Maxx Fritz wrestling in the 152-pound weight class and Jonny Darrah wrestling at the 160-pound weight class each won one and lost two matches at the 81st IHSA State Wrestling tourney held at the State Farm Center in Champaign over the three day weekend of February 15 through the 17.
Fritz defeated Ryan Dickson of Lemont by fall Thursday afternoon, then lost to eventual state-champion Dylan Connell of Woodstock Marian 11-1, and later lost to Ehren Metzger of Rochelle 13-2 in the wrestleback. He finished with an overall record of 36-4 for the year and an overall high school career record of 150-24, which is second all-time in wins for Mt. Olive behind Brad Stockstill’s 160-5 record.
Darrah defeated Michael Terry of Park Forest (Rich East) 11-9, lost to Casey Allen of Hampshire 5-2, and lost by fall to Frank Carone of Crystal Lake Central. He finished with an overall record 127-41, fourth all-time for wins by a Mt. Olive wrestler behind Brad Stockstill at 160 wins, Maxx at 150 wins, and Pat O’Neal at 131 wins.
Gillespie High School will honor the high school baseball team before the team’s banquet on Wednesday, June 14 with a parade through downtown.
The parade will start at the school at 5:30 p.m. and proceed through downtown Gillespie before heading back to the school so the team can conclude their season with a team-only banquet.
The school invites everyone to come downtown to recognize the team and celebrate this year’s accomplishments. The team ended their season with an overall 32-1 record and won 32 straight wins, a new school record.
The team also won their respective conference and regional.
Eight athletes of Gillespie High School were named to the 2023 All-South Central Conference softball rosters that were released on Thursday.
Miners being named to the all-conference rosters included Emma Gipson, Regan Bussmann, and Eve Kaduk as first-team; Ava Parish, Megan Rife, Macie Wright, and Sadie Sholtis as second-team; and Delaney Taylor as third-team.
Gillespie’s season ended in the regional semi-final with an overall 25-4 record and 9-0 in the conference. The team loses three seniors including infielder Regan Bussmann, outfielder Eve Kaduk, and outfielder Megan Rife.
The top 59 boys’ and girls’ basketball seniors from South Central Illinois played in the 19th Annual Carlinville Rotary Club All-Star Basketball Classic on Sunday, March 26 in Carlinville which was presented by Prairie Farms Diary and CNB Bank & Trust.
Representing Gillespie High School among the athletes on the West teams included Emily Schoen, Jenna Clark, Kam Link, and Bryan Jubelt. Clark posted 2 points in the girls’ contest while Link posted 15 and Jubelt helped with 5 points in the boys’ game. Link also put on a show in the dunk contest scoring 48 out of the possible 50 points to win first place.
The Girls East beat the West 68-51 behind 14 points from MVP Layne Rupert of Hillsboro. The 3-point shootout was won by Paige Henson of Carrollton in a corner shootoff with Natalie Engelman of Nokomis. Staunton coach Corrie Allan was selected as the Rotary Club’s Girls’ Coach of the Year.
Devon Peebles of Pana took MVP honors in the boys’ Carlinville Rotary Club All-Star Basketball Classic. Peebles scored 25 points to lead the East to a 108-97 win over the West. Elijah Aumann of Nokomis won the 3-point contest hitting 10 treys and edging out Ryan Eisenbarth of Nokomis, Peebles and Jubelt of Gillespie who all had 9. In the Slam Dunk contest, Link scored 48 out of the possible 50 points for his routine with Peebles finishing second with a score of 41. Nokomis coach Dan DeWerff was named the Rotary Club’s Boys’ Coach of the Year.
With the East winning both the girls and boys match-ups this year, the all-time series record for boys moves to 12-7 with the West holding the lead and the girls record extends to 13-5 with the East holding strong.
The All-Star Classic serves as a fundraiser for the Carlinville Rotary Club who help with community projects throughout the year.