BLOOMINGTON — Yorkville Christian senior Isaac Bourge went one better.
A week after finishing as the 120-pound runner-up in the Class 1A individual state meet, Bourge shook off that disappointment Saturday night at Grossinger Motors Arena.
He knew a greater prize loomed on the horizon.
“Everybody on this team is very close-knit,” Bourge said. “We had confidence after the state meet. We knew we were going to battle for everything we had.”
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Bourge giving everything he has can be a scary thought for the opposition.
Wrestling at his natural weight, Bourge came through with a pin in the second period against Tremont’s Logan Stedman, catapulting the Mustangs to a 48-24 victory in the 1A dual team state championship match.
An undaunted Bourge (34-11) knew what the stakes were.
“I never placed at state before last week,” he said. “I felt like that confidence helped me push through.”
Bourge’s performance signaled the rise of Yorkville Christian as a new small school powerhouse in boys wrestling.
In only its fourth year of varsity competition, the Mustangs produced nine individual qualifiers, two state finalists and five place winners.
In his final high school match Saturday, Bourge helped Yorkville Christian (23-6) achieve the unprecedented with its first state title in any sport in school history.
With Bourge as a driving force, Yorkville Christian scored the final 21 points.
“This means everything to me,” Bourge said. “I was never down here my first three years of high school. It feels great, not just to qualify for the final, but winning it.”
Yorkville Christian won nine of the 14 matches. By draw, the championship match began at 145.
Yorkville Christian took a 15-0 lead on pins by Jeremy Loomis (145) and Drew Torza (152) and a 7-2 decision by Tyler Martinez (160). Torza finished with a 41-11 record and Martinez closed at 45-11.
“At the start of a match like this, it is really anyone’s dual,” Martinez said. “We came out on fire and showed this was going to be ours.
“We knew there were going to be some challenges because they have some hammers, but we just came to wrestle.”
Michael Esquivel (40-14) at heavyweight, Aiden Larsen (40-14) at 106 and Braulio Flores at 138 all won by forfeit.
Grason Johnson (126) made the Mustangs’ state title official with a dominant 11-0 decision over Bowden Delaney.
“I just went out there and wrestled my match,” Johnson said. “I made sure I was good on top and overpowered him.”
The state title for the private school with an official enrollment of 107 students marked the culmination of a grand ambition by Yorkville Christian coach Mike Vester.
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“We had a vision,” Vester said. “I knew I could build it. I didn’t know it would happen in four years.”
A regional championship over two-time defending state finalist Coal City paved the way forward, according to junior Jackson Gillen.
“We all thought we could do this the first day of practice,” he said.
Last week, Gillen (49-6) became the program’s first individual state champion at 170. Saturday, he lost a tight 6-4 decision to Lucas Wendling, who finished fourth in the state.
Still, Gillen confirmed his individual state championship broke the barrier, unleashing a wave of new young talent.
“I think the other guys, seeing what I did, they just decided they wanted a piece of theirs,” Gillen said. “Everyone around you has the idea of being the best in the state.
“Winning individual was cool, but it is so much better to do it as a team.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.