SANDWICH – Six Amboy wrestlers kept their season alive after the Clippers participated in the IHSA Class 1A Sandwich Regional Wrestling Tournament on Feb. 3.

Lucas Blanton topped the list for the Clippers with a first-place finish in the 175-pound weight class. Three Amboy grapplers - Landon Blanton at 120, Chase Montavon at 126 and Evan Flanagan at 215 - earned second-place honors, while Chase Huggins (113) and Caiden Heath (138) finished third. The top three wrestlers in each weight class qualify for the sectional round.

Lucas Blanton pinned both of his opponents in the first period to claim first-place honors.

Landon Blanton won by technical fall in his first-round match and then was decisioned in the championship bout.

“To say I’m proud of these boys as their coach would be an understatement,” said Clippers’ wrestling coach Brent Montavon. “They have worked their butts off all year for the postseason and they showed up. We have six out of eight advancing with one alternate. We placed fourth in team points and are now on our way to the Class 1A Byron Sectional.

“These boys can keep it going. Let’s go Clippers.”

Montavon also wrestled in two matches, gaining a decision win in the opening round before getting pinned in the finals.

Flanagan went up against three foes on his way to a second-place finish. Flanagan handled his first two opponents by pin and then was pinned in the championship match.

Huggins won two of three matches, dropping his opening match via pin and then coming back to post two decision victories.

Heath had to go through four opponents to advance his way to the sectional. He got a pin win in his first match and then lost by technical fall. Heath bounced back with two straight pins to extend his season.

Ty Florschuetz (106) and Jose Lopez (144) also competed for the Clippers, but saw their season come to a close.

Amboy finished fourth in the team standings with 112 points. Sandwich won the regional title with 205.5 points.

The six sectional qualifiers will compete in the Byron Sectional on Friday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 10.

Sandwich Regional - Feb. 3

Sandwich 205.5, Princeton 170, Marquette 119.5, Amboy 112, St. Bede 94, Mendota 57, Lisle 53, Aurora Central Catholic 34, Putnam County 26, Mooseheart 18, Somonauk 4

106 - Ty Florschuetz

Florschuetz pinned Lara (Lis), 2:51; Swanson (Pri) pinned Florschuetz, 0:45; Florschuetz pinned Arteaga (Men), 3:16; Ross (San) pinned Florschuetz, 2:00

113 - Chase Huggins, 3rd place

Murphy (Moo) pinned Huggins, 0:50; Huggins dec. DuBois (Lis), 7-2; Huggins dec. Murphy (Moo), 14-6

120 - Landon Blanton, 2nd place

Blanton technical fall Cooke (Pri), 16-0; Ferari (Lis) dec. Blanton, 3-1

126 - Chase Montavon, 2nd place

Montavon dec. Briceno (Moo), 11-1; Thompson (Mar) pinned Montavon, 1:44

138 - Caiden Heath, 3rd place

Heath pinned Kleckner (Men), 3:41; Corder (San) technical fall Heath, 21-5; Heath pinned Vinceslao (Lis), 2:25; Heath pinned Rizzo (SB), 5:53

144 - Jose Lopez

Evans (Men) dec. Lopez, 16-12; Coventry (SB) pinned Lopez, 1:08

175 - Lucas Blanton, 1st place

Blanton pinned Dose (Mar), 1:13; Blanton pinned Clevenger (San), 1:58

215 - Evan Flanagan, 2nd place

Flanagan pinned Amicon (Mar), 0:44; Flanagan pinned Murillo (San), 3:34; Morris (Pri) pinned Flanagan, 2:50