Peoria Standard

The Farmington Central School Board of Education met on March 13 and honored the wrestling teams from the junior high and high school for their achievements this season.

“They had a great season. Our season overall was tremendous,” said Coach Jake Durbin. “You know, a lot of firsts in program history. None of this would be possible without you guys and your leadership.”

The Junior High wrestling team was coached by Joe Walter and two volunteer coaches: former wrestler Kyle Peckham and Jerry Jones, who is a father of one of the wrestlers. The team had two regional champions, 10 sectional qualifiers and two state qualifiers, Isaac and Chase. Isaac finished his season undefeated and Chase, a seventh grader, also had a great season for the team.

The high school team had more than one state qualifier this season for the first time, with three athletes qualifying for states. 

Keagan was the regional champion, sectional champion and state finalist. He finished second in the state for his third consecutive state medal and had a 35-2 record. Reese finished 1-2 in the state tournament and 38-6 on the year, but was unable to attend the meeting. Bradley finished 1-2 at states and had a 41-11 record overall. The team also had a freshman qualify for the underclassman state tournament.

Activities director Jeff Otto thanked the board for allowing them to create the wrestling program and initiating the co-op that allowed them to extend it to the junior high school. The board was excited to hear of the success their students had and were grateful for the staff for making the program successful.

“Thank you, to you, for the decisions that you made to propel the junior high and high school wrestling programs,” Otto said.