Boys wrestling: JCA’s Dillan Johnson, Coal City’s Landin Benson win state titles

CHAMPAIGN – For anyone who wants to see Joliet Catholic Academy’s Dillan Johnson wrestle, you better get there early and pay attention, because the match will most likely be over in the first two minutes.

Johnson (39-1) won his fourth straight state title Saturday, pinning Hinsdale Central’s Marko Ivanisevic in 1:58 to win the Class 3A 285-pound title. The last two seasons, Johnson won the 2A title, but the Hilltoppers moved up to 3A this year. Johnson’s pin was his fourth of the tournament, all of them in the first round.

“My goal was to win my fourth title,” Johnson said. “I didn’t make it a goal to win in the first round of every match.”

The normally business-like Johnson maybe showed more emotion in winning this season than he did in the previous three combined, jumping after winning and even cracking a smile or two while on the medal stand.

“It’s the fourth one,” he explained. “It’s what I was working the entire season for. I wanted to finish strong and try to get it done. I know it’s probably my last match in this building [University of Illinois’ State Farm Center].

“We still have team duals to go, but as far as a high school individual, this was it.”

Johnson wasted no time in taking a 2-0 after taking down Ivanisevic, but Ivanisevic fought valiantly against being pinned. In the last 10 seconds of the first period, Johnson finally got some leverage and turned him over, getting the pin with :02 left in the first.

While Johnson’s victory was almost expected, the other area state champion’s win was not.

In fact, Coal City junior Landin Benson, who won the Class 1A 165-pound title over Tremont’s Bowden Delaney via a 3-0 decision, doesn’t consider wrestling his best sport.

“I have always been a big football guy,” said Benson, who went 26-2 this season and won the state title after running for more than 1,000 yards and helping lead the Coalers to the playoffs. “Wrestling has been my second sport. Maybe wrestling isn’t so bad, now that I think about it.”

After a scoreless first period, Benson started in the down position for the second period and quickly earned an escape for a 1-0 lead. Near the end of the second, Benson got a takedown to move ahead 3-0. He was in the up position for the third period and never let Delaney escape.

“I wasn’t about to let him up,” Benson said. “I knew that I had to wrestle the hardest two minutes I could. Then we went out of bounds, and I had to do it for 40 seconds. I knew he was a tough wrestler, but I gave it all I could and I am so happy.”

Lockport sophomore Justin Wardlow took second for the second year in a row, dropping a 6-3 decision to Marmion’s Zach Stewart. Last season, Wardlow won in the semifinals, but broke his elbow during the win and lost the championship by injury default. This year, he went up against Stewart’s unorthodox style of dropping to his knees when both wrestlers were in the neutral position, making it nearly impossible to get a takedown against him.

“It was nice to see Justin be able to wrestle in the title match,” Lockport coach Jameson Oster said. “After being hurt last year, he had another great year and just fell a little short. I am certainly not discouraged by this loss. He’s a two-time finalist as a sophomore, so we know he can compete with anybody.

“He has a lot of natural skills and ability. Now we need to be able to get to our offense against anyone and put the pressure on them instead of reacting to them.”

JCA sophomore Jason Hampton also lost a tightly-fought match in the finals, finishing second in Class 3A at 120 pounds to Maine South’s Teddy Flores via a 6-5 decision.

“It’s not how I wanted it to end,” Hampton said. “But I am pretty happy with how the season came out. We still have team duals to go, so I will try to use this loss as motivation during that.”

The area’s other finalist, Coal City sophomore Brody Widlowski, finished second at 126, losing a 5-1 decision to Auburn senior Anthony Ruzic, a three-time state champion.

Joliet West junior Carson Weber capped a brilliant season with a 10-2 major decision over Batavia’s Aidan Huck to take third place in Class 3A at 144. Weber finished with a 42-2 record and became the highest finisher for Joliet West since 1992, when Derek Kinder finished third.

“It feels great,” Weber said. “After I won my quarterfinal match, all the pressure was off. I knew I was going to get a medal. This isn’t the medal I wanted, but it’s better than last year, and I get to end my season with a win.

“I don’t like to give up a lot of points, so if I take a guy down I don’t let them escape and get a point. I prefer to be on top and ride it out.”

West coach Chuck Rumpf also was happy to see Weber finish so well.

“It was business as usual for Carson,” Rumpf said. “This is the third time he has been down here, so that experience helped him. Even after he lost in the semifinals Friday night, I told him we can learn from that experience, and he did.

“Guys like Wyatt Schmitt and Carson are program-changers. It’s nice to see individual success, but that can help lead to team success. Other kids see guys like them doing well and that gets them interested.”

Other area placers in Class 3A were Plainfield North’s Maddox Garbis (fourth, 113), JCA’s Max Cumbee (fifth, 113), Lincoln-Way West’s Luke Siwinski (fifth, 138), JCA’s Luke Hamiti (fifth, 157), JCA’s Max Corrall (sixth, 165) and JCA’s Nico Ronchetti (sixth, 190).

Placing in Class 2A were Providence Catholic’s Tommy Banas (sixth, 126), Lemont’s Noah O’Connor (fifth, 150) and Lemont’s Alex Pasquale (fifth, 285).

“It feels good to win my last match,” Pasquale said. “It wasn’t what I was hoping for, but it’s still a medal. It makes all the hard work I have put in worth it.

“It’s a great feeling. Not a lot of people can say they won their last match.”

Placing in Class 1A were Coal City’s Owen Peterson (sixth, 106), Coal City’s Cooper Morris (fifth, 113), Dwight’s Dylan Crouch (fifth, 138), Coal City’s Brant Widlowski (fifth, 150) and Seneca’s Chris Peura (fourth, 215).

“It feels good to win my last match,” said Morris, a freshman. “It’s very exciting. In the semis, I lost 9-3 to a kid I had lost to by 13 early in the season, so I feel like I got better.”