Boys wrestling: Prospect, Antioch each finish fourth at state
BLOOMINGTON - While Will Baysingar is the face of Prospect wrestling this season, it should be noted his brilliance at 132 pounds should not overshadow a talented, well-balanced club that celebrated four regional champions, sent 11 to sectionals, and five to Champaign last weekend, where Baysingar (51-2) finished second.
The Knights' magical season came to an end Saturday night at Grossinger Motors Arena when No. 3 Lockport (19-6-0) claimed the Class 3A third-place team trophy following a 46-19 victory.
Antioch also finished fourth in Class 2A, falling to Mahomet-Seymour 35-34 Saturday night.
"This was a season in which we had a slow start and had a rough go of things, but we came back together as a team, and improved with each week to get ourselves down here to win the first team trophy in our history," said Baysingar.
Of the five Prospect state qualifiers, Baysingar, Joel Muehlenbeck, Damian Puma, and Connor Munn all return. Tom Miller, a 42-match winner was the lone starter who was a senior.
Earlier Saturday, No. 3 Mt. Carmel had far too much firepower for the Knights during a 48-21 victory in the semifinals.
"It's been quite a year for this team and all of the coaching staff are extremely proud of the effort this group has given, especially in the second half of the season," said Knights' coach Dan Keller.
In Class 2A, No. 15 Antioch (23-6) finished its season with a fourth place trophy, and its highest win total in Wilbur Borrero's 17 remarkable years in charge of the Sequoits' program.
"We came down here to win a state trophy. We guaranteed that with our quarterfinal win (Friday) night against Chatham-Glenwood and after that it was all gravy," said Borrero, whose Sequoits enjoyed a marvelous season with a roster that is comprised with just four seniors, and a starting lineup in Bloomington that was loaded with underclassmen, headed by 2A state third-place medal winners Edgar Albino (120) and teammate Caleb Nobling at 138, both of whom won 42 matches on the season.
Nobling, a junior, is a three-time state qualifier, with two state medals in his collection, his first coming in his 2020 rookie season at 106 pounds.
The Sequoits' trio of Gavin Hanrahan (106), Anthony Streib (132) and Ben Vaszuez (152) came close to collecting 40 wins each for a team that beat nine of its 3A opponents, won the Grayslake Central regional by 80 points with six regional champions leading the way, and eventually qualifying six into the state tournament.