IESA A State Day 1: Sectional B Took Over

Day 1 of the IESA Class A state tournament is in the books. We saw 4-seeds pinning 1-seeds, honorable mention wrestlers reaching semifinals, and one sectional so dominant that it produced all four semifinalists at two different weight classes. Let's get into it.

The Day 1 Headlines

Sectional B ran the table at 95lb and 105lb. All four semifinalists at 95lb came from Sectional B (Riverdale). Then it happened again at 105lb. Eight semifinal spots, all Sectional B. At 112lb, Sectional B nearly completed the sweep again. Only #1 Kellan Spisok's gutsy 5-3 decision over #3 Owen Sowards kept it from being a clean three-weight takeover.

126lb lost its mind. This is the only weight class in all of Class A or AA where two semifinalists are unranked or honorable mention. Unranked Alex Thompson majored #2 James Mullens 17-3, then tech-falled #8 Carter Scott 16-1. Honorable mention Braxton Acklin beat the #6 and #4 ranked wrestlers. Meanwhile, Hawk Amy has two sub-minute pins and looks like he's on a different level.

Nathan Durano pinned the #2 ranked wrestler in 12 seconds at 275lb. The fastest pin of Class A Day 1, and it came against a 1-seed.

Noble Steen keeps proving the doubters wrong at 185lb. He went from unranked to #4 at sectionals. Now he's pinned #2 Bentley Gibson while leading 10-1. If he wins his semifinal, he'd get a third crack at #1 Jeffery Ferkel in three weeks.

The 4-seeds aren't going quietly. Across Class A, 4-seeds knocked off 1-seeds at 105lb (twice), 112lb, 119lb, and 126lb (twice) in the first round alone. The bracket gods set up some brutal matchups, and the lower seeds answered.

Every single #1 ranked wrestler survived Day 1. Thirteen for thirteen. The upsets were real, but none of them touched the top of the rankings.

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95lb

We knew coming in that Sectional B (Riverdale) would be bringing the heat. All four qualifiers from that sectional made state last year. Three of them placed top 4. And now? All four are in the semifinals. The entire final four at 95lb is Sectional B.

These guys are very familiar with each other, so expect some game plans to change, especially from the wrestlers who found themselves on the losing side at sectionals. Jaxon Brunoehler (Sandwich) has been dominant, winning by fall and then an 18-4 major in the quarterfinals. Deklyn Thompson (Seneca) pulled the biggest upset of the weight, pinning #4 Tyler Armstrong in Round 1 as a 4-seed, then shutting out #7 Gavin Somers 5-0 in the quarterfinals. Briar Spooner (Fulton River Bend) edged #2 Dayton Patterson 6-5 in a one-point quarterfinal thriller. And Carson Overacker (Herscher Limestone) pinned #8 Remington Brand in Round 1 and beat #5 Joe Stevens 8-3 in the quarterfinals.

I have a feeling we're going to see more fireworks at this weight class before it's over. Such a fun bracket.

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100lb

A couple of minor first-round upsets. Wyatt Clark (Monticello) pinned #9 Wyatt Zamost, and Cameron Alpert (Prospect Heights MacArthur) beat #5 Sam Osborne 11-4. But ultimately, our top 4 ranked wrestlers made it to the semifinals. All four quarterfinal matches ended in falls. The favorites weren't messing around.

Luke Ross (Monticello) has been quick, with a 44-second pin in Round 1 and a 2:05 fall in the quarterfinals. Roosevelt Jackson (East Peoria Central) majored his first opponent 13-2 and pinned his way through the quarters. This is the dream bracket. Top 4 ranked, top 4 standing.

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105lb

Once again, Sectional B doing Sectional B things. Just like 95lb, all four semifinalists at 105lb came from Sectional B. That's how tough B was at these weight classes. It goes to show that the 5th and 6th placers at Sectional B likely deserved to be at state.

Two 1-seeds were knocked out in the first round. Josh Forsythe (Braidwood Reed-Custer) beat #3 Nick Johnston in sudden victory 9-3, and unranked Reed Henson (Rochester) majored #6 Johnny Welninski 15-7. Sectionals was just a warmup for the championship bracket.

Jaxson Barton (Rock Island Jordan Catholic) looks the part of the top seed. A fall in Round 1 and a 15-0 tech fall in the quarterfinals. But Forsythe is on a run, following up his OT upset of Johnston with a pin of #10 Gavin Holian in the quarters. And on the other side, Hunter Hovey (Erie) upset #2 Evan Conn 9-3 in the quarterfinals, knocking out the second-ranked wrestler and a 1-seed. Joe Gierlus (Taylor Ridge Rockridge) also looked sharp, tech-falling Henson 15-0 after a solid Round 1 win.

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112lb

We don't want to sound like a broken record, but Sectional B at 112lb was also absolutely stacked. Our #2, #3, #4, and #5 ranked wrestlers all came from that sectional. Only #1 Kellan Spisok (Forrest Prairie Central) came from somewhere else. With that scenario, we knew things would get wild. And they did. Sectional B almost pulled off a clean sweep again. It was only Spisok who held his ground in a super close 5-3 decision against #3 Owen Sowards to break B's dominance.

This setup also had the effect of putting our #5 ranked wrestler, Collin Haake (Channahon), in a first-round matchup against 1-seed Legend Watson (Westville JHS), who is ranked #6. Legend did everything right. Dominant season. Won his regional. Won his sectional. And his reward was a matchup against the strongest 4-seed in all of A and AA. Haake pulled off the 19-9 major, and now Legend is set up for a Round 2 consolation match with #3 Owen Sowards on Day 2. Another tough draw.

The semis are set up nicely with four incredibly strong contenders, all capable of winning it all. This might be the most evenly matched set of semifinalists left in the entire tournament.

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119lb

Eathyn Rivera (Coal City), an honorable mention, has been on a wild run. He beat our #3 Nick Trotter in Round 1 by a 9-8 decision, and then pinned #8 Wade Ball in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals. Both were hard-fought matches, but he came out victorious each time.

Then there's Jake Webb (Rochester). Ranked #7 but coming in as a 4-seed after losing twice at sectionals. Being ranked #7 as a 4-seed is very unusual. It basically either means you were in a stacked sectional, or you had a bad day. In Jake's case, it was a little of both. He lost to Brady Lowe, our #1 ranked wrestler, then lost the 3rd place match to Colin Neil, a match I think he wants back. But at state, he's had two impressive wins. A 7-4 decision over #2 Kyler Kindelsperger in Round 1 and a pin of #5 Jude Egshig in the quarterfinals. That's two top-5 guys so far. Now he gets a rematch with #1 Brady Lowe.

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126lb

Hawk Amy (Princeton Logan) has been dominant. Two sub-minute pins so far. But behind him, 126lb has been turned completely upside down. This is the only weight class in A or AA where two semifinalists aren't ranked. That means we've had a whole lot of upsets.

Let's talk about these runs. Honorable mention Braxton Acklin (Forrest Prairie Central) beat the #6 and #4 ranked wrestlers to reach the semifinal. An even bigger surprise is unranked Alex Thompson (Rock Island Jordan Catholic), who opened with a 17-3 major decision over James Mullens (Peoria St. Philomena). Mullens looked really strong at sectionals, beating several top 10 wrestlers. Then Thompson had another dominant 16-1 tech fall against #8 Carter Scott. Remember, Thompson came in 4th place in his sectional, and now he's dominating at state. It's quite a run. Another Rock Island kid making noise when it matters most.

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135lb

This bracket went through some turmoil before it even started. Two wrestlers who qualified didn't appear at state. Only one was replaced with an alternate, and the other case created a first-round bye. That said, the bracket has turned out mostly as scripted. No major upsets or surprises here.

Grayson Mangara (Jerseyville Community) has had to work hard for his two wins, both close decisions. Meanwhile, Max Branham (Rochester) and Emery Crutchfield (Lawrenceville Parkview) have cruised to their first two wins and now meet each other in the semifinals. That one feels like it could be the de facto final. Both have been scoring machines and nobody has slowed either of them down yet. Tomorrow, that won't be true for one of them.

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145lb

We haven't given Sam Rendtorff (Richmond Nippersink) enough credit in our rankings. Today he proved he belongs in the conversation. A solid pin over #4 Camedyn Schneider in the quarterfinals has put him in the semifinals against Joseph Renteria. This bracket has our top 3 ranked wrestlers and Rendtorff.

Maxym Kurchanov (Prospect Heights MacArthur) has been on another level, putting up points in quick succession. If you've seen Max wrestle live, he's got surprising quickness and speed for his size. So far, Rendtorff has had the most success against Kurchanov at sectionals, only allowing 8 points before the fall. If they win their next matches, they'd set up a rematch. But Max Brown (Lawrenceville Parkview) and Renteria both look up for the challenge of changing that narrative.

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155lb

We have our top two wrestlers, #1 Eric Giaquinto (Princeton Logan) and #2 Zyler Pozos (Forrest Prairie Central), meeting in the semifinals. This is a matchup we're excited for. Giaquinto has been dominant with a 13-0 major and a 46-second pin. Pozos has been equally impressive with a 14-2 major and a pin of his own.

On the bottom side of the bracket, Clayton Bush (Camp Point Central) will meet Preston Long (LeRoy). They both had tough quarterfinal matches to truly earn their way. Bush beat #4 Bo Mattox by fall, and Long edged #9 Emil Williams 7-5 in the tightest quarterfinal of the weight.

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167lb

A tale of two sides. Deven Alcala (Oregon JHS) and Dylan Nor (Richmond Nippersink) have been coasting through the first two rounds. Alcala opened with a 21-second pin and followed with a 1:38 fall. Nor pinned both his opponents in under a minute. Meanwhile, Jameson Quinn (Knoxville JHS) and Noah Tellor (Murphysboro MS) had to grind through two tough matches each to make the semifinals. Quinn survived a 4-3 quarterfinal. Tellor opened with a tight 7-5 decision before finding his rhythm with a quarterfinal pin.

Now we have one of each meeting in the semifinals. Will the dominant wrestlers continue to roll, or will the wrestlers who know how to win close matches pull it off?

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185lb

Noble Steen (Rock Island Jordan Catholic) continues his impressive run. Last week at sectionals he went from unranked to #4. Today, he opened with a dominant 16-0 tech fall and followed it up with a pin over #2 Bentley Gibson. The most telling part of that win? He was up 10-1 when he got the fall. He was controlling the match well before he ended it.

Remember, Jeffery Ferkel (Taylor Ridge Rockridge) has beaten Steen at both regionals and sectionals. If they each win their next match, it would set up the third meeting in three weeks. But before we get ahead of ourselves, Ian Young (Genoa Kingston) and Brody White (Jerseyville Community) might have something to say about it.

To Ferkel and Young's credit, they are also taking care of business. Both have two sub-minute pins apiece. You know they're running on a full head of steam heading into the semis. White has needed a major decision and a close decision to reach the semis, but a win is a win.

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215lb

This weight class has played out fairly predictably and we aren't finding any real surprises. Sebastian Perez (Island Lake Matthews) had a dominant sectional, but state has been a different story. He needed the full three periods for his Round 1 fall and was only up 2-0 before finding it. Then he had a decision win in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, the other three semifinalists have pinned their way through the first two rounds, with the exception of a 16-2 major decision by Luke McClaine (Port Byron Riverdale) over Camren Herron (Westmont JHS). It was the first match in the state series where Luke didn't get a fall. The majority of McClaine's wins this year have been by pin. Herron is very good. It's not easy to avoid getting pinned by McClaine.

Logan Stripens (Monticello) has been equally sharp, with a 37-second pin in Round 1 and a 1:15 pin in the quarters. His semifinal against McClaine is one we had circled on the bracket sheet.

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275lb

This weight class looks like it's going to be competitive down to the final match. Bentley Von Ruden (El Paso-Gridley) needed a takedown with 27 seconds left to win a close 7-4 decision over #5 Micah Benjamin-Glenn (Winnebago). The #1 ranked wrestler getting pushed to the final seconds like that tells you something about the parity in this bracket.

Nathan Durano (Peotone) has looked lights out with two quick pins, including a 12-second fall in the quarterfinals. That's the fastest pin of Class A Day 1, and Durano is wrestling with a level of confidence that makes him dangerous going forward.

Colton Mueller (Jerseyville Community) started the day as an honorable mention, and now he's in the semifinals after pinning #3 Kaleb Green in the quarterfinals. And Kristopher Maple (Murphysboro MS) has quietly pinned his way through, including a 57-second quarterfinal fall over #7 Hunter Tull.

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Looking Ahead

Day 1 gave us exactly what Class A promised. The Sectional B pipeline at 95, 105, and 112 proved that those brackets were among the toughest in the state series, and now those battles continue on the biggest stage. At 126, the bracket got flipped on its head and we're watching an unranked 4-seed and an honorable mention wrestler compete for a spot in the finals. Keep an eye on 112lb. Four wrestlers, all ranked in the top 5, all capable of winning. That semifinal round might be the best four-man bracket in the entire tournament. Watch the 185lb storyline develop. Steen wants Ferkel. Ferkel and Young aren't going to make it easy. And don't sleep on the underdogs who've been proving us wrong all day. Alex Thompson, Eathyn Rivera, Colton Mueller, Deklyn Thompson. They've already beaten wrestlers they weren't supposed to, and they're not done yet.

See you for Day 2.

Don't miss the IESA AA State Day 1 Recap.