2023-24 BDN All-AREA WRESTLING: Angelina Cassioppi, Sam Schwengels head team

The high school wrestling season couldn’t have come to a better conclusion for Hononegah junior Angelina Cassioppi, who’s becoming a downright authority on state title runs after rolling to her third straight.

The season’s finish was bittersweet for Parkview senior Sam Schwengels, whose remarkable season ended in frustrating fashion with an injury at the WIAA State Championships.

The pain and anguish that ended his season didn’t lessen the overall excellence of the Vikings’ senior year. Schwengels is the 2023-24 Beloit Daily News All-Area Male Wrestler of the Year while Cassioppi is our first-ever Female Wrestler of the Year.

After winning the 2022 IHSA state title at 100 pounds as a freshman, Cassioppi posted her second straight title at 120 pounds. In going 17-1, she finished off most of her matches in dominating fashion. But her title-clinching win was dramatic, with her scoring a takedown with seconds remaining against Sophia Ball of Hoffman Estates for a 4-3 come-from-behind win.

“The girl I fought in the finals was a good, solid wrestler,” Cassioppi said. “The more the sport grows, the better it gets.”

Her other three wins at state were more decisive. She opened with a 17-1 tech fall over Brooklyn Zeller of Belleville West and then posted a 6-2 decision over Ariella Dobin of Glenbrook North. In the semifinals, she won by a 5-1 decision over Norah Swaim of Edwardsville.

That matched her up against Ball, undefeated at 27-0, in the title match. Cassioppi trailed most of the match until a decisive move with three seconds remaining provided her with a takedown and the winning margin.

“It was just a very exciting win,” Cassioppi said. “I was a little disappointed with my performance, but overall I was really happy.”

She finished the season ranked 17th in the nation according to FloWrestling’s prep rankings.

“There was a little pressure on me this season, but I was also excited about the opportunity to get another title,” Cassioppi said. “Hononegah (head coach) Tyler DeMoss has been my main coach and he’s helped me all the way through. I wouldn’t be where I am without him.”

The Indians have an area-best nine wrestlers on the All-area First Team after winning the NIC-10, qualifying eight wrestlers for state and qualifying for the IHSA State Team Event.

Schwengels didn’t have the same sort of finish as Cassioppi, but his senior year at 190 pounds had everything else, including a 51-5 record, a second consecutive undefeated dual-meet season, firsts places in the Holiduals, Mt. Horeb, Polo and Laconia invitations as well as a Trailways South Conference title. He was co-Trailways South Wrestler of the Year with Johnson Creek’s Tyler Joseph.

In a practice on Wednesday the week of regionals, Schwengels tore his calf muscle and suffered a sprain in his ACL.

“I got in a weird position and my knee got pulled in a way it shouldn’t have,” Schwengels said. “I think my meniscus was moved out of place, too, but didn’t tear so I was lucky for that. I did some rehab, but regionals were Saturday and it was a hindrance. I had to get over the mental block of knowing I was not my full self.

“After that, I was pretty much fine for sectionals and heading to state. I wore a brace and really, I got 10 more matches after I injured it. At first I didn’t even think I’d be able to wrestle in regionals, let alone place at state.”

He finished third at regionals and sectionals to advance to the state meet for the second time.

“We didn’t know if he would be able to wrestle at all so for him to make it to state was awesome,” Parkview/Albany head coach Joel Steinmann said. “But then he reinjured it in the consolation semifinal, had to medical forfeit that and he had to injury-default the fifth-place match.”

Steinmann said competing through pain and accomplishing all he did was typical of Schwengels.

“He has been our team captain the past two years and is a true leader for us,” Steinmann said. “Sam has been through a lot over his four years of wrestling for sure. He’s a great young man.”

Schwengels finishes his career with the Vikings with a 125-23 record. He is the second straight Viking to earn Wrestler of the Year. Wes Egan was last year’s WOY and a strong contender for the honor again this year, going …

“Wes and I are practice partners,” Schwengels said. “We would always push each other to do our best. We wanted each other to do well, but we also wanted to be the best on the team.”

Egan had a pretty fair year as well, going 52-6 at 215. Schwengels and Egan are joined on the All-Area First Team by three fellow Vikings: Slater Valley (113), Danny Finley (126), Sydney Coyne (235). Steinmann, in his 26th and final season, led the Vikings to a 6-0 mark in the Trailways South and 17-7 overall. They’ve been back-to-back conference champions and sent a program-best four wrestlers to state.

“Parkview has a really good youth program feeding it,” Schwengels said. “I think there’s 60 kids in it this year so there are a lot coming up. We have a junior high program as well. Your high school program is going to benefit when kids are exposed to wrestling at a young age. I started when I was 5 so I’ve been wrestling for 13 years.”

Schwengels’ days of competing are now over. He said he plans on attending Blackhawk Tech. Ironically, after competing in a sport known for dieting to make weight, he plans on studying the culinary arts.

“I never had to worry about cutting weight,” he said. “I always wrestled a few pounds lighter than 190, but I’ve done enough weight-training to make up for it.”

The entire team follows:

• FIRST TEAM

BOYS

106: ROCCO CASSIOPPI–Hononegah. Fr. He and his twin brother Bruno combined to win 81 matches as freshmen. A NIC-10 champion, he went 45-4, losing 6-5 in the state final. That was his first postseason loss. He also won titles at the prestigious Dvorak Invitational and Mid-States Invite as well as invites in Batavia and Sycamore.

113: BRUNO CASSIOPPI–Hononegah. Fr. He went 40-5 and was a NIC-10 champion. Took third at 3A state meet. At state, he lost to the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the semifinals. He was able to regroup and take third with two dominating wins. He also won titles at Mid-States, Sycamore and Batavia.

113: SLATER VALLEY–Parkview/Albany. Jr. He went 41-8, taking first in meets at Polo and Laconia and seconds at Holiduals, Mt. Horeb and conference. He is a three-time sectional qualifier.

126: GAVIN EKBERG–North Boone. Jr. He finished 39-9, an improvement over his 31-14 of a year ago at 120 when he was also First Team. He went 7-0 in Big Northern for the second straight season and tied his own school record with 25 pins. First at the Harvard and Polo tourneys, he took sixth place at state in IHSA 1A.

126: DANNY FINLEY–Parkview/Albany. Sr. He was 48-5 this season and 80-15 over the past two. Undefeated in duals, he was first at Holiduals, Monroe, Laconia and conference, second at regionals, third at sectionals and a state qualifier.

126: BRAYDEN WARD–Beloit Turner. Jr. He finished 32-12, finishing fourth in the RVC and third in regionals. He had 22 pins and was second-high on the Trojans in points with 186.

132: T.J. SILVA–Hononegah. Jr. 29-6. A great pick-up for the Indians, Silva transferred from Dakota, where he finished second as a freshman in Class 1A and first as a sophomore. The NIC-10 champ roared back to the state finals and placed second. His only loss was to the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the country at 132, St. Charles East’s Ben Davino.

132: OWEN WEST–Beloit Memorial. Jr. The Southern Lakes Conference champion was a regional champion and went 32-1. He had 40 takedowns and 19 pins and head coach Ryan Steuck calls him “the hardest worker in and out of the wrestling room.”

138: MARCUS McINTYRE–Brodhead/Juda. Sr. He finished 42-4. A three-time RVC champion and three-time state qualifier, he finished with 129 career wins. A multiple regional and sectional champion, he finished fifth at state.

144: ZACK RIES–Beloit Turner. Sr. Plagued by knee problems, he still went 26-7 and won regional and sectional titles to return to state. He finished 10th in program history with 108 wins, second in career pins with 77 and eighth in career reversals with 69.

150: JOE LOHMAR–Brodhead/Juda. Sr. He was 40-8. A three-time RVC champion and two-time state qualifier, he finished sixth at state. He ended up with 103 career victories.

150: MAX HASKINS–Hononegah. Jr. A state qualifier and a NIC-10 champion, he was 34-12 overall. He won the Sycamore Invite and second in Batavia.

157: BRODY SENDELE–Hononegah. Fr. The NIC-10 champ went 47-3 to lead the Indians in wins. He did not lose in the postseason until the 3A state semifinals. He went on to place third. He won the Mid-States title and the Sycamore and Clint Arlis Invites and was also third in the Dvorak Invite.

165: CONNOR DIEMEL–Hononegah. Jr. The state qualifier went 46-8. He also was a NIC-10 champion and was third at the Dvorak Invite and first at Mid-States and the Clint Arlis Invite in Batavia.

165: CARLOS RAMIREZ–Beloit Turner. Sr. His 34-14 record included 17 pins. He was fourth in conference and third in regionals and sectionals.

175: KURT SMITH–Hononegah. Jr. A NIC-10 champion and a state qualifier, he went 40-12. This is his second All-Area distinction of 2023-24. He also was All-Area in football as a middle linebacker.

190: SAM SCHWENGELS–Parkview/Albany. Sr. 51-5 and Trailways Wrestler of the Year, he aggravated a knee injury in the state meet and had to settle for sixth place.

215: WES EGAN–Parkview/Albany. Jr. All-Area again, he went 52-6 and was first at Holiduals, Mt. Horeb, Polo, Monroe, Laconia and conference. He was second at regionals, third at sectionals and finished fifth in the state meet.

215: ISAAK SMITH–Hononegah. Sr. The NIC-10 champion was 35-13 and won a match against St. Charles East in the Team Dual. He won a title in the Batavia Invite and was fourth at the Dvorak Invite. Like Kurt Smith, he was All-Area in football, too, as an offensive lineman.

285: ANTHONY HAMILTON–Beloit Turner. Sr. Led the Trojans in team points with 201, he had 27 pins and a 37-16 record. He was second in conference and regionals.

GIRLS

120: ANGELINA CASSIOPPI–Hononegah. Jr. 17-1 and won her third straight state title. She’ll have a crack at winning a fourth next year.

120: MADY LUCERO–Beloit Turner. Jr. 29-9 with 16 pins, she won a sectional title to qualify for state for the first time.

145: SYDNEY ANDREWS–Beloit Turner. Jr. She was selected the Outstanding Female Wrestler for the RVC and went 32-3 overall. She had 20 pins on her way to finishing first in the sectional and second at state.

235: SYDNEY COYNE–Parkview/Albany. Jr. 23-6 against girls and 29-7 overall in her first year wrestling. She finished first at Mt. Horeb, the Huskies Invitational, conference and sectionals to qualify for state.

HONORABLE MENTION: Boys: Carter Fry, Beloit Turner (120); D’Angelo Vernon, Clinton; Peter Roth, Parkview/Albany (138-157); Robbie Darling, Hononegah (138), Brody Berg, Beloit Turner (150); Carter Ries, Big Foot/Williams Bay (157); Will Wojcik, Big Foot/Williams Bay (175). Girls: Aubrey Hollis, Beloit Turner (126); Emily Wyss, Beloit Turner (132); Haleigh Winke, Beloit Turner (165).