BYRON – The Blanton brothers have a ticket to the IHSA Class 1A State Wrestling Tournament after they each finished in fourth place in their respective weight class in the Byron Sectional on Feb. 9-10. The top four wrestlers in each weight class earn a bid to state.

Landon Blanton had the longest path to qualify for the state tournament as he needed five matches at 120 pounds to get the job done. Blanton was pinned in his opening match, so he had to work his way through the loser’s bracket, and he did just that with three straight wins to make it to the third-place bout, where he was already assured a trip to state. Blanton posted a pair of wins by decision and a pin win before losing by one point in the third-place match.

Landon Blanton went up against four opponents at 175 pounds, winning two and dropping two. After pinning his foe in the first round, Blanton fell in the next match by pin before recording a decision win to get into the third-place match. He lost a tough battle by decision to wind up in fourth place.

Three other Clippers competed in the sectional and lost the only two matches they wrestled. They were Chase Montavon at 126 pounds, Caiden Heath at 138 pounds and Evan Flanagan at 215 pounds.

The Blantons will participate in the state tournament to be held Thursday, Feb. 15, Friday, Feb. 16 and Saturday, Feb. 17 at the State Farm Center on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign.

Byron Sectional – Feb. 9-10

120 - Landon Blanton, 4th place

Kaleb Sovey (Orion) pinned Blanton, 1:20;  Blanton dec. Gavin Prudick (Marengo), 10-4; Blanton pinned Clay Medola (Richmond-Burton), 3:35; Blanton dec. Jackson Morris (Byron), 5-3; Alexander Ferari (Lisle) dec. Blanton, 3-2

126 - Chase Montavon

Tegan Arnold (Lena-Winslow) pinned Montavon, 4:37; Kyan Gunderson (Richmond-Burton) pinned Montavon, 2:45

138 - Caiden Heath

Dane Sorenson (Richmond-Burton) dec. Heath, 7-3; Kolton Kruse (Riverdale) def. Heath, forfeit

175 - Lucas Blanton, 4th place

Blanton pinned Mason Kuebel (Fulton), 1:58; Jamal Lasenby (Kewanee) pinned Blanton, 4:40; Blanton dec. Maverick Quatroke (Marengo), 9-4; Zachary Bradley (Riverdale) dec. Blanton, 4-1

215 - Evan Flanagan

Braxton Jennings (Stillman Valley) pinned Flanagan, 3:17; Ian Morris (Princeton) pinned Flanagan, 3:44