I would like to congratulate our wrestlers that competed in yesterdays Regional. We had a great showing going into next weeks Sectional event in Kankakee. We had 30 wrestlers registered at the event in which 27 advanced by placing in the top 6. 18 out of our 30 wrestlers were in the finals and 18 came home with an individual title. Here are your champions Elias Medina, Javen Estrada, Alex Villar, Gavin Jones, Donovan Dehoyas, Donovan Ford, Matt Ramos, Jimmy Pierandozzi, Dylan Burnoski, Tyler Krestel, Ronald Tucker,Juwan Robinson, and Jacob Ramos. Although we did not take 1st place as a team to the larger clubs, we did have the most individual champions 13, next closest was Force with 11 (50 registered), and Celtics (74 registered) with 10 we had the highest win percentage as a team which was by far the best at our Regional. Go Raiders!

20 of our wrestlers competed at the Reed Custer Knights Open this past weekend in Braidwood. We had one of our best showings of the year as we head into the IKWF State Series. 15 out of the 20 wrestlers made the finals and 9 wrestlers took 1st place honors. Leading the way was Ryan Krestel who took 1st place in 2 divisions (tots & bantam), Gavin Jones, Tyler Krestel, Angel Mendez, David Ochoa, Frankie Oliveria, Ison Robinson, Sebastian Shered, and Ronald Tucker. We took 3rd place behind Martinez and Crosstown, we had a score of 90 and they both had 94 points. Great job……next stop Regionals!

Josh Vasques won the 40lb state title at the Banmtam State event in Joliet. Josh defeated his teammate AJ Villar 10-1 in the 40lb finals. Aidan Scholwin 37lbs took 2nd place losing to Rocco Hayes in the 37lb Final, and Frankie Oliveria took 2nd place in the 89lb bracket. I am very proud of the next generation of Jr. Raiders, in what was the closet team race ever in this event we placed within 13.5 points from 1st. 10 out of the 14 wrestlers placed at this event here are the results Josh Vasquez 1st, AJ Villar 2nd, Aiden Scholwin 2nd, Frankie Oliveria 2nd, Dangelo Fernandez 3rd, Guissepe Guera 4th, Ryan Krestel 5th, Angel Mendez 5th, Rylan Breen 5th, and Jean Luc Gurera 6th. I am so proud of this group of kids and look forward to next season.

Congratulations to the Junior Raiders that competed in Orland Park yesterday in the final elite event before the state series. We had 7 wrestlers place in an extremley competitive field. Leading the way were our 2 champions Baylor Fernandes 95lb and Jacob Ramos 189, Baylor defeated Abe Assad in the finals 6-0 and Jacob defeated Brendan Mendez by a fall. Brandon Ramos took 2nd place, Matt Ramos 2nd place, Ronald Tucker 3rd place, Elias Medina 4th place, and Dylan Durnoski 4th place were our placers. We placed 2nd as a team against some of the top clubs in the State. Great job to all ofour wrestlers.

Congratulations to Robert Campos on his Sectional Title. Robert becomes the 1st Junior Raider to qualify for the IHSA State tournament. Robert Campos is ranked in top 10 for AAA division (large school divsion). I am very proud of Robert and what he has done as a Freshman. Robert is a perfect example of what hard work and dedication to this sport truley means, he never won an IKWF state title, but now he is one of the favorites going into the State meet next weekend. I will be in Champaign to cheer him on!