Ivey adds name to Newman lore by claiming state title as a senior

CHAMPAIGN – Nobody pinch Brody Ivey anytime soon, as he’s happily in dreamland.

Newman's senior 152-
pounder had a hard time believing it, but he's now a state champion. He edged Roxana's Alex Maguire 4-3 on Saturday night at the IHSA State Wrestling Tournament.

“I’ve been waiting my entire life for this moment, and to finally get it, I can’t even tell it’s real,” Ivey said. ”Did I really just win state? It’s like I’m living a dream right now.”

Ivey (48-2) had to overcome an early deficit. Maguire (39-5) scored the bout’s first points on a takedown with 9 seconds left in the first period. Newman fans seated nearby questioned whether Maguire had enough control, but their man was down 2-0.

“You know what, he scored first, but he’s damn sure not going to score last,” Ivey said. “I’m going to make sure every moment of the rest of the match is going to be intense for him and put him in tough situations, and that’s what I did.”

Ivey then pieced together the key sequence of the bout in the second period. He scored two points on a reversal with 1:27 left, then added two more points after briefly getting Maguire to his back at the 33-second mark.

“This season I’ve been working on my top game,” Ivey said, “so I knew when I got on top, I could give a lot of pressure. A lot of people can’t handle it. I knew if I gave everything I had, something good would come out of it.”

Now up 4-2, Ivey merely wanted to avoid trouble the last 2 minutes, and he managed to do that. The head referee warned him for stalling with 55 seconds left, and awarded Maguire a penalty point with 3 seconds to go, but all that did was make the final score tighter.

“Coach [Daryl Dieterle] is always telling me you don’t put yourself in dumb situations when you’re already winning,” Ivey said. “I knew I had only got hit [for stalling] one time, so I wasn’t going to put myself in a situation to give away points.”

It is Newman’s 36th individual state championship, and Dieterle was misty afterward.

“It brings tears to the eyes,” said Dieterle, with tears literally streaming down his cheeks. “It’s just great to see all his hard work has paid off. He’s reached the goal.”

It also gives Brody Ivey family bragging rights. He already had two sixth-place finishes at state, but his older brother, Bryce, placed second at 170 pounds in 2014.

Bryce Ivey is now an assistant wrestling coach at Fithian Oakwood, and he helped Mason Ajster to second place at 160 pounds. But before that, he was just behind the scorer’s bench, rooting on his brother.

“It was surreal, man,” Bryce Ivey said. “It’s just really cool to see your younger brother walk in the same footsteps and accomplish more than you. I couldn’t do it, but he could. I always tell him, ‘Why not him?’ and he did it.”