Feature Stories
IC Catholic Prep takes Dvorak crown
By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA
Three big dogs tore into each other at this year’s 36th Annual Al Dvorak Invitational on Sunday, as the team title hung in the balance heading into the championship round for IC Catholic Prep, St. Charles East and Montini.
And in the program’s first Dvorak appearance under coach Danny Alcocer, IC Prep snared its first-ever Dvorak team title, edging second-place St. Charles East 204.5-202, with Montini just off the lead with 188.5 and Yorkville well in the hunt with 182.5 points.
“It was a close one,” IC Catholic Prep coach Danny Alcocer said. “I thought we needed two champs but we ended up doing it with one, with bonus points.
“The tournament was a battle, the whole way. Starting on Day Two some of our young freshmen came through on the backside for us and got some big wins in that blood round. That gave us a little cushion there. It was nice to get the job done, but like I told these guys, we’re not going to celebrate because it’s right back to work. Hopefully we can celebrate come February or March.”
IC Prep senior Deven Casey won the Dvorak title at 132, while teammates Brody Kelly (175) and Foley Calcagno (215) both reached the finals and placed second.
Casey and his boys kept their noses to the grindstone as the tight team title race unfolded.
“We were definitely aware of it, but we weren’t looking at it too closely throughout the tournament,” Casey said. “We knew we were doing well and we were just focused on getting bonus points for sure. And that definitely made the difference.
“We’re definitely happy but we want the team title in February. It was cool to win at the Dvorak, but we really want to win in February.”
The Knights also got a third-place finish from Aidan Arnett (144), a fourth from Anthony Sebastian (285), and sixths from Jacob Alvarez (138) and Isaac Barrientos (190).
And in a tournament in which the team title was decided by a mere 2.5 points, IC Prep also got invaluable team points from Dominic Pasquale (106), Mike Bird (113), Kannon Judycki (120), Joey Pontrelli (150), and Nate Brown (165).
“This team is solid,” Alcocer said. “The goal every year is to try to win that team (state) title and this year we’re a young team with four freshmen in the starting lineup, but the freshmen are really coming through. They all keep working hard I think we’ll be in a very good spot by the end of the year.”
St. Charles East was the two-time defending Dvorak team champion and the Saints almost pulled off the three-peat. Despite graduating a ton of talent from last year’s squad, coach Jason Potter’s program might still be a force to be reckoned with.
“We have a lot of guys in the room who haven’t got a lot of recognition that worked really hard in the off-season and are willing to work hard in the room,” Saints junior Dom Munaretto said. “So Anthony (Gutierrez) and I are doing our best to set an example. We’ve seen a lot of improvement and I think we’ll see more before the state tournament. Because this team keeps getting better and better.”
IC Prep is currently ranked third in 2A behind No. 1 Montini and No. 2 Washington; Saint Charles East is ranked No. 8 in 3A.
Rounding out the top 10 Dvorak team finishes were fifth-place Edwardsville (161.5), Hononegah (158), Marian Central Catholic (151) Hersey (150.5), Lincoln-Way East (126) and Glenbard North (124).
Domination was a common theme in Dvorak’s individual title matches this year; nine of 14 championship matches featured bonus points, with four tech falls, three pins and two major decision wins.
The closest finals match was a doozy, with Fremd’s top-ranked Evan Gosz using a third-period takedown to come from behind and win a 5-3 decision over long-time rival Maksim Mukhamedaliyev of Hersey.
The Dvorak’s Outstanding Wrestler Award went to Belleville East’s top-seeded heavyweight Jonathan Rulo, whose day of four falls and one major decision ended with a fall for the title against second-seeded William Cole of Round Lake. Rulo and Cole are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 at 285 in Class 3A, respectively.
Individual Dvorak champions:
106: Vince DeMarco, Grayslake Central
There was no panic for Grayslake Central sophomore Vince DeMarco.
Trailing 3-0 after two periods in the finals against Edwardsville’s Michael McNamara, DeMarco simply drew on his experience.“I’ve been in enough tournaments and had enough experiences where I know how to get out of a hole,” DeMarco said. “I know that no matter what happens, I’m always in it.”
One third-period down-block and a drag-go-behind, and DeMarco knotted the score 3-3, “and then I got a turn on top, and there you go,” DeMarco said after his 5-3 win gave him his first Dvorak title.
One year after placing fourth in Champaign in 2A, DeMarco (19-1) is Illinois’ top-ranked 106-pounder. He feels like a different wrestler in his sophomore campaign.
“My hand fighting is a lot better this year, so I’m able to set up my attacks a lot better,” he said. “The new rule changes for takedowns is really helping me a lot, and I’m also bigger. Last year I was a little undersized.”
DeMarco was seeded second behind Plainfield North’s Maddox Garbis (10-0) who had to medical forfeit his semifinal match to Edwardsville’s Michael McNamara (17-2).
DeMarco topped third-seeded Vannak Khiev (18-3) of Glenbard North in their semifinal before winning a 7-3 decision for the title against McNamara, whose first-period takedown set the stage in the final.
“I shot a single leg and and brought it up on my shelf, but he picked my ankle back and I got taken down and leg ridden pretty much the whole first period,” DeMarco said. “From there, it was pretend like it’s the start of the match again and go get a takedown, which I know I can do.”
Notre Dame’s Ray Long finished third, Normal Community’s Jackson Soney was fourth, Glenbard North’s Vannak Khiev placed fifth, and Garbis was sixth at 106.
113: Caden Correll, Normal Community
The top two seeds met in the finals when top-seeded Allen Woo (17-3) of Montini and second-seeded Caden Correll (19-0) of Normal Community squared off.
Correll proved himself yet again.
Having already won a 13-8 decision this year over nationally-ranked No. 1 Caleb Noble (106) of Warren, Correll beat returning state champion Woo via 7-3 decision to win this year’s Dvorak title at 113. Woo is currently ranked No. 1 in 2A.
“I wrestled (Woo) at Fargo over the summer and he beat me,” Correll said. “My goal going into the match was to be as aggressive as I can and put up as many points as I can. It was about realizing that I can score on him with my attacks so get to those attacks as often as I can.”
Currently ranked third in 3A at 113, Correll has placed fifth twice in Champaign. He has embraced a new level of aggression this season.
“It kind of takes a while in this sport to understand and realize that your attacks are working, and have the confidence to just go out and be super aggressive,” he said. “You get there eventually and once you get there, it feels good.”
Huntley’s Colin Abordo placed third, Crystal Lake Central’s Jackson Marlett took fourth, Lockport’s Anthony Sutton finished fifth and Marian Central’s Austin Hagewold placed sixth at 113.
120: Dom Munaretto, St. Charles East
St. Charles East junior Dom Munaretto was dominant throughout the two-day tournament and won his third Dvorak title with an 11-3 decision over Marian Central Catholic’s Brayden Teunissen. A scoreless first period gave way to a second that ended with a 7-2 lead for Munaretto.
“That was like our fourth time wrestling so we know each other well,” Munaretto said. “He had a good game plan but as the match went on, I was able to break him a little bit, pushing the pace on him, keep him opening up so I can get to my attacks. It was an opportunity and a challenge to find new ways to get to my attacks.”
Munaretto and Teunissen have both been Illinois state champs and state runners-up in their careers. Munaretto is currently ranked No. 1 in Illinois in 3A and No. 7 nationally; Teunissen is ranked No. 1 in 1A as a defending state champion at 120 pounds.
And with now-graduated starters like Ben Davino, Tyler Guerra, Jayden Colon, Gavin Connolly, and Brody Murray no longer in the Saints’ practice room, Munaretto feels the onus upon him.
“It’s an opportunity to be a leader,” Munaretto said. “They’d been the upperclassman and the leaders in the room and now it’s me and Anthony (Gutierrez) who get to run the room so it’s a great opportunity to show everyone what we’re capable of. I’m really enjoying it.”
Montini’s Mikey Malizzio took third, Hersey’s Anthony Orozco was fourth, Hononegah’s Jackson Olson finished fifth and Schaumburg’s Brady Phelps took sixth at 120.
126: Rocco Cassioppi, Hononegah
Hononegah sophomore Rocco Cassioppi (16-2) won the second Dvorak title of his young career, topping Montini’s Josh Vazquez (11-4) on the title mat in a 10-2 major decision. Cassioppi placed second in Illinois at 106 as a freshman in 3A and Vazquez is a three-time state medalist in 2A.
Cassioppi led 3-0 after a period, then escaped to start the second and posted another takedown for a 7-2 lead heading into the third period.
One more takedown made it 10-2 and that’s where it stayed.
Cassioppi was one of 11 top seeds to win Dvorak titles on Sunday. Second-seeded Vazquez, ranked No. 1 at 126 in 2A, fell to 11-4 with the loss. Cassioppi, ranked No. 5 heading into the Dvorak, won by tech fall over No. 4 Kalani Khiev of Glenbard North in a semifinal match, then improved to 16-2 with his win over Vazquez.
Khiev went on to take third place, Notre Dame’s John Sheehy was fourth, Normal Community’s Cole Gentsch was fifth and Hersey’s Riddick Variano took sixth at 126.
132: Deven Casey, IC Catholic Prep
IC Prep three-time state medalist Deven Casey was one of the nine wrestlers in the tournament who dominated their way to individual titles. Three falls and a major decision in his semifinal sent Casey (20-2) to the title mat, where he won by tech fall against Lockport’s Liam Zimmerman (17-3).
Third-seeded Zimmerman upset second-seeded Tommy Banas (11-4) of Providence Catholic by 4-0 decision in their semifinal match, but Casey had too much to handle in the finals.
“I felt good,” Casey said. “I’m never too focused on my opponents, never overthinking it, and I just kind of wrestle whoever’s in front of me. I don’t watch too much film. Sometimes maybe I’ll ask my dad what a given (opponent) does but mostly, I just go out there and focus on my offense rather than what the other guy is going to do.”
Casey is currently the top-ranked 132-pounder in Illinois in Class 2A, and won a state title last year at 120 pounds. He has also placed third twice in Champaign.
“I don’t know what more I can say about Deven Casey,” IC Prep coach Danny Alcocer said. “He’s just a great leader and a fantastic wrestler. He really shows these young guys on our team how we expect them to compete. And when you have leadership like that, it creates a great environment.”
Providence Catholic’s Tommy Banas finished third at this year’s Dvorak, Hersey’s Elijah Garza was fourth, Milton’s Devin Bobzien was fifth and Montini’s Jeremy Huf placed sixth at 132.
138: TJ Silva, Hononegah
Top-seeded Hononegah senior TJ Silva (17-2) got in plenty of work on his feet in Harlem, using three tech fall wins to put himself in the finals, where he posted a first-period fall against Montini’s second-seeded Kam Luif (15-1).
Silva has a switch he turns on whenever he enters the circle, and he hit that switch against Luif.
“Off the mat I can by your friend, anytime,” Silva said. “On the mat, I’m as mean as can be.”
Silva is a three-time state medalist, including a state title, and has reached the state title match every year of his high school career.
“It’s always the same goal — get into the state finals and do whatever I have to do,” Silva said. “Last year I didn’t really get the outcome I wanted so now it’s pushing to get the outcome that I want. I’m just working hard and not giving anyone any respect, whether they’re number one or number two or whatever.
“It’s a hard tournament for sure, but in my training I’m just so confident in how hard I work in the practice room that there’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to win any of these matches.”
Montini junior Luif has medaled twice in Champaign, placing sixth and third in 2A. He reached the Dvorak finals with a 9-1 win over Edwardsville’s Ryan Richie. Silva used a tech fall in his semifinal win over Lincoln-Way East’s Tyson Zvonar.
Zvonar went on to take third place, Richie was fourth, St. Charles East’s Gavin Woodmancy placed fifth and IC Prep’s Jacob Alvarez finished sixth at 138.
144: Evan Gosz, Fremd
If Fremd’s Evan Gosz and Hersey’s Maksim Mukhamedaliyev weren’t already tired of wrestling each other, Illinois’ top two-ranked wrestlers at 144 in 3A were fated to square off yet again in this year’s Dvorak title match at 144.
“We’ve probably wrestled each other eight or ten times in high school,” Gosz said. “We’re both smart wrestlers and we obviously know each other very well and he definitely surprised me this time. He wrestled a super smart match and he got me a little off-guard.”
In their previous meeting this season, Gosz won by tech fall. But second-ranked Mukhamedaliyev earned a first-period takedown and led 3-1 after two periods of their Dvorak title match.
Mukhamedaliyev (17-4) seemed primed for his first win against top-ranked Gosz (27-2). But a Gosz escape to start the third period made it 3-2 and a Gosz takedown effectively gave him the 5-3 win.
“I was nervous but I knew it could finish on him,” Gosz said. “It was just whether I was going to get a good shot and get a good finish on him. Last year, honestly, I didn’t have the gas tank I needed so it was nice to see that I could get that late takedown.”
Having placed third twice and second once in Champaign, Gosz is now one of those No. 1-ranked wrestlers that everyone is gunning for.
“It’s nerve-racking, but also exciting that I have a target on my back,” Gosz said. “People are watching film to know what to expect from me and I kind of saw that at the Dvorak. It’s exciting to get to show how dominant I can be but the Dvorak also showed me what I need to work on, and the mistakes I made, so I can get ready for the next test.”
IC Prep’s Aidan Arnett took third, Schaumburg’s Callen Kirchner was fourth, Milton’s Gage Gross took fifth and Lincoln-Way East’s Kaidge Richardson finished sixth at 144.
150: Justus Heeg, Providence Catholic
He’s not doing it alone, but Providence Catholic freshman Justus Heeg is doing more than his part to try to bring the Celtics’ program back to prominence in Illinois.
Heeg improved to 16-2 when he won by 7-2 decision on a Dvorak title mat over Joliet West senior Carson Weber (19-4).
Heeg is ranked second in 2A behind Washington’s returning state champion Wyatt Medlin, but the freshman also already has a high school state championship to his credit: as an eighth-grader last season, Heeg won a Minnesota high school state title at 139 pounds.
Weber is a three-time Illinois state qualifier and placed third at 144 in Champaign last year. After a scoreless first period, Heeg used a takedown in the second and another in the third on his way to winning his first Dvorak title.
Marian Central’s Vance Williams took third, Yorkville’s Donovan Rosauer was fourth, Wheaton North’s Ryan Rosch placed fifth and Glenbard North’s Treshon Williams finished sixth at 150.
157: Jack Ferguson, Yorkville
Unbeaten Yorkville senior Jack Ferguson (18-0) stayed that way, capped by the second of three title-match pins for the day over Huntley’s Radic Dvorak (23-3).
Ferguson is a three-time state qualifier who placed fifth last year in Champaign at 150 pounds. He’s currently ranked second in 3A at 157 behind last year’s state champion at 150, Marist’s Will Denny.
As a Dvorak top seed, Ferguson posted two tech falls and two major decision wins to reach the finals, including a 14-4 major in his semifinal against Wheaton North’s fourth-ranked Thomas Fulton (18-4).
Huntley’s fifth-ranked Dvorak reached the finals with a fall in his semifinal against Normal Community’s Carter Mayes (18-2). Mayes went on to place third, Plainfield North’s Luke Grindstaff took fourth, Fulton placed fifth and Lockport’s Jaedon Calderon finished sixth at 157.
165: Anthony Gutierrez, St. Charles East
The top-ranked 165-pounder in 3A, St. Charles East senior Anthony Gutierrez (17-2) gave the Saints their second Dvorak title of the day and the second of his career when he won 5-0 in the finals over Montini junior Santino Tenuta (14-1).
Gutierrez’s win handed Tenuta, seeded third and top-ranked in 2A, his first loss of the season. Gutierrez has placed sixth and fourth in Champaign; Tenuta is a two-time state qualifier.
Gutierrez posted two falls before posting a third in the semifinal round over fourth-seeded Tommy McDermott (16-3) of Bolingbrook. The Saints’ senior has not lost to an Illinois wrestler this season. Tenuta had a tech fall, a major decision win, and a fall to reach the semifinals, where he won 12-6 over Fremd’s Lucas Nance (22-5).
Bolingbrook’s Tommy McDermott took third, Belleville East’s Terence Willis was fourth, Fremd’s Lucas Nance captured fifth and Yorkville’s Caleb Viscogliosi finished sixth at 165.
175: Caleb Dennee, Marshfield, WI
Ranked No. 10 in the nation at 175 by Flowrestling, Marshfield, Wisconsin’s top-seeded Caleb Dennee (18-0) had a tech fall and two pins to reach the semifinal round, where he won 11-7 over fourth-seeded, two-time Illinois state medalist Luke Zook (18-1) of Yorkville, currently ranked No. 2 in Illinois in 3A.
Dennee then won a 9-5 decision on the title mat against IC Prep’s Brody Kelly (17-3), ranked No. 1 in Illinois in 2A at 175, one year after placing 2nd at 150 in Champaign. Kelly won his Dvorak semifinal match by fall over second-seeded Ilia Dvoriannikov (19-3) of Vernon Hills, currently ranked No. 2 in Illinois at 165 pounds.
Zook wrestled back for third place, Hononegah’s Connor Diemel was fourth, Dvoriannikov took fifth and Lincoln-Way East’s Jackson Zaeske finished sixth at 175.
190: Jimmy Mastny, Marian Central Catholic
Mastny was a tornado looking for a trailer park throughout this year’s Dvorak, and the sophomore wreaked havoc over the field at 190 pounds.
Ranked 5th nationally at 190 by Flowrestling and No. 1 in Illinois in 1A, the sophomore Mastny (20-1) had two falls and three tech falls to win his first career Dvorak title. He won by tech fall on the title mat over previously-unbeaten Cayden Parks (23-1) of Crystal Lake Central, who is top-ranked in 2A at 190 pounds.
Mastny was an Illinois state champion as a freshman last year at 157 pounds for Marian Central. The jump from 157 to 190 has been no problem for the talented sophomore.
“I’d say I’ve always had confidence. I’ve been wrestling since I was 10 or 12 years old,” Mastny said. “I’ve definitely gotten better in my attacks and shooting, now I need to work on getting more angles.”
Mastny’s lone loss this year came at the nationally-formidable Ironman Tournament in Ohio, to nationally-ranked De’Alcapon Veazy of Ponderosa, Colorado.
Wauconda’s Mike Merevick placed third at the Dvorak, Hononegah’s Kurt Smith took fourth, Yorkville’s Ryder Janeczko was fifth and IC Prep’s Isaac Barrientos finished sixth at 175.
215: Kai Calcutt, Loyola Academy
If Marian’s Jimmy Mastny was a tornado, Loyola Academy junior Kai Calcutt was a typhoon at this year’s Dvorak, one season after an injury forced him to injury default in the finals at last year’s tournament.
“Last year, my knee popped here and I was out for like three weeks,” Calcutt said. “I had to wear a brace and I didn’t really feel healthy until after the state tournament.”
Top-ranked and top-seeded Calcutt (9-0) won the state title at 215 last year and was the state runner-up at 220 as a freshman. He posted a tech fall win on a Dvorak title mat against IC Prep’s second-seeded Foley Calcagno (16-4), ranked third in 2A and a two-time state medalist.
Calcutt is not yet close to being in wrestling shape after playing an extended football season, and entered the Dvorak having only wrestled four matches all year. But Calcutt was a man on a mission, posting three pins and two tech fall wins en route to winning his first Dvorak title and erasing last year’s title-mat injury default.
“After football this year I was overweight, I was beat up and I was in football condition,” Calcutt said. “There’s great competition and great wrestlers here and it was a big test for me because my first tournament was last week. I came off of our state game in football at 240 and then I got sick for a week and that actually helped because I lost weight while I was sick. It was a perfect time to get sick.
“I definitely feel stronger this year. I got a lot stronger over the summer and I wasn’t satisfied with my wrestling. Now I’ve just got to keep working.”
Yorkville’s Luke Chrisse took third place, Edwardsville’s Roman Janek was fourth, St. Charles East’s Cooper Murray placed fifth and Crystal Lake Central’s Tommy McNeill finished sixth at 215.
285: Jonathan Rulo, Belleville East
If you’re chasing the dream of a state title, you’re downright hungry to wrestle the best competition possible towards getting ready for the state finals in Champaign. It helps when your head coach is putting you in exactly that position.
Belleville East coach Rashad Riley is doing just that for the Lancers.
“We have traveled north every weekend in December knowing that’s where not just (Rulo) but our entire team is going to get the best competition,” Riley said. “So far (Rulo) has passed every test but we all know the test he’s yet to pass, and that’s the state tournament. It’s time to get over that hump and prove he’s the best heavyweight in Illinois regardless of class.”
Rulo (15-0) aced his most recent test and won a Dvorak Outstanding Wrestler Award in the process. The Lancers’ junior – ranked No. 1 in 3A – won by fall at 0:48 on a Dvorak title mat against No. 2 William Cole (21-2) of Round Lake. Rulo has placed second and third downstate, and Cole placed fourth.
Rulo’s four pins and a major decision helped earn him Sunday’s OWA.
“(Rulo) is having a great season so far and he’s just looking for quality matches,” Riley said. “We know all the top heavyweights are up north.”
St. Charles East’s Matt Medina placed third, IC Prep’s Anthony Sebastian took fourth, Edwardsville’s Riley Ste was fifth and Lincoln-Way East’s Ryan Stingly finished sixth at 285.
Team scores:
IC Catholic Prep 204.5, St. Charles East 202, Montini 188.5, Yorkville 182.5, Edwardsville 161.5, Hononegah 158, Marian Central Catholic 151, Hersey 150.5, Lincoln-Way East 126, Glenbard North 124, Providence Catholic 121.5, Lockport 118, Belleville East 107, Normal Community 101, Marshfield, WI 99.5, Huntley 99, Crystal Lake Central 96.5, Joliet West 93, Wheaton North 92, Moline 77.5, Notre Dame 76, Lincoln-Way Central 75.5, Wauconda 74.5, Schaumburg 70, Fremd 66, Milton, WI 65.5, Loyola Academy 63.5, McHenry 59.5, Plainfield North 59, St. Rita 55.5, Libertyville 52.5, Bolingbrook 50.5, Grayslake Central 46.5, Conant 46.5, Plainfield South 44, Round Lake 43, Freeport 33, Harlem 30, Belvidere North 25, Prairie Ridge 24, Vernon Hills 19.5, Dakota 19, Proviso West 0
Al Dvorak Invitational results:
106
1st: Vince DeMarco (Grayslake C) 19-1, d. Michael McNamara (Edwardsville) 17-2, (D 7-3)
3rd: Ray Long (Notre Dame) 23-3, d. Jackson Soney (Normal C) 14-4, (D 14-7)
5th: Vannak Khiev (Glenbard N) 18-3, d. Maddox Garbis (Plainfield N) 10-0, (M. For.)
113
1st: Caden Correll (Normal C) 19-0, .d. Allen Woo (Montini) 17-3, (D 7-3)
3rd: Colin Abordo (Huntley) 24-5, d. Jackson Marlett (CL Central) 22-4, (D 1-0)
5th: Anthony Sutton (Lockport) 15-5, d. Austin Hagevold (Marian) 13-2, (M. For.)
120
1st: Dom Munaretto (SC East) 19-0, d. Brayden Teunissen (Marian) 7-1, (MD 11-3)
3rd: Mikey Malizzio (Montini) 14-4, d. Anthony Orozco (Hersey) 12-3, (D 7-1)
5th: Jackson Olson (Hononegah) 20-3, d. Brady Phelps (Schaumburg) 17-1, (M. For.)
126
1st: Rocco Cassioppi (Hononegah) 16-2, d. Josh Vazquez (Montini) 11-4, (MD 10-2)
3rd: Kalani Khiev (Glenbard N) 22-1, d. John Sheehy (Notre Dame) 21-3, (MD 13-4)
5th: Cole Gentsch (Normal C) 20-2, d. Riddick Variano (Hersey) 17-7, (MD 15-3)
132
1st: Deven Casey (IC Prep) 20-2, d. Liam Zimmerman (Lockport) 17-3, (TF-1.5 3:38 (18-3))
3rd: Tommy Banas (Providence) 11-4, d. Elijah Garza (Hersey) 16-5, (D 14-9)
5th: Devin Bobzien (Milton WI) 15-2, d. Jeremy Huf (Montini) 11-5, (D 7-0)
138
1st: TJ Silva (Hononegah) 17-2, d. Kam Luif (Montini) 15-1, (F 1:25)
3rd: Tyson Zvonar (LW East) 16-2, d. Ryan Richie (Edwardsville) 17-3, (D 12-6)
5th: Gavin Woodmancy (SC East) 14-4, d. Jacob Alvarez (IC Prep) 11-7, (D 11-7)
144
1st: Evan Gosz (Fremd) 27-2, d. Maksim Mukhamedaliyev (Hersey) 17-4, (D 5-3)
3rd: Aidan Arnett (IC Prep) 16-5, d. Callen Kirchner (Schaumburg) 22-3, (F 4:00)
5th: Gage Gross (Milton WI) 17-2, d. Kaidge Richardson (LW East) 15-4, (F 1:47)
150
1st: Justus Heeg (Providence) 16-2, d. Carson Weber (Joliet W) 19-4, (D 7-2)
3rd: Vance Williams (Marian) 10-2, d. Donovan Rosauer (Yorkville) 15-2, (F 2:32)
5th: Ryan Rosch (Wheaton N) 12-2, d. Treshon Williams (Glenbard N) 13-4, (D 4-1)
157
1st: Jack Ferguson (Yorkville) 18-0, d. Radic Dvorak (Huntley) 23-3, (F 2:52)
3rd: Carter Mayes (Normal C) 18-2, d. Luke Grindstaff (Plainfield N) 18-3, (D 5-3)
5th: Thomas Fulton (Wheaton N) 18-4, d. Jaedon Calderon (Lockport) 12-4, (F 1:04)
165
1st: Anthony Gutierrez (SC East) 17-2, d. Santino Tenuta (Montini) 14-1, (D 5-0)
3rd: Tommy McDermott (Bolingbrook) 16-3, d. terence willis (Belleville E) 14-3, (F 0:34)
5th: Lucas Nance (Fremd) 22-5, d. Caleb Viscogliosi (Yorkville) 17-4, (MD 13-5)
175
1st: Caleb Dennee (Marshfield) 17-0, d. Brody Kelly (IC Prep) 17-3, (D 9-5)
3rd: Luke Zook (Yorkville) 18-1, d. Connor Diemel (Hononegah) 17-4, (MD 9-1)
5th: Ilia Dvoriannikov (Vernon Hills) 19-3, d. Jackson Zaeske (LW East) 19-5, (D 6-2)
190
1st: Jimmy Mastny (Marian) 20-1, d. Cayden Parks (CL Central) 23-1, (TF-1.5 3:42 (17-2))
3rd: Mike Merevick (Wauconda) 23-7, d. Kurt Smith (Hononegah) 16-3, (D 5-4)
5th: Ryder Janeczko (Yorkville) 17-2, d. Isaac Barrientos (IC Prep) 11-6, (F 0:44)
215
1st: Kai Calcutt (Wilmette (Loyola)) 9-0, d. Foley Calcagno (IC Prep) 16-4, (TF-1.5 3:28 (23-5))
3rd: Luke Chrisse (Yorkville) 18-2, .d. Roman Janek (Edwardsville) 15-3, (MD 14-2)
5th: Cooper Murray (SC East) 13-5, d. Tommy McNeil (CL Central) 23-4, (D 7-5)
285
1st: Jonathan Rulo (Belleville E) 15-0, d. William Cole (Round Lake) 21-2, (F 0:48)
3rd: Matt Medina (SC East) 10-4, d. Anthony Sebastian (IC Prep) 11-4, (F 4:09)
5th: Riley Ste (Edwardsville) 16-4, d. Ryan Stingly (LW East) 10-4, (F 2:45)
Boys roundups of Metamora, Clinton and Springfield tournament roundup
By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA
Richwoods captures championship at Metamora Holiday Classic
Richwoods had three champions and four second-place finishers to help it win the title of the 14-team Metamora Holiday Classic with 221 points, which was 48 points ahead of runner-up Byron, who claimed second place with 173 points. Galesburg (145), Peoria Notre Dame (139) and the host Redbirds (134.5) rounded out the top five teams in the competition.
1 – Richwoods
Leading the way for coach Rod Boyer’s champion Knights were title winners Wensley Rahn (106), Gabe Robb (138) and Gabe Martinez (175) while Tyler Wieland (126), Colton Boyer (132) Rikyis Doss (144) and Shaun Anderson (285) all took second place. Finishing third were Nathan Ortiz (120), Christopher Harris (150) and Michael Kimbrough (190) while Benjamin Owen (113) and Phoenix Wombacher (165) both took fifth place.
2 – Byron
Top performers for coach Mike Elsbury’s runner-up Tigers were champions Jackson Norris (120), Will Julian (157) and Jared Claunch (285) while Brody Stien (165) and Jarett Ross (215) placed second, Finishing fourth were Hunter King (132), Dylan Dach (138) and Issac Alvarez (175) while Aiden Salo (106) and Cael O’Horo (150) took sixth place.
3 – Galesburg
Coach Greg Leibach’s third-place Silver Streaks got a title win from Anthony Makwala (165) while Josiah Carter (150) and Don Patrick (157) took second place. Finishing third were
Orlando Castellano (138) and Caleb Johnson (144) while LaVant Ritenour (215) and Larry Randolph (285) placed fourth and Landon Darst (120) and Mason Taylor (175) took fifth.
Peoria Notre Dame had four champions, Josh Stedwill (113), Remi Joesting (126), Ian Akers (132) and Joe Culp (215) while host Metamora had two title winners, Connor Graham (144) and Grady Neal (150). The other champion was Pontiac’s Jackson Crawford (190).
Eureka had three second-place finishers, Conner Knapp (106), Henry Watson (120) and Finn Hoffman (138) while St. Joseph-Ogden’s Jackson Walsh (113), Peoria High’s Sargent Maubach (175) and Ottawa Township’s Wes Weatherford (190) also claimed second place
There was a seven-way tie for the most team points with 25 between Akers, Claunch, Culp, Julian, Makwala, Neal and Norris while Graham, Martinez, Robb and Stedwill had 24.5 points.
Saint Thomas More’s Philip Christiff and Peoria High’s Jshawn Wilson tied for the most total match points with 59 and St. Joseph-Ogden’s Aiden Hundley was the only individual who was able to record four falls.
Metamora Holiday Classic place matches
106
1st Place Match
Wensley Rahn (Richwoods) 11-1, So. over Conner Knapp (Eureka) 9-6, Fr. (Fall 0:55)
3rd Place Match
Ben Wells (St. Joseph-Ogden) 12-3, Fr. over RJ Cinnamon (Saint Thomas More) 6-4, Fr. (TF-1.5 0:00 (19-2))
5th Place Match
Camden Gangloff (Metamora) 6-9, Fr. over Aiden Salo (Byron) 2-3, Fr. (Inj. 0:00)
113
1st Place Match (round robin)
Josh Stedwill (Peoria Notre Dame) 17-6, So. over Jackson Walsh (St. Joseph-Ogden) 13-4, Sr. (Dec 8-2)
3rd Place Match (round robin)
Brendan Foster (Metamora) 7-9, Fr. over Jude Fosdick (Metamora) 6-5, Fr. (Fall 4:59)
5th Place Match (round robin)
Benjamin Owen (Richwoods) 6-8, So. over Joesph Dixon (Manual) 3-12, So. (Fall 4:09)
120
1st Place Match
Jackson Norris (Byron) 4-0, Sr. over Henry Watson (Eureka) 13-7, So. (Dec 10-4)
3rd Place Match
Nathan Ortiz (Richwoods) 10-4, Fr. over Camden Getty (St. Joseph-Ogden) 8-5, Jr. (TF-1.5 0:00 (22-7))
5th Place Match
Landon Darst (Galesburg) 8-7, Fr. over Freddie Couri (Peoria Notre Dame) 8-5, So. (Dec 15-9)
126
1st Place Match (round robin)
Remi Joesting (Peoria Notre Dame) 17-5, Jr. over Tyler Wieland (Richwoods) 6-2, Sr. (Fall 2:34)
3rd Place Match (round robin)
Kade Schieber (Metamora) 3-11, Fr. over Gabe Cortez (Ottawa Township) 1-3, Jr. (Fall 1:55)
132
1st Place Match
Ian Akers (Peoria Notre Dame) 21-0, Sr. over Colton Boyer (Richwoods) 13-2, Sr. (TF-1.5 0:00 (16-0))
3rd Place Match
Noah Davis (Pontiac) 15-9, So. over Hunter King (Byron) 4-3, So. (Fall 5:26)
5th Place Match
Brady Rickey (ROWVA) 7-8, So. over Jshawn Wilson (Peoria High) 3-3, Fr. (MD 16-8)
138
1st Place Match
Gabe Robb (Richwoods) 9-2, Jr. over Finn Hoffman (Eureka) 16-4, Fr. (Dec 13-10)
3rd Place Match
Orlando Castellano (Galesburg) 11-5, So. over Dylan Dach (Byron) 6-3, Fr. (MD 25-15)
5th Place Match
Aiden Hundley (St. Joseph-Ogden) 8-9, So. over Jack Bartoletta (Peoria Notre Dame) 7-13, Jr. (Fall 3:12)
144
1st Place Match
Connor Graham (Metamora) 18-3, Jr. over Rikyis Doss (Richwoods) 12-2, Sr. (Dec 15-11)
3rd Place Match
Caleb Johnson (Galesburg) 8-4, Sr. over Chris Walker (Peoria High) 3-2, Sr. (Fall 5:32)
5th Place Match
Landen Butts (St. Joseph-Ogden) 9-6, Sr. over Gavin Allis (Eureka) 7-8, Jr. (Fall 4:54)
150
1st Place Match
Grady Neal (Metamora) 16-2, So. over Josiah Carter (Galesburg) 11-5, Sr. (Dec 11-4)
3rd Place Match
Christopher Harris (Richwoods) 12-3, Sr. over Brayden Quas (Pontiac) 9-7, Fr. (Fall 0:55)
5th Place Match
Nathan Daly (St. Joseph-Ogden) 7-2, Jr. over Cael O`Horo (Byron) 5-3, So. (Fall 1:03)
157
1st Place Match
Will Julian (Byron) 6-0, So. over Don Patrick (Galesburg) 7-5, Sr. (Fall 1:28)
3rd Place Match
Lucas Maier (Pontiac) 14-4, Fr. over Sam Hoffman (Eureka) 16-7, Jr. (Fall 2:40)
5th Place Match
Saul Swanson (Metamora) 11-8, So. over John Couri (Peoria Notre Dame) 13-11, Sr. (MD 17-5)
165
1st Place Match
Anthony Makwala (Galesburg) 12-2, Jr. over Brody Stien (Byron) 4-2, So. (MD 14-3)
3rd Place Match
Philip Christhilf (Saint Thomas More) 14-1, Sr. over Mark Aeschliman (Metamora) 11-10, Fr. (Dec 16-11)
5th Place Match
Phoenix Wombacher (Richwoods) 9-6, Sr. over Jason Crawford (Peoria High) 2-3, Sr. (Fall 3:45)
175
1st Place Match
Gabe Martinez (Richwoods) 14-0, Sr. over Sargent Maubach (Peoria High) 2-1, Sr. (Dec 8-5)
3rd Place Match
Owen Kearfott (Ottawa Township) 9-6, Sr. over Issac Alvarez (Byron) 4-2, Jr. (Fall 1:23)
5th Place Match
Mason Taylor (Galesburg) 12-6, Jr. over Ian Tyler (Metamora) 4-6, Jr. (Fall 0:27)
190
1st Place Match
Jackson Crawford (Pontiac) 5-5, Sr. over Wes Weatherford (Ottawa Township) 14-6, So. (Fall 3:40)
3rd Place Match
Michael Kimbrough (Richwoods) 9-2, So. over Bobby Stickelmaier (Peoria Notre Dame) 4-8, Sr. (Dec 9-2)
5th Place Match
Ashton Helberg (Eureka) 10-10, Fr. over Chaz Bowlin (St. Joseph-Ogden) 1-5, Sr. (TF-1.5 0:00 (16-0))
215
1st Place Match
Joe Culp (Peoria Notre Dame) 17-3, Sr. over Jarett Ross (Byron) 4-1, Sr. (MD 13-2)
3rd Place Match
Nathan Phillips (St. Joseph-Ogden) 12-5, Sr. over LaVant Ritenour (Galesburg) 7-7, Jr. (Fall 2:32)
5th Place Match
Brennan Tabor (Metamora) 6-12, Sr. over Aubreyanun Bailey (Manual) 9-8, Sr. (For.)
285
1st Place Match
Jared Claunch (Byron) 5-1, Sr. over Shaun Anderson (Richwoods) 8-3, Sr. (Fall 3:37)
3rd Place Match
James Schmidt (Saint Thomas More) 15-2, Sr. over Larry Randolph (Galesburg) 13-3, Sr. (TF-1.5 0:00 (16-0))
5th Place Match
Brady Mullens (Peoria Notre Dame) 15-9, Sr. over Alvaro Meza (Metamora) 10-10, Sr. (Dec 2-0)
Team scores
1. Richwoods 221, 2. Byron 173, 3. Galesburg 145, 4. Peoria Notre Dame 139, 5. Metamora 134.5, 6. St. Joseph-Ogden 116.5, 7. Eureka 91.5, 8. Pontiac 76.5, 9. Peoria High 52, 10. Saint Thomas More 46.5, 11. Ottawa Township 45.5, 12. ROWVA 16.5, 13. Manual 11.
El Paso-Gridley prevails in three-way battle at Clinton Holiday Tournament
There were only six points separating the top three teams at the Clinton Holiday Tournament and when the drama ended, El Paso-Gridley edged Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm co-op 236.5-232 for the title while the host Maroons had 230.5 points to claim third in their 15-team competition. Clifton Central/Iroquois West co-op (182.5) finished in fourth place and Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth co-op (174) took fifth place.
1 – El Paso-Gridley
Leading the way for coach Caden Tjarks’ first-place Titans were champions Kole Petta (106), Tom Erwin (113) and Ryden Barker (215) while Dominic Ricconi (190) and Christopher Blackmore (285) both placed third. Ben Graham (126) and Parker Key (144) took fourth place while Nolan Whitman (138) and Jude Roth (150) finished fifth and Christian Clark (150) and Bryson Foster (165) both claimed sixth place.
2 – Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm
Coach Austin Hedrick’s runner-up Tigers had four champions, Gabriel Kiddoo (150), Logan Mahaffey (157), Ethan Miller (190) and Josiah Sedlacek (285) while Vance Johnson (132) took second, Ty McMasters (138) was third, Bleighten Irelan (215) finished fourth, Liam Hughes (144) placed fifth and Justin Nose (175) captured sixth place.
3 – Clinton
The host Maroons, who are coached by Matt Cooper, had one champion, Logan Thoms (165) while Briley Carter (113), Kristan Hibbard (190) and Dawson Thayer (285) all placed second. Taking third place were Cayden Bostic (106) and Brayden Dalton (126) while RJ Stamp (150), Jacob Hubble (157) and Oliver Reed (175) finished fourth and Van Angel (215) was fifth.
Others title winners were Warrensburg-Latham’s Logan Roberts (120) and Kaden Roberts (132), University High’s Ruben Rivera (126), MacArthur’s Brenden Turnbo (138), Farmington’s Bradlee Ellis (144) and Heyworth’s Brody Simons (175).
Clifton Central had four second-place finishers, Owen Robinson (126), Evan Cox (144), Giona Panozzo (150) and Brody O’Connor (215) while Rantoul had two individuals who placed second, Darius Williams (157) and Brandon Almanza (165). Also finishing in second place were MacArthur’s Jamarius Meyrick (106), University High’s Joshua Butler (120), Farmington’s Chase Frye (138) and Lincoln’s Soren Aukamp (175).
There was a four-way tie for the most team points with 36 between Barker, Ellis, Erwin and Simons. Kiddoo and Mahaffey were right behind them with 35.5 points, Petta and Rivera tied with 35 team points, Thoms collected 34 points and Kaden Roberts had 33.5 team points.
University High’s Ruben Rivera edged Clinton’s Briley Carter 69-68 for the most total match points and Farmington’s Bradlee Ellis had the most pins in the least time with five in 3:47.
Clinton Holiday Tournament place matches
106
1st Place Match
Kole Petta (El Paso-Gridley) 13-3, Fr. over Jamarius Meyrick (MacArthur) 15-5, Sr. (Fall 1:35)
3rd Place Match
Cayden Bostic (Clinton) 10-3, Fr. over Jayce McMillon (Taylorville) 13-10, Fr. (TF-1.5 4:27 (19-4))
5th Place Match
Landon Nieslawski (Heyworth) 6-6, So. over Jayden Schmider (Farmington) 9-11, Fr. (Fall 1:44)
7th Place Match
Wiatt Coady (Taylorville) 0-4, Fr. (Bye)
113
1st Place Match
Tom Erwin (El Paso-Gridley) 18-0, Fr. over Briley Carter (Clinton) 11-2, So. (Fall 5:26)
3rd Place Match
Taygan Gossard (Warrensburg-Latham) 13-4, Jr. over Parker Zerfass (Farmington) 11-9, So. (MD 15-6)
5th Place Match
Emmett Roeder (Heyworth) 15-11, Fr. over Owen Thomas (Lincoln) 4-8, Jr. (Fall 0:54)
7th Place Match
Matthew Salas (Clifton Central) 8-10, Jr. over Ariana Humes (Clinton) 0-5, Sr. (Fall 3:20)
120
1st Place Match (round robin)
Logan Roberts (Warrensburg-Latham) 15-1, Sr. over Joshua Butler (University High) 13-6, Sr. (Dec 7-0)
3rd Place Match (round robin)
Beau Williams (Clifton Central) 9-8, So. over Tristan Green (MacArthur) 4-10, So. (Fall 1:20)
5th Place
Zack Eckhardt (Lincoln) 3-7, So.
126
1st Place Match (round robin)
Ruben Rivera (University High) 23-3, Jr. over Owen Robinson (Clifton Central) 12-6, Fr. (TF-1.5 2:26 (20-3))
3rd Place Match (round robin)
Brayden Dalton (Clinton) 8-6, Fr. over Ben Graham (El Paso-Gridley) 11-7, Fr. (Fall 3:56)
5th and 6th Place
Miles Dennis (Metro-East Lutheran) 8-2, Jr. and Jordan Jones (Farmington) 16-8, Fr.
7th and 8th Place
Blaise Rogers (Taylorville) 12-10, So. and James Brewer (Lincoln) 6-5, Sr.
132
1st Place Match
Kaden Roberts (Warrensburg-Latham) 13-1, Sr. over Vance Johnson (Westville) 15-7, So. (Fall 4:37)
3rd Place Match
Garritt Benstine (Streator Township) 8-5, Jr. over Landon Christner (Ridgeview/Lexington) 3-6, Jr. (Dec 17-10)
5th Place Match
Tanilyn Reed (MacArthur) 13-8 over Lincoln Coffey (Taylorville) 10-14, So. (UTB 10-9)
7th Place Match
Braydence Pettyjohn (MacArthur) 5-8, So. over Colin Martinez (El Paso-Gridley) 4-12, Fr. (Fall 0:32)
138
1st Place Match (round robin)
Brenden Turnbo (MacArthur) 14-5, Sr. over Chase Frye (Farmington) 13-5, Fr. (MD 19-10)
3rd Place Match (round robin)
Ty McMasters (Westville) 7-4, Jr. over John Randles (Clifton Central) 8-7, Jr. (M. For.
5th and 6th Place
Nolan Whitman (El Paso-Gridley) 8-9, Jr. and Francisco Lopez Banderas (Warrensburg-Latham) 10-8, So.
7th and 8th Place
Riley Simpson (Lincoln) 7-6, Jr. and Cyrus Fisher (University High) 6-12, Fr.
144
1st Place Match
Bradlee Ellis (Farmington) 17-1, Jr. over Evan Cox (Clifton Central) 17-2, Jr. (Fall 0:20)
3rd Place Match
Hayden Washum (University High) 17-6, So. over Parker Key (El Paso-Gridley) 14-4, Sr. (Fall 2:28)
5th Place Match
Liam Hughes (Westville) 7-4, Fr. over Trevor Soice (Heyworth) 11-6, Jr. (M. For.)
7th Place Match
Carter Bostic (Clinton) 8-6, So. over Preston Bessonette (Warrensburg-Latham) 10-8, Fr. (MD 10-2)
150
1st Place Match
Gabriel Kiddoo (Westville) 13-2, Sr. over Giona Panozzo (Clifton Central) 16-3, Jr. (TF-1.5 5:20 (21-5))
3rd Place Match
Joshua Caraballo (University High) 19-8, Sr. over RJ Stamp (Clinton) 2-2, Jr. (TF-1.5 3:37 (19-4))
5th Place Match
Jude Roth (El Paso-Gridley) 8-9, So. over Christian Clark (El Paso-Gridley) 6-5, Fr. (Fall 1:17)
7th Place Match
Wyatt Buck (Rantoul) 7-5, Sr. over Levi Allison (Lincoln) 8-7, Jr. (Dec 13-7)
157
1st Place Match
Logan Mahaffey (Westville) 13-4, Sr. over Darius Williams (Rantoul) 7-2, Sr. (TF-1.5 1:27 (20-5))
3rd Place Match
Carter Brooks (Heyworth) 7-3, Jr. over Jacob Hubble (Clinton) 4-7, Sr. (Fall 4:20)
5th Place Match
Hunter Bockelman (Heyworth) 15-9, Sr. over Isaiah Cook (Warrensburg-Latham) 6-7, Fr. (Inj. 1:18)
7th Place Match
Gavin Eales (Lincoln) 6-2, Jr. over Noah Lambert (University High) 7-5, Jr. (Fall 1:45)
165
1st Place Match
Logan Thoms (Clinton) 11-2, Sr. over Brandon Almanza (Rantoul) 7-9, Jr. (Fall 5:07)
3rd Place Match
Tristian Stamp (Heyworth) 15-9, Fr. over Dillon Durbin (Farmington) 7-3, So. (Fall 1:12)
5th Place Match
Jarod Krigbaum (Warrensburg-Latham) 9-6, Jr. over Bryson Foster (El Paso-Gridley) 5-6, So. (Fall 3:57)
7th Place Match
Ethan Rusher (Taylorville) 18-10, Sr. over Blake Edge (Ridgeview/Lexington) 4-5, So. (Dec 15-9)
175
1st Place Match (round robin)
Brody Simons (Heyworth) 17-8, Fr. over Soren Aukamp (Lincoln) 9-1, Sr. (Fall 3:55)
3rd Place Match (round robin)
Cooper Moyer (Clifton Central) 11-9, Sr. over Oliver Reed (Clinton) 4-6, So. (Fall 3:25)
5th and 6th Place
Shane Johnson (Warrensburg-Latham) 12-7, Sr. and Justin Nose (Westville) 13-6, Jr.
7th and 8th Place
Ryan Kerr (El Paso-Gridley) 8-10, So. and Alex Mager (Rantoul) 7-11, Fr.
190
1st Place Match (round robin)
Ethan Miller (Westville) 13-0, Jr. over Kristan Hibbard (Clinton) 12-2, Sr. (MD 12-3)
3rd Place Match (round robin)
Dominic Ricconi (El Paso-Gridley) 7-4, Sr. over Charlie Karun (University High) 17-11, Sr. (TF-1.5 6:00 (19-4))
5th and 6th Place
Jarrod Fulcher (Heyworth) 13-5, So. and Devin Thompson (Streator Township) 8-6, Sr.
7th and 8th Place
Julian Martinez (Clifton Central) 9-10, Sr. and Dray Neal (Lincoln) 7-5, So.
215
1st Place Match
Ryden Barker (El Paso-Gridley) 16-1, Sr. over Brody O`Connor (Clifton Central) 14-4, Jr. (Fall 2:35)
3rd Place Match
Drew Owen (Rantoul) 10-8, Sr. over Bleighten Irelan (Westville) 6-5, Jr. (Dec 6-2)
5th Place Match
Van Angel (Clinton) 9-7, So. over Tanner Jacobs (Warrensburg-Latham) 7-10, Jr. (Fall 1:46)
7th Place Match
Aidan Hager (University High) 5-17, So. over Dave Advincula (Clinton) 2-7, So. (M. For.)
285
1st Place Match (round robin)
Josiah Sedlacek (Westville) 13-3, Sr. over Dawson Thayer (Clinton) 4-0, Sr. (M. For.)
3rd Place Match (round robin)
Christopher Blackmore (El Paso-Gridley) 12-5, Sr. over Josh McCurry (Clifton Central) 10-9, So. (Fall 3:03)
5th and 6th Place
Aiden Ferris (Streator Township) 12-3, Jr, and Jack Kerley (Warrensburg-Latham) 14-6, Jr.
7th and 8th Place
Loni Bektososki (Heyworth) 5-12, So. and Ben Buis (El Paso-Gridley), 2-4, So.
Team scores
1. El Paso-Gridley 236.5, 2. Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm co-op 232, 3. Clinton 230.5, 4. Clifton Central/Iroquois West co-op 182.5, 5. Warrensburg-Latham/Maroa-Forsyth co-op 174, 6. Heyworth 153.5, 7. University High 143.5, 8. Farmington/Cuba co-op 123.5, 9. MacArthur 97, 10. Rantoul 81, 11. Lincoln 78, 12. Taylorville 54.5, 13. Streator Township/Woodland co-op 52.5, 14. Metro-East Lutheran 28, 15. Ridgeview/Lexington co-op 26.
Glenwood claims top honors at Springfield Joe Bee Memorial
Glenwood had three champions and three second-place finishers to help it capture the title of Springfield’s Joe Bee Memorial with 239 points while PORTA took second with 197.5 points. Glenbard South (131), Normal West (115) and Pekin (111.5) rounded out the top five in the 21-team competition, which took place at Lanphier.
The tournament is named in honor of Joe Bee, a two-time medalist for Springfield High who also competed for Eastern Illinois University’s wrestling team. He died in a tragic drowning accident in 1996 at the age of 21 along with his Panthers teammate Tim Fix, who was from Plainfield.
1 – Glenwood
Winning titles for coach Jerod Bruner’s champion Titans were Tyler Clarke (126), Elijah Smith (175) and Max Wiezorek (190) while Larson Nestar (150), Maizon Milestone (165) and Cody Moss (285) finished in second place. Cooper Clarke (106) and Mason Streb (215) were third,
Jullian Rammelkamp (157) finished fourth, AJ Williams (132) placed fifth and Jake Tuxhorn (120) and John Vallar (138) took sixth place.
2 – PORTA
Leading the way for PORTA’s Bluejays, whose coach is 2011 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Hill, the IHSA’s all-time leader in dual meet wins, were title winners Mike Minor (144), Logan Baker (150) and Justin Zimmerman (157) while Coyt Rademaker (106), Kainin Fillbright (113) and Zach Bryant (132) took second place. Dane Jiannoni (190) captured third place, Ryan McCoy (120) finished fourth and Max King (126) claimed fifth place.
3 – Glenbard South
Top performers for coach Kenny Paoli’s third-place Raiders were champion Danny Langer (215) and second-place finishers Jordan Quaid-Bowman (126) and Jin Tai (144). Logan Price (165) took third place, Diego Myers (138) finished fifth and Logan Murphy (113) claimed sixth place.
Other champions were Cahokia’s Nathan Fisher (106) and Kindall Williams (165), Unity Christian’s Garrett VerHeecke (132) and Clinton VerHeecke (138), Normal West’s Dylan McGrew (113), Pekin’s Lincoln Hawkins (120) and East Peoria’s Jose Del Toro (285).
Additional second-place finishers were Macomb’s Ethan Hoyt (120), Granite City’s Braxton Tolley (138), Normal West’s Logan Alvarez (157), Springfield High’s Keyshaun Harris (175),
Southeast’s Chris Hull (190) and Centennial’s Moses Kim (215).
There was a four-way tie for the most team points with 30 between Clinton VerHeecke, Langner, Minor and Williams while Wiezorek was next with 29.5 points. Clarke and Zimmerman each had 28 team points while Garrett VerHeecke, Baker and Smith were next-best with 27 points.
There was a tie for total match points of 71 between Auburn’s Cade Venrick and Glenwwood’s AJ Williams. Mahomet-Seymour’s Hayden Hart was the lone individual in the field with five falls.
Springfield Joe Bee Memorial place matches
106
1st Place Match
Nathan Fisher (Cahokia) 10-3, So. over Coyt Rademaker (PORTA) 15-3, Fr. (Fall 3:30)
3rd Place Match
Cooper Clarke (Glenwood) 14-7, Fr. over Donovan Lowery (Normal West) 11-9, So. (Fall 4:22)
5th Place Match
Zachary Cooley (Granite City) 2-2, So. over Zander Johnson (Granite City) 7-11, Fr. (Dec 6-4)
113
1st Place Match
Dylan McGrew (Normal West) 14-4, Sr. over Kainin Fillbright (PORTA) 16-3, Fr. (MD 17-7)
3rd Place Match
Kayne Hayes (Pekin) 8-4, Jr. over Dashun Caldwell (Granite City) 4-7, Jr. (Fall 4:43)
5th Place Match
Billy Green (Granite City) 5-4, Fr. over Logan Murphy (Glenbard South) 3-4, So. (TF-1.5 3:24 (15-0))
120
1st Place Match
Lincoln Hawkins (Pekin) 9-3, Fr. over Ethan Hoyt (Macomb) 11-3, Jr. (Dec 3-0)
3rd Place Match
Jace Brown (Granite City) 11-5, So. over Ryan McCoy (PORTA) 10-7, Fr. (MD 18-5)
5th Place Match
Austin Herron (LaSalle-Peru) 10-6, Jr. over Jake Tuxhorn (Glenwood) 6-12, Fr. (Fall 1:23)
126
1st Place Match
Tyler Clarke (Glenwood) 15-6, Sr. over Jordan Quaid-Bowman (Glenbard South) 6-3, Jr. (Fall 1:55)
3rd Place Match
Harrison Lott (Riverton) 6-3, So. over Griffen McGrew (Normal West) 10-11, So. (Fall 2:57)
5th Place Match
Max King (PORTA) 10-7, Fr. over Dalton Davis (Pekin) 3-2, Sr. (Fall 0:58)
132
1st Place Match
Garrett VerHeecke (Unity Christian) 16-1, Jr. over Zach Bryant (PORTA) 16-3, Jr. (TF-1.5 0:00 (15-0))
3rd Place Match
Abram Rader (Normal West) 14-7, Sr. over Drayven Hamm (Auburn) 9-6, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:42 (16-1))
5th Place Match
AJ Williams (Glenwood) 13-9, Jr. over Adrian Mendez (Granite City) 11-8, Fr. (TF-1.5 5:42 (21-5))
138
1st Place Match
Clinton VerHeecke (Unity Christian) 16-0, Jr. over Braxton Tolley (Granite City) 12-5, So. (Fall 2:16)
3rd Place Match
Reegan Kellett (LaSalle-Peru) 14-4, Sr. over Trey Boston (Auburn) 9-5, Fr. (Fall 5:29)
5th Place Match
Diego Myers (Glenbard South) 9-8, Sr. over John Vallar (Glenwood) 13-8, Jr. (Fall 1:21)
144
1st Place Match
Mike Minor (PORTA) 8-0, Sr. over Jin Tai (Glenbard South) 12-3, Jr. (Dec 11-8)
3rd Place Match
Nehemie Mbangi (Centennial) 11-3, Jr. over Jaxxon Long (Normal West) 16-5, Sr. (Dec 9-3)
5th Place Match
Aydyn Artman (Pekin) 5-1, Sr. over Cade Venrick (Auburn) 12-4, Sr. (NC)
150
1st Place Match
Logan Baker (PORTA) 17-3, Jr. over Larson Nestar (Glenwood) 10-6, Sr. (M. For.)
3rd Place Match
Bryce Bryant (Springfield High) 12-8, So. over Anthony Steskal (Lanphier) 2-2, Jr. (For.)
5th Place Match
Caleb Plut (LaSalle-Peru) 11-3, So. over Caleb Berg (Unity Christian) 13-6, So. (Fall 2:43)
157
1st Place Match
Justin Zimmerman (PORTA) 18-0, Jr. over Logan Alvarez (Normal West) 13-8, Sr. (TF-1.5 4:20 (17-0))
3rd Place Match
Cohen Green (Macomb) 12-5, Sr. over Jullian Rammelkamp (Glenwood) 17-9, So. (Fall 3:01)
5th Place Match
Lucas Gosch (Pekin) 10-4, Jr. over Zachary Pocivasek (LaSalle-Peru) 10-7, Sr. (TF-1.5 2:07 (21-5))
165
1st Place Match
Kindall Williams (Cahokia) 8-3, Sr. over Maizon Milestone (Glenwood) 15-7, Sr. (Fall 2:40)
3rd Place Match
Logan Price (Glenbard South) 10-4, Sr. over Atsard Aplogan (Macomb) 16-6, Sr. (Fall 2:56)
5th Place Match
Chris Dill (Mahomet-Seymour) 3-1, Fr. over Elijah Kolb (Granite City) 7-12, Sr. (Dec 11-4)
175
1st Place Match
Elijah Smith (Glenwood) 18-4, So. over Keyshaun Harris (Springfield High) 6-2, Sr. (Fall 3:02)
3rd Place Match
Eli Miller (Granite City) 12-5, Fr. over Maliki Fitch (Auburn) 13-4, Sr. (Fall 1:30)
5th Place Match
Jaylen Crowder (Lanphier) 2-1 over Alexander Waller (Pekin) 8-5, Fr. (TF-1.5 4:50 (18-3))
190
1st Place Match
Max Wiezorek (Glenwood) 21-2, Sr. over Chris Hull (Southeast) 13-5, Jr. (Fall 2:42)
3rd Place Match
Dane Jiannoni (PORTA) 14-4, Sr. over Martez Williams (Cahokia) 8-3, So. (Fall 3:08)
5th Place Match
Shamar Brownlee (Springfield High) 11-4, Jr. over Gabe Del Toro (East Peoria) 3-2, Fr. (Fall 1:08)
215
1st Place Match
Danny Langner (Glenbard South) 14-4, Sr. over Moses Kim (Centennial) 8-1, Sr. (Fall 1:00)
3rd Place Match
Mason Streb (Glenwood) 14-10, Jr. over Ashton Schwab (Hazelwood West, MO) 6-4, Jr. (Fall 1:51)
5th Place Match
Hayden Hart (Mahomet-Seymour) 5-1, Sr. over Bradyn Haynes (Pekin) 9-6, Fr. (Fall 3:54)
285
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Jose Del Toro (East Peoria) 19-0, Sr. over Cody Moss (Glenwood) 18-4, Jr. (Dec 5-4)
3rd Place Match
Gabriel Casteblanco (Hazelwood West, MO) 9-2, So. over Zeb Johnson (Cardinal Ritter, MO) 13-9, Jr. (Fall 4:58)
5th Place Match
Demarco Clark (Cahokia) 11-2, Sr. over Alex Brown (Macomb) 15-8, Sr. (Fall 1:28)
Team scores
1. Glenwood 239, 2. PORTA/A-C Central/Greenview/Havana co-op 197.5, 3. Glenbard South 131, 4. Normal West 115, 5. Pekin 111.5, 6. Granite City 98.5, 7. Cahokia 87, 8. Unity Christian/Argenta-Oreana co-op 73, 9. Springfield High 71.5, 10. Macomb 66, 11. Auburn/Franklin/New Berlin co-op 63.5, 12. Centennial 59, 13. LaSalle-Peru 57, 14. Lanphier 39.5, 15. East Peoria 36.5, 16. Hazelwood West, MO 36, 17. Mahomet-Seymour 34, 18. Southeast 30, 19. Sacred Heart-Griffin 26, 20. Riverton 22.5, 21. Cardinal Ritter, MO 18.5
Roundup for Unity, Mascoutah and out-of-state tournaments from Dec. 21
By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA
Unity finishes strong to capture top honors at own invitational
Unity had six champions, one third-place finisher, two fourth-place efforts and a fifth to win the title of its 15-team Unity Invitational in Tolono with 224 points, which was 21.5 points better than runner-up Olympia/Delavan co-op, who had 202.5 points. Ottawa Marquette beat out Rochester 148-143 for third place while Hoopeston Area/Milford co-op finished fifth with 137 points.
1 – Unity
Leading the way for coach Logan Patton’s champion Rockets were title winners Hunter Shike (132), Taylor Finley (138), Kaden Inman (144), Holden Brazelton (150), Abram Davidson (165) and Hunter Eastin (190) while Ryan Rink (175) placed third, Zayden Mansfield (120) and Josh Heath (165) finished fourth and Chason Daly (215) claimed fifth place.
2 – Olympia
Winning titles for coach Josh Collins’ runner-up Spartans were Dylan Eimer (113) and Darian Holloway (285) while Mateo Martinez (126), Cooper Phillips (138), Austin Kisner (144) and Zach Fry (190) took second place. Other medalists for Olympia were Brandon Gaither, who took third at 106, Kaden Collins, who was fourth at 150 and Cohen Maness, who placed sixth at 215.
3 – Ottawa Marquette
The lone champion for coach Trent Lyons’ third-place Crusaders was Alex Schaefer (215) who took first place at 215. Finishing in second place were Reily Leifheit (165) and Adrian Schaefer (285) while Koby Clark (120) claimed third and Beau Thompson (132) placed fourth. Brysen Manly (150) and Landyn McEmery (175) took fifth place and Shea Conner (113) was sixth.
Other title winners were Hoopeston Area/Milford co-op’s Charlie Flores (106), Aiden Bell (126) and Angel Zamora (175) and Rochester’s Miles Carroll (120) and James Escobar (157).
Benton had three second-place finishers, Braxton Tittle (113), Cohen Sweely (120) and Tiffin Kouzoukas (157). Also taking second place were Rochester’s Pierce Bultmann (106), Urbana’s Emiliano Bedolla (132), Peotone’s Conor Pasche (150), Tremont’s Bowden Delaney (175 )and Crete-Monee’s Malaki Scott (215).
Alex Schaefer and Holloway led all competitors for the most team points with 30 while Finley was right behind with 29.5 and Brazelton was next-best with 29 team points. Davidson and Shike tied for fifth with 28 points while Eastin had 27.5, Inman finished with 27 points, Zamora had 26 and there was three-way tie between Bell, Carroll and Flores for tenth with 25.5 points.
Rochester’s James Escobar edged Ottawa Marquette’s Reily Leifheit 60-59 for the most total match points. And Ottawa Marquette’s Alex Schaefer had the most falls in the least amount of time with four in 4:26
Unity Invitational place matches
106
1st Place Match
Charlie Flores (Hoopeston Area) 14-0, Jr. over Pierce Bultmann (Rochester) 13-1, So. (Dec 5-3)
3rd Place Match
Brandon Gaither (Olympia) 16-3, So. over Zane Stanley (Benton) 16-3, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:53 (17-1))
5th Place Match
Isaac Wood (Carterville) 14-5, Fr. over Gracen Elliott (Robinson) 7-4 (Fall 5:01)
113
1st Place Match
Dylan Eimer (Olympia) 12-1, Sr. over Braxton Tittle (Benton) 17-1, So. (Fall 2:50)
3rd Place Match
Nicky Weber (Tremont) 11-6, Fr. over Ramiro Sebastian (Carterville) 10-5, Sr. (Dec 5-2)
5th Place Match
Kameree Ahonto (Crete-Monee) 3-3, Fr. over Shea Conner (Ottawa Marquette) 2-7, So. (Fall 1:10)
120
1st Place Match
Miles Carroll (Rochester) 13-1, So. over Cohen Sweely (Benton) 19-1, So. (TF-1.5 4:56 (18-2))
3rd Place Match
Koby Clark (Ottawa Marquette) 10-3, So. over Zayden Mansfield (Unity) 2-2, Fr. (Dec 9-2)
5th Place Match
Gavin Stoecker (Tremont) 16-6, Fr. over Blake Anderson (Peotone) 14-6, So. (Dec 13-8)
126
1st Place Match
Aiden Bell (Hoopeston Area) 14-1, Jr. over Mateo Martinez (Olympia) 16-10, Sr. (TF-1.5 5:18 (20-3))
3rd Place Match
Brawnsen Bloodworth (Carterville) 11-4, Sr. over Jordan Kirkpatrick (Crete-Monee) 2-8, Jr. (Fall 1:10)
5th Place Match
Jacob Booher (Robinson) 6-6 over Brendon Jones (Benton) 1-2 (Dec 12-11)
132
1st Place Match
Hunter Shike (Unity) 3-0, Jr. over Emiliano Bedolla (Urbana) 17-2, Sr. (Fall 3:42)
3rd Place Match
Blake Arseneau (Bishop McNamara) 2-1, Jr. over Beau Thompson (Ottawa Marquette) 9-5, So. (Dec 16-10)
5th Place Match
Landyn Flood (Carterville) 13-3, Sr. over John Traub (Prairie Central) 13-5, Sr. (MD 13-1)
138
1st Place Match
Taylor Finley (Unity) 4-0, So. over Cooper Phillips (Olympia) 15-6, Sr. (Fall 3:33)
3rd Place Match
Nic Mrozowski (Rochester) 11-4, So. over Broady Kelly (Robinson) 8-2 (Inj. 0:00)
5th Place Match
Chase Stedman (Tremont) 19-6, Sr. over Alex Kostecka (Bishop McNamara) 10-7, Jr. (Dec 7-1)
144
1st Place Match
Kaden Inman (Unity) 3-0, Sr. over Austin Kisner (Olympia) 18-4, So. (TF-1.5 4:39 (18-3))
3rd Place Match
Cole Kimberlin (Bishop McNamara) 6-7, Jr. over Derek Wilkey (Benton) 14-4, So. (Fall 5:45)
5th Place Match
Jacob Kuhn (Charleston) 10-8, Jr. over Gerard Fleming (Crete-Monee) 7-5, So. (Fall 3:39)
150
1st Place Match
Holden Brazelton (Unity) 4-0, Sr. over Conor Pasche (Peotone) 17-4, Sr. (Fall 1:48)
3rd Place Match
Drake Pfeiffer (Rochester) 4-2, Sr. over Kaden Collins (Olympia) 15-7, Fr. (Fall 2:48)
5th Place Match
Brysen Manly (Ottawa Marquette) 11-6, So. over Jason Adams (Crete-Monee) 5-7, Sr. (MD 14-3)
157
1st Place Match
James Escobar (Rochester) 11-4, So. over Tiffin Kouzoukas (Benton) 16-2, Sr. (Dec 18-12)
3rd Place Match
Ben Mullins (Robinson) 13-2 over Laith Abunijmeh (Peotone) 8-7, Sr. (TF-1.5 1:56 (15-0))
5th Place Match
Yanai Taylor (Urbana) 6-7, Sr. over David Bell (Hoopeston Area) 9-8, Sr. (MD 10-2)
165
1st Place Match
Abram Davidson (Unity) 4-0, Jr. over Reily Leifheit (Ottawa Marquette) 11-2, So. (Dec 8-2)
3rd Place Match
Kahne Hyre (Robinson) 11-4, Sr. over Josh Heath (Unity) 2-2 (SV-1 9-6)
5th Place Match
Ayden Larkin (Hoopeston Area) 14-3, Sr. over Jaxson Martin (Prairie Central) 3-2 (Fall 1:22)
175
1st Place Match
Angel Zamora (Hoopeston Area) 14-0, Sr. over Bowden Delaney (Tremont) 18-1, Sr. (Dec 14-10)
3rd Place Match
Ryan Rink (Unity) 2-1, Sr. over Will Mullins (Robinson) 8-5 (TF-1.5 2:47 (16-1))
5th Place Match
Landyn Mcemery (Ottawa Marquette) 7-4, Fr. over Kijuan Springfield (Crete-Monee) 6-8, Sr. (Fall 1:15)
190
1st Place Match
Hunter Eastin (Unity) 3-0, Sr. over Zach Fry (Olympia) 17-7, So. (Fall 2:00)
3rd Place Match
Ethan Pfieffer (Bishop McNamara) 7-3, Sr. over Izaiah Dalton (Benton) 10-7, Sr. (Fall 1:49)
5th Place Match
Terry Mick (Carterville) 13-5, So. over Earl Kelnhofer (Hoopeston Area) 11-5, So. (Fall 2:26)
215
1st Place Match
Alex Schaefer (Ottawa Marquette) 11-2, So. over Malakai Scott (Crete-Monee) 9-4, Sr. (Fall 0:47)
3rd Place Match
Connor Broughton (Rochester) 9-6, Jr. over Marcellx Boling (Charleston) 8-5, Sr. (Fall 1:47)
5th Place Match
Chason Daly (Unity) 4-1, Jr. over Cohen Maness (Olympia) 10-10, Jr. (Fall 2:32)
285
1st Place Match
Darian Holloway (Olympia) 20-3, Jr. over Adrian Schaefer (Ottawa Marquette) 6-4, Sr. (Fall 1:28)
3rd Place Match
Jeremiah Bouchard (Carterville) 11-5, So. over Kian Bramer (Bishop McNamara) 5-6, Jr. (TF-1.5 5:33 (18-3))
5th Place Match
Dominic Jackson (Crete-Monee) 10-4, So. over Colton Maltby (Rochester) 12-4, So. (Fall 0:52)
Team scores
1. Unity 224, 2. Olympia/Delavan co-op 202.5, 3. Ottawa Marquette 148, 4. Rochester 143, 5. Hoopeston Area/Milford co-op 137, 6. Benton/Sesser-Valier co-op 115, 7. Carterville 106, 7. Crete-Monee 106, 9. Robinson 86.5, 10. Bishop McNamara 81, 11. Tremont 80, 12. Peotone 50.5, 13. Urbana 42, 14. Charleston 36.5, 15. Prairie Central 33.5.
Fort Zumwalt North takes first place at Dale Breckel Mascoutah Invite
Fort Zumwalt North of O’Fallon, Missouri easily captured top honors at the 32-team Dale Breckel Mascoutah Invite after scoring 236 points, which was 66.5 ahead of runner-up Quincy Senior, who collected 169.5 points to beat out third-place Murphysboro by 1.5 points. Roxana edged Waterloo 148-147.5 for fourth place while Normal Community (144.5), Morton (143.5) and the host Indians (142) were next in line in the competition in Mascoutah.
1 – Fort Zumwalt North, Missouri
Leading the way for coach Josh Cooper’s champion Panthers were title winners Cole Aguirre (157) and Deacon Moran (190) while Chaz Mitchell (113) took second place. Jacob Bals (120), Nathaniel Provost (126) and Patrick Provost (138) finished third, Jack Bals (106), Carsten Burkemper (132) and Drake Weston (150) placed fifth and Logan Bizzle (165) was seventh.
2 – Quincy Senior
Top medalists for coach Phil Neally’s second-place Blue Devils were runner-up Eli Roberts (150) and third-place finishers Brody Baker (157) and Gunnar Derhake (165). Claiming fourth place was Cooper Kamm (138) while Derik Lohmeyer (120) took sixth place, Clayton McClelland (113) placed seventh and Cale Mixer (144) and King Johnson (285) both finished eighth.
3 – Murphysboro
Turning in top finishes for coach Shea Bakers’ third-place Red Devils were champion Paxton Pyatt (113) and runner-up Kaiden Richards (120). Other top performers were Bryce Edwards (144), who took third place, Sergio Garcia (126), who finished fifth, Logan Tanner (175), who placed sixth and Aiston Holt (132), who claimed eighth place.
Also winning Dale Breckel Mascoutah Invite championships were Waterloo’s Matthew Deutch (106) and Drew Glowacki (285), Champaign Central’s Talin Baker (126) and Ron Baker III (138), Roxana’s Brandon Green, Jr. (132) and Lyndon Thies (175), Triad’s Will Kelly (120), Mt. Vernon’s Dillon White (144), Mascoutah’s Brock Ross (150), East St. Louis’ Pierre Walton (165) and East Alton-Wood River’s Drake Champlin (215).
Other second-place finishers in the invite were Mattoon’s Tristan Porter (126) and Ben Capitosti (144), Morton’s Harrison Dea (132) and Clay Mckee (165), Anna-Jonesboro’s Zoee Sadler (106), Mahomet-Seymour’s Justus Vrona (138), Highland’s Tyson Rakers (157), Lincoln’s Dawson McConnell (175), Roxana’s Rob Watt (190), Waterloo’s Jaxson Mathenia (215) and Collinsville’s Jack Shepherd (285).
Deutch and Ross tied for the most team points with 34 while Ron Baker III and Moran were next-best with 33.5 points. Kelly ranked fifth with 33 points, Glowacki and White both scored 32 points and Aguirre, Green, Jr. and Thies all ended up with 31.5 team points.
Alton’s Brayden Drew had the most total match points with 87 and Collinsville’s Connor Castens had the most falls in the least amount of time with five pins in 5:16.
Dale Breckel Mascoutah Invite place matches
106
1st Place Match
Matthew Deutch (Waterloo) 19-0, So. over Zoee Sadler (Anna-Jonesboro) 13-3, Sr. (Fall 0:59)
3rd Place Match
Xavier Sonon-Hale (Mascoutah) 14-4, Fr. over Elijah Conda (Normal Community) 9-2, Jr. (Dec 12-9)
5th Place Match
Jack Bals (Fort Zumwalt North, MO) 9-5, So. over Connor Castens (Collinsville) 9-6, Fr. (Fall 2:37)
7th Place Match
Austin Jones (Alton) 15-5, Fr. over Parker Kelly (Triad) 3-3, Fr. (Fall 3:35)
113
1st Place Match
Paxton Pyatt (Murphysboro) 15-1, So. over Chaz Mitchell (Fort Zumwalt North, MO) 12-3, Sr. (Dec 6-3)
3rd Place Match
Colin Crouch (Triad) 14-1, Fr. over Gideon Hayter (Mahomet-Seymour) 14-10, So. (Dec 6-5)
5th Place Match
Ryan Siebenthal (Morton) 10-7, So. over Jack Clark (Mt. Vernon) 13-7, So. (Dec 6-5)
7th Place Match
Clayton McClelland (Quincy Senior) 9-5, Fr. over Rigdon Meacham (Marion) 14-8, Fr. (Fall 1:36)
120
1st Place Match
Will Kelly (Triad) 14-0, Jr. over Kaiden Richards (Murphysboro) 12-2, Sr. (MD 12-1)
3rd Place Match
Jacob Bals (Fort Zumwalt North, MO) 12-5, Sr. over Mason Soney (Normal Community) 13-5, Fr. (Fall 1:17)
5th Place Match
Vincent Gibson (Mattoon) 17-7, Sr. over Derik Lohmeyer (Quincy Senior) 7-7, Fr. (Fall 0:32)
7th Place Match
Ayden Shaw (Lincoln) 7-3, Jr. over Liam Cardwell (O`Fallon) 8-9, So. (Fall 5:23)
126
1st Place Match
Talin Baker (Champaign Central) 12-0, So. over Tristan Porter (Mattoon) 19-3, Jr. (Dec 9-3)
3rd Place Match
Nathaniel Provost (Fort Zumwalt North, MO) 14-3, Sr. over Cort Pentecost (Lincoln) 10-2, Sr. (Fall 2:47)
5th Place Match
Sergio Garcia (Murphysboro) 12-5, Jr. over Drew Sadler (Anna-Jonesboro) 12-3, Sr. (Inj. 0:00)
7th Place Match
Macguire Leck (Mascoutah) 15-5, Jr. over Max Wade (Marion) 14-9, Jr. (Fall 3:36)
132
1st Place Match
Brandon Green Jr. (Roxana) 16-0, Jr. over Harrison Dea (Morton) 16-2, Jr. (Dec 8-7)
3rd Place Match
Jordan Kholian (Jacksonville) 9-2, So. over Brayden Manning (Normal Community) 17-4, Fr. (Dec 6-0)
5th Place Match
Carsten Burkemper (Fort Zumwalt North, MO) 13-4, So. over Karter Hild (Lincoln) 10-3, Sr. (Dec 10-4)
7th Place Match
Elliott Tanner (Champaign Central) 4-2, Jr. over Aiston Holt (Murphysboro) 7-5, Sr. (MD 11-0)
138
1st Place Match
Ron Baker III (Champaign Central) 16-0, Sr. over Justus Vrona (Mahomet-Seymour) 16-7, Jr. (Fall 2:08)
3rd Place Match
Patrick Provost (Fort Zumwalt North, MO) 13-4, So. over Cooper Kamm (Quincy Senior) 11-4, So. (TF-1.5 0:00 (16-1))
5th Place Match
Camron Minner (Collinsville) 17-4, Sr. over TY KINZINGER Ty Kinzinger (Waterloo) 15-6, Sr. (Fall 5:22)
7th Place Match
Desi Wade (Mascoutah) 16-3, So. over Marshall Skelton (Alton) 15-6, Sr. (TF-1.5 0:00 (22-6))
144
1st Place Match
Dillon White (Mt. Vernon) 16-0, Sr. over Ben Capitosti (Mattoon) 19-3, Sr. (Dec 9-3)
3rd Place Match
Bryce Edwards (Murphysboro) 13-2, Sr. over Caiden Robison (Morton) 19-4, Sr. (TF-1.5 0:00 (17-0))
5th Place Match
Brody Smith (Triad) 12-3 over Logan Riggs (Roxana) 13-5, Jr. (Fall 4:36)
7th Place Match
Nathen Herrin (Civic Memorial) 16-6, Sr. over Cale Mixer (Quincy Senior) 4-4, Jr. (Fall 4:52)
150
1st Place Match
Brock Ross (Mascoutah) 18-1, Jr. over Eli Roberts (Quincy Senior) 11-2, Sr. (Fall 4:43)
3rd Place Match
Caden Frey (Marion) 15-3, Jr. over Brayden Drew (Alton) 17-4, Jr. (MD 15-6)
5th Place Match
Drake Weston (Fort Zumwalt North, MO) 11-5, Jr. over Jonathan McCray (East St. Louis) 7-5, So. (TF-1.5 0:00 (15-0))
7th Place Match
Talon Decker (Mahomet-Seymour) 16-6, So. over Gavin Capodice (Normal Community) 15-7, Jr. (TF-1.5 0:00 (19-2))
157
1st Place Match
Cole Aguirre (Fort Zumwalt North, MO) 14-3, Jr. over Tyson Rakers (Highland) 16-1, Sr. (Dec 4-1)
3rd Place Match
Brody Baker (Quincy Senior) 7-2, Jr. over Joe Reif (Jacksonville) 16-3, Jr. (Dec 7-4)
5th Place Match
Trevor Gihring (Roxana) 14-4, Sr. over Sean Murphy (Mascoutah) 17-4, So. (TF-1.5 0:00 (17-2))
7th Place Match
Logan Thomas (O`Fallon) 14-4, Sr. over Ryne Metelko (Lincoln) 10-6, Jr. (Fall 3:01)
165
1st Place Match
Pierre Walton (East St. Louis) 12-0, Jr. over Clay Mckee (Morton) 18-3, Sr. (MD 11-2)
3rd Place Match
Gunnar Derhake (Quincy Senior) 11-2, Sr. over Thomas Imboden (Carbondale) 15-5, Sr. (Fall 4:18)
5th Place Match
AJ Demos (Mahomet-Seymour) 18-8, Sr. over Jordan Sonon-Hale (Mascoutah) 16-5, Jr. (Dec 10-7)
7th Place Match
Logan Bizzle (Fort Zumwalt North, MO) 12-5, Sr. over Aiden Frye (Lincoln) 7-4, Sr. (TF-1.5 0:00 (20-5))
175
1st Place Match
Lyndon Thies (Roxana) 16-0 over Dawson McConnell (Lincoln) 10-1, Sr. (Dec 16-14)
3rd Place Match
Marco Casillas (Mahomet-Seymour) 21-2, Fr. over Jaren Frankowiak (Normal Community) 18-4, Sr. (TF-1.5 0:00 (18-2))
5th Place Match
Colin Hughey (Trico/Elverado) 13-2, Sr. over Logan Tanner (Murphysboro) 12-6, So. (TF-1.5 0:00 (17-2))
7th Place Match
Colton Mckee (Morton) 16-3, So. over Liam Kobbeman (Highland) 3-3 (Fall 3:40)
190
1st Place Match
Deacon Moran (Fort Zumwalt North, MO) 16-0, Jr. over Rob Watt (Roxana) 15-1, Sr. (Fall 3:49)
3rd Place Match
Danny Jackson (Red Bud/Valmeyer) 24-1, Fr. over Scott Snyder (Collinsville) 11-2, Sr. (Dec 13-8)
5th Place Match
Evan Francis (Marion) 13-7, Jr. over Alec Gilomen (Triad) 11-5, So. (Fall 3:40)
7th Place Match
Cole Kretsinger (Normal Community) 8-2, Jr. over Andrew Vanderheyden (O`Fallon) 7-6, Sr. (Fall 2:53)
215
1st Place Match
Drake Champlin (East Alton-Wood River) 14-0, Sr. over Jaxson Mathenia (Waterloo) 11-1, So. (Dec 8-7)
3rd Place Match
Kenner Bye (Bloomington) 13-2, Sr. over Ashton Zobrist (Highland) 14-5 (Fall 3:58)
5th Place Match
Gavin Gentille (O`Fallon) 17-2, Sr. over Noah Daniels (Mahomet-Seymour) 10-4, Jr. (Fall 0:51)
7th Place Match
Dane Olmstead (Freeburg) 6-2, So. over Mitchell Clapp (Mattoon) 12-7, So. (Inj. 0:00)
285
1st Place Match
Drew Glowacki (Waterloo) 20-0 over Jack Shepherd (Collinsville) 12-6, Sr. (Dec 3-1)
3rd Place Match
Jordyn Lomax-Brown (Carbondale) 13-3, Sr. over Jack Amann (Freeburg) 5-2, So. (Fall 3:55)
5th Place Match
Aiden Surratt (Jacksonville) 16-4, Sr. over London Miller (Mattoon) 6-4, So. (Fall 0:59)
7th Place Match
Logan Wachendorf (Lincoln) 8-4, Sr. over King Johnson (Quincy Senior) 9-5 (Dec 4-0)
Team scores
1. Fort Zumwalt North, MO 236, 2. Quincy Senior 169.5, 3. Murphysboro 168, 4. Roxana 148, 5. Waterloo 147.5, 6. Normal Community 144.5, 7. Morton 143.5, 8. Mascoutah 142, 9. Collinsville 128, 10. Lincoln 126, 11. Triad 119.5, 12. Marion 117.5, 13. Mahomet-Seymour 115.5, 14. Mattoon 110.5, 15. Carbondale 95.5, 16. Champaign Central 88, 17. Jacksonville 84.5, 18. East St. Louis 78, 19. Highland 77.5, 20. O’Fallon 75.5, 21. Alton 64.5, 22. Mt. Vernon 61, 23. Freeburg 56.5, 24. Red Bud/Valmeyer co-op 54.5, 25. Civic Memorial 54, 26. Anna-Jonesboro 44, 27. East Alton-Wood River 39.5, 28. Centralia 39, 29. Bloomington 34, 30. Trico/Elverado 22, 31. Sparta/Steeleville co-op 15.5, 32. Mascoutah JV 7.
Out -of-state tournaments
Jersey Community boys wins title at Chaminade Invite in Missouri
Jersey Community’s boys team had two title winners and three second-place finishers to help it score 194.5 points and capture top honors by 49 points over runner-up Parkway West, Missouri, which had 145.5, in the 13-team Chaminade Invite, which took place in Frontenac, Missouri.
Winning titles for coach Frank Speidel’s champion Panthers were Maddox Williams (106) and Timothy Shea Herrera (175) while Bodey Waltz (126), Nicholas Hartley (165) and Ethan Daniels (285) claimed second place. Taking third were Hunter Hodge (120), Trevor Tucker (157) and Nicholas Woelfel (215) while Jace Marshall (190) finished in fourth place.
Tucker was one of three individuals who had a tourney-high four falls. Herrera tied for sixth with 26 team points while Williams ranked eighth with 25.5 team points.
Round Lake girls finish sixth at Badger State Invite in Wisconsin
Round Lake’s girls scored 99 points to finish in sixth place in the 51-team Badger State Girls Invitational that was held at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
The three placewinners for the Panthers were runner-up Ireland McCain (114), third-place finisher Riley Kongkaeow (100), and Brianna Perez (132), who finished eighth. The three individuals combined to score 60 of their team’s points.
Joliet Central boys have a champion, take sixth at Wisconsin invite
Joliet Central’s boys had a champion and four others in the top six to help it score 126.5 points and finish sixth at the 24-team E.H. Stech Invitational, which took place in West Allis, Wisconsin.
Charles Walker won the 215 championship to lead the Steelmen. He also tied for second place for the most team points with 31, which was just one-half behind the leader in that category.
Other top finishers for Joliet Central were Isaiah Kan (third at 138), Aleck Allende (fourth at 120), Liam Walsh (fifth at 113) and Xavier Eggert (sixth at 175).
Marist boys leads four teams at Carnahan Memorial Invite in Indiana
Marist’s boys took seventh place with 102 points, Mount Carmel was eighth with 77 points, Marmion Academy placed 10th with 69 points and Homewood-Flossmoor took 13th with 54 points in the 20-team Carnahan Memorial Invitational, which took place in Crown Point, Indiana.
The lone Illinois champions were Mount Carmel’s Seth Mendoza, who claimed top honors at 138, and Marist’s Will Denny, who won the title at 165. Mendoza tied for second-best in team points with 28.5, just one-half point behind the leader in that category while Denny tied for seventh and finished with 26 team points. Mendoza also had the most match points with 70.
Other top finishers for Marist’s Redhawks were Donavon Allen (third at 138), Ricky Ericksen (third at 190), George Marinopoulos (fourth at 132) and Michael Esteban (sixth at 126).
The defending Class 3A IHSA champion Caravan also got medals from Liam Kelly (third at 157) and Landon Carter (fifth at 285).
Marmion Academy also had five individuals who placed sixth or better. They were Colton Wyller (second at 106), Demetrios Carrera (third at 132), Mateusz Nycz (fourth at 285), Aidan McClure (fifth at 113) and Joey Favia (sixth at 215).
Four individuals from Homewood-Flossmoor placed. They were Chazz Robinson (third at 120), Davion Henry (fourth at 106), RJ Robinson (fourth at 175) and Jovan Vukajlovic (sixth at 157).
Three Illinois girls teams participate at the F.I.G.H.T. in Ohio
Competitors from Batavia, Huntley and Homewood-Flossmoor put up a good fight at the Findlay Invitational Girls High School Tournament (F.I.G.H.T.) in Findlay, Ohio, which had individuals representing 80-plus schools on hand, but none were able to advance to the title mat.
Leading the way for Batavia was Lily Enos, who claimed fourth place at 100. Huntley had two placewinners, Aubrie Rohrbacher (sixth at 130) and Sara Willis (seventh at 235) and Homewood-Flossmoor was led by London Gandy (seventh at 110).
Montini Catholic’s Bell finishes fifth at Girls Beast of the East
Montini Catholic’s Katelyn Bell took fifth place at 100 at the 3rd annual Girls Beast of the East, a competition featuring nearly 300 girls from over 100 schools that was held in Newark, Delaware.
Chicago-area girls recaps from Curie, Lane, Westinghouse
By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA
CURIE QUEENS OF MAYHEM TOURNAMENT
Curie’s 18-team Queens of Mayhem tournament saw JS Morton take the team title thanks to 11 wrestlers finishing in the top six of their weight classes. Coach Fernando Arriata’s girls posted a 195-181 edged. second-place Marist, followed by Thornton Township (112), Naperville Central (106.5) and Lemont (98) to round out the top five team finishes.
“Overall, I believe everyone looked great,” Arriata said. “It is good to see the team get rewarded after they put in a lot of work all season.”
1st place: Morton (195 points)
The Mustangs got three individual titles to lead the way, from Andaira Marron (100), Hope Donnamario (105) and Monica Garcia (120). Arriata also got a second from Brianna Carbajal (120), a third from Violet Mayo (155), fourths from Karia Munoz (110), Andrea Martinez (135), Rhysel Anum (145), and Anali Wilson (190), a fifth from Quetzal Delgado (135), and a sixth from Isabella Sanchez (155).
Anum and Sanchez competed as non-scoring wrestlers for the Mustangs, who also got team points from Liliana Covarurubias (125), Victoria Vargas (130), and Angelina Uvalle (170).
“The girls wrestled very tough, and it was great to see many of our first-year wrestlers chain up their wrestling this weekend,” Arriata said. “And our seasoned wresters looked very good and had to really compete to win.”
2nd place: Marist (181)
Among scoring wrestlers, the Redhawks got individual titles from Ava Enright (115), Stella Harris (135) and Samantha Fontaine (190), seconds from Zoe Kamper (125) and Sarah Parker (190), a third from Shae Halleran (105), a fourth from Samantha Durbin (130), and sixths from Meghan Ciukaj (110) and Jordan Hozzian (145).
3rd place: Thornton Township (112)
Thornton got a title from Jalah Wilson (130), seconds from Ariel Woodfin (100) and Sionna Stampley (235), thirds from Heavenlee Wilson (125) and Shuntara Freeman (140), and a sixth from Miniyai Adams (235).
Curie Queens of Mayhem individual champions:
Morton’s Andaira Marron (100), Morton’s Hope Donnamario (105), Curie’s Giselle Arambula (110), Marist’s Ava Enright (115), Morton’s Monica Garcia (120), Lemont’s Molly O’Connor (125), Thornton Township’s Jalah Wilson (130), Marist’s Stella Harris (135), Lake Park’s Ava Burns (140), Lake Park’s Joscelin Ritthamel (145), South Elgin’s Allison Garbacz (155), Marist’s Samantha Fontaine (170), Larkin’s Jadelin Caballero (190), and Streamwood’s Jasmine Rene (235).
Team scores:
Morton 195, Marist 181, Thornton Township 112, Naperville Central 106.5, Lemont 98, Oak Lawn 92.5, Curie 83, South Elgin 77, Bremen 72, Larkin 71.5, Lake Park 70.5, Streamwood 70, Westinghouse 68.5, Evanston 42, St. Laurence 40, Reavis 38.5, Eisenhower 34, Niles North 7
Queens of Mayhem tournament results:
100
1st: Andaira Marron (Morton E) 13-3, d. Ariel Woodfin (Thornton) 8-1, (D 21-19)
3rd: Annika Hull (Naperville C) 12-5, d. Thi Van (Reavis) 8-8, (F 2:08)
5th: Evelin Martinez (Curie) 2-1, d. Reese Nicolas (Lake Park) 1-2, (F 0:13)
105
1st: Hope Donnamario (Morton E) 12-3, d. Ashley Hammond (Larkin) 12-5, (D 12-5)
3rd: Shae Halleran (Marist) 14-3, d. Ariana Baier (Lemont) 13-3, (F 0:54)
5th: Susan Cruz (Larkin) 10-5, d. Livia Adolfo (Marist) 6-5, (F 1:56)
110
1st: Giselle Arambula (Curie) 4-0, d. Eliana Caudillo (Oak Lawn) 3-5, (F 1:58)
3rd: Lauren Stevens (Lemont) 5-6, d. Karla Munoz (Morton E) 7-8, (F 3:00)
5th: Samantha Albaugh (Evanston) 9-4, d. Meghan Ciukaj (Marist) 3-4, (F 2:21)
115
1st: Ava Enright (Marist) 15-3, d. Azucena Rodriguez (South Elgin) 7-3, (MD 15-4)
3rd: Allison Nava (Oak Lawn) 5-1, d. Gracie Meluch (Naperville C) 11-6, (F 2:16)
5th: Melva Gallego-Sugar (Naperville C) 8-5, d. Zoey Sanchez (Streamwood) 5-2, (MD 13-5)
120
1st: Monica Garcia (Morton E) 13-4, d. Brianna Carbajal (Morton E) 8-8, (F 1:19)
3rd: Samantha Gipson (Evanston) 7-5, d. Abril Duarte (Bremen) 2-2, (F 1:43)
5th: Ellen Purl (Naperville C) 13-6, d. Melanie Cervantes (Eisenhower) 11-4, (TF-1.5 2:28 (16-0)
125
1st: Molly O`Connor (Lemont) 18-2, d. Zoe Kamper (Marist) 14-5, (F 1:41)
3rd: Heavenlee Wilson (Thornton) 3-1, d. Dezi Azar (Naperville C) 16-3, (M. For.)
5th: Journey Jackson (Oak Lawn) 4-1, d. Faith Arenibar (St Laurence) 3-2, (D 11-5)
130
1st: Jalah Wilson (Thornton) 8-0, d. Bianca Arredondo (Naperville C) 15-5, (F 3:37)
3rd: Shan`drea Jones (Bremen) 2-1, d. Samantha Durbin (Marist) 7-5, (F 0:31)
5th: Priscilla Ruiz (Oak Lawn) 3-1, d. Sophia Rittorno (Marist) 4-4, (TF-1.5 2:21 (18-1)
135
1st: Stella Harris (Marist) 16-2, d. Amelia Quinlan (Bremen) 3-1, (F 0:34)
3rd: Abril Caamaño (South Elgin) 5-5, d. Andrea Martinez (Morton E) 3-3, (F 2:53)
5th: Quetzal Delgado (Morton E) 4-1, d. Leslie Lopez (Reavis) 7-8, (F 3:08)
140
1st: Ava Burns (Lake Park) 4-0, d. Arianna Rico (Naperville C) 12-6, (F 0:43)
3rd: Shuntara Freeman (Thornton) 5-4, d. Rodriguez Zoe (Streamwood) 2-2, . (F 0:15)
5th: Yaretzi Avila Calixto (Curie) 4-1, d. Shaniah West (Bremen) 2-2, (F 1:12)
145
1st: Joscelin Ritthamel (Lake Park) 3-0, d. Nermina Rustemi (Lake Park) 2-1, (F 5:44)
3rd: Zoe Gonzalez (Curie) 2-1, d. Rhysel Anum (Morton E) 1-6, (F 0:09)
5th: Hannah Marusarz (St Laurence) 2-1, d. Jordan Hozzian (Marist) 3-3, (F 4:19)
155
1st: Allison Garbacz (South Elgin) 12-0, d. Cecilia Colon (Westinghouse) 3-1, (F 2:59)
3rd: Violet Mayo (Morton E) 12-6, d. Jazmin Novoa (Streamwood) 10-6, (F 1:35)
5th: Charvelle McLain (Oak Lawn) 6-2, d. Isabella Sanchez (Morton E) 3-2, (F 1:26)
170
1st: Samantha Fontaine (Marist) 12-1, d. Zamaya Taylor (Larkin) 12-5, (F 0:26)
3rd: Delia Humphrey (St Laurence) 2-1, d. Gabriela Baltierres (Lemont) 8-5, (F 0:40)
5th: Yamieth Castillo (Reavis) 13-3, d. Kimberly Bautista (Lake Park) 2-2, (F 3:15)
190
1st: Jadelin Caballero (Larkin) 16-1, d. Sarah Parker (Marist) 14-4, (F 5:20)
3rd: Phoebe Heyboer (Eisenhower) 10-3, d. Anali Wilson (Morton E) 9-7, (F 2:01)
5th: Emily Nieto (Westinghouse) 4-1, d. Nataly Romero (Oak Lawn) 4-4, (F 0:22)
235
1st: Jasmine Rene (Streamwood) 11-0, d. Sionna Stampley (Thornton) 7-2, (F 0:20)
3rd: Rowyn Page (Lemont) 14-7, d. Jocelyn Gonzalez (Streamwood) 3-2, (F 0:56)
5th: Persia Foster (Westinghouse) 4-1, d. Miniyai Adams (Thornton) 3-2, (F 0:40)
LADY OF LANE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
The home team reigned at Lane Tech, where the host Champions took the team title of their 16-team tournament.
Lane won 136.5-118d. the second-place Lincoln-Way co-op team, with Rolling Meadows (111) placing third, New Trier (100.5) in fourth, and Taft (85.5) finishing in fifth place. The Champions had eight girls finish in the top six of their weight classes, including two champions.
1st place: Lane (136.5 points)
The Champions got titles from Nyah Lovis (130) and Zabby Badru (135), a second from Lauren Guerrero (115), thirds from Sofia Guerrero (105) and Akyah Thomas (170), a fifth from Kenaiece Barrett (190), and sixths from Imyjah Jackson (140) and Allison Gutierrez (155).
2nd place: Lincoln-Way (118)
Lincoln-Way got second-place finishes from Avery Holeman (170) and Liana Zimmer (190), thirds from Zoe Zerial (110) and Sierra Heatherly (115), a fourth from Ella Foley (130), fifths from Kaitlyn Erdakos (135) and Jalyssa Venegas (235), and a sixth from Abby Lizak (120).
3rd place: Rolling Meadows (111)
The Mustangs got individual titles from Aiaishah Sanchez (155) and Leilani Brindis (170), seconds from Ziza Sanchez (140) and Janet Brindis (155), thirds from Muneeba Butt (130) and Shafia Butt (145), and fourths from Joselyn Canto Lezama (110) and Yami Serrano Amanya (155).
Other Lady of Lane individual champions were Glenbrook North’s Leah Stringfellow (100), West Chicago’s Brissia Bucio (105), New Trier’s Lola Bianco (110), Agricultural Science’s Carmen Jackson (115), Glenbrook North’s Ariella Dobin (120), Lindblom’s Nakya Scott (125), New Trier’s Jillian Giller (140), Addison Trail’s Madeline Beltran (145), Lindblom’s Ashyia Scott (190), and Noble/ITW Speer’s Esmerelda Bustamante (235).
Team scores:
Lane 136.5, Lincoln-Way Central 118, Rolling Meadows 111, New Trier 100.5, Taft 85.5, Wheaton Warrenville South 82.5, Lindblom 77, Riverside-Brookfield 73.5, West Chicago 71.5, Agricultural Science 63, Lake View 56, Glenbrook North 55, Addison Trail 54, Saint Viator 33.5, Maine South 32, Noble/ITW Speer 29
Lady of Lane tournament results:
100
1st: Leah Stringfellow (Glenbrook N) d. Andrea Jaimes-Alvarez (WWSouth) (D 16-10)
3rd: Sunny Aitzemkour (New Trier) d. Maria Mino (WWSouth) (F 1:49)
5th: Isabella Datil (Addison Trail) d. Melina Valdez (Addison Trail) (F 0:43)
105
1st: Brissia Bucio (West (H.S.) d. Estrella Jaimes (WWSouth) (F 0:44)
3rd: Sofia Guerrero (Lane) d. Isabella Castro (New Trier) (F 0:29)
5th: Evalyn Idzik (St. Viator) d. Autumn Oregon-Williams (Addison Trail) (F 5:54)
110
1st: Lola Bianco (New Trier) d. Alyssa Martel (Taft) (F 0:32)
3rd: Zoe Zerial (LW Central) d. Joselyn Canto Lezama (Rolling Meadows) (F 1:52)
5th: Aphrodite Gineris (Maine S) received a bye () (Bye)
115
1st: Carmen Jackson (Agricultural Science) d. Lauren Guerrero (Lane) (F 0:57)
3rd: Sierra Heatherly (LW Central) d. Heidi Velazquez (R-B) (F 0:51)
5th: Monica Sanchez (West (H.S.) d. Lily Scribner (Lake View) (F 2:48)
120
1st: Ariella Dobin (Glenbrook N) won by tech Fd. Jennifer Arenas (Taft) (TF 21-5)
3rd: Danita Palmore (Lindblom) d. Addison Dill (Maine S) (F 0:41)
5th: Mackensie Szajda (West (H.S.) d. Abby Lizak (LW Central) (F 4:59)
125
1st: Nakya Scott (Lindblom) d. Alyssa Gianola (Maine S) (F 0:22)
3rd: Frankie Abasta (R-B) d. Zmorah Izenstark (New Trier) (F 1:53)
5th: Angel Emeana (Lake View) d. Isabelle Diaz (Agricultural Science) (F 2:59)
130
1st: Nyah Lovis (Lane) d. Raynisha Sims (Lake View) (F 2:34)
3rd: Muneeba Butt (Rolling Meadows) d. Ella Foley (LW Central) (F 0:52)
5th: Deyton Montes (Agricultural Science) d. Madison Cruz (Agricultural Science) (F 3:56)
135
1st: Zabby Badru (Lane) won by tech Fd. Angelica Solis (R-B) (TF 17-2)
3rd: Heidi Bourne (WWSouth) d. Layla Zbiec (Taft) (F 1:49)
5th: Kaitlyn Erdakos (LW Central) d. Kamila Sarmiento (W Chicago) (F 2:58)
140
1st: Jillian Giller (New Trier) d. Ziza Sanchez (Rolling Meadows) (F 1:53)
3rd: Batula Nasib (West (H.S.) d. Makiya Lewis (Lake View) (F 0:15)
5th: Emily Anaya (R-B) d. Imyjah Jackson (Lane) (F 3:11)
145
1st: Madeline Beltran (Addison Trail) d. Avery Brooks (St. Viator) (F 3:17)
3rd: Shafia Butt (Rolling Meadows) d. Evelyn Rodriguez (Taft) (F 2:34)
5th: Noelia Gordoa (Lake View) d. Jaylene Correa (Noble/ITW Speer) (F 0:48)
155:
1st: Aiaishah Sanchez (Rolling Meadows) d. Janet Brindis (Rolling Meadows) (F 1:11)
3rd: Michelle Rojas-Tellez (WWSouth) d. Yami Serrano Amaya (Rolling Meadows) (F 3:48)
5th: Sylvia Lupa (Addison Trail) won by Disiond. Allison Gutierrez (Lane) (D 7-5)
170
1st: Leilani Brindis (Rolling Meadows) d. Avery Holeman (LW Central) (F 4:24)
3rd: Akyah Thomas (Lane) d. Elena Haugh (Agricultural Science) (F 0:46)
5th: Olivia Halminiak (West (H.S.) d. Estefany Bejarano (R-B) (F 2:33)
190
1st: Ashyia Scott (Lindblom) d. Liana Zimmer (LW Central) (F 1:42)
3rd: Jayna Turner (Lindblom) d. Tanesha Esteban (Noble/ITW Speer) (F 3:53)
5th: Kenaiece Barrett (Lane) won by Disiond. Aileen Galvez (Noble/ITW Speer) (D 4-1)
235
1st: Esmerelda Bustamante (Noble/ITW Speer) d. Rim Ayouchi (Taft) (F 0:38)
3rd: Dayrin Tirado (Noble/ITW Speer) d. Areli Espinosa (Noble/ITW Speer) (F 1:09)
5th: Jalyssa Venegas (LW Central) won by Disiond. Keira Rodriguez (Lake View) (D 5-3)
WESTINGHOUSE GIRLS SCRAMBLE #2
Phoenix Military Academy’s girls ran away with the team title at this year’s Westinghouse Girls Scramble #2, topping the 15-team field 123.5-64d. second-place Mather. Crane Medical Prep (53) placed third, followed by Little Village (41) and Washington (40) to round out the top five team finishes.
1st place: Phoenix Military Academy (123.5)
Phoenix entered six wrestlers in the tournament and had six individual champions in Dana Lopez-Jimenez (115), Mia Thomas (120), Marisol Castro-Duran (125), Jocelyn-Quiroz-Rosales (135), America Cabrera (140), and AJ Grant (145).
2nd place: Mather (64)
Among scoring wrestlers, Mather got an individual title from Esther Gouegnon (155), a second-place finish from Julissa Az (170-190), thirds from Lisbeth Tenorio (140) and Krishna Garfias (145), fourths from Tuyet Tran (115) and Miriam Orduno (120), a fifth from Mia Zepeda (135), and a sixth from Ariadna Cruz (125).
3rd place: Crane (53)
Among scoring wrestlers, Crane got titles from Katherine Gonzalez-Moline (100) and Dorca Morales (170-190), a second from Hannah Chong (115), and thirds from Andrea Wells (115) and Simone Dyer (120).
Little Village’s Mavis Marchan (235) was also an individual champion at Westinghouse.
Team scores:
Phoenix Military Academy 123.5, Mather 64, Crane Medical Prep 53, Little Village 41, Washington 40, Kenwood 32, Fenger 29.5, Clark 24, South Shore 15, Chicago Academy 12, Phillips 12, Horizon/Southwest 7, Corliss 0, King 0, Noble UIC 0
Westinghouse Girls Scramble #2 results
100
1st: Katherine Gonzalez- Moline (Crane) 2-1, d. Nevaeh Salinas (Mather) 1-2, (F 2:29)
105 – none
110
1st:Chloe Arana (Washington) 22-0, d. Isis Rivera (Noble UIC) 0-2, (F 0:54)
115
1st: Diana Lopez-Jimenez (Phoenix) 3-0, d. Hannah Chong (Crane) 2-1, (F 1:26)
3rd: Andrea Wells (Crane) 1-2, d. Tuyet Tran (Mather) 0-3, (F 0:48)
120
1st: Mia Thomas (Phoenix) 4-0, d. Jocelyn uriostegui (Chicago Academy) 3-1, . (F 3:40)
3rd: Simone Dyer (Crane) 2-2, d. Miriam Orduno (Mather) 1-3, (TF-1.5 4:20 (20-4)
5th: Fatima Jacinto (Horizon SW)
125
1st: Marisol Castro-Duran (Phoenix) 3-0, d. Alyssa McGee (Kenwood) 2-1, (F 3:23)
3rd: Itzel Jimenez (Washington) 3-1, d. Rihanna Raygoza (Little Village) 1-2, (F 0:36)
5th: Trinity Kinsey (Clark) 1-2, d. Ariadna Cruz (Mather) 0-3, (F 1:43)
130 – none
135
1st: Jocelyn Quiroz-Rosales (Phoenix) 2-0, d. Melany Serroto (Washington) 2-1, (F 1:18)
3rd: Akira Camp (Fenger) 3-1, d. jayla bowie (Clark) 2-1, (M. For.)
5th: Mia Zepeda (Mather) 2-2, d. paris freeman (Clark) 0-3, (F 1:07)
140
1st: America Cabrera (Phoenix) 2-0, d. kayla Nolan (Phillips) 1-1, (F 1:09)
3rd: Lisbeth Tenorio (Mather)
145
1st: AJ Grant (Phoenix) 4-0, d. Theresa Sewell (Fenger) 3-1, (F 1:38)
3rd: Krishna Garfias (Mather) 2-2, d. Amor Juarez (South Shore) 1-3, (F 1:46)
5th: Amaleia Chronopoulos (Crane Medical Prep)
155
1st: Esther Gouegnon (Mather) 2-0, d. Adaycia Cashew (Kenwood) 1-1, (F 0:28)
3rd: Celeste Lazcano (Mather) 0-2, d. () , . (Bye)
170-190
1st:Dorca Morales (Crane Medical Prep) 4-0, d. Elizabeth Herrera (Mather) 0-4, (F 0:46)
3rd: Emma Guzman (Little Village) 2-2, d. Andrea Hernandez (Little Village) 1-3, (F 0:55)
5th: Elizabeth Herrera (Mather)
235
1st: Mavis Marchan (Little Village) 2-0, d. Erin Armour (South Shore) 4-1, (F 1:27)
3rd: Arelii Santamaria (Horizon SW)
Girls tournament recaps from Springfield, Morris, Metamora, and Lakes
By Gary Larsen for the IWCOA
SPRINGFIELD’S JOE BEE MEMORIAL GIRLS TOURNAMENT
Springfield coach Cody Watts saw his girls grab a bit of history at this year’s second annual 33-team Joe Bee Memorial Girls Tournament.
“This was our first tournament win as a co-op,” Watts said.
Springfield out-pointed second-place LaSalle-Peru 369-312.5, followed by Civic Memorial (273), Triad (262) and Vandalia (232.5) to round out the top five team finishes.
1st place: Springfield co-op (369 points)
A trio of runner-up finishes paced Springfield to the team title, in Phoenix Criss (105), Madison Bradley (120) and Ariella Miloncus (130). “A big shout-out to Madison Bradley, who made it into the finals as a first-year wrestler,” Watts said.
Watts also got fourth-place finishes from Meredith Gumz (115) and Maya Bennett (155), and sixths from Tala Asad (135) and Crishonna Seals (235).
2nd place: LaSalle-Peru (312.5)
The Lady Cavaliers got an individual title from Kiely Domyancich (115), a third from Kalista Frost (100), a fourth from Sarah Lowery (110), a fifth from Avalyn Edwall (140), and sixths from Kalli Ware 115), Amelia Buckley (120), and Marissa Eggersdorfer (155).
3rd place: Civic Memorial (273)
Civic Memorial got second-place finishes from Kendall Moss-Smith (115) and Delaney Griffin (140) to lead the way, plus fourths from Claire Shaw (125) and Alicia Dominquez (130), and a fifth from Carlina McGaughey (190).
Individual champions:
Winning individual Joe Bee titles were Triad’s Claire Crouch (100), Glenwood’s Kadi Wilbern (105), Pekin’s Tessa Donaldson (110), LaSalle-Peru’s Kiely Domyancich (115), Oakwood’s Lainey Ehler (120), Vandalia’s Sophie Bowers (125), Centennial’s Ava Beldo (130), Carlinville’s Samantha Scott (135), Macomb’s Kelly Ladd (140), Glenwood’s Jenna Tuxhorn (145), Paris’ Gabbie Collins (155), Highland’s August Rottmann (170), Central’s Payton Temple (190), and Normal West’s Cadence Duvall (235)
Team scores:
Springfield Co-op 369, LaSalle-Peru 312.5, Civic Memorial 273, Triad 262, Vandalia 232.5, Belleville West 232, Macomb 223, Granite City 193, Cahokia 188, Hazelwood West, MO 179, Glenwood 168, Paris 166, Glenbard South 159, Mahomet-Seymour 154, Jacksonville 138, Highland 136, Central 132.5, Pekin 121.5, Oakwood 120, East Peoria 116.5, Carlinville 87.5, Unity Christian 83, Rochester 75, Normal West 73, University 72.5, West Vigo 63, Centennial 47, Goreville 46, Cumberland 44, Jersey 39, Alton 38, PORTA 27, Cardinal Ritter, MO 15
Joe Bee Memorial Girls results:
100
1st: Claire Crouch (Triad) 3-0, d. Kelly Tran (Hazelwood West) 8-3, (F 0:57)
3rd: Kalista Frost (LaSalle (L.-Peru) 5-5, d. Nicole Stanley (Carlinville) 1-2, (F 1:11)
5th: Sierra Tuttle (M.-Seymour) 4-4, d. Taylor Duncan (Granite City) 3-8, (F 2:34)
105
1st: Kadi Wilbern (Glenwood) 16-1, d. Phoenix Criss (Springfield) 6-2, (F 4:48)
3rd: Briana Ramirez (Granite City) 14-4, d. Janiya Fleming (Hazelwood W) 10-6, (D 8-1)
5th: Valerie Aligia (Glen Ellyn (Glenbard S) 2-1, d. Ariel Sipes (Petersburg (PORTA) 1-2, (TF-1.5 3:23 (20-2)
110
1st: Tessa Donaldson (Pekin) 10-0, d. Vanessa McDaniel (Hazelwood W) 8-3, (F 1:26)
3rd: Jala Singleton (Belleville (W) 5-3, d. Sarah Lowery (LaSalle-Peru) 5-3, (F 3:31)
5th: Carlly Ho (Rochester) 10-3, d. Marley Black (Vandalia) 3-6, (F 1:48)
115
1st: Kiely Domyancich (LaSalle-Peru) 11-0, d. Kendall Moss-Smith (Civic Memorial) 13-3, (TF-1.5 4:00 (16-0)
3rd: Lucie Eisenbarth (Rochester) 8-7, d. Meredith Gumz (Springfield) 2-2, (F 1:38)
5th: Madizyn Megrant (Pekin) 8-2, d. Kalli Ware (LaSalle (L.-Peru) 4-5, (F 2:29)
120
1st: Lainey Ehler (Oakwood) 5-4, d. Madison Bradley (Springfield) 4-4, (D 9-7)
3rd: Cloe Graumenz (Triad) 2-1, d. Lilly Plumley (Clifton (Central) 3-7, (F 1:29)
5th: Deja Porter (Cahokia ) 3-1, d. Amelia Buckley (LaSalle (L.-Peru) 1-2, (F 0:23)
125
1st: Sophie Bowers (Vandalia) 11-0, d. Alexis Seymour (Jacksonville ) 12-2, (D 5-3)
3rd: Madi Dooley (West Vigo) 10-4, .d. Claire Shaw (Civic Memorial) 6-6, (F 3:42)
5th: Hailey Watson (Normal (University) 3-1, d. Isabella Paranto (East Peoria) 3-7, (F 0:29)
130
1st: Ava Beldo (Centennial) 11-2, d. Ariella Miloncus (Springfield) 10-4, (MD 19-10)
3rd: Kenzi Milestone (Glenwood) 14-5, d. Alicia Dominguez (Civic Memorial) 4-5, (F 3:33)
5th: Te`Aja Young (Cahokia ) 3-1, d. Jocelyn Hauck (University) 2-2, (F 0:30)
135
1st: Samantha Scott (Carlinville) 4-0, d. Emerson Barrett (Paris) 11-1, (D 6-5)
3rd: Audrey Barnes (Granite City) 17-3, d. Taylor Sutton (East Peoria) 7-6, (F 1:40)
5th: Zoey Brandt (Pekin) 6-5, d. Tala Asad (Springfield) 1-2, (F 0:12)
140
1st: Kelly Ladd (Macomb) 14-1, d. Delaney Griffin (Civic Memorial) 6-1, (F 3:22)
3rd: Lillien Roughton (Unity Christian) 7-3, d. Amelia Watterson (Vandalia) 11-4, (F 0:34)
5th: Avalyn Edwall (LaSalle-Peru) 7-5, d. Alyssa Hardt (Belleville (West) 4-4, (F 3:34)
145
1st: Jenna Tuxhorn (Glenwood) 16-1, d. Natalie Beaumont (TCumberland) 8-1, (D 3-0)
3rd: Tamia Coleman-Hawkins (Hazelwood W) 8-3, d. Taylor Owens (Oakwood) 3-2, (MD 9-1)
5th: Mikaela Mwangong (Macomb) 3-1, d. Zoe Dozier (Belleville (West) 2-4, (F 2:35)
155
1st: Gabbie Collins (Paris) 14-1, d. Dru Hyde (Macomb) 14-3, (F 1:38)
3rd: Lola Sumpter (Alton () 3-1, d. Maya Bennett (Springfield) 2-2, (MD 16-2)
5th: Adaliah Roth (Triad) 3-1, d. Marisa Eggersdorfer (LaSalle (L.-Peru) 5-3, (Inj. 0:27)
170
1st: August Rottmann (Highland) 18-0, d. Demi Barnes (Granite City) 14-3, (F 0:59)
3rd: Brynn Swyers (Vandalia) 9-4, d. Violet Gray (Vandalia) 9-5, (F 2:00)
5th: Janylah Holman (Cahokia ) 2-1, d. Liberty Hamer (Macomb) 11-4, (F 3:26)
190
1st: Payton Temple (Clifton (Central) 12-0, d. Krista Mcbride (Goreville) 3-1, (TF-1.5 2:00 (16-1)
3rd: Andre`a Kirkpatrick (Belleville (West) 6-3, d. Sophia Elkins (Highland) 6-4, (F 1:28)
5th: Carlina Mcgaughey (Civic Memorial) 5-3, d. Olivia Monroe (Jacksonville) 6-7, (F 0:13)
235
1st: Cadence Duvall (Normal W) 3-0, d. Gracey Simmons (Vandalia) 5-2, (F 0:53)
3rd: Jaycee Weitekamp (M.-Seymour) 10-6, d. Kamryn Brown (Cahokia ) 1-2, (F 0:33)
5th: Arabella Spampanato (E Peoria) 4-5, .d. Crishonna Seals (Springfield) 1-2, (F 0:59)
MORRIS HOLIDAY CLASSIC
With two champions and 14 total girls contributing team points, Schaumburg cruised to the title of the 27-team Morris Holiday Classic. The Saxons won 467-388 over second-place West Aurora, Minooka (338) took third, with DeKalb (287.5) and Canton (260) rounding out the top five team finishes.
“I would say the thing that impressed me most was that all the girls placed high and were able to make adjustments to their technique within the tournament itself,” Schaumburg coach Matt Gruszka said. “I was happy to see them becoming students for the sport.”
1st place: Schaumburg (467 points)
Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic (145) and Nadia Razzak (190) earned individual titles for the Saxons. Sharon Olofunfemi (135) placed second and Schaumburg got thirds from Madyson Meyer (115), Isabella Rivas (125), and Alya Razzak (170), a fourth from Mia Phelps (105), fifths from Makenzi Aguilar (100), Justice Girod (110), and Anna Villarreal (120), a seventh from Shreya Gosain (155), and an eighth from Ava Hartman (140). Also scoring team points were Lauren Brehmer (130) and Abbey Rogers (235).
“Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic and Nadia Razzak both had fantastic days,” Gruszka said. “The tournament set up allowed for many matches with the pool play to start and then into the different brackets. It actually mimicked what the dual team state championship is set up like. So that was great for the girls.”
The IWCOA’s girls dual team state tournament takes place Saturday, Dec. 28 at Hoffman Estates.
2nd place: West Aurora (388)
West Aurora had five wrestlers finish in the top six of their weight classes. The Blackhawks got a pair of individual titles from Kameyah Young (110) and Aiyanah Sylvester (125), a second from Giselle Marin-Carrasco (140), a fourth from Brittany Moran (235), and a sixth from Brooklyn Czenk (190).
3rd place: Minooka (338)
Eight girls finished in the top six for Minooka, led by a runner-up finish from Holli Coughlen (120). Minooka also got thirds from Palmer Calvey (145) and Mia Lemberg (155), a fourth from Ezra Rodriguez (140), fifths from Kailey Jefferson (125) and Addison Davis (170), and sixths from Maggie Metke (115) and Sabrina Charlebois (130).
Individual champions:
Winning individual championships at Morris were Canton’s LT Diephuis (100), DeKalb’s Alex Gregorio-Perez (105), West Aurora’s Kameyah Young (110), Bolingbrook’s Alejandra Flores (115), Prairie Central’s Yurithdzy Vilchis (120), West Aurora’s Aiyanah Sylvester (125), Glenbard North’s Keagan Edwards (130), Lockport Township’s Claudia Heeney (135), Oswego East’s Quinn Janssens (140), Schaumburg’s Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic (145), Unity’s Anna Vasey (155), Burlington Central’s Ryann Miller (170), Schaumburg’s Nadia Razzak (190), and Prairie Central’s Chloe Hoselton (235).
Team scores:
Schaumburg 467, West Aurora 388, Minooka 338, DeKalb 287.5, Canton 260, Morris 258, Burlington Central 250, Lockport Township 244.5, Plainfield South 235.5, Oswego East 224.5, Urbana 184, Seneca 173, Romeoville 171, Ottawa 155.5, Glenbard North 153, Bolingbrook 145.5, Prairie Central 129, Rich Township 128, Peotone 110, Sandwich 110, Unity 108, Shepard 96, Robinson 67, Kewanee 37, Herscher 34, Somonauk 20
Morris Wrestling Invitational results:
100
1st: LT Diephuis (Canton) 15-1, d. Amie Fuentes (Plainfield S) 9-4, (F 5:03)
3rd: Ellie Evans (Morris) 13-4, d. Daniella Almanzan (Shepard) 13-4, (F 1:36)
5th: Makenzi Aguilar (Schaumburg) 13-5, d. Jade Weiss (DeKalb) 10-7, (F 1:34)
7th: Melissa Melgar (W Aurora) 7-4, d. isabel gwaltney (Ottawa) 6-7, (F 1:37)
105
1st: Alex Gregorio-Perez (DeKalb) 19-2, d. Daniela Santander (Romeoville) 13-1, (MD 14-2)
3rd: Shayla Schielein (Canton) 16-5, d. Mia Phelps (Schaumburg) 11-4, (F 3:17)
5th: Averi Colella (Lockport) 11-4, d. Sofia Perez (Shepard) 14-5, (F 1:21)
7th: Cristal Jacinto (Glenbard N) 12-4, d. Maya Phillips (Richton Park Rich) 2-3, (F 1:08)
110
1st: Kameyah Young (W Aurora) 16-1, d. Veronica Skibicki (Lockport) 16-5, (F 5:45)
3rd: Ruby Vences (Central) 15-5, d. Lydia Cartwright (Sandwich) 14-3, (F 0:56)
5th: Justice Girod (Schaumburg) 16-5, d. Frieda Hernandez (DeKalb) 8-5, (D 7-4)
7th: Maggie Gordon (Morris) 9-6, d. Mikaela Busse (Oswego) 7-12, (F 1:42)
115
1st: Alejandra Flores (Bolingbrook) 10-2, d. Victoria Macias (Central) 15-3, (F 5:10)
3rd: Madyson Meyer (Schaumburg) 19-1, d. Makensi Martin (Morris) 15-6, (F 2:57)
5th: Chloe Hedges (Canton) 20-7, d. Maggie Metke (Minooka) 8-4, (F 1:13)
7th: Diana Llanos (W Aurora) 13-8, d. Norah Vick (Sandwich) 11-7, (F 1:51)
120
1st: Yurithdzy Vilchis (Fairbury (Prairie Central)) 10-5, d. Holli Coughlen (Minooka) 11-4, (F 3:33)
3rd: Danica Martin (Morris) 9-6, d. Annalee Haschemeyer (Canton) 14-6, (F 1:05)
5th: Anna Villarreal (Schaumburg) 18-3, d. Payton Lustrup (Oswego E) 11-9, (F 1:08)
7th: Kaylee Bordreau (Peotone) 7-8, d. Chloe Carmona (Ottawa) 1-3, (F 3:30)
125
1st: Aiyanah Sylvester (W Aurora) 18-0, d. Reese Zimmer (DeKalb) 13-6, (MD 13-2)
3rd: Isabella Rivas (Schaumburg) 15-3, d. Tauhnisjha Hart (Urbana) 12-7, (D 3-1)
5th: Kailey Jefferson (Minooka) 9-4, d. Mia Nevarez (Oswego E) 12-7, (D 11-8)
7th: Lauren Jalowiecki (Central) 7-5, d. Makiya Baker (Fairbury (Prairie Central)) 8-7, (F 0:38)
130
1st: Keagan Edwards (Glenbard N) 21-4, d. Kinnley Smith (Canton) 22-1, (D 8-5)
3rd: Catalina Pacheco (Seneca) 4-1, d. Soraya Walikonis (Central) 14-6, (F 5:06)
5th: Kara Zimmerman (DeKalb) 13-6, d. Sabina Charlebois (Minooka) 11-5, (D 9-5)
7th: Annie Bergeron (Peotone) 10-6, d. Lexi Kachiroubas (Plainfield S) 9-6, (F 1:32)
135
1st: Claudia Heeney (Lockport) 11-2, d. Sharon Olorunfemi (Schaumburg) 19-3, (F 1:34)
3rd: Sammie Greisen (Seneca) 4-1, d. Lana Zimmerman (DeKalb) 14-5, (F 1:15)
5th: Mora Munoz (Plainfield S) 12-4, d. Emily House (Oswego E) 4-7, (F 1:04)
7th: Beth Castro (Minooka) 8-5, d. Ameera Murphy (Oswego) 8-6, (For.)
140
1st: Quinn Janssens (Oswego E) 21-1, d. Giselle Marin-Carrasco (W Aurora) 12-5, (TF-1.5 1:34 (15-0))
3rd: Kennedy Smith (Canton) 18-6, d. Ezra Rodriquez (Minooka) 12-5, (D 17-10)
5th: Rickasia Ivy (Urbana) 12-3, d. Olyve Havens (Morris) 8-5, (F 0:40)
7th: Hailey Zamot (Richton Park Rich) 6-2, d. Ava Hartman (Schaumburg) 9-3, (F 3:01)
145
1st: Madeline Zerafa-Lazarevic (Schaumburg) 19-0, d. Makayla Hill (Oswego) 19-3, (TF-1.5 5:40 (19-4))
3rd: Palmer Calvey (Minooka) 13-3, d. Ella Cooper (Oswego E) 9-6, (MD 14-5)
5th: Fra`ncette Musau (Urbana) 13-5, d. Savannah Burns (Bolingbrook) 8-7, (F 3:41)
7th: Kymber Hall (W Aurora) 7-3, d. Jazmin Rios (Sandwich) 9-10, (F 2:32)
155
1st: Anna Vasey (Unity) 16-1, d. Kiyah Chavez (Oswego) 17-5, (TF-1.5 3:41 (22-5))
3rd: Mia Lemberg (Minooka) 11-5, d. Henna Mullikin (Herscher) 6-3, (F 3:22)
5th: Macee Hammond (Robinson) 7-6, d. Dakota Obbish (Lockport) 9-8, (F 0:59)
7th: Shreya Gosain (Schaumburg) 10-9, d. Karma Gomez (W Aurora) 4-6, (F 2:18)
170
1st: Ryann Miller (Central) 12-0, d. JESSICA STOVER (Oswego E) 17-2, (F 1:19)
3rd: Alya Razzak (Schaumburg) 16-4, d. Layla Spann (Plainfield S) 7-3, (F 3:24)
5th: Addison Davis (Minooka) 13-2, d. Mariyah Mani (Romeoville) 10-8, (F 5:28)
7th: Lana Fay (Oswego E) 4-5, d. Abigail Underhill (Minooka) 6-5, (F 3:05)
190
1st: Nadia Razzak (Schaumburg) 19-2, d. Lydia Chrobak (Lockport) 5-1, (F 0:20)
3rd: Morgan Congo (Morris) 15-4, d. Sophie Kelner (Lockport) 12-6, (F 1:24)
5th: Franciana Kalanga (Urbana) 17-4, d. Brooklyn Czenk (W Aurora) 7-8, (F 1:51)
7th: Helena Torres (Oswego) 11-11, d. Keira Enright (Plainfield S) 13-4, (Inj. 0:00)
235
1st: Chloe Hoselton (Fairbury (Prairie Central)) 12-0, d. Phoenix Molina (Unity) 13-3, (D 3-0)
3rd: Juliana Thrush (Ottawa) 12-1, d. Brittany Moran (W Aurora) 9-4, (F 1:22)
5th: Henessis Villagrana (Romeoville) 12-4, d. Asreilla Wallace (Glenbard N) 17-6, (D 4-0)
7th: Aarianna Bloyd (DeKalb) 12-7, d. Amaya McClain (Richton Park Rich) 4-4, (D 7-0)
METAMORA HOLIDAY CLASSIC
Galesburg coach Ryan Shipp got four individual titles among his 11 medal winners, as the Silver Streaks topped the 14-team field at the Metamora Holiday Classic.
Galesburg won 100-74 over second-place Richwoods, Washington (59) finished third, followed by ROWVA (55.5) and Sterling (54) to round out the top five team finishes.
1st place: Galesburg (100 points)
Among its scoring wrestlers, Galesburg got individual titles from Eiliana Juarez (115), Dai Driana Wilford (130), Amyah Pruitt (135) and Annalisa Gibbons (140-145), thirds Kelsie Woodridge (125) and Vivian Aldus (155) and a fourth from Addie Boyd (120). Among non-scoring wrestlers, the Silver Streaks also got thirds from Liberty Darst (105) and Victoria Sutton (135), and fourths from Willow Pilger (135) and Hannah Barton (140-145).
2nd place: Richwoods (74)
Richwoods was led by individual champions Sydney Johnson (170) and Marley Clark (235), runner-up Jamie Varda (115), a fourth-place finish from Rebecca Kravetz (100), and a non-scoring third from Kya Norman (235).
3rd place: Washington (59)
Washington got second-place finishes from Lilly Bay (135) and Gracie VanQuakebeke (190), a fourth from Grace Mordhorst (190), a fifth from Isabella Randolph (140-145), and a sixth from Emma Ziegler (135).
Individual champions:
Other individual champions at Metamora included GCMS’ Justice Milligan (100), Metamora’s Grace Aeschliman (105), Streator’s Addison Yacko (110) and Laila Vaughn (120), Pontiac’s Jocelyn Cobix (125) and Alix Robinson (155), and ROWVA’s Patience Riggs (190).
Team scores:
Galesburg 100, Richwoods 74, Washington 59, ROWVA 55.5, Sterling 54, Pontiac 52, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 39.5, Putnam County 29, Streator 22, Manual 21.5, St. Joseph Ogden 14.5, Sparta 14, Metamora 9, Champaign Central 0
Metamora Holiday Classic results:
100
1st: Justice Milligan (GCMS) 8-0, d. Katherine Garcia (Sterling) 2-1, (F 1:03)
3rd: Audrey Morss (ROWVA) 1-2, d. Rebecca Kravetz (Richwoods) 0-7, (MD 12-2)
105
1st: Grace Aeschliman (Metamora ) 5-4, d. Kylie Tate (Sterling) 1-1, (F 2:55)
3rd; Liberty Darst (Galesburg)
110
1st: Addison Yacko (Streator ) 4-2, d. Jenavieve Echols (Sterling) 1-1, (F 1:11)
3rd: Sydney Zigler (Sterling)
115
1st: Eliana Juarez (Galesburg) 12-2, d. Jamie Varda (Richwoods) 9-4, (F 4:21)
3rd: Payton Henson (Streator ) 6-1, d. Marissa Brown (ROWVA) 7-3, (F 1:53)
120
1st: Laila Vaughn (Streator ) 8-4, d. Riley Foglesong (ROWVA) 4-3, (F 0:16)
3rd: Caylee Lyons (Sterling) 2-2, d. Addie Boyd (Galesburg) 1-3, (F 1:24)
5th: Samantha Fellers (Pontiac)
125
1st: Jocelyn Cobix (Pontiac) 16-2, d. Isabella Mottler (Richwoods) 3-1, (F 5:21)
3rd: Kelsie Wooldridge (Galesburg) 6-6, d. Alize Gomez (Sterling) 1-3, (F 0:27)
5th: Emily Newman (Sterling)
130
1st:Dai Driana Willford (Galesburg) 10-4, d. Skyann Munz (Sterling) 1-1, (MD 14-2)
3rd: Paola Oviedo (Champaign Central )
135
1st: Amyah Pruitt (Galesburg) 5-0, d. Lilly Bay (Washington) 4-1, (F 1:53)
3rd: Victoria Sutton (Galesburg) 3-2, d. Willow Pilger (Galesburg) 3-4, (F 1:47)
5th: Betzy Aguilar-Navarro (Sterling) 1-4, d. Emma Ziegler (Washington) 0-2, (M. For.)
140-145
1st: Annalisa Gibbons (Galesburg) 10-3, d. Avery Schlickman (GCMS) 9-2, (F 6:00)
3rd:Maddie Wells (SJ Ogden) 10-4, .d. Hannah Barton (Galesburg) 5-6, (F 0:13)
5th:Isabella Randolph (Washington) 1-4, d. Olivia Cathey (Sterling) 0-5, (F 3:50)
155
1st:Alix Robinson (Pontiac) 3-0, d. Loughlyn Kurtz (Sparta) 3-4, (F 3:10)
3rd:Vivian Aldus (Galesburg) 6-6, d. Viviana Torres (Sterling) 0-3, (F 1:29)
170
1st: Sydney Johnson (Richwoods) 11-1, d. Zanasia Simmons (Manual) 3-4, (F 2:48)
3rd: Katie Mitchell (ROWVA) 3-1, d. Olivia Miller (Pontiac) 4-5, (F 0:32)
190
1st: Patience Riggs (ROWVA) 6-2, d. Gracie VanQuakebeke (Washington) 3-1, (F 0:58)
3rd: Bailey Herr (Putnam County) 4-1, d. Grace Mordhorst (Washington) 2-2, (F 0:43)
235
1st: Marley Clark (Richwoods) 8-5, d. Ella Irwin (Putnam County) 3-1, (F 1:53)
3rd:Kya Norman (Richwoods) 2-2, d. Arianna Burgess Tamayo (Sterling) 1-3, (F 5:19
5th: Leann Johnson (Pontiac)
LAKES SNOW BRAWL
Lakes’ 12-team Snow Brawl provided fans with a razor-thin difference among the top three team finishes, with host Lakes ultimately out-pointing second-place Kaneland 122.5-120 for the team title. St. Charles East (116) placed second, followed by Freeport (104) and Lyons Township (82) to round out the top five.
Lakes was crowned Illinois’ team state champion last year, after scoring the most team points at the individual girls’ state finals. Lakes graduated two state medal winners but returned state runner-up Josie Larson (190) to this year’s squad.
“We have some new blood, two sophomores and two freshmen, who all have winning records so far,” Lakes coach Mark Stave said. “I am very optimistic about this young bunch.”
1st place: Lakes (122.5)
The Eagles were spearheaded by individual champions Christina Hasner (145) and Josie Larson (190), and got runner-up finishes from Lilyann Blasius (120) and Elise Kaylor (135), thirds from Lovely Calinog (100), Haven Sylves (110), and Osmari Medina (115), a fourth from Timyra Caces (100), and a sixth from Michelle Otuonye (140).
“We’ve placed in the top five in all three of our previous tournaments with only nine roster spots filled,” Stave said. “Josie is an incredible captain for this year’s team and she leads by example on and off the mat.”
Larson is 16-0 with 16 pins thus far this season.
2nd place: Kaneland (120.5)
Kaneland led all teams with three individual champions in Angelina Gochis (115), Brooklyn Sheaffer (125), and Dyani Torres (140). The Knights also got seconds from Sadie Kinsella (190) and Kara Colles (235), a third from Caitlyn Manier (155), a fourth from Reygan Behrends (145), and a fifth from Adeline Coady (120).
3rd place: St. Charles East (116)
The Saints got an individual title from Sydney Steib (110) and runner-up finishes from Natalia Santelli (130), Mia Olenek (140), Addison Wolf (145) and Liz Borderave (170), a third from Sophia Rivas (125), a fourth from Laila Cuadra (135), and a sixth from Olivia Pearson (135).
Individual champions:
Freeport’s Aurielle Calmese (100), Lyons Township’s Jhania Wickert-Harris (105), St. Charles East’s Sydney Steib (110), Kaneland’s Angelina Gochis (115), Freeport’s Hailey Vogel (120), Kaneland’s Brooklyn Sheaffer (125), Lake Forest’s Bree Hirsch (130), Lyons Township’s Sofia Turek (135), Kaneland’s Dyani Torres (140), Lakes’ Christina Hasner (145), Wauconda’s Gesselle Vazquez (155), Freeport’s Caydance Fellows (170), Lakes’ Josie Larsen (190), and Grayslake North’s Allison Poole (235).
Team scores:
Lakes 122.5, Kaneland 120.5, St. Charles East 116, Freeport 104, Lyons Township 82, Buffalo Grove 78, Wauconda 61.5, Antioch 60, Grayslake North 56, Lake Forest 26, Intrinsic Charter 17, Carmel 4
Lake Snow Brawl results:
100
1st: Aurielle Calmese(Freeport) 14-3, d. Ester Migues-Gaytan(Grayslake N) 12-8, (F 1:11)
3rd: Lovely Calinog(Lakes) 1-2, d. Timyra Caces(Lakes) 0-3, (F 0:17)
105
1st: Jhania Wickert-Harris(Lyons) 2-0, d. April Stevens(Wauconda) 1-7, (F 3:39)
110
1st: Sydney Stieb(St Charles E) 3-0, d. Avi Gonzalez(Lyons) 7-2, (F 2:00)
3rd: Haven Sylves(Lakes) 2-1, d. Ariyana Calmese(Freeport) 9-8, (F 0:39)
5th: Abigail Fryza(Intrinsic) 1-2,d.. Jaqueline Martin(Antioch) 0-3, (F 0:57)
115
1st: Angelina Gochis(Kaneland) 15-0, d. Kaiya Galindo(Freeport) 14-11, (F 1:24)
3rd: Osmairi Medina(Lakes) 2-2, d. Alyana Cotton(Antioch) 5-13, (F 1:11)
5th: Brianna Martinez(Lyons)
120
1st: Hailley Vogel(Freeport) 4-4, d. Lilyann Blasius(Lakes) 2-1, (F 3:35)
3rd: Carolina Huertero(Freeport) 7-10, d. Sophie Pinca(Lyons) 2-2, (F 1:00)
5th: Adeline Coady(Kaneland) 1-2, d. Lizzy Quirk(Antioch) 0-5, (F 0:52)
125
1st: Brooklyn Sheaffer(Kaneland) 12-0, d. Teresita Orduna-Santos(Antioch) 4-2, (F 2:18)
3rd: Sophia Rivas(St Charles E) 3-1, d. Jac Lateano(Buffalo Grove) 4-4,(F 2:00)
5th: Areli Pacheco(Wauconda) 3-5, d. Lilly-anne Miller(Antioch) 2-5, (MD 16-2)
130
1st: Bree Hirsch(Lake Forest) 16-7,d.. Natalia Santelli(St Charles E) 1-1, (F 1:45)
3rd: Caroline Marogy(Buffalo Grove) 6-2,d.. Dylylah Patterson(Antioch) 9-7, (D 6-4)
5th: Mari Sorice(Lyons) 1-2, d. Ana Lekishvili(Wauconda) 0-3, (F 0:28)
135
1st: Sofia Turek(Lyons) 3-0,d.. Elise Kaylor(Lakes) 2-1, (F 2:49)
3rd: Catalina Videlka(Buffalo Grove) 4-4,d.. Laila Cuadra(St Charles E) 1-2, (F 0:50)
5th: Jatziry Godoy(Wauconda) 4-5, d. Olivia Pearson(St Charles E) 1-2, (D 3-1)
140
1st: Dyani Torres(Kaneland) 12-4, d. Mia Olenek(St Charles E) 2-1, (F 1:15)
3rd: Sasha Johnson(Antioch) 7-8, d. Alyson Alvarenga(Grayslake N) 13-10,(F 3:52)
5th: Vanesa Penaloza(Freeport) 12-6, d. Michelle Otuonye(Lakes) 2-2, (F 1:30)
145
1st: Christina Hasner(Lakes) 3-0,d.. Addison Wolf(St Charles E) 2-1, (F 1:28)
3rd: Victoria Marquez(Grayslake N) 12-9, d. Reygan Behrends(Kaneland) 2-2, (F 2:34)
5th: Briseida Mendoza(Wauconda) 5-2, d. Lillian Hacker(Antioch) 1-7, (F 1:22)
155
1st: Gesselle Vazquez(Wauconda) 7-1,d.. Alondra Tejeda(Buffalo Grove) 10-5, (D 4-3)
3rd: Caitlyn Manier(Kaneland) 2-1, d. Neve Stateler(Grayslake N) 1-2, (F 1:57)
5th: Juilamay Teston(Intrinsic) 2-1, d. August Pulli(Lyons) 1-2, (F 0:42)
170
1st: Caydance Fellows(Freeport) 9-7, d. Liz Borderave(St Charles E) 3-1,(F 1:53)
3rd: Hero Lucius(Wauconda) 2-2, d. Malina Cook(Antioch) 7-13, (M. For.)
5th: Leila Saenz(Grayslake N)
190
1st: Josie Larson(Lakes) 2-0, d. Sadie Kinsella(Kaneland) 8-4, (F 1:51)
3rd: Lily Wurster(Freeport) 4-5, d. Angie Pena(Buffalo Grove) 3-5, (F 1:37)
5th: Alyssa Olsen(Buffalo Grove) 1-6, d. Josie Blau(Antioch) 11-12, (MFFL)
235
1st: Allison Poole(Grayslake N) 16-4, d. Kara Colles(Kaneland) 0-2,(F 0:34)
Carl Sandburg snares Whitlatch team title
By Mike Garofola for the IWCOA
It’s a tournament that has a little bit of everything for the fans of wrestling.
One of the grandaddies of the season, the 58th Rex Whitlatch Invitational hosted by Hinsdale Central would feature over 40 state-ranked men, including nationally-ranked wrestlers led by No. 1 Caleb Noble from Warren Township.
Always one of the best stops of the season, Neenah, Wisconsin fans traveled over 200 miles once again to cheer on their heroes who once again would enjoy plenty of success.
A staple in the Whitlach lineup, 2A state power Geneseo would bow out at the last minute when pneumonia raced through its room, taking with it several members of the Maple Leafs’ roster.
After the first day of action, Clinton Polz’s club from Carl Sandburg found itself nearly 20 points ahead of West Aurora (95.0-77.5) – a lead the No. 5 team in 3A would never relinquish as it went on to lift the championship trophy.
“As always, Hinsdale Central did a great job of running a highly competitive tournament,” said Polz, whose club amassed 209.5 overall points, to runner-up Lincoln-Way West’s 188.5.
Oak Park and River Forest was third with 180.0, with Warren (178.5) and West Aurora (176) rounding out the first five.
“As a team, we left Saturday pleased with winning the tournament, but knowing we all have a lot of work ahead of us as we move on,” Polz said. “Friday night was a very good team effort as we sent thirteen into the quarter-finals, setting us up in a position to win the tournament.
“We were humbled a little bit on Saturday – leaving us a lot of room for growth.”
The tournament’s namesake, Rex Whitlatch, was a three-time state medal winner, and two-time state champion (1953, 1955) while at Urbana High School.
Mr. Whitlatch would then go on to star at the University of Illinois and would captain the Illini during his senior year, when he was named MVP.
He began his coaching career at Niles West High School as an assistant before moving over to run the Hinsdale Central program for 28 of his 32 years at the school.
106 – MJ Rundell, Oak Park and River Forest
Aside from being in a terrific room at OPRF, MJ Rundell (17-0) has the benefit of tapping into older brothers Matt (North Carolina) and Jake (Purdue) who came through the Huskies room in sensational fashion.
“We obviously have a lot of wrestling history in our family, so any help I get from my brothers is always great,” said Rundell, after the No. 1 man in the state at 106 collected his second major trophy of the season.
The sophomore, a Fargo champ at both Freestyle and Greco, helped his club with 32.5 team points with a pin, major, and tech-fall in his final to solidify his spot atop the most recent polls.
“Rankings are just rankings – really doesn’t mean a thing until the final weekend of the season in Champaign,” said Rundell, 32-10 a year ago in his rookie season which included a trip downstate.
113 – Caleb Noble, Warren
A quick glance at where all eyes were pointing inside Hinsdale Bank Gymnasium gave even the most novice of fans an idea of what all came to watch on this Saturday afternoon.
It was a rematch of the 2023 semifinal between reigning state champion Caleb Noble of Warren and Rocco Hayes of Sandburg, who thrilled the crowd a year ago when Noble (15-1) claimed a hard fought 3-1 sudden victory before going on to win his first Whitlatch trophy.
It would take another extra time contest for the Warren sophomore to secure another big trophy after a 3-2 tie-breaker would settle the 113-pound final.
“It was exactly what I expected with Rocco, there isn’t really anything either of us doesn’t know about each other,” said Noble, currently ranked No. 1 in the nation at 106 pounds by Flowrestling.
Hayes took a 1-0 lead with 15 seconds left in the second period near the edge with an escape, but a well executed reversal by Noble 90 seconds from time gave him a 2-1 advantage.
A locked hands penalty with seven seconds remaining in regulation would send this affair into overtime. Noble would eventually gain the win with 10 seconds remaining in the third extra session.
Hayes was the 106-pound champion here two years ago.
“I was very proud of the way Rocco competed in his final with Noble,” began Sandburg head coach Clinton Polz. “He had a few opportunities to win, and I believe he walked away excited to wrestle him again.
“He is determined to make a few adjustments in the future, so we hope they get to see each other for another rematch.”
Noble admitted his recent 13-8 loss to Normal Community star Caden Correll provided the proverbial wake-up call he may have needed.
“I think I was a little too complacent – maybe overconfident before that match with (Correll),” Noble said. “So after that loss it was back into the room to work even harder than I had been before.”
120 – Ryan Dorn, Barrington
Barrington sophomore Ryan Dorn (14-3) opened fast and finished even faster when he beat top seed Rocky Seibel (14-1) of Belleville West, with a magnificent six-minute performance en route to a 13-0 major decision victory.
“There wasn’t any plan of attack before our final, and after a pretty quiet first period that ended 0-0, I was able to get the first take down,” Dorn said. “After that I just looked to keep adding points, and turns, and just going for it until the end.
“I have my eyes on getting back downstate, and having a much better result than a year ago.”
Barrington’s 120-pounder won by 8-1 decision over No. 9 Jonathan Marquez (Warren) in his semifinal, after his terrific effort in the quarters against another state-ranked Joshua Huicochea of West Aurora, which Dorn won by tech-fall.
“This was a big tournament to win, and I am looking forward to getting better each time out from here,” added Dorn, a state qualifier a year ago in his rookie season.
126 – Shane Stream, Lincoln-Way West
Lincoln-Way West sophomore Shane Stream is likely to move up in the state polls after earning his first major trophy of the year, in a nervy 1-0 decision over Minooka senior Noah Avina.
“It was a real dogfight of a match,” began Stream (15-5), who was fourth here a year ago at 113.
“(Avina) beat me last year, so there was a lot of hand-fighting and shots that neither of us finished, but my ability to ride him in that second period might have been the difference.
“I was able to make it downstate last year, but I want to have better results this time around, and with the great coaches we have in our room, I believe I will.”
Stream was 34-19 last season.
132 – Griff Powell, Lyons Township
Lyons Township junior Griff Powell (17-1) would continue the good fortune LT has had in recent years when he gave his program its third consecutive Whitlatch title, after handing Glenbard West senior Ulises Rosas his first defeat of the season with an emphatic 21-5 tech-fall at 4:22.
Powell followed former teammates Cooper King (Illinois Wesleyan, football) and Gunnar Garelli (Virginia Tech, wrestling, 2024 state runner-up) as Whitlatch champions.
“I spent a lot of time training at Izzy Style over the summer, going against plenty of top guys,” Powell said. “I feel like it was a great benefit to me and has helped me come out so much stronger that I was last year.”
This weight class would feature no less than five state-ranked men, including No. 6 Shawn Kogan (Stevenson, 18-1), No. 9 Madden Parker (Sandburg, 14-4), Zev Koransky (OPRF, 12-5) and the aforementioned Rosas who together now have collected four tournament championship medals.
Parker was the 126-pound champion last year, Kogan the same at 132.
“This was a good weekend for me, but there’s still a lot of improvement to be made, and great competition ahead of me also,” said No. 8 Powell, who had the most single match points (24) of anyone competing at this year’s Whitlatch.
138 – Joseph Knackstedt, Oak Park and River Forest
OPRF’s Joseph Knackstedt (16-0) has slowly climbed the ladder of success at this prestigious tournament, reaching the top on Saturday afternoon in grand fashion.
The Huskies’ senior smashed the competition over the two days, as he pinned his way into the finals. Once there, his relentless pursuit of success came to fruition, when a 14-2 technical fall victory over Donald Cannon (Rockford East, 14-2) gave him his second major of the season.
“Three times here – I was sixth as a sophomore and third last year, so it’s great to finish on top in my senior year,” said Knackstedt with a smile.
The No. 8- rated man at 138 is a two-time state qualifier with a 66-23 record during that time. He finished this year’s Whitlatch second in most team points earned with 33.5.
“I put a lot of work in during the offseason with the goal to get back downstate and and on the podium,” said Knackstedt, who will attend Cornell next fall, where he will continue to wrestle while pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering.
144 – Ryan Hinger, Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg’s Ryan Hinger has enjoyed plenty of success here in the Hinsdale Bank Gymnasium during a marvelous career that is far from over.
The Sandburg senior earned his second straight Whitlatch crown after a dazzling two days that culminated with a 13-0 major over Brayden Swanson (Oswego, 16-1) to ensure a spotless record thus far at 17-0.
“This is always a great tournament to come to, and it feels great to win here again,” said the Eagles star, twice a state qualifier and fourth overall a year ago at 138 with a superb 44-6 overall record.
Hinger also earned 32.5 team points for the Eagles.
“I am very happy with the way Ryan has competed so far this season,” coach Clinton Polz said.
“His efforts in the offseason from the state tournament until now are really beginning to show. There is not a position he is weak in and he has developed a very good pace. He’s been a leader on this team, and he not only puts in a lot of time on himself, but he brings others along and pushes the entire program as well.”
Hinger, who sits just behind Evan Gosz (Fremd), Max Mukhamedaliyev (Hersey), and Ahston Hobson (Marmion Academy) in the state rankings, anticipates a first class battle come late February for the top spot at 144.
“I feel right now that Gosz is the favorite, but our weight is so competitive, so it just means more work in the room every day,” said Hinger, who will reach 140-plus victories in his career before going on to wrestle in college, where he plans on a career in nursing.
150 – Daniel Blanke, Barrington
Another bright young sophomore star from Barrington would climb atop the podium when Daniel Blanke (17-2) left his mark on the 150-pound bracket when he registered a pin at 1:02 against Rockford East’s Dana Wickson to win his first title of the first half of the season.
Blanke, third at the Moore-Prettyman-Dunn Invitational on Thanksgiving weekend, proved to have too much for all in a weight class that saw the top two seeds go out early on.
“I feel like I’ve done a lot of good work during the offseason to help me get off to a much better start than a year ago,” said Blanke, who overcame a couple of broken fingers at the start of his rookie season to fall just short of advancing to state, when his blood-round defeat at 126 dashed his hopes.
“I feel much more comfortable in my wrestling this year,” Blanke said. “I spent time on my ties, getting more shots off my moves, and just about everything else during the offseason.”
Top seed, and No. 4 David Ogunsanya (OPRF) lost his second round match, while at the same time Blanke pinned state-ranked Val Vihrov (Stevenson) to advance into the quarters, where he then decisioned Landon Sheppard (Neenah) to secure a spot in the finals.
The Broncos sophomore claimed (31) team points over his two days, and would record the fifth quickest tech-fall of the tournament (1:53) which came in his Whitlatch opener.
157 – Declan Koch, Neenah WI
Neenah, Wisconsin’s Declan Koch and Jacob Herm provide the type of one-two punch in the middle of the lineup that are the envy of most coaching staffs.
Koch earned his first Whitlatch crown after finishing second here on two straight occasions. Koch won a 6-5 decision over West Aurora’s Dominic Serio in the finals.
“We really like coming down to this tournament, the competition is very good and the style is very different than we have in Wisconsin,” Koch (17-0) said. “It really helps prepare us for the second half of our season leading up to the post-season.”
Serio is ranked No. 2 in Illinois at 157. The senior from West Aurora, is a two-time state qualifier and a 2024 state medal winner and like Koch, Serio had an easy time on the way to the final.
Koch would record a pair of tech-falls, then a pin in his semifinal while Serio would dominate with a trio of tech-falls to earn his spot against the Neenah junior.
“(Serio) was really very strong so it was important to be able to defend, while still scoring when I could,” said Koch, who placed second in Wisconsin a year ago and recently claimed his 100th career victory.
165 – Jacob Herm, Neenah WI
The other half of the dynamic duo from Neenah, senior Jacob Herm left little doubt as to why he is the No. 1 man in Wisconsin at his weight class. The reigning Wisconsin state champion gave a magnificent two-day performance that would end with the Red Rockets star claiming his second consecutive Whitlatch title.
“This is such a great tournament for us to come to,” said Herm, who went 48-0 a year ago. A trio of pins sent him into the 165-pound final, where he recorded a 19-3 tech-fall at 4:17 over No. 3 Royce Lopez (Warren, 12-1) who was fourth here a year ago.
Herm commited to wrestle at South Dakota State next year, a decision that came easily for the nationally-ranked 65-pounder.
“Everything felt right on my visit, it felt like home to me,” Herm said. “The room, the team, and coaching staff all were great, and the program itself is always very competitive.”
SDS was the No. 12 team in preseason polls.
Herm is a two-time state runner-up, and earned All-American honors following his sixth place Greco finish at Fargo, and currently owns a sparkling 150-11 career record.
175 – Aaron Stewart, Warren
Now a three-time champion here at the Whitlatch, Warren junior Aaron Stewart (14-2) will continue his assault on his 175-pound rivals as he looks to add a second state crown to his trophy case in Champaign in late February.
“I didn’t want to allow any points scored against this weekend, so it felt good to reach that goal, but there’s always work to do,” said Stewart.
No. 1 in the state, Stewart suffered his lone two defeats of the season at the Ironman just three weeks after his high school football season came to an end in the 8A state quarterfinals.
No. 13 in the most recent national polls, Stewart lost to No. 5 Asher Cunningham (Penn State-bound) in his semifinal, 5-1.
Stewart is a true three-sport star, turning in a spectacular fall season where he ran for nearly 2500 yards, while adding 34 touchdowns.
During the post-season Stewart ran for 689 yards in three games, including an astounding 360 yards (5 touchdowns) during a 35-26 victory over Barrington.
190 – Judah Heeg, Lemont
Lemont junior Judah Heeg (16-0) has transitioned nicely into wrestling into his new room at perennial 2A state power Lemont just fine.
“Wrestling here in Illinois is so much different than Minnesota,” began Heeg, who
was a state qualifier (165, 33-16) while at Simley High School in Minnesota last season.
“It’s much more physical here, so there was a little bit of an adjustment to that style, but I like it a lot more. And it feels good to win a big tournament like this one.”
Heeg, the No. 3 seed and unranked coming into the weekend, would demolish a trio of opponents to advance into the final against top-seeded Zachary Kruse (15-1) of Hinsdale Central, who is currently ranked fourth in Illinois.
Heeg won a 7-4 decision over Kruse on the title mat.
“I’d say wrestling in Minnesota is a little more technical but like I said, I like the physical, tough style (in Illinois), and I feel like our room has helped me prepare for it,” Heeg said.
215 – Nate Elstner, Lincoln-Way West
Lincoln-Way West’s Nate Elstner (16-2) came into the weekend ranked just outside the top 10 at 215 in Illinois. After his performance over the two days here, the senior can make a strong case to move up a spot or two.
Elstner pinned his way to the Marmion Cadet Invite earlier this season, and was at it again in Hinsdale, recording a quartet of pins while adding 34 team points to the cause for his club that would finish second in the team race.
“I worked a lot during the offseason on a variety of things,” Elstner said. “Now I’m just trying to stay focused, wrestling my style, and doing everything needed to get downstate and get up on the podium.”
Elstner was a linebacker for the Warriors football team this fall that lost to eventual 7A state runners-up Batavia in the second round of the post-season.
Elstner went 31-8 a year ago and was the No. 4 seed in Hinsdale, defeating top seed Colin Goggin (Brother Rice) in his semifinal via a fall.
285 – Anthony Soto, Warren
Warren’s Anthony Soto (17-0) would stay perfect on his season after his impressive finish in the 285-pound final, when the senior recorded a pin at 3:21 over No. 9 Jacobi Spraggins (12-1) of Downers Grove South to win his second major of the year.
“I’m kind of a light weight compared to most of the heavyweights who are huge and so much bigger than me,” said Soto, who weighed in at 231. “But with my speed and quickness, I feel like I can use that to my advantage.
“Last year I may have lacked the confidence needed to compete at a higher level, but this year my confidence, mental approach, and my offseason work to improve my shots in order to get take-downs is so much better.”
The humble senior was a standout defensive tackle for the Blue Devils football team, which advanced to the 8A state quarterfinals before being eliminated by eventual state runner-up York.
Team scores:
Carl Sandburg 209.5, Lincoln-Way West 188.5, Oak Park and River Forest 180, Warren 178.5, West Aurora 176, Barrington 165.5, Glenbard West 139.5, Brother Rice 135, Minooka 134, Downers Grove North 128.5, Stevenson 121.5, Neenah WI 119, Lyons Township 112, Rockford East 101.5, Oswego 89.5, Belleville West 80.5, DeKalb 73, Lemont 62.5, Downers Grove South 57, New Trier 56.5, Hinsdale South 45, Hinsdale Central 38, Neuqua Valley 37, Willowbrook 28.5
Rex Whitlatch Invitational results:
106
1st: MJ Rundell (OPRF) 17-0, d. Matthew Blanke (Barrington) 12-7, (TF 3:44 (20-2)
3rd: Aidan Ortega (Glenbard W) 17-2, d. Jaden Bradley (DeKalb) 9-5, (F 1:22)
5th: Daniel Berdich (Stevenson) 16-6, d. Gabriel Richmond (W Aurora) 13-4, (Inj. 0:00)
113
1st: Caleb Noble (Warren) 15-1, d. Rocco Hayes (Sandburg) 16-1, (TB-1 3-2)
3rd: Jamiel Castleberry (OPRF) 12-1, d. Kaleb Pratt (Barrington) 15-2, (Dec 5-3)
5th: Brady Glynn (LW West) 16-4, d. Aris Neal (Willowbrook) 13-4, (TF 4:00 (16-1)
120
1st: Ryan Dorn (Barrington) 14-3, d. Rocky Seibel (Belleville (West) 14-1, (MD 13-0)
3rd: Jonathan Marquez (Warren) 13-3, d. Tyler Tiancgo (DG North) 17-3, (Dec 7-3)
5th: Max Munn (LW West) 14-7, d. Ayush Bajaj (Stevenson) 10-10, (MD 9-1)
126
1st: Shane Stream (LW West) 15-5, d. Noah Avina (Minooka) 9-4, (Dec 1-0)
3rd: Roger Martinez (Lyons) 16-4, d. Carson Prunty (Glenbard W) 16-3, (Dec 3-1)
5th: Aiden Ortiz (Oswego (H.S.) 15-6, d. Saul Ramirez (Barrington) 11-9, (MD 12-4)
132
1st: Griff Powell (Lyons) 17-1, d. Ulises Rosas (Glenbard W) 17-1, (TF 4:22 (21-5)
3rd: Shawn Kogan (Stevenson) 18-1, d. Madden Parker (Sandburg) 14-4, (TF 2:33 (16-1)
5th: Zev Koransky (OPRF) 12-5, d. Cory Zator (Lemont (H.S.) 13-4, . (Dec 9-7)
138
1st: Joseph Knackstedt (OPRF) 16-0, d. Donald Cannon (Rockford E) 14-2, (TF 5:17 (21-5)
3rd: Oliver Davis (Brother Rice) 14-2, d. Alejandro Aranda (Glenbard W) 17-3, (Dec 5-0)
5th: Brady Ritter (Sandburg) 14-5, d. Jakob Siwinski (LW West) 13-7, (Inj. 0:14)
144
1st: Ryan Hinger (Sandburg) 17-0, d. Brayden Swanson (Oswego (H.S.) 16-1 (MD 13-0)
3rd: Marcus Quintana (W Aurora) 18-2, d. Caden Chiarelli (DG North) 18-3, (F 1:30)
5th: Aiden Colbert (Belleville (West) 9-4, d. Mike Hodge (DeKalb) 12-7, (Dec 5-4)
150
1st: Daniel Blanke (Barrington) 17-2, d. Dana Wickson (Rockford E) 11-3, (F 1:02)
3rd: David Ogunsanya (OPRF) 16-4, d. Ben Cyrkiel (Minooka) 12-7, (MD 18-6)
5th: Landen Sheppard (Neenah) 12-7, d. Dillon Griffin (Oswego (H.S.) 14-4, (Dec 7-3)
157
1st: Declan Koch (Neenah) 17-0, d. Dominic Serio (W Aurora) 16-2, (Dec 6-5)
3rd: Tagg Miller (Winnetka (New Trier) 15-2, d. Brandon Watson (Glenbard W) 15-5, (MD 15-7)
5th: Frank Miceli (Brother Rice) 13-3, d. Ty Smart (Rockford E) 17-7, (Inj. 0:00)
165
1st: Jacob Herm (Neenah) 16-1, d. Royce Lopez (Warren) 12-1, (TF 4:17 (19-3)
3rd: Dayne Serio (W Aurora) 19-1, d. AJ Frescura (Minooka) 12-4, (MD 10-2)
5th: DJ Freeman (LW West) 10-4, d. Wyatt Hochgraber (Sandburg) 14-5, (Dec 8-5)
175
1st: Aaron Stewart (Warren) 14-2, d. Kaden Meyer (Minooka) 13-3, (F 0:32)
3rd: Dan Costello (Brother Rice) 11-4, d. Jack Lasota (DG North) 16-4, (TF 5:44 (16-1)
5th: Malachi Cannon (Rockford E) 14-5, d. Ahmad Alomari (Sandburg) 14-6, (MD 15-5)
190
1st: Judah Heeg (Lemont (H.S.) 16-0, d. Zachary Kruse (Hinsdale C) 15-1, (Dec 7-4)
3rd: Jimmy Talley (LW West) 14-6, d. crane james (Brother Rice) 12-3, (Dec 10-5)
5th: Kaden Roth (Neenah) 15-4, d. Everett Ciezak (Stevenson) 13-6, (MD 8-0)
215
1st: Nate Elstner (LW West) 16-2, d. Eric Harris (OPRF) 11-6, (F 3:31)
3rd: Justin Riley (Belleville (West) 9-3, d. Malic Breish (Sandburg) 14-6, (Dec 6-1)
5th: Colin Goggin (Brother Rice) 11-4, d. Fernando Anaya (W Aurora) 4-3, (F 4:40)
285
1st: Anthony Soto (Warren) 17-0, d. Jacobi Spraggins (DG South) 12-1, (F 3:21)
3rd: Brandon Bavirsha (LW West) 16-4, d. Peter Rodriguez (DG North) 16-5, (Dec 4-2)
5th: Robbie Murphy (Minooka) 10-5, d. Alfsonso Aguilar (W Aurora) 14-7, (TB-1 6-1)
Boys tournaments for Dec. 21 from Harvard, Stillman Valley, Erie
By Chris Walker for the IWCOA
HARVARD’S 57TH SCIACCA-HOLTFRETER TOURNAMENT
Wheeling was a dominating presence in the finals, advancing 10 wrestlers to those finals bouts and coming away with three champions to win the 57th Sciacca-Holtfreter Tournament on Saturday at Harvard.
The tournament’s name comes from John Sciacca and Richard Holtfreter. Both were longtime coaches at Harvard High School. Sciacca founded the program at the school and coached for 15 years. Holtfreter had a nine-year tenure that produced a team state title in 1983.
With three champions, seven second-place finishers and three third-place winners, the Wildcats scored 269.5 points, over a hundred points more than runner-up Bartlett which had 149. Streamwood was third with 132 and followed by Woodstock’s 136.5 and North Boone’s 121.5 for the top five teams among the 16-team field.
1st place; Wheeling (269.5 points)
Frankie Katz (113), Austin Berger (144) and Pablo Morales (285) won titles to lead the Wildcats to the team victory. Thomas Katz (106), Miguel Lopez (120), Joey Romano (126), Max Katz (132), Emmanuel Lagunas (138), John Scanlon (157) and Eduardo Juarez (215) placed second while Nicholas Montesinos (165), Danny Miranda (175) and Jonny Dominguez (190) took third.
2nd place: Bartlett (149 points)
Nick Barton (132), Cameron Engels (138) and James Smrha (215) walked away from Harvard as champions for the Hawks. Filip Szeszko (150) placed second, Joseph Caputo (144) took third, Dom Thorson (175) finished in fourth and Ezekiel Carillo (150) was sixth.
3rd place: Streamwood (132 points)
Juan Cortes (150), Gabe Inorio (175) and Jace Wolf (190) were champs for the Sabres who matched Wheeling and Bartlett with three champions. Luis Martinez (113) placed second, Don Krebs (138) and Josiah Torres (215) took fifth place and Jeff Li (157) and Josh Burton (285) were sixth.
Other individual champions included Vernon Hills’ Charles Dominguez (106), Kennedy’s Victor Alvarado (120), Woodstock’s Taqi Baker (126), Proviso West’s Marquis Deloach (157) and Harvard’s Daniel Rosas (165).
Proviso West’s Marquis Deloach had four pins in 8:45 to finish as the wrestler with the most pins in the least amount of time in the tournament. New Trier’s Will Weedon also had four pins, completing his run in 13:24. Kennedy’s Victor Alvarado was one of five wrestlers with two tech falls. He did it in 5:47 which was tops in the tournament. Deloach also had the most team points with 30. Wheeling’s Austin Berger had the most total match points with 50. Bartlett’s Filip Szeszko had the largest seed-place difference of the tournament. The senior was seeded 12th and placed second for a difference of 10.
Harvard Sciacca-Holtfreter Tournament results
106
1st: Charles Dominguez (Vernon Hills) 12-6, d. Thomas Katz (Wheeling) 1-1, (F 2:57)
3rd: Riley Krumsee (Alden-Hebron) 5-3, d. Joseph Berkholtz (Harvard) 2-8, (F 3:11)
113
1st: Frankie Katz (Wheeling) 15-1, d. Luis Martinez (Streamwood) 7-3 (TF-1.5 3:16 (16-0)
3rd: Drew Patel (North Boone) 14-5, d. Dominic Cimino (Vernon Hills) 10-6, (F 4:23)
5th: Tony Lopez (Vernon Hills) 10-6, d. Robert Puch (Lake Forest) 2-3 (F 0:37)
120
1st: Victor Alvarado (Kennedy) 12-1, d. Miguel Lopez (Wheeling) 13-4, (TF-1.5 3:59 (21-5)
3rd: Gabe Marella (North Boone) 14-7, d. Anthony Motejzik (Woodstock North) 16-9, (F 2:14)
5th: Emma Engels (Bartlett) 2-2, d. Dominic Osinski (Woodstock) 5-10, (MFFL)
126
1st: Taqi Baker (Woodstock) 18-5, d. Joey Romano (Wheeling) 15-4, (D 4-1)
3rd: Gavin Ekberg (North Boone) 15-3, d. Thomas Demetrio (Lake Forest) 3-2 (F 3:45)
5th: Malachi Turner (Bremen) 8-3, d. Lilly White (Bartlett) 2-3, (F 5:34)
132
1st: Nick Barton (Bartlett) 14-4, d. Max Katz (Wheeling) 14-6, (D 12-9)
3rd: Travis Leonardson (New Trier) 3-2, d. Sabir Aliev (Vernon Hills) 6-9, (F 0:46)
5th: Daniel Nilsson (Woodstock) 5-5, d. Alek Myshkowec (Woodstock North) 3-4, (TF-1.5 2:30 (18-3)
138
1st: Cameron Engels (Bartlett) 14-4, d. Emmanuel Lagunas (Wheeling) 7-4, (F 1:22)
3rd: Landyn White (Woodstock) 12-9, d. Kelvyn West (Proviso West) 6-7, (F 3:00)
5th: Don Krebs (Streamwood) 4-5d. Owen Vail (Harvard) 3-4, (For.)
144
1st: Austin Berger (Wheeling) 12-5, d. Brennan Peters (Harvard) 7-6, (D 10-4)
3rd: Joseph Caputo (Bartlett) 4-1, d. Allante Jackson (Proviso West) 5-5, (D 12-6)
5th: Caden Solorio-Alvarez (Vernon Hills) 5-7, d. Michael Barndt (Lake Forest) 3-3 (F 5:44)
150
1st: Juan Cortes (Streamwood) 10-3d. Filip Szeszko (Bartlett) 3-1, (TF-1.5 5:15 (19-4)
3rd: Will Weedon (New Trier) 5-2, d. Gabe Sarnella (Woodstock) 10-9, (MD 12-4)
5th: Walter Hoevker (Bremen) 7-4, d. Ezekiel Carillo (Bartlett) 3-3 (F 1:39)
157
1st: Marquis Deloach (Proviso West) 13-11, d. John Scanlon (Wheeling) 14-5, (F 5:56)
3rd: Logan Wisner (Woodstock) 18-6, d. George Kaup (New Trier) 3-2, (MD 14-2)
5th: Giorgi Solorio-Alvarez (Vernon Hills) 5-4, d. Jeff Li (Streamwood) 10-5 (Inj. 0:00)
165
1st: Daniel Rosas (Harvard) 8-1, d. Maysen Smith (North Boone) 14-5, (F 1:24)
3rd: Nicholas Montesinos (Wheeling) 16-3, d. Tommy Tures (New Trier) 3-2, (MD 12-3)
5th: Ayden Dobler (Woodstock) 3-4, d. Angel Heard (Proviso West) 6-6, (F 1:35)
175
1st: Gabe Inorio (Streamwood) 11-2d. Edgar Arana (Woodstock) 5-6, (F 1:45)
3rd: Danny Miranda (Wheeling) 9-6, d. Dom Thorson (Bartlett) 7-6, (F 2:24)
5th: Christian Mercado (Harvard) 4-8, d. Nicholas Jungman (Kennedy) 7-7, (Inj. 0:00)
190
1st: Jace Wolf (Streamwood) 11-0d. Logan Crowell (Alden-Hebron) 7-2, (F 2:33)
3rd: Jonny Dominguez (Wheeling) 12-3, d. Kevin Salas (Harvard) 8-6, (TF-1.5 3:59 (16-1)
5th: David RanDker (Woodstock North) 10-6, d. Tim Dan (Lake Forest) 3-3 (F 1:29)
215
1st: James Smrha (Bartlett) 15-2, d. Eduardo Juarez (Wheeling) 13-1, (D 10-4)
3rd: Nick Davis (North Boone) 10-7, d. Jonathan Keats (Vernon Hills) 5-7, (F 1:45)
5th: Josiah Torres (Streamwood) 8-5d. Nick Hoevker (Bremen) 3-7, (F 1:52)
285
1st: Pablo Morales (Wheeling) 15-2, d. Christian Allen (North Boone) 7-7, (F 1:24)
3rd: Everett Flannery (Woodstock) 7-7, d. Ruslan Martin (Lake Forest) 2-2 (D 13-7)
5th: Christopher De Leon (Kennedy) 8-5, d. Josh Burton (Streamwood) 5-8 (D 2-0)
Team scores
1. Wheeling 269.5, 2. Bartlett 149, 3. Streamwood 142, 4. Woodstock 136.5, 5. North Boone 121.5, 6. Vernon Hills 103, 7. Harvard 91.5, 8. Lake Forest 77, 9. New Trier 75.5, 10. Proviso West 73, 11. Kennedy 43, 12. Woodstock North 40, 13. Bremen 33, 14. Alden-Hebron 31, 15. Belvidere North 2.5.
ERIE/PROPHETSTOWN HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Lena-Winslow-Stockton had three champions to win the 16-team EP (Erie/Prophetstown) Holiday Tournament on Saturday at Erie High School.
The PantherHawks scored 197.5 points to win the tournament. Newman Central) took second with 176 and Seneca was third with 147.5. Morrison had 139 and Rockridge scored 120 to round out the top five teams.
1st place: Lena-Winslow-Stockton (197.5 points)
Arrison Bauer (144), Eli Larson (175) and Jeremiah Luke (215) won individual titles to lead the squad to the team win. Mauricio Glass (138), John Mensendike (165) and Oliver McPeek (190) placed second, Reece Demeter (150) and Duncan Nevel (175) were fifth and Anthony Laino (113) and Luke Kempel (285) were sixth.
2nd place: Newman Central) (176 points)
Zhyler Hansen (126), Landon Blanton (132) and Daniel Kelly (165) all won titles for the Comets. Landon Near (106) and Javen Reyes (113) placed second, Briar Ivey (157) took third, Matthew Clemen (175) was fourth and Jacob Newberry (190) placed fifth.
3rd place: Seneca (147.5 points)
The book ends – Raiden Terry (106) and Jeremy Gagnon (285) – secured titles to lead the Fighting Irish to third place. Landen Venecia (190) placed third, Wyatt Coop (120), Chase Rod (150) and Gunner Varland (157) were fourth, Chris Thompson (113) was fifth and Ryker Terry (132) took sixth.
Illini Bluffs and Rockridge each produced two champions. Barret Speck (120) and Jackson Carroll were winners for Illini Bluffs. Jude Finch (138) and Thomas Sowards (150) won for Rockridge. Orion’s Maddux Anderson (190) won the remaining title.
Rockridge’s Jude Finch had the most pins in the least amount of time with four in 4:56. Illini Bluffs’ Jackson Carroll had the most tech falls with three. Finch had the most team points with 30. Carroll had the most total match points with 67. Erie-Prophetstown’s Aidan Jepson had the largest seed-place difference. Jepson was a 14th seed and took third place for a difference of 11.
EP HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT RESULTS:
106
1st: Raiden Terry (Seneca) 13-0, d. Landon Near (Newman Central) 9-1, (MD 10-0)
3rd: Cael Wright (Morrison) 13-1, d. Nate Lower (Rockridge) 8-4, (F 3:08)
5th: Coltin Hartman (Fulton) 13-8, d. Landon Rubright (Morrison) 13-4, (F 1:27)
113
1st: Tennyson Hampton (Alleman) 14-2, d. Javen Reyes (Newman Central) 9-2, (D 9-8)
3rd: Noah Rannow (West Carroll) 7-4, d. Luke Werner (Sherrard) 11-5 (TF-1.5 0:00 (18-1)
5th: Chris Thompson (Seneca) 8-5, d. Anthony Laino (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 5-10, (D 7-0)
120
1st: Barret Speck (Illini Bluffs) 16-1, d. Braiden Krahl (Sherrard) 15-1 (F 1:09)
3rd: Jack McIntyre (West Carroll) 8-3, d. Wyatt Coop (Seneca) 7-6, (MD 12-0)
5th: Nathan Owens (Illini Bluffs) 12-5, d. Randy Gerlach (Morrison) 7-8, (MD 26-12)
126
1st: Zhyler Hansen (Newman Central) 10-1, d. Kaleb Sovey (Orion) 13-5, (F 1:21)
3rd: Clayton Blumenstein (Rockridge) 7-2, d. Patrick Schaefer (Morrison) 6-3, (F 0:54)
5th: Easton Spooner (Fulton) 15-7, d. Wyatt Stewart (Erie/Prophetstown) 8-8, (D 11-5)
132
1st: Landon Blanton (Newman Central) 9-1, d. Lucas Nelson (Polo/Eastland/Forreston/Milledgeville) 16-3 (D 8-7)
3rd: Logan Thome (Rock Fs) 13-3, d. Cooper Chester (East Peoria) 13-6, (F 1:14)
5th: Kamden White (Morrison) 10-4, d. Ryker Terry (Seneca) 12-4, (F 3:53)
138
1st: Jude Finch (Rockridge) 7-0, d. Mauricio Glass (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 13-4, (F 1:18)
3rd: Aidan Jepson (Erie/Prophetstown) 12-8, d. Noah Wetzell (Erie/Prophetstown) 10-7, (D 4-2)
5th: Tucker Ullrich (Rock Fs) 14-3, d. Cole Brooks (East Peoria) 8-5, (D 10-5)
144
1st: Arrison Bauer (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 16-1, d. Connor Knop (West Carroll) 9-1, (MD 13-2)
3rd: Tristan Hovey (Erie/Prophetstown) 12-7, d. Quinn Zimmerman (Sherrard) 14-4 (F 5:36)
5th: Caleb Modglin (Morrison) 13-2, d. Logan Williamson (Rock Fs) 10-7, (F 1:11)
150
1st: Thomas Sowards (Rockridge) 8-1, d. Jonner Smith (West Carroll) 10-2, (F 3:20)
3rd: Excequiel Ocampo (Mercer County) 8-1, d. Chase Rod (Seneca) 3-3, (MD 16-6)
5th: Reece Demeter (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 12-5, d. Carson White (Morrison) 8-3, (F 5:09)
157
1st: Jackson Carroll (Illini Bluffs) 19-0, d. Wyatt Goossens (Erie/Prophetstown) 15-3, (D 9-3)
3rd: Briar Ivey (Newman Central) 11-1, d. Gunner Varland (Seneca) 12-5, (F 5:39)
5th: Levi Milder (Morrison) 11-4, d. Cole Herrell (West Carroll) 10-3, (TF-1.5 0:00 (19-2)
165
1st: Daniel Kelly (Newman Central) 11-0, d. John Mensendike (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 14-3, (D 2-1)
3rd: Brady Anderson (Morrison) 11-3, d. Skylier Crooks (Fulton) 16-5, (D 15-8)
5th: Trail Stonitsch (Rock Fs) 10-4, d. Micah Stringini (Polo/E/F/M) 13-7 (F 0:32)
175
1st: Eli Larson (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 14-0, d. Mason Kuebel (Fulton) 14-3, (F 1:48)
3rd: Noah Stout (Morrison) 8-2, d. Matthew Clemen (Newman Central) 7-2, (F 3:26)
5th: Duncan Nevel (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 3-1, d. Jordae Crow (Erie/Prophetstown) 15-5, (D 3-0)
190
1st: Maddux Anderson (Orion) 18-0, d. Oliver McPeek (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 13-2, (D 8-1)
3rd: Landen Venecia (Seneca) 10-3, d. Dalton Oakman (East Peoria) 14-3, (D 10-8)
5th: Jacob Newberry (Newman Central) 9-5, d. Cooper Thomas (Sherrard) 13-5 (F 0:44)
215
1st: Jeremiah Luke (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 13-2, d. Aiden Fisher (Orion) 16-2, (F 4:18)
3rd: Alec Del Toro (East Peoria) 14-7, d. Tanner McKeag (Rockridge) 10-4, (F 1:53)
5th: Jonathon Weakly (Sherrard) 14-1d. Daniel Holman (Fulton) 17-5, (D 7-1)
285
1st: Jeremy Gagnon (Seneca) 11-0, d. Caleb Reymer (Erie/Prophetstown) 15-1, (F 3:44)
3rd: Keegan Barnes (East Peoria) 9-3, d. Jahkei Jones (Rock Fs) 5-2, (F 2:32)
5th: Kaiden Terrill (Mercer County) 5-7, d. Luke Kempel (Lena-Winslow/Stockton) 8-5, (F 1:47)
Girls 105/110
1st: (round robin)
Blair Grennan (Newman Central) 3-0, d. Kyra Cardine (Mercer County) 2-2, (F 1:13)
3rd: (round robin)
Nevada Wells (Erie-Prophetstown) 5-10, d. Abby Webber (Sherrard) 0-3 (F 3:05)
Girls 120/125
1st: Ryleigh Stephens (Erie/Prophetstown) 16-2, d. Sophia Bradarich (Sherrard) 2-1 (TF-1.5 0:00 (23-7)
3rd: Kylie Mathis (Sherrard) 2-1d. Grace Bray (Fulton) 9-4, (F 3:42)
5th: Kaylee Benyo (Newman Central) 2-3, d. Adison Stephens (Erie/Prophetstown) 7-11, (D 5-2)
Girls 135/140
1st: Nadia Anderson (Sherrard) 2-0d. Michelle Naftzger (Erie/Prophetstown) 17-3, (D 7-6)
3rd: Dena Cox (Erie-Prophetstown) 14-5, d. Aubrey Herndon (Polo/E/F/M) 2-5, (F 5:45)
5th: Bryleigh Nance (Sherrard) 0-2 (Bye)
Girls 155
1st Place (final): Jayda Rosenow (Erie-Prophetstown) 13-6, d. Jayda Reiff (Rockridge) 0-4, (F 1:48)
Team scores
1. Lena-Winslow/Stockton 197.5, 2. Newman Central) 176, 3. Seneca 147.5, 4. Morrison 139, 5. Rockridge 120, 6. Erie/Prophetstown 102, 7. East Peoria 98, 8. Orion 91, 9. West Carroll 85.5, 10. Fulton 85, 11. Sherrard 78.5, 12. Rock Fs 76.5, 13, Illini Bluffs 61, 14. Mercer County 48.5, 15. Polo/Eastland/Forreston/Milledgeville 44, Alleman 32.
STILLMAN VALLEY HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Wheaton Academy had three champions to win the Stillman Valley Holiday Tournament on Saturday at Stillman Valley.
The Warriors slipped past Oregon by just a few points, outscoring the runner-ups, 178.5 to 175.5. Host Stillman Valley was third with 142.5 points, Johnsburg was fourth with 139.5 and Marengo was fifth among the 16-team field.
1st place; Wheaton Academy (178.5 points)
Lincoln Hoger (132), Chasen Kazmierczak (157) and Tyler Jones (165) won titles for the Warriors. Oscar Smith (126) and Jeremy Johanik (215) placed second, Ian De Souza (190) and Hezekiah Garcia (285) took third, Ian Tanacea (175) was fourth and Buckley Kazmierczak (113) and Nicolas Chiappetta were fifth.
2nd place; Oregon (175.5 points)
Josiah Perez (113), Isaiah Perez (120) and Briggs Sellers (285) took home titles while Nelson Benesh (132), Ethan Mowry (157) and Andrew Young (175) had second place finishes. Jakob Moser (190) was fourth, Landon Ege (126) and Jackson Messenger (138) placed fifth and Jayden Berry (150) and Jakobi Donegan (165) took sixth.
3rd place: Stillman Valley (142.5 points)
Henry Hildreth (150) won a title to lead the Cardinals. Michael Pannarale (106) and Brady Stewart (190) placed second, Zander Bell (113) and Ethan Waugh (165) took third, and Preston Ludens (126), Brady Hinkle (157) and Brodie Watterson (138) were fourth.
Dundee-Crown matched Wheaton Academy and Oregon as champions with three of its own. Aiden Healey (106), Chris Gerardo (138) and Teigen Moreno (215) won titles for the Chargers. Kaneland brothers Alex Gochis (144) and Apollo Gochis (175) also won title for the Knights. The remaining individual champions included Johnsburg’s Tanner Hansen (126) and Marengo’s Frankie Solis (190).
Wheaton Academy’s Chasen Kazmierczak had three pins in 2:24 to lead the tournament with the most pins in the least amount of time. Kaneland’s Alex Gochis had the most tech falls in the least amount of time with two in 3:39. Kaneland’s Apollo Gochis, was the lone other wrestler to have two tech fall victories, doing so in 6:19. Oregon’s Landon Ege had 23 single match points which was tops in the tournament. Ege also had the most total match points with 54. Amboy’s Caiden Heath had 53 and Kaneland’s Alex Gochis had 52. Heath also tied for the largest seed-place difference in the tournament. As a 10th seed, Health placed third, Wheaton Academy’s Oscar Smith was a 9th seed who took second place. Both wrestlers had a difference of seven.
Stillman Valley Holiday Tournament results
106
1st: Aiden Healey (Dundee-Crown) 18-5, d. Michael Pannarale (Stillman Valley) 9-2, (TF-1.5 3:40 (18-0))
3rd: Cam Whitehead (Winnebago) 13-5, d. Aden Spinelli (Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/LaMoille/Ohio) 4-2, (F 4:45)
5th: Kai Surdick (Johnsburg) 15-9, d. Sebastian Lara (Lisle Senior) 9-5, (F 4:30)
113
1st: Josiah Perez (Oregon) 13-1, d. Chase Vogel (Johnsburg) 16-5, (MD 10-2)
3rd: Zander Bell (Stillman Valley) 5-3, d. Jackson Hopkins (Winnebago) 5-9, (F 1:04)
5th: Buckley Kazmierczak (Wheaton Academy) 5-9, d. Jaden Ortega (Marengo) 3-11, (F 0:40)
120
1st: Isaiah Perez (Oregon) 13-2, d. Vince Hefke (Aurora Central Catholic) 12-2, (MD 8-0)
3rd: Chase Davis (Johnsburg) 18-6, d. Ty Florschuetz (Amboy/AFC/L/O) 3-3, (F 0:52)
5th: Nicolas Chiappetta (Wheaton Academy) 3-12, d. Gavin Stevenson (Mendota) 11-10, (D 10-9)
126
1st: Tanner Hansen (Johnsburg) 15-5, d. Oscar Smith (Wheaton Academy) 6-5, (MD 12-3)
3rd: Noah Pearcy (Winnebago) 9-7, d. Preston Ludens (Stillman Valley) 4-8, (F 1:27)
5th: Landon Ege (Oregon) 8-4, d. Jonathon Sebring-Werhane (Marengo) 1-7, (F 2:27)
132
1st: Lincoln Hoger (Wheaton Academy) 13-3, d. Nelson Benesh (Oregon) 11-4, (D 4-2)
3rd: Alexander Ferari (Lisle Senior) 12-2, d. Hayden Beebe (Marengo) 13-7, (F 2:25)
5th: Chase Whitehead (Winnebago) 13-6, d. Chase Montavon (Amboy/AFC/L/O) 3-3, (F 4:57)
138
1st: Chris Gerardo (Dundee-Crown) 18-5, d. Landon Johnson (Johnsburg) 17-3, (D 4-1)
3rd: Joshua McKendry (Amboy/AFC/L/O) 3-1, d. Brodie Watterson (Stillman Valley) 5-7, (F 1:22)
5th: Jackson Messenger (Oregon) 9-6, d. Tristan Menendez (St. Edward) 4-9 (F 1:08)
144
1st: Alex Gochis (Kaneland) 12-0, d. Landon VanAcker (Belvidere) 10-3, (MD 13-2)
3rd: Caiden Heath (Amboy/AFC/L/O) 6-1, d. Jaxxon Gustafson (Winnebago) 10-7, (F 0:42)
5th: Hunter Boley (Marengo) 11-6, d. Caleb Yancoskie (Dundee-Crown) 8-14, (F 2:16)
150
1st: Henry Hildreth (Stillman Valley) 7-2, d. Johnny Consuegra-Lopez (Lisle Senior) 7-3, (F 2:43)
3rd: Owen Ostler (Marengo) 7-4, d. Kainoa Ancog (Johnsburg) 13-9, (F 3:25)
5th: Jadon Wheatley (Dundee-Crown) 11-8, d. Jayden Berry (Oregon) 9-5, (F 1:59)
157
1st: Chasen Kazmierczak (Wheaton Academy) 15-1, d. Ethan Mowry (Oregon) 14-4, (F 0:28)
3rd: Logan Boley (Marengo) 6-5, d. Brady Hinkle (Stillman Valley) 5-5, (F 1:20)
5th: GAVIN EVANS (Mendota) 11-7, d. Drew Jesuit (Johnsburg) 8-12, (D 13-11)
165
1st: Tyler Jones (Wheaton Academy) 12-1, d. David Skonieczny (Lisle Senior) 10-3, (MD 10-2)
3rd: Ethan Waugh (Stillman Valley) 7-3, d. Aaron Alvarez (Johnsburg) 4-6, (F 1:04)
5th: Caden Vanik (Kaneland) 5-7, d. Jakobi Donegan (Oregon) 8-6, (F 4:47)
175
1st: Apollo Gochis (Kaneland) 9-2, d. Andrew Young (Oregon) 5-2, (TF-1.5 3:19 (15-0))
3rd: Duke Mays (Johnsburg) 10-5, d. Ian Tanacea (Wheaton Academy) 2-6, (F 1:00)
5th: Connor Wishop (Winnebago) 1-11, (Bye)
190
1st: Frankie Solis (Marengo) 7-1, d. Brady Stewart (Stillman Valley) 6-5, (F 4:59)
3rd: Ian De Souza (Wheaton Academy) 4-10, d. Jakob Moser (Oregon) 7-4, (D 4-2)
215
1st: Teigen Moreno (Dundee-Crown) 19-1, d. Jeremy Johanik (Wheaton Academy) 12-3, (D 9-7)
3rd: Conner Sacco (Marengo) 8-2, d. Joaquin Martinez (Aurora Central Catholic) 4-6, (F 1:03)
5th: Evan Flanagan (Amboy/AFC/L/O) 4-2, d. Troy Fagerstrom (Durand/Pecatonica) 1-4, (F 1:02)
285
1st: Briggs Sellers (Oregon) 11-6, d. Angil Serrano (Mendota) 5-4, (F 4:30)
3rd: Hezekiah Garcia (Wheaton Academy) 12-4, d. Josh Cowman (Winnebago) 13-8, (F 0:50)
5th: Roy Ramirez (Dundee-Crown) 15-9, d. Emmanual Pizzano (Belvidere) 3-4, (D 6-0)
Team scores
1. Wheaton Academy 178.5, 2. Oregon 175.5, 3, Stillman Valley 142.5, 4. Johnsburg 139.5, 5. Marengo 112, 6. Dundee-Crown 107, 7. Winnebago 98.5, 8. Amboy/Ashton-Franklin Center/Lamoille/Ohio) 80.5, 9. Kaneland 68, 10. Lisle Senior 63, 11. Mendota 44, 12. Aurora Central Catholic 34, 13. Belvidere 32, 14. Durand/Pecatonica 6, 14. St. Edward 6.
Tournament roundup for Glenbrook South, West Chicago and Rich Township
by Mike Garofola – for the IWCOA
59th Glenbrook South Rus Erb Tournament
Glenbrook South’s 59th Rus Erb Tournament was full of surprises Saturday at the Titans Dome in Glenview. That’s where two high-profile men suffered their first losses in the final round.
Richmond-Burton’s Emmett Nelson (11-1), a three-time IHSA medalist and two-time runner-up who took sixth at 144 last season, suffered his first defeat of the year in the 144 final against Antioch’s Chase Nobiling (20-3).
Batavia’s Asher Sheldon (13-1) saw his win streak end after Antioch senior Owen Shea (18-4) pinned him at 1:22, which dashed his hopes for a third-straight title.
Richmond-Burton won the title with 177.5 points while Sycamore took second with 171 points. Grant edged Antioch 168-165 to claim third place while Deerfield was fifth with 156 points. Batavia was looking to claim its third straight team title but took seventh place with 127 points.
The top five teams could all be found in the top 20 of the most recent state polls, with tourney champion Richmond-Burton the highest at seventh in Class 1A. Three teams were ranked in 2A, Deerfield (11th), Sycamore (12th) and Antioch (14th) while Grant was 22nd in Class 3A.
“We were out three starters and freshman Liam Paulley is filling in at 132,” Richmond-Burton coach Tony Nelson said. “Lelan Nelson with the big win over a kid who pinned him last year in the semifinals of IKWF State.
“This has turned into a real tough tournament with some very good teams, and a bunch of terrific wrestlers on an individual level,” said Deerfield coach Marc Pechter, who has led the Warriors to a trio of dual-team tournament appearances, which includes a fourth in 2017.
1st place – Richmond-Burton
Coach Tony Nelson’s Rockets had one champion, Lelan Nelson (14-1), who took first at 106. The freshman pinned his way into his final, where he won a 9-5 decision over Sycamore’s Carson West (14-1). He received plenty of help from his teammates with his brother Emmett Nelson (144) and Blake Livdahl (175) both being runners-up.
Emmett Nelson’s first win on Saturday gave him 150 for his career and moved him closer to the school record of 162 set by Garrett Sutton, who was a two-time state champion who went on to star at the University of Michigan.
Adam Glauser (120), and Shane Falasca (215) took third place while Clayton Madula (126), Breckin Campbell (190) and Colin Kraus (285) all finished in fourth place.
2nd place – Sycamore
The runner-up Spartans, who are coached by Randy Culton, were led by runner-up Carson West, who lost in the 106 finals to Richmond-Burton’s Lelan Nelson.
They had four third-place finishers, Sawyer Davis (113), Tyler Lockhart (126), Cooper Bode (175) and Collin Hughes (285) while Clyde Nott (215) added a fourth place medal.
3rd place – Grant
Junior Vince Jasinski, a 2024 state qualifier, won in impressive fashion when he pinned his way into his 126 final with Deerfield’s Adrian Cohen, where he won a 22-6 tech fall at 5:36. Jasinski shared a tourney-high 29.5 team points with Richards’ Mike Taheny and Antioch’s Owen Shea.
Erik Rodriguez (138) and Casey Gipson (190) both claimed third place while Larry Quirk (113), Adrian Khi (144) and Nathan Flores (150) finished in fourth place for coach Mark Jolcover’s third-place Bulldogs.
Antioch had a tournament-high four title winners, Chase Nobiling (144, 20-3), Dominic Garcia (150, 9-1), Ben Vazquez (175, 19-3) and Owen Shea (215, 18-4). Deerfield had three champs, Jackson Palzet (132, 19-1), Jordan Rasof (138, 19-2) and Charlie Cross (157, 14-7).
Other Erb title winners were Lake Park’s Bryce Mensik (113, 11-0), Riverside-Brookfield’s Edgar Mosquera (120, 13-0), Northridge Prep’s Adam Haddad (165, 8-2), Richards’ Mike Taheny (190, 13-1) and Evanston Township’s Jeremy Marshall (285).
Rasof is a two-time state medal winner who took fifth at 138 in 2A last season while Mosquera and Vazquez are both two-time state qualifiers.
There were several individual and team statistics to take note of. Antioch’s Nathan Gorski recorded the most pins over the two days with five while Glenbrook South’s Mike Tsendayush claimed the fastest pin of the weekend at just 13 seconds. And Burlington Central’s Michael Junitz led everyone with 80 match points.
Among the champions, Cross was fourth in team points with 28.5, Garcia, Mosquera and Nelson tied with 27, Vazquez collected 27.5 points and Palzet scored 27 team points.
59th Glenbrook South Rus Erb Tournament place matches
106
1st Place Match
Lelan Nelson (Richmond-Burton) 14-1, Fr. over Carson West (Sycamore) 14-1, Fr. (Dec 9-5)
3rd Place Match
Jorey Becker (Deerfield) 15-9, So. over Liam Lovelace (Lake Park) 13-4, Fr. (Dec 7-6)
5th Place Match
Stone McKone (Buffalo Grove) 9-4, So. over Sergio Jaimes (Glenbrook South) 8-9, Jr. (TF-1.5 3:19 (15-0))
113
1st Place Match
Bryce Mensik (Lake Park) 11-0, Sr. over Eduardo Vences (Burlington Central) 2-1, So. (Fall 4:38)
3rd Place Match
Sawyer Davis (Sycamore) 13-3, Fr. over Larry Quirk (Grant) 3-6, Jr. (Dec 3-0)
5th Place Match
Diego Bueno (Palatine) 2-2, Sr. over Noah Kwasiborski (Antioch) 5-15, Sr. (Fall 3:23)
120
1st Place Match
Edgar Mosquera (Riverside-Brookfield) 13-0, Sr. over Kai Enos (Batavia) 12-3, Fr. (Fall 3:25)
3rd Place Match
Adam Glauser (Richmond-Burton) 16-3, Fr. over Mykola Shamray (Buffalo Grove) 15-4, Fr. (Dec 4-1)
5th Place Match
Ermuun Urtanasan (Glenbrook South) 14-3, Jr. over Michael Olson (Sycamore) 13-5, Jr. (Dec 9-7)
126
1st Place Match
Vince Jasinski (Grant) 19-2, Jr. over Adrian Cohen (Deerfield) 16-6, So. (TF-1.5 5:36 (22-6))
3rd Place Match
Tyler Lockhart (Sycamore) 16-2, Jr. over Clayton Madula (Richmond-Burton)) 16-4, Sr. (MD 18-6)
5th Place Match
Chace Tankson (Marian Catholic) 9-5, Sr. over Kyle Pasco (Batavia) 8-8, Jr. (For.)
132
1st Place Match
Jackson Palzet (Deerfield) 19-1, Sr. over Jack Duraski (Batavia) 12-2, Sr. (Fall 3:05)
3rd Place Match
Sergio Hernandez (Lake Park) 17-3, Sr. over Jacob Godoy (Riverside-Brookfield) 8-5, Sr. (Dec 6-1)
5th Place Match
Ben Ramos (Grant) 4-2, Sr. over Thomas Lind (Sycamore) 10-8, Sr. (Dec 7-1)
138
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Jordan Rasof (Deerfield) 19-2, Sr. over Nick Merola (Lake Park) 12-5, Jr. (Dec 5-0)
3rd Place Match
Erik Rodriguez (Grant) 20-2, Jr. over Matthew Lucansky (Carmel) 13-3, Sr. (TF-1.5 4:43 (21-4))
5th Place Match
Jayden Dohogne (Sycamore) 15-3, So. over Jack Burton (Glenbrook South) 9-8, Jr. (MD 14-5)
144
1st Place Match
Chase Nobiling (Antioch) 20-3, Jr. over Emmett Nelson (Richmond-Burton) 11-1, Sr. (Dec 8-4)
3rd Place Match
Ricky Blanco (Riverside-Brookfield) 12-5, Sr. over Adrian Khi (Grant) 11-11, Sr. (TF-1.5 5:41 (18-1))
5th Place Match
Alexander Shvartsman (Deerfield) 16-8, So. over Kale Schrauth (Glenbrook South) 14-7, Jr. (MD 12-3)
150
1st Place Match
Dominic Garcia (Antioch) 9-1, So. over Ollie Quiros (Niles North) 16-4, Sr. (MD 16-8)
3rd Place Match
Tony Klinkas (Buffalo Grove) 14-6, So. over Nathan Flores (Grant) 10-8, Sr. (Dec 9-3)
5th Place Match
George McShane (Northridge Prep) 7-4, Jr. over Aidan Minihane (Glenbrook South) 14-6, Jr. (Fall 2:22)
157
1st Place Match
Charlie Cross (Deerfield) 14-7, Sr. over Ethan Rivas (Riverside-Brookfield) 8-5, Sr. (Fall 4:58)
3rd Place Match
Nathan Gorski (Antioch) 14-9, Sr. over Dom Marino (Glenbrook South) 16-3, Jr. (Fall 5:16)
5th Place Match
Zahid Haque (Glenbrook South) 3-2, Sr. over Art Bytyqi (Evanston Township) 9-7, Fr. (Fall 1:01)
165
1st Place Match
Adam Haddad (Northridge Prep) 8-2, Sr. over Chris Chi (Buffalo Grove) 11-3, Sr. (TB-1 19-6)
3rd Place Match
Colin Peyton (Batavia) 13-4, Jr. over Henry Downing (Glenbrook South) 14-4, Sr. (Dec 13-10)
5th Place Match
Joey Baranski (Marian Catholic) 15-4, Sr. over Marcus Macias (Antioch) 14-7, Jr. (M. For.)
175
1st Place Match
Ben Vazquez (Antioch) 19-3, Sr. over Blake Livdahl (Richmond-Burton) 14-2, So. (Dec 7-2)
3rd Place Match
Cooper Bode (Sycamore) 11-6, Jr. over Trey Widlowski (Palatine) 4-2, Sr. (MD 15-3)
5th Place Match
Adrian Esparza (Marian Catholic) 4-4, Jr. over Josh Rappa (Rolling Meadows) 11-5, Jr. (Inj. 2:18)
190
1st Place Match
Mike Taheny (Richards) 13-1, Sr. over John Rappa (Rolling Meadows) 15-2, Jr. (TF-1.5 6:00 (18-1))
3rd Place Match
Casey Gipson (Grant) 19-5, Jr. over Breckin Campbell (Richmond-Burton) 14-6, So. (Fall 4:22)
5th Place Match
Michael Junitz (Burlington Central) 6-2, Jr. over Julian Ramos (Lakes Community) 3-3, Sr. (MD 14-5)
215
1st Place Match
Owen Shea (Antioch) 18-4, Jr. over Asher Sheldon (Batavia) 13-1, Sr. (Fall 1:22)
3rd Place Match
Shane Falasca (Richmond-Burton) 16-5, Fr. over Clyde Nott (Sycamore) 11-6, Fr. (Fall 1:33)
5th Place Match
Tyler Zdon (Grant) 4-2, Jr. over Sain Uranbold (Glenbrook South) 13-6, Jr. (Dec 14-11)
285
1st Place Match
Jeremy Marshall (Evanston Township) 3-0, Jr. over Ian Sims (Evanston Township) 3-1, Jr. (Fall 4:57)
3rd Place Match
Collin Hughes (Sycamore) 13-3, Fr. over Colin Kraus (Richmond-Burton) 9-5, Sr. (Fall 0:58)
5th Place Match
Hunter Johnson (Glenbrook South) 14-6, Jr. over Joey Alberts (Riverside-Brookfield) 7-7, Jr. (Fall 3:04)
Team scores
1. Richmond-Burton 177.5, 2. Sycamore 171, 3. Grant 168, 4. Antioch 165.5, 5. Deerfield 156, 6. Riverside-Brookfield 133.5, 7. Batavia 127, 8. Glenbrook South 116, 9. Lake Park 103, 10. Buffalo Grove 88.5, 11. Evanston Township 63.5, 12. Burlington Central 54, 12. Marian Catholic 54, 14. Palatine 53, 15. Rolling Meadows 46.5, 16. Northridge Prep 42.5, 17. Niles North 37.5, 18. Richards 31.5, 19. Carmel 26, 20. Lakes Community 21.5.
West Chicago Bob Hein Invite
The first annual Bob Hein Invite at West Chicago had plenty of quality within its eight-team field with close to 20 state-ranked men, including six who were in the top 10 of the state polls.
The depth of Naperville North was enough to overcome four individual championships for Class 2A power Yorkville Christian with the Huskies coming out on top with 206.5 points, which was 17 ahead of the Mustangs, who finished with 189.5 points. Maine South (168), West Chicago (118.5) and Dixon (115) were next on the team table.
“It was a great tournament run by West Chicago,” Naperville North coach Tom Champion said.
Robert ‘Bob’ Hein was a beloved educator and wrestling coach at West Chicago after moving his family from Iowa, where he taught and coached at Dewitt and Davenport West before moving to Illinois in 1978. He retired in 2002 and passed away in 2018 at age 78 in Ames, Iowa.
1st place – Naperville North
Senior Ben Messier (138, 14-1) and junior Tavkif Ibragimov (215,13-3) claimed individual titles for coach Tom Champion’s first-place Huskies, however it was the strength and talent all throughout their lineup that ultimately led to its eventual team title.
The Huskies had seven individuals who finished in second place. They were Adam Beedon (113), Ryan Beedon (120), Connor McDonald (126), Tyler Sternstein (144), Zachary Mally (150), Timothy Garmon (157), JT Hill (165) and Brady Valle (190) while Hudson Champion (157) added a fourth place finish.
Of this aforementioned group, Sternstein was the lone state qualifier from a year ago at 132 pounds with a 35-6 record. Ibragimov recorded three pins on the day, tying Maine South’s Evan Rioch for the tourney lead and the pair also collected the most team points with 26.
2nd place – Yorkville Christian
The Mustangs, who were ranked seventh in the state in Class 2A, celebrated a tourney-high four individual champions, which included Aiden Larsen (120, 14-3), who looks to add a fourth trip downstate to an already impressive resume, which includes winning three state medals.
Isaac Gray (157, 16-5), Robby Nelson (165, 15-3) and Tyler Gleason (175, 17-5) would also climb atop the podium at the end of the day for coach Mike Vester’s second-place team.
Third place honors would go to Adrian Wadas-Luis (138), Hayden Wheeler (190), Xavier Oliver (215) and Garrett Tunnell (285). Davin Torza (106), Jackson Witt (132) and Kenny Fox (175) added to the Mustangs point total with fourth place medals.
3rd place – Maine South
Tyler Fortis (285, 16-0) led a trio of Hawks who claimed first place awards that included Jack Handley (132, 13-3) and Evan Rioch (190, 6-6).
Fortis went 45-6 and took fifth at 285 in 3A a year ago and was a key member of the Hawks team title at regionals while Rioch went from the No. 7 seed to champion in his weight class.
Caden Ljubenko (138) and Marty Greif (175) took second place while Brett Harman (126), Emmett Mazukelli (132), Jake Colleran (144) and Gavin Hoerr (150) added third place medals for coach Kevin Hansen’s third-place Hawks. Daniel Egan (165) and Rayyan Salameh (215) finished fourth. Hoerr was a state qualifier last season.
The host Wildcats had two champions, Ryan Alvarado (126, 14-1) and Leo Rosas (150, 13-3). Other Hein Invite champions were Addison Trail’s Nikolas Duarte (106, 13-3), Dixon’s Jack Ragan (17-0, 113) and Rock Island’s Antonio Parker (144, 11-1).
Nikolas Durate recorded the fastest technical fall on the day in his 106 semifinal at 50 seconds while Yorkville Christian’s Ryan Alaimo (126) would score a tourney-high 46 total match points.
Alvarado and Gleason tied for third in team points with 24.5 while Fortis, Gray, Larsen and Messier all scored 24 points and Duarte, Parker and Ragan all finished with 23 team points.
West Chicago Bob Hein Invite place matches
106
1st Place Match
Nikolas Duarte (Addison Trail) 13-3, Fr. over Riley Paredes (Dixon) 12-3 (TF-1.5 2:11 (16-1))
3rd Place Match
Angelo Parker (Rock Island) 9-3, Fr. over Davin Torza (Yorkville Christian) 6-4, Fr. (Fall 2:32)
5th Place Match
Erle Rosete (Maine South) 13-7, So. over Santino Pignatelli (West Chicago) 2-5, Fr. (TF-1.5 3:48 (20-4))
113
1st Place Match
Jack Ragan (Dixon) 17-0 over Adam Beedon (Naperville North) 14-1, Jr. (Dec 8-7)
3rd Place Match
Zander Spatafore (Elk Grove) 13-5, Fr. over Santiago Trejo-Huerigo (Addison Trail) 12-4, Fr. (Dec 5-4)
5th Place Match
Emanuel Rangel (West Chicago) 8-3, So. over Jimmy Obedi (Rock Island) 2-7, Fr. (Fall 3:18)
7th Place Match
Tyquez Hudson (Rock Island (H.S.) 4-6, So. (Bye)
120
1st Place Match
Aiden Larsen (Yorkville Christian) 14-3, Sr. over Ryan Beedon (Naperville North) 11-5, Jr. (Inj. 0:00)
3rd Place Match
Doolan Long (Dixon) 14-4 over Zion Martinez (Addison Trail) 7-12, Jr. (Dec 7-0)
5th Place Match
Adrian Ramos Perez (West Chicago) 5-7, Jr. over Jonathan Antonio (West Chicago) 1-2, Sr. (MD 16-8)
126
1st Place Match
Ryan Alvarado (West Chicago) 14-1, Sr. over Connor McDonald (Naperville North) 14-2, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:42 (17-0))
3rd Place Match
Brett Harman (Maine South) 16-3, Jr. over Merrick Stockwell (Rock Island) 7-4, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:28 (17-1))
5th Place Match
Ryan Alaimo (Yorkville Christian) 16-6, So. over Michael Arrendondo (Naperville North) 3-4, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:00 (19-3))
7th Place Match
Maricio Parker (Rock Island) 4-5, So. over Alex Brennan (Elk Grove) 1-8, So. (Fall 2:21)
132
1st Place Match
Jack Handley (Maine South) 13-3, Sr. over Brian Correa (West Chicago) 8-5, So. (Dec 4-1)
3rd Place Match
Emmett Mazukelli (Maine South) 9-3, Jr. over Jackson Witt (Yorkville Christian) 3-2, So. (Dec 8-4)
5th Place Match
Kai Balice (Naperville North) 7-6, Fr. over Miguel Gonzalez (Elk Grove) 2-8, So. (Fall 3:39)
7th Place Match
Elijah Venegas (Rock Island) 2-3, Sr. over Gahel Lezama Martinez (Addison Trail) 3-7, So. (Fall 1:42)
138
1st Place Match
Ben Messier (Naperville North) 14-1, Sr. over Caden Ljubenko (Maine South) 16-4, Jr. (Fall 0:48)
3rd Place Match
Adrian Wadas-Luis (Yorkville Christian) 12-5, Jr. over Elijah King (Rock Island) 1-2, Fr. (Fall 1:50)
5th Place Match
John Benitez (West Chicago) 0-3, Sr. over (Bye)
144
1st Place Match
Antonio Parker (Rock Island) 11-1, Sr. over Tyler Sternstein (Naperville North) 13-3, Sr. (Dec 10-9)
3rd Place Match
Jake Colleran (Maine South) 17-4, Jr. over Preston Richards (Dixon) 13-5 (SV-1 4-1)
5th Place Match
Matthias Hautzinger (Addison Trail) 11-4, Sr. over Austin Wadas-Luis (Yorkville Christian) 10-9, Jr. (Fall 1:44)
7th Place Match
Donavan Avila (West Chicago) 6-6, Sr. over Yahia Soliman (Elk Grove) 2-10, So. (Fall 1:58)
150
1st Place Match
Leo Rosas (West Chicago) 13-3, Jr. over Zachary Mally (Naperville North) 12-4, Sr. (MD 11-2)
3rd Place Match
Gavin Hoerr (Maine South) 5-1, Jr. over Jayden Weidman (Dixon) 16-4 (Dec 4-1)
5th Place Match
George Tate (Rock Island) 6-6, Jr. over Tiras Lombardo (Yorkville Christian) 12-8, Sr. (Inj. 5:23)
7th Place Match
Matt DiMaria (Elk Grove) 3-8, So. over Bryan Borrego (Addison Trail) 4-7, So. (TF-1.5 4:35 (19-3))
157
1st Place Match
Isaac Gray (Yorkville Christian) 16-5, Sr. over Timothy Garmon (Naperville North) 6-5, So. (Fall 3:13)
3rd Place Match
Ian McGowan (Rock Island) 4-3, Jr. over Hudson Champion (Naperville North) 1-2, So. (TF-1.5 4:16 (19-2))
5th Place Match
Adam Staples (Dixon) 6-10 over Andrew Somenek (Elk Grove) 5-10, So. (Dec 11-8)
165
1st Place Match
Robby Nelson (Yorkville Christian) 15-3, Sr. over JT Hill (Naperville North) 7-4, Fr. (MD 14-0)
3rd Place Match
Alen Bautista (Addison Trail) 7-8, So. over Daniel Egan (Maine South) 4-5, Jr. (Fall 1:36)
5th Place Match
Pierson Foos (West Chicago) 0-8, Sr. (Bye)
175
1st Place Match
Tyler Gleason (Yorkville Christian) 17-5, Jr. over Marty Greif (Maine South) 11-7, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:13 (16-1))
3rd Place Match
Daniel Fordham (Dixon) 10-9 over Kenny Fox (Yorkville Christian) 1-2, So. (MD 11-3)
5th Place Match
Julian Mayres (Rock Island) 5-5, Jr. over David Hurrle (Naperville North) 4-8, Jr. (Dec 6-1)
7th Place Match
Emerson Stewart (Maine South) 2-3, Sr. (Bye)
190
1st Place Match
Evan Rioch (Maine South) 6-6, Sr. over Brady Valle (Naperville North) 5-10, Sr. (Fall 0:50)
3rd Place Match
Hayden Wheeler (Yorkville Christian) 4-1, So. over Landon Rodriguez (West Chicago) 6-9, Jr. (Fall 1:59)
5th Place Match
Emmanuel Leal (Addison Trail) 11-8, Sr. over Seth Shaeffer (Dixon) 9-14 (Fall 3:31)
7th Place Match
Tommy Whalen (Elk Grove) 1-10, Sr. over Adrian Venegas (Rock Island) 0-3, Jr. (Dec 10-7)
215
1st Place Match
Tavkif Ibragimov (Naperville North) 13-3, Jr. over Will Howell (Dixon) 11-4 (Fall 1:05)
3rd Place Match
Xander Oliver (Yorkville Christian) 11-8, Sr. over Rayyan Salameh (Maine South) 1-6, Sr. (Fall 3:11)
5th Place Match
Rowan Stockwell (Rock Island) 6-3, So. over Angelo Jimenez (West Chicago) 4-9, Sr. (Dec 5-2)
7th Place Match
David Weber (West Chicago) 0-5, So. (Bye)
285
1st Place Match
Tyler Fortis (Maine South) 16-0, Sr. over Mikey Milovich (Elk Grove) 14-4, Sr. (Dec 2-0)
3rd Place Match
Garrett Tunnell (Yorkville Christian) 16-4, Sr. over Emilio Guzman (Rock Island) 7-5, Sr. (Fall 3:45)
5th Place Match
Omar Sarmiento (West Chicago) 8-6, Sr. over Tommy Leach (Maine South) 3-5, Jr. (Fall 1:11)
7th Place Match
Elliott Ibarra (Addison Trail) 6-10, So. over Dylan Bopes (Dixon) 9-9 (Inj. 0:00)
Team scores
1. Naperville North 206.5, 2. Yorkville Christian 189.5, 3. Maine South 168, 4. West Chicago 118.5, 5. Rock Island 115.5, 6. Dixon 115, 7. Addison Trail 86, 8. Elk Grove 48.
Rich Township Varsity Raptor Invite
Merrillville, Indiana won the Rich Township Raptor Varsity Invite for the second consecutive time, this year almost matching last year’s point total while surpassing its margin of victory.
The Pirates won by nearly 100 points over runner-up Evergreen Park 281.0-183.5 in 2023. On Saturday in Richton Park, coach David Maldonado’s club amassed 273.5 overall points while Romeoville placed second with 164.5 points. Evergreen Park (148), J, Sterling Morton (130.5) and Thornton Fractional North (115) rounding out the top five in this 16-team field.
1st place – Merrillville, IN
Merrillville flexed its collective muscle with six individual champions. Winning titles were Matthew Maldonado (126, 14-1), Warren Brown (132, 12-4), Marlone Kirksy (144, 15-1), Marquell Shelton (150, 6-2), Adrian Pellot (165, 15-0) and Tyler Knight (175, 8-5). Both Kirksy and Pellot won here a year ago. Pellot was an Indiana State runner-up last year at 157 with a dazzling 40-2 overall record.
The Pirates also had seven top four medalists. Rashad Nelson (106), Donald Hoffman (113), Jacian Quezada (138) and Bryce Montgomery (190) all claimed second place finishes while Anthony Bustamante (157) was third and James Mobley (106) and Oluwapelumo Ojo (285) took fourth place.
2nd place – Romeoville
Coach James Nagel’s runner-up Spartans received championship efforts from Pedro Hernandez (106, 15-5) and Jamir Thomas (285, 15-1), who most recently claimed the top prize at Buffalo Grove’s Rex Lewis Invite.
Thomas would pin his way to his title in just over seven minutes combined in three matches, while providing a team-high 28 team points, which tied for fourth among all competitors.
Three Spartans took third place, Saul Razo (144), Tyler Lewis (165) and Isiah Escobar (190). Taejon White (126), Hector Villagrana (175) and Mohamad Almadami (215) placed fourth..
3rd place – Evergreen Park
The third-place Mustangs celebrated two champions: Jayden Cervantes (120, 16-1) and Chance Woods (138, 14-1). Woods is a two-time state qualifier who went 40-5 last season.
Adrian Cervantes (126) and Genesis Ward (215) finished second while Lucas Landry (132) claimed third place for coach Ron Zimmerman’s third-place team.
Four other teams had one champion. They were J. Sterling Morton’s David Roldan (106, 15-5), Saint Ignatius College Prep’s Nate Sanchez (157, 15-1), Perspectives Leadership’s Mivontae Russell (190), and Tinley Park’s Sebastian Sanderson (215, 16-1).
Nine individuals would finish the day with four pins with Sanderson doing so in the least amount of time, in 3:16. Hillcrest’s Kiaven Sullivan was the leader in total match points with 78.
Sanderson and Shelton led all competitors with the most team points with 30 and Russell was third with 29.5 points. Thomas and Kirksy tied for fourth with 28 team points and Brown, Knight, Pellot and Sanchez all recorded 27.5 points.
Rich Township Raptor Invite place matches
106
1st Place Match
Pedro Hernandez (Romeoville) 15-5, Fr. over Rashad Nelson (Merrillville, IN) 10-5, Jr. (MD 10-2)
3rd Place Match
Indigo Berg (Hope Academy) 16-3, Fr. over James Mobley (Merrillville, IN) 2-2 (Dec 9-6)
5th Place Match
Angel Jacobo (J. Sterling Morton) 12-8, So. over Kenye Flanagan (Perspectives Leadership) 1-3, Sr. (Fall 1:39)
113
1st Place Match
David Roldan (J. Sterling Morton) 13-6, Sr. over Donald Hoffman (Merrillville, IN) 7-7, Jr. (Dec 6-1)
3rd Place Match
Edwin Gomez (Thornton Fractional North) 8-8 over Logan Esparza (Eisenhower) 6-6, Fr. (Dec 6-4)
5th Place Match
Daveon Farmer (Perspectives Leadership) 1-2, Jr. over RaSean Fenner (Chicago Hope Academy) 9-10, So. (Fall 3:06)
120
1st Place Match
Jayden Cervantes (Evergreen Park) 16-1, Jr. over Kyrin King (Rich Township) 17-6, So. (Dec 11-4)
3rd Place Match
Donald Bunton Jr (Perspectives Leadership) 4-1, Jr. over Ryan Bisoyana (Oak Lawn) 6-6, Jr. (TF-1.5 2:46 (18-0))
5th Place Match
Nolan Callahan (Chicago Hope Academy) 14-5, Fr. over Amari Brown (Hillcrest) 9-7 (TF-1.5 1:20 (21-4))
126
1st Place Match
Matthew Maldonado (Merrillville, IN) 14-1, Sr. over Adrian Cervantes (Evergreen Park) 12-1, Jr. (Fall 3:52)
3rd Place Match
Colin McCann (Saint Ignatius College Prep) 11-5, Jr. over Taejon White (Romeoville) 7-4, Sr. (Dec 14-9)
5th Place Match
Jose Berrios (J. Sterling Morton) 10-12, Jr. over LeKeith Rogers (Hillcrest) 9-6, Sr. (Fall 1:03)
132
1st Place Match
Warren Brown (Merrillville, IN) 12-4, Jr. over Josiah Willis (Chicago Hope Academy) 15-3, So. (Dec 8-7)
3rd Place Match
Lucas Landry (Evergreen Park) 12-2, Fr. over Nicario Bella (Perspectives Leadership) 3-2, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:21 (17-0))
5th Place Match
Deshawn Jones (Thornton Fractional North) 10-7 over Brandon Bastida (Bloom Township) 3-3, Fr. (Fall 1:38)
138
1st Place Match
Chance Woods (Evergreen Park) 14-1, Jr. over Jacian Quezada (Merrillville, IN) 3-1 (Fall 1:41)
3rd Place Match
Melik Robinson (Thornton Fractional North) 11-2 over Derrione Collier (Hillcrest) 5-4, Sr. (Fall 0:43)
5th Place Match
Kamrin Hilson (Merrillville, IN) 9-5, So. over John Diaz (Oak Lawn) 7-6, So. (Fall 2:22)
144
1st Place Match
Marlone Kirksy (Merrillville, IN) 15-1, Sr. over Tristin King (Rich Township) 12-6, Jr. (Fall 1:07)
3rd Place Match
Saul Razo (Romeoville) 14-6, Sr. over Giancarlo Garcia (J. Sterling Morton) 11-11, Sr. (Fall 5:07)
5th Place Match
Faris Elayyan (Oak Lawn) 11-6, Jr. over Miguelangel Mercado (Eisenhower) 8-7, Jr. (Fall 1:35)
150
1st Place Match
Marquell Shelton (Merrillville, IN) 6-2, Jr. over David Albright (Tinley Park) 9-8, Jr. (Fall 0:55)
3rd Place Match
Kiaven Sullivan (Hillcrest) 11-2, Sr. over Santori Knight (Chicago Hope Academy) 12-7, Jr. (Fall 1:44)
5th Place Match
Luka Capuano (Saint Ignatius College Prep) 4-2, So. over Patrick Starling (Thornton Fractional North) 4-11 (Fall 1:47)
157
1st Place Match
Nate Sanchez (Saint Ignatius College Prep) 15-1, Sr. over Joseph Merritt (Thornton Fractional North) 13-3 (Fall 2:40)
3rd Place Match
Anthony Bustamante (Merrillville, IN) 12-4, Jr. over Jonathan Ivy (Bloom Township) 3-2, Jr. (Fall 1:36)
5th Place Match
Charles Shane (Oak Lawn) 3-2, Jr. over Khalid Watson (Eisenhower) 9-6, Jr. (Fall 1:03)
165
1st Place Match
Adrian Pellot (Merrillville, IN) 15-0, Sr. over Arkail Griffin (Chicago Hope Academy) 13-1, So. (TF-1.5 6:00 (19-2))
3rd Place Match
Tyler Lewis (Romeoville) 9-5, Jr. over Jadin Billingsley (Rich Township) 13-9, Sr. (Fall 5:27)
5th Place Match
Ashton Gray (Evergreen Park) 12-4, Sr. over Juan Caudillo (Oak Lawn) 3-8, Sr. (Fall 1:02)
175
1st Place Match
Tyler Knight (Merrillville, IN) 8-5, Sr. over Santiago Moya (J. Sterling Morton) 10-4, So. (Dec 11-7)
3rd Place Match
Titus Woodring (Thornton Fractional South) 16-3, Jr. over Hector Villagrana (Romeoville) 10-7, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:33 (17-2))
5th Place Match
Raymond Thompson (Merrillville, IN) 4-2 over Jeremy Burnett (Bloom Township) 7-6, Sr. (DQ)
190
1st Place Match
Mivontae Russell (Perspectives Leadership) 4-0, Sr. over Bryce Montgomery (Merrillville, IN) 8-5, So. (Fall 1:55)
3rd Place Match
Isiah Escobar (Romeoville) 15-2, Sr. over D`Andre Cotton (Bloom Township) 3-2, Jr. (Fall 1:19)
5th Place Match
Joshua Burns (Merrillville, IN) 4-2 over Andres Flores-Roman (Evergreen Park) 12-6, Sr. (Fall 0:50)
215
1st Place Match
Sebastian Sanderson (Tinley Park) 16-1, Jr. over Genesis Ward (Evergreen Park) 8-2, Sr. (Fall 0:31)
3rd Place Match
Melson Ngassa (Saint Ignatius College Prep) 11-2, Jr. over Mohamad Almadami (Romeoville) 4-2 (Fall 1:15)
5th Place Match
Mastewal Evely (Chicago Hope Academy) 15-4, Jr. over Carlos Arriaza (J. Sterling Morton) 11-10, Sr. (Fall 1:03)
285
1st Place Match
Jamir Thomas (Romeoville) 15-1, Sr. over George Range (Bloom Township) 10-3, Sr. (Fall 3:35)
3rd Place Match
Jorge Zavala (Thornton Fractional North) 6-1 over Oluwapelumo Ojo (Merrillville, IN) 3-2 (Fall 5:14)
5th Place Match
Daniel Lopez (J. Sterling Morton) 8-10, Sr. over Andres Espinoza (Eisenhower) 6-5 (Fall 2:53)
Team scores
1. Merrillville, IN 273.5, 2. Romeoville 164.5, 3. Evergreen Park 148, 4. J. Sterling Morton 130.5, 5. Thornton Fractional North 115, 6. Chicago Hope Academy 113, 7. Saint Ignatius College Prep 97, 8. Bloom Township 87.5, 9. Perspectives Leadership 81.5, 10. Oak Lawn 76.5, 11. Rich Township 67.5, 12. Hillcrest 60.5, 13. Tinley Park 59.5, 14. Eisenhower 50.5, 15. Thornton Fractional South 25.5.
Lincoln-Way co-op wins title at Hampshire Whip-Pur Women’s Classic
By Chris Walker – for the IWCOA
The Lincoln-Way co-op, featuring individuals from Lincoln-Way Central, Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way West, shared something in common with 13 other teams on Saturday at Hampshire’s 2nd Whip-Pur Women’s Classic.
All 14 of them had a single champion.
What set Lincoln-Way apart was the success of its numbers. While Zoe Dempsey (110) won a title, Aubrey Barnes (115) took second and Monica Alvarez (100), Emily Peyton (105), Jenna Lee (170) and Riley DePolo (235) all won third-place matches.
Also for the team champions, Liv Clumpner (135) and Maryanna Quezada (190) finished fourth, Sadie Sparks (120) and Claire Bray (130) took fifth place and Ella Giertuga (140) was sixth while Bailey Mitchell (145) and Kate Bohms (155) both added valuable team points.
It was the second tournament win this season for Lincoln-Way, who also won Antioch’s Sandy Gussarson Girls Invitational that was held at Lakes Community on November 30.
“That was more of a round robin and not a true bracket so this feels like a true tournament to win,” Lincoln-Way coach Josh Napier said. “We went to the (Dan Gable) Donnybrook tournament and did well there. We tied for the most match points with another team in Illinois (Kaneland) for eighth-most match points overall out of 44 teams and most teams were from out of state.”
As successful as Lincoln-Way was at Hampshire, Napier saw some missed opportunities.
“I would say I wasn’t satisfied with how we wrestled completely,” he said. “Yes we wrestled well, but we definitely lost some matches we should’ve won. So points aside, we want to see them improve. Sometimes we make the same mistakes. There are some things we can fix and the good thing about it is as much as we’ve competed this year, we keep seeing things we can fix and address and every week we’re getting better at it.”
“It’s happening at the right time,” he said. “The dual team state thing is coming up next weekend, which we’re really excited about and individual state is still six weeks away for the regional. There’s plenty of time to fix things. The goal would be to take home a trophy there, win the whole thing next week, and when that’s over, switch overall to the individual side for sure.”
While Lincoln-Way has some experience, six of its starters are new to this sport this year.
“We’re rolling right now and we’re young,” Napier said. “So overall I think we’re doing a good job of just developing. We have 35 kids. We’re like 30 active and about five out with injuries. And 14 of those girls are freshmen. So we’re young and it’s exciting because most of them are pretty new to it. Wrestling is wrestling and you love seeing the camaraderie among the girls, just like with the boys.”
Dempsey, a junior who took fifth place at 105 in the 2024 IHSA Finals, won by fall in 2:16 against Metea Valley’s Anusha Nagar in the quarters, picked top a 17-0 won by technical fall over Crystal Lake South’s Annalee Aarseth in the semis and won by fall in 1:59 over Woodstock junior Eva Hermansson in the 110 final to improve to 19-1 on the season.
Woodstock didn’t produce a champion but navigated through the diversity of the tournament with seven girls placing to take second as a team with 126 points, but it was well behind the 206.5 put up by Lincoln-Way.
Eva Hermansson (110) and Allison Hill (235) took second for coach Eric Hunt’s Blue Streaks. Danica LaTessa (120) and Hannah Olsen (125) placed third, Mila Masny (135) was fifth and Melanie Ziemann (100) and Brianna Crown (155) were sixth.
Wheeling was third with 121 points. The Wildcats had four wrestlers advance to the finals, easily the most among the field. The champions had two finalists as did the host Whip-Purs, Hononegah, Metea Valley, Woodstock and Zion-Benton.
Wheeling junior Elise Burkut pinned Zion-Benton junior Emily Ortiz in 5:37 to win the 130 title. It was the third time already this season that the two went head-to-head and Burkut won the rubber match, at least for now. Haydee Cruz (100), Krystal Diaz (145) and Nikol Orendarchuk (155) placed second for Wheeling and Layah Woods (135) took third.
“We had four in the finals and a couple of them are second-year wrestlers and the others have been here since day one (of the program),” Wheeling coach Tony Piltaver said. “We preach to them the same way as our boys coach does. We’re going to ask you to do a lot more than maybe you’d normally do just in training and preparation. (Diaz) She lost to (Zion-Benton’s) Naomi Foote in the final but she made it past the semis and she had come up short. That was really nice for her to get over the hump.”
Hampshire placed fourth with 101.5 points.
When senior Anneliese Tavira pinned Plainfield East senior Jennifer Paul in 1:37 in the 170 title match, expectations were met and history was made. Tavira became the first Whip-Pur to win in the tournament’s infancy.
“Entering the tournament I had high expectations for myself because last year I placed fourth, but worked really hard this summer to be a better wrestler,” she said. “Obviously I came in here with the expectation of winning and getting some takedowns and that’s what I did. Last match I think I got a little too excited and forced a double which didn’t go well, but I snapped right back and won my match.”
She got a quick 33-second pin in the quarterfinals over Dundee-Crown’s Joana Trujillo and an 18-3 win by technical fall against Hononegah’s Linda Villa Pioquinto in the semis to arrange for her bout with Paul.
“I have a lot of hopes for what I want to do, especially at Hampshire,” Tavira said. “I want to make some noise and going to state would be amazing. Winning this alone was a big jump. It’s surreal. I almost cried a bit. If you really put in the work you can really do it.”
Competing for something bigger than a waistline was never in her plans at the get-go. Now she’s not wasting any time in pursuit of victories.
“I think going into wrestling when I first started, I just wanted to lose weight,” Tavira said. “A month or two months into it, I was like way more into it than wanting to lose weight. I want to win and last season I went 4-6 and was like ‘I hate losing.’ It’s something I tell the JV kids and even myself. You have to hate losing more than you like winning. It’s just the mentality I’ve had. I need to go out there, I need to wrestle and I need to win. Wrestling has definitely built that, I would say.”
Hampshire coach Matt Todd recognized the historic moment for his wrestler.
“It’s not just another tournament win for Anneliese but a tournament win at home,” Todd said. “That got her really excited. It’s something that she is very happy about. Our girls were very happy they could wrestle in a tournament at home, at their school, representing their school and themselves. They were very happy about that.”
Tavira is adamant about finding success on the mat. So she welcomes all feedback. It helps her.
“I think some people wrestle for a really long time and build bad habits,” she said. “Lucky for me I just started so I can have so many people criticize me like this and that and I learn so much. I love watching film. I’m constantly watching film, especially with the sport growing.”
“I think our team is going to be great and keep growing,” Tavira said. “We’re doing really well at tournaments placing third to fourth and we don’t have a full lineup. It’s six to eight girls wrestling all the time. We really do get along and push each other. The girls are just great. They work hard, they ask questions. They do good.”
Todd and his staff recognized the need for a girls tournament of this magnitude and made it happen last year. The follow-up matched that success.
“We saw a need for it last year and when we saw it, I talked to my staff and a lot of them were on the same page,” he said. “And talking even to some of our conference coaches. ‘Hey, if we host, you want to come wrestle here?’ And they were 100 percent on board with it. We talked to our AD to make sure we were good there and then we started doing it.”
It takes a collective effort from many at a host school to put on a tournament of this size.
“It’s so worth it,” Todd said. “It’s for the girls. It’s to highlight girls wrestling and the growth of it. And having a daughter myself, she gets excited seeing all these girls wrestle and how awesome is it seeing it all here? Putting it together is stressful but it’s day like today and seeing all the champions and other placers that makes it worth it. Having schools from all over like Oak Forest, Zion-Benton, Rockton Hononegah and some Rockford schools wanting to come here and have their girls wrestle and for some competition, it’s a neat thing to see all these schools come together for one goal.”
Champions weren’t the only winners either.
“We had a coach come up today asking about medals for certain brackets because a girl was 0-4 (coming in) and today she won two matches and got a medal,” Todd said. “These girls were so excited and they’re getting better and loving the sport of wrestling and encouraging each other. Even just handing out some of the medals and seeing the smiles on their faces said it all. They were all very excited and just staring at their medals in awe.”
A lot of memories were created at the Whip-Pur Classic. They’ll be traced back to Hampshire, a village of about 8,000 residents in Kane and McHenry counties.
“We were very excited we were able to host this and it puts the Hampshire name out there,” Todd said. “No one really knows Hampshire or where it’s at. We’re a 3A school out in the middle of nowhere. So we were excited they could come here and see that this Hampshire school’s mascot is weird but it’s a cool place to wrestle.”
Dundee-Crown took fifth place with 89 points. Rounding out the top 10 were Hononegah (87.5), Oak Forest (85.5), Plainfield East (77.5), Metea Valley (74.5) and Lakes Community (69).
Rockford East freshman Saya Hongmoungkhoune, who won the title at 100, likes to tease her coach. That’s because she’s also her older sister, Madelynn Hongmoungkhoune, who also wrestled at Rockford East, graduating in 2020.
“She knows my limits, she knows what I can do, she just knows.” Saya Hongmoungkhoune said. “She basically just knows what I need to do and what I like to work on and all of that, and obviously I kind of mess with her a lot and she messes with me.”
“Every match, every practice is a learning curve for the both of us,” Madelynn Hongmoungkhoune said. “Separating myself from being her sister and then being her coach, and not bringing it home all the time. Knowing our limits at home as well. It’s a learning process but it’s a good process. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
After a bye, Hongmoungkhoune, who’s 8-0, won 20-3 by technical fall over Hononegah’s Monika Jahn in the quarters to advance to the semis where she pinned Wheaton North’s Izzy Paz at 3:26. She defeated Wheeling junior Haydee Cruz in the 100 final, getting a pin in 1:02.
“It was a pretty good day,” Saya Hongmoungkhoune said. “I was at the bottom of the bracket and had a bye in the first round. My first match I came out and just tried to score as many points as I could and then my second match, it was pretty tough, I ended up pinning her in the second period and then my finals match she was pretty tough, too, and I just kind of (long pause) I just kind of pinned her.”
While the elder sister was involved in the martial arts before giving wrestling a try during her freshman year, Saya Hongmoungkhoune has now been wrestling for more than half of her life.
“I’ve been wrestling since I was seven so that’s eight years,” she said. “The biggest difference now is there are a lot more girls here. When I did club, the girls division was very rare and I would always have to wrestle with boys, and if there was a girls version there were only two or three girls. Most of who I was surrounded with, my whole team was basically boys. There were only one or two other girls. And it’s kind of the same now, but I have my sister as my coach who knows more about being a girl wrestler. I am hoping to wrestle in college and to win the national championship. I hope to better myself and to be able to make it to the Olympics and hopefully win gold there.”
About a year ago, Prospect senior Viola Pianetto was a triple jumper on the girls track and field team at her school, but was often sidelined with ankle injuries. Today, she’s committed to wrestle at Minot State University despite being still new to the sport.
“I’m hitting my one-year since I started wrestling during the preseason last year,” she said. “(Before wrestling) I was chronically injured with my ankles with the track and field team through my school. So all my friends wrestled so I was like why don’t I give it a try? I did triple jump so it was constant pounding and with the transition over to wrestling I don’t have any more ankle issues ever. It was the best decision I could’ve made.”
After starting her wrestling journey at Suplex Wrestling Club, Pianetto moved on to Built By Brunson Wrestling and then to Izzy Style Wrestling where she’s training these days.
“I’ve trained under Haley Augello and Izzy Martinez,” she said. “They are both great coaches, truly amazing coaches. And I was also being coached by Tommy Maddux, who is one of my off-season coaches as well.”
Triple jumpers are usually some of the strongest and most explosive athletes you will find. Possessing those traits undoubtedly has helped Pianetto’s transition from track and field to wrestling. It’s apparent she was already committed to being an athlete well before she became a wrestler. Her drive combined with hunger for a new sport is why she’s finding herself at the top of the award stand after high school tournaments.
After a bye and 22-6 win by technical fall over Woodstock’s Mila Masny, Pianetto won by fall in 1:09 over Lincoln-Way’s Liv Clumpner in the semifinals before outlasting Hononegah freshman Bella Castelli, 9-5, to win the 135 title and improve to 14-0.
“I’ve made a lot of sacrifices,” Pianetto said. “I didn’t spend Thanksgiving with my family, I don’t spend Christmas with my family. I’m constantly training.”
That included the night before this tournament.
“Last night my brother came home from college and they all decided to have family night and play games and watch movies and I was at the gym with my sauna suit like pouring out four pounds of sweat. People say things like ‘Wow you’ve only been doing this for a year, how do you get to this point?’ and it’s like at the end of the day, how bad do you want it? How bad are you willing to sacrifice everything you have? And you know people don’t understand that wrestling it’s like a lifestyle sport. You’re constantly on a diet.”
Pianetto is continuing to push herself.
“Training with the top girls in the nation like Harlee Hiller and Sydney Perry and these girls when they push me at Izzy (Style Wresting) it comes to show how much I’m not doing,” she said. “People are like ‘you’re doing so much, you’re doing everything you can,’ but in my head I’m not doing enough. These girls are next level and I need to sacrifice more to get where they’re at so they’re truly an inspiration to me and I respect them so much.”
Pianetto was joined by Mother McAuley senior Maggie Zuber, who took first at 140, at the 2024 Fargo Junior Women’s Freestyle National Championship earlier this year. In fact, the two roomed together.
Zuber improved to 10-0 picking up four victories in her run to take home the 140-pound crown.
She beat Mundelein’s Khloe Heerdegen by fall at 3:40 to start. She followed with a 12-4 major decision over Lincoln-Way’s Ella Giertuga, a 19-3 win by technical fall over Richmond-Burton’s Madelyn Peterie in her semifinal and then pinned Metea Valley sophomore Rosie Picari in 3:56 in the 140 title bout.
“I don’t get a lot of matches, to be honest, in my season,” Zuber said. “This is the first year where I’ve had the most matches I’ve ever gotten and it’s been two weeks. I realized I missed a lot of matches and some I really wish I could get some different points on the board faster. I think I did pretty well with takedowns, but really got to work on a lot of aspects of scrambling, and I feel like that’s important. I know of wrestlers who have said they don’t really know how to move in and out of positions so I’ve been working a lot on that.”
As the first girl to ever wrestle for Mother McAuley, Zuber’s been at it since eighth grade. It certainly helped that her brother Matt Zuber wrestled at Fenwick while she was younger and then competed at NIU while she was making history at McAuley.
“I never thought I was going to wrestle, ever,” she said. “But my brother wrestled at NIU which is DI and then with Covid my dad actually made me get out of the house so I knew I had to do something so I got out and started walking out to Vittum Park (in Chicago) for workouts and Beat the Streets.”
Meeting other wrestlers has enhanced her journey. She never would’ve met Pianetto. Now they’re friends pursuing similar dreams.
“I know she’s committed to wrestle in college and I and some of our other roommates at Fargo are all planning on wrestling at the next level,” Zuber said. “It’s funny. We’re all meeting each other last year and now we may see each other at college invites. You push yourself to the limit every time you go out there and if you don’t, you’ll lose. You have to put the pedal to the medal and work hard.”
Dundee-Crown senior Diamond Rodriguez, who took first at 105, was the lone champion who also won last year. Rodriguez, who was the 100-pound champion in 2023, improved to 15-0 after pinning Jacobs freshman Julia Felton in 0:39 in the 105 finals to cap a title run where she won her other two matches with first-period falls.
The other champions in the tournament all won by fall. Hononegah senior Angelina Cassioppi won the 120 title with a fall in 1:19 over Hampshire sophomore Amelia Nudeelea-Polanin. Cassioppi, who is 11-0, is one of four three-time IHSA champions and hopes to become the first four-time state champion this season. All of her four pins came during the first period.
Lakes Community senior Josephine Larson took first at 190 with a fall in 0:20 over Jefferson sophomore Kylie Eilken, the shortest amount of time. Larson is a two-time IHSA medalist at 190 who finished in second place last season as she helped her team to become the first IHSA team champion. She also got falls in her other three matches.
Zion-Benton senior Naomi Foote pinned Wheeling sophomore Krystal Diaz in 3:26 in the 145 title match after recording two first-period falls.Foote took sixth at 145 in the 2024 IHSA Finals.
Grayslake Central junior Gianna Arzer, who is 18-2, pinned Rock Falls junior Ryleigh Eriks in 1:17 in the 125 finals after getting wins by technical fall in her first two matches.
Metea Valley sophomore Janiya Moore beat Lincoln-Way Central freshman Aubrey Barnes with a pin in 3:05 for the 115 title to improve her record to 20-2. She followed a win by technical fall with a 6-1 decision.
Wheaton North senior Iana Victory claimed the 235 championship when she won by fall in 4:37 over Woodstock sophomore Allison Hill. She opened with two first-period pins.
Crystal Lake Central junior Cait Jones, the lone entrant for her school, beat Wheeling’s Nikol Orendarchuk with a fall in 5:43 in the 155 title match after collecting three first-period falls.
Other third-place finishers were Crystal Lake South’s Annalee Aarseth (110), Oak Forest’s Marjorie Rodriguez (115), Kaneland’s Brooklyn Sheaffer (130), Zion-Benton’s Grace Johnson (140), Lakes Community’s Christina Hasner (145), Dundee-Crown’s Mackenzie Lessner (155) and Hampshire’s Samantha Diehl (190).
Also finishing fourth were Richmond-Burton’s Isabella Nelson (125) and Madelyn Peterie (140), Sycamore’s Ema Durst (145) and Avelina McMurtry (155), Wheaton North’s Izzy Paz (100), Plainfield East’s Mahi Kansagara (105), Jacobs’ Aaliyah Guichon (110), Dundee-Crown’s Iris Torres (115), Belvidere North’s Rowan Cello (120), Lisle Senior’s Sophie Crescenzo (130), Hononegah’s Linda Villa Pioquinto (170) and McHenry’s Yummi Ramirez (235).
Cassioppi, Jones and Larson led all competitors with 30 team points while Zuber was next-best with 28.5 and Foote, Rodriguez and Victory had 28 team points. Dempsey, Hongmoungkhoune and Tavira were next in line with 27.5 points.
Hampshire Whip-Pur Women’s Classic place matches
100
1st Place Match
Saya Hongmoungkhoune (Rockford East) 8-0, Fr. over Haydee Cruz (Wheeling) 21-5, Jr. (Fall 1:02)
3rd Place Match
Monica Alvarez (Lincoln-Way co-op) 12-5, Sr. over Izzy Paz (Wheaton North) 3-2, Sr. (Dec 1-0)
5th Place Match
Linna Vo (Elk Grove) 9-3, So. over Melanie Ziemann (Woodstock) 2-3, So. (MD 12-3)
105
1st Place Match
Diamond Rodriguez (Dundee-Crown) 15-0, Sr. over Julia Felton (Jacobs) 3-1, Fr. (Fall 0:39)
3rd Place Match
Emily Peyton (Lincoln-Way co-op) 13-7, Sr. over Mahi Kansagara (Plainfield East) 9-6, Sr. (Fall 0:19)
5th Place Match
Elanie Taboada (Prospect) 4-1, Sr. over Ella Quigley (Mother McAuley) 5-8 (Fall 2:42)
110
1st Place Match
Zoe Dempsey (Lincoln-Way co-op) 19-1, Jr. over Eva Hermansson (Woodstock) 11-2, Jr. (Fall 1:59)
3rd Place Match
Annalee Aarseth (Crystal Lake South) 3-1, So. over Aaliyah Guichon (Jacobs) 2-2, So. (Fall 1:31)
5th Place Match
Lillian Davis (Belvidere North) 8-3, Jr. over Mireya Irazarry (Rockford East) 8-5, Jr. (Dec 11-9)
115
1st Place Match
Janiya Moore (Metea Valley) 20-2, So. over Aubrey Barnes (Lincoln-Way co-op) 15-9, Fr. (Fall 3:05)
3rd Place Match
Marjorie Rodriguez (Oak Forest) 3-1, Sr. over Iris Torres (Dundee-Crown) 11-6, Sr. (Dec 5-0)
5th Place Match
Angelina Nettey (Plainfield East) 18-4, So. over Breanne Warren (Richmond-Burton) 7-8, Fr. (Fall 0:50)
120
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Angelina Cassioppi (Hononegah) 11-0, Sr. over Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (Hampshire) 13-1, So. (Fall 1:19)
3rd Place Match
Danica LaTessa (Woodstock) 13-3, Jr. over Rowan Cello (Belvidere North) 8-6, Fr. (Fall 3:58)
5th Place Match
Sadie Sparks (Lincoln-Way co-op) 4-1, Fr. over Vanessa Osorio (Mundelein) 3-2, Fr. (Fall 0:26)
125
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Gianna Arzer (Grayslake Central) 18-2, Jr. over Ryleigh Eriks (Rock Falls) 3-1, Jr. (Fall 1:17)
3rd Place Match
Hannah Olsen (Woodstock) 11-3, Jr. over Isabella Nelson (Richmond-Burton) 6-5, Sr. (Fall 1:59)
5th Place Match
Jiana Forbes (Wheaton North) 6-1, So. over Lianny Guzman (Huntley) 3-2, Sr. (Fall 1:37)
130
1st Place Match
Elise Burkut (Wheeling) 17-3, Jr. over Emily Ortiz (Zion-Benton) 18-4, Jr. (Fall 5:37)
3rd Place Match
Brooklyn Sheaffer (Kaneland) 11-2, Sr. over Sophie Crescenzo (Lisle Senior) 8-3, Fr. (Fall 1:45)
5th Place Match
Claire Bray (Lincoln-Way co-op) 11-8, So. over Brooklyn Strelow (Oak Forest) 2-2, Fr. (Fall 5:10)
135
1st Place Match
Viola Pianetto (Prospect) 14-0, Sr. over Bella Castelli (Hononegah) 7-1, Fr. (Dec 9-5)
3rd Place Match
Layah Woods (Wheeling) 17-7, Jr. over Liv Clumpner (Lincoln-Way co-op) 8-5 (Fall 2:24)
5th Place Match
Mila Masny (Woodstock) 5-4, Fr. over Hala Elhelou (Metea Valley) 6-10, Fr. (Fall 0:39)
140
1st Place Match
Maggie Zuber (Mother McAuley) 10-0 over Rosie Picari (Metea Valley) 16-5, So. (Fall 3:56)
3rd Place Match
Grace Johnson (Zion-Benton) 20-3, Sr. over Madelyn Peterie (Richmond-Burton) 13-5, So. (Fall 3:53)
5th Place Match
Dyani Torres (Kaneland) 10-4, Sr. over Ella Giertuga (Lincoln-Way co-op) 16-9, So. (Fall 4:49)
145
1st Place Match
Naomi Foote (Zion-Benton) 19-0, Sr. over Krystal Diaz (Wheeling) 18-5, So. (Fall 3:26)
3rd Place Match
Christina Hasner (Lakes Community) 3-1, Jr. over Ema Durst (Sycamore) 12-3, So. (MD 18-5)
5th Place Match
Lyobosa Odiase (Oak Forest) 4-1, Jr. over Madison Minson (Hampshire) 10-4, So. (MD 15-4)
155
1st Place Match
Cait Jones (Crystal Lake Central) 4-0, Jr. over Nikol Orendarchuk (Wheeling) 3-1, So. (Fall 5:43)
3rd Place Match
Mackenzie Lessner (Dundee-Crown) 12-4, Sr. over Avelina McMurtry (Sycamore) 4-4, Fr. (Fall 1:03)
5th Place Match
Kaitlyn Bucholz (Plainfield East) 14-3, Jr. over Brianna Crown (Woodstock) 11-5, Jr. (Fall 2:26)
170
Guaranteed Places
1st Place Match
Anneliese Tavira (Hampshire) 16-0, Sr. over Jennifer Paul (Plainfield East) 12-1, Sr. (Fall 1:37)
3rd Place Match
Jenna Lee (Lincoln-Way co-op) 6-4 over Linda Villa Pioquinto (Hononegah) 3-4, So. (Fall 1:46)
5th Place Match
Adr Bille (Oak Forest) 3-1, Sr. over Allison Schultz (Richmond-Burton) 6-8, Fr. (Fall 3:54)
190
1st Place Match
Josephine Larson (Lakes Community) 4-0, Sr. over Kylie Eilken (Jefferson) 3-1, So. (Fall 0:20)
3rd Place Match
Samantha Diehl (Hampshire) 13-2, Fr. over Maryanna Quezada (Lincoln-Way co-op) 8-4, Jr. (Fall 3:11)
5th Place Match
Isabel Peralta (Oak Forest) 4-1, Sr. over Sadie Kinsella (Kaneland) 8-4, So. (Fall 3:29)
235
1st Place Match
Iana Victory (Wheaton North) 5-0, Sr. over Allison Hill (Woodstock) 10-5, So. (Fall 4:37)
3rd Place Match
Riley DePolo (Lincoln-Way co-op) 11-9, So. over Yummi Ramirez (McHenry) 2-2 (Fall 0:25)
5th Place Match
Savannah Trevino (Belvidere North) 5-5, Fr. over Lauren Ray (Hampshire) 2-6, Fr. (Fall 0:25)
Team scores
1. Lincoln-Way co-op (Lincoln-Way Central/Lincoln-Way East/Lincoln-Way West) 206.5, 2. Woodstock 126, 3. Wheeling 121, 4. Hampshire 101.5, 5. Dundee-Crown 89, 6. Hononegah 87.5, 7. Oak Forest 85.5, 8. Plainfield East 77.5, 9. Metea Valley 74.5, 10. Lake Community 69, 11. Zion-Benton 66.5, 12. Kaneland 63.5, 13. Wheaton North 58, 14. Richmond-Burton 55.5, 15. Grayslake Central 53, 16. Belvidere North 47, 16. Jefferson 47, 18. Prospect 46.5, 19. Rockford East 43, 20. Jacobs 42, 21. Mother McAuley 32.5, 22. Huntley 32, 23. Crystal Lake Central 30, 23. Neuqua Valley 30, 25. Sycamore 28, 26. Rock Falls 24, 27. Elk Grove 22, 27. McHenry 22, 29. Mundelein 21, 30. Crystal Lake South 18.5, 31. Lisle Senior 15, 32. Cary-Grove 14, 33, Marengo 8, 34. Genoa-Kingston 5, 35. Prairie Ridge 4, 36. Carmel Catholic 3.
Joliet West off to good debut after winning Glenbard South Tournament title
By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA
Erik Murry got the opportunity to serve as an assistant coach with John St. Clair on several Lemont teams that qualified for the IHSA Class 2A Dual Team Finals with the culmination being the school’s Class 2A championship in 2020 when the program went 32-2 and defeated Washington 30-26 in the Class 2A title meet in Bloomington.
After succeeding St. Clair for the past few seasons, Murry made a career change this year when he accepted the position as the first girls coach for Joliet West, which had competed as part of a co-op team with the other school in its district. Joliet Central, which was led by coach Liz Short.
This season is still in its early stages but there’s already excitement over the Tigers’ potential after they added to a tournament title at Eisenhower in Blue Island with the championship of the Glenbard South Tournament, which took place on Saturday in Glen Ellyn.
Joliet West pulled away in a three-way race in the place rounds to capture top honors in the 14-team competition with 177.5 points while Downers Grove North took second place with 161.5 points. Glenbard East, which was coming off of a tournament title at Waukegan, placed third with 155.5 points while Lemont (145), Bartlett (120.5), Streamwood (105.5) and Glenbard North (98) rounded out the top half of the field.
Leading the way for the champion Tigers were title winners Bianca Campos (170) and Vanessa O’Connor (145) while Briahna Klobnak (125) placed second, Veronica Klobnak (135), Natalie Quiroz (235) and Maria Ochoa (140) took third, Willow Perruquet (120) and Aysia Smith (100) finished fourth, Majh Starks (155) placed fifth and Takyla Johnson (105) claimed sixth place.
“The competition is unbelievable, and the growth of girls wrestling, it’s across the nation, the number one growing sport,” Murry said. “And as a coach, you see the progression immediately. And you get the result in coaching to see these girls want to learn more and really take it to another level. It’s one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had in my life. I love the fact that I’m coaching the girls since I have a three-year old and an eight-year old daughter and they love it.
“I’m proud to be the first coach ever at Joliet West and us having almost 50 girls in the program. I’ve been fortunate to be a part of Lemont and winning the state title, and that’s what I want to bring to the girls team. If they have a dual team state, that’s something we’ll strive for in the next couple of years because we’re a young team. But we’re easily humbled, last night at the Minooka mega dual, with a great Lincoln-Way co-op team and a great Andrew co-op team and Minooka, we saw what good programs are, and we want to get to that level. I’m proud of these girls, their conduct and how they handle themselves, on and off the mat. I’m just as proud of these girls with their academics as I am with their wrestling.”
Glenbard East had three champions, Maria Green (135), Nadiia Shymkiv (105) and Nadine Spandiary (190). Winning titles for Glenbard North were Keagan Edwards (130) and Suzanne Stalley (140).
Capturing championships for Bartlett were Emma Engels (120) and Lilly White (125)
Taking first place for Streamwood were Jasmine Rene (235) and Zoey Sanchez (115)
Other title winners were Hinsdale South’s Callie Carr (155), Tinley Park’s Jayden Melendez (110) and Montini Catholic’s Katelyn Bell (100).
Engels, a 2023 IHSA champion was one of three individuals who won Glenbard South Tournament titles who also are two-time state medalists with the others being Rene and Shymkiv. Bell and White were other champions who won their first state medals in 2024.
Edwards led all of the champions with 30 team points while Carr and Shymkiv tied for second with 29.5 points. Engles and Green both scored 29 team points while Campos had 28, Rene and White both scored 27.5 team points, Bell collected 26.5 points and Melendez had 26 team points.
Here’s a look at the Glenbard South Tournament champions and medalists
155 – Callie Carr, Hinsdale South
Callie Carr set the tone right away in the finals of the Glenbard South Tournament that few of the title matches would go the full six minutes. The Hinsdale South junior got the first of four title wins by technical fall and the initial one of the 13 that ended early when she claimed a win by technical fall in 4:34 over Reavis’ Lilly Fish in the 155 championship match. She collected 29.5 team points, which tied her for second in that category and she was .5 points behind the leader, who followed her as a champion, Glenbard North’s Keagan Edwards.
Carr, who improved 11-0, was the lone finalist for the Hornets, who are coached by Michael Uhlir. She opened with three falls and earned her spot in the title mat with a pin in 2:23 over Glenbard South senior Alex Arquillo in the semifinals. Last season, she went 27-5 and fell one win shy of claiming a medal at 155 in the IHSA Finals.
“Callie envisions what she wants to accomplish and puts in the work to make that vision a reality,” Uhlir said. “Through hard work, determination and a she is going to outwork her opponent’s attitude, she outperforms her own expectations and it shows. She wrestles with a purpose and enjoys every second she can wrestle. She is a driven young athlete and puts the work in practice because she loves to compete. I am excited to see what comes next.”
Fish (12-2), a junior who fell one win shy of advancing to state from the Evanston Township Sectional last season, was one of two finalists for coach Kyle McKinley’s Rams. She opened with two first-period falls before getting a pin in 2:34 in the semifinals over Joliet West junior Majh Starks. In the third-place match, Downers Grove North sophomore Jahdi’yah Hibbler (8-1) won by technical fall in 3:23 over Streamwood sophomore Jazmin Novoa (8-4) and for fifth place, Starks needed just 13 seconds to record a fall over Arquillo.
130 – Keagan Edwards, Glenbard North
Keegan Edwards hopes to become one of the leaders for Glenbard North now that three-time IHSA champion Gabby Gomez has moved on from the program to focus on college. She was impressive in winning the title at 130 at the Glenbard South Tournament, by recording four pins and securing the championship with a fall in 2:43 over Downers Grove North senior Natalia Cruz.
The Panthers junior, who went 28-10 lost season but was unable to advance to state from the rugged Schaumburg Sectional, was one of two champions and three finalists for coach Chris Edwards’ Panthers, she opened with two quick falls and then assured herself of a trip to the finals with a pin in 2:44 over Lemont’s Molly O’Connor in the semifinals before becoming the first of nine individuals who won their championships with falls. She finished with 30 team points, which ranked her ahead of all of the other champions in the competition.
“We obviously had Gabby Gomez the last few years, but we have a lot of new girls this year that are just so excited to start,” Edwards said. “They’re new and they’re learning, but they want to learn and they’re trying so hard and putting in so much effort into wrestling. I just know that they’re so excited every time they go out to the mat, no matter what happens. It makes me feel great that I’m on such a great team where everyone wants to do their best. This year I’m focused on what I need to do. I’m in the varsity room every day and trying to put my best effort in. I do my best to not miss a single thing. I know that if I put my full effort in, then I can build the skills that I need. I have to make sure that I’m not missing any opportunity to get better.”
Cruz (6-2), who went 20-9 last season and qualified for the IHSA Finals, was one of three second-place finishers for coach Marcos Rico’s runner-up Trojans. She used two pins to reach the 130 title mat, recording a fall in 2:32 over Glenbard East freshman Michelle Salgado Gonzalez. in the semifinals. O’Connor, a junior who also qualified for state in 2024, claimed third place with a fall in 2:35 over Gonzalez. And for fifth place, Tinley Park junior Madison Monreal (13-6) won by fall in 5:28 over Reavis sophomore Alexa Katz.
135 – Maria Green, Glenbard East
Maria Green helped Glenbard East to finish with the most champions in the Glenbard South Tournament after the sophomore captured the first of the Rams’ three titles by recording a pin in 2:20 over Downers Grove North’s Kaitlyn Kapral in the 135 finals.
Green, who went 17-7 last season but was unable to qualify from the Shepard Regional, was one of four finalists for coach Matt Nelson’s Rams. She followed a major decision with two quick pins, with the second one coming in 0:30 over Bartlett’s Yarissa Aguilar in the semifinals. She finished with 29 team points, which tied her fourth place, just one behind the leader, Glenbard North’s Keagan Edwards.
“Last year, my freshman year, I made it as an alternate to state and made it to Fargo and I won one and lost one,” Green said. “So this year, I’m really trying to work out more and put in the work. Our coaches push us a lot and we condition. He makes us work and understands how to push us, so it’s good. We have team bonding, so we know each other more and so that helps us understand more about how to work out and to push each other. I’m ready to put in the work.”
Kapral (5-2), a junior who was one of three second-place finishers for coach Marcos Rico’s Trojans who claimed second place in the competition, won her other two matches by fall, getting a pin in 1:42 over Waubonsie Valley freshman Sophia Contreras in the semifinals. Joliet West junior Veronica Klobnak recorded a fall in 0:47 over Contreras to claim third place while sophomore Aguilar got a pin in 1:21 over Lemont senior Gabrielle Estarda for fifth place.
170 – Bianca Campos, Joliet West
Bianca Campos helped Joliet West to capture top honors in the Glenbard South Tournament, adding to an earlier championship that it won at Eisenhower in Blue Island, when the Tigers junior won the title at 170 with a fall in 4:52 over Waubonsie Valley senior Imani McIntosh.
Campos, who was one of two champions and three finalists for coach Erik Murry’s first-place Tigers, went 21-11 last season and fell a bit short of a trip to the IHSA Finals from the Geneseo Sectional. She won her first two matches by fall, getting a pin in 3:58 over Glenbard East’s Camila Gonzalez in the semifinals to earn her spot on the 170 title mat.
“I was really nervous wrestling both times,” Campos said of the two tournaments. “But it was a good experience and I’m happy I won because I’ve been sick lately so that has definitely been taking a toll on me. I’m very proud of them (the Tigers). I didn’t think that we were going to do so well this year, but a lot of the girls have put in a lot of effort and are motivated. Everyone is very respectful of one another and everyone is there for each other. I’m really happy with our team and we really connect. We are just a family and we support each other.”
McIntosh, who was the lone finalist for coach Brad Caldwell’s Warriors, recorded pins in her first three matches, collecting a fall in 1:28 over Streamwood’s Jessica Bos to reach the championship match. Glenbard East senior Asia Lacey claimed third place by winning a 6-0 decision over Downers Grove North sophomore Alyssa Andreen (5-3). And in a matchup of juniors for fifth place, Gonzalez was a winner by fall in 2:55 over Bos.
120 – Emma Engels, Bartlett
Emma Engels reached the pinnacle as a sophomore in 2023 when she reached the IHSA Finals and capped a 37-12 season with a 4-0 decision over Oak Forest’s Alexandra Sebek in the 100 championship match in Bloomington to become the first medalist and champion for Bartlett.
After falling in the semifinals at the 2024 IHS Finals and concluding a 32-16 season with a sixth-place finish at 110, the senior hopes to become a three-time medal winner and also get back to the Grand March. One of two champions and four finalists for coach Matt Pancamo’s Hawks, Engels advanced with a pin and two wins by technical fall, including one in 4:09 in the semifinals over Downers Grove South’s Ariana Shala, before winning the 120 title at the Glenbard South Tournament with a fall in 2:53 over Glenbard East’s Kaila Stubbs.
“I got a lot better over the offseason, which is obviously important, so I’m just looking to come back this year,” Engels said. “I did a little more wrestling in the offseason, which helped. And I’ve really just started focusing on what I’m doing more. Everyone is willing to work and we have a good group of seniors this year and everyone just wants to have fun and get better at practice. And that helps when everyone has the same goal.”
Stubbs, a senior who went 19-4 last season but was unable to advance from the Schaumburg Sectional, was one of four finalists for coach Matt Nelson’s Rams, who took third place in the competition. She advanced to the 120 title mat with two pins, with the latter one coming in 0:33 over Downers Grove South’s Cassiel Chavez in the semifinals. Lemont senior Emma Lappay (5-1) took third place after claiming a 6-3 decision over Joliet West sophomore Willow Perruquet (4-2). And in a fifth-place matchup of sophomores, Chavez won by fall in 0:51 over Shala.
235 – Jasmine Rene, Streamwood
Jasmine Rene is one of seven juniors who are two-time IHSA medalists after going 38-2 and finishing in third place at 190 last season and placing fourth at the same weight in 2023, both times while competing for Wheeling. Now she hopes to continue her winning ways in a new setting at Streamwood and is off to an 7-0 start after taking first place at 235 in the Glenbard South Tournament with a win by technical fall in 4:59 over Glenbard North’s Asriella Wallace.
Rene, one of two champions and finalists for coach Amanda Chrisos’ Sabres, joined senior teammate Zoey Sanchez (115) as first-place finishers in the event, which made Streamwood one of the five teams in the field that had multiple title winners. She won her first two matches with falls, including one in 3:07 over Joliet West’s Natalie Quiroz in the semifinals.
“Zoey and Jasmine are two exceptional wrestlers who have proven themselves both on and off the mat,” Chrisos said. “Zoey has been wrestling for all four years of her high school career and has demonstrated immense talent and a deep understanding of the sport. As a great leader and teammate, she not only excels individually but also supports her peers in every way possible. Similarly, Jasmine, who is currently undefeated with an 8-0 record and also possesses a remarkable knowledge of wrestling. Like Zoey, she is always willing to help her teammates, eagerly teaching them new moves whenever asked. Both are standout athletes and key assets to their team.”
Wallace (14-3), a sophomore who was one of three finalists for coach Chris Edwards’ Panthers, didn’t have much mat time heading into the title match at 235, getting an early pin and winning by injury default in the semifinals. In a matchup of seniors for third place, Quiroz won by fall in 1:31 over Lemont’s Rowyn Page (4-2). And Downers Grove South junior Zuzia Cybulski (4-2) claimed fifth place by injury default over Downers Grove North senior Megan O’Toole (4-3).
105 – Nadiia Shymkiv, Glenbard East
Nadiia Shymkiv is one of just two current competitors who have been IHSA medalists for two different programs and the Glenbard East junior is one of only seven in her class who have won state medals in both her sophomore and freshman seasons. Now she hopes to improve upon a 22-1 record and a third-place finish at 105 last season for the Rams which followed up on a fourth-place showing at 105 while competing for Glenbard North as a freshman.
Shymkiv was one of four finalists and a tournament-high three champions for coach Matt Nelson’s Rams, who claimed third place in the competition, six points behind runner-up Downers Grove North. She recorded falls in her first three matches, needing 1:07 to wrap up her semifinals victory over Joliet West freshman Takyla Johnson before claiming a victory in the 105 championship match by technical final in 3:31 over Lemont’s Ariana Baier.
“I just practice and try every day to do better,” Shymkiv said. “I want to show my tem that I can do it and my coaches that I’m improving myself. Having discipline is so important. This year, I’m trying to do more shots. I’m so excited and so happy for this year.”
Baier (5-1), one of four freshmen who advanced to the title mat in the competition, was the lone finalist for Lemont, which is coached by Robert Hammerschmidt. She recorded pins in her first two matches, including a fall in 1:02 over Downers Grove North freshman Jaszmyn Dotson in the semifinals, to earn her spot in the 105 finals. In the third-place match, Glenbard North junior Cristal Jacinto (8-2) won by fall in 3:57 over Glenbard East freshman Karla Sarabia. And Dotson claimed fifth place by forfeit over Johnson.
125 – Lilly White, Bartlett
Lilly White capped a 31-5 sophomore season with an appearance in the HSA Finals where she took fifth place at 125 to become the second individual from Bartlett to win a state medal. Now she hopes to do what 2023 IHSA 100-pound champion Emma Engels did last season, was to become a two-time medal winner. She’s off to a good start this season after winning the 125 title at the Glenbard South Tournament with a fall in 2:33 over Joliet West’s Briahna Klobnak.
White, who joined Engels as a champion in the tournament and was one of four finalists for coach Matt Pancamo’s Hawks, opened with a victory by technical fall and then won her semifinal match against Downers Grove North’s Valentina Gonzalez by medical forfeit.
“We work really hard, like as hard as we can,” White said. “And it’s great to have another girl (Emma Engels) that does so well. I was doing jiu-jitsu before, so it was kind of the same and I didn’t know that there was girls wrestling or a team, but then I found out about Emma, and so I joined and I just fell in love with it. I do morning practices, overtime, afternoons, basically as much time as I can get. Our whole wrestling room, the guys, the other girls on my team, the coaches and my family, they all support me so much. It’s easy to keep working as hard as I do.”
Klobnak (9-4) was one of three finalists for coach Erik Murray’s Tigers, who took first in the 14-team tournament with 177.5 points, which was 16 points better than runner-up Downers Grove North. She earned her spot on the 125 title mat with two pins, with the second of those coming in 0:49 over Streamwood freshman Keelin Evaristo in the semifinals. In the third place match, Glenbard South junior Nichole Castillo (4-1) won by fall in 0:35 over Evaristo. For fifth, Trojans sophomore Gonzalez (5-2) won by injury default over Reavis freshman Yamila Castro.
110 – Jayden Melendez, Tinley Park
Jayden Melendez provided Tinley Park with a quality performance when she won the 110 championship of the Glenbard South Tournament by rallying from an early deficit to claim a wild 19-15 decision over Bartlett’s Norah Cwik. It was the only title match in the competition that went the full six minutes with the others featuring nine pins and four wins by technical fall.
Melendez (9-3), a sophomore who went 20-5 last season and qualified for the Evanston Township Sectional, advanced to the 110 title match following two falls, with the second of those coming in 31 seconds in the semifinals against Glenbard East’s Angela Marinelli. She was the lone champion and one of two finalists for the Titans, who are coached by John Pfeffer.
“It was an incredibly gutsy win by Jayden,” Pfeffer said. “She was down by seven going into the second period and had tied it up 15-15 by the end of the second. She then went on to win in the third period. She also placed first in the Eisenhower tournament the week before.”
Cwik, a junior who was one of four finalists for coach Matt Pancamo’s Hawks, recorded three falls to advance to the 110 title match, with all of the pins resolved in less than 33 seconds, with that being how long it took for her to win in the semifinals over Lemont’s Lauren Stevens. In the match for third place, Rams sophomore Marinelli won with a pin in 4:09 over Downers Grove South junior Victoria Ooms . And for fifth, Lemont senior Stevens recorded a fall in 0:45 over Glenbard South sophomore Lashuna York.
100 – Katelyn Bell, Montini Catholic
Katelyn Bell is a one-person team for Montini Catholic but that’s okay since her family has strong ties to the Broncos program. Her dad competed for and her brother currently is a member of the boys team, which is coached by 2008 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Mike Bukovsky, who recently made IHSA history as one of the first coaches to ever win state championships in three different sports, achieving the amazing feat with titles in wrestling, softball and football.
Bell, who went 25-9 and finished in sixth place at 100 in the 2024 IHSA Finals to become the first medalist for the school after falling one win shy of accomplishing the same feat in 2023, claimed wins by technical fall in all three of her matches. After being on the mat for the longest amount of time at 2:37 in a semifinal victory over Joliet West senior Aysia Smith, she secured the championship at 100 in 1:53 over Bartlett’s Kahlynn Spurgeon.
“I really like it and I think it’s kind of cool because my dad, Pat and his brother Terry, wrestled for Bu (Mike Bukovsky) and it’s kind of come full circle,” Bell said. “And now I’m wrestling there with my younger brother, Jack. He’s a special coach and he really just has a talent for coaching. It’s really exciting seeing newer girls that are coming into the sport, and just seeing the difference from when it was first sanctioned in my freshman year until now by having three or four different girls tournaments all over the state is really cool. I just keep telling myself to do the things that other people aren’t doing, like putting in the extra work, even when I don’t want to.”
Spurgeon, a junior who was one of the four finalists for the Hawks, who are coached by Matt Pancamo, earned her trip to the 100 title mat with two falls, with the latter being over three minutes shorter than the first as she got a pin in 1:26 over Glenbard East’s Anna Delawder in the semifinals. Another Glenbard East competitor, senior Andrea Jones, claimed third place with a pin in 3:05 over the champion Tigers’ Smith (5-4). And for fifth place, Downers Grove North senior Valeria Gonzalez (8-2) was a winner by fall in 3:02 over Rams sophomore Delawder.
190 – Nadine Spandiary, Glenbard East
Nadine Spandiary is proud to announce that she’s in the U.S. Army, a situation in which very few opponents she’ll see this season will be able to share a common bond with her. The Glenbard East senior helped her team to a third-place finish at the Glenbard South Tournament after winning the championship at 190 with a fall in 1:35 over Downers Grove South’s Ava Grisela-Urbina.
One of four finalists and joining Maria Green and Nadiia Shymkiv as title winners to give coach Matt Nelson’s Ram a tournament-best three champions, Spandiary, who went 20-11 last season but fell one win shy of advancing from the Shepard Regional, followed a win by disqualification with a pin in 0:25 in the semifinals over Lemont freshman Alexandra LoCoco.
“This is my first time ever winning first, and it was so fun,” Spandiary said. “That (Waukegan) was my first meet of the season because nobody else had my weight class. Because I joined the Army, all of my sergeants were there to watch me and to congratulate me. We only have 20 girls and there was a team there that had 40 girls, and we won first, we tried really hard to get that title. I joined the Army when I was 16, and honestly it was just to get stronger, because I love working out. And then my twin sister joined with me and we went to basic at 17 and the first thing that I did when I came was to do wrestling, so last year was my first year ever.”
Grisela-Urbina, who was the lone finalist for coach Bob Kud’s Mustangs, opened with a fall and then claimed a 1-0 decision in the semifinals over Reavis’ Hailey Canvin to earn her spot on the 190 title mat. In the third-place match, LoCoco won by injury default in 1:32 over Streamwood freshman Mikayla Chapa.
115 – Zoey Sanchez, Streamwood
Zoey Sanchez had a really bad introduction to wrestling, breaking her collarbone in her first match as a sophomore. But that difficult experience has made her much stronger and the Streamwood senior hopes to end on a high note and her efforts to achieve that got a big boost after she captured the title at 115 in the Glenbard South Tournament with a fall in 1:04 over Downers Grove North sophomore Ella Matheu.
One of two champions for coach Amanda Chrisos’ Sabres, she earned her spot on the title match with her only other victory, which was a pin in 4:27 over Glenbard East freshman Dianey Marin in the semifinals.
“I started my sophomore year but in my first match in, I broke my collarbone,” Sanchez said. “So then I wasn’t able to wrestle until going into my junior year, and I’ve been wrestling ever since then. It’s been such an amazing journey because I was super scared to get back into it, but all of my coaches really helped me. I fell in love with it because of the team and because it’s such a hard sport, it really makes me want more. I’ve been involved in plenty of other sports like volleyball and football. But I’ve never had a place where I felt like I fit until I joined wrestling. Even though I was hurt, they made an amazing space for me. All of my coaches have always been so kind to me, through mental struggles and my collarbone injury. Mentally and physically I don’t know where I’d be right now if I wasn’t wrestling because it helps a lot.”
Matheu advanced to 115 title mat with a pair of falls to become one of three second-place finishers for coach Marcos Rico’s runner-up Trojans. The last of those pins came in the semifinals when she recorded a fall in 3:23 over Lemont senior Jayden Thornton, who went on to claim third place with a pin in 0:49 over Marin.
140 – Suzanne Stalley, Glenbard North
Suzanne Stalley became the only freshman champion at the Glenbard South Tournament when the Glenbard North athlete won by fall in 1:23 over Tinley Park sophomore Abbie Harris in the 140 title match.
Stalley (10-6) was one of three finalists and two champions for coach Chris Edwards’ Panthers. She earned her spot in the 140 title match by recording a pin in 1:29 over Glenbard East junior Leah Montes in the semifinals in her only other match.
“I enjoy being around the people here (at Glenbard North), I just love wrestling for them,” Stalley said. “I just started wrestling in January. At Minooka, I wrestled JV and got first and at Niles West and Waukegan, in both of them, I ended up going into the cons and losing but at Niles West I won three of my five matches. This feels really good. One of my coaches is Joey Gosinski, he’s really good and he helps me out a lot with my technique.”
Harris, one of two finalists for coach John Pfeffer’s Titans, advanced to the 140 title mat after collecting two pins, needing just 28 seconds to wrap up her semifinal victory over Reavis freshman Lauren Anderson. In the third-place match, Joliet West sophomore Maria Ochoa won by fall in 0:33 over Anderson.
145 – Vanessa O’Connor, Joliet West
Vanessa O’Connor completed a successful Glenbard South Tournament for Joliet West as the junior became her team’s second champion and third finalist to help coach Erik Murry’s Tigers capture top honors in the 14-team competition with 177.5 points, which was 16 better than the 161.5 that were scored by runner-up Downers Grove North.
O’Connor, whose father Rich is the Tigers’ assistant coach, took top honors at 145 by recording a pin in 20 seconds over Reavis freshman Regina Sanchez. She won with another pin in the quarterfinals in her only other match in the competition.
“It’s really nice since we’re expanding a lot so it’s very helpful and very interesting to see how everyone is actually coming together and embracing the sport,” O’Connor said of Joliet West getting its own program this season. “I love our coach. One thing that I really recognize about our team is how devoted we really are in helping each other and we have such a connection in bringing each other up. This shows how devoted we are and how much we are actually there for each other and we just bring each other up and that gives us the motivation to do better. I’ve tried going to the gym every day, meal planning and looking at videos as much as I can. And I have a mat at home, so I practice there. And it helps that my dad, Rich, is a coach, as well.”
Sanchez, one of two second-place finishers for coach Kyle McKinley’s Rams, won her semifinal match by injury default over Downers Grove South junior Allison Garcia. In the third-place match, Downers Grove North sophomore Alena Mossman was a winner by fall in 3:26 over Streamwood sophomore Ebonie Flores.
Glenbard South Tournament place matches
155
1st Place Match
Callie Carr (Hinsdale South) 11-0, Jr. over Lilly Fish (Reavis) 12-2, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:34 (16-1))
3rd Place Match
Jahdi`yah Hibbler (Downers Grove North) 8-1, So. over Jazmin Novoa (Streamwood) 8-4, So. (TF-1.5 3:23 (17-0))
5th Place Match
Majh Starks (Joliet West) 3-2, Jr. over Alex Arquillo (Glenbard South) 2-3, Sr. (Fall 0:13)
130
1st Place Match
Keagan Edwards (Glenbard North) 14-4, Jr. over Natalia Cruz (Downers Grove North) 6-2, Sr. (Fall 2:43)
3rd Place Match
Molly O`Connor (Lemont) 4-1, Jr. over Michelle Salgado Gonzalez (Glenbard East) 3-2, Fr. (Fall 2:35)
5th Place Match
Madison Monreal (Tinley Park) 13-6, Jr. over Alexa Katz (Reavis) 3-3, So. (Fall 5:28)
135
1st Place Match
Maria Green (Glenbard East) 4-0, So. over Kaitlyn Kapral (Downers Grove North) 5-2, Jr. (Fall 2:20)
3rd Place Match
Veronica Klobnak (Joliet West) 4-1, Jr. over Sophia Contreras (Waubonsie Valley) 2-2, Fr. (Fall 0:47)
5th Place Match
Yarissa Aguilar (Bartlett) 3-2, So. over Gabrielle Estrada (Lemont) 2-3, Sr. (Fall 1:21)
170
1st Place Match
Bianca Campos (Joliet West) 3-0, Jr. over Imani McIntosh (Waubonsie Valley) 3-1, Sr. (Fall 4:52)
3rd Place Match
Asia Lacey (Glenbard East) 3-1, Sr. over Alyssa Andreen (Downers Grove North) 5-3, So. (Dec 6-0)
5th Place Match
Camila Gonzalez (Glenbard East) 3-2, Jr. over Jessica Bos (Streamwood) 2-5, Jr. (Fall 2:55)
120
1st Place Match
Emma Engels (Bartlett) 4-0, Sr. over Kaila Stubbs (Glenbard East) 2-1, Sr. (Fall 2:53)
3rd Place Match
Emma Lappay (Lemont) 5-1, Sr. over Willow Perruquet (Joliet West) 4-2, So. (Dec 6-3)
5th Place Match
Cassiel Chavez (Downers Grove South) 2-2, So. over Ariana Shala (Downers Grove South) 2-3, So. (Fall 0:51)
235
1st Place Match
Jasmine Rene (Streamwood) 7-0, Jr. over Asriella Wallace (Glenbard North) 14-3, So. (TF-1.5 4:59 (17-2))
3rd Place Match
Natalie Quiroz (Joliet West) 3-1, Sr. over Rowyn Page (Lemont) 4-2, Sr. (Fall 1:31)
5th Place Match
Zuzia Cybulski (Downers Grove South) 4-2, Jr. over Megan O`Toole (Downers Grove North) 4-3, Sr. (Inj. 0:00)
105
1st Place Match
Nadiia Shymkiv (Glenbard East) 4-0, Jr. over Ariana Baier (Lemont) 5-1, Fr. (TF-1.5 3:31 (17-1))
3rd Place Match
Cristal Jacinto (Glenbard North) 8-2, Jr. over Karla Sarabia (Glenbard East) 4-2, Fr. (Fall 3:57)
5th Place Match
Jaszmyn Dotson (Downers Grove North) 3-5, Fr. over Takyla Johnson (Joliet (West) 3-4, Fr. (For.)
125
1st Place Match
Lilly White (Bartlett) 3-0, Jr. over Briahna Klobnak (Joliet West) 9-4, Jr. (Fall 2:33)
3rd Place Match
Nichole Castillo (Glenbard South) 4-1, Jr. over Keelin Evaristo (Streamwood) 2-4, Fr. (Fall 0:35)
5th Place Match
Valentina Gonzalez (Downers Grove North) 5-2, So. over Yamila Castro (Reavis) 2-4, Fr. (Inj. 0:00)
110
1st Place Match
Jayden Melendez (Tinley Park) 9-3, So. over Norah Cwik (Bartlett) 3-1, Jr. (Dec 19-15)
3rd Place Match
Angela Marinelli (Glenbard East) 3-1, So. over Victoria Ooms (Downers Grove South) 3-2, Jr. (Fall 4:09)
5th Place Match
Lauren Stevens (Lemont) 2-2, Sr. over Lashuna York (Glenbard South) 1-3, So. (Fall 0:45)
100
1st Place Match
Katelyn Bell (Montini Catholic) 12-1, Sr. over Kahlynn Spurgeon (Bartlett) 2-1, Jr. (TF-1.5 1:53 (21-6))
3rd Place Match
Andrea Jones (Glenbard East) 4-1, Sr. over Aysia Smith (Joliet West) 5-4, Sr. (Fall 3:05)
5th Place Match
Valeria Gonzalez (Downers Grove North) 8-2, Sr. over Anna Delawder (Glenbard East) 1-3, So. (Fall 3:02)
190
1st Place Match
Nadine Spandiary (Glenbard East) 3-0, Sr. over Ava Grisela-Urbina (Downers Grove South) 2-1, Fr. (Fall 1:35)
3rd Place Match
Alexandra LoCoco (Lemont) 3-1, Fr. over Mikayla Chapa (Streamwood) 2-4, Fr. (Inj. 1:32)
115
1st Place Match
Zoey Sanchez (Streamwood) 3-0, Sr. over Ella Matheu (Downers Grove North) 3-2, So. (Fall 1:04)
3rd Place Match
Jayden Thornton (Lemont) 3-1, Sr. over Dianey Marin (Glenbard East) 2-2, Fr. (Fall 0:49)
140
1st Place Match
Suzanne Stalley (Glenbard North) 10-6, Fr. over Abbie Harris (Tinley Park) 2-1, So. (Fall 1:23)
3rd Place Match
Maria Ochoa (Joliet West) 2-1, So. over Lauren Anderson (Reavis) 1-3, Fr. (Fall 0:33)
145
1st Place Match
Vanessa O`Connor (Joliet West) 2-0, Jr. over Regina Sanchez (Reavis) 3-1, Fr. (Fall 0:20)
3rd Place Match
Alena Mossman (Downers Grove North) 2-3, So. over Ebonie Flores (Streamwood) 0-4, So. (Fall 3:26)
Team scores
1. Joliet West 177.5, 2. Downers Grove North 161.5, 3. Glenbard East 155.5, 4. Lemont 145, 5. Bartlett 120.5, 6. Streamwood 105.5, 7. Glenbard North 98, 8. Downers Grove South 77, 9. Reavis 70, 10. Tinley Park 66, 11. Glenbard South 47, 12. Waubonsie Valley 44, 13. Hinsdale South 32.5, 14. Montini Catholic 26.5.