CHAMPAIGN – East Alton-Wood River's Zac Blasioli, who took second at 152 in last year's tournament, will be going for a state championship in the Class 1A 132-pound weight class Saturday evening in the IHSA State Individual Wrestling Championship at Champaign-Urbana's State Farm Center Friday.
CLASS 1A
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East Alton-Wood River's Drew Sobol fell short in his quest to reach the 106 final, Sobol pinning El Paso-Gridley's Jaime Gregory in 1:37 in the quarterfinals, but dropping a 3-0 decision to Kankakee Bishop McNamara's Pauley Keene in the semifinal. Sobol will be in Saturday's wrestlebacks with a chance to finish third.
At 132, Blasioli reached Saturday evening's final as he recorded a 6-1 decision over Glasford Illini Bluffs' Joe Worms in the quarterfinal, then got to the final with a 3-1 decision over Lena-Winslow's Hunter Luke in the semifinal. Blasioli, who finished second at 152 last year, will meet Petersburg PORTA's Trey Hild in the final.
At 285, EAWR's Jon Wright was eliminated in his first wrestleback bout, being pinned in 2:25 by Savanna West Carroll's Josh Anderson, while Roxana's Brett Nyswonger failed to qualify for the wrestlebacks.
CLASS 2A
Civic Memorial's Brandon Carpenter fell out of the championship bracket at 195 when he was pinned in 3:52 by Oak Park Fenwick's Jacob Kaminski in the quarterfinal. Relegated to the wrestlebacks, Carpenter pinned Kalon Cross of Bloomington in 35 seconds to advance; Carpenter will continue in the wrestlebacks Saturday.
At 120, Triad's Will Hilliard qualified for the wrestlebacks but was eliminated in his first bout when Canton's Colton Ruey pinned Hilliard in 1:19; at 126, the Knights' Garrett Backarich was also eliminated in his first wrestleback bout, Ottawa's Ethan Harsted pinning Backarich in 2:48.
The finals in all three classes begin at 5:30 p.m. Saturday; all of Saturday's bouts will be live-streamed at IHSA.tv, with real-time results being posted at trackwrestling.com.
