Boys tournament recaps: Floyd Bee, Unity Christian, Sandwich

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Floyd Bee Memorial Holiday Tournament

The boys from Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/ Fisher snared the team title at this year’s 32-team Floyd Bee Memorial tournament, topping second-place Normal Community 500.5-457 at Lincoln.
It was the program’s first Floyd Bee title for coach Josh Carter. GCMS/ Fisher placed fourth two years ago and third at last season’s holiday tournament.

St. Patrick (405.5) placed third followed by Rock Island (372) and Bloomington (309.5) to round out the top five team finishes.

“There were some good teams at the Lincoln tournament and some very good individuals as well,” Carter said. “I was pretty pleased with how we competed overall, but there are still areas we need to get better at.

“Our program has always focused more on competing well and making improvements throughout the season than on the results themselves. Our motto is “Compete with gratitude. Trust the process. Surrender the outcome.” We believe that if we can do that we will be where we need to be in February.”

1st- Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/ Fisher (500.5)

The middle-weight trio of returning state qualifiers Nolan Lowe (144), Hunter Brandon (150) and Hudson Babb (157) all won titles for GCMSF, with No. 3 Babb improving to a perfect 21-0 season record. Lowe and Brandon each moved to 21-3 on the year.

Among wrestlers finishing in the top six, returning state medal-winner and No. 5 Landen Lage (23-2) placed second at 138 and GCMSF got a third from Camden Brucker (132), fourths from Ian Rotramel (113) and Cooper Miller (165), a fifth from Bentley Fields (106) and a sixth from Gage Martin (126).

“We try to build a schedule that will help the wrestlers be prepared for the level of competition they will see in the postseason,” Carter said. “The Lincoln tournament was a step in the right direction, but we still have two more tournaments that are extremely tough and several duals with very talented teams, so we cannot become complacent with where we are.”

2nd- Normal Community (457)

Coach Trevor Kaufman got individual titles from No. 5 Jackson Soney (106), Ethan Cavallo (132) and Carter Mayes (165), a second from Elijah Conda (113), thirds from Austin Chiesi (150) and Daniel Bourbalas (190), a fourth from Luke Eganhouse (144), and fifths from Johnny Thomas (120) and Mason Caraway (285).

3rd- St. Patrick (405.5)

Four wrestlers scaled the top of the podium for coach Dominic Angelo, in No. 7 Jack Koenig (113), a two-time state medal-winner No. 6 Danny Goodwin (120), Pat Hulne (138) and a two-time state medal-winner in No. 4 Van Grasser (175). The Shamrocks also got a fourth from Calvin Stahl (126), and fifths from Antonio Reyes (144), and Mark Bilek (150).

Team scores
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/ Fisher 500.5, Normal Community 457, St. Patrick 405.5, Rock Island 372, Bloomington 309.5, Marengo 259.5, Sterling 247, Galesburg 233.5, DePaul Prep 223, East Peoria 223, Peoria Notre Dame 221.5, Lemont 218.5, Jerseyville 210.5, Heyworth 209, Rochester 159.5, East St. Louis 151, Thornton 147.5, Jacksonville 131.5, Carbondale 131, Centennial 128, Lincoln 120.5, Dunlap 119, Danville 115.5, North Boone 115, Pekin 108.5, Springfield 94, Springfield 94, Taylorville 71, Limestone 50, Glenwood 37, Highland 35, St. Thomas More 22, Urbana 7.5

Additional champions
126 Cory Zator (Lemont), 190 Judah Heeg (Lemont), 215 Alec Del Toro (East Peoria), 285 Hunter Wahtola (DePaul College Prep)

Additional runners-up
106 Maddox Williams (Jerseyville), 120 Gabe Marella (North Boone), 126 Colin Bosak (DePaul College Prep), 132 Remington Joesting (Peoria Notre Dame), 144 Tyler Barlow (Bloomington), 150 Brody Cabrera (Bloomington), 165 Anthony Makwala (Galesburg), 175 Colton Mosack (Dunlap), 190 Sergio Baity (Centennial), 215 Rowan Stockwell (Rock Island), 285 Brady Mullens (Peoria Notre Dame)

The unbeatens (15-match minimum)
St. Patrick’s No. 6 returning state medal-winner Danny Goodwin (33-0 at 120), GCMSF’s Hudson Babb (21-0 at 157)

The once-beatens (15-match minimum)
Normal Community’s No. 5 Jackson Soney (19-1 at 106) Lemont’s No. 3 returning state champion 2A Judah Heeg (21-1 at 190), East Peoria’s Alec Del Toro (18-1 at 215), DePaul Prep’s No. 2 returning state medal-winner Hunter Wahtola (20-1 at 285)

Statistics
Galesburg finished with the most pins in the least time, with 22 in 52:23, and St. Patrick had the most tech falls in the least time, with 10 in 37:36. St. Patrick also had the most total match points with 450.
Individually, Bloomington’s Leighton Vandegraft had the most pins in the least time, with four at 3:30, Lemont’s Judah Heeg had the most tech falls in the least time with four in 8:20. Bloomington’s Seville Dangerfield had the fastest fall in the least time at 12 seconds, and Marengo’s Ryan Hess had the fastest tech fall, at 1:11. North Boone’s Eli Bryan scored the most single match points with 23, and St. Patrick’s Danny Goodwin scored the most total match points with 83.

The largest seed-place difference came from 23rd-seeded Dunlap’s Colton Mosack, who placed second at 175 pounds.

Championship match results

106 Jackson Soney (Normal Community) F 1:12 Maddox Williams (Jerseyville)

113 Jack Koenig (St. Patrick) TF 2:14 Elijah Conda (Normal Community)
120 Danny Goodwin (St. Patrick) TF 3:51 Gabe Marella (N. Boone)

126 Cory Zator (Lemont) F 4:37 Colin Bosak (DePaul)
132 Ethan Cavallo (Normal Community) D 6-5 Remington Joesting (Notre Dame)

138 Pat Hulne (St. Patrick) D 7-2 Landen Lage (GCMS/Fisher)

144 Nolan Lowe (GCMS/Fisher) TF 4:22 Tyler Barlow (Bloomington)

150 Hunter Brandon (GCMS/Fisher) F 0:34 Brody Cabrera (Bloomington)

157 Hudson Babb (GCMS/Fisher) F 1:00 Nicholas Hartley (Jerseyville)

165 Carter Mayes (Normal Community) F 4:39 Anthony Makwala (Galesburg)

175 Van Grasser (St. Patrick) TF 3:58 Colton Mosack (Dunlap)

190 Judah Heeg (Lemont) TF 2:10 Sergio Baity (Centennial)
215 Alec Del Toro (E Peoria) F 2:47 Rowan Stockwell (Rock Island)

285 Hunter Wahtola (DePaul) F 3:41 Brady Mullens (Notre Dame)

Third-place results

106 Alex Powers (Lemont) D 7-6 Angelo Parker (Rock Island)

113 Cooper Bye (Bloomington) D 6-4 Ian Rotramel (GCMS/Fisher)

120 Emmet Roeder (Heyworth) F 3:53 Hunter Hodge (Jerseyville)

126 Cael Lyons (Sterling) D 11-7 Calvin Stahl (St. Patrick)
132 Camden Brucker (GCMS/Fisher) MD 11-0 Henry Miller (Rock Island)

138 Mitchell Aukes (Marengo) fft. Jordan Kholian (Jacksonville)

144 Nehemie Mbangi (Centennial) fft. Luke Eganhouse (Normal Community)

150 Austin Chiesi (Normal Community) TF 5:32 Emmanuel Arreola (Sterling)

157 Corey Robinson (E St. Louis) F 1:42 Logan Stout (Heyworth)

165 James Escobar (Rochester) F 3:35 Cooper Miller (GCMS/Fisher)

175 Conner Sacco (Marengo) F 1:55 Josiah Williams (Danville)

190 Daniel Bourbalas (Normal Community) TF 6:00 Dalton Oakman (E Peoria)

215 Jarrod Fulcher (Heyworth) F 1:46 Connor Broughton (Rochester)

285 Jaylen Raab (Bloomington) D 6-2 Emilio Guzan (Rock Island)

Unity Christian New Year’s Duals

Prospect dominated its way to eight dual wins Saturday, claiming the top prize at Unity Christian’s 17-team New Year’s Dual tournament.

Prospect finalized its team title with a 46-29 win over Mattoon in the finals. Coach Ashton Brown’s boys also beat Ridgeview (68-12), Mahomet-Seymour (66-9), Illinois Valley Central (72-2), Clinton (73-6), Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin/Armstrong (78-6), Unity Christian (55-18), Pittsfield (60-18) en route to the team title.

“I was very proud of how our kids have rallied together and rebounded after a very tough start to our winter break,” Brown said. “We started break losing our first seven duals and beginning with Day Two at the Flavin we finished with eleven dual wins in a row.

“We have a large group of sophomores that showed much growth for us down in Unity. Filling in at 165, sophomore Daniel Bekteshi went 5-1. Luis Mercado went 5-0 at 138 lbs with three pins and two major decisions after starting the year 0-7.

“Owen Dewey went 8-0 at Unity Christian and improved his record to 21-7 at 220. Additionally, Carlo Difalco has made great strides this season after a 10-19 record his sophomore year. He went 6-0 (at Unity Christian) and improved his record to 24-10. We have a sophomore-heavy lineup that has taken a lot of lumps early in the season with a dual record of 3-11 heading into last week’s Flavin. It has been very exciting to see these kids stay persistent and hungry while chasing growth on the mat.”

Mattoon reached the title dual for coach Brett Porter by beating Pittsfield (47-36), DeLand-Weldon (75-6), St. Teresa (60-16), Normal University (77-6), BHRA/A (78-6) and Mahomet-Seymour (47-30).

Mahomet-Seymour went 8-1 on the day to place third for coach Rob Ledin, with its lone loss coming against Prospect in the second round of competition. Mahomet-Seymour capped its day by placing third with a 58-23 win over Pittsfield.

Championship round dual scores
1st – Prospect 46, Mattoon 29
3rd – Mahomet-Seymour 58, Pittsfield 23
5th – Heyworth 36, Rochester 34
7th – BHRA/A 54, Unity Christian 23

Championship dual results
Prospect 46, Mattoon 29

157 – Nicolas Mansour (Prospect) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

165 – Daniel Bekteshi (Prospect) d. Daijuan Hester (Mattoon) Fall 2:31

175 – Joseph Quirk (Prospect) d. Jacob Philpott (Mattoon) Fall 1:07

190 – Brock Wrede (Prospect) d. McKell Burks (Mattoon) Fall 3:02

215 – Owen Dewey (Prospect) d. Carson Kimbro (Mattoon) Fall 1:07

285 – Mitchell Clapp (Mattoon) d. James Brouilette (Prospect) Dec 1-0

106 – Creed Cole (Mattoon) d. Ben Grund (Prospect) TF 19-3

113 – Carlo Difalco (Prospect) d. Jaxtyn Howell (Mattoon) Maj 18-8

120 – James Fidler (Prospect) d. Liam Clark (Mattoon) Fall 0:56

126 – Tristan Porter (Mattoon) d. Andrew Stapleton (Prospect) TF 17-2

132 – Jaxson Bagwell (Mattoon) d. James Fidler (Prospect) Fall 1:59

138 – Luis Mercado (Prospect) d. Memphys Howell (Mattoon) Fall 4:40

144 – Dakari Brown (Mattoon) d. Ryan Chartouni (Prospect) Maj 14-3

150 – Harley Pierce (Mattoon) d. Ali Mohammadi (Prospect) Fall 0:50

Third-place dual
Mahomet-Seymour 58, Pittsfield 23
157 – Nino Caballero (M-Seymour) d. Landyn Seal (Pittsfield) Fall 1:42

165 – Jake Oitker (Pittsfield) d. Keilen Mustread (M-Seymour) TF 21-1

175 – Frank Watson (M-Seymour) d. Jake Ator (Pittsfield) Fall 2:55

190 – Bodine Marable (Pittsfield) d. Nathan Lewis (M-Seymour) Fall 1:15

215 – Fisher McEuen (Pittsfield) d. Sam Cobb (M-Seymour) Fall 0:56

285 – Jose Torres (M-Seymour) d. Hunter Waters (Pittsfield) Inj 2:35

106 – Grant Morphew (M-Seymour) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

113 – Mitchell Matigian (M-Seymour) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

120 – Alex Johnson (M-Seymour) d. Hayden Thompson (Pittsfield) MD 11-3

126 – Emmanuel Diaz (M-Seymour) d. Ayden Sledge (Pittsfield) Fall 0:27

132 – Jude Wild (M-Seymour) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

138 – Logan Borrowman (Pittsfield) d. Lucas Dhom (M-Seymour) Fall 0:59

144 – Niko Truax (M-Seymour) d. Jace Perry (Pittsfield) Fall 0:59

150 – Renn VanDeveer (M-Seymour) d. Logan Boehmer (Pittsfield) Fall 1:07

Statistics
Unity Christian’s Garrett VerHeecke had the most pins in the least time, with seven falls in 7:35. Brother Clinton VerHeecke was second with seven pins in 8:18 for Unity Christian. Illinois Valley Central’s Toliver Maison, Heyworth’s Logan Stout, and Rochester’s Jack Zucco also each had seven pins on the day.
Rochester’s James Escobar finished the tournament with the most tech falls in the least time, with four techs in 16:13. Centennial’s Mbangi Nehemie had three techs in 7:04. Escobar also had the fastest tech fall in 1:13, while Nehemie was second with a tech fall in 1:18.
Three wrestlers tied for the most team points scored with 54, in Mahomet-Seymour’s Grant Morphew, Alleman’s Truman Marner, and Rochester’s Jack Zucco. Clinton’s Moody McCoy had the most single-match points with 26, and Heyworth’s Tristan Stamp had the most total match points with 100.
Prospect led all teams with 48 pins on the day, followed by Mattoon with 42 and Heyworth with 35. Prospect and Rochester tied for the most tech falls with seven apiece, followed by Centennial with five.
Prospect scored the most team points with 519, followed by Mahomet-Seymour with 439 and Mattoon with 413. Prospect also led the field with 618 total match points, followed by Mattoon with 441 and Heyworth with 382.

Unbeaten records in matches wrestled

8-0: 157 Unity Christian’s Clinton VerHeecke, 165 Rochester’s Jame Escobar
7-0: 126 Rochester’s Miles Carroll, 138 Rochester’s Jack Zucco, 144 Unity Christian’s Garrett VerHeecke, 175 Heyworth’s Tristan Stamp, 285 Mattoon’s Mitchell Clapp
6-0: 132 St. Teresa’s Dwaine Goforth, 150 Mattoon’s Harley Pierce
5-0: 113 Prospect’s Carlo Defalco, 126 Mattoon’s Tristan Porter, 138 Prospect’s Luis Mercado, 190 Pittsfield’s Bodine Marable, 215 Prospect’s Owen Dewey

2025 Sandwich Dual Team Tournament
Sandwich went a perfect 4-0 for coach Derek Jones in claiming the top spot at this year’s 12-team dual team tournament at Sandwich. Oak Lawn finished second, with Plainfield Central third and Rockford East fourth to round out the top four team finishes.

1st place-Sandwich
Sandwich topped Oak Lawn 47-17 in the first-place dual, after topping Genoa-Kingston (80-0), Dwight (78-0) and Rockford East (54-26). As the 18th-ranked team in 1A, Sandwich got perfect 3-0 records in matches wrestled from Hunter Whitecotton (106/113), Jaxson Blanchard (144), No. 3 Cooper Corder (150) and No. 10 Kaden Clevenger (285). Going 2-0 in matches wrestled were Aiden Sinetos (113), Dom Urbanski (126), No. 8 Joshua Kotalik (175). Logan Murphy (138) won two matches for Sandwich, as did Jack Forth (157), while Kai Kern (190) went 1-0 in his lone match of the day.

2nd place-Oak Lawn
Oak Lawn went 3-1 on the day in placing second for coach Cody Matthewson, and battled through some hard-fought duals to get there, beating Saint Viator 40-36 before winning on tie-break criteria over Rock Falls, 35-34. Oak Lawn then won 44-34 over Plainfield Central to reach the finals against Sandwich.
Oak Lawn had four wrestlers go 3-1 on the day in Romeo Gonzalez (138), Khalid Eid (144), Faris Elayyan (150) and Charles Shane (157). Winning two matches for Oak Lawn were Aden Long (106), Caiden Dodson (132), Anthony Potempa (175) and Andrew Cetera (215).

3rd place-Plainfield Central
Plainfield Central went 3-1, capped by a 48-24 win in the third-place dual against Rockford East. Plainfield Central also beat Durand/Pecatonia (71-12) and St. Bede (51-24) for coach Terry Kubski before its semifinal round loss to Sandwich.
Goin 3-0 on the day in matches wrestled for the Wildcats were Brody Rangel (138) and Ty Sabin (190). Armani Esparza (144/150) went 3-1, and winning two matches were Jesse Berman (113), Jayden Mizelle (120/126), Aiden Kupsche (150), Emiliano Ramirez (175).

4th place-Rockford East
Coach Gene Lee’s E-Rabs went 2-2, topping Peotone (40-23) and Somonauk (50-6) before falling to Sandwich (54-26) and Plainfield Central (48-24).
The E-Rabs got perfect 4-0 days in matches wrestled from No. 5 returning state medal-winner Dana Wickson (157) and No. 4 returning state medal-winner Ty Smart (165/175). Victor Onofre (132) went 3-0 on the mat for the E-Rabs.
Winning twice in matches wrestled for Rockford East were Sebastian Abwe (120) and Logan Funk (138).

Placement duals
1st-Sandwich 47, Oak Lawn 17
3rd-Plainfield Central 48, Rockford East 24
5th-Rock Falls 54, Genoa-Kingston 30
7th-Peotone 36, Durand/Pecatonia 30
9th-Saint Viator 36, Dwight 15
11th-St. Bede 53, Somonauk 6

Championship dual
Sandwich 47, Oak Lawn 17
132 – Caiden Dodson (Oak Lawn) d. Gus Harmon (Sandwich) F 1:35

138 – Romeo Gonzalez (Oak Lawn) d. Logan Murphy (Sandwich) F 1:35

144 – Jaxson Blanchard (Sandwich) d. Khalid Eid (Oak Lawn) MD 10-2

150 – Cooper Corder (Sandwich) d. Faris Elayyan (Oak Lawn) TF 19-3

157 – Jack Forth (Sandwich) d. Charles Shane (Oak Lawn) D 8-7

165 – Eli Futrell (Sandwich) d. Adam Balog (Oak Lawn) D 14-10

175 – Joshua Kotalik (Sandwich) d. Anthony Potempa (Oak Lawn) F 1:22

190 – Kai Kern (Sandwich) d. Byron Starks (Oak Lawn) F 3:07

215 – Andrew Cetera (Oak Lawn) d. Luis Murillo (Sandwich) F 5:28

285 – Kaden Clevenger (Sandwich) d. Adam Tumeh (Oak Lawn) F 0:58

106 – Hunter Whitecotton (Sandwich) d. Aden Long (Oak Lawn) D 8-4

113 – Aiden Sinetos (Sandwich) d. Jacob Wood (Oak Lawn) F 1:47

120 – Connor Blanchard (Sandwich) d. Unknown (Unattached)  fft.

126 – Double fft.

Third-place dual

Plainfield Central 48, Rockford East 24
132 – Victor Onofre (Rockford E) d. Nathan Duran (Plainfield C) MD 9-0

138 – Brody Rangel (Plainfield C) d. Logan Funk (Rockford E) F 0:35

144 – Armani Esparza (Plainfield C) d. Jason Pierce (Rockford E) F 3:43

150 – Chris Burgos (Rockford E) d. Aiden Kupsche (Plainfield C) TF 21-6

157 – Dana Wickson (Rockford E) d. Gabriel Guerra (Plainfield C) TF 17-2

165 – Double Forfeit

175 – Ty Smart (Rockford E) d. Emiliano Ramirez (Plainfield C) TF 19-4

190 – Ty Sabin (Plainfield C) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

215 – Nicholas Breier (Plainfield C) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

285 – Nathan Reyes (Plainfield C) d. Gabe Underhill (Rockford E) F 0:48

106 – Hayden Roach (Rockford E) d. Jesse Berman (Plainfield C) TF 18-1

113 – Rick Berger (Plainfield C) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

120 – Jayden Mizelle (Plainfield C) d. Sebastian Abwe (Rockford E) F 1:42

126 – Liam Thompson (Plainfield C) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf