Oregon wrestlers took the short trip to Stillman Valley on Jan. 31 to compete in the IHSA regional.

Last year, Oregon emerged as the regional champion, edging Lena-Winslow-Stockton for the title. The victory largely was due to a strong performance in the consolation brackets.

This season, the Pantherhawks came to wrestle and held a 35-point lead over Oregon entering the final two rounds of wrestlebacks. They extended their lead by 20 points in the lower bracket and won the team title going away with 236.5 points to 159 for the second-place Hawks.

Lena-Winslow-Stockton advanced 10 wrestlers. Six took first place and four were runners-up. Earning titles were Carson Hill (113 pounds), Brandon White (126), Arrison Bauer (144), Eli Larson (190), Oliver McPeek (215) and Jeremiah Luke (285).

Oregon will send six wrestlers to the Byron Sectional on Friday, Feb. 13.

Josiah Perez took the 120-pound title, Jack Benesh was first at 132 pounds, and Nelson Benesh finished first at 138 pounds.

Finishing second were Jordan Lowe at 113, Isaiah Perez at 126, and Jacksyn Windham at 215.

Kayden Cover finished fourth and will be an alternate at Byron. Also wrestling for the Hawks were Boone Alderks at 144, Jackson Messenger at 150, Jayden Berry at 157, Cole Suter at 165, and Newt Wright at 285. Suter contributed two pins to the effort, and Alderks and Berry each had one fall. Messenger scored a technical fall in the first round. Oregon did not have wrestlers at 175 or 190.

The third-place team finisher was Byron with 133 points. It advanced seven wrestlers with 175-pound champion Brody Stien, three second-place finishers and three wrestlers taking third.

For Oregon, Josiah Perez had a bye and rolled up a 15-0 technical fall in the semifinal with three sets of backpoints. The final was a battle with Keller Otto of Lena. Perez allowed only one point in the third period of a 10-6 win that featured three takedowns.

Jack Benesh had a bye and scored a takedown to the back in the quarterfinal, leading 16-3 at the time of the fall. In the semifinal, Benesh worked the cradle to a 15-0 technical fall at 3:25 to advance to the final against Hunter King of Byron. Benesh worked the cradle again and finished a 20-8 major decision with a double leg takedown.

Nelson Benesh got a bye to the semifinal where he stopped a stand with a throw to the back and a pin at 3:03. In the final against Mauricio Glass of Lena, Benesh had an escape and a takedown in the second period and finished a 16-1 technical fall with a spinning takedown 13 seconds into the third period.

Lowe started with a bye as the top seed and pinned with a half nelson in 58 seconds in his first match. Lowe fell and landed on his back in the second period of a 13-5 major decision loss to Hill in the title match.

Isaiah Perez pinned with a cradle in 47 seconds in the first round and caught the cradle again at 57 seconds in the semifinal. In the final, Perez trailed 8-3 starting the third period and fought back to a one-point deficit. He tried a throw late and missed, falling 12-8 in the match.

Windham lost the first takedown of his opener but came back with a takedown to the back for a fall at 2:35. In the semifinal, he also lost the first takedown but rebounded with a reverse in a granby for two points and then went from a turk to a chicken wing for a fall at 3:06. In the final, Windham never really got rolling, losing takedowns in every period and a cradle as time expired in an 11-1 major decision loss.

Cover pinned with an outside cradle in his first match and then lost by a technical fall to Whitehead in the semifinal. He got byes to the third-place match where he kept the score close but was caught in a spladle by Aiden Salo of Byron at 3:32.

Alderks was the victim of a 16-0 technical fall in the quarterfinals by the eventual third-place finisher. In the third round of consolation, he scored a takedown in a spladle and pinned in 36 seconds. In the wrestleback semifinal, he was taken down to his back twice in a 17-2 technical fall loss at 1:35.

Messenger had a four-point half nelson in the second period on his way to a 15-0 technical fall at the four-minute mark. He was saved by the buzzer in a half nelson at the end of the second and taken down at the start of the third to drop a 17-2 technical fall loss to McCarren. In the consolation semifinal, he managed an escape and takedown in the second period but lost a 20-6 major decision.

Berry had an early lead in his opener but was turned in a half nelson at 3:49. He turned a takedown into a stack in 34 seconds in consolation, and he went over in a half nelson at 2:38 in the consolation semifinal.

Suter scored a takedown in a cradle at 1:52 in his opener but lost his quarterfinal match by a 15-0 technical fall. In his first consolation match, Suter got a takedown to the back at 1:02. He started with a takedown to the back in the next round but finished the first period on his back and went down and out in a 22-13 major decision loss.

Wright was tied after the first period of his first match but got reversed to his back and pinned at 4:45. He got a bye to the wrestleback semifinal where he lost a takedown to his back at 1:04.

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Oregon's Jack Benesh puts a hold on Byron's Hunter King in the 132-pound championship at the 1A Stillman Valley Regional on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (Earleen Hinton)