JCA dominates Joliet Central Sectional with 9 wrestlers advancing, titles for Luke Hamiti and Nico Ronchetti

JOLIET – With nine wrestlers advancing to state, including sectional champions Luke Hamiti and Nico Ronchetti, Joliet Catholic coach Ryan Cumbee said he is pretty happy with the way his team is wrestling.

The Hilltoppers led all local teams at the Class 3A Joliet Central Sectional on Saturday with those nine wrestlers moving on to state.

“We’ve been able to deal with adversity no matter what comes at us this season,” JCA coach Ryan Cumbee said. “We’ve been dealing with injuries and illness this year, including this week. We’re very happy with the way we’re wrestling.”

While the Hilltoppers have a lot to be proud of, they’re not the only Herald-News area team with a lot to brag about.

Lockport will be well represented at the state tournament with six wrestlers advancing, including 126-pound champion Isaac Zimmerman.

“I feel great,” the junior said. “My goal all year was to make it to state, so this is awesome.”

Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way West were just behind Lockport with five advancing wrestlers each. Lincoln-Way Central, Plainfield North and Joliet West each advanced two, while hosts Joliet Central advanced one.

In the 106-pound championship match, Maddox Garbis won 7-0 over Jackson Soney of Normal.

“I feel good,” Garbis said. “I’m peaking at the right time.”

Michael McNamara of Edwardsville and Davion Henry of Homewood-Flossmoor also will advance at 106 after finishing third and fourth, respectively.

Caden Correll of Normal won at 113 with a victory by technical fall over Lockport’s Anthony Sutton. Brady Glynn of Lincoln-Way West won the third-place match by decision over Ethan Hamilton of Homewood-Flossmoor.

Chazz Robinson of HF won the 120-pound contest by decision over Nadeem Haleem of Andrew. Maddux Tindal of JCA brought home the bronze with a 13-2 major decision over Max Munn of Lincoln-Way West.

At 126, Isaac Zimmerman won by fall against Aidan Durell of Plainfield North while third place went to Jason Hampton of JCA, who won by technical fall over Normal’s Cole Gentsch.

It was back-to-back pins by the Zimmermans as Isaac’s older brother Liam pinned Brayden Manning of Normal in 74 seconds to win the 132-pound contest. Lincoln-Way East’s Tyson Zvonar took third with a win over Adrian Hernandez of Joliet West.

Edwardsville’s Ryan Richie took first with a 14-5 major decision over Jadon Zimmer of Lincoln-Way Central at 138 while Brayden Mortell of Lincoln-Way East took the bronze with a victory by fall in the closing moments over Dawson Mack of JCA.

The Griffins saw a champion crowned at 144 when Kaidge Richardson won by a 4-2 decision over Elias Gonzalez for the Hilltoppers. Brayden Swanson of Oswego won the third-place match by fall over Jack Strezo of Lincoln-Way West.

The Porters claimed a third champion at 150 when Justin Wardlow clutched a victory in the closing moments over Joliet West’s Carson Webber by decision. Yorkville’s Van Rosauer took home third with a 4-0 decision against Nolan Vogel of JCA.

Yorkville had a champion crowned at 157 with Jack Ferguson taking the title over Jovan Vukajlovic of Flossmoor via a 10-2 major decision. Lockport’s Jaedon Calderon followed that with a third-place win over Vince Tindal of JCA by major decision.

The Hilltoppers finally got their champ to go with all the placers at 165. Hamiti bested Jalen Byrd of Lincoln-Way Central by technical fall to win while the third-place match went to Terence Willis of Belleville East by major decision over Lockport’s Chris Miller.

Homwood-Flossmoor was a bridesmaid most of the day, but they finally had someone say “I Do” at 175 with RJ Robinson beating Luke Zook of Yorkville. Jackson Zaeske of Licoln-Way East won the third-place match by decision over Issac Clauson of JCA.

The Hilltoppers claimed their second champion with Ronchetti’s win at 190 by tech fall over Yorkville’s Ryder Janeczko. Edwardsville’s Simon Schulte got the bronze with a win over Colton Zvonar of the Griffins.

Defending state champion Charles Walker of Joliet Central continued his quest for a repeat with a win by decision over Roman Janek of Edwardsville at 215. The third-place match was won by Nate Elstner of Lincoln-Way West over Yorkville’s Luke Chrisse.

Jonathan Rulo of Belleville East was victorious in the 285-pound match with a 21-second pin of Minooka’s Robbie Murphy. Third place was won by Gage LaDere of Lincoln-Way East by fall over Lincoln-Way West’s Brandon Bavirsha.

The individual state wrestling tournament begins Thursday at the State Farm Center in Champaign.