Angelina Gochis knew there would be more eyes on her than ever before.

The Kaneland junior, who went undefeated as a sophomore, was ranked third in the country in the 120-pound weight class, and knew that expectations for her would be higher than ever heading into the season.

“Everyone just expects me to win and just do good,” Gochis said. “But there’s a lot of hard work that goes into doing the best.”

So when she suffered her first losses since freshman year at the Women’s Ironman tournament in December, she knew there were some ways to improve.

And she did. Gochis would go undefeated for the rest of the season, going 31-2 and capping off the season with her third consecutive state title, becoming just the fifth girl in state history to secure three titles.

Considering the accolades, Gochis has been named the Kane County Chronicle Girls Wrestler of the Year for the third consecutive season.

“I just had to work harder and know that there’s other tough wrestlers out there,” Gochis said. “I needed to improve in order to stay on top. Those losses helped me know that I needed to work harder.”

Gochis won the 120-pound bracket at the state tournament in dominant fashion, winning her first three rounds via tech fall before defeating Hampshire’s Amelia Nidelea-Polanin by a 9-3 decision in the finals.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Knights coach Josh West said. “It’s just the amount of training that she’s putting over the years. She wrestles year-round. She puts in a ton of work both on the mat and off the mat, whether that’s in the gym or on a treadmill. She just puts in a ton of work and outworks her opponents. And just that accomplishment alone is pretty incredible.”

While the junior went undefeated in Illinois on the season, she also ended up branching out to more tournaments out-of-state on the season, taking fourth place at the Women’s Ironman tournament in Ohio, while winning the 120 bracket in the Wonder Woman Invite in Missouri.

“It was great to go as a team and venture out to different states and see different competition,” Gochis said. “It gives a different feel to how everyone’s wrestling and improve on what I’m doing to be better than the rest of them.”

“She’s really opened the door for us to go to these national events,” West added. “She’s a draw for spectators and other top wrestlers. And even at local events, she’s become a bit of a celebrity for girls wrestling. It’s nice to have her on our side.”

In the latter of the two tournaments, Gochis also hit the landmark of 100 wins in her career, clinching the century landmark after going 5-0 at the tournament on Jan. 2.

“It felt great to achieve that goal,” Gochis said. “Everyone sets goals and while mine was to get to 100 wins, I also had bigger goals to achieve like winning state and winning all these national titles.”

West said that while Gochis’s achievement of the 100-win mark of her career was definitely an impressive feat, what was more impressive was who it was against. Of her over 100 career wins, 40 of them have come against boys.

“That’s kind of the incredible feat that she has that kind of gets overshadowed,” West said. “To get to 100 wins is obviously incredible, but to have as many wins as she does against the boys is outstanding.”

Gochis’ focus now turns to her senior season, where she hopes to get her fourth state title, a feat that’s only been accomplished by two other girls’ wrestlers in state history. She also hopes to reclaim her Wonder Woman title, as well as add on a Women’s Ironman title.

“In my mind, I think I’d let her dictate what we do and where she wants to go, and she’s earned it,” West said. “The expectations are still the same. The sky is the limit for her really. We’ll just try to soak it all in and have fun in her final year.”