The state-ranked Comets, led by individual champion Gage Reed, placed fifth in the 18-school Randy Bowman Invitational at LeRoy on Saturday.

Meet champion LeRoy accumulated 156 points. Oakwood, ranked 11th in Class 1A by The Illinois Best Weekly, amassed 119 ½ points.

Reed was the 113-pound weight class champion, outpointing his two opponents by a combined 33-7 score.

Six of his teammates also finished among the top five, including two others who advanced into the finals.

Reef Pacot was second at 106 pounds and Caleb Lashuay was the runner-up at 152 pounds.

Winning in a third-place match was Connor Hutson (138 pounds).

Other Oakwood placers were Colby Smiley (fourth at 182 pounds), Caide Borden (fourth at 285 pounds) and Ben Jessup (fifth at 132 pounds).

The Comets return to action on Tuesday at home against North Vermillion, Ind.

The post Reed leads Comets at Randy Bowman Invitational first appeared on SJO Daily.

St. Joseph-Ogden’s A.J. Wagner won all three of his matches on Saturday to win the 113-pound weight class in the Rex Avery Porta Invitational in Petersburg.

Wagner is 7-1 for the season and had one pin. He was top-seeded in his weight class.

Wagner was among eight Spartans who participated in the tournament.

Brodie Sullivan placed fourth at 195 pounds. He had one pin for the day.

Securing fifth-place finishes for SJ-O were Isaiah Moore (126 pounds) and Trevon Carr (170 pounds). Moore was 2-1 for the day with two pins. Carr was 3-1 and posted one pin.

Joe Gherna (285 pounds) won the consolation bracket.

Overall, SJ-O wrestlers were 12-11 for the tournament.

The team’s other competitors were Matthew Falls (138 pounds), Conrad Miller (145 pounds) and Max Shonkwiler  (220 pounds).

As a team, SJ-O scored 60 points at Porta and placed 18th in the 25-school event.

Wagner, Chase Chapman and Shonkwiler each have two pins for the Spartans through the first five dual meets.

Austin Kofoot, Moore and A.J. Wells all have one pin apiece in the dual meets.

Wagner’s fastest fall was in 48 seconds and accounted for the only SJ-O points in a 61-6 loss to LeRoy/Tri-Valley.

Shonkwiler’s quickest pin was in 16 seconds and was one of six matches the Spartans won in a 47-33 loss to Clifton Central.

Chapman’s 11-second pin, also against Clifton Central, was the team’s fastest in the first five meets.

Wells produced a 19-second pin in a 48-12 loss to Danville.

Kofoot registered a 16-second fall against Clifton Central. Moore’s pin came in 2 minutes, 11 seconds, also against Clifton.

Wagner and Shonkwiler each earned wins by decision in a 51-6 loss to Oakwood/Salt Fork.

Carr scored a technical fall win in a 35-5 SJ-O win over Urbana.

SJ-O returns to action on Tuesday at Gibson City in a meet that also includes Heyworth.

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Villa Grove/Heritage Girls’ Basketball

The Blue Devils (4-1) overcame a halftime deficit on Tuesday to post a 49-43 victory at Tuscola. The host Warriors led, 22-20, at halftime, but VG/H went on a 17-5 tear in the third quarter and took control.

Aliya Holloman scored 18 points, Kyleigh Block had 15 and Samantha Campbell hit a season-high 12 points for the Blue Devils.

Block has nailed a team-high 10 three-pointers through five games.

The Blue Devils will play their home-opener tonight against Westville (0-5).

Villa Grove/Heritage Boys’ basketball

The Hawks (3-1) opened and closed the Cerro Gordo Thanksgiving Tournament with wins and captured third place.

VG/H topped Sangamon Valley 50-20 in Monday’s opener and followed with a 51-36 triumph over Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg.

A third-round loss on Friday to LeRoy, 49-23, set the stage for Saturday’s bounceback game, a 59-44 verdict over Cerro Gordo/Bement.

Jake Eversole canned a season-high 22 points against CG/B. Logan Nohren (12 points) and Issac Mahoe (11 points) also had their top-scoring performances of the week.

Mahoe canned three three-pointers and Eversole hit two treys.

VG/H led 40-33 after three quarters, but pulled away for the win.

Against LeRoy, the Hawks connected on only six second-half points. Mahoe had five points, Sam Reno had three points and Ierik Sorenson also scored three points.

The points by Reno and Sorenson came on three-pointers.

Against Windsor/SS, VG/H used a 13-2 third-quarter run to take control.  Nohren tallied a team-high 11 points. Contributing eight points apiece were Eversole, Reno and Blake Smith.

Eversole fired in 13 points and Nick Coffin had 12 points in the season’s first game, against Sangamon Valley. Smith added seven points.

The Hawks led 32-5 at halftime.

Eversole was picked for the all-tournament team after scoring 45 points for the week.

The Hawks play their home-opener on Tuesday at Heritage against Urbana University High School.

The post VGH boys’ basketball takes third at Cerro Gordo Thanksgiving Tournament, girls top Tuscola first appeared on SJO Daily.

The Spartans (4-1) dropped their home-opener on Tuesday, 65-44, to Paris.

Taylor Barnes scored a team-high nine points. Finishing with six points apiece were Alyssa Hamilton, Payton Jacob and Ashlyn Lannert.

Paris jumped into a 14-6 lead after one quarter.

Lannert and Katie Cramer were picked for the all-tournament team the previous week at the Lady Bunny/Lady Falcon Classic.

SJ-O returns to action tonight at home against Tuscola.

St. Joseph-Ogden Wrestling

Three Spartan underclassmen were mentioned in the honorable mention category by The Illinois Best Weekly in its preseason Class 1A individual state rankings.

Junior A.J.  Wagner received notice at 113 pounds as did teammates Isaiah Moore, a sophomore, at 120 pounds and Isaiah Immke, a junior, at 138 pounds.

The Spartans open the season on Saturday at Danville with a series of dual meets that will also include Urbana, LeRoy and Olympia.

The post SJ-O Girls’ Basketball drops home opener, Wagner, Immke, Moore recognized by The Illinois Best Weekly first appeared on SJO Daily.