“Always want more,” is one of the many sayings that come from Coal City High School wrestling coach Mark Masters. It’s a passage that will undoubtedly be on the minds of the Coaler wrestlers taking the mat at the Illinois High School Association [IHSA] State Individual Wrestling Finals this week.
Seven of the 13 Coalers who advanced enter the finals as sectional champions, and all of them have racked up more than 20 wins this season. Two of the qualifiers have more than 100 varsity career wins and their coach recently hit a milestone with 500 dual team victories. As athletic director Brad Boresi said, Coal City is known for its wrestling.
State finals wrestling gets underway on Thursday—Feb. 20— at the State Farm Center on campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The class 1A preliminaries are set to start at noon.
Taking the mat for the Coalers are Jason Piatak, Owen Petersen, Culan Lindemuth, Cooper Morris, Luke Munsterman, Brody Widlowski, Aidan Kenney, Noah Houston, Mason Garner, Brock Finch, Landin Benson, Cade Poyner and John Keigher
Jason Piatak is wrestling at 106. He finished fourth at the sectional and enters the state tournament with a 33-17 record. His first match is against C. Wright, of Morrison.
Owen Petersen was the sectional champion at 113. He enters the state tournament with a 40-2 record and will face J. Perez, of Oregon, in the prelims.
Culan Lindemuth was the sectional runner-up at 120. His current season record is 33-11. He will take on A. Swanson, of Princeton, in the first match.
Cooper Morris was the 126 sectional champion. He enters the state finals with a 37-5 record. His first round opponent is D. Steele, of Canton.
Luke Munsterman finished third at the sectional at 132. His current record is 37-12. He will take on H. Shike, of Unity, in the prelims.
Brody Widlowski is the sectional champion at 138. He is currently undefeated for the season with 24 wins. He will take on H. Brandon, of Gibson City-Melvin Sibley, in Thursday’s opening round.
Aidan Kenney is the sectional champion at 144. He enters the state finals with a 36-10 record. He will take on A. Carrier, of Canton, in the preliminary match.
Noah Houston finished third at the sectional tournament. He currently holds a 29-13 record. His preliminary opponent is K. Brent, of Leroy.
Mason Garner took first place at the sectional at 157. His current record is 32-6. He will take on K. Graden, of Olympia, in the opening match.
Brock Finch was the sectional runner-up at 165. He enters the tournament with a 29-8 record and has over 100 varsity wins in his high school career. He will take on D. Kelly, of Newman, in the prelims.
Defending state champion, Landin Benson, was the sectional champion at 175. He enters this year’s state finals with a 38-2 record, and over 100 varsity career wins during his time as a Coaler. His first match on Thursday will be gainst T. Keoughan, of Fairfield.
Cade Poyner finished the sectional in third place at 190. His season record to date is 33-7. He will face B. Salmon, of Mercer, in the opening round.
John Keigher was the sectional champion at 215. He enters this year’s state finals with a 38-11 record. He will meet T. Stags, of Litchfield, in the opening match.
The doors to the State Farm Center will open to the public at 11 a.m. on Thursday with wrestling to get underway at noon, and the 1A winners bracket quarterfinals are set to get underway at 6:30 p.m.
Wrestling will resume Friday with doors opening to the public at 7:30 a.m. First round wrestlebacks in class 1A are set to begin around 11 a.m. and the second round at approximately 1:30. Doors will re-open Friday evening at 6 p.m. with the semi-final round getting underway at 7 p.m. The schedule for Saturday has doors opening to the public at 8 a.m. and quarterfinal wrestlebacks starting at 9 a.m. Semi-final wrestlebacks are set for 11 a.m. and the 3-6th place matches will begin at 1 p.m. Doors will re-open at 4:30 for the finals with the Grand March at 5:30 p.m. and wrestling beginning at 6 p.m. starting with the 175 pound weight class.
State final tickets are $12 per session and parking at the center is $15. Both can be purchased in advance at https://fightingillini.evenue.net/list/HSWR If you can not make it to Champaign, but want to catch all the action on the mats, the tournament will be streamed on the NFHS Network.
The Coalers will be back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 25 for the dual team sectional. As a team that always wants more, Masters and his wrestlers will be looking to secure a spot in the dual team finals set for Feb. 28 and March 1 in Bloomington. Coal City is hosting the sectional and wrestling begins at 6 p.m.