Class 3A Regional Roundup
By Curt Herron
For the IWCOA
Here’s a look at the 16 regional championship teams in Class 3A as well as all of the individual champions from those tournaments, including their records going into sectionals.
Over the next two days, we will present the same type of story in order to also recognize the teams and champions who participated in regionals in both Class 2A and Class 1A.
All of the summaries are grouped together in the individual sectional that they will be competing in this weekend. A special thanks to all of the coaches who sent team pictures.
Granite City Individual Sectional & TBA Dual Team Sectional
Lockport – Homewood-Flossmoor Regional champions
Sixth-ranked Lockport won four individual titles to help it edge fifth-ranked Lincoln-Way East 229-215.5 and capture top honors in the Homewood-Flossmoor Regional in Flossmoor while No. 19 Homewood-Flossmoor (171) finished in third place.
Coach Josh Oster’s champion Porters had 11 sectional qualifiers and four title winners, David Vukobratovich (27-8 at 113), Logan Swaw (27-5 at 152), Brayden Thompson (38-0 at 170) and Andrew Blackburn-Forst (28-5 at 220). It was the program’s seventh-straight regional title and it hopes to qualify for dual team state for the third-time in a row.
Homewood-Flossmoor, who had seven sectional qualifiers, got titles from Deion Johnson (31-6 at 106), Vincent Robinson (26-2 at 126), Jaydon Robinson (25-5 at 145) and Haku Watson-Castro (24-8 at 182). Lincoln-Way East had 10 qualifiers and three champions, Dominic Adamo (30-5 at 160), Connor Lindaur (32-5 at 195) and Alex Knaperek (24-9 at 285). Lincoln-Way Central’s Joey Malito (38-1 at 120) and Conor Smetana (35-4 at 138) and Rich Township’s Nasir Bailey (34-0 at 132) also finished first.
Moline – Joliet West Regional champions
Moline had three champions and eight sectional qualifiers to help it capture top honors at the Joliet West Regional with 180 points while 23rd-ranked Lincoln-Way West claimed second place with 161.5 points and Joliet West took third with 148 points and tied Moline for the most sectional qualifiers with eight.
Winning titles for coach Jacob Ruettiger’s champion Maroons were Kole Brower (39-1 at 138), Noah Tapia (41-2 at 145) and Parker Terronez (15-7 at 160). It was the program’s first regional title since 2016 and they hope to advance to dual team state for the first time since 2000. Moline took fourth place at the IWCOA finals in 2021.
Lincoln-Way West, who had seven qualifiers, got titles from Jase Salin (33-11 at 120), Cameron Knepper (32-13 at 152) and Michael Sneed (27-8 at 220). Pekin got firsts from Ramez Watson (33-10 at 132), Shamon Handegan (36-0 at 182) and Tyler Haines (30-0 at 285), Other champions were Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Ethan Spacht (23-2 at 106) and AJ Mancilla (34-4 at 170), Joliet Central’s Tony Toledo (17-7 at 113), Minooka’s Dominic Schiavone (17-3 at 126) and Normal Community’s Cooper Caraway (34-3 at 195).
Yorkville – Plainfield Central Regional champions
Ninth-ranked Yorkville captured five titles to help it collect 220 points and claim top honors in the Plainfield Central Regional while 24th-ranked Plainfield North took second place with 183 points. It was the program’s first regional title since 2013 and they hope to advance to dual team state for the first time since 2012, when they took second in 2A.
Claiming first-place finishes for coach Jake Oster’s champion Foxes, who had 12 sectional qualifiers, were Jack Ferguson (29-6 at 113), Dominic Recchia (25-11 at 120), Luke Zook (31-8 at 152), Hunter Janeczko (30-3 at 195) and Ben Alvarez (41-4 at 220).
Plainfield North had 11 sectional qualifiers and four title winners, Jacob Macatangay (40-0 at 126), Brody Wyller (30-17 at 145), Jared Gumila (42-3 at 160) and Kaden McCombs (38-9 at 285). Other champions were Romeoville’s Brian Farley (20-4 at 106), Plainfield East’s Nicholas Duggan (22-14 at 138), Plainfield South’s Matthew Janiak (25-11 at 170), Plainfield Central’s Max Bowen (22-4 at 182) and Oswego’s Logan Guerrero (18-6 at 132), who was one of the Panthers’ seven sectional qualifiers.
Edwardsville – Quincy Regional champions
Edwardsville, ranked 25th, captured five titles and had 11 sectional qualifiers to help it finish with 206 points, which was good enough to capture the title at the Quincy Regional over Belleville West, which had 164 points while O’Fallon (130.5) took third place.
Top performers for coach Jon Wagner’s champion Tigers were first-place finishers Levi Wilkinson (29-9 at 106), Dylan Gvillo (41-4 at 138), Drew Landau (31-8 at 145), Jorden Johnson (39-6 at 152) and Evan Holderer (13-6 at 195). This was their tenth-straight regional title and they hope to get to dual team state for the first time since 2019.
Other individuals who captured title wins were O’Fallon’s Brodey Durbin (23-1 at 120), Terence Willis III (21-9 at 160) and Isaiah Hill (23-1 at 285), Granite City’s Brenden Rayl (25-10 at 113) and Dylan Boyd (27-6 at 132), Belleville West’s Aiden Colbert (10-5 at 126) and Cash Mays (17-4 at 220), Collinsville’s Austin Stewart (31-8 at 170) and Belleville East’s Dominic Thebeau (30-1 at 182).
Barrington Individual Sectional & Stevenson Dual Team Sectional
Huntley – Dundee-Crown Regional champions
Huntley, ranked 18th, scored 200.5 points to claim top honors over runner-up Belvidere co-op, who finished with 179.5 points, at the Dundee-Crown Regional in Carpentersville. It’s the fifth-straight season that the program has captured a regional title and it hopes to qualify for dual team state as it did in 2020 and 2018, taking fourth in its first visit.
Capturing first-place finishes for coach B.J. Bertelsman’s champion Red Raiders, who had 10 sectional qualifiers, were Adam Pena (28-16 at 120), Jake Jensen (23-10 at 126), Sam Henkle (25-4 at 132), Ryder Hunkins (28-6 at 182) and Markos Mihalopoulos (27-17 at 285).
Belvidere, which also had 10 sectional qualifiers, had four champions, Brayden Tuenissen (39-4 at 106), Colin Young (39-5 at 138), Antonio Alvarado (36-4 at 145) and T.J. Mitchell (25-15 at 220). Other title winners were Hampshire’s Niko Skoulikaris (18-4 at 152) and Dimitri Skoulikaris (15-7 at 170), Harlem’s Koletyn Zanoni (16-8 at 113), Hononegah’s Kurt Smith (13-3 at 160) and Dundee-Crown’s Porter Leith (32-3 at 195).
Prospect – Glenbrook South Regional champions
Prospect, ranked 13th, scored 212.5 points to claim top honors at the Glenbrook South Regional in Glenview, with the host school taking second place with 159 points and Loyola Academy third with 153 points. This is the program’s fourth-straight title and seventh in eight seasons and it hopes to reach dual team state for the fourth time.
Leading the way for coach Dan Keller’s champion Knights, who had 11 sectional qualifiers, were first-place finishers Joel Muehlenbeck (36-7 at 106), Will Baysingar (41-1 at 132), Lennon Steinkuehler (33-5 at 138) and Damien Puma (29-8 at 145).
Loyola Academy had seven sectional qualifiers and four champions, Massey Odiotti (34-4 at 120), Patrick Zimmer (22-14 at 126), Cooper Wettig (10-1 at 160) and Quinn Herbert (30-9 at 182). Glenbrook South had eight qualifiers and three title winners, Will Collins (18-2 at 152), Ilkin Badalov (24-6 at 170) and Drew Duffy (15-2 at 285). Also taking first-place were New Trier’s Jack Cummings (28-2 at 195) and Ty Stringer (24-3 at 220) and Evanston’s Marco Terrezzi (12-8 at 113), who was one of seven Wildkits’ qualifiers.
Libertyville – Libertyville Regional champions
Libertyville, which is ranked 14th, won half of the individual titles and that helped it to claim top honors in its own regional with 208 points while tenth-ranked McHenry finished second with 181.5 points. This is the program’s fourth-straight regional championship and they hope to get back to dual team state for the first time since 2014.
Capturing championships for coach Dale Eggert’s first-place Wildcats were Caelan Riley (33-3 at 120), Trevor Jean (25-12 at 132), Matt Kubas (17-13 at 152), Austin Gomez (29-9 at 170), Josh Knudten (32-3 at 182), Cole Matulenko (29-8 at 195) and Caleb Christensen (22-8 at 285). The first-place team also qualified 11 for the sectional.
Mundelein had three champs, Bryce Durlacher (34-1 at 113), Erick Nova (29-8 at 145) and Henri Ortiz (30-8 at 220) while McHenry had 10 qualifiers and two title winners, Pedro Jimenez (34-12 at 126) and Chris Moore (42-0 at 160). And Round Lake’s Grayson Kongkaeow (29-11 at 106) and Warren’s Evan Onstad (16-9 at 138) also won titles.
Fremd – Fremd Regional champions
In one of the most-competitive regionals in Class 3A, No. 16 Fremd edged No. 12 Hersey 189.5-184.5 for top honors of its own regional in Palatine while No. 15 Stevenson (177) and No. 21 Barrington (148) took the next two spots. For more on this regional, see Mike Garofola’s complete story, which will appear on the website.
Coach Jeff Keske’s champion Vikings had nine sectional qualifiers and three title winners, Evan Gosz (35-3 at 113), Maddox Khalimsky (29-6 at 132) and Charlie Fifield (39-4 at 145). This is the third time that the program won a regional title and its first title since 1996, when it made its only appearance at state in the dual team tournament.
Hersey had nine qualifiers and four champions, Esteban Delgado (32-15 at 120), Billy Spassov (35-8 at 160), Manny Mejia (40-5 at 220) and Oleg Simakov (34-11 at 285). Stevenson had eight qualifiers and three title winners, Lorenzo Frezza (34-1 at 126), Cole Rhemrev (34-0 at 138) and Carter Rand (32-9 at 152). Other champs were Jacobs’ Dominic Ducato (21-5 at 106) and Joey Scrivani (9-0 at 170) and Barrington’s Ayden Salley (26-6 at 182) and Zach Meyer (33-6 at 195), two of the Broncos’ seven qualifiers.
Hinsdale Central Individual Sectional & TBA Dual Team Sectional
Marist – Marist Regional champions
Second-ranked Marist had 14 sectional qualifiers and nine champions to help it score 280 points and win its own regional in Chicago while Carl Sandburg claimed second place with 206 points. It was the program’s first regional title since 2014, which is also the last time that it qualified for the dual team finals, where it finished second.
Capturing titles for coach Brendan Heffernan’s RedHawks were Michael Esteban (32-8 at 113), Jesse Herrera (21-10 at 126), Owen Dunlap (14-1 at 138), Ricky Ericksen (31-8 at 145), Tommy Boland (31-5 at 160), Jake Liberatore (16-0 at 170), Conor Phelan (25-8 at 182), Peter Marinopoulos (33-0 at 195) and Ghee Rachal (26-2 at 220).
Carl Sandburg had 11 sectional qualifiers and three champions, Rocco Hayes (24-11 at 106), Sammie Hayes (7-0 at 120) and Kevin Zimmer (12-0 at 285). The other two title winners were Bolingbrook’s Joe McDermott (25-9 at 132) and Shepard’s Damari Reed (29-0 at 152).
Downers Grove South – Downers Grove South Regional champions
Downers Grove South finished with 212 points to easily claim top honors at its own regional while Lyons Township edged Downers Grove North 155-154 for third-place. This was the first regional championship for the program, whose last title in the sport came in a district tournament in 1982, two years before the dual team series began.
Coach Sean Lovelace’s champion Mustangs, who had 12 sectional qualifiers, were led by their four first-place finishers, Jimmy Nugent (32-6 at 138), RJ Samuels (24-9 at 152), Matty Lapacek (28-10 at 160) and Will Schuessler (34-7 at 170).
Lyons Township, which had eight sectional qualifiers, got titles from Gunnar Garelli (30-9 at 126), Ben Zeman (25-13 at 145) and Cooper King (9-5 at 195). Downers Grove North, who had seven qualifiers, got firsts from Tyler Tiango (28-11 at 106), Ben Bielawski (32-3 at 182) and Jordan Lewis (31-4 at 285). The other champions were Hinsdale Central’s Cody Tavoso (21-3 at 132) and Marko Ivanisevic (32-1 at 220), Morton’s Anthony Lopez (30-2 at 113) and Oak Park and River Forest’s Jalen Dunson (16-2 at 120).
Mount Carmel – Mount Carmel Regional champions
Third-ranked Mount Carmel captured 12 titles and scored 281 points to claim top honors in its own regional in Chicago while Reavis (143) finished second and Argo (110) placed third. This was the 24th-straight regional title for Mount Carmel, who was second in 2020 at dual team state and won the 2021 IWCOA title.
Capturing first-place finishes for coach Alex Tsirtsis’ champion Caravan, who had 13 sectional qualifiers, were Seth Mendoza (32-2 at 106), Damian Resendez (24-7 at 113), Jairo Acuna (20-12 at 120), Sergio Lemley (33-1 at 126), Eddie Enright (22-9 at 132), Nam Doan (9-11 at 138), Marcus Milianti (10-14 at 152), Colin Kelly (30-4 at 160), Rylan Breen (23-11 at 182), Elliot Lewis (21-9 at 195), John McKeon (9-11 at 220) and Ryan Boersma (33-2 at 285).
Reavis, which had eight sectional qualifiers, got a title win from Stefano Cobo (4-4 at 145) while Oak Lawn’s Hani Odeh (22-8 at 170) was the other champion. Although it had no first-place finishers, Argo had the second-highest total of sectional qualifiers with nine.
Marmion Academy – Naperville Central Regional champions
Fourth-ranked Marmion Academy captured 10 titles at the Naperville Central Regional to finish with 293.5 points while 25th-ranked West Aurora (179.5) and seventh-ranked Naperville Central (153) were next in line. After missing out on a title in 2020, it won its eighth regional in nine seasons and all of the others led to trips to the dual team finals, where they won four trophies with the last, a third, in 2019.
Winning championships for coach Nathan Fitzenreider’s first-place Cadets, who advanced all 14 of their individuals to the sectional, were Donny Pigoni (31-9 at 106), Jameson Garcia (25-4 at 113), Tyler Aters (15-4 at 120), Santino Scolaro (24-6 at 138), Collin Carrigan (21-2 at 152), Tyler Perry (33-3 at 170), Jack Lesher (34-4 at 182), Teddy Perry (22-12 at 195), Sean Scheck (31-9 at 220) and Jerred Durian (23-5 at 285).
Others who won titles were Naperville Central’s Ethan Olson (25-6 at 126), West Aurora’s Ashton Massaro (18-8 at 132), Naperville North’s Cam Clark (25-4 at 145) and Waubonsie Valley’s Antonio Torres (26-0 at 160). West Aurora had 10 sectional qualifiers while Naperville Central advanced eight to the sectional.
Conant Individual Sectional & South Elgin Dual Team Sectional
Glenbard West – Wheaton North Regional champions
Glenbard West, ranked 20th, surprised district rival Glenbard North, which was ranked 11th, by winning seven titles to help it claim top honors at the Wheaton North Regional by a 209-176 margin. It was the program’s first regional championship since 2005 and its third ever and it seeks its first appearance in the dual team finals.
Winning titles for coach Nick Posegay’s champion Hilltoppers, who advanced 10 individuals to the sectional, were Ulises Rosas (32-7 at 113), Jacob Lachs (29-10 at 138), Trevor Skoda (21-3 at 145), Brennan Skoda (32-5 at 152), Max Konopka (32-4 at 160), Pat Shadid (29-4 at 182) and Philip Dozier (37-1 at 195). Posegay, a longtime coach in the program, is retiring at the end of the season.
Glenbard North, who had won 19 regional titles and made 14 state trips and won 11 trophies in the last 20 seasons, had eight sectional qualifiers and five champions, Kalani Khiev (26-8 at 106), Christian Chavez (10-4 at 120), Paul Woo (28-5 at 126), Blake Maday (4-0 at 220) and Paulie Robertson (25-1 at 285). The other two title winners were West Chicago’s Pierre Baldwin (34-2 at 132) and Willowbrook’s Nick Mabutas (29-4 at 170).
Conant – South Elgin Regional champions
Conant, ranked 22nd, claimed top honors at the South Elgin Regional after winning six titles and piling up 192 points, placing if well ahead of runner-up Schaumburg (132) and third-place Elk Grove (131.5). It was the program’s first regional title since 2018 and it hopes to get back to the dual team finals for the first time since 2017.
Coach Andrew Guilde’s champion Cougars, who advanced 10 individuals to the sectional, were led by first-place finishers Sammy Santangelo (13-8 at 120), Peter Floyd (25-8 at 132), Ethan Stiles (23-1 at 152), Cody Sebo (23-9 at 170), AJ Hernandez (20-10 at 182) and Henry Chang (25-6 at 195).
Others title winners were Lake Park’s Dominik Mallinder (25-4 at 126), Mike DiBenedetto (32-5 at 138) and Joey Olalde (28-2 at 160), Schaumburg’s Brady Phelps (25-2 at 106) and Callen Kirchner (27-7 at 113), South Elgin’s Nico Clinite (25-1 at 145), Hoffman Estates’ Kehinde Akintunde (24-14 at 285) and Elk Grove’s Chance Guziec (26-7 at 220), who was one of eight sectional qualifiers for the Grenadiers.
DeKalb – DeKalb Regional champions
Top-ranked DeKalb scored 268 points to win its own regional while eighth-ranked St. Charles East was second with 224 points and No. 17 Batavia took third with 201.5 points. It was the third-straight regional title for the program, which seeks its third-consecutive trip to the dual team finals and its 12th overall, with its last trophy, a fourth, claimed in 2019.
Claiming first-place finishes for coach Sam Hiatt’s champion Barbs, who advanced all 14 individuals to the sectional, were Tommy Curran (23-1 at 145), Damien Lopez (23-3 at 152), Lukes Schmerbach (28-2 at 170), Bradley Gillum (24-2 at 182), Bryson Buhk (23-8 at 195) and Gavin Engh (21-7 at 220). Four of those champions helped the team to claim third place in the 2021 IWCOA finals.
St. Charles East had 13 sectional qualifiers and five title winners, Ben Davino (30-1 at 120), Ethan Penzato (23-5 at 126), Tyler Guerra (25-5 at 132), Brody Murray (26-6 at 160) and Austin Barrett (21-11 at 285) while Batavia, who had 10 sectional qualifiers, received first-place efforts from Ino Garcia (35-4 at 106), Aidan Huck (25-8 at 113) and Kaden Fetterolf (35-5 at 138).
Maine South – Maine South Regional champions
Maine South scored 210 points to win the championship at its own regional in Park Ridge while York took second place with 167 points and Taft finished third with 139 points. The program also won regional titles in 2020 and 2018 and hopes to qualify for the dual team finals for the first time.
Winning championships for coach Kevin Hansen’s first-place Hawks, who had 12 sectional qualifiers, were Christos Vaselopolus (24-8 at 106), Teddy Flores (29-6 at 113), Nathan Beltran (29-6 at 138), Danny Spandiary (6-3 at 152) and Cole Cichowski (21-11 at 170).
York, which had 10 sectional qualifiers, got title wins from Sean Berger (36-4 at 120), Sean Van Sleet (29-6 at 126) and Evan Grazzini (36-6 at 182). Taft, who qualified seven for the sectional, received first-place finishes from Colin Roque (24-3 at 132), Ryan Porebski (32-6 at 220) and Grzegorz Krupa (31-6 at 285). Other champions were Leyden’s Patrick Gadocha (16-10 at 160) and Colin O’Neill (21-3 at 195) and Lane Tech’s Finn Merrill (32-8 at 145).