Wrestling notebook: Ottawa, Streator, Seneca and Sandwich all gearing up for conference/postseason tournaments

With conference and postseason tournaments on the horizon for wrestling squads across the state, Ottawa, Streator, Seneca and Sandwich all have a number of athletes that may soon be standing on the top row of the medal stand.

Ottawa

Pirates coach Peter Marx said he feels Ivan Munoz, Charles Medrow, Ryan Wilson, Dallas Harmon, Nico Stanfill, Malachi Snyder and Alex Perez are all in the right pace or have the ability to do great things in the coming weeks.

Munoz has placed second in the past two tournaments at Princeton and Reed-Custer, those being his only two losses on the season. Stanfill is 14-7 and just finished fifth at Reed-Custer, while Medrow is 22-5 and finished seventh at Princeton and a solid third at R-C.

Marx also praised the work of Wyatt Reding, who started the season 0-7 but has gone 12-5 since, including eighth at Princeton, and Anthony Evans.

“Wyatt had a difficult season last year and a rough start this year but has turned it around and is wrestling well,” Marx said. “Anthony is a second-year wrestler at 170 who has been a fun and exciting wrestler that gives everything he has.”

Ottawa will compete in the Interstate 8 Conference Tournament on Saturday in Sycamore and will be entered in the Sterling Regional and Rochelle Sectional.

Seneca

Fighting Irish coach Todd Yegge said he is happy with where his squad, ranked No. 24 in Class 1A by Illinois Matmen, and many of his wrestlers have posted “really good” performances since before Christmas.

Junior Asher Hamby at 160 (26-3, ranked No. 6 currently, has been as high as No. 4) has beaten the No. 5-ranked wrestler at the time and went 9-0 at the Abe’s Rumble dual tournament in Springfield and just finished second at the Reed-Custer Comet Classic.

Junior Chris Peura at 195 (33-5, ranked No. 8) has been consistent all season. He has taken some losses but also has wrestled several top wrestlers tough. Peura defeated the No. 5-ranked wrestler at his weight at the Abe’s Rumble and placed third Saturday at Reed-Custer.

Junior Nate Othon at 145 (31-9, honorable mention ranking) has been a leader and hard worker who has improved incredibly from last year. He just won his second individual tournament championship at Reed-Custer.

Yegge also said Ethan Othon (28-8, honorable mention ranking) has been a consistent contributor when in the lineup this year.

“Ethan is a freshman and has made the weight cut to 113 pounds,” Yegge said. “He has been really wrestling physically and well all year, and he has just entered the rankings as honorable mention after his third-place performance at Reed-Custer. He also went 8-1 at the Abe’s Rumble.”

Other Fighting Irish having solid seasons include senior Kyler Hahn (15-9 at 106, honorable mention), sophomore Tommy Milton (20-17 at 120, honorable mention), sophomore Nick Grant (19-15 at 132) and senior Collin Wright (30-10 at 170, honorable mention).

Seneca will be at the Reed-Custer Regional and Coal City Sectional.

Sandwich

The Indians have hit a tough stretch of their schedule, competing on half the days the past two weeks, coach Derek Jones said, but “have settled in and are applying the technique in matches.”

Jones said Kadin Kern (29-5 at 126), Miles Corder (32-8 at 132), Sy Smith (24-14 at 138), Nolan Bobee (23-14 at 152) and Bryce Decker (31-10 at 170) have carried the team all year and that their years of experience competing at the varsity level are showing off.

“Kadin has shown promise over his first two years, but this year, he has taken it to another level,” Jones said. “He is hanging with kids on his feet, and when he gets on top, he is a hammer.

“I would say the previously mentioned kids are all in line to be all-conference wrestlers, plus Ashlyn Strenz at 113 will have successful days.”

Sandwich will be at the I-8 Tournament on Saturday and then compete at the Plano Regional and the Oregon Sectional.

“We are hopeful to qualify over half of the team to sectional. However, once we get there, we will need to be ready to go,” Jones said. “There won’t be an easy match from the first whistle to the last out there.”

Streator

Bulldogs 106-pound junior Nick Pollet captured his third tournament championship in a row with Saturday’s first-place result at the Kewanee Invite. Pollet finished third at Seneca to start the season, then had back-to-back championship finishes at Walther Christian and Clinton. Pollet also is among the top-ranked wrestlers at 106 in 2A.

Also at Kewanee, Aydan Radke earned third place at 220, Jesus Martinez fifth at 120 and Isabel Gwaltney, the only girl competing in the finals, sixth at 113 for the Bulldogs.