For fifth year in a row, Althoff adds a state wrestling champion to the trophy case
As a trio, brothers Jarrid, Danny and Zac Braunagel have accomplished just about everything there is to accomplish in wrestling.
Together they combined to win 10 medals at the IHSA state wrestling tournament, including four state championships. They have won national tournaments and have represented the United States in international competitions.
Saturday at State Farm Center in Champaign, the Braunagel brothers had the opportunity to watch their little brother Joe win the Class 1A 182-pound state championship. Three wrestlers from southwestern Illinois won state championships.
“It was a great night. My dad (Joe) doesn’t usually show a lot of emotion. But after I won, he was about as emotional as I have seen him in a long time,” Joe Braunagel said. “My mom was in tears and my brothers ... they were probably more excited than I was..
“With 10 seconds left in the match I was only up a point and I knew I couldn’t give one up. But once the final buzzer went off, I’m like ‘wow ... I finally did it.”
With his 5-4 title match win over Justin Peake of Johnsburg, Braunagel joined twins Danny and Zac as family members to win state championships. Current members of the University of Illinois wrestling program, the twins both won back-to-back state championships in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Jarrid, the oldest, won four state medals during his four year Althoff career.
Braunagel finished his season with a 37-4 record. But of the four losses none were against Class 1A competition and all were in tournaments, including two at the Dvorak Invitational in Loves Park where he placed fifth in his weight division
But Braunagel was at his very best in the postseason.
After easing past the competition to win the regional title, he was put to the test in the second round of the Vandalia Sectional where he faced top-ranked Micah Downs of Tolono Unity. Trailing Downs by as many as six points. Braunagel took Downs to his back and pinned him early in the third period.
Braunagel went on to win the sectional title.
It didn’t take long for a rematch to materialize. The two top wrestlers in the weight class, Downs and Braunagel were paired again, this time in the 182-pound state semifinal with 15,000 wrestling fans on hand at State Farm Center.
Downs once again built a big lead, taking a 7-2 advantage heading into the final two minute period. Although a little nervous, Althoff wrestling coach Ryne Harris still had faith.
“It was 7-2, but there was honestly never a time where I was really worried,” Harris recalled. “He (Downs) is a very talented wrestler but he had some injuries and a few really tough matches this year. Joe was down by five points but he had been down six to him (Downs) and came back. We just felt that if we could get in to the third period, Joe would win the match. That;s what happened.”
With less than a minute gone in the final period, Braunagel took Downs to his back and pinned him — again. And when he did, State Farm Center erupted.
“The place went crazy. After the match a couple of officials at the head table called me over and told me that was the loudest they had heard State Farm Center get in like 6-7 years,”’ Braunagel said. “There were other matches going on, but it seemed like everyone in the place was watching our match..”
One night later, Braunagel joined his two brothers as a state champion while also extending the Crusaders streak to five straight years of having at least one state champion.
“It means a lot because I know how hard I worked to become a state champion,” Braunagel said. “Now we get ready for the state freestyle and state Greco-Roman Tournaments. We’ll get back in the (wrestling) room and start preparing for summer tournaments.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 9:07 AM.
