Coal City wrestlers keep it in family
Odeens, four others reach semifinals CHAMPAIGN — Since he was a little boy, Coal City High School’s Chase Odeen has dreamed of taking a place alongside his brother in wrestling’s Grand March.
Odeen, a sophomore 152-pounder, won two matches Friday at the Class A state tournament and moved into the semifinals. He needs two more victories today to bring home another state championship for the Coalers and his family.
John Odeen won the 130-pound state title as a junior. Now a senior, he is 33-0 and on track to repeat in the 145-pound class. He said he felt lethargic from cutting weight but still managed to post a 14-6 victory over Hoopeston’s T.J. Warner.
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Wilmington’s Matt Combes is taken to the mat by Sterling Newman’s Sean Jarvis during their Class A match Friday in Champaign.
MICHAEL R. SCHMIDT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Four other area wrestlers also qualified for the Class A semifinals, including three from Wilmington – John Van Duyne (112), Vince Vercelli (135) and Tom Fritz (160) — and one from Dwight — James Nakashima (171).
John Odeen is a three-time state medal winner. Chase qualified for the state tournament as a freshman but was hampered by an injury and knocked out in the early rounds.
“Chase was wrestling at a high level,” Coal City coach Mark Masters said after he defeated Colten Unzicker of Gibson City 7-5. “He’s a hands-on type of guy. He’s a grinder. He did what he had to do to win that (semifinal) match.
“He was injured last year. He got hurt in the finals of the sectional. He didn’t get to practice the entire week. All he could do was ride the bike because of the pain in his ankle. He couldn’t do anything else.
“So, he was out there wrestling on one leg last year. So, when he won his first match (2-1 over Gary Schwaer of Orion) – he didn’t win any matches last year. Now, he’s won his first two this year. Obviously, that’s important.
“John (Odeen) did look lethargic. He didn’t look like John. He said he didn’t feel like he had the energy. He’s cut the weight before. But that’s not an excuse. He’s wrestled under these conditions. He’s wrestled in the national limelight.
“He knows what it’s like to wrestle with pressure. He just had a bad match. And he still came out and got a major. To wrestle as poorly as he did and still come out with a major, that speaks volumes about his ability. But that’s not the John Odeen we’ve seen all year.
“He’ll step it up a notch. When we get into the semis and the spotlight is one him tomorrow, he’ll step it up a notch.”
Chase wants to step with John — all the way to the finals.
“That’s been a dream of both of ours since the first grade, when we started wrestling,” Chase said. “That would be a really big deal, really nice.”
Van Duyne (37-1) scored a 4-minute 30-second technical fall over Travis Full of Amboy. The win pushed Van Duyne into the semifinals for the second year in a row and a step closer to a possible rematch with Dakota’s Seth Milks.
Milks dashed Van Duyne’s title hopes with a 5-3 overtime victory in 2006.
“Being down here last year helped me a lot, just taking away from some of the outside factors besides wrestling, the crowd,” Van Duyne said. “Everything is so much bigger down here. So, that experience helped me a lot.
“But his year, I’m definitely not coming here to place third. I’ve been working a lot harder this year. We’ll see if it pays off.”
Van Duyne has trained with is cousin, Eddie, one of the Wildcats’ assistant coaches.
“Last year, he didn’t realize what I could do,” Van Duyne said. “And this year he’s really helped me out a lot — overall in being a better wrestler.”
Vercelli (39-2) won two matches, the highlight a 5-1 quarterfinal victory over Dakota’s Chris Kraft at 135. Fritz beat Blake Speckman 9-2 at 160.