Coal City has been among the state’s elite when it comes to wrestling over the past few years. The Coalers have two Class 1A state dual team championships and a runner-up finish in the last three seasons, claiming the state title in 2023 and 2025 and runner-up in 2024.

According to illinoismatmen.com, Coal City is once again at the top of the heap, as they are ranked No. 1 in the state after winning its fourth championship at Abe’s Rumble during the holiday break, outscoring their opponents 572-46 across eight duals to improve to 32-0 on the year.

Not only are the Coalers a talented group, but they are also very experienced. Seven Coal City wrestlers – Aiden Kenney, Mason Garner, Cooper Morris, Owen Petersen, Brock Finch, Cade Poyner and Brody Widlowski – have more than 100 career wins, with Luke Munsterman (98 career wins) soon to join that group.

“It’s crazy,” Coal City coach Mark Masters said. “It’s insane to have seven kids with 100 career wins all in one lineup. ... I don’t think there’s going to be too many high schools that ever had seven 100 career win wrestlers on one team at one time, let alone eight.”

The Coalers are far from the only team in the Herald-News that is ranked. In Class 1A, Reed-Custer is ranked 14th, and Seneca is 21st.

Providence currently is ranked No. 2 in Class 2A, while Lemont is 21st and Morris is an honorable mention. In Class 3A, Joliet Catholic is ranked No. 2, Lincoln-Way West is ranked ninth, Lincoln-Way East is 15th, Minooka is 18th, Lockport is 19th, Lincoln-Way Central is 23rd and Joliet West is an honorable mention.

Coming up

One of the more prestigious tournaments in the country is on the docket this weekend for several area individuals and teams, the Cheesehead Invitational in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. Wrestlers from Joliet Catholic, Plainfield North, Providence, Lockport and Joliet West will be among those taking part. Among them are defending Class 2A state champion Justus Heeg of Providence and three-time Class 3A runner-up Justin Wardlow of Lockport.

Individual rankings

Team success in wrestling doesn’t come without strong individual performances. To that end, area wrestlers litter illinoismatmen.com’s Class 2A and 3A individual rankings. Class 1A individual rankings were unavailable.

Class 3A

Joliet Catholic’s Kane Robles is ranked No. 8 at 106, while Michael Scott of Lincoln-Way West is an honorable mention at that weight. At 113, JCA’s Colton Schultz is ranked sixth, Jackson Roberts of Minooka is 12th and Noe Hernandez of Lockport is 15th. At 120, Finn McDonald of JCA is ranked 10th, and Lockport’s Anthony Sutton is an honorable mention. At 126, Plainfield North’s Aiden Durrell is ranked sixth, JCA’s Lukas Foster is seventh and Lincoln-Way West’s Carter DeBenedetto is 11th. Joliet West’s Jakob Crandall, Minooka’s Casey Janicki and JCA’s Adonis Washington are all honorable mentions.

At 132, JCA’s Jason Hampton is ranked second, Minooka’s Maddux Tindal is fifth, Brady Glynn of Lincoln-Way West is sixth and Isaac Zimmerman of Lockport is seventh. At 138, JCA’s Adante Washington is ranked fourth, Shane Stream of Lincoln-Way West is seventh, Jadon Zimmer of Lincoln-Way Central is eighth, Eric Hoselton of Lincoln-Way Central is 10th and JT Theis of Lincoln-Way East is an honorable mention. At 144, Jack Strezo of Lincoln-Way West is ranked 12th, with Plainfield South’s Kyle McCormick, Lockport’s Naseem Jaber and JCA’s Aurelio Munoz all earning honorable mention.

At 150, Kaidreaus Richardson of Lincoln-Way East is ranked eighth, Coehn Weber of Joliet West is ninth and Max Munn of Lincoln-Way West is 16th. Ben Cyrkiel of Minooka, Mason Vogt of Minooka, Caleb Dennis of Joliet Central, Dawson Mack of JCA and Evan Curry of Lockport are all honorable mentions.

At 157, Lockport’s Wardlow is ranked No. 1, Nolan Vogel of JCA is fifth, Max Mularz of Lincoln-Way East is eighth and Ethan Harvey of Lincoln-Way Central is 10th. At 165, Max Herman of Lincoln-Way West is ranked eighth, Aiden Brown of Joliet West is 15th and Luke Grindstaff of Plainfield North is an honorable mention. At 175, Jaden Byrd of Lincoln-Way Central is ranked sixth, Chris Miller of Lockport 10th, Kaden Meyer of Minooka 13th and Raphael Tovar of Plainfield North 16th.

At 190, Colton Zvonar of Lincoln-Way East is ranked fourth, and Santino Capodice of Minooka is 13th. Drew Silzer of Lockport, Tommy McDermott of Bolingbrook, Ty Sabin of Plainfield Central and Chase Pierceall of Plainfield South are all honorable mention. At 215, Lincoln-Way West’s Jimmy Talley is ranked 11th, with Justin Powers of Lincoln-Way East and Mason Bucon of Plainfield South at honorable mention. At 285, Aiden Hennings of Lincoln-Way Central is ranked third, Robbie Murphy of Minooka is eighth, Gage LaDere of Lincoln-Way East is ninth and Daniel Dalach of JCA is an honorable mention.

Class 2A

At 106, Christian Corcoran of Providence is ranked fourth, while Alex Powers of Lemont is ranked ninth. At 113, Nathan Ortiz of Providence is ranked third, and Morris’ Owen Sater is ranked 10th. Griffin Heeney of Providence is ranked fourth at 120. At 126, Max Mandac of Providence is ranked second, Cory Zator of Lemont is ranked third and Paxton Valentine of Morris is eighth. At 132, Lucas Forsythe of Providence is ranked seventh.

At 138, Tommy Banas of Providence is ranked No. 1, while Morris’ Brock Claypool is ranked third. Luke Banas of Providence is 10th at 144, Morris’ Carter Skoff is fourth, and Providence’s Andrew Pellicci is ninth at 150. Justus Heeg of Providence is ranked first at 157. At 165, Jasper Harper of Providence is ranked fourth, and Aiden Rudman of Lemont is an honorable mention. Ameer Khalil of Providence is ranked sixth at 175, while Lemont’s Judah Heeg is third at 190.