Overall, Saturday wasn't a good day for Metro East wrestlers at the Class 3A Lincoln-Way Central Sectional. But Granite City's three senior captains still have a shot at a state title.
Chad Whitford (first at 152 pounds), Josh Dowdy (second at 170) and Justin Valencia (third at 160) all advanced to the state meet, slated for Thursday through Saturday at Assembly Hall in Champaign. Granite City was the only local school to have three qualifiers.
"It's a great thing to qualify all of the seniors - I don't know if I've ever had that before," Granite City coach Allen Kirgan said. "It's always a sad thing when they lose in the sectional and their careers are over without that one last chance to wrestle at state."
Whitford (35-10) defeated Nick DiNardo of Plainfield North in the championship match while Dowdy (41-10) was pinned in the finals by Jake Residori of Minooka. Valencia (43-9) bounced back from a semifinal loss to beat Elton Manuel of Waubonsie Valley 4-1 in the third-place match.
"I don't think Valencia had his best tournament," Kirgan said. "He was beaten in the semifinals by the No. 1 guy in the state (eventual champion Shaun'Que McMurtry of Lockport) but even in his other matches he wrestled very tentatively.
"Chad Whitford wrestled the best I've seen him this year and possibly in his career. I hope that will carry over to this week.
"Dowdy had a tough match in the semifinals against Connor Swier of Neuqua Valley, but he cradled him up and took him down for a pin. He had to face his old nemesis, Residori, in the finals and he'd already lost to him twice. The third time wasn't a charm."
Three other Granite City wrestlers - Cole Whitford (285), Josh Masters (220) and Sam Tamayo were one match away from qualifying. Tamayo placed fifth and will attend the state meet as an alternate.
"He'll practice as if he were in the tournament, but even if doesn't wrestle, it's good experience for him," Kirgan said. "Cole Whitford got his 38th pin, which broke Scott Penny's school record. It was a tough sectional for heavyweights - some good wrestlers aren't going to state, including him."
Edwardsville, which won the team title at the Edwardsville Regional on Feb. 4, had a pair of state qualifiers. Junior Blake Blair (38-3) placed second at 195, losing 7-0 in the finals to undefeated Brad Johnson of Lockport. Senior Dillon Soliben (23-16) finished fourth at 132.
"It was a meat grinder, that's for sure," Edwardsville coach Jon Wagner said. "We're pleased to get two guys out. We would have liked to have gotten a couple more, but some guys were close and if they can make it to state next year, that would be great.
"Blake was in a great weight class with the No. 1, 2, 3 and 5 guys in the state. He had a big overtime win in the semifinals against Joliet West (Matt Koran) but ran into the No. 1 guy in the finals.
"Dillon Soliben has had a great two weeks. Going from a No. 4 seed at the regional to winning the regional and then qualifying for state doesn't happen too often."
Tigers junior James Mosher just missed qualifying and placed fifth at 138.
"He had a great tournament but just came up a little short," Wagner said of Mosher, who was also a No. 4 seed at the regional. "In the first round, he won 4-2 over a guy that he had lost to 14-6 earlier in the season."
The only other local champion was Alton's Taylor McGiffen, who is 44-1 after placing first at 182 pounds.
Other qualifiers were Belleville West's Nate Smalling (second at 113) and Mech Spraggins (third at 126) and Belleville East's Reggie Edwards (second at 120) and Skyler Procasky (second at 128).
Collinsville didn't have any wrestlers advance to the state meet. Junior Devontae Smith, who was a regional champion, lost both of his matches at 106 as did sophomore Dylan Johnson (152).
"It was a very tough sectional," Collinsville coach Tom Blaha said. "Some kids who were three-time state qualifiers didn't make it out.
"The good news is that Devontae and Dylan both got experience at the sectional level next year and next year they'll know what to expect. We'll have 13 out of 14 varsity kids back, so that's encouraging. We had 17 sophomores and 16 freshmen finish the year, so we have a lot to build around."
WYSOCKI, GRAUMENZ EARN SECTIONAL TITLES
At the Class 2A Mount Zion Sectional, Triad had four state qualifiers, including two champions.
Freshman Cole Wysocki improved to 44-2 with a 2-1 victory over Dameon Adams of Cahokia in the 106-pound finals. At 138, Kyle Graumenz improved to 34-2 with a 17-1 technical fall win over Heratio Austin of Springfield.
Triad senior Jake Tindle (45-1) suffered his first loss of the season in the 170-pound semifinals against unbeaten Cameron Mammen of Urbana, but came back to pin Brandon Klein of Champaign Central in the third-place match.
Also qualifying for the Knights was Dan Calvin, who placed fourth at 285.
"I thought we could get at least three guys out, but I felt we could have wrestled better as a team," said Triad coach Russ Witzig, whose squad won the Centralia Sectional on Feb. 4. "Tindle was up against a very good wrestler in Mammen, who's a junior and a three-time state qualifier. There was a questionable call on a takedown in the middle of the match, but you don't want to be in a position where the official can affect the outcome.
"Wysocki had a semifinal match that everybody was talking about, but he dominated after the first period and won 11-0. He had a tough championship match against the kid from Cahokia and beat him for the third time, which is hard to do.
"Graumenz didn't wrestle great for the whole tournament, but in the finals he was as good as he's been in a long time. I thought Calvin had a chance to qualify and he won his first match, which was huge. Our goal for state is to bring home four medals."
Other local champions were Mascoutah's Lavion Mayes (145), Cahokia's David Frazier (152) and Civic Memorial's David Pearce (126).
