CHAMPAIGN, Ill. • Mech Spraggins, who finished second in Class 3A in 2011 and David Pearce, who was second in Class 2A last year, were among 18 Metro-East wrestlers who advanced to Friday's quarterfinals at the 75th annual Illinois High School Association state wrestling championships at Assembly Hall.
The quarters for Class 1A will begin at 8:30 a.m. followed by Class 2A and Class 3A. The semifinals are set for 7 p.m.
Belleville West's Spraggins improved to 33-1 after squeezing out a 3-2 preliminary win over Sean Murray of Wheaton North. Pearce from Civic Memorial pinned Sam Karim of Ridgewood in 4 minutes 22 seconds.
Both Spraggins and Pearce wrestle at 126 poounds.
"I was real tired ,and I just pulled through," said Spraggins, who held a 3-0 lead midway through the match. "I'm trying to keep my weight down and I don't have that much energy. He defended all my good shots on the edge."
Pearce, a senior and a four-time state qualifier, was in front 8-0 before pinning Karim.
"I knew as soon as I got in on him and got a shot, he was through no matter what," Pearce said. "I got the fall, that's what I was looking for. It helps to get a fall. We're at state now, so it's do or die. That was plenty for me. That's a major. Good win. Good pin."
In addition to Spraggins, the other area 3A winners in preliminary matches were: Skyler Procasky of Belleville East (138), Chad Whitford (152) of Granite City, Justin Valencia (160) of Granite City, Josh Dowdy (170) of Granite City, Taylor McGiffen (182) of Alton and Blake Blair (195) of Edwardsville.
Procasky won an 11-2 major decision over Anthony Scaccia of Batavia. Procasky (34-3) will wrestle Tim Corse of St. Rita in the quarterfinals today.
"I controlled him," Procasky said after winning his first-ever state match. "In the beginning I was a little nervous. When you're up big, the kid is going to be aggressive on you, but they're not going to be thinking."
Whitford, a senior who improved to 36-10, scored a 6-4 decision over Jacob Kroeger of Willowbrook. Whitford will face Davonte Mahomes of Oak Park-River Forest.
Valencia, a senior, upped his record to 44-9 with a 6-4 overtime decision over Joe Kennedy of Reavis. Valencia will face Farai Sewera of Lake Park, and Dowdy (42-10), a senior, beat Eric Krieger of Naperville North 4-1 in overtime. Dowdy will wrestle Alex Benoit of St. Rita.
McGiffen, who was third at 195 in 2011, scored a 13-5 major decision over Brandon Warren of Aurora West. McGiffin (45-1), a senior, will tangle with Jameer Thurman of Proviso West.
Blair, a senior, moved to 39-4 with a 6-0 victory over Noah Fleckenstein of York. Blair will meet Ryan Berg of Naperville Central.
Winners in Class 1A were: Michael Harris of Althoff (126), Tyler Floyd of Roxana (160), Kevin Roper of Carlyle (182) and Kameron Harris of Althoff (182).
In Class 2A, the area winners were: Cole Wysocki (106) of Triad, Kyle Graumenz (138) of Triad, Lavion Mayes (145) of Mascoutah and Benard Gantt (145) of Cahokia, David Frazier (152) of Cahokia and Jake Tindle (170) of Triad.
