By Fred Kroner
Mahomet-Seymour’s wrestling team won its ninth consecutive Class 2A regional championship at home on Saturday (Feb. 4).
M-S took top honors in a seven-school field with 239 points. The regional crown was the 40th in school history in wrestling.
All 14 Bulldog grapplers placed among the top four in their respective weight classes and 12 of them qualified for the two-day Highland Sectional (which starts on Friday, Feb. 10) by finishing among the top three.
Ten Bulldogs advanced into regional championship matches and four of them were individual titlists.
Caden Hatton (113 pounds), Tallen Pawlak (145 pounds), Brennan Houser (182 pounds) and Mateo Casillas (195 pounds) were the M-S first-place finishers.
All four were 2-0 at the regional. Pawlak and Casillas pinned both of their opponents. Hatton and Houser had one pin apiece.
Casillas’ pins raised his career total to a school-record 82. He entered the regional tied for first with Hunter Crowley, with 80 pins.
Houser added one more technical fall win to his season (27) and career (47) school-record totals.
The Bulldogs’ second-place finishers were Reese Wilson (126 pounds), Donovan Lewis (138 pounds), Gage Decker (152 pounds), Cale Hillard (170 pounds), Colton Crowley (220 pounds) and Camden Harms (285 pounds).
All six of the runners-up had 1-1 tournament records. Posting their win by pin were Wilson, Decker, Crowley and Harms.
Third-place finishers for M-S were Colton McClure (106 pounds) and Camden Heinold (132 pounds).
McClure was 2-1 for the day with his two pins occurring in 13 and 33 seconds.
Heinold was 3-1. He recorded one pin and one technical fall victory.
The two Bulldogs who placed fourth had 2-2 tournament records and will serve as alternates for the sectional. If one of the top three wrestlers in their weight classes is unable to compete, then Justus Vrona (120 pounds) and Nick Demos (160 pounds) will be added to the sectional field.
Vrona had two pins at the regional and Demos had one fall.
For the day, M-S wrestlers compiled a 23-12 record at the regional, winning 16 bouts by pin and two by technical fall.
As a reward for winning the team regional crown, M-S will advance to the Chatham Glenwood Team-Dual Sectional, which will be held on Tuesday (Feb. 21).
The Bulldogs (31-7 in dual meets) will take on the host school with a berth in the Elite Eight on the line. Chatham Glenwood qualified all 14 of its wrestlers for the upcoming individual sectional tournament at Highland and eight of them won regional championships. Three of their teammates were regional runners-up.
