CANTON — Washington was not perfect, but the Panthers did score a 10 on Saturday at the Mid-Illini Conference wrestling tournament.
Class 2A top-ranked Washington placed 11 in title bouts, won 10 individual crowns and romped to a ninth consecutive league team title.
The 10 titles matched the Panthers conference record total set in both 2015 and 2016. The two-time defending 2A state champs finished with 249.5 points, more than doubling second-place Canton (110.5). Metamora finished third (107), Pekin fourth (80), Limestone fifth (74), East Peoria sixth (72) and Morton seventh (57).
"This tournament, having a couple weeks going into regionals, it's nice to see where we're at," first-year Washington coach Nick Miller said. "There's some good kids in the conference. It was nice to get some guys tested and I was real happy with the way our guys answered the tests today."
Freshman Abe Hinrichsen began the Washington title carousel with a 13-3 major decision over Morton's Tyler Timmons at 106. Sophomore Brody Norman followed with a 2-0 win against Ryan Haynes of Pekin at 113. Freshman Joey Cape recorded a pin in 5:00 of the 120 finals against Pekin's Drake Hawkins, before sophomore Zeke Hulet edged Canton's Jackson Swank 2-0 in the 126 finale.
Senior Tyler Delaware gave Washington its fifth title in a row with his third M-I crown, pinning Morton's Drew Greenwood in 1:15 at 132.
Canton senior Curtis Norton claimed his second-consecutive league championship with an 11-2 major decision against Metamora's Brayden Smith at 138.
Four more Washington titles followed, starting with senior Blaize Punke's third league championship, a 9-1 major decision against Canton's Tristin Rilea at 145.
Senior Dalton Jensen scored an 18-3 technical fall over Limestone's Marcus Linwood at 152, followed by a pin in 3:00 from junior Jared Head against Metamora's Vinny Querciagrossa at 160. Senior Garrett Rich added an 8-6 decision against Metamora's Xavier Gutierrez in the 170-pound finale.
Metamora senior Chris Leanos took first at 182, with a 2-1 decision against Canton's Kam Oatman. Pekin senior Tyler Siddles snapped Washington's perfect run with a pin at the 3:30 mark against Gabe Robison.
Limestone senior Taylor Fickes captured the fourth non-Washington championship, beating East Peoria's Nick Wiley 7-2 in the 220-pound. Panther junior Jace Punke closed the tournament by getting a third-period escape to edge East Peoria's Caleb Collins 3-2 at 285.