CHAMPAIGN — Ron Wilson has been waiting a while for this. Bowen has been waiting even longer.
Brandyn Peacock‘s takedown with 12 seconds left clinched a 3-2 win over Byron’s Ross Sealby in the Class 1A 220-pound semifinals Friday night at State Farm Center. That victory, over the weight’s top-seeded wrestler, makes Peacock Bowen’s first state finalist since 1942.
It’s another milestone for Wilson, who took over the Boilermakers’ struggling program in 2000 and has built it into a Public League power.
“I knew if there was anyone who could do it, it would be him,” Wilson said.
“All my hard work’s finally paying off,” said Peacock (36-1), who will wrestle El Paso’s Tristun Reeves (41-0) in Saturday’s championship. “The whole third period, I was pushing pressure. I was hitting my single (leg takedown) going out of bounds. I knew I could eventually hit it when we were in the middle.”
Peacock is looking to become the 43rd state champ from the Public League, but only the fourth since 1980.
Waiting game: The closest match of the semifinals might have come at 160 in Class 3A, where Libertyville’s Joey Gunther won a 3-2 ultimate tiebreaker over Marmion’s Trace Carello, The two were tied 2-2 in the final overtime period and Carello tried to wriggle free as time ran out. The officials conferred when the buzzer sounded before confirming that Carello didn’t get the escape.
“Oh my God, I couldn’t handle it,” Gunther said of waiting for the decision. “I had to close my eyes and hope for the best. It was out of my control by that point.”
Fab five: Oak Park, ranked No. 1 nationally by IntermatWrestle.com, led the Class 3A qualifying by sending five wrestlers to the championship round: Jason Renteria (35-2) at 113, Alex Madrigal (37-4) at 120, Larry Early III (25-0) at 145, Isaiah White (35-0) at 152 and Matthew Rundell (33-3) at 160. Marmion is next with three finalists: Anthony Cheloni (34-11) at 138, Riley DeMoss (38-5) at 170 and Nathan Traxler (40-2) at 182.
