IWCOA to hold state wrestling tournaments

The Illinois High School Association will not conduct a state wrestling tournament in this reconfigured spring sports season.

There will, however, be championships to grapple over.

That is because the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA) recently decided it will take over the sport’s postseason in this COVID-affected year. The organization will conduct 6 consecutive days of individual competition beginning Monday, June 21 at the Bank of Springfield Center in our state’s capital. There are no team events.

The varsity boys portion will be a similar format to a traditional IHSA state series held each February.

“The Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association was the likely organization to run it,” said Rob Porter, secretary of the IWCOA and a teacher and coach at Naperville Central High School. “We’ve been running a freshman-sophomore state tournament series for the last 9 years or so, and that includes a regional and a sectional, so we already had that kind of setup, with schools that have been hosting events for us over the years. We had a basic template of what we could do.”

On June 21, a girls tournament will be held. It is open registration, and no qualifying tournaments will be held before.

On June 22-23, the fresh-soph boys event will be contested, as it has since 2011. It is open to boys who did not qualify for the IWCOA individual state tournament. Like the girls tournament, there is no qualifier.

Starting on June 24, the varsity boys take over. The first day will be Class A boys, followed by Class AA on June 25 and Class AAA on June 26.

The lead-up to the state tournament will be similar to the IHSA state series, with a slight twist at the regional level. Each class will have eight super-regionals contested, from which the top six wrestlers in each weight class advance to a sectional. There are usually 16 regionals per class, but having super-regionals cuts down on the number of sites needed.

In Class A, Oregon was originally scheduled to host a super-regional, but it was deemed the facility was not big enough. That super-regional will now be hosted by Sandwich on Sunday, June 13.

Wrestlers from 23 schools across northwest Illinois are slated to compete at Sandwich, including Amboy, Dixon, Erie-Prophetstown, Fulton, Morrison, Newman, Oregon, Polo, Rock Falls and West Carroll.

Two regionals feed into a sectional, and Sandwich will also host a sectional on Saturday, June 19. There are four sectionals per class, and the top four finishers in each weight class advance to state.

At the Class AA level, Sterling is entered in the 15-team Rock Island Super-Regional, also on June 13. Those finishing in the top six of their weight classes move on to the Geneseo Sectional on June 19.

Porter is excited that wrestlers from throughout the state will have a chance to experience state-level competition.

“The way the IHSA season is, we’re just wrestling duals and triangulars,” Porter said. “We haven’t seen any tournaments yet. Kids that maybe fell short of being a state qualifier last year, they have a chance to be a state qualifier. Kids that fell short of being a state place-winner, they have a chance to be a state place-winner this year. And we’re definitely going to be crowning some state champions.

“Wrestling is built around the postseason. Kids that are competitive and really get into the sport of wrestling, they dream of competing at state-level events. This year, there just wasn’t any available due to all these circumstances. We’re giving kids an opportunity to have memories that will last a lifetime. I’m almost 55 years old and I remember my experiences of wrestling at state like they were yesterday.”

Locals are also looking forward to having that experience.

“It won’t be the same as regular state, but obviously with COVID we expected that,” Newman junior Will Rude said. “I’m just happy we get a chance to have something like state. It’s really exciting for the wrestlers who want to compete in something like that. It’s good for the seniors who would be missing out otherwise, and they get something to look forward to.”

“You don’t want to miss out on the state series,” Morrison coach Tony Wright added. “I’m glad that the people at the IWCOA stepped up to put it on for us.”

IWCOA state tournaments

When: June 21-26 (Class A June 24, Class AA June 25, Class AAA June 26)

Where: Bank of Springfield Center

Registration: Trackwrestling.com