Seneca’s Catalina Pacheco wins thrilling regional championship

L-P’s Kiely Domyancich, Ottawa’s Juliana Thrush also claim titles

Seneca junior Catalina Pacheco

METAMORA – Seneca junior Catalina Pacheco emerged from a “scramble” midway through the second period of her 130-pound championship bout of the Metamora Regional against Minooka’s Sabina Charlebois with a smirk on her face and a tight hold on her opponent.

“At that point of the match it was just scrambling, and in those situations you either come out with the advantage or you don’t,” said Pacheco, who trailed 3-1 before the two rolled three times, clinched to each other. “But to get the advantage you have to feel the way you’re rolling and try and stop the momentum with you on top. It’s a split-second decision. That’s what I was able to do, and it worked out.”

Seconds later, Pacheco recorded her third pin of the day, clinching the title in thrilling fashion.

“I was very nervous going into the final, but I’m always nervous, I guess. I was very passive, and she was strong, crowding me with her hands and being the aggressor. I was on the defensive way too much.”

Lincoln-Way Central ran away with the team title with 248 points, far ahead of runner-up Minooka (134).

Ottawa (83) placed sixth, Seneca (60 1/2) 11th, Streator (53) 13th, Putnam County-Hall (49) 14th, La Salle-Peru (48) 15th and Princeton (32 1/2) 17th of the 29 competing programs.

La Salle-Peru junior Kiely Domyancich

La Salle-Peru junior Kiely Domyancich rolled out to a 9-1 lead against Reed-Custer’s Madysen Meyer before getting the pin midway into the second period to win the 115-pound title.

“I only had a chance to see a little bit of one of [Meyer’s] matches today, but I normally like to go into my matches a little blindsided, not knowing too much,” said Domyancich, who went 4-0 with four pins and improved to 26-1 on the season. “What little I saw gave me a pretty good idea of how she wrestles.

“Even with the little knowledge I had, I know I have to be aggressive right from the start and all the way through. I have to take shots when they are there, and I felt I did that in all of my regional matches. It sounds funny, but sometimes you have to be patient while being aggressive. You don’t want to give your opponent an opening because you took a chance when you didn’t really need to. I think I balanced those two things pretty well today.

“Now the goal is to make it out of sectionals. That would be awesome.”

Ottawa junior Juliana Thrush

Ottawa‘s Juliana Thrush went 3-0 on the day, all via pins, including a 235-pound title bout win over Peoria Richwoods’ Marley Clark in 1:24.

“First, I’m so happy that [girls wrestling] has grown so much that we have regionals instead of just sectionals and state,” Thrush said. “Being here, seeing all the girls competing, it’s so cool. I think next week’s sectional is going to be very fun and very competitive.

“In my [title] match, I was way too sloppy, not even close to as clean as I’ll need to be moving forward. The first throw I had I almost let [Clark] roll on top of me, and then the second throw wasn’t too much better, but at least I was able to put myself in control and in pretty good position to push for the pin.

“Three matches, three pins, I’ll always take that.”

Princeton’s Isabella Gibson reached the final at 140 but dropped a 10-3 decision to Morton’s Karen Canchola to place runner-up.

Seneca’s Sammie Greisen also placed second, falling to Joliet Central’s Izabel Barrera at 135.

Ottawa’s Ava Weatherford was pinned by Lincoln-Way Central’s Bailey Mitchell in the championship bout at 145.

Also securing spots in next week’s sectional were La Salle-Peru’s Kalista Frost (100, fourth), Streator’s Addison Yacko (105, third) and Lily Gwaltney (110, third), Ottawa’s Jaiyden Provance (135, fourth) and Putnam County-Hall’s Bailey Herr (190, third) and Ella Irwin (235, third).

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