Boys Illini Bluffs and Vernon Hills Tournament Recaps
By Curt Herron – For the IWCOA
Glenbrook North wins Vernon Hills Cougar Thanksgiving Invitational
Glenbrook North held off district rival Glenbrook South 164.5-152 to capture the championship of Vernon Hills’ Cougar Thanksgiving Classic that was held in Vernon Hills.
Niles North edged Burlington Central 125-124 to claim third place while Harvard got past Rolling Meadows 110-108 to finish in fifth place. Evanston Township (104) and Bartlett (99) rounded out the top half of the 16-team competition.
Top performers for coach John Gilchrist’s champion Spartans were title winners Aiden Fladeland (138) and Shane Onixt (165) while Ebin Fladeland (144) took second place and Ayaan Rizwaan (113) finished in third place.
Finishing in fourth place for Glenbrook North were Henry Hafner (157), Kieran O’Sullivan (175) and Cray Paich (285). Josh Son (126) claimed fifth place, Ilan Ruderman (150) was sixth and Jordan Mokhtarian (132) took seventh place.
Leading the way for coach Pat Castillo’s runner-up Titans were champion Henry Downing (157) and second-place finishers Sergio Jaimes (106) and Andrew Philbrick (165) while Urmuun Urtnasan (113) and Sammy Kubba (215) both claimed fourth place.
Glenbrook South also got fifth-place efforts from Michael Schick (132) and Andrew Haritos (150) and sixth-place finishes from Emilio Arteaga (126) and Mike Tsendayush (138). Taking seventh place were James Dravenack (113) and John Palmer (144) while Ammar Khan (120) and Christian Shamoon (175) both placed eighth.
Other champions were Bartlett’s Cameron Engels (126) and Ryan Gura (190), Grayslake North’s Ryan Larivee (106), Johnsburg’s Eric Bush (113), Kenosha Christian Life’s Drew Dolphin (120), Maine East’s Dulguun Nyamdavaa (132), Evanston Township’s Bryan Lemus (144), Harvard’s Daniel Rosas (150), Woodstock North’s
Kaden Combs (175), Niles North’s Ahmad Musa (215) and Hoffman Estates’ Abdulhamid Olowu (285).
Also finishing in second place were Burlington Central’s Eduardo Vences (113) and Henry Deering (138), Niles North’s Trent Tono (120) and Oliver Quiros (150), Evanston Township’s Eren Atac (126) and Rodrigo Salinas (157), Rolling Meadows’ Benjamin Escalante (132) and Jack Rappa (175), Woodstock North’s David Randecker (190),
Taft’s Christopher Osta (215) and Harvard’s Riley Vest (285).
Some of the closest championship matches included Nyamdavaa prevailing 4-2 over Escalante at 132, Engels beating Atac 5-2 at 126, Musa winning 5-2 over Osta at 215 and Olowu claiming a 5-1 decision over Vest at 285.
Downing had the most team points with 30 while Onixt was next with 29.5 points. Combs and Gura each scored 28 points, Aiden Fladeland had 27.5 team points, Dolphin scored 27 points and Engels, Lemus, Musa, Olowu and Rosas all collected 26 team points.
Rolling Meadows’ Jacob Martone (144) had the most match points with 52 while Hoffman Estates’ Alazar Eyob (132) was next with 49. Four individuals collected four falls with Johnsburg’s Noah Jasper (157) achieving that feat in the shortest time, which was 8:51.
Also taking third were Niles North’s Zachary Hempen (144) and Dionisi Ballas (175), Grayslake North’s Owen Anderson (150) and Jacob Ronsman (157), Rolling Meadows’ Josh Rappa (165) and Nick Labbe (190), Harvard’s Owen Vail (120), Taft’s Miguel Guevara (126), Burlington Central’s Doug Phillips (132), Bartlett’s Filip Szeszko (138), Johnsburg’s CJ Ameachi (215) and Maine East’s Victor Nitchev (285).
Other fourth-place finishers were Hoffman Estates’ Alazar Eyob (132) and David Ogunfowokan (138), Taft’s David Ruiz (120), Burlington Central’s David Wyruchowski (126), Harvard’s Logan Nulle (144), Evanston Township’s Manny Holloway (150), Woodstock North’s Ben Lagerhausen (165) and Johnsburg’s Micah Welch (190).
Vernon Hills Cougar Thanksgiving Invitational championship matches
106 – Ryan Larivee (Grayslake North) over Sergio Jaimes (Glenbrook South), F 3:23
113 – Eric Bush (Johnsburg) over Eduardo Vences (Burlington Central), D 12-5
120 – Drew Dolphin (Kenosha Christian Life) over Trent Tono (Niles North), MD 12-3
126 – Cameron Engels (Bartlett) over Eren Atac (Evanston Township), D 5-2
132 – Dulguun Nyamdavaa (Maine East) over Benjamin Escalante (Rolling Meadows), D 4-2
138 – Aiden Fladeland (Glenbrook North) over Henry Deering (Burlington Central), F 5:00
144 – Bryan Lemus (Evanston Township) over Ebin Fladeland (Glenbrook North), D 12-6
150 – Daniel Rosas (Harvard) over Oliver Quiros (Niles North), F 0:47
157 – Henry Downing (Glenbrook South) over Rodrigo Salinas (Evanston Township), F 5:28
165 – Shane Onixt (Glenbrook North) over Andrew Philbrick (Glenbrook South), F 2:38
175 – Kaden Combs (Woodstock North) over Jack Rappa (Rolling Meadows), D 6-0
190 – Ryan Gura (Bartlett) over David Randecker (Woodstock North), F 0:57
215 – Ahmad Musa (Niles North) over Christopher Osta (Taft), D 5-2
285 – Abdulhamid Olowu (Hoffman Estates) over Riley Vest (Harvard), 5-1
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Olympia captures Illini Bluffs Invite championship
Olympia got past Dixon 264-255 to capture top honors in the 20-team Illini Bluffs Invite in Glasford. East Peoria (172), Richwoods (150.5), Peoria Notre Dame (143), Illini Bluffs (122), Dunlap (108.5), Farmington (99), Illinois Valley Central (85) and Limestone (74) rounded out the top half of the field.
Leading the way for coaches Josh and Justin Collins’ champion Spartans were title winners Mateo Martinez (126) and Nolen Yeary (215) and second-place finishers Cooper Phillips (138) and Bentley Wise (150) while Noah Whiteside (106), Austin Kizner (120), Kelton Graden (157) and Kayden Thomas (165) took third.
Finishing in fourth place for Olympia were Carter Knobloch (113) and Cole Bauer (175) while Darian Holloway (190) placed fifth, Bryson Wilson (144) took sixth (144) and Brayden Riblet (285) had two wins.
“It was a great tournament and start to the season for our team,” Josh Collins said. “We had two tournament champions at the Illini Bluffs Invitational, Mateo Martinez at 126 pounds and Nolen Yeary at 215 pounds. We also had 10 of our wrestlers place in addition to the two champions. We’re excited for the season, and look forward to continued growth and success.”
Top performers for coach Micah Hey’s runner-up Dukes were champions Jack Ragan (106), Jayce Kastner (165) and Zack Clevenger (190) while Riley Paredes (113), Steven Kitzman (175) and Will Howell (215) all claimed second place. Dixon received third-place finishes from James Simpson (138), Jayden Weidman (144) and Cade Hey (150) while Gavin Kramer (132) finished fourth and Ayden Rowley (120) took fifth place.
The host Tigers received championships from Hunter Robbins (120), Ian O’Connor (144) and Jackson Carroll (150) while Farmington got titles from Keygan Jennings (132) and Bradlee Ellis (138) and Notre received firsts from Chase Daugherty (157) and Michael McLaughlin (285). The other two champions were East Peoria’s Cooper Chester (113) and Dunlap’s Nick Mueller (175).
Also finishing in second place were Notre Dame’s Josh Stedwill (106) and Ian Akers (120), East Peoria’s Brayden Flinn (165) and Jose Deltoro (285), Farmington’s Caleb Showalter (126), Knoxville’s Gage Fox (132), Richwoods’ Christopher Harris (144), Monmouth United’s Jake McElwee (157) and Dunlap’s Joseph Weeks (190).
Some of the closest championship matches included Daugherty edging McElwee 8-7 at 157, Clevenger getting past Weeks 5-4 at 190, Chester prevailing over Paredes 6-4 at 113, Martinez winning 9-7 over Showalter 9-7 at 126, McLaughlin capturing a 6-4 win over Deltoro at 285, Carroll getting a 9-5 victory over Wise 9-5 at 150.
Three returning IHSA second-place finishers won titles. At 120, Robbins, who was second at 106 in Class 1A, claimed a 10-5 decision over Akers, who took fourth at 106 in 1A. Jennings, who was second at 113 in 1A, took first place at 132, and Mueller, who placed second at 160 in 2A, was the champion at 175.
Ragan (106), Jennings (132), O’Connor (144), Kastner (165), Mueller (175) and Yeary (215) all won championships by fall while Ellis (138) claimed his title with a win by technical fall.
O’Connor led all competitors with 32 team points while Ellis and Jennings were just behind with 31.5 points, Kastner and McLaughlin collected 30 team points, Carroll and Daugherty both scored 29 points and Deltoro, Ragan and Yeary all had 28 team points. Jennings easily had the most total match points with 75.
East Peoria’s Dalton Oakman (190) and Olympia’s Wilson (144) both had five falls with Oakman needing just 3:46 to pull off that feat.
Richwoods had three third-place finishers, Joshua Bousek (126), Rikyis Doss (132) and Gabe Martinez (175). Also taking third were Illini Bluffs’ Wyatt Knowles (113), Limestone’s Ethan Dixon (190), Manual’s Nas King (215) and East Peoria’s Keegan Barnes (285).
Illinois Valley Central had three individuals who finished fourth, Evan Cannon (144), Maison Toliver (157) and Owen Moser (165). Also taking fourth place were Limestone’s Christian Johnson (106) and Gabe Hodges (150), Macomb’s Ethan Hoyt (120), East Peoria’s Angel Ortiz (126), Richwoods’ Colton Boyer (138), Heyworth’s Jarrod Fulcher (190), Dunlap’s Carson Paustian (215) and Washington JV’s Luke Hoffman (285).
Also claiming fifth-place finishes were Richwoods’ Wensley Rahn (106) and Phoenix Wombacher (165), Notre Dame’s Jack Bartoletta (138) and Michael Kimbrough (175), Monmouth United’s Jacob Penn (113), Knoxville’s Gunnar Johnson (126), Eureka’s Owen Stoller (132), Illinois Valley Central’s Antonio Toliver (150), Macomb’s Carlos Bustamante (157), Peoria Heights’ Issac Coleman (215) and Limestone’s Taylor Dixon (285).
Illini Bluffs Invite championship matches
106 – Jack Ragan (Dixon) over Josh Stedwill (Notre Dame), F 0:50
113 – Cooper Chester (East Peoria) over Riley Paredes (Dixon), D 6-4
120 – Hunter Robbins (Illini Bluffs) over Ian Akers (Notre Dame, D 10-5
126 – Mateo Martinez (Olympia) over Caleb Showater (Farmington), D 9-7
132 – Keygan Jennings (Farmington) over Gage Fox (Knoxville), F 3:12
138 – Bradlee Ellis (Farmington) over Cooper Phillips (Olympia), TF 5:00
144 – Ian O’Connor (Illini Bluffs) over Christopher Harris (Richwoods), F 1:25
150 – Jackson Carroll (Illini Bluffs) over Bentley Wise (Olympia), D 9-5
157 – Chase Daugherty (Notre Dame) over Jake McElwee (Monmouth United), D 8-7
165 – Jayce Kastner (Dixon) over Brayden Flinn (East Peoria), F 1:16
175 – Nick Mueller (Dunlap) over Steven Kitzman (Dixon), F 0:31
190 – Zack Clevenger (Dixon) over Joseph Weeks (Dunlap), D 5-4
215 – Nolen Yeary (Olympia) over Will Howell (Dixon), F 1:51
285 – Michael McLaughlin (Notre Dame) over Jose Deltoro (East Peoria), D 6-4
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