Wrestling: Yorkville's Nick Stemmet advances to state championship match

Yorkville senior Nick Stemmet will wrestle for a state championship on Saturday night after pinning Fremd's Isiah Pettigrew in 3:28 in the Class 3A 195-pound semifinals on Friday night in Champaign.

Stemmet (45-0), fourth as a junior and second as a sophomore, will wrestle West Aurora's Dzhabrail Khurshidov (38-3), who pinned Willowbrook's Elijah Brockie in the other semifinal at 195.

"Being in the finals is a familiar feeling, and I feel incredibly confident with all the work I've put in over the years," Stemmet said. "I never had plans to be anywhere else."

Stemmet said his pressure on top has been a major source of confidence all year and he kept working the first two periods.

"Finally I got an opening in the third, which I capitalized," Stemmet said. "Adding another pin to the year is great momentum for tomorrow."

Stemmet advanced to the semifinals by virtue of his 5-3 decision over Oak Park's Daemyen Middlebrooks in the quarterfinals.

"It was the toughest match all year and I knew it would be," Stemmet said. "Middlebrooks is a great competitor and I'm glad I got the job done against him."

Stemmet said he has plenty of confidence going into Saturday.

"A lot of people see me as the guy to beat, but I still have the mindset that I have to go out and wrestle to win," Stemmet said. "Wrestling not to lose is a recipe for failure that many top guys fall into. I feel that if I wrestle up to my ability the finals will go how all of my matches have this year."

Earlier in the day, Yorkville's Ben Stemmet (220) was pinned by Barrington's Evan Roper in 5:48 in the quarterfinals. Stemmet came back to pin South Elgin's Mike Roath in 2:48 in wrestlebacks.

Oswego junior Cole Pradel saw his tournament come to a close Thursday. He was pinned by Huntley's David Ferrante in 1:26 in the 170-pound quarterfinals, then lost a 10-9 decision to Alton's Damien Jones in wrestlebacks.

In Class 1A Sandwich sophomore Braulio Flores remained alive in wrestlebacks with a 4-3 decision over Oakwood's Joe Lashuay at 132 pounds. Yorkville Christian sophomore Isaac Bourge was eliminated in wrestlebacks at 106, dropping a 13-0 major decision to Riverdale's Collin Altensey.