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Chillicothe, Ill. —
The Illinois Valley Central wrestling team took second at the Eureka Regional Saturday behind the host school with 138.5 points and qualified seven wrestlers for Sectional.
Riley Beard, Chase Dietrich, Reece Smith, Jesse Hall, Brendan Butler, Jake Innis and Kyle Walden all qualified for the Macomb Sectional by finishing in the top three spots in their weight classes.
Beard won the championship in the 113-pound division when he dominated his foe for a 15-0 decision.
Beard started the day with a bye in the opening two rounds before quickly dispatching his opponent in the semi-finals with a pin in 0:15.
“I never quit and went out and tried my hardest,” Beard said.
Dietrich started the tournament with a 5-1 victory over his opponent in the 145-pound division before falling in a pin to enter the consolation bracket.
Dietrich began in the consolation bracket by crushing his foe with a pin in 1:56 and won third-place by pinning his Putnam County foe in 2:40.
“It feels good and makes all the practices and hard work worth it,” Dietrich said.
After a bye in the opening round of the 160-pound division, Smith exploited his foe’s flaws to take him to the mat and pin him in 4:12.
Smith earned a spot in the title match with a 4:36 victory in the semi-finals.
Smith finished second when he was pinned in 1:54 in the title bout.
“I feel good qualifying for Sectional but not the loss,” Smith said. “I need to try harder in practice this week to get ready for Sectional.”
Hall was awarded a bye in the first two rounds of the 170-pound division and advanced to the semi-finals when he made short work of his first opponent with a speedy 1:02 pin.
Hall and his Eureka foe matched each other point for point in the championship before Hall was edged out in a 9-7 decision to finish second.
“It’s exciting since it’s my first time going to Sectional,” Hall said. “It’s a new experience for me.”
After getting a bye in the first two rounds of the 182-pound division, Brendan Butler dispatched his El Paso opponent in 1:42 to earn a spot in the title match.
Butler then used his superior technique to dominate his foe and won the weight class with an 8-2 decision.
“It feels good that all the hard work that coach has put us through has paid off,” Butler said.
Jake Innis started his day in the semi-final of the 195-pound division, and won his match in only 1:29.
The Illinois Valley Central wrestling team took second at the Eureka Regional Saturday behind the host school with 138.5 points and qualified seven wrestlers for Sectional.
Riley Beard, Chase Dietrich, Reece Smith, Jesse Hall, Brendan Butler, Jake Innis and Kyle Walden all qualified for the Macomb Sectional by finishing in the top three spots in their weight classes.
Beard won the championship in the 113-pound division when he dominated his foe for a 15-0 decision.
Beard started the day with a bye in the opening two rounds before quickly dispatching his opponent in the semi-finals with a pin in 0:15.
“I never quit and went out and tried my hardest,” Beard said.
Dietrich started the tournament with a 5-1 victory over his opponent in the 145-pound division before falling in a pin to enter the consolation bracket.
Dietrich began in the consolation bracket by crushing his foe with a pin in 1:56 and won third-place by pinning his Putnam County foe in 2:40.
“It feels good and makes all the practices and hard work worth it,” Dietrich said.
After a bye in the opening round of the 160-pound division, Smith exploited his foe’s flaws to take him to the mat and pin him in 4:12.
Smith earned a spot in the title match with a 4:36 victory in the semi-finals.
Smith finished second when he was pinned in 1:54 in the title bout.
“I feel good qualifying for Sectional but not the loss,” Smith said. “I need to try harder in practice this week to get ready for Sectional.”
Hall was awarded a bye in the first two rounds of the 170-pound division and advanced to the semi-finals when he made short work of his first opponent with a speedy 1:02 pin.
Hall and his Eureka foe matched each other point for point in the championship before Hall was edged out in a 9-7 decision to finish second.
“It’s exciting since it’s my first time going to Sectional,” Hall said. “It’s a new experience for me.”
After getting a bye in the first two rounds of the 182-pound division, Brendan Butler dispatched his El Paso opponent in 1:42 to earn a spot in the title match.
Butler then used his superior technique to dominate his foe and won the weight class with an 8-2 decision.
“It feels good that all the hard work that coach has put us through has paid off,” Butler said.
Jake Innis started his day in the semi-final of the 195-pound division, and won his match in only 1:29.
Innis and his Eureka foe were in a clash of the titans for the title, but Innis ended up losing in a 3:57 pin to earn second.
“It’s a new experience for me to wrestle at Regionals because I’ve been injured the last few years,” Innis said. “It was nice to qualify.”
Kyle Walden beat his first foe in the 220-pound with a 4:34 pin before falling in an 8-6 decision to enter the consolation bracket.
In the first match of the consolation bracket, Walden downed his foe in 3:56 to win a spot in the third-place match.
Walden won third when he outsmarted his foe for a 5-2 win.
“It feels good because I honestly didn’t think I’d make it this year,” Walden said. “It’s a good feeling.”
The team next wrestles Friday in Macomb, with times to be announced.
“All seven of the qualifiers did a great job,” coach Matt Russell said. “They all left it all on the mat and that is all you can expect for them.”
The Sectional finals begin at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Macomb.
“This week will be similar to last week for the qualifiers,” Russell said. “We will wrestle hard up until Thursday in practice.”
