Day 1 of the IESA AA state tournament is done and the semifinal matchups are set. We saw Cinderella runs, bracket-busting upsets, dominant performances from the guys we expected, and a few we absolutely didn't. Let's get into it.
The Day 1 Headlines
145lb went off the rails. Every top-5 ranked wrestler except #1 Abayomi Alase was eliminated from the championship bracket. Total carnage.
Josiah Barrera pinned his way to the 275lb semis in 48 total seconds. Two matches. Two pins. Nobody saw it coming.
Finn Kitchen pulled off the biggest upset of the day. A 47-second pin over #2 Chase Cabrera at 215lb.
167lb is the only bracket where the #1 seed got knocked out. Owen McGee fell to Lincoln Calvo, and unranked Parrish Thompson pinned his way into the semis.
The rankings held where it mattered most. Twelve of thirteen #1 ranked wrestlers survived Day 1. Ten of thirteen #2s did the same. The upsets were real, but the top of the rankings did exactly what they were supposed to do.
Four underdogs are two wins from a state title. Parrish Thompson (167lb) wasn't ranked at all. Max Shenberg (135lb), Milton De La Rosa (155lb), and Elias Garcia (215lb) were all honorable mentions. None of them were supposed to be here. All four are in the semifinals.
95lb
The bracket draw was brutal for the bottom half. Our #1, #3, #4, and #5 seeds all landed there, meaning early quarterfinal bloodbaths. That opened the top half wide up, and #9 Gabe Arzer (Grayslake) took full advantage, putting together two solid wins to reach the semis. Our top two ranked wrestlers, #1 Alimamatov and #2 Khalaqi, have both looked strong and are still in the hunt.
Semifinals:
- #2 Samir Khalaqi (Rock Island Washington) vs. #9 Gabe Arzer (Grayslake)
- #1 Aiman Alimamatov (Vernon Hills Hawthorn North) vs. #4 Drake Zimmerman (Woodstock Northwood)
100lb
Daniel Guerrero had a rough sectional. Lost a heartbreaker 9-8 in the quarters and barely grabbed 4th to qualify. But today he pulled a big Round 1 upset and came within seconds of the semifinals. Jake Allison (Homer Glen Homer) needed 8 points in the final 50 seconds of the 3rd period to force sudden victory, where he scored the first takedown to advance. Wild finish. Guerrero wrestled well though — no shame in that run. Our #1 Budzyk and #2 Osborn will face off in the semis tomorrow. That's the matchup everyone wanted.
Semifinals:
- #4 Max Schmidt (Lake Zurich South) vs. #7 Jake Allison (Homer Glen Homer)
- #1 Dominik Budzyk (Bolingbrook Humphrey) vs. #2 Kenryk Osborn (Geneseo MS)
105lb
A couple minor first-round upsets, including a win by Grayson Haas (Mascoutah), but ultimately the top 4 seeds all advanced. The chalk held. This is one of only three brackets where the semifinal matchups are exactly how you'd draw them up: #1 vs #3, #2 vs #4. Maddux Kennedy had to grind past Kiptyn Rassi in a tight 4-3 decision in Round 1, then looked noticeably sharper in his quarterfinal against Da'Marion Wilder.
Semifinals:
- #1 Matthew Owens (Long Grove Woodlawn) vs. #3 Johnny Paun (Homer Glen Homer)
- #2 Micah Schield (Mt. Zion) vs. #4 Maddux Kennedy (Geneseo MS)
112lb
Another perfect bracket. Our top 4 ranked wrestlers all survived Day 1, but some of them had to earn it. DeShaun Wilder and Leo Frometa put on an absolute show in Round 1, a wild 17-14 decision. Frometa came in as a 4-seed, but he's a much better wrestler than that seeding suggests, which made for an incredibly tough first-round draw for Wilder. Meanwhile, Thatcher Christ and Parker Weller both came in as 2 and 3 seeds but we knew they were stronger than those numbers indicated. They've now both beaten their respective 1-seeds in the bracket. Told you this weight would be wild at state.
Semifinals:
- #1 Benjamin Fobert (Moline John Deere) vs. #4 Thatcher Christ (Woodridge Jefferson)
- #2 DeShaun Wilder (Joliet Gompers) vs. #3 Parker Weller (DeKalb Huntley)
119lb
Jayvani Rodriguez (Bloomington JHS) came in ranked #9. He's now in the semifinals. First he pinned #6 Andy Suh. Then he beat #4 Carson Russell 10-9, scoring an escape point with just 6 seconds remaining. That's the kind of moment that defines a tournament run.
Rodriguez qualified for state at 112lb last year, so maybe that experience is fueling him. His reward? A semifinal against #1 Lucas Macdonald, who has dominated every match so far the same way he did at regionals and sectionals. But Jayvani just proved twice that he's not afraid of higher ranked opponents. Maybe that confidence and experience are enough to test Macdonald.
On the other side, #2 Dante Bruno looked really sharp, rolling past #3 Ben Bertelsman 12-0 in the quarterfinals. That's a statement win considering the respect Bertelsman earned at sectionals.
Semifinals:
- #2 Dante Bruno (Grayslake) vs. #5 Drake Davis (Chatham Glenwood)
- #1 Lucas Macdonald (Lake in the Hills Marlowe) vs. #9 Jayvani Rodriguez (Bloomington JHS)
126lb
A week ago, we bumped JaDale Anderson (Rock Island Edison) from unranked to #7. These Rock Island wrestlers have a tendency to overperform on the big stage, and Anderson is proving us right. His latest win was an 8-7 decision where he was down 7-4 heading into the 3rd period and had to rally. That's the slimmest of margins, but he's in the semis and the guys who were ranked ahead of him aren't. Sometimes surviving is its own kind of dominance.
The quarterfinals also featured a tough #2 vs #4 matchup between Kyrie Brown and Deandre Wilder. The score said 15-7 major decision for Brown, but the match was much closer than that. Richardson (#1) and Watkins (#3) have both been dominant, and now they collide in the semis.
Semifinals:
- #2 Kyrie Brown (Collinsville) vs. #7 JaDale Anderson (Rock Island Edison)
- #1 Kardiais Richardson (Frankfort Hickory Creek) vs. #3 Rayshaad Watkins (DeKalb Huntley)
135lb
One notable absence: Ian Alton, who had that electric unranked-to-sectional-champion run, wasn't in the tournament. We're not sure why, but that bracket lost a legitimate contender before the first whistle even blew.
Max Shenberg is an anomaly. We know he's good. He made state at this exact weight last year and has another year of experience under his belt. But he lost two matches at sectionals and his ranking tumbled from #7 to honorable mention. We didn't want to drop him that far because we know what he's capable of, but those losses really hurt.
Now? The two wrestlers who beat him at sectionals are fighting through consolation rounds. Shenberg's in the semifinals. Tomorrow he faces Andrew Lyons, the guy who beat him at regionals and won their sectional. These two know each other well. It's a grudge match with a trip to the finals on the line.
CJ Abrantes and Andrew Lyons have been putting up points at will all tournament, and nobody has really slowed either of them down yet. Tomorrow, that run will stop for one of them. We aren't sure who.
Semifinals:
- #2 Andrew Lyons (Shorewood Troy) vs. HM Max Shenberg (Morris GS)
- #1 CJ Abrantes (Lake Zurich South) vs. #3 Trenton Summer (Collinsville)
145lb
If one bracket defined Day 1, it was 145lb. Our projections? Toss them. Lance Dekker, an unranked wrestler, opened the chaos with a major upset over #3 Ashton Bengala in Round 1. That set the tone. Then in the quarterfinals, #8 Robert Hubka (Ingleside Big Hollow) knocked off #2 Noah Wasielewski in sudden victory. By the time the dust settled, every top-5 ranked wrestler except #1 Abayomi Alase was eliminated from the championship bracket.
Alase has looked every bit the part. If you've seen him wrestle, you know — he is strong. Hard to score on, great defense, and he can pin almost anybody. But he doesn't need to put up flashy point totals. He just wins. Our #6, #7, and #8 wrestlers are going to need a real game plan if they want to change that Saturday.
Semifinals:
- #7 Kade Hensley (Mattoon) vs. #8 Robert Hubka (Ingleside Big Hollow)
- #1 Abayomi Alase (Bloomington Evans) vs. #6 Henry Coburn (Downers Grove Herrick)
155lb
De La Rosa (Morris GS) came in as an honorable mention 4-seed. He's now one of two non-ranked wrestlers in the AA semifinals, and he's earned every bit of it. A major upset over #4 Cole Thomas in Round 1, followed by a strong quarterfinal pin. The problem? His semifinal opponent is #1 Joe Ponterio, the guy who was maybe one sudden-victory takedown away from winning the whole thing last year. Ponterio has been dominant. But De La Rosa clearly doesn't care about rankings.
Abbed and Cushman have both been tested but keep finding ways to advance. Both semis should be great matches.
Semifinals:
- #1 Joseph Ponterio (Homer Glen Homer) vs. HM Milton De La Rosa (Morris GS)
- #2 Yaseen Abbed (Normal Chiddix) vs. #3 Caleb Cushman (Barrington Station)
167lb
167lb gave us the only bracket in AA where the #1 ranked wrestler got knocked out. Owen McGee fell to #4 Lincoln Calvo by a 13-8 major decision in the quarterfinals. That was a surprise. But the real story is Parrish Thompson (Moline Wilson).
Thompson is unranked. He pinned #8 Chase Junge in Round 1. Then he faced #3 Kane Warren, who had built a comfortable 7-0 lead heading into the 3rd period. Warren chose bottom. Thompson pinned him. Just like that, a guy that wasn't on our radar is in the semifinals.
He now faces Marshall Gray, who has been an absolute scoring machine with eight straight dominant tech falls dating back to the start of the state series. That's a buzz saw. But Thompson's already beaten two guys he wasn't supposed to. Does his incredible run include a third?
Semifinals:
- #4 Lincoln Calvo (Grayslake) vs. #7 Eric Roberson (Woodridge Jefferson)
- #2 Marshall Gray (Lake Zurich North) vs. NR Parrish Thompson (Moline Wilson)
185lb
The third and final perfect bracket. The top 4 ranked wrestlers are all still alive, and this is the dream scenario. Of the four, only Thomas Scheuer faced a close matchup, an 8-3 win over Kayden Cannon-Johnson. Everyone else was dominant. A couple days ago, Isaiah Rubo commented on our Instagram reel saying he should be #1. He's two matches away from making that a reality. But there are three other guys with the exact same idea. Let the best man win.
Semifinals:
- #1 Thomas Scheuer (Chatham Glenwood) vs. #4 Davon Henderson (Rock Island Washington)
- #2 Isaiah Rubo (Antioch) vs. #3 Ben Illingworth (Glen Ellyn Hadley)
215lb
This might be the single biggest upset of Day 1. Finn Kitchen (Crystal Lake Bernotas) has made our life as rankers miserable the last month. We had him ranked high after regionals, then he had a rough sectional and barely qualified as a 4-seed. His reward? A Round 1 matchup with #2 Chase Cabrera, who looked unbeatable coming in.
Kitchen pinned him in 47 seconds.
Just like that, one of the favorites at 215 was done in the championship side of the bracket. Kitchen couldn't keep the magic going. Elias Garcia got him in the quarterfinals. But that Round 1 pin will be remembered. 15 of 16 matches at 215lb have ended in pins so far. We're not sure how this bracket ends, but we're pretty sure it ends in a pin.
Michalski faces his toughest test of the state series in Martinez. And the bottom half is wide open with McNeal vs Garcia, a semifinal nobody predicted.
Semifinals:
- #1 Max Michalski (McHenry MS) vs. #3 Frankie Martinez (Woodridge Jefferson)
- #6 Amarion McNeal (Rock Island Edison) vs. HM Elias Garcia (Barrington Station)
275lb
Josiah Barrera (Kankakee JHS) came in as a 3-seed ranked #9. He had a rough sectional. Nobody was circling his name.
Then he pinned #8 Chanse Briggs in 35 seconds. Then he pinned #3 Rylee Dillin in 13 seconds. That's 48 total seconds of mat time to reach the semifinals. Dillin, by the way, had just barely survived Round 1, needing sudden victory overtime to get past unranked Sam Adeleke. He went from nearly being upset to getting pinned before most people found their seats. Momentum swings both ways, and Barrera is riding the biggest wave in the building right now.
Remember Willey? He was ranked #2 heading into sectionals, then lost to unranked Ayden Pelayo in one of the biggest upsets of the weekend. That loss dropped him to #7 and stuck him with a tough seed. A lot of guys would crumble after something like that.
Willey didn't. He's bounced back at state and just edged out our current #2 Damari Ferguson 5-4, needing a score in the 3rd period to pull it off. That's the kind of mental toughness you can't teach. He gets #1 Tristan Morgan in the semis, and after what he just did to Ferguson, nobody's counting him out.
Semifinals:
- #4 Shael Laasiri (Bolingbrook Jane Addams) vs. #9 Josiah Barrera (Kankakee JHS)
- #1 Tristan Morgan (Shorewood Troy) vs. #7 Clinton Willey (Washington Beverly Manor)
Looking Ahead
Day 1 gave us everything we wanted. Upsets that made no sense on paper but made perfect sense on the mat. Favorites who proved why they were favorites. And a handful of guys nobody saw coming who now have a legitimate shot at the podium's top step.
Keep an eye on 145lb. Alase looks like a man on a mission, but that bracket has already proven it doesn't care about rankings. Watch Barrera at 275. Can the momentum carry him two more matches? And don't sleep on the three perfect brackets at 105, 112, and 185. All three set up exactly how you'd draw them if you could pick the four best wrestlers at each weight. The 185lb semis might be the best of the bunch. Four top-4 guys, two matches, and a whole lot of pride on the line.
And root for the underdogs. Thompson, Shenberg, De La Rosa, and Garcia weren't supposed to be here. They are. Two more wins and one of them is a state champion.
See you for Day 2.
Don't miss the IESA A State Day 1 Recap.