Eleven LaSalle wrestlers entered the tournament, all eleven ended up on the podium led by a trio of weight class champions: freshman Dustin Norris (106) as well as sophomores Antoine Allen (120) and No. 9 Elan Heard (138). On the way to his title, Heard had two pins followed by three decisive wins over returning state medalists; a 9-1 major decision over two-time state champion We Rachal (Chicago Washington, Ill.) in the quarterfinal, a 5-0 semifinal decision against Caleb Ziebell (Slinger, Wis.), and finally a 3-0 victory over Jacob Dado (Marist, Ill.) in the final.
Finishing as runners-up were junior Michael Baker (195) and No. 7 Lucas Byrd (113). Byrd was upended by fellow junior Noah Surtin (Edwardsville, Ill.), who is ranked No. 4 nationally at the weight class. Surtin won 12-4, turning a match that was tied 3-all after two periods into a rout during the third period.
Four other LaSalle wrestlers were in the consolation final, freshman Darnai Heard (132) and junior Garrett Bledsoe (220) placed third, while junior Trey Sizemore (160) and senior Blake Wilson (182) finished fourth.
An unexpected runner-up finish was mustered by defending tournament champions Mason, Ohio. The Comets scored 148 points on the strength of three tournament finalists and two other placers. Chris Donathan (152) was the lone champion, while Sam Glassco (132) and Eric Vermillion (170) finished second; for Vermillion, he is now a two-time runner-up in this tournament.
A surprise in the other direction was that No. 37 Mt. Carmel, Ill. finished in fourth place with 138.5 points, and only able to place four wrestlers. Leading the Caravan's effort was No. 8 Kendall Coleman, a champion at 145; also placing were Colton Drousias (106) and Rehan Uribe (120) in third and Noah Mis (113) in fifth.
Leading the way in impact from an individual standpoint was Jack Jessen (Willowbrook, Ill.), the champion at 182 pounds. The No. 3 ranked wrestler nationally in the weight class knocked off No. 8 Jared Krattiger (Waterford, Wis.) 3-2 in the semifinal before beating No. 14 (at 170) Zac Braunagel (Althoff Catholic, Ill.) 6-4 in the championship match.
Another notable individual performance during the course of the tournament was had by 160 pound runner-up Allen Swanson (Oswego, Ill.). The senior qualified for state last year at 145 pounds going two-and-out downstate; however, this weekend he beat returning state medalist David Ferrante (Huntley, Ill.) by 16-7 major decision in the quarterfinal, before upsetting No. 7 Nelson Brands (Iowa City West, Iowa) 10-6 in the semifinal. However, it was not to be in the final as state champion Danny Braunagel (Althoff Catholic, Ill.) beat Swanson by a major decision, the score was 15-2.
Most dominant during the course of the tournament was No. 4 Anthony Cassioppi (Hononegah, Ill.), the champion at 285 pounds. The Iowa signee opened his tournament run with a bye and then two first period pins before a 15-0 technical fall and then a 22-7 technical fall to earn gold.
Additional weight class champions included Jamie Suarez (Wheaton North, Ill.) at 126 pounds, Danny Pucino (Libertyville, Ill.) at 132, Abe Assad (Glenbard North, Ill.) at 170, Nick Stemmet (Yorkville, Ill.) at 195, and Maverick McPeek (Dakota, Ill.) at 220.
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