Luke Zook becomes Yorkville’s all-time wins leader with 164th victory: Kendall County wrestling notes

Luke Zook is in some lofty company.

Yorkville’s 175-pound senior picked up his 164th career win Saturday.

With it, Zook passed Nick Stemmet – a 2020 undefeated state champion – for the most all-time wins in Yorkville program history.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what to say,” Zook said. “I guess I’ve been wrestling my whole life and it’s starting to pay off now. It feels great going into the state series, a definite confidence-booster.”

It is the latest feather in the cap for Zook, who took third place at 170 at the 2023 Class 3A individual state meet and fifth at 175 last year as a junior.

Zook is currently ranked second in the state by Illinois Matmen at 170.

“Luke is a guy that came in and he has been right there as one of the best guys in the state since he was a freshman,” Yorkville coach Jake Oster said. “Him and Nick had a similar pedigree coming in. It’s a testament to his consistency on varsity every year. You have close to 40 wins every year, and he has a lot more to go.”

On the season Zook has a 31-2 record, his only losses coming to nationally-ranked wrestlers.

He dropped a 7-2 decision to No. 1-ranked Aaron Stewart of Warren in the final of the Cheesehead Invitational earlier this month.

“It’s good to feel him out,” Zook said. “We have different techniques of wrestling. You see how each person wrestles, it was good to find out his weaknesses.”

Oster is feeling good about his team heading into the season’s stretch run.

Yorkville is 20-3 in duals, ranked fifth in Class 3A and has been as high as third. Zook and Jack Ferguson are both ranked second in the state at their weight classes with 31-2 records and Ryder Janeczko is 20-4, but the Foxes have depth up and down the lineup, too.

“We’re going to be right there with the best to win a state title,” Oster said. “Every single guy is above .500. I’m not sure if we’ve had that this late in the year.”

Yorkville wrestles Plainfield North Thursday, and Saturday is at Lincoln-Way for the Illini Classic with the likes of No. 1-ranked Marist, St. Charles East and one of the top teams from California.

“We are excited for the postseason,” Oster said.

Plano enjoying ‘year to remember’

Plano wrestling coach Dwayne Love anticipated that this year would be one to remember, with the collection of individuals in his program.

It has not disappointed.

The Reapers are 24-2 in dual meets with a little over two weeks left in the regular season. Plano’s lone loss in Kishwaukee River Conference duals came to Richmond-Burton by two points.

“These guys have worked hard, they have put the time in during the summer, gone to summer wrestling camps,” Love said. “We knew these guys were going to be the ones to put the extra effort in. We knew this would be a year to remember. They are all good kids. They are hard working, they hold each other accountable.”

Caidan Ronning is the captain of the team, currently at 27-0 on the season.

“He has done a really good job of keeping everybody motivated, keeping everybody grounded and understanding that it’s one meet at a time,” Love said. “He is keeping everybody on track and being the captain that he is supposed to be.”

Ronning is far from the only Reaper enjoying stellar seasons.

Richie Amakiri is 29-0, Antoine Gilford 30-0, Luis Ballesteros 28-2, Trevion Gilford 25-6, Shane Downs 24-6 and Oscar Cervantes, wrestling up a couple of weights, is 23-6.

Heavyweight Travis Mast is 24-7, and Rider Larson is 14-5 and sophomore Ryley Soloff, wrestling at 126, is 18-9.

“We’re getting production out of all these kids,” Love said. “We’ve pinned 144 kids and only been pinned 29 times.”

Plano wrestles Woodstock and Woodstock North Thursday at Sandwich, then wrestles Sandwich Jan. 30.

Yorkville Christian second at Morton

Yorkville Christian took second place at the Liz Schnarr Morton Invitational at Morton High School over the weekend. The Mustangs did so despite missing two starters, including returning state qualifier Robby Nelson.

Freshman RJ Festerling won the 106-pound title and Aiden Larsen took first at 120.

Christian Sandoval, Ryan Alaimo, Adrian Wadas-Luis, Owen Curran, Isaac Gray, Jackson Allen and Garrett Tunnell were other medalists.

“I wanted more strong finishes later in matches. One of the goals is to get guys believing that they can do things in the third period, to put their foot on the gas and extend the lead,” Yorkville Christian coach Mike Vester said.

“Part of it is new people. We have a lot of new starters and the other thing is believing in yourselves, trying to keep them uplifted. We have always done a good job of getting guys ready for the stretch run.”

Festerling, a freshman, improved to 20-2 on the season with his victories. He missed two tournaments adjusting to weight management, but Vester said has been dominant with his closest match in the last month a 4-2 finals win at Morton.

“He is a tough, scrappy kid,” Vester said. “I met him in the offseason, he came to a couple camps. The work ethic is there. He was wrestling with a bad elbow, got a takedown, was able to finish it off, super solid in semifinals, got a tech fall against a state-ranked kid. It shows his potential.”

Larsen, ranked second in the state, improved to 25-3.

“He has turned into a fantastic leader, really embraced all of it,” Vester said. “He’s been leading on trips, takes care of room assignments, gets guys warmed up. If a guy is struggling with a mental approach, he’s there for them.

“He has three state medals but he probably should have medaled higher. His first year was the only year he was healthy. I would love to see him get to the March. I think he deserves that. I know he’s capable of doing that.”

Sandwich celebration

Sandwich High School will celebrate 1,000 victories on at 5 p.m. Thursday as part of the Indians' meet with Plano, Woodstock and Woodstock North. Former coaches and wrestlers are invited to take part in the celebration.