Marian Central co-coach Jordan Blanton felt like the Hurricanes winning the Abe’s Rumble Tournament was a long time coming for the program.

Both he and co-coach Ryan Prater have looked for a signature team effort since taking over the program last season. Blanton felt winning Saturday, Dec. 30, in Springfield was finally that moment.

“I really wanted our guys to be able to perform well and do a great job and that’s exactly what happened,” Blanton said. “Every weight class stepped up at different times throughout the weekend.”

The Hurricanes defeated Tremont (57-18), Farmington (57-6), Clifton Central (53-20) and Morrison (55-18) in pool play before beating Lawrenceville (61-12), Leroy (52-18), Vandalia (46-28) and Petersburg PORTA (51-18) in the playoff. Marian held on to top defending Class 1A state champions Coal City 32-31 in the tournament championship.

Andrew Alvarado, Brayden Teunissen and Jimmy Mastny won all nine of their respective matches while Vance Williams, Max Astacio and Anthony Alanis won each of their respective eight matches. Mastny and Blanton appeared for the Hurricanes after a McHenry County judge temporarily lifted suspensions imposed by IHSA.

“I really wanted our guys to be able to perform well and do a great job and that’s exactly what happened. Every weight class stepped up at different times throughout the weekend.”

—  Jordan Blanton, Marian Central co-coach

Blanton felt like Marian’s performance at the tournament was something last season’s team missed. While the Hurricanes’ top wrestlers won their matches in duals, Blanton felt like other wrestlers could’ve done a better job of earning and saving points for the team.

That finally happened last week.

“To beat a program like that, that has that level of quality and that level of competitors, it was a huge win for our program,” Blanton said.

Marian will continue to be challenged as it enters the last month of the regular season with some tough tournaments and duals. Blanton is looking forward to seeing how the Hurricanes prepare for the postseason.

“We’ve been close, but we haven’t quite done it yet,” Blanton said. “Now we’ve done it, now we’ve proven that we can be the best, but that’s not enough either. We got to keep getting better, keep improving over these next five weeks.”

Warriors get good experience

McHenry coach Daniel Rohman felt like competing in last week’s Mid-States Wrestling Classic in Whitewater, Wisconsin, was a good way for the Warriors to see different competition.

The Warriors finished 12th as a team and four wrestlers placed after competing against teams from the Midwest they don’t usually face.

“I think it’s good for the kids to see that kind of stuff,” Rohman said. “It makes them a better, more-rounded wrestler for sure.”

Pedro Jimenez (144 pounds) and Aiden Fischler (165) were the top finishers for the Warriors, each taking second in their respective weights. Ryan Hanson (120) finished fourth and Aiden Schuldt (150) placed eighth.

Rohman was particularly proud of Schuldt after he broke his nose before McHenry’s dual against Prairie Ridge on Dec. 21 and regrouped to compete well in the tournament.

“For everything that he’s been through, that week leading up to it, I think he had a really nice tournament,” Rohman said.

Rohman also said he thought his inexperienced wrestlers got some good experience at the tournament. The Warriors will try to win a second straight Fox Valley Conference title in January, but Rohman’s more worried about getting his team ready for the playoffs next month.

“We’re just working hard to make sure we’re at our peak at the right time of the season,” Rohman said.

Red Raiders girls pick up strong finish

Huntley girls wrestling continued its strong start to the season with a second-place finish at the Hampshire Invitational on Dec. 21. The Red Raiders finished with 127 points, behind Oak Forest who had 196.

Aubrie Rohrbacher won at 130 pounds while Sara Willis took second at 235 and Addyson Wasielewski finished third at 105. Taylor Casey (110) and Jessica Olson (140) each took fifth while Grecia Garcia (145), Alyssa Aguilar (155) and Valeria Sanchez (115) each placed sixth.

“Everyone wrestled really well,” Huntley coach Gannon Kosowski said. “We’ve been looking really good.”

The Red Raiders had been without top wrestler Janiah Slaughter, who was out for a couple of weeks with an undisclosed injury. Kosowski is hoping to get Slaughter back in the lineup soon as Huntley looks to finish the season strong.

“I think they’re figuring it out,” Kosowski said. “The team trophies are nice and bring them together.”

Warriors girls keep rolling

McHenry girls wrestling flexed its muscle at the Bengal Bash on Dec. 21. Four Warriors won their events while two more finished runner-up.

Alexa Colin Garcia (110), Mackenzie Hendricks (130), Natalie Corona (140) and Madalynn Sima (155) each won their events while Kaitlynn Mann (105) and Bianca Mangalindan (115) each placed second.

McHenry coach James Buss thought the win at the Oak Forest tournament was an indication of things to come for the Warriors.

“I think we’re starting to peak at the right time,” Buss said. “We’re starting to do the right things outside of practice as well.”

Postseason assignments announced

The IHSA released assignments for the upcoming postseason.

For the boys in Class 1A, Alden-Hebron, Johnsburg, Marengo, Richmond-Burton and Marian Central will all compete in the Johnsburg Regional. Those teams will advance to the Byron Individual Sectional and the Newman Central Catholic Dual Team Sectional.

In Class 2A, Burlington Central, Crystal Lake Central, Prairie Ridge and Crystal Lake South will be at the Crystal Lake Central Regional while Harvard, Woodstock and Woodstock North will go to the Rochelle Regional. All those teams will try to advance to the Sycamore Individual Sectional and the Rochelle Dual Team Sectional.

Cary-Grove will compete in the Antioch Regional and then the Grayslake Central Individual Sectional and Deerfield Dual Team Sectional.

In Class 3A, Jacobs, Hampshire and Huntley will travel to the Huntley Regional, Dundee-Crown will be at the Stevenson Regional and McHenry is set to go to the Libertyville Regional. All those teams will compete in the Barrington Individual Sectional and a team sectional site that will be announced later.

The boys individual state tournament will take place Feb. 15-17 at State Farm Center in Champaign while the dual team state tournament is set for Feb. 23-24 at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

This season will be the first time the girls tournament will have regionals. Jacobs, Dundee-Crown, Cary-Grove, Crystal Lake Central, Crystal Lake South, Prairie Ridge, Hampshire, Harvard, Huntley, Johnsburg, Marengo, McHenry, Richmond-Burton, Woodstock co-op and Marian Central will each compete in the Conant Regional and Schaumburg Sectional. Burlington Central will compete in the Minooka Regional and the Genesco Sectional.

The state tournament will take place Feb. 23-24 at Grossinger Motors Arena.