Girls wrestling: Perry, Gomez win 3rd straight state titles

BLOOMINGTON — How do you improve on perfection? If you're Batavia’s Sydney Perry and Glenbard North’s Gaby Gomez, it's one last masterpiece performance to finish off your high school season.

The dynamic duo would each lift the state championship trophy for the third consecutive season by overwhelming their competition Saturday afternoon in Bloomington at the Grossinger Motors Area at the girls individual state tournament.

The nationally ranked two-some proved too much over the two days here, particularly Perry (41-0) who tech-falled her way to the 145-pound title.

Gomez (38-0) had a little more trouble in her final with No. 2 Harlee Hiller (Loyola Academy) before using a fourth period takedown to secure her third title, and further validate her No. 5 spot in the most recent national poll.

"There's a lot of great memories that I'll take with me. It's been a great run, and has been great seeing our program grow as it has since I came to Batavia," said Perry, No. 3 in the nation, undecided on her college destination.

Teammate Lily Enos (42-11), third at 100 pounds, would help the Bulldogs finish third overall in the race with 46.5 overall points.

Lakes won the first team title with 61.0 points, three more than runner-up Lockport with 58.

MSL rivals and league powerhouse clubs Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg would tie for fourth with 43.0 points.

Two other area wrestlers won state championships: Glenbard West senior Alycia Perez (35-0), No. 1 all season, and now the state champ at 100 pounds following her 1-0 decision over No. 3 Kameyah Young (32-4) from West Aurora.

"Alycia has been nothing short of phenomenal all season long," said Glenbard West coach Ted Glazer.

No. 2 Angelina Gochis (47-5) gave Kaneland its first girls champion when the freshman beat Huntley sophomore Janiah Slaughter, 8-2, in her 105-pound contest, using an all-action tactical approach to score early, and later to help secure her victory.

Slaughter's teammate Aubrey Rohrbacher (45-5) gave the Red Raiders their second medal on the day when the sophomore came back through wrestle-backs to earn a third-place medal.

Ayane Jasinski (Grant, 22-4) would fall short in her bid for a second straight state title in a superb 110-pound weight class that would feature the No. 1 in the nation Morgan Turner from Lockport.

Jasinski would avenge a recent regional loss to Emma Engels (Bartlett, 32-16), also a 2023 state champion, with a win in her wrestle-backs semifinal before going on to defeat Rilynn Younker (Litchfield) to earn a third-place medal, the third of a brilliant career.

"It was tough coming back from my loss in the quarterfinals (but) being able to win a big one against Engels was huge for me, and a great way to finish up my career here at Grant," said Jasinski.

Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg clubs were able to challenge all weekend long thanks in part to some magnificent work from their top wrestlers, beginning with Hoffman Estates sophomore Sophie Ball (27-1) who suffered her first loss of the season in her final with No. 1 Angelina Cassioppi (17-1) from Hononegah.

"Sophie is one tough kid. She took a lot of hard losses during the off-season, but it has made her become just an unbelievable wrestler, and one of the best around," said Hawks coach Leo Clark just after Ball lost a heartbreaker to Cassioppi, 4-3 at 120 pounds.

Schaumburg would celebrate two state medal winners: Madeleine (Hope) Zerafa-Lazarevic (38-2), second to No. 1 Netavia Wickson (Boylan, 23-2), and the now three time state medalist Valeria Rodriguez (40-3) who was fifth overall after twice taking third.

Victoria Macias (Burlington Central, 115, 36-6) is now a three-time state medal winner and her teammate Ryann Miller (36-5) claimed her first at 170 with a fifth-place finish.

Wheeling sophomore Jasmine Reno (38-2) was third at 190, fourth a year ago, while Nadii Shymkiv (Glenbard East, 105, 22-1) and Kayleigh Loo (25-2) from Downers Grove North brought home state medals at third and fourth, respectively.

The aforementioned state champions from Lakes Community watched the trio of Olivia Heft (120, 33-4), Ava Babbs (126, 32-1) and Josie Larson (190, 32-7) perform at the highest level to help the Eagles stay ahead of the competition.

"To be a part of history and win the first team title in this sport is really quite amazing. I am so proud and fortunate to have a group of girls who have helped set the way for the future for Lakes Community," said coach Devon Tortorice.

"There's no doubt that Ava is right there with the best in the state, while Olivia has overcome a variety of injuries to get herself back to a very high level."

"Josie has lost six incredibly close matches against her opponent in the state final, eventual state champion ILene Castrejon (Zion-Benton), but what a season she has had," continued Tortorice.

The final session was an exciting one, with a big crowd on hand to celebrate the fastest growing sport in the nation, one that has seen a 55% increase in wrestlers, and clearly a group that has improved exponentially in the three years since Illinois became the 36th state to sanction the sport.