Kent and Kootstra Place at State Wrestling Tournament

Wauconda High School sent a school record five wrestlers to the IHSA Class 2A State Wrestling tournament on Friday and Saturday,

February 18th and 19th. The five wrestlers all qualified by placing in the top three wrestlers at the Antioch Sectional tournament on

Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11th and 12th.

The five qualifiers were Brian Kent (Senior, 215 lbs), Peter Kootstra (Senior, 160 lbs), Nate Magiera (Freshman, 171 lbs), Bruce Pearl (Sophomore, 140 lbs), and Devin Tortorice (Sophomore, 103 lbs).  Brian Kent had earned a 2nd seed at the State tournament with a first place finish at the Antioch Sectional and 33 wins with only one loss. This gave him a first round bye.  All the other wrestlers had first round matches.

Devin Tortorice (Soph.,103 lbs) won his first round match with a 11-0 decision over Tyler Moxley of Mahomet-Seymour High School.  Tortorice, who had been ranked as high as 4th in the state, lost his next match to B.J. McGhee, of Rock Island High School.  McGhee was seeded 2nd and he pinned Devin in 1:46 seconds off a takedown.  McGhee lost his next match, so Devin was eliminated from any other wrestling.  Devin Tortorice finished the season with 36 wins and 7 losses.

Bruce Pearl (Soph.,140 lb) was up next and he lost his first round match to Colton Gladwell of Washington High School, 8-0.  Bruce started to wrestle well late in the third period, when he realized he could compete at the State level. Bruce ended his sophomore season with 27 wins and 14 losses.  Gladwell did get a wresle-back and finished 4th in the tournament.

Nate Magiera (Freshman, 171 lbs) was the first freshman wrestler from Wauconda to ever qualify for the State tournament. Nate wrestled well, despite being very sick the night before.  He ended up losing to Conrad Bray of East Peoria High School, 11-4.  It was still a good experience for a freshman athlete, who should be back at the State tournament again next year. Nate finished the year with 26 wins and 10 losses.

Peter Kootstra (Senior, 160 lbs) made his first trip to the State tournament this year.  Peter had missed as a sophomore when he placed 4th in Sectionals. Last year, he suffered a concussion in the finals of the North Suburban Conference finals that kept him out of the IHSA regionals.  This year, he qualified by taking second at the Antioch Sectional tournament. 

In his first match, Pete faced Kyle Culton from Sycamore High School.  Culton had beat Peter 2-1 earlier in the year in the finals of the Glenbrook South tournament.   This time, Pete controlled the match. He scored a quick takedown to grab a 2-0 lead.  He rode Culton for the rest of two periods.  He didn’t give up any points in the third period to earn a 2-0 victory.  In his second match, Pete faced the #2 seed in the tournament, Derek Nagel from Lemont High School.

Peter made several good takedown shots in the first period, but couldn’t get a takedown.  In the second period, Nagle scored a 2 point reversal to grab a 2-0 lead.  Nagel later scored a 2 point near fall with a cradle to seal a 4-0 win over Peter.

Peter got a wrestle back match when Nagel beat Frank Abitua from Crystal Lake Central High School in the semi-final match.  Pete wrestled a great match against Frank Abitua.   He scored three takedowns and two three point near falls to beat Abitua of Crystal Lake Central, 11-4. Peter said “I didn’t want to lose the opportunity to place in this tough weight class at this tournament.   For 3rd place, Pete had to wrestle the two time defending State Champion, Dylan Reel from

Washington High School.  Reel had been upset in the semi-final round and came out real aggressively against Pete.  Pete put in a strong performance, before being pinned by a throw in the third period.  He finished the season with 37 wins and 9 losses and a 4th Place State Medal.

Brian Kent (Senior, 215 lbs) entered his first match against Robert Wesley, from Rich East High School, with lots of confidence.  He picked Wesley off the mat on a single leg takedown and put him in a cradle pinning hold.  He softly put him down on the mat for the referee to call a pin.  His pin in :50 seconds set a State final record for the quickest fall in the Class 2A State tournament. The old record was 3 minutes and 13 seconds.

In his semi-final match, Brian faced Dequence Goodman from Chicago Bowen High School.  Brian took Goodman down early in the match to take a 2-0 lead. Goodman reversed Kent to make the score 2-2.  Brian scored an escape to make the score 3-2.  He then took Goodman down again to make the score 5-2.

A cradle hold in the third period by Brian Kent for a three point near fall earned Brian an 8-2 victory.

In the finals, Brian faced the defending state champion, Austin Marsden from Crystal Lake Central High School. Marsden is going to Oklahoma State University next year on a wrestling scholarship.  Brian, who was a star quarterback on Wauconda’s football team, is going to Wayne State in Nebraska on a football scholarship.  The first period was scoreless.  Brian had a chance to put Marsden in a near side cradle, but Marsden avoided Brian’s favorite and most dangerous move.  In the second period, Marsden reversed Kent with a side roll and a 3 point near fall.  He kept after Kent and put him in a far side cradle to end the match with a fall.

Brian Kent ended the season with 35 wins and only 2 losses.  He placed 2nd in the State Tournament. He had pinned 23 opponents this year. Most  of them were in the first period.

This was the first time that Wauconda had two medal winners at the state tournament since 1983 (28 years).  While the seniors Kent and Kootstra led the way with medals, Tortorice, Pearl and Magiera are motivated for return trips downstate