The Sentinel: Unity Wrestling

Area wrestlers earn All-Conference recognition

St. Thomas More's Brody Cuppernell tries to avoid a takedown attempt by Unity's Hunter Eastin during the IHSA 190-pound championship match at State Farm Center on Saturday. Eastin prevailed to win the Class 1A title with 5-2 decision over Cuppernell. Both wrestlers made the cut for this year's Illini Prairie all-conference first team. See more championship match photos here ...

Photo: PhotoNews Media

URBANA - Eleven wrestlers from Unity and eight from St. Joseph-Ogden were selected by coaches and named to the Illini Prairie 2023-2024 all-conference teams.

Later today, the Rockets wrestle against the Shells of Roxana for a spot in tomorrow's semifinal round at Grossinger Motor Arena. The season also continues for Unity's Phoenix Molina, who is competing in the girls' IHSA wrestling championship, also at the arena.

2023-2024
Illini Prairie Conference
All-Conference Wrestling

* Unanimous choice

First Team:

Zeke Young, Monticello (Freshmen, 106)
Hunter Romano, Monticello (Junior, 175/190)
Aidan Scholwin, Pontiac (Senior, 106)*
Ayden Mackey, Prairie Central (Senior, 144)
Emmitt Holt, SJO (Senior, 113)*
Holden Brazelton, SJO (Junior, 132)*
Coy Hayes, SJO (Sophomore, 150)
August Christhilf, STM (Senior, 175)*
Robbie Vavrik, STM (Senior, 285)*
Brody Cuppernell, STM (Senior, 190/215)*
Hunter Shike, Unity (Sophomore, 126)*
Taylor Finley, Unity (Freshmen, 132)
Kaden Inman, Unity (Junior, 144)
Abram Davidson, Unity (Sophomore, 157)
Ryan Rink, Unity (Junior, 165)*
Thayden Root, Unity (Senior, 175)
Hunter Eastin, Unity (Junior, 190)*

Second Team:

Owen Moser, IVC (Sophomore, 165)
AJ Toliver, IVC (Freshmen, 150)
Gavin Ridings, Monticello (Senior, 157)
Wyatt Vaughan, Monticello (Senior, 175/190)
Brandon Peters, Monticello (Senior, 285)
John Traub, Prairie Central (Junior, 132)
Darius Williams, Rantoul (Junior, 150)
Jackson Walsh, SJO (Sophomore, 113)
Landen Butts, SJO (Junior, 138)
Devan Swisher, SJO (Sophomore, 165)
Maddie Wells, SJO (Sophomore, 126)
James Schmidt, STM (Junior, 215)
Philip Christhilf, STM (Junior, 157)
Keegan Germano, Unity (Freshmen, 138)
Josh Heath, Unity (Sophomore, 150)

Honorable Mention:

Marrissa Miller, Monticello (Senior, 113)
Luke Andruczyk, Monticello (Freshmen, 120)
Will Osborne, Monticello (Freshmen, 126)
Russ Brown, Monticello (Junior, 165)
Hunter Melvin, Pontiac (Senior, 215)
Drayden Ramsey, Pontiac (Sophomore, 126)
Noah Davis, Pontiac (Freshmen, 120)
Drew Owen, Rantoul (Junior, 215/285)
Quincy Jones, SJO (Junior, 215)
Travis McCarter, Unity (Sophomore, 113)
Hudson DeHart, Unity (Freshmen, 215)

Unity Rockets sports for the week of February 12

Unity's Dalton O'Neill takes a third quarter shot over SJO's Tanner Jacob in last Friday's Illini Prairie Conference showdown. Down by 10 most of the third quarter, the Rockets rallied back pushing the game into overtime on a trey from Dane Eisenmenger. Falling short by a basket in OT, Unity fell 73-72 in one of the most exciting basketball games for both teams this season. Below is this week's sports calender.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

5 area wrestlers win a title at the Unity Invitational

St. Joseph-Ogden's 106-pound wrestler Emmitt Holt after win over Oakwood's Steven Uden earlier this month. Holt, one of two seniors on this year's squad, won the Unity Invitational title on Saturday for his weight class.

Photo: PhotoNews Media

TOLONO - Eleven area wrestlers finished in the top three in their weight class at the Unity Wrestling Invitational on Saturday. The Rockets turned in a solid performance, with seven wrestlers finishing at or near the top of the podium. Meanwhile, St. Joseph-Ogden had four wrestlers who placed third or better.

Unity's title winners were Hunter Eastin at 190-pounds, Thayden Root at 175-pounds, and Abram Davidson at 157-pounds. Hudson DeHart (215 lbs), Kaden Inman (144), and Hunter Shike (132), earned silver medals for their efforts. Ryan Rink finished the day with a bronze medal in the 165-lb weight class.

Lightweights Emmitt Holt (106-pounds) and Holden Brazelton (132) won titles for the Spartans. Quincy Jones (215) and Coy Hayes battled to a third-place finish.

Unity Invitational Results

106 -
1st Place - Emmitt Holt, SJO
2nd Place - Charlie Flores, Hoopeston
3rd Place - Zane Stanley, Benton
4th Place - Braxton Tittle, Benton
5th Place - Pierce Bultmann, Rochester
6th Place - Noah Whiteside, Olympia

113 -
1st Place - Dylan Eimier, Olympia
2nd Place - Connor Carroll, Rochester
3rd Place - Cohen Sweely, Benton
4th Place - Travis McCarter, Unity
5th Place - Jackson Walsh, SJO
6th Place - Briggs Miller, Benton

120 -
1st Place - Austin Kisner, Olympia
2nd Place - Noah Pelletier, McNamara
3rd Place - Miles Carroll, Rochester
4th Place - Camden Getty, SJO
5th Place - Wyatt Strait, Prairie Central
6th Place - Brawnsen Bloodworth, Carterville

126 -
1st Place - Garrett VerHeecke, Unity Christian
2nd Place - Chase Stedman, Tremont
3rd Place - Mateo Martinez, Olympia
4th Place - Jack Zucco, Rochester
5th Place - Talan Nelson, Hoopeston
6th Place - Kaden Blades, Benton

132 -
1st Place - Holden Brazelton, SJO
2nd Place - Hunter Shike, Unity
3rd Place - Aiden Bell, Hoopeston
4th Place - John Traub, Prairie Central
5th Place - Matthew Flowers, Tremont
6th Place - Jake Kuhn, Charleston

138 -
1st Place - Mason Mark, Tremont
2nd Place - Anthony Hernandez, Benton
3rd Place - Cooper Phillips, Olympia
4th Place - Malachi Hutchinson, Urbana
5th Place - Taylor Finley, Unity
6th Place - Austin Winters, Unity

144 -
1st Place - Mason Tieffel, Benton
2nd Place - Kaden Inman, Unity
3rd Place - Micah Spinazzola, Peotone
4th Place - Drake Pfeiffer, Rochester
5th Place - Emiliano Bedello, Urbana
6th Place - Spencer Crotser, Carterville

150 -
1st Place - Bentley Wise, Olympia
2nd Place - Conor Pasch, Peotone
3rd Place - Ethan Fordham, Rochester
4th Place - Derek Wilkey, Benton
5th Place - Ethan Ziller, Prairie Central
6th Place - Caleb Berg, Unity Christian

157 -
1st Place - Abram Davidson, Unity
2nd Place - Ayden Larkin, Hoopeston
3rd Place - Coy Hayes, SJO
4th Place - Josh Heath, Unity
5th Place - Kelton Graden, Olympia
6th Place - Santino Izzi, Peotone

165 -
1st Place - Bowden Delaney, Tremont
2nd Place - Angel Zamora, Hoopeston
3rd Place - Ryan Rink, Unity
4th Place - Tiffin Kouzoukas, Benton
5th Place - Jacob Grob, Carterville
6th Place - Edwin Villagomez, Urbana

175 -
1st Place - Thayden Root, Unity
2nd Place - Cole Bauer, Olympia
3rd Place - Laith Abunijmeh, Peotone
4th Place - Peyton Robinson, Benton
5th Place - Jack Rathbun, Prairie Central
6th Place - Ian Eatock, Tremont

190 -
1st Place - Hunter Eastin, Unity
2nd Place - Darian Holloway, Olympia
3rd Place - Blaine Williams, Tremont
4th Place - Conner Broughton, Rochester
5th Place - Marcellx Boling, Charleston
6th Place - Dominic Mendez, Urbana

215 -
1st Place - Jared Lauwerens, Rochester
2nd Place - Hudson DeHart, Unity
3rd Place - Quincy Jones, SJO
4th Place - Jacob Balsimo, Tremont
5th Place - Nathan Galant, Benton
6th Place - Elias Rodriguez, Charleston

285 -
1st Place - Zechariah Miller, Carterville
2nd Place - Drake Spears, Benton
3rd Place - Stormy Hughes, Charleston
4th Place - Tucker Deck, Hoopeston
5th Place - Brayden Riblet, Olympia
6th Place - Yeshua O`Brien, Charleston

Unity's Nosler wins IHSA state wrestling title

Unity's Nick Nosler is declared winner after his 195-pound title match with St. Thomas More's Brody Cuppernell at the 2023 IHSA Individual Wrestling State Finals on Saturday. Nosler, who finished as the Sentinel area's top finisher, won the bout by major decision, 11-3. The senior improved to 55-2 on the season after going 4-0 at the State Farm Center. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

TOP LEFT: Nosler scores a takedown on Cuppernell. TOP RIGHT: Smiling for his official IHSA photo, Nick Nosler stands tall at the top of the 195-pound podium on Saturday. BOTTOM: Cuppernell tries to avoid being rolled to his back by Nosler during their title bout. (Photos: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Brody Cuppernell is rolled to his back by Unity's Nosler. Cuppernell, a junior at St. Thomas More, finished his season with 45 wins and against 6 losses. See more photos of area wrestlers at the state tournament here. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

STATE CHAMPION!

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Unity's Lexi Ritchie stands at the top of the podium after defeating Richwood's Jaida Johnson (on her right) for the 155-pound title at the inaugural IHSA Girls' Wrestling State Finals on Saturday. Ritchie carved out a 10-8 decision over Johnson to not only become the first female wrestler in the state to earn the title at that weight class but also Champaign County's first female high school state wrestling champion. She finished her sophomore season with a 23-9 record on Saturday. On her left on the podium is bronze medal winner Valeria Rodriguez from Schaumburg.

Prep Sports Notebook | Unity, SJO suffer losses on the hardwood

Unity falls in OT loss to PBL

PAXTON -- Paxton-Buckley-Loda (9-6) outscored the Unity basketball team 13-3 in an overtime session on their home court to hand the Rockets their fourth and second consecutive loss this season. The Panthers used seven of the 11 free throws in the extra period to win, 51-41.

Nursing a 22-16 lead at the half, the Rockets' Blake Kimball scored all eight of his team's points in the third frame. Meanwhile, PBL closed the gap on the scoreboard, shaving the point deficit down to a two-point difference.

Unity's scoring effort was a mere shadow of their first-half effort. Kimball, who finished with 19 points - 12 from three-point range, was quiet after the third period. Austin Langendorf stepped up by scoring six of the team's eight fourth-quarter points and forced the tie at the end of regulation play. The Rockets' third-leading scorer, he finished the night with nine points.

Behind Kimball, Thomas Henry was Unity's second-leading point producer with 11 hard-earned points. Will Cowan rounded out the team's scoring effort with two points from a field goal in the first quarter.

Keegan Busboom led the Paxton-Buckley-Loda scoring effort with 13 points. Fellow seniors Mason Medlock and Brandon Knight scored 12 and 11 points, respectively. Key to their success was another senior, Mason Bruns, who came off the bench to score nine points down the stretch for the Panthers.

Box Score

Final: Unity 41 - Paxton-Buckley-Loda 51

	1	2	3	4	OT	F
Unity	11	11	8	8	3	41
PBL	11	4	13	10	13	51

Unity --
Kimball 2 (4) 3-3 -- 19, Cowan 1 (0) 0-0 -- 2, H. Thomas 1 (2) 3-6 -- 11, Rawdin 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Warfel 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Saunders 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Porter 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, O'Neil 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Price 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, A. Thomas 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Langendorf 4 (0) 1-3 -- 9, Maxwell 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0,

Paxton-Buckley-Loda --
Bruns 2 (0) 5-8 -- 9, Ager 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Busboom 1 (3) 2-2 -- 13, Uden 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Sanders 0 (0) 0- -- 0, Graham 1 (0) 0-0 -- 2, Gronsky 1 (0) 0-0 -- 2, Johnson 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Medlock 3 (0) 6-6 -- 12, Hitz 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Donaldson 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0, Snelling 1 (0) 0-0 -- 2, Knight 4 (0) 3-5 -- 11,

Unity wrestling squad post four wins

MONTICELLO -- The Rockets' wrestling squad posted three shutouts during the first day of wrestling at the Illini Prairie Conference Meet this week.

Unity defeated IVC, 84-0; Rantoul, 84-0; and the St. Thomas More program, 81-0. While Monticello was the only program to score team points against the Rockets, UHS wrestlers cruised to a 72-6 victory.

SJO loses conference game by 14

ST. JOSEPH -- The St. Joseph-Ogden (12-4) basketball team dropped their first conference game of the season, falling to Pontiac at home, 58-44. It is the second straight loss for the Spartans, who dropped a non-conference contest, 54-38, on the road against Class 2A powerhouse Teutopolis on Tuesday.

Hoping to avenge last season's two-point loss to the Hawks, SJO plays at Prairie Central on Tuesday, January 18.

The Spartans are back in the Main Gym next Friday, where they will tip-off against Illinois Valley Central.

Prep Sports Notebook: Jones secures win for Spartans, Unity beats Marshall

Smith carries Spartans in win over Hoopeston Area

Logan Smith scored 17 points, collected five steals, and finished night with three rebounds in St. Joseph-Ogden's 75-46 win at Hoopeston.

Junior Ty Pence, who made ever shot inside the three-point line he took, led all scorers with 18 points and hauled in six defensive rebounds.

Evan Ingram finished with the 11 points and four assists for the 5-0 Spartans.

Rockets pull out win over Lions

Unity out-rebounded Marshall 41-23 in Once again, Blake Kimball closed out a Unity game as the leading scorer. The senior dropped 14 points and snagged four rebounds in the Rockets' 58-51 non-conference victory last night.

Down three points after the first eight minutes, Unity flipped the score to go up 25-20 at the half and stayed a step ahead of the Lions the remainder of the game.

Austin Langendorf, who made crucial free throws in the final quarter, finished with 13 points. Henry Thomas also finished with double-digits with 10 points for the Rockets.

Jacob Maxwell led the team in rebounding with eight boards. Langendorf and teammate Will Cowan had six rebounds apiece.

Jones sticks a speedy pin for SJO

Quincy Jones was the only Spartan to notch a win at the team road meet with Oakwood. The Comets defeated St. Joseph-Ogden in their early season dual meet, 67-6.

Jones, wrestling at 220-pounds, won his match over Harley Grimm with a 38 second pin.

The Comets won three matches pins thanks to Brysen Vasquez at 160, Reid Dazey at 145, and Pedro Rangel wrestling at 126-pounds.