Nine girls, seven boys qualify for state tournaments: Daily Chronicle wrestling roundup

Girls wrestling

Geneseo Sectional: At Geneseo, DeKalb’s Alex Gregorio-Perez and Kaneland’s Brooklyn Sheaffer and Angelina Gochis claimed titles as nine total wrestlers from Kaneland, Sycamore and DeKalb qualified for the state tournament in Bloomington in two weeks.

Gochis ran her record to 32-0 this year, winning by fall in all three of her matches at 110. The sophomore won a state championship last year.

“I think I wrestled pretty good,” Gochis said. “My first match I wrestled a little sloppy, but then I cleaned it up at the end to finish it and get the win.”

Sheaffer won the title at 125, opening with a pin, then winning by a major decision, then squeaking out a 1-0 win in the championship match. She got an escape in the final 7 seconds for the win against Jacksonville’s Alexis Seymour (25-4) to run her record to 41-2 on the year.

“She’s great on top,” Sheaffer said. “I was trying to find that dog inside of me. It finally came out toward the end, which felt great. I didn’t know if I was going to do it on time. Alexis is a great competitor. It felt good.”

Caitlyn Manier (fourth at 155) and Sadie Kinsella (second at 190) also qualified for state for the Knights.

Gregorio-Perez won the 105 title. She fell down 3-0 in the title match but won 10-5 against Sterling Newman’s Blair Grennan.

“I had to find it deep in me,” Gregorio-Perez said. “I pushed myself. I know what I’m capable of and I just trusted myself and my skills that I’ve been working on.”

Jade Weiss (third at 100) and Aarianna Bloyd (third at 235) also qualified for the Barbs. Resse Zimmer (120) and Lana Zimmerman (135) lost in the consolation semifinals, one win shy of qualifying in what’s referred to as the blood round.

Ema Durst (second at 140) and Jasmine Enriquez (fourth at 235) became the first two state qualifiers for Sycamore.

Durst was pinned by Morton’s Karen Canchola with four seconds left in the title match.

“I’ve worked for over two years and I just feel like all the hard work I’m putting in is finally showing,” Durst said. “I just feel very happy and very excited to even be in this position.

“I didn’t even make it to blood round (last year) so it’s definitely very exhilarating,“ she said. ”Coming off the mat to get to the finals there’s so much emotion. I’m very excited to be going to state.”

Boys wrestling

Class 2A Washington Sectional: At Washington, Sycamore qualified five for the state tournament including sectional champ Carson West, while Kaneland will send Alex Gochis to Champaign next week.

Sycamore freshman Carson West (40-4) trailed Washington junior Symon Woods 3-1 heading to the third period of the 106-pound championship bout, but an early escape, then a pair of takedowns in the final minute led to an 8-5 triumph.

“I knew he was going to go hard in tie ups and try and go for throw while I was going to try and counter with an under hook,“ West said. ”(Woods) is a big freestyle wrestling guy, so he’s good at throws, so I just had to stay low. I was looking for my sweep, but I just never got it. The second period (starting on top) I couldn’t turn him, but it was a good ride out. That was a big statement for me.

“I was the underdog, so this was a huge win for me.”

Kaneland senior Alex Gochis (138, 40-1), Sycamore junior Cooper Bode (175, 37-10) and freshman Collin Hughes (285, 30-8) each took second.

Sycamore junior Michael Olson (120) and sophomore Jayden Dohogne (138) each took fourth to reach state.

Class 3A Conant Sectional: At Hoffman Estates, DeKalb’s Sean Kolkebeck was the Barbs' lone state qualifier. Kolkebeck (34-9) finished second at 165, losing to St. Charles East’s Anthony Gutierrez in the title bout.

“He is a three-time qualifier, so it is good to see him headed back to state,” DeKalb coach Sam Hiatt said. “Making the finals today puts himself in a good spot in the bracket.”