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The Tigers captured a regional championship Saturday at Lincoln Middle School in Edwardsville, marking the program's 13th consecutive title in the event. Last week, Edwardsville won its 14th Southwestern Conference championship in succession.

"The expectations aren't so much about the results as they are about competing at a high level," Edwardsville coach Eric Pretto said after his squad scored 244 points to cruise past runner-up Belleville East (157.5) for Saturday's championship. "I know it's easy to measure success with wins, but I think the growth we've seen this season is key. These guys are firing on all cylinders right now, putting themselves in position to win big matches."

Also competing Saturday in Edwardsville were Quincy (129.5), Belleville West (109.5), Collinsville (78), O'Fallon (64.5), Granite City (61) and Alton (35).

The top three finishers in each weight class Saturday advanced to the sectional next weekend at Joliet Central High. Wrestlers finishing in the top four next weekend will move on to the state tournament Feb. 20-22 at the University of Illinois' State Farm Center in Champaign.

In dual team competition, Edwardsville will next compete Feb. 25.

"If there's pressure, it's the pressure we put on ourselves," Pretto said. "The expectation is that our guys compete to the best of their abilities and I thought we really handled ourselves well today. We measure our success with growth; these guys are on a journey right now and we're excited about them taking that next step and getting better every single day.

"Again this year, we're blessed to have a great group of senior leaders that know the only way to do things is the right way. Our goal is to compete as best we can and that's passed on from year to year. We took care of things today so now the focus turns to individual sectionals and hopefully getting as many guys as possible through to state. Once we get through that, the focus turns to doing whatever we can to hopefully get through as a team, too."

The Tigers were paced Saturday by their eight regional champions — freshman Michael McNamara (36-5) at 106 pounds; junior Bryson Nuttall (33-10) at 113; senior Levi Wilkinson (27-11) at 126; senior Tyler Perry (16-5) at 132; junior Ryan Richie (30-8) at 138; senior Brendan Landau (28-10) at 175; junior Simon Schulte (28-10) at 190; and junior Roman Janek (31-3) at 215.

Seniors Blake Mink (33-12) and Riley Steinkuehler (27-5) advanced with runner-up finishes at 144 and 285, respectively, while the Tigers' Logan Hiller, a junior with a 20-10 record, qualified third at 150.

Pretto made special mention of Wilkinson, who picked up career win No. 100 on Saturday, and Schulte, a No. 3 seed who came on strong to beat top-seeded Scott Snyder of Collinsville with a key takedown with just 25 seconds left in their championship match.

"Levi's our second guy to get win No. 100 this season — Blake Mink did it earlier — and I think that's testimony to his durability,'' Pretto said. "With the schedule we wrestle, that's not something that's very easy to do. And Simon avenged an earlier loss and really grinded out a great win for him. He really deserves that regional title because he earned it."

Wilkinson won by fall in the semifinals and with a 10-0 major decision in the championship at 126.

"I came in expecting to win, but I didn't take it lightly. Everybody here wants to come out on top, but I went out and got it done," he said shortly after picking up career win No. 100. "I've never made it to state — I lost twice in the blood round — so that's my goal. And I'm confident I can get there and hopefully place.

"I felt good about the way I wrestled today. I think I could've done a little more in the final if it wasn't for the stoppages (opponent Wyatt Boeing of Quincy struggled to control a bloody nose), but I did a good job of staying focused and not allowing any sloppy points against."

Wilkinson, who hopes to wrestle in college, said the Tigers are special.

"Wrestling's an individual sport, but I really enjoy the team aspect, too," he said. "As a team, we're together all the time on and off the mat and I think that bond helps set us apart from a lot of our opponents."

Rulo pins his way to another title

Belleville East junior heavyweight Jonathan Rulo improved to 28-0 with three wins by pin on Saturday. Already a two-time Post-Dispatch All-Metro first-team selection, he took second at state as a freshman and finished third last season in Champaign.

Lancers teammate Terence Willis (31-6) was the other Belleville East champion. He took the title at 165, following up on a first-period pin with a technical fall victory in the title match.

Saturday's other champions were Belleville West senior Rocky Seibel (26-3) at 120; Belleville West senior Aiden Colbert (30-10) at 144; Alton junior Brayden Drew (37-10) at 150; and Quincy junior Brody Baker (24-10) at 157.