Like state champions? You’ll love this state tournament
By Rob Sherrill
For the IWCOA
You’ll see just about everything in the 2026 Illinois state tournament.
You’ll see plenty of outstanding wrestlers. The six brand-new mats on the floor of the State Farm Center in Champaign will be home to 24 returning state champions – 10 in Class 3A, nine in Class 2A, and five in Class 1A. Of those 24, 20 were victorious a year ago as well.
You’ll see brother combinations. Will Justus Heeg of Providence and Judah Heeg of Lemont match what they did last year and repeat as 2A champions? Will Bruno Cassioppi of Rockton Hononegah beat the odds and join twin brother Rocco as a 3A champion? Will twins Garrett and Clinton VerHeecke of Decatur Unity Christian both take home gold in their final shots on the 1A state mats? Those are just a few of the stories behind the matches.
One thing you won’t see is a wrestler closing his career as a four-time state champion in 2026, as Seth Mendoza of Chicago Mount Carmel did last year in 3A. But three wrestlers are on track to take another step to becoming four-time state champions a year from now.
Two of them are juniors, Caleb Noble (113) of Gurnee Warren in 3A and Jimmy Mastny (215) of Woodstock Marian Central Catholic in 2A. Noble is back for a second straight run at 113 after winning his first title at 106 in 2024. Mastny is shooting for his first 2A title after winning a pair of 1A titles, at 190 last year and at 157 in 2024.
The third, Justus Heeg (157), is still just a sophomore. His title at 150 last year as a freshman was his second. As an eighth-grader in 2024, he was the 139-pound 2A champion at powerful Simley High School in Minnesota, a state that allows seventh- and eighth-grade wrestlers to compete on high school varsity teams. Should he win this weekend, in 2027 and in 2028, Heeg would become the first five-time state champion in Illinois high school wrestling history.
Noble, Justus Heeg and Mastny headline eight wrestlers bidding for a third state title. The others are Dom Munaretto (120) of St. Charles East, Nicholas Garcia (132) of Aurora Marmion Academy and Aaron Stewart (190) of Warren in 3A, Wyatt Medlin (165) of Washington in 2A and Dean Wainwright (132) of Port Byron Riverdale in 1A. All five are seniors.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights around the three classifications.
Class 3A
The 113-pound final will be one of the highlights of the classification. It is likely to match the wrestlers who won the 106-pound title the previous two seasons, Noble and Michael Rundell of Oak Park-River Forest, the champion at 106 last year. Both are juniors. The two have not met since the finals of the Marmion Cadet Classic in November, where Noble won by a 7-1 decision. It is one of three championship matches – one in each classification – projected to match defending champions.
Munaretto and Kai Calcutt (215) of Wilmette Loyola Academy could become four-time state finalists this weekend, the only wrestlers in any classification with the chance to do so. Munaretto’s only loss in the State Farm Center came in the 2024 finals to Garcia, also bidding for his third title this weekend. Calcutt will try to add a second title to the one he won in 2024; he was second in 2023 and 2025.
Junior Rocco Cassioppi (150) and seniors Zach Stewart (138) of Marmion Academy, Liam Kelly (165) of Chicago Mount Carmel and Jonathan Rulo (285) of Belleville East are the other returning champions in 3A. Like Calcutt, Stewart lost in the finals a year ago.
Marmion Academy and Joliet Catholic Academy, projected to square off in a dual-team quarterfinal for the ages a week from now, led 3A with 10 state qualifiers each. The Cadets had seven champions at the Hinsdale Central sectional; the Hilltoppers had four at the Edwardsville sectional. Lombard Montini and St. Charles East each earned nine state qualifiers, Oak Park-River Forest eight, and Edwardsville seven; all four are also in next week’s Elite Eight.
In all, 17 3A schools had five state qualifiers or more. Barrington, Fox Lake Grant and Loyola Academy each qualified six, and Carol Stream Glenbard North, Chicago Mount Carmel, Glen Ellyn Glenbard West, Lincolnshire Stevenson, Park Ridge Maine South, Warren and West Aurora each qualified five.
Class 2A
With the championship finals starting at 215 pounds, we’ll find out right away whether Mastny is successful in his bid for a third state title. He’ll likely face the defending champion at the weight, senior Josh Hoffer of Washington, in what would be the only final matching defending champions. The two have wrestled three times in the past month, with Mastny dominating their series by scoring a technical fall and two pins.
A hoped-for second final matching returning champions, which would have closed the championship final round, will instead take place in the semifinals. That’s when Judah Heeg is expected to take on Jaxon Penovich of Arlington Heights St. Viator, the 3A champion in 2024 while wrestling at Mount Prospect Prospect. Penovich, who did not compete as a junior, was given the fourth seed, which put him on Heeg’s side of the bracket.
IC Catholic returns a pair of defending champions, junior Max Cumbee (132) and senior Brody Kelly (175). The defending 285-pound champion, senior Cody Moss of Chatham Glenwood, also returns.
Providence edged IC Catholic for the most individual qualifiers. The Celtics advanced 13 to the State Farm Center from the Hinsdale South sectional – at every weight class but 285 – and their eight sectional champions led all teams in any classification. The Knights advanced 12 from the Antioch sectional, at every weight but 165 and 215, and had six champions. Bethalto Civic Memorial and Deerfield were next, with seven qualifiers.
In all, 15 2A schools had five state qualifiers or more. Antioch, Bloomington, Chicago St. Rita, Grayslake Central, Oak Forest and Washington each qualified six, and Glenwood, Geneseo, Mahomet-Seymour, Mascoutah and Marian Central Catholic each qualified five.
Class 1A
For the second time in school history, Coal City, one of the most dominant teams in the history of the classification, qualified its entire lineup of 14 wrestlers to the State Farm Center, the only team in any classification to do so in 2026. The Coalers, who went 39-0 in duals with wins over a 3A Top 25 team and four 2A Top 25 teams, advanced 11 to the finals of their own individual sectional, with six champions. They enter next week’s dual-team state tournament as the heavy favorite to repeat.
But ither teams will play starring roles this weekend, too. A year after crowning three state champions, Vandalia advanced 10 from its own individual sectional, with five sectional champions, both marks second to Coal City. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher capped the best season in program history by qualifying nine wrestlers from the Stanford Olympia sectional, placing a strong third in the qualifier count. And Chicago Hope Academy and Yorkville Christian, the latter back in the classification after two seasons in 2A, also had impressive showings at Coal City with eight qualifiers each.
The final most have an eye on is the 132-pound showdown, which matches a pair of defending champions. Two-time champion Wainwright, back at the same weight class he won in 2026, is expected to meet junior Max Philpot of Vandalia, up three weight classes from his championship performance at 113 a year ago. The two met in the finals of the iconic Princeton Tournament in January, with Philpot winning a 10-9 classic. Wainwright was also the 106-pound champion as a freshman in 2023. Philpot’s junior teammate, Preston Waughtel, will try to add a second state title of his own in the preceding final at 126. The 113-pound champion in 2024 at Carlyle, Waughtel lost in overtime in last year’s finals.
A year after becoming the first East St. Louis wrestler to win a state title in 82 years – the longest gap between state champions in Illinois high school wrestling history – senior Pierre Walton will try to win the same weight, 165, down a classification at Belleville Althoff. The three upper weights appear to belong to three Lena-Winslow/Stockton seniors, Eli Larson (190), Oliver McPeek (215) and Jeremiah Luke (285). McPeek and Luke could start the Pantherhawks 2-for-2, and Larson, the lone defending champion of the trio, could bring down the curtain on another great state tournament.
The balance in the classification was evident, with just 11 1A schools amassing as many as five state qualifiers. Lena-Winslow/Stockton (7) and fellow Elite Eight qualifier Dixon (5) were the only schools from the deep Byron individual sectional to reach that mark, and only GCMSF and the host school (7) accomplished the feat at Olympia. Murphysboro and Oakwood/Salt Fork (6) and Althoff (5) completed the list of 11.
We set them up. You knock them down. Let the matches begin!