Girls wrestling

Ottawa pair advances to state: At the DeKalb Sectional on Saturday, the Pirates Juliana Thrush (235 pounds) and Lily Gwaltney (110) both punched their tickets to next weekend’s state tournament.

Thrush, a senior and now four-time sectional champion, defeated DeKalb’s Aarianna Bloyd 2-0 in the title bout. Thrush finished sixth at state last year.

“I felt like I did a lot and I feel like it was a good day,” Thrush said. “I just hope I place higher than sixth this year. If I lose, it just goes down from there. Last year on Day 2, I lost my first one. And I just broke down. It was a mess. I thought I fixed it. Hopefully I’m getting better, day-by-day. Getting a gritty win helps going into state. A lot of my matches at state, it’s not going to be a takedown-pin. I have to do three periods over time. I just need to get used to it. I feel like I’m really good out there. I’m not as tired as I used to be coming out of a three-period match. I’m proud of how much my stamina has gotten better.”

Gwaltney defeated Canton’s Annalee Haschemeyer 1-0 in the third-place bout to move on. Isabel Gwaltney (100), Ciara Bolf (105) and Jaiyden Provance (135) all went 0-2.

Streator’s Vaughn heading to state: At the DeKalb Sectional, the Bulldogs’ Laila Vaughn (2-1) fell 18-13 in the 115-pound championship bout to Canton’s Chloe Hedges but earned a spot at state.

Streator’s Addison Yacko (110, 1-2) and Harmony Morgan (135, 2-2) both fell short with losses in the blood round.

Seneca’s Greisen win sectional title: At the DeKalb Sectional, Fighting Irish senior Sammie Greisen pinned La Salle-Peru’s Kiely Domyancich 1:43 into the first period in the title bout at 125 pounds to earn her fourth trip to state.

“Last season was a struggle, so this year I’ve just been like last shot with my team, I’m just going to try to do the best I can,” said Greisen, who finished sixth as a sophomore and fell in the blood round both her freshman and junior seasons. “Last year I learned that winning isn’t everything. I took any loss I had and beat myself up over it. This year I’ve only lost to two people, but I’ve got four losses, three to the same person.

“I’m going to treat (state) like any other tournament and not let the pressure ... get to me. I’m just going to treat it like any other one.”

— Eddie Carifio contributed to this report

Marquette’s Deibel earns state trip: At the DeKalb Sectional, the Crusaders’ Lily Deibel pinned Pekin’s Tessa Donaldson with 18 seconds remaining in the first period in the third-place bout at 105 pounds to become the first Marquette female wrestler to advance to state.

Sandwich pair has seasons end: At the DeKalb Sectional, the Indians’ Jazmin Rios (145, 3-2, lost in blood round) and Lydia Cartwright (115, 0-2) both had their season come to a close.

Boys wrestling

Ottawa’s Weatherford moving on to state: At the Class 2A Geneseo Sectional, the Pirates’ Wes Weatherford dropped the championship bout at 190 to Marian’s Dan French but earned a spot at next weekend’s state tournament.

Ottawa’s Mayson Munson went 3-2 at 113 but fell in the blood round.

Also at Geneseo, Streator’s Brody Sliker (106, 0-2) and Jesus Martinez (138, 1-2) both had their seasons end.

Seneca trio heading to state: At the Class 1A Coal City Sectional, the Fighting Irish’s Raiden Terry, Landen Venecia and Chase Rod all earned trips to state.

Terry defeated Chicago Hope’s Nolan Callahan 7-0 in the title bout at 120 to advance to state for the third time. Terry had finished third at 106 pounds in sectionals in each of his first two seasons.

“I feel like lately, these last couple weeks moreso, I’ve been competing a lot better,” Terry said. “First sectional title after I fell short the last two years. It’s my fault for that, but I can’t dwell on the past. I’ve just got to keep moving forward. One more bracket, that’s all.”

Landen Venecia (190) placed second for Seneca, while Rod (150) will join his teammates at state after placing fourth.

Seneca coach Todd Yegge said he liked what he saw out of his state qualifiers the last two days.

“Raiden winning the championship, he’s looking like he’s wrestling ready to go after a state title,” Yegge said. “We pulled off a win in the semifinals with Landen beating (Coal City’s Evan Greggain). That was a thrilling match, a one-point match that punched his ticket to the state tournament for the first time ever.“

“(Rod) lost a heartbreaker for third, but for him to make the state finals as a sophomore, who’s not mentioned in the rankings, we’re pretty excited about that.”

Chris Thompson (113, 3-2) and Gunner Varland (157, 3-2) both dropped blood round matches, while Camryn Chapman (106, 2-2) and Landyn Ramsey (0-2) also failed to advance to state.

— Adam Tumino contributed to this report

Pair from Marquette and Sandwich advance to state: At the Class 1A Bryon Sectional, the Crusaders’ Alex Schaefer (215) and Wesley Janick (120), as well as the Indians’ Cooper Corder (150) and Joshua Kotalik (175) all will at wrestle at next weekend’s state tournament.

Schaefer placed third, while Janick finished fourth.

“The biggest thing was staying out of ties with taller guys and just wrestling my style,” Schaefer said. “Just wrestling my pace, that’s where I beat a lot of guys is just staying in my pace. I lost in the state blood rounds last year, so that sucked. This year I hope to get back again.”

Connor Eggers (113, 2-2), Beau Thompson (138, 2-2), Brysen Manly (157, 2-2) and Reily Leifheit (165, 3-2) all fell in the blood round for Marquette. Dakota Harmon (106, 0-2), Koby Clark (132, 1-2) and Logan Huenefeld (126, 2-2) also failed to move on.

Corder earned a 20-3 technical fall victory over Morrison’s Caleb Modglin in the title bout, while Kotalik dropped a 14-4 decision to Byron’s Brody Stien in his championship bout.

Jaxson Blanchard (138, 3-2) fell in the blood round to end his season along with Connor Blanchard (120, 0-2), Dom Urbanski (126, 0-2), Jack Forth (157, 2-2), Kaden Clevenger (215, 2-2) and Kai Kern (190, 2-2).

— Drake Lansman contributed to this report

Girls basketball

Marquette 58, Gardner-South Wilmington 43: At Gardner in the Class 1A Amboy Regional, the Crusaders moved on with the win over the Panthers.

Marquette was led by 24 points from Hunter Hopkins and 20 points from Kaitlyn Davis.

Serena 60, Newark 20: At Serena in the Class 1A regional, the host Huskers (17-15) advanced, led by 18 points and five rebounds from Parker Twait, and 17 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals from Kendall Whiteaker.

Alexa McNally added 12 points for Serena with Anna Hjerpe chipping in seven points and four rebounds.

Henry-Senachwine 55, Earlville 30: At Henry in the Class 1A Serena Regional, the Red Raiders had their season end with the loss to the Mallards.

Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland 71, Kankakee Grace Christian 19: At Flanagan in the Class 1A Clifton Central Regional, the Falcons’ Emma Palaschak poured in 45 points, including a program record 12 3-point field goals, in the win over the Crusaders.

After Palaschak, who had 15 points in the opening quarter and 20 in the third, Jaylei Leininger added 10 points and Kora Edens seven points.

Fieldcrest 65, Donovan 12: At Minonk in the Class 1A regional, the host Knights led 22-4 after one quarter in the win over the Wildcats.

TeriLynn Timmerman scored 22 points and had seven steals to lead Fieldcrest. Ivory Bryant (13 points, seven rebounds), Leah Armes (nine points) and Pru Mangan (nine points, nine rebounds) also provided solid efforts.

Girls bowling

Ottawa has season end at sectional: In the Machesney Park Harlem Sectional at Don Carter Lanes in Rockford, the Pirates finished 12th with a team score of 4,763.

Ottawa was led by Tessa Diaz (1,053 six-game series, 223 high game), Kilah Figenbaum (976, 179), Kathysha Perez (956, 191) and Rylee Harsted (920, 213).

Boys basketball

Marquette 57, Morris 54: At the Indian Creek Shootout in Shabbona, the Crusaders (21-7) rallied in the third quarter to top the Warriors.

Normal U-High 68, Fieldcrest 46: At Normal, the Knights dropped the road game to the Pioneers.