Free Press Advocate

Lady ‘Cats momentum beats the Lady Comets

Published by admin on Tue, 12/21/2021 - 2:52pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
The Wilmington girls basketball team picked up a 48-33 win over Reed-Custer on Monday.
The Comets and ‘Cats stayed close in the first quarter before the ‘Cats built a 25-12 lead at the half.
After a strong quarter people would think Wilmington would come out with the momentum but it was
The Comets who stole that momentum away, going on a 7-0 run to make it 25-19. That forced Wilmington coach Eric Dillon to use a time-out.

JV Wildcats capture six medals during own invite

Published by admin on Tue, 12/21/2021 - 2:51pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
The Wilmington JV wrestling team had several placers during the Wilmington JV Wrestling Invite on Saturday.
The ‘Cats had Alivia George earned first at 106.
They followed with two fourth place winners with Abrigail Lafiwiere at 113 and Skylar Ortiz at 145.
Aubin Shields (120) and Dezirae Yanke (160) earned sixth place at their respective weight classes while Nate Romano added a seventh place medal at 132 pounds.
Wilmington wrestling coach Rob Murphy was pleased with the performance from their JV matmen.

Abe’s Rumble is back and all teams will be tested

Published by admin on Tue, 12/21/2021 - 2:48pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
Ready to Rumble?
Local wrestling teams will be when they travel to the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield, on Thursday, Dec. 27 to compete in the two-day 60-team tournament that is known as Abe’s Rumble
The state’s biggest wrestling event, besides the IHSA’s individual state finals, is back for the first time since 2019.
The first day is split into two sessions of 12 pools of five schools to see which teams come out in the top 32. The first session will start at 9 a.m. with the second session following it at 2 p.m.

Wildcats, Comets to compete in Marseilles Holiday Tournament

Published by admin on Tue, 12/21/2021 - 2:47pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
It’s holiday tournament time and the Wilmington and Reed-Custer basketball teams will be heading to Marseilles to compete in the Marseilles Christmas Tournament.
The Wildcats open against the top seed, Seneca (2-1) on Monday, Dec. 27. If they win, they would play the winner of #8 Dwight vs. Serena (3-3) which would be played at 5:00 p.m. Monday. The winners would play Tuesday night.

Castle plans to be Miss Reliable for the Tigers

Published by admin on Tue, 12/14/2021 - 2:39pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
Wilmington senior Jessica Castle will be taking her superior hitting skills elsewhere in the spring of 2023 as she has committed to play softball at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais.
Castle wanted to attend ONU so when they came calling, it didn’t matter who else was interested as she knew where she wanted to go. She likes the coach and the campus is close so she is all in.

Lady ‘Cats start fast in Iroquois West Tourney, suffer speed bump with loss to Herscher

Published by admin on Tue, 12/14/2021 - 2:24pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
The Wilmington girls basketball team fell short to Herscher 58-22 during the Iroquois West Holiday Classic on Saturday.
Herscher jumped out to a 13-2 lead and never looked back as they built a 30-8 lead at the break.
The Tigers outscored the ‘Cats 28-14 in the second half to finish them off.
With Herscher leading 41-8 in the third, Breanna Horton made a three to make it 41-11.
Clara Smith hit another three to cut into the lead some more, 47-16 in the third.

Wildcat matmen split two in ICE dual

Published by admin on Tue, 12/14/2021 - 2:24pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
The Wilmington wrestling team split matches with Reed-Custer and Herscher to start the season on Thursday.
The Wildcats earned a victory over Herscher, getting 24 points from forfeits. They followed that with another 24 points in the form of four pins to secure the win.
In the final match of the evening, the Comets got the best of the ‘Cats as Wilmington earned 24 points from two forfeits and two pins but after that, Reed-Custer took over.
Wilmington coach Rob Murphy was pleased with the split.

Wildcats scratch Coalers, fall to top ranked Bulldogs

Published by admin on Tue, 12/14/2021 - 2:22pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
The Wilmington boys basketball team played a tough Morris team and fell 66-46 on Saturday.
The ‘Cats 1-3 (1-2) got a big effort from Reid Juster, who put up 19 points with seven boards to lead them.
Ryder Meents added 16 points with five assists.
The ‘Cats will head to Herscher on Friday for their second to last game before the Marseilles Winter Classic which will start on Monday, Dec. 27.

COVID hits Coaler team

Published by admin on Thu, 12/09/2021 - 2:28pm

The spread of the COVID-19 virus has inflicted two area basketball teams and a wrestling team which have cancelled game due to positive cases within the program.
Coal City Cigh School announced this afternoon that the varsity boys basketball team will not be playing until Dec. 20 as a covid precaution. The Coalers will miss three games on the regular season schedule and hopefully be back in action in 10 days just before their holiday tournament.

Lady ‘Cats bounceback with two straight

Published by admin on Tue, 12/07/2021 - 4:24pm

by shawn long
Sports writer
The Wilmington girls basketball team made it two straight wins as they poured it on in a big win over Streator on Monday.
The ‘Cats defense blanked Streator in the first quarter which helped build a 21-5 half-time advantage.
Streator started to score a little more but was unable to catch up to the ‘Cats who put up another 25 points to close out the Bulldogs.
The ‘Cats defense forced 24 turnovers, scoring 16 points off of those turnovers. They also collected 11 steals.