Boys Wrestling: Joliet Catholic sends 11 to state through Quincy Sectional

QUINCY — Carson Weber’s memory of a quarterfinal loss in the Class 3A state wrestling tournament a year ago has never faded.

“I gassed out,” the Joliet West junior said. “That’s been living with me since then.”

He has the chance to erase the memory now.

Weber will make his third consecutive state appearance next week at State Farm Center in Champaign after dominating the 144-pound field at the Class 3A Quincy Sectional, scoring a 9-0 major decision over Pekin’s RaMez Watson in Saturday’s title match.

Weber did not allow a single point in three matches, scoring a 15-0 technical fall over Plainfield Central’s Mattias Hautzinger in the quarterfinals and leading Lincoln-Way East’s Kevin Byrne 9-0 before earning a pin in 2:50.

“I wanted to dominate the sectional,” Weber said. “I achieved my goal.”

So did a trio of Joliet Catholic wrestlers.

Led by 120-pounder Jason Hampton, the Hilltoppers had three sectional champions, five sectional runner-ups and three third-place finishers in their first season at the Class 3A level. A year ago, Joliet Catholic was the state runner-up as a team in Class 2A last season and produced seven state medalists and three champions.

Hampton, who won the sectional title with an 8-5 victory over Romeoville’s Brian Farley, finished fourth at 120 pounds last season.

“More close matches, better kids,” Hampton said of the challenge of wrestling in Class 3A this season.

That included being tied with Farley at four in the third period of their title match. Hampton took the lead with a takedown with 51 seconds remaining and punctuated the match with another takedown in the closing seconds.

“I just had to keep going, keep pushing the pace,” Hampton said. “I know he couldn’t wrestle from tie-ups that well. I liked the challenge.”

At 190 pounds, Joliet Catholic junior Nico Ronchetti took control of the title match from the start and scored a 19-6 technical fall over Plainfield North’s Leonardo Tovar. Ronchetti took down Tovar three times in the first period and had a three-point nearfall to build a 9-2 lead. Tobvar scored an escape and a takedown with 14 seconds remaining in the second period to maintain a little hope, but Ronchetti extinguished that at the start of the third period.

Beginning the final period on top, Ronchetti recorded a two-point nearfall and a three-point nearfall in the first 1:17.

At 285, top-ranked Hilltoppers senior Dillan Johnson didn’t get to square off with second-ranked Jonathan Rulo of Belleville East in the finals as Rulo took a medical forfeit. Johnson had pinned his first two opponents in 59 and 44 seconds.

Yorkville had three wrestlers win sectional titles and two others qualify for state. Jack Ferguson defeated Joliet Catholic’s Connor Cumbee 5-3 at 150 pounds, while Ryder Janeczko earned a 12-1 major decision over Belleville East’s Terence Willis at 157 and Luke Zook scored an 8-1 victory over Bradley-Bourbonnais’ AJ Mancilla at 175.

Plainfield North’s Maddox Garbis (113), Minooka’s Cale Stonitsch (132), Lockport’s Justin Wardlow and Plainfield South’s Matt Janiak (215) also won sectional titles.

The state tournament begins Thursday with the championship round scheduled for next Saturday night.

Class 3A Quincy Sectional

Championship matches

106 — Normal’s Caden Correll dec. Joliet Catholic’s Luke Foster, 13-6.

113 — Plainfield North’s Maddox Garbis dec. Andrew’s Nadeem Haleem, 6-2

120 — Joliet Catholic’s Jason Hampton dec. Romeoville’s Brian Farley, 8-5.

126 — Andrew’s Max Siegel dec. Joliet Catholic’s Adante Washington, 4-3.

132 — Minooka’s Cale Stonitsch dec. Joliet Catholic’s Damien Flores, 1-0.

138 — Lockport’s Justin Wardlow major dec. Lincoln-Way West’s Luke Siwinski, 13-3.

144 — Joliet West’s Carson Weber major dec. Pekin’s RaMez Watson, 9-0.

150 — Yorkville’s Jack Ferguson dec. Joliet Catholic’s Connor Cumbee, 5-3.

157 — Yorkville’s Ryder Janeczko major dec. Belleville East’s Terence Willis, 12-1.

165 — Quincy’s Owen Uppinghouse dec. Joliet Catholic’s Max Corral, 3-0.

175 — Yorkville’s Luke Zook dec. Bradley-Bourbonnais’ AJ Mancilla, 8-1.

190 — Joliet Catholic’s Nico Ronchetti major dec. Plainfield North’s Leonardo Tovar, 19-6.

215 — Plainfield South’s Matt Janiak p. Normal’s Cooper Caraway, 3:00.

285 — Joliet Catholic’s Dillan Johnson medical forfeit over Belleville East’s Jonathan Rulo.

State qualifiers

Joliet Catholic — Luke Foster, Fr., 106 (second); Max Cumbee, Fr., 113 (third); Jason Hampton, Soph., 120 (first); Adante Washington, Fr., 126 (second); Damien Flores, Sr., 132 (second); Elias Gonzalez, Jr., 138 (third); Connor Cumbee, Sr., 150 (second); Luke Hamiti, Soph., 157 (third); Max Corral, Sr., 165 (second); Nico Ronchetti, Jr., 190 (first); Dillan Johnson, Sr., 285 (first).

Joliet Central — Charles Walker, Jr., 215 (fourth).

Joliet West — Carson Weber, Jr., 144 (first); Cohen Weber, Fr., 126 (fourth); Wyatt Schmitt, Sr., 285 (third).

Lincoln-Way East — Kaidge Richardson, Soph., 126 (third); Tyson Zvonar, Jr., 132 (fourth); Dominic Abeja, Sr., 150 (fourth); Rory Moran, Jr., 165 (fourth).

Lincoln-Way West — Shane Stream, Fr., 113 (fourth); Luke Siwinski, Jr., 138 (second); Jase Salin, Sr., 150 (third); Nick Kavooras, Sr., 285 (fourth).

Lockport — Liam Zimmerman, Jr., 132 (third); Justin Wardlow, Soph., 138 (first); Durango Valles, Jr., 165 (third).

Minooka — Cale Stonitsch, Sr., 132 (first).

Oswego — Brayden Swanson, Jr., 138 (fourth).

Plainfield East — Aiden Villar, Sr., 120 (fourth).

Plainfield North — Maddox Garbis, Jr., 113 (first); Leonardo Tovar, Sr., 190 (second).

Plainfield South — Matt Janiak, Sr., 215 (first).

Romeoville — Brian Farley, Sr., 120 (second); Mason Gougis, Sr., 175 (fourth).

Yorkville — Dominick Coronado, Sr., 144 (fourth); Jack Ferguson, Jr., 150 (first); Ryder Janeczko, Jr., 157 (first); Luke Zook, Jr., 175 (first); Luke Chrisse, Jr., 190 (third); Ben Alvarez, Sr., 215 (third).