Girls wrestling
Seven McHenry County athletes advanced to the semifinal round of the IHSA girls wrestling individual state tournament on Friday at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. The tournament will resume with wrestlebacks, semifinals, medal rounds and title bouts Saturday.
Hampshire leads the area with four semifinal qualifiers. Annabelle Mueller (105), Stella Piazza (115), Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (120) and Samantha Diehl (190) all won two matches on Friday. As a team, the Whip-Purs are currently in first place with 43.5 points.
Nidelea-Polanin (24-0) earned a 21-4 tech fall in the first round and a pin of Geneseo’s Lydia King in the quarterfinals to remain undefeated. Mueller (39-5) pinned Marquette’s Lily Deibel and Edwardsville’s Emma Rogers, while Piazza (27-1) pinned Stevenson’s Athena Zappas and Litchfield’s Rilynn Younker over the first two rounds. Diehl (38-3) pinned Lakes’ Joslin Coon in 16 seconds and pinned Guilford’s Arjanne Haywood during her quarterfinal matchup.
Huntley’s Janiah Slaughter (100), Crystal Lake South’s Annalee Aarseth (115) and McHenry’s Natalie Corona (145) also reached the semifinals. Slaughter (35-2) pinned Canton’s Abella Brown and Berwyn-Cicero Morton’s Andaira Marron. Aarseth (28-3) picked up major decisions over Chicago Kelly’s Yazmine Garcia, 10-1, and Canton’s Chloe Hedges, 14-0, to earn a spot in the semifinals.
Corona (37-0) remained perfect on the season, pinning Grayslake Central’s Miranda Tellez and Kewanee’s Aaliyah Swearingen in the first two rounds. Crystal Lake Central’s Cait Jones (155) won two wrestlebacks after suffering a first-round loss. Jones (22-5), who pinned Thornton Fractional North’s Ariyah Bradford and Pekin’s Alyssa Artman, will attempt to secure a state medal on Saturday.
Huntley’s Grecia Garcia (135), as well as Woodstock co-op’s Eva Hermansson (100) and Brianna Crown (170), went 1-2 over three state tournament matches. Garcia finished with a 37-14 record, while Hermansson finished 40-9 and Crown finished 41-12.
Boys wrestling
In the IHSA boys wrestling dual team state tournament, Marian Central lost to Providence 49-18 in the Class 2A quarterfinals Friday evening. Match winners for the Hurricanes were Nic Astacio (175), Jimmy Mastny (215), Hogan Rice (113) and Austin Hagevold (144).