Lincoln-Way co-op rolls to Minooka Girls Thanksgiving Throwdown title

By Curt Herron – for the IWCOA

Lincoln-Way’s co-op team, consisting of girls from Lincoln-Way Central, Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way West, enjoyed a very successful season in 2024-2025, by going 6-0 and winning 40-38 over Schaumburg to take first place at the IWCOA Girls State Dual Team Championship in Hoffman Estates and also capturing Antioch, Hampshire and Hoffman Estates invitational championships in addition to taking top honors at the Metamora Regional and claiming third place at the Geneseo Sectional.

But when it came to the ultimate tournament, the IHSA Finals, Lincoln-Way tied for 12th place with 28.5 points, while a co-op team from a district right next to it, District 230, featuring athletes from three schools, Andrew, Carl Sandburg and Stagg, won the state championship with 66 points and Hampshire took second and Kaneland placed third for the other trophies.

So the focus for coach Joshua Napier’s Lincoln-Way co-op team for 2025-2026 is not only enjoying continued tournament success during the regular season but also being able to get more than four state qualifiers and one medalist, Zoe Dempsey, a two-all-stater who finished in third place at 110, as it did at last year’s IHSA Finals in Bloomington.

Lincoln-Way kicked off its season on a high note on Wednesday when it easily captured the title at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown, where it had four champions, three second-place finishers and six others who placed fifth or better. That helped it to score 282 points, which was 120 points ahead of runner-up East Aurora, which easily set a record for biggest margin of a title win in the  three-year old tournament. 

It was quite an improvement, considering that Lincoln-Way placed eighth in last year’s Throwdown, finishing 63.5 points behind champion District 230, who didn’t participate in this year’s event and will compete in its first invite on Saturday at Larkin’s Royal Rumble in Elgin. Although there were 16 teams competing instead of the 29 that were on hand a year ago, this event was very balanced with all but three of the entering scoring 100 or more points.

“I think it was an excellent start to the season,” Napier said. “Our backups wrestled on Monday and I think it motivated these girls. They were excited to watch their teammates do well and then they carried it into today. 

“What I’m most proud of is that we’re developing these girls. If you look at the girls who were in the finals today, Zoe Zerial was a champ who started with us last year and is only a second-year wrestler. Ella Giertuga is a third-year wrestler who started for me at Central before the co-op existed. And another girl that’s a second-year wrestler is Liv Clumpner and Abby Kunz is also a second-year wrestler. So four of the seven girls have no more than two or three years of experience.” 

East Aurora edged Lockport Township 162-156 for second place while newcomer DeKalb edged the host school 149-144 for fourth place. Huntley (134.5), Hoffman Estates (126.5), Geneseo (121), Bolingbrook (117.5), West Aurora (112), Yorkville (112), first-time participant Plainfield South (106.5) and Joliet West were next in line. Coach Ryan Mick’s runner-up Tomcats made a huge improvement after scoring 24.5 points and finishing in 25th place last season.

Leading the way for Lincoln-Way co-op were champions Zoe Zerial (115), Zoe Dempsey (120), Liv Clumpner (140) and Ella Giertuga (145) while Mckenzie Steinke (100), Abby Kunz (140) and Riley DePolo (170) all placed second. Dempsey repeated as a champion in the tournament.

Grace Spangler (110) took third, Georgia Erhardt (110), Dani Schedin (130) and Jalyssa Venegas (235) placed fourth and Emmy Hoselton (105) and Aubrey Barnes (125) finished fifth. Kate Bohms (155), Aryana Moran (155) and Natalie Calleros (190) took eighth and Abby Lizak (120) and Avery Holeman (170) both added wins for the team champions.

The co-op team will also participate in the same tournaments that they won titles in last season as well as this weekend’s Dan Gable Donnybrook in Coralville, Iowa and also competitions at Oswego East and Conant during the 2026 portion of its schedule.

“We’re carrying over the momentum from last season and we had a good year,” Napier said. “We have goals. We know that we want to go back to the Dual Team State Championships and try to win that again. And we’d like to get a handful of qualifiers down and we had four last year. If we can get six or seven and get some of them on the podium, then we’ve got a shot at taking home a trophy, and that’s the goal. 

“We know what we’re doing and the credit has to go to them (his assistant coaches) as well. The girls put in the work but I feel like we’re teaching them the right things and we’re holding them accountable and that’s huge because that’s part of the sport.”

Top performers for runner-up East Aurora were third-place finishers Valentina Barboza (125), Jaylene Dealba (190) and Lilli Ortiz (235) while Alyssa Galarza (155) finished fourth, Joselyn Llanos (110) and Ayelen Higuera (130) took fifth and Lupita Garcia (145) placed sixth. 

Leading the way for the third-place Porters was their lone title winner, two-time IHSA champion and three-time state finalist Claudia Henney (135), who became the only individual to win a title in all three years of the competition, and one of just three who have advanced to three title matches at the Throwdown. 

This was the first tournament for Lockport Township under their new coach, Amier Khamis, who also received a second-place finish from Sophie Kelner (190), third-place efforts from Camila Mendoza (115) and Dakota Obbish (155), fourths from Veronica Skibicki (120) and Mayra Vicencio (170) and fifths from Bella Romando (115) and Rebekah Ramirez (235).

Two other individuals captured their second title in the tournament, Huntley’s Janiah Slaughter (105), who also won in 2023, and West Aurora’s Aiyanah Sylvester (125), a repeat champion who also appeared in her third title match. The other three-time finalist, Huntley’s Aubrie Rohrbacher (130), finally got a first after falling to Heeney the last two years in title matches.

Coach Conor Infelise’s fourth-place Barbs had three champions in their tournament debut, Alex Gregorio-Perez (100), Larisza Gomez-Guevara (110) and Aarianna Bloyd (235) with Gomez-Guevara being one of the two freshman champions in the competition. 

Plainfield South had two title winners in its first year in the event, Layla Spann (170) and Kimyra Patrick (190), with the latter being the other freshman champion. Hoffman Estate’s Sydnee Allen (155) also won a title and joined Sylvester and Zerial as leaders in the most team points with 32 while Dempsey, Gregorio-Perez, Gomez-Guevera and Spann all collected 31.5 team points and Clumpner was next in line with 31 points.

Coach Paige Schoolman’s fifth-place Indians had three second-place finishers, Marian Nordsell (110), Angela Morales (115) and Sabina Charlebois (130) and Joliet West had two runners-up, Veronica Klobnak (135) and Vanessa O’Connor (145). The other second-place finishers were West Aurora’s Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal (105), Geneseo’s Lydia King (120), Morris’ Zara Lugo (125), Bolingbrook’s Savannah Burns (155) and Romeoville’s Henessis Villagrana (235).

The three closest titles matches were at 145, where Giertuga edged O’Connor 5-2 in sudden victory, at 190, where Patrick claimed a 7-4 decision over Kelner and at 235, where Bloyd won a 10-3 decision over Villagrana. 

The toughest weight class was likely at 120, where three 2025 IHSA medalists and one who just missed that honor competed with two-time all-stater Lincoln-Way co-op’s Zoe Dempsey (3rd at 110 in 2025, 5th at 105 in 2024) beating Geneseo’s two-time finalist Lydia King (4th at 120 in 2025) for the championship while Bolingbrook’s Alejandra Flores (4th at 115 in 2025) took third place after losing to King in the semifinals and Lockport Township’s Veronica Skibicki (8th at 110 in 2025) finished fourth after falling to Dempsey in the same round.

Lincoln-Way co-op’s Aubrey Barnes (5th at 125) and Huntley’s Isabelle Singer (5th at 120) both recorded five falls. Hoffman Estates’ Kami Florencio (4th at 125) collected the most total match points with 51 while Morris’ Zara Lugo had the largest seed-place difference after placing second as a 19th-seed at 125. 

Here’s a look at the champions and their weight classes at the Minooka Girls Thanksgiving Throwdown:

100 – Alex Gregorio-Perez, DeKalb

Alex Gregorio-Perez joined Reese Zimmer as DeKalb’s first two medalists in 2024 by claiming a sixth-place finish at 105, and then last season she became her school’s initial two-time medalist with another sixth-place effort at 105. The Barbs senior not only looks to become her school’s first three-time medal winner but also to finish much higher on the IHSA awards stand and she is encouraged that a few of her teammates may also give the school more than one All-Stater for the second time in three years, including two others who joined her as Throwdown champs.

Coach Conor Infelise’s Barbs, making their first appearance in the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown, finished in fourth place with 149 points, which was seven points behind third-place Lockport Township. Gregorio-Perez captured the title at 100 with a victory by technical fall in 4:00 over Lincoln-Way co-op freshman Mckenzie Steinke. She opened with a pin and a win by injury default before earning her spot on the title mat with a fall in 1:26 over Geneseo sophomore Addison Hadsall. She scored a team-high 31.5 points, as did the 110 champion and her training partner, freshman Larisza ‘GG’ Gomez-Guevara while senior Aarianna Bloyd concluded DeKalb’s fine debut showing in the competition with a title at 235.

“I’ve been working all year and me and her have become partners,” Gregorio-Perez said of teammate and champion Larisza Gomez-Guevara. “It’s so fun to have her to be a part of my program. “I’ve been going to practice and advocating for myself since I want more reps. And I want to work, if it’s during practice or after practice or cardio and doing stuff outside of the mat room and practice. I’ve been trying to put myself in more uncomfortable situations, because it’s better to be in uncomfortable situations to get me to where I’m at. Women’s wrestling is the best. The boys have a lot of competition.”

Steinke, one of seven finalists for Joshua Napier’s championship Lincoln-Way co-op, joined teammate Abby Kunz (second at 140), Gomez-Guevara and Plainfield South’s Kimyra Patrick (first at 190) as the lone freshmen to advance to the championship mat. She recorded falls in her first three high school matches, pinning Yorkville senior Danielle Turner in 3:13 in the semifinals to assure her spot in the finals. Hadsell claimed third place with a pin in 0:52 over Turner and in the fifth-place match, West Aurora sophomore Melissa Melgar won by fall in 0:50 over her Blackhawks teammate, freshman Hailey Autry.

105 – Janiah Slaughter, Huntley

Janiah Slaughter won a title at the initial Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown in 2023 to kick off a successful season where she became Huntley’s first two-time IHSA medal winner and also its first individual to compete in a state title match with a runner-up finish to Kaneland’s Angelina Gochis at 105 to follow up on her third-place showing at 100 in 2023 as a freshman. After being unable to add to her medal total in 2024-2025, the Red Raiders senior hopes to cap her career with another run at a state championship and kicked off her season with a first place effort at 105 to become one of five individuals who have claimed two or more titles in the tournament.

She was joined on the top of the awards stand by the program’s other two-time IHSA medal winner, senior Aubrie Rohrbacher, who took top honors at 130 to capture her first championship in three title mat appearances in the Throwdown. They were the two finalists and among five who placed in the top six for sixth-place Huntley, which is coached by Scott Horcher, who also is Aubrie’s grandfather. Slaughter scored 29.5 team points after recording a fall in 3:04 over West Aurora sophomore Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal in the 105 title match. She followed a victory by technical fall with a pin in 3:23 over Yorkville junior Analiese Garretson in the semifinals.

“I’ve been working really hard after missing my junior year,” Slaughter said. “I’m really happy to be able to be back and will just continue working hard. I’ve been training and doing a lot of conditioning and working with the boys more and sharpening my skills. Also, I’m working better in my mental skills and also my physical game, as well. Me and Aubrie came in together and we’ve gone to state together and were always pushing each other and always doing well, so it feels really good coming into our senior year. We’re going to be pushing each other really hard and going to the state tournament together and we’re going to be coming back with a bracket.”

Bolanos-Carbajal joined 125 champion Aiyanah Sylvester, a repeat title winner, as one of two finalists and four top-six placers for new Blackhawks coach Steve Wallace, whose team tied Yorkville for tenth place. The West Aurora sophomore, who was an IHSA qualifier last season at 100, reached the title mat with two falls, winning in 3:58 over DeKalb senior Jade Weiss, another 2025 state qualifier, in the semifinals in a rematch of their consolation match at state. Garretson took third place by injury default over Weiss. In the fifth-place match, Lincoln-Way co-op freshman Emmy Hoselton recorded a pin in 0:43 over Yorkville junior Ava Donahue.

110 – Larisza Gomez-Guevera, DeKalb

Larisza Gomez-Guevera, or GG as she likes to be called, definitely has had a good mentor as she prepared for her high school career competing for DeKalb. Since she began in the sport, she got the opportunity to learn from one of the Barbs’ first medalists and their initial two-time All-Stater, senior Alex Gregorio-Perez, who placed sixth in the state at 105 in each of the last two IHSA Finals. The freshman followed her training partner on the title mat and both of them were able to capture decisive championships at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown.

Gomez-Guevara won her first high school tournament title by recording a fall in 2:59 over Minooka junior Marian Nordsell in the 110 finals, making her the second of three title winners for coach Conor Infelise’s Barbs, who took fourth place in their debut in the competition with 149 points, which was seven points behind third place Lockport Township. DeKalb’s other title winner was senior Aarianna Bloyd, who took first place at 235, the same weight she fell one win shy of placing at in last year’s IHSA Finals. The two lowerweight Barbs champions tied with 31.5 team points as the freshman followed a win by technical fall with two other pins, with the second of those coming in 1:25 over Lincoln-Way co-op sophomore Grace Spangler in the semifinals.

“I know that I’m a freshman and it’s exciting to come out here,” Gomez-Guevara said. “I’ve been training with her (Alex Gregorio-Perez) over the last two summers, so she definitely makes me open up to a new environment. I started taking wrestling seriously in seventh grade and started training with her since then. You have to learn how to be uncomfortable to be comfortable, and she definitely helps me with that. I love the environment (of girls wrestling) since we uplift. We’re supposed to be enemies on the mat, but off the mat, there’s good friendships.”

Nordsell joined teammates Angela Morales (115) and Sabina Charlebois (130) as runner-up finishers to lead the way for coach Paige Schoolman’s fifth-place Indians. She had a team-high 26 team points after earning her spot in the finals with three falls, which was capped by a pin in 2:49 over Lincoln-Way co-op sophomore Georgia Erhardt. The third-place match featured two sophomores from coach Joshua Napier’s championship Lincoln-Way’s co-op team with Spangler winning by fall over Erhardt in 1:29. And in the fifth-place match, East Aurora sophomore Joselyn Llanos recorded a pin in 1:35 over Yorkville freshman Savannah Turner.

115 – Zoe Zerial, Lincoln-Way co-op

Zoe Zerial took third at 115 in the junior-varsity division of last year’s Thanksgiving Throwdown but in this year’s event, the sophomore became the first of four champions for the Lincoln-Way co-op team when she won by fall in 2:26 over Minooka sophomore Angela Morales in the 115 finals. She joined senior Zoe Dempsey (120), sophomore Liv Clumpner (140) and junior Ella Giertuga (145) as champions for coach Joshua Napier’s Lincoln-Way co-op team, which won its first title in the event with 282 points, a record 120 points ahead of runner-up East Aurora.

The Lincoln-Way East student was one of seven individuals who were able to reach the title mat for coach Joshua Napier’s champion Lincoln-Way co-op team, which finished in eighth place at last year’s Thanksgiving Throwdown but later went on to capture the first IWCOA State Dual Team Championship in Hoffman Estates. She tied West Aurora junior Aiyanah Sylvester and Hoffman Estates junior Sydnee Allen for the most team points in the event with 32 by getting four pins, and earned her spot on the 115 title mat around the same time as Dempsey did at 120 by getting a fall in 1:20 over Lockport Township sophomore Camila Mendoza in the semifinals.

“It was amazing and so much fun,” Zerial said. “It means a lot for the program to catch this big of a win so early on in the season, especially with all of the new girls on our team. It’s just showing us how we can bring in more people and still get better. It means so much. I like that we never give up, we are constantly going, going, going and trying to get better. (Her winning an individual title) It feels so good.”

Morales earned her spot in the 115 title match by capturing a 4-1 decision in the semifinals over her teammate, senior Aubry Smith, after opening the competition with two falls. She joined junior Marian Nordsell (110) and senior Sabina Charlebois (130) as second-place finishers to lead the way for coach Paige Schoolman’s host Indians, who claimed fifth place. Mendoza went on to capture third place by recording a fall in 2:15 over Smith. And the Porters also took fifth place as junior Bella Romando got a pin in 2:42 over Hoffman Estates’ Daniella Beneitez.

120 – Zoe Dempsey, Lincoln-Way co-op

Zoe Dempsey has some big goals as she concludes her successful career competing for Lincoln-Way West and being a part of the Lincoln-Way District’s co-op team for her final two seasons. A third-place finisher at 110 last year after taking fifth at 105 in 2024 while representing just the Warriors, she not only would like to join Gracie Guarino as the district’s second three-time medal winner but also do something that the current sophomore at North Central College achieved in both 2022 and 2023, which was competing in a state title match. She also hopes to help her co-op team claim its first trophy for a top-three finish in the IHSA Finals after helping to a first-place showing at the IWCOA State Dual Team Championship last season.

Dempsey kicked off her senior season in a good fashion as she was one of four champions and seven individuals who advanced to the title mat at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown to help coach Joshua Napier’s Lincoln-Way co-op team to easily capture the championship of the 16-team competition with 282 points, which was 120 points better than runner-up East Aurora, giving the co-op team the biggest margin of victory in the three-year history of the tournament.

She took first place at 120, which was arguably the toughest weight class in the event since it featured three returning medalists and one who fell one win shy of that goal. In the title match, she won by fall in 2:51 over Geneseo junior Lydia King. After opening with a win by technical fall and a pin, she earned her spot in the finals by recording a fall in 2:25 over Lockport Township junior Veronica Skibicki, in a rematch of a quarterfinals match from last season’s IHSA Finals.

“(Competing for the Lincoln-Way co-op) I feel like it just gives every girl an opportunity to have the right facilities, since some schools in the Lincoln-Way District don’t have adequate facilities for women as men,” Dempsey said. “I train hybrid at West and Central and both rooms are fantastic. And the boys have been very supportive with girls wrestling growing so much in these schools, and especially at West, I feel that it’s come together nicely there. I want to win it this year, it’s my last year. I just want to be on the top of the podium at the end of the year, that’s all that matters right now. I can definitely see Lincoln-Way taking home a trophy this year since we have some really high-quality girls this year.”

King, who became Geneseo’s first medalist last season by placing fourth at 120, was the lone finalist for coach Carley Rusk’s Maple Leafs, who took eighth place. She earned her spot in a title match for the second year in a row at the event by defeating a returning state placer, Bolingbrook senior Alejandra Flores, with a pin in 1:50. She also had first-period falls in her other two matches to give her a team-high 26 team points. Flores, who became the Raiders’ second all-stater last season when she took fourth at 115, finished third with a pin in 4:25 over Skibicki, who fell one win shy of a state medal at 110 in 2025. There was no fifth-place match as Plainfield South junior Kayla Ochotorena and Huntley sophomore Isabelle Singer both forfeited.

125 – Aiyanah Sylvester, West Aurora

Aiyanah Sylvester kicked off her 2024-2025 season on a high note by winning a title at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown and was still unbeaten after competing at the IWCOA Dual Dual Team Championships in Hoffman Estates to close out 2024, but the West Aurora athlete was unable to compete in the IHSA state series due to illness. Motivated by the disappointment of not being able to finish things up last season, the Blackhawks junior hopes to advance to state and also become the fifth individual from her school to medal there and she’s off to another good start after repeating as a champion at Minooka’s opening-day tourney, joining Lincoln-Way co-op’s Zoe Dempsey and Lockport Township’s Claudia Heeney in that feat.

Sylvester also took second place in the first Throwdown in 2023, becoming one of three three-time finalists in the tournament, with Huntley’s Aubrie Rohrbacher and Heeney the others. She captured her second title in the event by getting a pin in 1:08 over Morris senior Zara Lugo in the 125 finals. That tied her with Lincoln-Way co-op sophomore Zoe Zerial and Hoffman Estates junior Sydnee Allen for the most team points in the competition with 32. She was the lone champion and one of two finalists for the Blackhawks, who are now coached by Steve Wallace, who competed at West Aurora from 1990-1994 for 2004 National Wrestling Hall of Fame Lifetime Service Award recipient George Dyche. She opened the run to her second Throwdown title with two quick pins before winning by fall in 2:57 over East Aurora junior Valentina Barboza in the semifinals.

“I do feel really good and actually this tournament boosted my confidence a lot,” Sylvester said. “Last year, my season got cut short and this is one of my first tournaments in seven or eight months. Hopefully we can stay as one of the top teams with our new coaching staff and they’re pushing us every day and Mr. Wallace is a good coach. Win or lose, I’m just blessed to be able to step on to the mat again.”

Lugo, the lone finalist for coach Lenny Tryner’s Morris team, competed in five matches after being seeded 19th. She opened with a fall, got a win by technical fall and another pin. Her final win was the closest, when she prevailed in a high-scoring matchup in the semifinals with an 18-15 decision over Hoffman Estates senior Kami Flocencio. Barboza recorded a fall in 0:56 over Florencio to join Jaylene Dealba (190) and Lilli Ortiz (235) as third-place finishers who were the top placewinners for coach Ryan Mick’s Tomcats, who claimed second place with 162 points after they finished 25th in a 29-team field last season. And for fifth place, Lincoln-Way co-op sophomore Aubrey Barnes won by fall in 1:37 over Geneseo senior Ayla Schultz.

130 – Aubrie Rohrbacher, Huntley

Aubrie Rohrbacher proved that the third time’s the charm after she captured her first title in the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown after falling in the finals in 2023 and 2024 to Lockport Township’s Claudia Heeney, who’s won IHSA titles the past two seasons after taking second place in 2023. The Huntley senior claimed top honors at 130 by recording a fall in 5:05 over Minooka senior Sabina Charlebois and is now also one of a trio of three-time finalists in the tournament, joining West Aurora’s Aiyanah Sylvester and Heeney in that exclusive company. After suffering a heartbreaking injury in the semifinals of last season’s IHSA Finals, she hopes that she can finally make it to the championship match and that either her or senior teammate Janiah Slaughter, or perhaps even both, may become the Red Raiders’ first state champions.

Rohrbacher broke her foot in the semifinals at last year’s IHSA Finals and then battled through to place sixth at 130 after finishing third at 130 in 2024 to claim her first state medal and became her school’s second All-Stater. She joined two-time IHSA medalist Slaughter, the program’s first state medalist, as title winners for sixth-place Huntley, which is now coached by Aubrie’s grandfather, Scott Horcher. The rare case of a successful wrestler who will compete collegiately in lacrosse at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri, she edged her longtime teammate and two-time tournament champion Slaughter, who won the title at 105, in team points by a 30-29.5 margin. She recorded opening-minute falls in her other two matches, winning in 0:49 over Lincoln-Way co-op sophomore Dani Schedin in the semifinals.

“I fought off a lot last year and I ended up making it to the semifinals,” Rohrbacher said. “But I unfortunately broke my foot during the middle of the match. It is tough, but it just kind of shows that you can put in a lot and you’re not always going to get the outcome that you want. So the important part is to keep pushing and keep going and try harder. I’ve had to come back from that and I’ve been training and training and just getting into my flow. And today, I definitely have finally caught my flow, even though it’s the first tournament. I have more goals for myself that are a little higher, and I’m really excited to work toward those goals. I’m really hoping that after we leave, that some of the things that we’ve helped this program grow with actually stay, like Janiah’s motivational Mondays and just supporting the team. (Her grandfather) He has a lot of experience and coached some of my uncles, and just coached this past year at Jacobs. I had  originally started wrestling to stay in shape for lacrosse. And it actually does help because with lacrosse, there’s a lot of hand-eye coordination and the speed and agility from wrestling is a major booster that helps. Although it seems that there were less teams at the tournament, it felt like there were the same amount of people because there are more girls on each team, and that’s really cool to see. It’s amazing to see how many people are joining and continuing with it.”

Charlebois joined junior Marian Nordsell (110) and sophomore Angela Morales (115) as second-place medalists and top finishers to lead the fifth-place Indians. She opened with a quick pin and then won by fall in 3:30 over Joliet West senior Briahna Klobnak in the semifinals. Her father Jeff was the IWCOA Assistant Coach of the Year in 2023 and was a Class AA runner-up in 1998 at Oswego. He is an assistant to head coach Paige Schoolman and the two succeeded 2009 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Bernie Ruettiger, who was in attendance for the event, by each taking teams to the IHSA Dual Team Finals in 2012 and 2013 after they assisted Ruettiger during which time he won a Class 3A title in 2010 and had second place squads in 2009 and 2011. In the third-place match, Klobnak won by fall in 1:30 over Schedin. And for fifth place, East Aurora’s Ayelen Higuera got a pin in 3:06 over Oswego sophomore Nina Witkowski.

135 – Claudia Heeney, Lockport Township

Claudia Heeney already has accomplished a lot during her historic three-year career at Lockport Township. The IHSA champion at 135 in 2025 over Prospect’s Viola Pianetto and at 130 in 2024 over Collinsville’s Taylor Dawson and a runner-up at 125 in 2023 to Freeport’s Cadence Diduch looks to join Hononegah’s Angelina Cassioppi, Glenbard North’s Gabby Gomez, Batavia’s Sydney Perry and Diduch as the only individuals to finish their careers with three or more IHSA titles and achieve something that only four-time state champion Cassioppi has done thus far, and that is to compete in four-straight IHSA title matches. But the Porters senior knows better than to look too far ahead and is really focused on the present, which in this case involves her becoming the first three-time champion at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown when she recorded a fall in 0:38 over Joliet West senior Veronica Klobnak to win the 135 title match.

Heeney has posted an impressive 109-4 record (.965 percent) and has only lost once in a competition in this state, which was in the 2023 IHSA Finals. The only two individuals who have participated in three or more IHSA Finals who had a better winning percentage were Gomez and Perry. She was the only title winner and was joined by 190 runner-up senior Sophie Kelner as one of two finalists for the Porters, who claimed third place with 156 points, which was six points behind runner-up East Aurora. It was the debut for new Lockport Township head coach Amier Khamis, who was a freshman on the first Lincoln-Way West team that qualified for the IHSA Dual Team Finals in 2013 for 2000 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Brian Glynn and he later assisted his Warriors head coach and also served as an assistant coach at Andrew. She collected 29.5 team points in just three matches after opening with a victory by technical fall in the quarterfinals and then became one of only three three-time finalists in the Thanksgiving Throwdown by winning with a pin in 0:33 over Minooka senior Lexie Lakota in the semifinals.

“It’s really exciting going into my senior year and hopefully we get another title and overall it’s just been such an experience,” Heeney said. “I feel like I push myself and I’m more competing against myself than I did in the years previously. In my experience, I feel like I haven’t been focusing on being one of the top girls in the state but being better than the person I was last year. I’ve just been training a lot and practicing every day and I’m really focusing on certain areas a lot. During the summer, I spent hours working on singular little things. It will be a really fun year since we have a lot of potential in the room. So I’m super excited to go and get after it.”

Klobnak, one of two second-place finishers for coach Erik Murry’s Tigers, tied 145 runner-up senior Vanessa O’Connor for the most team points for Joliet West with 26 points. She recorded opening-period falls in her other three matches, winning in 1:07 in the semifinals over DeKalb senior Kayden Johnson, who took third with a fall in 1:18 over Lakota. And in the fifth-place match, Bolingbrook junior Anaya Campbell won by fall in 3:00 over Huntley junior Grecia Garcia.

140 – Liv Clumpner, Lincoln-Way co-op

Liv Clumpner made an impressive improvement of going from a sixth-place finish in last year’s junior varsity division of the Thanksgiving Throwdown to winning a title at 140, and being one of four champions for the Lincoln-Way co-op team after the sophomore from Lincoln-Way East captured a 16-4 major decision in the 140 title match over a teammate, freshman Abby Kunz. 

She joined two-time title winner senior Zoe Dempsey (120) and first-time champions sophomore Zoe Zerial (115) and junior Ella Giertuga (145) on top of the awards stand and also was one of seven finalists for coach Joshua Napier’s team champions, who improved from an eighth-place showing last year to capture their first title in the competition with 282 points, which was 120 points better than runner-up East Aurora. Her other three victories were by falls in under one minute, which included a pin in 0:58 over Minooka sophomore Mel Williams in the semifinals.

“I’m very proud,” Clumpner said of her team’s title. “I definitely think it’s our hard work and everything that we put in and our technique. It works out well (the co-op), I think it’s like a perfect kind of blend from the three schools. I don’t think we’d be as successful if we were individual schools. It definitely helps having a lot of other good people in the room, it helps you to push yourself. It’s nice to start off the year at 4-0. I’m definitely excited for the rest of the season.”

Kunz was one of four freshmen who advanced to the title match with freshman teammate Mckenzie Steinke (100) also taking second place while DeKalb’s Larisza Gomez-Guevara (110) and Plainfield South’s Kimyra Patrick (190) both captured titles. The other Lincoln-Way co-op second-place finisher was junior Riley DePolo (170). She advanced to the 140 title mat with three falls, recording a pin in 2:46 in the semifinals over Yorkville sophomore Aviana Froelich, who went on to claim third place with a fall in 2:51 over Williams. And for fifth place, DeKalb sophomore Kara Zimmerman got a pin in 0:33 over Oswego sophomore Elin Ludvigson.

145 – Ella Giertuga, Lincoln-Way co-op

Ella Giertuga heads into her junior season with a lot of confidence after winning three-straight matches in the consolation bracket to become one of the Lincoln-Way co-op team’s four IHSA Finals qualifiers at the 2025 Geneseo Sectional. After kicking off her successful sophomore season with a fourth-place showing at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown, the Lincoln-Way East athlete is hopeful that her title win at 145 in this year’s competition is signs of more good things to come, such as a return trip to the state finals and perhaps getting a medal there.

Giertuga was victorious in one of the event’s closest title matches when she got a takedown in overtime to prevail 5-2 in sudden victory over Joliet West senior Vanessa O’Connor to join two-time champion senior Zoe Dempsey (120) and first-time title winners sophomores Zoe Zerial (115) and Liv Clumpner (140) as champions for Lincoln-Way’s co-op team that’s coached by Joshua Napier, which had seven finalists and scored 282 points to claim top honors in the 16-team competition by a record 120 points. She won her other two matches by fall, with the second of those coming in 5:45 over Geneseo sophomore Annibelle Juarez in the semifinals. 

“I feel like we’ve come pretty far from last year and we’re definitely starting off pretty strong this year with this win and I’m excited about that,” Giertuga said. “You get a lot of different looks when you have three different schools. I think it’s really beneficial to have a bunch of people and they all care about wrestling, so that’s good.”

O’Connor, who joined senior Veronica Klobnak (135) as one of two second-place finishers who led the way for coach Erik Murry’s Tigers, earned her spot on the 145 championship mat after recording a fall in 1:48 in the semifinals over Minooka senior Ezra Rodriguez while her first two victories were both pins that were settled during the opening minute. Rodriguez went on to claim third place by winning a fall in 3:37 over Juarez. And for fifth place, Oswego senior Joslynn Sheets captured a 3-2 decision over East Aurora junior Lupita Garcia.

155 – Sydnee Allen, Hoffman Estates

Sydnee Allen not only led the way for Hoffman Estates by being its lone champion and finalist at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown but she also tied West Aurora junior Aiyanah Sylvester and Lincoln-Way co-op sophomore Zoe Zerial for the most team points with 32 points after recording falls in all four of her matches for the Hawks, who placed seventh in the tournament and are now coached by a Hoffman Estates graduate and former assistant, Andrew Pettit.

Allen, a junior who missed the start of last season due to injury and then was unable to qualify for sectional competition from the strong Willowbrook Regional, wrapped up her successful Throwdown tournament title run by getting a pin in 1:14 over Bolingbrook junior Savannah Burns in the 155 championship match. After opening with two falls, she earned her spot on the title mat by recording a pin in 1:04 over East Aurora sophomore Alyssa Galarza.

“This year’s team has a lot of potential, especially with the seniors who paved the way last year like Sophia Ball, Abby Ji and Bella Chiovari,” Allen said. “It definitely gave us the opportunity to be like, okay, now we want it and it is our turn, and that’s definitely how I took it into the tournament. I was injured last year and couldn’t compete early in the season, so for me to be able to come in here and to wrestle like this and then to take first place is a big deal for me. There were a lot of tough opponents today, so it gave me the opportunity to see where I’m at and where I need to go in order to make it to the state tournament.”

Burns, the lone finalist for coach Jordan Hovel’s ninth-place Raiders, won her first three matches by fall with the third coming in the semifinals in 1:55 over Lockport Township senior Dakota Obbish, who went on to place third by getting a pin in 4:56 over Galarza. For fifth place, Huntley junior Roya Shayestehjah won by fall in 4:00 over Morris senior Nicolette Boelman.

170 – Layla Spann, Plainfield South

Layla Spann experienced a successful debut last season for Plainfield South, winning 29 matches, qualifying for the IHSA Finals and winning a match there while also being able to watch teammate Teagan Aurich bounce back from her first loss in the semifinals to finish 40-1 by placing third to become the third Cougar to earn a state medal. Now the sophomore and a freshman, Kimyra Patrick, are excited about what lies ahead for them after the pair both won titles at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown in their school’s first trip to the tournament.

Spann captured the championship at 170 by recording a fall in 1:44 over Lincoln-Way Central junior Riley DePolo and then Patrick followed with her title at 190. They were the lone finalists for coach Thomas Redmon’s Cougars, who took 12th place in a very balanced competition where 13 of the 16 entrants scored 100 or more points. Spann finished with a team-high 31.5 points, which was one-half point behind the three leaders in that category. She began her title run with a quick fall and followed with a win by technical fall before getting another pin, in 3:22, over Yorkville sophomore Lauryn Trotter in the semifinals to secure her spot on the title mat.

“I’ll just keep working on what I’m working on now in practice and just keep going hard and perfect what I’m doing in practice,” Spann said. “We’re very resilient.”

DePolo, is the daughter of Jason DePolo, an Associate Principal of Student Services at Lincoln-Way Central, who competed for 1995 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Mark Ruettiger at that school and then led the Knights for 10 seasons and took three teams to the IHSA Class 3A Dual Team Finals from 2013 to 2015 with the first of those taking fourth place. She was one of seven finalists for coach Joshua Napier’s champion Lincoln-Way co-op, who finished with 282 points and their 120-point margin over runner-up East Aurora is a new tournament-best. She won her first three matches by fall, with her third fall coming in 3:48 over Lockport Township senior Mayra Vicencio in the semifinals. Trotter claimed third place with a pin in 0:50 over Vicencio and in the fifth-place match, Oswego junior Makayla Hill, who was a champion in last year’s Throwdown, recorded a fall in 0:34 over Hoffman Estates’ Dayanara Elias-Mena.

190 – Kimyra Patrick, Plainfield South

Kimyra Patrick began her high school career at Plainfield South in impressive fashion by winning a championship at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown when she claimed a 7-4 decision over Lockport Township senior Sophie Kelner in the 190 title match. She was one of two title winners and four finalists who are in their freshman seasons, with the other Throwdown champion being DeKalb’s Larisza Gomez-Guevara, who captured top honors at 110.

She was one of two title winners for coach Thomas Redmon’s Cougars, who were making their initial appearance in the Throwdown. The team’s other champion was sophomore Layla Spann, who took first place at 170 around the same time that Patrick claimed top honors at her weight. Patrick will no doubt benefit from training with Spann, who qualified for the IHSA Finals as a freshman and won a match at state. The freshman also recorded falls in her other three matches, including winning in 5:42 over Yorkville senior Janiah Murray in the semifinals.

“It feels great,” Patrick said of winning a title in her first high school tournament. “I like how hard-working our team is and that we’re getting more mentally prepared for each match.”

Kelner, joined three-time champion senior Claudia Heeney as one of two title winners and finalists for the new head coach of the Porters, Amier Khamis, whose team took third place with 156 points, six points behind runner-up East Aurora. Kelner qualified for the IHSA Finals last season and won a match there to finish with 42 victories. She recorded falls in her first two matches, getting a pin in the semifinals in 5:39 over East Aurora freshman Jaylene Dealba, who went on to claim third place with a fall in 2:57 over Murray. In the fifth-place match, Minooka senior Mia Lemberg was a winner by fall in 1:21 over Yorkville sophomore Deeanna Rothaug.

235 – Aarianna Bloyd, DeKalb

Aarianna Bloyd experienced the disappointment of advancing to consolation round three and then falling one victory shy of capturing a medal at 235 at last season’s IHSA Finals. The Barbs senior hopes to join classmate and two-time medalist Alex Gregorio-Perez as just the third individual to earn a state medal and she kicked off her final season on a high note by capturing the 235 title at the Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown with a 10-3 decision over Romeoville junior Henessis Villagrana in the 235 title match in a rematch of last year’s consolation round one matchup in Bloomington between the two where Bloyd prevailed with a 3-2 decision.

Coach Conor Infelise’s Barbs made a nice debut in the competition, finishing in fourth place with 149 points, which was seven points behind third-place Lockport Township and five points better than the host Indians, who finished fifth. The Barbs had the second-highest total of title winners in the tournament with three, which was one less the team champion Lincoln-Way co-op had. Freshman Larisza Gomez-Guevara took first at 110 while Gregorio-Perez won at 100 in one of the first two title matches during the finals round. Bloyd recorded first-round falls in her other two matches, getting a pin in 1:19 over Lincoln-Way co-op junior Jalyssa Venegas in the semifinals.

“We’re all very close, it’s a family,” Bloyd said. “So we’re all pushing each other, especially with me and Alex and building the program for four years now. I think it gave me discipline going to wrestle in some of the biggest tournaments around with my team. I’ve definitely seen in the past four years of it growing, that we’re having tougher matches and having to take a bad loss, but I think that’s good to wrestle a good girl and lose once in a while. I’m feeling very good. I’ve been training all summer, and preseason with hard-gos. Me and Alex have some big things to accomplish, along with our freshman. We’re looking forward to getting that state title this year.”

Villagrana, who won 22 matches while qualifying for state last season, was the lone finalist at the Throwdown for coach John Arlis’ Spartans. She recorded falls in her first three matches, which included a pin in 5:54 in the semifinals over East Aurora junior Lilli Ortiz, who went on to capture third place with a fall in 1:24 over Venegas. And in the fifth-place match, Lockport Township junior Rebekah Ramirez recorded a pin in 0:26 over Bolingbrook junior Cynthia Rios.

Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown team standings

1. Lincoln-Way co-op 282, 2. East Aurora 162, 3. Lockport Township 156, 4. DeKalb 149, 5. Minooka 144, 6. Huntley 134.5, 7. Hoffman Estates 126.5, 8. Geneseo 121, 9. Bolingbrook 117.5, 10. West Aurora 112, 10. Yorkville 112, 12. Plainfield South 106.5, 13. Joliet West 102, 14. Morris 74, 15. Romeoville 69.5, 16. Oswego 60.

Minooka Thanksgiving Throwdown championship matches

100 – Alex Gregorio-Perez (DeKalb) over Mckenzie Steinke (Lincoln-Way co-op), TF 4:00

105 – Janiah Slaughter (Huntley) over Ruby Bolanos-Carbajal (West Aurora), F 3:04

110 – Larisza Gomez-Guevara (DeKalb) over Marian Nordsell (Minooka), F 2:59

115 – Zoe Zerial (Lincoln-Way co-op) over Angela Morales (Minooka), F 2:26

120 – Zoe Dempsey (Lincoln-Way co-op) over Lydia King (Geneseo), F 2:51

125 – Aiyanah Sylvester (West Aurora) over Zara Lugo (Morris), F 1:08

130 – Aubrie Rohrbacher (Huntley) over Sabina Charlebois (Minooka), F 5:05

135 – Claudia Heeney (Lockport Township) over Veronica Klobnak (Joliet West), F 0:38

140 – Liv Clumpner (Lincoln-Way co-op) over Abby Kunz (Lincoln-Way co-op), MD 16-4

145 – Ella Giertuga (Lincoln-Way co-op) over Vanessa O’Connor (Joliet West), SV 5-2

155 – Sydnee Allen (Hoffman Estates) over Savannah Burns (Bolingbrook), F 1:14

170 – Layla Spann (Plainfield South) over Riley DePolo (Lincoln-Way co-op), F 1:44

190 – Kimyra Patrick (Plainfield South) over Sophie Kelner (Lockport Township), D 7-4

235 – Aarianna Bloyd (DeKalb) over Henessis Villagrana (Romeoville), D 10-3