Feature Stories
Boys tournaments for Dec. 21 from Harvard, Stillman Valley, Erie
By Chris Walker for the IWCOA
HARVARD’S 57TH SCIACCA-HOLTFRETER TOURNAMENT
Wheeling was a dominating presence in the finals, advancing 10 wrestlers to those finals bouts and coming away with three champions to win the 57th Sciacca-Holtfreter Tournament on Saturday at Harvard.
The tournament’s name comes from John Sciacca and Richard Holtfreter. Both were longtime coaches at Harvard High School. Sciacca founded the program at the school and coached for 15 years. Holtfreter had a nine-year tenure that produced a team state title in 1983.
With three champions, seven second-place finishers and three third-place winners, the Wildcats scored 269.5 points, over a hundred points more than runner-up Bartlett which had 149. Streamwood was third with 132 and followed by Woodstock’s 136.5 and North Boone’s 121.5 for the top five teams among the 16-team field.
1st place; Wheeling (269.5 points)
Frankie Katz (113), Austin Berger (144) and Pablo Morales (285) won titles to lead the Wildcats to the team victory. Thomas Katz (106), Miguel Lopez (120), Joey Romano (126), Max Katz (132), Emmanuel Lagunas (138), John Scanlon (157) and Eduardo Juarez (215) placed second while Nicholas Montesinos (165), Danny Miranda (175) and Jonny Dominguez (190) took third.
2nd place: Bartlett (149 points)
Nick Barton (132), Cameron Engels (138) and James Smrha (215) walked away from Harvard as champions for the Hawks. Filip Szeszko (150) placed second, Joseph Caputo (144) took third, Dom Thorson (175) finished in fourth and Ezekiel Carillo (150) was sixth.
3rd place: Streamwood (132 points)
Juan Cortes (150), Gabe Inorio (175) and Jace Wolf (190) were champs for the Sabres who matched Wheeling and Bartlett with three champions. Luis Martinez (113) placed second, Don Krebs (138) and Josiah Torres (215) took fifth place and Jeff Li (157) and Josh Burton (285) were sixth.
Other individual champions included Vernon Hills’ Charles Dominguez (106), Kennedy’s Victor Alvarado (120), Woodstock’s Taqi Baker (126), Proviso West’s Marquis Deloach (157) and Harvard’s Daniel Rosas (165).
Proviso West’s Marquis Deloach had four pins in 8:45 to finish as the wrestler with the most pins in the least amount of time in the tournament. New Trier’s Will Weedon also had four pins, completing his run in 13:24. Kennedy’s Victor Alvarado was one of five wrestlers with two tech falls. He did it in 5:47 which was tops in the tournament. Deloach also had the most team points with 30. Wheeling’s Austin Berger had the most total match points with 50. Bartlett’s Filip Szeszko had the largest seed-place difference of the tournament. The senior was seeded 12th and placed second for a difference of 10.
Harvard Sciacca-Holtfreter Tournament results
106
1st: Charles Dominguez (Vernon Hills) 12-6, d. Thomas Katz (Wheeling) 1-1, (F 2:57)
3rd: Riley Krumsee (Alden-Hebron) 5-3, d. Joseph Berkholtz (Harvard) 2-8, (F 3:11)
113
1st: Frankie Katz (Wheeling) 15-1, d. Luis Martinez (Streamwood) 7-3 (TF-1.5 3:16 (16-0)
3rd: Drew Patel (North Boone) 14-5, d. Dominic Cimino (Vernon Hills) 10-6, (F 4:23)
5th: Tony Lopez (Vernon Hills) 10-6, d. Robert Puch (Lake Forest) 2-3 (F 0:37)
120
1st: Victor Alvarado (Kennedy) 12-1, d. Miguel Lopez (Wheeling) 13-4, (TF-1.5 3:59 (21-5)
3rd: Gabe Marella (North Boone) 14-7, d. Anthony Motejzik (Woodstock North) 16-9, (F 2:14)
5th: Emma Engels (Bartlett) 2-2, d. Dominic Osinski (Woodstock) 5-10, (MFFL)
126
1st: Taqi Baker (Woodstock) 18-5, d. Joey Romano (Wheeling) 15-4, (D 4-1)
3rd: Gavin Ekberg (North Boone) 15-3, d. Thomas Demetrio (Lake Forest) 3-2 (F 3:45)
5th: Malachi Turner (Bremen) 8-3, d. Lilly White (Bartlett) 2-3, (F 5:34)
132
1st: Nick Barton (Bartlett) 14-4, d. Max Katz (Wheeling) 14-6, (D 12-9)
3rd: Travis Leonardson (New Trier) 3-2, d. Sabir Aliev (Vernon Hills) 6-9, (F 0:46)
5th: Daniel Nilsson (Woodstock) 5-5, d. Alek Myshkowec (Woodstock North) 3-4, (TF-1.5 2:30 (18-3)
138
1st: Cameron Engels (Bartlett) 14-4, d. Emmanuel Lagunas (Wheeling) 7-4, (F 1:22)
3rd: Landyn White (Woodstock) 12-9, d. Kelvyn West (Proviso West) 6-7, (F 3:00)
5th: Don Krebs (Streamwood) 4-5d. Owen Vail (Harvard) 3-4, (For.)
144
1st: Austin Berger (Wheeling) 12-5, d. Brennan Peters (Harvard) 7-6, (D 10-4)
3rd: Joseph Caputo (Bartlett) 4-1, d. Allante Jackson (Proviso West) 5-5, (D 12-6)
5th: Caden Solorio-Alvarez (Vernon Hills) 5-7, d. Michael Barndt (Lake Forest) 3-3 (F 5:44)
150
1st: Juan Cortes (Streamwood) 10-3d. Filip Szeszko (Bartlett) 3-1, (TF-1.5 5:15 (19-4)
3rd: Will Weedon (New Trier) 5-2, d. Gabe Sarnella (Woodstock) 10-9, (MD 12-4)
5th: Walter Hoevker (Bremen) 7-4, d. Ezekiel Carillo (Bartlett) 3-3 (F 1:39)
157
1st: Marquis Deloach (Proviso West) 13-11, d. John Scanlon (Wheeling) 14-5, (F 5:56)
3rd: Logan Wisner (Woodstock) 18-6, d. George Kaup (New Trier) 3-2, (MD 14-2)
5th: Giorgi Solorio-Alvarez (Vernon Hills) 5-4, d. Jeff Li (Streamwood) 10-5 (Inj. 0:00)
165
1st: Daniel Rosas (Harvard) 8-1, d. Maysen Smith (North Boone) 14-5, (F 1:24)
3rd: Nicholas Montesinos (Wheeling) 16-3, d. Tommy Tures (New Trier) 3-2, (MD 12-3)
5th: Ayden Dobler (Woodstock) 3-4, d. Angel Heard (Proviso West) 6-6, (F 1:35)
175
1st: Gabe Inorio (Streamwood) 11-2d. Edgar Arana (Woodstock) 5-6, (F 1:45)
3rd: Danny Miranda (Wheeling) 9-6, d. Dom Thorson (Bartlett) 7-6, (F 2:24)
5th: Christian Mercado (Harvard) 4-8, d. Nicholas Jungman (Kennedy) 7-7, (Inj. 0:00)
190
1st: Jace Wolf (Streamwood) 11-0d. Logan Crowell (Alden-Hebron) 7-2, (F 2:33)
3rd: Jonny Dominguez (Wheeling) 12-3, d. Kevin Salas (Harvard) 8-6, (TF-1.5 3:59 (16-1)
5th: David RanDker (Woodstock North) 10-6, d. Tim Dan (Lake Forest) 3-3 (F 1:29)
215
1st: James Smrha (Bartlett) 15-2, d. Eduardo Juarez (Wheeling) 13-1, (D 10-4)
3rd: Nick Davis (North Boone) 10-7, d. Jonathan Keats (Vernon Hills) 5-7, (F 1:45)
5th: Josiah Torres (Streamwood) 8-5d. Nick Hoevker (Bremen) 3-7, (F 1:52)
285
1st: Pablo Morales (Wheeling) 15-2, d. Christian Allen (North Boone) 7-7, (F 1:24)
3rd: Everett Flannery (Woodstock) 7-7, d. Ruslan Martin (Lake Forest) 2-2 (D 13-7)
5th: Christopher De Leon (Kennedy) 8-5, d. Josh Burton (Streamwood) 5-8 (D 2-0)
Team scores
1. Wheeling 269.5, 2. Bartlett 149, 3. Streamwood 142, 4. Woodstock 136.5, 5. North Boone 121.5, 6. Vernon Hills 103, 7. Harvard 91.5, 8. Lake Forest 77, 9. New Trier 75.5, 10. Proviso West 73, 11. Kennedy 43, 12. Woodstock North 40, 13. Bremen 33, 14. Alden-Hebron 31, 15. Belvidere North 2.5.
ERIE/PROPHETSTOWN HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Lena-Winslow-Stockton had three champions to win the 16-team EP (Erie/Prophetstown) Holiday Tournament on Saturday at Erie High School.
The PantherHawks scored 197.5 points to win the tournament. Newman Central) took second with 176 and Seneca was third with 147.5. Morrison had 139 and Rockridge scored 120 to round out the top five teams.
1st place: Lena-Winslow-Stockton (197.5 points)
Arrison Bauer (144), Eli Larson (175) and Jeremiah Luke (215) won individual titles to lead the squad to the team win. Mauricio Glass (138), John Mensendike (165) and Oliver McPeek (190) placed second, Reece Demeter (150) and Duncan Nevel (175) were fifth and Anthony Laino (113) and Luke Kempel (285) were sixth.
2nd place: Newman Central) (176 points)
Zhyler Hansen (126), Landon Blanton (132) and Daniel Kelly (165) all won titles for the Comets. Landon Near (106) and Javen Reyes (113) placed second, Briar Ivey (157) took third, Matthew Clemen (175) was fourth and Jacob Newberry (190) placed fifth.
3rd place: Seneca (147.5 points)
The book ends – Raiden Terry (106) and Jeremy Gagnon (285) – secured titles to lead the Fighting Irish to third place. Landen Venecia (190) placed third, Wyatt Coop (120), Chase Rod (150) and Gunner Varland (157) were fourth, Chris Thompson (113) was fifth and Ryker Terry (132) took sixth.
Illini Bluffs and Rockridge each produced two champions. Barret Speck (120) and Jackson Carroll were winners for Illini Bluffs. Jude Finch (138) and Thomas Sowards (150) won for Rockridge. Orion’s Maddux Anderson (190) won the remaining title.
Rockridge’s Jude Finch had the most pins in the least amount of time with four in 4:56. Illini Bluffs’ Jackson Carroll had the most tech falls with three. Finch had the most team points with 30. Carroll had the most total match points with 67. Erie-Prophetstown’s Aidan Jepson had the largest seed-place difference. Jepson was a 14th seed and took third place for a difference of 11.
EP HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT RESULTS:
106
1st: Raiden Terry (Seneca) 13-0, d. Landon Near (Newman Central) 9-1, (MD 10-0)
3rd: Cael Wright (Morrison) 13-1, d. Nate Lower (Rockridge) 8-4, (F 3:08)
5th: Coltin Hartman (Fulton) 13-8, d. Landon Rubright (Morrison) 13-4, (F 1:27)
113
1st: Tennyson Hampton (Alleman) 14-2, d. Javen Reyes (Newman Central) 9-2, (D 9-8)
3rd: Noah Rannow (West Carroll) 7-4, d. Luke Werner (Sherrard) 11-5 (TF-1.5 0:00 (18-1)
5th: Chris Thompson (Seneca) 8-5, d. Anthony Laino (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 5-10, (D 7-0)
120
1st: Barret Speck (Illini Bluffs) 16-1, d. Braiden Krahl (Sherrard) 15-1 (F 1:09)
3rd: Jack McIntyre (West Carroll) 8-3, d. Wyatt Coop (Seneca) 7-6, (MD 12-0)
5th: Nathan Owens (Illini Bluffs) 12-5, d. Randy Gerlach (Morrison) 7-8, (MD 26-12)
126
1st: Zhyler Hansen (Newman Central) 10-1, d. Kaleb Sovey (Orion) 13-5, (F 1:21)
3rd: Clayton Blumenstein (Rockridge) 7-2, d. Patrick Schaefer (Morrison) 6-3, (F 0:54)
5th: Easton Spooner (Fulton) 15-7, d. Wyatt Stewart (Erie/Prophetstown) 8-8, (D 11-5)
132
1st: Landon Blanton (Newman Central) 9-1, d. Lucas Nelson (Polo/Eastland/Forreston/Milledgeville) 16-3 (D 8-7)
3rd: Logan Thome (Rock Fs) 13-3, d. Cooper Chester (East Peoria) 13-6, (F 1:14)
5th: Kamden White (Morrison) 10-4, d. Ryker Terry (Seneca) 12-4, (F 3:53)
138
1st: Jude Finch (Rockridge) 7-0, d. Mauricio Glass (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 13-4, (F 1:18)
3rd: Aidan Jepson (Erie/Prophetstown) 12-8, d. Noah Wetzell (Erie/Prophetstown) 10-7, (D 4-2)
5th: Tucker Ullrich (Rock Fs) 14-3, d. Cole Brooks (East Peoria) 8-5, (D 10-5)
144
1st: Arrison Bauer (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 16-1, d. Connor Knop (West Carroll) 9-1, (MD 13-2)
3rd: Tristan Hovey (Erie/Prophetstown) 12-7, d. Quinn Zimmerman (Sherrard) 14-4 (F 5:36)
5th: Caleb Modglin (Morrison) 13-2, d. Logan Williamson (Rock Fs) 10-7, (F 1:11)
150
1st: Thomas Sowards (Rockridge) 8-1, d. Jonner Smith (West Carroll) 10-2, (F 3:20)
3rd: Excequiel Ocampo (Mercer County) 8-1, d. Chase Rod (Seneca) 3-3, (MD 16-6)
5th: Reece Demeter (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 12-5, d. Carson White (Morrison) 8-3, (F 5:09)
157
1st: Jackson Carroll (Illini Bluffs) 19-0, d. Wyatt Goossens (Erie/Prophetstown) 15-3, (D 9-3)
3rd: Briar Ivey (Newman Central) 11-1, d. Gunner Varland (Seneca) 12-5, (F 5:39)
5th: Levi Milder (Morrison) 11-4, d. Cole Herrell (West Carroll) 10-3, (TF-1.5 0:00 (19-2)
165
1st: Daniel Kelly (Newman Central) 11-0, d. John Mensendike (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 14-3, (D 2-1)
3rd: Brady Anderson (Morrison) 11-3, d. Skylier Crooks (Fulton) 16-5, (D 15-8)
5th: Trail Stonitsch (Rock Fs) 10-4, d. Micah Stringini (Polo/E/F/M) 13-7 (F 0:32)
175
1st: Eli Larson (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 14-0, d. Mason Kuebel (Fulton) 14-3, (F 1:48)
3rd: Noah Stout (Morrison) 8-2, d. Matthew Clemen (Newman Central) 7-2, (F 3:26)
5th: Duncan Nevel (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 3-1, d. Jordae Crow (Erie/Prophetstown) 15-5, (D 3-0)
190
1st: Maddux Anderson (Orion) 18-0, d. Oliver McPeek (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 13-2, (D 8-1)
3rd: Landen Venecia (Seneca) 10-3, d. Dalton Oakman (East Peoria) 14-3, (D 10-8)
5th: Jacob Newberry (Newman Central) 9-5, d. Cooper Thomas (Sherrard) 13-5 (F 0:44)
215
1st: Jeremiah Luke (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 13-2, d. Aiden Fisher (Orion) 16-2, (F 4:18)
3rd: Alec Del Toro (East Peoria) 14-7, d. Tanner McKeag (Rockridge) 10-4, (F 1:53)
5th: Jonathon Weakly (Sherrard) 14-1d. Daniel Holman (Fulton) 17-5, (D 7-1)
285
1st: Jeremy Gagnon (Seneca) 11-0, d. Caleb Reymer (Erie/Prophetstown) 15-1, (F 3:44)
3rd: Keegan Barnes (East Peoria) 9-3, d. Jahkei Jones (Rock Fs) 5-2, (F 2:32)
5th: Kaiden Terrill (Mercer County) 5-7, d. Luke Kempel (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 8-5, (F 1:47)
Girls 105/110
1st: (round robin)
Blair Grennan (Newman Central) 3-0, d. Kyra Cardine (Mercer County) 2-2, (F 1:13)
3rd: (round robin)
Nevada Wells (Erie-Prophetstown) 5-10, d. Abby Webber (Sherrard) 0-3 (F 3:05)
Girls 120/125
1st: Ryleigh Stephens (Erie/Prophetstown) 16-2, d. Sophia Bradarich (Sherrard) 2-1 (TF-1.5 0:00 (23-7)
3rd: Kylie Mathis (Sherrard) 2-1d. Grace Bray (Fulton) 9-4, (F 3:42)
5th: Kaylee Benyo (Newman Central) 2-3, d. Adison Stephens (Erie/Prophetstown) 7-11, (D 5-2)
Girls 135/140
1st: Nadia Anderson (Sherrard) 2-0d. Michelle Naftzger (Erie/Prophetstown) 17-3, (D 7-6)
3rd: Dena Cox (Erie-Prophetstown) 14-5, d. Aubrey Herndon (Polo/E/F/M) 2-5, (F 5:45)
5th: Bryleigh Nance (Sherrard) 0-2 (Bye)
Girls 155
1st Place (final): Jayda Rosenow (Erie-Prophetstown) 13-6, d. Jayda Reiff (Rockridge) 0-4, (F 1:48)
Team scores
1. Lena-Winslow/Stockton 197.5, 2. Newman Central) 176, 3. Seneca 147.5, 4. Morrison 139, 5. Rockridge 120, 6. Erie/Prophetstown 102, 7. East Peoria 98, 8. Orion 91, 9. West Carroll 85.5, 10. Fulton 85, 11. Sherrard 78.5, 12. Rock Fs 76.5, 13, Illini Bluffs 61, 14. Mercer County 48.5, 15. Polo/Eastland/Forreston/Milledgeville 44, Alleman 32.
STILLMAN VALLEY HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Wheaton Academy had three champions to win the Stillman Valley Holiday Tournament on Saturday at Stillman Valley.
The Warriors slipped past Oregon by just a few points, outscoring the runner-ups, 178.5 to 175.5. Host Stillman Valley was third with 142.5 points, Johnsburg was fourth with 139.5 and Marengo was fifth among the 16-team field.
1st place; Wheaton Academy (178.5 points)
Lincoln Hoger (132), Chasen Kazmierczak (157) and Tyler Jones (165) won titles for the Warriors. Oscar Smith (126) and Jeremy Johanik (215) placed second, Ian De Souza (190) and Hezekiah Garcia (285) took third, Ian Tanacea (175) was fourth and Buckley Kazmierczak (113) and Nicolas Chiappetta were fifth.
2nd place; Oregon (175.5 points)
Josiah Perez (113), Isaiah Perez (120) and Briggs Sellers (285) took home titles while Nelson Benesh (132), Ethan Mowry (157) and Andrew Young (175) had second place finishes. Jakob Moser (190) was fourth, Landon Ege (126) and Jackson Messenger (138) placed fifth and Jayden Berry (150) and Jakobi Donegan (165) took sixth.
3rd place: Stillman Valley (142.5 points)
Henry Hildreth (150) won a title to lead the Cardinals. Michael Pannarale (106) and Brady Stewart (190) placed second, Zander Bell (113) and Ethan Waugh (165) took third, and Preston Ludens (126), Brady Hinkle (157) and Brodie Watterson (138) were fourth.
Dundee-Crown matched Wheaton Academy and Oregon as champions with three of its own. Aiden Healey (106), Chris Gerardo (138) and Teigen Moreno (215) won titles for the Chargers. Kaneland brothers Alex Gochis (144) and Apollo Gochis (175) also won title for the Knights. The remaining individual champions included Johnsburg’s Tanner Hansen (126) and Marengo’s Frankie Solis (190).
Wheaton Academy’s Chasen Kazmierczak had three pins in 2:24 to lead the tournament with the most pins in the least amount of time. Kaneland’s Alex Gochis had the most tech falls in the least amount of time with two in 3:39. Kaneland’s Apollo Gochis, was the lone other wrestler to have two tech fall victories, doing so in 6:19. Oregon’s Landon Ege had 23 single match points which was tops in the tournament. Ege also had the most total match points with 54. Amboy’s Caiden Heath had 53 and Kaneland’s Alex Gochis had 52. Heath also tied for the largest seed-place difference in the tournament. As a 10th seed, Health placed third, Wheaton Academy’s Oscar Smith was a 9th seed who took second place. Both wrestlers had a difference of seven.
Stillman Valley Holiday Tournament results
106
1st: Aiden Healey (Dundee-Crown) 18-5, d. Michael Pannarale (Stillman Valley) 9-2, (TF-1.5 3:40 (18-0))
3rd: Cam Whitehead (Winnebago) 13-5, d. Aden Spinelli (Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/LaMoille/Ohio) 4-2, (F 4:45)
5th: Kai Surdick (Johnsburg) 15-9, d. Sebastian Lara (Lisle Senior) 9-5, (F 4:30)
113
1st: Josiah Perez (Oregon) 13-1, d. Chase Vogel (Johnsburg) 16-5, (MD 10-2)
3rd: Zander Bell (Stillman Valley) 5-3, d. Jackson Hopkins (Winnebago) 5-9, (F 1:04)
5th: Buckley Kazmierczak (Wheaton Academy) 5-9, d. Jaden Ortega (Marengo) 3-11, (F 0:40)
120
1st: Isaiah Perez (Oregon) 13-2, d. Vince Hefke (Aurora Central Catholic) 12-2, (MD 8-0)
3rd: Chase Davis (Johnsburg) 18-6, d. Ty Florschuetz (Amboy/AFC/L/O) 3-3, (F 0:52)
5th: Nicolas Chiappetta (Wheaton Academy) 3-12, d. Gavin Stevenson (Mendota) 11-10, (D 10-9)
126
1st: Tanner Hansen (Johnsburg) 15-5, d. Oscar Smith (Wheaton Academy) 6-5, (MD 12-3)
3rd: Noah Pearcy (Winnebago) 9-7, d. Preston Ludens (Stillman Valley) 4-8, (F 1:27)
5th: Landon Ege (Oregon) 8-4, d. Jonathon Sebring-Werhane (Marengo) 1-7, (F 2:27)
132
1st: Lincoln Hoger (Wheaton Academy) 13-3, d. Nelson Benesh (Oregon) 11-4, (D 4-2)
3rd: Alexander Ferari (Lisle Senior) 12-2, d. Hayden Beebe (Marengo) 13-7, (F 2:25)
5th: Chase Whitehead (Winnebago) 13-6, d. Chase Montavon (Amboy/AFC/L/O) 3-3, (F 4:57)
138
1st: Chris Gerardo (Dundee-Crown) 18-5, d. Landon Johnson (Johnsburg) 17-3, (D 4-1)
3rd: Joshua McKendry (Amboy/AFC/L/O) 3-1, d. Brodie Watterson (Stillman Valley) 5-7, (F 1:22)
5th: Jackson Messenger (Oregon) 9-6, d. Tristan Menendez (St. Edward) 4-9 (F 1:08)
144
1st: Alex Gochis (Kaneland) 12-0, d. Landon VanAcker (Belvidere) 10-3, (MD 13-2)
3rd: Caiden Heath (Amboy/AFC/L/O) 6-1, d. Jaxxon Gustafson (Winnebago) 10-7, (F 0:42)
5th: Hunter Boley (Marengo) 11-6, d. Caleb Yancoskie (Dundee-Crown) 8-14, (F 2:16)
150
1st: Henry Hildreth (Stillman Valley) 7-2, d. Johnny Consuegra-Lopez (Lisle Senior) 7-3, (F 2:43)
3rd: Owen Ostler (Marengo) 7-4, d. Kainoa Ancog (Johnsburg) 13-9, (F 3:25)
5th: Jadon Wheatley (Dundee-Crown) 11-8, d. Jayden Berry (Oregon) 9-5, (F 1:59)
157
1st: Chasen Kazmierczak (Wheaton Academy) 15-1, d. Ethan Mowry (Oregon) 14-4, (F 0:28)
3rd: Logan Boley (Marengo) 6-5, d. Brady Hinkle (Stillman Valley) 5-5, (F 1:20)
5th: GAVIN EVANS (Mendota) 11-7, d. Drew Jesuit (Johnsburg) 8-12, (D 13-11)
165
1st: Tyler Jones (Wheaton Academy) 12-1, d. David Skonieczny (Lisle Senior) 10-3, (MD 10-2)
3rd: Ethan Waugh (Stillman Valley) 7-3, d. Aaron Alvarez (Johnsburg) 4-6, (F 1:04)
5th: Caden Vanik (Kaneland) 5-7, d. Jakobi Donegan (Oregon) 8-6, (F 4:47)
175
1st: Apollo Gochis (Kaneland) 9-2, d. Andrew Young (Oregon) 5-2, (TF-1.5 3:19 (15-0))
3rd: Duke Mays (Johnsburg) 10-5, d. Ian Tanacea (Wheaton Academy) 2-6, (F 1:00)
5th: Connor Wishop (Winnebago) 1-11, (Bye)
190
1st: Frankie Solis (Marengo) 7-1, d. Brady Stewart (Stillman Valley) 6-5, (F 4:59)
3rd: Ian De Souza (Wheaton Academy) 4-10, d. Jakob Moser (Oregon) 7-4, (D 4-2)
215
1st: Teigen Moreno (Dundee-Crown) 19-1, d. Jeremy Johanik (Wheaton Academy) 12-3, (D 9-7)
3rd: Conner Sacco (Marengo) 8-2, d. Joaquin Martinez (Aurora Central Catholic) 4-6, (F 1:03)
5th: Evan Flanagan (Amboy/AFC/L/O) 4-2, d. Troy Fagerstrom (Durand/Pecatonica) 1-4, (F 1:02)
285
1st: Briggs Sellers (Oregon) 11-6, d. Angil Serrano (Mendota) 5-4, (F 4:30)
3rd: Hezekiah Garcia (Wheaton Academy) 12-4, d. Josh Cowman (Winnebago) 13-8, (F 0:50)
5th: Roy Ramirez (Dundee-Crown) 15-9, d. Emmanual Pizzano (Belvidere) 3-4, (D 6-0)
Team scores
1. Wheaton Academy 178.5, 2. Oregon 175.5, 3, Stillman Valley 142.5, 4. Johnsburg 139.5, 5. Marengo 112, 6. Dundee-Crown 107, 7. Winnebago 98.5, 8. Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/Lamoille/Ohio) 80.5, 9. Kaneland 68, 10. Lisle Senior 63, 11. Mendota 44, 12. Aurora Central Catholic 34, 13. Belvidere 32, 14. Durand/Pecatonica 6, 14. St. Edward 6.
Tournament roundup for Glenbrook South, West Chicago and Rich Township
by Mike Garofola – for the IWCOA
59th Glenbrook South Rus Erb Tournament
Glenbrook South’s 59th Rus Erb Tournament was full of surprises Saturday at the Titans Dome in Glenview. That’s where two high-profile men suffered their first losses in the final round.
Richmond-Burton’s Emmett Nelson (11-1), a three-time IHSA medalist and two-time runner-up who took sixth at 144 last season, suffered his first defeat of the year in the 144 final against Antioch’s Chase Nobiling (20-3).
Batavia’s Asher Sheldon (13-1) saw his win streak end after Antioch senior Owen Shea (18-4) pinned him at 1:22, which dashed his hopes for a third-straight title.
Richmond-Burton won the title with 177.5 points while Sycamore took second with 171 points. Grant edged Antioch 168-165 to claim third place while Deerfield was fifth with 156 points. Batavia was looking to claim its third straight team title but took seventh place with 127 points.
The top five teams could all be found in the top 20 of the most recent state polls, with tourney champion Richmond-Burton the highest at seventh in Class 1A. Three teams were ranked in 2A, Deerfield (11th), Sycamore (12th) and Antioch (14th) while Grant was 22nd in Class 3A.
“We were out three starters and freshman Liam Paulley is filling in at 132,” Richmond-Burton coach Tony Nelson said. “Lelan Nelson with the big win over a kid who pinned him last year in the semifinals of IKWF State.
“This has turned into a real tough tournament with some very good teams, and a bunch of terrific wrestlers on an individual level,” said Deerfield coach Marc Pechter, who has led the Warriors to a trio of dual-team tournament appearances, which includes a fourth in 2017.
1st place – Richmond-Burton
Coach Tony Nelson’s Rockets had one champion, Lelan Nelson (14-1), who took first at 106. The freshman pinned his way into his final, where he won a 9-5 decision over Sycamore’s Carson West (14-1). He received plenty of help from his teammates with his brother Emmett Nelson (144) and Blake Livdahl (175) both being runners-up.
Emmett Nelson’s first win on Saturday gave him 150 for his career and moved him closer to the school record of 162 set by Garrett Sutton, who was a two-time state champion who went on to star at the University of Michigan.
Adam Glauser (120), and Shane Falasca (215) took third place while Clayton Madula (126), Breckin Campbell (190) and Colin Kraus (285) all finished in fourth place.
2nd place – Sycamore
The runner-up Spartans, who are coached by Randy Culton, were led by runner-up Carson West, who lost in the 106 finals to Richmond-Burton’s Lelan Nelson.
They had four third-place finishers, Sawyer Davis (113), Tyler Lockhart (126), Cooper Bode (175) and Collin Hughes (285) while Clyde Nott (215) added a fourth place medal.
3rd place – Grant
Junior Vince Jasinski, a 2024 state qualifier, won in impressive fashion when he pinned his way into his 126 final with Deerfield’s Adrian Cohen, where he won a 22-6 tech fall at 5:36. Jasinski shared a tourney-high 29.5 team points with Richards’ Mike Taheny and Antioch’s Owen Shea.
Erik Rodriguez (138) and Casey Gipson (190) both claimed third place while Larry Quirk (113), Adrian Khi (144) and Nathan Flores (150) finished in fourth place for coach Mark Jolcover’s third-place Bulldogs.
Antioch had a tournament-high four title winners, Chase Nobiling (144, 20-3), Dominic Garcia (150, 9-1), Ben Vazquez (175, 19-3) and Owen Shea (215, 18-4). Deerfield had three champs, Jackson Palzet (132, 19-1), Jordan Rasof (138, 19-2) and Charlie Cross (157, 14-7).
Other Erb title winners were Lake Park’s Bryce Mensik (113, 11-0), Riverside-Brookfield’s Edgar Mosquera (120, 13-0), Northridge Prep’s Adam Haddad (165, 8-2), Richards’ Mike Taheny (190, 13-1) and Evanston Township’s Jeremy Marshall (285).
Rasof is a two-time state medal winner who took fifth at 138 in 2A last season while Mosquera and Vazquez are both two-time state qualifiers.
There were several individual and team statistics to take note of. Antioch’s Nathan Gorski recorded the most pins over the two days with five while Glenbrook South’s Mike Tsendayush claimed the fastest pin of the weekend at just 13 seconds. And Burlington Central’s Michael Junitz led everyone with 80 match points.
Among the champions, Cross was fourth in team points with 28.5, Garcia, Mosquera and Nelson tied with 27, Vazquez collected 27.5 points and Palzet scored 27 team points.
59th Glenbrook South Rus Erb Tournament place matches
106
1st Place Match
Lelan Nelson (Richmond-Burton) 14-1, Fr. over Carson West (Sycamore) 14-1, Fr. (Dec 9-5)
3rd Place Match
Jorey Becker (Deerfield) 15-9, So. over Liam Lovelace (Lake Park) 13-4, Fr. (Dec 7-6)
5th Place Match
Stone McKone (Buffalo Grove) 9-4, So. over Sergio Jaimes (Glenbrook South) 8-9, Jr. (TF-1.5 3:19 (15-0))
113
1st Place Match
Bryce Mensik (Lake Park) 11-0, Sr. over Eduardo Vences (Burlington Central) 2-1, So. (Fall 4:38)
3rd Place Match
Sawyer Davis (Sycamore) 13-3, Fr. over Larry Quirk (Grant) 3-6, Jr. (Dec 3-0)
5th Place Match
Diego Bueno (Palatine) 2-2, Sr. over Noah Kwasiborski (Antioch) 5-15, Sr. (Fall 3:23)
120
1st Place Match
Edgar Mosquera (Riverside-Brookfield) 13-0, Sr. over Kai Enos (Batavia) 12-3, Fr. (Fall 3:25)
3rd Place Match
Adam Glauser (Richmond-Burton) 16-3, Fr. over Mykola Shamray (Buffalo Grove) 15-4, Fr. (Dec 4-1)
5th Place Match
Ermuun Urtanasan (Glenbrook South) 14-3, Jr. over Michael Olson (Sycamore) 13-5, Jr. (Dec 9-7)
126
1st Place Match
Vince Jasinski (Grant) 19-2, Jr. over Adrian Cohen (Deerfield) 16-6, So. (TF-1.5 5:36 (22-6))
3rd Place Match
Tyler Lockhart (Sycamore) 16-2, Jr. over Clayton Madula (Richmond-Burton)) 16-4, Sr. (MD 18-6)
5th Place Match
Chace Tankson (Marian Catholic) 9-5, Sr. over Kyle Pasco (Batavia) 8-8, Jr. (For.)
132
1st Place Match
Jackson Palzet (Deerfield) 19-1, Sr. over Jack Duraski (Batavia) 12-2, Sr. (Fall 3:05)
3rd Place Match
Sergio Hernandez (Lake Park) 17-3, Sr. over Jacob Godoy (Riverside-Brookfield) 8-5, Sr. (Dec 6-1)
5th Place Match
Ben Ramos (Grant) 4-2, Sr. over Thomas Lind (Sycamore) 10-8, Sr. (Dec 7-1)
138
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Jordan Rasof (Deerfield) 19-2, Sr. over Nick Merola (Lake Park) 12-5, Jr. (Dec 5-0)
3rd Place Match
Erik Rodriguez (Grant) 20-2, Jr. over Matthew Lucansky (Carmel) 13-3, Sr. (TF-1.5 4:43 (21-4))
5th Place Match
Jayden Dohogne (Sycamore) 15-3, So. over Jack Burton (Glenbrook South) 9-8, Jr. (MD 14-5)
144
1st Place Match
Chase Nobiling (Antioch) 20-3, Jr. over Emmett Nelson (Richmond-Burton) 11-1, Sr. (Dec 8-4)
3rd Place Match
Ricky Blanco (Riverside-Brookfield) 12-5, Sr. over Adrian Khi (Grant) 11-11, Sr. (TF-1.5 5:41 (18-1))
5th Place Match
Alexander Shvartsman (Deerfield) 16-8, So. over Kale Schrauth (Glenbrook South) 14-7, Jr. (MD 12-3)
150
1st Place Match
Dominic Garcia (Antioch) 9-1, So. over Ollie Quiros (Niles North) 16-4, Sr. (MD 16-8)
3rd Place Match
Tony Klinkas (Buffalo Grove) 14-6, So. over Nathan Flores (Grant) 10-8, Sr. (Dec 9-3)
5th Place Match
George McShane (Northridge Prep) 7-4, Jr. over Aidan Minihane (Glenbrook South) 14-6, Jr. (Fall 2:22)
157
1st Place Match
Charlie Cross (Deerfield) 14-7, Sr. over Ethan Rivas (Riverside-Brookfield) 8-5, Sr. (Fall 4:58)
3rd Place Match
Nathan Gorski (Antioch) 14-9, Sr. over Dom Marino (Glenbrook South) 16-3, Jr. (Fall 5:16)
5th Place Match
Zahid Haque (Glenbrook South) 3-2, Sr. over Art Bytyqi (Evanston Township) 9-7, Fr. (Fall 1:01)
165
1st Place Match
Adam Haddad (Northridge Prep) 8-2, Sr. over Chris Chi (Buffalo Grove) 11-3, Sr. (TB-1 19-6)
3rd Place Match
Colin Peyton (Batavia) 13-4, Jr. over Henry Downing (Glenbrook South) 14-4, Sr. (Dec 13-10)
5th Place Match
Joey Baranski (Marian Catholic) 15-4, Sr. over Marcus Macias (Antioch) 14-7, Jr. (M. For.)
175
1st Place Match
Ben Vazquez (Antioch) 19-3, Sr. over Blake Livdahl (Richmond-Burton) 14-2, So. (Dec 7-2)
3rd Place Match
Cooper Bode (Sycamore) 11-6, Jr. over Trey Widlowski (Palatine) 4-2, Sr. (MD 15-3)
5th Place Match
Adrian Esparza (Marian Catholic) 4-4, Jr. over Josh Rappa (Rolling Meadows) 11-5, Jr. (Inj. 2:18)
190
1st Place Match
Mike Taheny (Richards) 13-1, Sr. over John Rappa (Rolling Meadows) 15-2, Jr. (TF-1.5 6:00 (18-1))
3rd Place Match
Casey Gipson (Grant) 19-5, Jr. over Breckin Campbell (Richmond-Burton) 14-6, So. (Fall 4:22)
5th Place Match
Michael Junitz (Burlington Central) 6-2, Jr. over Julian Ramos (Lakes Community) 3-3, Sr. (MD 14-5)
215
1st Place Match
Owen Shea (Antioch) 18-4, Jr. over Asher Sheldon (Batavia) 13-1, Sr. (Fall 1:22)
3rd Place Match
Shane Falasca (Richmond-Burton) 16-5, Fr. over Clyde Nott (Sycamore) 11-6, Fr. (Fall 1:33)
5th Place Match
Tyler Zdon (Grant) 4-2, Jr. over Sain Uranbold (Glenbrook South) 13-6, Jr. (Dec 14-11)
285
1st Place Match
Jeremy Marshall (Evanston Township) 3-0, Jr. over Ian Sims (Evanston Township) 3-1, Jr. (Fall 4:57)
3rd Place Match
Collin Hughes (Sycamore) 13-3, Fr. over Colin Kraus (Richmond-Burton) 9-5, Sr. (Fall 0:58)
5th Place Match
Hunter Johnson (Glenbrook South) 14-6, Jr. over Joey Alberts (Riverside-Brookfield) 7-7, Jr. (Fall 3:04)
Team scores
1. Richmond-Burton 177.5, 2. Sycamore 171, 3. Grant 168, 4. Antioch 165.5, 5. Deerfield 156, 6. Riverside-Brookfield 133.5, 7. Batavia 127, 8. Glenbrook South 116, 9. Lake Park 103, 10. Buffalo Grove 88.5, 11. Evanston Township 63.5, 12. Burlington Central 54, 12. Marian Catholic 54, 14. Palatine 53, 15. Rolling Meadows 46.5, 16. Northridge Prep 42.5, 17. Niles North 37.5, 18. Richards 31.5, 19. Carmel 26, 20. Lakes Community 21.5.
West Chicago Bob Hein Invite
The first annual Bob Hein Invite at West Chicago had plenty of quality within its eight-team field with close to 20 state-ranked men, including six who were in the top 10 of the state polls.
The depth of Naperville North was enough to overcome four individual championships for Class 2A power Yorkville Christian with the Huskies coming out on top with 206.5 points, which was 17 ahead of the Mustangs, who finished with 189.5 points. Maine South (168), West Chicago (118.5) and Dixon (115) were next on the team table.
“It was a great tournament run by West Chicago,” Naperville North coach Tom Champion said.
Robert ‘Bob’ Hein was a beloved educator and wrestling coach at West Chicago after moving his family from Iowa, where he taught and coached at Dewitt and Davenport West before moving to Illinois in 1978. He retired in 2002 and passed away in 2018 at age 78 in Ames, Iowa.
1st place – Naperville North
Senior Ben Messier (138, 14-1) and junior Tavkif Ibragimov (215,13-3) claimed individual titles for coach Tom Champion’s first-place Huskies, however it was the strength and talent all throughout their lineup that ultimately led to its eventual team title.
The Huskies had seven individuals who finished in second place. They were Adam Beedon (113), Ryan Beedon (120), Connor McDonald (126), Tyler Sternstein (144), Zachary Mally (150), Timothy Garmon (157), JT Hill (165) and Brady Valle (190) while Hudson Champion (157) added a fourth place finish.
Of this aforementioned group, Sternstein was the lone state qualifier from a year ago at 132 pounds with a 35-6 record. Ibragimov recorded three pins on the day, tying Maine South’s Evan Rioch for the tourney lead and the pair also collected the most team points with 26.
2nd place – Yorkville Christian
The Mustangs, who were ranked seventh in the state in Class 2A, celebrated a tourney-high four individual champions, which included Aiden Larsen (120, 14-3), who looks to add a fourth trip downstate to an already impressive resume, which includes winning three state medals.
Isaac Gray (157, 16-5), Robby Nelson (165, 15-3) and Tyler Gleason (175, 17-5) would also climb atop the podium at the end of the day for coach Mike Vester’s second-place team.
Third place honors would go to Adrian Wadas-Luis (138), Hayden Wheeler (190), Xavier Oliver (215) and Garrett Tunnell (285). Davin Torza (106), Jackson Witt (132) and Kenny Fox (175) added to the Mustangs point total with fourth place medals.
3rd place – Maine South
Tyler Fortis (285, 16-0) led a trio of Hawks who claimed first place awards that included Jack Handley (132, 13-3) and Evan Rioch (190, 6-6).
Fortis went 45-6 and took fifth at 285 in 3A a year ago and was a key member of the Hawks team title at regionals while Rioch went from the No. 7 seed to champion in his weight class.
Caden Ljubenko (138) and Marty Greif (175) took second place while Brett Harman (126), Emmett Mazukelli (132), Jake Colleran (144) and Gavin Hoerr (150) added third place medals for coach Kevin Hansen’s third-place Hawks. Daniel Egan (165) and Rayyan Salameh (215) finished fourth. Hoerr was a state qualifier last season.
The host Wildcats had two champions, Ryan Alvarado (126, 14-1) and Leo Rosas (150, 13-3). Other Hein Invite champions were Addison Trail’s Nikolas Duarte (106, 13-3), Dixon’s Jack Ragan (17-0, 113) and Rock Island’s Antonio Parker (144, 11-1).
Nikolas Durate recorded the fastest technical fall on the day in his 106 semifinal at 50 seconds while Yorkville Christian’s Ryan Alaimo (126) would score a tourney-high 46 total match points.
Alvarado and Gleason tied for third in team points with 24.5 while Fortis, Gray, Larsen and Messier all scored 24 points and Duarte, Parker and Ragan all finished with 23 team points.
West Chicago Bob Hein Invite place matches
106
1st Place Match
Nikolas Duarte (Addison Trail) 13-3, Fr. over Riley Paredes (Dixon) 12-3 (TF-1.5 2:11 (16-1))
3rd Place Match
Angelo Parker (Rock Island) 9-3, Fr. over Davin Torza (Yorkville Christian) 6-4, Fr. (Fall 2:32)
5th Place Match
Erle Rosete (Maine South) 13-7, So. over Santino Pignatelli (West Chicago) 2-5, Fr. (TF-1.5 3:48 (20-4))
113
1st Place Match
Jack Ragan (Dixon) 17-0 over Adam Beedon (Naperville North) 14-1, Jr. (Dec 8-7)
3rd Place Match
Zander Spatafore (Elk Grove) 13-5, Fr. over Santiago Trejo-Huerigo (Addison Trail) 12-4, Fr. (Dec 5-4)
5th Place Match
Emanuel Rangel (West Chicago) 8-3, So. over Jimmy Obedi (Rock Island) 2-7, Fr. (Fall 3:18)
7th Place Match
Tyquez Hudson (Rock Island (H.S.) 4-6, So. (Bye)
120
1st Place Match
Aiden Larsen (Yorkville Christian) 14-3, Sr. over Ryan Beedon (Naperville North) 11-5, Jr. (Inj. 0:00)
3rd Place Match
Doolan Long (Dixon) 14-4 over Zion Martinez (Addison Trail) 7-12, Jr. (Dec 7-0)
5th Place Match
Adrian Ramos Perez (West Chicago) 5-7, Jr. over Jonathan Antonio (West Chicago) 1-2, Sr. (MD 16-8)
126
1st Place Match
Ryan Alvarado (West Chicago) 14-1, Sr. over Connor McDonald (Naperville North) 14-2, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:42 (17-0))
3rd Place Match
Brett Harman (Maine South) 16-3, Jr. over Merrick Stockwell (Rock Island) 7-4, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:28 (17-1))
5th Place Match
Ryan Alaimo (Yorkville Christian) 16-6, So. over Michael Arrendondo (Naperville North) 3-4, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:00 (19-3))
7th Place Match
Maricio Parker (Rock Island) 4-5, So. over Alex Brennan (Elk Grove) 1-8, So. (Fall 2:21)
132
1st Place Match
Jack Handley (Maine South) 13-3, Sr. over Brian Correa (West Chicago) 8-5, So. (Dec 4-1)
3rd Place Match
Emmett Mazukelli (Maine South) 9-3, Jr. over Jackson Witt (Yorkville Christian) 3-2, So. (Dec 8-4)
5th Place Match
Kai Balice (Naperville North) 7-6, Fr. over Miguel Gonzalez (Elk Grove) 2-8, So. (Fall 3:39)
7th Place Match
Elijah Venegas (Rock Island) 2-3, Sr. over Gahel Lezama Martinez (Addison Trail) 3-7, So. (Fall 1:42)
138
1st Place Match
Ben Messier (Naperville North) 14-1, Sr. over Caden Ljubenko (Maine South) 16-4, Jr. (Fall 0:48)
3rd Place Match
Adrian Wadas-Luis (Yorkville Christian) 12-5, Jr. over Elijah King (Rock Island) 1-2, Fr. (Fall 1:50)
5th Place Match
John Benitez (West Chicago) 0-3, Sr. over (Bye)
144
1st Place Match
Antonio Parker (Rock Island) 11-1, Sr. over Tyler Sternstein (Naperville North) 13-3, Sr. (Dec 10-9)
3rd Place Match
Jake Colleran (Maine South) 17-4, Jr. over Preston Richards (Dixon) 13-5 (SV-1 4-1)
5th Place Match
Matthias Hautzinger (Addison Trail) 11-4, Sr. over Austin Wadas-Luis (Yorkville Christian) 10-9, Jr. (Fall 1:44)
7th Place Match
Donavan Avila (West Chicago) 6-6, Sr. over Yahia Soliman (Elk Grove) 2-10, So. (Fall 1:58)
150
1st Place Match
Leo Rosas (West Chicago) 13-3, Jr. over Zachary Mally (Naperville North) 12-4, Sr. (MD 11-2)
3rd Place Match
Gavin Hoerr (Maine South) 5-1, Jr. over Jayden Weidman (Dixon) 16-4 (Dec 4-1)
5th Place Match
George Tate (Rock Island) 6-6, Jr. over Tiras Lombardo (Yorkville Christian) 12-8, Sr. (Inj. 5:23)
7th Place Match
Matt DiMaria (Elk Grove) 3-8, So. over Bryan Borrego (Addison Trail) 4-7, So. (TF-1.5 4:35 (19-3))
157
1st Place Match
Isaac Gray (Yorkville Christian) 16-5, Sr. over Timothy Garmon (Naperville North) 6-5, So. (Fall 3:13)
3rd Place Match
Ian McGowan (Rock Island) 4-3, Jr. over Hudson Champion (Naperville North) 1-2, So. (TF-1.5 4:16 (19-2))
5th Place Match
Adam Staples (Dixon) 6-10 over Andrew Somenek (Elk Grove) 5-10, So. (Dec 11-8)
165
1st Place Match
Robby Nelson (Yorkville Christian) 15-3, Sr. over JT Hill (Naperville North) 7-4, Fr. (MD 14-0)
3rd Place Match
Alen Bautista (Addison Trail) 7-8, So. over Daniel Egan (Maine South) 4-5, Jr. (Fall 1:36)
5th Place Match
Pierson Foos (West Chicago) 0-8, Sr. (Bye)
175
1st Place Match
Tyler Gleason (Yorkville Christian) 17-5, Jr. over Marty Greif (Maine South) 11-7, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:13 (16-1))
3rd Place Match
Daniel Fordham (Dixon) 10-9 over Kenny Fox (Yorkville Christian) 1-2, So. (MD 11-3)
5th Place Match
Julian Mayres (Rock Island) 5-5, Jr. over David Hurrle (Naperville North) 4-8, Jr. (Dec 6-1)
7th Place Match
Emerson Stewart (Maine South) 2-3, Sr. (Bye)
190
1st Place Match
Evan Rioch (Maine South) 6-6, Sr. over Brady Valle (Naperville North) 5-10, Sr. (Fall 0:50)
3rd Place Match
Hayden Wheeler (Yorkville Christian) 4-1, So. over Landon Rodriguez (West Chicago) 6-9, Jr. (Fall 1:59)
5th Place Match
Emmanuel Leal (Addison Trail) 11-8, Sr. over Seth Shaeffer (Dixon) 9-14 (Fall 3:31)
7th Place Match
Tommy Whalen (Elk Grove) 1-10, Sr. over Adrian Venegas (Rock Island) 0-3, Jr. (Dec 10-7)
215
1st Place Match
Tavkif Ibragimov (Naperville North) 13-3, Jr. over Will Howell (Dixon) 11-4 (Fall 1:05)
3rd Place Match
Xander Oliver (Yorkville Christian) 11-8, Sr. over Rayyan Salameh (Maine South) 1-6, Sr. (Fall 3:11)
5th Place Match
Rowan Stockwell (Rock Island) 6-3, So. over Angelo Jimenez (West Chicago) 4-9, Sr. (Dec 5-2)
7th Place Match
David Weber (West Chicago) 0-5, So. (Bye)
285
1st Place Match
Tyler Fortis (Maine South) 16-0, Sr. over Mikey Milovich (Elk Grove) 14-4, Sr. (Dec 2-0)
3rd Place Match
Garrett Tunnell (Yorkville Christian) 16-4, Sr. over Emilio Guzman (Rock Island) 7-5, Sr. (Fall 3:45)
5th Place Match
Omar Sarmiento (West Chicago) 8-6, Sr. over Tommy Leach (Maine South) 3-5, Jr. (Fall 1:11)
7th Place Match
Elliott Ibarra (Addison Trail) 6-10, So. over Dylan Bopes (Dixon) 9-9 (Inj. 0:00)
Team scores
1. Naperville North 206.5, 2. Yorkville Christian 189.5, 3. Maine South 168, 4. West Chicago 118.5, 5. Rock Island 115.5, 6. Dixon 115, 7. Addison Trail 86, 8. Elk Grove 48.
Rich Township Varsity Raptor Invite
Merrillville, Indiana won the Rich Township Raptor Varsity Invite for the second consecutive time, this year almost matching last year’s point total while surpassing its margin of victory.
The Pirates won by nearly 100 points over runner-up Evergreen Park 281.0-183.5 in 2023. On Saturday in Richton Park, coach David Maldonado’s club amassed 273.5 overall points while Romeoville placed second with 164.5 points. Evergreen Park (148), J, Sterling Morton (130.5) and Thornton Fractional North (115) rounding out the top five in this 16-team field.
1st place – Merrillville, IN
Merrillville flexed its collective muscle with six individual champions. Winning titles were Matthew Maldonado (126, 14-1), Warren Brown (132, 12-4), Marlone Kirksy (144, 15-1), Marquell Shelton (150, 6-2), Adrian Pellot (165, 15-0) and Tyler Knight (175, 8-5). Both Kirksy and Pellot won here a year ago. Pellot was an Indiana State runner-up last year at 157 with a dazzling 40-2 overall record.
The Pirates also had seven top four medalists. Rashad Nelson (106), Donald Hoffman (113), Jacian Quezada (138) and Bryce Montgomery (190) all claimed second place finishes while Anthony Bustamante (157) was third and James Mobley (106) and Oluwapelumo Ojo (285) took fourth place.
2nd place – Romeoville
Coach James Nagel’s runner-up Spartans received championship efforts from Pedro Hernandez (106, 15-5) and Jamir Thomas (285, 15-1), who most recently claimed the top prize at Buffalo Grove’s Rex Lewis Invite.
Thomas would pin his way to his title in just over seven minutes combined in three matches, while providing a team-high 28 team points, which tied for fourth among all competitors.
Three Spartans took third place, Saul Razo (144), Tyler Lewis (165) and Isiah Escobar (190). Taejon White (126), Hector Villagrana (175) and Mohamad Almadami (215) placed fourth..
3rd place – Evergreen Park
The third-place Mustangs celebrated two champions: Jayden Cervantes (120, 16-1) and Chance Woods (138, 14-1). Woods is a two-time state qualifier who went 40-5 last season.
Adrian Cervantes (126) and Genesis Ward (215) finished second while Lucas Landry (132) claimed third place for coach Ron Zimmerman’s third-place team.
Four other teams had one champion. They were J. Sterling Morton’s David Roldan (106, 15-5), Saint Ignatius College Prep’s Nate Sanchez (157, 15-1), Perspectives Leadership’s Mivontae Russell (190), and Tinley Park’s Sebastian Sanderson (215, 16-1).
Nine individuals would finish the day with four pins with Sanderson doing so in the least amount of time, in 3:16. Hillcrest’s Kiaven Sullivan was the leader in total match points with 78.
Sanderson and Shelton led all competitors with the most team points with 30 and Russell was third with 29.5 points. Thomas and Kirksy tied for fourth with 28 team points and Brown, Knight, Pellot and Sanchez all recorded 27.5 points.
Rich Township Raptor Invite place matches
106
1st Place Match
Pedro Hernandez (Romeoville) 15-5, Fr. over Rashad Nelson (Merrillville, IN) 10-5, Jr. (MD 10-2)
3rd Place Match
Indigo Berg (Hope Academy) 16-3, Fr. over James Mobley (Merrillville, IN) 2-2 (Dec 9-6)
5th Place Match
Angel Jacobo (J. Sterling Morton) 12-8, So. over Kenye Flanagan (Perspectives Leadership) 1-3, Sr. (Fall 1:39)
113
1st Place Match
David Roldan (J. Sterling Morton) 13-6, Sr. over Donald Hoffman (Merrillville, IN) 7-7, Jr. (Dec 6-1)
3rd Place Match
Edwin Gomez (Thornton Fractional North) 8-8 over Logan Esparza (Eisenhower) 6-6, Fr. (Dec 6-4)
5th Place Match
Daveon Farmer (Perspectives Leadership) 1-2, Jr. over RaSean Fenner (Chicago Hope Academy) 9-10, So. (Fall 3:06)
120
1st Place Match
Jayden Cervantes (Evergreen Park) 16-1, Jr. over Kyrin King (Rich Township) 17-6, So. (Dec 11-4)
3rd Place Match
Donald Bunton Jr (Perspectives Leadership) 4-1, Jr. over Ryan Bisoyana (Oak Lawn) 6-6, Jr. (TF-1.5 2:46 (18-0))
5th Place Match
Nolan Callahan (Chicago Hope Academy) 14-5, Fr. over Amari Brown (Hillcrest) 9-7 (TF-1.5 1:20 (21-4))
126
1st Place Match
Matthew Maldonado (Merrillville, IN) 14-1, Sr. over Adrian Cervantes (Evergreen Park) 12-1, Jr. (Fall 3:52)
3rd Place Match
Colin McCann (Saint Ignatius College Prep) 11-5, Jr. over Taejon White (Romeoville) 7-4, Sr. (Dec 14-9)
5th Place Match
Jose Berrios (J. Sterling Morton) 10-12, Jr. over LeKeith Rogers (Hillcrest) 9-6, Sr. (Fall 1:03)
132
1st Place Match
Warren Brown (Merrillville, IN) 12-4, Jr. over Josiah Willis (Chicago Hope Academy) 15-3, So. (Dec 8-7)
3rd Place Match
Lucas Landry (Evergreen Park) 12-2, Fr. over Nicario Bella (Perspectives Leadership) 3-2, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:21 (17-0))
5th Place Match
Deshawn Jones (Thornton Fractional North) 10-7 over Brandon Bastida (Bloom Township) 3-3, Fr. (Fall 1:38)
138
1st Place Match
Chance Woods (Evergreen Park) 14-1, Jr. over Jacian Quezada (Merrillville, IN) 3-1 (Fall 1:41)
3rd Place Match
Melik Robinson (Thornton Fractional North) 11-2 over Derrione Collier (Hillcrest) 5-4, Sr. (Fall 0:43)
5th Place Match
Kamrin Hilson (Merrillville, IN) 9-5, So. over John Diaz (Oak Lawn) 7-6, So. (Fall 2:22)
144
1st Place Match
Marlone Kirksy (Merrillville, IN) 15-1, Sr. over Tristin King (Rich Township) 12-6, Jr. (Fall 1:07)
3rd Place Match
Saul Razo (Romeoville) 14-6, Sr. over Giancarlo Garcia (J. Sterling Morton) 11-11, Sr. (Fall 5:07)
5th Place Match
Faris Elayyan (Oak Lawn) 11-6, Jr. over Miguelangel Mercado (Eisenhower) 8-7, Jr. (Fall 1:35)
150
1st Place Match
Marquell Shelton (Merrillville, IN) 6-2, Jr. over David Albright (Tinley Park) 9-8, Jr. (Fall 0:55)
3rd Place Match
Kiaven Sullivan (Hillcrest) 11-2, Sr. over Santori Knight (Chicago Hope Academy) 12-7, Jr. (Fall 1:44)
5th Place Match
Luka Capuano (Saint Ignatius College Prep) 4-2, So. over Patrick Starling (Thornton Fractional North) 4-11 (Fall 1:47)
157
1st Place Match
Nate Sanchez (Saint Ignatius College Prep) 15-1, Sr. over Joseph Merritt (Thornton Fractional North) 13-3 (Fall 2:40)
3rd Place Match
Anthony Bustamante (Merrillville, IN) 12-4, Jr. over Jonathan Ivy (Bloom Township) 3-2, Jr. (Fall 1:36)
5th Place Match
Charles Shane (Oak Lawn) 3-2, Jr. over Khalid Watson (Eisenhower) 9-6, Jr. (Fall 1:03)
165
1st Place Match
Adrian Pellot (Merrillville, IN) 15-0, Sr. over Arkail Griffin (Chicago Hope Academy) 13-1, So. (TF-1.5 6:00 (19-2))
3rd Place Match
Tyler Lewis (Romeoville) 9-5, Jr. over Jadin Billingsley (Rich Township) 13-9, Sr. (Fall 5:27)
5th Place Match
Ashton Gray (Evergreen Park) 12-4, Sr. over Juan Caudillo (Oak Lawn) 3-8, Sr. (Fall 1:02)
175
1st Place Match
Tyler Knight (Merrillville, IN) 8-5, Sr. over Santiago Moya (J. Sterling Morton) 10-4, So. (Dec 11-7)
3rd Place Match
Titus Woodring (Thornton Fractional South) 16-3, Jr. over Hector Villagrana (Romeoville) 10-7, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:33 (17-2))
5th Place Match
Raymond Thompson (Merrillville, IN) 4-2 over Jeremy Burnett (Bloom Township) 7-6, Sr. (DQ)
190
1st Place Match
Mivontae Russell (Perspectives Leadership) 4-0, Sr. over Bryce Montgomery (Merrillville, IN) 8-5, So. (Fall 1:55)
3rd Place Match
Isiah Escobar (Romeoville) 15-2, Sr. over D`Andre Cotton (Bloom Township) 3-2, Jr. (Fall 1:19)
5th Place Match
Joshua Burns (Merrillville, IN) 4-2 over Andres Flores-Roman (Evergreen Park) 12-6, Sr. (Fall 0:50)
215
1st Place Match
Sebastian Sanderson (Tinley Park) 16-1, Jr. over Genesis Ward (Evergreen Park) 8-2, Sr. (Fall 0:31)
3rd Place Match
Melson Ngassa (Saint Ignatius College Prep) 11-2, Jr. over Mohamad Almadami (Romeoville) 4-2 (Fall 1:15)
5th Place Match
Mastewal Evely (Chicago Hope Academy) 15-4, Jr. over Carlos Arriaza (J. Sterling Morton) 11-10, Sr. (Fall 1:03)
285
1st Place Match
Jamir Thomas (Romeoville) 15-1, Sr. over George Range (Bloom Township) 10-3, Sr. (Fall 3:35)
3rd Place Match
Jorge Zavala (Thornton Fractional North) 6-1 over Oluwapelumo Ojo (Merrillville, IN) 3-2 (Fall 5:14)
5th Place Match
Daniel Lopez (J. Sterling Morton) 8-10, Sr. over Andres Espinoza (Eisenhower) 6-5 (Fall 2:53)
Team scores
1. Merrillville, IN 273.5, 2. Romeoville 164.5, 3. Evergreen Park 148, 4. J. Sterling Morton 130.5, 5. Thornton Fractional North 115, 6. Chicago Hope Academy 113, 7. Saint Ignatius College Prep 97, 8. Bloom Township 87.5, 9. Perspectives Leadership 81.5, 10. Oak Lawn 76.5, 11. Rich Township 67.5, 12. Hillcrest 60.5, 13. Tinley Park 59.5, 14. Eisenhower 50.5, 15. Thornton Fractional South 25.5.
Lincoln-Way co-op wins title at Hampshire Whip-Pur Women’s Classic
By Chris Walker – for the IWCOA
The Lincoln-Way co-op, featuring individuals from Lincoln-Way Central, Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way West, shared something in common with 13 other teams on Saturday at Hampshire’s 2nd Whip-Pur Women’s Classic.
All 14 of them had a single champion.
What set Lincoln-Way apart was the success of its numbers. While Zoe Dempsey (110) won a title, Aubrey Barnes (115) took second and Monica Alvarez (100), Emily Peyton (105), Jenna Lee (170) and Riley DePolo (235) all won third-place matches.
Also for the team champions, Liv Clumpner (135) and Maryanna Quezada (190) finished fourth, Sadie Sparks (120) and Claire Bray (130) took fifth place and Ella Giertuga (140) was sixth while Bailey Mitchell (145) and Kate Bohms (155) both added valuable team points.
It was the second tournament win this season for Lincoln-Way, who also won Antioch’s Sandy Gussarson Girls Invitational that was held at Lakes Community on November 30.
“That was more of a round robin and not a true bracket so this feels like a true tournament to win,” Lincoln-Way coach Josh Napier said. “We went to the (Dan Gable) Donnybrook tournament and did well there. We tied for the most match points with another team in Illinois (Kaneland) for eighth-most match points overall out of 44 teams and most teams were from out of state.”
As successful as Lincoln-Way was at Hampshire, Napier saw some missed opportunities.
“I would say I wasn’t satisfied with how we wrestled completely,” he said. “Yes we wrestled well, but we definitely lost some matches we should’ve won. So points aside, we want to see them improve. Sometimes we make the same mistakes. There are some things we can fix and the good thing about it is as much as we’ve competed this year, we keep seeing things we can fix and address and every week we’re getting better at it.”
“It’s happening at the right time,” he said. “The dual team state thing is coming up next weekend, which we’re really excited about and individual state is still six weeks away for the regional. There’s plenty of time to fix things. The goal would be to take home a trophy there, win the whole thing next week, and when that’s over, switch overall to the individual side for sure.”
While Lincoln-Way has some experience, six of its starters are new to this sport this year.
“We’re rolling right now and we’re young,” Napier said. “So overall I think we’re doing a good job of just developing. We have 35 kids. We’re like 30 active and about five out with injuries. And 14 of those girls are freshmen. So we’re young and it’s exciting because most of them are pretty new to it. Wrestling is wrestling and you love seeing the camaraderie among the girls, just like with the boys.”
Dempsey, a junior who took fifth place at 105 in the 2024 IHSA Finals, won by fall in 2:16 against Metea Valley’s Anusha Nagar in the quarters, picked top a 17-0 won by technical fall over Crystal Lake South’s Annalee Aarseth in the semis and won by fall in 1:59 over Woodstock junior Eva Hermansson in the 110 final to improve to 19-1 on the season.
Woodstock didn’t produce a champion but navigated through the diversity of the tournament with seven girls placing to take second as a team with 126 points, but it was well behind the 206.5 put up by Lincoln-Way.
Eva Hermansson (110) and Allison Hill (235) took second for coach Eric Hunt’s Blue Streaks. Danica LaTessa (120) and Hannah Olsen (125) placed third, Mila Masny (135) was fifth and Melanie Ziemann (100) and Brianna Crown (155) were sixth.
Wheeling was third with 121 points. The Wildcats had four wrestlers advance to the finals, easily the most among the field. The champions had two finalists as did the host Whip-Purs, Hononegah, Metea Valley, Woodstock and Zion-Benton.
Wheeling junior Elise Burkut pinned Zion-Benton junior Emily Ortiz in 5:37 to win the 130 title. It was the third time already this season that the two went head-to-head and Burkut won the rubber match, at least for now. Haydee Cruz (100), Krystal Diaz (145) and Nikol Orendarchuk (155) placed second for Wheeling and Layah Woods (135) took third.
“We had four in the finals and a couple of them are second-year wrestlers and the others have been here since day one (of the program),” Wheeling coach Tony Piltaver said. “We preach to them the same way as our boys coach does. We’re going to ask you to do a lot more than maybe you’d normally do just in training and preparation. (Diaz) She lost to (Zion-Benton’s) Naomi Foote in the final but she made it past the semis and she had come up short. That was really nice for her to get over the hump.”
Hampshire placed fourth with 101.5 points.
When senior Anneliese Tavira pinned Plainfield East senior Jennifer Paul in 1:37 in the 170 title match, expectations were met and history was made. Tavira became the first Whip-Pur to win in the tournament’s infancy.
“Entering the tournament I had high expectations for myself because last year I placed fourth, but worked really hard this summer to be a better wrestler,” she said. “Obviously I came in here with the expectation of winning and getting some takedowns and that’s what I did. Last match I think I got a little too excited and forced a double which didn’t go well, but I snapped right back and won my match.”
She got a quick 33-second pin in the quarterfinals over Dundee-Crown’s Joana Trujillo and an 18-3 win by technical fall against Hononegah’s Linda Villa Pioquinto in the semis to arrange for her bout with Paul.
“I have a lot of hopes for what I want to do, especially at Hampshire,” Tavira said. “I want to make some noise and going to state would be amazing. Winning this alone was a big jump. It’s surreal. I almost cried a bit. If you really put in the work you can really do it.”
Competing for something bigger than a waistline was never in her plans at the get-go. Now she’s not wasting any time in pursuit of victories.
“I think going into wrestling when I first started, I just wanted to lose weight,” Tavira said. “A month or two months into it, I was like way more into it than wanting to lose weight. I want to win and last season I went 4-6 and was like ‘I hate losing.’ It’s something I tell the JV kids and even myself. You have to hate losing more than you like winning. It’s just the mentality I’ve had. I need to go out there, I need to wrestle and I need to win. Wrestling has definitely built that, I would say.”
Hampshire coach Matt Todd recognized the historic moment for his wrestler.
“It’s not just another tournament win for Anneliese but a tournament win at home,” Todd said. “That got her really excited. It’s something that she is very happy about. Our girls were very happy they could wrestle in a tournament at home, at their school, representing their school and themselves. They were very happy about that.”
Tavira is adamant about finding success on the mat. So she welcomes all feedback. It helps her.
“I think some people wrestle for a really long time and build bad habits,” she said. “Lucky for me I just started so I can have so many people criticize me like this and that and I learn so much. I love watching film. I’m constantly watching film, especially with the sport growing.”
“I think our team is going to be great and keep growing,” Tavira said. “We’re doing really well at tournaments placing third to fourth and we don’t have a full lineup. It’s six to eight girls wrestling all the time. We really do get along and push each other. The girls are just great. They work hard, they ask questions. They do good.”
Todd and his staff recognized the need for a girls tournament of this magnitude and made it happen last year. The follow-up matched that success.
“We saw a need for it last year and when we saw it, I talked to my staff and a lot of them were on the same page,” he said. “And talking even to some of our conference coaches. ‘Hey, if we host, you want to come wrestle here?’ And they were 100 percent on board with it. We talked to our AD to make sure we were good there and then we started doing it.”
It takes a collective effort from many at a host school to put on a tournament of this size.
“It’s so worth it,” Todd said. “It’s for the girls. It’s to highlight girls wrestling and the growth of it. And having a daughter myself, she gets excited seeing all these girls wrestle and how awesome is it seeing it all here? Putting it together is stressful but it’s day like today and seeing all the champions and other placers that makes it worth it. Having schools from all over like Oak Forest, Zion-Benton, Rockton Hononegah and some Rockford schools wanting to come here and have their girls wrestle and for some competition, it’s a neat thing to see all these schools come together for one goal.”
Champions weren’t the only winners either.
“We had a coach come up today asking about medals for certain brackets because a girl was 0-4 (coming in) and today she won two matches and got a medal,” Todd said. “These girls were so excited and they’re getting better and loving the sport of wrestling and encouraging each other. Even just handing out some of the medals and seeing the smiles on their faces said it all. They were all very excited and just staring at their medals in awe.”
A lot of memories were created at the Whip-Pur Classic. They’ll be traced back to Hampshire, a village of about 8,000 residents in Kane and McHenry counties.
“We were very excited we were able to host this and it puts the Hampshire name out there,” Todd said. “No one really knows Hampshire or where it’s at. We’re a 3A school out in the middle of nowhere. So we were excited they could come here and see that this Hampshire school’s mascot is weird but it’s a cool place to wrestle.”
Dundee-Crown took fifth place with 89 points. Rounding out the top 10 were Hononegah (87.5), Oak Forest (85.5), Plainfield East (77.5), Metea Valley (74.5) and Lakes Community (69).
Rockford East freshman Saya Hongmoungkhoune, who won the title at 100, likes to tease her coach. That’s because she’s also her older sister, Madelynn Hongmoungkhoune, who also wrestled at Rockford East, graduating in 2020.
“She knows my limits, she knows what I can do, she just knows.” Saya Hongmoungkhoune said. “She basically just knows what I need to do and what I like to work on and all of that, and obviously I kind of mess with her a lot and she messes with me.”
“Every match, every practice is a learning curve for the both of us,” Madelynn Hongmoungkhoune said. “Separating myself from being her sister and then being her coach, and not bringing it home all the time. Knowing our limits at home as well. It’s a learning process but it’s a good process. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
After a bye, Hongmoungkhoune, who’s 8-0, won 20-3 by technical fall over Hononegah’s Monika Jahn in the quarters to advance to the semis where she pinned Wheaton North’s Izzy Paz at 3:26. She defeated Wheeling junior Haydee Cruz in the 100 final, getting a pin in 1:02.
“It was a pretty good day,” Saya Hongmoungkhoune said. “I was at the bottom of the bracket and had a bye in the first round. My first match I came out and just tried to score as many points as I could and then my second match, it was pretty tough, I ended up pinning her in the second period and then my finals match she was pretty tough, too, and I just kind of (long pause) I just kind of pinned her.”
While the elder sister was involved in the martial arts before giving wrestling a try during her freshman year, Saya Hongmoungkhoune has now been wrestling for more than half of her life.
“I’ve been wrestling since I was seven so that’s eight years,” she said. “The biggest difference now is there are a lot more girls here. When I did club, the girls division was very rare and I would always have to wrestle with boys, and if there was a girls version there were only two or three girls. Most of who I was surrounded with, my whole team was basically boys. There were only one or two other girls. And it’s kind of the same now, but I have my sister as my coach who knows more about being a girl wrestler. I am hoping to wrestle in college and to win the national championship. I hope to better myself and to be able to make it to the Olympics and hopefully win gold there.”
About a year ago, Prospect senior Viola Pianetto was a triple jumper on the girls track and field team at her school, but was often sidelined with ankle injuries. Today, she’s committed to wrestle at Minot State University despite being still new to the sport.
“I’m hitting my one-year since I started wrestling during the preseason last year,” she said. “(Before wrestling) I was chronically injured with my ankles with the track and field team through my school. So all my friends wrestled so I was like why don’t I give it a try? I did triple jump so it was constant pounding and with the transition over to wrestling I don’t have any more ankle issues ever. It was the best decision I could’ve made.”
After starting her wrestling journey at Suplex Wrestling Club, Pianetto moved on to Built By Brunson Wrestling and then to Izzy Style Wrestling where she’s training these days.
“I’ve trained under Haley Augello and Izzy Martinez,” she said. “They are both great coaches, truly amazing coaches. And I was also being coached by Tommy Maddux, who is one of my off-season coaches as well.”
Triple jumpers are usually some of the strongest and most explosive athletes you will find. Possessing those traits undoubtedly has helped Pianetto’s transition from track and field to wrestling. It’s apparent she was already committed to being an athlete well before she became a wrestler. Her drive combined with hunger for a new sport is why she’s finding herself at the top of the award stand after high school tournaments.
After a bye and 22-6 win by technical fall over Woodstock’s Mila Masny, Pianetto won by fall in 1:09 over Lincoln-Way’s Liv Clumpner in the semifinals before outlasting Hononegah freshman Bella Castelli, 9-5, to win the 135 title and improve to 14-0.
“I’ve made a lot of sacrifices,” Pianetto said. “I didn’t spend Thanksgiving with my family, I don’t spend Christmas with my family. I’m constantly training.”
That included the night before this tournament.
“Last night my brother came home from college and they all decided to have family night and play games and watch movies and I was at the gym with my sauna suit like pouring out four pounds of sweat. People say things like ‘Wow you’ve only been doing this for a year, how do you get to this point?’ and it’s like at the end of the day, how bad do you want it? How bad are you willing to sacrifice everything you have? And you know people don’t understand that wrestling it’s like a lifestyle sport. You’re constantly on a diet.”
Pianetto is continuing to push herself.
“Training with the top girls in the nation like Harlee Hiller and Sydney Perry and these girls when they push me at Izzy (Style Wresting) it comes to show how much I’m not doing,” she said. “People are like ‘you’re doing so much, you’re doing everything you can,’ but in my head I’m not doing enough. These girls are next level and I need to sacrifice more to get where they’re at so they’re truly an inspiration to me and I respect them so much.”
Pianetto was joined by Mother McAuley senior Maggie Zuber, who took first at 140, at the 2024 Fargo Junior Women’s Freestyle National Championship earlier this year. In fact, the two roomed together.
Zuber improved to 10-0 picking up four victories in her run to take home the 140-pound crown.
She beat Mundelein’s Khloe Heerdegen by fall at 3:40 to start. She followed with a 12-4 major decision over Lincoln-Way’s Ella Giertuga, a 19-3 win by technical fall over Richmond-Burton’s Madelyn Peterie in her semifinal and then pinned Metea Valley sophomore Rosie Picari in 3:56 in the 140 title bout.
“I don’t get a lot of matches, to be honest, in my season,” Zuber said. “This is the first year where I’ve had the most matches I’ve ever gotten and it’s been two weeks. I realized I missed a lot of matches and some I really wish I could get some different points on the board faster. I think I did pretty well with takedowns, but really got to work on a lot of aspects of scrambling, and I feel like that’s important. I know of wrestlers who have said they don’t really know how to move in and out of positions so I’ve been working a lot on that.”
As the first girl to ever wrestle for Mother McAuley, Zuber’s been at it since eighth grade. It certainly helped that her brother Matt Zuber wrestled at Fenwick while she was younger and then competed at NIU while she was making history at McAuley.
“I never thought I was going to wrestle, ever,” she said. “But my brother wrestled at NIU which is DI and then with Covid my dad actually made me get out of the house so I knew I had to do something so I got out and started walking out to Vittum Park (in Chicago) for workouts and Beat the Streets.”
Meeting other wrestlers has enhanced her journey. She never would’ve met Pianetto. Now they’re friends pursuing similar dreams.
“I know she’s committed to wrestle in college and I and some of our other roommates at Fargo are all planning on wrestling at the next level,” Zuber said. “It’s funny. We’re all meeting each other last year and now we may see each other at college invites. You push yourself to the limit every time you go out there and if you don’t, you’ll lose. You have to put the pedal to the medal and work hard.”
Dundee-Crown senior Diamond Rodriguez, who took first at 105, was the lone champion who also won last year. Rodriguez, who was the 100-pound champion in 2023, improved to 15-0 after pinning Jacobs freshman Julia Felton in 0:39 in the 105 finals to cap a title run where she won her other two matches with first-period falls.
The other champions in the tournament all won by fall. Hononegah senior Angelina Cassioppi won the 120 title with a fall in 1:19 over Hampshire sophomore Amelia Nudeelea-Polanin. Cassioppi, who is 11-0, is one of four three-time IHSA champions and hopes to become the first four-time state champion this season. All of her four pins came during the first period.
Lakes Community senior Josephine Larson took first at 190 with a fall in 0:20 over Jefferson sophomore Kylie Eilken, the shortest amount of time. Larson is a two-time IHSA medalist at 190 who finished in second place last season as she helped her team to become the first IHSA team champion. She also got falls in her other three matches.
Zion-Benton senior Naomi Foote pinned Wheeling sophomore Krystal Diaz in 3:26 in the 145 title match after recording two first-period falls.Foote took sixth at 145 in the 2024 IHSA Finals.
Grayslake Central junior Gianna Arzer, who is 18-2, pinned Rock Falls junior Ryleigh Eriks in 1:17 in the 125 finals after getting wins by technical fall in her first two matches.
Metea Valley sophomore Janiya Moore beat Lincoln-Way Central freshman Aubrey Barnes with a pin in 3:05 for the 115 title to improve her record to 20-2. She followed a win by technical fall with a 6-1 decision.
Wheaton North senior Iana Victory claimed the 235 championship when she won by fall in 4:37 over Woodstock sophomore Allison Hill. She opened with two first-period pins.
Crystal Lake Central junior Cait Jones, the lone entrant for her school, beat Wheeling’s Nikol Orendarchuk with a fall in 5:43 in the 155 title match after collecting three first-period falls.
Other third-place finishers were Crystal Lake South’s Annalee Aarseth (110), Oak Forest’s Marjorie Rodriguez (115), Kaneland’s Brooklyn Sheaffer (130), Zion-Benton’s Grace Johnson (140), Lakes Community’s Christina Hasner (145), Dundee-Crown’s Mackenzie Lessner (155) and Hampshire’s Samantha Diehl (190).
Also finishing fourth were Richmond-Burton’s Isabella Nelson (125) and Madelyn Peterie (140), Sycamore’s Ema Durst (145) and Avelina McMurtry (155), Wheaton North’s Izzy Paz (100), Plainfield East’s Mahi Kansagara (105), Jacobs’ Aaliyah Guichon (110), Dundee-Crown’s Iris Torres (115), Belvidere North’s Rowan Cello (120), Lisle Senior’s Sophie Crescenzo (130), Hononegah’s Linda Villa Pioquinto (170) and McHenry’s Yummi Ramirez (235).
Cassioppi, Jones and Larson led all competitors with 30 team points while Zuber was next-best with 28.5 and Foote, Rodriguez and Victory had 28 team points. Dempsey, Hongmoungkhoune and Tavira were next in line with 27.5 points.
Hampshire Whip-Pur Women’s Classic place matches
100
1st Place Match
Saya Hongmoungkhoune (Rockford East) 8-0, Fr. over Haydee Cruz (Wheeling) 21-5, Jr. (Fall 1:02)
3rd Place Match
Monica Alvarez (Lincoln-Way co-op) 12-5, Sr. over Izzy Paz (Wheaton North) 3-2, Sr. (Dec 1-0)
5th Place Match
Linna Vo (Elk Grove) 9-3, So. over Melanie Ziemann (Woodstock) 2-3, So. (MD 12-3)
105
1st Place Match
Diamond Rodriguez (Dundee-Crown) 15-0, Sr. over Julia Felton (Jacobs) 3-1, Fr. (Fall 0:39)
3rd Place Match
Emily Peyton (Lincoln-Way co-op) 13-7, Sr. over Mahi Kansagara (Plainfield East) 9-6, Sr. (Fall 0:19)
5th Place Match
Elanie Taboada (Prospect) 4-1, Sr. over Ella Quigley (Mother McAuley) 5-8 (Fall 2:42)
110
1st Place Match
Zoe Dempsey (Lincoln-Way co-op) 19-1, Jr. over Eva Hermansson (Woodstock) 11-2, Jr. (Fall 1:59)
3rd Place Match
Annalee Aarseth (Crystal Lake South) 3-1, So. over Aaliyah Guichon (Jacobs) 2-2, So. (Fall 1:31)
5th Place Match
Lillian Davis (Belvidere North) 8-3, Jr. over Mireya Irazarry (Rockford East) 8-5, Jr. (Dec 11-9)
115
1st Place Match
Janiya Moore (Metea Valley) 20-2, So. over Aubrey Barnes (Lincoln-Way co-op) 15-9, Fr. (Fall 3:05)
3rd Place Match
Marjorie Rodriguez (Oak Forest) 3-1, Sr. over Iris Torres (Dundee-Crown) 11-6, Sr. (Dec 5-0)
5th Place Match
Angelina Nettey (Plainfield East) 18-4, So. over Breanne Warren (Richmond-Burton) 7-8, Fr. (Fall 0:50)
120
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Angelina Cassioppi (Hononegah) 11-0, Sr. over Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (Hampshire) 13-1, So. (Fall 1:19)
3rd Place Match
Danica LaTessa (Woodstock) 13-3, Jr. over Rowan Cello (Belvidere North) 8-6, Fr. (Fall 3:58)
5th Place Match
Sadie Sparks (Lincoln-Way co-op) 4-1, Fr. over Vanessa Osorio (Mundelein) 3-2, Fr. (Fall 0:26)
125
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Gianna Arzer (Grayslake Central) 18-2, Jr. over Ryleigh Eriks (Rock Falls) 3-1, Jr. (Fall 1:17)
3rd Place Match
Hannah Olsen (Woodstock) 11-3, Jr. over Isabella Nelson (Richmond-Burton) 6-5, Sr. (Fall 1:59)
5th Place Match
Jiana Forbes (Wheaton North) 6-1, So. over Lianny Guzman (Huntley) 3-2, Sr. (Fall 1:37)
130
1st Place Match
Elise Burkut (Wheeling) 17-3, Jr. over Emily Ortiz (Zion-Benton) 18-4, Jr. (Fall 5:37)
3rd Place Match
Brooklyn Sheaffer (Kaneland) 11-2, Sr. over Sophie Crescenzo (Lisle Senior) 8-3, Fr. (Fall 1:45)
5th Place Match
Claire Bray (Lincoln-Way co-op) 11-8, So. over Brooklyn Strelow (Oak Forest) 2-2, Fr. (Fall 5:10)
135
1st Place Match
Viola Pianetto (Prospect) 14-0, Sr. over Bella Castelli (Hononegah) 7-1, Fr. (Dec 9-5)
3rd Place Match
Layah Woods (Wheeling) 17-7, Jr. over Liv Clumpner (Lincoln-Way co-op) 8-5 (Fall 2:24)
5th Place Match
Mila Masny (Woodstock) 5-4, Fr. over Hala Elhelou (Metea Valley) 6-10, Fr. (Fall 0:39)
140
1st Place Match
Maggie Zuber (Mother McAuley) 10-0 over Rosie Picari (Metea Valley) 16-5, So. (Fall 3:56)
3rd Place Match
Grace Johnson (Zion-Benton) 20-3, Sr. over Madelyn Peterie (Richmond-Burton) 13-5, So. (Fall 3:53)
5th Place Match
Dyani Torres (Kaneland) 10-4, Sr. over Ella Giertuga (Lincoln-Way co-op) 16-9, So. (Fall 4:49)
145
1st Place Match
Naomi Foote (Zion-Benton) 19-0, Sr. over Krystal Diaz (Wheeling) 18-5, So. (Fall 3:26)
3rd Place Match
Christina Hasner (Lakes Community) 3-1, Jr. over Ema Durst (Sycamore) 12-3, So. (MD 18-5)
5th Place Match
Lyobosa Odiase (Oak Forest) 4-1, Jr. over Madison Minson (Hampshire) 10-4, So. (MD 15-4)
155
1st Place Match
Cait Jones (Crystal Lake Central) 4-0, Jr. over Nikol Orendarchuk (Wheeling) 3-1, So. (Fall 5:43)
3rd Place Match
Mackenzie Lessner (Dundee-Crown) 12-4, Sr. over Avelina McMurtry (Sycamore) 4-4, Fr. (Fall 1:03)
5th Place Match
Kaitlyn Bucholz (Plainfield East) 14-3, Jr. over Brianna Crown (Woodstock) 11-5, Jr. (Fall 2:26)
170
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Anneliese Tavira (Hampshire) 16-0, Sr. over Jennifer Paul (Plainfield East) 12-1, Sr. (Fall 1:37)
3rd Place Match
Jenna Lee (Lincoln-Way co-op) 6-4 over Linda Villa Pioquinto (Hononegah) 3-4, So. (Fall 1:46)
5th Place Match
Adr Bille (Oak Forest) 3-1, Sr. over Allison Schultz (Richmond-Burton) 6-8, Fr. (Fall 3:54)
190
1st Place Match
Josephine Larson (Lakes Community) 4-0, Sr. over Kylie Eilken (Jefferson) 3-1, So. (Fall 0:20)
3rd Place Match
Samantha Diehl (Hampshire) 13-2, Fr. over Maryanna Quezada (Lincoln-Way co-op) 8-4, Jr. (Fall 3:11)
5th Place Match
Isabel Peralta (Oak Forest) 4-1, Sr. over Sadie Kinsella (Kaneland) 8-4, So. (Fall 3:29)
235
1st Place Match
Iana Victory (Wheaton North) 5-0, Sr. over Allison Hill (Woodstock) 10-5, So. (Fall 4:37)
3rd Place Match
Riley DePolo (Lincoln-Way co-op) 11-9, So. over Yummi Ramirez (McHenry) 2-2 (Fall 0:25)
5th Place Match
Savannah Trevino (Belvidere North) 5-5, Fr. over Lauren Ray (Hampshire) 2-6, Fr. (Fall 0:25)
Team scores
1. Lincoln-Way co-op (Lincoln-Way Central/Lincoln-Way East/Lincoln-Way West) 206.5, 2. Woodstock 126, 3. Wheeling 121, 4. Hampshire 101.5, 5. Dundee-Crown 89, 6. Hononegah 87.5, 7. Oak Forest 85.5, 8. Plainfield East 77.5, 9. Metea Valley 74.5, 10. Lake Community 69, 11. Zion-Benton 66.5, 12. Kaneland 63.5, 13. Wheaton North 58, 14. Richmond-Burton 55.5, 15. Grayslake Central 53, 16. Belvidere North 47, 16. Jefferson 47, 18. Prospect 46.5, 19. Rockford East 43, 20. Jacobs 42, 21. Mother McAuley 32.5, 22. Huntley 32, 23. Crystal Lake Central 30, 23. Neuqua Valley 30, 25. Sycamore 28, 26. Rock Falls 24, 27. Elk Grove 22, 27. McHenry 22, 29. Mundelein 21, 30. Crystal Lake South 18.5, 31. Lisle Senior 15, 32. Cary-Grove 14, 33, Marengo 8, 34. Genoa-Kingston 5, 35. Prairie Ridge 4, 36. Carmel Catholic 3.
Joliet West off to good debut after winning Glenbard South Tournament title
By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA
Erik Murry got the opportunity to serve as an assistant coach with John St. Clair on several Lemont teams that qualified for the IHSA Class 2A Dual Team Finals with the culmination being the school’s Class 2A championship in 2020 when the program went 32-2 and defeated Washington 30-26 in the Class 2A title meet in Bloomington.
After succeeding St. Clair for the past few seasons, Murry made a career change this year when he accepted the position as the first girls coach for Joliet West, which had competed as part of a co-op team with the other school in its district. Joliet Central, which was led by coach Liz Short.
This season is still in its early stages but there’s already excitement over the Tigers’ potential after they added to a tournament title at Eisenhower in Blue Island with the championship of the Glenbard South Tournament, which took place on Saturday in Glen Ellyn.
Joliet West pulled away in a three-way race in the place rounds to capture top honors in the 14-team competition with 177.5 points while Downers Grove North took second place with 161.5 points. Glenbard East, which was coming off of a tournament title at Waukegan, placed third with 155.5 points while Lemont (145), Bartlett (120.5), Streamwood (105.5) and Glenbard North (98) rounded out the top half of the field.
Leading the way for the champion Tigers were title winners Bianca Campos (170) and Vanessa O’Connor (145) while Briahna Klobnak (125) placed second, Veronica Klobnak (135), Natalie Quiroz (235) and Maria Ochoa (140) took third, Willow Perruquet (120) and Aysia Smith (100) finished fourth, Majh Starks (155) placed fifth and Takyla Johnson (105) claimed sixth place.
“The competition is unbelievable, and the growth of girls wrestling, it’s across the nation, the number one growing sport,” Murry said. “And as a coach, you see the progression immediately. And you get the result in coaching to see these girls want to learn more and really take it to another level. It’s one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had in my life. I love the fact that I’m coaching the girls since I have a three-year old and an eight-year old daughter and they love it.
“I’m proud to be the first coach ever at Joliet West and us having almost 50 girls in the program. I’ve been fortunate to be a part of Lemont and winning the state title, and that’s what I want to bring to the girls team. If they have a dual team state, that’s something we’ll strive for in the next couple of years because we’re a young team. But we’re easily humbled, last night at the Minooka mega dual, with a great Lincoln-Way co-op team and a great Andrew co-op team and Minooka, we saw what good programs are, and we want to get to that level. I’m proud of these girls, their conduct and how they handle themselves, on and off the mat. I’m just as proud of these girls with their academics as I am with their wrestling.”
Glenbard East had three champions, Maria Green (135), Nadiia Shymkiv (105) and Nadine Spandiary (190). Winning titles for Glenbard North were Keagan Edwards (130) and Suzanne Stalley (140).
Capturing championships for Bartlett were Emma Engels (120) and Lilly White (125)
Taking first place for Streamwood were Jasmine Rene (235) and Zoey Sanchez (115)
Other title winners were Hinsdale South’s Callie Carr (155), Tinley Park’s Jayden Melendez (110) and Montini Catholic’s Katelyn Bell (100).
Engels, a 2023 IHSA champion was one of three individuals who won Glenbard South Tournament titles who also are two-time state medalists with the others being Rene and Shymkiv. Bell and White were other champions who won their first state medals in 2024.
Edwards led all of the champions with 30 team points while Carr and Shymkiv tied for second with 29.5 points. Engles and Green both scored 29 team points while Campos had 28, Rene and White both scored 27.5 team points, Bell collected 26.5 points and Melendez had 26 team points.
Here’s a look at the Glenbard South Tournament champions and medalists
155 – Callie Carr, Hinsdale South
Callie Carr set the tone right away in the finals of the Glenbard South Tournament that few of the title matches would go the full six minutes. The Hinsdale South junior got the first of four title wins by technical fall and the initial one of the 13 that ended early when she claimed a win by technical fall in 4:34 over Reavis’ Lilly Fish in the 155 championship match. She collected 29.5 team points, which tied her for second in that category and she was .5 points behind the leader, who followed her as a champion, Glenbard North’s Keagan Edwards.
Carr, who improved 11-0, was the lone finalist for the Hornets, who are coached by Michael Uhlir. She opened with three falls and earned her spot in the title mat with a pin in 2:23 over Glenbard South senior Alex Arquillo in the semifinals. Last season, she went 27-5 and fell one win shy of claiming a medal at 155 in the IHSA Finals.
“Callie envisions what she wants to accomplish and puts in the work to make that vision a reality,” Uhlir said. “Through hard work, determination and a she is going to outwork her opponent’s attitude, she outperforms her own expectations and it shows. She wrestles with a purpose and enjoys every second she can wrestle. She is a driven young athlete and puts the work in practice because she loves to compete. I am excited to see what comes next.”
Fish (12-2), a junior who fell one win shy of advancing to state from the Evanston Township Sectional last season, was one of two finalists for coach Kyle McKinley’s Rams. She opened with two first-period falls before getting a pin in 2:34 in the semifinals over Joliet West junior Majh Starks. In the third-place match, Downers Grove North sophomore Jahdi’yah Hibbler (8-1) won by technical fall in 3:23 over Streamwood sophomore Jazmin Novoa (8-4) and for fifth place, Starks needed just 13 seconds to record a fall over Arquillo.
130 – Keagan Edwards, Glenbard North
Keegan Edwards hopes to become one of the leaders for Glenbard North now that three-time IHSA champion Gabby Gomez has moved on from the program to focus on college. She was impressive in winning the title at 130 at the Glenbard South Tournament, by recording four pins and securing the championship with a fall in 2:43 over Downers Grove North senior Natalia Cruz.
The Panthers junior, who went 28-10 lost season but was unable to advance to state from the rugged Schaumburg Sectional, was one of two champions and three finalists for coach Chris Edwards’ Panthers, she opened with two quick falls and then assured herself of a trip to the finals with a pin in 2:44 over Lemont’s Molly O’Connor in the semifinals before becoming the first of nine individuals who won their championships with falls. She finished with 30 team points, which ranked her ahead of all of the other champions in the competition.
“We obviously had Gabby Gomez the last few years, but we have a lot of new girls this year that are just so excited to start,” Edwards said. “They’re new and they’re learning, but they want to learn and they’re trying so hard and putting in so much effort into wrestling. I just know that they’re so excited every time they go out to the mat, no matter what happens. It makes me feel great that I’m on such a great team where everyone wants to do their best. This year I’m focused on what I need to do. I’m in the varsity room every day and trying to put my best effort in. I do my best to not miss a single thing. I know that if I put my full effort in, then I can build the skills that I need. I have to make sure that I’m not missing any opportunity to get better.”
Cruz (6-2), who went 20-9 last season and qualified for the IHSA Finals, was one of three second-place finishers for coach Marcos Rico’s runner-up Trojans. She used two pins to reach the 130 title mat, recording a fall in 2:32 over Glenbard East freshman Michelle Salgado Gonzalez. in the semifinals. O’Connor, a junior who also qualified for state in 2024, claimed third place with a fall in 2:35 over Gonzalez. And for fifth place, Tinley Park junior Madison Monreal (13-6) won by fall in 5:28 over Reavis sophomore Alexa Katz.
135 – Maria Green, Glenbard East
Maria Green helped Glenbard East to finish with the most champions in the Glenbard South Tournament after the sophomore captured the first of the Rams’ three titles by recording a pin in 2:20 over Downers Grove North’s Kaitlyn Kapral in the 135 finals.
Green, who went 17-7 last season but was unable to qualify from the Shepard Regional, was one of four finalists for coach Matt Nelson’s Rams. She followed a major decision with two quick pins, with the second one coming in 0:30 over Bartlett’s Yarissa Aguilar in the semifinals. She finished with 29 team points, which tied her fourth place, just one behind the leader, Glenbard North’s Keagan Edwards.
“Last year, my freshman year, I made it as an alternate to state and made it to Fargo and I won one and lost one,” Green said. “So this year, I’m really trying to work out more and put in the work. Our coaches push us a lot and we condition. He makes us work and understands how to push us, so it’s good. We have team bonding, so we know each other more and so that helps us understand more about how to work out and to push each other. I’m ready to put in the work.”
Kapral (5-2), a junior who was one of three second-place finishers for coach Marcos Rico’s Trojans who claimed second place in the competition, won her other two matches by fall, getting a pin in 1:42 over Waubonsie Valley freshman Sophia Contreras in the semifinals. Joliet West junior Veronica Klobnak recorded a fall in 0:47 over Contreras to claim third place while sophomore Aguilar got a pin in 1:21 over Lemont senior Gabrielle Estarda for fifth place.
170 – Bianca Campos, Joliet West
Bianca Campos helped Joliet West to capture top honors in the Glenbard South Tournament, adding to an earlier championship that it won at Eisenhower in Blue Island, when the Tigers junior won the title at 170 with a fall in 4:52 over Waubonsie Valley senior Imani McIntosh.
Campos, who was one of two champions and three finalists for coach Erik Murry’s first-place Tigers, went 21-11 last season and fell a bit short of a trip to the IHSA Finals from the Geneseo Sectional. She won her first two matches by fall, getting a pin in 3:58 over Glenbard East’s Camila Gonzalez in the semifinals to earn her spot on the 170 title mat.
“I was really nervous wrestling both times,” Campos said of the two tournaments. “But it was a good experience and I’m happy I won because I’ve been sick lately so that has definitely been taking a toll on me. I’m very proud of them (the Tigers). I didn’t think that we were going to do so well this year, but a lot of the girls have put in a lot of effort and are motivated. Everyone is very respectful of one another and everyone is there for each other. I’m really happy with our team and we really connect. We are just a family and we support each other.”
McIntosh, who was the lone finalist for coach Brad Caldwell’s Warriors, recorded pins in her first three matches, collecting a fall in 1:28 over Streamwood’s Jessica Bos to reach the championship match. Glenbard East senior Asia Lacey claimed third place by winning a 6-0 decision over Downers Grove North sophomore Alyssa Andreen (5-3). And in a matchup of juniors for fifth place, Gonzalez was a winner by fall in 2:55 over Bos.
120 – Emma Engels, Bartlett
Emma Engels reached the pinnacle as a sophomore in 2023 when she reached the IHSA Finals and capped a 37-12 season with a 4-0 decision over Oak Forest’s Alexandra Sebek in the 100 championship match in Bloomington to become the first medalist and champion for Bartlett.
After falling in the semifinals at the 2024 IHS Finals and concluding a 32-16 season with a sixth-place finish at 110, the senior hopes to become a three-time medal winner and also get back to the Grand March. One of two champions and four finalists for coach Matt Pancamo’s Hawks, Engels advanced with a pin and two wins by technical fall, including one in 4:09 in the semifinals over Downers Grove South’s Ariana Shala, before winning the 120 title at the Glenbard South Tournament with a fall in 2:53 over Glenbard East’s Kaila Stubbs.
“I got a lot better over the offseason, which is obviously important, so I’m just looking to come back this year,” Engels said. “I did a little more wrestling in the offseason, which helped. And I’ve really just started focusing on what I’m doing more. Everyone is willing to work and we have a good group of seniors this year and everyone just wants to have fun and get better at practice. And that helps when everyone has the same goal.”
Stubbs, a senior who went 19-4 last season but was unable to advance from the Schaumburg Sectional, was one of four finalists for coach Matt Nelson’s Rams, who took third place in the competition. She advanced to the 120 title mat with two pins, with the latter one coming in 0:33 over Downers Grove South’s Cassiel Chavez in the semifinals. Lemont senior Emma Lappay (5-1) took third place after claiming a 6-3 decision over Joliet West sophomore Willow Perruquet (4-2). And in a fifth-place matchup of sophomores, Chavez won by fall in 0:51 over Shala.
235 – Jasmine Rene, Streamwood
Jasmine Rene is one of seven juniors who are two-time IHSA medalists after going 38-2 and finishing in third place at 190 last season and placing fourth at the same weight in 2023, both times while competing for Wheeling. Now she hopes to continue her winning ways in a new setting at Streamwood and is off to an 7-0 start after taking first place at 235 in the Glenbard South Tournament with a win by technical fall in 4:59 over Glenbard North’s Asriella Wallace.
Rene, one of two champions and finalists for coach Amanda Chrisos’ Sabres, joined senior teammate Zoey Sanchez (115) as first-place finishers in the event, which made Streamwood one of the five teams in the field that had multiple title winners. She won her first two matches with falls, including one in 3:07 over Joliet West’s Natalie Quiroz in the semifinals.
“Zoey and Jasmine are two exceptional wrestlers who have proven themselves both on and off the mat,” Chrisos said. “Zoey has been wrestling for all four years of her high school career and has demonstrated immense talent and a deep understanding of the sport. As a great leader and teammate, she not only excels individually but also supports her peers in every way possible. Similarly, Jasmine, who is currently undefeated with an 8-0 record and also possesses a remarkable knowledge of wrestling. Like Zoey, she is always willing to help her teammates, eagerly teaching them new moves whenever asked. Both are standout athletes and key assets to their team.”
Wallace (14-3), a sophomore who was one of three finalists for coach Chris Edwards’ Panthers, didn’t have much mat time heading into the title match at 235, getting an early pin and winning by injury default in the semifinals. In a matchup of seniors for third place, Quiroz won by fall in 1:31 over Lemont’s Rowyn Page (4-2). And Downers Grove South junior Zuzia Cybulski (4-2) claimed fifth place by injury default over Downers Grove North senior Megan O’Toole (4-3).
105 – Nadiia Shymkiv, Glenbard East
Nadiia Shymkiv is one of just two current competitors who have been IHSA medalists for two different programs and the Glenbard East junior is one of only seven in her class who have won state medals in both her sophomore and freshman seasons. Now she hopes to improve upon a 22-1 record and a third-place finish at 105 last season for the Rams which followed up on a fourth-place showing at 105 while competing for Glenbard North as a freshman.
Shymkiv was one of four finalists and a tournament-high three champions for coach Matt Nelson’s Rams, who claimed third place in the competition, six points behind runner-up Downers Grove North. She recorded falls in her first three matches, needing 1:07 to wrap up her semifinals victory over Joliet West freshman Takyla Johnson before claiming a victory in the 105 championship match by technical final in 3:31 over Lemont’s Ariana Baier.
“I just practice and try every day to do better,” Shymkiv said. “I want to show my tem that I can do it and my coaches that I’m improving myself. Having discipline is so important. This year, I’m trying to do more shots. I’m so excited and so happy for this year.”
Baier (5-1), one of four freshmen who advanced to the title mat in the competition, was the lone finalist for Lemont, which is coached by Robert Hammerschmidt. She recorded pins in her first two matches, including a fall in 1:02 over Downers Grove North freshman Jaszmyn Dotson in the semifinals, to earn her spot in the 105 finals. In the third-place match, Glenbard North junior Cristal Jacinto (8-2) won by fall in 3:57 over Glenbard East freshman Karla Sarabia. And Dotson claimed fifth place by forfeit over Johnson.
125 – Lilly White, Bartlett
Lilly White capped a 31-5 sophomore season with an appearance in the HSA Finals where she took fifth place at 125 to become the second individual from Bartlett to win a state medal. Now she hopes to do what 2023 IHSA 100-pound champion Emma Engels did last season, was to become a two-time medal winner. She’s off to a good start this season after winning the 125 title at the Glenbard South Tournament with a fall in 2:33 over Joliet West’s Briahna Klobnak.
White, who joined Engels as a champion in the tournament and was one of four finalists for coach Matt Pancamo’s Hawks, opened with a victory by technical fall and then won her semifinal match against Downers Grove North’s Valentina Gonzalez by medical forfeit.
“We work really hard, like as hard as we can,” White said. “And it’s great to have another girl (Emma Engels) that does so well. I was doing jiu-jitsu before, so it was kind of the same and I didn’t know that there was girls wrestling or a team, but then I found out about Emma, and so I joined and I just fell in love with it. I do morning practices, overtime, afternoons, basically as much time as I can get. Our whole wrestling room, the guys, the other girls on my team, the coaches and my family, they all support me so much. It’s easy to keep working as hard as I do.”
Klobnak (9-4) was one of three finalists for coach Erik Murray’s Tigers, who took first in the 14-team tournament with 177.5 points, which was 16 points better than runner-up Downers Grove North. She earned her spot on the 125 title mat with two pins, with the second of those coming in 0:49 over Streamwood freshman Keelin Evaristo in the semifinals. In the third place match, Glenbard South junior Nichole Castillo (4-1) won by fall in 0:35 over Evaristo. For fifth, Trojans sophomore Gonzalez (5-2) won by injury default over Reavis freshman Yamila Castro.
110 – Jayden Melendez, Tinley Park
Jayden Melendez provided Tinley Park with a quality performance when she won the 110 championship of the Glenbard South Tournament by rallying from an early deficit to claim a wild 19-15 decision over Bartlett’s Norah Cwik. It was the only title match in the competition that went the full six minutes with the others featuring nine pins and four wins by technical fall.
Melendez (9-3), a sophomore who went 20-5 last season and qualified for the Evanston Township Sectional, advanced to the 110 title match following two falls, with the second of those coming in 31 seconds in the semifinals against Glenbard East’s Angela Marinelli. She was the lone champion and one of two finalists for the Titans, who are coached by John Pfeffer.
“It was an incredibly gutsy win by Jayden,” Pfeffer said. “She was down by seven going into the second period and had tied it up 15-15 by the end of the second. She then went on to win in the third period. She also placed first in the Eisenhower tournament the week before.”
Cwik, a junior who was one of four finalists for coach Matt Pancamo’s Hawks, recorded three falls to advance to the 110 title match, with all of the pins resolved in less than 33 seconds, with that being how long it took for her to win in the semifinals over Lemont’s Lauren Stevens. In the match for third place, Rams sophomore Marinelli won with a pin in 4:09 over Downers Grove South junior Victoria Ooms . And for fifth, Lemont senior Stevens recorded a fall in 0:45 over Glenbard South sophomore Lashuna York.
100 – Katelyn Bell, Montini Catholic
Katelyn Bell is a one-person team for Montini Catholic but that’s okay since her family has strong ties to the Broncos program. Her dad competed for and her brother currently is a member of the boys team, which is coached by 2008 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Mike Bukovsky, who recently made IHSA history as one of the first coaches to ever win state championships in three different sports, achieving the amazing feat with titles in wrestling, softball and football.
Bell, who went 25-9 and finished in sixth place at 100 in the 2024 IHSA Finals to become the first medalist for the school after falling one win shy of accomplishing the same feat in 2023, claimed wins by technical fall in all three of her matches. After being on the mat for the longest amount of time at 2:37 in a semifinal victory over Joliet West senior Aysia Smith, she secured the championship at 100 in 1:53 over Bartlett’s Kahlynn Spurgeon.
“I really like it and I think it’s kind of cool because my dad, Pat and his brother Terry, wrestled for Bu (Mike Bukovsky) and it’s kind of come full circle,” Bell said. “And now I’m wrestling there with my younger brother, Jack. He’s a special coach and he really just has a talent for coaching. It’s really exciting seeing newer girls that are coming into the sport, and just seeing the difference from when it was first sanctioned in my freshman year until now by having three or four different girls tournaments all over the state is really cool. I just keep telling myself to do the things that other people aren’t doing, like putting in the extra work, even when I don’t want to.”
Spurgeon, a junior who was one of the four finalists for the Hawks, who are coached by Matt Pancamo, earned her trip to the 100 title mat with two falls, with the latter being over three minutes shorter than the first as she got a pin in 1:26 over Glenbard East’s Anna Delawder in the semifinals. Another Glenbard East competitor, senior Andrea Jones, claimed third place with a pin in 3:05 over the champion Tigers’ Smith (5-4). And for fifth place, Downers Grove North senior Valeria Gonzalez (8-2) was a winner by fall in 3:02 over Rams sophomore Delawder.
190 – Nadine Spandiary, Glenbard East
Nadine Spandiary is proud to announce that she’s in the U.S. Army, a situation in which very few opponents she’ll see this season will be able to share a common bond with her. The Glenbard East senior helped her team to a third-place finish at the Glenbard South Tournament after winning the championship at 190 with a fall in 1:35 over Downers Grove South’s Ava Grisela-Urbina.
One of four finalists and joining Maria Green and Nadiia Shymkiv as title winners to give coach Matt Nelson’s Ram a tournament-best three champions, Spandiary, who went 20-11 last season but fell one win shy of advancing from the Shepard Regional, followed a win by disqualification with a pin in 0:25 in the semifinals over Lemont freshman Alexandra LoCoco.
“This is my first time ever winning first, and it was so fun,” Spandiary said. “That (Waukegan) was my first meet of the season because nobody else had my weight class. Because I joined the Army, all of my sergeants were there to watch me and to congratulate me. We only have 20 girls and there was a team there that had 40 girls, and we won first, we tried really hard to get that title. I joined the Army when I was 16, and honestly it was just to get stronger, because I love working out. And then my twin sister joined with me and we went to basic at 17 and the first thing that I did when I came was to do wrestling, so last year was my first year ever.”
Grisela-Urbina, who was the lone finalist for coach Bob Kud’s Mustangs, opened with a fall and then claimed a 1-0 decision in the semifinals over Reavis’ Hailey Canvin to earn her spot on the 190 title mat. In the third-place match, LoCoco won by injury default in 1:32 over Streamwood freshman Mikayla Chapa.
115 – Zoey Sanchez, Streamwood
Zoey Sanchez had a really bad introduction to wrestling, breaking her collarbone in her first match as a sophomore. But that difficult experience has made her much stronger and the Streamwood senior hopes to end on a high note and her efforts to achieve that got a big boost after she captured the title at 115 in the Glenbard South Tournament with a fall in 1:04 over Downers Grove North sophomore Ella Matheu.
One of two champions for coach Amanda Chrisos’ Sabres, she earned her spot on the title match with her only other victory, which was a pin in 4:27 over Glenbard East freshman Dianey Marin in the semifinals.
“I started my sophomore year but in my first match in, I broke my collarbone,” Sanchez said. “So then I wasn’t able to wrestle until going into my junior year, and I’ve been wrestling ever since then. It’s been such an amazing journey because I was super scared to get back into it, but all of my coaches really helped me. I fell in love with it because of the team and because it’s such a hard sport, it really makes me want more. I’ve been involved in plenty of other sports like volleyball and football. But I’ve never had a place where I felt like I fit until I joined wrestling. Even though I was hurt, they made an amazing space for me. All of my coaches have always been so kind to me, through mental struggles and my collarbone injury. Mentally and physically I don’t know where I’d be right now if I wasn’t wrestling because it helps a lot.”
Matheu advanced to 115 title mat with a pair of falls to become one of three second-place finishers for coach Marcos Rico’s runner-up Trojans. The last of those pins came in the semifinals when she recorded a fall in 3:23 over Lemont senior Jayden Thornton, who went on to claim third place with a pin in 0:49 over Marin.
140 – Suzanne Stalley, Glenbard North
Suzanne Stalley became the only freshman champion at the Glenbard South Tournament when the Glenbard North athlete won by fall in 1:23 over Tinley Park sophomore Abbie Harris in the 140 title match.
Stalley (10-6) was one of three finalists and two champions for coach Chris Edwards’ Panthers. She earned her spot in the 140 title match by recording a pin in 1:29 over Glenbard East junior Leah Montes in the semifinals in her only other match.
“I enjoy being around the people here (at Glenbard North), I just love wrestling for them,” Stalley said. “I just started wrestling in January. At Minooka, I wrestled JV and got first and at Niles West and Waukegan, in both of them, I ended up going into the cons and losing but at Niles West I won three of my five matches. This feels really good. One of my coaches is Joey Gosinski, he’s really good and he helps me out a lot with my technique.”
Harris, one of two finalists for coach John Pfeffer’s Titans, advanced to the 140 title mat after collecting two pins, needing just 28 seconds to wrap up her semifinal victory over Reavis freshman Lauren Anderson. In the third-place match, Joliet West sophomore Maria Ochoa won by fall in 0:33 over Anderson.
145 – Vanessa O’Connor, Joliet West
Vanessa O’Connor completed a successful Glenbard South Tournament for Joliet West as the junior became her team’s second champion and third finalist to help coach Erik Murry’s Tigers capture top honors in the 14-team competition with 177.5 points, which was 16 better than the 161.5 that were scored by runner-up Downers Grove North.
O’Connor, whose father Rich is the Tigers’ assistant coach, took top honors at 145 by recording a pin in 20 seconds over Reavis freshman Regina Sanchez. She won with another pin in the quarterfinals in her only other match in the competition.
“It’s really nice since we’re expanding a lot so it’s very helpful and very interesting to see how everyone is actually coming together and embracing the sport,” O’Connor said of Joliet West getting its own program this season. “I love our coach. One thing that I really recognize about our team is how devoted we really are in helping each other and we have such a connection in bringing each other up. This shows how devoted we are and how much we are actually there for each other and we just bring each other up and that gives us the motivation to do better. I’ve tried going to the gym every day, meal planning and looking at videos as much as I can. And I have a mat at home, so I practice there. And it helps that my dad, Rich, is a coach, as well.”
Sanchez, one of two second-place finishers for coach Kyle McKinley’s Rams, won her semifinal match by injury default over Downers Grove South junior Allison Garcia. In the third-place match, Downers Grove North sophomore Alena Mossman was a winner by fall in 3:26 over Streamwood sophomore Ebonie Flores.
Glenbard South Tournament place matches
155
1st Place Match
Callie Carr (Hinsdale South) 11-0, Jr. over Lilly Fish (Reavis) 12-2, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:34 (16-1))
3rd Place Match
Jahdi`yah Hibbler (Downers Grove North) 8-1, So. over Jazmin Novoa (Streamwood) 8-4, So. (TF-1.5 3:23 (17-0))
5th Place Match
Majh Starks (Joliet West) 3-2, Jr. over Alex Arquillo (Glenbard South) 2-3, Sr. (Fall 0:13)
130
1st Place Match
Keagan Edwards (Glenbard North) 14-4, Jr. over Natalia Cruz (Downers Grove North) 6-2, Sr. (Fall 2:43)
3rd Place Match
Molly O`Connor (Lemont) 4-1, Jr. over Michelle Salgado Gonzalez (Glenbard East) 3-2, Fr. (Fall 2:35)
5th Place Match
Madison Monreal (Tinley Park) 13-6, Jr. over Alexa Katz (Reavis) 3-3, So. (Fall 5:28)
135
1st Place Match
Maria Green (Glenbard East) 4-0, So. over Kaitlyn Kapral (Downers Grove North) 5-2, Jr. (Fall 2:20)
3rd Place Match
Veronica Klobnak (Joliet West) 4-1, Jr. over Sophia Contreras (Waubonsie Valley) 2-2, Fr. (Fall 0:47)
5th Place Match
Yarissa Aguilar (Bartlett) 3-2, So. over Gabrielle Estrada (Lemont) 2-3, Sr. (Fall 1:21)
170
1st Place Match
Bianca Campos (Joliet West) 3-0, Jr. over Imani McIntosh (Waubonsie Valley) 3-1, Sr. (Fall 4:52)
3rd Place Match
Asia Lacey (Glenbard East) 3-1, Sr. over Alyssa Andreen (Downers Grove North) 5-3, So. (Dec 6-0)
5th Place Match
Camila Gonzalez (Glenbard East) 3-2, Jr. over Jessica Bos (Streamwood) 2-5, Jr. (Fall 2:55)
120
1st Place Match
Emma Engels (Bartlett) 4-0, Sr. over Kaila Stubbs (Glenbard East) 2-1, Sr. (Fall 2:53)
3rd Place Match
Emma Lappay (Lemont) 5-1, Sr. over Willow Perruquet (Joliet West) 4-2, So. (Dec 6-3)
5th Place Match
Cassiel Chavez (Downers Grove South) 2-2, So. over Ariana Shala (Downers Grove South) 2-3, So. (Fall 0:51)
235
1st Place Match
Jasmine Rene (Streamwood) 7-0, Jr. over Asriella Wallace (Glenbard North) 14-3, So. (TF-1.5 4:59 (17-2))
3rd Place Match
Natalie Quiroz (Joliet West) 3-1, Sr. over Rowyn Page (Lemont) 4-2, Sr. (Fall 1:31)
5th Place Match
Zuzia Cybulski (Downers Grove South) 4-2, Jr. over Megan O`Toole (Downers Grove North) 4-3, Sr. (Inj. 0:00)
105
1st Place Match
Nadiia Shymkiv (Glenbard East) 4-0, Jr. over Ariana Baier (Lemont) 5-1, Fr. (TF-1.5 3:31 (17-1))
3rd Place Match
Cristal Jacinto (Glenbard North) 8-2, Jr. over Karla Sarabia (Glenbard East) 4-2, Fr. (Fall 3:57)
5th Place Match
Jaszmyn Dotson (Downers Grove North) 3-5, Fr. over Takyla Johnson (Joliet (West) 3-4, Fr. (For.)
125
1st Place Match
Lilly White (Bartlett) 3-0, Jr. over Briahna Klobnak (Joliet West) 9-4, Jr. (Fall 2:33)
3rd Place Match
Nichole Castillo (Glenbard South) 4-1, Jr. over Keelin Evaristo (Streamwood) 2-4, Fr. (Fall 0:35)
5th Place Match
Valentina Gonzalez (Downers Grove North) 5-2, So. over Yamila Castro (Reavis) 2-4, Fr. (Inj. 0:00)
110
1st Place Match
Jayden Melendez (Tinley Park) 9-3, So. over Norah Cwik (Bartlett) 3-1, Jr. (Dec 19-15)
3rd Place Match
Angela Marinelli (Glenbard East) 3-1, So. over Victoria Ooms (Downers Grove South) 3-2, Jr. (Fall 4:09)
5th Place Match
Lauren Stevens (Lemont) 2-2, Sr. over Lashuna York (Glenbard South) 1-3, So. (Fall 0:45)
100
1st Place Match
Katelyn Bell (Montini Catholic) 12-1, Sr. over Kahlynn Spurgeon (Bartlett) 2-1, Jr. (TF-1.5 1:53 (21-6))
3rd Place Match
Andrea Jones (Glenbard East) 4-1, Sr. over Aysia Smith (Joliet West) 5-4, Sr. (Fall 3:05)
5th Place Match
Valeria Gonzalez (Downers Grove North) 8-2, Sr. over Anna Delawder (Glenbard East) 1-3, So. (Fall 3:02)
190
1st Place Match
Nadine Spandiary (Glenbard East) 3-0, Sr. over Ava Grisela-Urbina (Downers Grove South) 2-1, Fr. (Fall 1:35)
3rd Place Match
Alexandra LoCoco (Lemont) 3-1, Fr. over Mikayla Chapa (Streamwood) 2-4, Fr. (Inj. 1:32)
115
1st Place Match
Zoey Sanchez (Streamwood) 3-0, Sr. over Ella Matheu (Downers Grove North) 3-2, So. (Fall 1:04)
3rd Place Match
Jayden Thornton (Lemont) 3-1, Sr. over Dianey Marin (Glenbard East) 2-2, Fr. (Fall 0:49)
140
1st Place Match
Suzanne Stalley (Glenbard North) 10-6, Fr. over Abbie Harris (Tinley Park) 2-1, So. (Fall 1:23)
3rd Place Match
Maria Ochoa (Joliet West) 2-1, So. over Lauren Anderson (Reavis) 1-3, Fr. (Fall 0:33)
145
1st Place Match
Vanessa O`Connor (Joliet West) 2-0, Jr. over Regina Sanchez (Reavis) 3-1, Fr. (Fall 0:20)
3rd Place Match
Alena Mossman (Downers Grove North) 2-3, So. over Ebonie Flores (Streamwood) 0-4, So. (Fall 3:26)
Team scores
1. Joliet West 177.5, 2. Downers Grove North 161.5, 3. Glenbard East 155.5, 4. Lemont 145, 5. Bartlett 120.5, 6. Streamwood 105.5, 7. Glenbard North 98, 8. Downers Grove South 77, 9. Reavis 70, 10. Tinley Park 66, 11. Glenbard South 47, 12. Waubonsie Valley 44, 13. Hinsdale South 32.5, 14. Montini Catholic 26.5.
Edwardsville repeats as champions at Pontiac Munch Girls Invitational
By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA
There were a lot of common themes last Friday at Pontiac’s Munch Girls Invitational.
Edwardsville repeated as team champion after scoring 198 points to prevail by 49 points over runner-up DeKalb while Batavia and Geneseo both placed in the top four as they did in 2023.
Batavia’s Lily Enos (100) and Morton’s Karen Canchola (125) won titles for a third year in a row while DeKalb’s Alex Gregorio-Perez (105), Streator Township’s Lily Gwaltney (115), Canton’s Kinnley Smith (130), Macomb’s Kelly Ladd (140) and Prairie Central’s Chloe Hoselton (235) repeated as champions.
Unity’s Anna Vasey (155) won a title for the second time in three years and Enos received the Outstanding Wrestler Award for the lower weights for the second-straight year.
But there were also plenty of new accomplishments in the competition, which featured individuals from 33 schools.
DeKalb improved from sixth place to second as it finished with 149 points to edge Batavia, which took third place with 148.5 points and Geneseo finished fourth with 136.5 points.
Capturing their first titles in the tournament were Edwardsville’s Genevieve Dykstra (110), Holly Zugmaier (135) and Victoria White (190), Kankakee’s Taniyah Sherman (120), Geneseo’s Mady Mooney (145) and Richwoods’ Sydney Johnson (170).
Hoselton, the only 2024 IHSA champion in the tournament, was the recipient of the OWA for the upper weights.
Smith led all champions in team points with 32 while Johnson, Sherman and Vasey tied for second with 30 points. Dykstra finished with 28.5 points, Gregorio-Perez, Ladd and While each collected 28 points and Canchola, Enos and Mooney each finished with 27.5 team points.
Other medal winners for the champion Tigers, who are coached by 2019 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Jon Wagner, were Emma Rogers (second at 100), Gigi Linhorst (third at 115), Olive Linhorst (third at 130), Abigail Hayes (fourth at 170), Isabel Appiah (fifth at 190) and Angie Nunez (sixth at 235).
“It’s a nice tournament for us because we get to see the Chicago teams and the Central Illinois teams and for them, they get to see a little taste of Southern Illinois, so it’s a good combination,” Wagner said. “Girls wrestling in general is getting better, so if you see a good tournament here, the next one is going to be good, too, the quality is getting a lot better. There’s a lot of good wrestling and girls, coaches and schools are making an emphasis that this is a sport and we’re going to make it better so in five years, it will be even better. Our team has a lot of good bonding and they love each other. And when they lose, they know that their teammates are going to pick them up. It’s just a good atmosphere.”
Tournament director Corey Christenson said that there were many more teams that wanted to participate in the event but because Pontiac also hosts a boys tournament with the same name on the following day, that the field could not be expanded. The event is named in honor of Russ Munch, who started the boys tournament while he was Pontiac’s head coach.
Here’s a look at the champions of Pontiac’s Munch Girls Invitational
100 – Lily Enos, Batavia
Lily Enos won her third Munch Invitational championship and hopes to continue that formula of success as she pursues a third state medal this season. The Batavia junior improved to 14-0 after capturing a 6-0 decision over Edwardsville’s Emma Rogers in the 100 title match. She received the Outstanding Wrestler Award for the lower weights for the second-straight year.
Enos, who went 42-11 and placed third at 100 in the IHSA Finals last season and took fifth at state at the same weight in 2023, opened with a win by technical fall and then recorded two pins, with the last of those in the semifinals in 0:49 against DeKalb junior Jade Weiss to assure herself of being one of two finalists for coach Scott Bayer’s Bulldogs, who took third place last year at state and finished third in the tournament after getting edged out by DeKalb 149-148.5 for second place.
“I’m looking at ending up on the top of the podium at state and I’m kind of just stuck in a zone for that,” Enos said. “A lot of our girls now are third-years. It’s hard, definitely without Sydney (Perry), but the girls are learning super fast. I’m proud of how far the girls have made it so far this season.”
Rogers (11-1), a freshman, suffered her first loss after becoming one of the four finalists for the champion Tigers, who are coached by 2019 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Jon Wagner. She got falls in her first three matches, winning in 3:35 in the semifinals over Geneseo sophomore Molly Snyder (10-3), who won by fall in 1:53 over Weiss (8-4) for third place and Canton sophomore LT Diephuis (7-1) got a pin in 1:04 over Olympia senior Mya Downs (6-3) for fifth.
105 – Alex Gregorio-Perez, DeKalb
Alex Gregorio-Perez became the second of seven repeat champions in the Munch Invitational when she improved to 12-2 after winning by fall in 1:13 over Springfield co-op’s Phoenix Criss in the 105 title match. The DeKalb junior is hoping to also be a repeat state medalist this season.
Gregorio-Perez, who went 33-9 and took sixth place at 105 in the IHSA Finals last season, was one of three finalists and the lone champion for coach Conor Infelise’s Barbs, who edged Batavia 149-148.5 to claim second place in the competition. She advanced to the title match with two falls, getting a pin in 3:12 in the semifinals over Batavia sophomore Miracle Jackson.
“It’s very exciting to see a lot of girls, especially my teammates,” Gregorio-Perez said. “Some started their freshman years, some people are starting their senior or junior years and they’re improving a lot and learning the sport. I think that we’re learning a lot from the competition. Our DeKalb team has a great support system and we have great coaches and that’s helpful. We work really hard in the mat room and we strive for high goals and we have high expectations.”
Criss (3-1), a sophomore who was one of three runners-up for the Springfield co-op, featuring athletes from Springfield High, Lanphier and Southeast that’s coached by Sean Kenny, used three falls to reach the title mat with the last in the semifinals in 2:56 over Canton sophomore Shayla Schielein (10-4), who took third place with a win by injury forfeit in 1:14 over Jackson. For fifth, J. Sterling Morton senior Hope Donnamario (4-1) got a pin in 0:55 over Geneseo freshman Addison Hadsall (12-5).
110 – Genevieve Dykstra, Edwardsville
Genevieve Dykstra showed encouraging signs in a successful freshman year last season when she qualified for the IHSA Finals. The Edwardsville sophomore is looking for better things this season and one of those happened when she improved from third place to a title at the Munch Invitational after capturing the 110 championship with a fall in 1:52 over Springfield co-op’s Reaghan Madura.
Dykstra, who improved to 11-1, opened with a win by technical fall, followed with a first-minute pin and then claimed a 10-0 major decision over Streator Township sophomore Addison Yacko in the semifinals to become one of the four finalists and eventually the first of three title winners for the champions Tigers, who are coached by 2019 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Jon Wagner.
“Coach Wagner is amazing and he just wants everyone to do so good,” Dykstra said. “He works hard for us to get into tournaments and he got so many girls to come out and we have 28 now. If you work hard, you can just do anything, You just have to trust in your training and your coaches. (Her teammates) They’re all so positive and hard-working and they listen to coach Wagner and it’s just an amazing environment to be in.”
Madura (8-2), a senior who was one of the three second-place finishers for the Springfield co-op team that’s coached by Sean Kenny, opened with a pin, followed that with a win by technical fall and then claimed a 7-1 decision in the semifinals over DeKalb junior Frieda Hernandez (5-3), who captured third place with a 7-0 decision over Yacko (4-4). In the fifth-place match, Clinton senior Ariana Humes (4-1) recorded a fall in 0:33 over Unity sophomore Elizabeth Farney (6-5).
115 – Lily Gwaltney, Streator Township
Lily Gwaltney once again provided the high point for Streator Township at the Munch Invitational as she not only was the lone finalist for coach Kyle Lowman’s Lady Bulldogs, the sophomore was able to win a title in the competition for the second year in a row after claiming a 7-2 decision over Canton’s Chloe Hedges in the 115 championship match.
Gwaltney (5-1), who was an IHSA qualifier last season, captured two straight wins by technical fall, the first in 2:34 and the next in 2:33 over Springfield co-op’s Alina Edwards in the semifinals.
“I’ve just worked on having more strength and technique,” Gwaltney said. “This feels good. because the last girl that I wrestled, I didn’t think that I would beat her because of her record.”
Hedges (13-6), a freshman who was one of two finalists for coach Zach Crawford’s Little Giants, opened with two first-minute falls with the second of those coming in 0:31 in the semifinals over Edwardsville senior Gigi Linhorst (8-2), who went on to capture third place by getting a fall in 1:29 over Edwards. For fifth place, Richwoods sophomore Jamie Verda (7-3) won 4-3 on a tiebreaker over J. Sterling Morton sophomore Fatima Martinez (3-2).
120 – Taniyah Sherman, Kankakee
Taniyah Sherman was unable to advance from the Minooka Regional in 2024 but following her big victory over a 2024 state medalist in the 120 title match of the Munch Invitational, the Kankakee junior is feeling much more upbeat about what she may be able to accomplish throughout the remainder of this season.
Sherman improved to 8-0 after winning the 120 championship at 120 by fall in 2:44 over DeKalb senior Reese Zimmer, who finished in sixth place at 115 in the 2024 IHSA Finals. Sherman recorded falls to claim all four of her victories and her longest match was in her opener. Her pin in 1:31 over J. Sterling Morton senior Monica Garcia in the semifinals assured her of being the lone finalist for coach Brad Burns’ Lady Kays.
“I’m very excited about how this year has been going for me,” Sherman said, “Last year was 50-50, it was rough, but I came over the summer and put in more work and I got in the weight room. I wrestled with the boys and I lost and I took a lot of whoopings. But now is my turn to win since I’ve put in so much hard work and I’m very proud of myself for how far I’ve come. I have the most amazing coaching staff, they don’t ever give up. I struggle a lot but they set me down after each match and give me a pep talk about how it’s just me versus my opponent out there.”
Zimmer (10-4), who also was a defending champion in the Munch, was one of three finalists for coach Conor Infelise’s Barbs, who edged Batavia 149-148.5 for second place. She won her first three matches by fall with her opener determined in overtime. Zimmer only needed 26 seconds to win in the semifinals over Charleston junior Morgan Krone-Smallhorn, who took third place by medical forfeit over J. Sterling Morton senior Monica Garcia. For fifth, Geneseo sophomore Lydia King (14-4) won a 5-0 decision over Pontiac junior Samantha Fellers (4-2).
125 – Karen Canchola, Morton
Karen Canchola became the second three-time title winner at the Munch Invitational since it moved one day ahead of the boys tournament in 2022 when she captured an 8-3 decision in the 125 championship match against an opponent that like her had also won the event two years ago, Jacksonville’s Alexis Seymour, who claimed second place for the second year in a row.
The Morton senior, who improved to 9-1, hopes to once again advance to the IHSA Finals and medal for the second time and also improve upon her fifth-place finish at 130 in 2023. She followed a victory by technical fall with a pin and then captured an 8-4 decision in the semifinals over Geneseo’s Bella Curcuru to become the lone finalist for coach Edward Henderson’s Potters.
“She gave me a good fight,” said Canchola. “I came in a little bit nervous at first but I kind of got into the mindset that I had nothing to lose. So it just came down to who wants it more. Since we don’t have enough girls at the same weight class, I have to push up and wrestle with the varsity guys, so I think that’s something that has really helped me because they push me harder. My biggest supporters include my coaches and a lot of the guys. I appreciate that they have accepted me into a man’s sport, and they push me, because not a lot of guys would do that.”
Seymour (9-1), who suffered her first loss, hopes to become a three-time medalist and improve upon her sixth-place showing at 120 in 2024 and fourth at 120 in 2023. She got a win by technical fall in her opener and then added two pins, with the second one coming in the semifinals in 2:55 over Naperville Central sophomore Dezi Azar to become the lone finalist for coach Zach Stout’s Crimsons. Azar (13-2), a sophomore, went on to record a pin in 0:54 against senior Curcuru (12-4) for third. In the fifth-place match, Pontiac freshman Jocelyn Cobix (11-2) won by fall in 0:28 over University High sophomore Hailey Watson (3-2).
130 – Kinnley Smith, Canton
Kinnley Smith competed for a Munch Invitational championship for the third-straight year and captured her second-straight title in the event when she won by fall in 3:45 over Springfield co-op’s Ariella Miloncus in the 130 title match. She was one of seven repeat champions and joined seven others in the tournament who’ve won the Munch title two or more times in the last three years.
The Canton senior, who improved to 15-0, looks to keep up her winning ways and also return to the IHSA Finals for a third time and she hopes to improve upon a 27-4 record last season and second-place finishes at 125 in 2024 and at 135 in 2023. She collected first-period falls in her initial three matches, including a pin in 1:08 in the semifinals over DeKalb freshman Kara Zimmerman to become one of the two finalists for coach Zach Crawford’s Little Giants.
“Many times I went into tournaments and I’m looking at my bracket and I’m like ‘I have to wrestle this girl and this girl’,” Smith said. “So I think that the big thing is to just go out there and wrestle and to just trust in your practice. It is one of my favorite things to see this sport grow. When I was in first grade, I was the only little girl at tournaments all around and they’d look at me and say, ‘oh buddy, don’t lose to the girl.’ Now I get to coach all of these amazing little girls. The bond that me and my teammates have is insane. The bond that girls wrestling teams have is so much different than boys. And the atmosphere is loving, so it’s just such a great place to be.”
Miloncus (8-3), one of the three second-place finishers for the Springfield co-op team that is coached by Sean Kenny, recorded falls in her first three matches, which all ended in the opening period. She earned her spot on the 130 title mat with a pin in 0:42 over Edwardsville sophomore Olive Linhorst (9-3), who claimed third place with a fall in 2:39 over Zimmerman (9-4). For fifth place, Urbana sophomore Randi Campe (10-4) got a win over Naperville Central senior Bianca Arredondo (12-5).
135 – Holly Zugmaier, Edwardsville
Holly Zugmaier was a runner-up in the 2023 Munch Invitational in which her team, Edwardsville, won the championship. On Saturday, the Tigers senior not only got to move one step up on the podium but also improved to 11-0 after capturing the title at 135 by claiming a 6-1 decision over DeKalb’s Lana Zimmerman.
Zugmaier, who went 34-8 and took sixth at 125 in the 2024 IHSA Finals, hopes to join Mackenzie Pratt as just the second Tiger to win more than one medal at state. One of three champions and four finalists for champion Edwardsville, which is coached by 2019 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Jon Wagner, she got a fall in the quarterfinals and then won an 11-1 major decision over Geneseo’s Annibelle Juarez.
“He cares so much,” Zugmaier said of coach Wagner. “He got a knee replacement over the summer and he didn’t let it slow him down at all. He came to every practice and never quit coaching and he tries his best to make all of the girls happy and give all of the girls experience. I’m really happy because we all put the work in and we all support each other. And no matter what, we always push each other to be better. The ultimate goal is that I want to be on that Finals mat. I feel like I’ve tried so hard to continue to push my work ethic and continue to get better because that’s just where I want to be and that’s where I want to be for my team.”
Zimmerman (10-3), a senior who fell short of advancing to state from the Geneseo Sectional in 2024, was one of three finalists for coach Conor Infelise’s Barbs, who edged Batavia 149-148.5 for second place. She recorded first-period falls in her initial three matches, getting a pin in 1:57 in the semifinals against Batavia’s Norah Stoodley. In the third-place match, freshman Juarez (13-3) won by fall in 2:57 over junior Stoodley (11-4). For fifth, Bloomington senior Alila Beck (6-3) got a pin in 0:30 over University High freshman Tenley Wade (4-4).
140 – Kelly Ladd, Macomb
Kelly Ladd became one of seven repeat title winners in the Munch Invitational after winning by fall in 4:45 over Urbana’s Rickasia Ivy in the 140 championship match. The Macomb senior, who improved to 7-1, wants to make more history by improving upon what she accomplished in 2023 when she became the first Bomber to earn a medal at state after claiming sixth place at 135.
Ladd, who went 26-9 last season and qualified for state, was one of three finalists and the lone champion for coach Tony Westen’s Bombers, recorded a pair of falls in order to reach the 140 title mat. She got a pin in 3:13 in the semifinals over Canton sophomore Kennedy Smith to put her in a position to repeat as a Munch champion.
“I’m just super glad to see that the sport is growing and there is some good competition, and it used to not be like that,” Ladd said. “The playing field has definitely evened. This tournament is one that I look forward to every single year. I’ve been coming for three years and they always put on such a great show for everybody, it’s really special. In my freshman year, I was the only girl and now we have 15 girls in the lineup. It’s just new and it’s different and it’s fun. It’s a huge community and everybody loves each other, and everyone wants the best. It’s beautiful.”
Ivy (6-2), who qualified for the IHSA Finals as a freshman last season, was the lone finalist for coach Phil Sexton’s Lady Tigers. She won three first-period falls to reach the 140 title mat, including a pin in 1:24 in the semifinals over Geneseo sophomore Lauren Piquard (9-3), a 2024 state qualifier who took third in this tournament with a 6-3 decision over Smith (12-5). For fifth place in a matchup of juniors who were their teams’ lone medalists, St. Joseph-Ogden’s Maddie Wells (7-2) won by fall in 1:50 over Unity Christian’s Lily Roughton (4-2).
145 – Mady Mooney, Geneseo
Mady Mooney and her Geneseo teammates were feeling good about things coming off of a decisive tournament title in the first girls Princeton Invitational Tournament. But the Munch Invitational proved to be frustrating for the Maple Leafs as they had just one finalist, Mooney, who won a 4-2 decision over Macomb’s Mikaela Mwangong in the 145 championship match.
Mooney (13-7), a senior who fell one win shy of qualifying from her own sectional to the IHSA Finals last season, opened with a win by technical fall and then added two pins, with the latter coming in 2:49 against Naperville Central’s Arianna Rico to assure her of being the only finalist for coach Carley Rusk’s Maple Leafs, who finished in fourth place in the competition.
“This tournament always has one of the highest quality of teams and some of the best competition that we’re going to get throughout the season,” Mooney said. “It was a late day, but it’s always a lot of fun. I think that our success fuels each team in its own way. Seeing the girls do well helps the boys a lot and our boys team doing so well definitely helps us and our drive to want to be better. It’s definitely our work and determination. We have the grit to want to do it all and I just think that that’s the best thing that we have to offer.”
Mwangong (6-3), a senior who fell one win shy of a trip to state last season, was one of three finalists for coach Tony Westen’s Bombers. She opened her tournament run with a fall and followed with a 16-2 major decision before collecting another pin, this one in 3:37 over Batavia junior Anabelle Guthke (12-2), who recorded a fall in 1:18 over sophomore Rico (9-5) to claim third place. And Streator Township senior Jaylen Richardson (4-1) finished in fifth place after getting a pin in 2:54 over Normal West’s Vivian Guither.
155 – Anna Vasey, Unity
Anna Vasey was a freshman champion at the Munch Invitational in 2022 but last season she lost in the finals which motivated the Unity junior to try to get back to the top of the awards stand in the event and she not only was a finalist once again but also became one of eight champions who have previously won the tournament when she recorded a fall in 2:41 over Herscher’s Henna Mullikin in the 155 title match.
Vasey, who improved to 11-1, was the lone finalist for coach Logan Patton’s Rockets. She began her tournament run with two falls and then captured a 7-2 decision in the semifinals over Bloomington’s Alicia Swank to earn her spot on the title mat for the third year in a row.
“My sister (Ava) was a wrestler, so we both loved it and went through it together,” Vasey said. “I’ve been wrestling since I was in third grade and I just love seeing the new girls come in because I was always the only girl. Now there’s tournaments for us and state, it’s so cool. There was never anybody but me on the team, so I always felt like nobody really understood what being the only girl was. So it was so exciting that I finally got to be with other girls.”
Mullikin, a junior, was the lone medalist and one of two competitors for coach Austin Headrick’s Tigers. She won her first two matches with pins before earning her spot in the 155 finals with a 14-8 decision over Batavia sophomore Caoimhe Mitchell, who won a Munch title a year ago, For third place, junior Swank (7-3) captured a 5-0 decision over Mitchell (10-3). And in the fifth-place match, Macomb sophomore Dru Hyde (8-2) won a 6-3 decision over J Sterling Morton senior Violet Mayo.
170 – Sydney Johnson, Richwoods
Sydney Johnson is very proud of the fact that her sister Jaida was twice able to reach the title mat at the IHSA Finals, last season and in the inaugural event in 2022, where she took second both times at 155. Jaida, who now competes at Wartburg College, is the only two-time medal winner at Richwoods.
The junior hopes to make some history of her own this season and is off to an 8-1 start after winning the 170 championship at the Munch Invitational by recording a fall in 4:46 over Batavia’s Emma Abbate. The lone finalist for coach Rob Penney’s Lady Knights, she got first-period pins in her initial three matches, with her semifinal win over Macomb senior Liberty Hamer being the quickest of the falls in 26 seconds.
“Honestly, I came in here just wanting to wrestle and improve and to get better,” Johnson said. “I don’t always expect to win, but it’s really fun when you do. I’m glad that I won and I’m glad to see these other wrestlers rise up and be good at what they’re doing.”
Abbate, a senior who is 11-2, was one of two finalists for coach Scott Bayer’s Bulldogs, who were edged by DeKalb 149-148.5 for second place in the invitational. She earned her spot on the 170 title mat after getting two quick falls, with the second one coming in 39 seconds over Edwardsville sophomore Abigail Hayes in the semifinals. Hamer (6-2) claimed third place with a fall in 1:42 over Hayes (6-4). And for fifth, Batavia senior Lauren Smith (4-1) won a 5-2 decision over Kankakee senior Sofia Perez (5-4).
190 – Victoria White, Edwardsville
Victoria White was happy to put the finishing touches on Edwardsville’s repeat championship at the Munch Invitational. The sophomore was one of three champions, four finalists and nine medalists who helped the Tigers, who are coached by 2019 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Jon Wagner, to claim top honors in the event by a margin of 198-149 over runner-up DeKalb.
White, a sophomore who fell a bit short of qualifying for the IHSA Finals, improved to 10-1 after winning the title at 190 with a fall in 5:45 over Macomb’s Avery Lundgren. She also recorded pins in her first two matches, getting a fall in 3:11 over Urbana senior Franciana Kalanga in the semifinals.
“I’m very excited,” White said. “I’m just glad that our program keeps growing and growing and we just keep winning and winning. (Coach Wagner) He’s a fantastic coach and I just love having him as my coach. He really pushes us to be successful and pours everything that he has into helping us. This one made me feel really good. It makes me feel really confident for the rest of the season. I really can’t wait to see what the state tournament brings. I did most weightlifting in the offseason, being on the bike and running almost every single day. We’re just one big family.”
Lundgren (6-2), a junior who also came up a bit short of a trip to the IHSA Finals last year, was one of three finalists for coach Tony Westen’s Bombers. She recorded falls in her other two matches, including one in 1:09 in the semifinals over Batavia sophomore Andrea Gabriel. In the third-place match, Kalanga (10-3) got a pin in 1:23 over Gabriel (10-4). And for fifth, Edwardsville’s Isabel Appiah (4-1) got a pin in 2:29 over DeKalb junior Valeria Rodriguez.
235 – Chloe Hoselton, Prairie Central
Chloe Hoselton was the lone defending IHSA champion who took part in the Munch Invitational and the Prairie Central senior closed out a second-straight championship run in the invitational in impressive fashion by getting a fall in 3:26 in the 235 title match over Ottawa Township’s Juliana Thrush and afterward was recognized as the event’s Outstanding Wrestler Award winner for the upper weights.
Hoselton, a senior who improved to 6-0, claimed the 2024 IHSA 235 title last season with a 2-1 win in an ultimate tiebreaker over Unity’s Phoenix Molina to cap a 19-3 season. It looked like there could be a rematch of last year’s state title match, but Thrush, who took sixth place at 235 at state in 2024, pinned Molina in the semifinals. Hoselton, the lone medalist for coach Scott Ziller’s Hawks, won her opener with a pin before prevailing 2-0 over DeKalb’s Aarianna Bloyd in the semifinals.
“I think that it’s a very excellent tournament and the years that it’s been going,” Hoselton said. “It’s over late, but at the end, it’s all worth it. I think that it’s underrated and people overlook it but this tournament has great competition, great individuals and awesome teams to compete against. And there’s some teams that I won’t see during the season, so it’s cool to get an opportunity to wrestle everyone that I can. I just have to put in the extra work in practice. Even though I won my matches today, I have to find the little things that I need to improve on and make them better for the final show at state.”
Thrush (9-1), a junior who went 30-6 last season, hopes to become her school’s first two-time IHSA medalist, was the lone member of the Pirates, who are coached by 2022 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Peter Marx, who was able to advance to a place match. She did so by getting a pin in 13 seconds and then winning by fall over junior Molina in 2:56, avenging a 4-2 quarterfinal loss to the Unity runner-up at the IHSA Finals. Molina (8-2), who went 28-6 last season, claimed third place with a pin in 19 seconds over junior Bloyd (9-4). And for fifth place, Urbana junior Lillian Disanto (13-3) was a winner by fall in 0:22 over Edwardsville sophomore Angie Nunez (6-4).
Pontiac Munch Girls Invitational place matches
100
1st Place Match
Lily Enos (Batavia) 14-0, Jr. over Emma Rogers (Edwardsville) 11-1, Fr. (Dec 6-0)
3rd Place Match
Molly Snyder (Geneseo) 10-3, So. over Jade Weiss (DeKalb) 8-4, Jr. (Fall 1:53)
5th Place Match
LT Diephuis (Canton) 7-1, So. over Mya Downs (Olympia) 6-3, Sr. (Fall 1:04)
105
1st Place Match
Alex Gregorio-Perez (DeKalb) 12-2, Jr. over Phoenix Criss (Springfield co-op) 3-1 (Fall 1:13)
3rd Place Match
Shayla Schielein (Canton) 10-4, So. over Miracle Jackson (Batavia) 9-6, So. (Inj. 1:14)
5th Place Match
Hope Donnamario (J. Sterling Morton) 4-1, Sr. over Addison Hadsall (Geneseo) 12-5, Fr. (Fall 0:55)
110
1st Place Match
Genevieve Dykstra (Edwardsville) 11-1, So. over Reaghan Madura (Springfield co-op) 8-2 (Fall 1:52)
3rd Place Match
Frieda Hernandez (DeKalb) 5-3, Jr. over Addison Yacko (Streator Township) 4-4, So. (Dec 7-0)
5th Place Match
Ariana Humes (Clinton) 4-1, Sr. over Elizabeth Farney (Unity) 6-5, So. (Fall 0:33)
115
1st Place Match
Lily Gwaltney (Streator Township) 5-1, So. over Chloe Hedges (Canton) 13-6, Fr. (Dec 7-2)
3rd Place Match
Gigi Linhorst (Edwardsville) 8-2, Sr. over Alina Edwards (Springfield co-op) 2-2 (Fall 1:29)
5th Place Match
Jamie Varda (Richwoods) 7-3, So. over Fatima Martinez (J. Sterling Morton) 3-2, So. (TB-1 4-3)
120
1st Place Match
Taniyah Sherman (Kankakee) 8-0, Jr. over Reese Zimmer (DeKalb) 10-4, Sr. (Fall 2:44)
3rd Place Match
Morgan Krone-Smallhorn (Charleston) 3-1, Jr. over Monica Garcia (J. Sterling Morton) 2-1, Sr. (M. For.)
5th Place Match
Lydia King (Geneseo) 14-4, So. over Samantha Fellers (Pontiac) 4-2, Jr. (Dec 5-0)
125
1st Place Match
Karen Canchola (Morton) 9-1, Sr. over Alexis Seymour (Jacksonville) 9-1, Sr. (Dec 8-3)
3rd Place Match
Dezi Azar (Naperville Central) 13-2, So. over Bella Curcuru (Geneseo) 12-4, Sr. (Fall 0:54)
5th Place Match
Jocelyn Cobix (Pontiac) 11-2, Fr. over Hailey Watson (University High) 3-2, So. (Fall 0:28)
130
1st Place Match
Kinnley Smith (Canton) 15-0, Sr. over Ariella Miloncus (Springfield co-op) 8-3 (Fall 3:45)
3rd Place Match
Olive Linhorst (Edwardsville) 9-3, So. over Kara Zimmerman (DeKalb) 9-4, Fr. (Fall 2:39)
5th Place Match
Randi Campe (Urbana) 10-4, So. over Bianca Arredondo (Naperville Central) 12-5, Sr. (NC)
135
1st Place Match
Holly Zugmaier (Edwardsville) 11-0, Sr. over Lana Zimmerman (DeKalb) 10-3, Sr. (Dec 6-1)
3rd Place Match
Annibelle Juarez (Geneseo) 13-3, Fr. over Norah Stoodley (Batavia) 11-4, Jr. (Fall 2:57)
5th Place Match
Alila Beck (Bloomington) 6-3, Sr. over Tenley Wade (University High) 4-4, Fr. (Fall 0:30)
140
1st Place Match
Kelly Ladd (Macomb) 7-1, Sr. over Rickasia Ivy (Urbana) 6-2, So. (Fall 4:45)
3rd Place Match
Lauren Piquard (Geneseo) 9-3, So. over Kennedy Smith (Canton) 12-5, So. (Dec 6-3)
5th Place Match
Maddie Wells (St. Joseph-Ogden) 7-2, Jr. over Lily Roughton (Unity Christian) 4-2, Jr. (Fall 1:50)
145
1st Place Match
Mady Mooney (Geneseo) 13-7, Sr. over Mikaela Mwangong (Macomb) 6-3, Sr. (Dec 4-2)
3rd Place Match
Anabelle Guthke (Batavia) 12-2, Jr. over Arianna Rico (Naperville Central) 9-5, So. (Fall 1:18)
5th Place Match
Jaylen Richardson (Streator Township) 4-1, Sr. over Vivian Guither (Normal West) 3-2 (Fall 2:54)
155
1st Place Match
Anna Vasey (Unity) 11-1, Jr. over Henna Mullikin (Herscher) 3-1, Jr. (Fall 2:41)
3rd Place Match
Alicia Swank (Bloomington) 7-3, Jr. over Caoimhe Mitchell (Batavia) 10-3, So. (Dec 5-0)
5th Place Match
Dru Hyde (Macomb) 8-2, So. over Violet Mayo (J. Sterling Morton) 3-2, Sr. (Dec 6-3)
170
1st Place Match
Sydney Johnson (Richwoods) 8-1, Jr. over Emma Abbate (Batavia) 11-2, Sr. (Fall 4:46)
3rd Place Match
Liberty Hamer (Macomb) 6-2, Sr. over Abigail Hayes (Edwardsville) 6-4, So. (Fall 1:42)
5th Place Match
Lauren Smith (Batavia) 4-1 over Sofia Perez (Kankakee) 5-4, Jr. (Dec 5-2)
190
1st Place Match
Victoria White (Edwardsville) 10-1, So. over Avery Lundgren (Macomb) 6-2, Jr. (Fall 5:45)
3rd Place Match
Franciana Kalanga (Urbana) 10-3, Sr. over Andrea Gabriel (Batavia) 10-4, So. (Fall 1:23)
5th Place Match
Isabel Appiah (Edwardsville) 4-1 over Valeria Rodriguez (DeKalb) 5-6, Jr. (Fall 2:29)
235
1st Place Match
Chloe Hoselton (Prairie Central) 6-0, Sr. over Juliana Thrush (Ottawa Township) 9-1, Jr. (Fall 3:26)
3rd Place Match
Phoenix Molina (Unity) 8-2, Jr. over Aarianna Bloyd (DeKalb) 9-4, Jr. (Fall 0:19)
5th Place Match
Lillian Disanto (Urbana) 13-3, Jr. over Angie Nunez (Edwardsville) 6-4, So. (Fall 0:22)
Team scores
1. Edwardsville 198, 2. DeKalb 149, 3. Batavia 148.5, 4. Geneseo 136.5, 5. Canton 108, 5. Macomb 108, 7. Springfield co-op 90.5, 8. Urbana 90, 9. J. Sterling Morton 79, 10. Kankakee 66, 11. Naperville Central 64, 12. Streator Township 60, 13. Unity 59, 14. Ottawa Township 46, 15. Richwoods 45, 16. Morton 38.5, 17. Prairie Central 37.5, 18. Bloomington 35, 18. Clinton 35, 20. Herscher 31, 21. Jacksonville 26.5, 22. University High 24, 23. Charleston 23, 24. Deer Creek-Mackinaw 20, 25. Olympia 19, 26. Pontiac 18, 27. St. Joseph-Ogden, 28. Mahomet-Seymour 15, 29. Unity Christian 14, 29. Normal West 14, 31. Illinois Valley Central 7, 32. Heyworth 3.
Out-of-state roundup: Dec. 14
Warren Township girls win Westosha Central Stateline Scuffle title
Warren Township failed to win any individual titles at the Westosha Central Stateline Scuffle but it did have two second-place finishers and four other individuals who placed sixth or better to help it capture the championship in the 26-team competition that was held in Salem, Wisconsin.
Coach Nick Grujanac’s Blue Devils scored 208 points to win the championship by 31 points over Milton, WI, who had 177 points. Zion-Benton claimed third place with 168 points. It was the team’s third tournament title, adding to championships that it won against other large fields at Rockford East and Niles West during the opening week of the season.
Finishing in second place for Warren Township were Aaliyah Vazquez (114) and Alyssa Bentley (120). Vazquez recorded two falls before getting pinned in 0:41 in the title match by Janesville Parker, WI’s Addison Friedrichs in the 114 finals while Bentley won her first three matches with pins before losing by technical fall to Milton’s Devlynn Albrecht in the 120 title match.
Erin Bush (165) took third place, Jane Kelly (132) and Hanna Bairstow (145) finished fourth and
Tyanna Jackson (152) placed fifth. Kelly and Bairstow both fell in the semifinals. And although they fell just short of being in the top six, Grace Ciszek (seventh, 138), Ashley Fugelseth (eighth, 152) and Kaylee Farias (eighth, 235) combined to provide 57 key team points.
Four individuals from Illinois won titles, Zion-Benton’s Grace Johnson (145) and Naomi Foote (152), Dundee-Crown’s Diamond Rodriguez (107) and Mundelein’s Khloe Heerdegen (138).
There were five other second-place finishers from Illinois schools in the Stateline Scuffle, McHenry’s Natalie Corona (145) and Madalynn Sima (165), Zion-Benton’s Jazmin Medina (107), Wheeling’s Elise Burkut (132) and Grayslake North’s Allison Poole (235).
Two of the championship matches featured all-Illinois clashes as Rodriguez won by fall in 1:02 over Medina at 107 and Johnson recorded a pin in 4:00 over Corona at 145.
For Zion-Benton, Johnson recorded falls in all five of her matches, winning in 4:00 in the 145 finals over McHenry’s Natalie Corona. Foote won her first four matches with pins and then captured a 2-0 decision over Shoreland Lutheran, WI’s Lexi Mentink in the 152 title match.
Other top finishers for coach Hal Lunsford’s third-place Zee-Bees were runner-up Jazmine Medina (107) and third-place finisher Emily Ortiz (132). Medina opened with falls before getting pinned in 1:02 by Dundee-Crown’s Diamond Rodriguez in the 107 finals and Ortiz also reached the semifinals.
Three other Illinois teams finished in the top 10. Wheeling (146) placed seventh, Dundee-Crown (136) finished eighth and McHenry (121) claimed 10th place.
The top performer for coach Anthony Piltaver’s Wheeling Wildcats was Elise Burkut, who used three pins and a decision to reach the 132 title mat where she lost by fall in 2:41 to Milton, WI’s Madi Peach. Krystal Diaz (145) reached the semifinals and took third while Haydee Cruz (100) and Isabella Gomez (126) both finished fourth and Layah Woods (138) placed fifth.
Leading the way for coach Tim Hayes’ Dundee-Crown Chargers were champion Diamond Rodriguez (107), third-place finisher Caroline Haiges (235) and Ruby Gavina (132), who placed fifth. Rodriguez won all three of her matches by fall, winning in 1:02 in the 107 title match over Zion-Benton’s Medina. While Daniella Ibanez (145) and Mackenzie Lessner (152) took seventh, they added 53 team points.
The best finishers for coach James Buss’ McHenry Warriors were runners-up Natalie Corona (145) and Madalynn Sima (165). Corona won her first four matches by fall before getting pinned in 4:00 in the 145 finals by Zion-Benton’s Grace Johnson. Sima also recorded four-straight pins before losing by technical fall to Shoreland Lutheran, WI’s Amerrah Kayon in the 165 title match. Alexa Colin Garcia (114) finished fifth and Nala Hernandez (235) placed sixth.
Other Illinois teams in the field were Lakes Community (11th, 116.5), Mundelein (14th, 81), Grayslake North (17th, 46), Crystal Lake Central (19th, 41), Lake Forest (20th, 28), Grayslake Central (21st, 26), Cary-Grove (23rd, 15), Prairie Ridge (23rd, 15) and Crystal Lake South.
Lakes Community received fourth-place finishes from Haven Sylves (114), Osmairi Medina Alvarado (120) and Christina Hasner (152), who all advanced to the semifinals.
Khloe Heerdegen captured the championship at 138 to highlight the day for coach Craig Stocker’s Mundelein Mustangs. She followed two falls and a decision with a pin in 3:01 over Westosha Central’s Mary Gillmore in the title match. Alexia Pacheco (120) took fifth place.
Grayslake North’s Allison Poole took second place at 235. She won four of her five matches in pool competition with her lone setback coming in a fall in 0:39 to Milwaukee Reagan, WI’s Haneen Jaraba. Ester Migues-Gaytan (100) finished in sixth place.
Crystal Lake Central’s Cait Jones (152) took third after reaching the semifinals. Cary-Grove’s Denver Gier (165) claimed a fourth-place finish. Lake Forest’s Bree Hirsch (132) turned in a sixth-place effort. And Grayslake Central’s Miranda Tellez (138) also finished in sixth place.
Westosha Central Stateline Scuffle place matches
100
Champ. Round 1
Dilynn Albrecht (Milton) 9-1, Fr. over Crystal Gutierrez (Kenosha Indian Trail) 6-1 (Fall 1:47)
Champ. Round 2
Dilynn Albrecht (Milton) 9-1, Fr. over Mikaela Mathis (Westosha Central) 6-4, So. (Fall 0:32)
Champ. Round 3
Crystal Gutierrez (Kenosha Indian Trail) 6-1 over Mikaela Mathis (Westosha Central) 6-4, So. (MD 12-0)
107
1st Place Match
Diamond Rodriguez (Dundee-Crown) 14-0, Sr. over Jazmine Medina (Zion-Benton) 10-4, Fr. (Fall 1:02)
3rd Place Match
Viataly Harvey (Janesville Parker) 4-1, So. over Charlie Reese (Edgerton) 2-2, Fr. (Fall 1:35)
5th Place Match
Madison Gillmore (Westosha Central) 5-5, Fr. over Annabell Goetz (Martin Luther) 4-6, Fr. (Fall 2:54)
114
1st Place Match
Addison Friedrichs (Janesville Parker) 4-0, Jr. over Aaliyah Vazquez (Warren Township) 12-2, So. (Fall 0:41)
3rd Place Match
Clara Jauch (Milton) 3-1, Jr. over Haven Sylves (Lakes Community) 7-5, Sr. (Fall 3:43)
5th Place Match
Alexa Colin Garcia (McHenry) 8-2 over Mya Rodriguez (Wilmot Union) 7-4, So. (Fall 1:35)
120
1st Place Match
Devlynn Albrecht (Milton) 8-0, Jr. over Alyssa Bentley (Warren Township) 12-4, Sr. (TF-1.5 2:17 (16-0))
3rd Place Match
Makenzie Usher (Milton) 6-2, Sr. over Osmairi Medina Alvarado (Lakes Community) 2-2, So. (Fall 0:50)
5th Place Match
Alexia` Pacheco (Mundelein) 7-6, Jr. over Eizabeth Hooser (Janesville Parker) 3-3, Fr. (Fall 2:31)
7th Place Match
Vanessa Osorio (Mundelein) 7-5, Fr. over Dayna Hartnek (Westosha Central) 5-6, So. (Dec 10-8)
9th Place Match
Ava Eibl (Westosha Central) 3-1, Jr. over Sylvianna Gomez-Garcia (Shoreland Lutheran) 2-2, So. (Fall 4:51)
11th Place Match
Aya Jaraba (Milwaukee Reagan) 7-2, So. over Eliana Mejias (Milwaukee Reagan) 2-3, Fr. (Fall 0:29)
13th Place Match
Bianca Manglindan (McHenry) 3-6 over Teagan Renwick (Westosha Central) 3-7, Fr. (Fall 1:14)
15th Place Match
Zoe Servia (Dundee-Crown) 3-7, Sr. over Olivia Otte (Waterloo) 0-5, So. (Fall 0:59)
126
Final Round Pool A
Gemma Vaccaro (Milwaukee Reagan) 8-1, So. over Mya Dummann (Martin Luther) 10-2, Sr. (Dec 9-8)
Jessie Demarasse (Milton) 8-1, So. over Chloe Hofer (Westosha Central) 2-9, So. (Fall 1:40)
Final Round Pool B
Camilla Gray (Wilmot Union) 6-3, So. over Anneliese Mata (Zion-Benton) 6-8, Jr. (Fall 5:29)
Lilyann Blasius (Lakes Community) 2-2, So. over Bye
132
1st Place Match
Madi Peach (Milton) 9-0, Jr. over Elise Burkut (Wheeling) 13-3, Jr. (Fall 2:41)
3rd Place Match
Emily Ortiz (Zion-Benton) 12-3, Jr. over Jane Kelly (Warren Township) 15-5, Jr. (Fall 3:32)
5th Place Match
Ruby Gavina (Dundee-Crown)) 6-2, So. over Bree Hirsch (Lake Forest) 11-6, Jr. (MD 15-4)
7th Place Match
Mirna Rahmani (Wheeling) 7-7, Fr. over Cindy Saavedra (Milwaukee Reagan) 5-3, So. (Fall 0:14)
9th Place Match
Payten Kent (Janesville Parker) 5-2, Sr. over Scarlett Towry (Wilmot Union) 8-6, Fr. (Fall 0:40)
11th Place Match
Isabelle Rigney (Kenosha Indian Trail) 3-2 over Camila Olvera (Wheeling) 3-5, So. (Dec 10-6)
13th Place Match
Katherine Mertz (Warren Township) 3-4, So. over Noemi Cervantes (Edgerton) 2-3, Sr. (MD 13-3)
15th Place Match
Eveyana Garcia (Kenosha Indian Trail) 4-3 over Kayleen Aguero (Waterloo) 2-8, So. (Fall 2:47)
138
1st Place Match
Khloe Heerdegen (Mundelein) 7-3, Jr. over Mary Gillmore (Westosha Central) 8-4, Jr. (Fall 3:01)
3rd Place Match
Marley Gonzalez (Wilmot Union) 10-4, So. over Sophie Kraft (Shoreland Lutheran) 3-2, So. (Fall 2:58)
5th Place Match
Layah Woods (Wheeling) 12-6, Jr. over Miranda Tellez (Grayslake Central) 2-2, Fr. (Fall 2:52)
7th Place Match
Grace Ciszek (Warren Township) 7-8, So. over Makaylee Welch (Warren Township) 1-3, Jr. (Fall 0:37)
9th Place Match
Elise Kaylor (Lakes Community) 3-1, So. over Haley Fugelseth (Warren Township) 5-4, So. (Fall 1:38)
11th Place Match
Piper West (McHenry) 3-6 over Jasmine Lucio (Milwaukee Reagan) 6-3, Sr. (For.)
13th Place Match
Angela Thrush (Prairie Ridge) 4-4, Jr. over Nimarpreet Kaur (Milwaukee Reagan) 1-3, So. (Fall 0:39)
15th Place Match
Juliana Gonzalez (Martin Luther) 1-3, Jr. over Amy Rodriguez Garcia (Zion-Benton) 5-3, So. (M. For.)
145
1st Place Match
Grace Johnson (Zion-Benton) 15-2, Sr. over Natalie Corona (McHenry) 10-3, . (Fall 4:00)
3rd Place Match
Krystal Diaz (Wheeling) 15-4, So. over Hanna Bairstow (Warren Township) 8-5, So. (Dec 5-1)
5th Place Match
Michaela Lewellin (Waterloo) 9-2, Jr. over Annalisa Munoz (Kenosha Tremper) 6-4, Sr. (Fall 1:31)
7th Place Match
Daniella Ibanez (Dundee-Crown) 7-5, Sr. over Lesley Velasquez (Wilmot Union) 7-8, Sr. (Fall 0:37)
9th Place Match
Maddison Torres (Westosha Central) 8-4, Fr. over Mia Riley (Janesville Parker) 4-3, Sr. (Dec 6-0)
11th Place Match
Sarah Biernat (Milwaukee Reagan) 6-2, Jr. over Alyson Alvarenga (Grayslake North) 8-7, Jr. (Fall 1:38)
13th Place Match
Ellery Brown (Warren Township) 8-6, Fr. over Elena Brofka (Martin Luther) 4-5, So. (Fall 5:11)
15th Place Match
Victoria Marquez (Grayslake North) 7-7, So. over Lydia Weber (Warren Township) 1-6, Sr. (For.)
152
1st Place Match
Naomi Foote (Zion-Benton) 14-0, Sr. over Lexi Mentink (Shoreland Lutheran) 4-1 (Dec 2-0)
3rd Place Match
Cait Jones (Crystal Lake Central) 4-1, Jr. over Christina Hasner (Lakes Community) 3-2, Jr. (Fall 0:53)
5th Place Match
Tyanna Jackson (Warren Township) 7-2, Fr. over Alanna Gontscharow (Kenosha Tremper) 8-3, Sr. (Fall 1:44)
7th Place Match
Mackenzie Lessner (Dundee-Crown) 6-3, Sr. over Ashley Fugelseth (Warren Township) 8-8, Sr. (MD 14-2)
9th Place Match
Serenity Salas (Westosha Central) 7-4, Fr. over Allayna Kaminski (Kenosha Tremper) 6-4, Fr. (MD 16-6)
11th Place Match
Zoe Matamoros (Milwaukee Reagan) 6-2, Fr. over Cierra White (Janesville Parker) 3-3, Sr. (For.)
13th Place Match
Haley Williams (Martin Luther) 5-5, So. over Tessa Traska (Martin Luther) 2-3, So. (Fall 0:06)
15th Place Match
Aubrey Hornaday (Edgerton) 2-3, Fr. over Anastacia Williams-Rodriguez (Janesville Parker) 2-5, Jr. (Fall 0:24)
165
Champ. Round 1
Madalynn Sima (McHenry) 10-2 over Erin Bush (Warren Township) 13-5, So. (Fall 3:56)
Champ. Round 2
Amerrah Kayon (Shoreland Lutheran) 5-0 over Erin Bush (Warren Township) 13-5, So. (Fall 0:56)
Champ. Round 3
Amerrah Kayon (Shoreland Lutheran) 5-0 over Madalynn Sima (McHenry) 10-2 (TF-1.5 2:08 (17-1))
185
1st Place Match
Nadia Lathan (Martin Luther) 8-1, Sr. over Masame Gresens (Edgerton) 3-1, Sr. (Fall 2:44)
3rd Place Match
Kayla Craig (Milwaukee Reagan) 3-1, Jr. over Danna Andrade (Milwaukee Reagan) 5-2, Sr. (Fall 3:59)
5th Place Match
Eufemia Carolina (Martin Luther) 6-3, Sr. over Natalie Gratschmayr (Martin Luther) 4-2, Sr. (Fall 3:53)
235
Final Round Pool A
Haneen Jaraba (Milwaukee Reagan) 8-0, Sr. over Taryn Armbruster (Martin Luther) 6-4, Jr. (Fall 1:02)
Allison Poole (Grayslake (North)) 11-5, So. over Faythe Klein (Wilmot Union) 3-7, Jr. (For.)
Final Round Pool B
Carly Corelli (Westosha Central) 6-5, So. over Kaylee Farias (Warren Township) 10-8, Sr. (Fall 0:21)
Nala Hernandez (McHenry) 5-5 over Emileah Johnson (Mundelein) 1-4, Fr. (Fall 1:24)
Team scores
1. Warren Township 208, 2. Milton, WI 177, 3. Zion-Benton 168, 4. Milwaukee Reagan, WI 164, 5. Westosha Central, WI 160, 6. Janesville Parker, WI 148, 7. Wheeling 146, 8. Dundee-Crown 136, 9. Shoreland Lutheran, WI 124.5, 10. McHenry 121,
11. Lakes Community 116.5, 12. Wilmot Union, WI 112, 13. Martin Luther, WI 105, 14. Mundelein 81, 15. Kenosha Tremper, WI 57, 16. Edgerton, WI 47, 17. Grayslake North 46, 18, Waterloo, WI 44.5, 19. Crystal Lake Central 41, 20. Lake forest 28, 21. Grayslake Central 26, 22. Kenosha Indian Trail, WI 25, 23. Cary-Grove 15, 23. Prairie Ridge 15, 25. Racine St. Catherine’s Lutheran 2, 26. Crystal Lake South 1.5.
Carterville boys win tournament in Saint Charles, Missouri
Carterville captured the team title at the Orchard Farm Boys Invitational in Saint Charles, Missouri with 203 points, which was 32 points better than runner-up St. Pius X, MO. Winning titles for coach Daniel Alderman’s Lions were Ramiro Sebastian (113), Landyn Flood (132) and Spencer Crotser (165) while Isaac Wood (106), Devin Jennings (144) and Carter Jones (175) took second place. And a junior-varsity entrant, Addison Mann, took second to Flood at 132.
Crotser won all of his round robin matches with falls in 6:48, which was a tournament-best, while Sebastian and Flood went 4-0 in round robin with Flood prevailing with two falls and two wins by technical fall. Taking third place were Brawnsen Bloodworth (126), Gavin Slack (138), Jose Silva (157), Terry Mick (190) and Carl Watkins (215) while Aidan Bramlett (150) finished fourth.
The event also featured junior-varsity competitors and two Lions placed in the top four, Mann (132), who went 3-1 and took second place, and Connor Gourley (126), who finished fourth. Flood prevailed in the round-robin matchup with Mann for first place at 132 with a fall in 1:07.
Glenwood girls second, Civic Memorial fifth at invite in Saint Charles, Missouri
Glenwood’s girls claimed second place with 66 points while Civic Memorial finished in fifth place with 53 points at the Orchard Farm Girls Invitational in Saint Charles, Missouri. North Calloway, Missouri claimed top honors in the competition with 72 points.
Winning titles for coach Garrad Straube’s runner-up Titans were Kadi Wilbern (105), Isabella Resendez (135) and Jenna Tuxhorn (145). Wilbern had two pins and a win by technical fall at 105, Resendez recorded three falls and got a medical forfeit at 135 and Tuxhorn got two pins. Wilbern was fifth in team points with 19.5 and Resendez tied for seventh with 18 team points. Kenzi Milestone (130) and Elsie Dozier (155) both took third place for Glenwood.
Civic Memorial had four individuals who claimed second place. Leading the way for the Eagles were second-place finishers Kendall Moss-Smith (115), Laila Earney (120), Alicia Dominguez (130) and Audrey Whipple (145) while Claire Shaw (125) finished in third place.
Fenton girls second, boys seventh at Waunakee, Wisconsin invite
Fenton’s girls collected 210 points to capture second place at the Waunakee Warrior Girls Invite in Waunakee, Wisconsin. Ariana Solideo took second at 235 in the gold division after losing by fall in 3:44 in the title match to Belmont/Platteville, WI’s Kalie Davis. Soliedo won her first three matches with pins before winning a decision in the semifinals. Other top performers for the Bison in the gold division were Yannel Perez (third, 132), Cailyn Platta (third, 185), Angela Contreras (fourth 107), Joselyn Honorato (fifth, 114) and Maria Quintero (eighth, 100).
The Bison boys scored 181 points to finish in seventh place in the Waunakee Warrior Invite in Waunakee, Wisconsin. Leading the way for the Bison were fourth-place finishers Danny Martinez (215) and Thomas Klos (285) while Jose Honorato (157) finished in fifth place.
Cahokia boys finish third at Lake Saint Louis, Missouri invite
Cahokia scored 130 points to tie for third place at the Wentzville Liberty Invitational, which took place in Lake Saint Louis, Missouri. Coach Nicholas Deloach’s Comanches had one champion, Issac Phipps (215), and one runner-up, Demarco Clark (285) as well as five other individuals who placed among the top eight at their weights.
Phipps won all four of his matches by fall, with the finals victory coming in 1:36 over Francis Howell, MO’s Cayden Duncan in the 215 title match. Phipps was one of six individuals who recorded four falls and he also tied three others for third place in team points with 30. Clark followed two falls with a decision in the semifinals before getting pinned in 0:18 in the 285 finals by Hillsboro, MO’s Griffin Morris. Other top medalists included Martez Williams (third, 190), Nathan Fisher (fifth, 113) and Kindall Williams (sixth, 175).
Metro-East Lutheran, Dupo boys win titles at Holiday Havoc in St. Louis
Metro-East Lutheran had two title winners and one runner-up while Dupo finished with two champions at Holiday Havoc, which took place at Hancock in St. Louis, Missouri. Metro-East Lutheran placed sixth with 62 points while Dupo finished seventh with 56.5 points.
Coach Mike Koch’s Metro-East Lutheran Knights had all three of their entrants reach the title mat as Grant Downing (175) and Landon Jones (190) captured titles while Miles Dennis (126) claimed second place. Downing went 3-0 in round robin at 175 with two falls and a wild 22-21 decision while Jones recorded five falls, with the last coming in the first-place match at 190 in 0:27 over Kelly, Mo’s Seth Shackles. Dennis had two falls and went 2-1 at 126.
Winning titles for coach Dalton Viglasky’s Dupo Tigers were Austin Jacquez (144) and Thinh Staggs (150) while Kyngston Medford (157) took fourth place. Jacquez followed three falls with a win by technical fall in the 144 finals over Affton, MO’s Blake Hand. Staggs opened with three falls before recording a pin in 3:04 for first place at 150 over Roosevelt, MO’s Amadou Toure. Staggs tied for third in team points with 24 while Jacquez tied for sixth with 23.5 points. And Timothy Baugh, who took first place in the 235B round robin bracket with five pins, tied for the most team points with 26 and also had the most pins in the least time with five in 3:31.
Erie/Prophetstown girls have two champs at Maquoketa, Iowa tourney
Erie/Prophetstown co-op had two champions and two others in the top four to help it to tie for sixth with 93.5 points at the Zimmerman Invitational, which took place in Maquoketa, Iowa.
Winning championships for coach Brian Buri’s co-op team were Ryleigh Stephens (120) and Michelle Naftzger (130) while Dena Cox (140) took third and Jayda Rosenow (155) finished in fourth place after falling in the semifinals.
Stephens opened with two pins in the first period before winning by fall in 0:45 over Iowa City, IA’s Eliza Mitchell in the 120 title match. Naftzger used two first-period falls to reach the 130 finals where she won by technical fall in 5:25 over Durant, IA’s Jocelynn Richardson. Stephens tied for third with 28 team points while Naftzger collected 27.5 team points. And Cox led all competitors with the most pins, which was five.
Mascoutah girls place seventh at Arnold, Missouri invite
Mascoutah’s girls had one champion and took seventh place with 39.5 points at the Fox Lady Warriors Invitational in Arnold, Missouri. Rylee Matthews captured first place at 145 after winning all three of her matches with pins, including in 1:37 in the finals over Rockwood Summit, MO’s Ainara Echavarri. She led all competitors in most pins in the least time with three in 3:07 and also tied for first place with three others for the most team points in the tournament with 26 to highlight the day for coach Chris Lindsay’s Indians.
Highland girls have champion at Lake Saint Louis, Missouri tourney
Highland’s August Rottmann won a championship at the Wentzville Liberty Girls Invite in Lake Saint Louis, Missouri while four others from her school and Cahokia placed in the top eight.
Rottmann, a three-time IHSA medalist at 170 who won the title in 2023, took third in 2022 and placed sixth last season due to the effects of an injury, won two matches with quick falls and received two byes before capturing a 15-1 major decision in the 170 title match over Centralia, MO’s Jayci Shelton to highlight the day for coach Nick Bellamy’s Bulldogs, who also received a fifth-place effort from Sophia Elkins (190).
Cahokia was led by a fourth-place showing by Te’Aja Young (130) while Kamryn Brown (235) and Janylah Holman (170) both finished in fifth place.
Boys tournament recap for Dec. 14: Walther, Niles W, DG South, Hoffman E, Prospect, Beat the Streets
By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA
WALTHER CHRISTIAN HOGER/TUOMI INVITATIONAL
In one of the tightest races for a team title anywhere in Illinois, Peotone, Mather, and the team from Seaholm, Michigan went down to the wire at this year’s 15-team Walther Christian Hoger/Tuomi Invitational.
Ultimately, Peotone had enough to get it done, 186.5-183 over Mather. Seaholm (173) finished a close third, followed by Westmont (156) and Northridge Prep (142) to round out the top five team finishes.
“Of course our champions were critical in the win,” Peotone coach Greg Goberville said of individual champions Blake Anderson (120), Connor Pasch (157) and Laith Abunijmeh (165). “But the most exciting and also critical matches for the team were from two wrestlers that got their first wins ever on Saturday.”
That extra credit given by Goberville went to an undersized 106-pounder in Jack Vallos and 175-pounder Marcus Baker.
As a first-year wrestler, sixth-place Baker’s first win of the season came via pin in a consolation semifinal match to earn Peotone six points, and Vallos’ 9-point contribution via fall for fifth place was the first match win of his career.
“These two boys sticking in out in wrestling even though they hadn’t found success before Saturday is a big reason why the team won the tournament,” Goberville said. “Seeing how excited they were to get their first wins is a reason I love being a part of this sport.”
Anderson and Abunijmeh also earned bonus points for the Blue Devils in head-to-head championship matches against wrestlers from Mather.
1st place: Peotone (186.5)
In addition to titles from Anderson, Pasch, Abunijmeh and first-time heroics from placers Vallos and Baker, the Blue Devils got seconds from Tom Raschke (132) and Emerson Gall (138), a third from John Meneses (144), and a sixth from Omero Isais (285).
2nd place: Mather (183)
Mather coach Kyle Shinall got four runner-up finishes from Tommy Lam (120), Celvin Cung (165), Zomire Dilworth (175) and Denzel Lockhart (285), fourths from Shokrullah Sayedi (106), Gabriel Banderas (132) and Zabiel Lagunas (138), fifths from Omobobola Bankhole (157) and Julian Rios (215), and a sixth from Oscar Estrada (126).
3rd place: Seaholm, MI (173)
Seaholm got an individual title from Cole Southby (106), seconds from Nikhil Amiya Narula (113) and John Ranxa (157), a third from Blaize Burkhart (175), fourths from Blaise Bongiorno (126), Joe Roman (165), Liam Perry (175) and Oliver Smith (215), fifths from Amon Edwards (138) and Cruz Garcia (150), and sixths from Shomari John-Charles (138) and Carter Dresden (190).
Other wrestlers winning individual Hoger/Tuomi titles were Westmont’s Luke Jimenea (113), Nazareth Academy’s Alek Ramos (126), Northridge Prep’s Joe Kopecky (132), Rickover Naval Academy’s Justin Hernandez (138), Harvest Christian’s Max Mulhearn (144), Northridge Prep’s George McShane (150), Lutheran Westland’s Russell Mangiapane (175), Amundsen’s Adrian Zepeda (190), Streator’s Aydan Radke (215), and Westmont’s Rafael Castrejon-Tello (285).
Team scores:
Peotone 186.5, Mather 183, Seaholm, MI 173, Westmont 156, Northridge Prep 142, Streator 108, Lutheran Westland 84, Amundsen 80.5, Walther Christian 69, Nazareth Academy 59.5, Elmwood Park 52.5, Ridgewood 51, Rickover Naval Academy 45, Lutheran Northwest, MI 38.5, Harvest Christian 29.
Walther Christian’s Hoger/Tuomi Invitational results:
106
1st: Cole Southby (Seaholm) 7-2, d. Mason Ponce (Westmont) 5-4, (MD 19-8)
3rd: Oscar Ruiz-Villa (Elmwood Park) 5-4, d. Shokrullah Sayedi (Mather) 7-6, (F 2:54)
5th: Jack Vallos (Peotone) 2-7, d. Ben Peterson (Walther) 5-5, (F 3:28)
113
1st: Luke Jimenea (Westmont) 7-3, d. Nikhil Amiya Narula (Seaholm) 5-3, (F 0:55)
3rd: Patrick Manio (Northridge) 1-3, d. Josiah Espinosa (Rickover) 0-2, (F 1:59)
120
1st: Blake Anderson (Peotone) 9-4, d. Tommy Lam (Mather) 10-4, (F 1:23)
3rd: Julian Deschner (Lutheran Northwest) 8-2, d. Emilio Fortiz (Nazareth) 1-2, (Dec 12-7)
5th: Ardan Baglaev (Westmont) 8-3, d. Sebastian Flores (Streator) 8-6, (F 0:24)
126
1st: Alek Ramos (Nazareth) 3-0, d. Jesus Martinez (Streator) 7-3, (Dec 5-0)
3rd: Shawn Hanton (Elmwood Park) 5-6, d. Blaise Bongiorno (Seaholm) 3-7, (TF 3:24 (20-4)
5th: Christian Rosa (Westmont) 8-3, d. Oscar Estrada (Mather) 3-5, (F 1:02)
132
1st: Joe Kopecky (Northridge) 4-2, d. Tom Raschke (Peotone) 6-6, (F 1:44)
3rd: Lawrence Walker (Westmont) 6-4, d. Gabriel Banderas (Mather) 7-8, (TF 3:17 (17-2)
5th: Garritt Benstine (Streator) 8-5, d. Patrick Loughnane (Elmwood Park) 2-2, (F 0:57)
138
1st: Justin Hernandez (Rickover) 8-0, d. Emerson Gall (Peotone) 5-8, (MD 14-4)
3rd: Mohamad Khater (Ridgewood) 8-4, d. Zabiel Lagunas (Mather) 3-4, (F 3:03)
5th: Amon Edwards (Seaholm) 4-5, d. Shomari John-Charles (Seaholm) 2-2, (F 0:27)
144
1st: Max Mulhearn (Harvest Christian) 6-1, d. Caleb Peterson (Walther) 10-2, (TF 4:35 (15-0)
3rd: John Meneses (Peotone) 6-4, d. Josh Baltz (Lutheran Westland) 5-5, (MD 11-3)
5th: Javi Rodriguez (Northridge) 4-3, .d. Isaac Depakakibo (Ridgewood) 4-5, (TF 3:00 (18-2)
150
1st: George McShane (Northridge) 3-2, .d. Mission Hatchell (Westmont) 8-3, (F 3:30)
3rd: Austin Speier (Lutheran Westland) 4-4, d. Kade Smorynski (Amundsen) 3-4, (F 1:23)
5th: Cruz Garcia (Seaholm) 4-1, d. Peter Martin (Amundsen) 5-4, (F 2:53)
157
1st: Connor Pasch (Peotone) 13-3, d. John Ranxa (Seaholm) 4-2, (F 1:29)
3rd: Sean Patterson (Westmont) 9-5, d. Patrick Burns (Amundsen) 5-4, (F 0:59)
5th: Omobobola Bankole (Mather) 11-5, d. Grant Wagner (Northridge) 3-2, . (F 1:32)
165
1st: Laith Abunijmeh (Peotone) 6-5, d. Celvin Cung (Mather) 8-6, (TF 2:26 (17-1)
3rd: Kiran McCarter (Amundsen) 6-3, d. Joe Roman (Seaholm) 4-3, (F 0:59)
5th: Steven Rodriguez (Walther) 6-4, d. Aaron Carlson (Ridgewood) 4-6, (F 4:51)
175
1st: Russell Mangiapane (Lutheran Westland) 9-2, d. Zomire Dilworth (Mather) 13-2, (F 3:37)
3rd: Blaize Burkhart (Seaholm) 2-4, d. Liam Perry (Seaholm) 1-3, (F 0:28)
5th: Tyler Schoessow (Walther) 4-3, d. Marcus Baker (Peotone) 2-9, (F 3:10)
190
1st: Adrian Zepeda (Amundsen) 6-0, d. James Reshoft (Amundsen) 7-2, (MD 23-10)
3rd: Morgan Miller (Lutheran Westland) 10-2, d. Mason Wagner (Northridge) 2-2, . (F 0:16)
5th: Devin Thompson (Streator) 9-5, d. Carter Dresden (Seaholm) 3-3, (F 2:20)
215
1st: Aydan Radke (Streator) 8-5, d. Samuel Swais (Nazareth) 2-1, (F 0:36)
3rd: Aiden Spiehs (Lutheran Northwest) 5-3, d. Oliver Smith (Seaholm) 2-3, (TF 1:59 (17-2)
5th: Julian Rios (Mather) 12-4, d. Israel Toroshina (Elmwood Park) 2-6, (F 1:16)
285
1st: Rafael Castrejon-Tello (Westmont) 7-2, d. Denzel Lockhart (Mather) 10-7, (F 3:12)
3rd: Thomas Suter (Northridge) 3-1, .d. Brian Gutierrez (Walther) 5-3, (F 5:39)
5th: Aiden Ferris (Streator) 12-3, d. Omero Isais (Peotone) 4-8, (F 2:53)
NILES WEST 7TH ANNUAL ROBERT E. PORTER INVITATIONAL
In a few short seasons, Montini coach Mike Bukovsky has returned the Broncos’ program to its former elevated place in Illinois high school wrestling, with a second-place state finish last season and a current top ranking in Class 2A.
Saturday’s team title at Niles West’s 26-team Robert E. Porter Invitational saw nine Broncos in the finals and five winning individual titles. Among scoring wrestlers, Montini added one third-place winner, one fourth, and one fifth. Two more Broncos finished fifth as non-scoring wrestlers.
“We had a good week,” Bukovsky said. “We ran our dual record to 7-0 and Saturday was a great way to end the week. We’re still missing two guys and we’re trying to get our lineup finalized after football but we feel good about where we are right now.”
Bukovsky was also the head coach of this year’s Montini football team, which won the Class 3A state title.
Montini won 583.5-478 over second-place Marist, which is currently ranked No. 2 in Illinois in 3A. Deerfield (368.5) placed third, Notre Dame (364) was third, and Conant (288) rounded out the top five team finishes.
1st place: Montini (583.5 points)
The Broncos got individual titles from Erik Klichurov (106) , Allen Woo (113), Bobby Ruscitti (120), Kam Luif (138) and Santino Tenuta (175), and runner-up finishes from Mikey Malizzio (126), Josh Vazquez (132), Kevin May (157) and AJ Tack (165).
Will Konder (144) placed third, Gavin Ericson (285) was fourth, and Jaxon Lane (215) placed fifth among scoring wrestlers.
Among non-scorers, Montini got fifths from Jack Bell (106) and Isaac Mayora (126).
“Our five champs led us but it was a total team effort,” Bukovsky said.
2nd place: Marist (478)
Illinois’ second-ranked 3A squad got individual titles for coach Brendan Heffernan from Tommy Fidler (144) and Ethan Sonne (157), seconds from Caden Campo (120) and Kevin Tomkins (175), thirds from Elio Gil (106), Colin Phelan (113) and George Marinopoulos (138), a fourth from Ronin Haran (165), and fifths from Tyrese Johnson (150) and Jack Watson (285).
3rd place: Notre Dame (364)
Ranked among the top 25 teams in Class 2A, the Dons and coach Anthony Genovesi got an individual title from John Sheehy (126), a second-place finish from Ray Long (106), a third from Brady Krueger (132), a fourth from Donovan Walsh (150), fifths from Deniz Ozturk (157) and Dean Lazaris (165), and a sixth from John Greifelt (144).
Other individual champions at Niles West were Deerfield’s Jackson Palzet (132), Sarah Goode’s Xavier Woods (150), Cary-Grove’s Noah Pechotta (165), Lake Zurich’s Rocco DiCanio (190), Taft’s Evan Jocic (215), and Geneva’s Joseph Petit (285).
Team scores:
Montini 583.5, Marist 478, Deerfield 368.5, Notre Dame 364, Conant 288, Lake Zurich 273, WW South 252, Bartlett 240.5, Geneva 240, Dundee-Crown 228, Normal Community West 213, Jacobs 204, Taft 186, Maine West 170, Central 163, Waubonsie Valley 158.5, Cary-Grove 151.5, Sarah Goode 138, Larkin 135, Waukegan 105, Highland Park 79.5, Reavis 74, Noble/Golder 71, Niles West 59, Lindblom 47, King 40
Robert E. Porter Invitational results:
106
1st: Erik Klichurov (Montini) 14-1, over Ray Long (Notre Dame) 14-2, (MD 15-6)
3rd: Elio Gil (Marist) 11-5, over Aiden Healey (D-Crown) 15-4, (F 3:36)
5th: Jack Bell (Montini) 4-1, .over Donovan Lowery (Normal W) 8-6, (TF 4:39 (16-1)
113
1st: Allen Woo (Montini) 12-2, over Bernardo Roque (Taft) 14-2, (TF 2:42 (19-2)
3rd: Colin Phelan (Marist) 10-5, over Dylan McGrew (Normal W) 10-3, (D 7-6)
5th: Damian Ramos (Conant) 11-3, over Mason Goldman (Waubonsie V) 7-3, (F 4:38)
120
1st: Bobby Ruscitti (Montini) 14-1, over Caden Campo (Marist) 9-5, (TF 2:51 (21-6)
3rd: Danny Martinez (Deerfield) 9-5, over Michael Riggs (WW South) 8-5, . (D 8-5)
5th: Enrique Garcia (Jacobs) 10-3, over Sammy Sikorsky (Geneva) 13-5, (F 5:54)
126
1st: John Sheehy (Notre Dame) 15-1, over Mikey Malizzio (Montini) 8-3, (D 8-4)
3rd: Luis Flores (Conant) 11-3, over Adrian Cohen (Deerfield) 12-5, (F 3:54)
5th: Isaac Mayora (Montini) 4-1, .over Logan Battersby (Maine West) 3-2, (TF 5:45 (18-2)
132
1st: Jackson Palzet (Deerfield) 14-1, over Josh Vazquez (Montini) 7-2, (NC)
3rd: Brady Krueger (Notre Dame) 11-6, over Nathan Duffield (Waubonsie V) 11-6, (D 8-7)
5th: Andrew Wendt (Geneva) 11-6, over Nick Barton (Bartlett) 10-4, (MD 10-1)
138
1st: Kam Luif (Montini) 12-0, over Jordan Rasof (Deerfield) 15-2, (MD 15-6)
3rd: George Marinopoulos (Marist) 8-2, over Chris Gerardo (D-Crown) 14-5, (D 2-1)
5th: Cameron Engels (Bartlett) 10-4, over Mason Wood (Normal W) 9-6, (F 5:59)
144
1st: Tommy Fidler (Marist) 10-4, over Alexander Shvartsman (Deerfield) 12-5, (TF 2:29 (18-3)
3rd: Will Konder (Montini) 10-4, over Damari Miller (Larkin) 12-3, (MD 13-3)
5th: Jayden Patterson-Veal (Sarah Goode) 8-1, over John Greifelt (Notre Dame) 11-5, (TF 3:50 (19-4)
150
1st: Xavier Woods (Sarah Goode) 11-0, over Victor Chevganov (Conant) 12-3, (SV-1 14-11)
3rd: Nate Ferrari (Highland P) 12-1, over Donovan Walsh (Notre Dame) 10-3, (F 1:34)
5th: Tyrese Johnson (Marist) 5-2, over Sebastian Gordon (Niles West) 5-4, (F 4:49)
157
1st: Ethan Sonne (Marist) 8-3, over Kevin May (Montini) 10-6, (MD 18-4)
3rd: Charlie Cross (Deerfield) 8-7, over David Rueth (Geneva) 12-5, (NC)
5th: Deniz Ozturk (Notre Dame) 11-6, over David Miranda (Larkin) 9-4, (F 5:55)
165
1st: Noah Pechotta (Cary-Grove) 17-1, over AJ Tack (Montini) 11-2, (D 8-5)
3rd: Peter Greco (Maine West) 3-1, over Ronin Haran (Marist) 5-4, (D 15-11)
5th: Dean Lazaris (Notre Dame) 7-6, over Kade Abrantes (Lake Zurich) 5-4, (F 5:01)
175
1st: Santino Tenuta (Montini) 8-0, over Kevin Tomkins (Marist) 11-3, (F 3:15)
3rd: Malik Salameh (Reavis) 4-1, over Jake Rhymes ( Central) 3-2, (D 11-5)
5th: Lucas Pretkelis (Waubonsie V) 5-7, over Amjad Babidi (Maine West) 3-2, (D 7-3)
190
1st: Rocco DiCanio (Lake Zurich) 16-3, over Michael Junitz ( Central) 11-6, (MD 14-5)
3rd: Mason Monce (WW South) 8-4, .over Zach Anderson (D-Crown) 14-6, (F 3:56)
5th: Lamero Ceaser (Waukegan) 5-3, over Mikel Horne (Niles West) 2-2, (F 2:20)
215
1st: Evan Jocic (Taft) 10-2, over James Smrha (Bartlett) 11-2, (F 1:23)
3rd: Teigen Moreno (D-Crown) 15-2, over Maciej Szelazek (Lake Zurich) 12-5, (MD 14-0)
5th: Jaxon Lane (Montini) 8-1, .over Tennyson Welage-Stein (Geneva) 10-7, (F 0:26)
285
1st: Joseph Pettit (Geneva) 12-0, over Ashton Kibbe (WW South) 9-3, . (TF 5:13 (16-1)
3rd: Lucas Burton (Cary-Grove) 8-1, over Gavin Ericson (Montini) 5-3, (MD 10-1)
5th: Jack Watson (Marist) 10-5, over Luis Alba (Bartlett) 9-3, (F 3:47)
DOWNERS GROVE SOUTH LARRY GASSEN DUAL TOURNAMENT
Coal city coach Mark Masters saw his boys go 5-0 at this year’s 15-team Larry Gassen dual team tournament hosted by Downers Grove South, and he was pleasantly surprised.
“We just got all of our football players certified on Thursday so today was the first day we had all of our guys on the mat,” Masters said. “I was really proud of how hard our guys competed having a short time to train, make weight, and wrestle for six minutes. But our athletes over the years have built a culture that competing at a high level, max effort, and winning is expected.
“It’s our first time winning this tournament and it was awesome for our coaching staff and team.”
Coal City’s semifinal dual against third-place Geneseo had a doozy of a finish. Trailing 25-16 with three matches remaining, Masters got three consecutive pins from Jake Munsterman, Owen Petersen and Culan Lindemuth.
“That was the most exciting part of the tournament for our program and fans,” Masters said. Petersen, Cooper Morris and Brody Widlowski all went 5-0 on the day for Coal City.
For the day, Coal City topped Wauconda (60-14), Fremd (48-26), Mahomet-Seymour (47-13), and Geneseo (34-25), before winning the championship dual 43-19 over Downers Grove North.
To reach the finals, second-place Downers Grove North beat Crystal Lake Central (40-23), Belleville West (41-31), Lincoln-Way East (38-25), and Grant (52-17). Third-place Geneseo beat Oak Forest (59-14), Maine South (45-22), and Glenwood (43-23) before losing to Coal City, then won 41-31 over Grant to take third.
Fourth-place Grant’s wins came against Downers Grove South (40-20), Andrew (54-23), and Huntley (47-30).
Among the top four finishing teams, for wrestlers with at least four matches wrestled, Coal City got unbeaten days from Owen Petersen (113), Cooper Morris (126), and Brody Widlowski (138); going unbeaten for DG North was Christian Chiarelli (132); Geneseo’s Devan Hornback (132), Zachary Montez (165/175) and Kye Weinzierl (175/190) went unbeaten; and Grant’s unbeaten wrestlers were Vince Jasinski (126/132), Erik Rodriguez (138), and Casey Gibson (190/215).
Gassen team finishes: 1st: Coal City, 2nd: Downers Grove North, 3rd: Geneseo, 4th: Grant,5th: Lincoln-Way East, 6th: Glenwood, 8th: Wauconda, 8th: Huntley, 9th: Fremd, 10th: Downers Grove South, 11th: Crystal Lake Central, 12th: Maine South, 13th: Mahomet-Seymour, 14th: Andrew, 15th: Oak Forest, 16th: Belleville West
Final round dual scores:
1st: Coal City defeated Downers Grove North 43-19.
3rd: Geneseo defeated Grant 41-31.
5th: Lincoln-Way East defeated Glenwood 50-24.
7th: This match has not been wrestled yet.
9th: Fremd defeated Downers Grove South 36-31.
11th: Crystal Lake Central defeated Maine South 39-36.
13th: Mahomet-Seymour defeated Andrew 51-26.
15th: Oak Forest defeated Belleville West 50-27.
1st place dual results:
Coal City 43, Downers Grove North19
132 – Christian Chiarelli (DG North) over Luke Munsterman (Coal City) Dec 8-5
138 – Brody Widlowski (Coal City) over Aidan Cummings (DG North) Dec 7-3
144 – Caden Chiarelli (DG North) over Aidan Kenney (Coal City) Maj 12-4
150 – Noah Houston (Coal City) over Owen Kelly (DG North) TB-1 5-3
157 – Liam O`Sullivan (DG North) over Mason Garner (Coal City) Maj 20-11
165 – Brock Finch (Coal City) over Colin Cunningham (DG North) Fall 3:08
175 – Landin Benson (Coal City) over Jack Lasota (DG North) Fall 5:19
190 – Cade Poyner (Coal City) over Jack Helsdon (DG North) Fall 1:03
215 – John Keigher (Coal City) over Nate Olona (DG North) Fall 1:34
285 – Peter Rodriguez (DG North) over Alec Waliczek (Coal City) Maj 10-1
106 – Jason Piatak (Coal City) over Damian Garcia (DG North) Dec 3-1
113 – Owen Petersen (Coal City) over Matt Ramimi (DG North) Fall 1:05
120 – Tyler Tiancgo (DG North) over Culan Lindemuth (Coal City) Maj 14-1
126 – Cooper Morris (Coal City) over Cory Mongello (DG North) Maj 9-0
3rd place dual results:
Geneseo defeated Grant) 41-31
132 – Devan Hornback (Geneseo) over Ben Ramos (Grant) TF 16-1
138 – Erik Rodriguez (Grant) over Lincoln Barnett (Geneseo) Fall 1:56
144 – Izaac Gaines (Geneseo) over John Von Hoene (Grant) Fall 1:54
150 – Malaki Jackson (Geneseo) over Adrian Khi (Grant) Fall 4:41
157 – Grady Hull (Geneseo) over Grayson Lennon (Grant) SV-1 7-4
165 – Zachary Montez (Geneseo) over Gavin Farley (Grant) Fall 1:41
175 – Kye Weinzierl (Geneseo) over Aaden Arroyo (Grant) Maj 13-4
190 – Tyler Zdon (Grant) over Wyatt Neumann (Geneseo) Fall 2:51
215 – Casey Gipson (Grant) over Colten Mooney (Geneseo) Fall 1:51
285 – Jacob Stahl (Geneseo) over Ian Hernandez (Grant) Fall 7:30
106 – Carter Hutchinson (Grant) over Brycen Fahnestock (Geneseo) Dec 11-9
113 – Andrew Ocampo (Grant) over Elliott Kreiner (Geneseo) Maj 15-6
120 – Landen Vincent (Geneseo) over Breiydyn Hoffman (Grant) TF 15-0
126 – Vince Jasinski (Grant) over Tim Sebastian (Geneseo) Fall 1:40
HOFFMAN ESTATES MICKEY MARCHESE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
After Homewood-Flossmoor lost to Carl Sandburg in a dual meet on Dec. 12, coach James Sokoloski needed to see how his boys would react.
“We were humbled a little bit on Thursday night by Sandburg, who came to HF and gave us a beat down,” Sokoloski said, “so we challenged our guys Thursday night and Friday in practice to respond over the weekend.”
The Vikings answered the bell.
Homewood-Flossmoor took the team title at Hoffman Estates’ 14-team Mickey Marchese Memorial Tournament two days later, out-pointing second-place Wheeling 278.5-215 on Saturday.
The Vikings went six-for-six on the title mat, getting individual titles from Davion Henry (106), Chazz Robinson (120), Roan Dukes (126), Frenchie Ford (150), Jovan Vukajlovic (157) and RJ Robinson (175) to lead the charge.
“Our guys came ready to compete at a high level and score points,” Sokoloski said. “I couldn’t be happier with how our team responded and came to wrestle on Saturday. I know this experience was huge for our guys and it will be a springboard for the rest of the season.”
Mundelein (139.5) took third place, followed by Plainfield E (134) and Lane Tech (132) to round out the top five team finishes.
1st place: Homewood-Flossmoor (278.5 points)
In addition to titles from Henry, Chazz Robinson, Dukes, Ford, Vukajlovic, and RJ Robinson, the Vikings got third-place finishes from Ethan Hamilton (113), Adante Washington (132) and Jon Santiago (215), a fourth from Idris Akeeb (285), and fifths from Marcus Beach-Larrieu (138), Henry Maier (144) and Remond Lee (165).
In all, the Vikings went 12-1 in the place-medal round.
Sokoloski tipped his hat to his individual champions at Hoffman Estates and then some.
“To win a tournament, you need the other weight classes to contribute,” Sokoloski said. “We had some huge wins from Marcus at 138, Henry at 144, Remond at 165, and Jon Santiago at 215. For all those guys to do what they did, that takes the pressure off of the rest of the team to carry that load. I was also very proud of how Adante Washington (132) finished the tournament. He lost his semifinal match to a tough wrestler from Lane Tech, but absolutely responded afterwards and won his next two in dominant fashion. And Ethan (113) had a tough loss in round two but he learned from it and dramatically improved as the day went on.”
2nd place: Wheeling (215)
Wheeling’s Eddie Juarez (215) won an individual title and the Wildcats had five runner-up finishes for coach Charles Curran, in Franklin Katz (106), David Perez (113), Miguel Lopez (120), Johnny Dominguez (190) and Pablo Morales (285). Wheeling also got thirds from Joey Romano (126) and Nicholas Montesinos (165), and fifths from Max Katz (132), John Scanlon (157) and Danny Miranda (175).
3rd place: Mundelein (139.5)
Mundelein coach Craig Stocker got an individual title from Kevin Hernandez (165), a third from Neftall Cernas (120), fourths from Christian Saucedo (106), Gael Diaz (144), Alex Konewko (150) and Daniel Hernandez (175), and sixths from Pablo Becerra (126), Celso Cabrera (215) and Antonio Salazar (285).
Other individual champions at Hoffman Estates were South Elgin’s Nick Dilallo (113), Lane Tech’s Alex Valentin (132), Carmel’s Matthew Lucansky (138), Plainfield East’s Camden McCloskey (144), Streamwood’s Jace Wolf (190) and Zion-Benton’s Isaiah Tellado (285).
Team scores:
Homewood-Flossmoor 278, Wheeling 215, Mundelein 139.5, Plainfield E 134, Lane Tech 132, Zion-Benton 119.5, Streamwood 106.5, Harlem 95, South Elgin 93.5, Stagg 62.5, Carmel 59.5, Thornton-Fractional North 55.5, Elgin 27, Hoffman Estates 26.5
Mickey Marchese Memorial results:
106:
1st: Davion Henry (Homewood-F) 7-0, over Franklin Katz (Wheeling) 11-1, (TF 6:00 (25-6)
3rd: Jeremiah Arroyo-McMullan (Lane) 5-2, over Christian Saucedo (Mundelein) 9-7, (D 8-3)
5th: Evan Hamilton (South Elgin) 6-7, over Daniel Torres (Stagg) 1-3, (F 1:36)
113
1st: Nick Dilallo (South Elgin) 14-0, over David Perez (Wheeling) 10-3, (TF 4:49 (23-7)
3rd: Ethan Hamilton (Homewood-F) 6-2, over Jose Curiel (Lane Tech) 8-4, (TF 4:46 (21-5)
5th: Brian Tejeda (Plainfield E) 12-5, over Braden Sroka (Zion Benton) 7-4, (M. For.)
120
1st: Chazz Robinson (Homewood-F) 9-2, over Miguel Lopez (Wheeling) 10-3, (F 3:12)
3rd: Neftali Cernas (Mundelein) 13-4, over Javier Corral (Stagg) 6-5, (MD 17-4)
5th: Nathan Corder (Harlem) 2-2, over Joaquin Salameda (Lane Tech) 1-3, (F 3:33)
126
1st: Roan Dukes (Homewood-F) 9-3, over Tamilore Ogundeyi (T-F North) 3-2, (F 1:44)
3rd: Joey Romano (Wheeling) 12-3, over Jaydee Doke (Harlem) 4-2, (F 0:25)
5th: Rudy Garcia (Carmel) 5-7, over Pablo Becerra (Mundelein) 5-4, (M. For.)
132
1st: Alex Valentin (Lane Tech) 13-3, over Luis Medina (Zion Benton) 11-5, (D 7-1)
3rd: Adante Washington (Homewood-F) 9-3, over Izayah Olejniczak (Harlem) 4-2, (TF 3:58 (19-3)
5th: Max Katz (Wheeling) 11-5, over Jadyn Rios (Hoffman Estates) 3-3, (TF 4:52 (16-0)
138
1st: Matthew Lucansky (Carmel) 10-1, over Dylan Solesky (Zion Benton) 10-6, (MD 10-0)
3rd: Aamir Nieves-Allen (South Elgin) 10-7, over Owen Recoy (Harlem) 4-2, (TF 5:48 (23-8)
5th: Marcus Bech-Larrien (Homewood-F) 3-2, over Abbas Abdulamir (Lane Tech) 7-4, (F 3:10)
144
1st: Camden McCloskey (Plainfield E) 14-2, over Samer Suleiman (Stagg) 5-1, (D 8-5)
3rd: Vermaat VanderBrug (Lane Tech) 13-4, over Gael Diaz (Mundelein) 7-6, (D 11-5)
5th: Henry Maier (Homewood-F) 7-4, over Alex Asllani (Carmel) 7-5, (TB-1 17-7)
150
1st: Frenchie Ford (Homewood-F) 8-2, over Muhammad Hasib (Plainfield E) 6-8, (D 9-2)
3rd: Juan Cortez (Streamwood) 6-3, over Alex Konewko (Mundelein) 7-6, (D 7-6)
5th: Preston Fadness (Harlem) 4-2, over Fenton Pratt (Lane Tech) 6-6, (D 9-4)
157
1st: Jovan Vukajlovic (Homewood-F) 4-0, over Joseph Merritt (T-F North) 4-2, (TF 2:25 (17-2)
3rd: Dmytro Patykovskyi (Hoffman Estates) 7-1, over Nasser Hammouche (Lane Tech) 14-5, (F 5:17)
5th: John Scanlon (Wheeling) 11-4, over Travis Barrera (South Elgin) 6-11, (F 1:02)
165
1st: Kevin Hernandez (Mundelein) 13-2, over Joseph Nino (Plainfield E) 8-6, (TF 4:18 (17-0)
3rd: Nicholas Montesinos (Wheeling) 12-2, over Jeff Li (Streamwood) 6-2, (F 2:50)
5th: Remond Lee (Homewood-F) 6-4, over Anthony Malone (Zion Benton) 6-8, (TF 2:19 (16-1)
175
1st: RJ Robinson (Homewood-F) 7-2, over Fabian Ramirez (Elgin) 13-3, . (F 3:48)
3rd: Gabe Inorio (Streamwood) 7-2, over Daniel Hernandez (Mundelein) 11-5, (F 3:17)
5th: Danny Miranda (Wheeling) 5-5, over Robert Vogel (Plainfield E) 10-6, (F 1:21)
190
1st: Jace Wolf (Streamwood) 7-0, over Jonny Dominguez (Wheeling) 9-1, (MD 8-0)
3rd: Tyson Poyer (Zion Benton) 13-5, over Hugh Callaghan (Plainfield E) 13-3, (D 11-4)
5th: Francisco Yilmaz (Zion Benton) 8-4, over Maddox Bartoli (Lane Tech) 10-8, (F 1:16)
215
1st: Eddie Juarez (Wheeling) 11-0, over Deremit Zamora (South Elgin) 13-3, (D 11-9)
3rd: Jon Santiago (Homewood-F) 4-1, over Colin Dominiak (Plainfield E) 9-6, (D 10-9)
5th: Josiah Torres (Streamwood) 6-2, over Celso Cabrera (Mundelein) 6-2, (M. For.)
285
1st: Isaiah Tellado (Zion Benton) 13-3, over Pablo Morales (Wheeling) 11-2, (D 7-6)
3rd: Chandler Jack (Harlem) 4-1, over Idris Akeeb (Homewood-F) 3-4, (F 2:25)
5th: Josh Burton (Streamwood) 4-4, over Antonio Salazar (Mundelein) 2-3, (F 2:51)
CHICAGO HOPE ACADEMY BEAT THE STREETS DUALS
DePaul College Prep coach Patrick Heffernan saw his boys win their second tournament team title of the season on Saturday, as the Rams went 5-0 at this year’s 16-team Beat the Streets dual tournament, hosted by Chicago Hope Academy.
“The guys really showed some grit and toughness Saturday,” Heffernan said. “Michael Trout really stepped it up for us at 175 Friday night and Saturday. Nabiel Rosario just keeps on impressing me at 132, he’s now 13-0 and looking really good. This team is good and we will keep getting better.”
The Rams topped second-place Crown Point, Indiana (4-1) 54-20 to cap their unbeaten day. Host Chicago Hope Academy (4-1) placed third with a 41-28 win over the jayvee team from Oak Park and River Forest (3-2).
On the day, DePaul also beat Kelly (63-11), Trinity (46-34), Hillcrest (65-9), and Chicago Hope Academy (40-30).
Second-place Crown Point topped Garrett Morgan (63-14), Noble/Comer (83-0), St. Ignatius (59-18), and OPRF (52-18).
Third-place Chicago Hope beat Rolling Meadows (60-21), Little Village (67-12), and Marist JV (43-27), while OPRF JV topped Phoenix Military Academy (78-6), Proviso West (52-22), and Chicago Agricultural Science (82-0).
Among the top four placing teams, going unbeaten on the day with a minimum of four matches wrestled for DePaul were Nabiel Rosario (132), Johnny Cunningham (138), Drew Gerstung (150), and Matthew Brendel (157); Crown Point got perfect days from Jacob Powers (106), Griffin Weber (126), Benjamin Clark (165), and Owen Evener (215); and Chicago Hope’s unbeatens were Arkail Griffin (175) and Roy Phelps (285).
Championship dual
DePaul College Prep 54, Crown Point 20
106 – Jacob Powers (Crown Point) over Aedan Dillow (DePaul) TF 21-3
113 – Dimitri Dobre (DePaul) over Damian Baca (Crown Point) F 0:39
120 – Colin Bosak (DePaul) over Gavin Carlisle (Crown Point) F 2:35
126 – Connor Maschek (DePaul) over Gavin Wimberly (Crown Point) F 3:44
132 – Nabiel Rosario (DePaul) over Kam Stash (Crown Point) Dec 11-10
138 – Johnny Cunningham (DePaul) over Maximus Benoit (Crown Point) F 2:30
144 – Teigan Newell (Crown Point) over Max Rosen (DePaul) Dec 7-2
150 – Drew Gerstung (DePaul) over Griffin Ablin (Crown Point) Dec 8-5
157 – Matthew Brendel (DePaul) over Hunter Schoon (Crown Point) F 0:40
165 – Benjamin Clark (Crown Point) over Andrew Brendel (DePaul) F 0:45
175 – Michael Trout (DePaul) over Caleb Ingerly (Crown Point) F 5:47
190 – Alex Drees (DePaul) over Parker Teibel (Crown Point) F 3:17
215 – Owen Evener (Crown Point) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
285 – Hunter Wahtola (DePaul) over Tony Brooks (Crown Point) F 3:41
Third-place dual
Chicago Hope Academy 41, OPRF JV 28
106 – Indigo Berg (Chicago Hope) over Jordan Dezara (OPRF) F 1:52
113 – Andrew Radtke (OPRF) over RaSean Fenner (Chicago Hope) F 2:31
120 – Nolan Callahan (Chicago Hope) over Matteo Drummer (OPRF) TF 19-2
126 – Alex Cohen (OPRF) over Johnny Amador (Chicago Hope) Dec 5-3
132 – Isaiah Gibson (OPRF) over Mike Garcia (Chicago Hope) F 5:32
138 – Josiah Willis (Chicago Hope) over Henry Brown (OPRF) F 1:09
144 – Dylan Galvez (Chicago Hope) over Alex Albrecht (OPRF) Dec 13-9
150 – Santori Knight (Chicago Hope) over Gabriel Krizan (OPRF) F 2:25
157 – Jeremiah Hernandez (OPRF) over Andrew Payne (Chicago Hope) F 3:16
165 – Brenden Lowenthal-Wojcik (OPRF) over Tony Jones-Blakely (Chicago Hope) MD 17-8
175 – Arkail Griffin (Chicago Hope) over Daniel Solano (OPRF) F 1:04
190 – Benjamin Martin (OPRF) oaver Ismael Montero (Chicago Hope) Dec 1-0
215 – Mastewal Evely (Chicago Hope) over Michael Bruce (OPRF) Dec 1-0
PROSPECT’S 64th ANNUAL MUDGE-MCMORROW WRESTLING INVITATIONAL
Joliet Catholic had 11 wrestlers finish in the top six, including five champions, to finish atop a field of 15 teams at Prospect’s 64th annual Mudge-McMorrow Invitational. The Hilltoppers finished with a 271.5-207.5 win over second-place Naperville Central.
York (173) placed third, followed by Prospect (140) and Grayslake Central (127) to round out the top five teams finishes.
“I’m very proud of the way our boys competed today, with every wrestler making the placement match round,” Joliet Catholic coach Ryan Cumbee said. “We have plenty of work to do this week before we head to Oklahoma for the NWHOF duals (the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dual Classic).”
1st place: Joliet Catholic (271.5 points)
The Hilltoppers got individual titles from Maddux Tindal (120), Jason Hampton (132), Nolan Vogel (157), Luke Hamiti (165) and Nico Ronchetti (190), seconds from Aurelio Munoz (138) and Elias Gonzalez (150), thirds from Kane Robles (106) and Matthew Laird (126), a fifth from Dawson Mack (144) and a sixth from Isaac Clauson (175).
2nd place: Naperville Central (207.5)
Redhawks coach Noah Fitzenreider saw two champions scale the awards stand, in Vince Bern (138) and Henry Rydwelski (175). Among scoring wresters, Central also got seconds from Jacob Cochran (132), Paul Peradotti (190) and William Erbeck (285), thirds from Jack Schwartz (113) and CJ Bierman (150), fourths from Dalton Meluch (106) and Jake Moore (126), and a sixth from Yusuf Sikander (157).
3rd place: York (173)
The Dukes had four individual champions in Mondo Marinelli (126), Frank Nitti (144), Jackson Hanselman (150) and Mikey Grazzini (215). York coach Nick Metcalf also got fourths from Tommy Connors (113) and Christian Diaz (285), and a fifth from Charlie Brown (120).
Team scores:
Joliet Catholic 271.5, Naperville Central 207.5, York 173, Prospect 140, Grayslake Central 127, Moline 102.5, Libertyville 102, McHenry 100, Addison Trail 98, New Trier 97.5, Hampshire 75, Belvidere North 56.5, St. Charles North 53, Round Lake 36.5, Noble/UIC 14
Mudge-McMorrow Invitational results:
106
1st: Vince DeMarco (Grayslake C) 13-1, over Nikolas Duarte (Addison Trail) 11-3, (D 6-0)
3rd: Kane Robles (Joliet C) 6-2, over Dalton Meluch (Naperville C) 9-5, (F 2:00)
5th: Jack Fitzgerald (Naperville C) 5-1, over Carlo DiFalco (Prospect) 1-2, (TF 4:46 (25-8)
7th: Skyler Stewart (SC North) 9-3, over Suhail Osman (York) 0-3, (F 1:13)
113
1st: Deegan Kirschke (Hampshire) 10-3, over Santiago Trejo-Huerigo (Addison Trail) 11-2, (D 8-3)
3rd: Jack Schwartz (Naperville C) 11-4, over Tommy Connors (York) 1-2, . (D 6-2)
5th: Thomas Fidler (Prospect) 6-10, over Leonardo Zapien (Chicago (Noble/UIC) 4-2, (F 0:36)
7th: Tyler Callaghan (Grayslake C) 6-6, over Moises Moronez (Belvidere N) 4-5, (F 1:26)
120
1st: Maddux Tindal (Joliet C) 6-3, over Collin Ledbetter (Moline) 10-2, (TF 2:49 (17-1)
3rd: Krish Sahu (Grayslake C) 13-4, over Adam Epperson (Prospect) 2-2, (TF 4:39 (20-3)
5th: Charlie Brown (York) 4-1, over Zion Martinez (Addison Trail) 6-10, (D 4-2)
7th: Lou Jensen (Hampshire) 7-7, over Evan Denardis (Prospect) 2-3, (F 1:38)
126
1st: Mondo Martinelli (York) 3-0, over Bryson Teunissen (Belvidere N) 11-3, (TF 2:22 (17-2)
3rd: Matthew Laird (Joliet C) 7-3, over Jake Moore (Naperville C) 6-3, (MD 10-2)
5th: Jake Shafer (Libertyville) 7-6, over James Ball (Naperville C) 5-4, (TF 3:50 (17-1)
7th: Karol Kosciarz (Prospect) 8-8, over Matthew Miralles (New Trier) 7-7, (TF 2:49 (18-3)
132
1st: Jason Hampton (Joliet C) 6-2, over Jacob Cochran (Naperville C) 12-3, (TF 4:23 (21-6)
3rd: Ryan Hanson (McHenry) 2-1, over Joshua Amorn-Vichet (Addison Trail) 8-3, (F 4:41)
5th: Gavin McDonald (Naperville C) 4-1, over Liam Halloran (Grayslake C) 14-5, (F 0:38)
7th: Kacper Kosciarz (Prospect) 6-9, over Keelen Kassenbrock (SC North) 2-4, . (TF 1:48 (17-2)
138
1st: Vince Bern (Naperville C) 7-1, over Aurelio Munoz (Joliet C) 5-4, (D 7-1)
3rd: Ronin Umali (Prospect) 7-11, over Austin Schiltz (Naperville C) 4-5, (TF 2:50 (15-0)
5th: Aidan Eisenberg (Grayslake C) 10-7, over Elliott Hibbard (Libertyville) 6-5, (D 8-5)
7th: Resendez Leo (York) 3-2, over Nathan Finklesein (New Trier) 3-5, (F 5:42)
144
1st: Frank Nitti (York) 4-0, over Dominic Girardin (Belvidere N) 12-2, (MD 16-8)
3rd: Matthias Hautzinger (Addison Trail) 9-3, over Trevor Hengl (Grayslake C) 8-7, (F 1:21)
5th: Dawson Mack (Joliet C) 7-3, over Brogan Sons (SC North) 8-7, . (F 2:32)
7th: Ryan Johnston (McHenry) 13-2, over Quinn Schmitt (Libertyville) 4-7, (TF 4:34 (21-5)
150
1st: Jackson Hanselman (York) 3-0, over Elias Gonzalez (Joliet C) 5-3, (D 5-4)
3rd: CJ Bierman (Naperville C) 7-1, over Liam O`Brien (SC North) 10-3, . (F 4:41)
5th: Yassin Aitzemkour (New Trier) 11-3, over Quentin Conkle (Grayslake C) 11-8, (F 4:36)
7th: Chris Napiorkowski (Hampshire) 12-7, over Carter Hoyt (McHenry) 6-8, (TF 5:05 (16-0)
157
1st: Nolan Vogel (Joliet C) 7-2, over Tagg Miller (New Trier) 10-1, (MD 20-7)
3rd: Bennett WestFen (Prospect) 13-4, over Justin Skryd (Naperville C) 2-2, . (TF 4:20 (19-2)
5th: Avian Roman (McHenry) 5-2, over Yusuf Sikander (Naperville C) 11-6, (F 2:00)
7th: Benjamin Gorny (York) 3-2, over Hassan Ndiaye (Moline) 9-6, (F 5:14)
165
1st: Luke Hamiti (Joliet C) 7-1, over Aiden Schuldt (McHenry) 10-3, (TF 2:43 (17-2)
3rd: WIlliam Lyle (Grayslake C) 14-5, over Marcus Regalado (New Trier) 9-4, (D 6-5)
5th: Jaxson Soliz (Moline) 12-2, over Nate McLoughlin (SC North) 10-5, . (F 3:34)
7th: Nicolas Olvera (Naperville C) 8-3, over Andrew Bucci (Belvidere N) 8-6, (MD 9-1)
175
1st: Henry Rydwelski (Naperville C) 13-0, over Gavin Payne (Prospect) 10-5, (D 5-4)
3rd: DeAnthony Simpson (Moline) 11-2, over Tucker Kemnitz (New Trier) 7-5, (F 2:00)
5th: James Scanio (Libertyville) 8-5, over Issac Clauson (Joliet C) 6-4, (TF 5:31 (20-4)
7th: Edgar Gomez (Round Lake) 13-7, over Coln Koehl (Grayslake C) 3-8, (D 6-1)
190
1st: Nico Ronchetti (Joliet C) 6-1, over Paul Peradotti (Naperville C) 7-1, (MD 11-1)
3rd: Jude Ossian (Moline) 11-2, over Owen Dewey (Prospect) 1-3, (F 0:53)
5th: Jack Treutelaar (Libertyville) 10-7, over Cooper Cramer (New Trier) 5-6, (F 3:39)
7th: Emmanuel Leal (Addison Trail) 8-7, over Giovanni Marino (Hampshire) 7-5, (D 4-0)
215
1st: Mikey Grazzini (York) 4-0, over Brody Lidbury (McHenry) 9-3, . (F 3:12)
3rd: Jackson Pierce (York) 4-2, over Jacob Syc (Libertyville) 2-2, (F 5:02)
5th: Connor Curran (Prospect) 5-1, over Alijah Martin (Moline) 4-7, (F 3:05)
7th: Aiden Bishop (Joliet C) 5-5, over Nithilan Gandi (Naperville C) 6-6, (MD 13-1)
285
1st: William Cole (Round Lake) 16-1, over William Erbeck (Naperville C) 7-1, (D 5-3)
3rd: Erich Walldorf (Libertyville) 8-3, over Cristian Diaz (York) 1-2, (MD 16-4)
5th: Knox Homola (Hampshire) 8-4, over James Brouilette (Prospect) 8-8, (F 2:52)
7th: Daniel Dalach (Joliet C) 4-6, over Kavon Grant (Chicago (Noble/UIC) 2-2, (For.)
Yorkville Christian back on top at Plano Reaper Classic
By Chris Walker – For The IWCOA
The 41st annual Plano Reaper Classic was truly a classic in 2024.
A two-time defending champion lost in his bid for a third title in his junior year.
There were a pair of state qualifiers who won titles in this tournament last year, but fell short.
A couple of freshmen made hour-plus bus drives to shine in their Plano Reaper Classic debuts, taking home titles.
Also a sophomore had a much shorter trip down Route 34 to make his classic debut. While he didn’t compete in it last year, his brother did and also won it. They’ve been the lone champions from their school for the past two years.
There was a high-level athlete who hadn’t wrestled yet this high school season prior to the tournament, but walked away as champion.
Another individual who won his 100th match the previous Saturday and finished his week with a championship.
There were six competitors who placed last year who climbed to the top of the podium to be crowned champions.
And a heavyweight who was taken down hard on the mat that left him nearly motionless for a few minutes. He not only got back up, but knocked out another wrestler’s bid for a third-straight title at 285.
Also, the lone wrestler from his school to win a title, who went 0-2 last year at this tournament. On Saturday, he led his team to the championship, pinning his three opponents as Yorkville Christian won the title with 233 points, the runner-up host Reapers had 159 while Princeton was third with 131 points.
This was the third time in four years that coach Mike Vester’s Mustangs won the Reaper title. They took first place in 2021 and 2022 before finishing second to Dixon last season.
The battle for fourth place was a good one between Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher (125.5), Hoopeston Area/Milford (124.5) and Sandwich (124).
Without a doubt, there was a lot of exciting action and interesting results at this year’s tournament.
“The old saying was if you placed at the Reaper Classic you were going to place downstate,” Plano coach Dwayne Love said. “It was tough and you did see a lot of tough competition. And there was a lot of good wrestling here today. Some state place finishers got beat here today and we had teams from all over and up to Chicago to up north to Glenbard South. We like to get more teams in here because we like that high level of competition for our kids.”
Yorkville Christian won its second-straight tournament. After going to Joliet to win the McLaughlin Classic at Joliet Central on December 7, the Mustangs took the much shorter trip to Plano on Friday and Saturday to win there.
Mustangs junior Jackson Allen had a dominant performance, finishing with a pin in 4:42 against De La Salle Institute senior Terrelle Jackson in the 190-pound final.
While he was the only champion from his school, the Mustangs were solid collectively throughout the tournament despite going 1-3 in championship matches and splitting their six matches for third place.
Aiden Larsen (120), Nico Harris (132) and Robby Nelson (157) took second, Ryan Alaimo (126), Tyler Gleason (175) and Garrett Tunnell (285) won third-place matches, Davin Torza (106), Christian Sandoval (113) and Isaac Gray (165) took fourth and Adrian Wadas-Luis (138) placed sixth. Alaimo had the most pins in the least amount of time in the tourney with four in 6:35.
“We had some guys who did well and had some other matches where we expected more championships,” Vester said. “So we got some things we’ve got to work on, but it was a great team effort again and that’s the running theme all year – team – team – team – but we’ve got some things we’ve got to clean up.”
There were nine schools who walked out of Plano’s gym with a champion. It’s the same gym that Love competed in himself during the inaugural Plano Reaper Classic over 40 years ago. But no school had more champions than the Reapers, which is big news for the program, but not totally surprising either.
Plano had three champions, De La Salle Institute, Princeton and Hoopeston Area/Milford each had two and Dixon, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher, Kaneland, Sandwich and Yorkville Christian had one apiece.
“This is a group that works hard,” Love said. “They hold each accountable for everything they do and they are a fun group. They’ve been working together for the last four years to get to this point, wrestling in summer, off-season wrestling, doing everything together.”
Plano senior Richie Amakiri won a 23-12 major decision in the 215 finals over Ottawa Marquette sophomore Alex Schaefer. Last year, Amakiri took second place.
“We decided to put in the work and we worked in the summer doing off-season and doing preseason work and it brought us up to this point,” Amakiri said. “It means a lot because when we started out no one knew who Plano was.”
While the match had more of a football-score feel to it, there was also a reason for those eye-popping digits.
“Before the match, coach was telling me to score points, score points, score points and not worry about anything else,” Amakiri said. “So that was what I did, score points. And then when I started losing my confidence, my coach talked to me after the second period and said don’t let the throw discourage you and I got into my head and kept on wrestling my match.”
Plano senior Caidan Ronning defended his title at the Reaper, pinning Yorkville Christian senior Robby Nelson in 2:56 in the 157 title match.. Last year, Ronning became Plano’s first champion since 2016. This year, he had a mark on his back after that big win the previous December. Nelson had won at 157 at Plano a year ago.
“It’s a lot more nerve-wracking (after winning last year), because I feel I had a lot more to lose,” Ronning said. “But I just think I used that to motivate me. I’ve gotten a lot better at not letting the stress take over. I think the mental game was not there for me last year, especially at state I got in my head and let the long waits get to me and didn’t perform like I wanted to, so in the offseason I put in a lot of work.”
Antoine Gilford took fourth place at 138 last year at the Reaper. Wrestling at 150 this weekend, the senior was destined for a great final tournament at home and he won an 8-4 decision over Glenbard South junior Jin Tai in the title match
“Coming into this year I just knew that I had to do something important,” Gilford said. “I knew I had the potential and the strength and I worked hard enough to be able to get somewhere in this tournament. Freshman year and sophomore year didn’t go my way, I didn’t place. But junior year I came home with fourth place and knew this year with the work I put in during the offseason I should be able to take it home.”
Recognizing Tai’s strength, Gilford knew he had to get in his shots.
“I knew when I got into my ties he was a strong person,” Gilford said. “I knew his defense was going to be there so getting to my shots was really important. Being able to control him with my ties and everything, getting those important takedowns is what I think I needed, especially going into the third period, I knew I had to control the match from there on.”
The Reapers were well represented at the end of Saturday with seven wrestlers involved in place matches. Shane Downs (113) took second place while Trevion Gilford (144), Luis Ballesteros (175) and Tyler Mast (285) each took fourth place.
“We have 10 to 12 seniors this year, I think, and we’ve all been putting in the work since freshman year,” Ronning said. “We realize if we put in the work, we can get it and we’re showing these freshmen that how hard we work is how hard we want them to work. We’re 8-1 in duals and our only loss was to Richmond-Burton and we only lost by two points. We’re all out there working hard every day and just want to keep winning and want to go down to team state.”
These Reapers are invested in each other and it’s provided a great start to the season.
“There’s that trust between each and every teammate here,” Antoine Gilford said. “You know the person next to you is going to be able to encourage you and pick you up and it’s a good feeling.”
This weekend marked the return of De La Salle Institute junior Jeremiah Lawrence.
“I’m just coming back from a little injury I had and the coaches wanted me to sit out and make sure I was ready to go,” Lawrence said. “Last year, and the year before that, I got third freshman year and second last year so I came back here with a chip on my shoulder and wanted to bring that championship home.”
Lawrence fell behind Larsen in the 120 championship match, jumped ahead 3-1 and held on for the 3-2 victory. He was named lower weight outstanding wrestler of the tournament and was one of two champions for the Meteors, who are coached by Jason Davidson.
“I knew I had to go score if I wanted to win so I couldn’t hold,” Lawrence said. “So when he shot in I had to get to my attack. He tried to stalemate it out, but I didn’t want that. I wanted the win.”
Sidelined to open the season, Lawrence worked to ensure he didn’t lose his focus while patiently waiting to return.
“You just got to work hard during that time you’re out and I had to think, and I wanted to win,” he said. “That’s all I want to do is just win. So when I came back that’s why there are no excuses. If I’ve been out for a month I’ve got to go out and win.”
Gripping a stocking cap while speaking after his final victory, Lawrence acknowledged that losing friend and classmate Delilah Lincoln hurts, but competing for her has helped him persevere through such a tragedy. Lincoln died after suffering a severe asthma attack in her sleep in October 2023.
“She was a classmate and friend of mine who played softball,” he said. “I have people in my life like Delilah, who this hat is for, who I win for, like my family. Wrestling is something I’ve been doing for a long time and I enjoy it, and not just only the wrestling aspect but through the people around me – my team, my family, my coaches.”
Kaneland senior Alex Gochis was another impressive wrestler who had quite the finish to a memorable week. He recorded four straight technical fall victories for the 138 title, defeating East Aurora’s Joshue Delgado in the finals, after picking up his 100th career win the previous Saturday. He went 43-7 last year.
His brother Apollo, a junior, also reached the title mat at 175, where he lost to Hoopeston Area/Milford’s Angel Zamora. Their sister, Angelina, a sophomore, won the IHSA at 105 last season and recently received the Outstanding Wrestling Award when she was the lone Illinois competitor to win a title at the Girls Dan Gable Donnybrook in Iowa.
While it wasn’t the first time competing for Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Landen Lage (126) and Princeton’s Kane Dauber (132), the two are just freshmen and still getting accustomed to being a part of a high school team. They showed that they should be key contributors for the next few years as both earned titles.
Lage improved to 11-0 with a 4-0 decision over Hoopeston Area/Milford junior Aiden Bell in the 126 title match.
“As a freshman a lot of people are not expecting me to kind of come out there and kind of bring it,” Lage said. “But I think my tech and my pace and me being very technical with my moves, being very strategic, helps me win because high school guys are a whole lot stronger and faster than me.”
While Lage is coming off a championship season as an eighth grader, having won the 112-pound championship in the IESA Class A state championship, he’s only been back wrestling for the past few years. After getting introduced to wrestling at the age of four, Lage caught on quickly,
“But then I kind of pushed myself too hard so then I quit,” he said. “I got back into it in my sixth grade year and just been training ever since. It’s a lifestyle.”
He went 45-0 last year in IESA competition. He’s pushing for similar success this year and throughout his high school years.
A significant injury a few years ago humbled the teen.
“I broke my leg in about two different places in the tibia alone and I got really chunky,” he said. “I wasn’t being made fun of at school, but I wasn’t the old person everyone knew me for. I wasn’t the wrestler any more. I wanted to play another sport and wanted to get into something I could love and have a passion for and finally I was like ‘Dad, let’s do this one more time,’ and I’ve just been going for it ever since.”
During his time away from wrestling, Lage found success playing football, but it didn’t feel right.
“Football coaches were pretty mad when I quit, but I didn’t have a passion for football anymore,” he said. “Wrestling is my thing. I love it with my heart. If there is anything I want to do in this world, it’s wrestling. You only live once, so after you find your purpose you’ve got to go for it,” he said. “You got to make your impact on the world. Everybody is here for reason.”
Lage opened with a win by fall over and followed with a hard-fought 4-2 decision over Yorkville Christian’s Alaimo before a victory by tech fall over Sandwich’s Jakob Gruca in the semis.
Dauber, one of two title winners and three finalists for third-place Princeton, which is coached by 2020 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Steve Amy, won by fall in less than a minute in his first two matches. He earned a win by technical fall over Ottawa Marquette’s Beau Thompson in the semifinal before winning a 13-3 major decision against Yorkville Christian’ Harris.
“My practice partners and everybody got me to this level over the two months that we’ve wrestled,” Dauber said. They just got me to where I’m at and I’m thankful for that and my coach has been putting in a lot of time in the summer and the pre-season to be there for me.”
Dauber likes to keep things simple while making shared time on the mat anything but that for his opponents.
“I just go out there and wrestle and what I get out is what I get,” he said. “I go out and wrestle my best and have two good guys in my corner supporting me at all times and my family, and that really helps you through the finals.”
Casey Etheridge (165) also won a title for Princeton. The junior had a pair of pins and a major decision before winning 2-1 in a tiebreaker against Ottawa Marquette’s Reily Leifheit
“It’s just an all-around great team with great coaches,” Dauber said. “Everybody is putting in the time and effort at practice and everyone is doing their part for the Princeton wrestling team.”
Hoopeston Area/Milford co-op, which is coached by Chris Kelnhofer, had two champions, Charlie Flores (106) and Angel Zamora (175), and they remain undefeated on the season, improving to 9-0 each en route to their titles.
Zamora defended his title, needing just eight seconds to pin Kaneland’s Apollo Gochis. Last year, Zamora’s opponent went down with an injury and couldn’t wrestle. So in about the time it takes to tie your shoes, he’s won two titles.
“The offseason has paid off for all of us,” Zamora said. “We came into our wrestling room for work when we didn’t have to and some of us were doing offseason training with Patton Trained Wrestling.”
Flores was extra motivated after placing fourth last year at Plano. He earned a 11-4 decision against Dixon’s Riley Paredes to become a champion.
“It pushed me to go harder and I’ve always wanted to win a bracket from here,” Flores said. “First period, I knew I had to take him down and put him to his back. There was a tough third period. I was up, got put on my back but scrambled out of it and came out on top.”
Sandwich sophomore Cooper Corder didn’t compete in the Reaper Classic as a freshman. In his only other tournament appearance this season, Corder took fourth place at 138 at the 33rd Moore-Prettyman Wrestling Invitational on Nov. 30.
“There were a lot of super kids at Barrington that opened my eyes and got me ready for this season,” Corder said. “They showed me I’ve got a lot of work to do if I want to get to the top of the podium this year.”
Corder found a familiar face in the finals in Princeton’s Ace Christiansen, beating the senior 10-4, to win the 144 title.
Corder beat Christiansen 7-6, in the Class 1A Sandwich Regional final last year and beat him again 5-2, at the Class 1A Byron Sectional. Christiansen avenged those losses, though, in the Class 1A third place match, winning 5-4 on an ultimate tiebreaker.
“He’s really good and shows me what I need to work on,” Corder said. “And then today I knew he had (won) the last one so I know in his head he’s thinking ‘I’m there,’ but really I thought there was no chance that I was going to lose today so I went out there and do what I do best and came out and did it. I think it was a good match.”
Corder committed his summer to training so that he would see such success.
“I went to a lot of big tournaments, went to Fargo and all those high-end tournaments,” he said. “I’m just continuing to get better, hoping to get on the podium. I just did a lot of work and even (on Saturday) I was seeing my shots connecting and getting better through movement and my defense is a lot better. I think a big side of it is my mental (frame of mind). Last year as a freshman I had nothing to lose going out there and wrestling seniors. Now as a sophomore with more seasoning I’m not nervous in these tournaments. I’m happy to compete.”
Those that left before the final weight classes were decided missed out on De La Salle senior David McCarthy’s stunning victory over St. Francis junior Jayden Torres at 285.
Torres was looking to win his third straight title while McCarthy was looking down at the mat early after getting slammed down hard in the first period. He remained down for a few minutes but simply would not give up as he finally got back on his feet.
“I was down and it really hurt at the time, but I couldn’t give up on coach again like I did last year in state,” McCarthy said. “That really hurt,. So I got back up and I’m going to go ice it when I get back home. I’m going to keep pushing, Coaches push me every day to get faster, to lose more weight. They’re pushing me to be better and if I could get in my best condition I could win a state title.”
Dixon’s Jack Ragan (113) kept the Reapers from having a fourth champion. Ragan, who finished third at 106 last year, lost 4-1 in the semifinals to Lawrence from De La Salle.
After opening with two byes, Ragan pinned Sandwich’s Dom Urbanski in the semifinal before outscoring Plano’s Downs 8-6 on the title mat.
Zamora led all champions with the most team points with 29.5 while Dauber ranked second with 28.5 and Allen, Gochis and Ronning tied for third place with 28 points. Etheridge collected 27, Flores and Lawrence had 26 each, Lage scored 25.5 points and Amakiri and Corder had 25 team points. Yorkville Christian’s Alaimo had the most pins in the least amount of time in the tourney with four in 6:35 and Alex Gochis collected the most total match points with 77.
Plano Reaper Classic place matches
106
1st Place Match
Charlie Flores (Hoopeston Area/Milford co-op) 9-0, Jr. over Riley Paredes (Dixon) 9-2, So. (Dec 11-4)
3rd Place Match
Aden Spinelli (Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/Lamoille/Ohio co-op) 5-1, Fr. over Davin Torza (Yorkville Christian) 4-2, Fr. (Fall 1:50)
5th Place Match
Christian Sebastian (East Aurora) 6-4, Fr. over Brayden Bickett (Princeton) 4-5, Fr. (Fall 3:29)
113
1st Place Match
Jack Ragan (Dixon) 13-1, So. over Shane Downs (Plano) 7-4, Jr. (Dec 8-6)
3rd Place Match
Justin Forbes (De La Salle Institute) 3-1, Fr. over Christian Sandoval (Yorkville Christian) 6-7, Jr. (Dec 22-17)
5th Place Match
Dom Urbanski (Sandwich) 6-9, Fr. over Shea Conner (Ottawa Marquette) 1-3, So. (Fall 1:06)
120
1st Place Match
Jeremiah Lawrence (De La Salle Institute) 3-0, Jr. over Aiden Larsen (Yorkville Christian) 12-3, Sr. (Dec 3-2)
3rd Place Match
Koby Clark (Ottawa Marquette) 6-1, So. over Doolan Long (Dixon) 11-3, Fr. (Dec 8-5)
5th Place Match
Ty Florschuetz (Amboy) 5-3, So. over Gavin Stevenson (Mendota) 8-7, So. (Fall 4:55)
126
1st Place Match
Landen Lage (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher co-op) 11-0, Fr. over Aiden Bell (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 9-1, Jr. (Dec 4-0)
3rd Place Match
Ryan Alaimo (Yorkville Christian) 14-5, So. over Kaydin Gibson (Princeton) 5-2, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:48 (20-2))
5th Place Match
Chace Tankson (Marian Catholic) 5-4 over Jakob Gruca (Sandwich) 12-9, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:07 (21-5))
132
1st Place Match
Kane Dauber (Princeton) 8-0, Fr. over Nico Harris (Yorkville Christian) 11-5, Sr. (MD 13-3)
3rd Place Match
Beau Thompson (Ottawa Marquette) 7-1, So. over Colten Stone (Sandwich) 6-6, So. (Fall 2:50)
5th Place Match
Chase Montavon (Amboy co-op) 4-2, Jr. over Melvin Cannon (De La Salle Institute) 3-3, Sr. (Fall 3:25)
138
1st Place Match
Alex Gochis (Kaneland) 4-0, Sr. over Joshue Delgado (East Aurora) 4-5, Fr. (TF-1.5 2:55 (20-4))
3rd Place Match
Nolan Lowe (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher) 10-1, So. over Diego Myers (Glenbard South) 5-6, Sr. (Fall 3:08)
5th Place Match
Jaxson Blanchard (Sandwich) 15-4, Fr. over Adrian Wadas-Luis (Yorkville Christian) 11-4, Jr. (Dec 15-10)
144
1st Place Match
Cooper Corder (Sandwich) 16-2, So. over Ace Christiansen (Princeton) 6-1, Sr. (Dec 10-4)
3rd Place Match
Caiden Heath (Amboy co-op) 7-1, So. over Trevion Gilford (Plano) 10-3, Sr. (MD 16-5)
5th Place Match
Preston Richards (Dixon) 12-3, Fr. over Ethan Lowe (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher) 7-3, Jr. (Fall 4:44)
150
1st Place Match
Antoine Gilford (Plano) 12-0, Sr. over Jin Tai (Glenbard South) 7-2, Jr. (Dec 8-4)
3rd Place Match
Hudson Babb (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher) 10-2, So. over Chase Siguenza (St. Francis) 8-4, So. (TF-1.5 4:09 (20-4))
5th Place Match
Jack Gruber (Kaneland) 3-2, Jr. over Brysen Manley (Ottawa Marquette) 4-5, So. (Dec 15-9)
157
1st Place Match
Caidan Ronning (Plano) 11-0, Sr. over Robby Nelson (Yorkville Christian) 13-3, Sr. (Fall 2:56)
3rd Place Match
Jayden Weidman (Dixon) 14-2, Sr. over Corbin Ragle (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher) 6-3, Sr. (TF-1.5 2:00 (15-0))
5th Place Match
Joshua Kotalik (Sandwich) 11-10, Fr. over Lucas Marcoux (Metea Valley) 3-3, So. (Dec 7-1)
165
1st Place Match
Casey Etheridge (Princeton) 8-0, Jr. over Reily Leifheit (Ottawa Marquette) 6-1, So. (TB-1 2-1)
3rd Place Match
Joey Baranski (Marian Catholic) 10-2, Sr. over Isaac Gray (Yorkville Christian) 14-5, Sr. (Dec 7-5)
5th Place Match
Ayden Larkin (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 9-2, Sr. over Cooper Miller (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher) 8-4, So. (Fall 0:47)
175
1st Place Match
Angel Zamora (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 9-0, Sr. over Apollo Gochis (Kaneland) 3-1, Jr. (Fall 0:08)
3rd Place Match
Tyler Gleason (Yorkville Christian) 14-5, Jr. over Luis Ballesteros (Plano) 11-2, Sr. (Dec 8-3)
5th Place Match
Marquis Mays (De La Salle Institute) 4-2, Sr. over Reid Sebahar (Glenbard South) 8-6, Sr. (Fall 1:49)
190
1st Place Match
Jackson Allen (Yorkville Christian) 14-2, Jr. over Terrelle Jackson (De La Salle Institute) 2-1, Sr. (Fall 4:42)
3rd Place Match
Jaxon Wright (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher) 11-1, Jr. over Kaden Clevenger (Sandwich) 14-6, Jr. (Fall 4:30)
5th Place Match
Earl Kelnhofer (Hoopeston Area/Milford) 7-3, So. over Seth Shaffer (Dixon) 8-10, So. (Fall 3:31)
215
1st Place Match
Richie Amakiri (Plano) 11-0, Sr. over Alex Schaefer (Ottawa Marquette) 6-1, So. (MD 23-12)
3rd Place Match
Devon Blanchard (Sandwich) 15-4, Sr. over Ian Morris (Princeton) 4-2, Sr. (Fall 1:20)
5th Place Match
Evan Flanagan (Amboy co-op) 5-2, So. over Danny Langner (Glenbard South) 7-4, Jr. (Fall 4:45)
285
1st Place Match
David McCarthy (De La Salle Institute) 3-0, Sr. over Jaylen Torres (St. Francis) 6-1, Jr. (Dec 6-1)
3rd Place Match
Garrett Tunnell (Yorkville Christian) 14-3, Sr. over Tyler Mast (Plano) 4-2, Sr. (Fall 4:21)
5th Place Match
Dylan Bopes (Dixon) 8-5, Jr. over Angil Serrano (Mendota) 2-3, Sr. (Dec 8-4)
Team scores
1. Yorkville Christian 233, 2. Plano 159, 3. Princeton 131, 4. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher 125.5, 5. Hoopeston Area/Milford 124.5, 6. Sandwich 124, 7. Dixon 116.5, 8. De La Salle Institute 115, 9. Ottawa Marquette 106.5, 10. Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/LaMoille/Ohio 97.5, 11. Glenbard South 83.5, 12. Kaneland 74, 13. East Aurora 65.5, 14. St. Francis 43.5, 15. Marian Catholic 37, 16. Mendota 36, 17. Metea Valley 25.5, 18. Marmion Academy 11, 19. Saint Viator 6, 20. St. Edward 3.
Girls tournament recaps for Dec. 14 – East Aurora, Maine East, Marion
By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA
EAST AURORA GIRLS INVITE
This tournament turned into a battle between crosstown and league rivals West Aurora and East Aurora with the Blackhawks from West Aurora taking home the hardware in 218-183 win when the final contest of the day was whistled over.
“Overall, it was a great tournament, and we were all very proud of our girls for the way they competed against some really tough opponents,” said Blackhawks assistant, Kayla Krieger.
The tourney champs received championship efforts from Kameyah Young (110), Aiyanah Sylvester (125) and Victoria Stackowicz at 285, as well as four top 4 medal winners, which included Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal, who finished second at 105.
“(Ruby) had a great day of wrestling – she has been working incredibly hard as a freshman, and we were happy with her second place finish.”
“I was really pleased with how we competed – we’ve grown as a team a lot in the first month of the season, and I believe we can continue to have success as the season progresses – and hopefully start to peak at the end of January and into February,” said East Aurora head coach Ryan Mick.
1st place: West Aurora (218.0 points)
As mentioned beforehand: Kameyah Young, Aiyanah Sylvester and Victoria Stackowicz made their way to the top of the podium.
“We were proud of the fact that those three girls continue to bring to the mat what we talk about in the room all week, and thrilled with their composure and ability to remain focused during three periods of wrestling,” said Krieger.
Melissa Melgar (100) and Lailonie Molina (120) would each claim third place medals while Diana Llanos (115) placed fourth. The Blackhawks also got fifths from Mia Orozco (130), Giselle Marin-Carrasco (140), and Brooklyn Czenk (190) and sixths from Charlotte Weiles (135) and Reyna Equivel (170).
The Blackhawks will begin to prepare for the first ever dual-team state tournament on December 28 at host Hoffman Estates.
2nd place: East Aurora (183.0 points)
The host Tomcats would celebrate Alyssa Galarza’s title at 145, and a second place trophy from Joselyn Llanos (100) and Amani Williams (145) in addition to a pair of third place medals from Ruby Becerra (130) and teammate Lupita Garcia at 135.
“Alyssa has been improving with each week – she’s really a 40-pounder but she is a very tough, competitive girl who is never afraid of a challenge, and is always willing to do what is best for her team,” said coach Ryan Mick.
The Tomcats head coach liked what he saw from freshman Joselyn Llanos, who says her confidence continues to grow, and that she is just a sponge in the room.
Lilli Ortiz (235) and Amani Williams (145) both were recent champions at the Minooka JV tournament, and each did well here on their home mats.
“Lilli continues to learn from her mistakes, while Amani, who began last year as our manager – has been a pleasant surprise for us this season,” said Mick.
3rd place: Oswego (152.0 points)
Oswego was unable to secure an individual title, but with the help of seconds from Harmony Evans (130) and Mak Hill (155), and third place contributions from Joslynn Sheets (145) and Kiyah Chavez at 155, the Panthers were able to distance themselves far enough way (152.0-113.0) from fourth-place Lyons Township.
Janiah Murray (Yorkville), Ruby Becerra (East Aurora) and Alketa Picari of Metea Valley all recorded a tourney high five pins, with Murray and Danely Villagomez from Riverside-Brookfield tying for the fastest pin on the day at 0:13 seconds.
The South Elgin duo of: Azucera Rodriguez and Allison Garbacz, along with Alyssa Galarza (East Aurora) all had a tourney high 30 team points collected.
Others earning championship medals were: Analiese Garrison (Yorkville, 100), Ashley Hammond (Larkin, 105), Azucena Rodriguez (South Elgin, 115), Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (Hampshire, 120), Catalina Pacheco (Seneca, 130), Sofia Turek (Lyons Township, 135), Quinn Janssens (Oswego East, 140), Allison Garbacz (South Elgin, 155), Anneliese Tavira (Hampshire, 170), and Jadelin Caballero (Larkin, 190).
Final Team Scores: West Aurora 218.0, East Aurora 183.0. Oswego 152.0, Lyons Township 113.0, Larkin 108.0, Oswego East, South Elgin 105.0 each, Yorkville 96.0, Seneca 83.0, Metea Valley 67.0, Hampshire 60.5, Hinsdale Central 59.5, Riverside-Brookfield 54.0, Antioch 51.0, Plainfield North 27.5, Buffalo Grove 16.0.
East Aurora Girls Invite place matches
Varsity – 100
1st Place Match
Analiese Garretson (Yorkville) won by decision over Joselyn Llanos (East Aurora) (Dec 8-2)
3rd Place Match
Melissa Melgar (West Aurora) won by major decision over Susan Cruz (Larkin) (Maj 17-7)
5th Place Match
Savannah Martell-Quinones (Oswego) won by fall over Remy Heins (Antioch) (Fall 0:28)
Varsity – 105
1st Place Match
Ashley Hammond (Larkin) won by major decision over Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal (West Aurora) (Maj 13-0)
3rd Place Match
Jhania Wickert-Haris (Lyons Township) won by fall over Anni Romo (South Elgin) (Fall 4:57)
5th Place Match
Vanessa Tesillos (East Aurora) won by fall over Brook Ruffner (Antioch) (Fall 1:01)
Varsity – 110
1st Place Match
Kameyah Young (West Aurora) won by major decision over Avi Gonzalez (Lyons Township) (Maj 12-2)
3rd Place Match
Monserrat Alvarez (South Elgin) won by fall over Mikaela Busse (Oswego) (Fall 1:10)
5th Place Match
Itzel Villa (East Aurora) won by fall over Isabella Hernandez (South Elgin) (Fall 1:41)
Varsity – 115
1st Place Match
Azucena Rodriguez (South Elgin) won by fall over Alexandra Avila (Larkin) (Fall 3:02)
3rd Place Match
Ashley Uhler (Lyons Township) won by decision over Diana Llanos (West Aurora) (Dec 15-14)
5th Place Match
Ella Worlds (Oswego East) won by fall over Anayah Dabney (Oswego) (Fall 2:34)
Varsity – 120
1st Place Match
Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (Hampshire) won by fall over Janiya Moore (Metea Valley) (Fall 5:24)
3rd Place Match
Lailonie Molina (West Aurora) won by fall over Aaliyah Roldan (Oswego) (Fall 3:51)
5th Place Match
Haven Nicolaides (Seneca) won by fall over Payton Lustrup (Oswego East) (Fall 2:19)
Varsity – 125
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Aiyanah Sylvester (West Aurora) won by fall over Marija Neskovic (Hinsdale Central) (Fall 0:45)
3rd Place Match
Zoe Connelly (Lyons Township) won by fall over Mia Nevarez (Oswego East) (Fall 3:41)
5th Place Match
Ayelen Higuera (East Aurora) won by fall over Lilly Rademacher (Seneca) (Fall 3:09)
Varsity – 130
1st Place Match
Catalina Pacheco (Seneca) won by fall over Harmony Evans (Oswego) (Fall 2:34)
3rd Place Match
Ruby Becerra (East Aurora) won by fall over Lauren Lauer (Oswego East) (Fall 1:53)
5th Place Match
Mia Orozco (West Aurora) won by fall over Angelica Solis (Riverside-Brookfield) (Fall 0:33)
Varsity – 135
1st Place Match
Sofia Turek (Lyons Township) won by fall over Rylee Coy (Yorkville) (Fall 2:53)
3rd Place Match
Lupita Garcia (East Aurora) won by fall over Tennille Johnson (Oswego) (Fall 1:28)
5th Place Match
Haiden Lavarier (Seneca) won by fall over Charlotte Weiles (West Aurora) (Fall 4:56)
Varsity – 140
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Quinn Janssens (Oswego East) won by fall over Vicki Rodnikova (Plainfield North) (Fall 3:01)
3rd Place Match
Alketa Picari (Metea Valley) won by fall over Sammie Greisen (Seneca) (Fall 3:11)
5th Place Match
Giselle Marin-Carrasco (West Aurora) won by fall over Sasha Johnson (Antioch) (Fall 0:57)
Varsity – 145
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Alyssa Galarza (East Aurora) won by injury default over Amani Williams (East Aurora) (Inj. 0:00)
3rd Place Match
Joslynn Sheets (Oswego) won by fall over Dariia Dzhumasheva (Metea Valley) (Fall 1:15)
5th Place Match
Isabella Marcomb (Antioch) won by fall over Angeles Ponce (Oswego) (Fall 1:10)
Varsity – 155
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Allison Garbacz (South Elgin) won by fall over Mak Hill (Oswego) (Fall 5:52)
3rd Place Match
Kiyah Chavez (Oswego) won by fall over Alondra Tejeda (Buffalo Grove) (Fall 1:28)
5th Place Match
Alexa Najera (Larkin) won by medical forfeit over Danely Villagomez (Riverside-Brookfield) (MFF
Varsity – 170
1st Place Match
Anneliese Tavira (Hampshire) won by fall over Jessica Stover (Oswego East) (Fall 1:09)
3rd Place Match
Diana Garcia (Riverside-Brookfield) won by fall over Yoheadi Contreras (East Aurora) (Fall 1:13)
5th Place Match
Rikka Ludvigson (Oswego) won by fall over Reyna Equivel (West Aurora) (Fall 1:10)
Varsity – 190
1st Place Match
Jadelin Caballero (Larkin) won in tie breaker over Chloe Black (Hinsdale Central) (TB-1 3-2)
3rd Place Match
Janiah Murray (Yorkville) won by fall over Josie Blau (Antioch) (Fall 0:43)
5th Place Match
Brooklyn Czenk (West Aurora) won by fall over Helena Torres (Oswego) (Fall 1:27)
Varsity – 235
1st Place Match
Victoria Stackowicz (West Aurora) won by fall over Lilli Ortiz (East Aurora) (Fall 4:54)
3rd Place Match
Lesley Castillo (Riverside-Brookfield) won by forfeit over Clara Rogers (Hinsdale Central) (FF)
5th Place Match
Anastasia Norwood (Yorkville) won by medical forfeit over Kimberly Reyes (Larkin) (MFF)
MAINE EAST’S EMILIANO HERNANDEZ GIRLS OPEN
The fourth annual Emiliano Hernandez Girls Open at host Maine East would see FVC power Huntley lift the championship trophy at this 22-team affair.
“We had a great weekend, it felt great to win some hardware,” began Huntley head coach Gannon Kosowski.
“We’ve had a tough schedule thus far with tournaments at Minooka, then the Dan Gable to help prepare us for this tournament, so it was great to see Aubrie Rohrbacher (130) win easily, and Grecia Garcia (135) win her first tournament title ever to validate the growth she’s made since last year.”
West Chicago (124.0) was runner-up, New Trier (114.5) was third with Burlington Central edging Conant 95.0-94.5 to claim fourth-place honors.
1st place: Huntley 159.0 (points)
The Red Raiders received championship efforts from Aubrie Rohrbacher (130, 15-2) and Grecia Garcia (135, 10-3) plus a quartet of third place medals from: Nariah Adams (140), Roya Shayestehjah (155), Natalie Aguirre (170) and Sara Willis at 285. Rohrbacher would pin all of her rivals in the first period en route to her title.
2nd place: West Chicago (124.0)
West Chicago junior Brissia Bucio (8-0) earned an individual title at 105, while teammate Sophia Newell (110) finished second and Mackensie Szajda was third at 120.
3rd place: New Trier (114.5)
The Trevians duo of: Lola Bianco (110, 11-3), Jillian Giller (140, 14-1) captured individual titles on this day. Giller was a regional and sectional champion last season, and state qualifier with a 33-6 record. Sunny Aitzemkour (100) was third at 100 pounds.
Others earning championship medals were: Riley Kongkaeow (Round Lake, 100, 16-0),
Harlee Hiller (Loyola Academy, 115, 7-1), Brithany Mondragon (Addison Trail, 120, 11-1), Gianna Mezzano (Ridgewood, 125, 11-2), Kennedy Murray (Evanston, 145, 12-1),
Camilla Martinez-Gonzalez (Rickover Naval Academy, 155, 9-0), Ryann Miller (Burlington Central, 170, 3-0), Danai Kostarelou (Maine South, 190, 5-2), Jasmine Mejia (Rickover Naval Academy, 235, 11-1).
Kongkaeow is a two-time state qualifier, Hiller a three-time state qualifier with a state title in 2023 at 105 pounds, while Mejia claimed a fifth place state medal last year at 235.
Final Team Scores: Huntley 159.0, West Chicago 124.0, New Trier 114.5, Burlington Central 95.0, Conant 94.5, Elgin 94.0, Harvard 88.0, Round Lake 86.5, Rickover Naval Academy 78.0. Addison Trail 77.0, Evanston 75.0, Elk Grove 66.0, Chicago Lane 65.0, Maine South 61.0, Loyola Academy 52.5, Niles West, Ridgewood 51.0 each, Vernon Hills 45.0, Maine West 42.0, Maine East 38.0, Taft 36.0, Waukegan 3.0.
Mejoe Hernandez tournament results:
100
1st Place Match
Riley Kongkaeow (Round Lake) 16-0, Jr. over Sunny Aitzemkour (New Trier) 6-3, So. (Fall 3:32)
3rd Place Match
Linna Vo (Elk Grove) 6-1, So. over Karyme Estrada (Maine East) 4-4, Fr. (Fall 3:15)
5th Place Match
Lourdes Hernandez (Elgin) 4-1, Sr. over Evelyn Torres (Maine East) 8-4, Fr. (Fall 1:26)
105
1st Place Match
Brissia Bucio (West Chicago) 8-0, Jr. over Sophia Guerrero (Lane Tech) 9-4, Jr. (Fall 1:02)
3rd Place Match
Mali Patino (Elgin) 5-2, Sr. over Alexa Herrera (Harvard) 6-5, Jr. (Fall 2:30)
5th Place Match
Valeria Gonzalez (Round Lake) 4-1, Jr. over Isabella Castro (New Trier) 5-6, So. (Dec 5-0)
110
1st Place Match
Lola Bianco (New Trier) 11-3, Sr. over Sophia Newell (West Chicago) 7-3, Sr. (Fall 0:42)
3rd Place Match
Hanna Lee (Vernon Hills) 11-4, Jr. over Nour Al Radi (Niles West) 5-4, So. (Fall 0:14)
5th Place Match
Samantha Albaugh (Evanston Township) 5-4, So. over Andrea Reyes (Maine East) 8-5, Fr. (TF-1.5 0:00 (18-3))
115
1st Place Match
Harlee Hiller (Loyola Academy) 7-1, Sr. over Ireland McCain (Round Lake) 12-3, Sr. (Fall 1:50)
3rd Place Match
Zoe Pomeranets (Niles West) 8-2, Jr. over Ruby Vences (Burlington Central) 10-4, Sr. (Fall 1:10)
5th Place Match
Donna Garcia (Huntley) 9-7, Fr. over Giada Reising (Harvard) 7-6, Fr. (Dec 6-0)
120
1st Place Match
Brithany Mondragon (Addison Trail) 11-1, Jr. over Victoria Macias (Burlington Central) 11-2, Sr. (Inj. 0:00
3rd Place Match
Mackensie Szajda (West Chicago) 4-1, So. over Kayla Foley (Conant) 2-2, Jr. (Fall 0:15)
5th Place Match
Susana Correa (West Chicago) 7-3, Sr. over Heba Kiloul (Maine East) 9-6, Sr. (Fall 2:58)
125
1st Place Match
Gianna Mezzano (Ridgewood) 11-2, Fr. over Drea Lazzara (Addison Trail) 11-5, Fr. (Fall 0:02)
3rd Place Match
Emily Pizano (Elgin) 7-1, Sr. over Zmorah Izenstark (New Trier) 7-6, Jr. (Fall 3:27)
5th Place Match
Alianna Luna (Elk Grove) 9-5, Fr. over Naomy Chavez (Rickover Naval Academy) 3-2, . (Fall 0:58)
130
1st Place Match
Aubrie Rohrbacher (Huntley) 15-2, Jr. over Nyah Lovis (Lane Tech) 11-2, Sr. (Fall 0:58)
3rd Place Match
Sophia Kellikidis (Ridgewood) 9-3, Fr. over Soraya Walikonis (Burlington Central) 9-3, Sr. (Fall 0:29
5th Place Match
Brianna Perez (Round Lake) 9-4, Sr. over Khloe Vest (Harvard) 8-4, Fr. (Fall 1:08)
135
1st Place Match
Grecia Garcia (Huntley) 10-3, So. over Jasmine Zavaleta (Conant) 13-2, Jr. (Dec 2-0)
3rd Place Match
Briana Anselmo (Elgin) 6-1, Jr. over Isabella Patitucci (Maine West) 6-4, So. (Fall 1:28)
5th Place Match
Zabby Badru (Lane Tech) 12-5, So. over Lauren Jalowiecki (Burlington Central) 3-2, Fr. (Fall 5:52)
140
1st Place Match
Jillian Giller (New Trier) 14-1, Sr. over Ewa Krupa (Conant) 15-2, Jr. (Fall 1:57)
3rd Place Match
Nariah Adams (Huntley) 7-6, Sr. over Ella Habib (Burlington Central) 4-6, Jr. (Fall 0:32)
5th Place Match
Batula Nasib (West Chicago) 6-3, So. over Aylee Gabourel (Elgin) 3-2, Sr. (Fall 1:02)
145
1st Place Match
Kennedy Murray (Evanston Township) 12-1, Sr. over Madeline Beltran (Addison Trail) 9-5, Jr. (Fall 3:57)
3rd Place Match
Stephanie Valdez (Elk Grove) 6-3, Sr. over Susan Bilyal (Conant) 2-7, So. (Fall 1:17)
5th Place Match
Aaizah Khan (Niles West) 6-4, Sr. over Lotus Alhyasat (Maine South) 6-5, Sr. (Fall 0:56)
155
1st Place Match
Camilla Martinez Gonzalez (Rickover Naval Academy) 9-0, Sr. over Analiese Aberman (Conant) 11-6, Jr. (Dec 5-4)
3rd Place Match
Roya Shayestehjah (Huntley) 7-5, So. over Elyanna de Leon (Vernon Hills) 5-4, So. (Dec 12-8)
5th Place Match
Mma Akela (Loyola Academy) 4-1, Jr. over April Cardenas (Harvard) 6-7, Jr. (Fall 1:24)
170
1st Place Match
Ryann Miller (Burlington Central) 3-0, So. over Lillian Garrett (Maine West) 13-3, Sr. (Fall 0:58)
3rd Place Match
Natalie Aguirre (Huntley) 12-6, Sr. over Olivia Halminiak (West Chicago) 8-4, So. (Fall 0:42)
5th Place Match
Melody Leynes (Elgin) 4-1, Sr. over Sanaa Hudgins (Maine South) 6-6, So. (Fall 2:47)
190
1st Place Match
Danai Kostarelou (Maine South) 5-2, Fr. over Jarithsie Mercado (Harvard) 7-4, Jr. (Fall 0:24)
3rd Place Match
Fatima Gomez (Evanston Township) 5-4, Jr. over Ava Buchanan (Elk Grove) 4-5, So. (Fall 1:48)
5th Place Match
Brianna Felde (Huntley) 6-6, Jr. over Ava Adorni (Conant) 8-6, Jr. (Fall 4:34)
235
1st Place Match
Jasmine Mejia (Rickover Naval Academy) 11-1, Sr. over Rim Ayouchi (Taft) 5-1, Sr. (Fall 0:54)
3rd Place Match
Sara Willis (Huntley) 8-6, Sr. over Ariana Bonilla (West Chicago) 7-5, Jr. (Dec 4-0)
5th Place Match
Jereni Marshall (Evanston Township) 3-5, Sr. over Sophia Fortis (Maine South) 4-5, So. (Fall 0:50)
MARION WILDCATS INVITE
The Fort Campbell Falcons made their nearly three-hour drive north into Illinois a successful one when they claimed their second consecutive team championship here at the Marion Wildcats Invite.
The Falcons, who last season tied for third at the first ever Kentucky small state tournament, outscored host Marion 129.0-108.0, and state rival Caldwell County which finished third with 104.0 points.
McCracken County, located just west of Paducah, Kentucky earned fourth place with its 103.5 points with Paris rounding out the top five on the leadership with 94.5 points
This invite went from 14 teams a year ago to 27 this season. Last year Fort Campbell amassed 100.0 points (38) more than Caldwell County (62) with Goreville (47), Marion (43) and Benton finishing with 38 overall points.
1st place: Fort Campbell, KY. (129.0 points)
Tourney champion Fort Campbell saw Elizabeth Allen (155, 9-0) win here for the second consecutive year, and while the Allen title was the one on the day for the Falcons, it was its depth throughout the brackets that led to them lifting the big trophy.
Zemirah Witt (105), Delaney Perry (110), Lillianah DeWitt (120), Cassidy Harrington (130)
were all second, while Carlee Blair (135) and Jennifer Velazquez (140) helped their club with fourth place medals.
2nd place: Marion (108.0 points)
The host Wildcats would give the Marion faithful plenty to celebrate when the trio of:
Alauni Muex (125), Brooklyn Phemister (140) and Olivia McDermott (235) all came in second overall.
3rd place Caldwell County, KY (104.0 points)
Freshman Sophie Parrish (12-1) fourth last year at the state middle school championships won it all here at 100 pounds, as did junior Alyvia Barnwell (9-5) at 110. Parrish would pin her way to her championship crown.
Teammates Kamyra Dickey (105) and Virginia Stewart at 190 helped the cause with third place medals at their respective weight divisions.
Others earning championship medals were: Belle Hatfield (Ohio County, 105, 6-3), Delaney Measimer (Carbondale, 115, 10-0), Sophia Bechelli (West Frankfort, 120, 4-0), Eelynn Hayden (McCracken County, 125, 7-1), Talynn Clark (Ohio County, 130, 8-0), Emerson Barrett (Paris, 135, 8-0), Natalie Beaumont (Cumberland, 140, 6-0), Kyla Ford (Carbondale, 145, 9-2), Emma Shelkey (Paris, 170, 7-0), Krista McBride (Goreville, 190, 3-0), Olivia McDermott (Kennett, 235, 6-2).
Natalie Beaumont was state runner-up a year ago at 135 pounds with a 19-3 record to give her program its first ever state medal, and 11th for the school in wrestling. Krista McBride would join her three-time state medalist teammate Alivia Ming in Champaign last season with a 24-7 record. Ming is now wrestling at the University of Cumberlands in Kentucky.
Paris junior Gabbie Collins (155) recorded the most pins on the day with (5), followed by Nikolette Ronketto (West Frankford), Elizabeth Allen (Fort Campbell) and Jamarria Rogers from Kennett all with four each.
Kathleen Loyola from Carbondale needed just under one minute (0:57) to pin her three opponents. Most team points on the day went to both Talynn Clark (Ohio) with Elizabeth Allen (Fort Campbell) while McCracken County freshman Eelynn Hayden right there with 27.5 points.
Final Team Scores: Fort Campbell, KY. 129.0, Marion 108.0, Caldwell County, KY. 104, McCracken County, KY. 103.5, Paris 94.5, Kennett, MO. 80.0, Ohio County, KY. 79.0, Carbondale, West Frankfort 72.0 each, Waterloo 60.0, Murphysboro 59.0, Robinson 55.5, Benton 28.0, Goreville 24.0, Mt. Vernon 22.5, Cumberland 21.5, Breeze Central 19.0, Paducah Tilghman, KY. 16.0, Pinckneyville 4.0, Sparta 3.0.
100
1st Place Match
Sophie Parrish (Caldwell County, KY) 12-1, Fr. over Jillian Conn (McCracken County, KY) 2-1, Fr. (Fall 0:47)
3rd Place Match
Nickolette Ronketto (Frankfort/Christopher) 7-1, Sr. over Lily Autry (Ohio County, KY) 4-4, Fr. (For.)
105
1st Place Match – round robin
Belle Hatfield (Ohio County, KY) 5-2, 8th. over Zemirah Witt (Fort Campbell, KY) 6-3, 8th. (Fall 1:53)
3rd Place Match – round robin
Kamyra Dickey (Caldwell County, KY) 8-8, 7th. over Annalyn Osborn (Robinson) 0-3, Fr. (Fall 0:33)
110
1st Place Match
Alyvia Barnwell (Caldwell County, KY) 9-5, Jr. over Delaney Perry (Fort Campbell, KY) 5-4, 8th. (Fall 0:57)
3rd Place Match
Vida Folis (Marion) 6-3, Fr. over Kaidence Eveland (Paris) 4-3, So. (Fall 1:45)
115
1st Place Match
Delaney Measimer (Carbondale) 10-0, So. over Paisley Reed (Paris) 5-2, So. (Fall 0:59)
3rd Place Match
Abgayle Haller (Breese Central) 3-1 over Jordyn Conn (McCracken County, KY) 2-2, 7th. (Fall 0:31)
120
1st Place Match
Sophia Bechelli (Frankfort/Christopher) 4-0, Jr. over Lillianah DeWitt (Fort Campbell, KY) 6-2, Sr. (Fall 1:48)
3rd Place Match
Jamarria Rogers (Kennett, MO) 8-2, Jr. over Kathleen Loyola (Carbondale) 7-4, Jr. (Fall 1:49)
125
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Eelynn Hayden (McCracken County, KY) 7-1, Fr. over Alauni Muex (Marion) 9-2, Jr. (Fall 0:41)
3rd Place Match
Gabby Mason (Murphysboro) 8-1, Jr. over Heather Jones (Kennett, MO) 7-2, Jr. (Dec 3-1)
130
1st Place Match
Talynn Clark (Ohio County, KY) 8-0, Jr. over Cassidy Harrington (Fort Campbell, KY) 9-2, So. (Fall 3:06)
3rd Place Match
Hermayoni Gembe (McCracken County, KY) 6-4, Jr. over Lakelynn Janssen (McCracken County, KY) 7-3, Sr. (Inj. 3:44)
135
1st Place Match
Emerson Barrett (Paris) 8-0, Sr. over Rachel Richey (Robinson) 4-3, Sr. (TF-1.5 2:24 (18-0))
3rd Place Match
Madelyn Edler (Waterloo) 4-3, So. over Carlee Blair (Fort Campbell, KY) 6-5, Sr. (Fall 2:30)
140
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Natalie Beaumont (Cumberland) 6-0, Jr. over Brooklyn Phemister (Marion) 6-3, Jr. (Fall 0:51)
3rd Place Match
Daniya Musgrave (Mt. Vernon) 6-4, Fr. over Jennifer Velazquez (Fort Campbell, KY) 2-2, Sr. (MD 16-4)
145
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Kyla Ford (Carbondale) 9-2, Jr. over Roxie Royster (Murphysboro) 2-3, Jr. (Fall 5:06)
3rd Place Match
Melissa Comerford (Marion) 7-4, So. over Carlie James (Benton/Sesser-Valier) 2-2, Jr. (Fall 2:59)
155
1st Place Match
Elizabeth Allen (Fort Campbell, KY) 9-0, Jr. over Nahima Mateo (Murphysboro) 6-1, Jr. (Fall 0:53)
3rd Place Match
Gabbie Collins (Paris) 8-1, Jr. over Macee Hammond (Robinson) 4-4, So. (Fall 0:54)
170
1st Place Match
Emma Shelkey (Paris) 7-0, Jr. over Lily Browning (Frankfort/Christopher) 4-1, So. (Fall 0:58)
3rd Place Match
Ariel Clayton (Robinson) 4-1, So. over Payten Simmons (Caldwell Count, KY) 9-9, So. (Fall 1:55)
190
1st Place Match
Krista McBride (Goreville/Dongola/Vienna) 3-0, Jr. over Izabell McBride (Waterloo) 4-3, So. (Fall 0:49)
3rd Place Match
Virginia Stewart (Caldwell County, KY) 13-6, Fr. over Abbie Johnson (Kennett, MO) 5-3, Fr. (Fall 2:00)
235
1st Place Match – round robin
Jazlynn Covington (Kennett, MO) 6-0, So. over Olivia McDermott (Marion) 6-2, Sr. (Fall 2:35)
3rd Place Match
Maihaleigh Browning (Benton/Sesser-Valier) 0-2, Fr.
Girls tournament recaps from Dec. 14-15: Thornton Township, Westinghouse, Chicago Hope Academy
By Chris Walker for the IWCOA
Thornton Township High School Girls Tournament
If you’re going to put in all the time and effort to host a tournament, you may as well do whatever it takes to also win it.
It was one heck of a Saturday for Thornton Township (131.5) as the Wildcats won the team title at home in Harvey.
“This is a repeat championship for our girls,” Thornton Township coach Philip Rembert said. “We see a lot of potential out of all these girls and we’re hoping they will grow more by the end of the season.”
Bloom Township (103) finished second, Hillcrest (93) was third, De La Salle (88) was fourth and Proviso East (79) took fifth. T.F. South (74), Evergreen Park (70), Rich Township (43) and St. Viator (34) also were among the nine-team field.
1st place: Thornton Township (131.5 points)
Ariel Woodfin (105), Jalah Wilson (130), Lenahja Selvestor (170) and Sionna Stampley (190) all earned individual titles to lead the Wildcats to the title. Destiny Bright (120) took second, Shuntara Freeman (135) placed third and Trinity Jones (155) took fourth.
“Jalah Wilson is a two-time state qualifier, Ariel Woodfin was a sectional semifinalist last year, and Sionna Stampley made it to the blood rounds in the sectional,” Rembert said. “Destiny Bright was a state qualifier in 2023, then she won her first tournament last year and had a season-ending injury shortly after that.
“LeNahja Selvestor won a title as a newcomer on the scene and we had another newcomer freshman that took third place in Shuntara Freeman.”
2nd place: Bloom Township (103 points)
The Blazing Trojans received championship wins from their two Myas. They had six athletes who placed overall with Mya Gray (125) and Mya Coffey (155) leading the way to the top of the podium. Lilly O’Brien (100) and Janet Aranda (170) took second and Daviana Smith (120) and Miricale Nash (145) were fourth.
3rd place: Hillcrest (93 points)
Tamera Gibbs (235) won for the Hawks as she received two forfeit victories after opening with a bye. Melissa Nance (155) and
Jordyn Coleman-Harrison (190) took second, Sydney West (170) won her third place match while Taniyah Moss (110), Isaly Rodriguez (130), Nataliee Miller (135) and Keevona Brown (170) were fourth.
Other girls winning individual titles at Thornton included De La Salle’s Anapaula Cerna-Rivera (100), Mia Vargas (115) and Iliana Heredia (120). Evergreen Park’s Riley Osborn (110) and T.F. South’s Quincy Onyiaorah (135) also were champs.
Thornton Township’s Lenahja Selvestor, Bloom’s Mya Coffey and T.F. South’s Quincy Onyiaorah each had three pins with Selvestor accomplishing it in the least amount of time in 3:22. Bloom’s Mya Gray was among seven wrestlers who scored tech fall victories, but none did it faster than Gray’s 22 seconds. Bloom’s Mya Gray and Thornton Township’s Ariel Woodfin scored the most team points with 26 each. Woodfin also had the most single match points with 24. Proviso East’s Regina Jones led all wrestlers with 40 total match points scored. The largest seed-place difference of the tournament came from T.F. South’s Dakodia Kelley who took second place as the 7th seed at 110 pounds.
Team scores:
Thornton Township 131.5, Bloom Township 103, Hillcrest 93, De La Salle 88, Proviso East 79, Thornton Fractional South 74, Evergreen Park 70, Rich Township 43, Saint Viator 34
Thornton Township Girls Tournament results:
100
1st Place Match
Anapaula Cerna-Rivera (De La Salle) 2-0, Jr. over Lilly OBrien (Bloom Township) 2-1 (Fall 0:56)
3rd Place Match
Lidia Basave (Proviso East) 2-1, So. (For.)
105
1st Place Match – round robin
Ariel Woodfin (Thornton Township) 6-0, Jr. over Paola Lopez (Proviso East) 2-1 (TF-1.5 0:32 (24-7))
3rd Place Match – round robin
Maya Phillips (Rich Township) 1-2 over Lamya Love (Rich Township) 0-3 (Fall 1:18)
110
1st Place Match
Riley Osborn (Evergreen Park) 3-0 over Dakodia Kelly (Thornton Fractional South) 2-1, So. (Dec 3-2)
3rd Place Match
Regina Jones (Proviso East) 3-1, So. over Taniyah Moss (Hillcrest) 3-2, Jr. (Dec 14-11)
115
1st Place Match – round robin
Mia Vargas (De La Salle) 2-0, Fr. over Shaniya Tharp Thomas (Thornton Fractional South) 1-1, Fr. (TF-1.5 4:18 (17-1))
3rd Place Match
Aliah Diaz (Evergreen Park) 0-2 (For.)
120
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Iliana Heredia (De La Salle) 2-0, Sr. over Destiny Bright (Thornton Township) 4-2, Sr. (Fall 2:27)
3rd Place Match
Abibatu Mogaji (Thornton Fractional South) 3-1, Jr. over Daviana Smith (Bloom Township) (Fall 1:03)
125
1st Place Match
Mya Gray (Bloom Township) 3-0 over Anastasia Papaioannou (Saint Viator) 2-3, Sr. (Fall 3:14)
3rd Place Match
Crystal Solis (Evergreen Park) 1-2 over Stevonna Dixon (Rich Township) 0-3 (For.)
130
1st Place Match
Jalah Wilson (Thornton Township) 5-0, Sr. over Mia Tellado (Proviso East) 1-1, Jr. (MD 11-1)
3rd Place Match
Abigail Trendle (De La Salle) 2-1, Sr. over Isaly Rodriguez (Hillcrest) 1-2, So. (Fall 1:32)
135
1st Place Match
Quincy Onyiaorah (Thornton Fractional South) 3-0, Sr. over Na`Kiah Campbell (Proviso East) 2-1, Jr. (Fall 3:25)
3rd Place Match
Shuntara Freeman (Thornton Township) 3-3, Fr. over Nataliee Miller (Hillcrest) 1-2, Sr. (DQ)
145
1st Place Match – round robin
Illan Wheeler (Evergreen Park) 2-1 over Miricale Nash (Bloom Township) 2-1 (Fall 3:41)
3rd Place Match – round robin
Christin Jones (Rich Township) 0-2 over Nina White (Rich Township) 1-1 (DFF)
155
1st Place Match
Mya Coffey (Bloom Township) 3-0 over Melissa Nance (Hillcrest) 2-2, So. (Fall 1:19)
3rd Place Match
Avery Brooks (SaintViator) 8-8, Sr. over Trinity Jones (Thornton Township) 3-4, Sr. (Fall 3:00)
170
1st Place Match
Lenahja Selvestor (Thornton Township) 3-0 over Janet Aranda (Bloom Township) 1-1 (Fall 1:10)
3rd Place Match
Sydney West (Hillcrest) 2-3 over Keevona Brown (Hillcrest) 1-2 (Fall 0:32)
190
1st Place Match
Sionna Stampley (Thornton Township) 5-1, Sr. over Jordyn Coleman-Harrison (Hillcrest) 1-1, Jr. (Fall 1:15)
3rd Place Match
Lili Meierkort (Evergreen Park) 2-1 over Anabell Baska (Evergreen Park) 1-2 (Fall 4:09)
235
1st Place Match – round robin
Tamera Gibbs (Hillcrest) 2-1 over Amaya Mclain (Rich Township) 1-1 (For.)
3rd Place Match
Kyliegh Allen (Rich Township) 0-2, (Bye)
Team scores:
1. Thornton Township 131.5, 2. Bloom Township 103, 3. Hillcrest 93, 4. De La Salle 88, 5. Proviso East 79, 6. Thornton Fractional South 74, 7. Evergreen Park 70, 8. Rich Township 43, 9. Saint Viator 34.
Westinghouse Girls Scramble #1
Host Westinghouse had four champions to win its 11-team tournament.
The Lady Warriors led the way with 87.5 points while
Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences and Crane tied for second with 60. Lake View was right behind those two squads with 59. Chicago Academy had 43 to round out the top five teams.
1st place: Westinghouse (87.5 points)
Daniyah Rogers (135-140), Cecilia Colon (155), Emily Nieto (190) and Persia Foster (235) won individual titles to pace the winners. Kanaan McIntyre (170) and Alana Martin (120) took third place and Kimani Glasper (110-115), Mariah Brady (110-115) and Honesty Nash (110-115) were fifth.
2nd place tied: Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences (AG SCI) (60 points)
Despite having only four wrestlers in action, AG SCI shared second place overall with Crane. Madison Cruz (125) and
Elena Haugh (170) won titles while Carmen Jackson (115-120) and Kennedy Smith (120) placed second.
2nd place tied: Crane (60 points)
Andrea Wells (120) won a title for the Cougars. Amelia Chronopoulos (135-140) and Dorca Morales (170) took second place. Hannah Chong(115-120) and Simone Dyer (125) placed third and Katherine Gonzalez-Moline (100-105) was fourth.
The tournament’s other individual champions were Chicago Academy’s Giana Romero (100-105), Lindblom’s Danita Palmore (115-120) and Lake View’s Raynisha Sims (130-135).
Westinghouse’s Cecilia Colon had the most pins in the least amount of time with three in 1:44. Her teammate, Westinghouse’s Kimani Glasper, had the most tech falls in the least amount of time with one in 3:27. Colon and Chicago Academy’s Giana Romero had the most team points with 20 apiece. Lindblom’s Danita Palmore had the most total match points with 31. Colon and AG SCI’s Carmen Jackson had the largest seed-place differences. Colon was a 4th seed and took first. Jackson was a 5th seed and took second.
Team scores:
Westinghouse 87.5, Chicago school for Agricultural Science 60, Crane 60, Lindblom 29, Intrinsic 16, Phillips 12, Niles North 9, Corliss 3, South Shore 0
Westinghouse Girls Scramble #1 place matches
100
1st place – round robin
Giana Romero (Chicago Academy) 3-0, Fr. over Adelina Diaz (Chicago Academy) 2-1, Fr. (Fall 1:23)
3rd place – round robin
Jaden Concepcion (Chicago Academy) 1-2, Fr. over Katherine Gonzalez- Moline (Crane Medical) 0-3, Jr. (Fall 3:02)
110-115
1st place – round robin
Kimani Glasper (Westinghouse) 4-0, Sr. over Vineyard Valencia (Lake View) 2-1 (For.)
3rd place – round robin
Mariah Brady (Westinghouse) 1-2, Fr. over Honesty Nash (Westinghouse) 1-2, Fr. (Fall 1:46)
5th place
Abigail Fryza (Intrinsic) 1-4, Jr.
115-120
1st place – round robin
Danita Palmore (Lindblom) 4-0, . over Carmen Jackson (Agricultural Science) 3-1, Jr. (MD 17-9)
3rd place – round robin
Hannah Chong (Crane Medical) 2-2, Fr. over Camrynn Collier (Corliss) 1-3, Fr. (Fall 1:30)
5th place
Zuri Lendecy (Chicago Academy) 0-4, So.
120
1st place – round robin
Andrea Wells (Crane Medical) 2-0, Jr. over Kennedy Smith (Agricultural Science) 1-1, Jr. (Fall 0:40)
3rd place- round robin
Alana Martin (Westinghouse) 0-2, Jr.
125
1st place – round robin
Madison Cruz (Agricultural Science) 2-0, Fr. over Nakya Scott (Lindblom) 2-1, . (Fall 0:29)
3rd place
Simone Dyer (Crane Medical) 0-2, Sr.
130-135
1st place – round robin
Raynisha Sims (Lake View) 2-0, Sr. over Kayla Nolan (Phillips) 1-1, Jr. (Fall 2:30)
3rd place
Sonya Diaz (Lake View) 0-2
135-140
1st place – round robin
Daniyah Rogers (Westinghouse) 2-0, Fr. over Amaleia Chronopoulos (Crane Medical) 1-1, Jr. (Fall 2:21)
3rd place
Makia Lewis (Lake View) 0-2
155
1st place – round robin
Cecilia Colon (Westinghouse) 3-0, Sr. over Juliamay Teston (Intrinsic) 2-1, So. (Fall 0:27)
3rd place – round robin
Gabrielle Toney (Niles North) 5-2, So. over Caley Bonneau (Lake View) 0-3, . (Fall 2:01)
170
1st place – round robin
Elena Haugh (Agricultural Science) 2-0, Fr. over Dorca Morales (Crane Medical) 1-1, Jr. (Fall 2:38)
Kanaan McIntyre (Westinghouse) 0-2, Fr.
190
1st place – second match
Emily Nieto (Westinghouse) 2-0, Sr. over Jasmin Fernandez (Lake View) 0-2, Fr. (Fall 1:53)
235
1st place – round robin
Persia Foster (Westinghouse) 2-0, Sr. over Keira Rodriguez (Lake View) 1-1, So. (Fall 0:39)
3rd place
Andrea Velasco (Lake View) 0-2, Fr.
Beat the Streets Girls High School Brawl 2024 at Chicago Hope Academy
Out-of-staters Crown Point (196) took over the Windy City on Friday night at Chicago Hope Academy. The Bulldogs had a huge night on the award stand with 21 of its girls competing and 16 placing to help bring the title back to Indiana.
Phoenix Military Academy (167.5) finished second, Homewood-Flossmoor (147.5) was third, Back of the Yards (97.5) was fourth and Rolling Meadows (78) placed fifth to round out the top five team finishers among the 17-team field.
1st place: Crown Point (196 points)
Jaila Powers (105), Ava Strayer (125) and Kylie Benoit (130) each earned an individual title for the tournament champions. Isabella Paape (100) and Annalise Neal (120) finished in second place while Eve Angelini (110), Helene Papadakis (135), Kaylee Taylor (140) and Allison Luka (145) won their respective third place matches. Olivia Hunt (170) took fourth place, Keewa Yu (115), Maggie Monroe (130), Giana Castillo (135) and Mia McDaniel (155) were fifth and Leena Vinson (120) and Breanna Dominguez (130) took sixth.
2nd place: Phoenix Military Academy (167.5 points)
Phoenix Military Academy, one of nine schools from Chicago to compete, matched Crown Point with three individual champions in
Jitzel Aranda (100), Diana Lopez-Jimenez (115) and Ariel Foreman (135). Placing second for the Firebirds were America Cabrera (140) and AJ Grant (145) while Marisol Castro (125) and Alexia Ramos (155) took fourth. Mia Thomas (120) was fifth and Kyla Blackmon (110) took sixth.
3rd place: Homewood-Flossmoor (147.5 points)
Junior London Gandy (110) and senior Nina Hamm (120) led the way for the Vikings with championships. Makayla Marr (125) and Amara Nwoye (135) finished in second place, Natalia Coleman (120), Na’imah Lamon (140) and Denise Brown (145) picked up points via their fourth place finishes and Madelynn McClements (145), Rachel Nugin (155) and Cai Triplett (190) placed sixth.
Other girls winning individual titles within Chicago Hope Academy’s fieldhouse were Mother McAuley’s Maggie Zuber (140), Hillcrest’s Christiara Finley (145), St. Ignatius’ GG Garduno (155), Kelly’s Sara Martinez Lopera (170), Garrett Morgan School of Engineering and Innovation’s Johanna Bogan (190) and Lindblom’s Kiara Owens (235).
Kelly’s N’Dyia Mahon-Godfrey had five pins in 2:07 to lead the tournament. In fact, 11 wrestlers had four pins but only Proviso West’s Anika Gonzalez (2:51) and Rolling Meadows’ Muneeba Butt (4:32) achieved so in under five minutes like Mahon-Godfrey. Agricultural Science’s Carmen Jackson had two tech Fs in 5:57 for the most tech Fs in the least time. Jackson also had the most single match points with 41.
Team scores
1. Crown Point, IN 196, 2. Phoenix Military Academy 167.5, 3. Homewood-Flossmoor 147.5, 4. Back of the Yards 97.5, 5. Rolling Meadows 78, 6. Garrett Morgan School of Engineering and Innovation, OH 77, 7. Lindblom 74.5, 8. Hillcrest 72.5, 9. Proviso West 58, 10. Kelly 56, 11. Willowbrook 52, 12. Taft 50, 13. Saint Ignatius 47, 14. Highland Park 31, 15. Mother McAuley 29, 16. Agricultural Science 28, 17. Hancock 9
Beat the Streets Girls Brawl place matches
Girls – 100
1st Place Match
Jitzel Aranda (Phoenix Military Academy) won by fall over Isabella Paape (Crown Point, IN) (Fall 4:38)
3rd Place Match
Naylah Charles Garrett Morgan School of Engineering and Innovation, OH) won by fall over Madyson Worthing (Garrett Morgan School of Engineering and Innovation, OH) (Fall 4:36)
5th Place Match
Valerie Martinez (Back of the Yards) (Bye)
Girls – 105
1st Place Match
Jaila Powers (Crown Point, IN) won by fall over Annie Aguilar-Cruz (Kelly) (Fall 1:20)
3rd Place Match
Taniya Edwards (Proviso West) won by fall over Nayeli Salgado (Willowbrook) (Fall 2:52)
5th Place Match
Aurora Petrulis (Mother McAuley) won by injury default over Rossy Gomez (Back of the Yards) (Inj. 0:00)
Girls – 110
1st Place Match
London Gandy (Homewood-Flossmoor) won by tech fall over Taniya Moss (Hillcrest) (TF 21-3)
3rd Place Match
Eve Angelini (Crown Point, IN) won by fall over Kenaya Mwehu (Garrett Morgan School of Engineering and Innovation, OH) (Fall 3:09)
5th Place Match
Yasmin Mendoza (Back of the Yards) won by fall over Kyla Blackmon (Phoenix Military Academy) (Fall 3:23)
Girls – 115
1st Place Match
Diana Lopez-Jimenez (Phoenix Military Academy) won by fall over Danita Palmore (Lindblom) (Fall 1:48)
3rd Place Match
Carmen Jackson (Agricultural Science) won by tech fall over Yazmine Garcia (Kelly) (TF 20-4)
5th Place Match
Keewa Yu (Crown Point, IN) won by medical forfeit over Daisy Trujillo (Willowbrook) (MFF)
Girls – 120
1st Place Match
Nina Hamm (Homewood-Flossmoor) won by fall over Annalise Neal (Crown Point, IN) (Fall 2:46)
3rd Place Match
Jennifer Arenas (Taft) won by fall over Natalia Coleman (Homewood-Flossmoor) (Fall 1:24)
5th Place Match
Mia Thomas (Chicago (Phoenix Military Academy)) won by fall over Leena Vinson (Crown Point, IN) (Fall 3:23)
Girls – 125
1st Place Match
Ava Strayer (Crown Point, IN) won by fall over Makayla Marr (Homewood-Flossmoor) (Fall 2:30)
3rd Place Match
Emmely Munoz (Back of the Yards) won by fall over Marisol Castro (Phoenix Military Academy) (Fall 1:28)
5th Place Match
Ardita Beqke (Taft) won by decision over Riley Moore (Highland Park) (Dec 8-3)
Girls – 130
1st Place Match
Kylie Benoit (Crown Point, IN) won by fall over Nakya Scott (Lindblom) (Fall 3:17)
3rd Place Match
Muneeba Butt (Rolling Meadows) won by fall over Anika Gonzalez (Proviso West) (Fall 0:49)
5th Place Match
Maggie Munroe (Crown Point, IN) won by fall over Breanna Dominguez (Crown Point, IN) (Fall 3:24)
Girls – 135
1st Place Match
Ariel Foreman (Phoenix Military Academy) won by fall over Amara Nwoye (Homewood-Flossmoor) (Fall 0:23)
3rd Place Match
Helene Papadakis (Crown Point, IN) won by fall over Leylani Bahena (Kelly) (Fall 1:47)
5th Place Match
Giana Castillo (Crown Point, IN) won by fall over Allison Flores-Morales (Willowbrook) (Fall 4:52)
Girls – 140
1st Place Match
Maggie Zuber (Mother McAuley) won by decision over America Cabrera (Phoenix Military Academy) (Dec 6-2)
3rd Place Match
Kaylee Taylor (Crown Point, IN) won by fall over Na`imah Lamon (Homewood-Flossmoor) (Fall 4:42)
5th Place Match
Ziza Sanchez (Rolling Meadows) won by fall over Jaqueline Soon (Proviso West) (Fall 2:39)
Girls – 145
1st Place Match
Christiara Finley (Hillcrest) won by decision over Aj Grant (Phoenix Military Academy) (Dec 9-7)
3rd Place Match
Allison Luka (Crown Point, IN) won by fall over Denise Brown (Homewood-Flossmoor) (Fall 2:48)
5th Place Match
Evelyna Perez (Back of the Yards) won by fall over Madelynn McClements (Homewood-Flossmoor) (Fall 2:45)
Girls – 155
1st Place Match
GG Garduno (Saint Ignatius) won by fall over Dana Holt (Highland Park) (Fall 2:41)
3rd Place Match
Janet Brindis (Rolling Meadows) won by decision over Alexia Ramos (Phoenix Military Academy) (Dec 10-3)
5th Place Match
Mia McDaniel (Crown Point, IN) won by fall over Rachel Nugin (Homewood-Flossmoor) (Fall 0:31)
Girls – 170
1st Place Match
Sara Martinez Lopera (Kelly) won by fall over Leilani Brindis (Rolling Meadows) (Fall 0:54)
3rd Place Match
Zykaria H (Proviso West) won by fall over Olivia Hunt (Crown Point, IN) (Fall 1:26)
5th Place Match
Aiaishah Sanchez (Rolling Meadows) won by fall over Valeria Santiago (Saint Ignatius) (Fall 3:17)
Girls – 190
1st Place Match
Johanna Bogan (Garrett Morgan School of Engineering and Innovation, OH) won by fall over Jordyn Coleman-Harrison (Hillcrest) (Fall 2:30)
3rd Place Match
N`Dyia Mahon-Godfrey (Kelly) won by fall over Nyomi Ascencio (Back of the Yards) (Fall 0:42)
5th Place Match
Jayde Keaty