Free Press Advocate

Area middle school wrestlers will compete in state meet

Published by admin on Tue, 03/05/2024 - 4:31pm

Fourteen middle school wrestlers from the three area schools have qualified for the IESA Class A State tournament which will be held Friday and Saturday in DeKalb.
Coal City will be sending eight qualifiers after finishing second overall (194.5 points) to Tremont (196) in the East Peoria Central Sectional held Saturday.
The Coalers had six wrestlers finish in second place and will now take the mat during the finals on Friday in the Convocation Center on the Northern Illinois University campus in DeKalb.

FRIDAY UPDATE: Eight Coalers still wrestling

Published by admin on Fri, 02/16/2024 - 4:28pm

Two Coal City wrestlers still have a shot at becoming state champions after winning during the quarterfinal round of the IHSA Individual State wrestling tournament on Friday.

Brody Widlowski (126) and Landin Benson (165) advance to the semifinals Saturday where they need to win in order to wrestle for the Class 1A championship starting at 6 p.m. Saturday night.

Eight area wrestlers survive first round at state

Published by admin on Thu, 02/15/2024 - 4:17pm

Eight of 16 area wrestlers won today during the preliminary round of the IHSA state wrestling finals.

All eight are from Coal City with five taking their opponents out by pin. Advancing to Friday's quarterfinal round will be Coalers Owen Peterson (106) who won by 4-0 decision, Cooper Morris (113) who won by 6:00 fall, Culan Lindemuth (120) by 6-0 decision, Brody Widlowski (126) fall in 3:40, Mason Garner (138) by major dec. 13-0, Brant Widlowski (150) 1:00 fall, Landin Benson (165) with 3:39 pin and Cade Poyner (190) with a 3:26 fall.

Girls flag football league being planned

Published by admin on Wed, 02/14/2024 - 12:29pm

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is proud to announce that Girls Flag Football will be the latest sport to debut an IHSA State Series, as the IHSA will conduct its inaugural postseason, culminating with an IHSA Girls Flag Football State Champion being crowned, in the fall of 2024.

RC vs. Wilmington in girls Regional opener

Published by admin on Wed, 02/07/2024 - 3:37pm

Regional play for the high school girls basketball teams begins Saturday at 1 p.m. in Braidwood when Reed-Custer hosts Wilmington.
The Lady Coalers will be the #2 seed in the Manteno Regional which will include Momence (9), Beecher (7), Reed-Custer (6), Manteno (3) and Wilmington (10).
Momence will play Beecher. At the same time Wilmington will play at Reed-Custer.
On Monday, Feb. 12, Coal City will play the winner of Momence vs. Beecher at 6 p.m. in Manteno. At 7:30 p.m. Manteno will play either Wilmington or Reed-Custer.

State championship game expected to be run, run, run

Published by admin on Tue, 11/21/2023 - 5:26pm

Possessions figure to be at a premium when fifth-seeded Wilmington (12-1) faces fourth-seeded Athens (11-2) in the Class 2A championship game Friday at 1 p.m. at Hancock Stadium in Normal. Both teams pride themselves on running the ball. "It's the state championship game. They are a very well-coached team and run a double-wing offense somewhat like ours but a little different," said head coach Jeff Reents. "All of their backs run very hard.

Wildcats stay in 2A, Coalers #8 in 4A football playoffs

Published by admin on Sat, 10/21/2023 - 8:10pm

For the third straight year Wilmington will play in the class 2A football playoffs while Coal City with battle in class 4A.

The Wildcats were teetering between 2A and 3A before getting help Saturday afternoon when a game between two Chicago schools with 4-4 records ended up being won by the school with the bigger enrollment. That guaranteed the ‘Cats the #5 seed in the 2A north bracket which includes four undefeated schools.

Look for this sign, give Friday

Published by admin on Wed, 10/11/2023 - 10:37am

The Wilmington High School Interact Club will continue their tradition of asking for donations to eradicate polio before and through the first half of the Wilmington vs. Manteno football game on Friday, Oct. 13th.
Since this event began, thousands of dollars have been raised and sent to Rotary International to help in the goal of eradicating polio worldwide.
Polio is a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in some parts of the world. It invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in hours.

Coalers, 'Cats to play soccer regional championship

Published by admin on Thu, 05/11/2023 - 11:49am

Coal City and Wilmington soccer teams will get a shot on winning a regional trophy on Friday by advancing through the semi-final round.

The championship match in the Herscher regional will be between the hosting Tigers and Wilmington at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The Lady 'Cats edged Reed-Custer 5-4 on Wednesday while Herscher romped Momence 10-0 to get to the final.

At Manteno, Coal City will taken on Bishop McNamara at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The Lady Coalers beat Beecher 2-1 while Bishop Mac got by Manteno 5-1.

Winning culture lures James to North Central

Published by admin on Tue, 02/21/2023 - 5:27pm

All-State running back Colin James is leaving one winning program for another.
James, who led Wilmington in rushing with 1,480 yards and 22 touchdowns, recently signed a letter of intent to attend North Central College in Naperville, looking for spot on the defending Division III National Championship football team.
The Wildcat senior considered other schools like Monmouth, St. Francis and Roosevelt but North Central had something he felt on his first visit.