Three CM, Two Edwardsville Advance, Triad Advances One, Other Wrestlers Perform Well In Opening Day Of IHSA State Wrestling Tournament  

CHAMPAIGN-URBANA – Three wrestlers from Civic Memorial, two from Edwardsville and one from Triad advanced to the final four of their various weight classes, while other wrestlers were relegated to the wrestleback rounds on the first day of the IHSA individual state wrestling tournament in all three classes Thursday at State Farm Center on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

There are no team scores kept, as the team titles are determined by dual meets in all three classes, which will held next week, with sectionals going on Tuesday and the finals next weekend at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

Alton's only wrestler in Class 3A, Yaveion Freeman, lost his opener at 145 pounds. dropping am 11-4 decision to Antonio Alvarado of Belvidere North, while in Class 2A, the Eagles' Bradley Ruckman won his two bouts at 106 pounds, taking the first round decision over Jake Lowitzki of Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge 13-6, then pinning Noah Avina of Joliet Catholic Academy at 1:48 in the quarterfinal to move on to the last four. At 126 pounds, Caleb Scott split his two matches, winning in the first round over Joseph Nadig of Rochelle 4-1, but lost in the quarterfinals to Bobby Conway of Chicago Brother Rice Catholic 8-3. Bryce Griffin advanced to the last four at 145 pounds, taking a first round win by fall over Nicholas Asilani of Mundelein Carmel Catholic at 1:38, then pinned Hunter Daniel of Oak Forest at 48 seconds in the quarterfinal bout. Abe Wojcikiewicz also went through at 170 pounds, defeating Alec Miller of Darien Hinsdale South by technical superiority 17-2 at 3:20, then won his quarterfinal match over Amare Overton of Rock Island, also by technical superiority 16-0 at 1:55.

Carlinville's only wrestler, Jake Schwartz, lost his Class 1A 160 pound opener by fall to Max Astacio of Woodstock Marian Catholic at 5:40, while in Class 3A, the Tigers had Ryan Richie win his first round match at 113 pounds with a 5-4 win over Luis Flores of Hoffman Estates Conant and Drew Landau also won his 145 pound opener with a 5-4 win over Jake Crandall of Palatine Fremd. Highland's only wrestler in Class 2A, Tyson Rakers at 138 pounds, lost his first round match to Gauge Shipp of Galesburg 11-0. Also in Class 2A, Jaydon Busch of Jersey lost his opener to Alex Pasquale of Lemont by fall at 5:35.

In Class 1A, Roxana saw Leyton Cobine lose his opener at 120 pounds to Aiden Kenney of Coal City by fall at 3:43, while at 126 pounds, Brandon Green lost to Brady Grennan of Sterling Newman Central Catholic 10-1, Logan Riggs lost by fall in his 132-pound opener to Wyatt Doty of Polo at 42 seconds, Braden Johnson lost in the first round at 152 pounds to Marco Spinazzola of Peotone by technical superiority 20-3 at 4:45 and at 220 pounds, James Herring won his opener, defeating Alex Cardenas of Peotone 11-8, but was pinned in the quarterfinal by Jacob Bischoff of LeRoy at 4:55.

In Class 2A, Triad's Colby Crouch won his two bouts by fall, pinning Bernard Cox of Peoria Richwoods at 1:36, then pinning Nate Sanchez of Chicago St. Ignatius College Prep Catholic at 46 seconds to move to the last four. Aiden Postma won his 152-pound opener over Kenny Rutherford of Peoria by fall at 4:26, but was pinned in the quarterfinal bout by Connor Cumbee of Joliet Catholic Academy at 2:51. Koen Rodenbush lost his 170-pound first round bout to Chuck Connolly of Chicago Brother Rice Catholic by fall at 2:52. Finally, in Class 1A, East Alton-Wood River's lone representative, Drake Champlin at 220 pounds, won his opener over Drake Dearth of Coal City by fall at 2:32, but in the quarterfinal, was pinned by Noah Wenzel of Dakota at 3:55.

The semifinals in all weight classes, along with the start of the wrestleback rounds, takes place in Day Two of the tournament on Friday.

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