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Boys wrestling
Class 1A State Finals
At Champaign: Coal City’s Cooper Morris (126 pounds), Brody Widlowski (138), Aidan Kenney (144) and John Keigher (215) are all state semifinalists after winning their first two bouts of this year’s state tournament Thursday.
Out of the 25 local wrestlers to qualify, the quartet of Coalers are the lone state semifinalists, but another trio of Coal City wrestlers – Brock Finch (165), Landin Benson (175) and Cade Poyner (190) – as well as Bishop McNamara’s Alex Kostecka (138) earned first-round wins before joining the area’s other 17 wrestlers in wrestlebacks.
Benson, the defending 165-pound state champion, was defeated 2-1 in overtime by Richmond-Burton’s Blake Livdahl in the quarterfinals. He’s one of two Coalers to have their quarterfinal fates determined in extra time, as Kenney’s second win of the day also came in overtime.
State continues Friday and concludes with the championship matches Saturday evening at State Farm Center in Champaign.
Girls basketball
Class 2A St. Joseph-Ogden Regional championship
Bishop McNamara 36, St. Joseph-Ogden 28: Following a 58-point blowout win in the regional semis, the Fightin’ Irish found themselves in a much closer game in Thursday’s regional championship. The eight-point win was their closest victory in nearly a month as the Irish claimed their second regional title in three years. They improved to 25-7 with the win and will play in the Herscher Sectional semifinals Tuesday.
Trinity Davis led Bishop McNamara with 14 points in the win. Trinitee Thompson joined her in double figures with 12 points, while Leigha Brown added five points.
Class 1A Dwight Regional championship
Cissna Park 48, Dwight 18: A dominant defensive performance propelled the Timberwolves to a regional championship over Dwight on Thursday, the second regional title in a row for the team. The top seed in their subsectional, Cissna Park (27-4) will play Flanagan-Cornell in Tuesday’s Varna Sectional semifinals.
Three players scored in double figures for Cissna Park, led by Lauryn Hamrick with 17 points. Addison Lucht was close behind with 16 points, while Josie Neukomm finished with 12.
Boys basketball
Peotone 67, Grant Park 52: The 2024-25 season started slow for Peotone, but Thursday’s win in the regular-season finale over Grant Park gave the Blue Devils their 11th win in their past 13 games. They wrapped the regular season at 15-13, while the Dragons will head into the postseason at 10-19.
Thursday also was senior night for Peotone, and seniors Ruben Velasco, Logan Mather and Brandon Weiss were the team’s top three scorers. Velasco had a massive double-double with 29 points and 17 rebounds. Mather added 12 points, while Weiss had nine points.
Grant Park was led by senior Blake Brown with 18 points, 13 of which came in the first half. Caiden Benson joined him in double figures with 12 points while Jayden Kaack and Ethan Barnas had seven points apiece.
Central 52, Iroquois West 50: The Comets and the Raiders ended the regular season in Clifton, with Central holding on for a home win despite a comeback push by Iroquois West that ended on a missed shot at the buzzer. Central snapped a four-game winning streak to finish the regular season at 17-12. The Raiders, who won four of five coming in, fell to 13-17.
Central was led by Perry Mason with 12 points. Aidan Podowicz and Jake Thompson joined Mason in double figures with 10 points apiece, and Blake Chandler had nine.
For Iroquois West, Kobie Hendershot scored a game-high 16 points. Mario Andrade had 11 points, while Garret Tammen and Beau Howe had eight points apiece.
Milford 63, Grace Christian 45: The Bearcats snapped a three-game losing streak with their 18-point home win over the Crusaders. Milford improved to 6-23 with one regular-season game remaining, while Grace Christian wrapped the regular season at 14-12. These teams will have a rematch Monday to open the Class 1A Milford Regional.
Milford had four players score in double figures, led by Caleb Clutteur with 19 points. Beau Wright had 15 points, while Hixon Lafond and Tyler Runner had 12 points apiece.
For Grace Christian, Ethan Reynolds had a game-high 22 points, and Sam Marquardt added 13.
Beecher 46, Wilmington 38: Beecher ended its regular season with a home win over Wilmington, the Bobcats’ fifth win in the past six games. They will head into regionals at 18-12. The Wildcats were winners of five of six heading into Thursday, and with the loss fell to 18-10 with one regular-season game left.
Orlin Nesbitt had 12 points and eight rebounds for Beecher, while Noah Berry and Dominick DeFrank added nine points apiece.
No individual stats were immediately available for Wilmington.
Donovan 69, Blue Ridge 53: The Wildcats picked up their third home victory in a row in their second-to-last regular-season game. It also was their fourth win in their past five home games as they improved to 7-22. No individual stats were immediately available for Donovan.