Lincoln-Way co-op beats Schaumburg to repeat as IWCOA Girls State Dual Team champs
By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA
DEKALB – There was an interesting similarity between the first two Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Girls State Dual Team Championship and several key differences.
The common theme between last year’s debut of the event and the second edition was that the Lincoln-Way District 210 co-op, featuring athletes from Lincoln-Way Central, Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way West, once again beat Schaumburg for top honors in the 16-team tournament.
Nine other teams that were in the 2024 tournament also were back this year, Batavia, DeKalb, Edwardsville, Geneseo, Huntley, J. Sterling Morton, Lockport Township, Minooka and the District 230 co-op team, featuring individuals from Andrew, Carl Sandburg and Stagg.
This year’s newcomers were Glenbard East, Marist, Warren Township, Wheeling and the Springfield District 186 co-op, which features athletes from Springfield High, Lanphier and Southeast. The other five schools at the 2024 debut tournament were Hoffman Estates, Homewood-Flossmoor, Phoenix Military Academy, Rickover Naval Academy and West Aurora.
The tournament also had a new home after being at Hoffman Estates last year as DeKalb played host to the event in its fieldhouse which later in the week hosted one of the state’s top boys dual team competitions, the Flavin.
Edwardsville improved from fifth to third and Wheeling was able to finish fourth in its first appearance. Lockport Township was 14th last year and took fifth place while Minooka improved one spot from seventh to sixth. District 230 dropped from third place to seventh and J. Sterling Morton went from being 12th in 2024 to taking eighth place this season.
The consolation bracket, in order, included Geneseo, DeKalb, Batavia, Warren Township, Marist, Huntley, Glenbard East and Springfield co-op.
Coach Josh Napier’s Lincoln-Way team came into this matchup with coach Matt Gruszka’s Schaumburg squad with less experience since they had five individuals who competed in the finals dual meet last season compared to seven who had participated for the Saxons.
And while last season’s championship dual meet went right down to the wire with Lincoln-Way trailing 38-18 with four matches left and then rallying with a forfeit win, a major decision and pins in the last two matches to claim a 40-38 victory, there was no real drama this time around.
The teams exchanged pins before Lincoln-Way recorded five-straight pins to grab a 36-6 advantage and Schaumburg ended the run of falls with a pin to close to with 24 points but it would get no closer after that as Lincoln-Way went on to capture a 54-21 win over the Saxons to clinch its second-straight IWCOA Girls State Dual Team Championship.
Posting perfect records for the Lincoln-Way Central/ East/ West (District 210) co-op team were Liv Clumpner (6-0 at 135), Zoe Dempsey (6-0 at 115/120), Riley DePolo (5-0 at 170/190), Abby Kunz (5-0 at 140), Emmy Hoselton (4-0 at 100/105), Grace Spangler (3-0 at 110/115), McKenzie Steinke (3-0 at 100) and Jalyssa Venegas (3-0 at 235).
Three others who were in five or more matches lost once, Kate Bohms (5-1 at 145/155), Aubrey Barnes (4-1 at 120/125) and Ella Giertuga (4-1 at 145/155) while Zoe Zerial (3-2 at 110/115) and Caleigh Nicholson (3-3 at 130) both had three wins. Others who helped the cause were Natalia Calleros (2-2 at 190), Dani Schedin (1-0 at 125), Paige Cronin (1-0 at 155), Georgia Erhardt (105), Abby Lizak (120), Gracie Hansen (125), Kaitlyn Erdakos (140) and Avery Holeman (170).
“Yeah, it felt pretty good to get ahead like that,” Napier said.”I think we were nervous about all of them, like always, naturally. In our pool play, we knew Wheeling was good. That was our closest dual of the day and they gave Schaumburg a good look in the semifinals. Lockport we have seen this year, so we kind of knew how we’d match up against them. I think the last two years we were worried about Edwardsville more than anybody and you know that was another tight one and then the Schaumburg rematch from last year, what else could you want, an opportunity to do it one more time. In the dual before that, we were on the fence about if we wanted to have Zoey to go 15 or 20, but we knew that we might not get back to her if we saved her for the end. And that’s how it kind of went in the last two duals. We were like, if we can start rolling with pins, the momentum shift is going to be there, and I don’t think they’re going to recover.
“I think that a lot of people feel like we’re some kind of super team, right? We’re a co-op, we know that. But the reality is 90 percent of these girls started wrestling in high school, two or three years ago. There’s only two seniors and two juniors on this roster right now, and as starters, there’s only three upperclassmen. There are freshmen and sophomores, and most of them with not a lot of experience. We lost a lot of girls last year. We had a state qualifier not come back and lost a couple other girls. If you look at last year’s dual team, there’s eight of those girls walking around the Lincoln Way halls, not on this team. So people stepped up and got the job done and we’re really proud of it because we didn’t know how we were going to do this year watching this team fall apart in a way. We spent a lot of time in the summer and were in a hard preseason. We kind of knew where we’re going to be going into it because the girls that don’t really want to put in the work figure it out before we start on day one, and we keep the numbers manageable because of that. We don’t want 80-90 girls. We want a solid 30 girls.”
Leaders for the Saxons were Nadia Razzak (6-0 at 190), Isabella Rivas (6-0 at 125/130), Anna Villarreal (5-1 at 115), Lauren Brehmer (4-1 at 135), Makenzi Aguilar (4-2 at 100), Maja Brzosko (4-2 at 170), Olivia Furlan (4-2 at 235), Layla McHenry (4-2 at 155), Sharon Olorunfemi (4-2 at 135/140), Justice Girod (3-3 at 110) and Reagan Paulson (3-3 at 120). Catherine Franco (105), Elena Nikolova (125/130) and Emily Fowler (145) also each had two wins for Schaumburg.
“The IWCOA does such a good job in promoting all wrestling but especially the girls because I think this is a much better format for the girls right now than to let the IHSA take it because we have such a great representation of teams from across the state and it’s still based on success factor from the year before,” Gruszka said. “It’s just the coaches in the state, too. The coaches in the state have done such a good job with the girls wrestling. With the IKWF going now, a lot of these girls are coming in and they’re battle ready. It’s the evolution of the sport and it’s going to be like the boys eventually where it’s going to have that type of feel.
“When you wrestle as a dual team, it’s so much different than a tournament, obviously. And I try to stress to the girls that you’re wrestling for each other. You’ve got to keep it close when you can and you’ve got to get pins when you can, and it’s fun to see that happen a little bit. I think we’ve lost some talent from last year, but it’s watching the newer girls step into a different role. And each week it’s like someone different doing it, so now I’m just hoping that I keep on seeing that all the way to the end. And at the end, hopefully we’ll be going full steam ahead.”
In the championship dual, Barnes (125) got a pin in 2:25 over Nikolova in the opener at 125 and Rivas (130) followed with a fall in 1:00 over Nicholson to create an early 6-6 tie.
But that’s when Lincoln-Way took over for good as Clumpner won by fall in 3:53 over Brehmer at 135, Kunz followed with a pin in 1:25 over Olorunfemi at 140 and Bohms extended the lead to 24-6 when she won by fall in 0:53 over Fowler at 145.
Giertuga continued the run with a pin in 2:55 over McHenry at 155 and DePolo concluded the stretch of five-straight falls with a pin in 1:33 over Brzosko at 170 to give the defending champions a 36-6 advantage midway through the meet.
“It definitely gave us confidence for the rest of the dual,” DePolo said of the five-straight pins. “We definitely just put a lot of work in, and we just had confidence throughout the whole day, and I think that was huge. Everyone’s just super nice. We work together super well. We’re very fluid. And we just work hard together. We bleed and we sweat together. And it just bonds us, we’re just super bonded. Everyone’s super nice and just can flow together good. We’re just super confident in ourselves and in our wrestling.”
Razzak was a winner by fall in 0:27 over Calleros at 190 to give the Saxons their second win but Venegas captured a 1-0 decision over Furlan at 235, Steinke followed with an 8-2 decision over Aguilar at 100 and Hoselton won by fall in 1:09 over Franco at 105 to boost the lead to 48-12 with three matches remaining.
“My sister (Alya) was actually in the first year of girls wrestling, and she’s the one who got me into this, and just seeing it grow so much and the opportunities grow so much to be able to compete at a team dual state, something like this, is really cool,” Razzak said. “I’m very grateful to be able to come out here and be on one of the best teams in the state and we’re able to see so many different types of competition at tournaments like this. Every year I say I’m so grateful for my team, but this year is one of my favorite teams. I’m a senior and I’m team captain, and I just know it’s just something so special. My best friends are on this team, and we are so close, and everybody is just so welcoming. We’re all there for each other and we all support each other, and we can tell each other when things are tough and what to do and things like that. I’m so grateful for my team.”
The Saxons won two of the last three matches as Girod got a pin in 0:19 over Zerial at 110, Lincoln-Way picked up its final win at 115 when Dempsey won by fall in 1:34 over Villarreal at 115 and Paulson captured a 5-0 decision over Lizak at 120 to conclude the meet.
“They definitely had a big thing to do with it,” Steinke said of the run of pins. “It definitely helped in the last few matches, like my match, and the other matches were not as stressful. Yes, they are very tough teams, and we did very well, so it was very exciting. I’m so glad we were able to all come together and really put in the work just to secure the two-time state championships. That’s a great deal. (What she likes about her team) The friendship and the supportiveness. We’re all one big family. We all support each other.”
The two-time tournament champions also had a much easier time of it in both the quarterfinals and semifinals after winning eight of 14 matches in both rounds a year ago.
This time, they only lost one contested match to Lockport Township’s two-time defending IHSA champion and three-time finalist Claudia Heeney in a 63-18 win in the quarterfinals and then got victories in seven of the first 10 matches against Edwardsville in the semifinals to build a 42-15 lead with the final of 42-39 being the result of forfeits in the last four matches.
Lincoln-Way also only lost seven contested matches in its three pool B dual meets, including one in a 60-24 win over DeKalb, only a 5-4 decision in a 71-9 triumph over Geneseo and the other five contested matches came in its 48-31 victory over Wheeling.
“I like a lot about how my teammates like to hype me up and they give me the confidence that I have and their confidence in them cheering me on on the sidelines definitely helps me a lot,” Venegas said. “Just get through my match. Even if I lose a match, I still have a lot of confidence. That I get from the team and they help me out. I love these girls.”
In the quarterfinals, Schaumburg lost five matches against Minooka in a 54-30 victory and then had a fight on its hands against Wheeling in the semifinals. The teams each had seven victories but the Saxons recorded six falls and a forfeit win while the Wildcats collected five pins and two decisions to advance to the dual team championship meet for the second-straight year.
The Saxons easily won pool C with a 60-20 victory over Glenbard East, a 77-6 win over Springfield co-op and a 58-16 triumph over District 230 co-op. They only lost eight matches in their pool, with four of those coming against Glenbard East and three others to District 230.
“It’s absolutely so fun, I love our team,” Aguilar said. “Everyone’s so close with each other, and we’re all so good with each other and we push each other. So everybody has their matches, and everybody’s watching. Nobody’s just randomly somewhere, we’re all paying attention to our teammates. It’s definitely so different than any other sport. It’s definitely challenging, but it’s so refreshing to actually get something. I think since we’re just so supportive of each other and loving. It just really helps and gets us together.”
The Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Girls Dual Team Championships is just the latest exciting chapter in the forward-looking vision that the association has demonstrated ever since it was founded in 1971. Although officials have been an integral part of all sports that have taken place in Illinois at the high school and collegiate levels, only the IWCOA made the decision at its inception to join coaches and officials together as co-equals in their association.
Unlike many coaches associations who only honor coaches in their hall of fame, since its first hall of fame induction in 1972, the IWCOA has recognized not only coaches, but also athletes, officials, administrators, tournament workers and media members and a total of 673 men and women have been recognized for their contributions to the sport since that time.
The IWCOA will be hosting its 30th annual Freshman/Sophomore and Girls Championships on March 14-15 at Bank of Springfield Center. The Frosh/Soph Tournament has allowed young competitors the opportunity to gain valuable postseason experience and has also let many finish on a better note after seeing successful seasons conclude a bit short of the IHSA Finals.
In 2017, the association held its first Girls Championships that is run at the same time as the Freshman/Sophomore Championships and that tournament helped to lay the groundwork for an official Girls State Finals, which the Illinois High School Association conducted for the first time in 2022 on the same weekend as the Dual Team Finals in Bloomington.
And in 2021, the IWCOA held a three-day Boys Open Championship that gave individuals a chance to compete in a state finals competition in Springfield since they didn’t have the opportunity to take part in a regular season or IHSA state series in the 2020-2021 school year.
Another key innovation by the IWCOA also happened in 2021, the introduction of reporting on different levels of the IWCOA’s tournament, which took place during June. In the following season, 2021-2022, weekly individual tournament coverage became a regular feature of the IWCOA website, as did the addition of roundups of other tournaments throughout Illinois. The website, iwcoa.net, is unique among Illinois coaching associations for its reporting on the sport.
Some of the other IWCOA highlights each year have been the Illinois vs. Indiana Classic Duals, the Midwest Nationals and Midwest National Preseason Opens, the annual coaching convention and the Ken Gerdes III Memorial Foundation golf tournament.
And on April 19, a class of 15 will be inducted at this year’s Hall of Fame Banquet, which will be held at Double Tree by Hilton in Alsip. The IWCOA will also present Lifetime Service Awards, as well as association honors for Person, Board Member, Head Coach, Assistant Coach, Official, Administrator, Outstanding Wrestler, Scholastic Wrestler and Newsman of the Year awards.
This year’s inductees will also be honored prior to that on Friday, February 20 at State Farm Center in Champaign before the start of the semifinals at the IHSA Individual Finals.
Here’s a look at the other teams in the second IWCOA Girls State Dual Team Championship:
Championship bracket third place – Edwardsville 54, Wheeling 30
In the third-place dual meet that featured 13 pins and one forfeit, Edwardsville used two runs that each featured four-straight pins to claim a 54-30 victory over Wheeling.
The Wildcats grabbed a 6-0 lead before the Tigers took control with four-consecutive falls to go up 24-6. Wheeling got pins in the next two matches to close to within 24-18, and after the sides traded pins, the Tigers collected four more pins in a row to finally wrap things up.
Top performers for the third-place Tigers, who went 5-1 and are coached by 2019 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Jon Wagner, were Maddy Allen (6-0 at 100), Victoria White (6-0 at 190), Adleigh Dewerff (5-0 at 110), Brooklyn Alldredge (5-1 at 125), Lydia Blind (5-1 at 140), Genevieve Dykstra (5-1 at 115), Olive Linhorst (5-1 at 130/135), Allie Chong (4-1 at 120),
Jaylynn Bierbrauer (4-2 at 145) and Emma Rogers (4-2 at 105). Also, Abigail Hayes (155), Geetanjali Janardhan (170), Angie Nunez (235) and Kennedy Downs (235) all had two wins.
“The top six teams were real real close,” Wagner said. “We’ve been talking about dealing with setbacks, and when something bad happened, they came back just as hard the next match and that’s hard to do in six matches in six hours. Not one of them blinked and they came back strong. “It’s just a credit to the IWCOA to put this together. It’s an-end of December tournament and there are 16 teams with like 20 girls apiece just out here getting after it and enjoying the sport. It’s maybe not all the pressure with the one-on-one, like in a tournament. They’re cheering on their teammates and really doing a little bit about what wrestling should be like. So it’s good to have both. We like the individual part, but it’s not like being here and them supporting you.
“(Edwardsville’s success in the sport) There’s a lot that goes into it. You’ve got to find your magic potion. And a lot of it’s these girls feeling good about what they’re doing, stepping out of their box, being in a sport that’s very physical, very aggressive, but yet, you know, technical, and having them believe in themselves. So everyone’s magic potion is different, but right now we’ve got a bunch of girls that are believing in their teammates, and it’s really special.”
Leading the way for coach Tony Piltaver’s fourth-place Wildcats, who went 3-3, were Elise Burkut (6-0 at 125), Nikol Orendarchuk (6-0 at 155), Jasmine Rene (6-0 at 235), Haydee Cruz (5-1 at 105), Madeline Chicas (4-2 at 170), Mirna Rahmani (4-2 at 130), Mayali Suarez (4-2 at 120), Layah Woods (3-3 at 140/145) and Julitta Stolarczyk (3-3 at 190).
“We have a nice mix of experienced people and some young people, and it’s nice to see some of our experienced girls kind of pulling those girls along,” Piltaver said. “Kind of getting them ready for something like this, because, like, you look around, holy smokes, there are some good teams there. So just be in the top four, it’s pretty cool. It’s a cool experience for them to kind of keep in the program. Some of the girls that are newer haven’t gotten the results, maybe individually. But to see them just battle on the mat, save points, get points, with bonus points, just depends on what the roles and responsibilities are. And that’s what we talked about. Just like if you do your job, you know, you contribute to the team. And the camaraderie’s great. They hang out with each other. There’s little pockets here and there that have different interests that bring other kids in. So it’s always nice to see when you’ve got a team that gels well together.”
In the third-place dual meet, Burkut (125) opened with a pin over Alldredge to give the Wildcats their lone lead before the Tigers received falls from Linhorst over Rahmani (130), Gretchen Taylor over Nicole Barahona (135) and Blind over Woods (140) and a forfeit win from Bierbrauer (145) to go up by 18 points.
The Wildcats answered with pins from Orendarchuk over Hayes (155) and Chicas over Janardhan (170) to close to within 24-18 and then it remained close as White pinned Stolarczyk (190) and Rene responded with a fall over Downs (235),
“I’m really proud of everybody,” White said. “The improvement from fifth place last year to third place this year is really incredible. Everybody, everybody works really, really hard. Everybody picks each other up. Just like a great environment. I just love seeing everybody get better and better because it just shows how girls wrestling is progressing. I love the competitiveness of it. Just going out there and knowing that it’s you and that other girl on the mat, and it’s whoever wants it more. Everybody’s really nice to each other. Everybody congratulates each other after their match.”
That’s when the Tigers had their second run of fourth-straight wins by fall with Allen over Victoria Pina Rodriguez (100), Rogers over Cruz (105), Dewerff over Ashley Rendon Montesinos (110) and Dykstra over Jocelyn Juarez Cruz (115) before Suarez (120) closed the meet with a pin over Samantha Suhre.
“I would say that it feels nice seeing a mixture of new girls and veterans from both last year and this year because you can see where we need to improve on and where we’re already good.” Burkut said. “And I think it’s just really nice how we all still support each other no matter where we are progress-wise. I mean, I’m out on the sides, I’m cheering for my teammates and I’m screaming myself hoarse. And I think the same could definitely be said for some of the other girls and I think it’s just cool how we have that sense of camaraderie. I mean, it’s interesting. If you really think about it and you wrestle long enough, you can see that the wrestling world is absolutely tiny compared to certain other sports. I’ve seen girls that I was on other teams with and I see coaches that I was on other teams with.
“(Likes about her team) I think it’s definitely the spirit and just the support that we have for each other. I mean, we break it down on family because we’re basically like a second family thrown together. But we all get to know each other. We know how we function. We know where we need to improve. I tend to help my girls improve, too. So that definitely helps because I’m kind of more of a mentor at this point. On a good day, we have 22 girls, and we have two coaches, so it means that less people are left behind.”
Edwardsville advanced to the semifinals with a 63-15 victory over the District 230 co-op in which it lost only two contested matches and Wheeling reached the semifinals with a 45-33 triumph over J. Sterling Morton.
The Tigers took first place in pool A after claiming wins of 61-15 over Huntley, 60-18 over Batavia and 57-21 over Minooka, who finished second while Huntley was third and Batavia took fourth place.
Wheeling was the lone team that didn’t win its pool that advanced to the championship bracket semifinals. The Wildcats took second to Lincoln-Way co-op in pool B after edging Geneseo 42-41 on criteria and beating DeKalb 54-30 before falling 48-31 to Lincoln-Way co-op.
Championship bracket fifth place – Lockport Township 42, Minooka 40
The fifth-place dual meet score was somewhat misleading since Lockport Township took advantage of Minooka having to forfeit at five weights and that allowed it to claim a 42-40 victory. The Indians actually won more matches on the mat, recording six falls and winning a major decision while the Porters, who finished in 14th place last year in the competition, only had two victories that were pins.
Top performers throughout the day for coach Amier Khamis’ fifth-place Porters, who went 4-2, were Claudia Heeney (6-0 at 140/145), Rebekah Ramirez (6-0 at 235), Sophie Kelner (5-0 at 190), Veronica Skibicki (4-1 at 120), Gianna Bogdan (4-2 at 100) and Alaina Churnovic (3-3 at 105) while Camila Mendoza (110), Bella Romando (115), Chloe Scalf (125), Kyleigh Green (130), Alexandra Hardesty (155) and Myra Vicencio (170) all had two victories.
“I think the best part about dual team state is that those girls that don’t get a chance to compete at the individual state tournament, they get to come out here and they get to fight for their team,” Khamis said. “So learning from my experiences and trying to just help these girls out, navigate through the dual team format and prepare for their own individual goals. It’s really all exciting, but I’m really happy that these girls got a chance to support one another and fight for one another today. It really was a team effort. If you look at the last two wins that we had, they were really close dual meets, and a lot of fighting off our back and a lot of putting people to their back and finishing the job, So I’m really happy that all these girls put all their effort in and I’m really excited looking forward to what we can build on in the second half of the season. I know these kids have been believing it the entire year that they are a top team and now I think that they’ve got some hardware to back it up and that confidence is going to skyrocket.
“This is my first year as a head coach, and in boys wrestling and girls wrestling, Lockport High School is just good at wrestling all around, and I’m super excited to help build a program and help steer a program in the right direction. I feel like there’s been a lot of firsts for me and I’ve learned a lot of lessons so far. I’ve just got to give it up to the kids that I have that I’m able to coach and they provide me with a great opportunity. As much as I try to teach them, they teach me a lot every single day, and I learn more and more about the sport of wrestling every single day, and it’s a very exciting journey. We all grow together as a team, and I try to get them to know that every dual meet and tournament is a learning experience, and they’re taking that in full stride. So I’m really looking forward to what they can build on after this weekend.”
Leading the way for coach Paige Schoolman’s sixth-place Indians, who went 3-3, were Ezra Rodriguez (6-0 at 145), Sabina Charlebois (5-1 at 130), Addison Davis (5-1 at 170/190), Abigail Underhill (5-1 at 155/170), Marian Nordsell (4-1 at 110), Aubry Smith (4-2 at 115/120), Lexie Lakota (3-2 at 135), Anastasia Dewey (3-3 at 125) and Melody Williams (3-3 at 140).
“It’s great having all the best dual teams here in the state of Illinois and it’s great to see girls wrestling grow,” Schoolman said. “From the vision we kind of had, people have told us that there’s not enough girls to have a dual team state tournament. Coach (Matt) Gruszka and I said, ‘no, that’s not true, we can have this’. And it’s awesome for the IWCOA to step up and host this. And great big props to DeKalb for setting up a few days early for their Flavin and giving us a great environment to all be in the same room. It was awesome today. Great officials were here today and it was a good competition. We were down four girls today, so we were giving up 24 points at each dual. It makes it really tough to be competitive. I’m really happy with how the girls battle to get out of our pool against some good programs, like Huntley and Batavia.
“To come in and beat Morton to get into the trophy area. That’s good. I’m happy with it. Even this last match with Lockport, we won seven of the three matches that we wrestled and you can’t be upset with that. It was a nice day for the girls. I’ve got nine seniors on this team and some have been with us for two years and some have been with us for four years. It’s nice for them to have this, you know, to be able to have this experience. My big group of seniors that graduated two years ago, that was a really good group. We went out to Clash, and we wrestled really well there. They didn’t have this opportunity. We felt like we were one of the best teams in the state that year, and we never got the chance to show it. So it’s nice to be able to come here, put your toes on the mat, and see where you’re at against some of the best.”
After Lockport Township lost to Lincoln-Way co-op 63-18 and Minooka fell to Schaumburg 54-30 in opening meets in the championship bracket, the Porters responded with a 42-38 victory over District 230 co-op and the Indians won 48-33 over J. Sterling Morton.
The Porters were second in their pool but finished ahead of the team that won Pool D, J. Sterling Morton, which took eighth place. Lockport Township beat Warren Township 64-18 and Marist 54-30 after falling in its opener 47-30 to the Mustangs.
The Indians were second to Edwardsville in pool A, winning 42-36 over Batavia and 42-27 over Huntley before falling to the Tigers 57-21.
Championship bracket seventh place – District 230 co-op 70, J. Morton Sterling 12
In the seventh-place match, District 230 co-op, the defending IHSA champions who have athletes representing Andrew, Carl Sandburg and Stagg, recorded nine pins and added a major decision as it rolled to a 70-12 victory over J. Sterling Morton.
Leading the way for coach Liz Short’s seventh-place District 230 team, which went 3-3, were Piper Booe (5-1 at 115), Isabella De La Vega (5-1 at 135), Tatum De La Vega (5-1 at 105), Jade Hardee (5-1 at 110), Talah Hamed (4-2 at 135/140), Brynnley Krauchun (4-2 at 120), Meghan Carabes (3-2 at 235) and Makayla Miller (3-3 at 125). Reese Kruen (100), Hala Salem (130), Anastacia Dvorak (130), Busola Dinan (155), Gabbi Vasquez (170) and Aliyah Mendoza (190) all added two wins.
Top performers for coach Fernando Arratia’s eighth-place Mustangs, who went 2-4, were Anali Wilson (5-0 at 170), Andaira Marron (4-0 at 100), Victoria Vargas (4-1 at 115/120), Karla Munoz (3-1 at 110/115), Rhysel Anum (4-2 at 145) and Jordan Rodriguez (4-2 at 105/110). Collecting two victories were Sophia Almaraz (105), Fatima Martinez (125/130), Liliana Ionescu (135) and Genessi Ceballos (155).
District 230 defeated Springfield co-op 75-6 and Glenbard East 60-21 before losing to Schaumburg 58-16 to go 2-1 in pool C. After falling to Edwardsville 63-15 in the opening round of the championship bracket, it fell 42-38 to Lockport Township before ending with a win.
J. Sterling Morton won pool D with a 2-1 record but got first since it beat the other 2-1 team, Lockport Township, by a 47-30 score. It later defeated Marist 48-34 but then fell 45-33 to Warren Township. After losing 45-33 to Wheeling in the championship bracket quarterfinals, it fell 48-33 to Minooka to send it into the seventh-place meet.
Consolation bracket first place – Geneseo 54, DeKalb 29
Geneseo defeated DeKalb 48-36 when the two teams met to determine which one would place third and which would claim fourth in pool B. They met again in the first-place match of the consolation bracket and the Maple Leafs once again prevailed, this time by a 54-29 margin.
Top performers on the day for the Maple Leafs, who went 4-2, were Lauren Piquard (6-0 at 155/170), Addison Hadsall (5-1 at 100/105), Lydia King (5-1 at 120), Annibelle Juarez (4-2 at 140), Anabella Kelley (4-2 at 145), Ayla Schultz (4-2 at 125), Tylaiha Medina (3-2 at 100/105), Anna Davis (3-3 at 130), Brenna Dykstra (3-3 at 155/170) and Giana Wurslin (3-3 at 105/110).
Leading the way for the Barbs, who went 2-4, were Alex Gregorio-Perez (6-0 at 105/110), Larisza Gomez Guevara (6-0 at 110/115), Aarianna Bloyd (5-1 at 235), Kara Zimmerman (5-1 at 135), Fatima Ezzaitouni (3-3 at 190), Genna Vargas-Tavera (3-3 at 140/145) and Jade Weiss (3-3 at 100).
Consolation bracket third place – Batavia 43, Warren Township 42 (criteria)
In a very peculiar twist, Warren Township lost consecutive dual meets by 43-42 scores that were both determined by criteria with the tiebreakers being least forfeits allowed and each time it lost on that count by a 4-2 margin. After falling in that fashion to Geneseo in the consolation semifinals, Batavia defeated the Blue Devils in the exact same way for third place.
The Bulldogs took fourth place in pool A and the Blue Devils were fourth in pool D but they beat third-place teams from their pools in the consolation round quarterfinals as Batavia won 48-32 over Glenbard East and Warren Township claimed a 48-30 victory over Huntley. Batavia fell 45-36 to DeKalb in the other consolation semifinal before winning its final dual meet.
Top performers for Batavia, who went 2-4, were Audrey Sheldon (5-0 at 155/170), Natalie Lenart (5-1 at 125/130), Lily Enos (3-1 at 100/105), Jamie Gabriel (4-2 at 190), Norah Stoodley (4-2 at 135/140), Kinzer Mikesell (3-2 at 170), Rhyan Marcellis (3-3 at 100/105) and Sarah Zuziak (3-3 at 125/130).
Leading the way for Warren Township, who also went 2-4, were Tyanna Jackson (6-0 at 140), Aaliyah Vazquez (6-0 at 115), Ellery Brown (5-1 at 145), Jane Kelly (4-2 at 135), Madison Kozlowski (4-2 at 190), Kylie Motley (4-2 at 235), Hanna Bairstow (3-3 at 170) and Naleah Parham (3-3 at 120).
Consolation bracket fifth place – Marist 39, Huntley 36
Marist bounced back from going 1-2 in pool D to finish 3-3 after capturing a 39-36 victory in the consolation bracket fifth-place match over Huntley, denying it from turning in a 3-3 showing after also going 1-2 in pool A. Marist prevailed 7-6 in matches and there also was a double forfeit.
Top performers for the Redhawks were Ava Enright (6-0 at 120/125), Samantha Fontaine (6-0 at 155), Izzy Locascio (6-0 at 135/140), Sarah Parker (5-1 at 170/190), Samantha Durbin (4-2 at 125/130), Stella Harris (4-2 at 130/135), Abby Parker (4-2 at 235) and Shae Halleran (3-3 at 100).
Leading the way for the Hawks were Grecia Garcia (6-0 at 135), Aubrie Rohrbacher (6-0 at 130), Janiah Slaughter (5-0 at 105), Haelynn Lettieri (4-2 at 110), Isabelle Singer (4-2 at 120), Lilliana Castanon (3-3 at 145) and Donna Garcia (3-3 at 115).
Consolation bracket seventh place – Glenbard East 37, Springfield (District 186) co-op 36
Glenbard East and the Springfield District 186 co-op of athletes from Springfield High, Lanphier and Southeast, met twice in the first time that both took part in the dual team championships, and on each occasion, not only did the teams tie at 36-36, but also the Rams were awarded with an extra point due to criteria to claim their two victories.
Leading the way for the Rams, who went 2-4, were Camila Gonzalez (6-0 at 145/155), Nadiia Shymkiv (6-0 at 110), Karla Sarabia (4-1 at 100/105), Mylee Janisch (3-1 at 100), Elizabeth Moreno (4-2 at 125) and Marianna Mendoza (3-2 at 235).
Top performers for Springfield co-op were Vanessa Kelley (5-1 at 190), Phoenix Criss (4-2 at 105), Kimoreyee Ballard (3-3 at 140), Alliyah Powell (3-3 at 130), Taylor Rossi-Laws (3-3 at 115) and Makenna Smith (3-3 at 170).
Statistics of interest
Fourteen individuals led the way in collecting the most team points with 36. They were Lincoln-Way co-op’s Liv Clumpner and Zoe Dempsey, Edwardsville’s Maddy Allen and Victoria White, Lockport Township’s Claudia Heeney and Rebekah Ramirez, Warren Township’s Tyanna Jackson and Aaliyah Vazquez, Marist’s Ava Enright and Izzy Locascio, DeKalb’s Larisza Gomez Guevara, Glenbard East’s Camila Gonzalez, Schaumburg’s Nadia Razzak and Minooka’s Ezra Rodriguez.
Glenbard East’s Karla Sarabia was the lone competitor to claim two wins by technical fall while four individuals recorded six falls, Lincoln-Way co-op’s Liv Clumpner and Zoe Dempsey, DeKalb’s Larisza Gomez Guevara and Warren Township’s Aaliyah Vazquez. Huntley’s Isabelle Singer had the most total match points with 60, while Wheeling’s Elise Burkut was second with 56 and Glenbard East’s Nadiia Shymkiv ranked third with 52 points.
Lincoln-Way co-op edged Edwardsville for the most team points by a 338-334 margin while Schaumburg ranked third with 312 team points. The champion team also easily had the most total match points with 313 while Edwardsville was second with 266 and Minooka third with 242.
Lincoln-Way co-op also recorded the most pins with 47 while Edwardsville was second with 39 and Schaumburg ranked third with 37. And Glenbard East was the only team that had three wins by technical fall while no other team had more than one.
Championship meet at the IWCOA Girls State Dual Team Championship
Lincoln-Way co-op 54, Schaumburg 21
125 – Aubrey Barnes (L) over Elena Nikolova (S), F 2:25
130 – Isabella Rivas (S) over Caleigh Nicholson (L), F 1:00
135 – Liv Clumpner (L) over Lauren Brehmer (S), F 3:53
140 – Abby Kunz (L) over Sharon Olorunfemi (S), F 1:25
145 – Kate Bohms (L) over Emily Fowler (S), F 0:53
155 – Ella Giertuga (L) over Layla McHenry (S), F 2:55
170 – Riley DePolo (L) over Maja Brzosko (S), F 1:33
190 – Nadia Razzak (S) over Natalia Calleros (L), F 0:27
235 – Jalyssa Venegas (L) over Olivia Furlan (S), D 1-0
100 – McKenzie Steinke (L) over Makenzi Aguilar (S), D 8-2
105 – Emmy Hoselton (L) over Catherine Franco (S), F 1:09
110 – Justice Girod (S) over Zoe Zerial (L), F 0:19
115 – Zoe Dempsey (L) over Anna Villarreal (S), F 1:34
120 – Reagan Paulson (S) over Abby Lizak (L), D 5-0
Third-place meet at the IWCOA Girls State Dual Team Championship
Edwardsville 54, Wheeling 30
125 – Elise Burkut (W) over Brooklyn Alldredge (E), F 1:36
130 – Olive Linhorst (E) over Mirna Rahmani (W), F 1:03
135 – Gretchen Taylor (E) over Nicole Barahona (W), F 2:47
140 – Lydia Blind (E) over Layah Woods (W), F 1:22
145 – Jaylynn Bierbrauer (E) received forfeit, FFT
155 – Nikol Orendarchuk (W) over Abigail Hayes (E), F 0:36
170 – Madeline Chicas (W) over Geetanjali Janardhan (E), F 3:13
190 – Victoria White (E) over Julitta Stolarczyk (W), 0:44
235 – Jasmine Rene (W) over Kennedy Downs (E), F 0:16
100 – Maddy Allen (E) over Victoria Pina Rodriguez (W), F 4:37
105 – Emma Rogers (E) over Haydee Cruz (W), F 1:31
110 – Adleigh Dewerff (E) over Ashley Rendon Montesinos (W), F 0:28
115 – Genevieve Dykstra (E) over Jocelyn Juarez Cruz (W), F 0:51
120 – Mayali Suarez (W) over Samantha Suhre (E), F 0:32