IESA Headlines

100 Schools Send Qualifiers To 2006 IESA State Wrestling Tournament

A field of 456 wrestlers from 100 of the 117 schools that entered the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) state wrestling series will compete in 19 weight classes this weekend in the 27th 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 over the two days with competition in 19 weight classes. The 100 schools with at least one wrestler advancing to the State Tournament represents .854 percent of the total number of schools entered the state series at the regional level. It is the first time in IESA history that the state final wrestling field included this many different schools.

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 for 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.

Two of last year.s individual champions return this year. Mahomet-Seymour.s Jacob Jarrett won at 70 pounds in 2005 and is in the 75-pound class this year. He placed second in his sectional. Jake Jones of DeKalb Clinton Rosette took last year.s 65-pound crown and is at 70 pounds this year. He finished second to teammate Cody Kary in the sectional. A total of 23 place winners from 2005 return this year.

Defending team champion Bloomington Junior High advanced seven wrestlers to the state final meet, including a trio of sectional champions: Kylor Sorensen at 85, Jacob Erdman at 90 and Armand Ontiveros at 126.

New Lenox Liberty is sending a small army . 20 qualifiers . and has at least one wrestler in every one of the 19 weight classes except 75, 215 and 275. New Lenox Liberty of a co-op team combining wrestlers from New Lenox Liberty and New Lenox Martino. New Lenox Liberty took the team title in 2003 and New Lenox Martino won it in 2002. Seven of the 20 qualifiers are section al champions. They are Austin Seliga at 70, Tim Ryan at 85, Tom Stein at 90, Kyle Bass at 95, Connor DuCray at 112, Kyle Kolb at 145 and Jake Sheffer at 167.

Darien Eisenhower is bringing 18 wrestlers to the state final including six sectional champions. Eisenhower has never won a wrestling team title. Sectional champions for Eisenhower are: Jake Schramm at 70, Alex Authement at 90, Adam Filip at 105, Matt Perez at 112, George Gandara at 155 and Matt Casas at 275.

DeKalb Clinton Rosette advanced 14 wrestlers including five sectional champions: Cody Kary at 70, Colin Mattison at 75, Steven Bradley at 100, Patrick Brantner at 215 and Alex Robinson at 275. DeKalb Huntley, a perennial powerhouse coming out of Sectional C and state team champion in 1991, 1998, 2001 and 2004, advanced 10 wrestlers this year. Of the 10, half are sectional champions: Tyler Larson at 80, Brad Cantrell at 85, Dylan Buehler at 105, Jake Lemay at 112 and Sabin Reynosa at 135.

Morris Shabbona qualified 13 wrestlers including a pair of sectional champions. Morris Shabbona has never won the team title. Sectional champions were Aaron Garcia at 70 and Zach Mann at 80.

Three other schools joined DeKalb Huntley with 10 qualifiers. Bolingbrook Brooks has three sectional champions: Corry Hallinan at 105, Justin Goodpaster at 155 and David Glover at 215. Chatham Glenwood has three sectional champions in Chase Armstrong at 65, Bobby Lee at 85 and Jake Ingold at 185. Lake Forest Deer Path has two sectional champions: Connor Bull at 70 and Matt Ten Pas at 105.

Named Grand Marshals for 2006 are Terry Milton, who started the wrestling program at Clinton Junior High School and later coached the team at Clinton High School, and Rob Porter, former Mahomet-Seymour standout wrestler and now head coach at Naperville Central. Complete biographical information for the Grand Marshals is on the IESA Web Site on the Wrestling Page.

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

Visit www.iesa.org for additional information regarding complete pairings by weight class, team rosters, and the 2006 Grand Marshals. Results will be posted continuously throughout the weekend.