The Herald-News sports roundup for Friday, February 24, 2023

Seven area girls wrestlers are still in the hunt to capture state championships after the first day of competition at the IHSA Individual State Wrestling Meet at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

A pair of Joliet wrestlers, Eliana Paramo (115 pounds) and Nydia Martinez (170), locked in places in the semifinals. Martinez was particularly impressive, needing a little over two minutes combined to pin a pair of opponents. Lincoln-Way Central’s Gracie Guarino, who finished second at 105 last year, is off to a good start in the 110 division this year, notching a pair of comfortable victories.

The area is guaranteed to be represented in the 155 final, as Peotone’s Kiernan Farmer and Plainfield Central’s Alicia Tucker will meet in a semifinal matchup Saturday morning. Both wrestlers recorded two pins in their first two matchups.

Morris’ Ella McDonnell, a fourth-place finisher at 105 last year, moved into the 110 semifinals with a pair of major decision victories, and Lockport’s Claudia Heeney (125) earned her spot in the final four with wins by pin and major decision.

All seven semifinal qualifiers will wrestle bouts Saturday morning in the hopes of reaching state championship matches Saturday afternoon. Wrestlers still participating in wrestlebacks, where the possibility of finishing as high as third remains, are Joliet’s Chloe Wong (100) and Alexa Latham (190), Seneca’s Sammie Greisen (130), Minooka’s Jaiden Moody (190) and Reed-Custer’s Judith Gamboa (105).

Boys Wrestling

Joliet Catholic 69, Jacksonville 0: At the Class 2A Dual Team State Meet in Bloomington, the top-seeded Hilltoppers cruised in their quarterfinal matchup, shutting out the Crimson. Noah Avina (106), Jason Hampton (113), Aurelio Munoz (120), Gylon Sims (126), Nolan Vogel (132), Jake Hamiti (138), Connor Cumbee (145), Luke Hamiti (152), Mason Alessio (160), Maximus Vela (170), Nico Ronchetti (182), Zach Pomatto (195), Hunter Powell (220) and Dillan Johnson (285) were winners for JCA. The Hilltoppers will face Geneseo in Saturdays semifinals.

Coal City 65, Leroy 6: At the Class 1A Dual Team State Meet in Bloomington, the Coalers moved one step closer to a state championship. Brody Widlowski (113), Aidan Kenney (120), Brick Finch (126), Jake Piatak (132), Brant Widlowski (138), Mataeo Blessing (145), Landin Benson (152), Jack Poyner (160), Derek Carlson (170), Braiden Young (182), Joey Breneman (195), Drake Dearth (220) and Michael Gonzalez at 285 were the winners for the Coalers. Coal City faces Lena-Winslow in the semifinals Saturday.

Lockport 46, Warren 18: At the Class 3A Dual Team State Meet in Bloomington, as one of the favorites to hoist the Class 3A title, the Porters looked the part in rolling by Gurnee Warren in the quarterfinals. Isaac Zimmerman (106), Liam Zimmerman (120), Jad Alwawi (126), Carlos Munoz-Flores (132), Logan Kaminski (138), Chris Miller (145), Logan Shaw (160), Aidan Nolting (182), Payton Richardson (195), Wojciech Chrobak (285) were winners for the Porters who will face Marmion Academy in Saturdays semifinals.

Boys Swimming

IHSA State Meet: At Westmont, Lincoln-Way East competed in three relays, and the top finisher was the 200-yard freestyle relay that placed 16th. Nate Jackson compete in diving, Sebastian Leal-Tineo raced in the 50 and 100 freestyles, and Joey Lundgren did so in the 100 butterfly.

Only the top 12 competitors in each event moved on to Saturday’s finals.

Lockport also was well represented with two relays and multiple individuals. Ryan O’Connor raced in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke, Michael Erickson in the 500 freestyle, Shane Gabel in the 50 and 100 freestyles and Andy Giorgetti in diving.

Ryan Bates raced in a pair of events for Joliet West. He swam in the 200 and 100 freestyles for the Tigers. Ben Clark also swam in the 200 for West.

Other area competitors included Plainfield North, which competed with in the 200 medley relay and had an individual in Neimantas Zonys, who placed 17th in the 100 breastroke. Cameron James swam in the 500 for Morris, Jack Mroz the 100 backstroke for Lincoln-Way Central and Sebastian Lebuda in the 100 butterfly for Romeoville.

Boys Basketball

Lincoln-Way East 50, Neuqua Valley 48: At the Class 4A East Aurora Regional, Kaiden Ross drained a long 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to lift Lincoln-Way East to a win in the regional championship. The fourth-seeded Griffins improved to 25-5 on the season and will face top-seeded Joliet West, a 71-54 winner over Romeoville at the Bolingbrook Sectional on Tuesday night.

Bolingbrook 50, Waubonsie Valley 36: At the Class 4A Waubonsie Valley Regional in Aurora, the top-seeded Raiders led from wire to wire to capture the regional championship. Bolingbrook (25-7) will face Oswego East in the sectional semifinals on Wednesday night.

Bishop McNamara 69, Seneca 56: At the Class 2A Seneca Regional, the season came to an end for the third-seeded Irish. Seneca ended the season 24-5.

Pontiac 54, Peotone 39: At the Class 2A Pontiac Regional, the eighth-seeded Blue Devils saw their season end at top-seeded Pontiac. Peotone closed the season 17-15.

Lemont 43, Tinley Park 41: At the Class 3A Thornton Regional in Harvey, Matas Castillo scored 22 points to lift Lemont (26-6), which captured back-to-back regional titles for the first time in school history. Second-seeded Lemont will face third-seeded Marian Catholic at the Hillcrest sectional Wednesday evening.