Holt and Brazelton win Illini Prairie Conference championships
By Fred Kroner
St. Joseph-Ogden had two individual Illini Prairie Conference wrestling champions in the two-day league meet, which ended on Saturday (Jan. 14) at Prairie Central.
Junior Emmitt Holt (113 pounds) and sophomore Holden Brazelton (132 pounds) were the Spartans’ IPC champions.
Holt won four of his seven matches by pin, including two in less than a minute.
Brazelton was 6-0 at the league meet. Two of his four pins were secured in less than 60 seconds.
In the team dual-meet series, SJ-O was 5-2 and placed third in the eight-team event.
The Spartans defeated Monticello (38-35), Rantoul (76-6), Chillicothe IVC (70-16), St. Thomas More (54-30) and Prairie Central (48-32). SJ-O lost to Pontiac (54-26) and to Tolono Unity (67-6), which captured its fourth consecutive conference championship.
In the match that eventually determined third place, SJ-O staged a mammoth comeback to edge Monticello.
Monticello won the first three matches that were staged and led, 17-0. The Sages were clinging to a 35-33 lead entering the final bout at 152 pounds.
SJ-O freshman Coy Hayes made quick work of his opponent, posting a 21-5 technical fall win to supply the Spartans with the five points that ensured the team victory.
During the two-day event, 18 different Spartans took to the mat and 11 finished with above-.500 records and another was exactly .500.
SJ-O’s cumulative tournament record was 56-43 with 26 of the wins occurring by pins.
Other team leaders were Landon Butts (5-2 at 138 pounds with two pins), Hays (5-2 at 152 pounds), Owen Birt (5-2 at 220 pounds with five pins), Canden Getty (4-2 at 120 pounds), Brandon Goodwin (4-3 at 126 pounds with one pin), Peyton Sarver (4-3 at 195 pounds with four pins), Kyle Meccoli (4-3 at 285 pounds with one pin), Gary Page (2-1 at 106 pounds with one pin), Gabe Mata (2-1 at 182 pounds with one pin) and Lexi Wirth (1-1 at 132 pounds).
SJ-O returns to action on Thursday (Jan. 19) at home against Clinton and El Paso/Gridley.
