CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Hononegah’s outstanding wrestling season continued on Saturday with half of its eight qualifiers for the IHSA 3A State Championships ending up on the awards podium with either second or third places.
Freshman Rocco Cassioppi (46-5) placed second at 106 pounds while his brother, Bruno Cassioppi (42-6), finished third at 113. Junior Thomas “TJ” Silva (28-5) finished second at 132 and teammate Brody Sendele (51-4) took third at 157.
Rocco Cassiopp opened with three straight wins. He won by major decision over Rocky Seibel of Belleville West (8-0) and decisioned Rocco Hayes of Sandburg 5-1 in the quarterfinals. He blanked Jamiel Castleberry of Proviso West in the semifinals 4-0, but lost a tough 6-5 decision to Caleb Noble of Gurnee Warren in the finals.
Bruno Cassioppi won his first two matches, posting a 16-2 major decision over Kaden Klapprodt of DeKalb and then a 9-0 major decision over Jaime Corral of Palos Hills Stagg. He fell to Dom Munaretto of St. Charles East by tech fall 18-2 in the semifinals, but then defeated Max Cumbee of Joliet Catholic 5-0 in a consolation semifinal and won a 10-0 major decision over Maddox Garbis of Plainfield North in the third-place match.
Silva, who won a 1A state title last year when he wrestled for Dakota, went 3-0 in his first three matches. He won by tech fall 15-0 over Tyson Zvonar of Lincoln-Way East, by pin in 4:49 over Zack Parisi of Ellmhurst York and then by tech fall 15-0 over Damian Valdez of Addision Trail. In the finals, he lost by tech fall 20-5 to four-time state champion Ben Davino of St. Charles East, ranked No. 1 in the country.
Sendele opened with two wins. He decisioned Luke Hamiti of Joliet Catholic 11-4 and then posted a 23-8 tech fall over Wheaton North’s Thomas Fulton. In the semifinals, he lost 5-0 to Edmund Enright of Mt. Carmel, ranked No. 2 in the state. Sendele regrouped and edged Luke Hamiti of Joliet Catholic 3-1 to reach the third-place match where he defeated Noah Quintana of West Aurora, 9-2.
Hononegah’s Connor Diemel went 2-2 at 165. He lost his opening match to Max Corral of Joliet Catholic 5-3, but won his next two: a 13-2 major decision over Julian Flores of Wheaton North and a 9-3 decision over Royce Lopez of Gurnee Warren. He then lost 7-2 to Owen Uppinghouse of Quincy.
The Indians’ Kurt Smith (175) lost 8-4 to AJ Mancilla of Bradley Bourbonnais in his opener, then posted an 8-0 major decision over RJ Samels of Downers Grove South. He dropped his consolation second round match to Seddeq Al Obaidi of Warrenville South, 8-4.
Hononegah’s Robert Darling (138) and Max Haskins (150) both finished 0-2.
The Indians are back in action Tuesday hosting a Dual Team Sectional in Rockton. They will face Arlington Heights Hersey. Mt. Prospect will face Libertyville.
Winners advance to the Dual Team State Tournament in Bloomington.
• IHSA CLASS 1A: North Boone 126-pounder Gavin Ekberg (39-9) placed sixth at state. He went 3-3.
Ekberg won his opening decision 6-2 over Danny Tay of Colfax Ridgeview. He then lost by major decision to Tony Keene of Harrisburg in the quarterfinals, 11-2.
Ekberg won two consolation matches, by pin in 2:20 over Gerrit Osenga of Herscher and by pin in 3:45 over Kaden Roberts of Warrensburg. He then lost to Garrett VerHeecke of Decatur Unity Christian, 10-1, in the consolation semifinals and 4-0 to Lincoln Hoger of West Chicago Wheaton Academy 4-0 in the fifth-place match.
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