Three St. Joseph-Ogden High School wrestlers still have a chance to compete at the state meet.
That’s how many Spartans advanced out of an 11-team Class 1A regional that SJO hosted this past Friday and Saturday, with SJO placing sixth in the team standings.
Isaiah Immke, Isaiah Moore and AJ Wagner will represent the Spartans at this upcoming weekend’s Olympia Sectional in Stanford.
Immke won a regional title at 145 pounds, going 3-0 in his weight class to finish as the lone SJO competitor with a first-place finish.
Immke won two matches by pin and claimed the regional title with a 3-1 decision against Justin Jones of Hoopeston Area.
Immke, who received a first-round bye, pinned Justin Akeman of Clinton in 1:47 for his first win before pinning Chase Ditchen in 5:54 in the semifinals.
Immke, who missed the first half of the season recovering from an injury, has come back with a vengeance since returning to the mat, and although the 16-6 record might be a little deceiving, the same level of competitiveness that Immke has displayed in his wrestling career is returning as well.
Immke received a first-round bye at the sectional meet courtesy his regional title, and he’ll await either Daniel Gutierrez (41-5) of Dwight or Kyus Mitchell (19-14) of Petersburg PORTA in his quarterfinal match.
Moore, a sophomore at 126 pounds, and Wagner, a junior at 113 pounds, also advanced to the championship match in their respective brackets, but both were defeated by quality opponents.
Moore (31-11) pinned Colin Craner of Leroy in just 28 seconds for his first win, then took down Evan Deavers of Clinton by fall in 3:29 for a spot in the title match. There, he faced top-seeded William Winter of Heyworth, but ended up getting pinned as the first period ended.
Moore will compete against Logan Poisal (20-13) of Tremont in his first-round sectional match.
Wagner (38-6) also had an easy first-round match, pinning Jacob Pile of Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm in 28 seconds. In his semifinal match, Wagner defeated Jason Palmberg of St. Thomas More in a 6-2 decision to advance to the championship match, where Gage Reed of Oakwood/Salt Fork stood in his way. But Wagner lost a 3-0 decision to Reed, ultimately placing second in his weight class.
Wagner will open up his sectional stay with a first-round match against sophomore Jac Couri (24-10) of Peoria Notre Dame.
All three SJO wrestlers will aim for a top-four finish at the sectional meet as the top four wrestlers in each weight class earn a berth to the state meet Feb. 20-22 at State Farm Center in Champaign.
SJO had two seniors come within one win shy of reaching the sectional stage. Trevon Carr finished 4-2 at 170, losing an 8-5 decision to Craig Johnson of Westville/Georgetown-Ridge Farm in the third-place match.
Carr won by pin in 38 seconds to open his regional tournament against Colin Olauson of Judah Christian before he lost by pin in 5:32 to Johnson in the quarterfinals. Carr then knocked off Quinn Perschall of Heyworth by pin in 1:03, Jonathan Herron of Hoopeston Area by a 13-2 major decision and Colyn Sarver of Rantoul by pin in 5:02 to reach the third-place match in a rematch against Johnson. Carr finished his senior season with a 23-25 record.
Brodie Sullivan at 182 went 1-2 and lost in the third-place match to Colby Smiley of Oakwood/Salt Fork. Sullivan pinned Trevor Hahn of LeRoy/Tri-Valley in 21 seconds to reach the quarterfinals, but lost by pin in 5:16 to eventual regional champion Abel Colunga of Hoopeston Area. Sullivan received a bye into the third-place match, where he lost by pin in 1:13 to Smiley. Sullivan capped his senior season with a 23-16 record.
Junior Max Shonkwiler at 195 and freshman Owen Birt at 220 each went 1-2 in their respective weight classes, while sophomores Chase Chapman (132), Matt Falls (138), Conrad Miller (152) and freshman AJ Wells (285) all went 0-2.
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