Symbal Loses Bid at State Wrestling Competition

Update 5:00 p.m.: Symbal didn't manage to make the semifinals Friday at the state match, according to the Illinois High School Association's website. Plainfield Central High student Jordan Ellingwood won Friday's match.

Huntley High School wrestler Josh Symbal won his preliminary match at the IHSA state wrestling competition on Thursday night and will wrestle in the quarter finals on Friday.

Symbal, a senior at Huntley High, defeated junior Joe Young from Thornton Fractional South School on Thursday in the Class 3A at the state preliminary matches held at the University of Illinois, in Champaign.

It took Symbal 3:05 minutes to beat his opponent, according to results from the Illinois High School Association.

Symbal, with a season record of 38-2, is scheduled to next face Jordan Ellingwood, 39-4, from Plainfield Central High School. The winner of today’s match will proceed to the semi-finals.

Huntley High School Athletic Director Bruce Blumer said this is the second consecutive year Symbal has represented the school at state competition. Symbal also competed at state last year as a junior,  Blumer said.

“Besides the fact that he is a talented wrestler, Josh is just an outstanding individual,” Blumer said. “He’s a great kid. A great student. I could go on and on. Let’s just say nobody could deserve this more than him.”

Symbal competes in the 182-pound division.

Locally, other wrestlers in the 3A Class who won their preliminary matches last night include:

• Mike Cullen, from Cary-Grove, in the 106-pound division.
• Zach Synon of Prairie Ridge in Crystal Lake in the 126-pound division.
• Nick Gil, of Crystal Lake South, in the 126-pound division.
• Tom Gerszewski of Crystal Lake South in the 152-pound division.
• Mike Romanelli, of Crystal Lake South, in the 220-pound division.

Good Luck to all the wrestlers today in their quarter-final matches.