Second chance as Lincoln Wrestlers make history at State

[February 17, 2018] 

It was an exciting road on Friday for Lincoln Wrestling with two qualifiers in the books of the State finals. The second day of Illinois High School Association’s Individual Wrestling State competition continued in Champaign.

Austin O'Donaghue

Austin O’Donaghue wrestled his first match in the quarter finals against Austin Macias from Burlington Central (returning state champion). Trevor Bree’s fate depended on Grant LaDuke winning his match to become an All-State Wrestler against Anthony Randazzo, who is the returning State Runner-up.

Austin stepped out against Macias ready to make a statement. The two competitors met head to head grinding as each other, shot back and forth continuously for 30 seconds. Macias was the first to get in on a good shot by getting O’Donaghue out of position and taking him down. O’Donaghue fought from bottom gaining better hand control scoring against the returning state finalist to return to his feet.

O’Donaghue continued to attack firing onto an outside single when Macias cleared his leg catching the young freshman in a near side cradle to finish the match in pursuit of his second State Championship title for the senior.

O’Donaghue walked off the mat with a chip on his shoulder knowing he had to return to the State Farm Center floor to stay alive in the Wrestle backs to pursue his dream of standing on the podium in the Center.

When asked about the match Austin said “I had a tough kid and I knew it was gonna be a hard match. I was just gonna have to go wrestle and try my hardest especially wrestling the defending state champ. He was really good but I felt like I actually wrestled decent, but I came off the mat and put it behind me and had to get ready for my next match.”

O’Donaghue's next match was up against Danny McFearson from Antioch, who beat O’Donaghue earlier this year at the competitive Lincoln Holiday 24 team invitational. The two wrestlers competed for position with many near misses to score on both ends to end the period 0-0.

McFearson picked bottom in the second period to advance to an escape scoring him 1 point. The contestants ended the second period with O’Donaghue down by 1 point choosing bottom.

O’Donaghue attempted a risky move barely avoiding giving up back points to regain control of his position. After 30 seconds of scrambling O’Donaghue attempted the same move again almost gaining an escape to give up 3 points and putting himself in a tough spot to come back.

He continued to battle the rest of the match riding McFearson out for the rest of the third period to suffer a heart break loss to finish his high school rookie season with a staggering record of 40-8.

Austin had this to say about his final performance of the season, “I felt like I wrestled a good match but he wrestled a better one. Now I have to put in some work in the off season and try to get back here again, but make it to farther.”

*Austin O’Donaghue’s short-list of accomplishments:

- IESA All State finish, 3rd at 120 in 2017.

-First Freshman in LCHS history to surpass 40 wins in a single season.

-First Freshman in LCHS history to qualify for the IHSA State Tournament.

-On track to join the 100 career win club by the end of his junior year.

Trevor Bree

Trevor Bree’s fate lied in the hands of Grant LaDuke, who had to win due to the state piggy back rule. LaDuke bled out a close match to advance to the semifinals beating the returning State Runner-up, giving Bree a chance to return to the tournament.

Left to right:  Coach Jason Lawrence, Wrestler Trevor Bree, Coach Walt Landers, Wrestler Austin O'Donaghue, Coach Justin Dietrich, and Coach Sam McShane.

Bree would face the returning runner-up first round in the wrestle backs. When Bree found out he was back in the tournament, he said “I felt relieved knowing I lost to a great wrestler who beat the returning State Finalist.”
Bree came out at Randazzo like a Bear out of hibernation ready for his first meal of the season. He attacked getting deep on a double leg vaguely missing the takedown. Bree continued on the offense spinning behind Randazzo almost hooking his ankle for another takedown.

Randazzo countered by attacking and Bree nearly scored while Randazzo hung on for dear life as Bree was not awarded a controversy takedown.

Bree won the coin flip in the second period strategically taking down. Randazzo wrestled and obtained the upper advantage putting Bree on his back and ending Bree’s season with a fall in the second period.

Bree’s season record to 36-11.

Bree said he felt like that first period was the best wrestling he wrestled of the season, and the cheering from the Lincoln fans signified a support that may have been the best wrestling of Trevor’s young Wrestling career.

When asked about the tournament, Bree said, “The experience was great. It was the best experience I’ve ever had. It was something I will never forget. Knowing how it feels now, I feel like I’m gonna be 100% ready next year. My goal is to take top three. Just being on the podium will be great.

*Trevor Bree’s short-list of accomplishments:

- IESA State Qualifier

- First Freshman to hit the 30-win mark in LCHS history.

- Third sophomore in LCHS history to qualify for the IHSA State Tournament, second highest finish as a sophomore.

- First sophomore to surpass the 40-win mark in LCHS history.

-On track to join the 100-win club prior to the end of his junior year.

- Has not lost to an underclassman for 2017-2018 wrestling season.

- 70 Career wins in two years (most wins by an underclassman in LCHS history).

Following up with Head Coach Justin Dietrich, who had a glow to him the last 2 days with his first two state qualifiers as head coach of the Lincoln Community High School Wrestling team, he was more than happy to brag about his contestants. “The boys battled and that is what we expect from them. They took four losses this weekend. Of those four losses, two were returning State finalists, and the other two are guaranteed to place in this year’s tournament. We competed with the best wrestlers in the state. We know we have work to do, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

The Lincoln Community High School team finished the season ranked as Honorable Mention. They have three seniors graduating and 12 out of 14 returning starters. The Railers finished the 2017/2018 season with a 13-10 team record, fourth in Conference with two conference teams competing for the sweet 16 team championship series with finals ending in Bloomington. The Railers finished with top eight finishes in three 24 team Tournaments and brought home a 2nd place trophy in a 16 team tournament.

Sam McShane's JV squad brought home a trophy for the second consecutive year for a JV tournament. This young group is ready to move into the 2018/2019 season and continue to represent Lincoln for the years to come.

[Jason Lawrence]