If you've been following along with our sectional recaps, you've watched a pattern develop. In 3A, seniors ran the show. In 2A, the underclassmen started taking over. So what happens when we get to 1A, the smaller schools in the state?
The trend keeps going. And then some.
1A is the youngest class by a wide margin. It's got the most undefeated wrestlers of any class. And one school managed to qualify a wrestler at every single weight class. Every. Single. One.
Let's get into it.
Who's Sending the Most to State?
Coal City. That's the headline. Fourteen qualifiers, which means they're sending someone to state at all 14 weight classes. A complete roster, top to bottom, all moving on. That's rare at any level.
Vandalia follows with 10, Gibson City with 9, and then Yorkville Christian and Chicago Hope Academy are tied at 8.
What's interesting here compared to the bigger classes is how one program can just dominate the qualifier count. In 3A, the top schools were separated by a wrestler or two. In 2A, Providence Catholic and IC Catholic pulled ahead of the pack. But Coal City at 14 qualifiers in 1A? That's a program operating at a different level than everyone else in terms of pure depth.
The Youngest Class, and It's Not Even Close
Here's where the three-class comparison really tells a story.
The numbers by grade:
- Seniors — 90 qualifiers (40%)
- Juniors — 57 qualifiers (25%)
- Sophomores — 54 qualifiers (24%)
- Freshmen — 23 qualifiers (10%)
Read those middle two numbers again. Sophomores nearly matched juniors. Fifty-four to fifty-seven. That almost never happens.
When you combine freshmen and sophomores, they account for 34% of all 1A qualifiers. In 2A, that number was 32%. In 3A? Just 19%.
So across the three classes, there's this clear escalator. The smaller the school, the younger the wrestlers making noise. And it makes sense when you think about it. Smaller programs can't afford to redshirt kids or ease them in slowly. If you're good enough, you're wrestling varsity. Doesn't matter if you're 14. The lineup needs you now.
That creates a different kind of wrestler. These kids are getting thrown into the fire early, racking up varsity matches as freshmen and sophomores, and building experience that's going to compound over the next few years.
Sectional Champs: The Underclassmen Keep Climbing
The sectional title breakdown:
- Seniors — 28 sectional champs
- Juniors — 15 sectional champs
- Sophomores — 8 sectional champs
- Freshmen — 5 sectional champs
That's 13 out of 56 sectional champs (23%) who are freshmen or sophomores. For context, 2A was at 29% and 3A was at 12.5%. So 1A actually lands in the middle here, which surprised me a little. I expected it to be the highest given how young the qualifier pool is.
But here's what I think is happening. 2A has a few programs (looking at you, Providence Catholic) that are just stockpiling elite underclassmen in a way that inflates the champ numbers. In 1A, the youth is more evenly spread across programs. Lots of young qualifiers, but the titles are a bit more distributed across the age groups.
Either way, 13 underclassman sectional champs is still a huge number. For comparison, 3A only had 7.
Five Freshman Champs (Including One Who Hasn't Lost)
1A matched 2A with five freshman sectional champs, and this group is stacked.
- Isaac Showalter — 106 pounds (40-0), Farmington — Undefeated. As a freshman. We'll come back to him in the undefeated section because he deserves his own moment, but just know that this kid hasn't lost a match all year.
- Eli Modglin — 126 pounds (43-3), Morrison — Forty-three wins as a freshman. Three losses. That's the kind of season most seniors would be thrilled with.
- Obadiah Willis — 126 pounds (40-3), Chicago Hope Academy — Same weight class, same elite production. Two freshmen at 126 both winning sectional titles at different sites tells you there's going to be a really fun bracket at state.
- Max Christensen — 144 pounds (42-5), Coal City — Another piece of that Coal City machine. Winning a sectional at 144 as a freshman means you're physically hanging with guys two and three years older. That's not just skill, that's toughness.
- Ian Rotramel — 113 pounds (34-13), Gibson City — Similar to Cole Lemberg's story in 2A, Rotramel's record has more losses than the other freshmen champs. But 13 losses as a freshman often means you wrestled a brutal schedule and kept showing up. He peaked when it mattered most, and now he's heading to state with a sectional title.
Eight Sophomore Sectional Champs
We made a big deal about Providence Catholic's five sophomore champs in 2A, and rightfully so. In 1A, the sophomore titles are more spread out across different programs, which paints a picture of deep young talent across the entire class.
- Devin Ehler — 138 pounds (42-1), Oakwood — One loss. Forty-two wins. As a sophomore. That's the kind of record that makes you check the stats twice.
- Landen Lage — 138 pounds (41-2), Gibson City — Same weight class, nearly identical record. The 138-pound bracket at state is going to be a war.
- Barret Speck — 132 pounds (41-3), Illini Bluffs
- Jake Munsterman — 106 pounds (43-3), Coal City — Adding to their ridiculous depth.
- Landon Near — 113 pounds (40-3), Newman Central Catholic
- Charlie Connors — 144 pounds (40-4), Dixon
- Cam Whitehead — 106 pounds (34-4), Winnebago
- Colton Drinkwine — 113 pounds (33-4), Reed-Custer
Count the win totals in that group. Nearly every one of them has 40 or more wins. At the 1A level, these kids are wrestling everything that moves. Duals, tournaments, invitationals. They're getting the reps, and it shows.
Six Undefeated Wrestlers (More Than Any Other Class)
This is where 1A really separates itself. Three undefeated sectional champs in 3A. Three in 2A. Six in 1A.
And four of them came out of the same sectional. The Stanford sectional was absolutely loaded with unbeaten wrestlers, which is kind of wild when you think about it. Four guys in one building, all with perfect records, all trying to keep it that way.
- Garrett VerHeecke — 144 pounds (45-0), Decatur Unity Christian — The older VerHeecke brother. Forty-five matches, zero losses. Him and his brother Clinton are the headliners of this group, and we'll get to why in a second.
- Clinton VerHeecke — 150 pounds (42-0), Decatur Unity Christian — Back-to-back weight classes with his brother, and a combined record of 87-0. That's the kind of thing that sounds made up, but here we are. Imagine being on the other side of the bracket and seeing the name VerHeecke twice in the program.
- Isaac Showalter — 106 pounds (40-0), Farmington — I mentioned him earlier but he deserves the spotlight again. An undefeated freshman sectional champ is rare in any class. The state tournament is going to be his biggest test by far, but nothing's slowed him down yet.
- Dyllan Steele — (28-0), Canton — Fewer total matches than some of the others, but zeros in the loss column are zeros in the loss column.
- Connor Knop — (29-0), West Carroll — Same story. He's done his job every single time out.
- Preston Waughtel — (25-0), Vandalia — Rounds out the group. Twenty-five matches, twenty-five wins.
Six undefeated wrestlers heading to state. That's going to make for some incredible bracket drama. Will any of them cross paths? Can they all survive the gauntlet? The state tournament has a way of finding that one match where everything gets tested.
The Big Picture Across All Three Classes
Now that we've recapped all three classes, the trend is clear. As you move from 3A down to 1A, the rosters get younger, the underclassmen win more titles, and the depth of unbeaten wrestlers grows. 3A is the seasoned, senior-heavy class where experience wins out. 2A is the transition zone where youth is surging, led by programs like Providence Catholic. And 1A is where freshmen and sophomores aren't just participating, they're thriving.
The reason is pretty straightforward. Smaller schools need their best wrestlers on the mat regardless of age. And when those kids get thrown into the deep end early, they develop faster. They lose some matches they might not lose in 3A (where they'd be sitting JV), but they also gain experience you can't replicate any other way.
Looking Ahead
The 1A state tournament is going to be pure chaos in the best way. Coal City's complete roster against everyone. The VerHeecke brothers trying to go undefeated together. Isaac Showalter's quest to finish a perfect freshman season. Eight sophomore champs who are just getting started.
If you're only watching one class at state this year and you want drama, unpredictability, and a glimpse at the future of Illinois wrestling... 1A might be your best bet.
It's going to be a great weekend.