Sycamore heavyweight Collin Hughes suffered an injury the last time he wrestled Hampshire’s Knox Homola.

Hughes pinned him in 1:36 to finish the 50th Sycamore Wrestling Invitational on Saturday, joining a pair of teammates as champions while helping the Spartans win for the first time since?

“I can’t remember the last time we won it,” Sycamore coach Randy Culton said. “Chauncey (Carrick, athletic director of Sycamore and former wrestling coach) might remember.”

“If I had to guess,” Carrick said, “I’d say 1996.”

One thing is for certain, the Spartans were special during the 50th version of a tournament that began in 1976.

The Spartans finished with 457.5 points. Runner-up Rock Island had 427. Oak Forest had 420.5, Wheaton North scored 412 and Hampshire had 385.5 to round out the top five among the 27-team field.

Hughes joined freshman Liam Schroeder (113) and senior Michael Olson (120) as the Spartans’ first champions in the tournament since Zack Crawford (160) in 2023.

“I had a lot of pent up emotion about that guy, the Hampshire kid, he injured me a few months prior and I just had to do what I had to do,” Hughes said. “He was in my way.”

Hughes won by fall over Rockford East’s Gabe Underhill (0:15) and Sterling’s Sergio Vargas Garcia (1:16) to begin the tournament. After a 17-1 tech fall win over Mundelein’s Antonio Salazar in the quarterfinal, he got another pin against Normal Community’s Mason Caraway (1:30).

“Ever since I got my injury I’ve taken a step back from all the physical aspects and mental aspects and had to take a look at my life and I’m like ‘Let’s get this in order,’” he said. “So I started getting my life in order, eating healthy, lifting more, working out more, started reading the Bible and following Christ and he really helped me through these matches.”

Schroeder pinned Belvidere North’s Landon Chambers (1:24) and Nazareth’s Emilio Fortiz (1:20) before getting a 21-4 tech fall victory over Normal Community’s Elijah Conda in the semifinal. He picked up another tech fall win, 15-0, over Bloomington’s Cooper Bye in the final.

“Before my matches it was just knowing that I can just go out there and let it fly,” Schroeder said. “I have nothing to lose, I have nothing to prove for anybody else other than myself so I just go out there and wrestle.”

From 11th place as a freshman, fourth as a sophomore, second as a junior to first as a senior, it’s been quite a journey for Olson.

After a pair of tech fall wins, Olson pinned Oak Forest’s Hunter Kroll (1:33) in the quarterfinals to advance to the semis. After a 9-6 decision over Rochelle’s Freddie Hernandez, Olson scored a 7-0 win over Willowbrook’s Aris Neal to become a champ.

“I mean, I was just happy,” he said. “I’m glad. I haven’t won a tournament in a while so it feels good.”

Jayden Dohogne (144) fell short in his title match, but placed second for the Spartans who received third-place finishes from Tyler Lockhart (126) and Cooper Bode (165) and a fourth from Adam Carrick (215).

“Everyone contributed,” Culton said. “And it’s kind of special when I get these seniors who I’ve coached all the way through (like Michael Olson).”