Wrestling: Four local champions crowned at IHSA state finals

CHAMPAIGN – As the IHSA Individual Wrestling State Finals wrapped up at the State Farm Center on Saturday night, four champions from the Joliet Herald-News coverage area were crowned – some for the second or third time in their career.

Joliet Catholic went 3 for 5 in the championship round for Class 2A. At 285 pounds, Dillan Johnson repeated as a state champ, winning an 8-2 decision against Aurora Christian’s Braden Hunter.

“It’s a great feeling. I worked hard, and my coaches helped me with this,” Johnson said. “It’s amazing that we have five finalists down here. It just really shows how much we’ve improved from last year.”

At 120 pounds, senior Gylon Sims won his third state title in thrilling fashion, taking a 5-3 sudden victory against Aurora Christian’s Josh Vazquez.

“I look for tough matches like that all the time. Obviously, he gave me one, and I just want to say congrats to him, too,” Sims said.

“It feels great [to win my third state title]. Four would’ve been nice, but three was the goal after freshman year. I didn’t really have many goals freshman year, but after that, after getting that grand march, that’s when all the goals started to present themselves. And then that’s when I started to see myself grow not only as a wrestler, but as a person as well. It’s amazing leaving with what I wanted.”

As a freshman, Sims couldn’t have imagined all he’d accomplish in his high school wrestling career. But with the help of his coaches these past four seasons, he came to realize just how good he could be.

“I knew I had heart. I knew had guts, but I didn’t think I was as good as I was, Sims said. “Coach Cumbee, one of the main people, him and Coach Gerdes, the two main people who showed me how good I really can be. And they still tell me every day, that I can be 10 times better than I am now.”

At 160 pounds, Mason Alessio was the third champion for the Hilltoppers, pinning Dunlap’s Nick Mueller in 1:18.

“It’s amazing. It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m just able to celebrate with my friends and family and teammates and everyone. And I’m just happy right now,” Alessio said. “It was momentum [having two state champions earlier in the day], and I’m happy to be able to celebrate with them tonight. It’ll be a good time. I’m excited.”

At 182 pounds, Joliet Catholic’s Nico Ronchetti finished second, dropping a 9-1 major decision to Grayslake’s Matty Jens, while at 138 teammate Jake Hamiti also finished second, losing a 15-0 technical fall in 4:39 to undefeated Galesburg wrestler Gauge Shipp.

Peotone’s Marco Spinazzola (152) won the Class 1A 152-pound championship in crazy fashion, slipping out of a double-overtime pin attempt at the buzzer to take an ultimate tiebreaker 2-1.

“It’s a dream. This is like a literal, I’m waiting to wake up still. I’m so happy,” Spinazzola said. “I didn’t even know this was possible until these last three weeks of the season. I was paying more attention, focusing a lot more, and it sounds so cliché, but hard work really pays off.”

Initially, there was a delay in the ruling of the match, causing confusion all around. But after an official signaled that Spinazzola had, in fact, beat the buzzer, there was an uproar from the coaches and surrounding crowd, and the celebration commenced.

“We had it tight there, and if I’m being 100% honest, I don’t know the full rules of wrestling when you get to that far. I’ve never been in a match that deep in my entire life, so I didn’t know what was to come next,” Spinazzola said. “I always go to church, I always pray to God all the time in my life. The word ‘trust’ popped into my head. I was like, ‘Just trust.’ I just leaped out, foot slipped right out of his arm, I was like, ‘OK. Wow. It’s trust, it’s legit.’ So I did it, and I was so excited to finally be out. All this was going through my head. I was so confused. I didn’t know what happened, if I won or lost, I didn’t know, and my coach started cheering, and I got so happy I couldn’t hold it in.

“I’ve never celebrated after a match in my entire life, and that was the first time I celebrated.”

Lockport’s Justin Wardlow (120) lost his Class 3A championship match on a medical forfeit to Loyola’s Massey Odiotti to finish second, while teammate Logan Swaw (160) lost a 3-0 decision to Conant’s Ethan Stiles for a runner-up finish.

In the medal round for Class 2A, Joliet Catholic’s Jason Hampton (113) and Connor Cumbee (152) each finished fourth; Lemont’s Sammy Schuit (138) finished fourth, and teammate Nathan Wrublink (195) placed fifth, taking a 5-3 decision against Washington’s Josh Hoffer.

Seneca’s Chris Peura (195) finished sixth in Class 1A.

Coal City placed six wrestlers in the top six of the Class 1A medal round. Joey Breneman (195) finished third, pinning Macomb’s Max Ryner in 5:26.

“I knew had to pull something big, these guys are all so much bigger than me; I knew I had to do something, so I decided to try and throw him and it worked,” Breneman said.

“I feel awesome. I weigh 175. Wrestling all these 195 guys, it’s not easy. So to come here and take third is awesome.”

Brody Widlowski (113) and Braiden Young (182) each finished fourth, while Jake Piatak (132) added a sixth-place finish for the Coalers.

Reed-Custer’s Kody Marschner (220) finished third in his weight class in Class 1A, taking a 3-2 decision against Beardstown’s Owen O’Hara.

“It’s cool doing it for my coaches and everything, but deep down I wanted to [win the bracket],” Marschner said about winning his final match and finishing third. “I worked all summer for it. To come up short, it cuts deep.”

Gunnar Berg (285) added a fourth-place finish for the Comets.

In Class 3A, seven JHN area wrestlers placed in the top six.

Bolingbrook’s Aaron Camacho (126) finished fifth, pinning Hersey’s Maksim Mukhamedaliyev in 32 seconds.

Plainfield North’s Leonard Tovar (220) finished third, taking a 4-3 decision against Marist’s Luke Liberatore, while teammate Maddox Garbis (106) finished sixth.

Plainfield South’s Matthew Janiak (195) finished sixth.

Joliet West’s Wyatt Schmitt (285) took fourth.

Lincoln-Way Central’s Nathan Knowlton (126) finished fourth.

Lincoln-Way East’s Ari Zaeske (170) came in sixth.

Lockport’s Logan Kaminiski (138) finished sixth.