By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

Lane Tech wins Chicago Public Schools City Championship

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chicago Public Schools City Championship title matches:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marist claims East Suburban Catholic Conference title

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

East Suburban Catholic Conference Championship title matches:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Geneseo prevails in Western Big 6 Conference Tournament

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Western Big 6 Conference Tournament championship matches:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

West Suburban Conference Tournament girls championship matches:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Rob Sherrill

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

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

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

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

Class 2A

106 pounds

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

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

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

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

113 pounds

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

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

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

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

120 pounds

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

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

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

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

126 pounds

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

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

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

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

132 pounds

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

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

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

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

138 pounds

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

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

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

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

145 pounds

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

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

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

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

152 pounds

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

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

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

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

160 pounds

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

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

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

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

170 pounds

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

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

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

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

182 pounds

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

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

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

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

195 pounds

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

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

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

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

220 pounds

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

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

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

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

285 pounds

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

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

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

By Mike Garofola
For the IWCOA


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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

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


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


2022 DuKane Conference individual champions:


106 – Ino Garcia, Batavia


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


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


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


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


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


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


113 – Dominick Marre, Glenbard North


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


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


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


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


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


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


120 – Ben Davino, St. Charles East


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


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


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


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


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

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


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


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


126 – Paul Woo, Glenbard North


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


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


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


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

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


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


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


132 – Tyler Guerra, St. Charles East


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


138 – Kaden Fetterolf, Batavia


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


145 – Cael Andrews, Batavia


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


152 – Lane Robinson, St. Charles East


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


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


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


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


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


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

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


160 – Joey Olade, Lake Park

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


170 – Cody Dertz, Glenbard North


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


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


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


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


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


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


182 – Jackson Tonkovich, Batavia


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


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


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


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


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


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


195 – John Schmidt, Geneva


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


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


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


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


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


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


220 – Blake Maday, Glenbard North


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


“No, it’s correct, 0-0,” said Maday.


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


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


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


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


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


285 – Paulie Robertson, Glenbard North


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


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

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


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


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


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

By Rob Sherrill

                We made it!

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

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

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

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

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

Class 3A

106 pounds

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

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

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

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

113 pounds

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

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

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

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

120 pounds

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

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

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

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

126 pounds

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

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

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

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

132 pounds

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

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

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

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

138 pounds

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

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

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

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

145 pounds

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

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

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

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

152 pounds

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

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

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

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

160 pounds

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

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

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

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

170 pounds

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

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

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

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

182 pounds

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

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

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

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

195 pounds

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

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

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

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

220 pounds

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

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

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

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

285 pounds

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

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

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

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

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

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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