Feature Stories

By Curt Herron

Here’s a summary of Saturday’s four Class 1A open sectionals in the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association’s State Tournament:

Included from the Heyworth, Hope Academy, Lawrenceville and Sandwich sectionals are all of the championship matches as well as third- and fourth-place finishers.

All of the individuals listed qualified for Thursday’s Class 1A finals at the IWCOA State Championships, which takes place at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield.

The schedule for Thursday’s competition is as follows: weigh-ins from 8:00-8:30 a.m.; round of 16 at 9:30 a.m.; quarterfinals and consolation round one at 11 a.m.; consolation round two at 12:30 p.m.; semifinals and quarterfinal consolation round at 1:15 p.m.; semifinal consolation round at 2 p.m.; break at 3 p.m.; third- and fifth-place matches at 4 p.m.; and march of the finalists and finals matches at 5 p.m.

Class 1A Lawrenceville Open Sectional

Vandalia scored 151.5 points to capture top honors at Saturday’s IWCOA Class 1A Lawrenceville Open Sectional while Auburn (106.5), Cumberland (100.5), Benton (94) and Litchfield (94) were the next-best scorers in the tournament.

The champion Vandals only had one champion but used their balance to claim the title. Benton and Litchfield both had two champions while 12 teams had title winners.

In the championship matches, Vandialia’s Jarek Wehrle won 1-0 over Auburn’s Anthony Ruzic at 106, Litchfield’s Carter Powell was an 8-3 winner over East Alton-Wood River’s Aaron Niemeyer at 113, Benton’s Mason Tieffel won by fall in 2:46 over Rochester’s Nolan Mrozowski at 120, East Alton-Wood River’s Jason Shaw was a 13-4 victor over Auburn’s Dresden Grimm at 126 and Murphysboro’s Arojae Hart recorded a fall in 5:41 over Warrensburg-Latham’s Parker Hopkins at 132.

Anna-Jonesboro’s Caleb Mays won by fall in 1:28 over Murphysboro’s Lane Mills at 138, Mt. Carmel’s Dayton Hall was a winner by technical fall in 2:55 over Vandalia’s Eric McKinney at 145, Litchfield’s Will Carlile won 10-1 over Illinois School for the Visually Impaired’s Reed Davis at 152, Cumberland’s Iysten Syfert recorded a fall in 2:36 over Murphysboro’s Dayton Hoffman at 160 and Pittsfield’s Mason Davis claimed a 3-1 win over Vandalia’s Tiler Worker at 170.

Sacred Heart-Griffin’s Cory West won by fall in 0:56 over Unity’s Ryan Vasey at 182, Harrisburg’s Bryant Lester got a fall in 3:29 over Cumberland’s Colby Ryan at 195, Hillsboro’s Magnus Wells recorded a fall in 5:00 over Robinson’s Craig Markello at 220 and Benton’s Gabe Craig won by fall in 0:33 over Auburn’s Cole Edie at 285.

Claiming third-place finishes were Harrisburg’s Tony Keene (106), Goreville’s Memphis Lapatas (113), Murphysboro’s Liam Fox (120), Vandalia’s Owen Miller (126), Cutter Prater (132), Logan Nance (138) and Ryan Kaiser (152), Cumberland’s Rayce Zike (145), Lawrenceville’s Brian Seed (160), Carlyle’s Owen Birkner (170), Warrensburg-Latham’s Joey Fiore (182), Auburn’s Grant Dobson (195), Monticello’s Riley Jones (220) and Cumberland’s Noah Carl (285).

Taking fourth place were Litchfield’s Alex Powell (106), Benton’s Bobby Rodriguez (113), Anna-Jonesboro’s David Kester (120), Litchfield’s Brady Davidson (126), Metro-East Lutheran’s Elijah Schlessinger (132), East Alton-Wood River’s Noah Mason (138), Rochester’s Tyler Vollintine (145), Effingham’s Jon Perry (152), Metro-East Lutheran’s Chad Gray (160), Robinson’s Jared Hermann (170), Taylorville’s Landen Molina (182) and William Blue (195), Warrensburg-Latham’s Evan Erwin (220) and Illinois School for the Visually Impaired’s Leo Tomich (285).

Class 1A Heyworth Open Sectional

PORTA edged Canton 132-129 for top honors at Saturday’s IWCOA Class 1A Heyworth Open Sectional while Oakwood (92.5), Illini Bluffs (88) and LeRoy (83) were next in line.

The champion Bluejays only had one champion but their balanced attack allowed them to capture the title. Oakwood had three champions and LeRoy had two as 11 different teams had title winners.

In title matches, Mercer County’s Ethan Munson won 3-1 over Farmington’s Keygan Jennings at 106, Oakwood’s Gage Reed was a 9-3 winner over Canton’s Trevor Hedges at 113, Oakwood’s Reef Pacot won by technical fall in 3:54 over LeRoy’s Josh Sexton at 120, Camp Point Central’s  Zach Foote captured a 4-3 victory over Illini Bluffs’ Paul Ishikawa at 126 and Dwight’s Dillon Sarff won 11-1 over PORTA’s Blake Cagel at 132.

Canton’s Andrew Hedges was a 6-2 winner over El Paso-Gridley’s Dax Gentes at 138, LeRoy’s Owen Gulley won 7-2 over Ridgeview’s Billy Tay at 145, PORTA’s Jake Sinclair claimed a 4-3 victory over Canton’s Joseph Norton at 152, Oakwood’s Joe Lashuay won 12-1 over Tremont’s Lucas Wendling at 160 and Knoxville’s Hunter Fox won by medical forfeit over PORTA’s Bryar Lane at 170.

LeRoy’s Grant Sant Amour got a fall in 4:00 over PORTA’s Blayk Reed at 182, Tremont’s Cooper Wendling won by fall in 3:34 over Prairie Central’s Connor Steidinger at 195, Ridgeview’s Evan Antonio claimed a 5-1 win over Beardstown’s Owen O’Hara at 220 and University High’s Hunter Otto recorded a fall in 1:43 over PORTA’s Gavin Dick at 285.

Third-place finishers were Illini Bluffs’ Hunter Robbins (106), Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Payton Murphy (113). Illini Bluffs’ Ian O’Connor (120), Herscher’s Austin Grise (126), Canton’s Bryce Walton (132), Camp Point Central’s Trevor Bonk (138), Illini West’s Lance Belshaw (145), Hoopeston Area’s Justin Jones (152), PORTA’s Brayden Barner (160), Hoopeston Area’s Abel Colunga (170), Westville’s Craig Johnson (182), Rantoul’s Keddrick Terhune (195), Tremont’s John Rathbun (220) and Canton’s Weston Swise (285).

Finishing in fourth place were Westville’s Garyson McBride (106), Mercer County’s Broctyn King (113), Quincy Notre Dame’s Curtis Steinkamp (120), Tremont’s Mason Mark (126), Illinois Valley Central’s Mitch Connor (132), Beardstown’s Treysean Grant (138), Oakwood’s Grant Brewer (145), Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Kaden Gream (152), Clifton Central’s Damian Bailey (160), LeRoy’s Tyson Brent (170), Macomb’s Ethan Ladd (182), St. Joseph-Ogden’s Owen Birt (195), University High’s Isiah Im (220) and Illini Bluffs’ Ethan Patterson (285).

Class 1A Sandwich Open Sectional

Lena-Winslow scored 150 points to capture top honors at Saturday’s IWCOA Class 1A Sandwich Open Sectional. Dakota took second with 124 points while Yorkville Christian (96.5), Oregon (81) and Seneca (73) rounded out the top five.

The champion Panthers had three champions while Dakota, Yorkville Christian and Newman Central Catholic all had two and five teams had one title winner.

In title matches, Yorkville Christian’s Ty Edwards won by technical fall in 4:21 over Somonauk’s Shea Reisel at 106, Newman Catholic’s Brady Grennan won 9-3 over Yorkville Christian’s Isaac Bourge at 113, Dakota’s Phoenix Blakely was a 10-0 winner over Lena-Winslow’s Garrett Luke at 120, Sandwich’s Evan Reilly got a fall in 1:38 over Princeton’s Matthew Harris at 126 and West Carroll’s Ethen Doty won 5-2 over Dakota’s Maddux Blakely at 132.

Newman Catholic’s Will Rude won by fall in 3:18 over Dakota’s Tyler Simmer at 138, Oregon’s Andrew Herbst was a 4-3 winner over Lena-Winslow’s Simon Rillie at 145, Lena-Winslow’s Griffin Luke claimed a 7-0 win over West Carroll’s Kelden McCombie at 152, Wheaton Academy’s Jonathan Vanderbilt got a fall in 3:21 over St. Francis’ John Andrzejewski at 160 and Lena-Winslow’s Case Harmston won 4-2 over Alleman’s Jack Patting at 170.

Lena Winslow’s Jaden Rice was a 6-3 winner over Morrison’s Kayden White at 182, Dakota’s Noah Wenzel won 5-4 over Orion’s Josh Fair at 195, Richmond-Burton’s Brock Wood won 3-1 in sudden victory over Dakota’s Aidan Nardin at 220 and Yorkville Christian’s Michael Esquivel won 1-0 over Seneca’s Nathan Elliott at 285.

Taking third were Kewanee’s Ryan Welgat (106), Oregon’s Edwin Estrada (113), Newman Catholic’s Carter Rude (120), Seneca’s Owen Feiner (126), Harvard’s Bryce Fiegel (132) and Ivan Rosas (138), Rockridge’s Reese Finch (145), Orion’s Noah Schnerre (152), Lena-Winslow’s Jason Hermann (160), Winnebago’s Mannix Faworski (170), Seneca’s Gavin Robertson (182), Harvard’s Nathan Rosas (195), Sherrard’;s Josh Bynum (220) and Erie’s Elijah Friedrichsen (285).

Finishing fourth were Harvest Christian’s Zeke Schroeder (106), Dixon’s Chris Sitter (113), West Carroll’s Wyatt Doty (120), Dakota’s Jason Bowers (126), Stillman Valley’s Donovan Crumpacker (132), Oregon’s Seth Stevens (138), Genoa-Kingston’s Jesse Torres (145), Yorkville Christian’s Drew Torza (152) and Tyler Martinez (160), Stillman Valley’s Austin Abitua (170), Fulton’s Ethan Rash (182), Lena-Winslow’s Andrew Haas (195), Durand’s Nick Upmann (220) and Plano’s Alex Diaz (285).

Class 1A Chicago Hope Academy Open Sectional  

IC Catholic defeated Coal City 193.5-174 for top honors at Saturday’s IWCOA Class 1A Chicago Hope Academy Open Sectional. Wilmington (110), Phoenix Military Academy (102) and Peotone (101) were next in the line in the tournament.

The first-place Knights had five title winners while the runner-up Coalers had four. Five other schools all had one sectional champion.

In the title matches, Coal City’s Brant Widlowski won 7-4 over IC Catholic’s Bryson Spaulding at 106, IC Catholic’s Saul Trejo captured an 11-10 win over Hope’s Alex Armira at 113, IC Catholic’s Nick Renteria won by fall in 2:00 over Coal City’s Jacob Piatak at 120, IC Catholic’s Omar Samayoa claimed a 5-3 victory over DePaul College Prep’s Mikekal McClarin at 126 and Peotone’s Marco Spinazzola won by technical fall in 6:00 over Phoenix Military’s Rafael Soto at 132.

Reed-Custer’s Ryan Tribble was a 13-2 winner over Hope’s Ethan Chaheine at 138, Bishop McNamara’s Blain Christie won 6-3 over Reed-Custer’s Adell Gamboa at 145, Coal City’s Connor Huston was a 5-0 victor over Bishop McNamara’s Luke Christie at 152, Coal City’s Zachary Finch won 6-4 over IC Catholic’s Michael Calcagno at 160 and Coal City’s Gabe Ludes was a 10-0 winner over Wilmington’s Marcus Morris at 170.

Wilmington’s Aiden Wooters won 10-6 over Manteno’s Collin Zeppi at 182, Westmont’s Jaylan Lacy was a 7-5 victor over Coal City’s Drake Dearth at 195, IC Catholic’s Jadon Mims recorded a fall in 0:59 over Reed-Custer’s Kody Marschner at 220 and IC Catholic’s Isaiah Gonzalez claimed an 8-0 victory over Harlan’s Amarion Lee at 285.

Taking third place were Hope’s Sammy Saez (106), Phoenix Military’s Jose Lua (113), Vin Moreno (120) and Omar Ramirez (126), Westmont’s Brycen Baldwin (132), IC Catholic’s Joseph Gliatta (138), Peotone’s Kevin Hogan (145), Manteno’s Carter Watkins (152), Wilmington’s Jack Narine (160), Hope’s Esteban Aleman (170), Perspectives/Leadership’s Nicholas Wilkerson (182), Wilmington’s Chris Williams (195), Nazareth Academy’s Joe Urso (220) and Manteno’s Damian Alsup (285).

Finishing in fourth place were Wilmington’s Alex Fernandez (106), Nazareth’s Javaughn Jossell (113), Walther Christian’s Josh Peterson (120), Peotone’s Santino Izzi (126), Wilmington’s Jake Prescott (132), Nazareth’s Zach Milos (138), Hope’s Franky Saez (145), Phoenix Military’s Jimmy Lua (152), Peotone’s Seth Lonard (160), Walther Christian’s Steven Morales (170), Coal City’s Braiden Young (182), Peotone’s Tim Bounds (195), Westmont’s Severin Vorotnjak (220) and Peotone’s Alex Cardenas (285).

By Curt Herron

When a program has the same number of sectional champions in one day as it had in the previous 10 years combined, it’s definitely a very special occasion.

That’s just what Civic Memorial accomplished on Saturday when it took part in the IWCOA’s Class 2A Mahomet-Seymour Open Sectional in Mahomet.

Coach Jeremy Christeson’s squad won six sectional championships, had two third-place finishers and fell one point shy of getting another final-four finisher.

Whether the six sectional titles at one tournament is a school record is unclear, but what is known is that in the two years that the Eagles had more than two placewinners at state, 2009 and 1997, they did not have more than four sectional champions.

Civic Memorial dominated during the middle part of the finals as it won four-straight titles from 138 to 160 and complemented those championships with additional firsts at 126 and 182, to give it six in eight weight classes.

Those performances allowed the Eagles to win the team title with 191.5 points, which was well-ahead of the runner-ups, the host Bulldogs, who took second place with 149.5 points while Glenwood placed third with 137 points and Triad (95) and Mattoon (79.5) were next in line.

The top four finishers at each weight earned trips to Friday’s IWCOA Class 2A Open State Championships, which will be at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield.

Winning titles for the Eagles were Bryce Griffin (126), Caleb Tyus (138), Caine Tyus (145), Vinny Zerban (152), Abe Wojcikiewicz (160) and Colton Carlisle (182).

“This was a really good tournament today,” Christeson said. “We knew that we would get pushed by Mahomet-Seymour, Triad and Glenwood, but we had a real good season and did a lot of traveling in the offseason as a club. I’m just ecstatic that these seniors stuck around because they didn’t have to. We’re excited that they decided to stay and help mentor the younger guys. We’re losing three really good kids but we’re kind of just reloading a little bit so we have another good year coming up.”

Griffin, a freshman who has a 23-0 record, started Civic Memorial’s title run when he captured a 6-1 victory over Triad junior Chase Hall (14-4) at 126.

“It’s awesome,” Griffin said. “Going into this year I was unsure about what was going to happen, being a freshman, but it’s definitely worked out pretty well. The guys on the team are really supportive and it’s awesome to be able to train with such high-level guys on a daily basis.”

Senior Caleb Tyus improved to 27-0 after winning by technical fall in 5:32 over Triad sophomore Aiden Postma (17-5)  in the 138 finals. The two Tyus brothers will be continuing their careers at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

It was the third sectional title for Caleb Tyus, who’s a two-time place-winner and a finalist last year. That sectional titles feat was last accomplished at the school between 2009-2012 by David Pearce, who was a three-time finalist and the school’s last state champion in 2012.

“We’ve been practicing and working hard in the room and doing what we need to do,” Caleb Tyus said. “I was second last year, so this is what I came here to do, to put on a show and I’m ready. We’re solid and we’re looking to make history. We had eight guys make it to state and that’s never been done before at our school.”

Like his brother, senior Caine Tyus, who is 13-0, is a two-time place-winner. He held off a challenge in the 145 finals by Cahokia senior Jalon Strong (14-2) to claim a 9-6 win.

“I’m a senior and this is my first time winning the sectional,” Caine Tyus said. “In the past couple of years we had the trouble of getting over the hump and having guys lose in the blood round, but this year we finally got past that. At practice I like that I always have someone to wrestle with.”

Zerban, a senior who is 24-0, won 10-2 over Mascoutah senior Kylan Montgomery (15-4) in the 152 finals. He’s happy to be back with some of his old friends after competing for the last three years in high school at St. Louis’ Christian Brothers College, where he won three state medals and was part of two title teams. 

“I’m glad that I came back this year since our team chemistry really came together,” Zerban said. “They’ve always been my brothers, it just took awhile for me to come back. I think this was the best that we’ve ever done at sectionals. My dream is to win state in Illinois.”

Sophomore Wojcikiewicz, who is 25-1, gave his team their fourth-straight title and fifth of the day when he won 7-2 over Lanphier senior Zach Acres (18-4) in the 160 finals. He qualified for state last year as a freshman and hopes to place this year.

“It’s great because I think this might be the most people that we’ve brought to the state tournament, so it will be fun to have a lot of the guys on the team there,” Wojcikiewicz said. “When you see your teammates win around you, it hypes you up.”

Civic Memorial’s final champion was junior Carlisle, who is 25-2, after winning 7-2 over Mahomet-Seymour sophomore Brennan Houser (23-5) in the 182 title match.

“We just worked hard and busted our butts all week,” Carlisle said. “Everything that we could do, we did it. We do everything possible that we can to get better. It’s really all about how close we all are. We’re all like brothers and we’ve been together since we were little boys. This is amazing.”

Mahomet-Seymour and Civic Memorial both have eight qualifiers while Glenwood advanced seven and Triad qualified six of its seven sectional qualifiers. Mattoon, Morton and Mascoutah all have three state qualifiers while Carbondale, Centennial, Lanphier and Lincoln will all send two individuals to state.

The host Bulldogs won the last of their three title matches to give them one champion for the day. He is sophomore Mateo Casillas, who is unbeaten at 24-0 after earning his first state appearance with a 7-5 sudden victory over Bloomington junior Anthony Curry (14-2) in the 195 finals.

“The best thing about being at home is that you have your fans behind you and you want to do it for yourself and for them,” Casillas said. “We have eight state qualifiers, and that’s awesome. My goal obviously is to do very well at state and to place. It would be a dream of mine just to get my name up on the board.”

Glenwood closed the competition with titles in the last two weight classes to assure that it would join Civic Memorial as the only teams to have multiple champions.

Senior Conner Miller, who is 31-0, was champion of a bracket that featured four of the top individuals in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings. Miller got a takedown in the final seconds to pull out a 5-4 victory over Mascoutah senior David Polaski (23-2) in the 220 title match. His training partner, Alex Hamrick, followed up by winning the 285 title.

“This was probably the toughest of all season,” said Miller, a two-time medalist and finalist last year. “We’ve trained all season for this and we’re both undefeated going to state, so we want to keep the undefeated streak alive. This is an opportunity we didn’t even know if we would have. And I’m excited to be able to wrestle at state again.”

In the last finals match, sophomore Alex Hamrick, also stayed unbeaten at 31-0 and joined his training partner Miller as a champion after capturing a 7-0 victory over Mahomet-Seymour sophomore Colton Crowley (24-4) in the 285 finals.

“Anybody that you face is going to be good so you just have to be ready at all times,” Hamrick said. “Conner is a great practice partner and it’s helped me a lot. But it doesn’t end there, since we have backups at 220 and heavyweight that would be starting for a lot of teams. I’m taking it one day at a time and trying to get better every day.”

Another senior who is unbeaten is Carbondale’s Luke Daly, who is 22-0 after winning the 170 title by an 8-2 score over Waterloo junior Brandon Lloyd (20-4). A state medalist last year, Daly, who will continue his career at Michigan State University, is grateful to those who’ve worked with him and for having another chance to compete at state.

“The pinnacle in this state is always the state tournament and It’s important to get that closure at the end of the year to see how much you’ve improved, so it’s nice that we have this,” Daly said. “We have a special coaching staff and I can’t thank them enough because they’ve helped me so much through my whole high school career.”

While there was a lot of talent at the middle and upperweights at the sectional, the lowerweights also certainly showed that they’ll be a force to be reckoned with at state.

Mattoon junior Brady Foster, who is 16-1, beat an undefeated competitor and captured the 106 title with a 4-3 victory over Glenwood freshman Andrew Davis (29-1).

“This is nice and I’m excited about it,” Foster said. “We didn’t know if we’d have a state series until halfway through the season so this gives us something to work for. I’m hoping to be the first state champion for Mattoon. I feel like our training happened the right way and set us up to be the best when we need to be the best.”

Normal West sophomore Froylan Racey improved to 20-0 to continue his unbeaten season after capturing an 8-1 win in the 113 finals over MacArthur senior Cameron Lee (13-1), a three-time state qualifier. He feels that missing out on a trip to state as a freshman has definitely been good motivation for him.

“I was a sectional alternate and lost the match to go to state to the kid who took fourth,” Racey said of last season. “I’ve been training nonstop since then since I wanted to go to state. When my dad told me that the IWCOA was putting on the state series, it was a perfect opportunity for me to prove myself and show all of the training I’ve put in.”

Morton junior Connor Kidd, who improved to 18-3, captured the title at 120 with a 15-7 win over Glenwood senior Jager Ferguson (12-13) and hopes to do big things at state.

“This isn’t like actual state, but it’s still a super good tournament where you get to wrestle tough opponents,” Kidd said. “It’s good for freshmen and sophomores if they qualify and the juniors and seniors still get an alternative series. I’ve had a couple of losses that I probably shouldn’t have, but overall I feel like I’ve wrestled pretty well.”

Jacksonville sophomore Collin Reif, who is 30-2, claimed a 12-4 victory over Lincoln sophomore Isaac Decker (29-6) in the 132 finals to earn his first trip to state.

“I was excited that we actually got a season this year and that we could come here and compete,” Reif said. “I’m glad that I got first here, but the season’s not over since we have state next week. And I’m so glad that we got to wrestle this year because that’s just going to make me better for my junior and senior years.”

In third-place matches, Mahomet-Seymour sophomore Caden Hatton (30-2) beat East St. Louis junior Jaymz Young (4-4) by technical fall at 106, Morton junior Zane Ely (19-5) won 6-1 over Centennial freshman Trevor Schoonover (19-7) at 113, Triad senior Chance Seip (14-2) won 12-10 in sudden victory over Waterloo junior Gavin Hearren (18-5) at 120, Glenwood sophomore Thomas Vansacik (30-3) won 8-4 over Morton freshman Steven Marvin (18-7) at 126 and Civic Memorial junior Ben Skaggs (22-6) was a 12-1 winner over Glenwood freshman Ben Maduena (25-7) at 132.

Springfield senior Jesse Stewart (12-4) won by injury default over Mahomet-Seymour senior Logan Hillard (26-3) at 138, Glenwood sophomore Aden Byal (25-7) won by injury default over Lincoln senior Austin O’Donoghue (34-2) at 145, Mattoon junior Kiefer Duncan (19-2) was a 3-2 winner over Mahomet-Seymour junior Braeden Heinhold (22-6) at 152, Mascoutah junior Logan Will (21-4) won 7-4 over Mahomet-Seymour senior Peyton Myers (20-6) at 160 and Civic Memorial senior Briley Christeson (26-5) captured a 9-6 win over Lanphier sophomore Gabe Orosco (19-3) at 170.

Mattoon sophomore Kyus Root (14-4) won by fall in 3:19 over Mt. Vernon freshman Mason Randall (19-8) at 182, Carbondale sophomore Aiden Taylor (22-1) won a 12-11 decision over Triad junior Seth Brooks (16-6) at 195, Mahomet-Seymour senior Daniel Renshaw (28-3) got a pin in 3:54 over Triad senior Collin North (17-5) at 220 and Triad senior Everett Walsh (15-5) won 5-3 over Centennial senior Scottlind Sims (11-5) at 285.

By Gary Larsen

The way he wrestled Saturday, Nolan Allen could be the poster boy for the past, present, and future of what Glenbard North wrestling strives to be.

“He’s a machine” North coach Travis Cherry said. “He’s got one speed and it’s go-go-go. He wrestles hard, he wrestles well, and he’s got a great wrestling IQ.”

The Panthers’ sophomore — currently ranked No. 2 in Illinois in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings — dominated the field at the IWCOA Open 3A St. Charles Sportsplex sectional. Allen used two tech falls and a major to capture a sectional title at 138 pounds.

Allen’s domination mirrored what Glenbard North did as a team. The Panthers ran away with the team sectional plaque, scoring 241.5 points to finish 126 points ahead of the field.

Glenbard North had four sectional champions in Allen, Dominick Marre (106), Patrick Curran (195) and heavyweight Paulie Robertson. Five Panthers placed second in Lauden Edwards (126), Matt Chi (132), Cody Dertz (170), Kyler Kradle (182), and Blake Maday (220).

Add a third from Jack Barraca (152) and a fourth from David Gilliam (145), and the Panthers are sending 11 state qualifiers to next weekend’s state finals in Springfield.

“It was a good day for us,” Cherry said. “We wrestled hard and wrestled well and we got some guys through.”

North freshman Marre (21-2) buzz-sawed his way to a sectional title at 106 with pins in his semifinal and title match, stamped by a pin of Maine South’s Teddy Flores in the finals.

St. Charles East, which placed second to Glenbard North, got its lone sectional title at 113 from freshman Ben Davino. Davino has wrestled beyond his years this season and he improved to 26-0 with a tech fall win on the title mat against Lake Park’s Vincent Merola.

Davino posted pins in his quarterfinal and semifinal matches and has been dominant this year. He’s currently the top-ranked 113-pounder in 3A.

“I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve never seen anything like it from a freshman,” Saints coach Jason Potter said. “He does everything the right way, he does it at a hundred miles an hour, and you are not going to find another kid in Illinois that trained any harder than he did through the whole covid experience. He looked at it as another nine months to train until he’s high-school ready.”

Davino has battled some older and stronger upperclassmen this year but has passed his freshman season test with flying colors.

“I didn’t really know what to expect but hard work pays off,” Davino said. “It just took some getting used to. I invite kids to trade with me all the time that are bigger and stronger, so I’m pretty used to it. I just want to have fun and go out there and dominate.”

The Saints’ Jake Penzato (120), Matt Sztuk (138), and Elijah Chiaro (160) also advanced downstate by placing second in St. Charles. Potter suffered the fate that most coaches face at sectionals every year.

“You’re really happy for some guys and you’re devastated for others,” Potter said. “Especially your seniors. The greedy side of me always wishes we could have gotten a few more guys through.”

The Saints’ Charles Fialka and Diego Sanchez came up just short of state qualification but afterwards, Potter spoke to the gratitude that countless coaches feel for their departing seniors.

“(Fialka) really had a good senior run. He went down in weight class and it was a weight class that was extremely deep,” Potter said. “Diego Sanchez wrestled at 195 he’s just an absolute warrior. He’s got very little wrestling experience but he just fights like mad. At the end of the day they can hold our heads high because they’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do.”

Lake Park’s Mikey DiBenedetto (23-2) took the sectional crown at 120 for the fourth-place Lancers, who advanced four wrestlers downstate including Merola at 113, and fellow sectional champions Dominik Malinder (23-1 at 126) and Ryan Riser (21-2 at 182).

DeKalb’s Blake McGee (20-0) left St. Charles with his unbeaten season record intact, posting a fall, a tech fall, and then a 10-3 title-mat decision at 132 over Glenbard North’s Chi. Allen’s tech fall win at 138 came next and his motor seemed to be revving as high at the end of the match as when it started. Allen went 33-14 as a freshman at 126 last year and he’s had a breakout season as a sophomore, improving to 13-0 with his title-mat win in St. Charles.

“I’ve been working a lot on my speed and shots, and I wanted to make sure I was aggressive today, and make sure I was always on offense,” Allen said. “The approach is just to keep working. You want to break kids mentally and if the pin is there, you take it.”

Conant’s Ethan Stiles stayed unbeaten and left no doubt who the top 145-pounder was in St. Charles. Second-ranked Stiles (6-0) earned a major decision and two tech fall wins to become a sectional champion. At 152, Schaumburg’s second-ranked senior Grant Hansen won a sectional title and took another step along the path towards a state place medal, something that eluded him last year.

“Last year I came up short at state so this year I wanted to make sure I came out here and did what I needed to do,” Hansen said.

After Hansen (24-0) won an 8-2 decision on the title mat at 152 over Wheaton North’s Logan Balosky, he spoke about the path he’s traveled since last season, aimed squarely at getting him ready for the downstate task at hand.

“I went to train and a new club, with Greg Gomez in West Chicago, and as soon as I hit that room — the partners, the coaching — I started to benefit from it. I went there every day throughout the summer and winter, night times, weekends, or mornings. A lot of what I gained was the mentality to not take (anything) from anyone. It’s the mentality to constantly keep going, to attack-attack-attack. After I got there, that got nailed into me.”

The title match at 160 saw Batavia’s top-ranked Mikey Caliendo improve to 30-0. Caliendo posted a fall and then a tech fall win before St. Charles East’s Chiaro injury defaulted to him on the title mat.

The sectional title at 170 went to Conant’s Jack Hominac. Hominac won a 6-1 decision for the title over Glenbard North’s Dertz in improving to 25-1 heading into Springfield.

Hominac was a state qualifier last year at 170 as well but did not medal in Champaign. But he considers his time at the state finals “a great experience,” Hominac said.

“My first match down there was (Huntley’s) David Ferrante, who went on to win state. The whole experience kept me hungry for this year. I saw the guys on the podium and I want to be on that podium.”

Hominac is hungry, but as a senior he’s also making a conscious effort to value what time he has left as a high school wrestler.

“Sometimes it’s hard to remember that you’re really just trying to have fun but this year, being my last year in high school, it makes me stop and look around every now and then and just kind of take it all in.”

Lake Park senior Ryan Riser (21-2) won the sectional crown at 182 with an 8-2 decision over Glenbard North’s Kradle. Riser won 9-6 over Kradle in a regional title match one week prior.

“Yeah, but that didn’t mean anything,” Riser said. “He was just another kid I had to go through. It can help or hurt both of us and today it obviously helped me.”
Like many wrestlers present in St. Charles, Riser used last year’s sectional struggles to propel himself in his senior year.

“I made a promise to myself that that wouldn’t happen again,” Riser said. “I want to be a state champ. My coaches at Lake Park just made me a lot better. They helped me focus on my style, how to control the match and make it my match. Now I just go out and do what I do. I’m breaking kids this year, making them not want to come back and wrestle me. I have more technique and overall I’m just a better wrestler than I was last year.”

Glenbard North’s Patrick Curran improved to 21-2 at 195 with his 9-6 title-mat decision over Glenbard West’s Phillip Dozier, and Wheaton North’s Cam’Ron Harper (10-1) became a sectional champ with a first-period pin of Glenbard North’s Maday at 220.

Glenbard North heavyweight Robertson ended the day’s wrestling in St. Charles by winning his sectional crown via fall over Kevin Wingate of Maine East. Robertson (22-1) has added offense to his game this season and it has made all the difference. “Before, I didn’t really have any go-to shots. I was just wrestling like a standard heavy weight, like a typical Sumo-match,” Robertson said. “Now I’m at a new level.”

Cherry took over the Glenbard North program after the the 31-year, hall-of-fame coaching career of Mark Hahn ended last year. Cherry wrestled for Hahn at North, placing third at 215 in 2003, and he has his wrestlers wrestling with the same grit the Panthers were always known for under Hahn.

“It was a very smooth transition from coach Hahn into coach Cherry. We pretty much just picked up where we left off,” Robertson said. “Now it’s just about going out and wrestling (downstate). We’ve done everything we can and trained as hard as we can and now it’s all on the wrestlers. Our coaches have gotten us to where we want to be so now it’s up to us.”

By Curt Herron

Here’s a breakdown of this past weekend’s IWCOA’s Open Class 1A Super Regional individual and team champions. Stories about the El Paso-Gridley and Sandwich Super Regionals are posted on the website:

The top six finishers from the eight super regionals advanced to Saturday’s four sectional sites in Class 1A.

Individuals who took part in Sunday’s Coal City and Walther Christian Super Regionals will compete in the Hope Academy Sectional at Quest Center while competitors from Sunday’s El Paso-Gridley and Heyworth Super Regionals willparticipate in the Heyworth Sectional.

Qualifiers who competed in the Sandwich and Yorkville Christian Super Regionals will participate in the Sandwich Sectional. And the qualifiers from the Lawrenceville and Sacred-Heart Griffin Super Regionals will take part in the Lawrenceville Sectional.

Class 1A Yorkville Christian Super Regional

Seneca edged Yorkville Christian 191-190.5 to win the Class 1A Yorkville Christian Super Regional title on Sunday.

The host Mustangs won seven titles and got a second-place finish from their eight entrants but the Irish had six more competitors and that helped them to win the team title.

Winning titles for Yorkville Christian were Ty Edwards (106), Isaac Bourge (113), Noah Dial (120), Drew Torza (152), Tyler Martinez (160), Jackson Gillen (170) and Michael Esquivel (285) while Seneca title winners were Owen Feiner (126) and Gavin Robertson (182).Other champions in the super regional were Harvard’s Bryce Fiegel (132), Ivan Rosas (138) and Nathan Rosas (195), Genoa-Kingston’s Jesse Torres (145) and Richmond-Burton’s Brock Wood (220).

Class 1A Heyworth Super Regional

PORTA captured top honors at Sunday’s Class 1A Heyworth Super Regional after scoring 184 points, which placed it well ahead of runner-up Oakwood, who had 148 points.

The champion Bluejays had three title winners and a second-place finisher to highlight a day when nine of their 11 competitors were able to claim top-five finishes.  

Champions for PORTA were Blake Cagle (132), Jake Sinclair (152) and Gavin Dick (285) and Oakwood also had three title winners, Gage Reed (113), Reef Pacot (120) and Joe Lashuay (160). Others who won titles were Camp Point Central’s Zach Foote (126) and Trevor Bonk (138), LeRoy’s Owen Gulley (145) and Grant Sant Amour (182), Westville’s Garyson McBride (106), Hoopeston Area’s Abel Colunga (170), Tremont’s Cooper Wendling (195) and Beardstown’s Owen O’Hara (220).  

Class 1A Coal City Super Regional

The host Coalers had six champions and nine finalists to help them win their own Class 1A Super Regional with 235 points while Peotone took second place with 170 points.

Coal City got title wins from Brant Widlowski (106), Jacob Piatak (120), Connor Huston (152), Zachary Finch (160), Gabe Ludes (170) and Drake Dearth (195). Winning titles for Peotone were Santino Izzi (126) and Marco Spinazzola (132) while Wilmington’s champions were Landon Dooley (113) and Aiden Wooters (182).

Other super regional champions were Reed-Custer’s Ryan Tribble (138) and Kody Marschner (220), Bishop McNamara’s Blain Christie (145) and Harlan’s Amarion Lee (285).

Class 1A Walther Christian Super Regional

IC Catholic defeated Hope Academy 193-144.5 to capture the title at Sunday’s Class 1A Walther Christian Super Regional in Melrose Park.

The champion Knights won seven titles and had eight finalists. Winning championships for IC Catholic were Bryson Spaulding (106), Saul Trejo (113), Nick Renteria (120), Joseph Gliatta (138), Michael Calcagno (160), Jadon Mims (220) and Isaiah Gonzalez (285).

Also winning super regional titles were Westmont’s Dominic Wagner (126) and Jaylan Lacy (195), Phoenix Military Academy’s Rafael Soto (132) and Jimmy Lua (152), Hope’s Franky Saez (145) and Esteban Aleman (170) and DePaul College Prep’s Luke Walters (182).

Class 1A Sacred-Heart Griffin Super Regional

Vandalia used four titles and four second-place finishes to capture the team title of Sunday’s Class 1A Sacred Heart-Griffin Super Regional in Springfield with 236.5 points while Auburn scored 165.5 points to claim second place.

Winning titles for the champion Vandals were Jarek Wehrle (106), Eric McKinney (145), Tiler Worker (170) and Gavin Mouser (285) while Litchfield got championships from Carter Powell (113) and Will Carlile (152) while Nolan Mrozowski (120) and Cole Peters (138) both won titles for Rochester.

The other super regional winners were East Alton-Wood River’s Jason Shaw (126), Warrensburg-Latham’s Parker Hopkins (132), Metro East Lutheran’s Chad Gray (160), Sacred Heart-Griffin’s Cory West (182), Taylorville’s William Blue (195) and Hillsboro’s Magnus Wells (220).

Class 1A Lawrenceville Super Regional

Benton claimed three championships and had six finalists to capture top honors with 175.5 points while Toledo Cumberland took second with 135.5 points in Sunday’s Class 1A Lawrenceville Super Regional.

Capturing titles for the champion Rangers were Mason Tieffel (120), Drake Moss (126) and Gabe Craig (285) while Goreville got titles from Memphis Lapatas (113) and Jerry Pulliam (152) while Robinson’s Jordan Caballero (195) and Craig Markello (220) also won championships.

Other super regional title winners were Harrisburg’s Tony Keene (106), Murphysboro’s Arojae Hart (132), Anna-Jonesboro’s Caleb Mays (138), Mount Carmel’s Dayton Hall (145), Cumberland’s Iysten Syfert (160), Monticello’s Kaleb Reid (170) and Unity’s Ryan Vasey (182).

By Curt Herron

Here’s a breakdown of this past weekend’s IWCOA’s Open Class 3A Super Regional and Regional individual and team champions. A story about the Naperville North Super Regional is posted on the IWCOA website:

The top six finishers from the seven super regionals and the top three from the two regionals advanced to Saturday’s four sectional sites in Class 3A.

Individuals who took part in Sunday’s Pure Elite Fitness and Naperville Athletic Center Super Regionals will compete in the Joliet Junior College Sectional while competitors at last Saturday’s Joliet Junior College and Naperville Athletic Center Super Regionals will  participate in the St. Charles SportsPlex Sectional.

Elmhurst College hosts a sectional featuring qualifiers from the Naperville North and Chicago Marist Super Regionals. And the qualifiers from the Oswego Super Regional and those from the regionals at Lockport and Edwardsville will take part in the Millikin University Sectional in Decatur.

Oswego Super Regional (qualifiers to Millikin University Sectional)

In the most dramatic finish of all of the Class 3A competition, Sunday’s Oswego Super Regional went right down to the wire with three teams within four points of each other.

Plainfield North nipped Minooka 150-149.5 for top honors while Joliet West took third with 146 points. Plainfield North had three champions and a second-place finisher while Minooka had two title winners and one second-place finisher.

Winning titles for Plainfield North were Jacob Macatangay (126), Jared Gumila (152) and Kaden McCombs (285) while Minooka’s champions were Nathan Berta (138) and Jack McClimon (160). Other super regional champs were Neuqua Valley’s Bryce Boumans (145) and Nolan LeBreck (220), Moline’s Kole Brower (132) and DeAnthony Parker (182), Plainfield South’s Rudy Silva (106), Romeoville’s Jaden Ruiz (113), Yorkville’s Dominick Coronado (120), Joliet Central’s Neriah Ayivor (170) and Oswego’s Cruz Ibarra (195).

Lockport Regional (qualifiers to Millikin University Sectional)

Lockport had eight champions, three second-place finishers and added two thirds to pile up 246 points for the title while Lincoln-Way Central beat Providence Catholic 120.5-115 for second place.

Winning titles for the host Porters were Logan Kaminski (126), Jad Alwawi (132), Keegan Roberson (138), Nate Ramsey (152), Paul Kadlec (160), Aidan Nolting (182), Jon Kratz (195) and Andrew Blackburn-Forst (220). Other regional champions were Providence’s Billy Meiszner (120) and RJ Schneider (285), Lincoln-Way Central’s Joey Malito (112) and Michael Olson (145), Andrew’s Max Siegel (106) and Lincoln-Way East’s Gavin Jones (170).

Edwardsville Regional (qualifiers to Millikin University Sectional)

Edwardsville captured first-place with 215 points while Belleville West finished second with 155 points at Sunday’s Class 3A Edwardsville Regional.

The host Tigers had 11 finalists and five champions while Belleville West had three title winners.

Winning titles for Edwardsville were Zake Rhodes (120), Connor Surtin (126), Dylan Gvillo (132), Jorden Johnson (138) and Drew Gvillo (170) while Belleville West’s champs were Amir McCoy (106), Zach Lusk (160) and Dustin Olmstead (285). Other first-place finishers were Alton’s Damien Jones (182) and Joab Tobin (220), Quincy’s Owen Uppinghouse (145) and Thomas Culp (195), Granite City’s Caleb Scott (113) and Collinsville’s Jacob Gregory (152).

Pure Elite Fitness Super Regional (qualifiers to Joliet Junior College Sectional)

Stevenson edged Barrington 209.5-200 to claim top honors at Monday’s Class 3A IWCOA Super Regional at Pure Elite Fitness in Arlington Heights.

The champion Patriots had 10 placewinners, six finalists and one title winner to beat out the runner-up Broncos, who finished with 11 placewinners, including three champions.

Tournament champions were Stevenson’s Cole Rhemrev (132), Barrington’s Jon Fier (145), Jack Hartman (182) and Evan Roper (220), Prospect’s Tom Miller (113), Will Baysingar (120) and Damien Puma (138), Fremd’s Wiley Jessup (106) and Maddox Khalimsky (126), Glenbrook South’s Will Collins (152), Hersey’s Billy Spassov (160), Evanston’s Ricardo Salinas (170), New Trier’s Jack Cummings (195) and Lake Zurich’s Alan Pantoja (285).  

Naperville Athletic Center Super Regional (qualifiers to Joliet Junior College Sectional)

Libertyville scored 224.5 points to easily win the championship of Monday’s Naperville Athletic Center Super Regional. Huntley beat Jacobs 184-173.5 to claim second place.

The first-place Wildcats placed all 13 of their competitors and finished with three champions and four second-place finishers while Huntley and Taft also had three title winners.

Capturing titles were Libertyville’s Caelan Riley (120), Josh Knudten (170) and Chase Baczek (182). Huntley’s champs were Jake Jensen (126), Jeremy Jakowitsch (138) and Ryder Hunkins (195) while Taft got titles from Colin Roque (132), Nick Lesch (160) and Jonny Figureoa (285). Also winning titles were  Jacobs’ Dominic Ducato (106) and Ryan Golnick (220), Grant’s Ethan Tarvin (113) and Justin Warmowski (145) and McHenry’s Brody Hallin (152).

Joliet Junior College Super Regional (qualifiers to St. Charles SportsPlex Sectional)

Glenbard North easily claimed top honors in Sunday’s Class 3A Joliet Junior College Super Regional while Conant finished with 183 points to claim second place.

The first-place Panthers placed all 14 of their individuals and had nine finalists and three champions, the same number of title winners for Conant and Lake Park.

Capturing titles for Glenbard North were Matt Chi (132), Nolan Allen (138) and Paulie Robertson (285) while champions for Conant were Ethan Stiles (145), Kobe Gilbert (160) and Jack Hominac (170) and Lake Park’s title winners were Mikey DiBenedetto (120), Dominik Mallinder (126) and Ryan Riser (182). Other super regional winners were Schaumburg’s Joey Phelps (106) and Grant Hansen (152), York’s Sean Berger (113), Glenbard West’s Phillip Dozier (195) and Wheaton North’s Cam’Ron Harper (220).

Naperville Athletic Club Super Regional (qualifiers to St. Charles SportsPlex Sectional)

St. Charles East claimed top honors in the Naperville Athletic Center Super Regional #1 on Sunday with 264.5 points while DeKalb took second place with 207.5 points.

The first-place Fighting Saints had 13 individuals in the top-four with eight finalists and four champions while the runner-up Barbs qualified 11 and had five title winners.

Winning titles for St. Charles East were Ben Davino (113), Jake Penzato (120), Max Sztuk (138) and Brody Murray (152) while DeKalb got championships from Blake McGee (132), Tommy Curran (145), Bradley Gillum (170), Bryson Buhk (195) and Gavin Engh (220). Other super regional winners were Batavia’s Incencio Garcia (106), Mikey Caliendo (160) and Jackson Tonkovich (182) and Maine East’s Armand Graham (126) and Kevin Wingate (285).

Marist Super Regional (qualifiers to Elmhurst College Sectional)

Sandburg scored 285 points to roll to the title of Sunday’s Class 3A Marist Super Regional while the hosts captured second place with 223.5 points.

The first-place Eagles had 11 competitors in title matches and won six of those while the host Redhawks captured four championships.

Winning titles for Sandburg were Sammie Hayes (120), Matthew Parker (126), Brant Kirby (138), Elliot Cook (145), Zach Bateman (160) and Mike Rydell (220). Marist got titles from Jesse Herrera (113), Owen Dunlap (132), Jacob Liberatore (170) and Ghee Rachal (195). Other title winners were Mount Carmel’s Damian Resendez (106) and Ryan Boersma (285), Shepard’s Damari Reed (152) and Oak Lawn’s Evan Zambrano (182). 

By Curt Herron

Here’s a breakdown of this past weekend’s IWCOA’s Open Class 2A Super Regional individual and team champions. A story about the Antioch Super Regional is posted on the IWCOA’s website:

The top six finishers from the 2A super regionals advance to Saturday’s four sectional sites, Geneseo, Mahomet-Seymour, Colosseum RTC and Pure Elite Fitness.

Individuals who took part in the Lincoln and Mt. Vernon Super Regionals will compete in the Mahomet-Seymour Sectional while competitors from the Peoria Central and Rock Island Super Regionals will take part in the Geneseo Sectional.

Competitors who advanced from the Antioch and Pure Elite Super Regionals will be at the Pure Elite Fitness Sectional in Arlington Heights and those who took part in the Colosseum RTC Super Regionals in Orland Park will again be at that site for their sectional.

Class 2A Lincoln Super Regional (qualifiers to Mahomet-Seymour Sectional)

Mahomet-Seymour had three champions and nine finalists to win the championship at Sunday’s Class 2A Lincoln Super Regional by a 216-171 margin over runner-up Glenwood, who had four champions.

Winning titles for the champion Bulldogs were Logan Hillard (138), Brennan Houser (182) and Mateo Casillas (195) while Glenwood’s title winners were Andrew Davis (106), Thomas Vansacik (126), Conner Miller (220) and Alex Hamrick (285). 

The other champions at the super regional were Jacksonville’s Collin Reif (132) and Tim Welsh (152), Normal West’s Froylan Racey (113) and Noah Passoni (160), Morton’s Connor Kidd (120), Lincoln’s Austin O’Donoghue (145) and Lanphier’s Gabe Orosco (170).

Class 2A Mt. Vernon Super Regional (qualifiers to Mahomet-Seymour Sectional)

Civic Memorial had six champions and two second-place finishers to help it claim a 245-168 advantage over runner-up Triad at Sunday’s Class 2A Mt. Vernon Super Regional. 

The champion Eagles got title wins from Bryce Griffin (126), Caleb Tyus (138), Caine Tyus (145), Vinny Zerban (152), Abe Wojoikiewicz (160) and Colton Carlisle (182) while Triad’s Chance Seip (120) and Everett Walsh (285) claimed first-place finishes.

Other champions in the super regional were Carbondale’s Luke Daly (170) and Aiden Taylor (195), Mattoon’s Brady Foster (106), MacArthur’s Cameron Lee (113), Cahokia’s Edwin Johnson (132) and Mascoutah’s David Polaski (220).

Class 2A Peoria Central Super Regional (qualifier to Geneseo Sectional)

Joliet Catholic Academy had seven champions and scored 211 points to win Sunday’s Class 2A Peoria Central Super Regional while Washington outscored Ottawa 197.5-189 for second place.

Winning titles for the Hilltoppers were Gylon Sims (106), Shay Korhorn (113), Logan Kuhel-Trim (126), Owen O’Connor (132), Connor Cumbee (145), Owen Gerdes (220) and Dillon Johnson (285) while the runner-up Panthers got championships from Jake Sollberger (170) and Donnie Hidden (195).

The other champions were Ottawa’s Tristan Simmons (120), Marek Duffy (160) and Charles Medrow (182), Dunlap’s Nick Mueller (138) and Morris’ Bryce Claypool (152).

Class 2A Rock Island Super Regional (qualifiers to Geneseo Sectional)

Rock Island had two champions and six finalists to score 238 points and win Sunday’s Class 2A Rock Island Super Regional while Geneseo finished second with 197.5 points.

Winning titles for the host Rocks were Daniel McGhee (106) and Manny Limon (126) while the runner-up Maple Leafs received title wins from Logan Tuggle (132), Clay DeBaillie (170) and Harrison Neumann (182).

Other champions were Galesburg’s Gauge Shipp (113), Freeport’s Markel Baker (120), Rochelle’s Caleb Nadig (138), Sycamore’s Brayden Peet (145), Sterling’s Andrew Kested (152), Boylan Catholic’s Dathan Wickson (160), LaSalle-Peru’s Connor Lorden (195), Kaneland’s Miles Ripper (220) and Aurora Christian’s Braden Hunter (285).

Class 2A Colosseum RTC Super Regional (qualifiers to Colosseum RTC Sectional)

Riverside-Brookfield had six champions and scored 214 points to win Sunday’s RTC Colosseum Super Regional in Orland Park while Kenwood took second with 108 points.

Winning titles for the Bulldogs were Quintavius Murrell (113), Quintin Godlewski (120), Mateo Costello (126), Brock Hoyd (170), Liam Cote (182) and Jordan Medrano (195).

Other champions in the super regional were Kenwood’s Joshua Butler (152) and Christopher Guider (160), Kennedy’s Phillip Lullo (138) and Raymond Begay (285),St. Ignatius’ Dylan Kabance (132), Noble/Comer’s Donovan Hall (145) and Glenbard South’s Connor DelAlcazar (220).

Class 2A Colosseum RTC Super Regional 2 (qualifiers to Colosseum RTC Sectional)

Lemont scored 255 points to win Monday’s Class 2A RTC Colosseum Super Regional in Orland Park while St. Laurence beat Oak Forest 108.5-104.5 for second place.

Claiming titles for the Indians were Carter Mikolajcak (106), Tyler Bentley (113), Mo Khalil (182), Stas Antalak (195), Devin Gonzalez (220) and Alex Pasquale (285).

Other super regional champions were Oak Forest’s Tyler Evitts (120), Caden Muselman (126) and Ivan Corral (132), St. Laurence’s Mike Rodriguez (138), Henry Coughlin (145) and Johnathan Olivo (152) and Brother Rice’s Emmett Connelly (160) and Tom Bennett (170). 

Class 2A Pure Elite Fitness Super Regional (qualifiers to Pure Elite Fitness Sectional)

Deerfield scored 257 points to win Sunday’s Class 2A Pure Elite Fitness Super Regional in Arlington Heights while Notre Dame edged Fenton 213-206 for second place.

Winning titles for the champion Warriors were Lucas Wittkamp (120), Rory Perlow (132), Lucio Morgan (138), Stamos Tsakiris (145), Benjamin Shvartsman (152) and Braeden Wittkamp (170) while the runner-up Dons got titles from Joey Calder (182), Sean Swinkle (195) and Aodan O’Sullivan (220).

Other super regional title winners were St. Patrick’s Olin Walker (106) and Sean Conway (126), Saint Viator’s Braeden Towle (113) and Gaetano Console (160) and Fenton’s Quinn Wilcoxen (285).

By Mike Garofola

Stevenson held off a late charge by Barrington to lift a 3A regional trophy Monday evening before a packed house at Pure Elite Fitness Center in Arlington Heights.

The raucous crowd kept the atmosphere lively all throughout a long day of competition as it watched several thrilling matches in the front draw – setting up a fitting finish by two long-time rivals who gave the audience plenty to cheer down the home stretch.

“It (Pure Elite Fitness) had all the elements and feeling of a summer tournament – people stacked up all around the mats, which were in close proximity, and enough noise and cheering right up until the very end of the tournament,” began Stevenson head coach, Shane Cook.

“It was great to be a part of a tournament like this one – and I can tell you all of us are very thankful for the efforts of the IWCOA for putting together this state series for all of the boys.”

Cooks’ men would build a near 50-point advantage before holding a 21-point cushion (188.5-167) over Barrington heading into the final round of action – which Dave Udchiks’ club made a valiant effort to overcome, only to fall short at the final whistle by 8.5 points.

“Stevenson wrestled off the charts to build their big lead, and our guys did really well to take a bite out of their advantage,” Udchik said. “Credit Shane and his boys, they wrestled well all day long to finally get that monkey off of their back of not winning a regional title.”

“Every year we have the likes of Barrington, Deerfield, Libertyville and Prospect standing in our way at regionals and for the last six years we’ve finished second to one of those teams,” Cook said said. “So obviously that was a motivating factor for our guys coming in today, and they met the challenge, won the regional title, and in the process set a program record (of 11 qualifiers) into next week’s sectionals in Joliet.”

While both clubs each claimed ten top six medals on the day, the Patriots were able to nab a trio of second-place medals with Lorenzo Frezza (120), Kai Yamato (126) and junior Jacob Whiting earning his at 195 to help the cause.

“It’s fun to be back competing with your teammates in a tournament that counts, I’m glad we were given this opportunity to do so by the IWCOA,” said Patriots junior Cole Rhemrev, who kept his 2021 record clean at 21-0 after his wonderful performance at 132 to give his club its lone title on the day.

“It was hard for all of us to lose our postseason, but I was really happy to hear we would have regionals, sectionals, then a state tournament. It means a lot to all of us in the sport,” added Rhemrev, a 2020 state qualifier who went 36-7 overall.

Frezza was one of three opponents of Prospect sophomore Will Baysinger (16-0), who dominated an all-star cast at 120 pounds en route to his individual title.

“I don’t think any of us were sure if this state series given by the IWCOA was going to actually happen, but I was really happy to hear it was, and I know all of us are going to treat it like it really is a postseason,” said Baysinger.

Last year, the affable Knight brought his relentless attacking style into the 2020 state tournament undefeated, as the No. 1-ranked man at 106-pounds, until stunned by eventual state champ Joe Fernau of Montini in his semifinal contest.

“I still look back at that day, and match and I use that to make me work harder, so if I get back into that match again, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Baysingar, who continues to fine-tune his game with Freestyle, Greco and Folk-style wrestling.

The MSL East champion Knights led the field with three individual titles, along with Barrington. Prospect junior Tom Miller (113, 13-4) and 2020 state qualifier Damien Puma (138, 14-3) took home the top prize, with Puma winning by fall against another state qualifier from a year ago, George Gonzalez (15-2) of Lake Zurich.

LZ’s big man, Alan Pantoja (17-1) avenged a blood-round loss at the 2020 Barrington sectional when he pinned Stevenson heavyweight Keegan Houlihan in his semifinal, before going on to record yet another fall in his match against Brian Clay (17-3) of Fremd.

“That was a rough day for me at sectionals” admitted Pantoja, who will wrestle this fall at Harper Community College.

“Since then, I have worked hard on my take-downs and shots, because I’ve always felt I’m very strong on top. So I look forward to keep on advancing into the state tournament and doing well there.”

Barrington junior Jon Fier (17-10) surprised the top seed at 145 in his opening bout, then pinned his way into the semifinals, where a 4-2 overtime victory sent him through and into his final with Thomas Schoolman of Stevenson.

Once there, Fier recorded yet another pin to garner the first of three titles for the Broncos, followed by Jack Hartman (21-3) and then Evan Roper (24-0), who pinned his way to his title at 220.

“Fier started the day unseeded so his effort today for us was easily one of our highlights for the team,” said Udchik.

Roper, was somewhat of a giant killer in 2020, emerging from the shadows to defeat one top ranked 220-pounder after another throughout the regular season. In the postseason, Roper beat then-No. 1 Ben Stemmet (Yorkville) in the quarterfinals with by fall, before his run was stopped by eventual state champion Josh LaBarbera of Montini Catholic in a heart-breaking 3-2 decision.

Roper would later win his third place bout to finish his season at 36-6.

“I’m just glad we had one last postseason after losing one from the IHSA,” said Roper, who will study Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie-Mellon University.

Hartman, a two-sport star (football, wrestling) will call it quits from both sports when he attends Northern Colorado University in the fall, after taking a long look at Montana State and the University of Wyoming.

It was another wrestler named Jack – Jack Cummings of New Trier – who concluded a marvelous day of play at 195 with a technical fall victory over Jacob Whiting to win what he hopes is the first of two more title-mat wins when this IWCOA season is over.

“I cannot tell you how happy I am to have see this opportunity for all of us come from the IWCOA after having the disappointment of the IHSA calling off our postseason,” began Cummings, who has suffered consecutive defeats in the blood-round at the Barrington sectional to put an abrupt halt to to both his freshmen, and sophomore season.

“Last year was so disappointing, not only because of my loss at sectionals, but also when there was no Frosh-Soph state tournament, so I have really increased my focus and work-outs – paying particular attention to improving my shots to help me get ready for these next three weeks.”

Cummings was part of a trio of successful outings from his Central Suburban League rivals on Monday, which included wonderful work from Will Collins of Glenbrook South, and Evanston’s Ricardo Salinas, who recorded an amazing 50-5 overall record a year ago, which ended with the Wildkits star taking home the fourth place medal at 170 pounds.

“I’m excited to have one last state tournament, and for me, my health is the key to my success in these next three weeks,” said Salinas, who has had more than his share of poor luck during the later part of his last two seasons.

“It’s not an excuse, but I’ve dealt with both pneumonia, and bronchitis during my last two times downstate, so for me, it’s been really important to do my best to be healthy for these next three weeks so I can give myself the best chance to win a state title.”

Salinas, who will move on to wrestle in the fall at Northern Illinois University, was part of sensational trio of Wildkits during the 2019 season, including his older brother Rafael (170), who would celebrate a brilliant senior campaign, and heavyweight Ramin Abraham, who not only lifted the 285 pound championship trophy but in doing so, recorded a perfect 52-0 overall record.

Like Salinas, Glenbrook South’s Collins has had his fair share of setbacks, including a shoulder injury that slowed the start of his 2020 season after recovering from surgery in December of 2019.

“Injuries are always tough, and in this sport, sometimes inevitable, but I worked hard to get myself fit and back in wrestling shape to get myself downstate a year ago,” Collins said. “Now it’s all about staying healthy, being consistent on the mat, and working as hard as I can to get myself in a position to compete for a state title in two weeks,”

Collins improved to 6-0 after recording a second period fall in his 152-pound final.

The GBS junior came back from his injury to win both a regional, and sectional title at 145, to earn his first state appearance, finishing the year with an impressive 20-2 record.

Salinas (31-0) stayed undefeated this season following his 3-1 decision over Cooper Wettig of Loyola, who advances into sectionals with a 12-2 record.

Fremd would jump in front of Lake Zurich to earn sixth place (114.5) – just one-half point behind fifth place Hersey, which garnered its lone individual title from Billy Spassov (14-3) at 160 pounds.

Unseeded Wiley Jessup (16-4) gave Fremd the first of its two titles at 106, before sophomore, Maddox Khalimsky 13-0) collected the second for the Vikings when he earned a hard-fought 4-3 decision against Kai Yamato (Stevenson, 23-2) in a battle between the top two seeds.

“Maddox has been putting in a lot of extra time and doing all of the work, and it’s been showing during our regular season, and obviously today,” said his head coach, Jeff Keske.

“I finally made the commitment to being a hundred percent all-in to the sport, not like the fifty-fifty approach I had during my freshmen season,” Khalimsky said. “With me spending so much time with coach (Keske) during the offseason, I’m starting to see the results from that hard work.”

“It was a long, non-stop day of wrestling, but still a good day, and one where the MSL had a very good showing and again, I’m very happy for Cook and his guys from Stevenson,” said Udchik.

Cook was pleased with his guys as well.

“Everyone bumped up order to give ourselves the best chance to win today – it was a totally selfless act on behalf of the guys, and I am very proud of all of them to do what was best for the team first, and then themselves,” began Cook.

“Lorenzo (Frezza) made the move to 120 where Will Baysinger was, and he got himself into the final at that weight, and from 126-152 we were able to compete and earn spots in sectionals next weekend.

“Two fantastic stories for us today were at 195 with Jacob Whiting, out nearly all year because he was on the state championship water polo team. He came through with a second-place finish against Cummings from New Trier. And our heavyweight Keegan Houlihan was recently up at 360 pounds and he worked his butt off to lose (71) pounds in order to wrestle today.

“It was a great day for Stevenson wrestling, and we appreciate the opportunity the IWCOA gave everyone here a chance to wrestling, including the people here at Pure Elite.”

Pure Elite Fitness owner and operator Mike Dragonich, himself a wrestler and graduate of nearby Hersey, was thrilled to have the chance to host for the IWCOA, the first being a 2A regional two days prior, followed by Monday’s 3A contest.

“I’m close with head coaches at Elk Grove (Danny Vargas) and Charlie Curran at Wheeling, and Jim Wormsley,” said Dragonich. Wormsley was head coach at Hersey when Dragonich, a 2010 grad, competed there. “So when I heard the IHSA would cancel its state series, and the IWCOA was looking for venues, I was all over it,” Dragonich said.

“We saw hosting as a great opportunity to assist the wrestling community, as well as our business, so to help the sport and ourselves, it was the perfect marriage.”

Dragonich opened Pure Elite Fitness in February of 2020, just 30 days before the COVID pandemic struck, so he turned to personal physical training to help pay the bills and keep the name of his company in the forefront as he waited things out.

“The Small Business Association was not lending to gyms and fitness centers, so with the help of our landlord, we took this big empty space and did a lot of in-person personal training to help pay the bills, which included connecting with skate-boarders. At times, we had up to 300 kids in here for fitness, and durability training,” said Dragnovich.

Pure Elite will go into a full build-out after it hosts one last sectional this coming weekend. Dragonich hopes to be up and running to full capacity in two to three weeks, and become a business that will be a partner with the business community as well as wrestling and other sports.

By Patrick Z. McGavin  

Ayden Lutes spent the long and cruel winter months pondering his future.   It was not always a pretty sight given the discouraging news about persistent and pervasive actions of the coronavirus that put seemingly everything on hold.  

Deemed a high risk sport and working in consultation with the Illinois Department of Public Health, the IHSA moved the sport out of its typical November start.   It only added to the uncertainty, as the weeks passed, and little suggested a change of fortunes.  

“In December I was mentally preparing myself for not having a season,” Lutes said.    The winter sports, beginning with basketball, got the jolt and the word of the resumption of sports, at the end of January. Wrestling would go on—albeit at a weirdly strange time, beginning in April and ending the final week of June.   Lutes still remembers his reaction to the news.  

“It’s kind of crazy,” he said. “When we found out it was going to be in the spring, I was pumped and hyped. I was hitting the weight room six times a week.”   A junior at Naperville Central, Lutes has a style best described as a kind of manic intensity, relentless and always seeking to find a vulnerability in his opponent.   His season was delayed. Lutes has seized the platform to showcase what he was capable of.  

At the IWCOA Class 3A regional at Naperville North on Sunday, June 13, he did everything imaginable to provide a sense of immediacy and closure.   The state tournament is back, now under the auspices of the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA).  

Lutes showed a dazzling athletic and overpowering style as he dominated on his feet with his aggressive and punishing style in defeating Marmion’s Jaden Morga 14-8 in the championship at 152 pounds.   He helped the Redhawks capture the team title, edging Downers Grove South by the narrowest of margins, 197 to 196.   Naperville North was third at 159.5 and West Aurora fourth with 151.  

Naperville Central also matched Downers Grove North with three individual champions.   Naperville North and West Aurora had two champions, and Downers South, Marmion, Hinsdale Central and Oak Park and River Forest had one apiece.  

Under the modified format of the state tournament, the top six wrestlers in each weight class advance to the sectional Saturday in Elmhurst.   The quality and skill on display underscored the seriousness of the moment.   Lutes conceded the first take down. Otherwise, he was firmly in control, bending the match to his own will. He was too quick and explosive for Morga to contain.  

“What we teach at Central is that you just break kids until they don’t want to go anymore,” Lutes said. “He was taking bad shots, and I just wanted to capitalize.   “That’s what I did. I just kept coming.”  

The most spirited and dynamic match played out at 195 pounds in the local showdown involving Naperville Central’s David Pirozhnik and Naperville North’s Gavin McCormick.   Locality only intensified the rivalry. The two have gone at each other since middle school. The teams did not have a dual meet during the improvised regular season.   The two circled and made contrasting and jutting moves against each in order to hunt the early advantage. The first period was largely neutral.   Pirozhnik seized control late in the second period. He executed a deft throw he turned into a five-point sequence with the near fall.   The suddenly tight match was 8-3 to start the third period, and Pirozhnik rode the momentum to the 11-5 victory.  

“I just had a feeling at that moment,” Pirozhnik said. “He was trying to throw me the whole bout. I’m naturally a thrower, so when I knew he was trying to do that, I used it against him.”  

Antonio Torres, who was fifth at 170 last year wrestling at Waubonsie Valley, made his delayed debut at Naperville Central.   He went 3-0 in winning by a technical fall and majority decision before capturing the title by forfeit.   Torres was one of three wrestlers who won by forfeit.

Nico Takano of Naperville North defeated Marmion’s Tyler Perry at 160.   At 182, Ben Bielawski of Downers North won by forfeit over Caleb Yu of Naperville North.   West Aurora senior Dzhabrail Khurshidov engineered takedowns in the second and third period to edge Downers North’s previously unbeaten Drew Bielawski 4-3.   He rode Drew Bielawski the final 40 seconds to secure the victory. After finishing second last year, Khurshidov is the top-ranked wrestler.   He was not very happy with his actions.  

“It was a terrible performance,” he said. “I was wrestling sloppy the whole day. I should have run the scoreboard early. Whenever I need to, I can always hold on.”   He has wrestled only six matches for the Blackhawks, winning them all.    “The season has been tough,” he admitted. “I’ve been competing nationally. But I feel as though I have made a lot of improvements.  

“I’ve had more national tournaments because I’ve wanted to showcase that part of my talent. It has definitely been an adjustment. I would have liked an actual wrestling season with my teammates.”  

His teammate, Jordan Lishman, survived the defensive tactics of Oak Park-River Forest’s Malcolm Gray to prevail 3-1 in overtime.   In the overtime period, Lishman and Gray each secured an ankle. Lishman was able to power through for the winning takedown.   He was clearly rewarded for being the more aggressive of the two.  

“I think he was told to only play defense against me,” Lishman said. “I think he saw I was more of an aggressive, or offensive person.  

“I think I had to adjust against that, but I wasn’t as tired as him late in the match and I was more comfortable in that situation.”   One immediate consequence of the altered season is that wrestlers entered the state series fresher. At the lower weights, Marmion’s Tyler Aters and Hinsdale Central’s Cody Tavoso each wrestled about 10 matches during the abbreviated regular season.  

Aters overpowered OPRF’s Jalen Dunson 8-2 to capture at 120 pounds.   He secured two takedowns to gain the early advantage. He put the match away late in the third period by neutralizing the single hold Dunson had by taking him to his back.   “I usually like to wrestle from the outside and go for singles,” Aters said. “When I am tying up, I usually like to go for sweeps.”   He was alert and quick in his decision making. It turned the match.  

“On that last move, when I saw him dive, I just bowled him over,” Aters said. “Ten matches coming into today was a nice figure.   

“Without all the beatings from wrestling 30 to 40 matches a year, it got me ready, and I liked it a lot more.”   Progression is not always linear. In the case of Tavoso, he finished sixth at 120 pounds last year. He wrestled more than 50 matches.   The experience proved crucial.  

“I just want the experience,” he said. “We’re trying to mak the most out of this season. Last year I loved it because I was able to wrestle so many matches. It was a lot of fun.”   At 126 pounds, Tavoso exhibited a clean and highly efficient style in dispatching Downers South’s Anthony Sanchez 6-0.   His late first period takedown created the template. Working from the bottom at the start of the second period, he negotiated a quick reversal.   He rarely allowed Sanchez any space to operate.  

“It was really important for me to get that first takedown,” he said. “In the second period, my focus was being able to ride him.  

“I have been able to break a lot of guys mentally by riding them out or getting some turns.”  

At 106, Downers North’s Kai Tacadena registered the only pin of the championship round, defeating Lyons’s Patrick Jesse at 1:54.   The Trojans also unveiled a very promising freshman in Harrison Konder at 138. He edged Aidan Waszak of Wheaton Warrenville South 12-10.   In the 145 pound championship, Naperville North’s Jake Newton survived a near fall at the end of the second period in beating Marmion’s Walter Green 9-8.   OPRF’s Connor Nagela defeated Luke Swan of Downers South 7-5 at 132.  

“I’m a really gritty wrestler, so I like getting two on ones,” Nagela said.   Like most of the more than 150 wrestlers who took part in the regional, its very existence turned out to be an exhilarating moment.  

“It’s been a very weird season, but I am also very grateful to have any matches at all,” Nagela said.  

By Gary Larsen  

There’s a lot more of Lena-Winslow’s Jaden Rice that opponents have to deal with now, a far cry from the 106 pounds they had to square off with when he was a freshman.

Rice improved to 25-0 at 182 pounds on Sunday, winning the title at that weight at the IWCOA Sandwich 1A super-regional — a culmination of sorts to a 76-pound, mother-of-all-growth-spurts in three years.

Rice wrestled 113 as a sophomore and 126 last year before jumping up 56 pounds to 182 this year. The explanation for that massive leap up in weight class is actually pretty simple:   “I grew out a little bit and I grew up a little bit,” said the 6-foot-1 Rice, who gained five inches in height since his freshman year.

“After cutting weight last year I just got tired of it and decided to do my thing,” he said. “I decided to eat, lift weights, and in the middle of all that I hit a growth spurt. And I lifted every day since quarantine hit.”

Rice, Case Harsmstrom (170), and Jason Hermann (160) all won individual titles while teammates Garrett Luke (120), Simon Rillie (145), Griffin Luke (152), and Andrew Haas (195) all reached the title mat for a Panthers team that finished atop the 22-team regional field in Sandwich.

And any time a coach sends seven wrestlers to a tournament’s title mat is a good day.   “I was really proud of the way the kids competed,” Lena-Winslow coach Kevin Milder said. “I’ve got a good core group of seniors that are taking the postseason pretty serious and giving it their best shot here. They’ve been really committed.”

Lena-Winslow outpointed second-place Dakota 195.5 to 146, while Oregon and host Sandwich tied for third with a team total of 120.0. There will be no dual team state tournament in Illinois this year but wrestlers are primed for the IWCOA’s individual state finals in Springfield.

“It’s a bummer that there won’t be any team stuff but it’s awesome that (the IWCOA) is putting this on for us, especially to give us seniors a chance to make our mark,” Rice said.

Ryan Welgat of Kewanee kicked off the title-mat action, improving to 23-3 at 106 with a pin of Rock Falls’ Anthony Reyes (3-1). Welgat posted two pins on the day.   At 113, fourth-seeded freshman Brady Grennan (19-2) of Newman Central Catholic won a regional title in dominant fashion. Grennan opened with a fall before winning a 10-2 major over Dixon’s top-seeded Chris Sitter (18-2) in their semifinal.

Grennan then won by first-period fall on the title mat over second-seeded Luke Moen (16-5) of Orion.   Illinois’ defending state champion at 120 pounds, top-seeded Dakota sophomore Phoenix Blakely (20-1), won his regional title match via 3-0 decision over second-seeded Garrett Luke (18-3) of Lena-Winslow.

Luke finished third at 106 at last year’s state finals in Champaign. Blakely — top-ranked in Illinois at 126 in Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings — posted a pair of pins en route to the finals, where he did something he hadn’t done before   “They’ve wrestled for three or four years and Phoenix had never beaten (Luke),” Dakota coach Pete Alber said. “Luke is tough. But Phoenix has worked hard and now he’ll be more comfortable when they meet again.”

The first wrestler to stay unbeaten at day’s end was host Sandwich junior Evan Reilly (29-0). Top-seeded Reilly edged Dakota’s fourth-seeded Jason Bowers (22-4) 3-1 in a semifinal match at 126, then won 8-6 on the title mat over Princeton’s Matthew Harris (19-6).
The title match at 132 featured a pair of state place-place winners who both entered the day as the No. 1-ranked wrestler in their weight classes, per Rob Sherrill’s IWCOA rankings.

Dakota junior Maddux Blakely (23-1) came out on top, winning 2-1 over West Carroll senior Ethen Doty (3-1). Blakely is currently ranked No. 1 at 132 and Doty entered the day as the top-ranked wrestler at 138.
Doty is a hammer in the top position and Blakely had his work cut out for him.   “He dropped down from 138 so he’s definitely bigger than I am, and he’s very good on top,” Blakely said. “I don’t know how but I reversed him. I’ll probably see him at the sectional and at the state finals and it definitely gets more difficult when you wrestle a guy over and over.”

The second wrestler to remain unbeaten heading into Saturday’s Sandwich sectional meet was Newman Central Catholic’s Will Rude at 138. Top-seeded Rude won 7-1 on the title mat over third-seeded Tyler Simmer (18-6) of Dakota in improving to 22-0.   The field at 145 was a formidable one and in the end it was third-seeded Andrew Herbst (27-1) of Oregon who survived as regional champion.

Herbst won 5-1 over second-seeded Aiden Linden (28-2) of Sandwich in a semifinal match, then won 6-4 over top-seeded Simon Rillie (23-3) of Lena-Winslow on the title mat.   Herbst scored a late third-period takedown to win his title match against Rillie. Close matches against quality competition can only help prepare a wrestler for the task at hand once the state finals arrive on the calendar.

“They were both really tough kids,” Herbst said of Linden and Rillie. “(Linden) and I have trained together over the summers and we’ve always been practice partners. (Rillie) is really strong and I can’t wait to wrestle him again.   “Wrestling tough guys for three periods helps you mentally prepare for those big matches at the end of the season. You want to be totally relaxed in those tight situations and those are the matches that help you do that.”   West Caroll’s Kelden McCombie (3-0) won a 4-2 overtime decision on the title mat at 152 against Lena Winslow’s Griffin Luke (19-3). Luke reached the title mat with a 3-1 overtime win in his semifinal match, upsetting top-seeded Noah Schnerre (18-3) of Orion, while McCombie won a pair of major decisions to reach the title mat.

The next three title bouts belonged to Lena-Winslow. Jason Hermann (25-1) carried his top seed at 160 to fruition, winning by 3-2 decision on the title mat against Dakota’s fourth-seeded Martin Snyder (17-5). Hermann and Snyder had previously wrestled to overtime in a regular-season dual meeting.

“(Snyder) is hard to score on and stays in great position,” Milder said. “Jason has a great pace but he just wasn’t getting his shot off, but he wound up getting a takedown in the second period on a duck-under.”

Second-seeded Case Harmstom (24-1) of Lena-Winslow took care of business on his half of the bracket at 170, before winning 5-2 over Stillman Valley’s Austin Abitua (14-2) on the title mat.   Rice gave Lena-Winslow its third regional champion with a 9-5 title-mat decision over Morrison’s Kayden White (20-3). Rice posted a major decision and a fall leading into the title match, but struggled to keep his motor going against White.   “I got a couple takedowns but he wasn’t giving up and for some reason I got really tired. I don’t feel like I wrestled to my full potential in that match,” Rice said.

At 195, Orion’s Josh Fair (27-0) became the day’s final wrestler to stay unbeaten on the season. Third-seeded Fair won by fall in his semifinal match against Princeton’s Drew Harp, and then won 3-0 on the title mat over top-seeded Andrew Haas (21-2) of Lena-Winslow.   Haas’ appearance on the title mat gave Lena-Winslow six consecutive wrestlers — from 145 to 195 — to reach the finals in Sandwich.     “It’s hard not to get better in that practice room. It’s filled with a bunch of athletes,” Rice said. “Between 145 to 195, and a couple light weights, we all get after it. We all have different styles and that benefits us all a lot. It gives us a head start on other people’s styles.”   Sherrard’s Josh Bynum (21-2) pinned three of his four opponents en route to a regional title at 220, culminating with a pin of Nick Upmann (12-2) of Durand for the title. Bynum also handed Dakota’s Aidan Nardin (20-1) his first loss of the season via second-period fall in their semifinal match.

At heavyweight, Rockridge’s top-seeded Sam Buser (14-5) won by fall in his semifinal before pulling off a 3-1 sudden victory win on the title mat over second-seeded Elijah Friedrichsen (13-4) of Erie.

With the tournament over, Milder applauded the effort of the IWCOA in creating this year’s individual state tournament.   “I’m sure it was a headache and a struggle but I think they’ve done a great job pulling it off and giving kids a chance to win a state title,” Milder said. “We’re treating it like a state tournament, the same way we do every other year.”     Complete list of sectional qualifiers from the 1A Sandwich regional:

106 1st Place – Ryan Welgat – independent of Kewanee (H.S.) 2nd Place – Anthony Reyes of Rock Falls 3rd Place – Jacob Gibson of Erie 4th Place – Ayden Rowley of Dixon (H.S.) 5th Place – Steven Benavidez of Princeton 6th Place – Dalton Nimrick of Rock Island (Alleman)  

113 1st Place – Brady Grennan of Sterling (Newman Central Catholic) 2nd Place – Edwin Estrada of Oregon 3rd Place – Chris Sitter of Dixon (H.S.) 4th Place – Luke Moen of Orion 5th Place – Aaron Meenen of Rock Falls 6th Place – Kadin Kern of Sandwich  

120 1st Place – Phoenix Blakely of Dakota 2nd Place – Garrett Luke of Lena (L.-Winslow) 3rd Place – Wyatt Doty of Savanna (West Carroll) 4th Place – Grant Stender of Oregon 5th Place – Carter Rude of Sterling (Newman Central Catholic) 6th Place – Kaden Peterson – independent of Kewanee (H.S.)  

126 1st Place – Evan Reilly of Sandwich 2nd Place – Matthew Harris of Princeton 3rd Place – Jason Bowers of Dakota 4th Place – Carter Jepson – Independent of Erie 5th Place – Lane Halverson of Oregon 6th Place – Carson McPeek of Lena (L.-Winslow)  

132 1st Place – Maddux Blakely of Dakota 2nd Place – Ethen Doty-independent of Savanna (West Carroll) 3rd Place – Donovan Crumpacker of Stillman Valley 4th Place – Augie Christiansen of Princeton 5th Place – Zach White of Lena (L.-Winslow) 6th Place – Pahyton Smith of Rock Falls  

138 1st Place – Will Rude of Sterling (Newman Central Catholic) 2nd Place – Tyler Simmer of Dakota 3rd Place – Kadin Rednour of Kewanee (H.S.) 4th Place – Seth Stevens of Oregon 5th Place – Nolan Bobee of Sandwich 6th Place – Colton Linke-independent of Morrison  

145 1st Place – Andrew Herbst of Oregon 2nd Place – Simon Rillie – Independent of Lena (L.-Winslow) 3rd Place – Aidan Linden of Sandwich 4th Place – Reese Finch of Taylor Ridge (Rockridge) 5th Place – Case Rockey of Dakota 6th Place – Josh Pritz- Independent of Princeton  

152 1st Place – Kelden McCombie-independent of Savanna (West Carroll) 2nd Place – Griffin Luke of Lena (L.-Winslow) 3rd Place – Dylan Russell of Sherrard 4th Place – Noah Schnerre of Orion 5th Place – Randy Manos of Stillman Valley 6th Place – Owen Brooks of Dixon (H.S.)

160 1st Place – Jason Hermann – Independent of Lena (L.-Winslow) 2nd Place – Martin-independent) (Snyder of Dakota 3rd Place – Gabe Eckerd of Oregon 4th Place – David Dierickx – independent of Rock Island (Alleman) 5th Place – Gunnar Wuebben – Independent of Erie 6th Place – Seven Tornga of Sandwich  

170 1st Place – Case Harmston – Independent of Lena (L.-Winslow) 2nd Place – Austin Abitua – Independent of Stillman Valley 3rd Place – Alex Alfaro of Sandwich4th Place – Zane Pannell of Fulton 5th Place – Quinn Staples – Independent of Dixon (H.S.) 6th Place – Jack Patting – independent of Rock Island (Alleman)  

182 1st Place – Jaden Rice – Independent of Lena (L.-Winslow) 2nd Place – Kayden White of Morrison 3rd Place – Ethan Rash-independent of Fulton 4th Place – Connor Holly of Sandwich 5th Place – Wyatt Queckboerner of Polo 6th Place – Hunter Locke of Taylor Ridge (Rockridge)  

195 1st Place – Josh Fair of Orion 2nd Place – Andrew Haas – Independent of Lena (L.-Winslow) 3rd Place – Mitchell White of Dixon (H.S.) 4th Place – Drew Harp of Princeton 5th Place – Kaiden Gustafson of Sandwich 6th Place – Devon Rucker of Polo  

220 1st Place – Josh Bynum of Sherrard 2nd Place – Nick Upmann-independant of Durand 3rd Place – Aidan-independent) (Nardin of Dakota 4th Place – Justin Dallas of Dixon (H.S.) 5th Place – Aaron Wolf-Independent of Morrison 6th Place – Henry Engel of Lena (L.-Winslow)  

285 1st Place – Sam Buser of Taylor Ridge (Rockridge) 2nd Place – Elijah Friedrichsen of Erie 3rd Place – Payne Miller of Princeton 4th Place – Tristan Shaw of Rock Falls 5th Place – Josh Vanderlinden of Sherrard 6th Place – Justin Wicaryus of Amboy

By Curt Herron  

Sunday’s Class 1A El Paso-Gridley Super Regional definitely featured a little bit of something for all 19 teams who participated in the competition in El Paso.  

In the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association’s Open State Series super regional that featured central Illinois squads stretching from one side of the state to the other, each team advanced at least one individual to Saturday’s Heyworth Sectional and 15 of the 19 squads qualified at least half of their contingents for the sectional.  

The makeup of the super regional was very similar to the 2020 regionals that were held at Dwight and Farmington which fed into the Olympia Sectional.  

Canton qualified 12 of its 14 competitors with nine of those finishing in the topthree to defeat Illini Bluffs 217-154 for the team title championship.    

It was only the third regional title that the Little Giants have captured and was the program’s first championship since 2009. They just missed out on winning a regional title in 2020 when Mercer County edged them 134.5-133 to claim top honors in the Farmington Regional title.  

Farmington (third, 117), Mercer County (fourth, 89.5) and Ridgeview advanced all of their competitors while Clifton Central (fifth, 84) and Illini Bluffs had the second-highest total of qualifiers with eight apiece.  

Four teams had two title winners, Farmington, Illini Bluffs, Prairie Central and Ridgeview, while Canton, Dwight, El Paso-Gridley, Gibson City, Melvin-Sibley, Knoxville and Normal’s University High each had one champion.

“It’s been top-to-bottom from the kids club all the way up to the high school, there’s been a lot of dedication going into making the program better by getting the numbers up and getting the right kids into the room,” said Little Giants coach Zach Crawford, who’s a Canton graduate and two of his three assistant coaches are also graduates of the school.    

“We have the family and the support staff around us and it’s a big deal to be a Little Giant and a lot of people love it.  

“We had 12 kids advance to the sectional tournament, and that’s a big deal. I’ve always been a huge supporter of what the IWCOA does for the wrestling community in the state as a whole, they just do great things. Just giving the kids the opportunity to get on the mat and do the thing that we all love, it means a lot to the boys.”  

The Little Giants got their lone title at 113 when sophomore Trevor Hedges (18-1) won 8-1 over Mercer County senior Broctyn King (9-2). It looked like Trevor’s brother Andrew, a junior, might win in the 138 finals, but he fell in overtime. Trevor Hedges was a sectional qualifier a year while King placed sixth at state.  

“We’ve had a little adversity, but we’ll get through it in the end as a team,” Trevor Hedges said. “We’re coming together and have it going on now. We just work hard in practice and bust our butts.”    

One of two freshmen who won titles was Illini Bluffs’ Ian O’Connor (22-3), who beat Canton’s other finalist, sophomore John Davis (17-4), by an 11-6 score in the 120 finals. It’s been a busy spring for the Tigers freshman, who also was a member of the school’s baseball team that advanced to the sectional finals.  

Ian’s grandfather, Pat O’Connor, started the program at the school and coached there for 37 years, claiming over 500 wins to earn recognition as an IWCOA hall of famer and receiving a lifetime service award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Illinois chapter. Ian’s father, Shawn, a 1987 state medalist at the school, is the team’s head coach.    

“I’m from a big wrestling family, so wrestling is the main topic in my house most of the time, so it’s cool to be here and have a season when some sports didn’t get one,” O’Connor said. “I played soccer, baseball, wrestling and golf, so I did four sports this year. Baseball and wrestling were at the same time with my last game on Friday. Wrestling is probably my favorite sport. Today was a good day for me and I took first place, but next week where it counts, though, getting down to the state tournament is my big goal.”  

Illini Bluffs received its other title from O’Connor’s training partner, sophomore Paul Ishikawa (24-1), who won 15-3 over Herscher junior Austin Grise (7-1) in the 126 finals. Ishikawa fell one win shy of a medal a year ago while Grise is a two-time state qualifier.  

The second-place team in the super regional had a successful day, sending four to the finals and advancing eight of their 10 competitors.  

“I didn’t think that we were going to have a season and it started off rough but I guess we pulled out of it,” Ishikawa said. “I wrestled a lot in Wisconsin earlier this summer. I played soccer this year because I didn’t know if we would have wrestling. I can definitely tell that a lot of people have gotten better as time went on as they put the work in.”  

Farmington advanced all seven of its competitors. The Farmers had a pair of champions, freshman Keygan Jennings (21-2) at 106 and sophomore Rese Shymansky (13-2) at 160.   Jennings captured the 106 title when he prevailed with a 4-3 victory over another freshman, Mercer County’s Ethan Munson (13-1).    

“It’s nice being back after not being able to wrestle and It’s cool that the IWCOA hosts this,” Jennings said. “It’s about trying to build up in order to get better and it’s always about improving. So coming out here and winning this was awesome.”  

Shymansky, who qualified for sectionals a year ago, recorded a fall in 1:23 over Knoxville sophomore Jaxin Johnson (19-4) to claim top honors at 160.  

“It’a privilege to still be able to compete because a lot of people weren’t able to have their season or be able to compete at state,” Shymansky said. “It’s awesome that our whole team is going to sectionals so that will be a better environment for us since you’ll have your whole team cheering you on.”  

Although Ridgeview only brought four individuals to the super regional, two of them won titles, senior Billy Tay at 145 and junior Evan Antonio at 220, and both improved to 16-0 on the season.  

Tay, a two-time state qualifier who placed third at state in 2019 and fell a win shy of another medal last year, needed just 28 seconds to record a fall over Illini Bluffs senior Connor Speck (22-3), a sectional qualifier last year, to win at 145.    

His unbeaten record is more impressive considering that he was in two sports this spring, also playing baseball. He’s hoping that his third state visit is even better than his first two, which were really good.  

“It was nice that they put something together to give people an opportunity to go to state this year,” Tay said. “It was different having a tournament because I was just used to being in meets. I did both wrestling and baseball, and baseball just ended.”  

Antonio, who was a state qualifier a year ago, obviously feels good about his perfect mark as a two-sport spring athlete after winning the 220 pound title with a fall in 1:26 over Monmouth-Roseville senior Jesus Rojas (2-1), who won a regional title last season. But Antonio wasn’t always so upbeat, especially when he learned that there would be no IHSA tournament.    

“It was pretty disappointing since I was a state qualifier last year,” Antonio said. “I also played baseball and that was hard at first but then it was easier after a while. It’s quite exciting to come back and wrestle in a regional.”

The other team that had two champions was Prairie Central, who got pins from sophomore twin brothers Owen and Connor Steidinger at 182 and 195.   Connor (12-3) didn’t get to wrestle on the varsity a year ago since he was at 170, which was the same weight as unbeaten state champion Logan Deacetis. Connor took top honors at 195 after recording a fall in 1:02 over Knoxville sophomore Dilan Vanbeveran (17-5).  

“This is important for me because last year I didn’t get much mat time and during this season I didn’t get much either,” Connor Steidinger said.     Owen (10-4), who did get to compete on the varsity as a freshman, captured the title at 182 with a fall in 3:09 over Mercer County freshman Ian Willits (8-6).  

“We weren’t supposed to have a tournament so I’m just thankful that God allowed us to have regionals, even though it wasn’t IHSA,” Owen Steidinger said. “It was very exciting that my brother and I won. He’s always been a little better than me so just to be able to be first with him was great.”  

Another two-time state qualifier who fell one win shy of a state medal a year ago is Dwight junior Dillon Sarff, who improved to 18-2 after recording a fall in 4:38 over Illinois Valley Central senior Mitch Connor (22-2), a returning sectional qualifier, in the 132 finals. Like many others, he’s thrilled to get the chance to try to make a third-straight state trip.  

“This was very interesting because I like to be able to wrestle a variety of kids, and I didn’t wrestle one of these kids,” Sarff said. “It was fun, for sure, to be able to wrestle some people that we’ve never wrestled before. I was actually pretty concerned and I didn’t think that we were going to have anything like this, so I’m pretty glad that we did and I hope to make a pretty good run at state.”  

The 152 title match featured a clash between a pair of returning state qualifiers. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley senior Kaden Gream (16-1) captured a 9-5 victory over Peoria Notre Dame junior Joey Mushinsky (30-1).   “I’m a senior and this is my last year, so I’m really excited that we had a state series and I’ll see what I can do,” Gream said. “Some of us had worked our whole lives for this so to get that opportunity away would have been a bumber.”  

The host Titans (sixth, 80) got in on the championships in dramatic fashion when sophomore Dax Gentes (18-2) rallied to beat Canton junior Andrew Hedges (16-3) with a 7-5 sudden victory at 138.    

Gentes, who was a regional champ last year, rallied late to force overtime and then scored to prevent Hedges, who was a sectional qualifier last year, of joining his brother Trevor as a regional champ.  

“We had kids from everywhere and there were big schools and little schools here,” Gentes said. “The weird thing is that we went a whole season and this is our first tournament, and it’s regionals, sectionals and state. This is all just training to get better. I’d love to make it to state and being in the grand march has always been one of my dreams.”  

Knoxville junior Hunter Fox (22-0) takes a perfect record into his third sectional appearance after winning the 170 title over Ridgeview sophomore Connor Feit (9-4) with a fall in 1:40. Fox is hoping that the third time is the charm and he gets to state this year.  

“I’m glad that we’re having this,” Fox said. “I thought that we weren’t going to have a state tournament, so I was kind of bummed out about that. But then we found out that we were having this and it’s the first tournament of the year, so there’s a lot of jitters in it. But if you’re a junior like me, you can get experience on a big stage if you can make it down to state.”  

And in the 285 championship, a pair of returning sectional qualifiers went at it and University High junior Hunter Otto (14-4) won the title with a fall in 33 seconds over Illini Bluffs senior Ethan Patterson (10-4).  

“It was really nice to have this,” Otto said. “I was so worried that I would go through the season and just have a couple of meets and that would be it. I usually had about 35 matches a season and I only had 11 true matches, which is bizarre. Hopefully I can go to state and if I wrestle well enough, I can place.”