Mattoon wrestlers take 4 regional titles, send 10 to sectionals

Mattoon captured four titles and advanced 10 wrestlers from the IHSA Class 2A regional wrestling meet Saturday at Glenwood High School in Chatham.

Charleston sophomore Marcellx Boling also advanced after placing third in the 195-pound division.

The Green Wave finished second in the team competition behind Glenwood Chatham, 278.5-199.

Korbin Bateman (43-1), a junior, needed less than a minute in both his semifinal and final matches to win the 126-pound championship.

Vincent Gibson (30-9), a sophomore, pinned his opponents both in the semifinals and the finals to capture the 120-pound title.

Another sophomore, Ben Capitosti (40-6) took the 138-pound title after posting a 16-5 major decision and 8-3 decision in the semis and finals, respectively.

Aidan Blackburn (37-5), a junior, pinned his semifinal opponent from Glenwood in 70 seconds before taking down the second-seeded Rochester wrestler in the finals in 3 minutes, 12 seconds at 145 pounds.

Mattoon’s Leo Meyer, TJ Owens, Jason Skocy, and Tristan Porter also advanced after reaching championship matches for their respective weight classes.

Skocy, a senior, won his semifinal, 5-0, at 160 pounds before getting pinned in the final while Owens, a senior, posted a pin in the semifinal before losing by a pin in the 182-pound championship.

Senior Leo Meyer (195 pounds) and freshman Tristan Porter (126) also posted pins to reach the finals before losing by a fall.

After losing in the 152-pound semifinals, MHS sophomore Ean Freeman relied on back-to-back pins to win the consolation final for third place and a berth in the sectionals. Sophomore Blaine Powell fought back after a semifinal loss as well, pinning his opponent to advance at 170 pounds.

“I am so proud of our overall effort and success today,” Porter said. “It proves how hard they worked and now we have more work to do to get ready for Highland.”

“It’s not finished yet,” Capitosti said.

After a 2-1 double overtime loss in the semifinals, Boling pinned one opponent and posted a 10-7 decision in the third-place match to earn a spot in sectionals.

“He ended up in losing in double overtime to his opponent from Lincoln (Sundeen) in his semifinal match, who had beat him 3-0 and had somewhat controlled him a month ago,” Charleston coach Mike Stanley said. “Marcellx set the pace in this match, though. He was able to get out on bottom and controlled most of the match on his feet as well. This time is was a battle that he arguably controlled but just ended up short when it came to the top/ bottom positions in double overtime.”

Charleston senior Alec Sellers just missed joining Boling, losing in the third-place match by pin.

“Was tough to see Alec get eliminated in his third-place match,” Stanley said. “Alec has put more work than anyone on the team this year and last, and (he) has been a phenomenal captain to the younger guys on the team. He was hanging tough on his feet in his third-place match but wasn’t able to stay off his back after taking bottom in the second period. Even after getting turned twice and going into a 6-0 deficit, he didn’t give and continued to battle. Eventually getting to his feet for an escaping and coming right back with a takedown. He had his opponent from Chatham broke a little bit mentally going into the third period, and he had a real shot to comeback and make it his match. He kept pressing the match to start the third and was still controlling the pressure on his feet but then they both shot in at pretty much the same time and Alec got caught up on his timing a little and that was a pivotal moment that swung everything back against him. His determination and drive to continue driving through that match regardless of the score basically sums up his whole attitude with this team the last two years. I believe that everybody on our team is better than they would be in some shape or form because Alec has been here with them as a teammate and captain these last two years. I know he is extremely disappointed right now being eliminated, but, in the end, his experience has been a huge success in a number of ways.”

Four regionals feed into the Highland sectional with all brackets having 12 wrestlers who will compete in the two-day event in downstate Illinois. Action begins Friday night at 5 p.m.

Team Scoring