The Collinsville wrestling team didn’t any have athletes at last weekend’s Class 3A state tournament in Champaign, but overall it was still a solid season for the Kahoks.
Collinsville, which was 15-6 in dual matches, had two wrestlers, Devontae Smith (113 pounds) and Dylan Johnson (160) advance out of the Granite City Regional on Feb. 2, but neither could crack the top four at the Moline Sectional on Feb. 9.
“I’d like to have gotten those two kids to move on to the next level, but they came up a little short,” Collinsville coach Tom Blaha said. “As far as positives, last year they didn’t win a match at the sectional, but this year Devontae was two matches away from going to state and Dylan was a 30-second tiebreaker away. It’s tough to take when you get that close and don’t make it.”
Smith, a senior, and Johnson, a junior, were leaders for the Kahoks throughout the season.
“Devontae walks out of here with 87 total wins, which is 13th in the history of Collinsville wrestling,” Blaha said. “As a freshman, he came in never having wrestled a day in his life. He’s one of the better wrestlers in the state of Illinois, but he just didn’t make it to the big show.
“Dylan has won 78 matches for us in three years. Next year he wants to bring home some state tournament hardware.”
Junior Cody Pope won 30 matches as a first-year starter at 106. Other returning wrestlers with 15 or more wins are sophomore Zach Stephenson (132) and juniors Alex Stowers (195), David Jackstadt (182), Brandon Fisher (170) and Daniel Franke (145).
Other seniors on the squad were Blake Miller (20 wins at 126), Kenny Sims (18 wins at 138), Charlie Hunter (15 wins at 152) and Cesar Contreras (23 wins at 220).
“Our freshman team won the O’Fallon Tournament and we had a nice group of eighth-graders who had a successful season at the junior high,” Blaha said. “This is the second year for the Junior Kahoks (wrestling club) and that will only help us going forward.
“It will be tough to replace Devontae Smith and our other seniors, but with our freshman squad and other kids who are already at the high school, I think we can fill those spots.”