Shannon Heaton breaks down the Rock Island Sectional wrestling meet
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By Shannon Heaton | Friday, February 08, 2008 |
OK. The breakdown of the Rock Island Sectional. Before I begin, though, let me just say that it’s no fun battling the elements, three sick young kids and an oldest just trying to get his car out of the yard, while trying to blog at the same time.
OK. Again. Wrestling starts at 6 p.m. Friday night with first-round and quarterfinal matches wrestled. Only those first-round wrestlers who lose there and have their first-round opponent lose in the quarterfinals, will be eliminated Friday night. Everyone else survives into Saturday’s round, which starts at 10 a.m. with the semifinals. As wrestlebacks begin to take shape upon the conclusion of each weight class, wrestleback matches will begin. Only those wrestlers who lose to a finalist will be allowed to wrestle back. The final session is set for 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon, and will include championship and third-place matches.
103 pounds
1. Austin Waliullah (Hononegah). 2. Sergio Figueroa (Harvard). 3. Tyler Larson (DeKalb). 4. Billy Christensen (United Township).
Waliullah is 10th, Figueroa 11th and Larson, Christensen and Mike Heuer (Richmond-Burton) are all honorable mentions on the state rankings. Waliullah beat Figueroa 3-2 at the Harvard Regional last Saturday, so that win should have more weight than most.
Local outlook: Don’t be surprised if Christensen knocks off Larson for third. There’s a lot to be said for being able to sleep in the same bed and have (mostly) the same routine at a tournament of this magnitude. Christensen has had big matches in Rock Island Fieldhouse before, and being familiar with the surroundings will be a help. Moline’s Derek Archer is in for a learning experience Friday. He faces Figueroa in the first round, and that might help him get a wrestleback on Saturday, but his first match would be DeKalb’s Larson. Two 30-plus match winners equals a tough weekend for Archer.
112
1. Jed Lightfoot (Yorkville). 2. Francisco Castenada (Rock Island). 3. Blaise Butler (Rockford Boylan). 4. Blake Tirevold (Sandwich).
Lightfoot is the only ranked wrestler in the sectional (12th), and he’s got a lot of big-match experience this year to help him get through this weekend. Castenada, Butler, Tirevold, Shane Burke (Burlington Central) and Sean Szatkowski (Kaneland) are all honorable mentions. The bottom half of the bracket is much deeper than the top one, but the two best guys (Lightfoot and, in my view based on the evidence, Butler) are in the top one.
Local outlook: Castenada is likely to face Szatkowski in the quarters, and it’s a familiar opponent. Castenada beat him at the UT triple duals in late November. The most likely semifinal opponent should be Tirevold, who beat Burke (his possible quarterfinal opponent) 16-2 during the year. Tirevold will be a tough opponent. Alleman’s Josh Lopez has a winnable match in the first round against Huntley’s Coty Claudio, but then Butler waits in the quarterfinals, and Butler proved that he’s a load. Should Butler overpower Lightfoot in the semis, that would get Lopez a wrestleback. Sterling’s Marquell Addison is in a similar position: winnable first-round match, nightmare quarterfinal, potential wrestleback.
119
1. Adam Sheley (Geneseo). 2. Joe Roth (Dixon). 3. Jeff Stralka (Kaneland). 4. Jeff Kukla (Richmond-Burton).
Sheley is fourth in the weight class, Roth is ninth, Stralka 11th, and Harvard’s Dillon Cowan, Sterling’s Jordan Cater and Harlem’s Evan Vandiver are honorable mentions.
Local outlook: If Sheley could have designed a draw better able to prepare him for state with these other 11 individuals, it’s hard to find it. He gets Stralka in his first match of the night Friday night. Stralka was unbeaten going into regionals, where he lost to Roth. Then he gets a quality competitor in (likely) Cowan in the semis, and then a battle with his NCIC friend and rival, Roth, in the finals. Moline’s Alex Vermuelen has a potential tossup with Vandiver in the first round, with Roth (and, in the bottom half of the bracket, a wrestleback) waiting in the quarters. Cater has an uphill battle, facing Kukla in the first round and Roth in the wrong quarter. Unless Kukla somehow were to make it to the final, which is a very long shot at best.
125
1. Sepehr Kalhor (Rock Island). 2. Tyler Butler (Rockford Boylan). 3. Jake Fredricksen (Woodstock). 4. Ryan Osborne (Ottawa).
Fredricksen is ranked ninth and Kalhor is 12th in the bracket; with something that close, go with the home-towner. There are a few honorable mentions, too: Butler, Osborne, Brad Gapinski (LaSalle-Peru) and Jesse Colon (Moline).
Local outlook: Kalhor is likely to meet Gapinski in the quarters, and I think it’s a match he should be able to win. It’s the semifinal with Fredricksen, that is much more iffy. But I don’t think he’ll have any trouble getting to the third-place match, even should he lose to Fredricksen on Saturday morning. Whom he’d face for third (or even first) is way more up in the air. Butler, Osborne and Colon all are people who should be in the mix. How strong Colon will be may be the X factor in the bottom half. He was strong enough to major Brandon Sotelo of Sterling last week but still was kind of ginger in his movement. A week should help, but whether it’s enough to beat Osborne or Butler, or potentially Kalhor or Fredricksen with state on the line, is unclear for now.
130
1. Kyle Logsdon (Rockford East). 2. Britt McMahon (Hononegah). 3. Derek Jones (Yorkville). 4. Marco Navarro (Rochelle).
Logsdon is the only ranked wrestler in the sectional (eighth). On the honorable mention list are Jones and McMahon. I think the two best in the weight are on the same side (Logsdon and Jones). The top half does have a few possibilities beyond McMahon and Navarro.
Local outlook. Alleman’s Kevin Wetherell is one of those possibilities. He’ll face Navarro in the quarters Friday night, and if he survives that match, he’ll have someone with a comparable record and schedule, to some degree. McMahon does have an experience edge, though. Sterling’s Chris Cutter would face Logsdon in the quarters, if he won in the first round, and that would net him a wrestleback, but then he’d have to go through Jones, which is the problem that Rock Falls’ Jonas Romero faces in the quarters.
135
1. Nate Messenger (Yorkville). 2. Joey Moorhouse (Marengo). 3. Sean Akins (Sycamore). 4. Austin Hanabarger (Sterling).
As wild a weight class as it can get. There are eight guys with very real chances to win this sectional title. Only two of those eight (Messenger and Reed) are even honorable mentions in the rankings. So, whoever does win it, one thing is for certain: the winner has spent most of the year flying under the radar.
Local outlook: Moline’s Harrison Strafford will face Akins in the first round. It’s a very tough match. Strafford didn’t face Akins when Moline wrestled Sycamore at the UT triple duals, as Strafford was all the way up at 152. So, we’ll have to see. Anything is going to be possible in this bracket. Geneseo’s Micah Morrill also has a tough first-rounder, taking on Belvidere’s Gerrod McIntosh there. A win there would set up Morrill against Messenger. Hanabarger will face either Harvard’s Giovanni Bianchi or Ottawa’s Reed, which might be a familiar opponent. Moorhouse is the ultimate wild-card in this sectional, as a regional champ with a 12-2 record.
140
1. Reese Taylor (Rock Island). 2. Rob Fenicle (Hononegah). 3. Kyle Lowman (Ottawa). 4. Dwight Wyeth (Yorkville).
No question, the bottom half of the bracket is the stronger one. Taylor is ranked sixth in the weight class, and Fenicle is seventh. On the honorable mention list are Lowman, Wyeth and David Stott (Harvard).
Local outlook: Taylor should be able to win this bracket. He’ll have a solid quarterfinalist in Stott on Friday night to open the tournament. Lowman on Saturday morning will be there in the semis, and Fenicle in the final. He’ll face the top three guys in the bracket besides himself, and he should be able to beat them all. Sterling’s Clinton Younger has Wyeth in the first round, who is much better than his 19-19 record. But he’s got to win in order to meet Fenicle and have the best shot at a wrestleback.
145
1. Curt Mastio (Burlington Central). 2. Anthony Miers (Hononegah). 3. Mike LaVallee (Yorkville). 4. Austin Guyton (Moline).
Though he’s unbeaten, Mastio is only 12th statewide, which says something about Burlington Central’s schedule. He might even have trouble with a Quentin Smith or a LaVallee. Miers and LaVallee are both honorable mentions.
Local outlook: Moline’s Guyton is likely to face Colin Brinkmeier of Dixon in the quarterfinals, a wrestler he hasn’t seen yet (he wrestled at 152 when Moline wrestled Dixon in early December). I don’t know if he has the ability to beat Miers in the semis, but he could get some revenge in the consolations if he sees Kaneland’s Jay Levita. Levita injured Guyton at the UT triple duals in late November, in a match that Guyton was winning. Smith has a tossup with Harvard’s Shane Haak in the first round, with the winner to face Mastio in the quarters. That should get him into Saturday. Same goes for Rocky’s Donotello Crisp, who faces Woodstock’s Shawn Hovlid in the first round, with LaVallee in the quarters. Crisp did not face LaVallee at the UT triple duals (he took on Wyeth instead).
152
1. Nick Finkenbinder (Belvidere). 2. Shawn Corwin (Yorkville). 3. Joby Bodi (Richmond-Burton). 4. Koty Schwarz (Rock Falls).
No ranked wrestlers in another wide-open weight class. Finkenbinder, Corwin, Bodi and Josh Anthony (Harlem) are all honorable mention selections. Finkenbinder and Corwin, I think, are slightly ahead, physically, of the rest of the bracket here.
Local outlook: UT’s Anthony Angel has something of a tossup match against Dan Olsen of Jacobs, with the winner to face Corwin in the quarters. That might get the first-round winner a wrestleback on Saturday. Schwarz might have some interesting battles. He has a real shot at going for third place, though I don’t know if he can beat Finkenbinder in the semis. Schwarz probably will face L-P’s Adam Marlett in the quarters and could face Anthony of Harlem in the consolation round. In a wide-open group, though, he’s got a shot at qualifying for state.
160
1. Bryce Givens (Hononegah). 2. Jimmy Cradic (Harvard). 3. Jimmy Fowler (Sandwich). 4. Bryce Lumzy (Dixon).
Givens is the only ranked wrestler in the weight class (fourth). Honorable mentions in the field are Fowler, Cradic, Lumzy and Taylor Schuck (Burlington Central). Fowler and Givens are on the same side, and they might be the best in the sectional. That might make for two regional-final matchups in the championship and third-place matches.
Local outlook: Moline’s Eric Carlson has a winnable first-round match and then gets a good draw, facing Givens in the quarters. That should allow him to get a Saturday wrestleback, which might not be the case for Geneseo’s Austin Carney, who’s got a tough first-rounder (Sycamore’s Billy Byrd) and then Fowler in the quarters. Galesburg’s Isaiah Tatum is likely to face Lumzy in the quarters, which could be a very difficult match for him.
171
1. Jordan Blanton (Richmond-Burton). 2. Matt Dwyer (Hononegah). 3. Sterling Hecox (Harlem). 4. Jordan Bakley (Huntley).
If this weight class doesn’t go down in order this way, I’ll (think hard about) be eating my laptop. The Harvard Regional is just too strong here. Blanton is ranked No. 1 in the weight class, Dwyer is sixth and Hecox (who missed weight at 160 last week) is 12th. Bakley and Matt Cervantes (Sandwich) are honorable mention picks.
Local outlook: The positive for Moline’s Nick Bruder is he gets the experience of wrestling an all-worlder like Blanton in the quarterfinals, and a Saturday wrestleback. The bad news? Facing Blanton. The bad news for Galesburg’s Ben Lafollette is that he doesn’t face Blanton, unless he pulls two upsets Friday night. UT’s Nick Meyers has a tough matchup, too, with Hecox in the quarters. I know this much: Somebody’s getting pinned, with as many falls as those two have.
189
1. Zach Smith (Rockford Boylan). 2. Tony Benning (Huntley). 3. Austin Murray (Alleman). 4. Christopher Owens (United Township).
Smith is ranked 11th at 189; he’s the only ranked wrestler in the bracket. Honorable mention picks are Benning, Murray, Owens, Joe Karner (Hononegah) and Matt Steht (Yorkville). Smith has a pretty easy road into the semis, where he’ll face Owens (they haven’t met this season) or possibly LaSalle-Peru’s Jake Graham. Benning has a tough quarterfinal opponent, while Murray is looking at Karner in the quarterfinals.
Local outlook: Owens should win in the first round, and Graham will be there in the quarters. He’s got a very solid shot at the semis and the third-place match even if he loses to Smith, who enters the sectional undefeated. Murray should be able to beat Karner in the quarters, and that will set up a tough semifinal against Benning. We should see Murray against Owens sometime during the weekend, and, again, with a lot on the line.
215
1. Robert Cooney (United Township). 2. Andy Davis (Harlem). 3. Dalton Greenwalt (Dixon). 4. Chris Whittington (Rockford Auburn).
Davis is ranked fifth at 215, and Cooney sixth (even though Cooney has a head-to-head victory, 4-2). Honorable mention picks include Greenwalt, Whittington and Ernie Ramos (Harvard). There is quite a bit of depth in this weight class, which might make matches throughout this weight class very competitive.
Local outlook: Cooney is likely to face Ramos in the quarterfinals Friday night, which is a good way to open the tournament. Greenwalt is likely to be his opponent in the semifinals, should both make it that far. Rock Island’s Nate Rodriguez has a winnable first-round match against Yorkville’s Brian Booth (he pinned Booth at the UT triple duals), but then will face Whittington in the quarters. Whittington hasn’t faced a lot of competition this year, but he will be a load for Rodriguez in the quarters.
285
1. Jason Schepler (Sycamore). 2. Harrison Ford (Belvidere). 3. Ben Fabrizius (Kaneland). 4. Jake Pribble (Harvard).
Yes, Schepler got pinned by Ford at regionals, but I see Schepler coming back here and winning. He’s got the most state experience of anyone here. Schepler is ranked sixth statewide, while Fabrizius is 12th. Ford, Pribble and BJ Weber (Geneseo) are all honorable mention picks. There are many good 285s in this strong weight class, and there’ll be several who will factor heavily into the mix.
Local outlook: Moline’s Jeremy Howell has a winnable match against Ottawa’s Robby Rowney (who wrestled at 215 most of the year), and would face Pribble in the quarterfinals. It’s possible that he could get a wrestleback. The chances are better for Weber, who’s likely to wrestle Harlem’s Terrance Brown in the quarterfinals. He’ll either then face Schepler or possibly Fabrizius in the semis, and probably the other one in the wrestlebacks. It’s a tough road. The bottom half of the bracket is definitely a tougher one.
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