Wrestling Notebook: Lockport’s Brayden Thompson, JCA’s Dillan Johnson still dominating

Last season, Brayden Thompson of Lockport and Dillan Johnson of Joliet Catholic Academy shared Herald-News Wrestler of the Year honors as undefeated state champions - Thompson in Class 3A at 170 pounds and Johnson in Class 2A at 285.

Not much has changed this season, except for Thompson, a senior who has already committed to perennial collegiate power Oklahoma State, wrestling at 182 and sometimes at 195. Even in the higher weight classes, he hasn’t lost and most recently won the championship at the prestigious Al Dvorak Tournament.

Johnson, meanwhile, continues to wreak havoc wherever he goes as he recently pinned all of his opponents in winning the Rex Whitlach Tournament. Both are ranked No. 1 in their weight class by illinoismatmen.com.

Several area wrestlers ranked

Thompson and Johnson aren’t the only wrestlers making their presence felt. In the most current rankings by illinoismatmen.com, 44 wrestlers from The Herald-News coverage area are ranked in the top 10 in their respective weights and classes.

Class 3A: 106 - Maddox Garbis, Plainfield North (6th), Isaac Zimmerman, Lockport (10th); 113 - Justin Wardlow, Lockport (9th); 126 - Jad Alwawi, Lockport (4th), Carson Weber, Joliet West (8th), Cayden Amico, Plainfield North (9th), Nathan Knowlton, Lincoln-Way Central (10th); 132 - Karter Guzman, Lincoln-Way West (10th); 138 - Carlos Munoz-Flores, Lockport (6th); 160 - Logan Swaw, Lockport (2nd); Zach LaMonto, Lincoln-Way East (9th); 170 - Ari Zaeske, Lincoln-Way East (3rd); 182 - Thompson, Lockport (1st), Max Bowen, Plainfield Central (3rd); 195 - Matthew Janiak, Plainfield South (8th); 220 - Leo Tovar, Plainfield North (6th); David Wuske, Lincoln-Way East (10th); 285 - Wyatt Schmitt, Joliet West (3rd).

In team rankings, Lockport, which finished third last season, is currently fifth, Lincoln-Way East 10th, Lincoln-Way West 15th, Lincoln-Way Central 17th and Plainfield North 20th.

Class 2A: 106 - Noah Avina, JCA (6th); 113 - Jason Hampton, JCA (3rd); 120 - Gylon Sims, JCA (1st); 138 - Sam Schuit, Lemont (5th); Jake Hamini, JCA (9th); 145 - Johnny O’Connor, Lemont (5th); 152 - Connor Cumbee, JCA (6th); 160 - Mason Alessio, JCA (1st); 170; Mike Jabaay, Lemont (4th); Nicholas Ronchetti, JCA (10th); 182 - Nathan Wrublik, Lemont (8th); 220 - Hunter Powell, JCA (7th); 285 - Johnson, JCA (1st); Alex Pasquale, Lemont, (7th).

In team rankings, defending state champion JCA is ranked first, while Lemont is ranked fourth.

Class 1A: 106 - Culan Lindemuth, Coal City (6th); Kyler Hahn, Seneca (9th); 138 - Brant Widlowski, Coal City (10th); 145 - Mateo Blessing, Coal City (3rd); 152 - Marco Spinazzola, Peotone (4th); 170 - Derek Carlson, Coal City (9th); 182 - Braiden Young, Coal City (2nd); 195 - Chris Peura, Seneca (10th); 220 - Kody Marschner, Reed-Custer (2nd), Alex Cardenas, Peotone (10th); 285 - Gunnar Berg, Reed-Custer (5th), Michael Gonzalez, Coal City (6th).

In the team rankings, Coal City is ranked first, Reed-Custer is 22nd and Seneca is 24th.

Girls wrestle, too

The IHSA sanctioned girls wrestling as a sport last year, and more and more schools and girls are participating. This year has seen a huge increase in numbers from many programs, including Minooka and Lockport.

At Lockport, some of the top wrestlers include Monica Skibicki (9-4) at 100 (9-4), Averi Colella (13-6) at 105 (13-6), Liz Ramirez (10-5) and Maya Hernandez (9-5) at 115, Claudia Heeney (14-0) at 125, and Kelli Watkins (9-1) at 170.

“The season has been going great so far,” Lockport coach Nathaniel Roth said. “We’ve got about 35 girls out for the team, which is more than double what we had last year. We have been seeing amazing amounts of improvement from all our new girls, which is lots of fun to see. They get better every day physically and mentally.

“I have already seen several girls gaining tons of confidence on and off the mat because of the things they are learning from wrestling.”

The Porters finished first at the Niles West Tournament in November and 10th out of 30 at the Dan Gable Donnybrook in Coralville, Iowa in early December.

“We are looking forward to more competitions over winter break and beyond and hoping to bring home some hardware from the state tournament this year,” Roth said.

At Minooka, coach Paige Schoolman is enthusiastic about the program

“As a team, we took some tough losses early in the year,” he said. “But the girls and coaches have learned and grown from our mistakes. The coaching staff [Jon Calder, Jeff Charlebois, Joe Cecala] and I are beyond excited about where the team is at and how good they can become by February.

“Most importantly, this team is having fun. They have bonded as a tight group and continue to improve each day.”

Individually, the Indians have posted some terrific starts, such as Addison Cailteux (115, 12-0), Sabia Charlebois (120, 10-3), Bella Cyrkiel (140, 14-2), Abbey Boersma (155, 12-4), Peyton Kueltzo (190, 12-5), Sophia Rausa (125, 11-6), Brooklyn Doti (105, 10-5), Hayla Hammer (135, 9-6), Kira Cailteux (125, 8-6), Delanie Majetic (130, 8-5), Sydney Ray (170, 8-5), Dylanie Cecala (145, 7-3), Olivia Rojas (125, 6-5), Eva Beck (130, 11-4), and Jaiden Moody (170, 4-5).