The IC Catholic Prep wrestling team was well represented at the recent Class 2A state finals wrestling meet held at State Farm Center on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.
The Knights had an impressive 12 wrestlers compete in the individual state meet with three wrestlers: sophomore Max Cumbee, senior Deven Casey and junior Brody Kelly winning state titles. For Casey, it’s his second state title in a row at ICCP.
He won the 120-pound crown a year ago. He finishes his high school career with four state medals to his credit. He took third in 2022 in Class 2A at 106 pounds and third in 2A at 113 pounds in 2023 as a member of the Aurora Christian wrestling team.
Cumbee, Casey and Kelly join the likes of Joey Bianchini (2017 and 2018), Michael Calcagno (2022 and 2024), Isaiah Gonzalez (2023), Jadon Mims (2022), Nick Renteria (2022) and Saul Trejo Jr. (2020) as ICCP state-championship wrestlers.
Casey is the third wrestler at ICCP to win multiple state crowns. At the University of Illinois starting with the lightest weight class, ICCP sophomore Dominic Pasquale (21-9) took fourth in the state at 106 pounds. He lost via technical fall in 5:50 in the third-place match to Montini’s Erik Klichurov.
Junior Sam Murante (10-1) finished third at 113 pounds. He won the third-place match via fall in 2:00 over Oak Forest’s Jacob Sebek. Sophomore Kannon Judycki (29-20) finished sixth at 120 pounds.
He lost 6-3 to Yorkville Christian’s Aiden Larsen in the fifth-place match. Cumbee (20-5) won the 126-pound state title. Cumbee downed Rochelle senior Xavier Villalobos 1-0 in the championship match. Casey (47-6) won the 132-pound state title.
He downed Bethalto Civic Memorial senior Bradley Ruckman 10-1 (major decision) in the championship match. Freshman Aiden Arnett (37-11) took second at 144 pounds. Arnett lost to Washington senior Peyton Cox 1-0 in the title match. Kelly (46-5) won the 175-pound state title.
Kelly was a 21-6 technical-fall winner over Geneseo’s Kye Weinzierl. Freshman Isaac Barrientos (34-17) took fifth at 190 pounds. Barrientos defeated Montini senior Jaxon Lane 13-4 (major decision) in the fifthplace match. Junior Foley Calcagno (41-14) was third at 215 pounds. He won the third-place match via fall in 5:08 over Evergreen Park senior Genesis Ward.
Sophomore Anthony Sebastian (31-16) took fourth at 285 pounds. He lost 4-0 in the third-place match to DePaul College Prep sophomore Hunter Wahtola. At the Class 2A Crystal Lake Central sectional where berths in the state finals were on the line, Pasquale took second. He lost via fall in 5:11 in the 106-pound championship match to Niles Notre Dame.
Murante won the 113-pound sectional title with a 3-1 decision over Chicago St. Patrick. Judycki won the 120-pound sectional title with a pinfall win in 2:27 over Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge. Cumbee won the 126-pound sectional title with a 7-2 win over Antioch.
Casey won the 132-pound sectional title with a 9-6 win over Deerfield. Alvarez took third at 138 pounds. He won the third-place match 11-6 over Chicago St. Ignatius.
Arnett won the 144-pound sectional title with a 7-5 win over Antioch. Joey Pontrelli finished fourth at 150 pounds after losing via technical fall in 3:30 in the third-place match against Antioch.
Kelly won the 175-pound sectional title with a 22-6 technical-fall decision against Fenwick. Barrientos finished third at 190 pounds. He won the third-place match against Fenwick 4-1. Calcagno took second at 215 pounds. He lost 7-5 in the 215-pound title match.
Sebastian took fourth at 285 pounds. He lost via fall in 4:14 to DePaul College Prep. Earlier, the Knights won the Class 2A DePaul College Prep regional held at Walther Christian Academy in Melrose Park. ICCP finished with 294 team points, well ahead of Oak Park Fenwick’s 205.5 total. Individually,
Pasquale won the 106-pound regional title via fall in 2:30 over DePaul Prep. Murante won the 113-pound title with a 17-2 technical-fall win in 3:28 over DePaul Prep. Judycki won the 120-pound title with a pinfall win in 49 seconds over DePaul Prep. Cumbee was a 21-6 technical-fall winner in 1:56 over St. Ignatius in the 126-pound title match. Casey won the 132-pound title with a pinfall victory in 1:17 against DePaul Prep.
Alvarez won the 138-pound regional title via major decision against St. Ignatius. Amett was an 18-3 technical-fall winner over DePaul Prep in the 144-pound title match. Pontrelli took second at 150 pounds. He lost 13-3 to DePaul Prep in the title match.
Ben Czarnowski was fourth at 157 pounds. He lost via fall in 3:33 in the third-place match to DePaul Prep.
Nate Brown won the 165-pound title via fall in 40 seconds against DePaul Prep.
Kelly won the 175-pound title via fall in 1:29 over Fenwick, while Barrientos won the 190-pound title with a 7-2 decision over Fenwick.
Calcagno won the 215-pound title via technical fall in 2:25 (18-2 score). Sebastian took second at 285 pounds He lost 14-4 in the title match to DePaul Prep.
By winning the DePaul Prep regional title, the Knights advanced to the Class 2A Wheeling dual-team sectional that takes place this week with berths in the dual-team state finals on the line. The Class 2A dual-team state finals take place Friday and Saturday at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.
