February 16-18, 2023 - Illinois High School Boys Wrestling Individual Tournament - University of Illinois, Champaign, IL Marco Spinazzola {G} of Peotone IL defeated Jase Grunder {R} of Erie IL by 6-3
Marco Spinazzola is the anti-Gilman...a fierce competitor but always respectful of his opponents as demonstrated at the end. Marco, who finished 5th in the state in 2022, went on from this match to win his semifinal in Sudden Victory, 2-1, and then his final in an Ultimate Tiebreaker, 2-1. He was so happy upon winning the state championship, he knocked his coach over when he leapt into his arms. His comment on Instagram: "I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to finish off this moral journey of a sport in this manner. I appreciate everyone part of the upbringing and I couldn’t be more thankful." His moral journey is done...no more wrestling. He is now attending Illinois State University majoring in business. ISU has no wrestling program, a 1995 victim of Title IX. Jase Grunder doesn't have an up-to-date Trackwrestling profile, but he was a stunning 50-6 on the season coming into this match! Thanks, Nima, for all the incredibly hard work you do, not just in taking these fantastic on-the-mat videos, but the endless hours you spend editing and uploading. You do fantastic work.
Thank you for posting. Update on Marco's education. He is attending Olivet Nazarene University for business and assisting in coaching Peotone H.S. wrestling.
You are putting out some quality content of late, intense combat caught in the moment. Super stuff, keep it going and thank you for your consistent hard work 🙏
You look at the guy in red and think yeah he is more jacked he will totally win the match but wrestling is about more than your physical condition and Marco proved that hands down.
excellent wrestling by two closely matched men with amazing physicality and technical skills. the takedowns and their setups in this match were works of art, as was the impeccable control each man exerted over his opponent when on top repeal title IX
Awesome match and proud of Marco. He went up in weight pretty fast. But they need a weight in supv. Cause his opponent looks significantly bigger than Marco.