By Fred Kroner
Mahomet-Seymour seventh-grader Marco Casillas won an IESA Class 2A wrestling state championship at 145 pounds on Saturday (March 11) in the meet held at the Northern Illinois University Convocation Center.
Casillas, who ended the season with a 41-0 record, won his first three matches at state by pin and then prevailed, 5-1, in the title bout. His pins were in 30 seconds, 2 minutes and 28 seconds and in 1 minute and 47 seconds in the semifinals.
Casillas was one of nine M-S wrestlers at state. Seven Bulldogs secured at least one pin and six earned state medals.
Also advancing to the finals was eighth-grader Talon Decker, at 126 pounds. He placed second after dropping an 8-4 overtime decision in the championship match. Decker opened his tournament with a pin in 2 minutes and 54 seconds and then added wins by decision, 12-0, and 6-4, to earn a medal for the second consecutive year.
In 2022, he placed fourth at 112 pounds and also won three matches at state.
Placing third for M-S were eighth-grader Gideon Hayer (80 pounds) and seventh-grader Jayvon Tompkins (275).
Hayter dropped a 5-4 decision in his opening match and then rebounded with five wins in a row in the wrestlebacks. One of those wins was an overtime 2-0 conquest of the person who handed him his lone state loss. Hayter’s other wins were a 3-0 decision, a pin in 1 minute and 14 seconds, a 2-0 overtime victory and a 3-1 victory in the third place match.
A year ago, Hayter qualified for state at 75 pounds and won twice, but did not place.
Tompkins made his state debut with a 3-0 win and then dropped a 1-0 overtime decision to the eventual 275-pound state champion. In wrestlebacks, Tompkins made quick work of his opponents, securing pins in 1 minute and 51 seconds, in 48 seconds and in 2 minutes and 53 seconds in the third-place bout.
M-S also had two athletes finish in sixth place: sixth-grader Grant Morphew (75 pounds) and eighth-grader Beau Back (119 pounds).
Morphew lost his first match at state, 3-0, but then posted consecutive wins by scores of 6-0, 7-3 and a pin in 3 minutes and 35 seconds. In the match for fifth place, he dropped a 5-2 decision. Overall, Morphew was 3-3 at state.
Back, who qualified at 105 pounds in 2022 and won twice but did not place, improved his fortunes in 2023.
He was also 3-3 at state, starting with a pin in 2 minutes and 25 seconds. Following a 10-0 loss, he rebounded to hold two straight opponents scoreless in 7-0 and 5-0 wins. He dropped a 12-5 decision in the bout for fifth place.
One other Bulldog won a match at state. Eighth-grader Gabe Maya (185 pounds) was 1-2 with a pin coming in 3 minutes and 8 seconds.
Also competing at state, but finishing 0-2 were seventh-grader Niko Truax (90 pounds) and eighth-grader Liam Noonan (100 pounds).
Tompkins wasn’t the only M-S grappler with a tough draw early in the tournament. Truax and Back both incurred their first state losses to the eventual winner in their weight classes. Morphew and Noonan were beaten for the first time at state by the eventual runner-up in their weight classes. Maya’s first loss was to the eventual fourth-place finisher in his bracket.
Each bracket had 16 competitors.
In all, the M-S state qualifiers compiled a cumulative record of 22-16, a total that featured 11 pins.
There were a total of 73 schools with competitors in the Class 2A division.
M-S placed fourth in the team standings with 107 points.
State champion Minooka registered 137 points and was followed by Shorewood (125 ½ points) and Morton (116 points).
The state finish was the highest for the Bulldogs in wrestling since the 2009 team won the last of its five IESA team state titles in the sport.
A year ago, M-S ended 26th at state and five of its six state-qualifiers won at least one match. Three of those individuals were eighth-graders who are now part of the M-S high school program: Auggie Gaudio, 2022 state-placer Justus Vrona and Noah Daniels.
