With basketball, wrestling and swimming seasons coming to a finish or drawing close to it, many high school athletes have put up performances that they likely won’t be forgetting anytime soon. Ten area athletes who excelled in the postseason last week earned nominations for this week’s Torq Fitness Athletes of the Week.
This week’s nominees include boys basketball players who led their teams to regional titles, top finishers from state in wrestling and boys swimming and sectional standouts in girls basketball.
Check out all of our nominees with information on their strong performances below, vote for who you think should win and spread the word to vote before polls close at 11:59 PM on Thursday!
Boys Athlete of the Week nominees
Brayden Stombaugh, Tri-Valley boys basketball
Stombaugh led the Vikings in scoring in both of their regional games en route to a Class 2A El Paso-Gridley Regional title. The senior’s 29 points were monumental in a 60-57 win over Normal U-High in the semifinals and he added a team-high 14 points in Tri-Valley’s 40-39 victory over Bloomington Central Catholic in the title game.
Wyatt Medlin, Washington boys wrestling
Medlin consistently gave the Panthers wins as they took second place at the IHSA Dual Team State Finals over the weekend. The 157-pound state champion pinned Colin Carpenter of Chicago Brother Rice in 32 seconds in his quarterfinal match, helping Washington win 42-26. After moving up to 165 pounds for the semifinal and final duals, Medlin took a 20-4 technical fall over Mahomet-Seymour’s AJ Demos as part of a 60-12 win and he won via a 19-4 tech fall against Nate Brown in a 46-17 loss to Elmhurst IC Catholic.
Devon White, Illini Bluffs boys basketball
White was determined to not let his senior year end yet as he led Illini Bluffs to a Class 1A regional title at Bushnell-Prairie City. White notched in the scoring column in a 57-30 win over the hosts in the regional quarterfinals and put up a similar 13 points as the Tigers beat North Fulton 42-27 in the semifinals. He finished his week by leading Illini Bluffs with a 17-point outing in a 47-37 win over Delavan in the regional championship.
Wade Pyle, Normal Community boys swimming
Pyle was Central Illinois’ highest-placing finisher at the IHSA State Finals in boys swimming, qualifying for the finals in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle. He placed eighth in his heat and 13th overall out of the 16 swimmers that advanced in both races, swimming the 50 free in 21:08 after putting up a strong qualifying time of 20.72. In the 100 free, he swam a 46.18 after touching the wall in 45.19 in the prelims.
Jake Williams, Princeville boys basketball
Williams keyed a big week for Princeville, who won at the buzzer and later against Abingdon-Avon – who had beaten the Princes twice in the regular season – to take a Class 1A regional crown at Biggsville West Central. Williams dropped a heap of 24 points on the host heat in a 60-38 quarterfinal win, followed by 15 points in a 51-48 win over Monmouth United. Williams led the Princes again with 13 points in a 40-34 victory over their conference foe Tornadoes.
Vote here!
Torq Fitness Boys Athlete of the Week poll
Brayden Stombaugh, Tri-Valley boys basketball
Wyatt Medlin, Washington boys wrestling
Devon White, Illini Bluffs boys basketball
Wade Pyle, Normal Community boys swimming
Girls Athlete of the Week nominees
Cora Heinz, Peoria Notre Dame girls basketball
PND’s sophomore forward put together two huge performances to help the Irish win the Class 2A Dee-Mack Sectional title. Heinz put up a team-high 23 points in a 65-28 win over Bloomington Central Catholic in the semifinals, then helped PND battle thanks to another team-high 16 points in a 47-43 win over Dee-Mack in the sectional title.
Avery Tibbs, Washington girls basketball
Tibbs earned a nomination for the second straight week after adding to her string of huge playoff performances at the Class 3A Ottawa Sectional. The junior guard tallied a team-high 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting in a 55-47 win over Galesburg in the semifinals. She added 26 points – 15 of which came from behind the arc – in Washington’s 60-50 win over Morton in the sectional title game.
Autumne Williams, Peoria Notre Dame girls wrestling
Williams was one of the area’s top stars at the IHSA State Finals in girls wrestling, The Irish senior finished third in the state at 170 pounds, winning her first two matches via pins. After suffering a 7-0 loss in the semifinals, Williams battled back to pin Maine West’s Lillian Garrett in 1:03 in the consolation semifinals and Chicago Kelly’s Sara Martinez Lopera in 2:47 in the 3rd place bout.
Paige Selke, Morton girls basketball
Selke offered up two quality performances as the Potters reached another sectional championship. She finished with 14 points and seven rebounds as one of three Morton players in double figures in a 59-46 win over Ottawa in the sectional semifinals before adding a team-high 17 points to go with four boards in a narrow loss to Washington in the title game.
Cadence Covert, Pekin girls basketball
Covert led Pekin to where the Dragons program had never been before: a sectional title game. Her 14 points were a team-high in Pekin’s 47-39 upset win over Normal Community in the Class 4A Alton Sectional semifinals. Pekin trailed 26-20 at halftime before mounting the comeback and fell to state powerhouse Alton in the sectional title game.
Vote here!
Torq Fitness Girls Athlete of the Week poll
Cora Heinz, PND girls basketball
Avery Tibbs, Washington girls basketball
Autumne Williams, PND girls wrestling
Paige Selke, Morton girls basketball