With the high school wrestling season completed, the middle school wrestlers now take center stage as nine members of the EP middle school wrestling team competed in the sectional round of the Illinois Elementary School Association’s state tournament on Saturday in Port Byron. EP Coach, Josh Mosher’s squad looked to advance wrestlers to the state finals with the top 4 placers in each weight bracket qualifying. The nine athletes qualified after finishing in the top three spots at the Morrison Regional the previous week.
At the end of the competition three Panthers had punched their tickets to the state finals: 105 lb – Hunter Hovey, 145 lb – Will Atkinson, and 215 lb – Russell Williamson.
Hovey received a first round bye and defeated his opponent in the quarterfinals round with a 19-3 tech fall. The 8th grader lost his semifinal by fall to the eventual bracket champion. Hovey won his consolation semifinal 6-1 and took third place with an exciting 6-1 win. With only five seconds left in the 3rd period of the third place bout, Hovey was up 1-0 but got hit with a stalling call, giving his opponent a point. He responded with a lightning quick takedown to go up by three and won the match 6-1.
At 145 pounds, Will Atkinson lost his opening match by fall and then had the tough challenge of working his way back through the consolation rounds to earn a spot in the state finals. He was up for the challenge as he won his next two matches by fall. In the consolation semifinal the 8th grader won a 5-4 decision to earn his way to the third place match, winning by fall in 3:19.
Williamson competing at 215 pounds lost his opening round match by fall to head to the consolation bracket. He opened his second match with a bang as he pinned his Byron opponent in twenty-four seconds. The 8th grader, competing in his first year of wrestling, took on Latham from Wilmington in his next bout and came away with a decisive win by fall in 2:28. In his consolation semifinal he got revenge for his opening round loss as he pinned Willits of Mercer County in :45. The win sent him to the third place match where he lost by fall in 3:09.
The three wrestlers will head to the IESA State Finals at Northern Illinois University’s Convocation Center starting at 11:30 AM on Friday with the medal rounds to be held on Saturday with action beginning at 9:00 AM.
