Red Devils Place Seven Men and Ten Women on All-SLIAC Teams; Coaching Staff Named Coaching Staff of the Year
ST. LOUIS, MO. – There was no shortage of Red Devils among the list of All-SLIAC honorees. A combined 17 wrestlers from Eureka received honors.
Trevor Hedges (Canton, Ill./Canton) and Gaige Owens (Marion, Ill./Marion) led the way on the men's side, both being named first team All-SLIAC. Hedges was also named SLIAC Newcomer of the year.
McKenzie Cook (Homer, Alaska) and Madison Farris (Chatsworth,Ill./Rifle) were both named first team All-SLIAC on the women's side, with Cook also being named as the first ever SLIAC Women's Wrestler of the Year.
Coach Eric Biehl and his staff: Josh Prichard, Ryan Sides, Tyson Parks, Cole Espenschied, and Ratayia Bias (manager) were dubbed SLIAC Men's Wrestling Coaching Staff of the Year. In his second year as the head coach at Eureka, Coach Biehl led the Red Devils to a 2nd place finish at the SLIAC championships while going 4-2 in dual matches this season.
Coach Biehl commented: "we showed up and battled hard but fell just short of our goals at the SLIAC Championships. Still, we have lots to celebrate with the 3 yearly awards and 17 all conference athletes."
First Team All-SLIAC:
Trevor Hedges (Canton, Ill./Canton) (125)
Gaige Owens (Marion, Ill./Marion) (133)
Second Team All-SLIAC:
Nathan Berta (Channahon, Ill./Minooka) (141)
Mikie Hartnett (Morton, Ill./Morton) (157)
Thomas Culp (Quincy, Ill. / Quincy) (197)
Third Team All-SLIAC:
Anthony Sartori (Channahon, Ill./Minooka) (165)
Jackson Creasy (Lake of the Ozarks, Mo./Osage) (285)
First Team All-SLIAC:
Mckenzie Cook (Homer, Alaska) (143)
Madison Farris (Chatsworth,Ill./Rifle) (191)
Second Team All-SLIAC:
Emly Virgil (Morton, Ill./Morton) (101)
Gada Bryant (Westville, Ill. / Westville) (109)
Kyley Bair (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) (116)
Claire Schaffner (Delavan, Ill./Delavan) (130)
Natallie Tobuk (Nome, Alaska/Nome-Beltz) (136)
Parker Dafnis (Volo, Ill./Wauconda) (155)
Third Team All-SLIAC:
Jaylah Dalton (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) (155)
Audrey Driskell (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) (170)
On top of being selected to the All-SLIAC 2nd team, Kyley Bair (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) represented the Red Devils on the women's All-Sportsmanship Team, while Bernie Cox (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) represented the men's program on the All-Sportsmanship Team.