Belleville West senior DeMechico Spraggins tuned up for his fourth and final state tournament appearance by winning the 138-pound title as he led the way for metro-east wrestlers on Saturday at the Class 3A Moline Sectional.
A two-time state finalist and three-time medal winner, Spraggins improved to 45-1 for the season by beating Howard Beatty of (Aurora) Waubonsie Valley 12-5 in the title match at Moline High School.
Spraggins was the lone local wrestler to win a title at Moline and is one of 11 wrestlers who finished in the top four of their respective weight classes, earning themselves a trip to the IHSA state tournament, which begins Thursday at the Assembly Hall in Champaign.
Spraggins is one of three Maroons to earn a trip to Champaign.
Junior Nate Higgins, ranked second in the 152-pound division, rebounded from a semifinal loss to place third while senior Tremont Davis earned a bid with a fourth-place finish at 220.
While Spraggins won his final, Edwardsville senior Blake Blair, ranked second at 195, lost to Jordan Ellington of Plainfield Central 7-1 in the final. The win by Ellington is his third of the season over Blair and moves him to 45-0 on the season.
Ellington is ranked first at 195, while Blair is second. Joining Blair at state are teammates James Mosher, who was second at 145, and Hayden Grammer, who was third at 126.
O'Fallon and Granite City advanced a pair of grapplers. The Panthers' Jon Villagran placed third at 120 while Austin Metz was fourth at 160.
Advancing for Granite City were Justin Nelson, who was third at 113, and Alex Brooks, who was fourth at 170.
Belleville East's matmen will be represented by Matt Striegel, who was third at 160.
Class 1A Vandalia Regional
The remarkable story of Althoff freshman Jarrid Braunagel added another chapter at Vandalia High School.
Ranked second at 120, Braunagel defeated Garrett Brachbill of Shelbyville 8-1 in the final and is one of three Crusaders to earned a state tourament berth.
Braunagel is 29-3 on the season.
Teammate Michael Harris placed second at 132, losing in the final to undefeated Nate Jozsa of Argenta-Orenana by injury default.
The third member of the Crusaders to advance was Jevon Hey, who was fourth at 106.
Carlyle advanced four wrestlers, including 220-pound champion Kevin Roper.
A three-time state qualifier, Roper defeated Tanner Keeler of Robinson 18-7 in the title match.
Zach Zvonar placed second at 120, losing to Dalton Brito of Roxana in the final.
Chris Maddox of Carlyle was fourth at 160, while teammate Dre Cannon placed third at 285.
Class 2A Mattoon Sectional
Dameon Adams and David Frazier won their weight classes and were two of four Cahokia wrestlers who advanced at Mattoon High School.
Adams won the 113-pound title with a 6-3 win over Danville's Javeonte Crider to improve to 31-3 for the season, while Frazier defeated Alex Vosbaugh of Mount Vernon 10-5 at 160.
Frazier is now 36-1 for the season.
Other Comanches advancing were Leslie Williams, who was third at 120, and Shelton Pippin, who was second at 220.
Triad didn't have any champions, but the Knights advanced three wrestlers including Cole Wysocki, who was second at 120, third-place Ben Throm (170) and Hunter Schmidt, who was fourth at 182.
Highland senior Tanner Farmer remained undefeated by winning the 285-pound crown, while teammate Nck Czar was third at 220.
Waterloo senior Pat Beiber was second at 182 and will advance while East St. Louis moved on Antonio Moore, who was second at 106, and SirRomeo Howard, who was third at 145.
