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Vandals fall to Coal City at state

Vandalia’s sixth-straight trip to the dual team state wrestling finals ended in the first round with a loss to the eventual third-place finisher.

Six Vandals recorded wins at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, but Coal City took advantage of favorable matchups to advance to the semifinals with a 45-24 win.
“I’m proud of our kids, but I’m sick of losing,” coach Jason Clay said after the loss at the state finals.
“I’m disappointed for our kids,” he said. “It shows that we’ve just got to get better; we’ve got to raise the level of our program.”
Posting wins for the Vandals against Coal City were Dalton Blankenship at 160, Jake Stewart at 195, Kendrick Woolsey at 285, Chaston Womack at 126, Ryne Lipsey at 132 and Luke Tessman at 138.
Clay said that losing the coin toss didn’t help his team’s chances, causing him to shuffle his lineup.
That rearranging left Jake Stewart unopposed and winning by forfeit at 195. “It’s disappointing that that’s Jake’s last match,” Clay said.
“We can’t give up pins and win matches up here,” Clay said.
“And they saved points and we didn’t maximize our points,” he said.
“I think we’re cursed in this building,” he said. “We haven’t won a match here yet.
“But we’ll break through. I’m just frustrated right now,” Clay said.
“But I know that our guys gave a strong effort. They’re always going to give their best,” he said.
“You’ve got to credit Coal City – they’re a good team. They’ve got three state champs and two other state placers, and those kids came through for them.”
As expected, Dakota won the team title, defeating Aled0, 57-12. Coal City took third place by defeating Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, 40-31.
• 152 pounds – Jonah Englert (CC) over Garret Stewart (V) by fall, 1:30.
• 160 pounds – Dalton Blankenship (V) over Bryan Stopka (CC), 9-3.
• 170 pounds – Brock Crawford (CC) over Kolton Kaiser (V) by major decision, 18-8.
• 182 pounds – Riley Kauzlaric (CC) over Matt Ledbetter (V) by fall, 0:39.
• 195 pounds – Jake Stewart (V) won by forfeit.
• 220 pounds – Jake Frost (CC) over Bobby Bradley (V) by fall, 0:23.
• 285 pounds – Kendrick Woolsey (V) over Zach Montgomery, 4-0.
• 106 pounds – Jake Hiles (CC) won by forfeit.
• 113 pounds – Joey Rivera (CC) over Jarrett Paslay (V) by fall, 5:21.
• 120 pounds – Cody Minnick (CC) over James Crawford (V) by fall, 1:21.
• 126 pounds – Chaston Womack (V) over T.J. Jezik (CC), 6-0.
• 132 pounds – Ryne Lipsey (V) over Matt Girot (CC) by fall, 0:23.
• 145 pounds – Corey Jurzak (CC) over Adam Palmer (V) by technical fall, 23-7.
 

Kolton Kaiser

Vandalia’s Bob Culbertson was again one of the officials for the dual team state wrestling finals.

Luke Tessman

Chaston Womack

Vandalia wrestling coach Jason Clay, left, talks with assistant coach Alex Foster prior to the Vandals’ contest with Coal City on Saturday.

Jarrett Paslay

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