Mahomet-Seymour Junior High Wrestlers Dominate Sectionals, Seven Advance to State Tournament
By FRED KRONER
Seven Mahomet-Seymour Junior High wrestlers qualified for the IESA state tournament based on their performances on Saturday (March 2) in a 23-school sectional meet at Jacksonville.
Winning their weight classes at the sectional were Marco Casillas (167 pounds) and Jayvon Tompkins (275 pounds), both of whom are undefeated for the season.
Also advancing to state were Connor McCall (185-pound runner-up), Nino Caballero (third place at 155 pounds), Grant Morphew (fourth place at 80 pounds), Noah Meints (fourth place at 90 pounds) and Chris Dill (fourth place at 145 pounds).
Morphew and Meints are seventh-graders. The other five Bulldogs who advanced to state are eighth-graders.
Casillas and Tompkins pinned their way through the sectional, winning each of their three bouts by pinfall.
Casillas’ pins came in 13 seconds, 55 seconds and 2 minutes and 13 seconds.
Tompkins required just 13 seconds, 33 seconds and 25 seconds to end his matches.
McCall posted one pin (in 1:41) and won three of his four matches at the sectional.
Caballero registered two pins in less than a minute (56 seconds and 29 seconds) and has pins in four of his five postseason wins.
After winning his sectional opener in overtime, 9-7, Morphew pinned his next two opponents (in 54 seconds and 57 seconds) to secure his advancement.
Meints recorded two pins (in 2:29 and 2:59) among his four sectional wins. Dill secured two narrow wins by decision, 4-2, in the first round and 3-1 in overtime in the consolation semifinals.
In all, 20 M-S athletes competed at the sectional. Thirteen won at least one match and 10 notched at least one pin.
Bulldogs with pins, besides the state-qualifiers, were Graham Smolich (in 2:12 at 65 pounds), Tristan Milinkovic (in 3:17 at 70 pounds), Myles Hartzler (in 3:40 at 75 pounds), Niko Truax (in 3:04 at 105 pounds).
Other Bulldogs who earned wins at the sectional were Dominic Gaudio (126 pounds) and Johnathan Pitts (167 pounds).
Overall, the M-S sectional entries had a composite record of 29-34.
In the team standings, M-S placed third at the Jacksonville Sectional. Bloomington captured the sectional crown with 255 ½ points. Quincy (200 points) was the runner-up and M-S totaled 154 points.
The two-day IESA state tournament will start on Friday (March 8) at the Convocation Center, in DeKalb.
