15 Vandal Wrestlers traveled to DeKalb over the weekend to compete in the Illinois Freestyle State Championships. Of those competing, 3 were able to place in the top three of their age and weight divisions to secure their spot on Team Illinois and qualify for the Junior and 16U National Championships in Fargo, ND later this summer.
Newcomer Preston Waughtel continued his dominant freshman season with a 1st place finish in the 16U 120lb bracket. Waughtel went a perfect 9-0 on the weekend while racking up 5 tech-falls and 1 fall the way to his first Freestyle State title. Waughtel was also a state champion at the IHSA State Tournament earlier this year wrestling for Carlyle.
Dillon Hinton went 8-1 to take 2nd place in the 16U 157lb bracket. Hinton finished with 3 tech-falls and 3 falls on his way to his second state finals of the year. He was also a finalist at the IHSA State Tournament.
Sophie Bowers went 5-1 to finish 2nd in the Junior Girls 125lb bracket. Bowers tallied 5 tech-falls before falling to fellow IHSA Girls State Champion Angelina Cassioppi in the final round. This was Bowers 2nd finals appearance in the Freestyle State Tournament, winning 1st back in 2022.
All 3 will compete with Team Illinois this summer, attend a weeklong training camp at the University of Illinois, and travel to North Dakota for the National Championships in July.
Full Vandals results from this weekend:
Boys-12U 74
Dayton Patterson did not place
- Match #1 Michael Krueger Jr. (R13 Wrestling) over Dayton Patterson (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) TF 16-4
- Match #2 Dayton Patterson (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Emmett Harrison (Oak Forest Warriors Wrestling Club) TF 10-0
- Match #3 Landon Atwell (Callan Wrestling Academy) over Dayton Patterson (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) TF 12-2
Boys-14U 97
Riley Hinton did not place
- Match #1 Brogan Sendele (Hononegah Wrestling Club) over Riley Hinton (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) Dec 12-11
- Match #2 Charlie Tustin (Illinois) over Riley Hinton (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) Dec 14-10
Boys-16U 113
Max Philpot did not place
- Match #1 Lukas Foster (Callan Wrestling Academy) over Max Philpot (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) Dec 8-6
- Match #2 Max Philpot (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Jacob Payne (Illinois) TF 10-0
- Match #3 Max Philpot (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Mason Soney (Patton Trained WC) TF 10-0
- Match #4 Max Philpot (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Dylan Weber (Elevate Wrestling Academy) TF 10-0
- Match #5 Max Philpot (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Colin Bosak (Beat the Streets Chicago-Avondale) TF 10-0
- Match #6 Kannon Judycki (Izzy Style Wrestling) over Max Philpot (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) Dec 7-5
Boys-16U 120
Preston Waughtel brought home 1st place
- Match #1 Preston Waughtel (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Ruben Rivera (Iguana Wrestling Club) TF 11-0
- Match #2 Preston Waughtel (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Draven Vanavery (PSF Wrestling Academy) Fall 1:07
- Match #3 Preston Waughtel (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Eli Woehler (Illinois) Fall 0:36
- Match #4 Preston Waughtel (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Eduardo Vences (Hurricane Wrestling Club) TF 11-0
- Match #5 Preston Waughtel (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Vince Jasinski (Fox Lake Wrestling Club) Dec 8-5
- Match #6 Preston Waughtel (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Eric Hoselton (Thunderbird Wrestling Club) TF 15-4
- Match #7 Preston Waughtel (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) received a bye.
- Match #8 Preston Waughtel (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Eric Hoselton (Thunderbird Wrestling Club) TF 4-15
- Match #9 Preston Waughtel (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Vince Jasinski (Fox Lake Wrestling Club) Dec 8-5
- Match #10 Preston Waughtel (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Jackson Olson (Hononegah Wrestling Club) TF 10-0
Boys-16U 132
Brody Matthews did not place
- Match #1 Brody Matthews (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Adam Murphy (Illinois) TF 10-0
- Match #2 Brody Matthews (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Enzo Basso (Thunderbird Wrestling Club) TF 12-2
- Match #3 Brody Matthews (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Damien Melton (Beat the Streets Chicago-Hyde Park) Dec 14-10
- Match #4 Bruno Cassioppi (Hononegah Wrestling Club) over Brody Matthews (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) TF 12-0
- Match #5 Garrett VerHeecke (Patton Trained WC) over Brody Matthews (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) TF 10-0
Boys-16U 138
Zayne Zinkgraf did not place
- Match #1 Aiden Noyes (Beat the Streets Chicago-Oak Park) over Zayne Zinkgraf (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) TF 11-0
- Match #2 Brandon Green (PSF Wrestling Academy) over Zayne Zinkgraf (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) Fall 0:33
Boys-16U 150
Brody Shellabarger did not place
- Match #1 Brody Shellabarger (Illinois) received a bye.
- Match #2 Jaedon Calderon (R13 Wrestling) over Brody Shellabarger (Illinois) TF 10-0
- Match #3 Hudson Babb (Patton Trained WC) over Brody Shellabarger (Illinois) TF 14-4
Boys-16U 157
Dillon Hinton took 2nd place
- Match #1 Dillon Hinton (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over David Miranda (Radical Wrestling) Dec 10-4
- Match #2 Dillon Hinton (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Keegan Germano (Patton Trained WC) Fall 2:11
- Match #3 Dillon Hinton (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Michael Flatley (Team Tortorice Wrestling) Fall 2:00
- Match #4 Dillon Hinton (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Christopher Salinas (Mat Rat Wrestling Club) Fall 1:45
- Match #5 Dillon Hinton (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Reily Leifheit (Ottawa Wolfpack Wrestling Club) Dec 9-2
- Match #6 Dillon Hinton (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Rodrigo Salinas (Evanston School of Wrestling) TF 11-0
- Match #7 Dillon Hinton (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Arkail Griffin-Edwards (Beat the Streets Chicago-Midway) TF 10-0
- Match #8 Dillon Hinton (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) received a bye.
- Match #9 Dillon Hinton (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) over Rodrigo Salinas (Evanston School of Wrestling) TF 11-0
- Match #10 Ismael Bereket (CWCW Wrestling Academy) over Dillon Hinton (Vandalia Jr Wrestling Club) TF 10-0
Boys-16U 165
Noah Langston did not place
- Match #1 Nicolas Olvera (Naperville Wrestling Club) over Noah Langston (Illinois) TF 12-2
- Match #2 Kayden Roach (Brawlers Wrestling Club) over Noah Langston (Illinois) Fall 2:42
Boys-16U 215
Dominic Swyers did not place
- Match #1 Tommy O`Brien (Panther Wrestling Club) over Dominic Swyers (PSF Wrestling Academy) Fall 3:32
- Match #2 Dominic Swyers (PSF Wrestling Academy) over Melson Ngassa (Beat the Streets Chicago-Tri Taylor) Fall 3:07
- Match #3 Aiden Hennings (Thunderbird Wrestling Club) over Dominic Swyers (PSF Wrestling Academy) Fall 0:34
Boys-USA Junior 138
Deon Moore did not place
- Match #1 Maksim Mukhamedaliyev (Izzy Style Wrestling) over Deon Moore (Illinois) TF 12-0
- Match #2 Deon Moore (Illinois) over Caleb Showalter (Backyard Brawlers West Wrestling) TF 12-2
- Match #3 Jaime Iman (Illinois) over Deon Moore (Illinois) Fall 4:02
Boys-USA Junior 190
Gabriel Torres did not place
- Match #1 Kaden Clevenger (SPAR Wrestling Academy) over Gabriel Torres (Illinois) Fall 2:39
- Match #2 Gabriel Torres (Illinois) received a bye.
- Match #3 Jonathan Weiderman (Carbondale) over Gabriel Torres (Illinois) Fall 1:22
Boys-USA Junior 215
Kaden Tidwell did not place
- Match #1 Kaden Tidwell (Illinois) over Andrew Owen (Patton Trained WC) TF 10-0
- Match #2 Dominic Dykstra (Southern Illinois Regional Training Center) over Kaden Tidwell (Illinois) Dec 4-3
- Match #3 Eric Harris (Beat the Streets Chicago-Oak Park) over Kaden Tidwell (Illinois) TF 13-0
Girls-USA Junior 125
Sophie Bowers took 2nd place
- Match #1 Sophie Bowers (Illinois) over Sabina Charlebois (SPAR Wrestling Academy) TF 13-3
- Match #2 Sophie Bowers (Illinois) over Olivia Heft (Illinois) TF 10-0
- Match #3 Sophie Bowers (Illinois) over Kinnley Smith (Illinois) TF 10-0
- Match #4 Sophie Bowers (Illinois) over Ayane Jasinski (Fox Lake Wrestling Club) TF 12-2
- Match #5 Sophie Bowers (Illinois) over Kinnley Smith (Illinois) TF 0-10
- Match #6 Sophie Bowers (Illinois) received a bye.
- Match #7 Angelina Cassioppi (Hononegah Wrestling Club) over Sophie Bowers (Illinois) Dec 10-2
Girls-USA Junior 145
Brynn Swyers did not place
- Match #1 Alyssa Keane (Natural Athlete Wrestling Club) over Brynn Swyers (PSF Wrestling Academy) TF 11-0
- Match #2 Brynn Swyers (PSF Wrestling Academy) over Ava Hoppe (Illinois) Fall 0:25
- Match #3 Brynn Swyers (PSF Wrestling Academy) received a bye.
- Match #4 America Cabrera (Beat the Streets Chicago-Midway) over Brynn Swyers (PSF Wrestling Academy) Fall 3:38
- Match #5 Alyssa Keane (Natural Athlete Wrestling Club) over Brynn Swyers (PSF Wrestling Academy) TF 11-0
