Feature Stories

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Qualifiers from these regionals feed the Phillips sectional on Feb. 14

CHICAGO AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

Homewood-Flossmoor placed fourth at last year’s Rich Township regional, and two years ago the Vikings were third at the Curie regional.

H-F finished just flirting with regional success. The program won its first team title at this year’s regional at Chicago’s Agricultural Science.

Coach Scott Aronson’s girls put up 191.5 points to edge second-place Oak Forest (178), with Marist (176.5) hot on their heels in third. District 230 (169.5) placed fourth and St. Laurence (153.5) rounded out the top five team finishes.

“Our coaches and parents are incredibly proud of what our athletes were able to do this weekend,” Aronson said.  “We entered the regional with ten athletes, seven of which qualified for sectionals and one we can take to sectionals as an alternate.”

Aronson had a pair of regional champions in Amara Nwoye (130) and Kendra Hayden (190), and got a second-place finish from London Gandy (125), and thirds from Amirat Toheeb-Lawal (115), Madelynn McClements (135), Kennedy Dade (140) and Denise Brown (145).

“All ten of our girls contributed to the first regional championship in the program’s five-year history.  We are very excited and optimistic about our prospects at sectionals and very grateful everyone is healthy, motivated and ready to go next weekend.  Most of our girls over-performed where they were originally seeded which was extremely gratifying to see as their coach, and demonstrates that they are not letting anything hold them back.”

Oak Lawn (136) placed sixth, followed by Thornton Fractional South (132.5), Agricultural Science (100) Hillcrest (97) and Reavis (92) to round out the top ten finishes.

District 230 — made up of girls from Andrew, Stagg, and Carl Sandburg — led all programs with seven sectional qualifiers. Oak Forest had five qualifiers; Marist and TF South each qualified four; St. Laurence, Oak Lawn, Tinley Park, Agricultural Science, Shepard, Reavis, and Hillcrest had three qualifiers each.
Oak Forest’s Alex Sebek (27-0) is the lone girl to emerge from the regional with an unbeaten record.

REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
100 Alex Sebek (27-0) Oak Forest
105 Taniya Moss (23-5) Hillcrest
110 Carmen Jackson (23-1) Agricultural Science
115 Piper Booe (34-3) District 230
120 Nina Nesci (33-1) St. Laurence
125 Rain Scott (15-1) Oak Forest
130 Amara Nwoye (39-8) Homewood-Flossmoor
135 Brooklyn Strelow (21-6) Oak Forest
140 Hannah Marusarz (26-8) St. Laurence
145 Iyobosa Odiase (31-2) Oak Forest
155 Lily Fish (29-3) Reavis
170 Jermia Moore (34-7) TF South
190 Kendra Hayden (28-12) Homewood-Flossmoor
235 Karrine Jenkins (34-4) Shepard

SECTIONAL QUALIFIERS
100

Alexandra Sebek (Oak Forest) 27-0, d. Elizabeth Bisonaya (Oak Lawn) 30-7, (F 1:20)

Lillian O`Brien (Bloom) 20-2, d. Reese Kruen (District 230) 17-14, (F 5:39)

105

Taniya Moss (Hillcrest) 23-5, d. Tatum De La Vega (District 230) 27-8, (F 4:35)

Dakodia Kelly (TF South) 36-8, d. Sofia Perez (Shepard) 29-15,  (F 3:24)

110

Carmen Jackson (Ag Science) 23-1, d. Jade Hardee (District 230) 37-6, (D 9-6)

Ariel Woodfin (Thornton) 22-3, d. Sophia Orcasitas (Oak Forest) 24-8, (F 0:43)

115

Piper Booe (District 230) 34-3, d. Danita Palmore (Ag Science) 23-4, (D 4-3)

Amirat Toheeb-Lawal (H-F) 35-10, d. Aracely Stevens (TF South) 32-16, (Inj)

120

Nina Nesci (St. Laurence) 33-1, d. Ava Enright (Marist) 35-6, (F 1:44)

Brynnley Krauchun (District 230) 25-14, d. Shealanay Williams (Ag Science) 15-10,  (F 5:23)

125

Rain Scott (Oak Forest) 15-1, d. London Gandy (H-F) 32-11,  (F 1:27)

Kendra Chatman (Goode) 25-4, d. Holly Rowan (McAuley) 24-8, (F 1:28)

130

Amara Nwoye (H-F) 39-8, d. Mila Rocush (Shepard) 31-9, (F 1:00)

Journey Jackson (Oak Lawn) 25-5, d. Anastasia Dvorak (District 230) 22-8, (MD 8-0)

135

Brooklyn Strelow (Oak Forest) 21-6, d. Izzy Locascio (Marist) 25-4,  (F 1:43)

Madelynn McClements (H-F) 33-14, d. Isabella De La Vega (District 230) 26-11, (D 11-7)

140

Hannah Marusarz (St. Laurence) 26-8, d. Marlen Morelos Perez (Eisenhower) 27-5,  (TF-4:12)

Kennedy Dade (H-F) 35-12, d. Rylee Hernandez (Tinley Park) 25-10, (F 3:19)

145

Iyobosa Odiase (Oak Forest) 31-2, d. Priscilla Ruiz (Oak Lawn) 24-6, (F 0:31)

Denise Brown (H-F) 34-13, d. Neriah Treadway (Hancock) 22-8, (F 1:12)

155

Lily Fish (Reavis) 29-3, d. Melissa Nance (Hillcrest) 22-9, (D 7-6)

Layla Ross (Evergreen Park) 20-7, d. Ariyah Bradford (TF North) 17-6, (TF-2:56)

170
Jermia Moore (TF South) 34-7, d. Phoebe Heyboer (Eisenhower) 29-7, (D 12-5)

Sarah Parker (Marist) 35-11, d. Lilith Merikort (Evergreen Park) 14-5, (F 1:50)

190

Kendra Hayden (H-F) 28-12, d. Jordyn Coleman-Harrison (Hillcrest) 24-3,  (F 0:41)

Lucia Terrazas (TF South) 27-8, d. Ezra Velez (Reavis) 11-11, (D 7-1)

235

Karrine Jenkins (Shepard) 34-4, d. Elise Brown (St. Laurence) 27-5, (F 2:00)

Hailey Canvin (Reavis) 30-8, d. Abby Parker (Marist) 21-8, (M. For.)

Statistics
TEAM

Most pins: Marist 30, Oak Forest 24, District 230 23
Most tech falls: St. Laurence 3, Oak Lawn 2, District 230 2
Most total match points: District 230 249, St. Laurence 248, Homewood-Flossmoor 225

INDIVIDUAL
Most pins least time: District 230’s Brynnley Krauchun, 5 falls in 11:02
Most tech falls least time: TF South’s Abibatu Mogaji, 1 tech in 0:44
Fastest fall: Homewood-Flossmoor’s Rachel Nugin 0:12
Most team points: 32 (tie) – H-F’s Amara Nwoye, St. Laurence’s Nina Nesci, Oak Forest’s Iyobosa Odiase
Most single-match points: Oak Forest’s Rain Scott 23
Most total match points: Thornton’s Ariel Woodfin 49
Largest seed-place difference: District 230’s Reese Kruen became a sectional qualifier by placing fourth as the No. 12 seed at 100 pounds.

RICKOVER NAVAL ACADEMY

Morton coach Fernando Arratia got nine of his girls through to the sectional round, led by regional champions Andaira Marron (100), Karla Munoz (110) and Luissiana Guerrero (120), as Morton won its first team regional title in program history at Rickover Naval Academy. The Mustangs posted 193 points to edge second-place Lane with 185.

Morton placed second at last year’s Rickover regional, and the were second two years ago at the Curie regional.

“Overall, it was a successful day,” Arratia said. “The girls worked hard all season and it’s rewarding to see them find success in various ways. There is still room for improvement but it’s a day that will motivate the girls moving forward.”

Morton led the field in pins (20), tech falls (5) and total match points (356).
In taking the regional crown, the Mustangs got a second-place finish from Fatima Martinez (125), thirds from Jordan Rodriguez (105) and Anali Wilson (170), and fourths from Victoria Vargas (115), Annabelle Linton (145) and Genessi Ceballos (155).

Lane had eight sectional qualifiers on the day. Third-place Kelly (121.5) had five, followed in the team standings by Curie (117.5) with four, De La Salle (95.5) with four, Noble/ITW Speer (94) with two, Oak Park and River Forest (91.5) with five, Rickover (86.5) with two, Hope Academy (81) with three, and Back of the Yards (76) with three to round out the top ten team finishes.
Morton led the field with three regional champs, followed by Lane and Chicago Hope Academy with two champs apiece. Hope Academy’s Demetria Griffin (16-0) finished as the lone unbeaten wrestler to emerge from the Rickover regional.

REGIONAL CHAMPIONS

100 Andaira Marron (32-1) Morton
105 Giselle Arambula (27-1) Curie
110 Karla Munoz (32-10) Morton
115 Demetria Griffin (16-0) Chicago Hope Academy
120 Luissiana Guerrero (28-10) Morton
125 Grace Eiland (16-4) Chicago Hope Academy
130 Kenya Louis (12-3) Kenwood
135 Zabby Badru (43-1) Lane
140 Isabella Miller (22-3) OPRF
145 GG Garduno (23-2) St. Ignatius
155 Layla Moreland (35-9) Lane
170 Sara Martinez Lopera (29-3) Kelly
190 Nyomi Ascencio (31-8) Back of the Yards
235 Esmerelda Bustamante (38-1) Noble/ITW Speer

SECTIONAL QUALIFIERS
100

Andaira Marron (Morton) 32-1, d. Sofia Guerrero (Lane) 41-3,  (D 10-3)

Adali Cruz (Noble/ITW Speer) 35-4, d. Maelaya Brown (Crane) 11-4, (F 4:51)

105

Giselle Arambula (Curie) 27-1, d. J Colbert (Lake View) 18-3,  (F 4:59)

Jordan Rodriguez (Morton) 37-8, d. Anapaula Cerna-Rivera (De La Salle) 15-6,  (MD 13-3)

110

Karla Munoz (Morton) 32-10, d. Lauren Guerrero (Lane) 35-13, (F 5:35)

Destiny Hills (Kelly) 16-14, d. Janiya Hawkins (Dyett) 6-2, (F 0:31)

115

Demetria Griffin (Hope Academy) 16-0, d. Yazmine Garcia (Kelly) 23-5, (TF-4:28)
Gymaria Brown (Curie) 27-4, d. Victoria Vargas (Morton) 34-14,  (F 1:03)

120

Luissiana Guerrero (Morton) 28-10, d. Victoria Serment (De La Salle) 18-5, (D 9-3)

Hannah Chong (Crane) 21-2, d. Paige Finnegan (Rickover) 37-10, (F 2:16)

125

Grace Eiland (Hope Academy) 16-4, d. Fatima Martinez (Morton) 27-19, (MD 16-5)

Michelle Kpekpe (OPRF) 24-15, d. Trinity l Kinesy (Clark) 12-7, (F 2:13)

130

Kenya Louis (Kenwood) 12-3, d. Imyjah Jackson (Lane) 28-13, (F 3:06)

Yaretzi Avila Calixto (Curie) 18-7, d. Krystal Ojeda (Rickover) 19-15, (F 1:23)

135

Zabby Badru (Lane) 43-1, d. Mercedes Carrassoco (De La Salle) 24-3, (F 3:44)

Liliana Monserrat Dimas (Kelly) 24-8, d. Isabelle Vences (Lake View) 6-7, (F 0:54)

140

Isabella Miller (OPRF) 22-3, d. America Cabrera (Phoenix) 23-1,  (F 3:50)

Evelyna Perez (BOTY) 32-9, d. Daniyah Rogers (Westinghouse) 18-13, (F 0:47)

145

GG Garduno (St. Ignatius) 23-2, d. Eila Barbour (Lane) 29-4, (D 15-10)

Zoe Gonzalez (Curie) 11-3, d. Annabella Linton (Morton) 14-7, (F 3:35)

155

Layla Moreland (Lane) 35-9, d. Jennifer Martinez-Alarcon (BOTY) 25-11,  (F 1:02)

Liana Andrade (Kelly) 11-3, d. Genessi Ceballos (Morton) 24-17, (F 1:13)

170

Sara Martinez Lopera (Kelly) 29-3, d. Caliyah Campbell (OPRF) 20-6,  (F 1:12)

Anali Wilson (Morton) 35-2, d. Kenaiece Barrett (Lane) 34-15, (F 0:30)

190

Nyomi Ascencio (BOTY) 31-8, d. Akyah Thomas (Lane) 18-4, (F 1:00)

Valiere Franco (Fenwick) 16-4, .d. Eliana Martinez (OPRF) 16-16, (F 0:53)

235

Esmeralda Bustamante (Noble/ITW Speer) 38-1, d. Amaria Thomas (Hope Academy) 7-4, (F 1:49)
Nevaeh Jones (De La Salle) 15-9, d. Yolianie Hernandez (Noble/Golder) 12-6, (F 5:01)

Statistics
TEAM

Most pins: Morton 20, Curie 19, Kelly 18
Most tech falls: Morton 5, Hope Academy 4, De La Salle 2
Most total match points: Morton 356, Rickover 218, Lane 191

INDIVIDUAL
Most pins least time: Kelly’s Liana Andrade, 5 falls in 5:47
Most tech falls least time: Hope Academy’s Demetria Griffin, 3 techs in 10:51
Fastest fall: OPRF’s Isabella Miller 0:12
Fastest tech fall: De La Salle’s Mercedes Carrassoco 1:07
Most single-match points: Hope Academy’s Grace Eiland 22
Most total match points: OPRF’s Michelle Kpekpe 66
Largest seed-place difference: OPRF’s Michelle Kpekpe and Clark’s Trinity Kinesy. Kpekpe placed third as the No. 8 seed at 125 pounds, and Kinesy placed fourth as the No. 9 seed at 125 pounds.

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Qualifiers from these regionals feed the Schaumburg sectional on Feb. 14

HAMPSHIRE

In the first two years of regional competition in girls wrestling in Illinois, Wheeling finished fifth in regional competition two years ago and was a team regional runner-up last year.
So maybe it was just a matter of time.

Coach Tony Piltaver’s girls snared the program’s first team regional title at Hampshire, posting 175.5 points and advancing six wrestlers to the sectional round.

For Piltaver and a program that continues to rise, the team regional win went beyond his sectional qualifiers alone.

“While six girls advanced to the sectional round, this championship was truly a team effort,” he said.
“The title would not have been possible without contributions from every athlete in our lineup, those who traveled to support their teammates, our managers who keep the program organized, the boys’ team that pushes us to improve every day, and the rest of the Wheeling coaching staff back at the high school.”
Wheeling’s boys’ team also won a team regional title this season.

Wheeling’s Elise Burkut (135) and Jasmine Rene (235) won regional titles. Burkut placed second in Illinois at 125 last year, while Rene finished fourth at 190.

Also earning sectional advancement for Wheeling were third-placer Mayali Suarez (120) and fourth-placers Layah Woods (145), Nikol Orendarchuk (155) and Essenze Reid (170).

“All of our girls competed with determination over the last two days,” Piltaver said. “After facing strong competition in several major tournaments this season, it was rewarding for the team to see everything come together and earn the regional title.”

While Wheeling won the team title by more than 20 team points, only eight points separated the second- through fifth-place teams. Huntley (153) placed second, followed by Hampshire (149.5), McHenry (148) and Woodstock (145.5).

Grant (129), Lake Zurich (112), Hersey (87.5) Jacobs (82) and Rolling Meadows (80) rounded out the top 10 team finishes.

Hampshire led all teams with four regional champions, Huntley and McHenry had two champions apiece, while Jacobs, Grant, Barrington and South Elgin had one each.

Five regional champs from Hampshire will enter the Schaumburg sectional without a loss on their season records, in Wheeling’s Rene, Hampshire’s Stella Piazza (115) and Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (120), McHenry’s Natalie Corona (32-0), and South Elgin’s Allison Garbacz (155).

Nidelea-Polanin placed third at 115 downstate last year, while South Elgin’s Allison Garbacz was fourth at 145. Other regional champions who are also returning state medal-winners include Huntley’s Aubrie Rohrbacher, who placed sixth at 130, and Hampshire’s Samantha Diehl, who placed third at 190.

Crystal Lake South’s Annalee Aarseth, who placed second in Illinois at 110 last year, placed second to Piazza at 115 on Saturday.

REGIONAL CHAMPIONS

100 Janiah Slaughter (30-2) Huntley
105 Annabelle Mueller (35-4) Hampshire
110 Julia Felton (23-4) Jacobs
115 Stella Piazza (22-0) Hampshire
120 Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (19-0) Hampshire
125 Elise Burkut (38-3) Wheeling
130 Aubrie Rohrbacher (36-4) Huntley
135 Abby Quirk (24-5) Grant
140 Nicole Dziura (29-4) Barrington
145 Natalie Corona (32-0) McHenry
155 Allison Garbacz (35-0) South Elgin
170 Madalynn Sima (33-3) McHenry
190 Samantha Diehl (33-3) Hampshire
235 Jasmine Rene (31-0) Wheeling

SECTIONAL QUALIFIERS

100
Janiah Slaughter (Huntley) 30-2, d. Eva Hermansson (Woodstock) 35-6, (F 5:14)

Kaylee Albovias (Grant) 24-7, d. Melanie Granda (B Central) 24-8, (F 4:45)

105

Annabelle Mueller (Hampshire) 35-4, d. Charlotte Nold (St. Viator) 13-1, (M. For.)

Aaliyah Guichon (Jacobs) 19-5, d. Valeria Guzman (Elgin) 10-5, (MD 16-4)

110

Julia Felton (Jacobs) 23-4, d. Alexa Colin-Garcia (McHenry) 30-6, (MD 11-1)

Azucena Rodriguez (S Elgin) 13-3, d. Evalyn Idzik (St. Viator) 37-13, (D 7-4)

115

Stella Piazza (Hampshire) 22-0, d. Annalee Aarseth (CL South) 24-2, (F 1:40)

Georgia Hay (Lake Zurich) 31-8, d. Donna Garcia (Huntley) 15-11, (TF 5:45)

120

Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (Hampshire) 19-0, d. Isabelle Singer (Huntley) 35-11, (F 1:25)

Mayali Suarez (Wheeling) 36-9, d. Alexandra Lexi Gumino (Hersey) 28-13, (F 4:56)

125

Elise Burkut (Wheeling) 38-3, d. Myla Reyes (Grant) 27-5, (TF-1.5 3:03 (15-0)

Ruby Gavina (Dundee-Crown) 33-9, d. Caroline Marogy (Buffalo Grove) 22-10, (F 1:12)

130

Aubrie Rohrbacher (Huntley) 36-4, d. Aryanna Geiger (Jacobs) 16-6, (F 1:54)

Madelyn Peterie (R-Burton) 30-4, d. Hannah Olsen (Woodstock) 32-13, (D 4-3)

135

Abby Quirk (Grant) 24-5, d. Grecia Garcia (Huntley) 32-10, (F 4:00)

Brooklyn Peterie (R-Burton) 20-11, d. Alanna Carlberg (Lake Zurich) 21-18, (F 4:37)

140

Nicole Dziura (Barrington) 29-4, d. Annabelle Melton (Grant) 25-6, (F 3:47)

Kristyanna Apostol (Lake Zurich) 26-14, d. Jatziry Godoy (Wauconda) 24-11, (F 1:43)

145

Natalie Corona (McHenry) 32-0, d. Janet Brindis (Rolling Meadows) 30-12, (F 1:42)

Ithandehui Rosas (Harvard) 30-4, d. Layah Woods (Wheeling) 32-15, (F 4:23)

155 

Allison Garbacz (S Elgin) 35-0, d. Cait Jones (CL Central) 15-3, (F 1:37)

Caitlin Ruley (Lake Zurich) 13-5, d. Nikol Orendarchuk (Wheeling) 30-7, (D 4-1)

170

Madalynn Sima (McHenry) 33-3, d. Leilani Brindis (Rolling Meadows) 36-8, (F 4:39)

Brianna Crown (Woodstock) 35-9, d. Essenze Reid (Wheeling) 6-3, (F 2:25)

190

Samantha Diehl (Hampshire) 33-3, d. Irma Villa (Palatine) 32-3, (F 1:52)

Jadelin Caballero-Flores (Larkin) 28-4, d. Brooklynn Anderson (McHenry) 30-5, (D 8-3)

235

Jasmine Rene (Wheeling) 31-0, d. Allison Hill (Woodstock) 26-11, (F 0:18)

Ti`ara Saunders (Lake Zurich) 28-5, d. Nala Hernandez (McHenry) 22-11, (F 4:14)

Statistics
TEAM

Most pins: Wheeling 26, Woodstock 21, Huntley 21
Most tech falls: Hampshire 3, Lake Zurich 3
Most total match points: Wheeling 252, Woodstock 241, Lake Zurich 219

INDIVIDUAL
Most pins least time: Huntley’s Aubrie Rohrbacher, 4 falls in 6:19
Most tech falls least time: Lake Zurich’s Georgia Hay, 3 techs in 14:29
Fastest fall: Jacobs’ Nicole Baginski 0:13
Fastest tech fall: Hampshire’s Stella Piazza 1:41
Most team points: 32 (tie) – Rohrbacher and McHenry’s Madalynn Sima
Most single-match points: Hay 24
Most total match points: Hampshire’s Amelia Nidelea-Polanin 77
Largest seed-place difference: Elgin’s Valeria Guzman placed fourth as the No. 12 seed at 105 pounds.

GLENBARD WEST

Schaumburg won its third consecutive team regional title Saturday at Glenbard West, further cementing coach Matt Gruszka’s program as one of the premier programs in Illinois.

The Saxons posted 231.5 team points to win the crown. Conant (175) was second, followed by West Chicago (119), Glenbard North (110.5) and Bartlett (103) to round out the top five finishes.
Schaumburg had eight sectional qualifiers and got individual regional titles from Isabella Rivas (125), Sharon Olorunfemi (135), Emily Fowler (145) and Nadia Razzak (190), who placed fifth in state at 190 last year.

“I thought our champions had a really good day,” Gruszka said. “Isabella Rivas won a very tough 125 bracket.  Sharon Olorunfemi at 135 is starting to look back in form.  Emily Fowler at 145 wrestled very tough to win her bracket and Nadia Razzak  looked dominant in her wins in the 190 bracket.”

Gruszka also got third-place finishes from qualifiers Makenzi Aguilar (100), Anna Villareal (115) and Maja Brzosko (170), and a fourth from Ava Hartman (140).

Hoffman Estates (100.5), Glenbard West (92), Glenbard East (89), Lake Park (77.5) and Downers Grove North (75) completed the top 10 team finishes in the 26-team field.

All three of Glenbard East’s sectional qualifiers were regional champions, Glenbard North had two regional champs, and Leyden, Willowbrook, Bartlett, and Hoffman Estates each had one.

Leyden’s Zoey Dodgers (110) finished as the lone unbeaten wrestler emerging from Glenbard West’s regional, one year after placing fifth in Illinois at 105 pounds. Multiple-time state medal-winner Nadia Shymkiv (105) of Glenbard East also won a regional title in Glen Ellyn.

REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
100 Karla Sarabia (39-6) Glenbard East
105 Nadia Shymkiv (32-2) Glenbard East
110 Zoey Dodgers (26-0) Leyden
115 Angelina Manlapaz (15-2) Willowbrook
120 Karolina Konopka (39-2) Glenbard West
125 Isabella Rivas (37-3) Schaumburg
130 Lily White (33-3) Bartlett
135 Sharon Olorunfemi (36-5) Schaumburg
140 Maria Green (40-1) Glenbard East
145 Emily Fowler (23-17) Schaumburg
155 Suzanne Stalley (38-7) Glenbard North
170 Dayanara Elias-Mena (9-2) Hoffman Estates
190 Nadia Razzak (40-1) Schaumburg
235 Asreilla Wallace (38-6) Glenbard North

SECTIONAL QUALIFIERS
100
Karla Sarabia (Glenbard E) 39-6, d. Valerie Aliga (Glenbard S) 27-9, (D 16-13)

Makenzi Aguilar (Schaumburg) 34-7, d. Lillyana Iman (Glenbard W) 30-12, (F 3:21)

105

Nadiia Shymkiv (Glenbard E) 32-2, d. Brissia Bucio (WEGO) 31-7, (D 5-0)

Roselyn Cornier (Hoffman Es) 26-9, d. Isabella Datil (Addison Trail) 14-8, (MD 10-0)

110
Zoey Dodgers (Leyden) 26-0, d. Valeria Pesantes (Elk Grove) 19-2, (F 1:05)

Norah Cwik (Bartlett) 32-8, d. Sydney Stieb (SC East) 41-5, (MD 17-6)

115

Angelina Manlapaz (Willowbrook) 15-2, d. Giselle Varelas (Conant) 36-7, (TF-1.5 5:06 (18-2)

Anna Villarreal (Schaumburg) 33-10, d. Caitlin Miko (Glenbard W) 32-16, (F 2:30)

120

Karolina Konopka (Glenbard W) 39-2, d. Sarah Bell (Montini) 30-9, (F 0:43)

Sabrina Bono (Leyden) 28-4, d. Kamila Florencio (Hoffman Es) 23-6, (M. For.)

125

Isabella Rivas (Schaumburg) 37-3, d. Charlie Dolan (York) 26-2, (F 3:53)

Giselle Castillo (Fenton) 24-1, d. Valentina Solorzano (SC East) 26-16, (TF 3:53)

130

Lilly White (Bartlett) 33-3, d. Jasmine Zavaleta (Conant) 35-5, (F 3:24)

Keagan Edwards (Glenbard N) 44-3, d. Catherine Diehl (Wheaton Ac) 32-3, (D 9-6)

135

Sharon Olorunfemi (Schaumburg) 36-5, d. Ava Burns (Lake Park) 36-8, (F 4:28)

Ewa Krupa (Conant) 24-3, d. Evie DeSantis (Glenbard S) 28-9, (F 0:31)

140

Maria Green (Glenbard E) 40-1, d. Brithany Mondragon (Addison Trail) 20-4, (F 0:35)

Batula Nasib (WEGO) 30-8, d. Ava Hartman (Schaumburg) 26-10, (D 9-4)

145

Emily Fowler (Schaumburg) 23-17, d. Melanie Nava (Bartlett) 13-17, (F 3:25)

Naomi Burnett (DG North) 13-10, d. Jayiana Newcombe (Conant) 22-13, (F 1:02)

155

Suzanne Stalley (Glenbard N) 38-7, d. Sydnee Allen (Hoffman Es) 30-2, (F 4:41)

Susan Bilyal (Conant) 29-10, d. Samantha Stillo (DG North) 27-13, (F 3:48)

170

Dayanara Elias-Mena (Hoffman Es) 9-2, d. Claudia Weglarz (Conant) 29-14, (F 2:46)

Maja Brzosko (Schaumburg) 33-12, d. Olivia Halminiak (WEGO) 32-13, (F 2:54)

190

Nadia Razzak (Schaumburg) 40-1, d. Ava Adorni (Conant) 27-10, (F 0:59)

Paige Washburn (Lake Park) 5-1, d. Tiana Fraser (York) 25-14, (F 3:09)

235

Asreilla Wallace (Glenbard N) 38-6, d. Sky Vazquez (Elmwood Park) 18-3, . (F 1:09)

Ameinah Hill (Lake Park) 28-11, d. Ariana Bonilla (WEGO) 8-3, (F 2:21)

Statistics
TEAM

Most pins: Schaumburg 36, Conant 25, West Chicago 24
Most tech falls: 3 (tie) – Lake Park Conant, St. Charles East
Most total match points: Schaumburg 288, Conant 220, West Chicago 211

INDIVIDUAL
Most pins least time: Schaumburg’s Maja Brzosko, 5 falls in 19:44
Most tech falls least time: St. Charles East’s Sydney Stieb, 3 techs in 11:01
Fastest fall: Lake Park’s Ava Burns 0:13
Fastest tech fall: Elk Grove’s Valeria Pesantes 1:24
Most team points: Leyden’s Zoey Dodgers 31.5
Most single-match points: Fenton’s Giselle Castillo 24
Most total match points: Steib 57
Largest seed-place difference: Lake Park’s Paige Washburn placed third as the No. 11 seed at 190 pounds

By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA

Qualifiers from this regional feed the Phillips sectional on Feb. 14

Warren was crowned regional champion at host Grayslake Central on Saturday afternoon, but not until wrestlers had to endure an incredibly long night of competition at first-day host Vernon Hills.

The athletic departments at Vernon Hills and Grayslake Central came to the rescue during the last few days prior to the start of the post-season.

When nary a one of the 29 teams were assigned to a northern suburb regional venue, Vernon Hills stepped forward to host the first day of action, with Grayslake Central taking the second day, albeit with a caveat.

Central had an important girls basketball game scheduled in its spacious field house against Wauconda in a NLCC contest in the early afternoon on Saturday. As a result, four full rounds of competition would be required in order to leave just enough time for Central to prepare for its arch rival Wauconda.

Friday would go on well after 11 p.m., with an early weigh-in time awaiting the sleep-deprived wrestlers the following morning.

Despite this difficult situation, the wrestlers would still provide plenty of memorable moments for the big crowd on hand, showing their mettlel and passion for their sport, with four from each weight class moving on to the Phillips sectional in Chicago on Feb. 14.

“Obviously I am very proud of the team,” Warren coach Nick Grujanac said. “As a coach, I always love watching how a new core of wrestlers come together to compete for each other, and this group is no different.

“I’ve never been at a tournament that went past 8:30, let alone past 11:00, and definitely never at a tournament this important at two locations. But everyone owes gratitude to both Vernon Hills and Grayslake Central and their athletic departments, who somehow pulled it all together on such short notice.”

Grujanac, who has been quick to praise his assistant, Tom Mikolay for the success of the program, will accompany seven to sectionals, including his lone champion, Tyanna Jackson (140) and three runners-up: Aaliyah Vazquez (115), Jane Kelly (135), and Ellery Brown (145).

“The best wrestling of the day came from Naleah Parham, Haley Fugelseth, and Hanna Bairstow, going three-for-three in the blood round, all with pins,” said Grujanac.

“It was a total team effort with every girl scoring at least one pin to contribute to the final team score.”

100- Riley Kongkaeow (Round Lake)

Back from an extended stay on the injured list, Round Lake senior Riley Kongkaeow (17-3) made an immediate impression on the 100-pound division with an outstanding two-day effort which would include her pin of Ester Migues-Gayton (Grayslake North) in their final.

Kongkaeow, a two-time state qualifier, and 2025 fourth-place state medal winner, needed all but 41 seconds to dispatch Migues-Gayton to give her a tourney-best four pins in just 2:36 minutes.

“I just came back yesterday (Friday) to compete after being out for nearly two months with an injury, and it feels great to be back, and to start the postseason with a regional title,” said Kongkaeow, after claiming her second consecutive regional crown.

“The biggest thing after being out so long was to get myself mentally ready to compete. Other than that, I feel like I was ready for just about anything,” added the Panthers star, who was 45-5 a year ago.

Kongkaeow had to reach high in the sky to accept congratulations by former Panthers heavyweight star, and 2025 state runner-up, William Cole, home from NIU to support his female friends in the sport.

Kongkaeow plans on wrestling in college, and will pursue a degree in Occupational Therapy.

Evelyn Torres (Maine East, 28-9) and Esther Vega (21-11) from Waukegan advance into sectionals after their third- and fourth- place finishes.

105- Katelyn Gallegos (Maine South, 18-3)

Maine South freshman Katelyn Gallegos (18-3) rebounded nicely after her recent second-place finish at the CSL Conference championships with a pair of pins, sandwiched around a hard-fought 8-3 decision in her semifinal en route to the 105-pound title.

“It was always one of my goals, and it’s pretty amazing to be a regional champ as a freshman,” said Gallegos, who pinned two-time sectional qualifier London Lloyd (Antioch, 27-10) in the final.

Before that, Gallegos needed to get by league rival Isabella Castro (New Trier) who was third overall at the CSL tournament.

“I’ve been working hard all year, so it feels good to finish in first,” added Gallegos.

Castro (17-11) would finish fourth after Jazmine Medina (Zion-Benton, 18-5) in the third place match to advance.

110- Sunny Aitzemkour (New Trier)

New Trier star Sunny Aitzemkour (30-4) continues to be nearly untouchable, and appears primed to navigate through and around the competition to a spot atop the podium later this month in Bloomington.

After her first-round bye as the anointed top seed, the junior needed just (77) seconds to advance into her semifinal, where a forfeit sent the 2025 state qualifier into the final against league rival, Maine East captain, Eliana Badeen.

Once there, it was all Aitzemkour, who used her length, quickness, and finishing ability to pin Badeen (22-10) at 3:09.

“I am much more confident in myself compared to last season, and my time around Jillian Giller (5th place state medal winner now at Illinois Wesleyan), helped me in so many ways as well, particularly in my preparation, confidence, and how to compete at a high level,” said Aitzemkour, 25-17 a year ago.

“My workout regime has increased as well,” continued Aitzemkour. “Five times a week I’m training and in between I never really stop doing something to be better — running, lifting, fitness, all of it.”

Third-place medal winner Anne Gutkowski (Vernon Hills, 22-11) and fourth place Italia Cernas (9-4) from Mundelein also advance.

115- Athena Zappas (Stevenson, 34-1)

In her rookie season last year, Athena Zappas went 0-2 at the Round Lake regional to end her first season with an overall record of 9-19.

Fast forward, and the Stevenson sophomore is a near perfect 34-1 after her impressive four-match effort that included two pins, and tech-falls, her second coming in the 115-pound final with NSC rival Aaliyah Vazquez (34-9) from Warren.

“I spent so much extra time during the offseason training, going to as many camps and tournaments that I was able and just doing whatever I could to be a better wrestler,” said Zappas.

“I wrestled Aaliyah a bunch of times this season, so we both knew each other really well, but I still watched a lot of film before this weekend, which helped me exploit her with my shots and attack.”

“My results at regionals last year were terrible, so it felt good to go out and do really well, win my weight class, and advance into sectionals,” added Zappas, who now has four major titles on the season.

CSL champion, Annika Lee (Maine South, 24-6) finished third to advance, and and Alyssa Martel (Taft, 20-12) placed fourth to advance.

120- Nastasia Kobets (Stevenson, 13-3)

Junior Nastasia Kobets found herself in a 120-pound weight class last year at the Round Lake regional that featured future state placers Ariella Dobin (Glenbrook North) and Mary Minogue (Libertyville) among others, so her postseason visit ended far too soon.

Kobets made sure her opponents here at 120-pounds would have a short stay in the front draw when she pinned her first three opponents, setting up an outstanding but quick effort in her final.

Kobets needed just over 90 seconds to register a 16-1 tech-fall victory to claim her first regional title of her career over top seed, and CSL champion, Oyetola Jacobs (23-8) from Evanston.

“Something that I’ve improved on from last year is my patience and composure, which has made me a much more confident wrestler this year,” says Kobets, now 13-3.

“I also feel like my mindset is much better, so I am enjoying the sport even more this year, and really feel like I can get on top of the podium at state.”

Mirabelle Duboef (Lake Forest, 28-6) and Naleah Parham (Warren, 15-10) advance following their third and fourth place medals.

126- Ariella Dobin (Glenbrook North, 32-0)

You would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the 126-pound weight class that has more of the look of a state champion than Glenbrook North junior Ariella Dobin.

The Spartans star has been the No. 1 in the state all throughout, and her performance here would validate her lofty status.

“I worked during the offseason on just about everything, always looking to add one thing or another to my wrestling toolbox to make me as dangerous as I can be out there,” said Dobin, now 32-0 after third pin of the day ensured another major title.

The Dobin-Mary Minogue (Libertyville, 10-1) final began like a house on fire with both come out swinging that led to a hard-fought, physical opening period that would end with Dobin striking the first take-down blow.

The all-action Dobin would increase her advantage to 6-1 at three minutes, then increase her lead to 9-1 with a take-down when the clock struck 0:00.

Minogue, sixth a year ago at state, continued her attack, but the 2025 state runner-up had too much firepower left in her tank, leading to a pin at 5:46.

“Injury kept me from the National Duals, and Fargo, but I feel better than ever right now, and look forward to the state tournament in a couple of weeks,” added Dobin.

Natalie Gonzalez (Mundelein, 24-12) pinned Haley Ramos (Carmel Catholic, 18-5) to take home third, and a spot in sectionals along with Ramos.

132- Gianna Arzer (Grayslake Central)

What a triumphant return for Grayslake Central senior Gianna Arzer.

After off-season surgery on a torn labrum, the Rams best female wrestler in program history just recently got back to competing. On Saturday, before an appreciative home crowd, she won her 100th career victory when she pinned Emily Ortiz (25-4) from Zion-Benton to win the 132-pound title.

“I lost my freshman year to an injury, and almost all of my senior year after rehabbing from my labrum surgery back in July. So right now, it is just an amazing feeling to win, here at home, for my 100th victory,” said Arzer (9-0) who was mobbed by her teammates moments after her pin over Ortiz.

“It’s been a long road back from surgery, working to get myself ready to compete, and being ready mentally to do so, but I am super excited for these next two weeks, and cannot wait to get to state, and go after a state title,” she said.

“It meant a lot to me to get back to wrestling, and to win another regional championship here at home. It’s been great wrestling at Grayslake Central.”

Arzer will wrestle next season at Milliken University, where the trust in the coaching staff, her future teammates, and the wonderful new facility there will be a part of her future, which will include a degree in Exercise Science.

CSL rivals Alena Oshana (Maine East, 41-6) p. Zmorah Izenstark (New Trier, 36-9) were third and fourth, respectively.

135- Karina Lojowski (Stevenson)

Karina Lojowski is one of those athletes who speaks softly, but carries and strikes with a big stick — or, in this sport, big take-downs. She recorded plenty of those take-downs en route to the 135-pound individual title.

The Patriots senior nearly pinned her way to victory, saving her best for last during an 83-minute effort to defeat Warren captain Jane Kelly (31-9) to win her second consecutive major title.

The Lake County Invite champ opened her tournament with a pair of super quick pins, then overwhelmed CSL champion Sarah Al Radi (Niles West) with a 19-3 tech-fall that took 3:56 to complete.

“I don’t really game plan before any of my matches, I just put everything that I have into the match, both physically and mentally, and let that carry me,” admitted Lojowski, now 32-2.

The 2025 state qualifier was 2-2 in Bloomington, and would finish at 28-8 on the season.

“I feel like it is a reasonable expectation for me to get on the podium at state, and if I keep things simple, continue to work, and outwork my opponents, it can all happen for me,” Lojowski said.

Ridgewood sophomore Gianna Mezzano (30-7) will be the lone sectional representative for her club after her third place finish over junior Kylie Kowalisyn (28-13) who will be the only one from Taft.

140- Tyanna Jackson (Warren, 38-2)

There were a lot of impressive performances over the two days of action, but you would be hard pressed to find anyone who was more dynamic than Warren sophomore Tyanna Jackson.

The No. 5 rated 140-pounder in the state was unstoppable as she pinned her way to the title that would include all-out assault in her final against top seed, and recent Lake County Invite champion Sasha Johnson (Antioch, 36-8) who roared into the final on the heels of three consecutive pins.

“Being a regional champion means a lot to me because it validates all of the hard work that I put in during the offseason, and right into the wrestling season. It proves that hard work does pay off,” said Jackson following her pin at 1:58 minutes.

“When I go out there I like to set the tone with an aggressive style, looking to score points in a lot of different ways, be strong in my hand-fighting, quickness, and by doing all of that I can control the match and keep my opponents from being comfortable,” continued Jackson, who lost to Johnson (15-8) in the final at the Lake County Invite.

Khloe Heerdegen (Mundelein, 32-13) p. Victoria Marquez (Grayslake North, 24-11) will continued on after their third and fourth place medals.

145- Miranda Tellez (Grayslake Central, 26-4) 

In a rematch of the Lake County Invite final two weeks ago, it would be Miranda Tellez claiming her second straight victory over Ellery Brown (27-4) – this time in sensational fashion.

The sophomore from Grayslake Central opened up a 4-0 lead early in the second period, extended her advantage to 7-1, and would later execute a big throw into a four-point near fall that would eventually end with a 19-3 tech-fall triumph.

“To win a regional championship for the first time is amazing. It feels good and it will help my confidence going forward with sectionals coming up next week,” said Tellez (26-4) who would register a 5-2 decision over Brown in her Lake County Invite final.

“I put in a lot of extra work during the offseason, lifting, getting stronger, and really spending a lot of time working on my cardio because it will be important when I have those six minute matches that really mean something,” added Tellez, who was a sectional qualifier a year ago with a 25-15 record.

Highland Park freshman Lexie Hoobler (20-10) advances after her 6-1 decision over Alyson Alvarenga (26-11) who will be making her second sectional appearance.

155- Isabel Hilinski (Stevenson, 19-4)

There was plenty of high drama in the 155-pound semifinal round with each contest testing the spirit of the competitors, and the anxiety level of their respective fan base.

Isabel Hilinski (Stevenson) would see her early 3-0 lead evaporate, allowing Natalie Rumpel (Deerfield, 26-9) to draw back level with a late third period escape to send this match into extra time.

Once there, Hilinski (19-4) used a nifty inside trip to register a match-winning take-down with 22 seconds remaining to earn a 7-4 decision, and a place in the final.

On the other side of the bracket, Myriah Jefferson (Round Lake, 28-13) and Haley Fugelseth (20-15) from Warren were embroiled in a high-scoring affair that began with the freshman Jefferson running out to a 12-3 advantage at three minutes.

Fugelseth would find her form in the third period, using an escape, and near fall to pull within four (12-8) to ignite the Warren faithful, but Jefferson found a way to victory with a strong defensive stand.

The Hilinski-Jefferson final would provide a 23-point thriller, with Hilinski watching her first period lead of 7-0 slowly disappear.

It became 9-7 before the second period nearly ended, and then 11-7 when Hilinski added two with the clock at 0:00.

Hilinski would defend a strong single effort from Jefferson, then turn it into a take-down with 30 seconds from time to earn a hard fought 14-9 decision.

“It was a tough match, but I think my ability to remain patient and composed really helped me when I needed it the most,” said Hilinski, after claiming her first regional title of her career.

“From last year to this season, I am a lot better in my shot selections, under-hooks, and high crotch singles and take-downs,” added the Patriots sophomore.

Fugelseth, and Rumpel advance after their third, and fourth place medals. 

170- Josie Blau (Antioch, 36-6)

The transformation of Josie Blau from her rookie season to this year has been one that Antioch fans can only marvel at.

A year ago, Blau would reach the finals at the Round Lake regional, only to lose to eventual state champion Josephine Larson from Lakes Community.

One week later, Blau lost in the blood round ending her first season with the Lady Sequoits with a respectable 23-19 record.

Fast forward to the 2025-26 campaign, and Blau in closing in to 40 wins on the season after her three-pin effort, culminating in her final with Highland Park junior Lexi Rosenthal (23-6) who would concede a pin at 4:34.

“I had a lot of things to work on during the offseason, but maybe the most important was my fitness,” admits Blau, who won an individual title recently at the Lake County Invite.

“I feel like I can go hard for six minutes if I have to, and with my improved cardio, I now know I can be so much better on top.”

Two periods of action saw Blau give her Rosenthal a rough, physical ride, and eventual stall warning just seconds from the end of the second period.

Rosenthal would start on bottom, and Blau would make her pay for it when a big turn near the edge led to a pin, and the championship.

“My top game was the difference in my match. When we got near the edge, I was able to get her leg (post up) and get the turn and the pin,” recounts Blau

Hanna Bairstow (Warren, 32-9), who was runner-up to Blau at the Lake County Invite moves on with a third place medal, Jessica Ivanyuk (Stevenson, 12-12)

with a fourth.

190- Julissa Az (Mather)

Taft head coach Tom Angsten said it all simply and succinctly.

“The (Mather) 190-pounder was just awesome this weekend, we wish her all the best of luck at sectional,” said a gracious Angst, who has seen Az up close and personal at the Chicago Public League Conference tournament where the Mather star won easily.

Az left her three opponents here in the rearview mirror with a trio of marvelous efforts, including her pin of Lakes Community sophomore Joslin Coon (15-4) who will be the next great wrestler after former Eagles super star Josephine Larson, whose brilliant four-year career would end with a perfect season a year ago at 190 pounds where she pinned all 29 of her opponents.

“Julissa is a three-time all-city wrestler, fourth in 2024 (190), fifth a year ago at 170, and CPL champion this year,” began Mather head coach, Zach Boettjer.

“She is a three-time sectional qualifier, twice at 190, and has an overall record of 60-18, including her 23-3 record this season with (17) pins. Away from the sport, Julissa is an amazing student, and talented artist as well.

“Her improvement has come in clutch moments, such as coming back from a 3-0 deficit in her regional semifinal to win her match.”

Boettjer adds that his best wrestler has learned to take control of matches, and not allow others to dictate the tempo, unlike in the past.

Az was a regional runner-up last season, before going 2-2 at sectionals to finish her season at 30-7.

Fatima Gomez (Evanston, 20-6), was third, Alexa Kirchen (Deerfield, 25-13) fourth to advance.

235- Sophia Fortis (Maine South, 20-2)

The pins just keep coming for Sophia Fortis.

The amiable Maine South junior proved the top seed, with an attack which proved untouchable by her opponents – three pins in three matches, all completed in just under ten minutes.

With her trio of pins, Fortis, now 20-2, has 16 pins on the season.

“I’ve gotten bigger, stronger, and quicker than I was last season, when I think I wasn’t as aggressive as I should have been,” Fortis said. “And now after my offseason work, my confidence is so much better than last year as well.”

The two-time CSL and regional champion was off an running against league rival Omowonuola Fajimolu (Evanston, 19-7), recording a take-down with thirty second remaining in the first period, followed by a well constructed near-fall as time ran out.

Fajimolu would start down when the second period began, with Fortis taking full advantage of her technical skill to turn the Lady Wildcats sophomore to grab another near-fall.

A front head lock would end this contest with Fortis claiming a pin at 3:26.

It will be an all-CSL contingent headed to sectionals with Jacklyn Linaves (Waukegan, 22-11), and Jessica Anh (Niles North, 20-14) moving on.

Final Team Standings:

Warren 197.5, Stevenson 150.0, Antioch 130.0, Maine South 124.0, Maine East

117.5, Evanston 117.0, Round Lake 100.0, Grayslake Central 97.5, New Trier

96.0, Mundelein 87.0, Lakes Community 84.5, Highland Park 81.5, Deerfield 77.5, Grayslake North 76.0, Taft 74.5, Zion-Benton 72.0, Ridgewood/Waukegan 63.0 each, Niles North 58.0 Vernon Hills 48.0, Carmel Catholic 47.0, Glenbrook North 46.5, Mather 43.0, Lake Forest 40.0, Maine West 27.5, Libertyville/Niles West 26.0 each, Loyola Academy 21.0, North Chicago 0.0.

By Chris Walker for The IWCOA

Top four qualifiers advance to Schaumburg sectional Feb. 14

Lincoln-Way co-op’s Zoe Dempsey (115) and Ella Giertuga (145) won titles during Saturday’s East Aurora regional while 10 of their teammates also qualified for next weekend’s Schaumburg sectional.

Lincoln-Way co-op’s 12 qualifiers were by far the most at the regional, matching the 12 that are coming from Lockport, Wheaton Warrenville South and the host Tomcats combined as each of the aforementioned three schools had four wrestlers advance.

The owner of this year’s team regional title in Aurora was clear.

“If there’s anything about Lincoln-Way, they’re all tough and can all wrestle under pressure and can all win a gritty match where there’s high stakes,” Dempsey said. “It’s so awesome. That blood round, the wrestle backs to get to the third-place match was electric. I was getting nervous up there just thinking about the pressure those girls were under.”

Joliet West, Metea Valley, Plainfield East, Plainfield South and West Aurora were among the teams with three individual sectional qualifiers.

“My coach actually told me this was like state four years ago, that this is the level of what state was four year ago,” said Tigers senior Veronica Klobnak, who advanced by taking fourth place at 135. “That wrestling is growing so much that we’re almost at a state level at regionals is crazy. It has grown so much and just qualifying further than ever before is such a big deal for me.”

Batavia, Naperville North, Oswego East and Romeoville each had two qualifiers with the Spartans matching Lincoln-Way co-op, Metea Valley and Plainfield South as the only schools to produce a pair of regional champions.  

Daniela Santander (110) and Henessis Villagrana (235) won titles to lead Romeoville.

Wrestling partners Layla Spann (170) and Kimyra Patrick (190), won a pair for Plainfield South.

Ashley Basmajian (120) and Alketa “Rosie” Picari (140) won regional titles for nearby Metea Valley.

100 – Kai Enos, Batavia

Now a senior, Enos (35-2) is vying to appear at state for her fourth consecutive season. 

Enos took fifth last year, a career-best third as a sophomore and debuted with a fifth-place effort her freshman season in 2022-2023. She’s remained at 100 throughout her high school run.

After three straight wins by fall over Romeoville’s Isabel Hernandez (1:12), Lockport’s Julia Hernandez (1:56) and West Aurora’s Melissa Melgar (3:34), Enos scored an 11-0 major decision against Wheaton Warrenville South’s Andrea Jaimes-Alvarez (24-4) in the 100 final.

Lincoln-Way co-op freshman McKenzie Steinke (36-7) pinned Melgar (32-7), a sophomore, to take third place.

105 – KeYi Wang, Naperville North

Wang (23-3) was fighting tears after battling her way past Lincoln-Way co-op freshman Emmy Hoselton (37-7), 7-6, in the 100 final.

Wang became the first regional champ in school history, playing a sport she fought so hard to join, but wasn’t sure she’d ever get the chance to try.

“If I told the middle school me she’d be super proud, especially because I wasn’t allowed to wrestle at that time,” Wang said. “So the fact that I won regionals and was the first girl from Naperville North to ever win a regional, it’s a lot to take in.”

She lived four years of her young life in China.

“I was really unsupported coming into wrestling,” she said. “As an immigrant, my parents were very traditional because in China it would be considered a really big privilege to do sports. If you did a sport in China you were considered really privileged and rich so parents had no way to express their hobbies through opportunities in China because there was basically none, because they lived in impoverished areas.”

Wang said when her family moved to America she was raised traditionally as if she were still in China.

“That’s why they started out being unsupportive,” she said. “I wanted to wrestle ever since middle school, but they didn’t let me start until high school, and when I finally did I fell in love with the sport. And they weren’t supportive enough for me to do club just yet but at the end of sophomore year they started realizing that I had potential in this sport so they started letting me do club and that’s when I qualified for Fargo. And then just from that I just kept loving wrestling and falling more in love with it and then through a lot of hard work I started practicing more and more and often wrestled with the boys. They were a little disrespectful to me at first but slowly I gained their trust. I just love the sport.”

She didn’t particularly appreciate being seeded fourth, but didn’t let the number get in the way of making history.

“I got seeded fourth and honestly I knew in my mind it was most likely because of just statistics that I wouldn’t upset the first seed,” Wang said. “But I told myself that statistics don’t matter because in a match anything can happen and I did end up upsetting the first seed which I’m really glad and happy about.”

Lyons sophomore Jhania Wickert-Harris (21-5) pinned West Aurora’s Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal (24-10) at 1:27 to place third. 

Wickert-Harris was the lone Lyons wrestler to advance to sectional action.

“It’s pretty cool that I can achieve such a thing in only my second year in wrestling,” Wickert-Harris said. “I was really inspired by one of my classmates (Emily Romo) that passed away.”

Romo was a former teammate who joined wrestling around the same time as Wickert-Harris and Mariah Zalapa (110). She’s continued to inspire her friends today.

“Her goal was to make it to state so I definitely want to achieve that for her,” Wickert-Harris said. “So me and Mariah (Zalapa) we were all really close so just want to try to get close to state at least for her.”

110 – Daniela Santander, Romeoville 

Santander (7-1) pinned Plainfield East’s Angelina Nettey (17-6) late in the third period to win the regional title at 110.

It was a tournament of pins for Santander, who also got Plainfield South’s Na`Ryah Figueroa (1:49), Bolingbrook’s Mikaela Najera (2:17) and East Aurora’s Joselyn Llanos (5:22). 

Llanos (30-7) rebounded to bump off Lincoln-Way co-op’s Zoe Zerial (30-16), 9-8, to take third place.

“I was really nervous because I found out today that I was first seed and it’s like new to me because I’ve only been wrestling for two or three years,” Llanos said. “And I was really excited but I got nervous. I wanted to make it really bad because last year I didn’t place at regionals and I’m so proud of myself actually to place this year to make it to sectionals. I grew a lot from last year because in eighth grade year, I barely wrestled. Last year was when I started to get into it more.”

115 – Zoe Dempsey, Lincoln-Way co-op 

Dempsey (42-2) knocked out her fourth opponent via fall in her championship match, defeating Metea Valley’s Janiya Moore (44-4) at 2:58. 

Similar wins over Peotone’s Natalie Bonick (1:25), Plainfield East’s Ximena Valenzuela Hernandez (1:49) and Plainfield South’s Kayla Ochotorena (0:53) preceded her title-match win.

“So basically the focus all day was just score points,” Dempsey said. “I kind of had to surrender the outcome in some of those matches. The goal isn’t just to win, it’s just to score points and winning is a by-product of scoring points and in every single one of my matches the goal is to get first takedown.  If I can get extra work, get some more takedowns, if not, just get backs, get falls.”

Like her peers, Dempsey is striving to get better, to make progress each day. She placed fifth in the state at 105 as a sophomore and was third at 110 in her junior season last winter. Now she’s aiming to go even higher in her swan song.

“Wrestling is truly a different breed,” Dempsey said. “There’s just no sport like it, you know. You can really see that in a lot of time in rematches you see the progress you’ve made, I kind of relate it to I used to run track, all the progress was numerical so you could see your progress based on your times coming down and stuff like that. I feel like wrestling is even more special than that, it’s just like man-to-man seeing progress like all out there, it’s all you.”

Ochotorena (39-8) won by fall at 2:34 over Lockport’s Bella Romando (31-17) to take third.

120 – Ashley Basmajian, Metea Valley

A year after becoming the first girls wrestler from her school to qualify for the state tournament, Basmajilan (5-0) is looking to get there again as evidenced by her efforts this weekend in Aurora. 

Basmajian wasn’t thrilled with how she wrestled, but her dominant results speak differently with pins of Lyons’ Tori Evans (0:30), Bolingbrook’s Alejandra Flores (2:35) and Peotone’s Kennedy Mort (1:12) before a 16-1 tech fall win over Wheaton Warrenville South’s Sommer Kibbe in the semifinals.

In the finals, Basmajilian pinned West Aurora’s Aiyanah Sylvester (29-2) at 1:34.

“I mean it’s cool (to win the regional),” Basmajilian said. “I was not really happy with the way I wrestled, just happy to be competing and for the opportunity. The next step from here is I’m going to go back and check tape and probably write some notes down from what I see that I need to improve on and just iron it out at practice.”

Basmajilian was probably more excited to talk about her teammates than she was herself.

“So Janiya (Moore) and Alketa (Picari) both made it to the finals and Alketa won and Janiya got second,” Basmajilian said. “So it was really fun watching them honestly. That’s what I love so much about competitions and being part of the team. And then the girls who didn’t make the finals were super supportive as well. It’s such a cool thing being part of a team where we all support each other and all love each other.”

Flores (36-8) placed third with a tech fall win against Neuqua Valley’s Aleta Weigandt (24-11).

125 – Sophie Crescenzo, Lisle 

As one of just two competitors from her school, Crescenzo (24-2) brought home a regional title after pinning Lincoln-Way co-op’s Caleigh Nicholson (34-11) a couple seconds short of a minute for the 125-pound title.

Pins against Naperville North’s Avery Kinley (0:28), East Aurora’s Valentina Barboza (2:38) and Batavia’s Natalie Lenart (1:56) preceded her title victory.

Lemont’s Molly O`Connor (37-8) earned a tech fall win over Joliet West’s Briahna Klobnak (24-12) to place third.

Klobnak had pinned O’Connor, a two-time state qualifier, in the quarterfinals.

“I was up all night thinking about it,” Klobnak said. “My coach used to coach at Lemont and he coached her so he was telling me these things but at the same time it was making me more anxious kind of. And so then my sister (Veronica Klobnak) during warm-ups showed me a headlock and that’s what I ended up doing and was how I got her within the first period and then versus her again for third, and she kind of got her revenge match so that was like such a relief when I got there because if I didn’t get there that would also of been an all or nothing right there.”

Klobnak also qualified for sectionals last season. 

“Going into that fourth match against Bolingbrook’s (Anaya Campbell), I had lost to her fighting for first at conference,” Klobnak said. “So my mindset was a little messed up a bit.”

So she fired herself up knowing her high school career was on the line.

“Right before that match started I said it was all or nothing because it’s senior year,” she said. “Because if I lose this match my season is done, so it was just like it was a really mental match and I was down and I almost got caught a few times and then I ended up just pulling it out and I won and pinned and then went to fight for third. So it was hard and then yesterday when they were talking about it being the hardest regional there was another mindset where I like ‘ugh.’”

130 – Melva Gallego-Sugar, Naperville Central

Late in the third period of the 130-pound title match, Gallego-Sugar (27-9) pinned East Aurora’s Ayelen Higuera (30-10) to become a regional champion. 

Gallego-Sugar opened with pins against Joliet West’s Willow Perruquet (1:21) and Lyons’ Lorelai Brown (1:04) before earning a 9-0 major decision to defeat Lincoln-Way co-op’s Dani Schedin in the semifinals.

Higuera’s second-place finish was tops for the Tomcats.

Gallego-Sugar’s crosstown rival, Naperville North’s Izzy Smith (20-8), took third place after receiving a medical forfeit in her match against Schedin (30-17), whom Gallego-Sugar beat in the semis.

135 – Claudia Heeney, Lockport

Heeney’s bid for a third state title began with four pins to earn the regional title at 130.

Coming off a state title at 135 last year, another at 130 in 2024 and a second-place finish at 125 as a freshman in 2023, Heeney (35-3) earned first period pins over Plainfield Central’s Aaliyah Banda (1:17), Lyons’ Sofia Turek (1:00) and Joliet West’s Veronica Klobnak (1:32) to advance to the finals.

Joliet Central’s Izabel Barrera (31-3), the lone sectional qualifier for the Steelmen, survived the first period, but ultimately met her demise at 2:23 to drop to 31-3 on the season.

Lemont’s lone sectional qualifier, Molly O’Connor, took third with her tech fall victory over Joliet West’s Veronica Klobnak.

Klobnak was one of three Tigers to qualify for the sectional. 

“I’m really excited, I did not qualify last year so this is really a big deal,” she said. “I’m making it further, and know we have the biggest regional in the whole state of Illinois.”

When Klobnak got knocked out last season she dealt with the heartbreak by getting right back to work.

“It was really heartbreaking but I continued wrestling over the summer,” she said. “I went through multiple clubs that my coach was putting me through. I was going to tournaments to qualify for nationals, was going to out-of-state tournaments, I was just wrestling, wrestling, wrestling, and this year like with my team I’ve been putting in a lot of work in my practices, putting in extra work, extra sprints, extra time and that’s definitely pushed me because I didn’t want to feel the heartbreak I felt last year.”

140 – Alketa “Rosie” Picari, Metea Valley

Rosy means optimistic, bright, happy so it’s no surprise Metea Valley junior Alketa Picari (44-4) likes to go by “Rosie.”

“I feel a lot more dominant than I did last year,” Rosie said. “All my matches today I felt really in control. Compared to last year, I was being a little messy, you know what I mean? It’s just really satisfying.”

Tech fall victories over East Aurora’s Carolina Ascencio, West Aurora’s Raysa Castaneda and Wheaton Warrenville South’s Caroline Ratliff preceded her first-period pin over Lincoln-Way co-op’s Abby Kunz (38-7) in the final.

“I know in our area there’s a lot of good wrestlers, which makes sense around the city and stuff,” she said. “Obviously I wouldn’t have it a different way because all the great competition is what is making me better over the years. I appreciate it.”

She’s committed to it.

“After this I’m going to go back to freestyle and during the summertime I see how many levels there are to it,” she said. “In the summer I go against girls like twice, three times as good as me, it’s really good competition in the summertime, it’s just a little crazy.”

Oswego East’s Quinn Janssens (26-4) pinned Ratliff (22-10) to take third place.

145 – Ella Giertuga, Lincoln-Way co-op

Giertuga (33-6) advanced to state before, but prior to Saturday no one from the media had asked her about it nor her wrestling accomplishments for one of the top programs in the state.

“I’ve really loved the team dynamic that we have.” Giertuga, a junior, said. “I feel like there is a lot of good competition within there, like everybody wrestles differently on the team so you get a lot of real good looks. I just love the diversity on here because there is short and tall, everybody wrestles different.”

Giertuga was one of the only champions to spend a lot of time on the mats. 

After a bye and pinning Plainfield South’s Liliana Kenost (3:15), Giertuga went the distance and then some in her final three matches. She earned a 7-0 decision over Joliet Central’s Jaylin Ingram in the quarters, dropped Oswego East’s Ella Cooper, 3-1, int the semifinals, and needed a tiebreaker to prevail in her finals match against Wheaton Warrenville South’s Louisa Enslen (28-5), 4-2.

“I feel like I really just went out there thinking I’m going to do my best and put it all out there,” she said. “My last match was definitely kind of scary for me, but I feel like I’m really going full throttle and keeping calm helped me secure that win.”

She’s been able to see her growth.

“Jump from freshman year to here, I did not even think I would’ve placed in regionals or anything,” she said. “And last year I got fourth and I feel like there was just really a lot of good development. I’m really excited about it.”

Cooper (28-8) placed third via major decision over Joliet West’s Vanessa O’Connor (35-6).

155 – Callie Carr, Hinsdale South

Carr (33-0) improved to 72-0 over the past two seasons after pinning Batavia freshman Audrey Sheldon (39-5) at 1:23 in the 155 final.

Carr, a three-time state qualifier and the defending 155 state champion, was the only wrestler among the eight who competed from Hinsdale South to advance to next weekend’s Schaumburg sectional.

Carr defeated Naperville Central’s Arianna Rico by fall (1:03), earned a tech fall victory against Joliet Central’s Leilani Robles in the quarterfinals and also pinned Plainfield East’s Kaitlyn Bucholz (1:43) in the semifinals.

Bucholz (28-11) bounced back from her defeat to beat Lincoln-Way co-op’s Avery Holeman (26-15) for third place. Bucholz pinned Holeman (1:10) as she picked up four victories in the regional all via pin.

170 – Layla Spann, Plainfield South

Just a sophomore, Spann (41-0) remained unbeaten after picking up four more victories over the weekend, including a tech fall victory in the 170 final against Lincoln-Way co-op junior Riley Depolo (35-6).

Spann pinned Bolingbrook’s Leslie Duncan (0:47), Joliet West’s Bianca Campos (3:09) and Batavia’s Caoimhe Mitchell (2:29).

“I think I just wrestled my game, wrestled my matches,” Spann said. “My style of wrestling is kind of like, there is nobody else on the mat except you and that other person. Me and that other person so it’s just like just us. I’m quickly moving. When I have a thought on the mat I just execute it right away, no waiting, because waiting, there’s no time to wait.”

Spann took second at regionals last year during a freshman season that culminated with a trip to state where she went 1-2. She upped her record this season to 41-0.

“Last year I was kind of more of an upper body wrestler and this year I’ve kind of found that I’m taking crazy shots I practice,” she said. “And practicing it in the practice room and then bringing it out here on the mat it helps me a lot because you’re practicing your shots and shooting is what gets you the win basically, and everybody could be taken down no matter what. So I still just focus on one thing – the person in front of me and what I’m doing. It’s just another match. I’m progressing, getting better every single match.”

Teammate, Kimyra Patrick, who won at 190, was jokingly distracting Spann while she was being interviewed. It drew laughter and smiles from Spann so mission accomplished.

“This team is like everything,” Spann said. “Like I can have fun but I can focus at the same time and have the best practice partner ever.”

Riverside-Brookfield’s Estefany Bejarano (28-4) won by fall against WW South’s Michelle Rojas-Tellez (23-5) on the third-place mat.

190 – Kimyra Patrick, Plainfield South

After opening with a fall over Plainfield Central’s Aniyah Lopez, Patrick (41-3), a freshman competing in her first post-season, earned a tech fall over Waubonsie Valley’s Catherine Schultz to advance to the semifinals.

A tight 2-0 win over Plainfield East senior Jan Serna got her into the finals where she drew Lockport senior Sophie Kelner (36-9), a state qualifier a year ago.

Patrick was tested with another lengthy title battle against a senior and once again prevailed in a low-scoring clash, 3-1.

East Aurora freshman Jaylene Dealba (31-7) earned a 5-1 win over Serna (36-9) to take third.

“To end up qualifying since I’m younger than everybody and they’ve been doing wrestling longer than me makes me really proud of myself,.” Dealba said. “Honestly, wrestling, I didn’t know it, but it has just changed my life in such a short amount of time. I didn’t think about joining wrestling at first because I thought it was going to be something I wouldn’t have liked and ended up loving it, and now it is the only sport I love.”

Dealba said she was first introduced to wrestling by her brother’s girlfriend who was a wrestler. 

“I would come to practice for a little bit and started to know everybody and honestly I treat them like my family because I’m so close to them,” she said. “Lilli (Ortiz) is my practice partner and I love her so much. She has helped me grow into the person I am now.”

235 – Henessis Villagrana, Romeoville

Villagrana (36-3) got a taste of state a season ago, dropping her two matches there.

Now a year older, more experienced, and looking for greater success, Villagrana took the first step towards returning to state after winning at 235 on Saturday.

“I’d say a big difference I made was my mindset going into these matches,” Villagrana said. “I stayed positive no matter what position I was in. I made sure I was more focused in these tight matches and always wrestling until the end.”

Pins of Plainfield East’s Sadie Hamilton (1:40) and Joliet Central’s Milan Aldana (1:20) provided a strong start for Villagrana who went the distance in the semifinals against East Aurora’s Lilli Ortiz, prevailing 3-1.

“Honestly I was kind of shocked and surprised to get this far,” Ortiz said. “This is my second year of ever wrestling so last year I didn’t move on after regionals, I didn’t place. So I messed up my shoulder like three months ago and it keeps getting worse so I wasn’t expecting much out of today, but as I was wrestling, I thought, ‘Oh, I can do this.’

“Last season I only placed first at Minooka, but I was on the JV side of that, but this year I’ve definitely placed first at a couple, including conference two weeks ago so that was really surprising too.”

Such a tight match against Ortiz, might have helped Villagrana prepare for the final where she had a similar match against Lockport’s Rebekah Ramirez (36-5), earning a 7-5 victory. 

“I feel like the match did help me in a positive impact for my finals match,” Villagrana said. “It showed me that anything is possible even when there is low time on the clock. The pressure of wanting to win that match helped me in finals because it showed me to never stop trying and to always wrestle even if I felt like the match was over, it emphasized to never stop until I heard the whistle.”

Villagrana confirmed that the regional was tough.

“I had a lot of competition that really helped show my full potential while wrestling,” she said. “I do believe it was one of the hardest regionals. Many of these girls worked hard, pushing their best to win and it created great competition. I feel like this year I’m more prepared for sectionals. I’ve been putting in greater work and effort compared to last year. I’m always glad to make it this far and I feel more confident than before.”

Ortiz (27-4) placed third by fall against Lincoln-Way’s Jalyssa Venegas (34-12).

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Qualfiers from these regionals feed the DeKalb sectional on Feb. 14

GENESEO

Geneseo hoisted a regional title plaque for coach Carley Rusk on its home mats Saturday, advancing eight girls to the sectional round.

The Maple Leafs posted 169 points to lead the field, followed by Pekin (107), East Peoria (101), Canton (94) and Galesburg (81) to round out the top five team finishes.

“We’re very proud of our team’s performance,” Rusk said. “This group has put in a lot of steady work throughout the season, and it was great to see that effort come together this weekend. They’ve continued to show up for each other, stay consistent in practice, and compete with a lot of heart.

“More than anything, we’re proud of the way they handled themselves. They supported one another all day, wrestled tough in every position, and stayed focused on doing their jobs.

Geneseo got individual regional titles from Lydia King (120) and Annibelle Juarez (140), seconds from Addison Hadsall (100), Sophia Urquiza (135) and Lauren Piquards (155), and thirds from Giana Wurslin (105), Ayla Schultz (125) and Anna Davis (130).

“We’re excited for our sectional qualifiers. They earned those spots through hard work and perseverance. We’re excited to celebrate their efforts this weekend, but it will be back to work on Monday with our eyes set on next weekend.”

Second-place Pekin had five sectional qualifiers, led by regional champions Tessa Donaldson (105) and Alyssa Artman (155). Third-place East Peoria also advanced five girls, led by champions Taylor Sutton (145) and Bella Spampanato (235).

Rounding out the top 10 teams were sixth-place Richwoods (72), followed by Moline (70), Dunlap (69.5), Kewanee (56.5) and Rock Island (54).

REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
100 Abella Brown (28-3) Canton
105 Tessa Donaldson (25-0) Pekin
110 Annalee Haschemeyer (28-3) Canton
115 Chloe Hedges (30-3) Canton
120 Lydia King (39-5) Geneseo
125 JenDayia Crowe (17-7) Kewanee
130 Dai Driana (24-5) Galesburg
135 Sammy Baker (18-8) Notre Dame
140 Annibelle Juarez (33-8) Geneseo
145 Taylor Sutton (23-7) East Peoria
155 Alyssa Artman (24-6) Pekin
170 Sydney Johnson (11-2) Richwoods
190 Courtney Walls (26-0) Rock Island
235 Bella Spampanato (17-5) East Peoria

SECTIONAL QUALIFIERS
100
Abella Brown (Canton) 28-3, d. addison hadsall (Geneseo) 34-9, . (F 5:00)

Kaci Eller (Midwest C) 7-2, d. Lesly DeLa Cruz (Notre Dame) 16-13, (F 3:47)

105

Tessa Donaldson (Pekin) 25-0, d. Leah White (Richwoods) 21-11, (F 5:29)

Giana Wurslin (Geneseo) 31-13, . d. Kyra Cardine (Mercer Co) 6-4, (F 0:48)

110

Annalee Haschemeyer (Canton) 28-3, d. Marissa Brown (ROWVA) 20-11, (TF 4:49)

Aerith Adams (Dunlap) 14-15, d. Hailey Lampe (Kewanee) 8-5, (F 1:18)

115

Chloe Hedges (Canton) 30-3, d. Lyndzey Brewer (Farmington) 13-4, (F 2:39)

Madizyn Megrant (Pekin) 15-7, d. Abigail Harris (Princeton) 15-7, (Inj.)

120

Lydia King (Geneseo) 39-5, . d. ava mayer (Pekin) 23-5, (F 1:08)

Amyah Pruitt (Galesburg) 18-10, d. Sophia Bradarich (Sherrard) 14-8, (F 2:26)

125

JenDayia Crowe (Kewanee) 17-7, d. Madison Fuller (Moline) 12-10, . (F 4:52)
Ayla Schultz (Geneseo) 32-17, . d. Jadeyn Klingenberg (Princeton) 16-15, (F 1:24)

130

Dai Driana Wilford (Galesburg) 24-5, d. Kylie Mathis (Sherrard) 9-7, (D 17-10)
Anna Davis (Geneseo) 14-25, . d. Ablavi Komassi (United) 9-7, (F 5:46)

135

Sammy Baker (Notre Dame) 18-8, d. sophia Urquiza (Geneseo) 18-24, . (F 3:25)

Delilah Gregory (Galesburg) 10-8, d. Kyah Kaonohi (E Peoria) 19-11, (F 0:55)

140

Annibelle Juarez (Geneseo) 33-8, . d. Jaelyn Hare (United) 13-3, (F 2:27)

Olivia Curtis (Dunlap) 22-9, d. Vivian Aldus (Galesburg) 20-10, (MD 8-0)

145

Taylor Sutton (E Peoria) 23-7, d. Aaliyah Swearingen (Kewanee) 16-3, (F 3:32)

Dru Hyde (Macomb) 22-10, d. Kennedy Smith (Canton) 16-17, (D 12-8)

155

Alyssa Artman (Pekin) 24-6, d. lauren piquard (Geneseo) 30-4, . (Inj.)

Alyssa Young (Dunlap) 20-13, d. Shauna Dvorak (E Peoria) 18-15, (SV-1 18-15)

170

Sydney Johnson (Richwoods) 11-2, d. piper lambert (Pekin) 12-6, (F 4:36)

Ta`liyah Shelton (Moline) 18-18, d. Mallory Feldhaus (E Peoria) 16-13, (F 1:30)

190

Courtney Walls (Rock Island) 26-0, d. Avery Lundgren (Macomb) 20-6, (F 1:53)

Marley Clark (Richwoods) 24-4, d. Atalyssa Craig (Dunlap) 16-11, (D 6-0)

235

Bella Spampanato (E Peoria) 17-5, d. Jakeria Wilson (Moline) 10-4, (F 3:23)

Kya Norman (Richwoods) 10-4, d. Destiny Kaeding (Dunlap) 9-10, (F 0:29)

Statistics
TEAM

Most pins: Geneseo 22, East Peoria 14, Rock Island 10, Galesburg 10
Most tech falls: Canton 4, no other team with more than one
Most total match points: East Peoria 164, Canton 154, Geneseo 145

INDIVIDUAL
Most pins least time: Geneseo’s Ayla Schultz, 4 falls in 5:50
Most tech falls least time: Peoria’s Tarees Alexander, 1 tech in 2:41
Fastest fall: Rock Island’s Courtney Walls 0:14
Most team points: 28 (tie) – Walls, Geneseo’s Annibelle Juarez and Lydia King
Most single-match points: Kewanee’s JenDayia Crowe 25
Most total match points: Dunlap’s Olivia Curtis 38
Largest seed-place difference: Three girls were seeded No. 8 in their weight classes and finished fourth to become sectional qualifiers: Sherrard’s Sophia Bradarich (120), Mercer County’s Kyra Cardine (105) and East Peoria’s Shauna Dvorak (155).

BELVIDERE

DeKalb snared a team regional crown in Belvidere, out-pointing Kaneland 123-107 and sending four girls to this year’s DeKalb sectional meet. Yorkville placed a close third with 106.5 points.

Barbs coach Conor Infelise got regional titles from Alex Gregorio-Perez (100) and Aarianna Bloyd (235), a second from Larisza Gomez (105), and a third from Kara Zimmerman (135) in the win.

“Earning a regional title with the girls who started our program four years ago was special, and something we have been working towards,” Infelise said. “The girls are excited to get on the mat this weekend at home, and punching their tickets down to Bloomington for the IHSA state finals.

“Alex and Aarianna have done an outstanding job leading this team, and our girls have big goals they are looking to accomplish as we finish our season.”

Kaneland had five sectional qualifiers, led by regional champ and returing state champion Angelina Gochis (120), a second-place finish from Sadie Kinsella (190), and fourths from Chloe Cervantes (130), Caitlyn Manier (145) and Reygan Behrends (155).

Yorkville had four sectional qualifiers, led by regional champion Lauryn Trotter (155). Sycamore (89) was fourth, followed by Freeport (86), Hononegah (84), Erie (81.5), Sandwich (75), Belvidere (70) and Fulton (65.5) to round out the top 10 team finishes.

REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
100 Alex Gregorio-Perez (33-3) DeKalb
105 Saya Hongmoungkhoune (21-1) Rockford East
110 Blair Grennan (29-2) Newman Central Catholic
115 Tessa Fosdick (26-10) Fulton
120 Angelina Gochis (24-2) Kaneland
125 Ryleigh Eriks (39-7) Rock Falls
130 Kerby Germann (35-1) Fulton
135 Bella Castelli (22-1) Hononegah
140 Ema Durst (29-0) Sycamore
145 Emily Taylor (24-5) Belvidere
155 Lauryn Trotter (36-7) Yorkville
170 Kylie Eilken (23-2) Jefferson
190 Anjanne Haywood (16-3) Guilford
235 Aarianna Bloyd (30-7) DeKalb

SECTIONAL QUALIFIERS
100
Alex Gregorio-Perez (DeKalb) 33-3, d. Kendra Ege (Oregon) 9-1, (F 1:25)

Kali Dlercq (Hononegah) 24-3, d. Mya Olejiniczak (Harlem) 22-8, (F 4:55)

105

Saya Hongmoungkhoune (Rockford E) 21-1, d. Larisza Gomez Guevara (DeKalb) 36-5, (D 7-4)

Analiese Garretson (Yorkville) 35-8, d. Taylor Nevel (Lena-Winslow) 20-4, (D 6-5)

110

Blair Grennan (Newman) 29-2, d. Rozlyn Mosher (Erie) 31-4, (F 1:15)

Layla Schemehorn (Galena) 16-5, d. Karah Arnold (Lena-Winslow) 18-7, (F 1:16)

115

Tessa Fosdick (Fulton) 26-10, d. Rylie Dach (Byron) 29-7, (F 2:19)

Lydia Cartwright (Sandwich) 23-9, d. Serena Gunday (Lena-Winslow) 15-10, (F 0:21)

120

Angelina Gochis (Kaneland) 24-2, d. Kaiya Galindo (Freeport) 33-7, (F 1:34)

Kaylee Benyo (Newman) 16-11, d. Violet Sanders (G-Kingston) 28-15, (F 0:37)

125

Ryleigh Eriks (Rock Fs) 39-7, d. Emma Duncan (Galena) 11-8, (F 1:52)

Gianna Figueroa (Dakota) 10-2, d. Cammyla Macias (Rochelle) 13-9, (F 3:40)

130

Kerby Germann (Fulton) 35-1, d. Madison Heneks (Harlem) 27-7, (TF 4:13)

Ryleigh Stephens (Erie) 21-15, d. chloe Cervantes (Kaneland) 19-9, (F 2:50)

135

Bella Castelli (Hononegah) 22-1, d. Michelle Naftzger (Erie) 28-4, (MD 15-6)

Kara Zimmerman (DeKalb) 27-10, d. Winter Beard (Sycamore) 24-13, (F 0:42)

140

Ema Durst (Sycamore) 29-0, d. Aviana Froelich (Yorkville) 31-10, (TF 2:48)

Alana Lorenzen (Dixon) 7-6, d. Marilu Mercado (G-Kingston) 22-17, (F 2:20)

145

Emily Taylor (Belvidere) 24-5, d. Jazmin Rios (Sandwich) 34-9, (F 3:18)

Vivianna Torres (Sterling) 26-12, d. Caitlyn Manier (Kaneland) 18-16, (F 0:51)

155

Lauryn Trotter (Yorkville) 36-7, d. NaJeyah Wallace (Freeport) 28-8, (F 0:11)

Kate Costello (Stillman Valley) 9-1, d. reygan Behrends (Kaneland) 10-10, (F 5:07)

170

Kylie Eilken (Jefferson) 23-2, d. Frankie McMurtry (Sycamore) 28-7, (F 5:04)

Linda Villa (Hononegah) 13-4, d. Bella Martins (Freeport) 22-11, (F 0:35)

190

Anjanne Haywood (Guilford) 16-3, d. Sadie Kinsella (Kaneland) 25-7, (F 3:37)

Janiah Murray (Yorkville) 27-9, d. Lily Wurster (Freeport) 20-11, (F 4:43)

235

Aarianna Bloyd (DeKalb) 30-7, d. Jasmine Enriquez (Sycamore) 28-4, (F 3:14)

Savannah Trevino (Belvidere) 21-8, . d. Arianna Tamayo (Sterling) 18-11, (D 9-5)

Statistics
TEAM

Most pins: DeKalb 17, Yorkville 14, Sandwich 13
Most tech falls: 2 (tie) – Kaneland, Sycamore, Erie, Lena-Winslow
Most total match points: DeKalb 187, Yorkville 172, Erie 145

INDIVIDUAL
Most pins least time: Newman Central’s Blair Grennan, 4 falls in 2:56
Most tech falls least time: Sycamore’s Ema Durst, 2 techs in 4:09
Fastest fall: Belvidere’s Savannah Trevino 0:09
Fastest tech fall: Kaneland’s Angelina Gochis 0:40
Most team points: 28 (tie) – Grennan, DeKalb’s Alex Gregorio-Perez, Yorkville’s Lauryn Trotter, Fulton’s Tessa Fosdick, Jefferson’s Kylie Eilken
Most single-match points: Erie’s Ayden Grawe 24
Most total match points: Durst 47
Largest seed-place difference: Newman Central’s Kaylee Benyo and Galena’s Emma Duncan; Benyo placed third as the No. 7 seed at 120 pounds, and Duncan placed second as the No. 6 seed at 125 pounds.

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Qualifiers from these regionals feed the North Mac sectional on Feb. 14

MT. ZION

A hotly-contested battle for a team regional plaque played out in Mt. Zion, where Mahomet-Seymour finished with a 105-100 edge over the second-place co-op team from Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm.
Urbana wasn’t far behind with 91 team points, followed by Champaign Central (84.5) and St. Joseph-Ogden (82) to round out the top five team finishes.

Mahomet-Seymour coach Jeff Castor had five sectional qualifiers on the day, in regional champion Sierra Tuttle (100), second-placers Jocelyn Deedrick (140) and Jaycee Weitekamp (170), and fourths from Lily Daniels (115) and Cailyn Jones (235).

“I’m very proud of my team,” Castor said. “The girls came to win and gave it their all. Westville and Urbana fought us all the way.  Couldn’t ask for a better group of girls. They have grown so much and can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings. We have a young team to build on and Bulldog Girls Wrestling has a bright future.”

Second-place Westville/G.-Ridge Farm also advanced five girls to the sectional round, in regional champions Kiley Knight (115) and Addison Briggs (190). Third-place Urbana had four qualifiers, led by regional champion Ricky Ivy (140).

Oakwood/Salt Fork (66) placed sixth, followed by Paris (57), Charleston (53.5), Robinson (49) and Unity (46) to round out the top 10 team finishes.

REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
100 Sierra Tuttle (18-12) Mahomet-Seymour
105 Sandy Clark (19-6) Clinton
110 Madison Poll (20-6) St. Thomas More
115 Kiley Knight (25-9) Westville/G.-Ridge Farm
120 Delaney Ledbetter (11-5) Lawrenceville
125 Yariah Shaw (12-0) Danville
130 Sydney Cannon (34-0) Mt. Zion
135 Candice Wright (20-7) St. Joseph-Ogden
140 Ricky Ivy (41-1) Urbana
145 Natalie Beaumont (17-1) Cumberland
155 Taylor Owens (14-5) Oakwood/Salt Fork
170 ly’Jah Grant (16-1) Champaign Central
190 Addison Briggs (22-4) Westville/G.-Ridge Farm
235 Phoenix Molina (31-0) Unity

SECTIONAL QUALIFIERS
100
1st- Sierra Tuttle (Mahomet-Seymour) 18-12,  d. Serenity Canady (Robinson) 11-4,  (F 1:28)
3rd- Charlee Emmerich (Effingham) 6-5, d. Janelle Willoughby (Mattoon) 4-5, (F 1:58)
105
1st- Sandy Clark (Clinton) 19-6, d. Madison Siler (Robinson) 14-4, (F 4:40)

3rd- Kaidence Eveland (Paris) 11-5, d. Charisma Badman (Eisenhower) 3-11, (D 14-8)

110
1st- Madison Poll (St. Thomas More) 20-6, d. Paisley Reed (Paris) 11-4, (MD 15-2)

3rd- Taylor Garner (Centennial) 9-8, d. Mackenzie Gound (Rantoul) 13-20, (F 1:11)

115
1st- Kiley Knight (Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm) 25-9, d. Kate Wochner (Oakwood-Salt Fork) 19-8, (D 3-0)
3rd- Kami Sager (Fairfield) 4-14, d. Lily Daniels (Mahomet-Seymour) 15-19, (F 1:41)

120
1st- Delaney Ledbetter (Lawrenceville-Red HIll) 11-5, d. Morgan Krone-Smallhorn (Charleston) 24-5, (F 3:09)

3rd- Lainey Ehler (Oakwood-Salt Fork) 21-9,  d. Madison Alsip (SJ-Ogden) 16-13, (F 1:22)

125
1st- Yariah Shaw (Danville (H.S.) 12-0, d. Ainsley Freeman (SJ-Ogden) 25-6, (F 5:51)

3rd- Rita Grant (Central) 10-8, d. Leonie Dubson (Mattoon) 5-4, (F 0:45)

130
1st- Sydney Cannon (Mt. Zion) 34-0, d. Ava Beldo (Tolono (Unity) 31-6, (F 1:17)

3rd- Londyn Grant (Central) 13-4, d. Laney Cook (Westville/G.-Ridge Farm) 23-10, (F 1:15)

135
1st- Candice Wright (SJ-Ogden) 20-7, d. Tamya Terry (Urbana) 24-10, (F 3:34)

3rd- Jasmyn Bennett (Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm) 14-5, d. Miley Peach (Mt. Carmel) 6-11, (F 5:03)

140 

1st- Ricky Ivy (Urbana) 41-1, d. Jocelyn Deedrick (Mahomet-Seymour) 17-14,  (F 1:01)

3rd- Zaiyrah Bailey (Central) 11-10, d. Bayah Good (Paris) 9-8, (F 4:00)

145
1st- Natalie Beaumont (Cumberland) 17-1, d. McKenzie Miller (GCMS/Fisher) 25-5, . (F 3:16)

3rd- Makenna Roedl (Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm) 22-12, d. Macee Hammond (Robinson) 19-6, (F 5:11)

155
1st- Taylor Owens (Oakwood-Salt Fork) 14-5, d. Maddie Wells (SJ-Ogden) 22-1, (F 5:08)
3rd- Lillien Roughton (Datur (Unity Christian) 12-9, d. Onisty Murphy (Central) 15-10, (F 0:21)
170 1st- Iy`Jah Grant (Central) 16-1,  d. Jaycee Weitekamp (Mahomet-Seymour) 20-6,  (TF-1.5 2:42 (19-3)

3rd- Summer Nichols (Cumberland) 16-6, d. Brinna Fox – Cook (Fairfield) 3-8, (F 0:39)

190
1st- Addison Briggs (Westville/G.-Ridge Farm) 22-4, d. Jocelyn Arreola (Urbana) 19-18,  (F 0:27)

3rd- Alexus Dodge (Charleston) 6-5, d. Ashlynn Blevins (Fairfield) 5-12, (F 1:02)

235
1st- Phoenix Molina (Tolono (Unity) 31-0, d. Lilly Disanto (Urbana) 37-6, (F 1:57)

3rd- Olivia Rosine (Charleston) 20-7,  d. Cailyn Jones (Mahomet-Seymour) 16-11, (TF 3:13)

Statistics
TEAM

Most pins: Westville/G.-Ridge Farm 14, Mahomet-Seymour 13, Champaign Central 12
Most tech falls: 1 (tie) Cumberland, Mt. Zion, Champaign Central, Charleston
Most total match points: Urbana 103, Paris 98, Mahomet-Seymour 94

INDIVIDUAL
Most pins least time: Westville/G.-Ridge Farm’s Makenna Roedl, 4 falls in 13:58
Most tech falls least time: Cumberland’s Natalie Beaumont, 1 tech in 1:40
Fastest fall: Unity Christian’s Lillien Roughton 0:11
Most team points: 28 (tie)- Oakwood/Salt Fork’s Taylor Owens, Lawrenceville’s Delaney Ledbetter, Unity’s Phoenix Molina
Most single-match points: Robinson’s Madison Siler 23
Most total match points: Cumberland’s Natalie Beaumont 41
Largest seed-place difference: Effingham’s Charlee Emmerich placed third as the No. 7 seed at 100 pounds.

GRANITE CITY

Edwardsville dominated the competition in securing the team regional title Saturday at Granite City, posting 222.5 team points and advancing nine girls to the sectional round.

Edwardsville coach Jon Wagner sent five wrestlers to the top of the awards stand in regional champions Maddy Allen (100), Emma Rogers (105), Adleigh DeWerff (110), Genevieve Dykstra (115) and Victoria White (190). Placing second for the Tigers were Allie Chong (120) and Brooklyn Alldredge (130), while Olive Linhorst (125) placed third and Geeta Jonardhan (170) placed fourth to qualify.

“The Tigers had an excellent tournament, with the girls battling real hard,” Wagner said. “The first round Saturday was real important as we won seven of eight semifinals. Adleigh DeWerff and Genevieve Dykstra had great performances winning their championships. Two girls also fought their way back through the wrestlebacks.

“The regional was very competitive, with girls from many different schools making it through to the sectional.”

Collinsville (136) placed second, led by regional champions Londyn Long (125), Addyson Bailey (135) and Leann Cory (145). Regional champ Te’Aja Young (130) led Cahokia (111) to a third-place finish, followed by Belleville West (108.5), Triad (108), Marion (95.5), Granite City (93), Waterloo (87.5), Freeburg (72) and Mascoutah (62.5) to round out the top 10 team finishes.

REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
100 Maddy Allen (26-4) Edwardsville
105 Emma Rogers (28-6) Edwardsville
110 Adleigh DeWerff (28-4) Edwardsville
115 Genevieve Dykstra (29-2) Edwardsville
120 Alauni Muex (41-2) Marion
125 Londyn Long (43-4) Collinsville
130 Te’Aja Young (22-1) Cahokia
135 Addyson Bailey (31-13) Collinsville
140 Audrey Barnes (29-1) Granite City
145 Leann Cory (40-4) Collinsville
155 Grace Stratton (35-0) Freeburg
170 Demi Barnes (26-2) Granite City
190 Victoria White (29-0) Edwardsville
235 Beckah Burrelsman (18-9) Triad

SECTIONAL QUALIFIERS
100
1st – Maddy Allen (Edwardsville) 26-4, d. Jhayla Lawson (Mascoutah) 16-9, (F 3:05)

3rd- Faith Husky (Johnston City) 16-8, d. Shaina Pierce (Pinckneyville) 9-12, (F 0:57)

105

1st- Emma Rogers (Edwardsville) 28-6, d. Brielle Becker (Freeburg) 22-4 (TF 2:57)

3rd- Shayla Garner (Mascoutah) 21-8, d. Morgan Adams (Benton) 16-12, (TF 3:30)

110

1st- Adleigh DeWerff (Edwardsville) 28-4, d. Ivana Torres (Collinsville) 32-10, (D 6-3)

3rd- Riley Weems (Belleville W) 26-9, d. Kishelle Gray (Marion) 32-13, (F 2:30)

115

1st- Genevieve Dykstra (Edwardsville) 29-2, d. Baileigh Self (Althoff Cath) 29-3, (D 5-1)

3rd- Ma`Kayla Bonner (Granite City) 23-8, d. Trinity Phelps (Benton) 27-10, (F 1:03)

120

1st- Alauni Muex (Marion) 41-2, d. Allie Chong (Edwardsville) 22-5, (MD 10-2)

3rd- Catelyn Reese (Frankfort) 22-7, d. Kathleen Loyola (Carbondale) 30-12, (F 1:45)

125
1st- Londyn Long (Collinsville) 43-4, d. Dakota Bell (Cahokia) 19-5, (F 1:07)

3rd- Olive Linhorst (Edwardsville) 20-6, d. Zoey Nelson (Mascoutah) 14-7, (F 1:05)

130

1st- Te`Aja Young (Cahokia) 22-1, d. Brooklyn Alldredge (Edwardsville) 29-7, (TF-1.5 4:28 (17-2))

3rd- Lamia Irby (Belleville E) 17-6, d. Joelene Nappier-Feth (Marion) 37-6, (F 4:59)

135

1st- Addyson Bailey (Collinsville) 31-13, d. Jacee Mardirosian (Carterville) 32-3, (F 1:18)

3rd- Makenna Steele (Triad) 23-4, d. Madelyn Edler (Waterloo) 28-12, (F 0:52)

140

1st- Audrey Barnes (Granite City) 29-1, d. Jariyah Powell (E St. Louis) 18-6, (F 1:55)

3rd- Alyssa Hardt (Belleville W) 27-9, d. Sophia Elkins (Highland) 21-10, (F 3:23)

145

1st- Leann Cory (Collinsville) 40-4, d. Kyla Ford (Carbondale) 25-6, (F 1:17)

3rd- Josselin Mateo (Murphysboro) 16-3, d. Adaliah Roth (Triad) 16-9, (F 0:36)

155

1st- Grace Stratton (Freeburg) 35-0, d. Nahima Mateo (Murphysboro) 21-4, (F 0:44)

3rd- Kaitlin Wood (Triad) 23-6, d. Addison mabry (Benton) 25-10, (F 0:54)

170

1st- Demi Barnes (Granite City) 26-2, d. Kira Thompson (O’Fallon) 9-1, (F 5:49)

3rd- Janylah Holman (Cahokia) 24-5, d. Geeta Jonardhan (Edwardsville) 17-16, (F 1:25)

190 

1st- Victoria White (Edwardsville) 29-0, d. Brooke Stellhorn (Belleville W) 20-2, (MD 10-1)

3rd- Izabell McBride (Waterloo) 18-4, d. Kamryn Brown (Cahokia) 24-11, (TF-1.5 2:31 (15-0)

235
1st- Beckah Burrelsman (Triad) 18-9, d. Andre`a Kirkpatrick (Belleville W) 27-6, (D 5-0)

3rd- Kiowa Quillen (Johnston City) 18-4, d. Gabrielle Conner (Cahokia) 10-8, (F 0:57)

 
Statistics
TEAM

Most pins: Edwardsville 21, Marion 18, 17 by Collinsville, Triad and Belleville West
Most tech falls: Edwardsville 4, Marion 3
Most total match points: Edwardsville 281, Marion 229, Belleville West 171

INDIVIDUAL
Most pins least time: Triad’s Makenna Steele, 5 in 8:39
Most tech falls least time: Edwardsville’s Emma Rogers, 2 in 4:57
Fastest fall: Waterloo’s Madelyn Edler 0:13
Fastest tech fall: Althoff’s Baileigh Self 1:24
Most team points: Collinsville’s Addyson Bailey 32
Most single-match points: Cahokia’s Nyla Bryant 22, Marion’s Alauni Muex 22
Most total match points: Muex 61, Freeburg’s Aubrey Rutmanis 61
Largest seed-place difference: Cahokia’s Gabrielle Conner became a sectional qualifier by placing fourth at 235 as the No. 10 seed in the tournament.

 JACKSONVILLE REGIONAL

The closest race for a team regional title in Illinois played out in Jacksonville, where the Springfield co-op team edged Civic Memorial by a single team point, 126.5-125.5.

Springfield coach Cody Watts saw seven of his girls become sectional qualifiers, led by regional champions Phoenix Criss (105), Kimoreyee Ballard (140) and Abigail Kinison (235). Springfield also got third-place finishes from Alina Edwards (110), Alliyah Powell (130) and Tala Asad (135), and a fourth from Makenna Smith (170).

Sprinfield led all teams with four tech falls and tied for the second-most pins with ten.

Civic Memorial also advanced seven to the sectional meet, led by regional champions Chloe Rice (135) and Izabella Darr (155), and coach Jeremy Christeson also got seconds from Laila Earney (120), Claire Shaw (125) and Audrey Whipple (170), and fourths from Lillian McGuiggan (105) and Averi Lowe (110).

Glenwood (101) placed third, followed by Jacksonville (83.5) and Roxana (57) to round out the top five team finishes.

REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
100 Madelynn Murphy (19-5) Roxana
105 Phoenix Criss (25-7) Springfield co-op
110 Chloe Skiles (22-1) Roxana
115 Rilynn Younker (32-11) Litchfield-Mt. Olive
120 Olivia Jarrett (24-13) Glenwood
125 Aryanna Jones (19-8) Alton
130 Isabella Resendez (27-9) Glenwood
135 Chloe Rice (11-8) Civic Memorial
140 Kimoreyee Ballard (22-9) Sprinfield co-op
145 Leah Brammeier (22-9) Olympia
155 Izabella Darr (10-8) Civic Memorial
170 Brynn Swyers (15-6) Vandalia
190 Abigail Kinison (6-13) Sprinfield co-op
235 Madeleine Cooley (11-5) Jacksonville

SECTIONAL QUALIFIERS
100
1st- Madelyn Murphy (Roxana) 19-5, d. Chloe Collins (Olympia) 27-4, (F 2:17)
3rd- Kadi Wilbern (Glenwood) 26-7, d. Haley Richter (Heyworth) 7-9, (F 0:58)
105
1st- Phoenix Criss (Springfield) 25-7, d. Alexia Gld. (PORTA) 23-8, (F 5:09)
3rd- Karsynn Vogel (Quincy) 20-6, d. Lillian Mcguiggan (Civic Memorial) 13-13, (F 2:55)
110
1st- Chloe Skiles (Roxana) 22-1, d. Leena Cavender (Jacksonville) 17-9, (F 0:36)
3rd- Alina Edwards (Springfield) 5-7, d. Averi Lowe (Civic Memorial) 14-13, (F 3:01)
115
1st- Rilynn Younker (Litchfield-Mt. Olive) 32-11, d. Asher Ronan (N Mac-Waverly) 15-5, (F 0:47)
3rd- Kaitlyn Knight (Jacksonville) 16-9, d. Lily Robinson (Olympia) 4-12, (F 0:33)
120
1st- Olivia Jarrett (Glenwood) 24-13, d. Laila Earney (Civic Memorial) 16-12, (F 1:57)
3rd- Lucie Eisenbarth (Rochester) 18-7, d. Baylie Boggs (Pleasant Plains-New Berlin) 9-12, (F 1:15)
125
1st- Aryanna Jones (Alton ()) 19-8, d. Claire Shaw (Civic Memorial) 13-13, (F 4:45)
3rd- Heaven Kennedy (N Mac-Waverly) 12-13, d. Lily Jones (Jacksonville) 13-13, (F 1:29)
130
1st- Isabella Resendez (Glenwood) 27-9, d. Aubree Murphy (Quincy) 23-5, (D 5-2)
3rd- Alliyah Powell (Springfield) 22-14, d. Sidney Ufert (Roxana) 14-8, (TF-1.5 3:29 (15-0)
135
1st- Chloe Rice (Civic Memorial) 11-8, d. Madison Brewer (Glenwood) 14-11, (F 2:38)
3rd- Tala Asad (Springfield) 17-9, d. Layla Garcia (Beardstown) 10-11, (D 8-6)
140 

1st- Kimoreyee Ballard (Springfield) 22-9, d. Elsie Dozier (Glenwood) 24-8, (F 4:54)
3rd- Amber Louderback (Camp Pt. Central) 19-4, d. Zoe Bloyd (Quincy) 24-5, (F 2:25)
145
1st- Leah Brammeier (Olympia) 22-9, d. Bailey Davis (Seymour) 3-1, (F 1:00)
3rd- Cali Fulcher (Heyworth) 19-22, d. Charlie Bono (Litchfield-Mt. Olive) 15-25, (D 9-4)
155
1st- Izabella Darr (Civic Memorial) 10-8, d. Violet Gray (Vandalia) 14-5, (D 8-6)
3rd- Skylee Howell (Jersey) 13-18, d. Libby Scheland (PORTA) 3-19, (F 0:54)
170
1st- Brynn Swyers (Vandalia) 15-6, d. Audrey Whipple (Civic Memorial) 19-10, (F 1:46)
3rd- Olivia Monroe (Jacksonville) 16-9, d. Makenna Smith (Springfield) 15-17, (F 3:40)
190
1st- Abigail Kinison (Springfield) 6-13, d. Violet Beck (Illinois School for the Visually Impaired co-op) 1-2, (F 1:49)
3rd- BYE
235
1st- Madeleine Cooley (Jacksonville) 11-5, Fr. over Abbie Heusing (Carlinville) 12-15 (F 1:53)
3rd- Mikayla Means (Southwestern) 3-13, d. Sophie Brown (Shelbyville) 1-1, (M. For.)

Statistics
TEAM

Most pins: Jacksonville 11; Civic Memorial, Glenwood, Springfield 10
Most tech falls: Springfield 4; Quincy, Jacksonville, PORTA, Civic Memorial 1
Most total match points: Springfield 173, Civic Memorial 106, Glenwood 82

INDIVIDUAL
Most pins least time: Jacksonville’s Kaitlyn Knight, 3 falls in 2:10
Fastest fall: Carlinville’s Mary Emmick 0:20
Fastest tech fall: Quincy’s Karsynn Vogel 2:00
Most team points: Civic Memorial’s Chloe Rice 27.5
Most single-match points: Springfield’s Kimoreyee Ballard 2, Jacksonville’s Leena Cavender 2
Most total match points: 39 (tie)- Springfield’s Alliyah Powell and Tala Asad, Camp Point Central’s Amber Louderback
Largest seed-place difference: Glenwood’s Olivia Jarrett and Olympia’s Lily Robinson; Jarrett won the regional title at 120 pounds as the No. 4 seed, and Robinson placed fourth and became a sectional qualifier at 115 as the No. 7 seed.

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

IWCOA rankings from Rob Sherrill’s Illinois Best Weekly

The dual team state finals will take place at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington on Feb. 27-28.

ST. IGNATIUS SECTIONAL

WHEELING 33, DEERFIELD 31

No. 12 Wheeling (12-4) dominated the upper weights and won three pivotal swing matches in edging No. 13 Deerfield (18-3) 33-31. In all, Wheeling won eight of the 14 individual matches.

Wheeling will take on No. 7 Mahomet-Seymour (21-4) in a state quarterfinal dual at 5 p.m. in Bloomington on Feb. 27.

Nobody stood taller after Wheeling’s win than David Perez, Nicholas Montesinos, and Eddie Juarez — Perez won a 7-5 decision at 120; Montesinos won 8-7 at 175, and Juarez won a 2-1 decision at 215 to set up a dual-clinching pin from Pablo Morales (285).

Wheeling coach Charlie Curran got a pair of pins from John Scanlon (157) and Pablo Morales (285), a tech fall from Astan Lokhov (190), a major decision from Damian Brito (165), and a straight decision win from Juan Escanuela (132).

Deerfield held a 3-2 advantage in falls behind pins from Danny Martinez (126), Adrian Cohen (144) and Alexander Shvartsman (150). Other Deerfield wins came from Jack Pechter (106), Jayme Cohen (113) and Ben Howard (138).

Wheeling will be making its third appearance in the state finals in program history and its first for Curran, having made it downstate under coach Neal Weiner in 2009 and 2017.

Deerfield was seeking its fifth trip downstate for coach Mark Pechter, who guided the program to the state finals in 2015, 2017, 2022 and 2023. The Warriors placed fourth in Illinois for Pechter in 2017 and second in state in 2022.

Dual results

106 – Jake Pechter (Deerfield) d. Tommy Katz (Wheeling) TF 16-1

113 – Jayme Cohen (Deerfield) d. Frankie Katz (Wheeling) D 11-6

120 – David Perez (Wheeling) d. Jorey Becker (Deerfield) D 7-5

126 – Danny Martinez (Deerfield) d. Christian Giron (Wheeling) F 1:36

132 – Juan Escanuela (Wheeling) d. Jack Jansen (Deerfield) D 10-4

138 – Ben Howard (Deerfield) d. Manny Lagunas (Wheeling) TF 15-0

144 – Adrian Cohen (Deerfield) d. Byron Arreola (Wheeling) F 1:25

150 – Alexander Shvartsman (Deerfield) d. Austin Berger (Wheeling) F 0:45

157 – John Scanlon (Wheeling) d. Angel Martinez (Deerfield) F 2:58

165 – Damian Brito (Wheeling) d. Caleb Padilla (Deerfield) MD 17-7

175 – Nicholas Montesinos (Wheeling) d. Jonathan Weissmueller (Deerfield) D 8-7

190 – Astan Lokhov (Wheeling) d. Walker Pesche (Deerfield) TF 15-0

215 – Eddie Juarez (Wheeling) d. Josh Dixon (Deerfield) D 2-1

285 – Pablo Morales (Wheeling) d. Daniel Cox (Deerfield) F 0:21

IC CATHOLIC PREP 60, ST. IGNATIUS 15

No. 1 IC Catholic Prep (16-2) won 11 of 14 matches to beat host St. Ignatius 60-15,  sending last year’s state champions back to Bloomington and the chance to repeat as the best team in Class 2A.
IC Prep and No. 4 Geneseo (14-6) square off in a state quarterfinal dual at 7 p.m. in Bloomington on Feb. 27.

IC Prep got falls from Drew Murante (113), Aiden Arnett (150), Joey Pontrelli (165), Brody Kelly (175) and Anthony Sebastian (285). The Knights also got tech fall wins from Kannon Judycki (120), Sam Murante (126), Dominic Pasquale (132), Frank Nitti (144), Jacob Alvarez (157) and Foley Calcagno (190).

IC Prep heads downstate for the fifth time in program history. The Knights also qualified in 2018, 2022 and 2023 in Class 1A.

St. Ignatius (11-5) got falls from Mike McMillan (106) and Melson Ngassa (215), and a straight decision win from Colton Huff (138). The Wolfpack was seeking its first trip to the team state finals for coach Ben Sanchez.

Dual results

106 – Mike McMillan (St. Ignatius) d. Ignacio Gildea (IC Catholic) F 2:42

113 – Drew Murante (IC Catholic) d. Eli Rodriguez (St. Ignatius) F 2:00

120 – Kannon Judycki (IC Catholic) d. Frank Valle (St. Ignatius) TF 19-3

126 – Sam Murante (IC Catholic) d. Alex Villanueva (St. Ignatius) TF 17-1

132 – Dominic Pasquale (IC Catholic) d. Pat Moroney (St. Ignatius) TF 17-2

138 – Colton Huff (St. Ignatius) d. Jack Hanrahan (IC Catholic) D 5-1

144 – Frank Nitti (IC Catholic) d. Luke Sanchez (St. Ignatius) TF 18-1

150 – Aiden Arnett (IC Catholic) d. Nino Capuano (St. Ignatius) F 2:26

157 – Jacob Alvarez (IC Catholic) d. Luca Capuano (St. Ignatius) TF 18-3

165 – Joey Pontrelli (IC Catholic) d. Gus Schaff (St. Ignatius) F 1:11

175 – Brody Kelly (IC Catholic) d. Ashok Chacko (St. Ignatius) F 1:23

190 – Foley Calcagno (IC Catholic) d. Colin Offen (St. Ignatius) TF 21-5

215 – Melson Ngassa (St. Ignatius) d. Anthony Keating (IC Catholic) F 1:20

285 – Anthony Sebastian (IC Catholic) d. Dave Reardon (St. Ignatius) F 1:40

MAHOMET-SEYMOUR SECTIONAL

MAHOMET-SEYMOUR 42, BLOOMINGTON 25

Host No. 7 Mahomet-Seymour (21-4) topped Bloomington (2-2) 42-25 behind a 9-3 edge in matches wrestled that included four falls, three major decisions and two straight decision wins.

The win sends coach Rob Ledin’s boys to a state quarterfinal dual against No. 12 Wheeling (12-4) at 5 p.m. in Bloomington, marking the program’s 23rd trip to the state finals.

Getting pins for Mahomet-Seymour were Myles Hertzler (106), Liam Noonan (138), Talon Dker (165) and Marco Casillas (190). Garrett Waisath (150), Weston Neutz (157) and Christopher Dill (175) earned majors while Gideon Hayter (132), Justus Vrona (144) won straight decisions. Mahomet-Seymour forfeited at 215 and 285 to end the dual.

Wins for Bloomington came from the lower-weight trio of Cooper Bye (113), Lincoln Steers (120) and Seville Dangerfield (126). Bye won by major decision, Steers won by fall, and Dangerfield won a straight decision. Preston Ifft (215) and Jaylen Raab (285) won by forfeit. Bloomington was seeking its fifth appearance at the state finals.

Ledin will lead Mahomet-Seymour to the state finals for the eighth time and fifth consecutive appearance. The Bulldogs have placed third and fourth downstate under Ledin.

Mahomet-Seymour also won four state trophies under coach Rob Porter, one under Tom Porter, and three under Bob Handlin. The Bulldogs won five state titles from 1983-89 under coach Marty Williams and won seven consecutive state trophies during that time.

Dual results

106 – Myles Hartzler (Mahomet-S) d. Angel Lopez (Bloomington) F 1:29

113 – Cooper Bye (Bloomington) d. Grant Morphew (Mahomet-S) MD 15-4

120 – Lincoln Steers (Bloomington) d. Alex Johnson (Mahomet-S) F 3:41

126 – Seville Dangerfield (Bloomington) d. Noah Meints (Mahomet-S) D 8-4

132 – Gideon Hayter (Mahomet-S) d. Jack Schweitzer (Bloomington) D 4-3

138 – Liam Noonan (Mahomet-S) d. Jose Agustin Castro (Bloomington) F 0:36

144 – Justus Vrona (Mahomet-S) d. Tyler Barlow (Bloomington) D 13-11

150 – Garrett Waisath (Mahomet-S) d. Brody Cabrera (Bloomington) MD 13-0

157 – Weston Neutz (Mahomet-S) d. Leighton Vandegraft (Bloomington) MD 14-1

165 – Talon Dker (Mahomet-S) d. Chris Rose (Bloomington) F 3:56

175 – Christopher Dill (Mahomet-S) d. Tyler Gardner (Bloomington) MD 11-3

190 – Marco Casillas (Mahomet-S) d. Zavian Turner (Bloomington) F 2:43

215 – Preston Ifft (Bloomington) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

285 – Jaylen Raab (Bloomington) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

GLENWOOD 41, MASCOUTAH 22

Posting an 8-5 edge in matches wrestled powered No. 3 Glenwood (21-7) to a 41-22 victory over No. 17 Mascoutah (12-2).

The win sends Glenwood to a state quarterfinal showdown against No. 9 Oak Forest (19-7) in Bloomington at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27. The state finals appearance will be the seventh in program history for Glenwood, and the first for first-year head coach Nick Anthony.

Titans coach Nick Anthony got pins from Cooper Clarke (106) and Cody Moss (285) in the win, plus tech falls from Pierce Bultmann (113) and Jaxon Ferguson (120), a major decision from Finnley Try (150), and straight decisions from Julian Rammelkamp (165) and Oluwafemi Balogun (190). Mascoutah forfeited at 132 to Glenwood’s AJ Williams.

Wins for Mascoutah coach Cole Witzig came by fall from Xavier Sonon-Hale (126), plus a tech fall from Brock Ross (157), major decisions from Macguire Leck (138) and Desi Wade (144) and a straight decision from Abel Faircloth (215).

Glenwood placed third in Illinois in 2024 and is making its third consecutive downstate appearance. Mascoutah was seeking its first state finals appearance.

Dual results

106 – Cooper Clarke (Glenwood) d. Braxton McCall (Mascoutah) F 2:00

113 – Pierce Bultmann (Glenwood) d. Jacob Martell (Mascoutah) TF 15-0

120 – Jaxon Ferguson (Glenwood) d. Logan Lott (Mascoutah) TF 15-0

126 – Xavier Sonon-Hale (Mascoutah) d. Jake Tuxhorn (Glenwood) F 1:38

132 – Aj Williams (Glenwood) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

138 – Macguire Leck (Mascoutah) d. Eli Britton (Glenwood) MD 14-6

144 – Desi Wade (Mascoutah) d. Braden Monahan (Glenwood) MD 12-1

150 – Finnley Try (Glenwood) d. Adrian Nastas (Mascoutah) MD 15-7

157 – Brock Ross (Mascoutah) d. Pierce Helm (Glenwood) TF 16-0

165 – Jullian Rammelkamp (Glenwood) d. Sean Murphy (Mascoutah) D 13-9

175 – Elijah Smith (Glenwood) d. Jordan Sonon-Hale (Mascoutah) SV-1 9-6

190 – Oluwafemi Balogun (Glenwood) d. Harrison Redenius (Mascoutah) D 5-2

215 – Abel Faircloth (Mascoutah) d. Mason Streb (Glenwood) D 5-0

285 – Cody Moss (Glenwood) d. Nygel Bowers (Mascoutah) F 1:55

EVERGREEN PARK SECTIONAL

OAK FOREST 57, RIVERSIDE-BROOKFIELD 11

Behind five falls and a 9-3 edge in matches wrestled, No. 9 Oak Forest (19-7) topped Riverside-Brookfield (10-9) 57-11 for coach Shawn Forst. The win sets up a state quarterfinal dual for Oak Forest against No. 3 Glenwood (21-7) at 7 p.m. in Bloomington on Feb. 27.

Oak Forest’s win featured falls from Roberto Rangel (113), Jacob Sebek (126), James Stadtler (144), Mike Rowe (157) and Ethan Copher (165); a tech fall from Austin Perez (150); a major decision from Shane Matthews (285), and straight decisions from Jason Schickel (106) and Nathan Izguerra (190).
R-B forfeited at 120 to Hunter Kroll and at 215 to Andrius Vasilevskas.

Oak Forest will be making its sixth appearance in the team state finals, and its fifth under the guidance of coach Shawn Forst.  Oak Forest made the trip downstate in 2009 under coach Bucky Randolph, and in 2014-15 and 2017-18 under Forst. Oak Forest placed third in state in 2014 and 2015.

Riverside-Brookfield got a tech fall win from Izaiah Gonzalez (132) and straight decision wins from Tony Lombardo (138) and Nick O’Connor (175) in the loss. The Bulldogs were seeking their fourth trip to the state finals for coach Nick Curby, who guided the program downstate in 2020, 2022 and 2024.

Dual results

106 – Jason Schickel (Oak Forest) d. Riley Cavaliere (R-B) D 8-5

113 – Roberto Rangel (Oak Forest) d. Miles Russell-Barnes (R-B) F 1:30

120 – Hunter Kroll (Oak Forest) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

126 – Jacob Sebek (Oak Forest) d. Jayden Tulian (R-B) F 1:42

132 – Izaiah Gonzalez (R-B) d. Josh Schickel (Oak Forest) TF 15-0

138 – Tony Lombardo (R-B) d. Dylan McBride (Oak Forest) D 5-2

144 – James Stadtler (Oak Forest) d. Kevin Callejas (R-B) F 3:52

150 – Austin Perez (Oak Forest) d. Aiden Veltman (R-B) TF 19-3

157 – Mike Rowe (Oak Forest) d. Elijah Rembis (R-B) F 2:51

165 – Ethan Copher (Oak Forest) d. Tony Salgado (R-B) F 0:56

175 – Nick O’Connor (R-B) d. Jason Janke (Oak Forest) D 5-4

190 – Nathan Izguerra (Oak Forest) d. Gerald Evans (R-B) D 8-1

215 – Andrius Vasilevskas (Oak Forest) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

285 – Shane Mathews (Oak Forest) d. Kevin Zuniga (R-B) MD 13-2

PROVIDENCE CATHOLIC 63, EVERGREEN PARK 14

No. 2 Providence Catholic (11-7) stormed to a 63-14 team victory over  No. 23 Evergreen Park (18-6), with the Celtics posting eight falls among an 11-3 edge in matches won. Providence also had three tech falls in the win.

The win puts Providence in a state quarterfinal dual against No. 5 Marian Central Catholic (9-7) at 5 p.m. in Bloomington on Feb. 27.

Providence falls against Evergreen Park came from Cole Lemberg (106), Christian Corcoran (113), Max Mandac (126), Luke Banas (144), Justus Heeg (157), Jasper Harper (165), Ameer Khalil (175) and Brayden McKay. Lucas Forsythe (132), Griffin Heeney (138) and Andrew Pellicci (150) all won by tech fall.

Evergreen Park got pins from Damian Perez (120) and Landon Robinson-Gwin (215), while Willie Johnson won by decision at 285. Coach Ron Zimmerman’s Mustangs were seeking the program’s second downstate berth.

Providence Catholic will make its 21st appearance at the team dual finals and its first for coach Donny Reynolds. The program has won 10 team state titles — six under coach Keith Healy, three under Tim Ruettiger, and one under Mike Polz. Providence returns to the finals for the first time since 2018.

Dual results

106 – Cole Lemberg (Providence) d. Brayden Mateja-Bates (Evergreen Park) F 5:21

113 – Christian Corcoran (Providence) d. Ethan Brantley (Evergreen Park) F 0:25

120 – Damian Perez (Evergreen Park) d. Nathan Ortiz (Providence) F 1:24

126 – Max Mandac (Providence) d. Jayden Cervantes (Evergreen Park) F 4:44

132 – Lucas Forsythe (Providence) d. Adrian Cervantes (Evergreen Park) TF 18-3

138 – Griffin Heeney (Providence) d. Michael Chatman (Evergreen Park) TF 21-6

144 – Luke Banas (Providence) d. Lucas Landry (Evergreen Park) F 3:00

150 – Andrew Pellicci (Providence) d. Jacob Rubalcava (Evergreen Park) TF 20-3

157 – Justus Heeg (Providence) d. Esau Rubalcava (Evergreen Park) F 0:22

165 – Jasper Harper (Providence) d. Owen Brady (Evergreen Park) F 2:58

175 – Ameer Khalil (Providence) d. Kyle Croft (Evergreen Park) F 1:10

190 – Brayden McKay (Providence) d. James Templin (Evergreen Park) F 3:54

215 – Landon Robinson-Gwin (Evergreen Park) d. Henry Kalis (Providence) F 0:29

285 – Willie Johnson (Evergreen Park) d. Ryan Lenahan (Providence) D 7-2

By Chris Walker For The IWCOA

IWCOA rankings from Rob Sherrill’s Illinois Best Weekly

MARIAN CENTRAL CATHOLIC 36, WASHINGTON 31

Marian Central Catholic had the distinct pleasure of being invited down to Washington in late January for its annual DubTown ThrowDown, one of the absolute coolest dual meets for a high school wrestler to experience. 

Within the theatrical atmosphere of the Five Points Washington Auditorium, and a boisterous crowd which included Lilija Stevens, the mayor of Washington, Marian won a 36-31 thriller over Washington and foreshadowed what a potential rematch in the state series would bring.

It would bring them to Sycamore 13 days later on Feb. 5 for the Class 2A Sycamore team dual sectional where Geneseo and Batavia would also be battling for a trip to the IHSA state dual tournament at Grossinger Arena in Bloomington on Feb. 27-28.

Once again, Washington and Marian went back and forth, seemingly matching each other blow for blow, and again it went down to the final few matches, with the Hurricanes once again getting past the Panthers in a dual that was tied at 18-18 midway through. Ultimately, the Hurricanes, coincidentally ranked No. 18, defeated the No. 4 Panthers, 37-33.

“When we wrestled them at the DubTown our 126 pounder was out and we had a back-up kid and their kid got sick, and so we didn’t see that match,” Washington coach Nick Miller said. “I will say they made a couple moves that we didn’t see coming and that’s the beauty of hindsight. It wasn’t much more than the coin flip. They won it and immediately were evens. 126, 132 and 138 was a real important stretch of the dual. We thought we could get all three but we had to control the flip and we knew that going in. And that ’75 was a great strategic move from (Jordan) Blanton and coach (Ryan) Prater.”

The 175 match was the second match of the dual after it kicked off at 165 with Washington’s Wyatt Medlin (University of Illinois) pinning Marian’s Josh Gawronski at 0:59.

Wrestling up a weight class, Marian’s Nic Astacio rose to the task, scoring a 13-4 major win over Wyatt Leman. It wasn’t just a huge early win for the Hurricanes but provided some early momentum as Dan French (190) followed with his 100th career win, a pin of Zane Heubi at 3:48, before Jimmy Mastny (215) earned a tech fall over Josh Hoffer in a big-time battle between Iowa State and University of Illinois recruits. 

“I do like bumping up,” Astacio said. “It’s very nice, even though I do prefer wrestling at 165, I’ll wrestle at 175, it’s a different feel, but I like that feel. I’ve bumped up a few times this year. I can’t remember off the top of my head when I did it last. I even bumped up my freshman year the entire time.”

Despite the weight difference, Astacio said the mental battle was bigger than the physical one.

“I mean, when bumping up like that there’s really not much difference, it’s just like my mentality is no matter what weight, I’m going out no matter who I’m going to wrestle,” he said. “It’s my match. I got to wrestle my match. It’s just wrestling my match.”

Washington needed someone to step up in a big way and halt the Hurricanes in their place and there wasn’t anyone better – or bigger – than Sean Thornton to do it as the 285-pounder made quick work of Owen Nevzri, securing a pin in 29 seconds to pull the Panthers to within 15-12.

Washington’s Symon Woods followed at 106, picking up a quick six points for an 18-15 lead when Marian’s Trent Zomok went down with an injury a few seconds into the match.

Marian’s Diego Martinez earned a 7-3 decision against Sage Davis at 113 to tie the match at 18-18.

A forfeit victory by Marian’s Hogan Rice at 120 followed by teammate Cam Spiniolas’ 12-4 major win over Micah Jackson at 126 gave the Hurricanes their first double-digit lead of the dual at 28-18.

Washington’s Lucas Bach pinned Gio Ferriolo at 0:42 to pick up a much-needed bonus-points win at 132 for the Panthers. Bach’s teammate, Logan Makiney, followed with a 4-3 decision over Zane Mochocki at 138 to pull the Panthers to within 28-27 with three matches remaining.

In the meantime, Marian’s Austin Hagevold was breathing normally, getting ready to battle Cayden Park at 144.

“Before a match I like to isolate myself from everyone else in a dark hallway and pace back and forth and just like to breathe and slow everything down,” he said. “And I know I’m really good at wrestling so I know I can hang with anybody and beat anybody if I just get my mind right so I just like to breathe.”

Park went the distance with Hagevold, but Hagevold managed his breathing which helped ensure that he’d come away victorious. 

“I wrestled him about two weeks ago and I pinned him in the second (period) so I knew it was definitely a match to win, and if I put him on his hands he would slow down,” Hagevold said. “And the coach came up and said if I win and get a decision it ices the dual so I wasn’t looking for big points, I was looking to control the match and make it a marathon.”

Freshman Brendan Nardin, who missed most of the season recovering from a knee injury,  followed with a pin of Grey Slatten at 150 midway through the first period to give the Hurricanes a 10-point cushion heading into the final bout at 157.

With the result of the 157 match not going to change the outcome of the dual, the Hurricanes surrendered a forfeit to Cruise Brolley.

“We were ranked like 19th or something and I think they were like three so it was nice to knock them off again,” Mastny said. “We don’t really think about rankings, just come out here and wrestle and prove we can beat them again, you know? I think they had another kid this time so we proved we could beat them again with their full lineup. Nick Astacio bumped up and getting bonus points was a big deal for us.”

Last year, the Hurricanes finished in third place in the state in Class 1A and now find themselves making a deep run in the state series in 2A, which included getting past a Washington program that was looking for a fourth consecutive state appearance. Marian also won the Class 1A state title in 2024.

“I mean, among our teammates there was no doubt,” Astacio said. “All of us were pretty confident in our matches, all of us were like, ‘Ok, we’re all going to go out and wrestle.’ Coaches are talking about how this is the time we need to be peaking and we are peaking. It’s one of the things we focus on and the same thing you talked about with momentum in the dual meets I learned it was very valuable since the beginning was momentum, that when you start winning those matches you got to pick it up. It’s like a snowball rolling down a hill. It keeps picking up snow, keeps picking up momentum and that will lead to more dual victories.”

Hagevold acknowledged that the goal of getting to state again has been something his teammates have talked about often, without any fear whatsoever regarding the leap in classes.

“We talked about it a lot,” he said. “We were at 1A and took third and we knew we were going to get bumped up. And we lost about four seniors, four real good seniors, and knew it was going to be tough but we wanted this, not just to prove to the state that we’re a great team no matter where we are. We’ve beaten some high 3A teams and we like to wrestle outside the state with dual teams. We have a high standard for ourselves and just like we want to compete at 2A and we showed that.”

After winning state titles in 2023 and 2024 and finishing second to IC Prep last year, Washington will have to wait at least another year for its 12th state appearance since 2014.

“I’m proud of them all,” Miller said. “After the meet was over and we were kind of walking around gathering things together to get ready and loaded on the bus, I was listening to conversations the seniors were having with underclassmen. Our group of seniors, a really large group of seven or eight seniors, and these kids talking, most of these guys were in the lineup as freshmen against Joliet Catholic Academy in the finals (2023). I feel for them not being able to finish the team way, but listening to their conversations with the underclassmen during a really tough moment showed how they continue to lead.”

Dual results

165: Wyatt Medlin (Washington) d. Josh Gawronski (Marian)  (F 0:59)

175: Nic Astacio (Marian) d. Wyatt Leman (Washington)  (MAJ 13-4)

190: Dan French (Marian) d Zane Heubi (Washington)  (F 3:48)

215: Jimmy Mastny (Marian) d Josh Hoffer (Washington)  (TF 18-3)

285: Sean Thornton (Washington) d. Owen Neuzil (Marian)  (F 0:29)

106: Symon Woods (Washington) d. Trent Zomor (Marian)  (INJ 0:03)

113: Diego Martinez (Marian) d. Sage Davis (Washington)  (D 7-3)

120: Hogan Rice (Marian) d. Unknown (Washington)  (FORF)

126: Cam Spiniolas (Marian) d. Micah Jackson (Washington)  (MAJ 12-4)

132: Lucas Bach  (Washington) d. Gio Ferriolo (Marian)  (F 0:42)

138: Logan Makiney (Washington) d. Zane Mochocki (Marian)  (D 4-3)

144: Austin Hagevold (Marian) d. Cayden Park (Washington)  (D 5-2)

150: Brendan Nardin (Marian) d. Grey Slatten (Washington)  (F 1:05)

157: Cruise Brolley (Washington) d. Unknown (Marian)  (FORF)

GENESEO 55, BATAVIA 16

Looking for its third trip to state in four years, No. 6 Geneseo won six straight matches and 11 overall to power its way past No. 13 Batavia, 55-16, in the other team dual at Sycamore.

“I asked the guys to battle and that’s what they do no matter what, win or lose, six minutes, we’re going to go out and battle with everybody we can battle and hopefully we come out on top,” Geneseo coach Tom Rusk said. “No matter what, they’re going to know they’re in for a fight.”

After Batavia’s Colin Peyton opened the dual with a tech fall victory over Dawson Hull at 106, Geneseo responded with victories in the next six matches to build a 32-6 lead.

Kye Weinzierl, who bumped up from 175 to 190 for the Maple Leafs, got a tech fall over Jack Brown.

“It’s something we’ve done in the duals if we think that we have an opportunity to score more points,” Weinzierl explained. “We’re going to put the guys in the right spots and that’s something that us as wrestlers trust our coaches to do and that’s something when we hear it from the coaches we’ll just go out there and wrestle.”

The weight might be different, but it’s still wrestling.

“Just going out and wrestling like it’s any other match and just doing what’s best for the team is the thought process,” Weinzierl said. “So going out there and trying to dominate.”

Colten Mooney (215), Josh Stahl (285), Tad Moore (113), Emmitt Hill (132) and Malaki Jackson (144) earned pins to lead the Geneseo charge.

“It was fun.” Hill said. “I didn’t do the best in regionals, but my team did so that’s good. So today I wrestled pretty hard, you know, it was fun out there, our team did good, so yeah.”

Hill was itching to return to the mats after losing twice in last Saturday’s Sterling regional. 

“I worked hard all week in practice so it was fun getting a good win out there,” he said. “I’ve done pretty good this season, but I’ve lost enough to know you got to work hard and come back and hope to (go against) the same dude and have a chance to beat him again. That’s what I’ve known from just losing, just got to keep working hard to get back, to get those wins.”

Harrison Hill (175) earned a tech fall win, Brycen Fohnestock (106), Landen Vincent (138) and Grady Hull (157) scored majors and Kie Smith (150) earned a 6-3 decision over Daniel Gonzalez for Geneseo’s other victories. 

“This is the third time going to state for me and it’s just a great experience,” Grady Hull said. “It’s so fun to be up there with the team and to have another dual like this, just another tough match. You get the crowd going and just have a fun time with it.”

Hull began his day watching his brother Dawson drop a 17-2 tech to Peyton at 165.

“It’s difficult watching because I’m one yelling at him, telling him exactly what to do as opposed to my other teammates I’m kind of sitting back and trying to learn some things myself sort of thing,” Grady Hull said. “We’ve always been training together. We have a mat in our basement so sometimes we’ll go down there and work on some things kind of a thing and he’s held me accountable for some things over time. I guess just being there for each other to hold each other accountable kind of a thing.”

The Maple Leafs advanced to state last year but didn’t place. They took fourth in 2023.

“Our program has been the same throughout my four years and growing up watching Geneseo wrestling, we hold ourselves to a high standard and maintain that everyday in practice and competition,” Weinzierl said. “And we set a very high standard for ourselves as wrestlers and our coaches do an amazing job of holding ourselves to that standard so we’re going to come into practice and work hard and wrestle tough every match.

“All the guys on the team just wrestle hard and tough, and wrestle six minutes every time and give their all. And that’s kind of the image we want to have at Geneseo and we did a great job of representing that tonight.”

Batavia was seeing sectional action for the first time in 20 years so its wrestlers weren’t even alive when the Bulldogs last won a regional when they captured the Class 2A St. Charles East Regional in 2006, which was also when there were just two classes. The Bulldogs became a part of the newly added 3A class during the 2008-2009 season, in which they placed third at the Wheaton North regional. Logan Arlis (113), Charlie Ryan (130) and Danny Watson (171) won regional titles that year for the Bulldogs under coach Tom Arlis.

Batavia picked up its second win at this year’s sectional when Kai Enos earned a 15-0 tech fall win at 120 to put an end to Geneseo’s six straight victories. Colin Johansen then followed at 126, pinning Phoenix Heller at 3:04. 

“I had kind of known going in we’d have our work cut out for us at upper weights so we had to get some matches,” Bulldogs coach Seth Winkle said. “When we weren’t getting those matches, we had to make an aggressive lineup move to give ourselves a chance. We haven’t been in this dual in a long time so go down swinging.”

Johansen most certainly did that. 

“We made a little move throwing a second year wrestler who started as a freshman, Winkle said. “He’s been a great JV guy all year as a sophomore. He fired us up and put some wind in our sails. Obviously it didn’t work overall, but it’s not something we regret and our kids were ready to take a big swing and Colin had about a minute-and-a-half notice so that was pretty cool.”

Battling tough 3A teams in the DuKane every year, like Wheaton North, Glenbard North and especially St. Charles East has certainly allowed the Bulldogs to enter the post-season battle-tested.

“We’re seeing tough teams throughout the season and it provides a lot of growth and learning opportunities,” Winkle said, “So to have it all come together at a regional and learn from all this tough competition throughout the year and apply what we worked on to get better in the room was pretty cool to see. We took some lumps during the year, but winning a regional was a big step and confidence booster.”

The Bulldogs will lose seven starters, six who are alive in the individual state tournament. 

“We lose a good number but have some pretty tough returners as well,” he said. “We have quite a few JV guys who we feel really good about going forward and developing for the off-season. We’ll try to get better every day and come back stronger and competitive.”

The efforts of their seniors should make a lasting impression.

“I speak highly of them and six are still fighting next week,” Winkle said. “Their contributions have been great and quite a few of them are in their first year in the lineup so they’ve seen success from working their butts off for so long. They’ve trusted the process and come through which is what a strong public program takes. Those guys develop over four years. The guys who come through our program, we definitely take pride in turning them into great young men, good members of society.”

While on the subject of impressions, both teams impressed one another.

“That’s a really well coached team with experience and poise,” Winkle said. “You could tell they were prepared and focused. We were proud to share the mat with them.”

Rusk said the Bulldogs won’t quit.

“What a solid, solid group of kids at Batavia,” Rusk said. “They battled, they never quit. They had a couple kids who didn’t have the records some of the kids have and those kids probably fought harder than the rest of the kids.”

Dual results

165: Colin Peyton (Batavia) d. Dawson Hull (Geneseo)  (TF 17-2)

175: Harrison Hill (Geneseo) d. Blake Vandeloo (Batavia)  (TF 20-4)

190: Kye Weinzierl (Geneseo) d. Jack Brown (Batavia)  (TF 21-6)

215: Colten Mooney (Geneseo) d. Jaden Lehman (Batavia)  (F 2:37)

285: Josh Stahl (Geneseo) d. Alex Linde-Marin (Batavia)  (F 1:27)

106: Brycen Fohnestock (Geneseo) d. Joey Calvillo (Batavia)  (MAJ 16-2)

113: Tad Moore (Geneseo) d. Nico Frechmann (Batavia)  (F 1:01)

120: Kai Enos (Batavia) d. Esref Onder (Geneseo)  (TF 15-0)

126: Colin Johansen (Batavia) d. Phoenix Heller (Geneseo)  (F 3:04)

132: Emmitt Hill (Geneseo) d. Ricardo Alfaro (Batavia)  (F 4:39)

138: Landen Vincent (Geneseo) d. Kyle Pasco (Batavia)  (MAJ 13-0)

144: Malaki Jackson (Geneseo) d. Elias Chaney (Batavia)  (F 0:54)

150: Kie Smith (Geneseo) d. Daniel Gonzalez (Batavia)  (D 6-3)

157: Grady Hull (Geneseo) d. Cole Hubbard (Batavia)  (MAJ 8-0)

By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA

IWCOA rankings from Rob Sherrill’s Illinois Best Weekly

Hononegah 35, Grant 31

With its rich wrestling history, Hononegah has had a firm grip on the NIC-10 trophy and has sent dozens into the individual state tournament, celebrating ten state champions along the way.

The Indians nearly hit the jackpot a year ago with a second-place finish at the dual-team state championships, with a super-charged lineup that would say goodbye to several quality men, including four seniors with over 180 victories combined, three of which finished in the state’s top four.

On the surface, it would appear the losses the Indians incurred would harm their chances of another trip to Bloomington this month.

However, before a big crowd inside the intimate East Gym at host Grant High School, Brody Sendele and his mates stunned the home side and are now on their way to the ninth dual-team state tournament in program history.

“To be honest, I always felt we had the pieces in place to make another run at state,” said Sendele (38-3), whose tech fall of Casey Gipson (36-12) at 215 dashed the hopes of No. 6 Grant (23-5-0), which was looking to make its first state appearance since 2016.

“We lost some great talent, but we returned a lot of guys who were hungry to prove themselves,” Sendele said. “And along with Rocco and Bruno (Cassioppi) and Jackson Olson to provide leadership, the rest of the team put in the extra work to make sure this could all happen for us.”

Sendele would miss half the season a year ago with an injury, but would come back to finish second in state, and is now ranked No. 1 at 175. Along with the Cassioppis – Rocco (40-2) No. 1 at 150, and Bruno (36-4), No 2 at 165 – looked every bit the part of their lofty spots in the state polls.

“In a match like this against a great opponent like Grant, it was important for us to get as many bonus points when we could, but more importantly, stay away from pins, and tech-falls, while having a few guys step up to get us wins when we needed them the most,” continued Sendele, who moved up two weight classes to deliver the lethal blow to the Bulldogs.

Sectional qualifiers Brady Myatt (106, 33-9) and Larry Quirk (113, 28-15) would send the crowd into orbit when they opened the proceedings with a pin and a decision to give the Bulldogs an early 9-0 advantage.

Jackson Olson (28-8) fourth a year ago at state, countered with a pin, but a nicely played 12-8 decision from sophomore Jayce Glauser (29-5) over Kristian DeClercq put the Bulldogs up by 12-6.

That’s when the first of two heroes for the Indians stepped up according to Sendele.

Sophomore Isaiah Martinez (23-13), a first time sectional qualifier, took an early 3-0 lead with a take-down en route to a 4-1 victory over Breiydyn Hoffman to draw the visitors close at 12-9.

“Isaiah did a great job of turning the momentum around before their two hammers came up,” said Sendele.

The combined physical and emotional force put forth by Grant’s No. 4 Erik Rodriguez (138, 35-6) and No. 1 Vince Jasinski (144, 40-5) rattled the roof of the gym when each recorded thundering pins in just under 90 seconds combined to give the Bulldogs a 24-9 cushion.

Rocco Cassioppi registered his pin at 150, followed by a DQ victory from Evan Musil when an illegal throw and take-down from Grayson Lennon midway the second period drew the Indians within three, at 24-21.

“Quinton (Martinez) really came through for us when we needed it,” said Sendele of the 7-5 comeback decision from the freshman, who will be making his first sectional appearance in a week.

Martinez was trailing 1-0 after one period to Christopher Zander, but took a 6-2 lead into the third period where Zander drew closer (6-5) with a take-down near the edge.

With fans on both sides of the gym up on their feet, Martinez (20-6) grabbed an escape with just under one minute, and would hold on to level the score at 24-24.

Bruno Cassioppi gave the Indians its first lead of the night (30-24) with a pin at 175; Grant’s Xavier Arroyo, one of (11) sectional qualifiers for the Bulldogs, made it 30-27 after his 4-2 decision at 190.

Gipson, a state qualifier in 2025, bumped up one weight to 215 and Sendele moved up a pair of weight classes. The rest was history with a 10-2 major decision from Grant’s heavyweight Ajani Williams (28-14) making the final 35-31.

The Indians will face No. 4 St. Charles East (17-5-0) in a dual-team quarterfinal on Friday, February 27 at 7 p.m. in Bloomington at Grossinger Motors Arena.

Hononegah 35, Grant 31

106- Brady Myatt (GRT) won by forfeit.a

113- Larry Quirk (GRT) d. Logan Harris (HON) (D 2-0).

120- Jackson Olson (HON) d. Andrew Ocampo (GRT) (F 0:56).

126- Jayce Glauser (GRT) d. Kristian DeClercq (HON) (D 12-8).

132- Isaiah Martinez (HON) d. Breiydyn Hoffman (GRT) (D 4-1).

138- Erik Rodriguez (GRT) d. Maddox Franklin (HON) (F 0:52).

144- Vince Jasinski (GRT) d. Logan Person (HON) (0:30).

150- Rocco Cassioppi (HON) d. John Von Hoene (GRT) (F 1:39).

157- Evan Musil (HON) d. Grayson Lennon (GRT) (DQ).

165- Quinton Martinez (HON) d. Christopher Zander (GRT) (D 7-5).

175- Bruno Cassioppi (HON) d. Aaden Arroyo (GRT) (F 0:55)

190- Xavier Arroyo (GRT) d. Alex Martin Pecino (HON) (D 4-2).

215- Brody Sendele (HON) d. Casey Gipson (GRT) (TF 22-6).

285- Ajani Williams (GRT) d. Wyatt Kinney (HON) (MD 10-2).

Barrington 39, Loyola 38

With a huge contingent of Barrington fans alongside the Grant faithful on the same side of the gym, there was a sea of red shirts delivering support of the MSL champion Broncos (16-9-0), who were in search of its 8th trip downstate and their first since 2020.

Last year in the same Grant gym, No. 17 Barrington suffered a 41-24 defeat to Hononegah with a downstate berth on the line.

“Last year we were disappointed after that loss to Hononegah, but when it was over, we put it behind us and went to work as a team during the offseason,” said the Broncos three-year veteran, No. 3 Ryan Dorn (138).

“That loss was last year, so what was most important was we all wanted to get back here and make a run at getting to dual-team state,” said Barrington’s No. 2 Kaleb Pratt (120), himself a three-year man for head coach Dan Keller.

“We knew coming in that Loyola obviously has two unbelievable hammers (Niko Odiotti (106) and Kai Calcutt (215)) and had a bunch of dangerous guys in their lineup, and they have a great coach with Matt Collum,” began Keller.

“I was fortunate to learn a lot as an assistant under Tom Whalen while at Prospect, and his tactical genius and ability to map things out for big duals was second to none. So I knew if I used what he taught me, we would be in good shape tonight.

“Of course, the guys had to do their jobs, and that’s what they did.”

Loyola, regional champions for the first time since 1997, came prepared themselves. They bumped No. 1 Odiotti (29-2) from 106 to 113, and would parlay a major decision victory from Quentin Williams (24-12) at 106 into an early 10-0 advantage.

“I always felt that, as good as Barrington is, we had a chance to win tonight,” Collum said. “But they have some very good depth throughout their lineup, and that eventually was the difference.

Collum will lead eight of his men into the Barrington individual sectional next week.

“This is a great accomplishment for our team to win a regional for our program, and to have a chance to have continue on,” Calcutt said.

The No. 1 man at 215 pounds is on his way to North Carolina State in the fall.

“If you had told me four years ago that we would be here tonight, I would have said no way,” continued Calcutt, a three-year standout on the defensive line for the Ramblers state power football team.

“Coach (Collum) has changed the culture in our room, and he’s brought pride back into the sport of wrestling at Loyola. To me, he’s the reason for the success we’ve achieved.”

After Pratt (41-5) registered a 16-1 tech-fall at 120, Ramblers senior Gavin Pardilla (126, 31-7) slowed the Broncos with his 8-0 major decision victory to increase the Ramblers advantage to 14-5.

However, a three match Barrington explosion with Ryan Dorn in between teammates Matthew Blanke (132) and Jimmy Whitaker (144) put 17 points on the board to push the Broncos ahead at 22-14.

“Matthew (Blanke) really came through for us with a big tech-fall win for five points ,to really set the tone of us for the rest of the night,” Dorn said.

“Yeah, I thought Matthew’s win was huge, and so was (Daniel Blanke’s) pin,” Pratt said. “He bumped up two weights to 165.”

Pins from Loyola’s James Hemmila (23-4 at 150) and Daniel Malan (26-4 at 157) would stem the tide for the Ramblers, giving their club one last lead at 26-22.

“We knew the strength of Loyola, but we were always confident in our lineup, and how we pieced things together in advance of where they moved their guys around during the match,” said Keller.

MSL and regional champions Daniel Blanke (38-7) and Sam Cushman (32-10) needed just 92 seconds to record their pins at 165 and 175, and with the Broncos firmly ahead (34-26), Aaron Jafri (29-17) put the finishing touches on the contest with a 15-0 tech-fall triumph.

With its 13-point advantage, the Broncos would concede forfeits to Calcutt (32-2) and heavyweight Mike Maddex to make it a 39-38 victory.

“Obviously, I am extremely proud of this team,” Collum said. “They have always worked hard for  me and the staff, and many of them have been with us four years. So to see the  success we’ve had thus far is very satisfying.”

The Ramblers will send eight into sectionals, while the sectionl host Broncos have nine qualifiers.

Barrington 39, Loyola Academy 38

106- Quentin Williams (LOY) d. Diego Ramirez (BAR) (MD 11-3).

113- Niko Odiotti (LOY) d. Ismael Lopez (BAR) (F 3:32).

120- Kaleb Pratt (BAR) d. Daniel Myint (LOY) (TF 16-1).

126- Gavin Pardilla (LOY) d. Saul Ramirez (BAR) (MD 8-0).

132- Matthew Blanke (BAR) d. Michael Crawford (LOY) (TF 15-0).

138- Ryan Dorn (BAR) d. Mateo Hatzopoulos (LOY) (F 2:47).

144- Jimmy Whitaker (BAR) d. Sean Smylie (LOY) (F 0:54).

150- James Hemmila (LOY) d. Maddox Orozco (BAR) (F 1:55).

157- Daniel Matan (LOY) d. Michael Fiandaca (BAR) (F 1:45).

165- Daniel Blanke (BAR) d. Aleks Knapik (LOY)  (F 0:57).

175- Sam Cushman (BAR) d. Jack DeCrane(LOY) (F 0:37).

190- Aaron Jafri (BAR) d. Colton Pacholski (LOY) (TF 15-0).

215- Kai Calcutt (LOY) won by forfeit.

285- Mike Maddex (LOY) won by forfeit

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

IWCOA rankings from Rob Sherrill’s Illinois Best Weekly
Dual team state finals will take place at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington Feb. 27-28

3A OAK PARK AND RIVER FOREST SECTIONAL

St. Charles East 75, Maine South 0

The No. 4 Saints (17-5) steamrolled Maine South 75-0 to earn the fifth berth in the state finals in St. Charles East history and the third for coach Jason Potter.

St. Charles East won a state title for Potter in 2023 and placed third in state in 2024. The Saints also placed third in 1997 under coach Mick Ruettiger and were state qualifiers under coach Steve Smerz in 2001.
The Saints will face No. 5 Hononegah (13-6) in a state quarterfinal dual at 7 p.m. in Bloomington on Feb. 27.

St. Charles East got pins from Cooper Murray (215), Matt Medina (285), Dom Munaretto (120), Kaden Potter (132), Liam Aye (138) and Ben Guszkiewicz (190). Tech falls came from Will Difatta (113), Declan Sons (126), Gavin Woodmancy (144), Jayden Hernandez (150) and Anthony Kutrovatz (165). Max Aye (106) won by major decision and Maine South forfeited to the Saints’ Isaac Lenard at 157 pounds.

Dual results

215 – Cooper Murray, SC East d. Jake Rioch, Maine South F 0:16

285 – Matt Medina, SC East d. Matthew Correa, Maine South F 1:40

106 – Maximus Aye, SC East d. Erle Rosete, Maine South MD 14-3

113 – Will Difatta, SC East d. Nicholas Karlesky, Maine South TF 22-5

120 – Dom Munaretto, SC East d. Ryan Ready, Maine South F 0:45

126 – Dlan Sons, SC East d. Luke Baum, Maine South TF 16-1

132 – Kaden Potter, SC East d. Donato Coloia, Maine South F 1:08

138 – Liam Aye, SC East d. Luciano De La Pasqua, Maine South F 1:34

144 – Gavin Woodmancy, SC East d. George Dilorenzo, Maine South TF 15-0

150 – Jayden Hernandez, SC East d. Martin Lydon, Maine South TF 22-6

157 – Isaac Lenard, SC East d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

165 – Anthony Kutrovatz, SC East d. Chris Kuminga, Maine South TF 16-1

175 – Asher Van Der Molen, SC East d. George Arvanitis, Maine South MD 13-1

190 – Ben Guszkiewicz, SC East d. Daniel Egan, Maine South F 3:15


Oak Park and River Forest 63, Conant 6

No. 9 Oak Park and River Forest (10-2) earned the 15th trip to the state finals in its program history, downing Conant 63-6 for first-year head coach Jason Renteria.

Oak Park and River Forest will take on No. 17 Barrington (15-8) in a state quarterfinal dual at 5 p.m. on February 27, at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

OPRF is making its third consecutive appearance at the dual team state finals. The Huskies won two state titles for coach Mike Powell in 2009 and 2014, and two more for coach Paul Collins in 2015 and 2016. The program also finished second in state 1988, 2012, 2018 and 2019.

OPRF won 12 of 14 matches against Conant, getting seven pins, three tech falls and two straight decisions in the win. Pins came from Lucas Albrecht (215), Pierre Nelson (285), Michael Rundell (113), Jamiel Castleberry (126), Zev Koransky (144), David Ogunsanya (157) and Jeremiah Hernandez (165).
OPRF got tech falls from Jordan Dezara (106), Isaiah Gibson (138) and Jack Skoglund (150), and decision wins from Zachary Chasson (120) and Alex Cohen (132).

Conant won a pair of decisions from Jackson Spizzirri (175) and Tarik Yursever (190). The Cougars were seeking the program’s eighth downstate berth for coach Andrew Guilde and the first since 2017 under coach Chad Hey. Conant placed second in state for long-time coach Jim Cartwright three times (1983, 1996, 2000) and placed fourth in 2003 under coach John Kane.

Dual results

215 – Lucas Albrecht, (OPRF) d. Jaiden Thorney, (Conant) F 1:48

285 – Pierre Nelson, (OPRF) d. Evan Mueller, (Conant) F 3:13

106 – Jordan Dezara, (OPRF) d. Jax Bryson, (Conant) TF 17-1

113 – Michael Rundell, (OPRF) d. Brian Hoffman, (Conant) F 0:16

120 – Zachary Chasson, (OPRF) d. Andres Justicia, (Conant) SV-1 10-7

126 – Jamiel Castleberry, (OPRF) d. Connor Willis, (Conant) F 1:48

132 – Alex Cohen, (OPRF) d. Emmett Arens, (Conant) D 9-2

138 – Isaiah Gibson, (OPRF) d. Oscar Luberda, (Conant) TF 18-3

144 – Zev Koransky, (OPRF) d. Jake Gizel, (Conant) F 1:10

150 – Jack Skoglund, (OPRF) d. Elliot Kang, (Conant) TF 22-3

157 – David Ogunsanya, (OPRF) d. Jaewon Willhite, (Conant) F 0:07

165 – Jeremiah Hernandez, (OPRF) d. Sultan Imanaliev, (Conant) F 1:33

175 – Jackson Spizzirri, (Conant) d. Zachary Michaud, (OPRF) D 6-3

190 – Tarik Yurtsever, (Conant) d. Daniel Solano, (OPRF) D 9-8

3A MAHOMET-SEYMOUR SECTIONAL

Edwardsville 36, Lincoln-Way West 28

An 8-6 edge in matches won and a 12-10 edge in bonus points made the difference as No. 11 Edwardsville (12-2) won 36-28 over No. 12 Lincoln-Way West (17-6) on Thursday.

Edwardsville coach Eric Pretto will lead his squad to its second consecutive state finals appearance and the 6th downstate berth in program history. The Tigers will take on No. 3 Montini (14-3)  on Feb. 27 at 5 p.m. in Bloomington.

The Tigers (12-2) have won downstate hardware twice, placing fourth in Illinois in 2006 and 2009 under coach Jon Wagner.

Pretto got pins from Michael McNamara (106), Robert Edington (157) and Braylon Hill-Lomax (285), while Lincoln-Way West’s pins came from Carter DiBenedetto (126), Jack Strezo (150) and Jon Wilkey (165).
Edwardsville got a tech fall from Simon Schulte (190) and a major decision win from Chace Mathney (113), and Lincoln-Way West got a major decision at 132 from Brady Glynn (132).

A 3-2 edge in swing matches went Edwardsville’s way. The Tigers got straight decision wins from Tim Swaim (120), Ryan Richie (144) and Roman Janek (215), and Lincoln-Way West got decision wins from Leyton Bartley (138) and Max Herman (175).

Lincoln-Way West coach Brian Glynn was seeking to guide his program to its third state finals appearance. The Warriors placed third in Illinois for Glynn in 2017.

Dual results

106 – Michael McNamara (Edwardsville) d. Michael Scott, (LW West) F 2:00

113 – Chace Mathney (Edwardsville) d. Kellan Hack, (LW West) MD 11-0

120 – Timothy Swaim (Edwardsville) d. Charlie Strezo, (LW West) D 7-1

126 – Carter DiBenedetto, (LW West) d. Bryson Nuttall (Edwardsville) F 1:30

132 – Brady Glynn, (LW West) d. Sean Monroe (Edwardsville) MD 17-7

138 – Leyton Bartley, (LW West) d. Xander Humphrey (Edwardsville) SV-1 8-5

144 – Ryan Richie (Edwardsville) d. Shane Stream, (LW West) D 3-0

150 – Jack Strezo, (LW West) d. Ian Trauernicht (Edwardsville) F 2:34

157 – Robert Edington (Edwardsville) d. Evan Gutierrez, (LW West) F 0:57

165 – Jon Wilkey, (LW West) d. Kenneth Jamison (Edwardsville) F 1:37

175 – Max Herman, (LW West) d. George Ostrom (Edwardsville) D 4-2

190 – Simon Schulte (Edwardsville) d. Cameron Moskos, (LW West) TF 18-3

215 – Roman Janek (Edwardsville) d. Jimmy Talley, (LW West) D 7-3

285 – Braylon Hill-Lomax (Edwardsville) d. Brayden Shaub, (LW West) F 3:37

3A MARMION ACADEMY SECTIONAL

Montini 35, Marist 28

No. 3 Montini (14-3) beat No. 7 Marist (13-7) 35-28 to punch its ticket to the program’s 26th trip to the dual team state finals. Montini advanced downstate for the third consecutive season and for the first time under first-year head coach Sal Annoreno.

Montini will face No. 11 Edwardsville (12-2) in a state quarterfinal dual at 5 p.m. in Bloomington.
The Broncos have won 16 dual team state titles since 2000, eight of which have come under long-time coach Mike Bukovsky. The Broncos have placed second three times (2007, 2017, 2024), and third three times (1996, 1998, 2025).

Montini won nine of the 12 matches wrestled, forfeiting to Marist at 106 and 138. The only pins of the dual came from the Broncos’ Sam Swais (215) and Marist’s Jacob Crawford (150). Montini got tech falls from Allen Woo (120) and Bobby Ruscitti (126), and Marist also got a pair of tech fall wins from Tommy Fidler (157) and Ethan Sonne (165). Montini’s Santino Tenuta (175) posted the lone major decision of the dual.

The remaining five matches wrestled were all won by straight decisions, and Montini won all five from Kam Luif (144), AJ Tack (190), Gavin Ericson (285), Erik Klichurov (113) and Mikey Malizzio (132).

Marist was seeking its third trip downstate under coach Brendan Heffernan, who guided the Redhawks to a second-place finish in Illinois in 2014.

Marist reached the state finals nine times in its history, winning state titles in 1982 and 1987 under long-time coach Mark Gervais.

Dual results
144 – Kam Luif, (Montini) d. Jaxon Jorgensen, (Marist) D 8-5

150 – Jacob Crawford, (Marist) d. Landon Waggoner, (Montini) F 5:30

157 – Thomas Fidler, (Marist) d. Will Konder, (Montini) TF 19-3

165 – Ethan Sonne, (Marist) d. Myles Monis, (Montini) TF 15-0

175 – Santino Tenuta, (Montini) d. Jonathan Fields, (Marist) MD 15-2

190 – AJ Tack, (Montini) d. Ronin Haran, (Marist) D 11-6

215 – Sam Swais, (Montini) d. Tommy O`Brien, (Marist) F 3:22

285 – Gavin Ericson, (Montini) d. Jack Watson, (Marist) D 8-3

106 – Crue Hatchell, (Marist) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

113 – Erik Klichurov, (Montini) d. Elio Gil, (Marist) D 4-2

120 – Allen Woo, (Montini) d. Colin Phelan, (Marist) TF 19-3

126 – Bobby Ruscitti, (Montini) d. Dylan Weber, (Marist) TF 16-1

132 – Mikey Malizzio, (Montini) d. Te`Jon Beals, (Marist) D 4-0

138 – Axel Rodriguez, (Marist) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

Marmion Academy 46, Mount Carmel 23

The 2025 state champs are headed back downstate to defend their title.

No. 2-ranked Cadets from Marmion Academy (13-3) won 46-23 over No. 13 Mount Carmel (6-5), advancing to the dual team finals for the 11th time overall and the third time under head coach Anthony Cirrincione.

Marmion has won six state finals trophies, having placed second three times (2013, 2016, 2023) and third twice (2014, 2019).

The Cadets will face No. 1 Joliet Catholic Academy (14-1) in a state quarterfinal dual at 7 p.m. in Bloomington.

With an overall 9-4 edge in matches wrestled and a 19-8 edge in bonus points earned, Marmion finished with a 3-1 edge in pins, getting falls from Joey Favia (285), James Morrison (113) and Nicholas Garcia (138). Mount Carmel got its pin from Liam Kelly (190).

Marmion had all three of the dual’s tech falls, from Ashton Hobson (165), Vincenzo Testa (215) and Aidan McClure (132). Mount Carmel led 2-1 in major decisions, getting majors from Jaxon Gineris (157) and Brody Koselke (126). Marmion got a major from Zach Stewart (150).

Each team won a single simple decision; Marmion from Daniel Skura (175) and Mount Carmel from Sebastian Garcia (106). Marmion forfeited at 120 to Mount Carmel’s Luke Erwinski.

Mount Carmel was seeking its 17th trip to the state finals for coach Alex Tsirtsis, who guided the program to state titles in 2022 and 2024, and a second-place finish in 2020.

The Caravan won three state titles (1992-94) under coach Bill Weick. Mount Carmel also placed second twice (1998, 2002) and fourth once (1996) under Weick and placed third in 2016 under coach John Kading.

Dual results

144 – Demetrios Carrera, (Marmion) d. George Hollendonor, (Mt. Carmel) F 2:35

150 – Zach Stewart, (Marmion) d. Justin Williamson, (Mt. Carmel) MD 12-4

157 – Jaxon Gineris, (Mt. Carmel) d. Grayson Garcia, (Marmion) MD 17-4

165 – Ashton Hobson, (Marmion) d. Daniel Lynch, (Mt. Carmel) TF 17-0

175 – Daniel Skura, (Marmion) d. Kellan Breen, (Mt. Carmel) D 9-3

190 – Liam Kelly, (Mt. Carmel) d. Joseph Ruggerio, (Marmion) F 0:16

215 – Vincenzo Testa, (Marmion) d. Kenneth Segerson, (Mt. Carmel) TF 18-2

285 – Joseph Favia, (Marmion) d. Landin Carter, (Mt. Carmel) F 0:41

106 – Sebastian Gracia, (Mt. Carmel) d. Caden Morrison, (Marmion) D 5-1

113 – James Morrison, (Marmion) d. Daniel Macatangay, (Mt. Carmel) F 2:40

120 – Luke Erwinski, (Mt. Carmel) d. Unknown (Unattached) Forf

126 – Brody Koselke, (Mt. Carmel) d. Brody Page, (Marmion) MD 11-2

132 – Aidan McClure, (Marmion) d. William Grafton-Hodgetts, (Mt. Carmel) TF

138 – Nicholas Garcia, (Marmion) d. Francis Burke, (Mt. Carmel) F 1:04

Joliet Catholic Academy 63, Yorkville 5

No. 1 Joliet Catholic (14-1) rolls into the dual team state finals thanks to a dominating sectional win over No. 8 Yorkville (17-6). Coach Ryan Cumbee’s squad won 13 of 14 matches featuring four pins, five tech falls, two major decisions and two straight decisions in a 63-5 win.

The Hilltoppers will be making their fifth consecutive trip to the state finals and will take on No. 2 defending state champion Marmion (13-3) in a state quarterfinal dual on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. in Bloomington. 

Cumbee has guided Joliet Catholic to three dual team state trophies; the Hilltoppers won the state title in 2022, placed second in 2023, and took third in 2025.

Yorkville was seeking its eighth trip downstate and its third under coach Jake Oster, who guided the program to a fourth-place finish in 2023 and a second-place finish in 2024.

Dual results

144 – Adante Washington, (Joliet Cath) d. Vincent Konecki (Yorkville) TF 25-8

150 – Donovan Rosauer (Yorkville) d. Aurelio Munoz, (Joliet Cath) TF 17-2

157 – Dawson Mack, (Joliet Cath) d. Donncha Souza (Yorkville) MD 13-4

165 – Nolan Vogel, (Joliet Cath) d. Maximus Delgado (Yorkville) TF 19-3

175 – Vince Skedel, (Joliet Cath) d. Caleb Viscogliosi (Yorkville) D 8-5

190 – Aidan Bishop, (Joliet Cath) d. Brock Janeczko (Yorkville) D 2-1

215 – Ryker Czubak, (Joliet Cath) d. Avery Lane (Yorkville) TF 18-3

285 – Daniel Dalach, (Joliet Cath) d. Drevon White (Yorkville) F 3:04

106 – Kane Robles, (Joliet Cath) d. Leo Richmond (Yorkville) F 0:34

113 – Colton Schultz, (Joliet Cath) d. Ryan Fals (Yorkville) TF 17-2

120 – Finn McDermott, (Joliet Cath) d. Landon Jenkins (Yorkville) F 1:27

126 – Lukas Foster, (Joliet Cath) d. alexander andel (Yorkville) TF 19-4

132 – Adonis Washington, (Joliet Cath) d. Rocky Delgado (Yorkville) F 1:23

138 – Lincoln Mack, (Joliet Cath) d. Jaxson Kocur (Yorkville) MD 13-4