AURORA • In the marathon of wrestling that was this past Saturday’s Freestyle State Championships, Team Illinois was able to wrestle itself through all the Junior division pools, crossovers, and final places in one day, but the 16U would have to comeback on Sunday to secure its national qualifiers. Once this was completed, Team Illinois, at […] More

BLOOMINGTON • On Wednesday, March 8, 2023, at 10:00 a.m., the IHSA Wrestling Advisory Committee held a meeting to discuss, approve, and hold a general discussion period that included recommendations for the 2023-24 wrestling season. The Advisory Committee’s recommendations have always been ways to help the sport of wrestling grow in Illinois, and the current recommendations […] More

LAS VEGAS, NV • Ben Davino is arguably the best pound-for-pound wrestler in Illinois, and after claiming the 60 kg U17 World Team Trials championship in a best two-of-three series over Jax Forrest, last’s years U17 World silver medalist at 55 kg, Davino has now proven he is the best wrestler in the land. But, for […] More

LAS VEGAS, NV • Coming in as perhaps the most underappreciated, or maybe just the most unassuming number-one seed at the US Open, Zane Richards, who was a US National Team member last year, proved all the naysayers wrong by accomplishing his only goal on the weekend: winning the 57 kg bracket.  Unfortunately, for Richards, whose […] More

DOWNERS GROVE • The Club Cup finals could not have been any closer—the championships would come down to criteria after it was wrestled to a 32-32 tie. In that, the dual between SPAR (IL) and AWA (Lake Country, WI) would be the trustiest version of a lower-weight dual versus an upper-weight dual—and it was truly that […] More

DOWNERS GROVE • Sixteen clubs from three states will battle it out at Downers Grove South this Sunday, April 23, for the annual Club Cup.  All wrestling will be held in the DGS Field House with wrestling beginning at 9:30 a.m. There will be eight mats that cover five full rounds. All competitions will be in […] More

ILLINOIS • Since the IHSA State Championships have concluded, and enough time has passed to put away the emotions, while the hard numbers are now definitive, it is time to look at how each Individual Sectional fared at the championships, as well as the public school versus private school debate. More importantly, how the best teams […] More

TULSA, OKLAHOMA • Eleven wrestlers with Illinois ties brought home All-American honors, and one of those young men was a national champion. Illinois came into the tournament with the second largest contingent of national qualifiers, second only to Pennsylvania. Those thirty-four Illinoisians, combined with qualifiers from the four Division I programs located in Illinois, gave the […] More

TULSA, OKLAHOMA • After going 13-0 and winning a national championship at 149 pounds in 2021, Austin O’Connor (Chicago St. Rita) would jump up a weight class and have some setbacks that removed the once mighty king from his throne. Saturday night in Tulsa, the king recrowned himself after claiming his second title in three years, […] More

TULSA, OKLAHOMA • Matt Ramos of Purdue (Lockport High School) came into his 125-pound semifinal bout against Spencer Lee of Iowa with a great deal of respect for his opponent, and a great deal of confidence in himself.  For Ramos, this match would serve as a stepping stone—he had already earned Purdue its first All-American since […] More

TULSA, OKLAHOMA • Real Woods (Montini Catholic) had a wake-up call on Thursday night that helped refocus him for Friday—he knew he had to quickly re-discipline what he called his “nutrition” in order to allow himself to perform better than he did the day before—and he did not disappoint. Woods, who woke up with a new […] More