Cooper Corder has had state finishes the last two seasons that any wrestler would aspire to.

But it’s been a bumpy road.

The Sandwich junior dealt with injuries his freshman year that ended with a fourth-place state medal. He struggled with sickness as a sophomore, and wound up fifth.

Healthy now, and in a healthy frame of mind, Corder believes this is his year.

“I am ready to go,” Corder said. “I put in so much work in the offseason. I trust in my coaches and they trust in me in everything I’ve done. Going into this week, in my head, I’m the guy to beat. Excited to go downstate and prove that.”

Corder (39-1), aligned at the top of the Class 1A 150-pound bracket, is among the Kendall County area’s top medal hopefuls at this weekend’s IHSA state wrestling meet at Champaign’s State Farm Center that begins Thursday and runs through Saturday night.

Corder is coming off a sectional championship at Byron in which he beat Morrison’s Caleb Modglin by technical fall in the final. He opens at state against Auburn sophomore Trey Boston (32-10).

Corder is joined at state by Sandwich sophomore teammate Joshua Kotalik, who took second at sectionals in the 175-pound bracket.

“I had a lot of fun competing with my team and seeing everybody wrestle tough,” Corder said. “It was heartbreaking to see the other guys not qualify but super proud of Josh for getting it down. It’s great to see him get down and hopefully put on a show for all the people back in Sandwich. I’m trying my best to get the job done.”

The bracket would seem to match up well for Corder, ranked third at 150 by IWCOA.

Decatur Unity Christian’s Clinton VerHeecke (42-0), who handed Corder his only loss this season in the Prairie Central Invite final (a match Corder led in the third period), and Coal City’s No. 1-ranked Brody Widlowski (34-1) are both at the opposite end of the bracket in Champaign.

“I am never too big on brackets, though,” Corder said. “You will have to beat these guys anyway. I didn’t care how it turned out. I can’t overlook anybody. With that in mind I am excited to just get good competition, get good matches, try to keep the ball rolling. The bracket doesn’t matter. I still have to go out there and compete.”

In Class 3A, Yorkville junior Van Rosauer leads three Foxes to Champaign.

Rosauer (46-2), fourth in the state at 150 pounds as a sophomore and currently ranked third, comes off a sectional championship at Edwardsville in that weight class. His only loss this season to an Illinois opponent came to No. 1-ranked Rocco Cassioppi of Hononegah.

“Last year I didn’t really know what to expect and was super nervous going into state,” Rosauer said. “This year I’m a little more relaxed and excited to go and wrestle.”

Rosauer opens in Champaign against West Aurora’s Evan Matkovich (32-12). He is lined up to potentially face second-ranked Ashton Hobson of Marmion (25-2) in the semifinal, with Cassioppi (42-2) at the opposite end of the bracket.

“I think I have a really good draw; winning sectionals and getting the (No. 2) seed puts me in a good spot,” Rosauer said. “This week is all about feeling good and knowing what I’m good at so I can use it. Most of the super hard work is out of the way. Now it’s just time to feel good and execute.”

Jackson Allen, a returning state qualifier from Class 2A last year, leads eight Yorkville Christian state qualifiers in Class 1A. Allen (44-7) is ranked fourth at 215 pounds by IWCOA.