If you read our 3A sectional recap, you saw a tournament dominated by upperclassmen. Seniors running the show, a handful of underclassmen breaking through, and a couple of freshmen turning heads at Joliet Catholic.
The 2A sectional? Different vibe entirely.
This class skews younger. Way younger. And one program in particular is loading up with underclassmen in a way that should make every 2A coach in the state a little uncomfortable. But we'll get to that.
Who's Sending the Most to State?
Providence Catholic came out of sectionals looking like a freight train, qualifying 13 wrestlers for state. Thirteen. IC Catholic was right on their heels with 12. After that, there's a noticeable drop. Deerfield and Civic Memorial each qualified 7, and then you've got a cluster of 6 schools all tied at 6 qualifiers.
What jumps out here compared to 3A is how top-heavy it is. In 3A, the top programs were bunched together (Joliet Catholic and Marmion at 10, Montini and St. Charles East at 9, OPRF at 8). In 2A, Providence Catholic and IC Catholic have separated themselves from the field pretty clearly. That gap between 12-13 qualifiers and the next group at 7 is significant.
The Youth Movement Is Real
OK, here's where things get really interesting. And honestly, this is the biggest story coming out of 2A sectionals.
The numbers by grade:
- Seniors — 88 qualifiers (39%)
- Juniors — 75 qualifiers (33%)
- Sophomores — 42 qualifiers (19%)
- Freshmen — 19 qualifiers (8.5%)
On the surface, seniors still lead. But look closer.
Freshmen make up 8.5% of 2A qualifiers. In 3A, that number was just 5%. Sophomores jumped to 19% from 13%. That might not sound dramatic, but when you're talking about a tournament this competitive, every percentage point represents kids who are wrestling above their experience level and winning.
The 2A class is just younger. Period. And that youth isn't just showing up in the qualifier numbers.
Sectional Champs: The Underclassmen Are Taking Over
This is where the comparison to 3A gets wild.
Of the 56 sectional champs in 2A:
- Seniors — 24 sectional champs
- Juniors — 16 sectional champs
- Sophomores — 11 sectional champs
- Freshmen — 5 sectional champs
Do the math on that underclassman number: 16 out of 56 sectional champs (29%) are freshmen or sophomores.
In 3A? That number was 7 out of 56. Just 12.5%.
So nearly a third of 2A sectional titles went to underclassmen. That's not a fluke. That's a trend. The 2A class has younger talent rising faster, and it's reshaping who's competing for hardware at state.
Five Freshmen Champs (And One You Need to Google)
We talked about Joliet Catholic's two freshmen sectional champs in 3A like it was a big deal. It was. But 2A said hold my mouthguard and produced five.
- Dominic DeMarco — 106 pounds (31-2), Grayslake Central — Only two losses all season as a freshman. That's absurd.
- Cole Lemberg — 106 pounds (23-17), Providence Catholic — Now this one's fascinating. A 23-17 record doesn't scream sectional champ on paper, but records can be deceiving. This kid wrestled a tough schedule, clearly learned from those losses, and peaked at exactly the right time.
- Ameer Khalil — 175 pounds (36-13), Providence Catholic — A freshman winning a sectional at 175? That's a big kid wrestling against guys who are physically mature. Impressive.
- Liam Schroeder — 113 pounds (43-1), Sycamore — One loss. Forty-three wins. As a freshman. I don't really need to say anything else about that.
- Brendan Nardin — 150 pounds, Woodstock Marian — We're going to come back to him in a minute because his story is its own thing entirely.
The Sophomore Class Is Loaded (And Providence Catholic Owns It)
Eleven sophomores won sectional titles. That's already more than double the 5 we saw in 3A. But the real headline here isn't the number. It's where they're coming from.
Five of those 11 sophomore sectional champs wrestle for Providence Catholic. Five. From one school.
- Christian Corcoran — 113 pounds (32-9), Providence Catholic
- Nate Ortiz — 120 pounds (24-6), Providence Catholic
- Max Mandac — 126 pounds (34-14), Providence Catholic
- Justus Heeg — 157 pounds (46-1), Providence Catholic
- Jasper Harper — 165 pounds (31-11), Providence Catholic
That's five consecutive or near-consecutive weight classes with sophomore sectional champs. That's not just a good recruiting class. That's a program that's going to be terrifying for the next two years.
(Oh, and remember that Providence also had freshman sectional champs in Lemberg and Khalil. So that's 7 underclassman sectional titles from one program. Seven.)
The rest of the sophomore champs were spread across different schools, which honestly makes them even more impressive. They're not part of some powerhouse pipeline. They're doing it on their own.
- Treyden Diduch — 106 pounds (39-2), Freeport
- Aiden Arnett — 150 pounds (37-10), IC Catholic
- Kai Enos — 120 pounds (31-7), Batavia
- Cooper Clarke — 106 pounds (37-4), Chatham Glenwood
- Knox Verbais — 150 pounds (43-6), Civic Memorial
- Marco Casillas — 190 pounds (45-3), Mahomet-Seymour
Casillas at 45-3 as a sophomore at 190 pounds? And Heeg at 46-1? Those win totals tell you these kids are wrestling every chance they get. That volume of matches as a sophomore builds the kind of experience that pays dividends come junior and senior year.
Still Perfect: The Undefeated Trio
Three wrestlers made it through sectionals with perfect records, and they couldn't be more different from each other.
- Wyatt Medlin — 39-0, Washington — Senior. This is the guy who's done everything right for four years and is heading to state with a spotless record. You love to see it.
- Brock Ross — 39-0, Mascoutah — Also a senior. Same story, different school. Two guys on parallel paths who've both managed to avoid that one bad match all season. The state tournament is going to test that in a big way.
- Brendan Nardin — 10-0, Woodstock Marian — A freshman. And a sectional champion.
Ten matches. That's it. We don't know what his ceiling is because we've barely seen him wrestle. But what we do know is that in every match he's had, he's won. And one of those wins was a sectional title at 150 pounds. The small sample size makes him one of the most intriguing wrestlers heading to state. Is he a legit contender who just had a late start to the season? Is the competition going to catch up to him when the brackets get deeper? We honestly don't know. And that's what makes him fun to watch.
The Providence Catholic Problem (For Everyone Else)
I keep coming back to this because I can't help it. Providence Catholic qualified 13 wrestlers for state. They had 2 freshman and 5 sophomore sectional champs. That's 7 underclassman titles. And they're not even done growing yet.
We talked about Joliet Catholic's future being bright in our 3A recap because of their two freshmen sectional champs. Providence Catholic looked at that and basically said "that's cute."
If you're a 2A program trying to plan for the next two to three years, Providence Catholic is the team you're building your game plan around. The depth, the youth, the sheer number of kids who are winning titles before they can drive. It's a lot.
Looking Ahead
The state tournament in 2A is going to feel different than 3A. More chaos. More upsets. More young guys who don't know they're supposed to be nervous yet. When nearly a third of your sectional champs are underclassmen, the brackets get unpredictable in the best possible way.
Keep your eyes on Providence Catholic's army of sophomores, on Liam Schroeder's quest to stay near-perfect, and on Brendan Nardin to see if 10-0 becomes 13-0 or 14-0 by the time the weekend's over.
This 2A class has something special brewing. And it's only getting started.