By Patrick Z. McGavin – for the IWCOA

Fittingly the girls city championship of the Chicago Public League saved their best for last.

Aaliyah Grandberry and Jasmine Meja have signified the best and the brightest of the nascent girls wrestling programs throughout the city.

Both are two-time state qualifiers and Grandberry is a two-time IHSA finalist. Curie Metro’s Grandberry defeated Rickover Naval Academy’s Meja in the state semifinals last year en route to her second-place finish at 235 pounds.

The two also dueled at the city final last season. They were also two of the nine state qualifiers to come out of Public League. Grandberry had the best state placement with her runner-up finish while Bowen’s Monica Griffin was third at 126 pounds and Meja was fifth at 235 pounds.

“She has been my biggest rival in the city,” Meja said. “This year I’d gotten a lot better, but so has she. I felt I’m not as disappointed by the end. I’ve been thinking about this match for a while.

“We also had some great matches last year. I think she beat me by one point in the championship. it didn’t go overtime like today.”

In a matchup of unbeatens, Grandberry (13-0) survived Meja (20-1) 3-2 in a tiebreaker to capture the 235-pound championship on Saturday at Curie.

“That was one of my favorite matches so far,” Grandberry said. “It really pushed me to the test.

“Triple overtime, okay. I thought it was really fun. Honestly it was amazing. I loved the fight, I loved the struggle.”

Grandberry and Meja brought down the curtain, but the larger show belonged to the developing and emerging programs were the major story.

In girls sports in the Public League, schools such as Lane Tech, Whitney Young Magnet, Walter Payton College Prep and Jones College Prep tend to dominate.

In wrestling, the field has been leveled, giving a rise to smaller programs eager to have a chance at the ring.

“I’ve coached girls in volleyball, swimming, hockey and now wrestling,” Phoenix Military Academy coach Daniel Curin said. 

“I have found if you give girls a fair opportunity and a decent program to compete in whatever sport it is, that’s all they want, something that they could be proud of. Give these kids something that they could actually work towards.”

Phoenix Military Academy ran away with the team championship by producing seven finalists and three individual champions to help it score 226 points.

The Firebirds lived up to their name with 12 place finishers, winning three championships as well as having four runners-up, one third, two fourths and two fifths.

A year ago, Phoenix Military Academy was one of the new programs looking to make a statement. The team had just four wrestlers, two of them won and all four showed great promise. Now that number has ballooned to 17.

“More impressively the whole program has about 45 kids, if you include the boys side,” Curin said. 

“We’re a school of less than 400 kids, so we have more than 10 percent of the student population on the wrestling team. “

The 110-pound champion, Diana Lopez, and the 145-pound winner, AJ Grant, repeated as CPL champions. Both wrestlers parlayed the city championship into qualifying berths at state.

“I told all the other girls, with these core girls, we could win the city,” Curin said. 

“That was our message out of the game. We’ll win the city title if you keep this together.”

Rickover Naval Academy, coached by Guillermo Mejia, finished second with 170.5 points. The Lady Sea Dragons had two great bookends in 100-pound champion Mia Vazquez and Meja. Vazquez also was a CPL champion in 2023.

“We started our program four or five years ago, and we’ve had girls on the team from the beginning,” Meja said. 

“I feel like we have been a leader in that. We had the most girls of any team in the city. I think with girls city and state now being a thing in Illinois, I think that really helps with growing girls wrestling.”

Like the rest of the state, the city is now the nerve center underscoring the growing popularity.

”Even last year, when girls teams weren’t as big, the girls teams were treated as side parts,” Meja said. 

“Now it is its own main thing. The level of competition has gone up, the number of girls has gone up,and it’s a great thing.”

Kelly College Prep (132) finished third, Back of the Yards College Prep (131) took fourth, host Curie Metro (100) placed fifth and Lane Tech (86) claimed sixth place. Kelly College Prep and Lane Tech were the other two programs with multiple champions with two apiece.

Winning titles for coach Stephan Kunca’s third-place Kelly College Prep Lady Trojans were Jaqueline Dimas (115), who also was a CPL champion last season, and Sara Martinez Lopera (155). Capturing firsts for coach Matthew Yan’s Lane Tech Champions were Nyah Lovis (120) and Lily Cohen (170).

Other Chicago Public League champions were Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences’ Carmen Jackson (105), Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville’s Tyhesia Goss (125), Back of the Yards College Prep’s Yesenia DePaz (130), King’s Harmoni Puckett (140) and South Shore International College Prep’s Nadia Johnson (190).

There was a five-way tie for the most team points with 30 between Lily Cohen, Yesenia DePaz, Tyhesia Goss, Nadia Johnson and Harmoni Puckett while Carmen Jackson and Sara Martinez Lopera were next-best with 28 points. Lane Tech’s Sofia Guerrero had the most match points with 49. Taft’s Jennifer Arenas and George Washington’s Beyonca Rodriguez both had five falls.

Phoenix Military Academy has the most total match points with 166 while Rickover Naval Academy was second with 154. Those two teams also had the most falls with the champion Firebirds recording 25 and the runner-up Lady Sea Dragons having 22 pins.

Some of the top records of CPL finalists include Carmen Jackson at 105 (20-0, 1.000), Aaliyah Grandberry at 235 (13-0, 1.000), Harmoni Puckett at 140 (10-0, 1,000), AJ Grant at 145 (23-1, .958), Jasmine Meja at 235 (20-1, .952), Nyah Lovis at 120 (25-2, .926), Tyhesia Goss at 125 (11-1, .917), Diana Lopez at 110 (18-2, .900), Mia Vazquez at 100 (26-3, .897), Sara Martinez Lopera at 155 (17-2, .895), Jaqueline Dimas at 115 (16-2, .889), Ariel Foreman at 135 (7-1, .875), Nadia Johnson at 190 (7-1, .875) and Jailynn Milam at 170 (14-2, .875). 

Here’s a look at the Chicago Public League Girls Championship title winners and weights

100 – Mia Vazquez, Rickover Naval Academy

Rickover Naval Academy junior Mia Vazquez put on a display of technique, speed and quickness to claim a win by technical fall in 2:44 over Michele Clark Academic Prep’s Asia Boss in the 100 championship match to improve to 26-3.

Curie Metro’s Evelin Martinez defeated Phoenix Military Academy’s Jitzel Aranda by fall in 0:42 for third place and Phoenix Military Academy’s Miles Gonzalez won 13-8 in sudden victory over Crane Medical Prep’s Katherine Gonzalez on the fifth-place mat.

105 – Carmen Jackson, Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences

Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences’ Carmen Jackson defeated Westinghouse College Prep’s Kimani Glasper with a fall in 2:57 in the 105 championship match. Jackson, a sophomore, extended her unbeaten season to 20-0.

Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville’s Melany Corona won by fall in 5:12 over Curie Metro’s Melani Martinez for third place. And Curie Metro’s Giselle Arambula won by fall in 3:10 over Lane Tech’s Sofia Guerrero on the fifth-place mat. 

110 – Diana Lopez, Phoenix Military Academy

Phoenix Military Academy’s Diana Lopez punctuated her standout performance with a fall in 1:43 over Back of the Yards College Prep’s Hida Thomas in the 110 championship match.

“I never wrestled until last year,” Lopez said, who improved to 18-2. ”I go out there and look to have fun and show what I can. I think I’m really quick and I’m good at shooting.

“Even though I won last year, I was still very nervous about today. I thought back to the success I had before. I wanted to try something new and I just showed up and I really liked it. Now the big thing is to do even better at state.”

Rickover Naval Academy’s Litzy Estrada won an 11-8 decision over Taft’s Alyssa Martel for third place and Hancock College Prep’s Ashley Lopez won by fall in 1:06 over Little Village Lawndale’s Julitza Marquez in the fifth-place match.

115 – Jaqueline Dimas, Kelly College Prep

Kelly College Prep’s Jaqueline Dimas used two takedowns to win a 5-3 decision over Phoenix Military Academy’s Mia Thomas in the 115 championship match. Dimas, a sophomore, improved to 16-2 while Thomas, a junior, fell to 18-5.

Taft’s Jennifer Arenas won by fall in 0:37 over Curie Metro’s Natalie Guzman for third place and Lindblom Math and Science Academy’s Danita Pallmore recorded a pin in 4:33 over Morgan Park’s Angelica Gutierrez on the fifth-place mat.

120 – Nyah Lovis, Lane Tech

Lane Tech’s Nyah Lovis showed why she is one of the city’s top wrestlers with a 7-0 decision over Phoenix Military Academy’s Marisol Castro in the 120 championship match.

Both juniors are returning state qualifiers. Lovis improved to 25-2 and Castro fell to 19-4.

Lake View’s Raynisha Sims recorded a fall in 1:39 over George Washington’s Elani Alvarez for third place and Taft’s Michaela Yu won by medial forfeit over Chicago Academy’s Isabella Thompson for fifth place. 

125 – Tyhesia Goss, Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville

Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville’s Tyhesia Goss improved to 11-1 after capturing the 125 championship with a fall in 1:04 over Back of the Yards College Prep’s Joseline Rodriguez.

George Washington’s Beyonca Rodriguez won by fall in 3:06 over Phoenix Military Academy’s Adrianna Tanguma for third place and Rickover Naval Academy’s Paulette Olson won by fall in 1:26 over Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville’s Lillianna Viramontes on the fifth-place mat.

130 – Yesenia DePaz, Back of the Yards College Prep

Back of the Yards College Prep’s Yesenia DePaz captured the 130 championship with a fall in 5:24 over George Washington’s Itzel Jimenez. DePaz, a senior, improved to 13-3.

Phoenix Military Academy’s Jocelyn Quirox won by fall in 1:46 over Clemente’s Catalina Pacheco for third place and Hancock College Prep’s Cristin Moreno prevailed over Taft’s Jazmin Avila for fifth place.

135 – Ariel Foreman, Phoenix Military Academy

Phoenix Military Academy’s Ariel Foreman recorded a fall in 2:37 over Lane Tech’s Zabby Badru in the 135 championship match. Foreman is in her first year wrestling. She has shown a highly natural and intuitive talent.

“I can’t really explain why I’ve been so successful, but I really like the commitment,” Foreman said. “I practice a lot, and I listen to my coaches and follow what they say.”

Fenger’s Theresa Sewell won by fall in 3:40 over Hancock College Prep’s Mia Luecht for third place and Mather’s Dana Mikhail won with a pin in 5:31 over Wendell Phillips Academy’s Kayla Nolan for fifth.

140 – Harmoni Puckett, King College Prep

King College Prep’s Harmoni Puckett staked her claim to being the CPL’s outstanding wrestler following her fall in 2:21 over Phoenix Military Academy’s Alexia Ramos in the 140 title match.

The sophomore (10-0) extended her unbeaten start to the season. 

Kelly’s Leylani Bahena won by fall in 2:30 over Rickover Naval Academy’s Natalia Ribeiro for third place and Back of the Yards College Prep’s’ Evelyna Perez won by forfeit over South Shore International College Prep’s Ava Woods for fifth place.

145 – AJ Grant, Phoenix Military Academy

Phoenix Military Academy’s AJ Grant was dominant in the finals at 145 after recording a fall in 0:27 over Kenwood’s Nymeia Massenat. Grant went 32-4 last season and qualified for state.

Her blend of speed, power, grace and toughness sets her apart. The wild part is that she never stepped on any kind of mat until a year ago.

“What made me want to do it is that I wanted to get some work in and I wanted to get in shape,” Grant said. “My coach ended up believing in me, and that made me believe in myself.  I didn’t know what wrestling was. I was physical. There were times when I felt as though I didn’t want to continue, but the support was great.”

Grant (23–1), a junior, has been virtually untouchable this season. She has parlayed the confidence into an unstoppable force.

“I’m going to keep going, and I’m going to do better than this,” Grant said. “Winning the city last year in my first season was a boost. These are girls from all over the city and I just told myself I wanted this. I am working to actually get on the state podium this year.”

Rickover Naval Academy’s Jocelyn Quillay won by fall in 0:27 over Curie Metro’s Yaretzi Avila for third place and Back of the Yards College Prep’s Abigail Dominguez recorded a pin in 1:27 over Rickover Naval Academy’s Alisa Burk in the fifth-place match.

155 – Sara Martinez Lopera, Kelly College Prep

Kelly College Prep’s Sara Martinez Lopera emerged as a top freshman with her fall in 5:40 over Phoenix Military Academy’s America Cabrera in the 155 title match.

Martinez Lopera improved to 17-2 while Cabrera, a sophomore, fell to 19-4.

Rickover Naval Academy’s Camila Martinez won by fall in 1:52 over Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville’s Mia Johnson for third place. And Marshall’s Cecilia Colon claimed a 9-8 decision over Back of the Yards College Prep’s’ Ayatzary Villegas on the fifth-place mat. 

170 – Lily Cohen, Lane Tech

Lane Tech’s Lily Cohen captured the 170 championship with a fall in 3:16 over Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences’ Jailynn Milam.

Rickover Naval Academy’s Clara Biela won by fall in 1:00 over Back of the Yards College Prep’s Nyomi Ascensio for third place. And Phoenix Military Academy’s Annie Johnson won with a pin in 5:12 over Kelly College Prep’s Liana Andrade for fifth place. 

190 – Nadia Johnson, South Shore International College Prep

South Shore International College Prep’s Nadia Johnson made short work of ITW David Speer Academy’s Aileen Galvez, recording a fall 0:35 in the 190 championship match.

Johnson, a junior, is another first-time wrestler who has demonstrated remarkable progress.

“My style is really freestyle and I also listen to my coaches’ advice,” Johnson said. “This is my first year. I don’t know much, but I know some things about wrestling that I have to go in very aggressive.

“I never wrestled before, but I knew I had a lot of strength, and I should put it to good use.”

Kelly College Prep’s N’Dyia Mahon-Godfrey won by fall in 1:02 over Mather’s Julissa Az for third place. And Rickover Naval Academy’s Julia Aguello recorded a fall in 1:17 over Morgan Park’s Denali Luna in the fifth-place bout.

235 – Aaliyah Grandberry, Curie Metro

Curie Metro’s Aaliyah Grandberry made the encore something special, defeating Rickover Naval Academy’s Jasmine Meja 3-2 in a tiebreaker.

Grandberry (13-0), a senior who won her third straight city championship, placed second at 235 in the IHSA Finals in both 2023 and 22 to Belleville East’s Kiara Ganey.

“One big difference from the last time we wrestled is that I lost a lot of weight, and a lot other heavyweights are not really used to my quickness,” Grandberry said.

“I feel like I also lost some strength, and I can’t necessarily always do the same mass like before. I have to use my speed.”

The moment was bittersweet though illuminating for Meja (20-1), who suffered her first defeat.

“You learn more from losses, and a lot of my previous matches were not all that challenging, with most of them first or second period falls,” Meja said. “I can take my lessons from this match and know what I have to work on.”

Kelly College Prep’s Milan Montgomery won a 7-5 decision over her teammate, Laura Sofia Martinez Lopera for third place. And Taft’s Rim Ayouchi defeated Hancock’s Ariana Gutierrez-Soria by fall in 2:35 in the fifth-place match.

Title matches for the Chicago Public League Girls Championship

100 – Mia Vazquez (Rickover Naval Academy) TF 2:44 Asia Boss (Michele Clark Academic Prep)

105 – Carmen Jackson (Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences) F 2:57 Kimani Glasper (Westinghouse College Prep)

110 – Diana Lopez (Phoenix Military Academy) F 1:43 Hida Thomas (Back of the Yards College Prep) 

115 – Jaqueline Dimas (Kelly College Prep) D 5-3 Mia Thomas (Phoenix Military Academy)

120 –  Nyah Lovis (Lane Tech) D 7-0 Marisol Castro (Phoenix Military Academy)

125 – Tyhesia Goss (Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville) F 1:04 Joseline Rodriguez (Back of the Yards College Prep) 

130 – Yesenia DePaz (Back of the Yards College Prep) F 5:24 Itzel Jimenez (George Washington) 

135 – Ariel Foreman (Phoenix Military Academy) F 2:37 Zabby Badru (Lane Tech)

140 – Harmoni Puckett (King College Prep) F 2:21 Alexia Ramos (Phoenix Military Academy) 

145 – AJ Grant (Phoenix Military Academy) F 0:27 Nymeia Massenat (Kenwood) 

155 – Sara Martinez Lopera (Kelly College Prep) F 5:40 America Cabrera (Phoenix Military Academy)

170 – Lily Cohen (Lane Tech) F 3:16 Jailynn Milam (Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences)

190 – Nadia Johnson (South Shore International College Prep) F 0:35 Aileen Galvez (ITW David Speer Academy)

235 – Aaliyah Grandberry (Curie Metro) TB 3-2 Jasmine Meja (Rickover Naval Academy)

Third-place matches for the Chicago Public League Girls Championship

100 – Evelin Martinez (Curie Metro) F 0:42 Jitzel Aranda (Phoenix Military Academy)

105 – Melany Corona (Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville) F 5:12 Melani Martinez (Curie Metro)

110 – Litzy Estrada (Rickover Naval Academy) D 11-8 Alyssa Martel (Taft)

115 – Jennifer Arenas (Taft) F 0:37 Natalie Guzman (Curie Metro)

120 – Raynisha Sims (Lake View) F 1:39 Elani Alvarez (George Washington)

125 – Beyonca Rodriguez (George Washington) F 3:06 Adrianna Tanguma (Phoenix Military Academy)

130 – Jocelyn Quiroz (Phoenix Military Academy) F 1:46 Catalina Pacheco (Clemente)

135 – Theresa Sewell (Fenger) F 3:40 Mia Luecht (Hancock College Prep)

140 – Leylani Bahena (Kelly College Prep) F 2:30 Natalia Ribeiro (Rickover Naval Academy)

145 – Joceyln Quillay (Rickover Naval Academy) F 0:27 Yaretzi Avila (Curie Metro)

155 – Camila Martinez (Rickover Naval Academy) F 1:52 Mia Johnson (Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville)

170 – Clara Biela (Rickover Naval Academy) F 1:00 Nyomi Ascencio (Back of the Yards College Prep)

190 – N’Dyia Mahon-Godfrey (Kelly College Prep) F 1:02 Julissa Az (Mather)

235 – Milan Montgomery (Kelly College Prep) D 7-5 Laura Sofia Martinez Lopera (Kelly College Prep)

Team scores for the Chicago Public League Girls Championship

1. Phoenix Military Academy 226, 2. Rickover Naval Academy 170.5, 3. Kelly College Prep 132, 4. Back of the Yards College Prep 131, 5. Curie Metro 100, 6. Lane Tech 86, 7. Taft 75, 8. Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville 71, 9. George Washington 65, 10. Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences 56, 11. Mather 42, 12. Hancock College Prep 40, 12. Westinghouse College Prep 40, 14. ITW David Speer Academy 34, 14. South Shore International College Prep 34, 16. King College Prep 30, 17. Morgan Park 26, 18. Lake View 22, 19. Michele Clark Academic Prep 20, 20. Clemente 18, 20. Kenwood 18, 22 Little Village Lawndale 17, 23. Chicago Academy 16, 24. Fenger Academy 15, 24. Lindblom Math and Science Academy 15, 26. Marshall 14, 27. Crane Medical Prep 6, 27. Wendell Phillips Academy 6,  29. Schurz 2, 30. Eric Solorio Academy 0, 30. Hubbard 0.

By Chris Walker For the IWCOA

The defending Class 3A state champs are now getting ready for their next challenge of an encore performance at the individual and team state finals after they finished the regular season by dominating the DuKane Conference Meet on Saturday.

St. Charles East had 11 wrestlers advance to the finals with eight crowned as champions, including Dom Munaretto (113), Ben Davino (132) and Jayden Colon (144) – who also won state titles last February.

Their champions included Munaretto (113), Davino (132), Tyler Guerra (138), Colon (144), Gavin Connolly (150), Anthony Gutierrez (165), Brody Murray (175) and Matt Medina (285). The Saints also matched their total of eight champions from a year ago with Munaretto (106), Davino (126), Guerra (138), Colon (145), Gutierrez (160) and Murray (182) winning back-to-back titles. It also was the third straight DuKane title for Davino and Guerra as the duo won at 120 and 132 respectively as sophomores.

“My standard hammers did their usual thing,” Saints coach Jason Potter said. “I feel bad overlooking them. It  stinks for them because everyone expects it, but at the same time they’re professionals and take care of business.”

Kaden Potter (106), Ryan McGovern (157) and Cooper Murray (215) each advanced to the finals and placed second for the Saints. Murray came closest to joining his teammates as a conference champion losing on a sudden victory against Batavia junior Ben Brown who remains undefeated.

Liam Aye (120) and Gavin Woodmancy (126) fought back to win their third-place matches while Brandon Swartz (215) took fourth place.

“I thought our young guys all the way around just gave great effort,” Jason Potter said. “They made some mistakes and we lost a couple of matches, gave a couple of them away, but the good thing about this team is they address it right away. They’re open to it. They’re coachable and I’m confident that we can fix those couple of little mistakes.”

The Saints outdistanced themselves from the rest of the field with 325 points. Runner-up Glenbard North finished with 219.5.

The Panthers produced a pair of champions in Kalani Khiev (120) and Christian Chavez (126) and a runner-up Dominick Marre (113). They were equally impressive on the third-place mats as Rylan Kradle (144), Treshon Williams (150), Tyler Ott (175), Brian Petrancosta (215), and Dylan Hendee (285) all finished the day with victories.

Wheaton North also had a pair of champs and took third with 201.

Batavia (165) and Geneva (143) followed in fourth and fifth place while Wheaton Warrenville South (107.5), Lake Park (80) and St. Charles North (64) rounded out the team finishes.

DuKane Conference tournament championship results:

106 – Rocco Macellaio, Wheaton North

Competing for the first time in the DuKane Conference Meet, Macellaio (28-12) earned a 17-6 major decision over St. Charles East’s Kaden Potter (19-20).

“Winning it is big,” he said. “It’s really cool. It’s what I’ve been working towards. We had a really close match earlier in the year, but (today) I hit my quick tilts a lot and scored a lot of points.”

Geneva junior Sammy Sikorsky (27-9) won by decision over St. Charles North’s Declan Sons (19-4) for third place while Glenbard North junior Jaden Quito (8-13) received a bye to take fifth place.

113 – Dom Munaretto, St. Charles East

After winning each of his 50 matches as a freshman en route to the state title at 106, one had to wonder what Munaretto would do for an encore this winter. The answer is a simple and obvious one: keep winning. Munaretto (40-2) finished off the regular season with a tech fall victory over Glenbard North senior Dominick Marre (29-5). Marre had taken second at 120 a year ago and won at 113 as a freshman in 2022.

Geneva junior Drew Holman (20-11) scored a major decision victory over Wheaton North sophomore Dylan Le (9-14) for third place. There was no fifth place match.

120 – Kalani Khiev, Glenbard North

Khiev (31-4) and Batavia senior Ino Garcia (19-5) battled for the title at 113 a year ago and Garcia prevailed 2-0. On Saturday, Khiev reversed the result, earning a 6-3 win to become a conference champion.

“We’ve wrestled during the season and the off-season the past two years,” Khiev, a junior, said. “But this is just the beginning, It doesn’t matter until you’re on the orange mats in Champaign. So yes I was able to get the win but it’s still not over. There’s no need to be satisfied or anything now. The point is to keep moving forward and keep wrestling and whatever comes, it comes.”

St. Charles East’s Liam Aye (19-20) prevailed by decision against fellow sophomore Caden Cahill (16-19) from Wheaton North to take third place while Wheaton Warrenville South sophomore Nolan Scholl (10-10) slipped past Geneva sophomore Caleb Fleck (9-24) for fifth place.

126 – Christian Chavez, Glenbard North

Chavez (31-4) is pleased so far with a regular season that has culminated with a major decision win over Lake Park sophomore Nick Merola (2-1) for the 126 title. Last year Chavez was injured during a semifinal match at 126 against Batavia’s Aidan Huck.

“So far this season I have nothing to complain about,” Chavez said,. “I feel like I’m doing my best and I’m coming for that title this year.”

He understood his game plan coming in against Merola and he followed it to rack up a 9-1 win.

“I just went into that match and just figured to put him away and score teams points for the team,” he said. “I just pretty much just got it done for the team, that’s it. You just need to get your mind right and just go out there and be ready to battle.”

About a month ago at the Al Dvorak tournament, Chavez placed fourth at 126.

“I did pretty well at Dvorak,” he said. “Maybe I could’ve made it to the finals. I beat the kid who ended up beating me in the finals.”

Over on the third-pace mat, St. Charles East freshman Gavin Woodmancy (25-16) won by decision over Batavia sophomore Kyle Pasco (25-17) while on the fifth-place mat Geneva junior Ben Deasy (18-16) won by fall over Wheaton North sophomore Joey Petruczenko (9-17)

132 – Ben Davino, St. Charles East

There are a couple of realities to consider regarding Davino (41-0), a three-time state champion senior. He’s already one of the state’s all-time best wrestlers. But also, his time competing for the Saints is almost over before he moves on to The Ohio State University.

Davino is now 160-1 after winning by fall against Wheaton North sophomore David Hyde (23-14) for the title at 132. The kid is one career match short of the number of games teams play in a Major League Baseball season. Coincidentally, MLB spring training begins the same weekend of the IHSA individual state tournament.

Since there wasn’t a conference meet in 2021 due to COVID, Davino didn’t wrestle in his first DuKane Conference meet until his sophomore year where he defeated a future champion in Glenbard North’s Christian Chavez. While Davino pinned Chavez in the 120 title bout two years ago, Chavez joined Davino on the award stand this year, winning the 120 title.

Batavia senior Ryan Adams (7-4) earned a major decision over Lake Park junior Sergio Hernandez (26-13) for third place while Geneva junior Andrew Wendt (19-15) won by ball over Glenbard North sophomore Trey Thompson (6-13) for fifth place. Wendt had met Davino in the semifinals earlier, losing by tech fall.

138 – Tyler Guerra, St. Charles East

Guerra (40-1) called his win by fall in 44 seconds over Wheaton Warrenville South senior Cooper Hills (26-8) at 138 a small step towards the ultimate goal of a state title.

“It’s a little, mini achievement to keep your head there,” the senior said. “These are good little check-ins to make sure I’m doing the right things to get the job done.”

While not officially the post-season, Guerra wrestled Saturday like is was, winning convincingly by fall in both of his matches.

“For me I’m in post-season (mode),” he said. “It’s go time. I’m feeling good. It feels good coming back and winning it with the team is awesome. Having all my guys with me in the finals felt great it’s good to get it done as a team. Feels good to get it done myself pretty quick. I got the pins. I feel good about today.”

Lake Park senior Vince Merola (22-8) won by decision over Batavia senior Ethan Brauer (23-15) for third place while Glenbard North junior Richard Morales (16-17) won by fall over Geneva sophomore Colin Huminsky (1-3) for fifth.

144 – Jayden Colon, St. Charles East

Colon (33-5) finished his final DuKane meet in strong fashion, earning an 8-3 decision against fellow senior Aidan Huck (34-5) from Batavia.

Huck advanced to the finals for the third straight season, losing last year to St. Charles East’s Ben Davino at 126 and at 113 to Dominick Marre two years ago. Marre was runner-up at 113 this year, falling to St. Charles East’s Dom Munaretto.

“I felt I got to my openings and my shots,” Colon said. “I’m getting back to wrestling how I would like to wrestle in a high-paced match and keeping up the pace and pushing the pace to wear these guys down.”

Call him Colon the aggressor.

“I would say what motivates me to keep going in my matches is fine-tuning my technique and getting to my offense rather than letting some of the other guys keep matches close,” he said, “I like to try to open up that distance and show how dominant I really am in the bracket.”

The two-time state champion is ready for the post-season again with eight fellow Saints champions including five who are also seniors.

“I’m feeling pretty excited, ready to go,” he said. “I’m ready to take on the next part of the season which is kind of what we call it. We have our calendar clock posted up there and it’s about 30-something days until the whistle for team state and little less for the individual tournament. That’s what keeps all the top level guys pushing towards the next tournament.”

Glenbard North junior Rylan Cradle (32-6) earned a major decision victory over Lake Park’s Bela Mohapp (15-10) to take third place at 144 while St. Charles North’s Brogan Sons (98) took fifth place as his opponent, Wheaton North junior Dane Fitzenreider (1-6), suffered an injury earlier.

150 – Gavin Connolly, St. Charles East

Connolly (33-10) won in his home gym again, earning a fall over Wheaton North sophomore Ryan Rosch (27-13) for the 150 title.

Meanwhile, on the third-place mat, Glenbard North junior Treshon Williams (17-18) won by fall over Batavia sophomore Dylan Wells while St. Charles North junior Liam O’Brien (9-8) won by decision against Geneva sophomore David Rueth (5-6).

157 – Thomas Fulton, Wheaton North

Last year Fulton pinned three straight opponents to win the title at152  in the JV II DuKane Conference Meet.

This year, he’s the varsity champ at 157.

“Well, I was in the mix last year with two other seniors; we were fighting for the varsity spot,” Fulton said. “But it feels pretty good to win the varsity conference. I think my weight class wasn’t as stacked as some of the others but it still feels good.”

Fulton, now a junior, was one of just three wrestlers to upend a St. Charles East wrestler in the finals as the Saints advanced 11 wrestlers to the championship round.

Fulton (34-8) won by fall against Saints junior Ryan McGovern (15-18) for the 157 title.

“I wrestled him earlier in the season and pinned him,” Fulton said. “He got a takedown at the beginning and then with twelve seconds left I shot off the whistle and he kind of went to his back. He should’ve let go of his hands so he pinned himself, kind of.”

Humble in victory, Fulton said he felt a little lucky with result.

“This match I kind of felt like I got a lucky pin there and wanted to show I was the better wrestler,” he said. “He got a takedown again at the beginning but I shot a double with 10 seconds left and got that too, so I was up in the second period and then he got an underhook, and I was able to hit my fireman’s that me and coach Rob talked about, which felt pretty satisfactory.”

But it’s got to feel good to be a conference champion, right?

“I guess so,” he said. “I’m just focusing on each match one at a time and not overlooking any opponents.”

Geneva senior Peyton Marzen (20-6) won by fall over Batavia freshman Jack Brown (9-12) to capture third place while over on the fifth-place mat Glenbard North sophomore Erik Esquivel (8-22) earned a win by decision over St. Charles North sophomore Damon Hill (5-6).

165 – Anthony Gutierrez, St. Charles East

Gutierrez (31-8) met Wheaton North sophomore Julian Flores (26-12) in the 165 title match but the two didn’t wrestle during the regular season. 

“I had too many matches already when we went against Wheaton North and you can’t have a certain amount of matches before regionals,” Gutierrez explained. “So I sat out that dual but didn’t have to sit out anything else.”

Unfamiliarity with Flores didn’t seem to affect Gutierrez as the junior won by fall .

“It was just pretty good to come out and execute all my shots and get to my offense and get a little practice in before the state series,” he said.

For third place in the DuKane, St. Charles North junior Nathan McLoughlin (14-3) won by fall over Batavia sophomore Colin Peyton (10-15) while Wheaton Warrenville South senior Corey Gul (22-15) took fifth place after also winning by fall over Glenbard North senior Jonathan Stakenas (2-10).

175 – Brody Murray, St. Charles East

Murray (34-8) handed Wheaton Warrenville South senior Sedeeq Al Obaidi (32-2) just his second loss of the season to win the 175 title. Last year Murray pinned Al Obaidi in the 160 semifinals before losing by decision in the finals to Lake Park’s Joey Olaide.

For third place at 175, Glenbard North junior Tyler Ott (24-11) won by decision over Wheaton North’s Nikolas Schaafsma while Geneva senior Charlie Faith (11-12) won by fall over Lake Park senior Elias O’Neill (8-6) to take fifth place.

190 – Ben Brown, Batavia

Brown needed sudden victory to get there, but the Batavia senior pulled off the rare awesome feat of completing the regular season undefeated.

Brown (27-0) kept his poise to defeat St. Charles East sophomore Cooper Murray (26-14) to become the conference champ at 190.

“I knew it was going to be a slow-paced match, but I just had to stay solid with my feet, not get in bad position and just kind of wear him down,” he said. “I could start to feel him going down in overtime and I eventually won.”

Last year Brown was on the other end of a tight battle, falling by a 4-3 decision to St. Charles North’s Drew Surges in the 195 semis. Surges would go on to win the 195 title.

Senior Elvin Muja (23-8) bounced back to beat Wheaton North junior Milo Saenz Palencia (21-16) by decision to take third at 190 while Glenbard North junior Julian Holland (12-16) received a bye to take fifth place.

215 – Joe Pettit, Geneva

Watching film of himself from early on the season and especially from a year ago, Pettit doesn’t see the same wrestler. 

When he goes back and watches the 215-pound final match against Batavia junior Asher Sheldon, he’s going to see the champion he’s become.

“My dad records all of my matches so I can see how I’m wrestling compared to last year,” he said. “I’ m like a different wrestler this year, even from earlier this season.”

Pettit won in sudden victory over Sheldon, getting back at the Bulldog who defeated him earlier this season in conference action.

“It was a pretty close match and it was a crazy atmosphere there at Batavia,” Pettit said. “I kind of got to my head a little bit and ended up just pinning myself. That loss kind of stuck with me so there was definitely some blood in the water going into the match. I really wanted to win.”

Focusing on technique and awareness has helped Pettit make the leap from taking fourth during the DuKane meet last year to being the top dog at 215 this year.

“I’m continuing to work on my technique and awareness,” he said. “That’s really the difference this year. Last year I would kind of go out there and freestyle, and this year I’m trying to control the match and control my ties, take shots when they’re there, and take advantage of their mistakes and that’s what I did today.”

Winning the third-place match was Glenbard North senior Brian Petrancosta (27-9) who was awarded the victory with St. Charles East senior Brandon Swartz (30-14) forfeiting, while Wheaton Warrenville South junior Mason Monte (20-16) won by fall over Wheaton North junior Zeke Psenicka (12-18) for fifth place.

285 – Matt Medina, St. Charles East

When Medina last squared off against Wheaton Warrenville South junior Ashton Kibbe the sophomore was down points in the third period and got pinned.

Medina (25-12) returned the favor on Saturday, pinning Kibbe in 1:51.

“I came back with a different mindset going in there,” Medina said. “I let up my grip and kind of got (put) on my back and my coach was like, ‘Medina, don’t do that roll unless you’re a hundred percent going to get through that roll,’ and for a second there mid-roll I was like coach (Jason Potter) is going to be really mad at me. But I was able to get through and I was looking at my other coach, and he helped me stick him and I got the job done.”

In the third-place final at 285, Glenbard North junior Dylan Hendee (13-13) won by fall over Wheaton North junior Dylan Stallings while Geneva’s Wesley Klein (5-5) received a bye to take home fifth place.

Top Individual statistics:

Most pins, least time – 3 in 5:39 by Geneva’s Peyton Marzen

Most tech falls, least time – 1 in 2:15 by St. Charles East’s Jayden Colon

Fastest fall – 0:09 by St. Charles East’s Brandon Swartz

Fastest tech fall – 2:15 by St. Charles East’s Jayden Colon

Most single-match points – 25 by Glenbard North’s Treshon Williams

Most total-match points – 45 by St. Charles East’s Gavin Woodmancy

DuKane Conference tournament championship match results:

106 – Rocco Macellaio (Wheaton North) MF 176 Kaden Potter (St. Charles East)

113 – Dom Munaretto (St. Charles East) TF-1.5 5:57 (17-2) Dominick Marre (Glenbard North)

120 – Kalani Khiev (Glenbard North) D 6-3 Ino Garcia (Batavia)

126 – Christian Chavez (Glenbard North) MD 9-1 Nick Merola (Lake Park)

132 – Ben Davino (St. Charles East) F 1:29 David Hyde (Wheaton North)

138 – Tyler Guerra (St. Charles East) F 0:44 Cooper Hollis (Wheaton Warrenville South)

144 – Jayden Colon (St. Charles East) D 8-3 Aidan Huck (Batavia)

150 – Gavin Connolly (St. Charles East) F 1:42 Ryan Rosch (Wheaton North)

157 – Thomas Fulton (Wheaton North) F 3:46 Ryan McGovern (St. Charles East)

165 – Anthony Gutierrez (St. Charles East) F 2:56 Julian Flores (Wheaton North

175 – Brody Murray (St. Charles East) D 3-1 Sedeeq Al Obaidi (Wheaton Warrenville South)

190 – Ben Brown (Batavia) SV-1 3-1 Cooper Murray (St. Charles East)

215 – Joe Pettit (Geneva) SV-1 3-1 Asher Sheldon (Batavia)

285 – Matt Medina (St. Charles East) F 1:51 Ashton Kibbe (Wheaton Warrenville South) 

Third-place results:

106 – Sammy Sikorsky (Geneva) D 9-7 Declan Sons (SC North)

113 – Drew Hosman (Geneva) MD 15-6 Dylan Lee (Wheaton North)

120 – Liam Aye (SC East) D 9-3 Caden Cahill (Wheaton North)

126 – Gavin Woodmancy (SC East) D 4-2 Kyle Pasco (Batavai)

132 – Ryan Adams (Batavia) MD 12-1 Sergio Hernandez (Lake Park)

138 – Vince Merola (Lake Park) D 5-0 Ethan Brauer (Batavia)

144 – Rylan Kradle (Glenbard N) MD 13-1 Bela Mohapp (Lake Park)

150 – Treshon Williams (Glenbard N) F 3:34 Dylan Wells (Batavia)

157 – Peyton Marzen (Geneva) F 2:48 Jack Brown (Batavia)

165 – Nathan McLoughlin (SC North) F 1:13 Colin Peyton (Batavia)

175 – Tyler Ott (Glenbard N) D 4-1 Nikolas Schaafsma (Wheaton N)

190 – Elvis Muja (WW South) D 5-2 Milo Saenz Palencia (Wheaton N)

215 – Brian Petrancosta (Glenbard N) fft. Brandon Swartz (SC East)

285 – Dylan Hendee (Glenbard N) F 1:21 Dylan Stallings (Wheaton N)

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

ICE Conference champion: Coal City

Coal City rolled to this year’s ICE conference title, as last year’s Class 1A state champs and the team currently ranked No. 2 by Illinois Matmen sent 12 wrestlers to the championship mat and won seven individual ICE titles.

Coach Mark Masters got titles from Owen Petersen (106), Cooper Morris (113), Brody Widlowski (126), Noah Houston (132), Brant Widlowski (150), Landin Benson (165) and Cade Poyner (190).

Also reaching the finals and placing second for the Coalers were Culan Lindemuth (120), Brock Finch (144), Trace Wilson (157), James Keigher (175) and Emmett Easton (215). Coal City also got thirds from Evan Greggain (138) and Payton Vigna (285) to complete a run of 14 Coalers placing in the top three.

Coal City finished with a 248.5-128 lead over second-place Wilmington. Streator (90.5), Peotone (77.5), Reed-Custer (71), Lisle (60.5), Herscher (48) and Manteno (47) rounded out the eight-team field.

Wilmington got an individual title from Parker Adams (157) and seconds from Logan VanDuyne (190) and Brody Benson (285), plus thirds from Landon Dooley (120), Oakley Rivera (126), Blake Adolfino (132), Matt Swisher (150), and Will Wilson (175).

Third-place Streator had a pair of champions in Aydan Radke (215) and Aiden Ferris (285) and also winning conference titles at Coal City were Lisle’s Alexander Ferari (120), Reed-Custer’s Sam Begler (138), Peotone’s Micah Spinazzola (144), and Manteno’s Carter Watkins (175).

Also reaching the finals and placing second were Streator’s Nicholas Pollett (106) and Lily Gwaltney (113), Herscher’s Gerrit Osenga (126) and Logan Norris (138), Lisle’s Adam Drake (132), and Peotone’s Conor Pasch (150) and Ian Kreske (165).

Top individual statistics:

Most pins, least time – 3 in 6:05 by Wilmington’s Matt Swisher

Fastest fall – 0:34 by Coal City’s Landin Benson

Fastest tech fall – 3:52 by Streator’s Steven Goplin

Most team points – 24 by Streator’s Aiden Ferris

Most single-match points – 21 by Herscher’s Trevor Hoffeditz

Most total match points – 45 by Herscher’s Trevor Hoffeditz

ICE Conference tournament championship match results:

106 – Owen Petersen (Coal City) D 6-1 Nicholas Pollett (Streator)

113 – Cooper Morris (Coal City) F 0:41 Lily Gwaltney (Streator)

120 – Alexander Ferari (Lisle) F 3:40 Culan Lindemuth (Coal City)

126 – Brody Widlowski (126) D 10-3 Gerrit Osenga (Herscher)

132 – Noah Houston (Coal City) F 3:51 Adam Drake (Lisle)

138 – Sam Begler (Reed-Custer) F 3:27 Logan Norris (Herscher)

144 – Micah Spinazzola (Peotone) D 3-0 Brock Finch (Coal City)

150 – Brant Widlowski (Coal City) D 5-2 Conor Pasch (Peotone)

157 – Parker Adams (Wilmington) D 11-10 Trace Wilson (Coal City)

165 – Landin Benson (Coal City) F 0:34 Ian Kreske (Peotone)

175 – Carter Watkins (Manteno) D 7-0 James Keigher (Coal City)

190 – Cade Poyner (Coal City) F 1:37 Logan VanDuyne (Wilmington)

215 – Aydan Radke (Streator) F 0:55 Emmet Easton (Coal City)

285 – Aiden Ferris (Streator) F 2:23 Brody Benson (Wilmington)

ICE third-place match results:

106 – Blake Anderson (Peotone) F 1:19 Owen Bollino (Herscher)

113 – Judith Gamboa (Reed-Custer)

120 – Landon Dooley (Wilmington) F 1:38 Jesus Martinez (Streator)

126 – Oakley Rivera (Wilmington) D 11-8 Jayden Sanchez (Reed-Custer)

132 – Blake Adolfino (Wilmington) SV-1 8-6 Trevor Hoffeditz (Herscher)

138 – Evan Greggain (Coal City) D 10-5 Brandon Adolfino (Wilmington)

144 – Johnny Consuegra Lopez (Lisle) D 7-6 Jeremy Eggleston (Reed-Custer)

150 – Matt Swisher (Wilmington) F 3:54 Jason Davis (Reed-Custer)

157 – Santino Izzi (Peotone) MD 10-2 David Skonieczny (Lisle)

165 – Steven Goplin (Streator) TF 3:52 Brayden Crews (Herscher)

175 – Will Wilson (Wilmington) F 2:14 Laith Abunijmeh (Peotone)

190 – Logan Smith (Manteno) D 11-4 Dominic Alaimino (Reed-Custer)

215 – Jon Burner (Manteno) F 1:51 Memphis Iwen (Wilmington)

285 – Payton Vigna (Coal City) D 5-2 Christian Mounts (Reed-Custer

Chicago Catholic League champion: Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel saw 10 wrestlers reach the CCL title mat and had four champions in topping the 16-team field at this year’s CCL Championships.

Mount Carmel posted a 321.5-211.5 edge over second-place Montini, followed by IC Catholic (207), Marmion (125.5) and Loyola Academy (115) to round out the top five team finishes.

Mount Carmel coach Alex Tsirtsis got individual titles from Seth Mendoza (126), Evan Stanley (132), Edmund Enright (157) and Colin Kelly (175). Placing second for the Caravan were Kavel Moore (106), Justin Williamson (113), Damian Resendez (138), Liam Kelly (150), William Jacobson (190) and Alex Poholik (285).

Jaxon Jorgensen (120), Jairo Acuna (144), Kevin Kalchbrenner (165), and Leonard Siegal (215) placed third for Mount Carmel.

Coach Mike Bukovsky’s second-place Montini squad got an individual CCL title from David Mayora (150), and seconds from Josh Vazquez (126), Kam Luif (132), Harrison Konder (157), and AJ Tack (165).

IC Catholic had four champions in Deven Casey (120), Bryson Spaulding (138), Joe Gliatta (165), and Mike Calcagno (285), while Marmion got titles from Nicholas Garcia (113) and Ashton Hobson (144). Other CCL champions were St. Rita’s Jack Hogan (106) and Loyola Academy’s Quinn Herbert (190) and Kai Calcutt (215).

Also reaching the finals and placing second were Loyola’s Gavin Pardilla (120), St. Rita’s Sean Larkin (144), Providence Catholic’s Michael O’Connor (175), and St. Laurence’s Xavier Bitner (215).

Top individual statistics:

Most pins, least time – 4 in 11:37 by St. Laurence’s Joey Barnett

Most tech falls, least time – 3 in 12:32 by Marmion’s Nicholas Garcia

Fastest fall – 0:29 by Loyola Academy’s Kai Calcutt

Fastest tech fall – 2:06 by Mt. Carmel’s Edmund Enright

Most team points – (tie) 30 by Loyola’s Kai Calcutt and Mt. Carmel’s Seth Mendoza

Most single-match points – 29 by Marmion’s Nicholas Garcia

Most total match points – 81 by Marmion’s Nicholas Garcia

Chicago Catholic League championship match results:

106 – Jack Hogan (St. Rita) D 13-8 Kavel Moore (Mount Carmel)

113 – Nicholas Garcia (Marmion) TF 6:00 Justin Williamson (Mount Carmel)

120 – Deven Casey (IC Catholic) F 1:42 Gavin Pardilla (Loyola Academy)

126 – Seth Mendoza (Mount Carmel) F 3:21 Josh Vazquez (Montini)

132 – Evan Stanley (Mount Carmel) F 1:54 Kam Luif (Montini)

138 – Bryson Spaulding (IC Catholic) D 5-4 Damian Resendez (Mount Carmel)

144 – Ashton Hobson (Marmion) D 8-6 Sean Larkin (St. Rita)

150 – David Mayora (Montini) D 9-4 Liam Kelly (Mount Carmel)

157 – Edmund Enright (Mount Carmel) D 8-4 Harrison Konder (Montini)

165 – Joe Gliatta (IC Catholic) D 7-5 AJ Tack (Montini)

175 – Colin Kelly (Mount Carmel) TF 3:38 Michael O’Connor (Providence Catholic)

190 – Quinn Herbert (Loyola) D 10-5 William Jacobson (Mount Carmel)

215 – Kai Calcutt (Loyola) F 0:29 Xavier Bitner (St. Laurence)

285 – Mike Calcagno (IC Catholic) F 1:14 Alex Poholik (Mount Carmel)

CCL third-place matches:

106 – James Hemmila (Loyola) D 7-3 Logan Conover (Marmion)

113 – Mikey Malizzio (Montini) D 5-0 Kannon Judycki (IC Catholic)

120 – Jaxon Jorgensen (Mt. Carmel) SV-1 5-3 Isaac Mayora (Montini)

126 – Tommy Banas (Providence) D 3-2 Donny Pignoni (Marmion)

132 – Nino Protti (St. Rita) D 7-5 Omar Samayoa (IC Catholic)

138 – Oliver Davis (Brother Rice) D 12-9 Enzo Canali (St. Rita)

144 – Jairo Acuna (Mt. Carmel) MD 17-5 Nate Sanchez (St. Ignatius)

150 – Brody Kelly (IC Catholic) F 2:30 Frank Miceli (Brother Rice)

157 – Geno Papes (Providence) F 2:50 Christian Favia (Marmion)

165 – Kevin Kalchbrenner (Mt. Carmel) F 1:26 Malik Warren (De La Salle)

175 – Dan Costello (Brother Rice) D 1-0 Josue Hernandez (De La Salle)

190 – Foley Calcagno (Brother Rice) D 11-6 James Crane (Brother Rice)

215 – Leonard Siegal (Mt. Carmel) SV-1 7-5 Charley Stec (Brother Rice)

285 – Nick Armour (Leo) D 3-2 Joey Herbert (Loyola)

Final team scores: 1. Mount Carmel (321.5) 2. Montini Catholic (211.5) 3. IC Catholic (207) 4. Marmion Academy (125.5) 5. Loyola Academy (115) 6. Brother Rice (111.5) 7. St. Rita (97.5) 8. Providence Catholic (97) 9. De La Salle (86), DePaul College Prep (86) 10. St. Laurence (64) 11. St. Ignatius (48) 12. Fenwick (41) 13. Leo (26) 14. St. Francis (5) 15. Aurora Central Catholic (2)

DuPage Valley Conference champion: Naperville Central

Naperville Central sent 13 wrestlers to the DVC championship mat and got five individual titles for coach Noah Fitzenreider, as the Redhawks topped second-place DeKalb 273-257.

Naperville North (213.5) placed third, followed by Neuqua Valley (110), Waubonsie Valley (93) and Metea Valley (50).

Naperville Central’s DVC champions were Ty Martin (120), Mitchell Kaszuba (126), Christopher Bern (157), Nicolas Besteiro (215) and William Erbeck (285). The Redhawks also got seconds from Jacob Cochran (113), Vince Bern (132), CJ Bierman (138), Hagan Taylor (144), Javier Sevilla (150), John Carens (165), Henry Rydwelski (175), and Jacob Smetters (190), and a third from Dalton Meluch (106).

Second-place DeKalb sent nine wrestlers to the title mat and led the field with six individual champions in Kaden Klapprodt (113), Hudson Ikens (138), Mekhi Cave (144), Cam Matthews (150), Jacob Luce (165), and Sean Kolkebeck (175). Placing second for Barbs coach Sam Hiatt were Jayden Bradley (106), Eduardo Castro (120) and Lamar Bradley (215).

Naperville North had the remaining three DVC champions in Adam Beedon (106), Tyler Sternstein (132) and Matthew Murphy (190). Coach Tom Champion also got a second-place finish from Ben Messier (126)

Other DVC second-place finishers were Neuqua Valley’s Dzhamaludin Nurudinov (157) and Waubonsie Valley’s Leonidas Hobson (285).

Top individual statistics:

Most pins, least time – 3 in 3:12 by DeKalb’s Jeremiah Piniera

Most tech falls, least time – 1 in 6:00 by Naperville North’s Jackson Pease

Fastest fall – 0:23 by DeKalb’s Jeremiah Piniera

Most team points – (tie) 24 by Naperville Central’s William Erbeck, Naperville North’s Tyler Sternstein, and DeKalb’s Jacob Luce

Most single-match points – 19 by Naperville North’s Jackson Pease

Most total-match points – 28 by DeKalb’s Mekhi Cave

DVC championship match results:

106 – Adam Beedon (Naperville N) F 1:33 Jayden Bradley (DeKalb)

113 – Kaden Klapprodt (DeKalb) D 6-4 Jacob Cochran (Naperville C)

120 – Ty Martin (Naperville C) SV-1 3-1 Eduardo Castro (DeKalb)

126 – Mitchell Kaszuba (Naperville C) D 6-1 Ben Messier (Naperville N)

132 – Tyler Sternstein (Naperville N) F 4:37 Vince Bern (Naperville C)

138 – Hudson Ikens (DeKalb) D 3-1 CJ Bierman (Naperville C)

144 – Mekhi Cave (DeKalb) D 10-6 Hagan Taylor (Naperville C)

150 – Cam Matthews (DeKalb) MD 13-1 Javier Sevilla (Naperville C)

157 – Christopher Bern (Naperville C) D 17-11 Dzhamaludin Nurudinov (Neuqua)

165 – Jacob Luce (DeKalb) F 3:57 John Carens (Naperville C)

175 – Sean Kolkebeck (DeKalb) D 12-8 Henry Rydwelski (Naperville C)

190 – Matthew Murphy (Naperville N) MD 10-1 Jacob Smetters (Naperville C)

215 – Nicolas Besteiro (Naperville C) D 3-0 Lamar Bradley (DeKalb)

285 – William Erbeck (Naperville C) F 1:28 Leonidas Hobson (Waubonsie)

DVC third-place match results:

106 – Dalton Meluch (Naperville C)

113 – Alexander Paunkov (Naperville N) F 3:22 Brady Podracky (Neuqua)

120 – Connor McDonald (Naperville N) F 2:52 Nate Duffield (Waubonsie)

126 – Grady Fowler (DeKalb) F 3:34 AJ Ramirez (Waubonsie)

132 – Ayden Shuey (DeKalb) F 2:43 Jayden Amin (Metea)

138 – Juan Arroyo (Metea) F 312 Christian Loaiza (Waubonsie)

144 – Ethan Wojtowich (Waubonsie) D 7-6 Zachary Mally (Naperville N)

150 – Nicholas Pape (Neuqua) Inj. Evan Marschitz (Naperville N)

157 – Nick Oblazny (Naperville N) F 3:22 Jayden Allen (DeKalb)

165 – Maddox Menendez (Neuqua) D 8-3 Jackson Pease (Naperville N)

175 – Kyle Gatlin (Naperville N) F 3:14 Deividas Lewiston (Neuqua)

190 – Magomed Nurudinov (Neuqua) F 5:22 Elvis Mora (DeKalb)

215 – Tavkif Ibragimov (Naperville N) D 6-0 Josh Housour (Waubonsie)

285 – Jeremiah Piniera (DeKalb) F 1:17 Brady Jones (Metea)

South Suburban Conference tournament champion: Lemont

Lemont topped the competition at this year’s SSC tournament, winning 210-167.5 over second-place Oak Forest. Evergreen Park (164) was a close third, followed by Hillcrest (113) and Bremen (78) to round out the top five finishers in the 14-team field.

Lemont coach Erik Murry sent seven wrestlers to the championship mat, getting individual titles from Carter Mikolajczak (132) and Alex Pasquale (285), and runner-up finishes from Matteo Vitro (106), Ewold Trickle (113), Cory Zator (138), Aiden Rudman (144) and Noah O’Connor (150). Lemont also got thirds from Julian Vallanatos (126), Nico LoCoco (157) and Dan Taylor (190), and a fourth from Mike Patino (165).

Second-place Oak Forest had six individual champions in Jacob Sebek (106), James Mair (120), Austin Perez (138), Hunter Daniel (157), Jackson Castaneda (165) and Jason Janke (190), and a fourth from Blake Bussie (175) for coach Shawn Forst.

Third-place Evergreen Park got a pair of titles from Johan Bonilla (113) and Chance Woods (126) for coach Ron Zimmerman, seconds from Angel Ramirez (120), Genesis Ward (190), and Eduardo Antunez (215), a third from Gerald O’Hare (285), and fourths from Adrian Cervantes (132), David Johnson (144) and Ryan Serna (150).

Also winning SSC titles were Hillcrest’s Kiaven Sullivan (144) and Trevon Williams (150), Bremen’s Adrian Esparza (175), and Tinley Park’s Sebastian Sanderson (215).

Reaching the title mat and placing second were Bremen’s Izaiah Gonzalez (126) and Marco Olvera (285), Hillcrest’s Jovan Williams (132), Thornton-Fractional North’s Joseph Merritt (157), and Richards’ Mike Taheney (165) and Jeremiah Gill (175).

Top individual statistics:

Most pins, least time – 4 in 8:03 by Oak Lawn’s Ammar Elayyan

Most tech falls, least time – 1 in 4:56 by T-F South’s Jayden Scott

Fastest fall – 0:22 by Argo’s Carlos Gutierrez

Most team points – (tie) 26 by Lemont’s Alex Pasquale and Hillcrest’s Trevon Williams

Most single-match points – 19 by Bremen’s Dionte Jones

Most total-match points – 43 by T-F South’s Jayden Scott

SSC championship match results:

106 – Jacob Sebek (Oak Forest) F 4:25 Matteo Vitro (Lemont)

113 – Johan Bonilla (Evergreen Park) D 6-2 Ewold Trickle (Lemont)

120 – James Mair (Oak Forest) F 5:16 Angel Ramirez (Evergreen Park)

126 – Chance Woods (Evergreen Park) D 5-4 Izaiah Gonzalez (Bremen)

132 – Carter Mikolajczak (Lemont) D 6-4 Jovan Williams (Hillcrest)

138 – Austin Perez (Oak Forest) D 10-5 Cory Zator (Lemont)

144 – Kiaven Sullivan (Hillcrest) D 9-7 Aiden Rudman (Lemont)

150 – Trevon Williams (Hillcrest) F 0:37 Noah O’Connor (Lemont)

157 – Hunter Daniel (Oak Forest) F 1:36 Joseph Merritt (TF North)

165 – Jackson Castaneda (Oak Forest) D 8-7 Mike Taheney (Richards)

175 – Adrian Esparza (Bremen) F 0:52 Jeremiah Gill (Richards)

190 – Jason Janke (Oak Forest) D 10-8 Genesis Ward (Evergreen Park)

215 – Sebastian Sanderson (Tinley Park) SV-1 4-2 Eduardo Antunez (Evergreen Park

285 – Alex Pasquale (Lemont) F 0:33 Marco Olvera (Bremen)

SSC third-place results:

106 – Amari Brown (Hillcrest) F 1:55 Muhammad Hamad (Richards)

113 – Jayden Scott (TF South) F 5:26 LeKeith Rodgers (Hillcrest)

120 – Elijah Bywater (Shepard) F 3:57 Logan Gray (Oak Lawn)

126 – Jullian Vallianatos (Lemont) F 2:52 Ammar Elayyan (Oak Lawn)

132 – Vladamir Vasquez (Reavis) F 2:40 Adrian Cervantes (Evergreen Park)

138 – Kevin Bustillos (Argo) F 3:44 Jordan Haskett (Shepard)

144 – Nicholas Gomez (Reavis) SV-1 6-4 David Johnson (Evergreen Park)

150 – Dom Paul (Richards) D 6-0 Ryan Serna (Evergreen Park)

157 – Nico LoCoco (Lemont) F 1:51 Colton Pennington (Hillcrest)

165 – Isaac Barba (Oak Lawn) D 4-3 Mike Patino (Lemont)

175 – Damari Dogan (TF North) D 3-2 Blake Bussie (Oak Forest)

190 – Dan Taylor (Lemont) F 3:11 E’Mon Arnold (TF South)

215 – Terry Ferguson (Reavis) SV-1 4-2 Jesus Ibarra (Argo)

285 – Gerald O’Hare (Evergreen Park) F 3:23 Lavar Davis (Eisenhower)

Final team scores: 1. Lemont (210) 2. Oak Forest (167.5) 3. Evergreen Park (164) 4. Hillcrest (113) 5. Bremen (78) 5. Richards (78) 7. Oak Lawn (76) 8. Reavis (65), 9. Shepard (56) 10. TF North (52) 11. Argo (50) 12. TF South (41.5) 13. Tinley Park (35) 14. Eisenhower (23)

Upstate Eight Conference champion: Glenbard East

Glenbard East topped the 10-team UEC field at Bartlett, winning 229-204 over second-place West Chicago. Bartlett (174) was third, followed by South Elgin (170.5), Fenton (136.5), Streamwood (99.5), East Aurora (92.5), Glenbard South (79), Larkin (39), and Elgin (31).

Glenbard East coach Don Pool got a pair of UEC titles from Waleed Binmahfooz (113) and Blake Salvino (190), plus runner-up finishes from Lorenz Rios Loud (106), Ismael Chaidez (126), and Shane Salerno (132) to lead the way.

Also keying the Rams’ win were third-placers Jesus Chaidez (138), Aaron Dotson (165), Gus Winkler (215) and Cooper Conliss (285), a fourth from Orlando Hoye (175), fifths from Ethan Campos (120) and Donte Hudson (150), and sixths from Nathan Quintanilla (144) and Leo Mundinger (157).

West Chicago coach James Phillips had a trio of UEC champions in Emanuel Rangel (106), Donovan Avila (138) and Santino Milazzo (144), plus seconds from Jonathan Antonio (113) and Ryan Alvarado (120).

Third-place Bartlett had a pair of champions in Cameron Engels (126) and Emilio Duenez (157) and a runner-up finish from Ryan Gura (215).

Fourth-place South Elgin led all teams with four champions in Demetrios Carrera (120), Aamir Nieves (132), Leo Rosas (150) and Tommy Roath (285).

Also leaving Bartlett as UEC champions were Fenton’s Jovany Zuniga (165), Streamwood’s Gabe Inorio (175), and East Aurora’s Arnold Walker (215).

Top individual statistics:

Most pins, least time – 3 in 4:31 by Glenbard East’s Jesus Chaidez

Most tech falls, least time – 2 in 6:26 by Fenton’s Jovany Zuniga

Fastest tech fall – 2:10 by Fenton’s Jovany Zuniga

Most team points – (tie) 26 by East Aurora’s Arnold Walker, and Streamwood’s Gabe Inorio

Most single-match points – 23 by South Elgin’s Aamir Nieves-Allen

Most total-match points – 46 by South Elgin’s Aamir Nieves-Allen

Upstate Eight Conference championship matches:

106 – Emanuel Rangel (West Chicago) D 5-2 Lorenz Rios (Glenbard East)

113 – Waleed Binmahfooz (Glenbard East) F 1:29 Jonathan Antonio (West Chicago)

120 – Demetrios Carrera (South Elgin) TF 4:49 Ryan Alvarado (West Chicago)

126 – Cameron Engels (Bartlett) D 5-3 Ismael Chaidez (Glenbard East)

132 – Aamir Nieves-Allen (South Elgin) D 16-12 Shane Salerno (Glenbard East)

138 – Donovan Avila (West Chicago) D 4-3 Jin Tai (Glenbard South)

144 – Santino Milazzo (West Chicago) D 13-7 Juan Cortes (Streamwood)

150 – Leo Rosas (South Elgin) MD 14-2 Omar Diaz (Fenton)

157 – Emilio Duenez (Bartlett) F 0:48 Reid Sebahar (Glenbard South)

165 – Jovany Zuniga (Fenton) F 2:27 Kosta Carrera (South Elgin)

175 – Gabe Inorio (Streamwood) F 5:11 Rulin Palacios (Fenton)

190 – Blake Salvino (Glenbard East) MD 16-5 Fabian Ramirez (Elgin)

215 – Arnold Walker (East Aurora) F 5:18 Ryan Gura (Bartlett)

285 – Tommy Roath (South Elgin) Inj. Thomas Klos (Fenton)

UEC third-place matches:

113 – Anthony Bigham (Fenton) MD 17-8 Anthony Lazare (S Elgin)

120 – Salvador Garcia (Larkin) D 7-5 Jayden Edger (Elgin)

126 – Israel Milazzo (West Chicago) MD 9-0 Kyle Quaid Bowman (Glenbard S)

132 – Uli Rojas (Streamwood) D 9-4 Filip Szeszko (Bartlett)

138 – Jesus Chaidez (Glenbard E) F 0:56 Damari Miller (Larkin)

144 – Nick Barton (Bartlett) Inj. Josh Dickeson (Fenton)

150 – Scotty Zentner (West Chicago) MD 16-6 Jeff Li (Streamwood)

157 – Gerardo Caudillo (E Aurora) D 6-5 Brian Correa (West Chicago)

165 – Aaron Dotson (Glenbard E) D 3-0 Logan Price (Glenbard S)

175 – James Smrha (Bartlett) MD 10-1 Orlando Hoye (Glenbard E)

190 – Jace Wolf (Streamwood) MD 12-0 Alan Munoz (West Chicago)

215 – Gus Winkler (Glenbard E) F 3:05 Joey Cronin (S Elgin)

285 – Cooper Conliss (Glenbard E) D 3-1 Leonardo De Alba (East Aurora)

Southwest Suburban Conference tournament champion: Lockport

Lockport Township took the prize at this year’s SWSC Tom Lahey tournament, out-pointing second-place Lincoln-Way East 170.5-144 at Stagg on Saturday.

Lincoln-Way West (140.5) finished third, followed by Carl Sandburg (117) and Lincoln-Way Central (114) to round out the top five team finishes.

The annual SWSC tournament is named for long-time Andrew coach Tom Lahey,   who amassed a 270-106-2 dual meet record over 20 years (1980-2000). Lahey was inducted into the IWCOA hall of fame in 2001.

Lockport coach Jameson Oster sent five wrestlers to the championship mat, getting individual titles from Justin Wardlow (138) and Durango Valles (165), and second-place finishes from Liam Zimmerman (132), Jaedon Calderon (144), and Wojtek Chrobak (285). 

John Churnovic (106), Timothy O’Connor (113), Anthony Sutton (120), and Isaac Zimmerman (126) had third-place finishes and the Porters got fourths from Drew Silzer (157), Nuh Abukhudair (190) and Cyrus Czyz (215).

Lincoln-Way East had three individual champions for coach Kevin Rockett, in Tyson Zvonar (132), Alexander Lizak (157) and Caden O’Rourke (215). The Griffins also got second-place finishes from Kaidge Richardson (126) and Jackson Zaeske (175), and thirds from Brayden Mortell (138), Kevin Byrne (144), and Domanic Abeja (150).

Lincoln-Way West coach Brian Glynn got a pair of second-place finishes from Brady Glynn (106), Luke Siwinski (138) and Jase Salin (150), and thirds from Jakob Siwinski (132), Jimmy Talley (175), Brandon Bavirsha (190), and Nick Kavooras (285). Shane Stream (113) and and Haden Anderson (126) also placed fourth for the Warriors

Also winning individual SWSC titles were Carl Sandburg’s Rocco Hayes (106) Zac Ritter (150) and Ahmad Jaffal (190), Homewood-Flossmoor’s Diondre Henry (113), Stagg’s Anas Ahmed (120), Andrew’s Max Siegel (126) and Michael McDonough (285), Bolingbrook’s Aaron Camacho (144), and Bradley-Bourbonnais’ AJ Mancilla (175).

Also reaching the finals and placing second were Stagg’s Jaime Corral (113), Carl Sandburg’s Madden Parker (120), Lincoln-Way Central’s Caden Harvey (157), Aiden Hennings (190) and Colin Welsh (215), and Bolingbrook’s Tommy McDermott (165).

Top individual statistics:

Most pins, least time – 3 in 5:59 by Lincoln-Way Central’s Tim Key

Most tech falls, least time – 1 in 2:33 by Lincoln-Way West’s Brady Glynn

Most team points – 24 by Carl Sandburg’s Rocco Hayes

Most single-match points – 22 by Lockport’s Anthony Sutton

Most total-match points – 47 by Lockport’s Anthony Sutton

SWSC Tom Lahey championship match results:

106 – Rocco Hayes (Sandburg) F 5:12 Brady Glynn (LW West)

113 – Diondre Henry (Homewood-Flossmoor) Inj. Jaime Corral (Stagg)

120 – Anas Ahmed (Stagg) F 0:51 Madden Parker (Sandburg)

126 – Max Siegel (Andrew) D 12-5 Kaidge Richardson (LW East)

132 – Tyson Zvonar (LW East) D 4-3 Liam Zimmerman (Lockport)

138 – Justin Wardlow (Lockport) D 5-1 Luke Siwinski (LW West)

144 – Aaron Camacho (Bolingbrook) MD 13-3 Jaedon Calderon (Lockport)

150 – Zac Ritter (Sandburg) D 4-1 Jase Salin (LW West)

157 – Alexander Lizak (LW East) 3-2 Caden Harvey (LW Central)

165 – Durango Valles (Lockport) D 9-5 Tommy McDermott (Bolingbrook)

175 – AJ Mancilla (Bourbonnais) D 7-1 Jackson Zaeske (LW East)

Central Suburban League champion: Maine South

The word ‘barnburner’ doesn’t begin to describe what happened between Maine South and Deerfield at this year’s CSL conference tournament.

When the dust settled and the fur stopped flying, Maine South finished a single point ahead of Deerfield in the team standings, winning 240-239.

Glenbrook South (152) finished third, followed by Glenbrook North (134) and New Trier (132.5) to round out the top five team finishes.

Maine South sent seven wrestlers to the finals to Deerfield’s six, and each team had four CSL champions. Maine South’s titles came from George Georgiev (106), Teddy Flores (120), Luke Morrison (132) and Tyler Fortis (285).

Also reaching the finals for Maine South and placing second were Christos Vaselopulos (113), Jack Handley (126), and Gavin Hoerr (144). The Hawks got thirds from Jake Colleran (138) and Leo McDonald (215), a fourth from Tommy Behzad (190), and sixths from Aidan Swenson (165) and Evan Rioch (175).

Deerfield’s conference champs were Luke Reddy (126), Jordan Rasof (138), Mark Martinez (144), and Max Dumke (215), and coach Marc Pechter also got seconds from Adrian Cohen (120) and Jackson Palzet (132). The Warriors also got thirds from Charlie Cross (150), Chris Mauer (175), and Kevin Sabau (190), a fourth from Jorey Becker (106), a fifth from Luca Davila (157), and a sixth from Alex Berry (285).

The other wrestlers crowned as CSL champions were Glenbrook North’s Ayaan Rizwaan (113), New Trier’s Tagg Miller (150) and Bailey Cornelison (175), Evanston’s Rodrigo Salinas (157) and Josh Marty (190), and Vernon Hills’ Ilya Dvoriannikov (165).

Others reaching the title mat and finishing second were Glenbrook South’s Urmuun Urnasan (106) and Nathan Crecan (190), Vernon Hills’ Jack McGowan (138) and Dylan Moncayo (157), Niles North’s Oliver Quiros (150), Glenbrook North’s Shane Onixt (165), Kieran O’Sullivan (175) and Cray Paich (285), and Maine East’s Edgar Torres (215).

Top individual statistics:

Most pins, least time – 4 in 11:12 by Glenbrook South’s Henry Downing

Most tech falls, least time – 2 in 8:20 by Glenbrook South’s Max Brown

Fastest tech fall – 3:03 by Glenbrook South’s Max Brown

Most team points – (tie) 28 by Deerfield’s Luke Reddy, Mark Martinez, and Max Drumke, Maine South’s Teddy Flores and Luke Morrison, and New Trier’s Tagg Miller.

Most single-match points – 21 by Glenbrook South’s Max Brown

Most total-match points – Glenbrook South’s Max Brown

Central Suburban League championship match results:

106 – George Georgiev (Maine S) D 12-5 Urmuun Urtnasan (Glenbrook S)

113 – Ayaan Rizwaan (Glenbrook N) D 5-1 Christos Vaselopulos (Maine S)

120 – Teddy Flores (Maine S) F 4:19 Adrian Cohen (Deerfield)

126 – Luke Reddy (Deerfield) F 0:17 Jack Handley (Maine S)

132 – Luke Morrison (Maine S) F 3:20 Jackson Palzet (Deerfield)

138 – Jordan Rasof (Deerfield) D 5-2 Jack McGowean (Vernon Hills)

144 – Mark Martinez (Deerfield) F 3:02 Gavin Hoerr (Maine S)

150 – Tagg Miller (New Trier) F 1:58 Oliver Quiros (Niles N)

157 – Rodrigo Salinas (Evanston) MD 10-1 Dylan Moncayo (Vernon Hills)

165 – Ilya Dvoriannikov (Vernon Hills) D 6-0 Shane Onixt (Glenbrook N)

175 – Bailey Cornelison (New Trier) F 1:59 Kieran O’Sullivan (Glenbrook N)

190 – Josh Marty (Evanston) D 2-0 Nathan Crecan (Glenbrook S)

215 – Max Drumke (Deerfield) F 1:38 Edgar Torres (Maine E)

285 – Tyler Fortis (Maine S) F 4:55 Cray Paich (Glenbrook N)

CSL third-place matches:

106 – Alex Gudgeon (Highland Park) D 8-1 Jorey  Becker (Deerfield)

113 – Jaiden Casillas (Highland Park) SV-1 6-4 Daud Chaudry (Niles W)

120 – Trent Tono (Niles N) MD 14-3 Matthew Miralles (New Trier)

126 – Logan Battersby (Maine W) D 6-1 Michael Schick (Glenbrook S)

132 – Max Brown (Glenbrook S) TF 5:17 Dulguun Nyamdavaa (Maine E)

138 – Jake Colleran (Maine S) F 1:39 Mike Tsendayush (Glenbrook S)

144 – Micah Eickbush (New Trier) F 5:14 Ebin Fladeland (Glenbrook N)

150 – Charlie Cross (Deerfield) SV-1 4-1 Ilan Ruderman (Glenbrook N)

157 – Henry Downing (Glenbrook S) F 1:06 Henry Hafner (Glenbrook N)

165 – Julian Slaastad (New Trier) F 1:06 Peter Greco (Maine W)

175 – Chris Mauer (Deerfield) F 1:18 Dionisi Ballas (Niles N)

190 – Kevin Sabau (Deerfield) F 1:58 Tommy Behzad (Maine S)

215 – Leo McDonald (Maine S) D 1-0 Ahmad Musa (Niles N)

285 – Jeremy Marshall (Evanston) D 12-8 Victor Nitchev (Maine E)

Final team scores: 1. Maine South (240) 2. Deerfield (239) 3. Glenbrook South (152) 4. Glenbrook North (134) 5. New Trier (132.5) 6. Evanston (122) 7. Niles North (105) 8. Vernon Hills (81.5) 9. Maine East (77) 10. Maine West (57) 11. Highland Park (34) 12. Niles West (27.5)

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

Two programs who’ve enjoyed rich histories in the sport are hoping that 2024 turns out to be one of the most significant ones that they’ve experienced.

Hinsdale South and Evergreen Park met up twice in eight days and while the Hornets got the better of the Mustangs on both occasions, both teams have a lot to be excited about as they prepare for what they both hope will be historic postseasons. 

A week after Hinsdale South beat Evergreen Park 39-23 in a mega duals in Evergreen Park to hand the Mustangs their first defeat in 23 dual meets, the teams met in a tournament level on Saturday at Lisle Senior’s Steve Melichar Memorial Tournament and again the Hornets prevailed, taking top honors in the 12-team competition with 205.5 points while Evergreen Park beat out Glenbard East 169.5-164 to claim second place. Streamwood (76), Argo (60), Lisle Senior (52), Northridge Prep (51) and Westmont (45) were next in line.

Both Hinsdale South and Evergreen Park are ranked in Illinois Matmen’s top 25 for Class 2A with the Hornets 22nd and the Mustangs 23rd. 

Leading the way for coach Steve Matozzi’s champion Hornets were title winners Andrew Musil (150), Ben Miller (157), Jovani Piazza (175) and Alec Miller (190) while Al Amir Almannai (138), Darrion Glover (165), Andrew Miller (215) and Gavin Slaughter (285) took second place as the squad split their eight championship matches, which featured the three Miller brothers all competing on the title mat.

Placing third for Hinsdale South were Jamarion Moffett (106) and Mikey Wallace (113) while Mario Lagunas (120) took fourth place with Noah Koeller (126) and Apollo Cobb (132) filling out the 13-man lineup for the Hornets, who also captured a championship at their own Matozzi Invite on December 6 and placed sixth at Lakes Community’s DeRousse and Palatine’s Berman in addition to competing at Hinsdale Central’s Whitlatch.

“We also had big performances from Darrio Glover at 165 and Gavin Slaughter at heavyweight,” Hornets assistant coach Tony Poro said. “It was nice to have them in the finals, they kind of gave us an extra boost. And we had a good performance from freshman Ben Miller at 157, too. There’s great friendships with all of these guys and even our younger guys, they’re feeling welcome all of the time.”

Top performers for coach Ron Zimmerman’s runner-up Mustangs were champions Chance Woods (126), Ashton Gray (138), David Johnson (144) and Eduardo Antunez (215) while Johan Bonilla (113) and Genesis Ward (190) took second place. Angel Ramirez (120), Adrian Cervantes (132) and Gerald O’Hare (285) took third while Andrew Viravec (165) placed fourth. Woods was the recipient of the Melichar Memorial Tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler Award.

This was the third time that Evergreen Park finished first or second in a tournament. It also won a title on December 9, Pontiac’s Munch, and it placed second at Rich Township one week later.

“I’m super proud,” Zimmerman said. “This is our sixth or seventh year here and we’ve had back-to-back second places and hopefully we close some ground on these guys next year. They’ve got a tough team. We’re not making excuses, but we were missing a starter today. Regardless, our guys battled the best that they could and I’m super proud of my guys. Four champs, a couple of runners-up and some thirds so I thought we had a great final round. We want some momentum going into the tournament season, conference and regionals. And just to keep the lineup strong, that’s the key right now. Be healthy and strong going into the regionals.”

Coach Don Pool’s Glenbard East Rams finished strong in the medal round to just fall short of second place. Winning titles for Glenbard East were Waleed Binmahfooz (113), Ismael Chaidez (120) and Cooper Conliss (285) while Lorenz Rios Loud (106) took second, Jesus Chaidez (138), Donte Hudson (150), Leo Mundinger (157), Aaron Dotson (165) and Gus Winkler (215) placed third and Orlando Hoye (175) finished fourth.

“I am proud of the way our kids wrestled,” Pool said. “This tournament was our last preparation for the Upstate 8 Conference tournament. I think our kids are focusing on getting better every day and it showed during this tournament. A lot of guys battled back and got third and fourth after taking tough losses. This is something we need to carry over to the conference tournament.

“Waleed and Ismael have been great all year. They are doing some of their best wrestling. Cooper Conliss has been wrestling so much better the last few weeks, taking second place at Geneva and first this weekend at Lisle.”

Turning in the best finishes for coach Bill Peach’s Streamwood Sabres were title winner Uli Rojas (132), runner-up Juan Cortez (144), third-place finishers Gabe Inorio (175) and Jace Wolf (190) as well as Luis Martinez (113), who finished fourth.

Coach Matthew McMurray’s Argo Argonauts were led by runner-up Carlos Gutierrez (132) as well as fourth-place finishers Kevin Bustillos (138), Darell Ortiz (157) and Jacob Fries (190).

Leading the host Lisle Senior Lions, who are coached by Brandon Wolak, were second-place finishers Alexander Ferari (120) and David Skonieczny (157) while Adam Drake (132) and Ramon Ortega (285) finished in fourth place.

Northridge Prep’s Knights, who are coached by Joseph Rhee, got a title win from Jon Suter (165) while Adam Haddad (175) took second and George McShane (144) placed fourth.

Aurora Central Catholic’s Chargers, coached by Josh McCarty, only had four participants but got a championship from Vince Hefke (106) and a third from Matt Gaylor (126).

The Westmont Sentinels received a third-place finish from Mission Hatchell (144) while Christian Rosa (126), Sean Patterson (150) and Rafael Castrejon-Tello (215) all took fourth.

Coach Denis Laughlin’s Nazareth Academy Roadrunners were led by runner-up Ben Lukes (150) and fourth-place finisher Alek Ramos (106).

Leading the way for coach Tim Eberhard’s Walther Christian Academy Broncos was runner-up Caleb Peterson (126).

In some of the closest title matches, Ashton Gray edged Al Amir Almannai 3-2 at 138, Alec Miller prevailed 1-0 over Genesis Ward at 190, David Johnson got past Juan Cortez 7-5 at 144, Uli Rojas won 11-8 over Carlos Gutierrez at 132 and Ismael Chaidez was a 10-6 victor over Alexander Ferari at 120.

Top records following the tournament included Eduardo Antunez at 215 (28-1, .966), David Johnson at 144 (30-2, .938), Chance Woods at 126 (27-2, .931), Jon Suter at 165 (25-2, .926), Ismael Chaidez at 120 (27-3, .900), Vince Hefke at 106 (16-2, .889), Genesis Ward at 190 (27-4, .871), Johan Bonilla at 113 (19-3, .864), Jovani Piazza at 175 (22-4, .846), Waleed Binmahfooz at 113 (27-5, .844), Alexander Ferari at 120 (21-4, .840), Adam Haddad at 175 (21-4, .840), Gerald O’Hare at 285 (21-4, .840), Andrew Musil at 150 (25-5, .833), Angel Ramirez at 120 (17-4, .810), Alec Miller at 190 (23-6, .793), Jace Wolf at 190 (19-5, .792), Gabe Inorio at 175 (7-2, .778) and Kevin Bustillos at 138 (21-7, .750).

There was a six-way tie for the most team points with 24 between Waleed Binmahfooz, Ben Miller, Andrew Musil, Jovani Piazza, Jon Suter and Chance Woods. Vince Hefke scored 23 points while Eduardo Antunez, Ismael Chaidez, Cooper Conliss and Alec Miller tied for eighth with 22 team points.

Donte Hudson had the most total match points with 45 while Mikey Wallace was next-best with 36 points. Nine individuals recorded three falls with Kevin Bustillos needing just 4:22 to achieve that feat. Jacob Fries and Donte Hudson made up six spots from their seeds to their finish.

Champion Hinsdale South recorded the most falls with 24 while Glenbard East was next with 17 and Evergreen Park had 15 pins. Evergreen Park had the most total match points with 225 while Glenbard East was second with 213 and Hinsdale South third with 177 points.

Although the top three finishers in the tournament have enjoyed a good deal of success and all had Hall of Fame coaches, only one of them has ever qualified for the IHSA Dual Team Finals, Evergreen Park, which advanced to the Class A Finals in 1993 and lost in the quarterfinals. 

Hinsdale South enjoyed a great run of success under Mike Matozzi, who was hand as an official at the tournament. The 2011 IWCOA Hall of Fame Inductee, 2013 IWCOA Person of the Year and 2020 Grand Marshall who also served as the IWCOA’s President in 2012-2013, coached in the Hornets program for 33 years, which included 25 seasons as their head coach, during which time the program won 390 dual meets.

Evergreen Park’s program was led early on by 1977 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee and 2002 National Wrestling Hall of Fame Lifetime Service Award recipient John George for 20 years and Mike Kladis led the Mustangs to six-straight regional titles, including their lone Dual Team appearance in 1993, during the 1990’s. 

Glenbard East was led for over 20 years by 2018 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Carlson, who won the school’s lone IHSA championship in 1981. During his coaching tenure the had eight-straight 20-win seasons and won their only regional title in 2010. The school also had a long run of not only hosting the Al Dvorak Memorial Tournament, which was named in honor of a Glenbard East wrestler, but also in helping to establish it as one of Illinois’ top tournaments.

But having individuals win medals at state has been a challenge considering the difficult postseason paths that each of the programs have had to face throughout the years.

Evergreen Park had 18 individuals who won medals from 1960 when Bob Griffith won the school’s first title and 1982 IWCOA Hall of Famer and 2002 National Wrestling Hall of Fame Lifetime Service Award recipient Tom Heniff took third through 1996 when Dan McNulty placed fourth. The Mustangs are hopeful that the long drought might finally end this season.

Fourteen individuals from Hinsdale South have been IHSA medalists since 1975 when Andy Bazan was a state runner-up. The last time that a Hornet reached the awards stand in Champaign was in 2016 when Joshua King won his second-straight state championship.

Glenbard East has had 15 individuals win medals since 1966 when Mike Hemmerich was a state runner-up. That includes its recent coaches, Carlson a state champion in 1981, and Pool, a runner-up in 1996. It’s been a few years since any Rams have won a medal at the IHSA Finals, with D’Andre Johnson being the last to do so when he took fifth in 2015.

Tournament champions Vince Hefke, Uli Rojas and Jon Suter have a little extra motivation knowing that Aurora Central Catholic has had just five medal winners with the last in 2014, Streamwood had one medalist in 2007 and Northridge Prep hasn’t had any medal winners.

As for dual team prospects in Class 2A, Hinsdale South will be in the Lemont Regional along with the hosts, Providence Catholic and St. Laurence. And Evergreen Park hosts a regional that includes teams such as Brother Rice and St. Rita. The Hornets lost their first dual meet of the season to Downers Grove South and haven’t lost since then. And the Mustangs owned a 22-1 record heading into this past week with a win over Lemont being among the highlights.

The winners of those two regionals meet up with the champions at the Oak Forest and Riverside-Brookfield regionals at the Brother Rice Dual Team Sectional to determine which two teams will advance to the IHSA Finals in Bloomington.

The host Lions are the school in the tournament with both the most individual medalists with 30 and Dual Team Finals appearance with three, which featured fourth place finishes in Class A in 2006 for coach John Ruettiger, an IWCOA Hall of Famer, and in 2008 for coach John Davis.

The Steve Melichar Tournament is named in honor of Lisle Senior wrestler Steve Melichar, who died as the result of being hit by a car in 1986 when was 16 years old.

Here’s a look at the champions and their weight classes at Lisle Senior’s Steve Melichar Memorial Tournament:

106 – Vince Hefke, Aurora Central Catholic

Aurora Central Catholic and Mooseheart had the smallest teams that competed in Lisle Senior’s Steve Melichar Invitational, with just four individuals apiece, but that didn’t mean that ACC walked away from the event without winning any significant medals. In fact, coach Josh McCarty’s Chargers had two finishers in the top three with Vince Hefke taking first at 106 and Matt Gaylor placing third at 126. Hefke (16-2), a junior who won a match at the rugged Class 1A Oregon Sectional last season, captured an 11-0 major decision over Glenbard East’s Lorenz 

Rios Loud in the 106 championship match. Hefke won his first two matches with quick falls, including in 1:03 over Evergreen Park sophomore Brayden Mateja-Bates in the semifinals.

“We just have to keep pushing at practice and working hard and keep the tempo up and we strive to keep it going no matter what,” Hefke said. “There’s just four, we’re four-strong. And I wrestle my coach (Josh McCarty) a lot too, and he’s got me a lot better this year. He knows what he’s doing. He wrestled ast Byron and coached at Sandwich for a long time. I’ve really taken that step forward this year and we’re going to keep it going and we’re not stopping it, until I get stopped, I just don’t plan on that. It’s all about individual state, so that’s the end goal, obviously winning state is the goal for me and we’re going to try to make that happen. I just go to practice every day and keep the tempo up. And conditioning is a big thing and I feel good after every match. And I lift a lot of weights and work at getting stronger. And I love pull ups.”

Lorenz Rios Loud (13-6), a freshman, became one of four finalists for the Rams after he won a 5-2 decision over Nazareth Academy freshman Alek Ramos in the semifinals. Hinsdale South sophomore Jamarion Moffett (19-10) bounced back from a quarterfinals defeat with three victories in the wrestlebacks and took third place with a 3-0 decision over Ramos (19-10).

113 – Waleed Binmahfooz, Glenbard East

After winning 31 matches a year ago but getting eliminated in the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional, Waleed Binmahfooz has much bigger plans for this season and the Glenbard East senior is definitely moving in a positive direction toward those goals after following up on a title at Geneva’s Newbill Invite with a Melichar Tournament title at 113. He improved to 27-5 after recording a fall in 3:19 over Evergreen Park’s Johan Bonilla in the championship match. Binmahfooz, who was one of three champions and four finalists for the Rams, opened with a pair of falls, including one in 1:53 over Hinsdale South’s Mikey Wallace in the semifinals.

“I think that a lot of guys at our lower weights are very focused on this sport specifically and they want to see that success,” Binmahfooz said. “We’ve been putting in the work throughout the offseason, too. Ish has been my practice partner in the room and in the offseason, as well, and it’s very competitive. Last year we had a little bit of a rough year but this year we’re bouncing back, we’re looking a lot tougher and I like to see that improvement, Obviously winning is great and seeing your partners and yourself win. So being able to compete and actually win is a great thing. I think the quality that I like about us is that we’re really tough. We don’t give in when things are looking bad because we’ve been through bad situations and we persevere through it. We always fight back and we stick together.”

Johan Bonilla (19-3), a senior who went 28-14 last season and was one of Evergreen Park’s four IHSA Class 2A state qualifiers, recorded a fall in 0:51 over Nazareth Academy’s Charlie Dvorak in the semifinals, which was his only other match in the tournament. Junior Mikey Wallace (23-11), who went 19-9 last season and qualified for the IHSA Class 2A Finals, became one of the 10 individuals from the champion Hornets who finished third or better when he recorded a fall in 3:26 over Streamwood freshman Luis Martinez in the third-place match.

120 – Ismael Chaidez, Glenbard East

Ismael Chaidez followed in the footsteps of teammate Waleed Binmahfooz and became one of the three champions for Glenbard East when he captured a 10-6 decision over Lisle Senior’s Alexander Ferari in the 120 championship match. Chaidez (27-3), a sophomore who went 31-12 last season and fell a bit short of qualifying from the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional, like Binmahfooz, also added to a Newbill Invite title from one week earlier. He earned his spot on the 120 title mat with a fall in 1:33 over Hinsdale South’s Mario Lagunas in the semifinals.

“I have really strong hips and we all work hips in the Glenbard East room,” Chaidez said. “Hips are a big thing, especially for Waleed, he teaches me a lot. We all came out strong and we were trying to push today. At first we came in with the idea of winning and we found some tough opponents, but we’re still coming through. I feel like we all come together and we all support each other. We’re all just a big family. My coaches always push us and they’re like family. It’s always tough with back-to-back tough teams, but I feel like we’re always up for the battle.”

Alexander Ferari (21-4), a sophomore who was one of two finalists for the host Lions, reached the 120 title match after capturing a 6-4 decision over Evergreen Park’s Angel Ramirez in the semifinals. A year ago, Ferari went 30-10 but he like many others, came up a bit short in his efforts to advance out of the Class 1A Oregon Sectional. The two semifinal losers bounced back with victories to meet up in the third-place match and Mustangs junior Angel Ramirez (17-4) won by fall in 1:35 over Hornets freshman Mario Lagunas.

126 – Chance Woods, Evergreen Park

Not only was Chance Woods one of the six finalists and four champions for coach Ron Zimmerman’s runner-up Evergreen Park Mustangs at Lisle Senior’s Steve Melichar Memorial Tournament, he also was the recipient of the event’s Outstanding Wrestler Award after claiming the championship at 126 with a fall in 2:54 over Walther Christian Academy’s Caleb Peterson. Woods (27-2), a sophomore, earned his spot on the title mat after recording a fall in 2:58 over Mooseheart junior Jaime Briceno in the semifinals. Last season, Woods made an impressive debut for the Mustangs by going 31-12 and qualifying for the IHSA Class 2A Finals.

“We’ve been training pretty hard and the fact is that we’re trying to hone in our moves,” Woods said. “I think we could be a little higher, but right now, we’re doing pretty good. We beat Lemont at the beginning of the year and I think that was the first time we beat them in over five years. They (the coaches) want us to hone in on our one and two moves and just being really focused on good positioning. And they’re pushing us pretty hard, too. I think that we all push each other. If someone is down, we’re like, ‘come on, let’s go’. If you’re running slow, you’ve got to run faster, and I think we do a pretty good job on that. We’re winning and we’re having fun doing it.”

Caleb Peterson (17-6), a junior and the lone medalist for coach Tim Eberhard’s Walther Christian Academy Broncos, only needed nine seconds to record a fall in the 126 semifinals over Aurora Central Catholic’s Matt Gaylor. Last season, Peterson went 32-13 and fell one win shy of advancing to the IHSA Class 1A Finals from the Coal City Sectional. Gaylor responded to his quick semifinals loss to capture a 6-5 decision over Westmont junior Christian Rosa (11-9) for third place. The pair also met in the quarterfinals with Gaylor winning 11-9 by sudden victory.

132 – Uli Rojas, Streamwood

Uli Rojas is quick to admit that he probably didn’t deserve to be brought up to the Streamwood varsity when he was a sophomore. But as the Sabres senior reflects back on some of the tough losses that he took, it seems to have paid off for him after he was able to stand on top of the awards stand with a bracket board for the first time in his varsity career as the result of his 11-8 decision over Argo’s Carlos Gutierrez in the 132 title match. Rojas (13-5), one of two finalists and the lone champion for coach Bill Peach’s Sabres, reached the finals with two decisions, with the last of those a 7-2 win over Evergreen Park’s Adrian Cervantes in the semifinals.

“It was very tough,” Rojas said. “I was so tired, all I was thinking about was the win and I didn’t know if I could do it but I pulled through. This was my first ever first-place win. It’s my last year so I feel like it’s a good achievement, this is what I’ve wanted since my freshman year. I was always looking at the seniors getting first place and now it’s finally happened. Last year there were probably about 30 kids and this year we have 70 or 80, so there’s a lot of kids and we have a girls team, so that’s good. From when I started, I was so bad. They put me on varsity my sophomore year but I don’t think I was ready for it and I lost a lot but I learned a lot, too.”

Sophomore Carlos Gutierrez (12-11), who entered the competition with a 10-10 record, was the lone finalist and one of four medal winners for coach Matthew McMurray’s Argonauts. After opening with a major decision, Gutierrez won a 10-5 decision over Lisle Senior’s Adam Drake in the semifinals. The two individuals who lost in the semifinals met for third place and Mustangs sophomore Cervantes (20-7) won by fall in 4:33 over Lisle Senior freshman Drake (15-7).

138 – Ashton Gray, Evergreen Park

While many of his Evergreen Park teammates competed in the regional and some of those advanced to the Hinsdale South Sectional and then on to Champaign a year ago, Ashton Gray hopes that he can be a part of this year’s postseason team that not only wants to get individuals through the sectional and back to state, but the Mustangs would like to be in the mix among those that are vying for spots in the IHSA Dual Team Finals, something the program did just once, in 1993. Gray (21-10), a junior, did his part on Saturday as he was one of his team’s four champions after edging Hinsdale South’s Al Amir Almannai 3-2 in the 138 title match. Gray opened with a fall and  won a 10-5 decision over Westmont’s Joseph Salerno in the semifinals.

“I met the guy from Hinsdale South at our home mega dual and I won that match,” Gray said. “They’ve been great competition for us and there were a lot of tough matches today. In my second match, I got elbowed in the mouth and started to bleed. So I just had to wrestle smart and just listen to my coaches. I trust them when I go on the mat and one of them wrestled DI at Purdue. Our main goal this season is that we want to get to super Tuesday and we want to win team state. We believe that we have the firepower this year. I would definitely say that it’s our bonds together outside of the practice room. After multiple meets, we’ve got out and had team meals and it’s about building that family sense because it truly does strengthen you. It feels great to be a part of this and I hope that even after I graduate that we keep getting better.”

Al Amir Almannai (14-10) was one of eight Hornets who advanced to the title mat and just missed being a title winner in the competition. He reached the finals with a fall in 1:06 over Glenbard East’s Jesus Chaidez in the semifinals. A year ago he qualified for the sectional at his school. In the third-place match at 138, Glenbard East’s Chavez (16-16), a senior, won a 12-2 major decision over Argo senior Kevin Bustillos (21-7) in a rematch of the quarterfinals match, which Chaidez also won with a 12-2 major decision.

144 – David Johnson, Evergreen Park

One year ago, David Johnson was one of 12 Mustangs who qualified for the Class 2A Hinsdale South Sectional and finished 28-13. Now he and the other six individuals who were sectional qualifiers look for even better success there as Evergreen Park hopes to have more than four individuals advance to the IHSA Finals. Johnson (30-2) already has more wins than he had last season after getting past Streamwood’s Juan Cortez 7-5 in the 144 title match. Opening with a fall, he captured a 7-6 decision in the semifinals over Lisle Senior’s Johnny Consuegra Lopez.

“We just work hard and keep going,” Johnson said. “We listen to the coaches and trust the coaches. They’re really passionate about what they do and we just feed off of that. Whatever they do and whatever they say, that’s what we do. This year we’ve had a lot of first-place winners. (Placing at state) That should be a goal for me and a lot of other guys. I really do like our coaches because of how passionate about the sport they are and how they trust us and how they want us to succeed.”

Juan Cortez (16-6),  a junior who was one of two finalists and five medalists for Streamwood, won a pair of decisions to reach the 144 title match, with the second of those being an 11-5 win over Nazareth Academy’s Andrew Fowler in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Westmont junior Mission Hatchell (15-11) won a 10-5 decision over Northridge Prep sophomore George McShane (17-9). Hatchell lost to Johnson in the quarterfinals and then got two pins to reach the third-place mat. McShane lost to Cortez in the quarterfinals and also won his next two matches, edging Lisle Senior freshman Johnny Consuegra Lopez 6-5 to get to the third-place match.

150 – Andrew Musil, Hinsdale South

After going 32-9 last season but falling one shy win shy of a trip to the IHSA Class 2A Finals at his own sectional, Andrew Musil hopes to cap his senior season at Hinsdale South by being a state qualifier and faring well in Champaign. He’s off to a 25-5 start and was one of the four title winners and eight finalists for the champion Hornets after capturing the 150 title with a fall in 3:05 over Nazareth Academy’s Ben Lukes. Musil won first-period falls in his other two matches, recording a pin in 1:54 in the semifinals over Argo’s Diego Reynoso.

“It was an excellent tournament,” Musil said. “We’re a very tight-knit team and we act like a family. I was across the room, screaming for my teammate, we grew up together and we’ve been wrestling since fifth grade at Eisenhower. I feel what makes a good team into a great team is when you have those outside of the mat room relationships if you grew up together or you just know the guys. I love my coaches. Mister Matozzi has been working here forever and he knows his stuff and a strong thing that he does well is that he disciplines us and that he makes us who we are today. This is a lot of our senior years so I’m super excited to see how our season turns out.”

Ben Lukes (17-7), a sophomore who was the lone finalist and one of two medal winners for Nazareth Academy, won two decisions to advance to the 150 finals, claiming a 10-3 win over Streamwood senior Noah Rodriguez in the semifinals. Glenbard East’s Donte Hudson (9-19) and Westmont junior Sean Patterson (14-10) took long routes to the third-place match, where Hudson won a 10-2 major decision. Hudson lost his opener to Rodriguez and then won his next four matches while Patterson lost to Rodriguez in the quarterfinals and then won his next two matches, edging Argo’s Diego Reynoso to reach the third-place match.

157 – Ben Miller, Hinsdale South

It’s not very often that you see three brothers who are competing on the same team, but that’s the case for Hinsdale South’s Alec, Andrew and Ben Miller. And it’s especially unusual to see three brothers competing on the title mat in the same event, but that’s also what happened at Lisle Senior’s Steve Melichar Memorial Tournament when all three Millers made the finals and freshman Ben and senior Alec won titles while senior Andrew took second. Ben Miller improved to 20-9 after recording a fall in 2:59 over Lisle Senior’s David Skonieczny in the 157 finals. The freshman advanced with two falls, including in 1:44 in the semifinals over Argo’s Darell Ortiz.

“I have five other brothers, so that’s six in total,” Ben Miller said. “It’s fun because I get to wrestle them some times and they’re both going for first now. We have a lot of seniors and four people who went to state last year. We all have fellowship and we all get along. And we’re all good wrestlers.”

David Skonieczny (19-10), a sophomore, was one of the two finalists and four medal winners for coach Brandon Wolak’s Lions. Despite the inclement weather, Lisle Senior was able to hold its annual tournament that’s named for a former Lisle wrestler who died in 1986 at the age of 16 shortly after being hit by a car. Skonieczny won his only other match, in the semifinals, when he recorded a fall in 1:07 over Streamwood’s Jeff Li. In the third-place match, Glenbard East’s Leo Mundinger (14-11) won by fall in 1:32 over Argo’s Darell Ortiz, in a rematch of the quarterfinals where Ortiz won with a pin in 1:14. Mundinger responded by winning his final three matches.

165 – Jon Suter, Northridge Prep

Jon Suter went 20-4 a year ago and came close to advancing out of the Class 1A Coal City Sectional, but instead suffered half of his losses in that competition. Now as a senior, he hopes not only to advance to the IHSA Class 1A Finals and do something that no one at Northridge Prep has ever done in the sport, and that is to be a state medalist. He’s already surpassed last season’s win total and improved to 25-2 after winning by fall in 3:31 over Hinsdale South’s 

Darrion Glover in the 165 title match. One of two finalists and three medalists for coach Joseph Rhee’s Knights, Suter won by fall in 4:37 over Glenbard East’s Aaron Dotson in the semifinals.

“Last year was my real competition,” Suter said. “Two years before that it was COVID and then the second year I was JV because I switched schools. I was happy with my performance tonight. I couldn’t say that about several other tournaments that I’ve been to, so it does feel good. We started our program about six years ago and I joined in my sophomore year. It’s run by one family, the Kopeckys, he’s our coach right now, Bill Kopecky, and his nephew was the team captain for four years in a row. We’ve been growing this program very well and I’m hoping that we’re going to do good next year. It’s the culture there because it’s a real small school. You’re real close with all of your teachers and all of the teachers are really interesting people. And our wrestling, all it’s about is our coaches are trying to teach us about how to be men. I’m so impressed with my coaches.”

Darrion Glover (13-11), a junior who was one of eight finalists for the champion Hornets, recorded two falls to reach the 165 title mat, winning in the semifinals with a pin in 1:35 over Evergreen Park senior Andrew Viravec. The two individuals who lost in the semifinals met for third and Glenbard East’s Aaron Dotson (14-16) won by fall in 3:25 over Viravec (21-11).

175 – Jovani Piazza, Hinsdale South

Jovani Piazza has enjoyed a very impressive run of tournament success this season and the Hinsdale South senior hopes to continue that into the postseason. He won his second title at Lisle’s Steve Melichar Tournament and has been in the top-three in all five of his tournaments and reached the title mat four times. He improved to 22-4 after winning the title at 175 with a fall in 5:38 over Northridge Prep’s Adam Haddad. He became one of the champion Hornets’ eight finalists when he got his second of three pins, a fall in 2:00 over Streamwood’s Gabe Inorio. After going 28-5 last season and qualifying for the IHSA Class 2A Finals, he hopes along with many of his teammates that one of them will become the program’s first medalist since 2016.

“Wrestling 3A schools helps so much more than just wrestling 2A schools,” Piazza said. “We have a really good team. And it helps a lot when you see the rest of your team win, because then you have to win. We started young and half of our starters are from our middle school, Eisenhower Middle School. And every day is a hard practice with them. All of our coaches are great. Coach (Steve) Matozzi has been here for a long time and we have two new coaches who are great, coach (Tony) Poro has been here for three years and I feel that he’s a great coach. We give it all for the entire match.”

Adam Haddad (21-4) was one of two finalists for Northridge Prep. The Knights junior went 22-9  last year and fell one shy of advancing from the Class 1A Coal City Sectional. He’s hoping the he and 165-pound title winner Jon Suter can advance to the state finals and try to become the first individuals from the Niles school to earn a medal in Champaign. Haddad earned his spot in the 175 finals with a fall in 1:30 over Argo’s Joe Nieto. In the third-place match, Streamwood junior Gabe Inorio (7-2) recorded a fall in 4:43 over Glenbard East’s Orlando Hoye.

190 – Alec Miller, Hinsdale South

Alec Miller joined his brother Ben (157) as a champion at Lisle’ Steve Melichar Tournament after edging Evergreen Park’s Genesis Ward 1-0 in the 190 finals. But the family missed out on having three brothers win titles when Andrew Miller fell at 215. Despite that, Alec Miller (23-6) had a lot to be excited about after his Hornets won four titles and had eight finalists to easily win the team title. The Hinsdale South senior, who advanced to the 190 title mat with a fall in 1:59 over Streamwood’s Jace Woods, went 27-11 last year and qualified for the IHSA Class 2A Finals. He not only hopes to challenge for a state medal, but also will do his best to try to help the Hornets’ program earn a trip to the IHSA Dual Team Finals for the first time in its history.

“I’m a twin and he’s a triplet,” Alec Miller said of brothers Andrew and Ben. “So having three of us in the finals was really cool. We’re hoping that there’s a lot to look forward to. We want to win regionals, and we have a good shot at winning regionals. Ninety percent of our team comes from the same middle school, Eisenhower. It’s amazing and it’s really good to know your guys before high school. All three of our team captains won titles.”

Like Alec Miller, Genesis Ward (27-4) is very excited about how things are going for his team, Evergreen Park. He earned his spot as one of the Mustangs’ six finalists after getting a fall in 4:37 in the semifinals over Argo’s Jacob Fries. Ward, a junior, came up a bit short of qualifying from the Class 2A Hinsdale South Sectional last season, so he’d naturally like to not only get to Champaign but also help his team to earn a spot to the IHSA Dual Team Finals, something that Evergreen Park has only done once before, in 1993. In the third-place match, Streamwood junior Jace Wolf (19-5) won by fall in 4:57 over Argo senior Jacob Fries (16-12).

215 – Eduardo Antunez, Evergreen Park

Eduardo Antunez hopes that the third time’s the charm for him as far as IHSA Class 2A Finals appearances are concerned. The two-time state qualifier from Evergreen Park looks to cap his senior season with some victories in Champaign after winning once in first two trips. Antunez went 33-11 last year and is now 28-1, with his lone loss coming when he had bronchitis, after his fall in 3:13 over Hinsdale South’s Andrew Miller in the 215 finals. He advanced to that match with a 13-4 win over Glenbard East’s Gus Winkler. This was his second title with the other at Pontiac. Beside hoping to become his school’s first IHSA medalist since 1996, he’d like to see the Mustangs make their first IHSA Dual Team Finals appearance since their lone trip in 1993.

‘Since I was a sophomore, I’ve been starting on varsity and each year it’s just progressively gotten better and I can say confidently that this is our best year,” Antunez said. “We’re 22-1 right now in duals. Definitely it’s been conditioning and offseason wrestling. This year I went ahead and did Beat the Streets in the spring. It put me into wrestling shape, and I feel that’s one thing I feel I’ve gotten out of due to track and field. I like our chemistry. We’re very honest with each other. We can tell each other to improve upon and to not to do next time. That helps a lot to hear from peers on how to improve.”

Andrew Miller (13-8) was hoping to join his brothers Alec (at 190) and Ben (at 157) as title winners but he’ll settle for being one of Hinsdale South’s eight finalists who helped their team to easily capture the championship of the Melichar Tournament, adding to an early season title at their own Matozzi Invite. He earned his trip to the 215 finals by recording a fall in 3:53 over Westmont sophomore Rafael Castrejon-Tello, who later would get pinned in 2:21 by Glenbard East’s Gus Winkler (20-12) in the third-place match.

285 – Cooper Conliss, Glenbard East

While early title wins by Waleed Binmahfooz and Ismael Chaidez might not have come as much of a surprise to Glenbard East supporters, Cooper Conliss’ championship in the late stages of the medal round may have caught some off guard since he entered the tournament with a 15-15 record. But it’s not how you start but how you finish and Conliss (18-15) is obviously feeling good about being one of the Rams’ three champions and helping his team to a third-place finish after getting a fall in 4:48 over Hinsdale South’s Gavin Slaughter in the 285 finals. He opened with a fall and then won 3-2 on an ultimate tiebreaker over Evergreen Park’s Gerald O’Hare.

“It’s extremely exciting seeing the hard work that I’ve had this season pay off, especially since I’m undersized and only 225 pounds,” Conliss said. “I think that’s what my biggest strength is, my athleticism and my speed. It’s a testament to my coaches, the work that we do with conditioning, it’s a tough practice but I think that gets me ready for tournaments. I think I’ve really improved this year. Toward the beginning of the year, I wasn’t as sound or as conditioned as I am now. And it’s a lot of fun to come out and compete and I like winning more than losing. I like our chemistry, it’s a lot of fun. No one is dreading  coming to practice and we like each other and that makes it easier to come and be excited and get ready to work and I think that’s our biggest strength as a team.”

Gavin Slaughter (12-10) typified the true team effort by the champion Hornets, who claimed top honors in Lisle Senior’s Steve Melichar Memorial Tournament by a 205.5-169.5 margin over Evergreen Park. The Hinsdale South junior, who reached the 285 title mat with a fall in 1:42 over Lisle Senior junior Ramon Ortega, was one of eight finalists and 11 individuals who finished fourth or better for coach Steve Matozzi’s Hornets, which should give them plenty of confidence as they prepare for the Class 2A Lemont Regional and its own Class 2A sectional in Darien. For third, Evergreen Park senior Gerald O’Hare (21-4) won by fall in 2:28 over Ortega. 

Title matches for Lisle Senior’s Steve Melichar Memorial Tournament

106 – Vince Hefke (Aurora Central Catholic) MD 11-0 Lorenz Rios Loud (Glenbard East)

113 – Waleed Binmahfooz (Glenbard East) F 3:19 Johan Bonilla (Evergreen Park)

120 – Ismael Chaidez (Glenbard East) D 10-6 Alexander Ferari (Lisle Senior)

126 – Chance Woods (Evergreen Park) F 2:54 Caleb Peterson (Walther Christian Academy)

132 – Uli Rojas (Streamwood) D 11-8 Carlos Gutierrez (Argo)

138 – Ashton Gray (Evergreen Park) D 3-2 Al Amir Almannai (Hinsdale South)

144 – David Johnson (Evergreen Park) D 7-5 Juan Cortez (Streamwood)

150 – Andrew Musil (Hinsdale South) F 3:05 Ben Lukes (Nazareth Academy)

157 – Ben Miller (Hinsdale South) F 2:59 David Skonieczny (Lisle Senior)

165 – Jon Suter (Northridge Prep) F 3:31 Darrion Glover (Hinsdale South)

175 – Jovani Piazza (Hinsdale South) F 5:38 Adam Haddad (Northridge Prep)

190 – Alec Miller (Hinsdale South) D 1-0 Genesis Ward (Evergreen Park)

215 – Eduardo Antunez (Evergreen Park) F 3:13 Andrew Miller (Hinsdale South)

285 – Cooper Conliss (Glenbard East) F 4:48 Gavin Slaughter (Hinsdale South)

Team scores for Lisle Senior’s Steve Melicar Memorial Tournament

1. Hinsdale South 205.5, 2. Evergreen Park 169.5, 3. Glenbard East 164, 4. Streamwood 76, 5. Argo 60, 6. Lisle Senior 52, 7. Northridge Prep 51, 8. Westmont 45, 9. Aurora Central Catholic 38, 10. Nazareth Academy 31, 11. Walther Christian Academy 23, 12. Mooseheart 8

• 

By Curt Herron for the IWCOA

Deerfield takes first place at Kaneland’s Margaret Flott Invite

Deerfield had originally been scheduled to compete in the Geneseo Invitational, but when the event couldn’t be held due to the weather, coach Marc Pechter became a last-minute entrant in Kaneland’s Margaret Flott Invite, which was able to take place in Maple Park.

The late addition to its schedule definitely worked well for Deerfield as it got fifth-place or better finishes from each of its 15 entrants and that helped it to capture top honors in the nine-team competition with 197 points.

Plainfield Central took second place with 134.5 points, Addison Trail finished third with 125 points, the hosts Knights edged Romeoville 110-109 for fourth place and St. Charles North took sixth place with 78 points.

Team champion Deerfield had five title winners, Luke Reddy (126), Jackson Palzet (132), Mark Martinez (144), Charlie Cross (150) and Kevin Sabau (190). 

Winning championships for runner-up Plainfield Central were Gavin Enders (138) and Anthony Minnito (215). Kaneland got first-place finishes from Angelina Gochis (106) and Kamron Scholl (120). And capturing titles for Romeoville were Alex Bahena (113) and Jamir Thomas (285).

Other champions of the Margaret Flott Invite were Addison Trail’s Martin Duarte (157), St. Charles North North’s Nathan McLoughlin (165) and Woodstock North’s Kaden Combs (175). 

1. Deerfield

Top performers for the champion Warriors were title winners Luke Reddy (126), Jackson Palzet (132), Mark Martinez (144), Charlie Cross (150) and Kevin Sabau (190) and second-place finishers Jayden Palzet (132), Jordan Rasof (138) and Max Drumke (215). In an unusual title match, Jackson Palzet beat Jayden Palzet by technical fall in the 132 finals.

Also for the Warriors, Chris Mauer (175) took third, Daniel Krive (106), Adrian Cohen (120) and Noah Palzet (126) finished fourth and Jonathan Weissmueller (150), Luca Davila (157) and Mariano Martinez (165) all claimed fifth place.

“We were supposed to be at Geneseo so I appreciate the fine folks in Kaneland for letting us in last-minute,” Warriors coach Marc Pechter said. “The team is coming together for the stretch run. We still have not had our entire starting lineup due to injuries. I’m hoping for next week.”

2. Plainfield Central

Leading the way for coach Terry Kubski’s runner-up Plainfield Central Wildcats were champions Gavin Enders (138) and Anthony Minnito (215) and runners-up Jayden Mizelle (113) and Matthias Hautzinger (144). Taking third place was Neil Lemke (157) while Jack Bowen (150), Michael Laudadio (165) and Ty Sabin (190) claimed fourth and Brody Rangel (126) took fifth.

3. Addison Trail

Coach Mike Rosengrant’s third-place Addison Trail Blazers got a title from Martin Duarte (157) and second-place finishes from Josh Amorn-Vichet (120), Damian Valdez (126) and Elmer Olascoaga (190). Taking third place were George Espinoza (106), Zion Martinez (113) and Elliot Ibarra (285) while Joshua Gutierrez (138) and Brian Torres (144) finished fifth.

4. Kaneland 

Turning in the top showings for coach Kenny Paoli’s host Knights were champions Angelina Gochis (106) and Kamron Scholl (120) while Kyle Rogers (150) and Caden Vanik (165) placed second. Taking third was Alex Gochis (126) while Russell Bickem (113), Christian Alvarez (132) and Apollo Gochis (175) was fourth and Rogan O’Neil (190) and Levi Herst (215) took fifth.

5. Romeoville

Top finishers for coach James Nagel’s Romeoville Spartans were title winners Alex Bahena (113) and Jamir Thomas (285) while Mason Gougis (175) was a runner-up. Brian Farley (120), Gabe Bahena (132), Tyler Lewis (165) and Isaiah Escobar (190) all finished in third place and Marc Thomas (215) claimed fourth place.

Leading the way for coach David Drews’ St. Charles North North Stars were champion Nathan McLoughlin (165), runner-up Declan Sons (106) and third-place finishers Brogan Sons (144) and Liam O’Brien (150). 

Coach Mike Miller’s Woodstock North Thunder were led by champion Kaden Combs (175) while David Randecker (215) claimed third place, Ben Lagerhausen (157) finished fourth and Anthony Motejzik (120) placed fifth.

Turning in the best efforts for coach Eric Kirkman’s St. Francis Spartans were runners-up Ben Conte (157) and Mark Ortiz (285) while Grant Rabanus (138) and Chase Siguenza (144) took fourth place and Jacon Dunn (113), Alex Swiatek (132) and Cobin Jaskula (175) were fifth.

The lone competitor for coach Cory Graham’s Harvest Christian Academy Lions was Max Mulhearn (138), who claimed third place.

Some of the closest title matches featured Angelina Gochis getting past Declan Sons 6-5 in the deciding match of round robin at 106 and Kaden Combes edging Mason Gougis 5-4 in the deciding match of round robin at 175. Also, Gavin Enders prevailed over Jordan Rasof 7-4 at 138, Kamron Scholl won a 6-1 decision over Josh Amorn-Vichet at 120 and Jamir Thomas beat Mark Ortiz 5-1 in the deciding round robin match at 285.

Best records for top-four finishers in the event include Kamron Scholl at 120 (32-0, 1.000), Kaden Combs at 175 (26-1, .963), Brian Farley at 120 (21-1, .955), Mark Martinez at 144 (17-1, .944), Luke Reddy at 126 (29-2, .935), Jackson Palzet at 132 (11-1, .917), Alex Gochis at 126 (32-3, .914), Nathan McLoughlin at 165 (15-2, .882), Declan Sons at 106 (19-3, .864), Angelina Gochis at 106 (31-5, .861), Jordan Rasof at 138 (24-5, .828), Anthony Minnito at 215 (23-5, .821), Martin Duarte at 157 (22-5, .815), Max Mulhearn at 138 (21-5, .808), Jayden Mizelle at 113 (15-4, .789), Jamir Thomas at 285 (15-4, .789), Adrian Cohen at 120 (26-7, .788), Max Drumke at 215 (26-7, .788), Matthias Hautzinger at 144 (17-5, .773), Gavin Enders at 138 (19-6, .760), Damian Valdez at 126 (22-7, .759) and Elmer Olascoaga at 190 (15-5, .750).

There was a three-way tie for the most total team points at 26 between Martin Duarte, Anthony Minnito and Kevin Sabau while Jackson Palzet and Luke Reddy tied for fourth with 25.5 points, Mark Martinez scored 25 points, Charlie Cross collected 23 points and Gavin Enders had 22.

Alex Gochis had the most total match points with 47 while Luke Reddy had 35 and Neil Lemke had 34, Alex Bahena and Nathan McLoughlin both recorded four falls with the latter doing so in 6:37 while Mason Gougis only needed 3:29 to collect three pins. Kevin Sabau had the largest seed-to-place differential, after being seeded sixth and then taking top honors at 190.

Deerfield and Romeoville tied for the most falls with 14. The champion Warriors also had the most total match points with 192 while Plainfield Central edged the hosts 178-176 for second.

Title matches for Kaneland’s Margaret Flott Invite

106 – Angelina Gochis (Kaneland) D 6-5 Declan Sons (St. Charles North) round robin

113 – Alex Bahena (Romeoville) F 4:19 Jayden Mizelle (Plainfield Central) round robin

120 – Kamron Scholl (Kaneland) D 6-1 Josh Amorn-Vichet (Addison Trail)

126 – Luke Reddy (Deerfield) TF 3:38 Damian Valdez (Addison Trail)

132 – Jackson Palzet (Deerfield) TF 3:24 Jayden Palzet (Deerfield)

138 – Gavin Enders (Plainfield Central) D 7-4 Jordan Rasof (Deerfield)

145 – Mark Martinez (Deerfield) MD 18-7 Matthias Hautzinger (Plainfield Central)

150 – Charlie Cross (Deerfield) MD 14-3 Kyle Rogers (Kaneland)

157 – Martin Duarte (Addison Trail) F 2:43 Ben Conte (St. Francis)

165 – Nathan McLoughlin (St. Charles North) F 2:29 Caden Vanik (Kaneland) round robin

175 – Kaden Combs (Woodstock North) D 5-4 Mason Gougis (Romeoville) round robin

190 – Kevin Sabau (Deerfield) F 3:59 Elmer Olascoaga (Addison Trail)

215 – Anthony Minnito (Plainfield Central) F 4:19 Max Drumke (Deerfield)

285 – Jamir Thomas (Romeoville) D 5-1 Mark Ortiz (St. Francis) round robin

Team scores for Kaneland’s Margaret Flott Invite

1. Deerfield 197, 2. Plainfield Central 134.5, 3. Addison Trail 125, 4. Kaneland 110. 5. Romeoville 109, 6. St. Charles North 78, 7. Woodstock North 56, 8. St. Francis 49, 9. Harvest Christian Academy 14

Quincy Senior wins own Quincy Invitational for third-straight year

When a team sends eight individuals to the title mat and receives finishes of third or better from 11 of its 13 competitors, it’s a pretty safe bet that it has done what’s necessary to win a title.

That’s just the showing that Quincy Senior turned in on Saturday to help it collect 274 points to claim the championship at its own 11-team Quincy Invitational with Roxana claiming second place with 227.5 points and Jacksonville finishing third with 161.5 points. 

Triad (158) took fourth place, Cahokia (104.5) was fifth and Quincy Notre Dame (101) claimed sixth in an event that was reduced by nine teams who were unable to compete in the invitational due to the poor weather conditions.

It’s the third-straight year that coach Phil Neally’s Blue Devils have won the title at their own invite. It was the first tournament title of the season for Quincy Senior, which took third place early in the season at Lakes Community and Coon Rapids, Minnesota and placed fourth at Mascoutah and sixth at Granite City in other good finishes against strong fields.

The Blue Devils hope to have two more successful tournaments in Quincy when they host a Class 3A regional on February 3 and a Class 3A sectional on February 9-10.

Winning titles for the champion Blue Devils were Hugh Sharrow (113), Owen Uppinghouse (165), Bryor Newbold (175) and Todd Smith (285)

Runner-up Roxana also had four champions, Logan Riggs (132), Brandon Green, Jr. (138), Braden Johnson (157) and Robert Watt (190)

Third-place Jacksonville had three champions Deshawn Armstrong (120), Joe Reif (150) and Oliver Cooley (215) while Triad’s Will Kelly (106) and Colby Crouch (126) and Pekin’s RaMez Watson (144) were the other title winners.

Repeating as invite champions were three-time winner Sharrow, Uppinghouse and Smith, with the latter edging Roxana’s James Herring 3-1 by sudden victory in the finals at 285 to deny Herring of winning a second-straight title.

Second-place finishers were Quincy Senior’s Wyatt Boeing (120), Evan Wakefield (126), Cale Mixer (138) and Eli Roberts (150), Quincy Notre Dame’s Bradi Lahr (144), Ryan Darnell (190) and Taylin Scott (215), Roxana’s Lyndon Thies (165) and James Herring (285), Palmyra, MO’s Luke Lawson (113) and Brayden Pillars (157), Jacksonville’s Jayce Evans (106), Triad’s Ben Baumgartner (132) and Cahokia’s Jramuel Holman (175). Baumgartner and Lahr joined Herring as second-place finishers who won titles in last year’s invitational.

Beside Smith’s 3-1 win by sudden victory over Herring at 285, other close title matches included Riggs edging Baumgartner 5-4 at 132, Armstrong getting past Boeing 7-5 at 120 and Cooley prevailing 7-2 over Scott at 215.

Uppinghouse led all competitors with 31.5 team points while Cooley, Crouch and Green, Jr. tied for second with 30 points. Newbold scored 29.5 points, Reif had 29, Watson collected 28.5, Johnson had 28 points, Sharrow finished with 27.5 and Smith was tenth with 27 team points.

1. Quincy Senior

Leading the way for coach Phil Neally’s champion Blue Devils were title winners Hugh Sharrow (113), Owen Uppinghouse (165), Bryor Newbold (175) and Todd Smith (285) while Wyatt Boeing (120), Evan Wakefield (126), Cale Mixer (138) and Eli Roberts (150) finished second. 

Taking third place were Cooper Kamm (132), Brody Baker (144) and Gunnar Derhake (157) while Jayden Wilson (190) placed fifth and Dalton Mays (215) claimed seventh place.

2. Roxana

Top performers for coach Rob Milazzo’s runner-up Roxana Shells were first-place finishers Logan Riggs (132), Brandon Green, Jr. (138), Braden Johnson (157) and Robert Watt (190) while Lyndon Thies (165) and James Herring (285) took second place. Finishing in third place were Elias Thies (175) and Donald Battles (215) while Nathan Harrison (126) and Trevor Gihring (144) placed fourth and Madelyn Murphy (106), Kaden Carlisle (138) and Bryan Rodriguez (144) finished in fifth place.

3. Jacksonville

Turning in the best showings for coach Dustin Secrist’s third-place Jacksonville Crimsons were its three champions Deshawn Armstrong (120), Joe Reif (150) and Oliver Cooley (215) as well as runner-up Jayce Evans (106).  Finishing third was Aiden Surratt (285) while Hunter Hayes (113) took fourth, Steven Easley (113), Jordan Kholian (132), Noah Beckmann (157) and Kaleb Miller (165) all placed fifth and Alexis Seymour (120) claimed sixth place. Surratt won a title in the invite in 2022.

4. Triad

Winning titles for the Triad Knights, who are coached by 2022 IWCOA Hall of Famer Russ Witzig, were Will Kelly (106) and Colby Crouch (126) while Ben Baumgartner (132) took second place. Shane Seip (113) and Glen Henry (120) placed third, Brody Smith (138) and Landon Busch (285) finished fourth and Camden Wise (175) and Bobby Patterson (190) took sixth. Baumgartner won a title in the event last year.

5. Cahokia

Individuals who had the best finishes for coach Nicholas Deloach’s Cahokia Comanches were 

runner-up Jramuel Holman (175) and third-place finishers Nathan Fisher (106) and Kindrick Williams (165). Quinterrous Jones (215) took fourth, Kindle Williams (150) finished fifth and 

Nicholas Scott (113) and Pharrell Holman (144) placed sixth.

6. Quincy Notre Dame

Providing the best performances for coach Adam Steinkamp’s Quincy Notre Dame Raiders were second-place finishers Bradi Lahr (144), Ryan Darnell (190) and Taylin Scott (215) as well as Oliver Moore (126), who claimed third place. Lahr won a Quincy Invite title last year.

Coach Kasey Monroe’s Camp Point Central Panthers were led by third-place finisher Paul Schenk (138) while Dylan Mowen (132), Konnor Bush (150), Conner Griffin (165) and Joseph Friday (175) placed fourth and Wyatt Van De Velde (285) finished fifth. Schenk also won a title in last year’s invite.

Leading coach John Jacobs’ Pekin Dragons was champion RaMez Watson (144) while Dalton Davis (120) and Jayden Dawe (126) took fifth and Mason Waller (215) placed sixth.

The Pittsfield Saukees, who are coached by Johnathon Peterson, were led by third-place finisher Tucker Cook (190) while Joel Noble (120) and Jake Oitker (157) took fourth and Hunter Harrison (138) and Waylon White (165) finished sixth.

The top placers for Warsaw’s Titans, who are coached by Chase Hartweg, were third-place finisher Evan Carel (150) and fourth-place finisher Eli Carel (106) while Malachi McKune (215) took fifth and Kai Humphry (132) placed sixth.

Quincy Senior’s junior-varsity team received a fifth-place finish from Alex Wells (175) while Azriel Cale (126), Rennie Lilo (150) and Aiden Garcia (157) all claimed sixth place.

Top records after the invite were Owen Uppinghouse at 165 (34-0, 1.000), Taylin Scott at 215 (29-1, .967), Brandon Green, Jr. at 138 (25-1, .962), RaMez Watson at 144 (25-1, .962), Colby Crouch at 126 (22-1, .957), James Herring at 285 (26-2, .929), Oliver Cooley at 215 (30-3, .909), Bryor Newbold at 175 (30-3, .909). Lyndon Thies at 165 (27-3, .900), Logan Riggs at 132 (25-3, .893), Bradi Lahr at 144 (24-3, .889), Joe Reif at 150 (28-4, .875), Aiden Surratt at 285 (27-4, .871), Will Kelly at 106 (26-4, .867), Robert Watt at 190 (26-4, .867), Ryan Darnell at 190 (24-4, .857), Hunter Hayes at 113 (24-5, .828), Deshawn Armstrong at 120 (19-4, .826), Evan Carel at 150 (19-4, .826), Todd Smith at 285 (25-6, .806), Brayden Pillars at 157 (22-6, .786), Alexis Seymour at 120 (22-6, .786), Trevor Gihring at 144 (25-7, ,781), Brody Smith at 138 (16-5, .762), Braden Johnson at 157 (19-6, .760), Luke Lawson at 113 (22-7, .759), Tucker Cook at 190 (24-8, .750), Gunnar Derhake at 157 (30-10, .750) and Conner Griffin at 165 (21-7, .750).

Deshawn Armstrong had the most total match points with 86 while Wyatt Boeing was second with 78 and Lyndon Thies was third with 57 points. Oliver Cooley, Colby Crouch, Brandon Green, Jr., Taylin Scott and Lyndon Thies all had the most falls with five with Crouch needing just 1:38 to achieve that feat. Wyatt Boeing had three wins by technical falls. Jramuel Holman had the best seed to place differential, being seeded eighth and taking second place.

The champion Blue Devils easily had the most total match points with 372 while Jacksonville was second with 283 and Roxana ranked third with 278. And Quincy Senior also recorded the most falls with 34 and wins by technical fall with eight while Roxana collected 32 pins. 

Title matches for the Quincy Invitational

106 – Will Kelly (Triad) F 1:38 Jayce Evans (Jacksonville) round robin

113 – Hugh Sharrow (Quincy Senior) D 7-0 Luke Lawson (Palmyra, MO)

120 – Deshawn Armstrong (Jacksonville) D 7-5 Wyatt Boeing (Quincy Senior)

126 – Colby Crouch (Triad) F 0:38 Evan Wakefield (Quincy Senior)

132 – Logan Riggs (Roxana) D 5-4 Ben Baumgartner (Triad)

138 – Brandon Green, Jr. (Roxana) F 1:20 Cale Mixer (Quincy Senior)

144 – RaMez Watson (Pekin) F 1:54 Bradi Lahr (Quincy Notre Dame)

150 – Joe Reif (Jacksonville) F 1:14 Eli Roberts (Quincy Senior)

157 – Braden Johnson (Roxana) F 3:17 Brayden Pillars (Palmyra, MO)

165 – Owen Uppinghouse (Quincy Senior) TF 3:42 Lyndon Thies (Roxana)

175 – Bryor Newbold (Quincy Senior) F 2:59 Jramuel Holman (Cahokia)

190 – Robert Watt (Roxana) D 8-1 Ryan Darnell (Quincy Notre Dame)

215 – Oliver Cooley (Jacksonville) D 7-2 Taylin Scott (Quincy Notre Dame)

285 – Todd Smith (Quincy Senior) SV 3-1 James Herring (Roxana)

Team scores for the Quincy Invitational

1. Quincy Senior 274, 2. Roxana 227.5, 3. Jacksonville 161.5, 4. Triad 158, 5. Cahokia 104.5, 6. Quincy Notre Dame 101, 7. Camp Point Central 83, 8. Pekin 73.5, 9. Pittsfield 61, 10. Warsaw 43, 11. Quincy Senior JV 34

Harrisburg edges Lawrenceville/Red Hill for Carmi-White County Invite title

The proof that every point in a tournament is important was again demonstrated at the Carmi-White County Invite where Harrisburg edged Lawrenceville/Red Hill 204.5-203.5 to capture the championship of the 11-team competition that took place in Carmi.

Coach Greg Langley’s champion Bulldogs received top-six finishes from all 12 of their entrants, which included three champions, one runner-up and three third-place finishers.

Coach Samuel Hyre’s Lawrenceville/Red Hill Indians had 13 individuals who placed in the top five, with two title winners, three second-place finishers and two others who placed third.

In other tight battles for place finishes, Carterville (145.5) edged Fairfield (145) by half a point for third while Johnston City (117) beat out the host Bulldogs (116) to finish in fifth. Red Bud/Valmeyer (96) and Centralia (90) were next in line in the competition.

Harrisburg also won the Carmi-White County Invite last year while Lawrenceville/Red Hill took second but there was a 22.5-point margin between the two, unlike this dramatic showdown.

Team champion Harrisburg had three title winners, Avery Henderson (113), Tony Keene (126) and Kahmari Terry (132) while third-place Carterville also had three champions, Landyn Flood (120), Merrick Orendoff (150) and Zechariah Miller (285).

Runner-up Lawrenceville/Red Hill received titles from Drew Seitzinger (106) and Daniel Kiser (138). Fairfield also had two champions, Scotty Cuff (144) and Talan Keoughan (165), as did

Red Bud/Valmeyer, who got first-place finishes from Alex Wolter (157) and Ty Carter (175). 

Johnston City got a title win from Jude Beers (215) and host Carmi-White County also had a champion, Nelson Rider (190).

Champions who also took first place in the 2023 Carmi-White County Invite were Ty Carter, Cuff and Keene. Second-place finishers last year who won titles on Saturday were Rider and Terry.

There was a three-way tie for the most team points with 26 between Keene, Keoughan and Wolter while Cuff and Rider tied for fourth with 25 points. Five individuals tied for sixth place with 24 team points, Beers, Carter, Kiser, Miller and Orendoff. 

Lawrenceville/Red Hill and Carterville both had three second-place finishers while Centralia had two. Runners-up for Lawrenceville/Red Hill were Jaxtyn Chansler (120), Dylan Aten (126) and Dylan Camden (285) while second-place finishers for Carterville were Brawnsen Bloodworth (113), Carter Jones (157) and Jacob Grob (165). 

Taking second place for Centralia were Brylan Guthrie (106) and Russell Tate (150). Other second-place finishers were Johnston City’s Benjamin Harris (132), Metro-East Lutheran’s Carter Pryor (138), Red Bud/Valmeyer’s Max Wolter (144), Carmi-White County’s Caleb Seibers (175). Harrisburg’s Brendan Hicks (190) and Fairfield’s Keegan Bare (215).

Many of the title matches were determined by falls or wins by technical falls and two were major decisions. The lone decisions involved two of Carterville’s three champions as Carterville’s Zechariah Miller won a 2-1 decision over Lawrenceville/Red Hill’s Dylan Camden at 285 and Carterville’s Merrick Orendoff captured a 14-9 victory over Centralia’s Russell Tate.

1. Harrisburg

Champions for coach Greg Langley’s first-place Harrisburg Bulldogs were Avery Henderson (113), Tony Keene (126) and Kahmari Terry (132) while Brendan Hicks (190) claimed second and Kadyn Cummins (138), Briar Butler (157) and Javier Horton (285) took third place. Finishing fourth were Cody Gunter (144), Brock Felty (144), Zeaden Bute (165) and Gunner Wayman (215) while Braxton Welge (175) was sixth.

2. Lawrenceville/Red Hill

Winning titles for coach Samuel Hyre’s runner-up Lawrenceville/Red Hill Indians were Drew Seitzinger (106) and Daniel Kiser (138) while Jaxtyn Chansler (120), Dylan Aten (126) and Dylan Camden (285) finished second and Cale Seitzinger (132) and Trevor Loy (150) placed third. Kasen Ochs (175) took fourth place while Delaney Ledbetter (113), Jack Preston (144), Tyson Lucas (157), Nick Morehead (165) and Hudson Frey (215) all claimed fifth place.

3. Carterville

Coach Daniel Alderman’s third-place Carterville Lions had three champions Landyn Flood (120), Merrick Orendoff (150) and Zechariah Miller (285). Brawnsen Bloodworth (113), Carter Jones (157) and Jacob Grob (165) all took second and Braden Berndt (126) finished fifth.

4. Fairfield

The top performers for coach Jordan Griffith’s fourth-placed Fairfield Mules were title winners 

Scotty Cuff (144) and Talan Keoughan (165) while Keegan Bare (215) placed second, Carter Poole (106) and Jedd Wellen (120) took third, Nicholas Masterson (157) and Bronson Rilea (190) finished fourth and Bentley Rogers (285) claimed fifth.

5. Johnston City

Leading the way for coach Travis Brown’s Johnston City Indians was champion Jude Beers (215) and runner-up Benjamin Harris (132). Taking third were Randy Fuqua (175) and Juan Salazar (190) while Jace Weaver (126) and Michael Wolze (138) finished fourth.

6. Carmi-White County

Turning in the best finishes for coach Terry Gholson’s Carmi-White County Bulldogs were title winner Nelson Rider (190) and second-place finisher Caleb Seibers (175) while Travor Mason (113) took third. Placing fourth were Connor Benham (120) and Gavin Peyton (285) while 

Madden Anderson (132), Kale Wiggins (138) and Tim James (150) claimed fifth place.

Rob Pipher’s Red Bud/Valmeyer Musketeers had two champions, Alex Wolter (157) and Ty Carter (175) while Max Wolter (144) placed second and Wyatt Hamilton (215) took third.

Coach Tristan Penrod’s Centralia Orphans received second-place finishes from Brylan Guthrie (106) and Russell Tate (150) while Nate LeCrone (126) took third place, Lane Griffin (132) finished fourth and Emmanuel Enriquez (190) claimed fifth.

April Roach’s Trico/Elverado Pioneers got third-place finishes from Tristan Tapp (144) and Colin Hughey (165), a fourth from Jaxton Thompson (113) and a fifth from Johnny Ramaker (175). 

Leading the way for coach Evan Jones’ Metro-East Lutheran Knights were runner-up Carter Pryor (138) and fifth-place finisher Miles Dennis (120). 

Best records of top-four finishers are Tony Keene at 126 (25-1, .962), Nelson Rider at 190 (24-1, .960), Talan Keoughan at 165 (22-1, .957), Jude Beers at 215 (21-2, .913), Ty Carter at 175 (30-3, .909), Zechariah Miller at 285 (27-4, .871), Scotty Cuff at 144 (20-3, .870), Caleb Seibers at 175 (20-3, .870), Gavin Peyton at 285 (12-2, .857), Kahmari Terry at 132 (23-4, .852), Kasen Ochs at 175 (26-5, .839), Dylan Aten at 126 (25-4, .828), Avery Henderson at 113 (21-5, .808), Nate LeCrone at 126 (25-7, .781), Jacob Grob at 165 (28-8, .778), Colin Hughey at 165 (17-5, .773), Landyn Flood at 120 (19-6. .760), Lane Griffin at 132 (22-7, .759), Keegan Bare at 215 (21-7, .750), Brendan Hicks at 190 (21-7, .750) and Gunner Wayman at 215 (12-4 at 215).

Trico’s Colin Hughey had the most total match points with 50 while Centralia’s Russell Tate ranked second with 40 and Fairfield’s Scotty Cuff was third with 38. Nine individuals had three falls with Harrisburg’s Tony Keene doing that in the least amount of time, 1:49. And Johnston City’s Randy Fuqua was seeded 10th and took third place for the largest seed-place difference.

Harrisburg edged Lawrenceville/Red Hill for the most falls by a 22-21 margin. And Trico had four wins by technical fall to collect the most total match points with 115 while Centralia ranked second with 79, followed by Lawrenceville/Red Hill (75) and Harrisburg (74).

Title matches for the Carmi-White County Invite

106 – Drew Seitzinger (Lawewnceville/Red Hill) F 1:24 Brylan Guthrie (Centralia)

113 – Avery Henderson (Harrisburg) TF 3:00 Brawnsen Bloodworth (Carterville)

120 – Landyn Flood (Carterville) TF 5:35 Jaxtyn Chansler (Lawrenceville/Red Hill)

126 – Tony Keene (Harrisburg) F 0:24 Dylan Aten (Lawrenceville/Red Hill)

132 – Kahmari Terry (Harrisburg) MD 13-5 Benjamin Harris (Johnston City)

138 – Daniel Kiser (Lawrenceville/Red Hill) DQ Carter Pryor (Metro-East Lutheran)

144 – Scotty Cuff (Fairfield) TF 3:00 Max Wolter (Red Bud/Valmeyer)

150 – Merrick Orendoff (Carterville) D 14-9 Russell Tate (Centralia)

157 – Alex Wolter (Red Bud/Valmeyer) F 3:25 Carter Jones (Carterville)

165 – Talan Keoughan (Fairfield) F 2:13 Jacob Grob (Carterville)

175 – Ty Carter (Red Bud/Valmeyer) F 3:12 Caleb Seibers (Carmi-White County)

190 – Nelson Rider (Carmi-White County) MD 8-0 Brendan Hicks (Harrisburg)

215 – Jude Beers (Johnston City) F 2:22 Keegan Bare (Fairfield)

285 – Zechariah Miller (Carterville) D 2-1 Dylan Camden (Lawrenceville/Red Hill)

Team scoring for the Carmi-White County Invite

1. Harrisburg 204.5, 2. Lawrenceville 203.5, 3. Carterville 145.5, Fairfield 145, 5. Johnston City 117, 6. Carmi-White County 116, 7. Red Bud 96, 8. Centralia 90, 9. Trico 62, 10. Metro-East Lutheran 34, 11. Pinckneyville 16

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Normal Community boys take Marty Williams Invite crown

Marty Williams won an Illinois state title in 1974 at 145 pounds, then wrestled at the University of Illinois under coach Tom Porter. But it was what Williams did in eight years as head coach of Mahomet-Seymour that got a tournament named after him.

From 1982-89, Williams’ teams at Mahomet-Seymour went 191-4 and were IHSA state champions five times — a meteoric run of success by any standards.

Normal Community found success at this year’s 17-team Marty Williams Invitational, topping the field with 418.5 points.

“We were glad Mahomet was still on with all the snow and cancellations around the state,” Community coach Trevor Kaufman said. “We enjoy their tournament and they run a good one.”

A dogfight for second place saw Normal Community West, (358.5), Mattoon (354.5) and host Mahomet-Seymour (354) round out the top four team finishes. Ft. Zumwalt North (326.5) of Missouri finished fifth.

1st place: Normal Community (418.5)

The Ironmen got individual titles from Jackson Soney (35-1 at 106), Cole Gentsch (31-3 at 120) and Cooper Caraway (35-2 at 215), a second from Carter Mayes (29-9 at 138), and a fourth from Hunter Hardwick (14-7 at 150).

Among wrestlers scoring team points, Kaufman also got sixth-place finishes from Johnny Thomas (113), Gavin Capodice (144), and Jaren Frankowiak (157), sevenths from Ethan Cavallo (126), and Victor Reyes (165), an eighth from Luke Eganhouse (132), and ninths from Cole Kretsinger (175) and Mason Caraway (190).

“We had another great overall effort from all our guys across the board and we’re happy with how we performed,” Kaufman said. “Besides our three champs, Carter Mayes had a big win over a returning 2A placer in the semis and has really come on strong at the end of the year.”

Mayes won a 5-3 semifinal decision over Mattoon’s Ben Capitosti, who placed sixth in Illinois at 138 last year.

Individual champs Soney, Gentsch, and Caraway now have a mere five losses between them. 

“Our three champs had dominating wins in the finals and continue to impress throughout the season,” Kaufman said. “We have a great group of kids and we’re excited for the upcoming state series.”

2nd place: Normal West (358.5)

Coach Dave Lehr’s Wildcats got an individual title from Evan Willock (157) and second-place finishes from Dylan McGrew (113), Abram Rader (120), Jaxxon Long (126), and Matt Hanold (285).

Normal West also got a third from Gus Schreiber (175), a fourth from Jacob Payne (106), a fifth from Logan Alvarez (144), and a sixth from Mason Wood (132).

3rd place: Mattoon (354.5)

The Greenwave got a title from unbeaten Korbin Bateman (30-0 at 144) and a second from Aidan Blackburn (30-4 at 150) for coach Brett Porter, to lead Mattoon to a third-place team finish.

Mattoon also got thirds from Tristan Porter (120) and Ben Capitosti (138), a fourth from Ean Freeman (165), fifths from Miles Clapp (157) and JD Sullivan (285), sixths from Vincent Gibson(126) and Mitchell Clapp (215)

Other individual champions at Mahomet-Seymour were Champaign Central’s Talin Baker (113), Belleville West’s Tyson Seibel (126), Richland County’s Carson Bissey (132), Champaign Centennial’s Trevor Schoonover (138) and Jack Barnhart (285), Ft. Zumwalt North, Missouri’s Cole Aguirre (150) and Deacon Moran (190), Lincoln’s Dawson McConnell (165), and Hoopeston Area’s Angel Zamora (175).

Second-place winners also included Glenwood’s Tyler Clarke (106), Carbondale’s Isaac Smith (132) and Thomas Imboden (165), Champaign Centennial’s Nehemie Mbangi (144), Mattoon’s Aidan Blackburn (150), Ft. Zumwalt North’s Logan Bizzle (157), Mt. Zion’s Vincent Fiore (175), and Glenwood’s Max Wiezorek (190) and Cody Moss (215).

Top individual statistics:

Most pins, least time – 4 in 3:11 by Champaign Centennial’s Jack Barnhart

Most tech falls, least time – 2 in 5:52 by Normal West’s Evan Willock

Most pins/tech falls, least time – 5 in 7:56 by Normal West’s Evan Willock

Fastest fall – 0:15 by Lincoln’s Dawson McConnell

Fastest tech fall – 2:00 by Normal West’s Abram Rader

Most team points – 51.5 by Lincoln’s Dawson McConnell

Most single-match points – 23 by Mt. Zion’s Jordan Weter

Most total match points – 58 by Belleville West’s Tyson Seibel

Marty Williams Invitational championship match results:

106 – Jackson Soney (Normal Community) MD 9-0 Tyler Clarke (Glenwood)

113 – Talin Baker (Champaign Central) D 7-0 Dylan McGrew (Normal West)

120 – Cole Gentsch (Normal Community) F 0:40 Abram Rader (Normal West)

126 – Tyson Seibel (Belleville W) D 7-1 Jaxxon Long (Normal West)

132 – Carson Bissey (Richland County) D 6-0 Isaac Smith (Carbondale)

138 – Trevor Schoonover (Champaign Centennial) D 5-0 Carter Mayes (Normal Community)

144 – Korbin Bateman (Mattoon) F 1:00 Nehemie Mbangi (Champaign Centennial)

150 – Cole Aguirre (Ft. Zumwalt N) D 6-5 Aidan Blackburn (Mattoon)

157 – Evan Willock (Normal West) TF 2:42 Logan Bizzle (Ft. Zumwalt N)

165 – Dawson McConnell (Lincoln) TF 5:28 Thomas Imboden (Carbondale)

175 – Angel Zamora (Hoopeston) D 4-2 Vincent Fiore (Mt. Zion)

190 – Deacon Moran (Ft. Zumwalt N) D 9-2 Maximus Wiezorek (Glenwood)

215 – Cooper Caraway (Normal Community) F 1:42 Cody Moss (Glenwood)

285 – Jack Barnhart (Champaign Centennial) F 1:10 Matt Hanold (Normal West)

Third-place results:

106 – Charlie Flores (Hoopeston) F 0:44 Jacob Payne (Normal West)

113 – Patrick Provost (Ft. Zumwalt N) F 4:52 Nathan Martinez (St. Laurence)

120 – Tristan Porter (Mattoon) D 10-7 Colton McClure (Mahomet-Seymour)

126 – Justus Vrona (Mahomet-Seymour) MD 9-0 Carsten Burkemper (Ft. Zumwalt N)

132 – Xander Goodwin (Belleville W) D 4-0 Corey Bell (Mahomet-Seymour)

138 – Ben Capitosti (Mattoon) D 4-3 Aiden Colbert (Belleville W)

144 – Grady Neil (Metamora) D 6-0 Kaleb Collins (Mahomet-Seymour)

150 – DeAndre Hughey (Mahomet-Seymour) F 3:05 Hunter Hardwick (Normal Community)

157 – Gage Decker (Mahomet-Seymour) TF 5:28 Jaydon Fisher (Metamora)

165 – Kaden Becker (Mt. Zion) D 7-1 Ean Freeman (Mattoon)

175 – Gus Schreiber (Normal West) D 7-5 Justin Hay (Glenwood)

190 – Brock VanDeveer (Mahomet-Seymour) fft. Ethan Hofmeister (Belleville W)

215 – Shamonte Matthews (Belleville W) F 1:42 Justin Riley (Belleville W)

285 – Kenwyn Home (Belleville W) F 2:35 Ty Dykes (Metamora)

Final team scores: 1. Normal Community (418.5) 2. Normal West (358.5) 3. Mattoon (354.5) 4. Mahomet-Seymour (354) 5. Ft. Zumwalt North, MO (326.5) 6. Glenwood (315) 7. Belleville West (307) 8. Mt. Zion (258.5) 9. Metamora (250.5) 10. Lincoln (226) 11. Champaign Centennial (223.5) 12. St. Laurence (215) 13. Champaign Central (210.5) 14. Richland County (174) 15. Carbondale (169) 16. Hoopeston (168.5 17. Taylorville (37.5)

Marty Williams Girls Invitational

Glance at the Illinois girls state rankings at 100 pounds, and the first freshman you’ll see ranked comes in at No. 8 per the current Illinois Matmen rankings list.

That freshman is Glenwood’s Kadi Wilbern, whom Titans coach Jerod Bruner calls “one of the most exciting wrestlers to watch in the state.”

Bruner brought four girls to this year’s Marty Williams Invite, and Wilbern was one of three individual champions for the Titans, along with Izzy Resendez (125) and Jenna Tuxhorn (140). Add an additional third-place finish from Elsie Dozier (155) and Glenwood had enough to top the 11-team field in Mahomet.

Glenwood edged second-place host Mahomet-Seymour 67-52 for the team title. Clinton (28), Metamora (27) and Mattoon (26) rounded out the top five teams. Normal West (25), Mt. Zion (18), Champaign Central (14), Normal Community (14), Champaign Centennial (12) and Rochester (12) completed the tournament roster.

No team present entered more than five wrestlers in competition, and only seven weight classes were wrestled.

1st place: Glenwood (67)

The four girls from Glenwood made it count, with their three top-three finishes and three champions.

“It’s really neat to see how far our girl’s program has come in just a few years,” Bruner said. “I think in part it’s a carry over from when Maya Davis was dominating the girls wrestling scene. Now we have multiple girls in the program who just expect to be the best.”

Davis won an Illinois state title at 115 in 2022 for Glenwood, in the inaugural IHSA girls state tournament. Davis now wrestles for Grand View University in Iowa.

In a round-robin format for every weight, Wilbern (21-4) pinned her first three opponents, each in under a minute, before winning by fall over Normal West’s Cheyenna Anderson in the second period to secure the title at 110 pounds.

Resendez (9-3) won 5-1 over Clinton’s Joi Lord to earn the top prize at 125, and Tuxhorn (15-1) fall against Champaign Central’s Londyn Grant got her the title at 140. Third-placer Dozier (5-4) won by fall over fourth-place Brooklyn Fuller of Mattoon.

Wilbern, Resendez, and Dozier are all freshmen, and Tuxhorn is only a sophomore.

“(Tuxhorn) has only been wrestling a short time and improves every match. She is definitely ready to make a name for herself throughout the state,” Bruner said. “Izzy just came into our program this year and got her first ever title after wrestling for Rochester for a number of years. We are just going to continue to see her growth along with first year Elsie Dozier.  Elsie continues to improve and win big matches along the way. “

2nd place: Mahomet-Seymour

Bulldogs coach Jeff Castor got a pair of titles from Isabelle Leyhe (16-2 at 120) and Grace Ribbe (17-4 at 90), thirds from Lily Daniels (120) and Jaycee Fancher (15-6 at 125), and a fourth from Kalista Granadino (15-6 at 115).

3rd place: Clinton (28)

The Lady Maroons got a second-place finish from Joi Lord (14-7 at 125), a third from Ariana Hunes (115), and a fourth from Sandra Clark (110) for coach Matt Cooper. 

Also winning individual titles in Mahomet were Mt. Zion’s Sydney Cannon (115) and Metamora’s Paytyn Dykes (155). Cannon placed third in Illinois at 110 last year.

Top individual statistics:

Most pins, least time – 4 in 4:28 by Mt. Zion’s Sydney Cannon

Fastest fall – 0:12 by Normal Community West’s Amelia McClure

Most team points – 22 by Glenwood’s Izzy Resendez

Most single-match points – 20 by Normal Community West’s Cheyenna Anderson 

Most total match points – Champaign Centennial’s Ava Beldo 

Mahomet-Seymour championship match results:

110 – Kadi Wilbern (Glenwood) F 3:06 Carly Ho (Rochester)

115 – Sydney Cannon (Mt. Zion) F 0:44 Ava Beldo (Champaign Centennial)

120 – Isabelle Leyhe (Mahomet-Seymour) MD 10-2 Trey Fletcher (Normal Community)

125 – Izzy Resendez (Glenwood) D 5-1 Joi Lord (Clinton)

140 – Jenna Tuxhorn (Glenwood) F 3:11 Londyn Grant (Champaign Central)

155 – Paytyn Dykes (Metamora) F 3:05 Logan Crist (Mattoon)

190 – Grace Ribbe (Mahomet-Seymour) F 1:03 Alexis Clouthier-Mattocks (Normal West)

Final team scores: 1. Glenwood (67) 2. Mahomet-Seymour (52) 3. Clinton (28) 4. Metamora (27) 5. Mattoon (26) 6. Normal Community West (25) 7. Mt. Zion (18) 8. Champaign Central (14) 8. Normal Community (14) 10. Champaign Centennial (12) 10. Rochester (12)

Urbana Wrestling Invitational

Danville won the 10-team Urbana Invite on the strength of four individual champions, one runner-up, and 12 wrestlers placing in the top six of their weight classes for coach Marcus Forrest.

The Vikings won 187.5-149.5 over second-place Rochester. University (141) finished third, followed by East Alton-Wood River (101) and Effingham (92.5) to round out the top five team finishes. Host Urbana (88.5) was sixth, followed by Heyworth (86), Charleston (84), Williamsville (68) and Lanphier (42.5).

1st place: Danville (187.5)

The Vikings got individual titles from Josiah Williams (138), Marquan Shaw (150), Tristan Poplous (157) and Phillip Shaw IV (175), plus a second-place finish from Ty Rangel (132).

Phoenix Parker (190) placed third, Kendrick Pittman (126) and Kamarion Miles (285) finished fourth, Tyjuan Reed (215) placed fifth, and the Vikings got sixths from Gavin Rule (120), Sir Timothy White (126), and Elijah Jefferson (144).

2nd place: Rochester (149.5)

Coach Brad Alewelt got a pair of titles from Pierce Bultmann (106) and Connor Broughton (190), seconds from Conner Carroll (120) and Drake Pfeiffer (144), and thirds from Miles Carroll (120), Nick Mrozowski (126) and James Escobar (150) for the second-place Rockets.

Rochester also got a fourth from Walker Quimby (138), a fifth from Dylan Estes (144), and a sixth from Jared Lauwerens (215).

3rd place: University (141)

Coach Caleb Phillips’ boys from Normal earned him three individual titles, from Joshua Butler (120), Nolan Lowe (126), and Ethan Lowe (144), plus a second from Landon Hinkle (285). Clayton Piper (106) and Charles Karun (175) placed third for the Pioneers, Joseph Hunt (215) was fourth, and Joshua Carabello (150) placed sixth.

Other individual champions in Urbana were East Alton-Wood River’s Jamal Burgess (132) and Drake Champlin (215), Urbana’s Edwin Villagomez (165), and Williamsville’s Matthew Crouch.

Second-place finishers also included Heyworth’s Landon Niesiawski (106) and Logan Stout (150), Effingham’s Kaiden Stewart (126), Gage Emmerich (157) and Jeremiah Lorton (215), Urbana’s Malachi Hutchinson (138), Charleston’s Koltan Dare (165) and Marcelix Boling (190), and Lanphier’s Jaylen Crowder (175).

Top individual statistics:

Most pins, least time – 4 in 6:19 by Williamsville’s Anthony Beckman

Most tech falls, least time – 1 in 2:47 by Danville’s Josiah Williams

Most single-match points – 24 by Heyworth’s Michael Vacca

Most total match points – 38 by Danville’s Josiah Williams

Most team points – 5-way tie with 28 by East Alton-Wood River’s Jamal Burgess and Drake Champlin, Rochester’s Connor Broughton, University’s Nolan Lowe, and Williamsville’s Matthew Crouch.

Urbana Invite championship match results: (no wrestlers entered at 113)

106 – Pierce Bultmann (Rochester) F 2:49 Landon Niesiawski (Heyworth)

120 – Joshua Butler (University) D 7-4 Conner Carroll (Rochester)

126 – Nolan Lowe (University) F 2:57 Kaiden Stewart (Effingham)

132 – Jamal Burgess (East Alton-Wood River) F 5:58 Ty Rangel (Danville)

138 – Josiah Williams (Danville) MD 10-2 Malachi Hutchinson (Urbana)

144 – Ethan Lowe (University) D 8-6 Drake Pfeiffer (Rochester)

150 – Marquan Shaw (Danville) F 0:55 Logan Stout (Heyworth)

157 – Tristan Poplous (Danville) F 2:45 Gage Emmerich (Effingham)

165 – Edwin Villagomez (Urbana) F 3:35 Koltan Dare (Charleston)

175 – Phillip Shaw IV (Danville) F 2:22 Jaylen Crowder (Lanphier)

190 – Connor Broughton (Rochester) F 3:45 Marcelix Boling (Charleston)

215 – Drake Champlin (East Alton-Wood River) F 2:32 Jeremiah Lorton (Effingham)

285 – Matthew Crouch (Williamsville) F 1:20 Landon Hinkle (University)

Third-place matches:

106 – Clayton Piper (University) Inj. 3:23 Haley Richter (Heyworth)

120 – Miles Carroll (Rochester) F 5:02 Jack Rutledge (Heyworth)

126 – Nick Mrozowski (Rochester) F 1:27 Kendrick Pittman (Danville)

132 – Austin Schnitker (Lanphier) F 6:00 Terrance Brewer (Urbana)

138 – Baker Moon (Effingham) F 1:58 Walker Quimby (Rochester)

144 – Trevor Soice (Heyworth) MD 17-4 Emiliano Bedello (Urbana)

150 – James Escobar (Rochester) F 2:52 Jonnah Fonner (Urbana)

157 – Alexander England (Charleston)

165 – None

175 – Charles Karun (University) D 10-3 Michael Soto (East Alton-Wood River)

190 – Phoenix Parker (Danville) F 5:53 Anthony Beckman (Williamsville)

215 – Mayson Buckman (Williamsville) F 1:35 Joseph Hunt (University)

285 – Stormy Hughes (Charleston) D 8-4 Kamarion Miles (Danville)

Final team scores: 1. Danville (187.5) 2. Rochester (149.5) 3. University (141) 4. East Alton-Wood River (101) 5. Effingham (92.5) 6. Urbana (88.5) 7. Heyworth (86) 8. Charleston (84) 9. Williamsville (68) 10. Lanphier (42.5)

Edwardsville captures title at Steve Johnston Girls Invite in Kentucky

Edwardsville’s girls team was scheduled to compete in the Oswego East Invite this past weekend, but bad weather forced it to look for another competition that it could participate in.

That’s where Seth Livingston helped the Tigers’ cause significantly. The Bloomington graduate who was a 2000 Class AA heavyweight champion and a two-time state finalist and later an assistant coach for the Purple Raiders, also had assistant jobs in Texas and Kentucky before taking over as head coach at Paducah Tilghman in Paducah, Kentucky. A year ago, his Blue Tornado boys won the KHSAA championship and he was the KYWCA Coach of the Year.

Livingston allowed the Tigers, who are coached by 2019 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Jon Wagner, to compete in the Steve Johnston Memorial Girls Invite that Tilghman hosted and Edwardsville easily claimed the championship in the event by scoring 252.5 points while Ste. Genevieve, Missouri took second place with 173.5 points. 

Three other squads from Illinois also took part in the 15-team tournament, with Goreville/Vienna (92.5) taking fifth, Marion (47) placing seventh and Anna-Jonesboro claiming 14th place.

Winning titles for the champion Tigers were Genevieve Dykstra (100), Olive Linhorst (126), Holly Zugmaier (132) and Tayla Phillips (235) while Goreville/Vienna’s Alivia Ming (145) also was a champion in the tournament.

Edwardsville

Leading the way for coach Jon Wagner’s first place Edwardsville Tigers were title winners Genevieve Dykstra (100), Olive Linhorst (126), Holly Zugmaier (132) and Tayla Phillips (235) while Alison Kirk (100), Gianna Linhorst (107) and Lydia Blind (138) took second place.

Dykstra (20-4) won a 2-0 decision over Kirk (8-6) in the matchup of the top two finishers in round robin at 100. Olive Linhorst (17-7) was a 3-1 winner over Union County, KY’s Brailey Jackson in the 126 finals. Zugmaier (22-3) captured an 8-4 decision over Union County, KY’s Drew Sprague in the 132 finals. And Phillips (25-4) won by fall in 1:32 over Henderson County, KY’s Jasmin Beckham in the 235 finals.

Union County. KY’s Tanya Bacon won by fall in 3:18 over Gianna Linhorst (20-4) in the matchup of top two finishers in round robin at 107. And Ste. Genevieve, MO’s Ragan Picou recorded a pin in 2:53 over Blind (15-10) in the match between the top two in round robin at 138.

Olivia Coll (107), Alie Chong (114) and Abbrey Dewerff (165) placed third, finishing fourth were Maddy Allen (107) and Marrisa Wiley (165), taking fifth were Desi Ollis (138) and Kenna Ahart (152) while Victoria White (185) placed sixth. Madison Aldrich (132) was eighth, Alex Simpson (145) finished ninth and Katie Jarman (145) and Abigail Hayes (185) took 10th place. Coll took sixth at state at 100 in the first IHSA Finals in 2022.

“We were scheduled to go to the Oswego East girls tourney, but we got cancelled,” Wagner said. “Former Bloomington standout Seth Livingston allowed us in as a late addition. It was nice to see different competition and we were grateful for him letting us in. The girls wrestled great.”

Goreville/Vienna

Top performers for coach Bart Pulliam’s fifth-place Goreville/Vienna Blackcats were champion Alivia Ming (145), runner-up Krista McBride (185) and third-place finisher Liberty McBride (185). Ariel Board (126) took fourth and Madalynn Lapatas (132) and Reese Geyman (152) were sixth.

Ming (21-0) won by fall in 0:57 over Fort Campbell, KY’s Jennifer Velazquez in the 145 title match. Krista McBride (19-5) lost by technical fall in 5:50 to Poplar Bluff, MO’s Zoe Freeman in the 185 championship match. Ming is a two-time IHSA medalist, finishing second at 140 last season to Edwardsvile’s Mackenzie Pratt and placing fourth at 135 in inaugural state finals.

Marion

Turning in the best showings for coach Darren Lindsey’s Marion Wildcats were fourth-place finishers Alauni Muex (120) and Brooklyn Phemister (152) while Daisjha Cooper (145), Melissa Comerford (165) and Olivia McDermott (235) all finished sixth.

The Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats, who are coached by Chase Hargrave, were led by fifth-place finisher Hayden Williamson (107).

Best records for top-four finishers from Illinois schools are Alivia Ming at 145 (21-0, 1.000), Holly Zugmaier at 132 (22-3, .880), Tayla Phillips at 235 (25-4, .862), Genevieve Dykstra at 100 (20-4, .833), Gianna Linhorst at 107 (20-4, .833), Krista McBride at 185 (19-5, .792) and Liberty McBride at 185 (11-3, .786).

Alivia Ming tied for first place with Poplar Bluff, MO’s Zoe Freeman for the most team points with 33.5 while Holly Zugmaier was third with 32.5 points, Olive Linhorst ranked sixth with 31 points, Tayla Phillips was seventh with 30 points and Krista McBride tied for eighth with 28 team points.

Melissa Comerford and Holly Zugmaier tied Cape Girardeau Central, MO’s Niah Hopkins for second place in total match points with 33. Tayla Phillips tied five others for the second-most falls with five, and she pulled off that feat in just 3:30, which was the fastest of those five. 

Edwardsville edged Ste. Genevieve, MO 32-31 for the most falls and the champion Tigers easily had the most match points with 327, finishing well ahead of Ste. Genevievee, MO, which had 153 points.

Title matches for Tilghman, KY’s Steve Johnston Memorial Girls Invite (Illinois finalists)

100 – Genevieve Dykstra (Edwardsville) D 2-0 Alison Kirk (Edwardsville) round robin

107 – Tanya Bacon (Union County, KY) F 3:18 Gianna Linhorst (Edwardsville) round robin

126 – Olive Linhorst (Edwardsville) D 3-1 Brailey Jackson (Union County, KY)

132 – Holly Zugmaier (Edwardsville) D 8-4 Drew Sprague (Union County, KY) 

138 – Ragan Picou (Ste. Genevieve, MO) F 2:53 Lydia Blind (Edwardsville) round robin

145 – Alivia Ming (Goreville/Vienna) F 0:57 Jennifer Velazquez (Fort Campbell, KY)

185 – Zoe Freeman (Poplar Bluff, MO) TF 5:50 Krista McBride (Goreville/Vienna)

235 – Tayla Phillips (Edwardsville) F 1:32 Jasmin Beckham (Henderson County, KY)

Team scoring for Paducah Tilghman, KY’s Steve Johnston Memorial Girls Invite

1. Edwardsville 252.5, Ste. Genevieve, MO 173.5, 3, Union County, KY 161, 4. Fort Campbell, KY 131, 5. Goreville/Vienna 92.5, 6, Henderson County, KY 83.5, 7, Marion 47. 8. Trigg County, KY 42, 9. Poplar Bluff, MO 33.5, 10. South Warren, KY 21, 11. Caldwell County, KY 20, 12. Cape Girardeau Central, MO 18, 12. Fairdale, KY 18, 14. Anna-Jonesboro 7, 15. Paducah Tilghman, KY 0 

Waterloo boys finish second at St. Charles, Missouri Invite

Waterloo scored 192 points to edge Mexico, Missouri by two points to capture second place in the 23-team St. Charles Invitational, which took place in St. Charles, Missouri. Warrenton, Missouri won the title with 235 points in which Waterloo was the lone non-Missouri entrant.

Leading the way for coach Chase Guercio’s runner-up Bulldogs were champions Konnor Stephens (120) and Jackson Deutch (175) while Ty Kinzinger (126) and Brady Rose (165) took third. Matthew Deutch (106), Bladen Sease (150) and Vince Goodman (215) placed fourth, Drew Glowacki (285) finished fifth and Cainen Buechel (113) claimed sixth place.

Waterloo owned a 15-1 record in dual meets heading into this week and the Bulldogs also won the Marion Dual Team Tournament earlier this season.

In the 120 championship match, Stephens (26-9) won by fall in 1:16 over St. Charles, MO’s Taylor Souders. And in the 175 title match, Jackson Deutch (27-6) recorded a pin in 1:21 over Fulton, MO’s Elijah Brocksmith. 

Jackson Deutch and Stephens tied two others for the most total team points with 32. That pair and Rose tied four others who recorded four falls during the competition, with Stephens getting his falls in 3:52, which was the second-quickest time to achieve that feat. 

Anna-Jonesboro, Marion lead boys at Johnston Invite in Paducah, Kentucky

The Wildcats of both Anna-Jonesboro and Marion led the way for four boys teams from Illinois who participated in Paducah Tilghman’s Steve Johnston Memorial Invitational, a 17-team competition which was held in Paducah, Kentucky.

Anna-Jonesboro (220) took fifth place and Marion (202) claimed sixth while Goreville/Vienna (119.5) was 11th and Herrin (68) finished 14th in a tournament that featured athletes from Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Indiana.

The team championship was easily won by the host Blue Tornado, who took first place with 429 points, 100 points better than runner-up Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. Paducah Tilghman is coached by Seth Livingston, a Bloomington graduate who was a 2000 IHSA Class AA champion at 285 and also a two-time finalist. Last season, he led the Blue Tornado to the KHSAA state championship and he was recognized as the KYWCA Coach of the Year. 

The lone Illinois athlete who won a title was Anna-Jonesboro’s Drew Sadler (120). His twin sister, Zoee (106), competed in the boys tournament rather than the girls competition which was also at Tilghman and she took second place. Two others from Illinois were also runners-up in the competition, Goreville/Vienna’s Jeremiah Pulliam (126) and Herrin’s Blue Bishop (150).

Three of the four finalists were also IHSA medalists last season. Zoee Sadler, was the runner-up at 105 to Loyola Academy’s Harlee Hiller while Drew Sadler took third at 106 in Class 1A and Bishop placed fourth at 145 in Class 1A.

Anna-Jonesboro

The top performers for coach Chase Hargrave’s fifth-place Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats were the brother and sister twin tandem of champion Drew Sadler (120) and runner-up Zoee Sadler (106). Taking third was Daniel Dover (144) while Aaron Sheffer (165) finished fourth, Drew Holshouser (175) placed fifth and Eddie Dahmer (285) was sixth.

Drew Sadler (39-2) claimed top honors at 120 when he captured a 12-2 major decision over Ste. Genevieve, MO’s Brody Winters. And Zoee Sadler (29-8) lost by fall in 3:22 to St. Xavier, KY’s Nathaniel Bueter in the 106 title match.

Marion

Turning in the best finishes for coach Darren Lindsey’s sixth-place Marion Wildcats were Hunter Gibb (138) and Tate Miller (165), who took third place and Jkwon Williamson (113), Caden Frey (144) and Caleb Ohnesorge (150), who finished fourth. Justin Murphy (157) and Bryan Madinger (215) took fifth place and Juelz Elliott (106) claimed sixth.

Goreville

Coach Bart Pulliam’s Goreville/Vienna Blackcats were led by Jeremiah Pulliam (22-5), who claimed second place at 126 after losing by fall in 2:49 to Paducah Tilghman, KY’s Jayven Williams in the title match. And Matt Crim (120) captured a sixth-place finish.

Herrin

Leading the way for coach Kelsey Lewis’ Herrin Tigers was runner-up Blue Bishop (29-1), who

lost for the first time when he was edged 4-2 by Evansville North, IN’s Cale Bonenberger (29-0) in a clash of unbeatens in the 150 title match. In addition, Kolby Coffey (165) and Logan Dirden (215) both claimed sixth-place finishes.

Drew Sadler, the champion at 120, led all 186 competitors in the tournament with the most team points with 50.5, which was one more than the second-place finisher, Paducah Tilghman’s Jayven Williams, who defeated Goreville/Vienna’s Jeremiah Pulliam in the 126 finals.

Top-four finishers who have the best records following the tournament are Blue Bishop at 150 (29-1, .967), Drew Sadler at 120 (39-2, .951), Jeremiah Pulliam at 126 (22-5, .815), Zoee Sadler at 106 (29-8, .784) and Daniel Dover at 144 (25-8, .758).

Drew Sadler also tied for fourth in total match points with 46 while Blue Bishop tied for sixth place with 44 points. Daniel Dover, Drew Holshouser and Hunter Gibb all tied for second place with the most falls with four. Anna-Jonesboro and Marion tied for fifth with 23 falls and Marion had the fifth-most total match points with 241.

Granite City, Waterloo girls at St. Charles, Missouri Invite

Despite having only four competitors, Granite City placed seventh with 82 points at the 22-team St. Charles Girls Invitational in St. Charles, Missouri. Waterloo also took part in the event, in which Francis Howell Central, MO scored 274.5 points and won the title by 120.5 points.

Leading coach John Venne’s Granite City Warriors was champion Ma’Kayla Bonner (110) while Audrey Barnes (135) and Chloe West (170) took second place and Briana Ramirez (105) finished fourth. Waterloo’s Samantha Eaton (120) claimed sixth place.

Bonner (15-10) won the championship at 110 with a fall in 3:41 over Fulton, MO’s Savannah Leeper. Barnes (11-8) took second place at 135 after getting pinned in 4:00 by Francis Howell Central’s Sophie Johnson. And West (7-9) lost the 170 title match after suffering a fall in 0:40 to Fulton, MO’s Carly Foster.

Bonner tied three others for eighth place for the most team points with 26. And Barnes tied one other individual for having the largest seed to place differential at 12 after being seeded 14th and then finishing in second place at 135.

Althoff Catholic boys at St. Charles West, Missouri Invite

Althoff Catholic scored 85 points to finish in ninth place at the 17-team St. Charles West Invitational in St. Charles, Missouri. Coach Emanuel Brooks’ Crusaders were the only non-Missouri team in the competition. 

Leading the way for the Crusaders were champions Brenden Rayl (132) and Jason Dowell (285). Rayl (19-1) recorded a fall in 2:16 to win the 132 title over Timberland, MO’s Wyatt Berra. And Dowell (17-1) won top honors at 285 with a 3-1 win by sudden victory over Whitfield, MO’s Adrian Harrold. Other top finishers were Enrique Morales (285), who finished fourth, and Alex Schallert (150), who took sixth place.

Rayl tied for first place along with four others with 30 team points while Dowell tied for eighth in that category with 28 team points. Rayl also tied for fourth place with 38 total match points and tied for second place for the most falls with four. It was the third title of the season for both Rayl and Dowell. Last season, Dowell took third at 285 in Class 1A while competing for Cahokia.

By Chris Walker For the IWCOA

Hononegah has its sights set on getting back to state as a team this February.

The Indians already have been there several times before, but not since 2016. They last brought home a trophy 10 years ago when current coach Tyler DeMoss was the state runner-up at 170 and they returned with the fourth place team trophy in Class 3A.

On Saturday they got their work in and a lot of success while they were at it during the Clint Arlis Invitational at Batavia, sending seven wrestlers to the finals and winning six of those championship matches to capture the team title.

“As a whole, seven in the finals and six champs is great,” DeMoss said. “Our back half, the other seven, didn’t place so there’s plenty to work on with those guys. Our top half of the lineup did great. They’re starting to come together as a team, which is super important for the end of the year. We’re about to make our state run and team state run so they are coming together at the right time.

“Our top seven really blew kids out of the water today.”

The Indians (189.5) received their biggest competition from Washington (172.5), Marmion (168.5), Naperville North (147) and Maine South (138).

Rocco Cassioppi won the OWA for the lower weights (106-150) and teammate Brody Sendele was named outstanding wrestler in the upper weights (157-285).

The 14-team field included Perry High School from Gilbert, Ariz., which is where San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy played.

“They had a coach from Illinois and they had the opportunity to reach out late in the summer,” Batavia coach Ryan Farwell said. “Some probably saw snow for the first time. It was a really fun tournament and you get to see the different competition, 2A to 3A and it’s all really good. It’s a tournament we’re really proud of and we competed well today.”

Perry (129) was sixth and followed by Lemont (112.5), host Batavia (98) and Bolingbrook (95.5) and Andrew (95.5), which tied for ninth place.

Downers Grove North (74.5), Jacobs (73), West Chicago (48) and Harlem (20) also competed in an invitational whose start was delayed. It was pushed back two hours to an 11 a.m. start due to the wintry conditions and the challenges presented with a number of the teams having to travel lengthy distances to get to Batavia.

Hononegah junior Connor Diemel found himself in a tight championship battle with Washington senior Cael Miller at 165, but was able to prevail by a 3-2 decision.

Kurt Smith (175) also won by a decision in his title bout for the Indians while Bruno Cassioppi won by major decision, Brody Sendele (157) prevailed by tech fall and Rocco Cassioppi (106) and TJ Silva (132) won by fall.

Jackson Olson (120), Robert Darling (138), Max Aranki (144) and Isaak Smith (215) each collected single wins for Hononegah.

Washington also placed second a year ago while Marmion, which won it last year, took third.

“It was a great tournament,” DeMoss said. “We haven’t seen Marmion all year so it was great to see them and Washington is always a super tough 2A team. and there were a couple other teams in there and some really great individual match-ups today. I’m happy we could make it through the snow and get down here.”

Prior to the championship matches, Batavia assistant coach Tom Arlis thanked the wrestlers, coaches and the fans who had chosen to spend their Saturday with pretty much non-stop wrestling action in the cozy comfort of a packed gymnasium. 

Arlis, who is a member of the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame, tragically lost his son Clint two years ago this month. Clint Arlis was a three-time state qualifier and two-time conference champion for the Bulldogs in the early oughts. He wrestled at the University of Illinois where he also was teammates with Mike Poeta who is now the head coach for the Illini. 

“I want to thank Dave Andrews, the athletic director here, and all of the Batavia family which is a close knit group, and the amount of love that was shared after Clint’s passing it was unbelievable from the community, and that goes for everyone that is here. We are all part of the wrestling community. You guys that are wresting now, (and) girls, you are like part of the fraternity now. There were so many wrestlers that had wrestled Clint, all his past coaches, everyone showed up at the wake. It was just unbelievable. He made an impact on a lot of people.

“And not just that, we’re all close. We all went to the same grueling practice. It is the greatest sport on earth if you ask me, I want to welcome everybody here I wish everyone luck and hope you all come back next year.”

After Arlis finished speaking a short pre-recorded message from Poeta was shared.

“Clint was not only a teammate of mine but a great friend of mine, (and) a roommate,’ Poeta said. “And what he did at U of I was nothing short of amazing. He worked so incredibly hard. He was so dedicated and turned himself into a starter at U of I, and not just the guy in the weight class, but a guy to be feared at the weight class. He had a very successful senior year and the last guy I want to see on the other side of that line was Clint Arlis because I knew he was going to bring it. He was all heart and heart is what embodies Clint. And last year we started the Clint Arlis Heart Award and it goes to the hardest working guy on the team who I see in the future being a superstar, a guy that is a huge contributor to the program, and I get a goosebumps even thinking about who got it last year and who gets it this year because they’re such special kids and getting an award based on such a special guy.”

Clint Arlis Invitational champions:

106 – Rocco Cassioppi, Hononegah

Cassioppi wasted little time in his championship win against Jacobs freshman Kristian DeClercq, winning by fall in 1:01.

“It was really good,” he said. “But not everyone wrestled their best. The guys who wrestled good, wrestled very good. Cooper (Diemel at 165) wrestled amazing. He stayed calm through a kind of a bonus call. I thought he wrestled phenomenal.”

The Indians truly have their hearts set on team success.

“We just had some people that didn’t place and we need them to start placing to get more team points,” he said. “We’re going to try to make it to team state and if we’re going to do that we’re going to need everyone to contribute. We need everyone there.”

Perry senior Maximilian Garibay won by decision against Marmion freshman Logan Conniver to win the third place match at 106. Meanwhile, another Marmion freshman, Cole Waller, snuck past Andrew freshman Jerry Donnelly on the fifth-place mat.

113 – Bruno Cassioppi, Hononegah

While Bruno Cassioppi wasn’t able to duplicate what his twin Rocco did at 106 in pinning his opponent, he still won in convincing fashion, earning a 12-4 major decision against Andrew’s Nadeem Haleem.

“It’s been fantastic to come out here as freshmen and do as well as we’ve been doing,” he said. “I think I definitely could’ve done better. I kind of got into my own head in a couple of my matches. I just need to let my offense fly. I think I can do much better.”

Maine South sophomore Brett Harman won by a 4-3 decision over Downers Grove North senior Tyler Tiancgo to take third place. Perry junior Cash LaFlesch won by a 9-2 decision over Bolingbrook’s Isaac Harris for fifth place.

120 – Nicholas Garcia, Marmion

Garcia took down Teddy Flores from Maine South by a 2-1 decision to hand the senior his first loss this season after opening with 33 straight wins.

For Garcia, a sophomore who seriously despises losing, he was driven by personal reasons.

“I really just wanted a shot at him for a personal reason,” he said. “I wanted to prove to myself that I can beat anyone at 120. I want to beat everyone at 113. It hasn’t happened yet, but hopefully one day I can.”

It was a long day for everyone on Saturday with the meet pushed back until a late morning start and awards not ending until around eight o’clock in the evening. That was just adversity that athletes like Garcia really don’t waste their time thinking about, understanding that certain things are simply beyond their control. 

Plus, wrestlers are used to pressure and distractions. It’s how they respond to them that helps define who they are. For Garcia, he focused on his goals, didn’t let anything get in the way of them, and then proceeded to end Flores’ perfect season.

“I really wanted it,” he said. “I didn’t really feel anything. I’ve been under a lot of pressure before – blood rounds, Super 32, Ironman – and so it’s not that I get nervous and stress out. Losing is a fear of mine, I hate losing and you get a little scared but it’s nothing compared to some of the stuff I’ve been through.”

Batavia senior Ino Garcia bounced back after a 3-1 loss to Nicholas Garcia in the semifinals to take third place. Garcia defeated Washington’s Noah Woods by decision on the third-place mat after winning by fall in the consolation semis. In a battle pairing two juniors, Bolingbrook’s Jared Craig won by decision over West Chicago’s Ryan Alvarado to take fifth.

126 – Max Siegel, Andrew

Last year’s champ at 113, Siegel dominated once again this year in the senior’s final appearance at the Arlis Invite. Siegel fought for a major decision win over Naperville North’s Ben Messier for the title. Last year he won by fall against Batavia’s Ino Garcia for the title. Garcia finished in third place at 120 this year.

On the third-place mat, Perry’s Adis Wesson ensured he’d leave Illinois with a win in his final match at Batavia, scoring a win by fall over Maine South’s Jack Handley. In the battle for fifth place, Batavia sophomore Kyle Pasco slipped by West Chicago freshman Israel Milazzo by a 6-5 decision.

132 – Thomas (T.J.) Silva, Hononegah

Returning to action for the first time in a while after being sidelined with an injury, Silva (14-4) won by fall over Washington’s Timmy Smith (22-13) for the 132 title.

Marmion senior Donny Pigeon won by a 2-1 decision over Maine South junior Luke Morrison to take third place while Perry senior Ferrin Goldstein prevailed by disqualification against Lemont senior Carter Mikolajczak.

138 – Wyatt Medlin, Washington

Medlin (33-4) won by fall over Naperville North’s Tyler Sternstein for the 138 title. A tech fall victory over West Chicago’s Donovan Avila in the semis got him to the finals, while in his other match he also won by fall in less than a minute.

Avila was one of three West Chicago wrestlers to place. He was also the Wildcats most successful one, winning by decision against Lemont’s Cory Zator to take third place. Meanwhile, on the fifth-place mat, Downers Grove North’s Caden Chiarelli won by fall against Harlem’s Ethan Hagerman.

144 – Ashton Hobson, Marmion

Hobson (26-5) outlasted his opponents throughout the tournament. After opening with a win by tech fall against Andrew’s Luis Cabral, the sophomore won three straight matches by decision, including an 8-7 win against Batavia senior Aidan Huck.

“This doesn’t mean too much, it’s just another step,” Hobson said. “All my matches were pretty tough and I kind of fought through it and did the best I could.”

As for Huck, it was his second straight year of falling by a slim margin in the finals. Last year he dropped a 9-7 decision in the 126 final.

“Aidan Huck is wrestling wrestling really well,” Batavia coach Ryan Farwell said. “I know he wanted that match, but overall Aidan is again one of those guys that is going to compete to be on the podium this February.”

Sophomore Aaron Camacho’s loss to Hobson in the semifinals was just his second defeat of the season. He pushed it aside and bounced back, taking third place with a win by fall against Maine South’s Gavin Hoerr. For fifth place, Washington’s Jonathon Rokey won by fall against fellow senior Cameron Phipps of Perry.

150 – Noah O’Connor, Lemont

O’Connor was beginning to wonder if he and his team would even travel to Batavia and compete.

“We weren’t sure if we were even going to wrestle today with all the snow,” he said. “I was making weight yesterday and I wasn’t sure if they were just going to cut it off without doing it.”

While he couldn’t control the weather, he certainly could control how he wrestled and it was business as usual for the senior.

“In terms of the mental game, I just like to think of every match as the same,” he said. “I’m not thinking about the outcome, about winning or losing, I’m just thinking abut wrestling my hardest throughout the match. Whether it’s a kid who is unranked or a kid that is ranked higher than me, I want to warm up the same way, prepare myself before the match the same way and try to just go all out even if they’re way worse than me. If they’re way worse than me I’ll cut them and keep getting takedowns and either way try to use up my whole gas tank to make it better.”

He improved to 33-3 with a 6-2 decision over over Rockton Hononegah’s Max Haskins to capture the 150 title.

“I felt pretty dominant throughout the match,” O’Connor said,. “He had a takedown first period but it was like a takedown on the edge of the mat so it was debatable and nothing besides that. And in the first period at the end I was able to get a reversal which was pretty critical, because if it would’ve been close that tied it at the end of the first period. I was able to escape and ride him out second period and ride out for all the third period so I felt pretty dominant that match.”

O’Connor had placed at Hinsdale Central’s Rex Whitlatch Invitational about a month ago, but didn’t win it.

“That was a really tough tournament and I took fourth,” he said. “So it felt good to win this one.”

Bolingbrook’s Marcus Poe took care of his foe from downstate to win third place at 150. Poe, a junior, won by fall against Washington senior Tyler Brown. Over on the fifth-place mat, Downers Grove North senior Antonio Manzo scored a major win over Marmion freshman Grayson Garcia.

157 – Brody Sendele, Hononegah

Sendele (34-1) was one of three freshmen to go home with titles for the Indians after he won by tech fall against Perry’s Jayden Kimling.

Sophomores squared off for third place at 157 with Bolingbrook’s Tommy McDermott winning by fall against Washington’s Cruise Trolley. In the fifth-place match, Naperville North junior Nick Oblazny won by a tiebreaker against Marmion senior Christian Favia.

165 – Connor Diemel, Hononegah

Diemel was thrilled to see six of his teammates also join him in title bouts. Afterwards the junior was impressed with their dominance in the finals as they won six of seven title matches.

“Once I heard we were starting (the finals) at 150, we were all pumped up because we were ready to go four champions in a row,” he said. “Max Haskins (150) wrestled a great tournament but didn’t quite get it done (in the title match) but wrestled good. It was really cool when we were doing the walkouts and we had a whole line of guys on the left side of the first place match.”

Diemel (32-4) earned a 3-2 decision to defeat Washington senior Cael Miller (26-9).

“I wish I would’ve put up a few more points in the match and make it not quite as close,” Diemel said. “I feel like I could’ve opened up my offense a bit more.”

Naperville North senior Matas Budreika won by decision against Jacobs seniors Daniel Mendez for third place at 165 while Lemont’s Nico LoCoco won by fall over Maine South’s Aidan Swenson for fifth.

175 – Kurt Smith, Hononegah

Smith (27-8) earned a 9-3 decision over Naperville North senior Kyle Gatlin (17-7) to win at 175.

Marmion sophomore Vincenzo Testa was one of three Cadets to win a third-place match, defeating Washington senior Zane Hulet by fall, while Jacobs sophomore Johnathan Strauss won by decision against Andrew junior Jordan Wandick.

190 – Ben Brown, Batavia

Brown lost early in last year’s tournament to Downers Grove North’s Griff Keown before rebounding to place fifth at 195.

He didn’t forget it.

“There was a sour taste last year,” Brown said. “I didn’t come out right and this year I made sure I did.”

Brown left the Arlis as its lone undefeated wrestler on the season, improving to 24-0 after a 9-2 decision against Naperville North’s Matt Murphy.

“He’s turning himself into a very solid wrestler and he keeps putting these competitions, these tough competitions, together,” Bulldogs coach Ryan Farwell said. “He’s showing he’s one of the top guys in the state.”

Brown watched Murphy’s previous match and used that brief bit of scouting to help him earn yet another win.

“He was almost getting majored and then threw his kid,” Brown said. “I knew I wanted to stay away from there and at the end of the match he tried to throw me and I kind just slipped him, sagged my hips. I knew I had to stay away from that stuff and just get to what works for me and get to my attacks and just wear hm down.”

Good wins along the way have only fed into his confidence which is growing by the day.

“I had some good wins in a Granite City tournament down in Southern Illinois,” he said. “So I’ve had good competition and I feel like I’ve gotten into good situations and good matches that have prepared me. I’m just looking to build and see how far this can take me.”

Over on the third-place mat, Lemont’s Daniel Taylor outscored Perry’s Ethan Austin for a win by decision while Austin’s teammate, Aidan Goodman won by fall over Maine South’s Tommy Behzad for fifth place.

215 – Joseph Favia, Marmion

A year after winning at 195 by a 2-1 decision, Favia moved up to 215 this year where he also won by a single point, surviving fellow sophomore Josh Hoffer from Washington, 3-2.

Coincidentally, by the same 3-2 score as Favia’s win over Hoffer, Naperville North sophomore Tariq Ibragimov beat Andrew junior Joseph Zimmer for third place while Perry senior Bo Hall prevailed by forfeit over Batavia junior Asher Sheldon.

285 – Alex Pasquale, Lemont

Pasquale and Maine South’s Tyler Fortis have run into each other at football camps and since they both play defensive tackle and also wrestle, they’ve had the opportunity to form a friendship of sorts despite their respective schools being 30 miles away

“You can be friends off the mat but as soon as that whistle blows, that’s their enemy in front of you,” Pasquale said. “You’ve got to take them down.”

Pasquale took the heavyweight title with a 2-1 win. Last year Pasquale placed third.

“That was a tough match and Tyler is always a great competitor,” Pasquale said. “I’ve been to football camp with him. We play the same position and I’ve wrestled him the two past years so we know each other quite well. It’s always a good time wrestling him, he’s a tough competitor.”

Pasquale said the victory starts by the work in the room.

“It always starts in the room,” he said. “Every day you’ve got to be able to practice. You’ve got to be able to put the time in and grind. If it’s hard, put your head down and just lick your lips and say, ‘I want this,’ and keep going after it.”

Marmion junior Mateusz Nycz won by fall over Bolingbrook’s Isaac Amos for third place while Washington sophomore Sean Thornton won by fall over Perry junior Braidi Glascock for fifth place.

Top individual statistics:

Most pins, least time – 4 in 15:55 by Perry’s Aidan Goodman

Most tech falls, least time – 2 in 7:42 by Marmion’s Donny Pignoni

Most pins/tech falls, least time – 4 in 11:34 by Marmion’s Vincenzo Testa

Fastest tech fall – 2:40 by Hononegah’s Bruno Cassioppi

Most team points – (tie) 28 by Hononegah’s Rocco Cassioppi and Hononegah’s Thomas Silva

Most single-match points – 26 by Andrew’s Max Siegel

Most total match points – 68 by Andrew’s Max Siegel

Championship matches for the Clint Arlis Invitational at Batavia (Jan 13, 2024):

106 – Rocco Cassioppi (Hononegah) F 1:01 Kristian DeClercq (Jacobs)

113 – Bruno Cassioppi (Hononegah) MD 12-4 Nadeem Halem (Andrew)

120 – Nicholas Garcia (Marmion) D 2-1 Teddy Flores (Maine South)

126 – Max Siegel (Andrew) MD 17-8 Ben Messier (Naperville North)

132 – Thomas Silva (Hononegah) F 3:12 Timmy Smith (Washington)

138 – Wyatt Medlin (Washington) F 0:48 Tyler Sternstein (Naperville North)

144 – Ashton Hobson (Marmion) D 8-7 Aidan Huck (Batavia)

150 – Noah O’Connor (Lemont) D 6-2 Max Haskins (Hononegah)

157 – Brody Sendele (Hononegah) TF-1.5 4:18 (20-5) Jayden Kimling (Perry)

165 – Connor Diemel (Hononegah) D 3-2 Cael Miller (Washington)

175 – Kurt Smith (Hononegah) D 9-3 Kyle Gatlin (Naperville North)

190 – Ben Brown (Batavia ) D 9-2 Matt Murphy (Naperville North)

215 – Joseph Favia (Marmion) D 3-2 Josh Hoffer (Washington)

285 – Alex Pasquale (Lemont D 2-1 Tyler Forrest (Maine South) 

Third-place matches:

106 – Max Garibay (Perry) D 11-8 Logan Conover (Marmion)

113 – Brett Harman (Maine South) D 4-3 Tyler Tiancgo (DG North)

120 – Ino Garcia (Batavia) D 5-2 Noah Woods (Washington)

126 – Adis Wesson (Perry) F 3:56 Jack Handley (Maine South)

132 – Donny Pignoni (Marmion) D 2-1 Luke Morrison (Maine South)

138 – Donovan Avila (West Chicago) D 10-6 Cory Zator (Lemont)

144 – Aaron Camacho (Bolingbrook) F 0:56 Gavin Hoerr (Maine South)

150 – Marcus Poe (Bolingbrook) F 3:46 Tyler Brown (Washington)

157 – Tommy McDermott (Bolingbrook) F 3:53 Cruise Brolley (Washington)

165 – Matas Budreika (Naperville N) D 9-4 Daniel Mendez (Jacobs)

175 – Vincenzo Testa (Marmion) F 3:44 Zane Hulet (Washington)

190 – Daniel Taylor (Lemont) D 8-6 Ethan Austin (Perry)

215 – Tafiq Ibragimov (Naperville N) D 3-2 Joseph Zimmer (Andrew)

285 – Mateusz Nycz (Marmion) F 3:34 Isaac Amoh (Bolingbrook)

Final team scores: 1. Hononegah (189.5) 2. Washington (172.5) 3. Marmion Academy (168.5) 4. Naperville North (147) 5. Maine South (138) 6. Perry, AZ (129) 7. Lemont (112.5) 8. Batavia (98) 9. Bolingbrook (95.5) 9. Andrew (95.5) 11. Downers Grove North (74.5) 12. Jacobs (73) 13. West Chicago (48) 14. Harlem (20)