Free Press Advocate

‘Cats cheer advances to state finals, Comets miss the finals by three points

Published by admin on Fri, 02/04/2022 - 2:34pm

Friday was a great day for the Wilmington competitive cheerleading squad as they advanced to the IHSA Competitive Cheerleading Small Division state finals for the fourth time in the history of their program.
The ‘Cats finished with the third best score in the Small Division with an 89.33 behind only Johnsburg (93.87) and Poplar Grove (90.20) who led the Small Division.
The Comet cheerleaders missed the state finals by a matter of three points as they scored an 81.97 while the last team to advance was Knoxville with an 85.13.

State Cheerleading is still on!

Published by admin on Thu, 02/03/2022 - 10:23am

The Illinois High School Association reported on Wednesday at 4 p.m. that there would be no postponements to the state cheerleading finals that are set to take place Friday at the Grossinger Motors Center in Bloomington, Illinois.

The Wildcat cheerleaders are set to take the mat at 12:15 p.m. while the Comet cheerleaders will follow with their performance at 12:55 p.m.

Seneca Regional houses 15 top tier state ranked wrestlers

Published by admin on Tue, 02/01/2022 - 3:15pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
The road to state starts in Seneca for area wrestlers who will compete in the regional tournament on Saturday.
Reed-Custer, Coal City and Wilmington wrestlers have been assigned to Seneca where there will be 10 teams and several state ranked wrestlers.
For Coal City, who has captured the regional team title five of the past six years, they’ll face one of the best teams in 1A, Yorkville Christian. And Reed-Custer has a shot at winning the title only if they have wrestlers who finish in the top four.

Wildcats win five of their last seven games

Published by admin on Tue, 02/01/2022 - 3:14pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
The Wilmington boys basketball team is getting hot at the right time as they beat Clifton Central in a 64-54 victory on Friday to make it five wins in their last seven games.
Clifton grabbed the lead in the first and held a slim, 10-8 lead after one but that’s when the ‘Cats started to build their comeback.
They outscored the Comets 23-19, drilling two threes to end the half leading Clifton 29-28.

‘Cats can’t complete the comeback against Comets

Published by admin on Tue, 02/01/2022 - 3:13pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
The Wilmington girls basketball team started fast but were unable to beat Reed-Custer in a 36-30 shootout.
The Comets gained an early 13-11 advantage but the ‘Cats stayed close to their tails to cut their lead to 20-17 at the break.
The ‘Cats were trailing 3-0 in the first when Breanna Horton would tie the game at 3-3 with one of her two threes.
Horton gave the ‘Cats a 6-5 lead later in the quarter with her other three.

All four Lady ‘Cats place at OPRF Invite

Published by admin on Tue, 01/25/2022 - 4:51pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
While the Wildcat boys wrestlers were competing in the Illinois Central Eight Tournament, the girls went to Oak Park and River Forest High School for a female wrestlers invitational on Saturday. It was the first all-girls tournament that Wilmington has ever competed in.
Wilmington wrestling coach Rob Murphy made some calls to give his dedicated female wrestlers a shot at placement in a big tournament and they didn’t disappoint, placing all four wrestlers.

Wildcat matmen honor coach Murph during senior night

Published by admin on Tue, 01/25/2022 - 4:50pm

by shawn long Sports writer The Wilmington matmen honored coach Rob Murphy on Tuesday night during their senior night dual team match with Clifton Central. Even though they dropped the match, 60-18 to the Comets, the night was about a whole lot more than a wrestling match. It was about celebrating their wrestling coach who has done so much for the program. It was a night when past wrestlers and even opposing coaches came out to support him, and he was grateful. “I just want to thank everybody that came here,” said Murphy. “To have success it takes a lot of people.

Wildcat matmen place three at ICE tourney

Published by admin on Tue, 01/25/2022 - 4:44pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
The Wilmington matmen competed well during the Illinois Central Eight Conference Tournament on Saturday as they earned sixth with 34 points.
The ‘Cats placed ahead of Herscher (30) and Streator (21) with Coal City (204), Reed-Custer (109.5), Peotone (104), Lisle (92) and Manteno (46) rounding out the top five.
The ‘Cats had all three of their wrestlers place as Jake Prescott (138) place third while Parker Adams (145) and Karsen Hansen (182) placed fourth.

‘Cats place three in Comet Classic

Published by admin on Tue, 01/18/2022 - 3:36pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
The Wrestling Wildcats placed 18th out of 22 teams during the Comet Classic on Friday and Saturday.
The ‘Cats scored 62 points while Bradley Bourbonnais placed first with 191.5 points Reed-Custer second with 190 points.
The ‘Cats had Landon Dooley (120) place fifth while Hunter Hayes (170) and Blake Shirey (285) placed sixth.
Dooley upends state
honorable mention

Humphries will never forget the play that ended the state title game

Published by admin on Tue, 01/18/2022 - 3:34pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
Wilmington senior Kaden Humphries got in the Class 2A state championship football game for only one play.
It was the last play of the game as the injured quarterback took a knee to give the Wildcats a 24-7 win over Nashville in November.
Humphries notes that whole state experience was something he’ll never forget.