Dakota’s Wenzel humbly becomes three-time champ
Five from the Rockford area made it to the finals of Saturday’s IHSA state wrestling tournament — but only one came away a champion.
And now Dakota’s Noah Wenzel is a three-time champ.
“It feels pretty amazing,” said Wenzel, who won a state title every year the IHSA held a state tournament while he was in high school, including Saturday. “I just had to wrestle how I know I can wrestle, and I got it... It makes me a little sad that I didn’t get that chance to get my fourth.”
A handful of local wrestling stars stepped up and steamrolled their way into the championship round Saturday night. Hononegah had two of them, as freshman Rocco Cassioppi and junior newcomer T.J. Silva each took second at their weight class in Class 3A. The same happened to Rochelle’s Kaiden Morris in 2A at 215 and to Lena-Winslow/Stockton’s Eli Larson at 175 in 1A.
But it was Wenzel, at 215 pounds in 1A, who was the lone local champ.
“Well, I guess it’s pretty cool,” Wenzel
added humbly, “to get three.”
The Rockford area had 11 total wrestlers that came home with medals. Silva was one, losing in the 3A finals at 132 to St. Charles East’s Ben Davino. But, that just happened to be the lone No. 1ranked wrestler in the country from Illinois, according to the latest Sports Illustrated online rankings, that beat Silva.
“I wasn’t intimidated at all, I was just ready to wrestle,” said Silva, who lost the final in a tech fall to finish the season 28-5. “I thought I wrestled my best, it just wasn’t the best outcome. I mean, I was wrestling the best dude in the country.”
The top six wrestlers at each weight division in all three classes earned medals, and a spot on the podium.
Here is what happened to the five area state finalists:
1st place: Dakota’s Noah Wenzel (1A-215)
Wenzel proved his worth by rolling to state titles the past two years, but when the pressure was on, he three-peated in dominant fashion this year. He won 7-4 in a match that wasn’t as close as the score appeared, and he finished the season at 36-0.
Last year he needed a late reversal to pull out a 2-1 win in the final, and he won the 190-pound title in sudden-death overtime as a junior. This time around, Wenzel, ranked 25th nationally, owned the final match.
“This is how I wanted to win it,” he said. “There were a few things I could’ve done better, too. But I’m pretty happy. I better be: I got three state titles.”
Wenzel took fourth in the IWCOA state tourney when he was a freshman. That year there was no IHSA state tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2nd: Hononegah’s T.J. Silva (3A-132)
Silva, who won a 1A state title last year when he wrestled for Dakota, and placed second as a freshman, nearly made the successful transition to 3A. But he ran into a buzz-saw in the form of St. Charles East’s Davino. Silva battled early on, and went for a lot of takedown shots, but most of them failed.
In the end, Davino was too much for the Hononegah junior.
“I’ll learn from it,” Silva said. “I’ll be back.”
2nd: Hononegah’s Rocco Cassioppi (3A-106)
This Cassioppi twin steamrolled his way to the 106-pound Class 3A state title in just his freshman year, but he fell just short. Rocco, ranked eighth nationally, lost 6-5 to Caleb Noble of Gurnee. He battled back strong and fast late, using a takedown with under a minute left to chop the lead to 4-3. But Noble fended him off down the stretch.
2nd: Lena-Winslow/Stockton’s Eli Larson (1A-175)
Larson fell 7-2 in the finals at 175, but he ammassed 42 wins this season, including three powerful wins to get him to the state title match. The sophomore could very well be back next year, and beyond.
2nd: Rochelle’s Kaiden Morris (2A-215)
Morris got caught and was pinned early in the second period by defending state champion Michael Calcagno of Elmhurst IC Catholic. But that came after the junior’s impressive run to the finals, where he used two pins and a 6point decision to roll. Morris finished the season with 41 wins.
— Other state placers —
There were six other state placers from the area: Hononegah’s freshman pair Brody Sendele took third at 157 and Bruno Cassioppi took third at 113; East’s Lee Smith took third at 285 and Donald Cannon took fourth at 132; Rochelle’s Xavier Villalobos took fifth at 126; and North Boone’s Gavin Ekberg took sixth at 126.
“Almost. I’ve got three more years and some room to improve, so I’ll just go back to work,” said Sendele, a freshman. “I’ll keep working. It was nice to be in the semis, but I know I’m going to be the best, and eventually I’ll be in the state finals”
Next up is Dual Team Sectionals for Byron (1A), Rochelle (2A) and Hononegah (3A) on Tuesday, with winners advancing to the Dual Team State Tournament in Bloomington next Friday and Saturday. Also next Friday and Saturday in Bloomington will be the IHSA Girls State Wrestling Tournament, highlighted by five Rockford-area wrestlers taking aim at medals.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.