Oregon’s Javier Perez brings home sixth place medal

CHAMPAIGN – Oregon has a state wrestling place winner for the first time since 2019 when Chase Clark, Noah Paul, and Jacob Milliman all placed third and Andrew Herbst took fourth.

Josiah Perez is Oregon’s newest medalist after bringing home a sixth place medal at 113 pounds at the 1A state individual meet in Champaign.

Perez had a rough road to the medal. Fourth place in the Oregon Sectional, Perez sent Owen Petersen of Coal City down the consolation side with an 8-5 overtime win. Petersen lost to Perez’s next opponent in the consolation semifinal and Perez met him again in the fifth place match, losing by a fall at 3:08.

In the quarterfinal, Perez met Cohen Sweely of Benton, coming up short 6-5. Sweely lost to the second place finisher in the semifinal and dropped to the wrestleback semifinal, winning 6-5 over Petersen, but losing by a technical fall in the third place match.

The 113 pound weight class was won by Max Philpot of Vandalia, defeating Austin Hagevold of Woodstock Marian in the title match. Sweely was second to Philpot in the Carterville Sectional. Petersen was the champion at the Coal City Sectional and Hagevold took the top spot at the Oregon Sectional.

“Every match was just hard all the way through,” said Perez. “I wrestled as hard as I could, but things that worked all year just weren’t enough here.”

Hawk Coach Justin Lahman agreed. “Perez did everything we wanted and everything he could. Sweely was tough and Josiah just got caught in the medal match. There wasn’t much we could do there,” he said. “The big thing is that it is not over for Perez and our whole team. We have a chance to make our mark and put a lot of medals around a lot of necks this week in the Team Series. We are ready.”

The other two representatives for the Hawks at the big show, Isaiah Perez at 120 and Nelson Benesh at 132, both wrestled just two matches.

Isaiah lost his first match to eventual third place medalist Jeremiah Lawrence of Chicago De Lasalle and his second match to sixth place finisher Barrett Speck of Illini Bluffs.

Benesh lost by a technical fall to third place medalist Brandon Green Jr. of Roxanna in his first match and in overtime to Luke Munsterman of Coal City in the first round of consolation. Munsterman dropped out in the next round of a very tough bracket.

Port Byron Riverdale’s Dean Wainwright took the 132 pound championship. Oregon Sectional champion Bryant Teunissen of Woodstock Marian finished at the top in the 120 pound weight class.

Other area wrestlers winning medals were: Port Byron Riverdale’s Blake Smith, 157 pounds, first place; Erie-Prophetstown’s Wyatt Goossens, 157 pounds, third place; Stillman Valley’s Henry Hildreth, 150 pounds, sixth place; and Byron’s Jared Claunch, 285 pounds, sixth place.

Coal City led all teams with seven place winners, but the Coalers were kept off the top of the podium, winning two second places and four fifth places.

Vandalia had two champions and a runner-up among their six medalists. Tolono Unity had five medalists including a first and second. Advancing out of Oregon Sectoinal, Woodstock Marian had two firsts, two seconds and a fourth place. Also from the Oregon Sectional, Richmond Burton and Lena-Winslow-Stockton each took four medals, including a first and a second.

Oakwood-Salt Fork also had four medalists, but no champions. Riverdale qualified two to Champaign and both finished first. De Lasalle, Illini Bluffs, Hoopeston, Tremont, and Alton Wood River also crowned champions.

Against Petersen, Josiah Perez lost the first takedown. Perez started the second with a quick stand but was taken down in a body lock right away. He stood for another escape and trailed 5-4 at the start of the third. Perez escaped from a crook to tie the score at five. Thirty seconds into overtime, Perez shot a double and worked around for the winning takedown.

Against Sweely in the quarterfinal, Perez lost the first takedown and fought off a tilt later in the period. Sweely countered a nice high crotch for a 6-0 lead going into the third. Perez picked up a stalling point and got a takedown but couldn’t get through for any more points, losing 6-5.

The second round wrestleback was especially tough for Perez as he struggled for points. He missed on two good shots in the first period and had a takedown stopped for caution in the second and Perez went to the third clinging to a one point lead.

A chance at backpoints was cut short by blood. Perez picked up a point but lost a reverse in the waning seconds and he went to overtime tied at four. Twenty five seconds into the extra frame, Perez worked his way around for his second sudden victory win.

The quarterfinal against Paxton Pyatt of Murphysboro was also tough. The first period was scoreless and Pyatt tilted for two backpoints early in the second. Perez escaped and got a takedown as time wound down in the second to lead 4-2. Pyatt took the lead with a low single, but Perez tied it up with an escape with a minute to go and hit a double leg takedown thirty seconds later and held on for an 8-5 win.

In the semifinal against eventual third place finisher Dylan Elmer of St, Joseph Ogden, Perez trailed 6-1 after two periods and managed an escape to start the third but went down 9-3.

In the fifth place match against Petersen, Perez trailed 3-1 in the second, He lost a quick escape before he stepped over for a takedown to tie the score, but he was quickly reversed to his back and pinned at 3:07 for sixth place.

In his opener, Isaiah Perez just couldn’t get through as Lawrence caught him three times in double leg takedowns going on to take a 12-3 major decision.

Perez’s tournament ended in the first round of consolation to Speck. Perez was in control early with the first takedown, but Speck was strong on top in the third, getting two points with a cradle and four more with half nelson, defeating Perez 8-3.

Benesh lost five takedowns and was caught in a cradle to drop a 19-3 technical fall at 2:32 in his first match. With former Oregon wrestler Cole Barringer in the stripes and on the whistle, Benesh’s chances ended in the first round of wrestlebacks.

He went to overtime tied at one after each wrestler scored an escape, Benesh first. Munsterman scored the first takedown of the match, going out of bounds as the buzzer sounded at the end of the extra period. That takedown sent Benesh home with a 4-1 loss.