Defeat Doesn't Stop Marshall From Moving On

With only a couple of losses this season, Jeremy Marshall doesn’t have much experience with having to put defeat behind him when it happens.

But Marshall moved on Saturday --- right to the Illinois High School Association state wrestling finals.

The Evanston senior advance to the Class 3A state tournament for the second year a row as he recovered from a semifinal loss and placed 3rd in the 285-pound weight class at the Barrington Sectional.

The top four finishers in each weight class automatically advanced to the IHSA tournament set for the University of Illinois in Champaign. The three-day test begins for Marshall on Thursday, when he’ll meet Aiden Hennings of Lincoln-Way Central in the opening round.

Four other Wildkit grapplers --- Cesar Albornoz Martinez at 157 pounds, Rodrigo Salinas at 157, Diego Lopez at 175, and Art Bytyqi at 190 --- were denied trips in their respective weight classes after qualifying out of the regional.

Marshall got taken down three times in a 9-0 semifinal matchup with the eventual champion, Knox Homola of Hampshire. The determined heavyweight then outscored Chandler Jack of Machesney Park Harlem in the so-called blood round by a 9-3 margin, securing another trip to State, before pinning Ajani Williams of Grant at the 1:50 mark of the third place bout.

Marshall will take a 45-3 mark to Champaign and none of the other heavyweight contenders has won more matches this season. With that last victory, he climbed past former ETHS great (and state champion) Shannon Gillespie on the school’s all-time list with his 137th career win and now ranks 6th in program history.

Now he’s hungry for more. He wants to mount the medal stand representing Evanston, which hasn’t had a State medalist since Ricardo Salinas placed 4th at 170 pounds in 2020.

“I knew I’d have to work hard to get back to State. But I didn’t expect to lose today,” Marshall said. “After that happened, I just had to wrestle my best. I had to wrestle hard and I had to wrestle smart the whole way through. I put it behind me. I just had to move on.

“Against that guy from Harlem, I wasn’t in the right head space at first. I was prepared for him going out and attacking like that. I had to pick it up.

“Now, I’ve got nothing to lose. I was really nervous in that environment last year (at State), but I know I just have to go out and do my best. I’ll push myself as hard as I can to become a state champion.”

Marshall began the two-day competition at Barrington --- usually the toughest 3A mat sectional overall --- with a 3-0 win over Nolen Lopez of Warren and a fall against Hakeem Coleman of Fremd in 5 minutes, 46 seconds. But Homola, a strong sophomore, controlled their semifinal match and then went on to defeat Prospect’s James Brouillette 15-7 for the sectional crown in Saturday’s showdowns.

“The secret to the playoffs (postseason competition) is to advance,” pointed out Evanston head coach Rudy Salinas, “and Jeremy was able to put some things together today and advance. I feel good about next week, much more positive going into State than I did a year ago. I think he’s going to place.

“I think he’s shown a little more maturity with his experience and now there’s a little more of a feeling that he belongs (at State). Being a two-time state qualifier, that’s a huge credential for Jeremy, because we’ve had guys here who were state champions as juniors and then didn’t make it back to State. Just going back is a big deal, especially when you have a target on your back like that.

“He’s starting to flow out there now and I like where he’s at. Anything can happen at State. His goal is to be on that awards podium --- and I’d put money on it.”

Ironically, Marshall (45-3) and Hennings (45-5) have piled up the most victories leading up to the Class 3A State competition. The winner of that match Thursday will face either Sean Cook of Niles Notre Dame (39-6) or Landin Carter of Mount Carmel (8-6) in the second round.

Defending champion Jonathan Rulo of Belleville East (25-0) is favored to repeat. The No. 2 seed is Joe Favia of Marmion Military Academy, now 38-5 overall at 285.

Salinas’ son, Rodrigo, fell one win short of advancing, a disappointment that overshadowed a remarkable comeback for the Evanston junior. He missed all of last season because of knee surgery, but even though he was at less than 100 percent for much of 2025-26, he compiled an impressive 36-5 won-loss record.

Salinas lost to Mundelein’s Michael Vincic 22-14 in the consolation semifinals and had to do things the hard way after losing his first round match to Libertyville’s Pierce Adams in a 15-11 upset. After earning a bye in the wrestlebacks, he eliminated Filip Kawalec of Lake Zurich with a 13-0 major decision.

He fell behind Vincic 13-1 in the first period, a hole too big to climb out of.

“What a great comeback year that was for Rodrigo,” said his proud father/coach. “He had a bum shoulder for the conference tournament --- and won it. And he went into rehab before the regional and placed there.

“Today he had an off day against a tough kid. He made more mistakes than usual, and it cost him. He was flat-footed yesterday (against the Libertyville grappler) and the kid got to him. Rodrigo was so focused on a certain approach that he wasn’t able to adjust on the fly out there when he needed to. But he gave it everything he had. There was no quit in him, he just kept on coming.”

Salinas, a junior, is one of four underclassmen who represented ETHS at the sectional. Classmate Lopez suffered a 1-0 loss to Grant’s Xavier Arroyo in the back draw --- the only score was a second period escape --- and finished 42-8 at 175.

Sophomore Bytyqi was pinned twice in three matches at 190, finishing at a sterling 30-8, and Martinez showed plenty of promise as a freshman despite losing both of his matches via a fall and a technical fall at 157. Salinas promoted him to the postseason lineup, a rare move by the veteran coach who is usually reluctant to use freshmen or sophomores at the varsity level even when it means leaving a weight class open in the lineup.

“Cesar’s ceiling (potential) is just so high,” said the ETHS coach. “He’s hungry to learn and he loves the sport. We’re lucky to have him in the program. He was wrestling up a class (he actually weighs closer to 150) and he’s really buying into our program.”