Coal City sends 13 wrestlers to state from home sectional

COAL CITY – Coal City had a strong showing as hosts of the Class 1A Coal City Sectional on Friday and Saturday. The Coalers advanced 13 wrestlers, seven with first-place finishes, to the state finals in Champaign starting Thursday.

“We went 10-3 in that last round, so that in itself says a lot,” Coal City coach Mark Masters said. “The guys are just out competing and doing what we do. Just stay within ourselves and mimic the things we do in practice every day. You can see it in our chain wrestling, and it’s really good to see.”

The sectional champions for Coal City were Owen Peterson (113 pounds), Cooper Morris (126), Brody Widlowski (138), Aidan Kenney (144), Mason Garner (157), Landin Benson (175) and John Keigher (215).

Also qualifying for state were second-place finishers Culan Lindemuth (120) and Brock Finch (165), third-place finishers Luke Munsterman (132), Noah Houston (150), and Cade Poyner (190), and fourth-place finisher Jason Piatak (106). Alec Waliczek (285) came up just a bit short with a loss in the consolation semifinals.

“That shows we work hard every single day, and our team is all-around good,” said Benson, who won state at 165 last year. “We don’t have any spots that need to be filled or anything. Everyone is an amazing wrestler and proved it today.”

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Coal City's Brody Widlowski, top, gets position on Reed-Custer's Jeremy Eggleston during the 138-pound championship at the IHSA Class 1 Coal City Sectional Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Shaw Media/Mason Schweizer)

Reed-Custer’s wrestlers had a strong showing over the weekend, with five advancing to state and one, freshman Colton Drinkwine, winning a sectional title at 106 pounds in his first year of high school wrestling.

“It’s a lot different from what I used to wrestle, but it’s been good,” Drinkwine said. “I wrestled pretty good today, got to the finals and did what I could do.”

Joining Drinkwine in Champaign will be teammates Cole Harris (113), Kaaden Wood (120), Jeremy Eggleston (138) and Dominic Alaimo (215).

Reed-Custer head coach Yale Davis said he was happy to see their hard work continue to lead to positive results.

“I’m really excited for the kids,” he said. “It was a culmination of a lot of hard work in the room throughout the year, and I think it’s paying off right now.”

Seneca will send three wrestlers on to state. After falling in the semifinals, Raiden Terry, the top-ranked wrestler in the state at 106 pounds, rallied to take third place. Nick Grant (165) took fourth and Jeremy Gagnon (285) took second.

“We’re excited with what we ended up with,” Seneca coach Todd Yegge said. “There’s a few matches we got caught, like at 106 with a cement mixer. That kind of stunk, because our kid we were thinking would win the championship. But it didn’t happen, and he’s got to be ready to wrestle next week.”

Wilmington had three wrestlers make the trip to Coal City, with Logan Van Duyne (190) advancing to state once again for the Wildcats. He fell in the third-place match against Coal City’s Cade Poyner, a rematch of the regional final that Van Duyne won.

“I know he’s definitely not where he wanted to be today, but we are back down in Champaign again and that’s the biggest thing,” Wilmington coach Nick Dziuban said. “Anything can happen once we get down there.”