Coal City gets past Vandalia to win second IHSA Class 1A title in three years

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

At the conclusion of the 2024 IHSA Class 1A Dual Team State Tournament, the consensus seemed to be that three of the the teams that claimed the top-four finishes would again be the teams to beat in the 2025 state dual team finals, and that proved to be the case.

With each of them having many top performers back for 2024-2025, defending champion Marian Central Catholic, last year’s runner-up and 2023 title winner Coal City and fourth-place finisher Vandalia all believed they could be state champions this season. And Unity, which fell in the quarterfinals to last year’s third-place finisher, Roxana, also felt it could be in the trophy mix.

One week after Vandalia won 50-25 over Unity, the four teams competed ar ABE’s Rumble where coach Jason Clay’s Vandals claimed big early leads over both coach Mark Masters’ Coalers in the semifinals and against the Jordan Blanton and Ryan Prater-led Hurricanes in the title meet before getting wins in the final matches of both duals to beat Coal City 30-28 and Marian Central Catholic 35-27 to capture the title while Coal City beat coach Logan Patton’s Unity Rockets 41-28 for third place after Unity lost 48-27 to the Hurricanes in the semifinals.

One week later, the Vandals and Coalers were back at in the Lyle King Princeton Invitational Tournament with Vandalia getting the upper hand by a 279.5-272 margin in a tight struggle for the championship to win its first PIT title and cement itself as the top-ranked team heading into the postseason with Marian Central Catholic, Coal City and Unity rounding out the top four.

There were plenty of great storylines heading into the 2A Dual Team Finals at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. 

Vandalia hoped to cap a memorable season in which it was unbeaten in dual meets against Illinois teams, won all of its tournaments and also had two individual champions for the first time and a two-time girls title winner who became the first to try to win two titles on the same day, 11 state qualifiers and six state medals while the program sought its first IHSA dual team championship since 1996 and its first title for Clay, who was honored one week earlier as a 2025 inductee into the IWCOA Hall of Fame and announced that he was stepping down as Vandalia’s head coach after going 504-110 in 19 seasons.

Marian Central Catholic looked to follow up on the school’s first championship to become the first team to repeat in Class 1A since Dakota won four-straight titles from 2013-2016 and came in with plenty of momentum after having two IHSA champions and eight state qualifiers.

Coal City intended to bounce back from last year’s 34-27 setback to the Hurricanes in the IHSA title dual to capture not only its second title in three seasons but also its second championship in its history as well as seeking an eighth trophy in the last 10 seasons for 2022 IWCOA Hall of Famer Masters, who also surpassed the 500-win mark and now has a 504-161 record in 22 seasons and it arrived in Bloomington with confidence after having a record seven all-staters.

And Unity eyed the possibility of advancing to the dual team title meet for the first time since 1989 and for the second time by capturing its first-ever championship in school history.

Following two dramatic semifinals meets and an equally-suspenseful title dual meet, it was the Coalers who got the job done, dashing the Hurricanes’ hopes for a repeat with a 35-27 win in the semifinals before easing the disappointment of last year’s second-place finish by denying the Vandals of their first title in 29 years when they claimed a 32-25 victory in the championship.

Marian Central Catholic defeated Unity 44-24 to claim third place for the second time, with the other occasion being in 2019 when it claimed its first IHSA trophy under coach David Silva. The Rockets won their fourth trophy and their third in the last five seasons after also placing fourth in 2022 and claiming third place in 2020.

Vandalia had its hands full in the semifinals against Unity, who won the first five matches to go up 20-0 and the Rockets still led 24-3 midway through the meet before the Vandals won the next six matches to wrap things up, allowing them to forfeit in the finale to prevail by a 33-30 score.

And in their first meeting of the season in the other semifinal, the Coalers avenged last year’s title dual meet loss to the Hurricanes by taking a 20-14 lead with six matches to go before Marian Central Catholic won three in a row to go up 27-20 and Coal City responded with victories in the final three matches to capture a 35-27 triumph.

In addition, the remainder of the eight-team field certainly had much to be proud of. Oregon, coached by Justin Lahman, won a thriller over Newman Central Catholic in the sectional that it hosted to earn its first trip to the dual team state finals since 2008.

Olympia, coached by Josh Collins, qualified for its first appearance in the dual team finals since 2017. Coach Shea Baker led Murphysboro to state for the second time and its third trip in its history with its last visit in 2016. And coach Dan Willis guided Chicago Hope Academy back to the IHSA finals for the third time as it made its first trip since advancing in both 2017 and 2018.

Unity defeated Oregon 40-35 in the quarterfinals but that score is a bit misleading since the Rockets won the first eight matches to build up a 40-0 advantage. Also in the quarterfinals, Coal City captured a 53-22 win over Olympia, Vandalia claimed a 52-18 victory over Chicago Hope Academy and Marian Central Catholic was a 51-18 victor over Murphysboro.

State Championship Meet – Coal City 32, Vandalia 25

In the championship dual meet, the Coalers (33-7) won eight matches while the Vandals (40-2) won six and they got four of their wins with decisions, compared to two for Vandalia. And two of Coal City’s decisions were by two points or less, including one determined by a tiebreaker. 

After dropping decisions in the first two matches to trail 6-0, Coal City took control by winning the next five to build up a 22-6 advantage midway through the meet. While Vandalia responded with four-straight victories to move back in front at 25-22 with three to go, the Coalers swept all of those matches to assure that they would not finish in second place for a ninth time in its history while the Vandals became the runner-up in the tournament for the third time.

It appears that this is may be the first time in state history that teams led by coaches with 500 or more dual meet victories met in the IHSA Dual Team State Tournament Finals and the fact that it happened in a championship meet would make this matchup that much more significant.

In the opener in the championship meet at 150, three-time medalist Dillon Hinton won a 9-2 decision over Noah Houston and Parker Ray rallied for a 12-8 decision over Mason Garner after trailing 8-5 going into the final period to give the Vandals the early 6-0 advantage. 

“At the start of the year, we got out really strong and we just kept working and working and working and we kept winning those tournaments,” Ray said. “ABE’s Rumble was a big point where we could really see that we could do it, that we had the potential to win state, by defeating the now state champion Coal City and Marian Central. I feel like we were a lot closer than most dual teams. We got to go to Union County wrestling camp this summer and I feel like that just grew us really close and we all had just like a brotherhood and everybody had everybodys’ back. And everybody grew up with everybody, so outside of wrestling, we’re all best friends and we all hang out as much as we can to get that bond even tighter.”

Coal City responded in a big way with five-straight victories as Brock Finch captured a 10-1 major decision over Artan Mustafa and 2024 1A IHSA champion and two-time medalist Landin Benson added a fall in 2:25 over Noah Langston in his final match to put the Coalers up 10-6 and they remained in front through the 10th match.

“I think we had the connection,” Benson said. “We’ve been wrestling with each other since we were five, six years old, so we have that connection and the community behind you cheering you on. It was amazing, the town is amazing and always supportive and they get loud. All around, we’re really good in every position, so we knew we had it. It’s been amazing. The coaches are great, the teammates are great and the community is great. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, Coal City is probably the best program around.”

In a matchup of first-time all-staters, Cade Poyner trailed Ross Miller 5-1 in the third period but rallied to record a pin in 4:36, state medalist John Keigher followed with a 10-6 decision over two-time medal winner Kaden Tidwell and Alec Waliczek got an escape to claim a 2-1 win on a tiebreaker over Dominic Swyers at 285 to put the Coalers up 22-6 midway through the meet.

“It feels awesome,” Waliczek said. “I lost to that kid at ABE’s and we ended up losing at ABE’s. I want to thank all of my coaches, they push us very hard in practice and I knew that wasn’t going to happen again, thanks to them. We knew what was at task this weekend and we knew what we had to get done. After we beat Marian, I had a lot of high hopes. All of the guys, we’ve worked hard for this moment and we’re all just very blessed to be here. It’s amazing, just wrestling with your brothers. It’s just a brotherhood and we’re all so close and I love all of them.”

Vandalia started its rally when Aiden Evans won a 14-1 major decision over Jason Piatak and state champion and two-time finalist Max Philpot followed with a fall in 1:34 over two-time medalist Owen Petersen to narrow the gap to 22-16. 

After 2024 state champion and 2025 runner-up Preston Waughtel got a win by technical fall at 4:35 over Culan Lindemuth at 120, his brother Tyson Waughtel, a three-time IHSA champion and four-time finalist, put his team back in front at 25-22 with an 8-0 major decision over two-time medalist and 2025 finalist Cooper Morris in a rematch of the 1A 126 title match to cap his historic career with a 210-2 record, which is the new IHSA standard for career victories.

“Definitely everyone was trying to battle,” Tidwell said. “The second day was just tough matches after tough matches because every team had a chance to do it. It’s definitely not a year that you’ll look back in shame on and regret anything because we did have probably one of the best years that Vandalia’s ever had. But whenever you come so close and you don’t get it, it just gives you a little bit more motivation to keep working harder to get it.”

It was all Coalers after that as Luke Munsterman responded to a third-period reversal by Elijah Mabry with a reversal of his own with 0:42 left to capture a 4-2 win at 132 to tie things at 25-25. Two-time runner-up and three-time medalist Brody Widlowski won a 10-2 major decision over Brody Matthews to put Coal City ahead for good at 29-25 and all-stater Aidan Kenney clinched the program’s second IHSA championship with a 9-4 decision over Cole Yarbrough at 144. 

“Today, all of our fans showed up and all of our teammates we’ve practiced with our whole lives really pushed us to reach our goals,” Kenney said. “Our kids program, Lil’ Coalers, was made when we were real young, so we all grew up together. All of our kids are quality, even our JV, our extra seven we brought to fill in or to move around, just in case.”

Coal City only graduates four individuals from the state roster, 2024 champion and two-time medal winner Landin Benson, medalist John Keigher, qualifier Culan Lindemuth and alternate Alec Waliczek. Returnees include three-time medalist and two-time finalist Brody Widlowski, two-time medalist and 2025 finalist Cooper Morris, two-time all-stater Owen Petersen, 2025 medalists Aidan Kenney and Cade Poyner and five others who qualified this season, Brock Finch, Mason Garner, Noah Houston, Luke Musterman and Jason Piatak, which will no doubt motivate the Coalers to join Montini Catholic, Wilmington and Dakota as the only other schools in Class A or Class 1A to compete in four championship dual meets during a four-year span.

Benson, Finch, Garner, Houston, Kenney, Lindemuth, Munsterman, Poyner and Widlowski were all on the 2023 IHSA championship team while Keigher, Morris, Petersen and Waliczek joined the other nine as members of the 2024 runner-up team. Four individuals competed in matches in Coal City’s 32-31 victory over Yorkville Christian in the 2023 1A championship dual meet, Benson, Finch, Lindemuth and Widlowski.

It marked the eighth time in the past 10 seasons that the Coalers have finished third or better at the IHSA Dual Team Finals (two firsts, four seconds, two thirds) under 2022 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Mark Masters, who recently joined an elite list of coaches who’ve won 500 or more dual meets during their careers and his record in 22 seasons at Coal City is 504-161.

“We had 13 state qualifiers, so it’s not like we’re unknown, but when you have seven all-staters, it’s the non all-staters that really stepped up and got it accomplished,” Masters said. “We had Alec Waliczek in that championship dual, he got beat by that kids earlier in the year in the dual and Luke Munsterman got beat by that kid earlier, so those are huge swings, big time. And our studs do what they do. Cade Poyner got headlocked and rolled through it for a pin, and we were losing 3-2 at the time, so that was a huge one.That was a matchup that we thought we could win, but he waited until the third period to get it done.

“We are a great dual meet team, just based on all of the guys that we have. We had 13 state qualifiers and the other kid was an alternate, so we’re deep. And we didn’t really have to tap into the bench at all. In one match against Olympia, we threw a young freshman out there to get the matchup that we wanted, but other than that, the guys were selfless. How would I describe this group? I would say opportunistic and resilient. These guys, when there’s an opportunity, we jumped on it. We pinned a lot of people tonight and yesterday.

“Years ago when it was a two-class system and I was trying to wrestle a few of the bigger schools, but they always told me that they had nothing to gain by wrestling us. I told them, ‘I’ve got tough kids’. When Mark Ruettiger was at Lincoln-Way, and he had been a Class A guy, I talked to him and he goes, ‘you can come up here, Coal City has tough kids’. So he opened the door for us then we got Plainfield Central and then it just started growing. And all of a sudden, we got invited to see more larger class teams.”

Jason Clay concluded a memorable 19 seasons as head coach for Vandalia, where he competed for and later assisted 2014 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Glenn Exton. He took 15 teams to the IHSA Dual Team Finals and also had second-place finishes in 2018 and 2007 in addition to a third place in 2019 and fourth place last season. He also recently went over the 500 victory mark in dual meets and finished with a 504-110 record. At the IHSA Individual State Tournament in Champaign, where the Vandals had two individual champions for the first time, he was one of 15 individuals that was inducted into this year’s class of the IWCOA Hall of Fame.

Another highlight for the Vandals also happened that same day when Sophie Bowers won the IHSA girls title at 125 for the second year in a row. As a member of the state finals team roster, she became the first individual in the current IHSA tournament format to win an individual title and have the opportunity to be on a team that was vying for a championship on the same day.

While the loss of seven seniors, two-time girls champion Bowers, 2025 champion Tyson Waughtel, two-time medalist Kaden Tidwell, state qualifiers Artan Mustafa and Parker Ray as well as Deon Moore and Gabe Torres, is significant, the good news for Vandalia is that 14 others from the state roster will be back, including 2025 champion and two-time finalist Max Philpot, three-time medalist and one-time finalist Dillon Hinton, 2025 runner-up Preston Waughtel and medalist Ross Miller as well as qualifiers Aiden Evans, Dominic Swyers and Cole Yarbrough.

“It’s been a special season,” Clay said. “We’ve won every tournament that we’ve been to, but this one. We won the CM (Civic Memorial) Tournament, we won ABE’s Rumble and we won Princeton for the first time. We won 40 dual meets, we had six state placers, we had two state champions, and three counting Sophie, this weekend, and she’s a double champ. It’s been an incredible season and as fun as it was in my last year of doing this in 19 years, it’s tough, but I’m proud of our kids and I’m proud of our community the way that they showed up tonight. 

“They battled and some things went our way early, Parker had a nice win pulling that out and we were about to take a match at 190, and give their kid credit, he battled through. That’s a position we’re pretty good at but he rolled us through and not only got the takedown but got the pin, and that was huge and then we lost a tough match at 15 and at heavyweight that we won in the first dual. There’s some things that went against us, wrestling things, but the kids wrestled hard. They’re a great program and they have been for a long time.

“(ABE’s Rumble) It was a two-point match, and if one thing goes different, who knows. They kind of had a target on our backs, they’re coming after us and thinking about us each day. We were trying to stay hungry and healthy, and that’s another thing that kind of bit us at the end. We had some guys injured, a few different things. It’s super hard, we went 19 years and never won a state title, we got three runner-up trophies and we’ve been up here 15 times and still never won one. So give them credit for pulling it all together and getting it done and we finished just a little short.

“I’m going to miss the kids and the time that we had together. Each team changes and things are going to be different next year and we’re going to be good again. There will be a change in leadership and we’re going to graduate some good kids. So they just have to keep coming back at it and Coal City is going to be here again next year and we’re going to have to take them down to be the best.”

Third Place Meet – Marian Central Catholic 44, Unity 24

In the third-place meet, Unity (29-8) took a 16-13 lead after six matches before Marian Central Catholic (18-6) won six in a row to end the drama and captured a 44-24 victory as it bounced back from a tough semifinal loss to eventual champion Coal City to claim its second third-place trophy with the other coming in 2019 in its initial appearance in the IHSA Dual Team Finals..

The Hurricanes won two of the first three matches as four-time medalist and three-time finalist Vance Williams concluded his career with a 9-8 decision over three-time medalist Holden Brazelton at 150 before Unity’s Keegan Germano won by technical fall over Connor Cassels and Nick Astacio put his team back in front with a 14-5 major decision over Abram Davidson.

“It’s super fun,” Williams said. “Everyone’s having a great time and it’s awesome to see everyone happy. I was kind of thrown into a leadership role pretty early on, so I’ve been making it my job and having fun with that. I hope that others see that winners win and they want that same feeling, so I hope that people can look up to me, even when I’m not there. It’s been super awesome to work with them (Jordan Blanton and Ryan Prater), especially year around.”

Then it was the Rockets’ turn to win two of the next three as two-time medalist Ryan Rink won by fall in 1:22 over Sam Sarfo at 175 before two-time IHSA champion Jimmy Mastny got a pin in 1:26 over Bradley Smith and 2024 state champion and two-time medalist Hunter Eastin put Unity in front at 16-13 with eight matches left when he won by technical fall over Dan French.

“I just think it was our dedication to win and I think we wanted it a lot,” Rink said. “We just couldn’t pull it out and fell short of what we wanted. Everybody on this team is going to go on and do great things and we’re not going to let a tournament define us as a team. I love this team,  there’s no other team in the state that I’d rather wrestle for. Whether we win or lose, it doesn’t matter, this is my team. I think it’s fun to be part of a winning program like this. Last year we came short of placing but I think that fueled us this year to really go out and get it. This team is fun and we joke around a lot, but we also lock in at the right time and we get things done.”

Marian Central Catholic received a fall from Kaleb Eckman in 2:00 over Jaden Dene at 285, Diego Martinez followed with a win by technical fall over Vince Abon and Camden Spiniolas received a forfeit win to give their team a 30-16 advantage.

Two-time medalist and 2025 runner-up Austin Hagevold kept up the winning ways for the Hurricanes with a victory by technical fall over Zayden Mansfield at 120 and two-time champion and three-time finalist Brayden Teunissen closed out his career with a pin in 1:22 over Bryce Martin and Nick Marchese increased the lead to 44-16 with a 3-1 decision over Hunter Shike.

“We just have a young team,” Hagevold said. “At the end of the day, we’re still a team, and we’re brothers, so it doesn’t matter. Everyone had a great bond and everyone was always together, we were like brothers.”

Unity got wins in the final two matches as state champion Taylor Finley captured a 7-2 decision over two-time medal winner Andrew Alvarado and two-time runner-up Kaden Inman concluded his career with a win by technical fall over Noah Cerny.

“We didn’t have too good of a dual against them at the beginning,” Inman said of his team’s first meeting with Vandalia. “But we started training later on in the season and we always train later on in the season so you knew we were going to give it our all and make it close. We all bond well, we all understand each other and have fun with each other, and that makes it more fun to wrestle and to be around your friends. Everybody knows each other and we’re all close and we’ve definitely got some good bonding.”

With its first state championship claimed in 2024 and then a third-place finish this season, Marian Central Catholic figures to be a regular participant at the IHSA Dual Team Finals in upcoming years under the direction of co-coaches Jordan Blanton and Ryan Prater. They’ll have two-time champion Jimmy Mastny, two-time medalist and runner-up Austin Hagevold and three other state qualifiers, Dan French, Nick Marchese and Camden Spiniolas, back next season.

The Hurricanes will definitely miss the leadership of Vance Williams, who was one of the 11 four-time medalists in the state this season as well as being a three-time state finalist. The same can be said of Brayden Teunissen, who won two state championships in two seasons with the program and defeated Vandalia’s Tyson and Preston Waughtel for state titles after taking second place to St. Charles East’s Dom Munaretto while at Belvidere North in 3A and also Andrew Alvarado, who took fourth place this season after finishing fifth in 2023. 

“There were really razor-thin margins and that’s what this tournament is,” Blanton said. “It stinks to take third. Twenty to 30 years ago when I was a young kid wrestling, Vandalia was around and I have a ton of respect for their program. And Coal City has an unbelievable program. If you look at the intensity of that championship dual, those are unbelievable programs that are very well-coached with great wrestlers and we’re right there in the mix with them. That alone is a huge confidence boost for me as a coach and for what we’re trying to do with the program.

“A different day, a different match here or there, we could have been the champions again. Props to both of those teams and then Unity is right there. If you look at the top four teams here, these are programs that are modelled after the best. Every single one of these coaches is putting in the time to make their programs well-respected in the state, in any class. I leave here with a new-found appreciation of how special it is to win a championship, because you can have a championship team and fall short, and we found that out today.”

This is the third trophy that the Rockets have won in five seasons. They took third in 2020 and were fourth in 2022. Unity has won 24 or matches in each full season since Logan Patton took over the program in 2017-2018 and fell one win shy of reaching 30 wins for the fifth time. While seniors who were two-time medalists, 2024 champion Hunter Eastin, 2024 and 2025 runner-up Kaden Inman and Ryan Rink, will be hard to replace, and three-time medalist Holden Brazelton was a welcome addition in his lone season, they only graduate two other seniors. State champ Taylor Finley and qualifiers Abram Davidson and Hunter Shike will be back to lead the way.

“Vandalia has been a good rivalry,” Patton said. “We’ve been here eight years and it’s been good back and forth and our guys stepped up, but we were one match shy, one match shy. We had a great state tournament, we had a great dual state tournament. Our guys came here and battled, it’s matchups and bonus points. We didn’t match up well with Marian but we did match up well with Vandalia. It was a good tournament.”

Brazelton placed at state during his freshman and sophomore years while at St. Joseph-Ogden. While he fell short on competing for a state title after taking third two years ago, he was happy to conclude his career at Unity, where he competed in the Dual Team Finals for the first time.

“It’s been a great ride this year.” Brazelton said. “I moved to Tolono to try to get the state title but it didn’t go the way that I wanted it to go, I took fourth, but it was awesome. It was a crazy experience to be on a state tournament team, since I’ve never really been a part of that. They were very welcoming, they got me involved and I made a lot of friends right away. We bonded as a team and turned in the right direction at the right time, but just fell short in the semis.”

Semifinal Meet – Vandalia 33, Unity 30

Vandalia beat Unity 50-25 when the teams met on December 20 in Tolono but it was definitely a different story in the teams’ second meeting in the IHSA 1A semifinals when the Rockets took a 20-0 lead after five matches and were still up 24-3 midway through before the Vandals won six in a row to help them to a 33-30 win, assuring their first trip to the dual team finals since 2018.

Inman got things going for the Rockets when he won by technical fall over Keagan Turner at 144 before Brazelton claimed a 6-2 decision over Hinton in a matchup of three-time state medalists and Josh Heath followed with an 8-1 victory over Dade Kleinik. Then Germano captured a 10-1 major decision over Ray and Davidson added a victory by technical fall over Mustafa to give Unity a commanding 20-point advantage five matches into the meet..

The next two matches featured four all-staters going at it as Miller secured the Vandals’ first victory with a 7-5 decision over Rink at 190 and Eastin responded with a 17-5 major decision over Tidwell to put the Rockets up 24-3 at the midpoint of the meet.

Swyers got the ball rolling for Vandalia when he won a 3-0 decision over Dene at 285, Evans followed with a pin in 0:45 over Abon and Philpot got a forfeit win to close the gap to 24-18.

Robert McCoy captured a 9-4 decision over Bryce Martin at 120 and then Preston Waughtel put the Vandals in front for good at 27-24 with a pin in 4:45 over Mansfield and Tyson Waughtel sealed the deal with his fall in 0:58 over Shike. Finley received a forfeit win in the final match.

Semifinal Meet – Coal City 35, Marian Central Catholic 27

When Coal City got edged 30-28 by Vandalia in the semifinals at ABE’s Rumble on December 28, it missed out on a chance at a potential first rematch of last year’s Class 1A championship meet, where it fell 34-27 to Marian Central Catholic, who won its first IHSA title while the Coalers were denied in their bid to capture a second-straight state championship.

So the much-anticipated rematch had to wait until the final day of the season and this time it was the Coalers who prevailed after having an 8-6 advantage in victories and capturing two one-point decisions to help it claim a 35-27 victory over the Hurricanes, who saw their hopes of winning a second-straight state championship come to an end.

Not much separated the teams throughout the meet. Coal City grabbed a 16-8 advantage through six matches and still led 20-14 with six remaining before the Hurricanes captured three-straight victories to claim a 27-20 advantage with three matches to go. However, the Coalers recorded two falls and captured a 3-2 decision to help it claim a 35-27 victory that advanced to its third-straight appearance in the title meet at the IHSA Dual Team Finals.

After Kenney edged Alvarado 5-4 in the opener at 144 in a matchup of all-staters, Williams was a winner by technical fall over Houston. Garner put the Coalers back in front with a 15-5 major decision over Cassels and the Hurricanes answered as Astacio won a 6-3 decision over Finch. The Coalers built an eight-point lead after Benson won by fall in 0:44 over Sarfo at 175 and Poyner followed with an 8-2 decision over French to make it 16-8 six matches into the meet.

Mastny responded with a fall in 3:07 over Brody D’Orazio at 215 and Keigher answered with a 10-2 major decision over Eckman before the Hurricanes claimed wins in the next three matches as Spiniolas won a 12-0 major decision over Piatak, Hagevold followed with a 24-13 major decision over Petersen at 113 in a matchup of two-time state medalists which included a deduction of one team point against the Hurricanes and then Teunissen was a winner by fall over Lindemuth in 2:23 to put Marian Central Catholic up 27-20 with three matches left.

However, Coal City responded to the seven-point deficit with a fall from Morris in 3:46 over Zane Mochocki at 126 and Munsterman followed with a 3-2 decision over Marchese to put his team up at 29-27 before Widlowski wrapped up the victory with a fall in 0:47 over Cerny.

Quarterfinal Meet – Vandalia 52, Chicago Hope Academy 18

Chicago Hope Academy, making its first state appearance since 2018, won three of the first seven matches of its quarterfinals meet against Vandalia to only trail the state’s top-ranked team 17-15 at the midway mark. But it was all Vandals after that as they won six of the last seven matches to capture a 52-18 victory that assured the program of its 11th IHSA trophy.

All-stater Josiah Willis gave the Eagles (31-10) the early lead at 138 when he opened with a 16-6 major decision over Matthews, but the Vandals responded as Yarbrough won a 14-4 major decision over Dylan Galvez, Hinton captured a 12-0 major decision over Santori Knight and Ray recorded a fall in 3:14 over Tony Jones-Blakely.

Chicago Hope Academy won two of the next three matches as state medalist Arkail Griffin got a victory by technical fall over Mustafa at 165 before Miller answered with an 8-2 decision over Ismael Martinez. Ismael Montero won by fall in 2:32 over Gabe Torres to make it 17-15 and then Tidwell responded with a pin in 1:40 over Mastewal Evely and IHSA runner-up and two-time all-stater Roy Phelps gave the Eagles their last victory with an 11-4 decision over Swyers.

Evans got a win by technical fall over Indigo Berg and then the Waughtel brothers. Preston and Tyson, collected forfeit victories before Mabry concluded the meet with a fall in 0:37 over Mike Garcia to set the stage for the Vandals’ semifinal against Unity and title meet with Coal City.

Coach Dan Willis’ Eagles concluded a successful season where they had nine state qualifiers, three all-staters and Phelps competed for the IHSA title at 285. The 31 victories was the most that they’ve had in the 14 years that he’s led the program. Hopes are high for continued success in 2025-26 since the team had only four seniors, Andrew Payne, Jones-Blakely, Montero and Phelps and state medalists Griffin and Willis as well as qualifiers Nolan Callahan, Berg, Galvez, Knight and Martinez all return next season and five of them or freshmen or sophomores.

“We’re super proud of these guys,” Dan Willis said. “They’ve been committed and they’ve been faithful. Obviously we don’t have a lot of fans in the stands like a lot of these small towns. Our guys have overcome a lot. This is family to them and it’s really special. I’ll remember their commitment, I’ll remember them overcoming and I’ll remember their excitement and coming off the mat to each other, it was a lot of fun.” 

Quarterfinal Meet – Unity 40, Oregon 35

Oregon made its first appearance in the IHSA Dual Team Finals since 2008, which was the year that it completed a 12-year run when it captured eight state trophies. But the Hawks (27-5) missed out on a trophy for the first time in their history after running into a red-hot Unity team that followed up on a 40-35 quarterfinals victory by putting up a good fight against top-ranked Vandalia before falling 33-30 in the semifinals and eventually finishing in fourth place. 

The Rockets won the first eight matches against Oregon to grab a 40-0 advantage and after the Hawks picked up a couple of victories, its last four wins came by way of forfeits.

Finley opened with an 11-9 decision over Levi Benton at 138 before Inman got a pin in 3:50 over Jackson Messenger, Brazelton followed with a forfeit win and Germano won by fall in 3:56 over Jayden Berry to make it 21-0 following the first four matches.

Heath captured a 14-7 decision over Ethan Mowry at 165, Davidson won a 15-7 major decision over Andrew Young, Rink won by fall in 3:46 over Seth Rote and Eastin recorded a pin in 1:50 over Landen Elder to give the Rockets a 40-0 lead.

Briggs Sellers gave the Hawks their first victory with a pin in 2:14 over Chason Daly at 285 and Jordan Lowe followed with a win by technical fall over Abon. All-stater Josiah Perez, Isaiah Perez, Preston LaBay and Nelson Benesh all received forfeit wins to conclude a memorable season for coach Justin Lahman’s Hawks, who avenged an earlier loss to Newman Central Catholic with a win in their own sectional to earn their first trip to Dual Team since in 17 years.

Lahman, who has an 82-31 record in four seasons at Oregon with this season’s team having the most victories, who lose nine seniors to graduation, but all-stater Josiah Perez and state qualifiers Nelson Benesh and Isaiah Perez all return, as do nine others so the Hawks are hopeful that they won’t have to wait 17 more years before their next state appearance.  

“We knew that they were going to be a tough team and we had to wrestle lights out,” Lahman said. “It’s a neat arena down here so a lot of our young guys maybe haven’t competed in something this big, so I don’t know if that got to us a little bit. We wrestled pretty well, it just wasn’t our day. We lose a good group of seniors, but we have a lot of little guys coming back. It was a great year. We had a heck of a fan crew down here coming down to support us. Our little kids program, the support is there and the fans are there, now it’s our job to go out and perform and have some fun.”

Quarterfinal Meet – Marian Central Catholic 51, Murphysboro 18

Murphysboro made its first appearance in the IHSA Dual Team Finals since 2016, when it took third place and it was again led to state by coach Shea Baker, who was also a member of its only other state qualifying team in 2009.

The 25-6 Red Devils fell 51-18 in the quarterfinals to Marian Central Catholic, who hoped to repeat as Class 1A champions, but fell short of that goal after losing 35-27 to eventual champion Coal City in the semifinals before beating Unity 44-24 to claim third place.

The teams exchanged victories by technical fall in the first two matches as Alvarado beat Lemar Treshansky at 138 before Bryce Edwards defeated Cerny. Marian Central Catholic won the next three matches as Williams won by fall in 0:51 over Patrick Dover, Cassels got a win by technical fall over Sayvair Williams and Astacio also won by technical fall over Maxon Stearns.

Logan Tanner claimed a 12-3 major decision over Sarfo for Murphysboro’s second victory but Mastny answered with a fall in 0:31 over Nick Christopher and French won by technical fall over Caybren Hubbard to expand the Hurricanes’ lead to 32-9. 

Julien Tanner won 6-3 by sudden victory over Eckman at 285 before Spiniolas claimed a victory by technical fall over Jerry Moreno and Hagevold won in the same fashion over Paxton Pyatt.

Teunissen got a fall in 3:23 over Kaiden Richards and Marchese won 9-6 by sudden victory over Sergio Garcia before Aiston Holt recorded a pin in 1:42 over Mochocki in the finale to give Murphysboro an additional win. The future looks bright for the Red Devils since they only had three seniors on their tournament roster, state qualifier Edwards as well as Holt and Richards.

Three other state qualifiers, Pyatt, Stearns and Tanner will return next season.

The Red Devils have had back-to-back 25 win seasons, which is their best record since they went 28-5 in 2016 and claimed their only trophy with a third-place finish. In 2009, Baker, a three-time medalist, won a state championship and was a member of the school’s first team that qualified for dual team state, which was coached by his uncle, Dan Baker.

“It’s been awhile since we’ve been back up here, but it was nice to be here competing and the kids did a good job and they battled hard,” Baker said. “I felt like we had a real good sophomore class and we have some young kids coming in. I think we have a good shot to be just as good, if not better, next year. So we’re going to keep improving and hopefully build on this momentum. This was actually the third time in Murphysboro history of being up here. Our individuals did good and we’ll keep growing and the trajectory is going up right now.”

Quarterfinal Meet – Coal City 53, Olympia 22

Olympia qualified for the IHSA 1A Dual Team Finals for the first time since 2017 but coach Josh Collins’ Spartans (25-7)  ran into a Coal City team that featured numerous individuals who got to experience the thrill of winning the 2023 1A championship and the dejection of settling for second place last season who eventually achieved their goal of winning another state title.

The Coalers opened their state finals run toward a second title in three years by winning seven of the first eight matches to grab a 39-6 advantage and coach Mark Masters’ team went on to capture a 53-22 victory in the quarterfinals over the Spartans to assure themselves of claiming their eighth IHSA trophy in the last 10 seasons.

Widlowski started things off for Coal City with a win by technical fall over Cooper Phillips at 138, Kenney followed with a fall in 3:25 over Austin Kisner and Houston also collected a victory by technical fall over Kaden Collins to give their team a quick 16-0 advantage.

After Kelton Graden recorded a fall in 0:36 over Garner for Olympia’s first win at 157, Finch won with a pin over Kayden Thomas in 0:28, Benson claimed a win by technical fall over Isaac Warnock, Poyner was a winner by fall in 2:58 over Zach Fry and Keigher got a pin in 1:38 over Cohen Maness to help the Coalers expand their lead to 39-6.

The Spartans captured three of the next four matches as Darian Holloway won by fall in 3:09 over Waliczek at 285 and all-stater Brandon Gaither got a victory by technical fall over Piatak before Petersen countered with a win by technical fall over Tucker Garey and then three-time medalist Dylan Eimer concluded his career with a win by technical fall over Dominic Grassity.

Coal City closed things out with Lindemuth winning a 12-7 decision over Mateo Martinez and Munsterman claimed a victory by technical fall over Kenzer Burrell in the last match.

The good news for the Spartans is that they only had five seniors on the state finals roster, Mya Downs, Eimer, Graden, Martinez and Phillips. Gaither will lead the way for the 16 individuals who were on the state team and all but three of those are sophomores or freshmen.

This is the second year in a row the Olympia has had 25 or more victories and it also had 24 wins in 2022. Now that the Spartans have gotten back to state for the first time since 2017, the next step is achieving what the 2017 team accomplished, which is placing, and that one of the four that have won trophies and Collins, whose in his fifth season as head coach, was on the other three trophy-winning teams from 1999-2001 when he won two titles and was a runner-up for coach Mike Manahan, who was an IWCOA Lifetime Service Award recipient in 2005.

“This year was full of ups and downs for our team,” Collins said. “We fought through some injuries early in the season, but we were able to push through, and get everyone healthy at the right time, and win our regional, qualify for dual team sectionals as well as dual team state. We knew we were facing a tough Coal City team. We didn’t get the finish we’d hoped for, but I’m proud of the hard work and effort our kids put in to get there, and it will keep our young team motivated and hungry for more next season.”

Class 1A leaders in various statistics at the IHSA Dual Team Tournament included Mastny, Philpot and Teunissen leading the way in most team points with 18 while Preston Waughtel and Benson each had 17 points and Tyson Waughtel and Inman both scored 16 team points.

Hagevold led all individuals in the Dual Team Finals with 63 match points while Eastin ranked fourth with 47 points and Eastin was seventh with 45 points. Mastny and Teunissen were the only two individuals in Class 1A to collect three falls and only four others pulled off that feat. And Hagevold and Inman led all competitors in Class 1A with wins by technical fall, which was two.

IHSA Class 1A Dual Team State Tournament Results

IHSA Class 1A Championship Meet – Coal City 32, Vandalia 25

150 Dillon Hinton (Vandalia) over Noah Houston (Coal City) Dec 9-2

157 Parker Ray (Vandalia) over Mason Garner (Coal City) Dec 12-8

165 Brock Finch (Coal City) over Artan Mustafa (Vandalia) Maj 10-1

175 Landin Benson (Coal City) over Noah Langston (Vandalia) Fall 2:25

190 Cade Poyner (Coal City) over Ross Miller (Vandalia) Fall 4:36

215 John Keigher (Coal City) over Kaden Tidwell (Vandalia) Dec 10-6

285 Alec Waliczek (Coal City) over Dominic Swyers (Vandalia) TB-1 2-1

106 Aiden Evans (Vandalia) over Jason Piatak (Coal City) Maj 14-1

113 Max Philpot (Vandalia) over Owen Petersen (Coal City) Fall 1:34

120 Preston Waughtel (Vandalia) over Culan Lindemuth (Coal City) TF 22-6

126 Tyson Waughtel (Vandalia) over Cooper Morris (Coal City) Maj 8-0

132 Luke Munsterman (Coal City) over Elijah Mabry (Vandalia) Dec 4-2

138 Brody Widlowski (Coal City) over Brody Matthews (Vandalia) Maj 10-2

144 Aidan Kenney (Coal City) over Cole Yarbrough (Vandalia) Dec 9-4

IHSA Class 1A Third-Place Meet – Marian Central Catholic 44, Unity 24

150 Vance Williams (Marian Central Catholic) over Holden Brazelton (Unity) Dec 9-8

157 Keegan Germano (Unity) over Connor Cassels (Marian Central Catholic) TF 19-4

165 Nick Astacio (Marian Central Catholic) over Abram Davidson (Unity) Maj 14-5

175 Ryan Rink (Unity) over Sam Sarfo (Marian Central Catholic) Fall 1:22

190 Jimmy Mastny (Marian Central Catholic) over Bradley Smith (Unity) Fall 1:26

215 Hunter Eastin (Unity) over Dan French (Marian Central Catholic) TF 21-2

285 Kaleb Eckman (Marian Central Catholic) over Jaden Dene (Unity) Fall 2:00

106 Diego Martinez (Marian Central Catholic) over Vince Abon (Unity) TF 18-1

113 Camden Spiniolas (Marian Central Catholic) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

120 Austin Hagevold (Marian Central Catholic) over Zayden Mansfield (Unity) TF 19-3

126 Brayden Teunissen (Marian Central Catholic) over Bryce Martin (Unity) Fall 1:22

132 Nick Marchese (Marian Central Catholic) over Hunter Shike (Unity) Dec 3-1

138 Taylor Finley (Unity) over Andrew Alvarado (Marian Central Catholic) Dec 7-2

144 Kaden Inman (Unity) over Noah Cerny (Marian Central Catholic) TF 19-4

IHSA Class 1A Semifinal Meet – Vandalia 33, Unity 30

144 Kaden Inman (Unity) over Keagan Turner (Vandalia) TF 16-1

150 Holden Brazelton (Unity) over Dillon Hinton (Vandalia) Dec 6-2

157 Josh Heath (Unity) over Dade Kleinik (Vandalia) Dec 8-1

165 Keegan Germano (Unity) over Parker Ray (Vandalia) Maj 10-1

175 Abram Davidson (Unity) over Artan Mustafa (Vandalia) TF 17-1

190 Ross Miller (Vandalia) over Ryan Rink (Unity) Dec 7-5

215 Hunter Eastin (Unity) over Kaden Tidwell (Vandalia) Maj 17-5

285 Dominic Swyers (Vandalia) over Jaden Dene (Unity) Dec 3-0

106 Aiden Evans (Vandalia) over Vince Abon (Unity) Fall 0:45

113 Max Philpot (Vandalia) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

120 Robert McCoy (Vandalia) over Bryce Martin (Unity) Dec 9-4

126 Preston Waughtel (Vandalia) over Zayden Mansfield (Unity) Fall 4:45

132 Tyson Waughtel (Vandalia) over Hunter Shike (Unity) Fall 0:58

138 Taylor Finley (Unity) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

IHSA Class 1A Semifinal Meet – Coal City 35, Marian Central Catholic 27

144 Aidan Kenney (Coal City) over Andrew Alvarado (Marian Central Catholic) Dec 5-4

150 Vance Williams (Marian Central Catholic) over Noah Houston (Coal City) TF 17-2

157 Mason Garner (Coal City) over Connor Cassels (Marian Central Catholic) Maj 15-5

165 Nick Astacio (Marian Central Catholic) over Brock Finch (Coal City) Dec 6-3

175 Landin Benson (Coal City) over Sam Sarfo (Marian Central Catholic) Fall 0:44

190 Cade Poyner (Coal City) over Dan French (Marian Central Catholic) Dec 8-2

215 Jimmy Mastny (Marian Central Catholic) over Brody D`Orazio (Coal City) Fall 3:07

285 John Keigher (Coal City) over Kaleb Eckman (Marian Central Catholic) Maj 10-2

106 Camden Spiniolas (Marian Central Catholic) over Jason Piatak (Coal City) Maj 12-0

113 Austin Hagevold (Marian Central Catholic) over Owen Petersen (Coal City) Maj 24-13

120 Brayden Teunissen (Marian Central Catholic) over Culan Lindemuth (Coal City) Fall 2:23

126 Cooper Morris (Coal City) over Zane Mochocki (Marian Central Catholic) Fall 3:46

132 Luke Munsterman (Coal City) over Nick Marchese (Marian Central Catholic) Dec 3-2

138 Brody Widlowski (Coal City) over Noah Cerny (Marian Central Catholic) Fall 0:47

IHSA Class 1A Quarterfinal Meet – Vandalia 52, Chicago Hope Academy 18

138 Josiah Willis (Chicago Hope Academy) over Brody Matthews (Vandalia) Maj 16-6

144 Cole Yarbrough (Vandalia) over Dylan Galvez (Chicago Hope Academy) Maj 14-4

150 Dillon Hinton (Vandalia) over Santori Knight (Chicago Hope Academy) Maj 12-0

157 Parker Ray (Vandalia) over Tony Jones-Blakely (Chicago Hope Academy) Fall 3:14

165 Arkail Griffin (Chicago Hope Academy) over Artan Mustafa (Vandalia) TF 17-1

175 Ross Miller (Vandalia) over Ismael Martinez (Chicago Hope Academy) Dec 8-2

190 Ismael Montero (Chicago Hope Academy) over Gabe Torres (Vandalia) Fall 2:32

215 Kaden Tidwell (Vandalia) over Mastewal Evely (Chicago Hope Academy) Fall 1:40

285 Roy Phelps (Chicago Hope Academy) over Dominic Swyers (Vandalia) Dec 11-4

106 Aiden Evans (Vandalia) over Indigo Berg (Chicago Hope Academy) TF 16-0

113 Max Philpot (Vandalia) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

120 Preston Waughtel (Vandalia) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

126 Tyson Waughtel (Vandalia) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

132 Elijah Mabry (Vandalia) over Mike Garcia (Chicago Hope Academy) Fall 0:37

IHSA Class 1A Quarterfinal Meet – Unity 40, Oregon 35

138 Taylor Finley (Unity) over Levi Benton (Oregon) Dec 11-9

144 Kaden Inman (Unity) over Jackson Messenger (Oregon) Fall 3:50

150 Holden Brazelton (Unity) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

157 Keegan Germano (Unity) over Jayden Berry (Oregon) Fall 3:56

165 Josh Heath (Unity) over Ethan Mowry (Oregon) Dec 14-7

175 Abram Davidson (Unity) over Andrew Young (Oregon) Maj 15-7

190 Ryan Rink (Unity) over Seth Rote (Oregon) Fall 3:46

215 Hunter Eastin (Unity) over Landen Elder (Oregon) Fall 1:50

285 Briggs Sellers (Oregon) over Chason Daly (Unity) Fall 2:14

106 Jordan Lowe (Oregon) over Vince Abon (Unity) TF 16-1

113 Josiah Perez (Oregon) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

120 Isaiah Perez (Oregon) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

126 Preston LaBay (Oregon) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

132 Nelson Benesh (Oregon) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

IHSA Class 1A Quarterfinal Meet – Marian Central Catholic 51, Murphysboro 18

138 Andrew Alvarado (Marian Central Catholic) over Lemar Treshansky (Murphysboro) TF 19-4

144 Bryce Edwards (Murphysboro) over Noah Cerny (Marian Central Catholic) TF 18-3

150 Vance Williams (Marian Central Catholic) over Patrick Dover (Murphysboro) Fall 0:51

157 Connor Cassels (Marian Central Catholic) over Sayvair Williams (Murphysboro) TF 22-7

165 Nick Astacio (Marian Central Catholic) over Maxon Stearns (Murphysboro) TF 15-0

175 Logan Tanner (Murphysboro) over Sam Sarfo (Marian Central Catholic) Maj 12-3

190 Jimmy Mastny (Marian Central Catholic) over Nick Christopher (Murphysboro) Fall 0:31

215 Dan French (Marian Central Catholic) over Caybren Hubbard (Murphysboro) TF 19-2

285 Julien Tanner (Murphysboro) over Kaleb Eckman (Marian Central Catholic) SV-1 6-3

106 Camden Spiniolas (Marian Central Catholic) over Jerry Moreno (Murphysboro) TF 15-0

113 Austin Hagevold (Marian Central Catholic) over Paxton Pyatt (Murphysboro) TF 20-3

120 Brayden Teunissen (Marian Central Catholic) over Kaiden Richards (Murphysboro) Fall 3:23

126 Nick Marchese (Marian Central Catholic) over Sergio Garcia (Murphysboro) SV-1 9-6

132 Aiston Holt (Murphysboro) over Zane Mochocki (Marian Central Catholic) Fall 1:42

IHSA Class 1A Quarterfinal Meet – Coal City 53, Olympia 22

138 Brody Widlowski (Coal City) over Cooper Phillips (Olympia) TF 18-2

144 Aidan Kenney (Coal City) over Austin Kisner (Olympia) Fall 3:25

150 Noah Houston (Coal City) over Kaden Collins (Olympia) TF 20-4

157 Kelton Graden (Olympia) over Mason Garner (Coal City) Fall 0:36

165 Brock Finch (Coal City) over Kayden Thomas (Olympia) Fall 0:28

175 Landin Benson (Coal City) over Isaac Warnock (Olympia) Fall

190 Cade Poyner (Coal City) over Zach Fry (Olympia) Fall 2:58

215 John Keigher (Coal City) over Cohen Maness (Olympia) Fall 1:38

285 Darian Holloway (Olympia) over Alec Waliczek (Coal City) Fall 3:09

106 Brandon Gaither (Olympia) over Jason Piatak (Coal City) TF 17-1

113 Owen Petersen (Coal City) over Tucker Garey (Olympia) TF 16-1

120 Dylan Eimer (Olympia) over Dominic Grassity (Coal City) TF 18-3

126 Culan Lindemuth (Coal City) over Mateo Martinez (Olympia) Dec 12-7

132 Luke Munsterman (Coal City) over Kenzer Burrell (Olympia) TF 17-1

Coal City IHSA Dual Team finishes in the last 10 seasons for Mark Masters

2025 1st in 1A beat Vandalia 32-25 for state title

2024 2nd in 1A lost to Marian Central Catholic 34-27 for state title

2023 1st in 1A beat Yorkville Christian 32-31 for state title

2020 2nd in 1A lost to Dakota 40-19 for state title

2019 2nd in 2A lost to Washington 45-21 for state title

2018 3rd in 1A beat Althoff Catholic 36-34 for third place

2016 2nd in 1A lost to Dakota 31-30 for state title

2015 3rd in 1A beat Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 40-31 for third place