CHAMPAIGN, IL – Mascoutah senior Santino Robinson rested on his knees and spent a moment in solitude prior to the overtime period of his Class 2A championship match.
Locked in a 1-1 deadlock with Washington sophomore Peyton Cox in the 132-pound division, Robinson collected his thoughts and calmly strode to back into position in the center of the mat with a plan.
“I knew I had to score,” Robinson said. “But I knew I couldn’t do anything stupid to get taken down myself.”
Robinson earned an escape, then chose the perfect moment to earn the first takedown of the match, defeating Cox 4-2 in overtime at the Illinois high school wrestling state championships Saturday at State Farm Center.
Robinson, who finished the season with an unblemished 41-0 record, became the first Mascoutah wrestling state champion since Davion Mayes in 2012.
It was the second state title for Robinson, who won a 113-pound state title in Missouri as a CBC freshman and bookended his career with an Illinois state title on Saturday.
“I like that I finished the way I started,” Robinson said.
Robinson, who will wrestle at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, closed his high school career with four championship match appearances, including the 120-pound title match in Missouri as a sophomore and the 126-pound championship tilt in Illinois as a junior, both times earning second-place medals.
Wojcikiewicz cruises to 170-pound state title.
It was worth the wait for Civic Memorial senior Abe Wojcikiewicz.
When the IHSA announced that the championship matches would begin with the 182-pound matches, it pushed Wojcikiewicz to the final group of competitors.
“I had to deal with the circumstances despite the malarkey,” Wojcikiewicz said. “Being last, you have quite a bit of time, so you have to make sure you relax, lay around in the stands a little bit and not wear yourself out.”
Wojcikiewicz (47-2) unleashed his pent-up energy on his opponent and cruised to a 17-5 major decision over Washington senior Blake Hinrichsen to earn the first IHSA state title for Civic Memorial since David Pearce in 2012.
After reaching the finals with two technical falls and a first period pin, Wojcikiewicz appeared slightly agitated after his dominant championship performance, thinking he could have done even more.
“I was just a little frustrated with the back half of the match, but other than that it was a great performance,” Wojcikiewicz said. “It means a lot. I’m glad to a have a large team of people who support me and I want to make them proud, so it feels pretty good.”
Waughtel goes back-to-back
Carlyle sophomore Tyson Waughtel knew he had a target on his back as a returning state champion, so he went on the hunt – for takedowns.
Waughtel completed a dominant tournament with a 12-2 major decision over Farmington junior Keygan Jennings to win his second state title in two seasons.
After earning technical falls over his first three opponents, Waughtel led only 2-0 after the first period in his 113-pound championship match before putting together a scoring flurry that became commonplace during the three-day event.
He rattled off six points in less than 30 seconds during the decisive second period, and as the clock struck zeroes, he raised his arms to the sky in celebration.
“Coming off last year’s state championship, it’s hard. You don’t have the same motivation because you think you’re the best in the world,” Waughtel said. “But you find out that you have a bigger target on your back and people want to beat you more.”
Waughtel (50-1) lost his only match of the year when he bumped up two weight classes to 126 pounds to face Calvin Miller of Shelbyville.
“I like to challenge myself,” he said. “Now that I have two (titles), I’ve got to get a third and a fourth.”
Near Misses:
Triad junior Colby Crouch was unsuccessful in defending his 2A state championship after he was forced to retire due to a leg injury during his 126-pound title match.
Crouch (31-1) and Chicago Brother Rice sophomore Bobby Conway were engaged in a furious back-and-forth scoring-fest of takedowns and reversals, and Crouch led 15-13 heading into the third period.
But late in the second period, it appeared Crouch’s left leg gave out, and he was unable to resume the match after injury time expired.
In the 145-pound championship match in 2A, Civic Memorial junior Bryce Griffin trailed only 2-1 after one period to Washington senior Kannon Webster, who is the top-ranked wrestler in the nation in his weight class according to FloWrestling.
But Webster began to assert his excellence later in the match and pulled away with an 18-8 major decision.
In 3A, Belleville East freshman Jonathan Rulo advanced all the way to the 285-pound title match in his first high school season before dropping a 5-3 decision to Downers Grove North senior Ben Bielawski.
Trailing 3-2 late in the second period, Bielawski earned a reversal with :03 remaining and held Rulo scoreless throughout the final period to earn the win.
Others who placed in the top-6 and earned a state medal included:
In 3A – Belleville East senior Dominic Thebeau (3rd at 195).
In 2A – Civic Memorial sophomore Bradley Ruckman (4th at 106), Civic Memorial junior Caleb Scott (5th at 126), and Triad senior Koen Rodebush (6th at 182).
In 1A – Cahokia sophomore Jason Dowell (3rd at 285) and Cahokia senior Nick Deloach (5th at 170).
