Eight members of the Morton Junior High wrestling team advanced to the finals of the Regional 13 tournament Saturday in Glasford.
The Junior Potters placed fourth in an eight-team field for coach Jeff Hilliard with 162 points in the first stop in the Illinois Elementary School Association postseason series.
Kyle King, Brock Kelley and Reid Butler all won regional titles for MJHS.
King won the 85-pound bracket by defeating Max Koning of Lincoln by decision in the final. King also posted a pin and a major decision along the way.
Kelley was the champion in the 90 weight class. After a first-round bye, Kelley used a pin and 16-9 title-bout decision vs. East Peoria’s Drake Sweeney to rise to the top.
In 105, Butler edged East Peoria’s Casey McWhirter, 5-4, to claim the crown for Morton. He also collected a first-period pin and an 8-3 decision.
Five Junior Potter wrestlers — 65-pounder Ryan Brooks, 75 Brandon Bland, 135 Clay Cone, 155 Austin Weyland and 167 Dakota Hefner — were runners-up.
Jordan Case of MJHS was fourth in the 215 division.
Canton Ingersoll, with seven first-place finishers, was the regional champion with 305.5 points.
Sectional G action is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday in Stanford at Olympia. Qualifiers from Regional 14 also will be present.
Glasford, Ill. —
