By FRED KRONER
fred@sjodaily.com
Oakwood/Salt Fork’s wrestling program didn’t get the first that it was seeking on Saturday, but it did nonetheless achieve a significant first.
Senior Mason Ajster fell short in his bid for an individual state championship, dropping a 7-2 decision to unbeaten (51-0) Logan Deacetis, from Prairie Central, in the Class 1A finals at 160 pounds.
With sophomore teammate Gage Reed copping the fifth-place medal at 113 pounds, the results from the Illinois High School Association state tournament at the University of Illinois’ State Farm Center meant Oakwood/Salt Fork had two wrestling state-placers in the same year for the first time in school history.
Collectively, Ajster and Reed are the school’s 11th and 12th state wrestling medalists of all time.
In the title match, Ajster was matched with an opponent who was dominant at state. Deacetis didn’t allow a point in his first two matches and, in his third state match, posted a pin in the semifinals.
“He outwrestled me,” Ajster said. “He had super-good technique, super-good leverage.
“There wasn’t a lot I could do. I tried everything.”
Throughout the season, when the weekly state wrestling rankings were unveiled, Ajster was usually listed in one of the top two spots.
The benefit of the added notoriety, he said, is a boost in confidence.
“It’s a mindset,” Ajster said. “There’s times I’ve been down seven points and came back to win.
“That’s something I can take away and go to the real world with. There’s a lot to be proud of.”
The Comets’ eighth-year head coach, Mike Glosser, said Ajster has made a tremendous impact beyond the wrestling room.
“Mason is one of the most special kids I’ve been privileged to coach,” Glosser said. “In his four years, we’ve had our ups and downs, but he is one of the neatest, most mature level-headed kids.
“He is a high character kid.”
The postseason series resulted in some of the best matches of Ajster’s career.
“The last three weeks, he put his game face on, believed in himself and wrestled smart,” Glosser said.
For Ajster, the greatest contribution is not what he did alone by reaching the championship match, but what he and Reed did collectively by each earning state medals in the same year.
“That’s the best takeaway,” Ajster said. “What can I leave behind?
“Kids coming in can look back, and that completely changes the culture. That’s leaving something the young classes can look up to.”
To reach the championship bout, Ajster (33-7 season record) defeated three opponents with a combined 114 wins. It was not too big of a challenge.
Ajster started his run at state with a 4-3 decision over Lena-Winslow’s Case Harmston. In the quarterfinals, he handled Olympia’s Lane Miller, 6-1.
In the semifinals, he avenged a previous loss to Clinton’s Kolby Winter with a 6-2 decision.
Two of the wrestlers he beat wound up earning medals. Harmston placed fourth and Winter placed sixth.
One highlight for Ajster occurred before the referee blew his whistle to start the finals.
He was able to experience the Grand March of Finalists.
“I’d never seen it and it was awesome being in it,” Ajster said, “and see guys who will be future Division I wrestlers.
“It was a moment to savor.”
Ajster was one of four Oakwood/Salt Fork wrestlers to compete at state.
Reed also reached the semifinals, where he dropped a 5-4 decision to Illini Bluffs’ Cameron Clark.
Reed wound up wrestling back and placed fifth, ending his season with a late takedown for a 3-2 conquest of Oregon’s Jacob Millman.
What the program accomplished with its two medalists, Reed said, is “super special.”
He added: “There’s no way we could have done it without our teammates and our parents. I always had kids pushing me in practice.”
Though Reed fell short of the ultimate goal, a state medal was the capper to a 35-win season.
“I told Coach at the beginning of the year I wanted to be out in the hall (on the Wall of Fame) and to do that, I had to place in state,” Reed said.
Reed’s first two state matches ended with a 3-0 win over Camp Point Central’s Zach Foote and a 9-5 triumph over Dakota’s Conner Elmer.
In the semifinals, he suffered the one-point loss to Clark.
“That loss depleted me,” Reed said, “but Coach kept telling me to never give up. I responded and came back and did my best.”
Glosser wasn’t surprised by Reed’s performance on wrestling’s biggest stage.
“I’ve seen Gage as a state champion,” Glosser said. “The sky’s the limit.
“We have a few things to unlock, but he could be one of the best. It’s going to be exciting to see if this motivates him to work in the off-season.
“It will be a fun next couple of years for him.”
Teammate Connor Hutson (132 pounds) suffered losses of 16-5 and 6-0 in his two state bouts. The 16-5 loss was to eventual fourth-place finisher Andrew Steffes, from Kankakee Bishop McNamara.
The Comets’ other state qualifier, 285-pound Caide Borden, dropped 8-2 and 20-8 decisions. Hutson ends his season with a 30-15 record. Borden was 26-9.
Reed was 35-10.
Ajster is the fifth athlete in school history to reach the championship match and the second in four years.
Cody Ayers was the Class 1A runner-up at 220 pounds in 2016.
The lone Oakwood state wrestling champion was Charles Lomax at 119 pounds in 1974.
Glosser is happy with his commitment to stay at Oakwood.
“The grass is never greener on the other side,” he said. “It’s greener where you water it.
“This is a great place to coach and a great place to be. My assistant coaches took us to a new level this year.”
St. Joseph-Ogden
The Spartans’ A.J. Wagner won one of his three matches at state before bowing out in the 106-pound weight class.
He lost a 7-0 decision to Ridgeview’s Billy Tay in his first match, but rebounded to eliminate Chicago Hope’s Alex Armira, 5-4.
Herscher’s Jason Roberts ended Wagner’s season with an 8-3 loss. Wagner finishes with a 44-9 season record.
Tay wound up placing third.
Teammate Jake Wendling (11-5) lost twice at 120 pounds.
He lost his opener by technical fall, 18-2, to eventual state champion Gabe Spencer, from Heyworth, and then dropped a close 11-8 decision to Reed Custer’s Bobby Mann.
