IHSA state wrestling notes: Tourney expected to generate $5.5 million

Feb. 17—CHAMPAIGN — Snowy weather didn't deter a healthy crowd from filing into State Farm Center on Friday.

Nor has it deterred Champaign-Urbana from experiencing another successful weekend hosting the IHSA state wrestling finals at the venue it has called home since 1973.

"We estimate through the turnstiles about 30,000 people throughout the weekend, so it's pretty big," said Mark Brown, the Experience Champaign-Urbana director of sports, events and film.

A hearty contingent of fans supporting the 672 wrestlers on hand for the weekend filed past Experience C-U's booth in the concourse during Friday's consolation bracket action.

It was among a handful of attractions outside the arena's main bowl, including tables from the U.S. Army and U.S. Marines and a stand offering official event merchandise. The arena's exhibit spotlighting the history of Illinois men's basketball was also open to the public.

"We have our dining guide at our table up there that has restaurants that are pretty hospitable to either large or small groups," Brown said. "We also have our experience guides as well that have things to do within the area, tour the campus, get outside in downtown Champaign, Urbana, tour the businesses."

Experience C-U's presence at the tournament included a map of Illinois that fans could interact with by pinning their home location. It included marks from every corner of the state by the end of Friday's consolation bracket matches.

"Our estimated economic impact is $5.5 million for the weekend," Brown said. "So that would include, obviously, the hotel stays for the teams and spectators, food, stores. All of that kind of comes together."

★ ★ ★

Two of the seven wrestlers that Oakwood/Salt Fork brought to Champaign were still in contention for a state title by the time the Class 1A semifinals began on Friday night, with Grant Brewer at 150 pounds and Bryson Capansky at 157. Capansky defeated Hoopeston Area's Ayden Larkin via a 9-6 semifinal decision to advance to Saturday night's championship match, where he will face Jimmy Mastny of Marian Central for a state title. Brewer, meanwhile, lost 13-4 by major decision against Bentley Wise from Olympia in Friday night's semifinals.

A subtle sign of how the Vermilion Valley Conference rivals feel about each other when they combine to field teams in a variety of sports.

"It's the best team I've ever been a part of," Dalton Brown said after defeating Illini West's Shawn Watkins in the first round of wrestlebacks at 175 on Friday.

Brown was among the five O/SF wrestlers who partook in Friday's consolation rounds.

"It's super exciting but now that we're kind of to this point, it's like you're never satisfied," O/SF coach Mike Glosser said. "We've got a lot of guys that are going to return. It shows that we're building the program in the right direction."

Glosser couldn't have been much happier with his group, which was larger than any other area contingent and stayed at an Airbnb closer to State Farm Center to ease the commute from Vermilion County.

"We're big on team family, man," Glosser said. "We try to create that culture, and I've been trying to do it since I came here 13 years ago. I feel like the kids have really fed off it. ... It's not anything I've done. It's kind of our community."

★ ★ ★

Unity's group of wrestlers — which totaled five when the state finals began — had its share of success throughout the tournament's first two days.

Hunter Eastin at 190 and Kaden Inman at 144 kept their seasons alive into Friday night's Class 1A semifinals and will both wrestle for state titles on Saturday night.

Rockets coach Logan Patton has even more wrestlers still competing. He's trained 27 wrestlers that qualified for the boys' and girls' individual finals, with the girls' state finals taking place Feb. 23-24 at Grossinger Motors Arena in downtown Bloomington.

"He's always in my corner supporting me," Centennial senior Jack Barnhart said before his Friday night 2A semifinal match at 285. "He coached me over the summer and stuff, so it's awesome having him cheering for me. ... He's always there supporting me."

Patton's program, Patton Trained, defies rivalries and IHSA class boundaries.

Along with Barnhart, St. Joseph-Ogden junior Holden Brazelton has worked with Patton.

"Jack's my boy," Patton said. "Jack's been with us for three years now. He's my shotgun rider every big trip. He's in my vehicle, (and) we're talking not just wrestling but anything, like music or food."

Barnhart has also leaned on Eastin and former Unity standout Nick Nosler, who won a state title in 2023 at 195 and now wrestles at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

"I learned a bunch from Nick. He's a really good wrestler," Barnhart said. "He was always pushing me in the summer to get better. I didn't talk to him before the meet but I've kept up with him. I was lucky to be (partnered with) him."

★ ★ ★

How Brown dealt with a preliminary loss to Riverdale's Zachary Bradley on Thursday and collected composure for the consolation bracket was straightforward.

"One match at a time," Brown said. "Just one match at a time."

Brown's approach served him well. He defeated Watkins by pin in just 1 minute, 38 seconds and Unity's Thayden Root via a 4-3 decision on Friday root to set up a match with St. Thomas More's August Christhilf in the third round of the consolation bracket on Saturday morning.

A similar mentality helped Brazelton get past Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley/Fisher's Shawn Schlickman and Newman's Brady Grennan to keep his tournament going.

"Short-term memory loss," Brazelton said after his two wins on Friday in the 1A 132-pound bracket. "You still got a job to do on the other side no matter what happens. Everyone was texting me like 'You've still got a job to do, it's not over yet. You've got to battle back.' So I just tried to battle back."

★ ★ ★

Sharp focus was also the key for GCMS/Fisher's Carson Maxey and LeRoy/Tri-Valley's Connor Lyons when they punched their tickets to the third round of the 150 and 157 consolation bracket within seconds of each other.

"I just focus on what's next," Maxey said. "I don't look at my brackets but whoever I get, they're going to have to work for it."

Lyons' match — a pin of Richmond-Burton's Isaac Jones in 1:27 — ended as Maxey was still recalling his.

"You've got to reset," Lyons said. "You've got to block it out. It's really just focusing on what you can control. You can't control that you lost. You can only control what's about to happen and how you're going to face it."

It's an approach Glosser has seen many wrestlers — in an O/SF singlet or otherwise — take through the years.

"It's not a sword fight, it's just wrestling," Glosser said. "Nobody's cutting your legs off. One day wrestling's gone. It's the person that you are that's left, so use that as a moment to battle some adversity and build some character."

★ ★ ★

Unity senior Olivia Shike knows what winning an IHSA state championship is like.

She was a part of three consecutive girls' cross-country teams that won Class 1A state titles for the Rockets.

While her brother, Hunter, won't end his sophomore season on the final day of the state finals, Olivia and classmate Ruby Tarr were left with a great view of Friday's action helping fill out bracket boards to be given to each state champion.

"It's exciting," Olivia said. "Unity has a good history of being able to compete at the state tournament and it's exciting to watch my (classmates) do that."

Olivia will likely get another chance to watch Hunter, who withdrew following an injury sustained in a quarterfinal match against Rockridge's Thomas Soward. The Rockets won a regional title on Feb. 3 and will wrestle on Tuesday night for a spot in next weekend's dual team state tournament in Bloomington.

Just as she's been doing for most of her life.

"I've been a wrestling sister for a long time now, so being able to be right here up close and watch them wrestle (is incredible)," Olivia said. "It was cool to see him fight through the pain and get through that match."

Joey Wright