Hampshire Wins Illinois Girls Wrestling State Title Without an Individual Champion

Claudia Heeney and Angelina Gochis capture third straight crowns, freshman Demetria Griffin shocks the field, while a balanced Hampshire lineup secures the team trophy in Bloomington.

Billy Buckheit | 1 Hour Ago

Lockport Township's Claudia Heeney (left) and Kaneland's Angelina Gochis each won their third Illinois state crowns. / Ashley Collins

Over the weekend the fifth ever Girl’s Wrestling State Championships were held in Illinois at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. In an odd twist, Hampshire claimed the team title without any individual champions over second-place Lockport Township, whose sole champ, Claudia Heeney (135 pounds) was doing it for the third time.

Lockport Township's Claudia Heeney and Kaneland's Angelina Gochis Each Win Their Third Titles

Heeney wasn’t alone in that circle as Kaneland’s No. 4 Angelina Gochis made her third stop atop the podium in three tries. Heeney was a freshman runner-up so her mark on history will stop at three. Gochis, however, is a junior and will return next year with the goal of joining another Angelina, Cassioppi, as the only four-time Illinois state champs.

“I was very happy to win and look forward to an opportunity to get a fourth state title, sharing that with one of my good friends, Angelina Cassioppi,” said Gochis.

Gochis spent just over six minutes on the mat while compiling the three technical falls that propelled her into the finals to face No. 20 Amelia Nidelea-Polanin (Hampshire). Gochis couldn’t keep the bonus point machine rolling but did author a strong 9-3 decision that was powered by three takedowns.

“Amelia and I know each other well,” Gochis elaborated. “We have practiced many years together and competed many times against each other. I felt going into the finals match she would do her best to not hand fight with me and try to get me to take a bad shot. So, my game plan was to just stay patient and very disciplined, getting to my scoring when there were opportunities to do so.”

Angelina Gochis (top) recorded three technical falls on her way to her third Illinois state crown. / Ashley Collins

Gochis completed the season with a 31-2 record. The only blemishes came in a fourth place showing at the Women of Ironman in early December. The sophomore title came with a 36-0 record. The freshman gold was propped up by a 10-1 record versus girls and an overall record of 47-5 that included matches against boys.

“I felt some pressure to three-peat because most people expect me to always win but I was very confident because I’ve wrestled all those girls in the past and performed well against them,” Gochis added. “I was just taking one match at a time, controlling my anxious nerves and felt really confident prior to every match.”

Heeney Dominates in Her Charge to the 135-Pound Title

Heeney used a pin to slam the door shut on Schaumburg’s Sharon Olorunfemi. Heeney threw two pins and a tech fall on the brackets as she made her move to the finals.

Another young lady, No. 11 Chloe Skiles (Roxana), threw her name into the realm of possible four-time champs after completing her title run by sticking Leyden’s Zoey Dodgers in 41 seconds. The sophomore is now two-for-two in state supremacies earned.

At 125, A Pair of Top 10 Nationally Ranked Wrestlers Battled in the Final

Two top ten girls in the country met in the 125-pound final with No. 9 Ariella Dobin (Glenbard North) reconnecting with No. 10 Rain Scott (Oak Forest). They met at the Hawk Invitational with Dobin winning 9-2. Scott reversed the curse with a 6-3 overtime win at their sectional tournament. The one that mattered the most would go the way of Dobin, 10-5, allowing her to best last year’s runner-up ending.

Glenbard North Was the Only School with Two Individual Champions

Glenbard North was the only outfit that gathered more than one gold as Keagan Edwards ascended to the highest position at 130 pounds when she blanked Bartlett’s Lilly White, 7-0.

Molina edges Thrush in Another Clash of Nationally Ranked Wrestlers

Another nationally ranked clash went down at 235 pounds when No. 8 Phoenix Molina strolled out to oppose No, 20 Juliana Thrush (Ottawa Township). There wasn’t much scoring in this one, but Molina did enough to move up from last year’s bronze position with a 2-0 win.

Other Gold Medal Winners

South Elgin’s No. 30 Allison Garbacz was fourth as a freshman and took her sophomore campaign to the next level by decking Freeburg’s Grace Stratton in the 155-pound final, 3:44.

An undefeated freshman from Hope Academy, Demetria Griffin, rocked the 115-pound bracket with her outstanding effort. Griffin does not appear in our national ratings but that will change after she took down two who are on the list, No. 23 Zoe Dempsey (Lincoln Way Central) and No. 24 Stella Piazza (Hampshire).

Dempsey was handled in the semis with an 8-6 count. Piazza was on the receiving end of a dream crushing fall at the 5:39 mark. Griffin finished the year with a 23-0 record.

Other champions were Huntley’s Janiah Slaughter (100 pounds), Glenbard East’s Nadiia Shymkiv (105), Sycamore’s Ema Durst (140 pounds), Cumberland’s Natalie Beaumont (145), Central’s Payton Temple (170 pounds), and Rock Island’ Courtney Walls (190).

In addition to Piazza and Nidelea-Polanin, Samantha Diehl also landed in second place for Hampshire. Annabelle Mueller was fifth at 105 pounds.

Team Scores (Top 10)

1-Hampshire 86

2-Lockport Township 65.5

3-Oak Forest 49

4-Roxana 45

5-Schaumburg 42

1st Place Match

Phoenix Molina (Tolono (Unity)) 38-0, Sr. over Juliana Thrush (Ottawa (Twp.)) 31-5, Sr. (Dec 2-0)

3rd Place Match

Rebekah Ramirez (Lockport (Twp.)) 43-6, Jr. over Jasmine Rene (Wheeling) 37-3, Sr. (Dec 11-6)

5th Place Match

Lilly Disanto (Urbana (H.S.)) 44-9, Sr. over Jasmine Enriquez (Sycamore (H.S.)) 34-8, Jr. (Fall 4:31)

Published 1 Hour Ago

BILLY BUCKHEIT

Billy Buckheit is a long-time high school wrestling expert and journalist who has been doing the individual national high school wrestling rankings for SBLive Sports since 2022. He also provides coverage a major high school wrestling tournaments throughout the year. Billy previously served as the senior wrestling writer for Varsity Sports Network and the Baltimore Banner. He has also served on the seeding committees for many prestigious regional and national tournaments. In addition, he is the editor of Billy B's Wrestling World, a popular Facebook page dedicated to high school wrestling, and is an editorial contributor for the Maryland State Wrestling Association (MSWA).