Sean Kolkebeck wasn’t a varsity wrestler last year as a freshman. This year, he’s headed to state.
DeKalb’s sophomore 160-pounder took third Saturday at the Class 3A Conant Sectional, earning a spot in the state tournament starting Thursday in Champaign.
“He didn’t even make it to fresh-soph state,” coach Sam Hiatt said. “He’s improved a lot, and it’s great to see him make that jump this year.”
After dropping his opener, Kolkebeck won his last five matches, including his first four along the consolation bracket with pins.
Joining him in Champaign are Kaden Klapprodt (fourth at 106), Austin Martin (second at 145) and Jacob Luce (second at 152).
Luce got a big semifinal win against Schaumburg’s Caden Kirchner, who had only two losses all year entering the match. Luce escaped with a 4-3 win.
“Those guys all wrestled tough,” Hiatt said. “All year long the kids have gotten better and better. You always want more, but we wrestled tough. We’re excited for next week.”
Class 1A Oregon Sectional: At Oregon, after sending four wrestlers to the Class 1A Oregon Sectional, only one Genoa-Kingston Cog was left standing for a trip to the IHSA State Tournament next weekend in Champaign.
Julian Torres pinned Byron’s Josh Harris at the buzzer to end the first period in their 195-pound blood-round match to earn a state berth, then finished off the sectional in style with a pin of Orion’s Maddux Anderson in 5:11 in the third-place bout.
“I’ve got to give everything to my coaches and teammates. They really pushed me through,” Torres said. “I don’t want to lie, I kind of don’t do as well in higher-stake matches, and all my teammates and coaches were around me saying, ‘You got this, go do it.’ I’m just really grateful for all of them.”
Torres won his first-round bout Friday by pin, then won a 6-4 decision in the quarterfinals. But he lost his semifinal match via pin on Saturday morning and was forced to win the consolation semifinal against Harris to secure his ticket to state.
The undersized Torres said he has gotten good at reading opponents and adjusting to their styles.
“The key was really just taking everything that’s given to me this weekend,” Torres said. “I weigh 177 wrestling 195, and there are so many different type of styles I go against, and I just feel really confident about what they give me, and I can do everything I can.”
Shayden McNew lost in the blood round at 113 pounds for the Cogs, falling by pin to Riverdale’s Tharren Jacobs after forcing overtime. Teammate Brady Brewick lost in the 152-pound consolation semifinals by pin against Stillman Valley’s Jack Seacrist, and Xander Gleissner lost his first two matches at 170.
Torres now carries the torch in Champaign for G-K, and he says he feels confident knowing that he qualified for state out of a tough sectional.
“Next weekend, I just have to work hard and keep my head up,” Torres said. “I’ve been talking to my coaches and friends, and they don’t call it just qualifying for state when we make it in this hard of a sectional. They tell me I’m placing no matter what, so I’ve just got to give it everything I have. This state lineup is full of beasts, so I just have to keep my head up and keep going.”
Girls wrestling
Geneseo Sectional: At Geneseo, DeKalb had two qualifiers for the state tournament, while Kaneland will send one wrestler to Bloomington in two weeks.
Competing for the first time, the Barbs will send Alex Gregorio-Perez to state after she took second at 105, recording pins in all three of her wins before getting pinned in the final. Reese Zimmer (115) won a wild 15-11 match in the consolation semifinal to qualify for state before dropping the third-place match.
For the Knights, Brooklyn Sheaffer was third at 120. She had two pins on the day, including in her blood-round win to ensure the trip to state.
Girls basketball
Genoa-Kingston 46, Richmond-Burton 20: At Genoa, the Cogs opened the postseason with a win in the Class 2A Marengo Regional first-round contest.
Bryce Boylan scored 24 for the Cogs, and Emily Trzynka scored nine.
The Cogs will face Marengo at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Ashton-Franklin Center 56, Indian Creek 18: At Ashton, the season ended for the Timberwolves in the first round of the Class 1A Amboy Regional.
Isabella Turner put up 12 points and 16 rebounds for the Timberwolves.
Forreston 42, Hiawatha 6: At Forreston, the season ended for the Hawks in the first round of the Class 1A Amboy Regional.
Men’s basketball
NIU 81, Western Michigan 53: At DeKalb, six Huskies scored in double figures as the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team overwhelmed Western Michigan.
Zarique Nutter scored a game-high 18 points, while Anthony Crump had 11 points and a career-best 14 rebounds for his second career double-double. Kaleb Thornton also had a double-double with 10 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds.
Harvin Ibarguen just missed a double-double with career-high-tying 13 points and a career-best nine rebounds, David Coit also scored 13, and Darweshi Hunter added 11 points. This was the first time NIU has had six double-figure scorers in a game since Dec. 14, 2016, against Olivet Nazarene.
“Great bounce-back for the program,” said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. “Coming off the Ohio game, we were highly disappointed about not finishing plays, that game didn’t sit well with myself or our team. We wanted to come out and play the right way. When you are at home you have to perform well, you have to play well, you want to give your fans a reason to come back, and we were tired of losing at home, especially in conference play.”
Women’s basketball
Ohio 72, NIU 71: At Athens, the Bobcats knocked off the Huskies in the final seconds.
NIU (12-11, 4-8 MAC) trailed 70-67 with 0:20 left in regulation when A’Jah Davis put in a layup to get NIU within one. Ohio’s Caitlyn Kroll missed two free throws on the Bobcats’ next possession, opening the door for the Huskies to take back the lead. Chelby Koker was fouled with 12 seconds left, which put NIU in the bonus. She made both free throws to give NIU a 71-70 lead.
The Bobcats took back the advantage with 2.1 seconds left. Abby Garnett threw a lob from the sideline that Yaya Felder put in to make the score 72-71. With 1.6 seconds to go, NIU had one last chance to win it. Davis caught a pass from Laura Nickel and put up a layup that was short. She got her own rebound and put up another shot before the horn went off, but it rolled out, and Ohio hung on to win.
“We got the look we wanted, and it didn’t roll in,” said head coach Lisa Carlsen. “I feel bad for our kids. It was a hard-fought game on both sides. We had contributions at different times from different people and did a great job, and unfortunately we came up short.”
Davis led NIU with 22 points and had a game-high 17 rebounds. It was her 16th double-double of the season and her third straight game with over 15 rebounds.
Girls bowling
Dundeee-Crown Sectional: At Carpentersville, Kaneland sophomore Emma Pernice rolled a 1,341 to advance to the state tournament.
Sycamore and DeKalb did not advance any bowlers out of the sectional.
Boys basketball
Hinckley-Big Rock 60, Beecher 55: At Shabbona, Martin Ledbetter scored 32 points to power the Royals to the win in the Indian Creek shootout.
Ledbetter also had 15 rebounds for the Royals (23-7), Landon Roop had 15 points, and Ben Hintzsche had five points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
Morris 80, Indian Creek 40: At Shabbona, Logan Schrader and Jeffrey Probst each scored 11 for the Timberwolves.
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