Regional wrestling: Central’s Thompson wins title, 10 other grapplers move on to sectionals

TREMONT, Ill. — Central sophomore Jack Thompson became the only area wrestler to capture a championship at the Class 1A Tremont Regional, winning the title at 113 pounds Saturday.

The Panthers had three other wrestlers advance to the Stanford Olympia Sectional, while Quincy Notre Dame has three wrestlers moving on and Illini West and West Hancock will each be sending two wrestlers to the next round.

Thompson, who was the top seed, received a first-round bye and scored a 16-0 technical fall over Illini Bluffs’ Wyatt Knowles in the semifinals. In the championship match against third-seeded Cohen Green of Macomb, Thompson fell behind 2-0 after allowing a reversal in the second period.

A takedown by Thompson in the third period tied the match, and he won in sudden victory with a takedown in overtime. He will carry a 39-6 record to the sectional.

Three other Central wrestlers — sophomore Conner Griffin at 152, junior Hunter Bolton at 160 and senior Kyus Mitchell at 170 — each took third in their respective weight class.

Griffin, seeded second, was upset 8-6 by Beardstown’s Alex Dieme in the opening round. It forced Griffin to win three matches to advance. He defeated QND’s Nathan Pabisiak 6-4, scored a 17-2 technical fall over Illini Bluffs’ Michael Schabatka and got revenge on Dieme with a 7-4 decision in the third-place match.

Bolton lost in the semifinals to Illini West’s Shawn Watkins, getting pinned in 1:12, but rallied to beat Macomb’s Jake Hyde 7-4 for third place. Mitchell got to the semifinals before getting pinned in three minutes by Tremont’s Lucas Wendling. Mitchell came back to win third place by pinning Petersburg PORTA’s Dane Jiannoni in 2:30.

QND’s Curtis Steinkamp (126), Ryan Darnell (195) and Oliver Moore (106) each finished third. Steinkamp was pinned in the semifinals in 5:17 by Canton’s Trevor Hedges, but came back to Tremont’s Josiah Grant 7-2 for third place. 

Darnell eliminated West Hancock’s Malachi McKune with a 4-2 victory in the consolation semifinals and pinned PORTA’s Jet Burlison in 58 seconds for third. Moore beat Canton’s Jack Jochums by pin in 1:41 in the third-place match.

Watkins and Lance Belshaw (145) each wrestled for a regional championship for the Chargers. Watkins was pinned by Tremont’s Logan Stedman in 3:22 in the 160 title match. Belshaw, who won his first two matches by technical fall and major decision, lost to Canton’s Andrew Hedges by pin in 1:49 in the finals.

West Hancock’s Evan Carel (138) and Zane Humphry (182) both advanced with third-place finishes. Carel pinned PORTA’s Mitchell Horn in 3:54, while Humphry beat Canton’s Danny Murphy 8-1.