By Fred Kroner
Five Oakwood/Salt Fork wrestlers secured top-four finishes on Saturday (Feb. 11) at the Carterville Class 1A Sectional and qualified for the state wrestling tournament.
The Comets had individual champions in back-to-back weight classes. Reef Pacot was triumphant at 145 pounds and Bryson Capansky was the winner at 152 pounds.
Two other teammates suffered their lone loss in the sectional finals: Tyler Huchel (113 pounds) and Pedro Rangel (126 pounds).
The other Oakwood/Salt Fork athlete to reach state is Carter Chambliss (132 pounds), who placed fourth.
The top four in each weight class advanced to state, which will start on Thursday (Feb; 16) at the State Farm Center.
In all, seven of the eight Comets who competed at the sectional registered a pin. Others besides the state-qualifiers with pins were Brayden Edwards (106 pounds) and Jack Ajster (120 pounds).
Pacot (44-2) had a first-period pin in his first sectional bout and then followed up with narrow wins by decision, 4-3 and 3-2. The championship-match win required double overtime.
Capansky (40-8) earned a pin in 5:56 in his first match and then produced 10-6 and 8-4 wins.
Huchel (34-9) won his first three matches, including 3-2 and 4-2 triumphs before falling in the finals.
Rangel (30-7) had a first-period pin and a 7-1 decision before losing, 9-2, in the title bout.
Chambliss (19-10) won four of his six sectional matches, including a pin in 1:27 which guaranteed he’d qualify for state.
Of the Comets’ state-bound wrestlers, Pacot is the lone senior.
Edwards and Ajster each had 1-2 sectional records. Edwards’ pin occurred in 1:02 and Ajster’s pin took 5:29.
The program’s other sectional participant was Doug Myers (195 pounds).
Oakwood/Salt Fork Girls’ Wrestling
Freshman Taylor Owens (135 pounds) was the lone Oakwood/Salt Fork athlete to compete in the IHSA girls’ wrestling sectional tournament on Saturday (Feb. 11) at Peoria Richwoods and, after winning four of her five matches, she secured a berth in the state tournament.
Owens placed third in her weight class. She had two pins and a technical fall win. For the season, her record is 17-16.
With the points she scored, Oakwood/Salt Fork placed 32nd at the 55-school sectional. She scored 17 ½ points.
The state tournament will be held in Bloomington on Friday (Feb. 24) and Saturday (Feb. 25) at Grossinger Motors Arena.
