By Bobby Narang
The 2022-2023 girls high school wrestling season is reaching the final stages. The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) individual State meet is less than two weeks away, but this season has proven to be a smashing success for the sport.
One year ago, the IHSA’s inaugural individual State meet showed the sport was here to stay due to the attention and participation.
Now, in the second season of the IHSA-sponsored sport, girls wrestling has grown by leaps and bounds with a wave of new participants.
The Schaumburg Sectional was a perfect example. Lockport won the team championship with 154.5 points to nudge out host Schaumburg (150). Hoffman Estates (118.5) and Batavia (113), the top four teams.
For individuals, Batavia was among the teams with two sectional champions. Batavia senior SueSue Paw, a standout discus and shot putter, closed out the talented two-day sectional with the 235-pound sectional championship. A first-year wrestler, Paw said she’s happy to earn a trip to State at Grossinger Arena in Bloomington, February 24-25.
“My coach was following me around school, so I decided to join wrestling this year for the first time, “Paw said. “Heart and determination were the keys for me. This is my first year wrestling. I have amazing coaches. I’m so happy.”
Batavia junior Sydney Perry is at the opposite spectrum of her novice teammate. A state champion last season in the IHSA’s inaugural individual girls State meet, Perry (30-0) kept her varsity record unblemished with a dominating performance at sectionals, culminated by a 14-4 major-decision victory over Barrington’s Kaia Fernandez in the 145-pound final.
“I feel like I did very good this weekend, but I wished I would’ve pushed the pace more and had cleaner takedowns, but did overall pretty good,” Perry said.
First-year student Nadiia Shymkiv, a newcomer to Glenbard North, continued her strong season by capturing the 105 championship. Her teammate, Gabriella Gomez, claimed the championship at 115. Gomez said she’s trying to follow in the steps of her older brother, Austin, a highly decorated wrestler at the University of Wisconsin.
“It feels great to win at 115 after growing some,” Gomez said. “I knew I could dominate at any weight class I went to, so I feel this is the right choice I made. I try not to overthink. I take what I do in the practice room and try and dominate out here. My coaches and teammates helped me put that puzzle together, so I can get closer to that State title.”
Lockport freshman Claudia Heeney pinned Schaumburg’s Madeline Zerafa-Lazar to win finals at 125. Lockport coach Nate Roth said Heeney is focused for the State meet
“She’s in the zone,” Roth said. “I generally don’t talk to her before or after the match because she’s in the zone and totally avoid of emotions 10 minutes before or after her match, but then’s she becomes a total goofball. She’s super experienced and trains all offseason. She eats and sleeps wrestling, and I’m lucky enough to have her on the team.”
Heeney admitted she was happy with her performance at sectional.
“I just stayed focused and I like to pace before all my matches for 30 minutes, but for me, I have to focus,” Heeney said. “The whole thing about me is I like to be calm and focused on the mat because if I don’t, then I get sloppy and can’t think and what I want out there.”
West Chicago senior Jayden Huesca-Rodriguez is going to State for the second year in a row at 190. She won State championship at 190 last season. Rodriguez (15-0) recorded four pinfall victories to notch a sectional championship. She pinned Wheeling’s Jasmine Rene for the sectional championship.
“I’m excited to be going to State again, and want to get another (title),” Huesca-Rodriguez said. “I hope winning gets more girls at my school to try out wrestling. I just trusted myself today. I didn’t get in my mind too much, and stuck to it and finished it.”