Salem senior Keyton King finished 8th overall at the IHSA State 1a Wrestling Finals in Champaign and finished off a Hall of Fame career that left a lot of firsts for the Wildcats young program. King was the first Cat to qualify for the state tournament, and also with his win on Friday, he advanced and went over 100 wins in his career in only 3 years. Only 16 wrestlers in each weight class get the opportunity King got. This year according to the NFHS Participation Survey, 320,603 high school students participated in wrestling. This was among the top states for participation in the entire country.
Also in 1a at 113 pounds, Vandalia’s Max Philpot was state champ with Benton’s Cohen Sweely 4th. Vandalia’s Tyson Waughtel was 2nd at 120 pounds with his brother Tyson winning the title at 126. Althoff’s Dawson Hawthorne was 6th. Roxana’s Brandon Green Jr was 3rd at 132 pounds. The Shells Logan Riggs was 6th at 144. Vandalia’s Dillon Hinton was 3rd at 150. At 157, Olney’s Carson Bissey was 6th. At 165 Lyndon Thies of Roxana was 2nd. At 175, Vandalia’s Ros Miller was 6th. At 215, Drake Champlin of Wood River was state champ. Kaden Tidwell of Vandalia was 3rd and Mt Zion’s Keller Stocks was 4th.
In 2a, Mt Vernon’s Dillon White suffered an injury midway through the tournament and finished 42-2 on the season losing his 5th place match at 144 by medical forfeit.
Also in 2a locally, at 216 pounds Avery Jaime of Civic Memorial was 6th falling in his final match by points. Civic’s Bradley Ruckman lost in the 132 finals by major decision. At 150, Mascoutah’s Brock Ross was 2nd and Knox Verbais of Civic was 3rd. At 157, Highland’s Tyson Rakers was 2nd. At 165 pounds, Pierre Walton of East St Louis earned a pin in the finals for the state title. At 215, Waterloo’s Jaxson Mathenia was 2nd.
