CHAMPAIGN — The Coal City varsity wrestling finished fifth last week at the St. Thomas More New Year's Challenge at Huff Hall at the University of Illinois. Seneca did not place.
The Coalers beat Benton 54-18, Bismark-Henning 63-6, Vandalia 43-24 and University 61-12 in Pool 5 competition. They then defeated Beardstown 57-15 and lost 40-29 to Plano before winning 37-31 over Litchfield for fifth place.
Cody Minnick (106/113), Casey Brown (126) and Ryan Naples (170/182) went 7-0 for the tournament for the Coalers. Jake Czaja (145) was perfect the 5 times he wrestled. Corey Jurzak (120) was 6-1. Terry Blondin (160) and Kenton Clayburn (220/285) compiled 5 wins. Ricky Benitez (106/113), Michael Czaja (152/160), Riley Kauzlaric (170/182) and Jake Frost (195/220) won 4 bouts. Dylan Pierard (138) and Brayden Barker (145/152) won 3 times. Jonah Englert (132) and Allen Potter (182/195) won twice.
Seneca lost to Litchfield, 51-25, Roxana, 49-22, Olympia, 66-12, and Oregon, 36-33. The Fighting Irish also defeated St. Thomas More 54-23, University 43-15, Clinton 42-29 and Reed-Custer 42-30.
Sage Friese (126/132) went 8-0 for the tournament for Seneca. Brandon Webb (195/220) won 7 bounts and Gary Wantroba (138/145) won 6. Tommy Lovett (160/170) compiled 5 wins. Lucas Altobella (152) and Taylton Coyle (170/182) were 4-time winners. Kyle Sigmon (120), Bryce Coyle (138/145) and Jonah Lamboley (170/182) earned 3 wins. Spencer Leake (106/113) and Jake Friant (160) won twice. Cole Klicker added a win at 145.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Coal City 48,
Wheaton Academy 24
LISLE — Brittany Halliday, an All-Tournament selection, scored 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting and added 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in the finale for Coal City (13-3) late Friday at the Lisle Holiday Cage Classic. Other leading scorers were Nicole Borgetti with 9 points, Donjeta Shabani with 8 and Britta Spelde with 7.
"This was a great team win for us tonight and a good way to end a tough tournament," Coal City coach Brad Schmitt said. "We battled or 4 days with low numbers because of the flu and we seemed to persevere. Everybody who played tonight stepped up and made a positive contribution for this win. Emily Halliday had a great night on both ends of the floor. I hope we can continue to play with confidence for the second half of the season."
Eureka 47,
Seneca 44
PERU — Ten points each from Jacey Lamboley and Chelsie McCormick led Seneca (9-9) Saturday at the St. Bede Lady Bruins Christmas Classic. Rylee Anderson had 7 points and Danielle Hauch 6.
"Had our chances to win this one," Seneca coach Barb Beck said.
SOPHOMORES
Minooka 39,
Romeoville 15
BATAVIA — Taylor Prieboy had 13 points and Keirli McLemen added 12 Saturday for the Indians (13-2) at the Batavia Tournament.
BOYS BASKETBALL
GSW 59,
LaMoille-Ohio 50
MARSEILLES — Gardner-South Wilmington was led by 16 points each from Brendan Elens and Kyle Robison Saturday morning at the Marseilles Holiday Tournament.
Dwight 68,
Reed-Custer 61
MARSEILLES — Blake Huseman's 20 points led the Trojans at the Marseilles Holiday Tournament. Caleb Boma was right behind with 19, and Riston Dircks had 13.
Logan Berkland's 12 points were high for Reed-Custer.
YOUTH WRESTLING
Sycamore Tournament
SYCAMORE — Griffin Zweeres, Paul Mitchell, Justin Mann and Eddie Wolf all won championships for the Morris Little Redskins Sunday at the tournament, which featured over 600 wrestlers from 20 teams. Also placing for Morris were Tyler Semlar, AJ Zweeres, Jack Gillen and Austin Howard in second, Troy Mutz and RJ Roderick in third, Bobby Osborn, Tristin Martin and TJ Webber in fourth and Bryce Claypool in sixth.