Photo of the Day |
Bracket tough, Wells first to represent SJO at girls state wrestling tournament

Maddie Wells’ state tournament run included two matches against highly ranked senior opponents. After an opening-round loss, Wells battled Morton’s Karen Canchola in the wrestleback.
SJO wrestler Madeline Wells competing at state tournament for the Spartans
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

St. Joseph-Ogden’s Maddie Wells wrestles Morton’s Karen Canchola during their 140-pound first-round wrestleback match at the 2025 IHSA Girls Individual Wrestling State Finals on Feb. 28. Wells, a junior who entered the two-day tournament with an 18-8 record, faced a challenging path in her weight class.

In her opening match, Wells drew Mother McAuley senior Maggie Zuber (33-6), who went on to finish second. After being pinned at the six-minute mark, Wells moved into the wrestleback round to face Canchola, another senior. Canchola (36-4) was relentless, pinning Wells at 4:17 on her way to a third-place finish.

Wells, the first wrestler to represent St. Joseph-Ogden at the girls wrestling state finals, looks to return to Bloomington at the end of February for another shot at a state title.


More SJO Sports Articles

TAGS: SJO's Maddie Wells falls a state tournament, First SJO girls wrestler competes at state, IHSA girls wrestling, Morton's Karen Canchola finishes 3rd at state tournament, Sentinel Photo of the Day
Published on
Loading latest story ...

| Most recent articles

Loading recent stories ...

Illustrious - Showcases and the stories behind Illinois’ most iconic high school gyms

CHICAGO - On a quiet Saturday afternoon in January 2012, at the Oak Park-River Forest field house, a simple thought refused to leave Vincent Johnson alone.

Covering a girls basketball game for the Oak Leaves, Johnson found himself looking beyond the box score and into the bones of the building itself. The space was overwhelming in the best way. Big. Empty. Striking. The field house - massive, architectural, overwhelming in character - was alive with echoes. The gym itself demanded his attention.
Get the full story...

Microplastics and our water: What families should know
By StatePoint Media

Statistics show if that if you’re not filtering your water the right way, your family is likely consuming microplastics.

An overwhelming 94% of U.S. tap water is contaminated with fragments of plastic pollution called microplastics, and bottled water does not fare ...
Read more...
How good is your next steak? Look closely at the marbling
By Casey Cartwright

A premium steak makes an impression before it even reaches the grill. Fine streaks of fat run through the muscle, creating the visual pattern known as marbling. Those delicate flecks do much more than make a steak look appealing. They influence flavor and tenderness and affect how the beef performs over high heat.

Marbling plays a major role in the experience people expect from premium beef, but understanding it takes more than looking for the fattiest steak in the case. The amount and distribution of intramuscular ...
Read more...
| Home Improvement

Loading recent stories ...

More Sentinel Stories