Second-day championship notes from the 75th annual Illinois state individual tournament at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Ill.
THE EYE HAS IT
Cole Wysocki Triad at 106 pounds sported a swollen right eyelid courtesy of the head of Jordan Lind of Pontiac. Wysocki was getting ready to pull the head of Lind down as Wysocki attempted a takedown and Lind's head met Wysocki's lid and the lid lost.
But Wysocki, a freshman who upped his record to 46-2, didn't lose as he rallied to take down Lind 4-2 in overtime after trailing 2-0.
"I'm very excited," Wysocki said of reaching the semifinals. "Everybody up here is the same skill level. It's who wants it and can keep the pressure on and not tire out in the match."
Rally Squirrels?
The rodents weren't present inside the arena but they might as well have been because Mech Spraggins of Belleville West (126) in Class 3A and Michael Harris (126) in Class 1A both needed to come from behind to beat their respective opponents.
Spraggins (34-1) beat Zach Synon of Prairie Ridge 6-4 but trailed 4-0 and looked like dead meat (pun intended) before scoring a point for an escape late in the second period.
That marker appeared to light a fire in Spraggins, who was second in 120 last season. He started wrestling more aggressive and took down Synon with 30 seconds to go for two points and nearly pinned him for three more points with 15 seconds left.
Both coach Al Sears and assistant Joe Rujawitz jumped up and started dancing around like jumping beans (for Sears it would a very large bean!!!) in anticipation of a Spraggins triumph.
As for Harris, he was behind 2-0 to Steven Licina of Kankakee McNamara before picking up four points in the final three minutes to win and up his record to 22-7. For Harris' efforts, he gets to wrestle defending state champion J.J. Whaley of Stillman Valley in the semifinals tonight.
Halfway Home
In Class 2A, David Pearce of Civic Memorial (126) in Class 2A needs to win two more matches to capture his and only state title.
He improved to 24-2 after destroying Jake Latanski of Lemont 14-0 in the quarterfinals. Pearce, who finished second at 120 last season, faces Doug Johnson of DeKalb in tonight's semifinals.
Following His Brother
In Class 2A, Benard Gantt of Cahokia (145) was a 10-7 quarterfinal winner over Connor Bass of Yorkville, who finished second at 135 last season.
Gantt's brother, Thomas, was second at 145 last season. Benard Gantt will now square off with Dalton Coleman of Mount Zion in the semis tonight. Gantt beat Coleman 13-3 in the semifinals of the Mt. Zion sectional last Saturday.
Honoring Steve Brueggen
Alton senior Taylor McGiffen is celebrating the life of the late Pattonville school district physical education teacher Steve Brueggen in a unique way.
He is wrestling in the semifinals tonight with Brueggen's name on his headgear, which has been stenciled on his headgear the entire season.
Brueggen was killed by a drunk driver on Interstate 270 on Sept. 25, 2011.
"That's really deadly," said McGiffen of drinking and driving, whose stepdad Tom Davison was a close friend of Brueggen. "It's killed family members. It's killed friends. It's really hurt people in their lives. It can really affect them."
