Downstate/west conference roundups for Jan. 28

By Curt Herron

Triad takes first place in Mississippi Valley Conference duals

Triad went 5-0 and won 41-33 over runner-up and host Civic Memorial, who went 4-1, to capture top honors in the Mississippi Valley Conference Duals competition that took place in Bethalto. Waterloo posted a 3-2 record to take third place, Jersey Community had a 2-3 effort to finish fourth and Highland defeated Mascoutah to claim fifth place.

The first-place Knights, who are coached by 2022 IWCOA Hall of Fame Inductee Russ Witzig, also beat Waterloo 75-0, Jersey 64-18, Highland 66-8 and Mascoutah 73-3. Triad only lost six matches against the third- through sixth-place teams, falling three times to Jersey, twice to Highland and once to Mascoutah and lost no marches to Waterloo.

Turning in 5-0 performances for Triad were Will Kelly (106), Brody Smith (120), Colby Crouch (126), Braden Rowe (138), Aiden Postma (160) and Nate Engler (220). Recording 4-1 efforts for the Knights were Glen Henry (113), Braden Carlson (152), Bobby Patterson (182), Koen Rodebush (195) and Matthew Hobbs (285).

Coach Jeremy Christeson’s runner-up Eagles beat Waterloo 71-12, Jersey 63-18, Highland 69-9 and Mascoutah 71-11, dropping just nine matches against those four teams.

Posting 5-0 marks for Civic Memorial were Bradley Ruckman (113), Bryce Griffin (145), Brock Barrows (152) and Abe Wojcikiewicz (182) while Ethan Skiff (106), Caleb Scott (126), Nathen Harrin (132), Mason Walker (160) and Luke McCoy (170) all had 4-1 showings.

Triad had an 8-6 advantage in wins in its dual meet with Civic Memorial, The Knights got falls from Postma, Engler, Smith, Crouch and Rowe and major decisions from Rodebush and Kelly while the Eagles received pins from McCoy, Wojcikiewicz, Ruckman, Harrin and Griffin. 

Waterloo beat Jersey 48-36, Highland 42-33 and Mascoutah 48-29. The third-place Bulldogs were led by Bladen Sease (138), who went 4-1. Jersey won its two duals by the same score, defeating Highland 42-36 and Mascoutah 42-36. Panthers who went 5-0 were Connor Chin (170) and Jaydon Busch (285) while James Busch (220) went 4-1 on the day.

Posting 5-0 records for Highland were Tyson Rakers (132) and Ashton Zorbist (195) while Jayden Wilkinson (120) and Preston Reber (145) both went 4-1 for Mascoutah.

Six individuals tied for the most team points with 30. They were Jaydon Busch, Chin, Crouch, Engler, Griffin and Postma while Ruckman and Wojcikiewicz both had 29 points, Smith scored 28 points, Rakers had 27 points and Barrows and Rowe both scored 26 team points.

Geneseo claims top honors in Western Big 6 Tournament

Geneseo had four champions and two second-place finishers to help it claim the championship of the Western Big 6 Conference Tournament with 197 points, which was 37 points ahead of tournament runner-up and host school Quincy Senior, which had 160 points. Rock Island (144), Galesburg (107), Moline (101.5) and Sterling (100.5) were next-best in the eight-team field.

Leading the way for coach Jon Murray’s champion Maple Leafs were title winners Tim Sebastian (106), Zachary Montez (132), Josh Hock (152) and Tim Stohl (220) while Landon Shoemaker (195) and Levi Neumann (285) placed second. Claiming third place were Grady Hull (113), Kye Weinzierl (138) and Malaki Jackson (145) while Devan Hornback (120), Bryce Bealer (126) and Aiden Damewood (160) all finished fourth. 

 It was the second tournament title of the season for Geneseo, which is ranked fourth in Class 2A, with the other being Morton’s Schnarr Invite. The Maple Leafs also won the WB6 last year. 

Top performers for coach Phill Neally’s second-place Blue Devils were champions Owen Uppinghouse (160), Bryor Newbold (182) and Todd Smith (285) and runners-up Brody Baker (138), Eric McClelland (145) and Gunnar Derhake (152). Placing third were Hugh Sharrow (106), Max Miller (170) and Ty Moore (195) while Eli Roberts (132) took fourth place.

Rock Island, which is ranked eighth in 2A, had four champions, Truth Vesey (113), Daniel McGhee (120), Amare Overton (170) and Andrew Marquez (195). Other title winners were Galesburg’s Gauge Shipp (126), Sterling’s Dylan Ottens (138) and Moline’s Noah Tapia (145).

Other second-place finishers were Galesburg’s Josh Larkin (106), Rocky Almendarez (132), Emilio Torres (170) and Dishon Nolen (220), Moline’s Dominick Diaz (120), Kayden Serrano (126) and James Soliz (182) and Sterling’s Zyan Westbrook (113) and Thomas Tate (160).

In some of the closest title matches, Ottens edged Baker 7-5 at 138, Montez won 6-0 over Almendarez at 132 and Andrew Marquez claimed a 9-2 decision over Shoemaker at 195

Individuals who recorded falls in title matches were Sebastian (106), Vesey (113), McGhee (120), Tapia (145), Hock (152), Overton (170), Stohl (220) and Smith (285) while Shipp (126) and Uppinghouse (160) took firsts with wins by technical fall and Newbold (182) won his title with a major decision.

Five individuals who won WB6 titles last year took first again. They were Anthony Marquez, Montez, Shipp, Tapia and Vesey. Two others who placed second in 2022 but won titles were McGhee and Stohl.

Tapia (43-0, 1.000), Shipp (40-0, 1.000) and Uppinghouse (36-0, 1.000) remained unbeaten. Other top records of finalists are Montez (38-1, .974), Vesey (34-2, .944), Newbold (34-4, .895),  and Almendarez (30-4, .882). There was a five-way tie for the most team points with 24 between Hock, Sebastian, Stohl, Tapia and Vesey while Overton, Shipp and Uppinghouse had 23.5 points and McGhee, Ottens and Smith all recorded 22 team points and Andrew Marquez and Newbold tied with 21 team points.

Western Big 6 Conference Tournament championship matches

106 – Tim Sebastian (Geneseo) F 0:30 Josh Larkin (Galesburg)

113 – Truth Vesey (Rock Island) F 2:29 Zyan Westbrook (Sterling)

120 – Daniel McGhee (Rock Island) F 1:01 Dominick Diaz (Moline)

126 – Gauge Shipp (Galesburg) TF 2:42 Kayden Serrano (Moline)

132 – Zachary Montez (Geneseo) D 6-0 Rocky Almendarez (Galesburg)

138 – Dylan Ottens (Sterling) D 7-5 Brody Baker (Quincy Senior)

145 – Noah Tapia (Moline) F 1:32 Eric McClelland (Quincy Senior)

152 – Josh Hock (Geneseo) F 1:36 Gunnar Derhake (Quincy Senior)

160 – Owen Uppinghouse (Quincy Senior) TF 4:10 Thomas Tate (Sterling)

170 – Amare Overton (Rock Island) F 1:46 Emilio Torres (Galesburg)

182 – Bryor Newbold (Quincy Senior) MD 11-2 James Soliz (Moline)

195 – Andrew Marquez (Rock Island) D 9-2 Landon Shoemaker (Geneseo)

220 – Tim Stohl (Geneseo) F 4:49 Dishon Nolen (Galesburg)

285 – Todd Smith (Quincy Senior) F 4:35 Levi Neumann (Geneseo)

Western Big 6 Conference Tournament third-place matches

106 – Hugh Sharrow (Quincy Senior) TF 4:00 Cael Lyons (Sterling)

113 – Grady Hull (Geneseo) F 1:53 Jordan Pauwels-Whitmarsh (United Township)

120 – Xavier Marolf (United Township) D 9-7 Devan Hornback (Geneseo)

126 – Antonio Parker (Rock Island) D 10-3 Bryce Bealer (Geneseo)

132 – Adam Jacks (Alleman) D 7-3 Eli Roberts (Quincy Senior)

138 – Kye Weinzierl (Geneseo) F 3:58 Jaxson Soliz (Moline)

145 – Malakai Jackson (Geneseo) F 3:16 Austin Clemens (Sterling)

152 – Tatum Allen (Sterling) D 4-3 Anthony Makwala (Galesburg)

160 – Zander Ealy (Moline) F 4:59 Aiden Damewood (Geneseo)

170 – Max Miller (Quincy Senior) F 4:55 Gage Tate (Sterling)

182 – Steven Marquez (Rock Island) MD 13-4 Nick Makwala (Galesburg)

195 – Ty Moore (Quincy Senior) MD 9-1 Peyton Pirog (Alleman)

220 – Israel McGowan (Rock Island) For. Oswaldo Navarro (Sterling)

285 – Eli Gustafson (Rock Island) F 1:17 Javier Luna (Sterling)

Belvidere closes strong to capture NIC-10 championship 

Belvidere co-op, featuring athletes from Belvidere and Belvidere North, faced an uphill climb in its quest to repeat as champions of the Northern Illinois Conference-10 (NIC-10). Despite being down by 21 points heading into the final round, the team won all six of its title matches to take first place over Hononegah by a 212.5-202 margin. Host Harlem (192.5) took third place while Rockford East (109) and Freeport (95) were next in the nine-team event in Machesney Park.

Winning titles for coach Danny Martinez’ championship squad were Brayden Teunissen (106), Bryson Teunissen (113), Dominic Girardin (138), Antonio Alvarado (145), Colin Young (152) and TJ Mitchell (182). Placing third were Geren Stapleton (120), Andrew Bucci (126) and Zander Martinez (220) while Juan Cervantes (170) was fourth while Anthony Vrlac (132), Jorge Hernandez (160) and Emmanuel Pizano (285) all finished fifth

“Going into the final round of wrestling, we were down by 21 points,” Martinez said. “I told the team we still had a chance to win, but would need the round of our lives to get it. Next thing I know, we started rattling off wins with bonus points and then went perfect in the finals. These kids earned this one. Back-to-back champs feels good.”

Leading the way for coach Tyler DeMoss’ runner-up Indians were champions Javier Escobedo (120), Robert Darling (126), Elliot Diemel (170) and Isaak Smith (220) and second-place finishers Jackson Olson (106), Angelina Cassioppi (113), Connor Diemel (145) and Max Haskins (152). David Fambro (182) took third while Harrison Kinney (160) and Ayden Silva (195) were fourth and Jack Ginter (138) placed fifth.

Other NIC-10 champions were Freeport’s Jacob Redington (132), Harlem’s Ben Larsen (160), Jefferson’s Karlondo Duboise (195) and Guilford’s Gannon Buckner (285).

Also claiming second-place finishes were Harlem’s Ethan Hagerman (126), Aiden Zacharuk (138), Andrew Redmon (182), Caleb Eklund (195) and Joe Holloway-Rockwell (220), Rockford East’s Peter Young (120), Malik Ali (132) and Orion Losiniecki (170) and Freeport’s Donavyn Fernandez (160) and Sami Odeh (285).

Repeating as NIC-10 champions were Alvarado, Redington, Brayden Teuissen and Colin Young while Diemel, Duboise and Mitchell took second last year and finished first in this competition.

Closest title matches involved Bryson Teunissen edging Cassioppi 3-2 at 113, Darling got past Hagerman 8-7 at 126, Smith pulled out a 6-5 victory over Holloway-Rockwell at 220, Alvarado prevailed over Connor Diemel 12-10 at 145, Larsen was a 6-4 victor over Fernandez at 160, Duboise won 5-3 over Eklund at 195 and Girardin got a 7-0 triumph over Zacharuk at 138.

Winning championships by fall were Brayden Teunissen (106), Elliot Diemel (170) and Mitchell (182) while Colin Young (152) captured a title with a win by technical fall. Redington (132) took first with a major decision and Escobedo (120) won by medical forfeit in his title match.

Best records among NIC-10 finalists are Alvarado (43-2, .956), Brayden Teunissen (41-2, .953), Redington (34-2, .944), Colin Young (41-4, .911) and Duboise (18-2, .900). Buckner, Elliot Diemel and Brayden Teunissen led all competitors with 24 team points while Colin Young had 23.5 and Redington scored 23 points. Alvarado, Duboise, Escobedo, Girardin, Larsen, Mitchell, Smith and Bryson Teunissen all recorded 22 team points.

Northern Illinois Conference-10 (NIC-10) championship matches

106 – Brayden Teunissen (Belvidere) F 3:19 Jackson Olson (Hononegah)

113 – Bryson Teunissen (Belvidere) D 3-2 Angelina Cassioppi (Hononegah)

120 – Javier Escobedo (Hononegah) M. For. Peter Young (Rockford East)

126 – Robert Darling (Hononegah) D 8-7 Ethan Hagerman (Harlem)

132 – Jacob Redington (Freeport) MD 17-7 Malik Ali (Rockford East)

138 – Dominic Girardin (Belvidere) D 7-0 Aiden Zacharuk (Harlem)

145 – Antonio Alvarado (Belvidere) D 12-10 Connor Diemel (Hononegah)

152 – Colin Young (Belvidere) TF 2:50 Max Haskins (Hononegah)

160 – Ben Larsen (Harlem) D 6-4 Donavyn Fernandez (Freeport)

170 – Elliot Diemel (Hononegah) F 3:52 Orion Losiniecki (Rockford East)

182 – TJ Mitchell (Belvidere) F 1:53 Andrew Redmon (Harlem)

195 – Karlondo Duboise (Jefferson) D 5-3 Caleb Eklund (Harlem)

220 – Isaak Smith (Hononegah) D 6-5 Joe Holloway-Rockwell (Harlem)

285 – Gannon Buckner (Guilford) F 3:11 Sami Odeh (Freeport)

Northern Illinois Conference-10 (NIC-10) third-place matches

106 – Ntahuyamana Pacifique (Auburn) F 1:15 Donovan Kowalski (Guilford)

113 – Dylan Goodall (Harlem) F 0:52 Aurielle Calmese (Freeport)

120 – Geren Stapleton (Belvidere) F 3:52 Izayah Olejniczak (Harlem)

126 – Andrew Bucci (Belvidere) F 3:33 Ty’quavion Smart (Rockford East)

132 – Myles Babcock (Harlem) F 3:37 Jayvier Trujilo (Auburn)

138 – Dana Wickson (Rockford East) D 5-4 Dayvion Fernandez (Freeport)

145 – Maddux Olson (Freeport) MD 20-11 Xzavier Lindhe (Guilford)

152 – Wyatt Huffman (Harlem) F 3:01 Arshoun Island (Auburn)

160 – Malachi Cannon (Rockford East) F 1:50 Harrison Kinney (Hononegah)

170 – Kaden Christensen (Harlem) MD 14-6 Juan Cervantes (Belvidere)

182 – David Fambro (Hononegah) F 3:56 Carmine Mashinter (Boylan Catholic)

195 – Saidi Ishmail (Rockford East) F 2:00 Ayden Silva (Hononegah)

220 – Zander Martinez (Belvidere) F Reggie Pinedo (Rockford East)

285 – Damarion Love (Auburn) D 13-7 Dylan Hogan (Harlem)

LeRoy/Tri-Valley wins title in Heart of Illinois Conference title

LeRoy/Tri-Valley had five champions and four second-place finishers to help it capture top honors at The Heart of Illinois Conference with 191 points, which was 10 points better than runner-up El Paso-Gridley. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher was third with 135 points while Eureka (88.5) and Tremont (70) were next in line in the seven-team event in El Paso.

Top performers for coach Brady Sant Amour’s champion Panthers were Brady Mouser (106), Kobe Brent (113),Tyson Brent (170), Jacob Bischoff (220) and Tate Sigler (285) while Brock Owens (126), Colton Prosser (132), Jack Green (138) and Connor Lyons (145) were second.Taking third place were Bo Zeleznik (152) and Drendon Stickling (195) while Jaelyn Brumfield (120) and Ethan Conaty (160) finished fourth.

This was the fourth tournament title won this season by the Panthers, who moved up to tenth in the Class 1A rankings. They also took firsts at Metamora, High School of Saint Thomas More’s New Year’s Challenge and their own Randy Bowman Invitational, which they won last week.

Leading the way for coach Zachary Zvonar’s second-place Titans, who are ranked 18th, were champions Logan Gibson (120), Tyler Roth (138), Dax Gentes (160) and Cody Langland (182) while Nolan Whitman (106), Caleb Graham (113), Ethan Whitman (170) and Parker Duffy (195) placed second. Parker Key (132) and Waylon Melick (145) took third while Savannah Hamilton (126) and Jesse Gerber (285) finished fourth.

Other Heart of Illinois champions were Tremont’s Bowden Delaney (126) and Mason Mark (132), Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher’s Carson Maxey (145) and Aiden Sancken (195) and Eureka’s Derrick Wiles (152). 

Also finishing in second place were Eureka’s Landon Wierenga (220) and Zach King (285), Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Shawn Schlickman (120), Ridgeview/Lexington’s Caeden Lopshire (152), Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Gage Sweckard (160) and Tremont’s TJ Connor (182).

Half of the championship matches were decided by four points or less. The closest title matches featured Maxey edging Lyons 5-4 at 145, Bischoff prevailing 1-0 over Wierenga at 220, Sigler getting past King 1-0 at 285, Wiles beating Lopshire 7-5 at 152, Mark picking up a 6-2 decision over Prosser at 132, Roth winning 9-5 over Green at 138, Langland claiming an 8-4 win over Connor at 182 and Gibson capturing a 12-6 decision over Schlickman at 120.

Winning titles by fall were Mouser (106), Kobe Brent, (113), Delaney (126) and Sancken (195)  while taking first place with major decisions were Gentes (160) and Tyson Brent (170).

Finalists with the best records are Gentes (42-1, .977), Mouser (36-2, .947), Sancken (27-2, .931), Delaney (36-3, .923), Tyson Brent (32-3, .914), Mark (37-4, .902) and Maxey (30-4, .882). Delaney, Mouser and Sancken tied for the most team points with 22, Gentes had 21 points and Bischoff, Kobe Brent, Langland, Mark, Maxey, Roth, Sigler and Wiles all had 20 team points. 

Heart of Illinois Conference championship matches

106 – Brady Mouser (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) F 2:35 Nolan Whitman (El Paso-Gridley)

113 – Kobe Brent (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) F 1:08 Caleb Graham (El Paso-Gridley)

120 – Logan Gibson (El Paso-Gridley) D 12-6 Shawn Schlickman (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley)

126 – Bowden Delaney (Tremont) F 2:56 Brock Owens (LeRoy/Tri-Valley)

132 – Mason Mark (Tremont) D 6-2 Colton Prosser (LeRoy/Tri-Valley)

138 – Tyler Roth (El Paso-Gridley) D 9-5 Jack Green (LeRoy/Tri-Valley)

145 – Carson Maxey (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) D 5-4 Connor Lyons (LeRoy/Tri-Valley)

152 – Derrick Wiles (Eureka) D 7-5 Caeden Lopshire (Ridgeview/Lexington) 

160 – Dax Gentes (El Paso-Gridley) MD 14-4 Gage Sweckard (Deer Creek-Mackinaw)

170 – Tyson Brent (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) MD 14-3 Ethan Whitman (El Paso-Gridley)

182 – Cody Langland (El Paso-Gridley) D 8-4 TJ Connor (Tremont)

195 – Aiden Sancken (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) F 3:46 Parker Duffy (El Paso-Gridley)

220 – Jacob Bischoff (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) D 1-0 Landon Wierenga (Eureka)

285 – Tate Sigler (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) D 1-0 Zach King (Eureka)

Heart of Illinois Conference third-place matches

106 – Gage Martin (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) F 0:29 Jackson Phillips (Eureka)

113 – Samantha Lauer (Deer Creek-Mackinaw) Bye

120 – Josie Barham (Deer Creek-Mackinaw) D 13-7 Jaelyn Brumfield (LeRoy/Tri-Valley)

126 – Clay Wiegand (Deer Creek-Mackinaw) D 6-2 Savannah Hamilton (El Paso-Gridley)

132 – Parker Key (El Paso-Gridley) D 7-4 Avery Schlickman (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley)

138 – Judson Stover (Ridgeview/Lexington) F 2:48 Peyton Hixon (Deer Creek-Mackinaw)

145 – Waylon Melick (El Paso-Gridley) F 4:53 Aaron Eastman (Eureka)

152 – Bo Zeleznik (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) F 3:10 Carter Kallal (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley)

160 – Dillon Wiles (Eureka) D 8-3 Ethan Conaty (LeRoy/Tri-Valley)

170 – Sam Manson (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) SV 15-13 Ian Eatock (Tremont)

182 – Lincoln Eastin (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) F 3:36 Zach Bork (Ridgeview/Lexington)

195 – Drendon Stickling (LeRoy/Tri-Valley) F 4:59 Gray McCue (Ridgeview/Lexington)

220 – Cohen Kean (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) F 2:18 Jacob Balsimo (Tremont)

285 – Aydin Cornell (Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) F 5:02 Jesse Gerber (El Paso-Gridley)