Survive
Sterling and
Advance
Sterling and
Advance
NI Big 12 East Division
Well-Represented at State, 37 total
area qualifiers ...
Well-Represented at State, 37 total
area qualifiers ...
| Northern Illinois Sports Beat http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com |
By Cody Cutter
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
STERLING – If there was any more proof that the Northern Illinois Big 12 East Division is
considered one of the strongest group of schools in Class 2A wrestling, its performance in
the individual sectional tournament helped bolster that claim.
Of the 28 possible sectional finalists from Sterling's 2A Individual Sectional, 10 spots were
taken by NI Big 12 East wrestlers. That meant 12 percent of the state's Class 2A group of
sectional finalists all came from the same division. Take out Rochelle – who was unable to
advance anyone into the sectional quarterfinals – and just five schools out of the NI Big
12 East make up this elite group.
Another 10 division wrestlers also advanced by virtue of third- and fourth-place sectional
finishes, accounting for eight percent of the total 2A field.
Yorkville, won who the LaSalle-Peru Regional last week, led the NI Big 12 East with six
State qualifiers, led by senior Connor Bass's sectional championship at 145 pounds.
Sycamore shipped five wrestlers also to Champaign, led by junior Jake Davis's sectional
title at 195. Kaneland saw four of its wrestlers advance, Morris saw three and DeKalb saw
two, one of which is sectional champion Evan Jones at 132.
Of the area's 37 total state qualifiers, they will advance to the big dance on Thursday at
the Assembly Hall on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign. Chances are,
the score of wrestlers from the NI Big 12 East will be around familiar faces there.
But for Bass (34-4), however, the names of those faces do not matter. The Fox senior
went 3-0 in the sectional round, starting off with a tech fall in 4:51 over Geneseo's Joey
Medina. Then Bass met No. 1-ranked (by Illinois Best Weekly) Sycamore's Steven
Lalowski (40-3) in the semifinal, someone who has gotten the best of him in the
conference and regional meets.
This time Bass got the best of Lalowski – who wound up finishing in third – with an 8-6
decision.
“It's not my goal to beat any individual wrestler,” Bass said. “I just want to win the state title
at the end of the road. It was a good personal win, but I'm not going to stop working
because I beat the top guy.”
Bass capped his tournament with a 5-0 championship-match win over Burlington Central's
Johnny Major. Bass took down Major once in the first period and once in the third period
to push his way to the sectional title.
“It feels good, but ultimately the goal is to win a state title,” Bass said of winning the
sectional. “This is just a stepping stone. It's good to come in here and take good matches.
But ultimately I'm getting ready for next week.”
Steve Pozeg (30-8) earned a second-place finish for the Foxes at 170 pounds, falling to
Washington's Mason Wright in the title match by a 2-1 decision. Jacob Hurt (23-18) added
a third-place finish for the Foxes at 132, with Bass's twin brother Clayton (37-7) also
advancing with a fourth-place finish at 152, as well as Brennan Sharp (21-20) at 138 and
Seth Gonzealez (36-6) at 285 in the same place.
“We had a great effort today,” Yorkville coach Joe Fornell said. “We had six qualifiers in a
tough sectional with a lot of great competition. I'm pleased with our effort. Our guys put in
a good two weeks of work.”
Of DeKalb's two qualifiers, Jones had a sectional to remember and junior Doug Johnson
had a sectional he'd like to forget.
Johnson (32-4) came into the sectional ranked No. 1 by IBW at 126 pounds, but wound up
on the losing end of a soon-to-be-frustrating 6-2 decision to Aurora Marmion's George
Fisher in the championship bout.
Jones, meanwhile, saw his 3-0 sectional run start with a 2:16 fall of Dixon's Kylian Lally,
followed by a 10-9 decision win over Morris's Justin Barkely (31-12). Wrestling wouldn't
get any easier for the Barb senior in the championship bout, winning a 9-7 decision over
Rock Island's Darius Henderson.
After Henderson scored the match's first take down with 1:04 left in the second period,
Jones escaped and caught the Rock senior for a three-point near fall as time expired. But
Henderson would come back with five straight points in the third period with an early
reversal and a three-point near fall that lasted from 0:47 left to 0:26 left before Jones
found his way back in control with a reversal of his own to tie the match at regulation.
Jones then scored a takedown 25 seconds into overtime to claim a hard-fought sectional
championship.
“I was hoping he was going to shoot high, because that's such a cheap takedown for me,”
Jones said. “I've hit it a million times since middle school. My arms were so tired, and there
was no way I was going to get on it with my shoulder. I was hoping for that cheap
takedown early just to it can be over with.”
Kaneland and Morris each had two wrestlers advance to the sectional finals.
Dan Goress (32-5) at 138 and Ben Kovalick (35-5) at 220 both won their first two bouts
for the Knights before falling in the sectional title bouts. Goress lost a 9-5 decision to
Marmion's Angelo Silvestero, while Kovalick was added to Lucas Joseph's unbeaten
season record with a 15-6 decision loss to the East Peoria standout. Esai Ponce (39-5)
placed third at 120 for Kaneland, while Steven Gust (27-7) placed fourth at 106.
Kenny Baldridge (34-5) at 112 and Nik Countryman (35-4) at 182 started 2-0 for the
Redskins before falling in the title bouts. Both fell to Marmion wrestlers with Baldridge
losing to Johnny Jimenez by an 11-7 decision and Countryman losing to Cody Snodgrass
by a 5-2 decision. Barkley would rebound from his tough loss against Jones to take third.
But the party's never over for Sycamore.
Sycamore, who won the DeKalb Regional last week, had a complete set of qualifiers plus
an additional third-place finisher. Davis (39-1) came away from the sectional round
without wrestling into the third period in each of his three matches. He started with a 3:35
tech fall of Peoria Richwoods' Julius Byrd and followed with another in 3:35 against
Freeport's Trey Pempilton (21-3).
Davis won his sectional title with a pin against Geneseo's Oliver Newton (29-9). After not
getting any points in the first period, Davis caught Newton off-guard not too long after the
start of the second period, holding Newton down for three seconds for a fall in 2:09.
“I stood up and I saw that leg there,” Davis said. “I just hit the leg and it was pretty much a
squeeze after that.”
Two of Sycamore's wrestlers that had short seasons, Matt Copple (16-6) and Kyle Akins
(15-3), kept their seasons alive on the individual level with respective third- and fourth-
place finishes.
“We got five qualifiers in there,” Sycamore coach Alex Nelson said. “Sometimes you worry
about getting one or two guys in, let alone five. We saw a lot of good things. We definitely
got stuff to work on for next week. It's a short week, so we got to kind of recuperate. Some
of the guys that lost (today) have to get ready to go.”
Austin Culton (31-4) finished in second place at 152 pounds, with Rock Island's Kyle
Kerres capping his sectional with a 3-0 mark with a 3-1 decision win. Kerres scored the
bout's only take down after just more than a minute into the first period and didn't look
back.
“It feels good for the the first time being sectional champion, not having to worry about the
third-place match,” Kerres said. “So it feels real good. The first takedown was good for me
and I had to just keep him down for the last ten seconds. It gave me a 2-0 lead going into
the second (period).”
Kerres's title was one of two for the Rocks on the evening, along with Ignace Hakizimana's
sectional title at 120. Rock Island also saw six wrestlers advance and led the area's
sectional contingent with the two titlists.
Kerres was one of three sectional champions that did not win a regional championship,
meaning he wrestled four matches to win his title. Hakizimana won his in three matches,
beating Belvidere's Justin McGady 9-6 and Marmion's Jake Field 7-3 to advance to the
title bout against LaSalle-Peru's lone qualifier Jake Wever.
Hakizimana had great starts to both the first and second periods, netting a takedown after
the opening stanza and a reversal from bottom in the second, and wound up with a 4-2
decision win.
Also qualifying for the Rocks were Henderson, Barlow McGhee (40-1) Lucas Rusk (32-11)
and Michael Cole (28-16). McGhee finished third at 113, Rusk finished third at 160 and
Cole fourth at 170.
Five State qualifiers for the Rocks is the most in quite some time, according to Kerres.
“Having a lot of people place in the top four to go to State is amazing,” Kerres said.
Sterling's Curtis Lilly at 285 was another wrestler that won a sectional title without winning
the regional title. The junior started his tournament off the same way he ended his NI Big
12 Conference-winning effort, with a pin of Gonzeales in 1:14. Lilly followed with another
pin in 4:56 against Peoria Notre Dame's Gabe Tudor before facing Pontiac's Quinn
Bullard for the sectional title.
All it took for Lilly was two first-period takedowns to make for a 4-1 decision win.
“It feels good, and it was in front of the home crowd. It felt real good wrestling here in front
of everybody,” Lilly said. “My position was really good because I shot a couple of times
and scored off of that. The third period he just didn't do anything. I just stayed in position
and won it.”
The sectional hosts also saw one more sectional qualifier in a third-place showing by
Issac Anderson at 106.
While accomplishments were plenty, the meet also saw frustrations throughout the gym
with a pair of area wrestlers suffering first losses. McGhee came into the meet unbeaten
before getting tangled by Baldridge in the semifinal round, and eventually getting pinned
in 3:36 by the Redskin sophomore.
“I knew I was stronger than him,” Baldridge said. “So I bundled him up putting his two arms
under my armpit. He can't shoot that way. I figured if I did that he wouldn't be shoot on me
and it ended up working and putting him on his back.”
Burlington Central's Buddy Toth came into the meet with a 30-0 record at 160 pounds, but
was overpowered by the eventual sectional champion, Washington's Dylan Reel, in the
semifinal by a 17-5 major decision. Rusk then handed Toth his second loss of the season,
and the day, with a pin in 4:35.
In addition to Toth and Major, Central also saw Omar Awad take third place at 170.
Belvidere, Belvidere North, Freeport, Geneseo and Rockford East each had one wrestler
advance. Jake Hayes took third for the Bucs at 182, Erik Nord took fourth for the Blue
Thunder at 126 and Jason Woods too fourth for the E-Rabs at 145.
Marmion led the sectional with four champions on the day, which also included Anthony
Bosco's championship effort at 106.
This is the first year of the IHSA's expansion to 16 wrestlers in a State Final bracket, up
four from last year.
Program Note: NISB will have a recap of the Individual State Tournament festivities next
Sunday.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com. --- Talk about what's written on our Message
Boards!
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
STERLING – If there was any more proof that the Northern Illinois Big 12 East Division is
considered one of the strongest group of schools in Class 2A wrestling, its performance in
the individual sectional tournament helped bolster that claim.
Of the 28 possible sectional finalists from Sterling's 2A Individual Sectional, 10 spots were
taken by NI Big 12 East wrestlers. That meant 12 percent of the state's Class 2A group of
sectional finalists all came from the same division. Take out Rochelle – who was unable to
advance anyone into the sectional quarterfinals – and just five schools out of the NI Big
12 East make up this elite group.
Another 10 division wrestlers also advanced by virtue of third- and fourth-place sectional
finishes, accounting for eight percent of the total 2A field.
Yorkville, won who the LaSalle-Peru Regional last week, led the NI Big 12 East with six
State qualifiers, led by senior Connor Bass's sectional championship at 145 pounds.
Sycamore shipped five wrestlers also to Champaign, led by junior Jake Davis's sectional
title at 195. Kaneland saw four of its wrestlers advance, Morris saw three and DeKalb saw
two, one of which is sectional champion Evan Jones at 132.
Of the area's 37 total state qualifiers, they will advance to the big dance on Thursday at
the Assembly Hall on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign. Chances are,
the score of wrestlers from the NI Big 12 East will be around familiar faces there.
But for Bass (34-4), however, the names of those faces do not matter. The Fox senior
went 3-0 in the sectional round, starting off with a tech fall in 4:51 over Geneseo's Joey
Medina. Then Bass met No. 1-ranked (by Illinois Best Weekly) Sycamore's Steven
Lalowski (40-3) in the semifinal, someone who has gotten the best of him in the
conference and regional meets.
This time Bass got the best of Lalowski – who wound up finishing in third – with an 8-6
decision.
“It's not my goal to beat any individual wrestler,” Bass said. “I just want to win the state title
at the end of the road. It was a good personal win, but I'm not going to stop working
because I beat the top guy.”
Bass capped his tournament with a 5-0 championship-match win over Burlington Central's
Johnny Major. Bass took down Major once in the first period and once in the third period
to push his way to the sectional title.
“It feels good, but ultimately the goal is to win a state title,” Bass said of winning the
sectional. “This is just a stepping stone. It's good to come in here and take good matches.
But ultimately I'm getting ready for next week.”
Steve Pozeg (30-8) earned a second-place finish for the Foxes at 170 pounds, falling to
Washington's Mason Wright in the title match by a 2-1 decision. Jacob Hurt (23-18) added
a third-place finish for the Foxes at 132, with Bass's twin brother Clayton (37-7) also
advancing with a fourth-place finish at 152, as well as Brennan Sharp (21-20) at 138 and
Seth Gonzealez (36-6) at 285 in the same place.
“We had a great effort today,” Yorkville coach Joe Fornell said. “We had six qualifiers in a
tough sectional with a lot of great competition. I'm pleased with our effort. Our guys put in
a good two weeks of work.”
Of DeKalb's two qualifiers, Jones had a sectional to remember and junior Doug Johnson
had a sectional he'd like to forget.
Johnson (32-4) came into the sectional ranked No. 1 by IBW at 126 pounds, but wound up
on the losing end of a soon-to-be-frustrating 6-2 decision to Aurora Marmion's George
Fisher in the championship bout.
Jones, meanwhile, saw his 3-0 sectional run start with a 2:16 fall of Dixon's Kylian Lally,
followed by a 10-9 decision win over Morris's Justin Barkely (31-12). Wrestling wouldn't
get any easier for the Barb senior in the championship bout, winning a 9-7 decision over
Rock Island's Darius Henderson.
After Henderson scored the match's first take down with 1:04 left in the second period,
Jones escaped and caught the Rock senior for a three-point near fall as time expired. But
Henderson would come back with five straight points in the third period with an early
reversal and a three-point near fall that lasted from 0:47 left to 0:26 left before Jones
found his way back in control with a reversal of his own to tie the match at regulation.
Jones then scored a takedown 25 seconds into overtime to claim a hard-fought sectional
championship.
“I was hoping he was going to shoot high, because that's such a cheap takedown for me,”
Jones said. “I've hit it a million times since middle school. My arms were so tired, and there
was no way I was going to get on it with my shoulder. I was hoping for that cheap
takedown early just to it can be over with.”
Kaneland and Morris each had two wrestlers advance to the sectional finals.
Dan Goress (32-5) at 138 and Ben Kovalick (35-5) at 220 both won their first two bouts
for the Knights before falling in the sectional title bouts. Goress lost a 9-5 decision to
Marmion's Angelo Silvestero, while Kovalick was added to Lucas Joseph's unbeaten
season record with a 15-6 decision loss to the East Peoria standout. Esai Ponce (39-5)
placed third at 120 for Kaneland, while Steven Gust (27-7) placed fourth at 106.
Kenny Baldridge (34-5) at 112 and Nik Countryman (35-4) at 182 started 2-0 for the
Redskins before falling in the title bouts. Both fell to Marmion wrestlers with Baldridge
losing to Johnny Jimenez by an 11-7 decision and Countryman losing to Cody Snodgrass
by a 5-2 decision. Barkley would rebound from his tough loss against Jones to take third.
But the party's never over for Sycamore.
Sycamore, who won the DeKalb Regional last week, had a complete set of qualifiers plus
an additional third-place finisher. Davis (39-1) came away from the sectional round
without wrestling into the third period in each of his three matches. He started with a 3:35
tech fall of Peoria Richwoods' Julius Byrd and followed with another in 3:35 against
Freeport's Trey Pempilton (21-3).
Davis won his sectional title with a pin against Geneseo's Oliver Newton (29-9). After not
getting any points in the first period, Davis caught Newton off-guard not too long after the
start of the second period, holding Newton down for three seconds for a fall in 2:09.
“I stood up and I saw that leg there,” Davis said. “I just hit the leg and it was pretty much a
squeeze after that.”
Two of Sycamore's wrestlers that had short seasons, Matt Copple (16-6) and Kyle Akins
(15-3), kept their seasons alive on the individual level with respective third- and fourth-
place finishes.
“We got five qualifiers in there,” Sycamore coach Alex Nelson said. “Sometimes you worry
about getting one or two guys in, let alone five. We saw a lot of good things. We definitely
got stuff to work on for next week. It's a short week, so we got to kind of recuperate. Some
of the guys that lost (today) have to get ready to go.”
Austin Culton (31-4) finished in second place at 152 pounds, with Rock Island's Kyle
Kerres capping his sectional with a 3-0 mark with a 3-1 decision win. Kerres scored the
bout's only take down after just more than a minute into the first period and didn't look
back.
“It feels good for the the first time being sectional champion, not having to worry about the
third-place match,” Kerres said. “So it feels real good. The first takedown was good for me
and I had to just keep him down for the last ten seconds. It gave me a 2-0 lead going into
the second (period).”
Kerres's title was one of two for the Rocks on the evening, along with Ignace Hakizimana's
sectional title at 120. Rock Island also saw six wrestlers advance and led the area's
sectional contingent with the two titlists.
Kerres was one of three sectional champions that did not win a regional championship,
meaning he wrestled four matches to win his title. Hakizimana won his in three matches,
beating Belvidere's Justin McGady 9-6 and Marmion's Jake Field 7-3 to advance to the
title bout against LaSalle-Peru's lone qualifier Jake Wever.
Hakizimana had great starts to both the first and second periods, netting a takedown after
the opening stanza and a reversal from bottom in the second, and wound up with a 4-2
decision win.
Also qualifying for the Rocks were Henderson, Barlow McGhee (40-1) Lucas Rusk (32-11)
and Michael Cole (28-16). McGhee finished third at 113, Rusk finished third at 160 and
Cole fourth at 170.
Five State qualifiers for the Rocks is the most in quite some time, according to Kerres.
“Having a lot of people place in the top four to go to State is amazing,” Kerres said.
Sterling's Curtis Lilly at 285 was another wrestler that won a sectional title without winning
the regional title. The junior started his tournament off the same way he ended his NI Big
12 Conference-winning effort, with a pin of Gonzeales in 1:14. Lilly followed with another
pin in 4:56 against Peoria Notre Dame's Gabe Tudor before facing Pontiac's Quinn
Bullard for the sectional title.
All it took for Lilly was two first-period takedowns to make for a 4-1 decision win.
“It feels good, and it was in front of the home crowd. It felt real good wrestling here in front
of everybody,” Lilly said. “My position was really good because I shot a couple of times
and scored off of that. The third period he just didn't do anything. I just stayed in position
and won it.”
The sectional hosts also saw one more sectional qualifier in a third-place showing by
Issac Anderson at 106.
While accomplishments were plenty, the meet also saw frustrations throughout the gym
with a pair of area wrestlers suffering first losses. McGhee came into the meet unbeaten
before getting tangled by Baldridge in the semifinal round, and eventually getting pinned
in 3:36 by the Redskin sophomore.
“I knew I was stronger than him,” Baldridge said. “So I bundled him up putting his two arms
under my armpit. He can't shoot that way. I figured if I did that he wouldn't be shoot on me
and it ended up working and putting him on his back.”
Burlington Central's Buddy Toth came into the meet with a 30-0 record at 160 pounds, but
was overpowered by the eventual sectional champion, Washington's Dylan Reel, in the
semifinal by a 17-5 major decision. Rusk then handed Toth his second loss of the season,
and the day, with a pin in 4:35.
In addition to Toth and Major, Central also saw Omar Awad take third place at 170.
Belvidere, Belvidere North, Freeport, Geneseo and Rockford East each had one wrestler
advance. Jake Hayes took third for the Bucs at 182, Erik Nord took fourth for the Blue
Thunder at 126 and Jason Woods too fourth for the E-Rabs at 145.
Marmion led the sectional with four champions on the day, which also included Anthony
Bosco's championship effort at 106.
This is the first year of the IHSA's expansion to 16 wrestlers in a State Final bracket, up
four from last year.
Program Note: NISB will have a recap of the Individual State Tournament festivities next
Sunday.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com. --- Talk about what's written on our Message
Boards!
C o d y' s
o
r
n
e
r
C o l u m n s
o
r
n
e
r
C o l u m n s
| Those Who Know Northern Illinois High School Sports Know about NISB! |
Photo by Cody Cutter
Morris sophomore Kenny Baldridge makes a move on Rock Island's Barlow McGhee during
the 113-pound semifinal at the IHSA Class 2A Individual Sectional Tournament at Sterling.
Baldridge handed McGhee his first loss of the season in the match.
Morris sophomore Kenny Baldridge makes a move on Rock Island's Barlow McGhee during
the 113-pound semifinal at the IHSA Class 2A Individual Sectional Tournament at Sterling.
Baldridge handed McGhee his first loss of the season in the match.
at Musgrove Fieldhouse,
Sterling
IHSA Class 2A
Individual Sectional
Championship Bouts
106 – Anthony Bosco
(Aurora Marmion) dec
Jordan Lind (Pontiac) 3-2;
113 – Johnny Jimenez
(Marmion) dec Kenny
Balrdidge (Morris) 11-7;
120 – Ignace Hakizimana
(Rock Island) dec Jake
Wever (LaSalle-Peru) 4-2;
126 – George Fisher
(Marmion) dec Doug
Johnson (DeKalb) 6-2;
132 – Evan Jones
(DeKalb) dec Darius
Henderson (RI) 9-7; 138 –
Angelo Silvestro (Marmion)
dec Dan Goress
(Kaneland) 9-5; 145 –
Connor Bass (Yorkville)
dec Johnny Major
(Burlington Central) 5-0;
152 – Kyle Kerres (RI) dec
Austin Culton (Sycamore)
3-1; 160 – Dylan Reel
(Washington) pin Alex
Friedman (Pontiac) 2:23;
170 – Mason Wright
(Washington) dec Steven
Pozeg (Yorkville) 2-1; 182
– Cody Snodgrass
(Marmion) dec Nik
Countryman (Morris) 5-2;
195 – Jake Davis
(Sycamore) pin Oliver
Newton (Geneseo) 2:09;
220 – Lucas Joseph (East
Peoria) major dec Ben
Kovalick (Kaneland) 15-6;
285 – Curtis Lilly (Sterling)
dec Quinn Bullard
(Pontiac) 4-1.
Third-Place Bouts
106 – Issac Anderson
(Sterling) dec Stephen
Gust (Kaneland) 7-2; 113
– Barlow McGhee (RI) pin
Kyle Akins (Sycamore) 4:
45; 120 – Jake Field
(Marmion) dec Stephen
Richardson (Pontiac) 5-2;
126 – Esai Ponce
(Kaneland) inj def Erik
Nord (Belvidere North);
132 – Jacob Hurt
(Yorkville) pin Justin
Barkley (Morris) 0:40; 138
– Colton Gladwell
(Washington) pin Brennan
Sharp (Yorkville) 1:55; 145
– Steven Lalowski
(Sycamore) tech fall Jason
Woods (RI) 3:16; 152 –
Sam Kellet (Marmion) dec
Clayton Bass (Yorkville) 6-
2; 160 – Lucas Rusk (RI)
pin Buddy Toth (BC) 4:35;
170 – Omar Awad (BC)
major dec Michael Cole
(RI) 11-0; 182 – Jake
Hayes (Belvidere) dec
Jonathan Mixon
(Galesburg) 11-5; 195 –
Trey Pempilton (Freeport)
major dec DeMario Walker
(Galesburg) 11-0; 220 –
Matt Copple (Sycamore)
dec Alex Fritz (Marmion) 6-
3; 285 – Gabe Tudor
(Peoria Notre Dame) pin
Seth Gonzealez (Yorkville)
2:20.
Designated State
Alternates*
106 – Ricardo Roman
(BN); 113 – Austin
Rhodenbaugh (Dixon);
120 – Kyle White
(Metamora); 126 – Isaiah
Stedwell (PND); 132 –
Kylian Lally (Dixon); 138 –
Jean-Louis Sawadago
(RI); 145 – Drew Foster
(East Peoria); 152 – Issac
Empson (PND); 160 –
Tyler Puls (Geneseo); 170
– Markus Murphy (United
Township); 182 – Issac
Tudor (PND); 195 – Mario
Carretto (L-P); 220 –
Cyrano Rayfield (Ottawa);
285 – Michael Halverson
(DeKalb).
*based on wrestleback
semifinal loss to eventual
third-place finisher
Sterling
IHSA Class 2A
Individual Sectional
Championship Bouts
106 – Anthony Bosco
(Aurora Marmion) dec
Jordan Lind (Pontiac) 3-2;
113 – Johnny Jimenez
(Marmion) dec Kenny
Balrdidge (Morris) 11-7;
120 – Ignace Hakizimana
(Rock Island) dec Jake
Wever (LaSalle-Peru) 4-2;
126 – George Fisher
(Marmion) dec Doug
Johnson (DeKalb) 6-2;
132 – Evan Jones
(DeKalb) dec Darius
Henderson (RI) 9-7; 138 –
Angelo Silvestro (Marmion)
dec Dan Goress
(Kaneland) 9-5; 145 –
Connor Bass (Yorkville)
dec Johnny Major
(Burlington Central) 5-0;
152 – Kyle Kerres (RI) dec
Austin Culton (Sycamore)
3-1; 160 – Dylan Reel
(Washington) pin Alex
Friedman (Pontiac) 2:23;
170 – Mason Wright
(Washington) dec Steven
Pozeg (Yorkville) 2-1; 182
– Cody Snodgrass
(Marmion) dec Nik
Countryman (Morris) 5-2;
195 – Jake Davis
(Sycamore) pin Oliver
Newton (Geneseo) 2:09;
220 – Lucas Joseph (East
Peoria) major dec Ben
Kovalick (Kaneland) 15-6;
285 – Curtis Lilly (Sterling)
dec Quinn Bullard
(Pontiac) 4-1.
Third-Place Bouts
106 – Issac Anderson
(Sterling) dec Stephen
Gust (Kaneland) 7-2; 113
– Barlow McGhee (RI) pin
Kyle Akins (Sycamore) 4:
45; 120 – Jake Field
(Marmion) dec Stephen
Richardson (Pontiac) 5-2;
126 – Esai Ponce
(Kaneland) inj def Erik
Nord (Belvidere North);
132 – Jacob Hurt
(Yorkville) pin Justin
Barkley (Morris) 0:40; 138
– Colton Gladwell
(Washington) pin Brennan
Sharp (Yorkville) 1:55; 145
– Steven Lalowski
(Sycamore) tech fall Jason
Woods (RI) 3:16; 152 –
Sam Kellet (Marmion) dec
Clayton Bass (Yorkville) 6-
2; 160 – Lucas Rusk (RI)
pin Buddy Toth (BC) 4:35;
170 – Omar Awad (BC)
major dec Michael Cole
(RI) 11-0; 182 – Jake
Hayes (Belvidere) dec
Jonathan Mixon
(Galesburg) 11-5; 195 –
Trey Pempilton (Freeport)
major dec DeMario Walker
(Galesburg) 11-0; 220 –
Matt Copple (Sycamore)
dec Alex Fritz (Marmion) 6-
3; 285 – Gabe Tudor
(Peoria Notre Dame) pin
Seth Gonzealez (Yorkville)
2:20.
Designated State
Alternates*
106 – Ricardo Roman
(BN); 113 – Austin
Rhodenbaugh (Dixon);
120 – Kyle White
(Metamora); 126 – Isaiah
Stedwell (PND); 132 –
Kylian Lally (Dixon); 138 –
Jean-Louis Sawadago
(RI); 145 – Drew Foster
(East Peoria); 152 – Issac
Empson (PND); 160 –
Tyler Puls (Geneseo); 170
– Markus Murphy (United
Township); 182 – Issac
Tudor (PND); 195 – Mario
Carretto (L-P); 220 –
Cyrano Rayfield (Ottawa);
285 – Michael Halverson
(DeKalb).
*based on wrestleback
semifinal loss to eventual
third-place finisher
Photo by Cody Cutter
Yorkville's Colton Bass makes a move on Burlington
Central's Johnny Major during the 145-pound
sectional title bout.
Yorkville's Colton Bass makes a move on Burlington
Central's Johnny Major during the 145-pound
sectional title bout.