Wildcat wrestling team wins regional championship
For only the second time in the school’s history, the host Anna-Jonesboro Community High School wrestling team captured an Illinois High School Class 1A regional wrestling title Saturday, Feb. 2.
With the regional title in hand, the A-J squad will advance the most wrestlers in history to sectional action. The Class 1A sectional is set for this weekend in Carterville.
A-J outdistanced Sparta for the regional title with a team score of 236. Sparta’s team score was 135.5.
Team scores posted by other teams at the regional included 111.0 for Pinckneyville, 101.0 for Murphysboro, 99.0 for Carterville, 91.0 for West Frankfort, 77.0 for Goreville and 54.0 for Red Bud.
A-J did well in the overall individual competition at the regional.
“We had 10 kids out of 12 in the championship matches,” A-J head coach Eric Massey said. “We had eight regional champs, two seconds and one third. I knew we were going to be very competitive this year.”
The top three finishers in each weight class advance to the sectional. The top four finishers at the sectional then advance to the Class 1A state tournament.
The first regional title the Wildcats won was in 2017.
Leading the way for the Wildcats with first place finishes were Amiyah Hart, 106 pounds; Nate Kisat, 145 pounds; Arojae Hart, 113 pounds: Clayton Ramage, 132 pounds; Chris Johnson, 152 pounds; Nick Sanders, 182 pounds; Reid Morrison, 195 pounds; and Garrett Fabec, 285 pounds.
Second place finishers were Bryce Lingle, 175 pounds; and Barry Johnson, 138 pounds. A third place finisher for A-J was David Kester at 120 pounds.
Results posted by A-J wrestlers follow, by weight categories:
106
Amiyah Hart (24-16) placed 1st and scored 23.5 team points.
Quarterfinal - Amiyah Hart (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 24-16 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Amiyah Hart (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 24-16 won by fall over Memphis Lapatas (Goreville) 1-2 (Fall 0:00)
1st Place Match - Amiyah Hart (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 24-16 won by tech fall over Trenton Schach (West Frankfort (Frankfort)) 26-16 (TF-1.5 0:00 (17-1))
113
Arojae Hart (22-5) placed 1st and scored 23.5 team points.
Quarterfinal - Arojae Hart (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 22-5 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Arojae Hart (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 22-5 won by fall over Eddie Miller (Red Bud) 17-10 (Fall 0:00)
1st Place Match - Arojae Hart (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 22-5 won by tech fall over Chris David (Pinckneyville) 25-7 (TF-1.5 0:00 (17-0))
120
David Kester (21-18) placed 3rd and scored 12.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - David Kester (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 21-18 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Cody Martin (Sparta) 21-16 won by fall over David Kester (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 21-18 (Fall 0:00)
Cons. Semi - David Kester (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 21-18 won by fall over Raj Jenkins (West Frankfort (Frankfort)) 19-23 (Fall 0:00)
3rd Place Match - David Kester (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 21-18 won by fall over Jamal Wilkerson (Carterville) 5-15 (Fall 0:00)
132
Clayton Ramage (24-12) placed 1st and scored 24.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Clayton Ramage (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 24-12 won by fall over Yousef Alamleh (Murphysboro) 7-22 (Fall 0:00)
Semifinal - Clayton Ramage (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 24-12 won by fall over Noah Overbey (Pinckneyville) 16-18 (Fall 0:00)
1st Place Match - Clayton Ramage (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 24-12 won by fall over Ethan Montroy (Sparta) 20-15 (Fall 0:00)
138
Barry Johnson (29-12) placed 2nd and scored 18.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Barry Johnson (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 29-12 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Barry Johnson (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 29-12 won by fall over Kody Kempfer (Sparta) 3-5 (Fall 0:00)
1st Place Match - Matt Jones (Carterville) 23-17 won by decision over Barry Johnson (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 29-12 (Dec 7-4)
145
Nate Kisat (18-3) placed 1st and scored 23.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Nate Kisat (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 18-3 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Nate Kisat (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 18-3 won by tech fall over Michael Velazquez (West Frankfort (Frankfort)) 13-13 (TF-1.5 0:00 (21-5))
1st Place Match - Nate Kisat (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 18-3 won by fall over Kaleb Ward (Carterville) 27-17 (Fall 0:00)
152
Chris Johnson (19-13) placed 1st and scored 22.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Chris Johnson (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 19-13 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Chris Johnson (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 19-13 won by fall over Andrew Carter (Sparta) 21-15 (Fall 0:00)
1st Place Match - Chris Johnson (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 19-13 won by decision over Caleb Gaylor (West Frankfort (Frankfort)) 20-13 (Dec 6-5)
160
Justice Kostal (4-16) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - James Lamke (Pinckneyville) 13-19 won by major decision over Justice Kostal (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 4- 16 (MD 8-0)
Cons. Round 1 - Justice Kostal (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 4-16 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Semi - David Stultz (West Frankfort (Frankfort)) 20-17 won by fall over Justice Kostal (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 4-16 (Fall 0:00)
170
Bryce Lingle (15-20) placed 2nd and scored 18.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Bryce Lingle (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 15-20 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Bryce Lingle (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 15-20 won by fall over Aiden McNit (Murphysboro) 26-12 (Fall 0:00)
1st Place Match - Connor Eaton (West Frankfort (Frankfort)) 39-3 won by fall over Bryce Lingle (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 15-20 (Fall 0:00)
182
Nick Sanders (30-11) placed 1st and scored 24.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Nick Sanders (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 30-11 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Nick Sanders (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 30-11 won by fall over Nicholas Blaise (Murphysboro) 22-21 (Fall 0:00)
1st Place Match - Nick Sanders (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 30-11 won by fall over Isaac Evans (Sparta) 28-10 (Fall 0:00)
195
Reid Morrison (31-9) placed 1st and scored 24.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Reid Morrison (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 31-9 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Reid Morrison (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 31-9 won by fall over Dakota Poole (Goreville) 3-1 (Fall 0:00)
1st Place Match - Reid Morrison (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 31-9 won by fall over Rewn Stearns (Murphysboro) 24-11 (Fall 0:00)
285
Garrett Fabec (30-11) placed 1st and scored 24.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Garrett Fabec (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 30-11 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Garrett Fabec (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 30-11 won by fall over Caleb Bass (Red Bud) 14-13 (Fall 0:00)
1st Place Match - Garrett Fabec (Anna (A.-Jonesboro)) 30-11 won by fall over Nick Goddard (Sparta) 21-11 (Fall 0:00)