Feature Stories

By Gary Larsen
For the IWCOA

Leyden’s Randy Conrad Invitational

This year’s 11-team Randy Conrad Invite saw Stevenson earn a 259.5-210.5 edge over second-place Conant to win the team title, as coach Shane Cook’s wrestlers went a perfect 7-0 on the title mat along the way.
Cook also got five third-place finishes and two fourths during a fine day of wrestling for Stevenson at Leyden in Franklin Park.

“The entire team contributed to our success,” Cook said. “Having all fourteen guys place in the top four was really special. And going 7-for-7 in the finals was an exciting round for our team. This tournament was another step forward in preparation for the state tournament series.”

Host Leyden (116) placed third, followed by Harvard (103) and Notre Dame (81) to round out the top five team finishes.

Stevenson – ranked No. 20 in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA Illinois rankings — got titles from Andrew Chamkin (106), Yash Jagtap (113), Lorenzo Frezza (126), Cole Rhemrev (138), Thomas Schoolman (145), Carter Rand (152), and Jacob Whiting (195).

Rhemrev left Leyden as the tournament’s lone unbeaten wrestler at 22-0, and is currently ranked No. 3 at 138; Frezza improved to 22-1 and is ranked No. 4 at 126.

Stevenson’s third-place finishes came from Allan Kantor (120), Everett Ciezak (132), Josh Choi (170), Mesh Premanand (182) and Blake Duvall (285), with fourths coming from Themba Sitshela (160) and Will Toscaro (220).

Second-place Conant got individual titles from Peter Floyd (132) and CJ Gilbert (160) and seconds from Matt Goolish (106), Ethan Burklund (113), Yordan Neykov (120), Cody Sebo (170) and AJ Hernandez (182).

Placing third for No. 1 Conant coach Andrew Guilde were Mason Bartoli (138), Josh Morrison (145), Justin Deaton (152) and Harley Stary (220), and placing fifth were Chase Hura (126) and Henry Chang (195).

Also winning Leyden titles were Maine East’s Chris Kish (120), Burlington Central’s Nathan Kim (170), Harvard’s Gabe Sanchez (182), and Notre Dame’s Aodan O’Sullivan (220) and Karl Schmalz (285).

Placing second were Richards’ Muath Jilani (126), Leyden’s Rusty Klug (132), Harvard’s Daniel Rosas (138) and Ivan Rosas (145), Maine East’s Ezequiel Figueroa (152), Leyden’s Patrick Gadocha (160), Colin O’Neill (195) and Gus Tosterud (220), and Vernon Hills’ Max Acettura (285).

Third-placers included DeLaSalle’s Raymond Alvarado (106) and Mario Perez (126), and Harvard’s Bailey Livdahl (160) and Nathan Rosas (195).

Finishing fourth at Leyden were Notre Dame’s Johnny Sheehy (106), DeLaSalle’s Anthony Trendle (120), Burlington Central’s Ben Estrada (126), Richards’ Jibrel Judeh (132) and Dominik Paul (138), Leyden’s Joe Cichy (145) and Mike Coyne (285), Jamie Genis (152), and Diego Mendoza (170), Richards’ Nate Conway (182), Vernon Hills’ Jake Psaras (195).

Randy Conrad Invitational championship matches
106 – Andrew Chamkin (Stevenson) over Matt Goolish (Conant), 6-2
113 – Yash Jagtap (Stevenson) over Ethan Burklund (Conant), F 2:18
120 – Chris Kish (Maine East) over Yordan Neykov (Conant), 9-7
126 – Lorenzo Frezza (Stevenson) over Muath Jilani (Richards), F 1:07
132 – Peter Floyd (Conant) over Rusty Klug (Leyden), 10-0
138 – Cole Rhemrev (Stevenson) over Daniel Rosas (Harvard), F 3:06
145 – Thomas Schoolman (Stevenson) over Ivan Rosas (Harvard), 9-8
152 – Carter Rand (Stevenson) over Ezequiel Figueroa (Maine East), 10-5
160 – CJ Gilbert (Conant) over Patrick Gadocha (Leyden), F 3:00
170 – Nathan Kim (Burlington Central) over Cody Sebo (Conant), F 1:51
182 – Gabe Sanchez (Harvard) over AJ Hernandez (Conant), 3-2
195 – Jacob Whiting (Stevenson) over Colin O’Neill (Leyden), F 1:24
220 – Aodan O’Sullivan (Notre Dame) over Gus Tosterud (Leyden), 6-0
285 – Karl Schmalz (Notre Dame) over Max Acettura (Vernon Hills), 9-2

Glenbard West’s Chris Chappell Invitational

Host Glenbard West dominated the field at this year’s 10-team Chris Chappell Invite, posting a 254-142 edge over second-place Prairie Ridge thanks to nine individual titles, two runner-up finishes, and three third-place finishers.
Coach Nick Posegay’s Hilltoppers also tied with Lemont for the team title at this year’s Rex Whitlatch Invitational, and won the title at their own King of the Hill dual tournament this season.
With a 16-4 record in duals, Glenbard West is currently ranked at No. 18 in Illinois in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings.

“The team works hard and they are a lot of fun to be around,” Posegay said. “It’s nice in my retirement year to have a team like this one. We’ve got several seniors in the line-up that are enjoying strong seasons in Max Konopka, Brennan Skoda, Isaiah Perez, Pat Shadid and Philip Dozier.”

Bartlett finished third with 127 points, followed by Elk Grove (120) and Glenbard South (81) to round out the top five team finishes.
Glenbard West got individual titles from Ullises Rosas (113), Isaiah Perez (126), Jacob Lachs (132), Jeremy Iman (145), Brennan Skoda (152), Max Konopka (160), Patrick Shadid (170), Phillip Dozer (195), and Morely Coval (285). 

Placing second for Glenbard West were Jesus Avila (120) and Jack McCluskey (220), while Carson Prunty (106), Eric Dare (138) and Jason Thomas (182) each finished third.
Prairie Ridge got an individual title from Tyler Evans (120) and seconds from Jake Lowitski (106), Mikey Meade (126), Xander York (145), and Eddie Ferree (160). Travis Dittmer (113), Joe Botella (126), Ryan Koehblinger (132), and Victor Eberim (195) finished third for coach Justin Peete.

Also winning titles at Glenbard West were Thornton’s Keevin Osborne (106), Elk Grove’s Danny Gaskill (138) and Chance Guziec (220), and Bartlett’s Jacob Kucharski (182).

Second-place finishers included Bartlett’s Ryan Richey (113) Jack Kaneshiro (132), Anthony Verges (152), and Ryan Gura (170), Illinois Lutheran’s Josyah Holland (138), Glenbard South’s Steven Orsolini (182), and Elk Grove’s Brady Tosterud (195) and Ramiro Valdivia (285).

Placing third in their divisions were Thornton’s Fred Osborne (120) and Qilee Jackson (220), Bartlett’s Anthony Johnason (145), Glenbard South’s Paul Orizaba (152) and Brian Yun (285), and Elk Grove’s Jacob Elsner (160) and Mitch Janczak (170).

Finishing fourth were Prairie Ridge’s Quinn Zamet (113), Frank Canania (170), Jimmy Stone (182) and Walter Pollack (220), Bartlett’s Brad Richey (120), Proviso East’s Tae Delaney (126) and Clarence Wellington (160), Elk Grove’s Anthony Macina (132), Glenbard South’s Andre Catalang (138) and Cain Smith (195), Larkin’s Gavin Clark (145) and Irvin Reyes (152), and Thornton’s Lionel Senior (285).

Chris Chappell championship matches
106 – Keevin Osborne (Thornton) over Jake Lowitski (Prairie Ridge), 9-3
113 – Ullises Rosas (Glenbard West) over Ryan Richey (Bartlett), F 2:59
120 – Tyler Evans (Prairie Ridge) over Jesus Avila (Glenbard West) F 0:00
126 – Isaiah Perez (Glenbard West) over Mikey Meade (Prairie Ridge), 6-1
132 – Jacob Lachs (Glenbard West) over Jack Kaneshiro (Bartlett), F 3:54
138 – Danny Gaskill (Elk Grove) over Josyah Holland (Illinois Lutheran), 7-5
145 – Jeremy Iman (Glenbard West) over Xander York (Prairie Ridge), 4-2
152 – Brennan Skoda (Glenbard West) over Anthony Verges (Bartlett), 8-3
160 – Max Konopka (Glenbard West) over Eddie Ferree (Prairie Ridge), 12-8
170 – Patrick Shadid (Glenbard West) over Ryan Gura (Bartlett), F 1:30
182 – Jacob Kucharski (Bartlett) over Steven Orsolini (Glenbard South), F 1:20
195 – Phillip Dozer (Glenbard West) over Brady Tosterud (Elk Grove), F 1:20
220 – Chance Guziec (Elk Grove) over Jack McCluskey (Glenbard West), 11-0
285 – Morely Coval (Glenbard West) over Ramiro Valdivia (Elk Grove), F 0:48

Geneva’s Newbill Tournament

West Aurora, Brother Rice, and Lake Zurich finished bunched atop the final standings of this year’s Newbill Wrestling Tournament, hosted by Geneva.

West Aurora won the team title 165-155 over second-place Brother Rice, with Lake Zurich placing third with 150.5.
Blackhawks coach Andrew Plata saw 10 of his wrestlers place in the top 7 of their weight classes in the 18-team tournament. West Aurora got an individual title from Gio Amaya (220) and three runner-up finishes from Ashton Massaro (132), Dominic Serio (138) and Noah Quintana (145).

“Gio (Amaya) is a tough kid for sure. He’s been under the radar for awhile because he’s been stuck behind guys like Dzhabrail Khurshidov and Jordan Lishman,” Plata said.

The Blackhawks also got a third from Moses Quintana (152), a fourth from Jesse Robles (106), fifths from Asam Kabir (160) and Aaron Nelson (120), a sixth from Aiden Massaro (113), and a seventh from Mario Ayala (182).
“The fact that we only had one champ and still won the team trophy speaks for itself on how solid our entire line up is,” Plata said. “We were missing a couple of guys, just like everyone else, but when we are at full strength, we are a force to be reckoned with for sure.”

Brother Rice’s second-place team finish came thanks to a pair of individual titles from Tom Bennett (170) and Pat Galeher (285), a second from Bobby Conway (120), fourths from James Bennett (126), Al Perez (138) and Charley Connolly (152), fifths from Gambino Perez (195) and James Hogan (220), a sixth from Colin Ashley (182) and a seventh from Ben McMurray (132).

Lake Zurich had three champions in Luca Poeta (106), Scott Busse (138) and Nolan Schuetz (160) and fourth-place Marian Central (129.5) led all teams with four individual champions in Kaden Haman (113), Charlie Fitzgerald (120), Vance Williams (132) and Nik Jimenez (145).

Also winning titles in Geneva were Alton’s William Harris (126), Shepard’s Damari Reed (152), Oak Lawn’s Evan Zambrano (182), and Dundee-Crown’s Porter Leith (195).

Placing second in their weight classes were Wheaton Warrenville South’s Aarav Levora (106) and Sedeeq Al Obaidi (160), Lake Zurich’s Alex Kahler (113), Lyons Township’s Matt Ridley (126), Stillman Valley’s Jack Seacrist (152), Oak Lawn’s Hani Odeh (170), Plainfield Central’s Max Bown (182), Geneva’s John Schmidt (195), Lake Zurich’s Ethan Medina (220), and Glenbard East’s Nate Kelley (285).

Finishing third were Glenbard East’s Waleed Binmahfooz (106) and Blake Salvino (160), WW South’s Ben Westmaas (113), Geneva’s Dylan Schlegel (120) and Ben Kunkel (170), Plainfield Central’s Lucas Mena (126), Alton’s Deontae Forest (132), Lyons Township’s Finn Merrill (145) and Mehdi Tlich (285), Lake Zurich’s Dan Hull (182), Joliet Central’s Phil Johnston (195), and Glenbrook North’s Nate Glazebrook (220).

Placing fourth were Addison Trail’s Manny Galeana (113), Lyons Township’s James Zavala (120), Glenbard East’s Andrew Gron (132) and Diego Garcia (138), Geneva’s Nicky O’Keefe (145), Joliet Central’s Kam Mitchell (160), Plainfield Central’s Anthony Minnito (170), Stillman Valley’s Andrew Forcier (182), WW South’s Mason Monce (195), Dundee-Crown’s Juan Jasso (220), and Shepard’s Allen Taylor (285).

Geneva’s Newbill Tournament Champions
106 – Luca Poeta (Lake Zurich) over Aarav Levora (WW South), TF
113 – Kaden Haman (Marian Central) over Alex Kahler (Lake Zurich), MD
120 – Charlie Fitzgerald (Marian Central) over Bobby Conway (Brother Rice), D
126 – William Harris (Alton) over Matt Ridley (Lyons Township), F
132 – Vance Williams (Marian Central) over Ashton Massaro (West Aurora), D
138 – Scott Busse (Lake Zurich) over Dominic Serio (West Aurora), MD
145 – Nik Jimenez (Marian Central) over Noah Quintana (West Aurora), D
152 – Damari Reed (Shepard) over Jack Seacrist (Stillman Valley), MD
160 – Nolan Schuetz (Lake Zurich) over Sedeeq Al Obaidi (WW South), F
170 – Tom Bennett (Brother Rice) over Hani Odeh (Oak Lawn), TF
182 – Evan Zambrano (Oak Lawn) over Max Bown (Plainfield Central), F
195 – Porter Leith (Dundee-Crown) over John Schmidt (Geneva), D
220 – Gio Amaya (West Aurora) over Ethan Medina (Lake Zurich), F

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

PRINCETON – When a team has won the last two tournament titles and is the defending state champion that’s won five state titles in eight seasons, it’s difficult to overlook them.

But in last week’s IWCOA rankings in Class 1A, eighth-ranked Dakota was the fifth-best team in the field at the 58th-annual Lyle King Princeton Invitational Tournament behind top-ranked Dixon, No. 3 Coal City, No. 5 Vandalia and No. 6 Tremont.

None of that seemed to matter to coach Matt Jacobs’ Indians, however, as they steadily moved up in the standings of the 32-team PIT and led by 22 points after the semifinals and went on to win the championship by an 183.5-140 margin over Vandalia at Prouty Gym. 

Reed-Custer edged rival Coal City 136.5-136 for third place. Auburn, with only eight competitors, took fifth by a 134.5-128 margin over Dixon. Riverdale, with seven entrants, took seventh with 119 points while Newman Central Catholic edged the host Tigers 110-107.5 for eighth and Manteno beat out Rockridge (103.5-101) for tenth place.

Dakota, who finished 12th in the Dvorak and whose best tournament showing was a fourth at the Bobcat Duals in Iowa, had three champions, a second-place finisher, a third and a fourth at the same weight and three seventh-place finishes out of its 11 competitors.

Leading the way for Dakota were champions Phoenix Blakely (126), Maddux Blakely (138) and Noah Wenzel (195) while Tyler Simmer (145) took second. TJ Silva (132) placed third, Jason Bowers (132) was fourth and Case Rockey (152), Adrian Arellono (160) and Garrett Vincent (170) all placed seventh.

Maddux Blakely, who improved to 20-1, made history by capturing his third PIT title in three attempts. Top-ranked at 138, he won all four of his matches by fall, with the last coming in 3:02 in the title match against Reed-Custer’s Ryan Tribble (14-1), who was ranked third. Maddux Blakely won previous PIT titles at 106 in 2019 and at 113 in 2020.

Phoenix Blakely, who’s 18-3 and top-ranked at 126, also recorded four falls with the last being in 2:41 over Princeton’s Matthew Harris (16-1), who was ranked fifth. Wenzel, 19-2 and second-ranked at 195, got two pins and a win by default, wrapping up his title with a fall in 3:21 over PORTA’s Trace Shaub (19-3).

Matt Jacobs is in his first season as Dakota’s head coach after being a longtime assistant under Pete Alber, a 2015 IWCOA hall of famer who was head coach of the program for 25 years and won 396 dual meets. Jacobs was a two-time state champion for the Indians under Alber, who still assists the program, and Josh Alber, who won four state titles and never lost a high school match at Dakota, is also still coaching there.

“Luckily we were able to still pull off another win, even with some of the changes,” Jacobs said. “Our numbers are a little lower this year, but our top guys came through and performed really well. We got a lot of bonus points with pins and tech falls and that’s really what pulled us away. We’re known for that and that’s not going to change. We work hard to always try to get those bonus points.

“This tournament is something good to keep building off of. We had a good Dvorak, especially day two. Some of our top guys performed well, like at the Dvorak, but in our next group of guys, we had a lot of placers, and that’s what they needed to do. I wanted everyone that we entered to place, and we placed everyone but two.  We are very proud of Maddux for winning the tournament in such a dominant fashion. With the PIT being the toughest 1A in-season-tournament, it is quite an accomplishment that he won it every year he entered it.”

While Dakota naturally has big plans both individually and as a team in the state series, it faces a tough challenge right off the bat when four of the top-10 teams in the state meet in the Class 1A Dixon Regional, which also features No. 2 Lena-Winslow/Stockton and No. 10 Oregon.

“This is my first year as the head coach but most of the coaching staff is all the same,” Jacobs said. “Pete is still helping us out and is a great help and a leader for us. We love the tournaments since you get a lot of matches and see a lot of teams. And the cream rises to the top when you’re in the finals, you’re the best of 30-some kids in that weight class. We still have a lot of work to do and we need to be regional champions so it opens the door to the dual meet series, and our goal is to be state champions again.”

Other top-ranked individuals at their weight classes who won titles and remained unbeaten were Auburn’s Anthony Ruzic (14-0) at 113, Riverdale’s Brock Smith (20-0) at 132 and Alleman’s Charlie Jagusah (22-0) at 285. 

Ruzic needed just 24 seconds to get a fall in the 113 finals over Clinton’s Teegan West (15-9). Smith had a tough finals match at 132, winning 9-6 over Auburn’s Dresden Grimm (26-1), who was ranked third. And Jagusah recorded a fall in 1:01 over Wilmington’s Blake Shirey (13-2) to wrap up a tournament where he had four falls in just over three minutes to earn OWA honors for the upper weights.

In top finals featuring ranked competitors, Illini Bluffs’ No. 4 Hunter Robbins (16-2) beat Litchfield’s No. 3 Alex Powell (20-3) 6-0 in the 106 finals, Newman Central Catholic’s No. 3 Brady Grennan (23-0) was a 12-2 winner over Mercer County’s No. 6 at 113 Ethan Monson (11-2) at 120 and Riverdale’s No. 4 Collin Altensey (17-0) won 7-4 over Coal City’s No. 2 Zach Finch (20-4) in the 152 finals.

In one of the bigger upsets on the day, Rockridge’s unranked Reese Finch (18-2) claimed a 6-2 decision over Dakota’s No.2 Tyler Simmer in the 145 finals, which resulted in him receiving the OWA for the lower weights.

Riverdale’s second-ranked Alex Watson (20-0) remained perfect when he recorded a fall in 4:44 over Vandalia’s Ryan Kaiser (23-4) in the 160 title match. Also remaining undefeated was Reed-Custer’s No. 3 Kody Marschner (18-0), who claimed a 6-3 decision over Morrison’s Nate Schaefer (18-3) in the 220 finals.

LeRoy/Tri-Valley’s Tyson Brent (16-0) also stayed unbeaten after capturing a 6-4 decision over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Braylen Kean (8-2) in the 170 finals. And Manteno’s Colin Zeppi (15-3) prevailed in one of the closest title matches when he edged Coal City’s No. 10 Braiden Young (19-5) 4-3 at 182.

Riverdale joined Dakota as the only teams with three champions. Winning titles for coach Myron Keppy’s Rams were Smith (132), Altensey (152) and Watson (160).

Despite having just one finalist, coach Jason Clay’s runner-up Vandals had nine of its 12 individuals who placed seventh or better to finish in second place, their same finish in 2020. They were led by Kaiser, who took second at 160, Cutter Prater, who was third at 138 and Eric McKinney, who took fourth at 152.

No. 11 Reed-Custer, which was tied for 11th in the PIT in 2020 and placed 19th the year before, turned in one of its best showings in a major invitational in some time when it nipped Coal City for third place. Leading the way for coach Yale Davis’ Comets were Marschner who took first at 220, Tribble, who was second at 138 and Landon Markle, who finished fourth at 145.

The first-place matches were conducted in a different order with the schedule on the title mat as follows: 152, 195, 138, 182, 126, 220, 160, 145, 285, 120, 113, 170, 106 and 132. For consistency, our summary of champions and weight classes is in the usual fashion.

Here’s a summary of the tournament champions, as well as their weight classes, for the 58th-annual Lyle King PIT in Princeton:

106 – Hunter Robbins, Illini Bluffs

Hunter Robbins had a tough route to claim the 106 PIT title, which required him to beat ranked individuals in both the semifinals and finals but the Illini Bluffs’ sophomore, who’s ranked fourth, was up to the challenge and improved to 16-2 after claiming a 6-0 victory over Litchfield junior Alex Powell, who’s ranked third, in the 106 finals. 

After winning by technical fall in the quarterfinals, Robbins, an IWCOA qualifier who placed second at his own school’s tournament, earned his trip to the title mat with a 4-0 decision over Olympia freshman Dylan Eimer in the semifinals.

“I knew that these were some big names so I kind of got to see how I’d fare,” Robbins said. “It feels good to just knock out these big names, and I’m doing it one-by-one and I’m going to keep on doing it. My wrestling partners are Ian O’Connor, Jackson Carroll and Paul Ishikawa, and they all help me out a lot and I get really good work in with them. I like how bonded we are and we’re really close and hang out outside of wrestling, and not just in the wrestling room.”

Powell (20-3), a two-time state qualifier who took second at PORTA, followed a major decision with a fall in 3:34 in the semifinals over Alleman senior Dalton Nimrick (21-4). Powell and Nimrick both also placed in the 2020 PIT. In the third-place match, Eimer (18-3), who won a title at Illini Bluffs, captured a 4-3 decision over Nimrick. 

Ottawa’s Ivan Munoz (4-2) recorded a fall in 3:32 over Dixon sophomore Ayden Rowley (3-3) in the fifth-place match. And Riverdale sophomore Tharen Jacobs (14-4), who was ranked ninth, got a pin in 1:02 over Mercer County freshman Kale Stirn (7-4) to claim seventh place.

113 – Anthony Ruzic, Auburn

Anthony Ruzic rolled to the PIT championship at 113 with three first-period falls, and the Auburn sophomore who’s top-ranked at his weight improved to 14-0 after recording his quickest fall in the title match in 0:24 over Clinton freshman Teegan West.

Ruzic, who won the USA Wrestling 16U Greco-Roman national championship at 106 in Fargo and was third in the IWCOA in 2021, added to a title at PORTA after recording falls in 1:35 in his opener  and in 1:32 in the semifinals against Newman Central Catholic freshman Briar Ivey.

“I felt good out there,” Ruzic said. “It’s been a pretty easy year so far and I’ve just been preparing for state, it’s what we’ve been looking forward to all year really. Winning nationals over the summer has given me all of the confidence that I’ve needed. Really just in the practice room is pretty much all that I can do to prepare.”

West (15-9) recorded three falls to advance to the finals, including one in 2:22 over Byron senior Gunnar Bay (5-2) in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Ivey (13-5) got the win over Bay by way of forfeit.

Rock Falls junior Aaron Meenen (13-2) recorded a fall in 0:57 over Illini Bluffs freshman Wyatt Knowles (11-5) in the fifth-place match and Vandalia freshman Sophie Bowers (22-6) claimed seventh place with a fall in 0:32 over Monticello freshman Isaiah Ducker.

120 – Brady Grennan, Newman Central Catholic

Brady Grennan improved to 23-0 after winning 12-2 by major decision over Mercer County sophomore Ethan Monson in the 120 championship match. Grennan, a sophomore who’s ranked third and placed third in the IWCOA, won his third invitational title of the season, adding to firsts at Sterling and Erie/Prophetstown.

Grennan won his first three matches with first-period falls with the fastest of those coming in the semifinals, where he pinned Princeton freshman Ace Christiansen in 0:28. 

“I think yesterday and in the first couple of matches today that it was pretty sluggish, but the last match really kind of sped everything up,” Grennan said. “I’m pretty excited about the state series. What I’m most excited about is that I think that I can actually potentially win the state tournament this year and I want to do better than I did last year, when it was third place.”

Monson (11-2), who’s sixth at 113 and placed fourth in the IWCOA with a runner-up finish at Riverdale, won two major decisions before capturing a 9-3 victory over Coal City sophomore Brant Widlowski (22-5) in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Widlowski, who was sixth in the IWCOA, won by technical fall over Christiansen (13-6), who took second at Plano and Stillman Valley.

Auburn senior Gage Lopez (13-7), a state qualifier in 2019 who placed in the PIT in 2020, claimed fifth place with a fall in 1:19 over Vandalia junior Pierson Wilkerson. In the seventh-place match, Illini Bluffs junior Avery Speck (17-5), a 2021 IWCOA qualifier with seconds at Illini Bluffs and Erie/Prophetstown, won by injury default over Clifton Central sophomore Kayden Cody (22-8), who won a title at Clinton.

126 – Phoenix Blakely, Dakota

Phoenix Blakely improved to 18-3 after recording four falls and defeating a pair of ranked individuals in the process to capture top honors at 126 with a fall in 2:41 over Princeton senior Matthew Harris in the title match.

The Dakota junior, a two-time state champion who is top-ranked, pinned Dixon senior Chris Sitter, ranked fifth at 120, in 0:35 in the semifinals. Harris, a two-time state qualifier who was fourth in the IWCOA and ranked fifth this season, suffered his first loss in 17 matches and was unable to add to his titles at Plano and Stillman Valley. Blakely and Harris also placed in the PIT in 2020.

“I’m excited because so far any 1A kid that I’ve wrestled, I don’t think it has made it past the second period,” Phoenix Blakely said. “This is pretty big for us since there’s a couple of teams that are ranked above us, so this might help out. Our goal this year is to win it. We just work super hard in the practice room and we don’t give up much. And we have to remind them of what Dakota is all about.”

Harris advanced to the title mat with a win by technical fall and two falls, including one in 1:25 over Rockridge freshman Jude Finch (19-4), who’s ranked 10th, in the semifinals. Newman Central Catholic sophomore Carter Rude (29-1), who’s ranked sixth and was an IWCOA qualifier with titles at Sterling and Erie/Prophetstown, pinned Finch in 3:09 to claim third place and avenged his initial loss, 3-2, in the quarterfinals.

In the fifth-place match, Coal City junior Jacob Piatak (18-5) captured a 12-6 decision over Sitter (9-6) in a matchup of IWCOA qualifiers while Reed-Custer sophomore Sam Begler (14-3) took seventh after claiming a 10-4 victory over Clinton freshman Cayden Poole (22-4).

132 – Brock Smith, Riverdale

Brock Smith improved to 20-0 and added to a tournament title at his own school when he claimed a 9-6 decision over Auburn junior Dresden Grimm in a clash of highly-ranked and unbeaten competitors who were also 2020 PIT placewinners in the 132 finals.

The Riverdale junior, top-ranked and a fifth-place IHSA finisher in 2020, recorded first-period falls in his first two matches before capturing a 10-2 major decision in the semifinals over Dakota sophomore Jason Bowers. Grimm (26-1), a two-time qualifier who was sixth in the IWCOA, is ranked third and had a title at PORTA to his credit. 

“I personally thought I was pretty sloppy and I definitely should have done a lot better,” Smith said. “It’s just another match to me. This bracket and medal is going to go home and be put up somewhere and I’m back to work tomorrow. I have bigger things to focus on than this, I have to focus on being the best wrestler that I can be. I’ve been working really hard for most of the season. Our team has been through some stuff and shut down, but we’ve all just been working to get each other better and to bring each other up.”

Grimm, who was also a runner-up in the PIT in 2020, advanced to the title mat with a fall and a win by technical fall before recording another pin in the semifinals in 1:47 over Dakota freshman TJ Silva. In the only place matchup between teammates, Silva (15-4) claimed third place over Bowers (8-3) due to an injury default.

In the fifth-place match, Illini Bluffs sophomore Ian O’Connor (26-4), an IWCOA qualifier who won titles at Illini Bluffs and Erie/Prophetstown, got a fall in 3:58 over Newman Central Catholic freshman Daniel Kelly (25-7). Vandalia junior Owen Miller (22-6), a two-time state qualifier and 2020 PIT placer who was ranked 10th, got a fall in 2:42 over LeRoy/Tri-Valley sophomore Connor Lyons (9-7) for seventh.

138 – Maddux Blakely, Dakota

Maddux Blakely made history when he became one of the few individuals to win three PIT titles in just three visits to the tournament.

After taking first at 106 as a freshman and first at 113 in 2020, the Dakota senior completed the trifecta by recording a fall in 3:02 in the 138 title match over Reed-Custer senior Ryan Tribble to improve to 20-1.

Blakely, a three-time qualifier and two-time third-place finisher at state who is top-ranked, recorded three first-period falls, including one in 1:04 over Monticello senior Jaxon Trent in the semifinals. Tribble (14-1), a two-time state qualifier and 2020 PIT placer who’s ranked third, had a win by technical fall and a major decision before edging Vandalia senior Cutter Prater 2-0 in the semifinals.

“It feels great,” Maddux Blakely said. “We only brought like 10 kids, but we all got bonus points and that helped us out a lot. We’re good on top, so we get a lot of pins. We have a lot of young guys and they all step up and show up and get pins and extra points, so I’m excited just for our team to do well later on this season.”

Prater (26-2), a two-time state qualifier and 2020 PIT placer who’s ranked ninth with a title at Civic Memorial to his credit, captured third place by recording a fall in 2:19 over Trent (22-7).

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher sophomore Carson Maxey (15-8) claimed fifth place by injury default over Orion sophomore Mason Anderson (13-4) and in the seventh-place match, Olympia sophomore Bentley Wise (16-7) recorded a fall in 0:53 over Wilmington junior Jacob Prescott (11-6), who was an IWCOA qualifier.

145 – Reese Finch, Rockridge

Reese Finch used a pair of wins by technical fall as well as two decisions to not only win the championship at 145 by a 6-2 score over Dakota senior Tyler Simmer and improve to 18-2 but also received the PIT’s Outstanding Wrestler Award for the lower weights.

The Rockridge junior who is unranked, was an IWCOA qualifier and took second at Erie/Prophetstown. He beat Reed-Custer junior Landon Markle by technical fall in the semifinals. Simmer (17-4), an IWCOA runner-up and 2020 PIT placer who’s ranked second, got a pin and a win by technical fall to advance to the semifinals, where he won 8-2 over Riverdale junior Eli Hinde.

“It really feels good to come out on top in a really good bracket, too,” Finch said. “Dakota is always tough and I know that they’re always going to have quality wrestlers. I wrestled hard all day and I’m thankful to come out on top of the podium. I just hope that at the state tournament, that I can be at the top of the podium. I just want to keep wrestling hard and doing my thing and I feel that if I do that, then I can beat anybody. There’s a lot of good guys in the room, and they’ve really been pushing me and helping me to achieve my goals.”

Princeton junior Augie Christiansen (18-2), who won a title at Plano and was a 2020 PIT placer, avenged a 10-7 quarterfinals defeat to Markle (15-5) by pinning him in 1:23 in the third-place match.

Hinde (17-4), who’s ranked tenth and was second at his own schoo’s invite, claimed fifth-place with a 7-0 decision over Coal City junior Jack Poyner (15-6). And in the seventh-placed match, Vandalia junior Logan Nance (19-7), who’s ranked ninth and was an IWCOA qualifier, won a 5-0 decision over Coal City junior Mataeo Blessing (18-8), who was a state qualifier in 2020.

152 – Collin Altensey, Riverdale

Collin Altensey remained unbeaten at 17-0 after prevailing 7-4 over Coal City senior Zach Finch in the 152 championship in a matchup of two of the state’s highest-ranked individuals at that weight.

The Riverdale junior, who’s ranked fourth and placed fifth in the IHSA in 2020, followed a pin and a win by technical fall with an 8-5 win in the semifinals over Newman Central Catholic senior Mason Glaudel. Finch (20-4), a 2020 IHSA qualifier who’s ranked second, also had a pin and a win by technical fall before winning 4-2 in the semifinals over Vandalia junior Eric McKinney. Altensey and Finch were 2020 PIT placewinners.

“I just knew that if I came out hitting my shots that it would do good things, so that’s what I did and I got a big move right away,” Altensey said. “I have big goals this year and I’m just working toward them and I’m excited for the postseason. We have a good team this year even though we have five kids out. We all just battle really hard in the room and it just makes all of us better at wrestling and better people.”

Manteno sophomore Carter Watkins (16-3) avenged an 8-6 quarterfinals loss to McKinney (24-5), an IWCOA qualifier who was ranked eighth, by claiming a 1-0 decision in the third-place match.

In the fifth-place match, Glaudel (25-4) won a 12-4 major decision over Clinton senior Trevor Willis (20-6). And for seventh place, Dakota junior Case Rockey (11-8) recorded a fall in 1:50 over Rockridge senior Cole McCabe (11-5).

160 – Alex Watson, Riverdale 

Alex Watson improved to 20-0 and the Riverdale junior, who’s ranked second, added to the title win at his own tournament when he recorded a fall in 4:44 in the 160 finals against Vandalia senior Ryan Kaiser.

Watson followed up on a fall and major decision with a win by technical fall in the semifinals over Clifton Central junior Damian Bailey. Kaiser (23-4), a two-time state qualifier who also placed second at Civic Memorial, opened with a win by technical fall before getting two falls, with one in the semifinals in 2:57 over Rockridge junior Peyton Locke.

“This is the toughest tournament of the year other than state, so I’m pretty excited,” Watson said. “I’ve definitely worked on my feet a lot more and just finishing my takedowns and getting up from the bottom, just the little things. We’re really close and we wrestle a lot in practice and push each other pretty hard. Our coaching and our whole team, we’re just super close and we just push each other all of the time. I think we’ll do well this year.”

Coal City freshman Landin Benson (14-1) avenged his first defeat, a 3-2 quarterfinals loss to Locke (11-4), by pinning the same opponent in 4:51 in the third-place match.

Bailey (23-7), who was an IWCOA qualifier, captured fifth place with a 9-3 victory over Reed-Custer senior Brenden Tribe (14-6). In the seventh-place match, Dakota junior Adrian Arellono (8-8), ranked ninth at 152, won by injury default over Warrensburg-Latham senior Luke Hall (18-6).

170 – Tyson Brent, LeRoy/Tri-Valley

Tyson Brent added to the title that he won at Metamora when the LeRoy/Tri-Valley junior captured a 6-4 victory over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher senior Braylen Kean in the 170 finals.

Brent, who’s 16-0 and was an IWCOA qualifier, recorded falls in his first two matches before claiming a 4-1 semifinals win over Pittsfield senior Mason Davis. Kean (8-2) advanced to the title mat following a decision, then by injury default over Tremont senior Lucas Wendling (26-3), who’s ranked second and was fifth in the IWCOA. In the semifinals, Kean claimed a 6-4 decision over Reed-Custer sophomore Rex Pfeifer.

“This is a very good feeling,” Brent said. “I’m just happy to come out and do my best in every match. I’m very happy to be here since there were a couple of guys here that beat me last year, so to come back and get some revenge on those matches. I’ve won every single match this year, but I haven’t really had anything to my name until this tournament. Last year was a struggle, but I did the most as I could with it and got better every day last year and I’m continuing to do that this year.”

Dixon sophomore Steven Kitzman (10-7), who took second at Wheaton Warrenville South, bounced back from a quarterfinal loss to Brent to claim third place with a 5-2 victory over Manteno senior Wyatt Young (15-5). 

Davis (16-4), an IWCOA qualifier who was a 2020 PIT placer, claimed fifth place after recording a fall in 5:05 over Pfeifer (14-5). And Dakota junior Garrett Vincent (11-10) captured seventh place when he won a 12-4 major decision over Coal City junior Joey Brenenman (9-7).

182 – Colin Zeppi, Manteno

Colin Zeppi captured one of the closest championship matches and ended a long PIT title drought for Manteno when the senior prevailed 4-3 over Coal City junior Braiden Young to claim top honors at 182.

Zeppi (15-3), who was an IWCOA qualifier, followed a fall and a decision with a pin in 2:47 in the semifinals over Olympia senior Austin Swan. Young (19-5) , an IWCOA qualifier who was ranked tenth, opened with a fall and then won two major decisions, with the second being in the semifinals by a 10-1 score over Dixon senior Brody Potter.

“It feels good,” Zeppi said. “I wasn’t expecting to win since I’m going to be honest, I felt like garbage. But I just wrestled through and after my match in the semifinals I started feeling pretty good. My opponent in the finals, Braiden, that was the fourth time that we’ve wrestled. Last season we wrestled twice and this year we had a dual in Coal City and I lost by six points. So going into it, there was a little apprehension. I feel a lot better about the state series and placing at state after this.”

In the third-place match, Potter (10-3) recorded a fall in 0:57 over Swan (22-7) while Auburn junior Skylar Fay (23-6) claimed fifth place as a result of injury default by Ottawa’s Charles Medrow (6-4).

And for seventh-place, Vandalia freshman Wyatt Dothager (18-11) recorded a fall in 1:24 over Reed-Custer junior Brandon Moorman (13-8).

195 – Noah Wenzel, Dakota

Noah Wenzel capped a day on which Dakota won its third-straight PIT title as the sophomore became the Indians’ third champion following a fall in 3:21 over PORTA junior Trace Shaub in the 195 finals.

Wenzel (19-2), who placed fourth at the IWCOA finals and is ranked second, won his first match by fall and won in the semifinals by injury default over Dixon senior Mitchell White. Shaub (19-3) advanced to the finals with a pair of falls, with one coming in 3:04 in the semifinals over Warrensburg-Latham junior Walker Allen.

“My brother, Andrew, who recently went to the Air Force Academy, has occasionally watched my matches and I’m just trying to make him proud out there,” Wenzel said. “You just have to get focused for regionals and try to move on to sectionals and then get down to state. One thing I’d just like to say about my team is that we obviously have a lot of hammers, and most of us placed. But for the people who didn’t place, it was just small mistakes that we have to work on in the room.”

Two individuals who lost in the quarterfinals wrestled back to reach the third-place match, where Manteno senior Gabe Johnson (15-5) won by technical fall over Mercer County sophomore Ian Willits (6-2).

In the fifth-place match, Allen (22-8) won by injury default over Dixon’s White (6-5) , who was ranked seventh and won a title at Sterling. Clifton Central senior Gabe Alvarez (17-11) claimed seventh place in the same fashion against Olympia sophomore Nolen Yeary (12-12).

220 – Kody Marschner, Reed-Custer

Kody Marschner improved to 18-0 and captured his first title of the year while helping the Comets to a third-place finish after capturing a 6-3 victory over Morrison senior Nate Schaefer in the 220 finals.

Marschner, a junior who’s a two-time state qualifier and 2021 IWCOA runner-up, placed at the PIT for the second time and reached the title mat following two falls and a 4-3 decision over Dixon senior Justin Dallas in the semifinals. Schaefer (18-3) recorded three-straight falls, including one in the semifinals in 1:36 over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher sophomore Gavin Johnson, who advanced to that round by injury default over Tremont senior John Rathbun (16-4), who took sixth in the IWCOA and was ranked fifth.

“In my freshman year, the last time we were here, I don’t remember us placing high at all,” Marschner said. “But we’ve been working hard in the offseason, like in my garage and other places. It’s a big thing that we’re doing good this year. We have a new head coach, Yale Davis, and his dad, and our main technician coach is Trent Lyons, who was a state champ. He’s been doing really good with us, especially with me in particular. Last year, I was just like a bull and I’d go right through them but now I’m actually starting to use my finesse.”

Dallas (12-3), who was second at Sterling and Wheaton Warrenville South, captured third-place when he recorded a fall in 5:22 over LeRoy/Tri-Valley senior Andrew Moore (13-6).

In the fifth-place match, Princeton junior Jesse Wright (11-8) won by fall in 1:27 over Johnson (4-3) while Vandalia senior Eric Barenfanger (22-8) claimed seventh-place with a fall in 1:08 over Clifton Central sophomore Hunter Hull (20-8).

285 – Charlie Jagusah, Alleman

Charlie Jagusah wasn’t able to wrestle a year ago due to a football injury but you wouldn’t know that based on how the Alleman junior dominated with four first-period falls to not only win the 285 title but also the PIT’s Outstanding Wrestler Award for the upper weights.

Jagusah, who’s top-ranked and took fourth in the IHSA in 2020 when he also placed in the PIT, improved to 22-0 after recording a fall in 1:02 in the semifinals over Auburn junior Cole Edie. In the finals, he needed 1:01 to get a fall over Wilmington senior Blake Shirey (13-2), who also won his first three matches by fall, recording his semifinals pin in 2:48 over Gibson-City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher senior Markus Miguel.

“It’s been an interesting year because the first couple of matches I was a little rusty since I didn’t get to wrestle last year because of an injury,” Jagusah said. “In my freshman year when I came here and got third and I think that four of the top five here medalled. It’s one of the tougher tournaments in the state and it really helps to prepare me. So I’m excited to win because I didn’t get to get that my freshman year. I know what I can do and know that I need to wrestle well in every match, especially at heavyweight, where anything can happen.”

Edie (22-4), who’s ranked sixth and was an IWCOA qualifier, got a fall in 0:29 over Miguel (8-5) to claim third place. 

Clifton Central senior Giacomo Panozzo (26-6) also recorded four falls, including one in 1:15 for fifth place over PORTA sophomore Issac Espnchied (19-7). And Manteno junior Damian Alsup (13-5), an IWCOA qualifier, took seventh after getting a fall in 4:58 over Princeton senior Justin Wicaryus.

By Patrick Z. McGavin

For the IWCOA

Yorkville solved the ultimate riddle.

How do you get to the top of the mountain without quite reaching the top?

The answer: with a wealth of quantity and quality.

Despite not fielding an individual champion, the Foxes captured the Sycamore Invitational Saturday with 502 points, easily outdistancing runner-up McHenry (444.50) and third-place Oak Forest (436.50).

Class 1A power Tolono (Unity) was fourth at 430.50. Belvidere co-op was fifth at 404. The host Sycamores had 393 for seventh. Class 2A power Mahomet-Seymour was seventh at 372.50.

Ranked No. 16 in 3A, the Foxes had two second-place finishes, one third-place finish, a fourth-place and three fifth-place performers.

That was enough to secure the coveted top team prize.

“This is a tournament where you get a lot of matches in,” Yorkville coach Jake Oster said. “We wrestled consistently. We didn’t have any winners, but most of our guys only lost one match, and they came back and got third, fifth or second.”

The 26-team field offered a range of clashing styles and different looks. The prestigious invitational served multiple purposes.

“There were a lot of good individuals from schools that we don’t normally see, some 2A and 3A, schools, and it’s good to have those different looks from different parts of the state,” Oster said.

“Different guys wrestle differently, and it’s good to see how our guys react to these different styles.”

Bloomington had a tournament best three individual champions at 120, 132 and 220. Mahomet-Seymour was the only other double-winner, with champions at 106 and 195.

With the start of regionals about a month away, the Sycamore Invitational provided a vital measuring stick to assess its spot in the larger firmament.

“This is a great testing point,” Oster said. “There are little things we see that we are doing well, and little things that we have to improve on.

“Right now, it’s about getting healthy and having everybody ready to go. We had a couple of guys out. With what we brought here, they wrestled really well.

Sycamore Invitational champions:

106 – Caden Hatton, Mahomet-Seymour

In a showdown of two top-5 wrestlers, No. 5 Caden Hatton of Mahomet-Seymour pulled out the 4-2 decision over Kaneland’s Cameron Phillips for the championship.

“My neutral was definitely my toughest position today,” he said. “Nobody could really stop me, honestly.”

By improving his record to 24-4, he also defeated Yorkville’s Raymond Cavey 6-4 in the semifinals. 

“I like a lot of freestyle stuff,” Hatton said. “I don’t like tying up much. Today was a big win for me, at this weight. It has definitely boosted my confidence.”

Ranked No. 4, Phillips (16-2) had two falls to reach the finals.

Rock Island’s Truth Vessey, ranked No 10, defeated Cavey by majority decision, 14-3, for third place. Brayden Tuenissen, of Belvidere co-op, defeated Angelina Cassioppi of Hononegah, 6-0, for fifth-place.

113 – Bryce Durlacher, Mundelein

Mundelein’s Bryce Durlacher put on a technical tour de force with two pins and two decisions.

In an electrifying final, Durlacher (20-1) defeated York’s Zach Parisi 5-4.

Durlacher won by fall over Nazareth’s Javaughn Jossell. He earned the tough 6-3 decision over Rochelle’s Xavier Villalobos in the semifinals.

Ranked No. 7 in 3A, Parisi (25-3) defeated Yorkville’s Jack Ferguson in the quarterfinals. He dominated Rock Island’s Samuel Niyonkuru with a 16-1 technical fall in the semifinals.

Villalobos defeated Niyonkuru by major decision for third place. Ferguson defeated McHenry’s Jimmy Norris by technical fall for fifth place.

120 – Carson Nishida, Bloomington

Bloomington’s Carson Nishida utilized balance, footwork and excellent technique for the 5-0 victory over Oak Forest’s Tyler Evitts for the individual championship.

Ranked No. 2 in 2A, he has an inimitable style. 

“I call it laidback, doing my own thing,” Nishida said after he improved to 25-3. “Listening to my coaches, and trusting my own instinct a lot.”

He was dominant with a technical fall and fall in the preliminary rounds to qualify for the finals.

“I’m always trying to get the first takedown, always trying to score as many points as possible,” he said. “Not to sound too cocky, but I do this pretty often. 

“I have been working hard for this the last 12 years of my life. I have dedicated everything just for wrestling. I love the sport.”

Evitts (15-2) posted narrow victories in the preliminaries to reach the title.

Rock Island’s Daniel McGhee (19-6) defeated Glenbrook South’s Max Brown 14-6 for third place. Glenbrook South’s Arnold Park defeated Kaden Inman of Tolono (Unity) 10-7 for fifth place.

126 – Chase Beckett, Portage WI

Chase Beckett of Portage (Wisconsin) was the only out of state individual champion.

He defeated Oak Forest’s No. 4 Caden Musselman 8-1. He posted pins over Marcus Santos of Glenbrook South and Dominic Girardin of Belvidere co-op to qualify for the final.

Musselman (13-2) won by majority decision over Pedro Jimenez of McHenry. He defeated Yorkville’s Dom Coronado 15-10 in his semifinal bracket.

Coronado recovered to defeat Girardin 13-4 for third place. Kaneland’s Caden Grabowski captured fifth place with a pin over Willowbrook’s Isaiah Smith.

132 – Dylan Watts, Bloomington

Bloomington picked up its second individual championship as Dylan Watts secured the 12-3 major decision over Frankie Salcedo of Grayslake North.

Watts posted a fall over Portage’s Jeffry Jones in the quarterfinals and a dominant 17-1 technical fall over Andrew Mohr of Cary-Grove.

Salcedo recorded a technical fall over Ryan Rink of Tolono (Unity) and an 8-1 decision over Joe Loranger of Oak Forest.

In the third-place match, Mohr posted the pin over Loranger. In the fifth-place match, Kamryn Labeau of Belvidere co-op won by fall over Rink.

138 – Aoci Bernard, Rock Island

Rock Island senior Aoci Bernard made good on a personal vow.

“This is my second time at this tournament,” he said. “My first time here, I finished 8th, and I told myself if I came back, I wanted to improve against that.”

Ranked No. 5 in 2A, Bernard (22-2) won by injury default after Grayslake North’s No. 10 Armen Jerikian was unable to compete due to illness.

He showed superb athleticism, quickness and power at the point of attack in his preliminary bouts.

“I am fast and explosive, and I am at my best just getting into my attack,” Bernard said. “Setting up my opponent and using my movement, I like to push the pace. 

“I just like to go into my shoot, and work, work and work until they can’t go anymore.”

He won by majority decision and decision to reach the final.

Until his illness, Jerikian had a fall and 8-4 decision over Logan Miller of Marengo.

Young had a dominant 17-2 technical fall over Miller in the third-place match. Sycamore’s Trent DuMont recorded a fall over York’s Jack Connell for fifth place.

145 – Antonio Alvarado, Belvidere (co-op)

In a signature final, No. 10 Antonio Alvarado of Belvidere co-op recorded the late third period pin over previously undefeated Tavius Hosley of Tolono (Unity).

Alvarado (22-3) won by technical fall and a fall in reaching the final.

Ranked No. 3 in 1A, Hosley (24-1) won by fall of Erick Nova of Mundelein and handed Drew Kested of Sterling his first loss with the 7-3 decision.

Ranked No. 3 in 2A, Kested defeated Bloomington’s Jacob Barger of Bloomington 3-0 for third place. Oak Forest’s Connor Nowicki won by pin over Nowa for fifth place.

152 – Brayden Peet, Sycamore

Sycamore’s Brayden Peet continued his rampaging assault toward perfection by defeating Glenbrook South’s Will Collins 8-3 in the championship.

Ranked No. 3 in 2A, Peet (26-0) also had a technical fall and fall in the run-up to the finals.

He felt very much at home.

“This felt great, especially since we didn’t have the tournament last year because of Covid,” Peet said. “This was my last year, so it felt great to be home and win it.”

He has a flamboyant, driven style. He is fearless, a bit of a whirling dervish who simply overwhelms the opposition.

“I am just trying to maintain that intensity and be very aggressive, and be able to get up from the bottom,” Peet said. 

“I am very confident in being able to do what I want to do.”

Collins (6-1) defeated Yorkville’s Luke Zook by major decision, and and defeated McHenry’s Ruben Melgarejo 6-0 in the semifinals.

Oak Forest’s Ivan Corral defeated Melgarejo by 13-1 major decision for third place. Zook defeated Braeden Heinold 4-2 for fifth place.

160 – Chris Moore, McHenry

3A top-ranked McHenry’s Chris Moore was virtually untouchable. He performed at another level with three consecutive major decisions.

His 22-7 major decision win over Sycamore’s Gus Cambier earned him the most valuable wrestler award.

“Everything was clicking for me today,” he said. “I was getting my shots down, and my fakes were also there, and they were falling for them a little bit.”

Moore (30-0) also defeated Yorkville’s Brody Williams 24-9 and Thomas Tate 28-13.

No. 3 in 2A, Cambier (21-3) won by fall and decision to reach his half of the final.

Glenbrook South’s Patrick Downing defeated Tate 10-4 for third place. Williams defeated Nat Nosler of Tolono (Unity) 7-3 for fifth place.

170 – Brody Hallin, McHenry

In a draw marked by highly ranked competition, McHenry’s Brody Hallin defeated Sycamore star Zack Crawford 5-1 in a riveting championship showdown.

No. 2 in 3A, Hallin edged 2A No. 2 Brennan Houser 3-2 of Mahomet-Seymour in the quarterfinals and posted a major decision 10-2 win over Nick Mabutas in the semifinals.

“I knew a lot of these guys I’d be going up against were bigger or had a greater reach than I did,” Hallin said. “I just wanted to stay patient and pace them out, and work my way against them and tire them out.”

The title path provided a sharp line for tracking his own progress.

“In the past years I was here at this tournament, and I got like second or third,” he said. “It feels great to know I am improving and getting better.”

No. 6 in 2A, Crawford (21-2) had a 6-1 decision over Kaden Combs and a pin over Joe Castenada of Oak Forest to capture his half of the brackets.

Mabutas won by fall over Castenada for third place. Houser won by fall over Combs for fifth place.

182 – Drew Surges, St. Charles North

Even with a perfect start to his junior season, St. Charles North’s Drew Surges knew he had to operate outside of his comfort zone.

“I was probably more offensive today than I have ever been,” he said. “I was attacking a lot more.”

Surges (19-0) defeated Henry Goetz 8-3 for the championship.

He also had a fall and technical fall in his two preliminary matches leading up to the finals.

“Today, I felt like I had to be the aggressor,” he said. “I felt like I had to come in and be better than anybody else in my division.

“I just had to be better.”

Goetz (15-2) posted victories over Sycamore’s Gable Carrick and Evan Grazzini of York to capture his half of the bracket.

Grazzini (23-5) defeated Belvidere’s A.J. Piloni for third place. McHenry’s Caleb Rezmer defeated Hunter Eastin of Tolono (Unity) by 14-3 major decision for fifth place.

195 – Mateo Casillas, Mahomet-Seymour

In one of the most challenging brackets, Mahomet-Seymour’s Mateo Casillas outdueled Yorkville’s Hunter Janeczko 4-2 in a brilliant, tactical final.

No. 2 in 2A, Casillas (30-1) defeated Rock Island’s Steven Marquez and Bloomington’s Anthony Curry by decision to reach the final.

Ranked No. 7 in 3A, Janeczko (19-2) posted a scintillating 4-3 quarterfinal victory over Nick Nosler of Tolono (Unity). He defeated Jack Callen by major decision in the semifinals.

Curry defeated Callen by major decision 14-4 for third place. Nosler (24-2) defeated Andrew Marquez of Rock Island for fifth place.

220 – Jack Weltha, Bloomington

Bloomington’s Jack Weltha is his severest critic.

“Overall, I am still not where I need to be,” he said. “There are areas where I need to keep working and get better.”

Ranked No. 2 in 2A, Weltha (23-1) captured arguably the deepest division in the tournament with a 4-0 decision over Yorkville’s highly regarded sophomore Ben Alvarez for the championship.

“I need to work more on my offense, and my movement, but this feels really good,” Weltha said. “We are a 2A team, and this is mostly a 3A tournament.”

Weltha had a fall and a 5-4 decision over previously undefeated Gabe Kaminsky of Nazareth in the semifinals.

Ranked No. 4 in 3A, Alvarez (29-4) had a fall and a 3-2 decision over Joey Pineda in his half of the draw.

Kaminsky (18-1) recovered from his first defeat to beat Pineda 6-3 for third place. Colton Crowley of Mahomet-Seymour pinned Logan Sowell of Cary-Grove for fifth place.

285 – Lee Smith, Rockford East

Sophomore Lee Smith of Rockford East captured the major decision 13-5 victory over Karson Richardson of Tolono (Unity) for the individual championship.

No. 6 in 2A, Smith (11-1) posted a 0:17 second fall in the quarterfinals over Camden Harms of Mahomet-Seymour. He also posted a first period fall of Eli Gustafson of Rock Island.

No. 10 at 220 in 2A, Richardson (23-2) recorded a pin over Dallas Dinkla of Grayslake North and a 10-3 decision over Sycamore’s Lincon Cooley.

No. 6 in 2A, Cooley (22-1) responded to his first loss by pinning Gustafson for third place. McHenry’s Luis Acleto defeated Hampshire’s Patryk Barnas by injury default for fifth place.

By Curt Herron
For the IWCOA

Cahokia wins title at Carbondale’s Murdale Tournament

On a weekend where 12 teams won individual titles at Carbondale’s 60th annual Murdale Tournament, Cahokia was one of the few among top scoring squads who didn’t put anyone on top of the awards stand.

But three seconds, two thirds, two fourths and a fifth helped lead the Comanches to the championship of the 24-team competition with 168 points, giving them a good advantage over runner-up Murphysboro, who had 144 points, while Quincy edged the host Terriers 124-122 to claim third place and Anna-Jonesboro beat out Fairfield 119-118 for fifth.

Leading the way for coach EJ Brooks’ Comanches were second-place finishers Nick Deloach, Jr. (152), Corron Midgett (170) and Berylonte Shegog (285). Demerious McGill (126) and Correion Midgett (182) took third and Nicholas Scott (106) and Damien Phipps (160) finished fourth.

“My kids battle hard at every weight,” Brooks said. “We are a young team and my inexperienced guys got some much-needed mat time. The tournament was great for my team to build on as we head into the later part of the season. Great win, but we still have work to do.” 

Top finishers for coach Shea Baker’s runner-up Red Devils were champions Arojae Hart (138) and Dayton Hoffman (160) and second-place finishers Liam Fox (126) and Patrick Campbell (145) while Kaiden Richards (106) and Bryce Edwards (132) took third place.

Marion also had a pair of champions, Nate Dampier (152) and Kanye Gunn (285). The other 10 title winners were Carlyle’s Tyson Waughtel (106), Harrisburg’s Tony Keene (113), Centralia’s Nate Lecrone (120), Richland County’s Carson Bissey (126), Benton’s Mason Tieffel (132), Anna-Jonesboro’s Caleb Mays (145), Quincy’s Kayden Garrett (170), Mt. Vernon’s Jared Shafer (182), Carbondale’s Aiden Taylor (195) and Glenwood’s Jaidyn Lee (220).

Waughtel (25-0), Keene (20-0), Dampier (27-1), Hart (21-1), Bissey (13-1), Tieffel (31-2), Mays (28-2), Shafer (19-2) and Gunn (18-2) owned some of the top records of champions following the competition.

Other second-place finishers were Carbondale’s Gabriel Roman (120) and Aiden Murphy (138), Anna-Jonesboro’s Drew Sadler (106), Goreville’s Briley Lehmen (113), Herrin’s Blue Bishop (132), Highland’s Ben Mitchell (160), Quincy’s Bryor Newbold (182), Harrisburg’s Bryant Lester (195) and Mt. Zion’s Remington Hiser (220).

Two of the closest title matches were at 160, where Hoffman edged Mitchell 2-0 in sudden victory, and at 195, where Taylor captured a 5-4 triumph over Lester.

Keene, Lecrone, Bissey, Dampier, Garrett, Shafer, Lee and Gunn all recorded falls in their title matches while Hart captured his title win by technical fall and Waughtel and Mays both claimed major decisions in the finals.

Also claiming third place finishes were Fairfield’s Konnor Dagg (195), Payton Allen (220) and Jaxon Combs (285), Marion’s Brennan Vogt (113), Frankfort’s Eli Klus (120), Mt. Vernon’s Bradden Davis (138), Benton’s Holden Allsopp (145), Effingham’s Jon Perry (152), Carbondale’s Isaiah Duckworth (160) and Carlyle’s Owen Birkner (170). Allen (22-1) suffered his first loss to champion Lee in the semifinals.

Others finishing in fourth were Frankfort’s Gavin Mann (138), Hunter Stitley (220) and Tutt Braxton (285), Mt. Zion’s Bradley Wilson (120) and Devin Mahan (170), Quincy’s Evan Wakefield (113) and Gage Bringer (195), Anna-Jonesboro’s Brett Smith (126), Highland’s Tyson Rakers (132), Pinckneyville’s Abel Runyon (145), Carbondale’s Brenden Banz (152) and Fairfield’s Landon Stewart (182).

Championship matches at Carbondale’s Murdale Tournament

106 – Tyson Waughtel (Carlyle) over Drew Sadler (Anna-Jonesboro), 9-0

113 – Tony Keene (Harrisburg) over Briley Lehman (Goreville), F 1:07

120 – Nate Lecrone (Centralia) over Gabriel Roman (Carbondale), F 4:23

126 – Carson Bissey (Richland County) over Liam Fox (Murphysboro), F 5:26

132 – Mason Tieffel (Benton) over Blue Bishop (Herrin), M. Fft

138 – Arojae Hart (Murphysboro) over Aiden Murphy (Carbondale), TF 4:38

145 – Caleb Mays (Anna-Jonesboro) over Patrick Campbell (Murphysboro), 11-0

152 – Nate Dampier (Marion) over Nick Deloach, Jr. (Cahokia), F 3:54

160 – Dayton Hoffman (Murphysboro)  over Ben Mitchell (Highland), SV 2-0

170 – Kayden Garrett (Quincy) over Corron Midgett (Cahokia), F 4:54

182 – Jared Shafer (Mt. Vernon) over Bryor Newbold (Quincy), F 1:37

195 – Aiden Taylor (Carbondale) over Bryant Lester (Harrisburg), 5-4

220 – Jaidyn Lee (Glenwood) over Remington Hiser (Mt. Zion), F 1:09

285 – Kanye Gunn (Marion) over Berylonte Shegog (Cahokia), F 3:42

Freeport claims top honors at Polo Invitational

Freeport captured six titles and had another finalist among its nine participants to help it capture the title at the 16-team Polo Invitational with 195 points while Genoa-Kingston took second place with 130 points and the host Marcos finished third with 116 points. Richmond-Burton edged Parkview/Albany of Wisconsin 99-98.5 for fourth place.

Winning titles for coach Anthony Dedmond’s Pretzels were Cadence Diduch (120), Markel Baker (126), Tyler Calam (132), Jaylon Hail (145), Tarrone Jackson (152) and Braxton Castle (182) while Donavyn Fernandez (160) claimed second place.

Diduch (13-3), who captured Fargo and IWCOA girls titles in the summer, won her second title this season in a boys tournament, after also taking first at Rockford East, where unbeaten Baker (15-0), an IWCOA champion and 2020 IHSA runner-up, joined her as a title winner. Baker received the Outstanding Wrestler Award for the lower weights while Diduch continues to impress in boys competition.

“Markel Baker was the lower level Most Valuable wrestler,” Dedmond said. “And Cadence Diduch won at 120 pounds, pinning her opponent in the finals. I believe she may be the first female to win this tournament. We took nine wrestlers and ended with six champions. I am extremely happy with our effort, even through these difficult times.”

Leading the way for coach Ashton Brown’s runner-up Cogs was champion Aiden Vasak (160) and second-place finishers Nathan Dutton (145) and Brady Brewick (152). Placing third were Patrick Young (106), Shayden McNew (113) and Michael Sauber (182) while Julian Torres (195) finished fourth. 

Winning titles for Richmond-Burton were Clay Madula (106) and Emmett Nelson (113) while Fulton got titles from Ben Fosdick (138) and Zane Pannell (170) and champions for Erie/Prophetstown were Andrew Bomleny (195) and Elijah Friedrichsen (285). Parkview/Albany’s Wesley Egan (220) also won a title.

Champions with the best records by win percentage include Baker (15-0), Friedrichsen (18-1), Nelson (20-2), Pannell (21-3), Bomleny (17-3), Jackson (16-3), Diduch (13-3) and Hail (12-3).

Other second-place finishers were Oregon’s Lane Halverson (132), Seth Stevens (138) and Evan Flaharty (285), Lisle’s Ryan Hsu (106) and Joe Raineri (195), Polo’s Wyatt Doty (126) and Wyatt Queckboerner (182), North Boone’s Gavin Ekberg (113), Richmond-Burton’s Dalton Youngs (120), Durand’s Logan Braun (170) and Harvest Christian’s Jacob Janisko (220).

In the narrowest title victory, Bomleny edged Raineri 2-1 at 195 while Calam won 9-6 over Halverson at 132, Fosdick captured a 7-4 victory over Stevens at 138 and Vasak was a 7-4 winner over Fernandez at 160. 

Nelson, Diduch, Hail, Jackson, Egan and Friedrichsen won titles by fall, Pannell was a winner by technical fall and Baker and Castle claimed major decisions.

Others who claimed third-place finishes were West Carroll’s Noah Rannow (120), Richmond-Burton’s Dane Sorensen (126), Oregon’s Anthony Bauer (145), Polo’s Braydon Altherr (152), Lisle’s Diego Lopez (160), Jefferson’s Karlondo Dubois (195), Erie/Prophetstown’s Nick Ballard (220) and North Boone’s Ethan Delgado (285).

Also taking fourth were Polo’s Lucas Nelson (132), Nicholas Cain (160), Wayde Reimer (170) and Blake Diehl (220), Lisle’s Brady Collins (126) and Norbert Guzik (138), Harvest Christian’s Sam Macek (106), Oregon’s Griffin Marlatt (113), Durand’s Ethan Foster (120), Dakota’s Tristen Alexander (145), Richmond-Burton’s Stephen Tower (152) and North Boone’s Garrett Louis (182).

Championship matches at Polo Invitational

106 – Clay Madula (Richmond-Burton) over Ryan Hsu (Lisle), 11-5

113 – Emmett Nelson (Richmond-Burton) over Gavin Ekberg (North Boone), F 3:10

120 – Cadence Diduch (Freeport) over Dalton Youngs (Richmond-Burton), F 3:55

126 – Markel Baker (Freeport) over Wyatt Doty (Polo), 14-4

132 – Tyler Calam (Freeport) over Lane Halverson (Oregon), 9-6

138 – Ben Fosdick (Fulton) over Seth Stevens (Oregon), 7-4

145 – Jaylon Hail (Freeport) over Nathan Dutton (Genoa-Kingston), F 1:18

152 – Tarrone Jackson (Freeport) over Brady Brewick (Genoa-Kingston), F 0:52

160 – Aiden Vasak (Genoa-Kingston) over Donavyn Fernandez (Freeport), 7-4

170 – Zane Pannell (Fulton) over Logan Braun (Durand), TF

182 – Braxton Castle (Freeport) over Wyatt Queckboerner (Polo), 16-8

195 – Andrew Bomleny (Erie/Prophetstown) over Joe Raineri (Lisle), 2-1

220 – Wesley Egan (Parkview/Albany, WI) over Jacob Janisko (Harvest Christian), F 1:30

285 – Elijah Friedrichsen (Erie/Prophetstown) over Evan Flaharty (Oregon), F 1:53

Geneseo finishes first at Morton’s Bob and Liz Schnarr Invitational

Zachary Montez and Anthony Montez each won their third-straight tournament titles and Tim Stohl added another championship to help Geneseo claim top honors with 215.5 points in Morton’s 16-team Bob and Liz Schnarr Invitational.

Coach Jon Murray’s Maple Leafs won their second title, also taking first on December 4 at Rockford East’s Giardini and they were fifth at Hinsdale Central’s Whitlatch two weeks later. Geneseo opened the season at Antioch’s DeRousse, where it took seventh and Anthony was second and Zachary took third.

Normal West claimed second place with 185.5 points while Triad scored 158 points to finish in third place with Normal Community (143.5), Central DeWitt of Iowa (135.5) and the host Potters (103) rounding out the top-six teams. 

Finishing second for Geneseo was Jack Snyder (132) and Levi Neumann (285) while Carson Raya (126) and Harrison Neumann (170) were third and Josh Hock (145) and Aiden Damewood (152) finished fourth.

Top performers for coach Adam Richards’ runner-up Wildcats were champions Austin Johnston (126) and Brock Leenerman (182) and second-place finishers Cody Sears (138) and Ben Smith (195) while Matt Bicknell (113), Froylan Racey (120), Xavier Edwards (152) and Noah Passoni (160) all took third place.

Other champions were Triad’s Colby Crouch (120), Chase Hall (138) and Aiden Postma (145), Normal Communuity’s Cole Gentsch (106) and Cooper Caraway (195), Mascoutah’s Santino Robinson (132) and Logan Will (170) and Central DeWitt’s Carter Donovan (152) Sam Gravert (285).

Also finishing second were Notre Dame’s Ian Akers (106) and Joey Mushinsky (160), Morton’s Zane Ely (113) and Connor Kidd (120), Normal Community’s Brock Bacus (126) and Matthew Hudelson (182), Lincoln’s Isaac Decker (145), Dunlap’s Nick Mueller (152), Triad’s Landon Tourville (170) and Limestone’s Aydan Trueblood (220).

In one of the biggest title matchups, Crouch pinned Kidd in 2:16 at 120 in a clash of unbeatens. Crouch improved to 21-0 while Kidd suffered his first loss following 21 wins.

And Anthony Montez improved to 27-2 with a 10-2 major decision at 160 over Mushinsky, who hadn’t lost in his first 24 matches.

The closest title matches featured Zachary Montez edging Ely 4-2 at 113, Donovan beating Mueller 8-6 at 152 and Gravert prevailing 4-1 over Levi Neumann at 285.

Other falls in title matches were recorded by Gentsch, Johnston, Robinson, Hall, Postma and Will while Anthony Montez, Leenermam, Caraway and Stohl won major decisions.

Some of the other top records for champions of the competition belong to Gentsch (24-0), Robinson (19-1), Caraway (23-2) and Leenerman (8-1). Others with an .800 win percent or better are second-place finishers Mueller I(15-2), Decker (21-3), Trueblood (13-3), Akers (21-5) and Ely (21-5)

Also placing third were Normal Community’s Caden Correll (106), Morton’s Jamison Almasy (138), Peoria High’s Malachi Washington (195) and Triad’s Matthew Hobbs (285).

Additional fourth-place finishers were Morton’s Caleb Lenning (106) and Owen Gray (195), Normal Community’s Jaren Frankowiak (113) and Dylan Conway (120), Notre Dame’s Jac Couri (126) and Chase Daugherty (132), Lincoln’s Dawson McConnell (160) and Nico Sundeen (182), Peoria High’s Kenny Rutherford (138), Triad’s Nathan Engler (220) and Springfield High’s Shamar Richardson (285).

Championship matches at Morton’s Bob & Liz Schnarr Invitational

106 – Cole Gentsch (Normal Community) over Ian Akers (Notre Dame), F 0:52

113 – Zachary Montez (Geneseo) over Zane Ely (Morton), 4-2

120 – Colby Crouch (Triad) over Connor Kidd (Morton), F 2:16

126 – Austin Johnston (Normal West) over Brock Bacus (Normal Community), F 3:59

132 – Santino Robinson (Mascoutah) over Jack Snyder (Geneseo), F 0:31

138 – Chase Hall (Triad) over Cody Sears (Normal West), F 0:51

145 – Aiden Postma (Triad) over Isaac Decker (Lincoln), F 3:31

152 – Carter Donovan (Central DeWitt) over Nick Mueller (Dunlap), 8-6

160 – Anthony Montez (Geneseo) over Joey Mushinsky (Notre Dame), 10-2

170 – Logan Will (Mascoutah) over Landon Tourville (Triad), F 4:48

182 – Brock Leenerman (Normal West) over Matthew Hudelson (Normal Community), 16-5

195 – Cooper Caraway (Normal Community) over Ben Smith (Normal West), 13-4

220 – Tim Stohl (Geneseo) over Aydan Trueblood (Limestone), 12-4

285 – Sam Gravert (Central DeWitt) over Levi Neumann (Geneseo), 4-1

Sandwich captures title at Prairie Central Hawk Classic

Sandwich had three champions and two second-place finishers to easily capture the title of Prairie Central’s 36th annual Hawk Classic in Fairbury.

Coach Derek Jones’ Indians won their first tournament title of the season after scoring 199.5 points. Beardstown edged Hoopeston Area 137-134.5 for second place in the 12-team event while the host Hawks were fourth with 128 points to finish just ahead of El Paso-Gridley (127) and Camp Point Central (123).

Winning titles for Sandwich, whose previous-best finish was second-place at Plano, were Evan Reilly (138), Aidan Linden (152) and Alex Alfaro (182) while Miles Corder (126) and Bryce Decker (160) placed second. Ashlyn Strenz (106), Nolan Bobee (145) and Connor Holly (195) took third while Kadin Kern (120) and Sy Smith (132) were fourth.

“We wrestled tough,” Jones said. “A couple years ago we took home second and many of the same kids were competing today. I knew we were capable of bringing home some hardware if we wrestled up to our ability. 

“Evan Reilly is one of the many senior leaders in the program and he makes my job easy as a coach. He needs to finish the season strong, but has all the ability in the world to make it on the podium in Champaign. Alex Alfaro is another kid that makes my job easy. He spent less than three minutes on the mat, pinning every kid in the first period on his way to the title.

“Aidan Linden is stepping up as the vocal leader of the team this year. He is doing and saying many of the correct things. He wants to finish his career and cement his legacy in the strong Sandwich Tradition of wrestling. He has already put his name in the record books here at Sandwich and will continue to succeed on the wrestling mat. He teched his way through the tournament. 

“We wrestled with 11 scoring wrestlers at the tournament, but we will, if everything goes correctly, wrestle with all 14 weights come IHSA Regionals. We are still getting some kids back at 113 and 285. I am excited to see what we can do as a full lineup come the IHSA State Series. 

Leading the way for coach Joe Kolb’s runner-up Tigers were champion Owen O’Hara (285) and second-place finisher Alex Dieme (145). Taking third place were Bryan Gil (132) and Jacob Hoffman (182) while Luis De La Cruz (113) and Wyatt Petersen (160) both finished fourth.

Other champions were Ridgeview’s Danny Tay (113), Payton Campbell (126) and Evan Antonio (220), Hoopeston Area’s Talon Nelson (120), Angel Zamora (160) and Abel Colunga (170), Cumberland’s Hank Warfel (106), Herscher’s Austin Grise (132), El Paso-Gridley’s Dax Gentes (145) and Prairie Central’s Connor Steidinger (195). Sandwich’s Reilly was the OWA for the lower weights while Hoopeston Area’s Colunga received that honor for the upper weights.

Also claiming second-place finishes were Cumberland’s Iysten Syfert (170), Colby Ryan (195) and Noah Carl (285), Richwoods’ Colton Boyer (106) and Jeremiah LeFlore (120), Camp Point Central’s Jack Thompson (113) and Conner Griffin (152), Prairie Central’s Donavan Lewis (132), El Paso-Gridley’s Waylon Melick (138), Ridgeview’s Connor Feit (182) and Plano’s Andrew Harrelson (220).

Only two of the title matches were decisions and just one was a close one, at 126, where Campbell edged Corder 3-2. Recording falls were Nelson, Grise, Gentes, Zamora, Colunga, Alfaro, Steidinger, Antonio and O’Hara while Tay pinned Thompson in a pool match and Linden got a win by technical fall. Reilly won a major decision and Warfel came up one point shy of doing the same.

Some of the champions who possess the best records are Steidinger (19-0), O’Hara (16-0), Colunga (28-1), Antonio (23-1), Gentes (21-2), Reilly (20-2), Linden (31-3), Zamora (24-3), Warfel (22-4) and Campbell (21-4). Among the best records for second-place finishers are Carl (24-3), Ryan (23-3) and Syfert (24-4).

Also turning in third-place finishes were El Paso-Gridley’s Logan Gibson (120) and Tyler Roth (126), Prairie Central’s Jerome Brown (138) and Owen Steidinger (170), Plano’s Gio Diaz (152) and Alex Diaz (285), Richwoods’ Rykis Doss (113), Illini West’s Shawn Watkins (160) and Hoopeston Area’s Hunter Cannon (220).

Other fourth-place finishers were Richwoods’ Bernard Cox (126), Mike Vincent (152) and Connor McDonald (170), Camp Point Central’s Paul Schenck (106) and Konnor Bush (145), El Paso-Gridley’s Parker Duffy (182) and JJ Evans (285), Illini West’s Jacob Carpenter (138), Plano’s Carnell Walls (195) and Prairie Central’s Duane Lewis (220).

Championship matches at the Prairie Central Hawk Classic

106 – Hank Warfel (Cumberland) over Colton Boyer (Richwoods), 7-0

113 – Danny Tay (Ridgeview) over Jack Thompson (Camp Point Central), F 3:14 (pool)

120 – Talon Nelson (Hoopeston Area) over Jeremiah LeFlore (Richwoods), F 5:27

126 – Payton Campbell (Ridgeview) over Miles Corder (Sandwich), 3-2

132 – Austin Grise (Herscher) over Donavan Lewis (Prairie Central), F 5:24

138 – Evan Reilly (Sandwich) over Waylon Melick (El Paso-Gridley), 13-4

145 – Dax Gentes (El Paso-Gridley) over Alex Dieme (Beardstown), F 1:49

152 – Aidan Linden (Sandwich) over Conner Griffin (Camp Point Central), TF 2:25

160 – Angel Zamora (Hoopeston Area) over Bryce Decker (Sandwich), F 3:35

170 – Abel Colunga (Hoopeston Area) over Iysten Syfert (Cumberland), F 1:27

182 – Alex Alfaro (Sandwich) over Connor Feit (Ridgeview), F 0:49

195 – Connor Steidinger (Prairie Central) over Colby Ryan (Cumberland), F 1:51

220 – Evan Antonio (Ridgeview) over Andrew Harrelson (Plano), F 3:40

285 – Owen O’Hara (Beardstown) over Noah Carl (Cumberland), F 4:43

Seneca wins championship at rescheduled Irish Invite

While the field was significantly different from the Seneca Irish Invite that was scheduled for early December, that proved to be just fine for both the hosts and several of the other top finishers in the 12-team event.

Seneca beat Kewanee 183.5-170 for top honors while Pontiac took third with 139 points. Illiana Christian, Ottawa and University High rounded out the top half of the field.

Leading the way for coach Todd Yegge’s champion Fighting Irish were champions Robby Nelson (132), Owen Feiner (145) and Chris Peura (195), second-place finishers Kyler Hahn (106), Tommy Milton (113), Bill Farcus (120), Will Milton (138) and Kyle Hamby (170). Finishing third were Nate Othon (132) and Ryan Flynn (138) while Jaden Casey (126) and Alex Bogner (220) were fourth.

Top performers for coach Charley Eads’ runner-up Boilermakers were title winners Nathaniel Hampton (120), Max Kelly (138) and Kadin Rednour (152) and second-place finishers Hayden Davis (126) and Will Taylor (132) while Waylan Lambert (113) and Jaxson Hicks (160) both finished third.

Somonauk’s Shea Reisel captured her second invitational title of the season in a boys tournament to add to her first at Plano, where she won the OWA for the lower weights.

Also winning titles were Pontiac’s Aidan Scholwin (106) and Hunter Travis (170), University High’s Isaiah Im (220) and Hunter Otto (285), Marian Catholic’s Joey Baranski (126), Putnam County’s Connor Brooker (160) and Eureka’s Landon Wierenga (182).

Others who finished second were Pontiac’s Dylan Ramsey (145), Jackson Crawford (182), Hunter Melvin (195) and Iziah Wright (285), University High’s Zach Gross (152), Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Gage Sweckard (160) and Ottawa’s Ryan Wilson (220).

The closest title match was at 152 where Rednour claimed a 4-2 decision over Gross. Recording falls on the title mat were Reisel, Hampton, Kelly and Otto while Wierenga, Peura and Im all won titles in a pool formal with three falls. Getting wins by technical fall were Feiner and Travis while Baranski and Nelson won major decisions and Brooker fell one point short of getting a major decision.

As the result of teams having more than one individual entered at a number of weight classes, Seneca and Pontiac had two of the top three placewinners at three weights. Seneca took first and third at 132 and second and third at 138. while Pontiac finished second and third at 285.

With the rescheduled tournament happening over a month after its original date, there were naturally several different schools that took part who would not have been on hand on December 4. That includes all of the teams who finished between second- and fifth-place and even featured an out-of-state squad, Illiana Christian, which was an Illinois school located in Lansing from 1945-2018, when it relocated across the border to Dyer, Indiana.

Also claiming third-place finishes were Ottawa’s Jack Huggins (106) and Matt Finley (195), Illina’s Alex Bosman (152) and Gage Bambic (182), Pontiac’s Aaron Shrewsbury (220) and Kaden Gregory (285), Eureka’s Garrett Kean (120), Somonauk’s Aiden Rowan (126), Deer-Creek Mackinaw’s Justice Rockhold (145) and Marian’s Lloyd Mills (170).

Additional fourth-place finishers were Illiana’s Jorge Bosio (120), Benjamin Bruinsma (145), Marc Rozendal (160) and Graham Goodfellow (195), Marian’s Ian Toosevich (113) and Tanner Clasen (170), Ottawa’s Nico Stanfil (132), Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Peyton Hixon (138), Eureka’s Derrick Wiles (152), Pontiac’s Santi Pina (182) and Putnam County’s Alex Johll (285).

Championship matches at Seneca’s Irish Invitational

106 – Aidan Scholwin (Pontiac) over Kyler Hahn (Seneca), 7-4 (pool)

113 – Shea Reisel (Somonauk) over Tommy Milton (Seneca), F 1:15

120 – Nathaniel Hampton (Kewanee) over Bill Farcus (Seneca), F 3:23

126 – Joey Baranski (Marian Catholic) over Hayden Davis (Kewanee), 9-0

132 – Robby Nelson (Seneca) over Will Taylor (Kewanee), 10-1

138 – Max Kelly (Kewanee) over Will Milton (Seneca), F 0:31

145 – Owen Feiner (Seneca) over Dylan Ramsey (Pontiac), TF

152 – Kadin Rednour (Kewanee) over Zach Gross (University High), 4-2

160 – Connor Brooker (Putnam County) over Gage Sweckard (Deer Creek-Mackinaw), 8-1

170 – Hunter Travis (Pontiac) over Kyle Hamby (Seneca), TF

182 – Landon Wierenga (Eureka) over Jackson Crawford (Pontiac), F 3:29 (pool)

195 – Chris Peura (Seneca) over Hunter Melvin (Pontiac), F 2:20 (pool)

220 – Isaiah Im (University High) over Ryan Wilson (Ottawa), F 2:22 (pool)

285 – Hunter Otto (University High) over Iziah Wright (Pontiac), F 0:41

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Lockport finishes fourth at the Cheesehead Invitational

Lockport scored 523.5 points to finish fourth in the 28-team Cheesehead Invitational that was held in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, falling 3.5 points behind the third-place team, Millard South of Nebraska. Simley of Minnesota won the title with 642.5 points while Southeast Polk of Iowa was second with 600 points.

Joliet Catholic Academy took seventh with 422.5 points, Yorkville Christian beat Edwardsville 236-232.5 for 16th and Aurora Christian was 21st with 202.5 points.

Leading the way for coach Josh Oster’s fourth-place Porters were championBrayden Thompson (170) while Andrew Blackburn-Forst (220) took third place. David Vukobratovich (113) finished fourth, Keegan Roberson (145)took fifth, Nore Turner (106), Carlos Munoz-Flores (132) and Paul Rasp (182) all placed sixth, Paul Kadlec (160) was seventh and Aidan Nolting (195) finished eighth. Two years ago, Blackburn-Forst also took third while Roberson and Munoz-Flores both placed seventh.

Thompson, who improved to 26-0, captured a 1-0 decision over Millard South’s Antrell Taylor in the 170 title match after claiming a 6-4 semifinals victory over Kasson-Mantorville’s Cole Glazier after opening the tournament with four-straight falls. Four other Porters lost in the semifinals, Turner, Vukobratovich, Roberson and Blackburn-Forst. And four were beaten in the quarterfinals, Munoz-Flores, Kadlec, Rasp and Nolting.

Coach Ryan Cumbee’s seventh-place Hilltoppers were paced by champion Dillan Johnson (285), second-place finishers Gylon Sims (113) and Mason Alessio (145), fourth-place finisher Owen Gerdes (220) and ninths from Shay Korhorn (126) and Owen O’Connor (138). Two years ago, Sims finished fifth in the tournament.

In title matches, Johnson won a 17-6 major decision over Stoughton’s Griffin Empey at 285 while Sims dropped an 8-5 decision to Millard South’s Miles Anderson at 113 and Alessio lost a 3-2 decision to Southeast Polk’s Joel Jesuroga at 145. Gerdes fell in the quarterfinals.

Johnson followed four-consecutive falls with a 13-3 major decision in the semifinals over Amery’s Robert Beese. Sims opened with two falls, a win by technical fall and a major decision before capturing a 4-1 decision over Wisconsin Rapids’ Preston Spray in the semifinals. And Alessio had a win by technical, a default and two close decisions to advance him to the semifinals, where he won a 7-4 decision over Lockport’s Keegan Roberson.

Aurora Christian received third-place efforts from Braden Stauffenberg (152) and Nathan Wemstrom (195) and a seventh-place showing from Deven Casey (106). Stauffenberg and Wemstrom both advanced to the semifinals while Casey reached the quarterfinals match. 

Leading Edwardsville were third-place finisher Dylan Gvillo (138) and sixth-place finishers Jorden Johnson (152) and Evan Holderer (195). Gvillo and Johnson both lost in the semifinals while Holderer fell in the quarterfinals.

Yorkville Christian was led by eighth-place efforts from Tyler Martinez (160) and Michael Esquivel (285) and a ninth from Jackson Gillen (170). Esquivel and Martinez both lost in the quarterfinals while Gillen won four-straight matches in the consolation bracket.

Montini Catholic’s top finisher was Jayden Colon (145), who took fourth place after winning twice in the consolation bracket following a quarterfinals loss.

Some of the individuals from the competition who have win percentages of .800 or better are Thompson (26-0), Dillan Johnson (16-0), Stauffenberg (29-3), Gvillo (27-3), Alessio (18-3), Gillen (26-4), Vukobratovich (19-4), Sims (17-4), Wemstrom (24-5) and Jorden Johnson (25-6).

Championship matches at the Cheesehead Invitational (involving Illinois athletes)

113 – Miles Anderson (Millard South, NE) over Gylon Sims (Joliet Catholic Academy), 8-5

145 – Joel Jesuroga (Southeast Polk, IA) over Mason Alessio (Joliet Catholic Academy), 3-2

170 – Brayden Thompson (Lockport) over Antrell Taylor (Millard South, NE), 1-0

285 – Dillan Johnson (Joliet Catholic Academy) over Griffin Empey (Stoughton, WI), 17-6

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Washington takes fourth place at The Clash XIX Duals

Washington took fourth place in Bracket A behind champion Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa, runner-up Apple Valley, Minnesota and third-place Owatonna, Minnesota at The Clash XIX Duals, which took place in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

In Bracket B, Huntley placed seventh and in Bracket C, Hersey finished third while Glenbard North took sixth.

Coach Nick Miller’s fourth-place Panthers beat G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro, WI 41-27 in the quarterfinals before falling 46-29 to Apple Valley in the semifinals and 42-27 to Owatonna for third place. Leading Washington were Kannon Webster (132/138) and Tyler Casey (220), who both went 6-0, and posting 5-1 records were Peyton Cox (120/126) and Justin Hoffer (195).

Huntley won its first three duals but then lost in the quarterfinals to Shakopee, MN and in the consolation round to Northfield, MN. Leaders for the Red Raiders were Sam Henkle (132) and Ryder Hunkins (182), who both finished 5-0 while Alessio Pezzela (145) went 4-1.

Hersey beat Ankeny Centennial, IA for third and North Scott, IA in the quarterfinals and fell to Saint Michael Albertville, MN in the semifinals. Leading the way for the Huskies were Manny Mejia (220), who went 6-0, and Anthony Cambria (182), who finished 5-1

Glenbard North beat Klein, TX in the consolation semifinals but fell to North Scott, IA for fifth in their bracket and lost to Ankeny Centennial, IA in the quarterfinals. Going 6-0 for Glenbard North were Dominic Marre (113) and Paul Woo (126) while Paulie Robertson (285) finished 5-0.

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

Lena-Winslow/Stockton captures title at Abe’s Rumble

Four individuals went 8-0, three more finished 7-1 and another three posted 6-2 records to help Lena-Winslow/Stockton capture the title at the 58-team Abe’s Rumble in Springfield, which concluded on Thursday.

Six of the top-eight teams that were in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA Class 1A rankings at the time were on hand for the two-day competition in the capital city, No. 1 Tremont, No. 3 Lena-Winslow/Stockton, No. 5 Canton, No. 6 Unity, No. 7 Vandalia and No. 8 Coal City, and all but one of those squads earned top-five positions in the tournament, with Coal City finishing second, Vandalia placing third, Tremont taking fourth and Unity claiming fifth.

Coach Kevin Milder’s Pantherhawks had an average margin of victory of 32.6 points in their eight victories and only one team came within 12 points of them, which happened in the championship dual meet of the Gold Division when they captured a 43-33 win over Coal City.

Lena-Winslow/Stockton, which is now ranked second behind Dixon, defeated Vandalia 37-23 in the semifinals, won 55-15 over El Paso-Gridley in the quarterfinals and opened the championship round with a 47-30 triumph over Canton after claiming  a 46-31 victory over Murphysboro. In pool L, the champions won 60-15 over Quincy Notre Dame, 65-0 over Pontiac and 61-6 over Hoopeston Area.

Finishing with 8-0 records for the champions were Garrett Luke (145), Marey Roby (160), Drew Mensendike (195) and Henry Engel (220/285). Three individuals finished 7-1 marks, Griffin Luke (170), Connor Vincent (182) and Mike Haas (220/285) while Carson McPeek (132), Zach White (138) and Jared Dvorak (152) all posted 6-2 records.

“Really proud of the kids and the way they wrestled,” Lena-Winslow/Stockton coach Kevin Milder said. “Great team effort to get through a very tough Abe’s Rumble Tournament. I thought our kids came ready to compete at the start of pool matches and carried it over into the tournament. Very proud of our effort.”

Coal City, who moved up to third in the rankings, reached the championship dual with a 48-22 semifinals win over Tremont, a 36-31 triumph over Unity in the quarterfinals and wins of 51-19 over Rockridge and 59-15 over Monticello. In pool K, it won 60-15 over Canton, 67-6 against St. Joseph-Ogden and 52-17 over Murphysboro.

Coach Mark Masters’ second-place Coalers received a 7-0 performance from Zach Finch (152/160), 7-1 showings from Culan Lindemuth (106) and John Housman (113), a 5-1 effort from Derek Carlson (160/170) and 6-2 records from Blake Dillon (138) and Michael Gonzalez (285) while Landin Benson (152/160) won all three of his matches.

Vandalia, who’s now ranked fifth, defeated Tremont 38-27 to take third place. Before falling 37-23 to Lena-Winslow/Stockton in the semifinals, the Vandals won 48-27 over Seneca in the quarterfinals and beat Oakwood/Salt Fork 51-23 and Warrensburg-Latham/Mt. Pulaski 60-12 to kick off its route to third-place. They won four times in pool F, beating Illini Bluffs, Rockridge, Mt. Zion and Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm.

Sophie Bowers went 10-0 at 113 to lead the way for coach Jason Clay’s Vandals. Finishing with 9-1 records were Cutter Prater (138), Eric McKinney (152) and Eric Barenfanger (220/285) while 8-2 marks were posted by Owen Miller (132) and Logan Nance (145) and Jayden Rosetto (220/285) went 7-2.

Tremont, which fell to sixth in the rankings, advanced to the semifinals with a 49-24 win over Oregon in the quarterfinals and wins of 49-21 over Sherrard and 55-18 over Peotone. It also claimed wins over Sparta, Morrison, Clifton Central/Iroquois West and Farmington in pool B.

Leading the way for coach TJ Williams’ Turks were 9-0 finishers Bowden Delaney (120), Lucas Wendling (170) and Cooper Wendling (195/220) while Logan Stedman (160) finished 8-2 and Josiah Grant (126), Mason Mark (132) and Levi Leitner (152) all went 7-2.

Unity, which is now ranked fourth, won 52-27 over El Paso-Gridley to finish fifth after beating Oregon 50-24. Going 9-0 to lead coach Logan Patton’s Rockets were Kaden Inman (120/126), Tavius Hosley (145/152), Grant Albaugh (182), Nick Nosler (195) and Karson Richardson (220/285) while Oran Varela (285) went 7-0, Kyus Root (170) finished 7-2 and Joey Young (106) went 6-2. 

El Paso-Gridley bounced back from its quarterfinals loss to Lena-Winslow/Stockton with a 36-30 victory over Seneca before falling to Unity 52-27 in the fifth-place dual. Going 9-0 to lead coach Joe Cliffe’s Titans was Charlene Hamilton (113) while Waylon Melick (138) went 8-1 and Logan Gibson (120), Tyler Roth (126), Conlee Landrus (132), Dax Gentes (145) and Ethan Whitman (7-2) all posted 7-2 records.

Oregon won 42-36 over Seneca to finish seventh. Coach Justin Lahman’s Hawks were led by Lane Halverson (132) and Ethan George (160/170), who both went 8-1 while Anthony Bauer (145/152) finished 7-1 and Gabe Eckerd (160/170) went 7-2. Coach Todd Yegge’s Fighting Irish were led by Kyler Hahn (106), Owen Feiner (145/152) and Chris Peura (195/220), who all went 9-0, and Jaden Casey (120/126), who finished 8-1.

Reed-Custer won 57-24 over Canton to take ninth place. Leading the way for the Comets were 9-0 finishers Ryan Tribble (138) and Kody Marschner (220) while Samuel Begler (126) went 8-1, Gunnar Berg (285) went 7-1 and Rex Pfeifer (170) and Brandon Moorman (182) finished 7-2. And the Little Giants were led by Trevor Hedges (126), who went 7-0, and Joseph Norton (170/182), who finished 6-0 while Andrew Hedges (152) and Danny Murphy (170/182) both went 3-0. Going 6-2 were Trevor Putman (220) and Weston Swise (285).

Macomb edged Oakwood/Salt Fork 42-40 to finish 11th. Going 8-1 for the Bombers were Max Ryner (182) and Ethan Ladd (195) while Cohen Green (113) and Jack Mansfield (120) both finished 7-2. The Comets were paced by 10-0 performances from Carter Chambliss (120/126) and Reef Pacot (132) while Joe Lashuay (160/170) went 10-1, Brayden Edwards (106) finished 8-2 and Brysen Vasquez (160/170) went 7-2.

Stillman Valley won 43-35 over Sherrard to claim 13th place. Aiden Livingston (160/170), Andrew Forcier (182) and Braxton Jennings (220/285) all went 9-0 and Jack Seacrist (152/160) finished 8-0 to lead the Cardinals. Henry Hildreth (120/126) went 7-1 while Mack Jones (106/113) finished 7-2 and Michael Paneralle (106/113) went 6-2. The Tigers were led by Austin Fratzke (138/145), Ryder Roelf (182/195) and Walker Anderson (195/220) who all turned in 9-0 records  and Lilly Russell (106), who finished 4-0.

Auburn defeated Rockridge 45-30 for 15th place. Dresden Grimm (132/138) went 8-0 and Cole Edie (285) finished 6-0 to lead the Trojans. Going 7-1 was Skylar Fay (182/195) while Gage Lopez (120/126) and Quinten Chizmar (145/152) both finished 6-2. Leading the Rockets were Reese Finch (145/152), who went 7-0, Nathan Petreikis (182/195), who finished 6-0, and Jude Finch (126/132), who went 7-1.

Clifton Central/Iroquois West won the Silver division title 45-36 over Monticello. Leading the way for the division champion Comets were Kodey Krumweide (145), who went 7-1, while Giacomo Panozzo (285) finished 7-2 and Damian Bailey (160) and Hunter Hull (220) both went 6-2. The Sages received 7-2 efforts from Sam Spencer (106), Tristan Slade (132), Ethan Alexander (170/182) and Myles VonBehren (195/220) while Jaxon Trent (138/145) went 6-2. 

Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm beat Frankfort Community 45-33 for third place in the Silver division. Rylee Edwards (182/195) went 9-0, Gabe Kiddoo (120/126) finished 7-0 and Camron Stinespring (220) went 7-2 to lead the Tigers. Gavin Mann (138/145) went 9-1 and Hunter Stitley (220) finished 8-2 to lead the Redbirds.

Newman Central Catholic edged Erie/Prophetstown 42-39 for fifth in Silver division. The Comets were led by Carter Rude (126/132), Brendan Tunink (145/152) and Mason Glaudel (152/160), who all went 9-0 while Brady Grennan (126) finished 8-0 and Daniel Kelly (138) and Hunter Luyando (170/182) both went 7-2. Leading the Panthers were Elijah Friedrichsen (285), who finished 9-0, Jaelin Hawkins (106), who went 8-0, and Wyatt Goossens (113), Andrew Bomleny (195) and Nick Ballard (220) who all finished 8-1.

Peotone won 54-18 over Warrensburg-Latham/Mt. Pulaski to finish seventh in the Silver. The Blue Devils were led by Marco Spinazzola (138/145), who went 8-0, and Alejandro Cardenas (220/285), who finished 6-2. Going 8-1 for the Cardinals was Luke Hall (160) and Walker Allen (195) while Vincent Fiore (138) and Austin Stock (182) both went 7-2.

Anna-Jonesboro defeated Beardstown 42-36 for ninth place in the Silver division. The Wildcats was led by Caleb Mays (145/152), who finished 8-0, and TJ Macy (132/138) who went 7-1, while Drew Sadler (106/113) and Zoee Sadler (113) both finished 6-1. The Tigers were  led by Owen O’Hara (285), who finished 10-0, and Alex Dieme (145/152), who went 6-2.

Murphysboro claimed a 45-30 win over Benton for 11th place in the Silver division. Top performers for the Red Devils were Kaiden Richards (106/113), who went 8-0, Arojae Hart (138/145), who finished 5-0, Bryce Edwards (132/138), who went 6-1 and Landon Norris (106/113), Liam Fox (126), and Dayton Hoffman (160) who all finished 6-2. Leading the way for the Rangers were Mason Tieffel (126/132), who went 9-0, and Avery Grimes (152), who finished 8-1.

Hoopeston Area won 54-21 over Camp Point Central/Brown County/Southeastern to claim 13th in the Silver division. Leading the Cornjerkers with 7-1 records were Talon Nelson (120), Abel Colunga (170/182) and Hunter Cannon (220/285). The Panthers were led by Jack Thompson (113), who went 8-0, Hayden Hurley (106/113), who finished 4-0, Conner Griffin (152), who went 8-1, and Kanye Mitchell (120), who finished 7-2.

Knoxville defeated Sacred-Heart-Griffin 42-30 for 15th place in the Silver division. Leading the Blue Bullets with a 9-0 record was Hunter Fox (160/170) while Dalton Hutchison (220) went 4-0, Hunter Johnson (106/113) finished 8-1 and William Stowe (285) went 7-2. The Cyclones were led by Cory West (182), who finished 8-0, and Michael Ference (126), who went 7-1.

Lawrenceville/Red Hill beat Roxana 43-36 to take first place in the Bronze division. Leading the way for the Indians with an 8-0 record was Brian Seed (170) while Brianna Richey (106) and Nathan Blackwell (182) went 7-1 and Shaina Hyre (113/120) and Hayden Frey (145/152) finished 6-2. The Shells were led by Hunter Bailey (195) and James Herring (220), who both went 8-0, Lleyton Cobine (126), who finished 7-1, and James Colman (106), Bryan Rodriguez (145/152) and Justin Laws (285), who all went 6-2.

Shelbyville defeated Robinson 42-34 in the third-place match in the Bronze division. Going 8-0 for the Rams was Calvin Miller (120) while Will Fox (145/152) finished 5-1. Morgan Fiscus (120) went 4-0 and Dalton Woods (285) finished 7-1 to lead the Maroons while Keaton Alt (113/120), Jared Hermann (160) and Austin Hargrave (195/220) all went 6-2.

Illini Bluffs captured a 42-36 win over Farmington for fifth in the Bronze division. Leading the way for the Tigers with an 8-0 record was Paul Ishikawa (138/145) while Wyatt Knowles (106/113) went 4-0, Hunter Robbins (106/113), Avery Speck (120/126), Jackson Carroll (126/132) and Ian O’Connor (132/138) all finished 7-1. Posting 8-0 records to lead the Farmers were Keygan Jennings (113/120) and Rese Shymansky (182/195) while Connor Huber (132) and Austin Utt (170/182) both went 6-2.

Quincy Notre Dame beat Dwight/Gardner-South Wilmington 42-36 to take seventh place in the Bronze division. The Raiders were led by Luke Bliven (132/138), who went 5-1. Finishing with a 7-0 record for the Trojans was Samuel Edwards (220) while Austin Burkhardt (170/182) and Evan Sandeno (170/182) both went 5-1.

PORTA/A-C Central/Greenview/Havana won 42-40 over Riverdale for ninth in the Bronze. The Bluejays were led by Trace Shaub (195/220), who went 7-0, and Issac Guinan (285) who went 4-0. Going 8-0 for the Rams were Brock Smith (132/138), Eli Hinde (145), Collin Altensey (152) and Alex Watson (160). Thad Jacobs (113/120) went 6-0,  Ethan Mathis (106/113) finished 4-0 and Tharren Jacobs (106/113) went 6-2. 

Carlinville won 42-33 over Prairie Central for 11th place in the Bronze division. The Cavaliers were led by Jake Schwartz (145), who went 8-0, while Ronald LaPlante (120) and Noah Byots (160) both finished 6-2. Leading the way for the Hawks was Connor Steidinger (195/220), who finished 8-0, while Drake Clemons (106), Tyler Bippus (138/145), Owen Steidinger (170/182) and Duane Lewis (220/285) all went 6-2. 

St. Joseph-Ogden defeated Cumberland/Newton 33-27 for 13th in the Bronze division. Leading the way for the Spartans were Emmitt Holt (113) and Holden Brazelton (120/126), who both went 7-0. Going 8-0 to pace the Pirates was Iysten Syfert (170/182) while Hank Warfel (106/113), Colby Ryan (195/220) and Noah Carl (285) all finished 7-1.

Pontiac captured a 36-30 victory over Mt. Carmel for 15th place in the Bronze division.  Hunter Travis (170/182) went 5-1 to lead the Indians. 

Olympia/Heyworth defeated Mt. Zion 54-24 for first place in the Copper division. Leading the Spartans were Austin Swan (182), who finished 7-0, Dylan Eimer (106/113), who went 6-1 and Aiden Fosdick (113/120), who finished 4-1. Lawrence Trimble (160) went 5-1 to lead the Braves.

Hillsboro captured a 36-30 victory over Sparta for third in the Copper division. Magnus Wells (220) went 8-0 to lead the Hilltoppers while Zander Wells (152/160) finished 6-2. Leading the Bulldogs were Eli Coop (285), who went 7-1, and Cody Dickerson (195), who finished 6-2.

Litchfield/Mt. Olive defeated Wilmington 42-36 for fifth place in the Copper Division. Alex Powell (106/113) went 8-0 to lead the Purple Panthers while Seth Kenter (160) finished 6-2. The Wildcats were led by Blake Shirey (285), who finished 8-0, while Landon Dooley (120/126) and Jacob Prescott (138) both went 6-2.

Deer Creek-Mackinaw won 33-18 over Walther Christian for eighth in the Copper division. Gage Sweckard (160/170) went 8-0 to lead the Chiefs. Morrison, who also competed in the tournament,  was led by Nathan Schaefer (220), who went 5-0, while Camden Pruis (126), Donny Reavy (138) and Kayden White (182) all finished 4-1.

McHenry edges Hersey for Mid-States Classic title

McHenry edges Hersey for Mid-States Classic title

One-half point. That’s all that separated McHenry and Hersey for top honors at the Mid-States Wrestling Classic that was held in Whitewater, Wisconsin last week.

McHenry captured the championship by a 278-277.5 margin over Hersey while Nicolet, Wisconsin was just behind the leaders and finished third with 274 points.

Ten Illinois squads participated in the 38-team event with Downers Grove South finishing fourth with 221 points while Wauconda took sixth place with 196 points.

Leading the way for coach Jake Guardalabene’s champion Warriors were title winners Chris Moore (160) and Brody Hallin (170) while Luke Zunkel (220) placed third and Pedro Jimenez (126) took fourth. The previous-best showing for McHenry in a tournament was a fourth in Prospect’s Mudge-McMorrow, where it placed one spot behind Hersey.

Moore improved to 26-0 after claiming a 3-1 decision over Poynette’s Cash Stewart in the 160 finals. Moore, who’s first in 3A in the IWCOA rankings, followed a win by technical with two major decisions, including a 14-5 win over Hersey’s Billy Spassov in the semifinals, to earn his trip to the title mat. He won his third title of the season, adding to firsts at Prospect and the Dvorak.

In the 170 title match, Hallin won another close decision, this one 4-3 over Nicolet’s Braeden Ott to improve to 25-1 on the season. Hallin, who’s ranked third in 3A, advanced to his third finals and added to his title win at Prospect when he followed two falls with a 7-1 semifinals win over Whitewater’s Carter Friend.

Zunkel (23-4) recorded two falls before losing in the 220 semifinals to Hersey’s Manny Mejia by a 10-3 score. But then he won his next two matches, beating Wauconda’s Matthew Merevick by a 5-4 score in the third-place match.

Jimenez (20-9) used a major decision, decision and fall to advance to the 126 semifinals, where he lost to the eventual champion, Oconomowoc’s Quintin Wolbert, by an 8-3 score. He won his next match but then lost by fall in 2:42 in the third-place match to Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Levi Greenlee.

“This was a total team win,” Guardalabene said. “We brought 13 wrestlers, 11 of them placed and all 13 scored points.This tournament was won in the wrestlebacks for us.”

Top finishers for coach Joe Rupslauk’s second-place Huskies were runner-up Manny Mejia (220), third-place finishers Esteban Delgado (120) and Oleg Simakov (285) and fourth-place finisher Billy Spassov (160). Hersey just missed adding to the Joliet Central Mac McLaughlin Invite title that it won earlier this season.

Mejia (21-5) advanced to the finals at 220 thanks to a win by technical fall, two pins and a 10-3 semifinals win over McHenry’s Luke Zunkel but he was pinned in 1:46 by Reedsville’s unbeaten Cole Ebert in the finals.

Delgado (22-9) bounced back from a 1-0 quarterfinal loss to New Trier’s Wilson Wright with four-straight wins in the consolation bracket. After winning the first by technical fall, he won the next three by decision, claiming an 8-2 victory over Waukesha North’s Antonio Del Rio to claim third place at 120.

Simakov (23-7) used a fall and a decision to advanced to the 285 semifinals, where he dropped a 1-0 decision to Appleton North’s Ethan Hansen (16-2), who won the championship. Simakov responded with a pair of wins, including a 3-2 decision over Nicolet’s Max Stulmacher in the third-place match.

Spassov (20-4) also advanced to the 160 semifinals, where he lost 15-4 to Moore. After beating Harvard’s Bailey Livdahl 11-1 in the consolation semifinals, he lost the third-place match 9-0 to Union Grove’s Cooper Willis.

Other Illinois champions were Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Ethan Spacht (106), Morton’s Connor Kidd (120) and New Trier’s Jack Cummings (195).

Spacht (8-0), who’s ranked sixth in 3A, won all four of his matches by fall, recording three of those in the opening period, including in the 106 championship match which he won with a pin in 1:32 over Round Lake’s Grayson Kongkaeow to capture his first title of the season.

Kidd (18-0) advanced to the 120 title mat with three-straight falls and then captured a 14-2 major decision over New Trier’s Wilson Wright for the championship. Kidd, who’s ranked fourth in 2A, also won titles at Joliet Central and Mascoutah.

Cummings (19-2) got falls in his first two matches and then won 11-4 over Downers Grove South’s Noah Rapinchuk in the semifinals before capturing a dramatic 5-3 overtime win in the 195 finals over Appleton North’s Brock Arndt. Cummings, who’s ranked sixth in 3A, won a title at Antioch earlier this season.

Round Lake’s Grayson Kongkaeow (19-6) was pinned in 1:32 by Spacht in the 106 finals. Kongkaeow, who’s best previous finishes this season were thirds at Conant and Prospect, beat Harvard’s Brian Hernandez 13-6 in two overtimes in the quarterfinals and won 11-5 over Wauconda’s Lucas Galdine in the semifinals.

New Trier’s Wilson Wright (16-4) fell 14-2 to Kidd in the 120 finals. He followed a fall with a 1-0 decision over Hersey’s Esteban Delgado and claimed a 10-5 decision over Downers Grove South’s Donnie Fields to reach the finals for the second time this season, with Antioch being the other.

Downers Grove South’s Jimmy Nugent (19-5) recorded falls in his first three matches to reach the 145 title mat, where he lost 12-4 to Cedar Grove-Belgium’s unbeaten Cael Erickson. This was the best finish this season for Nugent, who’s seventh in 3A at 138, placing one spot better than he did at Hinsdale Central.

Round Lake got a second finalist when Aidan McCain (21-5) reached the finals at 182, where he fell 11-5 to Delavan-Darien’s unbeaten Cole Hanson. McCain recorded four-straight falls, with one in 3:37 over Johnsburg’s Kyle Rasper in the semifinals. McCain equaled his best showing of the season, a second at Prospect.

Other third-place finishers from Illinois schools were Wauconda’s Lucas Galdine (14-3) at 106, Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Levi Greenlee (16-5) at 126, Morton’s Steven Marvin (19-4) at 132, Downers Grove South’s Luke Swan (21-4) at 138, Bradley-Bourbonnais’ AJ Mancilla (21-2) at 170, Downers Grove South’s Will Schuessler (21-6) at 182 and Harvard’s Nathan Rosas (18-1) at 195.

Additional Illinois competitors who finished fourth were Round Lake’s Alejandro Cordova (20-10) at 113, Johnsburg’s Landon Johnson (11-5) at 132, Wauconda’s Colin Husko (17-2) at 145, Downers Grove South’s Noah Rapinchuk (12-8) at 195 and Wauconda’s Matthew Merevick (15-5) at 220. 

Fifth-place finishers from Illinois were Morton’s Zane Ely (17-4) at 113, Downers Grove South’s Donnie Fields (18-8) at 120, Harvard’s Ivan Rosas (13-2) at 145 and New Trier’s Matthew Boyer (20-3) at 152.  

Brownsburg, Indiana dominates Saint Thomas More New Year’s Challenge

With a team that has been ranked as high as tenth nationally in the field, the story of The New Year’s Challenge for Illinois teams was basically who would finish in second place.

Brownsburg, ranked second in Indiana and 13th nationally, completely dominated the 18-team competition in Danville that is hosted by The High School of Saint Thomas More in Champaign, winning each of its six duals by an average of 56.8 points.

In the championship dual meet, the Bulldogs forfeited at two weights and recorded nine falls and had a win by technical fall to claim a 68-12 victory over Ridgeview/Lexington.

Other than forfeits, Brownsburg only lost five matches with three of those coming on pins in their closest victory, a 59-18 win over Mattoon, on the opening day of the event.

But while the Green Wave was one of eight teams to advance to the championship bracket, they lost 42-39 to Ridgeview/Lexington in the quarterfinals and took sixth place.

Even with its close victory over Mattoon, Ridgeview/Lexington won its first five duals by an average of 36.6 points. It advanced to the title meet with a 62-9 victory over Mahomet-Seymour’s junior-varsity team. It was the best tournament showing of the season for the Colfax school that co-ops with Lexington, topping a fifth-place effort at Clinton. On the first day of the event, the second-place finishers beat Bismarck-Henning Rossville-Alvin Cooperative/Armstrong, Pittsfield and North Boone.

The top performer in the competition for coach Jeremy Lopshire’s runner-up Mustangs was Evan Antonio, who won all six of his matches at 220. Daniel York went 5-1 at 106 and Caeden Lopshire finished 4-1 at 160.

East Alton-Wood River avenged an earlier defeat when it edged Mahomet-Seymour’s JV 37-36 to claim third place to go 5-2 in the competition. The Oilers nipped Attica of Indiana 37-36 in the quarterfinals before falling 54-6 to Brownsburg in the semifinals. 

On the first day, coach Tim Donohoo’s team claimed victories over Clinton, Westosha Central of Wisconsin and Illinois Valley Central while falling to Mahomet-Seymour’s JV.

Leading the Oilers was Jason Shaw (126), who went 7-0, while Aaron Niemeyer (113) and Tyler Adams (120) both went 6-1.

Mahomet-Seymour’s JV also had a good tournament, claiming wins over Illinois Valley Central, Clinton, East Alton-Wood River and Westosha Central on the first day and edging Seeger, Indiana 34-33 to help it go 5-2 over the two days.

Leading the Bulldogs were Caleb Bundren, who went 4-0 at 138 and 145, Hayden Hart (170/182), who finished 3-0, Lukas Altstetter (106/113), who went 6-1 and Deandre Hughey (145/152), who finished 5-1.

Bismarck-Henning Rossville-Alvin Cooperative/Armstrong beat Mattoon 45-33 to take fifth place. After falling to Brownsburg in the quarterfinals, the Blue Devils defeated Attica, Indiana 51-24. On the first day, it beat North Boone and Pittsfield and fell to Ridgeview.

Top performers for Bismarck-Henning Rossville-Alvin Cooperative/Armstrong were Landen Toellner (106) and Gavin Golden (195), who both finished 5-1.

Following its loss in the quarterfinals to Ridgeview, Mattoon beat Seeger 48-30 but then fell in its final match to take sixth. The Green Wave went 2-1 on the first day with wins over Alleman and Edwardsville’s JV while falling to Brownsburg.

Leading the way for Mattoon was Aidan Blackburn (152), Aidan Spurgeon (195) and Leo Meyer (220/285), who all finished 6-0, Brady Foster (120), Mick Porter (138) and Kiefer Duncan (145), who all went 5-1 and Ben Capitosti (132), who finished 4-1. 

Clinton was led by Trevor Willis (152), who went 8-0, as well as Cayden Poole (126) and Tyler Fair (132/138), who finished 7-1, and Kristan Hibbard (160), who went 6-2.

Top performers for Edwardsville’s junior-varsity were Max Miller (160/170), who went 4-0, Jayden Cole (113), who finished 6-1, Ben Weakley (170/182), who went 5-1 and Nick Helton (145), who finished 4-1.

Leading the way for North Boone were Maysen Smith (138/145) and Logan Witte (138/145), who both went 6-1, and Garrett Louis (182), who finished 5-1.

Top performers for Saint Thomas More were Brody Cuppernell (195) and Henry Wurl (220), who both finished 6-0, and Joe Clavey (152), who went 5-1. 

Mason Davis (170/182) went 7-0 to pace Pittsfield while Tucker Cook (182/195) finished 5-1. And Alleman’s Charlie Jagusah (285) also went 7-0.

Civic Memorial takes second at Diamond State Duals

Civic Memorial fell 46-29 to Willard, Missouri in the championship dual meet of the 14-team Diamond State Duals in Springdale, Arkansas last week

The Eagles won seven dual meets by an average of 42.1 points with the closest being a 51-30 victory over Har-Ber, Arkansas before falling in the finals. Coach Jeremy Christeson’s squad, which won titles at its own invite and at Mascoutah, captured a 54-20 semifinals victory over Arlington, Tennessee to advance to the title meet of an event that featured teams from five different states.

Leading the way for Civic Memorial was Abe Wojcikiewicz (170/182), who went 8-0. Finishing with 7-1 records were Bradley Ruckman (106/113), Joey Biciocchi (132/138), Bryce Griffin (138/145) and Michael Bridgeman (220), while Colton Carlisle (182/195) finished 6-1, Logan Cooper (285) went 4-1 and Ben Skaggs (145/152) finished 6-2.

In the title meet, Willard won four of the first five matches to take an early 19-6 advantage. Wojcikiewicz, Cooper and Biciocchi all recorded falls, Ruckman won by technical fall and Aiden Turner got a win by forfeit. The Eagles won five of the first seven matches in the semifinals to grab an early 27-12 lead and closed with wins in the last four matches. 

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA 

DEKALB – When a team faces the prospect of being without four individuals that it hoped to be competing on the final day of a major tournament, it’s a good bet that their chances of winning a championship will be greatly diminished.

That’s just the scenario that DeKalb faced on Thursday at its own Flavin Invite but instead of making excuses for the disappointing turn of events, it found a way to defeat three quality opponents, with two of those victories coming in dramatic fashion.

The Barbs followed up on a 42-24 win over 2019 champion Mukwonago of Wisconsin with a 35-31 victory over Father Ryan of Tennessee and then wrapped up the title of the Champion’s pool of the 26-team tournament with a 33-32 triumph over Marist. On the first day of the invite, DeKalb captured a 73-3 win over Pewaukee of Wisconsin and won 50-24 over Glenbard West.

It was a clutch performance for a program that’s second in Class 3A in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings. Coach Sam Hiatt’s Barbs not only needed to claim a win in the final march against Father Ryan but could afford to lose by no more than a decision in the last match of their dual meet against coach Brendan Heffernan’s 3A fifth-ranked RedHawks.

That capped a 5-0 showing over the two days for DeKalb, a program which placed fourth in the Class 3A dual team finals in 2019 and qualified again for state in 2020. Winning a title at their own Flavin Invite, named for the man who started the Barbs’ program and also coached at Northern Illinois University, 1977 IWCOA hall of famer Don Flavin, is another significant accomplishment in a season where the team has also placed third at the Dvorak and fourth at the Dan Gable Donnybrook.

The most notable Barb who was unable to compete was Bradley Gillum, a three-time state qualifier who won the IWCOA title and was second in the IHSA in 2020. The top-ranked individual at 182 in 3A was a runner-up at last week’s Dvorak and also was second at the Dan Gable Donnybrook.

Individuals who also competed in the Dvorak and on the first day of the Flavin but sat out on day two of the event were Jacob Luce, Damien Lopez and Caleb Wall, who combined to go 5-1. Lopez placed sixth in 2020 in the IHSA and is ranked third at 152. Two who didn’t take part in the Dvorak but went 2-1 in the champion’s pool were Rory Burright, who had another win on day one, and Hussein Thahab.

“We had some guys out, but at the end of the year it could be like that and we don’t know,” said Hiatt, a 2019 IWCOA hall of famer who’s a 2000 DeKalb graduate that was a four-time placewinner and a state champion as a senior. “We could have had a bad attitude going into it with having four guys out but it was a whole-team effort.

“Getting ready for the end of the year, these duals are huge. That’s why we have the Flavin and try to get as many tough teams as we can because we want that experience for the end of the year. Father Ryan, Marist and Mukwonago are all good and we had a lot of good teams here. Four years ago we made it 32 teams instead of 16 teams and it’s really picked up.”

DeKalb’s Danny Aranda, who went 4-1 at 120 and 126, competed in the final matches of his team’s victories over Father Ryan and Marist.

Against Father Ryan, his 9-1 win over Brody Gobbell at 120 proved to be the difference in what was a 31-31 tie heading into that match. Then against the RedHawks with the hosts holding a 33-29 lead, Aranda did his job again, avoiding a major decision and a tie after bumping up to 126 to meet Will Denny, who won an 8-3 decision.

“You can’t really let pressure get into your head, it’s going to mess with you,” Aranda said. “You have to do your own job and make sure that it gets done and not let the team down. Make sure that you do your job and listen to your coaches and listen to your teammates.

“All of our guys are good and we’re going to get the job done, no matter who is missing. I like how we all have a good mindset and we find a way to get the job done. If we’re losing or we’re down, we keep fighting and we keep grinding. Our team is just a whole bunch of grinders and it doesn’t matter if we’re missing four guys, we’re going to get the job done.”

Barbs who posted 5-0 records in the competition were Kaden Klapprodt at 106, Danny Curran at 132, Tommy Curran at 145 and 152 and Lukes Schmerbach at 170 and 182.

Austin Martin went 4-1 at 138 and 145 and Burright went 3-1 at 113 and 120 while Lopez won both of his matches at 152 and Wall also went 2-0 at 160. Thahab went 2-1 at 152 and 160 and Nate Sauer went 2-1 at 285 and finishing with 3-2 efforts were Bryson Buhk at 195 and Gavin Engh at 220 and 285.

In the final dual meet between the Barbs and RedHawks, the hosts jumped out to a 21-6 lead after five matches thanks to a win by technical fall by Danny Curran at 132, a pin by Martin in 3:05 at 145, a forfeit win for Tommy Curran at 152 and a 14-2 major decision from Thahab over Ryan Lanigan at 160 while Marist led briefly at 6-5 following a fall by Matthew Cornfield in 2:50 at 138.

Marist responded with four victories in the next five matches to close to within 27-25 as Tommy Boland received a forfeit win at 170, Peter Marinopoulos won a 14-5 major decision over Buhk at 195, Ghee Rachal had a fall in 1:42 at 220 and Mike Maloney won 4-2 over Engh at 285 while the Barbs got a fall from Schmerbach in 1:57 at 182.

After Klapprodt won 6-2 over George Marinopoulos at 106, Michael Esteban countered with a 14-2 major decision over Ben Lopez at 113 to pull Marist to within 30-29. But Burright won 4-1 over Luka Anoshenko at 120 to put the hosts up by four and after Denny took an 8-3 lead over Aranda in the finale at 126, he was unable to score again.

“It was awesome,” Schmerbach said. “The team came together and everyone kind of unified and we all realized what we had to do. We realized that people had to get pins, and get majors and bonus points are key, and you can’t give up any bonus points. All in all, the team did great. Everyone’s different and has their own style, but when it comes down to a big dual like that, people have to wrestle for the team, they have to step up. Our coach said that you have to be a hero today and that there’s guys who have to step up and there’s just times that you have to realize that maybe you are the one that has to do it.

“I like just how close we are together. Everyone bonds together and it’s awesome. The team really works well together and practices are always good because everyone always works really hard. And the team just keeps persevering and we keep coming through. Everyone doubted us here because we had four guys out and they were like, ‘you’re not going to win this’. But we came together and just showed it.”

After winning the first six matches to jump out to a 25-0 lead in their victory over Mukwonago, the Barbs needed to stage a big rally in order to claim the narrow win over Father Ryan, a perennial state power in Tennessee, who wound up edging Marist by criteria in its first dual of the champions’ pool to help it claim second place in the competition.

Recording falls against Mukwonago were Danny Curran in 0:17 at 132 and Klapprodt in 3:01 at 106 while Martin got a win by technical fall at 138. Burright (120), Aranda (126), Schmerbach (170) and Buhk (195) all won major decisions and Tommy Curran (145), Thahab (152) and Engh (220) all won decisions by three points.

In the Barbs’ meet against Father Ryan, they fell behind 25-13 through eight matches with Danny Curran winning a major decision at 132, Tommy Curran getting a fall in 1:54 at 145 and Schmerbach capturing a 6-5 win over Joey Terry at 170 while Martin fell 5-4 to Chancery Deane at 138. 

But Buhk got a fall in 4:58 at 195 and Engh added a fall in 0:52 at 220 before Nate Sauer won 5-4 over Abraham Cromartie on a tiebreaker at 285 to put the hosts up at 28-25.

After Klapprodt won an 8-5 decision over Ethan Lampert at 106 to make it 31-25, Father Ryan’s Joseph Calvin countered with a quick fall at 113, which forced a tie and that set the stage for Aranda’s major decision at 120 to wrap up the victory.

“It’s just good that everyone came together with our deficit of having four people out,” Klapprodt said. “We had to come together as a team and finish strong and knew we could dominate in this tournament as long as we did what we needed to do. Everybody has a great bond and friendship and we all get along together. Our team just fits together well.

“You have to be a leader. If you’re winning a match, you have to score as many points as you can. Bonus points are key, especially in these really close matches. And if you’re losing, you can’t let up bonus points at all. It’s great since teams come out here from all over the place and we just have to defend our home base, this is where we’re at. If anybody wants to come in here and take it from us, it’s not going to happen.”

In a sign of just how competitive the Flavin was, all but one of Marist’s five dual meets were decided by four points or less. The RedHawks went 1-2 in the champion’s pool to finish third. After falling 33-33 by criteria to Father Ryan, they won 38-36 over Mukwonago. On the first day of the event, they beat Yorkville Christian 45-22 and Deerfield 38-34.

The RedHawks brought a young team to both the Flavin and the Dvorak, where they placed seventh. Of the individuals who competed in those tournaments, half are freshmen or sophomores and just two are seniors. The seventh-place showing at the Dvorak and a third at the Flavin demonstrates that Marist can compete with the best in Class 3A.

Marist last took part in the IHSA dual team finals in 2014 when it placed second to Oak Park and River Forest under Heffernan, a 1999 Marist graduate who was a two-time medalist for 1995 IWCOA hall of famer and National Wrestling Hall of Fame Illinois chapter inductee Mark Gervais, who he succeed as head coach in 2008.

“We love the dual team format like this,” said Heffernan, who comes from a family that has produced several outstanding coaches. “Obviously, number one, it’s great because everyone gets a lot of matches, but two, there’s so many lessons that our young guys need to learn. The last thing I said before we prayed was that every point counts and then we go out and our first dual was a tie and it went down to the criteria, so that was awesome and good for them to experience. We’re just enjoying seeing the young guys competing as hard as they’re competing and doing as well as they’re doing. And they’re giving a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the seniors, too, which is nice.

“We need these guys to start truly believing how tough they are. Now they see that we are right there with everybody and anybody. Their challenge now is to train that way. We plan on getting a lot better by the time that February rolls around, so it should be exciting.”

Leading the way for Marist with 5-0 records were Peter Marinopoulos at 195 and Rachal at 220 and 285 while Esteban went 4-1 at 113 and Boland was 4-1 at 160 and 170. 

Turning in 3-1 efforts were Denny at 126, Ricky Ericksen at 145 and 152 and Maloney at 220 and 285. Cornfield went 2-1 at 138 while George Marinopoulos went 3-2 at 106.

“This was great competition coming off of the Dvorak,” Denny said. “My bracket had a couple of ranked kids in it, so that was great. Then coming here with great teams. We battled with two tough matches the first day and then had a team from Tennessee with great competitors and that was something new. I’m just a freshman so on the first day of practice I was super excited seeing what the team was bringing to the table.”

In Marist’s first dual of the champion’s pool, things were looking good for Father Ryan when it won the first four matches to go up 18-0 and six of the first eight to grab a 30-9 advantage with the lone wins by the RedHawks during that stretch coming on Ericksen’s 6-0 decision over Sawyer Rutherford at 145 and a fall by Boland in 3:47 at 160.

But the RedHawks responded with falls from Conor Phelan in 1:59 at 182, Peter Marinopolous in 2:30 at 195 and Rachal in 4:00 at 220 to close to within 30-27. Maloney won a 3-0 decision over Cromartie to tie things at 30-30 and George Marinopoulous captured a 1-0 decision over Lampert to give the RedHawks their first lead at 33-30.

But Calvin evened it again at 33-33 with an 8-5 decision over Esteban and the Tennesseans got the victory thanks to first points,16-10, which is far down on the list of criteria.

“I actually didn’t wrestle in the Dvorak, I was a helper,” Maloney said. “So wrestling heavyweight this week, I had to eat a lot because I had to wrestle up since I’m usually at 195, so it was a challenge. Ghee Rachal is a great kid. I want to wrestle 220, but I can’t because of him. I like that everyone is friends with everyone.”

The RedHawks bounced back from their tough setback to Father Ryan by claiming a 38-36 win over Mukwonago in the second round. Recording falls in that dual were Cornfield in 3:22 at 138, Boland in 2:00 at 160, Peter Marinopoulos in 1:12 at 195, Rachal in 1:22 at 220, George Marinopoulos in 4:48 at 106 and Esteban in 2:31 at 113 while Ricky Ericksen won 6-4 in sudden victory over Devin Lawrence at 152 and Brandon Weber (132) and Luka Anoshenko (120) both lost decisions.

“In duals, you get a little more nervous and tense-up because you feel like the pressure is on, but you just need to control those feelings,” Esteban said. “I started to open up a little more and focus on my attacks and trying to control the pace. I like the type of bond that we have.”

Father Ryan edged Marist 33-33 on criteria by first points scored in the first round of the pool and responded to its 35-31 defeat to DeKalb with a 54-24 victory in its finale against Mukwonago. The school from Nashville went 5-1 and got 6-0 performances from Calvin at 113, Calvin Eason at 126 and 132 and Ben Stigamier at 152.

Mukwonago finished 2-3 after going 0-3 in the champion’s pool. Leading the way for the fourth-place finishers in the tournament was Hayden Chitwood, who went 5-0 at 182. 

Claiming fifth place overall and first place in the gold pool was Washington, which finished with a 4-1 record. Prospect went 4-2 to finish second in the pool while Deerfield placed third and Glenbard West was fourth to round out the top-eight. 

Washington, which is ranked second in Class 2A, was the IHSA 2A runner-up to Lemont in 2020 and has advanced to the championship mat in the 2A dual team finals for the last six seasons, winning four-straight championships from 2016-2019. Deerfield, which is ranked fourth in 2A, hopes to advance to dual team state for the first time since 2017.

In the gold pool, Washington won 42-33 over Deerfield, 39-27 over Prospect and 45-21 against Glenbard West. Prospect beat Glenbard West 37-28 and Deerfield 39-33 while Deerfield captured a 35-33 victory over Glenbard West. 

Leading the way for coach Nick Miller’s Panthers with 5-0 records were Peyton Cox at 126, Kannon Webster at 132, Donnie Hidden at 195 and 220 and Tyler Casey at 220 and 285. Cael Miller went 4-1 at 152 and Justin Hoffer went 3-1 at 195 and 220. Going 3-2 were Josh Biagini at 138 and Blake Hinrichsen at 160 and 170.

In one of the biggest showdowns of the day, Webster won a 9-4 decision over Prospect’s Will Baysingar at 132 in a clash of two juniors who’ve won state titles. Webster is a 2020 IHSA champion who’s top-ranked at 126 in Class 2A while Baysingar is a two-time medalist and 2021 IWCOA champion who’s ranked third in 3A at 126.

And in another interesting clash in the pool that featured top-ranked individuals from Class 2A and 3A at 195, Hidden, an IWCOA champion and two-time placer in 2A claimed an 11-6 decision over Glenbard West’s Philip Dozier, a two-time qualifier who took in 3A at the IWCOA.

Prospect received 6-0 showings from Joel Muehlenbeck at 106 and 113, Tom Miller at 120 and Lennon Steinkuehler at 138. Going 5-1 for the Knights were Will Baysingar at 132 and Jacob Grzesiak at 195 and 220 while Damien Puma went 4-1 at 145 and 152.

Leading Deerfield with 6-0 records were Lucio Morgan at 145, Benjamin Shvartsman at 152 and 160, Aiden Cohen at 170 and Braeden Wittkamp at 182 and 195. Going 4-2 for coach Marc Pechter’s Warriors were Luke Reddy at 113, Jordan Rasof at 120, Renzo Morgan at 132 and 138 and Stamos Tsakiris at 152 and 160.

Leading Glenbard West with 4-1 efforts were Ulises Rosas at 113, Isaiah Perez at 126 and Philip Dozier at 195. Also for the Hilltoppers, Pat Shadid went 3-1 at 170 and turning in 3-2 records were Carson Prunty at 106, Max Konopka at 160 and Morley Coval at 285.

Lockport placed ninth and Yorkville Christian tenth after the two were the top-two finishers in the Silver Pool, in which Pewaukee, Wisconsin took third and Minooka was fourth.

The Porters, who are ranked third in 3A, were missing several top performers who took part in the Powerade Tournament in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. They included champion Brayden Thompson as well as two other medalists, Andrew Blackburn-Forst, who was fifth, and Keegan Roberson, who placed sixth.

Lockport closed the competition with a 45-17 victory over Yorkville Christian to finish 5-1. The Porters also won 60-11 over Pewaukee and 62-3 against Minooka. Coach Josh Oster’s squad hopes to qualify for the dual team finals for the third-straight season and for the sixth in seven years and capture its first trophy since 2017, when it capped a three-run of trophies that culminated in a state championship.

Leading the Porters with a 5-0 finish was  Aidan Nolting at 195 while Nore Turner went 4-0 at 106, Carlos Munoz-Flores went 3-0 at 132 and Paul Kadlec went 3-0 at 160.

Paul Rasp went 4-1 at 182 while Matt Giorgetti was 3-1 at 113 and Jad Alwawi went 3-1 at 126. Going 2-0 were Liam Zimmerman at 106 and 113 and Ben Markham at 120.

Going 6-0 to lead Yorkville Christian, which is ranked ninth in Class 1A and beat Minooka 55-19 and Pewaukee 56-18, were Noah Dial at 138 and 145 and Jackson Gillen at 170. Also for the Mustangs, Aiden Larsen went 4-1 at 106 while going 4-2 were Isaac Bourge at 120, Braulio Flores at 138 and 145, Drew Torza at 152 and Michael Esquivel at 285.

In what some might consider to be an upset, Gillen, who’s ranked fifth in 1A at 170, recorded a fall in 5:55 over Sycamore’s Zack Crawford, who was top-ranked at 160 in 2A.

Minooka, who also fell 42-34 to Pewaukee, received 5-1 efforts from AJ Frescura at 113 and Joseph Westerhoff at 170 while Chase Musser went 4-2 at 106 and Louis Johnson went 4-2 at 195.

Oswego beat Glenwood 39-30 to take first in the bronze pool with a 4-2 record while Crystal Lake Central defeated Providence Catholic 45-30 for third place in that pool. The Panthers went 4-2 with their other pool wins being 45-31 over Providence and 46-30 over Crystal Lake Central.

Leading Oswego was Andrew Johnson, who went 6-0 at 160, while Brayden Swanson went 5-1 at 113 and Vincent Manfre went 4-1 at 106. Going 4-2 were Ryan Goddard at 120, Logan Guerrero at 126 and 132, Brayden Hedquist at 126 and 132, Joseph Griffin at 152 and Michael Sturm at 220.

Glenwood, which is tenth in Class 2A and won 41-34 over Crystal Lake Central and 42-35 over Providence, was led by 6-0 showings by Aden Byal at 145 and Alex Hamrick at 285. Going 4-2 for the Titans were Brandon Bray at 195 and Jaidyn Lee at 220.

Dillon Carlson went 6-0 at 160 and 170 to pace Crystal Lake Central, which is ranked sixth in Class 2A and hopes to get back to dual team state for the first time since 2017 and its first trophy since 2016. Going 5-1 for coach Justen Lehr’s Tigers was Leonardo Diaz at 285 and Erik Maldonado went 4-1 at 182 and 195. Posting 4-2 records were Payton Ramsey at 106, Cayden Parks at 145 and 152 and Connor Lezama at 152 and 160.

Providence was led by 6-0 efforts by Billy Meiszner at 132 and Liam McDermott at 220 while Kyle Lindsey went 5-1 at 138, RJ Schneider went 4-2 at 285 and Geno Papes went 3-1 at 145 and 152.

Several other teams in the competition had individuals who turned in good performances. 

Andrew got 5-0 efforts from Max Siegel at 113, Trevor Silzer at 120 and 126 and Jack Cronin at 195 while Casey Griffin went 3-0 at 120.

Glenbard East was led by Andrew Gron, who went 6-0 at 132 and 138 and Diego Garcia, who went 6-0 at 138 and 145 while Waleed Binmahfooz went 5-1 at 106. 

Grant received a 5-0 showings from Ivan Hernandez at 285 while Cameron Lattimore went 4-1 at 220 and Ayanne Jazinski went 3-1 at 106.

Plainfield South received 6-0 efforts from Rocco Silva went at 120 and John Pacewic at 195 and 220 while Rudy Silva went 5-1 at 113 and Matthew Janiak went 5-1 at 170. 

Sycamore received 5-0 showings from Brayden Peet at 152, Gus Cambier at 160, Gable Carrick at 182 and Lincoln Cooley at 285 while Zack Crawford went 4-1 at 170.

Taft received a 6-0 performance from Colin Roque at 132 and 138 while Patrick Diete went 4-1 at 126.

Wheaton North got 5-0 finishes from Sam Lemp at 132 and Devin Medina at 152 while going 4-1 were JD Jones at 138, Mikey Rosch at 170 and Eli Cook at 182.

And York got 5-0 efforts from Zach Parisi at 113 and 120, Sean Berger at 126 and Evan Grazzini at 182 while Jack Connell went 5-1 at 145 and 152.

By Gary Larson, For the IWCOA

Ed Ewoldt Wrestling Invitational

Lincoln-Way East won its second team title of the season at this year’s 16-team Ed Ewoldt Wrestling Invitational, posting a 240-218.5 scoring edge over second-place Yorkville.

Coach Kevin Rockett’s Griffins led all teams with eight wrestlers in the finals and tied third-place Downers Grove North (165.5) with three individual champions on the day. The Griffins are currently ranked 9th in 3A by the IWCOA and also won a team tournament title at Niles West this season. Like many teams over Christmas break, Lincoln-Way East did not have a full lineup entered at Wheaton Warrenville South.

“Winning the overall team (title) was a nice way to cap off the day,” Rockett said. “We had some underclassmen step up and capture their first individual tournament championships (Tyson Zvonar and Alex Lizak), and senior Jack Marion was our third champ for the day and captured his second individual (title) this season.

“We would have liked to finish the medal round with a few more wins in the finals but we can still take away positives from every match.  Our coaching staff is happy with our progress and is looking forward to continuing this start into the new year.”

Host WW South (127.5) finished third in the one-day Ewoldt tourney on Dec. 29. Hoffman Estates (109), Dixon (107.5), Waubonsie Valley (105.5), Plainfield East (85), West Chicago (83.5), and Lyons Township (75) rounded out the top 10 team finishers.

Lincoln-Way East got individual titles from Zvonar at 120, Lizak at 138, and Marion at 152 pounds. Also reaching the title mat and placing second were Noah Ciolkosz (106), Connor Koehler (126), Domanic Abeja (145), Dominic Adamo (160), and Alex Knaperek (285).

The Griffins also got a fourth-place finish from Jacob Hassan (220), fifths from Brayden Mortell (113) and Caden O’Rourke (182), and a sixth from Kevin Byrne (132).

Second-place Yorkville sent four wrestlers to the finals and got individual titles from Hunter Janeczko (195) and Ben Alvarez (220). Placing second for the Foxes were Jack Ferguson (113) and Luke Zook (152), and winning their final matches of the day on the third-place mat were Raymond Cavey (106), Dominic Recchia (120), Ryder Janeczko (126), and Brody Williams (160).

Yorkville got fourths from Sebadtian Westphal (138) and Justin Wiesbrook (285), a fifth from Colten Stevens (170), and a sixth from Cole Farren (145).

Also winning individual Ewoldt titles were Elgin’s Julius Avendano (106), Plainfield East’s Aidan Villar (113), Lyons Township’s Gunnar Garelli (126), West Chicago’s Pierre Baldwin (132), Downers Grove North’s Harrison Konder (145), Waubonsie Valley’s Antonio Torres (160), Hoffman Estates’ Jalen Curtis (170), Downers Grove North’s Ben Bielawski (182), and Downers Grove North’s Jordan Lewis (285).

Also placing second were West Chicago’s Connor Zentner (120), WW South’s Jaidyn Buziecki (132), Hoffman Estates’ Israel Vargas (138), Dixon’s Steven Kitzman (170), Waubonsie’s Andrew Meister (182), Evanston’s Anthony Joyner (195), and Dixon’s Justin Dallas (220).

Finishing third in Wheaton were WW South’s Ben Westmaas (113), Plainfield East’s Hunter McCloskey (132), Dixon’s Cade Hey (138), Lyons’ Ben Zeman (145), WW South’s Zean Al Obaidi (152), WW South’s Corey Gul (170), Hoffman Estates’ Josh Ellery (182), DG North’s Griff Keown (195), Evanston’s Sheldon Kinzer (220), and Luke Buntin (285).

Fourth-place finishers included DG North’s Tyler Tango (106), Waubonsie Valley’s Sebastian Sifuentes (113), DG North’s Josh Penaflor (120), Dixon’s Chris Sitter (126), Waubonsie’s Ethan Wojtowich (132), West Chicago’s Mason Dupasquier (145), Dixon’s Jayce Kastner (152), WW South’s Sedeeq Al Obaidi (160), Larkin’s Max Zamudio (170), Oak Lawn’s Evan Zambrano (182), and Hoffman Estates’ Rahmal Graham (195).

The Ewoldt’s Outstanding Wrestler Award, as voted on by coaches, was Downers Grove North’s Harrison Konder (145), who improved to 17-1 with his 6-1 decision win on the title mat against Lincoln-Way East’s Domanic Abeja. Konder posted two falls to reach the finals, over Oak Lawn’s John Parquette and Lyons’ Ben Zeman.

Ed Ewoldt Wrestling Invitational championship matches:

106: Julius Avendano (Elgin) over Noah Ciolkosz (LW East), F 3:21
113: Aidan Villar (Plainfield East) over Jack Ferguson (Yorkville), 7-5
120: Tyson Zvonar (LW East) over Connor Zentner (West Chicago), F 3:19
126: Gunnar Garelli (Lyons) over Connor Koehler (LW East), 8-2
132: Pierre Baldwin (West Chicago) over Jadyn Buziecki (WW South), F 3:26
138: Alex Lizak (LW East) over Israel Vargas (Hoffman Estates), 11-2
145: Harrison Konder (DG North) over Domanic Abeja (LW East), 6-1
152: Jack Marion (LW East) over Luke Zook (Yorkville), 5-3
160: Antonio Torres (Waubonsie) over Dominic Adamo (LW East), 3-2
170: Jalen Curtis (Hoffman Estates) over Steven Kitzman (Dixon), 4-3
182: Ben Bielawski (DG North) over Andrew Meister (Waubonsie), TF 3:45
195: Hunter Janeczko (Yorkville) over Anthony Joyner (Evanston), F 1:23
220: Ben Alvarez (Yorkville) over Justin Dallas (Dixon), 4-3

60th Red Schmitt Holiday Tourney

Marmion coach Nate Fitzenreider can best explain the way his Cadets won the team title at this year’s 25-team, 60th annual Red Schmitt Holiday Tourney, hosted by Granite City:

“We brought twelve wrestlers and put everyone in the gold pool,” he said. “We had a team record of 39-3 on the first day. An overall team record of 63-15 over two days. We were missing three weight classes and still won the tournament over four or five highly- ranked Missouri teams.

“I was very impressed with our team, overall.”

Marmion, currently ranked 4th in Class 3A in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings, out-pointed second-place Whitfield (MO) 321-270.5 to win its title. Lafayette (MO) placed third with 269.5, Plainfield North placed fourth with 264.5, and Neosho (MO) rounded out the top five finishers with 247.5.

Marmion also won team titles at Barrington’s 32-team Moore/Prettyman and at Downers Grove South’s 16-team Larry Gassen dual-team tournament this season. The Cadets also placed fifth at the 30-team Dan Gable Donnybrook tournament in Iowa, and fourth at the Crown Point, Indiana tournament.

Other Illinois teams finishing in the top 10 were Moline (8th), Mahomet-Seymour (9th), and Triad (10th). Also competing in Granite City were Batavia, Bloomington, Cahokia, Collinsville, Quincy, Belleville East, Normal Community West, Huntley, Alton, Mascoutah, and host Granite City.

All 12 Marmion wrestlers finished in the top eight of their divisions, led by second-place finishes from Donny Pignoni (106), Jameson Garcia (120), and Sean Scheck (220). Marmion got third-place finishes from Tyler Perry (170) and Jack Lesher (182), fifths from Santino Scolaro (138), John Conover (152), Kenny Siwicki (160), and Teddy Perry (195), a sixth from Jerred Durian (285), a seventh from Tegan Chumbley (145), and an eighth-place finish from Charlie McCarthy (195).

Second-place Whitfield (MO) got individual titles from Porter Malecki (120) and Keith Milley (285), and a second-place finish from Chase Brock (182). Placing third for Whitfield were Alexander Rallo (126), Evan Binder (132) and Gavin Linsman (138). Six of Whitfield’s 12 wrestlers entered in Granite City placed in the top eight of their weight classes.

Also winning individual titles in Granite City were Batavia’s Ino Garcia (106), St. Clair’s Ryan Meek (113), Triad’s Colby Crouch (126), Plainfield North’s Jacob Macatangay (132), Moline’s Kole Brower (138), St. Clair’s Brock Woodcock (145), Neosho’s Trent Neece (152), Bolivar’s Tyson Moore (160), Buchanan’s Brett Smith (170), Belleville East’s Dominic Thebeau (182), Mahomet-Seymour’s Mateo Casillas (195), and Lafayette’s Tommy Hagan (220).

Others placing second were Plainfield North’s Cayden Amico (113), CBC’s Kolby Warren (126), Mascoutah’s Santino Robinson (132), Lafayette’s Drew Doehring (138), Moline’s Noah Tapia (145), Mahomet-Seymour’s Braeden Heinold (152), Plainfield North’s Jared Gumila (160), Christian Brothers’ Aidan Bowers (170), Bloomington’s Anthony Curry (195), and Plainfield North’s Kaden McCombs (285).

Third-place finishers included Mahomet-Seymour’s Caden Hatton (106), Lafayette’s Dylan Roth (113) and Aiden Schoen (120), Batavia’s Cael Andrews (145), Cahokia’s Nick Deloach (152), Buchanan’s Charos Sutton (160), Bolivar’s Blake Goodman (195), Mahomet-Seymour’s Colton Crowley (220), and Neosho’s Nico Olivares (285).

Fourth-place finishers included Bolivar’s Forrest McMannes (106), CBC’s Dillon White (113), Bloomington’s Carson Nishida (120), Moline’s Alec Schmacht (126), Alton’s Deontae Forest (132), Triad’s Chase Hall (138), Buchanan’s Seth Littrell (145), Christian Brothers’ Mario Robledo (152), Moline’s Parker Terronez (160), Bolivar’s Trey Brewer (170), Lafayette’s Andrew Wier (182), Christian Brothers’ Cameron Cavins (195), Plainfield North’s Leo Tovar (220), and Cahokia’s Jason Dowell (285).

Red Schmitt Holiday Tournament championship matches:

106: Ino Garcia (Batavia) over Donny Pignoni (Marmion), 7-1

113: Ryan Meek (St. Clair) over Cayden Amico (Plainfield North), 8-1

120: Porter Matecki (Whitfield) over Jameson Garcia (Marmion), 5-0

126: Colby Crouch (Triad) over Kolby Warren (CBC), F 0:58

132: Jacob Macatangay (Plainfield N.) over Santino Robinson (Mascoutah), 3-2

138: Kole Brower (Moline) over Drew Doehring (Lafayette), 13-5

145: Brock Woodcock (St. Clair) over Noah Tapia (Moline), 7-4

152: Trent Neece (Neosho) over Braeden Heinold (Mahomet Symour), 7-5

160: Tyson Moore (Bolivar) over Jared Gumila (Plainfield North), 11-0

170: Brett Smith (Troy Buchanan) over Aidan Bowers (Christian Bros.), 8-4

182: Dominic Thebeau (Belleville E.) over Chase Brock (Whitfield), 5-2

195: Mateo Casillas (Mahomet Seymour) over Anthony Curry (Bloomington), 4-0

220: Tommy Hagan (Lafayette) over Sean Scheck (Marmion), 15-4

285: Keith Miley (Whitfield) over Kaden McCombs (Plainfield N.), 10-2

Lincoln Holiday Tournament

Rock Island edged Lincoln-Way Central 242-231.5 at this year’s 23-team Lincoln Holiday Tournament, as Rock Island sent four wrestlers to the finals, getting Individual titles from Truth Vessey (106) and Aoci Bernard (138) and second-place finishes from Tyler Barbee (126) and Andrew Marquez (195).

Normal Community (182.5), Champaign Centennial (173), and St. Patrick (147) rounded out the top five team finishes, followed by Galesburg (136.5), Marengo (131), Pekin (130.5), Rochester (96.5) and host Lincoln (84.5).

The tight finish between Rock Island coach Joel Stockwell’s Rocks and Lincoln-Way Central meant every point was at a premium, and Rock Island got scoring from 11 wrestlers in earning the team win.

The Rocks received those ever-important team points from third-place finishers Daniel McGhee (120), Tristan Willoughby (145), and Matthew Cook (152), fourth-place finisher Samuel Niyonkuru (113), tenth-place finishers Elian Marshall (160), and Eli Gustafson (285), and 13th-place finisher Omareon Gay (132).

Additionally, non-scoring Rocks wrestler Rebecca Ferguson placed seventh at 106.

Lincoln-Way Central sent five wrestlers to the title mat, getting individual championships from Joey Malito (120) and MJ Hollingsworth (152) and runner-up finishes from Conor Smetana (138), Max Becker (145), and Braeden Barrett (285).

The Knights entered 15 wrestlers in the tournament also got team scoring thanks to a fifth-place finish from Dustin Kozlowski (160), sixths from Gracie Guarino (106), Caden Harvey (132) and Paul Claussen (195), a seventh from Ameer Alamawi (126), a ninth from Nathan Jarres (220), and a tenth from Jake Bodenchak (170).

Non-scoring Lincoln-Way wrestlers included fourth-place finisher Lance Valentine (160) and fifth-place finisher Tim Key (152).

Also winning individual titles in Lincoln were Normal’s Cole Gentsch (113), Galesburg’s Rocky Amendarez (126), St. Patrick’s Sean Conway (132), Lincoln’s Isaac Decker (145), Peoria Notre Dame’s Joey Mushinsky (160), Lanphier’s Gabe Orosco (170), Pekin’s Shamon Handegan (182), Normal’s Cooper Caraway (195), St. Patrick’s Alex Goworowski (220), and Pekin’s Tyler Haynes (285).

Second-place finishers included Notre Dame’s Ian Akers (106), Urbana’s Cordaro Sims (113), Galesburg’s Gauge Shipp (120), Marengo’s Ethan Struck (132), Centennial’s Tyler Easter (152), Highland’s Ben Mitchell (160), St. Patrick’s Gio Hernandez (170), Danville’s Phillip Shaw (182), and Centennial’s Jack Barnhart (220).

Finishing third in their weight classes were Normal’s Caden Correll (106), St. Patrick’s Olin Walker (113), Normal’s Brock Bacus (126), Rochester’s Nolan Mrozowski (132) and Cole Peters (138), Kenwood’s Joshua Butler (160), Centennial’s David Navarra (170), Rantoul’s Keddrick Terhune (182), Limestone’s Merrick McNeese (195), Pekin’s Karson Lamb (220), and Marengo’s Michael Macias (285).

Fourth-placers in the tournament included Centennial’s Jaiden Smith (106), Normal’s Dylan Conway (120), Centennial’s Trevor Schoonover (126), Limestone’s Cosmo Palmgren (132), Taylorville’s Gage Rusher (138), Galesburg’s Alex Baughman (145), Lanphier’s Connor Janssen (152), Jerseyville’s Liam McGuire (170), Danville’s Micah McGuire (182), East Peoria’s Zach Eaton (195), Galesburg’s Jeremiah Morris (220), and Springfield’s Shamar Richardson (285).

Lincoln Holiday Tournament championship matches:

106: Truth Vessey (Rock Island) over Ian Akers (Notre Dame), 15-5
113: Cole Gentsch (Normal) over Cordaro Sims (Urbana), 6-1
120: Joey Malito (LW Central) over Gauge Shipp (Galesburg), 7-5
126: Rocky Almendarez (Galesburg) over Tyler Barbee (Rock Island), Inj.
132: Sean Conway (St. Patrick) over Ethan Struck (Marengo), 11-5
138: Aoci Bernard (Rock Island) over Conor Smetana (LW Central), F 5:53
145: Isaac Decker (Lincoln) over Max Becker (LW Central), TF 4:21
152: MJ Hollingsworth (LW Central) over Tyler Easter (Centennial), F 0:53
160: Joey Mushinsky (Notre Dame) over Ben Mitchell (Highland), F 2:37
170: Gabe Orosco (Lanphier) over Gio Hernandez (St. Patrick), 7-5
182: Shamon Handegan (Pekin) over Phillip Shaw (Danville), F 1:01
195: Cooper Caraway (Normal) over Andrew Marquez (Rock Island), 10-3
220: Alex Goworowski (St. Patrick) over Jack Barnhart (Centennial), 4-1
285: Tyler Haynes (Pekin) over Braeden Barrett (LW Central), 5-2

Lockport, Homewood-Flossmoor wrestlers compete at Powerade

Illinois’ top-ranked Class 3A wrestler at 170 pounds put a national feather in his cap at this year’s Powerade Wrestling Tournament.

Lockport’s Brayden Thompson won an individual title at 172 pounds at the formidable tournament, held from Dec. 28-30 in Canonsburg, PA.

This year’s Powerade, hosted by Canon-McMillan high school in Pennsylvania, featured nearly 600 participants from 66 schools. Many of the top high school programs in the country attended, including perennial powers like Wyoming Seminary (PA) and Blair Academy (NJ).

Thompson was seeded #7 at 172 and he topped wrestlers seeded #3 and #4 en route to winning the title.

Thompson, unbeaten and ranked #1 at 170 in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings, won by 15-4 decision in the round of 16 before winning a 3-1 decision in his quarterfinal match against third-seeded Luke Geog of St. Edward (OH).

Thompson won a 4-3 semifinal decision over #8 Michael Delllagatta of St. Joseph (NJ), setting up his title shot against #10 Daniel Wask of Blair Academy.

Thompson’s 3-2 UTB win over Wask earned him his Powerade title.

Both Lockport and Homewood-Flossmoor had wrestlers competing in the Powerade. In addition to Thompson, the Porters got a fifth-place finish from Andrew Blackburn-Forst (215) and a sixth from Keegan Roberson (145). Logan Shaw (138) also competed for the Porters.

“Overall our four kids wrestled well,” Lockport assistant coach Jameson Oster said. “Brayden (Thompson) was able to win close matches in different ways. The last three matches he wrestled against nationally-ranked opponents were all one score matches, where he was able to wrestle smart and show his grit and ability to ride kids in tight matches.

“Andrew (Blackburn-Forst) wrestled smart and stayed offensive throughout the tournament. In his 5th-place match, Andrew widened the gap against a tough opponent he wrestled earlier in the tournament.”

Oster liked the toughness Shaw showed in fighting his way through the consolation bracket, and said that Roberson wrestled his best matches of the season in Pennsylvania.

“(Roberson) is looking more offensive and getting to his positions,” Oster said. “Keegan had a couple matches he ended up losing, but he was right there to win them at the end.”

Homewood-Flossmoor got a fifth-place finish from Vincent Robinson (126), and seventh-place finishes from Deion Johnson (106) and Justin Thomas (215).

“Vincent lost a tough match in the semis in UTB against the #1 wrestler in (Pennsylvania),” Homewood-Flossmoor coach Jim Sokoloski said. “Deion and Justin wrestled well, minus a few mistakes here and there. Jaydon Robinson continues to knock on the door in national tournaments, once again finishing one win away from reaching the podium.  I was very proud of how our three placers responded in their placing matches.

“They all responded and won their last matches in convincing fashion. That really showed me their character and perseverance, which will pay dividends come February.”

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

PALATINE – After not being held last season for the first time since it began in 1955, Palatine’s Berman Holiday Wrestling Classic staged its return on Tuesday with 15 teams competing in the 66th-annual event, which is Illinois’ oldest regular season tournament. It’s named in honor of longtime assistant coach and tournament manager Al Berman, a 2001 IWCOA hall of famer who along with his wife Sally, were integral parts of an event which featured some of the best competition in the state for many years.

Considering that the United States is experiencing a record-setting number of COVID-19 cases, it’s not surprising that one half of the brackets had nine or less entrants, including one with only five, and the average for the tournament was just over nine individuals at each weight class. 

Fremd dominated the competition, placing 10 of its 11 individuals in the top three with seven of them advancing to the title mat and six winning championships. Coach Jeff Keske’s Vikings, who are tenth in Class 3A in the IWCOA rankings, scored 214 points to win the team title by 90 points as it became the fifth Mid-Suburban League school to win the event and just the third to do so since the last time that a Palatine school won a title, which was in 1988 when the host Pirates repeated as tournament champions.

The battle for the rest of the top-five spots was tight as Oak Forest used four finalists and three champions to claim second place with 124 points while Hinsdale South placed four in the top-three to take third place with 117.5 points, edging fourth-place York (116.5) and fifth-place Mundelein (114.5). 

Fremd, which took second in the 2019 Berman and turned in fifth-place finishes in its two earlier tournaments this season, Barrington’s Moore-Prettyman and Prospect’s Mudge-McMorrow, hopes that its balanced lineup that features several ranked individuals has what it takes to be a factor not only in the MSL but to also help it win its third regional title and first since 1996, when it made its lone appearance in the IHSA dual team finals.

Winning titles for the champion Vikings were Wiley Jessup (106), Evan Gosz (113), Maddox Khalimsky (132), Charlie Fifield (145), Casey Bending (220) and Cristian Gonzalez (285) while Matt Meehan (160) placed second and Jake Crandall (126), Jared Werner (170) and AJ Del Mar (182) all claimed third place.

“The Berman tournament has been going on for 66 years, so we take a lot of pride in winning this tournament,’ said Keske, a Libertyville graduate who competed for 2000 IWCOA hall of famer Dale Eggert. “Maybe there’s not as many teams as we originally thought but we still feel really good about our performance today, getting seven guys in the finals and having several guys who won tournaments for the first time ever today, so that was really cool to see.

“The work ethic has been great and everyone has been really supportive of this team and the leaders have really stepped up to make everyone feel part of the group, and not the varsity guys, so we feel really good about that and what we’re doing moving forward. Today we only had three seniors in the lineup today and we were missing three weight classes. We’re looking forward to the end of the season and this last month before the postseason and we know that in order to achieve our goals that we’re going to need all 14 wrestlers to pitch in and help out. We’re really looking forward to that challenge ahead of us in the next month.”

Oak Forest and Lake Park both had three champions while York and Leyden each had one. Winning titles for coach Shawn Forst’s runner-up Bengals were Tyler Evitts (120), Ivan Corral (152) and Joe Castaneda (170) while Caden Muselman (126) took second and Joe Loranger (132) placed fourth. 

Winning titles for Lake Park (82, ninth) were Dominik Mallinder (126), Mikey DiBenedetto (138) and Joey Olalde (160) while York got a title from Evan Grazzini (182), second-place finishes from Zach Parisi (113) and Sean Van Sleet (132) and a third from Dom Begora (285) while Sean Berger (126) had the most falls in the least time with three in 7:13.

The other champion in the field, Leyden’s Colin O’Neill (195), received the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler Award. Other top finishers for Leyden (92, seventh) were second-place finishers Sebastian Rojas (182) and Gus Tosterud (220) and Russell Klug (132), who placed third.

Leading the way for coach Steve Matozzi’s third-place Hornets were runner-up Alec Miller (152) and third-place finishers Oscar Choi (120), Manny Wallace (160) and Griffin Carr (220). Fifth-place Mundelein’s top finishers were runner-up Henri Ortiz (195) and third-place finisher Erick Nova (145).

Maine South (97.5, sixth) had six top-four finishers. They were Christos Vaselopulos (106) and Nathan Beltran (138) in second, Teddy Flores (113) in third and Nico Chisari (160), Cole Cichowski (170) and Tommy Porrello (195) in fourth. Rolling Meadows (85, eighth) had two second-place finishers, Alan Velasquez (120) and Dominic Andrejek (170) while Kyle King (113), Ben Escalante (126) and Jaiden Montgomery (145) placed fourth.

Grayslake North (81, tenth) was led by runner-up Connor Kozanecki (145), third-place finishers Armen Jerikian (138) and Alex Carbajal (152) and fourth-place finisher Nik Green (285). Zion-Benton (75, 11th) received a second-place finish from Sean Taylor (285) and fourths from Jon Marquez (106), Luis Medina (120) and Julian Zetina-Torres (152).

South Elgin (42.5, 12th) got a third from Will Ardson (195) and a fourth from Andre Rios (138) and Palatine (40, 13th) got a third from Emmanuel Rodriguez (106) and a fourth from Leonel Franco (220). And the top placer for short-handed Minooka (34, 14th), the tourney’s three-time defending champion, was Tyler Green (182), who took fourth.

Here’s a summary of the Berman Holiday Classic champions along with the other top-four finishers at their weight classes:

106 – Wiley Jessup, Fremd

When Fremd senior Wiley Jessup began his high school career, he didn’t get the opportunity to train against someone who was older and had experienced success. So as he finishes up with the Vikings, the sixth-place finisher in the IWCOA finals is happy to be able to practice with and give guidance to a talented newcomer, freshman Evan Gosz. 

The pair continued their tournament success as both won championships to kick off a dominant performance for the team champions as Jessup claimed top honors at 106 with a fall in 3:02 over Maine South sophomore Christos Vaselopulos and Gosz followed with a title at 113. For the third straight tournament, Jessup and Gosz both advanced to the title mat with the senior taking top honors at Prospect and second at Barrington while the freshman captured firsts at both events.

“It’s really awesome to see Evan as a freshman doing that well,” Jessup said. “I enjoy it because I wish I had someone like that for me when I was a freshman. I kind of try to pass on my knowledge to him because he’s a really good wrestler now. We’re very in line with each other (the team) and very supportive of one another and it’s really fun at dual meets and tournaments just watching how others do and supporting them. I’m really proud of what coach Keske has made of this program because he’s brought a lot of his experience and skills here. I’m really proud of how the whole team is doing this year and is performing really well against tough teams that we had tough losses to last year.”

Jessup (18-2), who’s ranked fourth at 106 in Class 3A, advanced to his third-straight tournament finals with a fall in 0:47 over Palatine junior Emmanuel Rodriguez. Vaselopulos (13-6) became one of two Hawks who advanced to the title mat in their initial individual invite when he recorded a 7-5 semifinal win over Zion-Benton freshman Jon Marquez. 

In the third-place match, Rodriguez (5-3) turned in his best tournament finish of the season and gave the host Pirates their top showing for the day when he captured a 5-2 victory over Marquez (10-8), who also finished fourth at Antioch in his initial prep tournament.

113 – Evan Gosz, Fremd

It certainly says a lot about a freshman when he can not only advance to three-consecutive tournament finals to begin his high school career but also win titles in all three of those events, and that’s just what Fremd freshman Evan Gosz has accomplished thus far.

Gosz (23-1), who’s ranked seventh in Class 3A, added to his championships at Barrington and Prospect with a Berman Classic title at 113 when he captured a 7-1 victory over York junior Zach Parisi in the finals. It was a rematch of the Mudge-McMorrow title match where Gosz won by fall in 3:25. The Vikings freshman recorded a fall in 1:15 in the semifinals over Rolling Meadows senior Kyle King.

“It feels good,” Gosz said. “I was told that high school was a lot tougher, and obviously it is with a lot stronger guys, but I think because of my background of wrestling in IK and wrestling around has really helped me out. He helps me out and teaches me the ropes and stuff, so that’s fun. I’m just hoping that I can finish as strong as I’ve started.”

Parisi (16-2), who has suffered both of his losses to Gosz, advanced to his second-straight tournament final with a 9-3 semifinals win over Maine South sophomore Teddy Flores.

Flores (14-3) claimed third place with a fall in 5:17 over King (7-11), who claimed a third-place finish in his initial tournament this season, which was at Vernon Hills.

120 – Tyler Evitts, Oak Forest

After qualifying for state for the last two seasons, Oak Forest senior Tyler Evitts is hoping that the third time will be the charm for him to reach the awards stand for the first time and he’s off to a good start after improving to 11-1 following an 8-2 victory over Rolling Meadows junior Alan Velasquez in the 120 title match.

Evitts was one of three champions and four finalists for the runner-up Bengals, who placed six of their seven competitors in the top five at their weights. He advanced to the title mat with a fall in 3:19 over Hinsdale South senior Oscar Choi.

“This feels pretty good because sophomore year when I came here I took fifth, so this is an improvement,” Evitts said. “I like how I’m shooting and I actually took a shot. As a  freshman, sophomore and junior I probably had 10 shots.”

Velasquez (12-7), whose previous best finish this season was a third at Rockford East, was one of two finalists for the Mustangs. He earned his spot opposite Evitts with a 5-3 semifinals decision over Zion-Benton freshman Luis Medina.

In the third-place match, Choi (8-7), a 2020 state qualifier who won a title at his school’s Matozzi Invite, became the first of three Hornets to take third place when he recorded a fall in 2:14 over Medina (6-4).

126 – Dominik Mallinder, Lake Park

After finishing second to Plainfield North’s Jacob Macatangay at 126 in Class 3A at the IWCOA finals, Lake Park senior Dominik Mallinder has understandably been focused on another trip to the awards stand this season in the IHSA finals.

Ranked eighth in a weight class that features four others who have placed first or second at state, Mallinder is 13-3 following a 6-1 win in the 126 finals over Oak Forest junior Caden Muselman. Mallinder, a Berman champ in 2019 and runner-up at Conant and Glenbrook South this year, had two falls, with one in 2:54 in the semifinals over Rolling Meadows sophomore Ben Escalante.

“Getting second place at that tournament (IWCOA) really put a fire under me and made me realize that I need to work harder to get first place,” Mallinder said. “It was a very good opportunity. There’s a lot more to be done but I feel good with where I’m at right now.”

Muselman (12-2), who’s ranked second in 2A at 132, is a two-time state qualifier who placed fourth in the IWCOA finals in 2A at 126. Competing in his first invitational tournament of the season, he earned his spot in the finals with a fall in his opener and then a 5-2 semifinals decision over Fremd junior Jake Crandall.

Crandall (19-7) was one of three Vikings to place third after winning by technical fall over Escalante (11-5), whose best finish this season was second-place at Rockford East.

132 – Maddox Khalimsky, Fremd

Boosted by a fourth-place finish at 126 in 3A at the IWCOA finals, Fremd junior Maddox Khalimsky hopes to make another run at the awards stand this season in Champaign. He improved to 19-3 and became one of his team’s six champions after winning a 9-3 decision over York junior Sean Van Sleet in the 132 finals.

Khalimsky reached his second tournament finals, with Prospect being the other, and won his first title of the season. Ranked ninth in Class 3A, he recorded a fall in 0:48 in his first match and then captured a win by technical fall in the semifinals over Oak Forest senior Joe Loranger.

“Everybody’s doing their part and we have good partners in the room, so everybody is getting better,” Khalimsky said. “Coach Keske is doing all of the right things and making sure we stick with the technique. He’s bringing in other coaches from outside of our room to come and wrestle with us to improve our technique. We’re building upon what we’ve already got and we will be better. Even though we didn’t have a complete season (last year), it was a complete season. In my freshman year, I didn’t even make it to sectionals so I’m glad that I kind of got to show off what I learned in that last-minute opportunity.”

Van Sleet (12-3) advanced to the finals with a pair of decisions, which included a 10-4 victory over Leyden sophomore Russell Kleg in the semifinals.

In the third-place match at 132, Kleg (10-3) claimed a 10-2 major decision over Loranger (4-3).

138 – Mikey DiBenedetto, Lake Park

After opening the season with a title at Conant, Lake Park junior Mikey DiBenedetto wasn’t so pleased with his next trip to a tournament finals, when he took second by sudden victory at Glenbrook South. He made his third trip to the finals and won a second title with a 10-3 victory over Maine South junior Nathan Beltran in the 138 title match.

DiBenedetto, a two-time state qualifier who’s ranked sixth in 3A, improved to 15-2 after recording a fall in 1:44 in his first match and then getting a pin in 4:50 in the semifinals against Grayslake North senior Armen Jerikian.

“Dominik is my partner and we’re pushing each other in the gym,” DiBenedetto said. “Even though I was a qualifier, I’m not satisfied with that, I really want a state title, I’m working for that. I’m running all of the time and lifting weights all of the time and am pushing me and Dom. As a team, we connect and we click, we know how to push each other and when we’re about to quit, we tell each other that you’ve got to keep going and pushing it. We’re not just teammates, we’re all friends outside of wrestling.”

Beltran (15-3), competing in his first invitational tournament of the season, advanced to the finals with a pair of falls, winning in 2:25 in his first match and then getting a pin in 1:48 over South Elgin junior Andre Rios in the semifinals.

Jerikian (14-3) equalled his third-place finish at Vernon Hills when he finished third with an 11-3 major decision over Rios (14-7), whose best finish was a second at Fenton.

145 – Charlie Fifield, Fremd

Fremd senior Charlie Fifield used a dominating performance to capture the 145 title and to become the fourth of six individuals from his team who won Berman Classic titles after winning by technical fall in the title match over Grayslake North senior Connor Kozanecki.

Ranked sixth at his weight, the 2020 state qualifier and 2019 Berman runner-up, also took second at Prospect and third at Barrington this season. He improved to 25-3 after recording a fall in his first match and then getting a win by technical fall over Mundelein’s Erick Nova in the semifinals.

“It was kind of a nice break coming to a tournament like this,” Fifield said. “It was nice to get in here and to dominate and see a lot of guys have success. I like our team camaraderie. We’re just really close and tight-knit as compared to other years. A lot of guys are leading in their own ways, whether that’s vocally or by example. It’s just a really good atmosphere and I love to be a part of the team.”

Kozanecki (17-5), who also claimed second place at Richmond-Burton, opened with a 6-0 decision before recording a fall in 2:54 in the semifinals over Rolling Meadows senior Jaiden Montgomery.

In the third-place match, Nova (3-1) captured the third win by technical fall in the bracket in his victory over Montgomery (4-2) for his team’s second-best finish of the day.

152 – Ivan Corral, Oak Forest

Last season could have been a frustrating one for Oak Forest’s Ivan Corral since it appeared that the 2020 state qualifier might not get a chance to go back to state. But thanks to the IWCOA, he not only qualified for state for a second time, he finished fifth at 132 in Class 2A.

Boosted by that trip to the awards stand, the Bengals senior has even bigger hopes for this season and is off to a strong start with a 13-3 record after capturing top honors at 152 in the Berman Classic, which was his first invitational tournament of the season. He had falls in his first two matches, including one in 4:52 in the semifinals over Zion-Benton junior Julian Zetina-Torres and then claimed a 9-3 decision over Hinsdale South sophomore Alec Miller in the title match.

“We’ve been shut down once or twice already this year because of COVID, so it was nice to get out here for our first tournament of the year,” Corral said. “I think I wrestled pretty good. I like the brothership that we’ve formed over the years.”

Miller (4-3), who entered the event with just one win in three matches, used a pin and a win by technical fall to advance him to the semifinals, where recorded a fall in 4:56 over  Grayslake North freshman Alex Carbajal. 

Carbajal (12-8), whose best tournament showing had been a fourth at Richmond-Burton, bounced back from his semifinal loss to get a fall in the third-place match in 2:20 over Zetina-Torres (7-8).

160 – Joey Olalde, Lake Park

For a while, it appeared as if Joey Olalde was Texas-bound and would complete his high school career there. But the move didn’t last long and the senior is happy to still be at Lake Park after he improved to 16-0 with a 6-0 decision over Fremd junior Matt Meehan in the 160 finals to give him his third invite title of the season.

Olalde, who’s tenth-ranked in Class 3A at 160, added to his previous championship wins at Conant and Glenbrook South. He opened the day with two falls, including one in 4:54 over Maine South senior Nico Chisari in the semifinals.

“I’m 16-0 right now,” Olalde said. “Dom Mallinder pushes me in the room every day. There’s a big weight difference but he’s still a guy who gets after it. It’s a crazy story that I moved to Texas before the state series, so I didn’t get a chance to wrestle in that. But I just moved back a few months ago, so I’m excited to get back out here and show Illinois what’s up. We’re up and coming. It’s good that we have me and Dom as senior captains to push each other and Mikey, too. It’s great to be back in Illinois. Nothing beats this.”

Meehan (20-4) was one of the seven Vikings who reached the title mat. He got there with a pair of major decisions, including by a 16-2 margin in the semifinals against Hinsdale South senior Manny Wallace. 

Wallace (14-5), who won a title at his own Matozzi invite, took third place with a fall in 1:29 over Chisari (8-5), who was competing in his initial individual invite of the season.

170 – Joe Castaneda, Oak Forest

There was a common theme for Oak Forest’s three champions and four finalists at the Berman Classic and that was that all of them were able to be state qualifiers at the IWCOA finals, which includes junior Joe Castaneda, who took first at 170 with a 7-4 decision over Rolling Meadows senior Dominic Andrejek.

Castaneda (14-6) made the most of his first individual invite of the season by advancing in his opener due to injury default and then capturing a 7-6 semifinal victory over Fremd junior Jared Werner.

“I weighed in at about 158, and I wrestled up to 170 and I still managed to take first,” Castaneda said. “I already took time off from staying in shape and being in practice and some of our teammates are getting sick again. If we weren’t down in numbers, I think we could do pretty good downstate, too, but it makes it harder in practice and in terms of competing for state as a team.”

Andrejek (16-6), whose best previous tournament finish this season was a third at Rockford East, won a pair of two-point decisions to advance to the finals, including a 10-8 overtime triumph over Maine South senior Cole Cichowski in the semifinals.

Werner (3-1) performed well in his season debut, getting two falls and bouncing back from his narrow semifinal loss with a 7-4 victory in the third-place match over Cichowski (8-6), who was competing in his first individual tournament this year.

182 – Evan Grazzini, York

York junior Evan Grazzini was one of only two Berman Classic champions who didn’t need to go the full six minutes in any of his three matches as he captured the title at 182 with a fall in 2:53 over Leyden’s Sebastian Rojas to improve to 15-4 on the season.

Grazzini opened with a win by technical fall before getting a pin in 3:37 over Fremd sophomore AJ Del Mar in the semifinals to become one of the three Dukes to reach the title mat and the only one to capture a title, which also was the initial championship for the team who had no title winners at Prospect, where Grazzini placed third.

“It feels great,” Grazzini said. “This is my first one in high school. I need to stay within myself. When I stick to my game plan and I wrestle like I know how to wrestle, I’m a pretty good wrestler and I think that will be the difference-maker when it gets time to go downstate. We have a really strong team and we work well together. Everybody has the same goals and we’re rolling. It allows us to thrive with us all wanting the same thing and being able to work together, it’s great.”

Rojas (2-1) won his first match of the season by injury default and advanced to the finals with a fall in 3:01 in the semifinals over Minooka’s Tyler Green, who was also seeing his first competition of the season.

Del Mar went 2-1 on the day with two falls, with the last one coming in the third-place match where he recorded a pin in 1:36 over Green.

195 – Colin O’Neill, Leyden

Leyden senior Colin O’Neill not only claimed his second tournament championship in two tries when he claimed top honors at 195 but he also was the Berman Classic’s Outstanding Wrestler Award winner after recording a fall in 3:55 over Mundelein senior Henri Ortiz.

O’Neill, who was ranked eighth in Class 3A at 182, added to the Conant championship that he won at 195 to start the season. He advanced to the title mat with a 9-4 decision over Maine South junior Tommy Porrello. He credits much of his improvement to his coach, John Kading, a 2000 IWCOA hall of famer.

“I started off kind of rough and missed the first week or so of wrestling,” O’Neill said. “I was no more so scared as I would say, determined, to push myself harder than I would before. I have a short amount of time in a week and x amount of hours at practice. There’s definitely a lot more to work on, not even for myself since I think I’m doing good, but more for what our coach wants us to do. He sees so much potential in every wrestler. He’s one of the best, so I’m grateful.”

Ortiz (2-1) recorded two falls to reach the finals, with one in 4:51 in the semifinals against South Elgin junior Will Ardson (13-5), who took third place after capturing a 10-4 victory over Porrello. 

220 – Casey Bending, Fremd

Fremd junior Casey Bending captured his first tournament title of the season and joined five Vikings teammates on top of the award stand after capturing top honors at 220 with a 3-0 victory over Leyden senior Gus Tosterud.

Bending, who finished third at Prospect, improved to 24-6 after opening with a pair of falls, including one in 3:00 over Hinsdale South junior Griffin Carr in the semifinals. 

“As a team, we definitely earned this spot after going through other tournaments,” Bending said. “We’ve had really great conditioning and I’d say that all of the conditioning has paid off. I don’t know where I’d be without coach Keske. I play in two other sports, football and track and field. Not only does wrestling help you physically, but it also changes you mentally and emotionally. I’m glad that I’ve been able to wrestle with them since junior high school. I’m glad that I could have someone just looking after me and also have someone that I can get some tips from.”

Tosterud (12-4), an IWCOA qualifier who placed fourth at Conant, recorded two first-period falls to become one of three finalists for the Eagles. In the semifinals, he won by fall in 1:38 over Palatine senior Leonel Franco.

Carr (11-7), who took third at the Matozzi invite, claimed third place again when he won by injury default over Franco (13-6), who placed third at Buffalo Grove.

285 – Cristian Gonzalez, Fremd

Fremd senior Cristian Gonzalez captured his initial varsity tournament title and did so by winning three decisions, with the last one being a 7-6 victory over Zion-Benton senior Sean Taylor in the 285 title match. 

Gonzalez, who is 10-1, won 3-1 in his opener and then captured a 5-0 decision over York junior Dom Begora in the semifinals to earn a spot as one of his team’s seven finalists and six champions that helped lead 10th-ranked Fremd to the team title.

“This was my first varsity tournament ever,” Gonzalez said. “It was a great feeling, surreal almost. I came off the mat and saw everyone cheering me on and knowing what our team accomplished was a great feeling. Our slogan is ‘all in’ and everybody is really committed to that this year. Everybody is doing everything that they can for the team at all times, whether that’s in practice or in a match, they’re leaving everything on the mat. We have some really good guys at our lighter weights that start us on a really good note and we have good guys throughout. It’s a really good program overall and we showed that today and I hope that we can continue to show that for the rest of the season.”

Taylor (12-2) opened with a pair of falls, with the second of those coming in 2:40 in the semifinals against Grayslake North junior Nik Green. Begora (7-5) recorded a fall in 1:56 in the third place-match against Green (6-4).

By Curt Herron, For the IWCOA

MACHESNEY PARK – There wasn’t very much separating the top two scoring teams at the 33rd annual Al Dvorak Invitational at Harlem in Machesney Park as Detroit Catholic Central and Mount Carmel battled throughout the two days for who would emerge as champions.

When all was said and done on Sunday, the Caravan had more champions, 3-2, and more finalists, 6-3, but the Shamrocks were able to place at 11 weights while Mount Carmel had nine medalists and that proved to be good enough to help the program that features four returning individual champions which has won eight Michigan Division 1 championships since 2010 to become the first program from their state to win a Dvorak title, prevailing by a 234.5-230 margin.

Coach Mitch Hancock’s championship squad got titles from Dylan Gilcher (138) and Manuel Rojas (182), a second-place effort from Drew Heethuis (120), third-place showings from Simon Dominguez (106) and Darius Marines (152) and a fourth-place finish from Clayton Jones (132).

Mount Carmel continued its success in the Dvorak, finishing second for the third time in six years and it’s placed among the top-four teams in each of the last seven tournaments.

Leading the way for coach Alex Tsirtsis’ Caravan, who are first in 3A in Rob Sherill’s IWCOA rankings, are champions Seth Mendoza (106), Sergio Lemley (126), and Ryan Boersma (285), second-place finishers Eddie Enright (132), Colin Kelly (160) and Elliott Lewis (195) and third-place finisher Damian Resendez (113). Boersma and Lemley also won titles in 2019 and Boersma placed for the third time.

“We’ve had three meat-grinder weeks in a row, we were in Iowa in the beginning of December, the Ironman last week and here this weekend and it’s really good to see growth of the kids,” Tsirtsis said. “Not necessarily our top three guys because they’ve been performing well week in and week out but getting those other guys to really step up and they’ve knocked a lot of rust off and they keep getting better. 

“This is going to be our first time of the year that we can have an extended training period, so we’re really looking forward to that for the next few weeks just trying to get better. We did a really good job getting better this week in the room with short time. I’m excited to get in there and have these guys really focus on polishing up things.”

DeKalb, which is second-ranked in 3A, took third place with 167 points. Leading coach Sam Hiatt’s Barbs were champion Tommy Curran (145), runner-up Bradley Gillum (182) and fourth-place finishers Danny Aranda (120) and Damien Lopez (152).

Lockport, which is ranked third in 3A, finished fourth with 150 points. Pacing coach Josh Oster’s Porters were champion Brayden Thompson (170), second-place finishers David Vukobratovich (113) and Andrew Blackburn-Forst (220) and fourth-place finishers Logan Swaw (145) and Paul Kadlec (160).

Amery, Wisconsin took fifth with 138.5 points while Aurora Christian, ranked fifth in 2A, was sixth with 131 points. Top performers for coach Danny Alcocer’s Eagles were champion Braden Stauffenberg (152), second-place finishers Deven Casey (106), Joe Fernau (126) and Taythan Silva (145) and third-place finisher Nate Wemstrom (195).

Marist, which is ranked fifth in 3A, took seventh place with 127.5 points. Leading the way for coach Brendan Heffernan’s RedHawks were champion Peter Marinopoulos (195) and third-place finisher Ghee Rachal (220), who placed in the event for the third time.

Hersey (112.5, eighth), Plainfield North (106, ninth), St. Charles East (105, tenth), Libertyville (98.5, 11th) and Dakota (97, 12th) rounded out the top third of the 36-team event.

Also winning championships were Crystal Lake South’s Josh Glover (113), St. Charles East’s Ben Davino (120), Plainfield North’s Jacob Macatangay (132), McHenry’s Chris Moore (160) and Amery’s Koy Hopke (220).

Other second-place finishers were Moline’s Kole Brower (138), Conant’s Ethan Stiles (152), McHenry’s Brody Hallin (170) and Glenbard North’s Paulie Robertson (285).

Davino was the recipient of the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler Award while Dakota’s Maddux Blakely had the most falls in the shortest amount of time, which was four.

Fifteen individuals added to the medals that they won in the 2019 tournament and another got to the awards stand for the first time since 2018.

Here’s a breakdown of the champions of the 33rd annual Al Dvorak Invitational along with the placewinners who are in their weight class:

106 – Seth Mendoza, Mount Carmel

Few Illinois high school wrestlers will be able to say that during their first month in the sport that they’ve already won two titles in elite tournaments and also posted a fifth-place showing in one of the nation’s top events. But that’s just what Mount Carmel freshman Seth Mendoza has achieved during his impressive debut after rolling to four decisive victories to capture the 106 pound Dvorak championship, following up on a fifth-place showing at the Walsh Ironman one week earlier and a championship at the Dan Gable Donnybrook in Iowa the previous weekend.

Mendoza, who is off to a 19-2 start and is top-ranked at 106 in Class 3A, recorded falls in his first match and in the quarterfinals against Plainfield North’s Maddox Garbis before claiming a win by technical fall against Jacobs’ Dominic Ducato in the semifinals. He capped off his tournament trifecta with a 9-2 victory in the championship over another freshman who is off to a great start, Aurora Christian’s Deven Casey.

“It makes me feel great,” Mendoza said. “Just going out there and dominating and having fun. I was unsatisfied (at the Ironman) because I know that I could have done a lot better and I’ll get them back later. We’re working hard every day in the room with all of our guys who have been in finals. But even the guys who haven’t been in the finals, they’re still coming out here and placing and doing pretty good. Our team in general has been doing really good so we just need to keep that up.”

Casey has also had a very impressive debut during which time he kicked things off with a title at Barrington’s Moore-Prettyman tournament and then fell just shy of a medal at the Ironman, when he lost to Mendoza in the blood round. He owns a 17-4 record and is ranked second at 106 in 2A after getting a fall in his first match and winning 18-5 over Yorkville’s Raymond Cavey in the quarterfinals. He captured a 3-2 semifinal victory over Belvidere/Belvidere North’s Brayden Tuenissen to reach the finals.

Ducato (16-4), a junior who placed fourth in the IWCOA finals and is ranked fifth in 3A after settling for fourth place following a 3-1 loss to Detroit Catholic Central’s Simon Dominguez (11-3). Three other freshmen also joined Mendoza and Casey on the awards stand. Tuenissen (15-3) claimed an 8-0 victory over Amery’s Brendan Burke (9-4) for fifth-place and for in the seventh-place match, Glenbard North’s Kalani Khiev (11-2), who won a title at Conant, claimed a 9-2 win over Edwardsville’s Levi Wilkinson (17-5).

113 – Josh Glover, Crystal Lake South

There’s no better way to kick off tournament performances than by winning a Dvorak championship in your initial individual competition of the season. That’s what Crystal Lake South senior Josh Glover accomplished in a new setting when he captured an 8-4 victory over Lockport’s David Vukobratovich to claim the 113 pound championship. 

Glover, who was third in the IWCOA finals and second in 2019 at state while at Marian Central Catholic, improved to 19-0 and is top-ranked in Class 2A. After getting a fall in his first match, he beat Marist’s Michael Esteban 8-0 in the quarterfinals and followed that with a 13-1 major decision over Plainfield South’s Rudy Silva in the semifinals.

“This is my first year here after transferring to South,” said Glover. “I love it and the team’s a lot of fun. I wanted to put it all on the line and to test myself against these 3A kids to try to scale how I’ll do at the tournament. I’ve expanded my variety of different leg attacks and that was a big part.”

Vukobratovich, a senior who is 9-2 and ranked second in 3A, definitely made a name for himself this week after winning an overtime tiebreaker over an Ironman placer, Homewood-Flossmoor’s Deion Johnson, in a dual meet and then being one of three Porters to reach the title mat. After recording falls in his first two matches, he won by technical fall over Hersey’s Maksim Mukhamedaliyev in the quarterfinals and claimed a 9-6 semifinals victory over Mount Carmel’s Damian Resendez.

Resendez (15-4), a sophomore who is ranked third at 113 in 3A with a third at the Donnybrook and a third at the IWCOA finals to his credit, claimed third place with a win by technical fall over Silva (15-4), a sophomore ranked eighth in 3A who was a finalist at Barrington. Freshman Esteban (14-4) placed fifth with a 13-6 decision over freshman Mukhamedaliyev (15-10) while Round Lake sophomore Alejandro Cordova (15-8) got a fall in 5:14 over Plainfield North sophomore Cayden Amico (18-5) to finish seventh.

120 – Ben Davino, St. Charles East

In order for an individual to win the Outstanding Wrestler Award at the Dvorak Invitational, you’d better leave quite an impression on the coaches and St. Charles East’s Ben Davino has already demonstrated that he’s very good at doing just that. The Saints sophomore received the ultimate recognition in the 36-team competition after wrapping up his two-day performance with a 13-4 major decision in the 120 title match over Detroit Catholic Central’s Drew Heethuis, who was a Michigan Division 1 state champion last season.

Davino, who improved to 15-1 and ranks first in 3A, was one of four Illinois individuals to wrestle for titles at the Ironman, where he lost a 5-2 decision to Blair Academy’s Mark Anthony McGowan in the 120 finals. A champion at 113 in the IWCOA finals in June, he kicked off his Dvorak run with a pair of wins by technical fall, with one coming in the quarterfinals over Aurora Christian’s Josh Vasquez. Davino earned his spot in the title match with a 3-1 victory over Libertyville’s Caelan Riley in the semifinals.

“It was nice, there was a lot of good competition and I had a lot of fun wrestling,” Davino said. “It’s the whole process of getting better throughout it. Taking the losses and using them as fuel and using them to learn. I’m super happy to be with my coaches, they are super helpful and they add a lot of value to my wrestling. They know what they are talking about, and it’s awesome.”

Riley (17-3), a senior who’s ranked fifth in 3A, claimed third place with a 7-0 victory over DeKalb sophomore Danny Aranda (13-4), who is ranked sixth in 3A. Riley took second at Barrington, was sixth at the IWCOA finals and placed third in the 2019 Dvorak. Aranda, who was second at the Gable Donnybrook and took fifth at the IWCOA, also reached the semifinals, where he dropped a 5-2  decision to Heethuis.

Marist freshman Will Denny (15-3) is ranked eighth in 3A after claiming an 11-3 victory over Conant junior Sammy Santangelo (9-3) in the fifth-place match. Vasquez (14-6), a freshman who is ranked sixth in 2A, suffered an injury in a consolation match and defaulted in the seventh-place match against Milton freshman Aiden Slama (16-2).

126 – Sergio Lemley, Mount Carmel

Sergio Lemley won his first Illinois tournament since capturing the IHSA 3A title at 113 as a freshman for the Caravan when he claimed a 5-1 victory in the Dvorak finals at 126 over Aurora Christian’s Joe Fernau, who also won an IHSA 3A title in 2020 at 106 competing for Montini Catholic. Lemley, who improved to 20-1 and is ranked second at 126 at 3A, also was a state champion last season in Indiana competing for Chesterton. Both were finalists in the 2019 Dvorak with Lemley taking first at 113 and Fernau second at 106.

After recording a win by technical fall in his first match, Lemley won a 14-5 major decision over Detroit Catholic Central’s Anthony Walker in the quarterfinals. He advanced to the title mat after getting a fall in 4:39 over Glenbard North’s Paul Woo in the semifinals. This is the second tournament championship of the year for the junior, who also won at the Gable Donnybrook and placed third at the Ironman where he suffered his lone loss, a 3-1 overtime defeat in the semifinals to Homewood-Flossmoor’s Vincent Robinson. 

“Right now I’m kind of unsatisfied,” Lemley said. “I still have Vincent ahead of me so that’s what I’m looking forward to and working toward every day. Right now I’m just taking my time and looking forward to Christmas break and it should be fun. Our 60-pounder, Colin Kelly, has been improving every day and these guys have been putting in the work and we’re improving.”

Fernau, a senior who has a 17-4 record and is ranked third in 2A, was a runner-up at Barrington and fell one win shy of placing at the Ironman. He opened with a fall and then claimed a 10-2 major decision over Jacobs’ James Wright in the quarterfinals. In a dramatic semifinal match, Fernau got a third-period escape to capture a 1-0 victory over Providence Catholic senior Billy Meiszner, who’s ranked fifth in 3A and was an IWCOA runner-up.

Dakota junior Phoenix Blakely (14-3), a 2021 IWCOA and 2020 IHSA 1A champion who is top-ranked in 1A, won a 10-0 major decision over Wright (17-4), a junior who is ranked sixth in 3A. Meiszner (9-2) claimed a 5-1 victory in the fifth-place match over Woo (8-4), a senior who’s ranked tenth in 3A and placed fifth in the Dvorak in 2019. And in the seventh-place match, Milton junior Matt Haldiman (16-3) won by fall in 5:02 over Marist junior Jesse Herrera (13-4), who placed fourth at the IWCOA.

132 – Jacob Macatangay, Plainfield North

A lot of competitors would be thrilled to have a perfect record at this point and to also have won a championship at the state’s top in-season tournament, but Jacob Macatangay saw on Sunday that he still has work on some things in order to make a run at another state championship, which he accomplished with an IWCOA 3A title at 126 in June.

The Plainfield North senior, who’s ranked second in 3A and is a two-time state placewinner, improved to 19-0 after winning the title at 132 by a 7-4 score over Mount Carmel sophomore Eddie Enright, who’s 11-6. He led 5-4 heading into the final period and got a late takedown to seal the victory. That came after he had a battle in the semifinals which he won 9-8 over Bolingbrook senior Joe McDermott. After getting a fall in his opener, he claimed a 16-2 victory over Dakota freshman T.J. Silva in the quarterfinals.

“He was just really long and tall so I had to get to my offense, I had to get my angles and set up my moves,” Macatangay said. “It was a close match, a little too close for comfort. It was a tough tournament and I’m just glad that I came up on top. Our team is really a close-knit team and we grew together, we’re all ;pretty old now and have experienced high school wrestling and we’ve just got better from there.”

Enright, who’s ranked fifth in 3A has a fourth-place finish at the Gable Donnybrook and a fourth in the IWCOA to his credit. He recorded a fall in 3:19 over Detroit Catholic Central’s Clayton Jones (10-2) in the semifinals. Enright also won 5-3 by sudden victory over St. Charles East sophomore Tyler Guerra (15-4) in the quarterfinals after opening with a win by fall. Guerra, who’s sixth-ranked in 3A and fell one win shy of earning a medal at the Ironman, captured third place with a 10-1 victory over Jones. 

Silva (11-3), who’s ranked fourth in 1A, took fifth place when he recorded a fall in 2:35 against McDermott (10-6). And in the seventh-place match, Glenbard North junior Solomon Gilliam (9-5), who placed second at Conant, claimed a 7-5 victory over Marian Central Catholic freshman Vance Williams (17-8), who’s ranked sixth in Class 1A.

138 – Dylan Gilcher, Detroit Catholic Central

Dylan Gilcher improved to 11-0 and became the first of three competitors from out of state and the first of two from his team to win a Dvorak title when he captured a 3-1 victory in the 138 finals over Moline’s Kole Brower. The Detroit Catholic Central junior, who’s a two-time Michigan Division 1 champion, got a takedown in the first period and led 3-0 going into the third period as he handed Brower his first loss in 18 matches. The Maroons senior, who was an IWCOA champ at 132, is top-ranked in 3A at his weight.

Brower, who won a title last week at Prospect, earned his spot in the finals after capturing a 10-3 semifinals victory over Dakota senior Maddux Blakely, who’s ranked second in Class 1A and placed third at state in both 2021 and 2020. After opening with a fall, Brower won by technical fall over DeKalb junior Austin Martin in the quarterfinals.

Blakely (16-1), who won the award for most falls in the least time with four and took fifth in the Dvorak in 2019, claimed third-place by injury default at 2:57 over Edwardsville senior Dylan Gvillo (19-2), who’s ranked third in 3A. Gvillo, an IWCOA runner-up who placed at the Dvorak in 2018, advanced to the semifinals where he fell 12-3 to Gilcher. 

Belvidere/Belvidere North sophomore Colin Young (16-4) captured a 12-3 victory over Martin (13-6) in the fifth-place match and St. Charles East sophomore Gavin Connolly (12-4) won a 2-0 decision over Mount Carmel junior Nam Doan (5-8) in the seventh-place match.

145 – Tommy Curran, DeKalb

When a competitor only needs two minutes to wrap up business in a Dvorak Invitational championship match, they’ll certainly take that result. And that’s just what DeKalb senior Tommy Curran did in the 145 finals when he recorded a fall in 2:00 over Aurora Christian junior Taythan Silva to remain perfect on the season with a 17-0 record.

Curran, who took second in the 2019 Dvorak, is top-ranked and won his second title of the season, with the Gable Donnybrook being the other. The two-time state runner-up and three-time placewinner clearly wants to end up on top of the awards stand in Champaign this season. Curran won 12-1 in the semifinals over Dakota’s Tyler Simmer after claiming a 3-1 quarterfinal win over Lockport’s Logan Swaw and recording a win by technical fall before that.

“It was a really good tournament that was really well run,” Curran said. “We came here as a team to compete and I feel like we did that. We’re still improving as a team and I definitely think that we can be team state champs at the end of the year, and that’s our goal as a team. I was state runner-up twice and I was a Dvorak runner-up two years ago. So it feels really good to get on top of the podium and I want to keep working hard and continue on with the season. It’s going to be a fun one, we’re really looking forward to it.”

Silva, a junior who’s 18-3 and top-ranked in 2A with a Barrington title to his credit, followed up on a major decision in his opener with a 4-3 quarterfinal win over Moline junior Noah Tapia, the IWCOA 3A champion at 138 who is second-ranked in 3A and won a title at Prospect last weekend and was unbeaten and is now 18-1. Silva earned his spot in the finals when he claimed a 6-2 semifinals victory over Belvidere/Belvidere North junior Antonio Alvarado, who’s ranked eighth in 3A. 

Tapia, who placed sixth in the 2019 Dvorak, bounced back from his quarterfinals setback to claim third place with a fall in 1:18 against Swaw (12-3), a junior who is ranked sixth in 3A. In the fifth-place match, Alvarado (10-3) won 8-2 over Dakota senior Simmer (14-3), who’s ranked second in 1A. The seventh-place match featured two out-of-state competitors going at it with Milton’s Royce Nilo (13-3) claiming an 8-0 major decision over Detroit Catholic Central’s Steven Shellenberger (8-4).

152 – Braden Stauffenberg, Aurora Christian

When you can pull out a dramatic win against an individual who won a state title in June and is a two-time placer, it’s definitely something to get pumped up about. And based on some of the other quality performances that Aurora Christian’s Braden Stauffenberg has already had this season, the senior should continue to be a contender in any event.

Stauffenberg improved to 23-2 after getting a late takedown and nearfall to record a 7-3 victory over Conant’s Ethan Stiles in the 152 championship match. Ranked second in 2A after finishing fifth at the Ironman and winning a title at Barrington, the senior is hopeful that he can greatly improve upon his sixth-place finish in 2020 while competing for Montini Catholic, where he was a teammate with Stiles. Stauffenberg, who took seventh in the 2019 Dvorak, advanced to the finals with a 3-0 semifinals win over DeKalb’s Damien Lopez after winning 3-2 against Detroit Catholic Central’s Darius Marines, a 2021 Michigan Division 1 state champ, in the quarterfinals that followed a major decision.

“It feels good coming in my senior year at Aurora Christian  and my last year at the Dvorak, so ending up with a ‘W’ feels great,” Stauffenberg said. “We all as a team have one goal and that’s to win the team state and individual state. Overall, our goal is to come out and perform our hardest and win these types of matches in hard-fought tournaments. I did not have my junior year, which is one of the biggest seasons for a wrestler. So we’re ready to grind and ready to win.”

Stiles, a junior who won the IWCOA 3A 145 title and took third place in 2020, suffered his first defeat in 11 matches. After opening the Dvorak with a fall, Stiles won by technical fall over St. Charles East’s Lane Robinson in the quarterfinals and won a 13-6 decision in the semifinals over Crystal Lake Central’s Dillon Carlson, who’s ranked fourth in 2A.

In the third-place match, Lopez (13-3), a senior who’s ranked third in 3A with a third-place showing at the Donnybrook to go with his sixth-place IHSA showing in 2020 and second at the Dvorak in 2019, dropped an 8-6 decision to Marines. Carlson (17-3), a runner-up at Barrington, won the fifth-place match by injury default over Milton’s Michael Schliem (15-5). And Edwardsville senior Jorden Johnson (19-2), who’s ranked tenth in 3A, claimed seventh place with a 7-4 victory over Amery’s Wyatt Ingham (7-4).

160 – Chris Moore, McHenry

The 160 Dvorak championship match featured a clash of the top two rated individuals in Class 3A, McHenry junior Chris Moore and Mount Carmel sophomore Colin Kelly, and Moore captured a 3-1 victory to improve to 21-0 on the season while Kelly fell to 16-4. 

Moore, an IHSA 2A champ at 113 in 2020 for Aurora Christian and an IWCOA 2A runner-up at 138 at Marian Central Catholic, added to a title win at Prospect by going 4-0 with two decisions following a pair of wins by technical fall, which included a quarterfinals win over Conant’s CJ Gilbert. In the semifinals, he defeated Marist’s Tommy Boland 14-7.

“I feel real good,” Moore said. “I felt like I had a good tournament and scored a lot of points and was moving a lot better than I have been. We wrestled a little bit over the offseason in a couple of tournaments but it mainly was just training hard and getting prepared for this year. There’s a little bit that we have to work on to get better and now it’s just getting prepared for the state series.”

Kelly, a third-place finisher in the IWCOA finals who was third at the Gable Donnybrook, followed up on a tech fall with a 6-2 quarterfinals win over Hersey senior Billy Spassov, who’s ranked fourth in 3A and has a Joliet Central title and third at Prospect to his credit, before winning 11-2 over Detroit Catholic Central’s Tatum Bunn in the semifinals.

Spassov (16-2) captured a 4-0 victory in the third-place match over Lockport senior Paul Kadlec (10-5), who’s ranked ninth in 3A and placed sixth at the IWCOA. Boland (14-2), who’s ranked fifth in 3A and was fifth at the IWCOA and in the 2019 Dvorak, won by injury default over Bunn (3-3) for fifth place. And Gilbert (12-4), who’s a senior, took seventh place by injury default over Plainfield North senior Jared Gumila (20-3), who’s ranked seventh in 3A and was fourth in the IHSA in 2020.

170 – Brayden Thompson, Lockport

Two unbeatens met up in the 170 championship match with Lockport junior Brayden Thompson claiming a 2-0 decision over McHenry senior Brody Hallin. Thompson, who’s 12-0 and top-ranked in 3A, advanced to the finals with an 8-5 victory over Milton’s Aeoden Sinclair while Hallin, who’s 20-1 and ranked third in 3A, prevailed 3-2 in his semifinals match against Amery’s Eddie Simes.

Thompson, who was a champion at the Dan Gable Donnybrook, took third in the IHSA in 2020 at Montini Catholic and placed fifth in the Dvorak in 2019, got a fall in his first match followed by a win by technical fall in the quarterfinals over Libertyville junior Austin Gomez, who’s ranked fifth with a second at Prospect and a third at Barrington.

“They have a good room with good coaches right now, so it’s awesome,” Thompson said. “Making weight and doing everything that we do as a team is awesome to be able to do that again this year. We’re coming man and we’re gunning for that state title, for sure, 100 percent. Jameson and Josh Oster have a lot of knowledge behind what they do and they’ve been there and done it. My goal is not to just win state, it’s to be the number one kid in the country.”

Hallin, a three-time state qualifier and fourth-place finisher in the IWCOA finals who won a title at Prospect, got a fall in his first match and then captured a 5-1 quarterfinals victory over Detroit Central Catholic’s Cameron Adams.

In an all-Wisconsin clash for third, Sinclair (17-1) won 5-3 over Simes (9-2). Gomez (17-6) claimed fifth place by injury default over DeKalb senior Lukes Schmerbach (15-4), who’s ranked sixth with a fifth in 3A. And for seventh place, Adams (9-3) was a 4-1 winner over Crystal Lake Central junior Ben Butler (15-9), who’s ranked ninth in 2A..

182 – Manuel Rojas, Detroit Catholic Central

DeKalb senior Bradley Gillum, who won an IWCOA 3A title at 170 and was second in the IHSA in 3A at 160 in 2020, hoped to capture a Dvorak title at 182 against Detroit Catholic Central senior Manuel Rojas, a two-time Michigan Division 1 state champ, but his hopes were dashed due to an injury, which forced him to default in 2:22.

Gillum, who is 16-2, is top-ranked in 3A after opening with a win by technical fall and then recording a fall in 1:36 over Marist’s Conor Phelan in the quarterfinals and capturing a 3-2 semifinal victory over Crystal Lake South’s Shane Moran, who’s top-ranked in 2A. Gillum, a three-time state qualifier, also took second place at the Gable Donnybrook.

For third place, Libertyville senior Josh Knudten (18-2) captured a 7-5 decision over Moran. Knudten is ranked third with a title at Prospect and a second at Barrington and also placed fifth at the IWCOA. Moran (18-2)  is a two-time state placewinner, finishing fourth at the IWCOA and sixth at the IHSA in 2020. 

In the fifth place match, Amery’s Grant Cook (11-2) was a 5-0 winner over Mount Carmel sophomore Rylan Breen (12-8), who’s ranked ninth in 3A. And for seventh place, St. Charles East sophomore Brandon Swartz (13-4) claimed a 5-2 decision over Belvidere/Belvidere North junior A.J. Piloni (11-4).

195 – Peter Marinopoulos, Marist

As a freshman, Peter Marinopoulos was a team manager for Marist. Two years later as a junior, he’s one of the 14 champions in the Dvorak Invitational following a 7-3 win over Mount Carmel senior Elliott Lewis in the 195 finals. And even though he qualified for the IWCOA Class 3A finals in June, Marinopoulos, who owns a 16-0 record, had an injury default in his first match and a medical forfeit in the next due to an injury that occurred in the sectional.

Marinopoulos, who’s ranked second in 3A, got a pin in his first match, claimed a 9-8 win over Aurora Christian’s Nate Wemstrom in the quarterfinals and won 4-2 over Avery’s Kale Hopke, a Wisconsin Division 2 state champion, in the semifinals. Lewis, who’s 11-5 and ranked third in 3A and took fifth in the Dvorak in 2019, won his first match by fall and beat Dakota’s Noah Wenzel on an ultimate tiebreaker. He won 6-3 over Conant’s Henry Chang in the quarterfinals and 7-3 over DeKalb’s Bryson Buhk in the semifinals.

“This is my first year coming here,” Marinopoulos said. “In my freshman year, I was a manager and watching all of my teammates wrestle. So now coming here and competing, it was actually really nice that I won. I was really excited to start wrestling with all of the good guys to get me better, so I’m just glad to be here. I was really excited to get back in the room and start wrestling again with all of my teammates to start getting better. It’s really exciting and it’s helping with the recruiting process, so it’s great.”

In the third-place match, Wemstrom defeated  Wenzel by a 9-1 score. Wemstrom (19-3), a senior who is ranked third in 2A, won a title at Barrington and was fourth in the 2019 Dvorak. Wenzel (16-2), a sophomore who is ranked second in 1A, claimed fourth place at the IWCOA finals.

For fifth place, Hopke (9-2) captured a 5-4 victory over Buhk (12-6), a senior who’s ranked fourth in 3A and placed fifth in the IWCOA finals. And in the seventh-place match, Detroit Catholic Central freshman Connor Bercume (11-2) won 8-3 over Libertyville junior Cole Matulenko (17-5). who won a title at Prospect.

220 – Koy Hopke, Amery

Lockport ‘s Andrew Blackburn-Forst isn’t likely going to find himself trailing 6-0 in the first period of many matches this season, but that’s just where the IWCOA champ and two-time placewinner who’s top-ranked in 3A was against Amery sophomore Koy Hopke in the 220 finals. After the Porter senior closed the gap to 7-4, Hopke claimed a 10-4 win.

Blackburn-Forst (4-1) had praise for his opponent, who won a Wisconsin Division 2 state title last season, but also admits that he hasn’t had much time to get into top shape after turning in an all-state season as a defensive lineman and helping Lockport to win the IHSA Class 8A football championship. Blackburn-Forst reached the finals with three first-period falls, pinning Hersey’s Manny Mejia in 0:39 in the quarterfinals and Plainfield South’s John Pacewic in 1:50 in the semifinals. Hopke (10-0), whose team won the Division 2 dual team championship, advanced with three falls, needing just 0:24 in the first two before requiring 2:19 in the semifinals against Marist’s Ghee Rachal.

Rachal (13-2), a senior who’s ranked second in 3A, recorded a fall in 4:58 over Pacewic (12-2), who’s fifth in 3A, to claim third-place. Both also placed in the 2019 Dvorak with Rachal taking third and Pacewic eighth. Rachal, who took fourth at the IWCOA finals, also placed at the Dvorak in his freshman year, making him one of two in the field to be a three-time medalist while Pacewic also has a Barrington title to his credit this season.

Providence Catholic senior Liam McDermott (18-2), who’s ranked sixth with a title at Antioch to his credit, won 3-1 over Detroit Catholic Central senior Sean Field (8-4) for fifth. And Yorkville sophomore Ben Alvarez (18-3), who’s ranked seventh and was third at Barrington, claimed a 13-6 win over Grant junior Cameron Lattimore (10-9) for seventh. .

285 – Ryan Boersma, Mount Carmel

Repeating as a Dvorak champion and being a three-time medalist at the Invitational is always an impressive accomplishment, but that’s especially the case when an athlete pulls off that performance in just three visits to the event, which is just what Mount Carmel senior Ryan Boersma achieved when he claimed a 4-1 victory over previously-unbeaten Glenbard North senior Paulie Robertson in the event’s final championship at 285. He placed third as a freshman and won a title as a sophomore at Providence Catholic.

Boersma (19-2), who’s top-ranked at 285 with a first in the Gable Donnybrook and a fifth at the Ironman to his credit, opened with two major decisions, including a 9-1 quarterfinals victory over Plainfield North’s Kaden McCombs, who’s ranked ninth in 3A. The Mount Carmel senior, who’s a three-time state qualifier who won the IWCOA title in June and was fifth at 285 in the IHSA in 2020, earned his spot in the finals with a fall in 3:25 over Crystal Lake South sophomore Andy Burburijia, who’s ranked eighth in 2A.

“It’s obviously not the result that I wanted there, but it’s good to know what I need to work on,” Boersma said of the Ironman. “That’s the whole purpose of going there early in the year so we know what to work on. I’m building toward state, and team state, especially. The official IHSA title, that’s what we’re in the hunt for. We had a really good tournament here and I think we’ll continue to improve. Coach Tsirtsis is awesome and we’re going to keep getting better and hopefully show that at both individual and team state.”

Robertson, who’s 11-1 and ranked second in 3A with a title at Conant and a third-place finish at the IWCOA to his credit, followed a fall with a 6-0 quarterfinal win over Hersey junior Oleg Simakov and won 3-1 in sudden victory over Amery senior Robert Beese. Beese (10-1) recorded a fall in 4:29 over Simakov (19-6) to claim third place, McCombs (18-6) captured a 5-0 decision over Burburijia (16-5) for fifth place and Crystal Lake Central junior Leo Diaz (17-5), who’s ranked ninth in 2A, got a pin in 1:34 against Bolingbrook senior Frank Oliveira (4-3) in the seventh-place match.

By Curt Herron

For the IWCOA

HARVARD – Tim Haak and his son Shane obviously have a lot of great memories about Harvard’s Sciacca/Holtfreter Tournament, a staple in the sport for over half a century, and they were fortunate to be able to add another special chapter to the fascinating story on Saturday.

For 27 years, Tim was the head coach at Harvard, where he set an IHSA record for wins at a program with 636, which also ranked in the top-five nationally when he retired in 2014 as head coach in both wrestling and football. His program advanced to dual team state 13 times, placed four times with a title in 1992 and won 26 regional titles. He coached 105 qualifiers, 40 placewinners and 10 state  champions and was on the IHSA wrestling advisory committee and also the IWCOA Board of Directors. Tim was inducted into the IWCOA hall of fame in 2001 and in 2018 he received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Illinois Chapter.

Harvard has the rare distinction of having had three head coaches who were inducted into the IWCOA hall of fame, with tournament namesakes John Sciacca (1986) and Richard Holtfreter (1993) the others. Thanks to the efforts of their hall of fame coaches as well as six decades of dedicated Hornets athletes, the school has won over 1,100 dual meets, which ranks second behind Granite City.

On Saturday, the pair returned to Harvard with 2008 graduate Shane as head coach and Tim assisting him for Portage High from Portage, Wisconsin. Thanks to seven individuals placing fourth or better, the Warriors were able to capture the title of the 54th annual tournament with 170.5 points while Riverside-Brookfield finished in second place with 162.5 points and Harvard claimed third place with 157.5 points.

“This is gratifying,” said Tim Haak, who has assisted Shane for four years. “I know two years ago when we came, my wife asked how is it going to feel when you come back. I said that it was going to be surreal but as soon as the whistle blows, we’re going to be for our guys. The neat thing is that I get a chance to coach with my son and he’s taken a program that had very few kids in it and built it up. 

“I was at Woodstock, where I graduated from, when coach Sciacca coached here and I coached under coach Holtfreter when I first came here. It’s rewarding to see that former athletes are back coaching and you can see how tough they are and the style of wrestling continues. It’s exciting for me to come back because you give your whole life here, you want it to succeed, so I was real excited when David (Schultz) became the head coach. And it’s about building relationships. I’m close to many of them and still stay in contact with so many of our former wrestlers and football players. It’s humbling that you can build those life-long relationships and I’ve been very fortunate.”

Nine schools had individual champions with the host Hornets leading the way with three. Prairie Ridge (134), Woodstock (134) and Richmond-Burton (132) finished fourth-through sixth in the 12-team competition and all of those schools had two champions.

Winning titles for Harvard were Brian Hernandez (106), Ivan Rosas (145) and Nathan Rosas (195) while Riverside-Brookfield’s lone champion was Brock Hoyd (170) and Portage’s only title winner was Chase Beckett (126), who also was also received tournament’s outstanding wrestler award. He was one of several team members who competed in the tournament in 2019, when he won a title and his team took third place.

Harvard’s head coach is David Schultz, a 2001 graduate of the school who was a Class A runner-up at 275 during his senior season. He was coached by Tim Haak and his father, Neil Schultz, who is also a former Harvard wrestler who was Haak’s assistant coach for 20 years and ran tournaments there and the 2013 IWCOA hall of famer was on hand again to help during the tournament’s return following its one-year hiatus. 

“It’s a tournament that I wrestled in and obviously grew up in,” said Shane Haak, who’s in his seventh year at Portage. “It’s cool for Portage to bring them down here but just the tradition of the tournament since there’s countless Division I All-Americans and state place-winning teams that have wrestled in it.  

“Also what the sport does for your life as well and how it shapes you to be a better person and the Harvard program has certainly done that to countless individuals over the past 50-something years with the three hall of fame coaches and now David Schultz being here.”

The top two Illinois teams in the field made trips to the IHSA dual team tournament in 2020 with coach Nick Curby’s Riverside-Brookfield team advancing in 2A and Schultz’s Harvard squad qualifying in 1A. 

“We took second at the Fenton Invite a couple of weeks ago and were second here, it was a great job,” Curby said. “We had our hopes set and going into the second day we were leading. We didn’t have the semifinal round that we wanted, but we have a lot of young guys still in the lineup and they’re still learning. They’re going to take their lumps, but it’s about learning from that and continuing to move forward and to get better and it will start showing up in the matches.

“On that state team we had seven or eight sophomores so we knew that we’d have some experience going into last year and we got as much out of last year as we could. We’ll have a nice blend of upperclassmen and underclassmen on this team. And it’s just about how those guys step in and start filling the shoes that we have to fill at the varsity lineup and they’ve been doing a great job. They’re not want to be yet but they’re working on it. As a coach, I can’t ask for anything more than the hard work that they’re putting in.”

Prairie Ridge got titles from Tyler Evans (120) and Eddie Ferree (160), Woodstock’s champions were Alex Iversen (152) and Gavin Loiselle (220), and Richmond-Burton got titles from Emmett Nelson (113) and Brody Rudkin (132). Also winning tournament titles were Belvidere/Belvidere North’s Kamryn LaBeau (138), Woodstock North’s Henry Goetz (182) and Bremen’s Eric Perez-Nava (285).

Individuals who lost in the finals were Portage’s Landon Heitmeier (138), Jordan Starr (170) and Jack Callen (195), Richmond-Burton’s Clay Madula (106) and Isaac Jones (145), Bremen’s Charles Portis (113) and Jesus Sanchez (132), Riverside-Brookfield’s Mateo Costello (126), Prairie Ridge’s Charlie Ferree (152), Harvard’s Gabe Sanchez (182), Belvidere/Belvidere North’s TJ Mitchell (220), North Boone’s Ethan Delgado (285) and Portage extras Jayson Kreier (120) and Oz Gaytan (160).

The top three teams in the points standings all had seven medal winners for top-four finishes and the next three teams had six individuals who advanced to the awards stand. All but one of the schools in the 12-team event were able to have multiple medalists.

Here’s a list of the tournament champions and their weight classes:

106: Brian Hernandez, Harvard

Harvard’s Brian Hernandez became the first of three champions for the host school when he recorded a fall in 3:17 over Richmond-Burton’s Clay Madula in the 106 finals.

This was the second tournament finals appearance for the senior, who placed second at Vernon Hills and he is now ranked sixth in Class 1A. After getting a first period fall in his opening match, Hernandez defeated Elmwood Park’s Jack Dombeck 12-6 in the semifinals to earn his spot on the title mat.

“I’m excited to show what I can do this year,” Hernandez said. “I participated in a tournament and I got second there when I wrestled 113. I love my teammates. Everybody is very talented and has their own set of skills. I can always count on my team to come through and if it’s a tough meet, I’m confident sending out any one of them on the mat and am sure that they can get the job done.”

Madula reached the finals with a fall in 3:37 over Riverside-Brookfield’s Matt Decosola in the semifinals. Dombeck bounced back from his semifinal loss by getting a win by technical fall and then recording a fall in 5:12 in the third-place match against Woodstock North’s Anthony Matejzk, who pinned Decosola to assure himself of a medal.

113: Emmett Nelson, Richmond-Burton

Emmett Nelson used two falls and a victory by technical fall to become the first of Richmond-Burton’s two champions. In the 113 finals, he won by fall in 3:49 over Bremen’s Charles Portis.

Nelson, a freshman who won a title and was co-outstanding wrestler at his school’s DuBois Classic and took third at Rockford East, beat North Boone’s Gavin Eckberg by technical fall in 3:56 to earn his spot in the finals.

“It’s been a great season so far,” Nelson said. “In middle school, we didn’t get two seasons my last two years so it’s great to come back. I haven’t brought home any state medals yet but this year I’m hoping to. Our program has grown a lot over the years and there’s a lot of big guys coming in.”

Portis advanced to the title mat with a fall in his first match and a 2-1 decision over Woodstock’s Daniel Bychowski in the semifinals. Eckberg recorded two falls in the consolation bracket and claimed third place with a pin in 5:49 over Bychowski.

120: Tyler Evans, Prairie Ridge

Prairie Ridge’s Tyler Evans captured his first tournament title of the year following a second at Prospect and a fourth at Barrington when he recorded a fall in 0:28 in the title match over Portage’s Jayson Kreier.

Evans, a junior ranked seventh in Class 2A who placed fourth in the IWCOA finals, recorded a fall in 1:17 in the semifinals over another Portage opponent, Jeffrey Jones, to earn his spot on the title mat.

“In the years past, we haven’t really had that good of a team,” Evans said. “This year we have a brand new coach who is a younger coach who came into the room and he’s really everybodys’ season around. Everybody is putting in the work and It’s really paying off.”

Riverside-Brookfield’s Quintavius Murrell pinned Jones in 3:59 to reach the third-place match, where he was a winner by technical fall in 2:19 over Richmond-Burton’s Dalton Youngs.
126: Chase Beckett, Portage

Portage senior Chase Beckett received the tournament’s outstanding wrestler award after getting two pins and a win by technical fall to claim top honors at 126 which he secured with a fall in 2:35 in the finals over Riverside-Brookfield’s Mateo Costello. The 2020 Wisconsin Division 2 state runner-up and 2019 Sciacca/Holtfreter Tournament champion had never won an OWA before.

Costello, a senior and two-time state qualifier who is ranked eighth in 2A with a title win at Fenton, opened with a pair of falls before capturing a 4-2 victory over Woodstock’s Max Hodory in the semifinals.

“I was very happy coming to this tournament and not only winning it but also getting the most outstanding wrestler ,” Beckett said. “But I feel like our biggest accomplishment and the thing that I was most proud of is our team. It was a big goal of the Haaks to come here to win this tournament being how historically significant it is to their careers. So we were very excited to come here and ultimately come out on top as a team and I think we earned it. The fact that we had a solid wrestler at every weight class and they fought hard and fought for every team point.The Haaks do so much for me. They’ve developed me as a wrestler and I continue to improve no matter which level I’m at and that’s for every kid on our team, too. They’re always working on building the best team and making us the best wrestlers and the best versions of ourselves, on and off the mat.”

Prairie Ridge’s Mikey Meade got bumped into the consolation bracket after falling to Beckett in the quarterfinals. But he responded with two falls and a 12-6 decision over Hodory to reach the third-place match, where he won 5-3 over Harvard’s Marques Merida, who also had two falls and a decision in the consolation bracket following a quarterfinal loss to Hodory.

132: Brody Rudkin, Richmond-Burton

Brody Rudkin became Richmond-Burton’s second champion of the day when he went 4-0 which featured two falls and a decision to send him to the 132 title mat where he won by technical fall in 5:04 over Bremen’s Jesus Sanchez.

Rudkin, a sophomore who was second at Rockford East and third at his own tournament, earned his spot in the finals with a fall in 3:42 over Woodstock North’s Landan Creighton. Meanwhile, Sanchez reached the finals with two falls, including one in 0:46 over Riverside-Brookfield’s Josh Gonzalez in the semifinals.

“We’ve had a relentless training center going on with state champions Jordan Blanton and Ryan Prater and it’s a great experience,” Rudkin said. “I always try to get to state and I want to build up until I get to my senior year.”

Prairie Ridge’s Ryan Koelblinger bounced back from a quarterfinal loss to Sanchez to claim third place after recording a fall and a win by major decision over Creighton before recording a fall in 1:35 over Gonzalez in the third-place match.

138: Kamryn LaBeau, Belvidere/Belvidere North

Kamryn LaBeau was the only champion for Belvidere/Belvidere North after winning all three of his matches with first-period falls, capping his day with a title win at 138 with a pin in 0:45 over Portage’s Landon Heitmeier.

LaBeau, a senior who had a third-place finish at Rockford East, advanced to the finals with a fall in 1:36 over North Boone’s Maysen Smith while Heitmeier advanced with a pin in 1:59 over Richmond-Burton’s Nate Madula.

“It’s crazy,” LaBeau said. “I come out here and I’m nervous every time before my match, but as soon as you step on the mat, it all just goes away and you think back to the wrestling room and do what you practice. I want to win conference and go to state, so I’m going to just keep working toward that and wrestling like I know how to.”

Harvard’s Daniel Rosas lost his quarterfinals match to LaBeau but then recorded three-consecutive falls in the consolation bracket, including one in the third-place match in 1:38 over Woodstock’s Travis Cote, who had a pair of falls in the consolation bracket after losing in the quarterfinals to Heitmeier.

145: Ivan Rosas, Harvard

The host Hornets picked up their second of three titles when senior Ivan Rosas claimed top honors at 145 after winning by technical fall in 3:01 over Richmond-Burton’s Isaac Jones. Rosas, who is ranked fifth in 1A, was a sixth-place finisher at the IWCOA finals.

Rosas earned his spot in the semifinals with a 12-4 major decision over Prairie Ridge’s Xander York. Jones followed up on a pin by claiming a 7-4 semifinals victory over Riverside-Brookfield’s Jacob Noe to reach the finals.

“We usually do pretty good every year and the last time that there was an IHSA event at the end of the year, we qualified for team state, and that was pretty nice,” Rosas said. “We always have a good group of wrestlers and just like the way that we bond, it’s nice. I love all of my teammates.”

York bounced back from his semifinal loss to the eventual champion by recording a fall and then winning 6-0 over Portage’s Garret Crawford in the third-place match.

152: Alex Iversen, Woodstock

Alex Iversen captured Woodstock’s first of two titles when he capped a day in which he had three pins with a fall in 5:06 of the 152 championship match over Prairie Ridge’s Charlie Ferree. 

Iversen, a senior who also placed second at Richmond-Burton, recorded a fall in 2:29 in the semifinals over Riverside-Brookfield’s Cade Tomkins while Ferree won his first two matches by fall, which included a pin in 3:22 in the semifinals over Portage’s David Williams.

“I’ve been to this tournament before and I don’t think that I’ve placed before, so it’s really nice,” Iversen said. “This is a completely different feel than the duals because you’re watching everybody else wrestle and it gets you more hyped up for your own match. So it’s just a really nice  feeling out there.”

Belvidere/Belvidere North’s Nick Taylor lost to Ferree in his first match but responded with a win by technical fall and a pin against Tomkins to advance him to the third-place match, where he got a fall in 2:24 over Harvard’s Kaden Vest, who fell in the quarterfinals to Tomkins and then won three-straight consolation matches, including a pair of two-point decisions.

160: Eddie Ferree, Prairie Ridge

Prairie Ridge’s Eddie Ferree recorded three-consecutive falls to capture the championship at 160, with the final pin coming in 1:11 over Portage’s Oz Gaytan in the finals.

Ferree, a senior, advanced to the title match with a fall in 3:50 over Riverside-Brookfield’s Ethan Ranft while Gaytan reached the finals with a fall in 5:45 over Belvidere/Belvidere North’s Jorge Hernandez in the other semifinal match.

“We have a great team right now but we’re also a young team,” Ferree said. “We just got a new coach this year, Justin Peete. It was great to see him step up and show us exactly what we need to do to succeed. Obviously I’m going to only have one year with him but I’m going to take full advantage of that.””

Bremen’s Konya Lewis-Hunt lost his first match to Ranft in the quarterfinals but then recorded three-straight falls, including one in 1:59  over Ranft to claim third place.

170: Brock Hoyd, Riverside-Brookfield

Brock Hoyd rolled to three wins by fall to give runner-up Riverside-Brookfield its lone champion. He capped off his day with a pin in 2:43 over Portage’s Jordan Starr.

It was the second tournament title of the season for Hoyd, who’s a senior, with the other coming at Fenton. Hoyd, a senior who qualified for state in 2019, earned his spot in the finals with a pin in 0:33 over Prairie Ridge’s Jimmy Stone while Starr advanced with a fall in 3:47 over Belvidere/Belvidere North’s Tayvione Wilson.

“It was frustrating when our season got cut short, but we had to make the most out of it, and we got a lot of matches, which was good,” Hoyd said. “This was some of the better competition that I’ve gotten this year, so it felt good to come out with the win. In my freshman year, (coach Nick) Curby kind of said it was a restart of the program since we didn’t have many achievements in past years. And then in my sophomore year, we qualified for state as a team, which was really big.”

Richmond-Burton’s Alex Reyna lost his opener to Hoyd but won a 4-3 decision over Wilson and then claimed a 10-2 decision over Woodstock’s Zach Canaday, who fell to Wilson in his first match.

182: Henry Goetz, Woodstock North

Woodstock North received its only championship from Henry Goetz who followed up on a pair of falls with a 5-0 decision over Harvard’s Gabe Sanchez in the 182 title match.

Goetz, a senior, advanced to the title match with a fall in 2:36 over North Boone’s Garrett Louis in the semifinals while Sanchez, a junior, recorded two pins, including one in 2:39 over Woodstock’s Jovanni Murillo in the semifinals, to earn a spot in the finals.

“I’m going to make the most of this year and do as much as I can,” Goetz said. “I’ve just been working on my neutral game and getting better. I feel more competitive and stronger out there so I feel good.”

Riverside-Brookfield’s Liam Cote fell to Goetz in the quarterfinals but responded with three-consecutive falls, with the last of those coming in the third-place match where he got a pin in 2:42 over Louis.

195: Nathan Rosas, Harvard

The host Hornets claimed the advantage for champions on the day with three when Nathan Rosas defeated Portage’s Jack Callen in a 7-3 decision in the 195 title match.

Rosas, a senior who’s ranked third in 1A who also won a title at Vernon Hills, finished in fifth place at the weight in 2021 in the IWCOA finals and in 2020 in the IHSA finals. He recorded falls in his first two matches, winning in the semifinals with a pin in 0:34 over Riverside-Brookfield’s Thurman Givens. Callen advanced with an 11-1 semifinals victory over Elmwood Park’s Jack Pedersen.

“It was really tough last year not being able to wrestle as many times as we were used to,” Rosas said. “I feel like I have to make up for what I lost last year. Our team looks solid this year and I think we’re going to do quite amazing, especially with the people that we have in the room. Wrestling and fighting every day us what we want.”

Pedersen bounced back from his semifinal loss to claim third place with a 5-3 victory over Woodstock’s Sean Ryan, who also fell to Pedersen in the quarterfinals before advancing with a pin and an 8-4 win over Givens.

220: Gavin Loiselle, Woodstock

Woodstock senior Gavin Loiselle followed a pair of first-period falls with a pin in 4:57 over Belvidere/Belvidere North’s TJ Mitchell to capture the 220 championship.

Loiselle, who also won a title at Richmond-Burton, recorded a fall in 1:12 in the semifinals over Portage’s Pierce Kristoff while Mitchell advanced to the finals with a fall in 0:37 over Elmwood Park’s Omari Evans.

“It’s really great to come out here every year,” Loiselle said. “This is really what we look forward to. Sure, the duals are nice, but coming out and getting to wrestle three or four matches in a day and getting to wrestle the better competition in the area. McHenry County is a really good area and a lot of people are cut from the same cloth.”

Kristoff beat teammate Eli Kimball by fall in 4:37 in the third-place match. 

285: Eric Perez-Nava, Bremen

Bremen became the ninth team to capture an individual title in the event when Eric Perez-Nava won by fall in 1:37 over North Boone’s Ethan Delgado in the 285 finals.

“This is a really big deal because it’s my third year wrestling and I’m going through everything pretty quick,” Perez-Nava said. “It’s going good so far and it’s fun going to places and wrestling. It’s back to normal. I just try hard and practice hard and practice how you play.”

After both bounced back from semifinals losses with first-period falls, Moyoti-Hernandez pinned Givens in 3:31 to claim third place.