Top 5 things we learned from the start of wrestling season, led by Cadence Diduch's title

Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star
·4 min read
Freeport's Cadence Diduch tries to roll over one of her opponents during a run to the championship at 120 pounds at the Rockford East Giardini Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021.
Freeport's Cadence Diduch tries to roll over one of her opponents during a run to the championship at 120 pounds at the Rockford East Giardini Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021.

ROCKFORD – The wrestling season is only a couple of weeks old, but the bar is being set early.

While the start of the season is traditionally used as a measuring stick for most coaches and teams, this year is off to strong start. Some see it as a sign that wrestlers are ready to put the 2020-21 season, which was heavily impacted by COVID-19, behind them and kick off this year with a little extra motivation.

"Yeah sure, this is just about seeing what you've got right now," East head coach Gene Lee said. "But this weekend, our guys came up to the plate and played ball...We're already seeing some good things out of our kids."

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Highlighted by a powerful showing from one of the strong girls we have to follow this year, here are the top five things we've learned about our area wrestlers and teams in the first couple of weeks of the season.

1. Freeport's Cadence Diduch gets title

Freeport sophomore Cadence Diduch became the first female to ever win a Rockford East Giardini Invitational title on Saturday, and three NIC-10 teams finished in the top four in the standings, including her Freeport squad.

"I was really proud, mostly because this is the first time I got to really represent Freeport – and then I won," said Diduch (6-1), who won the 120-pound title, capping it off with a 7-1 win over Rochelle's Joe Nadig. "I felt like this was really a team win, with the way everybody was behind me and supporting me. I just want to help this team win."

Diduch, Markel Baker (132 pounds) and Jacob Reddington (138) all steamrolled to tourney titles on Saturday while Tarrone Jackson (160) finished second for Freeport, which wound up fourth in the NIC-10 logjam at the top. Geneseo won the team title with 199 1/2 points, and Belvidere took second (149 points), with East third (143 1/2) and Freeport fourth (141 1/2).

2. Pretzels start off hot

Markel Baker, a Freeport wrestler shown here during a summer tournament, rolled to the championship at 132 pounds in the Rockford East Giardini Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021.
Markel Baker, a Freeport wrestler shown here during a summer tournament, rolled to the championship at 132 pounds in the Rockford East Giardini Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021.

Freeport (4-0) knocked off then-No. 1-ranked in Class 1A, Dakota, 53-24 to kick off the season on Nov. 30, then edged Belvidere's co-op 33-30 last Thursday as the Pretzels strutted their stuff early on.

Despite finishing fourth, they also stepped it up this past weekend. Especially when it comes to their champs.

"Cadence is everything we thought she would be, and more," Freeport head coach Anthony Dedmond said. "And Markel, he's just a man on a mission."

Baker (8-0) is ranked No. 1 in the 2A polls at 132 and hasn't been touched. Diduch and Reddington each only have one loss on the season, and heavyweight Landon Stewart pulled off a key pin to help Freeport lock down the win over Belvidere, showing how deep the Pretzels' lineup is right now.

Freeport takes on East and Auburn, at East, on Thursday night in another key early-season NIC-10 matchup.

3. NIC-10 race could be 3-way battle

Belvidere finished in second behind only Geneseo at Saturday's invite, led by Jake Bell's 195-pound tourney title. Clearly, the area co-op is a team to be reckoned with this season.

But East and Freeport were right behind, giving us a peek into what could be a tight battle when the season winds down, and all 10 teams convene for the conference championships.

"I think it's going to be a battle," Dedmond said of the conference race.

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The E-Rabs had seven wrestlers that placed Saturday, including a pair of champs. Donald Cannon and Joey Pineda made statements, not just with titles, but with dominant runs through their Giardini invite brackets.

Cannon (8-1) had three early-second-period falls, while Pineda (11-0) stayed perfect on the season with back-to-back pins, a semifinal tech-fall, and then an exciting 2-1 overtime victory in the finals over Geneseo's Tim Stohl.

4. Le-Win/Stockton climbs to No. 1

Lena-Winslow/Stockton earned an impressive quad-meet sweep on Saturday, beating up on Port Byron Riverdale, Aldo Mercer and Sherrard at home.

The PantherHawks, who moved ahead of Dakota and are now ranked No. 1 in all of the 1A polls, got key victories from heavyweight Henry Engle over the weekend – with two pins coming in 17 seconds. Le-Win/Stockton now appears to be the team to beat in 1A.

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5. Keep an eye on Rochelle

Rochelle came out of the weekend invite with a pair of champs in Caleb Nadig, who pinned East's Sam Young in the 145-pound finals, and sophomore Brock Metzger, who closed out the tourney with back-to-back pins at 170.

Nadig, who had three tech falls and that pin Saturday, is 9-0 on the season, and the Hubs could be a 2A team to watch down the stretch.

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @JayTaft.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: What we learned from the start of IHSA wrestling season