Alton's Courteney Wilson
Alton's Courteney
Wilson
ALTON – Alton's Courteney Wilson qualified for this weekend's IHSA Class 3A individual state wrestling tournament with a fourth-place finish in the 152-pound weight class in the Alton individual Sectional tournament.

 

Wilson will be the only Redbird heading to State Farm Center in Champaign-Urbana for the tournament, which gets under way Thursday and runs through Saturday night.

 

 

“I was a little nervous,” Wilson admitted. “If I hadn't placed fourth, it would have been my last tournament (Wilson is a senior); I'm very excited (about heading to state).”

The competition in the tournament was “pretty tough”, Wilson said. “Especially coming off they call the 'blood round' (the consolation bracket semifinals); everyone knows that if you lose, you're done; your season is over with. That's like another motivation factor – the competition is even more fierce.”

Wilson can now go to State Farm Center and enjoy the moment. “Anything can happen; that's what my coaches say (about the state tournament,” Wilson said. “My plan is to just wrestle as hard as I can, make sure I leave everything I have on the mat.”

 

Feeney, 56, is a native of Granite City and graduated from Granite City South in 1978. He was a part-time writer for the old Granite City Journal from 1979-84 before attending Eastern Illinois University in Charleston,
from which he earned his BA in journalism in 1988. He has worked for newspapers in Sikeston, Mo., Rocky Mount, N.C., Seneca, S.C. and in Charleston-Mattoon. He also worked for the old St. Clair County Suburban
Journals.