Feature Stories

By Curt Herron – For the IWCOA 

It’s a pretty good achievement when you only bring nine competitors to a 27-team tournament and you can still claim a fourth-place finish in that event.

But that’s just what Batavia was able to accomplish when it scored 218.5 points to finish in fourth place at Granite City’s 62nd annual William “Red” Schmitt Holiday Tournament.

Coach Ryan Farwell’s fourth-place Bulldogs advanced four individuals to the title mat and had one champion. And they had three others who earned medals for placing eighth or better.

Oak Park and River Forest (209.5) finished fifth and Quincy Senior (203.5) placed sixth while Andrew (152.5) took eighth, Plainfield North (151) claimed ninth, Normal West (126.5) was 11th and Mahomet-Seymour (120.5) placed 12th in a competition that was paced by three Missouri squads while another from that state made the top 10, as did one team from Kentucky.

Hickman of Columbia, Missouri scored 281.5 points to claim top honors while Lafayette, Missouri (261.5) took second, Willard, Missouri (236.5) was third, Whitfield, Missouri (180.5) finished seventh and Paducah, Kentucky’s Tilghman (130) placed tenth. (Note: throughout the rest of the story MO will be used for Missouri and KY will be used for Kentucky).

Although they may be one of the few schools in the country whose mascot is a doll, coach Dan Pieper’s Kewpies weren’t in a very playful mood as they made an impressive debut in the Red Schmitt by having a tournament-high three champions and six others who placed fifth or better. 

This is the eighth time in the past 10 tournaments that a Missouri team has won the title with Marmion Academy (2021, 2018) the lone Illinois champions during the time.

Mt. Vernon (106.5, 14th), Waterloo (105.5, 15th), Belleville East (104.5, 16th) and Bloomington (103.5, 17th) all scored 100 points while Joliet Central (98.5, 17th) fell just shy of that mark. The host Warriors scored 86.5 points and placed 20th in one of Illinois’ longest-running tourneys. 

The event is named in honor of William “Red” Schmitt, who coached at Granite City from 1950-1985 and had a 589-70-5 dual meet record there and went 602-82-5 in his career, becoming the first coach in the nation to win 400, 500 and 600 dual meets. He had 15 teams that finished in the top 10 at the IHSA Finals when the title was determined by scoring.

Granite City entered the season with 1,536 dual meet wins, which is also a national record. Due to his significant contributions to the sport as a coach, rules interpreter and an executive in coaching associations, Schmitt was inducted in the second class of the IWCOA Hall of Fame in 1973 and joined Ott Bay, Chuck Farina, Elias George and George Girardi as the initial recipients of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Illinois Chapter Lifetime Service Award in 1997.

There were six title winners from Illinois schools and eight from Missouri, with the champion Kewpies having the most with three, Hank Benter (120), Jordan Fincher (144) and Shane Oswald (150).

Mt. Vernon’s Dillon White won the Outstanding Wrestler Award after opening with a win by technical fall before recording pins in his next five matches, including a fall in 4:23 over Batavia’s Aidan Huck in the 138 title match.

Plainfield North’s Maddox Garbis and Belleville East’s Jonathan Rulo repeated as champions in the competition. Garbis captured an 8-6 decision in the 113 finals over Andrew’s Nadeem Haleem in a rematch of last year’s 106 title match. Rulo pulled away late to capture an 8-1 decision over Willard, MO’s Brady Griffin.

Batavia’s highlight came in the 190 championship match where Ben Brown got a takedown with 15 seconds left in overtime to win 3-1 by sudden victory over Lafayette, MO’s Andrew Wier.

Quincy Senior’s Owen Uppinghouse also won a title in a tight battle after getting an escape early in the final period and then holding on to claim a 1-0 decision over Willard, MO’s Gary Walker in the 165 finals. The Blue Devils fell just shy of winning another title when Bryor Newbold was edged 6-5 by Bolivar, MO’s Mason McCurry in the 175 finals.

Normal West’s Evan Willock recorded a fall in 3:04 over Whitfield, MO’s Lucas Parietti to give him the championship at 157.

Other Schmitt Tournament champions hailing from the west side of the Mississippi River were Lafayette, MO’s Riley Sumner (106) and Dylan Roth (126), Whitfield, MO’s Yashua Amen (132), Bolivar, MO’s Mason McCurry (175) and Willard, MO’s Porter Talbot (215).

Batavia had two other finalists beside champion Brown and runner-up Huck. Ino Garcia lost a 10-0 major decision to Benter in the 120 finals and Duraski lost by fall in 1:36 to Amen at 132. In addition, Asher Sheldon (215) took third, Kyle Pasco (126) finished fourth and Ethan Brauer (144) was eighth. Seven of the nine Bulldogs received medals for placing eighth or better.

“The big part is that they wrestle for each other,” Farwell said. “They really take on that team concept and when we came here, we knew that in the beginning rounds and the pool play and coming into the championship round that we had to put up a lot of bonus points. These guys went out there and there executed what they work on every single day and I just can’t say enough about the effort that they put out there.

“That’s why we come here, because we get to see a different type of competition, we get to see these Missouri schools and some of the southern Illinois schools. It’s a great midway point for us to start working on things that we need for the postseason. They’ve bonded pretty well and they’re a great group and they wrestle for each other. They support each other through everything, they hang out and they want everyone to be successful. It’s a really cool thing to see”

Andrew’s Max Siegel was trying to repeat as a champion in the event but he lost a tough 5-4 decision to Roth in the 126 title match. Joliet Central’s Charles Walker put up a good battle in the 215 finals but wound up dropping a 6-3 decision to Talbot. 

Oak Park and River Forest’s Michael Rundell (106), whose brothers Matthew and Jacob were state champions for the Huskies, also took second place. He lost a 9-0 major decision to Sumner in the 106 finals.

Coach Paul Collins’ fifth-place Huskies also had two third-place finishers, Zev Koransky (126) and David Ogunsanya (150), whose brother Joshua was a state champion at OPRF. Also for the Huskies, Joseph Knackstedt (138) finished fifth while Isaac Davis (157) and Hugh Vanek (165) both placed sixth.

“We have some guys who wrestle pretty good but we have a lot of guys that have kind of been building up over the last couple of years,” Collins said. “We have a couple of seniors and their names aren’t as flashy as other guys but they’re going to show up every day and are going to grind. And we have some young guys who are pretty talented and some other guys who are up and coming. 

“We’ve also brought in four coaches who were part of our 2014, 2015 and 2016 state finals. Matt Rundell was a state champ and part of all three of those state title teams. Jason Renteria was a two-time champ and four-time medalist. And we have Bobby Campos, who was a state placer for us and we have Allen Stallings, who was a state champion who played football at Indiana. We want to continue to build the program. Being nationally-ranked every single year is a  tough thing to accomplish but for the better part of a decade, we did a pretty good job of being in contention.

“We have these coaches that only know Oak Park as good, and then we have these kids, who know Oak Park as what we’ve been building these last couple of years. I feel really good about the work that we’ve been doing and we’ve building toward this. We kind of knew that with the work behind this, it was coming. We finally got a middle school program in place. And we have Matt Rundell on staff and MJ’s (Michael) is wrestling now, and we have David Ogunsanya, who took third, he’s the third of three brothers who also wrestled for us and those guys wrestled at West Point and at Columbia.”

And coach Phil Neally’s sixth-place Blue Devils also had two individuals who placed third, Payton Eddy (190) and Todd Smith (285). Others who won medals for Quincy Senior were Cooper Kamm (132), who took sixth, and Brody Baker (144), who finished seventh. 

“The kids have been working real hard and a lot of this because of their work in the offseason, since they had a lot of matches in the offseason” Neally said. “And we’re going to some tough tournaments and get them ready for events like this. I tell them that it’s a marathon, not a sprint, so you have bumps along the way, but the kids are working well and doing good things. The good thing for us is that we’re at home this year for both regionals and sectionals. 

“We’ve been doing early morning practices and weightlifting and just pushing that we have to do things the right way and win third periods and finish our matches. Owen Uppinghouse, Bryor Newbold and Todd Smith do a lot of great things and those guys work hard and they’ve earned the right to be there.”

Two others from Illinois schools took third place, Triad’s Will Kelly (106) and Granite City’s Braxton Tolley (132). Additional individuals from Illinois schools who finished fourth were Granite City’s Dawson Hawthorne (120), Bloomington’s Maddox Kirts (165) and Mahomet-Seymour’s 

Brock VanDeveer (190).

The other fifth-place finishers from Illinois schools were Joliet Central’s Liam Walsh (113), Plainfield North’s Nathan Ali (126), Belleville East’s Killian Rauch (150), O’Fallon’s Logan Thomas (157), Mt. Vernon’s Mason Randall (190) and Andrew’s Michael McDonough (285).

Plainfield North got sixth-place efforts from Luke Grindstaff (144) and Leonardo Tovar (190). Other Illinois athletes who took sixth were Bloomington’s Jaylen Sandy (106), Waterloo’s Konnor Stephens (120), Mascoutah’s Jordan Sonon-Hale (138) and Mt. Vernon’s Maddux Randall (175).

Normal West had five seventh-place finishers, Jacob Payne (106), Dylan McGrew (113),  Abram Rader (120), Gus Schrieber (175) and Matt Hanold (285). Others from Illinois schools who took seventh were Mahomet-Seymour’s Justus Vrona (126), Plainfield North’s Jack Curran (132), Collinsville’s Cody Lutz (165) and Andrew’s Joseph Zimmer (215).

Additional Illinois athletes who finished in eighth place were Waterloo’s Bladen Sease (150), Brady Rose (165), Jackson Deutch (175) and Jaxson Mathenia (190), Bloomington’s Tyler Barlow (113), Vaughn Hochstatter (132) and Noah Misukonis (157), Mahomet-Seymour’s 

Gideon Hayter (106) and Talon Decker (138), Triad’s Glen Henry (120) and Plainfield North’s Cayden Amico (126)

Records for Illinois finalists after the competition are Uppinghouse (25-0), Brown (20-0), Rulo (19-0), Garbis (9-0), Willock (19-1), White (15-1), Garcia (10-1), Huck (23-2), Walker (23-2), Haleem (24-3), Newbold (23-3), Rundell (18-4), Siegel (23-5) and Duraski (21-8).

Oak Park and River Forest tied Lafayette and Willard for the most falls and wins by technical fall with 34. The Huskies also easily collected the most total match points with 518, which was 96 more than second-place Lafayette collected.

Nine individuals recorded five falls, including two from Granite City, Hawthorne and Tolley. Mt. Vernon’s Dillon White and Belleville East’s Jonathan Rulo were the others from Illinois who had five falls.  White was the only individual to record five falls and also get a win by technical fall which helped him to receive the OWA for the tournament.

Dillon White also scored the most team points with 43.5, which was one-half point ahead of Lafayette’s Riley Sumner. Jonathan Rulo ranked third with 42 team points, Normal West’s Evan Willock was fourth with 41 points and Quincy Senior’s Owen Uppinghouse tied with three Missourians for fifth with 40 team points.

OPRF’s Zev Koransky had the most match points with 89 while Plainfield North’s Maddox Garbis was second with 80 points. Joliet Central’s Tremaine Cooper was fourth with 67 points.

The three individuals who made the biggest leaps from where they seeded to where they placed were from Illinois. Belleville East’s Killian Rauch placed fifth after being seeded 26th, Plainfield North’s Jack Curran was seeded 25th and took seventh and Quincy Senior’s Cooper Kamm took sixth after being seeded 21st.

Here’s a look at the champions and their weights for the William “Red” Schmitt Tournament

175 – Mason McCurry, Bolivar, MO

With the finals of the Schmitt Tournament starting at 175, Quincy Senior was hoping that it could bookend the event by getting championships from Bryor Newbold at 175 to the start the finals and from Owen Uppinghouse  at 165 to conclude the two-day event, but Bolivar, MO junior Mason McCurry (19-1) had other ideas and he gave his team its lone title after prevailing over Newbold with a 6-5 decision. Newbold (23-3), a senior who went 41-7 a year ago and qualified for the IHSA Class 3A Finals, was one of six medal winners for coach Phil Neally’s Blue Devils, who took sixth in the competition. Newbold followed a 5-3 decision in the quarterfinals with a fall in 5:39 in the semifinals over Willard, MO’s Jase Motlagh to earn his spot on the title mat. He hopes to join Uppinghouse and 12 others who have won IHSA medals for the Blue Devils.

“I feel like I came in expecting a lot harder competition, because when we came here two years ago, we didn’t have a single placer (in the top eight),” Newbold said. “I wrestled my butt off today and made it to the finals. I thought a couple of calls should have been called differently but they didn’t go my way, but he was a good kid. I’ll take a loss, it happens. I’m looking forward and I’m ready for state. It feels nice to have a good team.”

Mt. Vernon senior Maddux Randall (14-5) took fifth after dropping a 2-0 decision to Hickman, MO’s Beau Waldron (13-2) and Normal West senior Gus Schrieber (21-6) claimed seventh place with a fall in 3:12 over Waterloo junior Jackson Deutch (21-6), becoming one of the six medalists for his team, including four others who also claimed seventh-place finishes.

190 – Ben Brown, Batavia

On a day when Batavia sent four of its nine competitors to the title mat, Ben Brown was the only member of coach Ryan Farwell’s fourth-place Bulldogs that was able to win a championship, but he had to go through a real battle to get the job done. Meeting Lafayette, MO’s Andrew Wier (17-4) in the 190 finals, Brown, a senior, improved to 20-0 after getting a takedown with 15 seconds remaining in overtime to claim a 3-1 win by sudden victory. After opening with three falls, he won a 3-2 decision in the quarterfinals and then won 2-1 on an overtime tiebreaker over Plainfield North’s Leonard Tovar, who took third at 220 in 3A in 2023 and was a champion at last year’s Red Schmitt Tournament. That performance should provide Brown with the motivation to follow in the footsteps of teammate Ino Garcia as well as 2023 Batavia graduates Kaden Fetterolf and Cael Andrews who are three of the 13 medalists that the program has had.

“In the last two matches against shorter and stockier kids, you know where they want to go, they want to go power, they don’t really want to go finesse and for the long run,” Brown said. “So you can kind of wear those guys down. When we get in the room, we have some great coaches, like Logan Arlis, who pushes me, and obviously my practice partner, Asher Sheldon at 215, he gives me that strength aspect, so I’m not going to see a guy as strong as him. I got here late because of football, obviously, but it’s been fun getting into the room with these guys and going to work. Coach (Ryan) Farwell has done a great job since he’s taken over, pushing us and keeps us motivated. He always keeps that competitive attitude and we all just all love to compete and get after it. Once we get into the room, we just go to work.”

Senior Payton Eddy (18-10) became the first of Quincy Senior’s two third-place finishers when he won 5-3 in sudden victory over Mahomet-Seymour junior Brock VanDeveer (15-11). Mt. Vernon senior Mason Randall (14-4), who went 35-16 and qualified for the Class 2A Finals last year, claimed fifth place over senior Tovar (8-1) by medical forfeit and Bolivar, MO’s Owen McCullah won by fall in 1:33 over Waterloo freshman Jaxson Mathenia (19-3) to take seventh.

215 – Porter Talbot, Willard, MO

Joliet Central junior Charles Walker is definitely a man on a mission this season after going 37-14 and falling one victory shy of a state medal at 220 at the 2023 IHSA Class 3A Finals. He put up a great battle in the 215 title match against Willard’s Porter Talbot (18-1), but lost a 6-3 decision to suffer his second defeat in 25 matches. Walker, one of two medalists for coach Patrick McGovern’s Steelmen, earned his spot on the title mat with a 9-6 victory over Lafayette, MO’s Brandon Wunderlich. Walker, who took seventh in last year’s Schmitt Tournament, hopes that in a return trip to state that he can become the first Steelmen to win an IHSA medal since 2013 when Trayvon Zabala won his third medal and Sharod Wilson joined him as an all-stater.

“I wrestled his teammate (in the semifinals) and won but he definitely scouted and came prepared,”  Walker said of Talbot. “This tournament helps me see where I’m at so that I can get prepared for the state tournament. I’ve had a nice season and I’ve won two tournaments already. We have a lot of good coaches and a lot of good quality kids and there’s always competition with everybody. They say that iron sharpens iron and that’s what it’s like in our room. And there’s always smiles and laughter and joking.”

Batavia junior Asher Sheldon (25-2) assured his nine-man team of five individuals in the top three when he won a 10-0 major decision over Paducah, KY Tilghman’s Jack James (7-3) in the third-place match. A year ago, Sheldon took second place in the tournament. Andrew junior Joseph Zimmer (16-9) claimed seventh place by capturing a 9-2 decision over Wunderlich.

285 – Jonathan Rulo, Belleville East

After dropping a 5-3 decision in the IHSA Class 3A Finals to Downers Grove North senior Ben Bielawski last season to finish a 34-2 debut season, Belleville East’s Jonathan Rulo had much to be proud of, considering that he was a rare freshman state runner-up in the heavyweight division. Just the third individual from his school to reach the title mat at the IHSA Finals, and the first to accomplish that feat since Joe Wier in 1991, he’s determined to do whatever it takes to capture a title this season and  become the Lancers’ first state champion. He’s off to a great start, improving to 19-0 after capturing an 8-1 decision over Willard, MO’s Brady Griffin (17-1) in the 285 finals to repeat as a champion in the tournament. Rulo, one of two medal winners in the tournament for coach Rashad Riley’s Lancers, was in a battle throughout much of that match and nearly recorded a late pin to wrap up a tournament where he won his other five matches by fall, including a pin in 0:56 in the semifinals over Hickman, MO’s Levi Harrell. 

“I had to wear him down because he was real strong,” Rulo said. “Not all heavyweights, but a lot of them, get tired real quickly. My coaches provide me with good practices. We’ll do traditional practices, and that’s the main part of it. This year, there’s a lot of good kids. I’ve been working on my shots. Last year, I hardly took any shots, but this year I’ve been working on my shots. You know they say that the best defense is the best offense.”

Quincy Senior sophomore Todd Smith (18-6) became one of his team’s four individuals who placed third or better after winning a 5-4 decision over Harrell in the third-place match. Andrew junior Michael McDonough (21-6),  who qualified for the 2023 Class 3A Finals and finished with a 28-17 record, won a 3-0 decision over Whitfield, MO’s Adrian Harrold to claim fifth place. And Normal West’s Matt Hanold (20-7) became one of the five individuals on his team to finish in seventh place when he won by medical forfeit over Hazelwood Central, MO’s Jonathan Slater. 106 – Riley Sumner, Lafayette, MO

In a matchup of two freshmen in the 106 title match who figure to be top competitors in their respective states for four years, Lafayette, MO’s Riley Sumner (17-2) won a 9-0 major decision over Oak Park and River Forest’s Michael Rundell (18-4), who was the top finisher among six medal winners that helped coach Paul Collins’ Huskies to a fifth-place finish. Rundell’s older brothers, Matthew and Jacob, were standouts at OPRF, each winning an IHSA title and combining for three other state medals before continuing their careers in college. Rundell looks to follow in his brothers’ footsteps and had an impressive tournament with two falls and a win by technical fall before capturing an 8-0 major decision in the semifinals over Triad’s Will Kelly.

“I’m pretty happy with how I’m doing,” Rundell said. “My only losses have been to kids that are ranked in the state and in the country. So I’m doing pretty well, especially for an undersized 106 since I weighed in at 98 pounds. The expectations are definitely higher than for other wrestlers, because you have to one-up your brothers, you can’t be worse than them. I watched all of the state championships. I may not remember some, but I was always there. That’s the goal, to be back to where we were. The guys work hard in the room and they definitely give their all in their matches. So if they just keep getting better, we can definitely be back on the podium at state.”

Kelly (19-3), a sophomore and the top finisher of Triad’s two medal winners, took third place after claiming an 8-1 decision over Lafayette, MO’s Max Layman (10-5). In the fifth-place match, Paduch, KY Tilghman’s Case Simmons (7-3) recorded a fall in 0:56 over Bloomington freshman Jaylen Sandy (12-10). And in a matchup of freshmen for seventh place, Normal West’s Jacob Payne (15-9) captured an 8-3 decision over Mahomet-Seymour’s Gideon Hayter.

113 – Maddox Garbis, Plainfield North

In a rematch of the 2022 Schmitt Tournament finals at 106, Plainfield North junior Maddox Garbis once again prevailed for a title over Andrew sophomore Nadeem Haleem, this time with an 8-6 decision at 113. Garbis (9-0), who took sixth at 106 in the 2023 IHSA Class 3A Finals, was the top finisher and one of six medal winners for the Tigers and their first-year coach, Adrian Cervantes. Garbis advanced to the title mat after recording his second win by technical fall, prevailing in 5:00 over Hickman, MO’s Hogan Benter. Garbis hopes that he and teammate Leonardo Tovar can join Jacob Macatangay and Matthew Hennessey as two-time IHSA medalists for the Tigers and do what only Hennessey achieved in 2018, winning an IHSA title. It should be noted that Macatangay won the IWCOA 3A championship at 126 in 2021.

“I’ve wrestled him now four times, three times last year and he kept getting closer every time,” Garbis said. “Honestly, I came into the match confident since I’ve learned a lot wrestling offseason since I wrestled through Izzy Style and now I’m at Fitz Wrestling Club (Academy). I want to place higher downstate and get into the state finals and maybe get a shot at a state title, that’s the goal. When (former coach Joby) Bodi left, it was really hard for me personally since I was really close with him. But coach Adrian Cervantes, he’s awesome. He’s working with me and I’m getting extra training in and he knows what he’s talking about and I’ve improved so much from last year. I have best friends on the team and they support me through everything in life. I went through a time earlier this season, and honestly I’d like to thank my teammate Cayden Amico for helping me through it all. He’s pushed me through thick and thin and I give him all the thanks in the world.”

Haleem (24-3), who joined teammate Max Siegel as Schmitt Tournament finalists for the second year in a row for coach Peter Kowalczuk’s Thunderbolts, advanced to the title mat at 113 after recording a fall in 4:38 over Lafayette, MO’s Calum Brown, his fourth pin of the competition. Haleem was an IHSA Class 3A qualifier last year as a freshman and finished with a 36-10 record. Joliet Central junior Liam Walsh (16-12) placed fifth after capturing an 11-10 decision over Lafayette, MO’s Ahmad Ghuneim. And in a Twin Cities clash for seventh place, Normal West junior Dylan McGrew (20-7) won by fall in 3:03 over Bloomington sophomore Tyler Barlow, who went 25-18 last season and qualified for the IHSA Class 2A Finals.

120 – Hank Benter, Columbia, MO Hickman

Batavia senior Ino Garcia was hoping to win a Schmitt Tournament title as he had done in 2021 and did not to repeat what he did last year when he took second place at 113 to Andrew ‘s Max Siegel. But a newcomer to the event, Columbia, MO Hickman junior Hank Benter, had his own plans and he captured a 10-0 major decision over Garcia to improve to 19-0 and be one of the three champions for the Kewpies, who also won the team title by 20 points over Lafayette, MO.

Garcia (10-1), a senior, was one of four finalists for the Bulldogs, who took fourth place in the competition despite having nine individuals in the event. Garcia, who went 25-9 a year ago and took sixth place in Class 3A at 113 at the IHSA Finals after taking fourth place at 106 the year before. As one of five individuals from his program who have been a two-time all-stater, he hopes to become his program’s first three-time IHSA medalist this season. It should be noted that Mikey Caliendo won the IWCOA 3A title at 160 in 2021 for his third medal. Garcia earned his spot on the 120 title mat by winning a 4-0 decision over Whitfield, MO’s Jackson Bassett (15-6), who went on to take third after winning a 1-0 decision over Granite City freshman Dawson Hawthorne (24-3). In the fifth-place match, Lafayette, MO’s Caleb Frankenberger (16-7) won by fall in 1:15 over Waterloo sophomore Konnor Stephens (19-9). And for seventh place, Normal West junior Abram Rader (18-7) won 13-2 over Triad sophomore Glen Henry.

126 – Dylan Roth, Lafayette, MO

Max Siegel looked to repeat as a champion at the Red Schmitt Tournament and even though he battled to throughout against Lafayette, MO senior Dylan Roth (17-2), the Andrew senior was unable to get a takedown in the late going and lost a 5-4 decision one year after winning the 113 title over Batavia’s Ino Garcia while Roth was taking third place at 126. Siegel (23-5), who joined teammate Nadeem Haleem as a finalist in the last two tournaments, reached the 126 title mat with a 13-5 major decision over Paducah, KY Tilghman’s Jayven Williams. Siegel went 35-6 last season but was unable to advance from the Class 3A Normal Community Sectional.

“We have some improving to do, but all in all, we did alright,” Siegel said of his team. “I wrestled in the offseason and I’ve been eating right. I bumped up a weight class so I’m not really cutting too much weight so I feel good and strong out there. I have good coaches, they’re good guys.”

Oak Park and River Forest sophomore Zev Koransky (24-5) took third place for the second year in a row in the tournament after winning a 16-9 decision over Batavia sophomore Kyle Pasco (19-11). Koransky had the most match points of any competitor with 89, which was nine more than Plainfield North’s Maddox Garbis had. Plainfield North junior Nathan Ali (9-3) took fifth place by medical forfeit over Williams (11-2) and Mahomet-Seymour sophomore Justus Vrona (18-10) placed seventh when Plainfield North senior Cayden Amico took a medical forfeit.

132 – Yashua Amen, Whitfield, MO

A victory that Batavia junior Jack Duraski rallied to win that helped him to reach the title mat at 132 may have prevented him from winning the championship. Duraski trailed Whitfield, MO’s Yashua Amen 5-1 in a fourth-round match but turned the tables on his opponent and pinned him in 3:57. But it was a different story when the two met up in the 132 championship match as Amen (16-3) recorded a fall over Duraski in 1:36 to become the only champion for his team.  

“It was an outcome that I was expecting in the finals,” Duraski said. “He was actually in my pool and I was losing 5-1 and I ended up getting a pin. I think we would have definitely won the tournament if we had every weight class. It shows how much better our team can be when we have a full lineup.”

Duraski (21-8), one of four finalists and seven medalists for coach Ryan Farwell’s Bulldogs, advanced to the 132 championship match after capturing a 4-1 decision over Granite City freshman Braxton Tolley (12-3), who became the host Warriors’ top finisher in their tournament after he won the third-place match by medical forfeit over Columbia, MO Hickman’s Brady McMurtry (16-3). Willard, MO’s Ethan Craft took fifth place after getting a fall in 1:32 over Quincy Senior freshman Cooper Kamm. And Plainfield North sophomore Jack Curran took seventh place when he got a fall in 2:30 over Bloomington senior Vaughn Hochstatter.

138 – Dillon White, Mt. Vernon

After going 40-6 last season and qualifying for the IHSA Class 2A Finals and then winning a state Greco-Roman title and taking first place at the Midwest Nationals in Bloomington while competing for PSF Wrestling Academy, Dillon White headed into this season with a lot of confidence and a title at Mascoutah’s Dale Breckel Invite was another boost. The Mt. Vernon junior’s performance in winning the title at 138 at the Red Schmitt Tournament impressed so many that he received the event’s Outstanding Wrestler Award after winning by fall in 4:23 over Batavia’s Aidan Huck in the finals. White (15-1) led all competitors in team points with 43.5 after being the only one in the tournament to record five pins in addition to collecting a win by technical fall. He was the lone finalist and one of the three medal winners for coach Alejandro Wajner’s Rams and earned his spot on the title mat with a fall in 0:48 over Christian Brothers College’s Colin Rutlin in the semifinals. White took fourth place at last year’s competition.

“It was a really tough tournament and I’m the first person from our school to win it,” White said. “We had one person in the finals last year and I got fourth the last two years. I’ve qualified so far every year and I’ve lost in my bubble match every year, though, so I was one away from placing. In this offseason, I was really working on my footwork so that I could get faster. This past year, I always had good throws but I couldn’t move my feet, I was practically wearing cinder blocks for shoes. I’m moving a lot more and still hitting my throws and taking a couple of shots. This is the third year (for his coaches) and they’ve really transformed this sport. Before Alejandro (Wajner), they were thinking about cutting wrestling entirely. We have a wrestling academy called PSF Wrestling and we had around eight champions at Midwest Nationals. I’m really excited and I think I’m going to do good at state and place this year. I’m excited for the future and I’m hoping to wrestle in college.”

Huck (23-2), a senior who went 37-11 last year and qualified for the IHSA Class 3A Finals, was one of four finalists and seven medal winners for the Bulldogs, who led all Illinois teams with their fourth-place finish despite having nine entrants. After winning 7-5 over Oak Park and River Forest’s Joseph Knackstedt in the quarterfinals, he advanced to the 138 title mat by recording a fall in 5:57 over Columbia, MO Hickman’s Taryn Nichols (16-5). Last year, Huck took fifth in the tournament. Knackstedt, a junior who is 22-6, took fifth place after recording a fall in 1:48 over Mascoutah sophomore Jordan Sonon-Hale (18-9). Bolivar, MO’s Maddux Nesmith (13-4) placed seventh thanks to a 10-7 decision over Mahomet-Seymour freshman Talon Decker (16-7).

“It’s not what I planned on getting, but it’s still a good placement,” Huck said. “I just did my thing, but I didn’t finish on top. We’re proud of Ben (Brown), he had pretty significant wins. We take grit in all of our wrestling. And all of us hold ourselves accountable every day and I feel like our team chemistry and everything that we do together just makes our team-building so great, and that’s definitely a good thing.”

144 – Jordan Fincher, Columbia, MO Hickman

After the first 10 championship matches involved at least one Illinois competitor, the home state athletes were denied trips to the championship mats at both 144 and 150, which also happened to be where eventual champion Columbia, MO Hickman was winning its second and third titles of the finals to help secure its team title. In the 144 finals, Jordan Fincher (18-2) won 3-2 over Willard, MO’s Caleb Caldwell (16-2) to become his team’s second title winner and that came just before his teammate, Shane Oswald, took first place at 150 in another close match.

Illinois athletes had to settle for visits to the fifth-and seventh-place matches at 144. Bolivar, MO’s Cooper Moore (21-11) took fifth place after capturing an 8-0 major decision over Plainfield North sophomore Luke Grindstaff. And in the seventh-place match, Quincy Senior sophomore Brody Baker (21-11) won a 9-1 major decision over Batavia senior Ethan Brauer (16-9).

150 – Shane Oswald, Columbia, MO Hickman

Shane Oswald helped put the finishing touches on the successful debut by Columbia, MO’s Hickman at the Red Schmitt Tournament. Oswald (18-2), a freshman, joined teammates Hank Benter (120) and Jordan Fincher (144) as champions for coach Dan Pieper’s Kewpies, who had nine individuals that placed fifth or better to capture the team title by 20 points over Lafayette, Missouri. Oswald won the 150 title with a 6-4 decision over Whitfield, MO’s Rome Tate (16-6).

Oak Park and River Forest sophomore David Ogunsanya (21-6) recorded a fall in 4:43 over Willard, MO’s Noah Rogers (14-5) to finish third. His brother Joshua was an IHSA Class 3A champion for OPRF in 2020 and is now a member of the wrestling team at Columbia University while another brother and former Huskie, P.J., had a successful career at West Point. In the fifth place match, Belleville East freshman Killian Rauch (21-7) won a 6-4 decision over Paducah, KY Tilghman’s Amari Williams. Rauch drew the 26-seed in the bracket, making his 21-spot improvement from seed to place the biggest of the tournament. For seventh place, Bolivar, MO’s Cale McCurry (13-8) won by fall in 5:54 over Waterloo junior Bladen Sease (16-9). 

157 – Evan Willock, Normal West

After going 39-7 last season and finishing sixth at 132 in the IHSA Class 2A Finals, Evan Willock can make history as Normal West’s first two-time state medalist and also its highest placewinner if he gets back to state and finishes a bit higher since only one other individual from his school has won a state medal, Luke Nohns, who took fifth place in 3A in 2014. Willock is definitely off to a great start in his senior season after improving to 19-1 as the result of a fall in 3:04 over Whitfield, MO’s Lucas Parietti (14-5) in the 157 championship match. He also won a 3-0 decision over Parietti in the fourth round of the tournament. Willock, who took third place in last year’s Schmitt Tournament, earned his spot on the title mat by recording a fall in 0:40 over O’Fallon junior Logan Thomas (20-9) in the semifinals to lead the way for coach Dave Lehr’s Wildcats, who had six medal winners, with all but Willock claiming seventh-place finishes.

“This has always been a tough one,” Willock said. “I had a pretty tough loss in one of my recent duals, but I shook off some rust, and was feeling good today. I’m excited and I’m hoping for top three for sure and obviously the goal is always state champion. All of the offseason work, the weightlifting, the runs. I didn’t do a whole lot of wrestling this offseason, but I was always preparing every single day for it. The competition (in the Twin Cities) has gotten ridiculous these last few years. West had a lot of seniors that left, so we’re rebuilding, Community has a fantastic team and Bloomington has a strong team, too. There’s just a lot of competition and it makes us all better.”

Thomas bounced from his semifinal loss to Willock to take fifth with a fall in 1:15 over Oak Park and River Forest senior Isaac Davis. And for seventh place, Christian Brother College’s Tanner Faulkner (17-7) won by medical forfeit over Bloomington senior Noah Misukonis (14-10).

165 – Owen Uppinghouse, Quincy Senior

Owen Uppinghouse hopes to make history this season after going 44-2 and placing third at 160 at the IHSA Class 3A Finals to join only six other individuals from Quincy Senior who have placed that high in the IHSA Finals. He’s hoping to take the next step and be a state champ, a feat only accomplished three times at the school, most recently by Jermaine Dade in 2000. If he can place at state again, he’ll join Dade and another champion, Jack Miller, who took first in 1957, as the school’s lone two-time medalists. It should be noted that Quincy Senior had a champion at the IWCOA Finals in 2021 when Thomas Culp won at 195 in Class 3A. The Blue Devils senior improved to 25-0 after getting an escape early in the final period and made it stand to win a 1-0 decision over Willard, MO’s Gary Walker (17-1) in the final title match. Uppinghouse, who joined teammate Bryor Newbold (175) as a finalist, earned his spot there with another close decision, 2-1, over Columbia, MO Hickman’s Luke Hayden in the semifinals.

“Two years ago as a sophomore, I was winning but got thrown and landed on my arm and dislocated my elbow, so just being in this environment brings back a lot of those memories,” Uppinghouse said. “I wanted to get those thoughts out of my head and try to do my best. I’m lucky enough to have great practice partners and great coaches. In my freshman year, we ended with eight kids, so every year, we’re taking a little bit of a step in the right direction. Our college, Quincy University, just started their program, so Quincy is starting to be put on the wrestling map. We have kids who are working hard and they’re the kids that put in the work in the offseason, and it shows.”

Hayden (20-1), a freshman, bounced back from his first loss of the season to Uppinghouse to claim third place with an 11-5 decision over Bloomington senior Maddox Kirts (21-5), who went 36-8 a year ago and qualified for the IHSA Class 2A Finals. Christian Brothers College’s 

Christian Fanetti won by fall in 4:50 over Oak Park and River Forest junior Hugh Vanek (12-10) to claim fifth place. And Collinsville senior Cody Lutz (15-3) took seventh place after capturing an 11-5 decision over Waterloo senior Brady Rose (9-7).

Championship matches for Granite City’s William “Red” Schmitt Tournament

175 – Mason McCurry (Bolivar, MO) D 6-5 Bryor Newbold (Quincy Senior)

190 – Ben Brown (Batavia) SV 3-1 Andrew Wier (Lafayette, MO)

215 – Porter Talbot (Willard, MO) D 6-3 Charles Walker (Joliet Central)

285 – Jonathan Rulo (Belleville East) D 8-1 Brady Griffin (Willard, MO)

106 – Riley Sumner (Lafayette, MO) MD 9-0 Michael Rundell (Oak Park and River Forest)

113 – Maddox Garbis (Plainfield North) D 8-6 Nadeem Haleem (Andrew)

120 – Hank Benter (Columbia, MO Hickman) MD 10-0 Ino Garcia (Batavia)

126 – Dylan Roth (Lafayette, MO) D 5-4 Max Siegel (Andrew)

132 – Yashua Amen (Whitfield, MO) F 1:36 Jack Duraski (Batavia)

138 – Dillon White (Mt. Vernon) F 4:23 Aidan Huck (Batavia)

144 – Jordan Fincher (Columbia MO, Hickman) D 3-2 Caleb Caldwell (Willard, MO)

150 – Shane Oswald (Columbia, OH Hickman) D 6-4 Rome Tate (Whitfield, MO)

157 – Evan Willock (Normal West) F 3:04 Lucas Parietti (Whitfield, MO)

165 – Owen Uppinghouse (Quincy Senior) D 1-0 Gary Walker (Willard, MO)

Team standings for Granite City’s William “Red” Schmitt Tournament

1. Columbia, MO Hickman 281.5, 2. Lafayette, MO 261.5, 3. Willard, MO 236.5, 4. Batavia 218.5, 5. Oak Park and River Forest 209.5, 6, Quincy Senior 203.5, 7. Whitfield, MO 180.5, 8. Andrew 152.5, 9. Plainfield North 149, 10. Paducah, KY Tilghman 130, 11. Normal West 126.5, 12. Mahomet-Seymour 120.5, 13. Bolivar, MO 109.5, 14. Mt, Vernon 106.5, 15. Waterloo 105.5, 16. Belleville East 104.5, 17. Bloomington 103.5, 18. Joliet Central 98.5, 19. Christian Brothers College, MO 96, 20. Granite City 86.5, 21. O’Fallon 71.5, 22. Triad 70, 23. Wentzville, MO Holt 69, 24. Collinsville 62.5, 25. Mascoutah 49, 26. Hazelwood Central, MO 39, 27. Alton 36.5

By Curt Herron – For the IWCOA

Following a six-year run where either Coal City or Lena-Winslow/Stockton captured the championship at ABE’s Rumble, Marian Central Catholic broke the streak while making its debut in the tournament and took top honors in the 60-team tournament in dramatic fashion.

The Hurricanes, co-coached by Ryan Prater and Jordan Blanton, edged Coal City 32-31 in the ABE’s Rumble title dual meet at the Bank of Springfield Center that was decided in overtime in the last match. Marian Central Catholic was top-rated in Class 1A and the Coalers were ranked second by Illinois Matmen, and that’s where the teams still are in the January 1 rankings.

It was the closest title dual meet in the seven-year history of the event. In the 2016 debut, Coal City won 35-30 over Lena-Winslow/Stockton. That dual also came down to the last match with the Coalers holding a 31-30 lead and then getting a major decision in the finale.

Coach Mark Masters’ Coalers, the defending IHSA Class 1A champions, were trying to repeat as ABE’s champions and were seeking their fourth title to go along with firsts in the inaugural event in 2016 and again in 2018. This was the sixth time in seven tournaments that Coal City was in the title dual meet. 

Despite forfeiting at three weights, the Hurricanes were able to prevail in a dual where both teams won seven matches. Marian Central Catholic had two falls, two wins by technical fall, a major decision and two close decisions while the Coalers added a major decision, a win in sudden victory and two one-point decisions to go along with the three forfeits they received.

Coal City won the first of the five matches that were decided by three points or less when Owen Petersen captured a 14-13 decision over Austin Hagevold in the opener at 106. Anthony Alanis won a 20-7 major decision over Cooper Morris at 113 and Brayden Teunissen followed with a win by technical fall over Luke Munsterman at 120 to give the Hurricanes a 9-3 lead but Culan Lindemuth received a forfeit win for the Coalers at 126 to create a 9-9 tie.

Marian Central Catholic won the next two matches as Andrew Alvarado edged Brody Widlowski 4-3 at 132 and Vance Williams recorded a fall in 1:27 over Evan Greggain at 138 to give it an 18-9 advantage but Mason Garner won a 16-6 major decision over Josh Gawronski and Brock Finch received a forfeit at 150 to give Coal City its first lead since the opening match at 19-18.

The Hurricanes captured the next two victories to go up 26-19 as Jimmy Mastny won by technical fall over Brant Widlowski at 157 and Max Astacio followed with a 3-0 decision over John Keigher at 165. But the Coalers responded as Landin Benson edged Nic Astacio 7-6 at 175 and Cade Poyner got a forfeit at 190 to put their team up at 28-26 with two matches left.

Dan French looked he might have to settle for a decision over Alec Waliczek at 215 to put Marian Central Catholic back in front by one point, but French continued to attack in the final moments and that paid off when he was able to record a fall in 5:56 to put the Hurricanes up at 32-28 entering the heavyweight match. 

Marian Central Catholic’s Kaleb Eckman held a late 1-0 lead over Emmett Easton but he was called for stalling with three seconds left in regulation. In the first overtime, Eckman got a takedown with 39 seconds remaining to win 3-1 but that assured a 32-31 Hurricanes victory.

1st – Marian Central Catholic

The Hurricanes, who are led by co-coaches Ryan Prater and Jordan Blanton, rolled through pool competition, winning 57-18 over Tremont, 57-6 over Farmington and 52-30 over Clifton Central and 55-18 over Morrison. After winning 61-12 over Lawrenceville/Red Hill, they went to the Gold Bracket where they won 52-18 over LeRoy/Tri-Valley, 46-28 over Vandalia in the quarterfinals and then 51-18 over PORTA in the semifinals.

With just 15 individuals competing, the Hurricanes had more limited options than did the Coalers, who had 22 competitors. Although both teams remain atop the Class 1A rankings, they feature a lot of young team members. The Coalers brought 16 freshmen and sophomores to Springfield while the Hurricanes had seven from those classes. Needless to say, both sides are excited about the improvement that the young athletes will make in the upcoming weeks.

“It was a battle from the first dual that we wrestled,” Prater said. “We had a tough pool and then earlier today we wrestled LeRoy, Vandalia and PORTA, so it was a tough road to get here. We don’t have many guys on the team, so everyone had almost nine matches. Our young guys really shined today. Dan French moving up and getting the pin. Everybody did their job and it was unbelievable. That was a complete team effort against a very well-coached team and a very good 14-man team. 

“We talked for a while about bumping or maybe doing some other stuff but then it was like, we’ll give them the forfeits, don’t hide our holes, we’ll put them right in the open and just go firepower for firepower and we’ll just try to out-sprint them. This tournament was really good for our team to jell. A lot of guys have been great individuals but now we need them to jell and wrestle as a team. Being gritty, saving every point and being stingy, that’s what it boils down to. It’s December 30, and we’re nowhere near finished. We have a month and a half to train and we’re just starting our climb and we’re only going to get better from here.”

Individuals from the champion Hurricanes who won at least two-thirds of their matches in the two-day event were Andrew Alvarado (9-0 at 132), Jimmy Mastny (9-0 at 157), Brayden Teunissen (9-0 at 120/126), Anthony Alanis (8-0 at 113/120), Max Astacio (8-0 at 165), Vance Williams (8-0 at 138/144), Nic Astacio (8-1 at 175), Dan French (8-1 at 190/215), Chandler Gardner (7-1 at 106/113) and Kaleb Eckman (6-3 at 285).

“This was very encouraging,” Anthony Alanis said. “We have one of the toughest schedules in the whole nation and we’ve finally faced all these 1A teams and we put our marker down that we’re number one. It was definitely a team effort. We were training every single day for one of these moments like this so to finally be able to put on a show for the people is good. I think we have the best coaches and they push us and get us better every single day. I like the way that we bond together as a whole team. We all have a really good connection and we all work really good together and at practice, we’re each other to our full potential.”

“Today was the first day that we really got together and looked like a good team and bonded,” Jimmy Mastny said. “They’re really good coaches and our team just bonds every day. We’re always around each other, so we’re just getting better together every day.”

“It felt good, it felt like a preview of what we’re going up against for state,” Dan French said. “It felt like our team really developed over these past two days. Our community got better and we support each other a lot better. We bond together really well and everyone enjoys our practices and everyone is working hard.”

2nd – Coal City

Coal City also had few difficulties reaching the championship dual meet. It won 78-6 over Mt. Carmel, 84-0 over St. Bede Academy, 72-3 over Cumberland and 81-0 over Knoxville in its pool. The Coalers won 62-16 over Rockridge in the Gold bracket and then beat Olympia 47-26 in the quarterfinals and Roxana 45-25 in the semifinals to advance to another championship in the competition, the sixth time in seven years that coach Mark Masters’ Coalers have competed in the finals.

“I thought we had a great weekend,” Masters said. “We came up a little bit short there at the end. Where their studs were at, we had a chance to win a couple of those matches and got beat in the last few seconds or got pinned late. There are points all over the place that we could have had. I think we had around 10 freshman and sophomore combination out there, so it was good. We got off of that Roxana match, and that was pretty much a fist fight. We have youth, and there’s a lot of room to grow, so that’s a good thing. We saw that today and we should be a lot better in February.”

Top performers for the runner-up Coalers who won at least two-thirds of their matches in the competition were Mason Garner (8-0 at 144/150), Owen Petersen (8-0 at 106), Landin Benson (6-0 at 165/175), Cade Poyner (6-0 at 190), James Keigher (4-0 at 175/190), Brock Finch (5-1 at 150), Brandt Widlowski (5-1 at 157), Brody Widlowski (5-1 at 126/132), Emmett Easton (4-1 at 285), Aidan Kenney (4-1 at 132),  Luke Munsterman (4-1 at 120), Culan Lindemuth (3-1 at 120/126), Cooper Morris (6-2 at 113) and Alec Waliczek (3-1 at 215/285).

“No matter what team it was, we just wrestled how we usually wrestle,” Mason Garner said. “It  doesn’t matter what team it is, we just go out there and keep doing what we do. And the better the teams, the better the practice is. I like our dedication in the practice room. And when we’re on the mat, we work and there’s no breaks. And that we’re really hard-working all around.”

“It’s good to have these hard matches because it shows me what I need to improve on,” Owen Petersen said. “I like the practice room and how the coaches push us. We have great coaches and great practice partners that push me to work my hardest.”

“We were shown our flaws and what we need to work on,” Landin Benson said. “We have a lot of stuff to work on since we have new wrestlers since we lost a lot of seniors last year. I like the way they work out there and that they try their hardest, no matter who they’re going against.”

3rd – Roxana

Coach Rob Milazzo’s Roxana Shells, who took tenth place in the Rumble a year ago, finished in third place following a 51-30 victory over coach Jeff Hill’s PORTA Bluejays, who improved from an eighth-place showing last season.  In the semifinals, Marian Central Catholic won 51-18 over PORTA while Coal City was a 45-25 victor over Roxana.

“It feels great,” Milazzo said. “The kids have worked really hard to get to where we are, and I’m really happy, and they’re happy. To be where we are right now this early in the season, I feel very fortunate. There was some tremendous competition here. The boys got down early to Canton and we were on the ropes but we wrestled really hard and got on a roll and got through that and then had a good win against a good Lena team. 

“What’s nice about this tournament is that we get to see the competition, so hopefully at the end of the year we’re in the dual team and we’ve already faced some of the tough competition. They’re gritty, and sometimes, too gritty, and they’ve all been together for a very long time. They’ve progressed through the kids club and they wrestle all year long and they just put a lot of work into it and the parents have devoted their time.”

Competitors for the third-place Shells who won at least two-thirds of their matches in the competition were Brandon Green, Jr. (9-0 at 132), James Herring (9-0 at 285), Donald Battles (8-1 at 215), Lyndon Thies (8-1 at 165), Robert Watt (8-1 at 190), Logan Riggs (7-1 at 126), Lleyton Cobine (7-2 at 120) and Trevor Gihring (7-2 at 138).

“I knew this was going to happen,” James Herring said. “We had a couple of rough duals before this and before this tournament, we were preaching that we were going to win ABE’s. We didn’t win it, but we placed top three, which is good. We’re not going to back down. We could be in a down situation and I know that my teammates aren’t going to get down about it. I’m going into a new weight class, so that’s kind of confusing, so I have to learn some stuff.”

“It’s crazy, because coming in, I think we were ranked real low, so to get to the top four, it was amazing, especially because last year we got ninth here” Logan Riggs said. “This will boost our confidence individually and as a team as a whole seeing this tough competition. It shows that we’re good enough to compete with all of these guys. We’ve got a lot of drive on the team and we all want to succeed individually and as a team. We have some ups and downs with attitudes, but I think after we overcome that and get our minds in the right spot I think that we can go far at team state, for sure.”

4th – PORTA

In a theme that was consistent among many of the top placing teams in the competition, the fourth-place Bluejays have a lot of young team members. But PORTA coach Jeff Hill, the IHSA leader in dual meet wins and a 2011 IWCOA Hall of Fame Inductee who also serves as tournament host of ABE’s Rumble, is encouraged that his team fared better this year than last season despite their youth.

“Nine duals in two days is a grind, so the teams that have some depth definitely have the advantage,” Hill said. “We wrestled Roxana earlier in the year and they beat us, so we knew that they were going to be tough. We had an opening and they (Marian Central Catholic) contacted us and wanted to get in. We have probably a 10-team waiting list but any time the number one team in the state wants in, then we’re going to get them in the field. I think this was the first year that out of the top 20 from Rob Sherrill’s rankings, that all 20 were here. 

“We really focus on pinning and for a long time we had the state record. You have to get those six-point decisions and we work every night on fighting off our back and surviving when you’re outmanned, and my kids do a great job of that. And I think we’re a fairly young team and we have nine sophomores starting. So we’re feeling pretty good about the next couple of years when those guys mature and even get better than they are now.”

Top performers from PORTA who won at least two-thirds of their matches were Brayden Barner (4-0 at 165), Isaac Guinan (8-1 at 285), Athony Hull (7-1 at 106/113), Cael Cotner (5-1 at 150/157), Russell Mattson (4-1 at 190/215), Logan Baker (6-2 at 132/138), Jacob Vogel (6-2 at 144) and Zach Bryant (6-2 at 120).

“I think there’s a lot of good teams in the state right now,” Cael Cotner said. “And I think that a lot of these teams are a lot better than they were last year and the competition is a lot tougher than it was last year. We got eighth last year and we didn’t eighth this year, we wanted higher than that, and that was our mindset coming in. When we got to the quarterfinals, that was the one that we wanted to win. When we got into the semifinals, we knew we had top four. We had Marian Central and we knew that they would be tough. I think we wrestled hard. We have some young kids in our lineup and a lot of sophomores that wrestled really good. The team has a lot of the same energy, everyone wants to be a team player. We’ve got a lot of guys who want to win for the team.” 

“This is a very good look into team state,” Jacob Vogel said. “I think the top 25 teams in 1A are here, so there’s a lot of competition. “We have to thank coach Hill because he is a very good coach. It really showed in the Oregon dual when everyone was cheering our team on and that was a really big thing. We were really pumped up to get that win and it was really big for us.” 

5th – Vandalia

Coach Jason Clay’s Vandalia Vandals defeated coach Josh Collins’ Olympia Spartans 44-30 to take fifth place as Vandalia improved two spots from a year ago. Olympia made one of the most dramatic improvements in one season, going from first place in the Bronze Division, which was 33rd in the competition, to sixth place overall.

Just like Marian Central Catholic, Coal City and PORTA, Vandalia features a lot of newcomers. But the veteran Vandals coach, who has taken 11 teams to the IHSA Dual Team Finals with three of them winning trophies since 2007, hopes that despite having a young team that several individuals who were part of the IESA state championship team from Vandalia, which finished ahead of Coal City in the 2023 Class A Finals, that this year’s team can make another state trip.

“It was great,” Clay said. “We had a tough pool and we were able to win those matches and then got into the Gold bracket today and ran into Marian Central Catholic and they had a little too much for us today but hopefully by February we can get there. Our kids battled back hard. We won two tough matches over two quality programs in Oregon and Olympia. 

“We didn’t make it (to state) last year, we got beat out in the regional by a tough Auburn team, and that was tough to take because it broke our streak of 29-straight regionals, so we’re going to try to start a new one this year and get back to the state tournament. We’ve got a young team and we have no seniors with a bunch of freshmen in the lineup, but they compete hard and we have some depth where we can move and jockey people around and guys can jump in and we haven’t had that in awhile.”

Top competitors from Vandalia who won at least two-thirds of their matches were Max Philpot (9-0 at 106), Keagan Turner (8-1 at 138/144), Dillon Hinton (7-1 at 138/144), Artan Mustafa (6-2 at 150/157), Dominic Swyers (6-2 at 190/215), Jayden Rosetto (6-2 at 285), Deon Moore (5-2 at 126) and Elijah Mabry (6-3 at 113).

“We’re a young team and coach said early on, let’s be the best now, don’t wait until our sophomore year or until we get older, let’s do it now,” Max Philpot said. “It’s just the heart that we have. We’ll get put on our backs and then we’ll just fight off of it and we’ll end up winning that match.”

“For most of them being young, you’d be surprised by how much work they put in,” Artan Mustafa said. “Every practice they’re sweating and tired because they put in the work. These guys are some of the hardest young people that I’ve seen in practice. Last year they did really good but I didn’t really know how they were going to do, but they’ve surprised me a lot. I like how much fun these guys are and they’re so full of energy. And whenever we have to step onto the mat, they get real serious real quick.”

6th – Olympia

Spartans coach Josh Collins, an IHSA Class A champion at Olympia in both 2000 and 2001 who competed on three trophy-winning teams for IWCOA Hall of Famer Mike Manahan from 1999-2001, is excited with  the progress that his team has made this season, which includes a title at Unity. A year ago, Olympia was the top team in the Bronze, a far cry from their sixth place showing this year.

“The big thing is just wrestling for six minutes,” Collins said. “The top five, top 10 teams, they wrestle for six minutes and they let the match play out, They want to be better and they want to be on top and they do the work to get there. They’re not going to back down from anybody and they’re going to keep grinding and try to get the wins when they need to. The team is a real tight-knit group and they push each other. And when one guy doesn’t win maybe when they’re supposed to, someone else picks them up and gets a win for them. As a team, we work together. We’re a family and we stick together and we pick each other up.”

Top individuals for the Spartans who won at least two-thirds of their matches in the tournament were Nolen Yeary (9-0 at 215/285), Carter Knoblach (5-0 at 113), Dylan Eimer (9-1 at 113/120), Bentley Wise (8-1 at 150/157), Austin Kisner (6-1 at 120/126), Cooper Phillips (5-2 at 138/144), Noah Whiteside (5-2 at 106) and Cole Bauer (6-3 at 175/190).

“It feels really good this year because last year we won the Bronze bracket,” Nolen Yeary said. “I think this year is by far our best. This is my senior year, but in my freshman year, we only had seven kids on the whole team. The big thing for us is family. I feel close to the coaches and I feel close to my teammates and I enjoy being around them and that just makes it a lot of fun.”

“We had a pretty tough week at practice and coach pushed us hard,” Cole Bauer said. “I think that this team has really excelled at coming together and having the same goal. We see teams like Coal City here. We had tough teams in our pool and we just took it step by step. We came in today thinking that we were going to win it, but even though we didn’t exactly hit our goal, we put up a hard fight. This is a huge step. Last year, we didn’t have the bond that we do this year.”

7th – Lena-Winslow/Stockton

Coach Kevin Milder’s Lena-Winslow/Stockton PantherHawks, who won ABE’s championships in 2021, 2019 and 2017, fell 39-30 to Roxana in the quarterfinals and settled for seventh place after claiming a 55-21 win over coach Justin Lahman’s Oregon Hawks. 

Top performers for Lena-Winslow/Stockton who won at least two-third of their matches in ABE’s Rumble were Mauricio Glass (8-1 at 138), Brady Haas (8-1 at 165), Eli Larson (8-1 at 175), Jeremiah Luke (8-1 at 190/215), John Mensendike (8-1 at 150), Arrison Bauer (7-1 at 132), Jared Dvorak (7-1 at 157) and Karl Hubb (7-1 at 144).

Though disappointed that his team fell in the quarterfinals and then lost by criteria to Olympia to compete for seventh place, Milder is optimistic about what his young squad might be able to accomplish this season. The 2020 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee, who won IHSA Class 1A titles in 2017 and 2019 and won two other trophies, including a third-place finish last season, figures to have his PantherHawks performing at a much higher level heading into the postseason.

“We went 7-2 and got seventh place,” Milder said. “We were a couple of guys down, but no excuses. We battled and had some tough duals, we tied Olympia and lost in criteria and we lost 39-30 to Roxana. We learned some tough, valuable lessons that will hopefully help us down the road. I think our kids learned today that bonus points matter and we have to get them when we can and we can’t give them up. And if we can benefit from that down the road, I think it will be well worth it. I think that we had a lot of growth today.”

8th – Oregon

Competitors from eighth-place Oregon who won at lead two-third of their matches were Anthony Bauer (8-1 at 157), Quentin Berry (6-1 at 190), Nelson Benesh (7-2 at 113/120), Colton Flaharty (3-1 at 120/126), Landon Ege (4-2 at 113/120) and Landen Elder (4-2 at 215/285),

Also in the Gold Division, Mike Glosser’s Oakwood/Salt Fork Comets edged Zach Crawford’s Canton Little Giants 35-34 for ninth place and Brady Sant Amour’s LeRoy/Tri-Valley Panthers won 48-18 over Brian Bahrs’ Newman Central Catholic Comets for 11th. 

Logan Patton’s Unity Rockets defeated Chase Hargrave’s Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats 54-24 for 13th place and Lucas Smith’s Rockridge Rockets got past Aaron Robinson’s Benton Rangers 39-36 for 15th place.

Others that made it into the Gold Bracket who made a significant improvement from their 2022 Rumble finish were Oakwood/Salt Fork (Bronze 5th, 28 positions), Newman Central Catholic (Silver 16th, 20 positions) and Rockridge (Bronze 2nd, 19 positions).

Clifton Central, Mt. Zion, Seneca and Lawrenceville/Red Hill were the top four teams in the Silver Division while Chicago Hope Academy, Stillman Valley, Riverdale and Morrison completed the top half of that division. 

The rest of the Silver Division, in order, included Murphysboro, Sherrard, Monticello, Erie/Prophetstown, Reed-Custer, El Paso-Gridley, Cumberland and Mt. Carmel. Once again, there were 60 teams in the competition with 932 individuals participating.

Roxana scored the most team points with 510 while Coal City was second with 500 and PORTA ranked third with 469. Others with over 400 team points were Vandalia (467), Marian Central Catholic (464), Lena-Winslow/Stockton (453), Murphysboro (448), Unity (436), Canton (414), Clifton Central (412), Seneca (411), Oakwood/Salt Fork (408) and Olympia (404).

Marian Central Catholic easily had the most match points with 679 while Lena-Winslow/Stockton was second with 509 and Murphysboro was third with 496 points. Others with over 400 match points were Vandalia (466), Olympia (454), Newman Central Catholic (447), Roxana (423), Unity (419), Coal City (417), Stillman Valley (417) and Chicago Hope Academy (407).

PORTA edged Vandalia 59-56 for the most pins while Seneca (54), Unity (52), Coal City (51), Lena-Winslow/Stockton (51), Roxana (51) and Oakwood/Salt Fork (50) all recorded 50 or more falls. Marian Central Catholic had 11 wins by technical fall, Murphysboro ranked second with seven and Olympia and Unity both collected five.

Individually, Unity’s Abram Davidson, Seneca’s Asher Hamby, Roxana’s James Herring, Mt. Zion’s Remington Hiser, Canton’s Danny Murphy and Morrison’s Donny Reavy had the most team points with 54 while Roxana’s Brandon Green, Jr. and Olympia’s Nolen Yeary ranked eighth with 53 points and Marian Central Catholic’s Jimmy Mastny, Benton’s Mason Tieffel and Monticello’s Ezekiel Young tied for tenth place with 52 team points.

Marian Central Catholic’s Anthony Alanis had the most total match points with 115 while Olympia’s Dylan Eimer ranked second with 110. Mastny (108) ranked ahead of Hurricanes teammate Brayden Teunissen (103) for third while Newman Central Catholic’s Briar Ivey (93) and Tieffel (93) tied for fifth, Murphysboro’s Kaiden Richards (90), Chicago Hope Academy’s Josiah Willis (83), Lena-Winslow/Stockton’s Arrison Bauer (78) and Chicago Hope Academy’s Tony Jones-Blakely (77) rounded out the top-10 in that category.

Hamby and Reavy both recorded nine falls, with Hamby achieving that in 7:45. Frankfort’s Brandon Turner, Shelbyville’s Nate Sanders, Herring, Murphy and Tieffel all had eight pins. Alanis was the lone competitor in the field to win four matches by technical fall while Eimer, Teunissen and Willis all had three wins by technical fall.

Here’s a closer look at the top competitors (by percentage, four match minimum) who took part in Abe’s Rumble in Springfield.

1. Marian Central Catholic 

Andrew Alvarado (9-0 at 132), Jimmy Mastny (9-0 at 157), Brayden Teunissen (9-0 at 120/126), Anthony Alanis (8-0 at 113/120), Max Astacio (8-0 at 165), Vance Williams (8-0 at 138/144), Nic Astacio (8-1 at 175), Dan French (8-1 at 190/215), Chandler Gardner (7-1 at 106/113) and Kaleb Eckman (6-3 at 285)

2. Coal City 

Mason Garner (8-0 at 144/150), Owen Petersen (8-0 at 106), Landin Benson (6-0 at 165/175), Cade Poyner (6-0 at 190), James Keigher (4-0 at 175/190), Brock Finch (5-1 at 150), Brandt Widlowski (5-1 at 157), Brody Widlowski (5-1 at 126/132), Emmett Easton (4-1 at 285), Aidan Kenney (4-1 at 132),  Luke Munsterman (4-1 at 120), Culan Lindemuth (3-1 at 120/126), Cooper Morris (6-2 at 113) and Alec Waliczek (3-1 at 215/285)

3. Roxana

Brandon Green, Jr. (9-0 at 132), James Herring (9-0 at 285), Donald Battles (8-1 at 215), Lyndon Thies (8-1 at 165), Robert Watt (8-1 at 190), Logan Riggs (7-1 at 126), Lleyton Cobine (7-2 at 120) and Trevor Gihring (7-2 at 138)

4. PORTA

Brayden Barner (4-0 at 165), Isaac Guinan (8-1 at 285), Athony Hull (7-1 at 106/113), Cael Cotner (5-1 at 150/157), Russell Mattson (4-1 at 190/215), Logan Baker (6-2 at 132/138), Jacob Vogel (6-2 at 144) and Zach Bryant (6-2 at 120)

5. Vandalia

Max Philpot (9-0 at 106), Keagan Turner (8-1 at 138/144), Dillon Hinton (7-1 at 138/144), Artan Mustafa (6-2 at 150/157), Dominic Swyers (6-2 at 190/215), Jayden Rosetto (6-2 at 285), Deon Moore (5-2 at 126) and Elijah Mabry (6-3 at 113)

6. Olympia

Nolen Yeary (9-0 at 215/285), Carter Knoblach (5-0 at 113), Dylan Eimer (9-1 at 113/120), Bentley Wise (8-1 at 150/157), Austin Kisner (6-1 at 120/126), Cooper Phillips (5-2 at 138/144), Noah Whiteside (5-2 at 106) and Cole Bauer (6-3 at 175/190)

7. Lena-Winslow/Stockton

Mauricio Glass (8-1 at 138), Brady Haas (8-1 at 165), Eli Larson (8-1 at 175), Jeremiah Luke (8-1 at 190/215), John Mensendike (8-1 at 150), Arrison Bauer (7-1 at 132), Jared Dvorak (7-1 at 157) and Karl Hubb (7-1 at 144)

8. Oregon

Anthony Bauer (8-1 at 157), Quentin Berry (6-1 at 190), Nelson Benesh (7-2 at 113/120), Colton Flaharty (3-1 at 120/126), Landon Ege (4-2 at 113/120) and Landen Elder (4-2 at 215/285)

9. Oakwood/Salt Fork

Jack Ajster (9-0 at 138), Grant Brewer (9-0 at 150/157), Dalton Brown (9-0 at 175), Pedro Rangel (9-0 at 132), Jamison Chambliss (5-0 at 190/215), Sailer Harrison (4-1 at 150/157), Bryson Capansky (7-2 at 157/165) and Thomas Wells (6-3 at 126)

10. Canton

Dyllan Steele (9-0 at 106/113), Danny Murphy (9-0 at 190), Jacob Hardesty (8-1 at 106/113), Grant Kessler (8-1 at 215), Maddux Steele (8-1 at 120), Connor Williams (8-1 at 285), Gus Lidwell (7-2 at 175) and Jack Jochums (6-3 at 132)

11. LeRoy/Tri-Valley

Brady Mouser (9-0 at 106), Tate Sigler (8-0 at 285), Jacob Bischoff (7-1 at 215), Connor Lyons (6-2 at 157/165) and EJ Chaon (4-2 at 120)

12. Newman Central Catholic

Zhyler Hansen (8-0 at 120/126), Briar Ivey (8-0 at 138/144), Carter Rude (8-0 at 144/150), Brady Grennan (7-0 at 132/138), Daniel Kelly (7-0 at 157), Caleb Donna (6-2 at 175) and Leo Francis (3-1 at 157/165)

13. Unity

Abram Davidson (9-0 at 157), Taylor Finley (9-0 at 132), Hunter Shike (9-0 at 126), Ryan Rink (9-0 at 165), Hunter Eastin (8-0 at 190/215), Thayden Root (7-0 at 175/190), and Kaden Inman (8-1 at 144/150)

14. Anna-Jonesboro

Drew Sadler (9-0 at 120), Aaron Sheffer (6-1 at 165/175), Eddie Dahmer (7-2 at 285), Daniel Dover (7-2 at 138/144) and Zoee Sadler (6-3 at 106/113)

15. Rockridge

Jude Finch (8-1 at 132/138), Ryan Lower (8-1 at 165), Thomas Soward (8-1 at 126), Colton Bock (6-3 at 113) and Tanner McKeag (6-3 at 215)

16. Benton

Mason Tieffel (9-0 at 138/144), Braxton Tittle (5-1 at 106/113), Tristen Gordon (4-1 at 138/144), Cohen Sweely (6-2 at 113/120), Izaiah Dalton (6-3 at 190/215) and Drake Spears (6-3 at 285)

Silver

1. Clifton Central  

Hunter Hull (6-0 at 175/190), Brody O’Connor (6-0 at 215), Giona Panozzo (7-1 at 144), Evan Cox (6-1 at 138), Garrison Bailey (7-2 at 132), Beau Williams (7-2 at 113), Gianni Panozzo (6-2 at 150), Maxwell Joseph (6-3 at 165) and Blake Hemp (6-3 at 120/126)

2. Mt. Zion 

Remington Hiser (9-0 at 285), Vincent Fiore (8-1 at 175), Mason Gray (7-2 at 120), Keller Stocks (7-2 at 190), Vincent Baker (6-3 at 106) and Kaden Becker (6-3 at 165)

3. Seneca

Asher Hamby (9-0 at 175), Raiden Terry (9-0 at 106), Chris Peura (7-0 at 215), Nate Othon (7-1 at 150/157), Ethan Othon (7-2 at 120/126) and Jeremy Gagnon (6-3 at 285)

4. Lawrenceville/Red Hill

Dylan Aten (8-1 at 126), Kasen Ochs (7-2 at 175/190) and Dylan Camden (6-3 at 285)

5. Chicago Hope Academy

Josiah Willis (8-0 at 126), Santiago Chaparro (8-1 at 144), Arkail Griffin (7-2 at 150), Roy Phelps (7-2 at 285), Tony Jones-Blakely (6-2 at 157) and Dylan Galvez (6-3 at 138)

6. Stillman Valley

Michael Pannarale (9-0 at 106), Mack Jones (8-1 at 113), Braxton Jennings (6-3 at 215) and Blake Mollet (6-3 at 285)

7. Riverdale

Zachary Bradley (9-0 at 175/190), Tharren Jacobs (9-0 at 120), Dean Wainwright (8-0 at 126/132), Blake Smith (7-1 at 150) and Ben Porter (6-3 at 106)

8. Morrison

Donny Reavy (9-0 at 190), Karder White (9-0 at 150/157), Brady Anderson (6-3 at 165), Jonathon Hicks (6-3 at 215), Caleb Modglin (6-3 at 132/138) and Camden Pruis (6-3 at 138/144)

9. Murphysboro

Kaiden Richards (9-0 at 126), Liam Fox (7-0 at 157), Sergio Garcia (7-0 at 132/138), Paxton Pyatt (7-0 at 113), Sayvair Williams (6-0 at 132/138), Bryce Edwards (7-1 at 138/144), Maxon Stearns (5-1 at 165), Aiston Holt (3-1 at 120), Jonathan Witzman (5-2 at 144/150) and Gage Boucher (4-2 at 150)

10. Sherrard

Cyrus Hoke (7-2 at 165), Jayden Thomson (5-2 at 138/144) and Braiden Krahl (6-3 at 113/120)

11. Monticello

Ezekiel Young (9-0 at 106), Wyatt Vaughan (7-2 at 175), Gavin Ridings (3-1 at 157), Hunter Romano (5-2 at 190), Brandon Peters (6-3 at 285), Tristan Slade (6-3 at 150) and Drake Weeks (6-3 at 138)

12. Erie/Prophetstown

Bryce Folsom (8-1 at 215), Wyatt Goossens (6-1 at 144/150), Luke Otten (6-1 at 190), Conner Johnson (5-1 at 132), Victor Bonnell (6-3 at 157) and Caleb Reymer (6-3 at 285)

13. Reed-Custer

Jeremy Eggleston (8-1 at 144/150), Rex Pfeifer (8-1 at 175), Adrian Aleman (6-2 at 157), Dominic Alaimo (6-3 at 190/215), Jason Davis (6-3 at 150/157) and Jayden Sanchez (6-3 at 126/132)

14. El Paso-Gridley

Parker Duffy (7-0 at 215), Ryden Barker (8-2 at 190/215), Waylon Melick (7-2 at 157/165), Nolan Whitman (7-2 at 120) and Christopher Blackmore (6-3 at 285)

15. Cumberland

Brayden Olmstead (9-0 at 138), Sawyer Welbaum (8-1 at 120), Harley Pierce (4-1 at 132), Mason Robinson (7-2 at 113) and Owen McGinnis (6-3 at 144)

16. Mt. Carmel

Donald Downing (4-2 at 190/215)

Bronze

1. Wilmington

Logan VanDuyne (8-0 at 190/215), Parker Adams (6-2 at 157/165) and Landon Dooley (6-2 at 120)

2. Camp Point Central

Conner Griffin (7-1 at 165/175), Case Hughes (6-1 at 113/120), Jack Weese (5-1 at 285), Joseph Friday (3-1 at 157/165) and Konnor Bush (5-2 at 150)

3. Auburn

Joey Barrow (8-0 at 190/215), Joey Ruzic (8-0 at 132/138), Brodie Linn (5-2 at 165/175) and Jayden Brown (4-2 at 150/157) 

4. Tremont

Riley Poisal (5-0 at 106/113), Mason Mark (7-1 at 138/144), Bowden Delaney (6-1 at 165/175) and Ethan Kinsey 4-2 at (190/215)

5. Pontiac

Aidan Scholwin (7-1 at 106), Kooper Wiles (7-1 at 113/120), Jackson Crawford (6-2 at 190), Noah Davis (6-2 at 113/120) and Hunter Melvin (5-2 at 215)

6. Robinson

Dreagan Johnson (8-0 at 157), Broady Kelly (8-0 at 126), Ben Mullins (8-0 at 150), Kahne Hyre (7-1 at 165), Keaton Ault (6-1 at 120) and Lenox Parker (4-1 at 144)

7. St. Joseph-Ogden

Emmitt Holt (8-0 at 106), Devan Swisher (5-0 at 157) and Holden Brazelton (7-1 at 132)

8. Hoopeston Area

Angel Zamora (8-0 at 165/175), Ayden Larkin (7-1 at 157/165), Charlie Flores (6-2 at 106) and Talan Nelson (6-2 at 126/132)

9. Frankfort Community

Clayton Dent (8-0 at 165), Brandon Turner (8-0 at 215/285), Conner Henson (7-1 at 190) and Hayeden Hughes (7-1 at 113/120)

10. Litchfield

Isaiah Johnson (8-0 at 132/138), Braxton Kieffer (8-0 at 144/150), Vincent Moore (5-0 at 113) and Clayton Hauter (5-2 at 157/165)

11. Westville

Logan Mahaffey (8-0 at 157), Ethan Miller (8-0 at 190), Gabriel Kiddoo (6-2 at 165) and Trent McMasters (6-2 at 150)

12. Ottawa Marquette

Adrian Schaefer (4-2 at 285)

13. Shelbyville

Nate Sanders (8-0 at 144/150), Colin Wells (7-1 at 113/120, Andre Townsend (4-1 at 285) and Ryne Peavler (6-2 at 157/165)

14. Knoxville

Horatio Erwin (4-1 at 138/144), Donovan Anthony (3-1 at 120/126), Hunter Johnson (6-2 at 120/126) and Joe Wall (5-2 at 150/157)

15. Deer Creek-Mackinaw 

Ryker Gemberling (6-1 at 190/215), Joey Humphreys (6-2 at 285) and Wyatt Otto (6-2 at 165/175)

16. Sacred Heart-Griffin

Charlie Huston (6-0 at 106/113), Casen Lyons (6-2 at 175) and Cooper Balen (4-2 at 138)

Copper

1. Beardstown

Chunk Dailey (6-0 at 285), Gunner Looker (6-0 at 175), Caleb Hobrock (5-0 at 157) and Diego Lopez (4-1 at 150)

2. Illini Bluffs

Jackson Carroll (8-0 at 144/150), Hunter Robbins (8-0 at 113/120), Jacob Strube (4-0 at 106), Ian O’Connor (7-1 at 138/144), Wyatt Knowles (6-1 at 106/113) and Nathan Owens (4-2 at 120/126)

3. Warrensburg- Latham

Kaden Roberts (7-0 at 126), Logan Roberts (7-0 at 120) and Charlie Wittmer (6-1 at 132)

4. Macomb

Hector Maymi (4-0 at 215), Charlie Bodiford (3-1 at 285), Ethan Hoyt (5-2 at 120) and Tyler Shannon (5-2 at 150/157)

5. Farmington

Keygan Jennings (6-1 at 132/138)

6. Hillsboro

Treyton Kuhl (5-1 at 144), Zander Wells (5-1 at 165) and Landon Bandy (5-2 at 113)

7. Prairie Central

Ethan Ziller (6-2 at 150) and Prestin Gero (3-1 at 126)

8. Mercer County

Ethan Monson (8-0 at 138/144), Zeke Arnold (7-1 at  150/157), Bodie Salmon (7-1 at 175) and Kaiden Terrill (6-2 at 285)

9. Quincy Notre Dame

Bradi Lahr (7-0 at 144), Taylin Scott (7-0 at 215), Aidan Brunier (5-2 at 285) and Oliver Moore (4-2 at 126)

10. St. Bede Academy

Logan Pineda (5-2 at 150) and Hunter Savage (5-2 at 132)

11. Dwight

Dylan Crouch (6-0 at 138) and David Piaga-Gomez (5-2 at 190)

12. Walther Christian Academy

Caleb Peterson (5-2 at 132/138)

Gold Title dual meet – Marian Central Catholic 32, Coal City 31

106 – Owen Petersen (Coal City) D 14-13 Austin Hagevold (Marian Central Catholic)

113 – Anthony Alanis (Marian Central Catholic) MD 20-7 Cooper Morris (Coal City)

120 – Brayden Teunissen (Marian Central Catholic) TF 24-9 Luke Munsterman (Coal City)

126 – Culan Lindemuth (Coal City) FFT

132 – Andrew Alvarado (Marian Central Catholic) D 4-3 Brody Widlowski (Coal City)

138 – Vance Williams (Marian Central Catholic) F 1:27 Evan Greggain (Coal City)

144 – Mason Garner (Coal City) MD 16-6 Josh Gawronski (Marian Central Catholic)

150 – Brock Finch (Coal City) FFT

157 – Jimmy Mastny (Marian Central Catholic) TF 23-8 Brant Widlowski (Coal City)

165 – Max Astacio (Marian Central Catholic) D 3-0 John Keigher (Coal City)

175 – Landin Benson (Coal City) D 7-6 Nic Astacio (Marian Central Catholic)

190 – Cade Poyner (Coal City) FFT

215 – Dan French (Marian Central Catholic) F 5:56 Alec Waliczek (Coal City)

285 –  Emmett Easton (Coal City) SV 3-1 Kaleb Eckman (Marian Central Catholic)

Gold final standings

1st – Marian Central Catholic, 2nd – Coal City, 3rd – Roxana, 4th – PORTA, 5th – Vandalia, 6th – Olympia, 7th – Lena-Winslow/Stockton, 8th – Oregon, 9th – Oakwood/Salt Fork, 10th – Canton, 11th – LeRoy/Tri-Valley, 12th – Newman Central Catholic, 13th – Unity, 14th – Anna-Jonesboro, 15th – Rockridge, 16th – Benton

Gold final results

1st – Marian Central Catholic 32, Coal City 31

3rd – Roxana 51, PORTA 30

5th – Vandalia 44, Olympia 30

7th – Lena-Winslow/Stockton 55, Oregon 21

9th – Oakwood/Salt Fork 35, Canton 34

11th – LeRoy/Tri-Valley 48, Newman Central Catholic 18

13th – Unity 54, Anna-Jonesboro 25

15th – Rockridge 39, Benton 36

Silver final standings

1st – Clifton Central, 2nd – Mt. Zion, 3rd – Seneca, 4th – Lawrenceville/Red Hill, 5th – Chicago Hope Academy, 6th – Stillman Valley, 7th – Riverdale, 8th – Morrison, 9th – Murphysboro, 10th – Sherrard, 11th – Monticello, 12th – Erie/Prophetstown, 13th – Reed-Custer, 14th- El Paso-Gridley, 15th – Cumberland, 16th – Mt. Carmel

Silver final results

1st – Clifton Central 49, Mt. Zion 29

3rd – Seneca 54, Lawrenceville/Red Hill 22

5th – Chicago Hope Academy 46, Stillman Valley 31

7th – Riverdale 42, Morrison 35

9th – Murphysboro 59, Sherrard 18

11th – Monticello 36, Erie/Prophetstown 27

13th – Reed-Custer 51, El Paso-Gridley 24

15th – Cumberland 54, Mt. Carmel 24

Bronze final standings

1st – Wilmington, 2nd – Camp Point Central, 3rd – Auburn, 4th – Tremont, 5th – Pontiac, 6th – Robinson, 7th – St. Joseph-Ogden, 8th – Hoopeston Area, 9th – Frankfort Community, 10th – Litchfield, 11th – Westville, 12th – Ottawa Marquette, 13th – Shelbyville, 14th – Knoxville, 15th – Deer Creek-Mackinaw, 16th – Sacred Heart-Griffin

Bronze final results

1st – Wilmington 42, Camp Point Central 30

3rd – Auburn 48, Tremont 34

5th – Pontiac 42, Robinson 41

7th – St. Joseph-Ogden 60, Hoopeston Area 18

9th – Frankfort Community 42, Litchfield 34

11th – Westville 57, Ottawa Marquette 12

13th – Shelbyville 41, Knoxville 30

15th – Deer Creek-Mackinaw 39, Sacred Heart-Griffin 30

Copper final standings

1st – Beardstown, 2nd – Illini Bluffs, 3rd – Warrensburg-Latham, 4th – Macomb, 5th – Farmington,

6th – Hillsboro, 7th – Prairie Central, 8th – Mercer County, 9th – Quincy Notre Dame, 10th – St. Bede Academy, 11th – Dwight, 12th – Walther Christian Academy

Copper final results

1st – Beardstown 48, Illini Bluffs 36

3rd – Warrensburg-Latham 48, Macomb 28

5th – Farmington 42, Hillsboro 30

7th – Prairie Central 36, Mercer County 30

9th – Quincy Notre Dame 42, St. Bede Academy 18

11th – Dwight 24, Walther Christian Academy 18

Pool Results

Pool A

1st – PORTA, 2nd – Unity, 3rd – El Paso-Gridley, 4th – Sacred Heart-Griffin, 5th – Walther Christian Academy

Pool B

1st – Marian Central Catholic, 2nd – Clifton Central, 3rd – Morrison, 4th – Tremont., 5th – Farmington

Pool C

1st – Oakwood/Salt Fork, 2nd – Benton, 3rd – Stillman Valley, 4th – Wilmington, 5th – Warrensburg-Latham

Pool D

1st – Riverdale, 2nd – Reed-Custer, 3rd – Litchfield, 4th – Frankfort Community, 5th – Beardstown

Pool E

1st – Roxana, 2nd – Oregon, 3rd – Shelbyville, 4th – Ottawa Marquette, 5th – Dwight

Pool F

1st – Vandalia, 2nd – Rockridge, 3rd – Mt. Zion, 4th – Westville, 5th – Illini Bluffs

Pool G

1st – Olympia, 2nd – Anna-Jonesboro, 3rd – Auburn, 4th – St. Joseph-Ogden, 5th – Mercer County

Pool H

1st – Murphysboro, 2nd – Erie/Prophetstown, 3th – Monticello, 4th – Deer Creek-Mackinaw, 5th – Macomb

Pool I

1st – Newman Central Catholic, 2nd – LeRoy/Tri-Valley, 3rd – Lawrenceville/Red Hill, 4th – Camp Point Central, 5th – Prairie Central

Pool J

1st – Canton, 2nd – Seneca, 3rd – Sherrard, 4th – Robinson, 5th – Hillsboro

Pool K 

1st – Coal City, 2nd – Cumberland, 3rd – Mt. Carmel, 4th – Knoxville, 5th – St, Bede Academy

Pool L

1st – Lena-Winslow/Stockton, 2nd – Chicago Hope Academy, 3rd – Pontiac, 4th – Hoopeston Area, 5th – Quincy Notre Dame

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

Montini Catholic wins Marge and Tate Dual Tournament in Michigan

Montini Catholic improved to 12-1 after winning four dual meets, including three that were decided by two points or less, to capture top honors at the Marge and Tate Dual Tournament that was hosted by Grandville High in Grandville, Michigan.

Coach Mike Bukovsky’s Broncos, who competed against four Michigan teams, won 54-21 over Cedar Springs, 38-36 over the tournament hosts, 37-35 over Byron Center and 38-36 over Temperance Bedford 38-36. 

It’s the team’s second title of the season, with the other one being the Neuqua Valley Scuffle on December 2. Montini Catholic also finished in third place in Harlem’s Dvorak Tournament, which took place December 16-17. 

The team’s lone loss in a dual meet came against Marist by a 35-34 score. The next-closest dual meet that they’ve had against an Illinois team was a 47-22 victory over Woodstock.

Josh Vazquez (22-2 at 126) and Kam Luif (20-4 at 132) are leading the Broncos in wins through the 2023 portion of the schedule. Several members of the squad have been dealing with injuries but are expected to be back in action shortly.

Other top winners for Montini Catholic are Santino Tenuta (16-3 at 157), AJ Tack (15-3 at 165), Alex Marre (14-3 at 175), Jaxon Lane (14-6 at 190), David Mayora (13-1 at 150), Mikey Malizzio (12-3 at 113), Allen Woo (11-3 at 106), Jeremy Huf (6-0 at 138), Mick Ranquist (6-3 at 285) and Bobby Ruscitti (4-0 at 106). Huf, Malizzio, Ranquist and Woo did not compete in Michigan.

Mayora is a two-time state medalist who lost a 1-0 decision to Aurora Christian’s Taythan Silva in the 2023 Class 2A Finals at 152. Luif placed sixth at 120, Tenuta fell one win shy of a medal at 145 and Ranquist also qualified for state.

Bukovsky is happy to be back at the school that he attended and later served as an assistant coach before taking over the head coaching duties in 1994 and remained in that position through 2010.

In his 16 seasons, his teams posted a 459-39 dual meet record, which is good for a .922 win percentage, that featured eight IHSA championships as well as one runner-up finish and two third-place showings in 13 appearances in the IHSA Dual Team Finals. Other than his debut season, his teams won at least 24 dual meets and on 12 occasions they concluded a season with two defeats or less.

He also has enjoyed success at Montini in two other sports, being a longtime assistant coach in football under Chris Andriano before taking over as head coach in 2017 and leading the Broncos to  second place the next season. And he was the school’s head softball coach from 2015 to 2018 and won IHSA titles in 2016 and 2018.

He has received numerous honors for his outstanding coaching career and service to the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association. In October, he received a Lifetime Service Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame-Illinois Chapter. In 2020, he was an IWCOA Lifetime Service Award winner and a Grand Marshal at the 2017 IHSA Finals. He received the IWCOA Person of the Year Award in 2010 and was inducted into the IWCOA Hall of Fame in 2008.

Hononegah wins Mid-States Wrestling Classic in Whitewater, WI

Illinois traveled well to Wisconsin’s Mid-States Wrestling Classic in Whitewater this year. Twelve teams from Illinois joined 30 Wisconsin teams in the 42-team field Dec. 29-30, and nearly half of the 28 individual finalists haled from Illinois.

Thirteen Illinoisans wrestled for individual titles, winning eight individual crowns.

Hononegah ruled the day for the team title, finishing at the top of the 42-team field.

Hononegah posted a 312-284.5 edge over a second-place Sun Prairie East/West from Wisconsin. Downers Grove South was third, finishing a mere 1.5 points behind Sun Prairie.

Among the other Illinois teams present, Wauconda (274) finished fourth; Morton (188.5) was seventh; Grayslake Central (174) was eighth; and Round Lake (156) took 10th to round out the top 10 team finishes.

Also competing from Illinois were McHenry (12th), Bradley-Bourbonnais (24th), Dundee-Crown (25th), New Trier (27th), Harvard (31st), and Lakes Community (41st).

Top three Illinois team finishes:

1st place: Hononegah (312)

Bringing home individual titles for Hononegah coach Tyler DeMoss were Rocco Cassioppi (106), Bruno Cassioppi (113), Brody Sendele (157) and Connor Diemel (165). Isaak Smith (215) placed fourth, Jackson Olson (120) placed fifth, and DeMoss got sevenths from Robert Darling (132), Max Haskins (150), and Kurt Smith (175).

Also chipping in team points were Evan Musil (126), Max Aranki (144), Greyson Cotone (190), and Carlos Delgado (285).

3rd place: Downers Grove South (283)

All 14 of coach Sean Lovelace’s crew contributed team points for Downers Grove South, led by a second-place finish from Matty Lapacek (190), a third from Connor Kelly (165), and fourths from Miguel Castaneda (113) and RJ Samuels (175). The Mustangs also got a fifth from Nick Spirek (138), sevenths from Jadon Dinwiddie (120) and Mack Piehl (215), eighths from Trevor Dinaso (106), Drew Woolsey (126), and Noah Greene (157).

Other Mustangs scoring team points were Jordan Christin-Holley (132), TJ Johnson (144), Jax Canik (150), and Jayden Contreras (285).

4th place: Wauconda (274)

Wauconda had 10 place-winners in Wisconsin, and Wauconda coach Trevor Jauch got a second-place individual finish from Cooper Daun (138), a third from Nathan Randle (120), and a pair of fourths from Cole Porten (150) and Zachary Johnson (165).

The Bulldogs also got a fifth from Gavin Rockey (106), sixths from Brian Hart (132) and Logan Andrews (144), and eighth from Michael Merevick (190), a ninth from Lucas Galdine (126), and a 12th from Kason Buse (157).

Also scoring team points were Nicholas Ruiz (113), Brody Rudolph (215) and Caleb Apodaca (285).

Top individual finishers from Illinois:

A pair of previously unbeaten, top-ranked wrestlers met in the finals at 175, where Jake Stoffel (20-0) of Appleton North, WI won on an ultimate tie-break against Illinois’ top ranked Matty Jens (21-1) of Grayslake Central.

Other Illinois wrestlers winning individual titles in Wisconsin were Round Lake’s Alejandro Cordova (120) and William Cole (285), Grayslake Central’s Tyler Weidman (126), and Morton’s Steven Marvin (150).

Other second-placers from Illinois included Grayslake Central’s Jens (175) and Vince DeMarco (106) and Matty Jens (175), Morton’s Harrison Dea (113), McHenry’s Pedro Jimenez (144) and Aiden Fischler (165), 

Bradley-Bourbonnais’ AJ Mancilla (175) placed third; fourth-placers included McHenry’s Ryan Hanson (120) and Round Lake’s Grayson Kongkaeow (126); placing fifth were New Trier’s Tagg Miller (150), Morton’s Clayton Mckee (157), and Dundee-Crown’s Jose Gavina (165); and finishing sixth from Illinois were Grayslake Central’s Warren Nash (150) and Harvard’s Riley Vest (285).

Mid-States Classic championship matches:

106 – Rocco Cassioppi (Hononegah) F 4:45 Vince DeMarco (Grayslake Central)

113 – Bruno Cassioppi (Hononegah) TF 4:00 Harrison Dea (Morton)

120 – Alejandro Cordova (Round Lake) F 5:53 Lukas Orloff (Pecatonia-Argyle WI)

126 – Tyler Weidman (Grayslake C) F 4:55 Ethan Aird (Darlington-Blackhawk WI)

132 – Christopher Anderson (Sun Prairie WI) D 4-2 Cade Aaberg (Oregon WI)

138 – Owen Race (Cedar Grove-Belgium WI) D 10-3 Cooper Daun (Wauconda)

144 – Owen Seffrood (Darlington-Blackhawk WI) MD 13-5 Pedro Jimenez (McHenry)

150 – Steven Marvin (Morton) D 6-0 Ashton Meister (Poynette WI)

157 – Brody Sendele (Hononegah) D 10-6 Breylin Goebel (Darlington-B’hawk WI)

165 – Connor Deimel (Hononegah) D 3-0 Aiden Fischler (McHenry)

175 – Jake Stoffel (Appleton N. WI) UTB 3-2 Matty Jens (Grayslake C)

190 – Owen Burling (Lake Mills WI) D 7-4 Ross Crist (Darlington-B’hawk WI)

215 – Nate Grooms (Lake County Luth. WI) D 4-3 Jaxon Johnson (Sun Prairie WI)

285 – William Cole (Round Lake) F 3:26 Evan Held (Nicolet WI)

Illinois team finishes among 42 teams:

1. Hononegah 312, 3. DG South 283, 4. Wauconda 274, 7, Morton, 8. Grayslake Central, 10. Round Lake, 12. McHenry 24. Bradley-Bourbonnais (89) 25. Dundee-Crown (85) 27. New Trier (79) 31. Harvard (60.5) 41. Lakes Community (12) 

Lourdes OTW Classic in Oshkosh, WI

The Oshkosh, Wisconsin tournament saw Hortonville, WI take the team title, with Libertyville snaring second-place in a field of 70 teams. Sixty-six of the teams competing were from Wisconsin, with three from Illinois and one from Minnesota.

Hortonville won 287.5-267.5 over Libertyville and among Illinois teams, Fremd (154) finished 15th and Lane Tech (133) finished tied for 19th.

Libertyville coach Dale Eggert got an individual title from Matt Kubas (175) and a second from Owen McGrory (215) among the Wildcats’ six wrestlers finishing in the top 12 of their divisions.

Kubas was dominant in Oshkosh, posting four falls before winning by 10-2 major decision for the title at 175 against Markesan, Wisconsin’s Treston Eckstein. Kubas improved to 24-2 with the win and is ranked No. 2 in Rob Sherrill’s Illinois Matmen rankings. It was Kubas’ second tournament title this season, to go with two second-place tournament finishes.

Third-ranked in Illinois at 215, McGrory went 5-1 in Wisconsin to up his record to 27-2, his lone loss coming in a tight 4-3 decision in the finals to Ayden Grulke of Hartford, WI.

Libertyville also got a fourth-place finish from Caleb Baczek (190), a sixth from Luke Berktold (120), and a seventh from Charlie Clark (165). Placing 10th in the 70-team field was Tyler Wuh (113), and Orion Moran (132) placed 12th.

Also scoring team points were Jake Shafer (106), James Liu (126), Antonio Kelly (138), Will Carney (144), James Scanio (157), and Rhett VanBoening (285).

Fremd was paced by a fourth-place finish from Peter Mondus, and Vikings coach Jeff Keske also got a sixth from Drew Fifield (126), a seventh from Ryan Muslimovic (157), an eighth from Trent Odachowski (113), and a 12th from Jack Sloan (138). Also scoring team points for Fremd were Max Duberstein (120), Jovan Gongora (132), Chase McCluskey (144), Lucas Nance (150), Jaime Vela (215), and Owen Jakubczak (285). 

Lane Tech coach Matt Yan had a pair of wrestlers take third in Alex Valentin (113) and Robert James Zavala (126), and got a seventh from Evan Coles (106) and a ninth from Nasser Hammouche (138). Also scoring team points for Lane were Angel Santana (120) and Vermaat VanderBrug (144).

Wonder Women in Columbia, Missouri

The 79-team field in Columbia, Missouri, saw Collinsville’s Taylor Dawson emerge as the lone individual champion from Illinois, after she won a 5-4 decision in the finals at 130 against Alexis Dunwiddie of Jefferson, MO.

Dawson used five pins to reach the finals and improved to 18-0 with her win over Dunwiddie (22-2).

An Illinois state runner-up at 125 last year, Dawson competed as the lone entrant for Collinsville, and the No. 3-ranked girl in Illinois at 130. She also won individual tournament titles at Granite City and Normal this year.

Highland’s August Rottman — an Illinois state champion at 170 last year — is currently ranked No. 3 in Illinois. Rottman competed as Highland’s lone competitor in Missouri and opened her tournament with three pins before a 9-4 decision win in the semifinals over Oak Park, Missouri’s Nevaeh Wardlow.

Bixby, Missouri’s Millie Azlin (16-0) won a 3-0 decision in the title match against Rottman (15-3), who also placed first at Normal’s tournament and second at Granite City this season.

Edwardsville was the only Illinois team present with more than one wrestler entered in the 79-team field, and placed 17th in Columbia.

Edwardsville coach Jon Wagner entered 13 girls and got team points from eight wrestlers. Leading the way for the Tigers were a pair of seventh-placers in Holly Zugmaier (125) and Tayla Phillips (235) and an eighth-place finisher in Olivia Cole (105).

Also scoring team points for Edwardsville were Genevieve Dykstra (100), Gianna Linhorst (110), Allie Chong (115), Lydia Blind (140), and Abbrey Dewerff (155).

Hallsville Holiday Tournament in Hallsville, Missouri

Belleville West and Edwardsville were the lone Illinois teams at the Hallsville Holiday Tournament in Missouri and they did the Land of Lincoln proud.

Washington, MO won the team title with 224 points, followed by Ft. Zumwalt North with 181.5. Belleville West (170) finished third and Edwardsville (114) placed fourth in a 30-team field.

Belleville West coach Bob Dahm got individual titles from Xander Goodwin (132) and Kenwyn Horne (285) and the Maroons got a second from Ethan Hofmeister (190), a third from Rocky Seibel (113), a fourth from Alex Ramos (165), a fifth from Brody O’Donnell (175), and a sixth from Tyson Seibel (126).

Also scoring team points for the Maroons were DeMario Walters (106), Kadin Alexander (150), and Shamontae Matthews (215).

Goodwin won a 4-0 decision on the title mat at 132 against Edwardsville’s Ian Trauernicht, and Horne won by fall for the heavyweight title against Aiden Christian of Holden, MO.

Edwardsville got seconds from Chase Mathney (106) and Ian Trauernicht (132) for coach Eric Pretto, a third from Kenneth Jamison (144), and a sixth from Lucas Kunz (285). Colin Waddington (120), Ethan Knecht (138), Charles Houle (157), Jack Cloud (165), Graham Taylor (175), and Dominic Dykstra (215) also contributed team points for the Tigers.

Mater Dei Holiday Classic in Evansville, IN

Civic Memorial placed ninth in the 19-team field of this year’s Mater Dei Holiday Classic in Evanville, Indiana. The Eagles got an individual title from Bryce Griffin, when Illinois’ top-ranked 157-pounder posted a 6-0 decision on the title mat against Trinity’s Malachia Harris.

Griffin improved to 27-2 with the win and handed Harris (19-1) his first loss of the year. Griffin was Illinois’ 2A state runner-up last year at 145 pounds and also won a tournament title at Civic Memorial this season.

Civic Memorial coach Jeremy Christeson also got fourths from Bradley Ruckman (120) and Caleb Scott (126), and a sixth from Nathan Herrin (144). Also contributing team points were Brody Johnson (106), Josh Harkey (132), James Wojcikiewicz (165), Luke McCoy (175), Kale Hawk (215).

By Curt Herron – For The IWCOA

Mattoon wins inaugural Unity Christian Christmas Duals

Mattoon went 7-0 to capture top honors at the inaugural Unity Christian Christmas Duals, which was a two-day round-robin competition featuring eight teams. Coach Brett Porter’s Greenwave captured a 48-30 in the final round over Clinton, which took second place with a 6-1 record.

The event was hosted by Unity Christian School in Decatur. Prior to its renaming, the school was known as Lutheran School Association. The young program has more individuals to work with now that they are in a co-op arrangement with a nearby school, Argenta-Oreana.

University High posted a 5-2 record to claim third place, Pittsfield went 4-3 to finish fourth, the host Lions took fifth place, Illinois Valley Central was sixth, Ridgeview/Lexington finished seventh and Rantoul placed eighth.

The champion Greenwave defeated both University High and Pittsfield by 57-18 scores, claimed a 60-18 win over Unity Christian, captured a 57-12 victory over IVC, beat Ridgeview/Lexington 61-6 and won 71-0 over Rantoul. 

Leading the way for Mattoon with 7-0 records were Ben Capitosti (138), who was named as the lower weight outstanding wrestler, Aidan Blackburn (150), who was named as the upper weight outstanding wrestler, Korbin Bateman (144) and Mitchell Clapp (215). 

Also for the Greenwave, Ean Freeman (165) went 5-0 while Miles Clapp (157), Blaine Howell (190) and JD Sullivan (285) all had 6-1 records and Janelle Willoughby (113/120), Vincent Gibson (126) and Brody Goonan (132) went 5-2.

Coach Matt Cooper’s runner-up Maroons went 6-1. They beat University High 51-21, Pittsfield 65-12, Unity Christian 66-16. Illinois Valley Central 63-12, Ridgeview/Lexington 65-6 and Rantoul 58-12 before falling 48-30 to Mattoon in their final dual meet.

Clinton was led by Logan Thoms (157), who went 7-0, Briley Carter (106) and Kristan Hibbard (175), who were 6-0, Dawson Thayer (285), who went 5-0 and Isreal Ramirez (190/215), who went 3-0. Going 5-1 were Ariana Humes (113/120), Cayden Poole (138) and Kael Morlock (215) while Justin Droke (144) went 5-2.

In the championship dual, the Greenwave received pins from Tristan Porter (120), Korbin Bateman (144), Aidan Blackburn (150), Ean Freeman (165) and Blaine Howell (190) while Brody Goonan (132) got a victory by technical fall, Mitchell Clapp (215) won a 12-4 major decision and Vincent Gibson (126) received a forfeit win. The closest match in the title dual saw Ben Capitosti capture a 9-6 decision over Cayden Poole at 138. 

Meanwhile, the Maroons got falls from Ariana Humes (113), Logan Thoms (157), Kristan Hibbard (175) and Dawson Thayer (285) while Briley Carter (106) got a forfeit win.

Leading coach Caleb Phillips’ third-place Pioneers were Ethan Lowe (144), who finished 5-1, and Joshua Butler (120) and Grayson Moody (165), who both went 4-1. Charles Karun (175) and Aidan Hager (190) both had 3-1 records and Joshua Caraballo (150/157) went 4-2.

Coach Johnathon Peterson’s fourth-place Saukees, received a 7-0 effort from Tucker Cook (190/215) while Waylon White (165) went 6-1 and Jake Oitker (157) and Bodine Marable (175) both finished 5-2.

Top performers for coach Zach Whitsel’s host Lions were brothers Clinton VerHeecke (120) and Garrett VerHeecke (126/132), who both posted 7-0 records.

Illinois Valley Central’s  Lilyana Malagon (120/126) turned in a 6-0 effort, Hunter Toliver (132) finished 4-0 and Maison Toliver (157) went 4-2. 

Ridgeview/Lexington was led by Danny Tay (126/132), who went 4-1, Payton Campbell (150), who finished 5-2 and Judson Stover (138), who went 4-2. And Darius Williams (150) went 4-2 to be the top performer for Rantoul.

Mattoon’s Korbin Bateman recorded seven falls in 8:30, which were two more pins than any other competitor. He tied Clinton’s Logan Thoms and Unity Christian’s Garrett VerHeecke for the most team points with 42 while Clinton VerHeecke had 41, Pittsfield’s Tucker Cook scored 40 and Mattoon’s Aidan Blackburn (38) and Ben Capitosti (37) were next in line in team points.

University High’s Joshua Caraballo had the most match points with 57, which was 19 more than his teammate Joshua Butler had to rank second-best in points. Mattoon (411) and Clinton (398) easily led in team points and also had a big edge in falls with Mattoon at 38 and Clinton at 33.

Unity Christian Christmas Duals Final Standings

1st – Mattoon, 2nd – Clinton, 3rd – University High, 4th – Pittsfield, 5th – Unity Christian, 6th – Illinois Valley Central, 7th – Ridgeview/Lexington, 8th – Rantoul

Unity Christian Christmas Duals Championship meet – Mattoon 48, Clinton 30

106 – Briley Carter (Clinton) FFT

113 – Ariana Humes (Clinton) F 0:43 Janelle Willoughby (Mattoon)

120 – Tristan Porter (Mattoon) F 1:46 Carter Bostic (Clinton)

126 – Vincent Gibson (Mattoon) FFT

132 – Brody Goonan (Mattoon) TF 17-1 Gabe Walker (Clinton)

138 – Ben Capitosti (Mattoon) D 9-6 Cayden Poole (Clinton)

144 – Korbin Bateman (Mattoon) F 1:41 Justin Droke (Clinton)

150 – Aidan Blackburn (Mattoon) F 1:09 Kayleb Kent (Clinton)

157 – Logan Thoms (Clinton) F 1:37 Miles Clapp (Mattoon)

165 – Ean Freeman (Mattoon) F 0:10 RJ Stamp (Clinton)

175 – Kristan Hibbard (Clinton) F 0:44 Brock Taylor (Mattoon)

190 – Blaine Howell (Mattoon) F 3:24 Bryan Alejandro (Clinton)

215 – Mitchell Clapp (Mattoon) MD 12-4 Kael Morlock (Clinton)

285 – Dawson Thayer (Clinton) F 3:31 JD Sullivan (Mattoon)

Rockford East claims first place at Sandwich Duals

Rockford East defeated host Sandwich 45-33 in the championship dual meet at the 10-team Sandwich Dual Team Tournament to cap a 5-0 performance. 

Plainfield Central claimed a 38-30 victory over Peotone to take third place, Rock Falls won 48-36 over Saint Viator for fifth place, St. Bede Academy defeated Genoa-Kingston 42-30 for seventh place and Durand/Pecatonica won 36-24 over Mendota for ninth place.

Coach Gene Lee’s champion E-Rabs defeated Genoa-Kingston 48-36, Durand/Pecatonica 78-6 and Saint Viator 60-21 before claiming a 39-33 victory over Plainfield Central.

Top records for Rockford East were Ty Smart (5-0 at 157/165), Lee Smith (4-0 at 285) and Jospeh Young (3-0 at 132), Donald Cannon (3-0 at 138) and  Christian Cossia (3-0 at 138/144). 

Other top E-Rabs were Ryan Muraski (5-1 at 175/190/215), Rafael Esquer Sanana (4-1 at 126/132), Austin Nelson (4-1 at 150/157),  Hayden Roach (3-1 at 106), Dana Wickson (3-1 at 144/150) and Orion Losiniecki (3-1 at 215).

Coach Derek Jones’ runner-up Indians beat Peotone 45-34, St. Bede Academy 46-27 and Mendota 36-24 before capturing a 45-29 victory over Rock Falls.

Leading the way for Sandwich were Laiken Ervin (5-0 at 113), Tristen King (4-0 at 190/215), Norah Vick (3-0 at 106), Colten Stone (3-0 at 113/120),  Sy Smith (3-0 at 157/165), Eddie Hernandez (3-0 at 285) and Jacob Cassie (4-1 at 138).

In the title dual meet, the E-Rabs got falls from Jospeh Young (132), Donald Cannon (138) and Orion Losiniecki (215), forfeit wins from Lee Smith (285), Austin Nelson (150), Ty Smart (157) and Ryan Muraski (175) and Rafael Esquer Sanana won 7-6 over Jakob Gruca at 126.

The host Indians received falls from Jacob Ross (106), Colten Stone (113) and Sy Smith (165) while Laiken Ervin (120) and Tristen King (190) won by forfeit and Miles Corder won a 4-3 decision over Dana Wickson at 144.

Coach Terry Kubski’s third-place Wildcats beat Durand/Pecatonica 66-9, Saint Viator 49-13 and Genoa-Kingston 66-18 before getting edged 39-33 by the eventual champion E-Rabs and then bouncing back to beat Peotone for third.

Posting the best records for Plainfield Central were Jayden Mizelle (5-0 at 113), Brody Rangel (5-0 at 126), Anthony Minnito (5-0 at 215), Liam Thompson (4-1 at 120), Gavin Enders (4-1 at 138/144), Matthias Hautzinger (4-1 at 150) and Antonio Montoya (4-1 at 285).

Peotone turned in a 3-2 record to place fourth. Top Blue Devils performers were Micah Spinazzola (5-0 at 144), Santino Izzi (5-0 at 157), Kurt Wagner (5-0 at 165/175), Ian Kreske (5-0 at 165/175), Connor Pasch (4-0 at 150) and Mohammed Abunijmeh (3-0 at 150/190).

Leading the way for Rock Falls were Josiah Tarbill (5-0 at 120/126), Logan Thome (5-0 at 126/132), Jacob Hosler (4-0 at 285), Scottie Hampton (4-1 at 106), Adan Oquendo (4-1 at 132/138), Logan Williamson (4-1 at 138/144) and  Preston Armstrong (3-1 at 120).

Saint Viator was led by Phu Truong (5-0 at 190), Devin Adams (4-0 at 165) and Elliot Heckard (4-1 at 113). St. Bede Academy’s top performers were Hunter Savage (4-1 at 132), Logan Pineda (4-1 at 150/157) and Garrett Connelly (4-1 at 175/190).

Recording top records for Genoa-Kingston were Kaleb Lancaste (5-0 at 106), Brady Brewick (5-0 at 165) and Xander Gleissner (4-0 at 175). And leading the way for Durand/Pecatonica was Ethan Foster (5-0 at 120).

Rock Falls’ Logan Thome recorded five falls in 11:03 and no one else had more than three pins. St. Bede Academy’s Garrett Connelly led those who had three falls with an elapsed time of 2:19. Rock Falls also had the leader in total match points with 40, Adan Oquendo, and Peotone’s Ian Kreske was next-best with 37 match points.

Nine individuals had 30 team points. They were Rockford East’s Ryan Muraski and Ty Smart, Peotone’s Ian Kreske and Kurt Wagner, Genoa-Kingston’s Brady Brewick and Kaleb Lancaste, Sandwich’s Laiken Ervin, Plainfield Central’s Jayden Mizelle and Rock Falls’  Logan Thome.

Rockford East had the most team points with 270 while Plainfield Central ranked second with 252 team points. Plainfield Central had the most match points with 208 while Peotone was second in match points with 192.

Sandwich Dual Team Tournament Final Standings

1st – Rockford East, 2nd – Sandwich, 3rd – Plainfield Central, 4th – Peotone, 5th – Rock Falls, 6th – Saint Viator, 7th – St. Bede Academy, 8th – Genoa-Kingston, 9th – Durand/Pecatonica, 10th – Mendota

Sandwich Dual Team Tournament Final Results

1st – Rockford East 45, Sandwich 33

3rd – Plainfield Central 38, Peotone 30

5th – Rock Falls 48, Saint Viator 36

7th – St. Bede Academy 42, Genoa-Kingston 30

9th – Durand/Pecatonica 36, Mendota 24

Sandwich Dual Team Tournament Championship – Rockford East 45, Sandwich 33

285 – Lee Smith (Rockford East) FFT

106 – Jacob Ross (Sandwich) F 0:22 Hayden Roach (Rockford East)

113 – Colten Stone (Sandwich) F 0:47 Tyler Gentry (Rockford East)

120 – Laiken Ervin (Sandwich) FFT

126 – Rafael Esquer Sanana (Rockford East) D 7-6 Jakob Gruca (Sandwich)

132 – Jospeh Young (Rockford East) F 0:19 Wyatt Gregory (Sandwich)

138 – Donald Cannon (Rockford East) F 0:51 Jacob Cassie (Sandwich)

144 – Miles Corder (Sandwich) D 4-3 Dana Wickson (Rockford East)

150 – Austin Nelson (Rockford East) FFT

157 – Ty Smart (Rockford East) FFT

165 – Sy Smith (Sandwich) F 0:44 Eh Kaw (Rockford East)

175 – Ryan Muraski (Rockford East) FFT

190 – Tristen King (Sandwich) FFT

215 – Orion Losiniecki (Rockford East) F 1:17 Brandon Moore (Sandwich)

By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA

2023 Ottawa Girls Holiday Hootenanny

Minooka ran away with Ottawa’s 37-team Girls Holiday Hootenanny on Thursday, as the lone team present that sent four individuals to the title mat among 13 girls who placed in the top seven of their weight classes.

Minooka out-pointed second-place Geneseo 231-141 for the team title, followed by Richwoods (110), Plainfield South (98), and Naperville Central (93) to round out the top five team finishes.

Oak Park and River Forest (90), Bolingbrook (75), Erie-Prophetstown (65), Princeton (65) and Morris (59) completed the top ten in the field.

“We are excited about the performance of a lot of our girls this weekend,” Minooka coach Paige Schoolman said. “We brought twenty-two girls and had thirteen of them place. While our veterans came through with solid performances, I’m also really excited for some of our young girls that came through with multiple wins on their way to placing.

“Marian Nordsell, Holli Coughlen, Daisy Musser, Kailey Jefferson, and Mackenzie Kapanowski all got better throughout the day.”

1st place: Minooka (231)

Schoolman got individual titles from Addie Cailteux (130) and Bella Cyrkiel (145), and seconds from Brooklyn Doti (110) and Sabina Charlebois (125) among their four finalists.

The Indians’ coach liked what he got from his title-mat wrestlers in Ottawa.

“(They) all wrestled well to make the finals,” Schoolman said. “Brooklyn avenged a previous loss in the semis and Addie had a statement performance, beating a state qualifier in the semi’s and then another state qualifier in the finals.”

Seeded third at 130, Cailteux (13-4) upset Erie-Prophetstown’s Michelle Naftzger (17-4) in the semifinals in a 6-1 decision, before winning the title 7-3 over Seneca’s top-seeded Sammie Greisen (19-4).

Top-seeded Cyrkiel (24-3) won a 6-0 decision in the finals at 145 over Harvard’s second-seeded Ithandehui Rosas (16-4).

“Bella wrestled smart and took advantage of the right opportunities to win her weight class,” Schoolman said. “And Sabina continued to wrestle tough all day just like she has done all year.”

Minooka also got a third from Peyton Kueltzo (235), fourths from Marian Nordsell (100), Holli Coughlen (105), Daisy Musser (115), and Palmer Calvey (140), a fifth Mia Lemberg (170), sixths from Kailey Jefferson (130) and Abby Boersma (155), and a seventh from Mackenzie Kapanowski (140).

“Across the board, we are seeing weekly improvements as well as things we need to work on,” Schoolman said. “We are excited for what is in front of us with the Clash Duals next week and the state series a month away.”

2nd place: Geneseo (141)

Geneseo got an individual title from Lydia King (115) and a second from Molly Snyder (100) in sending two to the title mat. Geneseo coach Carley Rusk also got fifths from Bella Curcuru (125) and Grace Schilling (130), and sixths from Emily Bopes (120), Gia Ritter (135) and Lauren Piquard (140).

Top-seeded King (19-7) pinned her way to the title at 115, capped by a fall in the finals against Ottawa’s Val Munoz (8-11), who spent the day upsetting higher-seeded wrestlers on her way to the title mat.

3rd place: Richwoods (110)

The Lady Knights had five place-winners for coach Rob Penney, paced by second-placers Kaila Williams (135), Jaida Johnson (155) and Sydney Johnson (170). Isabella Mottler (135) and Marley Clark (235) finished fourth.

Williams (16-1) lost for only the first time all year on the title mat at 135, to Freeport’s returning state champion Cadence Diduch (12-0). Johnson (3-1) also lost to an unbeaten wrester in the finals at 155, in Moline’s Maryam Ndiaye (14-0).

4th place: Plainfield South (98)

The Cougars got a second-place finish from Keira Enright (190) and thirds from Amy Fuentes (100) and Teagan Aurich (155).

Also winning individual titles in Ottawa were Montini’s Kat Bell (100), Lasalle-Peru’s Kiely Domyancich (105), Morris’ Ella McDonnell (110), Lane Tech’s Nyah Lovis (120), Naperville Central’s Dezi Azar (125), Freeport’s Cadence Diduch (135), Maine East’s Alena Oshana (140), Moline’s Maryam Ndiaye (155), Oswego East’s Jessica Stover (170), Oak Park and River Forest’s Trinity White (190), and Ottawa’s Juliana Thrush (235).

Other wrestlers who reached the title mat and finished second included Streator’s Lily Gwaltney (105), Ottawa’s Val Munoz (115), Lemont’s Molly O’Connor (120), Seneca’s Sammie Greisen (130), Princeton’s Izzy Gibson (140), Harvard’s Ithandehui Rosas (145), Plainfield South’s Keira Enright (190), and Oak Park and River Forest’s Sarah Ephstein (235).

Freeport’s top-ranked three-time state champion Cadence Diduch remained unbeaten with three falls and then a 12-0 major decision at 135 over Richwood’s Kaila Williams (14-1), who is currently ranked No. 3 at 140 pounds.

A pair of top-eight ranked wrestlers squared off for the title at 100 when Montini’s No. 5 Kat Bell (14-3) won by fall over Geneseo’s No. 8 Molly Snyder (15-5).

Morris’ top-ranked Ella McDonnell improved to 22-2 with her title win at 110 against Minooka’s Brooklyn Doti (13-4), and Moline’s No. 2 Maryam Ndiaye (14-0) won by fall at 155 against Richwoods’ No. 7 Jaida Johnson.

One of the day’s closest finals came at 235, where Ottawa’s Juliana Thrush – ranked honorable mention – won a 4-2 decision over Oak Park and River  Forest’s No. 5 Sarah Ephstein. Thrush improved to 17-3 with the win.

Ottawa Girls Holiday Hootenanny championship results:

100 – Kat Bell (Montini) F Molly Snyder (Geneseo)

105 – Kiely Domyancich (Lasalle-Peru) F Lily Gwaltney (Streator)

110 – Ella McDonnell (Morris) F Brooklyn Doti (Minooka)

115 – Lydia King (Geneseo) F Val Munoz (Ottawa)

120 – Nyah Lovis (Lane Tech) D 12-5 Molly O’Connor (Lemont)

125 – Dezi Azar (Naperville Central) F Sabina Charlebois (Minooka)

130 – Addie Cailteux (Minooka) D 7-3 Sammie Greisen (Seneca)

135 – Cadence Diduch (Freeport) MD 12-0 Kaila Williams (Richwoods)

140 – Alena Oshana (Maine East) F Izzy Gibson (Princeton)

145 – Bella Cyrkiel (Minooka) D 6-0 Ithandehui Rosas (Harvard)

155 – Maryam Ndiaye (Moline) F Jaida Johnson (Richwoods)

170 – Jessica Stover (Oswego E) D 5-3 Sydney Johnson (Richwoods)

190 – Trinity White (OPRF) Dflt Keira Enright (Plainfield South)

235 – Juliana Thrush (Ottawa) D 4-2 Sarah Ephstein (OPRF)

Third-place results:

100 – Amy Fuentes (Plainfield South) F Marian Nordsell (Minooka)

105 – Alexa Herrera (Harvard) D 6-0 Holli Coughlen (Minooka)

110 – Alejandra Flores (Bolingbrook) D 8-6 Ryleigh Stephens (Erie-Prophetstown)

115 – Ciara Bolf (Ottawa) F Daisy Musser (Minooka)

120 – Cammyla Macias (Rochelle) F Ellen Purl (Naperville Central)

125 – Dyani Torres (Kaneland) MD 14-4 Mila Rocush (Shepard)

130 – Michelle Naftzger (Erie-Prophetstown) F Keagan Edwards (Glenbard N.)

135 – Katie Ramirez (Bolingbrook) D 1-0 Isabella Mottler (Richwoods)

140 – Jayda Rosenow (Erie-Prophetstown) F Palmer Calvey (Minooka)

145 – Josie Leone (Princeton) D Morgan Lietz (Shepard)

155 – Teagan Aurich (Plainfield South) D 6-1 Dempsey Atkinson (Rochelle)

170 – Kaleigh Mehrkens (D-Mack) F Bella Brooks (D-Mack)

190 – Aurelia Gil-Lane (Bolingbrook) F Sadie Kinsella (Kaneland)

235 – Peyton Kuetizo (Minooka) F Marley Clark (Richwoods)

Fifth-place results:

100 – Annika Hall (Naperville Central) F Daniella Almazan (Shepard)

105 – Eliana Badeen (Maine East) F Ashley Hobbs (Bolingbrook)

110 – Gracie Meluch (Naperville Central) F Payton Henson (Streator)

115 – Taniyah Sherman (Kankakee) F Abby Harris (Princeton)

120 – Ryleigh Eriks (Rock Falls) F Emily Bopes (Geneseo)

125 – Bella Curcuru (Geneseo) F Sofia Flores (Montini)

130 – Grace Schilling (Geneseo) F Kailey Jefferson (Minooka)

135 – Makayla Jones (Kankakee) MD 15-6 Gia Ritter (Geneseo)

140 – Mia Reyes (Larkin) F Lauren Piquard (Geneseo)

145 – Alicia Swank (Bloomington) F Korah Hosler (Rock Falls)

155 – Ellisa Russell (Rock Falls) F Abby Boersma (Minooka)

170 – Mia Lemberg (Minooka) F Megan Barajas (OPRF)

190 – Morgan Congo (Morris) F Bailey Herr (Putnam County)

235 – Asrellia Walace (Glenbard N) F Kassandra Lee (Shepard)

Final team scores: 1. Minooka (231) 2. Geneseo (141) 3. Richwoods (110) 4. Plainfield South (98) 5. Naperville Central (93) 6. Oak Park and River Forest (90) 7. Bolingbrook (79.5) 8. Erie-Prophetstown (65) 8. Princeton (65) 10. Morris (59) 11. Kankakee (50) 11. Shepard (50) 13. Rock Falls (49) 14. Maine East (48) 15. Harvard (43) 16. Lasalle-Peru (42) 16. Montini (42) 18. Kaneland (39) 18. Larkin (39) 18. Ottawa (39) 21. Moline (36) 22. Freeport (34) 23. Oswego East (33) 24. Glenbard North (32) 25. Rochelle (31.5) 26. Seneca (29) 27. Lemont (28) 27. Streator (27) 29. Lane Tech (27) 30. Dee-Mack (23) 31. Batavia (21) 32. Bloomington (20) 33. Saint Viator (18) 34. Putnam County (17) 35. Conant (6) 35. Rockford Guilford (6) 37. Sterling (0).

Jacksonville Crimson Ladies Invitational

It was a 40-team mountain to climb and when the climbing was done, it was Schaumburg standing alone at the summit of this year’s Jacksonville Crimson Ladies Invitational.

The Saxons dominated the field, winning 219-121 over the J. Sterling Morton girls from Berwyn/Cicero. East Peoria (94) placed third followed by a tie for fourth-place between Canton (81) and Collinsville (81).

“Jacksonville did a great job hosting,” Schaumburg coach Matt Gruszka said.

Urbana (74), Belleville West (73), Goreville (69), Glenwood (63), and host Jacksonville (61.5) rounded out the top 10 teams.

“I like going down south because we see a lot of the competition that we will see at the state tournament,” Gruszka said. “Our champs had a great day and this tournament (win) was a team effort.”

1st place: Schaumburg (219)

Thirteen girls placed in the top eight of their weight classes for Schaumburg coach Matt Gruszka. The Saxons got individual titles from Madeline Zerafa- Lazarevic (140) Valeria Rodriguez (155) and Nadia Razzak (190); third-place finishes from Diya Patel (110), Anna Villareal (115), Madyson Meyer (120) and Alya Razzak (170); a fourth from Justice Girod (105); fifths from Makenzi Aguilar (100) and Keara Micek (145); a sixth from Ella Jackson (235); a seventh from Sharon Olorunfemi (130); and an eighth-place finish from Olivia Furlan (135).

“Madeline Zerafa is really starting to sharpen her skills, especially on her feet,” Gruszka said. “155 was a loaded bracket and Valeria (Rodriguez) did an outstanding job, she is really working hard towards her goals for the end of the season. And Nadia (Razzak) at 190 is really starting to wrestle the way I want her  to now.”

Schaumburg also went 4-for-5 on the third-place mat.

“Our third placers really finished the tournament on a high note after some early losses,” Gruszka said. “Having thirteen placers made it a complete team effort. This tournament has also shown us some stuff that we for sure need to work on.”

Schaumburg had the most pins in the least time of any team present, posting 32 total falls in 53:31. Belleville West was second, with 14 pins in 26:31.

2nd place: JS Morton (121)

The girls from Berwyn-Cicero had an individual champions in Nayeli Rodriguez (125) and a pair of second-placers in Anahi Ceja (100) and Monica Garcia (125) for coach Fernando Arratia. Morton also got fourths from Sofia Petronijevic (130), Faith Comas (135) and Violet Mayo (170); a sixth from Brianna Carbajal (125); a seventh from Isabella Sanchez (155); and an eighth from Evelyn Miranda (120). Natalia Perez (145) also chipped in to Morton’s team total.

3rd place: East Peoria (94)

Coach Chad Dunham got individual titles from Abella Brown (100) and Kennedy McMenimen (110) and a second-place finish from Bailey Lusch (105) to lead the way. Four of the Mustangs’ seven wrestlers participating earned place-medals, including a fifth from Taylor Sutton (130), while Kyla Kaonohi (125) and Dezyrae Murray (145) also contributed team points.

4th place (tie): Canton (81)

Six of the seven wrestlers entered by the Little Giants placed in the top seven of their respective weight classes. Coach Zach Crawford got second-place finishes from Kinnley Smith (130) and Aubrianna Putnam (145), a third from Katelyn Marvel (145), a fifth from LT Diephuis (105), a sixth from Kinnley Smith (140), and a seventh from Gianna Stevens (120). Emmie Waller (155) also contributed team points for Canton.

4th place (tie): Collinsville (81) 

Coach Jordan May got an individual title from Taylor Dawson (130), who departed the tournament with a perfect 22-0 season record. The Kahoks also got thirds from Leann Cory (135) and Tashieya Taylor (155) and a seventh from Hannah Jones (170), while Emma Ford (125) also chipped in to Collinsville’s team total.

Other individuals winning individual titles were Glenwood’s Kadi Wilbern (105), Auburn’s Jasmine Brown (115), Mt. Zion’s Sydney Cannon (120), Morton’s Karen Canhola (135), Goreville’s Alivia Ming (145), Highland’s August Rottmann (170), and Unity’s Phoenix Molina (235).

Individuals also placing second included Belleville West’s Jala Singleton (110), Centennial’s Ava Beldo (115), Jacksonville’s Alexis Seymour (120), Glenwood’s Jenna Tuxhorn (135), Urbana’s Rickasia Ivy (140) and Jurdan Tyler (235), Alton’s Elanna Hickman (155), Notre Dame’s Autumne Williams (170), and Macomb’s Sifa Feruzi (190).

Springfield’s Anna Miloncus’ five pins in 7:32 were the most pins in the least time for any wrestler in the tournament, and El Paso-Gridley’s Kianna Mayne was right behind her, posting five pins in 7:39.

Other tournament bests: Jacksonville’s Alexis Seymour had the fastest tech fall in 4:17; Schaumburg’s Valeria Rodriguez had the fastest fall in 0:08; East Peoria’s Kennedy McMenimen had the most single match points with 18; JS Morton’s Nayeli Rodriguez had the most total match points with 42; and Carlinville’s Samantha Scott had the largest seed-place difference, placing seventh as the No. 23 seed at 135.

Jacksonville Crimson Ladies Invite championship match results:

100 – Abella Brown (E. Peoria) F 1:18 Anahi Ceja (JS Morton)

105 – Kadi Wilbern (Glenwood) MD 17-8 Bailey Lusch (E. Peoria)

110 – Kennedy McMenimen (E. Peoria) F 4:48 Jala Singleton (Belleville W.)

115 – Jasmine Brown (Auburn) F 5:06 Ava Beldo (Centennial)

120 – Sydney Cannon (Mt. Zion) D 8-2 Alexis Seymour (Jacksonville)

125 – Nayeli Rodriguez (JS Morton) D 8-7 Monica Garcia (JS Morton)

130 – Taylor Dawson (Collinsville) F 2:50 Kinnley Smith (Canton)

135 – Karen Canhola (Morton) D 3-2 Jenna Tuxhorn (Glenwood)

140 – Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic (Schaumburg) F 1:39 Rickasia Ivy (Urbana)

145 – Alivia Ming (Goreville) F 1:13 Aubrianna Putman (Canton)

155 – Valeria Rodriguez (Schaumburg) D 7-1 Elanna Hickman (Alton)

170 – August Rottmann (Highland) D 6-1 Autumne Williams (Notre Dame)

190 – Nadia Razzak (Schaumburg) F 4:38 Sifa Feruzi (Macomb)

235 – Phoenix Molina (Unity) D 3-2 Jurdan Tyler (Urbana)

Third-place match results:

100 – Claire Crouch (Triad) F 1:42 Lily Davis (Mt. Vernon)

105 – Hope Donnamario (JS Morton) D 9-5 Justice Girod (Schaumburg)

110 – Diya Patel (Schaumburg) F 0:19 Ma’Kayla Bonner (Granite City)

115 – Anna Villareal (Schaumburg) F 1:15 Kendall Smith (Civic Memorial) 

120 – Madyson Meyer (Schaumburg) F 0:55 Daisy Gil (Beardstown)

125 – Anna Miloncus (Springfield) F 2:21 Amelia McClure (Community W.)

130 – Delaney Griffin (Civic Memorial) F 0:44 Sofia Petronijevic (JS Morton)

135 – Leann Cory (Collinsville) F 3:05 Faith Comas (JS Morton)

140 – Mackensie Williams (Charleston) D 2-0 Ju’Bri Edwards (Belleville W.)

145 – Katelyn Marvel (Canton) F 5:49 Kelly Ladd (Macomb)

155 – Tashieya Taylor (Collinsville) F 2:29 Anna Vasey (Unity)

170 – Alya Razzak (Schaumburg) SV-1 7-5 Violet Mayo (JS Morton)

190 – Krista McBride (Goreville) F 0:26 Andre’a Kirkpatrick (Belleville W.)

235 – Rylee Hammond (Robinson) F 5:36 Cadence Duvall (Community W.)

Fifth-place match results:

100 – Makenzi Aguilar (Schaumburg) F 2:55 Nicole Stanley (Carlinville)

105 – LT Diephuis (Canton) F 1:07 Josselyn Allen (Jersey)

110 – Karley Moore (Jacksonville) F 3:29 Ariana Humes (Clinton)

115 – Aryanna Jones (Alton) MD 9-0 Kaitlyn Knight (Jacksonville)

120 – Kianna Mayne (E.P.-Gridley) F 2:14 Morgan Krone-Smallhorn (Charleston)

125 – Isabella Resendez (Glenwood) F 3:26 Brianna Carbajal (JS Morton)

130 – Taylor Sutton (E. Peoria) F 0:44 Randi Campe (Urbana)

135 – Lillien Roughton (Unity Christian) F 0:27 Raegen Hansen (Macomb)

140 – Vivian Guither (Community W.) F 0:48 Kennedy Smith (Canton)

145 – Keara Micek (Schaumburg) F 0:51 Rory Speidel (Jersey)

155 – Savannah Hamilton (E.P. Gridley) F 1:02 Mikaela Mwangong (Macomb)

170 – Franciana Kalanga (Urbana) F 1:19 Liberty McBride (Goreville)

190 – Patience Riggs (ROWVA) F 0:52 Bailey Amerman (Notre Dame)

235 – Khyiema Poole (Robinson) F 1:25 Ella Jackson (Schaumburg)

Final team scores: 1. Schaumburg (219) 2. JS Morton (121) 3. East Peoria (94) 4. Canton (81) 4. Collinsville (81) 6. Urbana (74) 7. Belleville West (73) 8. Goreville (69) 9. Glenwood (63) 10. Jacksonville (61.5) 11. Macomb (61) 12. Community West (55) 13. Highland (44.5) 14. Alton (41) 15. Civic Memorial (40) 15. Triad (40) 17. Unity (39) 18. Notre Dame (38) 19. Auburn (37) 19. Charleston (37) 21. El Paso-Gridley (35) 22. Springfield (33) 23. Robinson (32) 24. Mt. Zion (27) 25. Granite City (26) 25. Morton (26) 27. ROWVA (24) 28. Clinton (23) 29. Centennial (22) 30. Mt. Vernon (20) 31. Beardstown (19) 32. Unity (17) 33. Jersey (16) 33. Rochester (16) 35. Carlinville (14) 36. Eisenhower (6) 37. Oregon (4) 38. Pittsfield (2) 39. Carbondale (0) 39. Mahomet-Seymour (0).

By Patrick Z. McGavin – For the IWCOA

The worst part for Gavin Connolly was the anguish of thinking an entire year about what might have been. The ramifications only compounded and accentuated a profound unease.

“I knew we’d have a chance to go up against them in the Flavin,” said the 150-pounder from St. Charles East. “I’ve been looking forward to that match for a year.”

Connolly’s 1-0 decision over Joliet Catholic Academy’s Connor Cumbee brought closure and a symbolic lift in the Saints’ 42-23 dual team victory Saturday to complete a 6-0 tournament finish for the team championship of DeKalb’s Dan Flavin Invitational.

The Saints (17-0) and Hilltoppers were the only undefeated teams heading into the final round.

Connolly secured the match’s only point with his escape with 30 seconds remaining.

“I was confident the whole time, and I felt like I was in control,” said Connolly, who went 4-2 in the tournament. “I lost to the same kid in double-overtime here last year.”

The victory proved a turning point as St. Charles East captured eight of the final nine matches after the Hilltoppers jumped out to a 19-6 lead. 

“That match was a swing and we knew it was going to have a big impact on the final,” St. Charles East coach Jason Potter said.

JCA defeated the Saints 36-32 in preliminary action at last year’s tournament. That proved the only loss for the Saints, who defeated Marmion Academy in the IHSA Class 3A Dual Team championship.

“Their match last year changed the outcome of the dual, and we knew it was going to also come down to that today,” Potter said.

Connolly’s victory marked a streak of four consecutive wins, following falls by Ben Davino (132) and Tyler Guerra (138) and a 6-4 decision by Jayden Colon over Nolan Vogel at 144 pounds.

The Connolly win stretched the margin to 24-19.  The Hilltoppers managed only one more victory, Luke Hamiti’s 11-3 major decision over Ryan McGovern at 157 pounds.

“Gavin has really wrestled fantastically,” Potter said. “He has always been very talented, but I don’t know if he realized until now how much he really loved it. With him being a senior now, you see how much he is giving it everything he has. He got down to 150, which is way more of an ideal weight.”

He showed off his speed and quickness against the skilled and dynamic Cumbee, who nearly pulled away in the final seconds. Connolly exerted his own force to close out the victory.

“Before he was wrestling at 157 or 165 pounds, and he was just getting outmuscled,” Potter said. “With his style of wrestling, it is going to be a problem if he is not stronger.”

Connolly rode the momentum of the Saints’ three defending individual state champions Davino, Colon and Dom Munaretto (113). Guerra was a state-runner up at 138 pounds last season.

“I knew we had our guys in the middle weights, and they were going to do what they always do,” Connolly said.

Munaretto, Davino, Guerra, Colon, Anthony Gutierrez (165) and Brody Murray (175) went 6-0.

The Hilltoppers narrowly lost to Washington Community in the IHSA Class 2A Dual Team Finals last season. Coming off a Class 2A championship and runner-up finish the last two seasons, Joliet Catholic Academy has been bumped up to Class 3A.

Nico Ronchetti, a state runner-up at 182 pounds last season, was not able to wrestle against St. Charles East.

“At the end of the day, it’s good to see where we are,” said JCA’s Dillan Johnson, a two-time IHSA 2A champion at 285 who also won the IWCOA title at 285 in 2021, who went 5-0. “We basically have a month left in the regular season and now we know where we have to improve.

“I like it because it’s a chance to see what team, and you are also doing something for the whole team.”

Also for the Hilltoppers, Luke Hamiti (157) went 6-0, Luke Foster (106) and Max Corral (165) each finished 5-1, Vogel went 4-1, Nico Ronchetti went 3-0 and Jason Hampton, who was fourth at state last season, went 4-2.

St. Charles East, JCA, Marist and defending tournament champion Marmion Academy made up the championship bracket.

The Flavin marked a dazzling showcase of the state’s top 3A teams. Only Mount Carmel was absent from teams ranked in the top-five of the Class 3A state rankings of Illinois Matmen.

“It’s harder to go through this day than it is to win the state dual championship,” DeKalb coach Sam Hiatt said. “The championship pool is tougher than the state finals. Then you throw in some of the best 2A teams and some of the best teams from downstate.”

Rather than diluting the strength, expanding the field has only made it deeper, stronger, and more extreme to great through.

“Every year we keep growing, and we have a bunch of teams on the waiting list and more and more teams that want to get in,” Hiatt said.

The atmosphere inside the fieldhouse rocked, with fans ringed around the different mat placement and the stands overflowing. The Flavin is one of the gold standards of Illinois’ dual team tournaments.

The format is at once unyielding and exhilarating, creating strategic actions and the freedom for coaches and elite wrestlers to leap around different weight classes.

“We’re wrestling all the good teams, and I like to see where I’m at,” said Yorkville’ Jack Ferguson, a returning state qualifier who went 5-1 at 150 pounds, earning the Foxes’ outstanding wrestler award. “You’re going up against the top wrestlers and there is no place to hide from.”

The 32-team field included five of the six state dual team finalists from last season, St. Charles East and runner-up Marmion Academy, defending 2A state champion Washington Community and runner-up Joliet Catholic Academy and defending 1A runner-up Yorkville Christian.

The teams are grouped into four eight-team brackets, with pool play results creating a hierarchical order for the championship rounds. The top four finishers of each bracket compose the four top pools, Championship, Gold, Silver and Bronze. Each bracket is determined by the round robin results of the team duals.

Defending tournament champion Marmion Academy is undergoing a transitional period. Two standouts from last season’s team went undefeated for their new schools. Collin Carrigan (175) went 6-0 for Glenbard West and Brody Kelly (157) finished 6-0 for IC Catholic Prep.

Defending 182 state champion Jack Lesher is continuing his rehabilitation from a torn ACL he  suffered during a football game in the fall. The Cadets have three elite sophomores in Nicholas Garcia (113), Zach Stewart (138) and Joey Favia (215), with Favia going 6-0 in the tournament.

Stewart finished 4-2, providing Davino his only significant challenge. Davino bumped up to 138 for the showdown and he prevailed 7-2, including a takedown in the final seconds.

In one of the most electronic matches of the day, Munaretto held on for the 5-3 victory over Garcia, who went 5-1 and nearly pulled out the tying takedown in the final seconds.

“When we wrestled at Ironman a couple of weeks ago, we were both off a bit,” Garcia said. “I like this tournament a lot because there’s a lot of strategy that goes into what you do, but you also wrestle the same way to win as you would during a regular tournament.”

If the top four teams monopolized the spotlight, other elite wrestlers stepped up and showed what they were capable of.

“I like being with my team, and all of us being together instead of always being part of an individual tournament,” said Sandburg’s Rocco Hayes, who went 6-0 wrestling primarily at 106 pounds. “We train all year for stuff like this. We have a lot of guys who push us in the room during training to get ready for something like this.”

Marist’s 150-pounder Will Denny powered the Redhawks’ third-place finish by going 6-0.

“Everybody on the team loves this tournament,”’ Denny said. “It’s just like the state tournament. We come here and get into some really tough dual meets.”

Also going 6-0 for Marist were Michael Esteban (126) and George Marinopoulos (120) while Donavon Allen (138), Conor Phelan (190) and Ethan Sonne (132) all went 5-1.

Here’s a list of all of the individuals from the 32 teams who won at least two-thirds of their matches in the tournament, with a minimum of three matches to be considered.

Champion’s Pool

1. St. Charles East

Jayden Colon (6-0 at 144/150), Ben Davino (6-0 at 132/138), Tyler Guerra (6-0 at 138/144), Anthony Gutierrez (6-0 at 165), Dom Munaretto (6-0 at 113), Brody Murray (6-0 at 175), Matt Medina (5-1 at 285), Gavin Connolly (4-2 at 150/157) and Brandon Swartz (4-2 at 215)

2. Joliet Catholic Academy

Luke Hamiti (6-0 at 157), Dillan Johnson (5-0 at 285), Nico Ronchetti (3-0 at 190), Max Corral (5-1 at 165), Luke Foster (5-1 at 106), Nolan Vogel (4-1 at 144), Jason Hampton (4-2 at 120) and Max Vela (2-1 at 175)

3. Marist

Will Denny (6-0 at 150/157), Michael Esteban (6-0 at 126/132), George Marinopoulos (6-0 at 120/126), Donavon Allen (5-1 at 138/144), Conor Phelan (5-1 at 190/215), Ethan Sonne (5-1 at 132/138) and Ricky Ericksen (4-2 at 175/190) 

4. Marmion Academy

Joey Favia (6-0 at 215), Nicholas Garcia (5-1 at 113/120), Donny Pigoni (5-1 at 126/132), Logan Conover (4-1 at 106/113), Vincenzo Testa (3-1 at 175), Zach Stewart (4-2 at 138) and Ashton Hobson (4-2 at 144/150)

Gold Pool

1. IC Catholic Prep

Foley Calcagno (6-0 at 190), Michael Calcagno (6-0 at 215/285), Joe Gliatta (6-0 at 165), Brody Kelly (6-0 at 157), Deven Casey (5-1 at 120/126), Pat Mullen (5-1 at 144/150), Dominic Pasquale (4-2 at 106) and Bryson Spaulding (4-2 at 138/144)

2. Carl Sandburg

Rocco Hayes (6-0 at 106/113), Ryan Hinger (5-1 at 138/144), Madden Parker (5-1 at 120/126) and Zac Ritter (5-1 at 150/157)

3. Yorkville

Ben Alvarez (6-0 at 215/285), Cameron Peach (4-0 at 157/165), Jack Ferguson (5-1 at 150), Luke Chrisse (5-1 at 190/215), Dominic Recchia (5-1 at 132), Luke Zook (5-1 at 175/190) and Dominick Coronado (4-1 at 144)

4. Washington Community

Peyton Cox (5-1 at 144/150), Cael Miller (5-1 at 165), Sean Thornton (5-1 at 285), Eli Gonzalez (4-2 at 126/132), Josh Hoffer (4-2 at 215) and Zane Hulet (4-2 at 175)

Silver Pool

1. Lincoln-Way West

Chris Yirsa (3-0 at 175), Nick Kavooras (5-1 at 285), Jase Salin (5-1 at 150), Carter Dibenedetto (4-2 at 120) and Elijah Zepeda (4-2 at 157)

2. Hersey

Anthony Orozco-Diaz (6-0 at 113), Elijah Garza (3-0 at 120/126), Gus Dammann (5-1 at 285), Esteban Delgado (5-1 at 120/126), Danny Lehman (5-1 at 106), Maksim Mukhamedaliyev (5-1 at 132/138), Abdullokh Khakimov (4-1 at 126/132), Rodrigo Arceo (3-1 at 138/144/150), Anthony Cambria (4-2 at 190), Leo Delgado (4-2 at 175) and Jake Hanson (4-2 at 144/150).

3. DeKalb

Lamar Bradley (6-0 at 215/285), Mekhi Cave (6-0 at 144), Jacob Luce (6-0 at 165/175), Sean Kolkebeck (5-1 at 165/175), Jeremiah Pineira (3-1 at 285), Eduardo Castro (4-2 at 113/120) and Cam Matthews (4-2 at 157)

4. York

Zach Parisi (5-1 at 132), Austin Bagdasarian (4-2 at 215), Mondo Martinelli (4-2 at 126) and Frank Nitti (4-2 at 138/144)

Bronze Pool 

1. Lockport Township

Liam Zimmerman (5-0 at 132), Jake Kratz (3-0 at 285), Justin Wardlow (5-1 at 138), Isaac Zimmerman (4-1 at 120/126), Cyrus Czyz (4-2 at 215) and Timothy O’Connor (2-1 at 113)

2. Glenwood

Drew Davis (6-0 at 126), Maximus Wiezorek (6-0 at 190), Justin Hay (5-1 at 165), Tyler Clarke (4-2 at 106) and John Ben Maduena (4-2 at 138)

3. Barrington

Augusto Rhenzo (6-0 at 150), Silas Oberholtzer (5-0 at 157) and Kaleb Pratt (4-2 at 106/113)

4. Naperville Central

William Erbeck (6-0 at 285), Mitchell Kaszuba (3-0 at 126), Henry Rydwelski (3-1 at 175), Jacob Cochran (4-2 at 113) and Ty Martin (4-2 at 120/126) 

Pool A

1. Minooka

Kaden Meyer (5-0 at 150), Robbie Murphy (5-0 at 285), Cale Stonitsch (5-0 at 132), Noah Avina (4-0 at 120), AJ Frescura (4-1 at 157), Mason Vogt (4-1 at 106) and Lucas Shipla (4-1 at 190)

2. Stevenson

Ayush Bajaj (6-0 at 113), Evan Mishels (6-0 at 106), Themba Sitshela (6-0 at 165/175) and Shawn Kogan (4-2 at 132)

3. Moline

Jack Sibley (4-1 at 150), James Soliz (4-1 at 190), Zander Ealy (3-1 at 157) and Hassan Ndiaye (3-1 at 138)

4. Rochelle

Grant Gensler (6-0 at 165), Thomas Tourdot (6-0 at 120/126), Xavier Villalobos (5-0 at 126/132), Kaiden Morris (5-1 at 215/285), Brenden Voight (5-1 at 144) and Roman Villalobos (4-2 at 175)

Pool B

1. Mukwonago, WI

Grant Stromberg (6-0 at 285), Adam Whittier (6-0 at 144/150), Hayden Chitwood (5-1 at 175), Gavin Meinecke (5-1 at 106), Brian Whipple (4-1 at 120), Wade Kippers (4-2 at 215), Chace Nehls (4-2 at 113) and Austin Schulist (4-2 at 165)

2. Glenbard West

Collin Carrigan (6-0 at 175), Elliot Torres (6-0 at 150), Alejandro Aranda (5-1 at 126), Sasha Boulton (5-1 at 190/215), Aidan Ortega (4-2 at 106), Carson Prunty (4-2 at 120) and Tony Shadid (4-2 at 157/165)

3. Prospect

Jaxon Penovich (6-0 at 190/215), Giorgio DiFalco (5-0 at 138), Connor Munn (4-2 at 165/175), Joseph Quirk (4-2 at 150) and Bennett Westfallen (4-2 at 144)

4. West Aurora

Dayne Serio (6-0 at 157), Evan Matkovich (5-1 at 132), Dominic Serio (4-1 at 150) and Noah Chacon (4-2 at 285)

Pool C

1. Deerfield

Jayden Palzet (3-0 at 132/138), Adrian Cohen (5-1 at 120), Max Drumke (5-1 at 215), Chris Mauer (5-1 at 175/190), Jordan Rasof (5-1 at 138/144), Luke Reddy (5-1 at 132/138), Jorey Becker (4-1 at 106), Jackson Palzet (4-1 at 126/132) and Charlie Cross (4-2 at 150)

2. Yorkville Christian

Jackson Allen (6-0 at 175), Ty Edwards (6-0 at 132/138), Aiden Larsen (6-0 at 113) and Robby Nelson (5-1 at 157/165)

3. Oswego

Ethan Essick (5-1 at 150/157), Joseph Griffin (5-1 at 165/175), Vincent Manfre (5-1 at 126), Colin O’Grady (5-1 at 157/165) and Jonathan Theodor (4-2 at 113)

4. Glenbard East

Ismael Chaidez (6-0 at 120/126), Blake Salvino (5-1 at 190) and Waleed Binmahfooz (4-2 at 106/113)

Pool D

1. Lemont

Noah O’Connor (5-0 at 157), Daniel Taylor (5-0 at 190), Cory Zator (5-1 at 138), Carter Mikolajczak (4-2 at 132) and Alex Pasquale (4-2 at 285)

2. Pewaukee, WI

Caleb Cady (6-0 at 165/175), Dylan Boel (4-2 at 120/126) and Peyton Bruner (4-2 at 157/165)

3. Sycamore

Tyler Lockhart (6-0 at 120), Gable Carrick (4-2 at 190), Jayden Dohogne (4-2 at 138) and Charlie Olson (4-2 at 106)

4. Hinsdale Central

Marko Ivanisevic (6-0 at 285), Zach Kruse (6-0 at 175), Sammy Murante (6-0 at 113) and Aiden Galeckas (4-2 at 190)

Champion’s Pool Title dual meet – St. Charles East 42, Joliet Catholic Academy 23

285 – Dillan Johnson (Joliet Catholic Academy) F 0:12 Matt Medina (St. Charles East)

106 – Luke Foster (Joliet Catholic Academy) F 0:37 Kaden Potter (St. Charles East)

113 – Dom Munaretto (St. Charles East) F 1:26 Max Cumbee (Joliet Catholic Academy) 

120 – Jason Hampton (Joliet Catholic Academy) MD 15-5 Liam Aye (St. Charles East)

126 – Aurelio Munoz (Joliet Catholic Academy) D 5-1 Gavin Woodmancy (St. Charles East)

132 – Ben Davino (St. Charles East) F 1:14 Damian Flores (Joliet Catholic Academy)

138 – Tyler Guerra (St. Charles East) F 0:53 Elias Gonzalez (Joliet Catholic Academy)

144 – Jayden Colon (St. Charles East) D 6-4 Nolan Vogel (Joliet Catholic Academy) 

150 – Gavin Connolly (St. Charles East) D 1-0 Connor Cumbee (Joliet Catholic Academy) 

157 – Luke Hamiti (Joliet Catholic Academy) MD 11-3 Ryan McGovern (St. Charles East) 

165 – Anthony Gutierrez (St. Charles East) D 6-4 Max Corral (Joliet Catholic Academy)

175 – Brody Murray (St. Charles East) F 2:34 Max Vela (Joliet Catholic Academy) 

190 – Cooper Murray (St. Charles East) D 5-2 Derrick Pomatto (Joliet Catholic Academy)

215 – Brandon Swartz (St. Charles East) F 0:30 Max Hrvatin (Joliet Catholic Academy)

Champion’s Pool standings and results

1st – St. Charles East, 2nd – Joliet Catholic Academy, 3rd – Marist, 4th – Marmion Academy

Round 1: St. Charles East 44, Marist 19; Joliet Catholic Academy 52, Marmion Academy 18

Round 2:St. Charles East 50, Marmion Academy 10; Joliet Catholic Academy 32, Marist 27

Round 3: St. Charles East 42, Joliet Catholic Academy 23; Marist 45, Marmion Academy 29

Gold Pool standings and results

1st – IC Catholic Prep, 2nd – Carl Sandburg, 3rd – Yorkville, 4th – Washington Community

Round 1: Yorkville 42, Washington Community 17; Carl Sandburg 39, IC Catholic Prep 28

Round 2: IC Catholic Prep 41, Yorkville 22; Carl Sandburg 37, Washington Community 30

Round 3: Yorkville 33, Carl Sandburg 28; IC Catholic Prep 40, Washington Community 24

Silver Pool standings and results

1st – Lincoln-Way West, 2nd – Hersey, 3rd – DeKalb, 4th – York

Round 1: DeKalb 56, York 10; Hersey 32, Lincoln-Way West 24

Round 2: Lincoln-Way West 40, York 27; DeKalb 34, Hersey 33

Round 3: Hersey 50, York 15; Lincoln-Way West 47, DeKalb 21

Bronze Pool standings and results 

1st – Lockport Township, 2nd – Glenwood, 3rd – Barrington, 4th – Naperville Central

Round 1: Lockport Township 43, Naperville Central 27; Glenwood 37, Barrington 22

Round 2:Glenwood 47, Naperville Central 26; Lockport Township 41, Barrington 30

Round 3: Barrington 31, Naperville Central 30; Lockport Township 47, Glenwood 23

Pools A through D standings

Pool A 

1st – Minooka, 2nd – Stevenson, 3rd – Moline, 4th – Rochelle

Pool B

1st – Mukwonago, WI, 2nd – Glenbard West, 3rd – Prospect, 4th – West Aurora

Pool C

1st – Deerfield, 2nd – Yorkville Christian; 3rd – Oswego, 4th – Glenbard East

Pool D

1st – Lemont, 2nd – Pewaukee, WI, 3rd – Sycamore, 4th – Hinsdale Central

Here are the top four teams in each bracket

Wayne Miller Bracket standings

1st – St. Charles East, 2nd – Yorkville, 3rd – York, 4th – Naperville Central

Dan Cliffe Bracket standings

1st – Joliet Catholic Academy, 2nd – Carl Sandburg, 3rd – Hersey, 4th – Barrington

Terry McCoy Bracket standings

1st – Marmion Academy, 2nd – IC Catholic Prep, 3rd – Lincoln-Way West, 4th – Glenwood

Rich Harvey Bracket standings

1st – Marist, 2nd – Washington Community, 3rd – DeKalb, 4th – Lockport Township

by Mike Garofola for the IWCOA.

68TH BERMAN HOLIDAY CLASSIC

Palatine –

It was too much York Dukes for the field at the 68th Berman Holiday Classic who overpowered its rivals en route to lifting the championship trophy Thursday afternoon at host Palatine High School.

The Dukes advanced seven into the finals – claiming five titles – including three consecutive champions at the lower weights with Zach Parisi (132, 25-0) who was sandwiched around Mondo Martinelli (126) and Frank Nitti at 138 who all impressed en route to their respective individual titles.

“We’ve got a really hard working room, with the new guys coming in this year helping to push each other each, and every day,” said Parisi, who came into the day as the No. 5 rated man according to the latest Illinois Matmen polls.

Teammates Danny Decristofaro (175, 23-2) and Austin Bagdasarian (215, 24-4) would join Parisi atop of the podium at the end of the day.

Parisi, who recently committed to wrestle next fall at the University of Chicago, is now a two-time champ here along with Decristofaro, who continues to explore his collegiate options, which he hopes will include wrestling, while pursuing an Integration degree.

It was little surprise to see why the final team standings would end with tournament champion York having (10) of its men finish top five, followed closely by Richmond-Burton (8) and Mundelein, Maine South, and South Elgin all with (7) in the top five.

When the final match ended, York would collect 233.0 overall points, Mundelein was next at 173.0, with 2022 Berman champ Maine South sitting in third with 164.5.

Richmond-Burton, led by Emmett Nelson (22-0), was fourth overall with 138.5, two points in front of South Elgin (136.5) which celebrated titles from Julius Avendano (106, 21-2) and sophomore Leo Rosas (23-2) at 150.

“(Just) a real gutsy effort from Julius who had to dig down deep to beat a very good opponent from Geneva (Sammy Sikorsky) in his final,” said a proud South Elgin

head coach, James Gloudeman.

The aforementioned Emmett Nelson, third a year ago in Champaign with a 43-2 record, is currently the No. 2 man behind senior Mason Tieffel from Benton.

With this Berman Holiday Classic title, Nelson now has four in the first half of the 2023/24 campaign.

Seniors Ethan Thomas (157, 17-4) and Macson Rastrelli (165, 17-6) spent a combined 1:41 on the mat to give Mundelein its two titles on the day.

Third place Maine South was three-for-three on mat No. 1 with top ranked Teddy Flores (120, 25-0) continuing his blistering start to his senior year for the Hawks.

Flores, who was named O.W. afterwards, cruised into his final where he would meet No. 10 Demetrios Carrera (22-2) who kept things close during a 5-1 decision.

“I worked on fine tuning a lot of what I do, but the most important area that I paid a lot of attention to was my diet – just watching very closely as to what I was putting into my body,” said Flores, third at state last season with a 37-3 record.

Flores’ teammates Brett Harman (113) and heavyweight Tyler Fortis (24-1) both carried off championship trophies.

Carrera would set a handful of South Elgin program records when as a freshmen, he advanced to the state tournament at 106 – finishing with a 38-2 overall record.

The Palatine faithful were treated to its first Berman title since 2007 when junior Trey Widlowski (20-3) used an escape with 4.2 seconds remaining in regulation to defeat Stevenson senior Richie Gueorguiev, 5-4 in the final at 190 pounds.

Palatine fans will remember its two-time state qualifier Dale Jarosch, who last won here in 2007, the same year he earned a fourth place state medal at 112 pounds under-then head coach, Dan Collins, himself a two-time state champion in 1993 and 1994 for his alma mater.

68th Berman Holiday Classic championship match results

106- Julius Avendano (South Elgin) D 12-7 Sammy Sikorsky (Geneva).

113- Brett Harman (Maine South) D 6-1 Bryce Mensik (Lake Park).

120- Teddy Flores (Maine South) D  5-1 Demetrios Carrera (South Elgin).

126- Mondo Martinelli (York) F 3:21 Izaiah Gonzalez (Bremen).

132- Zach Parisi (York) F 1:32 Doug Phillips (Burlington Central).

138- Frank Nitti (York) D 11-4 Ethan Banda (Mundelein).

144- Emmett Nelson (Richmond-Burton) MD 14-3 Jackson Hanselman (York).

150- Leo Rosas (South Elgin) F 5:17 Kevin Hernandez (Mundelein).

157- Ethan Thomas (Mundelein) F 0:55 Nick Decrisofaro (York).

165- Macson Rastrelli (Mundelein) F 0:48 Dominick Dickins (Richmond-Burton).

175- Danny Decrisofaro (York) D 9-3 Jovani Piazza (Hinsdale South).

190- Trey Widlowski (Palatine) D 5-4 Richie Gueorguiev (Stevenson).

215- Austin Bagdasarian (York) F 5:36 Joe Petit (Geneva).

285- Tyler Fortis (Maine South) F 5:34 Abisai Hernanez (Mundelein).

Team Standings:

York 233.0, Mundelein 173.0, Maine South 164.5, Richmond-Burton 138.5, South Elgin 136.5, Hinsdale South 132.0, Oswego East 80.0, Rolling Meadows 75.5, 

Grant/Leyden 71.0, Lake Park 69.5, Palatine 64.5, Bremen 62.5, Geneva 59.5,

Stevenson 56.0, Burlington Central 49.0, Grayslake North 46.0, Zion-Benton 34.5.

FLOYD BEE MEMORIAL HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT

Lincoln –

It was at this time last year that officials honored Floyd Bee, the beloved, and long time former Lincoln High School head coach by renaming the long running Floyd Bee Tournament to the Floyd Bee Memorial Holiday Tournament.

Coach Bee, who was a three-time state qualifier at Lanphier High School where he graduated from in 1958 became head coach at Lincoln where he enjoyed 30 years of winning wrestling from 1970-2000 where he amassed 451 dual meet victories.

Mr. Bee would pass away at the age of 82 last August, but school officials made sure to keep the memory of this IWCOA, and National Hall of Fame gentlemen in front of all to see with the name change of his tournament which has gone on for over 50 years.

No doubt that Mr. Bee would have enjoyed the thrilling finish to his tournament that saw two long days of action between (31) teams be decided by just one-half points with Normal Community outlasting Lincoln-Way Central 403.0-402.5.

Chicago St. Patrick was not far behind, finishing third overall with 398.0, followed closely by Gibson-City-Melvin Sibley (379.5) and Rock Island, which used a trio of individual titles to earn fifth place with its 351.0 points.

“I was very proud of how well our guys would compete over the weekend,” begins Normal Community head coach, Trevor Kaufman.

“(Lincoln-Way Central) is a great team, coached by a local legend in our area, and that’s Tyrone Byrd.”

“I was in junior high at Olympia when he was dominating the high school ranks at Clinton High School, and he always has well coached, and tough teams, so anytime you can finish in front of him is a good day.”

Kaufman went on to say that although his four individual champions: Jackson Soney (106, 25-0), Caden Correll (24-2), Cole Gentsch (21-3) and Cooper Caraway (24-2) provided plenty of points to the cause – the difference between trading places with Lincoln-Way Central at the end was this.

“It was the contributions from our unheralded kids that really pulled us through – guys like Hunter Hardwick at (50) and Victor Reyes at (60) just did their job when we needed it,” said Kaufman.

Soney would pin his way to the 106-pound title, and now has (21) pins, while not conceding a single point along the way.

Correll, No. 4 in the state, would pin Truth Vesey (Rock Island) who entered the weekend at the No. 1 guy in 2A at 113.

Gentsch recorded a 6-0 victory over Deshawn Armstrong (Jacksonville) at 120 in a rematch of an early season contest, while Caraway, who collected his 100th pin of his career over the weekend, won at 215 due to a medical forfeit.

Runner-up Lincoln-Way Central would celebrate just one individual title on Saturday, this one coming from Caden Harvey (17-6) who would decision Carson Maxey (18-3) from Gibson-City – Melvin-Sibley in the 157 pound final.

“Caden battled through two days – pulling off some gritty wins, so it was nice to see him earn a championship,” said Byrd.

“Day No. 2 for us was rough at the start, but we recovered, and chipped away at the tournament leaders by maximizing our bonus points – so I was proud of the guys for finishing the way we did.”

Byrds’ club was chasing Normal Community, and third place St. Patrick by nearly 80 points after the first two rounds on Friday.

“As coaches, we talk about not focusing on the things you have no control over, and these two days were the perfect example as they guys turned their attention to what they ‘could’ control, which was effort and attitude.”

Rock Island did well during the final session, claiming a trio of titles from Daniel McGhee (126, 21-1), Amare Overton (175, 21-2) and Andrew Marquez (190, 21-1) all of whom were 2023 state medal winners.

Gibson City – Melvin-Sibley head coach Cody Moody was thrilled with the two-day effort from his young men who would stay in the race all throughout during its maiden voyage to the Floyd Bee.

“We approached this tournament as an opportunity to practice what we want to do in the post-season – we asked the guys to focus on effort, not outcome in order to free them up to just compete without pressure,” begins Moody.

Our first few rounds really set the tone for what we expected out of the tournament – so in the end, it was an entire team effort, and one that will help us set our sight(s) on a conference team title, regional title, and (then) a birth in the 1A dual-team state tournament.”

Moody would praise his terrific threesome of returning state qualifiers: Shawn Schlickman, Aiden Sancken, and the aforementioned Carson Maxey who he says continued to compete at the level needed in order to give themselves opportunities to be at the top of the podium each time out.”

A quick look at the six who raised the championship bracket begins with DePaul Prep junior, and two-time state qualifier, Max Rosen (23-0) at 132 followed by the senior from Galesburg, Gage Shipp, now 20-0 after his win at 138.

Two-time state qualifier, RaMez Watson (17-1) from Pekin was the champ at 144, while another two-time state qualifier, Tyson Rakers (20-1) solidified his No. 4 ranking in the state at 150 after his win in his weight class.

Dunlap senior, No. 2 Nick Mueller (23-1) pinned his way to a 165-pound crown to claim his second major title of the season for the three-time state qualifier, and 2023 state runner-up at 160. 

Last, and certainly not least, was the superb two days of play turned in by Jack Barnhart (16-0, Champaign Centennial) who in his five matches registered five pins – needing just over five minutes to do so.

The No. 2 man in 2A at 285 pounds was recently named first team All-State, and All-Academic by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association.

Floyd Bee Championship Match Results

106: Jackson Soney (Normal Community) MD 8-0 Daniel Goodwin (St. Patrick).

113- Caden Correll (Normal Community) F 4:00 Truth Vesey (Rock Island) 4:00.

120- Cole Gentsch (Normal Community) D 6-0 Deshawn Armstrong (Jacksonville).

126- Daniel McGhee (Rock Island) F 3:12. Rocky Almendarez (Galesburg) 3:12

132- Max Rosen (DePaul Prep) D 7-4 Isaac Smith (Carbondale) 7-4.

138- Gauge Shipp (Galesburg) F 3:47 Trevor Schoonover (Champaign Centennial).

144- RaMez Watson (Pekin) D 5-3 Nikolas Karamaniolas (St. Patrick).

150- Tyson Rakers (Highland) SV-1 4-2 Joe Reif (Jacksonville).

157- Caden Harvey (Lincoln-Way Central) D 5-3 Carson Maxey (Gibson-City/Melvin-Sibley).

165- Nick Mueller (Dunlap) D 5-2 Dawson McConnell (Lincoln).

175- Amare Overton (Rock Island) F 5:51Phillip Shaw IV (Danville).

190- Andrew Marquez (Rock Island) D 12-5 Aiden Sancken (Gibson-City/Melvin-Sibley.

215- Cooper Caraway (Normal Community) FFT Brody Cuppernell (St. Thomas More).

285- Jack Barnhart (Champaign Centennial) F 1:15 Jose Del Toro (East Peoria).

Floyd Bee Team Standings:

Normal Community 403.0, Lincoln-Way Central 402.5, St. Patrick 398.0, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 379.5, Rock Island 351.0, Lincoln 295.0, Galesburg 292.5,

DePaul Prep 263.0, Jacksonville 240.0, Champaign Centennial 230.0, Peoria Notre Dame 221.0, Rochelle 188.5, Dunlap 174.0, Highland 166.5, East Peoria 164.5,

Marengo 160.0, Chatham-Glenwood 159.5, Limestone 149.0, Carbondale 143.0,

Pekin 138.0, Danville, Jerseyville 128.0 each, North Boone 113.0, St. Thomas More 109.0, East St. Louis 107.5, Thornton 100.5, Heyworth 73.0, Lanphier 64.0, Springfield 42.0, Taylorville 39.0.

By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA

The story of the third annual Sally Berman Holiday Classic was pure domination by eventual champion Oak Forest which won here for the first time, and in doing so collected its fourth tournament title of the 2023/24 campaign.

“It’s a great group of girls we have – senior dominated – so it’s important we enjoy the run while we have this terrific bunch of young women in our room,” said Oak Forest head coach John Sebek.

“I am really proud of this entire team,” began sophomore Alex Sebek, who is now a two-time Berman champion following her title run at 105 pounds.

“We have a great room – everyone comes in each day and works hard, supports each other, and enjoys each other, which makes for us having a lot of fun in a sport we all enjoy.”

Oak Forest would lead nearly wire-to-wire on this day, thanks in part to the six wrestlers it advanced into the finals, ten overall medals, and three champions to help the Bengals collect 211.0 overall points, 35 points clear of runner-up Andrew. Andrew out-distanced third-place Dundee-Crown 176.0-102.0

Zion-Benton was fourth with 99.0, with Homewood-Flossmoor squeezing in over Lakes (94.0) and Conant with 91.0 points.

Oak Forest previously lifted championship trophies at Hampshire, in Wisconsin at the Stateline Scuffle in Westosha Central, and the Royal Rumble at Larkin.

Runner-up Andrew would equal the 10 medals secured by the tournament champions. But Andrew garnered just one champion when Alyssa Keane won the 140-pound crown.

The Sally Berman Holiday Classic came one day after the 68th Berman Holiday Boys Classic in Palatine.

Al Berman started the wrestling program in Elk Grove Village at Grove Junior High in 1967, and later moved to Palatine where he served as an assistant coach at the high school from 1977 to 1994, while coaching football and baseball as well.

Berman served as tournament manager 25 years for the then-named Palatine Holiday Tournament until 1993 when the name was changed to the Berman Holiday Classic in honor of he and his wife Sally for their long time commitment to Palatine wrestling.

This tournament is the second oldest running tournament in the state of Illinois outside of the IHSA state tournament.

Mr. Berman would also serve in several different capacities at the IHSA State Tournament as an assistant bench official and timer, always with beloved wife Sally at his side.

Al Berman was inducted into the IWCOA Hall of Fame in the spring of 2001, and later, both he and Sally were inducted into the Palatine High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.

Let’s now take a closer look at the 14 weight classes, and its individual champions:

Berman Holiday Classic championship results:

100 – Mia Vazquez, Rickover Naval Academy

Rickover Naval Academy junior Mia Vazquez (19-3) wasted little time in her final with Diamond Rodriguez (20-2) when she built a 4-0 first period advantage against the Dundee-Crown junior, en route to a 10-1 major decision to claim her first Palatine title

It was Vazquez’s second tournament title on the season. She also won an individual crown at this year’s Beat the Streets tournament.

“Diamond is a real tough opponent, we wrestled twice before, so I knew had to be smart, strong on top, and just keep attacking and going for points when I could,” Vazquez said.

Vazquez, a state qualifier at year ago, and No. 6 in the state polls, defeated Round Lake’s No. 4 Riley Kongkaeow (20-2) in a hard fought semifinal. Vazquez used a reversal with 4.6 seconds from time to win 8-6 over Kongkaeow, who was looking to claim a second-straight Sally Berman crown.

Kongkaeow would pin Bartlett’s Kahlynn Spurgeon (13-3) for third place, while Homewood-Flossmoor’s Faythe Robinson recorded a 8-7 decision over Andrew’s Layan Saleh in the fifth-place contest.

105 – Alexandra Sebek, Oak Forest

There was an impressive list of candidates to select from for the Outstanding Wrestler Award, but of them all Alexandra Sebek would be rightly chosen for the award by the 25 coaches who were present.

The Oak Forest sophomore needed just 2:46 minutes on the day to squash the competition at 105 to win here for the second time, and further validate her spot as the No. 3 person in the most recent state polls.

“I’ve been really pleased with how my season has gone thus far, except for my two losses,” said Sebek (24-2) with a smile.

The Bengals star, who was a state runner-up a year ago with a 41-7 overall record, went ahead of Lakes’ Zaryia Mouzon (19-4) early on before recording her pin at just 40 seconds.

“Both of her losses came with our boys varsity,” Oak Forest coach John Sebek said. “Alex has been a leader in the room and on match day, despite being just a sophomore. She was truly honored to be named (outstanding wrestler) today because this tournament is just loaded with-top tier talent.

“She has been wrestling at both 105 and 110 this year to allow other girls on our team to get mat time, which shows her true leadership as a teammate.”

Dundee-Crown’s Iris Torres (15-9) finished third after her pin over West Chicago’s Brissia Bucio, and Andrew’s Tatum De la Vega earned fifth place following her pin of Waukegan’s Reyna Garcia.

110 – Emma Engels, Bartlett

Both Emma Engels (23-1) and Victoria Macias (22-2) would sail into the 110-pound final, and when the two state-ranked stars met on the center stage, it would be the reigning state champion Engels who delivered the first of two individual titles for the Bartlett.

The Hawks’ junior would use an early third-period takedown to go ahead 8-2 before a reversal increased her lead to a near insurmountable 10-4. The match ended in an 11-4 decision in favor of top-seeded Engels, who is currently No. 5 at 115 pounds.

“Since the Rex Lewis (Buffalo Grove) where I competed with the boys, I’ve been working on improving my set-ups and on my footwork, and just being more physical, which is something that I’ve learned from wrestling against the boys,” Engels said. 

Engels won 23 matches when she qualified for state two years ago, then 37 last winter on her way to capturing the 100-pound state crown.

Engels’ teammate, Angie Carpentiro (19-2) went on to earn third place with her pin over Homewood-Flossmoor’s London Gandy. Carpentiro lost to Macias in the semifinals.

Macias was fifth last season at state at 125.

St. Viator senior Natalie Gubernat (13-8) earned fifth place after she pinned Conant’s Sam Macek.

115 – Ayane Jasinski, Grant

The Berman was filled with several stars who are high profile state-ranked wrestlers, including Grant’s Ayane Jasinski. Jasinski won a state title last February, is ranked No. 3 at 115 behind Glenbard North’s Gabby Gomez and Loyola’s Harlee Hiller.

Less than 24 hours prior to the girls’ tournament at Palatine, Jasinski finished fifth at the boys’ Berman Classic.

“Ayane is truly an amazing athlete,” Grant coach Mark Jolcover said. “She’s , humble, a terrific young woman, great teammate, and the ultimate student-athlete. To see her come out here today after four matches yesterday and just dominate says a lot about her.”

Jasinski welcomed the challenge of wrestling in tournaments on back-to-back days.

“All you can do is to just put the extra work in every day in the room,” she said. “And for me, being able to wrestle against the boys has really helped me become much stronger, both physically, and mentally.”

Jasinski pinned Round Lake’s Ireland McCain (20-5) on the title mat, and McCain is herself a two-time state qualifier, and ranked No. 6 just behind Bartlett’s Emma Engels at No. 5.

Homewood-Flossmoor’s Nina Hamm (11-3) who advanced to state last season as a sophomore, was third overall after her pin of New Trier’s Zoe Lee (10-6). Oak Forest junior Marjorie Rodriguez (15-4) earned fifth place with a pin of Lakes’ Osmairi Medina Alvarado.

120 – Olivia Heft – Lakes

The story of Olivia Heft even brings a smile to the face of the Lakes senior herself, who cruised easily to her first Berman title and perhaps took another big step forward to getting back to where she was two years ago during a sensational sophomore campaign.

Not one of those who met Heft (17-1) in Palatine were able to solve the Eagles’ senior who sent all three of her rivals off via pins, including her opponent in the final, Oak Forest’s Charlotte Pedroza (13-8).

“I’ve been slowly working my way back to being close to a hundred percent after missing all of last season to labrum surgery,” began Heft.

“Nine months of being off and away from the sport, it’s been tough at times but I feel better with each day, knowing the hard work will pay off as I look to get back to state.”

Heft was the state runner-up at 115 pounds during a glorious postseason run two years ago as a sophomore. Heft won an Evanston sectional title before a stunning 4-1 victory downstate over Yorkville’s top-seeded Yami Aguirre in the semifinals sent her into a state final against undefeated Maya Davis from Glenwood.

“It was a great experience two years ago at state, so my goal is to get back there and make another run onto the podium,” said Heft, who plans on a career as a physical therapist.

Conant’s Beth Ciavarella (12-9) finished third after her 9-7 decision over Homewood-Flossmoor’s Amirat Lawal, and West Chicago’s Susana Correa was fifth overall after her 7-5 sudden victory triumph against Andrew’s Saja Bader.

125 – Lilly White, Bartlett

What a terrific first year it has been for Lilly White.

The Bartlett sophomore claimed her second major trophy of the season following a marvelous four-match effort that saw each contest end by a fall, including her pin at 3:00 over Waukegan senior Noelani Rodriguez (17-3), who won a title at Niles West earlier in the year.

“I really feel like my background in ju-jitsu has helped me transition more easily into this sport,” White said. “Because in that sport it’s all about being physically, and mentally strong in order to succeed.” 

White (18-1) won her first title of the season at Glenbard South.

“It’s great being in the room with someone like Emma (Engels) who is a state champion, and has a lot of experience in the sport. And to have such a great coaching staff help me so much in my first year in the sport,” White said.

Oak Forest’s Camila O’Leary Salas (15-3) placed third after her pin of Andrew’s Hala Salem, and Conant’s Brooklyn Jones (14-6) was fifth overall after she pinned Homewood-Flossmoor’s Amara Nwyoe.

130 – Briana Anselmo, Elgin

The Elgin Royals’ faithful were all smiles after watching Briana Anselmo (9-5) convert the perfect escape with 11 seconds remaining in the first overtime of her title match to defeat Dundee-Crown’s Ruby Gavina.

The 3-2 sudden victory ended a wonderful day on the mats for the Royals sophomore. Anselmo advanced into the final after back-to-back pins helped send her through against Gavina (22-5), who withstood a fierce challenge in her semifinal bout with Jenny Espinal (12-5) from West Chicago.

“This feels great to win at a big tournament like this, which is my first one ever,” said Anselmo, who showed terrific composure, positioning, and fortitude during a second period when she rode Gavina hard for nearly two minutes to send this final into the third period level at 2-2.

Dundee-Crown coach Cynthia Sanchez, a D-C grad and now a special education teacher at the school, sees Anselmo’s commitment to the sport.

“Briana is just in her second year, with no previous experience in the sport, but in the room she is a hard worker,” Sanchez said. “And it’s all business with her. She always wants to be better, and grow as a wrestler.

“(Anselmo) implements what we are teaching in the room into her matches, and she is a hundred percent all-in when training and competing.”

Andrew senior Lana Shuaibi would later pin Espinal in the third place match, while Zion-Benton’s Emily Ortiz (19-3) used a pin at 2:37 to defeat Oak Forest’s Jordan Clyne for fifth place.

135 – Madelyn Sears, Oak Forest

Madelyn Sears would survive a nervy third period in her final against Soraya Walikonis to earn a spot atop the podium at 135 pounds.

The second-seeded Oak Forest senior used a one-point penalty point for stalling, and then an escape to go ahead of Walikonis (6-4) with 30 seconds before time. Sears then conceded a pair of penalty points for stalling but still hung on long enough to secure a hard fought 6-5 decision.

“It was kind of a crazy ending, but I felt really good about this win,” said Sears, who improved to 17-3 with the win. “The goal, of course, is to get downstate in my senior year and come home with a medal, after missing out last year.”

“Maddy turned in a very gritty performance today,” Oak Forest coach John Sebek said. “She finally reached the top spot on the podium after reaching the podium at every (tournament) we’ve participated in.

“This is the start of (Sears’) third year and it has been remarkable to see how much she has progressed during that time.”

Walikonis, now 18-6 on the year, defeated Zion-Benton’s top-seed Jay Thompson (20-4) in the semifinals.

Thompson went on to finish third after she pinned Lakes’ Christina Hasner (15-9) while Conant’s Jasmine Zavaleta (14-7) earned fifth place over Round Lake’s Brianna Perez.

140 – Alyssa Keane, Andrew

Despite finishing third last season at the state tournament with a dazzling 32-5 overall record, Andrew junior Alyssa Keane found herself outside of the top four seeds when the brackets were posted early Friday morning.

The two-time state qualifier, and current No. 7-ranked 145-pounder quickly tossed aside the error in the system by pinning her way into the final against New Trier junior Jillian Giller.

Keane outlasted Giller 9-8 to claim her third major trophy of the first half of the season. She also won individual tournament titles at Minooka and Larkin, and was a Berman champion last year at 135.

“(Giller) is a tough opponent, someone I’ve beaten before, so it was important to wrestle hard and smart for six minutes,” Keane said. Especially in that third period, when I thought I earned two points but they went the other way.

“The biggest thing for me this year is I’m more confident and composed compared to last season, which I know will help me as we go further into this season.”

Giller (14-4) No. 7 at 140 pounds, pinned Palatine’s Karimot Lawal (15-7) in her semifinal match after Lawal topped Downers Grove South’s fourth-seeded Alison Garcia (8-3) in the quarterfinals.

Conant’s Ewa Krupa (14-4) beat Lawal in the third place bout, while Dundee-Crown’s Perla Lomeli (13-4) decisioned Garcia for fifth place.

145 – Naomi Foote, Zion-Benton

Two-sport star Naomi Foote (18-5) gave Zion-Benton the first of its two championship crowns when the Zee Bees junior pinned Oak Forest’s Iyobosa Odiase (19-6) at 1:33 of the first period.

Foote – also a defender on Zion-Benton’s soccer team – had little trouble on her day as she advanced into each new round by virtue of a fall. She spent a grand total of just under seven minutes on the mats to gather a well-deserved first-place bracket.

“I finished second at Niles West, then the next weekend I didn’t wrestle my best at Waukegan, and was fifth last week at Hampshire,” Foote said. “So to come out here today and win the tournament feels really good right now.”

St. Viator junior Avery Brooks (12-11) was third after she pinned Evanston’s Kennedy Murray (10-5) while Grayslake North freshman Victoria Marquez pinned Andrew’s Ahlam Mehyar in the fifth place match.

155 – Callie Carr, Hinsdale South

Hinsdale South’s Callie Carr has plenty of support from her teammates, coaching staff, and especially her family – specifically her older brother Griffin Carr, who starred at Hinsdale South and is now playing collegiate football at UW-Whitewater.

Callie Carr left all four of her opponents in her wake en route to the 155-pound title, her second major of the season.

“I’m feeling so much better this season – stronger, quicker, and just feeling really good about my wrestling,” Carr said. “But I know I have to continue to work hard if I want to get on the podium this year.

Carr (14-2) pinned New Trier’s Nina Aceves (17-4) in Palatine.

“My two losses are to Sydney Perry (Batavia) who just beats everyone to show why she’s nationally-ranked,” Carr said. “But despite those losses, I still feel real confident about things. And it’s great to have Griffin come down from college to watch me as often as he can.”

Carr went 14-3 as a state qualifier last season as a freshmen at 155, and entered the Berman as the No. 6-rated1 55-pounder in the state.

Dundee-Crown’s Mackenzie Lessner pinned teammate Helen Ruelas for third place, and Zion-Benton’s Grace Johnson was fifth after her 6-4 decision of Central senior Jada Hall.

170 – Ryann Miller, Burlington Central

Ryann Miller is yet another newcomer on the high school scene who has made her mark from almost the instant the Central freshman stepped onto the mats.

Miller (27-1) would complete a marvelous day of wrestling when she pinned her fourth opponent on the day to win the 170-pound title, and her fourth of the season.

“I’ve been in the sport since fifth grade, so I feel really confident out there even though I am just a freshman in high school,” Miller said after title-match pin against Oak Forest’s Ryann Reeves (17-1).

While Miller was claiming the top prize recently at the Hampshire Invite, so was Reeves – but at 155 pounds, where the returning state qualifier is likely to compete during the postseason.

“Coming in at 170 is a tough weight for a freshman, but I’ve worked hard and feel like I’ve held my own really well,” Miller said. “But I’m also lucky to have a teammate like Jada Hall in the room because she’s at 155 and really quick and strong.” 

Miller needed just 59 seconds to advance into the semifinals where she posted her third pin of the day over Palatine’s Sabrina Cargill (18-2) a state qualifier who went on to finish third overall.

Cargill beat Grant’s Riley O’Grady (14-6) for third, and Andrew’s Janae Vargas earned fifth place with her pin of Oswego East’s Jessica Stover (12-4).

190 – Ileen Castrejon, Zion-Benton

Zion-Benton senior ILeen Castrejon would come back strong from a hard-fought championship match defeat at Hampshire to dominate the bracket en route to win this weight class going away.

Illinois’ No. 4-ranked 170-pounder bumped up to take on a strong field, which included three state-ranked rivals, all of whom Castrejon shoved aside en route to taking home the big trophy.

“I’ve worked very hard at improving my fitness,” Castrejon (7-1) said. “It’s so important when the really important matches go six minutes or more.

“In the past, there’s always been a little self-doubt but I feel this year my confidence is so much better than ever before, and I know that will be a big help later on in the season.”

Castrejon is a two-time state medalist, her first coming in 2022 when she was runner-up to Hononegah star Rose Cassioppi, who followed her All-American older brother Anthony to the University of Iowa to continue to wrestle.

Castrejon won by fall in the Berman quarterfinals against Lakes’ Josie Larson (20-3), who is currently ranked No. 2 at 190 in Illinois. She then pinned Oak Forest’s fifth-ranked Isabel Peralta (24-2) in the semifinals before needing 51 seconds to earn her first-place medal with a pin over Andrews’ Emma Akpan who is currently ranked eighth in Illinois at 235.

Peralta defeated Jefferson’s Kylie Eilken for third, and Larson would come back to defeat Elgin’s Nina Mullins in the fifth-place match.

235 – Jessica Komolafe, Oak Forest

Oak Forest had long-secured its first Sally Berman Holiday Classic title before Jessica Komolafe gave her club its third title of the day. But the Bengals’ star supplied the cherry atop the championship trophy with a superb effort, albeit a super quick one, during her 41 seconds on the mat against Evanston’s Jereni Marshall.

Marshall (14-3) who pinned her way into the finals but couldn’t solve Komolafe (20-3), who earned her third tournament title of the season. Komolafe used up a all but 2:30 minutes of the clock on the day to validate her place as the No. 7-ranked 235-pounder in the state.

“I am having so much fun in this sport,” Komolafe said. “My level of confidence is really high, I trust my coaches, and I really enjoy being around all of my teammates so much.

“I’ve worked hard on a lot of things to improve, especially my set-ups, but I also try to keep things simple, stay with the basics, and just go out and be the best that I can, even against big, strong opponents like (Marshall).”

Komolafe’s coach is happy to have Komolafe as a team leader.

“Jessica showed her dominance today by not allowing a point to be scored on her,” Sebek said, “and as the lightest 235-pounder in her bracket at 194 pounds, that shows just how good she was.

“She proved that hard work, and determination will pay off. I think all of her teammates would agree she is the heart and soul of this team.”

Downers Grove South sophomore Zuzia Cebulski (10-4) was third after a fall over Bartlett’s Kim Olwoch while Andrew’s Samaher Eljubeh used a pin at 5:17 over Round Lake’s Yareli Macias to earn fifth-place honors.

Sally Berman Championship Match Results:

100 – Mia Vazquez (Rickover Academy) major d. Diamond Rodriguez (Dundee-Crown) 10-1

105 – Alexandra Sebek (Oak Forest) p. Zaryia Mouzon (Lakes) 0:40

110 – Emma Engels (Bartlett) d. Victoria Macias (Central) 11-4

115 – Ayane Jasinski (Grant) p. Ireland McCain (Round Lake) 5:12

120 – Olivia Heft (Lakes) p. Charlotte Pedroza (Oak Forest) 3:41

125 – Lilly White (Bartlett) p. Noelani Rodriguez (Waukegan) 3:00.

130 – Briana Anselmo (Elgin) d. Ruby Gavina (Dundee-Crown) SV-1, 3-2.

135 – Madelyn Sears (Oak Forest) d. Soraya Walikonis (Central) 6-5

140 – Alyssa Keane (Andrews) d. Jillian Giller (New Trier) 9-8

145 – Naomi Foote (Zion-Benton) p. Iyobosa Odiase (Oak Forest) 1:33

155 – Callie Carr (Hinsdale South) p. Nina Aceves (New Trier) 0:00

170 – Ryann Miller Miller (Burlington Central) p. Ryann Reeves (Oak Forest) 1:50

190 – Ileen Castrejon (Zion-Benton) p. Emma Akpan (Andrew) 0:51

235 – Jessica Komolafe (Oak Forest) p. Jereni Marshall (Evanston) 0:41

Final team scores: 1. Oak Forest (211) 2. Andrew (176) 3. Dundee-Crown (102) 4. Zion-Benton (99) 5. Homewood-Flossmoor (95) 6. Lakes (94) 7. Conant (91) 8. Burlington Central (88) 9. Bartlett (78) 10. New Trier (70) 11. Round Lake (64) 12. Evanston (54) 13. West Chicago (51.5) 14. Downers Grove South (51) 15. Palatine (50) 16. Grant (49) 17. Grayslake North (46) 18. Elgin (44) 19. St. Viator (34) 16. Waukegan (32.5) 17. Hinsdale South (30) 17. Oswego East (30) 19. Rickover Naval Academy (25) 20. Jefferson (15) 21. Fremd (1).

By Chris Walker For the IWCOA

Lincoln-Way East won five individual titles and had five additional wrestlers either lose in the title match or win on the third-place mat as the Griffins reigned supreme on the 16-team field during Thursday’s 47th annual Ed Ewoldt Wrestling Invitational at Wheaton Warrenville South.

Kaidge Richardson (126), Tyson Zvonar (132), Brayden Morrell (138), Domanic Abeja (150) and Caden O’Rourke (215) returned to Frankfort as champions in their respective weight classes for the Griffins.

JT Theis (113) and Alex Lizak (157) lost by decision in their title bouts while Kevin Byrne (144), Jackson Zaeske (175) and Isaiah Williams (190) all prevailed in third-place matches.

“This is a good tournament for us,” Griffins coach Kevin Rockett said. “We do a lot of two-day tournaments so this is good one for us, a single day after the holiday. It’s a nice one for us in the middle of the year with solid competition and to just get in here after the holidays and to get some good wrestling in.”

The Griffins finished with 280.5 points while runner-up Downers Grove North scored 194.50 despite having only one wrestler advance to the finals as Jaden Lewis prevailed at 190 for the Trojans.

Lyons was third with 189, Dixon was fourth with 163 and West Chicago was fifth with 142 to round out the top five teams. The host Tigers were seventh with 122.

“Out of the 13 guys we brought here, most of our guys were in some sort of placing match,” Rockett said. “It’s the middle of the season and we’re about to turn it up a little bit. We just got back from the Dvorak so this is a nice solid tournament for us. We’re trying to clean some things up, and up and down our lineup guys are working on different things, and some guys who maybe have struggled a bit or taken some bumps and bruises, it’s a good tournament to get some wins under our belt going into the last couple weeks here. The Illini Classic is a real tough, two-day (tournament) and then we roll into the conference tournament and then already we’re in the state series.”

106 – Jack Ragan, Dixon 

Ragan doesn’t like to waste time. After getting a pin in the opening minute in his victory in the semis, the 10th-ranked 106-pounder in 2A won by fall against West Chicago’s Emanuel Rangel in 2:50.

“I try to make quick work for my people so I tried to pin him right away,” Ragan said. “I definitely like to be aggressive out there, to be strong right away and put some fear into them.”

Wheeling’s Frankie Katz had a 5-0 decision over Lyons’ Ignacio Rodriguez for third place, and Downers Grove North’s Logan Loftus earned a 12-0 major decision over Hoffman Estates’ Mann Patel on the fifth-place mat.

113 – Riley Parades, Dixon

Parades, who is just a freshman, scored a pair of victories by fall to advance to the championship where he edged Lincoln-Way East freshman JT Theis, 2-1.

Downers Grove North’s Tyler Tiangco won an 8-2 decision over T.F. South’s Jayden Scott for third place, and West Chicago’s Jonathan Antonio earned a 13-9 decision over Willowbrook’s Miteku Branch on the fifth-place mat.

120 – Griff Powell, Lyons

Powell kept his poise during his championship match against Plainfield East’s Aidan Villar, prevailing 3-1 in overtime.

“He wrestled an interesting style, he likes to keep his matches close,” Powell said about Villar. “He didn’t shoot one shot so it was ten shots to one. It was a little tough coming in three days after Christmas, but I got down to weight and performed what I needed to do.”

West Chicago’s Ryan Alvarado earned a 10-5 win over Downers Grove North’s Cory MongellMongoliao on the third-place mat, and Lincoln-Way East’s Zach Miller edged Homewood-Flossmoor’s Robert Williams by a 9-8 decision for fifth place.

126 – Kaidge Richardson Lincoln-Way East

A year ago, Richardson remembered seeing a lot of his fellow teammates warming up for the finals. He experienced a similar thing on Thursday.

“I came in here knowing after last year that it’s just one of those good tournaments that you want to wrestle your best,” he said, “I felt like I met my expectations.”

Richardson recorded a pair of pins before his opponent in the title bout at 126, Evanston’s Marco Terrizzi, went down with an injury.

“I don’t know who he was so I was a little nervous,” Richardson said. “But once I got out there I got away from that.”

The sophomore continues to progress.

“This season has been going pretty good so far,” he said. “I’ve just been slowly progressing over time and at the end of the day it’s a slow progression toward the end of the season. It’s all a build up to there so I just want to improve every day and constantly get better.”

He’s definitely enjoying wrestling for Lincoln-Way East, which sent wrestlers to seven of the 14 championship bouts.

“This is a good team to be a part of,” he said. “Like most tournaments we go to, it’s definitely a challenge, but at the end of the day it’s fun to be a part of this team and being with your team and winning.”

Lyons’ Roger Martinez won by a 4-3 decision against Wheeling’s Max Katz for third place, and Oak Lawn’s Ammar Elayyan took fifth place by forfeit against West Chicago Pedro Arroyo.

132 – Tyson Zvonar, Lincoln-Way East

8th-ranked Zvonar pinned all three of his opponents to capture the 132 title for the Griffins. 

“I felt like I wrestled through positions well and I thought it was a good overall tournament for our team obviously and then individually it worked out well,” he said. “I mean, it’s just another opponent that you got to face every time you go out there and it’s fun to go out there and compete and wrestle six minutes hard.”

Evanston’s Erne Atac was Zvonar’s opponent in the championship round and while the senior stuck around for a bit, Zvonar finally finished him by fall at 5:49.

“It’s awesome to go out there and see what you can do,” Zvonar said. “These kind of tournaments are good for competition and then good for seeing what comes February. It’s just good for us overall to get back into the groove. It’s just a good tournament overall for us to compete and try new things.”

Amongst the hectic schedule of holidays, being out of school, the impending New Year and countless spreads of food during seasonal parties, wrestlers are facing tough opponents and distractions away from the mats as well as on them.

“At the end of the day you’ve got to keep your mind on what’s important and do what you really want to do,” Zvonar said. “We all had a two-pound allowance which definitely helps to eat some stuff, but at the end of the day it’s about keeping your goal six inches in front of your face and knowing what you want come February. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that so far, and think we’ll be ready come February.”

138 – Brayden Morrell, Lincoln-Way East

Morrell’s road to a title was one of the toughest among all of the wrestling that took place in Wheaton at this year’s event.

After opening with a win by fall over Plainfield East’s Daniel Nevarez, Morrell edged Evanston’s Bryan Lemos by a 7-6 decision. Morrell then needed overtime to defeat West Chicago’s Donovan Avila before sneaking past Wheaton Warrenville South’s Cooper Hollis by a 2-0 decision in the finals.

Avila bounced back to win third place with a 9-2 decision against Downers Grove North’s Caden Chiarelli. Dixon’s James Simpson defeated Hoffman Estates’ David Ogunofowokan on the fifth-place mat by fall.

144 – Ethan Wojtowich, Waubonsie Valley

Third time’s a charm!

Wrestling in his third and final Ewoldt, Wojtowich walked away with a title there for the first time on Thursday.

“Going into this I just thought to myself I just wanted to get this win,” he said. “It’s big to me. It’s my last tournament of the (2023) year before the DVC and all that stuff so I thought I just might as well win it.”

Wojtowich said he’d placed third and fourth in his prior appearances at Ewoldt. This time he pinned Dixon junior Jayden Weidman in 2:57 for the title.

“As soon as the buzzer rang, he shot,” Wojtowich explained. ‘I knew he was aggressive and I knew my best thing is my offense so I knew I had to push my pace on him rather than him setting the tone on me. At first he started out strong and he shot on me, but then I was able to defend him and stuff. I started putting my pressure onto him, my shots. I wanted to dictate how the match went and go my pace for the match.”

Wojtowich improved to 24-2 on the season.

“I was able to come in here knowing it’s my last year and there are no other guys older or more experienced,” he said. “So I’m just going to put pressure on him. I know what I’m capable of now.”

The power of positively is big with Wojtowich.

“I just tell myself I can do it,” he said. “I try to get myself into the right mindset. I try to warm up as early as possible to try to get in the right mindset. It’s not just getting my body warm, it’s getting myself mentally ready before my matches so I just tell myself I can do it and I just see who I’m versus and kind of see what he’s doing a little bit and then focus on myself mostly. I’m mostly getting myself ready.”

While the Warriors haven’t seen much success as a team this winter, Wojtowich is proud be a part of their commitment to getting better while celebrating this great sport.

“It’s been great wrestling with the guys because we have a good bunch of guys,” he said. “We have team spirit in there. Everyone is trying to encourage each other. We’re always there whenever someone has a match. The whole team is watching. Right now we have a small varsity team. We have a lot of people –  88 in total – but a small team because we want our best wrestlers that are varsity-qualify to wrestle. We have a good bond with the small amount of people we have.”

Lincoln-Way East’s Kevin Byrne scored a major decision win against Downers Grove North’s Antonio Manzo for third place, and West Chicago’s took fifth place over Evanston’s Manny Holloway by forfeit.

150 – Domanic Abeja, Lincoln-Way East

Abeja followed up a pair of victories by fall with a 12-0 major decision against Dixon’s Cade Hey in the 150 final.

Abeja proved to be one of five champions for the Griffins as his dominant effort helped the team win the title as well.

Wheeling’s Nicholas Montesinos won by a 7-0 decision against Downers Grove North’s Liam O’Sullivan to take third place, and Lyons’ Finn Forsythe win by fall against West Chicago’s Brian Correa on the fifth-place mat.

157 – Niko Duggan, Plainfield East

Duggan continues to dig into his opponents.

The Bengals’ senior recently captured the 157 title at the Mickey Marchese Memorial Tournament at Hoffman Estates, pinning a pair of opponents and winning another two matches by decisions. At the Ewoldt, the 7th-ranked wrestler in Illinois at 157pinned a couple of opponents from Downers Grove North and Dixon before winning an 8-4 decision against Lincoln-Way East’s Alex Lizak in the 157 final.

Evanston’s Rodrigo Salinas earned a 6-2 decision against Lyons’ Mickey Ahrens to capture third place, and Downers Grove North’s Mike Schaefer won by fall over Dixon’s Konner Koehler on the fifth-place mat.

165 – Gunnar Garelli, Lyons

Gunnar Garelli is gunning for even more this season after finishing in fourth place at 160  during the IHSA Class 3A state finals a season ago.

Ranked third in 3A at 165, Garelli appears to be on the same course of excellence. He put forth a dominant performance in Wheaton, pinning his three opponents, including Evanston’s Xavier Stark at 4:00 in the 165 final.

On the third-place mat, Plainfield East’s Jerry Nino won by a 9-4 decision against Oak Lawn’s Isaac Barber while in the battle for fifth place, Dixon’s Jayce Kastner earned a 6-0 decision over Lincoln-Way East’s Christian Darnell.

175 – Sedeeq Al Obaidi, Wheaton Warrenville South

Al Obaidi could not have scripted it any better.

Competing in his final Ewoldt, in his senior season, while at home, Al Obaidi won his 100th match, earned the lone title for the Tigers and was recognized as this year’s Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

Al Obaidi is currently ranked 5th in Illinois at 175, and what an unforgettable day it proved to be for him.

“I just trusted the process and kept going,” he said. “Getting to 100 career wins at home at my own tournament and being a champ here as well was pretty nice.”

After making his wrestling debut in the sixth grade, Al Obaidi quickly recognized that this sport was right for him.

“I became a state qualifier in eighth grade but it got canceled because of COVID,” he said. “But after that I knew I just wanted to put in the work and keep going and keep reaching the next level.”

While he was the only Tiger to become an Ewoldt champion this season, Wheaton Warrenville South and Dixon each had four wrestlers advance to the finals which was the most among any of the 16 teams other than Lincoln-Way East.

“Teammates did pretty well and we ended up having four finalists,” he said. “Everyone fell short a little bit, but it was really good wrestling today. I’ve seen a lot of improvements from my teammates.”

Jackson Zaeske defeated Dixon’s Steven Kitzman by fall to take third place. Zaeske had battled Al Obaidi in a semifinal before bowing out, 5-2. Such a battle also may have given Al Obaidi a confidence boost heading into the final.

“Having that match go three periods like that and knowing you’ve already done it once in this tournament, I knew I could do it again,” Al Obaidi said, “That was a close match in the semis. It was a tough match with pretty good wrestling. So going into my last match I knew I could go into the third period and do it again so I wasn’t nervous or anything, I knew I could do it.”

Plainfield East’s Robert Vogel won by forfeit against Downers Grove North’s Cam Menzione for fifth place.

190 – Jaden Lewis, Downers Grove North

Lewis earned a pair of wins by fall before defeating Elvis Muja on his home turf at Wheaton Warrenville South by a 5-1 decision. With the three wins, Lewis improved to 13-8 on the year.

Lincoln-Way East’s Isaiah Williams won by fall against Lyons’ Matt Turek to win the third-place match at 190. Meanwhile, West Chicago’s Daniel Guzman won by fall against Larkin’s Imanol Pantoya on the fifth-place mat.

215 – Caden O’Rourke, Lincoln-Way East 

O’Rourke pinned Waubonsie Valley’s Josh Housour for the 215 title in 1:51. The junior for the Griffins also won by fall in 1:00 and 1:14 in his matches leading up to his title victory.

Abdulhamid Olowu was the top finisher for Hoffman Estates, earning third place after he won by fall against Wheaton Warrenville South’s Mason Monce at 215. On the fifth-place mat, Lyons’ Nick Arquilla earned a 9-6 decision over T.F. South’s Emon Arnold.

285 – Sam Costello, Lyons

After getting past Lincoln-Way East’s Ryan Stingily, 2-0, and then edging Evanston’s Jeremy Marshall, 1-0, Lyons senior Sam Costello scored a 10-0 major decision against Wheaton Warrenville South’s Ashton Kibbe to win the 285 title and improve to 17-7 overall this year.

Waubonsie Valley’s Leo Hobson won by fall against Marshall to take third place, and Homewood-Flossmoor’s Bryce Pollard won by forfeit over West Chicago’s Omar Sarmiento for fifth place.

Here’s a look at the champions and weight classes at the 47th annual Ed Ewoldt Wrestling Invitational:

106 – Jack Ragan (Dixon) F 2:50 Emanuel Rangel (West Chicago)

113 – Riley Parades (Dixon) D 2-1 JT Theis (Lincoln-Way East)

120 – Griff Powell (Lyons) D 3-1 OT Aidan Villar (Plainfield East)

126 – Kaidge Richardson (Lincoln-Way East) D INJ Marco Terrizzi (Evanston)

132 – Tyson Zvonar (Lincoln-Way East) F 5:39 Eren Atac (Evanston)

138 – Brayden Morrell (Lincoln-Way East) D 2-0 Cooper Hollis (Wheaton Warrenville South)

144 – Ethan Wojtowich (Waubonsie Valley) F 2:57 Jayden Weidman (Dixon)

150 – Domanic Abeja (Lincoln-Way East) MAJ 12-0 Cade Hey (Dixon)

157 – Niko Duggan (Plainfield East) D 8-4 Alex Lizak (Lincoln-Way East)

165 – Gunner Garelli (Lyons) TF 4:00 Xavier Starks (Evanston)

175 – Seder Al Obaidi (Wheaton Warrenville South) MAJ 16-5 Noah Brockie (Willowbrook)

190 – Jaden Lewis (Downers Grove North) D 5-1 Elvis Muja (Wheaton Warrenville South)

215 – Caden O’Rourke (Lincoln-Way East) F 1:51 Josh Housour (Waubonsie Valley)

285 – Sam Costello (Lyons) MAJ 10-0 Ashton Kibbe (Wheaton Warrenville South)

By Bobby Narang for the IWCOA

CICERO – Three days after Christmas, the Morton Fieldhouse and gymnasium were filled with wrestlers aiming to add some post-holiday hardware.

The 2023 Steve Eckert Holiday Wrestling Classic was a nonstop flurry of activity, with the fieldhouse doors open, which allowed plenty of space for wrestlers to roam before and after their matches. Some wrestlers walked to the far corner of the field house following their matches, while others took short jogs around the track.

In the end, Bolingbrook captured its second-straight title at the event, finishing with 211 points to narrowly beat out Riverside-Brookfield (200). Stagg claimed third place with 148.5 points, host Morton took fourth with 127.5 points and Plainfield South snared fifth with 117.5 points.
Bolingbrook coach AJ Knoll said his five champions were part of a deep and motivated lineup that led his team to the victory. The weight-class winners for Bolingbrook included Jared Craig (120), Damin Hudson (126), Aaron Camacho (144), Tommy McDermott (165) and Gonzalo Camacho (175).

“Last year, we were the younger team, but had a fuller lineup,” Knoll said. “I’m not sure what it is about this year because we had a couple of starters not come back but the ones that did are seeing the payoff of the hard work they are putting in. Our core guys dominated, and we got an outstanding wrestler (award) out of it — Gonzalo (Camacho) at 175, who pinned his way through the tournament.

“They are buying into the program. Last year, it was just me basically coaching the varsity team. This year, we have a full group of assistants. The (team is) starting to believe. I put a good staff around me, and we are starting to see kids buy in.”

Morton first-year coach James Hensley is no stranger to the event, though he did say the name of the invite has changed several times. It is now named for former head coach Steve Eckert, who guided the Mustangs’ program from 1999-2015 and spent 23 years total as a coach with the program.

After coaching at Morton for several years and spending seven seasons at Naperville North, Hensley is back, but this time as the head varsity coach.

“Overall, they wrestled nicely as a team,” Hensley said of his team. “Everyone was excited. I know I’m excited to get back to where I started. We have held (the tournament) for a long time but took a break a couple of years ago. Overall, I think it went fantastic.

We had full brackets. We had a close race for first. I was happy we finished fourth, just ahead of Fenwick. We lost to them in dual two weeks ago, and were able to finish three places higher than Fenwick today. My team showed a lot of growth and although we didn’t have any champions, they are getting better. We’re very young, with just three seniors. We’re getting better every day.”

106 — Jamiel Castleberry, Proviso West

Jamiel Castleberry was on a mission on Thursday. After an impressive second-place showing at the prestigious Dvorak tournament, Castleberry was aiming for a first-place medal.

He achieved his goal by beating Ridgewood’s Islam Khater with a 15-4 major decision in the finals.

“I kept my feet moving at all times, got my hands on my opponent to create angles, getting to my attacks and working hard on top and scoring as many points as possible,” Castleberry said. “Whenever I do those things right, I feel very confident and feel I can come out on top every time.”

Castleberry (16-1) said he’s benefitted from some tough matches early in the season, helping him gear up for a possible run at making state. His lone defeat came against Hononegah’s Rocco Cassioppi at the Dvorak finals.

“I’ve had a few good matches against some solid guys and I came out on top, so that’s always a confidence going into the second half of the season,” he said. “My lone loss was lopsided, but I know for a fact I’m way better than what the score was. I just wasn’t in the right headspace a bit and was shell-shocked, I didn’t get to my attacks, and I was flat-footed most of the time. I know I will wrestle him again and the outcome will be way different.”

Castleberry said his best win this season came against then-top ranked Wauconda’s Gavin Rockey at Dvorak in a semifinal match.

“(Gavin) is a pretty good wrestler and he’s lanky, so I knew I had to finish my attacks quick and protect my legs,” Castleberry said. “Besides that, I felt I controlled the match very well and came out on top. My goals for this season are to stay healthy, keep competing to the best of my ability and to win a state title.”

Riverside-Brookfield’s Mateo Gonzalez bested Stagg’s Javier Corral for third place, and Morton’s Tristan Rodriguez scored points for the host program with a win over St. Laurence’s Seamus Gahagan.

113 – Edgar Mosquera, Riverside-Brookfield

Riverside-Brookfield junior Edgar Mosquera encountered a tough hurdle against a motivated Isaac Harris of Bolingbrook in the 113 final. Mosquera outlasted Harris with a 6-5 decision to claim the title.

“I just tried to tire him out and I know I can keep a better pace,” Mosquera said. “That was my first time wrestling him. My conditioning and keeping persistent helped me, especially when my opponents got tired (on Thursday). My best match was against Stagg (Jaime Corral). He was keeping a good pace, but he got tired in the second period. In the third period, he was so tired. I felt I could outpace him.”

Mosquera (20-2) said he was encouraged by his performance at Morton.

“I think it was my best showing of the season,” he said. “There were some good wrestlers. I have to keep on training and working hard to get better.”

Meanwhile, Harris said he’s been wrestling for seven years and plans on making a big leap in 2024.

“My coaches keep telling me to wrestle tough and hard,” Harris said. “This year the tournament had more teams and was harder. I have to be smart and pay attention in the (wrestling) room. I’m trying to build up. I’m lanky right now, so I’m trying to build some muscle.”

120 – Jared Craig, Bolingbrook

Jared Craig earned a big win for Bolingbrook in the lower weights, knocking off Proviso West’s Anthony Brown 7-1 in the finals.

“The keys for me were confidence and going into the tournament knowing I was going to win,” Craig said. “I also trusted and stuck to what I learned and practiced in the wrestling room. I think my best win this season was from this tournament, when I beat (Stagg’s Anas Ahmed). I lost to him last year in the same tournament in overtime. I stuck to what I know and that’s wrestling smart, keeping my foot on the gas and (staying) confident in myself. I pinned him in the third period for the win.”

Craig was part of a strong contingent of Bolingbrook wrestlers who dominated at the Morton invite. He said he’s hopeful for many more big wins this season, especially after building his belief in himself.

At 12-6 on the season, Craig said he has made some adjustments that will help him for the second half of the season.

“My season has been going pretty good,” he said. “At first, I was down on myself about a few losses I took against some pretty good kids, but now I’ve been trying to get my mindset right and been feeling pretty good.”

Stagg’s Ahmed captured third place by topping Riverside-Brookfield’s Jayden Tulian, and Fenwick’s CJ Brown beat Little Village’s Jovanni Harris for fifth.

126 – Damin Hudson, Bolingbrook

Damin Hudson wrapped up a long and productive afternoon with a solid win over Stagg junior Dinero Garcia in the finals. Hudson (5-0) is showing a lot of promise for a sophomore wrestler.

“I listened to my coaches,” Hudson said. “They were telling me to breathe through the matches and take my time. I feel great going into 2024. I feel there’s a lot to be learned but I’m ready for bigger and better competition. My goal is definitely to get on top of the podium at state.”

Chicago Phoenix Military Academy junior Elijah Torres downed Morton’s Nicholas Guzman in the third-place match, and Riverside-Brookfield’s Nathan Stanard earned fifth by beating Maine East’s John Moor.

 132 – Colton Huff, St. Ignatius

Full-time wrestling is starting to pay off for Colton Huff.

The St. Ignatius wrestler made a decision to spend more time focusing on wrestling, which is looking like a smart move.

“This is my first season that I’ve fully focused on wrestling,” Huff said. “In years past, I’ve split my time between basketball and wrestling. This has given me the opportunity to really spend the time on technique. I’ve been studying a broader array of moves. My coaches at St. Ignatius have really pushed me on this effort.”

The competitors at 132 pounds on Thursday discovered the new and improved Huff. He rolled to the title in his weight class, defeating Riverside-Brookfield’s Jacob Godoy 7-4 in the finals.

“In this tournament, I was able to get on my offense on my feet,” Huff said. ‘I implemented some new ties that I’ve been practicing that worked well for me. My shape was good, and I continued to pressure in each match. I lost to (Godoy) at Fenton a month ago, and it was important to me to redeem that loss.

 “I (want) to continue to improve and wrestle hard, maintain my work ethic throughout the entire season and ultimately make it downstate in February.”

Maine East’s Dulguun Nyamdavaa earned a 6-4 decision over Stagg’s Samer Suleiman in the third-place match, and Argo’s Carlos Gutierrez downed Fenwick’s Burke Burns for fifth place.

138 – Vince Ramirez, Chicago Little Village

Before his matches on Thursday, Vince Ramirez maintained a positive attitude and made a point to visualize a victory.
His pre-match ritual worked to perfection, ending with a pin over Argo’s Kevin Bustillos in the 138 final.

“I had to visualize being on top of the podium,” Ramirez said. “I knew I had to be consistent and wrestle smart because there was going to be tough competition. I reminded myself to put myself in good positions that I was comfortable wrestling in and didn’t hesitate to take action.”

Ramirez called his victory over Bustillos his toughest match of the day.

“(Kevin) was pretty quick to recover, gave me a hard time looking for a takedown and he had a heavy club for sure,” he said.

Ramirez said working hard in the wrestling room is important if he wants to achieve his goal of “taking it all the way to state.”  Ramirez said he’s undefeated wrestling this season at 138, his two defeats coming at 144 pounds.

“Last season it was tough for me to compete because I was thinking I didn’t belong,” he said. “I thought I was just lucky enough to where I am, when in reality, I’m here for a reason. This season, I can’t settle for less. My loss in sectionals really motivated me. I have to keep being mentally tough and do whatever it takes to win.”

144 – Aaron Camacho, Bolingbrook

After dropping a 7-5 decision to Joliet West’s Carson Weber at the Dvorak tournament, Aaron Camacho bounced back in a big way at Morton. 

Camacho (18-1) closed out his showing at the diverse meet with an impressive win, topping Riverside-Brookfield’s Josh Gonzalez by fall for the title.

“I just tried to break down the kids and keep a high pace and keep on scoring points,” Aaron Camacho said. “I feel good. I’m not cutting a lot of weight, so I’m just focusing on technique instead of losing weight.”

Like his brother Gonzalo, Aaron Camacho has big goals for the remainder of the season.

“Winning state and doing good in the offseason wrestling,” he said. “I want to make a statement in wrestling.”

In the third-place match, Phoenix Military Academy’s Jose Lua pinned Argo’s Aldo Gutierrez, and Plainfield South’s Brad Surwillo pinned Fenwick’s Max Kenny for fifth.

150 – Marquis Deloach, Proviso West

Winning was just part of Marquis Deloach’s goals on Thursday.
He wanted to make a statement, too.

He accomplished his mission with a strong effort, pinning Morton’s David Roa in the second period to win the championship at 150.

“I was just going with the flow and getting to my offense first and getting to what I know (well),” Deloach said of the keys to winning at 150. “My season has been good. I’m looking forward to staying undefeated and winning state this year. I feel like I put on a show for everyone here and I had the coaches from other teams telling me that they like my positive energy and the way I wrestled.”

Bolingbrook’s Marcus Poe capped off a solid day by pinning Riverside-Brookfield’s Jacob Noe for third place. St. Ignatius junior Nate Sanchez claimed fifth by pinning Shepard’s TaVayris Howard.

157 – Aiden Burns, Fenwick

Aiden Burns prefers to do his talking via his actions.

Burns was making big-time moves on the mat throughout Thursday’s meet, and he preferred to let his actions do the talking for him where his first-place showing was concerned.

Burns claimed a 9-1 major decision over Plainfield South’s Chase Pierceall in the 157-pound final.

“I went into my matches ready to go,” Burns said. “My last match I put it all together by staying aggressive and keeping the tempo going.”
Burns said he’s been wrestling for almost seven years and he’s starting to see the fruits of his labor pay off this season. A linebacker on the football team, Burns said he’s devoting more time to wrestling.

“I know I can do better and have a lot of room to improve,” he said. “Overall, my offense has improved. My goal is to make it downstate.”

Fenwick coach Seth Gamino said Burns has the skill set and motivation to make a trip to state.

“Aiden’s goal to make it downstate and make some noise,” Gamino said. “He’s a really hard worker. He was excited to wrestle at Morton. He took third at Morton last year, so he really wanted to win and he took every match the same way by wrestling tough. His championship match was one of his finer matches of the season.”

Morton’s Rafael Lopez-Granados went on to finish in third, Maine East’s Tim Kato placed fourth, Shepard’s Isaiah Martinez took fifth and St. Ignatius’ Grant Ghaly ended in sixth.

165 – Tommy McDermott, Bolingbrook

Sophomore Tommy McDermott added another big victory for Bolingbrook by pinning Phoenix Military Academy’s Jules Rodriguez in the finals.

McDermott said he gained valuable experience at the Morton invite.

“I feel there are some things I can work on and things I can clean up, but overall I think I’ve pushed the pace in my matches and wrestled pretty good,” McDermott said. “I need to work on the bottom a little bit more and get better at neutral, plus the little mistakes I make on top can cost me some matches. I also have to work harder.”

After wrestling his freshman year at 138 pounds, McDermott, who also plays baseball, said he feels more comfortable with the additional experience on the varsity – and the additional pounds.

“It feels different this year for me,” McDermott said. “I’m definitely not as big of an underdog but I still feel I have a lot of things to prove and people are (still) overlooking me. I like being that dark horse that nobody knows is coming.”

Little Village’s Edwin Govea earned a big 9-7 decision over Fenwick’s Dominic Esposito in the third-place match, while Shepard’s Aiden Hill claimed fifth and Plainfield South’s Colin Bickett placed sixth.

175 – Gonzalo Camacho, Bolingbrook

Undefeated Gonzalo Camacho (8-0) added to his family’s memorable day with a flurry of pins, including a first-period pin over Maine East’s Isai Ocampo-Velasquez in the finals.

Camacho said his plan for Thursday’s meet was pretty simple.

“The keys for winning for me was to put the kids away, and that’s what I did,” Camacho said. “My season has been great heading into the end of 2023. I got on the mat after five years without competing. I’m having fun returning after a long time being out. I haven’t faced anyone challenging so far and I’ve pinned all my kids so far. My goal is to definitely improve as a wrestler day by day.”

Rounding out the top six spots, Fenwick’s Patrick Gilboy beat Riverside-Brookfield’s Max Strong for third place.

Argo’s Cornelius Vigovsky finished in fifth and Plainfield South’s Connor Matlock took sixth.

190 – Matthew Elzy, Riverside-Brookfield

Riverside-Brookfield junior Matthew Elzy was looking for his second tournament win this season. Elzy, who captured first place at 190 pounds at the Fenton tourney, is adjusting nicely to his new weight class after competing at 182 pounds last season.

Thursday was another example of his improvement, as Elzy closed out the tourney with a win over Morton’s Lenin Contreras for first place.

“I just stayed focused throughout my matches,” Elzy said. “I stayed locked in and kept my eyes on the prize. The 190 (class) is a lot tougher and stronger, so I had to focus on my endurance. At Fenton, I was pretty much able to pin a lot of guys in the first and second periods. I had to push myself here a lot because I had a lot longer matches.”

Elzy (13-1) said he was excited for his match against Fenwick’s Luke D’Alise, his second of the day. D’Alise is a star linebacker who committed to the Miami Hurricanes.

“My second match was my best one,” Elzy said. “He was a really tough guy. I just happened to pin him, kind of a fluke. He did a move, and I just happened to get him. I think all of the guys were tough. This is one of the few tournaments without a big variance. Overall, I feel fantastic. Last year I wasn’t quite good enough at 182. I got second at Morton. This year I’m winning 80 to 90 percent of my matches.

“I feel more dominant and am one of the bigger guys in my weight class. I’m working hard and not taking any days off.”

Rounding out the top six placers includes Argo’s Jacob Fries, D’Alise, Shepard’s Yazen Ashkar and Phoenix Military Academy’s Chris Tillman.

215 – Matt Janiak, Plainfield South

At 23-3 on the season, Plainfield South’s Matt Janiak is looking to make a splash in the next six-plus weeks. The senior added to his solid season by pinning Phoenix Military Academy junior Kaleb Abney in the finals.

St. Laurence’s Xavier Bitner knocked off Morton’s Carlos Arriaza for third place, while Argo’s Jesus Ibarra pinned Riverside-Brookfield’s Anthony Esposito for fifth place.

285 – Nicholas Armour, Leo

Staying in solid shape is one of the main factors explaining why Nicholas Armour was the top wrestler in his class on Thursday. The Leo junior pinned Stagg’s Terrell Williams in the second period to win his class.

“I just tried to tire them out,” Armour said. “The last match was tough. It was my most competitive and (Williams) was the only one at heavyweight who would shoot at me. He also knew to grab my ankle when I got off from the bottom. I was using my left foot for everything, so I had to switch it up.”

Armour credited his father for pushing him throughout an arduous day.
“My dad had a hand in hyping me up,” Armour said. “Every day leading up to the tournament, he would tell me to win out and he would make something good to eat. So I was motivated to win bad because I had a little extra. 

I have to stay locked in and continue to take in the information my coach gives me and also to keep my energy up. I’m excited to see how this season plays out. I’m going to try my hardest to get to state for both of my last two seasons.”

Bolingbrook senior Isaac Amoh claimed third place, Plainfield South’s Ian Portillo finished fourth, Phoenix Military Academy’s Brendyn Shields ended in fifth and Morton’s Miguel Rojas placed sixth.

Steve Eckert Holiday Wrestling Classic championship match results:

106 – Jamiel Castleberry (Proviso West) MD 15-4 Islam Khater (Ridgewood)

113 – Edgar Mosquera (Riverside-Brookfield) F 2:58 Nathan Martinez (St. Laurence)

120 – Jared Craig (Bolingbrook) F 2:49 Anthony Brown (Proviso West)

126 – Damin Hudson (Bolingbrook) SV-1 7-5 Dinero Garcia (Stagg)

132 – Colton Huff (St. Ignatius) D 7-4 Jacob Godoy (Riverside-Brookfield)

138 – Vince Ramirez (Little Village) F 3:06 Kevin Bustillos (Argo)

144 – Aaron Camacho (Bolingbrook) F 2:53 Josh Gonzalez (Riverside-Brookfield)

150 – Marquis Deloach (Proviso West) F 3:24 David Roa (Morton)

157 – Aiden Burns (Fenwick) MD 9-1 Chase Pierceall (Plainfield South)

165 – Tommy McDermott (Bolingbrook) F 1:37 Jules Rodriguez (PHX)

175 – Gonzalo Camacho (Bolingbrook) F 1:30 Isai Ocampo-Velasquez (Maine East)

190 – Matthew Elzy (Riverside-Brookfield) D 6-4 Lenin Contreras (Morton)

215 – Matt Janiak (Plainfield S) F 2:00 Kaleb Abney (Phoenix Military)

285 – Nicholas Armour (Leo) F 2:51 Terrell Williams (Stagg)

Final team scores: 1. Bolingbrook (211) 2. Riverside-Brookfield (200) 3. Stagg (148.5) 4. Morton (127.5) 5. Plainfield South (117.5) 6. Phoenix Military Academy (109.5) 7. Fenwick (109) 8. Argo (102) 9. Proviso West (94) 10. Maine East (81) 11. Shepard (79) 12. Little Village (71) 13. St. Laurence (61) 14. St. Ignatius (60.5) 15. Leo (32) 16. Ridgewood (25) 17. Hammond, IN (0) 17. North Chicago (0).