Wrestling: McHenry’s Chris Moore helps Team Illinois win national titles

Chris Moore had a hunch Team Illinois had a chance to do something special in not only the greco-roman style but also freestyle at the 2023 Junior National Duals.

Illinois featured 11 IHSA state champions from this past season’s tournament, including Moore, and the 2023 McHenry graduate knew Illinois had the maturity to win both national titles for the first time since 2018.

Illinois executed Moore’s plan to perfection in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from June 13-17. The team took the greco-roman title, made weight and then came back to take the freestyle title, with Moore playing a critical role in both styles.

“I think we were more mature and took it more seriously than other years,” Moore said. “That was one of the main things that really helped us. We were mature enough to realize we’re here for one thing and one thing only, and that was to win.”

In the greco-roman tournament, Illinois won Pool A by beating California Silver (66-2), Minnesota Red (55-9), Georgia Red (47-17) and Colorado (55-8). Illinois went on to beat Pennsylvania (46-18), Oklahoma Blue (41-24) and Iowa (48-17) before taking down California Gold 44-21 to win the national title.

Illinois kept the momentum going in the freestyle tournament. Illinois beat Alabama (55-10), Louisiana (55-8), Georgia Red (42-19) and Ohio Scarlet (41-26) to win Pool C before taking down Idaho (48-16), Oklahoma Red (38-26), Iowa (38-26) and Ohio Scarlet (39-29) to win its second national title of the weekend.

“We just started dominating guys like greco, and I think that’s when everyone started realizing we’ve got a serious shot at that,” Moore said. “We carried that over to the next day with confidence, and it just went from there.”

Moore had an almost perfect weekend for both teams during his third stint on Team Illinois. He went 9-1 over the weekend, winning all of his matches by technical fall, and lost his lone match 6-5 by criteria after it ended in a tie.

“I think we were more mature and took it more seriously than other years. That was one of the main things that really helped us. We were mature enough to realize we’re here for one thing and one thing only, and that was to win.”

—  Chris Moore, 2023 McHenry alumnus

Moore will wrestle collegiately for Illinois and already has moved to Champaign and started working with the Illini coaching staff. One of his wrestling club coaches at Relentless Training Center, Jordan Blanton, thought Moore showed how much he’s already learned with his college team and how well he can compete.

“He wasn’t just competitive,” Blanton said. “He was dominant while he was out there, putting up a lot of points against the best wrestlers, against the best competition that there is. We believe that this is just going to be a continuation over time, and he’s going to continue to grow, continue to develop and continue to excel as he spends more time in that system.”

Moore also thought spending time with some of the best wrestlers in the state during the week prior preparing for the tournament was beneficial to his growth. The wrestlers were familiar with each other since many of them train together, but it still was good to spend time together where they could talk about how they like to approach different situations.

Competing against the nation’s best wrestlers also had its benefits. Moore used time in between his matches to watch how some of the best wrestlers competed and pick up on things he hopes he can bring with him to his collegiate career.

“I learned a lot about how they don’t force shots, that they set them up, and if it’s not there, they’re not going to force anything,” Moore said. “I really learned a lot from that, watching these guys who are maybe not necessarily better than me, according to the rankings they are better than me. I tend to watch those guys and see what they do and see why they’re No. 1 and No. 2 in the country.”

Moore will travel to Fargo, North Dakota, to compete in the junior national tournament July 15-23 and try to complete one more goal before he starts his collegiate career. He finished runner-up as a junior in the IHSA state championships and was a win shy of placing at last season’s national tournament.

Moore used those losses as motivation over the past year. He won the state title this February, now he’s ready to compete for a national title.

“It’s just crisping up my skills, making sure everything is tuned in, staying healthy,” Moore said. “It’s just being ready to wrestle whoever, whenever.”