Ironmen trio returns to IHSA 3A State Wrestling Championship looking to improve on last season’s results

Inkspot Staff and Brayden Blackwell • Feb 15, 2024

Three members of the boys wrestling team return to the IHSA 3A State Wrestling competition in Champaign on Feb. 15, looking to build on last season’s results, after earning top-three finishes in last weekend’s Quincy Sectional.

Cooper Caraway will make his third consecutive appearance at the State Farm Center after a second-place finish in the 215-pound division, falling to Plainfield South senior Matthew Janiak (41-4).

Caraway will open the State competition, taking on Batavia’s Asher Sheldon, a junior boasting a 40-9 record.

Caraway enters the tournament ranked second in his weight class, looking to improve on last year’s state performance, where he placed 6th after medically forfeiting with a broken bone in his hand.

The senior has one thing on his mind heading into his final competition as an Ironman: “win.”

The State Final, Caraway said, is an opportunity to prove himself after last season’s injury prevented him from showcasing what he is capable of.

Joining Caraway in Champaign are Caden Correll and Cole Gentsch, each making their second straight State appearance.

Correll (36-5) earned a trip to State with a first-place Sectional finish in the 106-pound division. The junior defeated Joliet Catholic’s Luke Foster (35-13) by a 13-6 decision to take home Sectional champion honors.

Correll is looking to improve upon his historic State run last year, where he finished fifth, breaking Community’s single-season wins record along the way with 51.

Correll is seeded second in his weight class and will open competition Thursday against James Hemmila, a Loyola Academy sophomore with a 21-10 record.

Gentch punched his ticket to State with a third-place finish in the 120-pound division, defeating Plainfield East’s Aiden Villar (34-10) by an 8-0 major decision.

As the tournament’s seven-seed Gentsch (41-5) opens up competition versus Sandburg’s 40-6 junior Madden Parker, looking to improve on his 1-2 finish at the State meet last season.

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About the Contributors

Inkspot Staff

Stories published under Inkspot Staff are unattributed to a single reporter because they: have been produced through a collaborative staff effort; individual staff member contribution is not easily distinguishable; and/or the story was disseminated from announcements or press releases.

Brayden Blackwell, Senior Staff Reporter

Brayden is a senior at Normal Community; this is Brayden's third year on the Inkspot where he is a senior staff reporter. I am inspired by people lifting each other up because "iron sharpens iron." My all-time dream is to become a social studies teacher. A book that moved me was "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan.