by Mike Garofola.

With four teams in the top 20 and an all-star cast that featured six men who could vie for a state championship, the stage was set for an exciting day at the 61st annual Mudge-McMorrow Invitational inside Jean Walker Fieldhouse in Mt. Prospect.

This ultra-competitive field did not fail to excite the crowd who watched the favorites compete brilliantly to claim well-deserved individual championship medals. In the team race, it was the home team that outlasted four other challengers, including runner-up Libertyville and third-place Hersey to lift the big trophy.

“It was a good overall effort from the guys today,” Prospect coach Tom Whalen said. “We collected eleven medals all together, three championships, and we found a way to win when and where we needed to. But you know, I always like more so going three-for-five in the finals has to be better down the road when it really counts.”
Prospect’s Will Baysingar bedazzled his competition to win the 132-pound division to help lead his club to its eventual victory.

“We’re getting everyone back from football so our lineup is nearly at full strength,” Baysingar said. “And when we are, we should be in very good shape for the second half of the season.
The Knights, who at one time led Libertyville by just 2.5 points (187.5-185) would finish its day atop the leader board with 220.5 overall points, followed by Libertyville at 200, Hersey (197), McHenry (162) and Fremd with 158.50.

“Caelan (Riley) and Josh Knudten were just fantastic for us today and they, along with others helped us keep things close,” offered Libertyville head coach Dale Eggert. “But Prospect was just too strong for all of us so in the end, it wasn’t very close.”

Hersey, which will meet Prospect Friday night in a dual that could likely decide the Mid-Suburban League East division, did well all across the board but still fell short of the team title.

“We leave here with our heads up after a pretty solid effort, but we all know we could have done better,” said Hersey head coach, Joe Rupslauk, whose club led all teams with 12 medals won overall.“We’ll get back in the room and get ourselves ready for our dual with Prospect at the end of the week.”

McHenry and Fremd stayed close during most of the day, with an undermanned Fremd club making the most of things for coach Jeff Keske and his staff.

“Having only nine today, we knew we were going to have to score bonus points whenever we had an opportunity, so with our heavyweight out with an injury, and our sixty-pounder taking his ACT test, I was very impressed with the fact our overall record on the day was 21-11,” said a proud Keske.

McHenry coach Jake Guardalebene left Prospect pleased with his squad.

“I liked the way our team wrestled today,” he said. “We placed 11 out of 13 we brought, and I’m happy with the way our guys battled back in wrestle-backs to help us finish top four in our first tournament of the year.”

Not to be forgotten on the day was the man who shared the name of this long-running tournament, Gary McMorrow. McMorrow celebrated his 50th year of wrestling, which began under Hall of Fame coaches Dick Mudge and Tom Porter, who led Hersey to back-to-back state titles in 1971 and 1972.

McMorrow was a three-year starter at Prospect and a two-time sectional qualifier, before going on to wrestle at Western Illinois, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology/Anthropology, and his teacher certification.

Upon graduation, McMorrow joined Porter as his assistant, and sophomore head coach for the next 11 years, before serving as freshmen coach for yet another future Hall-of-Fame coach, Rick Mann.

McMorrow took over at his alma mater in 1983, and retired after the 1993-1994 school year, but remained head coach one last season, a season in which he would help guide the first ever state champion in program history, Matt Boggess.

In 2011, the Dick Mudge Memorial was renamed the Mudge-McMorrow in honor of McMorrow’s 34 years as both a wrestler and coach. Since 2010, ‘G-Mac’ — as he is widely known — has been the Knights’ freshmen head coach.

McMorrow was inducted into the IWCOA Hall-of-Fame in 2014.

The Knights family also recognized the contribution of Larry Ellen, who for 25 years has volunteered his valuable time and expertise to the program, and especially in the production of the annual tournament.

Let’s take a closer look at the weight classes:

106 — Wiley Jessup, Fremd

One thing opponents of Fremd can be sure of is seeing a powerful one-two punch at the start of the Vikings lineup beginning with Wiley Jessup at 106 and talented freshman Evan Gosz at 113.

Jessup, who was runner-up Thanksgiving weekend at the 30th annual Moore-Prettyman, pinned his way into the final where he used a strong third period to defeat Joel Muehlenbeck to claim his first major title of the season.

“Getting that first takedown is always so important, but I thought my ability to block his shots in the third period was the key to victory,” said Jessup (17-1) after his 5-2 decision over Muehlenbeck.

The affable Vikings senior, who came in as the No. 4-rated six-pounder in the state, drew first blood with a takedown near the edge with 17 seconds left in the opening period, then later used an escape and another deuce five seconds from time.

“Having Evan in the room as my partner is great for both of us,” continued Jessup.

“He’s tough with his leg riding, which helps me prepare to get out of those types of situations, and we are always doing our best to make things difficult for each other, which ultimately helps us better prepare for competition.”

“Wiley was an IWCOA all-stater last summer,” Fremd coach Jeff Keske said. “Although he is battling a few injuries of late, he found a way to win today, despite not being a hundred percent healthy, and that says a lot about his effort.”

113 — Evan Gosz, Fremd

Gosz continues to sparkle in the first half of the season, earning his second major of the campaign (Gosz won at the Moore-Prettyman) and doing so in spectacular fashion all throughout the day.

“Evan was dominant today with two pins, plus a tech-fall and he just loves to perform on the big stage,” Keske said of his rookie sensation, who is now 17-1 on the season. “He seems to wrestle his best when the lights are bright.”

“I’m in a great room, with a great partner, and I really enjoy being a part of a high school wrestling program,” said Gosz, who before this weekend was No. 6 in the latest IWCOA state poll.

“There was a period of adjustment coming into high school after wrestling IKWF but having Wiley in the room has been great for me. We really get after each other and coach (Keske) has been fantastic helping me improve in all parts of my game.”

Gosz spent just 25 seconds on the mat in his opener and then went nearly a full six minutes before recording his tech-fall in the semifinals to advance into the final against Zach Parisi of York.

Once there, he wasted little time building a 6-1 advantage, before another pin at 3:25 sent him atop the podium.

On his way to the final, Parisi upended No. 2 seed Jimmy Norris of McHenry with a tech-fall in his semifinal. Norris later would claim third place overall in a wild high scoring affair (23-21) with Maxim Mukhamedaliyev of Hersey.

120 — Caelen Riley, Libertyville

Riley’s drive to the 120-pound title was a thing of beauty, as the Libertyville four-year veteran left little doubt as to who was the best in his respected weight class.

The Wildcat senior brought a creative flair in his attack, with constant movement, well designed shots, and an ability to pry open his opponents. That was particularly evident in his final with the No. 7 rated twenty pounder in 2A, Tyler Evans of Prairie Ridge, who dropped a 16-5 major decision to the two-time state qualifier, and sixth-place medalist in Springfield.

“Since the Moore-Prettyman, I’ve been working to improve my hand-fighting, and in all positions, as well as getting an early lead and continuing to put more points up in order to keep the pressure on my opponents,” said Riley, No. 5 in the IWCOA polls.

“(Coach) Eggert is such a great technician, so there’s always something we’re working on to fine tune things. Improving my fitness is something that has also become very important to me.”

Riley makes the five-mile trip to the Poeta Training Center in Lake Forest a couple of times a week to sharpen his skills – extra work that appears to have paid off with his recent commitment to wrestle next fall at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina.

“I looked around at UW-LaCrosse, and Campbell University (North Carolina) but everything fits real well both academically and with my wrestling at The Citadel, where I’ll have the chance to start at 125 pounds,” said Riley, who plans to study marketing.

126 — Massey Odiotti, Loyola Academy

For a guy who was flying far under the radar at the start of this season, Massey Odiotti is fast becoming a rather large ‘blip’ on the screen following yet another terrific weekend effort to claim his third tournament championship.

The Loyola Academy star won the Moore-Prettyman, then won the title at the first ever McLaughlin Classic, and then turned in some marvelous work to take home the big prize in Mt. Prospect.

“It’s all about wrestling six hard minutes each time I go out there and to continue to work hard in the room in order to compete at a high level,” said the senior, who is No. 4 in the state polls at 120, but has won his last two tournaments at 126.

Ramblers head coach Matt Collum, who starred at Neuqua Valley and then at the collegiate level at Iowa Central, where he was a three-time All-American and national champ, noticed a distinct difference in Odiotti after his two-day effort at the Moore-Prettyman

“Last year Massey would find a way to lose the close ones,” Collum said. “This year his focus is much more clear, and he’s winning those close, hard-fought matches, and that’s the secret to success in this sport.”

“(Collum) is right,” Odiotti said. “In the past I’d be down in the second period and that seemed to be it for me in those matches. But he’s been so good for me because after I compete, we go back to work to pinpoint the little things that need to be cleaned up. That, plus a lot more confidence, makes me go out expecting to win.”

Alex Schmacht of Moline would finish second overall after his 9-0 defeat at the hands of Odiotti, while Sean Berger from York earned third place with consecutive pins to close out his day.

132 — Will Baysingar, Prospect

Once again, Will Baysingar was unstoppable.

The Prospect junior, No. 3 in the IWCOA polls, unleashed a masterclass effort to dispatch all three of his opponents — the first two via lightning-quick pins and a third against the talented Maddox Klaminsky of Fremd, with a methodical 12-6 decision to win his second title in three weeks.

“So far, so good, but there’s a lot of work ahead of me, so the plan is to continue to work in order to be my best,” said Baysingar, whose clinical finishing was a thing of beauty to watch over the course of the day.

“Lately I’ve been fine-tuning a lot of things in my attack, and with my partners in the room — Lennon Steinkuehler and Damien Puma — we’ve been pushing each other every day.”

“As good as Will is right now, the drive and work ethic to be the absolute best is what impresses me so much about him,” said Knights assistant Dan Keller. “I feel like there’s so much more to come from him at the rate he works.”

“It’s 24-7, 365 days of wrestling for Will, yet he manages to have a 4.0-plus GPA at the same time. That says a lot about his discipline and desire to succeed.”

138 — Kole Brower, Moline

Kole Brower and teammate Noah Tapia form a devastating partnership in Jacob Ruettiger’s lineup, and the dynamic duo showed just how dangerous they are with their dazzling display all throughout the day.

Brower (13-0) dominated his competition with a trio of pins, including his final against Prospect’s Lennon Steinkuehler. Brower won by fall at 1:41 to earn his championship crown at 138 pounds.

“I am very fortunate to have a great like Noah in the room, we challenge each other every day and I know he’s made me a much better wrestler,” said Brower, who not only is the reigning 132-pound state champion, but also No. 1 in the latest IWCOA state polls.

“I like being the No. 1 guy,” Brower said. “It makes me work harder and it challenges me to be the best that I can be, knowing others will be coming after me each time out.”

Brower, who went 23-0 last season, recently committed to wrestle next season at Illinois, where he’ll pursue a degree in teaching at the high school level, with an eye on coaching some day as well.

“I am very comfortable with coach (Mike) Poeta, and I really like the direction the program is going. It’s going to be a great fit for me,” said Brower, who estimates he’ll compete at 141 on the collegiate level.

145 — Noah Tapia, Moline

Noah Tapia squashed the field from start-to-finish in explosive fashion, needing just 6 1/2 minutes to dash the hopes of a trio of opponents en route to his 145-pound title.

“Just like (Brower) it’s good to be one of the top guys in the state,” Tapia said. “Each guy you wrestle is looking to be the one that beats you.” The Moline junior went into Prospect as the No. 2 man in the state behind another junior, Ethan Stiles of Conant, who won it all last summer at 145.

Tapia collected the first state title of his career last season at 138, one year after earning his first trip downstate. He flashed terrific balance, skill, speed and superb movement to ensure victory, which included his third and final pin of the tournament in his final with Charlie Fifield of Fremd.

“We see a lot of 1A and 2A competition in our area so it’s great we traveled this weekend to come to an amazing tournament like this to compete against talented 3A guys who normally we wouldn’t see,” said Tapia, after improving to 12-0 on the season.

152 Connor Munn, Prospect

Connor Munn may have surprised some on his way to the top of the podium, but it was no surprise to Tom Whalen and his assistant, Dan Keller.

Munn marched into his title match against league rival Matthew Iliynkh of Hersey, where he unleashed an unstoppable attack on the way to securing his first ever varsity title with a pin at 2:20.

“As a sophomore, Connor has been very good for us in the middle of our lineup,” said Whalen. “His work ethic is very good, and he’s come a long way in a short time.”

“(Munn) is a real coachable kid,” added Keller. “Once he was over the usual freshmen mistakes, he has combined hard work and a dedication to putting in the extra work to make himself a valuable guy in our lineup.”

Top seed Jack Downing of Glenbrook South finished third overall, with Zander Ealy (Moline) rounding out the top four in this weight class.

160 — Chris Moore, McHenry

Chris Moore appears ready to settle down after two previous stops before ending up at McHenry under head coach Jake Guardalabene.

The Warriors’ junior made an immediate statement as a freshmen at Aurora Christian, where he carried off the top prize at 113 pounds, before moving over to 2A state power Marian Central Catholic, where he finished second overall in 2A at 138.

Moore came home to McHenry during the offseason and together with teammate Brody Hallin, he gives Guardalabene a spectacular one-two upper weight punch, and one that should give the club enough firepower to challenge for top honors in the Fox Valley Conference and beyond.

“It’s great to be back wrestling at McHenry where I have so many of my friends, in and out of the sport,” said Moore, who validated his spot as the No. 1 man at 160 in the state with a wonderful effort in all three of his matches, which included his pin at 3:27 over Patrick Downing of Glenbrook South in the finals.

“I am attacking with more confidence than ever before, and I am getting an early lead, and I’ve been looking to score more. I’m adding points to put pressure on my opponents as the match goes on,” added Moore, who will compete next fall at Illinois.

“Chris had a great tournament,” Guardalebene said. “He ran into a tough wrestler (Jack Seacrist of Stillman Valley) in his semifinal, and with the match close early on, he went into the next gear to pull away. It was good to see him grind out a hard fought victory.”

170 — Brody Hallin, McHenry

Hallin received an early Christmas present with the arrival of Chris Moore to the McHenry program, and that brought a smile to the three-time state qualifier, whose tenacious and combative style was too much for his opponents to handle at Prospect.

“We already had a great room but with the addition of Chris, who immediately became my partner and someone that will help push me to be at my best, it was the perfect gift for me,” Hallin said with a smile.

“COVID really messed me up mentally last year and even though I was able to finish fourth at the IWCOA state tournament, I still wasn’t really feeling it after that tournament.

“But this season, thanks to Chris being here, and my teammates and coaches, I’ve found myself really loving the sport more than ever, and I believe it’s showing in my wrestling and how I compete.”
Hallin’s coach liked what he saw, particularly after Hallin’s late takedown gave him a 4-3 title-mat decision.

“Brody had a great tournament,” Guardalebene said. “I really enjoyed seeing him get pins in his first two matches. His opponent in the finals, Austin Gomez (Libertyville), had a good game plan against us but Brody did a good job of finding a way to win that match in the third period.”

182 — Josh Knudten, Libertyville

Josh Knudten proved to be a strong candidate for OWA honors following his superb effort in the 182-pound weight class, which included a trio of pins just 55 seconds in his opener, and then at 62 seconds in his title match against Aidan McCain of Round Lake.
It was Knudten’s first tournament title of the season after falling just short at the Moore-Prettyman.

“I learned a lot from that loss in the finals at Barrington,” said Knudten, who cruised into the finals as the No. 1 seed before being stopped by Marmion Academy’s Jack Lesher.

“(Coach) Eggert says we always learn something – win or lose – and for me in that match with Lesher, I learned to never overlook any opponent, whether they’re ranked or unranked,” said Knudten, who’s ranked No. 4 in the IWCOA polls and who won a fifth-place state medal in June.

“Since (Barrington) I’ve worked hard on all parts of my game, including scoring points early, adding to my lead, and learning the importance of closing out matches.”

The two-time state qualifier believes time spent with the well-respected Eggert and his staff, in addition to the trips to the Poeta Training Center where he works alongside Zachary Brunson, has provided the impetus for his success thus far.

195 — Cole Matulenko, Libertyville

Matulenko made it two straight for runner-up Libertyville when he edged Mike Williams (Loyola Academy) 4-3 in his 195-pound final to earn his first championship trophy of the season.

The Wildcats’ junior had an easy time of it in his first two bouts. Matulenko recorded a pair of falls to advance to face Williams, before using an escape one minute from time to ensure victory.

“I feel like my conditioning and fitness was the difference in my final,” Matulenko said.

“Every day in the room, I go head-to-head with our heavyweight (Caleb Christensen) who is big, fast and really tough. Time spent with Caleb has really helped prepare me for guys who are bigger and a little stronger than me.

“It definitely helps me against bigger guys and I’ve been spending a lot of time lifting to get stronger, so I know all that extra work will pay off when it really counts.”

220 — Manny Mejia, Hersey

Manny Mejia can still remember those dreadful days when the program at Hersey had a difficult time with numbers, and an equally difficult time filling out its lineup card. It was a situation which led to far more losses than victories.

Things are different now for Mejia and his teammates, who last weekend lifted the championship trophy at Joliet Central. That team title came one week after Hersey defeated reigning league champion Conant and then perennial powerhouse Barrington on the same evening.

“It was pretty bad when I first got to Hersey,” Mejia said, “but the reason in my opinion for our big turnaround this season is coach (Joe) Rupslauk.

“(Coach) treats us all like family. He works us hard, makes us accountable, gives us his full support, sacrifices all of his time for us, and he’ll do anything for us as long as we put the time in and commit ourselves to each other and to the team.”

Mejia (17-2), an IWCOA sectional qualifier a year ago, recorded a late takedown in the first period of his final with Luke Zunkel (14-1) of McHenry, then went in front for good with an escape and another takedown in the second period en route to an 8-2 decision.

“Manny is a great leader in the room, and I was very proud of his effort today to get himself a well deserved individual title,” said Rupslauk.

285 — Sean Mitchel, Prospect

There’s plenty of depth in the room at Prospect and the Knights received an extra boost when a handful of players returned from its football team, whose deep playoff run ended in a loss 7A state semifinal to St. Rita.

The arrival of big man Sean Mitchel, the Knights starting left guard, has already made a mark in Tom Whalens’ starting 14, giving the long-time head coach quality and pin power at the heavyweight position.

“It’s great having Sean back and in our lineup,” Whalen said after Mitchel pinned his way to the title. “He’s been with us since he was a sophomore, he put on a lot of weight, spent the time in the weight room to get himself bigger and stronger, and today you saw that hard work pay off.”

“I’m excited to be back and with my win today, but I’m really excited about the team winning the championship in our own gym,” said Mitchel.
Mitchel spent just five minutes on the mats on Saturday, including 1:52 in his last bout of the day against the aforementioned Christensen, who entered the tournament as the No. 10-rated man at 285.

Oleg Simankov (Hersey) was third overall and Alex Enkhbaater of Glenbrook South rounded out the top four finishers in the heavyweight division.

By Gary Larsen

DePaul College Prep senior Mikekal McLarin is one of the Rams’ top wrestlers. He may be an even better team leader, as reflected in his comments on DePaul’s domination of the field at Saturday’s 13-team Warren G. Hoger Invitational, hosted by Walter Christian.

“My team came here and showed up,” McLarin said. “This is the best we’ve been in a long time so this is a blessing. I’m proud of the guys who showed up and executed today. It was awesome to see.

“We’re young but we’re not scared to go out there and fight, and we’re always willing to learn something new. When you come in with an open mind and the right mindset, that’s how you grow and get better.”

DePaul posted 244.5 points to the 179 points scored by second-place finisher Seaholm (MI). Elmwood Park (134) placed third, Peotone (123.5) was fourth, and Mather (118) rounded out the top five teams.

McLarin won an individual title at 132 pounds and improved to 8-0 on the season as one of four individual champs for the Rams. A young Rams team also got titles from freshmen Max Rosen (120) and Drew Gerstung (126), and senior Jake Kelly (160), plus second-place finishes from sophomore Jack Myers (113), seniors Jaxon Kaminski (138) and Michael Skory (152), and freshman Brenden Lilla (170).

DePaul coach Pat Heffernan also got thirds from freshman Johnny Cunningham (106) and junior Emmet Jeske (285) and fifths from freshman Matthew Brendel (145) and senior Brian Ngo (195). DePaul led all teams with 12 wrestlers finishing in the top six of their weight classes. The Rams had no wrestlers entered at 182 and 220 pounds.

Class 1A DePaul also placed third at Fenton’s 16-team Weiss Invitational a week earlier, in a field full of 2A and 3A teams.

“We’re a little bit better than I thought we would be, so I’m a little surprised at how well we’re doing right now,” Heffernan said. “The kids are really getting better every day.”

“We had two freshmen step up in their first varsity tournaments today, with Matthew Brendel and Brenden Lilla, and Max Rosen is doing a great job, wrestling up a weight as a freshman and winning two tournaments this year.”

It was also a special day at Walther Christian, which dedicated its multi-purpose room to longtime coach Bruce Tuomi. Tuomi’s teams at Walther went 304-114-0 over his 20-year coaching career there, including his state-qualifying teams of 2015 and 2016. Tuomi finished with a career coaching record of 523-230-9.

Here’s a breakdown of Saturday’s individual champions:

106 — Jack Dombeck, Elmwood Park

Dombeck followed his individual title win at Fenton’s 16-team Weiss Invitational on Dec. 4 by improving to 14-1 en route to his second title of the season. Dombeck used a pair of pins to win his crown, capped by a fall on the title mat against host Walther Christian freshman Caleb Peterson (7-1). 

The two got into a wild exchange early in the first period, with both fighting off potential takedowns. Dombeck chose the down position to start the second period, ultimately reversing and pinning Peterson at 3:13.

“It would have been nice to feel him out a little bit but I’m alright with that much action right at the start of the match,” Dombeck said. “It is what it is. No complaints.

“I wasn’t getting to my offense enough in that match but I took down (position) in the second period, and that was something we’d been working on in practice this week. But I have to work on hitting my offense more. I have shots to score a lot of points so I have to be working on those.”

Dombeck is opening some eyes early on in his high school career. Including his own.

“I wasn’t a very good kids club wrestler. I didn’t start winning tournaments until I was 12 or 13 years old,” he said. “I struggled but now my mentality has changed. I’m more confident in my wrestling now.”

DePaul’s Cunningham won by fall over Amundsen’s Matthew Nguyen on the third-place mat, one week after placing second to Dombeck at Fenton’s Weiss Invitational. Mooseheart’s Tilan Murphy pinned Noah Toth of Lutheran Northwest (MI) for fifth.

113 — Cameron Murray, Seaholm (MI)

Murray improved to 3-0 with a pair of falls on the day, with neither of his matches lasting more than one minute. He pinned Rickover Naval Academy’s Kemely Trujillo (8-2) 47 seconds into their semifinal match before pinning DePaul’s Myers (6-2) 39 seconds into their title match.

Murray was one of three individual champions for Seaholm on the day.

Trujillo won his first match by fall over Ridgewood’s Sal Reina and Myers pinned Elmwood Park’s Dillon Vazquez in their semifinal match. Myers also placed third last week at Fenton. Vazquez pinned Trujillo at 2:58 of their third-place match and Reina finished fifth.

120 — Max Rosen, DePaul College Prep

One week after posting three pins and winning an Outstanding Wrestler Award at Fenton’s Weiss Invitational, DePaul’s Max Rosen posted two more pins to win the title at Walther in improving to 11-0 on the season.

Rosen pinned Seaholm’s James Postema in a semifinal match before winning by fall at 1:30 of his title match against Walther’s Josh Peterson.

Rosen showed throughout the title match that waiting around to react to an opponent’s offense just isn’t his style. The freshman has brought the attacking heat against his opponents all season.

“If I don’t go out there and attack, I’m not going to win,” Rosen said. “Every match I try to attack first and attack hard. That’s how I win, is by being way more aggressive. (Peterson) is a senior, I’m a freshman. He’s a state qualifier. I just went out expecting a battle and I just worked as hard as I could.”

Rickover’s Nathaniel Sales won by fall for third place against Ridgewood’s Luisa Valtierrez, while Postema placed fifth with a fall over Mather’s Malachi Holmes.

126 — Drew Gerstung, DePaul College Prep

One week after placing third at Fenton’s Weiss Invitational, DePaul’s Drew Gerstung improved to 8-3 on the year when he won an 8-6 title-mat decision over Ridgewood’s Kris Popovich in Melrose Park. Gerstung opened his day with a semifinal fall at 0:56 over Lutheran Northwest’s James Wilson.

“I thought everyone else wrestled up to my expectations, but I think (Gerstung at 126) wrestled beyond our expectations,” DePaul coach Pat Heffernan said. “He had a tough match in the finals and he wrestled great.”

Popovich opened with a 12-10 decision over Peotone’s Mohammed Abunijmeh before pinning Westmont’s Sean Patterson in their semifinal match. Abunijmeh pinned Patterson on the third-place mat and Wilson placed fifth with a fall against Westmont’s Magie Anders.

132 — Mikekal McLarin, DePaul College Prep

After posting two falls and a tech fall win on the title mat, DePaul College Prep senior Mikekal McLarin improved to 8-0 this season. McLarin pinned Elmwood Park’s Christian Campos and Nazareth’s Andrew Fowler, before winning by tech fall over Westmont’s Dominic Wagner for the title.

But being content is never part of a wrestler’s makeup.

“I’m not satisfied. I started the day with a pin, then another pin, and I was looking for a pin in the finals,” McLarin said. “I got the tech fall so I got some work in. Now I just have to keep conditioning and keep putting the hammer down. I feel more confident in myself this year, and I’ve been working hard on and off the mat.”

McLarin is aiming to provide leadership by example to a young DePaul team, based on a simple message:

“I just tell them to be mean. You’re not trying to be anybody’s friend out on the mat,” McLarin said. “You can shake hands when you get off the mat. Be aggressive and be the one who wants it more.”

One week after placing second at Fenton’s Weiss Invitational, Wagner (9-4) pinned Amundsen’s Michael Burks and Peotone’s Santino Izzi to reach the finals at Walther Christian. Izzi placed third with an 8-4 decision over Fowler, and Campos took fifth with a 9-3 decision over Rickover’s Julian Hernandez, one week after he placed fourth at Fenton.

138 — Ian Kreske, Peotone

After opening his day with a tight, 9-8 decision win, Peotone’s Ian Kreske(5-2) reeled off a pair of major decisions to win the title at 138. Kreske won 17-4 over DePaul’s Kaminski on the title mat.

Kreske found his groove in the title match, and he stayed there to pile up points.

“As I felt him out I realized I could shoot the single on him, so I started going to that a lot. Then I rode him out and got my chicken wing,” Kreske said.

Kreske won 9-8 over Seaholm’s Dylan Alati in a quarterfinal match before winning a 10-2 major decision in his semifinal against Mooseheart’s SanQuan Bufford. In his title match, Kreske scored a late first-period takedown for a 2-0 lead, then opened up an 11-2 lead by the end of the second period and cruised from there.

The sophomore Kreske started last year at 120 before wrestling at 113 by season’s end. He plans on wrestling at 132 moving forward.

“I’m feeling good,” Kreske said. “I’m better on bottom this year,better at getting out, which was kind of hard for me last year.I’ve always been pretty good on top and I’m always looking to score more points.”

Kaminski (6-4) pinned Elmwood Park’s Konrad Treska and Lutheran Northwest’s Ethan Dodson to reach the finals, one week after placing fourth at Fenton. SanQuan pinned Alati on the third-place mat and Treska pinned Dodson for fifth.

145 — Joey Lewand, Seaholm (MI)

Seaholm’s Joey Lewand learned late what wrestlers who began the sport in grade school already knew. The junior had never wrestled prior to this season and he’s already hooked on the sport.

“I like it so much more than I thought I would,” Lewand said. “There’s just something about all the hard work and pressure that goes into it. I’ve played football, basketball, and baseball my whole life — this is the hardest sport I’ve ever done and there’s something about the hard work I really like.”

Lewand (3-1) reeled off three pins to win the title at 145, capped by a fall at :30 on the title mat against Elmwood Park’s Mark Gomez. Lewand pinned Rickover’s Alejandro Olvera and Mather’s Yovany Coronel to reach the finals.

Gomez (9-8) won a 10-2 major in his quarterfinal match against Amundsen’s Asaph Matis, then a 12-7 decision over Seaholm’s Alex Tappen to reach the finals.

Olvera pinned Coronel on the third-place mat and Brendel won by injury default for fifth against Tappen.

152 — Kevin Hogan, Peotone

With weekend tournaments not allowed last season due to COVID, this year’s return to a more normal schedule has been welcomed by high school wrestlers throughout Illinois.

“I really am excited. I really missed this,” Peotone senior Kevin Hogan said. “We’re already in December and it already feels like it’s going quick.”

Hogan is making the most of his senior season thus far. He won the Hoger title at 152 and improved to 6-1 on the season with a pin on the title mat of DePaul’s Michael Skory.

Hogan is in his fourth year as a varsity wrestler, having wrestled at 113 as a freshman, 132 as an IHSA state qualifier as a sophomore, and an IWCOA state qualifier at145 last season. He’s currently ranked 10th at 145 in 1A per Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings.

“For the state series I’ll probably go 145,” he said. “I feel more aware this year and I’m a lot more confident in my shots and my setups.” 

Hogan pinned Elmwood Park’s Josh Dascola in the first period of a quarterfinal match, and then won by 17-2 tech fall in his semifinal against Seaholm’s Matthew Windsor. Hogan pinned Skory at 4:54 on the title mat.

A week after placing fifth at Fenton, Skory (9-3) pinned Walther’s Leslie Velazquez before winning a 3-2 ultimate tie-break in his semifinal against Lutheran Northwest’s Luke Burmeister. Burmeister posted two pins in the consolation round, capped by a pin of Windsor on the third-place mat, while Rickover’s Adonal Zora-Awni won by fall on the fifth-place mat over Mooseheart’s Chris Wallace.

160 — Jake Kelly, DePaul College Prep

Mather’s Arlo Johnston had a 4-2 lead on DePaul’s Jake Kelly after one period of their title match, before Kelly used a takedown and back points in the second period to grab a 7-4 lead. Kelly then pinned Johnston, 22 seconds into the third period.

Kelly won his title one week after placing third at Fenton’s Weiss Invitational.

Kelly (7-4) pinned Seaholm’s Dalton Fines in his semifinal match, while Johnston (3-1) pinned Rickover’s Tony Goris in their semifinal. Fines then posted a first-period pin over Goris on the third-place mat.

170 — Ashton Bossardet, Seaholm

Three pins in three matches that took a combined 2:52 earned a Hoger title at 170 for Seaholm’s Ashton Bossardet. Bossardet pinned Ridgewood’s Kevin Mimini and Mather’s John Ho to earn a spot in the title match, where he pinned DePaul’s Lilla at :16 of the first period.

Wrestling in his first varsity tournament, Lilla pinned Amundsen’s Adrian Zepedon in their semifinal match to reach the finals. Mimini pinned Ho on the third-place mat and Zepedon pinned Lutheran Nortwest’s Nate Cummins for fifth.

182 — Michael Tuomi, Lutheran Northwest (MI)

Two pins earned the title at 182 for Lutheran Northwest’s Michael Tuomi (4-0), capped by a fall at 2:53 on the title mat against Mather’s Jacob Scott. Tuomi opened with a pin of Peotone’s Jackson Bergeron in their semifinal match.

Scott (3-2) won a 15-4 major decision in his semifinal match against Seaholm’s Eduardo Ferdinand. Bergeron pinned Ferdinand for third place and Ridgewood’s Jose Castro won by injury default on the fifth-place mat against Nazareth’s Scott Creviston.

195 — Jaylan Lacy, Westmont

So far, Westmont’s Jaylan Lacy is making his senior year count. Lacy improved to 14-0 and garnered his second tournament championship medal of the year, having also won the crown at 195 at Fenton’s Weiss tournament a week earlier. Lacy was an IWCOA state qualifier last year as a junior.

Lacy’s three falls on the day left no doubt who the top 195-pounder was at Walther on Saturday, once he got his engine revved up.

“I was tired coming in here. But I got warmed up and took care of business,” Lacy said. “I scouted my opponent before I wrestled and started thinking of a game plan. In my title match I knew I’d beat (Elmwood Park’s Jack Pedersen) before, so I was confident.

“I’m more confident in myself. Last year I was too hesitant to take shots against people who I thought could beat me. But not this year.”

Lacy — currently ranked No. 10 in Illinois at 195 in 1A — pinned Seaholm’s Luke Johnson and Peotone’s Oscar Villalobos to reach the finals, where he pinned Pedersen at the 2:17 mark of the match.

Pedersen (10-7) pinned DePaul’s Brian Ngo and Mather’s Jens Marino to reach the finals, a week after his fourth-place finish at Fenton. Villalobos won a 10-3 decision for third place against Marino, while Ngo pinned Walther’s Zach Zawila on the fifth-place mat.

220 — Gabe Kaminski, Nazareth

There are 33 Class 1A wrestlers ranked at 220 in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings, and 32 of them are either juniors or seniors — a typical breakdown of upperclassmen among the upper weights.

The lone underclassman ranked at 220 is only a freshman — Nazareth’s Gabe Kaminski, who’s listed on the honorable mention list. After pinning his way to a Hoger title and improving to 8-0 on the year, Kaminski has shown that he can match up physically in a division loaded with upperclassmen.

“I just came off the football season so I’m not in wrestling shape yet,” Kaminski said. “I’ve only had a couple of weeks of wrestling to get back into it. Coach (Denis Laughlin) told me I have the potential to go all the way this year. I know I have a lot more work to do but with hard work, anything is possible.”

Kaminski won his title with three pins on the day, capped by a pin of Seaholm’s Jacob Vance on the title mat at 220. Kaminski pinned Amundsen’s Michael Wojtach and Westmont’s Severin Vorotnjak before pinning Vance on the title mat at the 2:58 mark.

Kaminski won an Illinois kids club state title in seventh grade and has acclimated fast to the high school varsity level.

“The (varsity) competition level is way harder and you have to get rid of all the funk moves you can get away with at the kids club level,” Kaminski said. “(Vance) was strong as hell and I was just able to use that elbow slide-by and got two takedowns off of it.”

Vance pinned Mather’s Jonathan Alvarado and Elmwood Park’s Olmari Evans — both within the first 20 seconds of the first period — to reach the title match against Kaminski. Alvarado pinned Wojtach for third while Evans won by injury default for fifth over Vorornjak.

285 — Kevin Olsen, Amundsen

Olsen opened his day with a fall against Lutheran Northwest’s Derek Friedman, then won a 9-2 semifinal decision over Westmont’s Angel Ortiz to reach the finals. In a battle of unbeaten wrestlers, Olsen won 5-0 for the title against Rickover’s Osmar Mora to improve to 5-0 on the year.

“I was able to get (Friedman) down and pin him in the first match, and the second match (vs. Ortiz) was tough. It went to overtime and I was able to take a double-leg and get it,” Olsen said.

“I woke up feeling good today. I just went out there and got the win. My conditioning is good so I think that’s one of the main reasons I won — I was able to keep working. Now I have to engage more offensively and I need to keep working on conditioning, so I can beat guys with pace.”

Mora (7-1) reached the finals with a pair of falls, respectively, over DePaul’s Emmet Jeske and Mather’s Tofarati Fatoki. Jeske pinned Fatoki for third while Ortiz pinned Elmwood Park’s Marty Lozano for fifth.

By Curt Herron
For the IWCOA

Tremont rolls at PORTA Rex Avery Invite

Tremont scored 240.5 points which helped it to easily capture top honors in Saturday’s Rex Avery PORTA Invite, which was held in Petersburg. Canton edged Auburn 157.5-157 for second place while Kewanee (126), Shelbyville (119), Lincoln (116.5), Knoxville (109), Cumberland/Newton (107.5), Ridgeview/Lexington (101) and PORTA/A-C Central/Greenview/Havana (99.5) rounded out the top 10.

The Turks, who were third in Class 1A in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings, are coached by 2006 IWCOA Hall of Famer TJ Williams, who won four IHSA titles at Mount Carmel and only lost once and won two NCAA titles at the University of Iowa. His team had two champions and two second-place finishers and had seven other individuals who placed sixth or better in the 25-team competition.

Winning titles for Tremont were Levi Leitner (152) and Cooper Wendling (195) while Lucas Wendling (170) and John Rathbun (220) both placed second. Finishing in third place for the Turks were Chase Stedman (113), Mason Mark (132) and Logan Stedman (160) and placing fourth was Luke Sauder (285). 

Champions for Canton were Trenton Hedges (126), Joseph Norton (170) and Weston Swise (285) while Danny Murphy (182) placed fourth. Winning titles for Auburn were Anthony Ruzic (113) and Dresden Grimm (132) while Colby Willhite (138) finished second and Skylar Fay (182) and Cole Edie (285) both took third place.

Also capturing championships were Cumberland/Newton’s Hank Warfel (106), St. Joseph-Ogden’s Holden Brazelton (120), Lincoln’s Kaden Osland (138), Carlinville’s Jack Schwartz (145), Knoxville’s Hunter Fox (160), Sacred Heart-Griffin’s Cory West (182) and Ridgeview/Lexington’s Evan Antonio (220).

Other second-place finishers were Shelbyville’s Calvin Miller (120) and Kaz Fox (132), Cumberland/Newton’s Colby Ryan (195) and Noah Carl (285). Litchfield/Mt. Olive’s Alex Powell (106), Farmington’s Keygan Jennings (113), Ridgeview/Lexington’s Payton Campbell (126), Lincoln’s Isaac Decker (145), PORTA/A-C Central/Greenview/Havana’s Brayden Barner (152), Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Gage Sweckard (160) and Warrensburg-Latham/Mt. Pulaski’s Austin Stock (182).

In the closest title matches, Warfel edged Powell 8-6 at 106, Brazelton won 3-1 in sudden victory over Miller at 120, Schwartz claimed a 7-5 victory over Decker at 145 and Norton prevailed 4-3 over Lucas Wendling at 170. Ruzic (113), Hedges (126), Grimm (132), Osland (138), Leitner (152), West (182) and Swise (285) all recorded falls in their title matches while Cooper Wendling claimed a major decision at 195, Fox won 8-1 over Sweckard at 160 and Antonio captured a 7-1 win over Rathbun at 220. 

Other third-place finishers were Kewanee’s Hayden Davis (126), Kadin Rednour (152) and Nathaniel Lockett (195), Mt. Zion’s Mason Gray (106), Ridgeview/Lexington’s Braydon Campbell (120), Beardstown’s Jonny Marquez (138), Shelbyville’s Will Fox (145), Cumberland/Newton’s Iysten Syfert (170) and Hillsboro’s Magnus Wells (220).

Also finishing fourth were Mt. Zion’s Bradley Wilson (120), Lawrence Trimble (160) and Remington Hiser (220), Monmouth-Roseville’s Dayanna Ortiz-Mora (106), Ridgeview/Lexington’s Anthony Wolinsky (113), Knoxville’s Gage Fox (126), Kewanee’s Will Taylor (132), PORTA/A-C Central/Greenview/Havana’s Vance Witherall (138), Monticello’s Jaxon Trent (145), Lincoln’s Colbie Glenn (152), Pittsfield/Pleasant Hill’s Mason Davis (170) and Sacred Heart-Griffin’s Jack Ludolph (195).

Marion captures third-straight title in own Wildcat Duals 

Host Marion won all five of its dual meets to capture its third-consecutive championship in its own Wildcats Duals Tournament on Saturday.

Coach Darren Lindsey’s Wildcats entered as the second-seed and proceeded to defeat the other seeded teams in the final three rounds, beating third-seed Kennett of Missouri 60-20, fourth-seed Carbondale 60-15 and top-seed Waterloo 54-29 in the finale.

Marion got outright first place finishes from Tate Miller (126), Ricky Wade (132) and Nate Dampier (152) while Malakei Weatherly (182) and Garrett Berendson (285) both shared titles. Earning outright seconds were Brennan Vogt (113) and Aden White (160) while Hunter Gibb (138) tied for second. And the hosts got third-place finishes  from Caleb Ohnesorge (170) and Levi Tanner (220).

Waterloo, which was surprised by Carmi-White County 42-39 in its first dual, needed a win in the final dual to try to force a three-way tie with Marion and Carmi-White County. But the Wildcats won five of the first six matches to take a 30-5 lead and after Waterloo got a fall, Marion responded with two pins of its own to go up 42-11 to end the drama.

Carmi-White County only lost one dual meet, its second of the day, when it fell 48-30 to Carbondale. But the Bulldogs bounced back with decisive victories over Carlyle, Sparta and Red Bud/Valmeyer 54-15 in its final dual to earn second-place honors.

Matt Wilson (113) won an outright title for Carmi-White County while Isaac King (182) and Titus Wood (285) tied for first place. Noah Pollard (132) and Gavin Payton (220) both had outright seconds while Trent Belford (138) and Nelson Rider (195) tied for second and Caleb Siebers (152) finished third.

Waterloo responded to its early loss with three-straight wins, edging Carbondale 34-33 and beating Kennett 50-30 to set up its dual with Marion.

Claiming outright titles for Waterloo were Gavin Hearren (120) and Jordan Sommers (220) while Ty Kinzinger (106), Adron Winget (145) and Brandon Lloyd (170) all tied for first place.

Carbondale beat Kennett 30-27 to join Waterloo with 3-2 records but took fourth place as a result of their one-point loss. Kennett and Red Bud/Valmeyer both went 2-3 and Carlyle also won one dual.

Capturing outright titles for the Terriers were Aiden Murphy (138), Isaiah Duckworth (160) and Aiden Taylor (195). Brendon Banz (152) took second and Gabriel Roman (120) and Ryan Hawk (182) had outright thirds while Aaron Johnson (126) tied for third place.

Red Bud/Valmeyer had two individuals who shared honors with Mitch Fleming (145) tying for first-place and Zack Manning (126) tying for third.

Carlyle’s Tyson Waughtel (106) and Owen Birkner (170) both shared first-place while Sparta’s Cody Martin (160) took third place.

Riverdale top Illinois team in own Jim Boyd Invite

The three Iowa teams that competed at Riverdale’s Jim Boyd Invite in Port Byron took the top three sports in the 10-team competition. Pleasant Valley won the title with 241 points while Wilton took second with 196 and Davenport North was third with 154 points. The top three squads also captured eight of the individual titles.

Leading the way for the seven Illinois teams that participated were the host Rams taking fourth with 143.5 points while Sterling (128) edged Sherrard (123) for fifth. Riverdale had four individual champions, which was tied for the high mark along with Pleasant Valley.

Winning championships for Illinois schools were Riverdale’s Brock Smith (132), Blake Smith (138), Zach Bradley (152) and Alex Watson (160), Sterling’s Drew Kested (145) and Sherrard’s Ryder Roelf (170). Finishing in second place were Riverdale’s Kolton Kruse (126) and Eli Hinde (145), Mercer County’s Ethan Monson (120), Seneca’s Asher Hamby (152) and Sterling’s Thomas Tate (160).

In the closest title matches for Illinois athletes, Blake Smith prevailed 12-11 over Wilton’s Owen Milder at 138, Kested won 7-1 over Hinde at 145, Bradley captured an 11-8 win over Hamby at 152 and Monson lost 7-2 to Wilton’s Jordan Dusenberry at 120. Recording falls in championship matches were Watson over Tate at 160, Brock Smith at 132 and Roelf at 170 while Kruse was pinned at 126.

Claiming third place were Sterling’s Dylan Ottens (132), Isaiah Mendoza (152), Joey Cordell (170), Diego Leal (220) and Alejandro Arellano (285),  Sherrard’s Pierce Findlay (113), Austin Fratzke (138) and Walker Anderson (195) and Seneca’s Kyler Hahn (106) and Jaden Casey (126).

Finishing fourth were Sherrard’s Jayden Thomsen (132), Cyrus Hoke (152) and Dylan Russell (160), Seneca’s Owen Feiner (145) and Chris Peura (195), St. Bede’s Jake Migliorini (170), Mercer County’s Bodie Salmon (182) and Polo’s Blake Diehl (220).

By IWCOA reports

Naperville Central wins title at Hoffman Estates’ Mickey Marchese Memorial Tournament

Naperville Central had five champions and five second-place finishers on Saturday to help it easily claim the title of Hoffman Estates’ Mickey Marchese Memorial Tournament with 283.5 points. Harlem placed second in the 13-team event with 141 points and Homewood-Flossmoor edged Notre Dame of Niles 115-114 for third, even though it had some of its top performers competing at the Ironman in Ohio.

Capturing titles for coach Noah Fitzenreider’s Redhawks were Tyler Martin (113), Ethan Olson (120), Tommy Porter (138), Ayden Lutes (152) and David Pirozhnik (182). Taking second were Chris Bern (138), Chris Ramirez (145), Charlie Morgan (160), Niko Besterio (220) and Nick Antonietti (285).

Finishing third for Naperville Central were Mitchell Kaszuba (132),Tristen Hall (170) and Muhammad Totten (220) while placing fourth were Gavin McDonald (106) and Luke Moen (120).

Other champions were Willowbrook’s Isaiah Smith (126) and Nick Mabutas (170),  Notre Dame’s Aodan O’Sullivan (220) and Karl Schmalz (285), Elgin’s Julius Avenado (106), Harlem’s Myles Babcock (132), South Elgin’s Nico Clinite (145), Lane Tech’s Fernando Lopez (160) and Cary-Grove’s Wade Abrams (195).

Also placing second were Wheeling’s Jatuthep Rattanahattakul (120) and Patrick Tinsley (126), Harlem’s Justin Lewis (106) and Marshal Cunz (152), Willowbrook’s Chris Giroux (113), Cary-Grove’s Andrew Mohr (132), Homewood-Flossmoor’s Romeo Williams (170), Hoffman Estates’ Jalen Curtis (182) and South Elgin’s Will Ardson (195).

Two titles matches were decided by one point while two others were settled by two points. Smith edged Tinsley 7-6 at 126 and Lopez prevailed 8-7 over Morgan at 160. Babcock claimed a 4-2 win over Mohr at 132 and Lutes was a 6-4 victor over Cunz at 152.

Winning titles by fall were Avendano (106), Olson (120), Clinite (145), Pirozhnik (182), Abrams (195) and O’Sullivan (220) while Porter (138) won by technical fall. Mabutas (170) captured a major decision and Martin (113) and Schmalz (285) also won decisions.

Also taking third place were Lane Tech’s James Zavala (120), Matt Ridley (126) and Finn Merrill (145), Homewood-Flossmoor’s Jermaine Butler (138), Haku Watson-Castro (182) and Rahmal Graham (195), Notre Dame’s Johnny Sheehy (106) and Quinn Mahoney (160), Wheeling’s Max Katz (113), Hoffman Estates’ Julian Bonilla (152) and Elgin’s Adam Lambaz (285).

Other fourth-place finishers were Maine West’s Matt Westerlin (113), Claudio Castellanos (138) and Dilan Ramirez-Zavala (160), Harlem’s Donavin Vanderheyden (126) and Ben Larsen (170), Notre Dame’s Emmett Chipman (182) and Aiden Rice (195), Streamwood’s Erwin Morales (145) and Richard Rodriguez (285), Willowbrook’s Elijah Smith (132), Elgin’s Chris Santana (152) and Lane Tech’s Gustavo Diaz (220).

Lake Zurich claims top honors at Buffalo Grove’s Rex Lewis Invitational

Lake Zurich had two champions, five finalists and 12 individuals in the top five to win the title at Buffalo Grove’s Rex Lewis Invitational with 200 points. Elk Grove took second place with 158 while Vernon Hills had 150 for third place. Romeoville edged Schaumburg 143-141 to place fourth in the 16-team competition.

Leading the way for coach Jake Jobst’s first-place Bears were champions Scott Busse (138) and Dan Hull (182) and second-place finishers Luca Poeta (106), Tomas Troutman (152) and Ethan Medina (220). Finishing in third place were Alex Kahler (113) and Matt Luby (195) while Jack Turner (285) finished fourth.

“Overall our guys competed really well,” Jobst said. “We had some standout performances by Luca Poeta, Scott Busse, Dan Hull, Tomas Troutman and Ethan Medina. We have a strong core of juniors that really bring the team together. I think everyone wrestled solid and won big matches, even the wrestlers that lost early on were able to score some bonus points in the wrestlebacks and place as high as they could. Scott Busse and Dan Hull also both had dominating performances scoring bonus points in all of their matches.”

Vernon Hills, Schaumburg and St. Patrick all had three champs while Elk Grove, Geneva and Morris also had one title winner apiece. 

Vernon Hills’ champions were Will Ludolph (160), Jake Psaras (195) and Max Acettura (285); Schaumburg got titles from Brady Phelps (106), Callen Kirchner (113) and Caden Kirchner (126) and St. Patrick’s champs were Olin Walker (120), Sean Conway (132) and Gio Hernandez (170). Other title winners were Morris’ Tyler Semlar (145), Geneva’s Nicky O’Keefe (152) and Elk Grove’s Chance Guziec (220).

Also claiming second-place finishes were Elk Grove’s Grant Madl (113), Benny Schlosser (182) and Brady Tosterud (195), Grant’s Sean Rogan (120) and Douglas Zimmerman (132), Romeoville’s Sergio Dondiego (145) and Francisco Gonzalez (285), Buffalo Grove’s Max Turner (126), Vernon Hills’ Garry Gurevich (138), Geneva’s Maguire Hoeksema (160) and Schaumburg’s Jacob Acevedo (170).

Two of the tightest championship matches were the one at 170 where Hernandez won 5-3 over Acevedo on a tiebreaker and the one at 195 where Psaras edged Tosterud 3-2.

Capturing titles by fall were Caden Kirchner (126), Ludolph (160), Hull (182) and Acettura (285) while Conway (132) was a winner by technical fall.  Callen Kirchner (113), O’Keefe (152) and Guziec (220) all claimed major decisions while Phelps (106), Walker (120), Busse (138) and Semlar (145) also won decisions.

Other third-place finishers were Romeoville’s Brian Farley (106) and Mason Gougis (170), Schaumburg’s Daniel Pasman (132) and Logan Meyer (160), Elk Grove’s Danny Gaskil (138) and Ty Macina (182), Grant’s Vinny Potempa (126) and Ivan Hernandez (285), Geneva’s Dylan Schlegel (120), Buffalo Grove’s Cristhian Sanchez (145), Carmel’s Umar Mukhetdinov (152) and Palatine’s Leonel Franco (220). 

Also finishing in fourth place were Buffalo Grove’s Danny Diaz (113), David Rodriguez (120), Isaac Wilson (132), Chris Chi (152) and Dilshod Sultanov (160), Larkin’s Max Zamudio (170) and Hector Flores (182), Geneva’s Joey Sikorsky (106) and John Schmidt (195), Romeoville’s Alan Amaya (126) and Johnathan Espinoza-Luna (220), Carmel’s Ethan Onan (138) and Elk Grove’s Marco Avelar (145).

Wauconda captures first place at Richmond-Burton’s DuBois Invite

Wauconda captured five individual titles to help it claim top honors at Richmond-Burton’s DuBois Invite in Richmond with 162.5 points. Marengo (117.5) edged Hampshire (114.5) for second while Quincy (104.5) took fourth, Lake Forest (100.5) was fifth, Richmond-Burton (98.5) placed sixth and Woodstock (92.5) claimed seventh in the 16-team event.

Winning title for coach Mike Buhr’s champion Bulldogs were Lucas Galdine (106), Cooper Daun (126), Cole Porten (138), Colin Husko (145) and Nick Cheshier (152) while Matthew Merevick (220) finished second and Zac Johnson (160) placed third.

Winning titles for Marengo were Ethan Struck (132) and Michael Macias (285) while Logan Miller (138) was second, Matthew Rose (126) and Eddie Solis (195) took third and Addis Robel (120) placed fourth. Hampshire was led by a second-place finish from Patryk Barnas (285) while Anthony Marlett (145), Niko Skoulikaris (152) and Dimitrios Skoulikaris (170) were third and Chris Napiorkowski (138) and Tyler Boyd (195) finished fourth.

Other champions were Quincy’s Owen Uppinghouse (160) and Kayden Garrett (170), Woodstock’s Caleb Sciame (120) and Gavin Loiselle (220), Richmond-Burton’s Emmett Nelson (113), Lake Forest’s Charlie Heydorn (182) and Johnsburg’s Hayden Lucas (195).

Also claiming second-place finishes were Lake Forest’s Robbert Biddle (113), Julian Olenick (120) and Seth Digby (132), Woodstock’s Max Hodory (126) and Alex Iversen (152), Grayslake North’s Connor Kozaneck (145), Winnebago’s Lucas Cowman (170), Quincy’s Bryor Newbold (182) and Genoa-Kingston’s Julian Torres (195).

Four of the title matches were settled by three points or less. Cheshier beat Iversen 5-4 at 152 while Lucas prevailed 11-9 over Torres at 195. Macias claimed a 6-4 victory over Barnas at 285 while Struck won 7-4 over Digby at 132. 

Galdine (106), Porten (138), Uppinghouse (160), Garrett (170), Heydorn (182) and Loiselle (220) all won by fall in their title matches while Nelson (113) and Husko (145) both won by technical falls in their finals matches. Daun claimed a  major decision at 126 and Sciame won 8-1 over Olenik at 120.

Other third-place finishes were turned in by Richmond-Burton’s Clay Madula (106), Dalton Youngs (120) and Brody Rudkin (132), North Boone’s Gavin Ekberg (113), Winnebago’s Waylon Hanke (138), Johnsburg’s Kyle Rasper (182), Genoa-Kingston’s Ben Younker (220) and Rockford Auburn’s D’marion Love (285).

Also claiming fourth-place efforts were Winnebago’s Reid Shellhorn (145) and Charley Murray (160), Grayslake North’s Alex Carbaja (152) and Peter Weitgenant (170), Genoa-Kingston’s Shayden McNew (106), Woodstock’s Daniel Bychowski (113), Richmond-Burton’s Dane Sorensen (126), Johnsburg’s Landon Johnson (132), Durand’s Logan Braun (182) and Quincy’s Gavin Schumacher (220).

Marmion Academy wins Downers Grove South’s Larry Gassen Dual Team Invite

Marmion Academy captured its second tournament championship of the season when it claimed top honors at Downers Grove South’s Larry Gassen Dual Team Invite, which featured 16 teams. It opened the season by capturing the title at Barrington’s Moore-Prettyman Tournament.

Coach Nathan Fitzenreider’s Cadets, who are ranked fifth in the IWCOA  rankings for Class 3A, defeated Barrington 65-16 in the championship dual after winning 55-12 in the semifinals over the host Mustangs, who beat Lincoln-Way West 42-22 to finish third. 

Marmion only lost four matches on the mats in its pool victories over Oak Forest, Wheaton Warrenville South and Crystal Lake Central, with all of those coming in a 44-27 victory over Crystal Lake South.

Posting perfect marks for the Cadets for the day were Donny Pigoni (106), Jameson Garcia (113), Tyler Aters (120), Santino Scolaro (138), Kenny Siwicki (160), Tyler Perry (170), Jack Lesher (182) and Sean Scheck (220).

After beating Coal City 44-28 as well as Maine South and Warren in their pool, the runner-up Broncos won 38-30 over Lincoln-Way West in the semifinals before falling to Marmion for the title. Brian Beers (126), Chuck Jones (132) and Zach Meyer (195) were undefeated for Barrington.

The host Mustangs beat rival Downers Grove South 42-24 as well as Bartlett and Belleville West in their pool before falling to Marmion in the semifinals and defeating Lincoln-Way West for third place. RJ Samuels (160) won all his matches for Downers Grove South. 

Lincoln-Way West got past Plainfield North 38-33 and also beat Crystal Lake South and Glenwood in its pool before falling to Barrington 38-30 in the semifinals and then to Downers Grove South for third. Jase Salin (120) and Michael Sneed (220) were unbeaten for the Warriors.

Plainfield North took fifth after going 2-1 in its pool with wins over Crystal Lake South and Glenwood and a 38-33 setback to Lincoln-Way West. After capturing a 49-27 victory over Coal City, the Tigers capped their 4-1 day with a 48-18 win over Downers Grove North. Jared Gumila (170) and Jacob Macatangay (132) both went 5-0 with the latter getting the most pins in the least amount of time.

Downers Grove North took sixth after beating Bartlett and Belleville West and falling to rival Downers Grove South 42-24 in its pool. After claiming a 38-27 win over Crystal Lake Central, the Trojans lost 48-18 to Plainfield North. Harrison Konder (145), Ben Bielawski (182) and Jordan Lewis (285) all went 5-0 for their team.

Crystal Lake Central took seventh after beating Oak Forest and Wheaton Warrenville South and falling to champion Marmion in its pool. The Tigers bounced back from a 38-27 loss to Downers Grove North with a 49-30 victory over Coal City. Dillon Carlson (152) went 5-0 for Crystal Lake Central while Brant Widlowski (120) did the same for the Coalers.

By Curt Herron 

For the IWCOA

JOLIET – When a team goes 6-1 on the title mat and finishes with a flurry by winning the last five of those, it often results in a championship at a tournament with a large field.

But just as effective an approach is getting sixth-place efforts or better at each weight and supporting that with bonus points and narrow victories while capturing just one title.

The latter scenario prevailed in Joliet Central’s inaugural Mac McLaughlin Classic on Saturday, where Hersey used balance throughout its lineup to overcome Homewood-Flossmoor’s firepower and claim a 270-260.5 edge in the points for top honors. IC Catholic Prep (166.5) finished third, Hampshire (148) was fourth, St. Rita of Cascia (129) took fifth, Loyola Academy (114.5) placed sixth, Morton (112) was seventh and Romeoville (108) placed eighth in the 25-team competition.

The new tournament honors one of the greatest coaching legends from the Joliet area, Eural ‘Mac’ McLaughlin. Coach Mac, who was on hand as the tournament kicked off, led the Steelmen’s program from 1970 to 2010 and won 507 dual meets and an IHSA dual team title along while having seven state champions and 34 placewinners to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Illinois Chapter in 2017, IWCOA hall of fame honors in 1991 and Grand Marshall at the 2004 IHSA finals.

Beside teaching physical education and coaching for 43 years in a variety of sports at Joliet Central and Joliet Township co-op, Mac was a longtime bench official at the IHSA finals and an analyst on local football broadcasts. Among his proudest accomplishments as an educator was being able to have a significant impact to so many during his long tenure as both a coach and as dean of students.

On a day where a program that won its first state individual titles 75 years ago, one of Illinois’ most historic gymnasiums featured another memorable event as the five mats that were spread across the floor featured good competition throughout and resulted in 13 teams sending individuals to title matches with nine of those squads having champions.

Coach Joe Rupslauk’s champion Huskies had one title winner, Billy Spassov (160), while Danny Lehman (106) and Aaron Hernandez (145) both took second place. But thanks in part to the efforts of assistant coach Hunter Rollins, the Arlington Heights school’s last placewinner who took second place at 160 in Class 3A in 2013, the 11 other members of the team were able to contribute points as they advanced through the third- and fifth-place brackets.

Hersey, which hopes to continue its initial tournament success when it competes in events at Prospect, Harlem’s Dvorak, Wisconsin-Whitewater and The Clash in Rochester, Minnesota in upcoming weeks, received third-place efforts from Maksim Mukhamedaliyev (113), Matt Ilinykh (152), Leo Delgado (195), Manny Mejia (220) and Oleg Simakov (285) while Esteban Delgado (120), James Shaffer (132), Parker Sena (138) and Elliot Carter (170) took fifth and Jake Hanson (126) and Connor Cambria (182) placed sixth. 

“I don’t even know exactly what happened, but we just came and tried to compete and our goal as a program is just getting better,” Rupslauk said. “We’re a relatively new program and have had some ups and downs. But we have some offseason kids going now and we’re growing. We’re a very young team and we only had two seniors out there, so it was cool.  We beat Conant and Barrington in a dual the other night so the kids are excited and they want to wrestle and things are going really well. 

“Our assistant coach, Hunter Rollins, is the guy who deserves the credit since he runs our practices and it’s been incredible. We’re happy, but we’re not content with this. We’ve had some nice dual wins early in the beginning of the year and we’re just trying to improve as a program. That’s what we told the kids. We didn’t talk about winning the tournament, we just talked about getting better and competing with more elite wrestlers and there were some good schools here today.”

Despite having an open weight class due to the unavailability of the injured Vincent Robinson, who’s top-ranked at 126 in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings and placed fifth in Junior Freestyle at Fargo, Homewood-Flossmoor fell just shy of a team title after claiming four-consecutive firsts from 170 to 220 and capturing six of its seven title matches.

The Vikings got championship wins from Deion Johnson (113), Jaydon Robinson (145), Romeo Williams (170), Haku Watson-Castro (182), Rahmal Graham (195) and Justin Thomas (220) while Jermaine Butler (138) took second place and Mateo Varela (106) was fourth. Chris Williams (152) and Kenny Wallace (285) also placed in the top eight. 

Although a bit disappointed that his team wasn’t able to walk away with the tournament championship, Vikings coach Jim Sokoloski was very pleased with his team’s strong showing and that bodes well for their upcoming appearances at The Ironman in Cuyahoga, Ohio this weekend and the Carnahan in Crown Point, Indiana and The Powerade in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania later this month. H-F also has a pair of big SWSC dual meets against No. 11 Sandburg and No. 3 Lockport during the next 10 days.

“We have big goals and we don’t shy away from that,” Sokoloski said. “In our wrestling room, the first thing on our white board says ‘2020 regional champs’, and everyone of them signed it so we’ve all bought in. We’ve put together one of the toughest schedules that any public school has, with the Ironman and the Powerade and the Carnahan in Crown Point. The state tournament can’t be the hardest tournament that we’ve wrestled in all year. 

“This is year 15 for me but year two as a head coach so as I’ve learned more and met more people involved in the sport, what’s always been kind of our downfall is that when we get the state tournament, they walk out of the tunnel and they’ve been like, ‘Oh my God, look at this.’ So when we get our guys down there, it should be just like another day at the office. I’ve great assistant coaches, great families and great kids and we’re trying to get the community involved. Homewood-Flossmoor is usually synonymous with other sports and we’re trying to make sure that wrestling gets there, too. Most importantly, this is a brutal sport but we have fun, we love grinding every day and going to work. We firmly believe that if we set high expectations that they’ll be met. Everything is for the end goal, which is February. No one really cares what you do on December 4th.”

The tournament’s two state champions both earned outstanding wrestler awards that were split between the lower and upper weights. Rich Township’s Nasir Bailey recorded four victories by technical fall to capture the title at 138 to claim the award for top lower weight competitor and Shepard’s Damari Reed recorded three falls and a major decision to win the title at 152 and claim honors as the top upper weight competitor in the field. Both are number one at their weights in the IWCOA rankings. The event’s Outstanding Wrestler Award is named for the late Pat O’Connell, a 2018 IWCOA Hall of Famer who coached in the district for 30 years, spending most of that time assisting McLaughlin.

Bailey, the Junior Freestyle champion at 132 in Fargo, won a Class 6A title at 132 last season at Arlington Martin, Texas. In 2020, he took first at 120 in Class 2A for TF North to join his brothers Bilal and Sincere for the first-ever case of three titles being won in one year by the same family. Reed made history earlier this year when he won the 152 title at the IWCOA Class 3A finals in Springfield, the first title won by someone from his school since 1984.

Other title winners were Romeoville’s Brian Farley (106), Morton’s Connor Kidd (120), Loyola Academy’s Massey Odiotti (126), West Chicago’s Pierre Baldwin (132) and IC Catholic’s Isaiah Gonzalez (285). Also claiming second-place finishes were IC Catholic’s Nicholas Renteria (126), Brandon Navarro (170) and Jadon Mims (220), Morton’s Zane Ely (113) and Steven Marvin (132), Loyola Academy’s Quinn Herbert (182) and Joey Herbert (195), St. Rita’s Donavon Allen (120), Neuqua Valley’s Ryan Mohler (152), Wheaton North’s Devin Medina (160) and Hampshire’s Joey Ochoa (285).

Three of the most-competitive title matches were at 113, where Johnson got a takedown 12 seconds into overtime to claim a 7-5 win by sudden victory over Ely; at 126, where Odiotti recorded a takedown with 29 seconds left to give him a 6-4 victory over Renteria; and at 160, where Spassov captured a 3-0 triumph over Medina.

106 – Brian Farley, Romeoville

Romeoville sophomore Brian Farley entered the McLaughlin Classic as a bit of an unknown, but after winning twice by major decision and another time by technical fall, he will no longer be under the radar. He capped his day by capturing a 10-1 victory in the 106 finals over Hersey freshman Danny Lehman, who advanced following two falls.

Farley’s championship highlighted a good performance for Romeoville. Of the 10 south suburban teams that were in the field, the Spartans were second-best with only runner-up Homewood-Flossmoor faring better. He was one of five placewinners from his school and that helped them to 108 points, which was good for an eighth-place finish.

“It feels really good,” Farley said. “This will probably put our team on the map and hopefully our team does better throughout the year. I came in talking about just me becoming a better wrestler, practicing throughout the tear and working with the older guys and working with people that I know can challenge me, and that’s basically what’s made me better. This is a very important year as a team and as individuals, hopefully we can go deeper in state.”

In the third-place match, Reavis sophomore Zack Koschintski got a fall in 1:28 against H-F senior Mateo Varela to bounce back from his semifinal loss by technical fall to Farley and that give him the Rams’ best finish of the tournament. Joliet Central freshman Isaiah Kan won by fall in 3:41 over Rich Township sophomore Diondre Henry to claim fifth.

113 – Deion Johnson, Homewood-Flossmoor

Homewood-Flossmoor junior Deion Johnson definitely started his team’s appearances on the title mat in a good fashion when he recorded a takedown 12 seconds into the overtime period to win 7-5 in sudden victory over Morton senior Zane Ely. Both appear in the rankings with Johnson third at 106 in Class 3A and Ely fifth at 113 in 2A.

Johnson earned his trip to the finals with a pin in his first match followed by a 10-4 semifinal win over Hersey freshman Maksim Mukhamedaliyev while Ely recorded a pair of falls, including one over Joliet Central senior Tony Toledo in 3:03 in the semifinals, to advance.

“We are very excited,” Johnson said. “Yesterday we took a loss (to Lincoln-Way East) that we expected to win, but we came back strong today and got seven people into the finals. We’ve been working for this all year and this is a very good start. We work to have a real good team this year and this is just the beginning. Last year because of COVID, I couldn’t go to state and that was my main goal so this year I’m trying to win state and go to team state.”

In the third-place match, Mukhamedaliyev won by fall in 5:40 against Toledo, who was the host school’s top finisher in the event. St. Rita junior Austin Dangles won the fifth-place match with a fall in 0:17 against Romeoville’s Alex Bahena.

120 – Connor Kidd, Morton

Morton senior Connor Kidd took control early in the 120 pound championship and went on to capture a 13-6 victory over St. Rita freshman Donavon Allen to become the lone Potter to get a first-place finish among their three competitors that advanced to the title mat. Kidd is ranked third at 120 in Class 2A while Allen is ranked tenth.

Kidd finished second at 120 in June at the IWCOA finals when he lost to Freeport’s Markel Baker. The Morton athlete hopes to compete for another title this season at the IHSA finals. He used two first-period falls to earn his title appearance while Allen advanced after claiming three victories by major decision.

“Last year I got really close to winning, but I just had a bad finals match,” Kidd said of his IWCOA finish. “This year I’m more focused and there’s way more competition this year so it should be way more fun. Some of these are 3A schools and we’re wrestling a lot more of them this year so it’s way better competition than last year. I’m just excited to come back and win again since I just like winning matches.”

Neuqua Valley senior Jack Reina captured third place after recording a fall in 3:09 over Reavis sophomore Vladimir Vasquez and Hersey sophomore Esteban Delgado helped his team’s cause by claiming a 3-1 victory over Phoenix Military Academy sophomore Jose Lua in the fifth-place match.

126 – Massey Odiotti, Loyola Academy

Loyola Academy junior Massey Odiotti followed up on a championship at Barrington’s Moore-Prettyman tournament with another title after moving in front for good with a takedown with 29 seconds left to capture a 6-4 victory in the 126 title match against IC Catholic Prep senior Nicholas Renteria.

After opening with a fall, Odiotti, who is ranked fourth at 120 in 3A, beat Neuqua Valley senior Josh Kilacky by technical fall in 4:00 in the semifinals while Renteria, a two-time state placewinner who is ranked fifth in 1A at 126, reached the finals with a pin and a semifinal win by technical fall in 5:43 over St. Rita senior Griffen Duffin.

“It felt good to win this one after winning Barrington last week,” Odiotti said. “I felt good today at 26 because I also wrestled at 20, so I’m up a weight. It’s been a shorter break between the seasons but I’ve definitely improved. We’re looking better than the past few years and we have a great coach. It’s looking great for the future.”

In the third-place match, Killacky pinned Duffin in 1:21 and Phoenix Military Academy junior Vin Moreno took fifth with an 8-1 victory over Hersey sophomore Jake Hanson.

132 – Pierre Baldwin, West Chicago

West Chicago senior Pierre Baldwin turned in a dominating performance to capture the 132 championship after following wins by technical fall and fall before winning again by technical fall in 4:00 over Loyola Academy senior Kevin Tedeschi in the semifinals and then recording a pin in 1:32 over Morton sophomore Steven Marvin in the title match.

Baldwin, who placed sixth at 132 in the IWCOA finals, is ranked third at 132 in 3A while Marvin was eighth-ranked in 2A. After opening the tournament with a pin and a decision in the quarterfinals, Marvin captured a 14-6 victory over IC Catholic sophomore Omar Samayoa in the semifinals.

“I was really ready, stayed ready and wrestle hard and dominate and make my opponent look like they’re easy, but they’re not,” Baldwin said. “You just have to go out and win and dominate,” Mainly I have the same mindset when I wrestled for the IWCOA, just keep working hard and I use every advantage that I can. I just stay prepared and just prepare for this moment, and many more to come. I’m coming for the number one spot. Right now, I like my patience. For example, when I was a freshman, I used to panic a lot but now as I’m more mature, even when I lose, I don’t panic as much, I just go in the room and work harder and focus on the future and I just like to improve a lot.”

Samayoa claimed third place in the tournament when he won by injury default over Tedeschi while Hersey junior James Shaffer was a winner by forfeit in the fifth-place match over St. Rita sophomore Sean Larkin.

138 – Nasir Bailey, Rich Township

Nasir Bailey followed up on a tournament title at Antioch in impressive fashion when he rolled through the 138-pound bracket by claiming four victories by technical fall, capped by a win over Homewood-Flossmoor junior Jermaine Butler in 3:42 in the title match that wrapped up the Pat O’Connell award for the outstanding wrestler for the lower weights.

The Rich Township junior, a Fargo Junior Freestyle champion at 132 this summer who won a Class 2A title at 120 in 2020 for TF North, along with his brothers, Bilal and Sincere. He competed at Arlington Martin, Texas last season and won a Class 6A title at 132. Top-ranked at 132 in 3A and among the best in the nation, he’s happy to be back in Illinois.

“It’s nice to be back in Illinois competing,” Bailey said. “Last year I moved to Texas and won a state title. It was tough in general and when they lace their shoes and come on the mat, you have to respect them but nothing really compares to Illinois wrestling, it’s a way different atmosphere. It’s great being in the room there (at Rich Township). Every day there’s different athletes and wrestlers asking me how to get better, and as a wrestler, that just makes you feel good. Every day going to practice, it’s just work and I’m preparing myself for the next level now. I’m focusing on winning a state title but I’m more focused on being ready for college.”

Butler reached the finals with two falls and a win by technical fall in the semifinals against Hampshire freshman Chris Napiorkowski. In the third-place match, Morton senior Jamison Almasy won by fall in 4:18 against Napiorkowski and Hersey junior Parker Sena took fifth following a pin in 0:49 against IC Catholic sophomore Bryson Spaulding.

145 – Jaydon Robinson, Homewood-Flossmoor 

Jaydon Robinson made the most of his first varsity tournament when he became one of the two sophomores to win titles and became the second of six Vikings who took first after stringing together a win by technical fall, a pin and a major decision in the semifinals before closing with a fall in 5:08 over Hersey junior Aaron Hernandez.

Robinson, whose brother Vincent wasn’t able to compete due to an injury, took fourth this summer at Fargo and is fifth at 145 in the IWCOA rankings. He advanced to the finals with a 10-2 win over Hampshire junior Anthony Marlett while Hernandez earned his spot in the finals after claiming a 5-2 semifinal victory over Stagg sophomore Luke Barham.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time and it’s been an opportunity for me to be here because this is actually my first high school tournament,” Robinson said. “Last year because of COVID I didn’t get a chance and I could have gone to state. But I had to get ready for Fargo and I got fourth in Fargo then after that I got ranked 18th in the country. I really appreciate being out here. My brother got hurt but he’s been telling me all day to keep pushing it. I want to be just like him, I want to have that opportunity, just like he had.”

In the third-place match, Marlett captured a 9-0 victory over Barham and in the fifth-place match, Romeoville’s Sergio Dondiego was a 10-0 winner over West Chicago senior Mason Dupasquier.

152 – Damari Reed, Shepard

After making history as his program’s first state champion since 1984 at the IWCOA finals in Springfield, Shepard senior Damari Reed has been focused on following up on his Class 3A  title at 152 by putting together another special season, and he definitely got off to a great start toward that with an impressive performance at the McLaughlin Classic.

The IWCOA’s top-ranked individual in Class 3A at his weight followed a fall and major decision with a pin in 1:23 over Stagg freshman Durango Valles in the semifinals and then won by fall in 0:58 in the 152 finals over Neuqua Valley sophomore Ryan Mohler to earn the Pat O’Connell award as the event’s outstanding wrestler in the upper weights.

“After winning my state title last season, I’m just glad to be on the mat and getting ready for bigger things, like college,” Reed said. “Honestly, college is my next step and I want to pursue that and see where it takes me and wrestling is a tool and I also want to stay on top of my academics to go along with it. How I prepare is kind of the same schedule. I like to have early practices or give me a practice after school or give me a run since I like to stay on top of my cardio so I can take people into deep waters and win good matches. Just having mental stamina and physical stamina, that’s very important in a match, and staying in a match for the whole three periods.”

Mohler prevailed 13-8 in sudden victory in the semifinals against Hersey senior Matt Ilinykh, who bounced back from that tough defeat to capture third place with a fall in 3:09 over Valles. Hampshire junior Niko Skoulikaris claimed fifth place while West Chicago senior James Lasacco finished sixth.

160 – Billy Spassov, Hersey

While Billy Spassov was the lone competitor from Hersey to get a victory on the title mat, the Huskies senior was thrilled that nine of his teammates also got wins in the medal round and the 10-4 effort and having all 14 individuals place sixth or better capped a day where the best highlight was posing with the McLaughlin Classic team trophy.

Spassov was one of the three Huskies who advanced to the title mat and he did so by opening the competition with a pair of falls before winning 14-0 in the semifinals over Kennedy’s Dorian Vaughns and then completed his big day by winning 3-0 in the 160 finals over Wheaton North junior Devin Medina, who was ranked seventh.

“Ever since the season started, we’ve really been working on coming together as a team,” Spassov said. “And I feel like with me winning a title and everybody else winning just happened because we’ve focused on being a team and we haven’t really been focused on ourselves. We go at whatever weight that our coach tells us to and do whatever is best for the team. When we came out here, we just tried to score as many as a team and to do good in the consolation. I’m just really happy that we were able to come out here since our schedule is pretty tough so it’s just nice to get the boys some matches before we head off. I’m excited since it was a fun day and everybody clicked well.” 

Eisenhower senior Nate Pacetti, who fell 3-1 in sudden victory to Medina in the semifinals, bounced back from that close call to prevail 3-1 in the third-place match over Vaughns to give him the Cardinals’ best finish. St. Rita senior Sean Stack finished fifth while Crete-Monee junior Elijah Grayer settled for sixth place.

170 – Romeo Williams, Homewood-Flossmoor

Romeo Williams may not have come into the McLaughlin Classic as an individual who was ranked in the state like some of his Homewood-Flossmoor teammates, but at the end of the day, the contributions that the Vikings senior made to his team’s title quest on a day where they finished second proved to be just as valuable.

Williams followed an opening win by technical fall with two falls, including one in 0:45 over Shepard senior Dominic Chillmon in the semifinals and then he capped his day by winning the title at 170 and becoming one of his squad’s six champions after claiming a win by injury default against IC Catholic Prep senior Brandon Navarro.

“We’ve been working real hard,” Williams said. “Everybody in the room has been putting in all of the work but we still have a long way to go and we have more work to put in. This is just a small piece of a bigger thing. The start that I’ve had is alright but I still have a lot of work to put in and have a lot to improve.”

After falling in the semifinals 9-4 against Navarro, Hampshire junior Dimitrios Skoulikaris bounced back with a fall in 5:04 over Chillon to claim third-place honors. Hersey senior Elliot Carter claimed fifth place while Neuqua Valley sophomore Silvano Spatafora settled for sixth.

182 – Haku Watson-Castro, Homewood-Flossmoor 

Homewood-Flossmoor senior Haku Watson-Castro opened with two falls and closed with a pair of decisions to become one of his team’s six champions in the McLaughlin Classic. In the championship match at 182, he captured a 13-6 win over Loyola Academy sophomore Quinn Herbert, who was followed on the title mat by his cousin, Joey.

Watson-Castro, who entered the tournament ranked eighth at his weight class and is getting back into form following an injury, captured a 10-6 semifinal victory over Stagg senior Mark Jones while Herbert advanced to the finals after winning by fall in 1:43 over Reavis senior Korey Maloney in the semifinals.

“It was a really good day, and especially for me personally coming back off of my torn ACL,” Watson-Castro said. “With this being my first tournament, all that I had to do was get my mindset right and it just pushed me to the right spot. It was good seeing a lot of my teammates being in the finals and all of us winning or doing good in the finals. I feel like we have some small stuff to make up. And we can still improve since we have a long time until February.

The third-place match at 182 was a tight one with Jones prevailing by a 4-3 score over Maloney. And in the fifth-place match, Wheaton North junior Eli Cook claimed a 14-4 victory over Hersey’s Connor Cambria.

195 – Rahmal Graham, Homewood-Flossmoor

In the quest to give their team a chance at a team title in the McLaughlin Classic, Homewood-Flossmoor senior Rahmal Graham needed to join in on the success that his fellow upperweights were enjoying and he more than did his part to help his squad to a second-place finish in the tournament.

Graham won his first three matches with falls in the initial period, which included a pin in 0:58 against Hersey sophomore Leo Delgado in the semifinals, to earn a spot in the 195 title match. Once there, Graham closed out his day with a 15-3 triumph over Loyola Academy freshman Joey Herbert, who advanced with a pin and a 6-0 semifinal decision.

“As a team, we’re just real resilient,” Graham said. “We still have a long way to go. Our coach always tells us that if we fight and put in the work, then it shows. We fight hard and we don’t give up and that’s why we had six champions.”

Delgado got a fall in in 2:55 over the other semifinalist, Northridge Prep sophomore Steven Kopecky, in the third-place match and Reavis senior Dan Obyrtal recorded a pin in 0:46 against Wheaton North junior Toby Martin in the fifth-place match.

220 – Justin Thomas, Homewood-Flossmoor

Justin Thomas faced a tough task as he looked to become one of his program’s six champions at the McLaughlin Classic. But facing a two-time state qualifier who placed at the IWCOA finals in June, the Homewood-Flossmoor senior who’s ranked eighth in Class 3A proved to be up to the challenge.

Thomas beat IC Catholic senior Jadon Mims 8-1 in the 220 finals after recording three first-period pins, including a fall in 1:19 in the semifinals against Romeoville’s Johnathan Espinoza-Luna. Mims, who was third at 220 in Class 1A and is ranked second this season, recorded a fall in 0:37 over Hersey senior Manny Mejia in the semifinals.

“We had one guy roll at 170 and then everybody just kind of went through,” Thomas said. “But it really started with Deion, he worked hard in that match and got an overtime takedown. We’re a long way from where we want to be. In January and February when it gets down to the stretch I think our guys will peak really well and we’ll be ramped up.” 

Mejia claimed third-place when he recorded a fall in 0:59 over Espinoza-Luna and in the fifth-place match at 220, the host Steelmen received one of their best finishes as junior Gustavo Vicencio-Ramos got a fall in 0:52 against Rich Township senior LeVaughn Rudolph.

285 – Isaiah Gonzalez, IC Catholic Prep

After falling in the IWCOA Class 1A  title match at 285 in June to Benton’s Gabe Craig, IC Catholic Prep junior Isaiah Gonzalez has his eyes set upon not only getting back to state for a third time but also finishing with a better result than he had earlier this year.

The IWCOA’s top-ranked individual at his weight in Class 1A showed how he’s capable of performing at the McLaughlin Classic following a major decision in his opener, he pinned his next four opponents, which included Wheaton North senior Joey Kruse in 1:38 in the semifinals and Hampshire sophomore Joey Ochoa in 3:31 in the title match.

“It was a great finals match and my opponent was really good, it was a good match and I finished strong” Gonzalez said. “I’m ranked number one right now in 1A so I have to solidify that statement so when I get to the postseason, I know that I can be there. I love the pressure. Our team did pretty good, but we could have finished better in the final round, but we’ll get back in the room and work. We just got back from football, so some of us are a little out of shape. But we’ll get back into the groove, for sure.”

Hersey junior Oleg Simakov bounced back from a semifinal loss by fall in 0:55 to Ochoa to record a fall of his own in 2:48 against Kruse to claim third place. Shepard junior Allen Taylor captured fifth place while Crete-Monee senior Vincent Arebalo settled for sixth.

by IWCOA reports

Geneseo dominates the field at Rockford East

This year’s 19-team Giardini Invitational saw Geneseo run away with the team title, posting 199.5 points to finish 49.5 points ahead of the second-place co-op team from Belvidere (149). Host Rockford East (143.5) finished third, followed by Freeport (141.5) and Rochelle (125.5).

Coach Jon Murray’s Maple Leafs saw three individual champions scale the top of the awards stand in Zachary Montez (113), Anthony Montez (160), and Levi Neumann (285). The Maple Leafs got seconds from Aiden Damewood (152) and Tim Stohl (220), and Geneseo had 12 wrestlers finish in the top six of their respective weight classes, finishing with the most place-winners of any team present.

In title matches, Cameron Phillips of Kaneland won 4-0 over Belvidere’s Brayden Teunissen at 106; Geneseo’s Zachary Montez won a 6-4 sudden victory decision over Rochelle’s Xavier Villalobos at 113; Freeport’s Cadence Duduch won 7-1 over Rochelle’s Joseph Nadig at 120; Rockford East’s Donald Cannon won by fall over Rolling Meadows’ Ben Escalante at 126; Freeport’s Markel Baker won by tech fall over Richmond’s Brody Rudkin at 132; Freeport’s Jacob Redington won 12-6 over Metamora’s Dylan Baitinger at 138; and Rochelle’s Caleb Nadig won by fall over Rockford East’s Sam Young at 145

In the upper weight championship matches, Tanner Paulson of Belmont (WI) won by fall over Geneseo’s Aiden Damewood at 152; Geneseo’s Anthony Montez won a 9-0 major decision over Freeport’s Tarrone Jackson at 160; Rochelle’s Brock Metzger won by fall over Richmond’s Alex Reyna at 170; St. Charles North’s Drew Surges won 1-0 over Winnebago’s Mannix Faworski at 182; Belvidere’s Jake Bell won by tech fall against Winnebago’s Gabe Ginger at 195; Rockford East’s Joey Pineda won a 2-1 tiebreak over Geneseo’s Tim Stohl at 220; and Geneseo’s Levi Neumann won 5-1 over Rockford East’s Andres Cisneros at 285.

Placing third in Rockford were Rochelle’s Thomas Tourdot (106), Richmond’s Emmet Nelson (113), Rolling Meadows’ Alan Velasquez (120), Belvidere’s Dominic Girardin (126), Belvidere’s Camryn Labeau (132), Belvidere’s Colin Young (138), Freeport’s Jaylon Hall (145), Rockford East’s Marshawn Spates (152), Rolling Meadows’ Dominic Andrejek (160), Winnebago’s Lucas Cowman (170), Belvidere’s AJ Piloni (182), Richmond’s Joe Reyna (195), Rochelle’s Kaiden Morris (220), and Metea Valley heavyweight Jake Pauline.

Finishing fourth were Richmond’s Clay Madula (106), Rockford East’s Peter Young (113), LaSalle-Peru’s Reegan Kellett (120), North Boone’s Dylan Hughes (126), Rolling Meadows’ Isaiah Tavera (132), Winnebago’s Waylon Hanke (138), Belmont’s Dylan Taber (145), LaSalle-Peru’s Connor Sines (152), Winnebago’s Charley Murray (160), Belvidere’s Tavion Wilson (170), Johnsburg’s Kyle Rasper (182), Kaneland’s Max Pietak (195), East Aurora’s Bryan Romero (220), and heavyweight Arnold Walker of East Aurora.

Waubonsie Valley tops R-B at Fenton

Waubonsie Valley edged out Riverside-Brookfield at this year’s 16-team Weiss Invitational, hosted by Fenton. Coach Brad Caldwell’s Warriors finished with 192 points to Riverside-Brookfield’s 187, with DePaul Prep placing third with 115 points. Host Fenton and Richards tied for fourth with 111 points each, followed by Bremen (93), Palatine (87), South Elgin (79), Westmont (53), and Elmwood Park (52).

Waubonsie sent seven wrestlers to the finals, getting an individual title from Ethan Wojtowich (132) and seconds from Sebastian Sifuentes (113), Elias Gonzalez (120), David Geataz (145), Andrew Meister (182), Ashton Phillips (195) and Luke Buntin (285).

Eight championship matches were decided by fall at Fenton: Fenton’s Kon Papadopoulous over Waubonsie’s Sifuentes at 113; DePaul’s Max Rosen over Waubonsie’s Gonzalez at 120; Riverside-Brookfield’s Mateo Costello over South Elgin’s Anthony Vasquez at 126; Saint Viator’s Austin Kanyuh over South Elgin’s Andre Rios at 138; South Elgin’s Nico Clinite over Richards’ Mike Taheny at 152; Fenton’s Jovany Zuniga over Riverside-Brookfield’s Bill Martin at 160; Riverside-Brookfield’s Brock Hoyd over Palatine’s Damien Nestor at 170; and Nazareth’s Gabe Kaminski over R-B’s Joe Midonna at 220.

In other title matches, Elmwood Park’s Jack Dombeck won a 13-0 major decision over DePaul’s Johnny Cunningham at 106; Waubonsie Valley’s Wojtowich won an 8-4 decision over Westmont’s Dominic Wagner at 132; Palatine’s Joey Spirrizzi won by 15-4 major decision over Waubonsie’s Geataz at 145; Fenton’s Viktor Klimczyk won 9-6 over Waubonsie’s Meister at 182; Westmont’s Jaylan Lacy won 5-4 over Waubonsie’s Phillips at 195; and Bremen’s Eric Perez-Nava won 1-0 over Waubonsie’s Buntin at 285.

Third-place finishers included Richard’s Adnan Abuzier (106), DePaul’s Jack Myers (113), Nazareth’s Javaughn Jossell (120), DePaul’s Drew Gerstung (126), Richards’ Jibrel Judeh (132), Fenton’s Justin Dickeson (138), Richards’ Xavier Lara (145), Riverside-Brookfield’s Cade Tomkins (152), DePaul’s Jake Kelly (160), South Elgin’s Lukas Lopez (170), Riverside-Brookfield’s. Liam Cote (182), Palatine’s Sam John (195), North Chicago’s Kody Bennett (220), and Richard’s Adnan Abuzier (285).

Finishing fourth in Bensenville were Waubonsie’s AJ Ramirez (106), Bremen’s Gerrardo Zambrano (113), Riverside-Brookfield’s Quintavius Murrell (120), Waubonsie’s Will Traylor (126), Elmwood Park’s Christian Campos (132), DePaul’s Jaxon Kaminsky (138), Riverside-Brookfield’s Jacob Noe (145), Bremen’s Justin Robinson (152), Palatine’s Joey Bowling (160), Richards’ Xavier Dilloy (170), Westmont’s Spencer Gale (182), Elmwood Park’s Jack Pedersen (195), Bremen’s Alex Perez-Nava (220), and Proviso East’s Evan Carr (285).


Highland Park takes Matozzi Invitational

Highland Park won 148.5-141 over second-place Argo at this year’s 10-team Matozzi Invite hosted by Hinsdale South. The host Hornets (139) were third, followed by Fenwick (108) and Bolingbrook (93) to round out the top five team finishers.

Highland Park got individual titles from Seth Gordon (145) and Dmitry Derbedyenyev (152), and seconds from Nikko Rosenbloom (138) and Joe Williams (195). Second-place Argo got titles from Juan Villa (106) and Ethan Medel (182) and seconds from David Gonzalez (113), Luke Wesolowski (160), and Krystian Krol (285).

Hinsdale South led all schools with four individual champions in Oscar Choi (120), Trent Ferguson (138), Manny Wallace (160) and Giovanni Piazza (170). Fenwick had two champs in Conor Paris (195) and Jimmy Liston (285) and Bolingbrook also had two champions in Lucas Beechler (113) and Joe McDermott (132).

Tinley Park’s Aflonso Insalaco (126) and Glenbard South’s Gavin Krisik (220) rounded out the cast of Matozzi champions.

Dixon edges Pleasant Valley, IA at Sterling

Dixon finished with a 205-197 advantage over the second-place team from Pleasant Valley (IA) to win the 43rd Carson DeJarnatt Invitational, hosted by Sterling. Host Sterling (174) finished third in the nine-team field, followed by Newman Central Catholic (128) and Galesburg (125).

Clinton, IA finished with 85 points and rounding out the field were Oak Lawn (78), Fulton (55), and Granville (52).

Coach Micah Hey’s Dukes sent five wrestlers to the title mat and got an individual championship from Mitchell White (195). Placing second for Dixon were Gabe Buelvas (113), Chris Stiller (126), Owen Brooks (160), and Justin Dallas (220).

In addition, seven Dixon wrestlers earned spots on the third-place mat. Five of the 10 wrestlers present for Pleasant Valley won individual titles, followed by three champions for Newman and two for host Sterling.

In championship matches, Pleasant Valley’s Carter Siebel won 4-1 over Oak Lawn’s Ammar Elayyan at 106; Sterling’s Zyon Westbrook won by fall over Dixon’s Buelvas at 113; Newman’s Brady Grennan won a 22-16 decision over Galesburg’s Gauge Shipp at 120; Newman’s Carter Rude pinned Dixon’s Sitter at 126; Newman’s Daniel Kelly won 18-8 over Galesburg’s Santana Castellano at 132; Pleasant Valley’s Holden Willett won 2-0 over Fulton’s Ben Fosdick at 138; and Pleasant Valley’s Jack Miller won by fall over Clinton’s Brooke Peters.

In upper-weight title matches, Sterling’s Drew Kested won 6-0 over Newman’s Mason Glaudel at 152; Sterling’s Thomas Tate won 6-4 over Dixon’s Brooks at 160; Granville’s Connor Brooker won by fall over Oak Lawn’s Hani Odeh at 170; Pleasant Valley’s Caden McDermott won an 11-3 major decision over Oak Lawn’s Evan Zambrano at 182; Dixon’s White won a 3-1 sudden victory over Pleasant Valley’s Rusty VanWetzinga at 195; Galesburg’s Jeremiah Morris won by fall over Dixon’s Dallas at 220; and Pleasant Valley’s Luke Vonderhaar won by fall over Granville’s John Davis at 285.

Taking third in Sterling were Dixon’s Jacob Renkes (106), Clinton’s Drew Steiner (113), Pleasant Valley’s Caden Irvin (120), Galesburg’s Rocky Almendarez (126), Sterling’s Dylan Ottens (132), Clinton’s Brady Jennings (138), Newman’s Brendan Tunink (145), Clinton’s Luke Jennings (152), Pleasant Valley’s Ike Swanson (160), Newman’s Hunter Luyando (170), Fulton’s Zane Pannell (182), Galesburg’s Jashon Parks (195), Sterling’s Diego Leal (220), and Sterling’s Alejandro Arellano (285).

Fourth-place finishers included Sterling’s Nakyynzy Canazos-Hodge (106), Oak Lawn’s Eduardo Nunez, Jr. (120), Pleasant Valley’s Duncan Harn (126), Dixon’s Jayden Weidman (132), Dixon’s Austin Hey (138), Dixon’s Cade Hey (145), Dixon’s Jayce Kastner (152), Galesburg’s Che Thomas (160), Dixon’s Steven Kitzman (170), Dixon’s Brody Potter (182), Clinton’s Ajai Russell (195), Clinton’s Mike Rausenburger (220), Galesburg’s Tyler Kemp (285).

by IWCOA reports

Triad claims top honors at Glenwood Invite

Triad had three title winners and seven top-four finishers to help it score 183 points and capture the title of the 16-team Glenwood Invite that was held in Chatham. 

Coach Russ Witzig’s Knights received championship wins from Colby Crouch (132), Aiden Postma (138) and Seth Brooks (195) and a runner-up finish from Chase Hall (145) to help them finish with a comfortable margin over runner-up Glenwood (168.5) and third-place Centennial (163.5).

In championship matches, MacArthur’s Logan Roberts edged Peoria Notre Dame’s Ian Akers 4-3 at 106, Grayslake Central’s Anthony Alanis got a fall in 3:44 over Notre Dame’s Eddie Couri at 113, O’Fallon’s Brodey Durbin won 8-0 over Grayslake Central’s Tyler Weidman at 120, Centennial’s Trevor Schoonover claimed a 6-4 victory over O’Fallon’s Andrew Orloski at 126, Crouch won by fall in 1:08 over Glenwood’s Ben Maduena at 132, Postma got a pin in 1:03 over Carbondale’s Aiden Murphy at 138 and Glenwood’s Aden Byal won 6-1 over Hall at 145.

In other title matches, Dunlap’s Nick Mueller edged Centennial’s Tyler Easter 7-5 at 152, Notre Dame’s Joey Mushinsky won by fall in 2:30 over Carbondale’s Isaiah Duckworth at 160, Collinsville’s Austin Stewart got a pin in 3:01 against O’Fallon’s Jaron Alf at 170, Grayslake Central’s Matty Jens prevailed 6-4 over Mt. Vernon’s Jared Shafer at 182, Brooks won a 13-4 major decision over East Peoria’s Zach Eaton at 195, Centennial’s Jack Barnhart won by fall in 1:26 over Mt. Vernon’s Mason Randall at 220 and Glenwood’s Alex Hamrick captured a 2-0 victory over O’Fallon’s Isaiah Hill at 285.

Capturing third-place finishes were Triad’s Landon Tourville (170) and Jordan Clines (182), Notre Dame’s Jesus Prieto (120) and Jac Couri (126), Harlem’s Andrew Ryden (145) and Caleb Ecklund (160), Glenwood’s Kayle Blankenship (106) and Jaidyn Lee (220), Peoria High’s Kenny Rutherford (138) and Tim Petty (285), Centennial’s Darell Dugar (113), Collinsville’s Ian Freeman (132), O’Fallon’s Elijah Roberts (152) and Carbondale’s Aiden Taylor (195).

Fourth-place finishers were Collinsville’s Carter Bubb (113), Owen Neimeier (120) and Cameron Varner (138), Notre Dame’s Chase Daugherty (132) and Tommy Miller (160), Glenwood’s Larson Nestar (106) and Brandon Bray (195), Dunlap’s Mohammad Jaber (182) and Austin Hasselman (285), Harlem’s Donavin Vanderheyden (126), Triad’s Landon Steinman (145), Grayslake Central’s Ramon Enriquez (152), East Peoria’s Austin Seaman (170) and Centennial’s Brandon Harvey (220).

Civic Memorial captures own Holiday Tournament

Civic Memorial captured top honors in its 42nd annual Holiday Tournament with 237 points while Vandalia took second place with 191.5 points, Bloomington was third with 169 and Mattoon finished fourth with 150 points in the 22-team event in Bethalto.

Coach Jeremy Christeson’s champion Eagles received title wins from Joey Biciocchi (132), Abe Wojcikiewicz (170), Miggy Gonzalez (182), Colton Carlisle (195) and Logan Cooper (285) while Bradley Ruckman (106) and Bryce Griffin (138) both claimed second placed finishes. 

In title matches, Carlyle’s Tyson Waughtel won 8-0 over Ruckman at 106, Mattoon’s Brady Foster was a 7-3 winner over East Alton-Wood River’s Aaron Niemeyer at  113, Bloomington’s Carson Nishida pinned Benton’s Bobby Rodriguez in 1:44 at 120, East Alton-Wood River’s Jason Shaw won by disqualification over Benton’s Mason Tieffel at 126, Biciocchi won 7-3 over Vandalia’s Owen Miller at 132, Murphysboro’s Arojae Hart edged Griffin 7-6 at 138 and Vandalia’s Cutter Prater prevailed 11-9 over Mattoon’s Aidan Blackburn at 145.

In the other championship matches, Mattoon’s Kiefer Duncan won by fall in 3:34 over Jacksonville’s Trey Elliott at 152, Murphysboro’s Dayton Hoffman was a 5-0 winner over Vandalia’s Ryan Kaiser at 160, Wojcikiewicz won with a fall in 1:17 over Jacksonville’s Luca Thies at 170, Gonzalez recorded a pin in 0:48 over Jersey Community’s Connor Chin at 182, Carlisle won 3-1 in sudden victory over Bloomington’s Anthony Curry at 195, Waterloo’s Jordan Sommers edged Bloomington’s Jack Weltha 6-5 at 220 and Cooper won by fall in 1:50 over Jersey Community’s Jayden Busch at 285.

Claiming third-place finishes were East St. Louis’ Jaymz Young (106), Cody Powell (152) and Mekhi McDowell (285), Vandalia’s Sophie Bowers (113), Pierson Wilkerson (120) and Eric Barenfanger (220), Jacksonville’s Collin Reif (138) and James Cotton (160), Mattoon’s Korbin Bateman (126), Murphysboro’s Bryce Edwards (132), Bloomington’s Jacob Barger (145), Waterloo’s Brandon Lloyd (170), Benton’s Connor Dean (182) and Centralia’s Elijah Johnson (195).

Fourth-place finishers were Bloomington’s Javier Enriquez-Lynd (113), Noah Read (126) and Stephen Carr (285), Highland’s Tyson Rakers (132) and Ben Mitchell (152), Centralia’s Nate Lecrone (120) and Noah Morris (160), Waterloo’s Drew Rose (182) and Kreighton Bair (195), Vandalia’s Daniel Kirkland (106), Mattoon’s Mick Porter (138), Civic Memorial’s Ashton Reed (145), Carlyle’s Owen Birkner (170) and Champaign Central’s Zavier Neill (220).

Lawrenceville/Red Hill wins Lawrence County Tourney

Lawrenceville/Red Hill captured top honors at Saturday’s Lawrence County Tourney in Lawrenceville by scoring 186.5 points, which was well ahead of second-place Fairfield, which scored 153 points. Frankfort Community (149) beat out Carmi-White County (146) and Anna-Jonesboro (144) to claim third place in the 11-team competition..

Coach Sam Hyre’s Indians captured top honors after receiving title wins from Hayden Frey (152) and Brian Seed (170) while Brianna Richey (106), Shaina Hyre (120), Nathan Blackwell (182) and Dylan Camden (220) claimed second-place finishes for the hosts.

In championship matches, Anna-Jonesboro’s Drew Sadler won by fall in 1:12 over Richey at 106, Harrisburg’s Tony Keene got a pin in 0:15 against Mt. Carmel’s Jordan Wood at 113, Frankfort’s Eli Klus recorded a fall in 2:49 over Hyre at 120, Richland County’s Carson Bissey was a winner by fall in 1:39 over Anna-Jonesboro’s Brett Smith at 126, Herrin’s Elijah Bishop captured a 10-0 major decision over Fairfield’s Scotty Cuff at 132, Anna-Jonesboro’s Blake Mays won a 10-0 major decision over Fairfield’s Cole Simpson at 138 and Anna-Jonesboro’s Caleb Mays recorded a fall in 0:55 against Frankfort’s Gavin Mann at 145.

In other title matches, Frey won by fall in 1:44 over Fairfield’s Jerek Keoghan at 152, Robinson’s Jared Hermann won by injury default in 2:00 over Mt. Carmel’s Kenny Taylor at 160, Seed recorded a pin in 1:26 over Harrisburg’s Josh Stewart at 170, Robinson’s Aiden Schrader won 7-0 over Blackwell at 182, Fairfield’s Konner Dagg captured an 11-2 major decision over Harrisburg’s Bryant Lester at 195, Fairfield’s Payton Allen won 6-0 over Camden at 220 and Carmi-White County’s Titus Wood got a fall in 2:34 against Frankfort’s Braxton Tutt at 285.

Claiming third-place finishes were Carmi-White County’s Trenton Belford (138), Isaac King (182) and Nelson Rider (195), Robinson’s Draegon Johnson (145), Austin Hargrave (220) and Dalton Woods (285), Anna-Jonesboro’s Zoee Sadler (113) and Daniel Dover (120), Mt. Carmel’s Satchel Taylor (106), Lawrenceville’s Dylan Aten (126), Harrisburg’s Sebastian Brown (132), Richland County’s Kaden Hess (152), Fairfield’s Talon Keoghan (160) and Carterville’s Chris Bates (170).

Mount Carmel third, DeKalb fourth at Dan Gable Donnybrook

Three Illinois teams finished in the top five at the 33-team Dan Gable Donnybrook in Coralville, Iowa. Mount Carmel edged DeKalb 352.5-351 for third place while Marmion Academy beat out Bettendorf, Iowa 269.5-263.5 for fifth. Lockport was eighth with 246 points while Joliet Catholic Academy (155), Lincoln-Way West (101), Huntley (84.5) and Marian Central Catholic (69.5) also competed in the event which was won by Liberty (Missouri) with 419.5 points while Waverly-Shell Rock (Iowa) took second with 372 points.

Illinois champions were Mount Carmel’s Seth Mendoza (106), Sergio Lemley (126) and Ryan Boersma (285), DeKalb’s Tommy Curran (145) and Lockport’s Brayden Thompson (170) while DeKalb’s Danny Aranda (120) and Bradley Gillum (182) and Lockport’s Carlos Munoz-Flores (132) all took second place.

In championship matches, Mendoza won 5-3 over Brandon Morvari of Simley (Minnesota) at 106, Lemley claimed a 13-4 victory over Carter Freeman of Waukee Northwest (Iowa) at 126, Tommy Curran claimed a 10-7 decision over Kyle Dutton of Liberty (Missouri) at 145, Thompson prevailed 3-1 by sudden victory over Tate Naaktgeboren of Linn-Mar (Iowa) at 170 and Boersma won by fall in 2:29 over Jake Walker of Waverly-Shell Rock (Iowa) at 285.

Aranda lost 13-2 to Trever Anderson of Ankeny (Iowa) at 120, Munoz-Flores dropped a 5-2 decision to Zach Ourada of Omaha Skutt Catholic (Nebraska) at 132 and Gillum suffered an 9-2 setback to Bennett Berge of Kasson-Mantorville (Minnesota) at 182.

Third-place finishers from Illinois schools were Mount Carmel’s Damian Resendez (113) and Colin Kelly (160) and DeKalb’s Damien Lopez (152) while Marmion’s Jack Lesher (182) and Sean Scheck (22) and Mount Carmel’s Eddie Enright (132) finished fourth. 

Fifth-place efforts were turned in by JCA’s Gylon Sims (120), Mason Alessio (152) and Owen Gerdes (220) and DeKalb’s Luke Schmerbach (170) while Marmion’s Jameson Garcia (113) and Kenny Siwicki (160), DeKalb’s Danny Curran (138), Huntley’s Ryder Hunkins (182) and Lincoln-Way West’s Michael Sneed (220) all took sixth place.

Claiming seventh place was Lockport’s Keegan Roberson (152) and placing eighth were JCA’s Logan Kuhl-Trimmer (132) and Owen O’Connor (138), Mount Carmel’s Jairo Acuna (120), Marian Central Catholic’s Nik Jimenez (145), Lockport’s Paul Kadlec (160), DeKalb’s Bryson Buhk (195) and Marmion’s Jared Durian (285).

Glenbard North kicked off the new season with a team championship at Conant’s 19-team Chris Hruska Wrestling Classic on Saturday. The Panthers sent six wrestlers to the title mat and three to the top of the awards stand in Kalani Khiev (106), Cody Dertz (170), and heavyweight Paulie Robertson.

North won 229-212 over second-place Sandburg. Bloomington placed third with 167 and host Conant was fourth with 159 points. Oswego rounded out the top five teams with 157 points.

Glenbard North’s second-pace finishers included Dominick Marre (113), Solomon Gilliam (132), and Ryan Yabi (285).
Second-place Sandburg got an individual title from Sammie Hayes (126) and seconds from Rocco Hayes (106), Ryan Hinger (120), Max Pitura (182), and Mike Rydell (220).

Other individual champions at Conant were Glenwood’s Drew Davis (113) and Ben Maduena (132); Bloomington’s Carson Nishida (120); Lake Park’s Mike DiBenedetti (138) and Joseph Olaide (160) ; Bloomington’s Jacob Barger (145) and Jack Weltha (220); Oswego’s Joseph Griffin (152); Conant’s AJ Hernandez (182); and Leyden’s Colin O’Neill (195).

Bloomington’s Barger (145) and Glenbard North’s Robertson (285) won by fall in each of their four matches on the day. Bloomington’s Nishida (120) and Glenbard North’s Dertz (170) each posted three pins on Saturday.

Lake Park’s DiBenedetti (138) posted a fall, two tech falls, and a major decision in winning his title, and Bloomington’s Weltha (220) had a two falls, an 8-0 major, and a 6-0 decision on the day. Glenwood’s Davis (113) posted a fall to go with two major decision wins.

The closest title matches of the day came at 106 and 182 pounds. Glenbard North’s Khiev won 1-0 over Sandburg’s Rocco Hayes at 106, while Conant’s Hernandez won 1-0 over Sandburg’s Pitura at 182.

By Gary Larsen

Normal West scored 220 points to easily capture top honors at the 15-team Illini Bluffs Invite. Illini Bluffs edged Olympia 135-134 for second place while Peoria Notre Dame was fourth with 122 points.

Winning titles for the champion Wildcats were Froylan Racey (120), Evan Willock (126) and Noah Passoni (160) while Cody Sears (138) and Matthew Marsaglia (145) both finished second.

Host Illini Bluffs’s lone champion was Paul Ishikawa (138) while Wyatt Knowles (106), Hunter Robbins (113), Avery Speck (120), Jackson Carroll (126) and Ian O’Connor (132) all finished in second place.

Winning titles for Olympia were Dylan Eimer (106) and Will Winter (145) while Peoria Notre Dame got a title from Joey Mushinsky (170) and a second-place finish from Tommy Miller (160).

Other champions were Farmington’s Keygan Jennings (113) and Rese Shymansky (182), Limestone’s Cosmo Palmgren (132) and Aydan Trueblood (220), Dunlap’s Nick Mueller (152), East Peoria’s Zach Eaton (195) and Knoxville’s William Stowe (285).

Also claiming second-place finishes were Macomb’s Carter Hoge (152), Max Ryner (182) and Ethan Ladd (195), Knoxville’s Hunter Fox (170), Farmington’s Chris Haggard (220) and East Peoria’s Jose Del Toro (285).
Eimer, Jennings, Racey, Ishikawa, Winter, Shymansky, Eaton, Trueblood and Stowe all won titles with falls while Mueller won by major decision and Willock, Palmgren, Passoni, and Mushinsky all claimed decisions for their title wins.

Vernon Hills Invitational Re-Cap

Wauconda out-pointed second-place Vernon Hills 193.5-160.5 at this year’s 15-team Varsity Cougar Invitational, hosted by Vernon Hills. Glenbrook South (130), Christian Life (124.5) of Wisconsin, and Hoffman Estates (118) rounded out the top five team finishers.

Wauconda sent six wrestlers to the title mat and two to the top of the awards stand as Gavin Rockey (113) and Colin Husko (145) won individual titles.

Husko, currently ranked No. 6 at 145 in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings, used three falls to earn his title, while Rockey used a pair of 4-3 decisions to reach the finals at 113 before winning 5-3 over Harvard’s Brian Hernandez.

Placing second for Wauconda were Lucas Gladine (106), Cole Porten (138), Nick Cheshier (152), and heavyweight Matthew Merevick.

Vernon Hills had a pair of individual champs in Gary Gurevich (138) and heavyweight Max Accettura and got seconds from Blake Moncayo (170) and Jake Psaras (195).
Maine East led all teams with three individual champions.

Other individual champions included Drew Dolphin (106) and Troy Dolphin (132) of Christian Life (WI); Chris Kish (120), Edgar Estrada (126), and Ezequiel Figueroa (160) of Maine East; Julian Bonilla (152) and Jalen Curtis (182) of Hoffman Estates; Kaden Combs (170) of Woodstock North; Nathan Rosas (195) of Harvard; and Betim Jahovic (220) of Niles North.

The day’s closest finishes on the title mat included Wauconda’s Rockey in a 5-3 win over Harvard’s Brian Hernandez at 113; Maine East’s Estrada in an 8-7 win over Taft’s Patrick Diete at 126; Hoffman Estates Bonilla in a 5-3 win over Wauconda’s Cheshier at 152; and Maine East’s Figueroa in a 6-4 win over Glenbrook South’s Patrick Downing at 160.

Also reaching the finals and placing second were Glenbrook South’s Arnold Park (120); Taft’s Colin Roque (132) and Ryan Porebski (220); Christian Life’s Jordan Luhr (145); and Hoffman Estates’ Josh Ellery (182).

BARRINGTON — Marmion Academy got its 2021-2022 season off to a flying start on Saturday when it lifted the championship trophy at the 30th annual Moore-Prettyman Invitational inside the fieldhouse at Barrington High School.

The Cadets claimed the first major title of this highly anticipated campaign using a trio of individual titles and five top four finishes to outscore runner-up Libertyville 215.50-193.50. Stevenson (159.50) was third followed by Aurora Christian (159) and Fremd (146.5).

Teams hung around eventual champion Marmion until coach Nathan Fitzenreider’s club pulled away for good.

“I can’t tell you how excited the guys are to finally be back wrestling in a real tournament, and one that has so many great teams and wrestlers,” Fitzenreider said. “This is a season we were all looking forward to being a part of after COVID took the season away from all of us last year.

“Although this is a long, grueling season, this is a great way for our team to start and I think the performance the entire team gave was kind of a statement that Marmion Academy wrestling back, and ready to go out and enjoy this season, and to have a successful one as well.”

The aforementioned top five teams were ‘this’ close to each other after the first day of play, with North Suburban Conference (NSC) powers Libertyville and Stevenson suffocating the Cadets all throughout the weight classes.

“Our team is built to compete at a high level in tournament play – and it all starts with our dynamic duo of Lorenzo Frezza (126) and Cole Rhemrev, who provide great energy and leadership that all of the guys feed off of,” said Stevenson head coach Shane Cook, whose Patriots finished fifth at the IWCOA 3A state duals last summer in Springfield.

“We wrestled really well as a team in our first big tournament of the season, and if we continue to work hard, and keep our focus, there’s no reason why we can’t be successful in the regular season and when the state series begins,” offered the senior Rhemrev, who marched through the field at 138. Rhemrev recorded a pair of pins, a tech-fall in his semifinal, and ended with a 13-1 major decision to earn the top prize.

His teammate Frezza bagged plenty of points to help the cause with two pins and a major, before shutting out talented freshman Peyton Cox from Washington, 5-0 to win his second Moore-Prettyman title.

“During the offseason I worked on getting bigger, stronger, and faster, plus my stance and shots, and maybe most importantly watching what I eat, which has really helped me feel so much better,” Frezza said.

The top four teams on the leader board dominated the final round on Saturday, with Aurora Christian and its new head coach, Danny Alcocer, collecting a tourney-high four champions.

“We’re glad the sport of wrestling is back, and as a team, we are really happy to be a part of this great tournament, and our plan all along is to set the bar high, and keep it there throughout the season through hard work and dedication to each other,” said Alcocer, who was a state medal winner at Waubonsie Valley, and would later go on to wrestle for two years at Arizona State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Education.

Alcocer’s program received a major boost in talent when several former Montini Catholic stars made their way west to the Eagles’ campus in Aurora – to make the club an instant favorite to succeed in 1A circles before all is said and done.

“It was a big decision for all of us to leave Montini, and come to ‘AC’ – but we’re all thrilled to part of the program, and stoked about this season, and what we can achieve as a team,” said Eagles senior captain Nate Wemstrom, who will wrestle at Indiana University next season where he is considering a degree in Criminology.

Wemstrom claimed the 195-pound crown while another senior, Braden Stauffenberg grabbing the 152-pound title over Dillon Carlson (Crystal Lake Central) in a contest between the Nos. 1 and 4 rated 52-pounders in the latest rankings by the IWCOA.

“It was a big decision for those of us who moved over to ‘AC’ but once we did, and we saw what we have, the promise and hope of big things for all us will help us fight even harder,” added Stauffenberg, who has his eyes on attending West Point to continue his wrestling career.

“I come from a family of grunts, so to eventually be in Special Forces, and an Army Ranger is really exciting for me,” Stauffenberg said.

Eagles newcomers Deven Casey and California transplant Taythan Silva were magnificent in their first Moore-Prettyman appearances.

“I work as hard as anyone out there,” Casey said. “It’s 24-7 for me — before school, during training, throughout the weekend — I’m working on my conditioning, technique, and everything else in my game to be the best.”

Casey’s reversal at the start of the third period was enough to hold off Fremd’s Wiley Jessup, who was unable to pry open the Eagles’ freshmen in the final moments of a 7-4 decision.

Casey defeated top seed Dominic Ducato of Jacobs, 2-1, in his semifinal.

Silva was rarely challenged throughout his four matches, opening with a fall, then a major, before sending off No. 2 seed Thomas Schoolman (Stevenson) during his 13-2 major decision semifinal victory.

Silva would continue his winning ways over top seed Damien Puma (Prospect) to take home the 145-pound crown, ending his bout with a near fall to record a 11-4 triumph.

“My mother and I moved into the area from California, and I knew coming into the great staff here with coach Alcocer, and Cory Clark (2017 National Champion at Iowa) and the strong academic program at AC would be the best thing for me,” said Silva, who came to Aurora Christian from the prestigious wrestling program at Clovis High School.

Silva was runner-up at Preseason Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa in late October, losing in sudden victory, 3-1.

Teammate Braden Stauffenberg was crowned champion (160) at the same tournament, while Nathan Wemstrom grabbed second place at 195.

While there was plenty of one-way traffic to the top of the podium from Marmion, Stevenson and Aurora Christian, the quintet of Will Baysingar, Evan Gosz, Blake Henrichsen, Massey Odiotti, and John Pacewic all exhibited the skills, style, and staying power needed to earn titles in their respective weight divisions.

At the forefront was the reigning 120-pound state champion Baysingar, who closed out his tournament with a hard fought victory over Aurora Christian senior, Joe Fernau to claim the 132-pound top prize.

The 5-4 decision would avenge a 4-3 decision in the semifinals of the 2019 3A state tournament to Fernau at 106 pounds – a victory that would send the then- Montini sophomore on his way to a state title.

“If I had it to do over, I would have likely pushed the pace more, especially in the first period, and obviously score more points,” Baysingar said. “But (Fernau) is a very good wrestler, so it’s a good start to the season and I’m very happy with the result.”

Baysingar was named Outstanding Wrestler for his efforts over a host of deserving candidates, including an all-star cast at 132 pounds.

Freshman Evan Gosz made his presence felt in his first major tournament ever – recording a 9-2 decision over Rudy SIlva of Plainfield South to win at 113.

“Evan goes right after his opponents – he’s a three sport athlete (football, and lacrosse) who is a fearless, hard working young man,” said Fremd head coach, Jeff Keske after watching the Vikings youngster a third-period takedown, and near-fall to secure his victory.

John Pacewic is off to join the Marines upon graduation but until then, the Plainfield South senior to make his final season at South a memorable one.

“I lost a year of wrestling to the pandemic, so I’m thrilled to be back competing in the sport I love,” said Pacewic, who pinned his way to the 225-pound title.

The affable Pacewic recounted how he figured a visit at work from someone he thought was his sister’s boyfriend was actually a Marine recruiter instead.

“After I told him to get lost, one day later I was in his office and enlisting,” said Pacewic with a smile.

Second place Libertyville, which held the lead over Marmion 162.50-150.50 during the early part of Saturday afternoon, saw its hopes dashed when the Wildcats went o-fer in the finals.

“Our guys had some real tough opponents in the finals,” admitted Wildcats head coach, Dale Eggert.

“The matches were competitive but didn’t go our way. But the guys know they can do better so those defeats will be put to good use.”

Eggert said his sophomore, Matt Kubas got hit by a tiger in his 160-pound final, and that is the perfect way to describe the all out attack Blake Hinrichsen put on display.

The Washington junior registered an impressive 15-4 major decision one bout after defeating top seed Justin Warmowski of Grant.

“I’ve been working on improving my stance, having better position, and scoring early, and adding to my lead, and today I did that,” said Hinrichsen, who says when his team gets back to full strength, it will be a force in 2A this season.

Marmion’s Jack Lesher (182) and heavyweight Jerred Durian helped close out Libertyville with their head-to-head bouts with Wildcats Josh Knudten, and Caleb Christensen in their respective finals.

“It’s been almost two years since all of us have competed, so to come in here and wrestle as well as a team against this competition says a lot about what we can achieve this year,” said Durian, who is being recruited to play football at both North Central College and Augustana.

“Jack was one of our most pleasant surprises this weekend,” Fitzenreider said, following Leshers’ 3-0 decision over Knudten.

“We were not sure what we had with him but he showed a lot over these two days, beating the No. 3 seed in the semi’s, then the top seed to win it all.”

The Cadets’ third and final championship came from Tyler Perry (170), who sent the No. 2 seed, Austin Gomez of Libertyville out in the quarterfinals, and later, top seed AJ Mancilla in spectacular fashion by recording a pin at 2:51.

“I’ve been working a lot on my conditioning, and eliminating mistakes because of being a little sloppy, and this weekend, I felt like I stayed in good position, and was (clean) in all of my matches,” Perry said afterwards.

On a day which featured so many wonderful individual efforts – the performance from Massey Odiotti was one not to be overlooked.

The Loyola Academy junior, who was anointed the No. 3 seed at 120 pounds edged No. 2 Josh Vasquez (Aurora Christian) 3-1 in his semifinal contest – using a lightning quick move to score the decisive take-down 30 seconds from time.

Later, Odiotti staved off top seed Caelan Riley of Libertyville who made a late valiant attempt to draw back even but fell short in Odiotti’s 3-2 victory

“Massey has come a long way from his freshmen year with us,” Loyola coach Matt Collum said. “He likely would have lost this match as a freshman, maybe would have had a better chance to win as a sophomore, but this season he is mentally and physically stronger, which helped him ‘tough’ this out to earn a big win for himself.”