The Lincoln-Ways battled atop the leaderboard at the Class 3A Rich Township Regional on Saturday, with the three state-ranked teams accounting for 21 of the 28 wrestlers who reached first-place matches.

Lincoln-Way West had 10 wrestlers compete for first, and although just two ended up taking gold, the Warriors (191.5 points) cleared Lincoln-Way Central (180.5) and Lincoln-Way East (172) to win a regional title.

Bradley-Bourbonnais placed sixth (83).

West freshman Charlie Strezo won a regional title at 120 pounds, while senior Max Herman took the title at 165.

Strezo said he felt like he’s continuously improved through his freshman year, and it was nice for that work to pay off with trips to dual-team sectionals on Feb. 5 and the individual Edwardsville Sectional starting Feb. 13.

“It feels great to beat some kids in close matches and the team getting first and getting to team sectionals now,” he said. “From the beginning of the year, coaching and partners in the room really helped me improve to get higher in placing.”

Michael Scott (106), Kellan Hack (113), Carter DeBenedetto (126), Brady Glynn (132), Shane Stream (138), Jack Strezo (144), Evan Gutierrez (157) and Jimmy Talley (215) all placed second to advance.

While the Warriors certainly would have liked to have more wrestlers win gold, head coach Brian Glynn said he likes where the team is at as they prepare to head deeper into the postseason.

“We had a great first half of the day and were kind of running away with it, but kind of had a little setback that last round and made it a little closer than we would’ve liked,” he said. “But the main goal is to advance, and we advanced 10 of 14, which is good.”

Central will also have 10 wrestlers head to sectionals, with Jalen Byrd (175), Evan Vogt (190) and Aiden Hennings (285) winning regional titles Saturday.

Vogt upset Lincoln-Way East’s Colton Zvonar, ranked fourth in 3A, with a second-period pin to clinch his title. He also beat Homewood-Flossmoor’s Xavier Pratt in the semis, an opponent he lost to at the SouthWest Suburban Conference Tournament last weekend.

“It feels great, knowing I came in there unranked against a ranked opponent and came back to win a match that I lost in conference,” he said. “I liked the way that I wrestled. I felt confident.”

Ryne Nape (150) placed second for the Knights, while Bannon Valent (106), Finn Fifer (113), Caleb Rogers (132), Eric Hoselton (138), Dylan Wrobel (144) and Logan Wooten (215) all placed third.

Lincoln-Way East senior Kaidge Richardson became a back-to-back regional champion with his win at 144. He nows head to sectionals looking to earn a third straight state berth to wrap his high school career.

“There’s always stuff to improve on, but it definitely feels good to get that second regional title,” he said. “There’s big goals this year down at state, so I’ve just got to sharpen everything up and just look to get better every day in the room.”

The Griffins had the most regional champs of any team, with Dino Dajani (113), Max Mularz (157) and and Justin Powers (215) also winning. Zvonar, Zachary Ankarlo (165) and George LaDere (285) placed second.

Bradley-Bourbonnais junior Cullen Parks claimed the regional title at 106.

He said he missed regionals his freshman year with an injury and was struggling with mental health his sophomore year and was unable to compete.

He took time this offseason to really fall back in love with wrestling, crediting his faith, Bradley-Bourbonnais head coach Michael Spiwak and Jameel Carter, the coach of Victory League Wrestling Club and an assistant at Homewood-Flossmoor, with helping him do so.

“They were really intentional with getting me better at wrestling and being a good person, and I think a good support system is really what gets you to succeed,” he said. “I’m really thankful for all the things that surround me, like great coaches, great teams and, above all, God.”

Kayden Roach (175) placed second for the Boilermakers. Zachary Hoffner (113) and Khalan Clemens (285) placed third.