Feature Stories

By Chris Walker for the IWCOA

All IWCOA rankings from Rob Sherrill’s Illinois Best Weekly

Providence Catholic and Marist each finished with 10 placers during the McLaughlin Classic on Dec. 6 at Joliet Central, but the Celtics were able to get past the RedHawks thanks to winning four titles compared to Marist’s two, 227 to 221.5. Minooka was third with 197.

Glenbard West (149) was a distant fourth, but comfortably ahead of fifth-place Yorkville Christian (117.5) which just got past Normal Community (115.5).

The rest of the standings include St. Rita (102.5), Homewood-Flossmoor (86.5), Morton (downstate) (82), Belleville East (78), Plainfield East (66), Plainfield South (60), Schaumburg (42.5), Stagg (37.5), Shepard (37), Rich Township (37), Marian (35), Joliet Central (30.5), Bishop McNamara (28.5), Crete-Monee (26), Harvest Christian (25.5), Kennedy (24.5), Romeoville (20), Westinghouse College Prep (2), Bloom Twp. (2).

Nate Ortiz (113), Griffin Heeney (120), Tommy Banas (138) and Justus Heeg (157) won titles for Celtics coach Don Reynolds, who is still waiting for ihis wrestlers who also play football to return. The Celtics just took second place in the state in football in Class 5A, losing a heartbreaker to St. Francis.

Max Mandac (126) and Ameer Khalil (175) placed second for the Celtics, Luke Banas (144) and Jasper Harper (165) took third, Christian Corcoran (106) was fifth and Lucas Forsythe (132) claimed sixth.

Marist’s Axel Rodriguez (144) and Ethan Sonne (165) were crowned champs for the RedHawks. Elio Gil (113), Jonathan Fields (150), Tommy Fidler (157) and Tom O’Brien (215) placed second.

Crue Hatchell (106) and Ronin Haran (175) were third, Tè Jon Beals (138) took fifth and Colin Phelan (126) placed sixth.

106 – Jackson Soney, Normal Community

Soney, ranked fourth at 106 in 3A, won by fall at 6:00 over Glenbard West’s Aidan Ortega, ranked sixth, in an intriguing early-season match as both are among the top wrestlers in their weight class.

After receiving a bye, Soney survived Providence’s Christian Corcoran, 6-5, in the quarterfinals at 106.

Soney pinned Marist’s Crue Hatchell in 44 seconds in the semifinal.

Hatchell responded in his third-place match, earning a tech fall win over St. Rita’s Jack Braun, and Corcoran finished strong, pinning Yorkville Christian’s Davin Torza for fifth.

113 – Nate Ortiz, Providence

Ortiz won a clash between highly-ranked 113 pounders, escaping Marist’s Elio Gil in the second period and holding on for a 1-0 victory.

Ortiz, a sophomore, is ranked 4th in Class 2A at 113 while Gil, a junior, is 7th in Class 3A.

“I was confident in my wrestling today, scoring points, getting takedowns and turns, going right at it,” Ortiz said. “I kept the pace going and it was a fun tournament.”

Earning wins by fall, tech fall and major decision on the road to his title match, Ortiz was part of Providence’s dominating day, as the first of their four champions.

“It definitely feels good to win,” he said. “We had growth as a team and my teammates have helped me and I’ve helped my teammates. We’ve all grown up around each other.”

Minooka’s Jaxon Roberts pinned Bishop McNamara’s Evan Johnson to finish in third place, and Plainfield East’s Brian Tejeda picked up a 15-4 major decision against Yorkville Christian’s Phoenix Senodenos for fifth.

120 – Griffin Heeney, Providence

It hasn’t taken very long for this freshman to feel at home at his New Lenox school.

“It’s really fun, I’m glad to be a part of it,” he said. “I know it’s very exciting, like when we win.”

Heeney pinned his first two opponents, before going the distance in a 12-0 major decision over Minooka’s Julian Hanson in the semifinals. That sent him into the final where he scored an 18-0 tech fall late in the third period against Belleville East’s Jackson Schadegg.

Ranked fifth at 120 in 2A, Heeney displayed why he’s earned such a strong ranking despite just starting his high school wrestling career.

“I’m most happy with my takedowns,” he said. “Usually I don’t shoot a lot, today I felt like I took my shots more than usual, got to my finishes. Been training hard up in the room, been putting in the work since summer, just constant, never stop. Just putting in a lot of work.”

Minooka’s Julian Hanson got to Romeoville’s Pedro Hernandez late in the first period in the third-place match, pinning him at 2:53, and Yorkville Christian’s Ryan Festerling Jr. pulled away with some takedowns early before settling in for an 8-1 win over Stagg’s Javier Corral to take fifth.

126 – Chazz Robinson, Homewood-Flossmoor

Robinson, ranked No. 2 at 120 behind St. Charles East Dom Munaretto, took home the 126 title, pinning Providence’s Max Mandac in the title match. Munaretto beat Robinson by tech fall en route to winning the Class 3A title a season ago. That’s something prized, for sure, as Robinson begins his junior season.

“Today I feel it was a little bit, it was ok.” Robinson said. “I felt I could’ve done a little bit better with my shots and stuff and finishing faster, getting my falls faster. I’m still practicing getting ready for Ironman stuff so getting ready for that type of stuff.

“Winning a state title is, of course, the main goal,” he continued. “I also want all my teammates to be there with me like Roan Dukes. I’m also trying to figure out how to win the Ironman and Powerade titles.”

Robinson was one of two Most Outstanding Wrestlers named in the tournament, earning the accolade among the 106-144 weight classes.

Morton’s Noah Harris took third with a tech fall win over Rich Township’s Kyrin King, and Minooka’s Casey Janicki earned a win by fall over Marist’s Colin Phelan for fifth.

132 – Harrison Dea, Morton

Dea didn’t have to wrestle in the finals as his opponent, Harvest Christian’s Brennan O’Donnell was unable to compete due to an injury.

It was fitting for Dea to catch a break after he’s fought back from injuries that plagued him during a fantastic junior season in which he placed fifth at 126 in Class 2A, losing to eventual state champion, Max Cumbee from IC Catholic Prep.

“I had a great two matches today,” Dea said. “I don’t know who (Homewood-Flossmoor’s Ethan Hamilton) I had in the quarterfinals, but the semifinal kid (Minooka’s Maddux Tindal) was ranked in 3A so I knew I had to go out there and wrestle my match. I’ve felt like I’ve gotten a lot better in the offseason in staying in good position. I don’t need to attack, attack and attack. I can kind of sit back and have good positioning and get those one or two good opportunities to score and get my takedown. When I do that I feel like I got a shot.”

Spending a great deal of time at Patton Trained Wrestling in Tolono is helping mold Dea into a college wrestler. He’s committed to Northern State University in South Dakota.

“I love training there,” he said. “But at the end of last season I had a torn meniscus and a partially torn MCL so my knees were completely jacked up and I ended up getting surgery. I think it was week three of recovery and that was freestyle so I was wrestling again in three weeks. My knees still give me fits every once in a while, but I feel great now.”

Overcoming adversity is something Dea learned about at a very young age. It’s helped him bounce back from his knee issues.

“It’s something that you can’t really teach, it’s just something you live by every single day,” he said. “When I was really young, I wrestled for TJ Williams. He instills that mindset in you and every single day you got to work at getting better. I feel like being a team captain this year for Morton, being kind of a leader, leading by example, not a huge shout get in your face kind of guy, but leading by example and I got to back up what I’m saying to the other guys. A big mindset shift is what I have. Mindset is huge at Northern State. Coach Josh Nolan sent a bunch of stuff to recruits about mindset so I’ve been looking that stuff over. It’s a huge part of my wrestling right now.”

Tindal picked up a tech fall win in his third-place match against Belleville East’s Corbin Zeisset, and St. Rita’s Cleto Protti scored a major decision for fifth over Providence’s Lucas Forsythe.

138 – Tommy Banas, Providence

Banas showed why he’s the top-ranked wrestler at 138 in 2A as he wasted little time in getting the win by fall over Glenbard West’s Alejandro Aranda at 0:40 in the final.

“We had to get the pin for the team win, so I got it,” he said. “We are missing three guys too, still getting their wind. Once we got all our guys we’re coming for that state title.”

Banas earned another pin, scored a tech fall win and a major decision in pursuit of his title. He’s coming off a season in which he took fifth in the state at 132 in 2A.

“I liked my takedowns and I got to them really good,” he said. “I got to work on bottom a little bit more, but other than that it was pretty good.”

Homewood-Flossmoor’s Roan Dukes picked up third place after a tech fall victory against St. Rita’s Luke Pappalas, and Marist’s Te`Jon Beals earned fifth with an 11-5 decision over Plainfield South’s Sean Volf.

144 – Axel Rodriguez, Marist

Axel Rodriguez is already impressive as a wrestler in just his freshman season at Marist. 

The school is what impresses Rodriguez, and it’s for far more than its wonderful wrestling reputation.

“I had a few names of a few schools in my head, but I ultimately had to choose Marist,” he said. “One, just because the team is really good. I love the coaches. (Assistant) Coach (Ryan) Egan was a really key part of I feel like my success at the start of the season and is going to continue being a really key part of my success. And I just like Marist. A lot of it is not only wrestling but it’s also the academic part. So many good college opportunities, and if I wish to compete at a higher level, I felt as if Marist was the best choice because I could train well on the mat and in the classroom also.”

He likes being on a team where he can help his teammates and they can help him, and at a high level.

“I feel like Marist really is just a great example of a good lifestyle,” he said. “Everybody’s trying to push each other and everybody’s trying to make everybody else around them better, every day. So I feel like just being in that environment, it just makes you a better wrestler and a better person overall. So I really love Marist.

Rodriguez quieted any doubters. Ranked No. 6 at 138 in Class 3A, the freshman wrestled at 144.

“So as a freshman wrestling up a weight class, I feel like a lot of people were doubting me and kind of looking down on me, but I just kind of, you know, didn’t listen to them,” he said. “I ignored everything and I just went out there, wrestled my match, wrestled with a clear mind. and I really don’t care about rankings. I kind of put all that stuff aside and I really just focused on going out there, being heavy with my hands, being slick, and the rest you really have to leave it to God. So I knew that with my previous training and with, you know, God looking down on me, if I just go out there, wrestle with a clear mind, I can perform at the highest capability.”

Providence’s Luke Banas won by fall over Plainfield South’s Kyle McCormick to take third, and Glenbard West’s Brennan Myra earned a tech fall against Plainfield East’s Nick Polzin for fifth.

150 – Vince Tortoriello, Glenbard West

Now a senior, Tortoriello has reason to have a sense of urgency this season for the Hilltoppers.

He’s also still feeling the sting of last season’s exit at state.

He most certainly is off to a strong start as he picked up a tournament title with a 9-2 win over Marist’s Jonathan Fields at 150.

“I’m a very different wrestler from last year at state. it really motivated me, got me ready to go,” he said. “I just really wanted that title really bad so in the off-season I did freestyle Greco and preseason, I was just like, I was gonna be all-in and I wanted to put all my focus into wrestling.”

The old wound hasn’t faded.

“Losing that last match at state, it was kind of like a hit in the gut, it was like, man, I really got to work harder,” he said. “And now I put in the work and now I’m getting better. Today was a good day. I felt pretty good. They had some good competition. My finals match didn’t end exactly how I wanted it, but I still got the job done.”

Tack on some added leadership responsibilities and Tortoriello is pretty fired up for what lies ahead for the Hilltoppers.

“Honestly, it gives me motivation because, you know, my team looks up to me and it just makes me work harder,” he said. “I wanna be a good example to our team. My teammates motivate me to be a better person and wrestler.”

Minooka’s Mason Vogt earned a 7-1 decision over Joliet Central’s Caleb Dennis for third, and Plainfield East’s Camden McCloskey won by fall over Homewood-Flossmoor’s Henry Maier for fifth.

157 – Justus Heeg, Providence

Although he’s just a sophomore, Heeg is like a seasoned veteran among the Celtics squad. Success at a young age certainly helps and it bodes well for Heeg who won the Class 2A state title at 150 last year during his freshman season.

Heeg currently sits alone in rarified air — he also won a Minnesota high school state title as an eighth-grader before moving to Illinois. It’s early and the road  will be rough but theoretically, Heeg could become a five-time state champion.

For now, he’s just enjoying his time at Providence.

“It’s great with this young team we’re all growing together and we just continue to flourish and keep getting better every single day,” he said. “Being around them definitely makes me better. It helps me develop as a leader, especially when we got this new freshmen class coming in. Griffin (Heaney) just won the tournament (at 120) and he’s been seeing the sophomores and juniors pushing the pace in the room and he’s continuing to push the pace as well.”

Ranked No. 1 at his weight class in the state at 2A, Heeg had to get past Marist’s Tommy Fidler, currently ranked 7th at 150, for the title, pinning the senior in 0:59.

Heeg seemingly got stronger as Saturday wore on, having pinned Glenbard West’s Jondelle Malunay in 23 seconds in his semifinal bout. He was recognized as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler (152-285 weight classes).

“It’s definitely awesome (they have two awards for MOW) because I can come in and do my thing, but then there is also a lower weight who gets Most Outstanding Wrestler,” he said. “We both can get the chance to win this.”

Third place went to Glenbard West’s Jondelle Malunay as the senior earned a tech fall over Homewood-Flossmoor freshman Naijier Morris, and fifth went to Minooka’s Ben Cyrkiel who outlasted St. Rita’s Andrew Lehman, 11-10.

165 – Ethan Sonne, Marist

Sonne, ranked second overall in Class 3A at 157 behind Lockport’s Justin Wardlow, scored a 15-7 major decision over Normal Community’s Carter Mayes for the 165 title.

A pair of major decisions earned Sonne a spot in the finals after he opened the tournament pinning Minooka’s Tommy McClimon.

Providence’s Jasper Harper took third place, earning a tech fall win against Shepard’s Joey Massey, and St. Rita’s Micah Spinazzola defeated Plainfield East’s Robert Vogel for fifth.

175 – Kaden Meyer, Minooka

Meyer held off another of Providence’s talented young wrestlers to claim the 175 title.

Freshman Ameer Khalili, ranked 6th at 175 in 2A, helped the Celtics win the team title, but fell short against Meyer, who received honorable mention notice in the rankings at 175 in 3A.

Meyer’s three other tournament victories were all via tech fall.

Marist’s Ronin Haran defeated Belleville East’s Myles Greenfield by tech fall for third, and Yorkville Christian’s Tyler Gleason pinned Shepard’s Aiden Hill for fifth.

190 – Daniel Bourbulas, Normal Community

Bourbulas helped Normal Community go 2-for-4 in championship matches, joining teammate Jackson Soney in bringing home a championship bracket poster for the lengthy trek home. 

The junior won by fall in 1:19 over Marian’s Adrian Esparza for the 190 title. His other wins included a 24-second pin over Yorkville Christian’s Kenny Fox and a 7-2 decision against Minooka’s Santino Capodice.

Capodice battled back to win third, beating Kennedy’s Nicolas Malgioglio by fall, and Plainfield South’s Chase Pierceall beat Belleville East’s Killian Rauch by fall for fifth.

215 – Jackson Allen, Yorkville Christian 

All Allen does when he comes to Joliet is pin, pin, pin…

For the second straight year, Allen, ranked 7th at 215 in Class 1A swept through his opponents, pinning all four of them while picking up a tournament championship.

Last year, he did it at 190. This time, he did it at 215, finishing off Marist’s Tom O’Brien in 0:55.

“That guy was ranked 9th in 3A so it’s nice to make a statement here,” Allen said. “I had to put the team on my back. It was good to beat that guy.”

Aggressive on the attack, Allen wrestles with purpose.

“I just went out there with an intent to execute and didn’t feel like losing,” he said. “I just didn’t want to let him breathe, keep up the pace a hundred percent. I think I’m wrestling well. There are definitely some areas I can improve on. I just got to do it through practice and through the season, but I’m definitely climbing, steadily climbing throughout the season.”

It’s been said that you are what you eat, and Allen’s diet is most certainly packed with the essential nutrients and healthy fats that his body needs to dominate. 

“My diet has definitely changed a lot,” he said. “I think that’s a big part of it. The training I do, the intent, how you train, it all leads up to it, and then at the end of the day it’s all mental.”

Now with back-to-back titles at the McLaughlin, Allen will look to make it three straight this weekend when the Mustangs compete in the Plano Reaper Classic.

Plainfield South’s Mason Bucon earned a 11-4 decision over Minooka’s Elliot Dahlberg for third place, and Glenbard West’s Devin White pinned Morton’s Benjamin Chaffer for fifth.

285 – Robbie Murphy, Minooka

It’s not just about winning for Murphy, it’s about how he’s looking to do it this winter as he continues to grow in a sport he’s loved since he first took the mats as a kindergartener.

Now a senior, Murphy got his season off to a fantastic start, winning the 285 title by earning a 7-0 decision over Normal Community’s Mason Caraway after three pins en route to the title match.

“My biggest goal is obviously a state championship – that’s the ultimate goal,” he said. “My smaller goal being I really want to get to my offense this year. I won a lot of matches last year 1-0, 2-0 with a good escape and maybe a stalling point or something like that. I want to expand that lead instead of barely getting by, dominating and scoring some points.”

A year ago, Murphy fell to Joliet Central’s Charles Walker here. Walker went on to win the Class 3A title at 215, becoming the Steelmen’s first state champ since 1998. Murphy also dropped a match to Romeoville’s Jamir Thomas at last year’s invite but proceeded to bounce Thomas later in the year during a conference dual and again in the postseason.

“This being our second time wrestling, because our first meet got canceled, was great,” Murphy said. “After a hard off-season and coming off of the football season, it’s nice seeing it paying off.”

Wrestling is Murphy’s biggest passion, but he was a key contributor to the football team going 6-3 and earning a playoff berth. The 5-foot-10, 275-pound guard even got some touches, scoring a touchdown during a 74-7 win against Plainfield Central during Homecoming.

“Wrestling’s always been my favorite,” he said. “I’ve been wrestling since I was five years old.”

Crete-Monee’s Dominic Jackson got past Belleville East’s Darrell Bibbs, 5-4, to take third and Glenbard West’s Marc Tchapda won 4-1 against Yorkville Christian’s Hayden Wheeler to place fifth.

By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA

A terrific 16-team field, headlined by 11 state qualifiers and four state medal winners would treat a big audience in Elgin at the Larkin Girls Royal Rumble.

When the final match was over, it would be reigning Upstate Eight Conference champion East Aurora who would lift the championship trophy.

“To be honest, we lost so many great kids to graduation, so I wasn’t sure what we had coming into this new season,” began East Aurora head coach Ryan Mick.

“What I didn’t know is how hard this group wants to train to get better. When it’s time to go home (the) girls want to stay and put in extra time – they just never seem to want to stop.

“It’s a wonderful quality about this group, and right now I have to say how proud I am of all of them, and it looks like all of the hard work paid off today.”

Mick would be quick to praise his 125-pounders Valentina Barboza, who was a sectional qualifier a year ago despite missing nearly all of the regular season with a torn ACL.

Joselyn Llanos, the Royals 110-pounder, is another that impressed on the day, according to Mick, as did all of his medal winners (12) to be exact.

“It was a great tournament, with some really terrific individuals who will do really well in the postseason, and thanks to Gerardo Pina (Larkin head coach) and everyone at Larkin who did such a great job,” Mick said.

Pina enjoyed the day.

“The Royal Rumble is a highly competitive event, and it provides an early season benchmark that truly shows athletes where they stand right out of the gate,” Pina said.

“For us, we are a very young team, but they are willing to put in the work every day in the room to strengthen their overall wrestling skills, and they are a terrific group to be around.”

The Royals’ very own Mariana Flores would earn the most team points from her place at 170 pounds, while reigning state champion Andrew won a tourney-best 46 matches during the course of the day.

West Chicago recorded the most pins (36) with the tourney champions next with 31.

Let’s now take a glance at each weight class:

100- Lily Enos (Batavia)

Three-time state medal winner, and the current No. 2 wrestler in the state at 100 pounds, Lilly Enos proved to be far too much for her competition on her way to her Larkin Royal Rumble crown.

The Batavia senior, who is also a three-time All-American, would sandwich a 17-2 tech-fall victory in between a pair of pins – the second coming in her final at 1:35 to defeat Evelyn Torres from Maine East.

“I spent a lot of time training during the offseason, did Team Illinois once again, and just been working hard in order to get myself ready for my last year at Batavia,” said Enos, who was fifth at state a year ago with a 45-7 record, the second straight season of 40-plus wins.

Enos, who is looking at Simpson College (Iowa) and nearby North Central, is planning on a degree in political science.

Sharleen Barrera (Bolingbrook) was third after her pin over Lilyana Iman from Glenbard West, and Reese Kruen (Andrew) took fourth over Paola Patino of Bartlett.

105- Lily Deibel (Marquette)

What a remarkable, and quick comeback it has been for Lily Deibel, who not even a year ago tore her ACL yet made a valiant recovery – highlighted by her 5-3 decision over Brissia Buccio (West Chicago) to claim the 105-pound title.

“I tore it in practice, but I knew if I put a lot of extra hard work into my rehab that I could be back out on the mats sooner than later,” said Deibel, who enjoyed plenty of IKWF success prior to the start of her prep career.

“It feels good to win this tournament, and that first takedown of my match was so important,” continued Deibel, who took a 3-0 advantage into the third period where Buccio was able to get back live 90 seconds from time.

Deibel’s reversal with one minute remaining gave her the lead for good, which she made sure of with a hard ride during the final thirty seconds of the match.

Leah White (Richwoods) won her third place match over Barbara Vargas (Metea Valley) with a fall, while Reese Nicolas from Lake Park earned fifth place after her pin against Esme Grugel of Dundee-Crown.

110- Tatum De La Vega (Andrew)

A 1-2 record at the 2025 state tournament was all the inspiration needed for Tatum De La Vega to train like she never has before.

“I wasn’t really happy at all about winning just one match last year at state, so I spent so much more time in the room – working on my neutral positions, and taking more shots, and I will continue working hard so that I can get back to state, and on the podium,” says De La Vega, who fell short in her bid to advance to Fargo to compete in freestyle.

The junior, who was 19-9 during her rookie season and 32-15 last year, used an escape at the start of the second period to double her advantage to 4-2 over Joselyn Llanos from East Aurora.

De La Vega would start down for the third period, and would sustain a rough ride for the first minute, before she waited for the right moment to execute a reversal to put her firmly in charge en route to a 6-2 decision.

Norah Cwik (Bartlett) was third following her pin at 3:47 over Eliana Badeen (Maine East) while a fall at 1:48 gave Mikaela Najera (Bolingbrook) fifth place honors over her teammate, Kamila Torres.

115- Khloe Perez (Glenbard West)

Nationally-ranked and No. 2 here in Illinois at 110-pounds, Glenbard West sophomore Khloe Perez overwhelmed her rivals to cruise to the 115-pound crown.

It was the high-tempo, high-octane attack from Perez that allowed the Hilltoppers star to record three consecutive pins to start her day – and a 16-1 tech-fall victory over Janiya Moore (Metea Valley) to earn top honors in her weight class.

“I didn’t do any lifting during the offseason, but I  feel like I’m quicker, stronger and more fit than than last year, and much more ready for the long season,” says Perez, who was off and running in her final with a nifty inside trip for a take-down just 30 seconds into the contest.

Perez, who was fourth at state last season with a dazzling 39-2 overall record, lost in heart-breaking fashion (7-6) in her semifinal against eventual state champion Angelina Gochis from Kaneland.

The aforementioned Jade Hardee, No. 3 behind Perez in the state polls, lost to Janiya Moore (5-4) in her semifinal. Moore is No. 8 in the state at 120.

Andrew sophomore, No. 3 Jade Hardee (Andrew) was third overall after her pin of Giselle Varelas (Conant) with Aubree Hansen from Woodstock taking fifth over Itzel Villa from East Aurora.

120- Piper Booe (Andrew)

Andrew sophomore Piper Booe turned in a marvelous four-match effort on Saturday – pinning her way to the 120-pound final following her 38-second fall over Eli Landgrebe from Batavia.

“It’s six days a week for me, working on all parts of my game, and today I felt really good with almost everything that I did,” said Booe, who began in this sport at the age of four.

Booe was a 2025 Fargo qualifier, and a runner-up at freestyle state.

“It was fun to be a part of a state championship team last year – it was a great experience as a freshman, and, for me, I want this year to be better than it was last year,” added Booe, whose ‘second’ sport is judo.

Landgrebe would fly through the front bracket with three pins, before running into Booe on mat No. 1.

A pin by Mackensie Szajda (West Chicago) gave her third place over Brooklyn Jones (Conant) with a 12-9 sudden victory from Jelena Coyomani (East Aurora) over Caitlin Miko (Glenbard West) fifth place overall.

125- Karolina Konopka (Glenbard West)

Karolina Konopka would join teammate Khloe Perez atop the podium after her near-perfect and brief time on the mats en route to her 125-pound title.

The Glenbard West junior needed just a little over 4 1/2 minutes during her three matches to claim the top prize, her first major of this young season.

Konopka, who was third behind state medal winner Emma Engels (Bartlett) and Sabrina Bono (Leyden) at the Schaumburg sectionals last season, went 1-2 in 

Bloomington to finish the campaign with an exceptional 39-10 overall record.

“Last year was a good one for me, but when you get to state, it’s all about finishing on the podium, so that’s why I spent a lot of time during the offseason working on freeing myself up for better shots, while improving my moves, and just getting myself ready for the season.

“I am lucky to have such a great partner in the room (Khloe Perez) who is someone that works so hard, and just brings out the best of me, and that’s what I try to do for her as well.”

Junior Ruby Gavina (Dundee-Crown) was third by virtue of her pin over Brynnley Krauchun (Andrew) and it would be Sarah Zuziak from Batavia finishing fifth over Roxanna Santiago from West Chicago.

130- Lilly White (Bartlett)

Lilly White has enjoyed every minute of her four years of wrestling for the Bartlett Hawks, including her fifth-place medal at state in 2024, and a return trip downstate and another 40-win season.

“I just love being a part of Bartlett wrestling, it’s such an important part of my life, and one that has helped me meet new friends, and to experience success, and now being the captain of our team,” said the always affable White.

“I was lucky to be a teammate of Emma Engels (three-time state medalist, state champ in 2023, now wrestling at Aurora University) – we worked hard to be our best, and during the offseason, I really concentrated on my fitness, so that my gas tank is always full.”

White has a visit scheduled for Northern Michigan University, where she will continue to wrestle while pursuing a degree in exercise science.

Jaydah Green (Richwoods) recorded a 12-1 major decision over Ayelen Higuera (East Aurora) in the third place contest, and later, Hala Salem (Andrew) took fifth with a medical forfeit over RIchwoods’ JaNylah Robertson.

135- Jasmine Zavaleta (Conant)

No. 9 Jasmine Zavaleta, who would share the most team points accumulated on the day (30) with 120-pound champ Piper Booe (Andrew), is closing in on 100 career victories, and if the Conant star continues to wrestle at the level she is now there is no telling what number she will eventually finish at.

“Jasmine has made great strides in her game, she is an accomplished wrestler, and one that is always working hard to make herself better,” says Conant head coach, Brad Bessemer.

“It was nice to get downstate last year, but I am hungry this season, and want more, and I am confident that I will get on the podium at state,” says Zavaleta, who went 38-13 a year ago.

The Cougars senior would roll past her first three opponents with a trio of pins in just over five minutes, before using just 12 seconds to put away Ava Burns of Lake Park to seal her victory.

Alena Oshana from Maine East used a 16-1 tech-fall over Yasmin Lopes (Batavia) to earn third place honors, with Isabella De La Vega (Andrew) finishing fifth after her pin of Montasia Robinson from Bolingbrook.

140- Alketa (Rosie) Picari (Metea Valley)

Metea Valley had a busy two days of competition with a visit to Fenton for its Weiss Invite, followed by a trip to Elgin where Alketa (Rosie) Picari would turn in a sensational second straight day of work to capture the 140-pound title.

The Mustangs junior would run her overall record to a perfect 9-0 after a fall at 25 seconds over Ewa Krupa (Conant) ensured a second consecutive tournament crown.

“Rosie had a very solid showing for both tournaments – she actually had been injured since the first week of the season, and was not cleared for contact until this Thursday,” began head coach Kevin Garbis.

“We obviously could not be happier with her results, but she also knows she needs to get better, and work harder if she wants to make it downstate.

“The 135-140 pound weight class in the state is really solid, so Rosie knows she cannot be satisfied after the results from this weekend.”

According to Garbis, the two-time Fargo qualifier put in a lot of work over the summer, and is looking to erase the back-to-back blood round defeats at sectionals.

“Rosie has beaten multiple state qualifiers and placers throughout her first two years with us, and I could not be more proud of her maturity, and dedication she has shown.”

2025 state qualifier Annabelle Guthke (Batavia) was third due to a medical forfeit, and in the fifth place match, it was Alana Smith (West Chicago) over Carolina Ascencio (East Aurora) with a pin at 2:00.

145- Lupita Garcia (East Aurora)

By her own admission, and that of her head coach, Lupita Garcia has come a long way since her first year in the East Aurora room, and her performance said it all for this 145-pound champion.

“My freshman year I wasn’t very good, and to be honest, my next two years were not really that terrific as well, but I put in a lot of work during this last offseason, and with the support of my mother, coaching staff, my partner in the room (Jaylene Dealba) and my faith in God, I feel like this could be a very good year for me,” opined Garcia.

Garcia went out to an early 3-0 advantage before eventually recording a pin over Analiese Aberman (Conant) at 3:54 to give the affable Tomcat senior her first ever tournament title.

“Lupita wrestled really well today – she put in a lot of work during the offseason – competed all throughout the summer, and you can see how she has gained more confidence (and) how all the extra work is beginning to pay off,” coach Ryan Mick said.

“I am very proud of the growth she has shown, not just as a wrestler, but as a person as well.”

Jordan Slager (Metea Valley) was third after her pin at 2:47 over Alexandra Olague (West Chicago), while Liliana Chavez from Bartlett was fifth when she pinned Jadenise Velazquez from West Chicago.

155- Audrey Sheldon (Batavia)

Audrey Sheldon would give Batavia its second individual title of the day, and her first ever after her terrific four-match effort that would end when the Lady Bulldogs freshman registered her fourth pin of the day at 2:38 over Savannah Burns from Bolingbrook.

“It’s really exciting to win my first tournament championship, but I know there’s still a lot of work ahead of me if I want to continue to do well,” said Sheldon, who recently went 3-0 when she and her teammates traveled to Morton for a quad against Maine East, Round Lake, and the host Mustangs.

“(Getting) that early take down in my final was so important because it helped settle me down, and after that my confidence was so much better after being a little nervous before the start of my final,” admitted Sheldon.

East Aurora claimed yet another top six finish, this one by Alyssa Galarza at 145 over Sudan Bilyal from Conant in the third-place match. Natalie Koprowski (Bartlett) pinned Giovanna Sampognaro (Lake Park) for fifth place.

170- Olivia Halminiak (West Chicago)

Olivia Halminiak would join the ranks of a first-time tournament champion following her major decision victory of the day that led to the 170-pound title.

Halminiak, who opened the tournament with a fall to stay alive in the front draw, recorded another pin (4:43) to guarantee her spot in the final against Daniela Velazquez (Maine East) who pinned top seed Kinzer Mikesell (Batavia) in her semifinal.

“It’s nice to see all the hard work I’ve been putting in paid off today with me finishing in first place,” Halminiak said with a smile,

“I feel really good at (170), and with me spending a lot of time on my (top and bottom) defense, and technique, I feel like my goal of reaching sectionals and getting downstate is a very realistic goal.”

Busola Dinan (Andrew) was third after her 5-0 decision against Jenna Smrha (Bartlett) and it was a Mariana Flores (Larkin) 16-1 tech-fall over Olena Ftoma (East Aurora) that gave her a fifth-place medal.

190- Jadelin Caballero (Larkin)

The pure joy on the face of Jadelin Caballero after her ultimate tie-breaker thriller that gave the Larkin junior her first tournament title of her career (AND) on her home mats was worth the price of admission.

“I felt nervous throughout the tournament, but I was so grateful to be competing in a sport that I love so much,” said an emotionally drained Caballero, who was a sectional qualifier with 34 victories.

“When I won, I felt a huge sense of relief because I did not want to let my teammates down, who all believed in me.

“I thank the lord for today, my teammates, and coaching staff – to win here at Larkin meant so much to me,” continued Caballero after her 2-1 victory over Jaylene Dealba from East Aurora.

“We have all seen tremendous growth from Jadelin since her first year with us, she faced an injury that could have halted her career but instead of giving in, she rose above it,” began Larkin head coach, Gerardo Pina.

“Her perseverance stems from a strong mindset, and her ultimate tie-breaking win would truly highlight Jadelin’s competitive instinct as she fought her to the top.”

Paige Washburn, from Lake Park, was third over Claudia Weglarz (Conant) and Annalizette Gallegos (Larkin) was fifth after her pin (3:33) of Weni Koudi from West Chicago.

235- Marley Clark (Richwoods)

Not only did Marley Clark claim her first major of the season, the Richwoods star would also earn the Athlete of the Week from the local Jersey Mike’s that honors student-athletes in the area.

The Lady Knights two-sport star (softball) was much too strong for the 235-pound weight division as the senior would mow down all three of her opponents via the pin, needing just a tick of seven minutes to put all of them away, including Thanh Dinh from Glenbard West on the title mat.

“I lost in the blood round last year at sectionals, so it is important for me to start the season right, and just keep on working so I can get downstate, and on the podium,” said Clark, who was 26-9 a year ago, and second at the Metamora regional.

“I think most of all, my mindset is way better than last year, which is something that at times gave me a little trouble, but I know that part of my game has really improved.”

Clark would like nothing more to add her name to the Lady Knights state wall that includes six state medal winners, including the two from 2024 by Kaila Williams, and Jaida Johnson.

Ava Adorni (Conant) was third overall after her 4-1 decision over Ameinah Hill (Lake Park) and Mackenzie Mansavage from Conant was fifth after her pin at 4:14 over Angelina Dimas from East Aurora.

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS:

East Aurora 211.0, Andrew 171.5, Batavia 167.5, Conant 164.5, West Chicago 153.0, Glenbard West 131.5, Bartlett 122.5, Maine East 104.5, Metea Valley 94.5, Bolingbrook 91.0, Lake Park 83.5, Peoria Richwoods 71.0, Larkin 67.0, Dundee-Crown 44.0, Woodstock 31.0, Ottawa Marquette 28.0

By Chris Walker for the IWCOA

Neuqua Valley Scuffle

Everyone is doing their thing for Lincoln-Way Central.

After having a wrestler in every weight class place in their season-opening tournament championship at Addison Trail on Nov. 26, the Knights had 13 place to lead them to another tournament title at the Neuqua Valley Scuffle on Dec. 6.

Lincoln-Way Central finished comfortably ahead of second-place Loyola Academy, 266 to 236.

“We are always excited to bring home a team championship for the second week in a row,” Knights coach Tyrone Byrd said. “Last year we took third to OPRF and Warren Township, so finishing first this year is nice. I am a little disappointed not to see OPRF here as they definitely had several matchups we would have liked to see. Nonetheless, the Neuqua Valley Scuffle is a good small tournament that definitely exposes some of our better guys in later rounds to a handful of the state’s top wrestlers.”

There were plenty of highlights for the Knights.

“Jalen Byrd and Aiden Hennings both saw two of the state’s best in the finals, and we now have some data on where they are right now,” Byrd said. “The good news for many of them is they are still fresh off of football, and they will all be significantly better come late January and February.

“Jadon Zimmer and Eric Hoselton both dominated performances, bringing home tournament championships. Our boys are competing hard and trying to score as many points as possible during the match and for the team. The next couple of weeks will be a big test for us as we have a handful of ranked teams that will expose us even more, which is great as it gives us more data on where we are at.”

Bolingbrook (185.5) slipped ahead of Warren (181.5) for third place. Leyden (139) was fifth and followed by the host Wildcats (126.5), Taft (108.5) and Reavis (79.5)

1st: Lincoln-Way Central (266)

The Knights had 13 wrestlers in action and all 13 placed. 113 was the only weight class where Lincoln-Way Central didn’t have representation.

With eight wrestlers in the finals and two champions, the Knights were able to distance themselves from runner-up Loyola Academy by 29 points. 

Jadon Zimmer (138) and Eric Hoselton (144) earned titles while Alex Kędzior (126), Caleb Rogers (132), Dylan Wrobel (157), Ethan Harvey (165), Jalen Byrd (175) and Aiden Hennings (285) all took second. Ryan Nape (150), Justin Langford (190) and Logan Wooten (215) took third and Bannon Valent (106) and Brooks McKay (120) were fourth.

Zimmer was a scoring machine, totaling 48 points in his three victories, all via tech fall. Hoselton pinned his three opponents, spending barely over three minutes on the day wrestling. 

2nd: Loyola Academy (237)

The Ramblers were most impressive in the finals, sending a half dozen wrestlers into title bouts and winning five championships. Niko Odiotti (113), Gavin Pardilla (132), James Hemmila (150), Daniel Malan (157) and Kai Calcutt (285) were all crowned while Daniel Myint (120) placed second. Quentin Williams (106) took third, Michael Crawford (138) and Aleksander Knapik (165) were fourth, Tucker Barasa (126) and Sean Smylie (144) placed fifth and Jackson Decrane (175) took sixth.

3rd: Bolingbrook (185.5) 

Bolingbrook advanced a pair into the finals but didn’t come away with a title. Julian Medina (106) and Joaquin Gaskin (150) each took second place to lead the Raiders. Elijah Flowers (138), D`Andre Franco (144), Geno Vargas (165) and Logan Sogavo (175) were third and Brendon Rodriguez (126), Diego Segura (157) and Nate Zeffield (285) took fourth. Julian Panigua (113) and Ulysses Esparza’s (132) were fifth and Kenneth Watts (120) placed sixth.

Fourth-place Warren had five champions in Diego Rea (106), Caleb Noble (120), Royce Lopez (165), Ilia Dvoriannikov (175) and Aaron Stewart (190). The remaining winners at Neuqua Valley included Taft’s Angel Rivera (126) and Leyden’s Erick Worwa (215).

Loyola Academy’s Michael Crawford finished with the most pins in the least time, earning four falls in 8:11. His teammate, Kai Calcutt, had the fastest tech fall, in 1:07.

Lincoln-Way Central’s Eric Hoselton and Taft’s Angel Rivera tied for the most team points with 28 apiece. Loyola Academy’s Daniel Malan scored the most total match points with 60.

None of the Spartans were crowned champions at the tournament, but Aden Long (106), Jayden Reyes-Rocha (113) and Khalid Eid (150) all represented in the finals, taking second place each. Caiden Dodson (132) and Asad Beerm (175) prevailed in their third-place bouts

Championship match results: 

106; Diego Rea (Warren) d. Julian Medina (Bolingbrook), (F 4:54)

113: Niko Odiotti (Loyola Academy) d. Danny Huerta (Leyden), (F 1:20)

120: Caleb Noble (Warren) d. Daniel Myint (Wilmette (Loyola Academy), (D 7-1)

126: Angel Rivera (Taft) d. Alex Kedzior (Lincoln-Way Central), (F 3:46)

132: Gavin Pardilla (Loyola Academy) d. Caleb Rogers (Lincoln-Way Central), (TF 17-0)

138: Jadon Zimmer (Lincoln-Way Central) d. Jonathan Ramirez (Taft), (TF 18-2)

144: Eric Hoselton (Lincoln-Way Central)) d. Karson Foley (Neuqua Valley), (F 0:55)

150: James Hemmila (Loyola Academy) d. Joaquin Gaskin (Bolingbrook) (F 1:00)

157: Daniel Malan (Loyola Academy) d. Dylan Wrobel (Lincoln-Way Central),  (TF 23-6)

165: Royce Lopez (Warren)) d. Ethan Harvey (Lincoln-Way Central), (TF 15-0)

175: Ilia Dvoriannikov (Warren) d. Jalen Byrd (Lincoln-Way Central), (MD 11-1)

190: Aaron Stewart (Warren) d. Jiovanni Hernandez (Warren), (F 1:16)

215: Erick Worwa (Leyden) d. Caleb VanLeer (Warren), (D 3-0)

285: Kai Calcutt (Loyola Academy) d. Aiden Hennings (Lincoln-Way Central), (F 0:59)

Third-place matches:

106: Quentin Williams (Loyola Academy) d. Bannon Valent (Lincoln-Way Central), (MD 13-5)

113: Cardevion Gordon (Neuqua Valley) d. Andy Casmiro (Reavis), (F 5:10)

120: Bernardo Roque (Taft) d. Brooks McKay (Lincoln-Way Central), TF 15-0)

126: Brady Podracky (Neuqua Valley) d. Brendon Rodriguez (Bolingbrook), (D 5-1)

132: Michael Miranda (Leyden) d. Marcus Diaz (Neuqua Valley), (F 3:02)

138: Elijah Flowers (Bolingbrook) d. Michael Crawford (Loyola Academy), (TF 15-0)

144: D`Andre Franco (Bolingbrook) d. Ahmed Everette (Reavis), (F 1:28)

150: Ryne Nape (Lincoln-Way Central) d. Maxwell Ridges (Neuqua Valley), (F 1:44)

157: Ronin Brom (Neuqua Valley) d. Diego Segura (Bolingbrook), (F 2:25)

165: Geno Vargas (Bolingbrook) d. Aleksander Knapik (Loyola Academy), (D 10-3)

175: Logan Sogavo (Bolingbrook) d. Charles Jackson (Warren), (D 16-11)

190: Justin Langford (Lincoln-Way Central) d. Dmyrtii Mykhniak (Taft), (F 1:02)

215: Logan Wooten (Lincoln-Way Central) d. Pearce Estrada (Warren), (D 7-1)

285: Nolan Lopez (Warren) d. Nate Zeffield (Bolingbrook), (F 3:06)

Matozzi Invite at Hinsdale South

Despite not being with its full lineup, Hinsdale South walked away as champions at its Matozzi Invite.

“We had a great tournament coming out on top at the Matozzi invite taking first place as a team,” Hornets coach Andy Mangiaguerra said. “We have several starters out due to football injuries this year but had several step up to fill in those spots. Each wrestler contributed and earned extra bonus points throughout the day and left it all on the mat. Overall, I was extremely pleased with the way they performed, placing 7 of 14 wrestlers.”

Oak Lawn (138.5) was second, Fenwick (134) took third, Glenbard South (123.5) placed fourth and St. Laurence (122.5) was fifth and followed by Argo (78), St. Francis (76), Tinley Park (64.5), T.F South (47.5), Back of the Yards (30) and Lindblom (25.5).

1st: Hinsdale South (183.5)

The Hornets had six wrestlers earn the opportunity to wrestle for a tournament title from the comfort of home and four of them proved to be victorious.

Hinsdale South received title wins from Alex Schuetz (120), Marwan Mohammad (132), Jason Jude (144) and Ben Miller (190) while Brent Tolentino (126) and Jason Cardenas (285) placed second,

Antonio Bingham (126) and Owen Miller (138) took third and Tristan Hernandez (106) and Sahil Malik (113) placed fourth.

Jude and Miller each pinned all three of their opponents while Schuetz and Mohammad each had a pair of pins.

2nd: Oak Lawn (138.5)

None of the Spartans were crowned champions at the tournament, but Aden Long (106), Jayden Reyes-Rocha (113) and Khalid Eid (150) all represented in the finals, taking second place each. Caiden Dodson (132) and Asad Beerm (175) prevailed in their third-place bouts while Faris Elayyan (150), Charles Shane (157), Adam Balog (165) and Andrew Cetera (215) took fourth.

3rd: Fenwick (134)

Maurizio Campana (113), Harrison Brown (126) and Burns Burke (157) all won titles to lead the Friars to third place in the team standings. Aden Liss (120) and Zikomo Mbewe (215) placed third and Adam Calicadan (285) took fourth.

Other individual champions at Hinsdale South were St. Laurence’s Liam Kissane (106), St. Francis’ Paul Coco (138), Glenbard South’s Jin Tai (150), TF South’s Titus Woodring (165), St. Francis’ James Reitmann (175), St. Laurence’s Xavier Bitner (215) and Glenbard South’s Ambrose Davis (285).

Argo’s Roy Barron finished with the most pins in the least time, earning four falls in 10:17. T.F. South’s Titus Woodring had the fastest tech fall, in 1:25, and Glenbard South’s Ruben Kasman posted the tourney’s fastest fall, in 14 seconds.

Glenbard South’s Ambrose Davis had the most team points with 27.5. Tinley Park’s David Albright scored the most total match points with 57.

Championship match results: 

106: Liam Kissane (St. Laurence) d. Aden Long (Oak Lawn), (F 1:21)

113: Maurizio Campana (Fenwick) d. Jayden Reyes-Rocha (Oak Lawn), (MD 18-9)

120: Alex Schuetz (Hinsdale South) d. Alex Gudgeon (Highland Park), (TF 19-3)

126: Harrison Brown (Fenwick) d. Brent Tolentino (Hinsdale South), (TF 18-3)

132: Marwan Mohammad (Hinsdale South) d. Adrian Pintado (Burbank (St. Laurence), (F 3:08)

138: Paul Coco (St. Francis) d. Griffin Pawelski (Glenbard South), (TF 15-0)

144: Jason Jude (Hinsdale South) d. Jacob Dunn (St. Francis), (F 1:57)

150: Jin Tai (Glenbard South) d. Khalid Eid (Oak Lawn), (D 5-3)

157: Burns Burke (Fenwick) d. Skylar Arellano-Phipps (Argo), (F 2:57)

165: Titus Woodring (T.F. South) d. Anthony Kinney (Glenbard South), (MD 12-0)

175: James Reitmann (St. Francis) d. Jesse Cozzie (St. Laurence), (F 2:41)

190: Ben Miller (Hinsdale South) d. Matthew Zalinski (St. Laurence), (F 3:35)

215: Xavier Bitner (St. Laurence) d. Sebastian Sanderson (Tinley Park), (MD 14-4)

285: Ambrose Davis (Glenbard South) d. James Cardenas (Hinsdale South), (F 1:00)

Third-place matches:

106: Jonathan Mendoza-Rodriguez (Lindblom) d. Tristan Hernandez (Hinsdale South),  (D 6-0)

113: Ithan Payne (Lindblom) d. Sahil Malik (Hinsdale South), (F 3:50)

120: Aden Liss (Fenwick) d. Santino Pignatelli (St. Francis), (TF 22-6)

126: Antonio Bingham (Hinsdale South) d. Brian Martinez (Highland Park), (D 7-3)

132: Caiden Dodson (Oak Lawn) d. Charlie Dvorak (Argo), (F 3:45)

138: Owen Miller (Hinsdale South) d. Kevin Vargas (Tinley Park), (F 3:55)

144: Kurt Lewandowski (Glenbard South) d. Jesus Rodriguez (St. Laurence), (TF 17-2)

150: Jayden Corchado (Highland Park) d. Faris Elayyan (Oak Lawn), (SV-1 9-6)

157: David Albright (Tinley Park) d. Charles Shane (Oak Lawn), (MD 9-0)

165: Brayan Ruiz-Cruz (Back of the Yards) d. Adam Balog (Oak Lawn), (F 3:57)

175: Asad Beerm (Oak Lawn) d. Ethan Munoz (Back of the Yards), (F 4:27)

190: Mike Starzyk (Argo) d. Reggie Miller (Lansing (T.F. South), (F 4:29)

215: Zikomo Mbewe (Fenwick)) d. Andrew Cetera (Oak Lawn), (F 3:09)

285: Roy Barron (Argo) d. Adam Calicadan (Fenwick), (F 3:52)

Elias George High School Memorial at Evanston – Orange 

There was quite the jumbling in the standings this year compared to last with defending champ Rickover dropping down to ninth place and Evanston – Orange winning after placing sixth during the Elias George High School Memorial.

And not only did host Evanston win but the Wildcats won by more than 50 points over runner-up Mather, 213.5 to 160.

UIC College Prep (149) was third and followed by Sarah Goode (144) and Niles West (136) to round out the Top 5. Niles North (108.5), Amundsen (95), ITW Speer (91), Rickover (82), Evanston – Blue (75.5), Ridgewood (57.5) and Kenwood (41.5) also competed.

1st: Evanston – Orange (213.5)

The Wildkits were active late into Saturday with six wrestlers getting into the finals and four coming away with titles to lead the squad to the tournament victory. Miguel Morales (138), Diego Lopez (175), Art Bytyqi (190) and Jeremy Marshall (285) all were crowned champions while Quinn Muriel (113) and Brooks Tyler (215) placed second. Andy Edwards (144) and Andy Ciriaco (165) finished strong with victories in third-place matches, while Nick Arend (126) took fourth, Alan Edwards (106) was fifth and Artjon Lamce (150) placed sixth.

Morales had pins in all four of his matches while Marshall did the same in his three after opening with a bye. Lopez had two pins and a tech fall and Bytyqi’s dominance increased as the afternoon wore on as he recorded pins in his semifinal and title match.

2nd: Mather (160)

Mather sent four of its nine placers into the finals. Tommy Lam (113) won the lone title for the Rangers, and Mohammad Aaraf (105) Omobobola Bankole (157) and Andres Alvarado (190) took second. Willem Johnston (175) placed third, Urijah Haycock (144) was fourth, Emir Imankulov (120) and Ademide Oni (285) each took fifth and Celvin Cung (165) placed sixth.

3rd: UIC Chicago Prep

UIC Chicago Prep produced three champions en route to its third-place finish. Benjamin Flores (120), Leonardo Zapien (126) and Julian Collins Jr. (132) fought their way to titles while Kendrian Walker (150) and Kavon Grant (285) bounced back to finish with wins in their respective third-place matches. Vince Chiorlu (165) took fourth and Demetrius Douglas (157) placed fifth.

Other winners at the Elias George High School Memorial included Niles North’s Ahmad Bashir (106) and Sulaiman Rajabi (165), Niles West’s Lucas Youmara (144) and Qaisar Sadat (157), Sarah Goode’s Jayden Veal (150) and Evanston – Blue’s Andres Thomas (215).

Mather’s Ademide Oni had the most pins in the least time, taking down four opponents by fall in 3:54. Evanston – Blue’s Musa Amin earned the fastest tech fall in 1:20 and ITW Speer’s Brylon McKay McCorvey had the fastest pin in 0:10.

Niles West’s Lucas Youmara and Evanston – Orange’s Miguel Morales each scored 30 team points, tops in the tournament. Sarah Goode’s Jayden Veal earned 93 total match points, more than doubling the 46 that UIC College Prep’s Benjamin Flores tallied as he produced the second most. Youmara had a huge day as he won the 144 title as a 15th seed, easily finishing as the largest seed-place difference with a differential of a pair of touchdowns and traditional extra points (14).

Championship match results: 

106: Ahmad Bashir (Niles North) 3-0, d. Mohammad Aaraf (Mather) 3-2, (F 0:29)

113: Tommy Lam (Mather) 5-0, d. Quinn Muriel (Evanston – Orange) 3-3, (F 1:42)

120: Benjamin Flores (UIC College Prep) 4-0, d.  Anthony Ramos Martinez (Rickover) 2-1, (F 2:00)

126; Leonardo Zapien (UIC College Prep) 8-0, d. Bryce Reaven (Amundsen) 3-1, (F 2:24)

132: Julian Collins Jr (UIC College Prep) 9-1, d. Ismail Mehmedovic (Niles West) 2-3, (F 5:02)

138: Miguel Morales (Evanston – Orange) 5-0, d. Melvin Alvarado (Evanston – Blue) 3-1,

(F 2:42)

144: Lucas Youmara (Niles West) 4-1, d. Mohamad Khater (Ridgewood) 5-1, (F 1:05)

150: Jayden Veal (Sarah Goode) 4-0, d. Peter Martin (Amundsen) 3-1, (TF-1.5 3:25 (23-4)

157: Qaisar Sadat (Niles West) 4-0, d. Omobobola Bankole (Mather) 3-1, (F 2:59)

165: Sulaiman Rajabi (Niles North) 4-0, d. Gael Martinez-Cabrera (ITW Speer) 3-1, (F 0:33)

175: Diego Lopez (Evanston – Orange) 8-1, d. Stephan Crump (Sarah Goode) 2-1, (F 0:39)

190: Art Bytyqi (Evanston – Orange) 3-1, d. Andres Alvarado (Mather) 4-2, (F 1:30)

215: Andres Thomas (Evanston – Blue) 6-2, d, Brooks Tyler (Evanston – Orange) 8-2, (F 3:29)

285: Jeremy Marshall (Evanston – Orange) 10-0, d. Dameon Norwood (Kenwood) 3-1, (F 1:50)

Third-place matches: 

106: Noah Lariosa (Niles West) 3-1, d, Arthur Ro (Evanston – Blue) 3-3, (F 0:11)

113: Eduardo Garcia (Sarah Goode) 2-1, d. Dyllan Ornelas (ITW Speer) 0-2, (F 4:50)

120: Cartiere Jackson (Sarah Goode) 2-1, d. Muhammad Warsi (Niles North) 2-2, (MD 11-1)

126: David Okon (Niles West) 2-1, d. Nick Arend (Evanston – Orange) 2-6, (Inj. 0:00)

132: Dino Palmisano (Ridgewood) 5-1, d, Mohammed Malladah (Sarah Goode) 1-2, (MD 23-11)

138: David Cruz (Evanston – Blue) 3-1, d. Isaiah Cordero (Niles West) 2-3, (D 9-6)

144: Andy Edwards (Evanston – Orange) 5-5, d. Urijah Haycock (Mather) 4-3, (F 5:03)

150: Kendrian Walker (UIC College Prep) d. Jose Cardenas (Niles North) 1-2, (F 0:31)

157: Ian Uting (Amundsen) 2-1, d. Eliet Cacoango (Rickover) 1-2, (F 0:25)

165: Andy Ciriaco (Evanston – Orange) 3-6, d. Vince Chiorlu (UIC College Prep) 2-5, (F 0:24)

175: Willem Johnston (Mather) 2-1, d. Sam Vargas (ITW Speer) 1-2, (F 0:43)

190: John Tribuzio (Ridgewood) 5-1, d. Matthew Clippert (Niles North) 3-3, (F 2:39)

215: Naruto Martinez (Rickover) 3-1, d. Yovany Amaya (ITW Speer) 2-2, (F 1:52)

285: Kavon Grant (UIC College Prep) 6-3, d. John Martinez (Amundsen) 2-2, (F 4:33)

45th Annual Weiss Invite at Fenton

Waubonsie Valley took care of business in its first big tournament of the season, claiming top honors in the 45th Annual Weiss Invite at Fenton.

The Warriors (167) were able to get ahead of the entire 16-team field, including runner-up Milton (162.5). Palatine (159.5) was third, DePaul Prep (157) took fourth and St. Ignatius (149) took fifth to round out the top five. South Elgin (130) was sixth and followed by Riverside-Brookfield (126), St. Viator (113), Richards (94), Fenton (84), Proviso East (62), Leo (36.5), Westmont (32), Fenton JV (20), Bremen (12) and Elmwood Park (6).

1st: Waubonsie Valley (167)

The Warriors, who placed ninth here a season ago, brought 10 wrestlers to Bensenville and all but one of them placed, with Nathan Duffield (132) leading the way by capturing a major decision victory in the finals. Desmond Stribley (150) and Leonidas Berrios (285) each took second while Christopher Lopez (144), Lucas Pretkelis (175) and Rolando Luna-Ramos (190) battled back to win third-place matches. Chase Nailos (165) took fifth and Mark Romiti (138) and Owen Greenfield (157) placed sixth.

2nd: Milton (162.5)

Championship victories from Brodey Lewis (106), Kolten Mueller (113) and Gage Gross (165) pushed Milton near the top of the standings. Colton Bishop (120) took second, Cullen Loveland (126) placed third, Skye McCarville (138) was fourth and Michael Karpes (4-1) placed fifth.

3rd: Palatine (159.5)

The Pirates had four wrestlers sail into the finals, including champions Daniel Derevlyak (157) and Karl Bep (175) who remain unbeaten early on in the season. Dunamis Philip (113) and Miguel Allende (144) suffered their first losses of the year in the finals to place second each. Aidan Noe (106) took third, Joel Aragon (120) was fifth and Armando Aguilar Rodriguez (132), Logan Armer (165) and Jacari Travis (285) were sixth.

Other winners at the Weiss included St. Ignatius’ Alex Villanueva (120), Luke Sanchez (144) and Melson Ngassa (215), DePaul Prep’s Colin Bosak (126) and Hunter Wahtola (285), Riverside-Brookfield’s Tony Lombardo (138), South Elgin’s Logan Dilallo (150) and St. Viator’s Jaxon Penovich (190) as eight of the 14 champions came from teams that didn’t place among the Top 3 teams.

Milton’s Michael Karpes and Riverside-Brookfield’s Gerald Evans had the most pins with four each. Karpes needed just 2:05 to get his while Evans took care of his four opponents in 5:58. Milton’s Kolten Mueller edged De Paul Prep’s Aedan Dillon, 1:39 to 1:47, for fastest tech fall and Riverside-Brookfield’s Joey Albert had the quickest pin, in 0:10.

Milton’s Brodey Lewis slipped past Palatine’s Karl Bep, 29.5 to 28.5, for most team points. Riverside-Brookfield’s Izaiah Gonzalez had the most total match points with 61 and the largest seed-place difference went to Bep who was seeded 12th and took first place for a differential of 11.

Championship match results: 

106: Brodey Lewis (Milton) 4-0, d. Leo Salas (South Elgin) 6-2, (F 1:36)

113: Kolten Mueller (Milton) 4-0, d. Dunamis Philip (Palatine) 2-1, (TF-1.5 4:00 (21-4)

120: Alex Villanueva (St. Ignatius) 6-1, d. Colton Bishop (Milton) 3-1, (F 3:37)

126: Colin Bosak (De Paul Prep) 5-0, d. Nathan Flores (St. Viator) 6-2, (F 4:29)

132: Nathan Duffield (Waubonsie Valley) 10-1, d. Izaiah Gonzalez (Riverside-Brookfield) 3-1, (MD 15-4)

138: Tony Lombardo (Riverside-Brookfield) 3-0, d. Devin Aviles (Fenton) 6-2, (F 0:51)

144: Luke Sanchez (St. Ignatius) 6-0, d. Miguel Allende (Palatine), (MD 10-0)

150: Logan Dilallo (South Elgin) 5-0, d. Desmond Stribley (Waubonsie Valley) 5-4, (F 0:35)

157: Daniel Derevlyak (Palatine) 4-0, d. Luca Capuano (St. Ignatius) 4-1, (TF-1.5 2:24 (16-1)

165: Gage Gross (Milton) 3-0, d, Dane Henson (South Elgin) 3-3, (TF-1.5 1:57 (16-0)

175: Karl Bep (Palatine) 4-0, d. Nicholas O`Connor (Riverside-Brookfield) 2-1, (TF-1.5 4:00 (16-1)

190: Jaxon Penovich (St. Viator) 7-0, d. Drew Sendre (De Paul Prep) 4-1, (F 0:56)

215: Melson Ngassa (St. Ignatius) 6-1, d. Nico Trautman (De Paul Prep) 5-1, (F 0:45)

285: Hunter Wahtola (De Paul Prep) 6-0, d. Leonidas Berrios (Waubonsie Valley) 9-2, (F 1:44)

Third-place matches:

106: Aidan Noe (Palatine) 2-1, d. Luke Jimenea (Westmont) 6-3, (F 3:59)

113: Aedan Dillow (De Paul Prep) 5-1, d. Miles Russell-Barnes (Riverside-Brookfield) 1-2, (TF-1.5 1:47 (15-0)

120: Connor Maschek (De Paul Prep) 5-1, d. Jayden Scott (Proviso East) 3-3, (TF-1.5 3:45 (19-3))

126: Cullen Loveland (Milton) 2-1, d. Ardan Baglaev (Westmont) 7-2, (MD 15-5)

132: Colin McCann (St. Ignatius) 7-1, d. Amir Akilani (Richards) 5-2, (F 0:51)

138: Vandell Dudley (Leo) 2-1, d. Skye McCarville (Milton) 2-2, (TF-1.5 4:00 (19-3)

144: Christopher Lopez (Waubonsie Valley) 4-4, d. Evan Umana (Fenton) 4-5, (F 1:25)

150: Leo Flores (Richards) 6-1, d. Nino Capuano (St. Ignatius) 5-2, (D 12-8)

157: Zoirov Mukhammadjon (Richards) 5-3, d. Antwone Coleman (Proviso East) 3-3, (F 3:33)

165: Omar Diaz (Fenton) 7-2, d. Jose Honorato (Fenton JV) 6-3, (MD 9-0)

By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA

Evanston’s Elias George Memorial Tournament

With Mid-Suburban League powers Wheeling, Schaumburg, Conant, and Hoffman Estates the ones to chase this season, Hersey made its case as another to keep an eye on as the campaign unfolds.

The Huskies would ride the waves of four individual champions, plus another tourney-high nine top-five medals to outscore runner-up Rickover Naval Academy 174.0-136.0 to capture the big trophy in Evanston, at the Elias George Memorial tournament.

Host Evanston just missed finishing second by one-half point (135.5) with Chicago Mather (119.0) and Niles West (91.0) rounding out the top five on the leaderboard.

Emma Strohmeier, Lexi Gumino, Nikita Variano and Erini Zebras would climb atop the podium for Hersey head coach Jim Wormsley.

“We are very happy with how the girls are progressing thus far as a program, and we have a great group of girls that are putting in the work, both during the season, as well as the offseason,” began Wormsley, who was a state runner-up at heavyweight in 1987 while at Dundee-Crown, and would later go on to Purdue University where he was an offensive lineman.

“We still have a lot of work to do, but we are confident that we will continue to improve as the season progresses,” he said. “And today, Emma, Lexi, Nikita and Erini all had a great day bringing home first-place medals.”

1st Place: Hersey (174.0 points)

Aside from the Strohmeier (105), Gumino (115) Variano (120) and Zebras’ (190) victories, the Huskies would earn a trio of second place medals from: Soha Faisal (125), Grace Zaia (140) and Leah Osorio at 170.

Strohmeier and Gumino would pin their way to their division titles.

Teammates A’shira Manuel (100), Audrey Sarinyamas (125), and Minnie Santeler (130) were all third, while the duo of: Fiona Jensen (105) and Ivan Petrov (155) added fourth place medals. Ariana Jeloaica would help the cause with her fifth place medal at 110.

2nd Place: Rickover Naval Academy (136.0)

One year ago, Rickover Naval Academy fans would celebrate the career of its marvelous 235-pounder, Jasmine Mejia, who earned a second place finish at state with a dazzling 38-3 record. 

Mejia, now on the women’s track and field team at Spring Arbor University in Michigan, also brought home a fifth-place state medal in 2023.

Saturday in Evanston, Litzy Estrada-A (110) and Midna Lazoya (190) were first overall in their respective weight divisions, with teammates Mia Castillo (100) and Dakota Perez (105) each picking up second-place medals.

Elizabeth Castrejon was third at 120, while Alesia Magana (125), Jocelyn Quillay (145) and Melissa Sanchez (235) were all fourth.

3rd Place: Evanston (135.5)

The Lady Wildcats would snare a couple of individual championships thanks to sophomore Samatha Gipson, who pinned her way to her 125-pound crown, and Isabella Vernon’s title win at 145.

Fajmolu Omowonuola was second at 235, and would also record the fastest pin (0:12) of the tournament.

Kyra Rivera (115) was third, Danna Gonzalez (100), Michelle Manalo (105), Rachel Jacobs (120) and Aileen Trejo (130) were all fourth, and Ja’Niya Harris earned fifth at 190.

Kendra Chatman (Sarah Goode) and Sarah Al Radi (Niles West) each had a tourney-high four pins, with Soha Faisal (Hersey) recording the fast tech-fall at 2:14. Al Radi had the most team points (30.0) while Rickover Naval Academy led the way on the day with (17) pins. Evanston would lead the field with 152 total team points.

Championship Matches:

100: Adali Cruz (Speer) d. Mia Castillo (Rickover) F 0:14

105: Emma Strohmeier (Hersey) d. Dakota Perez (Rickover) F 1:38

110: Litzy Estrada-A (Rickover) d. Lesly Zepeda (Maine West) F 2:56

115: Nikita Variano (Hersey) d. Nour Al Radi (Niles West) F 3:00

120: Alexandra Lexi Gumino (Hersey) d. Elitzua Sandoval (Goode) F 2:32

125: Samantha Gipson (Evanston) d. Soha Faisal (Hersey) F 5:05

130: Gianna Mezzano (Ridgewood) d. Zoe Pomeranets (Niles West) F 3:12

135: Sarah Al Radi (Niles West) d. Kenya Lewis (Kenwood) F 2:51

140: Rose McFadden (Ridgewood) d. Grace Zaia (Hersey) F 0:57

145: Isabella Vernon (Evanston) d. Grace Grave (Maine West) D 1-0

155: Esther Gouegnon (Mather) d. Gabrielle Toney (Niles North) F 0:25

170: Midna Lazoya (Rickover) d. Leah Osorio (Hersey) F 1:00

190: Eirini Ziabaras (Hersey) d. Julissa Az (Mather) D 7-5

235: Esmeralda Bustamante (Speer) d. Fajmolu Omowonuola (Evanston) F 1:10

Third-place matches

100: A’shira Manuel (Hersey) d. Danna Gonzalez (Evanston) F 0:47

105: Bella Garcia (Speer) d. Michelle Manalo (Evanston) D 17-11

110: Brittany Velez (Mather) d. Steve Bass (Niles West) F 1:23

115: Kyra Rivera (Evanston) d. Belisma Pintor (Goode) F 1:42

120: Elizabeth Castrejon (Rickover) d. Rachael Jacobs (Evanston) D 11-6

125: Audrey Sarinyamas (Hersey) d. Alesia Magana (Rickover) F 2:38

130: Minnie Santeler (Hersey) d. Aileen Trejo (Evanston) F 5:06

135: Fiona McFadden (Ridgewood) d. Ava Reotutar (Niles North) F 1:45

140: Lisbeth Tenorio (Mather) d. Leah Davis (Kenwood) FFT

145: Mary McFadden (Ridgewood) d. Jocelyn Quillay (Rickover) F 1:05

155: Kaya Zajda (Maine West) d. Ivana Petrov (Hersey) F 1:27

170: Denise Cervantes (Rickover) d. Krishna Garfias (Mather) F 1:52

190: Emma Wilson (Niles West) d. Luz Garcia (Maine West) F 4:58

235: Jessica Ahn (Niles West) d. Melissa Sanchez (Rickover) F 5:02

Eisenhower Cardinal Girls Scramble

When a long day of wrestling finally came to an end at Eisenhower it would be the Marist Redhawks who would lift their first tournament championship trophy in program history.

The Redhawks, without four starters in their lineup, used individual titles from Tracy Balnis (115) and Ava Enright (125) to earn a tourney-high 190.0 overall points, to second-place Lane’s 142.5, followed by Joliet West with 123 points.

Bradley-Bourbonnais (119.0) was fourth and Willowbrook (110.0) finished fifth.

“We won our dual in Chicago on Friday against Lane, then followed up by winning here at Eisenhower today to complete a very good two days of wrestling,” said Redhawks head coach Kelly Sullivan.

Sullivan who would guide her club to an impressive 13-4-0 record a year ago, which would include a place in the first ever dual-team state tournament – celebrated five top three medals on the day which included the success of both Balnis and Enright.

Balnis went from the No. 14 seed to the top of the podium.

Sofia Guerrero (Lane) would register the fastest tech-fall on the day at 2:00, with a trio of wrestlers: Anapaula Serna Rivera (De La Salle), Maj Starks (Joliet West) and Balnis all tied for the most team points earned with 30.

Mia Vargas from De La Salle was the tournament leader in Most Total Team Points for the day with 47.

1st place: Marist (190.0)

Ava Enright was a sectional qualifier a year ago with a 30-7, as were Izzy Locascio (135) and Sarah Parker (170, 33-6) who both claimed second place medals. Claire Stokes in this-her first year was third at 100, while senior, and 2025 state qualifier, Sam Fontaine, 26-9 last season finished third at 155 pounds.

2nd place: Lane (142.5)

Second place Lane were led by the returning state qualifiers Sofia Guerrero (100) and Abby Badru (140) who each claimed individual titles. Junior Lauren Guerrero was third at 110 pounds.

Sofia Guerrero won (33) matches last year, Badru 41.

3rd place: Joliet West (123.0)

Maj Starks was the lone champion for Joliet West, pinning her way to the 155-pound title.

Teammates Briahna (130)  and Veronica (135) Klobnak earned third-place medals, with Vanessa O’Connor adding another third place finish at 145.

Championship match results:

100- Sofia Guerrero (Lane) d. Daniella Almazan (Shepard) F 0:45

105- Anapaula Cerna Rivera (De La Salle) d. Lillian O’Brien (Bloom) F 0:17

110- Dakodia Kelly (Thornton Fractional South) d. Lauren Guerrero (Lane) F 3:36

115- Tracy Balnis (Marist) d. Riley Osborn (Evergreen Park) F 5:52

120- Gracie Meluch (Naperville Central) d. Kennedy Mort (Peotone) F 1:19

125- Ava Enright (Marist) d. Gianna Plescia (Mother McAuley) F 0:37

130- Mila Rocush (Shepard) d. Melva Gallego-Sugar (Naperville Central) F 5:36

135- Aubrianna Rapier (Bradley-Bourbonnais) d. Izzy Locascio (Marist) F 0:43

140- Zabby Badru (Lane) d. Mercedes Carrasco (De La Salle) F 2:39

145- GG Garduno (Marist) d. Marlen Morelos Perez (Eisenhower) TF 17-1

155- Maj Starks (Joliet West) d. Isabella Barajas (Willowbrook) F 5:20

170- Jazilah Gatlin (Willowbrook) d. Arianna Rico (Naperville Central) F 4:19

190- Payton Temple (Clifton Central) d. Sarah Parker (Marist) F 0:42

235- Karrine Jenkins (Shepard) d. Kaylee Morris (Bradley-Bourbonnais) F 0:23

Third-place matches

100- Claire Stokes (Marist) d. Sariya Maddox (Rich Township) F 0:45

105- Malia O’Neal (Evergreen Park) d. Ella Quigley (Mother McCauley) F 2:48

110- Taniya Moss (Hillcrest) d. Nayeli Salgado (Willowbrook) F 0:57

115- Jayden Martinez (Tinley Park) d. Aracely Stevens (Thornton Fractional South) F 1:24

120- M’Kya Harris (Romeoville) d. Aracely Torres (Bremen) F 1:00

125- Daviana Smith (Bloom) d. Holly Rowan (Mother McAuley) FFT

130- Briahna Klobnak (Joliet West) d. Imyjah Jackson (Lane) F 2:50

135- Veronica Klobnak (Joliet West) d. Amelia Quinlan (Bremen) F 1:13

140- Sophia Domont (Bradley-Bournnais) d. Abby Harris (Tinley Park) F 1:05

145- Vanessa O’Connor (Joliet West) d. Mumtaz Abdul Malik (Lane) F 0:54

155- Samantha Fontaine (Marist) d. Melissa Nance (Hillcrest) F 3:05

170- Jermia Moore (Thornton Fractional South) d. Valeria Santiago (St. Ignatius) F 0:21

190- Phoebe Heyboer (Eisenhower) d. Gabriella Teufack Momo (Mother McAuley) F 2:21

235- Madilyn Gonzalez (Mother McAuley) d. Nyla Coleman (Rich Township) F 1:08

Waukegan Tournament

The Rossview Lady Hawks made Tennessee history in 2022 when they became the first ever girls dual-team state champion, defeating Clarksville 39-27

The visitors came north to compete at the Waukegan Girls Tournament on Saturday, and would take home the team title with 161.5 points, winning by a narrow 2.5 points.

Wheeling finished second (159.0), followed by Antioch (135.0), Glenbard East (134.0) and Stevenson (130.5) to round out a terrific top five.

Wheeling, the No. 10-rated team in the state, would show it deserved its lofty spot in preseason polls with a solid performance here.

“Rossview has a great team, their girls are well coached, so our girls were excited to be within a few points of beating such a talented team,” said Wheeling head coach Anthony Piltaver.

“Elise (Burkut) and Jasmine Rene really had to battle to earn their individual championships – each of them put in a full week of work to prepare for this tournament, and in the end, it would show,” continued Piltaver.

“Everyone would contribute to our second place finish, and a few of our newer wrestlers such as Jocelyn Juarez Cruz, and Ebelin Espinoza Castro, who lost early on, wrestled back to score important team points.

“Nikol Orendarchuk fought hard to reach her final at 155, Haydee (Cruz) wrestled back to place, and Mayali Suarez made a huge jump (going) from 0-2 here a year ago to reaching the semifinals today.”

1st: Rossview, Tennessee (161.5)

While the Lady Hawks were unable to send any of their wrestlers atop the podium, they did earn four second-place medals from Isabella Schelanko (125), Kailey Perez (125), Taelyn Atkinson (170) and Michelle Harbison at 235.

Atkinson was fourth a year ago (165) at the Tennessee state tournament. Nayali Longfellow earned a third place medal at 130 pounds for the tourney champs, while Jennie Watson finished fifth at 100.

2nd: Wheeling (159.0)

The runner-up Wildcats would celebrate a pair of individual titles from 2025 state runner-up Elise Burkut (130) and senior Jasmine Rene at 235.

Burkut would record a trio of pins, one in the final, and a tech-fall in her semifinal to advance, while Rene, who transferred from Streamwood, pinned her way to her title.

Burkut is currently the No. 7 rated 135-pounder in the state, Rene No. 3.

Nikol Orendarchuk was second at 155, while Mayali Suarez third at 120. Haydee Cruz was fifth overall at 105.

3rd: Antioch (135.0)

The Sequoits led the field with seven overall medals, the best coming from sophomore Josie Blau (170) who a year ago in her rookie season won 23 matches and fell one match short of advancing to state.

Sasha Johnson, winner of 20 matches last season, claimed a second-place medal, with teammate London Lloyd third at 105. Lloyd was a sectional qualifier also.

Luana Mafuiana (135) was fourth, with the trio of: Dylylah Patterson (125), Isabella Marcomb (135) and Malina Cook (155) were all fifth place medalist.

There was a four-way tie for most pins during the tournament: Mirabelle DuBoef (Lake Forest), Kylie Eilken (Rockford Jefferson) Marissa Mayfield (Round Lake), and Asreilla Wallace from Glenbard North.

DuBoef and Eileen would share top honors for the most team points earned with (32), with senior Keagan Edwards (Glenbard North) collecting a tourney best (58) total team points over the course of the day.

Edwards, who won it all at 135 pounds, will wrestle next fall at Western Colorado University.

Championship matches:

100- Karla Sarabia (Glenbard E) d. Ester Migues-Gaytan (Grayslake N) F 1:04

105- Riley Kongkaeow (Round Lake) d. Katelyn Gallegos (Maine South) MD 9-0

110- Nadiia Shymkiv (Glenbard East) d. Giselle Arambula (Curie) F 1:58

115- Athena Zappa (Stevenson) d. Alexa Colin-Garcia (McHenry) MD 13-2

120- Mirabelle Duboeuf (Lake Forest) d. Isabella Schelanko (Rossview) F 1:48

125- Haley Ramos (Carmel Catholic) d. Kailey Perez (Rossview) F 3:12

130- Elise Burkut (Wheeling) d. Karina Lojowski (Stevenson) F 2:24

135- Keagan Edwards (Glenbard N) d. Layla Sapozhnikov (Stevenson) F 3:40

140- Maria Green (Glenbard East) d. Sasha Johnson (Antioch) F 0:21

145- Natalie Corona (McHenry) d. Isabel Hilinski (Stevenson) F 0:17

155- Ithandehui Rosas (Harvard) d. Nikol Orendarchuk (Wheeling) MFFT

170- Josie Blau (Antioch) d. Taelyn Atkinson (Rossview) F 2:47

190- Kylie Eilken (Rockford Jefferson) d. Irma Villa (Palatine) F 4:24

235- Jasmine Rene (Wheeling) d. Michelle Harbison (Rossview) F 1:17

Third-place matches:

100- Marianna Ortega (Curie) d. Danika Lamb (Rockford Jefferson) F 2:04

105- London Lloyd (Antioch) d. Jazmine Medina (Zion-Benton) D 13-8

110- Valeria Gonzalez (Grayslake North) d. Aphrodite Gineris (Maine S) F 0:37

115- Annika Lee (Maine South) d. Italia Cernas (Mundelein) D 7-6

120- Darlene Escobar (Curie) d. Elisa Garcia (Curie) F 0:46

125- Lilyann Blasius (Lakes) d. Jocelyn Lopez (Palatine) F 0:30

130- Nayeli Longfellow (Rossview) d. Natalie Gonzalez (Mundelein) F 0:38

135- Masserati Valenzuela (Zion-Benton) d. Luana Mafuiana (Antioch) F 4:54

140- Michelle Otuonye (Lakes) d. Khloe Vest (Harvard) F 2:05

145- Victoria Marquez (Grayslake North) d. Zoe Gonzalez Curie) MFFT

155- Suzy Stalley (Glenbard North) d. Camila Gonzalez (Glenbard East) F 2:26

170- Madalynn Sima (McHenry) d. Nancy Licona (Round Lake) F 1:46

190- Brooklyn Anderson (McHenry) d. Gabriella Goodson (Mundelein) F 1:17

235- Sophia Fortis (Maine South) d. Jarithsie Mercado (Harvard) D 5-0

Westinghouse Girls’ Scramble

On the westside of Chicago in the famed Humboldt Park neighborhood, Westinghouse College Prep would host its 11-team scramble on Saturday.

This event would not crown a team champion, but would offer 14 competitive weight divisions for those in attendance.

Chicago Agriculture and Science would crown four individual champions, Chicago Academy and Little Village two each.

The quartet of Emily Barajas (Little Village), Hannah Chong (Crane Medical Prep), Adelina Diaz (Chicago Agriculture and Science) and Amor Juarez from South Shore would all record three pins on the day.

The fastest tech-fall would belong to America Cabrera (2:00) from Phoenix Military Academy, who also scored the most total team points with 49.0.

Chicago Agriculture and Science garnered a tourney-high (162) total team points.

Sophomore Elena Haugh (Chicago Agriculture and Science) was a 2025 state qualifier at 170 in her rookie season, and would finish the year with a 31-10 record.

Here’s a look at the individual champions:

100- Adelina Diaz (Chicago Academy)

105- Jaden Conception (Chicago Academy)

110- Carmen Jackson (Chicago Agriculture and Science)

115- Danita Palmore (Chicago Agriculture and Science)

120- Hannah Chong (Crane Medical Prep)

125- Isabelle Mathews (Chicago Agriculture and Science)

130- No Participants

135- Trinity L Kinesy (Chicago Clark)

140- Amor Juarez (South Shore College Prep)

145- Emily Barajas (Little Village)

155- America Cabrera (Phoenix Military Academy)

170- Elena Haugh (Chicago Agriculture and Science)

190- Nyah Upton (Westinghouse College Prep)

235- Danalys Marchan (Little Village)

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOAAll IWCOA rankings from Rob Sherrill’s Illinois Best Weekly

Glenwood’s Tyler Cox Invitational

Host Glenwood ran off with the team trophy of this year’s 16-team Tyler Cox Invite, posting a 285.5-179 edge over second-place Quincy. Grayslake Central (178) finished a single point behind Quincy in third, followed by Carbondale (143.5) and Evergreen Park (137) to round out the top five team finishes.

Glenwood coach Nick Anthony saw six of his boys scale the top of the awards stand, and the Titans also got a second, two thirds, one fourth, and two fifth-place finishes.

“Our wrestlers performed up to expectation with our top returners in Cooper Clarke, Pierce Bultmann, AJ Williams, Eli Smith and Cody Moss winning titles,” Anthony said. 

“Julian Rammelkamp had a breakout performance today, winning his first tournament of his high school career, and we expect him to continue to build off of his great performance.”

1st: Glenwood (285.5)

Titles from returning 2A state qualifiers in No. 8 Clarke (106), Bultmann (113), No. 9 Williams (132), Rammelkamp (165), No. 9 Smith (175) and defending 2A state champion and No. 1 Moss (285) spearheaded the day. Bultmann and Rammelkamp are currently ranked among the honorable mentions.
The Titans also got a second-place finish from Brody Commean (190), thirds from honorable mention Jaxon Ferguson (120) and Pierce Helm (157), a fourth from Braden Monahan (150), and fifths from Jake Tuxhorn (126) and Mason Streb (215).

“Newcomer Pierce Helm took third after winning an IESA title last year, and we are excited to see him get acclimated to the high school level and become a big time performer for us,” Anthony said.

“This was a good confidence booster for our team coming off the Marmion tournament last week and leading up to some competitive duals the next few weeks.”

2nd: Quincy (179)

Blue Devils’ coach Phil Neally got a pair of second-place finishes from Clayton McClelland (113) and Wyatt Boeing (120), thirds from Griffin Finch (106), Derik Lohmeyer (132), Rennie Lilo (150), and Eli Zanger (285), a fourth from Brad Kamm (215), a fifth from Caleb Nation (138), and a sixth from Roman Lilo (165).

3rd: Grayslake Central (178)

Coach Matt Joseph sent a quartet of Rams to the top of the awards stand in two-time state medalist and No. 2 2A Vince DeMarco (120), Owen Floral (138), Trevor Hengl (144), and No. 8 Warren Nash (150). Krish Sahu (132) placed second for the Rams, who also got a fifth from Jesus Castaneda (285) and a sixth from Johnny Lopez (157).

Additional individual champions:
126: Jayden Cervantes (Evergreen Park); 157: Anthony Brown (Collinsville); 190: Sergio Baity (Centennial); 215: Connor Daly (Carbondale)

Additional runners-up:
106: Bryce Kuhlman (Normal Community); 126: Christian Johnson (Notre Dame); 138: Trotter Titus (Charleston); 144: Nehemie Mbangi (Centennial); 150: Gavin Slack (Collinsville); 157: Marcus Gibson (Centennial); 165: Jon Martin (Carbondale); 175: Jayden Schmick (Dunlap); 215: Michael Stevenson (Collinsville); 285: Brady Mullens (Notre Dame)

Final team scores:
Glenwood (285.5), Quincy (179), Grayslake Central (178), Carbondale (143.5), Evergreen Park (137), Collinsville (134), Notre Dame (121.5), Champaign Centennial (108.5), Carterville (81), Normal Community West (74.5), O’Fallon (73), Dunlap (67.5), Charleston (48.5), Riverton (14), Metro East Lutheran (8), Peoria Heights (7).

Title match results:

106: Clarke (Glenwood) d. Kuhlman (Normal Community)  (D 7-1)

113: Bultmann (Glenwood) d. McClelland (Quincy)  (TF 5:00)

120: DeMarco (Grayslake C) d. Boeing (Quincy)  (D 9-3)

126: Cervantes (Evergreen Park) d. Johnson (Notre Dame) (TF 4:42)

132: Williams (Glenwood) d. Sahu (Grayslake C)  (D 8-1)

138: Floral (Grayslake C) d. Titus (Charleston)   (F 1:18)

144: Hengl (Grayslake C) d. Mbangi (Champaign Cent)  (MD 8-0)

150: Nash (Grayslake C) d. Slack (Carterville)  (F 0:52)

157: Brown (Collinsville) d. Gibson (Champaign Cent) (F 1:36)

165: Rammelkamp (Glenwood) d. Martin (Carbondale) (F 1:56)

175: Smith (Glenwood) d. Schmick (Dunlap High School)  (F 1:49)

190: Baity (Champaign Cent) d. Commean (Glenwood)  (F 3:01)

215: Daly (Carbondale) d. Stevenson (Collinsville) (D 7-5)

285: Moss (Glenwood) d. Mullens (Notre Dame) (F 1:29)

Third-place match results:
106: Finch (Quincy) d. Warchol (O`Fallon)  (F 1:00)

113: De La Cruz (Notre Dame) d. Couri (Notre Dame) (F 5:47)

120: Ferguson (Glenwood) d. Couri (Notre Dame) 7-4,  (F 0:53)

126: Swan (Carbondale)  d. Wood (Carterville)  (D 6-1)

132: Lohmeyer (Quincy) d. Joesting (Notre Dame)  (D 8-7)
138: Chatman (Evergreen Park) d. Hare (Collinsville)  (D 8-1)

144: WiIlson (Notre Dame) d. Toliver-Cook (Carbondale)  (F 5:06)

150: Lilo (Quincy) d. Monahan (Glenwood)  (D 4-3)

157: Helm (Glenwood) d. Al Janabi (O`Fallon)  (D 19-14)

165: Atkins (Notre Dame) d. Reynolds (Riverton)  (F 3:22)

175: Pfleger (Collinsville) d. Mueller (Dunlap) (F 1:20)

190: Mosack (Dunlap) d. Caffey (Carbondale)  (F 4:24)

215: Manrique (O`Fallon) d. Kamm (Quincy) (For.)

285: Zanger (Quincy) d. Johnson (Evergreen Park) (D 7-4)

Civic Memorial’s Steve Bradley Invitational

Host Civic Memorial edged out Murphysboro 211-201 for the team title at this year’s Steve Bradley Invitational on Saturday. The tournament is named for former long-time coach Bradley, who went 356-155 while guiding the program and whose 21-year career ran from 1987-2007.

Olympia (172.5) finished third, followed by Waterloo (169) and Vandalia (164.5).

Civic Memorial coach Jeremy Christeson sent a foursome of individual champs to the awards stand, in Avery Jaime (138), Greg Harkey (144), Knox Verbais (150) and James Wojcikiewicz (165). All four Eagles were dominant in their title matches.

Verbais won the Gary Wintjen Outstanding Wrestler Award after posting three falls and then a tech fall win on the title mat.

“I thought it was a good tourney with some tough competition for us,” Christeson said. “We had seven in the finals and won four of them and in a couple of the finals matches we were up and ended up losing. So that’s something that’s going to be addressed going forward.

“I thought we wrestled decent for the day. Murphysboro kept us on our toes all day for sure. Coach (Shea) Baker does an outstanding job down there in Murphysboro and they have a good team. I thought Olympia had some tough guys as well. I also thought Waterloo and Mascoutah looked solid.”

1st: Civic Memorial (211)
In addition to dominant performances from Jaime, Harkey, Verbais and Wojcikiewicz, the Eagles got second-place finishes from Cody Weidner (106), Tristan Ward (175) and Luke McCoy (190), and a third from Kevahn Flanagan (215).

Jaime is a returning state medal winner at 126 and is currently ranked No. 3 at 138 in 2A by Rob Sherrill. No. 7 Harkey is the lone freshman ranked at 144, Verbais is No. 2 at 150 after placing third in state at that weight last year, and two-time state qualifier Wojcikiewicz is No. 5 at 165.

2nd: Murphysboro (201)
Four second-place finishes paced Murphysboro, from Paxton Pyatt (120), Sergio Garcia (126), Maxon Stearns (165), and Caybren Hubbard (215). Coach Shea Baker also got thirds from Lemar Treshansky (144), Haegan Hughes (157) and Julien Tanner (285), a fourth from Jeret Edwards (138), and a sixth from Drevan Bramlet (113).

Pyatt is currently ranked No. 6 in 1A at 120, Tanner is No. 4 at 285, and Garcia, Treshansky, and Stearns are ranked among the honorable mentions.

3rd: Olympia (172.5)
Coach Josh Collins’ Spartans had a pair of individual champs in Connor Collins (106) and Darian Holloway (285). The freshman Collins is ranked No. 9 at 106 in 1A and Holloway is No. 3 at 285. Olympia also got a second from No. 5 Brandon Gaither (113), a fourth from Ryan Ballinger (126), fifths from Tucker Garey (120), Carter Knobloch (132), Kenzer Burrell (144) and Austin Kisner (157) and a sixth from Kaden Collins (165).

Additional individual champions:
113: No. 7 2A Matthew Deutch (Waterloo); 120: Dalton St. Angelo (Mt. Vernon); 126: Two-time state finalist, former state champion and No. 1 2A Preston Waughtel (Vandalia); 132: No. 3 2A Jordan Kholian (Jacksonville); 157: returning state runner-up in 2A at 150, No. 3 Brock Ross (Mascoutah); 175: Lonnez Smith (East St. Louis); 190: Brody Belville (Brentwood Academy MO); and 215: No. 2 Jaxson Mathenia (Waterloo), who placed second in 2A at 215 last season.

Additional runners-up:
132: Konnor Stephens (Waterloo); 138: Bo Dominguez (Brentwood MO); 144: Adrian Mendez (Granite City); 150: Tyler Barlow (Bloomington); 157: Dillon Hinton (Vandalia); 285: Jaylen Raab (Bloomington)

Closest calls:
East St. Louis’ Lonnez Smith and Civic Memorial’s Tristan Ward wrestled to the closest final score of any title match at 175, with Smith earning the 6-5 decision win.

Final team scores:
Civic Memorial (211), Murphysboro (201), Olympia (172.5), Waterloo (169), Vandalia (164.5), Mascoutah (122.5), Bloomington (111.5), Brentwood Academy TN (104.5), Mattoon (78.5), Granite City (75), Jacksonville (72), Mt. Vernon (68), Alton (45.5), Jerseyville (41.5), East St. Louis (34.5), Springfield (26.5), Highland (26), Centralia (23), Orchard Farm MO (21), Civic Memorial B (20), E. Alton-W. River (20), Lift for Life Academy MO (12)

Steve Bradley championship match results:

106: Connor Collins (Olympia)  d. Cody Weidner (Civic Mem)  (F 4:29)

113: Matthew Deutch (Waterloo)  d. Brandon Gaither (Olympia)  (F 3:24)

120: Dalton St Angelo (Mt. Vernon)  d. Paxton Pyatt (Murphysboro)  (D 6-0)

126: Preston Waughtel (Vandalia) d. Sergio Garcia (Murphysboro)  (TF 2:13)

132: Jordan Kholian (Jacksonville)  d. Konnor Stephens (Waterloo) (TF 4:16)

138: Avery Jaime (Civic M)  d. bo dominguez (Brentwood)  (F 2:23)

144: Greg Harkey (Civic M)  d. Adrian Mendez (Granite City)  (TF 3:42)

150: Knox Verbais (Civic M) d. Tyler Barlow (Bloomington)  (TF 5:54)

157: Brock Ross (Mascoutah) 6-0,  d. Dillon Hinton (Vandalia)  (D 8-5)

165: James Wojcikiewicz (Civic M) d. Maxon Stearns (Murphysboro)  (MD 9-0)

175: Lonnez Smith (East St. Louis) d. Tristian Ward (Civic Mem) (D 6-5)

190: Brody Belville (Brentwood)  d. Luke McCoy (Civic Mem) (TF 4:13)

215: Jaxson Mathenia (Waterloo) d. Caybren Hubbard (Murphysboro) (TF 0:56)

285: Darian Holloway (Olympia) d. Jaylen Raab (Bloomington)  (TF 3:40)

Third-place match results:

106: Kaden Daughtery (Vandalia)  d. Creed Cole (Mattoon)  (MD 8-0)

113: Cash Waymire (Brentwood)  d. Jaxtyn Howell (Mattoon) 1-2,  (MD 15-6)

120: Ryley Correll (Brentwood)  d. Aiden Evans (Vandalia)  (D 5-3)

126: Xavier Sonon-Hale (Mascoutah)  d. Ryan Ballinger (Olympia)  (TF 6:00)

132: Macguire Leck (Mascoutah)  d. Jack Schweitzer (Bloomington HS)  (D 7-2)

138: Eli Mabry (Vandalia) . d. Jeret Edwards (Murphysboro) 4-2,  (F 2:38)

144: Lemar Treshansky (Murphysboro)  d. Marcus Nobles (Mascoutah)  (TF 5:32)

150: Dade Kleinik (Vandalia)  d. Joe Newell (Waterloo) 3-2,  (F 1:03)

157: Haegan Hughes (Murphysboro) d. Ethan Flanigan (Civic Mem)  (TF 4:47)
165: Brayden Drew (Alton)  d. Bryce Bryant (Springfield) 2-3,  (D 7-1)

175: Jordan Sonon-Hale (Mascoutah)  d. Vince Goodman (Waterloo) D 12-5)

190: Ross Miller (Vandalia)  d. Brock Meyer (Jacksonville) (F 0:52)

215: Kevahn Flanigan (Civic Mem) d. Manning Moore (Brentwood) (F 1:09)

285: Julien Tanner (Murphysboro)  d. Dominic Swyers (Vandalia)  (F 1:44)

Lawrenceville’s Lawrence County Tournament

The host Indians took the team title at this year’s 13-team Lawrence County Tournament, posting a 204.5-169.5 scoring edge over second-place Robinson. Vandalia (168) finished a mere 1.5 points behind Robinson in third place, followed closely in fourth place by Olney (163), with Paris (136) rounding out the top five team finishes.

Lawrenceville had four champs on the day in Dalton Baker (106), Drew Seitzinger (126), Cale Seitzinger (150), and Malikye Williams (190).

1st: Lawrenceville (205.5)
In addition to individual titles from Baker, the Seitzingers, and Williams, coach Cody Bobe got a second from Jude DeCausey (215), a third from Daniel Kiser (157), thirds from Grayson Allender (113), Hudson Meek (144) and Nick Morehead (175), and sixths from Jude Shick (132) and Tucker Waldrop (165).

2nd: Robinson (169.5)
Coach Tanner Keeler’s boys brought home titles from Broady Kelly (138) and Lennox Parker (175), seconds from Landon Cornwell (113) and Gracen Elliott (120), thirds from Connor Schrader (150) and Tucker Hill (215), and fourths from Braxton Pethtel (190) and Jessiah Lee (285).

3rd: Vandalia (168)
Coach Pat Myers’ Vandals got a pair of individual titles from Riley Hinton (120) and Zayne Zinkgraf (157), a second from Corbin Meyers (165), thirds from Dylan Blain (144) and Zayvion Stout (190), fourths from Matthew Lash (106), Robbie McCoy (126), and Keagan Turner (150), and a sixth from Nic Jackson (138).

Final team scores:
Lawrenceville (205.5), Robinson (169.5), Vandalia (168), Olney (163), Paris (136), Mt. Carmel (123.5), Oblong (113), Johnston City (112), Herrin (108), Carmi-White County (79), Fairfield (54), Breese Central (47.5), Marshall (25)

Additional individual champions:
113: Hayden Hazel (Olney); 132: Declyn Paddock (Olney); 144: Jude Wirey (Oblong); 165: Joshua Lamour (Paris); 215: Zander Schrader (Olney); 285: Carter Pyatt (Mt. Carmel)

Additional runners-up:

106: Carter Poole (Fairfield); 126: Jedd Wellen (Fairfield); 132: Braden Berndt (Herrin); 138: Jace Weaver (Johnston City); 144: Elijah Miller (Johnston City); 150: Isaiah Hall (Mt. Carmel); 157: Garrett Rigdon (Paris); 175: Finn Lathrop (Olney); 190: Dominick Khoshaba (Herrin); 285: Gentry Michels (Olney)

Championship match results:106: Dalton Baker (Lawrenceville) d. Carter Poole (Fairfield)  (F 1:47)

113: Hayden Hazel (Olney) d. Landon Cornwell (Robinson)   (F 1:38)

120: Riley Hinton (Vandalia) d. Gracen Elliott (Robinson)  (F 5:53)

126: Drew Seitzinger (Lawrenceville) d. Jedd Wellen (Fairfield)  (F 3:28)

132: Dlyn Paddock (Olney) d. Braden Berndt (Herrin)  (D 9-6)

138: Broady Kelly (Robinson) d. Jace Weaver (Johnston City)  (TF 3:08)
144: Jude Wirey (Oblong) d. Elijah Miller (Johnston City)  (MD 16-5)

150: Cale Seitzinger (Lawrenceville) d. Isaiah Hall (Mt. Carmel)  (D 14-8)

157: Zayne Zinkgraf (Vandalia) d. Garret Rigdon (Paris)  (D 8-1)

165: Joshua Lamour (Paris) d. Corbin Meyers (Vandalia)  (MD 11-1)

175: Lenox Parker (Robinson) d. Finn Lathrop (Olney)  (F 2:48)

190: Malikye Williams (Lawrenceville) d. Dominick Khoshaba (Herrin)  (F 2:40)

215: Zander Schrader (Olney) d. Juded.ausey (Lawrenceville)  (F 2:36

285: Carter Pyatt (Mt. Carmel) d. Gentry Michels (Olney)  (TF-1.5 4:00 (15-0))

Third-place match results:

106: Thomas Stigler (Oblong) d. Matthew Lash (Vandalia)  (F 3:35)

113: Cameron Urbaniak (Herrin)  d. Julian Perez (Paris)  (TF-1.5 1:22 (16-0))

120: Christian Perez (Paris) d. Brennan Jeralds (Herrin)  (D 6-0)

126: Gage Wright (Paris) d. Robbie McCoy (Vandalia)  (F 4:50)

132: Coy Ramero (Paris) d. Kadin Melahn (Mt. Carmel)  (F 1:19)

138: Emmitt Cooley (Mt. Carmel) d. Owen Griffin (Oblong)  (D 12-9)

144: Dylan Blain (Vandalia) d. Tyler Russell (Herrin)  (F 1:59)

150: Connor Schrader (Robinson)  d. Keagan Turner (Vandalia)  (fft.)

157: Daniel Kiser (Lawrenceville) d. Dakota Woods (Mt. Carmel)  (F 3:08)

165: Cole Littlejohn (Oblong) d. Cole Evans (Carmi-White County)  (F 1:22)

175: Oliver Hoke (Oblong) d. Branson Burnett (Carmi-White County)  (F 1:19)

190: Zayvion Stout (Vandalia) d. Braxton Pethtel (Robinson) 2-3, . (F 5:52)

215: Tucker Hill (Robinson) d. Jackson Kling (Mt. Carmel)  (F 0:49)

285: Logan Curl (Paris) d. Jessiah Lee (Robinson)  (F 3:12)

Southeast Tournament

There was no team scoring at Springfield Southeast’s 21-team tournament. East Peoria led all teams with five individual champions and 11 wrestlers finishing in the top four of their weight classes. St. Joseph-Ogden and Danville had two champions apiece.

Championship match results:
106: Tucker Brown (E Peoria)  d. Carlos Juarez (Danville)  (DQ)
113: Ben Wells (S.J.-Ogden) d. Kohl Fuller (Hillsboro) (F 1:19)

120: Eli Carel (Warsaw) d. Bocephus Schnoor (Midwest C)  (F 1:56)

126: Yariah Shaw (Danville) d. Camden Getty (St. Joseph (S.J.-Ogden)  (D 9-4)

132: Trevion Murphy (MacArthur) d. Wyatt Brown (E Peoria)  (F 0:18)

138: Martavious Johnson (Eisenhower) d. Briar Kuhl (Hillsboro) (MD 9-1)

144: Cooper Chester (E Peoria) d. Gavin Watson (Sparta)  (F 3:10)

150: Braxton Glodo (Sparta) d. Cole Brooks (E Peoria)  (F 2:43)

157: Nathand Daly (S.J.-Ogden) d. Jovonis Lunford (Sacred Heart-Griffin) (F 3:32)

165: Malik Mosley (Urbana) d. Jeremy Judd (Sacred Heart-Griffin)  (F 5:11)

175: Josiah Williams (Danville) d. Coy Hayes (S.J.-Ogden)  (D 10-3)

190: Dalton Oakman (E Peoria) d. Ryker Gemberling (Deer Creek-Mack)  (F 0:18)

215: Alecd.el Toro (E Peoria) d. Brydon Walters (Knoxville)   (F 1:40)

285: Keegan Barnes (E Peoria) d.ylan Heinen (Sparta)  (D 5-0)

Third-place match results:
106: Kaci Eller (Midwest C) d. Leah Call (MacArthur)  (TB-1 4-2)

113: Cooper Stine (Sparta) d. Ben Marshall (Deer Creek-Mack)  (D 5-4)

120: Landon Bandy (Hillsboro) d. Jayce McMillon (Taylorville)  (F 0:51)

126: Alan Jaimes (Curie) d. Skyler Sturgeon (Hillsboro)  (SV-1 7-6)

132: Leland Pulido (Curie) d. Liam Kalar (Hillsboro) (D 3-0)

138: Nick Wall (Knoxville) d. Dante Wade (Springfield Southeast)  (TF 2:00)

144: Francisco Camargo (Curie) d. Keegan Albright (Taylorville)  (F 1:00)

150: Jamarkus Miller (E Peoria) d. Evan Smith (Warsaw) (D 7-0)

157: Caleb Clevenger (Knoxville) d. Aidan Burwell (E Peoria)  (For.

165: Andy Cuevas (Curie) d.ylan Lee (Danville)  (D 7-6)

175: Gabed.el Toro (E Peoria) d. Jonnah Fallonner (Urbana)  (D 8-2)

190: Casen Lyons (Sacred Heart-Griffin) d. Bodine Marable (Pittsfield)  (TF 2:12)

215: Fisher McEuen (Pittsfield)  d. Connor Hunsley (Taylorville) (F 1:39)

285: Richard Gilmore (Midwest C) d. Mason Currie (Hillsboro)  (F 0:35)

157 B:
1st: Wyatt Durham (E Peoria) d. Landyn Seal (Pittsfield)  (F 1:16)

2nd: Gavin Shomaker (Hillsboro) d. Santiago Valadez (Curie)  (D 2-1)

Washington Varsity Invitational
IC Catholic Prep sent 10 wrestlers to the finals and had eight individual champions in winning this year’s 8-team Washington Invitational. The Knights (292.5) were followed by Hersey (184.5), Oak Park and River Forest (168), host Washington (163.5) Rock Island (136.5), Oakwood/Salt Fork (112), Unity (1-2) and Plano (36).

Top-ranked defending 2A team champion IC Catholic also won last week’s Barrington team title. Host Washington is ranked No. 2 in 2A.

Individual champs for IC Catholic were Mike Bird (106), Max Cumbee (132), Frank Nitti (144), Jacob Alvarez (150), Aidan Arnett (157), Brody Kelly (175), Foley Calcagno (215) and Anthony Sebastian (285).
No. 8 Bird won a 6-4 decision over Washington’s top-ranked Symon Woods on the title mat at 106, while No. 3 Sebastian topped Washington’s No. 4 Sean Thornton by 1-0 decision in the finals at 285.

In other marquee finals matches, Oak Park’s returning state champion Michael Rundell, ranked No. 2 in 3A at 113, won by 8-0 major decision over 2A IC Catholic’s top-ranked Drew Murante. Hersey’s 3A No. 5 Oleksandr Havrylkiv won by fall over OPRF’s No. 1 Jamiel Castleberry at 126 pounds.

Championship matches:
106: Mike Bird (IC Catholic) d. Symon Woods (Washington) D 6-4
113: Michael rundell (OPRF) d. Drew Murante (IC Catholic) MD 8-0

120: Pedro Rangel (Oakwood/Salt Fork) d. Micah Jackson (Washington) D 9-6

126: Oleksandr Havrylkiv (Hersey) d. Jamiel Castelberry (OPRF) F 5:47

132: Max Cumbee (IC Catholic) d. Mason Swartz (Oakwood/Salt Fork) D 10-3
138: Devin Ehler (Oakwood/Salt Fork) d. Jack Hanrahan (IC Catholic) D 6-2
144: Frank Nitti (IC Catholic) d. Zev Koransky (OPRF) MD 11-2
150: Jacob Alvarez (IC Catholic) d. Aiden Noyes (OPRF) SV-1 4-1
157: Aidan Arnett (IC Catholic) d. David Ogunsanya (OPRF) d. 12-7
165: Wyatt Medlin (Washington) d. Frankie Tagoe (Hersey) TF 4:19
175: Brody Kelly (IC Catholic) d. Josh Heath (Unity) F 1:36
190: Grant Moga (Hersey) d. Wyatt Leman (Washington) MD 13-3
215: Foley Calcagno (IC Catholic) d. Johnathan Slump (Hersey) F 3:28
285: Anthony Sebastian (IC Catholic) d. Sean Thornton (Washington) D 1-0

Third-place matches:

106: Angelo Parker (Rock Island) d. Jordan Dezara (OPRF) D 12-5
113: Steven Uden (Oakwood) d. Stone McKone (Hersey) D 7-2

120: Liam Nikolakakis (OPRF) d. Josias Bolinger (Rock Island) F 3:12
126: Sam Murante (IC Catholic) d. Lucas Bach (Washington) MD 16-7
132: Logan Makiney (Washington) d. Alex Cohen (OPRF) D 8-1
138: AJ Daly (Unity) d. Maricio Parker (Rock Island) D 9-6
144: Hunter Shike (Unity) d. Tyler Huchel (Oakwood) D 7-0
150: Ian McGowan (Rock Island) d. Honorio Yin (Hersey) D 3-2}
157: Cruise Brolley (Washington) d. Jeremiah Hernandez (OPRF) TF 229
165: Abram Davidson (Unity) d. Gustavo Quiroz (Hersey) F 3:16
175: Drew Frank (Hersey) d. Emarion Harris (Rock Island) SV-1 12-9
190: Kylan Mitchell (Rock Island) d. Wade Leman (Washington) MD 13-3
215: Rowan Stockwell (Rock Island) d. Pierre Nelson (OPRF) D 6-5
285: MarQuan Young (Washington) d. Hersey (Harrison Lacaeyse (Hersey) F 3:10

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Princeton’s 2nd Annual Girls PIT

35 teams traveled to Princeton for its 2nd Annual PIT tournament and when the dust settled, Minooka loaded the championship trophy onto the team bus.

Coach Paige Schoolman’s Indians posted 163 points, getting an individual title from Ezra Rodriquez (145) to lead the way among nine girls who finished in the top six of their weight classes.

“The girls had a nice week with dual wins over solid teams in Joliet West and Homewood-Flossmoor,” Minooka coach Paige Schoolman said. “The PIT was a great opportunity to get all of our girls matches and work on the skills we have been developing in practice.

“Our girls are starting to gel as a team and become supportive of each other. The more we wrestle for each other the better we will be throughout the year.” 

A dogfight for second place saw Geneseo edge out Ottawa, 144.5-144, with LaSalle-Peru hot on their heels with 140 points. Hampshire (112.5) rounded out the top five team finishers.

1st: Minooka (163)

Rodriquez used three first-period falls and a 9-3 decision in winning her title at 145, and Schoolman got a pair of second-place finishes from Therese Escano (105) and Sabina Charlebois (130). The Indians also got a third from Abigail Underhill (170), fourths from Marian Nordsell (110) and Gianna Boudonck (135), and fifths from Anastasia Dewey (125), Lexie Lakota (135), and Mia Lemberg (190).

“Sabina, Therese, and Ezra were impressive on the way to the finals,” Schoolman said. “Ezra dominated her bracket, Sabina imposed her will all day and came up just short, and Therese was outstanding in her debut at 105.  She is only a second-year wrestler that has  sky-high potential.”

Schoolman had high praise for all his placers at Princeton.

“Abby (170) is a second-year wrestler that just gets better every time she competes. She is a consistent worker and is getting better everyday.

“Marian (110) wrestled really well. She had a state qualifier on the ropes in the semis and just let it slip away at the last minute. Gianna (135) is another second-year wrestler that managed to battle through the bracket to the third-place match.

“Lexie (135) can be really good by the end of the year, Anastasia (125) looked great throughout every match, and Mia (190) is going to be a problem for girls in her weight class all year.”

2nd: Geneseo (144.5)

Maple Leafs coach Carley Rusk got a second-place finish from Sophia Urquiza (135) and a quartet of thirds from Addison Hadsall (100), Giana Wurslin (105), Lydia King (120) and Annibelle Juarez (140), and a fourth from Ayla Schultz (125).

3rd: Ottawa (144)
Coach Kevin Aughenbaugh got an individual title from Lily Gwaltney (110), seconds from Isabel Gwaltney (100), Ava Weatherford (140), and Juliana Thrush (235), and fourths from Val Munoz (115), Jaiyden Provance (140), and Alivia Butler (145).

PIT individual champions:

100: Chloe Collins (Olympia); 105: Annabelle Mueller (Hampshire); 110: Lily Gwaltney (Ottawa); 115: Laila Vaughn (Streator); 120: Stella Piazza (Hampshire); 125: Kiely Domyancich (LaSalle-Peru); 130: Sydney Cannon (Mt. Zion); 135: Michelle Naftzger (Erie); 140: Jaelyn Hare (East Moline); 145: Ezra Rodriquez (Minooka); 155: Aaliyah Swearingen (Kewanee); 170: Jessica Toomey (Mt. Zion); 190: Courtney Walls (Rock Island); 235: Phoenix Molina (Unity)

Final team scores:
Minooka (163), Geneseo (144.5), Ottawa (144), LaSalle-Peru (140), Hampshire (112.5), Freeport (106), Washington (100), Rock Island (84l.5), Erie (79.5), Kewanee (62), Dunlap (61), Mt. Zion (60), ROWVA (57.5), Streator (53.5), Olympia (52), Princeton (46), Tolono (46), Mahomet-Seymour (45), United (43), Normal Community West (38), Metamora (36), Genoa-Kingston (30), Moline (30), Illini West (28), Farmington (26), Galena (25), Illinois Valley Central (23), Morton (22), Rock Falls (20), Sherrard (19)

Close title matches:
In a matchup between returning multiple state medal winners, Unity’s Phoenix Molina won a 1-0 decision over Ottawa’s Juliana Thrush. Molina placed third at 235 last year while Thrush placed sixth.

Individual bests:
Geneseo’s Lydia King posted the most pins in the least time of anyone present, winning by fall in five matches in a grand total of 5:49. Erie’s Ayden Grawe had the most tech falls in the least time, with two techs in 4:09. Grawe also posted the fastest tech fall of the tournament, in 1:00. LaSalle-Peru’s Kiely Domyancich scored the most team points with 32, ROWVA’s Marissa Brown scored the most single-match points with 22, and Hampshire’s Madison Minson scored the most total match points with 60.
Kewanee’s JenDayia Crowe provided the largest seed-place difference, when she placed second as the No. 28 seed at 125.

PIT championship match results:
100: Chloe Collins (Olympia) d. Isabel Gwaltney (Ottawa) F 0:49
105: Annabelle Mueller (Hampshire) d. Therese Escano (Minooka) F 2:40
110: Lily Gwaltney (Ottawa) d. Rozlyn Mosher (Erie) F 5:56
115: Laila Vaughn (Streator) d. Lyndsey Brewer (Farmington) F 1:08
120: Stella Piazza (Hampshire) d. Kaiya Galindo (Freeport) F 0:49
125: Kiely Domyancich (LaSalle-Peru) d. JenDayia Crowe (Kewanee) F 1:04
130: Sydney Cannon (Mt. Zion) d. Sabina Charlebois (Minooka) F 3:36
135: Michelle Naftzger (Erie) d. Sophia Urquiza (Geneseo) F 1:25
140: Jaelyn Hare (United) d. Ava Weatherford (Ottawa) F 3:09
145: Ezra Rodriquez (Minooka) d. Leah Brammeier (Olympia) F 1:26
155: Aaliyah Swearingen (Kewanee) d. Arian Sabu (Normal West) F 1:12
170: Jessica Toomey (Mt. Zion) d. Grace Mordhorst (Washington) F 0:55
190: Courtney Walls (Rock Island) d. Patience Riggs (ROWVA) TF 2:55
235: Phoenix Molina (Unity) d. Juliana Thrush (Ottawa) D 1-0

Third-place results:
100: Addison Hadsall (Geneseo) d. Sierra Tuttle (Mahomet-Seymour) F 328
105: Giana Wurslin (Geneseo) d. Rylee Backes (Princeton) F 0:58
110: Sarah Lowery (LaSalle-Peru) d. Marian Nordsell (Minooka) D 6-4
115: Brea Balles (Freeport) d. Val Munoz (Ottawa) fft.
120: Lydia King (Geneseo) d. Lilyana Malagon (Illinois Valley Central) F 0:34
125: Calliope Willman (Metamora) d. Ayla Schultz (Geneseo) F 2:36
130: Ava Beldo (Unity) d. Ayden Grawe (Erie) F 1:02
135: Emma Ziegler (Washington) d. Gianna Boudonck (Minooka) F 2:17
140: Annibelle Juarez (Geneseo) d. Jaiyden Provance (Ottawa) F 1:12
145: Madison Minson (Hampshire) d. Alivia Butler (Ottawa) D 13-7
155: Paytyn Dykes (Washington) d. Marisa Eggersdorfer (LaSalle-Peru) F 1:46
170: Abigail Underhill (Minooka) d. Violet Gray (Vandalia) D 9-3
190: Samantha Diehl (Hampshire) d. Atalyssa Craig (Dunlap) F 0:52
235: Jakeria Wilson (Moline) d. Destiny Kaeding (Dunlap) F 3:43

Sterling’s Carson DeJarnatt Girls Invitational

Plainfield South snared the team title at this year’s 16-team Carson DeJarnatt Girls Invitational. The Cougars out-pointed second-place Galesburg 170.5-116, followed by Sycamore (98.5), St. Charles East (91.5), and host Sterling (85) to round out the first five team finishes.

Cougars coach Tom Redmon saw five individual champions scale the awards stand in Amie Fuentes (100), Kayla Ochotorena (115), Alexia Kachiroubas (120), Layla Spann (170), and Kimyra Patrick (190). Eight additional girls placed in the top six of their weight classes.

“It was an outstanding team effort and resulted in a team championship,” Redmon said. “We had five individual champions… all wrestled exceptionally well, and Layla (Spann) earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award for the upper weight classes.”

Team captains Fuentes and Ochotorena shined on their paths to winning the finals, as did Kachiroubas and freshman standout Patrick. Spann was dominant in pinning her way to the title at 170 pounds.
And no team title is won without contributions in the consolation bracket.

“I’m also proud of the girls who battled on the backside of their brackets to score crucial team points,” Redmon said. “Sophia Zuno (105) and Yuli Manrique (125) both fought back to place and are quickly becoming key contributors to our varsity lineup despite being underclassmen.”

1st place: Plainfield South (170.5)

In addition to its five champions, the Cougars got thirds from Yuliana Manrique (125) and Madelynn Cozzi (140), a fourth from Alycia Rodriguez (155), and fifths from Desirae Almazan-Delfierro (100), Sophia Zunno (105), Vida Sanchez (125), Eloise Simpson (130) and Sammie Ntone (190). Plainfield South got a sixth from Zola Buerdette (145), and an unscored sixth from Olivia Gounelis (120).

“Overall, this team championship reflects the growth we’re seeing across the entire squad,” Redmon said. “Our athletes are gaining confidence in their offense from neutral and showing far fewer of the mistakes we saw earlier in the season.

“As a coach, I’m thrilled with their progress and with the supportive, growth-focused culture they continue to build — one pushing everyone to raise their standards and elevate their performances.”

2nd place: Galesburg (116)

Coach Ryan Shipp got an individual title from Hannah Barton (155), seconds from Amyah Pruitt (130), Vivian Aldus (140), and Jasmine Dillard (170), a third from Dai Driana Wilford (135), a fourth from Macie Taylor (190), non-scoring fourths from Willow Pilger (130) and Delilah Gregory (135), and a fifth from Victoria Sutton (135).

3rd place: Sycamore (98.5)

Sycamore only entered seven wrestlers but got a pair of individual titles from Ema Durst (140) and Jasmine Enriquez (235) for coach Randy Culton, a second from Winter Beard (135), a third from Frankie McMurtry (170), a fourth from Ella West (110), and a fifth from Rayanna Graziano (235).

DeJarnatt individual champions:
100: Amie Fuentes (Plainfield South); 105: Saya Hongmoungkhoune (Rockford East); 110: Blair Grennan (Newman Central Catholic); 115: Kayla Ochotorena (Plainfield South); 120: Alexia Kachiroubas (Plainfield South); 125: Valentina Solorzano (St. Charles East); 130: Kerby Germann (Fulton); 135: Aubrey Herndon (Polo); 140: Ema Durst (Sycamore); 145: Vivianna Torres (Sterling); 155: Hannah Barton (Galesburg); 170: Layla Spann (Plainfield South); 190: Kimyra Patrick (Plainfield South); 235: Jasmine Enriquez (Sycamore)

Final team scores:
Plainfield South (170.5), Galesburg (116), Sycamore (98.5), St. Charles East (91.5), Sterling (85), Macomb (76), Newman Central Catholic (56), Fulton (54), DUPEC (53), Polo (52), Rockford East (50.5), Limestone (40), Clinton (37), Dixon (37), Guilford (17)

Individual bests:
Clinton’s Sandy Clark posted the most pins in the least time, pinning three opponents in 2:15, while Sycamore’s Frankie McMurtry posted the fastest pin in the tournament at 9 seconds. St. Charles East’s Sydney Stieb had the fastest tech fall win in 1:36. Stieb also scored the most single-match points with 21. Polo’s Aubrey Herndon and Plainfield South’s Yuliana Manrique tied for the most total match points with 41, and the largest seed-place difference went to Plainfield South’s Alexia Kachiroubas, who won the title at 120 as the No. 7 seed.

Championship match results:
100: Amie Fuentes (Plainfield S) d. Lynorah Hansen (Newman) (F 1:48)

105: Saya Hongmoungkhoune (Rockford E) d. Kylie Tate (Sterling) 2-4, (F 3:01)

110: Blair Grennan (Newman) d. Sydney Stieb (SC East)  (F 2:59)

115: Kayla Ochotorena (Plainfield S) d. Sophia Rivas (SC East) (F 2:45)

120: Alexia Kachiroubas (Plainfield S) d. Tylee D`Agostin (DUPEC)  (F 2:52)

125: Valentina Solorzano (SC East) d. Maria Hernandez (Macomb) 3-2,  (F 1:42)

130: Kerby Germann (Fulton) d. Amyah Pruitt (Galesburg) (F 2:16)

135: Aubrey Herndon (Polo) d. Winter Beard (Sycamore)  (MD 14-5)

140: Ema Durst (Sycamore) d. Vivian Aldus (Galesburg)  (TF 2:25)

145: Vivianna Torres (Sterling) d. Dru Hyde (Macomb) (F 3:35)

155: Hannah Barton (Galesburg) d. Diana Naxi (Clinton) (D 13-6)

170: Layla Spann (Plainfield S) d. Jasmine Dillard (Galesburg)  (F 3:22)

190: Kimyra Patrick (Plainfield S) d. Avery Lundgren (Macomb)  (F 2:22)

235: Jasmine Enriquez (Sycamore) d. Adryanna Castro (Rockford E) (F 0:19)

Third-place match results:

100: Sandy Clark (Clinton) d. Bailynn Dunham (SC East)  (F 1:21)

105: Lucy Bawinkel (Polo) d. Kachi Tijerina (SC East)  (F 2:35)

110: Nevaeh Delgado (Sterling) d. Ella West (Sycamore) 2-4, (F 0:46)

115: Tenley Hale (Limestone) d. Kaia Hale (Limestone) (F 1:16)

120: Tessa Fosdick (Fulton) 5-2, d. Kyara Chavez (Dixon) 3-2, (F 3:29)

125: Yuliana Manrique (Plainfield S) d. Abi Lahey (DUPEC)  (MD 14-5)

130: Ireland Dolan (DUPEC) d. Willow Pilger (Galesburg)  (F 1:21)

135: Dai Driana Wilford (Galesburg) d. Delilah Gregory (Galesburg)  (F 4:55)

140: Madelynn Cozzi (Plainfield S) d.  (Bye)

145: Rachel Lance (Dixon) d. Dana Kane (Macomb)  (F 0:19)

155: Talhia Hostetter (Limestone) d. Alycia Rodriguez (Plainfield S)  (F 4:31)

170: Frankie McMurtry (Sycamore) d. Aleigha Sharon (Macomb) 0-3,  (F 0:09)

190: Anjanne Haywood (Guilford) 5-2d. Macie Taylor (Galesburg) (F 0:28)

235: Arianna Tamayo (Sterling) d. Sophie Bolanos (Rockford E)  (For.)

Granite City Girls Invitational

Edwardsville dominated the 30-team field at Granite City for coach Jon Wagner. The Tigers had three individual champions and multiple place-winners in posting 243.5 team points. Triad (138) placed second, followed by Collinsville (130), Granite City (116.5) and Bartlett TN (107) to round out the fop five team finishes.

Wagner commented on his girls’ performance in The Intelligencer:

“I’m very proud of the girls and their competitive nature,” Wagner said. “They went down there to have some fun, but also to get after it a little. “They’ve been working really hard in the room every day, and this was a chance for them to show what they’re capable of.”

1st: Edwardsville (243.5)

The Tigers got individual titles from returning state medalist Emma Rogers (105), Genevieve Dykstra (115) and Victoria White (190) to lead the way. Rogers and Dykstra won by fall in the finals, while White and Granite City’s Demi Barnes competed in one of the few title matches that didn’t end by fall, with White winning 6-2 on the title mat.

Placing second for Edwardsville were Maddy Allen (100), Olive Linhorst (125) and a non-scoring wrestler in Kennedy Downs (235). Tigers finishing third were Adleight  Dewerff (110), Allie Chong (120), Lydia Blind (140), and non-scoring Brooklyn Alldredge (125). Gretchen Taylor (135) placed fourth and Angie Nunez (235) placed fifth.

“Vicky (White) is just resilient. She wrestled a really good girl from Granite City in the finals. It was a great match,” Wagner said. “She just continued to fight throughout the whole match. It was special to see.

“Emma was just Emma. She is always ready  to wrestle…she had a big match in the finals, and you’re never going to get anything easy against her.”

“Genevieve…she’s been working extremely hard, not just this season but in the offseason, and it really paid off. She looked good, she looked confident, move to move, and she was relentless.”

2nd: Triad (138)
Knights coach Lucas Bernal got an individual title from Makenna Steele (135), a second from Kaitlin Wood (170), thirds from Cloe Graumenz (115) and Beckah Burrelsman (235), and sixths from Imani Hawkins (140) and Terryiah Lamb-Carraway (190).

3rd: Collinsville (130)
The Kahoks sent three to the title mat for coach Adam Gillispie, with Londyn Long (125) winning an individual title and second-place finishes coming from Ivana Torres (110) and Leann Cory (155). Collinsville also got fifth-place finishes from Jazelle Young (115) and Addyson Bailey (145) and a sixth from Emma Ford (120).

Granite City individual champions:
Roxana’s Madelyn Murphy (100), Edwardsville’s Emma Rogers (105), Porta’s Alexia Glover (110), Genevieve Dystra (115), Hazelwood West of Missouri’s Yanni Smith (120), Collinsville’s Londyn Long (125), Cahokia’s Te’Aja Young (130), Triad’s Makenna Steele (135), Granite City’s Audrey Barnes (140), Cumberland’s Natalie Beaumont (145), Freeburg’s Grace Stratton (155), Bartlett, Missouri’s Paige McKendry (170), and Belleville West’s Andre’a Kirkpatrick (235).

Individual bests:
With five falls in 4:52 total time, Springfield Co-op’s Kimoreyee Ballard finished with the most pins in the least time of all wrestlers present in Granite City. Ballard also posted the fastest fall in 11 seconds. Jacksonville’s Kaitlyn Knight had the fastest tech fall in 1:42.
Three girls tied for the most team points scored with 32, in Freeburg’s Grace Stratton, Bartlett, Missouri’s Paige McKendry and Cahokia’s Te’Aja Young. Bartlett’s Terrellyn Cannon had the most single match points with 24, and Freeburg’s Brielle Becker scored the most total match points with 54.
Alton’s Aryanna Jones provided the largest seed-place difference as the No. 24 seed placed sixth at 125.

Final team scores:
Edwardsville (243.5), Triad (138.5), Collinsville (130), Granite City (116.5), Bartlett, MO (107), Belleville West (98), Glenwood (94), Springfield Co-Op (94), Cahokia (86), Hazelwood West MO (75), Freeburg (73), Waterloo (72), Civic Memorial (70.5), Jacksonville (70.5), Roxana (58.5), Porta (50), Cumberland (44), Belleville East (40), O’Fallon (39), Mascoutah (33), Highland (29.5), Robinson (29), Hazelwood Central MO (25), Alton (23.5), East St. Louis (23), Carbondale (20), Rochester (15), Jerseyville (7), Mt. Vernon (7), Notre Dame (0)

Championship results:
100: Madelyn Murphy (Roxana) d. Maddy Allen (Edwardsville) (TF 18-2)

105: Emma Rogers (Edwardsville) d. Kadi Wilbern (Glenwood) (F 0:52)
110: Alexia Glover (Porta) d. Ivana Torres (Collinsville) (F 2:52)
115: Genevieve Dykstra (Edwardsville) d. Ma`Kayla Bonner (Granite City) (F 1:26)
120: Yanni Smith (Hazelwood W) d. Cecelia Irwin (Springfield(Coop)) (F 3:47)
125: Londyn Long (Collinsville) d. Olive Linhorst (Edwardsville) (F 3:29)
130: Te`Aja Young (Cahokia) d. Isabella Resendez (Glenwood) (F 2:12)
135: Makenna Steele (Triad) d. Ja`yla Hurst (Belleville W) (F 1:57)
140: Audrey Barnes (Granite City) d. Scarlett Gentille (O`Fon) (F 3:11)
145: Natalie Beaumont (Cumberland) d. Lauren Arrington (Bartlett) (MD 14-6)
155: Grace Stratton (Freeburg) d. Leann Cory (Collinsville) (F 0:32)
170: Paige McKendry (Bartlett) d. Kaitlin Wood (Triad) ,  (F 1:48)
190: Victoria White (Edwardsville) d. Demi Barnes (Granite City) (D 6-2)
235: Andre`a Kirkpatrick (Belleville W) d. Kennedy Downs (Edwardsville) (F 3:30)

Third-place results:
100: Ariel Sipes (Porta) d. Dasia McCracken (Robinson) 5-2,  (F 1:17)
105: Phoenix Criss (Springfield Co-op) d. Janiya Fleming (Hazelwood W) (F 1:37)
110: Adleigh Dewerff (Edwardsville) d. Riley Weems (Belleville West) (F 1:33)
115: Cloe Graumenz (Triad) d. Olivia Jarrett (Glenwood) (F 3:06)
120: Allie Chong (Edwardsville) d. Kathleen Loyola (Carbondale) (MD 12-0)
125: Brooklyn Alldredge (Edwardsville) d. Lucy Baldwin (Waterloo) (D 4-1)
130: Ella Berg (Bartlett) d. Sidney Ufert (Roxana) (F 2:25)
135: Madelyn Edler (Waterloo) d. Gretchen Taylor (Edwardsville) (F 0:32)
140: Lydia Blind (Edwardsville) d. Macee Hammond (Robinson) (F 3:25)
145: Jariyah Powell (East St. Louis) d. Kyla Ford (Carbondale) (D 7-5)
155: Bailly Rabun (Hazelwood W) d. Terrellyn Cannon (Bartlett) (F 4:45)
170: Janylah Holman (Cahokia) d. Audrey Whipple (Civic Memorial) (F 1:57)
190: Kamryn Brown (Cahokia) d. Vanessa Kelley (Springfield(Coop)) (F 0:26)
235: Beckah Burrelsman (Triad) d. Nina Landmann (Highland) (F 2:30)

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Plainfield North Dual Team Tournament

Lincoln-Way East coach Collin McKillip got a fine day’s work from his boys at this year’s 16-team dual tournament at Plainfield North, as the Griffins went a perfect 5-0 against De La Salle (78-5), Willowbrook (72-3), York (63-11), Glenbard North (46-27) and Joliet West (49-23).

Only Glenbard North came within 20 team points of the Griffins in any dual.

“We competed really well,” McKillip said. “We are a different team than last year with a lot of guys getting their first crack at varsity wrestling and we are starting to adapt really well.

“GBN and Joliet West are quality teams which ended up as good wins for our team. We really head into the meat of our schedule over the next three weekends so it should be fun.”

Going a perfect 5-0 for Lincoln-Way East were Dino Dajani (113), Lucas Ankario (132), JT Theis (138), and Kaidge Richardson (150), Max Mularz (157) and Colton Zvonar (190).

“They went unbeaten and won some big matches for them personally, to show themselves where they are at here early in the season,” McKillip said. “(Theis, Richardson and Zvonar) really are the pulse of our team to go along with our heavyweights Gage LaDere and Ryan Stingily. And Max is a senior finally getting his chance to really put his toe to the line at every meet this year.”

Joliet West finished second overall and went 4-1 on the day, topping Wauconda (44-32), Hinsdale Central (64-11), Plainfield North (52-24), and Moline (47-30) before losing to Lincoln-Way East.

Going unbeaten on the day for Joliet West coach Awais Arain were Francisco Oliva (106/113), Jakob Crandall (126/132), and Aiden Brown (165/175).

Glenbard North finished third overall, beating Rantoul (81-0), Dundee-Crown (68-9), Deerfield (45-23), and Moline (56-16) and suffering its lone loss to Lincoln-Way East (46-27).

Vannak Khiev (126/132) went a perfect 6-0 for Panthers coach Travis Cherry. Also going unbeaten for Glenbard North was Xavier Smiley (5-0 at 175).

Fourth-place Moline went 3-2 on the day, beating Auburn (78-6), McHenry (51-26) and Sandwich (56-23) before losing to Joliet West and Glenbard North. Matthew Hoss (113) and Housseyn Ndiaye (138) both went 5-0 for Maroons coach Jake Ruettiger.

Other unbeatens at Plainfield North (minimum 4 matches wrestled):

Dundee-Crown’s Teigen Moreno (5-0 at 215); De La Salle’s Justin Forbes (5-0 at 120); Deerfield’s Jake Pechter (5-0 at 106) and Alex Shvartsman (5-0 at 144/150); York’s Jackson Hanselman (5-0 at 165) and Noah Blust (4-0 at 175); Hinsdale Central’s Logan Barrios (5-0 at 132); McHenry’s Ryan Johnston (5-0 at 144) and Marc Walsh (5-0 at 285); Plainfield North’s Aidan Durell (4-0 at 126); and Wauconda’s Nicholas Ruiz (4-0 at 120), Brian Hart (5-0 at 157), Brody McKenna (5-0 at 175) and Finn Loomis (4-0 at 215).

Final team standings:
1. Lincoln-Way East 2. Joliet West 3. Glenbard North 4. Moline 5. Deerfield 6. Wauconda 7. York 8. Sandwich 9. Plainfield North 10. Willowbrook 11. McHenry 12. Rantoul 13. Hinsdale Central 14. Dundee-Crown 15. De La Salle 16. Auburn

Seneca Fighting Irish Invite
Seneca’s 19-team Fighting Irish Invite saw Canton take the team crown 233-205 over host Seneca. Kewanee (181.5) was third followed by Pontiac (157), and Central (155.5) to round out the top five team finishes.

Canton coach Zach Crawford likes what he’s seeing from his boys thus far.
“We had a really great day of wrestling,” Crawford said. “Performing this well early in the season is a huge boost as we move into a busy December schedule.”

The Little Giants got individual titles from Dyllan Steele (120), Maddux Steele (126) and returning state medal winner and No. 2-ranked Connor Williams (285) to lead a group of 10 wrestlers finishing in the top six of their weight classes.

Dyllan Steele gutted out a 1-0 decision for the title at 120 over Seneca’s Raiden Terry, while Maddux Steele and Williams each won by fall in the finals.

1st: Canton (233)
Crawford also got a pair of second-place finishes from Jacob Hardesty (132) and Daniel Kees (165), thirds from Rhett Larson (106), Jireh Hedges (138) and Alex Carrier (157), a fourth from Alex Webster (215), and a sixth from Dean Bruketta (113).
Dyllan Steele, Maddux Steele, Hardesty, and Carrier are all returning state qualifiers ranked in the top 10 of their weight classes in 2A.
“As a team, we were aggressive and kept our pace high as we continued to look to score points and have fun while wrestling,” Crawford said. “We definitely have some room to grow and develop as we progress through the season, but this is a great early season victory for us.”

2nd: Seneca (205)
Fighting Irish coach Todd Yegge had four individual champions in Chris Thompson (113), Ethan Othon (132), Gunner Varland (157) and Landen Venecia (190), plus seconds from Logan Kubat (106) and Raiden Terry (120), and a fourth from Parker Jones (150).

3rd: Kewanee (181.5)
Boilermakers coach Charley Eads got an individual title from Hunter Vancil (138), a second from Doug Swearingen (190), a third from Landon Wier (215), fourths from Trenton Edens (120), Kingston Peterson (126), Lain Taylor (144), Ace Lafollette (165), and Airies Simmons (285), and sixths from Ryan Conway (106), Chance DeSplinter (150), and Brayden Johnson (175).

Additional individual champions:
Amboy’s Aden Spinelli (106), Kewanees Hunter Vancil (138), Eureka’s Finn Hoffman (144), Pontiac’s Noah Davis (150), Brayden Quas (165), and Lucas Maier (175), and Central’s Brody O’Connor (215).

Additional runners-up:
Orion’s Landyn Leech (113), St. Bede’s Michael Benge (126), Streator’s Jesus Martinez (138), Central’s Evan Cox (144), Heyworth’s Nate Godfrey (150), Amboy’s Jose Lopez (157), Beardstown’s Gunner Looker (175), Aurora Central Catholic’s Alex Lopez (215), and Central’s Josh McCurry (285).

Close calls:
In addition to the 1-0 match between tournament champ Dyllan Steele and Raiden Terry, Kewanee’s Hunter Vancil won a 2-1 decision for the title at 138 against Streator’s Jesus Martinez.

Final team scores:
Canton (233), Seneca (205), Kewanee (181.5), Pontiac (157), Central (155.5), Orion (119), Eureka (105.5), Heyworth (95), Amboy (89), Beardstown (77.5), Manteno (76.5), St. Bede (70), Wheaton Academy (55), Streator (44.5), Seneca JV (39), Aurora Central Catholic (27), Walther Christian (24), Somonauk (14), St. Edward (0)

Championship match results:
106: Spinelli (Amboy) d. Kubat (Seneca) TF 3:00
113: Thompson (Seneca) d. Leech (Orion) D 9-2
120: D. Steele (Canton) d. Terry (Seneca) D 1-0
126: M. Steele (Canton) d. Benge (St. Bede) F 1:56
132: Othon (Seneca) d. Hardesty (Canton) D 9-4
138 Vancil (Kewanee) d. Martinez (Streator) D 2-1
144: Hoffman (Eureka) d. Cox (Central) D 5-1
150: Davis (Pontiac) d. Godfrey (Heyworth) F 2:48
157: Varland (Seneca) d. Lopez (Amboy) TF 2:58
165: Quas (Pontiac) d. Kees (Canton) F 3:23
175: Maier (Pontiac) d. Looker (Beardstown) D 11-4
190: Venecia (Seneca) d. Swearingen (Kewanee) F 3:08
215: O’Connor (Central) d. Lopez (Aurora Central Catholic) F 5:37
285: Williams (Canton) d. McCurry (Central) Florida 1:06

Third-place results:
106: Larson (Canton) d. Chestnut (Manteno) F 0:27
113: Chapman (Seneca JV) d. Daley (St. Bede) TF 5:17
120: Williams (Central) d. Edens (Kewanee) F 3:20
126: Voigts (Pontiac) d. Peterson (Kewanee) F 3:24
132: Wiles (Pontiac) d. Watson (Eureka) D 4-1
138: Hedges (Canton) d. Opperman (Pontiac) F 1:18
144: Heath (Amboy) d. Taylor (Kewanee) F 1:39
150: Bailey (Central) d. Jones (Seneca) F 1:27
157: Carrier (Canton) d. Leingang (Orion) F 3:14
165: Medrano (Beardstown) d. Lafollette (Kewanee) fft.
175: Stamp (Heyworth) d. Rodriguez (Walther) TF 2:18
190: Fulcher (Heyworth) d. Radtke (Central) F 2:31
215: Wier (Kewanee) d. Webster (Canton) F 5:22
285: Fulcher (Heyworth) d. Simmons (Kewanee) TF 1:09

Sterling’s 47th Carson DeJarnatt Invitational

Dixon layed claim to the team title at this year’s 13-team DeJarnatt Invite, winning 261-206.5 over second-place Newman Central Catholic. Clinton IA (206) finished a mere 1/2 point behind Newman in third, followed by host Sterling (146) and Galesburg (142) to round out the top five team finishes.

Dixon coach Micah Hey’s Dukes had four individual champions at Sterling, in Riley Paredes (106), Jack Ragan (120), Charlie Connors (144) and Dylan Bopes (285). All four improved to 6-0 on the season. Ragan is top-ranked in 1A at 120 pounds, Paredes is No. 5 at 106, and Connors is No. 8 at 144.

All 12 Dixon wrestlers entered in the tournament finished in the top six of their weight classes.
“It was a great weekend for all of our wrestlers,” Hey said. “Usually, you think of how you let some matches slip away, but this weekend those 50-50 matches mostly all went our way.”

1st: Dixon (261)

Dixon’s big guns showed up.

“Dylan Bopes (285) and Riley Paredes (106) looked real tough with three first-period pins,” Hey said.

Charlie Connors at 144 was named outstanding wrestler for the lower weights and our other champion, Jack Ragan, had two techs and a pin.”

Hey also got second-place finishes from Doolan Long (126), Preston Richards (150) and Dawson Kemp (215), thirds from Channing Sarver (138) and Adam Staples (157), fifths from Caz Barber (132) and Blake Dingley (175), and a sixth from Seth Shaffer (190).

2nd: Newman Central Catholic (206.5)

Comets coach Brody Ivey had a pair of individual champs in Landon Near (113) and Landon Blanton (132), plus seconds from Joe Morse (106), Javen Reyes (120) and Mathew Murray (285), thirds from Tyler Grennan (106) and Zhyler Hansen (126), fourths from Aiden Volz (138) and Ayden Gutierrez (165), a fifth from Ben Geske (157) and a sixth from Matthew Blackert (175).

3rd: Clinton IA (206)
The team from Clinton, Iowa had a pair of individual champs in Danny Peters (150) and Hayden Chandler (215), a pair of seconds from Alfonzo Herrera (138) and Nolan Eggers (165), and a pair of thirds from Jakob Litherland (120) and Brody Harrington (132). Clinton also got fourths from Ty Sander-Welzien (144), Damarius Robinson (190), Angel Lines (215) and Sloan Weaver (285), and sixths from Joaquin Donaire (138), Chase Collender (144), and Isaiah Lines (157).

Additional individual champions:
Woodstock’s Taqiuldin Baker (126), Rock Falls’ Tucker Ullrich (138), Galesburg’s Jack Bernardi (157) and Anthony Makwala (165), Fulton’s Mason Kuebel (175), and Macomb’s Jeshua McPheeters (190).

Additional tournament runners-up:
Sterling’s Evan Jones (113), Cael Lyons (132) and Colt Buntjer (190), Woodstock’s Landyn White (144) and Logan Wisner (157), and Galesburg’s Braiden Tucker (175).

Final team scores:
Dixon (261), Newman Central (206.5), Clinton IA (206), Sterling (146), Galesburg (142), Fulton (129.5), Woodstock (125.5), Rock Falls (119), LaSalle-Peru (74), Polo (41.5), Limestone (40), Macomb (34)

DeJarnatt championship match results:
106: Paredes (Dixon) d. Morse (Newman) F 1:51
113: Near (Newman) d. Jones (Sterling) F 3:04
120: Ragan (Dixon) d. Reyes (Newman) TF 3:52
126: Baker (Woodstock) d. Long (Dixon) D 7-5
132: Blanton (Newman) d. Lyons (Sterling) F 1:35
138: Ullrich (Rock Falls) d. Herrera (Clinton IA) F 1:58
144: Connors (Dixon) d. White (Woodstock) F 1:51
150: Peters (Clinton IA) d. Richards (Dixon) D 7-2
157: Bernardi (Galesburg) d. Wisner (Woodstock) D 7-2
165: Makwala (Galesburg) d. Eggers (Clinton IA) TF 1:33
175: Kuebel (Fulton) d. Tucker (Galesburg) F 0:42
190: McPheeters (Macomb) d. Buntjer (Sterling) D 3-1
215: Chandler (Clinton IA) d. Kemp (Dixon) MD 14-0
285: Bopes (Dixon) d. Murray (Newman) F 0:40

Third-place match results:
106: Grennan (Newman) d. Hartman (Fulton) MD 9-1
113: Price (Fulton) d. Malo (Woodstock) D 9-7
120: Litherland (Clinton, IA) d. Keller (Fulton) F 1:53
126: Hansen (Newman) d. Thome (Rock Falls) MD 15-5
132: Harrington (Clinton IA) d. Oquendo (Rock Falls) F 0:57
138: Sarver (Dixon) d. Volz (Newman) F 3:37
144: Tarbill (Rock Falls) d. Sander-Welzien (Clinton IA) TF 3:19
150: Calvin-Garcia (Woodstock) d. Fisk (Galesburg) MD 21-11
157: Staples (Dixon) d. McCarren (Polo) D 12-5
165: Watson (LaSalle-Peru) d. Gutierrez (Newman) F 3:03
175: Taylor (Galesburg) d. Lawrence (LaSalle-Peru) F 2:52
190: Johnson (Galesburg) d. Robinson (Clinton IA) D 4-3
215: Small (LaSalle-Peru) d. Lines (Clinton IA) F 1:37
285: Petty (Galesburg) d. Weaver (Clinton IA) D 5-3

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

Lincoln-Way’s co-op team, consisting of girls from Lincoln-Way Central, Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way West, enjoyed a very successful season in 2024-2025, by going 6-0 and winning 40-38 over Schaumburg to take first place at the IWCOA Girls State Dual Team Championship in Hoffman Estates and also capturing Antioch, Hampshire and Hoffman Estates invitational championships in addition to taking top honors at the Metamora Regional and claiming third place at the Geneseo Sectional.

But when it came to the ultimate tournament, the IHSA Finals, Lincoln-Way tied for 12th place with 28.5 points, while a co-op team from a district right next to it, District 230, featuring athletes from three schools, Andrew, Carl Sandburg and Stagg, won the state championship with 66 points and Hampshire took second and Kaneland placed third for the other trophies.

So the focus for coach Joshua Napier’s Lincoln-Way co-op team for 2025-2026 is not only enjoying continued tournament success during the regular season but also being able to get more than four state qualifiers and one medalist, Zoe Dempsey, a two-all-stater who finished in third place at 110, as it did at last year’s IHSA Finals in Bloomington.

Lincoln-Way kicked off its season on a high note on Wednesday when it easily captured the title at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown, where it had four champions, three second-place finishers and six others who placed fifth or better. That helped it to score 282 points, which was 120 points ahead of runner-up East Aurora, which easily set a record for biggest margin of a title win in the  three-year old tournament. 

It was quite an improvement, considering that Lincoln-Way placed eighth in last year’s Throwdown, finishing 63.5 points behind champion District 230, who didn’t participate in this year’s event and will compete in its first invite on Saturday at Larkin’s Royal Rumble in Elgin. Although there were 16 teams competing instead of the 29 that were on hand a year ago, this event was very balanced with all but three of the entering scoring 100 or more points.

“I think it was an excellent start to the season,” Napier said. “Our backups wrestled on Monday and I think it motivated these girls. They were excited to watch their teammates do well and then they carried it into today. 

“What I’m most proud of is that we’re developing these girls. If you look at the girls who were in the finals today, Zoe Zerial was a champ who started with us last year and is only a second-year wrestler. Ella Giertuga is a third-year wrestler who started for me at Central before the co-op existed. And another girl that’s a second-year wrestler is Liv Clumpner and Abby Kunz is also a second-year wrestler. So four of the seven girls have no more than two or three years of experience.” 

East Aurora edged Lockport Township 162-156 for second place while newcomer DeKalb edged the host school 149-144 for fourth place. Huntley (134.5), Hoffman Estates (126.5), Geneseo (121), Bolingbrook (117.5), West Aurora (112), Yorkville (112), first-time participant Plainfield South (106.5) and Joliet West were next in line. Coach Ryan Mick’s runner-up Tomcats made a huge improvement after scoring 24.5 points and finishing in 25th place last season.

Leading the way for Lincoln-Way co-op were champions Zoe Zerial (115), Zoe Dempsey (120), Liv Clumpner (140) and Ella Giertuga (145) while Mckenzie Steinke (100), Abby Kunz (140) and Riley DePolo (170) all placed second. Dempsey repeated as a champion in the tournament.

Grace Spangler (110) took third, Georgia Erhardt (110), Dani Schedin (130) and Jalyssa Venegas (235) placed fourth and Emmy Hoselton (105) and Aubrey Barnes (125) finished fifth. Kate Bohms (155), Aryana Moran (155) and Natalie Calleros (190) took eighth and Abby Lizak (120) and Avery Holeman (170) both added wins for the team champions.

The co-op team will also participate in the same tournaments that they won titles in last season as well as this weekend’s Dan Gable Donnybrook in Coralville, Iowa and also competitions at Oswego East and Conant during the 2026 portion of its schedule.

“We’re carrying over the momentum from last season and we had a good year,” Napier said. “We have goals. We know that we want to go back to the Dual Team State Championships and try to win that again. And we’d like to get a handful of qualifiers down and we had four last year. If we can get six or seven and get some of them on the podium, then we’ve got a shot at taking home a trophy, and that’s the goal. 

“We know what we’re doing and the credit has to go to them (his assistant coaches) as well. The girls put in the work but I feel like we’re teaching them the right things and we’re holding them accountable and that’s huge because that’s part of the sport.”

Top performers for runner-up East Aurora were third-place finishers Valentina Barboza (125), Jaylene Dealba (190) and Lilli Ortiz (235) while Alyssa Galarza (155) finished fourth, Joselyn Llanos (110) and Ayelen Higuera (130) took fifth and Lupita Garcia (145) placed sixth. 

Leading the way for the third-place Porters was their lone title winner, two-time IHSA champion and three-time state finalist Claudia Henney (135), who became the only individual to win a title in all three years of the competition, and one of just three who have advanced to three title matches at the Throwdown. 

This was the first tournament for Lockport Township under their new coach, Amier Khamis, who also received a second-place finish from Sophie Kelner (190), third-place efforts from Camila Mendoza (115) and Dakota Obbish (155), fourths from Veronica Skibicki (120) and Mayra Vicencio (170) and fifths from Bella Romando (115) and Rebekah Ramirez (235).

Two other individuals captured their second title in the tournament, Huntley’s Janiah Slaughter (105), who also won in 2023, and West Aurora’s Aiyanah Sylvester (125), a repeat champion who also appeared in her third title match. The other three-time finalist, Huntley’s Aubrie Rohrbacher (130), finally got a first after falling to Heeney the last two years in title matches.

Coach Conor Infelise’s fourth-place Barbs had three champions in their tournament debut, Alex Gregorio-Perez (100), Larisza Gomez-Guevara (110) and Aarianna Bloyd (235) with Gomez-Guevara being one of the two freshman champions in the competition. 

Plainfield South had two title winners in its first year in the event, Layla Spann (170) and Kimyra Patrick (190), with the latter being the other freshman champion. Hoffman Estate’s Sydnee Allen (155) also won a title and joined Sylvester and Zerial as leaders in the most team points with 32 while Dempsey, Gregorio-Perez, Gomez-Guevera and Spann all collected 31.5 team points and Clumpner was next in line with 31 points.

Coach Paige Schoolman’s fifth-place Indians had three second-place finishers, Marian Nordsell (110), Angela Morales (115) and Sabina Charlebois (130) and Joliet West had two runners-up, Veronica Klobnak (135) and Vanessa O’Connor (145). The other second-place finishers were West Aurora’s Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal (105), Geneseo’s Lydia King (120), Morris’ Zara Lugo (125), Bolingbrook’s Savannah Burns (155) and Romeoville’s Henessis Villagrana (235).

The three closest titles matches were at 145, where Giertuga edged O’Connor 5-2 in sudden victory, at 190, where Patrick claimed a 7-4 decision over Kelner and at 235, where Bloyd won a 10-3 decision over Villagrana. 

The toughest weight class was likely at 120, where three 2025 IHSA medalists and one who just missed that honor competed with two-time all-stater Lincoln-Way co-op’s Zoe Dempsey (3rd at 110 in 2025, 5th at 105 in 2024) beating Geneseo’s two-time finalist Lydia King (4th at 120 in 2025) for the championship while Bolingbrook’s Alejandra Flores (4th at 115 in 2025) took third place after losing to King in the semifinals and Lockport Township’s Veronica Skibicki (8th at 110 in 2025) finished fourth after falling to Dempsey in the same round.

Lincoln-Way co-op’s Aubrey Barnes (5th at 125) and Huntley’s Isabelle Singer (5th at 120) both recorded five falls. Hoffman Estates’ Kami Florencio (4th at 125) collected the most total match points with 51 while Morris’ Zara Lugo had the largest seed-place difference after placing second as a 19th-seed at 125. 

Here’s a look at the champions and their weight classes at the Minooka Girls Thanksgiving Throwdown:

100 – Alex Gregorio-Perez, DeKalb

Alex Gregorio-Perez joined Reese Zimmer as DeKalb’s first two medalists in 2024 by claiming a sixth-place finish at 105, and then last season she became her school’s initial two-time medalist with another sixth-place effort at 105. The Barbs senior not only looks to become her school’s first three-time medal winner but also to finish much higher on the IHSA awards stand and she is encouraged that a few of her teammates may also give the school more than one All-Stater for the second time in three years, including two others who joined her as Throwdown champs.

Coach Conor Infelise’s Barbs, making their first appearance in the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown, finished in fourth place with 149 points, which was seven points behind third-place Lockport Township. Gregorio-Perez captured the title at 100 with a victory by technical fall in 4:00 over Lincoln-Way co-op freshman Mckenzie Steinke. She opened with a pin and a win by injury default before earning her spot on the title mat with a fall in 1:26 over Geneseo sophomore Addison Hadsall. She scored a team-high 31.5 points, as did the 110 champion and her training partner, freshman Larisza ‘GG’ Gomez-Guevara while senior Aarianna Bloyd concluded DeKalb’s fine debut showing in the competition with a title at 235.

“I’ve been working all year and me and her have become partners,” Gregorio-Perez said of teammate and champion Larisza Gomez-Guevara. “It’s so fun to have her to be a part of my program. “I’ve been going to practice and advocating for myself since I want more reps. And I want to work, if it’s during practice or after practice or cardio and doing stuff outside of the mat room and practice. I’ve been trying to put myself in more uncomfortable situations, because it’s better to be in uncomfortable situations to get me to where I’m at. Women’s wrestling is the best. The boys have a lot of competition.”

Steinke, one of seven finalists for Joshua Napier’s championship Lincoln-Way co-op, joined teammate Abby Kunz (second at 140), Gomez-Guevara and Plainfield South’s Kimyra Patrick (first at 190) as the lone freshmen to advance to the championship mat. She recorded falls in her first three high school matches, pinning Yorkville senior Danielle Turner in 3:13 in the semifinals to assure her spot in the finals. Hadsell claimed third place with a pin in 0:52 over Turner and in the fifth-place match, West Aurora sophomore Melissa Melgar won by fall in 0:50 over her Blackhawks teammate, freshman Hailey Autry.

105 – Janiah Slaughter, Huntley

Janiah Slaughter won a title at the initial Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown in 2023 to kick off a successful season where she became Huntley’s first two-time IHSA medal winner and also its first individual to compete in a state title match with a runner-up finish to Kaneland’s Angelina Gochis at 105 to follow up on her third-place showing at 100 in 2023 as a freshman. After being unable to add to her medal total in 2024-2025, the Red Raiders senior hopes to cap her career with another run at a state championship and kicked off her season with a first place effort at 105 to become one of five individuals who have claimed two or more titles in the tournament.

She was joined on the top of the awards stand by the program’s other two-time IHSA medal winner, senior Aubrie Rohrbacher, who took top honors at 130 to capture her first championship in three title mat appearances in the Throwdown. They were the two finalists and among five who placed in the top six for sixth-place Huntley, which is coached by Scott Horcher, who also is Aubrie’s grandfather. Slaughter scored 29.5 team points after recording a fall in 3:04 over West Aurora sophomore Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal in the 105 title match. She followed a victory by technical fall with a pin in 3:23 over Yorkville junior Analiese Garretson in the semifinals.

“I’ve been working really hard after missing my junior year,” Slaughter said. “I’m really happy to be able to be back and will just continue working hard. I’ve been training and doing a lot of conditioning and working with the boys more and sharpening my skills. Also, I’m working better in my mental skills and also my physical game, as well. Me and Aubrie came in together and we’ve gone to state together and were always pushing each other and always doing well, so it feels really good coming into our senior year. We’re going to be pushing each other really hard and going to the state tournament together and we’re going to be coming back with a bracket.”

Bolanos-Carbajal joined 125 champion Aiyanah Sylvester, a repeat title winner, as one of two finalists and four top-six placers for new Blackhawks coach Steve Wallace, whose team tied Yorkville for tenth place. The West Aurora sophomore, who was an IHSA qualifier last season at 100, reached the title mat with two falls, winning in 3:58 over DeKalb senior Jade Weiss, another 2025 state qualifier, in the semifinals in a rematch of their consolation match at state. Garretson took third place by injury default over Weiss. In the fifth-place match, Lincoln-Way co-op freshman Emmy Hoselton recorded a pin in 0:43 over Yorkville junior Ava Donahue.

110 – Larisza Gomez-Guevera, DeKalb

Larisza Gomez-Guevera, or GG as she likes to be called, definitely has had a good mentor as she prepared for her high school career competing for DeKalb. Since she began in the sport, she got the opportunity to learn from one of the Barbs’ first medalists and their initial two-time All-Stater, senior Alex Gregorio-Perez, who placed sixth in the state at 105 in each of the last two IHSA Finals. The freshman followed her training partner on the title mat and both of them were able to capture decisive championships at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown.

Gomez-Guevara won her first high school tournament title by recording a fall in 2:59 over Minooka junior Marian Nordsell in the 110 finals, making her the second of three title winners for coach Conor Infelise’s Barbs, who took fourth place in their debut in the competition with 149 points, which was seven points behind third place Lockport Township. DeKalb’s other title winner was senior Aarianna Bloyd, who took first place at 235, the same weight she fell one win shy of placing at in last year’s IHSA Finals. The two lowerweight Barbs champions tied with 31.5 team points as the freshman followed a win by technical fall with two other pins, with the second of those coming in 1:25 over Lincoln-Way co-op sophomore Grace Spangler in the semifinals.

“I know that I’m a freshman and it’s exciting to come out here,” Gomez-Guevara said. “I’ve been training with her (Alex Gregorio-Perez) over the last two summers, so she definitely makes me open up to a new environment. I started taking wrestling seriously in seventh grade and started training with her since then. You have to learn how to be uncomfortable to be comfortable, and she definitely helps me with that. I love the environment (of girls wrestling) since we uplift. We’re supposed to be enemies on the mat, but off the mat, there’s good friendships.”

Nordsell joined teammates Angela Morales (115) and Sabina Charlebois (130) as runner-up finishers to lead the way for coach Paige Schoolman’s fifth-place Indians. She had a team-high 26 team points after earning her spot in the finals with three falls, which was capped by a pin in 2:49 over Lincoln-Way co-op sophomore Georgia Erhardt. The third-place match featured two sophomores from coach Joshua Napier’s championship Lincoln-Way’s co-op team with Spangler winning by fall over Erhardt in 1:29. And in the fifth-place match, East Aurora sophomore Joselyn Llanos recorded a pin in 1:35 over Yorkville freshman Savannah Turner.

115 – Zoe Zerial, Lincoln-Way co-op

Zoe Zerial took third at 115 in the junior-varsity division of last year’s Thanksgiving Throwdown but in this year’s event, the sophomore became the first of four champions for the Lincoln-Way co-op team when she won by fall in 2:26 over Minooka sophomore Angela Morales in the 115 finals. She joined senior Zoe Dempsey (120), sophomore Liv Clumpner (140) and junior Ella Giertuga (145) as champions for coach Joshua Napier’s Lincoln-Way co-op team, which won its first title in the event with 282 points, a record 120 points ahead of runner-up East Aurora.

The Lincoln-Way East student was one of seven individuals who were able to reach the title mat for coach Joshua Napier’s champion Lincoln-Way co-op team, which finished in eighth place at last year’s Thanksgiving Throwdown but later went on to capture the first IWCOA State Dual Team Championship in Hoffman Estates. She tied West Aurora junior Aiyanah Sylvester and Hoffman Estates junior Sydnee Allen for the most team points in the event with 32 by getting four pins, and earned her spot on the 115 title mat around the same time as Dempsey did at 120 by getting a fall in 1:20 over Lockport Township sophomore Camila Mendoza in the semifinals.

“It was amazing and so much fun,” Zerial said. “It means a lot for the program to catch this big of a win so early on in the season, especially with all of the new girls on our team. It’s just showing us how we can bring in more people and still get better. It means so much. I like that we never give up, we are constantly going, going, going and trying to get better. (Her winning an individual title) It feels so good.”

Morales earned her spot in the 115 title match by capturing a 4-1 decision in the semifinals over her teammate, senior Aubry Smith, after opening the competition with two falls. She joined junior Marian Nordsell (110) and senior Sabina Charlebois (130) as second-place finishers to lead the way for coach Paige Schoolman’s host Indians, who claimed fifth place. Mendoza went on to capture third place by recording a fall in 2:15 over Smith. And the Porters also took fifth place as junior Bella Romando got a pin in 2:42 over Hoffman Estates’ Daniella Beneitez.

120 – Zoe Dempsey, Lincoln-Way co-op

Zoe Dempsey has some big goals as she concludes her successful career competing for Lincoln-Way West and being a part of the Lincoln-Way District’s co-op team for her final two seasons. A third-place finisher at 110 last year after taking fifth at 105 in 2024 while representing just the Warriors, she not only would like to join Gracie Guarino as the district’s second three-time medal winner but also do something that the current sophomore at North Central College achieved in both 2022 and 2023, which was competing in a state title match. She also hopes to help her co-op team claim its first trophy for a top-three finish in the IHSA Finals after helping to a first-place showing at the IWCOA State Dual Team Championship last season.

Dempsey kicked off her senior season in a good fashion as she was one of four champions and seven individuals who advanced to the title mat at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown to help coach Joshua Napier’s Lincoln-Way co-op team to easily capture the championship of the 16-team competition with 282 points, which was 120 points better than runner-up East Aurora, giving the co-op team the biggest margin of victory in the three-year history of the tournament.

She took first place at 120, which was arguably the toughest weight class in the event since it featured three returning medalists and one who fell one win shy of that goal. In the title match, she won by fall in 2:51 over Geneseo junior Lydia King. After opening with a win by technical fall and a pin, she earned her spot in the finals by recording a fall in 2:25 over Lockport Township junior Veronica Skibicki, in a rematch of a quarterfinals match from last season’s IHSA Finals.

“(Competing for the Lincoln-Way co-op) I feel like it just gives every girl an opportunity to have the right facilities, since some schools in the Lincoln-Way District don’t have adequate facilities for women as men,” Dempsey said. “I train hybrid at West and Central and both rooms are fantastic. And the boys have been very supportive with girls wrestling growing so much in these schools, and especially at West, I feel that it’s come together nicely there. I want to win it this year, it’s my last year. I just want to be on the top of the podium at the end of the year, that’s all that matters right now. I can definitely see Lincoln-Way taking home a trophy this year since we have some really high-quality girls this year.”

King, who became Geneseo’s first medalist last season by placing fourth at 120, was the lone finalist for coach Carley Rusk’s Maple Leafs, who took eighth place. She earned her spot in a title match for the second year in a row at the event by defeating a returning state placer, Bolingbrook senior Alejandra Flores, with a pin in 1:50. She also had first-period falls in her other two matches to give her a team-high 26 team points. Flores, who became the Raiders’ second all-stater last season when she took fourth at 115, finished third with a pin in 4:25 over Skibicki, who fell one win shy of a state medal at 110 in 2025. There was no fifth-place match as Plainfield South junior Kayla Ochotorena and Huntley sophomore Isabelle Singer both forfeited.

125 – Aiyanah Sylvester, West Aurora

Aiyanah Sylvester kicked off her 2024-2025 season on a high note by winning a title at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown and was still unbeaten after competing at the IWCOA Dual Dual Team Championships in Hoffman Estates to close out 2024, but the West Aurora athlete was unable to compete in the IHSA state series due to illness. Motivated by the disappointment of not being able to finish things up last season, the Blackhawks junior hopes to advance to state and also become the fifth individual from her school to medal there and she’s off to another good start after repeating as a champion at Minooka’s opening-day tourney, joining Lincoln-Way co-op’s Zoe Dempsey and Lockport Township’s Claudia Heeney in that feat.

Sylvester also took second place in the first Throwdown in 2023, becoming one of three three-time finalists in the tournament, with Huntley’s Aubrie Rohrbacher and Heeney the others. She captured her second title in the event by getting a pin in 1:08 over Morris senior Zara Lugo in the 125 finals. That tied her with Lincoln-Way co-op sophomore Zoe Zerial and Hoffman Estates junior Sydnee Allen for the most team points in the competition with 32. She was the lone champion and one of two finalists for the Blackhawks, who are now coached by Steve Wallace, who competed at West Aurora from 1990-1994 for 2004 National Wrestling Hall of Fame Lifetime Service Award recipient George Dyche. She opened the run to her second Throwdown title with two quick pins before winning by fall in 2:57 over East Aurora junior Valentina Barboza in the semifinals.

“I do feel really good and actually this tournament boosted my confidence a lot,” Sylvester said. “Last year, my season got cut short and this is one of my first tournaments in seven or eight months. Hopefully we can stay as one of the top teams with our new coaching staff and they’re pushing us every day and Mr. Wallace is a good coach. Win or lose, I’m just blessed to be able to step on to the mat again.”

Lugo, the lone finalist for coach Lenny Tryner’s Morris team, competed in five matches after being seeded 19th. She opened with a fall, got a win by technical fall and another pin. Her final win was the closest, when she prevailed in a high-scoring matchup in the semifinals with an 18-15 decision over Hoffman Estates senior Kami Flocencio. Barboza recorded a fall in 0:56 over Florencio to join Jaylene Dealba (190) and Lilli Ortiz (235) as third-place finishers who were the top placewinners for coach Ryan Mick’s Tomcats, who claimed second place with 162 points after they finished 25th in a 29-team field last season. And for fifth place, Lincoln-Way co-op sophomore Aubrey Barnes won by fall in 1:37 over Geneseo senior Ayla Schultz.

130 – Aubrie Rohrbacher, Huntley

Aubrie Rohrbacher proved that the third time’s the charm after she captured her first title in the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown after falling in the finals in 2023 and 2024 to Lockport Township’s Claudia Heeney, who’s won IHSA titles the past two seasons after taking second place in 2023. The Huntley senior claimed top honors at 130 by recording a fall in 5:05 over Minooka senior Sabina Charlebois and is now also one of a trio of three-time finalists in the tournament, joining West Aurora’s Aiyanah Sylvester and Heeney in that exclusive company. After suffering a heartbreaking injury in the semifinals of last season’s IHSA Finals, she hopes that she can finally make it to the championship match and that either her or senior teammate Janiah Slaughter, or perhaps even both, may become the Red Raiders’ first state champions.

Rohrbacher broke her foot in the semifinals at last year’s IHSA Finals and then battled through to place sixth at 130 after finishing third at 130 in 2024 to claim her first state medal and became her school’s second All-Stater. She joined two-time IHSA medalist Slaughter, the program’s first state medalist, as title winners for sixth-place Huntley, which is now coached by Aubrie’s grandfather, Scott Horcher. The rare case of a successful wrestler who will compete collegiately in lacrosse at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri, she edged her longtime teammate and two-time tournament champion Slaughter, who won the title at 105, in team points by a 30-29.5 margin. She recorded opening-minute falls in her other two matches, winning in 0:49 over Lincoln-Way co-op sophomore Dani Schedin in the semifinals.

“I fought off a lot last year and I ended up making it to the semifinals,” Rohrbacher said. “But I unfortunately broke my foot during the middle of the match. It is tough, but it just kind of shows that you can put in a lot and you’re not always going to get the outcome that you want. So the important part is to keep pushing and keep going and try harder. I’ve had to come back from that and I’ve been training and training and just getting into my flow. And today, I definitely have finally caught my flow, even though it’s the first tournament. I have more goals for myself that are a little higher, and I’m really excited to work toward those goals. I’m really hoping that after we leave, that some of the things that we’ve helped this program grow with actually stay, like Janiah’s motivational Mondays and just supporting the team. (Her grandfather) He has a lot of experience and coached some of my uncles, and just coached this past year at Jacobs. I had  originally started wrestling to stay in shape for lacrosse. And it actually does help because with lacrosse, there’s a lot of hand-eye coordination and the speed and agility from wrestling is a major booster that helps. Although it seems that there were less teams at the tournament, it felt like there were the same amount of people because there are more girls on each team, and that’s really cool to see. It’s amazing to see how many people are joining and continuing with it.”

Charlebois joined junior Marian Nordsell (110) and sophomore Angela Morales (115) as second-place medalists and top finishers to lead the fifth-place Indians. She opened with a quick pin and then won by fall in 3:30 over Joliet West senior Briahna Klobnak in the semifinals. Her father Jeff was the IWCOA Assistant Coach of the Year in 2023 and was a Class AA runner-up in 1998 at Oswego. He is an assistant to head coach Paige Schoolman and the two succeeded 2009 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Bernie Ruettiger, who was in attendance for the event, by each taking teams to the IHSA Dual Team Finals in 2012 and 2013 after they assisted Ruettiger during which time he won a Class 3A title in 2010 and had second place squads in 2009 and 2011. In the third-place match, Klobnak won by fall in 1:30 over Schedin. And for fifth place, East Aurora’s Ayelen Higuera got a pin in 3:06 over Oswego sophomore Nina Witkowski.

135 – Claudia Heeney, Lockport Township

Claudia Heeney already has accomplished a lot during her historic three-year career at Lockport Township. The IHSA champion at 135 in 2025 over Prospect’s Viola Pianetto and at 130 in 2024 over Collinsville’s Taylor Dawson and a runner-up at 125 in 2023 to Freeport’s Cadence Diduch looks to join Hononegah’s Angelina Cassioppi, Glenbard North’s Gabby Gomez, Batavia’s Sydney Perry and Diduch as the only individuals to finish their careers with three or more IHSA titles and achieve something that only four-time state champion Cassioppi has done thus far, and that is to compete in four-straight IHSA title matches. But the Porters senior knows better than to look too far ahead and is really focused on the present, which in this case involves her becoming the first three-time champion at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown when she recorded a fall in 0:38 over Joliet West senior Veronica Klobnak to win the 135 title match.

Heeney has posted an impressive 109-4 record (.965 percent) and has only lost once in a competition in this state, which was in the 2023 IHSA Finals. The only two individuals who have participated in three or more IHSA Finals who had a better winning percentage were Gomez and Perry. She was the only title winner and was joined by 190 runner-up senior Sophie Kelner as one of two finalists for the Porters, who claimed third place with 156 points, which was six points behind runner-up East Aurora. It was the debut for new Lockport Township head coach Amier Khamis, who was a freshman on the first Lincoln-Way West team that qualified for the IHSA Dual Team Finals in 2013 for 2000 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Brian Glynn and he later assisted his Warriors head coach and also served as an assistant coach at Andrew. She collected 29.5 team points in just three matches after opening with a victory by technical fall in the quarterfinals and then became one of only three three-time finalists in the Thanksgiving Throwdown by winning with a pin in 0:33 over Minooka senior Lexie Lakota in the semifinals.

“It’s really exciting going into my senior year and hopefully we get another title and overall it’s just been such an experience,” Heeney said. “I feel like I push myself and I’m more competing against myself than I did in the years previously. In my experience, I feel like I haven’t been focusing on being one of the top girls in the state but being better than the person I was last year. I’ve just been training a lot and practicing every day and I’m really focusing on certain areas a lot. During the summer, I spent hours working on singular little things. It will be a really fun year since we have a lot of potential in the room. So I’m super excited to go and get after it.”

Klobnak, one of two second-place finishers for coach Erik Murry’s Tigers, tied 145 runner-up senior Vanessa O’Connor for the most team points for Joliet West with 26 points. She recorded opening-period falls in her other three matches, winning in 1:07 in the semifinals over DeKalb senior Kayden Johnson, who took third with a fall in 1:18 over Lakota. And in the fifth-place match, Bolingbrook junior Anaya Campbell won by fall in 3:00 over Huntley junior Grecia Garcia.

140 – Liv Clumpner, Lincoln-Way co-op

Liv Clumpner made an impressive improvement of going from a sixth-place finish in last year’s junior varsity division of the Thanksgiving Throwdown to winning a title at 140, and being one of four champions for the Lincoln-Way co-op team after the sophomore from Lincoln-Way East captured a 16-4 major decision in the 140 title match over a teammate, freshman Abby Kunz. 

She joined two-time title winner senior Zoe Dempsey (120) and first-time champions sophomore Zoe Zerial (115) and junior Ella Giertuga (145) on top of the awards stand and also was one of seven finalists for coach Joshua Napier’s team champions, who improved from an eighth-place showing last year to capture their first title in the competition with 282 points, which was 120 points better than runner-up East Aurora. Her other three victories were by falls in under one minute, which included a pin in 0:58 over Minooka sophomore Mel Williams in the semifinals.

“I’m very proud,” Clumpner said of her team’s title. “I definitely think it’s our hard work and everything that we put in and our technique. It works out well (the co-op), I think it’s like a perfect kind of blend from the three schools. I don’t think we’d be as successful if we were individual schools. It definitely helps having a lot of other good people in the room, it helps you to push yourself. It’s nice to start off the year at 4-0. I’m definitely excited for the rest of the season.”

Kunz was one of four freshmen who advanced to the title match with freshman teammate Mckenzie Steinke (100) also taking second place while DeKalb’s Larisza Gomez-Guevara (110) and Plainfield South’s Kimyra Patrick (190) both captured titles. The other Lincoln-Way co-op second-place finisher was junior Riley DePolo (170). She advanced to the 140 title mat with three falls, recording a pin in 2:46 in the semifinals over Yorkville sophomore Aviana Froelich, who went on to claim third place with a fall in 2:51 over Williams. And for fifth place, DeKalb sophomore Kara Zimmerman got a pin in 0:33 over Oswego sophomore Elin Ludvigson.

145 – Ella Giertuga, Lincoln-Way co-op

Ella Giertuga heads into her junior season with a lot of confidence after winning three-straight matches in the consolation bracket to become one of the Lincoln-Way co-op team’s four IHSA Finals qualifiers at the 2025 Geneseo Sectional. After kicking off her successful sophomore season with a fourth-place showing at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown, the Lincoln-Way East athlete is hopeful that her title win at 145 in this year’s competition is signs of more good things to come, such as a return trip to the state finals and perhaps getting a medal there.

Giertuga was victorious in one of the event’s closest title matches when she got a takedown in overtime to prevail 5-2 in sudden victory over Joliet West senior Vanessa O’Connor to join two-time champion senior Zoe Dempsey (120) and first-time title winners sophomores Zoe Zerial (115) and Liv Clumpner (140) as champions for Lincoln-Way’s co-op team that’s coached by Joshua Napier, which had seven finalists and scored 282 points to claim top honors in the 16-team competition by a record 120 points. She won her other two matches by fall, with the second of those coming in 5:45 over Geneseo sophomore Annibelle Juarez in the semifinals. 

“I feel like we’ve come pretty far from last year and we’re definitely starting off pretty strong this year with this win and I’m excited about that,” Giertuga said. “You get a lot of different looks when you have three different schools. I think it’s really beneficial to have a bunch of people and they all care about wrestling, so that’s good.”

O’Connor, who joined senior Veronica Klobnak (135) as one of two second-place finishers who led the way for coach Erik Murry’s Tigers, earned her spot on the 145 championship mat after recording a fall in 1:48 in the semifinals over Minooka senior Ezra Rodriguez while her first two victories were both pins that were settled during the opening minute. Rodriguez went on to claim third place by winning a fall in 3:37 over Juarez. And for fifth place, Oswego senior Joslynn Sheets captured a 3-2 decision over East Aurora junior Lupita Garcia.

155 – Sydnee Allen, Hoffman Estates

Sydnee Allen not only led the way for Hoffman Estates by being its lone champion and finalist at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown but she also tied West Aurora junior Aiyanah Sylvester and Lincoln-Way co-op sophomore Zoe Zerial for the most team points with 32 points after recording falls in all four of her matches for the Hawks, who placed seventh in the tournament and are now coached by a Hoffman Estates graduate and former assistant, Andrew Pettit.

Allen, a junior who missed the start of last season due to injury and then was unable to qualify for sectional competition from the strong Willowbrook Regional, wrapped up her successful Throwdown tournament title run by getting a pin in 1:14 over Bolingbrook junior Savannah Burns in the 155 championship match. After opening with two falls, she earned her spot on the title mat by recording a pin in 1:04 over East Aurora sophomore Alyssa Galarza.

“This year’s team has a lot of potential, especially with the seniors who paved the way last year like Sophia Ball, Abby Ji and Bella Chiovari,” Allen said. “It definitely gave us the opportunity to be like, okay, now we want it and it is our turn, and that’s definitely how I took it into the tournament. I was injured last year and couldn’t compete early in the season, so for me to be able to come in here and to wrestle like this and then to take first place is a big deal for me. There were a lot of tough opponents today, so it gave me the opportunity to see where I’m at and where I need to go in order to make it to the state tournament.”

Burns, the lone finalist for coach Jordan Hovel’s ninth-place Raiders, won her first three matches by fall with the third coming in the semifinals in 1:55 over Lockport Township senior Dakota Obbish, who went on to place third by getting a pin in 4:56 over Galarza. For fifth place, Huntley junior Roya Shayestehjah won by fall in 4:00 over Morris senior Nicolette Boelman.

170 – Layla Spann, Plainfield South

Layla Spann experienced a successful debut last season for Plainfield South, winning 29 matches, qualifying for the IHSA Finals and winning a match there while also being able to watch teammate Teagan Aurich bounce back from her first loss in the semifinals to finish 40-1 by placing third to become the third Cougar to earn a state medal. Now the sophomore and a freshman, Kimyra Patrick, are excited about what lies ahead for them after the pair both won titles at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown in their school’s first trip to the tournament.

Spann captured the championship at 170 by recording a fall in 1:44 over Lincoln-Way Central junior Riley DePolo and then Patrick followed with her title at 190. They were the lone finalists for coach Thomas Redmon’s Cougars, who took 12th place in a very balanced competition where 13 of the 16 entrants scored 100 or more points. Spann finished with a team-high 31.5 points, which was one-half point behind the three leaders in that category. She began her title run with a quick fall and followed with a win by technical fall before getting another pin, in 3:22, over Yorkville sophomore Lauryn Trotter in the semifinals to secure her spot on the title mat.

“I’ll just keep working on what I’m working on now in practice and just keep going hard and perfect what I’m doing in practice,” Spann said. “We’re very resilient.”

DePolo, is the daughter of Jason DePolo, an Associate Principal of Student Services at Lincoln-Way Central, who competed for 1995 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Mark Ruettiger at that school and then led the Knights for 10 seasons and took three teams to the IHSA Class 3A Dual Team Finals from 2013 to 2015 with the first of those taking fourth place. She was one of seven finalists for coach Joshua Napier’s champion Lincoln-Way co-op, who finished with 282 points and their 120-point margin over runner-up East Aurora is a new tournament-best. She won her first three matches by fall, with her third fall coming in 3:48 over Lockport Township senior Mayra Vicencio in the semifinals. Trotter claimed third place with a pin in 0:50 over Vicencio and in the fifth-place match, Oswego junior Makayla Hill, who was a champion in last year’s Throwdown, recorded a fall in 0:34 over Hoffman Estates’ Dayanara Elias-Mena.

190 – Kimyra Patrick, Plainfield South

Kimyra Patrick began her high school career at Plainfield South in impressive fashion by winning a championship at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown when she claimed a 7-4 decision over Lockport Township senior Sophie Kelner in the 190 title match. She was one of two title winners and four finalists who are in their freshman seasons, with the other Throwdown champion being DeKalb’s Larisza Gomez-Guevara, who captured top honors at 110.

She was one of two title winners for coach Thomas Redmon’s Cougars, who were making their initial appearance in the Throwdown. The team’s other champion was sophomore Layla Spann, who took first place at 170 around the same time that Patrick claimed top honors at her weight. Patrick will no doubt benefit from training with Spann, who qualified for the IHSA Finals as a freshman and won a match at state. The freshman also recorded falls in her other three matches, including winning in 5:42 over Yorkville senior Janiah Murray in the semifinals.

“It feels great,” Patrick said of winning a title in her first high school tournament. “I like how hard-working our team is and that we’re getting more mentally prepared for each match.”

Kelner, joined three-time champion senior Claudia Heeney as one of two title winners and finalists for the new head coach of the Porters, Amier Khamis, whose team took third place with 156 points, six points behind runner-up East Aurora. Kelner qualified for the IHSA Finals last season and won a match there to finish with 42 victories. She recorded falls in her first two matches, getting a pin in the semifinals in 5:39 over East Aurora freshman Jaylene Dealba, who went on to claim third place with a fall in 2:57 over Murray. In the fifth-place match, Minooka senior Mia Lemberg was a winner by fall in 1:21 over Yorkville sophomore Deeanna Rothaug.

235 – Aarianna Bloyd, DeKalb

Aarianna Bloyd experienced the disappointment of advancing to consolation round three and then falling one victory shy of capturing a medal at 235 at last season’s IHSA Finals. The Barbs senior hopes to join classmate and two-time medalist Alex Gregorio-Perez as just the third individual to earn a state medal and she kicked off her final season on a high note by capturing the 235 title at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown with a 10-3 decision over Romeoville junior Henessis Villagrana in the 235 title match in a rematch of last year’s consolation round one matchup in Bloomington between the two where Bloyd prevailed with a 3-2 decision.

Coach Conor Infelise’s Barbs made a nice debut in the competition, finishing in fourth place with 149 points, which was seven points behind third-place Lockport Township and five points better than the host Indians, who finished fifth. The Barbs had the second-highest total of title winners in the tournament with three, which was one less the team champion Lincoln-Way co-op had. Freshman Larisza Gomez-Guevara took first at 110 while Gregorio-Perez won at 100 in one of the first two title matches during the finals round. Bloyd recorded first-round falls in her other two matches, getting a pin in 1:19 over Lincoln-Way co-op junior Jalyssa Venegas in the semifinals.

“We’re all very close, it’s a family,” Bloyd said. “So we’re all pushing each other, especially with me and Alex and building the program for four years now. I think it gave me discipline going to wrestle in some of the biggest tournaments around with my team. I’ve definitely seen in the past four years of it growing, that we’re having tougher matches and having to take a bad loss, but I think that’s good to wrestle a good girl and lose once in a while. I’m feeling very good. I’ve been training all summer, and preseason with hard-gos. Me and Alex have some big things to accomplish, along with our freshman. We’re looking forward to getting that state title this year.”

Villagrana, who won 22 matches while qualifying for state last season, was the lone finalist at the Throwdown for coach John Arlis’ Spartans. She recorded falls in her first three matches, which included a pin in 5:54 in the semifinals over East Aurora junior Lilli Ortiz, who went on to capture third place with a fall in 1:24 over Venegas. And in the fifth-place match, Lockport Township junior Rebekah Ramirez recorded a pin in 0:26 over Bolingbrook junior Cynthia Rios.

Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown team standings

1. Lincoln-Way co-op 282, 2. East Aurora 162, 3. Lockport Township 156, 4. DeKalb 149, 5. Minooka 144, 6. Huntley 134.5, 7. Hoffman Estates 126.5, 8. Geneseo 121, 9. Bolingbrook 117.5, 10. West Aurora 112, 10. Yorkville 112, 12. Plainfield South 106.5, 13. Joliet West 102, 14. Morris 74, 15. Romeoville 69.5, 16. Oswego 60.

Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown championship matches

100 – Alex Gregorio-Perez (DeKalb) over Mckenzie Steinke (Lincoln-Way co-op), TF 4:00

105 – Janiah Slaughter (Huntley) over Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal (West Aurora), F 3:04

110 – Larisza Gomez-Guevara (DeKalb) over Marian Nordsell (Minooka), F 2:59

115 – Zoe Zerial (Lincoln-Way co-op) over Angela Morales (Minooka), F 2:26

120 – Zoe Dempsey (Lincoln-Way co-op) over Lydia King (Geneseo), F 2:51

125 – Aiyanah Sylvester (West Aurora) over Zara Lugo (Morris), F 1:08

130 – Aubrie Rohrbacher (Huntley) over Sabina Charlebois (Minooka), F 5:05

135 – Claudia Heeney (Lockport Township) over Veronica Klobnak (Joliet West), F 0:38

140 – Liv Clumpner (Lincoln-Way co-op) over Abby Kunz (Lincoln-Way co-op), MD 16-4

145 – Ella Giertuga (Lincoln-Way co-op) over Vanessa O’Connor (Joliet West), SV 5-2

155 – Sydnee Allen (Hoffman Estates) over Savannah Burns (Bolingbrook), F 1:14

170 – Layla Spann (Plainfield South) over Riley DePolo (Lincoln-Way co-op), F 1:44

190 – Kimyra Patrick (Plainfield South) over Sophie Kelner (Lockport Township), D 7-4

235 – Aarianna Bloyd (DeKalb) over Henessis Villagrana (Romeoville), D 10-3

By Gary Larsen

Kelly Invitational
Thornton Fractional North ate well on the day before Thanksgiving, winning the team title at Wednesday’s 8-team Kelly Invitational. In edging second-place Argo by a 169-160 margin, the Meteors also had a day of firsts.
“Our three champs, Deshawn Jones at 132, Derrick Sparkman at 165, and Jalauni Johnston at 215, are all seniors who captured their first varsity tournament titles,” TF North coach Justin Viau said. “We also had guys who were wrestling in their first ever tournament out there winning matches and scoring points for the team.
“This is a great group of young men, and none of the individuals who wrestled today had any wrestling experience before high school.  The team has been working hard in the off season to close the gap and It’s awesome to see their hard work starting to pay off. Overall, these guys are starting to believe they can compete and I’m looking forward to watching them do so this season.”

Payton (114.5) placed third, followed by Hancock (104.5), Marist JV (95.5), Noble/UIC (76), Noble/Golder (70), and Kelly (45).

1st: Thornton Fractional North (169)

The Meteors sent six to the title mat to second-place Argo’s nine wrestlers in the finals, but edged the Argonauts thanks to team points scored by four wrestlers reaching the third-place mat.
TF North got individual titles from Deshawn Jones (132), Derrick Sparkman (165) and Jalauni Johnston (215), and seconds from Edwin Gomez (113), Maurice Walker (120) and Jabari Jones (157).
Kameron Washington (175) and Jorge Zavala (285) placed third, while Izaiah Salgado (106) and Cody Thornton (144) placed fourth.
Jones won a 9-6 decision over Marist’s Billy Leen for the title at 132 pounds. Sparkman used three pins to win the title at 165, while Johnston won by major decision and fall for his title at 215.

2nd: Argo (160.5)
The Argonauts had three champions on the day for coach Matt McMurray, in Adolfo Guerra (120), Skylar Arellano-Phipps (157) and Michael Starzyk (190). An additional six Argo wrestlers placed second, in David Guerra (126), John Valencia (138), Gio Romero (150), Dan Vazquez (165), Malachai Rios (175) and Dillan Bustillos (285).

3rd: Payton (114.5)
Payton coach Richard Kersten saw his Grizzlies match TF North and Argo with three individual champions, in Alonzo Gomez (113), Fraysean Clark (144) and Ben Hearon (285). Payton also got a second from Micah Ruiz (190), and fourths from Nicolas Benito (138), Juan Camilo Mejia (150) and Alfonso Virata (157).

Other individual champions at Kelly were Marist’s Rocco Maheras (106) and Max McLaughlin (138), Noble/UIC’s Leonardo Zapien (126), Kelly’s Leovardo Juarez (150), and Hancock’s Malakai Davis (175).

Hancock’s Davis finished with the most pins in the least time in the tournament, posting three falls in 4:23. Marist’s Rocco Maheras had the fastest tech fall, in 1:21, and TF North’s Johnston posted the day’s fastest fall, in 16 seconds.

Four wrestlers tied for the most team points scored with 24, in TF North’s Sparkman, Hancock’s Davis, and Payton’s Ben Hearon and Alonso Gomez. Payton’s Fraysean Clark scored the most total match points with 41, and the largest seed-place difference went to Payton’s Clark, who was seeded 8th and won the title at 144 pounds.

Championship match results:
106: Rocco Maheras (Marist) 2-0, d. Finley Egan (Marist) 1-1,  (MD 11-3)
113: Alonso Gomez (Payton) 3-0, d. Edwin Gomez (TF North) 1-1,  (F 4:53)
120: Adolfo Guerra (Argo) 2-0, d. Maurice Walker (TF North) 1-1,  (F 0:33)
126: Leonardo Zapien (Noble/UIC) 2-0, .d. David Guerra (Argo) 1-1,  (F 2:00)
132: Deshawn Jones (TF North) 2-0, d. Billy Leen (Marist) 2-1,  (D 9-6)
138: Max McLaughlin (Marist) 3-0, d. John Valencia (Argo) 1-1,  (D 9-2)
144: Fraysean Clark (Payton) 3-0, d. Ethan Smith (Marist) 2-1,  (TF 19-4)
150: Leovardo Juarez (Kelly) 3-0, d. Gio Romero (Argo) 1-1,  (D 4-2)
157: Skylar Arellano-Phipps (Argo) 2-0, d. Jabari Jones (TF North) 2-1,  (F 1:40)
165: Derrick Sparkman (TF North) 3-0, d. Dan Vazquez (Argo) 1-1,  (F 1:50)
175: Malakai Davis (Hancock) 3-0, d. Malachai Rios (Argo) 1-1,  (F 0:31)
190: Michael Starzyk (Argo) 2-0, d. Micah Ruiz (Payton) 2-1,  (F 5:12)
215: Jalauni Johnston (TF North) 2-0, d. Ruben Amador (Noble/Golder) 1-1,  (F 0:16)
285: Ben Hearon (Payton) 3-0, d. Dilan Bustillos (Argo) 1-1,  (F 0:53)

Third-place matches:
106: Jayden Romero (Noble/Golder) d. Izaiah Salgado (TF North) F 1:11
113: Vinney Biesiada (Marist) d. Nicholas Anguiano (Hancock) F 148
120: Adrian Galvan-Ramirez (Noble/Golder) d. Christipher Gavtan (Kelly) F 1:00
126: Hector Castellanos (TF North) d. Michael Reyes (Hancock) D 15-11
132: Julian Collins (Noble/UIC) d. Alejandro Salas (Noble/Golder) F 4:28
138: Adrian Rodriguez (Hancock) d. Nicholas Benito (Payton) F 1:39
144: Liam Drysch (Noble/Golder) d. Cody Thornton (TF North) F 0:30
150: Kendrian Walker (Noble/UIC) d. Camilo Mejia (Payton) F 0:27
157: Noel Cuevas (Hancock) d. Alfonso Virata (Payton) M. FFT.
165: Sergio Cuellar (Kelly) d. Francisco Ambriz (Hancock) F 5:00
175: Kameron Washington (TF North) d. Turner Liss (Marist) F 3:10
190: Benjamin Barrera (Hancock) d. Ernesto Ramirez (Noble/Golder) F 1:13
215: Kaleb Svenningsen (Hancock) d. Seth Turner (Noble/UIC) D 7-1
285: Jorge Zavala (TF North) d. Kavon Grant (Noble/UIC) F 2:25

Addison Trail Invitational
The 12-team tournament in Addison saw Tyrone Byrd’s Lincoln-Way Central squad dominate. The Knights won the team title with 301.5 points as all 14 wrestlers finishig in the top four, led by a trio of individual champions in Eric Hoselton (138), Jalen Byrd (190) and Aiden Hennings (285).
“I’m proud of our team for obviously winning the tournament, but more importantly for scoring bonus points in over 40 matches,” Byrd said.  “We had fourteen place in top four and that’s a testament to the team effort that they all put forth.
“We really drive home scoring every match point and team point that we can.  It was a complete team effort.  Our three champs Eric Hoselton, Jalen Byrd and Aiden Hennings all looked dominate on the day.”
Loyola placed second with 178 points, followed by Deerfield (160.5), St. Rita (146), Wheaton Academy (125), Addison Trail (101), Stagg (92), Niles North (77.5), Prairie Ridge (72.5), Lake Forest (59), Ottawa (57) and Elk Grove (51.5).

1st: Lincoln-Way Central (301.5)
In addition to titles won by Hoselton, Byrd, and Hennings, a quartet of Knights placed second in Jadon Zimmer (144), Dylan Wrobel (157), Evan Vogt (175) and Justin Langford (215). Placing third were Bannon Valent (106), Caleb Rogers (132), Ryne Nape (150), and Ethan Harvey (165), while Finn Fifer (113), Brooks McKay (120) and Connor Richardson (126) placed fourth to round out the Knights’ full lineup of medal-winners.
“We know that a wrestling season is a roller coaster and there will be ups and downs,” Byrd said. “We are going to enjoy this win and continue to improve with hopes of more championships throughout the season.”
In Rob Sherrill’s preseason 3A individual rankings, Zimmer opens the season ranked No. 6 at 138; Byrd is ranked No. 5 at 175; Hennings is No. 8 at 285; and Harvey is listed among the honorable mentions at 165.

2nd: Loyola Academy (178)
The Ramblers only entered nine wrestlers in the tournament and five of them won individual titles to lead all teams. Coach Matt Collum got titles from Niko Odiotti (106), Gavin Pardilla (126), James Hemmila (150), Danny Malan (157) and Kai Calcutt (215). Odiotti and Calcutt enter the year ranked No. 1 in their weight classes, while Pardilla, Hemmila, and Malan are all also listed among the 3A honorable mentions to start the season.
Daniel Myint (120) placed second for the Ramblers, while Mateo Hatzopoulos (138) finished third and Jackson Decrane (165) placed sixth.

3rd: Deerfield (160.5)
Coach Mark Pechter got a pair of individual titles from Jayme Cohen (113) and Adrian Cohen (132), plus a second from Jake Pechter (106), thirds from Jorey Becker (120) and Danny Martinez (126), and fourths from Alexander Shvartsman (144) and Jonathan Weissmueller (175).
Jayme Cohen is ranked No. 6 in 2A at 113 to start the year, Adrian Cohen is at No. 4 at 132, and Shvartsman is ranked No. 3 at 144.

Other individual champions at Addison Trail were the host Blazers’ Nikolas Duarte (120), St. Rita’s Jack Hogan (144), Wheaton Academy’s Tyler Jones (165),   and Prairie Ridge’s Aiden Rodriguez (175).
Duarte is ranked No. 6 at 113 and Hogan is No. 2 at 144 in 3A; Jones is No. 10 at 165 in 1A.

Lincoln-Way Central’s Hennings finished with the most pins in the least time, with four falls in 4:03, and his 30 team points scored were the most by any wrestler in the tournament. Deerfield’s Jack Jansen had the most tech falls in the least time, posting four in 9:34, plus the most total match points with 74 and the fastest tech fall in 52 seconds. LW Central’s Vogt posted the fastest pin, in 10 seconds, while Deerfield’s Daniel Krive scored the most single match points with 25.

Championship match results:
106: NIko Odiotti (Loyola) d. Jake Pechter (Deerfield) (TF 20-5)
113: Jayme Cohen (Deerfield) d. Mayson Munson (Ottawa) (TF 18-3)
120: Nikolas Duarte (Addison (A. Trail) d.Daniel Myint (Loyola) (MD 13-3)
126: Gavin Pardilla (Loyola) d. Cleto Protti (St. Rita) (TF 16-0)
132: Adrian Cohen (Deerfield) d. Zander Spatafore (Elk Grove) (F 1:10)
138: Eric Hoselton (LW Central) d.Luke Pappalas (St. Rita) (MD 9-1)
144: Jack Hogan (St. Rita) d.Jadon Zimmer (LW Central) (F 4:48)
150: James Hemmila (Loyola) d. Monte Bourke (St. Rita) (F 0:52)
157: Danny Malan (Loyola) d. Dylan Wrobel (LW Central) (TF 22-4)
165: Tyler Jones (Wheaton Academy) d.Micah Spinazzola (St. Rita) (D 7-2)
175: Aiden Rodriguez (Prairie Ridge) d.Evan Vogt (LW Central) (MD 18-7)
190: alen Byrd (LW Central) d.Jihad Suleiman (Stagg) (F 1:52)
215: Kai Calcutt (Loyola) d.Justin Langford (LW Central) (F 2:23)
285: Aiden Hennings (LW Central) d.Treydius Palmer (Niles North) (F 0:15)

Third-place match results:
106: Valent (LW Central) d. Robinson (Prairie Ridge) F 1:40
113: Gray (Addison Trail) d. Fifer (LW Central) F 1:26
120: Becker (Deerfield) d. McKay (LW Central) D 9-4
126: Martinez (Deerfield) d. Richardson (LW Central) TF 19-3
132: Rogers (LW Central) d. Demetrio (Lake Forest) TF 20-1
138: Hatzopoulos (Loyola) d. Shin (Wheaton Academy) D 8-6
144: Hoger (Wheaton Academy) d. Shvartsman (Deerfield) SV-1 13-10
150: Nape (LW Central) d. Cioper (Prairie Ridge) TF 15-0
157: Lehman (St. Rita) d. Moritz (Prairie Ridge) MD 10-2
165: Harvey (LW Central) d. Driscoll (Stagg) F 2:00
175: Bautista (Addison Trail) d. Weissmueller (Deerfield) D 14-13
190: Somenek (Elk Grove) d. Seneses (Wheaton Academy) F 3:41
215: Morales (Stagg) d. De Souza (Wheaton Academy) F 1:14
285: Garcia (Wheaton Academy) d. Sandifer (Lake Forest) D 13-11

Barrington’s Moore-Prettyman-Dunn Invitational
IC Catholic Prep snared this year’s team title, 367-244 over second-place Grant, in an annual two-day tournament that was forced to take place in a single day on Friday due to Saturday’s projected snowfall.
Thirty-three teams participated in one grueling day of wrestling.
Knights’ coach Danny Alcocer sent six wrestlers to the finals and had two champions in Max Cumbee (132) and Brody Kelly (175), four runners-up, plus four third-placers, one fourth and one fifth.
Cumbee posted two tech falls and one fall before winning a 12-5 semifinal decision over Loyola’s Gavin Padilla, then posting a 7-1 win for the title over Barrington’s Ryan Dorn.
Kelly was dominant in posting four falls and one tech fall, capped on the title mat by a fall over Wheaton North’s Ryan Rosch.
Last year’s Class 2A team state champs enter this season in Rob Sherrill’s rankings as the top-ranked team in 2A. Twelve of IC Prep’s wrestlers are ranked in the top six of their weight classes, including top-ranked returning state champs Cumbee and Kelly. Also top-ranked are Sam Murante (126) and Frank Nitti (144).
Loyola finished third at Barrington with 216.5 points, followed by Barrington (202.5), Hersey (194), Providence (191), Stevenson (169), Glenbard West (151), Wheaton North (126.5), Lyons (113), Joliet West (107.5), Grayslake Central (101.5), Hampshire (98), Crystal Lake Central (93.5), Wauconda (89), Downers Grove South (84) Bradley-Bourbonnais (70), Belleville East (67), Mundelein (64.5), Libertyville (61.5), Plainfield South (60), Buffalo Grove (59), Waubonsie Valley (57), Lane Tech (52.5), York (52), Lake Zurich (48.5), Plainfield Central (44.5), Francis Howell, MO (41), Jacobs (36.5), Glenbard East (28), Sandwich (25.5), Prospect (25), Fenwick (23).

1st: IC Catholic Prep (367)
In addition to individual titles from Cumbee and Kelly, the Knights got seconds from Drew Murante (113), Aiden Arnett (157), Foley Calcagno (215) and Anthony Sebastian (285). Placing third for IC Prep were Sam Murante (126), Frank Nitti (144), Jacob Alvarez (150) and Joey Pontrelli (165). The Knights also got a fourth from Mike Bird (106) and a fifth from Jack Hanrahan (138).

2nd: Grant (244)
Bulldogs coach Mark Jolcover sent a pair of champions to the awards stand in Vince Jasinski (144) and Casey Gipson (190). Jasinski placed fourth in Class 3A at 126 last year and is ranked No. 3 at 132 to start the season. He posted three falls, one tech fall and capped his day with a major decision win for the title against Crystal Lake Central’s Nicholas Marchese.
Gipson was a state qualifier last year and is currently ranked among the honorable mentions to start the year. He used three falls and a major decision to set up a win by fall for the title at 190 against Hersey’s Grant Moga.
Placing second for Grant were Jayce Glauser (120) and Erik Rodriguez (138), with sixths coming from Brayden Myatt (106), Larry Quirk (113), and Aaden Arroyo (175).
A showdown between two returning state medal winners at 138 saw No. 3-ranked Griff Powell of Lyons win a 6-3 decision over Loyola’s No. 2 Erik Rodriguez.

3rd: Loyola Academy
Ramblers coach Matt Collum has two No. 1-ranked returning state medal winners in his lineup in Niko Odiotti (106) and Kai Calcutt (215), and both won Barrington titles. Odiotti placed second at 106 in 3A last year; Calcutt has placed second twice and was a state champion at 215 in 2024.
James Hemmila (150) also won a Barrington title and he’s ranked among the honorable mentions at 150 to start the year.
Odiotti posted two tech falls and a pin before winning a 4-2 decision over IC Prep’s Drew Murante in the Barrington finals at 113. Calcutt posted three falls and then had a medical forfeit advancement to the title mat, where he won by 10-4 decision against IC Prep’s Foley Calcagno.
Hemmila used three falls in reaching the semifinals, where he won 12-7 over Joliet West’s Coehn Weber, and then an 8-0 major decision for the title at 150 against Glenbard West’s Vince Tortoriello.
Gavin Pardilla (132) also placed fourth for Loyola, Quentin Williams (106) and Danny Malan (157) placed fifth, and Daniel Myint (120) finished sixth.

Other individual champions at Barrington were Glenbard West’s Aidan Ortega (106), Buffalo Grove’s Mykola Shamray (120), Barrington’s Kaleb Pratt (126), Lyons’ Griff Powell (138), Providence’s returning 2A state champion, No. 1-ranked Justus Heeg (157), Hersey’s Frankie Tagoe (165), and Belleville East’s returning 3A state champion, top-ranked Jonathan Rulo (285).
After a long day of wrestling, Mundelein’s Michael Vincic had amassed the most pins in the least time, with five falls in 11:08. Glenbard West’s four tech falls in 13:28 were the most techs in the least time on the day.
Stevenson’s Valentin Vihrov had five pins/tech falls in 5:59 to lead all wrestlers in that combination category, and Downers Grove South’s Maksym Yakymshyn posted the fastest pin, in 11 seconds. Providence Catholic’s Tommy Banas had the fast tech fall in 56 seconds; IC Prep’s Brody Kelly scored the most team points with 42.5 to the 42 team points posted by Grant’s Casey Gipson; Wheaton North’s Ryan Rosch had the most single match points with 28 and the most total match points with 93; and the largest seed-place difference went to Providence’s Ameer Khalil, who was seeded 30th but finished fifth at 175.

Championship match results:
106: Aidan Ortega (Glenbard W) d. Jeremiah Arroyo-Mcmullan (Lane) D 13-11
113: Niko Odiotti (Loyola) d. Drew Murante (IC Prep) D 4-2
120: Mykola Shamray (Buffalo Grove) d. Jace Glauser (Grant) MD 10-2
126: Kaleb Pratt (Barrington) d. Oleksandr Havrylkiv (Hersey) D 1-0
132: Max Cumbee (IC Prep) d. Ryan Dorn (Barrington) D 7-1
138: Griff Powell (Lyons) d. Erik Rodriguez (Grant) D 6-3
144: Vince Jasinski (Grant) d. Nicholas Marchese (Crystal Lake C) MD 9-1
150: James Hemmila (Loyola) d. Vince Tortoriello (Glenbard W) MD 8-0
157: Justus Heeg (Providence) d. Aiden Arnett (IC Prep) MD 13-4
165: Frankie Tagoe (Hersey) d. Jackson Hanselman (York) D 10-6
175: Brody Kelly (IC Prep) d. Ryan Rosch (Wheaton N) F 2:45
190: Casey Gipson (Grant) d. Grant Moga (Hersey) F 3:52
215: Kai Calcutt (Loyola) d. Foley Calcagno (IC Prep) D 10-4
285: Jonathan Rulo (Belleville E) d. Anthony Sebastian (IC Prep) D 6-0

Third-place match results:
106: Dominic DeMarco (Grayslake C) d. Mike Bird (IC Prep) D 10-8
113: Daniel Berdich (Stevenson) d. Vince DeMarco (Grayslake C) F 3:28
120: Griffin Heeney (Providence) d. Tanner Stone (DG South) F 3:00
126: Sammy Murante (IC Prep) d. Saul Ramirez (Barrington) D 8-1
132: Shawn Kogan (Stevenson) d. Gavin Pardilla (Loyola) MD 10-1
138: Tommy Banas (Providence) d. Mikey Polyakov (Stevenson) MD 14-6
144: Franke Nitti (IC Prep) d. Jimmy Whitaker (Barrington) D 7-5
150: Jacob Alvarez (IC Prep) d. Coehn Weber (Joliet W) med. fft.
157: Daniel Blanke (Barrington) d. Brian Hart (Wauconda) F 1:31
165: Joey Pontrelli (IC Prep) d. Julian Flores (Wheaton N) SV-1 10-9
175: Brody McKenna (Wauconda) d. Sam Cushman (Barrington) TF 16-1
190: Ty Sabin (Plainfield C) d. Aaron Jafri (Barrington) F 3:22
215: Johnathan Slump (Hersey) d. Carter Hintz (Hampshire) med. fft.
285: Knox Homola (Hampshire) d. Anthony Forst (Waubonsie Valley) MD 10-2

Vernon Hills’ Varsity Cougar Thanksgiving Invitational
Vernon Hill’s annual tournament was one of the few that took place anywhere in Illinois due to Saturday’s state-wide snowfall. Three teams dropped out but 15 teams showed up, and when the dust settled it was Glenbrook South that captured the team title.
Glenbrook South posted a 225-156 edge over second-place Johnsburg. Crystal Lake South placed third with 144.5 points. The Titans won the team title for the second consecutive year and have finished second twice and third once in the past five years at Vernon Hills.
Coach Pat Castillo saw 11 of his wrestlers finish in the top four, including a pair of individual champions in Ermuun Urtnasan (126) and Roman Ocampo (138).
Urtnasan posted three tech fall wins on the day, capped by a 17-1 win on the title mat. Ocampo won by fall and simple decision before winning by fall on the title mat.
Niles North (142.5) placed fourth, followed by Glenbrook North (134), St. Viator (115), Bartlett (112), Cary-Grove (93), Evanston (79.5), Harvard (79), Vernon Hills (74), Grayslake North (68), Taft (65), Woodstock North (63.5), and Harvest Christian (58.5).

1st: Glenbrook South (225 points)
In addition to titles from Urtnasan and Ocampo, placing third for Glenbrook South were Diego Arteaga (120), Kale Schrauth (150), Dominic Marino (175) and Sain Uranbold (215). Finishing fourth were Jack Burton (144), Joey Marquardt (157), Jacob Shamoon (190), Louis Luna (215) and Joey Torres (285).

2nd: Johnsburg (156)
Coach James Sylvanus sent five wrestlers to the title mat and got an individual championship from Kainoa Ancog (157) among eight total wrestlers finishing in the top six of their weight classes.
Ancog posted three falls to win his title, capped by a fall at 0:38 in the finals against Niles North’s Nathan Eiduk. Placing second were Chase Vogel (120), Chase Davis (132), Duke Mays (190) and Jackson Hjorth (215). Micah Klos (138) and Tanner Hansen (150) placed fifth and Josh Key finished sixth (144) for the Skyhawks.

3rd: Crystal Lake South (144.5)
The Gators sent three individual champs to the awards stand in Logan Aarseth (113), Nathan Randle (144) and Aiden Marrello (165). Coach Trevor Jauch also got a second-place finish from Christopher Talbert (106) and fifths from Zachary Stinson (175) and Camden Moffet (285).

Other individual champions in Vernon Hills were Harvard’s Liam Parker (106), Taft’s Bernardo Roque (120), Harvest Christian’s Brennan O’Donnell (132) and Max Mulhearn (150), Niles North’s Nicholas Marcus (175), St. Viator’s Jaxon Penovich (190), Evanston’s Brooks Tyler (215) and No. 6 Jeremy Marshall (285).

Glenbrook North’s AJ Metallo’s five pins in 5:51 were the most pins in the least time of any wrestler present, while Glenbrook South’s Urtnasan had the most tech falls in the least time, with 3 techs in 9:16. Niles North’s Treydius Palmer had the fastest pin in 11 seconds, while Cary-Grove’s Jacob Turner posted the fastest tech fall in 1:22.
Johnsburg’s Ancog, Niles North’s Marcus, and St. Viator’s Penovich tied for the most team points scored with 30, and Glenbrook North’s Henry Hafner scored the most total match points with 82. St. Viator’s Thomas Emery provided the largest seed-place difference, as the 14th seed at 113 pounds placed third.

Vernon Hills championship match results:
106: Liam Parker (Harvard) d. Christopher Talbert (Crystal Lake S) F 1:16
113: Logan Aarseth (Crystal Lake S) d. Caleb Son (Glenbrook N) Inj. dflt.
120: Bernardo Roque (Taft) d. Chase Vogel (Johnsburg) D 10-4
126: Ermuun Urtnasan (Glenbrook S) d. Nathan Flores (St. Viator) TF 17-1
132: Brennan O’Donnell (Harvest Christian) d. Chase Davis (Johnsburg) TF 17-2
138: Roman Ocampo (Glenbrook S) d. Gael Garcia (Niles North) F 3:17
144: Nathan Randle (Crystal Lake S) d. Jordan Mokhtarian (Glenbrook N) TF 16-0
150: Max Mulhearn (Harvest Christian) d. Cameron Engels (Bartlett) F 5:03
157: Kainoa Ancog (Johnsburg) d. Nathan Eiduk (Niles North) F 0:38
165: Aiden Marrello (Crystal Lake S) d. Jacob Becker (Vernon Hills) F 3:50
175: Nicholas Marcus (Niles North) d. Diego Lopez (Evanston) F 2:15
190: Jaxon Penovich (St. Viator) d. Duke Mays (Johnsburg) F 1:33
215: Brooks Tyler (Evanston) d. Jackson Hjorth (Johnsburg) F 5:12
285: Jeremy Marshall (Evanston) d. Wynn Phillipi (St. Viator) D 9-2

Third-place results:
106: Gavin Ventura (Niles North) d. Alan Edwards (Evanston) F 0:27
113: Thomas Emery (St. Viator) d. Charles Dominguez (Vernon Hills) Inj. dflt.
120: Diego Arteaga (Glenbrook S) d. Olin Wiedel (Woodstock N) D 6-0
126: AJ Metallo (Glenbrook N) d. Charlie Parker (Harvard) F 2:21
132: Oliver Michie (Glenbrook N) d. Sonny Franciose (Bartlett) F 0:48
138: Jacob Turner (Cary-Grove) d. Joseph Caputo (Bartlett) F 3:15
144: Gus Saletta (Bartlett) d. Jack Burton (Glenbrook S) MD 15-6
150: Kale Schrauth (Glenbrook S) d. Isaac Johnson (Glenbrook N) F 5:37
157: Leonardo Zavala (Cary-Grove) d. Joey Marquardt (Glenbrook S) D 7-1
165: Brennan Peters (Harvard) d. Henry Hafner (Glenbrook N) F 1:11
175: Dominic Marino (Glenbrook S) d. Jordan Connor (Grayslake N) F 2:11
190: David Randecker (Woodstock N) d. Jacob Shamoon (Glenbrook S) F 1:10
215: Sain Uranbold (Glenbrook S) d. Louis Luna (Glenbrook S) MD 18-6
285: David Williams (Grayslake N) d. Joey Torres (Glenbrook S) F 1:47

Rockford East E-Rab Girls Invitational

Freeport received points from all eight of its individuals in the varsity division and six of those placed in the top six with one finishing second to score 110 points, assuring it of the title of Wednesday’s Rockford East E-Rab Girls Invitational, which featured 30 teams. Sandwich edged defending champ Warren Township 100.5-100 for second while Sycamore (94), South Elgin (93), Hampshire (91), LaSalle-Peru (90) and Kaneland (87) rounded out the top-eight teams.

Leading the way for coach Brad Parsons’ champion Lady Pretzels were runner-up Brea Balles (115) and third-place finishers Kaiya Galindo (120) and NaJeyah Wallace (155). Bella Martins (155) finished fourth, Lily Wurster (190) placed fifth and Ariyana Calmese (105) took sixth while Carolina Huertero (130) and Caydance Fellows (170) scored valuable team points and Nalani Isaac (170) took third place in the unscored junior-varsity bracket for Freeport, who took ninth place in last year’s competition, finishing 146 points behind the champion Blue Devils. In the tight team battle, the Pretzels helped their cause by recording a tournament-high 18 pins.

Top finishers for coach Derek Jones’ runner-up Lady Indians were runner-up Lydia Cartwright (120), third-place finishers Jessica Rios (115) and Alexia Cather (140) while Olivia Agajanian (110) and Norah Vick (125) finished fifth and Jazmin Rios (155) took sixth place. Karlie Hardekopf (115) and Ruby Ferguson (135) both won titles in the junior-varsity bracket. 

Coach Nick Grujanac’s third-place Blue Devils were led by champions Jane Kelly (135) and Tyanna Jackson (145), third-place finisher Hanna Bairstow (170) as well as Aaliyah Vazquez (120), who claimed fifth place. In the junior-varsity brackets, Sadie Fugelseth (140) placed first.

The other E-Rab Girls Invitational champions were LaSalle-Peru’s Kalista Frost (100) and Kiely Domyancich (125), Hampshire’s Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (120) and Samantha Diehl (190), Sycamore’s Ema Durst (140) and Jasmine Enriquez (235), Rockford East’s Saya Hongmoungkhoune (105), Antioch’s Londyn LLoyd (110), Crystal Lake South’s Annalee Aarseth (115), Richmond-Burton’s Madelyn Peterie (130), South Elgin’s Allison Garbacz (155) and Wyoming Seminary, PA’s Alexis Penley (170). 

Seven placewinners from the 2025 IHSA Finals claimed championships. Hongmoungkhoune won the 100 title last year while Aarseth was second at 110, Nidelea-Polanin took third at 115, Diehl placed third at 190, Durst was fourth at 140, Garbacz was fourth at 145 and Domyancich was fifth at 115. Penley, a six-time Illinois champion and two-time national champion in Freestyle and Folkstyle for the West Suburban Girls Wrestling Club in Naperville, is ranked 15th at 190 by Sports Illustrated and was her school’s lone entrant. Also, Garbacz was an honorable mention selection in the same national rankings at 155.

Petrerie led the varsity champions with 30 team points while Aarseth, Hongmoungkhoune, LLoyd and Penley all tied for second with 29.5 points. Penley edged Nidelea-Polanin 53-52 for the most total match points. Diehl, Domyancich, Durst, Hongmoungkhoune and Kelly also won titles in last year’s E-Rab Girls Invitational.

Additional second-place finishers were Harlem’s Mya Olejiniczak (100) and Madison Heneks (130), Seneca’s Sammie Greisen (125) and Haiden Lavarier (145), Belvidere North’s Emily Taylor (140) and Savanna Trevino (235), Saint Viator’s Charlotte Nold (105), Kaneland’s Thalia Paton (110), Rockford East’s Natalya Montoya (135), Crystal Lake Central’s Cait Jones (155), Sycamore’s Frankie McMurtry (170) and Guilford’s Anjanne Haywood (190). Jones posted the largest seed-to-place difference in the invite, improving 13 positions from her 15th-seed.

The closest championship match was at 100 where Frost edged Olejiniczak 8-6. At 125, Domyancich claimed a 10-4 decision over Greisen, who was a state medalist in 2024, while Garbacz captured a 15-3 major decision over Jones at 155. Hongmoungkhoune won by injury default in 5:22 over Nold at 105 and Penley won by technical fall in 4:00 over McMurtry at 170.

In title matches decided by fall, LLoyd won in 3:17 over Paton at 110, Aarseth was a winner in 1:22 over Balles at 115, Nidelea-Polanin won in 1:35 over Cartwright at 120 and Peterie was a winner in 2:30 over Heneks at 130. Also, Kelly won in 1:02 over Montoya at 135, Durst was a winner in 3:35 over Taylor at 140, Jackson won in 1:32 over Lavarier at 145, Diehl was a winner in 3:10 over Haywood at 190 and Enriquez won in 1:32 over Trevino at 235.

Other third-place finishers were Kaneland’s Amadahy Torres (100) and Reygan Behrends (145),

Hampshire’s Annabelle Mueller (105), LaSalle-Peru’s Sarah Lowery (110), Hersey’s Soha Faisal (125), Belvidere North’s Rowan Cello (130), Sycamore’s Winter Beard (135), Jefferson’s Kylie Eilken (190) and Thornton Township’s Miniyai Adams (235). Mueller was the lone individual in the tournament to capture three victories by technical fall.

Also finishing fourth were Hersey’s Alexandra Gumino (120) and Abigail Tellez Laguna (170), Antioch’s Magdelyn Brough (130) and Rylee Dunlavy (140), Johnsburg’s Arianna Deckmann (190) and Carmen Sierra (235), Loyola Academy’s Emma Matsunaga (100), South Elgin’s Leila Ruiz (105), Sterling’s Nevaeh Delgado (110), Byron’s Rylie Dach (115), Thornton Township’s Kayla Beard (125), Jefferson’s Stand Paw (135) and LaSalle-Peru’s Avalyn Edwall (145).

Additional fifth-place finishers were Jefferson’s Danika Lamb (100), Hersey’s Emma Strohmeier (105), South Elgin’s Azucena Rodriguez (115), Rochelle’s Cammyla Macias (130), Thornton Township’s Shuntara Freeman (135), Barrington’s Nicole Dziura (140), Hampshire’s Madison Minson (145), Loyola Academy’s Mma Akela (155), Antioch’s Josie Blau (170) and Harlem’s Carla Pineda (235). Lamb also had recorded the most pins in the least time with four in 4:01.

Sixth-place showings were also turned in by Kaneland’s Bella Gruber (130), Chloe Cervantes (140) and Alexis Zahlit (170), South Elgin’s Anni Romo (110) and Ivary Ortiz (190), Hersey’s A’shira Manuel (100), Saint Viator’s Evalyn Idzik (115), Richmond-Burton’s Breanna Warren (120), Barrington’s April Tavarez (125), Fremd’s Gobbileg Erdenebat (135), Sterling’s Vivianna Torres (145) and Marengo’s Madalynn Woodcock (235).

The other title winners in the junior-varsity brackets were Thornton Township’s Camila Olvera-Garnica (100), Tayonne Frye (105) and Tyler Lee (145), Hersey’s Nikita Variano (120) and Leah Osorio (190), LaSalle-Peru’s Amelia Buckley (110), Saint Viator’s Fiona Monaco (125), Richmond-Burton’s Brooklyn Peterie (130), Hononegah’s Bellani Villa (155), Antioch’s Malina Cook (170) and Streamwood’s Airam Fernandez (235).

Rockford East E-Rab Girls Invitational team standings

1. Freeport 110, 2. Sandwich 100.5, 3. Warren Township 100, 4. Sycamore 94, 5. South Elgin 93, 6. Hampshire 91, 7. LaSalle-Peru 90, 8. Kaneland 87, 9. Hersey 82, 10. Antioch 73.5, 11. Harlem 72, 12. Belvidere North 71, 13. Jefferson 66, 14. Rockford East 57.5, 15. Richmond-Burton 52, 16. Thornton Township 50, 17. Seneca 42, 18. Loyola Academy 37.5, 19. Johnsburg 36, 20. Sterling 34, 21. Saint Viator 33, 22. Crystal Lake South 31.5, 23. Wyoming Seminary, PA 29.5, 24. Crystal Lake Central 28, 25. Guilford 25, 26. Barrington 24.5, 27. Fremd 17, 28. Byron 13, 28. Marengo 13, 28. Rochelle 13, 31. Hononegah 12, 32. Grayslake Central 11.

Rockford East E-Rab Girls Invitational championship matches

100 – Kalista Frost (LaSalle-Peru) over Mya Olejiniczak (Harlem), D 8-6
105 – Saya Hongmoungkhoune (Rockford East) over Charlotte Nold (Saint Viator), Inj. 5:22
110 – Londyn LLoyd (Antioch) over Thalia Paton (Kaneland), F 3:17
115 – Annalee Aarseth (Crystal Lake South) over Brea Balles (Freeport), F 1:22
120 – Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (Hampshire) over Lydia Cartwright (Sandwich), F 1:35
125 – Kiely Domyancich (LaSalle-Peru) over Sammie Greisen (Seneca), D 10-4
130 – Madelyn Peterie (Richnond-Burton) over Madison Heneks (Harlem), F 2:30
135 – Jane Kelly (Warren Township) over Natalya Montoya (Rockford East), F 1:02
140 – Ema Durst (Sycamore) over Emily Taylor (Belvidere North), F 3:35
145 – Tyanna Jackson (Warren Township) over Haiden Lavarier (Seneca), F 1:32
155 – Allison Garbacz (South Elgin) over Cait Jones (Crystal Lake Central), MD 15-3
170 – Alexis Penley (Wyoming Seminary, PA) over Frankie McMurtry (Sycamore), TF 4:00
190 – Samantha Diehl (Hampshire) over Anjanne Haywood (Guilford), F 3:10
235 – Jasmine Enriquez (Sycamore) over Savanna Trevino (Belvidere North), F 1:32

By Chris Walker for the IWCOA

AURORA — Fresh off winning the first dual team state title in program history while returning the majority of its top wrestlers, Marmion Academy won the 2nd annual Marmion Cadet Classic on Wednesday, earning six individual titles along the way.

The Cadets finished with 566 points, easily outdistancing themselves from runner-up Marist’s 354 and third-place Warren’s 300. Lincoln-Way West was fourth with 295.5 and Oak Park and River Forest took fifth with 284.5 to round out the top five.

“We lost three seniors (Mateusz Nycz, Anthony Haddad and Andrew Haritos) that were in the lineup last year,” Marmion coach Anthony Cirrincione said. “Obviously, good kids, and we love those kids, and two of them were here helping today, and the whole team is back and that’s a pretty special group.”

For Marmion, it’s starting over but not starting from scratch for 2025-2026. The Cadets also won the inaugural Cadet Classic last winter.

“They are definitely building off of last year,” Cirrincione said. “We lost a coach that kind of ran our room in Nate Fitzenreider. It’s a big loss a loss that you can’t always make up for, but the coaches have all come together and are doing a great job and we’re all kind of talking through things and coming up with plans and just putting our best foot forward. It’s been a great start to the year.”

Opponents do not need to magnify their target when they see Marmion.

“We’re the hunted, no question about it, but our kids, we don’t look at the sport like everyone else,” Cirrincione said. “I think that’s what makes Marmion special is we look at this as a vessel to get into a college we couldn’t get into without it and set our lives up. So when it comes to pressure and expectations and all those things, we have all that, but we know ultimately this is a sport. You put your all into academics and athletics and you set yourself up for life for the work you do here.”

Working up an appetite and getting to eat their fill on Thanksgiving was the reason Marmion debuted this tournament for its wrestlers and many others around the state a year ago. 

“The no. 1 reason this was created was to give the kids Thanksgiving day, that’s the number one reason,” Cirrincione said. “The second (reason) was get a bunch of matches, and a bunch of data to see if what you’re working on is being implemented and what better way than to have five good matches to see this is something we as a group need to improve on, this is something we need to think about as coaches that we’re not seeing or, hey, we’re doing the right stuff (but) we’re just making these little mistakes and now we need to make adjustments.”

Kids lose out on a lot as wrestlers, so this tournament has found a way for the kids to collect data the day before collecting calories, without having to count them.

“Giving the kids Thanksgiving back is super important to us because you take away Thanksgiving and Christmas for a lot of these kids,” Cirrincione said. “And most of the time these kids are sitting at Thanksgiving dinner nibbling while everyone else is having their meal and they’re miserable and can’t understand why they’re not happy and we wanted to have that back and they got that back.”

And for the Marmion kids in particular, they got to enjoy the comforts of home.

“Last year it was still a pretty good tournament, but we just like doubled, tripled the amount of competition from last year,” Marmion senior 144-pounder Demetrios Carrera said. “I think it’s great to give all these kids around the state an opportunity to come and compete against some of the top kids in the state, and I just love it because we are with all the guys and we get to can be in our home environment and have a really good tournament. I think it really helps us being able to compete at our fullest and have each other’s backs and stuff. 

“At Marmion we’re always hanging around each other in and outside of school and having fun. I think what’s most important is being able to still work hard when it’s time to get better but at the same time outside of the room we’re still staying close as a family and have a close bond and have fun. That’s good.”

Final team scores: Marmion (566), Marist (364), Warren Township (300), Lincoln-Way West (295.5), Oak Park and River Forest (284.5), Mount Carmel (281), Hononegah (270.5), Portage IN (255), Glenwood (250.5), Civic Memorial (248), West Aurora (210), Antioch (205), Mahomet-Seymour (197), Oakwood (194), Naperville Central (192.5), Washington (185), Marian Central Catholic (184), St. Patrick (178), Lockport Township (169), Huntley (168.5), Plainfield North (157), Fremd (144.5), Notre Dame (139.5), Quincy (118.5), West Chicago (104), Evergreen Park (78.5), Crown Point IN (70), Kaneland (33), DuSable (-1).

Cadet Classic champions:

106 – Colton Wyller, Marmion

Wyller got the Cadets rolling as the first of their six championship winners. The junior scored a 14-3 major decision against Marist’s Elio Gil to get the Cadets on the board.

A first-minute pin, tech fall victory and another major decision served as the pathway toward’s Wyller’s title. He also won at 106 in last year’s inaugural Cadet Classic.

Mount Carmel’s Sebastian Gracia took third with a 17-1 tech fall win over Washington’s Symon Woods. Glenwood’s Cooper Clark placed fifth via 19-7 major decision over Warren’s Diego Rea.

113 – Caleb Noble, Warren

Warren junior Caleb Noble (Arizona State) began his quest for a third state title with a 7-1 victory over Oak Park and River Forest’s MJ Rundell at 113 pounds. The clash between state champions (Noble at 113 last year and at 106 in 2024) and Rundell (106 last year) was decided by a couple of takedowns from Noble.

“I’ve made adjustments in the room going (up against) big people,” Noble said. “I’ve been wrestling with Aaron Stewart (175 pounds) and he’s made an impact on my wrestling for the better. I’m used to bigger people so when I came out here it’s just a mindset thing. I know I’ve been through a lot more than these kids and I think that’s what separates me. I want to say I’ve changed the way I’ve not necessarily moved, but my rhythms have. I think I’ve changed my rhythms and I think that’s important for a wrestler. If somebody is predictable then they’re just going to be beatable at that point. You can’t telegraph anything.”

His dad also continues to inspire and push. 

“My dad is always in my ear 24/7,” he said. “He was a great wrestler. He kind of like stays on me all the time and I know it’s from love and he might yell at me sometimes, but he tells me not to take it personally. When we get in the car and we have a hard day at practice and he apologizes, it’s just wrestling.”

His dad helps him with his moves, which often turn into a show; hence, he’s “Showtime” when he hits the mat. 

“My dad will tell me the moves I need to work on,” he said. “Before, when I was little, he used to badger me about it, but now he gives me the moves and knows that I’m mature enough to execute those moves and if I have it wrong a little bit he might try to critique it, but ultimately he shows a move and I usually I try to change the move to fitting my wrestling style. And he has no shame behind that. He lets me wrestle freely and what he says, what I do out there is what Showtime does, you’re on his time.”

Marmion’s Preston Morrison won by medical forfeit for third against Notre Dame’s Ray Long, and St. Patrick’s Jack Koenig took fifth with a 15-5 major decision over Oakwood’s Steven Uden.

120 – Danny Goodwin, St. Patrick 

Goodwin, who was last year’s Class 2A runner-up at 113 pounds, scored a 4-0 win against Portage’s  (Indiana) Zavier Acuna to win the title for his squad’s lone championship.

After opening the tournament with a 11-1 win over Notre Dame’s Lucas Goldman, Goodwin earned tech fall wins over Lincoln-Way West’s Charlie Tustin and Quincy’s Wyatt Boeing.

Marmion’s Brody Page won 11-4 for third against Quincy’s Wyatt Boeing, and Oakwood’s Weston Frazier on 8-3 over Washington’s Lucas Bach on the fifth-place mat.

126 – Jamiel Castleberry, Oak Park and River Forest

Well, it certainly did not take long for a couple of standouts from 120 to meet again at 126 just a year later.

Castleberry, who took fifth in the state at 120 in Class 3A, had to get past Hononegah senior Jackson Olson, who placed fourth a season ago.

“That was pretty good, Castleberry said. “I would love to get to my offense more, but I think I wrestled solid for the first time.”

Consistency is something Castleberry is striving for every practice, every match.

“Last year there were a bunch of ups and downs, so this year I just want to win,” he said. “Last year I was winning matches and then losing to kids I wasn’t supposed to be losing to. Working hard and always getting extra reps after practice. My coach Jason Renteria, he’s big about getting extra reps. We have accountability partners and mine is MJ Rundell. He holds me accountable a lot.”

Battling through such a tough tournament to kick off the season wasn’t necessarily what Castleberry expected. While he impressed with his wrestling, he was impressed by his fellow competitors.

“It’s tough competition, and I didn’t think it would be this tough, he said. “We usually go to West Aurora first to start the year, but we both kind of came here. Our team, I feel could be pretty special. We’ve got some seniors leaving which will be sad. They’re a key part of the team but I feel we could do good and get a team trophy if everybody works hard and puts effort into it.  I want to win it all this year and put up bonus points in every dual, all pins.”

Marian Central Catholic’s Austin Hagevold placed third with a 6-3 win over Marmion’s Aidan McClure, and Plainfield North’s Aidan Durell won by fall on the fifth-place mat against Mahoment-Seymour’s Gideon Hayter.

132 – Nicholas Garcia, Marmion

Illinois recruit Nicholas Garcia hopes to head to Champaign as a three-time state champion in three weight classes. Garcia was a state champ at 113 in 2024 and at 126 last season.

He picked up his first big tournament win of the year with a 19-4 tech fall win over Oakwood’s Mason Swartz to capture the title.

Garcia pinned his first two opponents in the tournament and recorded a 20-4 tech fall win against Lockport’s Isaac Zimmerman in the semifinal. Garcia was injured at the start of last season and did not compete in the inaugural tournament a season ago.

Lockport Township’s Isaac Zimmerman won by fall over Marist’s Jon Beals for third place, and Lincoln-Way West’s Brady Glynn placed fifth with a 10-2 decision over Portage’s Ayden Campbell.

138 – Zach Stewart, Marmion
Top-ranked Stewart is realizing that he’ll be in the Purdue black and gold before he knows it. He’s looking to add to a resume which includes a state title at 138 during his sophomore season and a second place finish at 144 as a junior last year.

“It all went by fast and everybody was like it goes so fast but you know the days go slow, the weeks go fast, the months go fast,” he said. “And I’m going to miss it because I’ve really enjoyed my time here.”

Stewart won by tech fall over Marist’s Axel Rodriguez, 21-5 at 4:21, to capture the 138 title. Stewart was one of three Cadets to also win titles in this tournament in its first two seasons, joining Colton Wyller and Demetrios Carrera. 

“This is super cool because it’s a nice start-up, warm-up tournament and then this year you come here and you’ve got all these tough matches,” Stewart said. “You’ve got (Jimmy) Mastny vs. (Aaron) Stewart, you’ve got (Wyatt) Medlin vs. (Justin) Wardlow going on right now, It’s really cool to see how it’s expanded already so fast. I really like it here.”

As far as self analysis goes, Stewart liked the way he got around the mat.

“I liked my movement,” he said. “I really liked how I was able to attack both sides of the body because I’ve been struggling with that recently so I really liked that… it was kind of go-with-the-flow wrestling which is what I’ve struggled with but I was very happy with how I wrestled today.”

He’s particularly fond of his crew.

“Our team obviously has the same goal to win team state, but we all decided as a team that we should all get closer together because last year we were all close but we do more things as a team now,” he said,. “We all go out to eat more, we all do extra work after practice together, we all go do bike sprints and stuff. It’s really kind of creating that bond of we’re all struggling together so we’re all kind of growing and learning from what we’ve been up to.”

Lincoln-Way West’s Shane Stream won a 4-1 decision on the third-place mat against St. Patrick’s Patrick Hulne, and Oakwood’s Devin Ehler took fifth with a fall against Fremd’s Drew Fifield.

144 – Demetrios Carrera, Marmion

It didn’t take long for a big rematch to occur this season as Carrera and Mount Carmel’s Justin Williamson met for the title after the two battled in the state consolation semifinals at 132 last year. 

In February, Carrera edged Williamson, 6-5, and proceeded to place third in the state while Williamson rebounded to take fifth. 

Saturday proved to be another fantastic battle between the two, with Carrera earning his second straight win over Williamson with a takedown for sudden victory in overtime, 9-6.

“It was a good match,” Carrera said. “I think he wrestled well. I think that I could’ve gotten into my offense more. I think I was a little sloppy on some of my finishes and attack, but overall I think even through all the hiccups and stuff, I got the job done and I guess what matters is we can go back in the room and make some tweaks and adjustments of what I need to do to make sure I can clean up the sloppiness and do better in the future.”

One area where Carrera continues to grow is toward sharpening his mental edge.

“My mindset has kind of tweaked a little bit,” he said. “Obviously, I think I’ve grown in my technique and cleaned up a lot of things from last season and stuff, and keep improving, but my mindset was one of the biggest things. Being able to go out there and even push at that point where you’re tired and just keeping the pace going even when you are tired. I think that was the biggest thing for me, not feeling sorry for yourself and just keep pushing through even when you feel tired because you know you are both tired out there. I think that was the biggest change for me.”

The tougher the competition, the less that separates the greats.

“It’s about those little adjustments that you make and just little tweaks of getting one percent better each day and continuing to move forward,” Carrera said. “Even on your bad days you are going in there and putting in the work and learning. I think that’s the biggest thing.”

Naperville Central’s Jacob Cochran won the third-place match 7-0 over Oak Park and River Forest’s Zev Koransky, while Oakwood’s Tyler Huchel placed fifth via a 6-3 decision over Civic Memorial’s Greg Harkey.

150 – Rocco Cassioppi, Hononegah

The junior enters his upperclassmen years having already committed to the University of Wisconsin after taking second place in the state at 106 in Class 3A as a freshman, and winning a state title at 132 a season ago.

At 150 in this tournament, Cassioppi earned a 17-2 tech fall victory over Marist’s Tommy Fidler.

It was two days of tech fall wins for Cassioppi who won all four of his bouts that way, outscoring opponents, 72-10. Dominant, no doubt, and it matches the 72-10 record the Bulls had during the 1995-1996 season when they won 72 regular season games and only lost 10 times.

It looks like Rockton has plenty more winning to come from Cassioppi this year and next before he heads off to Madison.

Marist’s Tommy Fidler placed third by medical forfeit over Marmion’s Ashton Hobson, and West Chicago’s Leo Rosas took fifth with a 4-2 decision over OPRF’s AJ Noyes.

157 – Wyatt Medlin, Washington

Wyatt Medlin has spent his life around the Washington wrestling program, but his talents on the mat have taken him all over the world, including multiple trips to Russia as well as his soon-to-be new home in Champaign at the University of Illinois.

“For me, I’ve been around the Washington program since I was a toddler,” he said. “My dad was coach there and now finally it’s my last year and I’m a senior in high school. It’s kind of surreal. Last year they made me a team captain. We didn’t have a ton of seniors so I was a junior team captain, but we put an asterisk next to that because there were still seniors above you who kind of called the shots. The year being the captain it feels nice. I feel like I have a sense of responsibility of keeping my guys accountable, and we have a tough team.”

Medlin had one of the toughest championship bouts in Aurora, meeting Lockport’s Justin Wardlow in the final. Top-ranked in 3A, Wardlow is a three-time state runner-up while Medlin is a returning two-time state champ in 2A placed third in Champaign as a freshman.

“This tournament is spectacular,” Medlin said. “Second annual and it’s tougher than ninety percent of state brackets. Wardlow in the final, that’s the no. 1 ranked guy in 3A. Fargo champ in my bracket, bunch of state placers in my bracket, this is good stuff. Down in 2A Washington does a good job of getting good tournaments and good competition but state-wide 2A isn’t as deep as 3A so it’s nice getting that 3A competition early on in the season. I couldn’t ask for a better tournament. I’m grateful for it.”

As one would expect, Medlin’s life revolves around wrestling. It’s his life.

“I wrestled all off-season,” he said. “Spent a month training in Russia. The hospitality and training was great over there. This was like my fifth time there. I took a few of the U of I guys down there and I’ve been training a lot at U of I, close to home and yeah wrestled in Fargo, double-finalist in Greco.”

In the third-place match, Marist’s Ethan Sonne won a 14-2 major decision over OPRF’s David Ogunsanya, and Antioch’s Dominic Garcia played fifth via 8-2 decision over Portage’s Lincoln Underwood.

165 – Liam Kelly, Mount Carmel

Kelly’s used to winning so capturing a championship in the first tournament of the season isn’t the hugest deal, but then again…

“I loved it,” he said. “I thought this tournament was great even though it was a little long. I loved the competition. I thought it was a good test for the first week of the season.”

He was happy to get a 16-4 win against Warren standout Royce Lopez.

“I felt good about getting to my read attacks clean,” he said. “My hand fighting felt good. I felt great.”

After helping the Caravan win the Class 3A team dual state title in 2024, Kelly won the individual title last year at 157.

“After winning state last year I trained all off-season with coach Alex Tsirtsis,” he said. “He helped me all summer get better, and I trained up at U of I a lot with those guys. They all helped me get a lot better.”

Kelly expects big things from his fellow wrestlers this winter.

“I think we’ll be good,” he said. “We could win state this year. We’ve got young kids, a bunch of freshmen who are good and can help us out a lot, and a heavyweight playing football right now. The football team is always winning so they are always ending their season at Thanksgiving every year so team is looking great.”

As for passing down words of advice to his teammates, Kelly said he’s simply sharing what’s been taught to him.

“I just kind of get my two cents in to these guys,” he said. “I usually look up to coach (Tsirtsis) and have got a lot of good advice from him and try to pass it on to the younger guys.”

Hononegah’s Bruno Cassioppi took third with a 7-0 decision over Lincoln-Way West’s Max Herman, and Civic Memorial’s James Wojcikiewicz placed fifth via technical fall over West Aurora’s Marcus Quintana.

175 – Brody Sendele, Rockton (Hononegah)

A host of ranked 175-pounders got an early-season look at each other in Aurora.

University of Wisconsin recruit Sendele took down Warren’s Ilia Dvoriannikov in 1:39 to capture the 175 title. The match featured the top two-ranked 175-pounders in Illinois per Rob Sherrill’s rankings.

The junior Sendele is ranked No. 1 in 3A after placing third at 157 in Champaign as a freshman and second last year at 165 pounds. No. 2 senior Dvoryannikov placed second at 165 as a sophomore and third as a junior.

Sendele also earned a 10-3 decision against St. Patrick’s Van Grasser, pinned Plainfield North’s Raphael Tovar in 1:49 and collected a 17-1 tech fall win over Mt. Carmel’s Brandon Beavers.

West Aurora’s No. 3 Dayne Serio placed sixth at 165 as last season. He lost by fall to Dvoriannikov in Saturday’s semifinals, then beat another ranked wrestler by 3-0 sudden victory decision for third place, in St. Patrick’s Van Grasser. Grasser is ranked among the honorable mentions at 175 and is a two-time state medal winner.

Glenwood’s Elijah Smith won a 4-3 decision for fifth place against Mount Carmel’s Danny Lynch. Smith is No. 9 in 2A to start the season.

190 – Jimmy Mastny, Marian Central Catholic

The Most Outstanding Wrestler among a field that included 13 nationally-ranked athletes and 83 wrestlers ranked in Illinois, Mastny pinned Fremd’s Lucas Nance in 1:37 for the 190 title.

Ranked No. 1 in 2A, Mastny had two pins leading up to his semifinal match. His toughest test against Warren’s Aaron Stewart occurred during the semifinals and was one of the premier matchups during the tournament. Two-time state champion Stewart is top-ranked at 190 pounds in 3A.

Stewart is also among the most elite all-around athletes in the state. Stewart is looking to be a rare two-sport athlete at the Division 1 level, as he is committed to wrestle and play football at the University of Illinois.

Mastny is also a two-time state champ, having won the Illinois crown at 157 as a freshman and 190 as a sophomore. Mastny took Stewart down with 16 seconds remaining in the second period and the three-point takedown propelled him to the 4-1 victory.

“Everyone knows Aaron Stewart – he’s won everything he could win,” Mastny said. “Holding him down for a while and just getting to my attack in the second was a big deal. I’m just trying to get better every day, learning new stuff, critiquing stuff from matches. For me personally, it’s just about learning more and probably trying to start in college as a freshman.”

Ranked No. 4 in 2A, Mahomet-Seymour’s Marco Casillas won a 7-5 decision for third place over Fremd’s Nance, who is ranked No. 4 in 3A. Naperville Central’s Paul Peradotti took fifth with a 7-2 decision over Mount Carmel’s Kenneth Seggerson.

215 – Luke Boersma, Marmion

Junior Luke Boersma would likely dominate sophomore Luke Boersma.

“I definitely feel stronger,” he said. “I mean, I tried to get stronger last offseason, but I feel this year I got even better and I plan to keep on improving to achieve my goals.”

Boersma pinned Marian’s Dan French late in the third period while ahead 11-7 to take home the title. He also earned a first period pin against Warren’s Pearce Estrada and a couple early second period pins against Marist’s Tom O’Brien and Civic Memorial Bethalto’s Kevahn Flanagan before he got to French. 

“In the best way possible, he’s gotten a lot denser,” Cadets coach Anthony Cirrincione said. “He’s thick and he’s stronger and you couple it with the kind of positions he likes to wrestle in that maybe other people don’t like to wrestle in and he’s going to be in the advantage a lot of the times. It’s been really good to see.”

Boersma recognized that improved strength could pay off drastically so put in the work during the off-season and has already received dividends. Last year he helped the team win a state dual title. Now he’s winning individual titles. During last year’s Cadet Classic he placed fifth at 190.

He’s certainly hanging with great company with his siblings. His older brother Ryan (University of Illinois/Mount Carmel) and sister Abbey (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point/Minooka) continue to share his love and success of the sport.

“I have been working on technique with both of them for a long time,” he said. “I’ve been going down to U of I to get extra work in with Ryan this preseason and that has definitely helped me a lot with my technique.”

When asked if he’s the best wrestler in the family now, Boersma paused for a couple seconds before responding. Boersma smirked at the tough question.

“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s a tall task to achieve.”

Warren’s Caleb Vanleer won by fall for third place against Marist’s Tom O’Brien, and Lincoln-Way West’s Jimmy Talley won by fall for fifth place against Mahomet-Seymour’s Phil Daniels.

285 – Joey Favia, Marmion 

The senior Favia pinned Glenwood’s Cody Moss in 1:46 to finish the tournament. Two-time state qualifier and state runner-up two years ago at 215, Favia is currently ranked No. 3 in Illinois.

Returning state champion Moss is top-ranked in 2A after winning the heavyweight state crown last season.

Favia rolled through the competition impressively on Saturday, earning pins in each of his matches leading up to the final against Evergreen Park’s Willie Johnson, Washington’s Sean Thornton and Marist’s Jack Watson.

Antioch’s Owen Shea placed third by fall over Marist’s Jack Watson, and West Aurora’s Alfonso Aguilar won by 5-3 decision on the fifth-place mat against Washington’s Sean Thornton.