Wheaton Takes 2nd in Boys State Gymnastics

A season that was filled with countless highlights culminated with Wheaton co-op winning second place on Friday in the IHSA state boys gymnastics finals.

An undefeated conference season and impressive performances during the Dave Donaldson Invite and DuPage Valley Conference meet pushed Wheaton toward posting a season-best 161.250 on Friday. Lincoln-Way co-op, which had finished in second place the past three years, won the championship with a 163. It was Lincoln-Way’s first state title since 2006.

"As coaches we couldn't ask for more from our kids," Wheaton co-op coach Chad Downie said. "They did an outstanding job. I'm so proud of their work today.

“It was the best meet they competed all year. Lincoln-Way was really tough. They’re a better team than us, but I feel great about the result.”

Darren Fill led the way for Wheaton, taking second place in the all-around with a 55.3. Lincoln-Way’s Ajani Cargle took home the all-around title with a 55.45. Fill’s top score of 9.35 came on vault, parallel bars and high bar.

Mike Brackmann had a team-best 9.55 on high bar, Mark Cielsielski scored a 9.1 on vault, Charlie Fisher added an 8.85 on vault, Danny Heller contributed an 8.6 on pommel horse, Zack Neal had an 8.9 on parallel bars, Ethan Sansone had a 9.05 on pommel horse and 9 on floor, Max Jurkowski scored an 8.1 on floor and Bayly Shelly returned from an injury and was able to get on the parallel bars and deliver a 7.85.

“It was a bummer when I tore my PCL in my knee but it’s been a great senior year and we all did our best and gave it everything we had,” Shelly said. “This has been building up the whole season and I think it wrapped up perfectly for our team.”

A gymnastics team will generally feel satisfied when it finishes its season without having to ask itself a bunch of ‘What if’ questions. While Friday night wasn’t perfect, it was inarguably Wheaton’s top meet as it was the most significant and highest-scoring one.

“It came down to who wanted it more and it was Lincoln-Way’s day,” Brackmann said. “We’re OK with that. We had a great meet and are very happy with our season high. It’s the highest score I’ve ever had on any of my teams so I’m very happy.”

Wheaton's excellence continued during Saturday's individual preliminaries as Fill advanced on parallel bars, vault and still rings, Brackmann qualified on pommel horse and high bar and Ciesielski was a finalist on floor and Sansone on parallel bars.

"We don't think about Saturday until after Friday night," Fill said. "Being able to leave Friday night and come back with four competitors was just incredible. We have so many great people on this team to be around who just happen to also do gymnastics extremely well."

Fill closed out his fantastic high school career by leaving everything he had left on his torn up hands with a championship-winning 9.6 on parallel bars.

"Landing it and looking up to the crowd. It was incredible," he said. "There aren't words to describe how awesome that felt."

Fill claimed second place on vault with a 9.5 and also went to the awards stand with a fifth place finish on still rings with a 9. It was quite a two-day stretch for the standout who was named senior gymnast of the year on Saturday.

"It's really been a long, exciting two days that really takes everything out of you," he said. "Everyone's talking about their ripped up hands just killing them. It's just been an emotional ride and such an exciting weekend for the co-op and to see great gymnastics."

Brackmann took home a pair of medals, capturing third place on pommel horse with a 9.35 and high bar with a 9.25. Junior Mark Ciesielski's performance on floor on Saturday was far superior to Friday’s 8.85, as he also earned third place with a 9.6. Freshman Ethan Sansone made his debut in the individual championships and had a 9.1 on parallel bars to take seventh place.

"It's been a rush and it really went by so fast, but it's been a great time with the whole team here," Ciesielski said. "Everyone had all these great moments and the timing's been perfect with everyone hitting all over the place at state. It's felt great all weekend."

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