNamara’s Luke Christie (17-2 at 152) and Westmont’s 

Jaylan Lacy (26-1 at 195).

Also finishing in second place were Wheaton Academy’s Caden Smith (15-8 at 152), Jeremiah Johanik (170) and Hunter Kazmierczak (21-6 at 182), Elmwood Park’s Jack Domdeck (27-4 at 106) and Jack Pedersen (22-11 at 195) and Riverside-Brookfield’s Mike Racanelli (138).

The only close title match was at 220 where Wemstrom defeated Mims 4-2 in sudden victory in a clash of highly-ranked opponents, with Wemstrom third at 195 in 2A and Mims first at 220 in 1A. Eight of the first-place matches were decided by fall while one was a win by technical fall and two more were major decisions.

Eight individuals tied at 26 for most team points scored, Calcagno, Casey, Christie, Fernau, Hoyd, Hunter, Silva and Stauffenberg while Brown and Lacy both had 25 points. Alvarado had the most match points with 43 and also had the largest difference between seed and place, winning a title after being seeded fourth.

Eleven of the champions were ranked in either Class 2A or 1A. Lacy (seventh in 1A at 195), Renteria (third in 1A at 126) and Stauffenberg (first at 152 in 2A) all won their third titles of the season with Lacy and Renteria in their third finals. Alvarado (eighth at 113 in 1A), Calcagno (fifth at 182 in 1A), Casey (second at 106 in 2A), Costello (seventh at 126 in 2A), Christie (first at 152 in 1A), Silva (third at 145 in 2A) and Wemstrom (third at 195 in 2A) all captured their second titles while Fernau (third at 126 in 2A) won his initial title. 

Hoyd (HM at 170 in 2A) won his third title while another highly-ranked competitor, Gonzalez (second at 285 in 1A) suffered his first loss to Hunter and was denied a third title.

Riverside-Brookfield had seven third-place finishers, Edgar Mosquera (113), Josh Gonzalez (132), Jacob Noe (145), Bill Martin (152), Ethan Ranft (160), Miguel Garcia (182) and Daeshawn Jackson (285). Also placing third were Wheaton Academy’s Will Hupke (120), Will Anliker (138) and Peter Johanik (220) and Westmont’s Mission Hatchell (106) and Dominic Wagner (126).

Also finishing in fourth-place were Wheaton Academy’s Dan Kersey (132), Teddy Koskinas (160) and Ethan Brunner (195), Riverside-Brookfield’s Matt Decosola (106) and Joe Midona (220), Westmont’s Dylan Belmonte (113) and Jozy Rosenwinkel (285), Bishop McNamara’s Jackson Jeck (120), Ridgewood’s Kris Popovich (126) and Elmwood Park’s Josh Dascola (145).

Metro Suburban Conference Championship title matches

106 – Deven Casey (Aurora Christian) over Jack Domdeck (Elmwood Park), F 1:55

113 – Andrew Alvarado (IC Catholic Prep) over Parker Jenkins (Aurora Christian), TF 5:56

120 – Nick Renteria (IC Catholic Prep) over Josh Vasquez (Aurora Christian), 15-8

126 – Mateo Costello (Riverside-Brookfield) over Bryson Spaulding (IC Catholic Prep), 9-3

132 – Joe Fernau (Aurora Christian) over Omar Samayoa (IC Catholic Prep), F 2:51
138 – Nathan Brown (IC Catholic Prep) over Mike Racanelli (Riverside-Brookfield), 12-2

145 – Taythan Silva (Aurora Christian) over Jacob Gliatta (IC Catholic Prep), F 2:20

152 – Luke Christie (Bishop McNamara) over Caden Smith (Wheaton Academy), F 1:42

160 – Braden Stauffenberg (Aurora Christian) over Brandon Navarro (IC Catholic Prep), F 3:15

170 – Brock Hoyd (Riverside-Brookfield) over Jeremiah Johanik (Wheaton Academy), F 2:25

182 – Michael Calcagno (IC Catholic Prep) over Hunter Kazmierczak (Wheaton Academy), F 3:07

195 – Jaylan Lacy (Westmont) over Jack Pedersen (Elmwood Park), 17-4

220 – Nate Wemstrom (Aurora Christian) over Jadon Mims (IC Catholic Prep), SV 4-2

285 – Braden Hunter (Aurora Christian) over Isaiah Gonzalez (IC Catholic Prep), F 4:26

Mount Carmel captures Chicago Catholic League Championship

Mount Carmel had seven champions to help it capture its first tournament title of the season when it claimed top honors at Saturday’s Chicago Catholic League Championships, which it hosted in Chicago.

The Caravan, number one in the IWCOA Class 3A rankings, scored 327.5 points while Marmion Academy, number four in Class 3A, was second with 295.5 points. Brother Rice (198), Providence Catholic (153), Loyola Academy (134), Fenwick (119) and St. Rita of Cascia (113) were next in line in the 13-team competition.

Coach Alex Tsirtsis’ champion Caravan had half of the 14 title winners. Taking firsts were Seth Mendoza (29-2 at 106), Sergio Lemley (30-1 at 126), Eddie Enright (20-7 at 132), Carlos Perez (8-5 at 145), Colin Kelly (26-4 at 160), Elliott Lewis (20-7 at 195) and Ryan Boersma (29-2 at 285). Claiming second-place finishers were Damian Resendez (22-6 at 113), Nam Doan (138) and Rylan Breen (19-10 at 182) while Jairo Acuna (120) and Marcus Milianti (152) took third place and William Jacobson (170) finished fourth.

Top finishers for coach Nathan Fitzenreider’s runner-up Cadets were champions Jameson Garcia (12-4 at 113), Collin Carrigan (19-2 at 152) and Jack Lesher (33-4 at 182) while Donny Pigoni (30-9 at 106), Tyler Aters (13-5 at 120), Connor Thompson (18-8 at 132), Tyler Perry (31-3 at 170) and Sean Scheck (29-9 at 220) all took second. John Conover (138) and Tegan Chumbley (145) were third while Christian Favia (126), Kenny Siwicki (160) and Teddy Perry (195) placed fourth.

Others who won titles were Brother Rice’s Alvaro Perez (21-5 at 138) and Tommy Bennett (22-1 at 170), Loyola’s Massey Odiotti (32-4 at 120) and Providence Catholic’s Liam McDermott (37-3 at 220).

Also finishing in second place were  Fenwick’s Finn McGee (21-11 at 152) and Jimmy Liston (25-3 at 285), Providence Catholic’s Billy Meiszner (23-4 at 126), St. Rita’s Isaac Gaytan-Reilly (17-7 at 145), Brother Rice’s Nate Chirillo (11-3 at 160) and Loyola’s Mike Williams (21-9 at 195).

Some of the closest title matches was Carlos Perez over Reilly 1-0 at 145, Bennett beat Perry 8-6 in sudden victory at 170, Lewis prevailed 3-2 over Williams at 195 and McDermott claimed a 1-0 decision over Scheck at 220.

Thirteen state-ranked individuals won titles while five other ranked competitors fell in the finals. Odiotti (sixth in 3A at 120) won his fifth tournament of the season, Bennett (seventh in 2A at 170), Boersma (first in 3A at 285), Lemley (second in 3A at 126) and Mendoza (first in 3A at 106) all won their third tournaments. Lesher (third in 3A at 182) and McDermott (third in 3A at 220) both won their second titles and Carrigan (eighth in 3A at 152), Enright (fourth in 3A at 132), Garcia (first in 3A at 113), Kelly (second in 3A at 160), Lewis (fourth in 3A at 195) and Perez (eighth in 2A at 138) all won their initial titles of 2021-22. 

Mendoza and Odiotti tied for the team points with 30 while Carrigan was third with 29.5. Boersma, Enright, Garcia and Lemley all had 29 points, Kelly had 28.5 points and Lesher and McDermott both had 28 points. Second-place finishers who also were state-ranked were Breen (eighth at 182 in 3A), Chirillo (seventh at 160 in 2A), Meiszner (sixth at 126 in 3A), Perry (fourth at 170 in 3A) and Resendez (third at 113 in 3A).

Also taking third were St. Rita’s Austin Dangles (113), Griffen Duffin (126) and Sean Larkin (132),  De La Salle Institute’s Raymond Alvarado (106), Montini Catholic’s Will Prater (160), St. Laurence’s Mike Gentile (170), Loyola’s Quinn Herbert (182), Brother Rice’s Gambino Perez (195), Fenwick’s Conor Stetz (220) and Providence’s RJ Schneider (285).

Other fourth-place finishers were Brother Rice’s Bobby Conway (120), Charles Connolly (152) and Colin Ashley (182), Montini’s Max Neal (106) and Mick Renquist (220), DePaul Prep’s Max Rosen (113), Providence’s Kyle Lindsey (132), Fenwick’s Tommy Sullivan (138), St. Laurence’s Gabe Alvarez (145) and Saint Ignatius’ Damian Lassak (285).

Chicago Catholic League Championships title matches

106 – Seth Mendoza (Mount Carmel) over Donny Pigoni (Marmion Academy), F 3:13

113 – Jameson Garcia (Marmion Academy) over Damian Resendez (Mount Carmel), 17-6

120 – Massey Odiotti (Loyola Academy) over Tyler Aters (Marmion Academy), F 3:55

126 – Sergio Lemley (Mount Carmel) over Billy Meiszner (Providence Catholic), 16-5

132 – Eddie Enright (Mount Carmel) over Connor Thompson (Marmion Academy), 9-1

138 – Alvaro Perez (Brother Rice) over Nam Doan (Mount Carmel), 5-0

145 – Carlos Perez (Mount Carmel) over Isaac Gaytan-Reilly (St. Rita of Cascia), 1-0

152 – Colin Carrigan (Marmion Academy) over Finn McGee (Fenwick), F 0:56
160 – Colin Kelly (Mount Carmel) over Nate Chirillo (Brother Rice), TF 5:53

170 – Tommy Bennett (Brother Rice) over Tyler Perry (Marmion Academy), SV 8-6

182 – Jack Lesher (Marmion Academy) over Rylan Breen (Mount Carmel), 9-1

195 – Elliott Lewis (Mount Carmel) over Mike Williams (Loyola Academy), 3-2

220 – Liam McDermott (Providence Catholic) over Sean Scheck (Marmion Academy), 1-0

285 – Ryan Boersma (Mount Carmel) over Jimmy Liston (Fenwick), 9-1

Sandwich claims title in Interstate 8 Conference Championships

Sandwich scored 218 points to capture top honors at Saturday’s Interstate 8 Conference championships at Kaneland In Maple Park. Rochelle took second place with 184 points while Sycamore was third with 172 and Kaneland finished fourth with 144 points in the seven-team field.

Top performers for coach Derek Jones’ first-place Indians, who are ranked tenth in Class 1A, were champions Miles Corder (126), Evan Reilly (138), Nolan Bobee (145) and Alex Alfaro (182). Placing second were Sy Smith (132), Aidan Linden (152), Bryce Decker (160), Sammy Dale (170) and Connor Holly (195) and taking fourth were Ashlyn Strenz (106), Anthony Sparti (113) and Kaiden Gustafson (220).

“We wrestled well,” Jones said. “I thought we left a couple matches out there, but we will use it to build towards IHSA Regionals. Of course it is a tough conference and we are excited that we were able to come away with the victory, but our end goal all year has been the IHSA Dual Team State tournament. We will be satisfied when we come away with that trophy, not a conference championship.”

Leading the way for coach Alphonso Vruno’s runner-up Hubs were champions Xavier Villalobos (113), Joseph Nadig (120) and Kaiden Morris (220) while Tommy Tourdot (106) and Jaden Cook (285) placed second. Taking third place were Weldon Nay (126), Wesley Brown (132), Brandyn Metzger (160), Brock Metzger (170) and Jorge Driggs (195) while Grant Gensler (138) finished fourth.

Sycamore also had four champions, Brayden Peet (152), Gus Cambier (160), Zack Crawford (170) and Lincoln Cooley (285), Others who won titles were Kaneland’s Cameron Phillips (106), Ottawa’s Tristan Simmons (132) and LaSalle-Peru’s Connor Lorden (195).

Nine of the champions are in the top 10 in the IWCOA rankings. Alfaro, who’s first in 1A at 182, won his fourth title this season while Reilly, who’s sixth in 1A at 138 and Peet, who’s third in 2A at 152, both won their third titles with Peet in three finals trips. Cooley (sixth in 2A at 285), Crawford (sixth in 2A at 170) and Lorden (fourth in 2A at 195) all won titles for the second time this season while Cambier (third in 2A at 160), Phillips (fifth in 2A at 106) and Villalobos (sixth in 2A at 113) all won their initial titles in 2021-22.

Also claiming second-place finishes were Sycamore’s Trent DuMont (138), Gable Carrick (182) and Jackson Funderburg (220), Kaneland’s Kamron Scholl (113), Caden Grabowski (126) and Cole Olsen (145) and LaSalle-Peru’s Reegan Kellett (120).

In some of the closest title matches, Peet edged Linden 4-3 at 152 in a clash of top-10 individuals, Villalobos prevailed 7-4 over Scholl at 113 and Crawfoird captured a 5-2 decision over Dale at 170.

Seven champions led the way with 24 team points scored. They were Bobee, Cambier, Cooley, Lorden, Morris, Nadig and Phillips while Corder was next with 23 points.

Morris had five third-place finishers, Brandon Anderson (106), Ian Wills (120), Tyler Semlar (138), Julian Gonzalez (152) and Justin Hemmersbach (285) while Sycamore’s Jonathan Buckheister (113) and Jaden Cochran (145), Ottawa’s Charles Medrow (182) and Kaneland’s Nate Diaz (220) also took third.

Also claiming fourth place finishes were Kaneland’s Ade Sanni (152), Diego Serriteno (182), Max Pietak (195) and Tyler Carlson (285), Ottawa’s Landon Marx (120) and Wyatt Reding (160), Morris’ Levi Willson (145) and Ethan Morrissy (170) and LaSalle-Peru’s Kaleb Vela (126).

Interstate 8 Conference Championships title matches

106 – Cameron Phillips (Kaneland) over Tommy Tourdot (Rochelle), F 1:26

113 – Xavier Villalobos (Rochelle) over Kamron Scholl (Kaneland), 7-4

120 – Joseph Nadig (Rochelle) over Reegan Kellett (LaSalle-Peru), F 3:00

126 – Miles Corder (Sandwich) over Caden Grabowski (Kaneland), F 3:09

132 – Tristan Simmons (Ottawa) over Sy Smith (Sandwich), 12-6

138 – Evan Reilly (Sandwich) over Trent DuMont (Sycamore), 12-4

145 – Nolan Bobee (Sandwich) over Cole Olsen (Kaneland), F 0:59

152 – Brayden Peet (Sycamore) over Aidan Linden (Sandwich), 4-3

160 – Gus Cambier (Sycamore) over Bryce Decker (Sandwich), F 2:48

170 – Zack Crawford (Sycamore) over Sammy Dale (Sandwich), 5-2

182 – Alex Alfaro (Sandwich) over Gable Carrick (Sycamore), F 3:06

195 – Connor Lorden (LaSalle-Peru) over Connor Holly (Sandwich), F 1:38

220 – Kaiden Morris (Rochelle) over Jackson Funderburg (Sycamore), F 3:30

285 – Lincoln Cooley (Sycamore) over Jaden Cook (Rochelle), F 1:29

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

By Mike Garofola
For the IWCOA

After a disastrous round in the semifinals that saw Hersey drop seven-of-nine bouts, head coach Joe Rupslauk, and his two top men, Manny Mejia and Billy Spassov brought the troops together  and gave the Huskies the famous ‘It Ain’t Over Until It’s Over’ speech.

“That and let’s just go out there and wrestle for each other like we have all season long,” was all Rupslauk needed to say as he then watched his club overcome a 30-point deficit to leap-frog over Conant, Fremd, and then division rival Prospect to take the lead for good at the 49th MSL Conference Wrestling Tournament at host Buffalo Grove.

The MSL East champion Huskies claimed their 9th league title and first since 2001. Hersey collected 14 medals overall, and 12 in the consolation rounds to outscore runner-up Fremd 237.5-215.5. Prospect (211.50), Conant (194.0) and Barrington (191.0) rounded out the top five during two days of quality throughout the brackets.

“This is the way this team has competed all year. We’re a tight knit bunch that wrestles for each other first, and right now I cannot tell you how proud I am of these guys,” said Rupslauk.

“This program was really bad four years ago. We basically had the two Joyce brothers (Zach and Matt) plus Sean Paton, who all made sectionals, but after that we just were unable to come close to filling out a lineup,” said Rupslauk.

“We began our building project with guys like Billy and Manny and slowly things turned around with hard work, dedication, and a belief that – as I told them – we could win the MSL when they’re seniors.”

“We were just terrible during those first two years,” agreed Spassov with a wry smile.

“But Rup always believed in us right from the start, and we believed in him so we all knew what had to be done after the semifinals, and my teammates really came through when we needed it most.”

“The biggest reason for our success is coach,” Mejia said. “He’s made this program like a family, he’s upgraded our tournament schedule so we can be challenged every weekend, and he’s been the difference for all of us.”

When the Huskies fell behind by 30 to front runner Prospect (179.5-149.5) it meant the 12 wrestlers who were still alive in the back-draw would have to stay alive in order to earn valuable points.

They did just that, eventually advancing 8 into third-place bouts, and converting one half-dozen into victories.

“Hersey just crushed it after the semifinals,” said Fremd head coach, Jeff Keske,who came within one point (208.50-207.50) after 126 pounds, but never drew closer thereafter.

“Credit Joe’s guys, they went out and did what they had to, and even with just two in the finals, their depth proved to be the difference today.”

Third-place Prospect might have been in the thick of things if not for the rough ride the Knights took in the finals. The Knights won just two of the six they were part of, including three consecutive defeats to dash the hopes of Tom Whalens’ club for good.

Conant enjoyed a solid tournament, claiming a tournament high four individual titles, while fifth-place Barrington took home three, the same as Fremd.

“It was a great tournament, which was expected with so many state-ranked wrestlers here, plus four teams in the top 20,” began Barrington head coach, Dave Udchik.

“Hersey really came through with their big finish, so credit Joe and his guys for a well-deserved conference championship.”

“This MSL title happened because of the great effort from each guy in our starting lineup, especially from the guys who kept on winning in their consolation matches, which really proved to be the difference today,” said a proud Rupslauk.

Let’s have a look now at each weight class:

106 – Wiley Jessup, Fremd

When you have a guy like Wiley Jessup leading off, it more than likely will begin a wonderful day of results for the Fremd wrestling team.

The Vikings senior won his third major of the year, while running his overall record to an impressive 32-2 following his 17th pin of the season to help lead his club to second place finish in this MSL Conference Tournament.

“Wiley has improved his neutral defense, and understanding of when to use his scrambling skills, but it’s his leadership that has his teammates just loving the motivational speeches he gives,” Fremd head coach Jeff Keske said of Jessup, who now has 11 wins over state-ranked opponents.

Jessup had his hands full early on with Brady Phelps (24-2) of Schaumburg, trailing the talented freshman 6-2, then 6-5 when (Jessup) recorded his 27th near fall of the campaign near the edge.

“Brady is a very good wrestler, who likes to go upper body, so I was prepared for that,but when I went down early on I just stayed composed and looked to get back into the match before the first period was over,” said Jessup, who drew back even at 6-6 to start the second period, went up moments later (8-6) with a take-down, before closing out Phelps with his pin at 3:15.

Jessup, fourth overall in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA 3A rankings, has contributed 166 total team points on the season, and 69 near-fall points.

113 – Evan Gosz, Fremd

It appears that as the post-season draws closer, Evan Gosz is the guy who is next up to lead the Vikings during his next three seasons.

The Vikings freshman collected his team-high fourth major trophy after yet another sterling performance, which ended with his 17th pin of the season at just 1:39 over Elk Grove sophomore Grant Madl.

“I wrestled Grant in back in seventh grade and he was a solid opponent then, and he is now,” said Gosz. Gosz has had terrific results against several state-ranked opponents, including defending state champion and current No. 1 Jameson Garcia of Marmion Academy as well as No. 4 Caelan Riley of Libertyville, who will compete next fall at The Citadel.

“Wiley is just a great partner in the room and he’s helped me in so many ways,” Gosz said. “And having a head coach like (Jeff) Keske is a big reason for what I’ve been able to do so far.”

No. 6, Gosz has recorded 28 near-falls, good for 76 overall points, while contributing 162 team points for the MSL West division champions.

“Evan’s leg riding is much improved,” Keske said. “He would get reversed in middle school while riding legs, and his counter attacking from the neutral position has really improved as well.”

Elk Grove coach Dan Vargas likes what the sophomore Madl is bringing to the sport.

“Grant just absolutely loves to compete and wrestle. He’s a rare breed that will go after anyone and does not shy away from tough competition,” Vargas said.

“His confidence and ability to wrestle through positions is always iimproving, and will continue to serve him well. In his final with (Gosz) our plan was to just to attack, wrestle how he always does, and just focus on what he’s able to do well.”

120 – Tom Miller, Prospect

Tom Miller became the second member of his family to become an MSL conference champ, after his 15-2 major decision over No. 2 seed Sam Santangelo (11-7) from Conant.

Miller would start fast, and finish strong, piling up points all along the way, particularly after his opening period 5-2 advantage. That lead quickly became 9-2, and the Knights senior went to work in search of bonus points to help his club.

“It feels real good to win a conference championship, just like my brother Joe did in 2020,” said Miller.

Joe Miller claimed his title at 138 pounds to help the Knights nab second place honors behind eventual 2020 MSL champion Barrington.

“My plan all along was to lock him up as much as I could, and try to score as many points as I could on top. Things worked pretty good for me in my final,” said Miller, who defended an attempted ankle pick from Santangelo when the two began the third period in neutral. After successfully stopping the Santangelo shot, Miller scored a takedown to make it 11-2 before adding a near fall with 30 seconds left to make it 14-2.

126 – Brian Beers, Barrington

A two-time state qualifier and now three-time MSL champ, Brian Beers (32-4) made an early lead stand up when the Barrington senior defended with all his might to defeat Schaumburg junior, Caden Kirchner (26-6) 3-0 to claim the 126-pound trophy.

“That first takedown in the first period was big – especially against Caden, who is so long,” offered Beers, who earlier in the season defeated Kirchner 1-0.

“I expected a low-scoring, defensive match so again, that’s why scoring first was so important. Plus, it gave me the chance to ride out the period, and just work as hard as I could to keep the lead, and make him work harder than he wanted to,” said Beers, who with this win now has 141 career victories.

There were six stalemate calls in this contest, the last coming shortly after Beers, who started down to begin the third period scored a late escape to make it 3-0.

“I was looking to sink a half to add to my lead, but he fought hard – so I just worked hard to keep him down, and not allow him any chance to score in the last 30 seconds or so,” said Beers.

“Brian’s defense and positioning were very good in his final. He wrestled a smart match against Caden, who is a very good wrestler,” said Broncos head coach Dave Udchik.

132 – Will Baysingar (Prospect)

When Will Baysingar squashed the competition to win at the 61st Mudge-McMorrow Invite inside his own fieldhouse, he was quick to say that he was happy with the title, but it was back to his 24-7 approach to the sport to further enhance his game.

After another dominating tournament performance where the Prospect junior overwhelmed the competition to earn his third major, Baysingar accepted gratulations before turning the conversation around to talk about his lone defeat of the season.

Baysingar ran his record to a dazzling 39-1 when he recorded a pair of falls in advance of his 12-3 major decision over Maddox Khalimsky (25-6) of Fremd, who came in as the No. 9 man at 132, and fourth-place medal winner at the IWCOA state tournament.

“It’s great to win a second MSL title against a quality opponent, and to help my team stay in the race for a conference championship, but my 9-4 loss to Kannon Webster (Washington) at the Flavin is something that will make me work even harder, in and away from the room,” said Baysingar, an IWCOA state champion last year who is No. 4 at 126.

“That loss exposed a few things that I need to address. So while you never want to take a loss, that’s one that I’ll learn from in order to fine tune some things,” said Baysingar, who will join Webster in the fall of 2023 at the University of Illinois.

Intense, focused, with wonderful speed and finishing ability, Baysingar added a near-fall towards the end of the first period to go up 5-0, then scrambled free of a Khalimsky midway through the second period to make it 10-1 en route to victory.

138 – Phil Chapa, Barrington

Phil Chapa (29-9) would breathe some life into the Broncos’ chances of holding off Conant for a top four finish when he recorded a well-deserved 13-9 decision over Lennon Steinkuehler (30-5) from Prospect.

After the opening period ended level at 5-5, the two engaged for the next four minutes as they kept the scoreboard operator alert, and ready to add points as they came fast and furious.

“We knew Lennon was a big time thrower, so my tie-ups were important, and something I had to do really well,” said Chapa.

“It was a little more scoring that I expected, but I felt good throughout and I was ready to compete,” Chapa said. Chapa enjoyed an 11-7 advantage with a minute left before a takedown with 17 seconds remaining ensured Chapa’s 100th career win, and a greeting party from his teammates after his arm was raised.

“Phil is a hard worker, who has been a three-year starter. He battled injuries this entire season but he came back to get himself a conference championship,” said Udchik.

Chapa, who would like to continue to wrestle on the collegiate level next fall, has Bradley and the Milwaukee School of Engineering listed as two of his favorites.

145 – Charlie Fifield, Fremd

It took just over six minutes for Charlie Fifield (35-4) to give Fremd its third individual title, and his second straight major when his takedown in the first extra session decided the 145-pound weight class.

The Vikings senior unlocked the key to his MSL crown when his takedown near the edge broke a 1-1 match with rival Damien Puma (Prospect, 27-8) to give the Vikings star a 3-1 decision.

“Every time Damien and I have wrestled, the matches have been very close. I beat him 5-4 earlier this year so I expected this one to be just as hard-fought and close,” said Fifield, a state qualifier in 2020 with 39 victories, before he tore both ACL’s to erase his junior season.

Fifield would book his spot in the finals with back-to-back tech-falls, giving him 15 on the year.

“Charlie’s hand fighting, neutral defense, and finding ways to win tight matches late in the action are just three areas that we’ve seen improvement in him,” said Fremd coach Jeff Keske.

“His commitment, dedication, and work ethic are second to none, witnessed by his determination in coming back from two ACL surgeries.”

The University of Illinois recruit has an eye-popping 85 near falls, as well as 217 near-fall points thus far, plus 98 takedowns.

“It was nice to win an MSL championship and to see the team do well also, but there’s still a lot ahead of us to work for,” said Fifield, No. 6 in the IWCOA rankings.

152 – Ethan Stiles, Conant

Fresh off his triumphant return from his championship run at the prestigious Doc’ Buchanan tournament in California, Conant junior Ethan Stiles (21-1) entered this tournament as the prohibitive favorite to collect an MSL crown.

Stiles, the No. 2 man in the most recent IWCOA rankings, didn’t disappoint. The former Montini Catholic star and IWCOA state championclosed out a stubborn Connor Munn (25-9) of Prospect in the final with an 18-6 major decision.

“I would have liked to make it three pins on the day to finish strong, and to help my team earn bonus points, but I’m still happy with winning it all. Now it’s time to turn my attention to the state series,” said Stiles, third in the state in 2020 at Montini, and second most recently at the Dvorak, where he dropped a 7-3 decision in the final to former Montini teammate and the current No. 1 man in 2A at 152, Braden Stauffenberg.

“You always learn a few things from a loss, things that I’ll need to work on, and this is the time of the year to clean things up,” offered Stiles, who at the Doc’ Buchanan, beat Noah Tolentino from California state power, Clovis, 3-0 at 148 pounds.

160 – CJ Gilbert, Conant

Stiles’ victory inspired upper-weight success for the Cougars, who used a trio of wins after the Stiles triumph to help ensure a well-deserved fourth place finish just ahead of division rival Barrington.

Senior CJ Gilbert (24-6) overcame an early 4-2 deficit to top seed Billy Spassov (32-8) to register a stunning second period pin (2:26) over the Hersey captain to claim his first ever MSL crown.

“It feels really good right now to win a conference title,” admitted Gilbert.

“I knew from before that (Spassov) is very aggressive, and looks to shoot a lot, but I stayed composed. I thought I defended his shots and after I posted him up, and turned him onto his back, I felt confident I could finish him off.”

“CJ was really looking forward to this tournament as he had the opportunity to avenge two early season losses (to Fremd’s Matt Meehan and Spassov) and that’s exactly what he did in his semifinal and final,” Conant coach Andrew Guilde said of Gilbert, who is a 2021 IWCOA state qualifier.

“We knew his final would be tough, and (Spassov) is as tough as they come, but CJ is dangerous from everywhere he’s a pinner. Once he gets his hands locked, he finishes matches.”

170 – Cody Sebo, Conant

Conant’s Cody Sebo (21-9) followed up Gilberts’ win with a hard fought 7-6 decision over top seed Jalen Curtis (24-4), holding off the talented Hoffman Estates junior to claim his first MSL title.

“Sebo really put a complete match together for his final,” began Guilde.

“Curtis is tough, he’s fast, strong, and very technical, so we knew going into the finals that Cody has to wrestle six minute hard, and that’s exactly what he did.”

“This is something I’ve been working for for a long time, so to win a conference championship in my senior year means a lot to me,” said Sebo, who is planning on a studying finance in college, while looking to continue to wrestle, perhaps at the University of Dubuque, should the opportunity present itself.

“It was important to get the first takedown in my final, and to turn up the pressure on him in the second period. When he was able to get closer towards the end of the match, I just stayed calm and positive to hold onto the victory,” said Sebo, who led 6-1 after two periods, using a double to grab the lead, before Curtis came back within one (7-6) with a takedown of his own with 17 seconds remaining.

“It’s all about Sebo believing in himself. That’s really been the only missing ingredient in his game but with each match, his confidence continues to grow,” added Guilde.

182 – Ayden Salley, Barrington

Ayden Salley proved he belonged with the big club after his marvelous effort at the prestigious Rex Whitlach, just before the new year, when the Barrington sophomore came home with a second-place medal at 182 pounds.

Salley went one better when he captured his first major of the campaign, and first-ever league title when he registered a fall at 3:30 over AJ Hernandez (Conant, 18-10) to give his club its third championship of the tournament.

“It’s kind of tough being a sophomore at this weight class. There’s a lot to learn, and you are going up a lot of guys who are older and have more experience,” began Salley, now 23-6 on the season.

“But we have a great coaching staff and I have a great partner in the room with Zach (Meyer), and a lot of support from my teammates, so that’s made it all a little easier for me.”

Salley gave up the sport in second grade then returned two years later, thanks in part to his uncle, Jason Salley, an IHSA referee, who was the first to greet his nephew upon his victory.

Salley said he watches plenty of film of his opponents, which in this particular contest would help in his preparation.

“I watch so much video,” he said. “It helps with my confidence and in knowing what the plan will be before I go out there.”

Salley opened up a 5-0 advantage with a nicely-executed near-fall near the edge in the first period. He conceded two points early into the second period to make it 6-3, before a scramble and flurry led to his pin.

“Ayden had a great tournament for himself, he’s officially in the big leagues,” Barrington coach Dave Udchik said.

195 – Henry Chang, Conant

Yet another Conant senior helped the cause for head coach Andrew Guilde’s club when a marvelous overtime effort from Henry Chang resulted in a hard-fought 11-9 victory over No. 2 seed Zach Meyer (31-6) from Barrington.

Meyer, who recently committed to play football at the University of Chicago, appeared to be in control of the contest when he cradled up Chang to increase his second period advantage to 7-2. Chang escaped and earned a takedown with 9 seconds left in the period to make it 7-5. 

Meyer executed an escape to make it 8-5 in advance of the third period.

“I had to be more defensive in that second period in order to hang in the match. I knew going in that he likes to go heavy on the legs, but when we got to overtime it felt to me like he was getting tired. So I went outside and locked him down to get the takedown to win,” said Chang, who was up 9-7 in the third period before Meyer drew back even with 30 seconds left in regulation.

“Chang is all heart, he loves to compete, and will put everything he has into every second that he’s out there,” says Guilde.

“This final was a rematch from last week where Henry won, and although he got himself into that early hole, he’s a guy who never quits and he just kept coming. Because of that he was able to get himself another well-deserved victory in overtime.”

Chang (24-6) plans to major in Data Sciences at either Purdue, Illinois or Wisconsin in the fall.

220 – Manny Mejia, Hersey

There were plenty of reasons for the Hersey team victory, but head coach Joe Rupslauk says it all begins with his 220-pound champion Manny Mejia, No. 8 in the IWCOA rankings.

“Manny is such a quiet and humble guy. He really doesn’t like to talk about himself or his accomplishments. For him it’s family first, and his family is this team, and he just loves to be with his teammates grinding,” said Rupslauk of his senior, who pinned his way to his second major of the season.

“Manny has just scratched the surface in his wrestling career. He just goes out and wrestles whoever is across from him,” Rupslauk said.

“He does not care who is ranked, and where. His mental approach to the sport is what is important to him at all times. He’s an athlete whose offense has really opened up on his feet, and fundamentally he can attack in so many different ways.”

With his three victories, Mejia (38-5) is now within four wins of assistant coach Hunter Rollins, who in 2013 went 42-2 on his way to a second place state finish at 160 pounds.

“Hunter has been a huge part of Manny’s success. He made all-tournament recently at The Clash, and we expect his to compete for a state medal and to continue to work hard, and improve in order to help lead our team forward,” said Rupslauk.

Despite his loss in the final to Mejia, junior Casey Bending (Fremd, 33-9) enjoyed a wonderful day which included two hard fought decisions to help him advance.

Bending won his first major title of the season just before the new year at the Berman Holiday Classic at host Palatine.

285 – Kehinde Akintunde, Hoffman Estates

In the wild and unpredictable world of the heavyweight division it was, well, wild and unpredictable.

Oleg Simakov (Hersey, 32-11) and Sean Mitchell (Prospect, 20-3) may have been the clear favorites to reach the final but they found themselves on the short end of things when the unknown junior from Hoffman Estates, Kehinde Akintunde, stunned both on his way to the first Hawks league championship since 2009.

Akintunde, who came to the United States three years ago from Nigeria, pinned the top two seeds in winning his MSL title. He pinned Mitchell in the final at 3:29 to end this tournament in style.

“Kehinde is a great athlete, who also plays football, and was encouraged to wrestle. For a first-year wrestler, he had himself quite a day,” said a proud Leo Clark, the Hawks head coach.

“I am really glad my football coaches told me to wrestle. It’s been a lot of fun and I really enjoy the sport. I feel with my quickness, speed and athleticism, I can have some success in my first year in the sport,” said Akintunde, who came in at 234 pounds.

“Kehinde has come a long way in a short time, and he’s beginning to figure things out with his hips, and positioning,” Clark said. “But he knows there’s a lot more to learn if he wants to be able to compete with the big boys.”

Akintunde (21-13) who plays on both sides of the line for the Hawks football team, pinned his way into the final from his No. 4 seed spot in the bracket, including top the top seed (Simakov) in his semifinal at 1:54.

The Hawks claimed the MSL crown in 2009, with Patrick Scully (119), Tommy Wadas (145), Andrew Petit (160) and heavyweight, Mike Eisele all winning individual titles on that day.

Scully and Petit would later advance into the state tournament.

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

By Patrick Z. McGavin
For the IWCOA

SUMMIT—Lemont was ready to make a statement.

The Indians are still the defending state champions until proven otherwise.

“There have definitely been high expectations since the beginning of the year,” said coach Erik Murray, who took over for the retired John St. Clair last year.

The Indians won the first state championship in program history by defeating four-time defending state champion Washington 30-26 in the Class 2A State Dual Meet at Bloomington in February, 2020.

With the pandemic wiping out the state dual series, Lemont remains the last team standing.

Lemont made the first statement of the opening salvo by dominating the South Suburban Conference Meet Saturday at Argo.

The Indians had six individual champions to run away with the team title with 224.50 points.

Lemont had nine wrestlers reach the finals.

With three individual champions, Oak Forest was second with 162 points.

Evergreen Park (88), Oak Lawn (80), Hillcrest (78), Reavis (75) and Shepard (72) followed.

The South Suburban is made up of 14 teams, with two seven-team divisions, the Red and Blue.

“When we won the state title two years ago as sophomores, the seniors were the leaders,” senior Mo Khalil said.

“The younger guys just wanted to make them proud.”

Lemont is ranked No. 4 in Class 2A. Washington is No. 1, followed Joliet Catholic and Deerfield.

Lemont (19-3) has lost only to Deerfield and 3A programs McHenry and Stevenson.

Lemont and Joliet Catholic are set to face off at the LaSalle-Peru Regional.

“We have a good group of homegrown kids,” Murry said. “We have six seniors who are leading the way.

“When you get that taste of the championship, you obviously want to get back there.”

The 2022 South Suburban Conference Champions

106–Zack Koschnitzki, Reavis

Apart from his youth, sophomore Zack Koschnitzki shows a rare combination of athleticism, range and composure in such a young athlete.

“I’m long for a 106-pounder, and I just go for the legs,” he said. “Any time I can go for easy shots, I am going to go for them.”

Koschnitzki improved his record to 27-5 by dominating the lowest weight class with his savvy, speed and superior technique. 

He repeatedly got into the legs of his opponents.

He captured the championship with a fall 1:47 over Lemont freshman Julian Vallianatos.

Waiting for his opportunity, he executed a deft cradle to close out the match.

“I just put in the legs, and I went from there,” he said. “I never wrestled him before. I was not really familiar with him.

“I saw that it was open.”

He was fresh and ready. 

Having earned a bye into the semifinals, Koschnitzki posted the 9-0 major decision over Hillcrest’s Elijah Wofford in qualifying for the final.

Vallianatos (16-12) recorded a first period fall of Dutchess King of T.F. South to reach his half of the championship bracket.

Wofford (5-2) earned third-place with the fall over Argo’s Juan Villa at 1:09.

113–Juan Jurado, Eisenhower

For drama and last second excitement, nothing topped what Eisenhower senior Juan Jurado pulled off against Reavis senior Vladimir Vasquez.

Their rematch turned out to be the most pulse-pounding final.

“We wrestled in the first tournament of the year, and he beat me 6-3, or 9-6, something like that,” Jurado said.

“My dad asked me at the beginning of the season whether I was going to win one more tournament before I graduated.”

Jurado (22-4) provided a remarkable family moment.

Seeming out of answers in the closing seconds, he pulled out a reversal with five seconds remaining for the stunning 4-3 victory.

The match played out like a dance between the two rivals. They circled and moved around each other.

Neither athlete quite secured the advantage through the first two periods. Vasquez (26-9) appeared to grab the irreversible momentum with a takedown for the 3-1 lead with just under a minute remaining.

Jurado was awarded a point.

Still, Vasquez appeared in control as the clock worked toward all zeroes.

“Honestly, I don’t even know how to explain it,” Jurado said. “It was just a burst of energy.

“Ever since that first match, I have been working on my training and my conditioning.

Jurado earned a bye into the semifinal, and he posted a late third period pin over Argo’s David Gonzalez.

Vasquez also had a first-round bye and dispatched Lemont’s Omar Khraiwesh with a .33 second fall.

Gonzalez posted the first period fall of Khraiwesh at 1:00 in finishing third.

120–Tyler Evitts, Oak Forest

Progress is not always measured in linear movements.

Thankfully, Oak Forest senior Tyler Evitts had the ideal means of recording his growth.

“Every tournament I have competed in since my sophomore year I have gone up in placement,” Evitts said.

“My sophomore year, I took fourth here, so this was another improvement.”

Listed in the honorable mention in 2A, Evitts (16-3) flashed an excellent combination of power, athleticism and grace.

He effectively wore down Oak Lawn’s Eduardo Nunez, Jr., 6-0, for the title.


“I was really good on top today,” Evitts said. “I was able to ride the legs of my opponents, and control the different matches I had.”

Evitts posted the third period fall of TrayVonne Robert’s of T.F. South in the semifinals.

“I was able to hold them down, and tire them out,” Evitts said.

Nunez, Jr. (21-5) qualified for the final by defeating Bremen’s Charles Portis 6-4 in the semifinals.

Portis (14-9) captured third-place with a first period fall of Robert’s (14-9).

126–Caden Musselman, Oak Forest

On paper, the showdown here suggested the best matchup of the day with No. 4 Caden Musselman of Oak Forest against Lemont’s No. 10 Sam Schuit.

Musselman (22-2) was too fast, quick, explosive and elusive for the talented 
Schuit (27-7).

Relying on his jet quickness and length to control Schuit from distance, Musselman posted the highly-impressive second period fall at 2:53.

Musselman put in one of the most exhilarating performances of the day, making fast work of Steven Paredes of T.F. South in the quarterfinals (0:19) and Richards’ Muath Jilani (0:46) in the semifinals.

Schuit also dominated in his part of the bracket.

He posted equally strong performances over Evergreen Park’s Axel Rubalcava (0:39) and Tinley Park’s Alfonso Insalaco (1:31).

Insalaco (23-4) responded with two dominant victories, posting a fall over Bremend’s Gavin Jeronimo in the semifinal wrestlebacks.

He captured third place with a first period fall over Rubalcava (17-7).

132–Johnny O’Connor, Lemont

Junior Johnny O’Connor (24-9) underscored the Indians’ top to bottom dominance.

Ranked No. 6, he proved virtually untouchable in mastering his bracket. His quickness, athleticism and power overwhelmed the opposition.

He posted the fall over Oak Forest’s Joe Loranger at 2:00 for his own conference title.

He also had a second-period fall of Argo’s Paul Hernandez in the quarterfinals.

He qualified for the final with a 15-0 technical fall over Eisenhower’s Kris Barrera in the semifinals.

Loranger (10-7) was one of the revelations of the day. 

He stunned Tinley Park’s Andrew Koepke with a second period fall in the quarterfinals.

He also recorded a fall of Richard’s Luke Kawa to reach the final.

Hernandez (9-3) posted the first period fall of Koepke (25-8) to capture third place.

138–Evan Schiffman, Lemont

Sometimes the best laid plans never quite materialize in clear or obvious ways.

Lemont senior Evan Schiffman had to improvise. He also had to hold clear to his own impulses.

“From my freshman through my junior year, I was really sticking with my carries,” he said.

“That is what has always pushed me through.”

He had to recalibrate on the fly after his opponents worked to take away his trademark action.

“This year I haven’t been hitting it as much, which is probably why I lost two of the matches I lost this year.

“I have been working it out in practice room, and hitting that carry again.”

Practice made perfect.

Ranked No. 6, Schiffman (27-5) put it all together with a seamless and beautiful performance.

He posted three falls, the most impressive coming in just 1:06 against Hillcrest’s talented sophomore Jovan Williams in the final.

“I have been working really hard with my coaches about perfecting all the different kinds of finishes out of the carry,” Schiffman said.

“Today I just executed it better than I have.”

He also posted falls of Evergreen Park’s Adam Viravec (2:17) and Richards’ Dom Paul (1:07) in the preliminary rounds.

“Hopefully I will be able to carry this momentum into the state series,” he said.

Williams (13-2) posted a fall over Tinley Park’s Sam Zayyad and a tight 4-3 decision over Oak Forest’s Hunter Hale to win the lower bracket.

Paul (13-5) had the first period fall of Hale (14-13) to capture third place.

145–Nate Pacetti, Eisenhower

Senior Nate Pacetti delivered the Cardinals’ second champion by defeating Oak Forest’s Connor Nowicki 10-5.

Pacetti (23-2) showed a bracing combination of speed, athleticism and power.

He recorded falls of Evergreen Park’s Ryan Serna (1:22) and Richards’ Xavier Lara (2:45) in dominating the upper bracket.

Nowicki, listed in the 2A honorable mention for his weight class, posted falls over Oak lawn’s John Parquette (2:41) and Lemont’s Noah O’Connor (3:41).

Noah O’Connor (18-14) recovered for the strong first period pin of Lara (17-9) for third place.

152–Damari Reed, Shepard

The obvious question for Shepard’s Damari Reed is what do you do for an encore?

The defending state champion at 152 pounds is making his bid for being one of the state’s top wrestlers, regardless of weight or class.

“I just want to stay focused,” he said. “My end goal is defending my state title and being a two-time champion.

“That’s my motivation to keep going.”

His blend of athleticism, quickness and strength is breathtaking to behold.

He put on a master class with his sharp and mesmerizing second period fall over Oak Forest’s gifted Ivan Corral in the final.

Reed (27-0) posted quick falls over Tinley Park’s Fawzi Zayyad (0:25) and and Hillcrest’s Latrell’s Hall (0:47) in the lead up to the final.

“I think I am a really smart wrestler as far as my selection of moves,” Reed said. “I think on the fly, and I understand my opponents really well.”

His five first period takedowns offset the three escapes he allowed of Ivan Corral in establishing a 10-3 advantage.

His cradle at the start of the second period proved the exclamation point to a remarkable day in which he was named the most outstanding wrestler.

“That’s my go-to move when I want to put a guy away,” he said.

Ivan Corral (21-6) posted falls of Evergreen Park’s Dane Bik and Richard’s Mike Taheny to qualify for the final.

Taheny (21-7) posted the fall, in just 0:29, over Bremen’s Konya Lewis-Hunt, for third place.

160–Max Corral, Oak Forest

After his older brother, Ivan Corral, ran into the buzzsaw in the form of the incomparable Damari Reed, sophomore Max Corral gave the necessary answer.

“I have been wrestling with my brother for a long time, and we have really good competition,” Max Corral said.

Max Corral edged Oak Lawn’s Rakan Eid 5-1 for the championship.

“It feels great because my brother did not win the conference when he was a sophomore,” he said.

After posting a fall in the quarterfinals, Max Corral defeated Tinley Park’s Nate Cossyleon 2-0 in his semifinal.

“I like to throw in under hooks, and get shots out of that,” Max Corral said. “That’s what I was able to do.”

Eid (7-2) upset Evergreen Park’s Aseal Rubalcava with the first period fall. He also defeated Argo’s Luke Wesolowski 9-7 to reach the final.

Rubalcava (25-4) dominated Wesolowski (15-9) for third place with a fall at 0:28.

170 pounds—Alex Tagler, Lemont

Lemont senior Alex Tagler is a known commodity. 

Ranked No. 5, he is been one of the fixtures and a direct link to the state championship team.

He also is not afraid to try and reinvent himself. It is how he stays fresh and impactful.

“One of the things I have become very conscious of is working at a much faster pace,” he said.

“I talked a lot with my coaches about pushing the tempo and scoring my points.”

That strategy paid off with a strong 10-3 victory over Oak Lawn junior Hani Odeh in the final.

The first period ended scoreless. Odeh used his superior length to frustrate Tagler.

A late second period reversal put Tagler in charge. Using his superior strength, he made a dramatic charge for a late takedown and three-point near fall for the final margin.

“I was trying to push the pace, and I went heavy to his head and it worked out,” Tagler said.

“He went to his back.”

After a first-round bye, Tagler posted a pin of Richards’ Jeremiah Gill to reach the final.

Odeh (19-8) had an opening pin and then upset second-seeded Mike Torres of Evergreen Park 10-9 in their semifinal.

Torres (25-3) responded with a first period fall of Reavis’ Anas Everette for third place.

182–Mo Khalil, Lemont

Lemont junior Mo Khalil is the Indians’ highest ranked athlete at No. 4.

He also entered the conference meet with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.

He lost a regular-season dual against Oak Lawn’s Evan Zambrano 4-3.

“I was coming out of a state quarterfinal playoff game in football, and I was not even sure I was going to wrestle that particular dual.”

Khalil had a message for Zambrano. 

“I told him I will see you come conference time.”

Khalil (26-4) exacted his revenge with the 1-0 victory.

He secured the victory by securing his escape with just under a minute remaining in the third period.

Khalil, who was fourth in the state last year, posted a fall in the quarterfinal. He secured the 9-1 major decision over James Williams of Evergreen Park in the semifinals.

“Two years ago, Williams beat me inn the blood round to go downstate because of a bad throw by me,” Khalil said.

“I beat him 5-0 last week in our dual. I just feel like I have made big strides this season.”

Zambrano (27-4) posted consecutive falls to capture the upper bracket.

James Williams (23-5) posted the first period fall of Argo’s Ethan Medel (15-7) for third place.

195–Alex Jackson, T.F. North

Alex Jackson was just trying to catch his breath.

“My arms felt numb,” he said.

A volatile and wild third period showdown with Lemont’s Cole Brannigan had all manner of possibilities.

Jackson utilized his superior quickness for the 6-3 lead into the third period.

A bang-bang sequence, illustrating his fatigue, saw Brannigan pull off a stunning reversal and near fall.

Jackson recovered and executed his own reversal for the 8-7 lead.

He granted No. 8 Brannigan the escape for the 8-8 tie.

His fourth and final takedown proved the difference in the riveting 10-9 victory.

Jackson (13-0) maintained his perfect mark.

“I try to wrestle very smart,” he said. “My conditioning has not been very great this year because we have not been able to practice a lot.

“I like to wrestle slow, and what happened is that he started pushing, and I had to move and slow it down.”

Jackson had two falls to reach the finals.

Brannigan (26-5) also had two impressive pins in the upper bracket.

Hillcrest’s Rodney Sims (6-2) posted the first period fall of Shepard’s Gabe Smith for third place.

220–Tyler Wilms, Lemont

Lemont senior Tyler Wilms proved the immovable object.

Ranked No. 9, he ran over everybody in his path.

Wilms (22-3) needed just over the equivalent of one regulation match to secure the title.

He posted the fall in 1:38 of Shepard’s Niko Bucio for the championship.

He had earlier pins of Oak Forest’s Adam Rickter and T.F. North’s Bryant Bobadilla to qualify for the final.

Bucio (10-6) emerged from the pack to capture the lower bracket.

He edged Angelo Temko of Reavis 5-3 and recorded the fall of second-seeded Eduardo Antunez of Evergreen Park in his semifinal.

Rickter posted the first period fall of Temko for third place.

285–Alex Pasquale, Lemont

Alex Pasquale is young. He also has the savvy to understand the need to stay unpredictable.

“Today I was just trying to do things I haven’t done so far this year,” he said.

Mission accomplished.

Pasquale completed a sharp performance with the fall at 3:08 of Bremen’s Eric Perez-Nava for the individual title.

“I was trying to go for that single, and that worked into my power move, which is how I got most of my pins today,” Pasquale said.

Ranked No. 8, he also posted pins in the two preliminary rounds. 

“This means a lot to me,” he said. “Usually sophomores are not expected to win big tournaments like this, especially at heavyweight.”

Perez-Nava (19-3) also posted falls in the two preliminary rounds

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA 

NEW LENOX – When a coach sees 13 of his wrestlers make trips to the awards stand at one of Illinois’ top tournaments and six of those win titles to help his team to claim the championship in impressive fashion over several other ranked teams, it’s already a great weekend.

Then throw in that you get to enjoy the whole experience while going up against other coaches who either were teammates with you or attended your alma mater, including your brother, and have the final day highlighted by having not just one of your college coaches back but two of them there, with one of those being another brother.

That’s the enjoyable Friday and Saturday that Brendan Heffernan was able to experience at the latest edition of the Illini Classic at Lincoln-Way Central in New Lenox, when his Marist Redhawks turned in their best tournament performance yet for what those involved with the program hope will feature many more special moments throughout the rest of the season.

Marist, which is fifth in Class 3A in Rob Sherrill’s most-recent IWCOA rankings, finished with 274.5 points, placing it well ahead of No. 7 in 3A, St. Charles East, who was the runner-up with 219.5 points, while No. 8 in 3A, Lincoln-Way East, took third place with 179.5 points. This was the RedHawks’ first championship in the Illini Classic since 2016, when they capped a run of three-consecutive titles. The program’s best tournament showings had been third place at DeKalb’s Flavin duals and seventh at the Dvorak.

Plainfield North (120), Bloomington (105), Carl Sandburg (104.5), Lincoln-Way West (103.5), Lincoln-Way Central (99), Providence Catholic (97.5) and Minooka (90.5) rounded out the top-half of the field in the tournament, which featured 12 individuals ranked in the top-10 winning titles as well as nine others in the top-10 who finished second.
The 20-team competition was held at Lincoln-Way Central, which is appropriate since Knights coach Tyrone Byrd initiated the competition that features many teams coached by University of Illinois alumni with 12 teams in 2011 while at Lincoln-Way East and things have grown considerably since then.

A total of 18 head coaches or their assistants were on hand for the unique competition that pays tribute to their alma mater, the U of I, including Pat Heffernan, who was at Illinois at the same time that his brother Brendan was. As has been the case throughout nearly every year, the head coach of the Illini from 1992 to 2009, Mark Johnson, was in attendance to hand out medals and the special Illini singlet to each champion.

As a bonus this year, Jim Heffernan was able to attend for the first time. He was coach Johnson’s assistant from 1993-2009 and then succeeded him as the Illini head coach in 2010 and held that position until last season when he retired and was succeeded by his assistant, Mike Poeta.

“For me, it’s an opportunity to see all of my old guys,” Johnson said. “Of course I like wrestling, but I come up here to see the guys and have fun and joke around. They’re working, but we still have a lot of fun, too. You see what you put in, your legacy that goes on and as they become young men and affect kids in their own right. You get into coaching to make a difference. When you get here, it’s not about who won or who lost, it’s about that time that we spent together. It was good times and the connection goes from me and Jim and now Poeta and all of these guys.

“It’s a very tight-knit bunch of guys. When I talk to people and I’ve been around other programs, I say that one of the things that makes me feel the proudest are these guys. And this thing definitely helps because they’re still close buddies and in contact. The main thing is that it’s about your experience. I know that these men had a great experience at that time of life in our program. We made it fun, were intense and did it by the rules. and hopefully we produced good kids, and now they’re doing that.”

Winning titles for the RedHawks were Owen Dunlap (6-1 at 138), Ricky Ericksen (22-7 at 145), Tommy Boland (26-4 at 160), Jake Liberatore (9-0 at 170), Peter Marinopolous (26-0 at 195) and Ghee Rachal (21-2 at 220). 

Taking third place were Michael Esteban (25-7 at 113) and Luke Liberatore (9-2 at 182) while placing fourth were George Marinopoulos (22-6 at 106), Will Denny (21-7 at 120), Matthew Cornfield (14-9 at 132) and Andrew Dado (16-6 at 152) and Conor Phelan (17-8 at 182) finished fifth. Luka Anoshenko (120), Jesse Herrera (126) and Michael Maloney (285) also won matches for the RedHawks.

Leading Marist in team points were Ericksen (29.5, second), Rachal (28.5, T-third), Boland (28, T-sixth), Jake Liberatore (28, T-sixth), Peter Marinopoulos (27, T-ninth) and Dunlap (24, T-14th). The RedHawks led following the first day by a 108.5-92 margin over St. Charles East while Lincoln-Way East was third at 88.5 heading into Saturday.

“It’s nice to see them coming together as a team,” said Brendan Heffernan of his RedHawks. “It’s really the first time that we’ve basically had all 14 starters in there, so it was good to see what that looked like. And they’re really wrestling with confidence now, which is good. All of these kids have had a long couple of years, so it’s good to see them be able to have some success and to enjoy it, so I’m happy for them in terms of that. Right now, we have a nice group that’s been put together and it’s starting to take shape, which is nice.

“You see a bunch of ex-teammates and college roommates and it’s great to see Mark Johnson here every year. And this was the first time that my brother Jim has been here and my twin brother Pat is the coach at DePaul, and Jason (Potter) and I were freshman-year roommates at the U of I. It was a great idea when it was originally brought up and it’s nice that these Lincoln-Way coaches have been able to execute it and keep it going, so it’s nice. It’s one thing to think about it, and it’s another thing to do it.”

Coach Jason Potter’s runner-up Saints had nine individuals in the top-five on the awards stand and four who advanced to the title mat, with two winning championships.

Leading the way for the Saints was Ben Davino (24-1 at 120), who received the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler Award after prevailing in a weight class that featured four individuals who were ranked in the top-five in Class 3A or 2A. The Saints sophomore, who’s top-ranked in Class 3A and was an IWCOA champion, led all participants with 30 team points after recording four falls, including pins over Bloomington’s No. 2 in 2A Carson Nishida in the finals and Marist’s No. 5 in 3A Denny in the semifinals.

Also winning a title for the Saints was Tyler Guerra (19-5 at 132) while finishing in second place were Elijah Chiaro (17-2 at 170) and Brandon Swartz (20-6 at 182). Taking third were Ethan Penzato (18-4 at 126), Gavin Connolly (20-4 at 138) and Brody Murray (20-6 at 160) and claiming fifth were Maddox Stieb (4-2 at 145) and Lane Robinson (13-5 at 152) while Anthony Chiaro (13-8 at 195) and Austin Barret (16-9 at 285) both finished sixth.

“We’re clicking and the best part of that is that for the most part, we’re pretty young,” Potter said of his Fighting Saints. “You can see week to week that we are improving and as a coach, that’s what you’re looking for. We’ve stubbed our toes a couple of times, but every one of the kids on our team keep elevating their games and if they fall short in a match, they want to get better. They watch the guy next to them busting their butt and things are happening for them. When we have kids like that who are elite, watching them work hard and then seeing how that translates into performances makes all of these guys want to start to work harder and to do better.

“This is a testament to coach Heffernan and coach Johnson. With them being such good coaches for us, it made us want to aspire to be good coaches for other kids. I think that’s kind of made us raise our game as coaches and I think now our teams kind of show that. It makes itself very competitive, but on top of that, just the environment and being able to see these guys, especially with Johnson and Heff coming up here, too, they’re like families to us. For most of us, it’s like a second dad. So to have that experience and be able to see them at least once a year is fun.They were our role models and that’s why we do what we do. We love coaching because they had such a good impact on us.

“And every day that we step foot in the wrestling room, it’s part of them that’s getting passed on through to the sport of wrestling and the relationships that you build. To have both Heff and Johnson as coaches, they made it clear the whole time that it had more to do than just wrestling. They built relationships with every single guy that they ever coached and that’s why they still know all of their names and they are in contact with them. Probably the biggest impact they had on me is the relationship side of  coaching with kids and using the sport of wrestling to do bigger and better things.”

Kevin Rockett’s third-place Griffins were led by champion Gavin Jones (23-0 at 182), runner-up Jack Marion (27-2 at 152) and third-place finisher Ari Zaeske (20-5 at 170). Jones led his squad with 27 team points. Finishing fourth were Alex Lizak (15-6 at 138), Domanic Abeja (15-6 at 145), Dominic Adamo (19-5 at 160) and Zach Lamonto (7-2 at 182). Placing fifth were Tyson Zvonar (26-4 at 120), Connor Lindaur (23-4 at 195) and Alex Knaperek (18-5 at 285) while Brayden Mortell (18-12 at 113) took sixth.

Shepard’s Damari Reed (22-0 at 152), an IWCOA champion who’s top-ranked in 3A at 152, continued his unbeaten season when he captured a 6-5 decision over Marion in the 152 finals. He was 12th in team points with 26.5 after winning his first three matches by technical fall, which was two more than any other individual had.

Plainfield North’s Jacob Macatangay (33-0 at 126), an IWCOA champion, remained unbeaten after capturing a 4-3 victory in the 126 finals over Providence Catholic’s Billy Meiszner (20-4 at 126) in a matchup of the third- and sixth-ranked individuals at their weights in 3A. Macatangay was tied for ninth in team points with 27.

The other team in the tournament that had more than one champion was Carl Sandburg, who received titles from Ryan Hinger (20-4 at 113) and Kevin Zimmer (5-0 at 285). Hinger tied for third with 28.5 team points while Zimmer tied for sixth with 28 team points. Also winning a championship was Lincoln-Way West’s Matt Soltis (22-10 at 106).

Bloomington, which is ranked 11th in 2A, had four second-place finishers. They were Carson Nishida (28-4 in 120), Dylan Watts (24-6 at 132), Jacob Barger (28-7 at 145) and Jack Weltha (25-2 at 220).

Other second-place finishers were Carl Sandburg’s Rocco Hayes (16-9 at 106), Schaumburg’s Callen Kirchner (23-4 at 113), Lincoln-Way Central’s Conor Smetana (28-4 at 138), Plainfield North’s Jared Gumila (33-3 at 160), Harvard’s Nathan Rosas (28-3 at 195) and Lincoln-Way West’s Jake Ziemniarski (22-10 at 285).

Other close finals were at 106 where Soltis edged Hayes 3-2, at 138 where Dunlap prevailed 2-1 over Smetana and at 170, where Jake Liberatore won 3-1 over Elijah Chiaro.

Here is what the official program for the tournament had to say about former University of Illinois coaches Mark Johnson and Jim Heffernan:

Mark Johnson – 1992-2009 (Head coach): Mark Johnson’s career is unmatched at Illinois, as he finished with the most wins, NCAA Champions, All-Americans and NCAA qualifiers of any coach in Illini history. He was named the National Coach of the Year in 1995 and 30 of his 45 All-Americans came in his last 10 years. He led the Orange and Blue to a team title at the 2005 Big Ten Championships, Illinois’ first Big Ten crown in 53 years, and a pair of Big Ten dual titles in 2005 and 2006. He also guided the Illini to a No. 1 national ranking in 2004.

Jim Heffernan – 2010-2021 (Head Coach); 1993-2009 (Assistant Coach): Considered one of the most prominent collegiate coaches in the nation, Jim Heffernan coached 73 All-Americans, 215 NCAA qualifiers, 11 individual NCAA champions and 20 Big Ten champions during his time at Illinois. He helped lead the Illini to Top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships 13 times. And during his coaching career in Champaign, the Illini had at least one All-American on the roster in 28-consecutive seasons. 

Current head coaches who competed at the U of I who were on hand in addition to the Heffernan brothers and Byrd were Riverside-Brookfield’s Nick Curby, Niles West’s Anthony Genovesi, Lincoln-Way West’s Brian Glynn, Bishop McNamara’s Jake Kimberlin, Schaumburg’s Mike Levanti, Carl Sandburg’s Clinton Polz, St. Charles East’s Jason Potter and Providence Catholic’s Don Reynolds. Assistants with the programs that also were Illini include Providence Catholic’s Keith Healy, Carl Sandburg’s Tony Siebert, St. Charles East’s Joe Barczak, Marist’s Deuce Rachal, Minooka’s Matt Harding, Morris’ Jon Lanning and Reavis’ Eric Novak.

Here’s a breakdown of the 2022 Illini Classic champions and their weight classes:

106 – Matt Soltis, Lincoln-Way West

For the second time this season, Matt Soltis came up with a hard-earned 3-2 victory over Rocco Hayes in an important matchup in a major tournament.
Last month, the Lincoln-Way West senior claimed a semifinals win over the Carl Sandburg freshman enroute to a championship at 106 at Hinsdale Central’s Whitlatch. On Saturday, Soltis edged Hayes 3-2 in the 106 finals to capture the title of the Illini Classic, giving him two first-place finishes in his two finals appearances. Soltis (22-10) earned his spot on the title mat with a 5-3 semifinals victory over another Carl Sandburg freshman, Madden Parker, after opening the tournament with a pair of falls.
“This was our rematch from the Whitlatch, but luckily I came out on top,” Soltis said. “The third period was really hard but I just persevered with what we’ve been working on all week. At the start of the season it was a little rocky but we just got in the practice room and we worked on it and now we’re back and feeling good. Now we’re working toward conference and the state series. I’m ready to see what I can do and hopefully make it downstate and then place there.”
Hayes (16-9), who also took second at Conant and was third at Hinsdale Central, had a pair of major decisions to start the tournament before beating Harvard senior Brian Hernandez, who’s ranked eighth in Class 1A, by a 5-1 score in the other semifinals match. Parker (18-7) bounced back from his semifinals loss with a fall to advance him to the third-place match, where he pulled out a 2-0 victory over Marist freshman George Marinopoulos (22-6), who posted his best tournament effort of his young career.
Plainfield North freshman Maddox Garbis (29-9) responded to a quarterfinals loss to Hayes by winning three of four matches in the consolation bracket to claim fifth place over Hernandez (14-6) with a 7-4 decision. Garbis also finished fifth at Granite City’s Schmitt while Hernandez won a title at his own invite and was second at Vernon Hills.

113 – Ryan Hinger, Carl Sandburg

Callen Kirchner won titles in his first two trips to the title mat in his initial season while Ryan Hinger settled for second in his tournament debut and was third in his next attempt.
But when the two freshmen clashed in the 113 title match at the Illini Classic, Carl Sandburg’s Hinger, who’s ranked fifth in 3A, finally got his breakthrough when he defeated Schaumburg’s Kirchner by technical fall in 3:44 for his first tournament title following a second at Conant and a third at the Whitlatch to improve to 20-4. The Eagles champion opened with a pair of first-period falls before claiming a 12-4 semifinals victory over Marist freshman Michael Esteban.
“Just hard work and dedication is really all you need and it just comes down to how much you want it and how much time and effort that you put into the sport,” Hinger said. “I really love my coaches because they help me. I just learn new technique and they push me a lot. I definitely like my stamina and how I just keep going at it, you just have to put your head down and work.”
Kirchner (23-4), who finished first at Buffalo Grove and Niles West, won 7-4 in the quarterfinals before recording a fall in 4:45 in the semifinals over Plainfield North sophomore Cayden Amico. The losers in the semifinals bounced back with falls of just under 4:00 in the consolation bracket to advance to the third-place match, where Esteban (25-7) won by injury default over Amico (28-10). It was the best showing for Esteban, who was fifth at the Dvorak, while Amico’s best effort is a second-place finish at Granite City.
In the fifth-place match, DePaul College Prep received its best finish when freshman Max Rosen (19-3) recorded a fall in 2:34 over Lincoln-Way East freshman Brayden Mortell (18-12). Rosen, ranked sixth in 1A, had a title win at Fenton to his credit while Mortell was fourth at Niles West and fifth at Wheaton Warrenville South.

120 – Ben Davino, St. Charles East

Ben Davino is 2-for-2 in Outstanding Wrestler Awards in major Illinois competitions after adding to his 120 championship at the Dvorak with a title at the same weight in the Illini Classic and competed for his his third title with his lone loss in a 24-1 season being in the finals at the Ironman to Marc-Anthony McGowan of New Jersey’s Blair Academy.
The St. Charles East sophomore, who was an IWCOA champion and is top-ranked in 3A, recorded four falls in 7:23 and led all competitors in the field with 30 team points to claim his second OWA following a fall in 1:29 over Bloomington senior Carson Nishida in the title match. His lone fall that didn’t occur in the opening period came in the semifinals, when he needed 2:34 to record a fall against Marist freshman Will Denny.
“It felt good and it was dominant all the way through,” Davino said. “I think there was just one second-period pin, and that was it. Other than that, I’m just having fun out here. I work as hard as I can every day so that I get better every single day. It’s nothing special, just hard work. I love my team. We’re coming together and we’re getting a lot better and we just have a great bond. So I think that we’re going to come out pretty high at the end of the season.”
Nishida (28-4), ranked second in Class 2A and an Illini Classic runner-up in 2020, was hoping to add to titles that he won at Conant, Civic Memorial and Sycamore, but still advanced to the finals for the fourth time in five tournaments following a pair of first-period falls with an 8-2 semifinals victory over Lincoln-Way Central’s Joey Malito, handing the senior his first loss of the season. Malito (32-1), ranked third in 3A and a champion at Glenbrook South and Lincoln who also took third at the Illini Classic in 2020, responded with two wins, including a 5-3 decision in the third-place match over Denny (21-7), who’s ranked fifth in 3A and whose best previous showing was a fifth at the Dvorak. 
Lincoln-Way East freshman Tyson Zvonar (26-4) captured a 14-8 win over Lincoln-Way West sophomore Jase Salin (24-10) for fifth place. Zvonar, son of the school’s very successful football coach, Rob Zvonar, won a title at Wheaton Warrenville South and was second at Niles West while Salin was a runner-up at the Whitlatch.

126 – Jacob Macatangay, Plainfield North

Jacob Macatangay has plenty of decisive victories to his credit in a 33-0 season, but the IWCOA champion also is very adept at pulling out close wins when he needs to, which has especially been the case in his three tournament title matches.
That was once again the case in the finals at 126 at the Illini Classic where the Plainfield North senior claimed a 4-3 victory over Providence Catholic senior Billy Meiszner in a showdown of two of the best at their weight in 3A and also two IWCOA finalists. Macatangay, who’s ranked third, added to title wins at the Dvorak and Granite City, while Meiszner, who’s ranked sixth, was fifth at the Dvorak. Macatangay followed two falls with a 16-5 major decision over St. Charles East junior Ethan Penzato in the semifinals.
Macatangay competed in the finals at the Illini Classic for the third time, also winning a title in 2019 while Meiszner placed fifth in the event two years ago.
“I’m real happy with all of the success that I’ve had,” Macatangay said. “I’ve been wrestling really good competition and am just getting better and better every week. I just like getting pushed in the room by my coach every day and getting a little beat up during practice really pushes me and it drives me to succeed.”
Meiszner (20-4) opened with a fall and added a win by technical fall before claiming a 10-0 major decision over Schaumburg junior Caden Kirchner in the semifinals. Penzato (18-4) bounced back from his semifinals defeat with a fall in 0:50 over Minooka junior Dominic Shiavone (15-2) to claim third place. It was the best tournament showing of the season for both Penzato and Shiavone.
Kirchner (24-4) claimed a 12-0 major decision over Riverside-Brookfield senior Mateo Costello (21-4) in the fifth-place match. Kirchner had title wins at Buffalo Grove and Niles West to his credit while Costello, who was also sixth in the Illini Classic in 2020, is ranked seventh in 2A with a title win at Fenton and runner-up showing at Harvard.

132 – Tyler Guerra, St. Charles East

After just missing out on a medal in the prestigious Ironman in his first tournament of the season, Tyler Guerra has definitely been on a roll in his next two competitions, going 6-1 and finishing third at the Dvorak and then getting a fall, a major decision and a win by technical fall to capture the 132 title at the Illini Classic.
The St. Charles East sophomore improved to 19-5 after capturing his first championship and was one of two title winners and four finalists for the Fighting Saints. After claiming a 17-5 semifinals win over St. Rita’s Sean Larkin, Guerra, who’s in his first year with the Saints, won by technical fall in 2:23 over Bloomington junior Dylan Watts in the 132 finals.
“It feels good and my hard work is finally starting to pay off,” Guerra said. “Coming to St. Charles East has really helped my wrestling career and I got a lot better. It’s awesome since we have a lot of hammers in the room. More than just Ben Davino, there’s Gavin Connolly and Lane Robinson, it’s our whole team and everyone is scrapping. This team, we’re all just so close. and coach Potter is awesome, so I love the program. It’s awesome and I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Watts (24-6), who won a title at Sycamore and was third at Conant, followed up on a pair of falls with a 4-3 semifinals victory over Lincoln-Way Central freshman Caden Harvey. The two semifinals losers were beaten in the wrestlebacks by Minooka sophomore Cale Stonitsch and Marist sophomore Matthew Cornfield and Stonitsch won a 5-0 decision between the two to finish in third place. It was the best tournament performances of the season for the two sophomores.
In the fifth-place match, Larkin (15-6) won 6-4 in sudden victory over Harvey (18-8).

138 – Owen Dunlap, Marist 

As a three-time state qualifier and placewinner in 2020, Owen Dunlap figured to be a key contributor for Marist but prior to this weekend, he had competed in just three matches.
Four matches and four wins later, things are looking very positive for Dunlap (6-1), a senior who’s ranked ninth in Class 3A. He won three close decisions and added a fall in 0:22 in the quarterfinals to claim top honors at 138 after pulling out a 2-1 decision over Lincoln-Way Central senior Conor Smetana in the 138 finals. After winning 5-1 in his first match and then getting the quick fall, he earned his spot in the title match after capturing a 6-4 semifinals victory over St. Charles East sophomore Gavin Connolly. This was the third time that he placed in the Illini Classic, also winning a title in 2020 after taking second in 2019.
“We have a real young team with a lot of talent on it and we’re hoping that we can continue this success down the stretch,” Dunlap said. “And I want to help the team out as much as possible and hopefully we can make a run at state because I think that we have the guys to do so. I can’t wait to get down there, back in Champaign, where there’s a whole different feel, so it definitely will be exciting. We want to go as far as we can. We’re all tight together and if anything bad happens, everyone is there to pick each other up. We’re all there for each other and pushing each other as much as we can and just getting the best out of each other.”
Smetana (28-4), who’s ranked eighth at 132 and also finished second at Glenbrook South and Lincoln and was fourth in the Illini Classic in 2019, earned his third-consecutive trip to the finals with a a pair of pins in just over a minute and then a fall in 0:55 in the semifinals against Minooka junior Elijah Munoz. Connolly (20-4) bounced back from his semifinals loss to Dunlap to claim third place with a fall in 3:43 over Lincoln-Way East freshman Alex Lizak (15-6), who won his first title at Wheaton Warrenville South. 
Munoz (14-7), who previous-best was a sixth at the Whitlatch, took fifth place after winning by technical fall in 3:40 over Plainfield North senior Carter Alexander.

145 – Ricky Ericksen, Marist

Ricky Ericksen made a breakthrough performance by not only becoming one of the four members of his team to win their first tournament titles of the season but it’s the first title of what the freshman hopes is many more during his career.
Ericksen (22-7) recorded a fall in 3:24 in the 145 finals over Bloomington senior Jacob Barger to highlight a weekend where he kicked things off with a win by technical fall and then recorded a pair of first-period falls, including one in 1:02 in the semifinals over Lincoln-Way East sophomore Domanic Abeja. Thanks to those results, Ericksen was second in the entire tournament in team points with 29.5, which was just one-half point behind the leader, who also happened to receive the OWA, St. Charles East’s Ben Davino.
“This feels pretty good,” Ericksen said. “This year has not been going as well as I planned it to, but coming in here, I felt pretty good and showed it out there. I’m trying to get my name out there and get kids to respect me. It’s all about the partners in the room and how they’re getting me better every day and we’re helping each other to get better. I didn’t do as good as I wanted to at the Dvorak, but when I came here, I was ready to go. This team is great. I feel like this could be our year to go out and make a name for ourselves.”
Barger (28-7), who won a title at Conant, advanced to the finals for a second time this season and placed sixth or better for the fifth time. He definitely went the hard route to reach the finals, opening with three-straight decisions, which featured one-point victories in both the quarterfinals and semifinals, edging Harvard senior Ivan Rosas 10-9 in order to reach the title mat, which assured him of an improvement from his third at the Illini Classic in 2020.
Rosas (22-4), who’s ranked sixth in 1A and won a title in his own school’s invite and was second at Leyden and fifth at the Mid-States in Wisconsin, bounced back from the tough semifinals setback to take third place after capturing a 3-0 decision over Abeja (15-6), who was second at WW South’s Ewoldt and third at Niles West. St. Charles East senior Maddox Stieb (4-2) took fifth after claiming a 5-3 win over Plainfield North senior Brody Wyller (24-14).

152 – Damari Reed, Shepard

The IWCOA champion at 152 remained perfect on the season at 22-0 and captured his fourth-straight tournament title but things certainly weren’t easy for him in the 152 finals after he dominated in order to reach the title mat.
The Astros senior, who’s top-ranked in Class 3A and has also won titles at Joliet Central, Berwyn/Cicero Morton and Geneva, captured wins by technical fall in his first three matches, which was two more than anyone else in the field had. That included a semifinals win by technical fall in 4:51 over Marist junior Andrew Dado. But in the title match, Lincoln-Way East senior Jack Marion showed why he had only lost once thus far when he forced Reed to go the full six minutes before he prevailed by a 6-5 score.
“It was a close match, but I had the match under control the whole time,” Reed said. “I have to give it to him since he was a tough opponent and I’m glad that I got a tough match. I always have to fight my way up in some type of way so with me being the number one now, I just have to hold my position and continue to do what I was doing in order to get to the top. My school really appreciates it and supports me a lot as far as being the first state champion in a lot of years. And my friends support me, too, and wish me good luck before my matches and I appreciate that. Ever since I was in eighth grade, it was my goal to at least get two state titles. I’ve got one, now I’ve got to get two.”

Marion (27-2), who’s ranked fifth in Class 3A, competed in his third-straight tournament finals after winning titles at Niles West and WW South’s Ewoldt. He reached the title mat with two falls and a decision, recording a pin in 3:30 over Bishop McNamara junior Luke Christie in the semifinals. Christie (15-2), who’s top-ranked in Class 1A who won a title at Unity in his only other tournament appearance, took third place after winning 5-2 over Dado (16-6), who’s ranked tenth in 3A and turned in his best showing of the season. In 2020, Dado took fifth and Christie was sixth at the Illini Classic. 
In the fifth-place match, St. Charles East junior Lane Robinson (13-5) edged Lincoln-Way West senior Cameron Knepper (24-12) by a 3-2 score. 

160 – Tommy Boland, Marist 

Tommy Boland prevailed over Jared Gumila 11-6 in the 160 championship in a clash of two state-ranked seniors who not only have both placed before at state but also have qualified at least twice.
Marist’s Boland (26-4), a two-time qualifier who took fifth at the IWCOA, is ranked fifth in 3A with a fifth-place showing in the Dvorak his previous-best of the season. Plainfield North’s Gumila (33-3), who’s ranked seventh in 3A, is a three-time qualifier who was fourth in the IHSA in 2020. Boland, who fourth in the Illini Classic in 2020, earned his spot on the title mat with two first-period falls before getting a pin in 3:21 in the semifinals over Lincoln-Way East senior Dominic Adamo.
“I think our team did a great job this weekend,” Boland said. “Our goal was to just go out and have fun, because when you’re having fun, you’re wrestling your best. We have great depth on the whole team and there’s really no weak spots. Whenever we wrestle in practice, we make sure to push each other so that we always are getter better every day. We all want each other to do their best and when everyone is doing their best, then it’s a lot of fun.”
Gumila (33-3), who also was a runner-up at Granite City’s Schmitt and a fourth-place finisher at state in 2020, also opened the tournament with two first-period falls before capturing a 14-5 major decision over St. Charles East sophomore Brody Murray in the semifinals. This was the third time that the Tigers senior placed in the Illini Classic, placing third in both 2020 and 2019.
The two semifinals losers bounced back to compete for third-place with Murray recording a fall in 5:27 over Adamo, who was third in the Illini Classic in 2019 and fifth in the event in 2020. It was the best tournament showing of the season for Murray (20-6), who’s ranked eighth in 3A, while Adamo (19-5) took second place at Niles West and the Ewoldt. In the fifth-place match, Harvard senior Bailey Livdahl (24-8) won by fall in 4:15 over Lincoln-Way Central senior Dustin Kozlowski (13-9). It was the fourth top-six finish for Livdahl, who took third at Leyden while Kozlowski was fifth at Lincoln.

170 – Jake Liberatore, Marist

There was a time when doctors advised Jake Liberatore that he should no longer compete in the sport due to serious issues that he was dealing with involving his stomach.
But the Marist junior was determined to continue on and as his resolve strengthened, so did his health, and Liberatore, who’s ranked sixth in Class 3A, is off to a 9-0 start, which includes a 4-0 effort in the Illini Classic where he opened with three falls before getting a decision to win the 170 title. He beat St. Charles East senior Elijah Chiaro 3-1 in the finals to claim his first tournament championship and now hopes that he’s done battling serious health issues and can finally begin to experience a normal career in the sport.
“It’s just amazing to be back, it’s beyond words,” Liberatore said. “In my freshman year, I was hospitalized and then in my sophomore year I also had COVID. This year I had COVID and my stomach issues again, so I was out for six or seven weeks. They actually told me that I wasn’t going to be able to wrestle again, and I kind of said no. When I was in the hospital, I called my dad and I told him that I wanted to leave and go back to practice. There’s been a lot of ups and downs. But I love the sport. Since I was five years old, I loved watching it and I wanted to be able to compete at the highest level, just like the guys that I was watching.”
Chiaro (17-2), who’s ranked seventh in 3A, also posted his best tournament showing of the season thanks to a major decision, a fall and a 5-4 decision over Lincoln-Way East junior Ari Zaeske in the semifinals. Zaeske (20-5), who also took third at Niles West, recorded a fall in 3:29 in the third-place match over Riverside-Brookfield senior Brock Hoyd (21-4), who has title wins at Fenton and Harvard to his credit. 
In the fifth-place match, St. Rita’s Jon Fulgencio (14-7) recorded a fall in 3:38 over Shepard senior Dominic Chillmon (15-9). 

182 – Gavin Jones, Lincoln-Way East

Gavin Jones admits that many people may not know much about him, but after improving to 23-0 and winning a championship at 182 pounds at the Illinois Classic, it’s a good bet that he will be more on the radar as regular season competition winds down and the postseason discussion heats up.
The Lincoln-Way East senior led the way for his program that took third place in an event that they originally hosted after capturing the title at 182 with a 14-6 major decision over St. Charles East sophomore Brandon Swartz. After recording a quick fall in the quarterfinals, Jones, who’s ranked sixth in 3A and also has a title win at Niles West, captured a 3-1 victory over Griffins teammate, junior Zach Lamonto, in the semifinals to earn his spot on the title mat.
“This year, everything has started to click,” Jones said. “In the past years, I’ve either had problems making the spot or I just haven’t been able to put it together in matches. But this year, I’m pretty proud that I’ve been able to put it together against the higher-ranked guys and guys that I’m not supposed to beat and being the underdog feels pretty good. Last year was kind of so-so since the year was kind of cut off. I had some success at the lower levels but I’ve always been in the same weight class as some of the top guys.”
Swartz (20-6) advanced to the finals with falls in his first two matches and then a 6-2 triumph over Marist junior Luke Liberatore in the semifinals. His best previous showing was seventh at the Dvorak. In the third-place match, Liberatore (9-2) recorded a fall in 3:59 over Lamonto (7-2) for third place to post his best tournament effort of the season.
Like Lincoln-Way East, Marist also got two individuals on the award stand at 182 after sophomore Conor Phelan (17-8) got a fall in 1:36 over Providence Catholic senior Sean O’Connor in the fifth-place match.

195 – Peter Marinopoulos, Marist

After making news a few weeks back as one of the first individuals to go from team manager to Dvorak champion in two years, Peter Marinopolous can now start focusing on bigger things both individually and for his team after claiming top honors at 195 at the Illini Classic.
The Marist junior, who’s second-ranked in Class 3A with a perfect 26-0 record, picked up his second tournament title of the season when he captured an 8-0 major decision over Harvard senior Nathan Rosas in the 195 title match. Marinopoulos followed a fall in the quarterfinals with a 5-3 semifinals victory over Bloomington senior Anthony Curry to become one of six individual champions for the RedHawks, who easily won the title of the 20-team competition by 55 points over St. Charles East.
“I’m very excited,” Marinopolous said. “It’s the first time in a while that I’ve been just dominating everyone. I’m getting into my offense and riding people out and everything has been great. We had six finalists, six that went for third and one that went for fifth, so we’re all doing great. Everyone in the room is super excited about how we would do toward the end of the year and we’re shining right now. It’s very intense, everyone stays focused and there’s no goofing around. We’re all very focused on what we have to do and we’re working on our craft. I think that we’re all going to do great at the end of this year and hopefully come out with the team trophy and that would be great for the program.”
Rosas (28-3), who’s ranked third in Class 1A and has placed fifth at state the past two seasons at 195, won titles at his own school’s meet and at Vernon Hills and now has placed third or better in five-straight tournaments. He followed two falls with an 8-2 semifinals victory over Lincoln-Way East senior Connor Lindaur to reach the finals.
Curry (27-6), who’s ranked fifth in 2A with seconds at Conant, Civic Memorial and Granite City and two thirds in five tournament appearances, claimed third place with a 7-0 decision over Minooka senior Louis Johnson (20-9), who also placed fourth in the Whitlatch. Curry placed fourth in the Illini Classic in 2020. Lindaur (23-4), whose best showing is a third at Niles West, captured fifth-place with a 9-1 major decision over St. Charles East senior Anthony Chiaro (13-8), who had his best tournament finish.

220 – Ghee Rachal, Marist

After placing fourth in the IWCOA and pushing the bar even higher with an eighth-place showing at Fargo in Greco-Roman for champion Team Illinois, Ghee Rachal clearly is focused on the big picture as he prepares to make his third appearance in state competition.
The RedHawks senior is 21-2 and improved upon his previous-best, a third-place showing at the Dvorak, when he claimed top honors at the Illini Classic at 220 with a 13-5 major decision over Bloomington senior Jack Weltha. He advanced to the finals with a pin and a win by technical fall in 4:25 over Lincoln-Way West senior Michael Sneed. Beside being one of six RedHawks champs and the second-leading scorer in team points for the first-place team with 28.5 points, Rachal has plenty of U of I connections since his brother, Deuce, a Marist assistant, competed there, and twin brothers, Baan and We, are currently with the Illini. 
“Two of my brothers are twins and they go to the U of I now and one graduated and he coaches at Marist now,” said Rachal, who was a runner-up in the last Illini Classic in 2020. “I feel pretty good, I just have to win state. It takes hard work and fixing mistakes, like watching out for cradles.I think that we can win team state this year. We like to get ourselves ready for matches. I’ll talk to someone and tell them that it’s just a match and there’s no nerves and we get 100 percent.”
Weltha (25-2), ranked second in Class 2A with title wins at Sycamore and Conant and a second at Civic Memorial where he suffered his other defeat, 6-5, to Waterloo’s top-ranked Jordan Sommers, earned his spot in the finals with two falls, with the last of those coming in 4:42 in the semifinals over Providence Catholic senior Liam McDermott. The Purple Raiders senior placed fifth at the last Illini Classic.
McDermott (33-3), who’s ranked third in 3A with a title at Antioch and a fifth at the Dvorak, bounced back from his semifinals loss to claim third place, just as he did in the last Illini Classic in 2020, with a 4-1 decision over Sneed (20-7), who turned in his best tournament finish. In the fifth-place match. Carl Sandburg senior Yazan Arafeh recorded a fall in 1:22 over Minooka senior Josh Gunther.

285 – Kevin Zimmer, Carl Sandburg

After being disappointed with a second-place finish as a sophomore and not getting the chance to compete in IHSA competition last season, Kevin Zimmer is focused on the big prize as he made his return to the mat for his senior year after recovering from an injury.
Ranked third in Class 3A, Carl Sandburg’s Zimmer used three falls and a decision to capture the 285 title at the Illini Classic and improve to 5-0 in the process. In the title match, he recorded a fall in 4:13 over Lincoln-Way West senior Jake Ziemniarski, which followed a 9-3 semifinals decision over Lincoln-Way East senior Alex Knaperek.
“This is my first full week back and I had two matches right before this tournament,” Zimmer said. “It’s been seven or eight months too long, I’ve been ready to get back to sports. It was long and tough, but I stayed positive and kept a good attitude, looking at the main goal of a bracket board at the end of the season. In the past three or four weeks, I’ve been going full go, my cardio is good and I feel good. I feel super fresh and this is like the start of the season for me and I get it right for the state series, so that’s awesome.”
Ziemniarski (22-10), who’s ranked eighth in 3A and whose previous best finish was a sixth at the Whitlatch, followed two falls with a 4-2 win by sudden victory over Lincoln-Way Central senior Braeden Barrett (31-4) in the semifinals. Providence Catholic’s RJ Schneider (25-11), wrestled back from a quarterfinals loss to Ziemniarski to claim third-place with a 5-2 victory over Barrett, who was a runner-up at Glenbrook South and Lincoln.
In the fifth-place match, Knaperek (18-5), who was second at the Ewoldt and third and third at Niles West, claimed a 3-1 decision over St. Charles East junior Austin Barrett (16-9), who had his best finish of the season.

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

By Mike Garofola

For the IWCOA

In its heyday, when the circus came to town, people would drive from miles around to be treated to hours of entertainment never seen before.

The sport of girls wrestling had one of its most entertaining days of the year play out Saturday, as 26 teams and over 150 wrestlers descended on Hoffman Estates, thrilling fans for hours with quality and exciting competition.

Oak Park and River Forest would lose its day-long lead late in the day to Schaumburg, before sisters Tiffany and Trinity White won their respective weight classes to help the Huskies jump up and over Schaumburg to help OPRF lift the championship trophy by a mere four points (187-184). BRACKETS

“This was just a great tournament, well-run, and one that offered a complete tournament format with team points,” began OPRF head coach, Fred Arkin.

“It was really touching to see how the girls cheered and supported each other throughout the day. Their spirit really raised each other up, and it was also great to see how each team developed healthy and competitive programs. It was just a great tournament, and a great day of wrestling.”

Arkins’ club collected 10 medals on the day, the same as Matt Gruszka’s Schaumburg Saxons team, which made a valiant effort to overtake the eventual champion Huskies.

“Going into the final round we knew it was close, and it was just a lot of fun wrestling that last round because the girls knew it was for the team championship as well,” Gruszka said.

“After coaching boys wrestling for so long, it was really cool to share this experience with the girls in such a big tournament, and a close team race. It was awesome.”

Gruzska made a point of praising host Hoffman Estates and its tournament director, Leo Clark, who continued to add teams in the week leading up to the tournament. Clark and his staff kept the action moving, provided clear and concise announcements throughout the day, and provided the wrestlers and fans plenty of memorable moments.

“Credit OPRF and Schaumburg and their coaches for their achievements, and for our girls we’re excited to finish fourth overall in this tournament,” said Clark.

“Our girls were really fired up, and now have made it their goal to go out and recruit others to help fill our weight classes so we can compete with teams like OPRF and Schaumburg,” added Clark, who also complimented his captain, Evelyn Simon (13-4), who placed third at 120 and led by example for her team throughout the day.

The host Hawks fell just short of third-place Glenbard West (93.0-92.0)but had enough in its gas tank to outscore fifth-place Lockport (89.0) and Porters head coach Nathan Roth.

“Our girls wrestled great all day long, each one of them is a first year wrestler, and it was their first bracketed tournament,” Roth said. “Despite getting up earlier than normal to compete in so many matches, their spirits remained high to the end of the tournament.

“This tournament was a really fantastic experience and a ton of fun for all the girls. It will definitely help them be better prepared for sectionals later on.”

“It was really nice to have all of the mats on the floor, with the fans in the balcony, it kind of added to the drama of it all. I can tell you when it was all over, we brought the team together and asked them if they had fun and in unison they yelled out ‘yes!’”

Oak Forest (88.5), Maine East (65.0), Lane Tech (60.0), Homewood-Flossmoor (57.0) and Downers Grove South with 53 overall points would round out the top ten here.

Champion OPRF will host an 18-team tournament this coming Saturday, January 22, in advance of what Arkin believes will be the first ever conference tournament in the state when Addison Trail welcomes the West Suburban Conference on Tuesday, January 25.

“All of our seniors – Bentley Hills, Maria Dias, Bella Tyma and Kennedi Dickens – have shown incredible resilience. The entire team had to go through dealing with Covid but through it all, they remained focused and dedicated. They trained in basements, back yards, bedrooms, and porches over zoom sessions — so today, we are incredibly proud of all of them,” Arkin said.

“The awards ceremony is nothing like I’ve seen before, it was a true celebration,” said Gruszka in closing.

“The thing I’ve noticed is the girls are making their own community in this sport – they become friends, follow each other on social media, and hug a lot.”

But make no mistake, when they get on the mat, they are out for blood, they want to win and succeed, but when they’re done, they are friends again.”

Hoffman Estates championship matches:

100 – Kat Bell, Montini Catholic

Montini Catholic freshmen Kat Bell (14-7) left little doubt as to who was the best at 100 on this day after her impressive effort in her final with top seed Ava Anderson (13-4) of Homewood-Flossmoor.

With her father Pat in her corner, Bell followed up her semifinal pin with another at 3:14 to claim the her first top prize of the season.

“There’s a lot of tradition at Montini with our boys program, so it feels good to start to kind of continue that tradition in girls wrestling, and especially with my dad in the corner, who wrestled at Montini,” said Bell.

“Obviously I got into the sport because of my dad but it’s such a great sport, I think I would have gotten into anyway,” continued Bell, whose tilt led to a near-fall just before the first period came to a close to give her a 7-3 advantage.

Bell, who went 1-1 last weekend at the Schaumburg Invite, with her loss coming at the hands of Anderson, started the second period in neutral and immediately added a take-down off the whistle. Bell then went to work on her eventual pin to finish her tournament with a flurry.

105 – Gianna Gagliani, Conant

Gianna Gagliani put on a devastating attack during all three of her matches with an explosive, quick, and technical finishing touch that never allowed any of her opponents time to breathe against this power-packed diminutive dynamo from Conant.

The Cougars’ senior needed just 60 seconds to capture her title, after using up a mere 104 seconds in her two previous bouts to send her into the final.

“Gianna is a four-year veteran, who is a three-time state qualifier, and fifth place medal winner at 106 last year,” said Conant head coach Andrew Guilde.

“She is an absolute workaholic who is never afraid of hard work, or her competition, and is without a doubt, one of the hardest workers in our program.

The biggest improvement for her this year is her positioning, and mat awareness.

“Gianna has always been very aggressive; however, she would often find herself in trouble because she would throw caution to the wind. This year she has made it a point to work on position, before points, and as you can see it has really paid off for her.”

With her three victories, Gagliani is now 11-1 overall.

110 – Camila Neuman, Oak Park and River Forest

Neuman gave her club its first of three individual titles with a pin at 3:45 to capture the 110-pound trophy over Harika Matakumall of Schaumburg.

The four-year veteran, who wants to continue to wrestle at the collegiate level, where she plans on a secondary education degree, wasted little time taking the lead with an early take-down, before riding out her opponent hard for the remainder of the period.

“I’ve been working a lot on improving my shots, stance, and with being more patient in my approach and because of that I’ve become a better wrestler this season,” said Neuman, who needed just 46 seconds in her semifinal to book her spot in the finals.

“(Cam) began wrestling as a freshmen, and is super dedicated to the sport,” began OPRF head coach, Fred Arkin.

“Her work ethic is incredible, and her focus on strength training during covid (lifting) in her basement has made her so much better, as has the extra time spent during the offseason training at Beat the Streets.

“After her fifth place finish last summer at the IWCOA state finals, her focus is squarely on the first-ever IHSA State Championships in Bloomington.”

115 – Sophia Ball, Hoffman Estates

Host Hoffman Estates enjoyed a wonderful day on the mats, earning its fourth-place team finish, five overall medals, and a pair of individual titles beginning with Sophia Ball at 115.

“Sophia is a gymnast and she’s extremely athletic, so when you watch her wrestle you see how she moves really well, and has a natural instinct to know where she needs to be on the mat,” said head coach Leo Clark.

“Being a freshman and already having this level of body awareness out there has made her very difficult to beat and really exciting to watch.”

Ball defeated top seed Madyson Meyer (Schaumburg, 16-3) in her semifinal to advance to meet No. 2 seed Sharon Moreno (15-3) and after finding herself trailing the Lane Tech star (4-0) in the early going, Ball got back level at 4-4 with a pair of take-downs before the period ended.

“I got myself into a little bit of trouble at the start of my final,” Ball said. “Nothing was really working for me in that first period, but that first take-down really helped me get back into the match and after that, everything seemed to work for me.

“I like everything about this sport – the friendships developed, and just being in the room, and around my teammates.”

Meyer went on to finish third overall after recording a pin in her final bout of the tournament.

“As a first-year freshman in the sport, Madyson has developed by leaps and bounds,” Gruszka said. “She literally gets better each day because of her competitive spirit, which keeps her in every match when she goes out to wrestle.”
120 – Hannah Suboni-Kaufman, Maine East

You would hard pressed to find a better ambassador for the sport or for Maine East girls wrestling than this four-year veteran who continues to shine for the Blue Demons program.

The senior Suboni-Kaufman pinned her way to her second major of the season, needing just over six minutes on the day to claim a well-deserved crown at 120-pounds.

“I like the fact that it’s an individual sport so it’s all on me, but I like that it’s also a team sport. I love everything about it,” said the affable Suboni-Kaufman, sixth at the IWCOA tournament last summer at 113, and now a perfect 13-0 on the season.

Suboni-Kaufman, who won her first title of the campaign on her home mats at the 3rd annual Emiliano Hernandez Girls Open in late December, does so many things well that it makes her a handful to take on.

Technically sharp, Suboni-Kaufman is a defensive wizard and shows wonderful positioning and balance, but can attack with lightning quickness to send her opponents out of their comfort zone and rhythm.

“It’s really exciting to be a part of a big tournament such as this one, and to a part of the first ever IHSA sanctioned state tournament next month,” added Suboni-Kaufman, who plans to continue to wrestle next fall should she attend Augustana College, with either Loyola Chicago, or Bradley on the radar if wrestling is not in the cards.

125 – Bethany Regione, Schaumburg

A proud Matt Gruszka would heap plenty of praise on his two individual champs (Regione and Valeria Rodriguez), beginning with the senior Regione, who dominated from start to finish to earn top honors at 125.

“This is the third season in the sport for Bethany, and much of her success has come from always being in the room,” Gruszka said. “She has put a ton of offseason work in and right now she is seeing the benefits of all of that hard work.”

Regione has her eye on the big prize this season.
“I was injured my sophomore year, but I worked hard last year, and came back to get a fourth place medal at state,” she said, “so now it’s all about continuing to put the work in so I can go after a state championship.”

“To be honest, Bethany’s better days are still ahead of her because her plan is to wrestle in college, and that’s all the motivation she needs to reach her goal of doing so,” said Gruszka.

Regione (15-1) recorded a nicely-played near fall late in the first period to go up 5-0 on junior Eunice Ji (Hoffman Estates), and extended her advantage to 10-2 with a high-crotch single in the third period before registering a 15-3 major decision victory.

130 – Abby Ji, Hoffman Estates

Freshman Abby Ji (11-7) treated the home side faithful to its second championship of the day after her hard fought contest with league rival, Madeline Zerafa-Lazare (11-3) which ended when the Schaumburg freshman was forced to concede to an injury with just 43 seconds remaining in their title match.

“Madeline wrestled each other the day, and we’re also friends, so to see her re-injure her shoulder during our match was very hard to watch,” said Ji, who connected with Zerafa-Lazare shortly after the Saxons young star was attended to in order to console her fallen opponent in a terrific show of sportsmanship.

“We were actually talking to one another during our match – even complimenting each other after a certain move for points,” Ji continue with a big smile.

“(But) I knew she was in trouble after my near fall late in the match, and I never want to see anyone I’m wrestling be injured.”

Ji, the younger sister of Eunice Ji, who placed second at 125, says the sport of wrestling allows her to channel her anger in the Hawks room, which of course, includes the Hoffman Estates boys, who have been helpful in her development.

“Abby has greatly benefited from being able to watch Eunice,” coach Leo Clark said. “They are both very close, but always pushing each other in the room, and her ability to be strong and tough out there could lead to making some waves at sectionals.”

135 – Keira Dafnis, Wauconda

Keira Dafnis (16-1) found herself in a couple of hard-fought bouts in the semifinals and finals at 135, but the Wauconda senior showed her mettle when it was needed to prevail in style, en route to her first big win of the season.

“I was a cheerleader for ten years so you always had to be a certain type of person to be in cheer,” Dafnis said. “But when I left that to become a wrestler my freshman year, the hard work in the room and away from it kind of changed things for me.

“I am always still upbeat about things, but I just love this sport, so you kind of change your approach to things because of it.”

Wauconda coach Anthony Piltaver likes what Dafnis brings to the sport.
“Keira is very coachable and will apply given feedback during tournaments, or in the room to make adjustments where needed,” he said.

“She has a lot of ways to get into her shots and set-ups, and she’s constantly looking to add pressure on the top and bottom.”

Dafnis conceded a late take-down to Noemi Marchan (12-4) in the second period to allow the Lane Tech star to draw back even at 4-4, until a nifty escape and then a takedown seconds later gave Dafnis the lead at 7-4.

“Keira was able to to secure a takedown to put Marchan on her hip, and from there she reached a cross-face pinning combination,” said Piltaver after Dafnis’ pin at 4:44.

“Noemi is a great opponent. We saw her at Larkin and then Schaumburg last week, so we knew she would give Keira a real battle in the final.”

Marchan was a state qualifier in 2020 and 2021.

140 – Anika Navarro, Glenbard West

Glenbard West secured its top-three finish with seven medals overall on the day, with junior Anika Navarro leading the way with her win at 140 pounds over Wauconda sophomore, and No. 1 seed, Hazel Hartwig.

“To win my first tournament championship at such a big invite feels real good right now, and makes all of the hard work I’ve put in thus far really worth it,” said Navarro with a smile.

The one-time soccer player and current field hockey player at Glenbard West used a pin at 37 seconds in her semifinal to reach the final. Navarro and Hartwig went back-and-forth to a 7-7 tie on a reversal from Hartwig with 90 seconds left in the second period.

Inspired by the roar of the crowd, these two combatants traded the lead until the final whistle of the third period, with the score level at 11-11.

“It was a wild and crazy match but all of that helped keep me going, even into overtime where I was able to surprise her with a head lock to win,” said Navarro, whose match-winning effort came with 13 seconds remaining in overtime.

“The atmosphere in the room next to the boys program really helps all of us push ourselves to improve, and that’s one of the things that I like so much about the sport,” added Navarro.
Hartwig’s coach liked what she showed on Saturday.

“This is Hazel’s first real season of wrestling (after two COVID-shortened seasons) so to advance into the final against such a great opponent like Anika was really good for her,” Piltaver said.

“They pushed each other right until the end to make it a worthy final for both girls, and for Hazel, going through a traditional tournament and making the final, is an experience she can build from as we begin to prepare for the state series.”

145 – Jasmine Hernandez, Palatine

The success enjoyed last summer at the IWCOA championships by Jasmine Hernandez has carried over into the 2021-2022 campaign for the extraordinary junior from Palatine, who easily won the 145-pound crown.

Hernandez won an IWCOA state title after a dominating performance in Springfield, and once again showed why she will be considered the favorite to repeat when the IHSA offers the first-ever girls state tournament late next month.

“That’s the goal,” said Hernandez when asked if another state title is in the cards for this gifted athlete, who is technically and tactically advanced beyond her years.

“It’s all about working hard, in and away from the room. (coach Javier) Rivera has really helped me go from being defensive to being the aggressor, so that’s something that I continue to work on each and every day,” added Hernandez, who won her title when her opponent defaulted to the Pirates’ star.
Palatine coach Krista Semkiv expanded on Hernandez’s talent:

“Jasmine is so strong, and really tough on top, and when she has your wrist there’s little you can do to defend that hold,” Semkiv said.

“She is fearless on the mat but is very personable, and is the best role model you could ever ask for in the room for both the girls, and boys in this sport.”

Hernandez has committed to enter the armed forces, with a desire to become an Army Nurse, while she continues to wrestle as well.

“I’ve known as long as I can remember that I wanted to go into the service, just like my father, who did so in Mexico. So that’s the direction I’m headed towards.”

155 – Valeria Rodriguez, Schaumburg

Rodriguez gave her club its first lead in the team race with her victory at 155 pounds after a superb three-match effort which produced a trio of pins. Her third pin came in the final over a terrific opponent in Violet Cherap (12-3) of Downers Grove South.

“I really like the physical nature of this sport, and now that I feel so much more confident out there, I feel like I can compete with anyone,” said the Saxons sophomore, who admitted that a season-long case of the nerves was her undoing during her rookie season a year ago.

“I was so nervous last year it led to me losing every single one of my matches,” said Rodriguez, who is now a dazzling 18-0 following her pin at 2:58.

Rodriguez’s evolution is not lost on her coach.

“Val is just a sophomore but she is progressing at a really high rate,” Gruszka said. “It took her a year to understand positioning and technique, but look at her now.

“Her first season was a difficult one for her, cut short by COVID, but between then and now she missed very few days in the wrestling room during the offseason, and her love of the sport, fantastic work ethic, and desire to be a student of the game has made her into a terrific wrestler.”

Cherap, the freshman from Downers Grove South, competed against boys when she began her career in middle school, recently won the 155-pound title at Maine East.

“Violet is an aggressive wrestler who is highly motivated, and an extremely physical wrestler for a freshman,” said DGS coach Sean Lovelace.

170 – Trinity White (Oak Park and River Forest) / 190- Tiffany White (Oak Park and River Forest)

Before leaving Oak Park and River Forest, Isaiah White made a massive imprint on his sport with three consecutive boys state titles, and later earning All-American honors at the University of Nebraska.

Trinity and Tiffany White showed they are ready to follow in the footsteps of their older brother when their individual performances at 170 and 190 pounds showed both are ready to make their own statement in the sport of girls wrestling.

The White sisters garnered well-deserved titles, and their success helped fuel the Huskies late surge to overtake Schaumburg for the team title at Hoffman Estates.

“It was a real team effort for all of the girls to help us win the team championship, but Trinity and Tiffany really came through for us when we needed it most,” said Huskies head coach Fred Arkin.

“We were really excited to be at this tournament, and for my sister and I to win our weight class and our team to win the title at just a big tournament, is really amazing,” offered senior Tiffany White, whose 12-0 season record helped the White sisters to come away from the weekend with a combined sparkling 25-0 overall record.

“There’s a lot of tradition in our family in this sport with our brother and it’s one of the reasons we’re both wrestling,” Tiffany White said. “And now that we’re in it we want to have success also.”

The senior roared through her bracket with a trio of pins, using just 3:38 minutes to advance onto the top of the podium.

“Like her brother, Tiffany is a very physical wrestler,” says Arkin.

Tiffany White was a state runner-up in her rookie season and again at last summer’s IWCOA state tournament.

“Neither of the girls wrestled before high school but have been around the sport all of their lives,” Arkin said. “Girls wrestling has given each of them the opportunity to participate and succeed.

“Trinity (190), who is just a sophomore, was in a real battle during her final against (Lockport’s Kelli Watkins). It was a great match that was tied with just 20 seconds remaining when she reversed (Watkins) with just seconds on the clock for the win.”

Watkins impressed her head coach all day.

“Kelli had a fantastic day and fought her way into the final,” Lockport coach Nathan Roth said.

“She really gets a lot of the mechanics of wrestling, and she knows how to shoot, and sprawl, she has very good body positioning, and she can really drive when she shoots.

“We have high hopes for her as we approach sectionals. She has the talent to do some very good things during the state series, which says a lot about her considering she’s just a first-year wrestler.”

235 – Aaliyah Grandberry, Curie

Aailyah Grandberry delivered a performance worthy of an individual championship when the Curie sophomore captured the attention of her teammates, peers and student body following her award-winning effort at 235 pounds.

Grandberry needed a late take-down near the edge to defeat top seed Sarah Ephstein (OPRF, 5-1) to give the Condors their lone title on the day.

“This feels really good right now,” said Grandberry moments after accepting her first-place medal. The Condors also got a second-place finish from junior Vanessa Torres at 120 pounds.

“I was kind of setting up that final takedown. (Ephstein) was a tough opponent but I really felt like I had things right where I wanted them, so when the chance was there for me, I just took it,” said Grandberry, who is also a National Honor Society member at school.

“We’ve all been working real hard this season (and) props go to coach (Yahya) Muhammad, who kept us together when we’ve been kept out of school by CPS – always finding somewhere for us to train and work out. He’s the reason that I was able to win today.”
Muhammad has watched Grandberry grow into a formidable force on the mat.

“Aailyah was our team manager last year and although she always worked out with the team, I saw something great in her,” Muhammad said. “She’s a real diamond in the rough when you consider she’s a first year wrestler.

“She continues to work on her conditioning, and needs to improve on her ties and set-ups to allow her to get to her great double-leg shot. But she is a lot stronger than she looks – she can bench press 155 pounds – and she’s also a great swimmer. She is a very good athlete.” Muhammad also heaped plenty of praise on his co-captain Torres, whom he said “is always the first in the room, and the last to leave.”

By Kevin McGavin
For the IWCOA

Class distinctions are immaterial to Washington and Lemont in the sport of wrestling. 

In a potential preview of the Class 2A team-dual state series, Washington, th top-ranked program in the state, crowned five champions Saturday at the Batavia Invitational to earn a 199.5-184 triumph over Lemont. 

Two years ago, at the last contested IHSA Class 2A team state tournament, No. 4 Lemont ended the Panthers’ four-year state-championship run in the title dual match. 

“It’s nice to see we get to see competition that is either outside our geography or outside of our class system,” Batavia coach Scott Bayer said of the two Class 2A powers headlining the Class 3A-dominant 17-team field. “These are quality wrestling programs; that’s why we added them to our tournament. They make us better.” 

Washington is clearly exploring all options to meet any potential contingency as the twin state-series events beckon. 

Fellow competitors certainly took notice. 

“They bumped everybody up this week,” said Lemont 126-pounder Sam Schuit, who was denied by the Panthers’ Peyton Cox, ranked No. 3 at 120 pounds, in the title match. 

Washington’s Donnie Hidden has been a one-man wrecking crew to elite wrestlers from the highly-regarded West Suburban Silver in recent weeks. 

The only competitor to win a title by fall on Saturday in the championship matches, Hidden ended the undefeated run of Hinsdale Central sophomore Marko Ivanisevic in the finals at 220.

Over the holidays, Hidden, committed to St. Cloud State in Minnesota, handed Glenbard West senior Philip Dozier his first defeat at the schools’ bracketed dual-team match at Flavin in DeKalb. 

Hidden and Dozier are the consensus top-ranked athletes in the state in the upper-two classes at 195. 

“It’s still undecided,” Hidden said of his postseason weight-class designation. “Time will only tell. It’s a matter of bettering ourselves for the team race.” 

“We had a good battle with them,” Lemont senior Mo Khalil said of the matches he and his teammates had with Washington in Batavia. “A couple of matches didn’t go our way. We need to turn that around. We will see Washington at our (individual) sectional and team state.” 

But there are no guarantees in laying the groundwork of a potential Class 2A state championship. 

Six of the top-eight teams are housed in the same team sectional complex Washington will host in the aftermath of the individual state tournament in Champaign. 

Lemont and second-ranked Joliet Catholic are destined to collide at the LaSalle-Peru regional. 

“It has happened to us before,” Lemont coach Erik Murray said of a tortuous path simply to reach a team sectional. 

In addition, fifth-ranked Geneseo and No. 8 Rock Island will knock heads at United Township in East Moline for a coveted team bid to Washington. 

Aurora Christian, ranked sixth in Class 2A, will be a prohibitive favorite to advance out of the Rockford East regional. 

The Panthers will also host a regional with several Peoria-area neighbors.

At Batavia, however, the striking difference between the two Class 2A threats for a state championship was Washington crowning five champions; Lemont, conversely, had all four of its finalists settle for runner-up status. 

“It’s a little tough to swallow seeing how we had an ever bigger lead in the team score,” Lemont 195-pounder Cole Brannigan said of the team spread Lemont enjoyed over Washington entering the finals. “There were a lot of positives out of this. It will just lead to later success in the year.” 

McHenry, No. 10 in Class 3A, was third with 168.5 points behind back-to-back champions at 160 and 170; Batavia, like Lemont, failed to have any of its four finalists mount the top of the podium in placing fourth with 153.5 points. 

Downers Grove North had a pair of champions to place fifth with 128 points. 

Marian Central Catholic was a fourth program with at least two champions as Charlie Fitzgerald prevented Andrew from claiming the first three championship matches by triumphing at 120 pounds. 

The Hurricanes’ Nik Jimenez, top-ranked at 145 in Class 1A, justified his reputation with a dominant win to further anchor the MCC sixth-place finish (120.5 points). 

Andrew opened the championship festivities with titles at 106 and 113 pounds; the Thunderbolts lacked the depth for an upper-echelon finish by scoring 112 points for eighth overall. 

Harlem was coming off an extended break due to the lingering effects of the pandemic; Marshal Cunz delivered the lone title for the Rockford-area school in highlighting a 11th-place showing (55 points). 

Naperville North was paced by freshmen Zac Mally and Tyler Sternstein, who were both fourth in consecutive classes at 113 and 120 pounds. 

“Having those two freshmen in the lineup has energized the rest of the team,” Naperville North coach Tom Champion said. “It’s hard to fill those weights with

upperclassmen. It helps to have freshmen who are highly experienced and highly motivated.” 

The Huskies were seventh with 115.5 points. 

Maine South (78) and Hinsdale Central (70.5) rounded out the top ten. 

Buffalo Grove (53.5) West Chicago (51), Jacobs (32), Addison Trail (13) and (Chicago) Hope (13) and Leyden constituted the remainder of the field. 

Batavia Invitational championship matches:

106–Max Siegel, Andrew

The second-ranked athlete in Class 3A, Siegel held off Jacobs’ Dom Ducato, the No. 5 106-pounder in the highest division, 3-1 to extend his season-opening winning streak to 16 matches. “I just went for it,” Siegel said of the only offensive points of the match, a late-first-period takedown. “There were 15 seconds left. I knew it was going to be low-scoring. (Ducato) knows how to keep matches close. I wrestled him at state (in the semifinals) last year.”
A junior, Ducato fell to 20-5 on the season. “I lost focus and got taken down,” Ducato said. “Other than that, I felt I wrestled pretty well.” 

113–Trevor Silzer, Andrew

Silzer has alternated between 113 and 120 pounds for much of the season, but the junior has an ironclad commitment for the postseason. “I will be 113 for the state series,” Silzer said moments after dispatching Batavia sophomore Aidan Huck (19-6), 9-2, in the finals.
“All of my (offensive) points were on takedowns,” Silzer said. “I got to my single-leg pretty well on him. I kept working on him and got him. I am going to keep working hard with Max (Siegel) in the wrestling room. I am going to keep getting better and better.” Silzer, 18-1, is ranked seventh in Class 3A. 

120–Charlie Fitzgerald, Marian Central Catholic

Fitzgerald, the third-ranked competitor in Class 1A, prevented Andrew from monopolizing the first three championships when he terminated his match with the Thunderbolts’ Casey Griffin 38 seconds into the third period with a technical fall. Fitzgerald (14-2) advanced to the championship with a fall and a 12-point major in the semis.
“I got into my offense,” Fitzgerald said of his ability to score points at will. “In the finals, I was kind of nervous as it was the first time being in the finals, especially at this tournament. In the end, my offense was better than the rest. I felt getting into my offense is what really got me going today.” 

126–Peyton Cox, Washington

Cox, the No. 3-rated 120-pounder in Class 2A, began the Washington inexorable tide to victory by becoming the first athlete in the program to win a title. All five victorious Washington wrestlers competed in unaccustomed classes.
“We have quite the schedule,” Cox said of the Panthers’ ultimate roads to Champaign and Bloomington. “Getting those matches makes you better. I try to learn certain things from working on those matches.”
In a match with potential widespread state implications, Cox denied No. 10-ranked Sam Schuit of 2020 team state champion Lemont.
“I didn’t get any turns but had pressure on top the whole time,” Cox said of his two takedowns and a reversal in the 6-2 victory. “I kind of dogged it the last two periods,” Schuit said. 

132–Kannon Webster, Washington

Webster, an unblemished 106-pound state champion as a freshman, skipped the IWCOA-sponsored state tournament last spring to concentrate on a national schedule and won the 120-pound freestyle title at Fargo over the summer.
Webster, the top-Class 2A athlete at 120, is 32-1 after destroying the field with a fall, technical fall and 18-5 major over Phillip Baldwin, the sixth-ranked Class 3A senior from West Chicago.
“I just have a little more confidence in myself,” said Webster, the Outstanding Wrestler in the lower-weights at Batavia. “I have to continue to push the pace and get on the attack. I have a couple more weeks to put in that really hard work to solidify that preparation process for getting to state.”
Baldwin eked past 2020 Hinsdale Central all-stater Cody Tavoso in the semifinals. “`The difference was being prepared and staying calm, even at the beginning when I was losing,” Baldwin said of the semifinals. 

138–Harrison Konder, Downers Grove North

Konder, fresh from an all-state freshman campaign, is a Class 3A underclassman to remember after his 10-2 major decision over Kaden Fetterolf of host Batavia. The No. 4 Konder had few issues with the fifth-ranked Fetterolf with his 5-1 plurality in takedowns.
“In the first takedown, I had a blast-double and took him from the outside,” Konder said. “Right there, I felt like he was already done in the first 20 seconds of the match. I felt confident for the rest of the match. I am ready for the state series.”
Konder won for the 25th time in 26 attempts with his finals victory.

145–Nik Jimenez, Marian Central Catholic

Jimenez, the No. 1 145-pounder in single-A, handed the host Bulldogs a second straight 10-2 loss in a championship match. Jimenez prevented Cael Andrews, a Batavia junior, from securing a 29th victory on the season.
“I do have a couple of losses under my belt this season,” said Jimenez, 21-2. “I felt like the difference (against Andrews) was my stamina. He was a strong kid. He started to tire out in the second period and the third period; that’s where I started to take advantage.”
“Finishing some of those takedowns could have helped,” Andrews lamented. “It would have changed the whole momentum of the match, I think, if I had finished the first one.” 

152–Marshal Cunz, Harlem

In the only championship match in which neither the top or second seed gained entry, Cunz, wrestling in earnest for the first time since mid-December due to the pandemic, secured his second takedown of the title match only seconds before the final buzzer to turn back Batavia junior Noah Ajazi 5-1.
“This is my first time winning (an invitational) title this year,” said Cunz. “I think the most satisfying (win) was the semifinal (a first-period fall over Marian second-seed Max Astacio).”
Cunz, the third seed, intentionally allowed Ajazi (26-11) to escape late in the period. “I started losing my breath toward the end,” said Cunz, who improved to 16-4. The strategy paid off when Cunz had a match-cementing takedown with five seconds remaining.
“It was just a last-second of adrenaline,” Cunz said. 

160–Chris Moore, McHenry

On paper, it had all the hallmarks of a tournament-defining championship encounter, but Moore left no doubt as to who is the incontrovertible top athlete in the state at 160 pounds.
Moore, the top-ranked Class 3A 160-pounder and former state champion for Aurora Christian as a freshman two years ago, accrued points like a pinball savant in ending the match with the Panthers’ Blake Henrichsen, anointed the best in the land at 160 in Class 2A, with a third-period technical fall.
Moore extended his season-opening winning streak to 34 matches in the process; Henrichsen is 25-8. “I was just going out there, getting my offense under control and doing what I needed to do to win those matches,” said Moore, who scored 28 points in a semifinal tech fall as well.
Moore was lethal on his feet.
“I just went out there and did what I did in the rest of the matches (against Henrichsen),” Moore said of his 24 points in the finals. “It was all takedowns.”

170–Brody Hallin, McHenry

The Warriors have arguably as potent a one-two combination in consecutive weight classes in the higher divisions in Class 3A as Hallin, ranked No. 2, captured his fourth major tournament title of the season with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Lemont senior Alex Tagler, the fourth-ranked competitor in Class 2A.
Hallin is 33-1; Brayden Thompson, the undefeated and top-ranked Lockport junior, handed the Warriors’ senior standout his only defeat over the holidays in the finals at Dvorak tournament in December.
“I felt like my pace was really good,” said Hallin. “I knew (Tagler) was a strong kid. I knew I had to move him around, get to his legs and get him tired. My conditioning has really improved from this year (compared) to last year. I feel like I have adjusted all my techniques to win. I just knew I could beat him.”
Tagler was momentarily discouraged but optimistic about the future.

“At this point in the season, this (loss) doesn’t matter as much as three, four weeks later,” he said.

182–Ben Bielawski, Downers Grove North

Downers North continued the trend of victorious programs crowning multiple champions when Bielawski sent another Lemont finalist home disappointed. The Trojans’ senior was clearly the aggressor in handing top-seeded Moe Khalil an 8-3 loss.
Bielawski (24-2) eased past sophomores Matt Murphy (Naperville North) and Ben Brown (Batavia) to meet Khalil, the fourth-ranked athlete in Class 2A.
Biewlawski augmented earlier major invitational crowns at Hinsdale Central and Wheaton Warrenville South. Brown turned back McHenry junior Caleb Rezmer for third place. 

195–Justin Hoffer, Washington

Washington ended all suspense to the final team outcome as Hoffer, ranked No. 6 in Class 2A, beat Lemont senior Cole Brannigan by 7-3 decision at 195 pounds.
The Panthers ultimately swept the final three title matches as Hoffer began the unanswered run with the four-point win over No. 8 Brannigan.

220–Donnie Hidden, Washington

Hidden and the Washington coaches will have decisions to make with the state series looming. But there can be little doubt Hidden is virtually unassailable at either 195 or 220 pounds in Class 2A.
Despite missing multiple weeks of training and conditioning, Hidden continued his unbroken swath against the western suburbs’ finest. Marko Invanisevic, the undefeated Hinsdale Central sophomore, had his day ended unceremoniously by Hidden, 11 seconds before the second-period buzzer.
Like Dozier–his fellow West Suburban Silver Conference member from Glenbard West–Ivanisevic is no longer unblemished after encountering Hidden.

“I am always looking for some kind of cradle,” Hidden said of his decisive–not to mention signature–move. “That’s what I am looking for fall-wise. I was out for a couple of months. I am ready to bounce back and have never felt better.”
Hidden, the IWCOA state champion last spring, is 11-0 since rejoining the Panthers’ lineup. Hidden was the MVP of the upper-weights at Batavia. 

285–Tyler Casey, Washington

The final Washington championship was not nearly as one-sided as the Hidden masterpiece.
Casey, the Panthers’ normal 220-pounder, moved to heavyweight at Batavia. The Panthers’ senior was pitted against Downers North senior Jordan Lewis, the No. 5 285-pounder in Class 3A, in the championship match.
As is frequently the case in a critical match between gifted athletes at the upper end of the weight spectrum, the finals quickly evolved into a highly tactical affair. But Casey prevailed in the end, winning a 3-2 decision in overtime, the only finals match to be extended into extra time.
The top-seeded Casey improved to 26-3 overall between his two contested weight classes; Lewis, who beat Lemont sophomore and second-seed Alex Pasquale by 7-0 decision in the semifinals, is 23-3.