Senior wrestling standouts Chris Wilkes of Whitfield and Mech Spraggins of Belleville West shared a lot of things in common over the weekend.
Both young men were wrestling in their last state competition of their respective careers and both were wrestling in the 138-pound weight division. Wilkes and Spraggins also concluded their stellar careers as individual state champions.
Wilkes became a two-time state champion as he won the Missouri Class 1 state title at 138 pounds at the State Championships in Columbia. Spraggins won the Illinois Class 3A state championship to win his first state title at the IHSA State Championships in Bloomington.
Wilkes defeated Logan Mudd of Blair Oaks 7-2 to finish the season with a 52-2 record. He also defeated Larison Walker of West Platte, Troy Kyser of Knob Noster and Tyler Mann of Lathrop en route to his second consecutive state title. Wilkes’ efforts also helped Whitfield’s team win the Class 1 state championship as well.
For the Spraggins, the state championship was the happy end of a long quest that took four years. In his three previous state-meet appearances, Spraggins was the runner-up twice and fourth-place finisher last year.
Spraggins fulfilled his championship dream by defeating Juwon Edmond of Hinsdale Central 7-2 in the championship match. He also defeated Matt Sears of Chicago Marist, Sal Annoreno of Bartlett and Cullen Cummings of Downers Grove North. Spraggins finished his senior year with a 49-1 record.
Another area state champion was CBC’s Tim Gant, who won the Class 4 state championship at 220 pounds. Gant defeated Micah Foote of Springfield Kickapoo to finish the season at 51-5.
Several other athletes brought home medals from last week’s state championships. Jarrett Franklin of Francis Howell finished second in Class 4 at 182 pounds. Franklin was the state champion at 171 pounds last season. He finished the year with a 48-2 record.
Marlon Hampton of Webster Groves finished second in Class 3 at 285 pounds. John Williams of McCluer South-Berkeley finished second in Class 2 at 132 pounds. It was Williams’ second consecutive year as a state finalist. Christian Bledsoe of John Burroughs finished second in Class 2 at 182 pounds.
Other Class 4 medalists include Lamar Welch of Ritenour (fifth at 160), Josh Wheeler of McCluer North (fifth at 170), Khial Jamison of Hazelwood Central (sixth at 160), Jeffrey Brock of Hazelwood East (fourth at 182), Travon Butler of McCluer North (third at 220), Lance Bush of Hazelwood East (fifth at 220) and Randall Young of McCluer North (sixth at 285).
In Class 3, Antonio Escobar of Ladue finished fifth at 106, Lamont Wilson of Webster Groves finished sixth at 113 and Di’ontay Hatch of McCluer finished sixth at 220. In Class 2, Damien Bell of McCluer South-Berkeley finished sixth at 285.
Other medalists from the Illinois state championships included David Franklin of Cahokia, who finished second at 160 in Class 2; Dameon Adams of Cahokia (third at 113), Leslie Williams of Cahokia (third at 120), Tremont Davis of Belleville West (fifth at 220) and Michael Harris of Althoff (fourth at 132) in Class 1.
