Tony Wright submitted the competition report and photographs.
Your Mustang Wrestling team continued its strong 2026 season this past weekend, qualifying four wrestlers to compete in the IHSA State Wrestling Tournament. Any time you survive the Northwest Sectional, it’s a good weekend! Commonly known as the fiercest and best 1A Sectional in the State, host Byron, IL, this year was no different. Many former qualifiers and State place winners did not qualify to advance to the State Tournament. Adding to the Mustang Wrestling success this season, having four men qualify equals a team record of most qualifiers in a single season. Eli Modglin, Caleb Modglin, Cael Wright, and Noah Stout all earned their berth at the State Championships in Champaign, IL, February 19-21, 2026.
Freshman phenom, Eli Modglin (126 lbs) came into the weekend 40-3 on the season and considered, by some, as the favorite to win a highly competitive bracket. Modglin didn’t disappoint. He navigated a tough quarterfinal against Ottawa Marquette’s Logan Huenefeld, where Modglin found himself behind in the first period. He quickly adjusted, scored points of his own to recover, eventually wore Huenefeld down, and pinned him! Saturday morning brought on the Semi-finals where E. Modglin met a now two-time State qualifier in Isaiah Perez of Oregon, IL. Again Modglin found himself in an early deficit. But he stayed on his rails and marched his way back with consistent effort. He scored a reversal in the first period and then an escape in the third period–tieing the match 3-3. With less than a minute to go, tied at three points, Modglin pushed the pace, scored a takedown, and collected backpoints to secure a 9-3 victory and State berth. In the finals he faced Sterling, IL, Newman’s Zhyler Hansen, the same opponent from the Regional finals. The match went scoreless into the third period, where Hansen secured a takedown and a 3-0 lead. Modglin scrambled and earned a reversal with less than 30 seconds remaining in the match. Modglin cut Hansen, giving his opponent an escape to get back to the neutral position with less than 25 seconds left. Jockeying for position at the edge of the mat, running out of time, and losing 4-2–Modglin attempted a throw in desperation. He tossed Hansen to his back, scored a heart-pounding takedown, and claimed backpoints, to win 8-4 and capture a 126 lb Sectional title. He is at right.
Brother Caleb Modglin (150 lbs) followed suit with his efforts this weekend. Caleb had qualified to the Sectional Tournament the previous two years, coming up just short with a loss in the blood-round a year ago. Determined not to let history repeat itself, Modglin had the toughest opening round matchup of the squad, facing #4-ranked Preston Richards of Dixon, IL. With his blistering pace, Modglin set the tone for the match, scoring a takedown halfway through the first period. A short time later Richards escaped. Modglin quickly got back to work with his hand fighting and fakes. With only two seconds left in the first period,Caleb scored another takedown and carried a 6-1 lead into the second period. Like high-level competitors do, Richards responded in the second period with an escape and a takedown of his own, tightening the match at 6-5 headed into the third period. Modglin chose down, received an escape, and had a 7-5 lead. Both wrestlers jerked, and moved, and worked, to score–creating several tense scrambles and scoring opportunities! Twice, Richards was in on Modglin’s leg with Caleb urgently defending. Ultimately it was Modglin who prevailed, with a 7-5 victory. Things got easier for Modglin in the Semis, where he dominated Polo’s Kaenyn McCarren from start to finish. Modglin scored two takedowns and two sets of nearfall in the first period; he pinned McCarren in the second period and earned a State berth. In the finals Caleb was defeated by Sandwich’s #3-ranked Cooper Corder. Nonetheless, Caleb finds himself in the State bracket with an opportunity at hardware next weekend. He is at left.
Cael Wright (120 lbs) in his Sophomore campaign had to qualify the hard way through the wrestlebacks, in arguably the deepest bracket at the Sectional Tournament. He opened Friday night with a comfortable 11-1 major decision of Lena-Winslow’s Keller Otto. Saturday morning he faced Johnsburg’s Chase Vogel in a showdown of State-ranked wrestlers and State qualifiers a year ago. Vogel struck first with an early takedown followed by a Wright escape. Wright rode Vogel the entire second period. Losing 3-1 Wright chose neutral in the third, scoring a takedown and 4-3 lead. Riding hard, there was a late scramble; with four seconds left in the match Vogel escaped and tied the match. In overtime, Wright quickly got in on a leg attack, but through a series of events, he ended on his butt and gave up a takedown, thus losing. With little time to pout or reflect after losing, there is no time to dwell in the past in these situations. Wright had to collect and ready himself to win a wrestleback match–where anything can happen. Built for adversity, that’s exactly what he did. In the bloodround match Wright faced North Boone’s #3-ranked Gabe Marella. Cael wasted little time scoring a takedown in the first minute, then another in the second period, carrying him to a 7-4 victory and his second appearance at the State Tournament. Not to outdo himself, Cael faced #5-ranked Wesley Janick of Ottawa Marquette in the third place match. Jannick had previously defeated Wright 12-4 and by fall, earlier this season. Wright’s mental resolve was too much on that day, as he frustrated Janick in every position. A scoreless first period set up a tenuous second period. Wright scored an escape followed by a Janick takedown, but Wright countered well, forcing a frustrated Janick to give up a penalty point, followed by another Wright escape. Riddled with blood timeouts and tied 3-3, it was Wright who scored from a front headlock in a flurry, securing a match-winning takedown and exciting the crowd! Wright stands at right.
Noah Stout (190 lbs) rounded out the quad of Mustangs qualifying. His path was similar to Wright’s with far less drama. Stout opened with a dominant Quarterfinal technical fall over Marengo’s Frankie Solis. After a scoreless first period, where both athletes made strong attempts to score, it was Stout who broke the match open in the second period. He put together two four-point near falls, followed by two takedowns and another set of near falls, to secure the victory. In the Semis he suffered a loss to Lena-Winslow’s Eli Larson, the #1-ranked wrestler and defending State Champion. Stout recovered well to face Princeton’s Eli Berlin in the bloodround. And like Noah Stout often does, he took his opponent down and pinned him in less than a minute to qualify for State! In his medal match Stout faced Frankie Solis of Marengo once again. Once again Stout proved he has little time or patience for the dramatic flare of his teammates, as it was Stout who scored a takedown, let his opponent up, and then took Solis down, and pinned him with one of his signature moves! He is at right.
The fifth Mustang wrestler in action this weekend was Patrick Schaefer. While his weekend was not quite as successful as his teammates’, Schaefer wrestled like a State-caliber athlete. He put himself in position to win in both of his bouts. Although he came up short, his coaches were both proud of his efforts. They believe with some off-season work, Schaefer will find himself competing in Champaign next year.
The State qualifiers will be in action Thursday, February 19, at 11:00 a.m., for the Class 1A Preliminary round matches. The competition is held at the State Farm Center (Assembly Hall) in Champaign, IL. You can also follow these young men’s march for State hardware on the NFHS network, or follow them on trackwrestling.com.