Sectionals are done. And if you thought the rankings were settled heading in, well, that's why we wrestle.
Forty-four new faces entered our rankings this week. Twenty-two previously unranked wrestlers cracked the top 10 at their weight. Four of them won their entire sectional. Behind the top seeds, just about everything got scrambled.
But here's what's wild: every single #1 seed held. All thirteen of them. The cream rose to the top, but the middle of the pack? Complete chaos in some brackets.
Note: This recap only covers weights 95lb and up.
Let's get into it.
The Big Stories
The Wilder Brothers Are All Going to State
Three brothers. Three different weight classes. All ranked in our top 5. Da'Marion Wilder at 105lb (#5), DeShaun Wilder at 112lb (#2), and Deandre Wilder at 126lb (#4), all wrestling for Joliet Gompers. That's a family affair, and honestly, it might be the coolest story heading into the state tournament. Imagine being those parents in the stands.
135lb Was Absolute Chaos
If one bracket defined what sectionals can do to rankings, it's 135lb. Half the pre-sectional top 10 got bounced. Five completely unranked wrestlers crashed into the top 10. Five.
CJ Abrantes (Lake Zurich South) held firm at #1. He won state last year at 112lb as a 7th grader and hasn't slowed down a bit now at 135. But behind him it was a free-for-all. Wrestlers who had great seasons all year ran into guys who were peaking at exactly the right time. Ian Alton (Sterling Challand) came in unranked and won his sectional outright, landing at #5. That's the beauty and the cruelty of double-elimination wrestling. Two bad matches and your season looks completely different.
112lb: The Upset Bracket
David Asaturgan from Wheeling London came into sectionals completely unranked. He left as a sectional champion, now sitting at #7 in the state. Nobody saw that coming.
Meanwhile, Leo Frometa, who'd been great all year, had an off day. He still qualified, so don't count him out. He'll be dangerous at state. But that's the thing about wrestling at this level. Sometimes you're just not feeling 100%. Maybe you're fighting through something. Sectionals have a way of rewriting the script.
Ayden Pelayo's 275lb Stunner
This might be the single best story from the entire weekend. Ayden Pelayo (Bloomington JHS) came in as an honorable mention with the thinnest resume you'll find. His regional only had three wrestlers. He'd been to two tournaments all year that we could find, placing 3rd in small brackets both times. Limited data. Easy to overlook.
Then he pinned #2 Clinton Willey to win his sectional.
He's now #6 in our state rankings and heading to state with serious momentum. Sometimes the numbers just don't tell the whole story, and Pelayo is living proof.
145lb: Abayomi Alase's Redemption
Alase (Bloomington Evans) wrestled at state last year. He was actually up on eventual champion Wyatt Mikkeleson before things slipped away late in the 2nd period. Then he lost a heartbreaker in the final seconds to Kingsley Chen for 6th place. Tough way to end a season.
But those were learning experiences. Now he's the clear #1 ranked AA wrestler at 145lb heading to state with the experience and the scars to back it up.
155lb: Ponterio Was 'This Close'
Joe Ponterio (Homer Glen Homer) was a sudden-death victory away from potentially winning state last year. He looked like the second-best wrestler in the bracket and our rankings had him at #2 heading in. But he lost to champion Leo Zavala in sudden victory. He's had a dominant season this year with only two losses, both to Vinn Tunis, who went IKWF instead of IESA. He's the clear man to beat at 155lb, but Abbed, Cushman, and Thomas are all good enough to find an upset if Ponterio slips.
Lankford Peaked at the Right Time
Landon Lankford (Yorkville) at 167lb is the same kind of story as Asaturgan. Unranked going in. Won his sectional. Now ranked #5 in the state. Sometimes guys just put it all together at the right moment. He'll be one to watch.
School Spotlight
DeKalb Huntley and Bloomington JHS are sending the most ranked or honorable mention wrestlers to state, with eight apiece.
Three schools produced three sectional champions: Rock Island Washington (Khalaqi at 95lb, Henderson at 185lb, Dillin at 275lb), Homer Glen Homer (Paun at 105, Russell at 119, Ponterio at 155), and Chatham Glenwood (Davis at 119, McGee at 167, Scheuer at 185). Having three kids win sectionals in different weight classes says a lot about a program's coaching and culture.
Rock Island in general had a banner weekend. Five ranked wrestlers across five different weights, plus two previously unranked kids from the Rock Island area at 126lb, JaDale Anderson (Rock Island Edison, #7) and Sunday Eh (Rock Island Washington, #10), both cracked the top 10 with strong performances. We had limited data on both of them going in and they could make real noise at state.
Weight-by-Weight Recap
95lb: Top two held firm. Ziggy Tipton (Quincy) had the biggest move, jumping from #7 to #3. Hunter Guisinger (Frankfort Hickory Creek) won his sectional as an unranked wrestler and cracked the top 10 at #10.
100lb: Gabe Cadenas (Mahomet-Seymour) made the biggest climb, rising from #7 to #3 with a strong sectional run. Dominik Budzyk (Bolingbrook Humphrey) stays at #1.
105lb: One of the more stable brackets. The top 4 all held their spots. Not a lot of drama here, which is actually a testament to how solid the pre-sectional rankings were at this weight.
112lb: The upset bracket. Asaturgan went from unranked to sectional champ to #7. Frometa had his off day but still qualified. Weller and Christ swapped spots. Deacon and Jaske shuffled around. This bracket is going to be wild at state.
119lb: Mostly held form. Ben Bertelsman moved up to #3 on the strength of two quick pins and a close 9-7 loss to #1. That's the kind of sectional that earns respect.
126lb: The Rock Island story. Two previously unranked wrestlers from the area, Anderson and Eh, both cracked the top 10. Richardson and Brown hold steady at the top, but the middle of this bracket got completely rearranged.
135lb: The earthquake. Five new unranked faces in the top 10. Half the pre-sectional top 10 eliminated. Abrantes is still king, and honestly, he looks like he's on another level. But behind him, good luck predicting anything. Alton's NR-to-sectional-champ run was the headline.
145lb: Alase is firmly #1 with his state experience. Bengala jumped to #3 after beating two ranked opponents. Relatively stable otherwise, which makes it a bracket where the favorites should hold. But we said that about 135 too.
155lb: Ponterio is the clear #1. Bahena and Finkle made moves in the middle. Jaylon White (DeKalb Huntley) cracked #10. The top four here, Ponterio, Abbed, Cushman, and Thomas, could set up some really fun semifinal and final matches.
167lb: Kane Warren (Downers Grove Herrick) jumped from #7 to #3 as a sectional champ. Lankford's NR-to-champ-to-#5 run was the story. Gregorio had a rough day, dropping from #4 to #9 after placing 4th at his sectional.
185lb: The top four, Scheuer, Rubo, Illingworth, and Henderson, all looked really strong. Three of them completely dominated their sectionals. This is setting up for a potentially amazing semifinal and final. Three HMs climbed into the top 10 as well, with Walsh, Hernandez, and Alijah Smith all earning their spots.
215lb: Max Michalski (McHenry MS) returns as #1 after placing 5th at state last year at this same weight. That experience matters. Last year's 215lb bracket saw some major upsets, so anything's possible, but Michalski looks strong. Chase Cabrera (Bloomington JHS) moved up to #2. He wrestled at 285 most of the year then dropped to 215, which could make him dangerous with that size advantage. Martinez and Wright round out a solid top 4.
275lb: Rylee Dillin (Rock Island Washington) had the biggest individual jump in the entire rankings, going from #10 to #3 after beating previously #3 Ryan Rice in a tiebreaker at the AA-B finals. That's about as close as it gets. Pelayo's pin over Willey was the upset of the bracket. Damari Ferguson (Vernon Hills Hawthorn South) solidified at #2 with a dominant run through his sectional.
By The Numbers
- 13/13 — #1 seeds that held their position
- 4 — Unranked wrestlers who won sectionals (Asaturgan, Alton, Lankford, Guisinger)
- 22 — Previously unranked wrestlers who cracked the top 10
- 44 — Total new faces in the rankings
- 5 — Ranked wrestlers knocked out of rankings at 135lb
- +7 — Rylee Dillin's jump from #10 to #3, the biggest single rise
- 3 — Wilder brothers heading to state, all ranked top 5
- 3 — Schools with 3 sectional champions (Rock Island Washington, Homer Glen Homer, Chatham Glenwood)
- 8 — State qualifiers from DeKalb Huntley and Bloomington JHS each
Looking Ahead
Sectionals did what sectionals do. They sorted the brackets, rewarded guys who peaked at the right time, and sent some favorites home early.
Keep an eye on 135lb. That bracket is anyone's guess behind Abrantes. Watch the Wilder brothers try to make family history. And don't sleep on the guys who came out of nowhere this weekend. Asaturgan, Alton, Lankford, Pelayo. They've got nothing to lose and everything to prove.
Check out the updated IESA Class AA rankings to see how every bracket shook out after sectionals.
See you at state.
Don't miss the IESA A Sectional Recap.