Feature Stories

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

Marion Duals Tournament

Freeburg hasn’t been competing in wrestling for very long, but those who were on hand for the Marion Duals Tournament may not have realized the brief history of the Midgets’ program after coach Dan Quartz’ team captured top honors in the 17-team small school division in Marion.

Despite having a fairly young team that was missing a few starters for the competition, Freeburg rallied to beat Benton 40-33 in the championship dual to cap a tournament where it also had to get a victory in the final match against Caldwell County, Kentucky to win its pool before claiming a 62-18 win in the semifinals over Herrin, who had pulled off several upsets to capture its pool.

Coach Aaron Robinson’s Rangers built a 33-18 lead with four matches left in the finals but the Midgets responded with a major decision from Colt Hess at 175, a pin from Kaylin Riley at 190  and a win by fall from Jacob Miller-Green at 215 to put Freeburg up 34-33 for its first lead since early in the dual. Jack Amann, who fell one win shy of qualifying for the IHSA 1A Finals from the Carterville Sectional last season, recorded a quick fall at 285 to assure his team of the title.

“Freeburg High School is exceptionally proud of their wrestling team for, after just three seasons, taking first place in the small division of the Marion Tournament,” Dan Quartz said. “Freeburg was missing three of their starters for the tournament as well. The team showed amazing teamwork and rallied around each other to beat the odds and clinch the first place title.

“I am unbelievably proud of the team, especially considering the ages of the kids.  Their ability to step up to the task is unmatched and evident both on and off the mat. They are a team through and through.”

Turning in 6-0 efforts for Freeburg were juniors Jack Amann and Colt Hess, sophomores Jacob Miller-Green and Lukas Quartz and freshman Nate Raban. Going 5-1 on the day for the Midgets were senior Kaylin Riley, junior Brock Becker and freshmen Eli Quartz and Eli Schaefer.

The Midgets got off to a 17-4 start and three of their losses are to 1A teams ranked by Illinois Best Weekly, No. 2 Vandalia, No. 11 PORTA and No. 22 Princeton as well as 2A  Waterloo. They figure to really be tested over the next few weeks since they are scheduled to compete in Mascoutah’s Dale Breckel Invite this weekend and at Carbondale’s Murdale in early January. 

For Benton, Derek Wilkey (150) and Braxton Tittle (106) both moved to 15-0 after going 5-0 in the Marion Duals and Zane Stanley (120), who is now 14-1, also turned in a 5-0 day. Peyton Robinson (157), Kobe Cali (175), Zayden Butcher (120) and Tyson Wilson (285) all went 4-1.

The Rangers will take part in dual meets on Friday and an invitational on Saturday at Unity before heading back to central Illinois on December 28 and 29 to compete in ABE’s Rumble.

“I thought we competed well most of the day,” said Robinson, whose team won their other four duals, which included a semifinal win over Effingham. “Freeburg matched up well with our better kids and made for some exciting matches. We’re a few weeks away from getting to our full potential in our lineup so I’m excited that we’ve been in a position to compete in all of our duals.”

Effingham finished 4-1 after sweeping its pool and then defeating Herrin 54-27 in its final dual to claim third place. Top performers for coach Jeremy Patnaude’s third-place Flaming Hearts were Jeremiah Lorton (285), who went 5-0, Jonah LeDuc (106), who went 4-1 and Cole Henderson (132) and Gabe Raddatz (150), who both went 3-2.

The Flaming Hearts return to tournament competition on Saturday with a trip to Cumberland where they’ll take part in the Skull & Crossbones Invite.

In the six-team large school division, Paducah Tilghman, Kentucky won the title, Floyd Central, Indiana finished second and Marion took third place after beating Waterloo, McCracken County, Kentucky and Carbondale. Coach Darren Lindsey’s Wildcats, who took second one week earlier to Benton at the Rangers’ Neal Wilson Invite, will also compete at Mascoutah this weekend. 

In the large school title dual meet, Floyd Central built up a 30-10 lead before Tilghman staged a  big comeback that was capped by it recording a pin in the final match to give it a 38-35 victory that allowed the Blue Tornado to repeat as a champion team at the Marion Duals Tournament. 

Riverdale’s Jim Boyd Invite

Rock Island was originally scheduled to participate in a super duals event at Bloomington but inclement weather throughout central Illinois forced it to try to make a change of plans and that ended up working out really well for coach Joel Stockwell’s Rocks.

Riverdale was holding its annual Jim Boyd Invite, named after the 2020 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee who coached Stockwell while he was a four-time Class A medalist at Riverdale from 1989-1993 and a state champion in 1992, so he asked if his team could be included. 

Rock Island not only showed up at the unanticipated invite in Port Byron, it was able to capture top honors in the 16-team invite with 235 points, which was well ahead of runner-up Seneca, who scored 186.5 points. United Township edged Sherrard 141.5-138.5 for third place while the host Rams and Dubuque Senior, Iowa tied for fifth place with 133.5 points. Rock Falls and Sterling tied for seventh with 116.5 points while Byron was just behind with 115 points. 

The Rocks kicked off their tournament schedule one week earlier with a fifth-place finish at the Washington Invitational. The team will be busy throughout the rest of 2025 as they compete in West Chicago’s Bob Hein Invite on Saturday and then takes part in one of their largest events of the season, Lincoln’s Floyd Bee Memorial Holiday Tournament, on December 29 and 30. 

“We are thankful to the team hosts Guy Dierikx (athletic director) and  Aron Kindelsperger (head coach) for allowing us to enter the tournament on short notice,” Stockwell said. “We had originally had duals scheduled in Bloomington, but because of the weather they were forced to cancel. I am proud of our mostly inexperienced team for adapting to the situation and competing each round and giving a consistent effort most of the day. We have a lot of room to grow and hopefully we can keep the ship going in the right direction. 

“A special shout out to our tournament champs, Angelo Parker, Rowan Stockwell and Emilio Guzman. Finally, grinder of the day goes to freshman Javelle Anderson. He bumped up a weight class to fill in for an injured senior wrestler. He wrestled his first varsity matches and went 4-2 on the day to place 4th. One of the matches was a final tiebreaker overtime victory.”

1st: Rock Island (235)

The champion Rocks got titles from Angelo Parker (106), Rowan Stockwell (215) and Emilio Guzman (285) while Fabregas Rodriguez (113), Maricio Parker (138), Parker Stannke (144) and Emarion Harris (175) all claimed second place.

Finishing in fourth place for Rock Island were Jimy Obedi (126), Ian McGowan (150) and Javelle Anderson (157) while Josias Bolinger (120) took sixth.

2nd: Seneca (186.5)

Coach Todd Yegge’s runner-up Fighting Irish, who also took second to champion Canton at their own invite one week earlier, were led by champions Chris Thompson (113), Raiden Terry (120) and Gunner Varland (157) while Ethan Othon (132) and Landon Venecia (190) placed second.

Avery Phillips (144) took third place, Chase Rod (150) finished fifth and Devon Daemicke (138) placed sixth.  

3rd: United Township (141.5)

Leading the way for coach Lambros Fotos’ third-place Panthers was champion Xavier Marolf (144), third-place finishers Caleb Flint (138) and Riley King (285) and also Travis Kinkead (175), who took fourth place.

United Township also had four fifth-place finishers, Logan Henson (106), Samuel Abotsi (113), Adam Potter (126) and Daniel Marquez (132) while Josias Pokambire (215) was sixth.

Additional champions and second-place finishers: 

The host Rams had one champion, Dean Wainwright (138), who hopes to join 2017 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Tyler Hurry (1991-1995) and Stockwell (1989-1993) as the program’s only four-time IHSA medalists and Hurry as the only three-time champions for Riverdale. Wainwright defeated Unity Christian’s Garrett VerHeecke for the Class 1A title at 132 last season, took third place at 120 in 2024 and beat Illini Bluffs’ Hunter Robbins for the 1A title at 106 in 2023.  

Byron also had two champions, Will Julian (175) and Brody Stien (190), while the other Boyd Invite title winners were Rock Falls’ Logan Thome (126), Sterling’s Cael Lyons (132), Mercer County’s Eli Burns (165) and Dubuque Senior, IA’s Beckett Brock (150).

Also claiming second place were Morrison’s Cael Wright (120) and Waylon Phelps (126), Byron’s Aiden Salo (106), Sterling’s Emmanuel Arreola (150), Mercer County’s Eli Boswell (157), Geneseo JV’s Dawson Hull (165), Sherrard’s Jonathan Weakley (215) and Pleasant Valley, IA’s Austin Schulte (285). 

Julian, Lyons and Wainwright tied for the most team points with 30 while Brock, Burns and Thome were right behind with 29.5 points. Varland scored 29 points, Stien had 28.5 points and Guzman, Marolf and Terry all tied with 28 team points.

In two of the closest title matches, Thompson beat Rodriguez with a 7-3 decision at 113 and Guzman claimed a 6-1 decision over Schulte at 285. 

Champions who were unbeaten following the invite are Thompson (14-0 at 113), Wainwright (14-0 at 138), Julian (11-0 at 175) and Stein (11-0 at 190) while the title winners with just one loss after the competition are Parker (6-1 at 106), Terry (12-1 at 120), Varland (14-1 at 157), Burns (13-1 at 165) and Stockwell (7-1 at 215). 

Statistics of note:  

Rock Island’s Parker Stannke had the most total match points with 61 while United Township’s Adam Potter ranked second with 59 points. Sherrard’s Cooper Thomas was the only individual in the invite to record five pins. Byron’s Brody Stien was the only competitor to finish with three wins by technical fall. And Rock Island’s Emilio Guzman had the largest seed-place difference, improving 10 positions from his 11th-seed to capture the championship at 285.

The champion Rocks easily had the most total match points with 431 while United Township was a distant second with 320 match points. Riverdale edged Sherrard 19-18 for the most pins and Seneca had the most wins by technical fall with seven while Rock Island had six. 

Final team standings:

Rock Island 235, Seneca 186.5, United Township 141.5, Sherrard 138.5, Riverdale 133.5, Dubuque Senior, IA 133.5, Rock Falls 116.5, Sterling 116.5, Byron 115, Morrison 93, Mercer County 86, Pleasant Valley, IA 66, Geneseo JV 43, Polo/ Eastland/ Forreston/ Milledgeville 42, ROWVA/ Williamsfield 31.5, Putnam County/ Hall Township 4 

Championship matches: 

106 – Angelo Parker (Rock Island) over Aiden Salo (Byron), MD 15-6

113 – Chris Thompson (Seneca) over Fabregas Rodriguez (Rock Island), D 7-3

120 – Raiden Terry (Seneca) over Cael Wright (Morrison), MD 13-3

126 – Logan Thome (Rock Falls) over Waylon Phelps (Morrison), F 0:49

132 – Cael Lyons (Sterling) over Ethan Othon (Seneca), F 2:59

138 – Dean Wainwright (Riverdale) over Maricio Parker (Rock Island), F 1:26

144 – Xavier Marolf (United Township) over Parker Stannke (Rock Island), D 14-8 

150 – Beckett Brock (Dubuque Senior) over Emmanuel Arreola (Sterling), F 3:53

157 – Gunner Varland (Seneca) over Eli Boswell (Mercer County), TF 4:37

165 – Eli Burns (Mercer County over Dawson Hull (Geneseo JV), F 2:30

175 – Will Julian (Byron) over Emarion Harris (Rock Island), F 1:51

190 – Brody Stien (Byron) over Landen Venecia (Seneca), TF 2:39

215 – Rowan Stockwell (Rock Island) over Jonathan Weakley (Sherrard), F 4:20

285 – Emilio Guzman (Rock Island) over Austin Schulte (Pleasant Valley), D 6-1

Third-place matches: 

106 – Cole Smith (Riverdale) over Chase Coyle (Sterling), F 0:43

113 – Scottie Hampton (Rock Falls) over Henry Pence (Pleasant Valley), F 4:28

120 – Ben Porter (Riverdale) over Noah Christensen (Dubuque Senior), F 1:37

126 – Gabe Morris (Polo/ Eastland/ Forreston/ Milledgeville) over Jimy Obedi (Rock Island), F 2:58

132 – Jaken Updike (Morrison) over Adan Oquendo (Rock Falls), F 1:57

138 – Caleb Flint (United Township) over Zion Deah (Dubuque Senior), D 8-6

144 – Avery Phillips (Seneca) over Josiah Tarbill (Rock Falls), D 12-10

150 – Andrew Knox (Sherrard) over Ian McGowan (Rock Island), MD 13-5

157 – Oliver Parker (Dubuque Senior) over Javelle Anderson (Rock Island), F 1:46

165 – Kaden Dutton (Sherrard) over Dylan Dach (Byron), F 1:14

175 – Cam Dukes (Dubuque Senior) over Travis Kinkead (United Township), D 9-4

190 – Cooper Thomas (Sherrard) over Micah Stringini (Polo/ Eastland/ Forreston/ Milledgeville), F 1:01

215 – Calvin McAvan (Dubuque Senior) over Jake Schradeya (Riverdale), D 4-1

285 – Riley King (United Township) over Sergio Vargas (Sterling), F 3:18  

PORTA’s Rex Avery Invite

PORTA’s Rex Avery Invite definitely had a much different look as inclement weather in central Illinois prevented many of the teams in the field from being able to make the trip to Petersburg.

However, that did not mean that the competition wasn’t up to its usual quality standards as three ranked Class 1A teams and an honorable mention team led the way in the 17-team competition with the host Bluejays taking top honors with 233 points while Lawrence County edged Mt. Zion 174-168 for second and Kewanee edged Robinson 156.5-156 for fifth. Cumberland (120.5), Warrensburg-Latham/ Maroa-Forsyth (118) and LeRoy/ Tri-Valley (116.5) were next in line.

PORTA coach Jeff Hill, the state’s all-time leader in dual meet wins who was honored in October when he received a Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Illinois Chapter, was pleased to not only be able to get the invite in but also by how well his four champions performed. And he’s also looking forward to hosting the 60-team ABE’s Rumble, which takes place on December 29 and 30 at the Bank of Springfield Center.

1st: PORTA (233)

The Bluejays, ranked 11th in 1A by Illinois Best Weekly and competing in their first tournament of the season, had an invitational-high four champions, Kainin Fillbright (120), Zach Bryant (144), Logan Baker (165) and Justin Zimmerman (175) while Coyt Rademaker (106) and Jaxen Feagans (138) settled for second place.

Other top-six finishers for PORTA, who also co-ops with A-C Central, Greenview and Havana, were Ryan McCoy (4th at 132), Hunter King (4th at 150), Jamarion Thomas (4th at 157), Dylan Yocum (6th at 190) and Jaydin Minor (6th at 285).

“We were excited just to get the wrestling tournament in with the weather forecast and 10 teams deciding not to make the trip,” Hill said. “I was pleased with the way the champions dominated in the finals and kept wrestling to the last whistle. We are looking to hosting ABE’s Rumble in a couple of weeks and seeing the majority of the dual teams in the state.”

2nd: Lawrence County (174)

Coach Cody Bobe’s Lawrence County co-op team, which features athletes from Lawrenceville and Red Hill, got second-place finishes from Drew Seitzinger (126), Cale Seitzinger (150) and Nick Morehead (175) while Grayson Allender (113), Kyler Guercio (120) and Daniel Kiser (157) took third place. Dalton Baker (106) placed fourth while Hudson Meek (144) and Malikye Williams (190) finished fifth for Lawrence County, which was ranked 25th in Class 1A.

3rd: Mt. Zion (168)

Third-place Mt. Zion is also led by an individual who received a Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Illinois Chapter in 2012, Dave Klemm. 

Leading the way his third-place Braves were champion Keller Stocks (215) and runner-up Sammy Toth (132). Mt. Zion also got third-place efforts from Vincent Baker (138), Travon Street (144) and Carson Thornton (175) while Alex Reynolds (126) and Rylyn Owens (165) finished fourth, Connor Misner (150) placed fifth and Braylon Damery (120) claimed sixth place.

Other champions and second-place finishers

Additional Rex Avery Invite title winners were Farmington/ Cuba’s Isaac Showalter (106), LeRoy/ Tri-Valley’s Jake Baughman (113), Kewanee’s Kingston Peterson (126), Riverton’s Harrison Lott (132), Robinson’s Broady Kelly (138), Auburn/ Pawnee’s Trey Boston (150), Warrensburg-Latham/ Maroa-Forsyth’s Charlie Wittmer (157), Sacred Heart-Griffin’s Casen Lyons (190) and Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Joey Humphries (285).

Also finishing in second place were Auburn/ Pawnee’s Eli Hill (113), Robinson’s Gracen Elliott (120), Farmington/ Cuba’s Bradlee Ellis (144), Cumberland’s Owen McGinnis (157), Kewanee’s Ace Lafollette (165), Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Ryker Gemberling (190), LeRoy/ Tri-Valley’s Jackson Ritch (215) and Warrensburg-Latham/ Maroa-Forsyth’s Jack Kerley (285).

Boston led all champions with 28.5 team points while Stocks was second with 28 points and Baker and Lyons tied for third with 27.5 team points. There was a tie for fifth place with 27 team points between Bryant, Humphries and Peterson, and there was also a tie for eight place with 26.5 team points between Baughman, Filllbright, Showalter and Zimmerman.

The closest championship match was at 138 where Kelly prevailed with an 11-10 decision over Feagans. In other tight finals, Showalter captured a 5-1 decision over Rademaker at 106 and Wittmer recorded a 7-3 decision over McGinnis at 157.

Champions who left the invite with perfect records were Showalter (10-0 at 106), Fillbright (12-0 at 120), Kelly (10-0 at 138), Wittmer (16-0 at 157) and Stocks (8-0 at 215). Title winners with just one loss are Baughman (12-1 at 113), Zimmerman (13-1 at 175), Lyons (14-1 at 190) and Humphries (8-1 at 285).

Statistics of note:

Tremont’s Nicky Weber collected the most total match points with 65 while Mt. Zion’s Vincent Baker had 61 and PORTA’s Justin Zimmerman collected 60. There were four individuals who had four pins, Lawrence County’s Daniel Kiser, Knoxville’s James Long, Mt. Zion’s Carson Thornton and Tremont’s Weber. Baker and Zimmerman were the only two in the field to claim three wins by technical fall. Mt. Zion also had the two individuals with the largest-seed-place difference, Rylyn Owens and Thornton, who both improved nine positions from their seeds.

PORTA edged Cumberland 21-20 for the most falls, Mt. Zion and PORTA led the way in wins by technical fall with six apiece and PORTA collected 393 total match points while Kewanee was second with 355 match points.

Final team standings:

PORTA 233, Lawrence County 174, Mt. Zion 168, Kewanee 156.5, Robinson 156, Cumberland 120.5, Warrensburg-Latham/ Maroa-Forsyth 118, LeRoy/ Tri-Valley 116.5, Auburn/ Pawnee 97.5, Deer Creek-Mackinaw 97, Knoxville 63, Sacred Heart-Griffin 62, Farmington/ Cuba 61, Tremont 57, Riverton 36.5, Havana/ PORTA 36, Carlinville 30.5

Championship matches:

106 – Isaac Showalter (Farmington/ Cuba) over Coyt Rademaker (PORTA), D 5-1

113 – Jake Baughman (LeRoy/ Tri-Valley) over Eli Hill (Auburn/ Pawnee), TF 4:29

120 – Kainin Fillbright (PORTA) over Gracen Elliott (Robinson), TF 4:59

126 – Kingston Peterson (Kewanee) over Drew Seitzinger (Lawrence County), F 5:11

132 – Harrison Lott (Riverton) over Sammy Toth (Mt. Zion), MD 8-0

138 – Broady Kelly (Robinson) over Jaxen Feagans (PORTA), D 11-10

144 – Zach Bryant (PORTA) over Bradlee Ellis (Farmington/ Cuba), MD 16-6 

150 – Trey Boston (Auburn/ Pawnee) over Cale Seitzinger (Lawrence County), F 2:57

157 – Charlie Wittmer (Warrensburg-Latham/ Maroa-Forsyth) over Owen McGinnis (Cumberland), D 7-3

165 – Logan Baker (PORTA) over Ace Lafollette (Kewanee), TF 4:11

175 – Justin Zimmerman (PORTA) over Nick Morehead (Lawrence County), TF 1:53

190 – Casen Lyons (Sacred Heart-Griffin) over Ryker Gemberling (Deer Creek-Mackinaw), F 3:12

215 – Keller Stocks (Mt. Zion) over Jackson Ritch (LeRoy/ Tri-Valley), F 1:01

285 – Joey Humphries (Deer Creek-Mackinaw) over Jack Kerley (Warrensburg-Latham/ Maroa-Forsyth), MD 13-5

Third-place matches:

106 – Peyton Groves (Cumberland) over Dalton Becker (Lawrence County), F 1:38

113 – Grayson Allender (Lawrence County) over Ben Marshall (Deer Creek-Mackinaw), D 5-0

120 – Kyler Guercio (Lawrence County) over Evan King (Deer Creek-Mackinaw), F 4:30

126 – Logan Thompson (LeRoy/ Tri-Valley) over Alex Reynolds (Mt. Zion), MD 8-0

132 – Sawyer Welbaum (Cumberland) over Ryan McCoy (PORTA), D 9-6

138 – Vincent Baker (Mt. Zion) over Hunter Vancil (Kewanee), TF 4:14

144 – Travon Street (Mt. Zion) over Lain Taylor (Kewanee), D 10-5

150 – Connor Schrader (Robinson) over Hunter King (PORTA), F 4:58

157 – Daniel Kiser (Lawrence County) over Jamarion Thomas (PORTA), M For

165 – Jayden Brown (Auburn/ Pawnee) over Rylyn Owens (Mt. Zion), F 5:49

175 – Carson Thornton (Mt. Zion) over Caleb Cass (Havana/ PORTA), F 0:20

190 – James Long (Knoxville) over Max Strader (Cumberland), F 0:40

215 – Graham Blackwell (Warrensburg-Latham/ Maroa-Forsyth) over Landon Wier (Kewanee), MD 10-0

285 – Juan Zepeda (Kewanee) over Jessiah Lee (Robinson), F 2:00

Pontiac’s Boys Munch Invitational

Plainfield North and Pontiac went at it for top honors at Pontiac’s Boys Munch Invitational and when it finally came down to the place matches, the Tigers went 10-1 and that helped them to beat out the hosts by a 191.5-181 margin for the championship of the 13-team competition. Herscher edged Macomb 116-115 for third place, Unity Christian scored 104 points to take fifth,

Wilmington (92) claimed sixth and Eureka (80.5) finished in seventh place.

Coach Michael Parton’s champion Tigers, who got title wins from Andrew Stahl (113), Sam Sabo (138), Cole Svara (157) and Luke Grindstaff (165) recorded 19 pins, which was eight more than Pontiac and Wilmington, who ranked second in falls. They also scored 244 total match points compared to 201 for the host Indians, who won six of nine matches in the medal round.

“We have been pushing a philosophy in the program that we need to go out, focus on the six minutes we are wrestling and make sure we wrestle hard through those six minutes,” Parton said. “The boys definitely embodied that philosophy today. 

“We didn’t have our full lineup, but the boys also saw today how important bonus points are in a tournament, it’s definitely what made the difference for us. Overall, I’m just happy for each of those guys that competed today because it’s setting a good tone for our season moving forward.”

1st: Plainfield North (191.5)

Plainfield North came in having faced plenty of good competition in two previous tournaments, Marmion Academy’s Cadet Classic to open the season and then taking ninth place in its own 16-team dual team tournament one week earlier.  

Beside their four champions, the Tigers received third-place finishes from Jacob Syfert (126), Gavin Gunderson (144), Reid Pakla (150) and Jake Ellingson (190) while Gabe Franco (165) and Raphael Torres (175) finished in fifth place and Kabir Khanna (215) placed sixth.

2nd: Pontiac (181)

Leading the way for coach Stephen Richardson’s runner-up Indians were champions Jack Voigts (126), Kooper Wiles (132), Lucus Maier (175) and Hunter McCullough (285) while Noah Davis (150) and Brayden Quas (165) placed second. 

Braden Opperman (138) and Hunter Christenson (157)  took third place and Blaze Quas (144) finished sixth for Pontiac, who finished in fourth place last week in the Seneca Invite.

3rd: Herscher (116)

Top performers for coach Austin Headrick’s third place Tigers were second-place finishers Kaden Shroyer (120), Ryder Travelstead (126), Jonah Langlois (132) and also two individuals who claimed third place, Zachary Maglione (113) and Colton Carson (215).

Also for Herscher, Everett Osenga (138) and Alexander Mendez (144) finished fifth while Owen Bollino (150) and Kaden Schlutt (285) took sixth place.

Additional champions and second-place finishers:

Unity Christian, which co-ops with Argenta-Oreana, got titles from its two three-time IHSA medalists, Garrett and Clinton VerHeecke, who took firsts at 144 and 150, respectively. Garrett was sixth in 2023, third in 2024 and a runner-up to Riverdale’s Dean Wainwright at 132 in the 2025 1A Finals while Clinton finished third in 2023 and then fifth in the last two years. 

Also winning Munch Invite titles were Prairie Central’s Treyton Zimmerman (106), Macomb’s Ethan Hoyt (120), Kankakee’s Jacob Vinardi (190) and Wilmington’s Logan VanDuyne (215).

Others who claimed second-place finishes were Macomb’s Jonathon Bullock (106), Kyler Miller (138) and Jeshua McPheeters (190), Prairie Central’s Andrew Patino (113), Eureka’s Finn Hoffman (144), Unity Christian’s Caleb Berg (157), Illinois Valley Central’s Owen Moser (175), Kankakee’s Kendrick Crite (215) and Wilmington’s Will Wilson (285).

Clinton VerHeecke led all champions in team points with 28 while Garrett VerHeecke, Grindstaff and Vinardi tied for second with 27.5 points. VanDuyne scored 27 points, Maier, McCullough and Svara tied for sixth with 26 points, Hoyt scored 24 points and Voigts had 23.5 team points.

The closest title match was at 285 where McCullough captured a 9-3 decision over Wilson.

Champions who are unbeaten following the event are Hoyt (8-0 at 120), Garrett VerHeecke (12-0 at 144), Clinton VerHeecke (12-0 at 150), Maier (9-0 at 175) and Vinardi (11-0 at 190) while Voigts (9-1 at 126) and Wiles (8-1 at 132) have only lost one match.

Statistics of note: 

Rantoul’s Nicholas Dunner and Wilmington’s Oakley Rivera tied for the most total match points with 44. Herscher’s Alexander Mendez, as well as Dunner and Rivera were the only individuals with two wins by technical fall. Prairie Central’s Elijah Mowery was the lone competitor to get four pins. And Eureka’s Sam Hoffman had the largest seed-place difference with nine positions.

The only two teams in the field who had wins by technical fall were Herscher and Pontiac.

Final team standings: 

Plainfield North 191.5, Pontiac 181, Herscher 116, Macomb 115, Unity Christian/ Argenta-Oreana 104, Wilmington 92, Eureka 80.5, Kankakee 63, Illinois Valley Central 58, Prairie Central 46, Rantoul 45.5, Dwight/ Gardner-South Wilmington 26, Southeast 26

Championship matches:

106 – Treyton Zimmerman (Prairie Central) over Jonathon Bullock (Macomb), F 0:19

113 – Andrew Stahl (Plainfield North) over Andrew Patino (Prairie Central), TF 4:00 round robin

120 – Ethan Hoyt (Macomb) over Kaden Shroyer (Herscher), F 1:49

126 – Jack Voigts (Pontiac) over Ryder Travelstead (Herscher), TF 3:52

132 – Kooper Wiles (Pontiac) over Jonah Langlois (Herscher), F 2:44

138 – Sam Sabo (Plainfield North) over Kyler Miller (Macomb), F 2:59

144 – Garrett VerHeecke (Unity Christian/ Argenta-Oreana) over Finn Hoffman (Eureka), TF 2:15

150 – Clinton VerHeecke (Unity Christian/ Argenta-Oreana) over Noah Davis (Pontiac), F 1:31

157 – Cole Svara (Plainfield North) over Caleb Burg (Unity Christian/ Argenta-Oreana), F 3:39

165 – Luke Grindstaff (Plainfield North) over Brayden Quas (Pontiac), TF 3:20

175 – Lucus Maier (Pontiac) over Owen Moser (Illinois Valley Central), MD 15-3

190 – Jacob Vinardi (Kankakee) over Jeshua McPheeters (Macomb), F 1:22

215 – Logan VanDuyne (Wilmington) over Kendrick Crite (Kankakee), MD 14-5

285 – Hunter McCullough (Pontiac) over Will Wilson (Wilmington), D 9-3

Third-place matches:

120 – Dalton Delong (Dwight/ Gardner-South Wilmington) over Nicholas Malagon (Illinois Valley Central), F 3:10

126 – Jacob Syfert (Plainfield North) over Bradley Allen (Illinois Valley Central), F 1:53

132 – Henry Watson (Eureka) over Deonte Theus (Kankakee), F 1:21

138 – Braden Opperman (Pontiac) over Noah Zientara (Unity Christian/ Argenta-Oreana), F 1:10

144 – Gavin Gunderson (Plainfield North) over Jacksyn Holderfield (Macomb), F 1:34

150 – Reid Pakla (Plainfield North) over Sam Hoffman (Eureka), D 8-6

157 – Hunter Christenson (Pontiac) over Eli Nichols (Rantoul), F 1:47

165 – Brandon Almanza (Rantoul) over Johnny Powell (Macomb), TF 3:16

175 – Gavin Bafia (Dwight/ Gardner-South Wilmington) over Jackson Pettyjohn (Unity Christian/ Argenta-Oreana), D 10-3

190 – Jake Ellingson (Plainfield North) over Malikai Bremer (Illinois Valley Central), F 1:02

215 – Colton Carson (Herscher) over AJ Moon (Macomb), M For

285 – Vinny Gonzalez (Plainfield North) over Riley James (Macomb), F 0:33

By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA

All IWCOA rankings courtesy of Rob Sherrill’s Illinois Best Weekly

MT. PROSPECT – It wasn’t too long ago that the Joliet Catholic Academy featured a star-studded upperclass lineup to fuel its near-run to a Class 2A Dual Team IHSA title, one year after the Hilltoppers defeated Deerfield in the 2A Finals to win their only state championship.

On that 2023 Hilltoppers club, state champions Gylon Sims (The Citadel), Mason Alessio (Central Michigan) and Dillan Johnson (Wisconsin) would all lift the big trophy in Champaign, with future and current stars, Jason Hampton and Nolan Vogel making big contributions for the eventual state runners-up, who fell 28-27 to Washington.

Hampton and Vogel are the senior anchors on a Hilltoppers club that is super young and talented, and with the two veterans from last season’s third-place finisher in the Class 3A Dual Team Finals leading the way, it would be another lopsided championship inside the Jean Walker Fieldhouse at Prospect’s 65th Mudge-McMorrow Invite.

The Hilltoppers had five champions, Lukas Foster (126), Hampton (132), Adante Washington (138), Vogel (157) and Ryker Czubak (215) while Kane Robles (106), Adonis Washington (126) and Lincoln Mack (132) all took second place. Finishing third were Colton Schultz (113), Finn McDermott (120), Aidan Bishop (190) and Daniel Dalach (285) while Matthew Laird (144) claimed fourth and Dawson Mack (150) was fifth as all 14 individuals placed fifth or better.  

“Jason and Nolan are the seniors we are leaning on for their leadership, both on, and off of the mats, and they are providing exactly what we need in order to give our really young roster the guidance moving forward,” began Hilltoppers head coach Ryan Cumbee.

“Things are slowly coming together, and as we get a couple of other guys back and into our lineup, I feel like the second half of the season could provide some terrific results for the team, and individually, as well.”

“You saw today some of our younger guys come through to either win in their weight class, or get themselves into a final,  which will give them some great experience.”

There was a reason for the Hilltoppers’ 264.0 point total as they collected tourney-highs with 19 pins and 13 tech falls and had 460 total match points, which was 16 points behind second-place Naperville Central (186.0), which totaled 476 on the day.

After the top two teams, it would be class 1A state power Dixon (157.0), followed by Libertyville (124.5) and fifth place Prospect (123.5).

Here are the champions and a look at each weight class:

106 – Riley Paredes, Dixon

The final round got off to a roaring start with the 37-point thriller between Dixon’s Riley Paredes and Joliet Catholic Academy’s Kane Robles.

This see-saw, rollercoaster affair looked as if the No. 8 in 3A Robles (9-2) would run away and hide from the No. 5 in 1A Paredes (14-0), who was chasing a 7-0 early deficit, until a late reversal and then a takedown drew the junior closer at 7-5.

Dixon head coach Micah Hey best describes what he saw from his corner.

“Our match with Robles was just awesome,” began Hey. “Riley gave up a takedown, then some back points to go down, but he found his way back to set up a second period in which Robles took control early to make it 11-5 heading into the third period.”

“That’s when the fireworks started, and to be honest, something I’ve never seen happen. Riley chose down, got a reversal to Robles’ back. The referee looks at the shoulders of (Robles) blows the whistle, slaps the mat, and Riley gets up, takes his ankle band off, and goes to the center to shake hands. Simultaneously, that same ref calls off his own pin, says it was not a pin, then tells Paredes to put his ankle band back on.”

Once back in action, Paredes exploded with a 19-2 run to eventually end this final at 24-13.

Hampshire’s Luthor Rajcevich gave his club its first top-five medal after claiming third place over Evergreen Park’s Brayden Mateja-Bates and Naperville Central’s Alexi Aguinaldo beat Batavia’s Joey Calvillo for fifth.

113 – Vince DeMarco, Grayslake Central

Vince DeMarco has made quite a few headlines from the minute he stepped into the Grayslake Central room two years ago.

The Rams junior, who was runner-up in 2A at 106 to Notre Dame College Prep’s Ray Long last season after placing fourth at 106 in 2024, has been at or near the No. 1 spot in the polls from long stretches of time during two remarkable seasons for head coach Matt Joseph, and this year is no different as he sits just behind the No. 1 in 2A at 113, IC Catholic Prep’s Drew Murante, who beat DeMarco at Barrington’s Moore-Prettyman-Dunn Tournament.

“Vince had a little bit of a rough start to the season while dealing with an injury, but he never uses (that) as an excuse – but what you’re seeing with him now is vintage Vince,” began Joseph.

“To have his younger brother Dominic in the room, and watching their intense work is just beautiful to watch, and for Vince, it’s all business from here on out.”

“Vince has always had a target on his back from the first time he came to Central, but for him, it’s just the way it is, and it makes him be at his best all of the time.”

DeMarco (11-3) who was first at nationals in Greco, and seventh at Freestyle, recorded a little bit of everything in his three matches, beginning with a tech fall in his tourney opener, then a major decision and ending with a fall at 1:55 over Prospect sophomore Carlo Difalco.

Joliet Catholic Academy’s Colton Schultz got a tech fall to take home third place over Moline’s Matthew Hoss while Addison Trail’s William Gray beat York’s Gabe Olasa to finish fifth.

120 – Nikolas Duarte, Addison Trail

Things could not have gone better for Nikolas Duarte during his rookie season at Addison Trail, and for head coach Mike Rosengrant.

The Blazers faithful watched their best man win a regional title at home, then finish second at sectionals to the eventual 3A champion, Oak Park and River Forest’s MJ Rundell, before bringing home a fourth-place state medal at 106 pounds.

That honor would give the Blazers program its best state finish since 1983 when Don Lullo collected a third-place medal at 155 pounds.

“(He) had quite a year for us, and it would continue a lot of hard work at Cory Clark, and seven wins at Fargo, but most of all, we’ve seen him develop into a first-class leader, who, in and out of the room, sets the tone for the entire program,” said a proud Rosengrant.

Duarte, who was 37-8 last season, moved his record to perfect 7-0 after his pin of Batavia’s Kai Enos (10-2), who is currently ranked No. 2 in 2A at 120, in the title match.

Duarte, No. 10 in 3A at 120, that’s led by the nationally-ranked and two-time state champion Dom Munaretto, has won two major titles thus far, his first coming at his Addison Trail Invite.

Joliet Catholic Academy’s Finn McDermott, who stretched Duarte to the limit during a 3-0 semifinal decision, took third with a pin over Dixon’s Jack Ragan while Naperville Central’s Dalton Meluch beat Hampshire’s Andrew Salmieri for fifth place.

126 – Lukas Foster, Joliet Catholic Academy

Lukas Foster would start a long-line of individual champions collected by the tournament champions, Joliet Catholic Academy, that would reach five, when he grabbed his first tech fall of the day over teammate Adonis Washington in the 126 title match.

The Hilltoppers junior, a state qualifier in 2024, would exhibit far too much scoring power over his four opponents, including a trio of pins to send him into the final with Washington.

“Lukas and Adonis are good for each other in the room, but Lukas is working as hard as he can to put together a long run in the postseason,” said Hilltoppers head coach Ryan Cumbee.

Foster, fifth recently at the Donnybrook, reeled off three straight pins in just under eight minutes before needing all of 4:17 minutes to finish off Washington.

Evergreen Park’s Jayden Cervantes took third after a hard-fought 4-1 decision over Libertyville’s Tyler Wuh. And Naperville Central’s Jake Moore beat Batavia’s Ricardo Alfaro for fifth place.

132 – Jason Hampton, Joliet Catholic Academy

A long-time staple in the Hilltoppers lineup since his first year with the big season in 2022-2023, Jason Hampton, the No. 2 man at 132 in 3A behind Marmion Academy’s Nicholas Garcia, looks to be on course for a fourth-consecutive state medal as witnessed by his dominating performance on the way to the 132-pound title.

“It’s all about working hard, dedication to our sport, and trusting in our coaching staff, which I feel is the best around,” said Hampton, following his technical fall victory over teammate Lincoln Mack in the 132 title match to run his record to 10-1 on the season.

“Lincoln is one of several young guys we have on our roster, so the future is looking bright here at JCA,” continued Hampton, who will wrestle next fall at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, where the staff, atmosphere, and campus all felt right for Hampton, who has a second-, third-, and fourth-place state medal in his trophy case.

Libertyville’s Alexander Osborne claimed third place after his pin of Naperville Central’s Austin Schiltz while Grayslake Central’s Krish Sahu defeated Addison Trail’s George Espinoza for fifth.

138 – Adante Washington, Joliet Catholic Academy

Adante Washington was a state qualifier for the Hilltoppers in 2024, the same year Ryan Cumbee’s club made its third consecutive appearance at the IHSA Dual Team Finals.

The junior looks to be ready to make a big contribution to the cause after his sensational four-match effort that would produce tourney-best four tech falls in just under eight minutes, plus  76 total match points amassed, which also a tournament-best.

“We are thrilled and happy to have Adante wrestling the way he has, if he keeps (it) up, he will do some terrific things in February,” said Ryan Cumbee, just after his man registered a 17-1 tech fall at 2:28 over Grayslake Central’s Owen Floral in the 138 title match.

Washington (10-2), who’s on the cusp of a place in the top 10 at 138 in 3A, was fifth at the Dan Gable Donnybrook.

Batavia’s Elias Chaney won by fall over New Trier’s Matthew Miralles in the third-place match and Moline’s Housseyn Ndiyae beat Libertyville’s Jake Shafer to finish in fifth place.

144 – Jacob Cochran, Naperville Central

Top-seed Jacob Cochran would give Naperville Central the first of two individual champions when he rolled into the 144-pound final on the heels of three straight pins before taking control of a tight contest with Dixon’s Charlie Connors.

The Redhawks senior would execute a well-played near fall at five minutes, then ride out the Dixon sophomore for a 4-2 victory in the 144 finals. The loss was the first of the year for No. 10 in 1A Connors, who was a state qualifier last season.

“I always thought the best part of my game has been on top, I worked in the offseason on (neutral), but in my final, when I took the lead with that nearfall, I was able to ride, and be as tough as I could on top,” said Cochran, No. 8 in 3A, and now 14-1 overall.

Grayslake Central’s Trevor Hengl was third after a medical forfeit ended the day of Joliet Catholic Academy’s Matthew Laird prematurely. McHenry’s Ryan Johnston (14-1) took fifth with a win over Evergreen Park’s Lucas Landry.

150- Warren Nash, Grayslake Central

Grayslake Central senior Warren Nash, a state qualifier a year ago, looked to be in fine form after claiming his second major of the season, following his impressive 11-1 major decision triumph over Preston Richards (11-2) from Dixon.

“I learned a lot from going to state for the first time last year, I know if I get back I’ll be mentally and physically ready to go for a state medal,” said Nash, now 13-2 after going 30-17 last year.

“Warren is an extremely hard worker, he’s a great senior leader, and just a tremendous young man, and one that we are fortunate to have in our room,” Central head coach Matt Joseph said.

Dixon coach Micah Hey saw nothing but benefits for Richards on Saturday.

“Like Charlie Connors at 144, Preston had a strong tournament, and those tough matches they had will only help them get to where they want to be at the end of the year,” Hey said.

Nate Eiduk (Niles North, 20-4) recorded a pin (1:14) over Aric Abbott (Hampshire) in the third place contest, while Dawson Mack (Joliet Catholic Academy) earned a fifth place medal with a win by fall over New Trier’s Tyler Anderson.

157- Nolan Vogel, Joliet Catholic Academy

Nolan Vogel, one of the few senior veterans in the Joliet Catholic Academy starting lineup, pinned his way to the 157-pound crown in just over seven minutes to add another 35 points to the leaderboard for the team champion Hilltoppers.

Vogel would pin Michael Brannigan (Hampshire, 13-6) at 3:31 in their final.

“We have a great staff at JCA, and one that takes a great interest in all of us, and not just in the sport of wrestling,” began Vogel, fifth a year ago at state (150) after reaching his first appearance in Champaign the year before.

“Like everyone else, the work to be better on the mat is what we all work towards, but for me, sometimes I would let a case of nerves get to me at times.  But I feel like I’ve got that under control now, which will help me reach my goal of winning a state title.”

The only loss Vogel (11-1) has suffered thus far came at the Donnybrook in early December, where he would finish fifth overall.

Reid Balis (Naperville Central) placed third in an 11-3 major decision over Callum O’Connell (Libertyville) fourth, and Owen Brady from Evergreen Park placed fifth by fall against Niles North’s Evan Lazik.

165- Jacob Hanselman, York

York senior Jacob Hanselman would enjoy a magnificent day here in Mt. Prospect with a sensational point-scoring effort as the No. 10-rated man at 165-pounds unloaded four pins, recorded 30 total team points and later would be anointed outstanding wrestler along with Joliet Catholic Academy senior Jason Hampton.

“I did a lot of offseason work on my game, mostly with my attack and overall offense,” Hanselman said. “That blood-round loss at sectionals last year provided all the motivation I needed.”

The No. 10 rated man in the state who was 40-10 a year ago, is on his way to Johns Hopkins University next fall, where he will pursue a degree in economics.

Hanselman would need just over four minutes to register his four pins, the last at 1:33 over Gavin Payne (14-4) from Prospect.

Moline senior Jaxson Soliz was third after his pin of Niles North sophomore Nicholas Marcus, now 20-4. Pierce Adams (Libertyville) would finish fifth with a 13-1 major decision against Round Lake’s Narciso Gonzalez.

175- DeAnthony Simpson, Moline

Moline senior DeAnthony Simpson had the wind at his back at the start of his run towards the 175-pound title, with a pair of falls in his opening two contests, before his exciting 16-11 semifinal victory sent him into his final with Blake Dingley of Dixon.

Once there, it took all of 41 seconds to secure the lone title of the day for Moline.

“I did well at setting up my shots, and defending my opponent’s attacks, while also learning what  I’m strong at, and what I need to continue to work on,” said Simpson (11-2), who was a sectional qualifier a year ago with a record of 33-14.

“My improvement during the offseason came from lifting and having a good wrestling partner in the room,” added Simpson, who plays football, and is looking to play in college at either sport, with a degree in business in his plan right now.

Nicolas Olvera (Naperville, 12-3) was third after his tech-fall over Alen Bautista (Addison Trail), while Joseph Quirk from Prospect won by tech fall for fifth place against Prospect’s Patrick Zdanowski.

190- Paul Peradotti, Naperville Central

No. 5 Paul Peradotti (13-1) put a firm grip on his top five spot in the polls with an impressive three-match performance that would include his 13-1 major decision victory in his final with Libertyville junior James Scanio.

The Redhawks’ two-sport star (football) who was fifth at the high-profile Marmion Academy Cadet Invite earlier in the season, was a sectional qualifier a year ago with a dazzling 35-6 record, but was unable to advance out of a tough 190-bracket at Hinsdale Central.

“My expectations and goal is to get downstate, and onto the podium, and I feel if I continue to work hard and keep my focus, I can meet that goal,” said Peradotti, who plans on pursuing a degree in animal sciences.

Peradotti would reach the final with a 18-2 tech-fall at 4:54 in his semifinal.

Aidan Bishop (Joliet Catholic Academy) earned a third place medal over Tommy Tures from New Trier, and Beau Walker (York) placed fifth by fall against Libertyville’s Mason Roe.

215- Ryker Czubak, Joliet Catholic Academy

Ryker Czubak has already made his presence felt during his first year with the big club for Hilltoppers head coach Ryan Cumbee.

The sophomore was nearly untouchable during his three matches on the day, which began with a 10-1 decision, and would end with back-to-back pins – the last at just 44 seconds over runner-up Owen Dewey from host Prospect.

“I’ve known and coached Ryker since grade school, and you can see that it’s all there for the young man, who continues to work hard in the room and in my opinion, will be a real force in the next couple of years,” said Cumbee.

Caelon Young (Naperville Central) grabbed third with his pin of Jaden Lehman (Batavia) while Dawson Kemp (Dixon) won by fall for fifth against Naperville Central’s Sebastian Mitchell.

285- Knox Homola, Hampshire

Hampshire sophomore Knox Homola has a great sports name, and even greater results thus far for someone who barely tips the scales at just over 200 pounds in this big-man’s weight division.

“What I lack in weight, I make up for it with my speed and quickness, which has allowed me to have the success I’ve had, against much heavier guys than me,” said the affable Homola, who is now 16-2 overall after his pin at 1:37 with Prospect senior James Brouilette, whose late pin (5:33) in his semifinal sent him into the final.

“Knox is a very entertaining young man who has been working hard on his technique in order to compete in the heavyweight division. He’s quite comfortable wrestling against the larger wrestlers,” began head coach Matt Todd.

“He is a very hard worker, and he takes coaching really well from all of us, and the other thing about him is he is willing to do whatever it takes to help his team.”

Homola, who is a middle linebacker for the Hampshire football team, lost in the blood round at the Barrington sectional, finishing with an impressive 29-9 record in his rookie season.

Daniel Dalach (Joliet Catholic Academy) used a 10-5 decision over Marc Walsh (McHenry) to collect third place, and New Trier junior Cooper Kemnitz finished fifth overall with a fall against Moline’s Alijah Martin.

Final team standings:

Joliet Catholic Academy 264.0, Naperville Central 186.0, Dixon 157.0, Libertyville 124.5, Prospect 123.5, Moline 117.0, Grayslake Central 115.5, Hampshire 107.0, York 88.5, Batavia 78.5, Evergreen Park 76.5, Addison Trail 70.0, Niles North 66.5, New Trier 54.5, McHenry 38.0, Round Lake 20.5

By Chris Walker for the IWCOA

All IWCOA rankings courtesy of Rob Sherrill’s Illinois Best Weekly

PLANO — Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley won the 42nd annual Plano Reaper Classic on Saturday. It was the first time the Falcons won the tournament since 2016.

The Class 1A Falcons finished with 261.5 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up St. Rita’s 218.5. Yorkville Christian was third with 202. Ottawa Marquette’s 152 and Sandwich’s 147 rounded out the Top 5 among the 22-team field.

Marmion (146.5) was sixth and followed by Metea Valley (83.5), Plainfield Central (66), Hoopeston (62), East Aurora (55.5), Kaneland (54.5), Westmont (51.5), Plano (50.5), St. Francis (50.5), St. Charles North (50), LaSalle-Peru (48.5), St. Bede (48.5), Mendota (48), Amboy (44), Marian (32), De La Salle (24) and St. Edward (11). 

“I was very pleased with how we competed,” Falcons coach Josh Carter said. “A lot of the things that we talk about, especially early in the season, was just focusing on getting better. And, you know, we wanna see good competition and we thought we did that today and and I felt like some guys really stepped up and did a good job of taking a step in the right direction and just competing. I mean, there was some really good kids here. So yeah, I was very proud of our guys.”

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley had 12 placers and earned their way into half of the 14 titles bouts with Bentley Fields (113), Camden Brucker (132) and Hudson Babb (157) coming away as champions. Gage Martin (126), Nolan Lowe (144), Hunter Brandon (150) and Cooper Miller (165) placed second. Landen Lage (138) and Ethan Lowe (175) were third, and Julian Rodriguez (106), Jaxon Wright (215) and Carson Sexton (285) all won their respective fifth-place matches.

“I I love our team, like they’re super passionate about the sport,”  Babb said. “They’re always cheering for you on the sidelines. There’s no one ever silent when one of the Falcons are wrestling.”

The Falcons squeezed past Erie/Prophetstown, 156.5 to 153 in 2016 with Preston Braaten leading the way by winning the 152-pound title.

“We like coming up here,” Carter said. “We’ve been coming here, I don’t know, 20-plus years, and it’s a well run tournament, and we just enjoy the opportunity to compete with some teams up in these directions.” 

Runner-up St. Rita placed 10 wrestlers, with Jack Hogan (144) and Micah Spinazzola (165) winning titles for the Mustangs. Jack Braun (106), Cleto Protti (132), Andrew Lehman (157) and James Bansley (190) placed second, Luke Pappalas (138) and Mark Kelleher (285) were fourth and Omari Jones (120) and Keishawn Triplett (175) took fifth.

106: Dakota Harmon, Marquette

Hudson was one of three champions from Marquette which placed fourth overall, but tied team champs, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, for most champions.

Harmon had a bye and a fall to begin before earning a tech fall win over Metea Valley’s Jose Garcia in the quarterfinals. He didn’t have to break a sweat in the semifinals as he received the forfeit win over Marmion’s Caden Morrison.

Amboy’s Aden Spinelli beat Yorkville Christian’s Davin Torza, 7-3, for third place, and Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Julian Rodriguez won by forfeit over Marmion’s Caden Morrison for fifth.

113: Bentley Fields, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

This freshman Fields was the first of Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s three champions which led the Falcons to their first team title in the Reaper Classic in nearly a decade.

Fields finished his championship performance with a pin of Yorkville Christian’s Phoenix Senodenos at 5:57.

“I kept going after him,” Fields said. “After he got the first point, I went after him even harder. I did what I needed to do.”

Despite being in eighth grade at this time last year, Fields was close enough to the high school program to recognize what lay ahead this year. It’s certainly got him and his teammates excited about the winter.

“Last year our high school team was pretty good, but we didn’t have really lower weights,” he said. “We had good mid-weights, but now that all of our freshmen are in we have a lot of good low-weights, mid-weights, high-weights. I’m really excited for the year, really exited to wrestle really good competition. Like today. I knew there would be competition that would make me better.”

Marmion’s Ethan Bell earned a major decision over LaSalle-Peru’s Gianni Verucchi in the third-place match, while Metea Valley’s Alan Macias won by fall over Plano’s Sam Mussa to place fifth.

120: Brody Page, Marmion

After pinning Yorkville Christian’s Ryan Festerling Jr. in his semifinal match, Page turned his attention to the other semi between Marquette’s Wesley Janick and De La Salle’s Justin Forbes, a pair of young wrestlers with whom he had some familiarity.

Ultimately, he got Janick looking back at him, which matched a pair of IKWF champions from a year ago.

“I got my first couple matches done pretty quick so it was a good little warm-up,” Page said. “The finals I kind of knew the kids on the other side, (Justin) Forbes and (Wesley) Janick. They’re good competitors and Wesley won in the finals at IKWF last year. He was in the weight below me at 110 and I was 118 so we were both in the finals and he was actually a state champion so I knew this was going to be a good fight. I just came out there and got to my offense and I got the job done.”

Page is pinching himself that he’s a Cadet while his fellow Cadets and their coaching staff are pinching themselves that they’ve added such standout young talent. He was one of two athletes who was named Most Outstanding Wrestler in the tournament. Page received it among the 106 through 144 weight classes.

“It’s crazy. I’m so blessed to be at Marmion,” he said “It’s crazy. We’re like 15th in the country. I’m so glad to be a part of the squad. It’s been tough in these high school tournaments. I’m learning so much stuff, it’s been amazing.”

Having seniors like Demetrios Carrera, Joey Favia, Nicholas Garcias, Ashton Hobson, Zach Stewart and Vincenzo Testa certainly gives Page an opportunity this season to learn from an amazing group of veteran talent. Guys who know what it’s like to maneuver from the start of the season until the end and how to work in the off-season towards new ones. Guys who know what it takes to qualify for state and how to win state titles. Guys who know what it takes to win as a team, especially coming off last year’s team state dual title, the first in program history.

“Team dinners after practice, having fun at practices, it just all comes together and makes the sport enjoyable, school enjoyable, the team enjoyable,” he said. “They talk about how to just take everything in because it’s going to go by so quick so never skip reps and always put your heart into this because it’s going to fly by.”

Forbes earned a 7-5 decision to get past Festerling Jr. to win third place, and St. Rita’s Omar Jones scored a 9-6 decision over Sandwich’s Connor Blanchard to take fifth.

126: Aiden Bell, Hoopeston 

Making his fourth appearance in this tournament, Bell, ranked 2nd in 1A at 126, got rung in as a champion for the first time after pinning Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Gage Martin at 3:49.

Last year Bell fell short against another Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley kid, dropping a 4-0 decision in the final at 126. Bell also took fifth at 132 as a sophomore in 2023 and was fourth at 126 during his freshman year.

“(Martin) was getting to my leg more than I would like,” Bell said. “I thought I did an all right job defending it, but definitely got better keeping my legs away from him, then I stuck him in the second period.”

It’s senior year so Bell knows his time wrestling for Hoopeston is coming to an end soon so he’s fired up for his best finish.

“Last year I fell short at sectionals,” he said. “I was a match away from state and lost a close match, 8-5, and then went into the summer not satisfied so I went over to Patton Training throughout the summer and the fall. I got to meet a lot of good guys and get better and now we’re coming into the season to dominate.”

Spending a lot of time working hard at Patton has proven to be one of the best decisions Bell has made.

“It’s just a room filled with great guys,” he said. “I know like in my high school I’ve got great coaches, and also great guys there, but over at Patton it’s just full of studs wanting to get better.”

A couple of his teammates also placed, Earl Kelnhofer (190) took fifth and Tucker Deck (215) took sixth. Last year, Hoopeston had a pair of champs at the Reaper Classic in Charlie Flores (106) and Angel Zamora (175).

Marquette freshmen Logan Huenefeld pinned Westmont’s Ardan Baglaev at 3:10 to take third place, and Plainfield Central’s Liam Thompson won by fall at 3:07 over Yorkville Christian’s Christian Sandoval to take fifth.

132: Camden Brucker, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

A year ago, Brucker left Plano without a win at 113.

On Saturday, he left as the champion at 132.

What a difference it’s been for Brucker who credited his mental approach to playing a huge factor in his winning the title. Brucker outdueled St. Rita’s Cleto Protti, 13-12.

“I think it was my mentality overall because before the match I was really locked in,” he said. “I mean, normally I have a really big problem with staying very confident, but I’ve been focusing on it lately. So before that match me and my dad had a conversation and we were talking about what the kid was really good at. He liked to do a knee pick and ankle pick a bunch so I was making sure I was going to keep my leg back and he ended up getting me on it once, but that was it.”

After receiving two byes and losing twice last December at Plano, Brucker opened with a bye this year, pinned Sandwich’s Gus Harmon in the quarterfinals, and rested during a forfeit victory over Metea Valley’s Josue Ortega in the semifinals before beating Protti.

It was a huge victory for Brucker whose efforts also helped the team win the team title for the first time in 9 years.

“I’ve grown up with this team my whole entire life and we have a very good relationship all together so I think that really is what helps in the practice room,” he said. “We’re able to find the competition that we really need so we can get each other better.”

The Falcons, who reside about 90 miles away from Plano, have an enrollment of 269, so getting the chance to face a wide array of schools of different shapes and sizes was quite beneficial to see where they stand.

“This helps our team because we’re beating the bigger schools,” Brucker said,. “I think that really boosts our morale a lot more for all of us and we know that we’re good.”

St. Bede’s Max Moreno won by fall at 5:13 over Plano’s Shane Downs for third place, and Mendota’s Gavin Stevenson earned the forfeit victory for fifth over Metea Valley’s Josue Ortega.

138: Logan Conover, Marmion

Conover lost his keys and his sweatpants over the weekend, but he still hasn’t lost a match during his junior season. 

He met Yorkville Christian’s Ryan Alaimo in the title match. Alaimo who dropped his two matches last weekend at the McLaughlin Classic at Joliet Central, pinned three straight opponents before Conover cooled him off, scoring a 10-2 major decision in the final.

“I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into,” Conover said. “I will say, it was like a 30-minute drive, a fun drive, cold drive, I lost my sweatpants here, yeah, but I had a great tournament. At the last two matches I kind of changed my style from just digging for Peterson and chest wrapping to just kind of doing more baseline defense. And my main goal here was to open up on my offense and I think I did a good job with that. I won, but I was disappointed with myself on day two, didn’t get that goal with the offensive shots and stuff.”

Misplacing or losing personal items may have helped calm him, which apparently proved to be a good thing.

“I am not having a good week at keeping track of my stuff,” he said. “This was all (on Friday). The keys are somewhere at Marmion. I don’t know where the sweatpants are. I feel like this really helped me, even from the coaches for my matches because I get really nervous and the coaches do a great job of helping me look at the lighter side of it, with the silliness, just the laughter, it’s just an amazing team that I’m happy to be a part of.”

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Landen Page earned a 10-3 win over St. Rita’s Luke Pappalas to place third, and Plainfield Central’s Brody Rangel took fifth place, winning a battle between seniors, defeating St. Francis’ Paul Coco, 7-5.

144: Jack Hogan, St. Rita

Ranked 4th at 144 in Class 2A, Hogan was one of six St. Rita wrestlers to earn a berth in a title match, and the first of two to win a title.

He had a tight 1-0 win over Marmion’s Adam Kopcio In his quarterfinals before a 17-1 tech fall effort over Sandwich’s Jacob Cassie in the semifinals.

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Nolan Lowe was a formidable foe in the finals, but Hogan was able to outlast him, coming out on the high end of a 6-4 decision.

Kopcio scored a 7-2 decision against Amboy’s Caiden Heath to take home third place, and Yorkville Christian’s Adrian Wadas-Luis pinned Cassie to take fifth.

150: Cooper Corder, Sandwich

Ranked 3rd at 150 in Class 1A, Corder picked up a quick pin in his quarterfinal win before a tech fall over Kaneland’s Colten Heltsley in the semis. He picked up another tech fall win in the final over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Hunter Brandon to become a two-time champ at the Reaper Classic. He was named Most Outstanding Wrestler (150-285).

“I knew the Gibson City kid was decent,” Corder said. “I went in with the same mindset as I always do, ‘I’m going to wrestle my style and put the pace on him and do what I can.’  And I wouldn’t say I’m happy with how it went, but a win is a win. And I wanted to get it done in the first period but second period tech, can’t complain, I was happy with it.”

Corder took fifth in the state last season at 144 in Class 1A.

“I knew going into this there would be a lot of tough teams with 2A kids here and 3A Marmion, not with a full lineup because Ironman is going on but I knew there would be good competition,” Corder said. “And I went into this trying to prove a point. I’ve been getting ranked 3, 4, 7, like pretty low and I’ve been putting in a lot of work in the offseason and I wanted to prove that I’m here and I truly do think that I’ll win state this year. And my teammates are going to do a great job and hopefully go down to state as a team and I was just excited to go into the weekend and see what everyone else was working on.”

There’s no doubt that Corder is a student of the sport, constantly seeking ways to get better and opening himself up to learn from his colleagues.

“I wrestle all around the country and talk to so many people,” he said. “I try to expose myself to a lot of the hardest competition in the country because at the end of the day it’s all about growth instead of wins and losses. And through all of that I’ve learned that all the best kids, they trust in themselves. They believe in themselves and believe in their team and their coaching. I think that the good foundation you need is to believe not only yourself, but coaching, your training and all that.”

In the days of doom scrolling, Corder opts for books and podcasts as an alternative. 

“I’m big on mindset,” he said. “I read a lot of books and watch a lot of podcasts. I do all the things I need to do to make sure my mind is right because I think if in your head you have even the slightest bit of doubt, you’ve lost already. Going into this with not only believing in me, but also believing in my team gives that extra edge and it’s super cool to see everyone do well.”

Sandwich is vying to get to state as a team this season and Corder believes they can get there.

“Josh Kotalik’s been doing a lot of work and he’s looking great this season,” Corder said. “Kaden Clevenger weighs around 215 but he’s doing great at heavyweight and wrestling phenomenally. I really like wrestling with Kaden. He’s got a super good mindset of what to do, works hard, and even a lot of our freshmen are doing a great job. And Kai Kern too. He’s a senior and wrestling phenomenally. We have a young team so it’s good to see how they’re going to develop. It’s so fun. There’s never a dull moment in that room.”

A Corder has now won the 144 title three years in a row, as Cooper’s brother Miles Corder won it in 2023. The last non-Corder to win at 144 was Princeton’s Augie Christiansen in 2022.

Mendota’s Komen Denault pinned Kaneland’s Colten Heltsley at 2:38 to capture third place at 150, and Yorkville Christian’s Austin Wadas-Luis pinned St. Charles North’s Hudson VonQualen at 2:57 to match his brother, Adrian Wadas-Luis (144) in taking fifth place.

157: Hudson Babb, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

Babb remembers it well.

He opened his appearance in last year’s state finals with a 15-1 major decision loss to Dwight’s Dylan Crouch, who would proceed to take fifth place at 150 in Class 1A. He’d respond with a tech all over Kewanee’s Ben Taylor but his season would end with a 7-3 loss to LeRoy’s Kobe Brent.

“I finished 1-2 at state and right after I got beat out I didn’t take a break,” he said. “I just went right back to work. Trained with my coach, Logan Deacetis like five, six days a week and practice during the summer sometimes twice a day. I was working really hard keeping my goal in mind.”

He wasn’t surprised to see his team outscore the field.

“I mean, we trained pretty hard in the practice room day in, day out, so we were expecting to do good,” he said. “Yeah, we work pretty hard.”

Looking at how he wrestled, Babb enjoyed his tempo.

“What I liked most was just my pace,” he said. “Just stay cool and breathing, trying to mentally break him.”

Marmion’s Alex Korpan pinned Kaneland’s Jack Gruber at 3:08 to rebound and take home third place, and Metea Valley’s Owen Wijangco earned a 5-3 decision over Ottawa Marquette’s Brysen Manly for fifth.

165: Micah Spinazzola, St. Rita

Not having to wrestle until the quarterfinals, Spinazzola wasn’t warm when he hit the mat. Fortunately, the senior fought through the cold on a day where the temps outside dropped into the negative single digits.

Spinazzola, ranked 4th at 165 in Class 2A, wasn’t cold particularly because of Mother Nature, but because of the absence of assigned opposition at the start.

“Not too many matches because I had all those byes, but I got a little cold and I feel like I should definitely take warmups more seriously,” he said. “I would say that was definitely one of my negatives. So I’d go out there cold and I’ve got to warm up in the match. I need to get a sweat going before I go out there. It will make me feel better.”

He won by fall over Ottawa Marquette’s Bobby Speaks in 32 seconds to begin and followed with a fall in 2:59 over St. Francis’ Chase Siguenza in the semis. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Cooper Miller avoided a similar fate, but Spinazzola piled on the points before walking away a champ with the 17-1 tech fall win at 2:25.

“I can see it more clearly when I go against someone who really pushes me and can see my weaknesses,” he said. “I didn’t really see any this weekend so I can’t really say anything I’ve got to improve on.”

Spinazzola had high praise for off-season work with Victory Elite.

“I think preseason work with Jaydon Robinson and Chase Robinson, and all of them, they really helped me through the pre-season,” he said. “Helped me get ready for the season. Definitely makes me better.”

He expects St. Rita to be a lot better after a tough season a year ago.

“I feel like compared to last year we were nothing compared to what we are now,” he said. “We had half the guys injured last year. We’re coming with a full team. I feel like we’re going to surprise people. I feel like we are going to get up on the rankings and possibly make it to team state hopefully. That’s the goal.”

St. Francis junior Chase Siguenza won by tech fall, 15-0, over St. Charles North’s Doug Mejdrich for third place, and East Aurora’s Armani Meola had the top finish for the Tomcats, earning a pin over Yorkville Christian’s Henry Fox to place fifth.

175: Reily Leifheit, Marquette

You can’t get better without making progress. 

Nervousness used to get the best of Leifheit as an underclassman, but now that he’s a junior and continuing to absorb advice and train hard, he’s squashing it and reaping the benefits.

Leifheit dropped a heartbreaker a year ago in the Reaper Classic title match at 165, losing 2-1 on a tiebreaker against Princeton’s Casey Etheridge. 

On Saturday. he scored an 18-10 major decision over Sandwich’s Joshua Kotalik for the 175 title in a battle of two of the best in the state at 175 in Class 1A. Kotalik is ranked 8th and Leifheit is 9th so his victory based on those numbers was an upset.

Coincidentally, Leifheit’s dad, Ryan, wrestled for Sandwich, having graduated 30 years ago.

“I definitely didn’t wrestle how I wanted to,” Leifheit said. “It was sloppy, but that kid (Kotalik) was pretty strong. He just kept locking straight into me so I just blasted him. The other (matches) were pretty good.”

He’s listening to his coaches.

“Whenever I’m wrestling, if I’m in a bad match and not hitting what I want, I just listen for the coach’s voice,” he said. “It’s like exactly what I should be doing and ninety percent of the time it works.”

He’s keeping his cool.

“In previous matches I’ve learned it’s better even if you, you know, get taken down or reversed that you just keep a calm head and listen to your coach,” he said. “The minute you start to panic, things are going to get worse.

“My sophomore and freshman year I’d mess up mentally,” he said. “I would just get super nervous. This year I’m just trying to stay a lot calmer but, you know, still going to practices seven times a week. just trying to get better.”

He’s committed to the wrestling lifestyle.

“I just do a lot of recovery, like mental and, you know, physical, like cold tub sauna and then trying to focus on my matches to see what I did better and see when I panic in videos,” he said. “I look back on it and reflect.”

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Ethan Lowe pinned Metea Valley’s Lucas Marcoux at 1:58 to take third, and St. Rita’s Keishawn Triplett earned a tech fall win in the fifth-place match over LaSalle-Peru’s Beau Lawrence.

190: Ty Sabin, Plainfield Central

Sabin was feeling pretty good last year and then he got hurt.

“I got injured in practice wrestling with coach and I was out for eight weeks,” he said. “I came back right for the state series and place second in regionals. So I got into sectionals. I’m hoping to get all the way to state, that’s my big goal and hopefully I’ll get there.”

The senior received great results at Plano, winning the 190 title after a 13-2 major decision over St. Rita’s James Bansley. Regardless, Sabin wasn’t necessarily ecstatic with his success, which included a pair of pins against St. Bede’s Karson Kelly in the quarterfinals and Marian’s Adrian Esparza in the semis.

Sabin took third at Barrington earlier this year.

“Honestly, I was not very happy, could’ve been more dominant, more aggressive,” Sabin said. “But I’m still happy finishing first and am looking to be more aggressive.”

His workout partner, Emiliano Ramirez, continues to push him towards greater results, while off-season work at camps, including at Aurora University with Real Woods, among others, as well as practicing with his fellow Wildcats have helped get Sabin ready for his last year at Plainfield Central.

“I know I can rely on all of my teammates to push me,” he said. “They’re all hard workers and my work partner, Emiliano Ramirez, is always pushing. I’m very proud of how far he’s come and some of our guys, like Liam Thompson, it’s nice to see them grow.”

Ezparza earned a 13-4 major decision over Yorkville Christian’s Tyler Gleason to take third, and Hoopeston’s Earl Kelnhofer pinned St. Charles North’s Damon Hill for fifth.

215: Jackson Allen, Yorkville Christian

Allen won by fall against Marmion junior Luke Boersma at 3:12 for the 215-pound championship. Last year, Allen won at 190.

“I knew this guy was a good kid,” Allen said. “Last year I faced him and I wasn’t very happy with my performance. This year I wanted to really make a statement especially against a high-ranked kid like that. I went in there with intent and knew I could get it done and did.”

Boersma is ranked 6th in the state in Class 3A while Allen is 7th in Class 1A.

With the championship victory, Allen joined Sandwich’s Cooper Corder (150) as this year’s other two-time champion.

East Aurora’s Emmanuel Diaz earned a 15-7 major decision over Sandwich’s Kai Kern to place third, and Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Jaxon Wright won by ball over Hoopeston’s Tucker Deck for fifth.

285: Alex Schaefer, Marquette

Nothing could stop Schaefer.

A year after dropping the title match at 215 to Plano’s Richie Amakiri, Schaefer dominated four consecutive opponents this year at 285 to claim the program’s third individual title on the day.

Collectively, Schaefer only spent a little more than five minutes wrestling over the weekend, needing just 5:19 to get his four falls. 

De La Salle’s Jayden Ross-Pendleton, Marian’s Johnathan Dortch, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Carson Sexton and finally Sandwich’s Kaden Clevenger were the blocks in the road that Schaefer needed to get past in order to win the title. He got to Clevenger in 1:12.

Westmont senior Rafael Castrejon-Tello earned a 10-2 major decision over St. Rita’s Mark Kelleher to take third, and Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Carson Sexton was the 12th and final placer for his team-winning squad, taking fifth with a 2-0 decision over Yorkville Christian’s Hayden Wheeler.

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

When asked if he was surprised at the exponential growth of girls wrestling in Illinois since it became an IHSA sport five years ago, Huntley coach Scott Horcher had a quick reply.

“No, I’m not surprised,” he said. “Girls run the world.”

Huntley’s girls certainly ran the world at Maine East’s 23-team Mehoe Hernandez Invitational on Saturday, winning 182.5-131.5 over second-place Lane.

West Chicago (111.5) finished third, followed by Evanston (104.5) and Conant (100) to round out the top-five varsity finishes.

Resilience isn’t just an aspirational goal in wrestling. With so many duals and tournaments coming one after the next, resilience is downright necessary.Huntley’s team title required some resilience on Saturday, coming as it did less than 24 hours after the Red Raiders had a tough night against a heated rival.

“We had a rough dual against Hampshire last night and today we bounced back,” Horcher said. “We just called out the girls and said, ‘hey, we’ve got to step up and start battling when we get out in these matches’. And they showed up today.“Our varsity girls showed up and some of our jayvee girls that hadn’t had any wins got a couple wins today. I was really proud of them. We’ve got a good bunch of girls that I’m hoping to build the program in the coming years.”

The Hernandez invitational features a varsity and a junior varsity competition. Huntley won the varsity tournament with three individual champions, two runners-up, and nine total girls placing in the top six of their weight classes.

Conant dominated the junior varsity portion of the tournament and had the highest combined score of the 23 teams present.

Huntley’s varsity titles came from Janiah Slaughter (100), Isabelle Singer (120) and a returning state runner-up in Aubrie Rohrbacher (130).

“Today was awesome,” Rohrbacher said. “We had some girls that haven’t really wrestled yet for the first time here today. And some girls had really hard cuts and worked their butts off, and they all did great.”

Huntley got second-place finishes from Donna Garcia (115) and Lilliana Castanon (145), a third from Grecia Garcia (135), fourths from Haelynn Lettieri (110) and Cordelia Adame (125), and a sixth from Alyssa Aguilar (170). 

“I’m really pleased,” Horcher said. “I was really surprised with the effort that some of these girls put up there.”

Final varsity team scores:

Huntley 182.5, Lane 131.5, West Chicago 111.5, Evanston 104.5, Conant 100, Maine East 91, Addison Trail 86, Rickover Naval Academy 81, New Trier 76, Maine South 64, Elk Grove 62, Glenbrook North 49.5, Round Lake 49, Ridgewood 48, Loyola Academy 43.5, Highland Park 43, Maine West 37, Taft 36, Vernon Hills 13, Elgin 7, Niles West 3

Final junior varsity scores:

Conant 146, Maine East 142, Niles North 115.5, Vernon Hills 77, Addison Trail 71, West Chicago 71, Lane 70.5, Evanston 64, Rickover Naval Academy 62, Elgin 54, Highland Park 52.5, Round Lake 52, Taft 47, Ridgewood 46.5, Huntley 34, Waukegan 28, New Trier 26, Niles West 25.5, Glenbrook North 25, Maine South 25, Maine West 15


Individual Mejoe Hernandez Invitational champions (varsity):

100: Janiah Slaughter, Huntley

laughter kicked off the finals round in fine style for the Red Raiders, using a front headlock to turn Lane’s Sofia Guerrero and pin her at the 4:40 mark. Slaughter led 8-3 after two periods before posting her third fall of the tournament.

“Janiah, along with Aubrie (Rohrbacher) are our leaders on and off the mats,” Huntley coach Scott Horcher said. “Janiah was out last year due to injury so she has come back with a mission to be this year’s state champion. She’s one of those athletes that does her work when no one is looking, which is what top level athletes do. She is a fierce competitor and will always rise to the challenge at hand, win or lose. Girls like Janiah make it easy to be a good coach.”

Maine East’s Evelyn Torres pinned Rickover’s Dakota Perez for third place, and Addison Trail’s Melina Valdez won by medical forfeit on the fifth-place mat against West Chicago’s Allison Rocha.

105: Riley Kongkaeow, Round Lake

Three-time state qualifier Kongkaeow went 21-7 as a freshman and 33-5 as a sophomore. She broke through in a big way last year, going 45-5 and placing fourth in state as a junior at 100 pounds.
The awards stand at the state finals was nice, and the lesson Kongkaeow learned last year is driving her in her senior year.

“I think I just learned that I have to trust myself and not doubt myself,” she said. “And now I want more. Last year was pretty good but I think I can do better. I’m working on my neutral more this year just to get on my offense, and just really commit to my shots instead of hesitating a lot.”

That offense was on display Saturday. Kongkaeow used a fall and then two tech falls to snare the title at 105, capped by a tech fall in the finals against Glenbrook North’s Leah Stringfellow, who posted two falls to reach the title mat.

Kongkaeow is operating at a high level physically on the mat, and she continues to work on the most challenging part of the sport — the mental game.

“I work on it all the time,” she said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself so my coach has been working with me to, like, get my mental up and to stay confident throughout. It’s an ongoing process but my team helps a lot, too. Even though it’s just me on the mat, they’re so supportive, and I just want to win for them, too.”

Addison Trail’s Isabella Datil won a 3-0 decision for third place against New Trier’s Isabella Castro, and Maine West’s Lesly Zepeda pinned Lane’s Valeria Hernandez.

110: Valeria Pesantes, Elk Grove

A takedown in each period gave Pesantes a 9-0 lead in her title match against New Trier’s Sunny Aitzemkour and after each of those takedowns, Pesantes flatly refused to let a feisty Aitzemkour earn an escape point.

“I’m stubborn,” Pesantes said. “Whenever I train, whether it’s at school or outside of school, I have this mentality that I’m going to be stubborn and I’m not going to let you get out.”
Aitzemkour battled to a third-period escape before Pesantes posted a final takedown en route to a 12-1 major decision win for the title.

Pesantes went 23-4 as a junior state qualifier last season. She cited her faith as a driving influence in her life, and the strength she gets from that faith clearly informs her approach to wrestling.

“Win or lose, I’m going to learn something and I’m going to get better,” she said. “By the time I’m out there on the mat, I don’t care who’s in front of me. I don’t care if it’s a three-time state champion or somebody who started wrestling yesterday — I’m going to go out there, I’m going to be aggressive, and I’m going to do stuff that I know how to do.”

West Chicago’s Brissia Bucio won by fall over Huntley’s Haelynn Lettieri for third place, and Maine East’s Eliana Badeen pinned Rickover’s Litzy Estrada on the fifth-place match.

115: Giselle Varelas Gaytan, Conant

No one survived to wrestle a third period against Varelas Gaytan Saturday, as she posted pins at 0:48, 1:28, and then just 10 seconds into her title match against Huntley’s Donna Garcia.

“Giselle is a sophomore who only started wrestling thirteen months ago,” Conant coach Brad Bessemer said. “She is really explosive and gifted athletically, but more importantly she has an incredible appetite to learn and improve.  She loves to wrestle and compete.  I cannot keep her off the mats.”
Varelas Gaytan and Bilyal (155) gave Conant two champions on the day.

“I couldn’t be happier for Giselle and Susan,” Bessemer said. “Each put in significant off-season work to position themselves for success this high school season and they are beginning to find the success that they’ve earned.”

Varelas Gaytan pinned her way past Maine South’s Annika Lee in their semifinal match. Garcia had two wins by fall to reach the finals, including a fall in her semifinal against Evanston’s Kyra Rivera.
Maine South’s Lee won by fall for third place against Evanston’s Rivera, and Lane’s Lauren Guerrero placed fifth by fall over Elgin’s Valeria Guzman.

120: Isabelle Singer, Huntley

Singer used variety in winning her title, opening with a pair of pins before posting a tech fall in her semifinal match and then a 13-0 major decision for the title against West Chicago’s Mackensie Szajda.
Singer led 9-0 after two periods on a pair of takedowns and some near-fall points in the finals.
“I just wrestled really hard and I tried my best,” Singer said. 

“I want to get up there, you know,” Singer said, gesturing to the top of the awards stand. “I’ve been practicing my tilts, and I want to stay in good position, so it was working today. Now I’m just trying to focus mentally on telling myself I can do it. That’s the hardest part. I’ve been wrestling for three years now, I joined a club this summer and I went to a bunch of international tournaments because I wanted to get more experience.”

Szajda won by fall in her semifinal match against Evanston’s Oyetola Jacobs, and Singer reached the final with a tech fall against Loyola’s Mia Pendic.

Pendic pinned Rickover’s Paige Finnegan for third place and Jacobs won a 6-2 decision for fifth place over Maine South’s Crystalia Psyhogios.

125: Ariela Dobin, Glenbrook North

Two-time state qualifier Dobin went 33-5 as a freshman and placed fourth at 120. She followed that up by going 45-2 last year and reached the state title mat before losing to Illinois’ first four-time state champion, Hononegah’s Angelina Cassioppi.

Then-sophomore Dobin battled senior Cassioppi into the third period before losing by fall, and she learned a valuable lesson in the process.

“Mentally, I was nervous before that match and I let those nerves overtake me,” Dobin said. “You have to be confident in yourself and don’t let nerves dictate the match.

“I also learned that there’s no point in the match where you can give up and that in the practice room you need to go through every position. You have to put yourself in those dangerous positions that you don’t even think you might end up in. So that’s what I’ve worked on.”

Dobin was dominant at Maine East, posting a fall and a tech fall before winning the title at 125 with a fall at 0:21 against Addison Trail’s Evolet Mata.

It was one quick early takedown, one turn, and one win by fall in aggressive style for Dobin.

“My goal every match is to be aggressive, get on the attack, and if I can dominate and win as fast as possible, then that’s what I’m going to do,” Dobin said. “I feel like my takedowns are a lot more versatile, you know. I can shoot to both sides of the body, I’m flowing more, I’m not so stiff. And my mentality is just score points and attack.”

Evanston’s Samantha Gipson won by fall for third against Huntley’s Cordelia Adame, and New Trier’s Molly Zeidler won by fall on the fifth-place mat against Taft’s Jennifer Arenas.

130: Aubrie Rohrbacher, Huntley

Three-time state qualifier Aubrie Rohrbacher has built quite a resume as a high school wrestler: she went 28-5 as a freshman at 125; 40-4 at 130 and placed third in Illinois as a sophomore; and went 45-10 and placed sixth at 130 last year.

She’s aiming for the highest spot on the downstate podium this year, armed with the seasoning of more than a hundred high school wins.

“It’s just about being smart,” she said. “It’s using my technique over my strength. I’ve learned that over the last year, that you can’t always use your strength and outpower everybody. Using technique is so important.”

Rohrbacher won a straight decision on the Maine East title mat against a feisty, tough wrestler in Ridgewood’s Gianna Mezzano.

After a scoreless first period, Mezzano chose down position and Rohrbacher turned her to take a 4-0 lead. A penalty point and escape point cut Rohrbacher’s lead to 4-2 in the third period, but she posted another takedown en route to a 7-3 decision win.

“I wish every match was like that one. I want to be challenged like that,” Rohrbacher said.
Extensive experience in the sport has given her a mature perspective.

“You have to learn that you can always put in a hundred percent and even if you don’t get the outcome you wanted, that doesn’t mean you’re not getting enough. You have to try to have fun and just do your best.”

Evanston’s Alena Oshana won by fall for third place over Highland Park’s Riley Moore, and New Trier’s Zmorah Izenstark won by fall for fifth against Evanston’s Aileen Trejo.

135: Zabby Badru, Lane

Badru was a 41-match winner and a state qualifier last year as a sophomore, and as a junior she’s off to a fast start. Badru opened with a fall and then a tech fall win before winning by fall at just 32 seconds into her title match Saturday against a returning two-time state qualifier in Conant senior Jasmine Zavaleta.
Zavaleta took a shot early in the match and Badru caught, turned, and pinned her for the win.

“Zabby is one of our captains and a light in our wrestling room,” Lane coach Liam Cummings said. “The progress she has made in the last two seasons is exponential and I get excited every time she steps on the mat. Saturday was another showing of her dominance. All twelve of her wins this season have come by win or tech fall. Her love for the sport, her teammates, and learning is what has taken her this far.”

Zavaleta opened with a pin and again won by fall in her semifinal match against Addison Trail’s Brittany Mondragon to reach the title mat. Badru won her semifinal by tech fall against Huntley’s Gracia Garcia.
Garcia went on to place third in a sudden victory win, 4-0 over Mondragon, while Vernon Hills’ Gianna Cerauli won by fall for fifth place over Taft’s Kylie Kowalisyn.

140: Rose McFadden, Ridgewood

McFadden had some wind in her sails after watching teammate Gianna Mezzano battle tooth-and-nail at 130 against a returning state runner-up in Aubrey Rohrbacher.

“If I see her have a good match, I have a good match,” McFadden said. 

That she did. McFadden pinned West Chicago’s Alana Smith on the title mat

It was McFadden’s third pin of the day. She also won the title at 140 at last week’s Evanston tournament.
Not bad for a relative newcomer.

“I did okay last year but it was my first year wrestling,” McFadden said. “I loved it right away and I’ve been wrestling all summer at different training facilities and tournaments. I’ve gone to Notre Dame, and I went to the Northern Plains and broke my collarbone, so I was out for a while. But I got right back into it.”

McFadden has embraced the good, healthy dose of butterflies that can churn before a match.
“I can be as stressed as I want before I go out there,” she said, “but once I get out there, there’s no going back.”

Maine West’s Grace Graves won by fall for third place against Maine East’s Kamila Sosa, and Maine South’s Addison Barnes won by fall for fifth place against Elk Grove’s Otylia Moore.

145: Jocelyn Quillay, Rickover Naval Academy

Quillay wrestled all day like she had an appointment she needed to get to. The Rickover junior spent a grand total of 1:24 on the mat over the three matches she wrestled in winning her title at 145 pounds.
Quillay’s pins came at 0:25, 0:45 and finally 0:33 on the title mat against Huntley’s Lilliana Castanon.
Quillay received some familial advice on her approach to the sport.

“My mom kept on telling me, she’s like, if you’re going to do something, do it right,” Quillay said. “If you’re going to do it, do it. Keep your mind on it. And if you put your mind to it, you’re going to get it.
“It’s all about the mentality. If you feel like you got it, you got it. I went from literally almost losing all of my matches last season and, I mean, look at me now. It’s all about your mentality.”

Quillay won by fall in her semifinal against Evanston’s Isabella Vernon, while Castanon won by fall in her semifinal against Highland Park’s Dorothy Perez. Vernon wrestled back for third place, winning a 6-3 decision over Taft’s Evelyn Rodriguez. Perez won her fifth-place match by major decision against Elk Grove’s Priyanka Zala.

155: Susan Bilyal, Conant

Conant’s Susan Bilyal likes the direction her program is headed, and after winning the title at 155 she was clear on who is responsible.

“We have improved a lot and I think it’s because the coaches are strict, but they also understand that we’re young,” Bilyal said. “They understand we’re teenagers, and they don’t stop us from being teenagers. If you’re wrestling, you want it to be enjoyable, and they give us a lot of freedom to be who we are.”
Her coach sent some gratitude right back in Bilyal’s direction.

“She provides maturity and leadership to our group and has played an outsized role building the culture of our program,” Conant coach Brad Bessemer said. “I’m really happy that Susan is finding more and more success. She’s a great kid.”

Bilyal won by medical forfeit on the title mat against Loyola’s Mma Akela, joining teammate Giselle Varelas Gaytan as one of Conant’s two varsity champions on the day.

The tournament at Maine East included both varsity and junior varsity competitions, and while Huntley won the varsity team title, Conant scored the most combined team points between the two levels.
Bilyal enjoyed the strong showing by Conant’s junior varsity wrestlers.

“My freshman year towards the end of the season, there was probably only like seven girls competing, total,” she said. “And now we have like twenty or twenty-five girls, and we’re a lot of freshmen and sophomores. So the team has improved a lot and everyone has gotten better.”

Round Lake’s Myriah Jefferson placed third with a fall over Lane’s Layla Moreland, and Maine West’s Kaya Zajda placed fifth with a fall over West Chicago’s Alina Fernandez.

170: Lexi Rosenthal, Highland Park

Rosenthal and Addison Trail’s Sylvia Lupa locked horns in the wildest title match of the day, with Rosenthal winning by fall late in the second period.

Rosenthal led 7-4 after one period, Lupa escaped to start the second to make it 8-4, and then cut Rosenthal’s lead to 8-7 with a takedown late in the period.

With less than 15 seconds remaining in the period, Rosenthal reversed Lupa and stuck her at the 3:53 mark to win the title at 170.

“Usually I (stink) at getting off bottom, but today I pulled through,” Rosenthal said.

“This sport is so mental. It’s just hard. Wrestling definitely stresses me out but every day, as long as I know that I gave it my best, I know that’s a good day. You have to just be yourself and do your best in this sport, and your best is always going to be good enough.”

Her title match wasn’t Rosenthal’s only close match of the day. She opened the tournament with a win by fall and then won 18-11 in overtime of her semifinal match against Lane’s Kenaiece Barrett. Lupa won by decision and then by fall in her semifinal against Rickover’s Midna Lazoya.

Barrett went on to place third with a 5-0 decision against West Chicago’s Olivia Halminiak, and Lazoya placed fifth by fall against Huntley’s Alyssa Aguilar.

190: Akyah Thomas, Lane

In only her second year in the sport, Thomas has embraced the fight against one of wrestling’s biggest demons — the fear of losing.

“I just stopped running away from it,” Thomas said after winning the title at 190 pounds. “I’m starting to love it and accepting my wins and my losses. Because you’re going to be scared but you can’t get hesitant. When I first started I was so nervous, so scared. And it showed up on the mat.

“Now I feel like I’m just starting to get better and once you get better, it starts to be more fun.”

Thomas pinned her way to the title, capped by a fall at 0:36 in the finals against Elk Grove’s Ava Buchanan. 

“I kind of just feel it out, see what they’re doing, try to catch on to their flaws as soon as possible and just take advantage of them,” Thomas said.

Thomas joined teammate Zabby Badru (135) in winning an individual Hernandez title for second-place Lane.

“Our team tripled this past year,” Thomas said. “We have like 4,000 kids, so I would hope we could get, like, thirty girls. And I feel like once we leave, our program is going to be well represented by them.”
Buchanan won by fall in her semifinal against Maine East’s Angie Wszolek, while Thomas pinned West Chicago’s Weni Koudi in their semifinal match.

Evanston’s Fatima Gomez won by fall for third place against New Trier’s Caroline Seidel, and Koudi won by medical forfeit for fifth place over Wszolek.

235: Sophia Fortis, Maine South

Fortis and Conant’s Ava AdorniAdomi tangled in one of only two title matches decided by simple decision, with Fortis winning a 5-2 decision built on a third-period takedown.
That pivotal takedown punctuated a focus for Fortis this season.

“I want to get better at my shots,” she said. 

Fortis and Adorni were tied 2-2 when Fortis notched her takedown, en route to the 5-2 win. Fortis also placed third at this year’s 22-team Waukegan tournament.

She felt good after winning a hard-fought battle against a tough opponent in Adomi.

“She was a lot stronger than I was used to, at least this season,” Fortis said of Adomi. “I didn’t really get that perspective with a lot of my other matches, but with her, she was very strong.I feel like I wrestled well today. My (snap-downs) were working a lot and they were working well today.”

Fortis won by fall in her semifinal match against Rickover’s Julia Augello, while Adomi won her semifinal by fall against Maine East’s Lyric Walton.

Evanston’s Sophia Moreno placed third with a fall against Walton, and Augello won her fifth-place match by fall against West Chicago’s Jade Esquivel.

By Mike Garofola – for the IWCOA

Antioch’s Ted DeRousse Tournament

The annual Ted DeRousse Tournament recently moved from host Antioch to inside the gorgeous state-of-the-art field house at Lakes Community which features a giant-sized video screen and plenty of extra seating in the mezzanine to provide terrific viewing options for fans of this tournament to watch the 21-team field.

Class 2A power and reigning state champion IC Catholic Prep sent 10 from its starting lineup to compete at the prestigious Ironman in Ohio, but despite the missing star power of those on the road, the competition for top individual trophies, as well as the team trophy was fierce.

When it was over, North Suburban Conference power Stevenson collected 454.0 overall points to close out runner-up Carl Sandburg (427.5) as well as Deerfield (330.0) while Grant (325.0) and Freeport (318.5) rounded out the top five of the leader board.

Grant, without two of the best in the state (Vince Jasinski and Erik Rodriguez) also away at the Ironman, turned in a solid day of work to finish fourth, just five points from Deerfield.

“It was a long day of wrestling, with each guy getting six matches, but our guys dug deep, kept their focus, and took (it) one match at a time,” said Stevenson head coach Shane Cook, whose club garnered a tourney-high four individual champion medals, and seven top-five medals in addition to its first place success.

“We are extremely proud of how well the team performed, and it’s a testament to how hard our guys work.”

“(Our) four champions, Daniel Berdich, Marcelo Cantu, Mikey Polyakov and Philip Boyko are really competing at a high level right now, so we’re excited for what is ahead for us.”.

The climb to the podium for the Patriots was helped by the tourney-best 13 tech falls it recorded, as well as the massive difference in total team points (557) which was over 150-more than runner-up Carl Sandburg had with 402.

1st: Stevenson (454.0)

The Patriots would celebrate the efforts of their four champions, Daniel Berdich (113, 12-1), Marcelo Cantu (126, 9-2), Mikey Polyakov (138, 13-4) and Philip Boyko (175, 14-3), who led the tourney with five pins and and 52 team points. No. 7 Berdich, along with Cantu and Polyakov, were all state qualifiers a year ago.

Senior Shawn Kogan (14-2) was second at 132, Stefan (106) and Valentin Vihrov (144) both took third and the quartet of Evan Mishels (120), Will Guziec (157), Arthur Grechanyuk (190) and Jaxon James (215) all collected a fifth-place medal.

2nd: Carl Sandburg (427.5)

The Eagles were serious contenders all throughout the day, thanks in part to the

championship effort from No. 4 Brady Ritter (10-0) at 157 pounds, a second-place finish by junior Oscar Kalman (138, 8-1) plus another eight top-five medals on the day.

Ritter and Kalman would contribute plenty of extra points when they recorded pins along the way for coach Clinton Polz’ Eagles club that led the entire field with 24 pins.

In addition to the top two medals from the aforementioned Ritter-Kalman duo, 

Macarten Parker (132) and Wyatt Hochgraber (215) would both earn third place medals, Melsyon Vrapi (150) took fourth and the quartet of Zayne Salah (126), Obaida Hasan (165), Adnan Askar (175), and Rami Hindi (285) all coming in at fifth place.

3rd: Deerfield (330.0)

Deerfield (7-2-0), ranked No. 14 in Class 2A, would show that it belonged with the big boys following its terrific effort on the day as the Warriors, behind their lone individual champ, junior Adrian Cohen (132, 15-1), had enough to stay ahead of the Grant Bulldogs, who were chasing a top-three spot all throughout the afternoon.

Cohen’s second major of the season, the other at Addison Trail, would complement three second-place medals, that were won by Jake Pechter (106, 14-2), Danny Martinez (126, 12-5), and Alexander Shvartsman (144, 14-3).

The freshman Pechter is the son of the longtime and highly-successful head coach, Marc Pechter, who during his brilliant career has led his program to four dual team state appearances, highlighted by a second-place finish to Joliet Catholic Academy in Class 2A in 2022, while also sending dozens of his men to college since taking over in 2000. Jayme Cohen (113, 11-3) and Jonathan Weissmueller (165, 10-1) were fourth.

Additional individual champions:

106: Treyden Didich (Freeport); 120: Jayce Glauser (Grant); 144: Chase Nobiling (Antioch);

150: Dominic Garcia (Antioch); 165: Joey Pontrelli (IC Catholic Prep); 190: John Rappa (Rolling Meadows); 215: Teigen Moreno (Dundee-Crown); 285: King Johnson (Quincy Senior)

Additional runners-up:

113: Larry Quirk (Grant); 120: Kannon Judycki (IC Catholic Prep); 150: Carter Skoff (Morris); 157: Bryce Bryant (Springfield High); 165: Dylan Hood (165, Kenosha St. Joseph); 175: Owen Olson (Morris)

Final team standings:

Stevenson 454.0, Carl Sandburg 427.5, Deerfield 330.0, Grant 325.00, Freeport 318.5, Quincy Senior 298.5, Andrew 293.0, Antioch 286.0, Morris 286.0, Plainfield East 193.5, Carmel Catholic 189.0, Shepard 177.5, Rolling Meadows 149.5, IC Catholic Prep 139.5, Dundee-Crown 139.0, Harvard 120.0, J. Sterling Morton 119.0, Northridge Prep 119.0, Springfield High 98.0, Kenosha St. Joseph, WI 95.5, Lakes Community 85.0

Championship match results:

106- Treyden Diduch (Freeport) d. Jake Pechter (Deerfield) (TF 2:53).

113- Daniel Berdich (Stevenson) d. Larry Quirk (Grant) (MD 12-4).

120- Jayce Glauser (Grant) d. Kannon Judycki (IC Catholic Prep) (SV-1, 4-1).

126- Marcelo Cantu (Stevenson) d. Danny Martinez (Deerfield) (D 11-6).

132- Adrian Cohen (Deerfield) d. Shawn Kogan (Stevenson) (F 3:19).

138- Mikey Polyakov (Stevenson) d. Oscar Kalman (Carl Sandburg) (D 7-0).

144- Chase Nobiling (Antioch) d. Alexander Shvartsman (Deerfield) (MD 15-2).

150- Dominic Garcia (Antioch) d. Carter Skoff (Morris) (M. FFT).

157- Brady Ritter (Carl Sandburg) d. Bryce Bryant (Springfield High) (D 7-1).

165- Joey Pontrelli (IC Catholic Prep) d. Dylan Hood (Kenosha St. Joseph) (D 11-8).

175- Philip Boyko (Stevenson) d. Owen Nelson (Morris) (F 0:40).

190- John Rappa (Rolling Meadows) d. Casey Gipson (Grant) (MD 10-2).

215- Teigen Moreno (Dundee-Crown) d. Israel Goodman (Freeport) (F 3:49).

285- King Johnson (Quincy Senior) d. Sabastian Murray (Freeport) (F 0:41).

Third-place match results:

106- Stefan Vihrov (Stevenson) d. Griffin Finch (Quincy Senior) (TF 1:41).

113- Clayton McClelland (Quincy Senior) d. Jayme Cohen (Deerfield) (MD 15-3).

120- Owen Sater (Morris) d. Brandon Kalman (Carl Sandburg) (F 3:46).

126- Breidyn Hoffman (Grant) d. Jaylen Lowe (Freeport) (TF 4:19).

132- Macarten Parker (Carl Sandburg) d. Josh Kubicki (Antioch) (F 1:34).

138- Brock Claypool (Morris) d. Nadeem Haleem (Andrew) (M. FFT).

144- Valentin Vihrov (Stevenson) d. George McShane (Northridge Prep) (D 3-1).

150- Antonio Hinojosa (Carmel Catholic) d. Melsyon Vrapi (Carl Sandburg) (MD 17-6).

157- Danny Mandujano (Carmel Catholic) d. Grayson Lennon (Grant) SV-1, 9-6).

165- Angelo Jura (Andrew) d. Jonathan Weissmueller (Deerfield) (MD 13-0).

175- Josh Rappa (Rolling Meadows) d. Aiden Hill (Shepard) (TF 3:28).

190- Colin Arguilla (Antioch) d. Bo Branum (Harvard) (F 1:09).

215- Wyatt Hochgraber (Carl Sandburg) d. Malachi Congo (Morris) (D 7-4).

285- Eli Zanger (Quincy Senior) d. Noah Breckenridge (Carmel Catholic) (F 1:44).

Richmond-Burton’s Tom Dubois Tournament

Joliet West was a late addition to the 16th Tom Dubois Tournament at Richmond-Burton, and the Tigers made the most of the invitation.

Awais Arain’s men led the field with 422 total match points, claimed 16 pins along with third-place Johnsburg, and parlayed a pair of first place trophies, along with nine top-five medals to outscore its nearest challenger, the home side Rockets 225.0-176.0 for first place.

“Overall, the team had a lot of fun competing (here) and we are thankful for Tony Nelson (Richmond-Burton head coach) for adding us at the last second after our quad on the same day was cancelled,” said Arain.

“Joliet (West) was a great addition to our tournament, they were a real solid team, with some terrific guys throughout the weight classes, and I am glad that we were able to get them here with us,” added Nelson.

1st: Joliet West (225.0)

Coehn Weber (13-2) was too much for his rivals on his way to the 150-pound title

while his teammate Jacob Tyderek (13-5) pinned his way to the 215-pound crown with his four pins in just over nine minutes. Weber registered a pair of falls, and a tech-fall in his final.

Casey Koerner (106), Nick Murdock-Schey (113) and Tristan Radeke (175) added valuable wins and points with their second-place medals, as did the third place trio of Jakob Crandall (126), Israel Booth (157) and Aiden Brown at 165.

Francisco Oliva (106) and Giovanni Baker (138) were fourth overall, with James Koulis earning a fifth place finish at 190.

“Coehn Weber wrestled a great tournament, all three of his matches ended in the first period by technical superiority, or with a fall,” began Arain. “(His) offense in all three phases was sharp, and we’re looking forward to building on his performance here.”

“(Jacob) Tyderek wrestled great for us as well, he concluded all four of his matches with a fall prior to the third period, and he is continuing to improve as the season progresses, and we’re excited about the direction he is taking. Koerner, Murdock-Schey and Radeke wrestled a well-rounded tournament, and just fell short of their goals.”

2nd: Richmond-Burton (176.0)

The host Rockets led the field with five individual champions: Lelan Nelson (126), Wyatt Franckowiak (132), Max Martin (157), Blake Livdahl (190) and Breckin Campbell (285).

“Lelan is up a weight, but his 1-0 win in the final was against a state qualifier,” began head coach Tony Nelson, whose son (Emmett) was a 1A state champion a year ago, and four-time state medal winner, now wrestling at UW-Parkside.

“Franckowiak is just a freshman and is coming along nicely, while Max (Martin) won his first varsity tournament of his career here at home,” continued Nelson.

“Breckin is not one of the biggest heavyweights, but he has a big frame, and is a great athlete, and Blake Livdahl, who won at (190) today, and is the No. 2 guy at (175) was the upper weight O.W. and very deserving.”

Livdahl was a class 1A state runner-up last season at 175. Dylan (175) and Shane (215) Falasca both took third.

Nelson was quick to point out the brilliant performance turned in by Union Grove, Wisconsin junior Camden Rugg (9-0), who won easily at 113 pounds, and has already committed to wrestle at the University of Michigan.

Rugg became the first-ever wrestling state champion at Union Grove last season when he went a perfect 49-0 in dominating fashion, with all but two ending with a pin.

3rd: Johnsburg (148.0)

While coach James Sylvanus’ Skyhawks were unable to send any of their men to the top of the podium, they were able to collect seven top-five medals on the day.

Tanner Hansen (150), Kainoa Ancog (157) and Duke Mays (190) were all second while teammate Chase Vogel (120) was third. Chase Davis (132), Jordan Sylvanus (165) and Jackson Hjorth (215) were fifth overall.

Additional individual champions:

106: Cam Whitehead (Winnebago); 113: Camden Rugg (Union Grove): 120: Josiah Perez (Oregon); 138: Nathan Randle (Crystal Lake South); 144: Lincoln Hoger (Wheaton Academy); 

165: Aiden Marrello (Crystal Lake South); 175: Tyler Jones (Wheaton Academy)

Additional runners-up:

120: Gabe Marella (North Boone); 126: Isaiah Perez (Oregon); 132: Carson Benesh (Oregon), 138: Nelson Benesh (Oregon); 144: Michael Barndt (Lake Forest); 150: Tanner Hansen (Johnsburg); 157: Kainoa Ancog (Johnsburg); 165: Ethan Waugh (Stillman Valley); 190: Duke Mays (Johnsburg); 215: Yaree Sandifer (Lake Forest); 285: Antonio Osorio-Pasillas (Jefferson)

Final team standings:

Joliet West 225.0, Richmond-Burton 176.0, Johnsburg 148.0, Wheaton Academy 143.0, Crystal Lake South 141.0, Oregon 134.0, Marengo 106.0, Lake Forest 86.0, Winnebago 85.5, Union Grove, WI 75.0, Stillman Valley 66.0, Jefferson 49.5, North Boone 47.0, Grayslake North 35.0, Alden-Hebron 16.0, Woodstock North 16.0, Durand 11.0, Genoa-Kingston 3.0.

Championship match results:

106- Cam Whitehead (Winnebago) d. Casey Koerner (Joliet West) (TF 5:07).

113- Camden Rugg (Union Grove) d. Nick Murdock-Schey (Joliet West) (TF 1:04).

120- Josiah Perez (Oregon) d. Gabe Marella (North Boone) (D 6-5).

126- Lelan Nelson (Richmond-Burton) d. Isaiah Perez (Oregon) (D 1-0).

132- Wyatt Franckowiak (Richmond-Burton) d. Carson Benesh (Oregon) (TB-1, 2-1).

138- Nathan Randle (Crystal Lake South) d. Nelson Benesh (Oregon) (MD 26-12).

144- Lincoln Hoger (Wheaton Academy) d. Michael Barndt (Lake Forest) (F 1:57).

150- Coehn Weber (Joliet West) d. Tanner Hansen (Johnsburg) (TF 1:34).

157- Max Martin (Richmond-Burton) d. Kainoa Ancog (Johnsburg) ( D 5-3).

165- Aiden Marrello (Crystal Lake South) d. Ethan Waugh (Stillman Valley) (D 4-3).

175- Tyler Jones (Wheaton Academy) d. Tristan Radeke (Joliet West) (D 7-2).

190- Blake Livdahl (Richmond-Burton) d. Duke Mays (Johnsburg) (D 4-2).

215- Jacob Tyderek (Joliet West) d. Yaree Sandifer (Lake Forest) (F 2:53).

285- Breckin Campbell (Richmond-Burton) d. Antonio Osario-Pasillas (Jefferson) (F 1:30).

Third-place match results:

106- Carter Paulson (Stillman Valley) d. Francisco Oliva (Joliet West) (D 9-5).

113- Logan Aarseth (Crystal Lake South) d. Jordan Lowe (Oregon) (F 3:48).

120- Chase Vogel (Johnsburg) d. Charlie Biddle (Lake Forest) (D 8-3).

126- Jakob Crandall (Joliet West) d. Jackson Hopkins (Winnebago) (TF 3:25).

132- Hayden Beebe (Marengo) d. Paul Keeku (Union Grove) (D 9-2).

138- Mitchell Aukes (Marengo) d. Giovanni Baker (Joliet West) (TF 3:35).

144- Hunter Boley (Marengo) d. Brodie Watterson (Stillman Valley) (F 1:28)

150- Paul Halak (Lake Forest) d. Joey Guidi (Wheaton Academy) (MD 18-8).

157- Israel Booth (Joliet West) d. Logan Boley (Marengo) (SV-1, 9-6).

165- Aiden Brown (Joliet West) d. Ryan Hess (Marengo) (F 0:21).

175- Dylan Falasca (Richmond-Burton) d. Gavin Baros (Marengo) (INJ 4:00).

190- Johnny Strauss (Winnebago) d. Frankie Solis (Marengo) (F 5:50).

215- Shane Falasca (Richmond-Burton) d. Jacksyn Windham (Oregon) (TF 5:00).

285- Hezzy Garcia (Wheaton Academy) d. Christian Allen (North Boone) (D 2-1).

Buffalo Grove’s Rex Lewis Tournament

It was too much star power that would lead to a decisive win by tournament champion St. Patrick, who came to the Rex Lewis in Buffalo Grove with five returning state qualifiers and made their mark on this annual event by scoring 213.5 points while Schaumburg took second place with 171.5 points.

“Last weekend we finished second at Rockford East, and it felt like a colossal failure despite having the same expectations for this tournament,” began Shamrocks head coach Dominic Angelo, who took the program over at the start of the 2015-2016 season.

“We fully expected our five state qualifiers to win their weight classes to help lead us to a tournament championship, so to see us finish the job, and secure our first in-season team title in quite awhile was a great feeling.

“Our top (five) are big-time wrestlers, who can compete with anyone in the state, regardless of class, but with that said, this program demands that every athlete in the lineup holds high expectations for their own effort every time they step out onto the mat.”

“It was exciting to watch guys like Dean Angelo, Tim Golden, Andrew Rieger and Tony Reyes progressing and rapidly closing the gap against elite competition.”

1st: St. Patrick (213.5)

It was a proud head coach Dominic Angelo who cheered the championship efforts of No. 8 Jack Koenig (113, 17-2), No. 6 Danny Goodwin (120, 19-0), Calvin Stahl (126, 14-1), No. 10 Pat Hulne (138, 15-5) and No. 4 Van Grasser (175, 18-2), who together collected eight pins, a pair of tech falls and one major.

“Our two-time place winners Goodwin and Grasser, are firing on all-cylinders, with Grasser winning here for the second time with three first period pins,” Angelo said. “Koenig, Stahl and Hull bounced back strong after an off day last week, so, again, our expectations for these guys is to see them all stand on the podium in February.”

Tony Reyes (144, third), Dean Angelo (132, fourth), Andrew Rieger (165, fourth) and Timothy Golden (215, fourth) all would contribute toward a total team victory.

2nd: Schaumburg (171.5)

Schaumburg said goodbye to a pair of marvelous four-year stars, Brady Phelps, a four-time state medalist and 2025 state runner-up, and Callen Kirchner, sixth a year ago at state, but the Saxons still have enough in their lineup to take home a solid second place trophy.

Heavyweight Chris Arciniega-Sanchez was the lone individual champion for Mike Levanti’s club, but a trio of second-place finishes would be of great help to the Saxons’ point total.

Austin Phelps (113), Aiden Quevedo (138) and Dom Augustyniak (215) all were runners-up, with John Gough (150), Daniel Duran (165) and Matt Carver (190) each earning third place medals while Brody Hinkl (144) took fifth place.

3rd: Lake Park (146.5)

The Lancers would ride the superb efforts from senior Nicholas Merola (7-0) who squashed his competition on the way to the 144-pound crown and a second championship effort by Antonin Svoboda (215) to earn the third place team trophy.

Luca Rutili (132) and Alexander Gavrylyuk (190) were second, Liam Lovelace (120) third and Anthony Vargas (138) fourth on the day for coach Mark Cameron’s Lancers.

Additional individual champions:

106: Maurizio Castro (Elk Grove); 132: Cory Zator (Lemont); 150: Isaac Johnson (Glenbrook North); 157: Daniel Malan (Loyola Academy); 165: Jacob Becker (Vernon Hills); 190: Judah Heeg (Lemont)

Additional runners-up:

106: Aiden Noe (Palatine); 120: Mykola Shamray (Buffalo Grove); 126: Taqiuldin Baker (Woodstock); 144: Jordan Mokhtarian (Glenbrook North); 150: Connor Calvin-Garcia (Woodstock); 157: Anthony Klikas (Buffalo Grove); 165: Henry Hafner (Glenbrook North); 175: Sonny Tugs (Buffalo Grove); 285: Emmanuel Ramirez (Romeoville).

Final team scores:

St. Patrick 213.5, Schaumburg 171.5, Lake Park 146.5, Palatine 127.0, Buffalo Grove 125.5, Glenbrook North 119.5, Lemont 113.0, Loyola Academy 109.5, Vernon Hills 95.5, Romeoville 94.5, Woodstock 74.5, Maine East 53.5, Elk Grove 45.5, Argo 35.0

Championship match results:

106- Maurizio Castro (Elk Grove) d. Aiden Noe (Palatine) (D 8-4).

113- Jack Koenig (St. Patrick) d. Austin Phelps (Schaumburg) (MD 15-5).

120- Danny Goodwin (St. Patrick) d. Mykola Shamray (Buffalo Grove) (D 5-3).

126- Calvin Stahl (St. Patrick) d. Taqiuldin Baker (Woodstock) (D 8-1).

132- Cory Zator (Lemont) d. Luca Rutili (Lake Park) (F 3:41).

138- Pat Hulne (St. Patrick) d. Aiden Quevado (Schaumburg) (D 7-1).

144- Nicholas Merola (Lake Park) d. Jordan Mokhtarian (Glenbrook North) (MD 15-5).

150- Isaac Johnson (Glenbrook North) d. Connor Calvin-Garcia (Woodstock) (MD 13-5).

157- Daniel Malan (Loyola Academy) d. Anthony Klikas (Buffalo Grove) (D 7-0).

165- Jacob Becker (Vernon Hills) d. Henry Hafner (Glenbrook North) (SV-1, 15-12).

175- Van Grasser (St. Patrick) d. Sonny Tugs (Buffalo Grove) (F 1:31).

190- Judah Heeg (Lemont) d. Alexander Gavrylyuk (Lake Park) (TF 1:14).

215- Antonin Svoboda (Lake Park) d. Dom Augustyniak (Schaumburg) (D 7-0).

285- Chris Arciniega-Sanchez (Schaumburg) d. Emmanuel Ramirez (Romeoville) (F 1:36).

Third place match results:

106- Mateo Odiotti (Loyola Academy) d. Sam Ejnik (Buffalo Grove) (MD 8-0).

113- Charles Dominguez (Vernon Hills) d. Quentin Williams (Loyola Academy) (MD 13-0).

120- Liam Lovelace (Lake Park) d. Pedro Hernandez (Romeoville) (TF 5:38).

126- Austin Czerwiec (Lemont) d. AJ Metallo (Glenbrook North) (F 3:32).

132- Gavin Padilla (Loyola Academy) d. Dean Angelo (St. Patrick) (TF 1:52).

138- Dino Klikas (Buffalo Grove) d. Anthony Vargas (Lake Park) (F 3:36).

144- Tony Reyes (St. Patrick) d. Landyn White (Woodstock) (F 5:12).

150- John Gough (Schaumburg) d. Sean Smylie (Loyola Academy) (F 5:12).

157- Daniel Deredlyak (Palatine) d. Logan Wisner (Woodstock) (TF 3:18).

165- Daniel Duran (Schaumburg) d. Andrew Rieger (St. Patrick) (F 3:30).

175- Hector Villagrana (Romeoville) d. Steve Blumberg (Vernon Hills) (DQ).

190- Matt Carver (Schaumburg) d. Andrew Somenek (Elk Grove) (D 8-7).

215- Ilya Pilshchikov (Palatine) d. Timothy Golden (St. Patrick) (F1:41).

285- Dilan Bustillos (Argo) d. Adrian Davila (Vernon Hills) (FFT).

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Mickey Marchese Memorial at Hoffman Estates

Wheeling flexed its muscles with a 77-point win Saturday at the Mickey Marchese Memorial. Homewood-Flossmoor (201.5) claimed the runnerup spot in the 16-team competition. Zion-Benton was five points back in third. Mundelein (188.5) and South Elgin (133.5) completed the top quintet.

Thirteen wrestlers scored for the winner.

“I was really impressed with our team’s performance throughout the day,” said Wheeling coach Charles Curran. “Our kids all wrestled with great effort. Due to that, we were able to put a lot of our guys in the finals or third place matches. We are seeing kids buy into the process of improving themselves.”

Christian Giron (126), once-beaten Astan Lokhov (190) and unbeaten Pablo Morales (285) took titles for the Wildcats.

“I was extremely excited for Christian Giron to win the tournament at 126 pounds due to the grit he showed throughout the entire weekend,” Curran said. “He won two very tough matches on Thursday night for the team, and he had to dig deep in every match of the Mickey Marchese in order to win the title.

“Astan Lokhov and Pablo Morales both won the tournament with three pins, which were huge for the team points.”

“We set a high standard in the practice room. It is clear that our team is getting better, and the results this weekend showed it. Overall, our team performed really well. We’re looking forward to continuing to improve and wrestle our best in late January and February.”

Tommy Katz (106) suffered his first loss of the season in a second place finish. Frankie Katz (113) and Juan Escanuela (132) joined him with runnerup finishes.

David Perez (120), John Scanlon (157) and Eddie Juarez (215) each lost for the first time in the campaign but recovered to earn third place points for the team. Byron Arreola (144), Austin Berger (150) and Nicholas Montesinos (165) also delivered third place finishes. Manny Lagunas (138) recorded a fourth place finish.

2nd place: Homewood-Flossmoor (201.5)

Once-beaten Marcus Beach-Larrieu (132) and Roan Dukes (138) brought home titles for coach James Sokoloski. Andrew Clark (144) brought home the lone runnerup finish for the Vikings. Byron Hernandez (126) and Idris Akeeb (285) delivered third place finishes. 

Naijier Morris (157), Henry Grant (175) and Xavier Pratt (215) collected fourth place points. Andre Funchess (113), Evan McNeil (150) and Chris Wilson (165) claimed fifth place status.

3rd place: Zion-Benton (196)

The Zee-Bees received championships from Gabe Poyer (113), undefeated Braden Sroka (120) in his first varsity action of the season, Davin Esparagoza (144), and Carpel Herry (175). Eduardo Albarran (190) and Dylan Solesky (138) posted third place finishes for coach Hal Lunsford. Noe Figueroa (106) and Said Vazquez-Garcia (126) corralled fourth place finishes. Daitton Smith (120) and Anthony Malone (157) won fifth place matches. Giancarlos Rivera (113), Ian Serkanic (165) and Leonardo Corona (215) placed sixth.

Final standings

Wheeling, 278.5; Homewood-Flossmoor, 201.5; Zion-Benton, 196; Mundelein, 188.5; South Elgin, 133.5; Harlem, 123.5; Stagg, 121.5; Streamwood, 78; Hoffman Estates, 66.5; Thornton Fractional North, 53.5; Elgin, 48; Lane, 0; Notre Dame (Niles), 0; Plainfield East, 0; Rock Island, 0; Willowbrook, 0

Additional individual champions

106: Leo Salas, South Elgin

157: Ethan Banda, Mundelein

165: Michael Vincic, Mundelein

215: Victor Juarez, Elgin

Additional runners-up

120: Javier Corral, Stagg

126: Jaydee Doke, Harlem

138: Melik Robinson, Thornton Fractional North

150: Logan Dilallo, South Elgin

157: Keenan Egbert, Mundelein

165: Brayden Driscoll, Stagg

175: Charles Faulkner, Harlem

190: Alexander Castiglione, Streamwood

215: Chandler Jack, Harlem

285: Jamal Hakawati, Stagg

Championship matches

106: Leo Salas (South Elgin) d. Tommy Katz (Wheeling) (MD 9-1)

113: Gabe Poyer (Zion-Benton) d. Frankie Katz (Wheeling) (Dec 7-5)

120: Braden Sroka (Zion-Benton) d. Javier Corral (Stagg) (Fall 5:43)

126: Christian Giron (Wheeling) d. Jaydee Doke (Harlem) (SV-1 12-9)

132: Marcus Beach-Larrieu (Homewood-Flossmoor) d. Juan Escanuela (Wheeling) (Dec 7-5)

138: Roan Dukes (Homewood-Flossmoor) d. Melik Robinson (Thornton Fractional North) (Dec 9-3)

144: Davin Esparagoza (Zion-Benton) d. Andrew Clark (Homewood-Flossmoor) (Dec 6-1)

150: Dmytro Patykovski (Hoffman Estates) d. Logan Dilallo (South Elgin) (TF-1.5 4:57)

157: Ethan Banda (Mundelein) d. Keenan Egbert (Mundelein) (Fall 0:10)

165: Michael Vincic (Mundelein) d. Brayden Driscoll (Stagg) (Fall 1:02)

175: Carpel Herry (Zion-Benton) d. Charles Faulkner (Harlem) (Dec 4-3)

190: Astan Lokhov (Wheeling) d. Alexander Castiglione (Streamwood) (Fall 1:06)

215: Victor Juarez (Elgin) d. Chandler Jack (Harlem) (Dec 3-2)

285: Pablo Morales (Wheeling) d. Jamal Hakawati (Stagg) (Fall 0:26)

Niles West’s 8th annual Robert E. Porter Invitational

Marist (476.5) used six championship performances to power its way past runnerup Wheaton Warrenville South (418.5) to take the title of the 26-team event Saturday. Notre Dame (Niles/381.5 points), Conant (352.5) and DePaul (270) rounded out the top five finishers.

The RedHawks received bracket wins from Elio Gil (113, who is ranked no. 7 in state rankings at 106), Colin Phelan (126), Te`Jon Beals (132), once-beaten Axel Rodriguez (138, ranked sixth), Tommy Fidler (157, ranked seventh), Ronin Haran (175) and Tommy O`Brien (215, honorable mention).

Crue Hatchell (106) and Dylan Weber (132) placed third. Collin Coffey (190) secured fourth place points, and Jack Watson (285) won the fifth place match. 

Mickey McManus (126) and Jonathan Fields (144) posted eighth place finishes, Eddie Astorga (126) and David Wolski (190) placed ninth and Aiden Weber (120) took 10th.

“The team is wrestling well right now,” said Marist coach Brendan Heffernan. “The guys are letting it fly, having some fun and being creative. That’s what we want to see this time of year. 

“Our freshmen (Beals, Hatchell, Rodriguez and Aiden Weber) are really competing well, and the lineup is starting to sort itself out. We still have a few guys getting healthy, but it has been a lot of fun to see the team competing well and enjoying the process.

“The schedule gets much tougher for the next month or so, with the Dvorak, Brownsburg, Ind., and St. Edward in Ohio. As long as we keep improving week-to-week, we’ll be dangerous come tournament time.”

Runnerup: Wheaton Warrenville South (418.5)

Undefeated 106-pounder Rocco Valvano (106, honorable mention) took the lone title for Wheaton Warrenville South. The Tigers saw four of their wrestlers, Jack Bashore (113), Michael Riggs (132), Noah Nau (157) and Gregory Heavey (190) fall in title matches. Reid Adler (165) won his third place match. 

Daithan Narayanan (150) finished fifth. Troy Lomeli (120) and Alec Worobec (285) took seventh place matches. Matthew Vann (138) placed 10th, Chris Jones (120) placed 11th; Matthew Lisowski (126) placed 12th and Asher Williams (215) placed 18th to complete the list of scorers for coach Matt Janosek.

Third place: Notre Dame (381.5)

The performance of coach Anthony Genovesi’s club was highlighted with championships from once-beaten Ray Long (120, ranked third at 113), Thomas Fitzsimmons (150) and Jeramy Hamm (190), and a second place finish from Connor Moynihan (215).

Sean Cook (285) posted the next best conclusion with a fourth place medal. John Carr (138) on his fifth place match and Colin Walsh (157) placed sixth.

Michael Centracchio (165) took ninth, and Jake Luczak (157) and John Pacyna (106) earned 10th place points.

Lucas Goldman (11th at 126), George Kokolias (12th at 132) and Nick Centracchio (17th at 175) rounded out the scoring for the Dons.

Final standings
Marist, 476.5; Wheaton Warrenville South, 418.5; Notre Dame (Niles), 381.5; Conant, 352.5; DePaul, 270; Lake Zurich, 255; Maine West, 247; Waubonsie Valley, 247; Jacobs, 230.5; Dakota, 220; Cary-Grove, 209.5; Burlington Central, 198; Saint Viator, 190.5; Bartlett, 166; Taft, 160.5; Reavis, 141.5; Highland Park, 139.5; Mather, 139; Niles West, 130; Goode, 96.5; Golder, 73; Geneva, 67.5; Waukegan, 57.5; Lindblom, 17.5; King, 0; Normal West, 0

Additional champions

144: Jayden Veal, Goode

165: Brannick Alexander, Dakota

285: Hunter Wahtola, DePaul (ranked second, Class AA)

Additional runners-up

106: Thomas Emery, Saint Viator

120: Bernardo Roque, Taft (honorable mention)

126: Colin Bosak, DePaul

138: Jacob Turner, Cary-Grove

144: Gus Saletta, Bartlett

150: Harlan Kinney, Dakota

165: Filip Kawalec, Lake Zurich

175: Lucas Pretkelis, Waubonsie Valley

285: Leonidas Berrios, Waubonsie Valley

Championship matches

106: Rocco Valvano (Wheaton Warrenville South) d. Thomas Emery (Saint Viator) (Dec 9-6)

113: Elio Gil (Marist) d. Jack Bashore (Wheaton Warrenville South) (Fall 2:54)

120: Ray Long (Notre Dame-Niles) d. Bernardo Roque (Taft) (MD 9-1)

126: Colin Phelan (Marist) d. Colin Bosak (DePaul) (Dec 6-3)

132: Te`Jon Beals (Marist) d. Michael Riggs (Wheaton Warrenville South) (MD 14-6)

138: Axel Rodriguez (Marist) d. Jacob Turner (Cary-Grove) (TF-1.5 2:20)

144: Jayden Veal (Goode) d. Gus Saletta (Bartlett) (MD 14-6)

150: Thomas Fitzsimmons (Notre Dame-Niles) d. Harlan Kinney (Dakota) (Dec 12-6)

157: Tommy Fidler (Marist) d. Noah Nau (Wheaton Warrenville South) (TF-1.5 1:46)

165: Brannick Alexander (Dakota) d. Filip Kawalec (Lake Zurich) (Dec 8-1)

175: Ronin Haran (Marist) d. Lucas Pretkelis (Waubonsie Valley) (MD 14-2)

190: Jeramy Hamm (Notre Dame-Niles) d. Gregory Heavey (Wheaton Warrenville South) (Fall 2:40)

215: Tommy O`Brien (Marist) d. Connor Moynihan (Notre Dame-Niles) (MD 15-2)

285: Hunter Wahtola (DePaul) d. Leonidas Berrios (Waubonsie Valley) (Fall 5:55)

Third place matches

106: Crue Hatchell (Marist) d. Devin DiSilvestro (Geneva) (TF-1.5 2:19)

113: Aedan Dillow (DePaul) d. Brian Hoffman (Conant) 5-4, Fr. (Fall 3:15)

120: Eduardo Vences (Burlington Central) d. Connor Maschek (DePaul) (TF-1.5 4:00)

126: Damian Ramos (Conant) d. Angel Rivera (Taft) (TF-1.5 3:13)

132: Dylan Weber (Marist) d. Nathan Duffield (Waubonsie Valley) (Inj. 0:00)

138: Evan Honegger (Lake Zurich) d. Henry Deering (Burlington Central) (M. For.)

144: Ignacio Santander (Cary-Grove) d. Ahmed Everette (Reavis) (Fall 1:32)

150: Jayden Corchado (Highland Park) d. Desmond Stribley (Waubonsie Valley) (Fall 1:25)

157: Jaewon Willhite (Conant) d. Omar Garcia (Maine West) (Fall 4:17)

165: Reid Adler (Wheaton Warrenville South) d. Joshua Mreana (Niles West) (Fall 3:41)

175: Carter Temple (Highland Park) d. Jesus Reyes (Jacobs) (Fall 2:31)

190: Ryon Bland (Dakota) d. Collin Coffey (Marist) (Dec 7-6)

215: Michael Junitz (Burlington Central) d. Nico Trautman (DePaul) (Fall 1:06)

285: Wynn Philippi (Saint Viator) d. Sean Cook (Notre Dame-Niles) (Dec 6-1)

Walther Christian Academy’s 27th annual Hoger Invitational

Living Word Lutheran (Jackson, Wis.) edged out Seaholm (Birmingham, Wis.) 197.5 to 192.5 for the title Saturday. Peotone finished the invite as the top Illinois team with a 174-point third place finish. Martin Luther (Greendale, Wis./152.5 points) and Nazareth (111) rounded out the top five in the 14-team event.

Champion: Living Word (197.5 points)

Coach Nick Dummann received championship wins from undefeated David Putnam (150) and Zeke Smedal (175), once-beaten Jesse Lepien (157), and Xavier Dantzler (190). Lucas Riedel (165) and Joe Weissenburger (285) brought home second place honors. Eli Diaz (132) placed third; Dustin Dauster (215) finished fourth; and Jakob Toerpe (138) finished fifth for the Timberwolves.

Runnerup: Seaholm (192.5 points)

Once-beaten Cruz Garcia (165) was the lone champion for coach Neil Tuomi. Rishi Narula (120) and Sean Pesta claimed runnerup finishes for the Maples. Dean Wahab (106), Nikhil Narula (113), Cole Southby (126) and Oliver Smith (215) placed third. Amon Edwards (138), John Ranxa (175), Carter Dresden (190) and Asa Goetz (285) finished in the fourth spot. Kolton Lane (157) placed fifth. Ethan Rauth (175) placed sixth.

Third place: Peotone (174 points)

Jimmy O’Connor (103) brought the gold back home. Hector Estrada (113) and Thomas Raschke (138) finished second for the Blue Devils. Jack Vallos (120), Luke Lubert (144), Wayde Beachy (150) and Jordan Karmide (157) picked up third place points for coach Greg Goberville. Evan Pane (190) Omero Isias (215) and Nicholas Pridemore (285) ended their day with fifth place wins.

Additional champions

113: Emilio Fortiz, Nazareth

120: Richie Gulli, Nazareth

126: Aleksander Ramos, Nazareth

132: Brennan O`Donnell, Harvest

138: Jesus Martinez, Streator

144: Max Mulhearn, Harvest

215: Elijah Wood, Martin Luther

Additional runners-up

Championship matches

106: Brody Sliker, Streator

126: Geovany Casas, Elmwood Park

132: Joaquin Fortiz, Nazareth

150: Alan Krupinski, Ridgewood

157: Patrick Louhgnane, Elmwood Park

175: Dachs Poellet, Martin Luther

190: Anthony Gleghorn, Martin Luther

215: Aiden Ferris, Streator

Final standings

Living Word (Jackson, Wis.), 197.5; Seaholm (Birmingham, Wis.), 192.5; Peotone, 174; Martin Luther (Greendale, Wis), 152.5; Nazareth, 111; Streator, 89.5; Ridgewood, 78; Elmwood Park, 71.5; Harvest, 59; Amundsen, 53.5; Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest (Mich.), 43.5; Lutheran Westland (Mich.), 34; Walther, 18; Christian Heritage, 0. 

Championship matches

106: Jimmy O’Connor (Peotone) d. Brody Sliker (Streator) (F 1:48)

113: Emilio Fortiz (Nazareth) d. Hector Estrada (Peotone) (TF-1.5 2:44)

120: Richie Gulli (Nazareth) d. Rishi Narula (Seaholm) (TF-1.5 2:24)

126: Aleksander Ramos (Nazareth) d. Geovany Casas (Elmwood Park) (D 7-0)

132: Brennan O`Donnell (Harvest) d. Joaquin Fortiz (Nazareth) (TF-1.5 2:12)

138: Jesus Martinez (Streator) d. Thomas Raschke (Peotone) (F 2:56)

144: Max Mulhearn (Harvest) d. Sean Pesta (Seaholm) (MD 13-2)

150: David Putnam (Living Word) d. Alan Krupinski (Ridgewood) (F 3:14)

157: Jesse Lepien (Living Word) d. Patrick Louhgnane (Elmwood Park) (F 0:47)

165: Cruz Garcia (Seaholm) d. Lucas Riedel (Living Word) (D 13-8)

175: Zeke Smedal (Living Word) d. Dachs Poellet (Martin Luther) (F 5:02)

190: Xavier Dantzler (Living Word) d. Anthony Gleghorn (Martin Luther) (F 3:42)

215: Elijah Wood (Martin Luther) d. Aiden Ferris (Streator) (TF-1.5 1:51)

285: Valentino Vargas (Martin Luther) d. Joe Weissenburger (Living Word) (F 2:36)

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

After serving strictly as an assistant coach throughout his 30-plus year career, Tom Rusk had never had the opportunity to be a head coach. But when 2023 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Jon Murray retired last season after leading Geneseo since 2002, which included five trips to the IHSA Class 2A Dual Team Finals that were highlighted by second-place finishes to Montini Catholic in both 2013 and 2014, longtime assistant Rusk was selected as his successor.

In his first tournament leading Geneseo as its new head coach, Rusk was able to see his Maple Leafs capture another championship at Rockford East’s E-Rab Giardini Invitational as they won the 29-team competition for the third-straight year and for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

But while Geneseo only sent two individuals to the title mats and only had one champion, it got scoring contributions from 12 of its 14 competitors and 10 of those placed in the top-eight at their weights to give it 191 points, which was 18 more than the runner-up, St. Patrick, who scored 173 points to edge third-place Mahomet-Seymour, who finished with 171.5 points.

“It makes a huge difference when we have 14 guys wrestling and we score points in all 14 weight classes,” Rusk said. “That’s what we need to do and that’s what our goal is. We would like everybody to score quite a bit of points in every weight class, but as long as everybody does their job and gets a few points here or there, in a tournament like this, it all comes out at the end. We had a lot of highs and a lot of lows today, a lot. And that’s what these big tournaments are going to give you. Opportunities to do some really good things and some opportunities to really falter. And we had both. But the guys came together as a team, put it together, and got us to where we were at.”

The lone champion for the Maple Leafs was Josh Stahl (285), who led all title winners with 32 team points. Also for Geneseo, Izaac Gaines (175) took second place, Brycen Fahnestock (106) and Tad Moore (113) both finished fourth, Kie Smith (150) and Colten Mooney (215) took fifth place and Malaki Jackson (144) and Grady Hull (157) both claimed sixth place. 

Harrison Hill (190) placed seventh and Pheonix Heller (126) finished eighth while Landen Vincent (138) and Dawson Hull (165) also scored points and Esref Onder (120), Elliott Kreiner (132) and Dominic Ritter (190) also contributed to the championship cause.

One key individual who the Maple Leafs didn’t have in their lineup but will have back is Kye Weinzierl, who lost to IC Catholic Prep’s Brody Kelly in last year’s IHSA Class 2A Finals at 175.

“And it was nice to have the guys step up,” Rusk said. “We’re still limping into the season a little bit. We still have some football injuries. Kye Weinzierl is still not here and guys stepped up and did their job in that absence. We’ve got other football guys and our 215 and heavyweight are both football players who have only been practicing three days. They’re coming and we’re going in the right direction. It’s really nice when you don’t have the best tournament, but you can still come out winning, and we get to go back to the room and work on a lot of stuff. This is my first time ever being a head coach. I started in 1992 in Orion. It feels good. The guys work hard, and you know, things didn’t change much in Geneseo. We have the same staff that we had other than Jon not being there and we do the same stuff we work really hard.”

Leading the way for coach Patrick Duggan’s runner-up Shamrocks were champions Danny Goodwin (120) and Van Grasser (175) and second-place finishers Jack Koenig (113) and Calvin Stahl (126). Other top placewinners for St. Patrick were Patrick Hulne (fourth at 144), Andrew Rieger (fifth at 165) and Josh Jimenez (eighth at 132). 

Third-place Mahomet-Seymour, whose coach Rob Ledin received the Lifetime Service Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Illinois Chapter last year, had the most title winners with three. They were Gideon Hayter (132), Talon Decker (165) and Marco Casillas (190), with Casillas receiving the E-Rab Giardini Invitational’s Outstanding Wrestler Award.

Other top finishers for the Bulldogs were Garrett Waisath (third at 150), Justus Vrona (fifth at 144), Myles Hartzler (sixth at 106), Noah Meints (sixth at 120), Grant Morphew (eighth at 106), Renn Vandeveer (eighth at 150) and Christopher Dill (eighth at 175).

Host Rockford East (153.5) claimed fourth place, Morris (147) finished fifth and one of the two Wisconsin teams in the field, Belmont/ Platteville (135) took sixth place. The rest of the top-10 teams were Johnsburg (126), Freeport (122.5), Hampshire (111.5) and Richmond-Burton (106.5).

Morris also had two title winners, Paxton Valentine (126) and Carter Skoff (150). Additional champions were Winnebago’s Cam Whitehead (106), Freeport’s Treyden Diduch (113), Crystal Lake South’s Nathan Randle (138), Belmont/ Platteville’s Dylan Weigel (144), Rockford East’s Ty Smart (157) and Metamora’s Jayden Lambert (215).

Second-place finishes were also turned in by Morris’ Brock Claypool (138) and Malachi Congo (215), Prairie Ridge’s Tymen Robinson (106), North Boone’s Gabe Marella (120), Belvidere North’s AJ Ramirez (132), Belvidere’s Landon VanAcker (144), Rockford East’s Dana Wickson (150), Metamora’s Grady Neal (157), Belmont/ Platteville’s Oliver Harcus (165), Richmond-Burton’s Blake Livdahl (190) and Freeport’s Kareem Odeh (285).

Eight of the title matches were decisions with the closest one being at 157 where Smart prevailed 10-9 over Neal. Other championship matches that were decided by a few points included Randle beating Claypool 9-6 at 138, Weigel capturing a 6-3 victory over VanAcker at 144, Stahl winning 4-1 over Odeh at 285 and Valentine defeating Stahl 4-0 at 126. 

Two of the championship matches featured two returning state medalists, with Casillas winning 7-1 over Livdahl at 190 and Skoff recording a fall in 3:10 over Wickson at 150.

Beside Stahl, the others in the top-10 in team points were Skoff (31.5), Diduch (31), Whitehead (31), Casillas (30), Goodwin (29.5), Grasser (29), Valentine (28.5), Congo (28), Decker (28) and Hampshire’s Knox Homola (28), who took third at 285 and was the only individual with six falls.

Belmont/ Platteville’s Tyler Kisamore had the most total points with 97 while Goodwin ranked second with 85 points and Goodwin also was one of four individuals who led the way with three wins by technical fall, joining Morris’ Parker Barry (132), Crystal Lake South’s Aiden Marrello (165) and Kisamore (157), with the last three of those all finishing in third place. 

Additional third-place finishers were Rockford East’s Jace Scribner (106) and Sebastian Abwe (113), Johnsburg’s Chase Vogel (120) and Duke Mays (190), Prairie Ridge’s Aiden Rodriguez (175) and Frank Matviychuk (215), Rochelle’s Aidan Lopez (126), Triad’s Will Kelly (138) and Metamora’s Connor Graham (144).

Also claiming fourth-place finishes were Johnsburg’s Tanner Hansen (150) and Kainoa Ancog (157), Rochelle’s Freddie Hernandez (120), Triad’s Colin Crouch (126), Rockford East’s Victor Onofre (132), Belmont/ Platteville’s Briggs Weigel (138), United Township’s Ramadene Gani (165), Thornton Township’s Brandon Dumas (175), Winnebago’s Johnny Strauss (190), Harlem’s Chandler Jack (215) and Richmond-Burton’s Breckin Campbell (285). 

Others who finished in fifth place were Zion-Benton’s Gabe Poyer (113) and Dylan Solesky (138), Freeport’s Sajjad Abdulrazzaq (157) and Sabastian Murray (285), Crystal Lake South’s Christopher Talbert (106), Hampshire’s Andrew Salmieri (120), Richmond-Burton’s Lelan Nelson (126), Johnsburg’s Chase Davis (132), United Township’s Travis Kinkead (175) and Metea Valley’s Bohdan Postoroniuk (190).

Additional sixth-place finishers were Hampshire’s Aric Abbott (150) and Max Oleferchik (285), North Boone’s Drew Patel (113), Northridge Prep’s Sky Shang (126), Triad’s Cole Pilliard (132), Belvidere North’s Bryson Teunissen (138), Thornton Township’s Mark Bew (165), Metea Valley’s Lucas Marcoux (175), Metamora’s Mark Aeschliman (190) and Freeport’s Israel Goodman (215).

Here’s a look at the champions and their weight classes at Rockford East’s E-Rab Giardini Invitational

106 – Cam Whitehead, Winnebago

Cam Whitehead had a successful freshman season for Winnebago in 2024-2025 as he was a runner-up in the Class 1A Byron Regional and won his opener in the Oregon Sectional before finishing with a 34-13 record after falling a bit shy of a trip to state. Ranked sixth in Class 1A at 106 by Illinois Best Weekly, he hopes that a strong performance in winning the 106 title at Rockford East’s Giardini Invite is the catalyst to an even more successful sophomore season. 

The lone finalist and one of two medal winners for coach Joe Flynn’s Indians, Whitehead claimed top honors at 106 with a win by technical fall in 1:43 over Prairie Ridge sophomore Tymen Robinson. He opened with a quick pin and then got a victory by technical fall in the quarterfinals before assuring his spot on the title mat by recording a pin in 5:10 over Rockford East freshman Jace Scribner in the semifinals. He tied Freeport’s Treyden Diduch for third place for the most team points with 31, which was just one point behind the leader in that category, Geneseo’s Josh Stahl (285). 

“It feels good,” Whitehead said. “I’ve got to work hard and thanks to my coaches and teammates. I’ve just got to go back next year and win it again. I got help from my coaches from the postseason and I’ve got good teammates to help me get better. I just had to keep it high-paced, keep going and just had to dominate the match.”

Robinson, the lone finalist but one of three who finished in the top three for coach Ross Ryan’s Wolves, opened with a fall, followed with a major decision and then edged Geneseo sophomore Brycen Fahnestock 8-6 in the semifinals. Scribner captured third place with an 11-7 decision over Fahnestock and in the fifth-place match, Crystal Lake South junior Christopher Talbert was a winner by fall in 4:36 over Mahomet-Seymour sophomore Myles Hartzler.

113 – Treyden Diduch, Freeport

Treyden Diduch definitely got to learn from one of the very best in the sport since his sister Cadence was one of first three-time IHSA champions and now is competing at the University of Iowa. While admitting that their styles are different, being able to watch his sister become one of the trendsetters in her sport definitely has inspired him to make a mark of his own and the Freeport sophomore hopes to do just that this season after advancing to the IHSA Class 2A Finals and finishing 35-8 while falling a bit short of winning a medal in his debut season.

Diduch, ranked second at 106 in 2A by Illinois Best Weekly, is certainly off to a great start after winning the Giardini Invite title at 113 with a fall in 1:41 over St. Patrick junior Jack Koenig, who was a defending champion in the tournament. Diduch was one of two finalists and one of top-six finishers who helped coach Nathan Arendt’s Pretzels take eighth place in the 29-team competition. After opening with a pin, he was a winner by technical fall in his next two matches, securing his spot on the 113 title mat with a win in 3:20 over Geneseo freshman Tad Moore. He tied Winnebago’s Cam Whitehead for the third-most team points with 31, which put them both just one point behind the tournament leader, Geneseo’s Josh Stahl (285). 

“This year I want to try and place at state, that’s all I really want to do,” Diduch said. “If I can win it, that would be the best option. Yeah it’s fun watching her (Cadence) wrestle, she’s taught me a lot about my wrestling. I’ve learned from her and she’s learned from me and me and her have like almost completely different styles, she’s passive, I’m aggressive so we learn from each other. I’ve got a lot to live up to if I want to be as good as her since she’s one of the best and my family, they’ve helped me a lot. It would be pretty cool to have two Didich state champions in the room, it’s definitely a goal. We had our heavyweight (Kareem Odeh) out there and he got second. We’re not exactly drilling partners, but I like to help him any way I can. I mean, I’m a small dude, so I don’t really know much about big guy wrestling, but also it’s kind of good to just have someone in the room to be the tip of the sword and just break through.” 

Koenig, who went 44-10 and qualified for state for the first time last season and then fell one win shy of a medal at 106, is ranked ninth in 3A at 113. He was one of four finalists and six top-five finishers who helped coach Patrick Duggan’s Shamrocks to edge Mahomet-Seymour 173-171.5 for second place, which was a big move from placing fifth a year ago. After getting a win by technical fall in his opener, Koenig followed with two falls, with the latter one coming in 2:55 over North Boone sophomore Drew Patel in the semifinals. For third place, Rockford East sophomore Sebastian Abwe won by fall in 3:13 over Moore. And in the fifth-place match, Zion-Benton freshman Gabe Poyer captured a 13-0 major decision over Patel.

120 – Danny Goodwin, St. Patrick 

Danny Goodwin has already made plenty of history at St. Patrick by finishing fifth at 106 in 2024 and then advancing to the IHSA Class 2A title match at 113 last season, where he lost 4-1 by sudden victory to Montini Catholic’s Allen Woo to conclude a 45-5 season. He’s only the third Shamrock to reach the state title mat, joining 1985 AA champion Mike Mroczek and two-time finalist and 2006 AA champion Joe Fagiano. The senior would like to see him and Van Grasser  join Sean Conway as the program’s only three-time medalists and he’d also like to end his career by returning to the finals and becoming the third individual from his school to win a state title. He’s off to a good start after winning both tournaments he’s been in, Marmion Academy and the E-Rab Giardini Invite, with this being his third-straight championship at Rockford East.

Goodwin, ranked fifth at 120 in 3A by Illinois Best Weekly, three-peated in the invite after capturing a 19-5 major decision over North Boone sophomore Gabe Marella in the 120 finals. He joined Van Grasser (175) as one of his team’s two champions and also was one of four finalists for coach Patrick Duggan’s second-place Shamrocks and he just missed winning all four of his matches by technical fall. He earned his spot on the 120 title mat with a victory in 3:56 over Johnsburg sophomore Chase Vogel.  He was one of only four individuals who had three victories by technical fall and pulled off that feat in the least time, in 8:10. He scored a tournament-high 24 points in his semifinals victory and scored 19 or more points in each match, had the second-most total match points with 85 and ranked sixth in team points with 29.5.

“We’re not the happiest about it, we came in here looking to win it, we know that we have the guys and the talent to win this tournament,” Goodwin said. “So overall, we’re okay with the second place, but we are definitely not satisfied. (Being second at state) it’s been a fun ride and made it there and then I was also able to make the Fargo finals, as well, and was able to walk down those steps and that felt amazing. I ended up losing to one of my own teammates, but it was a fun experience. It was Caleb Pratt, one of my friends, so it was fun. But it just teaches me that once you’ve been in the finals and you’ve been in those high moments, tournaments throughout the year, the finals, they try to make it super big and you have the walkouts and the smoke and everything, it doesn’t really affect me. I stay focused and I know I go out there to complete my job. The thing that I’ve been working on really is just scoring points, continuing to chain my offense. I always try to go out there and tech the kid and score as many takedowns as I can. Unfortunately, in the finals, I wasn’t too happy with it, I won by 14, I was looking for the tech. And I am currently committed to George Mason University right now.” 

Marella was the lone finalist and one of two top-six medalists for coach Jason Mamer-Cox’s Vikings. He went 34-16 during his freshman season but fell one win shy of advancing to state from the Class 1A Oregon Sectional. He opened with a win by technical fall, followed with a pin and then claimed an 8-0 major decision over Mahomet-Seymour freshman Noah Meints in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Vogel, who was a state qualifier last year and is ranked fifth at 120 in Class 1A, won a 5-1 decision over Rochelle senior Freddie Hernandez. And for fifth place, Hampshire senior Andrew Salmieri captured an 11-0 major decision over Meints.

126 – Paxton Valentine, Morris

Paxton Valentine and his Morris teammates turned in a very good performance as one the new teams in the field. He was one of two champions and four finalists and the team also had a third-place finisher out of the eight entrants that coach Lenny Tryer’s team brought to the invite. Those good finishes helped Morris to score 147 points, which was good for a fifth-place finish. The junior did his part by taking top honors at 126 with a 4-0 decision over St. Patrick senior Calvin Stahl. He also scored 28.5 team points, which ranked him eighth among all competitors.

Valentine went 43-8 and placed fifth in 2A at 113 last season and is ranked sixth at 126 in 2A by Illinois Best Weekly. He experienced the full spectrum of victories in his title run by opening with a win by technical fall, following that with a pin and then earned his spot on the 126 title mat with a 14-1 major decision over Rochelle sophomore Aidan Lopez, who’s ranked ninth in 2A at 126. Senior Carter Skoff (150) joined him as a champion to help their team be one of three schools who had two or more title winners with Mahomet-Seymour (3) and St. Patrick (2) the others.

“Yeah, the hard work pays off for sure,” Valentine said. “Everyone gets in the room, they work their butts off, they do what coach says and you can tell, because the performance shows. I work hard, I get in the room. Don’t ask questions on what coach wants me to work on, I just get to work, and that’s what happens. We had about five guys missing and we only brought eight kids, so it feels good. A couple of these guys have only been in the room for a week, and they’re already placing. (Winning a title) It felt good. It’s showing me that all the hard work that I put in over the summer, it paid off. Feels good to set the tone early and get these big matches out of the way and win some of them.”

Stahl, who qualified for state last season and also in 2023, was one of four finalists for coach Patrick Duggan’s Shamrocks, who improved upon a fifth-place showing last season by edging Mahomet-Seymour to claim second place. He recorded opening-period falls in his first two matches and then advanced to the 126 finals with a 6-0 decision over Richmon-Burton sophomore Lelan Nelson. In the third-place match, Lopez won a 9-3 decision over Triad sophomore Colin Crouch, who’s ranked 10th in 2A at 120. And for fifth place, Nelson won by fall in 1:28 over Northridge Prep’s Sky Shang. Nelson took fifth at 106 in 1A last season while his brother Emmett, a four-time medalist and three-time finalist, won his first state title at 144. 

132 – Gideon Hayter, Mahomet-Seymour

Gideon Hayter fell one win shy of earning a medal in Class 2A at 113 when he advanced to the IHSA Finals for the first time and he finished with a 39-17 record but then helped the Bulldogs to take fourth place at the Class 2A Dual Team Finals one week later. Now the Mahomet-Seymour junior is not only looking to make another trip to state, both individually and as a team, but also to end up on the awards stand after his close call and he’s off to a good start toward that goal after following up on a sixth-place finish at Marmion Academy by capturing the 132 title at the E-Rab Giardini Invitational with a 7-0 decision over Belvidere North junior AJ Ramirez.

Hayter was joined by Talon Decker (165) and Outstanding Wrestler Award winner Marco Casillas (190) to give the Bulldogs a tournament-high three title winners. Mahomet-Seymour, whose coach, Rob Ledin, received the Lifetime Service Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Illinois Chapter after last season, ended up taking third place, finishing just 1.5 points behind runner-up St. Patrick. Hayter opened with a fall before winning a 3-2 decision over Richmond-Burton freshman Wyatt Franckowiak in the quarterfinals. He earned his spot in the 132 finals with a 13-3 major decision over Johnsburg’s Chase Davis in the semifinals.

“It’s just so exciting and it’s just everything I’ve been working for,” Hayter said. “And I’m just so grateful that I have so many people to support me. And I love my parents and I’m just thankful to be here. It’s just a good program. We all hold each other accountable, and we’re all working every day. He (Rob Ledin) runs a good program, keeps everything organized, and he just loves the sport. (To improve himself) Just work 100 percent on and off the mat and just grind outside of practice. Focus on school and just don’t get sidetracked. I’m glad for all my teammates. We all have the same goal in mind. We’re just all grateful to compete and we all love the sport. Just pushing each other and being positive, it’s just helped our team improve a lot.” 

Ramirez, the lone finalist for coach Ronald Hamilton’s Blue Thunder, made the largest seed-place difference of any finalist when improved 16 positions from his 18th-seed to advance to the 132 title match. He won a pair of major decisions, as well as two narrow decisions, in order to get to the championship match and he assured his spot there by capturing a 6-4 decision over Triad freshman Cole Pilliard in the semifinals. Morris sophomore Parker Barry overcame the largest seed-place difference of 21 positions to claim third place with a 10-3 decision over Rockford East junior Victor Onofre, who was one of five individuals who had five or more pins, and in the fifth-place match, Davis was a winner by fall in 1:41 over Pilliard.

138 – Nathan Randle, Crystal Lake South

Nathan Randle was able to experience the great excitement of being a freshman who got the opportunity to not only compete for a state title in 2023 but also nearly winning one in his initial state trip when he dropped a 3-2 decision to Glenwood’s Drew Davis in the Class 2A title match at 113 while competing for Wauconda. The Crystal Lake South senior has been able to return to state the past two years but unable to get back on the awards stand. He’s hopeful that he can end his high school career with one more title run and he’s off to a good start after winning tournament titles at Vernon Hills and Rockford East. He repeated as a champion of the E-Rab Giardini Invite with a 9-6 decision over Morris junior Brock Claypool in the 138 title match.

Randle, the lone champion and finalist as well as one of three top-five finishers for coach Trevor Jauch’s Gators, is ranked second at 138 in Class 2A by Illinois Best Weekly. He’s hopeful that he can become the fourth individual from his school to win a state championship. He opened his quest for another title at the Giardini with a pair of victories by technical fall and he earned his spot in the 138 championship match with an 8-2 decision over Triad senior Will Kelly. 

“It’s a great tournament and everyone’s super competitive here,” Randle said. “I mean, my performance yesterday, I only had one match, and it was good. Today I had two and they were both tough matches, tough opponents. And you know, I hope to see them at state. Honestly, just taking a break from the sport for a little while. I mean, I only wrestled a couple of times over summer and I do think that helped me. Taking a break from the sport, getting away from it, just having a life outside of this. My coaches are great and I put a lot of trust in them. I try to talk with them about wrestling all the time, you know, just being around it. And just them practicing with me and, you know, putting their knowledge in the mind. It’s just amazing to be around. I’m super ready for this year.” 

Claypool, a state qualifier who had a 39-7 record last season and is ranked fifth at 138 in 2A, was one of four finalists and five top-three placers for coach Lenny Tryner’s Morris team, which was new to the field this season and surprised some with their fifth-place. He opened with a major decision and followed with a fall and then another major decision in the semifinals where he won by a 12-4 score over Belmont/ Platteville sophomore Briggs Weigel. Kelly, a two-time state qualifier who is ranked eight in 2A at 138, claimed third by winning 9-6 in sudden victory over Weigel. And for fifth place, Zion-Benton sophomore Dylan Solesky won a 16-6 major decision over Belvidere North senior Bryson Teunissen.   

144 – Dylan Weigel, Belmont/ Platteville

Dylan Weigel began his successful junior season by winning a title at Rockford East’s Giardini Invite and he concluded it by becoming a Wisconsin Division 2 runner-up. Once again, he’s ranked among the top individuals in his division and weight class so he should have a good opportunity to conclude his high school career with a state title. He repeated as a champion at Rockford East by capturing a 6-3 decision over Belvidere senior Landon VanAcker in the 144 finals.

Weigel was the lone champion, one of two finalists and four top-four finishers for the co-op team for Wisconsin’s Belmont and Platteville. He’s coached by Emeric Williams, who competed at Lockport Township for his father, 2015 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Joe Williams, who also happened to be in attendance at the competition. Weigel opened with a fall and a major decision before earning his spot on the 144 championship mat by capturing an 11-6 decision over Mahomet-Seymour senior Justus Vrona in the semifinals.

VanAcker, the lone medal winner for coach Sean Donnelly’s Bucs, was a state qualifier last season and finished with a 26-12 record and is now ranked fifth in Class 2A at 144 by Illinois Best Weekly. He recorded opening-period falls in his first two matches before claiming a 4-3 decision over St. Patrick junior Patrick Hulne to earn his spot in the 144 finals. In the third-place match, Metamora senior Connor Graham, who’s ranked ninth in 2A at 144, won a 14-7 decision over Hulne, who’s ranked 9th in 3A at 138. Vrona, a state qualifier the last two years who’s 10th-ranked in 2A at 144, claimed fifth place by medical forfeit over Geneseo senior Malaki Jackson, who’s a three-time state qualifier.

150 – Carter Skoff, Morris

Carter Skoff and Paxton Valentine both claimed fifth-place finishes in their first trips to the IHSA Class 2A Finals last season and they hope to move up on the awards stand this season. They both also won titles at the E-Rab Giardini Invitational to help Morris turn in a strong fifth-place showing as a new entrant to the field. The Morris senior, who’s ranked fourth in 2A at 150 by Illinois Best Weekly, won a clash of individuals who placed fifth at state last year when he won by fall in 3:10 over Rockford East senior Dana Wickson in the 150 championship match.

Skoff, who was one of four finalists and five individuals who placed third or better for coach Lenny Tryner’s Morris team, finished with a 51-5 record last season after winning three matches in the wrestlebacks to claim fifth place at 144. He began his title run with a quick pin and then added a win by technical fall before recording another pin, this time in 1:32, over Johnsburg’s Tanner Hansen in the semifinals, to advance to the 150 title mat. He had the second-most team points in the event with 31.5, which was one-half point less than Geneseo’s Josh Stahl (285).

“We dropped a couple tournaments last year trying to get some more better matches since you know these are the kids we’re going to see at sectionals so we want to wrestle them,” Skoff said. “I like how we work hard, we try to push each other and we try to keep ourselves going in the right direction and if we step out of line, we try to get ourselves back in line, you know, just try to be a big team. I’m working on my shots and I’m trying to finish all my shots I get to. If I touch their leg, I’m trying to finish that. I’m trying to get better at hand-finding and just be a lot better scrambler, too. I like how dedicated we are to each other, our school, everyone.”

Wickson, a two-time state qualifier who took fifth place in 2A at 150 last season when he finished with a 36-7 record, joined 157 champion Ty Smart as one of the two finalists and five individuals who placed fourth or better for coach Gene Lee’s E-Rabs, who scored 153.5 points to claim fourth place in their own invite. Wickson, who’s ranked fifth in 2A at 150, recorded falls in his other three matches, winning in 3:05 over Hampshire senior Aric Abbott in the semifinals. It was the third time that the E-Rabs senior lost in a championship match in his own invite. For third place, Mahomet-Seymour junior Garrett Waisath won a 4-1 decision over Hansen. And Geneseo junior Kie Smith claimed fifth place by medical forfeit over Abbott.

157 – Ty Smart, Rockford East

Ty Smart was part of a special season at Rockford East in 2024-2025 since his program finished with three IHSA Class 2A medalists with senior Donald Cannon becoming the school’s second three-time medalist after taking second at 138, Dana Wickson finished fifth at 150 and Smart took fifth place at 157 as the earned all-state honors for the first time. Now they want to join three others beside Cannon who won more than one state medal. While both seniors made the finals at their own Giardini Invite, Smart was the E-Rabs’ lone champion after prevailing with a 10-9 decision over Metamora junior Grady Neal for the 157 championship, which was arguably the most dramatic title match on a day where eight of those resulted in decisions.

Smart, who’s ranked second in 2A at 157 by Illinois Best Weekly and finished with a 40-14 record in his second state appearance, was one of five individuals who finished fourth or better to help coach Gene Lee’s E-Rabs to claim a fourth-place finish in their invitational. He opened with a fall before claiming a 19-13 decision in the quarterfinals and then earned his spot on the 157 title mat by getting a win by technical fall in 3:22 over Freeport senior Sajjad Abdulrazzaq.

“I’ve been wanting to win this tournament for the last four years and I finally did it,” Smart said. “I feel like I have something to prove here at home, my home territory. I look up to Donald Cannon a lot. Since I was in eighth grade, he’s always been someone I looked up to, even when he was hurt for his sophomore season, I looked up to him. So seeing him win this last year and me not doing as well definitely motivated me. I’m definitely proud of our team. I mean, we have a bunch of young guys that are definitely going to be a lot better than me. I hope, definitely I hope they are going to be a lot better than me. And they showed it today. I mean, they wrestled their butt off. I didn’t get the chance to wrestle here as a freshman. So seeing them wrestle, that makes me feel good. And having them matside, that means a lot to me. I feel like I need to work on everything. I feel like I’m not where I need to be, I want to get to where I want to be.”

Neal, who’s ranked fifth in 2A at 157,  joined 215 champion Jayden Lambert as one the two finalists and four others who placed in the top-six for coach Jake Gondinez’ Redbirds. Neal, a two-time state qualifier who went 40-8 last season and fell one win shy of a medal at 150, opened with a quick pin, followed with a victory by technical fall and then earned his spot in the 157 finals with a 10-0 major decision over Geneseo senior Grady Hull in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Belmont/ Platteville senior Tyler Kisamore, who led all competitors with 97 total match points, won by technical fall in 2:39 over Johnsburg’s Kainoa Ancog. For fifth place, Abdulrazzaq, who’s ranked seventh in 2A at 157, won an 8-1 decision over Hull, a state qualifier last season who’s ranked eighth in 2A at 157.

165 – Talon Decker, Mahomet-Seymour

Talon Decker enjoyed a successful sophomore season at Mahomet-Seymour by going 42-15, advancing to the IHSA Class 2A Finals for the first time along with six teammates and winning a match there and then helping his team to finish fourth in the Class 2A Dual Team Finals. Now the Bulldogs junior is looking forward to bigger and better things this season and is off to a good start after he and two of the other returning state qualifiers won titles at Rockford East’s E-Rab Giardini Invitational to help their team take third in the 29-team invite with 171.5 points. He won the 165 title with a 13-1 major decision over Belmont/ Platteville sophomore Oliver Harcus.

Decker joined Gideon Hayter (132) and OWA recipient Marco Casillas (190) as champions as their team finished with the most title winners. Justus Vrona, who also was a state qualifier last season, joined the three champs as well as three others to account for seven top-six finishers for the third-place team, which is coached by Rob Ledin, who was honored last year when he received a Lifetime Service Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Illinois Chapter. Decker, who’s ranked eighth in 2A at 165, got a pin in his opener, followed with a major decision and earned his spot in the finals with an 8-4 decision over Crystal Lake South junior Aiden Marrello. Decker finished tied with two others for ninth place for the most team points with 28.

“So I looked over after the first period and I saw that he (Gideon) was up, so it was just, it was great to see, because right before we wrestled, our 190, Marco, was also winning,” Decker said. “Yeah, I’m really excited for how this season’s going to go. I’d say probably leadership because usually we’re not like the biggest teams, we have a few gaps in our lineup. But we make up for it with team effort and staying loud on the side in duals. It’s a great feeling, everything about it is.”

Harcus was one of two finalists for the sixth-place Wisconsin co-op team that’s coached by Emeric Williams, who wrestled at Lockport Township for his dad, 2015 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Joe Williams. He used a win by technical fall, a pin and a 4-3 decision over United Township junior Ramadane Gani to reach the 165 title match. For third place,  Marello, who’s ranked 9th in 2A at 165, was a winner by technical fall in 3:31 over Gani. And St. Patrick senior Andrew Rieger took fifth place by medical forfeit over Thornton Township senior Mark Bew.

175 – Van Grasser, St. Patrick

Van Grasser took sixth place in Class 2A at 165 last season and also placed sixth at 157 in 2024, so now the St. Patrick senior wants to close out his career by moving up higher on the awards stand, but that may be a challenge since he’ll be competing in Class 3A this season. If he and classmate Danny Goodwin can claim their third medals in Champaign, they’ll join Sean Conway, who won medals in 2019, 2020 and 2022, as the only three-time All-Staters for the Shamrocks. 

They both also won titles at the E-Rab Giardini Invitational with Grasser getting a 10-3 decision over Geneseo junior Izaac Gaines in the 175 finals to add to a fourth-place finish at Marmion Academy in his initial tournament this season. Grassser, who’s ranked fourth in 3A at 175 by Illinois Best Weekly,  also was one of the four finalists and six individuals who placed sixth or better for coach Patrick Duggan’s Shamrocks, who improved from placing fifth last year to finishing second in this competition. He followed up on a pair of victories by technical fall with a pin in 1:24 over United Township freshman Travis Kinkead to reach the 175 title match. As a result of those decisive outcomes, he ranked seventh in most teams points with 29.

“It’s a good tournament to just get out there and get your feet moving the first couple of weeks of the season and It’s always good to push the pace and score a lot of points,” Grasser said. “The main thing I focus on is hand fighting and attacks and re-attacks. Having a strong group and a strong team definitely helps and I wrestle with the coach every day and there’s no one better to practice with. (His team) Definitely the brotherhood. I’ve been with some kids for four years.”

Gaines, who won the title at 150 at last year’s E-Rab Giardini Invite when Geneseo also took first place, is ranked second in 2A at 165. The two-time state qualifier went 37-6 last season and fell one win shy of getting a medal at 144 and also helped his team advance to the IHSA 2A Dual Team Finals. He joined 285 champion Josh Stahl as one of the two finalists and was also one of eight individuals who placed sixth or better for new head coach Tom Rusk’s champion Maple Leafs. Gaines recorded falls in his other three matches, needing 1:38 to pin Metea Valley junior Lucas Marcoux in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Prairie Ridge sophomore Aiden Rodriguez, who’s ranked 10th in 2A at 175,  won by fall in 2:26 over Thornton Township senior Brandon Dumas. And for fifth place, Kinkead recorded a pin in 3:49 over Marcoux.

190 – Marco Casillas, Mahomet-Seymour

Marco Casillas met a familiar opponent in the 190 title match at Rockford East’s E-Rab Giardini Invite as the Mahomet-Seymour sophomore and Richmond-Burton junior Blake Livdahl met on a title mat for the second year in a row. Casillas prevailed with a 7-5 decision to win the 175 title a year ago and this matchup was just as compelling between Casillas, who took third at state last season and Livdahl, who was a state runner-up in 2025. Casillas got the upper hand again in the rematch and captured a 7-1 decision which followed three-straight falls and that showing proved to be sufficient for him to receive the Girardi Invitational’s Outstanding Wrestler Award.

Casillas, who went 55-4 and placed third in 2A at 175 and also helped his team to a fourth-place finish in the IHSA 2A Dual Team Finals, is ranked fourth in a loaded 190 weight class in 2A that features a two-time champion, Marian Central Catholic’s Jimmy Mastny, a 2024 title winner, Saint Viator’s Jaxon Penovich, and a 2025 champion, Lemont’s Judah Heeg. He was one of a tournament-high three champions for the third-place Bulldogs, who are coached by Rob Ledin, who was honored after last season with a Lifetime Service Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Illinois Chapter. One of four defending champions who repeated in the invite, he earned his spot in the 190 finals with a fall in 1:46 over Metea Valley junior Bohdan Postoroniuk. He collected 30 team points which not only led his team but was the sixth-best total overall.

“Every week, even if it’s in a different sport like football or baseball I’m always getting in the mat room,” Casillas said.” (Being a three-sport athlete) You’re able to move a lot better and you’re always improving your body, like your endurance, your strength, all year round. During the spring and the summer, I’ve been doing a lot of tournaments that have been pushing me and making sure I get the best competition so that I’m ready for the state finals. I like that even though they’re not feeling good or they don’t want to show up to practice, they still show up to practice and give a lot of effort. We just push off each other and we get better together.”

Livdahl, who lost a 14-7 decision to Lena-Winslow/ Stockton’s Eli Larson in last season’s Class 1A title match at 175 to conclude a 44-6 season, was the lone finalist and one of three top-five finishers for coach Tony Nelson’s Rockets, who finished in 10th place. Livdahl, who’s ranked second to Larson in 1A at 175 by Illinois Best Weekly, followed a victory by technical fall with a major decision and then won a tight match in the semifinals when he captured a 1-0 decision over Metamora sophomore Mark Aeschliman. For third place, Johnsburg junior Duke Mays, a state qualifier who’s ranked ninth in 1A at 190, won by fall in 0:55 over Winnebago senior Johnny Strauss. And Postoroniuk claimed fifth place by medical forfeit over Aeschliman.

215 – Jayden Lambert, Metamora

Jayden Lambert definitely seems to have made a name for himself after winning the 215 title at Rockford East’s E-Rab Giardini Invitational, where the Metamora senior captured a 12-3 major decision over Morris sophomore Malachi Congo in the finals. He is listed as the first honorable mention selection in 2A at 215 in the Illinois Best Weekly, a list that includes three others from the Mid-Illini Conference, which his school is a member of, including the 2025 champion at the weight class, Washington’s Josh Hoffer, who’s also top-ranked. His first three wins were all decisions, including a 3-2 triumph over Geneseo junior Colten Mooney in the quarterfinals, before winning 10-3 over Freeport senior Israel Goodman to earn his spot in the 215 finals. 

The title win definitely capped a big day for coach Jake Godinez’ Redbirds, who finished tied for 11th in the 29-team invite. Most of the team’s 95 points were produced by Lambert, runner-up junior Grady Neal (157), third-place finisher senior Connor Graham (144) and sixth-place finisher sophomore Mark Aeschliman (190). Those strong performances should give the Redbirds hope that perhaps one of them can make history by becoming the school’s fifth IHSA medalist and the first to achieve that feat since Nick McClone took fourth at 171 in AA in 2004. 

“You know, it feels really good to be a part of a team that’s been through a lot,” Lambert said. “A new coaching staff helped promote this team to levels I don’t think it ever could have reached without them. We have a bunch of new wrestlers that are either like first years or just gone through a couple years and we have a bunch of guys who have been in the program for a while, but everyone’s working hard. Our coach keeps a high intensity in the room, teaches the right things, and, period, wins us championships. It means a lot. It’s awesome. Coming into the season, I’m really a nobody. I wanted to make sure I was going to be somebody and put my name on the map out there. There’s a lot of just working with my coach, teaching me how to hand fight properly. And that was honestly the biggest thing in this tournament. Good hand fighting makes good offense. And teaching us how to sprawl properly and that makes us have a good defense also translates to a good offense. (His team) It’s full of great guys, Connor, Mark, a new freshman Elliott and Grady, who’s fighting for a finals championship right here. Just a bunch of hard work and the people who didn’t make it to today or maybe lost in the first round today they’re still working very, very hard and it’s just awesome to be a part of a team who encourages you and works hard alongside you.”

Congo also may have gotten his name out there after being seeded 15 and finishing second and joined champions Paxton Valentine (126) and Carter Skoff (150) and runner-up Brock Claypool (138) to become one of the four finalists for coach Lenny Tryner’s Morris team, who took fifth place. He won his first four matches by fall, with all of them ending in the opening period. As a result, he tied two others for ninth place in most team points with 28. In the third-place match, Prairie Ridge junior Frank Matviychuk won by fall in 2:36 over Harlem senior Chandler Jack. And for fifth place, Mooney won a 15-3 major decision over Goodman.

285 – Josh Stahl, Geneseo 

Josh Stahl was a member of last season’s Geneseo team that qualified for the IHSA Class 2A Dual Team Finals that lost to eventual champion IC Catholic Prep 47-22 in the quarterfinals in what turned out to be the final competition coached by Jon Murray, a 2023 inductee into the IWCOA Hall of Fame, who had led the program since 2002 and that was the fifth time that he led a Maple Leafs team to state. As a sophomore on that team, Stahl only got to compete in five matches, and he won all of them, but senior Owen King was the team’s regular heavyweight. Stahl accomplished in one weekend what it took all of last season to achieve, to get five wins.

Now it’s Stahl’s moment to make his mark and he’s definitely off to a great start after winning the 285 title at Rockford East’s Giardini Invitational when he captured a 4-1 decision over Freeport sophomore Kareem Odeh in the finals. He was his team’s lone champion and joined runner-up Izaac Gaines (175) as the only finalists. But the Maple Leafs had eight others who placed eighth or better and that helped them to three-peat at the invite with 191 points, which was 18 points ahead of runner-up St. Patrick. After serving as an assistant for over 30 years, new head coach Tom Rusk was able to capture a tournament title in his initial attempt. Stahl had the largest seed-place difference of any champion with a 12-position improvement from his 13th-seed. He scored a tournament-high 32 team points after winning four-straight matches by fall, getting a pin in 2:41 over Richmond-Burton junior Breckin Campbell to earn his spot on the 285 title mat. 

“We couldn’t have done it without the guys that maybe didn’t even place or didn’t place very high,” Stahl said. “They got us a lot of points and let us score very high. And it was great to have a win, not only to be first place for me, but then also have a good team win. I feel like we’re getting closer just every day. Every day we’re in the wrestling room, we’re getting closer, bonding, you know, becoming what a team really is. And what makes a really good wrestling team is guys who are just like brothers. And that mindset is definitely coming around. And I think, soon we’re going to have guys that are going to be placing downstate that are doing really well. Last week you know I had a tough loss and I wasn’t too happy about it but he (coach Rusk)  just kept preaching to my ear that I should be do able to make good out of this, that I’m going to be able to grow from it and I did and I come here and I win this and it feels great to do so. It’s a great staff and great organization to be in and the legacy’s been carried on. It changes the mindset for everyone, especially me. It makes me more excited to get out there and want to wrestle, and hopefully it’s an inspiration to guys that have lost, have tough losses. It feels great.”

Odeh, who joined champion Treyden Diduch (113) as finalists for coach Nathan Arendt’s eighth-place Pretzels, followed a win by medical forfeit with two quick pins, with the second of those in 1:57 in the semifinals over Hampshire junior Max Oleferchik. His Whip-Purs teammate, sophomore Knox Homola, placed third when he pinned Campbell in 3:24, which gave him a tournament-high six falls and that also tied him for ninth place in team points with 28. Freeport also had the fifth-place finisher at 285 as senior Sabastian Murray pinned Oleferchik in 2:47.

Rockford East Giardini Invitational championship matches

106 – Cam Whitehead (Winnebago) over Tymen Robinson (Prairie Ridge), TF 1:43

113 – Treyden Diduch (Freeport) over Jack Koenig (St. Patrick), F 1:41

120 – Danny Goodwin (St. Patrick) over Gabe Marella (North Boone), MD 19-5

126 – Paxton Valentine (Morris) over Calvin Stahl (St. Patrick), D 4-0

132 – Gideon Hayter (Mahomet-Seymour) over AJ Ramirez (Belvidere North), D 7-0

138 – Nathan Randle (Crystal Lake South) over Brock Claypool (Morris), D 9-6

144 – Dylan Weigel (Belmont/ Platteville) over Landon VanAcker (Belvidere), D 6-3

150 – Carter Skoff (Morris) over Dana Wickson (Rockford East), F 3:10

157 – Ty Smart (Rockford East) over Grady Neal (Metamora), D 10-9

165 – Talon Decker (Mahomet-Seymour) over Oliver Harcus (Belmont/ Platteville), MD 13-1

175 – Van Grasser (St. Patrick) over Izaac Gaines (Geneseo), D 10-3

190 – Marco Casillas (Mahomet-Seymour) over Blake Livdahl (Richmond-Burton), D 7-1

215 – Jayden Lambert (Metamora) over Malachi Congo (Morris), MD 12-3

285 – Josh Stahl (Geneseo) over Kareem Odeh (Freeport), D 4-1

Rockford East Giardini final team standings

 1. Geneseo 191, 2. St. Patrick 173, 3. Mahomet-Seymour 171.5, 4. Rockford East 153.5, 5. Morris 147, 6. Belmont/ Platteville, WI 135, 7. Johnsburg 126, 8. Freeport 122.5, 9. Hampshire 111.5, 10. Richmond-Burton 106.5, 11. Metamora 95, 11. Prairie Ridge 95, 11. Triad 95, 14. Zion-Benton 90.5, 15. Rochelle 85, 16. Winnebago 78.5, 17. Crystal Lake South 75.5, 18. United Township 67.5, 19. Northridge Prep 63.5, 20. Thornton Township 63, 21. Harlem 52.5, 22. Belvidere North 52, 23. Metea Valley 44, 23. North Boone 44, 25. Dakota 32.5, 26. Belvidere 31, 27. Woodstock North 30, 28. Elgin 20, 29. Lincoln Academy 8.

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Thornton Township Girls Tournament

Evergreen Park’s girls took the crown at Thornton Township’s 11-team tournament, posting a 116.5-101 edge over second-place Thornton-Fractional South. Host Thornton (87) placed third, followed by De La Salle (82) and Bloom Township (76) to round out the top five team finishes.

Four individual champions scaled to the top of the awards stand wearing Evergreen Park colors, in Malia O’Neal (105), Riley Osborne (115), Isabella Torres (145) and Layla Ross (155). Seven girls finished in the top four of their weight classes for the Mustangs.

“The girls wrestled with intensity and confidence all weekend, earning the team championship and showcasing strong teamwork,” Evergreen Park coach Matt Pashakarnis said. “With a small but growing roster, the team’s performance reflects steady progress and sets an exciting tone for the rest of the season.”

1st: Evergreen Park (116.5)

In addition to titles from O’Neal, Osborne, Torres and Ross, the Mustangs got a pair of seconds from Jade Thornton (120) and Tatum Davis (145), and a third from Iris Cardenas (100).

“Several wrestlers brought home first-place finishes while others made deep runs in their brackets. Veterans Riley Osborn and Malia O’Neal led the way with consistent wins, and first-year wrestlers Bella Torres and Layla Ross have already shown impressive growth with bracket victories.”

2nd: Thornton-Fractional South (101)

The Red Wolves got an individual title from Jermia Moore (170), a pair of second-place finishes from Dakodia Kelly (110) and Aracely Stevens (115), and thirds from Abibatu Mogaji (125), Mya Coffey (155) and Lucia Terrazas.

3rd: Thornton (87)

Winning titles for the Wildcats were Ariel Woodfin (110) and Miniyai Adams (235). Nia Smith (235) placed second, thirds came from Isabella Murillo (120) and Kamora Hill (130), and Tyler Lee (140) placed fourth.

Final team scores:
Evergreen Park (116.5), Thornton-Fractional South (101), Thornton (87), De La Salle (82), Bloom (76), Hillcrest (74.5), Rich Township (71), Illiana Christian (54), Dwight (52), Saint Viator (50), Proviso East (25)

Notable matches:

A pair of returning state qualifiers squared off for the title at 110, where Thornton’s Ariel Woodfin won by fall over TF South’s Dakodia Kelly.
The closest finals match of the day came on the third-place mat at 125, where TF South’s Abibatu Mogaji won a 9-7 decision over De La Salle’s Mia Vargas.

Statistics:
Thornton-Fractional South finished with the most pins of any team present with 12, and the Red Wolves also scored the most total match points with 115.
Individually, Bloom’s Lillian O’Brien had the most pins in the least time, with 3 falls in 1:50. Thornton’s Ariel Woodfin had the fastest tech fall in 2:17, and Woodfin finished with the most total match points with 44. Thornton’s Miniyai Adams and De La Salle’s Nevaeh Jones tied for the fastest fall in 14 seconds. Rich Township’s Sariya Maddox scored the most single-match points with 20,
TF South’s Jermia Moore provided the largest seed-place difference, as the No. 7 seed won the title at 170 pounds.

Championship match results:

100: Lillian O’Brien (Bloom) F 1:11 Sariya Maddox (Rich Township)
105: Malia O’Neal (Evergreen Park) F 0:26 Tayonna Frye (Thornton)
110: Ariel Woodfin (Thornton) F 2:46 Dakodia Kelly (TF South)
115: Riley Osborne (Evergreen Park) MD 8-0 Aracely Stevens (TF South)
120: Victoria Serment (De La Salle) F 3:31 Jade Thornton (Evergreen Park)
125: Fiona Monaco (Saint Viator) F 2:15 Mia Gray (Bloom)
130: Daviana Smith (Bloom) F 3:06 Alanna Lee (Illiana Christian)
135: Avery Crouch (Dwight) F 0:31 Adelia Eriks (Illiana Christian)
140: Adilynn Avilez (Dwight) F 2:25 Nyla Hall (Rich Township)
145: Isabella Torres (Evergreen Park) F 2:46 Tatum Davis (Evergreen Park)
155: Layla Ross (Evergreen Park) TF 4:26 Melissa Nance (Hillcrest)
170: Jermia Moore (TF South) F 1:58 Isabella Wilson (De La Salle)
190: Jordyn Coleman (Hillcrest) F 1:15 Cassidy Farabaugh (Illiana Christian)
235: Miniyai Adams (Thornton) F 0:23 Nia Smith (Thornton)

Third-place match results:

100: Iris Cardenas (Evergreen Park) F 1:02 Camiia Olvera-Garnica (Thornton)
105: None
110: Taniya Moss (Thornton) F 2:46 Evalyn Idzik (Saint Viator)
115: Amiyah Brantley (Bloom) F 0:53 Isabella Risley (De La Salle)
120: Isabella Murillo (Thornton) D 9-3 Samantha Dyckman (Saint Viator)
125: Abibatu Mogaji (TF South) D 9-7 Mia Vargas (De La Salle)
130: Kamora Hill (Thornton) F 0:55 Janie Carter (Proviso East)
135: Mercedes Carrasco (De La Salle) F 2:00 Mia Tellado (Proviso East)
140: Madilyn Hunt (Proviso East) F 2:33 Tyler Lee (Thornton)
145: Cheyebbe Haire (Rich Township) F 1:18 Aubree Stein (Dwight)
155: Mya Coffey (TF South) F 3:25 Samantha Phillips (Hillcrest)
170: Anna Kuznetsov (Saint Viator) F 5:11 Arielle Perkins (Hillcrest)
190: Lucia Terrazas (TF South) F 0:34 Shaniah Williams (Proviso East)
235: Nevaeh Jones (De La Salle) F 0:55 Island Ross (Rich Township)

Beat the Streets Girls High School Brawl

The team from Crown Point, Indiana took the team title at this year’s 16-team Beat the Streets tournament, hosted by Chicago Hope Academy. Crown Point just edged-out second place Homewood-Flossmoor, 202.5-198.5. Willowbrook (139) was third, followed by Kelly (128) and Mother McAuley (125) to round out the top-five team finishes.

As the highest-finishing team from Illinois, Homewood-Flossmoor nearly caught Crown Point with a team-wide effort.

Five of Aronson’s girls reached the championship mat on Saturday to lead all teams.
“Virtually every girl in our lineup is solid,” Vikings coach Scott Aronson said.  “And the fact that we give up 18 to 24 points in duals right off the bat because of forfeits and still win speaks to the ferocity of these girls.

“We have had a really fantastic weekend and start to the season.  We are currently 5-1 in duals and defeated Oak Forest by criteria, which is the first time our program has accomplished that in the last five seasons. The girls have committed themselves to off-season wrestling, camps, tournaments, and clubs.”

1st: Crown Point, IN (202.5)

Crown Point got individual titles from Annalise Neal (120), Lilly Escobedo (140) and Olivia Hunt (155), a second from Tessa Ablin (120), thirds from Eve Angelini (115), Khloe Jorge (120), Breanna Dominguez (135) and Mia McDaniel (145), fourths from Jayda Miller (170) and Sara Zunno (235), fifths from Keewa Yu (110), Abigail Katona (135), Dionna Turner (145) and Ava James (235), and a sixth from Grace Koonce (110).

2nd: Homewood-Flossmoor (198.5)

Aronson got a pair of individual titles from Amara Nwoye (130) and Madelynn McClements (135), with Nwoye improving to a perfect 10-0 in winning her second tournament title of the season.
Placing second for the Vikings were London Gandy (125), Denise Brown (145) and Na’imah Lamon (155). Kennedy Dade (140) and Olivia Haywood (155) placed third, Dilailah Lopez (110) and Taniyah Bradley (120) finished fourth, Amirat Toheeb-Lawal (115) was fifth, and a sixth-place finish from Brielle Garland (130)

“We definitely have some holes to fill…but the girls in the lineup are young,” Aronson said. “I’m really excited to see what this season will bring for these girls.  I would give you girls to look out for but right now it is virtually our entire lineup.”

3rd: Willowbrook (139)

Coach Mary Doro’s Warriors were led by a trio of runners-up in Nayeli Salgado (110), Jazilah Gatlin (170) and Jimena Saenz (190), a fourth from Allison Flores-Morales (135), fifths from Victoria Cianci (130) and Lily Vannoy (155), and a sixth from Leah Condon (115).

Additional individual champions:
100: Adali Cruz (Speer); 105: Natalyn Mahon-Godfrey (Kelly); 110: Carmen Jackson (Ag Science); 115: Demetria Griffin (Hope); 125: Amelia Mitchell (BTS NV);145: America Cabrera (Phoenix Military); 170: Sara Martinez (Kelly); 190: Jordyn Coleman-Harrison (Hillcrest); 235: Esmerelda Bustamante (Speer)

Additional runners-up:
100: Ashley Lopez (BOTY); 105: Giselle Valencia (Mother McAuley); 115: Yazmine Garcia (Kelly); 130: Stephanie Villada-Garcia (Mother McAuley); 135: Liliana Monserrat Dimes (Kelly); 140: Evelyna Perez (BOTY); 235: Kiara Owens (Lindblom)

Final team scores:
Crown Point, IN (202.5); Homewood-Flossmoor (198.5); Willowbrook (139); Kelly (128); Mother McAuley (125); Chicago Agricultural Science (93.5); Speer Academy (88); Back of the Yards (86.5); Crete-Monee (82.5); Phoenix Military Academy (68.5); Hillcrest (65.5); Chicago Hope Academy (50); Highland Park (44); Hancock (38); Beat the Streets, NV (30); Lindblom (28)

Closest calls:
The closest finals matches came on the third-place mat. First, Crown Point’s Mia McDanial won 9-6 over Highland Park’s Lexie Hoobler at 145, followed by Homewood-Flossmoor’s Olivia Haywood winning 10-7 over Hillcrest’s Melissa Nance at 155 pounds.

Statistics:
Champion Crown Point’s 44 pins and 417 total match points led the field, followed by second-place Homewood-Flossmoor 28 pins and 239 total points.
Individually, Mother McAuley’s Holly Rowan had five pins in 7:40 in posting the most pins in the least time, while Hillcrest’s Taniya Moss’s two tech falls in 4:38 also led the field.
Homewood-Flossmoor’s Amirat Toheeb-Lawal had the fastest fall in 18 seconds,  while Moss and Back of the Yards’ Ashley Lopez tied for the fastest tech fall, at 1:45. Crown Point’s Annalise Neal, Kelly’s Sara Martinez Lopera, and Amelia Mitchell from Beat the Streets in Nevada had a three-way tie for the most team points, 30.
Back of the Yards’ Hade Mejia and Willowbrook’s Leah Condon tied for the most single-match points with 23. Hillcrest’s Moss also finished with the most total match points, with 61.

Championship match results:

100: Adali Cruz (Speer) d. Ashley Lopez (BOTY) F 2:42
105: Natalyn Mahon-Godfrey (Kelly) d. Giselle Valencia (McAuley) F 4:30
110: Carmen Jackson (Ag Science) d. Nayeli Salgado (Willowbrook) F 5:38

115: Demetria Griffin (Hope Academy) d. Yazmine Garcia (Kelly) F 3:01
120: Annalise Neal (Crown Point IN) d. Tessa Ablin (Crown Point IN) F 5:52
125: Amelia Mitchell (BTS NV) d. London Gandy (H-F) F 1:52
130: Amara Nwoye (H-F) d. Stephanie Villada-Garcia (McAuley) F 0:49
135: Madelynn McClements (H-F) d. Liliana Monserrat Dimes (Kelly) F 2:30
140: Lilly Escobedo (Crown Point IN) d. Evelyna Perez (BOTY) F 3:52

145: America Cabrera (Phoenix) d. Denise Brown (H-F) F 3:42
155: Olivia Hunt (Crown Point IN) d. Na’imah Lamon (H-F) TF 16-0
170: Sara Martinez (Kelly) d. Jazilah Gaitlin (Willowbrook) F 0:40
190: Jordyn Coleman-Harrison (Hillcrest) d. Jimena Saenz (Willowbrook) F 1:44

235: Esmerelda Bustamante (Speer) d. Kiara Owens (Lindblom) F 1:46

Third-place match results:

100: Jitzel Aranda (Phoenix) d. Ella Quigley (McAuley) F 1:31
105: Marilyn Morales (Hancock) d. Hade Mejia (BOTY) F 1:09
110: Taniya Moss (Hillcrest) d. Dilailah Lopez (H-F) TF
115: Eve Angelini (Crown Point) d. Danita Palmore (Ag Science) F 6:00
120: Khloe Jorge (Crown Point IN) d. Taniyah Bradley (H-F) F 3:46
125: Holly Rowan (McAuley) d. Dimond Calvin-Bowsky (D-Monee) F 3:07
130: Noelani Page (C-Monee) d. Margo Hats (Speer) TF
135: Breanna Dominguez (Crown Point IN) d. Allison Flores-Morales F 0:43
140: Kennedy Dade (H-F) d. Neriah Treadway (Hancock) F 1:53
145: Mia McDaniel (Crown Point IN) d. Lexie Hoobler (HP) D 9-6
155: Olivia Haywood (H-F) d. Melissa Nance (Hillcrest) D 10-7
170: Elena Haugh (Ag Science) d. Jayda Miller (Crown Point IN) D 7-3
190: Gabriella Teufackmomo (McAuley) d. Kaylee Slattery (C-Monee) F 2:22
235: Maya Grant (McAuley) d. Sara Zunno (Crown Point (IN) F 3:46

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Antioch’s Sandy Gussarson Invite

Woodstock posted 439.5 team points to snare the team title at this year’s 32-team Sandy Gussarson Invite, with Eva Hermansson (105) winning an individual title to lead seven of coach Eric Hunt’s girls finishing in the top six of their weight classes.

Grant placed second with 331.5 points, followed by Hersey (314), Antioch (285.5) and Lincoln-Way co-op (284) to round out the top five team finishes.

Woodstock’s girls shined as the tournament wore on and by the end of the day they led all teams in pins with 38. Hermansson led the Blue Streaks with five pins.

“We started to pull away from Grant and Hersey once we got to the later part of the afternoon in the tougher matches,” Hunt said. “Our girls wrestled very smart and followed our strategy to pin quickly in the earlier matches of the day so they had more energy by matches five and six when they mattered the most.”

1st: Woodstock (439.5)

In addition to Hermansson’s title, the Blue Streaks got a trio of thirds from Lou Lou Splendoria (100), Danica LaTessa (125) and Hannah Olsen (130), fourths from Kailey Wasberg (110) and Allison Hill (235), and a fifth from Lydia Weidner (145) in winning the team title.

“This title is hugely important for us as it is validation and confirmation for our efforts we have put in as a community,” Hunt said. “It’s a tough sport to wrestle day in and day out with little recognition. Our girls should be very proud that they kept their noses to the grindstone and can now celebrate for two days with this win, and Monday we will go back to the lab to keep working.”

2nd: Grant (331.5)

Grant coach Mark Jolcover got individual titles in America Camacho (115) and Jaiydyn Hoffman (120), thirds from Annabelle Melton (140) and Anabel Meads (125), fourths from Kaylee Albovais (100) and Veronica Vera (130), fifths from Myla Reyes (125), Abby Quirk (135) and Isabella Sison (130), and a sixth from Alexa Haskins (130).

3rd: Hersey (314)

Audrey Sarinyamas (125) won an individual title and coach Jim Wormsley got a second from Ivana Petrov (155), thirds from Alexandra Lexi Gumino (120), Delanee Zavala (130) and Brianna Cairo (155), a fourth from Eirini Ziabaras (190), fifths from Emma Strohmeier (105) and Ariana Jeloaiaca (110), and sixths from A’shira Manuel (100) and Leah Osorio (170).

Final team scores:
Woodstock (439.5), Grant (331.5), Hersey (314), Antioch (285.5), Lincoln-Way Co-op (284), Stevenson (242.5), Shepard (229.5), Harvard (223), Lakes (204), Springfield Co-op (195.5), Sycamore (193), Freeport (192.5), Deerfield (181), Palatine (179), Oswego (172), Hononegah (166), Bradley-Bourbonnais (160.5), Hinsdale South (153), Rolling Meadows (129.5), Lake Park (114.5), Dundee-Crown (111), Grayslake North (86), Central (84), Crystal Lake South (78.5), Plainfield East (77), Genoa-Kingston (58), Prospect (52), Guilford (52), Crystal Lake Central (46), Carmel (33), Prairie Ridge (21), Cary-Grove (6)

Additional individual champions:
100: Kalie Declercq (Hononegah); 110: Annalee Aarseth (Crystal Lake South); 115: America Camacho (Grant); 120: Jaiydyn Hoffman (Grant); 125: Ruby Gavina (Dundee-Crown); 130: Karina Lojowski (Stevenson); 135: Bella Castelli (Hononegah); 140: Ema Durst (Sycamore); 145: Ithandehui Rosas (Harvard); 155: Callie Carr (Hinsdale South); 170: Makayla Hill (Oswego); 190: Irma Villa Colunga (Palatine); 235: Jasmine Enriquez (Sycamore)

Additional runners-up:
100: Melanie Granda (Central); 105: Londyn Lloyd (Antioch); 110: Grace Spangler (LW Co-op); 115: Alyshae Martinez (Shepard); 120: Kaiya Galindo (Freeport); 125: Grace Hansen (LW Co-op); 130: Mila Rocush (Shepard); 135: Ava Burns (Lake Park); 140: Sasha Johnson (Antioch); 145: Isabel Hilinski (Stevenson); 155: Cait Jones (Crystal Lake Central); 170: Linda Villa (Hononegah); 190: Anjanne Haywood (Guilford); 235: Karrine Jenkins (Shepard)

Close calls:
Grant’s Jaydyn Hoffman won a 4-3 decision for the title at 120 over Freeport’s Kaiya Galindo, in the day’s closest finals match.

Statistics:
Hinsdale South’s returning state champion Calle Carr (155) finished the tournament with the most pins in the least time, with five pins in 3:56. Carr’s 52 team points also tied her for the most team points scored with Woodstock’s Eva Hermansson (105) and Sycamore’s Jasmine Enriquez (235). Sycamore’s Ema Durst (140) had the most tech falls in the least time with two in 3:51. Hononegah’s Linda Villa (170) had the quickest pin, in 0:03 seconds, and teammate Bella Castelli (135) had the fastest tech fall, in 1:14. Lincoln-Way co-op’s Genesis Guerrero (114) scored the most single-match points with 27. Hononegah’s Kali Declercq (100) finished with the most total match points, with 64.
The largest seed-place difference came from the No. 23 seed at 190, Guilford’s Anjanne Haywood, who placed second.

Championship match results:
100: Kali Declercq (Hononegah) d. Melanie Granda (Central) D 5-0
105: Eva Hermansson (Woodstock) d. Londyn Lloyd (Antioch) F 4:30
110: Annalee Aarseth (Crystal Lake S) d. Grace Spangler (LW Co-op) F 0:59
115: America Camacho (Grant) d. Alyshae Martinez (Shepard) F 0:50
120: Jaydyn Hoffman (Grant) d. Kaiya Galindo (Freeport) D 4-3
125: Ruby Gavina (Dundee-Crown) d. Grace Hansen (LW Co-op) MD 17-3
130: Karina Lojowski (Stevenson) d. Mila Rocush (Shepard) MD 12-0
135: Bella Castelli (Hononegah) d. Ava Burns (Lake Park) F 3:33
140: Ema Durst (Sycamore) d. Sasha Johnson (Antioch) F 1:32
145: Ithandehui Rosas (Harvard) d. Isabel Hilinski (Stevenson) F 2:58
155: Callie Carr (Hinsdale South) d. Cait Jones (Crystal Lake C) F 0:52
170: Makayla Hill (Oswego) d. Linda Villa (Hononegah) F 4:00
190: Irma Villa Colunga (Palatine) d. Anjanne Haywood (Guilford) F 2:56
235: Jasmine Enriquez (Sycamore) d. Karrine Jenkins (Shepard) F 1:58

Third-place match results:
100: Scarlet Splendoria (Woodstock) d. Kaylee Albovais (Grant) D 11-5
105: Phoenix Criss (Springfield Co-op) d. Gianna Storino (Hinsdale S) F 0:59
110: Addison Perez (Dundee-Crown) d. Kailey Wasberg (Woodstock) F 1:07
115: Brea Balles (Freeport) d. Alexa Herrera (Harvard) MD 12-0
120: Alexandra Lexi Gumino (Hersey) d. Ximena Valenzuela Hernandez (Plainfield E) F 1:31
125: Danica La Tessa (Woodstock) d. Daniela Esparza (Deerfield) F 1:09
130: Hannah Olsen (Woodstock) d. Veronica Vera (Grant) F 3:47
135: Aubrianna Rapier (Bradley-B) d. Juliana Loynes (Hinsdale S) F 1:07
140: Annabelle Melton (Grant) d. Sophia Domont (Bradley B) F 1:29
145: Alyson Alvarenga (Grayslake N) d. Kimoreyee Ballard (Springfield Co-op) MD 17-4
155: Natalie Rumpel (Deerfield) d. Janet Brindis (Rolling Meadows) D 5-1
170: Leilani Brindis (Rolling Meadows) d. Frankie McMurtry (Sycamore) D 4-2
190: Paige Washburn (Lake Park) d. Eirini Ziabaras (Hersey) D 8-7
235: Jalyssa Venegas (LW Central) d. Allison Hill (Woodstock) D 5-0

Fifth-place match results:
100: Daniella Almazan (Shepard) F 1:30 A’shira Manuel (Hersey)
105: Emma Strohmeier (Hersey F 0:38 Ariyana Calmese (Freeport)
110: Ariana Jeloaiaca (Hersey) F 3:41 Kimberly Castro (Grant)
115: Athena Zappas (Stevenson) F 2:55 Alyana Cotton (Antioch)
120: Abby Lizak (LW Co-op) F 3:28 Belinda Esparza (Deerfield)
125: Myla Reyes (Grant) D 9-2 Dylylah Patterson (Antioch)
130: Elise Kaylor (Lakes) F 1:52 Magdelyn Brough (Antioch)
135: Abby Quirk (Grant) F 2:31 Isabella Marcomb (Antioch)
140: Michelle Otuonye (Lakes) F 2:36 Marilu Mercado (Genoa-Kingston)
145: Lydia Weidner (Woodstock) F 2:37 Megan Murray (Lakes)
155: Bella Martins (Freeport) F 3:38 Brianna Crown (Woodstock)
170: Josie Blau (Antioch) F 2:22 April Cardenas (Harvard)
190: Jen Sema (Plainfield E) F 5:26 Hunter Goucher (Woodstock)
235: Jarithsie Mercado (Harvard) F 2:21 Timinadi Farquah (Antioch)

Glenbard South Invite

Joliet West edged Wheaton Warrenville South 160.5-157 to win Saturday’s 17-team Glenbard South tournament, getting individual titles from Mackenzie Mielke (115) and Vanessa O’Connor (145) to lead the way. Nine of coach Erik Murry’s girls finished in the top six of their weight classes.
Glenbard East (155.5) placed third, followed by Downers Grove South (143.5) and Bartlett (135.5) to round out the top five team finishes.

Winning a team title by a mere 3.5 team points can only mean one thing.

“I hate to use a cliché, but winning the Glenbard South Invite was truly a total team effort,” Joliet West coach Erik Murry said. “I’m excited to see Joliet West’s numbers continue to rise this year, and several new wrestlers stepped into the lineup and took advantage of their opportunities.

“Despite having at least four regular starters out due to sickness and injury, I was extremely proud of those who stepped up. That included extra wrestlers who competed unattached and still did their part for the team.”

1st: Joliet West (160.5)

Coach Erik Murry got individual titles from Mackenzie Mielke (115) and Vanessa O’Connor (145), a second from Veronica Klobnak (135), a third from Willow Perruquet (120), fourths from Kaylan Harris (140) and Maj Starks (155), fifths from Maria Ochoa (120) and Paola Lazano (130), and a sixth from Olivia Miller (140).

“Our two champions (Mielke and O’Connor) did an outstanding job earning bonus points,” Murry said. “As always, everyone matters in tournament settings, and contributions in wrestle-backs made a significant difference. Overall, this was a strong day for the future of our program and an important stepping stone toward where we want to be by the end of the season.”

2nd: Wheaton Warrenville South (157)

Andrea Jaimes-Alvarez (100) and Michelle Rojas-Tellez (170) won individual titles from the Tigers, who also got seconds from Sommer Kibbe (120) and Louisa Enslen (145), a fourth from Heidi Bourne (135), and fifths from Caroline Ratliff (140) and Jynelle Mayes (235).

3rd: Glenbard East (155.5)

The Rams got titles from Nadia Shymkiv (110) and Maria Green (140), a second from Karla Sarabia (100), a third from Camila Gonzalez (145), fourths from Victoria Flis (105), Tessa Yannias (120) and Elizabeth Moreno (125), and sixths from Anna Delawder (105) and Molly Lavin (115).

Final team scores:
Joliet West (160.5), WW South (157), Glenbard East (155.5), Downers Grove South (143.5), Bartlett (135.5), Downers Grove North (125), Glenbard South (120), Romeoville (114), Reavis (103), Glenbard North (99), Lemont (65), Waubonsie Valley (61.5), Tinley Park (60), Streamwood (42.5), Montini (37.5), Lisle (32), Wheaton Academy (21.5)

Additional individual champions:
105: Ariana Baier (Lemont), 110:120: Sarah Bell (Montini), 125: Sophie Crescenzo (Lisle), 130: Lilly White (Bartlett), 135: Keagan Edwards (Glenbard North), 155: Suzanne Stalley (Glenbard North), 190: Zuza Cabulski (Downers Grove South, 235: Henessis Villagrana (Romeoville)

Additional runners-up:
105: Kathlynn Spurgeon (Bartlett), 110: Norah Cwik (Bartlett), 115: Janice Kim (Romeoville), 125: Molly O’Connor (Lemont), 130: Catherine Diehl (Wheaton Academy), 140: Allison Garcia (DG South), 155: Natasha Myers (DG South), 170: Jenna Smrha (Bartlett), 190: Olamide Osinowo (Tinley Park), 235: Asreila Wallace (Glenbard North)

Close calls:
The tightest finals match wrestled came on the third-place mat at 115, where Downers Grove South’s Krystal Rodriguez topped Glenbard South’s Vivian Aliga by 13-12 decision.

Statistics:
Joliet West and Downers Grove North tied for the most pins in the tournament with 22, while Glenbard East scored the most total match points with 271.
Individually, DG North’s Jaszmyn Dotson’s five pins in 3:25 were the most pins in the least time of any wrestler present, while Joliet West’s Jennifer Escobedo posted the fastest pin in 11 seconds and Montini’s Sarah Bell had the quickest tech fall posted, in 57 seconds. WW South’s Michelle Rojas-Tellez scored the most team points with 30, while Glenbard East’s Anna Delawder scored the most single match points with 22, and the most total match points scored with 58.
Joliet West’s Vanessa O’Connor provided the largest seed-place difference, as the No. 13 seed won an individual title at 145 pounds.

Championship match results:
100: Andrea Jaimes-Alvarez (WW South) d. Karla Sarabia (Glenbard E) F 1:55
105: Ariana Baier (Lemont) d. Kathlynn Spurgeon (Bartlett) F 2:50
110: Nadia Shymkiv (Glenbard E) d. Norah Cwik (Bartlett) D 7-0
115: Mackenzie Mielke (Joliet W) d. Janice Kim (Romeoville) TF 4:00
120: Sarah Bell (Montini) d. Sommer Kibbe (WW South) F 2:50
125: Sophie Crescenzo (Lisle) d. Molly O’Connor (Lemont) F 4:22
130: Lilly White (Bartlett) d. Catherine Diehl (Wheaton Academy) F 3:04
135: Keagan Edwards (Glenbard N) d. Veronica Klobnak (Joliet W) F 3:31
140: Maria Green (Glenbard E) d. Allison Garcia (DG South) TF 4:00
145: Vanessa O’Connor (Joliet W) d. Louisa Enslen (WW South) F 1:38
155: Suzanne Stalley (Glenbard N) d. Natasha Myers (DG South) F 0:31
170: Michelle Rojas-Tellez (WW South) d. Jenna Smrha (Bartlett) F 5:34
190: Zuza Cabulski (DG South) d. Olamide Osinowo (Tinley Park) D 7-2
235: Henessis Villagrana (Romeoville) d. Asreila Wallace (Glenbard N) F 1:03

Third-place match results:
100: Valerie Aliga (Glenbard S) d. Bailey Galvez (Reavis) MD 15-4
105: Thi Van (Reavis) d. Victoria Flis (Glenbard E) F 5:00
110: Jaszmyn Dotson (DG North) d. Lashuna York (Glenbard S) F 1:00
115: Krystal Rodriguez (DG South) d. Vivian Aliga (Glenbard S) D 13-12
120: Willow Perruquet (Joliet W) d. Tessa Yannias (Glenbard E) F 2:54
125: Ava Kus (Waubonsie) d. Elizabeth Moreno (Glenbard E) F 2:00
130: Jahdi’yah Hibbler (DG North) d. Nichole Castillo (Glenbard S) F 4:18
135: Evie DeSantis (Glenbard S) d. Heidi Bourne (WW South) F 0:18
140: Abigail Harris (Tinley Park) d. Kaylan Harris (Joliet W) F 0:33
145: Camila Gonzalez (Glenbard E) d. Kaitlyn Kapral (DG North) fft.
155: Lily Fish (Reavis) d. Maj Starks (Joliet W) F 1:15
170: Sumaya Wallace Del Rio (DG South) d. Failyn O’Brien (Joiet W) F 0:23
190: Mikayla Chapa (Streamwood) d. Kam Slausen (Waubonsie) F 0:35
235: Zariah Love (DG South) d. Hailey Canvin (Reavis) F 1:00

East Aurora Girls Invitational

The host Tomcats took the team title at this year’s 13-team invitational, one week after they won Larkin’s Royal Rumble tournament.

Coach Ryan Mick’s girls had four individual champions, as did fourth-place Hampshire. East Aurora won 258.5-166 over second-place Yorkville, with Metea Valley (131.5) in third, followed by Hampshire (130.5) and Lyons Township (123.5) to round out the top five.

All 14 of East Aurora’s wrestlers placed in the top six of their weight classes and the Tomcats led all teams with 33 pins in the tournament.

“Overall, I am very pleased with the way we performed as a team,” Mick said. “We are continuing to build on our success we have had so far this season.”

“As a team, we have set some very lofty goals for ourselves, and the girls are looking to keep raising the occasion to achieve them.”

1st: East Aurora (258.5)

East Aurora got titles from Joselyn Llanos (110), Jelena Coyomani (120), Valentina Barboza (125) and Lilli Ortiz (235) in the win. Ayelen Higuera (130), Isabel Velasco (135) and Alyssa Galarza (155) brought home second-place finishes, with thirds from Carmen Garcia (100) and Jaylene Dealba (190), a fourth from Itzel Villa (115), a fifth from Lupita Garcia (145), and sixths from Vanessa Tesillos (105), Jadahi Junez (120) and Guadalupe Casiano (145).

“Jelena Coyomani is starting to find her groove,” Mick said. “She is a girl who dedicated herself to wrestling this off-season, and it’s really showing the improvements she has made since last year.

“Alyssa Galarza lost to a tough girl in the finals but she is showing me that her 25 wins last year as a freshman were just the beginning. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season to see her growth.”

2nd: Yorkville (166)

The Foxes had a pair of individual champs for coach Kevin Roth, in Danielle Turner (100) and Lauryn Trotter (170). Yorkville also got seconds from Zoey Reger (120) and Aviana Froelich (140), thirds from Savannah Turner (115) and Kinslee Lawrence (135), a fourth from Analiese Garretson (105), and fifths from Rylee Coy (140) and Deeanna Rothaugh (190).

3rd: Metea Valley (131.5)

Metea Valley coach Kevin Garbis got a pair of runner-up finishes from Sonya Amin (100) and Janiya Moore (115), thirds from Barbara Vargas (105), Emily Sugano (130) and Alketa Picari (140), a fourth from Jordyn Slager (145), a fifth from Layla Snarey (125), and a sixth from Dariia Dzhumasheva (140).

Final team scores:
East Aurora (258.5); Yorkville (166); Metea Valley (131.5); Hampshire (130.5); Lyons Township (123.5); South Elgin (118.5); Oswego East (113); Larkin (97); Buffalo Grove (86.5); Riverside-Brookfield (73); Seneca (49); Plainfield North (29); Hinsdale Central (7)

Additional individual champions:
105: Annabelle Mueller (Hampshire); 115: Stella Piazza (Hampshire); 130: Samantha Greisen (Seneca); 135: Sofia Turek (Lyons); 140: Quinn Janssens (Oswego East); 145: Madison Minson (Hampshire); 155: Allison Garbacz (South Elgin); 190: Samantha Diehl (Hampshire)

Additional runners-up:
100: Sonya Amin (Metea Valley); 105: Susan Cruz (Larkin); 110: Mariah Zalapa (Lyons); 115: Janiya Moore (Metea Valley); 125: Alexiia Castaneda (South Elgin); 145: Haiden Lavarier (Seneca); 170: Aaliyah Villanueva (Plainfield North); 190: Jadelin Caballero (Larkin); 235: Erica Hill (Riverside-Brookfield)

Close calls:
The closest finish to a finals match came at 145 pounds, where Hampshire’s Madison Minson won a 4-3 decision for the title against Seneca’s Haiden Lavarier.

Statistics:
East Aurora’s 33 pins led all team present, while Hampshire and Metea Valley tied for the most tech falls with five apiece. Yorkville scored the most total match points with 229.
Individually, Oswego East’s Emily House’s four pins in 3:33 were the most pins in the least time of any wrestler present, while Hampshire’s Annabelle Mueller led the field for the most tech falls in the least time, with three in 6:39. Metea Valley’s Alketa Picari had the fastest single tech fall, in 1:33.
South Elgin’s returning state medal winner Allison Garbacz tied with East Aurora’s Valentina Barboza for the most team points scored, with 30. Hampshire’s Samantha Diehl and teammate Mueller tied for the most single-match points with 21, and Mueller tied with Metea Valley’s Picari for the most total match points scored, with 58.

Championship match results:
100: Danielle Turner (Yorkville) d. Sonya Amin (Metea Valley) F 1:12
105: Annabelle Mueller (Hampshire) d. Susan Cruz (Larkin) TF 15-0
110: Joselyn Llanos (E Aurora) d. Mariah Zalapa (Lyons) MD 9-1
115: Stella Piazza (Hampshire) d. Janiya Moore (Metea Valley) TF 20-5
120: Jelena Coyomani (E Aurora) d. Zoey Reger (Yorkville) TF 15-0
125: Valentina Barboza (E Aurora) d. Alexiia Castaneda (S Elgin) F 0:48
130: Samantha Greisen (Seneca) d. Ayelen Higuera (E Aurora) TF 19-3
135: Sofia Turek (Lyons) d. Isabel Velasco (E Aurora) F 1:27
140: Quinn Janssens (Oswego E) d. Aviana Froelich (Yorkville) F 5:00
145: Madison Minson (Hampshire) d. Haiden Lavarier (Seneca) D 4-3
155: Allison Garbacz (S Elgin) d. Alyssa Galarza (E Aurora) F 3:05
170: Lauryn Trotter (Yorkville) d. Aaliyah Villanueva (Plainfield N) F 0:28
190: Samantha Diehl (Hampshire) d. Jadelin Caballero (Larkin) F 2:55
235: Lilli Ortiz (E Aurora) d. Erica Hill (R-Brookfield) F 0:11

Third-place match results:
100: Carmen Garcia (E Aurora) d. Carly Salgado (Hampshire) D 9-4
105: Barbara Vargas (Metea Valley) d. Analiese Garretson (Yorkville) DQ
110: Evani Jimenez (Lyons) d. Itzel Bernal (Buffalo Grove) F 0:26
115: Savannah Turner (Yorkville) d. Itzel Villa (E Aurora) inj dflt
120: Alexandra Avila (Larkin) d. Jacqueline Lateano (Buffalo Grove) F 3:07
125: Zoe Connelly (Lyons) d. Caroline Marogy (Buffalo Grove) F 4:35
130: Emily Sugano (Metea Valley) d. Lea Becker (R-Brookfield) F 1:53
135: Kinslee Lawrence (Yorkville) d. Emily House (Oswego E) F 2:46
140: Alketa Picari (Metea Valley) d. Kerra Serrette (Buffalo Grove) TF 17-2
145: Ella Cooper (Oswego E) d. Jordyn Slager (Metea Valley) F 1:26
155: Danely Villagomez (R-Brookfield) d. Julia Robb (Oswego E) F 1:05
170: Mariana Flores (Larkin) d. Ivary Ortiz (S Elgin) F 4:13
190: Jaylene Dealba (E Aurora) d. Annalizette Gallegos (Larkin) F 1:50
235: Leilany Ramirez-Chavez (Buffalo Grove) Bye

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

BENSENVILLE – South Elgin entered four individuals to the 2024 Conant Regional and they had a combined 16 wins going into the competition with Azucena Rodriguez having half of those victories and she added one more win to that total before running into Gabby Gomez in the quarterfinals and the team finished with eight points and placed 36th in the 41-team regional.  

The Storm’s fortunes changed dramatically last season due to the arrival of freshman Allison Garbacz as the team with 10 entrants scored 80 points and moved up to eighth place in the 27-team Willowbrook Regional with the freshman winning a regional title at 145 over an eventual three-time IHSA medal winner and two-time state runner-up, Schaumburg senior Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic in a clash of unbeatens, while junior Rodriguez placed second.

Garbacz beat Zerafa-Lazarevic again in the Schaumburg Sectional title match to take a 30-0 record to the IHSA Finals while Rodriguez fell one win shy of a state trip and finished 31-8. The Storm freshman saw her hopes of being an unbeaten champion halted in a 4-1 semifinal loss to the eventual title winner, Cumberland junior Natalie Beaumont, and split her last two matches to finish fourth with a 33-2 record as she became the first state medalist in her program’s history.

South Elgin continued to make history in a different but equally significant fashion on last week as it followed up on a fifth-place showing at the 33-team Rockford East E-Rab Girls Invitational to open its season by capturing an invitational title in decisive fashion when it took top honors at Fenton’s inaugural Girls Weiss Invite, capturing the championship of the 14-team competition with 167 points, which was 29.5 points ahead of runner-up Palatine. Storm coach Robert Tornabene is obviously very excited about what his program has accomplished so quickly.

“There was one girl we had four years ago,” Tornabene said. “She’s a senior now for our team, our 115-pounder, Azucena Rodriguez, and she kind of was kind of the frontier of our program. And she just stuck around, and for us, we just stuck with her and made sure that she felt like she was part of the team. And she appreciated that and has grown tremendously and has been a big boon in recruiting girls and helping us convince them to say, ‘hey, the sport’s for everyone.’

“One thing we’ve been preaching since day one, especially since we have a lot of new girls, a lot of freshmen, a lot of girls who’ve never even done any sport ever. And we’ve just told them, ‘even if you don’t know anything, never stop wrestling because there’s always a chance you can win. Anyone’s beatable. And everyone that went out there today, if they lost their first round, they just came back eventually and just never stopped wrestling. 

“Yeah, I’m very proud of them. This is the first time I think the girls team has won any team trophy. We placed top five in the Rockford East tournament last week and that was a good sign. I am so excited. This is the first time we’ve had nearly a whole lineup, as well. We’re only missing heavyweight, I think, right now. So for us, I couldn’t be more proud of a young group and a team like this.”

Garbacz, ranked just outside of the top 30 at 155 by Sports Illustrated in its national poll, captured her second tournament title of the season but she not only was her team’s lone title winner, she was also the only member of the Storm that was able to reach the title mats.

However, South Elgin had five third-place finishers, two others who claimed fourth place and two more who took fifth and it received points from all but one of the 12 individuals who participated in the tournament and nine of those scored 10 or more points. The Storm also recorded the most falls with 24, which was seven more than Palatine had. And they also collected the most total match points with 151, which was seven more than Metea Valley.

Turning in third-place finishes for the Storm were Leila Ruiz (105), Anni Romo (110), Azucena Rodriguez (115), Abril Caamano (135) and Jaqueline Martinez (140). Finishing in fourth place were Katherine Pallares (100) and Ivary Ortiz (190) while Julissa Arzeta (125) and Melissa Nino (170) both took fifth while Melanie Ruiz (120) and Alexa Olvera (130) also helped the cause.

Runner-up Palatine was led by champions Evelyn Arreola (135) and Irma Villa (190) while Aiva Wikar (170) and Aniaah Garcia (235) both claimed second place. Taking fourth place for coach Munkhtulga Zuunbayan’s Pirates was Brisa Perez (130) while Sherlyn Garcia (115) and Meghan Barry (140) both finished in fifth place.

Metea Valley used championships from Janiya Moore (115) and Alketa Picari (140) as well as second-place showings from Sonya Amin (100) and Barbara Vargas (105) to help it claim third place with 126 points. Mustangs coach Kevin Garbis’ Mustangs also got a third from Jordan Slager (145), a fifth from Hala Elhelou (130) and sixth-place finishes from Layla Snarey (125) and Evelyn Gonzalez (155).

The host school, who tied Waubonsie Valley for fourth place with 121 points, had the most title winners with four. Winning championships for coach Brian Hastings’ Bison were Maria Quintero (100), Kai Zamora (110), Giselle Castillo (125) and Ariana Solideo (235).

Hastings, who is in his 19th season as Fenton’s head coach after holding the same position at De La Salle Institute from 2001-2006, has been a long-time advocate for girls wrestling and earlier implemented a girls division into the boys invitational, which is also called the Weiss Invite, which had its 45th tournament on the following day. 

Due to the increasing number of girls in the sport, it was no longer practical to have a girls division along with the boys competition, thus the need for an entirely separate girls tournament one day earlier was introduced this season.

“We were one of the first ones, right before COVID, so maybe about six years ago, we had girls, so that was really a proud moment for us,” Hastings said of adding a girls division to the boys tournament. “Our girls program has done really well, and they’ve worked exceptionally hard, and we’ve had a lot of success. Last year it was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever had to make, not to include the girls just because of the amount, it would not have been feasible in one day. So I was happy that we were able to do it tonight, and I think there were a lot of good matches and there was tough competition.

“There were a lot of successful girls. Allison from South Elgin was a top four-placer and Saya, the state champ from Rockford East. And our heavyweight won a match downstate last year. And a bunch of Fargo qualifiers, so it was awesome. And then half of our team are a bunch of newbies, so just get in the experience and try and do their best. It’s awesome and great for them. I’m super happy and proud of them. 

“Our 100-pounder, Maria, had a great tournament, had three wins, three pins, and I think maybe she had two wins last year. She did a lot of offseason and she’s been more dedicated and she’s just a different wrestler, so that’s great. And then we have two incredible seniors in Kai and Giselle. And Ariana, our heavyweight, is a seasoned veteran as a junior she’s been downstate. And then you also know that everyone can wrestle better.”

Rockford East sophomore Saya Hongmounkhoune added to a title win at her own E-Rab Girls Invite to remain unbeaten during her high school career after capturing the championship at 105. Last season at the IHSA Finals, she defeated Montini Catholic’s Kat Bell in the 100 title match to finish with a 28-0 record and become one of five freshmen who won state titles and just the second, with Gomez the other, to be an unbeaten state champion as a freshman.

The additional four champions from the inaugural Girls Weiss Invite were Waubonsie Valley’s Isabella Johnson (120), Lemont’s Molly O’Connor (130), Deerfield’s Madison Mauer (145) and Rolling Meadows’ Leilani Brindis (170). 

Saint Viator had two second-place finishers, Evalyn Idzik (115) and Fiona Monaco (125), Downers Grove North also had two individuals who took second place, Jahdi’yah Hibbler (130) and Kaitlyn Kapral (140) and Waubonsie Valley had two who finished in second place, Sophia Contreras (135) and Nysa Bilal (145).

The additional four second-place finishers were Rolling Meadows’ Yerelin Nava Perez (110), Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Elitzua Sandoval-Mederos (120), Deerfield’s Natalie Rumpel (155) and Fenwick’s Valerie Franco (190).

There were 11 pins and two wins by technical fall in championship matches. The only title match featuring a decision was at 170 where Brindis defeated Wikar by a 7-4 score.

Arreola led all champions with 29.5 team points while Castillo and O’Connor tied for second place with 28 team points. There was a six-way tie among the title winners for fourth place with 26 team points between Brindis, Garbacz, Johnson, Moore, Quintero and Villa while Picari collected 25 team points to round out the top-10 in that category.

Also finishing in third place were Prospect’s Gretchen Heckard (100), Deerfield’s Bella Esparza (120), Waubonsie Valley’s Ava Kus (125), Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Kendra Chatman (130), Rolling Meadows’ Janet Brindis (155), Lemont’s Gabriela Baltierres (170), Waubonsie Valley’s Catherine Schultz (190) and Fewick’s Amirah Favela (235).

Downers Grove North had four fourth-place finishers, Jaszmyn Dotson (110), Valentina Gonzalez (135), Alena Mossman (145) and Samantha Stillo (155)

Additional fourth-place finishers were Rolling Meadows’ Guadalupe Nava Perez (105), Dasia Dantzler (115) and Allison Alcantara Rodriguez (235), Deerfield’s Dany Esparza (125), Madeleine Mauer (140) and Esther Kim (170) and Saint Viator’s Samantha Dyckman (120).

South Elgin’s Abril Caamano was the only individual in the invite to record four falls and she also had the largest seed-to-place difference with nine positions after being seeded 12th and taking third at 135. Three individuals captured three wins by technical fall, Hongmoungkhoune, Moore and Picari. And Moore also led all competitors with 50 total match points.

The competition is named after Steve Weiss, a 2014 Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Lifetime Service Recipient. He was head coach of the Bison for 22 seasons and had a 337-91-12 record. His 1972-1973 team won the final one-class IHSA title, when they outscored Sterling 29.5-25 for first, and he also had a fourth-place team in Class AA in 1979. 

Weiss, who passed away in 2016, had two state champions, 2024 National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Illinois Chapter Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award recipient Ed Giese, an AA champion in 1979 and 1980 who took fifth in 1981 after seeing a then-record 132 consecutive winning streak snapped, and 2012 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Ben Morris, the program’s only four-time medalist, who won an AA title in 1987 after placing second once and third twice.

Here are the champions and their weight classes at Fenton’s Girls Weiss Invite

100 – Maria Quintero, Fenton

Maria Quintero set the tone for host Fenton in the inaugural Girls Steve Weiss Invite by becoming the first of her team’s four champions when the sophomore who only had five victories last season won by fall in 3:23 over Metea Valley freshman Sonya Amin for the 100 championship. Right after she started the finals on a great note for coach Brian Hastings’ Bison, Kai Zamora added a championship at 110 and a short time later, Giselle Castillo took first place at 125 and Ariana Solideo made it 4-for-4 on the title mats by claiming top honors at 235.

Quintero opened with a pair of first-period falls, which included a pin in 0:44 over Prospect’s Gretchen Heckard in the semifinals. Her 26 team points tied her with five others for fourth place while Castillo tied for second with 28 points and the combination of the four titles and three other top-six showings helped the hosts to score 121 points and tie Waubonsie Valley for fourth place in the 14-team competition, which was just five points behind third place finisher Metea Valley. 

Amin, one of four finalists for coach Kevin Garbis’ third-place Mustangs while competing in her initial high school tournament, won her other match in the semifinals when she got a pin in 1:16 over South Elgin senior Katherine Pallares. In the third-place match, Heckard recorded a fall in 1:45 over Pallares. And for fifth place, Waubonsie Valley sophomore Cynthia Carrillo won by fall in 5:20 over Deerfield’s Mia Moyano.

105 – Saya Hongmoungkhoune, Rockford East

Saya Hongmoungkhoune made history last season by becoming one of five freshmen who have an IHSA championship, joining Roxana’s Chloe Skiles, who also pulled off that feat last year, as well as Kaneland’s Angelina Gochis in 2024 and Hononegah’s Angelina Cassioppi and Glenbard North’s Gabby Gomez in the initial  IHSA Finals in 2022. And she joins Gomez as the only two freshmen who were unbeaten after going 28-0 last season. Now Rockford East’s first medalist hopes to follow the legacy that was established by previous title winners from NIC-10 schools, the lone four-time champion, Angelina Cassioppi, a three-time title winner, Freeport’s Cadence Diduch, a two-time champ, Boylan Catholic’s Netavia Wickson and a first-place finisher in the initial IHSA Finals, Hononegah’s Rose Cassioppi,who’s the sister of Angelina. 

The sophomore, who’s coached by her sister, Madelynn, and won the 100 championship at last year’s IHSA Finals over Montini Catholic’s Kat Bell, is off to another great start after opening with a title at her own E-Rabs Invite last week with first-place finishes on both Friday and Saturday. She became one of the initial title winners at Fenton’s Girls Weiss Invite after claiming a victory by technical fall in 2:11 over Metea Valley freshman Barbara Vargas in the 105 finals and then one day later, she captured a title at Sterling’s Carson DeJarnatt Invite. The lone finalist and one of two top-five finishers for the four-entrant E-Rabs, she also got her semifinal win by technical fall in 1:46 over South Elgin junior Leila Ruiz in her other match. She tied Metea Valley’s Janiah Moore and Alketa Picari as the only individuals with two wins by technical fall. 

“I’ve been working very hard in the offseason,” Hongmoungkhoune said. “I have been constantly at practice in the room and I competed at nationals and on the dual team and just muscling up and making sure I’m eating the right stuff because I knew I was going to be going into a tougher weight class this year. (About competing nationally) Yeah, it’s definitely a big change going from high school season to the national level. Lots of tough girls, the best girls from every state, so I’m getting a lot of competition there and it’s just preparing me to work on what I need to during the season so that I can come back and win another state title. (On Rockford’s East program) It’s definitely very supportive. The boys are always so supportive. They’re cheering me on. The girls cheer the boys on. The coaches, all the coaches care. And it’s just a really great environment to be in. We’re a good, close-knit team. Growing up, I always worked with the boys, so I always had the feeling to prove myself. I’ve been working to be the best, and even if a lot of people still don’t know who I am, I still want to get my name out there so that people on the national level know who I am.”

Vargas, who joined three others who advanced to the title mat for coach Kevin Garbis’ third-place Mustangs, was also competing in her first high school tournament and won her only other match with a fall in 1:57 over Rolling Meadows senior Guadalupe Nava Perez in the semifinals. Ruiz, who was one of the five third-place finishers for the champion Storm, won by fall in 2:21 over Nava Perez to claim third place while Fenton sophomore Kaylee Roque finished in fifth place after getting a pin in 2:50 over Prospect’s Bri Favia.

110 – Kai Zamora, Fenton

Kai Zamora and Giselle Castillo are the only two seniors who competed for Fenton at their school’s initial Girls Weiss Invite, so it was a special night for the pair since they were two of their team’s four champions, which was a tournament-high. Their efforts, along with the other title winners, sophomore Maria Quintero and junior Ariana Solideo, as well as three others in the top-six at their weights, helped coach Brian Hastings’ Bison tie Waubonsie Valley for fourth in the 14-team event with 121 points, which was just five points behind third-place Metea Valley. 

Zamora became the Bison’s second title winner when she recorded a fall in 1:19 over Rolling Meadows sophomore Yerelin Nava Perez in the 110 championship. She earned her spot on the title mat with another pin, this one in 3:01 over South Elgin junior Anni Romo as Fenton captured wins in four of its five semifinal matches and carried that momentum to the finals to win four titles, which was equal to both Metea Valley and Palatine, who each had two champions.

Nava Perez, who was one of two finalists and seven individuals who placed in the top five at their weights for coach Eric Kohlberg’s Mustangs, recorded a pin in her only other match, which came in 5:45 over Downers Grove North sophomore Jaszmyn Dotson in the semifinals.  Romo went on to claim third place when she won by fall in 1:38 over Dotson.

115 – Janiya Moore, Metea Valley

Janiya Moore experienced what most would accept as a very good season in 2024-2025 by posting a 43-6 record. But the Metea Valley sophomore hoped to reach the IHSA Finals, and unfortunately, she fell one victory shy of achieving that goal after losing a 4-2 decision in the 120 consolation semifinals at the rugged Schaumburg Sectional, the same fate that her classmate, Alketa Picari, suffered at the same event. The pair hope to not only take the next step and get to state this season, but also to place there and become the first medal winners for their school. 

The Mustangs juniors both won titles in their first tournament of the season at Fenton’s Girls Weiss Invite with Moore taking first place at 115 by getting a victory by technical fall in 3:46 over Saint Viator sophomore Evalyn Idzik while Picari won the championship at 140. They were two of the four finalists for coach Kevin Garbis’ team, and four others placed in the top six to help them finish third with 126 points. Moore also got a win by technical fall in 2:51 in her opener before winning a 12-3 major decision in the semifinals over Palatine junior Sherlyn Garcia. Moore led all competitors with 50 total match points while Picarai was second with 41 and they joined Saya Hongmoungkhoune (105) as the only competitors with two wins by technical fall. And her 26 team points tied her with five other champions for fourth place in that category. 

“For me personally, I like how I was at least trying to set up my shots and trying to work myself to be better during the matches.” Moore said. “I’m really excited that I’m able to compete. And I’m really excited to say, even though this is the first tournament for me, I’m really excited to be a champ. I’m really glad that we have girls that have wrestled before. So they know pretty much what they’re doing. I’m super glad that we have a lot of girls this year. There’s more girls coming, other than just having five or whatever.”

Idzik joined Fiona Monaco (125) as a second-place finisher and was one of three top-four finishers for the Lions, who are coached by Mark Miedona and Mike Schneider and they claimed tenth place in the invite despite having only four competitors. The sophomore opened with a major decision and then won by fall in 3:25 over Rolling Meadows freshman Dasia Dantzler in the semifinals. South Elgin senior Azucena Rodriguez, who went 31-8 last season and fell one win shy advancing to state from the Schaumburg Sectional, became one of her champion team’s five third-place finishers when she got a pin in 1:05 over Dantzler. And in the fifth-place match, Garcia won by fall in 2:40 over Fenton sophomore Matylda Piskorz.

120 – Isabella Johnson, Waubonsie Valley

Isabella Johnson really wasn’t really expecting very much when she competed in her initial high school tournament at Fenton’s Girls Weiss Invite. But after winning the title at 120 to become Waubonsie Valley’s only champion and joining two teammates on the title mat and four others who placed in the top-six in the competition to help their team to a tie for fourth place with the host Bison, the junior, who also plays soccer and flag football for the Warriors, is beginning to realize that her decision to start competing in this new sport may indeed be a very wise one, especially after tying five other champions for the fourth-highest total of team points with 26..

Johnson captured the title at 120 by recording a fall in 3:19 over Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy junior Elitzua Sandoval-Mederos. In her other match, she won with another pin, this time in 1:36 over Deerfield’s Bella Esparza in the semifinals. With Sophia Contreras (135) and Nysa Bilal (145) joining her on the title mats and taking second place, coach Brad Caldwell’s Warriors scored 121 points to tie host Fenton for fourth place in the 14-team competition, which was five points behind another school from their district, Metea Valley, which took third place.

“We’ve been working really, really hard and all of our girls have been putting in so much effort recently,” Johnson said. “I think all of our girls really just did their best, and we came out with the best we could have tonight. (On the competition at the Invite) It makes it great because especially with girls wrestling, it’s very hard to get a match that’s going to be equal or you’re either getting dominated or it’s too easy. There is so much equality here today and it’s making everything so entertaining, I truly love it. (What got her into wrestling) My dad and my boyfriend, they just really like to see me with individual stuff. I’m really proud of myself, but I’m also really proud of the other girls that I wrestled today. I mean, I was really nervous, even if I didn’t look like it. I was really nervous going into the round. I think all of them, they honestly could have whooped me. I mean, we were both really smart with it. The ending was the ending, but they were both really, really good. I love it. It’s really fun.”

Sandoval-Mederos was the lone finalist and one of six top-six finishers for coach Jared Presley’s Lady Knights, who claimed ninth place. She recorded falls in her other two matches, opening with a quick pin before recording a fall in 4:53 over Fenton’s Merita Drabo in the semifinals. Esparza claimed third place by getting a fall in 3:57 over Saint Viator sophomore Samantha Dyckman. And for fifth, Prospect’s Alexis Thoma won by medical forfeit over Drabo.

125 – Giselle Castillo, Fenton

Giselle Castillo has had the great opportunity of seeing girls wrestling grow from just having a few individuals who were trying out the new sport to seeing talented newcomers participating and bigger teams and new tournaments becoming more of a constant. That certainly applies to Fenton, where the senior who was injured last season, was excited to be competing again in the initial Girls Weiss Invite that was separate from the boys tournament that held its 45th edition the next day, but she also got to be a champion in the event, as did three of her teammates, to give the host Bison a tourney-high four title winners which helped them to tie for fourth place.

She joined classmate Kai Zamora (110), junior Ariana Solideo (235) and sophomore Maria Quintero (100) on top of the awards stand after claiming top honors at 125 by recording a fall in 4:35 over Saint Viator freshman Fiona Monaco. With three others placing in the top six, coach Brian Hastings’ Bison scored 121 points, which tied them with Waubonsie Valley for fourth and were just five points behind third-place Metea Valley in their initial Weiss Invite. She finished with 28 team points, which tied for second place, after opening with a pin and then earned a spot as one of her team’s four finalists by getting a pin in 1:12 over Deerfield’s Dany Esparza.

“I think I was so surprised, especially because we have so many first years and so many new wrestlers that have been coming, training hard,” Castillo said. “But it shows that discipline is what breeds a good athlete, a good wrestler. So honestly, as much as I say I am surprised, I’m honestly not surprised because I’ve seen the work they’ve been putting in and I know that they deserve that. It was really a great tournament. I feel like always hard work is going to beat talent. And that’s what I feel like we’ve been seeing in our younger wrestlers. And that’s why I love wrestling as a sport, because even though there are some girls who have been in wrestling for years and years, there’s also us new girls who are coming in. I started my freshman year, and now it’s my senior year. And then last year I was completely out because I was injured and look, I just got a championship. I think the biggest thing I like about the team is that we all push each other to drive towards discipline. The team helps each other because it’s very hard to do those things alone. We need that family. We need that connection. We need the teamwork in order to push each other together. So I’m just in love with the team aspect that we have. We all want something so much greater for each other. And it’s shown, you know, we’re champions.”

Monaco kicked off her high school career in a good fashion by being one of three freshmen to advance to the title mats. She joined sophomore Evalyn Idzik (115) as finalists for the Lions, who are coached by Mike Schneider and Mark Miedona, who also got a fourth from sophomore Samantha Dyckman (120) to give them three high-placers among four entrants. Monaco won by technical fall in her opener and then got a pin in 0:49 over South Elgin freshman Julissa Arzeta in the semifinals. Waubonsie Valley junior Ava Kus claimed  third place with a fall in 0:32 over Esparza and Arzeta placed fifth by medical forfeit over Metea Valley freshman Layla Snarey.

130 – Molly O’Connor, Lemont

Molly O’Connor was drawn to wrestling after watching her brothers compete in the sport at Lemont. The senior has gone from being just an interested spectator to someone who’s really good at the sport, as was evidenced by her qualifying for the IHSA Finals last season and winning a match there to finish with a 42-8 record. Now the senior would like to do what her brother Noah accomplished in 2024 when he finished fifth at 150 in the IHSA Class 2A Finals so that she can conclude her high school career by becoming her program’s initial IHSA medalist.

O’Connor claimed top honors at 130 in her first tournament of the season when she recorded a fall in 3:10 over Downers Grove North junior Jahdi’yah Hibbler in the title match. She was the only finalist and one of three top-five finishers for coach Robert Hammerschmidt’s Lemont team. She recorded first-period pins in her initial two matches and then assured her spot in the on the 130 title mat with a fall in 1:05 over Prospect’s Rebecca Howe in the semifinals. She had 28 team points, which tied for second, just 1.5 points behind Palatine’s Evelyn Arreola (135). 

“I was so excited to see new competition,” O’Connor said. “We’re usually not by the Fenton area, so a lot of the teams I didn’t really recognize, so I was excited to see some girls that I don’t normally see. I’m very excited because we’ve always been a new team, and seeing these girls develop and seeing them have success, it really makes me proud of them and our program. It’s been a lot of fun, wrestling with my brothers and in my underclassman years. Now that I’m an upperclassman and helping the newer athletes and also seeing the success with myself and seeing all the work pay off, it’s really rewarding.I’ve always been involved with this sport, with my brothers, Johnny and Noah, being involved when they were younger and me going to the gym.”

Hibbler, who went 31-8 last season and fell a bit shy of advancing to state from the Schaumburg Sectional, was joined by senior Kaitlyn Kapral (140) as one of two finalists and also one of eight top-six placewinners for coach Marcos Rico’s Trojans, who took eighth place. She won her first two matches with pins in the opening period, earning her spot on the title mat with a fall in 1:20 over Metea Valley sophomore Hala Elhelou. In the third-place match, Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy freshman Kendra Chatman was a winner by fall in 0:49 over Palatine sophomore Brisa Perez. And for fifth place, Elhelou claimed the victory with a pin in 1:41 over Howe.

135 – Evelyn Arreola, Palatine

Evelyn Arreola was the first of four individuals from Palatine to compete in title matches at Fenton’s initial Girls Weiss Invite and the first of two from the team to capture championships when the sophomore was a winner by fall in 0:49 over Waubonsie Valley sophomore Sophia Contreras in the 135 championship match to cap off a day where she scored a tournament-high 29.5 team points. Classmate Irma Villa (190) also joined her as a title winner while senior Aiva Wikar (170) and sophomore Aniaah Garcia (235) both settled for second-place finishes.

The two champions and four finalists were joined by three other individuals who had top-five finishers to help coach Munkhtulga Zuunbayan’s Pirates to claim second place in the 14-team competition with 137.5 points. Arreola was one of the few champions who had to wrestle four matches and she won all of them decisively. She opened with two first-minute pins before capturing a win by technical fall over South Elgin junior Abril Caamano in the semifinals.

Contreras, one of three finalists for coach Brad Caldwell’s fourth-place Warriors, also had four matches, opening with a pin and then capturing an 8-3 decision before earning her spot in the 135 finals with a fall in 1:33 over Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy sophomore Lauryn Lee in the semifinals. Caamano, who was the lone individual to record four falls and also had the largest seed-place difference with nine positions, became one of five third-place finishers for the champion Storm when she got a pin in 3:16 over Downers Grove North junior Valentina Gonzalez. In the fifth-place match, Lemont senior Emma Lappay won by fall in 0:30 over Lee.

140 – Alketa Picari, Metea Valley

Alketa Picari enjoyed a very successful sophomore season at Metea Valley by going 35-11 and advancing to the Schaumburg Sectional. But in that challenging competition, she suffered the same fate as her classmate, Janiya Moore, as both fell one victory shy of advancing to the IHSA Finals while their teammate Ashley Basmajian was able to advance to state as the result of a fourth-place finish. Now the two juniors are looking to take the next step and to not only qualify for state in 2026 but to also to become the first IHSA medalists for the Mustangs. Picari and Moore joined Saya Hongmoungkhoune (105) as the only individuals who had two wins by technical fall and she took second in total match points with 41 while Moore led with 50 points. She also had 25 team points, which ranked tenth overall while Moore tied for fourth with 26.

Picari, who also won a championship the next day at the Larkin Royal Rumble in Elgin, got a pin in 3:21 over Downers Grove North senior Kaitlyn Kapral in the 140 title match to join Moore (115) as a champion while freshmen Sonya Amin (100) and Barbara Vargas (105) were also finalists at Fenton’s first Girls Weiss Invite, which was their team’s tournament of the season. With the addition of four other top-six finishes, coach Kevin Garbis’ Mustangs were able to claim third place in the event with 126 points. Her other two victories were both wins by technical fall, with the second of those coming in 2:00 over Palatine junior Meghan Barry in the semifinals.

“I’ve been trying to be locked in the whole year round,” Picari said. “I’m always wrestling, it’s my life. (Having more teammates) It helps a lot. We kind of have to teach a lot of things, but it’s just a lot more encouraging. It’s really good now because we have a lot of girls coming in from middle school that are wrestling, and previously we didn’t have that. I really like how intertwined we are and how supportive we are of each other.”

Kapral joined Jahdi’yah Hibbler (130) as second-place finishers to lead the way for coach Marcos Rico’s Trojans. She won her other two matches with opening-period falls, with the second of those coming in just 0:19 over Waubonsie Valley freshman Aleks Buettner in the semifinals. South Elgin junior Jaqueline Martinez became one of the champion Storm’s five third-place finishers when she won by fall in 1:55 over Deerfield’s Madeline Mauer. And for fifth place, Barry got a pin in 2:47 over Buettner.

145 – Madison Mauer, Deerfield

Madison Mauer is only in her first season in the sport at Deerfield and even though she’s still learning about wrestling, she has already become good enough at it to be able to capture a title in the initial tournament that she participated, the Girls Weiss Invite at Fenton, where she won the 145 championship by recording a fall in 3:24 over Waubonsie Valley senior Nysa Bilal.

Mauer was also her team’s top performer and was joined in the finals by Natalie Rumpel (155). Coach Jim Kirby’s Warriors had five other individuals who took sixth or better to finish in sixth place in the 14-team event with 111 points. She only had to compete in one other match, which she won by fall in 1:36 over Downers Grove North junior Alena Mossman in the semifinals.

“I think my team did really great today,” Mauer said. “We all went out and we tried our best. I’m especially proud of everyone who placed and all our new girls this year. We have so many new girls. This is my first season. It feels really good (to win her first title), I wasn’t expecting to go out there and do amazing because there are so many amazing girls wrestlers out there. But coming out tonight and getting awards is really exciting and I’m confident. (What she likes about her program) Definitely the culture. At Deerfield, there’s a strong championship culture.”

Bilal joined junior champion Isabella Johnson (120) and sophomore runner-up Sophia Contreras (135) as one of the three finalists and seven who placed in the top six for coach Brad Caldwell’s Warriors, who took third place with 126 points. After opening with a quick pin, Bilal advanced to the 145 title match with a fall in 2:41 in the semifinals over Metea Valley freshman Jordan Slager, who captured third place with a pin in 1:27 over Downers Grove North junior Alena Mossman. Taking fifth place was Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy junior Allison Robledo. 

155 – Allison Garbacz, South Elgin

Allison Garbacz made history last season as a freshman when she went 33-2 and finished in fourth place in the IHSA Finals at 145 to become the first medalist for South Elgin. After building on that success in the offseason at the national level, where she competed at Fargo and claimed third place there, she’s not only looking to make a return trip to state finals but also seeks to become an IHSA champion in 2026. She’s off to a great start after capturing a title at Rockford East to open her sophomore season and then not only was a champion at Fenton’s initial Girls Weiss Invite but also helped the Storm to capture top honors in the 14-team event.

Garbacz, who was ranked just outside of the top 30 in last week’s Sports Illustrated national rankings at 155, recorded a fall in 3:49 over Deerfield senior Natalie Rumpel to win the title at 155. Although she was her team’s lone champion and finalist, coach Robert Tornabene’s Storm had five third-place finishers and four others who took fifth or better to give them 167 points, which was 29.5 more than runner-up Palatine. She opened her title run with two quick falls, with the second in 1:48 over Downers Grove North sophomore Samantha Stillo in the semifinals. She finished tied with five other champions for fourth place in the most team points with 26.

“It’s a really cool feeling to be the first to do something like that, to make history that way,” Garbacz said of being her school’s first state medalist. “I was going as much as I could all summer. I was wrestling every day all summer. I went to Fargo and placed at Fargo, I took third. So I just really want to get on top of that podium this year. A lot of these girls are brand new, but we’ve just been really putting in the work. We’ve just been really building it up, and we’ve got a lot of medalists, even though these are new girls. Everybody’s really there to work, everybody’s there to put that work in and practice and everybody cheers each other on so that we can get those results and matches.”

Rumpel, who fell a bit short of a trip to state at the New Trier Sectional last season, joined champion Madison Mauer (145) as one of two finalists for coach Jim Kirby’s Warriors, who finished in sixth place. She opened with a quick pin and then won an 8-0 major decision in the semifinals over Rolling Meadows senior Janet Brindis, who also fell a bit short of qualifying for a state appearance at last season’s Schaumburg Sectional. Brindis captured third place after claiming an 8-3 decision over Stillo. In the fifth-place match, Rockford East junior Aubreyanna Ivey was a winner by fall in 1:18 over Metea Valley sophomore Evelyn Gonzalez.  

170 – Leilani Brindis, Rolling Meadows

Leilani Brindis won 33 matches and qualified for the Schaumburg Sectional last season, but like so many others, she saw her hopes of advancing to state get dashed there. The Rolling Meadows senior hopes that she can take the next step this season and advance to the IHSA Finals and possibly even become the first medal winner for her program and she’s definitely off to a good start after becoming her team’s lone champion at Fenton’s Weiss Girls Invite when she won a 7-4 decision over Palatine senior Aiva Wikar in the 170 championship match. 

Brindis was the lone champion as well as one of two finalists in addition to five other top-five finishers for coach Eric Kohlberg’s Mustangs, who claimed seventh place in the 14-team event with 107.5 points. She opened with a first-period fall and then earned her spot in the 170 championship match by getting a pin in 5:05 over Deerfield’s Esther Kim in the semifinals. She had 26 team points, which tied her with five other champions for fourth place in that regard.

“I feel proud of myself, especially because the first time I came to this tournament, which was my sophomore year, I didn’t place at all,” Brindis said. “And now that it’s my senior year and we came back as a school, I felt really proud of myself to get first because I went from none at this tournament to placing first. I was really excited because there’s some really strong girls here. My goal is to make it a state, so I want to take it as a practice. I feel like it was really well organized, and I feel like the girls here are really strong, and everybody has a good quality. What I do is I really just go to practice. It’s all conditioning, but especially after all of that, it’s all mental. So honestly, you have to have the right mindset. I go to practice at least six times a week because I want to get better. All of these girls, they just appreciate each other, and you just all see that feeling of happiness here, and I really like that.”

Wikar, who went 29-13 last season and came up a bit short of qualifying from the Schaumburg Sectional, was one of four finalists and two second-place finishers for coach Munkhtulga Zuunbayan’s Pirates, who took second place in the tournament with 137.5 points. She won her first two matches with falls that came during the opening minute, with the last of those being in the semifinals in 0:37 over Lemont junior Gabriela Baltierres, who followed up on that loss with a fall in 1:03 over Kim to take third. In the fifth-place match, South Elgin freshman Melissa Nino received a win by medical forfeit over Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Denise Cervantes.

190 – Irma Villa, Palatine

Irma Villa collected the second title victory to cap a very successful day for Palatine at Fenton’s initial Girls Weiss Invite when the sophomore recorded a fall in 0:44 over Fenwick’s Valerie Franco in the 190 championship match. Villa joined classmate Evelyn Arreola (135) as the title winners for coach Munkhtulga Zuunbayan’s Pirates. Arreola had a tournament-high 29.5 team points while Villa tied five other champions for fourth place in that category with 26 team points.

Villa also was one of four finalists for her Palatine along with senior Aiva Wikar (170) and sophomore Aniaah Garcia (235) and that helped it to capture a second-place showing in the competition with 137.5 points. Villa opened her title run with a quick fall and then followed with another pin, this time in 2:37 over Waubonsie Valley’s Catherine Schultz in the semifinals.

Franco was the lone finalist and one of two top-three finishers for coach Seth Gamino’s Friars, who only entered three individuals into the tournament. Her first two matches were both quick falls, with the second of those in 0:52 over Downers Grove North freshman Hannah Long in the semifinals. For third place, Schultz won by fall in 1:28 over South Elgin sophomore Ivary Ortiz. And for fifth place, Rolling Meadows senior Jonila Ilazi recorded a pin in 1:59 over Long.

235 – Ariana Solideo, Fenton

Ariana Solideo capped a big day for Fenton wrestling when she won the title at 235 to give the hosts a tournament-high four champions at the inaugural Girls Weiss Invite. The junior was joined on top of the awards stand by seniors Kai Zamora (110) and Giselle Castillo (125) and sophomore Maria Quintero (100) and with three others supplying top-six finishes, coach Brian Hastings’ Bison were able to tie Waubonsie Valley for fourth place with 121 points, which was five points behind third-place Metea Valley in an event won by South Elgin with 167 points.

Solideo had the quickest title win for the tournament, needing just 0:22 to wrap up the 235 championship with a fall over Palatine sophomore Aniaah Garcia. She joined Zamora as the only two Bison who competed in just two matches and her semifinal lasted much longer as she needed to go 2:55 before getting a fall over Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy’s Tiy James. 

“I think we did really good today,” Solideo said. “We competed very well. A lot of new stuff to practice and just new experiences are really good for us. We all tried our hardest and we all tried to fight for every match. I think that was pretty good from us because we’ve been training hard these past couple of weeks. I love the conditioning for sure. I think it’s really good and it gives me a good mentality. And I like that I can just be myself and just put all my hard work that I’ve been practicing, put it all on the mat. It was fun to host this tournament and I’m glad we got to have the matches we had.”

Garcia was one of four finalists and also one of the two second-place finishers for coach Munkhtulga Zuunbayan’s Pirates, who finished in second place with 137.5 points.  She won her first two matches with opening-period falls, with the second of those coming in 1:18 in the semifinals over Fenwick’s Amirah Favela, who went on to capture third place with a pin in 3:02 over Rolling Meadows senior Allison Alcantara Rodriguez. And in the fifth-place match, James was a winner by fall in 5:15 over Downers Grove North freshman Jada Bryant.  

Final team standings for Fenton’s Girls Weiss Invite

 1. South Elgin 167, 2. Palatine 137.5, 3. Metea Valley 126, 4. Fenton 121, 4. Waubonsie Valley 121, 6. Deerfield 111, 7. Rolling Meadows 107.5, 8. Downers Grove North 99.5, 9. Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy 74, 10. Saint Viator 61.5, 11. Lemont 60.5, 12. Prospect 43, 13. Fenwick 38, 14. Rockford East 33.

Championship matches for Fenton’s Girls Weiss Invite

100 – Maria Quintero (Fenton) over Sonya Amin (Metea Valley), F 3:23

105 – Saya Hongmoungkhoune (Rockford East) over Barbara Vargas (Metea Valley), TF 2:11

110 – Kai Zamora (Fenton) over Yerelin Nava Perez (Rolling Meadows), F 1:19

115 – Janiya Moore (Metea Valley) over Evalyn Idzik (Saint Viator), TF 3:46

120 – Isabella Johnson (Waubonsie Valley) over Elitzua Sandoval-Mederos (Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy), F 3:19

125 – Giselle Castillo (Fenton) over Fiona Monaco (Saint Viator), F 4:35

130 – Molly O’Connor (Lemont) over Jahdi’yah Hibbler (Downers Grove North), F 3:10

135 – Evelyn Arreola (Palatine) over Sophia Contreras (Waubonsie Valley), F 0:49

140 – Alketa Picari (Metea Valley) over Kaitlyn Kapral (Downers Grove North), F 3:21

145 – Madison Mauer (Deerfield) over Nysa Bilal (Waubonsie Valley), F 3:24

155 – Allison Garbacz (South Elgin) over Natalie Rumpel (Deerfield), F 3:49

170 – Leilani Brindis (Rolling Meadows) over Aiva Wikar (Palatine), D 7-4

190 – Irma Villa (Palatine) over Valerie Franco (Fenwick), F 0:44

235 – Ariana Solideo (Fenton) over Aniaah Garcia (Palatine), F 0:23