Plainfield South’s Teagan Aurich wins sectional title, stays unbeaten

GENESEO - Plainfield South senior Teagan Aurich is a state wrestling veteran.

Aurich won the 155-pound bracket at the Geneseo Sectional on Saturday to earn her third trip to state. But after going solo last year, she’ll be going with a teammate this season as freshman Layla Spann (170) placed fourth.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Aurich said. “This is my third year going to state, so it’s super fun, and I’m excited to be going with my practice parter. She’s only a freshman, so I’m super proud of her for qualifying.”

Aurich was one of three sectional champions from The Herald-News area along with Plainfield Central senior Alicia Tucker (170) and Morris senior Morgan Congo (190).

Other area state qualifiers were Lincoln-Way Central’s Zoe Dempsey (110), Sadie Sparks (120), Riley Cooney (125) and Ella Giertuga (140), Joliet Catholic’s Grace Laird (130), Joliet Central’s Alisa Carter (105), Joliet West’s Chloe Wong (105) and Seneca’s Catalina Pacheco (130) and Sammie Greisen (135).

Aurich (36-0) pinned her way through the sectional, recording falls in 1:12, 1:19 and 2:56 in the championship match against Rock Falls freshman Akira Schick.

“I feel like I was working top pretty well today, I was really good on my feet and I was making sure to get the match flowing within the first 30 seconds,” Aurich said.

Tucker (25-1), who was state runner-up last season, won her first match by fall in 5:53 then won by 14-1 major decision in the semifinals.

In the title match, Tucker fell behind 3-0 against Peoria Notre Dame’s Autumne Williams but bounced back to win by 5-3 decision.

Congo also had a tight match in the championship. She was tied 5-5 against Kaneland’s Sadie Kinsella before pinning her in 3:26.

“I just really was focusing on what my opponent wasn’t going to expect to see from me today because we’ve wrestled multiple times,” Congo said. “We go back and forth winning, so I was just trying new stuff.”

Congo, who also was a state qualifier last year, won by pin in her first two matches as well.

“I’m really proud of myself,” Congo said. “I had a couple of easy matches. My first one, I psyched myself out a lot, so I was really proud that I was able to take a deep breath and calm down.”

Lincoln-Way Central, which scored 93.5 points to finish third in the team standings behind Geneseo (117) and Kaneland (98), had four qualifiers, led by runner-up finishes by Sparks and Dempsey.

Sparks, a freshman, won her first match by 11-1 major decision then won by fall in 1:14 in the semifinals before getting pinned by Hononegah senior Gina Cassioppi (28-0) in the title match.

“It feels great,” Sparks said. “I’m really grateful for the opportunity (to go to state).

“I’ve done what I need to do at this point. I don’t expect anything [at state], but I hope to earn something, a place and a medal to let my dad keep in the basement with his stuff.”

Dempsey won by pin in her first two matches in 1:28 and 3:51 before she was pinned by defending state champion Angelina Gochis (32-0) of Kaneland in the title match.

Cooney and Giertuga each placed fourth. Giertuga won in a tiebreaker over Geneseo’s Lauren Piquard in a semifinal wrestleback to punch her ticket to state.

Laird earned her third trip to state by placing second.

“I’m really excited,” Laird said. “It’s my third time going to state and I have a lot of goals. I want to be on the state podium.”

She won her first match by 18-3 technical fall, won by pin in 16 seconds and won by 12-6 decision in the semifinals. Laird (20-5) was pinned by Canton’s Kinnley Smith (40-3) in the title match.

“I think I have a lot to improve on,” Laird said. “I definitely made some fixes, but in that title match, there’s definitely a lot to work on from there.”

Joliet Central’s Alisa Carter placed third. She punched her ticket to state with an 8-2 win over Streator’s Addison Yacko in the semifinal wrestleback before winning the third-place match 9-4 over Wong.

Pacheco is making her first trip to state after starting to wrestle just over a year ago. She won by fall in the semifinal wrestleback and by 9-8 decision in the third-place match.

Greisen earned her third trip to state with a 18-0 technical fall over Joliet Central’s Izabel Barrera in the semifinal wrestleback before recording a pin in 48 seconds in the third-place match.