CHAMPAIGN – Several area wrestlers finished on the podium Saturday at the IHSA State Wrestling Tournament in Champaign, bringing home multiple medals across all three classes.
Class 1A
Belleville Althoff Catholic High School’s Jacobi Cobb placed fourth at 113 pounds, falling 14-10 to Drevan Bramlett of Murphysboro High School in the third-place match.
Cobb’s teammate Dawson Hawthorne earned a third-place medal at 132 pounds with a 10-1 major decision over Wyatt Franckowiak of Richland County High School.
Roxana High School’s Brandon Green rebounded from a semifinal loss to finish his career with another third-place medal at 144 pounds. Green, who also placed third last season, secured a 4-1 decision over Lincoln Hoger.
“I had to be on fire today. It lit a fire under me after losing in the semifinals last night. I’ve had an amazing career at Roxana with two third-place finishes,” Green said.
Green’s teammate Logan Riggs capped his career with a fifth-place finish at 150 pounds after earning a 16-0 technical fall over Dade Kleinik of Vandalia High School. Riggs placed sixth last year.
“I’m happy to be on the podium this year instead of standing next to it, so it’s cool. I started wrestling at the Roxana Kids Club when I was nine and have been here ever since,” Riggs said.
Belleville Althoff’s Landon Weidler took fourth at 157 pounds, losing by technical fall to Owen McGinnis.
At 175 pounds, Lyndon Thies closed out his career at Roxana with a third-place finish. The school’s all-time wins leader bounced back from a semifinal loss and pinned Brody Stien of Byron High School in 47 seconds in the third-place match.
“The kid I lost to in the semifinals yesterday is a good kid and a great wrestler. Everything happens for a reason,” Thies said.
Class 2A
Civic Memorial High School’s Avery Jaime placed fifth at 138 pounds after a 6-4 decision over Brock Claypool. Jaime rebounded after a semifinal wrestleback loss to Colton Huff.
“That fifth-place match feels amazing. I lost earlier in the year at Beast in the East 10-0 to that same kid, Claypool, and then coming here to beat him for fifth place feels amazing,” Jaime said.
Jaime’s teammate, James Wojcikiewicz, finished fourth after having to medically forfeit the third-place match due to illness.
Mascoutah High School’s Jordan Sonon Hale placed fourth at 175 pounds after a 9-6 loss to Ameer Khalil.
Class 3A
Edwardsville High School’s Michael McNamara placed third at 106 pounds with a 4-1 decision over Aidan Ortega.
“Finishing third after not placing last year feels so good. It shows I’m making progress. I didn’t get what I wanted, but I’m proud,” McNamara said.
Edwardsville’s Ryan Richie placed sixth after a 14-3 major decision loss to Zev Koransky.
Senior Roman Janek improved on last year’s fourth-place finish by taking third at 215 pounds, earning a 4-2 decision over Tavfik Ibragimov.
“I came into this tournament confident after placing fourth last year. I really wanted to make it to the finals, but that didn’t happen. You don’t always get your way,” Janek said.
His teammate Braylon Hill-Lomax added a fifth-place medal at 285 pounds with a 7-2 decision over Knox Homola.
Championship matches are tonight.
