The Road to State

Wrestlers Jabari Moody & Raekwan Pittman make it to state.

Juniors, Jabari Moody (left) and Raekwan Pittman (right) qualify for IHSA state for wrestling.

Tyra Triche

Juniors, Jabari Moody (left) and Raekwan Pittman (right) qualify for IHSA state for wrestling.

In February, the IHSA Wrestling state series took place ending with the state tournament in Urbana-Champaign on February 21, 22, and 23.

The first tournament in the series was Regionals, and the top three wrestlers advanced to Sectionals. Once a wrestler qualifies for sectionals they must place in the top four at sectionals to advance to the State tournament.

This is what wrestlers Jabari Moody and Raekwan Pittman both went through in order to make it down to Urbana-Champaign. This feat took a lot of hard work and dedication on both of their parts in order for them to qualify.

Junior Jabari Moody wrestles at the weight class of 106lbs, while his teammate Raekwan Pittman, who is also a junior, wrestles at the weight class of 220lbs.

Jabari Moody emerged victorious over Oak Park’s Frances Edelan, and placed first at Regionals. At sectionals Moody again emerged victorious over Oak Park’s Frances Edelan, and qualified for the IHSA state tournament in the class AA or 2A division.

When asked about how hard it was to make it to state, Moody stated, “It wasn’t really difficult for me to qualify for state, but it took a lot of hard work and dedication.”

He then continued, saying, “The biggest problem I faced with qualifying for state was trying to keep my weight down.” For wrestlers, keeping their weight down is sometimes the most difficult part of the sport. Not making the weight cut limit for a particular class can result in an automatic disqualification.

In contrast to what Moody said, Pittman stated, “It was pretty hard. It took a lot of hard work because other people wanted to qualify as well. It takes a lot of technique and skill in order to make it that far.”

Pittman then stated, “My biggest challenge was to step out there on the mat and wrestle because a lot of people were watching and it was a lot of pressure.”

Even though it was difficult to manage the pressure, Pittman qualified for state. When asked how about his feelings about qualifying, he replied,”I was ecstatic about qualifying for state because I did what most kids wouldn’t do.”

Both Moody and Pittman had their own challenges to tackle in order to achieve success, but they handled it well and accomplished what many wrestlers at Rich Central wish to do.