The Benton Ranger wrestling competed in the IHSA Sectional tournament this past weekend and have three going to the State Tournament this week to be held in Assembly Hall in Champaign on the campus of the University of Illinois.  Senior Zach Mocaby  led the way winning the sectional championship at 170 pounds. Also qualifying were sophomore twin brothers Chase and Chris Worthey.  Chase placed  third at 120 pounds. while Chris placed 4th at 126 pounds.  Also competing at the sectional were junior Daniel Krug (138 pounds) and freshman Devon Sieveking (195 pounds).  Krug went 2-2 and Sieveking 1-2 over the weekend but failed to qualify for Champaign.

Mocaby  defeated Nick Berty (Robinson) 10-6 in the 1st round and advanced to the finals with a 6-4 decision over Kurtis Owens (Hillsboro) in the semi’s.  Zach beat Tyler Gooden (Toledo-Cumberland) in the championship by a 2-1 margin.  Gooden had defeated Mocaby 9-2, eight weeks earlier at the Cumberland Tournament.

Chase Worthey beat Brock Barnhill (Auburn) 2-0 in overtime in the first round then lost a 1-0 decision to eventual sectional champion Dalton Brito(Roxanna) in semi’s. Chase rebounded with a 12-0 win over Grant Henson (Rochester) and a 7-2 decision over Barnhill for 3rd place.
Chris Worthey opened sectional competition with a 4-2 win over Dalton Snell (Auburn) before dropping a 3-1 decision to eventual champion Devon Fenton(Litchfield) in the semi’s. Chris battled back winning his next bout by fall in 1:30 over Alec Keeler (Robinson) before losing a very controversial 3rd place match 10-9 to Snell(Auburn).

The top 4 placer’s from four sectionals around the state qualify for the state tournament.
Mocaby will matchup in the first round aginst another familiar foe in Jarod Noel (Bismark-Henning), Noel (34-11) defeated Mocaby (30-13) by a 12-3 margin in December at the Super Duals also held Champaign.

Chase Worthey (35-5) will face the states 2nd ranked wrestler at 120 lbs. in Jose Abitua (Stillman Valley) in the first round while brother Chris will matchup with the #1 ranked wrestler at 126 pounds in J.J. Whaley (39-2) also of Stillman Valley.

The State Tournament will kick off Thursday morning and run through Saturday evening.

By Jim Muir

The Benton Rangerettes closed out the regular season on a high note Saturday in the Rich Herrin Classic with a convincing 62-42 victory over Casey-Westfield.

The victory also provide a milestone for the first year coach Andy Sloan and the Rangerettes as they improved to 20-6 overall – the first Benton girl’s team to reach the 20-win plateau since 2004.

After falling behind 14-9 at the end of the first quarter the Rangerettes took control of the game early in the second frame behind the inside duo of Morgan Corn and Mikala Carney who combined for 20 first half points.

“Casey struggled against our post players and Morgan and Mikala did a great job finishing,” said Sloan. Another key point in the game was in the second quarter when Evelyn (Mendez) hit back-to-back three-pointers. After those two baskets Casey had to come out and guard us more on the perimeter and that made our inside game even stronger.”

Corn turned in a double-double with a game high 25 points to go along with 11 boards. Mikala Carney finished with 13 and was followed by Cali Carney with eight points, Mendez with six points and Sami Minor and Kaitlyn Biddle with two each.

Sloan gave high marks to his four seniors – Morgan Corn, Evelyn Mendez, Mikala Carney and Brittany Pedigo – who played their final home game at the East Gym last week and at RHG during the 9^th Annual Rich Herrin Classic.

Four Benton seniors played their final regular season game Saturday in a 62-42 win over Casey-Westfield. Pictured during the first week of the season after winning the Marion Lady Wildcats Invitational are, l-r, Morgan Corn, Evelyn Mendez, Mikala Carney and Brittany Pedigo.

“What a great group of kids,” said Sloan. “I feel honored to have coached them during their final year. We have came so far and learned so much about each other, we are just now getting comfortable with each other about what we are trying to accomplish.”

The Rangerettes will head into post season play, the No. 2 seed in the loaded field of the Zeigler-Royalton Class 2A Regional. Benton will face the winner of the Sesser-Valier – West Frankfort game in a semi-final match up at 8 p.m. on Wednesday night.

State ranked Nashville is the top seed with S-V as the No. 3 seed, Zeigler-Royalton is the No. 4 seed, Du Quoin is the No. 5 seed and West Frankfort is the No. 6 seed.

The tourney kicks off tonight with S-V vs. West Frankfort and on Tuesday Z-R will face Du Quoin. Semi-final games will be Wednesday with the finals on Thursday night.

The Benton Rangers wrestling team competed in regional competition on Saturday at Max Morris Gymnasium in West Frankfort.  The Rangers placed third as a team behind Murphysboro and the host Redbirds.  Benton qualified eight individuals to next weekend Sectional tournament to be held in Vandalia.  The highlight of the day was at 138 pounds as junior, Daniel Krug beat the states No. 10 ranked wrestler in Gavin Restivo, and with that victory broke Benton High School’s single season win record when he had his hand raised for the 39th time this year.  The previous mark of 38 was held by Zach Wilson during his junior campaign in 2006-2007.  Other regional champions for Benton  was sophomore Chase Worthey (32-4) at 120 pounds, sophomore Chris Worthey (36-3) at 126 pounds, and senior Zach Mocaby (27-13) at 170 pounds.

Finishing 2nd in regional competition were senior Nathan Flatt (12-3) at 113  who seen his first action in 8 weeks after suffering an elbow injury, and Freshman Devon Siveking(17-21) at 195 pounds. Benton will also have two alternates because of their 4th place finishes in sophomore Jarrod Burnett at 106 pounds, and freshman Jordan Piercy at 285 pounds. (The top three at each weight class advance, 4th place is an alternate).

Results:
113 lbs. – Nathan Flatt beat Peyton Emling(Pinkneyville) by technical fall 17-2.
Lost by pin in 3:10 to Dylan Chamber(Murphysboro)

120 lbs. – Chase Worthey beat TylerSullivan(Harrisburg) by pin in 2:52
Beat Kestutis Lazdinin(Carterville) by pin in 1:01

126 lbs. – Chris Worthey beat Colton Essary(WF) by pin in 1:27
Beat Chris Hagan by pin in 3:04
Beat Austin Lowery(Harrisburg) by pin in 2:19

138 lbs. – Daniel Krug beat Charles Rogers(Sparta) by pin in 2:54
Beat Trevor Bardeau(Red Bud) by pin in 2:40
Beat Gavin Restivo(WF) 3-1 in overtime.

170 lbs. – Zach Mocaby beat Cody Mifflin(Murphysboro) by pin in 3:04
Beat Joe Behan(Carterville) by pin in 2:54

195 lbs. – Devon Siveking beat Taylor Streeter(Murphysboro) by pin in 4:10
Beat Cole Adams(Harrisburg) by pin in 4:50
Lost to Dylan Hartley(Sparta) by pin in 5:23

By Jim Muir

The Benton Rangerettes improved to 15-4 overall with a solid 41-21 victory over Du Quoin in Thursday night action.

“I thought we turned in a solid defensive effort,” said Benton coach Andy Sloan. “Overall, it was just a nice win for us.”

The Rangerettes jumped out to an 11-4 first quarter lead as six players got in the scoring column for Benton in the opening eight minutes. Benton increased the lead to 20-11 at halftime as Du Quoin managed only three field goals in the first half.

Rebekka Maddox, Du Quoin’s leading scorer, was a non-factor in the contest as she was hampered by foul trouble from the outset. Maddox picked up two quick fouls in the first 90 seconds of the game and sat out the rest of the first quarter and then returned and picked up her third in less than three minutes in the third and was on the bench the remainder of the half.

The Rangerettes put the game on ice in the third quarter outscoring Du Quoin 8-2 to open up a 38-23 lead and then coasted on to victory.

Benton was led in scoring by Morgan Corn with 10 points, followed by Mikala Carney with seven points, Katie Sandusky with six points, Sami Minor and Marcella Mendez with five points each, Evelyn Mendez with three points, Cali Carney with two points, Kaitlyn Biddle with two points and Cassandra Johnson with one point.

Maddox led Du Quoin with five points.

The Benton JV squad picked up an exciting 36-35 victory against Du Quoin. Bobbi Wegrazyn hit two free throws with 29 seconds in the game and that proved to be the winning margin.

Both Benton girl’s teams are back in action on Tuesday night when they host Zeigler-Royalton-Christopher in a non-conference match up. The game will be played at Rich Herrin Gymnasium because of a wrestling event that is being held at the East Gym.

Staff Report

The Benton Rangers wrestling team competed in the prestigious Super Duals, New Years challenge held at Huff Hall on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign. The Rangers placed 16th in the 33 team dual tournament in which Benton finished 3-6.
POOL 5
Benton 48 – Bismark-Henning 34
Benton 23 – Vandalia 57
Benton 48 – Normal- University High 18
Benton 18 – Coal City 54
Championship Bracket
Benton 34 – Auburn 33
Benton 18 – Wilmington 60
Benton 37 – Monmouth-Roseville 39
Benton 30 – Oregon 30
Benton 25 – Clifton Central 52

Benton had four standout performances with Chase Worthey(120), Chris Worthey(126), Peyton Smith(132), Daniel Krug(138) all going 8-1 in the tournament.
The dual tournament featured 10 of the top 16 class A schools in the state as ranked by Illinois Best Weekly(Illinois’ wrestling paper)
 
Also, Benton’s Chris Worthey(126) was named to the 10 member “Toughman Team”.