Alejandro Duarte won the 215 lb weight class at the Fulton Regional and advances to the 1A Byron Sectional. [Photos courtesy of Kewanee High School Athletic Department.]

The Kewanee boys wrestling team fared well Saturday at the Class 1A Fulton Regional. Five KHS wrestlers advanced to Saturday’s Byron Sectional. One of the five, Alejandro Duarte, was crowned champion at 215 pounds.

Two of his teammates, Kingston Peterson and Jackson Hawkins, finished second in their respective weight classes, while Joey McGuire and Jamal Lasenby turned in third place efforts and will also be competing in Byron. 

Two other Boilermaker wrestlers, Benjamin Taylor and Landyn Greenhagen, finished in fourth place and will be weighed in at the sectional as alternates in their weight classes.

Collectively, the Boilers placed third at a regional that was stacked with talented wrestlers. 

“We knew going into the regional that it would be a really tough one to win as a team,” said Kewanee Coach Charley Eads. “Everyone was going to have to wrestle their best day for us to win,” he added. “We did beat the regional champions (Riverdale) in a dual meet this season so it shows what we can do.”

Many competing at the Fulton Regional had already won state medals and many will go on to win at this year’s state championship meet at the State Farm Center in Champaign. 

” I believe that was one of the toughest regionals in the state so to place third, as a team, is an awesome accomplishment,” Eads added 

Riverdale repeated as regional champions and won the team title with 183.5 points, Sterling (Newman) was second with 145 points and Kewanee was third with 130.5 points.

The remaining teams and their scores are: Orion and Taylor Ridge (Rockridge) tied for fourth/fifth place with 123 points 6.) Morrison (110), 7.) Erie (96), 8.) Fulton (75), 9.) Rock Falls (69.5), 10.) Sherrard (60), 11.) Rock Island (Alleman) – 39 points. 

ALEJANDRO DUARTE (33-3), junior 

• Champion at 215 lbs (24 team points)       

Alejandro Duarte received a first round bye, but in the quarter and semifinal rounds, he had to contend with two wrestlers that each had over 20-win records.

In the quarterfinals, Duarte won a hard-fought match against Jacob Newberry (23-16) of Sterling Newman. Duarte pinned Newberry at 3:50 into the match. 

In the semifinals, Duarte made quick work of Jacob Schredeya (24-17) of Riverdale, pinning him in one minute and 38 seconds. 

In the championship match, Duarte faced one of the best wrestlers in the state at 215 pounds, Aiden Fisher (34-9), of Orion. Duarte took down Fisher at the 4:24 mark to earn the 215-pound title. 

Kingston Peterson placed second at 113 lbs and has advanced to the Class 1A Byron Sectional. 

KINGSTON PETERSON (25-6), sophomore 

• 2nd Place at 113 lbs (14 team points) 

Peterson received byes in the first two rounds, but had to face Braiden Krahl (30-14) of Sherrard in the semis. Peterson won the close match in a 10-8 decision. 

In the title match, Peterson went up against two-time sectional qualifier and 2023 state qualifier, Tharren Jacobs (40-1), a senior from Riverdale. Peterson was taken down in the third minute (3:04), but finished second to earn a trip to the sectionals. 

JACKSON HAWKINS (21-16), senior

• 2nd Place at 190 lbs (22 team points)

Hawkins received a first round bye and cruised through the first two rounds by getting quick pins. In his semifinal match, Hawkins pinned Caleb Carroll (17:20) of Morrison in just 12 seconds.

Hawkins, however, was tasked with facing Maddux Anderson (41-2) of Orion in the 190-pound championship. Anderson pinned Hawkins at 1:13 into the match. 

“Hawkins wasn’t seeded and he dominated his way to the finals,” said Coach Eads. 

Kewanee Coach Charley Eads gives directions to one of his wrestlers during Saturday’s 1A Fulton Regional. 

JOEY McGUIRE (20-17), junior

• 3rd Place at 165 lbs (22 team points)

McGuire had a tough path to his sectional- qualifying effort, fighting through six matches to reach the third place match. 

After winning his first match by pin, McGuire went up against a worthy opponent in Ryan Lower (39-2) of Rockridge. Lower won by pin at 4:18, which sent McGuire to the consolation bracket. 

McGuire recorded three pins in the consolation bracket to earn a shot at third place. McGuire capitalized on that opportunity and defeated Ben Geske (26-13) of Sterling Newman by pin at the 2:36 mark. 

“Joey had a great tournament and wrestled really well all the way through,” noted Eads. 

JAMAL LASENBY (15-4), senior

• 3rd Place at 175 lbs (13 team points)

Lasenby also had to fight his way back through the consolation bracket. He lost a tough quarterfinals match against Nolan Loete (39-9) by a decision of 9-4. 

Lasenby won his two consolation matches by pin. His second pin was a hard-fought match against Caleb Donna (26-16) of Sterling Newman (5:51).

In the third place match, Lasenby avenged his quarterfinals loss to Loete and beat him in a close 6-5 decision to claim third place and earn a trip to the Byron Sectional.      

“Jamal is a great athlete,” said Eads. “He’s picked up on the sport of wrestling and has vastly improved over the course of the season. Prior (to this season) he had zero experience with the sport,” Eads added. ” I’m glad that he decided to try it out and see what he could do.”

LANDYN GREENHAGEN (14-12), sophomore 

• 4th Place at 120 lbs (11 team points)

Greenhagen won his quarterfinals match by pin, but was tasked with taking on the defending state champ (@ 106 lbs), Dean Wainwright (40-1), of Riverdale in the semis. Wainwright won by pin just 33 seconds.

Not deterred, Greenhagen beat Morrison’s Patrick Schaefer (20-21) by pin at 4:25 in the consolation semifinals. 

In the third place match, Kaley Sovey (21-5) of Orion defeated Greenhagen by pin at 3:38.

Greenhagen will serve as an alternate at Saturday’s Byron Sectional. 

BENJAMIN TAYLOR (31-10), junior

• 4th Place at 138 lbs (11 team points)

Taylor received a first round bye and won an 8-0 major decision over Andrew Knox (25-15) of Sherrard in the quarterfinal round. 

In the semis, Taylor took on a tough Briar Ivey (37-4) of Sterling Newman but lost by pin at 3:44. 

“Both Ivey, and Grennan are awesome athletes and very competitive wrestlers,” noted Coach Eads. “They’re an extreme handful to contend with. Ben and Landyn did well considering the competition.”

Taylor then took on Logan Williamson (22-15) of Rock Falls in the consolation semis and won a hard-fought 12-10 decision to earn a shot at third place.

In the third place match, Taylor went the distance, but lost an 18-11 decision to Camden Pruis (29-13) of Morrison. 

“Ben totally understands the competition,” said Eads. “He knew this was a tough regional at that weight but he also understood it was arguably the best in the state. He took it on the chin after making the decision to take on the toughest in the state.”

Taylor will serve an alternate at Saturday’s Byron Sectional. 

Also scoring for Kewanee were:

Chance DeSplinter (20-15), sophomore – 6.5 pts at 132 lbs

DeSplinter won his first round match by tech fall (19-2 at 5:44), but lost in the quarterfinals to Brady Grennan (38-3) of Sterling Newman by fall at 1:27. 

He won his first match in the consolation bracket by pin, but lost his second match in the consolation bracket to Jacob Fratzke (28-15) of Sherrard by pin at the one minute mark.

Landon Mason (17-10), senior – 4 pts at 144 lbs

• Mason closed out his wrestling career at KHS on Saturday. He had a first round bye, but lost a tough semifinals match to Adam Jacks (29-16) of Alleman by a 14-8 decision. 

Mason won his first two matches in the consolation bracket, but lost in the consolation semis to Levi Milder (29-17) of Morrison by at 1:11.

“Landon is a senior who had a pretty good year,” noted Eads. “He was wrestling well at the end of the season but unfortunately fell just a hair short. He almost beat a pretty good kid from Alleman, but Landon wrestled well.” 

Gideon Richards (16-5), freshman – 3 pts at 106 lbs 

Richards lost to Zander Ketelsen (20-14) of Fulton by fall at 30 seconds. He won his first match of the consolation bracket via pin at 3:13, but lost in the consolation semis to Tyler Olson (27-14) by pin at 0:47. 

Senior David Boswell (14-19) at 285 closed out his wrestling career at KHS on Saturday. Boswell received a first round bye, but lost his quarterfinals match to Noah Parr (22-12) of Orion by pin at 1:39. 

Boswell received a bye in the second round of the consolation bracket, but lost to Dylan Ortery (12-27) by pin (3:23) in the third round. 

Hunter Vancil (12-11), a junior at 126 lbs lost his first round match by a 7-0 decision. He received a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket, but lost to Elijah Newton (9-5) of Riverdale by pin at 3:30. 

Waylon Lambert (24-16), a junior at 150 lbs received a first round bye, but lost in the quarters by major decision to Kaden Dutton (28-19) of Sherrard. 

Lambert had a bye in the consolation bracket, but lost to Seamus McDonnell (14-19) of Sterling Newman after a hard-fought 12-10 decision. 

Braden Johnson (10-18), the Boiler’s 157 lb sophomore lost to Daniel Kelly (37-3) of Sterling Newman in the quarters. He then lost in the first round of the consolation to Preston Brunt (24-17) of Rockridge by fall at the 2-minute mark.