L-P’s Kiely Domyancich gets redemption at Geneseo Sectional

GENESEO – La Salle-Peru junior Kiely Domyancich stood up off the mat and turned toward her teammates in the crowd with her arm raised and a big smile on her face.

It was a celebration of redemption for Domyancich.

Last year, Domyancich was upset in a semifinal wrestleback by an opponent she’d beaten four times, leaving her a win shy of a trip to the IHSA State Tournament.

On Saturday, Domyancich dominated the semifinal wrestleback, beating Lincoln-Way Central’s Aubrey Barnes by 20-2 technical fall to qualify for state Feb. 28-March 1 at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

Domyancich is one of five Illinois Valley wrestlers to qualify along with Ottawa’s Juliana Thrush, Streator’s Lily Gwaltney and Seneca’s Catalina Pacheco and Sammie Greisen.

“I definitely feel like last year made me better this year,” Domyancich said. “I feel like if I didn’t have that experience of not going to state last year, I wouldn’t have worked as hard.”

After getting her hand raised after the semifinal wrestleback, Domyancich went up into the stands where her mom met her halfway down the stairs for a hug.

“Her and my dad drive me two hours up to my travel club just so I can get a good practice,” Domyancich said. “I felt like I owed it to her to at least advance to state.”

Domyancich placed third in the 115-pound class and built a 12-2 lead in the third-place match before pinning Galesburg’s Ellana Juarez in 5:38.

“I just stayed aggressive,” Domyancich said. “I didn’t let her throw me around. I kind of went in like ‘I’m going to win this match’, and I did.”

Thrush was the area’s lone sectional champion, claiming the 235 bracket for the third year in a row.

“It feels good,” Thrush said. “I had expectations for this. I didn’t know if I could get it, and I did, so it was a great outcome.

“I’ve done it for the past two years, so I feel like I would have broken a tradition if I didn’t.”

Thrush, who placed sixth in state last year as a sophomore, dominated the sectional, pinning all three of her opponents.

“I just went on the mat and had fun,” Thrush said. “For the past couple years, I felt like I didn’t really have fun. It was more taking it seriously. Definitely today I’ve had more fun.”

She pinned Moline’s Kirsten Kpoto in 29 seconds in the title match.

“I did a bear hug, I had both double unders and then I tripped her to take her down,” Thrush said. “Then she just went to her back.”

Gwaltney earned a return trip to state by defeating Morris senior Maggie Gordon by 7-0 decision in the semifinal wrestleback before winning by 24-7 technical fall in the third-place match over Pekin’s Tessa Donaldson, who beat Gwaltney multiple times this season, including at the Metamora Regional.

“It feels good because [Donaldson] has beaten me a lot, and I didn’t really think I would be able to beat her,” Gwaltney said. “I just believed in myself more and tried having more of the power.”

Greisen also is returning to state, earning her third trip with a third-place finish at 135.

Greisen won by 18-0 technical fall over Joliet Central’s Izabel Barrera in the semifinal wrestleback before recording a pin in 48 seconds in the third-place match against Sherrard’s Nadia Anderson.

“My second match [Friday] I don’t think I did too great, but coming back today and beating a girl [Barrera] who’s beaten me twice this season is pretty good,” Greisen said. “My coach definitely helped encourage me to not get in the wrong headspace before the match. I just went out and did what I know how to do.”

Pacheco is making her first trip to state after starting to wrestle just over a year ago.

She won by fall in the semifinal wrestleback and by 9-8 decision in the third-place match.

“It’s really exciting,” Pacheco said. “I’ve only been wrestling for like 13 months now, so I never thought I would make it to state so fast. [It took] a lot of hard work and committing my life to wrestling.

“I was really nervous [my first sectional match]. I lost, and after that I cried a bit, let it all out and learned from my loss because I can’t just crumble after one loss. I had to pick myself back up.”

Area wrestlers who had their seasons end in wrestlebacks were L-P’s Kalista Frost (100), Ottawa’s Jaiyden Provance (135) and Ava Weatherford (145), Streator’s Addison Yacko (105), Putnam County-Hall’s Bailey Herr (190) and Ella Irwin (235), Princeton’s Izzy Gibson (140), Sandwich’s Lydia Cartwright (110), Norah Vick (115) and Jazmin Rios (145) and Somonauk’s Rylie Donahue (125).