IESA Headlines

98 Schools Send Qualifiers To 2005 IESA State Wrestling Tournament

A record 456 wrestlers from 98 of the 111 schools that entered the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) state wrestling series will compete in 19 weight classes this weekend in the 26th annual Boys State Final Wrestling Tournament at the Convocation Center on the campus of Northern Illinois University.

There will be a total of 703 bouts. For the first time in IESA history there will be competition in 19 weight classes. New this year is the 215-pound class. The 98 schools with at least one wrestler advancing to the State Tournament represents .882 percent of the total number of schools entered the state series at the regional level.

Doors open at 3:00 p.m. Friday and bouts will begin on eight mats at 4:00. The preliminary round and first round bouts will be conducted Friday. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and wrestling resumes at 9:30. Semifinals are set to begin Saturday afternoon at approximately 1:00 p.m. Championship bouts are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

Single-day tickets are priced at $9.00 each day or fans in high school and adults. Price of single-day tickets for senior citizens (age 62 and above) and students in grades K-8 are $4.00 each. Children below kindergarten are admitted free.

Defending team champion DeKalb Huntley is seeking to become the second school in the 26-year history of IESA boys wrestling to win five team titles. DeKalb Huntley has won the title in 1991-98-2001-04. The Red Raiders took the 2004 title with 154 points, advancing 11 wrestlers to the State Tournament and producing a pair of state champions. DeKalb Huntley advanced nine wrestlers in nine weight classes to this year's State Tournament including sectional champions Tyler Larson at 70 pounds and Tyler Walt at 126. Mahomet-Seymour, which advanced 12 wrestlers in 12 weight classes to this year's State Tournament, has won the team title five times, the last coming in 1996. The Bulldogs finished third in 2004 with 119 points, and bring four sectional champions to the State Tournament in 2005. They are Jacob Jarrett at 70, Trevor Buhrman at 85, Jared Ernst at 119 and Andrew Brewer at 145.

Bloomington Junior High School, Darien Eisenhower and Lake Zurich North each advanced 16 qualifiers this year. Bloomington JHS, runner-up in 2004 with 144.5 points, advanced wrestlers in 12 different weight classes. Darien Eisenhower advanced wrestlers in 14 weight classes. Lake Zurich North advanced wrestlers in 15 weight classes. IESA schools are allowed to wrestle up to two athletes per weight class.

Six of the 16 from Bloomington Junior High come into the State Tournament as sectional champions. They are Tyler Brown at 65, Kylor Sorenson at 75, Marcus Johnson at 135, Mason Turner at 145, Kyle Reilly at 155 and Ricky Walker at 275. Seven of the 16 from Darien Eisenhower are sectional champions. They are Jake Schramm at 65, Jaien Rhodes at 75, Adam Blair at 85, Matt Perez at 90, Alex Perez at 105, Hafeez Umer at 119 and Joey Coffey at 155. Lake Zurich North brings three sectional champions: Cameron Shaffer at 90, Kevin Fanta at 100 and John Brewer at 185.

Ten of the 98 schools have advanced 10 or more wrestlers. Following the three at 16 are New Lenox Liberty with 13, Mahomet-Seymour with 12, Canton Ingersoll and Harvard JHS at 11, and DeKalb Clinton Rosette, Romeoville Martinez and Vernon Hills Hawthorn with 10 each.

Five champions from 2004 return this year. Romeoville Martinez's Julian Brooks at 100 won the 90-pound title in 2004. John Van Duyne of Wilmington Stevens at 90 won the 70-pound title last year. Sandwich's Blake Tirevold won at 75 pounds in 2004 and is at 90 this year. Van Duyne and Tirevold are in opposite halves of the bracket and could battle one another for the title. John Brewer of Lake Zurich North was the 2004 champion at 185 pounds and returns to defend his title. James Waters won the title at 65 pounds in 2004 for DeKalb Huntley, and returns at 75 this year wrestling for DeKalb Clinton Rosette. Last year there was only one junior high in the DeKalb school district. This year there are two.

DeKalb Clinton Rosette produced five sectional champions among its 10 qualifiers. They are Jake Jones at 65 pounds, Waters at 75, Steven Bradley at 80, Zach Dean at 155 and Omar Serrano at 275.

While Wilmington Stevens qualified only nine wrestlers, four of them are sectional champions. Joining Van Duyne are Tom Courtney at 135, Tony Vana at 155 and Alfonso Dingillo at 185.

The Convocation Center is hosting the IESA State Wrestling Tournament for the third straight year. The NIU campus is site of the event for the seventh straight year.

Complete pairings by weight class, team rosters, and the 2005 Grand Marshals. Results will be posted continuously throughout the weekend.

Complete pairings by weight class, team rosters, and the 2005 Grand Marshals for the State Wrestling Meet can be found at http://www.iesa.org/activities/bwr/.