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Athlete of the Week

GAGE HARRAH
Crystal Lake Central, so.

Harrah won the Sterling Sectional at 215 pounds with three pins that continued a streak of eight consecutive pins in post-season tournaments.

At Sterling, Harrah pinned East Peoria’s Nate Joseph, the third ranked wrestler at 215 by Illinoismatmen.com, in the semifinals in 40 seconds. He followed that up by pinning fourth-ranked David Vinton from Prairie Ridge in 26 seconds in the finals.

Harrah certainly can’t be criticized for spending too much time on the mat. In the eight matches at the Fox Valley Conference Tournament, Woodstock Regional and Sterling Sectional, Harrah’s total mat time was 6 minutes, 51 seconds.

Noteworthy

Sectional recap: In the three IHSA classes, 23 area wrestlers qualified for state. Class 2A had the most with 15 followed by 3A with five and 1A with three.

The area also had 10 sectional champions, including nine from Class 2A. Winning championships at Sterling were Brian Cullen (103) and Zach Synon (112) from Prairie Ridge and Trevor Jauch (125), Jason Fugiel (130), Christian Malouf (135), Taylor Servant (140), Joey Kielbasa (145), Austin Marsden (189) and Harrah for the Tigers. Crystal Lake South’s Nick Fontanetta won at 103 at the Class 3A Barrington Sectional.

Marsden dominant: Austin Marsden had a tough draw at Sterling but overwhelmed the competition. He defeated three ranked wrestlers and finished with a 9-0 major decision against top-ranked Wes Cathcart from Geneseo in the sectional championship.

This week’s top meet

IHSA Individual State Tournament

at Assembly Hall in Champaign
Friday and Saturday
 
Friday’s schedule

8:30 a.m.: First Round (3A)
11 a.m.: First Round (1A, 2A), Quarterfinals (3A)
6 p.m.: Quarterfinals (1A, 2A), First round wrestlebacks (3A)

Saturday’s schedule

8:30 a.m.: Quarterfinal wrestlebacks (3A)
9:30 a.m.: Semifinals (all classes)
11:30 a.m.: Quarterfinal wrestlebacks (1A, 2A)
12:30 p.m.: Semifinal wrestlebacks (all classes)
4:30 p.m.: Third-place matches (all classes), Fifth-place matches (3A)
6:15 p.m.: Grand March followed by championship matches (all classes)

– Rob Smith
rsmith@nwherald.com