Wrestling: Wheaton Academy’s Lincoln Hoger takes 126 title, leads five qualifiers from 1A Johnsburg Regional

JOHNSBURG – Wheaton Academy wrestling coach Steve Aiello felt like a few of his Warriors saw the best the state has to offer in their title matches at Saturday’s Class 1A Johnsburg Regional.

At least Wheaton Academy sophomore Lincoln Hoger’s opponent in the 126-pound match could say the same thing.

Hoger (35-5) earned a 14-3 major decision to beat Richmond-Burton’s Kyan Gunderson for the championship. Hoger and four teammates advanced from the regional to the Byron Sectional next Friday and Saturday.

Will Hupke (132), Tyler Jones (144), Chasen Kazmierczak (150) and Deonta Giles (157) also qualified.

St. Francis’ 285-pounder Jaylen Torres (13-1) won his championship bout 11-4 over R-B’s Colin Kraus and is the Spartans’ lone qualifier.

St. Edward’s Dominic Savini (19-2) defeated Johnsburg’s CJ Ameachi 9-3 for the 215 title.

The top three wrestlers advance from regionals; the top four will advance from sectionals to the state tournament.

“I wrestled really well. Over the season I’ve been getting better every day,” Hoger said. “I just kept on the offense and kept scoring. I’m in a good spot, I’ll have a good seed for sectional and I’m going to wrestle my best there.”

Hoger won with two pins before the major decision in the title match.

“Lincoln dominated his weight class,” Aiello said.

Hupke was pinned by Marian Central’s Vance Williams, a state runner-up last season. Jones lost to R-B’s Emmett Nelson, another state runner-up and Kazmierczak lost to R-B’s Brody Rudnik 3-0.

“Will ran into a buzzsaw (in Williams),” Aiello said. “Tyler Jones wrestled the only undefeated kid in the tournament. Emmett’s just a beast and Tyler didn’t stop attacking him. Tyler was pressuring at the end, even his him with a lateral drop in the third period. I said, ‘Tyler, you’re losing, just go for it.’ And he went for it. I love that.

“Our best guys were in the toughest weight classes here. I’m hopeful we can get all of those guys through to state.”

Torres has fewer matches than most wrestlers because he has battled a shoulder labrum injury since the football season.

“It feels good now,” Torres said. “I’ve been off for a month-and-a-half. It feels good to get back to wrestling. I like my chances. I feel like I can get a high place on the podium (at state).”

Kraus is 27-10 and was the top seed at 285.

“(Torres) has had a good year. Right now the focus is to stay sharp and stay healthy for the sectional,” St. Francis coach Eric Kirkman said. “He’s strong, he’s quick on his feet, he has a really strong offense. He looked pretty good today.”