Wrestling: Newman’s Rude takes second at IHSA State Finals, Riverdale freshman Wainwright wins title

CHAMPAIGN – As the IHSA Wrestling Individual State Finals came to a close Saturday night at State Farm Center, a new crop of champions were crowned in Class 1A, 2A and 3A.

Newman junior Carter Rude, who placed sixth last year at 126 pounds, lost a 6-2 decision to Benton’s Mason Tieffel, finishing second in Class 1A at 138 pounds.

After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, Tieffel stacked reversals to take control of the match.

“I’m proud of it, but I’m not satisfied,” Rude said about the second-place finish. “I’m happy to be in the finals and I’m happy I got as far as I did, but I just want to get better. And I want to come back next year and get first.

“It’s going to take offseason work, it’s going to take hard work in the practice room. You don’t really know how much it’s going to take, you just know that it’s probably never going to be enough, so you’ve just gotta keep grinding.”

Although he came up just short of his ultimate goal, going from sixth in 2022 to second in 2023 was a big improvement for Rude – and the arrow continues to point upward ahead of his final high school season.

To the 138-pound junior, that progress is more about the mental aspect of wrestling than the physical one.

“I don’t know if it was my skill set – it was more of my mentality; just knowing that you can go out there and wrestle with anybody is a really big thing in wrestling,” Rude said.

As of now, legendary Newman coach Daryl Dieterle planning to retire after this season. If that scenario plays out, Rude is the last person to wrestle for a state title during his coaching career. It will be bittersweet for the 2023 state runner-up if that’s the case.

“It’s cool in one way that I’m the last one to do it, I’m the last the last person to make it to the finals for him, but in another way, it’s sad that I didn’t come home with a title, being in the finals,” Rude said.

Riverdale freshman Dean Wainwright won the 106-pound championship in Class 1A, pinning Illini Bluffs junior Hunter Robbins in 3:40.

“It feels good. It’s pretty exciting [to be a state champion],” Wainwright said. “That was the goal. I put some hard work into it, and eventually, I achieved it.”

Wainwright’s senior teammate and reigning 152-pound state champ, Collin Altensey, ended his high school wrestling career with a second-place finish at 160, losing an 11-3 major decision to El-Paso Gridley’s Dax Gentes.