Edwardsville wins title at Pontiac’s Munch Girls Invite

By Curt Herron – For the IWCOA

After leading Edwardsville’s program since 1997, Jon Wagner, a 2019 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee, decided to step down at the end of last season after collecting more than 500 dual meet wins, as well as advancing four teams to the IHSA Dual Team Finals with the highlight being fourth place finishes in 2006 and 2009.

Carl Sandburg graduate and former Tigers assistant coach Eric Pretto is now the head coach of the Edwardsville boys program. Pretto won over 120 matches as a member of the Eagles’ 2005, 2006 and 2007 teams that captured Class AA championships for coach Mike Polz, a 1999 IWCOA Hall of Famer and recipient of a Lifetime Service Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame-Illinois Chapter in 2017.

But Wagner certainly hasn’t stepped away from the sport. He’s taken over head coaching duties for the school’s girls program and if first results indicate anything, the future looks very bright for the Tigers.

One week after winning the title at the Granite City Girls Tournament by a 205-141 margin over Bartlett, TN, Edwardsville captured top honors at Pontiac’s Munch Girls Invitational, which featured 32 teams. The Tigers took first place with 207.5 points while Batavia was second with 166 points and Minooka placed third with 139 points.

Geneseo (134), Macomb (113), DeKalb (107), Morton co-op (88), Canton (84), Romeoville (76) and Urbana (63) rounded out the top 10 teams in the field.

Pontiac is well known nationally for hosting the oldest boys basketball holiday tournament in the United States, the Pontiac Holiday Tournament, which began in 1926.

The Munch Invitational, named for former coach Russ Munch, was the first all-girls competition in the state. Corey Christenson began the competition nine years ago and this year there were 210 individuals competing and the event didn’t conclude until 11:30 p.m. on Friday.

The school also once again hosted a Munch Boys Invite on Saturday, in which Evergreen Park edged Morton 226-225 for the title.

The Tigers had two champions, and both are newcomers. Senior Norah Swaim (120) was a three-time state qualifier in boys competition in Rhode Island and also was the first girl from that state to win All-American honors in a national tournament. And sophomore Abbrey Dewerff (170) was the first state qualifier for Roxana.

Edwardsville had four others who claimed second place, Olivia Coll (105), Gianna Linhorst (110), Holly Zugmaier (125) and Olive Linhorst (130). Genevieve Dykstra (100) and Tayla Phillips (235) both took third, Alison Kirk (100) and Abigail Hayes (190) were fourth and Maddy Allen (105) placed fifth.

“It’s early in the season, but it’s nice to see the excitement out of the girls,” Wagner said. “I think the gift that we had today was their enjoyment and wanting to be here. It was 11:30 at night and they still wanted to be here and they wanted to compete and not one person complained. We have some new girls and we have some experienced girls and it all came together. I think the inexperienced ones got a little better and our experienced girls did well.”

Coach Scott Bayer’s runner-up Bulldog had the most champions with three and two of those won the Outstanding Wrestler Awards. Lily Enos (100) got the award for the lower weights and two-time IHSA title winner Sydney Perry (155) received the honor for the upper weights. Caoimhe Mitchell (190) also claimed first place.

“This is my 19th year at Batavia and I was the boys head coach for 10 years,” Bayer said. “Last year was my first year as the girls head coach and it’s been a blast. I can’t say enough about (Sydney) her leadership. She’s just a rare and special kid who is a great mentor to the girls and is an assistant coach. She’s an elite athlete and she wants to be the best in the world. She’s 10 years ahead of the sport and I think that she knows that she’s been very responsible for the growth of wrestling and the image of wrestling in Batavia. 

“Our head coach, Ryan Farwell, is very supportive of girls wrestling. We have 30 girls in our room right now and they’re just part of the group. They’re working hard and getting better every year. It’s a great environment. This is a long day but there’s great competition. and what I like about it is that you have a lot of first-year kids who come in here and get good matches and elite kids who can come here and get good matches. It’s a well-run tournament and we’re happy with it.”

DeKalb also had two champions, Alex Gregorio-Perez (110) and Reese Zimmer (115). Others who captured Munch titles were Streator’s Lily Gwaltney (105), Canton’s Kinnley Smith (125), Morton’s Karen Canchola (130), Morton co-op’s Faith Comas (135), Olympia’s Jordan Bicknell (140), Macomb’s Kelly Ladd (145) and Prairie Central’s Chloe Hoselton (235). Canchola, Enos and Perry all repeated as champions in the event.

Also finishing in second place were Geneseo’s Molly Snyder (100) and Gia Ritter (140), Macomb’s Seefa Feruzi (170) and Avery Lundgren (190), Springfield co-op’s Ella Miloncus (115), Jacksonville’s Alexis Seymour (120), Unity Christian’s Lillien Roughton (135), Unity’s Anna Vasey (145), Minooka’s Abbey Boersma (155) and Urbana’s Jurdan Tyler (235).

The closest title matches featured Zimmer edging Miloncus 7-4 at 115, Bicknell prevailing 5-2 over Ritter at 140, Smith defeating Zugmaier 6-1 at 125 and Swaim beating Seymour 6-0 at 120.

Canchola, Dewerff, Ladd and Perry tied for the most team points with 32 while Comas, Smith, Swaim and Zimmer were next with 30 points and Bicknell, Hoselton and Mitchell all scored 28 points.

Perry had the most total match points with 60, which was 29 more than the next-best individual for that total. Geneseo’s Lauren Piquard recorded five falls while Unity’s Phoenix Molina had four falls in 2:23.

Here’s a look at the champions and their weight classes at Pontiac’s Munch Girls Invitational

100 – Lily Enos, Batavia

Lily Enos turned in a performance worthy of receiving the Outstanding Wrestler Award for the lower weights at the Munch Invite, with teammate Sydney Perry receiving the OWA for the upper weights, after she followed a major decision with a fall in 2:20 in the semifinals over Edwardsville’s Genevieve Dykstra and then got a pin in 2:27 in the 100 finals over Geneseo’s Molly Snyder. That helped her to become the first of three champions for the runner-up Bulldogs and also win a Munch Invite title for the second year in a row. Enos (11-1), a sophomore, went 44-13 last season and took fifth place at 100 in the HSA Finals.

“I felt really good today,” Enos said, “I was trying a lot of things that I don’t do. I wrestled  the girl in the finals before and I pinned her, but she’s strong, so I can see a bright future for her so I was definitely warming up a lot more. I tried to have fun since it’s a long tournament. Last week we had four in the finals and I think our team is seeing a lot of improvement, especially in the past year with a lot of those girls in their first year and now it’s their second year. (Sydney Perry) She’s such a great role model and I look up to her like she’s my sister since I’ve known her for so long. It’s awesome having her on the team, she’s such a big benefit for us.”

Snyder, a freshman, became the first of two finalists for the Maple Leafs after recording two first-period falls, including one in 1:07 over Edwardsville’s Alison Kirk in the semifinals. Edwardsville teammates met for third place with Dykstra (7-2) winning a 5-0 decision over Kirk. And in the fifth-place match, Romeoville’s Daniela Santander (8-3) won by fall in 5:02 over Olympia’s Mya Downs (6-5).

105 – Lily Gwaltney, Streator

When you’re a freshman and you beat a senior who’s a two-time state qualifier and a 2022 IHSA medal winner, it’s a big deal. And that’s just what Streator’s Lily Gwaltney accomplished in the 105 title match when she won by fall in 3:08 over Edwardsville’s Olivia Coll. Gwaltney (11-3) opened with a major decision and then got a pin in 4:50 over Romeoville senior Josefina Orozco in the semifinals. She hopes to not only become the Bulldogs’ first state qualifier but also their initial state medalist.

“It feels good,” Gwaltney said. “I’m 11-3 now. I’ve been wrestling since I was four, so about 10 years. It feels good to know that I can place high against girls that I don’t think that I could beat.”

Coll (6-2), who took sixth at 100 in the first IHSA Finals and also qualified for state last year, was one of six finalists for the champion Tigers. She opened with a fall and then won an 8-0 major decision over DeKalb sophomore Frieda Hernandez in the semifinals. Orozco (7-2) won 7-3 in sudden victory over Hernandez to claim third place. Sophomore Maddy Edwards (6-4) gave Edwardsville another medal at that weight class when she won by fall in 5:14 over Canton freshman LT Diephuis to claim fifth place.

110 – Alex Gregorio-Perez, DeKalb

Alex Gregorio-Perez fell one win shy of a medal at 105 at last year’s IHSA Finals, so the DeKalb sophomore is definitely focused on getting to the awards stand at state this season. She’s off to a 12-1 start after claiming the title at 110 with a fall in 3:48 over Edwardsville’s Gianna Linhorst in the finals. After opening with a fall in 1:04, she recorded a pin in 1:54 over Canton’s Shayla Schielein in the semifinals to earn her spot in the title mat. Teammate Reese Zimmer won at 115 right after her to give the Barbs two champions.

“It was my second year competing in the Donnybrook and I had really high expectations, but I didn’t place like I intended to, I did last year, but not this year,” Gregorio-Perez said. “I love wrestling with them (her teammates), they push me to my hardest. I love the program, they help a lot, and especially during Freestyle, a lot of the coaches were really great. There weren’t a lot of girls on our team last year. But this year, I see other teams and they’ve doubled in size and that’s amazing. And you can tell that it’s genuine and you get close to all of these people.”

Linhorst (9-1), a junior, recorded two first-minute falls to advance to the finals. After getting a pin in 0:50 in the quarterfinals, she needed just 15 seconds to pin Prairie Central’s Yuri Vilchis to become one of the six Tigers who advanced to the title mat. Freshman Schielein won by fall in 2:51 over sophomore Vilchis to capture third place and Springfield co-op freshman Phoenix Criss recorded a pin in 0:53 over Batavia sophomore Sarah Zuziak in the fifth-place match.

115 – Reese Zimmer, DeKalb

Reese Zimmer followed teammate Alex Gregorio-Perez to the title mat and she joined the 110-pound title winner as the champion at 115 after capturing a 7-4 decision over Springfield co-op’s Ella Miloncus. Zimmer (10-4) also joined Gregorio-Perez as the Barbs’ first two state qualifiers last season. The DeKalb junior used three falls of 1:00 or less to reach the title mat, needing just 32 seconds in the semifinals against Reaghan Madura, who also competes for the Springfield co-op team, which includes athletes from Springfield High, Lanphier and Southeast.

“Last week, I didn’t do my best at Donnybrook so I came here wanting to redeem myself, and that’s what I did,” Zimmer said. “I’ve known Alex for two years and she really pushes me in practice. There are a lot of opportunities coming from DeKalb. I started wrestling in fifth grade. I made state last year and I want to go further this year and want to place at state. Coming back was pretty hard, but I’m glad that I made it to where I am and I want to make more goals for myself. I love to see how much it grows each year and we have more girls than we had last year so I’m happy to see that happening.”

Miloncus (8-2) qualified for state last season representing Lanphier. The junior opened with a decision and then got two falls, including one in 4:42 in the semifinals over Mahomet-Seymour sophomore Kalista Granadino (7-2), who bounced back from that loss to finish third with a pin in 1:58 over junior Madura. University High senior Allison Kroesch (8-3), who also qualified for state last season, captured a 6-2 decision over Pontiac freshman Sophia Mussari to take fifth.

120 – Norah Swaim, Edwardsville

Norah Swaim is a new name to Illinois wrestling, but she definitely made a name for herself in Rhode Island, where she qualified for the boys state finals for North Kingstown three times. Last year, she became the first girl in Rhode Island history to earn All-American honors when she took fourth at 114 in the girls bracket at the National High School Coaches Association High School Nationals in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In the finals at 120, the senior won a 6-0 decision over Jacksonville’s Alexis Setymour. Swaim (6-0) advanced with three pins, including one in 3:15 over Mahomet-Seymour’s Isabelle Leyhe in the semifinals.

“I just moved here over the summer,” Swaim said. “I was in Rhode Island and I’m a military kid, so I’ve moved around a lot. In Rhode Island it was not sanctioned, so I was the only girl to make it to state three years in a row in the boys tournament. I was so excited to come here since this is my first time at a full girls high school tournament. I’ve been to bigger tournaments, like Nationals, but this was my first tournament, so I just wanted to place, but then I made it to the finals and then I wanted to win it. I have been so blessed to be put into this situation. I love all of the girls on the team, they’re all amazing, and it’s been great. (Jon) Wagner is a great coach and he and our new coach are doing a great job with our team. A lot of the girls in Rhode Island were new to wrestling, so coming here and wrestling girls who are at a higher caliber is great.”

Seymour (10-1), a junior who went 32-18 last season and took fourth place at 120 at state and fell one win shy of a medal at 115 in the first IHSA Finals, won her first three matchers by fall, winning with a pin in 2:16 over Geneseo freshman Lydia King in the semifinals. Seymour won a Munch title last  season. Leyhe (7-1), a senior, won by fall over King in 3:50 to claim third place while Charleston sophomore Morgan Krone-Smallhorn (5-1) finished fifth after getting a pin in 57 seconds over Batavia sophomore Natalie Lenart (10-5).

125 – Kinnley Smith, Canton

After advancing to the IHSA Finals and placing second at 135 to Boylan  Catholic’s Netavia Wickson last season, Kinnley Smith hopes to not only get back on the awards but also be on the title mat again and hopefully claim top honors this time. The Canton junior improved to 8-1 after capturing a 6-1 decision over Edwardsville’s Holly Zugmaier in the 125 finals. Smith recorded three falls to reach the title mat, with the last of those in 29 seconds over Minooka’s Sabina Charlebois in the semifinals.

“This is a big change from the weight class that I was in before,” Smith said. “Last year I wrestled at 135, and they were strong, that’s for sure, but the speed is not the same at all, these girls have so much more speed, and it’s just great. When I was in first grade, I knew that I needed to do something different and so I was the only girl in the program. From first to fourth grade I wrestled a lot of boys, and I was really hard on myself and that didn’t help much. So I took a long break through middle school and I came back my freshman year. I got so lucky to get blessed with such an amazing coach (Zach Crawford). In my freshman year I lost in the blood round at sectionals and he helped me in the offseason, and any time I ask, he will come and help me and he’s just an amazing coach to have.”

Zugmaier (10-1), who went 21-12 and qualified for state last season, was one of six finalists for the first-place Tigers. She opened with two falls before claiming a 13-3 major decision over Normal West’s Amelia McClure in the semifinals. In the third-place match, sophomore McClure (10-4) won by fall in 5:01 over sophomore Charlebois (7-3). Naperville Central freshman Dezi Azar (9-2) took fifth with a 5-1 decision over Jacksonville freshman Jaycee Fancher (6-4).

130 – Karen Canchola, Morton

Karen Canchola went 26-7 and placed fifth at 130 at state a year ago to become Morton’s first state medalist and the junior is looking to move higher up on the awards stand this season. Canchola improved to 9-0 after winning by fall in 1:20 in the 130 title match over Edwardsville’s Olive Linhorst to repeat as a Munch Invite champion. She ended all four of her matches in the first period with falls, including in 1:21 in the semifinals over Minooka’s Kira Cailteux.

Linhorst (9-2), one of six finalists for the champion Tigers, opened with a win by technical fall and a quick pin before claiming a 6-0 decision over St. Joseph-Ogden’s Maddie Wells in the semifinals. Sophomore Wells claimed third place after recording a fall in 1:42 over junior Cailteux. Monica Garcia (5-1), a junior on the Morton co-op team featuring individuals from Morton East and Morton West, took fifth place after getting a pin in 1:34 over Naperville Central junior Bianca Arredondo (6-4).

135 – Faith Comas, Morton co-op

Prior to winning a title at Waukegan on December 2, senior Faith Comas only remembered winning one other tournament while competing for Morton’s co-op, which includes athletes from Morton West and Morton East. Two weeks later, Comas is on a roll after winning her second-straight tournament title, claiming top honors at 135 after recording a fall in 1:19 over Unity Christian’s Lillien Roughton. After opening with two pins, Comas prevailed in a 13-11 decision over Kankakee’s Makayla Jones in the semifinals.

“I’ve been doing this sport for a long time but I haven’t really been seeing any results until recently,” Comas said. “I hadn’t placed in my whole five years of wrestling. And I wasn’t really expecting to win since I got a little bit hurt in my last match, so I wasn’t really confident. It feels nice (to win two straight tournaments) and I feel like all of my work has paid off. It’s really surreal. In my freshman year, my partner was Hilda (Gonzalez), who took second at state, and then I had Karla (Topete), who took fifth at state, and junior year, I wrestled with Leilany (De Leon), and she placed sixth the previous year. So I can attribute a lot of my success now to them and also to my drive to keep going.”

Roughton, a sophomore competing for a Decatur school that had been known as Lutheran School Association-Decatur and only has competed in the sport for the past few years, followed up on two quick falls with a pin in 2:58 over Minooka’s Eva Beck in the semifinals. Jones, a senior who fell one shy of a medal at 135 in the 2023 IHSA Finals, bounced back from her tough semifinal setback to capture a 12-8 decision over Beck (8-3) to claim third place. Ottawa Township sophomore Ava Weatherford (10-2) recorded a fall in 5:21 over Macomb junior Raegen Hansen (7-3) to claim fifth place.

140 – Jordan Bicknell, Olympia

Jordan Bicknell fell one win shy of a medal at 145 at the 2023 IHSA Finals, which was her second state appearance. The Olympia senior is hoping that the third time’s the charm for her as she seeks to become the first medalist for the school in Stanford that co-ops with Delavan. Bicknell (7-1) won a 5-2 decision over Geneseo’s Gia Ritter to win the title at 140. She recorded three falls, with the last of those coming in 1:04 in the semifinals over Batavia’s Norah Stoodley.

“It’s nice having a lot more competition,” Bicknell said. “I’m very excited for the state series since girls have regionals now. So I feel like the sectionals will be a lot more focused and competitive. I love seeing more girls get into the program, and just kind of the empowerment of females in general and trying to get equality with mens sports. We’re making history.”

Ritter, a senior who became one of Geneseo’s first two state qualifiers last season, hopes to close her Maple Leafs’ career as its initial medalist. She reached the 140 title mat after claiming two decisions and a fall, with a 4-1 win over Charleston senior Mackensie Williams coming in the semifinals. Williams responded to that loss with a fall in 3:20 over sophomore Stoodley to take third. Urbana freshman Rickasia Ivy won a 13-3 major decision over Minooka’s Palmer Calvey to finish fifth.

145 – Kelly Ladd, Macomb

Kelly Ladd made history for Macomb last season when she went 32-8 and took sixth at 135 in the IHSA Finals to become her program’s first state medalist. Now the Bombers’ junior aspires to move higher up the awards stand, and she’s off to a great start with a 10-1 record after taking first at 145 with a fall in 2:14 over Unity’s Anna Vasey. Ladd, one of three Macomb finalists, won all four of her matches by fall, including in 1:16 over Minooka’s Beth Castro in the semifinals.

“This is very exciting and I’m very proud of my team,” Ladd said. “We’ve built the girls team from the ground up and we have seven now and we practice our hearts out every day. I think it’s the dream that you can do anything that you want. I grew up watching wrestling and my dad always told me I couldn’t, but he’s coaching me now. I can definitely see improvements every year. Last year I got sixth so this year I’m just pushing to see how high I can get.”

Vasey (6-3), who won a Munch title last year, hopes that her sophomore season concludes with a first visit to the state finals. She opened her tournament with two falls and then won an 11-3 major decision over Minooka’s Bella Cyrkiel in the semifinals. Cyrkiel (12-2), a senior who qualified for state in 2023, claimed third place with a fall in 3:42 over her junior teammate, Castro (5-3). And in the fifth-place match, Geneseo freshman Lauren Piquard (5-1) won by fall in 3:33 over Bloomington sophomore Alicia Swank (8-6).

155 – Sydney Perry, Batavia

As one of the six two-time IHSA champions and one of four who are seeking their third titles this season, Sydney Perry has set a very high standard for the sport. Her 7-4 victory over El Paso-Gridley’s Valerie Hamilton in last year’s 145 title match was a real classic. After going 21-0 to take first at 145 in the inaugural IHSA Finals and then 34-0 last season, Perry is one of the nation’s best in the sport. The Batavia senior repeated as a Munch champion and received the Outstanding Wrestler Award for the upper weights after collecting four falls to improve to 11-0 after recording a fall in 2:15 over Minooka’s Abbey Boersma to win the 155 title.

“Being a team captain and kind of leading the girls has been amazing, especially for me to continue my character development,” Perry said. “But it’s just crazy to see that when I was growing up, I wrestled with all the boys and I was the lone girl standing out. So it’s just amazing to see how many girls are coming out for tournaments like this. Batavia has an awesome support system, we have a lot of opportunities and coaches in the room. I’m trying to be a mentor for the girls on the team and taking practice super seriously with the guys and getting as much of that as I can. Also lifting, running and eating well and staying hydrated. And focusing on the parts of wrestling that you don’t necessarily think that you have to focus on. I love the sport, I’ve grown up doing it. I like helping the girls and showing them a different perspective. I’ve been with a lot of great athletes, so I kind of grab some of their wisdom and share it.”

Boersma (11-2), a senior who is seeking her first state appearance, was the only finalist for Minooka, who took third place behind champion Edwardsville and runner-up Batavia. Boersma opened with two falls before capturing a 7-6 decision over Canton’s Katelyn Marvel in the semifinals. Marvel (8-2), a junior who’s the Little Giants’ first two-time state qualifier, responded to her semifinal loss with a 4-2 decision over Geneseo junior Mady Mooney to place third. Macomb junior Mikeala Mwangong and Romeoville freshman Deivina Samalionyte reached the fifth-place match.

170 – Abbrey Dewerff, Edwardsville

After making history a year ago as Roxana’s initial state qualifier, Abbrey Dewerff hopes that a change of scenery will help her to be a force on the high school stage in the same way that she was at the youth level. The sophomore was one of two champions and six finalists for coach Jon Wagner’s first-place Edwardsville squad. Dewerff (8-3) recorded first-period falls in all four of her matches, needing 1:22 to win in the semifinals over Urbana’s Franciana Kalanga and in 1:37 in the 170 title match against Macomb’s Seefa Feruzi.

“I was at Roxana last year and I went to state,” Dewerff said. “I’ve been wrestling since I was five and I’ve been wrestling boys. I think it’s the support that we all have. We’re all like sisters, we’re more a family than just a team. And I’m proud of every single one of them and I cheer every single one of them on and I love them all. It’s crazy how much it has grown. I was like the only girl out there and now there’s so many girls.”

Feruzi (6-2), a senior who was one of three finalists for the fifth-place Bombers, won her first three matches with falls in the opening period, which was capped by a pin in 0:49 over Batavia’s Emma Abbate in the semifinals. In a matchup of juniors for third place, Kalanga (8-2) recorded a fall in 2:47 over Abbate (10-3). And for fifth place, Morton co-op junior Violet Mayo got a pin in 3:15 over Deer Creek-Mackinaw freshman Kaleigh Merkens.

190 – Caoimhe Mitchell, Batavia

On a day where Batavia had the most champions with three and coach Scott Bayer’s Bulldogs took second place, it may have not come as a surprise that eventual Outstanding Wrestler Award winners Sydney Perry and Lily Enos would win titles. In an event where many veterans with past state success emerged as champions, only two freshmen won titles, one of which was the Bulldogs’ other champ, Caoimhe Mitchell. She took first place at 190 with a fall in 5:30 over Macomb’s Avery Lundgren. Mitchell (8-2) also won two other matches with pins, including in 2:53 over DeKalb’s Molly Kraft in the semifinals.

“It feels good, since I’m a freshman and I’m wrestling up,” Mitchell said. “This is only my second year. I practice with good clubs and I have a really good team.”

Lundgren (6-1), a sophomore who was one of three finalists for the Bombers, won two matches with quick falls, needing just 32 seconds to prevail in the semifinals over Edwardsville’s Abigail Hayes. In the third-place match, junior Kraft (9-4) recorded a pin in 3:09 over freshman Hayes. For fifth place, Pontiac junior Alix Robinson (5-2) turned in the host’s best finish when she won by fall in 2:38 over Geneseo’s Abby Erickerson.

235 – Chloe Hoselton, Prairie Central

When a veteran of Team Illinois who has enjoyed national success meets a competitor who placed third at state last season, it figures to make for an interesting matchup. And that’s what unfolded in the 235 finals as Prairie Central’s Chloe Hoselton faced Urbana’s Jurdan Tyler and the Hawks’ junior captured the title with a fall in 2:17 over Tyler, who took third at 235 in last year’s IHSA Finals. Hoselton needed less than a minute to record pins in her other two matches, including a fall in 19 seconds over Edwardsville’s Tayla Phillips in the semifinals.

“Our school has four girls and I was the only one coming into the season with experience,” Hoselton said. “I’m one of the captains for the girls and I’m glad to be able to lead them and kind of show them what wrestling is about. As a little kid, I was the only girl wrestling at club and at practice and I was a little upset. But recently, the sport has just been branching out and everyone is getting involved. I’m not surprised, I just think it needed some more attention, and as it got more attention, more people liked it. I have high hopes. The rankings don’t mean much but it has me winning and I hope to live up to it.”

Tyler (7-1), a senior who became the Tigers’ first state qualifier and medalist last season, opened with a 7-1 decision in the quarterfinals before winning by fall in 2:46 over Minooka’s Peyton Kueltzo in the semifinals. Phillips (10-1), a senior who was a state qualifier for the Tigers last year, took third place with a pin in 3:30 over Kueltzo (9-4), a senior who is one of two individuals who have been two-time state qualifiers for Minooka. In the fifth-place match, Unity’s Phoenix Molina (10-2), a sophomore who was a state qualifier a year ago, took fifth place with a fall in 0:46 over DeKalb sophomore Aarrianna Bloyd.

Championship matches of Pontiac’s Munch Girls Invitational

100 – Lily Enos (Batavia) F 2:27 Molly Snyder (Geneseo)

105 – Lily Gwaltney (Streator) F 3:08 Olivia Coll (Edwardsville)

110 – Alex Gregorio-Perez (DeKalb) F 3:48 Gianna Linhorst (Edwardsville)

115 – Reese Zimmer (DeKalb) D 7-4 Ella Miloncus (Springfield co-op)

120 – Norah Swaim (Edwardsville) D 6-0 Alexis Seymour (Jacksonville)

125 – Kinnley Smith (Canton) D 6-1 Holly Zugmaier (Edwardsville)

130 – Karen Canchola (Morton) F 1:20 Olive Linhorst (Edwardsville)

135 – Faith Comas (Morton co-op) F 1:19 Lillien Roughton (Unity Christian)

140 – Jordan Bicknell (Olympia) D 5-2 Gia Ritter (Geneseo)

145 – Kelly Ladd (Macomb) F 2:14 Anna Vasey (Unity)
155 – Sydney Perry (Batavia) F 2:15 Abbey Boersma (Minooka)

170 – Abbrey Dewerff (Edwardsville) F 1:37 Seefa Feruzi (Macomb)

190 – Caoimhe Mitchell (Batavia) F 5:30 Avery Lundgren (Macomb)

235 – Chloe Hoselton (Prairie Central) F 2:17 Jurdan Tyler (Urbana)

Team standings for Pontiac’s Munch Girls Invitational

1. Edwardsville (207.5), 2. Batavia (166), 3. Minooka (139), 4. Geneseo (134), 5. Macomb (113), 6. DeKalb (107), 7. Morton co-op (88), 8. Canton (84), 9. Romeoville (76), 10. Urbana (63), 11. Mahomet-Seymour (61), 12. Unity (56), 13. Naperville Central (50), 14. Pontiac (47), 15. Springfield (co-op) 44, 16. Jacksonville (42), 17. Prairie Central 39, 18. Charleston (38), 19. Olympia (38), 20. Kankakee (36), 21. Streator (34), 22. Morton (32), 22. Unity Christian (32), 24. Normal West (30), 25. Ottawa Township (23), 26. st. Joseph-Ogden (21), 27. Bloomington (13), 27. University High (13), 29. Herscher (6), 29. Deer Creek-Mackinaw (6), 31. Wilmington (5), 32. Heyworth (0), 32. Rantoul (0).