BETHALTO — The Civic Memorial Eagles qualified seven wrestlers out of the Granite City Sectional for a chance to compete at the state tournament at the University of Illinois beginning Thursday.
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“Everyone wrestled tough today, and we had a good day. Percentage-wise, it's awesome. I wish we got another one or two through. I thought one we should have got through,” CM coach Jeremy Christeson said.
Three of the wrestlers have state experience. Avery Jaime placed sixth last year at 126 pounds. Knox Verbais placed third at 150 pounds, and James Wojcikiewicz came up short of placing.
CM will be sending four newcomers to the state finals: Cody Weidner, Greg Harkey, Kevahn Flanagan, and Hudson Davis.
Jaime won his weight class with a 5–2 decision over Desi Wade of Mascoutah. Verbais dominated the 150-pound bracket, winning by technical fall over Joseph Newell of Waterloo in 1:49 (19–3). Wojcikiewicz rounded out the champions for CM with an 18–4 major decision over Talon Decker of Mahomet-Seymour at 165 pounds.
“It’s the same mindset all year when they get to state. We did a lot of traveling across the country to get these kids ready for these big matches, and I think we are ready to compete,” Christeson said.
CM competed in several major tournaments this season, including the Marmion Cadet Invite, Delaware Beast of the East, Evansville Mater Dei Tournament, Melissa Classic in Texas, the Geneseo Tournament, and they also hosted the Steven Bradley Tournament.
Among the newcomers, Weidner dropped a close 4–3 decision to Cooper Clarke of Chatham Glenwood to finish second. Harkey earned a technical fall over Brody Watson of Morton at 144 pounds. Flanagan defeated Zacharia Fry of Springfield Southeast 14–10 at 215 pounds, and Davis won by decision over Caleb Zirklebach of Lincoln 7–2 in the heavyweight class.
CM lost two state qualifiers to graduation from last season. Bradley Ruckman placed second at 132 pounds, and Nathan Herrin did not place.
