Three Bulldogs secure All-State status at IHSA tournament
By Fred Kroner
A quarter of a century ago, Mahomet-Seymour’s high school enrollment had reached the point that it was moved up from the small-school classification by the IHSA to the large-school division.
In those 25 years, no M-S wrestling team has fared better at the individual state tournament at the UI State Farm Center than the one which competed from Thursday through Saturday (Feb. 17-19) in 2022.
The Bulldogs qualified five wrestlers for state. Four won matches and three juniors earned All-State status after securing finishes among the top six in their Class 2A weight classes.
The combined performance matches what the 2001 M-S squad did at state, also producing three state medalists.
Mateo Casillas (195 pounds) raised his school-record single-season win total to 53 by virtue of placing third in his weight class. The previous record for wins in a season by an M-S wrestler was 50 by Brett Camden in 1989.
Caden Hatton also won his final bout at state and took home the fifth-place medal at 106 pounds. Teammate Brennan Houser (170 pounds) ended in sixth place.
Also winning a match at state was sophomore Tallen Pawlak (138 pounds), who did not place.
Casillas extended his winning streak to 47 matches before dropping a 5-3 decision in the semifinals.
In wrestlebacks, he posted wins by scores of 9-2 and 3-0. In his first two state matches, Casillas registered a pin in 1 minute and 55 seconds and then produced a 2-1 overtime victory in the quarterfinals.
His overtime win was against the same opponent he faced in the third-place match and beat 3-0, Joliet Catholic senior Owen Gerdes.
For the season, Casillas is 53-2.
Hatton captured wins in four of his six state matches. He pinned his first foe in 3:47, then suffered an 8-3 loss before following up with consecutive pins in 1:55 and 2:35.
After a 14-4 loss, Hatton wound up with an 8-5 win in his fifth-place match.
For the season, his record is 46-7.
Until this year, Hatton was light for a 106-pounder, with his weight in the 90s.
“This year, he was cutting to make the weight,” M-S coach Rob Ledin said.
Houser ended 3-3 at state and stands at 42-10 overall.
He debuted with an 8-3 win, but then was beaten, 9-3.
In the wrestlebacks, he earned consecutive wins by decision, 12-5 and 5-1.
Houser dropped a 7-1 decision, which put him in the fifth-place match, where he was pinned in 1:46.
“I feel good about how he has improved and I know he’ll keep getting better because he wants to,” Ledin said.
In the pre-tournament rankings compiled by Rob Sherrill for the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association, Hatton was rated fourth. Houser and Casillas were each rated second.
In 25 years in Class 2A, M-S has produced 20 All-State IHSA wrestlers. Before this year, the school’s most recent wrestling All-Stater was in 2020.
There was no sanctioned IHSA tournament in 2021, but Casillas (second) and Houser (fifth) were state-placers in an unofficial state meet sponsored by the IWCOA. They are not counted in the total number of M-S All-Staters since joining the Class 2A ranks.
Pawlak sandwiched a 13-5 state win in between losses by a 4-2 score and by a pin in 1:15. He is 34-14 for the season.
The other M-S state-qualifier was freshman Camden Heinold (120 pounds). He took an 8-1 loss and was pinned in 1:02 to drop his season record to 27-18.
The individual state meet did not end the season for Ledin’s team.
M-S (27-3) and ranked fifth by the IWCOA returns to action at 6 p.m. on Tuesday (Feb. 22) in the Class 2A dual-meet series, with a sectional showdown against 10th-ranked Civic Memorial (20-3) at Chatham Glenwood High School.
“We’ll have to wrestle well and not give up bonus points,” Ledin said. “I feel good about this team.
“We’ve had some adversity, bonded and have gotten closer. We want to be there as a family together and you wrestle better that way.”
M-S and Civic Memorial went head-to-head in two weight classes at the individual state meet with Hatton decisioning his opponent and Houser losing to his foe.
The team winner will qualify for the Elite Eight and a berth in the state Class 2A quarterfinals on Saturday (Feb. 19) in Bloomington.
