IHSA Boys State Wrestling: 10 Sauk Valley wrestlers to compete in Champaign this week

Last Saturday was an exciting time for 10 Sauk Valley area high school wrestlers. At the Class 1A Byron Sectional, nine locals advanced to the IHSA State Finals in Champaign this Thursday through Saturday. At the Class 2A Sycamore Sectional, one other local individual qualified for state over the weekend.

Here’s a look at the local talent competing downstate this week:

Newman seniors looking for third IHSA state wrestling medals

Newman senior Carter Rude is a four-time state qualifier, advancing to the IWCOA state meet as a freshman during the COVID season before qualifying for the IHSA State Finals in each of the past three seasons. Rude was the Class 1A sixth-place finisher at 126 pounds as a sophomore and the state runner-up as a junior at 138 last season.

This year, he hopes to end his high school wrestling career at the top of the 144-pound field.

“My goal every year has been to win state. I haven’t done it yet, but this year more so than ever because I’m a senior and this is the last shot,” Rude said. “[Finishing as the runner-up last year] made me do a lot more offseason work than I usually did. I’m usually in spring sports, but last year I decided not to just to focus more on wrestling. I was practicing multiple times a week all the way up until football started, and even then we were still practicing whenever we could – me and my teammates.”

Rude expects his previous experience to help with the nerves on the big stage.

“If it’s your first time at state, you have a lot of nerves going in,” he said. “Since it’s my fourth trip down, just coming out of the gates, I’ll be a little calmer, a little more in the right [head space] for wrestling.”

Newman senior Brady Grennan, another four-time state qualifier, should also be near the top of the Class 1A field at 132 pounds. He placed fifth at 126 last year, third at 120 in 2022, and third at 113 in 2021 at the IWCOA state meet as a freshman.

First-time qualifiers hoping to make noise, second-time qualifier looking for next step

Dixon freshman Jack Ragan (106), Newman sophomore Zhyler Hansen (126) and junior Daniel Kelly (157), Amboy senior Lucas Blanton (175), and Oregon freshman Nelson Benesh (113) and seniors Anthony Bauer (157) and Quentin Berry (190) are first-time IHSA individual state wrestling qualifiers.

Amboy sophomore Landon Blanton (120), the younger brother of Lucas, placed fourth at the Byron Sectional to qualify for state for the second time. Last year, he qualified as a freshman at 113 pounds and won his first-round match but did not place.

Also at the Byron Sectional, Bauer and Berry each took second, Kelly and Benesh each placed third, and Lucas Blanton and Hansen each finished fourth to secure their qualifying spots.

Ragan placed third at the Sycamore Sectional over the weekend to advance.

As a senior, Berry is shooting for the stars in his first and final opportunity to compete at state.

“My goal is to come out with the bracket,” Berry said. “It feels great [to be joined by Nelson and Anthony]. I’m going to have good practice partners down there [in Champaign]. I’ll be cheering them on, and they’ll be cheering me on.”

Hansen and Kelly are eager to see how they stack up against the heightened competition, and they’re excited about the future of the program, having qualified four wrestlers this year compared to two last year.

“I think that’s great [that we’re advancing four wrestlers to state]. Last year, we only sent two,” Hansen said. “I think this year we’re stepping it up and every year we can get more going and get the ball rolling. I want to, obviously, place [at state]. Probably just wrestle my best matches, wrestle six minutes every match and score some points.”

Kelly also is hoping for a podium finish, but he’s just going to take it one match at a time.

“I’m hoping to place and just do the best I can,” Kelly said. “We’ll see how it goes.”