Coal City’s Brody Widlowski, Cooper Morris named Wrestlers of the Year

It was quite a year for Coal City wrestling. The perennial powerhouse took first place at the IHSA Dual Team State Finals in Class 1A on March 1, for the second time in three years, just a week after having a school-record seven wrestlers place at individual state.

Two of those individual medalists, junior Brody Widlowski and sophomore Cooper Morris, made it all the way to their respective Class 1A championship matches before earning runner-up finishes. As a result of this success, Widlowski and Morris have been named the Daily Journal’s 2025 Boys Wrestlers of the Year.

Widlowski’s second-place finish at 138 pounds gave him his third straight state medal to start his career. He placed fourth at 113 pounds as a freshman and second last year at 126 pounds.

His season was put in jeopardy when he suffered a broken hand late in the season, but he managed to come back for regionals, then take aim at state.

“It was definitely a setback for sure,” Widlowsi said of his injury. “I was trying to get work in, going to the gym every day, trying to keep my cardio up for when I came back, to not have a later setback or not come back as strong, to come back stronger.”

He did come back strong, winning regional and sectional titles on his way to state silver and a final record of 31-1. Now a three-time regional champ, sectional champ and All-Stater, Widlowski said he is motivated to be right back in the championship match as a senior next year.

“These losses definitely motivate me,” he said. “There’s all the hard work in the offseason to do, and other stuff to do to be back next year and hopefully come up as the champion.”

This was Morris' second trip to state, having previously placed fifth at 113 pounds last year as a freshman. After replacing Widlowski at 126 this season, he picked up regional and sectional titles before advancing to the final match in Champaign.

“Being in the grand march and being in the finals with my teammate Brody made me feel accomplished with the hard work that put me here,” Morris said.

He finished the season with a record of 42-6, with four of those losses coming to state champion Tyson Waughtel of Vandalia.

While Widlowski was a part of the team that took home gold in 2023, Morris had his first chance to be a state champion this year. He said it was a great way to end the season.

“It was pretty awesome being in the finals and being champions,” he said. “I was an eighth grader when they won it last time, and it was an amazing experience being up in the stands, so being a part of it really gave me some joy.”

The Coalers went into team state as the third-ranked team in Class 1A. They beat second ranked Marian Central in the semifinals and top ranked Vandalia in the finals, avenging a loss to Vandalia in the semifinals at ABE’s Rumble back in December.

Widlowski said getting that win back was something the team wanted to do, but it was still bittersweet to end the season.

“We came up short at ABE’s, so that made the guys really lock in and get serious for the state finals for team,” he said. “We were all a family this year, so it was really fun and was sad to see it end.”

Morris said that the team tournaments in general were always fun to compete in, providing him with some of his favorite memories of the season.

“When we won the Larry Gassen Dual Team Tournament, we were the only 1A school there and we dominated that tournament,” he said. “It’s just all the fun experiences with my teammates at tournaments, at hotels and the practice room.”

Head coach Mark Masters said the expectation that he has for his wrestlers is for them to put themselves in to win as much as possible regardless of the stage or level of competition. He said they can do this by exhibiting positive attitude and effort above all else, something Widlowski and Morris do well.

“These guys exemplify that,” Masters said. “A big thing with these guys coming back next year is that I expect them to be leaders of the program and to be an example, be a benchmark, that this is where we want to be. We want to have 14 guys in the state championship match.”