Free Press Advocate

First round state bodes well for 11 of 21 area wrestlers

Published by admin on Thu, 02/16/2023 - 6:55pm

Eleven area wrestlers won during the first round of the IHSA Class 1A finals.

Coal City had eight of 14 state qualifiers win their preliminary match on Thursday, advancing to the quarterfinals on Friday. Winning were Brody Widlowski (113), Aiden Kenney (120), Jake Piatak (132), Buddy Widlowski (138), Mataeo Blessing (145), Derek Carlson (170), Braiden Young (182) and Joey Breneman (195).

Surpises were few during first week of playoffs

Published by admin on Mon, 10/31/2022 - 1:17pm

And then there were 16. That’s how many teams are left in each of the eight classes of the IHSA football playoffs as winning teams move on to the second round.
Wilmington (2A), Reed-Custer (3A) and Coal City (4A) all advance to the second round after winning on Saturday. The Wildcats (9-1) will host Tri-Valley Downs (8-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday, Reed-Custer (10-0) will play saturday at 5 p.m. against visiting Pecatonica - Du-Pec Coop (8-2) while the Coalers (7-3) have a four-hour drive to Carterville (10-0) near Marion, IL for a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday.

Comets, Coalers and Wildcats get to host in football playoffs

Published by admin on Sun, 10/23/2022 - 1:44pm

There won’t be any Friday Night Lights turned on for three area teams entering the first round of the IHSA football playoffs as Coal City, Reed-Custer and Wilmington will play on Saturday.
All three programs get to host teams in the first round, although they are all in different brackets.
Braidwood will host the Chicago Carver Challengers (5-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Comets (9-0) are the #2 seed in the Class 3A bracket. They are among three other teams who are undefeated.

Comets vs Wildcats: A clash of titans

Published by admin on Wed, 09/28/2022 - 4:20pm

Fans know all the numbers.
24. Wilmington's current win streak, tying a school record.
5-0. The records of Reed-Custer and Wilmington for the second straight year.
15. The years it's been since the Comets beat Wilmington.
There's little doubt this is R-C's best chance to beat their crosstown rivals in recent memory.
"Obviously they haven’t lost since before the pandemic hit so they'll be going for their 25th win in a row. The nice thing is it's at our place this year," said Comet coach Gavin Johnston.

The best touchdown of the night was for the opposition

Published by admin on Wed, 09/28/2022 - 4:14pm

The fresh-soph Wildcats scored eight touchdowns Friday night but the most memorable one of the game was one scored by Herscher.
It came late during a 53-12 victory for Wilmington when both sides of the field agreed to give the ball to Hayden “Buck” Buckner.
Buck is a special player, one of those kids who shows up at every practice, plays the game with more heart than most, yet rarely gets game time, said Herscher head coach Mike Mosier who had left the field to prepare his varsity team. He returned just in time to see the end of the play.

'Cats won't look past Herscher on Homecoming

Published by admin on Tue, 09/20/2022 - 6:05pm

It has all the makings of being a trap game. It's Homecoming and the only home game for the Wildcats before a rare three-game road trip that will go through Braidwood, Lisle and Streator, but Wilmington won't look past Herscher (1-3).
The Tigers were blitzed by Coal City last week 63-14. “First and foremost, we want our kids to have fun with the week. I think we learned earlier in the season that you can't look by anybody,” saidhead coach Jeff Reents.

Lisle coming to town with momentum

Published by admin on Tue, 08/30/2022 - 5:17pm

If it seemed like Friday’s game against Marengo took longer than it should, that will change this week when Lisle comes to town.
The season opener was over three hours long due 34 passing attempts by Marengo. When almost half of your passes fall incomplete, at least you’ve stopped the clock against a team like Wilmington known for burning up the clock with long possessions.

WMS 8th grade earn IVC tourney title

Published by admin on Tue, 08/30/2022 - 5:10pm

The Wilmington Middle School 8th grade softball team won the IVC Conference championship Saturday, beating Reed-Custer 7-4.
The Lady Wildcats rattled off four runs their first turn at bat then added a lone run in the second to build a 5-0 lead.
The Lady Panthers scored two runs in the top of the fourth and two more in the fifth to close the gap to 5-4 before Wilmington scored a pair of insurance runs in the bottom inning to win it for good.

WMS JV girls rout CCMS for title

Published by admin on Tue, 08/30/2022 - 5:07pm

The WMS B softball team ended its season with an overall record of 11-3 and as IVC conference champions,
The young Lady Wildcats upended Coal City 18-3 on Saturday, scoring 11 runs in the first inning to enact the mercy rule to end it after four innings.
Pitcher Kelsie Roeder for the win for WMS after two innings, allowing one run on one hit while striking out two and walking one. Peyton Adams took over for the final two innings, fanning four while giving up two runs off two hits while walking none.

Lady ‘Cats improve their skills in summer camp

Published by admin on Tue, 08/16/2022 - 2:10pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
WHS volleyball coaches are excited for the talent coming into the high school level.
The Lady ‘Cats hosted summer volleyball camp this past week and got a good turnout as 35 girls joined in the fun. New coach Kelly VanDuyne was impressed by the girls coming up and just continues to work them as much as she can to get them ready for the season. The funny thing is they’re not all there yet.