Class 2A Dual Team State Wrestling: JCA rolls to state championship

BLOOMINGTON – The seemingly unstoppable train that is the Joliet Catholic Academy wrestling team made its final stop Saturday night, securing the state championship at the Class 2A Dual Team State Wrestling Tournament with a 39-33 win over Deerfield.

The score is a bit deceiving, as the Hilltoppers were able to forfeit the final three matches after a pin by Shay Korhorn at 120 pounds gave them an insurmountable 39-15 lead with three matches remaining. It was the first team state wrestling title for JCA.

On Friday, the Hilltoppers beat Riverside-Brookfield, 65-7, in the quarterfinals before posting s 64-10 win over Antioch in Saturday’s semifinals.

As has been the case all season, JCA individual state champions Dillan Johnson (285 pounds) and Gylon Sims (113) led the charge. Johnson capped an undefeated season with a pin in 47 seconds over Garvin Crews in the championship match, while Sims scored a 16-6 major decision over Jordan Rasof.

“I am always in attack mode,” Johnson said about his penchant for quick pins.

Early in the match, it was Deerfield in attack mode.

Joliet Catholic’s Mason Alessio won the opening match at 145, scoring a 12-0 major decision over Lucio Morgan. JCA’s Connor Cumbee was next with a 7-6 win over Stamos Tsakiris before Deerfield’s Benjamin Shvartsman pinned JCA’s Isaac Clauson in 2:42 to pull the Warriors to within 7-6.

At 170, Aiden Cohen won by a 20-5 technical fall over Nick Ronchetti to put Deerfield ahead 11-7. A 19-7 major decision by Deerfield’s Braeden Wittkamp over Caden Moore put the Warriors up 15-7.

From there, JCA dominated.

The Hilltoppers’ Owen Gerdes won a 13-1 major decision over Devian Schwartz, and Hunter Powell scored a pin over Max Drunke in 4:43 before Johnson’s quick pin gave JCA a 23-15 lead.

The wins kept coming for JCA, as Noah Avina won by pin in 1:38 at 106 pounds, and Sims picked up a win before Shay Korhorn stepped up to wrestle Luke Reddy in the 120-pound match and his team leading, 33-15.

All Korhorn needed was a win, but the senior got more. He put Reddy in a cradle and clinched the dual state championship with a pin at the 3:02 mark.

“I’ve been doing the cradle since I was 5,” Korhorn said. “When I went out there, coach [Ryan Cumbee] told me that all I had to was win and we clinched the title. To get it with a pin is extra.

“I have put a lot of blood and sweat into this team for four years. A week ago [at the individual tournament], I didn’t do as well as I hoped. But to win it as a team, that feels 10 times better than the individual would have. No one else knows what we have been through. There is a bond like brothers.”

Deerfield picked up forfeit wins at 126 by Jackson Palzet, 132 by Renzo Morgan, and 138 by Kai Neumark to provide the final score, and the Hilltoppers bench and crowd went crazy.

“This means so much to do it as a team,” Ryan Cumbee said after fighting off tears of joy. “If you win it as an individual, it’s success for one person. But this, it was 21 guys who did this. They believed in themselves and in each other. They trusted each other.

“I was fortunate enough to win a title as an individual and as a part of a team. It was 21 times better to win the team title because it was for everybody.”

Johnson had faith in his teammates despite trailing early in the match.

“I trusted everybody that we could come back,” he said. “I wasn’t worried at all. We have put in the work from Day 1.”