Large contingent of area wrestlers headed to State

Posted By: dkinnard
February 13, 2022 @ 7:53 am
Anna-Jonesboro, Benton, Carbondale, Carmi-White County, Fairfield, Harrisburg, Herrin, Marion, Mt. Vernon, Murphysboro, Slider, Wrestling

Darren Kinnard
Section618.com

More than 20 wrestlers from the region earned trips to the Boys State Wrestling Finals by finishing in the top four of their weight classes at sectionals Saturday. Anna-Jonesboro, Murphysboro, and Carbondale will each be sending four wrestler to State. Of the 23 area wrestlers headed to State, four will be going as sectional champions.

Area 1A wrestlers competed at the Vandalia Sectional. Benton sophomore Mason Tieffel won the 126 pound weight class, pinning the state’s number two ranked wrestler, East Alton/Wood River’s Jason Shaw, in the semifinals before posting a 12-4 major decision win over Richland County’s Carson Bissey in the finals.

Murphysboro’s Arojae Hart rolled through the 138 pound division, posting two major decisions and a tech fall on the way to the title. Hart downed Anna-Jonesboro’s Blake Mays in the finals 13-4. Mays will advance to state as well.

Murphysboro senior Arojae Hart won the 138 pound weight class at the Vandalia 1A Sectional. A-J’s Blake Mays finished second and also will advance to state. Photo by Chase Hargrave

Hart’s teammate Dayton Hoffman won the 160 title, downing Vandalia’s Ryan Kaiser 5-3 in the championship match.

Other state qualifiers include Anna-Jonesboro’s Drew Sadler and Murphysboro’s Kaiden Richards in 106. Sadler defeated Richards 16-0 in the third place match.

Anna-Jonesboro freshman Drew Sadler and Murphysboro freshman Kaiden Richards are both headed to State. Sadler finished third and Richards fourth in the 106 pound weight class at the Vandalia 1A Sectional. Photo by Chase Hargrave.

Harrisburg’s Tony Keene advances with a third place finish in 113. At 132, Herrin’s Blue Bishop finished second and Anna-Jonesboro’s TJ Macy took third to advance.

Herrin sophomore Blue Bishop and Anna-Jonesboro junior TJ Macy both are headed to State. Bishop finished second and Macy third in the 132 pound weight class at the Vandalia 1A Sectional. Photo by Chase Hargrave

Macy’s teammate, Caleb Mays, along with Murphysboro’s Patrick Campbell are advancing in 145. Mays finished second. Campbell was fourth.

Anna-Jonesboro junior Caleb Mays and Murphysboro senior Patrick Campbell are both headed to State. Mays finished second and Campbell fourth in the 145 pound weight class at the Vandalia 1A Sectional. Photo by Chase Hargrave.

Lawrenceville’s Brian Seed was second in 170. Fairfield’s duo of Konnor Dagg and Payton Allen both advance with second place finishes–Dagg in 195, Allen in 220. Carmi-White County’s Titus Wood is also headed to state with a fourth place finish in 285.

Complete results of the Vandalia 1A Sectional are here.

Area 2A wrestlers competed at the Mahomet-Seymour Sectional. Marion senior Nate Dampier improved to 37-1, winning the 152 pound weight class by pinning Carbondale’s Brenden Banz. Banz also will advance.

Marion senior Nate Dampier won the 152 pound weight class at the Mahomet-Seymour 2A Sectional. Carbondale junior Brenden Banz is also state bound with a second place finish. Photo courtesy Marion High School Athletics

Three other Terriers will be joining Banz at state–Isaac Smith, Isaiah Duckworth, and Aiden Taylor. Smith finished fourth in 132, Duckworth took third in 160, and Taylor was fourth in 195. Mt. Vernon’s Jared Shafer is headed to state with a third place finish in 182, with Marion’s Kanye Gunn the final 2A state qualifier. Gunn finished fourth in 285.

Complete results of the Mahomet-Seymour 2A Sectional are here.

The Boys State Wrestling Tournament will be held Thursday-Saturday at the State Farm Center in Champaign. Thursday’s schedule includes preliminaries and championship quarterfinals. Friday will be the wrestlebacks and championship semifinals. Saturday’s schedule includes quarterfinal and semifinal wrestlebacks in the morning, third and fifth place matches in the afternoon, and then the Grand March at 5:30 with the championship matches following.