Downstate tournaments roundup for January 7th

By Curt Herron for the IWCOA

Quincy Senior wins title at Carbondale’s Murdale Tournament

With champions Hugh Sparrow (106), Owen Uppinghouse (160) and Bryor Newbold (182) leading the way, Quincy Senior took first at Carbondale’s 61st annual Murdale Tournament.

Coach Phil Neally’s Blue Devils scored 226.5 points while Mt. Vernon was second with 176 points and Marion edged the host Terriers 134-132.5 for third. Murphysboro (119.5), Cahokia (111.5), Harrisburg (106), Anna-Jonesboro (104.5), Frankfort Community (99), Benton (92) and Carterville (92) rounded out the top 10 in the 29-team competition.

Taking second place for Quincy Senior were Gunnar Derhake (152), Gavin Schumacher (220) and Todd Smith (285) while Eli Roberts (132) was third and Brody Baker (138) and Max Miller (170) placed fourth. Finishing ninth were Wyatt Boeing (113) and Ty Moore (195).

Leading the way for coach Alejandro Wajner’s second-place Rams were champion Rider Searcy (145), runners-up Dillon White (126), Ethan Rivera (182) and Mason Randall (195) and third-place finishers Ethan Verdeyen (120) and Maddux Randall (170). Taking fifth place were Mylze Cammack (152) and Travis Sanders (220).

Top performers for coach Darren Lindsey’s third-place Wildcats were runner-up Max Wade (120) and third-place finisher Kanye Gunn (285). Finishing in fourth place was Riddick Cook (113) while Malakei Weatherly (182) and Jordyn Beverly (195) took fifth.

Leaders for coach Gerald Richards’ fourth-place Terriers were champions Brenden Banz (170) and Aiden Taylor (195) and runner-up Isaiah Duckworth (160). Aiden Murphy (138) placed third while Thomas Imboden (152) finished fourth.

Other title winners were Carlyle’s Tyson Waughtel (113), Harrisburg’s Tony Keene (120), Richland County’s Carson Bissey (126), Murphysboro’s Bryce Edwards (132), 

Mascoutah’s Santino Robinson (138), Carterville’s Riley Bradford (220), Fairfield’s Payton Allen (285) and McCracken County, KY’s James Barragan (152).

Also finishing in second place were Anna-Jonesboro’s Zoee Sadler (106) and Drew Sadler (113), Highland’s Tyson Rakers (132), Benton’s Mason Tieffel (138), Herrin’s Blue Bishop (145) and Cahokia’s Nick Deloach, Jr. (170).

Closest title matches included Bissey edging White 1-0 at 126, Barragan getting past Derhake 7-6 at 152, Edwards capturing a 4-1 decision over Rakers at 132, Newbold winning 7-4 over Rivera at 182 and Allen prevailing over Smith 5-2 at 285.

Recording falls in title matches were Keene (120), Searcy (145), Taylor (195) and Bradford (220) while Uppinghouse (160) won by technical fall and Sharrow (106), Waughtel (113) and Robinson (138) captured major decisions while Banz (170) won a 16-10 decision.

Keene (120) and Searcy (145) both recorded five falls and led all competitors with 30 team points. Uppinghouse (160), Taylor (195) and Bradford (220) tied with 29 points, Waughtel (113) had 28.5 team points, Edwards (132), Banz (170) and Newbold (182) had 28 points and Sharrow (106), Bissey (126) and Robinson (138) had 27 team points.

Six individuals left the tournament with perfect records. They are Waughtel (29-0, 1.000), Keene (24-0, 1.000), Robinson (24-0, 1.000), Uppinghouse (24-0, 1.000), Allen (23-0, 1.000) and Bissey (22-0, 1.000). In the 138 finals, Robinson handed Tieffel (36-1) his first defeat. 

Waughtel, Keene, Bissey and Taylor also won titles at the Murdale last season. Tieffel’s effort to follow up on a 2022 were dashed by Robinson 19-8 in the finals while Marion’s Kanye Gunn saw his hopes at another 285 title thwarted in the semifinals by Smith.

Other top records for finalists following the competition included Banz (30-1, .968), Searcy (27-1, .964), Bishop (19-1, .950), Drew Sadler (32-2, .941), Taylor (29-2, .935), Newbold (23-2, .920), Bradford (31-3, .912), Zoee Sadler (29-3, .906), Wade (23-3, .885), Edwards (27-4, .871) and White (26-4, .867). In the 145 finals, Searcy dealt Bishop his first loss in 20 matches.

Additional third-place finishers were Murphysboro’s Kaiden Richards (113) and Liam Fox (145), Harrisburg’s Rocko Neal (106), Anna-Jonesboro’s Daniel Dover (126), Benton’s Connor Dean (152), Carterville’s Elijah Mohring (160), Frankfort Community’s Connor Henson (182), Highland’s Ashton Zobrist (195) and Mt. Zion’s Remington Hiser (220).

Others who placed fourth were Frankfort Community’s Hayeden Hughes (106) and Brandon Turner (195), Cahokia’s Demerious Mcgill (126) and Jason Dowell (285), Anna-Jonesboro’s Brett Smith (120), Fairfield’s Talan Keoughan (160), Glenwood’s Maximus Wiezorek (182) and Murphysboro’s Wyatt Eovaldi (220).

Also finishing fifth were Murphysboro’s Jackson Graff (106) and Aiston Holt (120), Mt. Zion’s Mason Gray (113) and Tanner Conaway (170), Harrisburg’s Aiden Unthank (126), Glenwood’s Owen Ottinio (132), Fairfield’s Scotty Cuff (138), Frankfort Community’s Gavin Mann (145), Cahokia’s Kendrick Williams (160) and East St. Louis Senior’s Mekhi McDowell (285).

There was also a girls tournament that was conducted which featured individuals from 16 schools. Goreville and Mt. Vernon both had three title winners and eight other schools also had a first-place finisher.

Girls champions were Mt. Vernon’s Hannah Younger (100), Deshay Gradford (135) and Aakira Cain (235), Goreville’s Alivia Ming (140), Mikah Merrill (145) and Krista McBride (190), Frankfort Community’s Sophia Bechelli (105), Mt. Zion’s Sydney Cannon (110), Mascoutah’s Ezri Lenertz (115), Benton’s Mia Balota (120), Carbondale’s Faith Loyd (125), Glenwood’s Jenna Tuxhorn (130), Marion’s Haylie Nappier-Feth (155) and Highland’s August Rottmann (170).

While a lot of the matches that determined who took first were falls, there were a few matches that were much more competitive. Those included Younger prevailing 3-2 over McCracken County, KY’s Ariel Workman at 100, Loyd winning 9-6 over Anna-Jonesboro’s Oregan Dover at 125 and Krista McBride beating Goreville’s Liberty McBride at 190. Also taking second place at weight classes with four or more involved were Mt. Vernon’s Madison Teriet (155) and Faith Barrett (170), Goreville’s Ariel Board (120) and Marion’s Brooklyn Phemister (140).

First-place finishers with the best records are Cannon (17-0), Nappier-Feth (8-2), Loyd (11-3), Ming (19-6), Merrill (16-6) and Krista McBride (11-4). Balota and Ming had the most team points with 20 while Loyd, Merrill, Nappier-Feth, Rottmann and Younger all scored 18 team points.

Championship matches at Carbondale’s Murdale Tournament

106 – Hugh Sharrow (Quincy Senior) MD 8-0 Zoee Sadler (Anna-Jonesboro)

113 – Tyson Waughtel (Carlyle) MD 10-0 Drew Sadler (Anna-Jonesboro)

120 – Tony Keene (Harrisburg) F 3:21 Max Wade (Marion)

126 – Carson Bissey (Richland County) D 1-0 Dillon White (Mt. Vernon)

132 – Bryce Edwards (Murphysboro) D 4-1 Tyson Rakers (Highland)

138 – Santino Robinson (Mascoutah) MD 19-8 Mason Tieffel (Benton)

145 – Rider Searcy (Mt. Vernon) F 3:19 Blue Bishop (Herrin)

152 – James Barragan (McCracken County, KY) D 7-6 Gunnar Derhake (Quincy Senior)

160 – Owen Uppinghouse (Quincy Senior) TF 4:29 Isaiah Duckworth (Carbondale)

170 – Brendan Banz (Carbondale) D 16-10 Nick Deloach, Jr. (Cahokia)

182 – Bryor Newbold (Quincy Senior) D 7-4 Ethan Rivera (Mt. Vernon)

195 – Aiden Taylor (Carbondale) F 1:11 Mason Randall (Mt. Vernon)

220 – Riley Bradford (Carterville) F 0:57 Gavin Schumacher (Quincy Senior)

285 – Payton Allen (Fairfield) D 5-2 Todd Smith (Quincy Senior)

Oregon captures top honors at Polo Invitational

Anthony Bauer, Evan Flaharty and Lane Halverson all won titles to help Oregon capture the championship at the Polo Invitational with 196 points, which placed it 31 points ahead of the second-place team in the field, Richmond-Burton.

Parkview/Albany, WI (153.5), Fulton (124.5), Lisle (111), Polo (106.5), Freeport (103.5), Genoa-Kingston (88) and Erie/Prophetstown (86) were next-best in the 16-team competition.

Leading the way for coach Justin Lahman’s first-place Hawks were champions Lane Halverson (138), Anthony Bauer (160) and Evan Flaharty (285) and runners-up Jackson Messenger (113), Grant Stender (152), Gabe Eckerd (170) and Jonathon Alaniz (220). Seth Stevens (145) took third, Quentin Berry (195) placed fourth and Jackson Glendenning (160) and Briggs Sellers (285) both finished fifth. Oregon is sixth in the latest Class 1A rankings.

“We had some wrestlers fill in due to injuries and wrestled well which kept the title within reach,” Lahman said. “We had seven make the semis which really helped to stay in front of Richmond-Burton. I think we wrestled five of their guys in that round which really determined the team title. We are continuing to find areas that we need to improve on to continue to grow. This was a good start to the second half of the season.” 

Top performers for coach Tony Nelson’s second-place Rockets were champions Clay Madula (113) and Emmett Nelson (126), runner-up Brody Rudkin (145) and third-place finishers Dane Sorensen (132), Nate Madula (138), Alex Reyna (182) and Colin Kraus (220). Isaac Jones (152) finished fourth while Kyan Gunderson (106) took fifth.

Pacing coach Chris Grant’s fourth-place Steamers were title winners Ben Fosdick (145) and Zane Pannell (170) while Braiden Damhoff (285) placed second, Broden VenHuizen (132) and Mason Kuebel (182) finished fourth and Skylier Crooks (152) took fifth place.

Others won won championships were Erie/Prophetstown’s Wyatt Goossens (120) and Jase Grunder (152), Polo/Forreston/Eastland/Milledgeville’s Josiah Perez (106), Freeport’s Jacob Redington (132), Lisle’s Joe Raineri (195) and Parkview/Albany, WI’s Sam Schwengels (182) and Wesley Egan (220).

Also claiming second place were Lisle’s Alexander Ferari (120) and Norbert Guzik (138), Polo/Forreston/Eastland/Milledgeville’s s Lucas Nelson (126) and Wyatt Doty (132), West Carroll’s Connor Knop (106), Freeport’s Donavyn Fernandez (160), Genoa-Kingston’s Julian Torres (182) and Parkview/Albany, WI’s Wyatt Egan (195).

Some of the closest title matches featured Raineri edging Egan 8-6 at 195, Perez won over Knop 7-4 at 106, Goossens beat Ferari 4-1 at 120, Redington prevailed 4-0 over Doty at 132 and Grunder won 6-2 over Stender at 152.

Winning their titles by fall were Madula (113), Nelson (126), Halverson (138), Schwengels (182), Egan (220) and Flaharty (285) while Fosdick (145) captured his title by technical fall. Bauer (160) defeated Fernandez 8-1 and Pannell (170) won by injury default when Eckerd was unable to compete.

There was a five-way tie for the most team points with 28 between Flaharty (285), Halverson (138), Nelson (126), Wesley Egan (220) and Schwengels (182). Fosdick (145) scored 27.5 points, Bauer (160), Goossens (120) and Grunder (152) had 26 points while Redington (132) had 25 team points.

Top records for finalists following the invitational included Pannell (30-0, 1.000), Perez (13-0, 1.000), Grunder (32-1, .970), Nelson (25-1, .962), Redington (26-2, .929), Fosdick (29-3, .906), Doty (18-2, .900) and Goossens (28-4, .875).

Five of the champions also won titles last year at the Polo Invite. Those repeat title winners were Madula, Nelson, Fosdick, Pannell and Egan.

Other third-place finishers were Genoa-Kingston’s Shayden McNew (113) and Xander Gleissner (170), Jefferson’s Antonio Flood (126) and Korlondo Dubois (195), Lisle’s David Skonieczny (160) and North Boone’s Ethan Delgado (285).

Additional fourth-place finishers were Genoa-Kingston’s Nathan Dutton (145) and Azuriah Albert (220), Guilford’s Neil Jordan (126) and Gannon Buckner (285), Lisle’s Ryan Hsu (106), North Boone’s Gavin Ekberg (120), Dakota’s Aiden Wines (160) and Alden-Hebron’s Logan Crowell (170).

Also claiming fifth-place finishes were Polo/Forreston/Eastland/Milledgeville’s Chase Bremmer (138) and Maddux Hayden (195), Freeport’s Maddox Olson (145) and Dawson Holland (220), Durand/Pecatonica’s Ethan Foster (120), West Carroll’s Noah Rannow (126), Lisle’s Nolan Kelly (132) and Erie/Prophetstown’s Luke Otten (182).

Championship matches at the Polo Invitational

106 – Josiah Perez (Polo/Forreston/Eastland/Milledgeville) D 7-4 Connor Knop (West Carroll)

113 – Clay Madula (Richmond-Burton) F 3:13 Jackson Messenger (Oregon)

120 – Wyatt Goossens (Erie/Prophetstown) D 4-1 Alexander Ferari (Lisle)

126 – Emmett Nelson (Richmond-Burton) F 2:35 Lucas Nelson (Polo/Forreston/Eastland/Milledgeville)

132 – Jacob Redington (Freeport) D 4-0 Wyatt Doty (Polo/Forreston/Eastland/Milledgeville)

138 – Lane Halverson (Oregon) F 1:21 Norbert Guzik (Lisle)

145 – Ben Fosdick (Fulton) TF Brody Rudkin (Richmond-Burton)

152 – Jase Grunder (Erie/Prophetstown) D 6-2 Grant Stender (Oregon)

160 – Anthony Bauer (Oregon) D 8-1 Donavyn Fernandez (Freeport)

170 – Zane Pannell (Fulton) INJ Gabe Eckerd (Oregon)

182 – Sam Schwengels (Parkview/Albany, WI) F 1:29 Julian Torres (Genoa-Kingston)

195 – Joe Raineri (Lisle) D 8-6 Wyatt Egan (Parkview/Albany, WI)

220 – Wesley Egan (Parkview/Albany, WI) F 1:24 Jonathon Alaniz (Oregon)

285 – Evan Flaharty (Oregon) F 3:00 Braiden Damhoff (Fulton)

El Paso-Gridley wins title at Prairie Central Hawk Classic

Dax Gentes and Ethan Whitman won championships to help El Paso-Gridley score 254.5 points to capture the title of the 37th annual Prairie Central Hawk Classic by 77.5 points over second-place Peotone in the 17-team competition that took place in Fairbury.

Hoopeston Area/Milford (154.5), Beardstown (153), Plano (151.5), Bishop McNamara (140), Prairie Central (128), Sandwich (128), High School of Saint Thomas More (118) and Peoria Notre Dame (114) rounded out the top 10.

Dax Gentes claimed top honors at 160 while Ethan Whitman won the title at 170 for coach Zachary Zvonar’s Titans, who also received runner-up finishes from Logan Gibson (120), Waylon Melick (145) and Cody Langland (182).

Parker Duffy (195) placed third, Nolan Whitman (106), Savannah Hamilton (132) and Chris Blackmore (220) finished fourth, Jesse Gerber (285) was fifth, Conlee Landrus (152) took sixth, Caleb Graham (106), Ryden Barker (160) and Bobby Shaffer (220) all were seventh while Keegan Ruppe (152) and Dominic Ricconi (170) placed eighth for El Paso-Gridley, which is ranked 18th in Class 1A.

Leading the way for coach Philip Thorne’s second-place Blue Devils were champions Micah Spinazzola (126) and Ian Kreske (145) while Santino Izzi (132), Marco Spinazzola (152) and Jackson Beregeron (170) all placed second and Alex Cardenas (220) took third place.

The top performers for coach Chris Kelnhofer’s third-place Cornjerkers were runner-up Angel Zamora (160), third-place finishers Charlie Flores (106), Aiden Bell (126) and Ceaser Espinoza (138) and Talan Nelson (120), who took fourth.

Other champions were Lutheran School Association Decatur’s Clinton VerHeecke (113) and Garret VerHeecke (120), Beardstown’s Bryan Gil (138) and Owen O’Hara (220), Peoria Notre Dame’s Ian Akers (106), Sandwich’s Miles Corder (132), Bishop McNamara’s Luke Christie (152), Prairie Central’s Connor Steidinger (182), High School of Saint Thomas More’s Brody Cuppernell (195) and Plano’s Alex Diaz (285).

Also claiming second place were Bishop McNamara’s Blake Arseneau (106) and Jackson Jeck (126), Camp Point Central/Southeastern/Brown County’s Paul Schenk (113), Sandwich’s Sy Smith (138), Peoria Heights’ Issac Coleman (195), Plano’s Eliyas Peray (220) and High School of Saint Thomas More’s Robbie Vavrik (285).

In one of the biggest title matches, Christie (17-1) captured an 11-3 major decision at 152 over Marco Spinazzola (25-1), who suffered his first defeat.

Some of the closest title matches involved Corder defeating Izzi 8-6 in sudden victory at 132, Kreske edging Melick 7-6 at 145, Gil getting past Smith 4-2 at 138 and Micah Spinazzola winning 7-2 over Jeck at 126.

Winning titles by fall were Clinton VerHeecke, Garret VerHeecke, Steidinger, Cuppernell, O’Hara and Diaz. Also taking firsts with major decisions were Akers and Gentes while Whitman took first at 170 by medical forfeit over Beregeron.

Cuppernell (195), Diaz (285), O’Hara (220), Steidinger (182) and Whitman (170) all tied for first in team points with 34. Akers (106) was next with 32.5 while Clinton VerHeecke (113), Garret VerHeecke (120) and Gentes (160) all scored 32 team points. Christie (152) had 30 points, Corder (132) finished with 29 points and Kreske (145) had 28.5 team points.

Finalists with the best records following the Hawk Classic included Clinton VerHeecke (30-0, 1.000), Marco Spinazzola (25-1, .962), Gentes (25-1, .962), Cuppernell (24-1, .960), Christie (17-1, .944), O’Hara (15-1, .938), Diaz (15-1, .938), Akers (28-2, .933), Garret VerHeecke (26-3, .897), Whitman (23-3, .885) and Steidinger (23-4, .852).

Champions who also won titles last year in the Classic were Gentes, Steidinger and O’Hara while 2022 champion Zamora fell to Gentes in the 160 finals and another Cornjerker who won a title last year, Talan Nelson, took fourth at 120.

Others who took third place were Camp Point Central/Southeastern/Brown County’s Joseph Friday (145) and Connor Griffin (160), Prairie Central’s Wyatt Strait (113), Dwight/Gardner-South Wilmington’s Dylan Crouch (120), Beardstown’s Jonny Marquez (132), Herscher’s Payden Strahan (152), Sandwich’s Bryce Decker (170) and Ridgeview/Lexington’s Zach Bork (182).

Also finishing fourth were Sandwich’s Ashlyn Strenz (113), Kadin Kern (126) and Nolan Bobee (152), Plano’s Trevion Gilford (138) and Gio Diaz (160), High School of Saint Thomas More’s Philip Christhilf (145) and August Christhilf (170), Prairie Central’s Jack Rathbun (182), Ridgeview/Lexington’s Hunter Tillotson (195) and Dwight/Gardner-South Wilmington’s Michael Gamble (285).

Additional fifth-place finishers were Plano’s Shane Downs (106) and Caiden Ronning (152), Beardstown’s Daisy Gil (113) and Luis De La Cruz (126), Peoria Notre Dame’s Eddie Couri (120) and Ben Mullens (195), Herscher’s Gerrit Osenga (132) and Quintin Strahan (182), Prairie Central’s Jaxson Martin (145) and Caden Travis (160), Ridgeview/Lexington’s Judson Stover (138), Dwight/Gardner-South Wilmington’s Austin Burkhardt (170) and High School of Saint Thomas More’s James Schmidt (220).

Championship matches at the Prairie Central Hawk Classic

106 – Ian Akers (Peoria Notre Dame) MD 14-2 Blake Arseneau (Bishop McNamara)

113 – Clinton VerHeecke (Lutheran Schools Association Decatur) F1:28 Paul Schenk (Camp Point Central/Southeastern/Brown County)

120 – Garet VerHeecke (Lutheran Schools Association Decatur) F 2:39 Logan Gibson (El Paso-Gridley)

126 – Micah Spinazzola (Peotone) D 7-2 Jackson Jeck (Bishop McNamara)

132 – Miles Corder (Sandwich) SV-1 8-6 Santino Izzi (Peotone)

138 – Bryan Gil (Beardstown) D 4-2 Sy Smith (Sandwich)

145 – Ian Kreske (Peotone) D 7-6 Waylon Melick (El Paso-Gridley)

152 – Luke Christie (Bishop McNamara) MD 11-3 Marco Spinazzola (Peotone)

160 – Dax Gentes (El Paso-Gridley) MD 15-2 Angel Zamora (Hoopeston Area/Milford)

170 – Ethan Whitman (El Paso-Gridley) Med FFT Jackson Beregeron (Peotone)

182 – Connor Steidinger (Prairie Central) F 0:45 Cody Langland (El Paso-Gridley)

195 – Brody Cuppernell (High School of Saint Thomas More) F 1:55 Issac Coleman (Peoria Heights)

220 – Owen O’Hara (Beardstown) F 0:43 Eliyas Peray (Plano)

285 – Alex Diaz (Plano) F 2:40 Robbie Vavrik (High School of Saint Thomas More)

Geneseo captures championship at Morton’s Schnarr Invitational

Led by a title from Outstanding Wrestler Award winner Zachary Montez, second-place finishes from Grady Hull, Tim Sebastian and Landon Shoemaker and thirds from Devan Hornback, Malaki Jackson, Levi Neumann and Tim Stohl, Geneso scored 223 points to capture the championship of Morton’s Bob and Liz Schnarr Invitational.

Normal West finished second with 194.5 points while Normal Community edged Central DeWitt, IA 167-163 for third place. Next in line in the 17-team competition were Triad (125.5), Morton (112), Springfield High (87.5), Lincoln (81.5), Richwoods (77.5) and United Township (72).

Leading the way for coach Jon Murray’s Maple Leafs, who are ranked fourth in Class 2A, was Montez, who improved to 29-1 after recording two falls to reach the 138 title mat where he pulled out a 3-1 decision over Central DeWitt, IA’s Royce Butt to earn himself OWA honors.

Sebastian (106), Hull (113) and Shoemaker (182) joined Montez on the title mat while Hornback (120), Jackson (138), Stohl (220) and Neumann (285) all fell in the semifinals but then bounced back to win third-place matches. Aiden Damewood (160) and Logan Palmer (170) also got to the semifinal match before taking fourth place. Jack Snyder (145) and Josh Hock (152) took fifth while Bryce Bealer (126) finished sixth.

Leading coach Adam Richards’ second-place Wildcats were their four champions, Froylan Racey (120), Austin Johnston (126), Cody Sears (138) and Brock Leenerman (170). Xavier Edwards (152) finished second, Placing fourth were Abram Rader (106) and Grant Dejaynes (195) while Dylan McGrew (113), Gus Schreiber (182) and Matt Hanold (285) took fifth.

Top performers for coach Trevor Kaufman’s third-place Ironmen were champions Caden Correll (106) and Cole Gentsch (113) while Cooper Caraway (220) took second place. Finishing third were Vallen Thorpe (132), Mason Caraway (182) and Matthew Hudelson (195) while Jayden Campbell (138) took fourth and Carter Mayes (120) was fifth.

Also capturing titles were Triad’s Aiden Postma (145) and Nate Engler (195), Lincoln’s Isaac Decker (152), Dunlap’s Nick Mueller (160), LaSalle-Peru’s Connor Lorden (220) and Central DeWitt’s Chris Wrage (182) and Sam Gravert (285).

Others who claimed second place finishes were Lincoln’s Jake Lawrence (138) and Dawson McConnell (160), Morton’s Payton Ferrill (120), Triad’s Colby Crouch (126), United Township’s Kayden Marolf (145), Springfield High’s Keyshaun Harris (170), Peoria High’s Malachi Washington (195) and Southeast’s Robert Hull (285).

In some of the closest title matches, Sears won a 3-2 decision over Lawrence at 138, Lorden edged Cooper Caraway 5-4 at 220, Gravert won 2-1 over Hull at 285, Wrage beat Shoemaker 3-1 at 182, Engler won 8-4 over Washington at 195 and Decker beat Edwards 7-2 at 152.

Winning titles by fall were Gentsch, Postma, Mueller and Leenerman while Johnston was a winner by injury default, Correll won by technical fall and Racey captured a major decision.

Champions from 2022 who won titles again were Gentsch, Johnston, Montez, Postma, Leenerman and Gravert. Crouch’s hopes to duplicate last year’s title was dashed by an injury and Caraway beat 2022 champ Stohl in the semifinals but then lost to Lorden in the finals. 

Postma finished with the most team points with 29 while Gentsch, Johnston and Leenerman tied for second with 28 points. Correll collected 27.5 team points while Mueller and Wrage had 27 apiece and Gravert, Lorden, Montez, Racey and Sears all had 26 team points.

Correll improved to 30-0 and Lorden moved to 20-0 following their title wins. Crouch suffered his first loss in 17 matches when he had to injury default in the finals to Johnston. 

Other finalists who had the best records following the tournament were Montez (29-1, .967), Gentsch (28-1, .966), Mueller (25-2, .926), Leenerman (9-1, .900), Sebastian (27-4, .871) and  McConnell (26-4, .867).

Also claiming third-place finishes were Morton’s Harrison Dea (106), Caleb Lenning (113) and Steven Marvin (145), Richwood’s Bernard Cox (126) and Gabriel Martinez (170) and Peoria High’s Kenny Rutherford (152) 

Others who finished fourth were Richwoods’ Colton Boyer (113) and Gabe Robb (120), Springfield High’s Kaden Rios (126) and Alex Souva (145), Triad’s CJ Duhachek (132) and Koen Rodebush (182), Limestone’s Hector Izaguirre (220) and Taylor Dixon (285) and Monmouth Roseville’s Gabe Ortiz-Mora (152).

Additional fifth-place winners were Morton’s Caiden Robison (126) and Tyus Almasy (160), United Township’s Brady Oppendike (132) and Dunlap’s Drew Stone (170).

Championship matches at Morton’s Bob and Liz Schnarr Invitational

106 – Caden Correll (Normal Community) TF 5:22 Tim Sebastian (Geneseo)

113 – Cole Gentsch (Normal Community) F 2:47 Grady Hull (Geneseo)

120 – Froylan Racey (Normal West) MD 15-6 Payton Ferrill (Morton)

126 – Austin Johnston (Normal West) INJ Colby Crouch (Triad)

132 – Zachary Montez (Geneseo) D 3-1 Royce Butt (Central DeWitt, IA)

138 – Cody Sears (Normal West) D 3-2 Jake Lawrence (Lincoln)

145 – Aiden Postma (Triad) F 0:45 Kayden Marolf (United Township)

152 – Isaac Decker (Lincoln) D 7-2 Xavier Edwards (Normal West)

160 – Nick Mueller (Dunlap) F 4:23 Dawson McConnell (Lincoln)

170 – Brock Leenerman (Normal West) F 3:34 Keyshaun Harris (Springfield High)

182 – Chris Wrage (Central DeWitt, IA) D 3-1 Landon Shoemaker (Geneseo)

195 – Nate Engler (Triad) D 8-4 Malachi Washington (Peoria High)

220 – Connor Lorden (LaSalle-Peru) D 5-4 Cooper Caraway (Normal Community)

285 – Sam Gravert (Central DeWitt, IA) D 2-1 Robert Hull (Southeast)