Published on April 2, 2026 7:18 am
Last Updated on April 2, 2026 7:22 am
Effingham High School’s wrestling team.
The Effingham High School wrestling team had an outstanding season this year.
Coach Jeremy Patnaude finished his first season as head coach of the program and talked about this season and his team.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” said Coach Patnaude. “The team had an overall dual record of 15-11. These 15 wins surpass the old school record of 13. They also won the team title at the Urbana Invitational, which is the first time an EHS team has won a tournament as a team.
“We had kids like freshman Jonah LeDuc and sophomore Brendan Stewart, who was bumped to a heavier weight when needed to fill open weight classes.
“Freshman Jake Henderson came in and wrestled when asked, even wrestling up 20 pounds. Junior Kiela Allison filled in at boy’s duals at the start of the season to help secure team wins. This allowed us to be able to fill every weight class for most of the season.
“We had two athletes qualify for the state tournament. This marks the first time in over 20 years this has happened at EHS. Jonah LeDuc became the first freshman at EHS to qualify for the State Tournament. Senior Jeremiah Lorton advanced further than any previous EHS wrestler making it to the top eight.
“Jeremiah Lorton finished his season with a record of 40-10. This set the school record for most wins by an individual during a season.
We had three individuals, LeDuc, Lorton and senior Gage Emmerich qualify for the boys sectional. Freshman Charlee Emmerich qualified for the girls sectional and came one match away from qualifying for state.
“LeDuc, Lorton and Stewart were named Second Team All Apollo Conference. Team award winners were Gabe Raddatz (Most Improved), Harper Evans (Heart Award), Jeremiah Lorton (Most Valuable Wrestler) and (Offensive Leader), Keegan Woodall (Defensive Leader) and Jonah LeDuc (Rookie Award).
The team was also coached by assistants Devan Henderson and Dave Stewart.