District 230 wins Batavia Invitational
By Chris Walker for the IWCOA
Nola Oben has bounced back and forth between sports as the seasons have changed, trying different things during her time at Carl Sandburg in Orland Park.
Oben didn’t return to the wrestling team for the District 230 co-op after her sophomore season, but she’s back now this winter as a senior.
On Friday night she was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Batavia Invitational, winning the 155-pound title while also helping her co-op team, which is made up of athletes from Andrew, Sandburg and Stagg, win the team title.
“I did volleyball when I was a freshman but that didn’t go really well, and I’ve done track all my years here,” she said. “I started flag football junior year and I did wrestling sophomore year but didn’t do it last year. So this is my second year doing wrestling. I’m mostly in track and then wrestling and flag football are my other main sports. Wrestling makes me happy and I’m happy being surrounded by my teammates that help me, and I’m really proud of them.”
Sophia Figueroa had District 230 co-op’s first of four victories in title matches, winning at 115 with a pin of Naperville Central’s Gracie Meluch in 3:50.
“That was my first time ever going against Naperville Central,” Figueroa said. I got headlocked and made a few silly mistakes, but was able to come back from a seven-point lead on her part, and I was able to pin her.”
Alyssa Keane pinned all four of her opponents to win the 135 title for District 230. DeKalb’s Lana Zimmerman was her only opponent to stretch their match into the second period.
“Hopefully I’m bringing my game back up because since we went to Ironman I got a concussion and I’ve had to recover from that,” Keane said. “Now I’m back on my game and I did pretty well.”
Emma “Manny” Akpan had three pins before earning a 7-2 decision against Kaneland’s Sadie Kinsella in the 190 title match.
“The main reason we’re so successful is because this team is a very odd bunch of people,” Akpan said. “We’ve got a very mixed bag of personalities, backgrounds, types. It’s just so amazing to mix so many types of people into one amazing sport which a lot of people look over, and it’s honestly awesome.”
As a two-time all-stater who took fourth in the state at 190 last year, Akpan appears to be set to finish strong.
“My year has been going great,” she said. “After Ironman it’s just been wins after wins. I got in my mindset I’ve got everything the way I want it to be and everything in this team I want it to be. It’s just great just being here and experiencing this with my entire team. I love everyone on it.”
District 230 co-op won with 198 points. Host Batavia was the runner-up with 153.5.
Saja Bader (120) took second, Tatum De La Vega (105) and Adrianna Vela (170) won their third-place matches and Piper Booe (130) placed fifth.
“I love being together with this team,” Akpan said. “Even if we’re a little crabby from the school day, as soon as we get in the room and see everyone the mood just goes up and we’re just excited to be there with all of my teammates. Being together is such an amazing experience.”
Altogether, District 230 co-op had eight kids who placed among the top five in their weight class.
“I’m super proud of all of them,” Keane said. “They worked really hard, especially coming on a Friday after a whole day of school and just being mentally prepared to come here to wrestle. Just really proud of them.”
And there’s no doubt that the team has been ecstatic to have Oben back.
“Nola is just really funny so she fits in really well with the team,” Figueroa said. “We’re all very supportive of each other inside the practice room and outside of the practice room, which I believe helps a ton.”
Batavia’s Lily Enos, who took third in the state at 100 last season, earned a tech fall victory over Yorkville’s Analiese Garretson to help the Bulldogs take second place. Batavia had eight girls finish among the top five, including second-place Annabelle Guthke (145) and third-place Caoimhe Mitchell (155). Natalie Lenart (125), Emma Abbate (170) and Jamie Gabriel (190) were fourth and Yasmin Lopes (135) and Eli Landgrebe (120) took fifth.
Kaneland finished in fifth place with 127.5 points and had a pair of tournament champions in Angelina Gochis (110) and Brooklyn Sheaffer (125).
Gochis, who won a state title at 105 last February, had three straight tech fall wins, including over Lyons’ Avi Gonzalez in the final at Batavia.
Sheaffer had three consecutive pins to push her into the final where she scored an 11-0 major decision against Lemont’s Molly O’Connor.
“It was great, but a little hard coming here after school and getting the energy to come here.”
Sheaffer said. “It was a good tournament. I’m happy I got some good matches in. Started off a little slow but picked it up in the end which is all that matters. I think this was the first (tournament on Friday we’ve had). We normally don’t wrestle after school unless it’s a dual so it was our first tournament on a Friday so I was really proud with how our girls did.”
After losing to Keane from District 230 co-op in the semifinals at 135, Kaneland senior Dyani Torres rebounded to beat Huntley’s Grecia Garcia for third place
“This year I’m going up three weight classes so it’s a big difference but I’m feeling comfortable where I’m at right now,” Torres said. “I was thinking I wanted to drop weight again but I feel comfortable with where I’m at so I don’t have to deplete my body and it’s my last year, senior year so I wanted to finish whatever these girls throw at me technique so I’m ready to work on that.”
She knows time is limited now. We’re already at the latter part of the month of January and the post-season is nearing.
“Everyone starts grinding right now and if you’re not in that mentality I don’t know what you should be doing,” Torres said “You’ve got to be in that mentality that it’s time to kick it up a notch. Everyone should be lighting up that fire right now especially towards the end off the season.”
The Knights had eight wrestlers in action, including Sadie Kinsella (190) who placed second and Caitlyn Manier (155), who took fourth.
“A lot of girls have gone through injuries this year and personal issues have come out and some have taken some time off and everything, but everyone came back today and battled,” Torres said. “Sadie (Kinsella) did super well. She had a real big match in the finals and proud of her especially.”
As teams grow, this sport is growing. That’s apparent in Maple Park.
“I love our team dynamic,” Sheaffer said. “We definitely grew in numbers this year with six last year and almost a full roster now. It’s great. Me and Dyani (Torres) were here at the start of Kaneland wrestling and I would say our team has kept building up and kept building and now we have a great team and a really good team dynamic. I think we all are building off of each other. All of our coaches are great and it’s really a good environment.”
Third-place West Aurora had seven medal winners in the top six of their weight classes, including individual champions Kameyah Young (105) and Brittany Moran (235).
After just falling short of a state title last February, West Aurora senior Young (25-1) has had her sights on returning to the championship match, and winning it this time.
“I’ve been using these tournaments for practice for state and regionals and having that goal of a state championship this year,” she said. “Last year I was a little hesitant in my wrestling and it affected me a little bit. The big difference between last year and this year is mainly my confidence and my shots.”
Young got taken to the limit, earning a 6-3 sudden victory over DeKalb junior Alex Gregorio-Perez, in the 105 final.
“It was a tough match,” Young said. “I had gotten two stalling calls so it was 2-0 and then I got a takedown so 3-2 and then we tied up at 3-3 and went into overtime. It was a very tough match. I won by a slide.”
It was just a few years ago that Young decided to give this girls wrestling sport a whirl. Now she’s one of the state’s best at it.
“My brother was a wrestler and he inspired me to do it and try it out,” she said. “I started my freshman year and it’s senior year now.”
Moran won her title at 235 with a fall against DeKalb’s Aarianna Bloyd at 5:15, with Young sitting mat-side to see it.
“I love to support my team and try to watch all my teammates that I can,” Young said. “I ended up getting to see Brittney. I’m so proud of her for winning that match. That was a big match for her.”
Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal pinned teammate Melissa Melgar (100) in 1:44 to win the third-place match at 100 for the Blackhawks. They also received strong efforts from Diana Llanos (110), who took third, as well as as fifth-place Lailonie Molina (115) and sixth-place finishers
Kaylee Martinez (120) and Giselle Marin-Carrasco (140).
The Blackhawks finished in third place with 137 points, just getting past DeKalb which took fourth place with 136.
The Barbs had four girls advance to the finals with Reese Zimmer capturing the 120-pound title with a major decision over District 230 co-op’s Saja Bader. Alex Gregorio-Perez (105), Lana Zimmerman (135) and Aarianna Bloyd (235) each took second place. Valeria Lopez (110) took fourth place for the Barbs while Molly Kraft (235) was fifth and Kayden Johnson (155) took sixth.
Glenbard North junior Keagan Edwards (130) showed Friday that she is one heck of a wrestler.
She pinned Huntley’s Amanda Wiktor (3:13), West Aurora’s Ariana Rivera (0:21), Joliet Catholic Academy’s Grace Laird (3:20) to advance to the finals where she also pinned Huntley’s Aubrie Rohrbacher (3:12).
Edwards is also using wrestling as an academic aid.
“I’m a total math nerd,” she said. “My dad (Chris Edwards) also teaches math and aerospace engineering is something I’m extremely interested in doing. I’ve always loved math and science – that’s where my goal is at in the future. Wrestling, I think, helps me in school. It gets my energy up and I’ve learned to be determined and focused on what I need to do.”
Edwards got a small taste in the sport when she was eight years old but didn’t fully become engrossed with wrestling until she arrived at her school in Carol Stream.
“I wrestled for like a year when I was younger because my brothers did it,” she said. “I was like eight years old and my dad didn’t want me to wrestle because I was a girl and at that time it was more of a boys sport and then I stopped. I got back and then I started wrestling again basically for the first time my freshmen year. Honestly, it’s just been a lot of work so I started it for fun because my brothers did it and my dad is the girls coach and it’s just been so much fun everyday going to practice and all he stuff at Glenbard North. I love the environment.”
Her title bout against Rohrbacher was a back-and-forth affair for a few minutes before Edwards stuck her early in the second period.
“We each had takedowns and there was a lot of hand fighting, a lot of scrambling on the ground,” Edwards explained. “She was getting back points for a few seconds and then I rolled through on a cradle and stuck her on her back.”
Certainly a nice win for Edwards, but also just a step along the way towards greater things.
“I still have improvements to make,” she said. “I’m excited to get better. I never want to be complacent with where I’m at. I always want to be training to become the best of anything I can be at all the stuff I do.”
The title match at 145 in Batavia carried with it a bit of revenge.
Lake Park senior Joscelin Ritthamel (145) was not happy with herself the last time she wrestled Batavia junior Anabelle Guthke in a DuKane Conference match. This time, Ritthamel prevailed 10-4, and did so against an opponent in Guthke who had the benefit of competing at home.
“We had a dual at conference that I lost,” Ritthamel said. “I wasn’t in a good spot at that time and today I was like if I have to wrestle her I want to win, that was my main goal. I knew she was going to be here and I came out for blood definitely. I really wanted to show that I wasn’t the pathetic wrestler on the mat the first time that I am actually what I’ve worked myself to be.”
Confidence has been a key to her growth.
“I feel like a lot of wrestlers when they first start they think I can’t do this because it’s definitely a mental, physical and emotionally challenging sport,” Ritthamel said. “But it’s like as you keep coming out to practice you keep doing these tournaments, these meets and keep winning and keep seeing that oh I can do this and that confidence starts to build. You have to keep telling yourself I can. That’s how I got to where I am now. I had to keep reminding myself that I can do this. I’ve put myself through these things before, I know I how to get out of them, I know I can do it.
After trying out wrestling as a sixth grader, a variety of factors pushed Ritthamel away from the sport until she arrived at Lake Park.
“I wasn’t as much into the sport when I started as I wished I was, but then I got a head injury and it took me out and then Covid happened and then I moved and came to Lake Park and they didn’t have a girls team yet,” she said. “It was my freshman year and I really wanted to get back into wrestling. My dad didn’t let me so I was a manager and then I got insider information from all the coaches that they were planning on having a girls team, and I was like, this is my name, let me help advocate to get this girls team. I want to really wrestle. Then my sophomore year they got a girls team and I’ve been wrestling ever since.”
Sixth-place Oswego East (117.5) saw Wolves sophomore Quinn Janssens overwhelmed her opponents at 140. Janssens pinned Batavia’s Lizzy Beling (0:27), Kaneland’s Chloe Cervantes (0:38), Lake Park’s Ava Burns (0:18) and McHenry’s Natalie Corona (2:34).
Her teammate Jessica Stover also had a fantastic Friday en rout to the title at 170. Stover opened with a pin of McHenry’s Tania Garcia (0:53) and West Aurora’s Reyna Equivel (1:57) before outlasting Batavia’s Emma Abbate, 12-11 in the semifinals. Stover pinned Yorkville’s Janiah Murray in 3:50 to win the title.
Huntley followed the Wolves in seventh place with 108 points, followed by East Aurora 106, Naperville Central 90.5, McHenry 83, Glenbard North 82, Yorkville 66, Lake Park 61, Lyons 53, Lemont 41, Jacobs 40 and Harlem 22.
Individual highlights:
Oswego East’s Quinn Janssens finished with the most pins (4) in the least time (3:57), while Kaneland’s Angelina Gochis posted the most tech falls (3) in the least time (3:56). Jacobs’ Denise Bowling posted the fastest fall at 15 seconds, and Gochis had the fastest tech fall at 1:06.
Five wrestlers tied with 30 for the most team points contributed by a wrestler, in Glenbard North’s Keagan Edwards, West Aurora’s Brittney Moran, District 230’s Alyssa Keane and Nola Oben, and Oswego East’s Janssens. Oswego East’s Jessica Stover scored the most single-match points with 25 and the most total-match points with 61.
District 230’s Piper Booe provided the largest seed-place difference in the tournament, as the No. 16 seed placed fifth at 130 pounds.
Batavia tournament results:
100
1st: Lily Enos (Batavia) 34-3, d. Analiese Garretson (Yorkville) 18-8, (TF 4:54 (21-3)
3rd: Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal (W Aurora) 13-9, d. Melissa Melgar (W Aurora) 16-10, (F 1:44)
5th: Annika Hull (Naperville C) 23-9, d. Joselyn Llanos (E Aurora) 16-8, (F 1:46)
105
1st: Kameyah Young (W Aurora) 25-1, d. Alex Gregorio-Perez (DeKalb) 36-3, (SV-1 6-3)
3rd: Tatum De La Vega (District 230) 21-10, d. Ariana Baier (Lemont) 24-7, (MD 14-0)
5th: Julia Felton (Algonquin (Jacobs) 14-6, d. Cristal Jacinto (Glenbard N) 20-8, (F 1:16)
110
1st: Angelina Gochis (Kaneland) 21-0, d. Avi Gonzalez (LaGrange (Lyons) 12-4, (TF 1:27 (19-4)
3rd: Diana Llanos (W Aurora) 17-10, d. Valeria Lopez (DeKalb) 16-12, (Dec 5-2)
5th: Kassandra Reyes (E Aurora) 8-6, d. Anna Gonzalez (Glenbard N) 11-10, (F 1:32)
115
1st: Sophia Figueroa (District 230) 28-9, d. Gracie Meluch (Naperville C) 20-9, (F 3:50)
3rd: Donna Garcia (Huntley) 16-10, d. Ashley Uhler (LaGrange (Lyons) 9-4, (TF 4:00 (18-2)
5th: Lailonie Molina (W Aurora) 19-10, d. Alexa Colin Garcia (McHenry) 20-8, . (F 2:23)
120
1st: Reese Zimmer (DeKalb) 32-7, d. Saja Bader (District 230) 17-8, (MD 11-3)
3rd: Ellen Purl (Naperville C) 24-9, d. Payton Lustrup (Oswego E) 19-14, (F 1:46)
5th: Eli Landgrebe (Batavia) 19-16, d. Kaylee Martinez (W Aurora) 10-6, (Dec 12-6)
125
1st: Brooklyn Sheaffer (Kaneland) 26-2, d. Molly O`Connor (Lemont) 35-5, (MD 11-0)
3rd: Dezi Azar (Naperville C) 26-4, d. Natalie Lenart (Batavia) 21-11, (F 2:50)
5th: Mia Nevarez (Oswego E) 27-10, d. Addison Hodges (McHenry) 9-3, . (F 3:30)
130
1st: Keagan Edwards (Glenbard N) 32-5, d. Aubrie Rohrbacher (Huntley) 29-7, (F 3:12)
3rd: Grace Laird (Joliet Cath) 13-3, d. Lupita Garcia (E Aurora) 15-9, (F 1:05)
5th: Piper Booe (District 230) 19-12, d. Amanda Wiktor (Huntley) 3-2, (F 0:48)
135
1st: Alyssa Keane (District 230) 30-3, d. Lana Zimmerman (DeKalb) 31-7, (F 2:34)
3rd: Dyani Torres (Kaneland) 26-8, d. Grecia Garcia (Huntley) 19-8, (Dec 3-2)
5th: Yasmin Lopes (Batavia) 21-7, d. Brooke Coy (Yorkville) 7-2, (F 2:25)
140
1st: Quinn Janssens (Oswego E) 34-2, d. Natalie Corona (McHenry) 26-4, . (F 2:34)
3rd: Ava Burns (Lake Park) 25-6, d. Suzanne Stalley (Glenbard N) 26-12, (F 3:12)
5th: Arianna Rico (Naperville C) 23-12, d. Giselle Marin-Carrasco (W Aurora) 20-9, (F 3:29)
145
1st: Joscelin Ritthamel (Lake Park) 31-5, d. Anabelle Guthke (Batavia) 26-9, (Dec 10-4)
3rd: Ella Cooper (Oswego E) 20-11, d. Nermina Rustemi (Lake Park) 2-2, (F 2:36)
5th: Giovanna Sampognaro (Lake Park) 4-1, d. Abigail Ward (Huntley) 4-6, (F 2:25)
155
1st: Nola Oben (District 230) 32-6, d. Desiree Bowling (Algonquin (Jacobs) 8-2, (F 1:30)
3rd: Caoimhe Mitchell (Batavia) 22-11, d. Caitlyn Manier (Kaneland) 16-8, (F 1:21)
5th: Noreidy Ruiz (E Aurora) 12-9, d. Kayden Johnson (DeKalb) 10-8, (F 1:23)
170
1st: Jessica Stover (Oswego E) 32-4, d. Janiah Murray (Yorkville) 11-4, . (F 3:50)
3rd: Adrianna Vela (District 230) 23-11, d. Emma Abbate (Batavia) 24-6, (Dec 9-2)
5th: Natalie Aguirre (Huntley) 23-11, d. Tania Garcia (McHenry) 14-10, . (F 2:28)
190
1st: Emma Akpan (District 230) 34-2, d. Sadie Kinsella (Kaneland) 20-7, (Dec 7-2)
3rd: Brianna Felde (Huntley) 15-9, d. Jamie Gabriel (Batavia) 19-15, (Dec 8-6)
5th: Paige Washburn (Lake Park) 4-1, d. Angelina Dimas (E Aurora) 10-8, (F 5:54)
235
1st: Brittney Moran (W Aurora) 11-2, d. Aarianna Bloyd (DeKalb) 24-10, (F 5:15)
3rd: Lilli Ortiz (E Aurora) 13-7, d. Nala Hernandez (McHenry) 16-10, . (F 2:27)
5th: Molly Kraft (DeKalb) 4-5, d. Gi Nascimento (Glenbard N) 6-6, (F 0:59)