The long trek of the boys wrestling postseason begins this weekend with individual regionals. As is usually the case, the Herald-News coverage area has several teams and individuals that will be in the mix for state hardware.

At the individual regionals, the top three finishers at each weight class will advance to the sectional. Once at the individual sectional, the top four finishers advance to the state finals in Champaign.

For the team competition, the team scoring the most points at the individual regional will advance to the dual team sectional at sites determined by the IHSA. Four teams will compete in each of four sectionals in each class. There will be no sectional champion. Eight teams will compete in each of the three classes. A random draw determines the sectional pairings and the state final pairings.

Class 3A

All of the teams in the Herald-News area are in regionals that feed into the Edwardsville Individual Sectional. All eight teams in the Minooka Regional are Herald-News area teams - Joliet Catholic, Joliet Central, Joliet West, Lockport, Minooka, Plainfield Central, Plainfield South and Romeoville.

At the eight-team Rich Township Regional will be Lincoln-Way Central, Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way West, while Bolingbrook, Plainfield East and Plainfield North will be in the nine-team Moline Regional.

JCA is currently ranked No. 2 in Class 3A by illinoismatmen.com and finished third in Class 3A last season. Lincoln-Way West is ranked No. 8, Lincoln-Way East is 16th, Minooka 18th, Lockport 19th, Lincoln-Way Central 23rd and Joliet West received an honorable mention.

Several individuals are looking to bring home state medals. Justin Wardlow of Lockport has been a state runner-up the last three seasons and is looking to bring home his first state title as well as join coach Jameson Oster as a four-time medalist for the Porters. He is currently ranked No. 1 in Class 3A at 157.

Other area wrestlers ranked in the top 16 entering the postseason are JCA’s Kane Robles (106, 8th), Lockport’s Noe Hernandez (106, 10th), JCA’s Colton Schultz (113, 6th), JCA’s Finn McDermott (120, 13th), JCA’s Lukas Foster (126, 7th), Plainfield North’s Aiden Durell (126, 12th), Lincoln-Way West’s Carter DiBenedetto (126, 13th), JCA’s Jason Hampton (132, 2nd), Minooka’s Maddux Tindal (132, 5th), Lincoln-Way West’s Brady Glynn (132, 7th), Lockport’s Isaac Zimmerman (132, 8th), Lincoln-Way West’s Caleb Rogers (132, 12th), JCA’s Adante Washington (138, 3rd), Lincoln-Way West’s Shane Stream (138, 5th), Lincoln-Way Central’s Jadon Zimmer (138, 9th), Lincoln-Way Central’s Eric Hoselton (138, 11th), Lincoln-Way East’s Kaidreaus Richardson (144, 6th), Lincoln-Way West’s Jack Strezo (144, 13th), Joliet Wet’s Coehn Weber (150, 10th), Lincoln-Way West’s Max Munn (150, 15th), JCA’s Nolan Vogel (157, 5th), Lincoln-Way East’s Max Mularz (157, 8th), Lincoln-Way Central’s Ethan Harvey (157, 11th), Lincoln-Way West’s Max Herman (165, 8th), Joliet West’s Aiden Brown (165, 15th), Lincoln-Way Central’s Jalen Byrd (175, 5th), Minooka’s Kaden Meyer (175, 12th), Plainfield North’s Raphael Tovar (175, 15th), Lincoln-Way East’s Colton Zvonar (190, 4th), Minooka’s Santino Capodice (190, 16th), Lincoln-Way West’s Jimmy Talley (215, 9th), JCA’s Ruker Czubak (215, 12th), Lincoln-Way Central’s Aiden Hennings (285, 3rd), Minooka’s Robbie Murphy (285, 8th) and Lincoln-Way East’s Gage LaDere (285, 11th).

“Everything we’ve done since the day last season ended has been to get us prepared for the next four weeks of our season,” JCA coach Ryan Cumbee said. “I am confident in where our kids are at, mentally and physically. Both me and the kids are excited.”

Plainfield Central coach Terry Kubski is also excited to see what his team can do.

“As a whole, we are looking for the wrestlers to go out there and dictate their match,” Kubski said. “We have a young team, so we are leaning on our junior and seniors – Liam Thompson, Jayden Mizelle, Brody Rangel, Ty Sabin and Nick Breier – to lead the youth and set the competitive standard this postseason, as the goal is always to make the trip to Champaign at the end of the year."

Class 2A

Providence is currently ranked No. 2 by illinoismatmen.com in the class, with Lemont ranked 22nd and Morris receiving an honorable mention. Providence and Lemont will take part in the Chicago Agricultural Science Regional, which feeds into the Hinsdale South Individual Sectional and Evergreen Park Dual Team Sectional. Morris, meanwhile, hosts an eight-team regional which feeds into the Geneseo Individual Sectional and Sycamore Dual Team Sectional.

Providence’s Justus Heeg is a defending individual state champion and is ranked No. 1 at 157. His brother, Judah, wrestles for Lemont and also is a defending state champion who is currently ranked No. 3 at 190.

Other area 2A wrestlers ranked in the top 10 are Providence’s Christian Corcoran (106, 4th), Providence’s Nathan Ortiz (113, 3rd), Morris’ Owen Sater (113, 10th), Providence’s Griffin Heeney (120, 3rd), Morris’ Paxton Valentine (120, 4th), Providence’s Max Mandac (126, 1st), Lemont’s Cory Zator (126, 3rd), Providence’s Lucas Forsythe (132, 7th), Morris’ Parker Barry (132, 10th), Providence’s Tommy Banas (138, 1st), Morris’ Brock Claypool (138, 4th), Morris’ Carter Skoff (150, 4th), Providence’s Andrew Pellicci (150, 6th), Providence’s Jasper Harper (165, 3rd) and Providence’s Ameer Khalil (175, 6th).

Class 1A

Coal City is the defending dual team champion and is currently ranked No. 1 in the class. The Coalers also host the 12-team regional, the individual sectional and the dual team sectional. Other area teams in the Coal City Regional are Reed-Custer, Dwight, Peotone, Seneca and Wilmington. Reed-Custer is ranked 13th and Seneca 21st.

Area 1A wrestlers ranked in the top 10 are Coal City’s Jake Munsterman (106, 5th), Reed-Custer’s Colton Drinkwine (113, 7th), Seneca’s Raiden Terry (120, 4th), Coal City’s Owen Peterson (126, 4th), Coal City’s Cooper Morris (132, 9th), Coal City’s Luke Munsterman (138, 8th), Coal City’s Brody Widlowski (150, 1st), Coal City’s Aiden Kenney (157, 3rd), Coal City’s Mason Garner (165, 8th), Coal City’s Brock Finch (175, 2nd), Seneca’s Landen Venecia (190, 7th), Wilmington’s Logan Van Duyne (190, 8th), Coal City’s Evan Greggain (190, 10th), Coal City’s Cade Poyner (215, 2nd) and Reed-Custer’s Dominic Alaimo (215, 5th).

“We are in a very competitive regional, and it will be a battle to advance to the sectional,” Coal City coach Mark Masters said. “We have been led by our senior class all season, and I expect that to be the case Saturday.

“Dual team wise, our expectations are high. We have had a lot of success focusing on the next practice, next match, and scoring the next point. They know the most important match of their life is the first one on Saturday morning. Then the one right after that and so on. We are keeping it simple, focusing on one match at a time.”