Four area wrestlers advance to the semis at State

Posted By: dkinnard
February 18, 2022 @ 2:15 am
Anna-Jonesboro, Benton, Carbondale, Carmi-White County, Fairfield, Harrisburg, Herrin, Marion, Mt. Vernon, Murphysboro, Slider, Wrestling

CHAMPAIGN — Four wrestlers from the region, two freshmen and two sophomores, went 2-0 on the opening day of the State Wrestling finals in Champaign, advancing to Friday night’s semifinals. These four are guaranteed to finish in the top six of their weight classes.

Anna-Jonesboro freshman Drew Sadler won his first match in the 106 pound weight class with a pin late in the first period, then won his second match 10-0. Sadler will face fellow freshman, top-seeded Aiden Larsen from Yorkville Christian in the semifinals.

Harrisburg’s Tony Keene may have had the most impressive first day. In the 113 pound weight class, the sophomore needed less than a minute to record pins in each of his two matches. Keene will face freshman Emmett Nelson from Richmond-Burton in the semifinals.

In the 126 pound weight class, Benton sophomore Mason Tieffel won his first match 13-2 then took his second match 5-3. Tieffel will face junior Wyatt Doty from Polo High School in the semis. Richland County freshman Carson Bissey also went 2-0 in this class. Bissey won his first match 8-0, then picked up a sudden victory in the quarterfinals. He will find top-seeded Dakota junior Phoenix Blakely waiting in the semis.

Seven wrestlers from the region went 1-1 on the opening day and will start day two in the second round of the wrestlebacks. The 1A wrestlers among those seven are Jason Shaw (126/EAWR), Blue Bishop (132/Herrin), TJ Macy (132/A-J), Arojae Hart (138/Murphysboro), Dayton Hoffman (160/Murphysboro). There are two 1-1 2A wrestlers–Nate Dampier (152/Marion), and Jared Shafer (182/Mt. Vernon).

The other 16 wrestlers from the region to make it to state all lost their opening matches and will start in the first round of wrestlebacks. That group includes: Kaiden Richards (106/Murphysboro), Blake Mays (138/A-J), Caleb Mays (145/A-J), Patrick Campbell (145/Murphysboro), Nick DeLoach Jr. (152/Cahokia), Braden Johnson (152/Roxana), Brian Seed (170/Lawrencevile), Nathan Blackwell (182/Lawrenceville), Konnor Dagg (195/Fairfield), Payton Allen (220/Fairfield), Drake Champlin (220/EAWR), Titus Wood (285/Carmi-White Co.), Brenden Banz (152/Carbondale), Isaiah Duckworth (160/Carbondale), Aiden Taylor (195/Carbondale), and Kanye Gunn (285/Marion).

The first round of wrestlebacks will start around 11 Friday morning. The second round of wrestlebacks are scheduled to start approximately 1:30 in the afternoon. Those in the wrestlebacks can still finish as high as third.

The semifinals in the Friday night session are scheduled to start at 7:00.

All of the results from the State Finals are here.