Three Warriors, one Duke earn trips to state

WASHINGTON – When the “blood round” came around, Sterling and Dixon wrestlers came tantalizingly close to going a perfect 6-for-6 at the Class 2A Washington Sectional on Saturday.

Instead, there were four left standing on the floor with the prize they coveted – a berth in the IHSA state tournament, which begins Thursday at the State Farm Center in Champaign. Three Golden Warriors (Isaac Figueroa, Jaden Urrutia and Keegan Kaye) and one Duke (Connor Sperling) punched their tickets to the big dance, while two more, Sterling’s Cariel Beasley and Dixon’s Colten Bishop, came up just short.

The top four finishers in each weight class earned state berths. Those in the championship finals were assured of state berths, but those wrestling for third place had to win a consolation semifinal bout – the “blood round” – to earn their trips to Champaign.

It’s that win-or-go-home round of competition that has wrestlers scratching, clawing and, yes, sometimes bleeding, to keep their seasons alive. Figueroa, Urrutia, Kaye and Sperling were each able to do that.

Figueroa (20-7) had a relatively clear path at 120 pounds, as he rolled to a 16-2 major decision against Canton’s Culton Ruey. It was the second time Figueroa bested Ruey at Washington, as Figueroa had won by pin in the first round on Friday night.

“I pinned him the first time, but I wasn’t going in cocky,” Figueroa said. “You go in with your head too high, and you can get beat.”

Figueroa scored a takedown with 11 seconds left in the first period to take a 5-2 lead on Ruey, and quickly built it up to 10-2 early in the second period. After that, it was simply a matter of staying out of harm’s way, which he was able to accomplish.

“That kid, he’s a thrower,” Figueroa said. “My coach didn’t want me to tie up with him. He wanted me to take him down, keep him down, and grind on bottom. That’s what I had to do to stay on top of the match and win it.”

Figueroa went on to place fourth at 120, after dropping a 13-6 decision to Washington’s Tyler Delaware in the third-place bout.

Urrutia, competing at 126 pounds, gutted out a 7-6 victory against Washington’s Jared Head to earn his state berth. It was a bout that was influenced as much by the mat officials as the wrestlers themselves.

Head had a 6-2 lead at the beginning of the third period, and the last of those points came when Urrutia, in the down position, lined up improperly and received his third caution of the match.

With about 35 seconds remaining, however, Urrutia scored a reversal and a 3-point nearfall to seize a 7-6 lead.

With 9 seconds left in the bout, and a re-start from the center of the mat with Head in the down position, the official began to signal a caution on Urrutia for a flinch, but reversed his call. Washington coach Bryan Medlin went to the side of the mat for a consultation with the official, but the non-caution call stood.

Instead of Head getting the tying point, the score stayed at 7-6, and Urrutia hung on for the win.

“That was definitely a scary moment for me,” Urrutia said. “I thought it was going to be another caution, but the ref said right away it was his mistake.”

That’s where the good news ended for Urrutia (25-4), however. With a 2-1 lead a minute into the third-place bout against Lincoln-Way West’s Gehrig Simon, Urrutia crumpled to the mat, clutching his left ankle.

With his right leg visibly twitching on the mat, paramedics were summoned, and they placed an immobilizing brace on his lower left leg. Urrutia was able to return, on crutches, to receive his fourth-place medal.

His status for the individual state tournament, as well as a Dual Team Sectional matchup against Sycamore on Tuesday, Feb. 23, is up in the air.

At 160 pounds, Kaye withstood a back-and-forth battle against Rochelle’s Alex Harvey before winning by pin in 5:55.

Harvey was leading 8-6 after a takedown with 1:25 left in the third period when Kaye made his move. He got an escape, then a takedown with 55 seconds remaining to go up 9-8, then put Harvey on his back late in the bout to finish it off.

Harvey tried to roll out of a move, and got caught.

“It was desperation,” Kaye said. “He was desperate, he tried to do a move, I stopped his move, capitalized on his move, and got a pin.”

In the third-place bout, Kaye (22-7) gained a 10-7 victory against Kaneland’s Hayden Patterson. A third-period escape and takedown by Kaye broke a 7-7 tie entering the final 2 minutes.

The lone Dixon wrestler to advance to state was Sperling, who pinned all three of his opponents on Saturday at 220 pounds. In the all-important “blood round,” after a scoreless first period against Streator’s Jason Goplin, Sperling dominated and won by pin at the 3:58 mark.

He harkened back to a football season lost to a broken foot, when asked about making his second trip to state.

“This feels good, considering my football season was taken away from me,” Sperling said. “At the beginning of the season, my foot wasn’t even 50 percent. It feels to know I can come back from that. The foot is still not 100 percent, but it’s good to know I had the strength and power to get back to state.”

Sperling (36-6) was dominant again the third-place bout against Lincoln-Way West’s Jordan Bills, winning by pin in 2:47.

On the outside looking in at the end of the day were Sterling’s Beasley and Dixon’s Bishop.

In the 285-pound semifinals, Beasley came up against Geneseo’s Sam Thomas. Beasley had defeated Thomas twice earlier this season, but getting a third win when it mattered most proved to be problematic.

In regulation time, Beasley had one reversal, while Thomas had two escapes to leave the score at 2-2. They battled through a scoreless 1-minute overtime, then Thomas was unable to escape in his 30 seconds of OT in the down position.

Beasley then escaped a mere 8 seconds into the next 30-second OT session, but had to still hold that lead for another 22 seconds.

With 4 seconds to go, he was hit for his second stalling call of the bout, tying the score at 3-3. It drew howls of protest from the Sterling faithful, but Beasley mostly rolled with the punches.

“I can’t let the ref wrestle my match for me,” Beasley said. “If he said it was stalling, I just have to accept that. That was a tough point to give up. That was the difference-maker in the match.”

As Thomas had scored the first point of the bout, he had the choice of up or down for the final 30-second OT period. He needed just 6 of those seconds to escape and secure the victory.

Now thrust into the “blood round,” Beasley (23-9) found himself matched up against Peoria Central’s Kendrick Green. They battled through a scoreless first period, then Beasley escaped to begin the second. Shortly after that, however, Green put Beasley on his back and won by pin at the 2:26 mark.

He admitted he was still stinging from the loss to Thomas.

“Going into the match, my head wasn’t where it should be at,” Beasley said. “I was still dwelling in the past about the Geneseo match, and that completely killed my spirit and emotions. I wasn’t prepared for this match. If I was 100 percent focused, like I’ve been all year, it would have been a different story.”

At 113 pounds, for the second week in a row, Bishop found himself in a close duel against Peoria Notre Dame’s Leo Mushinsky. For the second week in a row, it was Mushinsky picking up an overtime decision, this time by a 2-0 score.

After a scoreless first period, Bishop spent the whole second period unable to get away from the riding Mushinsky. It nearly happened in the waning seconds of the period, but no point was awarded.

“I thought I was out before we went out of bounds, but the refs made the call,” Bishop said. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”

Bishop successfully rode out the third period to force OT, but that ended when Mushinsky scored a takedown with 17 seconds to go. Bishop (29-11), a freshman, took solace in the fact he has three more tries to make it to the state finals. He plans to make the most of those opportunities.

“I definitely need to get in the weight room a little bit more,” Bishop said. “I’m a little scrawny for my weight, but I’ll be back.”

Local state qualifiers

Sterling: Isaac Figueroa (4tth at 120 pounds), Jaden Urrutia (4th at 126), Keegan Kaye (3rd at 160)

Dixon: Connor Sperling (3rd at 220)