Wrestling: Yorkville, Yorkville Christian set for big finish at IHSA Dual Team State

The manner in which Ryder Janeczko and Yorkville’s wrestling team finished last season only left them hungry for more.

Janeczko, Yorkville’s sophomore 145-pounder, missed weight at regionals as a freshman. He went on to win a fresh-soph state championship. Yorkville’s team advanced to the Team Dual Sectional, where it lost to Lockport. Ten of 12 sectional qualifiers, and all five state qualifiers, not including 24-match winner Janeczko, returned this season from that young group.

“Our entire team, we’ve been pretty dialed in,” Janeczko said.

Indeed, the Foxes are poised for a big finish to a wildly successful season.

Yorkville (17-5 in duals) has won conference and regional titles, and had three All-Staters this past weekend at the Individual State Tournament with 220-pound champion Ben Alvarez, Luke Zook and Hunter Janeczko. And, after a 35-23 win over Edwardsville in the Dual Team Sectional on Tuesday the Foxes are headed to their first Dual Team State Tournament since taking second place in Class 2A in 2012.

Yorkville will wrestle York (24-9) in a Class 3A quarterfinal at 5 p.m. Friday at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. The semifinals and finals are Saturday. Defending Class 1A state champion Yorkville Christian (20-5) is also headed back to Bloomington, and will wrestle Auburn (26-3) in a 1A quarterfinal.

“We felt we had the ability to get downstate last year and came up one dual short. We returned almost everybody and as a group we knew what our expectations were and they bought in,” Yorkville coach Jake Oster said. “We increased our schedule, we had those tough matches against top quality opponents throughout the year, we knew it would better our situation for down the road and ultimately it paid off.”

Janeczko, a state qualifier at 145 last weekend, had a key pin that gave Yorkville the lead for good against Edwardsville, and did it wrestling up at 152.

“I was warming up, went out and my coaches told me I’m going to wrestle at 152 and we needed the pin,” Janeczko said. “I got mentally ready and got the job done.”

The Foxes’ opponent Friday, York, is making its first-ever state appearance. Yorkville and York have not wrestled head-to-head, but they were both at The Flavin in December at DeKalb.

“They had five state qualifiers as well, have a couple good guys we will match our good guys with,” Oster said. “Looking at duals [on Tuesday] and box scores and seeing where they have been, I like where we’re at. "

Should Yorkville win Friday, the Foxes would face the winner of No. 2-ranked St. Charles East and defending 3A champion and third-ranked Mount Carmel in a semifinal Saturday morning. Marmion appears the team to beat on the other side of the bracket.

“State championships are great, getting a trophy would be awesome but the first thing we got to do is win on Friday to get in position to do both,” Oster said.

Yorkville Christian, meanwhile, is back in Bloomington after winning the school’s first state championship last year.

The Class 1A second-ranked Mustangs got here by beating third-ranked Riverdale 42-28 in Tuesday’s sectional meet.

Aiden Larsen, who had to injury default in his last match at Individual State, returned from a broken nose to wrestle Tuesday with a protective mask. State runner-up Ty Edwards was under the weather all week, too, but the Mustangs prevailed, getting a big pin by Tristan Gleason at 132 pounds before Noah Dial sealed the deal with a pin.

“We went about it a little bit differently. Other guys played a role and that’s what you to do to get it done,” Yorkville Christian coach Mike Vester said. “We’ve talked about being that piece of the puzzle, and all being accountable.”

Yorkville Christian’s quarterfinal opponent, Auburn, placed fourth in Class 1A in 2020. Its headliner is Anthony Ruzik, who won the 120-pound state championship in three overtimes over Edwards of Yorkville Christian last weekend. Cole Edie took second at heavyweight. Yorkville Christian’s had two runner-ups in Champaign in 170-pounder Jackson Gillen and Edwards, with Tyler Martinez third at 160.

“Auburn, they got some real tough kids,” Vester said. “There is no easy path, but realistically we’re battle-tested. I kind of joke that I put these kids in harm’s way all the time with our schedule. We just keep being in those situations. They don’t take anybody for granted, they respected Riverdale, they respect Auburn. These kids have fearlessness, but not carelessness.”

Yorkville Christian would face the IC Catholic Prep-Fithian Oakwood winner in a Saturday semifinal should they win Friday, with No. 1-ranked Coal City awaiting on the other side of the bracket.

Vester said a repeat state championship has always been looked at as a realistic goal, but it’s been a grind to get here with a rugged schedule and a rash of injuries and illness earlier in the season.

“We were hopeful that we could make a run at it, but a lot of things pointed to a difficult path,” Vester said. “It’s like Michael Jordan always talked about, that winning one title is tough but repeating is so much more difficult. It has made our guys have to battle for that much more. With the number of seniors we have it would be extra special to do it. It would not only be historic, but meaningful to say good-bye to these guys like that.”