Prep Sports

3A wrestlers face tough Quincy Sectional

There's good news and bad news about the destination for the vast majority of the area's Class 3A sectional qualifiers in wrestling.

The good news is that there will be some outstanding competition in the Quincy Sectional with multiple state-ranked competitors in most of the weight classes.

But the bad news is that if people from this area want to see the competition this weekend, they'll have a very long trip to get there.

Here's a look at some of the athletes from this area and who are seeking top-four finishes to see who advances to the IHSA finals in Champaign.

Minooka and Lockport lead area teams with the most sectional qualifiers with the Indians having 10 and the Porters with nine. Lincoln-Way West has seven qualifiers while Joliet West, Plainfield North and Plainfield South have six apiece.

Lockport had four individuals who were in the most-recent rankings. They are Kaleb Thompson (17-1) at 113, Mike Kaminski (38-4) at 126, Keegan Roberson (29-7) at 132 and Andrew Blackburn-Forst (35-7) at 195. Others who are in the picture include Carlos Munoz-Flores (23-8) at 120, Nate Ramsey (24-16) at 138 and Joe Oster (30-17) at 152.

Minooka had three individuals in the rankings, Jake Mensik (33-6) at 145, Drew Gutknecht (32-4) at 220 and Jake Shipla (23-4) at 285. Others who are in the mix include Joey Cecala (28-10) at 113, Nathan Berta (25-5) at 120, Michael Ruettiger (25-11) at 132 and Jack McClimon (28-9) at 152.

Lincoln-Way West's ranked individuals are Javen Estrada (37-1) at 138, Garrett Geigner (35-5) at 145, Brock Pfeifer (33-6) at 152 and Payton Geigner (36-5) at 160. Griffin Ketelaar (17-8) at 220 is another possible qualifier.

Jeremy Pullen (36-3) at 160 is Joliet West's lone ranked individual. But other Tigers who could factor include Andres Russi (27-4) at 120, Steven Fallon (21-5) at 195 and Daniel Landando (33-6) at 285.

Ranked individuals for Plainfield North include Jacob Macatangay (41-3) at 113 and Jared Gumila (41-11) at 138 while Dylan Amico (30-5) at 126 and Evan Smith (29-11) at 170 could be in the picture. Plainfield South's only ranked individual is James Pierandozzi (26-3) at 152 but other top winners for the Cougars include Zach Kolb (35-12) at 145 and John Pacewic (28-8) at 195.

Plainfield East only had Zach Barlev (18-2) at 285 in the most-recent rankings but Luqman Masud (23-5) at 106, Alex Villar (25-2) at 132, Barry Stevenson (30-2) at 145 and Thomas Manetti (33-8) at 160 have been ranked. Plainfield Central's Nick Minnito (35-3) at 126 and also is ranked and Joey Ahern (30-6) at 152 and Mathieu Arsenault (34-8) at 170 are in the mix.

Lincoln-Way East's ranked individual is Jake LaMonto (32-5) at 195 but AJ Lizak (30-11) at 132 is in the picture, as is Lincoln-Way Central's Joey Malito (34-12) at 106.

Providence Catholic's Ryan Boersma (37-2) at 285 was top-ranked but got pinned in the regional finals. Other Celtics in the picture include Kevin Countryman (32-8) at 145 and Liam McDermott (34-10) at 182.

Joliet Central's best hope to advance is Jayden Perez (35-4) at 182 while Romeoville looks to Jaden Ruiz (30-5) at 113 as a possible qualifier.